THE UNJUST STEWARDS CALLED TO ACCOUNT—DISPOSED OF—TOUR THROUGH THE CHURCHES—OVATIONS—ARTICLES FOR THE STAR—MODERATE SPIRIT OF THEM—WORK ACCOMPLISHED—START FOR HOME—STORM BEATEN—RETURN TO LIVERPOOL—SECOND START—SUCCESSFUL VOYAGE—FAREWELL FROM AMERICA—IN THE NICK OF TIME.

The very day of arrival in Liverpool Elders Hyde and Taylor issued a circular to the Saints in which they stated that the Joint Stock Company was an institution wholly independent of the Church. The circular also appointed a conference to convene at Manchester, on the 17th of the month—October.

By that time Elder Pratt had arrived. The unfaithful stewards were called to account, severely reproved and the chief offenders, excepting Hedlock, disfellowshipped until they could appear before the authorities in the camp of Israel to be further dealt with. Hedlock would not meet the American deputation of Elders; but fled to London where he lived in obscurity in company with a dissolute woman. He was excommunicated at once. On the fall of this man Elder Taylor wrote the following reflections:

"Elder Hedlock might have occupied a high and exalted situation in the Church, both in time and in eternity; but he has cast from his head the crown—he has dashed from him the cup of mercy, and has bartered the hope of eternal life with crowns, principalities, powers, thrones and dominions, for the gratification of his own sensual appetite; to feed on husks and straw—to wallow in filth and mire!"

It was arranged that Elder Hyde should take charge of the Star and the office at Liverpool, while Elders Taylor and Pratt visited the various conferences and branches of the Church. Everywhere they were received with demonstrations of joy. Elder Taylor traveled sometimes alone and sometimes in company with Elder Pratt; but whether alone or with his companion, he was always made welcome by the Saints. He labored in season and out of season, and God worked with him and his associates.

Through their promptness in dealing with the unfaithful stewards, and the power which attended their administrations, confidence was restored, the Saints were re-baptized, many new members were added to the Church, and it was a general time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Social gatherings were frequent, and while he fed the Saints the bread of life, they administered to his necessities and made his heart glad with their songs and rejoicing. His reception in Wales was especially enthusiastic,—it amounted to an ovation; indeed the same may be said of his reception throughout the British Mission.

Still in the midst of these busy scenes he found time to write a number of articles for the Star, one of which is especially worthy of mention—his Address to the Saints in Great Britain. In that address he writes the very best sketches I have yet seen of the evacuation of Nauvoo and the journey of the Saints to Winter Quarters. Its chief value consists in its accuracy and temperate tone—much more temperate than one could reasonable expect it to be from a writer who was a participator in those cruel scenes, and one of the chief sufferers.

He makes prominent the fact that even if the persecution which expelled the Saints from Nauvoo had not arisen, their destiny would have led them to the mountain valleys of the great West. "Many living witnesses," he writes, "can testify that we proposed moving to California,^[1] leaving the land of our oppression, preaching the gospel to the Lamanites, building up other temples to the living God, establishing ourselves in the far distant West. The cruel and perfidious persecutions that we endured, tended to hasten our departure, but did not dictate it. It jeopardized our lives, property and liberty, but was not the cause of our removal."

"Many a time" he continues, "have I listened to the voice of our beloved Prophet, while in council, dwell on this subject [the removal of the Saints to the Rocky Mountains] with delight; his eyes sparkling with animation, and his soul fired with the inspiration of the Spirit of the living God. It was a theme that caused the bosoms of all who were privileged to listen, to thrill with delight; intimately connected with this, were themes upon which prophets, patriarchs, priests and kings dwelt with pleasure and delight: of them they prophesied, sung, wrote, spoke and desired to see, but died without the sight. My spirit glows with sacred fire while I reflect upon these scenes, and I say, O Lord, hasten the day! Let Zion be established! Let the mountain of the Lord's house be established in the tops of the mountains!"—a thing, I may add,—and which he plainly intimates,—could not have been done had the Saints remained in Nauvoo. The Saints did not come to these mountain valleys because they were compelled to by their enemies, they came here because it was their destiny to come; because the Lord would have them here; and because there were problems to work out in connection with the work of God which could be worked out nowhere else.

