July 10, 1878. I received a letter from my Brother Franklin giving an account of the death of his son David. He was a lovable boy. I wrote:
"Let me rest, for I am weary; tell the children to keep
still—
Soon I'll pass the trackless prairie, and will stand on
Zion's hill,
O, how hard to some the journey! but to me 'tis peace
and joy,
Truth and purity bring favor, and I've been a faithful
boy.
Saying thus, he turned him over, gently sank in peaceful
rest;
Who can doubt that now in glory, David liveth with the
blest.
O how happy was the passing o'er the desert we call
death,
Like a ship with fair wind sailing to the Saints' Haven
of rest."To a land of fruit and flowers, where pure fountains ever
flow,
Where the gentle summer showers cause life-giving food
to grow,
And we'll find celestial order in that land of fruit and
vines—
Fathers,' mothers, brothers, sisters, 'tis so sacred and
divine.
Here we are but few in number; there we'll meet a countless
throng,
And we'll smile, and ask in wonder, how we tarried here
so long."Then we'll see the hidden wisdom of concealing from our
view,
Light and knowledge, and the vision of our home where
all is new.
May we all have strength to follow, in this happy painless
way;
Short the struggle and the sorrow when we leave this
house of clay;
With our kindred dear to bless us, all the loved ones
gathered round,
Angels also near to lead us, to the home where Christ is
found."
I passed Sunday, July 14th, at Satchel. From my journal:
"Today we had a most excellent meeting. I had the privilege of giving my testimony to several intelligent strangers. I trust I am sowing seed that will bring a harvest of souls to some future reaper. On July 16th. I walked to Bosham. My health is poor. I wrote as follows:
"Elder E. M. Webb, Dear Brother: In answer to yours will say, we are having a fine summer, warm and clear; crops look well, and the oats and barley harvest has commenced. Wheat is also looking golden and ripe. Potato blight is not quite so bad as last year.
"Before this reaches you, you will have learned that peace has crowned the efforts of the Berlin conference, and the Russian-Turks war is ended. Russia acquires Batoum and considerable adjoining territory of importance to her, as it opens the way for her to make further advance into eastern Persia and Egypt. To offset this, England, to the surprise of all Europe, has secured by purchase and secret treaty, at the very time of the convening of the peace congress, the island of Cypress, said to be the key to the highway leading into the rich agricultural districts of the Nile; and also the overland road to her extensive East India Empire.
"I am not a political man, but in my opinion, England has got the lion's share. Her gold, and Disraeli's diplomacy have given her the victory. Russia submits with a deep low growl! Austria gets a nice bone, sweeter than she expected; while France, snubbed and defied, is loud in her expressions of discontent and indignation. Earl Beaconsfield has covered himself with present glory, while Gladstone is no longer glad—the stone of disappointment lying heavy on his heart. When I came to England, the masses spoke of him as the people's "Will;" now they call him "the discarded Bill."
"Strange such a difference there should be,
'Twixt tweedledum and tweedledee."
This is the result, and fortune of politics. In all nations, so far as I have seen, are restless spirits who must be active. If assailed by outside enemies, these restless cusses will unite in the common defense; but overcome outward pressure, and they will turn round and sow division, just for the pure love of the thing.
"England is a grand nation; and her laws are administered impartially in harmony with the moral tone of the nation. This gives her strength and durability; but the life-destroying doctrines of Bradlaugh, falsely called the philosophy of life, are slowly but surely, sapping her strength and durability. Class distinction is also a great evil. The hereditary aristocrat fears the tiller of the soil, and does all in his power to perpetuate his poverty; which means weakness to the nation, begetting as it does, jealousy and hate; while the wage earner, true to the law of fallen humanity, returns hate for hate; steals and defrauds whenever he can, and smiles as he thinks of a day of change when he will break the neck of the proud man, and scatter his wealth as the sower scatters the grain in fresh-plowed fields.