CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH OF JULY.
An Address by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1854.
Gentlemen and Ladies--Fellow-Citizens,--I arise here to address you a few moments upon a subject which has, perhaps, been worn threadbare by orators, statesmen, and divines, for the last seventy years, in the minds of a great portion of those who have been in the habit of listening to speeches upon the battles of the Revolution, and the causes which put it in motion. The subject has become trite. Every school-boy who reads American history is, perhaps, better versed in it that he could be with anything that I can advance, by pursuing the old beaten track, or continuing in the channel which has been so long worn. Yet I may safely say, with all that has been said, its real merits have scarcely been approached.
The causes which produced the American Revolution were so far behind the vail, that the writers of American history and the orators who expatiate on the subject on occasions like this, and on other occasions, have not acknowledged that it was the Almighty--the invisible and omnipotent hand of him who made the heavens and the earth and the fountains of waters, who worked the secret wires, and opened up the revolutionary scene, to lay a foundation and prepare a people, with a system of government, among whom his work of the last days could be commenced upon this earth.
Persons present to-day may consider that no other country in the world would have allowed the persecutions and oppressions that have fallen upon the work of God in this land, of which many of your have been partakers. But in this you are mistaken; for there is not nation under heaven among whom the kingdom of God could have been established and rolled forth with as little opposition as it has received in the United States. Every species of oppression and opposition, which has aimed at the destruction of the lives and liberties of the members of this Church, has been in open violation of the laws of the country; while, among other nations, the links of the chain of government are so formed that the very constitution and laws of the country would oppose the government of God. This is the case almost without an exception.
I will say, then, the American Revolution had its beginning behind the vail. The invisible providence of the Almighty, by his Spirit, inspired the hearts of the Revolutionary Fathers to resist the Government of England and the oppressions they had submitted to for ages. When ground to dust, as it were, in their mother country, the first settlers in this land looked to the West. They fled from oppression, and planted their standard upon American soil, which was then a wilderness in the possession of savages. The climate, productions, extent, and nature of the country was then unknown to distant nations. It appeared, however, to offer an asylum for the oppressed, even at that early day.
A party escaped from oppression, and landed in Massachusetts; another party, for similar cause, left the mother country, and landed in Connecticut; and so a number of the early States were formed by settlers who fled from their native country through religious oppression. The young colonies grew until they became somewhat formidable, and began to realize that they were entitled to some common national privileges; that they had a right to the protection of certain laws by which their ancestors were protected; and also that they had a right to an equal voice in the making of those laws.
It is my intention to notice a multiplicity of minor circumstances, to portray the tyrannical spirit that prevailed in the English Parliament, and which were only so many sparks to feed the flame of revolution. What was the greatest trouble? The right of making their own laws was denied them by the King and Parliament; and if they made laws, the King claimed the right of abrogating those laws at pleasure, and also appointed officers who could dissolve the National Assembly and levy taxes without the consent of the inhabitants of the Colonies.
These were the main causes of the Revolution. God caused these causes to operate upon the minds of the colonists, until they nobly resisted the power of the mother country. At that time Great Britain stood pre-eminent among the nations of Europe, and had just finished the wars against several of them combined. God inspired our fathers to make the Declaration of Independence, and sustained them in their struggles for liberty until they conquered. Thus they separated themselves from the parent stock; and, as an historian of that age quaintly said, when they signed that Declaration, if they did not all hang together, they would be sure to all <hang> separately. Union is strength.
But how does this Revolution progress? That is the question. Has the great principle that colonies, territories, states, and nations have the right to make their own laws, yet become established in the world? I think if some of our lawyers would peruse the musty statues at large, they would find that there are several colonies of the United States who have seen proper, under the limited provisions then given them, to enact laws for their own convenience; but they suffered the mortification of having them vetoed by the General Congress. Look, for instance, at the statutes in relation to the Territory of Florida, and see the number of laws enacted by that people, and repealed by act of Congress.
