June 5th, 1844, spent the day in viewing the city; passed through the principal streets--they are narrow and irregular; in the best parts, the buildings are high and covered with tin; all the back part are inhabited by French. Their buildings are small, irregular and compact. The incorporation extends three miles square; contains fifty thousand inhabitants--two-thirds French.

One trait in the History of this city is that a four-wheeled carriage is scarcely ever seen, while calashes [48] and cabs [49] stalk the streets and hedge up the way, we thoroughly examined everything of note, particularly the Parish Church, [50] the largest building of the kind in America--260 by 130 feet; it contains 1363 pews, capable of seating 15,000 persons. The sanctuary is adorned in superior style, tinged with gold. We ascended the tower--260 feet high by means of 25 stair cases forming 285 steps; from this observatory the whole city is seen at one glance. Spy glasses, etc. are at hand--The square rigged vessels, about 100 in number, lay along the shore in full view, men, horses, etc. hurry to and fro along the streets and appear like swarms of ants. Having satisfied ourselves in viewing the city, we next examined the monster bell--It weighs about ten tons cast in London at the expense of twelve hundred pounds sterling. It is suspended in the western tower; the opposite one contains thirteen smaller bells. This fabric is built of hewn stone and exclusive of bells, cost one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.

June 6, 1844, left our lodgings at Mr. Griffis' Hotel and repaired to Parish Church, saw High Mass performed and other Catholic ceremonies--great splendor was exhibited. Two or three hundred wax candles were burning, some of them six feet long; one or two hundred priests were present, some of them dressed in garments gilded, others in white robes. Next we visited the "Grey Nunnery" [51]--examined it critically; we were not permitted to enter the "Black Nunnery." [52] The day was spent agreeably. At 6:00 P.M. took passage on board the Charkafox for Quebec; bid farewell to the Catholic metropolis probably forever. I viewed the country very carefully, it is level inhabited entirely by French, houses white, very compact along the banks of the river Catholic steeples, crosses, are seen, as we pass along; the river is broad and beautiful and the whole way--100 miles. [53] Arrived in Quebec [54] at 9 A.M. June 7th [1844] put up at Meriams Hotel; proceeded to examine the City, the lower town is situated along the water's edge under a high cliff on which is situated what is called the upper Town. Besides these there are three suburbs of entire French. The Upper Town is surrounded by a wall of twenty or thirty feet in thickness. We passed through Prescott Gate, [55] obtained a pass from the commanding officer, and attended by a soldier, entered the citadel; [56] it contains military stores, etc.--six thousand stand of arms, three thousand barrels of powder, and provisions for seven years. One thousand five hundred troops are stationed here. The walls are mounted with thirty-two pounders, etc., not only around the citadel, but around the entire upper town; two hundred and fifty heavy pieces on the walls besides hundred of heavy cannon and scores, if not hundreds of cords of shot or balls and bombs of all kinds in the citadel ready for use. Magazines, batteries, etc. all numbered in regular order. This fortress is to all appearance impregnable.

After spending some hours in our search, we passed out through a strong gateway. Next, examined the old French ruins, then proceeded to the Plains of Abraham. [57] The clash of arms, the groans of the dying have long since ceased--all was silence. The roar of cannon, the crack of musketry no longer fill the plains with blood and carnage; Here fell two brave warriors--Wolfe [58] and Montealm. [59] I seated myself beside a monument bearing this inscription: "Here died brave Wolfe." We passed over the battleground and descended the bluff where Wolfe and his men ascended, dragging their cannon after them. All was silent and lonely.

June 8th, 1844, Spent the day revisiting the citadel and all military parks, public buildings.

