| 446 here as in others places, for you well know, that when the truth is preached, it makes the devil mad, in fact, I should not think I had done any good, unless he was to rage. When he is once made mad, it is very easy to discern who his servants are; for they are the first to raise the alarm of false teachers, delusion, &c. so it is with them in New Orleans and Lafayette; for no sooner was the gospel preached, and the people began to believe and to embrace it, than the tocsin of alarm was sounded, not only from grog shops and coffee houses, but also from the pulpit, from priests of Baal and servants of the Devil, who are enemies to the gospel and church of Jesus Christ.-When the people heard of the persecution of the saints in the state of Missouri, and elsewhere, they marvelled [marveled] that such acts of violence and cruelty could be perpetrated by enlightened or civilized people without some cause or other; but they soon had the privilege of seeing for themselves the course which gives rise to all our persecution and trouble; that it is, because we believe in, and are teaching others, the gospel as preached by Christ and his apostles; thus condemning the world with all their false systems and false teaching as they did, bringing down the wrath and indignation of that people upon them for exposing their wickedness. The Apostle tells us that "all who live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution."
In my preaching to the people in the south, I was very careful to prove every point of doctrine by an abundance of scripture, that those watching for iniquity should have no occasion for finding fault; then calling upon their priests or learned men who were so ready to cry falsehood, to come forward and investigate, that I was ready to meet them any time in defence [defense] of the things which a I had preached to them; but this they would not do, but rather stand afar off, and cry delusion, put them down, such things should not be tolerated; until they at length had recourse to the last means of putting down Mormonism as they call it, which has been so often tried with as little success in other places; for it only awakens the honest in heart, and makes them the more anxious to learn the truth of these things. They warned me in the first place to preach there no more, but as we had obtained the house from the Mayor of the city we told them that we we were not under the necessity of asking them but should continue if the laws of the city would protect us. They at length assembled in a large number one evening as I was preaching, surrounded the house and commenced throwing eggs at me, but none of them hit me, but besmeared some of the ladies who chanced to sit opposite. They then rushed into the house and told the females they had better leave, if they did not wish to get hurt. Some tried to reason with them, telling them that I preached nothing but the truth, and should not be disturbed, others, who were not members of the church, bore testimony to the things which had been preached and said they would go into the water as soon as they were worthy. The mob came prepared with tar and feathers, determined to put them on to me, but in this they were mistaken, for they were outwitted by the ladies who gathered around me like bold soldiers, and when they were permitted to withdraw, I walked out in the midst of them, and the mob knew it not, until I was out of their reach. (Old men for council but women for war.) When they found I had made my escape, they then broke the benches and windows of the house, took them into the streets, and set them on fire, raised an alarm, and called out many of the fire companies; and I have understood they whipt [whipped] two men afterward who spoke in our favor.-So much for the citizens of Lafayette, but, notwithstanding all this, there are many who are honest, and no doubt will yet receive the gospel. I continued there until near the first of June, when I left for this city in company with Brother Ludington and family.-The weather being very warm there at this season of the year, and many of the people leaving the city especially those who are from the north, the remainder of which are mostly Catholicks [Catholics]. The best time for preaching is in the winter season, as there are people there from all parts of the world. During the times I was in the city, I preached three and four times a week,
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