It is curious to me that the progress of the Revolution has been so small, referring to that which is produced in the minds of the whole American people. Every organized Territory, wherever it exists, has the same right that the early revolutionary fathers claimed of Great Britain, and bled to obtain,--that is, of making its own laws and being represented in the General Assembly as a confederate power.
This Revolution may possibly increase in the future, and is, no doubt, progressing at the present time. One individual in particular, during the present session of Congress, has become so enlightened as to say in the House. <"You have no business with the domestic relations of Utah;"> and, consequently, I think the principle is making headway.
The United States have increased greatly in power, majesty, dominion, and extent, having half-a-dozen Territories at once already organized, and others calling for an organization. Says the General Government to these organized bodies at a distance, "You may send a Delegate here, but he shall have no voice in the General Assembly; and if you make any laws that do not suit us, we will repeal them, and we will send you a Governor who will veto everything you do that does not exactly suit us." I want to see the Revolution progress, so that the great head of the American nation can say to every separate colony, "Make your own laws, and cleave to the principles of the Constitution which gives that right."
For me to rehearse the battles of Washington, and the incidents in the struggle for freedom which every school-boy knows, would only be to consume time to little advantage. What has been the result? Our forefathers, by their blood, have purchased for us liberty; but as far as the rights of the weak are concerned, the Revolution has progressed slowly. For instance, the Territory of Oregon forms a provisional Government for itself, and then petitions Congress to receive her under their fostering care. The result is, they send them a convoy of Governmental officers, which, by-the-by, never have time to get there; and if they should happen to arrive there, they are unwilling to stay; and thus the people have been left, a whole year at a time, without a regular set of officers. They are deprived of the privilege of voting in favour of or against the officers who are appointed to rule them, and of being heard, through their Representative, in the halls of Congress. Who wants to go there, and not have a voice with the rest of them? Although we have sent a most eloquent gentleman to represent this portion of the American nation, and one who can cry "poor pussy" among them to a charm, yet, at the same time, he cannot have the privilege of voting on any question, however detrimental to liberty and the Constitution.
But the Revolution is progressing, and the time is not far distant when the Territories will enjoy privileges that have been held back for the purpose of pandering to a relict of that monarchy which oppressed the American people. Is it reasonable that people dwelling thousands of miles from the parent Government should not have the same privilege of regulating their own affairs as those who live in its vicinity? It is the same kind of oppression and restraint that was placed upon our Revolutionary Fathers by the King and his Parliament. The American Government has fallen into the same errors, touching this point, as the British Government did at the commencement of the Revolution.
This is what I have to say on the rise and progress of the American Revolution. It is progressing slowly. While the nation is extending itself, and increasing in power, wisdom, and wealth, it seems, at the same time, to remain, in some respects, on the old ground occupied by the mother country in the early settlement of this land. I raise my voice against it, for I love American Independence: the principle is dear to my heart. When I have been in foreign countries, I have felt proud of the American flag, and have desired that they could have the enjoyment of as much liberty as the American people.
At the same time, we have a right to more liberty; we have a right to elect our own officers and have a voice in Congress in the management of the affairs of the nation. The time is coming when we shall have it. The Revolution will by-and-by spread far and wide, and extend the hand of liberty and the principles of protection to all nations who are willing to place themselves under the broad folds of its banner.
These are about the remarks I wished to make, and the ideas that were in my mind. May God bless us all, and save us in his kingdom. Amen.
CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH OF JULY.
An Address by Elder Orson Hyde, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1854.
Respected Friends and Fellow Citizens,--I am called upon, by the wishes and voice of many persons, to be one of your speakers on this ever memorable day. While I congratulate myself upon the honour which you have done me by this selection, I sincerely regret that I am not more amply qualified to answer you expectations. But humble as my efforts may be on this occasion, they are the more freely offered, knowing that the ears and hearts of a generous people will make every allowance for any deficiency that may appear in the style and subject matter of my discourse.
