Testimonies of Joseph Smith’s Personality and Character
Compiled and Edited from Sources Noted
Index
Parley P. Pratt Speaks of Joseph Smith
Wilford Woodruff’s Testimony
Observations of Joseph Smith by others
Joseph Smith’s Integrity and Character
The Mind of Joseph Smith
A few of Joseph Smith’s mental abilities
Joseph Smith‘s Temperament
Joseph Smith and Humility
Abuses of Joseph Smith and his ability to overcome
A Testament of the Truth - The Prophet Excommunicates Certain Leaders
Hugh B. Brown’s 1961 talk and testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith
Russell Anderson's Answers to Questions about Joseph Smith
Shortly after the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, Parley P. Pratt penned this description of the prophet:
"President Joseph Smith was in person tall and well built, strong and active; of a light complexion, light hair, blue eyes, very little beard, and of an expression peculiar to himself, on which the eye naturally rested with interest, and was never weary of beholding. His countenance was ever mild, affable, beaming with intelligence and benevolence; mingled with a look of interest and an unconscious smile or cheerfulness, and entirely free from all restraint or affectation of gravity: and there was something connected with the serene and steady penetrating glance of his eye, as if he would probe the deepest abyss of the human heart, gaze into eternity, penetrate the heavens, and comprehend all worlds.
He possessed a noble boldness and independence of character; his manner was easy and familiar; his rebuke terrible as the lion; his benevolence unbounded as the ocean; his intelligence universal, and his language abounding in original eloquence peculiar to himself-not polished-not studied-not smoothed and softened by education and refined by art; but flowing forth in its own native simplicity, and profusely abounding in variety of subject and manner. He interested and edified, while, at the same time, he amused and entertained his audience; and none listened to him that were ever weary with his discourse. I have even known him to retain a congregation of willing and anxious listeners for many hours together, in the midst of cold or sunshine, rain or wind, while they were laughing at one moment and weeping the next. Even his most bitter enemies were generally overcome, if he could once get their ears.
I have known him, when chained and surrounded with armed murderers and assassins who were heaping upon him every possible insult and abuse, to rise up in the majesty of a son of God and rebuke them in the name of Jesus Christ, till they quailed before him, dropped their weapons, and on their knees begged his pardon, and ceased their abuse.
In short, in him the characters of a Daniel and a Cyrus were wonderfully blended. The gifts, wisdom and devotion of a Daniel were united with the boldness, courage, temperance, perseverance and generosity of a Cyrus. And had he been spared a martyr's fate till mature manhood and age, he was certainly endued with powers and ability to have revolutionized the world in many respects, and to have transmitted to posterity a name associated with more brilliant and glorious acts than has yet fallen to the lot of mortal. As it is, his works will live to endless ages, and unnumbered millions yet unborn will mention his name with honor, as a noble instrument in the hands of God, who, during his short and youthful career, laid the foundation of that kingdom spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, which should break in pieces all other kingdoms and stand forever."
(Source: Orson F. Whitney, The Mormon Prophet's Tragedy: A Review [Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1905], 98.)
Wilford Woodruff recorded this testimony of Joseph Smith the prophet in 1877:
“I bear my testimony that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, ordained of God to lay the foundation of his church and kingdom in the last dispensation of fullness of times. I bear my testimony that in the early spring of 1844 in Nauvoo, the Prophet Joseph Smith called the Twelve Apostles together, and he delivered unto them the ordinances of the Church and kingdom of God; and all of the keys and powers that God had bestowed upon him, he sealed upon our heads. He told us we must round up our shoulders and bear off this kingdom or we would be damned. I am the only man now living in the flesh who heard that testimony from his mouth, and I know it is true by the power of God manifest through him. At that meeting he began to speak about three hours upon the subject of the kingdom. His face was as clear as amber, and he was covered with a power that I had never seen in the flesh before. In all his testimony to us, the power of God was visibly manifest in the Prophet Joseph.
This is my testimony, spoken by myself into a talking machine on this the nineteenth day of March, 1877, in the ninety-first year of my age.”
-Wilford Woodruff
(The recording of Wilford Woodruff was taken from a clay cylinder made on an Edison-type gramaphone. This is the only known voice recording of Wilford Woodruff)
Part I:
[A] few comparisons: We have the testimony of Peter Burnett, one-time Governor of California, who had known in the Missouri period, that he found him a man of great leadership gifts, a man who instinctively commanded admiration and respect.[1] Stephen A. Douglas whose title, "the Little Giant," was, one source claims, applied to him by -the same Stephen A. Douglas who debated Lincoln and who aspired, as the Prophet predicted he would, to the Presidency of the United States-had many admiring things to say of Joseph during the Illinois period. He said he had independence of mind.[2]
Alexander Doniphan was the general who refused to shoot the brothers Smith in the Far West square as ordered, and who wrote to General Lucas, "I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God."[3]
James W. Woods, the Prophet's last attorney, was with him on the morning of June 27, 1844. Never a Latter-day Saint, he observed that you could see the strength of Joseph Smith in his manner and dignity, but he added that you could see by his face alone that he was not a bad man.[4]
Daniel H. Wells, "Squire Wells," who heard Joseph speak twice in Nauvoo, was a kind of nineteenth century justice of the peace. He heard him speak on the principle that every son and daughter of Adam, sooner or later, whether in this life or the next, will hear the gospel of Jesus Christ in its purity and in its fullness and will have adequate option to choose it; and that those who accept it and live it, including the disembodied spirits who would have done so if they had had opportunity in mortality, will have the right and access to all the ordinances that are performed only in this life. How? By proxy. This man, trained in law and impressed by the justice of the Prophet's teachings, said, "I have known legal men all my life. Joseph Smith was the best lawyer that I have ever known in all my life."[5]
We have from Brigham Young a comment on Joseph's being different from Hyrum, and beyond the obvious comments is one to the effect that Joseph's ability, including his breadth of vision, was superior to Hyrum's.[6] An implication of this is that Joseph was more susceptible to the continuing impressions and revelations of God. That is, he did not become so rigidly bound to what had been given that he was unsusceptible to what yet had to be given. Yet that is a tendency. Claiming integrity, one can harden on past traditions and can thus become immune to living revelation. And the Prophet tended to judge men with that same openness: that is, not all cases are identical; each individual has his own special differences, and must be brought into harmony with the Lord in ways that recognize these differences. Again, this shows a mind that is not only open but also receptive; and not only receptive, but also obedient, even when the required response seemed to run counter to former assumptions and traditions.[7] This was an essential element for the revelator of our dispensation.
