THE MISUSE OF POWER.
BY ELDER ORSON F. WHITNEY, IN MILLENNIAL STAR, 1882.
The severest test to which human virtue may possibly be subjected is the possession of unlimited power. Man may be ruled and wronged, persecuted and trampled upon, and the vitality and sweetness of his character will survive the tyranny of his oppressors, and like the shamrock of Ireland, which is said to take root and flourish when trodden under foot, gain strength and endurance from the very means employed for its destruction. But give him his own way, remove all restraints and barriers between him and the gratification of his selfish desires, and he is a strong man indeed who completely withstands the temptation.
The term power may imply lofty and influential position, boundless wealth, or intellectual eminence, or it may embrace in its definition all sources of dominion together; but whether considered singly or collectively, it can make no material difference. The rule finds general application. History is replete with examples of individuals and communities, kings and kingdoms, chiefs and armies, priests and churches, presidents and peoples, illustrative of the almost inevitable misfortune which results from investing mankind with extraordinary power and authority. Heroes have risen and fallen, dynasties have flourished and decayed, races have bloomed and withered, empires have been founded and destroyed; and in nearly every instance, either directly or indirectly, their downfall and destruction have been due to an improper use of the gifts and powers they were permitted to exercise. The opportunities afforded for the indulgence of pride and selfishness, the unbridled facilities presented for the gratification of passion, and the perpetration of every species of wickedness, with the thousand and one historical proofs of the proneness even of the greatest and most virtuous to succumb to these allurements of vice, to say nothing of the incumbent labors and responsibilities, are sufficient, it would seem, to make the tenure of earthly authority, or the possession of vast wealth, among the most undesirable attainments.
Let it not be inferred that we regard such things as essentially evil, or consider all aims and efforts in their direction as necessarily debasing in their tendency. Far from it. It is not wealth, but the inordinate love of it, that is "the root of all evil;" it is not the possession, but the perversion of power, that is the bane of man's happiness and prosperity. It is no more of an evil to hold power than to possess wealth, and no more of a sin to possess wealth than to enjoy any other blessing which flows from the Giver of all good; for as long as heaven has gifts to bestow, there must needs be those who will receive them and those who are best entitled to be the recipients are those who endeavor to deserve them and are qualified to use them in wisdom and righteousness, for the glory of God and the welfare of their fellow men. It is not the honest aim for, nor the proper exercise of these advantages, that are deserving subjects of deprecation and disparagement, but it is the misuse of power, the prostitution of wealth, the neglect or abuse of any of the blessings of life, and the unhallowed methods employed in their acquisition, that are and ever will be, legitimate objects of denunciation and discouragement. So far from its being wrong to aim for superiority and excellence in any righteous direction, it is exactly the reverse. Our Father in heaven expects it of us. He demands that His children advance unceasingly towards power, wealth and intelligence illimitable. His motto is upward and onward, His course is one eternal round of progression, and His constant exhortation is, to follow in His footsteps; and as long as we have in view the exaltation that He has attained and confine ourselves strictly to the methods which He has ordained for its accomplishment, there is no danger of our being too ambitious or of making an improper use of the powers He will eventually bestow. But it is here in this weak mortal state, where our eyes are dazzled by the tinsel of earthly vanities, where our ears are enchanted by the dulcet but delusive notes of fame, and our feet are so apt to be seduced from the paths of virtue by the gilded snares of vice; it is here that there is an ever present danger of misusing the gifts and blessings we are privileged to enjoy, and it is this continuous and extreme liability that should render the acquisition of earthly power and wealth, to the great majority of mankind, exceedingly undesirable. All men who hold position do not abuse its privileges, and the man who serves God humbly and faithfully never will, for the moment he yielded to the temptation so to do, that moment would he cease to serve the Lord; but there are many, alas! who sadly misuse the functions of their office, and prostitute every power and privilege to the gratification of self and the injury and embarrassment of their fellow men. It is dangerous to put some men into power. They swell up and become so distended with the ideas of their greatness and importance, that we are forcibly reminded of so many inflated toy balloons, which the slightest prick of a pin would burst and ruin forever. A very small office and a very little authority is sufficient to intoxicate some men and render them entirely unfit for duty.
The Prophet Joseph, in the course of a prophecy uttered in March, 1839, speaks as follows:
"We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little brief authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion;" and in two preceding paragraphs of the same, these words occur: "The rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control, or dominion, or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold the heavens withdraw themselves, the Spirit of the Lord is grieved and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the Priesthood or the authority of that man."
It is a certain indication of a weak mind when it can be overturned by a brief draught of authority. Like a ship which spreads sail, but lacks the necessary tonnage to hold it level with the sea, the individual who hoists his pride on high and is devoid of the indispensable ballast of common sense, will speedily run on to ruin and oblivion. Solomon never said a wiser thing than that "Pride goeth beside destruction; and an haughty spirit before a fall." But the truly great man is never so affected. Too broad and deep and sensible to be dazzled by terrestrial splendor and too intent upon his purpose to be swayed or directed by the flattery of the fawning multitude, instead of being elevated, he is more apt to be humbled by promotion to power, or if he ever feels its influence, it is like new wine refreshing a giant, not like a seltzer draught overcoming a dwarf.
Some men evidently deem it their duty to be ambitious for distinction, on the principle, we suppose, that if the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain. While this may be measurably true with regard to worldly matters, it is not so respecting the things of the Kingdom of God. No Latter-day Saint need aim for power or position in the Church of Jesus Christ. If he be destined to hold office in the Priesthood, or to occupy any post of honor within the gift of that Priesthood, he can afford to wait in patience for it to come to him, for come it will, in the due time of the Lord, Mahomet's mountain to the contrary notwithstanding; but if he is not destined for the position to which he aspires, despite his most strenuous efforts he will be the victim of disappointment; or if permitted to reach the height of the ambition, it will be but to fall therefrom when his folly and his weakness shall have been made fully manifest. It is madness to rush needlessly into peril. Duty and necessity are the only motives which should impel any one into an encounter with temptation. The only assurance of complete victory over sin, after bravely meeting and conquering the temptations that can be safely met and resisted, is in avoiding all others which God never intended us to meet, and which as a consequence, we would find it impossible to overcome. A little done well brings a much higher blessing than a great deal undertaken and unworthily performed. Let him who lusts after wealth and aspires to earthly honors beyond the station in which it has pleased the Almighty to place him, ponder this well in his heart. Let him ask himself if he is qualified to make a wise use of the things he covets, if he is able to bear up under the heavy responsibilities they entail, and strong enough to resist successfully the temptations which would assail him on every hand; and if he is satisfied of this, let him recollect that God selects for His rulers those who have been humble and faithful in subordinate capacities, and that it is far more admirable to wait for, than to openly invite recognition and promotion. By the faithful discharge of the duties of his humbler calling, let him prove himself worthy of the honors of a higher, and having attained the summit of his hopes, the possession of the power, the wealth and the intelligence he craved, let him carefully exercise those gifts in the fear of the Lord and the love of his fellowmen, lest he prove recreant to his trust, turn traitor to his God and be hurled from his exaltation like Lucifer from Heaven.