| 34 four in each end. Those in the west end were intended for the Melchisedec priesthood, and those in the east end for the Aaronic priesthood. The third story is divided into small rooms.
The outside walls are about two feet thick; the outside of the building is fifty-nine by seventy-nine feet.
The minutes of the dedication as published in the Messenger and Advocate at the time are as follows:-
"Kirtland, Ohio, March 27, 1836.
"Previous notice having been given, the Church of the Latter Day Saints met this day in the house of the Lord to dedicate it to him. The congregation began to assemble before eight o'clock a. m. and thronged the doors until nine, when the Presidents of the church, who assisted in seating the congregation, were reluctantly compelled to order the doorkeepers to close the doors; every seat and aisle was crowded. One thousand persons were now silently and solemnly waiting to hear the word of the Lord from the mouth of his servants in the sacred desk. President S. Rigdon began the services of the day, by reading the ninety-sixth and twenty-fourth Psalms. An excellent choir of singers, led by M. C. Davis, sung the following hymn:-
"'Tune-Sterling.
"'Ere long the vail [veil] will rend in twain.' . . .
"President Rigdon then, in an able, devout, and appropriate manner, addressed the throne of grace. The following hymn was then sung:-
"'Tune-Weymouth.
"'O happy souls who pray.' . . .
"The speaker (S. Rigdon) selected the eighth chapter of Matthew, the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth verses from which he proposed to address the congregation, confining himself more closely to the twentieth verse. He spoke two hours and a half in his usual forcible and logical manner. At one time in the course of his remarks he was rather pathetic than otherwise, which drew tears from many eyes. He was then taking a retrospective view of the toils, privations, and anxieties of those who had labored upon the walls of the house to erect them. And added, there were those
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