The interest in – or at least recognition of – our church-wide need for training in public speaking, together with Kevin Barney’s post today on Reading at Church prompts me to offer this additional lesson from the 1966 “Lessons and Activities” book for small MIAs (MIAs with so few members that it made little sense to offer the full program of Beehives, Scouts, etc.). This activity was intended as a presentation to youth and adults of all ages, meeting together, and could easily be adapted to a youth or adult activity today – a bishop could use it as a 5th Sunday lesson in the joint Priesthood/Relief Society meeting, or it could be a combined YM/YW evening. It is illustrated with examples from general public speaking, but would work just as well for typical Sacrament meeting subjects as long as you substituted topical stories that were as unusual, uncertain, familiar, antagonistic, animate, and concrete as those in the original lesson.

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Mark B. spotted this on The Volokh Conspiracy, which we are “free to use in caroling this holiday season,” according to its adapter. Wouldn’t your kids just think you were the coolest — or geekiest — parent in town if you sang or even taught them to sing this carol tonight?

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‘Shepherds, rejoice! lift up your eyes
And send your fears away;
News from the region of the skies:
Salvation’s born today!
Jesus, the God whom angels fear,
Comes down to dwell with you;
Today he makes his entrance here,
But not as monarchs do.

‘No gold, nor purple swaddling bands,
Nor royal shining things;
A manger for his cradle stands,
And holds the King of kings.
Go, shepherds, where the Infant lies,
And see his humble throne;
With tears of joy in all your eyes,
Go, shepherds, kiss the Son.’

Thus Gabriel sang, and straight around
The heavenly armies throng;
They tune their harps to lofty sound
And thus conclude the song:
‘Glory to God that reigns above,
Let peace surround the earth;
Mortals shall know their Maker’s love
At their Redeemer’s birth.’

Lord! and shall angels have their songs
And men no tunes to raise?
O may we lose these useless tongues
When they forget to praise!
‘Glory to God that reigns above,
That pitied us forlorn!’
We join to sing our Maker’s love,
For there’s a Saviour born.

– Isaac Watts

The Instructor, December 1960

“The Shepherds Gazed in Adoration,” by Murillo

Scottish-born convert John Menzies Macfarlane arrived in Utah in 1852. The 18-year-old taught school in Bountiful for a few months, then moved to Cedar City in the fall of 1853 where he took up farming and again taught school.

The federal census consistently describes Macfarlane as a farmer. His career, however, was far more varied than that suggests. He was Toquerville’s first postmaster in the late 1850, and served as Iron County’s first superintendent of schools in the late 1860s. He became a surveyor, exploring the possibility of diverting the Virgin River to irrigate lands near Hurricane, and aiding miners at Silver Reef and in Nevada’s Pahranagat district to establish their claims.

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I may not go tonight to Bethlehem,
Nor follow star-directed ways, nor tread
The paths wherein the shepherds walked, that led
To Christ, and peace, and God’s good will to men.

I may not hear the herald angel’s song
Peal through the oriental skies, nor see
The wonder of that Heavenly company
Announce the King the world had waited long.

The manger throne I may not kneel before,
Or see how man to God is reconciled,
Through pure St. Mary’s purer, holier Child;
The human Christ these eyes may not adore.

I may not carry frankincense and myrrh
With adoration to the Holy One;
Nor gold have I to give the Perfect Son,
To be with those wise kings a worshipper.

Not mine the joy that Heaven sent to them,
For ages since Time swung and locked his gates,
But I may kneel without—the star still waits
To guide me on to holy Bethlehem.

– Pauline Johnson

The Children’s Friend, December 1961

unidentified cover art

As regular as the Saturday morning cartoons come the Saturday morning jokes from Keepapitchinin, this time courtesy of the 1930 church magazines:

How Terrible!

“The baby swallowed a bottle of ink!”

“Incredible!”

“No, indelible!”

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The newborn King Who comes today
Brings tidings of great joy,
Which sin can never take away,
Nor death nor hell destroy.
Rejoice, ye Gentile lands, rejoice,
And hail this glorious dawn,
For God comes down, frail man to crown:
The Lord of Life is born!

He comes not as a king of earth,
In pomp and pride to reign;
He seeks a poor and humble birth,
But free from sinful stain;
Rejoice, ye Gentile lands, rejoice,
Glad hymns of triumph sing:
The Wonderful, the Counsellor,
He comes, your God and King!

