The following is an extract from a letter to the brethren in Kirtland, written at—
Far West, Missouri, July 7, 1837.
Monday, the 3rd of July, was a great and glorious day in Far West, more than fifteen hundred Saints assembled at this place, and at half-past eight in the morning, after prayer, singing, and an address, they proceeded to break the ground for the Lord's House. The day was beautiful; the Spirit of the Lord was with us. An excavation for this great edifice, one hundred and ten feet long by eighty feet broad was nearly finished. Tuesday, the 4th, we had a large meeting, and several of the Missourians were baptized; our meetings, held in the open prairie, were larger than they were in Kirtland, when I was there. We have more or less to bless, confirm, and baptize, every Sabbath. This same day, our school section was sold at auction, and although entirely a prairie, it brought, on a year's credit, from $3.50 to $10.20 per acre, making our first school fund five thousand and seventy dollars. Land cannot be had around town now much less than ten dollars per acre.
Our numbers increase daily, and notwithstanding the season has been cold and backward no one has lacked a meal or went hungry. Provisions have risen in price, but not as high as accounts say they were abroad. Public notice has been given by the mob in Daviess county, north of us, for the Mormons to leave that county by the first of August and go into Caldwell: our enemies will not slumber till Satan knows how vain is his plotting. Our town gains some, we have about one hundred buildings, eight of which are stores. If the brethren abroad are wise and will come on with means and help enter the land and populate the county and build the Lord's House, we shall soon have one of the most precious spots on the globe; God grant that it may be so. Of late we receive little news from you, and we think much of that is exaggerated.
As ever,
W. W. Phelps.
N. B.—Please say in your Messenger and Advocate "A postoffice has been established at Far West, Caldwell county, Missouri."
The same day (July 7th), the Garrick passed the banks of Newfoundland.
The Prophet Resigns his Office in the "Safety Society."
Some time previous to this I resigned my office in the "Kirtland Safety Society," disposed of my interest therein, and withdrew from the institution; being fully aware, after so long an experiment, that no institution of the kind, established upon just and righteous principles for a blessing not only to the Church but the whole nation, would be suffered to continue its operations in such an age of darkness, speculation and wickedness. Almost all banks throughout the country, one after the other, have suspended specie payment, and gold and silver have risen in value in direct ratio with the depreciation of paper currency. The great pressure of the money market is felt in England as well as America, and bread stuffs are everywhere high. The season has been cool, wet and backward.
Status of Various Nations.
Mexico, unwilling to acknowledge the independence of Texas, considers her inhabitants as rebellious subjects. Spain is divided against herself, wasting her blood and treasure in her own destruction. Portugal is rapidly exhausting her resources in princely luxuries. Poland has lost her rank among the nations to gratify the ambition of Nicholas, the Russian autocrat. The government of Buenos Ayres has declared war against Peru, and nearly all the republics of South America are mingled in the strife, while the Indians continue their depredations on the inhabitants of Florida. Trouble and distress are the grand topics of conversation amongst politicians, merchants, mechanics and demagogues; and crimes, misdemeanors, and casualties, occupy a large space in the public journals.
Sunday, July 16.—Elder Hyde preached on the quarterdeck of the Garrick concerning the prophecies; the cabin passengers listened with attention, and were particularly affected during prayer, also a little child belonging to some of the steerage passengers, that was sick until it was considered hopeless, was healed by the power of God, President Kimball laying his hands upon it secretly.
On the 18th the Garrick entered St. George's Channel, in sight of Cape Clear.
On Thursday morning, July 20th, the Garrick anchored in the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool, and while the cable chains were yet rattling the merchant ship South America, which left New York at the same time with the Garrick, under a bet, it is said, of $10,000, as to which would be in Liverpool first, came alongside, having kept in sight daily during the voyage but never getting ahead of the Garrick; and in all the different stages from Kirtland to Liverpool, no vessel was permitted to go past the mission.