REMARKS.
By Elder WILFORD WOOD-
RUFF, at the Funeral Services of
Elder William Pitt, in the Four-
teenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt
Lake City, Sunday morning,
, 1873.
REPORTED BY D. W. EVANS.
My friends here kindly granted me
the privilege of making some open-
ing remarks on this occasion. I had
an appointment in Ogden to-day,
but when I heard of the death of
Brother Pitt I felt as though I
wanted to attend his funeral. If
I had heard that one of my own
family had dropped dead I should
not have been more surprised than
I was when I heard of the death of
Brother Pitt. I was conversing
with him in the street, I think the
day before he was hurt, and he was
then, apparently, cheerful, comfort-
able, well and happy. When I
heard that he was dead I imme-
diately went to his house, visited
his family and saw his body. I will
say that I seldom or ever give way
to weeping, either for the living or
the dead, but upon this occasion,
when I saw his body lie cold in
death, all the early scenes of my
acquaintance with him in the
Herefordshire mission rushed upon
me like a whirlwind, and I confess
that I manifested a good deal of
weakness in giving way to weeping
before the family. Solomon says
there is a time to weep and a time
to laugh, a time to mourn and a
time to rejoice; and there are times
when reason will excuse weeping [Ecclesiastes 3:4].
Anthony said, "I come to bury
Caesar not to praise him," yet An-
thony did, on that occasion, por-
tray before the Senate and citizens
of Rome the virtues of Caesar in his
public life. We have come to bury
Brother Pitt, and I do not consider
it wrong to speak of the virtues and
good deeds of the dead any more
than of those of the living.
My first acquaintance with Bro-
ther Pitt was of such a character as
to cause the formation of ties be-
tween us of no ordinary nature, as
it is, I may say, with all the asso-
ciations of the elders of Israel. The
world knows nothing about these
ties. The ties they form together
are very different from those form-
ed between the servants of God,
who are associated together in the
holy priesthood and by the power
of the Holy Ghost and the inspira-
tion of the Lord our God. These are
ties that no men comprehend un-
less they occupy the same position
that we occupy. I have found this
in my whole career with this church
and kingdom. I love the brethren
and the Saints of God, because we
are associated together in a great,
noble and Godlike cause; and these
associations are to ourselves, and
what more can a man do than lay
down his life for his friend? How
many are there in this room and in
this church and kingdom, who, in
case of necessity, would be willing
to lay down their lives to save
their brethren? There are thousands of
them.
I wish, and feel that it is my pri-
vilege, to refer to my first acquain-
taince with Brother Pitt, whose
body lies before us to-day. The
history of the Herefordshire mission
is before the world and before the
church, and I wish in a few words
to refer to that mission, for it was
there that I became acquainted
with Brother Pitt. Brother Taylor
and I were the first two of the Quo-
rum of the Twelve who arrived in
England in 1840. Brother Taylor
went to Liverpool, and I went to
the Staffordshire potteries. I labored
there with Brother Alfred Cordon,
who is now in the spirit world.
We were preaching almost every
night, and we baptized some near-
ly every meeting. It was a very
good mission.
Some eighty miles from there, in
Herefordshir, there were people
who had never seen a Latter-day
Saint, and never heard the gospel.
Some six hundred of them had bro-
ken off from the Wesleyan Metho-
dists, and called themselves the
"United Brethren." They were
under the presidency of Elder
Thos. Kington. They were searching
for light and truth. As a body they
had called upon the Lord, and had
advanced just as far as they could
with what light they had. They
prayed to the Lord that he would
open the way before them, that
they might advance in the things
of his Kingdom. While in this
position I went one evening to fill
an appointment in the Town Hall,
at the town of Hanley. There was
a very large congregation, and I
had appointments out for two or
three weeks in that town and
adjacent villages. As I went to
take my seat the Spirit of the Lord
came upon me and said to me,
"This is the last meeting you will
hold with this people for many
days." I was surprised, because I
did not know, of course what the
Lord wanted me to do. I told the
assembly when I rose, "This is the last
meeting I shall hold with you
for many days." They asked me
after meeting where I was going.
