921.73 W589w.pdf - Mesa FamilySearch Library

186 _¢emair af
ity that honors bestowed on him excited the
envy of none. He was elected as presiding
officer in many of the ecclesiastical conven-
tions at which he was present. A powerful
and eloquent preacher, he was "lucid in his
style," "not disputatious," but "sound, liberal,
plain and practical ;" and "with his clear voice
and pleasant way (of preaching), he held fast
the thoughts of old and young." The ecclesi-
astical and political influence he wielded, exten-
sive and permanent as it finally became, was
owing not chiefly to his acknowledged learning,
to his natural powers of mind, nor to his
high social position, but rather to the modesty,
purity and disinterestedness of his character,
the holiness of his life, and to his wise, liberal
and far-seeing views in relation to the rights
of conscience and the true policy of government.
On these subjects, which were of vital
importance to a free people, he was far in advance
of the times in which he lived. Believ-
ing knowledge to be the handmaid of virtue,
he was an advocate of popular education, a
friend of the common schools and of the uni-