Josiah Quincy, Jr., was an eloquent man, mannered and serene in appearance. He was a relative of former Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, son of a president of Harvard University and would go on to become mayor of Boston in 1845.He penned "Figures of the past: from the leaves of old journals" — 400 pages of what Quincy qualified as "impressions made (on me) by events and persons."In the final chapter, Quincy states: "It is by no means improbable that some future textbook... will contain a question something like this: What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies 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."This bold declaration was the focus of the final session of Chad M. Orton's class "The Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration in the context of time," part of BYU Education Week. Orton was struck by Quincy's conclusion, particularly since it was an unpopular one for a non-Mormon to have at the time.When Quincy met Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Ill., Joseph wore clothes that had "not lately seen the washtub, and (had) a beard of some three days' growth." He was a "frontiersman," hearty and prepared to climb into the trenches with his fellow Saints — not in possession of the airs and means that might otherwise accompany a leader."Joseph's manner was such that you couldn't help but be impressed," Orton said. "The sermons he gave were somewhat different than what we're accustomed to (in the present). We hear things reiterated, but with Joseph? Everyone was hearing a lot of these ideas for the first time."It was Joseph's responsibility — through much faith and prayer — to determine how to reach his audiences, saying, "It is my meditation all the day and more... to know how I shall make the Saints of God... comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind."Joseph desired, both in ardency and humility, to be delivered "from the little, narrow prison, almost as it were, total darkness of paper, pen and ink; and a crooked broken, scattered and imperfect language." There was so much more Joseph wanted to impart to the saints of unearthly things, but was constrained by his mortal tongue.When Joseph was killed at Carthage Jail, many believed the death of the dynamic leader would result in the end of Mormonism — that the religion would prove to be no more than a "flash-in-the-pan." Gov. Thomas Ford of Illinois gloated, "Thus fell Joe Smith, the most successful imposter in modern times."Yet when Josiah Quincy was combing over his journal entries, examining the people he had met or pondered on, he was faced with fairly impressive, regaled figures, including his own presidential relations. Any could easily have "exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen."But his pick was Joseph Smith.
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