For us He leaves His Father’s throne,
His sapphire throne on high,
And comes to dwell on earth alone,
For fallen man to die.
Rejoice, ye Gentile lands, rejoice,
All hail Messiah’s dawn:
Our God comes down, earth’s joy and crown,
The King of Love is born!

Glad Gentiles in their eastern home
His radiant star behold;
To God, their King, they joy to bring
Sweet incense, myrrh, and gold.
Rejoice, ye Gentile lands, rejoice,
In heaven your praises sing:
Before Him fall, the Lord of all,
Your Maker and your King!

We join your song, celestial throng,
Whose anthems never cease;
We tune our lyres, with angels choirs,
To hail the Prince of Peace!
Rejoice, ye Gentile lands, rejoice
All hail Immanuel’s morn:
For God comes down, frail man to crown,
To us a Child is born.

– Samuel Ward

The Instructor, December 1962

“Birth of Christ,” by Rubens

Children’s letters to the Juvenile Instructor at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries often included puzzles for other children to solve. A favorite format – variously called an enigma, a charade, or a starpath – asked the reader to solve a list of clue words. These clue words formed an acrostic; reading the first letter of each word formed a name or phrase which was the real goal of the puzzle. Because the solutions were nearly always Mormon-related, it is clear to me that the children made up these puzzles themselves, rather than copying them from some generic Gentile source.

Here is one such puzzle constructed by Reuben McBride of Moab and solved by Alice Starband of Cedar City. It is actually a double acrostic – the first letters of each clue word form one Mormon-related term; the last letters of each clue word form another Mormon-related term. (more…)

Hosanna! be the children’s song,
To Christ, the children’s King;
His praise, to whom our souls belong,
Let all the children sing.

Hosanna! sound from hill to hill,
And spread from plain to plain,
While louder, sweeter, clearer still,
Woods echo to the strain.

Hosanna! on the wings of light
O’er earth and ocean fly,
Till morn to eve, and noon to night,
And Heaven to earth, reply.

Hosanna! then, our song shall be;
Hosanna to our King!
This is the children’s jubilee;
Let all the children sing.

– James Montgomery (1853)
 
The Instructor, December 1965

(unidentified cover art)

Cable/Telegraph Codes

The substitution ciphers we have looked at can encrypt any message, even words or names unknown at the time a cipher was devised. True codes, on the other hand, are a closed system – when people are assigned new labels (Gazelam for “Joseph Smith,” for instance), you cannot introduce a new name without notifying correspondents of the additional code word.

Nineteenth century Mormon leaders used true codes following the completion of the telegraph, and especially following the completion of the transatlantic cable. Cable codes could be used to maintain secrecy, but generally they were intended to lower the expense of cabling between, say, Liverpool and Salt Lake City, because a single code word could replace the multi-word name of a person or city, or signal the completion of an assignment.

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Sing Hosanna! Zion, sing!
David’s Son thy gates is nearing.
Hail the triumph of thy King;
Set the throne for his appearing;
Strew thy palms; prepare the way:
Lo, He comes to thee today.

Hail! Hosanna! Welcome Thou!
Come; behold, we go to meet Thee;
Low before Thy feet we bow,
With our hearts arrayed to greet Thee.
Enter, Lord, within our gates,
Where a welcome for Thee waits.

Hail! Hosanna! Glorious King,
Prince of Peace and Victor splendid!
Thou to all Thine own wilt bring
All the spoils of conflict ended.
Thine the right, exalted, sure,
And Thy kingdom shall endure.

Hail! Hosanna! Dearest Guest,
Who dost graciously elect us
Joint heirs in Thy kingdom blest,
Reign Thou in us and protect us.
Make us ready to obey,
Subject to Thy scepter’s sway.

Hail! Hosanna! Lord, make haste;
Come, Thy clemency revealing,
Not in servant’s form abased,
Nor Thy majesty concealing;
Come, that Zion now may see
David’s Son, and God’s, in Thee.

Hail! Hosanna! Come, O Christ;
Help and prosper, we implore Thee,
So there can be sacrificed
Truly contrite hearts before Thee.
Whoso will Thy voice regard
Thou wilt own as Thine, O Lord.

Hail! Hosanna! Here with Thee
In Gethsemane we wander,
Till at last our lot shall be
Evermore to praise Thee yonder.
Bethphage before us lies
Where Hosannas ever rise.

Far and near hosannas heard!
Haste Thine advent, O Lord Jesus!
O Thou Blessed of the Lord,
Wilt stand there and not release us.
Hail! Hosanna! Dost Thou hear?
Yea, Hosanna! Thou art near!

