| 532 and only attack I have had in public, yet the priests are howling, like so many wolves, keeping at a proper distance so as to prohibit any reply; but warning congregations to beware of the Mormons, charging all to be careful not to get into argument with them.
After preaching for some time in this county, I took a journey to Chester and also to Philadelphia, and found the churches in these places in a prosperous condition, the saints being strong in the faith, and many preparing to go to the west.-I tarried with them a short time, but my health being very poor, I was not able to labor to any amount; as soon as my health improved so as to be able to travel I returned to the field of my labors, and found the work about as I left it. My health being so poor that I could not labor as I had done, I gave out a few appointments, and preached a number of times since, and baptized three; there are many more who are believing. Elder Houseworth intends to continue here some time yet.
The adversary is busily engaged in these parts, all manner of lies are circulated, the public prints are at war with the kingdom, publishing all the falsehoods that are brought to them, and some individuals are so fond to believe a lie, that they may be damned, that thy have taken the pains to write to a distance to obtain them, and then circulate their lies with all possible speed verbally and in print. And when we called upon the Editors to print for us, they refused to do so, leaving us but a poor opportunity to correct the errors, or refute the falsehoods, although many are calling for reply from us if they are not true.
One great reason that they are willing to receive those strong delusions, that they may all be damned, is, they are a very religious people, and like the Pharasee [Pharisee] of old, they are so full of a spurious faith, that there is no room for the truth. The saying of John, that the devil has come down in great rage knowing that his time is short, appears to be very evident; for his servants immediately after we came here, and began to preach, commenced their threatnings [threatenings]. of a dress of tar and feathers, and driving us from the county &c., but did not come near, yet kept up a continual out cry a distance.
But notwithstanding all this, the kingdom will roll on in power, the work of the Lord will still prosper, the willing and the obedient shall eat the good of the land, and the honest in heart will be saved in the kingdom of God: Amen.
I remain your friend
and brother.
Edwin D. Woolley.
[For the Times and Seasons.]
Death of Col. R. B. Thompson.
City of Nauvoo August 28th, 1841.
Br. Robinson:-
Allow me to say a few words upon the melancholy occasion of the death of our lamented Brother R. B. Thompson. A man whom it has pleased our heavenly Father to take from us at a time when his services were needed more, if possible, than they had been at any time previous. But he is gone-gone to that "bourne from whence no traveler returns." We have the assurance however that he died firm in the faith of the gospel; in the hope of a glorious resurrection. Having been through all the persecution in Missouri, he very well knew was suffering for the sake of his religion was, but to his honor be it said, he never for one moment turned to the right or left, but kept a straight forward course. He had many trials and tribulations to encounter, but they were counted as nought [naught] in comparison to the blessings of heaven. A Merciful Providence who had given the church such a useful man, in his own wise purpose has taken him from us-Let us not complain but console ourselves with the reflection, that "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." Let us be prepared that on the morning of the first resurrection, we may be found among those who have fought the good fight and been as firm and steadfast as our deceased brother.
To you his loss must be severely felt, for but a few days since, we were called upon to announce the death of our esteemed brother Don Carlos Smith, and now ere the lapse of another number of the paper, we are called upon to announce the death of its other Editor. But you have the consolation that he was one of the Lord's chosen, and he must have taken him for some wise purpose. But deeply must his loss be felt by the church at large; in him she has lost one of her brightest ornaments, one of her ablest advocates,
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and one of her distinguished writers. It was his constant desire and greatest happiness to promulgate the gospel to his fellow man, and show them the way of eternal life, that they too might be saved in the kingdom of heaven, and receive that crown prepared for those who hold out faithful to the end.
He has left an affectionate wife and one child to mourn his loss. To that God who has been so kind and merciful to us thus far, would we ask to be a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow. In him they have lost every thing that was dear in a husband and parent-ever kind and affectionate. But they will look forward to that happy period when they shall again meet in a brighter and better world, where the "weary are at rest and the wicked cease from troubling."
May we who survive our departed friend & brother, study to imitate the good examples he has set, that when we shall stand before the bar of God, we may with our departed friend, receive the welcome plaudit of, "Come up hither ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world."
Yours in the bonds of the new and Everlasting Covenant,
W. Waterman Phelps.
Poetry
[For the Times and Seasons.]
The Funeral of Brig. General Smith,
By Miss Eliza R. Snow.
It was a Sabbath day.-The morning came, I listn'd-all was still-the music notes
But came not with the usual joyousness No longer sounded on the pensive breeze,
With which the consecrated day was wont, But hark! the notes awaken'd, and I saw
In Nauvoo City, ever and anon, The mighty host returning with the same,
To usher its broad radiance on a train Slow, melancholy tread! A herse [hearse] was borne
Of humble, cheerful worshipers [worshippers]. Nature Along with solemn, yet bold martial pomp,
Seem'd conscious of the mournful knell That plainly signified, a mighty one,
That broke upon the sadden'd heart of man! One of no ordinary rank, had fallen!
The sun arose, muffled with clouds that hid Near to the summit of an eminence
His own bright beams, and in effusions soft Rising in bold relief, to dignify.
And gentle, as the soothing feeling tones The beauty of the verdant plain beneath;
Of sorrow, dropt [dropped] a sympathetic tear. In Nature's temple, with no other wall,
At length the clouds dispers'd-the sun pour'd forth Than the horizon;land no other arch,
His glorious rays in brilliant majesty; Than the broad canopy of heaven; shaded
And I beheld upon the beautious [beauteous] plain With clust'ring boughs, whose foliage waves around;
That fronts the noble Mississippi's wave, Is rais'd an altar to the living God.
A mighty host-a pow'rful warrior band There the procession march'd-it halted there;
Whose rich escutcheons glitter'd in the sun. And in front of weeping relatives,
The herse [hearse] of him was placed, who there, in life
I heard the sound of martial music, but Had been a fervent, constant worshipper!
It came with solemn, slow and mournful air,
Unlike the bold, and thrilling notes that call His arms and armor, on his coffin lay
The restless warrior to the battle field! And other swords than his, lay crossing there.
There was no clash of arms-no din of war- His brother officers, who form'd with him,
The sword was sheath'd and every martial brow The noblest Military Staff, our fair
Was mellow'd into sadness! Mounted high Columbia has to boast, were seated by
Upon a fiery steed, a Chieftain sat In shining armor clad; but ah! they seem'd
And issued the command; and then, anon, Divested of the martial haughtiness-
In double file-in open columns form'd, That warlike pride that fires the warrior's eye-
With Chieftains in the front-then horse and foot, It lay conceal'd beneath the brow of grief.
In solemn order, mov'd across the wide
Extended plain, the Nauvoo Legion. 'Twas The invocation and the sacred chant,
A splendid sight-a sight that would have charm'd Open'd the solemn service of the day;
The eye of each beholder; but alas! And then the man of God arose. In tones
That grand display, was the last honors paid Of truth's impassion'd eloquence, he spoke
To the departed! Of the late sad occurence[occurrence] , which had touch'd
In the Legion's rear, The hearts of all; and universally
Still length'ning out the vast procession; walk'd Was calling forth, a "fellowship of grief"
Each soldier, mourn'd a general-each saint,
A crow'd of citizens of every rank- A brother-and each citizen, a friend!
Of either sex; and last of all clos'd in But when he come to paint the glories of
A long and glitt'ring train of carriages. The world to come; wrapt in the visions of
Eternal truth; e'en grief itself, bow'd down,
I gaz'd upon the grand procession, till And the vast multitude, for once, forgot
It disappear'd amid the dwellings which
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