"BELOVED BRETHREN AND FRIENDS,-We, the members of the High Council of the Church, by the voice of all her authorities, have unitedly and unanimously agreed, and embrace this opportunity to inform you that we intend to set out into the Western country from this place, some time in the early part of the month of March, a company of pioneers, consisting mostly of young, hardy men, with some families. These are destined to be furnished with an ample outfit; taking with them a printing press, farming utensils of all kinds, with mill irons and bolting cloths, seeds of all kinds, grain, &c.

"The object of this early move is, to put in a spring crop, to build houses, and to prepare for the reception of families who will start so soon as grass shall be sufficiently grown to sustain teams and stock. Our pioneers are instructed to proceed West till they find a good place to make a crop, in some good valley in the neighbourhood of the Rocky Mountains, where they will infringe upon no one, and be not likely to be infringed upon. Here we will make a resting place, until we can determine a place for a permanent location. In the event of the President's recommendation to build block houses and stockade forts on the route to Oregon becoming a law, we have encouragements of having that work to do; and under our peculiar circumstances, we can do it with less expense to the Government than any other people. We also further declare, for the satisfaction of some who have concluded that our grievances have alienated us from our country, that our patriotism has not been overcome by fire-by sword-by daylight nor by midnight assassinations, which we have endured, neither have they alienated us from the institutions of our country. Should hostilities arise between the Government of the United States and any other power, in relation to the right of possessing the territory of Oregon, we are on hand to sustain the claim of the United States' Government to that country. It is geographically ours; and of right, no foreign power should hold dominion there; and if our services are required to prevent it, those services will be cheerfully rendered according to our ability. We feel the injuries that we have sustained, and are not insensible of the wrongs we have suffered. Still we are Americans; and should our country be invaded, we hope to do, at least, as much as did the conscientious Quaker who took his passage on board a merchant ship, and was attacked by pirates. The pirate boarded the merchantman, and one of the enemies' men fell into the water between the two vessels, but seized a rope that was hung over, and was pulling himself up on board the merchantman. The conscientious Quaker saw this, and though he did not like to fight, he took his jack-knife, and quickly moved to the scene, saying to the pirate, 'If thee wants that piece of rope I will help thee to it.' He cut the rope asunder— the pirate fell and a watery grave was his resting-place.

"Much of our property will be left in the hands of competent agents for sale at a low rate, for teams, for goods, and for cash. The funds arising from the sale of property will be applied to the removal of families from time to time as fast as consistent, and it now remains to be proven whether those of our families and friends who are necessarily left behind for a season to obtain an outfit, through the sale of property, shall be mobbed, burnt, and driven

away by force. Does any American want the honour of doing it? or will Americans suffer such acts to be done, and the disgrace of them to rest on their character under existing circumstances? If they will, let the world know it. But we do not believe they will.

"We agreed to leave the country for the sake of peace, upon the condition that no more vexatious prosecutions be instituted against us. In good faith have we laboured to fulfil this engagement. Governor Ford has also done his duty to further our wishes in this respect. But there are some who are unwilling that we should have an existence anywhere. But our destinies are in the hands of God, and so also is theirs.

"We venture to say that our brethren have made no counterfeit money; and if any miller has received fifteen hundred dollars base coin in a week from us, let him testify. If any land agent of the General Government has received waggon-loads of base coin from us in payment for lands, let him say so; or if he has received any at all from us, let him tell it. Those witnesses against us have spun a long yarn; but if our brethren had never used an influence against them to break them up, and to cause them to leave our city, after having satisfied themselves that they were engaged in the very business of which they accuse us, their revenge might never have been roused to father upon us their own illegitimate and bogus productions.

"We have never tied a black strap round any person's neck, neither have we cut their bowels out, nor fed any to the 'Cat-fish.' The systematic order of stealing, of which these grave witnesses speak, must certainly be original with them. Such a plan could never originate with any person except some one who wished to fan the flames of death or destruction around us. The very dregs of malice and revenge are mingled in the statements of those witnesses alluded to by the Sangamo Journal. We should think that every man of sense might see this. In fact, many editors do see it, and they have our thanks for speaking of it.

"We have now stated our feelings, our wishes, and our intentions; and by them we are willing to abide; and such editors as are willing that we should live and not die, and have a being on the earth while Heaven is pleased to lengthen out our days, are respectfully requested to publish this article. And men who wish to buy property very cheap, to benefit themselves, and are willing to benefit us, are invited to call and look; and our prayer shall ever be, that justice and judgment, mercy and truth, may be exalted, not only in our own land, but throughout the world, and the will of God be done on earth as it is done in Heaven.

