Young Characters in History, IX: Joseph Smith

YOUNG CHARACTERS IN HISTORY. BY PROFESSOR WILLARD DONE, PRESIDENT OF THE LATTER-DAY saints' COLLEGE, SALT LAKE CITY.

IX.

JOSEPH SMITH. The genius of some men is destructive, of others constructive. A Ghengis Khan, an Attila or a Timour may have manifested in large measure the qualities which render men distinguished among their fellows: — great executive power, bold personality, and efficient leadership. But in each case the energy put forth and the work accomplished are destructive, resulting in the misery and death of men, with little or

no compensation in the way of organizing empires or extending beneficient rule. In the case of other great conquerors, these two elements, the constructive and the destructive, are blended. In a Washington the first is predominant, in a Napoleon, the second. Therefore, we call Washington a patriot, and Napoleon ambitious. The more the constructive element overbalances the destructive, the greater the degree of patriotism, whether it be in the direction of statesmanship, industrial organization, or religious reform. It will be my pleasing task in this paper to trace the early development of one whose work was purely constructive in its nature. Or I might rather say, r<?-constructive, for it was his especial labor to build up anew the pure faith of old to take the place of crumbling orthodoxy. In the good old days of New England, when conditions, social, political, and religious, were rapidly adapting them-

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selves to the new governmental ideas exemplified in the constitution and its first twelve amendments, Joseph Smith was born in Vermont, December 23, 1805. The time of his birth was most opportune. Religious liberty had been firmly established by the adoption of the first amendment to the constitution in 1791. The minds of men were peculiarly awake to new ideas, and a new era was being ushered in with the century. It was to be an era distinguished for inventive

genius, political and social movements, and religious reform. The social soil, broken up by the new ideas and the violent battles of the Revolution, and moistened with the blood of patriots and the tears of women and children, was ready to produce new growths, some of them grotesque, some harmful, and others most beneficial.

In the early environments of his rural home, Joseph was not free from the toils and sorrows of poverty; and there is no fire which more surely than poverty's, burns out the dross of one's character and leaves the pure gold. His days from early boyhood were full of grinding toil. The severity of this toil and the strictures of discipline incident to New England life, moulded and solidified his character into such a form as to resist the allurements of sin and the blandishments of favoritism, with their attendant train of sorrow and weakness. Even at the age of ten years, when the family moved to Palmyra, New York, Joseph had known his full share of privation. In his new scene of activity, new duties awaited him. The land was strange to the farmer's plow and the heavy growths of timber covering it had to yield to the settler's ax. In this hard labor Joseph had to bear his humble part, and an immature, gourd-like growth of character was thus rendered impossible. Doubtless it was well that he was not allowed much training in the schools of his vicinity. Such instruction as he received at the fireside after the "day's toil," was much better adapted to prepare him for the peculiar labor than were the semi- sectarian teachings of the orof his life, dinary frontier school. Such a boyhood as he passed would develop pre-eminently the qualities of hardihood, endurance, self-reliance, trust inGod, and a becoming, though strong, humility. His training was like the breaking and mellowing t6

of the virgin soil, with plow and harrow, preparatory to the planting of the seed. His soul was not to remain tranquil and inactive during the important period of childhood, but was to be awakened into a fruitful activity. He had to be different from other men, in order to do his work well. He must be lacking in pride and headiness, while strong in firmness and fruitfulness. Therefore it was essential that even his childhood should be out of the ordinary, in the peculiar toils and trials through which he was called to pass. In no particular was this uniqueness of character more marked than in his religious feelings. The waters of his soul were stirred to their inmost depths by his own religious musings; the surface only was agitated by the sectarian excitement in his neighborhood. Yet, in the midst of it all; with the "lo here!" and the "lo there!" sounding in his ears; with the curse of God and the torments of the damned pronounced upon him by ignorant bigotry, he stood firm to his conviction that the true way had not yet been shown him. True, this conviction was only negative; yet it was the one possible avenue to the positive convictions which were to come to him at a later time. Even in the depths of doubt and uncertainty, he held to the anchor of God's word, to save him from the waves of man-made, changing doctrine. His youthful, immature mind was even then keen enough to reason closely and to recognize the discrepancy between the ancient church which Christ recognized as his, and the broken fragments of warring factions of modern sectarianism. Therefore, he stood "to the law and to the testimony," and judged by its standard the systems of religion he was called upon to espouse. How long he lived and how much he experienced during this brief period, it is impossible for one differently situated to comprehend

"We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.

