Pulpit

The Mistake of Saying Too Much

Orson F. Whitney, General Authority

1919 October General Conference·First Day Afternoon Session·1919-10-03

The Mistake of Saying Too Much

When General Young related the anecdote of the sectarian minister who said, "I have not had time to prepare a sermon, and shall therefore have to depend upon the Spirit of the Lord," I thought, what a pity that minister did not know where to stop. Had he been content with saying, "I have not prepared a sermon," he would have escaped the ludicrous situation resulting from his having said a little too much. It reminded me of the woman who composed an epitaph for her dead husband. First, she wrote : "Rest in peace," and then added, "until we meet again." (Laughter.)

Why America Was Discovered and This Nation Founded

If there is one thing I am proud of, it is that I am a Latter-day Saint, or one who professes the principles of a Latter-day Saint ; and, next to that, I am proud of being an American. I love my country, I love its institutions, and desire with my whole heart that our glorious nation shall go on to the fulfilment of its God-given destiny.

I believe God inspired Columbus to discover this land, that a nation might rise and flourish here — a nation dedicated to freedom and equal rights, including the right to worship God in obedience to the dictates of conscience; and I believe that this nation was founded that the great work of God might come forth and not be crushed out by the tyranny of men.

I believe, also, that what God has committed to us, both as a Church and as a Nation, we owe to the rest of mankind, so far as they can be induced by peaceful persuasion to accept our principles. This Church has a mission to evangelize the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ, "the perfect law of liberty ;" and I have always dreamed that our Nation has a mission not merely to receive into its bosom the outcast, the refugee, the oppressed of other nations, but also to leaven with American principles the rest of the world.

"Liberty Enlightening the World"

At the mouth of New York harbor there stands a mammoth statue — a woman holding aloft a torch. This statue, the gift of the French republic to the American republic, is entitled "Liberty Enlightening the World." I regard that as a prophecy of the mission of America; and I desire that the prophecy shall be fulfilled.

The United States Typical of a United World

In the Constitutional Convention, when the fundamental law was framed upon which the State of Utah now stands, I stood for Woman Suffrage, because I believe it to be a principle of freedom and justice, and I there voiced the conviction that the union of these states was a type and a foreshadowing of the union of the nations of the world. Somehow I drank in this idea from my boyhood. I cannot see it in any other light.

Lowell on Freedom

I am heart and soul in sympathy with those beautiful lines of Lowell's, entitled "Stanzas on Freedom," inspired by an incident that happened during the Civil War. A poor negro woman had escaped from bondage, and had made her way into the State of Massachusetts, "the cradle of freedom." The law provided for the return of a fugitive slave, and she was pursued, apprehended, and dragged back into slavery. This incident so fired the soul of James Russell Lowell that he poured forth this indignant and eloquent protest :

Men! whose boast it is that ye Come of fathers brave and free, If there breathe on earth a slave, Are ye truly free and brave? If ye do not feel the chain, When it works a brother's pain, Are ye not base slaves indeed, Slaves unworthy to be freed?

Women! who shall one day bear Sons to breathe New England air, If ye hear, without a blush, Deeds to make the roused blood rush Like red lava through your veins,

For your sisters now in chains, — Answer! are ye fit to be Mothers of the brave and free?

Is true Freedom but to break Fetters for our own dear sake, And, with leathern hearts, forget That we owe mankind a debt? No! true freedom is to share All the chains your brothers wear, And, with heart and hand, to be Earnest to make others free!

They are slaves who fear to speak For the fallen and the weak; They are slaves who will not choose Hatred, scoffing, and abuse, Rather than in silence shrink From the truth they needs must think; They are slaves who dare not be In the right with two or three."

Amen.

Cite this talkOrson F. Whitney, "The Mistake of Saying Too Much," 1919 October General Conference, First Day Afternoon Session (1919-10-03). Pulpit Vault, 1919-10-46-orson-f-whitne-y-remarks-46. Authoritative print text from archive.org.Pulpit Vault, edition of 23 September 2026 (commit 4bdc6ac627).
Elsewhere in the corpus
  1. 1918Is true freedom but to breakOrson F. Whitney¶ 12
  2. 1916Strong Condemnation of the Use of Intoxicants and TobaccoHeber J. Grant¶ 12
  3. 1915The Gospel -- Its Scope, and the ResponsibilityOrson F. Whitney¶ 12
  4. 1882The Gospel's Restoration Its Priesthood and Principles The Saints Misrepresented The Mormon War Comparative Statistics The Impending Judgments of God Duties of the Saints A Warning to Their Oppressors The Wickedness of the World Exhortation to RighteousnessJohn Taylor¶ 4
  5. 1882The Mighty Mission of the Saints God's Dealings With the World in Ancient and Modern Times God's Authorship of Creation and Right to Rule Man's Agency, the Gospel and the Gathering Its Attempted Suppression, Contrasted Statesmanship The Mother of Harlots and Her Daughters The Political Situation in Utah The Rights of Man, the Supporters and Subverters of Law and Order Religious Intolerance and Political Injustice The Latter-day Saints the Future Saviors of America The Edmunds Act and Its Unjust Operation Reverend Falsifiers and Their Dupes Exhortation to the Priesthood and the PeopleJohn Taylor¶ 4

Passages elsewhere in the record that speak where this talk speaks — nearest first, found by comparing paragraph texts. Each opens at the cited paragraph.