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Show [sub]ordinate the freedom guaranteed us, to the rule of a creed; then we are not Americans but aliens and traitors." <br> When such an evangel arises and I feel it in my bones that his coming will not be long deferred; there will be a change here, for free thought is catching and is liable to become contagious. We often hear medical men explain that the reason some men contract a contagion, while others pass through it unseathed, is because the systems of those stricken were not in a condition to resist it. <br> Well, all over Utah are young men and women who are saying to themselves, "Why should our beautiful State be a reproach to this free, generous nation?" Well, their systems are getting into a state that when the call comes from the right source, they will hear. To say that our Constitution was heaven-born, and then to say that when it was inspired God made a mistake, that what He really wants is the old Asian Government of priests, in which men are nothing, women are less than nothing, and one man or a small company of men, of right, hold all the power, and that the highest calling of the horde is but to obey, is, in my thought, a foul slander of omnipotence, an impeachment of God's eternal justice, and that thought is taking form rapidly in Utah today. <br> So, I would say to you, "Do not faint in well-doing." For many years your eyes have been looking out upon the desert and often you have exclaimed: "How desolate, for what purpose could all this waste have been created?" But you have noticed that after all, it lacked simply the one ingredient of moisture, that when it has been supplied, flowers and fruits have sprung into glorious life. The seed was there; all that was needed was something to quicken the germs within the soil to work the miracle of the harvest. <br> The souls of men are very often but deserts. Whatever growth comes from them is but a stunted growth-the weeds of vice, the thistles of crime, the coarse grass of ignorance, the creeping ferns of superstition. Yet, we are taught that each of these was created in God's image. <br> If this is true, then the seeds of progress and enlightenment are dormant somewhere within them, and if they can be touched by the right ingredient, the weeds, the thistles and the noxious ferns will be eliminated, flowers will spring up, and there will be a harvest of good. <br> The soil of the desert needs only moisture. Even when it is so surcharged with alkali, that it burns up the herbage, by the same agent of water the alkali can be leached from it, and the triumph of cultivation can be realized. <br> What is the agent that can make barren souls bring forth the verdure of enlightenment? <br> My belief is that two agents are needed. One is the school that to the dull eyes of ignorance, opens the splendors of the Book of Knowledge. The other is Love, the kind of love that increases the more it is spurned and derided. <br> Then I would say to you who have devoted your lives to the service of the Master, continue to meet the opposition around you, as did the Master. Your lives will have rewards here, when men watching you finally decide that your work is really for your fellow-men whose souls are as yet bringing forth nothing but thistles and nettles. <br> And, if under the depravity of men, you are forced every day to wear your crown of thorns, if your motives are impugned; if your work seems never appreciated; if your high purposes are <br> [Continues on next page.] <br><br> |