– B. Schmolcke; translated by A. Ramsey

The Instructor, December 1958

“Sing Hosannas,” photo of Stanley Joe Lee (age 6), of St. Ignatius, Montana,
who to that date had a perfect record of attendance 
at Sunday School and Primary

Other Coded Names (“Our Friend”)

A later instance of a code name began with a simple exchange of letters in 1851. “To Our Dear Friend, Colonel Kane,” began Brigham Young. “Our Friend, a title, than which we can give no greater; … we received it with pleasure, we impart [it] with delight.” “Our friend Colonel Kane” quickly became “our friend” in correspondence; eventually, “Our Friend” was used specifically to conceal Kane’s identity. Cannon’s letter cited in my introduction, for instance, describes his 1872 visit to “Our Friend,” and this 1860 letter from Utah Territorial Delegate William H. Hooper refers cryptically to “our Friend at P—.”

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Over the frozen plain snow-white
The three Kings will come tonight;
We shall know by the kettle-drums
Which way the procession comes.

They have come from very far,
Following fast behind a Star,
In their shimmering robes of silk,
Riding horses white as milk.

They bring thro’ the starlit dark
Gold once hid in Noë’s Ark;
They bear over snow and ice
Bags of musk and myrrh and spice.

They have brought from the warm countree
Cloves like nails from a blossoming tree,
Flowers of a branch of a Tree that grew
In Eden when the world was new.

They have heard of a wondrous thing,
That here is born a little King;
They bring treasures of great worth
To the Treasure of the earth.

When we see the Kings ride past,
Thro’ the silence white and vast,
In the night will bloom, methinks,
Velvet roses and striped pinks.

When we see them all aglow
Riding over leagues of snow,
In their robes of red and gold,
We shall never feel the cold.

We will print upon the gifts
They have borne thro’ the snow-drifts,
Thro’ the bitter weather wild,
Kisses for the little Child.

– R.L. Gales

Juvenile Instructor, December 1915

“The Night Before Christmas,” The Osborne Co.

I delivered this paper at the 2006 meeting of the Mormon History Association in Casper, Wyoming. Because that was an oral presentation, which I haven’t converted to one intended to be read, the quotations below are filled with ellipses. I find that annoying as a reader, and I apologize for that. I promise, though, that the sense of the quotations hasn’t been changed; they are only streamlined to make it easier for listeners to grasp easily at the speed of the spoken word.

Introduction

LDS Apostle George Q. Cannon went to Washington in 1872 to assist with yet another bid for Utah statehood. If history proved any guide, failure would have consequences. Cannon wrote:

[T]he application for admission as a State … in 1856 … was followed by the sending of an army to wipe us out. The application for admission … in 1862, was followed by the passage of the anti-polygamy law. What will follow this application?

Seeking confidential political advice from long-time ally Thomas L. Kane, Cannon went to rural Pennsylvania. His written report does not mention Kane by name, nor the location of his meeting – no destination, not even the direction or means of travel or time necessary to reach the spot are given. The report refers vaguely to unnamed “parties” and unspecified “terms.” “[W]ritten communications on such subjects are dangerous,” Cannon noted.

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Shades of silent night dividing,
Bursts the glory from above;
Down the stream of brightness gliding,
Comes the messenger of love;
To the shepherds lowly, telling
Of the Christ expected long,
While the sudden anthem, swelling
Fills the flowing heav’n with song.

Heav’n will guard their flocks from danger
Scattered o’er the moist green sward,
While the swains to Bethlehem’s manger,
Hie to greet their newborn Lord.
Awe and love maternal blending,
Fill the blessèd virgin’s heart;
While with reverent gesture bending,
Kneel these humble men apart.

Not alone do men unlearnèd
Bow the holy Child before:
Sages who for truth long yearnèd
Heav’ns true Sun at length adore.
So our songs proclaim a story
Kings of old have longed to know;
Tell of Christ, the Prince of Glory,
Born this night, for high and low.

– G.W. Druce

The Instructor, December 1964

“The Holy Night,” by Feuerstein
(identified by Justin — see comments)

The four men knew they were in danger. Heavy, wet snow falling on an icy crust of old snow was the perfect recipe for avalanche on Jan. 7, 1912. The men left the sawmill anyway, their wagon loaded with lumber, and drove cautiously down Blacksmith Fork Canyon southeast of Logan, Utah.