June 9th, 1844, Being Sunday attended Catholic services in the afternoon. Thousands of Catholics were assembled and formed a grand procession displaying much pomp and show. The procession commenced their march from the church which was adorned in the greatest splendor, the sanctuary, with its images tinged with gold was lighted up with hundreds of wax candles, the priests, some in gilded garments and others in robes of white; ahead went boys dressed in white--some white with pots of incense, others with baskets of flowers to strew the streets, others with the Altar, the Ark of the Covenant, then the bishop and a long train. Smoke issued from the pots and the altar, as they passed. The streets were adorned with bushes and flowers, and filled with thousands of people. We visited two churches in Montreal and two in Quebec. They were all built in similar style, being built in a very grand and extravagant manner, especially the sanctuary--thirty or forty feet high, twenty broad, forming a concave front in the middle, stands at the height of twelve feet, the Virgin Mary with the infant in her arms, next above is Jesus on a cross. On either side around about stand the Twelve Apostles, while above all on the top of the Sanctuary stands God on a ball, representing the earth as his footstool, holding a scepter in his hand. The whole front is regularly arranged with candles; when lit up the whole appears like a mass of gold.

Quebec is a large city, but meanly [60] built, quite populous, wealth and poverty, pride and misery abound there. There were from three to five hundred square rigged [61] vessels lying in port; the aspect is rather gloomy. Cabs and calashes are in use instead of four wheeled carriages, plenty of dog-teams [62] may be seen running to and fro through the streets. After a stop of four days we engaged a passage on board a French vessel--not a soul could speak English; set off June 11th [1844] with ebb tide, sun down with a fine breeze until flood tide, then down anchor, held on till ebb, thence on; the country below Quebec is gloomy, lofty, and precipitous banks while blue ranges of mountains are seen in the distance, their small white cots are seen along the river; they appear as white spots scattered over the hills and mountains. Arrived at June 12th [1844] St. Andre, this is 100 miles from Quebec--here the country is rocky and very broken; the tide rises rapidly and high and extends 100 miles above Quebec to three Rivers, [63] rises at Quebec 15 feet. From River De Loup proceeded back from the St. Lawrence, crossed the Portage 36 miles to Lake Temisquata, [64] bought a canoe, crossed the lake 15 miles, thence down the Madwaska [65] to its junction with the St. John [66] at Little Falls, twenty-two miles thence by means of our canoe to Grand Falls [67]--36 miles, hired it drawn around the Falls, thence on our journey as before. Inhabitants, nearly all French, till we reached the Grand Falls, below that English people, lumbering, is the chief employment; the river is rapid and we passed down swiftly; arrived at Fredericktown [68] June 19th, 1844. Distance from Grand Falls to Fredericktown 130 miles, the whole distance from Kingston [69] 768 miles. On our arrival invitations were received for preaching. We accordingly entered the field of labor. We were the first Latter-day Saints that ever journeyed that way. Our undertaking was an arduous one. We had to clear the ground of heaps of superstition before any seed could be sown to advantage. Priestcraft had reigned predominant and had become strongly rooted. At first it seemed impossible that any of these captives could be made free through the truth.

Hireling priests labored to save their craft. One modern Pharisee prophesied that we could not find one individual who would receive our testimony in the Province. One or two preachers attempted to discuss, as challenges were given by us, but were put to flight and shame. Those who prophesied against us were soon proven to be liars.

July the 15th [1844], about 12 individuals who had received our testimony in Queensberry County of York, [70] came forward for baptism. The Lord confirmed the word with signs following according to promise. By this time certain persons seeing that none dare stand before us and that we were likely to prosper notwithstanding all their exertions, were moved with anger against us and began to lay plots. The first thing was to enter complaints to the Governor against us, such as that we were baptizing those who had once been baptized, influencing the people to leave the province and go to the States, believing in spiritual gifts, speaking against the established church common prayer book, tearing down churches, going against British laws, etc. etc. [71]

