| 413 undertaking; but feeling a desire to do that which seems to be for the best, I place myself in the hands of Him who hath been good to me in time past, and who has promised to hear even the young ravens when they cry.
"Frequently solicited and as urgently pressed to take the present responsibility, I have as uniformly refused to do so, having my eyes open to the requirements of the position and to my almost utter destitution of them.
"I feel the necessity for an extended, united, and strenuous effort being made for the advancement of the work of the last days; and am assured that the Herald should be made to answer the ends of its establishment for the perpetuation of our unity.
"I can make no promises other than this: to study the nature of the wants of the church, and to minister unto them according to the best of my ability. I hope for the cordial support of every one in the church who can use a pen for the cause of truth, and hereby ask for contributions for the columns of the Herald, upon the various subjects connected with our faith.
"We must awaken from our lethargy; we must put on our armor for the good fight; we must march out manfully, letting those who will be sluggards lag behind, and those who will be mockers stand upon the wayside, marking our onward progress by the bitterness and activity of their vituperation.
"If our range of thought and vision has been too limited for want of culture in the things which make for peace, it is attributable (to a degree at least) to the want of some of the things which ought to be and abound in us, that we may neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Son of God.
"With this short salutation, I greet you, one and all, in the bonds of peace, committing myself with all the things intrusted to my care to the protecting providence of that God who receiveth our prayers and answereth them according to his wisdom for our good.
"JOSEPH SMITH."
-True Latter Day Saints' Herald, vol. 7, p. 129.
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