The bursts of eloquence that have thundered from this stand this morning cannot fail to have awakened in the minds of the audience notions and views so enlarged, that it becomes a very difficult task for your present speaker to sustain and carry forward the interest and excitement with which your minds have already been fired by the speakers that have preceded me.
We are met, fellow-citizens, to celebrate one of the most important events that ever embellished the pages of political history--an event of which every American heart is proud to boast, in whatever land or country he perchance may roam--I mean the bold, manly, and daring act of our fathers in the Declaration of the Independence and Sovereignty of these United States,--an act worthy to be engraven in letters of living light upon the tablets of our memory, and to be transmitted to our children, with the sacred charge that they teach it to their children, and to their children's children, till the "stripes and stars" float over every land, and are mirrored on the crest of every passing billow. They had not only the moral courage to sign the Declaration of our nation's Independence, but hearts of iron and nerves of steel to defend it by force of arms against the fearful odds arrayed against them--the well-disciplined armies and mercenary allies of the foolish and tyrannical George the III., King of Great Britain.
The progressive spirit of the times, on one hand, and the chains of cruelty and oppression, on the other, inspired the apostles of American freedom to raise the standard of liberty, and unfurl its banner to the world as a warning to oppressors, and as the star of hope to the oppressed. The very name of American causes a thrill of patriotic devotion to her best interests to quiver in the heart of every citizen of Utah, with a zeal and a pride for the welfare of our country that does honour to the memory of those departed heroes whose ashes are mingled in our soil, and made rich and dear to us by their own blood.
Remember Lexington, and Bunker Hill, and lastly Yorktown, with all the intermediate scenes as narrated in the history of the American Revolution! Remember the immortal Washington, chosen to lead our infant armies through the perils and hardships of an unequal contest, to the climax of victory and the pinnacle of fame! His name, embalmed in the never-dying sympathies of his grateful countrymen, will be heralded in the melody of song "while the earth bears a plant or the ocean rolls a wave." While Columbia's sons and daughters regret and mourn his exit hence in accents like the following--
"Cold is the heart where valour reigned,
Mute is the tongue that joy inspired,
Still is the arm that conquest gained,
And dim the eye that glory fired,"
they will comfort themselves and quiet the pangs of their bereaved hearts by chanting like this--
"Too mean for him in world like this;
He's landed on the happy shore,
Where all the brave partake of bliss,
And heroes meet to part no more."
In those early and perilous times, our men were few, and our resources limited. Poverty was among the most potent enemies we had to encounter; yet our arms were successful; and it may not be amiss to ask here, by whose power victory so often perched on our banner? It was by the agency of that same angel of God that appeared unto Joseph Smith, and revealed to him the history of the early inhabitants of this country, whose mounds, bones and remains of towns, cities and fortifications speak from the dust in the ears of the living with the voice of undeniable truth. This same angel presides over the destinies of America, and feels a lively interest in all our doings. He was in the camp of Washington; and, by an invisible hand, led on our fathers to conquest and victory; and all this to open and prepare the way for the Church and kingdom of God to be established on the western hemisphere, for the redemption of Israel and the salvation of the world.
This same angel was with Columbus, and gave him deep impressions, by dreams and by visions, respecting this New World. Trammelled by poverty and by an unpopular cause, yet his persevering and unyielding heart would not allow an obstacle in his way too great for him to overcome; and the angel of God helped him--was with him on the stormy deep, calmed and troubled elements, and guided his frail vessel to the desired haven. Under the guardianship of this same angel, or Prince of America, have the United States grown, increased, and flourished, like the sturdy oak by the rivers of water.
To what point have the American arms been directed since the Declaration of our National Independence, and proven unsuccessful? Not one!
The peculiar respect that high Heaven has for this country, on account of the promises made to the fathers, and on account of its being the land where the mustard seed of truth was planted and destined to grow in the last days, accounts for all this good fortune to our beloved America.
