| OCR Text |
Show SAINTS OBSERVE mrcpui Handredth Inniversary of the Birth of Fou n dor of Mor- monism. THOUSANDS GATHER IN THE BIG TABERNACLE Great Auditorium Filled With Children in Morning, Older People in Afternoon. Tho ceutennary of the birth of the founder of Mormonism. the prophet Joseph Smith, was celebrated by some y,-(OO y,-(OO Saints at the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Sunday. The structure has been the scene of -many historic assemblages, but aa one ..' the orators said, yesterday marked an epb'en In churoh history. The morning exercises ware conducted under the auspices aus-pices of 1 iberty. Pioneer, Ensign and Salt Lake stake Sunday-schools. Charlos B. Kell presiding About Kmu scholars gathered In the building at 10 a. m. nncl together with their teachers and friends made up a vast congregation, reaching Ki.fjrai. As mntiv penple alti-nded the after-noou after-noou aervlces. Which were under the allspices" 'of the presidencies of the fmir stakes named, John It, Winder assjumlng direction and Bishop O. F. Whitney being l3i principal sneaker. Hnndsonie Decorationr The decorations w-re of n most pretentious preten-tious character Thr rrg;in front whs beautifully draped with light blue and on the celling of the west end Ol the building. build-ing. Immediately over the ,-hoir and the .beakers' stnnd. was spread a canopy of ihe sante mr.terlal studded with silver i-taiK which dazzled in the everchanging light, and on the right ..f the organ wa s large eiei trie star, emblematlt of the stur of Bethlehem On the front of the .rgan electrical Illuminated, were the words The GHory of God is Intelligence " the Bunday-schdol motto, ind high up. suspended from the coiling, was emblazoned emblaz-oned the sentiment of the si a son i e -on Earth Oo.d Will to Men Pestoons decked wltli evergrceini and holly w.-re swung around the choir and speakers t.ind, and th' front of the entire gallery was draped with white, this being the jirevaillpg color From the ire lights hung large wreaths lii the cental pf each wen large peri Christmas bells and the effect produced was a particularly hrllllnnl one Morning Service. There was no confusion In the seating if ih. children They were arranged in th-' building aa follows On south side ,,f auditorium Pioneer .-tak". n north M.le Salt Lake: in the south gallery, the Liberty Lib-erty and In the north, Ensign takc. On the speakers' stand the presidents of the stakes anil their counselors oc upled scats To the right sat the members of the stake board? und on the aft thr honored guests, those who -had met und kno th prophet In his lifetime. Promptly at 1" 10 th.- service began Ith the rendering of a Christinas carol bv the assembled Sun-dav-schools Prayer by President John R. Winder followed The .school children again raise 1 their vnlcs in song, 'Par Par Aw. iv on Judea's Plains " the swei't, fresh voices blending in beautiful harmony. har-mony. President Felt Greets Them. President celt then extended a greeting to all present He said that "this winter's win-ter's morning markcu ., dux thai they believed be-lieved would be a i hurch epoch In that It wa,s the Hundredth anni ersary of the birth of their prophet, Josotph Smith, who under the Lord Jeus Christ has established estab-lished this i hur. h In these la.-l da.s t.. i iriy out the righteous purpose of the Heavenly Father, We have met with oui hearts full of gratitude ' he concluded. W'c htte before us the i hristmas thle with Its Joys and happiness Indulged In by all the Christian world and In addition lu that we who have been blest with the testlmon of the gospel restored have an additional cause for rejoicing and out-hearts out-hearts to be overflowing With gratitude to our Heavenly Father that He ha6 so greatl blest us and permitted us to tako part In the commemoration of the eventful event-ful ear of 10Q ears ago.': He congr.itnlated those who had been special 1 inltcd and who had met the prophet He rejoiced that Qod called In this last dispensation a humble boy to bring to the world the mission of eternal life, und he rejo'ced that tiro work had been so successful!) carried on by those who had succeeded him In that high and holy palling Miss Babcock's Story. 'Let the Children Come to Mr. a pretty duet, wae rendered by Esther Davis, Da-vis, and Beatrice Williams. Miss Maud May Babcock gae a story. "Two Birthdays' Birth-days' it was a scriptural recitation of notable events since the creation down to the birth of rhrlst und of the prophet Joseph, and emphasizing the Mormon belief be-lief that Christ was not born on December Decem-ber 25. but on the 6th of April. The children joined with her In reciting some of the tenets of the creed. An Alarming Incident During the recital of Mt s Babcock's story .an unexpected and somewhat alarming incident Interrupted. John A. Rlgdon, one of the honored gijepts, was overcome hy the heat and fainted and was borne from the h'llldlng by four of the ushers. W h'-n they reached the open air restorative? were applied and lie soon recovered consciousness und was taken