of this people that while the work of God on earth is carried on
by men, yet mortals are but instruments in the Creator's hands
for the accomplishment of divine purposes. The death of the
president disorganized the First Presidency of the Church; but
the official body next in authority, the Council of the Twelve,
stepped to the front, and the progress of the Church was
unhindered. The work of the ministry was not arrested; the
people paused but long enough to bury their dead and clear their
eyes from the blinding tears that fell.

Let us take a retrospective glance at this unusual man. Though
his opponents deny him the divine commission with which his
friends believe he was charged, they all, friends and foes alike,
admit that he was a great man. Through the testimony of his
life's work and the sanctifying seal of his martyrdom, thousands
have come to acknowledge him all that he professed to be--a
messenger from God to the people. He is not without admirers
among men who deny the truth of his principles and the faith of
his people.

A historical writer of the time, Josiah Quincy, a few weeks after
the martyrdom, wrote:

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 destinies of his countrymen?" And it
is by no means impossible that the answer to that
interrogatory may be thus written--"Joseph Smith, the