In the progress of his development, his ambition strongly led in the direction of military distinction, so much so, that, watching with a sisterly, jealous eye, the steps one by one, by which he gained promotion in the military road to honor, I feared lest in the course of human events his path might lead to the battle field, and his earthly career prematurely close on a gory bed. I frequently plead, entreated, and at times exhausted my stock of persuasion, but without effect. At length he must have a first class military suit, and no one could make it so precisely to his liking as his sister; she had made his "freedom suit" (at the time referred to he had passed his twenty-first year), which every one admired--it fitted him exactly, and now this most important of all mortal habiliments should be entrusted to no other. I made the suit--it was beautiful, magnificent, and my brother donned it with as much, if not of military pride, of self-satisfaction as ever Napoleon won a battle, but it proved of short duration, for he soon felt that his ambition could not be satisfied without a collegiate education. Determined on this, he laid his military ambition on the altar, disposed of his paternal inheritance, and started for Oberlin. His classical purpose was very satisfactory to my views--forming a permanent quietus to my imaginary forebodings. On his way to Oberlin, my brother accidentally fell in company with David W. Patten, an incident to which he frequently refers as one of those seemingly trivial occurrences in human life which leave an indelible trace. This gentleman was an early champion of the fulness of the Gospel as taught by Jesus and His Apostles in the meridian of time, and revealed in our own day through the Prophet Joseph Smith; to which cause Elder Patten fell a martyr on the 24th of October, 1838, in Missouri, during the terrible scenes of persecution through which the Latter-day Saints passed in that State. He possessed a mind of deep thought and rich intelligence. In conversation with him, my brother was much impressed with the depth and beauty of the philosophical reasoning with which this inspired Elder seemed perfectly familiar, as he descanted on the condition of the human family in connection with the sayings of the ancient Prophets, as recorded in the Scriptures--the dealings with, and the purposes of God in relation to His children on the earth. From that time a new field, with a new train of reflections, was open to my brother's mind, the impress of which has never been erased. We will now leave the subject of these sketches, in Oberlin, clubbed with three or four of his classmates, alternately cooking their meals and pursuing their studies with combined energies, while we digress in order to form a connecting link in our narrative.