_Elder B_. When the Book of Mormon was published, some who read it became convinced of its truth, and were baptized. On the 6th of April, 1830, a Church, consisting of six members, was organized at Fayette, Seneca county, New York. That Church was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The youth who was the instrument in bringing forth the book, and in organizing the Church, was Joseph Smith. The Church increased rapidly in numbers, and in the gifts of {59} the Spirit. In the fall of the year, several Elders went to the state of Ohio, preaching, and baptized hundreds, and also introduced the Gospel into all the states west of New York. In 1831, a settlement was formed in Lake county, Ohio, and another in Jackson county, Missouri. The Saints in Ohio built a Temple to the Lord, at Kirtland, at the completion of which, in 1836, the power and glory of God were manifested in a remarkable degree. In consequence of continued persecution the Ohio settlement was abandoned in the year 1838. The Saints in Missouri laid the foundation stone for a Temple, at Independence, Jackson county, on the 3rd of August, 1831. This Temple is not yet built. The Saints were driven by mob violence from Jackson county to Clay county, in 1833. Soon after, they were driven from Clay county to Caldwell and other counties. In the winter of 1838-9, the Saints were expelled, at the bayonet's point, from the state of Missouri. In these awful persecutions and drivings, neither age, sex, nor condition was spared from the most revolting brutality, such was the relentless cruelty of the enemies of the Saints. In 1839, they began to gather on the east bank of the Mississippi, in the state of Illinois, and commenced to build up the city of Nauvoo, and soon afterwards a noble Temple. The Temple was finished and dedicated in 1846. In 1837, Elders were sent on a mission to Britain, where they succeeded in baptizing multitudes. In 1843, Elders were sent to the Society Isles, where numerous converts were made. On the 27th of June, 1844, the Prophet Joseph Smith, and his brother Hyrum, the Patriarch, were cruelly murdered by a mob, armed and disguised, in Carthage jail, twelve miles from Nauvoo, where these two men of God were thrown, for pretended crimes, and held for trial under the government pledge of personal safety. During his lifetime, Joseph Smith was embroiled in nearly fifty law-suits, yet was never legally convicted of any offence to the law of the land. In 1846, the Saints, again assailed by persecution, were compelled to quit Nauvoo. Fifteen thousand to twenty thousand people were obliged to vacate their dearly bought homes, travel across the vast prairies, and seek a home among the wild fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains. While in this condition, the government of the United States required the Saints to furnish a battalion of able-bodied men to aid in the Mexican war. This unjust requisition was complied with, and five hundred men were immediately