of our fathers, and from the lands of our nativity and former choice; and our association here as novel and as strange to ourselves as it could be to any portion of our fellow men; still we hail the return of the birthday of our liberties with no less feelings of joy and gratitude, nor no less desire for the prosperity and continuance of the fabric of our national government inspires our breasts this day, than when we met in the mixed assemblies of all religions, as in times past, in the lands of our nativity. Nor, indeed, could it otherwise be: from our infancy, we have been traditionated to believe ours to be the best government in the world. Our fathers, our neighbors, and our associates in life have extolled its excellence to the highest pinnacle of fame in our ears, even before we were capable of judging of its merits for ourselves, or were able to form an estimate of its worth. As we advanced in life we heard nothing else from our statesmen and heroes but the perfection and excellence of our public institutions, and the superiority of our government over all the governments of the world, whether they existed in former or latter times. It is the government under which we were born and educated, or else we exchanged another for it, with whose form we were satisfied, and in exchange gave this the preference, and sought, by removal, to enjoy its benefits. We have been taught from our cradles to reverence the Fathers of the Revolution, and venerate the very urns which contain the ashes of those who sleep; and every feeling of our hearts responds in perfect unison to their precept. Our country and its institutions are written on the tablet of our hearts, as with the blood of the heroes who offered their lives in sacrifice, to redeem us from oppression. On it towers the flag of freedom, and invites the oppressed to enter, and find an asylum; under the safeguard of its constitution the tyrant grasp is unfastened, and equal rights and privileges flow to every part of the grand whole. Protected by its laws, and defended by its powers the oppressed and persecuted saint can worship under his own vine and fig tree, and none can molest or make him afraid. We have always contemplated it, and do now, as the only true fabric of freedom and bulwark of our liberty in the world. Its very existence has taught the civilized world, far surpassing those of a Pitt, a Wilberforce, a Canning, or a Grey, and has cast all their efforts in the shade forever. It has stood, and now stands, as the arbiter of the world, the judge of the nations, and the rebuker of tyrants throughout the world: it is the standard of freedom, both civil and religious. By its existence, the fears of the superstitious have been removed, and the pretexts of tyrants have been swept away, as a refuge of lives [lies], and the rights of man have been restored, and freedom, both political and religious, have been made to triumph. Our government is known throughout the civilized world, as the standard of freedom, civil, religious, and political: By it are the acts of all nations tried; and it serves to expose the frauds, the deceptions, and crafts of the old world, in attempting to palm upon the people monarchy and aristocracy for republicanism and freedom. So powerful has been its influence that the hand of the oppressor, even in the old world, has been lightened-tyrants have been made to tremble, and oppressors of mankind have been filled with fear. Thrones, if they have not been cast down, have been stripped of their terror, and the oppressed subject has been measurably delivered from his bondage. Having been rocked in the cradle

of liberty and educated in the school of freedom, all our prejudices and prepossessions are deeply rooted in favor of this superlative excellence of government from which all our privileges and enjoyments have flown. We are wedded to it by the greatest ties,-bound to it by cords as strong as death,-to preserve which should be our thought and our aim, in all our pursuits, to maintain its constitution inviolable, its institutions uncorrupted, its laws unviolated, and its order unchanged.

