--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Done, Willard collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 9 number: 2 published: 1905-12 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Willard Done, "Joseph Smith as a Man," *Improvement Era* 9, no. 2 (December 1905): 114–122.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0902unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0902unse start_page: 114 end_page: 122 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1905-12) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0902unse publication_year: 1905 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1905, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Joseph Smith as a Man JOSEPH SMITH AS A BOY: 113 ceived, and the Book of Mormon which he was instrumental in bringing forth. Many people, a century from this centennial an- niversary, will bear testimony to similar knowledge and light, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the undying work of God. Salt Lake City, Utah. A CHILD'S REMEMBRANCE OF THE LAST TIME SHE SAW JOSEPH SMITH. BY MRS. SARAH RICH MILLER, DAUGHTER OF APOSTLE CHARLES C. RICH. The Prophet, and my father. General C. C. Rich, were asso- ciated together in many ways, both military and civil, and the Prophet came frequently to our home to see my father on business, and would notice us children. We called him Uncle Joseph. A few days before his death, he, in company with his brother Hyrum and several men on horseback, were passing, and my little brother and myself were out playing. We saw them, and I called out, ''Uncle Joseph!" He heard me, and, reigning up his horse, he motioned for us to come to him. We ran out, and he put his hand down and drew me up on his foot in the stirrup, and kissed me. I boosted my little brother Joseph up, and he kissed him, and told us to go into the house and be good children. I never saw him again; a few days after this, my mother told me he was dead, also Brother Hyrum, and that grandfather and my mother were going out to meet the bodies. I watched, and saw the procession, and a wagon covered with green boughs or bushes, and a lot of people in carriages, and on horseback, like a funeral procession. This made such an impression on me that I never for- got it, and it always causes a sad feeling when I speak or think of it. My father was in Michigan, at the time, electioneering for General Smith, and distributing his Views on Government. Salt Lake City, Utah. JOSEPH SMITH AS A MAN. BY PROFESSOR WILLARD DONE. In viewing the lives and labors of men, we are prone to re- gard them wholly or chiefly from the standpoint of their specia 1 calling, rather than the characters of the men themselves. We are inclined to allow the official capacity in which a man labors to hide the man himself from us, as in a mist. By his work and call- ing he is usually placed on an eminence, where he is but dimly seen and therefore but poorly appreciated, in his capacity as a man. As Moses' face was hidden by a veil, so do we allow the personality of our friends, especially those who attain to promi- nence, to be hidden from us by the official position in which they stand. And this is unfortunate; for the lovable and admirable traits of men, the moods and impulses of ' 'the human heart which ' faints and trembles, ' are among the most precious heritages God has given to the world. To love a man is much better than merely to respect the position he holds; and we cannot love him unless we know him. It has often occurred to me that the unfaltering love and stanch devotion of the women who followed Christ, may be largely attributed to the fact that they, more than the men who knew him, understood and appreciated his personal glory and goodness, and did not think and dispute so much as the men, of his claims to Messiahship. And it is one of the strongest incen- tives to right living, for us to become closely familiar with the righteous lives of others. If to know certain men is a liberal edu- cation, then to love and emulate them is a much more valuable dis- cipline, and we cannot emulate unless we know. Joseph Smith,like all other men of strong character, plainly manifested his personality in the work he did. It would be as JOSEPH SMITH AS A MAN. 115 well not to look for the imprint of the die on the newly issued coin, as not to expect to see the imprint of the prophet's personality on the work he was called to do. He was strongly human, and there- fore his life and character as a man appeal most forcibly to our human sympathies. And he stood remarkably well the test to which, in the end, — we must all be subjected those who knew him best loved him most. This test he stood, it may truthfully be said, as well as any man whose history we have, an exception be- ing made in the case of the one Divine Person who has lived a mortal life on the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ. To my unvv'orthy pen has been submitted the task of treating this phase of the life of our great prophet, his personality as a man. A brief description of his personal appearance would perhaps not be out of place. He is described as a symmetrically built man, fully six feet in height, and weighing about two hundred pounds. His eyes were blue, and very clear. Of his features, his friend and close associate, Parley P. Pratt has written: His countenance was ever mild, affable, beaming with intelligence and benev- olence; 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 some- ; thing connected with the serene and steady penetrating glance of his eye, as if he would penetrate the deepest abyss of the human heart, gaze into eternity, pene- trate the heavens, and comprehend all worlds. His complexion was remarkably clear, due to the uniform tint of his skin, and the absence of a beard. His hair was light brown, and of a glossy smoothness, waving, and of fine texture. Those who met him, both friends and strangers, unite in referring to him as a handsome man; and one person has said that the portraits of him extant fall so far short of doing him justice, that they should be called mere caricatures. His physical strength and activity