The Schoolmaster and His Pupils

The Schoolmaster and his Pupils

BY PATRIARCH JOSEPH E. TAYLOR

[Joseph Edward Taylor, for sixty years a resident of Salt Lake City, a prominent churchman, and a well known citizen of the State of Utah, died on the morning of February 18, 1913, at his home in Salt Lake City. He was the son of George Edward Grove Taylor and Ann Wicks, and was born December 11, 1830, at Horsham, Sussex, England. He spent his boyhood and early youth with his parents at Tetbury, Gloucestershire, the birthplace of his mother. When he was fifteen years of age, the family moved to Hull, in Yorkshire, where he first heard the gospel, and where he was baptized on the 11th of August, 1848. On October 4 he was ordained a Priest, and called to do missionary work in Lincolnshire. He labored as an elder in the mission field until January, 1851, when with five hundred other Saints he left England for Salt Lake City, crossing the ocean in the sailing vessel Ellen. During his- mission he baptized nearly two hundred persons, and assisted in the baptism of many others. He traveled thousands of miles on foot, and preached hundreds of sermons and exhortations, and held many meetings and religious discussions. After arriving in St. Louis, he was prostrated by sickness, which detained him in Missouri until the following year. He arrived in Salt Lake City on the 6th of September, 1852. He was ordained a Seventy on February 17, 1853, and a High Priest, September 12, 1855, at which time he was set apart to act as counselor in the bishopric of the Eleventh ward, serving in this capacity under Bishops John Lytle and Alexander McRae. He was called on a mission to the Josephites and set apart by President Brigham Young, December 22, 1875. His field of labor was in Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois, and his companion was Claudius V. Spencer. He returned home again April 4, 1876. During this brief mission, these two elders baptized thirty-six persons, twenty-four of whom came to the Rocky Mountains. They organized three branches, blessed eight children and married one couple. At the April conference, 1876, he was appointed second counselor to President Angus M. Cannon who was at that time called to preside over the Salt Lake Stake which then extended over the counties of Salt Lake, Davis, Tooele, Morgan, Wasatch and Summit. On the death of David O. Calder, in 1884, Elder Taylor became first counselor to President Cannon, which position he held until April, 1904, when the Salt Lake Stake was divided into four stakes. He was prominent in business during the whole sixty years of his life in Salt Lake City, following the occupations of ranching, farming, furniture making, and

JOSEPH EDWARD TAYLOR Born at Horsham, England, December 11, 1830; baptized August 11, 1848; came to Utah, September 6, 1852; was for 28 years a member of the Presidency of the Salt Lake Stake of Zion; and died, Feb- ruary 18, 1913.

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finally undertaking; Approximately twenty five thousand citizens of Salt Lake City were buried by him. lie was a representative in the second state legislature, also a member of the Board of Trustees of (he Latter-day Saints University. On April 2, 1904, he was ordained a patriarch, and since that date has recorded three hundred and four blessings. He is the father of twenty-one children, of whom eighteen survive him. He has seventy grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren now living. Elder Taylor was a man of strong determination and pronounced character, faithful in every walk of life. Fulfilment of duty was his prominent thought. His understanding of the first

philosophy and spirit of "Mormonism" was thorough and profound. As a writer and public speaker, he was forceful and effective, and he contributed frequently to the Improvement Era, and to other Church publications. His funeral was private, his reason for asking that, being that his "life had been filled with blessings which more than repaid him for his services, and he therefore deserved no praise in addition." He was buried on the 21st of February and memorial services were held in his honor at the Tabernacle on Sunday, February 23, when President Charles W. Penrose and President Joseph F. Smith were the speakers, both of whom paid eloquent tributes to his memory and gave comforting, doctrinal sermons on death and the resurrection. The article, "The Schoolmaster and his Pupils," was without doubt one of the very last that Patriarch Taylor presented to the press, and it contains, without naming it, reference to his own early and happy school days in England, prior to his joining the Church. He was the young elder who visited the retired and beloved teacher. — The Editors.]

