A METHODIST PRIEST CONVERTED BY A MIRACLE—WANTS POWER TO SMITE—THE PROPHET AT HIRAM ENGAGED IN TRANSLATING—ORDER FOR PUBLICATION OF "THE EVENING AND MORNING STAR"—MAN-MADE COMMANDMENTS.  
Joseph had learned and taught to his brethren that the mission of the gospel was to bring peace and salvation to all mankind. He himself ministered in the utmost humility among the Saints as well as among strangers, for he was well aware that faith, meekness, patience and tribulation went before blessing, and that God required lowliness of heart before He exalted men; but the lesson which was so plain to him was never learned by some who became associated with the Church in that early day. One of the first of those who sought for signs was Ezra Booth, a man who had been a Methodist priest and had become suddenly converted to the gospel by seeing a miracle performed. Soon afterwards he asked that he might be granted power of God that he might smite men and make them believe the gospel of Christ. His conversion had been by a sign, and he sought to minister by means of signs. He wanted to go forth with the power to bless in one hand and the power to curse in the other, and save souls after a fashion he thought would be successful, and entirely different from the way ordained by the Lord. Early in the month of September, 1831, Ezra Booth became disappointed and yielded to the spirit of apostasy. Later he wrote a series of false and malignant letters which aroused hatred against Joseph and the cause and which culminated in a murderous attack.
 
It was on the 12th day of September, 1831, that the Prophet took up his abode with his family at Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, at the residence of John Johnson, a member of the Church, and father of Luke S. and Lyman E. Johnson, who afterwards were chosen to be two of the Twelve Apostles. His daughter Marinda was the wife of Orson Hyde, another of the Twelve. Hiram was about thirty miles in a south-easterly direction from Kirtland. His first work was the preparation to continue the translation of the Bible. In the meantime, conferences were held and the word of the Lord received. At the first conference, held at the house where Joseph resided, October 11, 1831, it was decided that William W. Phelps should go to Missouri, and on his way, at Cincinnati, should purchase a press and type for the publication of a paper at Independence, to be called The Evening and Morning Star. This conference was adjourned until the 25th day of that month, to meet at the house of Serems Burnett, in Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. During the interval, certain Elders were designated and directed to go forth among the other branches of the Church and collect means to aid the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon while engaged in translation of the Scriptures.
 
At Orange, there were in attendance at the adjourned conference twelve High Priests, seventeen Elders, four Priests, three teachers, and four Deacons, in addition to a large congregation of other members.
 
While at Orange, William E. McLellin, one of the prominent Elders, desired the Prophet to obtain the will of the Lord concerning him. Joseph complied, and through the word of the Lord which came as an answer to his prayer, William E. McLellin received much encouragement for what he had done; but he was commanded to repent of some things and was warned against adultery, a sin to which, it appears, he was inclined. He was promised great blessings if he should overcome. This instruction, direct from the Almighty, seemed to affect him for a time, but the words did not sink deep into his heart, because he soon rebelled and attempted to bring reproach upon the Church of Christ. He joined with others in whom the spirit of discontent was brooding, to find fault with the revelations of the Lord which Joseph received.
 
When the Prophet returned to Hiram, the Lord condemned the folly and pride of McLellin and his sympathizers, and said to them that they might seek out of the book of commandments even the least of the revelations, and appoint the wisest among them to make one like unto it from his own knowledge. Filled with vanity and self-conceit, McLellin sacrilegiously essayed to write a commandment in rivalry of those bestowed direct from God upon the Church. But he failed miserably in his audacious effort, to the chagrin and humiliation of himself and his fellows. The attempt was not without its benefits, however, for the Saints were enabled to recognize the difference between the works of God and the presumptuous efforts of men. Upon this subject the Lord had said that the Elders should be under condemnation if they failed to bear record to the truth of His commandments, should the one who attempted to imitate them not succeed in his effort; "for," He said, "ye know there is no unrighteousness in them, and that which is righteous cometh down from above, from the Father of lights." The Elders obeyed this behest of the Lord and declared in strength and power their absolute knowledge that the revelations which had been bestowed upon the Church were from God.
 
The Prophet held many special conferences during October and November, 1831, with different branches of the Church. He also pursued his work of translating the Bible, Sidney Rigdon writing at his dictation. Important revelations continued to be received for the comfort of the Saints. On the 3rd day of November the commandment now known and published in the book of Doctrine and Covenants as the "Appendix" was given to the Prophet at Hiram. Some of its sublime passages are as follows:
 
Hearken and hear, O ye inhabitant of the earth. Listen ye elders of my church together, and hear the voice of the Lord, for he calleth upon all men, and he commandeth all men everywhere to repent;
 
For behold, the Lord God hath sent forth the angel crying through the midst of heaven, saying, prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight, for the hour of his coming is nigh,
 
When the Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his Father's name written on their foreheads;
 
Wherefore, prepare ye for the coming of the Bridegroom; go ye, go ye out to meet him,
 
For behold, he shall stand upon the mount of Olivet, and upon the mighty ocean, even the great deep, and upon the islands of the sea, and upon the land of Zion;
 
And he shall utter his voice out of Zion, and he shall speak from Jerusalem and his voice shall be heard among all people,
 
And it shall be the voice as of the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder, which shall break down the mountains, and the valleys shall not be found;
 
He shall command the great deep, and it shall be driven back into the north countries, and the islands shall become one land,
 
And the land of Jerusalem and the land of Zion shall be turned back into their own place, and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided.
 
And the Lord, even the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh.
 
And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord, and their prophets shall hear his voice and shall no longer stay themselves, and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence.
 
And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.
 
Their enemies shall become a prey unto them.
 
And in the barren desert shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land.
 
And they shall bring forth their rich treasures u............