There is one thing, in the midst of our political differences, which ought to create feelings of joy and gratitude in every heart, and in the bosom of every well-wisher of mankind, that all parties in politics express the strongest desire to preserve both the Union and the Constitution unimpaired and unbroken, and only differ about the means to accomplish this object-so desirable, as expressed by all parties. And while this, indeed, is the object of parties in this republic, there is nothing to fear: the prospects for the future will be as flattering as the past, in celebrating this the anniversary of our independence: all party distinctions should be forgotten-all religious differences should be laid aside. We are members of our common republic, equally dependent on a faithful execution of its laws for our protection in the enjoyment of our civil, political, and religious privileges; all have a common interest in the preservation of the Union, and in the defense and support of the Constitution. Northern, southern, and western interests ought to be forgotten, or lost, for the time being, in the more noble desire to preserve the Union;-we cannot, by rending it to pieces. In the former there is hope; in the latter, there is fear;-in one, peace; in the other, war. In times of peace it ought to be our aim and our object to strengthen the bonds of the Union, by cultivating peace and good will among ourselves; and in times of war, to meet our foes sword in hand, and defend our rights at the expense of life. For what is life when freedom has fled? It is a name-a bubble: "better far sleep with the dead, than be oppressed among the living." All attempts on the part of religious aspirants to unite church and state ought to be repelled with indignation, and every religious society supported in its rights, and in the exercise of its conscientious devotions-the Mohammedan, the pagan, and the idolater not excepted-and be partakers equally in the benefits of the government; for if the Union is preserved, it will be endearing the people to it; and this can only be done by securing to all their most sacred rights. The least deviation from the strictest rule of right, on the part of any portion of the people, or their public servants, will create dissatisfaction; that dissatisfaction will end in strife,-strife, in war,-war, in the dissolution of the Union. It is on the virtue of the people that depends the existence of the government, and not in the wisdom of legislators. Wherefore serveth laws (it matters not how righteous in themselves) when the people, in violation of them, tear those rights from one another, which they (the laws) were designed to protect? If we preserve the nation from ruin and the people from war it will be by securing to others what we claim ourselves, and being as zealous to defend another's rights as to secure our own. If, on this day, our fathers pledged their fortunes, their lives, and their sacred honors to one another, and to the claims which they represented, to be free, or to lose all earthly inheritance (not life and honor excepted), so ought we to follow their example, and pledge our fortunes, our lives, and our sacred honors, as their children and their successors, in maintaining inviolable what they obtained by their treasure and their blood. With

holy feelings, sacred desires, and grateful hearts to our divine Benefactor, ought we to perform the duties of this day, and enjoy the privileges which, as saints of the living God, we enjoy in this land of liberty and freedom, where our most sacred rights, even that of worshipping our God according to his will, is secured unto us by law; and our religious rights so identified with the existence of the nation that to deprive us of them will be to doom the nation to ruin and the Union to dissolution!

It is now threescore and two years since the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, caused the proclamation to go forth among the people of the continents that the people of this nation should be free, and that over them "Kings should not rule and princes decree authority;" and all this preparatory to the great purpose which he had designed to accomplish in the last days, in the face of all people, in order that the Son of God, the Savior of the world, should come down from heaven and reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before his ancients gloriously, according to the testimony of the holy prophets since the world began: and it is eight years, two months, and twenty-eight days since this church of the last days was organized by the revelations of that same Jesus, who is coming to reign before his ancients gloriously -then consisting of six members only. At its first appearance excitement began to prevail among the people where it made its appearance; and as it increased in members the excitement increased. The first attack made upon it by its enemies was false representations and foul slander. By this engine it was assailed from ever quarter, and by all classes of men, religious and irreligious. Misrepresentation followed misrepresentation-falsehood after falsehood followed each other in rapid succession, until there must have been multitudes of them created in a minute, by those employed in it, or else they could not have gotten so many put in circulation. This scheme not succeeding, the enemies had recourse to persecutions, which were multiplied continually, apparently with determination to destroy every person who united to aid and assist in bringing forth the work of the Lord. But all this not succeeding according to the expectations of the presenters, they united to all this power that of mobs, driving men, women, and children from their houses; dragging them, in the dead hours of the night, out of their beds; whipping, tarring and feathering, and otherwise shamefully treating them. Nor were those means the only ones resorted to in this work of persecution; but being determined to put an end to the church forever, they added to all the rest of the means used-stealing the property of the saints; also burning houses and charging it on their (the saints') heads, in order to raise public indignation against them; and also false swearing; and, indeed, we may add, all other means which the adversary had in his power to use,-nothing seems to be left undone that could be done, by men and demons, in order that the purpose of God might fail; but still the object so much desired has not yet been obtained. Under all this fire of persecution the cause has rolled on with a steady course; the increase has been gradual, but constant; and the church at this time numbers many thousands. Some in the old world have become obedient to the faith; multitudes in the Canadas as well as most parts of the United States. During their scenes of persecution a number of the saints have lost their lives, and others are missing, and it is unknown what has become of them; but the presumption is, they have been secretly murdered. No country of which we have any knowledge has offered so fair an opportunity for determining the great hostility which