To summarize, in Joseph Smith we have a man who physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually was a living human multitude. He was many men in one, as it were. Many of his gifts were balanced with others, and all in all he was a superb instrument with whom the Lord could and did work in the dispensation of the fulness of times.
Notes:
1. Peter H. Burnett acted as a defending attorney for the Mormons during the Missouri period. He later wrote of Joseph: "He was much more than an ordinary man. He possessed the most indomitable perseverance, was a good judge of men, and deemed himself born to command, and he did command. His views were so strange and striking, and his manner was so earnest, and apparently so candid, that you could not but be interested. There was a kind, familiar look about him, that pleased you. He was very courteous in discussion, readily admitting what he did not intend to controvert, and would not oppose you abruptly, but had due deference to your feelings. He had the capacity for discussing a subject in different aspects, and for proposing many original views, even of ordinary matters. His illustrations were his own. He had great influence over others. As an evidence of this I will state that on Thursday, just before I left to return to Liberty [Missouri], I saw him out among the crowd, conversing freely with every one, and seeming to be perfectly at ease. In the short space of five days he had managed so to mollify his enemies that he could go unprotected among them without the slightest danger. Among the Mormons he had much greater influence than Sidney Rigdon. The latter was a man of superior education, an eloquent speaker, of fine appearance and dignified manners; but he did not possess the native intellect of Smith, and lacked his determined will." (An Old California Pioneer, p. 40.) Compare the comments of another attorney, Joseph Kelting: "Joseph was a mighty man and borrowed from no one; he was original and inspiring in his talk" (see Joseph Smith Papers).
2. According to the relation of an incident by Anson Call recorded by Abraham H. Cannon, Stephen A. Douglas once remarked: "Joseph Smith is the only independent man I ever saw. We are always wondering what effect our actions will have upon our constituents or friends, but he does what he thinks is right regardless of what people think or say of him." (See entry of March 9, 1890, in diary of Abraham H. Cannon, December 29, 1889 to July 15, 1890, pp. 89-90; compare journal of Wandle Mace, p. 285.)
3. See incidents in HC 3:190 and following pages.
4. The exact quotation reads: "I do not think that Joe Smith was at heart a bad or wicked man, and you could see from his face that he was not naturally an unkind one" (Iowa Democrat, May 13, 1885).
5. As recalled by Jesse N. Smith in Journal of Jesse Nathaniel Smith, p. 456. Wells had a superior legal education for this period.
6. Comparing Joseph and Hyrum, Brigham Young remarked: "His [Hyrum's] integrity was of the highest order, but his ability was not equal to Joseph's. Hyrum was a positive man; Joseph was a comparative man, regarding everything according to the circumstances of the case and every person according to the intrinsic worth." (See unpublished discourse of October 8, 1866, Church Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.)
7. "To become a joint heir of the heirship of the Son," Joseph said in 1843, "one must put away all his false traditions" (TPJS, p. 321; WJS, p. 244).
(Source: Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989], 33.)
Part II:
Those who knew Joseph Smith personally were particularly impressed by his greatness. James Leech and Bathsheba W. Smith spoke of him as being "different from any other man" they had ever seen.[1] To the latter, he was "an extraordinary man," who "looked the soul and honor of integrity." [2] Joseph Taylor, Sr., expressed the belief that the Prophet was "one of God's noblemen," [3] while Wiley Payne Allred wrote that he was "the most noble man" he had ever seen. [4] Jesse N. Smith declared the Mormon leader to be "incomparably the most God-like man I ever saw." [5] And John M. Chidester reported that, as he met the Prophet and shook hands with him, he was impressed that he "stood face to face with the greatest man on earth." [6] Josiah Smith gave a more detailed account:
When he grasped my hand in that cordial way (known to those who have met him in the honest simplicity of truth), I felt as one of old in the presence of the Lord, my strength seemed to be gone, so that it required an effort on my part to stand on my feet; but in all this there was no fear, but the serenity and peace of heaven pervaded my soul, and the still small voice of the spirit whispered its living testimony in the depths of my soul, where it has ever remained, that he was a Man of God. [7]
Such sentiments were widespread and of lasting significance among the Prophet's acquaintances. As James B. Bracken recalled Joseph's conduct during a trying experience in Missouri, he observed, "I never saw a nobler looking or acting man than Joseph Smith appeared on that occasion." [8] Said Daniel D. McArthur, "To me he seemed to possess more power and force of character than any ordinary man. I would look upon him when he was with hundreds of other men, then, he would appear greater than ever." [9]
According to Angus M. Cannon:
He was one of the grandest samples of manhood that I ever saw walk or ride at the head of a legion of men. In listening to him as he has addressed the Saints his words have so affected me that I would rise upon my feet in the agitation that would take hold of my mind. [10]
Notes:
1. Juvenile Instructor, XXVII, pp. 152, 344.
2. Ibid., p. 344.
3. Ibid., p. 202.
4. Ibid., p. 256.
5. Ibid., p. 23.
6. Ibid., p. 151.
7. Deseret News, VIII, p. 117.
8. Juvenile Instructor XXVII, p. 203.
9. Ibid., pp. 128-129.
10. Young Woman's Journal. XVII, p. 546.
(Source: Hyrum L. Andrus, Joseph Smith, the Man and the Seer [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1960], 4.)
Part III:
Even those previously prejudiced against the Prophet because of the tide of hatred and persecution that was raised against him were impressed when they had the opportunity personally to meet and speak with him. Many of the officials who would have taken his life, during the Missouri difficulties, "turned in his favor on forming his acquaintance." [1] While a prisoner in Missouri, Joseph Smith was delivered into the custody of his bitter enemy, General Moses Wilson. Later General Wilson said of him, "He was a very remarkable man. I carried him into my house, a prisoner in chains, and in less than two hours my wife loved him better than she did me." Some years later, when the Wilsons had moved to Texas, the General was engaged in raising a mob against some Mormon elders in that area. Upon hearing of these plans, Mrs. Wilson, although an aged lady, mounted her horse and rode thirty miles to warn the elders. No doubt her esteem for the Prophet largely motivated her in this action. [2]
Notes:
1. Reported by Daniel Tyler, Juvenile Instructor, XXVII, p. 491.
2. J. D., XVII. p. 92.
(Source: Hyrum L. Andrus, Joseph Smith, the Man and the Seer [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1960], 5 - 6.)
