My people, the flowers, are very devout. We love bright colors and sunshine, and some might esteem us frivolous; yet we try ever to do the things that please the Father. That is a part of our mission, to show people that beauty and religion can go together, that piety does not mean melancholy, drab colors, tears, and doleful sighing. We come out bright and cheerful after every cloudy day; we crowd the snowbanks hard; we smile up at beggars and millionaires alike; we perfume the hand that bruises us; we extract the brightest colors from the blackest soil.

Many years ago we all loved the sunshine, as we do now, and there was great rivalry to crowd the sunny days of June; but some of us came to see that this was selfish, that we ought to come in relays and occupy every hour of the spring, summer, and autumn, so that the earth might always be beautiful for the great Father to look upon. The stars declare the glory of God, the winds whisper it, men preach it and more rarely show it in their lives, and we felt that the flowers ought to be constantly on duty to declare the beautiful character of the one who dreamed them into life.

At first no one wanted to come out in the chilly spring months; but presently one by one we volunteered until we had a brave and

bright company. Soon you will see us, this very spring, snowdrop crocus, tulip, hyacinth, jonquil, and many others, do not forget our message.

At first we were a little sad-faced, and jealous of the roses that still clung to balmy June; but one bright day our Master stooped down and whispered, "It is yours to come in the springtime when the long and dreary winter is ended. Now are you become the first-fruits of them that slept; you are the messengers and advocates of the resurrection." Since that day we have been very happy, and we go into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature. I remain yours in bonds of love,

JOHN QUILL.

LETTERS FROM THE PAST.-PART III.

BY ALVIN KNISLEY.

THE BOOK OF MORMON. THE THREE WITNESSES. THE RISE OF THE CHURCH IN THESE LAST DAYS.

DEAR MOTHER:

MANCHESTER, New York, November 4, 1826.

OY WILL observe by my heading that I have carried out my anticipations made known to you some months ago in my note inclosed in the box of presents and souvenir I sent you with our returning countryman, Mr. Meaford. I have received your letter in the most grateful acknowledgment of the same, and I am not a little exulted to know that in

MARTIN HARRIS.

Who was one of the three especial wit

nesses.

months steal away. It is

Of

my selections for the younger ones I anticipated their preferences. course I suspect their appreciation was due in greater measure to the fact that they came from me than their intrinsic worth; for really I was not pecuniarily suited in my condition at the time to invest as lavishly as my heart could wish.

Yes, mother, I have left Palmyra after two successive crop-failings, and have located temporarily in the village of Manchester, a name familiar to every Englishman. My employment since I came here has been a dabbling into a little of everything-whatever I can get work at. I think there is a way in which I can make money much faster than farming. I have something in view, two or three schemes, one of which I am expectant of executing before many not a mania I cherish for richness.

If I possessed exhaustless treasures I could only eat and drink so much, only wear so much. It is not that I might be able to wear better clothes than my neighbor, or to subsist on more delicate viands, on more dainty foods. No, indeed. For on my trip to New York some months since, I saw some povertystricken people, some of whom were citizens, and some some were immigrants who had just landed on the wharf. It seemed that I was stung by my visions more than by anything I ever beheld in Liverpool, possibly because my sensibilities have been sharpened by the change of environment, my long isolation from home. Forsooth, I felt ashamed to stand aside of some of them with good clothes on. My consciousness of their hunger made my victuals taste like leaves. Oh, man's inhumanity to man! If the new religion does come, about which I have been so uncommonly aroused, I hope there will be something in it having an application to the financial relations of mankind, the tendency of which will be to level, to promote equality in temporal things. People forget that they are but stewards, permitted users of what God owns.

I presume you pay more attention to the politics of this country since I am here. You doubtless read of the Missouri Compromise of Henry Clay and other great statesman, and their achievements on this side the waters, two of whom, Adams and Jefferson, both died on the 4th of July last, the anniversary of the Declaration. We look upon it as quite a coincidence.

Mother, I want to acquire money enough to bring you all out here, or so that I can frequently come where you are. How I thought of home, and what waves of emotion came and went, oft suffusing my face with tears, as I scanned the mighty ocean once more, while at New York, and heard its familiar roar.

There have been no very striking changes in relation to Mr. Smith and his visions since the incident of September 21, 1823, which I described to you in a former letter. I see him occasionally in the town, as also his father and others of the family. I have spoken to several of them on the theme, and I observe that they all entertain an unbounded credence for their brother. Occasion permitting, I one day a few weeks ago approached Joseph to see if he were still firm to his averment made to me so solemnly some three years ago. I found him, even as I expected, still devoted to his testimony. Moreover, he declares that he will have the plates in his possession when the time is ripe, and they will outline the history of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He professes that the plates will contain many great and wonderful things with reference to the church and kingdom of God; many things which have not come down to us through the ignorant and superstitious intricacies of the ages.

One curiosity which could not fail to arrest your attention if you came out here, is the presence of so many tribes of wild Indians. These dusky-skinned peoples exist in teeming thousands, and though divided into tribes, they are doubtless of one origin. But