Four miles below, the road was blocked by a snowslide. As the men worked to free their stalled wagon, a field of snow broke loose and crashed down upon them. George William Ellis of Smithfield, 45, father of seven with an eighth child to be born the following March, was crushed against the heavy wagon and died almost instantly. Daniel Fletcher Norris of Paradise, 23, married less than a year, was buried by snow and died slowly of suffocation. John Edward Miles, Jr. of Paradise, 21, son of the sawmill’s owner, was carried down the ravine and flung into a creek, his shoulders pinned against a rock by snow which hardened like concrete around him.

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Hush, all ye sounds of war, ye nations all be still,
A voice of heav’nly joy steals over vale and hill,
O hear the angels sing the captive world’s release,
This day is born in Bethlehem the Prince of Peace.

No more divided be, ye families of men,
Old enmity forget, old friendship knit again,
In the new year of God let brothers’ love increase,
This day is born in Bethlehem the Prince of Peace.

– William H. Draper

Relief Society Magazine, December 1962

“La Madonnina,” by Ferruzzi

 Il est né le Divin Enfant.
Jouez hautbois, résonnez musettes!
Il est né le Divin Enfant.
Chantons tous son avènement!

Depuis plus de quatre mille ans
Nous le promettaient les prophètes,
Depuis plus de quatre mille ans
Nous attendions cet heureux temps!

Ah! qu’il est beau, qu’il est charmant,
Que ses graces sont parfaites!
Ah! qu’il est beau, qu’il est charmant,
Qu’il est doux le divin Enfant!

Depuis plus de quatre mille ans
Nous le promettaient les prophètes,
Depuis plus de quatre mille ans
Nous attendions cet heureux temps!

Une étable est son logement,
Un peu de paille est sa couchette.
Une étable est son logement,
Pour un Dieu quel abaissement!

Depuis plus de quatre mille ans
Nous le promettaient les prophètes,
Depuis plus de quatre mille ans
Nous attendions cet heureux temps!

O Jésus, o roi tout puissant,
Tout petit enfant que vous êtes,
O Jésus, o roi tout puissant,
Regnez sur nous entièrement!

Depuis plus de quatre mille ans
Nous le promettaient les prophètes,
Depuis plus de quatre mille ans
Nous attendions cet heureux temps!

Relief Society Magazine, December 1959

“Madonna and Child,” by Fra Filippo Lippi

The Juvenile Instructor comes through once again with ticklers, this time from 1917:

The Way of Life

I used to think I knew I knew,
But now, I must confess,
The more I know I know I know,
I know I know the less.

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Child in the manger, Infant of Mary,
Outcast and Stranger, Lord of all,
Child Who inherits all our transgressions,
All our demerits on Him fall.

Once the most holy Child of salvation
Gently and lowly lived below.
Now as our glorious mighty Redeemer,
See Him victorious o’er each foe.

Prophets foretold Him, Infant of wonder;
Angels behold Him on His throne.
Worthy our Savior of all our praises;
Happy forever are His own.

– Mary M. MacDonald,
translated from the Gaelic by Lachlan Macbean

Relief Society Magazine, December 1957

“Madonna and Child,” by Sichel

Hundreds of Utah families observed Thanksgiving 1916 with an empty chair at the table. Their sons and husbands in the National Guard were in Arizona, guarding the border against raiders attempting to draw the United States into deeper involvement in the Mexican Revolution.

The 140 men and officers of Battery A, Utah Field Artillery, had been in Arizona since late June, reporting to Nogales only nine days after President Woodrow Wilson had called for troops. Battery A claimed to be the first National Guard unit to arrive at the border, although Illinois disputed their claim. Utah’s men were fully uniformed, equipped, examined and mustered, in contrast with other early arrivals who had rushed to the border unprepared for service. (more…)

Sweeter sounds than music knows
Charm me, in Emmanuel’s Name;
All her hopes my spirit owes
To His birth, and cross, and shame.

When He came the angels sang
“Glory be to God on high,”
Lord, unloose my stammering tongue,
Who should louder sing than I.

Did the Lord a man become
That He might the law fulfill,
Bleed and suffer in my room,
And canst thou, my tongue, be still?

No, I must my praises bring,
Though they worthless are, and weak;
For should I refuse to sing
Sure the very stones would speak.

O my Savior, Shield, and Sun,
Shepherd, Brother, Husband, Friend,
Every precious name in one;
I will love Thee without end.

