Some have thought that Joseph Smith was an enthusiast or a religious
fanatic, and that his prophetic utterances were the result of his
impulsive nature or visionary mind. But such was not the case.
When he was under the influence of the Spirit of God his mind was
perfectly calm and collected, and his countenance beamed with heavenly
intelligence.
While some of his contemporaries allowed their zeal and enthusiasm to
lead them into erroneous expectations, he would reason with them calmly
and endeavor to balance their minds. To illustrate this I will relate
an incident that transpired shortly before he suffered martyrdom:
A man by the name of Miller, the founder of the sect known as
Millerites, was preaching to the people in the Eastern States in 1844,
that the Savior would make His appearance that {110} year. This caused
considerable excitement at the time, and a number of people were quite
alarmed about it. Joseph Smith hearing of these predictions, declared
that they would not be fulfilled, and said he, "I will take the
responsibility upon myself to prophesy in the name of the Lord, that
Christ will not come this year, as Father Miller has prophesied, and I
also prophesy that Christ will not come in forty years; and if God ever
spoke by my mouth, he will not come in that length of time. Brethren,
when you go home, write this down that it may be remembered."
More than forty years have passed since 1844; hence here we again have
Joseph proven to be a true Prophet, while Father Miller missed it very
much.