| 23 connexion [connection] with his brother Oliver, took from me a great many things; and to cap the climax of his iniquity, compelled my aged father, by threatning [threatening] to bring a mob upon him to deed over to him, or his brother Oliver, about 160 acres of land to pay a note which he said I had given to Oliver for $165, such a note I confess I was, and still am entirely ignorant of, and after mature consideration, I have to say that I believed it must be a forgery.
These circumstances, with the afflicting situation of my family, served greatly to heighten my grief; indeed it was almost more than I could bear up under; I traversed my prison house for hours, thinking of their cruelty to my family, and the afflictions they brought upon the saints of the Most High; they forcibly reminded me of the children of Edom, when the Jews were destroyed by their enemies, and the language of prophet Obadiah to Edom, is, I think, so very much in point that I cannot refrain from inserting it.
"For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee and thou shalt be cut off forever.
In the day thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem even thou wast as one of them.
But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day hat he became a stranger; neither shoudst thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldst thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.
Thou shouldst not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shoudst not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. Neither shouldst thou have stood in the crossways, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldst thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress."
After being in the hands of our enemies for about six months, the time of our deliverance at length arrived, as mentioned by my brother Joseph, in the last number of the "Times and Seasons." You may judge what my feelings were when I escaped from those whose feet were fast to shed blood, and when I was again priviledged [privileged] to see my beloved family who had suffered so many privations and afflictions; not only while in Far West, but likewise in moving away in that inclement season of the year. Thus I have endeavored to give you a short account of my sufferings while in the state of Missouri, but how inadequate is language to express the feelings of my mind, while under them: knowing that I was innocent of crime, and that I had been dragged from my family at a time, when my assistance was most needed; that I had been abused and thrust into a dungeon, and confined for months on account of my faith, and the "testimony of Jesus Christ." However I thank God that I felt a determination to die, rather than deny the things which my eyes had seen, which my hands had handled, and which I hard borne testimony to, wherever my lot had been cast; and I can assure my beloved brethren that I was enabled to bear as strong a testimony, when nothing but death presented itself, as ever I did in my life. My confidence in God, was likewise unshaken. I knew that he who suffered me along with my brethren, to be thus tried, that he could and that he would deliver us out of the hands of our enemies; and in his own due time he did so, for which I desire to bless and praise his holy name.
From my close and long confinement, as well as from the sufferings of my mind, I feel my body greatly broke down and debilitated, my frame has received a shock from which it will take a long time to recover; yet, I am happy to say that my zeal for the cause of God, and my courage in defence [defense] of the truth, are as great as ever. "My heart is fixed," and I yet feel a determination to do the will of God, in spite of persecutions, imprisonments or death; I can say with Paul "none of these things move me, so that I may finish my course with joy."
Dear Brethren we have nothing to be discouraged at, if we remember the words of the Savior, which say "in
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