– John Newton

The Instructor, December 1969

“The Adoration of Mary and Joseph,” by Mazuranic

From 1964. Better, even, than a temple excursion by bus.

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The angel Gabriel from Heaven came,
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame;
“All hail,” said he, “thou lowly maiden Mary,
Most highly favored lady,” Gloria!

“For know a blessèd mother thou shalt be,
All generations laud and honor thee,
Thy Son shall be Emmanuel, by seers foretold,
Most highly favored lady,” Gloria!

Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head,
“To me be as it pleaseth God,” she said,
“My soul shall laud and magnify His holy Name.”
Most highly favored lady, Gloria!

Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ, was born
In Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn,
And Christian folk throughout the world will ever say—
“Most highly favored lady,” Gloria!

– Sabine Baring-Gould

The Instructor, December 1968

“The Madonna,” by de Champaigne

I love this photo of Emma Lee Pouncey Bertrand. There is something about the set of her jaw, or the carriage of her head, that reminds me of the strength of my Alabama grandmother and her sisters, and the other independent southern women I have known. Her character seems to be written on her face.

Emma was born in Alabama in 1873, the youngest child of Baptist Pastor William Jones Pouncey (then age 70) and his much younger fourth wife, Phoebe Juffus Lockard. Her father died when Emma was 5 years old. Emma was 14 when she was introduced to a Texas sheepman at the home of friends. He was ill with malaria and had just come in from the ranch, dirty and unshaven. The sheepman was more taken with Emma than she was with him – until the next evening, that is, when the sheepman came to call on her, clean-shaven, dressed in good clothes, and with a buggy to take her for a ride. She married him – Peter Gabriel Bertrand, 35 to Emma’s 15 years – a year later.

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From east to west, from shore to shore,
Let every heart awake and sing
The holy Child Whom Mary bore,
The Christ, the everlasting King.

Behold, the world’s Creator wears
The form and fashion of a slave;
Our very flesh our Maker shares,
His fallen creature, man, to save.

For this how wondrously He wrought!
A maiden, in her lowly place,
Became, in ways beyond all thought,
The chosen vessel of His grace.

She bowed her to the angel’s word
Declaring what the Father willed,
And suddenly the promised Lord
That pure and hallowed temple filled.

He shrank not from the oxen’s stall,
He lay within the manger bed,
And He whose bounty feedeth all
At Mary’s breast Himself was fed.

And while the angels in the sky
Sang praise above the silent field,
To shepherds poor the Lord Most High,
The one great Shepherd, was revealed.

All glory for this blessèd morn
To God the Father ever be;
All praise to Thee, O virgin born,
All praise, O Holy Ghost, to Thee.

– Caelius Sedulius (5th cent.); translated by John Ellerton

Relief Society Magazine, December 1965

“Madonna and Child,” by Crivelli

Jonathan Golden Kimball, son of Heber C. Kimball and Christeen Golden, grew up in that second generation of pioneers, those who had been born in the West and knew nothing else, who had not known Joseph Smith or chosen to make the sacrifices that loyalty to him demanded, who somehow succeeded in carrying the Church over the hump from primitive, charismatic fervor to enduring, sustaining faith. J. Golden embodies that transition.
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The KSL announcement here.

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Come children, with singing, with sweet voices ringing,
Come kneel to the Babe that in Bethlehem lies,
While angels achoir, with pinions of fire,
Are filling with music the listening skies.

Repeat the dear story how, veiling His glory,
The Hope of the Ages came down to the earth,
Oh, worship Him lowly, the lofty and holy
Our Star of the Morning shone out at His birth.

See Mary enfold Him, while shepherds behold Him.
And sages are bent at His beautiful feet.
Come, haste to adore Him, and, bowing before Him,
The Lord who redeems you in reverence greet.

This wonderful Stranger, His couch is a manger,
His cradle is made with the cattle in stall;
Yet God of creation in blest incarnation,
He stoops to our nature to ransom us all.

– author unknown, published 1910

The Improvement Era, December 1957

“The Virgin Mary Adoring the Infant Christ,” by Correggio

Old church magazines are peppered with menus and recipes. Relief Society lessons about nutrition offer sample recipes. Improvement Era articles about ward banquets include recipes for baked-beans-for-250. The Young Women’s Journal suggests party foods to suit various themes. Even the Children’s Friend describes ways for kids to play with their food and call it cooking.

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O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times did’st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

12th century text; 1851 translation by John Mason Neale

The Improvement Era, December 1959

“The Nativity,” by Friberg