But since the Prophets have been slain, the Saints persecuted, despoiled of their goods, banished from their homes, and no earthly arm to interpose for their rescue, what will be the future destiny of this highly-favoured country? Should I tell the truth as it clearly passes before my mind's eye, my friends might censure me, and I might be regarded as an enemy to my country. If I should not tell the truth, but withhold it to please men, or to avoid giving offence to any, I might be regarded, by the powers celestial, as the enemy of God. What shall I do under these circumstances? Shall I be guilty of the crime of hesitating for a moment? No. Neither time nor place to hesitate now.
Were I called upon to give evidence before a court of justice in a case to which my own father was a party litigant, the foolish might regard me as opposed to my father, if conscience, justice, and truth directed me to testify against his interest; but the wise would regard me as possessing that integrity that kindred ties could not swerve nor decoy from the truth and facts in the case. My testimony in relation to the country that gave me birth, that gave birth to my father and my father's father, is given upon the same principle, and prompted by a similar motive.
So sure and certain as the great water-courses wend their way to the ocean, and there find their level,--so sure as the passing thunder-cloud hovers around yonder Twin Peaks of the Wahsatch Mountains, and upon their grey and barren rocks pours the fury of its storm, just so sure and certain will the guardian angel of these United States fly to a remote distance from their borders, and the anger of the Almighty wax hot against them in causing them to drink from the cup of bitterness and division, and the very dregs, stirred up by the hands of foreign powers, in a manner more cruel and fierce than the enemies of the Saints in the day of their greatest distress and anguish; and all this because they laid not to heart the martyrdom of the Saints and Prophets, avenged not their blood by punishing the murderers, neither succoured nor aided the Saints after they were despoiled of their goods and homes.
Would to God that we could forget this part of our experience in the land of our fathers! But we cannot forget it. It is incorporated in our being. We shall carry it to our graves, and in the resurrection it will rise with us. Had the United States been as faithful a guardian to the Latter-day Saints as the angel of God has been to them, she would never know dissolution, nor be humbled in dishonour by the decrees of any foreign powers.
I ask no earthly being to indorse this my testimony, or to adopt it as his own sentiment. A little time will prove whether Orson Hyde alone has declared it, or whether the heavenly powers will back up this testimony in the face of all the world.
When Justice is satisfied, and the blood of martyrs atoned for, the guardian angel of America will return to his station, resume his charge, and restore the Constitution of our country to the respect and veneration of the people; for it was given by the inspiration of our God.
One positive decree of Jehovah, respecting this land, is, that no king shall ever be raised up here, and that whosoever seeketh to raise up a king upon this land shall perish. The spirit of this decree is that no king shall bear rule in this country. And the islands contiguous to this land belong unto it by promise, for they are a part and parcel of the land of Joseph, and they geographically belong to it--belong to it by the covenants of the fathers: they also philosophically incline to this nearer and greater land.
Europe may look with a jealous eye upon the movements of this country, and contemplate the settlement and adjustment of a "Western question." But at present there is an Eastern question pending; and it may be wisdom and policy for the United States' Government to press the adjustment of the Western question simultaneously with that of the Eastern question. If the Western question is settled at all, now is the time for the United States to settle it to the best advantage.
In case of a general war, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, which we have every reason to expect, it will be remembered that we have an extensive coast to defend, not only east and southerly, but also in the west. The transportation of troops will be unavoidable; and the sad and melancholy fate of many destined for the western coast by sea, around the southern cape, should admonish the Government to spare no pains or expense to construct a railroad with all despatch across the continent, passing through the head and centre of Utah Territory; particularly as the transportation of soldiers and munitions of war are among the less weighty reasons why a railroad should be constructed, connecting the Missouri river with the Pacific coast.
