Speakers' Contest: Gospel Affinities

SPEAKERS' CONTEST.

GOSPEL AFFINITIES. BY C. S. BOOTH.

[Christopher S. Booth, son of Geo. H. and Mary Ann Stephen Booth, was born at Jullunder, North-West Provinces, British India, Oet. 21, 1861. He received his early training and education under the Jesuit Fathers, at the St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, India and later completed his studies at the Deveton College, Calcutta, India. Passing the necessary examinations, he entered the British service in the military department;: later taking leave of absence, he visited Africa, South America and the United States. While visiting relatives in Utah, he investigated and embraced the gospel, joining the Church by baptism. Since then he has performed a mission in the interest of the M. I. A., and has been and is now an active and eflacient Sunday School and M.. I. A. worker, being deeply interested in both organizations. He is at present an employee of Z. C. M. I., in the invoice depart- ment. Editors.]

It is asserted that nowhere in this world can be found a peo- ple so thoroughly saturated with their religion as are the Latter- day Saints. Try how they may to disguise the fact, unconsciously it crops out and manifests itself in act and word. Indeed, so powerful, it is said, is the alchemy of their religion that when once a person passes within the charmed circle of its influence, he is never again the same. Touched, as it were, by the magic wand of some omnific necromancer, so imbued do people become with its principles and mysteries that they breathe it in their thoughts,

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sing it in their songs, and live it in their lives. Such is the opin- ion generally entertained regarding the people. This effect is ascribed to various causes —sometimes to fanat- icism, sometimes to priestcraft, but invariably as the outgrowth of ignorance and superstition, because, forsooth, the great mass of this peculiar persuasion have been gathered from the unlearned, the humble, the poor of the earth. The unthinking and prejudiced are satisfied with this explanation, but to the honest and thought- ful there arises the query, "Whence this subtle power of attrac- tion ? Wherein lies the secret of this sublime transmutation ?" The question is reasonable; the answer ready: It is the gospel made manifest in the New and Everlasting Covenant, through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Behold! the days come, saith the Lord that I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah; not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they break, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord : I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be

my people. They shall know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more (Jer, xxxi: 31-35; Heb. viii: 8-13.) And I will give them one heart; and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of, their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God (Ezek, xi: 19-20). Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation; they shall not be- ashamed nor confounded, world without end; (Isa. xlv:17) and they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels My Covenant will I not break nor alter (Mai. iii:17). the thing that is gone out of my lips (Psa. Ixxix: 34). Herein, — then is the reason of this saturation "I will put my law in their inward parts — I will write it on their hearts." Surely there is no enchantment here —neither is there any divination. ''God hath blessed and none can reverse." Israel shall

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be saved with an everlasting salvation. Once in this Covenant, in it forever. If we speak of the covenants or deeds among men, when sealed with the seal of the realm, as inviolably secure, how much more the covenants and deeds, or words of the Most High God !

Is not the reason, then, for this consecration of heart and mind, time and talent, obvious ? The Lord give thee understanding, then, whoever thou art, who hath cried that thou mayest have light from on high to see it, and enter into the deep meaning of this in- explicably solemn subject. This, then, is the gospel which has for us innumerable ele- ments, of attraction and has incorporated within it principles fitted not only to produce these startling changes, but to impart to them stability; not only to guarantee a future salvation, but to com- mence that process here, and insure a glorious exaltation here- after; built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets (Eph. 2: 20) — God's surety to us that he has kept his sacred pledge. A new covenant, but the same old gospel with all its powers, gifts and blessings, that was revealed to Adam, Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, and all the ancient worthies in past ages, and taught by Christ and his apostles up to the time of the universal apostasy when the power and authority were taken from the earth. But, apart from the direct revelations and promises of the Almighty, he has implanted within us a susceptibility to certain appeals Gospel Affinities —foremost among which is "Antiquity." Vastness of duration gratifies our sense of the sublime, inspires us with awe, lifts us into the region of reverence, and chastens and subdues the spirit. We contemplate the great, heaving ocean, and it stirs We within us the ripples of sublimity, because it is old. look with awe to those pillars of heaven— the eternal hills, because of their age. So we stand motionless and speechless when we contemplate the gospel, and try to think of its age — older than the mighty ocean, older than the everlasting hills. Old ? Who knows how old the gospel is —how long it lay in the hollow of God's hand, like a dew-drop within a rosebud, until he carved for it a dwelling place in earth's deep bosom, and there set it to be the everlasting mirror of his own infinitude.