While he admits that the Saints had suffered great loss by being driven from Illinois—that they had been obliged to make a great sacrifice—yet, speaking relatively, he held that the Saints were better off than if they had remained in Nauvoo, a remark that then seemed paradoxical, but its truth is now confirmed by history; for the little one has become a great people, occupying an immense area of country, and they have attained a strength they never could have known in Nauvoo.

In this article, while he dwells at some length on the sufferings of the Saints from the fury of the pitiless storm—the drifting snow, the pelting hail and the icy chills of storm and tempest, Elder Taylor does not forget to vindicate God whose part it was to stand very near to His people in such trying times. In continuing his remarks on the exposure of the Saints to cold and storm he says:

"We sustained no injury therefrom; our health and our lives were preserved—we outlived the trying scene—we felt contented and happy—the songs of Zion resounded from wagon to wagon—from tent to tent; the sound reverberated through the woods, and its echo was returned from the distant hills; peace, harmony, and contentment reigned in the habitations of the Saints."

So, too, in speaking of the privations of camp life: "It is true that in our sojourning we do not possess all the luxuries and delicacies of old established countries and cities, but we have an abundance of the staple commodities, such as flour, meal, beef, mutton, pork, milk, butter and in some instances cheese, sugar, coffee, tea, etc., etc. We feel contented and happy in the wilderness. The God of Israel is with us—union and peace prevail; and as we journey, as did Abraham of old, with our flocks and herds to a distant land, we feel that like him, we are doing the will of our Heavenly Father and relying upon His word and promises; and having His blessing, we feel that we are children of the same promise and hope, and that the great Jehovah is our God."

Such remarks as these lighten the rather sombre picture that is usually drawn by writers who relate the story of the evacuation of Nauvoo and the subsequent journey in the wilderness; and who in their anxiety to give a vivid picture of the sufferings of the Saints, forget to vindicate the goodness of God who was with His people in those trying times, and who, by opening the way before them to obtain food and lands to dwell upon, and giving them strength as their day, made their afflictions light as air. These things, Elder Taylor in his sketches does not fail to recognize.

At the time of Elder Taylor's visit, great distress existed among the laboring classes in England, and as the Saints were chiefly of that class, they suffered with the rest. The trouble arose very largely from over-population. This being the case, the queen was memorialized by the Saints to adopt a system of emigration to Oregon, a general name given to an immense but indefinite tract of country in the western part of the British possessions, Vancouver's Island forming part of it. To return the means that government was asked to expend in emigrating the people, it was proposed that in a tract of country divided into sections of six hundred and forty acres, and numbered, that each emigrant be entitled to settle on the sections bearing even numbers, and that government retain the odd sections. The presence of the settlers and their improvements on the even sections would give a value to the odd sections and bring them into market, and through the sale of these lands government would soon be repaid the sum expended for emigration.

In the interest of this scheme, Elder Taylor called upon, and obtained an interview with the Earl of Dartmouth, but the government refused to engage in the business.

Having accomplished the object of his mission to England, Elder Taylor's heart turned to his family in the wilderness. He left the port of Liverpool in the ship America, in company with Elder Pratt, and a few Saints—fourteen in all. No ship ever left that port with brighter prospects, but no sooner were they fairly out into the Irish Sea, than they met a heavy gale and for nine days were tempest-tossed and utterly unable to reach the broad Atlantic. At last they were compelled to return to Liver pool.

"I had strange presentiments," says Elder Taylor, "before we went on board, of danger or ship-wreck—the spirit did not manifest which; and I was glad when we safely returned to Liverpool."

A second start was made on the seventh of February, and after a pleasant voyage of thirty-six days, the vessel made the port of New Orleans. Here Elder Taylor wrote to the editor of the Star, his farewell address to the Saints, which virtually is a review of his brief mission among them. Following are extracts from it:

"As I had no time before I left England, I now wish to say a few words to the Saints. When I was there, in consequence of having so many places to visit, and to travel so extensively, my stay was necessarily short at the various branches; and it made it impossible for me to visit so many places, to form so extensive an acquaintance with the Saints as I should gladly have done had time permitted. If my stay had been longer, I should gladly have spent two, three, or six months more, in order to have visited all the branches and seen the Saints at their homes, for I love the people of God, and delight in the habitations of the righteous. There peace reigns—there reigns the spirit of God—and there is my home. And here I wish to say, that although very much pressed and hurried, I have seldom enjoyed myself better than I did on my late visit to the British churches. I saw an honesty and simplicity which I admired. The Saints seemed to vie with each other in many little acts of kindness and charity which were duly appreciated by me, and which I have taken pleasure in acknowledging. They were esteemed not so much on account of their intrinsic value as for the feelings of those who administered them.

