36; THOUGHTS FOR THE YOUTHFUL AMONG THE SAINTS. desperation, death. Look into the streets of the capitals of Christendom, see them lined on every side with brilliantly lighted avenues of hell! see them, and the street, swarming with innumerable misled, depraved, degraded victims of a "nobler sex," thousands of whom, were it not for manmade Christianity, might have been honored mothers of an honored race, but now are on the broad way that leads to death; aye, worse than death, entailing upon the third and fourth generation the most revolting effects of a life of infamy and shame, thus marking with the finger of that living death, those that escape the executioner at the birth, but to convey it to another generation. This is a mournful picture of enlightened Christendom; but who can say but what it is too true? What hope, then, is there for this world, if these are the fruits produced by the nation or people to whom the kingdom was once given? None! none! unless God, in his infinite mercy, reveal his will, and open another dispensation of the Gospel to man. THOUGHTS FOR THE YOUTHFUL AMONG THE SAINTS. "I speak to them that know the truth." This is very consolatory, for it furnishes a grand foundation whereon to build a superstructure of thought. I have no need to let the light in on the mind cautiously, lest it should be blasted by excess of brightness, as is the wont in speaking to young men. But arguing from a fact, the possession of truth, to speak on subjects that fact suggests. Any one with sense will admit, that this is a trying period for youth that is striving to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the world. Young men are apt to lack self-reliance, and to follow the example of others, lest they incur censure and ridicule. It is the thing now-a-days to be thought "fast," which means a monkeyish imitation of the dress, manners, and language of persons who are supposed to exhibit a correct style. As regards dress, this slavish imitation leads some to foolish The amples are more pernicious still. The manners are flashy and conceited, arguing a “pitiful ambition in the fool that uses them," to be thought a person of experience, "knowing," "cute,' and sophisticated. This is why boys take to smoking so early, drink beer, and court the society of females. language is generally an adoption of slang, and frequently obscenity and swearing. Heaven save the mark! this is deemed manly. But let me ask any one of this opinion, if he understands the meaning of a snob. These things arise, I repeat, from want of self-reliance and vanity. Thoughtlessness is no excuse, for Evil is wrought By want of thought, As well as want of heart. There is in these cases sometimes too much self-reliance, which is another phase of vain-gloriousness. If a person thinks, "I am too well grounded extremes, especially females. It is in my principles to incur risk, if I do astonishing what heart-burnings are so and so, and go so and so," he is occasioned by Emma Jones having a trusting his own heart, and the Bible better bonnet than Mary Brown. How says, is a fool. Our safety from temptmany meannesses are perpetrated to ation is next to God's good grace, a create a sensation by some new article careful avoidance of the persons, of attire. Young men and women places, and circumstances that lead to seem to delight in reducing themselves it. Our faith teaches us that reto lay-figures whereon to hang clothes. creation is both just and lawful, leavThey judge a person by his or her ing it to us to determine what is so for dress, and a gentleman, in their idea, ourselves. Now, there is an old prois a well dressed man. As regards verb which says, "What is one man's manners and language, "fast" ex-meat, is another man's poison," and THOUGHTS FOR THE YOUTHFUL AMONG THE SAINTS. there are so many differently constituted minds, that no rule could be laid down in this respect. But if I am fond of the drama, for instance, and can listen with even a certain amount of profit to a fine play, another man, of an imaginative temperament, may find a theatre the very place where his soul is most tempted with evil thoughts. Dancing, a graceful and classic amusement, is to some most dangerous, and so it will always be as long as noblest things find vilest using. My tastes for the drama, the dance, or music, do not allow me to go everywhere to indulge them. Every Saint has a reputation to sustain, lest he bring, however slightly, an imputation of blame on his religion. Selfdenial must be practiced in small things, for "none of us liveth to himThe amusements of London are not like those in Great Salt Lake City, where they can ask divine blessings on all they engage in. But this custom of our true fatherland should be carefully remembered, and all that we cannot ask God to bless, is certain self, ly wrong. A young man who sets up his own opinion in this or any other matter, because it is his own, will surely make himself ridiculous, and pickle rods for his own back. Selection of books is another point, which excessive self-reliance errs in. To read is not only delightful, but a duty. So it is to eat and drink. But I am not to indulge in night-shade and prussic acid. The Devil tempts us with subtlety to indulge the pruriency latent in all young minds, by reading works that avowedly appeal to it. There are nearly two millions a week of vile penny novels sold, in which, without stating facts in plain words, which would be more honest, the excited imagination receives suggestions most libidinous, and thoughts most impure. Now a good novel, as a picture of real life, is delightful reading; but novel reading is dangerous, if followed to the exclusion of other reading. It should be used as a recreation, when it will become pleasant, but not to unfit us for the perusal of more substantial works. A young man or woman who reads only novels, is like a person living on pastry: he gets no strength from his diet. 37 The ideas become distorted through the medium of fiction. We see men and things not as they are, but as the writer makes them, very often as unlike the real thing, as the pure gold to a base Birmingham counterfeit. If reading were used to supply our mental deficiences, how little ignorance