New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-07-20
TOT I ne TIDUN
Joe Smith, the Mormon Prophet.
BIZ A SUCKER.

n
JOE SMITH is dead and gone. He was one OF
the most remarkable men of the age. The time
FIR writing his history has not arrived. Men
who have known him long and well, differ ID
their estimate Of his character; the future histo-
rian alone can reconcile the contradictory state.
ments of his friends and enemies, and place hlm
in his true position The personal manners OF
every man make him friends or enemies, regaro-
less of his principles and Of his conduct. This
remark is clearly illustrated in the case OF Smith
He was man of rough exterior and coarse
manners thousands who approached him were
so completely Disguised at once by his manners,
that they refused TO look at the good he claimed
to have done. But notwithstanding this he was
remarkable man, and has left the impress Of
his genius upon the age in which he lived ne
has carved out for himself title to page III
the history OF. his country. and his name Will be
remembered, for good or for evil, when the names
of half the eplIemeral Statesmen of the age will
be forgotten.
Born in the very humblest walks of life, reared
In poverty and obscurity, without education, with
out intelligence, accustomed for years to rude
and severe labor, rough even to the hour Of his
death in his department, coarse, vulgar, low, he
has succeeded in establishing RELIGIOUS
CREED, which has been proclaimed through
out America and Europe, in the Barbary States
of Africa, along the banks of the Nile, amid
the ruins of ancient Jerusalem, and in the Court.
ly Halls of the modern capitol Of the Russian
Empire. The Creed which he has established
and which in the last few years has made rapid
progress throughout the civilized world, will con-
tinue to flourish until millions of converts will
stake their eternal destiny upon its truth.
He has founded city upon one of the most
beautiful spots in the whole Western world,
where he has gathered together more than twen-
ty thousand inhabitants from every part of the
earh, Of every nation, tongue and kindred he
has planned one of the most magnificent archi-
tectural specimens of the age, and reared TO the
hight of forty feet Temple which, when CON-
pleted, will be at once the most beautiful, the
most costly, and the most noble building in
America Its walls nre of solid stone four feet in
thickness, supported by thirty lofty pillars, whose
huge size and strength will endure as long as
time will last. That building is monument
which will never decay, and the name of its
founder will never be forgotten. Who can gam
say that Smith was a remarkable man He
ruled by the force of his genius. Like Bona
parte, he could control and command his fellow
men. The secret of his power is unknown, but
the fact that he lived in the full enjoyment of un
bounded influence up TO the hour of his death is
indisputable. For the last few years ne had &C
quired property rapidly, and whenever he trave-
led he used an expensive equipage. He was a
pretended prophet of God, and tavern-keeper
He labored for the souls Of men gratuitously
be supplied their temporal necessities for dollars
and cents.
In his personal appearance, | have said Joe
was rough; he was q remarkably stout and ath-
letic man; he loved to wresile, and gloried in
his ability to " floor the strongest man in his
community. In his department, he was either
gay or angry, sometimes INDUCING in hearty but
cosrse jokes, and sometimes imprccating curses
upon those who had displeascd him. He was an
arbitrary man, and loved power. He claimed for
his Municipal Court such unbounded power as
no Court ever yet exercised, and under shelter OF
such claim he committed acts alike destructive
of law and order. He was also ambitious and
vain, and it was this last trait that involved him
in all his difficulties, and finally consummated
his ruin. If he had not been intent on the exer
else of his power, and determined to crafty his
vanity as well as to glut his revenge, he would III
all probability have been alive at this hour. But
his vanity prompted him to disregard the threats
Of his enemies, and to persevere in the execution
of his own plans. when he ought to have con
ciliated and yielded. 1t was his great fault &c
persevcre in all his plans, even when prudence
and circumstances demanded different course
He has been accused OF many crimes; of adulte
~, forgery, counterieiting, and of an attempt tc
murder Governor Boggs Of Missouri. That hs
awaited himself of the power which he wieldco
to crafty his sensual appetite have no doubt
he was man of strong passions, and HE educa
ton had not taught him to control or suppress.
his desires; but that he ever engaged in the o,he
acts wherewith he stood charged, l seriously
doubt The men who would have sworn it
the men who murdered hinl-would not hav'
stopped at the commission OF less crime, Il
CRAFTY their hatred and their revenge. They
had resolved on his destruction, but they fearet
to encounter him, when he had the ability to de
fend himself He was man OF genuine cour
age, and would have fought to the last momen
of life. He was pursued by band of thre'
hundred Infatuated demons, and cruelty sho
down like wild beast while confined in small
room where he could not escape. 1t was Clio
rious exit for him. Whatever there was of evi
in his heart will be forgotten in the recollection
of his death. He will be eulogized by his disci
ples, and worshiped as God. Time and dis
fancs will embellish his life with new and rar,
virtues, and more than earthly power; his doc
tr;nes will flourish, his infuecce will extend tc
ages vet unborn, and future generations will celc
brs,e his birth and death by public festivals, pub
lie prayers, and an unlimited devotion. ii. NJ.
L<,.istocu. Illinois, yJRly 10. 1874
LIBERArEp-John II. Ricketts,, who had beer