Further: though he made his people obey him, he shared their privations. Soon we shall find him rousing his followers from the lethargy of despair, when their very hearts had died within them, and when all cheeks blanched but his; speaking words of cheer to the men, and with his own sick child in his arms, sharing his scant rations with women and children who held out their hands for bread.
For a brief space after the election of Brigham the saints had rest. The city of Nauvoo continued to thrive ;^^ a portion of the temple was finished and dedicated,^* the building of the Nauvoo house and council-house was progressing rapidly.
Their buildings were erected with great sacrifice of time, and amidst difficulties and discouragement in consequence of poverty. Money was exceedingly scarce.^^ The revelation requiring tithing, made in 1838, was first practically applied in Nauvoo; the tenth day was regularly given to work on the temple ; the penny subscriptions of the sisters are mentioned, which was a weekly contribution, and was intended for the purchase of glass and nails. Every effort was made to encourage manufacture, and to utilize their water-power. At a meeting of the trades delegates
is not a hypocrite;' and on the next page: 'Brigham, however deceived, is still a bad man, and a dangerous man; and as much more dangerous, being sincere in thinking he is doing God's work, as a madman is than an impostor.' In Id., 136-40, we have a short and succinct narrative of Brigham's career up to the assassination of Joseph Smith, probably the best that has yet been written in such brief space.
^* 'Almost every stranger that enters our city is excited with astonish- ment that so much has been done in so short a time.' Likewise there was always work enough for them among the gentiles, who ' did not know liow to make a short johnny-cake until our girls taught tliem.' Speech of Elder Kimball, April 8, 1845, in Id., vi. 973. Says John Taylor: 'When we first settled in Nauvoo, . . .farming lands out of the city were worth from $1.25 to $5 per acre; when we left they were worth from $5 to $50 per acre. We turned the desert into a city, and the wilderness into a fruitful field or fields and gardens. ' Millennial Star, vi\\. 115. Bennett mentions a community farm near Nauvoo, which was cultivated in common by the poorer classes, ihstory of tha Saints, 191.
^*It was dedicated May 1, 1846, by Wilford Woodruff and Orson Hyde. Two days later they held their last meeting there. Woodruff's Rem., MS., 3.
- " 'When corn was brought to my door at ten cents a bushel, and sadly
needed, the money could not be raised.' Utah Notes, MS., p. 6.
