LATTER-DAY SAINTS' MILLENNIAL STAR.

has come unto us by the power and blessing of God. I rejoice at the
change that is taking place in the world. We are visited now by hundreds
of people from the nations of the earth. They are coming to behold the
glory of Zion. They come to enquire at our hands concerning various
matters, and there is a very different feeling to what there was in former
days toward us. Brother John W. Taylor referred to our going to St.
Louis and to Chicago. Yes, I recollect very well when we went into Jackson
County, Missouri. My labors there have been alluded to. When I went on
my first mission in 1834, I had to go through Jackson County on my way to
Arkansas. It was just after our brethren had been driven out. I had to
go and hide in the cornfields and in the brush during the day, and walk
along in the night, till I got through that country, for the lives of myself
and companion were in danger there. The last time I went there, the Mayor of Independence came out to meet us with a fine carriage. He had
but one arm, having lost the other in the army, but he gave us that arm and
made us welcome. I could not help but feel the difference between then and
when I went through there as a missionary. There is a change taking place.
Zion is going to rise and shine, and the glory of God will rest upon her.
This people, if they do their duty, will fulfill and carry out these great
principles, and the eyes of the world will be turned toward Zion, and men
will come to enquire concerning the things of the kingdom of God. We are
in a good condition. We are blessed of the Lord. The Latter-day Saints
have never been so well off temporally. Go into the houses of the Latter-
day Saints, and you will find them in a better position than they have ever
been before. These are the blessings of God, and we should prize these
things and give God the glory for them, while we try to do our duty and
magnify our calling. I want to say that I am in for salvation and for
eternal life. I have labored for that since I was a boy. I have desired the
gifts, and graces, and blessings manifest in the days of Jesus and His
Apostles. In my childhood I prayed God that I might live to see a prophet
or somebody who could teach me the principles I read in the New Testa-
ment. The clergy of the day did not do it. Nobody around there appeared
to believe in such things. Well, I have lived to see prophets and apostles;
I have lived to travel with them and to unite with them in the kingdom
of God. I have been in the apostleship fifty-eight years; I have been in
the Church sixty-three years. My whole life almost has been spent in this
Church; and from the time I came into the Church I went on missions
and have never ceased altogether from that day to this. I have always
rejoiced in this, and do to-day. When I die and lay down my body, I
do not want anybody to rise up and say that I have neglected my duty
in trying to give him salvation as far as I could. I have always rejoiced
in preaching the Gospel; I have always rejoiced in administering the ordi-
nances of life and salvation at home and abroad, because I have known that
this was the work of God, and I know it is to-day.

I want to say now to the rising generation, gird up the loins of your
minds, prepare yourselves, and realize you have a mission before you.
Who are going to bear this kingdom off when we go to the grave? To
whom does the God of Israel look to do this? He looks to our sons and

310 LATTER-DAY SAINTS' MILLENNIAL STAR.

has come unto us by the power and blessing of God. I rejoice at the change that is taking place in the world. We are visited now by hundreds of people from the nations of the earth. They are coming to behold the glory of Zion. They come to enquire at our hands concerning various matters, and there is a very different feeling to what there was in former days toward us. Brother John W. Taylor referred to our going to St. Louis and to Chicago. Yes, I recollect very well when we went into Jackson County, Missouri. My labors there have been alluded to. When I went on my first mission in 1834, I had to go through Jackson County on my way to Arkansas. It was just after our brethren had been driven out. I had to go and hide in the cornfields and in the brush during the day, and walk along in the night, till I got through that country, for the lives of myself and companion were in danger there. The last time I went there, the Mayor of Independence came out to meet us with a fine carriage.He had but one arm having lost the other in the army, but he gave us that arm and made us welcome. I could not help but feel the difference between then and when I went through there as a missionary. There is a change taking place. Zion is going to rise and shine, and the glory of God will rest upon her. This people, if they do their duty, will fulfil and carry out these great principles, and the eyes of the world will be turned toward Zion, and men will come to enquire concerning the things of the kingdom of God. We are in a good condition. We are blessed of the Lord. The Latter-day Saints have never been so well off temporally. Go into the houses of the Latterday Saints, and you will find them in a better position than they have ever been before. These are the blessings of God, and we should prize these things and give God the glory for them, while we try to do our duty and magnify our calling. I want to say that I am in for salvation and for eternal life. I have labored for that since I was a boy. I have desired the gift, and graces, and blessings manifest in the days of Jesus and His Apostles. In my childhood I prayed God that I might live to see a prophet or somebody who could teach me the principles I read in the New Testament. The clergy of the day did not do it. Nobody around there appeared to believe in such things. Well, I have lived to see prophets and apostles; I have lived to travel with them and to unite with them in the kingdom of God. I have been in the apostleship fifty-eight years; I have been in the Church sixty-three years. My whole life almost has been spent in this Church; and from the time I came into the Church I went on missions and have never ceased altogether from that day to this. I have always rejoiced in this, and do to-day. When I die and lay down my body, I do not want anybody to rise up and say that I have neglected my duty in trying to give him salvation as far as I could. I have always rejoiced in preaching the Gospel; I have always rejoiced in administering the ordinances of life and salvation at home and abroad, because I have known that this was the work of God, and I know it is to-day.

I want to say now to the rising generation, gird up the loins of your minds, prepare yourselves, and realize you have a mission before you. Who are going to bear this kingdom off when we go to the grave? To whom does the God of Israel look to do this? He looks to our sons and