In Honor of President Charles W. Penrose

N —

In Honor of President Charles W. Penrose

BY GUSTAVE A. I VERSO

[The eighty-second anniversary of President Charles W. Pen-

rose, February 4, was celebrated in the 20th ward, Salt Lake City, on

the evening of February 1, 1914, by the bishopric and members of

the ward. The choir, under David J. Watts, director, took a lead-

ing part. Hymns written by President Penrose were sung, exclusively.

The house was crowded with people who all greatly enjoyed the ser-

vices. President Penrose, unfortunately, could not attend the services.

The main speaker of the evening was Gustave A. Tverson, who paid

him the following splendid and deserved tribute: Editors.]

Weare tonight honoring the life and giving some measure of

recognition to the labors of a great man.

What has been said of art is, with proper modification,- true

of life generally: "It does not matter whether a man paint the

petal of a rose or the chasm of a precipice, so that love and ad-

miration attend him and wait forever on his work." And Presi-

dent Penrose has done and is doing his life's work so well that

there can be no doubt of his place in the affections of the people.

"A man is his own star;

Our acts our angels are

For good or ill."

True greatness has anything, to do with rank or

little, if

power, and particularly in a world groaning with the unrest of

uncertain faith and poorly supported hope. The greatness which

counts is that which permits a man to say with one of old: "I

am always content with that which happens, for I think that what

God chooses is better than what I choose." I am speaking of a

greatness of soul which is not subdued by the storm-bird's cry

from afar, giving warning of the on-coming tempest, nor yet is

discredited or found less strong when the winds have spent them-

selves, but a form of greatness which is developed by adversity

and strengthened in its exercise with the forces of the world, so

that it may the better turn opportunity into the blessing of hu-

manity and the uplifting of the race. To behold his works and

the works of the men with whom he is intimately associated is to

become impressed with the thought that the same spirit moves men

to action today that made mighty the Prophet Joseph, of whom

it was said : —

"He had been a humble farmer lad Divine Author-

ity sat so becomingly upon him that men looked at him with

reverent awe. He had been unlearned in the great things of

art and science —

he walked with God until human knowledge was

;

IN HONOR OF PRESIDENT CHARLES W. PENROSE 639

to his eyes an open book, and celestial light beamed through his

mind. His magnetism was masterful, and his heroic qualities won

universal admiration. Where he moved, all classes were forced

to recognize in him a man of power. Strangers journeying to

see him from a distance, knew him the moment their eyes beheld

his person. Men have crossed ocean and continent to meet him,

and have selected him instantly from among a multitude."

Whence came this greatness ? God touched his soul and "he

comprehended the grandeur of his mission upon earth; and with

divine fortitude he fulfilled the destiny which God had ordained

for him before the world was." So the Creator touched the

souls of his successors, endowed them with wisdom and the

power of love to overcome the world and the Father of the ob-

;

—

scure of the earth developed great, strong men scholars, states-

men, empire-builders, who, after going through the fires of preju-

dice, emerged in the broad light of the present, honored and re-

spected by the good and true everywhere. Permit me to suggest

that we fail not in our devotion to the great men of the past when

we abmonish the world that men as great and good and wise, as

unselfish and as strong as any whose names adorn the pages of

history, are with us here today. Soldiers, statesmen, patriots, re-

formers have their time and place in world activities and influence

great men and true teach the lessons of today out of the ex-

periences of the past, but the wisdom of God and the power of

love combine to make the men whom he has chosen to lead his

people today the real exemplars of all that is noblest and best in

man. Such is my humble testimony.

Time will not permit me to deal minutely with the eventful

life of President Penrose. Always active, ever going onward.

his life is as full of interest as a romance and as full of beautiful

things as a poem from the Infinite.

I today picked up Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine, No. 1,

Vol. 2, dated April, 1882. It appears therein that at the age of

eighteen (1850) he was called into the ministry from the London

Conference, and he has never been out of the ministry since that

time. In the same article an estimate is made of him as a legis-

lator, in 1882, as follows: "He is spirited in defense and attack;

is, in his line, one of the most able men that the 'Mormon'

Church has produced and whether in the legislature or out of it,

;

he is most likely to be for the next twenty years one of the prin-

cipal factors in Utah affairs."

It is significant that that was thirty-two years ago ; the twenty

vears have gone, and twelve more, and he is more than ever "one

of the principal factors in Utah affairs."

Again, listen :"Taking a personal view of him as he stands

upon the floor of the house, and speaking often with considerable

'snap' and point to the questions of the hour, it would be thought

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640 IMPROVEMENT ERA

that he quite a young man, indeed almost too young a member

is

to so much of the lead and fire of action; but this is

sustain

not so, for Charles \Y. Penrose is a veteran who has seen thirty-

two years of public service."

