| 586 that time to this, I have had more calls for preaching than I could fill-many have been convinced of the truth of the work, and I was soon favored with an opportunity of leading some into the waters of baptism.
I have baptized thirteen and think that there are others who will come forward soon-we desire the prayers of the saints, and also that some elder, who is traveling this way, would call here, and instruct us more particularly in the great work of the Lord.
I am yours in Christ;
ZADOCK PARKER.
MISCELLANY.
[For the Times and Seasons.]
SIGHTS FROM THE LONE TREE.
BY L. O. LITTLEFIELD,
'Twas morning-the sun rose under the brightest auspices, and the thin, vaporous clouds, that flitted in the heavens, continued gradually to flee away before the gentle morning breeze-that seemed wont to greet their golden visages with the soft rustle of its dewy wings-until not a hand's breadth of them were seen remaining to mar the spotless beauty of the ethereal blue. Oh! how beautiful and sublimely grand-as I sat beneath the Lone Tree, on this delightful morning,-did the scenery of nature, which was there spread around me, clad in the luxuriant robes of summer's brightest green, appear to my enamoured [enamored] vision! Sweet, too, as the mellow cadence of the Aeolian harp, when its chords are swept by the artful fingers of a maiden's tiny hand, was the distant music of birds, offering up their morning orisons to the Author of their joy, as they twittered from spray to spray among the green foliage of a neighboring grove.
I was bounded by a vast and fertile prairie on the west, whose superabundance of wild but beautiful flowers waved their proud heads in the passing breeze, as if rejoicing at the sublime appearance of the 'King of Day;' on the east by a wide spread valley that intervened between me and the great 'father of waters,' whose disporting waves wore the gay smile of the rising sun, as they rode gently on towards the mighty Ocean; and on the north and south by seemingly interminable woods, whose foliage danced gracefully in the morning light, and sent its peaceful and unwritten whisperings away upon the balmy wings of the passing zephyrs. Upon this valley was seen numerous herds of cattle eagerly feeding upon its green unbroken surface, while the melody of their tinkling bells stole upon my ear, and made me, for once, envy the cheerful shepherd his humble lot, which calls him from the dull monotony of village life, to muse, undisturbed by any of the litigated topics which always agitate the mind in the more busy walks of life, amid scenes so romantic and delightful as those with which I was surrounded.
On the opposite side of the Mississippi, lay a broad and beautiful plain, which stretched up and down its waters as far as my sight could extend, and was thickly covered with dwellings, which, for their simple neatness and rural beauty, were, to me, far prefferable [preferable] to those gaudy palaces where aristocracy sits gorged in the lap of affluence and surrounded by every paraphernalia of inexaustable [inexhaustible] wealth. Yes; for that spot, so truly picturesque in its scenery, and where, but a few years ago, nought [naught] was seen save the curling smoke from the Indian wigwam, or heard but the fearful twang of the savage bow-string and thrilling yell of the fearless war whoop, my soul felt an attachment which all the illuring [alluring] pageantry of an opulent world would fail to inspire. Oh! what calm and unbroken serenity dwelt in my bosom as I contemplated its matchless beauty of landscape and thought of the many endearing ties that bound me to its inhabitants, which now numbered near eight thousand souls. That was the delightful city of Nauvoo-the home of her whose destiny was united to mine through the many conflicting changes of this transitory life; her, who with timerous [timorous] heart and reciprocal affection, I had led to the sacred altar of Hymen and who I now delighted to call by the ever dear and consecrated name of wife! There, too, dwelt my brethren; who, after being driven from their peaceful homes in the west, by the barbarous hand of religious persecution, had made it their place of reffuge [refuge], and, from an uninhabited waste, converted it into a flourishing and populous city. They had been delivered from their enemies, and they dwelt in peace. The effulgent morn of
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