Reflections on Mexican Antiquities and Book of Mormon

When Brother Ivins mentioned the book that he found in Mexico, I thought of the introductory words of a book entitled "The Great Salt Lake Trail," written by Col. William F. Cody, more familiarly known to us as "Buffalo Bill" and by his companion Colonel Henry Inman. They say: ¶

"Over this historical highway, the Mormons made their lonely Hegira to the valley of that vast inland sea. On its shores they established a city marvelous in its inception and a monument to the ability of men to overcome almost insuperable obstacles, the product of a faith equal to that which inspired the Crusader to battle to the death for the possession of the Holy Sepulcher. * * * * An immense mass of literature on the subject (Mormonism) is to be found in every public library both in its defense and in its condemnation. The latter preponderates and often seems to be inspired by an inexcusable ingenuity in exaggeration." ¶

It has been a source of satisfaction to know that some people have fairly examined the question of Mormonism, and, in a measure, have done justice to this great people and to this important cause. One of these writers we recall in the person of Josiah Quincy, that polished Bostonian, once Mayor of Boston, a graduate of Harvard, and a man chosen by his alma mater to welcome Lafayette upon his second visit to this country. Josiah Quincy visited the Prophet at Nauvoo, a short time before the martyrdom, and his impressions of the Prophet are certainly of value. Most all of you will recall the thought that he expressed in reference to the Prophet Joseph and this great work ; said he : ¶

"It is by no means improbable that some future text book, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this: 'What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destines of his countrymen?' And it is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. And the reply, absurd as it doubtless seems to most men now living, may be an obvious commonplace to their descendants. History deals in surprises and paradoxes quite as startling as this. The man who established a religion in this age of free debate, who was and is today accepted by hundreds of thousands as a direct emissary from the Most High — such a rare individual is not to be disposed of by pelting his memory with unsavory epithets." ¶

Mr. Quincy goes on to say that the Prophet Joseph can not be disposed of by calling him a fanatic, — that fanatics and imposters are living and dying every day, and their memory is buried with them; that Joseph Smith was a phenomenon yet to be explained. He speaks of the impression that "resource and capacity — were natural to his stalwart person," that one would instinctively say, in meeting him, that he was a fine looking man ; and he compares him in strength of character and that kingly faculty that directs others as if by intrinsic right, with one individual only that it had been his pleasure to meet — and you will remember that Josiah Quincy was on terms of intimate association with some of the earlier presidents of the United States, and many of the early New England statesmen: He writes his reminiscences of those great men from a personal acquaintance with them, and yet he says that of all his acquaintances there was only one other individual that impressed him as did the Prophet Joseph Smith, for this rugged power, and kingly faculty. He also speaks of the attitude of the Prophet in reference to the question that later so vexed this nation and caused such streams of blood, and the loss of so many hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of treasure. He compares the words of the Prophet on that subject, to those of the retired statesman Ralph Waldo Emerson, in advocating the policy of using the revenues from the public lands of the United States in order to purchase the slaves and to free them when purchased. Josiah Quincy comments upon this matter by saying that if the retired New England statesman was entitled to be called a statesman for advocating that plan in 1855, when the war-clouds were lowering, and men's minds were agitated with the slavery question, then certainly the Prophet Joseph Smith is entitled to credit for "advocating the same policy eleven years previous to that time both in oral and in written speech. He concludes his words by saying that if the reader is unable to determine what to make of Joseph Smith, that he is unable to assist him, that he himself stands helpless before the puzzle or the phenomenon. But, give him credit for being the Prophet of God, which he was, and there is no phenomenon to explain. The whole question is clear and apparent at once, if you give him credit for being what hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints today testify that be was — a prophet of the living God. ¶

An English traveler, writing at about the same time that Josiah Quincy visited Nauvoo, in commenting upon his impression of the Prophet and his patriarch brother, said that in beholding them he thought he had beheld two of the greatest men of the 19th century. We have also the words of a congressman who met the Prophet at the time he visited Washington in behalf of his people, with reference to the wrongs suffered by them during the days of Missouri. This congressman heard the Prophet speak, and writing of his remarks, he said that he was impressed with his sincerity. Said he: "There was no levity, no fanaticism, no want of dignity in his deportment. Throughout his whole address he displayed strongly a spirit of charity and forbearance." ¶

I am sure the Latter-day Saints all take pleasure in the account given by the distinguished English journalist, Mr. Phil Robinson, in his work entitled, "Sinners and Saints," written after he had traveled from one end of this state to the other, becoming acquainted with the people in their home life, realizing and testifying that there was virtue and worth in this thing called "Mormonism." ¶

Recently, comparatively speaking, we have had the words of Mr. Elbert Hubbard, in reference to some of the leaders of Mormonism. He speaks of the great work of Brigham Young — that he saw with the eye of the prophet the barren, sterile fields converted into fruitful gardens; that "he had the brain of a prophet and the soul of a seer." That "he was the first man in America to put irrigation on a scientific basis," making it possible to convert the sterile plains into productive fields. As I remember it, Mr. Hubbard commences his account of Mormonism by saying that he thinks if he ever joins a Christian church, he will join the Mormons ; that the Mormons believe in the Old and New Testaments, and in the Book of Mormon. He states that he, too, believes in all three and in addition to that, he facetiously adds, the bound volumes of his own publications. He says, how any individual can believe that God handed down tablets of stone in ancient times, and will then deny that Joseph Smith had the plates of gold, is something more than he can understand; that it is simply a difference in time and place, that the principle involved is the same. He speaks also of the work of education upon the part of a certain individual, living in a city that I shall not name, as I shall not name the individual, whose life is given over to reviling the Mormon people. He concludes with the statement that if you would ask a terrapin its opinion of an eagle, it would be as much as the opinion of this writer in regard to our present President, Joseph F. Smith. He says, the individual who slanders you is the one who is in enmity against you. He gives as an illustration of it the individual who sifts his ashes only when the wind blows your way, and your wife has her washing on the line ; he is the individual who is in hostility to you, and will say harsh things against you; and because that individual was in close proximity to the Mormon people, he argued that he necessarily knew all about them, just as though one should argue that the people who put Jesus to death knew Him a great deal better than we do ourselves. I believe, with Elder McKay, that it is those who speak evil against us who either do not understand us, or have some sinister reason for the slanders they express regarding us; and I believe that the former class very greatly preponderates. As expressed by Emerson, the philosopher, "Nothing shall warp me from the belief that all men everywhere love the truth;" that is the universal rule. When we, who have studied Mormonism for some years, realize what a grand system of truth it is, how vast is its compass, and what a length of time it requires to fully understand and comprehend all the principles of Mormonism, we can not wonder that some individuals who give only a passing day, or at most a few weeks, to the study of this system, this collection of truths, to the habits, ways, customs and beliefs of this great people, and the organization of the Church, we do not wonder that they are not able in that short space of time, to come to any perfect understanding, or to anything like a proper conception of this vast system and this important work. ¶

I pray the blessings of the Lord to rest upon this congregation of the Latter-day Saints, also on those who are not here assembled, that the prayer and the words of the brethren this day may be verified, in that the instructions and spirit of this conference may be taken to the various stakes, wards, and branches of the Church. May the Lord bless us, my brethren and sisters, and friends, and help us to endure true and faithful to the end, which I ask, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