I told them I did not know. I
went before the Lord in my closet
and asked him where he wished me
to go, and all the answer I could
get was to go to the South. I got
into a stage and rode eighty miles
south, as I was led by the Spirit of
the Lord. The first man's house I
went into was John Benbow's.
He lives now down here at Cotton-
wood. I had some conversation
with Brother Benbow and I told
him that the Lord had sent me to
that place. But without wishing
to dwell on this subject particularly
I will say that I learned that they
were six hundred people there under
Elder Kington, called United
Brethren, and that they had been
praying to the Lord for guidance
in the way of life and salvation.
Then I knew why the Lord had sent
me to that place—he had sent them
what they had been praying for.
I commenced preaching the gos-
pel to them, and I also commenced
baptizing, Elder Pitt being among
the first who was baptized by me
into this church and kingdom.
The first thirty days after I arrived
there I had baptized forty-five
preachers, which flung nearly fifty
preaching places, licensed by law,
into my hands; and out of the six
hundred belonging to Elder King-
ton's body all were baptized but one
in seven months' labor. I brought
eighteen hundred into the church
in that mission, and I will say that
the power of God rested upon me
and upon the people. There was
a spirit to convince and a people
whose hearts were open and ready
to receive the gospel. And as
Jesus said in reference to John,
that all Judea and Jerusalem went
out to John's baptism [Mark 1:5] I felt as if
all Herefordshire was coming to be
baptized. The third meeting that
I held at Brother Benbow's the
rector of the place sent a constable
to take me up. I was just about to
begin when he entered. I said to
him, "Take a chair until after meet-
ind and I will attend to you." He
sat down and when I got
through he came forward and I
baptized him with others. He
went back and told the rector, "If
you want to take up that man you
must go yourself, I have heard him
preach the first gospel sermon I
ever heard in the world." Almost
every man that came to meeting
was baptized.
I did not see Elder Kington for
some little time after going there;
and when I did see him he came to
me as the leader of the people. I
laid before him the gospel. He
said, "If it is true, I wish to em-
brace it; if not, I shall oppose it."
I said, "That is right." But I
made a covenant with him. I said
to him, "If you will go before the
Lord and ask him if this work is
true, I promise you in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ that you
shall receive a testimony for your-
self if you will promise to obey it."
He said he would, and he went
away to attend to his appointments.
The next time he came to Brother
Benbow's, a few days afterwards, I
asked him if he had enquired of
the Lord. He said he had. "What
did the Lord tell you?" "He told
me it was true;" and he then said
he was ready to obey the gospel,
and I baptized him. I name this
because as soon as Brother Pitt
heard this Gospel he obeyed it, and
he was one of the leading men in
the choir of the Church of Eng-
land in Dimock. I now wish to re-
late a circumstance concerning
him. The first meeting I held in
Elder Kington's house Brother
Pitt was present. I will say first,
however, that Mary Pitt, Brother
Pitt's sister, was something like
the lame man who lay at the gate
of the temple called "Beautiful" at
Jerusalem [Acts 3:2]—she had not been able
to walk a step for fourteen years,
and confined to her bed nearly half
that time. She had no strength in
her feet and ankles and could only
move about a little with a crutch
or holding on to a chair. She
wished to be baptized. Brother
Pitt and myself took her in our
arms, and carried her into the wat-
er and I baptized her. When she
came out of the water I confirmed
her. She said she wanted to be
healed, and she believed she had faith
enough to be healed. I had had
experience enough in this church
to know that it required a good deal
of faith to heal a person who had
not walked a step for fourteen
years. I told her that according to
her faith it should be unto her. It
so happened that on the day after
she was baptized Brother Richards
and President Brigham Young
came down to see me. We met at
Brother Kington's. Sister Mary
Pitt was there also. I told Presi-
dent Young what Sister Pitt wish-
ed, and that she believed she had
faith enough to be healed. We
prayed for her and laid hands upon
her. Brother Young was mouth,
and commanded her to be made
whole. She laid down her crutch
and never used it after, and the
next day she walked three miles.