Part IV:
A correspondent of the New York Herald, after visiting Nauvoo in 1842, spoke of him as "one of the most accomplished and powerful chiefs of the age." He then gave what Helen Mar Whitney, an intimate friend of the Prophet, termed a "truthful description" [1] of the Mormon leader, in the following words:
Joseph Smith, the president of the church, prophet, seer, and revelator, is thirty-six years of age, six feet high in pumps, weighing two hundred and twelve pounds. He is a man of the highest order of talent and great independence of character—firm in his integrity—and devoted to his religion; . . . as a public speaker he is bold, powerful, and convincing; . . . as a leader, wise and prudent, yet fearless as a military commander; brave and determined as a citizen, worthy, affable, and kind; bland in his manners, and of noble bearing. [2]
Notes:
1. Helen Mar Whitney, "Scenes and Incidents in Nauvoo," Woman's Exponent, X (December 1, 1881), pp. 97-98.
2. New York Herald, February 19, 1842. Reprinted in Millennial Star, III (May 1843) p. 8
(Source: Hyrum L. Andrus, Joseph Smith, the Man and the Seer [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1960], 11.)
Part V:
Those who were personally acquainted with Joseph Smith appreciated even better the greatness of the man and the seer. Edward Stevenson, who "looked upon him as upon no other man," said that he "began to believe that the Prophet possessed an infinity of knowledge." [1] George Q. Cannon, one of the Church's great minds, concurred when he declared, "There was no end scarcely, in many respects, to the knowledge that he received." [2] Orson Pratt proclaimed that Joseph Smith was "one of the greatest men who ever lived in this probation, one of the greatest Prophets, with the exception of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, ever sent to our earth." [3] John Taylor wrote, and the Saints have accepted it as canonized truth, that "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it." [4]
Joseph the Prophet and the Seer was chosen and foreordained of God to usher in the last and greatest dispensation of gospel truth and power ever revealed to man on earth. The work he was instrumental in establishing is here to purify the world of unrighteousness, to establish the millennial society of peace and prosperity throughout the earth, and to prepare all things for the reign of Christ. To initiate this titanic task and to lay the foundation upon which the perfected superstructure will one day rest, God chose a select seer, with spiritual, mental, and moral powers suited to the work at hand, and with personality and physical strength to bear the burden of that great responsibility. Said the editor of the Millennial Star, shortly after the Prophet's martyrdom:
The personal frame of Mr. Smith was fitted by nature for the greatest measure of endurance. His gigantic mind disposed of cares and troubles of a domestic, political, and religious character, with extraordinary tact; and scarcely could the fury of the storm have begun to abate, before the sunbeams of cheerfulness irradiated his countenance, and the versatile character of his mind allowed him rest and recreation, while others would have sunk despondingly under accumulated troubles. Conscious of possessing a knowledge of the most profound principles of truth, virtue, and happiness, that were ever revealed to man, he dealt out unsparing giant blows against the Goliath of error, and smiled alike at the formidable front of his antagonist, and the inevitable discomfiture that ensued. He contemplated, without shadow of doubt, the complete and triumphant success of that system of truth that God had revealed through him, for the temporal, spiritual, and eternal safety of man; and although his days were cut short by the cruel hands of assassins, yet he lived to accomplish the work to which he was sent. This work he finished—the foundation of the millennial reign was fully laid by him— the superstructure is to go up to its full completion with shoutings of grace—grace unto it. [5]
Notes:
1. Joseph Grant Stevenson, "The Life of Edward Stevenson," unpublished Master's Thesis, Brigham Young University, p. 85.
2. J. D., XXIII, p. 362.
3. Ibid., XVI, p 327.
4. Doctrine and Covenants 135:2.
5. Millennial Star, IX (April 1, 1847), p 104.
(Source: Hyrum L. Andrus, Joseph Smith, the Man and the Seer [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1960], 138 - 139.)
Part I:
The Prophet's courage was combined with supreme integrity. Lorenzo Snow said, "There never was a man that possessed a higher degree of integrity and more devotedness to the interests of mankind than the Prophet Joseph Smith." [1] When Zion's Camp made the arduous journey from Kirtland to Missouri, in 1834, Joseph Smith demonstrated on many occasions what L. O. Littlefield termed as his "natural and inspired characteristic" of integrity. Littlefield said of him, "It is due his memory for me to here place on record the fact that I never, in that camp or during the trials of his later life, saw Joseph Smith the Prophet falter or shrink from the performance of any duty or undertaking that the Lord had commanded or inaugurated." [2] Moses Martin wrote in his Journal, "The road was so bad that we twice during the day had to unhitch our teams from our wagons and draw them by hand. Here I saw the Prophet wade in mud over the tops of his boot legs and help draw the wagons out." [3] Another member of the camp noted other similar experiences and bore a like testimony, stating, "Zion's Camp, in passing through the State of Indiana, had to cross very bad swamps, consequently we had to attach ropes to the wagons to help them through, and the Prophet was the first man at the rope in his bare feet. This was characteristic of him in all times of difficulty." [4] George A. Smith also wrote concerning that journey:
“The Prophet Joseph took a full share of the fatigues of the entire journey. In addition to the care of providing for the Camp and presiding over it, he walked most of the time and had a full proportion of blistered, bloody and sore feet, which was the natural result of walking from 25 to 40 miles a day in a hot season of the year. But during the entire trip he never uttered a murmur or complaint, while most of the men in the Camp complained to him of sore toes, blistered feet, long drives, scanty supply of provisions, poor quality of bread, bad corn dodger, frouzey butter, strong honey, maggotty bacon and cheese, etc., even a dog could not bark at some men without their murmuring at Joseph. If they had to camp with bad water it would nearly cause rebellion, yet we were the Camp of Zion, and many of us were prayerless, thoughtless, careless, heedless, foolish or devilish and yet we did not know it. Joseph had to bear with us and tutor us, like children. There were many, however, in the Camp who never murmured and who were always ready and willing to do as our leaders desired.” [5]
Said George Q. Cannon with reference to the Prophet's integrity, as manifested throughout his life of tribulation and persecution:
“Think of what he passed through! Think of his afflictions, and think of his dauntless character! Did any one ever see him falter? Did any one ever see him flinch? Did any one ever see any lack in him of the power necessary to enable him to stand with dignity in the midst of his enemies, or lacking in dignity in the performance of his duties as a servant of the living God? God gave him peculiar power in this respect. He was filled with integrity to God; with such integrity as was not known among men. He was like an angel of God among them. Notwithstanding all that he had to endure, and the peculiar circumstances in which he was so often placed, and the great responsibility that weighed constantly upon him, he never faltered; the feeling of fear or trembling never crossed him—at least he never exhibited it in his feelings or actions. God sustained him to the very last, and was with him, and bore him off triumphant even in his death.” [6]
Men with such a rare blend of admirable qualities as Joseph Smith possessed seldom appear on the scene of history. His physical appearance was commanding and inviting to look upon. His personality was charming and magnetic. While he possessed the strength of a giant, he had the agility of a chipmunk. Yet he was gentle and easy to approach, even by those in lowly stations. His keen penetrating eye was ever alert and discerning; and when truth was revealed, his courage and integrity in following its course knew no bounds. Such traits of character, with others yet to be discussed, caused Joseph Smith to stand out as a man among men and contributed to his stature as a Latter-day prophet of God.