At first we paid little attention to them--continued preaching until we had baptized twenty, when we were informed that the Governor had ordered the Magistrates to meet in council and inquire into the truth of their complaints. Consequently three met. Their names were--Parent, Earls and Morehouse, having given public notice previously for all persons who knew of our being guilty of the before mentioned charges to attend. Two only were sworn--two testified to, what we acknowledged our names, places of residence, to what nation we belonged, etc. The other, a Negro, testified to all intents and purposes that we preached false doctrine, such as, that we had power to raise the dead, cast out devils, also we were building a temple that should not be thrown down somewhere in the States, a place of safety, where the residue of mankind should be destroyed. The proceedings of this meeting were forwarded to the Governor. Things having arrived to this pitch we thought it wisdom to take some steps to counteract their proceedings. We accordingly prepared ourselves with documents from Judge Boardsley and Dr. Shelton. We repaired to Fredricktown, [72] appeared before His Excellency, the Governor, our names were recorded and our place of residence. Our documents underwent an investigation--the Governor was very inquisitive. I was somewhat surprised that the Governor should enter into a debate with us, but this he did, and it lasted about two hours. Many points of our doctrine were taken up, at last, finding himself hard run for arguments accused us of being unacquainted with the dead languages. Thus closed our interview without any positive answer, whether we would be allowed our rights or not. Lawyer Wilmot, the Governor's chief Counselor, treated us kindly, and told us there was no law that could harm us. This blowed up the whole affair and frustrated their plans. [73] We returned to our labors and continued preaching and baptizing. Many reports were flying abroad about warrants, prisons, etc. The whole County was greatly agitated.

Elder Brown went to Maine a short time. During his absence there was some Mob talk. These desperadoes, finding themselves defeated in all their plots were determined to have revenge. Brother Brown soon returned. Our number had by this time increased to 25.

September 2, 1844, Soon after Dr. Shelton and family were baptized, [74] he being a man of influence and a Magistrate in the County of York. The excitement seemed to raise higher than before and things appeared to converge to a point. The 11th of September is a day long to be remembered. In the afternoon, I preached in Dr. Shelton's neighborhood; Text Rev. 12-14 and labored to show the falling away, the rise of great Babylon and the coming forth of the great work of God in the last days. I had great liberty and spoke at length. Brother Brown and others bore testimony. The Spirit of God was there. The meeting closed about sunset. We repaired to the Dr's house for supper. Everything did not appear just right. Some designing persons walked up the street, made use of some hard speeches and appeared to manifest a hostile spirit. With supper over, Brother Brown left the house and walked down the street toward Mr. Foster's. Just before he reached the house, was met by seven or eight ruffians who knocked him down and beat him most inhumanly, mangled his body by jumping on him, etc. On the appearance of a friend, the mob ran off. Brother Brown was brought back half dead, covered with blood and dirt. I washed his wounds, found him cut and bruised in a horrible manner; got him in bed in a front room in the lower story. About 12 o'clock at night, I laid down with him, fell into a drowse for a moment, to be roused by a prowling mob. I sprang from my bed, seized a chair and held our bedroom door. The mobbers had possession of the front room and attempted to open our door, but I withstood them. At this moment by means of stones and rails, our windows were broken in with a noise that was like thunder. This gave me to understand that there was [no] other alternative. We must either fall into the hands of a merciless mob, or I must do my best. Elder Brown was scarcely able to get out of bed; all the weapons I had were a chair and cane; the chair appeared to be the heaviest. I drew it and stood ready for a charge, but none dared to put his head in my reach. I am thankful that they did not. I stood here in suspense, not knowing what my fate might be, but was determined to defend myself to the last; for there was no hope of mercy if once in their hands. Our room was small, about ten feet square; stones, rails, etc. were thrown into the room, but as good luck would have it we were not hurt by them. By this time, Mrs. Shelton broke through, for the mob, before they commenced their operations, crept in and fastened the family into their rooms to prevent them from lending a hand of assistance, and came to our door. Her voice was the voice of an angel; she bid us come out quickly; we did so, and that too, undiscovered by the Mob. [75] The night was spent in this deplorable manner. However, about the time we left the bedroom, the Doctor left the house by a back door, and after a while returned with 12 men to protect the house. On examination found the windows broken in a most deplorable manner. Our bedroom from which we had escaped was covered with stones, rails, etc. One room in the second story had all the windows broken, thinking we might be there. The room in which I had taken refuge was searched once, but in vain, the chief enmity seemed to center in me, but miraculously, I escaped unhurt. For months, the least noise would disturb me, and I would imagine that I heard the breaking of glass, etc. My feelings were such as are not easily described. The mob consisted of about thirty men. The next day we attended our appointments, some mile below, but Elder Brown was not able to appear in public for some days. All this did not discourage us, or the Saints; we continued to preach and baptize. For some days we preached and baptized during the day, and slept in the woods during the night time. During all this, we had many more invitations for preaching than we were able to fill.

