His wife Sophia mentioned in the foregoing letter, who was suffering from the effects of a paralytic stroke at the time it was written, died on the 27th of February following. During her distressing illness he could not visit her; nor yet when the last sad rites that men performed for the dead were held over her remains could he be present to look upon the face of this loving and faithful wife. During her illness her house was closely watched by spies, and even while she was dying it was searched in hopes of finding him. Though his heart was torn with anguish under these trying circumstances, he bowed to the hard conditions with that Christian fortitude which had been characteristic of him all his life. When President Taylor retired from public view on the evening of the 1st of February, 1885, it was not out of any consideration for his personal safety, or ease or comfort, but for the public good and in the interests of peace. There can be no question but that there was a cunningly devised plan on the part of the assailants of the Church to involve the Saints in difficulty with the government, to provoke them to acts of violence against the alleged execution of the law, that a pretext might be found for their destruction or expulsion from the land they had redeemed from the desert. What meant, else, that unwarranted invasion of the homes of the people? What meant this inhuman hounding of men so highly honored in the community? What meant this reign of terror in which laws were perverted, time-honored precedents overturned, and nearly all the rules of jurisprudence ignored? What meant the repeated efforts to engage the military power in the settlement of Utah affairs if violence was not contemplated? That a pre-text for violence was eagerly sought is clearly seen in the following: On the 4th of July, 1885, the United States flag was raised at half-mast at the City Hall, in Salt Lake City, and over some other buildings, among them, Z. C. M. I., _Deseret News_ Office and Tabernacle. This action was designed to express sorrow at the subversion of those principles of religious and civil liberty in our Territory for which the founders of our government had fought and died. This act was construed to be an insult to the flag, and to portend treason and rebellion. The wildest excitement prevailed; and threats of violence were indulged in by the enemies of the Saints.