CONCLUDING THOUGHTS.
It has been shown in the preceding chapters that Joseph Smith
recognized and stated the fundamental laws of all science, the
fundamental principles of physical and biological science and
astronomy, together with a great number of scientific facts, and made
these statements usually in advance of workers in science.
It is a surprising fact that a young man of twenty-eight, who had had
no educational advantages of schooling, or reading, or society, should
state clearly and correctly known laws of science; but it is marvelous
that he should state fundamental laws that the workers in science did
not discover until many years later. Every honest man, be he friend or
enemy, must marvel, and ask, "Whence did this man derive his
knowledge?"
Was he a man of lively imagination who guessed shrewdly? If so, he was
the shrewdest guesser the world has known. All that he said has come
true; his bitterest enemies have been unable to prove incorrect
statements of facts. Their attacks have always been on the origin of
the work, on its ethical ideals (which are largely personal opinions),
and on the probability that Joseph Smith was the real founder of
"Mormonism"--thus tacitly admitting the greatness of the work. Had he
been a guesser, simply, he would have failed somewhere, and thus
revealed his weakness. But let any man show one error in the inspired
writings of Joseph Smith, even when he dealt with matters which lay
far outside of his daily mission. Though thousands of persons have
felt impelled to war against "Mormonism," no such error has been
found. All human logic denies that he was a guesser.
Did he receive his knowledge from well educated persons, who kept
themselves in the background? No documentary evidence has been found
to substantiate such a view. Primarily, it is unlikely that men of
intelligence and education would hide behind an ignorant boy, from the
time he was fourteen until his death at thirty-nine years of age.
There was nothing to gain by it; the prophet never had more wealth
than just enough to live on; the pleasure that his power over his
followers gave him, was more than offset by the ceaseless persecution
which followed him. Besides, nearly all the fairly well educated men
who joined the Church in the early days were given prominent positions
in the Church, yet it is known that they were instructed or chastised
by the youthful prophet whenever occasion required, as were those of
no or little education. Joseph Smith was always greater than any of
his followers. But above all, no educated man would have been able to
tell Joseph, by means of his education, of things not yet known. The
idea that Joseph Smith was only a dummy for clever heads is not
tenable.
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.
When the historian of future days shall review the history of the
growth of science, and shall judge men by the record that they have
left behind them, he will place Joseph Smith as the greatest
philosopher of science of the nineteenth century, and possibly of the
twentieth. Then will men reverently speak of that mighty mind and
clear vision, which, inspired by the God of heaven, saw, as in an open
book, the truths which men have later developed, through ceaseless
labor and countless vigils. Then shall the thinkers of the future
speak of him as Joseph, the clearsighted.
Knowledge, concentrated into wisdom, is the end of existence. To those
who live according to God's law, knowledge will come easily. It will
continue to come to his people, until it shall be the most intelligent
among the nations. The Lord has said it.
"How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the
heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the
Missouri River in its decreed course, or turn it up stream, as to
hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the
heads of the Latter-day Saints."[A]
[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants, 121:33.]
APPENDIX.