Sunday School Instructions and Commendation of the Choir

I shall not attempt, particularly, to dwell upon any subject. I shall perhaps make but a few remarks. ¶

I desire to say a word or two in praise and commendation of the Ogden Tabernacle choir. In looking at the faces, especially of the brethren, I find that the choir is largely composed of young men, of youths; and this has made an impression upon my mind which is highly commendable to the people of Ogden and to the Ogden Tabernacle choir. I wish I could say as much for the Salt Lake Tabernacle choir, although we have a number of young men connected with the Tabernacle choir; yet we have a very heavy sprinkling of the good old fathers and stand-bys who have been associated with it almost from time immemorable. I am glad to see them there, but I would . like to see a greater interest manifested in the art of singing by our young men, and I am glad to see the example that is set before us this evening in the choir from Ogden. I have not looked at the ladies so much. ¶

I am naturally a little timid about looking at the ladies, but I notice that there is a large number of them that are also quite young, and I am proud of it, and I am proud to say that I discover that I have a few kinswomen myself in the choir from Ogden. I recollect on one occasion attending a conference, and we had a nice choir, in fact, I think about one of the nicest choirs I ever did see, because they were all ladies except one. There was one middleaged man connected with the choir, who was present during a portion of the conference, but he wasn't there all the time. And the choir was led by a lady, and the singing was all done by the sisters, and it was very beautiful, very delightful and enjoyable indeed. But 1 happened to inquire why it was that we did not have some of the young men in the choir, and I was informed that the young men of the community thought it beneath their dignity to sing, and it reminded me of a saying of Dr. Talmage (not our Dr. Talmage, but the wonderful Dr. Talmage of New York)— a particular friend of the "Mormon" people, you know. (Laughter.) The gentleman who was going to herd all the "Mormon" people in to the Tabernacle and Temple and then open the guns of Port Douglas and put an end to them. Nevertheless, he said one good thing while he was lecturing here in the Theater. He said something like this, that a man that could sing and wouldn't sing ought to go to Sing Sing, and I always remembered it. And I am greatly pleased to see our young people taking an interest in choir singing, and I congratulate Brother Ballantyne in having the beautiful voices that he has to assist him in his choir. Certainly not only the citizens of Ogden have occasion to be proud of the Ogden Tabernacle choir, but all the Latter-day Saints have; and I need not repeat here what I have said many times before, that all Israel have reason to be proud of the Salt Lake Tabernacle choir. And then there are a great many more choirs among the Latter-day Saints who deserve the praise and the' pride of the Latter-day Saints. I am sorry to be under the necessity of expressing my deep regrets at the departure from among us, since the last meeting of this conference six months ago, of one of our most faithful, energetic and intelligent laborers in the Sunday school cause. We have been called upon to part with one of our best men, one of our truest men, a man in whom all men could place confidence and have no fear that they would ever be deceived or feel that they had misplaced their confidence. It is but recently that we have carried to his last resting place our beloved brother, Leonard John Nuttall, who was one of the most faithful workers in the Sabbath school. I sincerely hope that we shall not be called upon to part with any others that are still here among us until we shall have the pleasure of meeting again in this building six months hence. ¶

The attendance at this conference and the attendance at this meeting is phenomenal. I do not remember ever before seeing so many people together on an occasion like this. The body of the hall is almost filled, besides the great numbers in the gallery. ¶

I sincerely hope that the instructions that have been given us by Dr. Talmage and by Brother Joseph M. Tanner, will sink deep into our hearts, and that we may be able to draw the distinctions that have been so clearly defined by these able speakers, that we may understand the difference, the real difference, between true religion and undefiled before God, the Father, which is "to visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world" and the theology of the world; theology, speaking of it in words used by the learned divines of the present day, in which they profess their faith in that which they call energy, and call it God. Now, surprising as this may be to you, and surprising as it was to me to learn this fact, I had an opportunity of sitting in the tabernacle of Henry Ward Beecher in Brooklyn — since his death — and listening to the Rev. Lyman Abbott deliver one of the most eloquent discourses I ever listened to, eloquent in words, eloquent in figure, and very beautiful in expression; and the summing up of the whole discourse was, that the thing that he worshiped and the thing that he called God was nothing more and nothing less than energy. Now that may be theology, but it is not true religion. It is false religion, if you can call it religion at all. Then the difference between the practical religion of Jesus Christ, based upon the doctrine, "Whosoever heareth these words of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a man who built his house upon a rock, and when the storms descended and the winds blew and beat upon the house it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock." This is true religon, and it is very different indeed from the religion of the people of the world, who worship the Lord only knows what, for they themselves do not know. The fact of the matter is, they have confessed it as a part of their religious belief, that to know God would be to destroy God. God, in order to be God, must be incomprehensible to man, and therefore the moment that a man could comprehend Deity, He would cease to be God. I read that many years ago as being the thought of some very learned theologians. And yet it is said in the scriptures, "To know Thee, the only true and living God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent, is life eternal." And if we can only attain life eternal by knowing and understanding the only true and living God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent into the world, we must not worship energy. Neither must we come to the conclusion to rest on the idea that God is something incomprehensible, not describable, something that fills the immensity of space, without form or fashion, and yet so small that He can dance a jig on the point of a cambric needle. Now that may be theology, but it is not reliigon. ¶

Just a word or two in relation to our children and to their training at home, as also the training that they should receive carefully in the Sabbath schools. ¶

