Letter from William Appleby, circa March 1842

Dear Brother:—It is with feelings of no ordinary kind, that I take my pen in hand, (aside from the bustle and cares of life) to communicate to you, thou servant and prophet of the most high, the pleasing and no doubt cheering intelligence of what the Lord of glory is doing in this part of the vineyard. When I take a retrospective view of the rise of the “Church of Christ” in these last days, and reflect what scenes of persecutions, trials, distress, and bloodshed, the saints of God have been called upon to undergo, for the testimony of Jesus and his holy word; and especially when I think of you, (the trials you have endured, the tribulations you have waded through, the cold damp prisons you have lain in, the galling chains you have been loaded with, the fetters, and bands of iron that have encompassed your limbs, and all for the sake of eternal truth,) I am ready to exclaim, how long Oh! just, righteous, and eternal Father wilt thou suffer thy prophet and seer, to be persecuted, his life sought after, his name and character villified, traduced, calumniated, falsified and slandered, by wicked and designing men; the emmisaries of Satan, but a soft still sweet voice whispers, “my grace is all sufficient for him;” he is under my protecting care, and no power of hell and earth combined shall ever be able to overcome him if he is faithful. (“They that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”) And I pray my Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus, that you may be kept faithful unto the end, and may the saints by their faith and prayers always hold you up before our heavenly King, that you may never fall, though your path should be continually beset with the “fowler’s snare;” though you should be called upon to undergo more trials, perplexities, griefs, sorrows, disappointments, tribulations and afflictions; and at last seal your testimony with the effusions of your own blood; for the glorious, triumphant and eternal truth that God has made you an instrument in revealing to the children of men. May you never falter, but meet it all with a triumphant smile, obtain the victory over all your enemies; death, hell, and the grave;—fall asleep in the arms of Jesus;—and receive the crown, which thus far you have so nobly and gallantly contended and fought for like a true soldier of the cross, and follower of the Lamb; even when death (with all its appalling forms) stared you in the face, it found you true, and immovable to the glorious—inspiring—heaven born truths that have been revealed to you; and which I your humble servant and brother in the bonds of the everlasting covenant am rejoicing in. May Israel’s God protect you, and his church, [p. 777]