exists naturally in the human heart against God and against his work, as this one. In other countries persecutions were carried on under pretext of law; but in this country, where the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of every State in the Union guarantees unto every person the rights of conscience and the liberty of worshipping as he pleases, to witness such scenes of persecution as those which have followed this church from the beginning, in despite of law, justice, equity, and truth, and at war with the very genius of republican institutions; and contrary to the design of our government, surely evinces the depravity of the human heart, and the great hostility there exists in the hearts of the human family against the work and purposes of God; and fully confirms the apostles, that the carnal mind is at enmity against God.

But notwithstanding all this violence we even say, as did Paul to the Corinthians, "We are troubled on every side, yet not destroyed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." We have, until this time, endured this great weight of affliction, and kept the faith. If the ancient saints had to endure as seeing him who is invisible, so have we; if they had to suffer the contradiction of sinners against themselves, so have we; if they had to suffer stripes and imprisonments for their religion's sake, so have we; if they were journeying in perils of water, in perils among robbers, in perils by their own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings, often in hunger and thirst, in fastings, often in cold and nakedness-so are we. If they had to commend themselves to God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonment, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, they lived; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all things;-so have we. If they went up through much tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, so have we to go through as great a tribulation; and we trust in so doing we will also wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb.

One cause of our heavy persecution is the influence which those have in the world whom we have separated from the fellowship of the church for their wickedness; who attempt to gratify their vengeance on us, and also to hide their own shame, by foul slanders and base calumny. We were at one time represented by them as having all things common; at another as being enemies to the government; and in other places we were represented to be abolitionists; and, indeed, anything they thought best calculated to stir up the public mind, and to excite public indignation and, if possible, put an end to the work, by sacrificing some of those who were considered as most active in supporting and defending the cause. But, through the mercy of God we are still in existence, and have the opportunity of joining with you in the privileges of this day.

In assembling on this occasion our object is not only to comply with the custom of our nation in celebrating the birthday of our liberties, but also to lay the corner stone of the edifice about to be built in this place

in honor of our God, to whom we ascribe the glory of our freedom as well as our eternal salvation, and whose worship we esteem of more consequence than we do the treasures of Missouri; ready at all times to offer unto him the sacrifice of our firstfruits; and by uniting perseverance patient industry, and faithful devotion to the cause of God, rear this building to his name, designed for the double purpose of a house of worship and an institution of learning. The first floor will be for sacred devotion, and the two others for the purpose of education. The building to be one hundred and ten feet by eighty, with three floors, and not far from thirty feet between the floors; all to be finished according to the best style of such buildings in our country; the entire expense calculated at not far from one hundred thousand dollars; all, when finished, to stand as a monument of the power of union, of effort, and concert of action.

Next to the worship of our God we esteem the education of our children and of the rising generation; for what is wealth without society, or society without intelligence? And how is intelligence to be obtained? By education. It is that which forms the youthful mind; it is that alone which renders society agreeable, and adds interest and importance to the worship of God. What is religion without intelligence? An empty sound. Intelligence is the root from which all true enjoyments flow. Intelligence is religion; and religion is intelligence, if it is anything. Take intelligence from it, and what is left? A name-a sound, without meaning. If a person desires to be truly pious in the sight of God, he must be purely intelligent. Piety without intelligence is fanaticism, and devotion without understanding is enthusiasm.