home M Rlgdon who Is f years old i a son of Sidney Rlgdon one of the wit- neasefl to the Book of Mormon, hut who subsequent! apostatised Dr. Talmagc's Address. After the singing of "Joseph Smith s First Prayer' iy the assembled Bunday-schools. Bunday-schools. Dr. James E Tglmage, who had .. leave the meeting early, was called "P'in t.. c-zy A Word to the Children." In thr course of Ids address, which was a brief one, he said that Lttter-day points, like man) others In the i hristlan world, believed that Christ was born in the sprinK of the year Rut that mattered little; the work oi Christ vas of great Importance than the day of his birth. He was born in Bethlehem. was crucified, and the record was abundant that he w IS eeen after he had risen from the dead it was presumption to celebrate the birth of Joseph Smith on tlvit day or to to I that set aside for tho birth of Christ The: did honor to the birth of Christ, and In doing that honor thev also honored him whom he sent in the nineteenth r. n-tur n-tur to re-establish the work which Christ began. Luster to Chvistmastule. We glic luster tO the Christ ma st ide b" honoring the prophet's name." he said, and by honoring those who have stood iqd 'lone the wrli of Christ, a. ting and ruffering in his name and lalng down I i heir lives for ns name There is no ,i. about th. results of the work of trie prophet The words of the false prophet il'. the works ot the faKe prophet come to an end, hut the work of i lie prophet who speaks In the name of nnil are works that will live and his Words are words that will never die, and such arc the works and words of the firophet whose narne today we honor. A iundred years hence sWeeter must, win be sung In tils name and a greater monu ment win b- erected to him because his work is a part of the terur.i God." Concert Recitations. The Pioneer stake Sunday-schools then rendered 'Jppctrlne and Covenants. Sec tlon 76, verses 1-6. ' led by James N. Lambert. Lam-bert. Then followed the recitation of "The Testimony of Three witnesses 1 bj Salt Lake stake Sundav -schools, led b A C. Reese; "The Beatitudes " Book of Mormon, IIL Nephl verses 8-12 by Liberty Lib-erty stake Sunday-schools, led by n D, t- oHoin ..ml 'Tie Articl f Kalth," l.n- slgn tniu Sunday-schools, led by Henry Wallace. Musical Number?. "The children's Friend" was a solo splendidly nnd-red by C f-1 D Pypcr John J McCleilan's oris-nti SOlO, ' The Enchanted En-chanted Beiis. Was a masterly piece "t work, as was L. P. Christ em cnV- cornet solo. "The Ho t ity " with piano und violin accompaniment. . . horns was ghen by the Pioneer stak-- Sunday-schools, Sunday-schools, "One Hundred Years " and the choral part of the programme Closed with th- assembly ldlntng in the rendition of Sing the Vvonderous Song." Before the pronouncing of ihe y ni dli tlor president winder announced that then w iid he i hristmaa service's In tlu Tabernacle Tab-ernacle today at 11 o'clock He also impressed im-pressed pleasure at ihe presence "i so man;, ihllJren. The services closed With prayer b Elder GFoOrge Reynolds. Afternoon Session. A matrnlfleent assemblage T adults par-ticlpuicrl par-ticlpuicrl In tin- celebration exercises in the al tei noon Ulshop O 1" hnic w the only orator. I-: H. Roberts was nn- npuncod on '.he progmmmi lor an address, ad-dress, but he did inn speak and no apology Of explanation of his absence was given. The Choral Service. Professor McCIellon Opened the exercises exer-cises with an organ prelude, and Che choir, of which tie:, was a lull attendance attend-ance followed wlih the hymn "Joseph the Blest," words by L. L. Greene Richards, Rich-ards, music by Evan Stephens Elder Joseph E Tayjor offer ed the invocation and the choir sang 'Vermont the Birthplace Birth-place of Patriots," words by Bishop Edwin Ed-win F. Parry, mu.d. hy EVan Stephens. 'The Beer" was i beautiful number given by Prof. Charles K. u. The hymn is from th pen if Presldi nt John Taylor, Tay-lor, the music was selected. Address by Bishop Whitney. Bishop whitnc then addressed the congregation con-gregation and delivered himself of an ."i- drese which occupied the attention of his hearers for ao hour and thirty minutes. H was principally of the visions and manifestations beheld by the prophet Joseph and of the apOStae) of all the other church' s from the true religion. In the course (,f hi discourse he said. "A prophet of 'JoJ 700 years before the p-pearance p-pearance of the savior outlined the mission mis-sion of another prophet of Qod who stands nt the head of the last dispensation dispensa-tion and whose mission H was to Inaugurate In-augurate the work which the world calls Mormonlsm; a marvelous wm k and a wonder in every deed, ushered in by miracle, mir-acle, bv spiritual manifestation as startling start-ling and as stupendous as any recorded within the pages of holy writ A work loved and labored for as sealo'uslj as any Of the ether causes of God In any age not excepting the mission of our 1 ord and Savior in davs of old Stand on the Present ' We stand today upon the narrow tencc of the present, and on either -a.ie rolls the ocean of the eternal pa-i and the eternal future Wc stand, too, betwixt two notable anniversaries. Nineteen hundred hun-dred and five years ago when comes tomorrow to-morrow our Savior resus 1 hrl-i was horn In the manger at Bethlehem In Judea and a hundred years ago yesterday opened his eves upon the light of this work the prophet, Joseph Smith; born at Sharon Windsor countv. Yt. Before passing on to the consideration of th life w'ork of this prophet and the marvelous work and wonder which he was chosen to Introduce, I wish to su a few words upon the respective re-spective mission of these two great cha'r- a..