Page:History of Utah.djvu/238



186 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

expression peculiar to himself, on which the eye natu- rally rested with interest, and was never weary of be- holding. His countenance was ever mild, affable, and beaming with intelligence and benevolence, min- gled with a look of interest and an unconscious smile of cheerfulness, and entirely free from all restraint, or affectation of gravity; and there was something con- nected with the serene and steady, penetrating glance of his eye, as if he would penetrate the deepest abyss of the human heart, gaze into eternity, penetrate the heavens, and comprehend all worlds. He possessed a noble boldness and independence of character; his manner was easy and familiar, his rebuke terrible as the lion, his benevolence unbounded as the ocean, his intelligence universal, and his language abounding in original eloquence peculiar to himself."

And thus a female convert who arrived at Nauvoo a year or two before the prophet's death: "The first time I ever saw Joseph Smith I recognized him from a vision that once appeared to me in a dream. His coun- tenance was like that of an angel, and such as I had never beheld before. He was then thirty-seven years of age, of ordinary appearance in dress and manner, but with a child-like innocence of expression. His hair was of a light brown, his eyes blue, and his complex- ion light. His natural demeanor was quiet; his char- acter and disposition were formed by his life-work; he was kind and considerate, taking a personal interest in all his people, and considering every one his equal. "^^

On the other hand, the author of Mormonism Un- veiled says: "The extreme ignorance and apparent stupidity of this modern prophet were by his early followers looked upon as his greatest merit, and as furnishing the most incontestable proof of his divine mission . . . His followers have told us that he could not at the time he was chosen of the Lord even write his own name. But it is obvious that all these defi-

^* Another account says that at 36 he weighed 212 lbs, stood 6 feet in his pumps, was robust, corpulent, and jovial, but when roused to anger his ex pression was very severe.