J. There was always a few that protested against it.

. The Church of England is not that few; nor the Church of Scotland; nor are the Methodists, Presbyterians, or Baptists; nor any body that you can point me out in England; and all the Episcopal form of Church Government in the United States, came either directly from the Church of Rome, through the Church of England or indirectly from the Church of England, through the Methodists, and is consequently all a figment.

J. And you belong to a church only ten years old, ten years old, ten years old.

. These, sir, are my reasons for believing my former statements—That we had transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, corrupted the Gospel, and lost the Priesthood, and your potent arguments have not convinced me to the contrary, especially your last ten years old one.

*Why he should ask this question I do not know; except he did not believe himself, what he said, he could prove, as the statement was of his own propounding.

As is customary upon like occasions, it now becomes my duty to say a few words to the friends and patrons of the Times and Seasons, by way of a farewell address.

When I look back and survey the scenery through which this church has passed, for the short space of three years, it is impossible to find words to express my feelings—to recollect that three years this present month, many thousands of the members of this church were compelled to leave their peaceful and happy firesides, to sacrifice all the enjoyments of a sweet and pleasant home, which they had purchased with their own money, and made comfortable by the labor of their own hands; to flee for their lives, and seek protection in a strange land, among strangers,—all to satisfy the avarice and hellish desire of an infatuated mob, and to obey the order of a second Nero, who then acted as of a, said to be, free and sovereign —all conspire to fill the mind with solemnity, and sad recollections of by-gone days.

It is not, however, my intention at present, to dwell at length upon these things, more than to draw the contrast between those days and the present.

In the summer of 1839, having a few months previous emerged from the confines of a prison, where I had been thrust, together with about sixty of my brethren, solely because we would not renouncc the religion of heaven, Br. , and purchased the remains of a printing establishment, had by the church in , which had been saved from the ruins by being buried in the earth, and after having carefully extracted the polluted soil of from the press and type; which, by the by, like ourselves, were none the better for having passed through the scrutinizing ordeal of an ungodly mob, we issued a prospectus for publishing this paper, under circumstances the most adverse possible. The only place we could obtain wherein to put our press, was an under ground room to an old ware house, without any floor, and almost destitute of light: here we succeeded in issuing a few copies of the paper, when disease, which we had contracted while laboring in a damp room, brought us upon our sick beds, and we were compelled to suspend business for several months; however, in the month of November we were permitted, through the blessings of a kind Providence, again to issue the paper, which has been published until the present time without interruption; notwithstanding two good and mighty men have fallen while acting as its editors.

The Times and Seasons is now placed on a permanent basis, with a liberal patronage, and its circulation daily increasing. The building in which it is published was erected expressly for a printing establishment; with spacious rooms, where each branch can be carried on in its own department, without interfering with the other. The church, also, is in a flourishing and prosperous condition—more so than at any previous period since its rise; naught but joy and gladness seems to pervade the bosoms of the saints, and peace and happiness attend all their footsteps.

Under these circumstances I now take leave of the editorial department of the Times and Seasons, having disposed of my entire interest in the printing establishment, book-bindery, and stereotype foundery, and they are transferred into other hands. The Editorial chair will be filled by our esteemed brother, President Joseph Smith, assisted by Elder , of the Quorum of the Twelve, under whose able and talented guidance, this will become the most interesting and useful religious journal of the day.

With these considerations, I feel confident that [p. 695]