This created a great deal of anger
and madness in the feelings of the
rector of that town. We had bap-
tized Brother Pitt, and this took
one from his choir of singers, and
he felt angry. We were holding a
meeting at Elder Kington's house
one evening, when these things
were taking place. The house had
very heavy shutters on the win-
dows of the first storey. We had
these shutters closed, and I rose to
preach. The rector came at the head
of about fifty men armed with rocks
about the size of a man's fist, or
larger than that. They surround-
ed the house, and for about half an
hour the house was battered with
rocks like a hail storm, the whole
of the windows of the second storey
being stove in and the glass all bro-
ken. I told Brother Pitt that I
would go and see these men. He
said, "No, I will go, you will be in-
jured if you go." He went out into the
midst of this mob, of about fifty, I
should judge, I do not know the num-
ber. He took their names, and the
rector was the leader. They stoned
Brother Pitt back to the house, but
as we had finished meeting they
left. We had to clear the house of
broken glass and rocks before we
could retire to bed. I name this be-
cause it was one of Brother Pitt's
first labors with me, and I will say
that from that time until the pres-
ent he has been a true and faithful
servant of God, and of this church.
Associations of this kind have
been formed by all the Elders of
Israel who have gone abroad into
the vineyard to preach the gospel.
We go forth and gather strangers to
us in the flesh, but they embrace
the same testimony and gospel with
ourselves. This was the case with
Brother Pitt. I do not mourn for
him, I did not when I was at his
house; but all these scenes and early
associations rushed on my mind,
and as I gazed upon him, and
thought of the way he had been
stricken down, taken away from us,
when to all human appearance he
was but an hour before, as it were,
enjoying health and strength and
attending to the duties of life, I
realized that in the midst of life we
are in death.
In his associations with this
church and kingdom Brother
Pitt was leader of the Nau-
voo brass band for a long
time; he has also been associated
with the various bands here; and in
his associations with the peo-
ple he made a great many
friends, to whom he was en-
deared because of his many virtues
and good deeds, and his disposition
and desire to serve God. I am cer-
tainly glad to see so many friends
gathered together to honor his re-
mains. When I realize that a man
like him has lived, heard the gos-
pel, embraced it and has fulfilled
the measure of his day, what can
we say about him? Can we mourn
because he is gone? Bless your soul,
he is with Joseph to-day, and with
others of the elders of Israel and he
rejoices with them. Whether his
spirit is here witnessing his funeral
services I can not say, it is not re-
vealed to me; but suffice it to say
that he is happy, and blessed
are the dead that die in the Lord,
from henceforth saith the spirit
for they rest from their labors
and their works do follow them. [Doctrine and Covenants 63:49]
I do not know whether Brother
Pitt has preached much in the
world, but I do know that he has
labored for the benefit of the Saints
of God. But he will preach now.
He has gone to the other side of the
vail, and he will preach there to
large assemblies of spirits. He has
been faithful and he will receive a
crown of life. His body will lie in
the tomb a few years, and but a
few. His death is a loss to his wife
and children, and the parting is
grievous. But how glorious is the
thought that there is a victory over
the grave! In Adam all died, but
in Christ all are made alive. Christ
was the first fruits of the resur-
rection [1 Corinthians 15:22-23]. This is a glorious thought
to me when I see a Latter-day
Saint lie down with the harness
on, true and faithful until he has
wound up his work.
Out of that 1800 which we baptiz-
ed in Herefordshire in seven
months, I hardly know one that
has turned against this church.
