FAREWELL
ADDRESS OF ELDER ELIEZER
EDWARDS.
THE time has come for me to leave
the land of my birth, of my own free will, in obedience to the commandment of
God, namely “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins
(Babylon), and that ye receive not of her plagues,” to go to Zion. “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion,
on the sides of the north” (from Jerusalem).
In “the land of Joseph,” in the midst of the everlasting hills,” in the depths
of the distant west, is where great Zion of the last days will be, says the
Bible; and Micah says that “in the last days it shall come to pass, that the
mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow unto
it, and many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach
us of his ways, and we shall walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of
Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Remember that Zion has obeyed the commandment, “O Zion,
that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high
mountain,” so that it may be able to prepare a house to the Lord, in the top of
the mountains, as a place to which the peoples may gather. Isaiah says that
there would be “ships” as a means of “bringing the sons of Zion from far, and their silver also, and
their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God.” It is in a ship I
shall go, in the midst of over 300 dear brothers and sisters; and we shall sail
toward Zion; and we shall go in happiness and beauty, as the prophet foretold
precisely about us, “And the redeemed of the Lord will come with songs of
everlasting joy upon their head;” “they shall obtain gladness and joy; and
sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” May
[p. 65]
the Lord
prosper us to reach the end of our journey in safety, so we may build the
kingdom of God more than ever.
By
the goodness of the Lord, I had the privilege of preaching the gospel in the
fullness of its blessings, as it was restored to Joseph, the great seer of the
last days, for more than eight years, along the south and north of Wales.
I preached the gospel at my own expense for a time; I preached the gospel also at
the expense of the world, by going into their midst without purse or scrip, in
the name of the Lord, to tell them that God had established his kingdom on the
earth for the last time in this age, through the ministering of angels, and by
his voice from heaven, and through the spirit of prophecy, namely the Holy
Ghost, which those who believe, and repent, and are baptized for the remission
of their sins, and receive the laying on of hands of the elders, will obtain;
and then he will be able to participate in the spiritual gifts. All who have
obeyed with their whole heart the teachings of the Saints, in response to their
prayers, have obtained assurance for themselves, from the Lord, through
receiving the gifts of the Holy Ghost, that their work in joining with the
Latter-day Saints is approved by the Creator; and all will obtain the same
certainty upon their obedience to the religion of the Saints with their whole
heart. I know in truth and soberness, through receiving the Holy Ghost in
response to my prayers, that the only church of the living God on the earth, is
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; therefore, may all obey the
teachings of the Saints, so they may prepare themselves to meet the second
coming of the Son of Man. The nations and their kings will see the sings of his
coming, but they will be deceived and blinded by their wise men and their
learned ones, that the events are the signs of Christ’s coming. O ye,
inhabitants of the earth, remember that it is the work of your wise men, and your
priests, and your preachers, who tell you that, “Peace and safety,” are one of
the signs of Christ’s second coming. This generation shall not pass away until
Jesus is seen coming on the clouds of heaven (upon the disobedient nations,
like labor pains on one who is pregnant), in glory, “with his mighty angels, in
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Let all remember that the Latter-day Saints
will not be annihilated from off the earth, but they will increase more and
more, until they fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord;
[p. 66]
for God has
said that through the mouth of his ancient prophets, and He has repeated it
from heaven in this age. Therefore, peoples of the earth, consider what you are
doing, lest you are found fighting against God.
I
have preached the gospel at the expense of the Saints, to the Saints and to the
world; and because I have followed the counsel that was given me, the Lord has
prospered me in all things. I shall never forget the great kindness I have
received from the dear Saints, and from lovely friends; I shall pray for you in
the high places of Zion.
I
wish for everyone in the priesthood to flee from evil, and be an influence on
one another, and lift one another up, not in each other’s presence, rather in
each other’s absence. He who wishes to be lifted up,
let him let up his brother; and let no one think that he will lose his own
influence, by giving influence to his brethren. He who
lowers himself, shall be lifted up; and he who lifts himself up, shall be
brought down.
Let
all listen to the voice of his president in the true priesthood, especially to
the President of the Welsh Conferences and his counselors; follow their counsel
in the face of all things, and the Lord will prosper you spiritually and
temporally, in his own good time.
