Since ordinary means were beyond his power, how did he acquire his knowledge? How was he able to look into the future, and reveal its secrets? "Ah," says a new philosopher, "I have it, he was epileptic, and had trances, during which his visions appeared;" and the philosopher proceeds to write a book proving his theory to be correct.[A] What a pitiful attempt to push the question into the region of the unknown; and at the same time, what a splendid acknowledgment of the fact that the life and labors of Joseph Smith transcend ordinary human explanations! Do epileptics, in their phantasms, see orderly systems of truth, which are carried into effect in their days of health and sanity? Does the epileptic see the truth that shall be revealed in the coming ages, and teach it with a stately soberness of language which admits of no uncertainty? If so, then might the race well long for the time when the great gift of healthful, reasoning imagination shall be exchanged for the ghastly disease of epilepsy. Folly of follies! The life, writings and works of Joseph Smith are healthy, above all else; no trace of physical, or mental, or spiritual disease can be found in them. His teachings are given as eternal truths revealed by the God of nature; and they rise loftily above the vague theorizings of the investigator, or the uncertain gibberish of the diseased intellect. Clearness, reason, logic in method and execution, characterize the teachings and works of Joseph Smith. Have such qualities ever indicated disease? [Footnote A: The Founder of Mormonism. Riley.] To the person who can rise above his prejudices, and confess to himself that he is not able to explain in the manner of men how Joseph Smith came by his knowledge of ideas, men and things, comes the strong conviction that the "Mormon" prophet was inspired by a mightier power than men possess; and if that conviction is followed by a prayerful desire to know what that power is, the testimony will be given that from God, the Controller of the universe, known by various men under divers names, did Joseph Smith receive, directly, the truths which fill the pages of his published writings, and direct the lives of his followers. God spoke to Joseph, and gave him the revelations necessary for building his kingdom in the last days. Little more than was necessary did the Lord reveal, but occasionally, for the comfort of the prophet and his associates, truths were given which hinted of the glorious order of the universe. May it not be, also, that the Lord showed Joseph many truths, similar to those touched upon in these papers, in order that later generations might have additional testimonies of the divinity of the latter-day work? Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the boy Joseph grew into a man, whose mind was filled with the great vision of the contents and the destiny of the universe, including the future lot of mankind. No man has had a nobler education than that received by Joseph Smith.