were in keeping with his size; and through a temperate and ab- stemious life he retained and fostered his bodily powers. In keeping with his great physical strength, were the feats of skill and endurance which he performed. He excelled in running, wrestling, jumping, and manly games. He indulged in these pas- times when occasion offered, and was always ready for a good- natured frolic. And I think it may be safely said that no one of his acquaintance cared to challenge him more than once to a con- 116 IMPROVEMENT ERA. test in any of these directions. Yet, with all his physical strength and agility, he manifested in his actions the tenderness and gentle- ness which, going with such strength, softehs it and sanctifies it to the good of mankind. He exemplified the words of Shakespeare, '*0, it is excellent to have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant." No one .has ever accused the Prophet Joseph Smith, no matter what his provocation may have been at times, of using his physical superiority to gain undue advantage over others. With such strength he would be expected to possess strong human nature. With it would naturally go a fondness for physical exercise, for athletic sports, and for the good things of life. He was no pale ascetic, mortifying the body, arid wasting it away by long fasts and secret vigils. Such was not his work, and such was not his nature. He was destined to mingle with men, to partake of their joys and sorrows, not to keep himself aloof from them and from the stirring, momentous events of the day. He could be abstemious all the time, and could endure fasts and other privations when necessary; but with him it was a duty to look to his health and to preserve his body by proper nourishment and care. He knew that the lawful appetites were given to men to be lawfully enjoyed. In accordance with this knowledge, he partook of physical enjoyment, and allowed each appetite its legitimate indulgence. On this account, he has been called by some of his — enemies a sensualist a man who broke through all restraint to pamper his bodily appetites. How far from the truth this accusa- tion is, will be seen at once when we look at the work he did, the spirituality he manifested, and the influence for goodness and morality he exerted on his associates.And it may be well to re- mark that the same accusation was hurled against the purest One that ever lived. Messiah, himself, was called a wine-bibber and a glutton, because he did not manifest the same asceticism that John the Baptist and others displayed. Yet it has now come to be admitted, by those who are not ex- tremists, that asceticism is not religion. Abstemiousness is a part of true religion, but so also is the proper use of the physical appe- tites with which man is endowed. Joseph Smith understood this matter fully, and ordered his life along the lines of proper abste- miousness and temperance. He enjoyed life in all its legitimate ! JOSEPH SMITH AS A MAN. 117 phases, but he did not pamper the appetites or misuse the powers of his physical organism. He was possessed of strong feelings. Yet these feelings and his strong temper were under perfect control. With his strength he combined, when necessary, the mildness of a lamb. When the rights of his people were assailed, he manifested the strength of a lion in their defense. Yet there was no one who could endure longer, when necessary, personal wrong. Two instances will serve to illustrate this characteristic. When he was approaching his death, and his prophetic foresight had apparently told him it was imminent, his thought was all for his people and the preservation of their rights. During his last public address, standing before the people of Nauvoo in the strength of his splendid personality, he drew his sword and uttered the words: I call God and angels to witness that I have unsheathed my sword with a firm and unalterable determination that this people shall have their legal rights, and be protected from mob violence, or my blood shall be spilt upon the ground like water, and my body consigned to the silent tomb. While I live I will never tamely submit to the dominion of cursed mobocracy The other incident, as related by the prose-poet. Parley P. Pratt, serves to illustrate how long he would endure personal in- sult and discomfort before rebuking his tormentors; and how he arose in his wrath even then, not so much on account of his own accute sufferings, as because the wrongs of his people were being brutally recounted. He and his associates were in a jail in the small village of Richmond, in Ray County, Missouri. The guard was composed of mobocrats who had committed unmentionable crimes against the Saints at Far West. In their brutal way they told of the terrible things they had done, mentioning all the re- volting details. Night after night their vile language had assaulted the ears of the prisoners, and yet Joseph Smith and the others had endured it. But as they continued to particularize the deeds they had committed, and the prophet became aroused beyond endurance, he asserted the magnificent manliness of his nature. Apostle Pratt's account of the incident is so striking, that I insert it: 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 118 IMPROVEMENT ERA. you and command you to be still I will not live another minute and hear such lan- ; guage. Cease such talk, or you or I die this instant." He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained, and with- out a weapon, calm, unruffled, and dignified as an angel, he looked down upon the quailing guards,whose knees smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet until exchange of guards. I have seen ministers of justice, clothed in ministerial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended upon 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 obsure village jn Missouri. It has been said that a strong temper is an excellent thing to have, if one can only keep it. A temper commensurate with his strength Joseph Smith certainly had. His ability to keep it, even under the most trying circumstances, was frequently illustrated. And the true test of a man's greatness