Judged from this standard, surely the childhood alone of

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Joseph Smith was as long as the entire life of a man without pure thoughts, generous feelings, and fruitful acts. It was during this period that the anxious element of religion entered into his soul. He was led to the revival meetings to seek religious consolation; but in its place he found thr-eats of perdition if he refused to accept the glimmering light offered him. The pangs of hell were painted in glowing colors, "to frighten souls to heaven." Much as this may have impressed him with a desire for salvation, the very confusion of it hid the way of salvation from him. A boy of weaker determination would have risked everything on a chance, and thrown himself into the first religious opening offered to him. But Joseph resisted alike the threats and the blandishments of sectarian ministers, and awaited with prepared mind, the coming of the fullness of light. It was under these conditions that he sought the word of God and then the Lord himself for wisdom. The boy had just passed his fourteenth year, and had entered upon the important period of life when childhood begins to merge into manhood. Nothing could be more fitting than that the ushering in of his full powers of mind and body should be accompanied by the enriching of his spiritual faculties. He had become a man spiritually, as well as physically; and the independence of manhood was to be sorely tried and tested. How much it meant to him to have the Father and the Son reveal themselves to him: — how much it revolutionized his boyish life, we cannot comprehend. But we may be assured that all his praiseworthy characteristics were strengthened; his spirituality, his self-reliance, his trust in God, his patience, his determined zeal, his capacity for work and self-sacrifice. Had he not seen God? Had he not endured the effulgence of his glory? Had he not received the promise of the fullness of truth, to chase the darkness? Could he not now stand, "a man amongst men," even, if need be, against them all? "I know, for I have seen!" could be his triumphant cry, whether in the pulpit, in the court room, in the prison, or in the hands of the mob. If his good qualities were increased and strengthened by his strange experience, his conscience was rendered all the more sensitive to his petty faults. Thrown, as he was, into the society of men and boys who were far from godly in their lives, he no doubt fell into slight errors, which were magnified by his sensitive mind into gross offences. It is more than likely that his free confession of these faults, under stress of his supersensitiveness, gave rise to the absurd charges of theft, lying, grossness, and licentiousness so freely circulated against him by his enemies in his manhood.

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But the most pathetic element of his life during the few years subsequent to his first vision, was his utter loneliness. He carried the announcement of his vision to his companions: — — they ridiculed him; to strangers: they derided him; to professed ministers of Christ: — they heaped abuse and persecution upon him. True, they of his own household gave at least partial assent to his claims, but for the whole world beside not only to reject them, but even to make them the occasion for active abuse and opposition, for slander and contumely, made it appear to the boy that he was deserted by his friends. During this three and a half years even the heavens seemed closed to him. No positive answer could he get through prayer, no assurance that he was still ac-, cepted of God. It seemed as if his budding manhood was to be blighted and his development checked, like fruit blasted by spring frosts. We may compare his loneliness to that of Napoleon at St. Helena; but his English guards provided him with every possible comfort and convenience. We may compare it to that of Washington amid suffering, abuse, and slander at Valley Forge; but his humble soldiers stood by him and loved him in full confidence. We may compare it to the condition of Joan of Arc beiore her execution; but a faithful few stood by her and her God consoled her. His loneliness was more than physical, more than mental: it — was spiritual. It approached very near, at least in kind, to the sublime loneliness of Christ, when he cried in his anguish, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Not that he felt himself entirely forsaken of God. But in his boyish view the contumely of his fellow-men seemed an evidence of the withdrawal of heavenly favor, and not as he afterwards proved it, a sign of its continuance. Writing of this period afterward, he said: "I have thought since that I felt much like Paul when he made his defence before King Agrippa and related the account of the vision he had when he saw a light and heard a voice, but still there were but few who believed him. Some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad, and he was ridiculed and reviled; but all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he had, and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise; and though they should persecute him unto death, yet he knew, and would know unto his latest breath, that he had both seen a light, and heard a voice speaking to him, and all the world could not make him think or believe otherwise. So it was with me; I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two personages, and they did in reality speak unto me, or one of them did; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was there; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me, falsely, for so saying, I was led to say in my heart, "Why persecute for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision, and who am I that I can withstand God? Or why does the world

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think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God and come under condemnation.