About seventy-two years ago, a boy ten years old was rereceived as a student in what was called the "National School," in an unpretentious town in the south of England. He was the youngest that had been admitted up to that date. — — This school had for its instructor schoolmaster a gentleman who was forty years of age whose character was quite ;

unique in many particulars. He had received in his youth a somewhat liberal education to which was added a valuable training by a talented and loving mother. At the age of eighteen, he became deeply smitten with a seafaring fever. But his underlying ambition was to become an experienced navigator. His parents eventuallv yielded to his intense desire. Although amply able to have purchased for their son an officers' position on board a man-of-war vessel, or some large commercial ship, they being of the very practical class, and feeling that a thorough training could only be reached by commencing at the bottom of the ladder, their consent was given only on the condition that he take the place of a common sailor, — a man before the mast — upon a vessel

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that made periodical trips to several points in the Pacific, including some ports in Asia. It was further stipulated that no advancement should be allowed him short of a period of two years'' service, and then only upon actual efficiency and merit. This youth gladly accepted of the lowly position, with the conditions accompanying- it, and embarked at once upon a full rigged, three-masted vessel, bound for Sydney, New South Wales, her first stopping place. Eighteen months from his first embarking, his efficiency was recognized to the extent that upon the death of the second mate, in mid-ocean, the captain selected him to fill the vacancy. Four years subsequent to the commencement of his life at sea, he was elevated to the position of first mate of a still larger vessel. At the end of eight years, we find him in command of a large merchant vessel doing business in the various ports of India. Having gained a valuable nautical experience, by careful study, observation and otherwise, in both the temperate and torrid zones, he yielded to a longing for acquaintance with regions adjacent to the North Pole. He succeeded in fitting out a vessel of which he took command. The first objective point was Baffin Bay, west of Greenland, then but little known. After cruising some four years in the inhospitable North, with an experience of disasters, successes, and losses, he started homeward, touching on the way at St. Johns, Newfoundland. It was at this port that he took on board, as passenger, a titled gentleman —who did not reveal his identity at that time, but who figured largely in our hero's future. Encountering a severe gale the third day out from St. Johns, this distinguished passenger was swept overboard. The captain having witnessed the accident, at once plunged into the surging flood, and after many heroic efforts finally succeeded in reaching his vessel and safely landed on board the nearly lifeless victim. Before arriving at the home port these two had become familiar with each other's history and, as a very natural result, each one became possessed of a genuine interest for the other. Upon arriving at the home port, our hero, although not having succeeded financially according to his expectations, still, not doubting his ability to recuperate his losses, was both hopeful and cheerful. This was, however, turned into a genuine sorrow, for before crossing the threshold of the home of his birth, he learned of his father's late death, which was attributed to the grief he felt over the loss of all property, by becoming surety for a friend. This was speedily followed by the demise of his loving mother. Having neither brother nor sister to comfort him, nor any blood relative to welcome his return, he became despondent, resolved to bid adieu to a life upon the ocean, to settle down in some quiet

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nook, and employ himself in some way that would distract his attention from loneliness and grief. It was now that his rescued and titled friend assumed the role of a benefactor. But he was met with an utter refusal of all offers of any distinguished position. After much considering and many consultations, a decision was reached that our former sailor and commander should take up a school in the vicinity of my lord's manorhouse, whose lands numbered several hundred acres and was adjacent to the place of our hero's birth. This school was self-supporting, and no charge for admittance was made. The lord of the manor, wishing to demonstrate his loyalty, and also to be relieved from all personal supervision, placed it subject to the control of the directors of the National School law, hence its name "National School." It was here that the noble qualities of our former mariner shone out most brilliantly: for, instead of instituting a government similar to that of the school master of that period, he became to every scholar, in the full sense of the word, a father in very deed. When our ten-year old boy entered the school his number was 142. Schools of that day were not graded as are those of today, in the United States. This school was divided into seven classes, no class numbering less than twenty. No paid assistants were engaged. The most efficient students of each class were chosen to instruct the class for a period of one week, but under the guiding eye, and subject to the direction, of the schoolmaster who seemed to comprehend every need, and who was prepared to supply such need in person. This was often done by him. In fact, as far as it was possible for mortal to be, he was omnipresent. Each Friday afternoon, at three o'clock, the master took entire charge of the geography class, conducting it in his own peculiar way. Every student in the school was required to be present upon each of these occasions. All studies were laid aside until the Monday following. After the lesson had been fully considered, and answers given to the questions propounded, the teacher became a lecturer. Besides pointing out on the map the particular spots named in the lesson, and furnishing correct geographical data in relation thereto, from his personal knowledge of the same, he would branch off into a description of the peoples of these localities, their traditions, habits, and customs, as well as their modes of religious worship, etc., all of which he had carefully observed and noted when among them. This was intensely interesting, as we then lacked much of the vast fund of information now furnished by the press and scattered broadcast. Our schoolmaster had in this way, as well as in his fatherly treatment of every scholar, won not only their esteem but their affection and love. This, coupled with his frequent visits to the home of his pupils, where he was always received with open arms, gave him

