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Show HE M010N PEOPLE 1 US SEEN BY LEVI j EDGAH YOUIUG j An audience that filled the Ogden I Tabernacle to capacity, heard one of ' the most Impressive and inspirational addresses ever given within the por-: por-: tale of that building:, yesterday after- noon, when President Levi Edgar i Young, of the first council of Seventy and professor of history in the Uni- vorsity of Utah, spoke for and hour on the subject of, "What the 'Mormon religion has contributed to American : civilization." The meeting was given under the auBplcee of the Daughters of the Pioneers of Weber county and in the auditorium were many members mem-bers of that organization arid the .Daughters of the Mormon Battalion jwlth their sons and daughters. On the rostrum were seated the executive execu-tive board of th Daughters of the Pioneers, "together with the captains of the different companies, members of the presidencies of the three stakes and, In an especlallv prominent promin-ent position at the north side of the pulpit, a number of pioneers. President Presi-dent W. P. Monson of the Eastern States mission and President John L. iHerrick of the Western States mission mis-sion also occupied seats on the rostrum. ros-trum. After the meeting President Young stated that he had never faced an audience that had .given him more inspiration than the one he had just addressed. The meeting was presided over by .President Mary Richards of the Daughters of the Pioneers and following follow-ing a beautiful organ prelude by Organist Or-ganist Sam F. Whitaker, she welcomed welcom-ed the people to a full enjoyment of the meeting and -announced the first number on the -program to bo the -chorus. "By Bablylon's Wave," by Gounod. The almost perfect rendition of the sublime chorus by the Ogden Tabernacle choir, under the direction io Prof Jos. Ballantyne. see'med to center the thoughts of all present up-Ion up-Ion the theme of worship and the beau-" tiful spirit prevaded the building aft-'or aft-'or the choir was seated, remained unbroken un-broken until the close of the meeting. The Invocation was offered by Mrs. Evelyn Woods and was followed by the rendition of Dudley Buck's "Hymn to Music", by the choir. President Youug was then introduced intro-duced by Mrs. Richards and began his " talk by saying that ho felt weak in speaking upon the subject that had boon assigned him, in that he could " not give, in the time alloted, a recital of even a small percentage of the great things that the Mormon people had contributed to the civilization of America, through the medium of their , religion. That contribution, he said, was their history and that had not yet been written. It is not a history of dates and events, but ono that, through its steady, dally growth, had contributed much to the educational, civic, social and ' religious life of America and the world. He then said that he would take as He then said that he would take as his text the thought, "That which, makes for permanence, makes for righteousness and that whatever is right will live forever." After stating his theme, he turned to the pioneer womeri at his side and said: "In the recital of events of the history of Utah, you have seemingly been forgotten, but some day your, story will be put into a book which will be called "The women of Utah'. It -will tell of the trials through which you passed and the sacrifices which you made in the upbuilding of this Btato and will cause all people to reverence re-verence your memory." He then told of the journey of his own mother, who had been brought across the plains and mountain fastnesses, fast-nesses, by his grandparents, through faith in their religion, and of the part she had played in early pioneer life. Her experience was but typical, Tie said, of all of the pioneer women and the advice sho had given him all through life was, "Don't do a thing before your God, that your God can't bless you for." wan the typical of the teaching received by all Mormon children chil-dren by their mothers. Many people in the audlonce were in tears at the close of his tribute to the mothers of Utah, the speaker himself him-self being filled with an emotion that almoBt forbade the utterance of his thoughts and he closed it by quoting the words of Abraham Lincoln. "The greatest things In American life are the motherB of its children." Continuing, he said that great men or women do not live by dates or events, but live one fundamental, united uni-ted life. Mormon history Is one of civic, economic, social, ethical and greatest of ail, "rellslous" institutions and all together those make up the characters of the tMormop people. The great question of the pioneers was not "What did they have when they came here, but "What have they made since they came?" They had developed, he said, the greatest ideals of civic, economic, religious, social and religious life In the history 01 the American people. After making this statement, he explained the truth In it, by a rehearsal of the method of the church leaders in their blending all of those features of successful community building, by calling the people together and discussing things to be done for their temporal as well as religious welfare, and, In these meetings, he said the women voted on all questions, having equal voice with the men something that had been done in no other commonwealth In the world at that time. Thus was worked work-ed out what has been declared bv James Bryce, and othor noted authorities author-ities on government, the most democratic demo-cratic form of srovernment on Amerl- cratlc form of government on American Ameri-can soil, the only one that compares with It being that of the town government govern-ment of the New England states. In the latter, however, tho women had no voice. Tho Mormons, he continued, were economists. They had the task before be-fore them of conquering nature. By doing It, they came to love the soil and by loving the soil they learned to love its creator. They have con tributed a great deal to American industrial in-dustrial history through living the law of economics. In speaking of the Btrength that is bound to come to tho tijlers of the soil, he quoted from a Bpeech of Benjamin Franklin, during the time of the Inception of the Constitution Con-stitution of the United States In which he said that the love of the soli by the people Is one of the foundations foun-dations of a successful government The constitution of the United States, he said, was the gift of God throughout through-out the ages. He also told of a conference con-ference of the great educators and administrators of government held recently re-cently In Berlin, at which all agreed that "A society based upon agriculture agricul-ture develops the best types of people." At this point, he digressed and gave a recital from the history oC the Mormon battalion, telling how It was called and of how that call war. received. He told of how the heartii of the people, though In sore 'distress at tho times, had welled up with feelings feel-ings of patriotism for tho government under which they lived and how the flower of the band had served their country after they had enlisted In the battalion. Some day. he believed, their deeds would be recognized and a national monument erected in their memory, and their history would bo written in a glorious way. He told of the culture of the early pioneers which had been classed by noted actors, Bingers and speakers, Who passed through Utah 20 to 30 years ago, as having been unsurpassed by any people among whom they had travelled. They were poor, he said, in the thlugB of the world, but rich in intellectual power. There has been no forward evolution In culture and refinement among the Mormon people since those days as has been charged by men who sought to tear down the character of the ploueers, he snid, but Instead, the ways of the world had cropt In among the people and had lowered the average standard stand-ard of culture and refinement. That this condition was true, he deplored, and told his hearers to take as their models the men and women who are fast going into the past. The history of these men and women, wom-en, is a tragic and dramatic story, that will some clay cause the world to look up and call them blessed. In conclusion, he said, that many people knew the Mormon people for their motives and stand for the right, that some day the Mormon missionaries mission-aries were going to teach in the great school of the country and th history of their teachings Avould be written for all the world to see. The social problem will never be solved until the people come back to the love of Christ. After he had concluded his address, Mrs. Richards thanked him on behalf be-half of the congregation, and the final number of the program was the rendition ren-dition of "As It Began to Dawn," by Mrs. Agnes Warner and the choir. The benediction was offered by President John L. Herrick. |