-toT Revere Prophet's Memory, , J wish to make It plain at the outset that we do not wJLs)i to Institute any parallel betw;ecn them. We do nut worship wor-ship Jos. ph Smith: wc do worship jisus chrlst He to us is the Gcid of Heaven manifest in the flesh, the soul begotten thr- Savior of the world. But w- revere the memory ot the prophet who was i to i-en i-en by Jesus Christ to come as his fore-ltinner fore-ltinner in the lust davs, and to Institute H work a marvelous work, that is to prepate this world for ih second and glorified coming of the Son of Qod Gentiles Not All Philosophers. "One of the marvels in connection with tins work l meet is that it does not commend com-mend Itself to the Intelligence of the wise and the learned without exception throughout the world, i cannot understand under-stand why they pass by as nothing of not? this great and mighty problem, Mormonlsm. 1 do not bellevi ll is a i ase that all the Intelligence all of the wisdom wis-dom Is outside the church of Jesus hrist. I do not believe that llo- Gellllhs are all philosophers and the Mormons who were once Gentiles all fools. Then is i better explanation ot' what it is it is this, that the things of G'Od knOWeth rvi man without the spirit of "Toil and human wisdom wis-dom cannot, however intelligent, grasp and comprehend the divine and pi ctillar heritage of the chlldr n of cod wno nave embraced the gospel and viewed th. Hop, Ghost Is that thev shall comprehend the things of God which human wisdom . m-not m-not understand Mormonlsm Is full of beauty, full of sublimity, full ol grandeur of science, of philosophy, but It Is only to be comprehended by those who have par-tak par-tak ii of this sulrit Wise Lack Undei standing. "I say It is almost rt wonder to me that the wise and the learned do not understand under-stand it, but the problem is made plain when we read the words oi Gpd and understand un-derstand th- prondse thai h. has marie I believe that the principles and body "f this marvelous work would commend themselves to the world more than they do were it not for the gr. at claim put forth In connection with them thai thev were revealed from God out of Heaven, and that th -y were not th. result of human hu-man wisdom and human research There Is a prejudice against such B thiiifc;. When men claim to he inspired th an Immediately Imme-diately shunned and when one comes forth no matter what lie teacht - no matter how wise good and praiseworthy it miiy he. if he claims that he originated himself or loarm d li from i ks ll would be acceptable, it would be given at least a respei tfni hearing; but when w claim that the Heavens have opened and God has spokrn again the world shuis lbs i irs and pr. t'trs the I ihh ol Ms own imagining imagin-ing to the principles of the truth of the living God, and that accounts for the rejection of this marvelous work. And yet there had to be sin h a work or the Bibl- Ik not true. I rav 11 predicted such a work. Mormonlsm hid to be miraculous or it would not have been and would not be the work of the living God." Mormouism the Old Doctrine. The speaker then took up tin- visions, revelations and iiianlfetsttloiu civ en the prophet glviner them seriatim and In detail. de-tail. He held that the world had departed de-parted from the true gospel and that Mormonlsm gave back to the world what the Bible hod taught and It was simply a matter of returning to the old gospel tailed today b 8 new name. Mormonlsm. All that was claimed for Mormonlsm Is that it Is the everlasting gospel brought back again for the .i -t lime 0i ihins,s his own prophets, the people had the right to sustain their own presidents The Mormon church has direct power from I Heaven and consequently is the ohly church r-mpowend to administer the saving sav-ing ordinances to mankind ll- attacked itir doctrini ol thi church which would consign the child to hell and kjvo the murderers. Then was salvation for all. and he refi nred to the tenoj of baptism for the dead and closed with the assertion asser-tion that the hurch will accomplish Its purpose In spite of all that men and devils can do against It. The Closing; Service. An organ selection was next given and a ttiartette consisting of Lottie Owen. Mabel Cooper ; i Pyper and Horace Ensign sang t"ne Hundred Years ' At I hi ' lose ,,f the singing of the anthem, "Gospel Restoration," Apostle Ctawson pronounced the benediction and the con- K i .-satloii disp' r.e.J |