we should meet; and at this time of day, no young man or woman ought to be ignorant. Ignorance to me manifests one of twe things, sometimes both either the person has wasted the spare time he had, or else is too conceited to be taught. You may say, I have too little time to teach myself after work. This is untrue. The Working Man's Exhibition at the Agricultural Hall, was of things made by working men after work hours. Some articles had taken years to complete. And in like manner, if a man employs fifteen minutes daily on cultivating his mind, he may become a learned man. Think of the time girls gossip away, while their minds are as bare as the great Sahara ! The old poet's advice is very fine"Do all things like a man, not sneakingly.” Sneak ism is a very common vice. It is moral cowardice, such as makes men ashamed to stand up for the truth when it is assailed, lest they incur odium and reproach. I have known soldiers who have mounted a breach in the heat of carnage, and braved the mouth of the largest guns, who were afraid to kneel down and say their prayers before their comrades. This is shown too in listening to impure jests and ribald conversation, because we fear to go away taunted by the scoffer, whose conscience would feel your departure a strong rebuke. Try to get correct ideas of life Life is real, life is earnest, And the grave is not its goal. View the present in the light of eter nity, and how significant and important the most trivial act becomes. Determine to make the noblest use of existence, and be sure in the sphere where God places you, there are ample means for doing your duty. Oor faith teaches us the possibility of going on to perfection; and this is a gradual process, as the development of the tiny seed into the full blown 38 A NEW ERA INAUGURATED The mind is its own place, and in itself, Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven, We have been forgiven the sin that embittered life, and we can look up to God and say, My Father, I am Here is the secret of happithine. flower. It consists not in doing extraordinary things, so much as doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. Each act of duty done in the true Saint's spirit, is the service of God, converting the world into a temple, and our meanest employment into worship. This is glory far grander ness, and yon will augment it by doing than the loftiest dream of ambition. all things as in His eye. Think not This makes us really men, for we are anything too mean or trifling to be fulfilling our Maker's will, and follow-done well, it is a part of your service. ing the end of our being. And just as the physical body is buoyant with health, so long as the blood is pure, making life glide by like a sunlit stream, or the smooth cadence of a melodious song; so the mind, when all its aspirations are pure and Godward, discovers what the world thirsts for, as the parched traveller for the rippling fountain happiness. The object of all our efforts is to be happy, and as Thackeray wrote, "a heavy heart can bring no gladness out of sunshine." It is from within we see the world without. And if no heaven were promised hereafter, the heaven you will enjoy here will be divine. Not once nor twice in our rough island The path of duty was the path of glory. Into rich, glossy purples, that outredden For not once nor twice in our fair island The path of duty was the path of glory. A THE NEW Ꭼ Ꭱ Ꭺ INAUGURATED. DESERET STATE A new era has been inaugurated for the people of this Territory, this eveing, the importance of which it is difficult, if not impossible, fully to estimate. The Deseret State Telegraph has been opened, and the following dispatches, dedicatory and congratulatory, have been passed along the wire between this city and Ogden. The first dispatch was forwarded by Mr. John C. Clowes, at 5 p.m., and the reply was returned by Mr. Joseph A West, a youth of fourteen years of age. FIRST DISPATCH. Salt Lake City, Dec. 1, 1866. To President Lorin Farr and Bishop Chauncey W West, and the Saints in the Northern Country, who gave up freely when called upon. Greet ing : In my heart I dedicate the Line which is now completed, and being TELEGRAPH OPENED. completed, to the Lord God of Israel, whom we serve, and for the building up of his kingdom; praying that this and all other improvements may contribute to our benefit and the glory of our God, until we can waft ourselves by the power of the Almighty from world to world to our fullest satisfaction. (Signed) BRIGHAM YOUNG. REPLY. President Brigham Young, From our hearts we say AMEN to the dedication which you have just uttered, and we congratulate you, as the great mover of this enterprise, on its successful accomplishment thus far, considering it is one of the great helps in the building up of the kingdom of our God. We trust that not only will the Saints who have contributed to this great work continue their efforts A NEW ERA INAUGURATED. but that others will also assist in developing other improvements for the benefit of God's work. May you long live to comfort the Saints, and by their integrity be comforted. (Signed) LORIN FARR. The wire, insulator, &c., for the Deseret State Telegraph, were brought on this past season. During a portion of the summer and the early part of fall, the people of the settlements north and south were active and energetic in putting up the poles. The wire is now stretched from this City to Logan, Cache county, and it is expected that by the latter end of next week-say, five or six days-it will be in complete working order between this point and that settlement. Two companies of men are engaged in stretching the wire south from this City. One company will work between here and Nephi, at which place they will branch off into San Pete county, the poles having been set from Nephi through Mount Pleasant, Springtown, and Fort Ephraim to Manti. The other company will commence at Scipio, Round Valley, Millard county, and continue their labors south to St. George, Washington county. It is expected that by the last of this month, telegraphic communication will be opened between Great Salt Lake City and the principal settlements north and south. Offices will be established at the principal