He baptized some sixteen or seventeen of the farmers, and many more were believing. He ordained two elders and some teachers, &c., gave them instructions how to watch over and teach the company, and baptize others that should desire it. This he finished on the 7th inst., and preached the same evening at 5 o'clock p.m., in the woods just out of town. Having preached there once before, it had been noised abroad, and the grove was full of priests and people; the former, however, together with the marshal, were secreted behind trees and rocks.
He preached and bore testimony of the word with power, and many were pricked in their hearts. After he had closed and dismissed, the marshal, with the priests and police, arrested him, variously insulted him, marched him through the town, and proclaimed "the dipper," &c., and arraigned him before the governor of the city, and all the priests. Having an American passport he was sent to Stockholm. The king was not at home; neither the American charge-d'affairs. He was had several times before the courts in Stockholm, and when the American CHARGE came home on the 12th, he, with the judges, police, and all hands, tried to persuade him to quit his preaching; but he told them, the will of the Lord should be his will. He adds in a postscript, that they had concluded to send him out of the country; but he had not learned how they would send him. He further adds, that he should preach there by invitation the next eve. I immediately wrote to him, not to leave till he was obliged, and then to ordain such as were worthy, and come to Denmark.
Dear Brethren, Elders Dykes, Hanson, and myself unitedly greet you and the saints of God, with warm emotions of brotherly love; and we pray our Father in heaven, that we may be preserved to rejoice together again in the flesh.
Yours truly and affectionately,
ERASTUS SNOW.
P. S. Aug. 20.—We have baptized thirty four persons, and more are ready. A very scurrilous letter about the Mormons, from America, has just appeared in a Copenhagen paper translated from a French paper. It is the first of the kind that has appeared.
E. S.
EXTRACT FROM THE PRIVATE JOURNAL OF E. SNOW.
After hearing of the arrest and treatment of Brother Forssgren in Sweden, I wrote to him to come over to Denmark and labour with us. A few days after I felt much anxiety for his safety; and fearing lest the Swedish government should either put him in close confinement, or smuggle him away privately to the United States, we unitedly prayed that he might be delivered and come to us in safety. I went to bed, and dreamed of seeing him in water up to his arms, and held by a man whom I understood to be an officer. I thought he was anxious to come to where I stood on the shore. The officer seemed waiting for the decision of his superiors, whom I saw with a crowd at a distance. He received his orders, but I could not understand them. Brother Forssgren was immediately released, and pressed hard through the water to come to me; but, before he got out of reach, the officer thrust his hand quickly under the water behind, and caught his leg or garment, and pulled his feet from under him, which dipped his head under water. I saw his perilous situation, but could not render him any assistance. Another man, of a kind expression of countenance, stood near them, to whom Brother Forssgren called with an agonizing voice for help. He went and raised his head out of the water, and made the officer let him go. He started again to come to me, and I awoke. September 18th, Brother Forssgren arrived in Copenhagen and related his story, which explained my dream. It runs as follows:—After being examined and bearing testimony before the authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, in Geffle and Stockholm, he was held as a prisoner at large in the latter place, not being permitted to preach or to leave town; but the newspapers published accounts of his doings and sayings, and his whereabouts in Stockholm, and the result was that many people flocked to see him, both from town and country. He was invited to visit among them, and to their mechanic club meetings. Thus he instructed many in private, and made many warm friends; and, as some began to desire baptism, the police took him by night and put him on board an American vessel, which was ready to start for New York; paid his passage, and requested the captain to see that he did not land until he reached New York. But Elder Forssgren soon won the friendship of the captain; and when they arrived at Elsinore, where the vessel called to pay toll, the captain landed him on Danish ground. Very soon after landing he was arrested by the Danish police, at the instigation of the Swedish consul of that place, and was about to be re-shipped for New York.
He now ascertained that the Swedish authorities at Stockholm, fearing that he might land in Denmark and recross the sound into another part of Sweden, had sent despatches to their consul at Elsinore (the only place where the vessel would stop,) describing him and the vessel, and directing the consul to see that he was shipped to New York. He produced his American passport, and claimed the protection of the Hon. Walter Forward, American minister to Denmark, who had just landed in that place from Copenhagen.