Ladies and Gentlemen—The subject that has called us together this
evening, to me, is a very interesting and an important one; and I
trust that it will be no less so to you, after you shall have
understood its import and nature. It is the Science of the English
Language.
As this language has been more highly honored in our day, by the
Supreme Ruler above, than any other, in that he hath chosen it as the
most beautifully grand and impressive medium through which his
mandates could be conveyed to mortal beings here on earth, can we be
justified if we remain in a state of indifference with regard to its
beauty, its richness, and its strength?
The English language is chiefly derived from the Saxon, Danish,
Celtic, and Gothic; but in the progressive stages of its refinement it
has been greatly enriched by accessions from the Greek, Latin, French,
Spanish, Italian, and German languages. The number of words which it
at present consists of, after deducting proper names, and words formed
by the inflections of verbs, nouns, and adjectives, may be estimated
at over FORTY THOUSAND.
This heterogeneous mass of words, as found in the English vocabulary,
when drawn out in line of discourse according to the laws of syntax,
and embellished by the force of rhetorical elocution, has made nations
to tremble and empires to quake. More glorious conquests have been
achieved and victories won by the force and power of language than by
all the armed legions that ever marched into the battlefield to meet
the foe in deadly conflict. No widow's tear nor orphan's sigh detracts
from the splendor of the former; no aching heart is left to curse the
brutal policy that bereft it of its dearest earthly object. No
plaintive notes from the deathbed of thousands of brave and generous
warriors to wrap a nation in garments of deeper mourning; and it
remains to be disproven that our future destiny, for weal or for woe,
is suspended upon our very language. "By thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
It is too true that this science has been lightly spoken of by
men of years and experience; and I must say that it is never pleasing
to me to hear anything by way of jest, or in sober earnest, that may
be calculated to beget in the rising generation a dislike for this
most important branch of education. Should such an influence prevail
among our youth, it needs not a prophetic eye to foretell the results.
When the present actors have played their parts and retired from the
stage, our successors, in the persons of our children, will not be
able to keep a proper journal of the events of their time, to speak or
write correctly, or to manage and conduct a periodical for the
diffusion of that knowledge which it has pleased an all-wise Creator
to shed forth from the heavens in our day for the benefit and
salvation of man, without foreign aid.
You have, undoubtedly, heard the drunkard speak against drunkenness,
the thief against theft, and the profane and profligate person against
his course of life, because he has weltered under the smart and sting
of his own immoral and criminal acts.
But you never heard the enlightened grammarian speak of this science
in terms of the slightest disrespect; and I here predict that you
never will, while language remains the agent for the transmission of
thought.
The person unacquainted with the science of music, who has no taste or
ear for it, might indulge in many slight and ludicrous remarks on
hearing a class exercise in some of the first rudiments and rules of
the science. But to the skillful musician, his remarks prove no
inconsistency or impropriety in the science, but, on the contrary,
that he himself is ignorant of it, and also of the path that leads to
its attainment. The charms of music consist in the union and harmony
of its parts; and when executed by scienced performers, it swells into
a melody that holds in spellbound admiration all the finer and more
elevated feelings of the soul. But the path that leads to the summit
where the flowery charms of this science are wafted on the breath of
our most skillful performers, and fall on your ears with such pleasing
accents, is winding, steep, and rugged; and it requires patience,
perseverance, and industry to gain the eminence.
The music of language consists in the union and harmony of the various
parts of speech of which it is composed; and when tastefully selected
to clothe a useful thought or valuable idea, and that thought or idea
borne to your ear in that dress, awakens emotions almost as vividly
pleasing as the maid of your choice, when presented, entwined with the
bridal wreath, to receive your most sacred vow.
We are met this evening, ladies and gentlemen, to consider our
inclination, strength, and ability to commence or recommence our
journey up the rugged steeps of the "Hill of Science."
The child from five to ten years of age has little or no use for
scientific knowledge, from the fact that his childhood bars him
against those responsibilities which he is destined to inherit in the
progressive periods and stages of his life. But as his mind becomes
stronger and more developed by the force of unavoidable circumstances,
he is the better qualified to acquire those principles of science
which will enable him more successfully to stem the current of
opposition in his upward course to moral and spiritual excellence.
