Oliver Cowdery

“ A wise Creator has so fixed our state, that by disappointments and crosses, if not by prosperity and success, we may be admonished of our approaching end, and that this life is not our abiding place. I think, though yet young, that were it not for friends and near relatives, whom I so highly esteem, and whose society and happiness I so much value, I would even now choose rather to take my exit, that I might be at rest, than longer tarry where woes surround and afflictions overwhelm the human heart. ”

“ Albany is an old town, said to contain near forty thousand inhabitants: its streets are very irregular, narrow and crooked: the widest is State street, graced with a large, splendid State House. State Houses, you know, are very fine buildings—here, office holders and office seekers, meet for debate, wise men to enact good laws, which many of the people, by-the-by, take special care not to observe. ”

“ Who so vain as not to choose thee rather than affliction? Who so inconsiderate as not to value thee above those things that change? And who so vile as not to cast off the sins of this life, to ensure an inheritance in those blessed mansions, where each inhabitant beholds the Savior's face? ”

“ And though despised and ridiculed by thousands, I have a certain reflection, that God has so far been my friend, that many, very many, entertain a fellowship, at least, for the religion I profess, if not for me, when a short time since, but few were found, who did not only consider those principles heretical, but the promulgators, unfit for human society. ”

“ At seven o'clock, A. M. we went on board the steamer Erie, or rather, the John Mason, which took us to the Erie, lying over the bar. The Erie is a fine, spacious boat, fitted for day passengers, with two engines, and a very decent looking captain.—Just as the passengers were stepping off the John Mason, the Rochester, a new boat, passed us. "Now for a race—now for trying speed," was the sound from different parts; and a race and trying of speed, it was—each boat's crew seemed to be eager to effect a landing of passengers, at the different points, with the least time. ”

“ It is certainly strange how vain mankind are; it would seem, that some are so much out of their element, if they are not slandering their neighbors, that they must necessarily employ their whole time in this vile, hellish business, in order to live. However, the good sense, the better judgment, and the manly understanding of the passengers, were not to be swerved by ruffian lies, put forth to injure the innocent. ”

“ But I must close for the present, hoping that the glorious gospel of our Lord, which is so little known at this day, may be carried forth to the ends of the earth, and be proclaimed with demonstration and power, till every nation hears and every soul obeys—and the glory shall be his. ”

“ Fifteen millions is a large sum to vanish in a night. The great exchange, once the pride and boast of the sellers and buyers of cash, is a heap. There is money yet in Wall street, and "Draper, Underwood," and others, ready to help incorporated bodies to plates and dyes, to make more. ”

“ Rochester continues to flourish: while the Genessee River affords water, and the adjacent country, wheat, Rochester must be a place of business. Like most of our western towns, it is blessed, or cursed, with all kinds of people. ”

“ It might not be safe to go faster, but from any inconvenience one would suffer from fast riding, you might as well go a mile per minute.—Three miles from the termination of the track, the engine is disengaged and the cars drawn by horses—it ends on State street, a little below the State House. ”