But to confine ourselves for a moment to things within our own Basin. Since the celebrations, last year, of our nation's birth, two of our great and good men have fallen by the hand of death--Doctor Willard Richards and Patriarch John Smith. In them the citizens of Utah have lost true and devoted friends; the country, patriots; the Church, able advocates and defenders; and large families, kind and affectionate husbands and fathers; also several most excellent men shot down by the hostile savage from his ambush. Much suffering has been occasioned by the Indian war. Many of our crops went to waste last year, by reason of it, which has occasioned rather a scanty supply of food. But thanks be to God, never have the fields of the valleys smiled with such glowing prospects of abundant harvest as at the present time.
It is true that some of our settlements lost almost every head of stock they had, by the Indians, last summer, and have been compelled to cultivate their lands with few horses and oxen; yet the extensive fields of wheat now waving in the breeze and fast ripening in the sun are almost incredible.
Praise and thanksgiving be unto our God! This year we have had peace with the red men, and plenty is about to crown the labours of the husbandman.
If the United Stated are dissatisfied with the expenditure of the twenty thousand dollars appropriated for the building of a State House in this Territory, because a house was purchased that was already built, instead of building one, I have no hesitancy in expressing my conviction that a Government draft on us for the amount would be duly honoured ten days from sight, or ten minutes, perhaps. Our Indian wars and other necessary and indispensable drafts upon our time and money in this new country have prevented us from building a house; and we, therefore, have been under the necessity of purchasing a very good and commodious one, built before our Indian troubles were so serious. My voice would be to pay back the twenty thousand dollars! And as the expenses of the war have been wholly borne by us, without a dime's appropriation for that purpose having yet reached us, we may expect to rely wholly on our own resources and upon the arm of our God.
If we are deemed abundantly able to foot the bill of the entire expenses of the war, pay back the twenty thousand dollars to the Government, build our own State House, or occupy the one already built, and even then support whole omnibuses full of wives and children, though proscribed as we are from the benefits of the Land Bill, the people of the United States must allow that we far excel all other portions of their populations in real smartness.
God and our country, now and for ever, one and inseparable!
SCIENCE OF GRAMMAR, ETC.
A Lecture delivered by Elder Orson Hyde, at the opening of his School in the Council Chamber,
Great Salt Lake City, January 22, 1855.
Ladies and Gentlemen,--the subject that has called us together this evening, to me, is a very interesting and an important one; and I trust that it will be no less so to you, after you shall have understood its import and nature. It is the Science of the English Language.
As this language has been more highly honoured in our day, by the Supreme Ruler above, than any other, in that he hath chosen it as the most beautifully grand and impressive medium through which his mandates could be conveyed to mortal beings here on earth, can we be justified if we remain in a state of indifference with regard to its beauty, its richness, and its strength?
The English language is chiefly derived from the Saxon, Danish, Celtic, and Gothic; but in the progressive stages of its refinement it has been greatly enriched by accessions from the Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and German languages. The number of words which it at present consists of, after deducting proper names and words formed by the inflections of verbs, nouns, and adjectives, may be estimated at over FORTY THOUSAND.
This heterogeneous mass of words, as found in the English vocabulary, when drawn out in line of discourse according to the laws of syntax, and embellished by the force of rhetorical elocution, has made nations to tremble and empires to quake. More glorious conquests have been achieved and victories won by the force and power of language than by all the armed legions that ever marched into the battle-field to meet the foe in deadly conflict. No widow's tear nor orphan's sigh detracts from the splendour of the former; no aching heart is left to curse the brutal policy that bereft it of its dearest earthly object. No plaintive notes from the deathbed of thousands of brave and generous warriors to wrap a nation in garments of deeper mourning; and it remains to be disproven that our future destiny, for weal or for woe, is suspended upon our <very> language. "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
It is too true that this science has been lightly spoken of by men of years and experience; and I must say that it is never pleasing to me to hear anything by way of jest, or in sober earnest, that may be calculated to beget in the rising generation a dislike for this most important branch of education. Should such an influence prevail among our youth, it needs not a prophetic eye to foretell the results. When the present actors have played their parts and retired from the stage, our successors, in the persons of our children, will not be able to keep a proper journal of the events of their time, to speak or write correctly, or to manage and conduct a periodical for the diffusion of that knowledge which it has pleased an all-wise Creator to shed forth from the heavens in our day for the benefit and salvation of man, without foreign aid.
