1. The Visitation of John the Baptist.--On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity, the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the vail was parted and the angel of God came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously looked for message, and the keys of the gospel of repentance! What joy! What wonder! What amazement! While the world was racked and distracted--while millions were groping as the blind for the wall, and while all men were resting on uncertainty, as a general mass, our eyes beheld, our ears heard. As in the blaze of day; yes, more--above the glitter of the May sunbeam which then shed its brilliancy over the face of nature! Then this voice, though mild, pierced to the center, and his words, "I am thy fellow servant," dispelled every fear. We listened, we gazed, we admired! 'Twas the voice of an angel from glory, 'twas a message from the Most High! And as we heard we rejoiced, while his love enkindled upon our souls, and we were wrapped in the vision of the Almighty! Where was room for doubt? Nowhere; uncertainty had fled, doubt had sunk more more to rise, while fiction and deception had fled forever! * * * Think for a moment what joy filled our hearts, and with what surprise we must have bowed (for who would not have bowed the knee for such a blessing) when we received under his hand the holy priesthood as he said, "Upon you, my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer this priesthood and this authority, which shall remain upon the earth, that the sons of Levi may yet offer an offering to the Lord in righteousness."--Oliver Cowdery.