The Rise and Fall of NauvooRoberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
History
The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Latter Day Saints -- Illinois -- Nauvoo; Nauvoo (Ill.) -- History
Let this house be built unto my name that I may reveal mine
ordinances therein, unto my people. For I design to reveal unto my
Church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation
of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the
fullness of times; and I will show unto my servant Joseph all
things pertaining to this house, and the Priesthood thereof. * *
* And ye shall build it on the place where you have contemplated
building it, for that is the spot which I have chosen for you to
build it.
The location which the Saints had contemplated as the site for the
temple was on a bold eminence overlooking the river, the landscape on
the Iowa side, and all the surrounding country for miles around. It was
not only by far the noblest site in Nauvoo for a temple, but ideal in
its fitness.
Footnotes
1. Doctrine and Covenants, Section 124.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE CONFERENCE OF APRIL 6TH, 1841.
THE sixth of April, 1841, was a memorable day in the history of Nauvoo.
That day the corner stones of the great temple which God by revelation
had commanded His people to build were to be laid. To the Prophet
Joseph the day must have been a veritable gleam of sunshine amid the
constantly renewing storms of his eventful career. It was a beautiful
day, clear and balmy--propitious for the exercises to take place.
Early in the morning there was a hurrying to and fro in the streets
of militiamen, for the presence of sixteen uniformed companies of
the Nauvoo Legion was to add brightness and interest to the imposing
ceremonies. A great procession was formed and marched to the temple
site. Here the Legion was formed in a hollow square surrounding the
excavations made for the foundation of the temple and enclosing the
officers of the Legion, choir, citizens and prominent Elders of The
Church who were to lay the corner stones of that structure. Sidney
Rigdon was the orator of the occasion; and, doubtless owing to the
recent admonition he had received in the revelation from the Lord--to
which reference has been made--he was aroused from his lethargy for the
time. At any rate, on this occasion he spoke with his old fervor and
eloquence. He reviewed the trials of the past, the blessings they then
enjoyed, the brightening prospects of the future, and dwelt at some
length upon the importance of building temples, and the labor to be
performed in them.
At the conclusion of the oration, at the direction of the First
Presidency, the architects lowered the southeast cornerstone to its
place, and Joseph Smith said:
This principal corner-stone in representation of the First
Presidency, is now duly laid in honor of the great God; and may it
there remain until the whole fabric is completed; and may the same
be accomplished speedily; that the Saints may have a place in which
to worship God, and the Son of Man have where to lay His head.
To which Sidney Rigdon added:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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