Notes:
1. Conference Report, October, 1897, p. 64.
2. Juvenile Instructor, XXVII, pp. 223-224.
3. Journal History, May 20, 1834.
4. Statement by John M. Chidester, Juvenile Instructor, XXVII, p. 151.
5. George A. Smith's Journal. June 25, 1834.
6. J.D., XXIII, p. 36.
(Source: Hyrum L. Andrus, Joseph Smith, the Man and the Seer [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1960], 24 - 25.)
Part II:
Josiah Quincy observed that while the Mormon leader had been "born in the lowest ranks of poverty, without booklearning and with the homeliest of all human names, he had made himself at the age of thirty-nine a power upon earth." Nor did the Prophet's martyrdom, in Quincy's estimation, mark the end of his influence. "Of the multitudinous family of Smith," he observed, "none had so won human hearts and shaped human lives as this Joseph." [1] Others also paid tribute to the greatness of Joseph Smith. A Boston editor spoke of him as a "genius—and a rare one." [2] And a writer in the New York Sun declared:
This Joe Smith must be set down as an extraordinary character, a prophet-hero as Carlyle might call him. He is one of the greatest men of the age and in the future will rank with those who, in one way or another, have stamped their impression strongly on society. [3]
Notes:
1. Quincy, op. cit., p. 400.
2. Reprinted in Millennial Star, III (August, 1842), pp. 65-66.
3. Cited in Stories about Joseph Smith the Prophet, pp 13-14.
(Source: Hyrum L. Andrus, Joseph Smith, the Man and the Seer [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1960], 137 - 138.)
[Joseph Smith had] a remarkable mind. Mother Smith records that he was "much less inclined to perusal of books than any of the rest of our children, but far more given to meditation and deep study."[1] Yet as he matured and as the weight of his calling came upon him he became an assiduous, hard-reading student, poring over the scriptures, even being appointed to go over them word by word, line by line, and make inspired changes. In addition to that he aspired to the ancient languages.[2] At Kirtland he set up a school in Hebrew with Joshua Seixas as the teacher. Six of the students had not even mastered English in its rudiments. The minutes say that the two outstanding students in that school were Joseph Smith and Orson Pratt, in that order.[3] The worst was Heber C. Kimball.[4]
Notes:
1. History of Joseph Smith, p. 82.
2. See Zucker, "Joseph Smith as a Student of Hebrew," pp. 41-55.
3. Seixas came to Kirtland from Hudson, Ohio, and began his school on January 26, 1836, continuing for two months. By that time "only two of the class knew enough Hebrew to discuss it or to discourse on Hebrew phraseology from the Bible, Joseph Smith and Orson Pratt" (Berrett, Joseph Smith, Symbol of Greatness, p. 3). Hebrew and Latin were taught over a period of six months. Lorenzo Barnes writes: "I obtained considerable information of the Hebrew and Chaldaic languages so I could read and translate tolerably well" (see journal of Lorenzo Barnes, vol. 2). The Prophet also worked sporadically in Greek, Latin, and German.
4. Though Heber C. Kimball saw himself as "illiterate and unlearned, weak and feeble," he became one of the most powerful and fruitful missionaries in modern history. See the letter to his son William in foreword to Young, Letters of Brigham Young to His Sons, p. xii.
(Source: Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989], 21.)
[Joseph had] the ability to conceptualize; to understand principles, information, truth, and then (which isn't quite the same) to express them accurately, clearly, and, as need be, briefly. Joseph Smith, whatever his early tendencies and however he may or may not have shown up in school, had a brilliant conceptual ability both to see and to understand, to go to the heart of an issue and then to express it so that others would understand. Related to that is the admonition he wrote while he was for many months in isolation in Liberty. He wrote a letter, parts of which are in our Doctrine and Covenants (but part that is not included is equally profound). [1] He says: "The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity-thou must commune with God."[2]
That remarkable passage is in the context of his saying that often in our most important council meetings, classes, and gatherings we have been light-minded, "vain and trifling," and too often unconcentrated in our direction.[3]
[Joseph had a remarkable] memory, the ability to retain what one learns and summon it at will for further use, implication, or application. Apparently Joseph had to learn by repetition, just as the rest of us do, for in 1823 Moroni came and repeated the same message four times, including quotations from scripture. Thus the Prophet heard them often enough and clearly enough to recognize differences from the King James version of the Bible.[4] Four times he had to hear the message. Many might suppose that one visit from such a heavenly visitor would be sufficient. On the contrary. Joseph listened. He remembered.[5]
We find evidence of his remarkable memory near the other end of his life, when he sat down with William Clayton and his brother Hyrum and dictated the revelation we now call section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants. It is a long revelation-sixty-six verses, many of which are themselves long. Verse 19, for example, is over two hundred words. Some of the verses describe the conditions of the everlasting covenant in such terms as an attorney might use who had spent days thinking up every possible synonym, nuance, and contingency so that no loophole would remain. For example: "All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and…." That's the subject of the sentence. Then there's the verb. Then a very long predicate.[6] To have written that after patient winnowing of the dictionary would be an achievement. Joseph Smith dictated it straight and, apparently, without a change. That is amazing enough. But then we learn from William Clayton that the Prophet declared that "he knew the revelation perfectly, and could rewrite it at any time if necessary.[7] Now, that is staggering! He had the essential core of that involved revelation so clearly in mind that he had full confidence he could restate it. He may have meant that he could dictate it in the exact words, and if this is so he was indeed gifted in that respect beyond normal mortal ability. But I think he meant only that the content was clear to him and it would not be lost if the written version were lost. That shows a remarkable memory.
