venty would receive the blessings of God in
that house; since they were to be special witnesses to the
nations of the earth, they would make his kingdom quake and
tremble. Brigham reminded me that when Noah was building the ark
he was mobbed three times; but he persevered, and finally his
tormentors said:

"Let the old fool alone, and see what he will accomplish."

"Just so with you," concluded Brigham. "Double your diligence and
put her up again. If you do not you will lose many a blessing."

After that I went to work with as many men as could labor to
advantage. We threw the wall down flat, and commenced a new one,
another brick thicker than the former. I borrowed fifty thousand
brick, and made them and returned them when the weather was fine.
By the 1st of May we had the Hall closed in.

During the winter Joseph the Prophet set a man by the name of
Sidney Hay Jacobs to select from the Old Bible such scriptures as
pertained to polygamy, or celestial marriage, with instructions
to write it in pamphlet form. This he did as a feeler among the
people, to pave the way for celestial marriage. Like all other
novelties, it met with opposition, though a few favored it.

The excitement among the people became so great that the subject
was laid before the Prophet. No one was more opposed to it than
was his brother Hyrum, who condemned it as from beneath. Joseph
saw that it would break up the Church should he sanction it, so
he denounced the pamphlet through the Wasp, a newspaper published
at Nauvoo, as a bundle of nonsense and trash. He said that if he
had known its contents he would never have permitted it to be
published.

At the same time other leading men were advocating it on their
own responsibility. The advocacy of polygamy by these leaders
pleased the Prophet Joseph, albeit for policy's sake he pretended
otherwise. Joseph said on the stand that, should he reveal the
will of God concerning them, they - pointing to President W.
Marks, P. P. Pratt, and others - would shed his blood. In this
way he worked upon the feelings and minds of the people, until
they feared that the anger of the Lord would be kindled against
them, and they insisted upon knowing the will of Heaven
concerning plural wives.

The Prophet Joseph anxiously desired polygamy, but he dared not
proclaim it, so it was taught confidentially to such as were
strong enough in the faith to take the forward step. About the
same time the doctrine of "sealin