My mother also is one of the noblest and the best of all women. May God grant to prolong her days and mine, that we may live to enjoy each other's society long, yet in the enjoyments of liberty, and to breathe the free air. [Sidenote: The Prophet's Description of his Brother Alvin.] Alvin, my oldest brother--I remember well the pangs of sorrow that swelled my youthful bosom and almost burst my tender heart when he died. He was the oldest and the noblest of my father's family. He was one of the noblest of the sons of men. Shall his name not be remembered in this book? Yes, Alvin, let it be had here and be handed down on these sacred pages for ever and ever. In him there was no guile. He lived without {127} spot from the time he was a child. From the time of his birth he never knew mirth. He was candid and sober and never would play; and minded his father and mother in toiling all day. He was one of the soberest of men, and when he died the angel of the Lord visited him in his last moments. These childish lines I record in remembrance of my childish scenes. [Sidenote: The Character of Don Carlos.] My brother Don Carlos Smith, whose name I desire to record, also was a noble boy; I never knew of any fault in him; I never saw the first immoral act, or the first irreligious or ignoble disposition in the child from the time that he was born till the time of his death. He was a lovely, a good-natured, a kind-hearted and a virtuous and a faithful, upright child; and where his soul goes, let mine go also. He lies by the side of my father. Let my father, Don Carlos and Alvin and children that I have buried be brought and laid in the tomb I have built. Let my mother and my brethren and my sister be laid there also; and let it be called the tomb of Joseph, a descendant of Jacob; and when I die let me be gathered to the tomb of my father. [Sidenote: The Prophet's Prayer.] There are many souls whom I have loved stronger than death. To them I have proved faithful--to them I am determined to prove faithful, until God calls me to resign up my breath. O Thou, who seest and knowest the hearts of all men--Thou eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Jehovah--God--Thou Eloheim, that sittest, as saith the Psalmist, "enthroned in heaven," look down upon Thy servant Joseph at this time; and let faith on the name of Thy Son Jesus Christ, to a greater degree than Thy servant ever yet has enjoyed, be conferred upon him, even the faith of Elijah; and let the lamp of eternal life be lit up in his heart, never to be taken away; and let the words of eternal life be poured upon the soul of Thy servant, that he may know {128} Thy will, Thy statutes, and Thy commandments, and Thy judgments, to do them.