Dear
Saints, be eager to follow all the counsel given you by the true priesthood; do
your best to roll forth the work of God, in the midst of all distress and poverty,
and you will be delivered from Babylon in the good time of our God, and may you
be rewarded an hundredfold in this world, and with eternal life in the world to
come, if you continue faithful to the end.
Dear
Saints and friends, farewell to you now,
I
am going to sail across the great ocean,
To
go to Zion,
where my God says,
The
righteous will be kept safely alive.
O
farewell, I go, expecting some day,
To see you in Zion
as a family together.
Dear
Saints and friends, I bid you a hearty farewell,
O
follow the counsels you have been given;
And
diligently perform your duty always,
And
come to Zion in
great hosts;
O
farewell, I go, expecting some day,
To see you in Zion
as a family together.
Yours
in Christ,
Liverpool, Feb. 9, 1852. ELIEZER EDWARDS.
[Translated from the Welsh original
in Zion’s
Trumpet, vol. 4, 1852, p. 64-66, by Ron Dennis]
LETTER TO PRESIDENT W. S. PHILLIPS.
Winter Quarters, July 8, 1852.
DEAR BROTHER PHILLIPS,—I am now
watching over animals, along the location of the town of Winter Quarters. There is no one who lives
here, neither is there a house left standing; just the old remains of a forest
fire; here and there the pasture nearly covers everything. In some future time
the name of this town will be mentioned to the eternal scorn and shame of the
United States of America, because about 700 of my dear brothers and sisters
died here in a short time, and children constituted the majority of them,
because they were driven to the frigid desert, from Nauvoo, without cause,
except for their religion, by the bloodthirsty sectarians of the States.
The
camp I belong to is far ahead by this time, namely the thirteenth. A few of the
old enemies of the Saints in Missouri, and other places, furious with
indignation at the Saints, because the President of the United States elevates
some of the Saints to be high civil officers now and again, despite the lies
that are told and published about the Saints. Because the enemies of the Saints
failed to raise up a party to persecute them without cause, they are
threatening to go across the Missouri river to
the land of the Indians, to do harm to brother E. T. Benson and others,
supposing that they could do that easily, because brother Benson is staying
until the last, before going toward Salt Lake; thus he would be without anyone
to assist him, for all the Saints have gone on before him. Lest they take the
initiative to harm someone, from 3 to 5 men from several companies were
counseled to wait until the last ones have come across the Missouri
river; that is the reason that I am here. We have horses, which we
will drive and then rejoin our various companies, before they have gone 500
miles. The last of the Saints for this season will cross the river tomorrow;
the Apostles O. Hyde, J. Taylor, E. T. Benson, E. Snow, and F. D. Richards, are
on both sides of the river at
[p. 291]
present.
All are healthy and happy, and we will get underway before the end of this
week. Ten thousand Saints are going toward Salt
Lake this year, taking with them one
thousand oxen and cattle, one-and-a-half thousand wagons, ten thousand sheep, a
thousand horses and mules; there are thousands of those who started toward California and Oregon,
who intend to go to live among the Saints. Everything is going forward
extremely well in this country with regard to the Saints; it is a noble country: the glory be to God. Everything is going forward especially well in Salt Lake,
&c.
It
is much easier to say in Wales,
“Why do they not write back from America,” than it is to write to
the old country after coming here, for lack of time, because one is busy doing
one thing or the other nearly all the time on his journey. I shall send for
you, boys of North Wales, from Salt
Lake; be patient, all is well. Work the gospel forward
with all your might. I am healthy and my heart is happy, thanks be to God. My regards to all of you, and
the same to the sisters. I do not have anything of importance to tell
you further; the Saints are in very good unity here, and may the Saints in Wales
remember to be at one with the Priesthood, and God will prosper you in all good
things.
My
best regards to you, dear Brother, and to your Counselors, and your families,
and all the Saints. O hasten, hasten all to come to Zion quickly as counseled.
I am yours
in great haste,
ELIEZER EDWARDS.
[Translated from the Welsh original
in Zion’s
Trumpet, vol. 4, 1852, p. 290-91, by Ron Dennis]