Having an appointment up the river some miles, our friends assembled for a meeting. As we were detained later than was expected and having heard that a mob was lying in wait for us, thirty or forty of our friends armed themselves with clubs and whatever came to hand, and came rushing down with all speed to meet us whether there was a mob or not, I never learned, however, we returned with them and had a good meeting--a large and attentive congregation who treated us with all the kindness in their power. We did not lack for friends.

The summer was now spent and the time drew near for us to depart. We called the Saints together and organized them into two branches--forty-seven in all. We were in the province about three months. Some had seen us in visions six months before our arrival, and after hearing the word, were convinced of the truth and testified that all was fulfilled to the letter, even our dress and appearance they recognized.

All things being now ready, we set off for Houlton, Maine--were cordially received and preached a few times; procured a passage with Teamster, and set off October 9th [1844] for Bangor, 120 miles thence by steamboat to Portland, thence by cars [76] to Boston, [77] 400 miles.

October 15th, 1844, Found the Saints in good spirits, between two and three hundred in Boston, [78] was cordially received.

After a short time, I was called upon to go and visit the Saints in New Hampshire on business 70 miles or 80 miles distance. Returned again to Boston, being much worn down with excessive labors; concluded to tarry during the winter and recruit [79] my health. By invitation, I consented to take the Presidency of a small branch in Lowell City,[80]--30 miles from Boston, and to take up my abode there. Came into the city December 1st, 1844; kept up regular meetings during the winter; gave my attention partly to studying some useful sciences; baptized a number during my stay.

On the 20th of January, 1845, paid Andover [81] a visit. This is a village about ten miles from Lowell; went in company with about 200 persons--Ten large sleighs. I had the privilege of examining a very large library containing nearly 15,000 volumes. I examined one that was published in 1492 in English. [82]

On the 25th of January [1845] we had a dreadful storm during the night the snow drove through the air in almost solid columns. About three O'clock we were roused by the ringing of bells--every bell in the city was ringing. The cry was Fire! Fire! I dressed myself and went out to witness the most terrific scenery that my eyes ever beheld. Fire engines were in the streets but buried in snow, it was impossible to get them to the fire. The wind blew a hurricane; the air was full; it was difficult to breathe. The reflection caused everything to appear red, the buildings burned down--no assistance could be rendered--the inhabitants escaped with their lives.

Lowell is a manufacturing town--33 mills; 6304 Looms; Spindles 204,076; Number of persons employed, 8735--Females 6,320. Yards of cloth manufactured weekly 6,459,100--annually 75,873,200.

Made a visit to Boston; had the opportunity of ascending the Bunker-Hill monument, the State House, and all other objects of note in the town. I saw a number of small brass cannon that were used on Bunker Hill during the first hostilities with England. Spent the winter very agreeably up to this date.

March 12th, 1845 Left Lowell. March 29, proceeded to Boston then thence to N. Y. thence to Philadelphia, thence to Pittsburgh, thence down the Ohio and up the Mississippi; arrived in Nauvoo April the 25th, 1845.

By council of P. P. Pratt, nearly all the Elders were called in at that time. Journey home was 2168 miles, I found all things quiet. On the 28th of May [1845], was present at the laying of the last stone of the temple. [83]

On the 19th of June, 1845. Had a settlement with the temple committee--Paid tithing up to that date from the 18th of October, 1840, [84] at which time the temple was commenced.