cities and settlements on the route of the line. Operators have been trained in the school established less than a year ago, in this city, by Mr. John C. Clowes of the Western Union Telegraph Company, for instruction in the art of telegraphy. The pupils in that school have made very creditable progress, and most of the young men who attended it are now prepared, with very little assistance, to take charge of the various offices. The Western Union Telegraph Company, through Mr. Bassett, their Superintendent in this city, has kindly placed the services of Mr. Clowes at the disposal of President B. Young, to fit up the offices and get the line in good working condition. This assistance, thus courteously rendered, will enable the young men who have been 39 studying under Mr. Clowes, to conduct the business in the several offices without further aid. Mr. Clowes had the honor of sending from this City the first dispatch that passed from California through to the east by telegraph, and of receiving the first dispatch sent from the east to California. He may therefore be considered the pioneer operator on the Overland Telegraph line. There is no other people to whom a telegraph line brings so many and so great blessings as to the Latter-day Saints. While the lines which almost span the world are laden with business communications, or transmit the record of strife, disunion, and contention which reign in many parts of the earth, not only will the Deseret State Telegraph be used for ordinary business matters and the transmission of news, but it is a means by which counsel, advice and instruction can be imparted to the people of the various settlements of the Territory, from those to whom the people look for counsel and instruction, and that almost instantaneously. Up till now the urgent necessity for counsel, which circumstances have created, has been hampered by the lack of greater facilities of communication, and hence the construction of this line became imperative, as the interests of the work of the Lord increased in magnitude, and the welfare of the people demanded more unremitting and greater attention. Should Indian difficulties again occur, there is now a means by which their inception can be at once known where assistance can be most effectively rendered, and aid can be furnished proportionately early, instruction can be given, and measures devised can be at once communicated for the safety and well-being of the settlements. Every important item of business connected with the growth of truth and righteousness in our cities and settlements; every measure devised for the good of the people; everything that may be required for the more effectual development of the Territory and the welfare of its citizens, can be flashed along the wire; and thus the remote settlements will be placed in the closest and most immediate communication 40 DESERET STATE TELEGRAPH LINE. with the centre, where they look for light, intelligence, and wisdom to guide them in their labors to do good, and build up the work of God, temporally and spiritually. We have, then, reason for saying that a new era has been inaugurated in this Territory, and that to no other people does the telegraph come laden with so many benefits as to us; and we sincerely congratulate our citizens on the opening of the first telegraph line built by the people of the Latterday Saints. The first message transmitted along it, addressed to "the Saints in the northern country, who gave up freely when called upon" to leave their homes and possessions, in '58, and started out to find new homes under peculiarly trying circumstances, cannot but be gratifying to our brethren in those settlements. And it says to all Saints, everywhere, that however dark a cloud may hang on the horizon of our future, the Great Disposer of events controls and overrules, and will protect his people, bless them above measure, and through them make his name honored and revered throughout the earth, if they continue faithful to their covenants and keep his commandments. DESERET STATE TELEGRAPH LINE. (From the Salt Lake Daily Telegraph, Dcc. 11th.) From Mr. John C. Clowes we gain the following particulars of his trip to Logan, Cache county, in putting the Deseret State Telegraph in operation. ning the extreme northern office, in Logan City, Cache county, was placed in lightning communication with this place. The people throughout the different settlements were all anxiously looking for, and gave the party a hearty welcome. Mr. C. left Logan Sunday morning at 7 o'clock, arriving in this City at 4 a.m. Monday, losing some five hours at Box Elder in rearranging that office. The line north is in splendid condition, and works entirely satisfactory. Mr. Clowes left the City last Tuesday, 4th inst., in a snow storm, with two wagons heavily loaded with material belonging to the line and offices on the route. Went to Centerville the first evening, fitting up the office at that place, and to Ogden the next evening, where everything was arranged in "working order." The next evening found them in Box Mr. Clowes is making preparations Elder, in communication with this for starting south immediately, and City. Mr. Clowes and party were hopes to be able to report the line to invited and attended a grand military St. George all O.K. by the last of this ball at the latter named place, the month. The operators on the line are party reporting that they did justice highly spoken of by Mr. Clowes, who to the "fantastic," likewise the " 'sup- considers them perfectly competent to per arrangements." On Friday eve-guide and interpret the lightning fluid. Besides the Deseret State Telegraph line, running through the whole length of the Territory from North to South, there are two independent lines, running from the Atlantic States in the East, via Salt Lake City, to the Pacific States in the West, and still another line completed from Salt Lake City, passing northward through the Territory of Idaho into the gold regions of Montana. Thus the chief city of Utah, is made the grand centre from which lightning intelligence is flashed in seven different channels, like "the seven eyes, or the seven spirits of God," "which run to and fro through the whole earth." |