"From that date, upwards of two years and a half ago, when he left his home in Salt Lake City, he had not the opportunity of crossing its threshold again. To home and its joys, its delightful associations and its happy reunions he has been a stranger. He has lived as an exile—a wanderer in the land, to the development and good government of which he has contributed so much! While living in this condition, one of his wives was stricken with disease, and though his heart was torn with anguish at the thought of her condition, and with anxiety to see her and minister to her in her deep distress, her residence was closely watched by spies, and when she was in a dying condition, was even searched with the hope of entrapping him! Thus she was deprived of the privilege of looking upon his beloved face, and he had not even the sad consolation of witnessing or taking any part in her funeral ceremonies.
"During the two years and a half that President Taylor has been living in this condition, he has been cut off from all the society and loving ministrations of his family. But though this was so hard to bear at his time of life, he never murmured. He was always full of courage and hope, cheering everyone with whom he was brought in contact, and lifting his companions by his noble example out of despondency and discouragement. With the same courage with which he stood by the Prophet of God and with a walking cane parried the guns of the mob when they vomited their sheets of flame and messengers of death in Carthage jail, he confronted the difficulties and the trials which he had to meet when compelled to leave his home and the society of those whom he loved. His demeanor throughout this long ordeal has been most admirable. Everyone who has seen him has been impressed by his equanimity and stately bearing. Always distinguished for his courtesy and dignity of character, at no period of his life did he ever exhibit those traits to greater advantage than he has during his exile. He has never condescended even to speak evil of those who so cruelly persecuted him.
"By the miraculous power of God, President John Taylor escaped the death which the assassins of Carthage jail assigned for him. His blood was then mingled with the blood of the martyred Prophet and Patriarch. He has stood since then as a living martyr for the truth. But today he occupies the place of a double martyr. President John Taylor has been killed by the cruelty of officials who have, in this Territory, misrepresented the Government of the United States. There is no room to doubt that if he had been permitted to enjoy the comforts of home, the ministrations of his family, the exercise to which he had been accustomed, but of which he was deprived, he might have lived for many years yet. His blood stains the clothes of the men, who with insensate hate have offered rewards for his arrest and have hounded him to the grave. History will yet call their deeds by their right names; but One greater than the combined voices of all historians will yet pronounce their dreadful sentence.
"It is now some time since President Taylor was attacked by disease. It came upon him by degrees, manifesting itself in the beginning by a swelling of the limbs for the want of proper exercise. He fought disease with his characteristic pluck and determination. He would not yield. He would neither allow himself nor anyone else to think that his sickness was serious. He would not permit his family to know his real condition, as he did not wish them to have any anxiety on his account, and it was almost against his express wishes they were told how sick he was. When messages were sent by him to them, they were always of a re-assuring character. Up to the last day or two he was able to sit in his chair, and until quite recently he was able to assist himself in getting in and out of bed. The strength he has exhibited and his tenacity of life have been very wonderful; for though so strong, he had partaken of scarcely and nourishment for the past six weeks. So peacefully did he pass away, and so like a babe falling asleep that a brief period elapsed before those who stood around his bed were sure that his spirit had taken its flight.
"As the sad intelligence which we now communicate will spread through these valleys and mountains, sorrow will fill the hearts of all at hearing of the last days of their beloved and venerable President. We know how deep has been the sympathy that has filled the hearts of the Saints for him in his advanced years, in thinking of his condition and of his being compelled to live as an exile from his family the people. The expressions of esteem love which have come to him from all parts of the land have deeply touched him and caused him great pleasure in thinking how much he was beloved and how much his welfare was desired by all the Saints throughout the earth.
"His constant desire was to do everything in his power to relieve the Latter-day Saints from the oppressions under which they suffer. Every pulsation of his heart beat with a love of Zion and a desire for her redemption. We desired, and the desire was general, we believe, throughout the Church—that he might live to emerge from his exile and be once more a free man among the people whom he loved. But this has been denied us. He has gone to mingle with the holy and the pure, and to quote his own eloquent words, written concerning his dear friend, Joseph the Seer:
"Beyond the reach of mobs and strife,
He rests unharmed in endless life;
His home's in the sky, he dwells with the Gods,
Far from the furious rage of mobs."
And though we have lost his presence here, his influence will still be felt. Such men may pass from this life to another, but the love which beats in their hearts for righteousness and for truth cannot die. They go to an enlarged sphere of usefulness. Their influence is extended and more widely felt, and Zion will feel the benefit of his labors, as it has the labors of others who have gone before him. The work of God will roll forth. One after another of the mighty men—the men who have spent their lives in the cause of God—may pass away, but this will not affect the purposes of our Great Creator concerning His latter-day work. He will raise up others, and the work will go on increasing in power, in influence, and in all true greatness, until it will accomplish all that God has predicted concerning it.
"We feel to say to the Latter-day Saints: Be comforted! The same God who took care of the work when Joseph was martyred, who has watched over and guarded and upheld it through the long years that have since elapsed, and who has guided its destinies since the departure of Brigham, still watches over it and makes it the object of His care. John has gone; but God lives. He has founded Zion. He has given His people a testimony of this. Cherish it in your heart of hearts, and live so each day that when the end of your mortal lives shall come, you may be counted worthy to go where Joseph, Brigham and John have gone, and mingle with that glorious throng whose robes have been washed white in the blood of the Lamb.
"This is the earnest prayer for all Saints, and for all the honest in heart, of your unworthy servants in Christ,