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Source: Church History Vol. 2 Chapter 23 Page: 524 (~1841)

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524 June 5,1841, President Joseph Smith was arrested on a requisition from the Governor of Missouri, and upon a writ issued the year before and returned without being executed. Joseph writes of this experience as follows:-

"I called on Governor Carlin, at his residence in Quincy.

bodies fell in the battlefield, covered with wounds and gore, to descend upon their posterity.

By their steadfastness, patience, and indomitable courage they effected the object they bound themselves by every sacred tie to accomplish. Victory perched on the warrior's shield, and the glad notes of peace were heard through the land. The patriot found himself surrounded by friends; his name was emblazoned on his country's banners, and on the hearts of tens of thousands, who duly appreciated his toils and who rejoiced in the liberty for which he nerved his arm in the day of battle The whole nation respected them and cheerfully awarded to them the honor and merit which were justly their due.

And shall not those who were the first to make a stand against iniquity corruption, and the false religious of the day, who have had to contend against a wicked and gainsaying people, and for their testimony have had to wade through scenes too heartrending to mention,-been tarred feathered, whipped, stoned, imprisoned,-be likewise rewarded for their toil and labor of love? Yea, verily; for they have given evidence of a love of liberty as strong, a courage as great, a spirit as indomitable as the fathers of the Revolution. These are the Elishas upon whom the flowing mantles of our Elijahs fell, who have honorably maintained their character in the sight of heaven and earth; and although some have died in the conflict and have entered into rest, yet their names will be had in remembrance from generation to generation, and they will be rewarded by the Judge of all the earth, who will do right. Those who yet survive have the assurance that their labors have not been in vain; they know that they have been crowned with success.

Ye noble-hearted scions of honored sires, may heaven's choicest blessings rest upon you; may your declining years be years of peace; may your children and your children's children enjoy all the blessings of that gospel which you struggled to establish; and may you see them flourish like the trees of Lebanon, your sons grow up as plants of renown, and your daughters be polished after the similitude of a palace. May all your wants both temporal and spiritual be supplied, and when you shall gather up your feet and bid adieu to mortality, may the sacred halo of glory surround your honored heads, and your posterity catch the sacred flame of liberty and love, to be handed down to generations yet unborn.

Cold is the heart of that man and unworthy the character of a saint of God who does not feel his bosom heave at the recital of the cruelties practiced upon the saints of the Most High, and does not appreciate the toils of the first elders.

Although they have no emblazoned urn to perpetuate their names, yet they live, and will continue to live in the hearts and affections of a church which is coming up out of the wilderness, "fair as the sun, clear as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners."

We do not suppose that the struggle has yet terminated, or that an unbroken scene of prosperity will attend the saints from this time forth. Such an idea would be incompatible with the word of God; but we do expect that although afflictions may be the lot of the saints, and they be

(page 524)

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