Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-01-13
What They Are Socially and Edu.
cationalIy Compared With
Earlier Ages.
THE POTENT FORCE or IDEAS.
Address by Judge King Before Student
Body. Of the Latter.Day Saints
University This Morning.


advantages Of the present age as com.
pared with the condition OF other and
earlier times than ours. The educa-
ton given by the Indian Drahmas 10
the people was directed simply TO
teaching the people their place. and
to yindicating the wisdom OF placing
and OF keeping the people in fixed posi-
lions. or castes. In Persia later un-
der the teachings Of zoroaster, some
advancement was made, for Zoroaster
did comprehend In some degree the i'm.
mortality OF the soul, but even here the
individual was educated simply and
mainly for the services Of the state. and
not for his own Advancement. Later
came the Greek education and civllIza-
ton; and while we read with never
falling delight and fascination the epic
OF Homer, the greatest Of all poets, IL
we except Shakespeare, the plays OF
sophoohles the tragedies Of Aeschylue.
the orations Of Demosthenes and Per-
ices: and while the exhibit
tions Of the architectural glory OF
the Parthenon and other structures win
our admiration while we study the
logic OF Aristotle. whom no other logi-
clan has surpassed. and we delve into
the spiritual glories Of the transcen-
dentalist Plato, and admit In general
the Intellectual superiority OF the
Greeks yet their democracy was not
founded on the individual Slavery was
tolerated, the degradation OF woman
was countenanced, immortality was not
repressed Schiller declares that the
education OF the Greek tended to teach
the boy how TO night and 10 sing. but
the moral attributes and those ideas
that contribute so much 20 individual
integrity and enlightenment were neg
lected.
Come now to Rome. II presented
dcgeneraoy from the Greek idea. Quin-
lillian. Cicero, and others do attempt
the highest flights OF Individual genius,
but the tendency OF Roman education
was 10 teach men simply how to main
tain the stateiohoN 10 build, pillow, and
sail, but did not reach the moral and
sIhltuol ilatuit VI ING Iltfutfihl NIOHl
II exalted by means OF temporal power
This fact led the historian Froude to de-
clare that when Christ was born phil.
osophy and religion were rotten from
tho pillars Of Hercules to the bounds OF
the western sea. Some people, indeed,
are prone TO look upon Christianity as a
secondary force. compared with kings
and thrones and battles; but 1t was
Christ who taught that all men are
equal, that God Ii no respecter OF per.
aors, and that II man achieves lmmor-
talIty an eternal life, Il viii be due 10
his own achievements. Without this
inspiring thought. the world would still
have been In darkness and that great
and glorious torch which mas illumin-
ated the world and sanctined the hui
ina heart would not have lighted for.
ever the fires OF civilization.
The civilization which Christ introduced
makes every man feel his Importance,
as an immortal soul, divine ego;
Christ exalts the individual, teaches
men TO think, tells them they are heirs
Of God, and Joint heirs with Jesus
Christ They are heirs to this earth
also; and man so taught feels that he
has the blood OF the father IN his veins.
and the spirit Of Immortality in his
heart.
Christ knocked az the doors Of king
ly government, OF unjust priesthood, Of
tyranny and crime and babe the keep
ers to open those doors and free man
Kind. These apparently simple teach
| ings OF that humble Nazarene, who was
without wealth, influence, friends, or
| place TO lay his Understandings that
were not written by stenographers or
| blazed abroad IN a thousand newspa-
pers-have changed the current Of life
and have given eternal hope to the hui
man heart. Even Voltaire, writing In
the line OF these teachings. has made
war Infamous in the eyes OF oil think
| efs; and even Napoleon, who played
with thrones and kingdoms as children
with their toys. realized that his splen-
| did empire would fade away, and ac-
| knowledged that only the kingdom Of
| Christ would endure. SO Rousseau the
| the intide nevertheless dlscerned and
| proclaimed the fact that Christ alone
| lived as God and died as such When
| IN the name Of Christ, an unjust priest
hood arose. and corrupted governments
assumed control, the dark ages came
on; yet the Reformation the dawn Of
intellectual liberty with It's Chaucer,
Spencer and Shakespeare In literature,
its great teachers like Montesquel In
| France, its Luther and Melancthon, and
later its Puritan fathers and the new
world with It's great republic founded
on individual liberty, and finally the
restoration OF the Gospel Of Jesus
Christ-all these things revealed IN the
course Of history, are but the fruits OF
the mission and teachings OF Jesus
Christ.
My young friends, we stlll read agree
ably OF wars and armies and nayes
and men as well as women admire the
shoulderstraps and brass buttons; but
we should know that great men, like
Valtlre, or Gibbon, or Greene, the
wisest OF historians, have put battles
and lntrigues In their histories Of clv-
lllzatlon In the rear. They name edu.
Gators and poems that stir the human
heart or pictures on the canvas tina,
depict the beauties Of nature and the
workings Of the human mind. as the
real forces Of civilization. What was
II that planted hope In the human
heart? II was an Idea. Ideas are the
real conquerOrs of the world, Get an
idea and cherish II. Moral and Spirit.
ual ideas are the only forces that have
emanClpated men, The essence OF
proper education Is founded upon NOR.
al and spiritual development The onlS
great and potent things are those idea:
which are founded on truth.
The Gospel OF Jesus Christ teaches
freedom OF the body and OF the mind
No man can make you great or small
The man Is great In proportion as he Il
free, as he IL natural We need to bC
original, 10 be ourselves, 10 develop the
divine ego. for us to become the true
children Of God.
Boys who are afraid OF struggle, aim
20 secure easy snaps" but no one can
be strong withou; struggling. We hold
the key TO our own destiny. We rise
or fall according to our own merits
DO not feel that the applause Of the
world IL necessary The greatest men
and women have often been those
whom the world has never heard or In
darkness, obscurity and suffering they