You have, undoubtedly, heard the drunkard speak against drunkenness, the thief against theft, and the profane and profligate person against his course of life, because he has weltered under the smart and sting of his own immoral and criminal acts.
But you never heard the enlightened grammarian speak of this science in terms of the slightest disrespect; and I here predict that you never will, while language remains the agent for the transmission of thought.
The person unacquainted with the science of music, who has no taste or ear for it, might indulge in many slight and ludicrous remarks on hearing a class exercise in some of the first rudiments and rules of the science. But to the skilful musician, his remarks prove not inconsistency or impropriety in the science, but, on the contrary, that he himself is ignorant of it, and also of the path that leads to its attainment. The charms of music consist in the union and harmony of its parts; and when executed by scienced performers, it swells into a melody that holds in spellbound admiration all the finer and more elevated feelings of the soul. But the path that leads to the summit where the flowery charms of this science are wafted on the breath of our most skilful performers, and fall on your ears with such pleasing accents, is winding, steep, and rugged; and it requires patience, perseverance, and industry to gain the eminence.
The music of language consists in the union and harmony of the various parts of speech of which it is composed; and when tastefully selected to clothe a useful thought or valuable idea, and that thought or idea borne to your ear in that dress, awakens emotions almost as vividly pleasing as the maid of your choice, when presented, entwined with the bridal wreath, to receive your most sacred vow.
We are met this evening, ladies and gentlemen, to consider our inclination, strength, and ability to commence or re-commence our journey up the rugged steeps of the "Hill of Science."
The child from five to ten years of age has little or no use for scientific knowledge, from the fact that his childhood bars him against those responsibilities which he is destined to inherit in the progressive periods and stages of his life. But as his mind becomes stronger and more developed by the force of unavoidable circumstances, he is the better qualified to acquire those principles of science which will enable him more successfully to stem the current of opposition in his upward course to moral and spiritual excellence.
Were I now to refer you to our highly-esteemed Governor and President, whose ear for music and language is, perhaps, more acutely discerning than that of any other gentleman present, and ask him if he has not more use for scientific knowledge now, since the increased cares and responsibilities of both Church and State are resting upon him, together with the planning of public works, machinery, and fortifications against Indians, &c., than when he first embraced this Gospel, some twenty-five years ago, and went preaching without "purse or scrip;" and what do you imagine would be his answer? Apply, then, this same principle and course or reasoning to the Church, and what do we discover? When she was in her infancy, she did not attract the attention and gaze of the world. She had little use for scientific knowledge, and little or no time to acquire it; but having become stronger in her intellectual and physical organization, by the force of unavoidable circumstances, such as mobocracy by earth's degenerate sons, and the bounteous blessings of a generous Providence upon the loyal subject of his eternal law, she begins to have greater use for science, and is more eligibly situated to acquire it in these peaceful valleys than when buffeted in the States upon the waves of political strife and religious intolerance, where, perhaps, the first house erected for educational purposes was lighted up by the torch of the incendiary, whose lurid flames cast a sickly glare upon our prospects for scientific pursuits in that country.
We are fast growing into importance, and the eyes of our nations are upon us. Our words and our acts are duly scanned by her officials in private; but if this were all, we should have little to fear. There is, however a Power above, high over all, that scrutinizes all our acts and doings with an eye that never sleeps. We are not only watched over with fatherly care at home, but other nations cast an occasional glance at us. Their kings and their queens dream of us, and God showeth them some things as they are and as they will be. There will be Daniels and Mordecais in their courts, and, no doubt, Hamans too.
