As to the sorrow that wars bring to us—I scarcely know what to say of that. But even sorrows have their mission in this world; and suffering has its mission. I think that any Christian who rightly understands the gospel of Jesus Christ will value all the more the salvation that comes to him, by reason of what it cost—the blood-sweat of the Christ in Gethsemane, as well as his sufferings on Calvary. I think a man should value the liberties that he enjoys all the more because of the awful price that has been paid for them. I read here in our Book of Doctrine and Covenants that God inspired the fathers of our republic to establish the Constitution of our country—the United States; and he tells us that he "redeemed the land by the shedding of blood." Are these battles of the past, these sufferings and sacrifices of past generations, of no value? I prize the liberties of our age and the civilization of our times, not only because of the value of the things in themselves, but also because of the price that the generations in the past have paid for them. They become sanctified through the suffering and the sacrifice that it has been necessary to make fo them. Father Ryan has voiced some sentiments, in which I share, and I am going to read them to you. It is said by some one, whom I do not now remember, that "Calvaries and crucifixes take deepest hold of humanity—the triumphs of might are transient, they pass away and are forgotten—the sufferings of Right are graven deepest on the chronicles of nations." I do not believe that all the suffering of the past is wasted, by any manner of means, "Crowns of roses fade; crowns of thorns endure!" And now for this poem:
THE LAND WITH MEMORIES.
"Yes! give me a land where the ruins are spread,
And the living tread light on the hearts of the dead;
Yes, give me a land that is blest by the dust,
And bright with the deeds of the downtrodden just!
Yes, give me the land that hath legend and lays
Enshrining the memories of long-vanished days;
Yes, give me a land that hath story and song,
To tell of the strife of the Right with the Wrong;
Yes, give me the land with a grave in each spot,
And names in the graves that shall not be forgot!
Yes, give me the land of the wreck and the tomb,
There's a grandeur in graves—there's a glory in gloom!
For out of the gloom future brightness is born,
And the graves of the dead, with the grass overgrown,
May yet form the footstool of Liberty's throne,
And each single wreck in the war-path of Might,
Shall yet be a rock in the Temple of Right!"[1]
[Footnote 1: This poem was often quoted by Mr. Alexander Stephens, of Georgia, than whom America has produced few greater statesmen, and this poem for him seemed to voice the sorrows of the South after the close of the war between the States.]
Now, let us have peace, even if we have to fight for it—and in my judgment, for some time to come, if you have peace, it will be because you are prepared to fight for it; and when the great central government shall be established—the world's federation of nations—it will need the force, the power to compel men to submit to its just decrees. This dream of the poet, here in Isaiah, shall be fulfilled in very deed, when God shall judge among the nations; because when he judges among the nations, he will judge in righteousness, and he will judge in justice; that will insure the world's peace; and our national armaments then will not be necessary. But what experiences, national and international, lie between where we now stand and the attainment of that end—who may tell? Another prophet caught a glimpse of that side of the question, when he declared that the nations would beat their plows into swords, and their pruning hooks into spears (Joel 3:10); and there is something in the way of experience in that kind for modern nations, in all probability. Yet, I am a man of peace, I believe in peace. I intend to work for peace, but I cannot close my eyes to some of these things that are born out of the experiences of races and nations of men; but may God grant that the spirit of peace may increase in the world—there is much need of it, but when peace becomes universal and permanent, be assured it will be so, because righteousness and justice shall have been established in the world.
VI.
THE MYSTERIOUS HARMONIES OF THE GREAT REPUBLIC.
Being a development of the thought that God had part in founding the government of the United States and is directing its destinies. (Fourth of July speech at Spanish Fork, 1908.)
I.
INTRODUCTION.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: I appreciate the honor you have done me in asking me to come to your beautiful and thriving town to speak such things to you as this occasion may suggest. I think it is quite generally conceded that the old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration, like many other old-fashioned things, is growing out of date. The thirteen guns at sunrise, the hoisting of the flag, the early assembling of the people, the parade, in spite of heat and dust, rain or mud, representation of the thirteen states by thirteen young ladies—beautiful all; the assembling of the people in the grove, the prayer of the chaplain, the reading of the Declaration of Independence, with all its serious charges against King George III intact; and, above all, the long and serious and wearying speech of the "orator of the day"—all this is passing away, and we celebrate our nation's birthday usually under less imposing ceremonies; and to this change, for one, I have been entirely reconciled. So far reconciled, in fact, that I had made something like a resolution that never again would I participate in the old-fashioned methods of celebration; that I would no more inflict on my fellow-citizens a Fourth of July speech so often misnamed "oration."
But receiving your committee's very flattering invitation to address the good people of Spanish Fork, a change came over the spirit of my thought, and it occurred to me that at this particular time the occasion might afford an opportunity for the expression of thoughts which I am quite sure the people of your town, and the people of our entire state, would do well to consider at this time, and hence I am here to venture a few remarks which I hope will be of some interest to those here assembled, and without offense to any.