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Its age is beyond the grasp of human intellect, it overpowers and holds us spellbound. When not a billow heaved, not a wild bird sang, not an ancient hill kissed the heavens; when not a ray of light had traveled, not a planet wheeled in space, not a sun burned, then was it — all suffi-

cient — perfect; and in its very nature dwelt those principles of truth, justice and love, which form its essence and strength. It has neither beginning of days nor end of life. Should we not feel at- tracted to a thing as old as God ? Shall it have no power to sub- due and inspire ? In attempting to reach its source, through what centuries are we borne, even going back to those grand personages of whom we speak as the historic founders of gospel dispensations; on what empires look we down ? Dynasties blotted out, races and nations forgotten, principalities and powers crumbled in the dust and de- bris of past ages ! Seats of government transferred —patriarchs, prophets, apostles, teachers, poets, writers, orators and statesmen, but a name and a memory. Yet in the gospel glows the fire and vigor of unwasted youth. After the rush of centuries, though for awhile, by reason of the apostate condition of man, it has soared above the base things of the world like the eagle — to be again restored, despite the perils and slanders of foes, temporal and spiritual, it moves on with power and unction; destined to run a race with time, and carry those obedient to its laws and principles to a radiant and raptur- ous immortality. Another affinity the Creator has implanted within us, and to which the gospel appeals, is the element of mystery which we see around us, and which exists in the unfathomed forests of the great future before us. We enter at birth a universe in which wonder is excited, curiosity elicited, and imagination challenged at every step of our progress from the cradle to the tomb. Every leaf en- atom a world, and every insect an abyss closes a mystery, every of wonders. The mystery of life, growth of habit, formation of — character from whence we came and wither tending mysteries — which the brightest minds have not been able to fathom, and in whose mazes they have lost their way. And this element of mystery, investing all things, is the stimulant in the heart and

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brain of travelers, explorers, scholars and scientists —whether poring over dusty scrolls, following the path of a comet, decipher- ing the unwritten language of the hoary hills, or exploring the sepulchral ruins of extinct races and tribes. As we progress in life, we are but lifting, fold after fold,

the veils suspended before us, each parted veil admitting us with- in a light of revelations more startling and enravishing, and en-

abling our ever-deepening insight and ever-widening vision to look upon another curtain of mystery behind which lurks secrets yet — more subtle, wonders still more entrancing and the greater the mystery solved, the prof ounder is the conviction that these are but transparencies to the curtainings beyond, that yet shall dare our trembling fingers to lift or part them. After a starless night, the light of morning, while dissolving the mystery of gloom, spreads before us and around us new mys- teries — a mystery in every shell, in every plant, in every insect, in every wild-bird's plumage, in every snowflake, in every gem, in every laughing, leaping schoolboy's spirit, in every coyish maiden's glance. The gospel inspires us, then, by gratifying and providing for the healthy play of our natures in its sublime mysteries. Christ himself told his disciples on one occasion, "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom." The venerable patriarch in his furrowed brow, bending form, and whitened hair, tells us he has well-nigh solved all earthly mys- teries. Yet we see in the calm resignation and hallowed ex- pectancy of his beaming countenance that there is still another mystery which can be solved only when he shall have finished his earthly mission; and, passing beyond the veil, while his spirit apprehends for the first time the inscrutability of being, that moment shall the marvels of future existence, moving the fountains of his deepest nature, bear him away! and away! for aye; in the effort to solve, discover, and explore the hidden mysteries of God. Progression, in the unfolding of the mysteries of the kingdom, upward and onward, is the charm the gospel has for us in the life — that now is it shall be no less an element in the felicity of the life that is to come.

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The gospel, then, charms and translates us with its divine mysteries, and these are not mysteries of iniquity. Slanderous libelshave been uttered respecting the mysteries of the gospel, its sacred oracles and honored exponents. Such are but the spiteful and malignant fabrications of sanguinary fanatics, or a depraved and apostate priesthood, whose throats are open sepulchres, v/hose tongues have used deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouths are full of cursing and bitterness, and whose feet are swift to shed the blood of prophets (Rom. 19:8-18). With ignoble deeds of darkness, the gospel has no sympathy, and what it teaches is beyond criticism. The gospel holds honor and virtue sacred, and reputation as inviolably to be shielded. Is it, then, strange that it exerts so powerful an influence in stirring the hearts and minds of its followers? Who is he who dare object to or oppose its doctrines? Is he a moralist? Then the gospel will teach him the purest ethics, and impose on him the practice of the most manly virtues. Is he a patriot? Then the gospel will teach him those principles which uphold government, reverence law, and promote that rightousness which exalts a nation. Is he a philanthropist? Then the gospel will assure him that, no less profoundly than he, does it teach, that pure religion and unde- filed before God the Father is this, that we visit the widow and the fatherless in their affliction and distiess, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world. Is he an antiquarian? Then here are hoary annals (Bible, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price) for his study, and antique customs for his scrutiny. Is he a poet? Then here are symbols for his fancy, and sublimity for his imagination. Is he a minister or a priest? We can tell him, as he already sees, the gospel finds in us and our pure and fair hand-maidens its most devoted auxiliaries, and that the theology which he seeks to incul- cate we live to embody. The gospel teaches us to believe in one God with body, parts and passions, and in his Son Jesus Christ; in one door to the king- dom of heaven, baptism by immersion, administered by one divinely commissioned; in one great light of conduct, the Holy Spirit, con- ferred by authority; in one great comfort and help in all seasons of trial, peril and woe —prayer. Another affinity the Creator has inplanted within us is free

