| Show A RELIC OF 1844 we have received from elder william its M hill now DOW laboring as a missionary in ID west virginia an interesting relic of nauvoo times shortly after the assassination si of the prophet and patriarch it was obtained from a mrs smith who to Is the daughter of mr and mrs george fox to whom the letter was written writ teni and who were members of the church churco the document is on a ot of toole cap paper folded so that it coula be mailed without being placed in an envelops envelope a awall dal all blank being leit left for the ad d drees fees on this thin is the postmark nauvoo ill aug 18 1844 and the aadrew addre ae mr george fix Leech leechborg leechburg burg armstrong county pa the paper has boa grown quite yellow with age but is in a lair fair state of preserve preservation aion the writing is 18 in a clear one flue nanu hand the ink showing little if any indication of growing dim although the letter was penned nearly fifty years ago mrs smith retains it as aa a valued memento of those days and requests its return the letter reade NAUVOO hancock county ill ial august the laih 1844 dear brother and sister fox your health of soul and body is my joy and it YO you u live in christ then is mk my joy in this fulfilled we are glad to hear ear that you are in good health this we learned irom from brother john greer who came to this place in good health and fine spirits on thursday Thu raday morning last just juat in time to attend our conference which was hold held on that day to set the wheels of the church to rolling for since the death of joseph we have been almost like sheep having no shepherd running to and tro fro pick ing a little pasture wherever we could find it waiting for the twelve to return home brother rigdon bigdon and nine of the twelve having arrived at this place a conference of the whole church was called at 2 on thursday there was a vast concourse of people I 1 should k near ten thousand the twelve were called to stand up in their proper places that is to bear the kingdom off to all the world Joh josephs ephs con co n ebors 8 rigdon and A lyman were called to stand on their right and on their lefkof the twelve and to operate cooperate co with them as bearing the gospel to the nations the high council of this stake were called to act in their place the high priests in theirs the bishops jn theirs the seventies in theirs and the lesser priesthood in their own different quo rums arums all these authorities are to act as so 80 many parts of the grand machine to carry on the great work of the last days and although the devil and his servants may combine to slay the prophets and patriarchs and to shed the blood of the saints yet the great wheel will roll on till it becomes a great mountain and fills the whole world for god has said that nothing shall stay his hand for he will send forth judgment unto victory you need not let your faith fail you because joseph smith has been killed by wicked men no he told the brethren and those that were not members of the Church that he was going as a lamb to the slaughter yet he be said he was as calm as a summers gam mers morning he said his time was come but the brethren did not seem to realize that truth of w what hat he told them till after the fatal deed was committed then they remembered what be told them concerning his death and had the brethren had the least idea that he would have fallen in the manner in which he did they never would have let him go to carthage no never he went past pant my door I 1 shall never forget the last sight eight but so it was it seemed to be an hour of darkness over us all the last day I 1 heard him speak in the stand he be asked the brethren if they would stand by him th they r all cried out ont yes he then daiv said he be was willing to die for us all he said he had bad made his life an offering for this peo ale ale and he would again and L 10 lo co o he e did for if he had not given his life for us we would have been all slaughtered by the hands of the wicked mob in this state for we have been informed the governor said he would order out all the militia in the state in order to take joseph and if joseph had gone away to save his life which he could have easily done then the whole state would have been upon us and it if this had been the case awe their thirst for blood would not have been satisfied with anything short hoit e of our destruction eu en masse the enemy wan secretly combined against us what for to shed our blood but their thirst for blood has been satiated for a while in spilling that of joseph and hyrum they have barefacedly violated all law and honor they cannot now proceed any fart farther ber at present the governor must do something to redeem the state from damn damnation atlon and himself too and if he proceeds to do as we have been informed he ee is about to do that to is to order out the militia or troops of two counties to take those murderers it will make a hot time lime yet et among the dogs of this land josefi joseph and hyrum have been taken like lambs and put into carthage jail where the dogs fell on them and shed their blood what for was it because they bad broken any law of god bod or man no but they have risen up against gods anointed ones and put them to death because they had the testimony of jesus and they loved not their lives unto the death when joseph fell he cried out 0 my god these were the last words he uttered in this world and his soul took its flight to the world of spirits to carry on the great work of the last days brother sidney says he saw our beloved prophet in a vision which he had opened i 10 0 him in connection with the one he and joseph joeph had bad on the of february 1832 which you will find recorded in the book of covenants there are many others who have seen him in vision Buthe but be isnow is now out of the reach of his enemies and although his body is taken from us yet we have the same spirit and joseph will be in our midst in spirit cirit to instruct us how bow to proceed in those things that pertain to the kingdom ot of G god od on t the he eart earth h A and nd al although thou gh many may inay conjecture that mormonism is down their conjectures are vain for it will now go forth with more than ten told rapidity to the nations of the earth brother P P F pratt says saya there will be a greater work done in two iwo years to come than has been done in the last fourteen and tor for this reason the brethren are determined to build the temple with all possible speed in order that they may be endowed in it to go forth to the nations with power from on high it has gone one since the death of joseph and cyru m more rapidly than ever it did before in the same length of time the brethren begin to toe the mark the hands bands of the committee have been strengthened by the brethren in this place and all they have to do is ill to say the word and the fur far will fly or the work is done now brother and sister fox dont you let your knees become feeble lecause joseph is not here among us in the flesh he has laid the foundation of a great work and it will not stop for the power is still here and as long as the authority is here the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church they may kill the prophets and saints as they always have dene in every age of the world yet this kingdom shall never be destroyed but it will yet break in places all other kingdoms not by the elders of israel taking sword in hand but by the power of the holy priesthood but I 1 must come to a close soon all of us are well george came up from home today hesayo he says they are all well we heard from leechburg leechborg Leech burg by letter from brother neace we are glad to hear that he is coming down this abi 1 ls fall tilds tilda and mary ann are well wel i brother greer will write after a few days when he looks around to iee about getting etting into work you will inform his lather father and mother he told me to mention him in this letter and he would not write as ab soon as he ini ended when he came first he seems to be much pleased with this place and he intends to go down to where brother thos thoo lives twenty six miles from this place I 1 wish you to jet all the brethren bretl ren see this letter and tell them to stand fast in the faith of the gospel as you have ro re it and let none of these afflictions move you and as many of the brethren as can I 1 wish would send and get the times and seasons season for they will contain such information as an will be both interesting and important to you yon all brother morgan I 1 want you to labor with all your might for the salvation of souls and that you rid or clear your garments of the blood of all men for it is a day of warning and not of many words for the day of gods wrath to is nigh at hand band therefore let all do their duty doty and work while it is today lor for after today there will be wrath and indignation upon the people tell brother and sister porter not to give up contending for the faith with their neighbors brother neptune also tell him not to go to 10 sleep or let the smoke of the saltworks put out his eyes let him reprove and rebuke with all long suffering and doctrine let him live aud and not die my mv best respects to all of you that love our lord jesus christ and more especially to our double sister july one word more tom to tomy m friends of brother household hoid morgans house household mrs morgan do you not see the necessity of being baptized into this kingdom if not yet vet pray you think of it in time for be assured it is the true faith in which brother morgan stands therefore let him go forth to the regions round about and proclaim it to those who are laboring under a broken covenant and the lord will bless him in so doing I 1 will write to brother morgan and his wife and daug daughter baughier hier mary af ter some time if the lord permits my desire is that you yon will remember us we w do not forget any of you WILLIAM hyrum do you yon intend to get your endowment for making brick remember what you went out for was it to prune or dig in the mud |