His legislative career began in 1876 when he was returned

from Weber county. In 1880, he introduced a bill to amend a

law providing for the qualifications of voters and office-holders

in the territory, by striking out the word "male." In support of

the proposed amendment he made a stirring and interesting ad-

dress "showing the marvelous power of the man in marshaling

facts and rounding periods and presenting his case convincingly

to his colleagues." The bill passed, too, but the Governor refused

to sign it. Me valiantly championed the cause of the American

woman, and I fancy I can see him standing on the floor, his fel-

low members thrilled, as he said

•"Give to the women in Utah —

there are none better in the

world- — perfect and complete political liberty."

full,

It is said, "The greatest thing in the world is love.'* Love

is inherent in President Penrose, and it has been developed within

him until he radiates it like the unclouded sun love of home, love—

of fellow-man, love of country, love of God —

and he is possessed

of a deep and undying loyalty and devotion to the children of God

in the land dedicated to the proposition that not only are men

created equal and endowed with substantial rights and privileges,

but that no human institution has any right to interfere with man's

exercise of the right of equality legitimately asserted and to the

full enjoyment of individual liberty. Doubtless those emotions

brought out the sublime thoughts of the song:

"O, ye mountains high, where the clear blue sky

Arches over the vales of the free,

Where the pure breezes blow and the clear streamlets flow,

How I've longed to your bosom to flee.

O Zion! dear Zion. land of the free,

Now my own mountain home, unto thee have come I

All my fond hopes are centered in thee."

So many things show the splendor of his character. Pro-

found in thought, sublime in his conception of the Infinite, broad

in his grasp of what men call social and civic problems, there

spring from his soul the things that touch the heart and make it

mellow with the thought that God is with His people, and so he

sings

"Beautiful Zion for me,

Down in the valley reclining;

Memories sacred to thee,

Close around my heart are entwining.

Clasped in the mountain's embrace.

Safe from the spoiler forever,

: :

IN HONOR OF PRESIDENT CHARLES W. PENROSE 641

Chased are the tears from thy face,

Joy shall depart from thee never.

When from thy presence I roam.

Midst the world's grandeur, I see

Naught like my own mountain home,

Beautiful Zion for me!"

Strong, courageous, fearless —•unfalteringly he has accepted

God and His word. He shows the characteristics of which Em-

erson speaks "The great man is he who in the midst of the

:

crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the serenity of solitude." He

has never followed a multitude to do evil, but ''has stood, like

Pompey's pillar conspicuous by himself and single in integrity."

So out of the wisdom of virtue and the strength of being good

and true, he says

"Up, awake, ye defenders of Zion!

The foe's at the door of your homes;

Let each heart be the heart of a lion,

Unyielding and proud as he roams.

Remember the wrongs of Missouri;

Forget not the fate of Nauvoo;

When the God-hating foe is before you,

Stand firm, and be faithful and true."

With sympathies world-wide, no creature under heaven's

blue fails to have his attention and awaken his interest so he im-;

provises a prayer for the red man :

"Great Spirit, listen to the red man's wail!

Thou hast the power to help him in his woe,

Thy mighty arm was never known to fail:

Great Chieftain, save him from the pale-faced foe.

His broad, green hunting-grounds, where buff'loes roam,

His bubbling streams, where finny thousands play,

The waving prairies, once his happy home,

Are fast departing to the Christian's sway."

But hope, though long deferred, at last is realized in the

Chieftan's answer, coming like a burst of sun-light to dispel the

red man's doubt.

"Come out of the world," has been the burden of many a mes-

sage, away from the bondage and strife of peoples and

nations

to the land where God watches over his people

"O would'st thou from bondage and strife be free

And dwell in a happier clime?

Then away o'er the breast of the beautiful sea,

The storm-spirit's breath shall be gentle on thec

When he rides in his wrath sublime,

Away, though the threatening billows rise,

And the thunder-browed clouds look down.

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642 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Jehovah controls the seas and the skies,

He speaks, and the death-laden tempest dies,

And the elements cease to frown."

Himself calm, always subdued amidst the fire of unjust op-

position, serene in the consciousness thatGod lives and influences

the destinies of men —

able, with beautiful simplicity amidst the

crowd, to "keep with perfect sweetness the serenity of solitude,"

who better than he could admonish as follows

"School thy feelings, O my brother,

Train thy warm, impulsive soul;

Do not its emotions smother,

But let wisdom's voice control."

How rich and ripe in years and experience, with a rare

store of memories —but not old. Four score years and more have

—

passed over his head, it is said but that is almost unbelievable,

for he fulfils the idea expressed by someone that the angels are

advancing continually to the springtime of their youth, so that

—

those who have lived longest are really the youngest with minds

as fresh as a child, and of whom it might truly be said,

"Age cannot wither nor custom stale

Their infinite variety."

May the consciousness of duty well and nobly done be the

great solace and delight of his remaining days, and may those days

go on and on as long as life shall be sweet and desirable to him

Welcome, Springtime

How sweet to hear the birds again,

At early morn, so cheerily,

All winter long we've missed their song;

The darkened days passed drearily.

The robin's chirp, the linnet's lay

Amongst the trees so tuneful o,

They're welcome as the flowers of May

That deck the hills of Utah o.

The lily sweet of sego fame,

The emblem of fair Utah's state,

Will soon again burst forth in bloom

T' adorn the hills and decorate.

Welcome, springtime, warmth and sunshine,

To gladden all that's dormant lain,

Welcome, warblers 'mongst the woodbine,

Come, dwell with ns and sing again.

David L. Murdock