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agency. The gospel appeals to us in its element of self-govern- ment. From the earliest age, we are reminded of the duty of self rule. This is manhood. What is manhood without self-rule? Our nature is placed by our Creator in our own care, and rendered peculiarly susceptible to this appeal to free agency or liberty. What we shall make of what extent we shall ourselves, to develop our beings depends upon self-rule. Whether our career shall be one of beauty and blessedness, or one of meanness and malediction. True, the gospel imposes self-restraint, but restraint only conserves and intensifies, makes man noble, without interfering with his liberty. The gospel teaches that matter is the servant of mind, instinct the servant of reason, impulse the servant of duty^ pleasure the servant of principle; this is true freedom. Freedom! there is melody in the word, there is divinity in

the thought. It gives eloquence to the tongue, breathes inspira- tion to the heart, and comfort to the soul; impels the chariot of civilization, peoples the forest, and makes the desert to blossom. It has made heroes who have dared the perils of tempest and billow, of wildest savage and fiercest clime. The gospel definition of free- dom has inspired the hearts of men to give up home and country, bid farewell to family and friend, that, beneath foreign skies and in virgin soil, they might lay, once again, broad and deep, the basis of that ancient faith once delivered to our fathers, but which their children rejected, within whose pale freemen could worship, think and breathe, truth its only but all-sufficient strength, purity its chief, but never-fading ornament, and love the radiant atmosphere in which it shall repose.

The gospel perpetually reminds us that greater is he who ruleth his own spirit than he who taketh a city, and sounds to us the warning that, he who striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Thus, wTiile it guarantees free agency, it imposes on us mutual help, self-denial, sacrifice — the bands which bind us, as with the law of gravitation, into imperishable strength.Around us and below us we meet this law in ceaseless operation. The flowers live for the insect and the insect for the flower —the hills for the valley,

the clouds for the hills — the ocean for the dry land, the rivers of the dry land for the ocean. Everything leans on and helps to bear up everything beyond, below or above itself. The heavens lean on

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the earth, the earth reflects the splendor of the heavens, from its laugfhing valleys, its snow-capped hills, and ever-changing seas. Earth lives for man, and man lives for earth, to develop, defend and decorate it by his wise and generous sovereignty over it and shall not man livejor his fellow man? Shall not experience instruct artlessness, learning enlighten ignorance, gladness dispel sorrow, and youth give its arm to tottering age, and aflfiuence and wealth become the almoners of heaven to homes of penury and victims of bereavement and disaster? The gospel shows us how, by the poverty of a brother, we can be made rich in goodness —the feebleness of a ^neighbor, — made strong in sympathy the loneliness of a companion, made — opulent in all social aifinities and holy aflfection how in the weak- ness and downfall of a brother or a sister, we may be made rich in charity, without which we are as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal and thus the gospel puts us under the impelling conviction ;

that we are debtors to every person less happy, less cultured, less honored than ourselves. Let sorrow weep, it bids us wail. Let laughter clap her hands with joy, we swell the glad acclaim ! Thus does the gospel teach us to be our brother's keeper, and that only as we bear each other's burdens do we fulfill the law of Christ; and tells us that our noblest life springs from, is nourished, must ever repose, flourish and grow beautiful, by obedience to its ever-glorious Within its pale, nationality and caste is unknown. The principles. Anglo-Saxon grasps the hand of the Teuton; the Aryan, the hand of the son of Abraham; royalty, that of rags; and opulence, the horny hand of toil. Here loneliness and want and sorrow find sure help and solace. Another affinity implanted within us is the hope of a life to come. And, so last, but not least, the gospel teaches that im- mortality and exaltation are ours; that this mortal span of life is

only the outskirts of the great eternity; the grave, but the por- tal to fields elysian; bids us smile at death's darts, and prepare for kinship with Gods. For this, it urges us to live; for this, it urges us to gather inspiration; for this, it urges us to spread the glad tidings of great joy to every creature, tongue and nation, and to live, by virtue of the New and Everlasting Covenant, under its be-

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ivgn influence and guiding power in happy possession forever and forever. Then Waft, waft, ye winds, the story. And you, ye waters, roll Till, like a sea of glory, It spreads from pole to pole.