Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam.
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"I calculate to be one of the instruments of setting up the kingdom of Daniel."
"The greatest good we can do to others is to spread the truth."
"I am willing to die for a cause, but not for a lie."
"And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren.…"
"The earth was once a garden, and it will be again. And the Saints will inherit it."
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This quote is a defiant challenge to enemies and critics, daring them to do their worst. Smith insists he will ultimately prevail over all opposition. The final claim—that he alone has kept a whole church intact since Adam—is a sweeping assertion of unparalleled religious achievement. The tone is combative and boastful, expressing absolute certainty in his divine mission and invincibility against any earthly or spiritual force arrayed against him.
By 1844, Smith faced mounting legal persecution, apostasy from former allies, and violent threats in Nauvoo, Illinois. He had survived expulsion from Missouri, mob violence, and multiple arrests. His claim about keeping the church unified reflects genuine organizational achievement—the LDS Church had grown to tens of thousands despite constant schisms. He delivered this speech just weeks before his assassination in June 1844, making his defiant confidence tragically ironic.
In 1844 America, religious competition was fierce in the Second Great Awakening's aftermath, with dozens of new sects rising and collapsing. Nauvoo had become a flashpoint as Smith's political power grew—he was running for U.S. President—while the Nauvoo Expositor's exposé of polygamy inflamed local opposition. Illinois militias were mobilizing against the Saints. Anti-Mormon sentiment mixed with political rivalry, making Smith's defiant boast both a rallying cry and a provocation at a moment of maximum danger.
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