S.S. Minnesota, near Queenstown, August 10, 1871.President Albert Carrington.
Dear Brother-- Being released from my mission to return home, I feel an unspeakable pleasure, having fulfilled my calling, or at least having set my [p.522] hand to nothing except with a desire to do good as fat as my ability would permit. It is not that I feel a pleasure in leaving behind me my brethren and sisters in the Church, for I feel deeply attached to the Saints among whom I have been laboring, by whom, as a rule, I have been treated with much kindness. Those who are faithful will, I know, follow me in the due time of the Lord to the land of Zion, there to partake of the blessings in store for them. There are some few, I must own, who have not the spirit of gathering burning within them as brightly as I could wish; I am sorry for such, well knowing the blessings they loose by not being willing to make a few sacrifices and a little extra effort to free themselves from the thralldom of Babylon.
On board ship we are progressing finely this morning; the air is cool, and there is but little seasickness yet among the Saints.
Before closing, permit me to return my thanks to yourself and President Eldredge for your kind advice and favors, and to the Saints of the Chelthenham Conference for the kind feelings they have manifested towards me.
May the Lord bless and qualify you for your high and holy calling, is the prayer of your good friend and brother in the gospel covenant,
Stephen H. Taylor. [p.523]
BIB: Taylor, Stephen H. [Letter], Latter-day Saints Millennial
Star. 33:33 (August 15, 1871) pp. 522-23. (CHL)
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