The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901Linn, William Alexander
History
The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901
Linn, William Alexander
Latter Day Saints -- History; Utah -- History
In manhood Smith was about six feet tall, weighing something over two
hundred pounds. From among a number of descriptions of him by visitors
at Nauvoo, the following may be cited. Josiah Quincy, describing his
arrival at what he calls "the tavern" in Nauvoo, in May, 1844, gives
this impression of the prophet: "Pre-eminent among the stragglers at
the door stood a man of commanding appearance, clad in the costume of
a journeyman carpenter when about his work. He was a hearty, athletic
fellow, with blue eyes standing prominently out on his light complexion,
a long nose, and a retreating forehead. He wore striped pantaloons,
a linen jacket which had not lately seen the wash-tub, and a beard of
three days' growth. A fine-looking man, is what the passer-by would
instinctively have murmured upon meeting the remarkable individual
who had fashioned the mould which was to shape the feelings of so many
thousands of his fellow-mortals." *
*" Figures of the Past," p. 380.
The Rev. Henry Caswall, M.A., who had an interview with the prophet at
Nauvoo, in 1842, thus describes him: "He is a coarse, plebeian, sensual
person in aspect, and his countenance exhibits a curious mixture of
the knave and the clown. His hands are large and fat, and on one of his
fingers he wears a massive gold ring, upon which I saw an inscription.
His eyes appear deficient in that open and straightforward expression
which often characterizes an honest man."
* Millennial Star, November 1, 1850.
John Taylor had death-casts taken of the faces of Joseph and Hyrum after
their murder. By the aid of these and of sketches of the brothers which
he had secured while they were living, he had busts of them made by a
modeller in Europe named Gahagan, and these were offered to the Saints
throughout the world, for a price, of course.*
The proofs already cited of Smith's immorality are convincing. Caswall
names a number of occasions on which, he charges, the prophet was
intoxicated after his settlement in Nauvoo. He relates that on one of
these, when Smith was asked how it happened that a prophet of the Lord
could get drunk, Smith answered that it was necessary that he should do
so to prevent the Saints from worshipping him as a god!*
* "Mormonism and its Author," 1852.
No Mormon ever concedes that proof of Smith's personal failings affects
his character as a prophet. A Mormon doctor, with whom Caswall argued at
Nauvoo, said that Smith might be a murderer and an adulterer, and yet
be a true prophet. He cited St. Peter as saying that, in his time, David
had not yet ascended into heaven (Acts ii. 34); David was in hell as a
murderer; so if Smith was "as infamous as David, and even denied his own
revelations, that would not affect the revelations which God had given
him."
CHAPTER XV. -- AFTER SMITH'S DEATH--RIGDON'S LAST DAYS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account