The Heritage and Promise

THE HERITAGE AND PROMISE By John Henry Evans, Author of One Hundred Years of Mormonism [This is the introduction to eleven chapters to follow, treating the heritage of the young people of the Latter-day Saints, as well as the promise that is theirs for the future. The fulfilment of the promise depends upon their use of the heritage. The succeeding articles will explain how the standard qualities of thrift, industry, sobriety, respect for law, chastity, family life, duty, service, and the powerful incentives of religion, are to be acquired and cultivated, if the youth is to reach permanent greatness and success. — Editors. ] To the Sons and Daughters of the "Mormon" Pioneers this book is affectionately dedicated in the hope that it may prove a reminder of the "rock whence they were hewn" and help them to set their faces toward the East with its promise of the Dawn. INTRODUCTORY During one of those periodical outbursts of public wrath against the "Mormons" which have been too sadly frequent in America, Thomas Richardson, a special writer on a big New York daily, was dispatched to Utah to prepare a series of articles on the life and faith of the Latter-day Saints. After a careful investigation he wrote his "story" and forwarded it to the managing editor. But it was not to the liking of that functionary, for it presented this quiet people in too favorable a light to please readers looking for sensation. "I am sending your stuff back," he wrote to his correspondent. "It is not what we want." And he indicated what that was. And Richardson wrote to his employer this courageous word: "I have written you the truth. If you do not want the truth, you will get nothing else from me." And the reporter was fired by return mail. Richardson stayed in Utah for a time, then he went farther west. At Portland, Oregon, he became secretary to the Chamber of Com- merce. During the time he occupied this position he also rendered special service in many cities in the East organizing civic societies, so that he grew into more or less of a national character. While at Portland he delivered an address in the Latter-day Saint's chapel there, under the auspices of the Mutual Improvement Associations. On this occasion, after going over his connection with the "Mormons" in Utah, in the capacity already stated, and giving his impressions of the people and their religion, he turned to a group of missionaries on the rostrum and said solemnly: "Young men, if you would become leaders in the thought and work of the world, study the character and stick to the teachings of

THE HERITAGE AND PROMISE 45 your fathers! And if your people will do that, they will become the greatest people in history." When the late Philander C. Knox was Secretary of State, during the administration of President Taft, he had as under-secretaries two "Mormon" boys. One of these one morning, having occasion to consult Mr. Knox, went into his office. It happened that, on the evening before, the department had given a "smoker" in honor of one of the assistant secretaries. As the young man began to explain his coming, Mr. Knox interrupted him. "Before taking up that matter," he said, "I want to tell you something. Last night at the party I observed that you and your friend from Utah turned down your glasses when the wine was served and also that you refused the cigars. I have noticed the same thing on more than one other occasion. When you go back to your home in Utah I want you to .take this message to your young men from me: Tell them that if they will keep what you call the Word of Wisdom, they will not only have better bodies and minds than men who do not observe that code, but in time they will become the greatest people the world has ever known. Tell them that from me." What Richardson and Knox say on this point is either echoed or enlarged upon by other unprejudiced observers of the "Mormons" and their ways. To each, something in "Mormonism" has its special appeal. This one, for instance, speaks with enthusiasm of the Word of Wisdom, like a noted lecturer on health subjects who lately de dared that this document is the most remarkable body of hygienic laws he had ever seen; that one tells of the wonderful organization of the "Mormon" Church, as when Professor Richard T. Ely, of the University of Wisconsin, said before the World War that only the German army could compare in this respect with this American church; and still others single out the rural community life of the Latter-day Saints, as when Professor Warren H. Wilson informs us that in his opinion it exhibits "the principles on which American life must be organized if the farmer is to be a success, if his schools are to progress, his churches to be maintained, and if the country com- munity is to be a good place to live in." It is in view of these things that many thoughtful non- "Mor- mons", who are free from bias and who have an opportunity to observe the life of this people for themselves, expect great things of the future Latter-day Saint. Professor Carver, of Harvard University, one of the leading economists in the nation, says in his Religion Worth Having that the prize for being the much-mooted "religion of the future" may go to the "Mormons", little as this would be to the taste of many now living. At all events, in this book he isolates the principles on which such a religion, in his view, must be based. For the church of the future, he thinks, must be one of work here and now, not one of mere sentimental palaver about a life to come. But