[Joseph had] the ability to be simplicity-minded, and that's a gift. Not "simpleminded," but "simplicity-minded," having the ability to reduce elaborate ideas to a core center or essence. At the same time it is a gift to be able to see what other minds do not; to recognize implications, nuances, extensions of ideas that go beyond ordinary perception. Here again Joseph Smith was an original, for on the one hand in administrative and decision-making enterprises he went quickly to the heart of the matter with ingenuity and skill. But on the other hand, if required and asked to elaborate on a given doctrine or teaching he could do so and then would stretch the minds of all present.[8]
As to the overall quality of the written work of Joseph Smith, Arthur Henry King, a convert to the Church and a renowned English professor, has said that in his judgment the Prophet's account in Joseph Smith-History (see the Pearl of Great Price), which includes his account of the First Vision and the visits of Moroni, is among the sublime prose in world literature. The same scholar has also said that one may contrast that writing favorably with the more ornate but in many respects more shallow writing of Oliver Cowdery, whose description of his feelings during the translation process and during John the Baptist's appearance is given at the end of Joseph's account in the Pearl of Great Price. Compare the two prose styles. In every way, Arthur Henry King observes, Joseph Smith's is superior."[9]
Notes:
1. See D&C 121, 122, and 123. The entire letter is punished in HC 3:289-305 and in TPJS, pp. 129-48.
2. TPJS, p. 137.
3. TPJS, p. 137.
4. He records there were "little variation[s]," i.e., differences, in citations from Malachi; but that the verses in Acts 3:22 and 23 were quoted "precisely as they stand in our New Testament." Either he had memorized these verses and could recognize "little variations" as he heard them or he remembered exactly how they were spoken and later read or reread them in the Bible and noticed the variations. Either way, he had a precise memory. See Joseph Smith-History 1:36-41.
5.One acquaintance of Joseph claims he could "read over a passage of scripture three times and one year after reading it he could quote it verbatim and open the book to the portion quoted" (Elijah Knapp Fuller, according to a grandson, told to N.B. Lundwall, "Lundwall Microfilm Collection," Reel 2-55).
6. D&C 132:7.
7. See William Clayton's testimony of February 16, 1874 as cited in Jenson, The Historical Record 6:224-26. Joseph F. Smith, among others, asserts that from 1831 Joseph understood plural marriage would be introduced in modern times. On July 12, 1843, he was encouraged by Hyrum to put it on paper. "Joseph said he knew it from beginning to end. He then dictated it word for word to Wm. Clayton as it is now in the Doctrine and Covenants.…After it was done Joseph said, 'There, that is enough for the present, but I have a great deal more.'" (Utah Stake Historical Record, March 3 and 4, 1883. See also comments of Orson Pratt in JD 13:183-96; CHC 2:100-101.)
8. Minerva Wade Hickman wrote, "The mind of the Prophet Joseph Smith was as clear as crystal. He cleared up the difficulties of ages" ("Sketch of Minerva Wade Hickman," May 30, 1842). Emmeline B. Wells wrote in retrospect: "He was beyond my comprehension" (YWJ 16 [December 1905]: 556). Mercy R. Thompson wrote, "I have seen him in the lyceum [in Nauvoo] and heard him reprove the brethren for giving way to too much excitement and warmth in debate, and have listened to his clear and masterly explanations of deep and difficult questions. To him all things seemed simple and easy to be understood, and thus he could make them plain to others as no other man could that I ever heard." (JI 27 [July 1, 1892]: 399.) Jedediah M. Grant said: "Why was it that Joseph could take the wisest Elder that ever travelled and preached, and, as it were, circumscribe his very thoughts? Simply because he had the Holy Ghost." (JD 3:10.)
9. Contrasting Joseph Smith's literary style with Oliver Cowdery's "flowery journalese," Arthur Henry King continues: "I am asked sometimes, 'Why don't we have any great literature now?' And we don't, you know; we may kid ourselves or other people may try to kid us that we do, but we don't. There were Homer, Vergil, Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe; and there it seems to have stopped, There seems to have been no supreme figure since then. But I tell you there was one: Joseph Smith." (See "Joseph Smith As a Writer," in The Abundance of the Heart, pp. 197-205.)
(Source: Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989], 23.)
[In regard] to his temperament, to his emotional makeup, to his dispositions. Early in his own account of his life he said he had a "native cheery temperament."[1] Thank the Lord he did. It stood him in good stead. Many joined the Church, some from foreign lands and some from the United States, many out of New England with its conservative and sometimes rigid Puritanical traditions, others from movements such as the Quakers and the Baptists. They compared Joseph Smith with his brother Hyrum, and remarked that Hyrum seemed more in the image of what they thought a prophet should look like and behave like. He was, they meant to say, more sedate, sober, serious.[2] The Prophet, for all his sobriety under proper circumstance, was a hail-fellow-well-met, easily inclined to laughter, sociable, animated, the life of the party, and colorful in his use of language. That was disquieting enough for some that they left the Church. For instance, a family visited the Prophet when he was upstairs for a time translating-serious and tedious work. Then he came downstairs and began to roll on the floor and frolic with his little children. This family was indignant and left the Church.[3]
Not only did Joseph Smith have that temperament, but he found it difficult to abide opposite attitudes, especially when they arose from false traditions. On one occasion ministers came to him intent on tying him up in scriptural analysis, as they had bragged they would do. They kept trying to push him into a corner, but each time he not only had answers but also questions for them that they couldn't handle. Finally they became convinced it would be better if they left. As they went to the door, the Prophet preceded them. He went out, made a mark on the ground, and jumped. "Now gentlemen," he said, "you haven't bested me at the scriptures. See if you can best me at that." They went away much incensed.[4]
A man who had developed a certain falsetto came to Joseph. In our generation we are not familiar with this phenomenon, but in preaching without public address systems in those days some Methodists-for example, in the role of exhorter-would pitch their voices high and shout so loudly that it could be heard a mile away. Sometimes they prayed that way. One man with exactly that tone came and said, with a kind of supercilious reverence, "Is it possible that I now flash my optics upon a Prophet?" "Yes," the Prophet replied, "I don't know but you do; would not you like to wrestle with me?" The man was shocked.[5]
On one occasion a man of that same stripe, Joshua Holman, a former Methodist exhorter, was out with some other men cutting firewood for the Prophet when they were all invited to lunch at Joseph's home. When the Prophet called on Joshua to ask a blessing on the food, he set about a lengthy and loud prayer that incorporated inappropriate expressions. The Prophet did not interrupt him, but when the man was through he said simply, "Brother Joshua, don't let me ever hear you ask another such blessing." Then he explained the inconsistencies.[6]
"I do many things to break down superstition," he said.[7] At another time, he said, "Although I do wrong, I do not the wrongs that I am charged with doing."[8]
Notes:
