OCR Text |
Show W OMAN TESTIMONY ON PLU R ATj MAR K I AG fi silent g;ave 'S I trnst you will pardon my presumptfcn. In a r Ure3iig yotf, Willi whom I have not the pleauf & of the slightest acqualntancebut I feel a though the, principles of our holy religion, which we have.espoued, bring us near and make us one in GbrM JmucIIL As J. am getting ofdand feeb!o PeanLol ex pect to remain very long In this probation, and I feal anxiouTto bear my testimony to the truth of the ever las ting Gespel, as we h a veci peeked H Jn tliese Jas; days. My age Is seventy-fou" ' , - . a period In Jifelwben many, very many of our aged brethren audjBis- ters ardu leaving u?; Lut few now surviv e) wi th whom I wa3 early associated In this Kingdom. 1 wilmention the -- honored names of a few kU ters who now remain, 8 later Eiizi 11. Snow Smith, Zina D. H. Young, Prcsendia L. Kim ball, liathEheba W. Smith, Phoebj WocHiruil, and a few others. I joined this Cburca late in the fall of 1S3J. I r ; then in Vermont visiting some Bisters and other relatives who lived there myself and anil their husband Joined the Church, and the next season we went home t? Connecticut, New Haven Co , t&klrg Hlong with m Orso-- i . Pratt and Ljman E. Johnscn. They preached the fulness 'of the G,trpel there, and tjpt zsd nearly all my father's family. This h some fifty. three yean ago, during wnieh time I have never doubted the truth of this work for a' my experience in,, this oiuae having! furnished me with many living testimonies to the ' w&& ss-ter- s , ma-man- tj truth. I went to KirtianJ In the soiaraer of 37, was there when the Tempi a was finished and dedicated, and b&carpe intimately acquainted vljth all the Sinifh family, who were all very kind to ma. I am qxlte euro a batter family never fired on earth. I know that Joseph Smith was an Inspired prophetof God, aa I was personally with him and oftenjhtened tohisjdi- - YtJJf eight years, but he, too, gona, and I am now, as It were, left alone. My husband took a second wife in 184G, by whom he had eleven chlldre ail Jiving but three, and all have families. We Jived infriendshlp and love, each one striving to do our part to fulfill the sacred obligations we were under to each other in the new and ever, lasting covenant. As our family increased it was always my pleasure to receive each one aa they came Into our family circle and to do all in nay power for theirjegmf pjt-- L It has fallen to my Jot to survive my hatband -and his other wife, as she dlfd a few months Le- fore he passed away, This sudden bereavement bos left me very lonely, &s I have no children of my own on whom to Jean for comfort and su port Jn mf declining years; bnt I hope scon to j oin them in a better world than this. I hope and trust I have not lived quite in vain, as I have had the privilege of. doing the work for many of my kindred dead. In this I rejoice ex t cesdingty. I am a firm balisver In the principle of plura ity of wiver, or celestial marriag,a3 it has been revealed to us in there Jast days through the Prophet Joseph tSmifb, as well as the testimony and practiC3 of it by the aooieat peopl of G 1 In former times. It is a principle n which I re jolce more than In any other which bas been re vealed from the heavens, and it ha3'ever baen a wonder to me how people ca,n despise and hate a principle fraught with eq much comfort and happiness, aa'thii sorely must be, to tho?o who feayo had to Jay their loved ones in the cold and1 la p- -7 - - have and eojoy each cithei'd scclety bejontl the maJLeJIovejjn these" things & I a in if it bad.: t..rxu)tb'en fc'hown tl ma by the npirit and power of God-an early dsy, of which rwlil. bear ray ''' -.: testimony: I wa"? tomawhat troubled in my mind, end an I was penderiag tbij doctrine, thu Bpirit of God reste;j. down upon mo and a visible changQ seemed to piss o?or my whcla system. My mind became enb'ghtentd so that I could eeo and cDraprehena, tha principles o!" eternity, and in this V7y I was enabled to ceo and undcistsn l the Bicred and holy principle of Eeallng, or in othr word1, the new and everlasting covenant, I have ever sine rejoiced, I have not language to de?crib9 tha purity, bsauty and - glory which I then eaw In every featuiajDl.it. 1 have ever eiaco, looked upon it a3 ouo of lllo grand piJIara on which the solvation and exaltation of the son-- and daa?htt3rB of AvUia is rest-inand I would hero eay to the ycung and risking generation, baware how you treat thia sub. jCt, lightly or with coniirrpt, a9 I think it never fa Ua to br I ng a - pun ish o i en t 'onlHI e ucli who iniuke in Jr. . . We have a Kelief 8:c;ty,al30 the Mutual Im- : aniPrim wy.. Aiacciatioufl,,- in our little town, fcil ondoavorifjg to act a good par?, in th ia Jiingdcm 1 my ec If a m try ing to ba fal tn" ful.Jn all thing?, that I may IJnish up tho bb aoa of my day, with horicr to myaclf and the caasa In which 2 am engsged. Wisiiing yoa aad your valuable paper snccssa and pro?psri'y, I am, Truly your friend and sister, at I . in-whic- g, " . . . - -- Piaa ValUy, -- Wa-jbingto- FOI'IIIA M. liUKOES-5- . Co , Auguit S, 1S31, LETTER FIIOM LAIE. Editor Expoxkst: Thinking some of your reacfers might be in a brief fekatch of 'our recent trip to the volcano of Kelauea, it ia with a dtref of pleasure that I take my pen to write jou a few line: it is a!o with a decree of timidity, realizing that while I have an abundatcj of