the same things I revealed unto them, unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the Gospel for the last times, and for the fullness of times, in the which I will gather together in one all things, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth. (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xxvii.) Therefore, brethren, beware concerning yourselves, that you sin not against the authority of this dispensation, nor think lightly of those whom God has counted worthy for so great a calling, and for whose {54} sake He hath made them servants unto you, that you might be made the heirs of God to inherit so great a blessing, and be prepared for the great assembly, and sit there with the Ancient of Days, even Adam our father, who shall come to prepare you for the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord; for the time is at hand, therefore gather up your effects, and gather together upon the land which the Lord has appointed for your safety. David W. Patten. Footnotes 1. The oration soon afterwards appeared in _The Far West_, a periodical published at Liberty, Clay County, Missouri. It was also published in pamphlet form from the office of the "_Elders' Journal_." (See statement of Ebenezer Robinson in _The Return_, vol. 1, p. 170). This oration by Sidney Rigdon has always been severely criticized as containing passages that were ill-advised and vehemently bitter. Especially those passages which threatened a war of extermination upon mobs should they again arise to plague the Saints. But when such criticism is made, the rank injustice, the destruction of property and the outrages committed upon the persons of many of the members of the Church, by the Jackson county mob, should also be remembered. Also the failure on the part of the officers of the State to protect the Saints in the enjoyment of their civil and religious liberties or even to return them to their homes in Jackson county--from which failure to magnify the law the Saints were still suffering. When, therefore, they saw mobocracy again threatening them, it is small wonder if they gave way for a moment to anger, and denounced in strong terms those who were likely to disturb their peace and repeat the outrages under which they had so long suffered.