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a prestige which, if at all equalled by any teacher, is nevertheless of rare occurrence. Physical chastisement, even for trifling offenses, was the prevailing custom in English schools of that period, but the record of this school, for five years, furnishes only one case of bodily castigation which was administered in the presence of the whole school, who were invited to be witnesses. This was preceded by an earnest appeal to the culprit to make a satisfactory acknowledgment and to ask forgiveness which, although ackowledging his guilt, he refused to do. None of the students who witnessed the chastisement, had they been asked, but would have justified the same. Such conduct merited a dismissal, but this was not even entertained. The offender in a few days afterwards sought to make a full reparation for his wrong, and later became the schoolmaster's devoted friend. As an athlete our hero was an exception along many lines and, thanks to the devoted mother's training, outside of the common school studies, he was somewhat versed in art and music in which he gave lessons without stint. Havingf obtained the use of some three acres of land, all enclosed within the school ground proper, this man, a visitor of many lands and climes, added a garden which for variety was perhaps not equalled outside of Her Majesty's gardens. The plants and flowers of the torrid, temperate and frigid zones were here cultivated, and several large greenhouses contained the choice fruit-trees and bushes of the tropics as well as those of more temperate climes. The valuable life-les-

sons which many of the boys learned in the schoolmaster's garden, and under his immediate instruction, outside of school hours, cannot be computed. My lord had a so-called pond, which was really a lake of wide, fresh water over a half mile in length, proportionately within his domain ; it was surrounded by tall trees affording ample shade from the rays of the summer sun. To this the students, under the guidance of their much-esteemed instructor, had free

access in summer for picnicing, bathing, swimming, and diving, in all of which the master excelled and he willingly taught. When in which frozen over in winter, it was used for sliding and skating did with his the master was equally adept, cutting as he often sentence. skate, as if in copper plate, any name, figure or Our former ten-year old boy, but now a youth of nearly twenty years, and withal an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of traveling missionary, after an absence oi Latter-day Saints, and a from the neighborhood of the school before mentioned, five years visited this muchbeing about to start for the land of Zion, esteemed schoolmaster. The latter had now retired from his of the eyes which scholastic labors in consequence of an affliction he claimed was due to the glaring sun upon the snow and ice in

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the Arctic region, necessary caution having been neglected. He received the young man with open arms, when learning his pursuit, although he himself was an Episcopalian, having been born and bred in that faith, and was possessed of views and feelings altogether different from the young man in his peculiar religious faith. This was made manifest in a voluntary offer of the use of the town hall of which he was a trustee for the "Mormon" elder, in which to deliver a lecture. Besides this, he said he would take pride in introducing his former pupil to the assembly which he was satisified would be a large one. The result of this visit, which lasted less than two days, coupled with the efforts of others following, is evidenced in the many that have come from that locality to Zion and have proved their fidelity to the truth. It was afterwards learned there were three persons in that vicinity who were members of the Church at that time, but they had kept themselves altogether in the background. The object in writing this narrative, is to serve as an illustration of the joyous results of a close companionship of instructors and pupils. Such close companionship produces the exact opposite to that related in the old adage: "Familiarity breeds contempt." Close companionship is conducive not only to respect and esteem, but to real affection and love. It suggests to the instructors of our schools that, outside of the school room you can add strength to your efforts by visiting your students in their homes, making yourselves familiar with their tastes and ambitions and, in short, acting as a loving father in living with his ;