material from which to write an interesti: g communication, my descriptive pawers are unequal to the task, and will 'fall, I fear, to give your readers any idea cf tho wendera and grandeur of a tight of this volcano. Bister Voung and myself left Laie with President Partridge on ofJholhoL, "JuTyfHaTuriyTf 57theornjng Honolulu,nJ wwe thore M." J3, Young, who had came met ly Brother from Kauii to go with m; we metwitht.be Saints of tha Honolulu Branch Sunday morning and with the Relief Society in the afternoon. It was our expectation to sail cn Tuesday, but learned on Monday,that time cf tho vessel sail inghad ben changed, and it would sail that afternoon at four, the uinal hour, so we made a few ha3ty preparatiaas .and wero ra Jy at tho time appointed. For mycelf, I vvent on board with a feeling cf fear andp an awful dread of sickness, not knowing that I would be b!e to stand the trip, not having ben In tha b:st of health Utely, and it lim al A'ys been cjnsldercd a hard Journey for ladles, t) undcrtsk?, but ray vory g:eat dojira .to sso' this wonder of nature overcame my foars and induced me to'mske the trial. Were it not for the Feaicknee?, the traveling by water would be most etjoyabla, as the vessel salis close to the shore cf the different glands! one can enjoy the beautiful scenes and : many "places of historical interest are pointed, out as we sail along; but we were qo out ef : In the summer of 1835 I waa married to the late Harrison Barges, with whom I Jived forty" that j Eelf-impose- hi-teres- d world-renowne- d . ted 53 . hood our union can bo msde eifern!.!, and v.e can i-- ' P O N E NT How ehearing, thes to know "ihrGngir the leu Hog - KX sight il tbe:lslaau of 0.iu, - bi'furo ieintry lot.t iu thatmsc and bUtprjt iis'jirt&td&c for m, aad I waa oU'igfjJ tj call fur a' mattress" bi-autif- aiicl retifo for thja nihli stil). I was only comfort bly Blci, a3 rreaiaeut PartTiJlge cilia it, not nt'itly uo bad I haJ bjtii before. ; When morning earns the ses was very rough,1 iintil the eea qaieted down a little. The vessel was nosv sasiiog clrs by the Island of Hawaii, on the Ivona tide, and we wefo muob interested? fn the theTcTpCpf hlF-to:y we cculd gat. Tha ififat placa at whici was Kailui; at this little place tho first; Calvani8tic mitaionariea landed in the year'18li(, President Partridges aunt and her hutbind be-i- og among the number. - An old stone church standa on an eminence neaf the beachprobib'y 7 the first one built on the Islands. An old houe stands near the church, also a resi. dsnce belonging to Queen Emma. Oa this side of the Island the mountains slope frjra the tho whole turface of the country showing ' plainly the etneti "of tha work of the volcano. Uj) in the very top? of the raounta'm-- i houies wero built, and cojisionally on the mountain gide-- ; and on bokicg at the scatteretl houses I tli ought cf the tiaveis. cf tho JOidtrd going around from place to placS hunting the people out frooT the topi of thy mountains and lite rough plscesi, and trying to awaken in their dull, minds an iutferett in something pertaining to. tbeTrsDiriiuil welfare. Wtdnedy morning fcuad us ; at Pun&lira. Here cur voyege on the sea waa to end for thai, present, and we wsre thEnk'ul enough to step cn lapd jgafD. By previcu? arrangement wo were to meet two of the Elders at this place, -B.ro. F. M, Marchent and V, R. Miller, with hone for us to ride up to Makaka, a place about three mika-tJlgtabut feeing one day sooner thun ire xpec;ed they failed to meet u?. We hsl f.onie Vidlbulty in flndiDg thepkey, but fly. nlly .s jccseded in doing po, ond found the brethren rt tiie hou.fi of a' native, cjunselor to tu 7. re i den tJDf the branch. Wo were hospitably re- reived and treated with great kindness and respect. Horaes were procured for us and. we started for the volcano at three next morning, Brothers Marchent and Miller .occmpanying up. We er joyed our ride on land much better than on the water, and the light cf the volcano seen at a distance Ie creased our anxiety to get there 58 soon as cp3?sibJe. We rode along some ten or twelve miles over grassy hilh with trees and cshrubj growing thriftily; then wecame to. he lava bed", and were obliged to travel more -- different-Jairding3"Wit- hi " we-stoppe- m.;s-fci- on Fea-fchor- e, nt; . . tbwjyjjnd weeanJoeallzathat we wereinr the vicinity of 'a vclcano, ajthoughjwe Lhad yet. I ten or twelve" miles to go. Th s remainder of our ride as over the roughest of roadf, where the lava had flowed and cooled in every canceiv: alle shape and form, our home being obliged to pick their way carefully. BtlJf the road ia a very good eno for that bjuntry, much better than we expected to fled. A few minutes pait twelve wecame in sight of the volcano house and the volcano. As we neared the house Eteam and smoke could be eeen issuing from crscks snd holes in the ground, and It was a wild looking place indeed, with tha emck In gy blackened mounds two or three milea awayvaiid while viewing this scene it seemed almuet aa if I had wandered aay from thla eartb, whero defolaticnj eni the powers of dttructi'jn reign supreme One thing, and cne enly, met bur view which ap. peared fresh and homelike, this was a hede , cf rosebushc?) full of " lovely, roses, ?eminding us of early dayj at home where the frsgraat wild roses grew in abunWe were eoon seated dance end bsauty. "-.4- " sweet-scented- "" . - |