[Brigham Young Sermon]
I really wanted to give [Elder Hyde] a joke, I think I will venture to do so. In his first remarks he told us, if it were necessary and he felt as though he could not well do without a good spree, he would get a bottle of right down good spirits and retire to his closet; I recommend his choice of good spirits, and perfectly agree with him on that point, with only one exception; I should want some of the best boys along to enjoy it with me. ...
Elder Hyde and myself ... have got old and cunning, we do not let the folks see our freaks, we do it in secret so that they cannot know it, but the boys have their freaks in the broad daylight. When we old and experienced ones want to skylark, we know how to do it without exposing ourselves, but the boys have not had the experience we have, and they do what they do openly....
If ... too much labor is exacted from the mind of a child, it will break down the constitution of the intellect. This is certainly so. This declaration presents an idea before the mind of the people that seemingly conflicts with the antiquated doctrine and practice of '"bring up your children as strictly as possible.'" This is all right; but what parent knows precisely when, and how often to free the child from restriction, that the wild burst of inexperienced young may have vent...
[The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
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