To the Memory of the Late Brigadier Gen'l Don Carlos Smith

Messrs. Editors:-

Few men ever lived more universally beloved and respected-by both strangers and acquaintances, kindreds and friends-than did our lately deceased brother-Don Carlos Smith. His worth, his amiability, his hospitality, his generosity of sentiment, his benevolence of principle, his capability as an officer and his usefulness as a citizen-are too indellibly [indelibly] impressed upon the hearts of this community, and the numerous circle of friends who are united to him by the endearing ties of natural affection to be soon forgotten. With his brethren he felt the grievous yoke of persecution-which he was willing to bear for the sake of the religion he had espoused and which he ever struggled to perpetuate-but the unpropitious hand of death has taken him untimely from our midst, and his ashes now slumber in the silent tomb. "He lies full low, but he lies in peace;" his spirit has gone to the God who gave it. Death has torn him from the wife of his bosom, and from the society of his little children; but he is at rest; his soul is emancipated; he feels no more the heavy hand of persecution; and the turmoils and adversities of this life, no longer agitate his peaceful bosom. He is taken from us for a little season; but we shall meet him again in that bright world, where the weary are at rest, and where sorrow and parting can never come. Then let the saints cease their lamentations; & thou, bereaved one, let those pungent sighs of heart-felt anguish be hushed into repose; let that heaving bosom be calm; let that widowed heart be comforted, and those tears of sorrow dried up! You soon shall join him in a better world than this! The Almighty loved him and has taken him home to His bosom! He has been taken away in the prime of his manly strength; you have seen his "noble stature"-like the fragile flower that yields submissively to the fury of the "muttering tempest"-laid lifeless upon his untimely bier; you have followed him to the grave and seen him consigned to the silent bosom of the earth., He is gone; he departed like the dew of a summer morning, and his memory is to us like a pleasant dream.

Oh! death, thou destroyer of the human race! can nothing stay thy onward march? Must the high, the noble, the lovely, the courteous and the high minded of the earth, fall victims to thy relentless will? Can nought [naught] avert thy claim upon the loved ones that are among us? Alas! thou art no respector of persons; to die is the common lot of man! The exalted and the debased, the king who sways the regal sceptre [scepter] of unmitigated power and the humble suppliant at his feet, must alike be laid low by the monster's unpitying sting. The utopian dreams of the aspirant for power, as well as the cherished hopes of the secluded plebean [plebeian], are unreservedly crushed by the interposition of they ruthless hand. Thou inflictest sorrow deep and grievous to be borne; thou makest husbands wifeless, wives widow, and children orphans! But when thou takest from us one who hath hope of eternal life, then can our sorrowing bosoms be comforted. Thou hath taken from us one whose unblemished integrity, whose high and noble bearing, and reciprocal feelings, have made a lasting impression upon the tablet of our affection, and raised him to a rank of eminence in society; but the blessed assurance that he has only bartered the respect of the world for endless joy and heavenly beatitude; calms our grief, dissipates our sorrow, and we repine not at the supreme will of our heavenly father. He has been laid low; in yonder grove-in its surpassing beauty, a fit receptacle for the sleeping remains of exalted virtue and holiest innocence-his noble person lies mouldering [moldering] into dust; no more to be animated with life, until the resurrection morn; when the graves of those who sleep will be opened, the barriers of the tomb be burst assunder [asunder] , the dead resurrected,

And bone to bone, and joint to joint,

Will be together joined.

Mr. Editor; I have not made the foregoing remarks for the mere purpose of pastime; but I have made them as a tribute of respect to the worth of our departed brother. His hospitable hand has befriended me in the hour of adversity; his sympathizing heart consoled me in the midst of affliction; and now, that he is no more, let me pass my eulogy upon his name. I have spoken the feelings of my secret soul. Departed friend; rest thou in peace!

Respectfully yours,

L. O. Littlefield.

Rockford, Aug. 2nd, 1841.

Brothers Smith & Thompson:

With pleasure I improve this opportunity to communicate to you something in relation to my journey and labours [labors] since I left Nauvoo, for Galena, where we arrived on Thursday night of the 15th. The next day in company with brother Shumway, I arrived at Vienna, where Elder E. H. Graves built up a small branch of the church last year, of which brother S. was a member. I held a meeting on the Sabbath following, and on Monday; on which day a Mr. Howe, a preacher of the Campbellite order attended meeting, who had previously [previously] sent an appointment for the next Sabbath. After I had addressed the congregation upon the prophecies in relation to Israel, in their present scattered state, and reasoned from the scripture that we must of necessity receive revelation, from the fact that the prophets had testified that when the Lord should stretch out his hand to gather Israel, not from the single nation of Egypt, but from all other nations whither he had scattered them in a dark and cloudy day, and bring them down into the wilderness of the people-all this without revelation, nay but says the Lord by the prophet, "I will plead with you face to face like as I plead with your fathers in the wilderness of Egypt, and cause you to pass under the rod, and bring you into the bond of the covenant;" after this I adverted to the testimony of Jeremiah, that in the transcendent glory of Israel's restoration, the wonders of the sea, and of Sinai's firm basis shaking at presence of its God, and the awe stricken multitude gazing with wonder on the stupendous scene, should all be forgotten and not come to mind. At the conclusion of my discourse, the aforementioned Mr. Howe arose and remarked that the discourse which they had heard was true. On the Sabbath following, Mr. H. had his meeting at 11 o'clock, and mine was at 2 o'clock-the same place and day.-Mr. H. commenced his meeting by reading the 3rd chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and laboured [labored] much to show, that the last days were those when the spirit of God was poured out on the day of penticost [Pentecost], the effect of which some attribute to wine, but the Apostle informed them it is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel and it shall come to pass in the last days saith God "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh." The gentleman so unwilling to admit of the fact, that God would give more revelation, thought to evade it by having the words of Joel fulfilled on the days of penticost [Pentecost], or so far as related to that part which should produce visions, dreams, prophecies, &c., which of necessity would make an addition to revelation, which Mr. H. could not admit of without suffering the loss of his modern gospel. But this was not all, we learned from this advocate of modern, reform he fain would have had us believe, and that too with the bible in our hands, that the Jews to whom the son of God came in person in Palestine, comprised the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which every biblical reader knows was not the fact, and that no such union ever existed since the days of Rehaboam, son of Solomon; thus he designed to show to the people, that the covenant of which the prophets spoke, that it should be established with the house of Judah and Israel, was then established, as he said, for one week, according to Daniel-which thing, every reader of the New Testament knows was not done even with the house of Judah in a national point of light, for the apostle testifies to the Jews, "that seeing ye judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo we turn to the Gentiles."