Were I now to refer you to our highly-esteemed Governor and President,
whose ear for music and language is, perhaps, more acutely discerning
than that of any other gentleman present, and ask him if he has not more use for scientific knowledge now, since the increased
cares and responsibilities of both Church and State are resting upon
him, together with the planning of public works, machinery, and
fortifications against Indians, &c., than when he first embraced this
Gospel, some twenty-five years ago, and went preaching without "purse
or scrip;" and what do you imagine would be his answer? Apply, then,
this same principle and course of reasoning to the Church, and what do
we discover? When she was in her infancy, she did not attract the
attention and gaze of the world. She had little use for scientific
knowledge, and little or no time to acquire it; but having become
stronger in her intellectual and physical organization, by the force
of unavoidable circumstances, such as mobocracy by earth's degenerate
sons, and the bounteous blessings of a generous Providence upon the
loyal subjects of his eternal laws, she begins to have greater use for
science, and is more eligibly situated to acquire it in these peaceful
valleys than when buffeted in the States upon the waves of political
strife and religious intolerance, where, perhaps, the first house
erected for educational purposes was lighted up by the torch of the
incendiary, whose lurid flames cast a sickly glare upon our prospects
for scientific pursuits in that country.
We are fast growing into importance, and the eyes of our nation are
upon us. Our words and our acts are duly scanned by her officials in
private; but if this were all, we should have little to fear. There
is, however, a Power above, high over all, that scrutinizes all our
acts and doings with an eye that never sleeps. We are not only watched
over with fatherly care at home, but other nations cast an occasional
glance at us. Their kings and their queens dream of us, and God
showeth them some things as they are and as they will be. There will
be Daniels and Mordecais in their courts, and, no doubt, Hamans too.
The political world is about to fall and crumble in pieces, in
consequence of the great amount of repulsion which its parts possess.
The religious world also, like Babel's mighty empire, or like the
millstone which the angel cast into the sea, will sink in the
whirlpools of conflicting interests and sentiments, and her remains be
"like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done." As saviors on
Mount Zion, and as restorers of every just and holy law, whether
emanating from heaven, from nature, or from the legislative councils
of earth, let us become qualified to act well our part in the great
and eventful scenes that will open to our view, and not sacrifice our
birthright at the shrine of an unpardonable indifference in relation
to qualifications that come within our grasp.
The rising generation are destined to act a more important part in
this drama before us. I therefore call upon them to awake and prepare
to do honor to their station, whatever or wherever it may hereafter
be, while we yet remain in the chambers of the Almighty, with the
ensign of peace gently waving over our heads, and plenty in our
garners, and our storehouses full.
Think not, my young friends, that you can spend the prime and vigor
of your days in the vanities and pleasures of life, and in your more
advanced years store your minds with wisdom and knowledge; but let
your youthful energies now be devoted to the acquisition of literary
and scientific knowledge, that when you arrive to manly strength,
dignity, and wisdom, you may call into immediate requisition the
fruits of your youthful labors and toil.
Suffer not a sluggardly or indolent mind to induce you to
postpone the period for the commencement of scientific pursuits, with
the vain and delusive hope that, by-and-by, the principles of
education will become so simplified that you can pick them up with as
little labor and trouble as you can pick up the cobblestones of the
streets. All the education you can acquire in this easy way will not
be as valuable to you even as the cobblestones; for the latter, when
collected and laid up into a fence, form a secure and impenetrable
fortress, as is clearly proven by reference to the wall in progress of
erection around President Kimball's dwelling. But the former will
prove too flimsy and spurious to safely fortify your minds against a
thousand evils that will beset you on all sides. The value of an
object is often (and not improperly) estimated by the amount of labor
and toil required to obtain it. The precious metals are not often
found in the streets or highways; but in bye and sequestered places,
deeply imbedded in the crevices and subterraneous caverns of the
earth. If you will have them, you must dig for them. They will cost
you much time and labor; but when obtained, they will richly reward
you for all your toil. The gems of the ocean are not found floating
upon the flood or ebb tides, but in the bed of the deep blue sea. They
are hid from the vulgar gaze of the multitude, and only sought by the
few who know their value, and who have courage and resolution enough
to embark in the enterprise. Scientific knowledge is hid up in the
elements, in the caverns, and storehouses of nature, and is only found
by those who seek it with all their heart.
The man who neglects to discipline and train his mind in the science
of religion knows but little about God or angels, or the glory of the
sanctified. What little he does understand, he has borrowed from the
labors and toils of others.
The Presidency of this Church are the lovers of learning; and, in my
opinion, you, who need it, can take no step in education to please
them more than to engage in the study of your own native language. It
is the joy and pride of their hearts to see the attention of the
people being turned to education. They do not want you to trust to it,
however, as to God; but through it they want you to be able to present
those truths that Heaven reveals, in that interesting and engaging
light that will reflect honor upon you as the agent, upon God as the
Author, and upon the Church as the body to be exalted. Lay hold, then,
upon education! If you can get it easily, I have no objections. If,
upon any principle, you can acquire it in a more easy manner than has
been generally adopted in times gone by, you are doubly guilty if you
do not attend to it forthwith. Show me one person that ever did jump
into a brilliant education without labor and toil in
self-application, and then I may be converted to the easy method of
obtaining it. But lest I may be wrong in some of my views, I would
say—If you can get education easily, get it, and be thankful to God
for it. If it should prove a laborious task for you, do not be
discouraged or relinquish your exertions.