children. A further suggestion Let father and mother, if pos- :

sible, be present during these visits which, you can assure yourselves, will then be attended with the best results to all concerned. It might not be out of place to suggest that, pursuing a similar course by the heads of the various auxiliary organizations in the Church as well as by the presidents in the quorums of the Priesthood, will result not only favorably but beneficially to all concerned.

Friendship — The passing of years is like the coming of dawn

slow, silent, inevitable.The most eager cannot hasten the quiet, irresistible movement, and the most reluctant cannot forbid. Some gifts the years bring which we would fain decline — age, sorrow, disappointment. Some treasures they take which we would keep for- — ever youth, beauty, innocence. But there are more precious treasures which time cannot supply, and the years cannot remove, — friendship, patience, faith and love. Herbert L. IVillott.

"Joseph Smith, Jr., as a Translator"

The Unfair Fairness of Rev. Spalding*

BY BISHOP OSBORN J. P. WIDTSOE S. B., A. M.

The Latter-day Saints are by this attitude Df openness and candor. And time undoubtedly well aware of the it is one of the most notable things in

fact that the Rt. Rev. F. S. Spalding, the bishop's inquiry. The pamphlet is bishop of Utah, has put forth a pamph- dedicated thus: let entitled, "Joseph Smith, Jr., as a Translator," in which the bishop has "To my (his?) many Mormon friends tried to prove that the Prophet Joseph — who are as honest searchers after the truth as he hopes he is himself — this Smith failed as a translator of ancient book n dedicated by languages, and, therefore, failed also "THE AUTHOR." as a prophet of God. Many of the Lat- It is not always that we are credited ter-day Saints have had the privilege with being as honest searchers after of reading the bishop's pamphlet, itself. the tiuth as a bishop of the Episcopal Those who have not read the pamphlet church. have at least read the notices of it, and the replies made by thoughtful, In the body of the work, again, the scholarly men. And perhaps most — bishop deals with his subject appar- ently —with the utmost candor and fairof us think that the bishop has already received a sufficient answer. What ness. He quotes Orson Pratt and B. came to the younger men and women H. Roberts and pays them high tributes for their ability and for their fair play. of Zion as a shock, has passed harm- lessly by. The source of strength has He admits that "it is inexcusable that the book (of Mormon) has never had — been sapped the bishop's battery is the serious examination which its im- wrecked, the force of hi s cunningly portance demands." He acknowledges wrought argument is broken. Really, that in the controversies between the there remains little to be done except Latter-day Saints and their defamers to clean away the wreckage of another "the Latter-day Saints set an example of unsuccessful attack upon the strong- dignity and courtesy which their op- hold of "Mormon" faith, and to pro- ponents rarely followed." He asserts ceed triumphantly on our way. Yet, that, since there was no scholar living while the case is really won, I beg in the early days of the Church who leave to present the following thoughts, could read Egyptian, the Saints did the that it may be, perhaps,- the more se- right thing to get the testimonies of curely clinched in the minds and hearts witnesses. "This was the logical methof the youth of Zion. od of procedure, because there was no scholar living whose opinion would THE BISHOP'S APPARENT FAIR- have been of real value, even had all NESS. the plates been submitted for his in- Bishop Spalding's present attack on spection." He affirms that, while the "Mormonism" seems to differ from all questions he propounds are most criti- cal, "yet, if the thoughtful Latter-day other attacks in the frankness and the fairness of its approach. Those who Saints of today are like those of the past, they will welcome them, because have replied to the bishop's pamphlet they have always invited investigahave all commented on this apparent

• From the Deseret News, Feb. 15, 1913.