I, also, my brethren and sisters, rejoice in

I, also, my brethren and sisters, rejoice in the testimonies which the brethren have given us during this conference, and in the instructions and admonitions which have been presented. I rejoice in the just emphasis which the restored Church places upon principles and practices among men ; that God is no respecter of persons, as is indicated in the revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, in the fifty-sixth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, in giving warning to the rich man and warning also to the poor man. ¶

It is a matter of continued satisfaction that we have the right view of education. The president of the greatest university in the United States, so far as numbers are concerned, has defined education to be the capacity of a self-conscious being to adapt himself to environment and the power to change that environment. That environ- • ment he divided in two classes — the well known physical and, more important than that, the spiritual; — having to do with what makes up the so-called civilization of mankind, man's art, his science, his literature, his institutional life and, last but not least, his religion. So the president of that great university, Columbia, makes a plea for religious training and our Church is successfully solving that problem of giving religious training without impinging upon the rights of other religionists to have in our public schools neutrality so far as sectarian Christianity is concerned. ¶

I rejoice in the teachings of the Church that this land of ours is God-protected ; that it has a special mission ; that it is governed by a constitution formed by wise men, raised up for that purpose; and that the Doctrine and Covenants gives us the essentials of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, expressed in these instruments, to the effect or in substance that all men are free and equal, and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. I rejoice in the further fact that the boys of this Church, as also the boys of this state and of this Nation, have performed a noble part to perpetuate these principles in the world. When they went forth in foreign lands, singing: ¶

God is in his judgment seat, Christ is on his tree, And Pershing's men are marching — Marching into Picardy;" ¶

they had the true spirit of the Crusaders of old, who were willing to battle to the death to rescue the sacred sepulchre from the hands of the Saracens. I feel proud of the work that our boys did — the work of General Young and others. I have felt that it was indeed providential that that splendid body of men, grouped as they were, were not required, in the providences of the Lord, to undergo a baptism of fire and of death in the great conflict in which they were willing to make the supreme sacrifice, and should have credit for their willingness as fully as though the deeds had been performed. These men and we ourselves, I feel sure, cannot realize the importance of the work which has been done to sustain these great principles in the world. The "Mormon" Battalion boys, as we familiarly call them, did not realize the sublime service, for this state, and for this intermountain country, which they performed in 1846-7. They were not permitted to live long enough to have a view of the full glory which was theirs; but, like Moses, were permitted only from afar to view the promised land. These men did not fully realize the glory which their posterity will receive from the works of their fathers. It is true that they heard their general say that history might be searched in vain for a like march of infantry; that they had heard General Kearny say, as repeated by General Cooke, that Napoleon had crossed the Alps, but that these men had crossed a continent ; and after the lapse of all these years we begin to get a true perspective of the sublime work of these soldier citizens. Purely as a civic move our legislators have provided for a beautiful monument for these men, by appropriating $100,000, and men not of this Church have been just as active and some of them more active, perhaps, than Church men, in the securing of this great tribute. ¶

If time permitted I would like to read some of the remarks which one not of our Church has made in reference to the sublimity of this monument ; but there is only remaining time for me to express the thought that our people will do honor to themselves in contributing to this monument, as they, will realize as they learn the real accomplishment of these Battalion men; and that in the future they will be doing like credit and honor to themselves to rear a more costly monument to the memory of the boys who have been willing to make the supreme sacrifice for their country and for the world. I am sure that their labors will not be in vain; that there shall be no retrograde movement; that the history of international law and the world will not contain a chapter showing that while steady although slow progress was made through all the centuries of the past; that when we came to this enlightened Christian age, an age in which the restored gospel was received, that a retrograde movement set in, and that progress in the great branch of the law known as international law ceased and that, there was a backward turning. I think that in the providences of the Lord the fruitage of the seven and a half millions of lives lost in the war will not fall to the ground and be futile, but there shall be a sublime and divine fruitage by the establishment in all the world of these principles for which the Constitution stands, an instrument given to us by inspired men, and designed to secure immortality to the work of man, so far as immortality can be imparted to -human institutions. ¶

Now there is only sufficient time for me to drop a word of testimony. I concur in the testimonies which my brethren have so sublimely and strongly given ; and in addition I testify to the great joy that I have had in the past thirteen and a half years by being closely associated, in travel and in the work of the ministry, with these men whom, in a few minutes, you shall uphold your hands to sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators. I am a witness that they have been warned of danger that was unforeseen by mere human wisdom ; that they have prophesied of unusual things which have come to pass that the sick have been raised under their administration, and that they have administered the word of the Lord as meat in due season to the people, and the people have had a refreshing of the Spirit under the ministrations of these my brethren. It has been my privilege to travel more, I think, with President Grant than with any other one member of the Twelve or the First Presidency, except perhaps the late Hyrum M. Smith; and I have learned to love very much Presi-, dent Grant for his courage, for his frankness, for the simplicity and strength of his life, and for his faith. My first thought before I was acquainted with him was that he would be more sympathetic with the richer than with the poorer people, but I soon learned how badly I was mistaken in reference to that. I rejoice that he has been called into this high position to preside over this Church, and I have the fullest confidence in the success of his administration. May the Lord bless him and his counselors and the Twelve, who have treated me so generously, as generously as my own father could possibly treat me. Brother Grant has always treated me as generously as he would treat himself, and the other brethren, particularly the older brethren, and some of those who have departed, have been indeed fathers to me. I rejoice in my associations with them and with the Church, and I pray the blessings of heaven to be upon us all, in the names of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