Parents, in the first place, whether .they do it or not, should love and respect each other, and treat each other -with respectful decorum and kindly regard all the time. The husband should treat his wife with the utmost courtesy and respect. The husband should never insult her, he should never speak slightingly of her, but should always hold her in highest esteem in the home, in the presence of their children. We do not always do it, perhaps; some of us, perhaps, do not do it at all. But nevertheless it is true that we ought to do it. The wife, also should treat the husband with the greatest respect and courtesy. Her words to him should not be keen and cutting and sarcastic. She should not cast slurs or insinuations at him. She should not nag him. She should not try to arouse his anger or to make things unpleasant about the home. The wife should be a joy to her husband; and she should live and conduct herself at home so that the home will be the most joyous, the most blessed place on earth to her husband. This should be the condition of the husband and the wife, the father and the mother within the sacred precincts of that holy place, the home. Then it will be easy for the parents to instil into the hearts of their little children, not only love for their fathers and their mothers, not only respect and courtesy toward their parents, but love and courtesy and deference between the children at home. The little brothers will respect their little sisters. The little boys will respect one another. The little girls will respect each other, and the girls and boys will respect each other, and treat each other with that love, that deference and respect that should be observed in the home on the part of the little children. Then it will be easy for the Sunday School teacher to continue the training of the child under the hallowed influence of the Sabbath school; and the child will be tractable and easily led, because the foundation of a correct education has been laid in the heart and mind of the child at home. The teacher can then help the little children brought up under these proper influences, to render respect and courtesy to all men and especially to the unfortunate, the aged and the infirm. If we could only bring up our children in this way at home, and this home influence be extended in the Sabbath schools as well as in the day schools, it would not be long before children would meet a cripple in the street with reverence and pity. They would express the very picture of sympathy In their faces, and their souls full of love and sympathy would go out for the unfortunate. How is it today? Too often it is the case that we see a poor half-demented person, the poor cripple, the aged and infirm, perhaps the ill-clad and uncanny passing along and the boys in the street are abusing them, throwing snow balls at them, perchance throwing stones at them, and doing anything in their power to annoy and make their miserable lives still more miserable; and this because of the want of respect, of sympathy and love that they should feel for the unfortunate. ¶

We have too much of such conduct amongst us; there is too much of it in the world, and there is too little training of children toward respecting all men. ¶

I believe in the example that was set by the illustrious father of our country. On one occasion, it is told of him, as he was passing along with some of his aides, dressed in his uniform as general of the armies of the United States, that he met a colored man. The colored man, most reverently and courteously took off his hat and made a low bow to the general. The general took off his hat and bowed as courteously to the colored man. His associate generals remonstrated with him. They said, "General, it is beneath your dignity to bow to a negro." General Washington turned to them and said, "Gentlemen, I cannot afford to have a negro outdo me in courtesy." So it would be well for us as Latter-day Saints, and as the children of the Latter-day Saints, and as the teachers of the children of this people, to teach courtesy and respect toward all mankind, and implant kindness in the hearts of our children towards the unfortunate especially. There is too little of it. I go along the street here and I see little boys with cigarettes in their mouths; I actually see young men, just budding into manhood with nasty stinking old pipes in their mouths, or with cigars between their teeth, as they walk along the streets. I see boys walk with beautiful young ladies on the sidewalks, smoking their cigars. I think it is contemptible to see boys with cigarettes and pipes and cigars in their mouths, puffing their infamous smudge into the faces of beautiful women. It is abominable. And when I see a man, a boy especially, with a cigar or a pipe in his mouth— the pipe is the worse, it stinks worse and it is. more poisonous, a great deal, than the cigar is, although I have never tried either of them very much; but when I meet a. youth with these attachments, I feel that if I could be justified under any circumstances in passing anyone by with contempt, they are the fellows that I would pass with contempt. I never like to bow or take off my hat to a boy or a young man with a cigar or a cigarette in his mouth. I don't like to bow to a cigarette. I don't like to bow and pay deference to a nasty old stinking tobacco pipe. I think that is more condescending by far than to bow to a courteous gentlemanly man who is unfortunate enough to be colored with a black skin. I have seen many polished gentlemen in my life who have been unfortunate enough not to be white, that is in their skin; but in their hearts and in their manners, in their courtesy and conduct, they were far superior to many of their boasting white brothers. ¶

Teach your children not to smoke. Persuade them not to do it. Watch and look after them, and try to teach them better, and to be courteous and kind. ¶

May the Lord bless you, my brethren and sisters, in your most important duties as teachers in the Sabbath Schools of the youth of Zion. May the Lord guide you by His Spirit. Remember this, that the great difference between the theology that we have been hearing of and true religion is this, that the fruits of the Spirit of God— the fruits of the spirit of true religion — are peace and love, virtue and honesty, and integrity, and fidelity to every virtue known in the law of God, while the spirit of the world is vicious. Read the fifth chapter of Galatians, and there you will discover the difference between the fruits of the Spirit of God and the fruits of the spirit of the world. That is one of the great and chief differences between "Mormonism," so called, and the theology of the world. If "Mormonism" is anything at all more than other religions, it is that it is practical, that the results of obedience to it are practical, that it makes good men better men, and that it takes even bad men and makes good ones of them. That is what "Mormonism" will do, if we will only permit it; to do it, if we will bow to its mandates and adopt its precepts in our lives it will make us the sons and the daughters of God, worthy eventually, to dwell in the presence of the Almighty in the heavens. God bless us and help us to become so; worthy, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