The political world is about to fall and crumble in pieces, in consequence of the great amount of repulsion which its parts possess. The religions world also, like Babel's mighty empire, or like the millstone which the angel cast into the sea, will sink in the whirlpools of conflicting interests and sentiments, and her remains be "like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done." As saviours on Mount Zion, and as restorers of every just and holy law, whether emanating from heaven, from nature, or from the legislative councils of earth, let us become qualified to act well our part in the great and eventful scenes that will open to our view, and not sacrifice our birthright at the shrine of an unpardonable indifference in relation to qualifications that come within our grasp.
The rising generation are destined to act a more important part in this drama before us. I therefore call upon them to awake and prepare to do honour to their station, whatever or wherever it may hereafter be, while we yet remain in the chambers of the Almighty, with the ensign of peace gently waving over our heads and plenty in our garners, and our storehouses full.
Think not, my young friends, that you can spend the prime and vigour of your days in the vanities and pleasures of life, and in your more advanced years store your minds with wisdom and knowledge; but let your youthful energies now be devoted to the acquisition of literary and scientific knowledge, that when you arrive to manly strength, dignity, and wisdom, you may call into immediate requisition the fruits of your youthful labours and toil.
Suffer not a sluggardly or indolent mind to induce you to postpone the period for the commencement of scientific pursuits, with the vain and delusive hope that, by-and-by, the principles of education will become so simplified that you can pick them up with as little labour and trouble as you can pick up the cobble stones of the street. All the education you can acquire in this easy way will not be as valuable to you even as the cobble stones; for the latter, when collected and laid up into a fence, form a secure and impenetrable fortress, as is clearly proven by reference to the wall in progress of erection around President Kimball's dwelling. But the former will prove too flimsy and spurious to safely fortify your minds against a thousand evils that will beset you on all sides. The value of an object is often (and not improperly) estimated by the amount of labour and toil required to obtain it. The precious metals are not often found in the streets or highways; but in bye and sequestered places, deeply imbedded in the crevices and subteraneous caverns of the earth. If you will have them, you must dig for them. They will cost you much time and labour; but when obtained, they will richly reward you for all your toil. The gems of the ocean are not found floating upon the flood or ebb tides, but in the bed of the deep blue sea. They are hid from the vulgar gaze of the multitude, and only sought by the few who know their value, and who have courage and resolution enough to embark in the enterprise. Scientific knowledge is hid up in the elements, in the caverns, and storehouses of nature, and is only found by those who seek it with all their heart.
The man who neglects to discipline and train his mind in the science of religion knows but little about God or angels, or the glory of the sanctified. What little he does understand he has borrowed from the labours and toils of others.
The Presidency of this Church are the lovers of learning; and, in my opinion, you, who need it, can take no step in education to please them more than to engage in the study of your own native language. It is the joy and pride of their hearts to see the attention of the people being turned to education. They do not want you to trust to it, however, as to God; but through it they want you to be able to present those truths that Heaven reveals, in that interesting and engaging light that will reflect honour upon you as the agent, upon God as the Author, and upon the Church as the body to be exalted. Lay hold, then, upon education! If you can get it easily, I have no objections. If, upon any principle, you can acquire it in a more easy manner than has been generally adopted in times gone by, you are <doubly> guilty if you do not attend to it forthwith. Show me one person that ever did jump into a brilliant education without labour and toil in self-application, and then I may be converted to the easy method of obtaining it. But lest I may be wrong in some of my views, I would say--If you can get education easily, get it, and be thankful to God for it. If it should prove a laborious task for you, do not be discouraged or relinquish your exertions.
Language, being the science through which the knowledge of all other sciences is communicated, demands our first and most candid consideration; and as the English language combines, in its genius and construction, both strength and beauty to an extent far surpassing that of any other language now in use, we ought, as students of that language, to apply ourselves with a zeal and perseverance commensurate with the superior powers which it possesses.
