In Honor of President Joseph F. Smith

The S. A. T. C, Brigham Young University, at Maeser Memorial Building.

In Honor of President Joseph F. Smith

A Tribute

From the S. A. T. C, Brigham Young University

The Student Army Training Corps, of the Brigham Young

University, held a memorial service in honor of President Joseph

F. Smith, president of the board of trustees, at 12 noon, Novem-

ber 22, 1918, directly in front of the Maeser Memorial, Provo,

Utah.

All the companies of the S. A. T. C. stood at attention and

presented arms with the officers saluting. Taps was played by

the buglers, and the flag was lowered to half mast.

At the conclusion of this ceremony, President George H.

Brimhall delivered the address, of which the following is a

synopsis :

"Officers and students of the S. A. T. C. : We honor today,

at this hour, the life and memory of the patriot, patriarch and

prophet, Joseph Fielding Smith, president of the board of trus-

tees of the Brigham Young University.

"As I look back, I see a boy of nine years of age handling

the heavy yoke of the oxen, and driving them forth into the

great and barren desert — his mother, his only earthly guardian,

his Father in heaven having watchful care over him. Then he

grew to manhood and helped to build this mighty commonwealth

— today we honor the pioneer.

"Students of the S. A. T. C, Joseph F. Smith, your president,

was a great character. His character foreshadowed the Mil-

lennium, when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together in

peace. He was lamb-like in his tenderness. The truly strong

200 IMPROVEMENT ERA

men of the world are the truly tender even of the world, and all

men who have ever known President Joseph F. Smith have mar-

veled at his tenderness. He was like a lion in his defense of'

right and justice. No man ever fought more valiantly than he

for right. Joseph F. Smith always had the courage of his con-

victions.

"Today we are committing his remains to mother earth, but

his great character is our heritage that goes on and on, that can

never die.

"He died in peace, at a time of peace, made possible by the

work of such men as you, willing to give your lives for the liberty

of the world.

"He was at all times a patriot, standing for the life and honor

of this glorious Government, builded in a land of promise, con-

cerning which God has decreed that it should be a land of liberty,

over which no king should bear rule."

Brief Statement

Voiced on the night of President Joseph F. Smith's death, No*

vember 19, 1918

By Elder James E. Talmage, of the Council of the Twelve

To say that both the Church and the State have lost a pillar

of strength in the demise of President Joseph F. Smith is but to

express a fraction of the saddening truth. To me he was a man

in every human sense ; and a man of God beside. It is my priv-

ilege to have been closely associated with him for many years

before and ever since his accession to the presidency of the

Church, and I have loved him beyond my affection for any other

man outside of my own kin.

I have directed the attention of our people both young and

old to his attainments, and particularly to his character as a prac-

tically flawless example. He has demonstrated in a most con-

vincing way that a real education is obtainable without the facili-

ties associated with training in college. His schooling was

meager, but he was a man rich in the fruits of reading, and full

of wisdom. His mastery of English was beyond that of many

who boast of post-graduate degrees in literature. Good language

was to him like sweet music, provided the speaker had something

worth saying; but mere words could never blind his vision to

facts.

He was a man of strong convictions, but always tolerant of

another's honest opinion or belief. In giving counsel and en-

couragement he was effective through his mildness, for he was

IN HONOR OF PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH zOl

not only a gentleman but a gentle man; yet in denouncing sin

he was a very lion in force and determination.

President Smith was a great man, not simply a big one. The

gospel he professed and preached was the essence of his life and

being.

I cannot conceive of him now, in the realm of spirits, as

otherwise than busy in service. I know he still lives, and works,

and teaches both by word and example; and the dominant hope

of my heart tonight, while grief over his departure is still fresh

and poignant, is that I may meet him again and be permitted to

labor under his presidency in the world beyond the grave.

A Man of God

By Nephi Jensen

Just six days past his eightieth birthday, President Joseph

F. Smith went on to the spirit world to engage in the great

work of human redemption, a glorious vision of which was

given him shortly before his death. His passing marked the

end of the most unique career of our time.

It was a cold, cruel, hateful world upon which he first

opened his eyes, at Far West, Missouri, November 13, 1838.

There was poverty and privation in his home, and fiendish mobs

howled on the outside. How different was the scene when he

peacefully passed to rest, eighty years later! Then civil officials

and men of all creeds stood with bowed heads and mellowed

hearts beside his grave, while the bell in the Catholic cathedral

tolled a solemn requiem.

No man of our day possessed in fuller measure the three

cardinal characteristics of true greatness: genuine sincerity, un-

affected humility, and deathless devotion to a great cause. In

nothing was he ever half-hearted. He was totally void of pre-

tense. He knew no policy except justice, mercy and right. In

his every word and act, he put the cause for which he worked

and sacrificed, for nearly three-quarters of a century, above every

personal consideration.

Although a man of strong, stately body, active, virile brain,

and great spirit, he humbly acknowledged his dependence upon

God, with a grace as genuine and beautiful as that of a child.

He walked all the long way through life in the dignity of be-

nign meekness.

But his crowning virtue was a truly heroic heart that im-

pelled him to dare all, risk all, and give all for eternal truth.

202 IMPROVEMENT ERA

From the time he went to Hawaii, on his first mission, at the

tender age of fifteen, to October, 1918, when, with trembling

frame, and heart aflame with strong convictions, he testified of

the great things of God, there never was a time in his long, event-

ful life when he did not give the full strength of his big heart,

and the vigor of his great mind, to the cause of human salvation.

He graduated from the only real University, the school of

great service and varied experience. He was never spoiled by

vain traditions, which are harder to unlearn than truth is to

learn. His was a great, deep, virile, natural spirit, which was

sent in eager quest of the biggest things of life, by a religion as

true as truth. No glittering show of superficial scholasticism

diverted his mind or heart from the one biggest thought of life,

the salvation and glorification of human souls. Although he

deeply appreciated the fine things of music, drama and art, he

was yet wise enough to feel that no culture that the school mas-

ter can give can take the place of the power and spirit in the

word of God.

He was not a mere human machine that turned out one

single mental product. His was an all-sided life. He exempli-

fied most perfectly Carlyle's idea of greatness, that no man is

supremely great unless he "can be all sorts of men."

In mind and heart he resembled very much Abraham Lin-

coln. Like the great Emancipator, there was in him an almost

equal blending of rugged, practical sense, and the fine spiritual

sensitiveness of the poet. Like Lincoln, too, he had that perfect

sense of humor which recognizes that

"Life is real, life is earnest,"

and that mirth is also "real," and a legitimate part of an "earn-

est" life. But his wit was chaste, and in his humor there was

a blending of smile and tear.

His was the rarest of rare souls. There was in it the com-

mingling of the bravest soldier's valor and the tenderness of

gentle women. In the presence of the arrogant foes of truth, he

was every inch the lion. And at the sight of the smiles of inno-

cent babes he was touched to tears.

As an orator he was natural, direct, impressive and convinc-

ing. His diction was simple, lofty and refined. He was sincere

to the core, and never indulged in rhetorical tricks. Whether

at the altar, in the pulpit, or in legislative halls, he spoke from

the heart and never was guilty of lip service. His pure, earnest

eloquence, flowing spontaneously from a heart aglow with a gen-

uine enthusiasm for God's righteousness, often moved critical

men and fastidious women of other creeds to tears, when the

fine words of the schooled phrase-maker fell upon cold hearts.