To give place to what I have to insert I leave Mr. H. for the present. Brother Wm. O. Clark arrived here last night from Mineral Point and vicinity, where he has baptized 17 members, and a prospect for more. In this vicinity there is a spirit of inquiry after the truth which may result in the salvation of souls through the ministry of the servants of God. Br. Clark unites with me in saying, dear Brethren, we pray you by the love you have for the work of the Lord-for the

salvation of men, that you use your influence to have some intelligent labourers [laborers] sent or directed to these parts, for truly the harvest is great and laborers few.-We want men that are workmen, skilled in the science of heavenly things. We do hope that this our request to you may not be unheeded. My health is such as not to admit of my preaching as much as I could wish; my past exposure having affected my lungs very much.

I close for the present by subscribing myself, your friend and fellow laborer in the kingdom of God.

Amasa Lyman.

Batavia, N. Y. May 19th, 1841.

To the Saints scattered abroad, and to all whom it may concern:

Greeting.

Be it known that on or about the first of December, last, we J. Shamp and Margaret Shamp of the town of Batavia, Gennessee County, N. Y. had a daughter that had been deaf and dumb four and a half years, and was restored to her hearing the time aforesaid by the laying on of the hands of the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly called Mormons, through the power of Almighty God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as believed and practiced by them in these last days.

The circumstance attending her restoration were these. It was asked, as a sign in a meeting of the Latter Day Saints by an Elder of the Babtist [Baptist] Church of the name of Stimson in an insolent manner and he said if they would heal the child, he would be a Mormon, and he would guarantee that the whole congregation would be Mormons too. When the sign was asked, it was manifest to me by the spirit of God, that if I would believe and obey the fullness of the gospel it should be done. Soon after we had obeyed the gospel, Elders Nathan R. Knight and Charles Thompson came to our house, and thy administered to her by the laying on of hands and she was restored to her hearing, and now she both hears and speaks and is improving very fast in talking; for which we feel to thank God for the blessings and power of the gospel as manifest in my family at three different instances, and in a number of instances in our neighborhood. Those affected with numbness have been restored-a fever sore on the ancle [ankle] that medicine had no effect upon was healed by the laying on of hands. Another case in our vicinity of a disease in the chest-a severe case indeed, and given over by the physicians, and the night previous to the lady having hands laid on her by the Elders, her friends thought she would not survive until morning-she was immediately restored by the laying on of hands and faith in Jesus Christ.

We had a child attacked with the inflamation [inflammation] of the lungs, for which we applied to medical aid but it got no relief; then we called upon Elder Knight and he laid hands on her in the name of Jesus Christ, and she was instantly healed and in fifteen minutes appeared as well as ever she did.

My wife, had a swelling in her side internally, of two years standing, to relieve which medical aid had been sought for and tried but in vain. It had become very alarming so that she was unable to do much, and we had given up all hopes of her recovery, but to our great joy she was restored, immediately, by the laying on of hands, by the miraculous power of God, to the glory and honor of his name. Brethren let us take courage, notwithstanding that persecutions and afflictions await us, and we are doomed to be cast out and set at nought [naught] by the sects of the day; and to have the finger of scorn and derision pointed at us, and to have all manner of evil spoken against us falsely for Christ's sake. Let us keep humble, knowing that God exalteth the humble but bringeth to naught the proud and scornful. Our Savior said, "He that believeth on me, greater works than these shall he do." speaking of the miracles he had done at a certain time; and truly we are witnessing daily his mighty power by the signs which he said should follow his believing children.

And now we would recommend Brother Knight to the confidence and fellowship of the brethren wheresoever his lot may be cast, for God owns and has blessed his labors in this vicinity to the convincing of many and to the upbuilding of the Redeemer's kingdom, and the advancing of his cause, notwithstanding wicked men and devils oppose and strive to hinder the work from advancing, as we are witnesses, and subscribe our hands in testimony of the truth of the everlasting gospel as

taught and believe by the Latter Day Saints.

J. Shamp.

M. Shamp.