"Done in Council at the City of Nauvoo, on the 20th day of January, 1846.

"SAMUEL BENT.

JAMES ALLRED.
GEORGE W. HARRIS.
WILLIAM HUNTINGTON.
HENRY G. SHERWOOD.
ALPHEUS CUTLER.

"NEWEL KNIGHT. LEWIS D. WILSON.

EZRA T. BENSON.

DAVID FULLMER.

THOMAS GROVER.
AARON JOHNSON."

The first companies of the Mormons commenced crossing the Mississippi on the 3rd February, 1846. They amounted to 1,600 men, women, and children, and passed the river on the ice. They continued to leave in detachments, or companies of similar magnitude, until July and August, travelling by ox-teams towards California, then almost unknown, and quite unpeopled by the Anglo-Saxon race. The anti-Mormons asserted that the intention of the Saints was to excite the Indians against the commonwealth, and that they would return at the head of a multitude of the Red Skins to take vengeance upon the white people for the indignities they had suffered. Nothing appears to have been further from the intentions of the Mormons. Their sole object was to plant their Church in some fertile and hitherto undiscovered spot, where they might worship God in their own fashion, unmolested by any other sect of Christians. The war against Mexico was then raging, and, to test the loyalty of the Mormons, it was suggested by their foes that a demand should be made upon them to raise five hundred men for the service of the country. The Mormons obeyed, and five hundred of their best men enrolled themselves under the command of General Kearney, and marched 2,400 miles with the armies of the United States. At the conclusion of the Mexican war, they were disbanded in Upper California. The Mormons allege that it was one of this band who, in working at a mill, first discovered the golden treasures of California; and the "Saints are said to have succeeded in amassing large quantities of the precious metal before the secret was made generally known to the "Gentiles."

But faith was not kept with the Mormons who remained in Nauvoo. Although they had agreed to leave in detachments, they were not allowed the necessary time to dispose of their property; and, in September, 1846, the city was besieged by their enemies, upon the pretence, that they did not intend to fulfil the stipulations made with the people and authorities of Illinois. After a three day's bombardment, the last remnant was finally driven out by fire and sword. The details will be found in the following chapter.

California, another party chartered the ship Brooklyn, at New York, and sailed round to the Pacific by Cape Horn. This party was amongst the earliest of the arrivals in California, and its members were exceedingly fortunate at the "diggings," and amassed large quantities of gold.

But the great bulk of the Mormons proceeded overland to the. Valley of the Great Salt Lake; a remarkable pilgrimage, which has not been paralleled in the history of mankind since Moses led the Israelites from Egypt. The distance to be traversed was enormousthe perils of the way were great-the whole circumstances were highly interesting and peculiar, and the zeal and courage of the sect were as remarkable as their faith. It is fortunate that a record of these events of the Mormon exodus was kept by a person who knew how to use his eyes, his understanding, and his pen; and that he has been induced to give it to the world. The following narrative of Colonel Kane, who accompanied the Mormons from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake, has all the interest of a romance, It was originally delivered as a lecture before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and is here produced from the American edition :—.

A few years ago (said Colonel Kane), ascending the Upper Mississippi, in the autumn when its waters were low, I was compelled to travel by land past the region of the Rapids. My road lay through the Half-Breed Tract, a fine section of Iowa, which the unsettled state of its land-titles had appropriated as a sanctuary for coiners, horse thieves, and other outlaws. I had left my steamer at Keokuk, at the foot of the Lower Fall, to hire a carriage, and to contend for some fragments of a dirty meal with the swarming flies, the only scavengers of the locality. From this place to where the deep water of the river returns, my eye wearied to see everywhere sordid, vagabond, and idle settlers; and a country marred, without being improved, by their careless hands.

I was descending the last hill-side upon my journey, when a landscape in delightful contrast broke upon my view. Half encircled by a bend of the river, a beautiful city lay glittering in the fresh morning sun; its bright new dwellings, set in cool green gardens, ranging up around a stately dome-shaped hill, which was crowned by a noble marble edifice, whose high tapering spire was radiant with white and gold. The city appeared to cover several miles; and beyond it, in the background, there rolled off a fair country, chequered by the careful lines of fruitful husbandry. The unmistakeable marks of industry, enterprise, and educated wealth everywhere, made the scene one of singular and most striking beauty.

It was a natural impulse to visit this inviting region. I procured a skiff, and rowing across the river, landed at the chief wharf of the