4 6 IMPROVEMENT ERA these happen to be identical for the most part, with the leading idea of the "Mormon" religion. Thoughtful persons all over the world, especially since the Great War, are casting about in their minds for the things that endure in civilized life. They see men and women everywhere chasing the ephemeral — physical pleasure, worldly fame, wealth, and the soft place, — and shunning wherever they can the great moral obligations of the individual not only to society but in the long run to himself. So we are having dinned into our ears more and more these days the absolute necessity, if we would "carry on" not to speak of "carrying on" greatly, of cultivating the simple life and the homely virtues. We are urged to stress more than we have been doing the standard qualities of thrift, industry, sobriety, chastity, respect for law, the family life, duty, service, and faith in God. These are everywhere life's fundamentals. They are what- constitute and render permanent our civilization. They will be found among the contributory causes of greatness in all human life, whether individual or national. There can be nothing permanently great in man without them. Now, these foundational ideas "Mormonism", from its inception, has emphasized. And it has reinforced them with the powerful in- centives of religion. From religious motives, therefore, as well as from motives of self-interest, the Saints have organized agriculture and industry, have maintained the family life, have encouraged educa- tion, and have striven generally for the things that enable men and women to achieve a fulness of life here and now, not to say anything of the life to come. There is no community on earth that has its life so based on fundamentals, or that has so many of these at its base, as the "Mormons." When the youth of this people, therefore, leave the banquet table of "Mormonism", on which are spread all the substantial varieties of food, and give as a reason that they have "outgrown" the teachings of this religion, where shall they go? What in particular constitutes the heritage of young "Mormons", that so much should be expected of them by their own people and by many intelligent outsiders who are well informed on "Mormon- ism"? And, most of all, what is it that this generation and suc- ceeding generations of "Mormons" can do to insure the fruitage of this inheritance? We shall attempt to ascertain, first, what kind of people in general they are descended from — whether, as their opponents assert, their ancestors were the "scum of society," in the lands they came from, or whether, as the Saints often contend, their antecedents were a hand- picked people; secondly, what were the conditions brought about by "Mormonism" under which "Mormon" character has all along been developed; thirdly, what have been, and are, the teachings of the "Mormon" Church so far as concerns the great fundamentals that go

THE HERITAGE AND PROMISE 4 7 to the making of character, and how have these been exemplified in the daily lives of the people themselves. If this inquiry shall prove to be what we have been led to expect from the good things that have been said about the "Mormon" people, by informed and intelligent outsiders, then a foundation shall have been laid for great expectations concerning the coming gen- erations of Latter-day Saints, when time shall have been allowed for these elements to work out in individual and community life. So that, as great things came out of Nazareth, in spite of the forebodings of short-sighted pessimists in ancient times, so may significant things take place in future days as a result of "Mormon" plantings. Thanksgiving Thanksgiving, today, from my full heart I raise To Him who is worthy my worship and praise. Thanksgiving for friendship — for friends in my need; Keep them still by my side, O, my Father, I plead. Thanksgiving for home, for its sheltering fold, A haven of rest from life's storms drear and cold. Thanksgiving for loved ones; for tender caress Of those whose affection my fireside doth bless. Thanksgiving for trials, to chasten my soul; To strenghten my weakness, my passions control. Thanksgiving for heart-strength to labor, and wait For the fruitage of toil; though the harvest be late. Thanksgiving for will-power to conquer at length, I pray thee, increase, Lord, my measure of strength. Thanksgiving for health, 'tis a blessing indeed; Ah, help me the laws of my being to heed. Thanksgiving for faith to lead on through the night Till awakens the dawn of the morning's soft light. Thanksgiving for charity, kindly and strong, The power of forgiveness for weakness and wrong. Thanksgiving for life and the glory of earth, For all beautiful things which herein have their birth. Thanksgiving for hope of a future serene, When earth cares shall seem only a fast fleeting dream. Thanksgiving to God, in his Infinite might, For his laws and his guidance to lead me aright. Tridell, Utah ALICE MORRILL

Former Presidents ■ » nr.strre.sic/enct/ Council of TweJ\ v Presiding Patnurdi.s ' Hl/ru,, John Smith ' Sercfi Presidents of Seventies "— -el Presiding Bishopric % David A.S"uth- Chas.H'miei, - October xiq24> Former Presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the present First Presidency, the Council of the Twelve, two former Patriarchs and the present Presiding Patriach. the First Council of Seventy, and the Presiding Bishopric of the Church.

S a. a" « -< o. 2 L _ O. Z * B ex 3- B" c 3 B" ■a g o ^ < ■o t> ■3 8 a H „ X ET &J o tn H s 0 3 3 -< • 3 < 3- 3 C c' > 03 3" •55" o > o 3 s - r r ■o co 3 TO 0 OO C sr c m 0 a. o Dl n C "~ n o •a S- „ H 2 -3* K 5* cr D c n < a* 3 •-K 3 S c > -< W ■3 a! P O C 3 Ou cr 5' D 3 o s TO Z a s r 2i ^ t-i s H ft" u •0 n a. 3 a" o c -< D. H x i» Dl 8 H" 3 n 3 3* s W ? 0 ■5f C ** ^ r •a 0 3 £ c c a 2 s c o 4 n> o ■ tr »1 c S- 3 TO 3 < XT ti 2. •j o n a- 0 sj B 3 c ft •< s 3 D Ej S- a