Four Elders arrived from the October Conference, and we prepared to go East. Stopped at Nauvoo and preached there; put up at the Mansion House and slept in the same room the Prophet Joseph once occupied. We interviewed Mrs. Emma Smith Bideman and sought to draw her out. She was not at all communicative, but enough was elicited to know that she felt keenly the one false and fatal step of her life—that of leaving the Church and uniting herself, heart and hand, with an infidel, after having raised a family to one of the greatest and noblest of the creations of God.
Visited the site of the Temple. Like the Temple at Jerusalem, "not one stone is left upon another." We found them in store and dwelling foundations, and on street crossings; in walking up the principal sidewalk, we trod upon what were once corner stones in the Temple of God. Preached some through Iowa and Illinois.
Went to Carthage and through the jail wherein the martyrs died for the testimony of Jesus, and where President John Taylor so nearly lost his life. The property is now owned by Mr. Browning, a relative of the Brownings of Ogden, Utah. The building is used as a dwelling; what was then the prison room is now the parlor. A fine Brussels carpet covers the indelible stain upon the floor made by the life's blood of the Patriarch.
In the corner where once stood the humble cot, now stands a handsome piece of furniture, and the window, through which the Prophet sprang to his death, is heavily hung with rich lace curtains. The well has been filled up and the curbing removed.
Morris went direct to Philadelphia, I to Washington, where I remained two days the guest of Hon. George Q. Cannon. Visited the White House and was introduced to President Hayes. Was shown through the Capitol, the treasury building and other places of national note, and was admitted to a seat on the floor of the congressional chamber, all through the courtesy of President Cannon, Delegate to Congress.
Went to Philadelphia, where we remained a month doing much fireside preaching, but no chance for public demonstration in the "city of brotherly love." However, we anticipate a harvest from the seed thus humbly sown.
Early in January we took up our line of march for Luzerne county. Re-organized the Plains branch, thence to Bradford county, where we held circuit meetings regularly alternate nights. We had great joy in visiting the sick and comforting the afflicted; the Lord heard our prayers and healed many.
On March 22d we were called in to the bedside of a dying friend, and requested to pray for her; not for her recovery, that she had no desire for, but that her sufferings might be alleviated, her pains removed and she be permitted to die in peace. In the midst of this petition, while all were kneeling at the deathbed, we were led to pray that the daughter, who was present, might be inspired to go forth and perform the labor necessary for her own and her mother's salvation. Agreeable to the mother's expressed desire and our humble prayer, Mrs. W. passed tranquilly away the same night; a few moments before dissolution she audibly spoke our names.
The funeral services were conducted by Minister B., Methodist; his sermonizing amounted to simply this—that as the deceased had died outside the pale of any church, notably his own, she could never be redeemed from her fallen condition; she would be banished from the society and denied the affiliation of her Christian friends for ever and ever, worlds without end. Amen. This was a little unexpected to the mourners, and they refused to be consoled and comforted. The daughter came to us and asked for an interpretation of our strange prayer. After it had been explained, she requested that we call another meeting and preach upon the subject, announcing it as another funeral sermon. We did so, dwelling upon repentance after death, the Savior's mission to the spirits in prison, and baptism for the dead, showing how broad and expansive is the Gospel of Christ when contrasted with the narrow and contracted theories of man-made religion. The house was full, and a spirit of sympathy prevailed. The daughter believed, was baptized, and is to-day in the faith.
Baptized four in the Susquehanna River at Wysauking. Went to Philadelphia, Morris expecting a release. Baptized four Philadelphians, but had to cross the Delaware River to the New Jersey shore and wait for the tide to come in. Received a letter releasing Morris, but instructing me to remain in the field until relieved by other Elders from home.