The object of our religion is to make us more intelligent than we could be without it; not so much to make us acquainted with what we do see as with what we do not see. It is designed to evolve the faculties-to enlighten the understanding-and, through this medium, purify the heart. It is calculated to make men better by making them wiser; more useful, by making them more intelligent; not intelligent on some subjects only, but on all subjects on which intelligence can be obtained. And when science fails, revelation supplies its place and unfolds the secrets and mysteries of the unseen world-leads the mind into knowledge of the future existence of men-makes it acquainted with God, its Redeemer, and its associates in the eternal mansions; so that, when science fails and philosophy vanishes away, revelation, more extensive in its operations, begins where they (science and philosophy) end, and feasts the mind with intelligence, pure and holy, from the presence of God,-tells of eternal mansions of immortal glories, of everlasting dominions, of angelic throngs, of heavenly hosts, of flaming seraphs, of crowns of glory, of palms of victory, of the saints' eternal triumph through a glorious resurrection, of songs of everlasting joy; of God, the Father of all; of Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of righteous Abel.

It not only acquaints us with these eternal things, but it makes known unto us the future history of man, time of the purposes of God, which have to be accomplished before the end of all things comes. It warns and forewarns of the wars, the pestilence, the famines, the earthquakes and the desolations which are coming on the earth; the rising and falling of the nations, and also the desolations of the earth itself; the falling of the mountains, the rising of the valleys, the melting of the rocks, the purifying of the elements by fire; of the sun's veiling his face, the

moon's turning to blood, the stars of heaven falling; of the heavens rolling away, as a scroll; of Christ's descending from heaven with a shout of the archangel and the trump of God, and of the wicked's fearing and trembling, of their faces gathering blackness, and of their seeking refuge under the mountains, and of their calling upon the rocks to hide them from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand?

All this mass of important intelligence together with the final end of all thrones, and dominions, and principalities and powers and governments, which nothing else but revelation could make known (for science with all her powers, could never declare it-neither could philosophy with all her utmost stretch, reach it), we obtain by our holy religion; for this is her province; it is the theater where she acts; it is the business we have for her; it is to tell us things which nothing else could tell; it is to fill us with that kind of wisdom which cometh down from above, and which alone is obtained by revelation, and by the powers which our holy religion confers, and by nothing else.

In view then of what we have already obtained, and of what there is to be obtained, we have assembled ourselves together in this remote land to prepare for that which is coming on the earth; and we have this day laid the corner stones of this temple of God, and designing with as little delay as possible, to complete it; and to rear up to the name of our God in this city, Far West, a house which shall be a house of prayer, a house of learning, a house of order, and a house of God, where all the sciences, languages, etc., which are taught in our country, in schools of the highest order, shall be taught; and the object is to have it on a plan accessible to all classes, the poor as well as the rich, that all persons in our midst may have an opportunity to educate their children, both male and female, to any extent they please, so that all the talents in our midst may be called forth, in order that we may avail ourselves of all the means God puts into our hands, and put into the power of all, to deliver themselves from the impositions and frauds which are practicing upon the more illiterate part of the community, by those who have had superior advantages, or as far, at least, as learning can go to obtain this object.

One part of the house shall be set apart for a place of worship, where we shall invoke our God for revelations, when we have gone as far as human skill can carry us, that by revelations, visions, etc., we may fill the vacuum still left, after science and philosophy have done all they can do; so that we may have that understanding and that wisdom which brings salvation, and that knowledge which is unto eternal life. That whether there are wars, or famines, or pestilences, or earthquakes, or distress of nations, or whatever may come according to the purposes of our God, that we may know it beforehand, and be prepared for it, so that none of these things shall overtake us as a thief in the night, and while we are enjoying peace and safety, sudden destruction come upon us. The Savior of the world himself, while he was here with his disciples, said that as it was in the days of Noah, so should it be at the coming of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, and knew not until the flood came and swept them all away; so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man. And Paul declared to the saints of his day, that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night; that when the people are crying peace

and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape; and that wicked men and seducers would wax worse and worse, "deceiving and being deceived" "They will," says Peter, "say, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." Such is to be the state of the world, and the most important period in the existence of man's earthly residence.

The description given by Isaiah is tremendous in the extreme: "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left."