There has been less apostacy out of
that branch of the church and
kingdom of God than out of
the same number from any part of
the world that I am acquainted
with.
We are called every day or two to
bury some of them. A good many
of them are still living. Some of
them are bishops—Bro. Clark, Bro.
Rowberry, and a good many of
them scattered all through this
Territory. Old father Kington is
still living or was the last I heard
of him, though near the grave.
They are passing away, and when
I went to see Brother Pitt's body,
the thought came to me, Whose turn
go next? May be mine, may be
yours, we can not tell anything
about it. These things should be
an admonition to us to be true and
faithful while we dwell here. The
thought that we can obey and be
sanctified by the gospel, and be
prepared thereby to inherit eternal
life, is one of the most glorious
principles ever revealed to man. I
thank God that I live in this day
and age of the world. I thank
God that I have been associated
with such a class of men and wo-
men as those who are gathered to-
day in the valleys of the mountains.
They are the people whom the
Lord has chosen. We have a hope
that the world knows not of, and
it can not enter into their thoughts.
Unless they are born of the Spirit
of God they can not even see the
kingdom of God, and they can not
get into it unless they are born of
the water and of the Spirit, hence
they can not share in the joyous
anticipations and hopes that we
possess. Their eyes, ears and hearts
are not opened to see and hear and
feel the power of the gospel of
Christ.
Brother Pitt has gone before his
family to prepare a place for them.
I say to them, let your hearts re-
joice before the Lord. You are left
alone, he has gone before you, but
he will prepare the way. He is not
going to lie in the spirit world with-
out having something to do. There
those who have gone before us have
something to do as well as we have
here. They are laboring to prepare
the inhabitants of the spirit world
for the coming of Christ, the same
as we are trying to prepare the in-
habitants of the earth for the
same great event.
I do not wish to occupy a great
deal of time, but I will say to my
brethren and sisters this morning,
It is better to go to the house of
mourning than to the house of
feasting. Death is the end of all
men. The living should lay this
to heart. [Ecclesiastes 7:2] My associations with
Brother Pitt have been of the most
joyful and consoling character. We
associated together a good while in
that land, while I dwelt there; and
we have been since, both in Nau-
voo and this place. I was always
glad to meet him. I met him of-
ten in the streets, and we scarcely
ever met without referring to for-
mer times, and if I can only have
as good a glory, and lie down as he
has—die the death of the righteous
—and have as good a reward, I
shall think myself very well off. I
consider that when a man has em-
braced the gospel, continued faith-
ful, received his endowments and
the sealing blessings of God upon
his head, as Brother Pitt has, he
has accomplished the object for
which he was created.
In closing my remarks I will say
that I am thankful for the associa-
tions I have had with Brother Pitt,
and with the rest of my brethren
and the Saints. This is the gospel of
Christ; this is the Zion and King-
dom of God. The hand of God is
stretched out for the salvation of
this people, and however dark the
clouds may appear; however strong
persecution, oppression and opposi-
tion may become to this work, the
Lord has, from its commencement,
until to-day watched over its inter-
ests, and has sustained and pre-
served it, and he will continue to
do so until its consummation; until
Zion arises and puts on her beauti-
ful garments, and all the great
events of the last days are accom-
plished. Then, in the morning of
the first resurrection, Brother Pitt
will come forth, and he and his
family will be reunited, and they
and all the faithful will receive
their exaltation. This is a glorious
thought! We should prize our
families, and the associations we
have together, remembering that if
we are faithful we shall inherit
glory, immortality and eternal life,
and this is the greatest of all the
gifts of God to man. [Doctrine and Covenants 14:7]
I pray that God will bless you,
that he will comfort the hearts of
the family of Brother Pitt, that he
will feed and clothe them, and
unite them together, and preserve
them in the faith, that when they
get through with this world, they
may meet their companion and be
prepared with him to receive exal-
tation and glory, which may God
grant in the name of Jesus, our Re-
deemer, amen.