On the 1st of July, 1845. Joined the Second Quorum of Seventie’s. [85] After the death of Joseph the Prophet, the responsibility of leading and bearing the Church and kingdom fell upon the Twelve, who proceeded to organize and set all things in order. The names of the Quorum are as follows:

President of the Quorum, Brigham Young; Heber C. Kimball.
John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff
Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt,
Orson Hyde, Willard Richards,
John E. Page, Lyman White
George A. Smith, William Smith. [86]

The season glides away swiftly while all was peace and quietude, untill all at once, without any notice, or the least cause while the Saints were pursuing their common avocations, a gang of ruffians on 10th of September 1845, commenced an attack upon a settlement--Marly settlement, [87] south of Nauvoo, by burning their houses and driving defenseless families from their homes. This burning continued and spread in the country branches, until 70 or 80 houses were consumed. During all this insult and destruction of property the Saints did not show the least resistance. At last, the Sheriff (Backenstan) [88]thinking that forbearance was no longer a virtue, organized a posse, set off for the burning district; found a company engaged in fireing and attacked them, killing some and driving the rest over the river, or rather, they rushed over through fear. The Sheriff, at one time on his route from Warsaw to Nauvoo, escaped very narrowly, being pursued closely by four or five ruffians on horseback; the Sheriff, coming up with friends, called on them to save his life; whereupon, one man--P. Rockwell [89] fired and killed a ruffian dead by the name of Warrel. [90] Upon this, they retreated. The Sheriff, with his posse, took possession of the principal parties in the country. The Governor, [91] seeing we were likely to overcome our enemies, sent a force of 400 men who paraded the county, and instead of bringing the burners to justice, they came to Nauvoo in search of stolen goods, dead bodies, etc. At length, troops were dismissed, except 50 who remained at Carthage to protect the Mob. The destruction of property ceased after 10 or 12 thousand dollars loss on our part and all things remained quiet.

On the 6th of October 1845 we had a General Conference in the Temple. [92] The main business of the Conference was to lay before the brethren the propriety of removing as a Church and people into the wilderness, out of the reach of Gentile Christians. Measures were adopted for organizing the people into companies of hundreds, companies of fifties, and companies of tens, whose interest was to be One, for the purpose of removing all rich and poor. A vote was taken to the effect that all our means should be expended, if necessary, or that all should go so far as our means and influence will extend. Many interesting instructions were given respecting our removal to a place owned by God only, where we could be delivered from Christian mobs. President Young asserted that we owed the United States nothing, not a farthing, not one sermon. They have rejected our testimony, killed our prophets; our skirts are clear from their blood. We will go out from them; let them see these matters.

At the opening of the Conference, the standing of the Officers throughout the entire Church was tested by vote; all stood forth except Lyman White and William Smith; the former was laid over, but the latter lost his standing either as an Apostle or Patriarch, and directly after was cut off from the Church. [93] Nothing strange or important transpired in Nauvoo. [94] During the Autumn and winter the Companies turned their attention to building wagons, etc. The Nauvoo house being discontinued immediately after the commencement of the Hancock riots--The whole force was turned to the completion of the Temple, as also every necessary preparation for our contemplated removal in the spring.

I continued as a regular laborer on the Temple, and witnessed the completion of the Upper Room in which the Endowments commenced about the first of December, 1845. From this period the Temple was thronged things being rushed on with the greatest haste. As many as 500 went through in twenty-four hours, this not common. Received my endowments in January, 1846. The work continued until the 8th of February [1846] when all was stopped, and immediate preparations entered into for a removal. The crossing commenced on or about 2nd of February 1846, [95] and continued till the 16th; as fast as they crossed removed back four or five miles and camped, waiting for all to cross.

April 24th, 1846 The ferries are crowded; the brethren are crossing with all diligence and going on to join the main camp. The works on the Temple ceased April 23, 1846--that is, the joiner work--the painters and masons continued a few days longer.

Since June 1845, I have labored 262 days on the Temple.