It was this condition of fear and dread, of sore temptation and trial of faith, which led the boy to apply the supreme test of prayer, to find if he was still accepted of God. He had undergone the test of waiting in silence and partial darkness, a probation which would have exhausted the endurance of one less firm than he. In his case, power of endurance, patience, long-suffering, trust in God, firmness, and all the other essentials of a man of God were developed and fixed in his character. There is no wonder, after such a training, that he was able to withstand the temptations and endure the trials of his adult life and ministry. But no matter how sustained by trust, one cannot wait forever for a positive sign of God's favor. During the latter portion of his period of waiting, Joseph sought the Lord most earnestly for a manifestation of approval, to chase away the doubts which must have accumulated in his own mind. It was this constant supplication which finally resulted in the visit of the Angel Moroni. The impressions of that vision were lasting. They were intended to be. There could have been no other purpose in the three-fold repetition of visit and instructions. By the vision the boy was not only reassured, but strengthened for further trials. He was forewarned against other dangers. If he had already endured the taunts, the sneers, the contempt of former associates, he must now endure their bitter hatred and violent personal attacks. The negative opposition of Satan was now to become positive and aggressive. The bludgeon, the warrant of arrest, the slanderous publication and the assassin's bullet were now the weapons to be used against him. The willingness with which he waited, in the midst of this active opposition, for four more years to pass before he could obtain the custody of the plates, deserves our sincerest admiration. Turning back from the communion he had enjoyed with the angel, and from the glorious sight which met his gaze when he lifted the cover of the stone box on the Hill Cumorah, he willingly gave himself over to his life of toil, exchanging heavenly things for those of earth. His was not a narrow, light mind, lifted by angel's companionship into the clouds, and disdaining material things. The first consideration with him was his duty, and his duty during these four years was to help bear his father's burdens. Just as the youthful Jesus could turn from his learned, spiritual communion with the doctors in the temple, and take his place at

the carpenter's bench, so Joseph could step down from exalted intercourse with an angel and take up the most common duties. But he did not forget to meet the angel at the place appointed once each year, to receive from him instruction and encouragement. It was to him a sort of yearly passover, a sacred feast of the soul. It was during this period that he passed out of boyhood into young manhood, and therefore beyond the province of the main portion of this paper. At this point a description of him as he is portrayed by his friends, may not be out of place. Imagine a young farm hand, with body strengthened but not deformed by toil, six feet tall, straight, with supple, well-formed limbs, and quiet, dignified step; strong, agile,— the best athlete in his neighborhood; his eyes a mild blue, prominent, and full of expression, as if they could pierce through every character and "comprehend all worlds;" his hair brown and wavy, his complexion clear almost to transparency; his general air that of quiet, kingly dignity.— "Born to command, and conscious of his birthright." In mind, dignified as in body, with none of the fawning mountebank, and none of the overbearing autocrat. Quick, intelligent, apt at generalizing, ready at reaching con- clusions, and strong in holding them. Generous he was, to a fault; and as to his being virtuous, none who knew him ex- cept the unvirtuous, ever pronounced him otherwise. He was intelligent and original, as befitted the work he had to do; while his purity and freshness of spirit fitted him for his con- stant communion with the heavens. Surely such a youth promised much; yet its promises were no greater than the fulfillments of his manhood. It would be thought that the continual alarm, the constant harrassing danger, and the increasing hatred and distrust of men toward him, would have produced the effect of moroseness; would have soured his disposition and made him old before his time. On the contrary, it seemed to bring out all the gentleness and the kindness of his nature. If sympathy was withheld from him, he bestowed a greater measure of it upon others; if worn and depressed by mental cares and physical dangers, mind and body reacted the more readily, springing back to youth and joyousness when the pressure was removed; if forsaken by men and deprived of worldly comfort, he entered with still greater zeal and freshness into communion with God. Thus it happened that he was one of the most companionable of men. He fully understood, even as a boy, the value of human kindness in preparing men for the closest companionship with God. Of the severe, the ascetic, the cynical, there was not a trace in his character..