The Prophet Malachi, describing the same scene and the same period of calamity, says: "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

The psalmist David, in the majesty of his prophetic power, has left us a warning also, when he says: "The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself."

Having, then, knowledge of these things, and the voice of God being unto us to meet together, and make a covenant with our God by sacrifice we have given heed thereunto, and are here this day as witnesses for God, that he has not spoken in vain, neither has he said in vain. But the day and hour of his judgment sleepeth not, neither do they slumber; and whether men believe or do not believe, it alters not the word which God has caused to be spoken, but come it must and come it will, and that to their astonishment, the confusion and the dismay of thousands who believe not; neither will they regard until overtaken by it as a thief in the night, and sudden destruction come upon them, and there be none to deliver. Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord, we warn our fellow men, not only by precept, but example also, by leaving our former house, to which we were bound by the strongest ties, suffering a sacrifice of the greatest share of our earthly possessions. Many of us in times past were rich; but for Jesus' sake and the command of our God we have become poor, as he (Christ) became poor for our sakes, so in like manner we follow his example, and become poor for his sake.

And as Moses left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, and refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, having respect to the recompense of reward, so do we. We choose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the flatteries of the world for a season. It is not because we cannot if we were so disposed enjoy both the honors and flatteries of the world, but we have voluntarily offered them in sacrifice, and the riches of the world also, for a more durable substance. Our God has promised us a reward of eternal inheritance, and we have believed his promise; and though we wade through great tribulations, we are in nothing discouraged, for we know he that has promised is faithful. The promise is sure and the reward is certain. It is because of this that we have taken the spoiling of our goods. Our cheeks have been given to the smiters, and our heads to those who have plucked off the hair. We have not only when smitten on one cheek turned the other, but we have done it again and again, until we are wearied of being smitten and tired of being trampled upon. We have proved the world with kindness; we have suffered their abuse without cause, with patience, and have endured without resentment until this day, and still their persecutions and violence do not cease.

But, from this day and this hour we will suffer it no more. We take God and all the holy angels to witness this day that we warn all men, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come on us no more forever; for, from this hour, we will bear it no more: our rights shall no more be trampled on with impunity; the man, or the set of men, who attempts it, does it at the expense of their lives. And that mob that comes on us to disturb us it shall be between us and them a war of extermination; for we will follow them till the last drop of their blood is spilled, or else they will have to exterminate us; for we will carry the seat of war to their own houses and to their own families and one party or the other shall be utterly destroyed. Remember it then, all men! We will never be the aggressors; we will infringe on the rights of no people, but shall stand for our own until death.

We claim our own rights, and are willing that all others shall enjoy theirs. No man shall be at liberty to come into our streets to threaten us with mobs, for if he does, he shall atone for it before he leaves the place; neither shall he be at liberty to vilify and slander any of us, for suffer it we will not in this place. We therefore take all men to record this day, that we proclaim our liberty this day, as did our fathers; and we pledge this day to one another, our fortunes, our lives, and our sacred honors, to be delivered from the persecutions which we have had to endure for the last nine years, or nearly that time. Neither will we indulge any man or set of men in instituting vexatious lawsuits against us, to cheat us out of our rights; if they attempt it, we say woe be unto them! We this day, then, proclaim ourselves free, with a purpose and a determination that never can be broken,-"no, never! no, never! no, never!!!"-Hunt's Mormon War, pp. 167-180.

1. Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to put into the hands of the bishop of my church of Zion, for the building of mine house, and for the laying the foundation of Zion, and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the presidency of my church; and this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people; and after that, those who have thus been tithed, shall pay one tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood saith the Lord.

2. Verily I say unto you, It shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you. And I say unto you, If my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, It shall not be a land of Zion unto you; and this shall be an ensample unto all the stakes of Zion. Even so. Amen.

Let my servant John Taylor, and also my servant John E. Page, and also my servant Wilford Woodruff, and also my servant Willard Richards be appointed to fill the places of those who have fallen, and be officially notified of their appointment.