--- title: Times and Seasons description: Issues of 1841 to 1842. authors: - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints editors: - Ebenezer Robinson - Don Carlos Smith - Smith, Joseph, Jr. - Taylor, John collections: - periodicals tags: - newspaper - times-and-seasons - nauvoo - nineteenth-century periodical: Times and Seasons volume: 3 number: 4 published: 1841-12-15 publisher: E. Robinson and D. C. Smith; later John Taylor publisher_place: Commerce and Nauvoo, Illinois language: en type: article reference: "“From the Millennial Star,” *Times and Seasons* 3, no. 4 (December 15, 1841): 634–635." printed_title: From the Millennial Star. source: url: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1841-12-15_3_4 transcription: Text from the Centerplace.org transcription (https://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v3n04.htm), with its page breaks; this Internet Archive scan is the reference copy (its OCR was used only as a witness for OCR repair) identifier: per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1841-12-15_3_4 start_page: 634 end_page: 635 curator_note: A Mormon newspaper published by the church in Nauvoo; included for historical study. Inclusion does not imply endorsement. rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1841 (Nauvoo, Illinois); published before 1931, so public domain in the United States source: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1841-12-15_3_4 publication_year: 1841 --- # From the Millennial Star Douglas, Isle of Man, May 26th, 1841. Dear Brother, I feel a desire to express to you the joy of my heart, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have been here five or six weeks. The soil of this land is not good, either in a temporal or a spiritual sense. All the excitement has been raised here that could be raised, and although the whole land is but small, (about thirty miles in length and twelve in breadth) it appears as though all the lies and slander have been imported here that have ever been coined, beside all that have been coined here at home. The parsons try to make the people believe that we want their money, and that we only want those who have it. You know it is natural to men to look most after that which they value most, so they are fearful we shall get some of it. Mr. Haining says we are expecting to be saved by faith and obedience! and that we believe in dreams, &c., which he says, are very dangerous, as he cannot tell which are from the Lord and which from the devil. I suppose there are many more in the same case, so perhaps it would be best for the Lord not to give any more dreams or visions. Don't you see what singular characters we are? What a strange thing for ministers to love money! Did you ever hear such a thing? And then to think of being saved by faith and obedience! and again-a very worthy man, who doubtless is without fault, or he would not cast a stone, makes us say, we neither toil nor spin! but live by taking sinners in. Did you ever see the like that ministers live without spining [spinning]! or even toiling? If this be so, how is it that you have not let me know how you do it, but let me toil as I have done since I left my farm and comfortable home in Canada, near four years. I have not learned to spin, but I have, I suppose, walked some thousands of miles, chiefly with an empty pocket (but I don't wish to complain, or else I would say, at some times not a very full stomach,) and I really thought my brethren did the same. You will perhaps let me into the secret, for I want to return to America soon, and how am I to get there? When you find out the treasurer of your funds I may get something perhaps; however we ought not to be idle while all the rest of the miniters [ministers] are toiling and spinning so busily, neither ought we to complain at what we get; for there is one gentleman on this island, who, with all his toiling and spinning has only £8,000 or £9,000 a year to live on, and some, I suppose, not as many hundreds, so I'll try to be content. But you may think this is a strange way of expressing the joy of my heart. Well I will tell you then, I am on a barren spot; the enemies are all hoping to see the cause fail; the devil is hard against us, and, you say, "the line of battle is extending far and wide over the plains of Babel," which I fully believe. I see the hosts of earth and the hosts of hell all combined together to fight against the Lord and his anointed. The skirmishes which you have passed through are but as drops before a thunder storm; and universal war is proclaimed by the Majesty of heaven against the great usurper, and the earth is again to be stained with the blood of the saints before the final blow can be struck by the arm of Omnipotence, and that we are to have a time of trouble such as the world has not seen; I look upon all this with a firm countenance, and rejoice, knowing that the truth will prevail, and that the victory will be ours. The captain of our salvation inspires my heart with a martial spirit, and I feel to glory in the cause. I would not hurt any one, not even the devil, but I am at honorable war with him; if he can take the kingdom, or if he can take the little stone and throw it beyond the bounds of time and space, he may, but if we take him a prisoner of war, he shall be cast into prison in the name of Jesus Christ-Amen. JOSEPH FIELDING.