Language, being the science through which the knowledge of all other
sciences is communicated, demands our first and most candid
consideration; and as the English language combines, in its genius and
construction, both strength and beauty to an extent far surpassing
that of any other language now in use, we ought, as students of that
language, to apply ourselves with a zeal and perseverance commensurate
with the superior powers which it possesses.
There are few persons in the world who care not for the
appearance of their dress. They generally want their garments of a
good material, and to fit them in a becoming manner. Our ideas and
thoughts are also entitled to a becoming dress; and it should be our
pride to clothe them with the most chaste and beautiful language, that
they may hang around our person as jewels of unfading beauty, even as
"apples of gold in pictures of silver." We, however, may know the
meaning of thousands of the most beautiful words in our language; yet
if we cannot discover the legitimate relation they bear to one
another, and arrange them in a sentence according to the laws of
syntax that govern them, we come as far short of the knowledge of the
science of language as the architect of the knowledge of his
profession, if he understand not where to place his timbers in a
building, after they are furnished at his hand.
Grammar, well understood, enables us to express our thoughts fully and
clearly; and also in a manner that will defy the ingenuity of man to
give our words any other meaning than that which we ourselves intended
them to convey.
In justification of a neglect to acquire a grammatical knowledge of
the English language, some have argued that the best grammarians
differ in their views of the science; and if the most enlightened upon
that subject cannot agree, what evidence can be shown that there is
any particular good in it? It is true, that our best grammarians may
differ in their views touching some immaterial or technical points in
the science. But this cannot disturb or interrupt the great channel or
laws of language. Allow me to prove this to you right here. The Utah
Library perhaps contains the productions of some hundreds of the best
authors of which many countries can boast. These authors all wrote
under different circumstances, at different times, in different
countries, and upon different subjects; and very probably no two of
them could have been brought to a perfect agreement upon every point
and principle of grammar. But will the most learned gentleman in this
city go into that Library and point out one grammatical error in the
writings of any of them? He may, perchance, do it; yet I seriously
doubt it. There may be typographical errors found, which may have
produced indirect grammatical ones; but a manifest grammatical error
can hardly be found. This argument ought to silence every cavil on the
subject, in my opinion.
There is no science so universally applicable to practicable purposes
as that of grammar. Arithmetic, geography, astronomy, botany,
penmanship, chemistry, and philosophy are highly profitable in their
respective places. But there is no condition or circumstance in life
in which grammatical knowledge is not essential, wherein mental action
may be involved. We cannot think, write, or speak correctly upon any
subject, without a knowledge of the laws of language.
Some persons, who possess not this knowledge, are vain and confident
enough to think that they can detect and correct any error in language
by the ear. It is true that persons of a naturally refined taste may,
by carefully reading the productions of good authors, and by
conversing with the learned, acquire that knowledge of language which
will enable them to avoid those glaring errors that are particularly
offensive to the ear; but there are other errors, equally gross, that
have not so harsh a sound, and cannot be detected without a knowledge
of the laws that are violated.
I can hold out no reasons or inducements for you to believe that you
can acquire a knowledge of this science by giving it only a
casual thought, or by looking carelessly over your lessons. But I tell
you, and tell you plainly, that unless you can resolve to make it a
steady and laborious occupation, and carry that resolution into
effect, you never can understand the merits of this science. Yet, if
you will cast parties out of your minds, with all the gossip about
fashions, trash, and other nonsense, that too often check the progress
of the most laudable and beneficial pursuits, and allow me to have
full control of your minds for thirty evenings, from six until nine
o'clock, and faithfully and truly comply with my instructions touching
your duties between schools, I will insure that you will have
progressed far enough to enable you to prosecute your studies in this
branch successfully to any extent you may desire, without a teacher,
even if you know not one part of speech from another at this time,
pro vided you possess that degree of intellect and susceptibility for
improvement which are common in society.
Remember, my friends, that you live in a progressive age—an age in
which the inspiration of the Almighty is resting upon the world to
disclose the principles of science, and bring them into requisition to
fulfil his purposes, and they know it not! Remember that to us is
committed a more sacred charge—a charge to disclose and proclaim to
the perishing nations the principles of eternal life and exaltations,
and to gather the ripened sheaves, preparatory to the "feast of the
HARVEST HOME." Remember that knowledge is power, and that you now have
a little time to acquire it. Forget not that "God helps those who help
themselves." Secure learning and virtue, and you will be great. Love
God and honor him, and you will be happy.