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His was not the mission to call down fire upon his persecutors, to invoke wild beasts against his revilers, to slay the priests of Baal with the sword. It was rather his work, as man and boy, to make cities of refuge for the poor and the oppressed, to minister healing offices to the sick, to proclaim the gospel of peace and salvation to the poor in spirit. This mission he exemplified when he and his wife, at their own table, served with kindness and dignity the brutal captors who had dragged him away from his friends without process of law, when he preached the gospel of salvation to the troops who had sworn to kill him; when he expressed himself as equally willing to die for a stranger as for a friend. He was singularly free-hearted. He was never happier than when scattering money and the comforts it purchases among his friends, or even his enemies. Of joviality he had no lack. In the midst of cares, which would have crushed one less buoyant, he gave himself up, on occasion to the unrestrained spirit of fun. Whistling, singing, wrestling, playing ball, jumping, hunting, fishing; these were some of his ways of showing to the world that no matter how depressing the troubles he had to endure, his spirit was above the things of earth, and partook of the light and joys of eternity. "As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form Clear from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head."

"Since I have worsted you in argument, let us jump at a mark," he said to the ministers who had fallen before him in debate. He would manifest his strength in wrestling and other manly sports, and immediately afterward he could expend that strength in pouring out "healing-virtue," the — spirit of life, on the innocent children he was called upon to bless. Thus the life of this great man developed. Prophetic power; authority over men; magnetism through the Spirit of God; majesty of person and of spirit; all these manifested themselves in large measure in his youth, to be ripened and perfected in his manhood. Kingly dignity and power were natural to him. Whether upbraiding a recreant president for his heartless truckling to politicians, or opposing the sophistries of half-hearted statesmen, or rebuking with eagle eye and lion voice his blasphemous prison guards, or an humble, though sublime guest, bringing counsel and wisdom from — heaven to earth he was always a perfect exampler of the mighty power which knows when to act and when to "stand ^nd wait."

The progress of events did not change him, except to produce a greater ripeness of character. Great though the events were which crowded upon him even in his youth, they made him none the less the humble servant of God. The bestowal of the plates; the translation of the Book of Mor- mom; the restoration of the priesthood; the organization of The Church; the restoration of the Book of Abraham; the building of temples; the founding of cities; the goverment of his people by "correct principles;" his candidacy for the highest office in the government; all these events came into his young life without ruffling its even current, so much greater was he than the events. Pains, tortures, sorrows continually he often experienced, but despair, never. And when even death, the supreme test of all, came to him, he met it with a smile, "like an infant hushed to sleep." Samuel Smiles, in his excellent work, "Self-help," gives a list of men who have acheived their great work in advanced life. He makes mention of Spelman, Franklin, Dryden, Scott, Alffeni, Dr. Arnold, Hall and Handel. There have been others whose work was accomplished in their youth. Among these may be named Alexander, Napoleon, Joan, Burns, and many others. Prominently among these is Joseph Smith. He was essentially a "young character in history." His first vision at fourteen; his second at seventeen; the de- livery of the plates at twenty-one; their translation at twenty- three; the restoration of the priesthood and the organization of The Church at twenty-four; Zion's camp at twenty-eight; candidacy for the presidency at thirty-nine, and martyrdom a few months later. Surely, if time is counted by heart-throbs, by suffering, by extent of labor, by greatness of influence, the youth of Joseph Smith was more than the "three score years and ten" of ordinary existence. For he passed not out of youth in life; "by death his youth was made perpetual. This tribute is paid to the Prophet Joseph Smith, not by an irresponsible enthusiast, pledged to praise against his own judgment. It is the sober, heart-felt tribute of one who for some years has had the opportunity of studying and teaching the life of the man whose work the world will yet acknowledge as among the greatest. Such as it is, the tribute is lovingly laid upon the memorial urn of a man of God. And it is fitting that the series of articles on the youth of great men should close with the consideration of the noblest and greatest of all purely human "young characters in history."