A very richly ornamented cake from New York, from Elder Adams' wife to the Twelve, was then exhibited to the meeting. This was blessed by them, and then distributed to all the officers and members, and then to the whole congregation, consisting, probably of seven hundred people. A large fragment was still preserved for some who were not present.
During the distribution, several appropriate hymns were sung, and a powerful and general feeling of delight seemed universally to pervade the meeting. While this was proceeding, Elder P. P. Pratt composed and handed over to the clerk the following lines, which the clerk then read to the meeting, as follows:
When in far distant regions,
As strangers we roam,
Far away from our country,
Our friends and our home:
When sinking in sorrow,
Fresh courage we'll take,
As we think on our friends,
And remember the cake.
Elder O. Hyde appealed powerfully to the meeting, and covenanted with the Saints present, in a bond of mutual prayer, during his mission to Jerusalem and the East, which was sustained on the part of the hearers with a hearty amen.
Elder Joseph Fielding remarked that it was with the most pleasing and grateful feeling that he had witnessed the scenes of this day. And respecting the rich cake of which they had been partaking, he considered it a type of the good things of that land from whence it came, and from whence they had received the fulness of the Gospel. He expressed a hope that they might all hold out till that day, when they should be assembled to partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Elder B. Young and Elder William Miller sang the hymn, "Adieu, my dear brethren, adieu," etc. This was after the number of the official members present had been taken—one hundred and seven.
President Brigham Young blessed the congregation and dismissed them.—Millennial Star.
At this meeting, Brother Lorenzo reported the London Conference. No one who has never been located far from home can realize the happiness he enjoyed while associated with so many of the Quorum of the Twelve on this occasion.
TO ELDER LORENZO SNOW, LONDON, ENGLAND.
Dearest brother, wherefore leave us?
Why forsake your friends and home?
Of your presence, why bereave us,
And in foreign countries roam?Must the dearest ties be broken?
Must affection's garland fade?
No, O no! But God has spoken,
And His voice must be obeyed.You have gone to warn the nations,
In the name of Israel's God;
You are called to bear salvation's
Joyful tidings far abroad.Now the Gospel proclamation
Must be sounded far and near,
That the best of every nation
May in Zion's courts appear.In the spirit of devotion
To Messiah's glorious Cause,
You have crossed the pathless ocean,
To proclaim Redemption's laws.You are now a standard bearer
On a distant mountain top,
And perchance ofttimes a sharer
In privation's bitter cup.God designs to try and prove you,
If you will His voice obey;
Therefore from your friends who love you,
You are parted far away.You are called yourself to sever
From the land where kindred dwell;
But it will not be forever—
Time will surely break the spell.Here warm friends await your greeting—
Noble friends of Abra'm's line:
Here are gentle pulses beating
In soft unison with thine.Here are daily prayers ascending
For the appointed hour to come;
When your mission nobly ending,
We shall bid you "Welcome home."Nauvoo, Jan., 1841. E. R. Snow.