1. Joseph Smith-History 1:28.
2. Rachel R. Grant, with many others, remarks that "he was always so jolly and happy.…He was different in that respect from Brother Hyrum, who was more sedate, more serious." (YWJ 16 [December 1905]: 551.) Because of this spontaneity he sometimes had to warn the people that his manner should not be taken as flippant or irresponsible: "The Saints need not think because I am familiar with them and am playful and cheerful, that I am ignorant of what is going on. Iniquity of any kind cannot be sustained in the Church, and it will not fare well where I am; for I am determined while I do lead the Church, to lead it right." (May 27, 1843, HC 5:411.)
3. See discourse of George A. Smith in JD 2:214.
4. "Which one of you can beat that?" So Wilford Woodruff remembers him saying. (See Parry, comp., Stories About Joseph Smith the Prophet, pp. 17-18.)
5. Recalled by Jedediah M. Grant in JD 3:67.
6. See recollection of Daniel D. McArthur in JI 27 (February 15, 1892): 129; Andrus, They Knew, pp. 73-74. George A. Smith, speaking of another similar incident, says that Joseph told the man "he ought not to give way to such an enthusiastic spirit, and bray so much like a jackass" (JD 2:214).
7. The context of this statement is that "what many people call sin is not sin" (TPJS, p. 193; WJS, p. 80). At other times Joseph had to teach that what many people called righteous was not righteous and what many assumed was acceptable to God was not acceptable. He once stunned a congregation in Nauvoo by describing a man's two-hour sermon as "pharisaical and hypocritical and not edifying the people." Theman (William Clark) accepted the reproof and stayed with the Church. (7 November 1841, WJS, p. 80.)
8. From an 1842 address to the Relief Society, WJS, p. 130. This occurred at the time of John C. Bennett's defection and much slanderous publicity.
(Source: Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989], 26.)
There is next the question whether in all of his attitudes the Prophet demonstrated appropriate humility and the very thing he taught in word, namely, compassion and forbearance and forgiveness. He is reported as saying that he had "a subtle devil to deal with, and could only curb him by being humble."[1] No braggadocio, no threats, no vain glorying. We do not have power over the adversary and his hosts except through the power of Christ, and we do not have such power save we are humble and receptive. What is humility? There are a thousand definitions, but it means at least acknowledging one's dependence on the Lord, acknowledging when and where one is not self-sufficient. Joseph, according to those who knew him best, was in that sense humble.
Here we are not talking about boldness-he had that; it is not the opposite of humility. We are not talking about willingness to endure in strength-he had that, and that too is not the opposite of humility. We are saying that Joseph did not manifest the debilitating pride that destroys humility. That is the witness left by several who knew him best.
Eliza R. Snow, who had heard of the Prophet and some very ugly things in that connection, happened to be at home one day when the Prophet called and visited with her family. "In the winter of 1830 and '31, Joseph Smith called at my father's," she wrote of this visit, "and as he sat warming himself, I scrutinized his face as closely as I could without attracting his attention, and decided that his was an honest face."[2] Later, after joining the Church, she was often in his home as a kind of babysitter and help for a time in Kirtland. She first admired him in his public ministry, saw him as a prophet, but not until she saw him in his own home, on his knees in prayer, and in his relationship with his children did her whole heart go out to him in admiration.[3] "He was," she said, "as humble as a little child."[4]
Was the Prophet an emotional man? In all the worthy senses of that word, the answer is yes. The tears sprang easily to his eyes, and this happened in varied situations. There is, for example, the occasion on which Parley P. Pratt returned to Nauvoo by boat, having been on a long mission, and the Prophet came down to greet him and just wept. When Parley could extricate himself he said, "Why Brother Joseph, if you feel so bad about our coming, I guess we will have to go back again."[5] He wept, too, at good-byes: the tears were flowing fast on the day he said good-bye to his family before he left for Richmond Jail. The Lord himself acknowledged this compassionate heart when he said in a revelation, speaking of Joseph, "His prayers I have heard. Yea, and his weeping for Zion I have seen, and I will cause that he shall mourn for her no longer."[6]
He characterized himself as "like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else."[7] He also called himself a "lone tree."[8] He had learned in Vermont that those maples that stood alone had to develop deep roots early; if they did not, the inevitable blast of winter storms would take them down. For all of his social sense, there were times when he felt deeply lonely. "O that I had the language of the archangel to express my feeling once to my friends," he said. "But I never expect to."[9]
"You don't know me," he said in the King Follett discourse. "You never knew my heart." And then this remarkable phrase, "I don't blame any one for not believing my history. If I had not experienced what I have, I could not have believed it myself."[10]
In that loneliness, he had to keep to his own bosom (those were his words)[11] certain deep understandings the Lord had vouchsafed to him with the command that he not share them. "The reason," he once said, "we do not have the secrets of the Lord revealed unto us is because we do not keep them but reveal them…even to our enemies." Then he added, "I can keep a secret till Doomsday."[12] And so he did.
Notes:
1. TPJS, p. 225; WJS, p. 116.
2. "Sketch of My Life," The Relief Society Magazine 31 (March 1944): 134.
3. It is possible, if not likely, that the following lines penned by Eliza R. Snow were addressed to Joseph Smith:
And when I saw your towering soul
Rise on devotion's wings:
And saw amid your pulses, roll,
A scorn of trifling things,
I loved you for your goodness' sake
And cheerfully can part
With home and friends, confiding in
Your noble, generous heart.
(From "Narcissa to Narcissus" in Snow, Poems: Religious, Historical, and Political 2:47-48.)
4. Eliza wrote of him: "Though his expansive mind grasped the great plan of salvation and solved the mystic problem of man's destiny-though he had in his possession keys that unlocked the past and the future with its succession of eternities, in his devotions he was humble as a little child" ("Sketch of My Life," p. 136).