There are few persons in the world who care not for the appearance of their dress. They generally want their garments of a good material, and to fit them in a becoming manner. Our ideas and thoughts are also entitled to a becoming dress; and it should be our pride to clothe them with the most chaste and beautiful language, that they may hang around our person as jewels of unfading beauty, even as "apples of gold in pictures of silver." We, however, may know the meaning of thousands of the most beautiful words in our language; yet if we cannot discover the legitimate relation they bear to one another, and arrange them in a sentence according to the laws of syntax that govern them, we come as far short of the knowledge of the science of language as the architect of the knowledge of his profession, if he understand not where to place his timbers in a building, after they are furnished at his hand.
Grammar, well understood, enables us to express our thoughts fully and clearly; and also in a manner that will defy the ingenuity of man to give our words any other meaning than that which we ourselves intended them to convey.
In justification of a neglect to acquire a grammatical knowledge of the English language, some have argued that the best grammarians differ in their views of the science; and if the most enlightened upon that subject cannot agree, what evidence can be shown that there is any particular good in it? It is true, that our best grammarians may differ in their views touching some immaterial or technical points in the science. But this cannot disturb or interrupt the great channel or laws of language. Allow me to prove this to you right here. The Utah Library perhaps contains the productions of some hundreds of the best authors of which many countries can boast. These authors all wrote under different circumstance, at different times, in different countries, and upon different subjects; and very probably no two of them could have been brought to a perfect agreement upon every point and principle of grammar. But will the most learned gentleman in this city go into that Library and point out one grammatical error in the writings of any of them? He may, perchance, do it; yet I seriously doubt it. There may be typographical errors found, which may have produced indirect grammatical ones; but a manifest grammatical error can hardly be found. This argument ought to silence every cavil on the subject, in my opinion.
There is no science so universally applicable to practicable purposes as that of grammar. Arithmetic, geography, astronomy, botany, penmanship, chemistry, and philosophy are highly profitable in their respective places. But there is no condition or circumstance in life in which grammatical knowledge is not essential, wherein mental action may be involved. We cannot think, write, or speak correctly upon any subject, without a knowledge of the laws of language.
Some persons, who possess not this knowledge, are vain and confident enough to think that they can detect and correct any error in language by the ear. It is true the persons of a naturally refined taste may, by carefully reading the productions of good authors, and by conversing with the learned, acquire that knowledge of language which will enable them to avoid those glaring errors that are particularly offensive to the ear; but there are other errors, equally gross, that have not so harsh a sound, and cannot be detected without a knowledge of the laws that are violated.
I can hold out no reasons or inducements for you to believe that you can acquire a knowledge of this science by giving it only a casual thought, or by looking carelessly over your lessons. But I tell you, and tell you plainly, that unless you can resolve to make it a steady and laborious occupation, and carry that resolution into effect, you never can understand the merits of this science. Yes, if you will cast parties out of your minds, with all the gossip about fashions, trash, and other nonsense, that too often check the progress of the most laudable and beneficial pursuits, and allow me to have full control of your minds for thirty evenings, from six 'till nine o'clock, and faithfully and truly comply with my instructions touching your duties between schools, I will insure that you will have progressed far enough to enable you to prosecute your studies in this branch successfully to any extent you may desire, without a teacher, even if you know not one part of speech from another at this time, provided you possess that degree of intellect and susceptibility for improvement which are common in society.
Remember, my friends, that you live in a progressive age--an age in which the inspiration of the Almighty is resting upon the world to disclose the principles of science, and bring them to requisition to fulfil his purposes, and they know it not! Remember that to us is committed a more sacred charge--a charge to disclose and proclaim to the perishing nations the principles of eternal life and exaltations, and to gather the ripened sheaves, preparatory to the "feast of the HARVEST HOME." Remember that knowledge is power, and that you now have a little time to acquire it. Forget not that "God helps those who help themselves." Secure learning and virtue and you will be great. Love God and honour him, and you will be happy.
Volume6j
Volume 7
NATURE OF MAN--HAPPINESS--INFLUENCE OF GOD'S SPIRIT UPON MANKIND, ETC.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 3, 1859. Reported by G. D. Watt.