is found, not so much in the possession of will power, temper, physical or mental strength, No and appetites and passions, as in his ability to control them. man was ever great without these; yet no man can ever be great who does not control them. And the mastery over self shows greatness commensurate with the powers of the self that is brought under control. Judged by this standard, with the knowlege that he was one of the strongest of men in feelings, will, and physical power, Joseph Smith, in his mastery over these elements of self, looms far above the average man. Joseph Smith had a great mission to perform. He stood, by Divine appointment, at the head of the greatest Gospel Dispensa- tion in the history of the world. A man of smaller caliber might have felt unduly the greatness of his calling, and assumed a cer- tain superiority or affected an unwarranted solemnity. In such a case he would have made himself ridiculous. In this day and age of the world, the man who is not natural, is never taken seriously. A sense of humor is a prime requisite even for the man of pre-emin- ently serious affairs. In this respect Joseph Smith was not want- ing. Skillful as he was in physical bouts, he was not less so in tests of wit and repartee. This characteristic was a part, and a most important one, of his strong human nature. He may have JOSEPH SMITH AS A MAN. 119 offended by keen wit, delicate humor, 'broad satire, the ultra-pious ones who would expect to find in a prophet a man more sanctimo- nious than themselves; but to those who knew him best, this trait of his character was one of the most delightful. A noble courtesy was another of his admirable traits. It mattered not to whom he spoke, or what the circumstances of his social or conversational intercourse, he was always the considerate, courteous gentleman. Whether taking part in controversy with the great men of the nation on affairs of state; or mingling with his friends in serious converse or social recreation; or undergoing difficulties which would try thesouls of smaller men; or directing words of kindness to children and the helpless in distress, his words and actions were dignified with the gentle courtesy which distin- guishes the truly great man. In connection with this trait, I would mention another, closely allied to it: his tender heart and easily aroused sympathies. Never were his ears closed to the cry for help and succor; never did he withhold the assistance which he was able to give to the worthy. Indeed, it has been charged against him that he was not sufficiently careful in discriminating against the unworthy who appealed to him for help. Cold-blooded and calculating he could not be. It was not his nature. Even in the difficulties and wrongs which he endured in the later years of his life, he held out a hand of sympathy and succor to friends and enemies alike. And he fulfilled the great law of giving, in that he gave not only what he had, but what he was. His life as well as his sub- stance was at the command of others. No more striking illustra- tion of this trait can be named, than his willingness to minister to the sick, and use the wonderful healing power he possessed. I am reminded of the time when he walked from one fever-stricken house to another, along the river bank of the malaria-infected town of Commerce, and healed the sick and raised the dying; until, the calls becoming too numerous for his time and strength, he continued his own labors, and sent his handkerchief by the hand of Wilford Woodruff', with the promise, miraculously fulfilled, that those who touched it should be healed through their faith, even as if he himself were there. To such a cause as this, he was willing to give his strength, his health, and, if need be, his life. Nor — ' 120 IMPROVEMENT ERA. was this element of giving and of sympathy lacking in his death; he died not only that his testimony might be sealed with his blood, but that his people might be saved from the mob. In his death, another phase of his character was illustrated: his affectionate disposition, and especially his love for his brother Hyrum. From the sad moment when he sorrowfully turned his steps back to Nauvoo, with the heart-breaking words, "If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of none to me," to the moment when he cried, "0, my dear brother Hyrum," to the stricken brother, — the last words he uttered to mortal man he was solicit- — ous for his people and for that brother. Fain would he have in- sisted on Hyrum' s being spared martyrdom, had not the faithful brother clung to him to the death. If ever, in these modern times, there has been an illustration of man's love for man, "surpassing ' the love of a woman, ' that illustration was found in the case of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. And yet this affection was but the love, in concentrated form, which he felt for his people, and for the world. It was a love for all mankind, wicked as well as righteous. He discriminated between the man and his deeds; and he was wont to say, "I love all men, but I don't like the actions of some of them." Of his bravery and coolness in the midst of danger, and his willingness to bear more than his share of hardship and peril, I need hardly speak. This characteristic is manifested in all the acts of his life. He was pre-eminently self-sacrificing. And I am not sure but that, when the list of earth's great ones is made com- plete, the greatest will be those who have been most noted for the sacrifice of self to a noble cause. As it will be headed by the name of Messiah, the greatest of all in this as in other noble traits, it will contain that of the leader of this dispensation as among the most glorious. Joseph Smith was fitted by nature and by Divine endowment, to be a leader. We hear a great deal about 'personal magnetism. ' ' It is a term used, for the want of a better one, to designate the quality which draws men to a man, and makes them his followers. Of this quality Joseph Smith had enough to mark him as one of the world's greatest leaders. A person's fitness for leadership is not truly tested in the midst of ease and pleasant surroundings.