5. See recollection of Mary Ann Winters in YWJ 16 (December 1905): 557; Andrus, They Knew, p. 166. Mary remembered that Joseph said, "Brother Parley, you have come home, bringing your sheaves with you," and that tears rolled down his cheeks. Willard Richards wrote that on this occasion Joseph "appeared melted in tenderness when he met Sister Pratt (who had been to England with Parley) and her little daughter only three or four days old" (see entry of April 12, 1843, in Joseph Smith journal, March 10, 1843 to July 14, 1843, kept by Willard Richards; HC 5:354).
6. D&C 21:7-8.
7. TPJS, p. 304; WJS, p. 205.
8. See recollection of O. B. Huntington in YWJ 4 (April 1893): 321.
9. WJS, p. 196.
10. TPJS, p. 361; WJS, p. 343.
11. TPJS, p. 306.
12. TPJS, p. 195.
(Source: Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989], 29.)
Warren Waste, reputedly the strongest man in the Western Reserve, witnessed a test of the Prophet's strength, will, and courage. As one of a mob that dragged Joseph from his bed in the middle of the night, Waste had boasted that he alone could take the Prophet out of the house. But as he and others were undertaking their fiendish designs. Waste had hold of one foot when the Prophet gave him a kick that sent him sprawling off the steps. The imprint made in the ground by his head and shoulders could still be seen the next morning. With his boastful spirit cooled, Waste recovered himself and cried, "Do not let him touch the ground, or he will run over the whole of us." He afterwards said that the Prophet was "the most powerful man" he had ever had hold of in his life.
The Prophet was then beaten and choked into insensibility by the combined strength of the mob; he recovered to find himself being taken some forty rods from the house toward a meadow. There the mob tore off his night clothes, stretched him upon a board, and tantalized him in the most insulting and brutal manner. [1] He was beaten, scratched, and finally covered with tar and feathers. One mobocrat fell upon him and, while kicking and clawing his body, cried, "D— you, this is the way the Holy Ghost falls upon you." Another tried to force a tar paddle into his mouth and another a phial said to contain nitric acid, but it was broken against his teeth. One of his front teeth was also broken, thereafter causing a slight whistle when he spoke. So powerful was this acid that the grass was killed where it spilled upon the ground.
Despite this treatment and the fact that he spent the remaining part of the night cleaning tar and feathers from his body and treating his wounds, the Prophet fulfilled a preaching engagement the next morning. Among the listeners were some who had so cruelly assaulted him a few hours before. [2]
Notes:
1. Their intention was to emasculate him, and a Dr. Dennison was there to perform the operation, but the doctor's courage failed at the last moment and he refused.
2. Millennial Star, XXVI, pp. 834-835; J. D., XI, p. 5; XXVI, p. 21; B. H. Roberts. Comprehensive History of the Church, 1, pp. 280-282.
(Source: Hyrum L. Andrus, Joseph Smith, the Man and the Seer [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1960], 20.)
In speaking of the excommunication of some of the principle witnesses of the Book of Mormon, Joseph F. Smith wrote: “One overwhelming thought, however, comes to our attention when we consider the action of these men and the boldness of the Prophet and the Church to take such drastic action against them. Had they entered into collusion with intent to deceive and practice a fraud, the first thing they would have done when the bitter spirit was upon them would be to denounce and reveal the fraud. This is human nature and it never fails. Let it be said to their credit that the day never came when they denied the they had borne. Oliver Cowdery declared consistently even when out of the Church that the truth of his witness to the Book of Mormon and to every other gift and blessing coming by heavenly manifestation. He never wavered in this testimony. Years later, when his spirit had been given time to cool, and in the very darkest hour of the history of the Church, when almost all men thought that the Church had gone to its destruction, Oliver Cowdery came back repentant, sorrowful, and asked to be reinstated as a member of the Church. This was not the act of one guilty of fraud. David Whitmer, although he never asked to come back to the Church, organized one of his own and continued to his dying day before great and small, to bear record to his testimony as a Witness of this work. Again, I repeat, men do not take this course if they are guilty of evil practices and it stands forth and makes their testimony as given in the Book of Mormon even stronger than it would have done had they remained true to their covenants and obligations as members of the Church."
(Source: Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 4 vols. [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1946-1949], 3: 111.)
My dear fellow workers and brothers and sisters. I feel very humble as I stand before you this morning. I have been asked to speak on a subject that is very near to my heart, and I know that no man could do justice to that subject, and yet I am glad to respond to the invitation. It is not my intention to preach a sermon on the Prophet Joseph Smith. I should like for just a few moments to have a sort of fireside chat with you. All of you know of him, believe in him, are grateful for his work, and the most that I could hope to do would be to direct our thinking for a little while to his accomplishments, the purpose of his life, the great mission he performed, the certainty of his present status.
Somehow, I am persuaded that we knew him before we came here. He died, of course, before any of us were born, but I have felt a nearness to him which I have been unable to explain in any other way than that it must have been my privilege to meet him before I came. There has never been the slightest shadow of doubt in my mind as to the divine calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith. There has never been a doubt in my mind that he saw what he claims to have seen, that he heard the voice of God the Father and Jesus the Son, that he had the other manifestations and visions and revelations with which you are all familiar.
I was in Vermont not long ago. It was my privilege to dedicate the new buildings there, where we have a wonderful monument in his memory. And while there I took occasion to go off alone and thank God for Joseph Smith, and for what his life has meant to my life. None of us would be here today had it not been for him. Many of us might have been in foreign lands-lands from which our ancestors came.
But as I think of him and of his work, as I think of the challenge represented by the knowledge that the Lord has given us as to his divine calling, I am impressed to urge every one of us to indicate by the way we live that we mean what we say when we bear witness of him and of Jesus the Christ.
Someone asked some time ago, "What is prophecy?" Of course we have the scriptural definitions and explanations, but someone (not a member of the Church) recently wrote-not with reference to any particular prophet, but attempting to define prophecy, "Prophecy is a miracle of knowledge, a declaration or representation of something in the future beyond the power of human sagacity to discern or to calculate, and it is the highest evidence that can be given of supernatural communion with Deity, and the truth of Revelation from God. The man who reads prophecy and perceives the corresponding events is witness to a miracle."
