Brethren shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceeding glad.— Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prisons; for the prisoners shall go free.

Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your eternal King. And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods, and all the trees of the field praise the Lord: and ye solid rocks weep for joy. And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy. And let the eternal creations declare his name for ever and ever. And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life: kingdoms, principalities, and powers. Behold the great day of the Lord is at hand, and who can abide the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appeareth, for he is like a refiners fire and like fullers soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Let us therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter Day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness, and let us present in his holy when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.

Brethren, I have many things to say to you on the subject; but shall now close for the present, and continue the subject another time.

I am, as ever, your humble servant and never deviating friend.

As good news from a far country, like pure water to a thirsty traveller, is very refreshing, so we have thought that a little space devoted to , might afford some consolation to those that wish well to the cause of . It is one of the few comforts of the saints in this world, to be settled in peace, and witness the raped [rapid] growth of their infant , as a place of safety and for the last days. For three or four miles upon the and about the same distance back in the country, presents a city of gardens, ornamented with the dwellings of those who have made a covenant by sacrifice, and are guided by revelation, an exception to all other societies upon the earth. There is a beautiful commandment and call upon this subject in the fiftieth Psalm, as well as a prophecy of what the Lord will do when he shines, the perfection of beauty out of Zion.

The city of is regularly laid off into blocks, containing four lots of eleven by twelve rods each—making all corner lots. It will be no more than probably correct, if we allow the city to contain between seven and eight hundred houses, with a population of 14 or 15,000. Many of the recent built houses are brick, some one story, and some two stories high, displaying that skill, economy and industry which have always characterized intelligent minds and laudable intentions. The first habitations, as well as many now reared for the time being, in comparison with the expensive mansions of voluptuousness and grandeur in old cities, may be termed “small;” but when it is recollected that a large portion of the saints have been “scattered and peeled” some two or three times; and that, also, it is the ‘fashion’ of the world, to ‘shave’ them close before they let them ‘go to the land of promise,’ (as hypocrites not unfrequently name the place of gathering) no apology will be needed. We can, therefore, of a truth declare, that within the same length of time, and with the same amount of means, no society on the face of the globe, has a better [p. 936]