"Our arrival in England was very opportune. * * Before we left [Council Bluffs], it was revealed to the authorities that the presidency in England was in transgression, and that it was necessary that some of the Twelve should proceed immediately to England. * * * When Elder Hyde and myself were in New York, and Elder Pratt in Boston, we thought it expedient, rather than to wait two or three days for him, to proceed immediately to Liverpool. We found on our arrival that we had not come any too soon. The teachers of the people were under transgression; they were corrupt: they were acting dishonorably, and dishonestly; stripping the poor of their last pittance, and yet those wanton profligates professed that they were doing the will of God, while they, under a cloak of religion, were reveling in debauchery, drunkenness and fraud! But they have their reward.

"Many of the Elders were at a loss what to do. They saw that things were out of order, but how to regulate them they knew not. * * * They felt a disposition to hope for the best, but it seemed to be hoping against hope; in fact the whole head was sick and the whole heart faint; and had it not been that the Saints were in possession of the eternal principles of truth, and had the testimony of the Spirit, giving them assurance of the truth and verity of this work, they might all have made ship-wreck of faith.

"As Elder Pratt and myself journeyed among the churches, we found them generally doing well, rejoiced to see us, and expressing a willingness to follow our advice in all things. * * * I would here say a word or two to the Saints by way of caution. Because you have been deceived by your former leaders, do not mistrust those^[2] you have now, but let them have your confidence and your prayers. * * * I say again have confidence in your presidency; neither condemn one man for what another has done, neither be afraid of him. Give all good men your confidence; if they betray it, judge them according to that which they have done—not what they may or may not do. It is a devilish principle to be jealous of men who have done no wrong, and to withhold our confidence from those who ought to have our support, merely because it is possible they may abuse it.

"Now brethren, as I had not time before I left, I must take the liberty from this side of the ocean, of saying farewell—farewell! and God bless you for ever and ever, worlds without end. Amen. It is a long distance to salute you from, as I am now six thousand miles from you, but I know it will be welcome, for I came more than six thousand miles to see you, and I had to salute my family from your homes. We have yet two thousand miles to go to see our families, and part of that through mobbers, black-legs and murderers, who would gladly take our lives, but we trust in the God of Israel, that He will take us safely through, and that we shall arrive in the camp of Israel in peace, and rejoice in once more meeting our families and friends.

COUNCIL BLUFFS FERRY

"I left the camp in company with my brethren, July 3rd, 1846, and when I return shall have traveled upwards of seventeen thousand miles, three thousand of this was in England, Scotland and Wales. I now feel well in health and spirits, am thankful that so much of my mission is completed, and I bless the name of the God of Israel."

From New Orleans he took passage in the steam-packet, Patrick Henry, for St. Louis, where he arrived on the 25th of March. Here he parted company with Elder Pratt, who made his way through the country to the camp; while Elder Taylor in charge of the small company of Saints took steamer up the Missouri for the same point; but on reaching St. Joseph he left the boat and took carriage, as he desired to reach the camp before the pioneer company left for the West, as he had with him some surveying and scientific instruments purchased in England for them. Those instruments consisted of two sextants, two barometers, two artificial horizons, one circular reflector, several thermometers and a telescope.

He arrived in time to meet President Young and deliver these instruments^[3] and some money sent from England to aid the Church. The pioneer camp had left Winter Quarters a day or two before, and was then camped on the Elk Horn, some twenty or thirty miles distant, so that he had returned just in time.

The labors of Elder Taylor and companions were highly approved by President Young, and he heartily welcomed them back to their families and the Church.

Footnotes

1. Then the general name for the great West, including what is now Utah.2. Elder Orson Spencer was left in charge of the mission after the departure of the Apostles, and Elder Franklin D. Richards was his counselor.3. It was with those instruments that Orson Pratt, a few months later, laid out Salt Lake City.