We have all read the prophecies of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and we have witnessed the events concerning which he spoke, and, therefore, we have witnessed a miracle. That the Prophet Joseph Smith was inspired of God is evidenced by everything he did and said. When one asks what is a prophet, we, I think, would immediately revert in our minds at least back to some of the men who lived in ancient times, who were generally accepted, especially since their time, as prophets. According to the Jewish reckoning, there were forty-eight prophets between Adam and Malachi. There are some distinguishing features which set them apart as prophets, and one of the things that has impressed me as I studied their lives is the fact that each one of them said without any hesitation or equivocation. "God has spoken to me!" None of them said it with arrogance or pride, all of them with humility, but with conviction, and all through their ministry they said again and again, "Thus saith the Lord." And each of them had a specific message, a message which none of them ever watered down, or concerning which they had any doubt. Always their message ran contrary to the thinking of the day in many respects. Furthermore, the prophets were always despised by their contemporaries, and in many instances, murdered by them. When the prophets have said, "Thus saith the Lord," their words became scripture. If contemporaries would not receive them, the prophets were received by those who lived afterwards, who honored them, and built monuments to them. It has been said, "How is it that you build monuments to the dead prophets and crucify the living?"
I could go on and name the characteristics of a prophet and refer to the lives of the great prophets of old-Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the various prophets. I could refer to Peter, James, and John and Paul the apostle and the marvelous experiences they had. I have done this and I have been gratified, though not surprised, to find that the prophet Joseph Smith measures up to every requirement of a prophet. There is nothing that Moses had, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, Peter, James, and John-there is nothing that any of them had in the way of qualification for being a prophet, that the Prophet Joseph Smith did not have. As a matter of fact I think we are justified in saying that no greater prophet has arisen in any dispensation than this young man who was born in Sharon, Vermont, 156 years ago tomorrow. Some day the people will recognize that generally. They are coming to recognize it now, in a very remarkable way. Our missionary work is almost startling in its progress.
Yes, the Prophet measures up in every respect, even to giving his life and sealing his testimony with his blood as most of the ancient prophets did. John the apostle said, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." If any man in all history had a testimony of Jesus, it was , the Mormon Prophet. He saw Him, talked with Him, was led and guided by Him, and the testimony that he had of Him was burned into his soul. He said on many occasions, "If I wanted to, I would not dare to deny it." Think of his testimony of Jesus. Where is there a greater collection of evidences and concerning Jesus the Christ than we have in Mormon literature in the works of the Prophet Joseph-in the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price? So he had the testimony of Jesus and, therefore, he had the spirit of prophecy, and was therefore a prophet.
As I have studied the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith-and I have been studying it for more than fifty years, for the sheer joy of knowing him better-as I have thought about it and prayed about it, and as I have testified on street corners when mobs were threatening us, no more joy has come into my soul than when I have linked with my testimony of Jesus the Christ, the testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
Whatever the vicissitudes of life, whatever the trials, temptations or problems you may have to face, I hope you younger folk will remember that Joseph Smith was sent to God, was commissioned by Jesus the Christ, was ordained to the apostleship and the Melchizedek Priesthood by Peter, James, and John, and was the favored of God our Father; that his work in the earth was of such a character and such magnitude that the whole earth is going to be affected by it; and that your job and mine is to help to prepare this world for the second coming of Christ. In my opinion, when the Christ comes the prophets will be with him, and the man who was chosen to be the head of the greatest of all dispensations will be at his side. What a glorious privilege it will be if we can meet him, be with him, come to know him!
I am greatly impressed by the courage of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Dr. Heidenreich, a former minister from New York who joined the Church came to see me yesterday for a few moments. He said, "The thing that I am grateful for is that the Prophet Joseph Smith had the courage to finish his job in the face of the most difficult situations and circumstances." I have thought of this often and have tried to put myself in his place. He was a young man full of life and hope and expectations, hounded and persecuted and driven, beaten, mobbed, imprisoned, murdered, when at any time he could have said, "It is a hoax, it is not true, I am sorry I said it, I withdraw what I said." If he had said those things, the persecution would have stopped, he would have been turned loose to do as he pleased and would have had no more notice from the public, and he would have not died as he did.
One of the incidents by which I have always been stirred, and which I would like to bring to you this morning is when the Prophet was in Richmond Jail. General Clark was in charge, and the record says he was determined that his prisoner should die. He made preparations for the commission of that murder before he had even decided the charge that he was to bring against his prisoners. And while the matter was pending Brother Jedediah M. Grant-the father of Heber J. Grant, our president-who was then a young man, put up at the same tavern with the general in Richmond. He saw Clark select the men to shoot Joseph Smith and his fellow prisoners, and he heard that the day of the execution was fixed-Monday, November 12, 1838. He saw the men who were selected. He saw them load their rifles with two bullets each, and after this was done he heard Clark say to them, "Gentlemen, you shall have the honor of shooting the Mormon leaders on Monday morning at eight o'clock." Others were in the jail with the Prophet, and among them was Parley P. Pratt. Here briefly is his account of that memorable night:
In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if asleep until the hour of midnight had passed, and our ears and our hearts had been pained while we had listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies and filthy language of our guards, Colonel Price at their head, as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the "Mormons" while at Far West and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force wives daughters and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women, and children.
I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant justice, that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards; but had said nothing to Joseph, or any one else, although I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering as near as I can recollect the following words: "Silence ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die this instant."
He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained and without a weapon; calm, unruffled, and dignified as an angel, he looked upon the quailing guards, weapons were lowered or dropped to the ground; whose knees smote together and who, shrinking into a corner or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet till a change of guards.
I have seen ministers of justice, clothed in magisterial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended on a breath, in the Courts of England; I have witnessed a Congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and of emperors assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms; but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri.
Thank God for the spirit of his chosen servant. Thank God for sustaining him by His Holy Spirit.
I would not dwell too much upon the unhappy events, except to bring to us the realization of our responsibility. He paid so much to establish the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that anything you and I, or any of us, can do will be a pittance by comparison.
Personally, I would like to be able to so live as to be partially worthy to shake his hand when he comes again.
Humbly I bear you my testimony, not only that Jesus is the Christ but that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of the living God, one of the most highly favored of all men of all times, and one of the most successful. What he said and wrote has become scripture to millions.
I leave this testimony with you and my blessings that this may be a joyous Christmas season and a prosperous New Year for you all, and that every one of us as we leave today, after hearing from our beloved President, will thank God for the privilege of being associated with this group. I leave this blessing and this testimony with you humbly, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
—Address at the Church Employees Christmas Program, December 22, 1961
(Source: Hugh B. Brown, The Abundant Life [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965], 333.)
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