| 636 had not long indulged these pleasing anticipations before the delightful prospect again vanished; the cup of blessing which he began again to enjoy was dashed from his aged lips, and the cup of sorrow filled to overflowing was given him instead; and surely he drank it to the very dregs; for not only did he see the saints in bondage, treated with cruelty, and some of them murdered; but the kind and affectionate parent saw, and ah! how painful was the sight, two of his sons, to whom he looked up for protection, torn away from their domestic circles, from their weeping and distracted families, by monsters in the shape of men, who swore and threatened to kill them, and who had every disposition to embrew their hands in their blood! This circumstance was too much for his agitated and now sinking frame to bear up under; and although his confidence in his God was great, and his conduct was that of a Christian and a saint; yet he felt like a man and a parent. At that time his constitution received a shock from which it never recovered. Ah! yes; there were feelings agitated in the bosom of our deceased friend at that time of no ordinary kind; feelings of painful anxiety and emotion too great for his earthly tabernacle to contain without suffering a great and a sensible injury, and which from that time began to manifest itself.
"It would be unnecessary to trace him and his aged partner (who shared in all his sorrows and affections) from such a scene, as many of the saints are knowing to the privations and sufferings which they in common with the church suffered while moving from that land of oppression. Suffice it to say he arrived in safety in Illinois, broken down in constitution and in health, and since then he has labored under severe affliction and pain, while disease has been slowly but surely undermining his system.
"Whenever he had a short respite from pain he felt a pleasure in attending to his patriarchal duties, and with cheerfulness he performed them; and frequently his labors have been more than his strength would admit of; but having great zeal for the cause of truth, he felt willing to be spent in the service of his God.
"For some time past he has been confined to his bed, and
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