The days are short and the nights are long, The houses are cold as a Yankee's barn-- The smoky chimneys, and open doors Are nicely matched by damp stone floors. Kindle the fire, but it will not blaze Unless you open the door a ways. Shut the door, and the crack above Is broader than a Christian's love; Or, if tight above, then the gap below Is as wide as the hole where sinners go. Turn it over, twist it around. It is all the same, whether up or down-- A rainy, smoky, foggy England. Saturday, December 8th, we returned to Cheltenham and remained a week, visiting among the people. I wrote: "Mrs. M. A. Tippetts, Dear Sister: Your kind letters and view cards are safe in hand. I thank you for them. Yesterday we mailed a 'Voice of Warning' to your uncle. It is as you say, a most excellent book for circulation, and I hope in this case it will do good. We are much pleased to see the faith you manifest in your works and words. May the Father bless you, and make you a savior to your husband and your dear children. "The Latter-day Saints--and they alone, as far as I have seen--feel today as the people of God in days of old felt, when men were blessed with visions and visitations of angels, and often held communion with God Himself. See the blessing on the head of Rebecca,--Gen. 24:60; also Rachel's desires as recorded in Gen. 30; also Hannah's thanksgivings, Samuel 1-2 chapters. These are the feelings that inspire the hearts of the Latter-day Saints; feelings which give strength to our sisters to share with each other the protection and affection of a worthy husband; and which inspire our brethren to assume the responsibilities of providing for large families, to the end that virtue may be sustained, and every woman enjoy the blessing of motherhood, without committing sin. "A person must be a fool who cannot see that it requires more toil and care to support two families than it does to support one. Hence, if the Saints were wicked and sensual, as the world say they are, they would seek pleasure where it could be purchased most cheaply, as men of the world do. But the principles of the Gospel, including celestial marriage, lead to a purity of life, that those who know not God are strangers to. "I hope your husband will continue to read my letters. They are poorly written, which I cannot help; but they speak the truth. They are not the emanations of a person paid for his labor. I am not working for 'bread and butter.' The little education I have was acquired in the midst of severe toil--often acquired while lying on the ground by the camp fire. Those who love the truth, however, will pass these imperfections by, and rejoice in the testimonies of God's humble servants; and realize that their words, like the holy scriptures, bear the impress of the spirit of Jehovah upon them."