History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

324 EDUCATION AND MANUFACTURES.
tionized ; the theories of gravitation, repulsion, and
attraction overthrown, the motion of atoms, whether
single or in mass, being ascribed to the all-pervading
presence of the holy spirit. The planetary systems
were to be rearranged, their number and relations
modified, for in the book of Abraham it was revealed
that in the centre of the universe was the great orb
Kolob, the greatest of all the stars seen by that pa-
triarch, revolving on its axis once in a thousand years,
and around which all other suns and planets revolved
in endless cycles. 8
At first, however, education among the settlers
was mainly of an elementary nature. There were
many, even among the adults, who could not write or
spell, and not a few who could not read. A parents'
school was therefore established at Salt Lake City,
for the heads of families and for the training of
teachers, among the pupils being Brigham Young. 9
Primary and other schools were opened in all the
principal settlements, 10 and for those who were suffi-
ciently advanced, classes were organized as early as
the winter of 1848-9, for the study of ancient and
modern languages. 11
the Lamb's book of life, and the songs of the sanctified ? ' Deseret News, July
26, 1851.
8 ' I saw the stars that they were very great, and that one of them was
nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones that were
near it; and the Lord said unto me, These are the governing ones: and the
name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord
thy God; I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same
order of that upon which thou standest. And the Lord said unto me, By the
urim and thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according
to its times and seasons in the revolution thereof, that one revolution was a
day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years
according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest.' Reynolds'
Book of Abraham, 29. See also Orson Pratt's lecture on astronomy in Deseret
News, Dec. 27, 1S51.
9 The parent school is in successful operation in the council-house, and
schools have been built in most of the wards. Hist. B. Young, MS., 1851, 32;
Gunnison's The Mormons, 80; Utah Early Records, MS., 115. Lyons Collins
was appointed teacher by the chancellor and board of regents.
10 Jesse W. Fox taught the first school at Manti in 1850. Utah Sketches,
MS., 172. The first school at Nephi was opened in 1851. Id., 111. The
best school-house in Utah county was at Palmyra; at Provo, Evan M. Greene
opened a select school in the second ward. Deseret News, Dec. 11, 1S52.
11 ' There have been a large number of schools the past winter, in which
the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Fiench, German, Tahitian, and English languages