I bear my testimony to you my brethren and sisters, of the divinity of the mission and work that was accomplished by President Brigham Young and his associates in fleeing from the wrath that threatened in Illinois and Missouri and other places, into these peaceful vales, which was done by the will of heaven and by the guiding power of the Holy Spirit, President Young and the pioneers were enabled to lay the {212} foundation of a commonwealth, the equal of which is scarcely to be found within the borders of our glorious land; and it was done, not by the wisdom of Brother Brigham, nor of Brother Heber C. Kimball, nor of any of their associates, grand _men_ as they were, true servants of the living God as they were, faithful and true to their callings, grand as was their integrity to the cause of Zion--but back of them, behind them, above them and below, and all around them, was the power of God, leading and directing them, and thus consummating his purposes through their instrumentality. We give the honor to our Father in heaven and we also honor and bless the names of those great and good men whom the Lord chose to accomplish his purposes, and through whom he did accomplish his purpose without failure. I bear my testimony to the integrity of John Taylor as one of the purest men I ever knew in my life, a man clean from head to foot, clean in body and clean in spirit, free from every vulgar thing, so common among the children of men. I know whereof I speak, for I was with him day and night, month after month, year after year, and I bear my testimony of his integrity. He was a martyr with the Prophet Joseph Smith. He suffered more than death with Joseph and Hyrum, and the Lord preserved him and honored him by calling him to take charge of his work for a season in the earth, thus exalting him to that most glorious and most responsible position that any man could be called to occupy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I bear my testimony to the faithfulness of Wilford Woodruff, a man in whom there was no guile, a man honest to the core, a man susceptible to the impressions of the Spirit of the Lord, a man guided by inspiration in the performance of his duty, far more than by any gift of wisdom or of judgment that he himself possessed. I bear my testimony to the work that was accomplished by President Lorenzo Snow, although it was brief, yet some {213} of the things which were left for him to do were absolutely necessary in order to relieve his successor and others that may arise in time to come, from mistakes and errors that had crept in before.