The Strength of the "Mormon" PositionWhitney, Orson F. (Orson Ferguson)
Religion
The Strength of the "Mormon" Position
Whitney, Orson F. (Orson Ferguson)
Latter Day Saint churches
Music softens the heart, and helps men and women to receive the Gospel.
Tourists come in a constant stream, to listen to the wonderful tones
of the great organ and the singing of the splendid choir in the Salt
lake Tabernacle. The Gospel is not always preached to them; they do not
always want the Gospel; but they are mellowed by the music, and they go
away with kinder feelings toward, and a better understanding of, the
people who build such instruments, who organize such choirs, and rear
such structures. Their works speak for them. Grapes are not gathered
from thorns, nor figs from thistles. Depraved wretches, such as the
"Mormons" are falsely represented to be, do not love music, poetry and
philosophy, do not cultivate the arts and sciences, do not turn deserts
into gardens, nor rear Tabernacles and Temples unto God.
I well remember when President Grant came to Utah--the first President
of the United States to set foot within the Territory, now a State. It
was at a time when, all over this broad land, the bitterest prejudice
prevailed against the Latter-day Saints; and it was freely asserted
that the man who had finished with the South, would "make short work
of Utah and the Mormons." Among the places visited by the President
and his party while in Salt Lake City, was the Tabernacle, where they
heard the great organ. I do not know what he thought of it, but Mrs.
Grant, her face streaming with tears, turned to Captain Hooper, who had
been Utah's delegate in Congress, and said with deep feeling: "I wish I
could do something for these good Mormon people." The music had touched
her heart, and perhaps the heart of her noble husband; for General
Grant was noble, though yielding at times to strong prejudice.
Before reaching the Tabernacle, he had passed up South Temple Street,
lined on both sides with Sunday School children, neatly and tastefully
attired, waving banners and mottoes of welcome to the Nation's Chief.
Riding in an open carriage, and running the gauntlet of applause and
cheers, the honored guest turned to Governor Emery, who sat at his
side, and inquired concerning the juvenile host: "What children are
these?" "Mormon children," replied Emery. Grant was silent for a
moment, and then was heard to murmur, "I have been deceived."
But he never was deceived again--not in the same way. He could trust
his eyes when he looked upon those beautiful children: they were not
the product of crime and depravity, not the offspring of savages and
criminals. He could trust his ears, too, when he heard that choir and
organ. No one could make him believe, after that, that the "Mormons"
were as black as they had been painted.
No Substitute for the Gospel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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