With pleasure I leave the historical part of my letter, to touch a softer note, and give vent to the feelings of my heart.

I hope and trust that the cause which you so fearlessly advocate, is rolling forth in , with that firm and steady motion which characterizes the work of Jehovah. The enemies which we are forced to encounter are numerous, strong, shrewd and cunning. Their leader transfuses into them his own spirit, and brings them into close alliance with the numerous hosts of precious immortals who have been earlier taken captives by the haughty Tyrant, and sacrificed upon the altar of iniquity, transgression and sin. May it please our Father in Heaven to throw around thee his protecting arms,—to place beneath thee Almighty strength, ever buoy thy head above the raging waves of tribulation through which the chart of destiny has evidently marked thy course. Happy in the enjoyment of the distinguished consideration with which Heaven’s favor, alone, has endowed me. of bearing, with you, some humble part in laying the foundation of the glorious kingdom of Mesiah which is destined, in its onward course, to break in pieces and destroy all others and stand forever.

The friendship and good-will which are breathed towards me through all your letters, are received as the legacy which noble minds and generous hearts are ever anxious to bequeath. They soften the hard and rugged path in which Heaven has directed my course. They are buoyancy in depression,—joy in sorrow; and when the dark clouds of desponding hope are gathering thick around the mental horizon, like a kind angel from the fountain of mercy, they dispel the gloom, dry the tear of sorrow, and pour humanitie’s healing balm into my grieved and sorrowful heart. Be assured, therefore, Bro. Joseph, that effusions from the altar of a greatful heart are smoking to Heaven, daily, in thy behalf; and not only in thine, but in behalf of all Zion’s suffering sons and daughters whose generous magnanimity will ever environ and adorn the brow of the object of their compassion. Tho’ now far separated from you; and also from her who, with me, has suffered the chilling blasts of adversity, yet hope lingers in this bosom, brightened almost into certainty by the implicit confidence reposed in the virtue of that call which was borne on the gentle breeze of the spirit of God through the dark shades of midnight gloom, ’till it found a mansion in my anxious and enquiring heart, that my feet shall once more press the American soil; and under the shade of her streaming banner, embrace again the friends I love.

I never knew that I was, in reality, an American, until I walked out one fine morning in along the wharf, where many ships lay in the waters of the Rhine: Suddenly my eye caught a broad pendant floating in a gentle breeze over the stern of a fine ship at half-mizzen-mast; and when I saw the wide-spread Eagle perched on her banner, with the stripes and stars under which our fathers were led on to conquest and victory, my heart leaped into my mouth, a flood of tears burst from my eyes, and before reflection could mature a sentence, my mouth, involuntarily, gave birth to these words, “I am an American!”

To see the flag of one’s country in a strange land, and floating upon strange waters, produces feelings which none can know except those who experience them. I can now say that I am an American. While at home, the warmth and fire of the American spirit lay in silent [p. 572]