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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 50302 ***
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+THE RISE AND FALL OF NAUVOO.
+
+
+BY ELDER B. H. ROBERTS,
+
+
+AUTHOR OF "OUTLINES OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY," "A NEW WITNESS FOR GOD,"
+"THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS," "THE GOSPEL," "SUCCESSION
+IN THE PRESIDENCY," ETC.
+
+
+SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH:
+THE DESERET NEWS, PUBLISHERS.
+1900.
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+THE RISE AND FALL OF NAUVOO is a companion volume and stands in
+historical sequence to "The Missouri Persecutions." It was written with
+the same object in view, _viz._, "To place in the hands of the youth of
+the Latter-day Saints a full statement of the persecutions endured by
+the early members of The Church in this last dispensation; * * * that
+they may be made acquainted with the sacrifices which their fathers
+have made for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ." And
+I indulge the same hope with reference to this book that I did with
+respect to "The Missouri Persecutions," _viz._, that by "becoming
+acquainted with the story of the sufferings of the early Saints,
+the faith of the Gospel will become all the more dear to the hearts
+of their immediate posterity, and all the youth of Zion, for many
+generations to come." [1]
+
+THE AUTHOR.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. See Preface to "The Missouri Persecutions."
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Nauvoo
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+The Reception of the Exiles in Illinois
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Commerce-Land Purchases
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+"As Flies in the Ointment"
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Political Agitation
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+A Day of God's Power
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Departure of the Twelve for England
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+The "Times and Seasons"
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+An Appeal to the General Government for Redress of Grievances
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+Orson Hyde's Mission to Jerusalem
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Death's Harvest in Nauvoo--Return of Prodigals
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+John C. Bennett
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Renewal of Hostilities by Missouri
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Founding a City
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+The Nauvoo Legion
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+Reconstruction of Quorums--the Nauvoo House and the Temple
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+The Conference of April 6th, 1841
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+Prophet's Trial at Monmouth
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Events of the Summer of 1841
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+Introduction of the New Marriage System
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+Camp Followers--Bankruptcy
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+Suspicions of Treachery
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Attempted Assassination of Governor Boggs
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+The Prophet's Trial at Springfield--Missouri Again Thwarted
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+Incidents of the Trial and Acquittal
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+Doctrinal Development at Nauvoo--Interpretation of the Scriptures
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+Doctrinal Development at Nauvoo--the Kingdom of God and the Resurrection
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+Doctrinal Development--Prophecies
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+Doctrinal Development at Nauvoo--of the Being and Nature of God
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+Doctrinal Development at Nauvoo--Miscellaneous Items
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+The Prophet Arrested on Missouri's old Charge
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+Minor Matters in the New Move Against the Prophet
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+Political Perplexities--Joseph Smith a Candidate for President of the
+United States
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+The Projected Movement to the West
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+The Standard of Peace
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+"In Peril Among False Brethren"
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+Compliance with the Demands of Governor Ford
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+The Martyrdom
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+Confusion--Choosing a Leader
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+The Trial of the Murderers
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+The Exodus--the Fall of Nauvoo
+
+APPENDIX I.
+
+Correspondence Between Joseph Smith and John C. CALHOUN
+
+APPENDIX II.
+
+Clay's Letter to Joseph Smith and the Latter's Reply
+
+APPENDIX III.
+
+Joseph Smith's Views of the Power and Policy of the Government of the
+United States
+
+APPENDIX IV.
+
+An Account of the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith, by President John Taylor
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+  Once in an ancient city, * * *
+  Raised aloft on a column, a brazen statue of Justice
+  Stood in the public square, upholding the scales in its left hand,
+  And in its right hand a sword, as an emblem that justice presided
+  Over the laws of the land, and the hearts and the homes of the people.
+  But in the course of time the laws of the land were corrupted;
+  Might took the place of right, and the weak were oppressed, and the mighty--
+  Ruled with an iron rod.--_Evangeline_.
+
+QUEEN ANNE'S war was brought to a close by the treaty of Utrecht, in
+1713. By this treaty the French province, Nova Scotia, was ceded by
+France to England; and, of course, the inhabitants, nearly exclusively
+French, and numbering some three thousand, became subjects of Great
+Britain. Less than half a century later, when the French and Indian
+war broke out, the French population had increased to eighteen
+thousand--outnumbering the English three to one. In fact the presence
+of the English amounted to nothing more than a military occupation of
+the peninsula. These French peasants, usually called Acadians, had
+brought under cultivation large tracts of land; owned about sixty
+thousand head of cattle; had built neat cottage homes, established
+peaceful hamlets, and lived in a state of plenty, but great simplicity.
+They were reputed to be a peaceable, industrious, and amiable race;
+governed mostly by their pastors, who exercised a paternal authority
+over them.
+
+  Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers--
+  Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free from
+  Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of republics.
+  Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their windows;
+  But their dwellings were open as day, and the hearts of their owners;
+  There the richest were poor, and the poorest lived in abundance.
+
+When the French and Indian war broke out, these people were quietly
+cultivating their farms, and manifested no warlike disposition. Still,
+the deputy governor of the province, Lawrence by name, pretended to
+fear an insurrection, should the French in Canada attempt an invasion
+of Acadia. Therefore when General Braddock met in council with the
+colonial governors at Alexandria, Lawrence urged the assembly to do
+something to overawe the French, and strengthen the English authority.
+A plan to humiliate the Acadians was decided upon, and placed in the
+hands of the infamous deputy governor, Lawrence, and Colonel Monckton
+to execute.
+
+A fleet of forty vessels with three thousand regular troops on board,
+left Boston in May, 1755, and after a successful voyage anchored in
+Chignecto Bay. Landing their troops, they besieged Fort Beau-Sejour,
+which had been erected by the French, on the isthmus connecting
+Nova Scotia with New Brunswick. After a feeble resistance the fort
+capitulated, and in less than a month, with the loss of only twenty
+men, the English had made themselves masters of the whole country. The
+inglorious campaign was ended, but the fact still existed that the
+obnoxious Acadians outnumbered the English; and the question remained
+as it was before the invasion. The deputy governor convened a council
+"to consider what disposal of the Acadians the security of the country
+required." The result of the deliberations was this: The security of
+the country required the banishment of the entire French population!
+
+Lawrence and his associates soon invented a scheme which furnished
+an excuse for carrying into effect this infamous order. An oath of
+allegiance was formulated to which the Acadians as consistent Catholics
+could not subscribe, without doing violence to their consciences. They
+refused to take the oath, but declared their loyalty to the English
+government. This they were told was insufficient. At one fell stroke
+they were adjudged guilty of treason, and the surrender of their boats
+and firearms demanded. To these acts of tyranny the Acadians submitted.
+They even offered to take the oath first required of them, but the
+deputy governor said the day of grace was past; that once having
+refused to take it, they must now endure the consequences.
+
+Their lands, houses and cattle were declared forfeited: their peaceful
+hamlets were laid waste; their houses given to the flames; the fruits
+of years of honest industry and strict economy were wantonly destroyed,
+and the people driven to the larger coast towns. In one district two
+hundred and thirty-six houses were burned to the ground at once.
+Part of the inhabitants who had escaped to the woods beheld all they
+possessed wickedly destroyed by bands of marauders, without making
+any resistance until their place of worship was wantonly set on fire.
+Exasperated by this unhallowed deed, they rushed from their hiding
+places, killed about thirty of the incendiaries, and retreated to the
+woods.
+
+To render this scheme of tyrannical banishment completely effective,
+further treachery was necessary. In each district the people were
+commanded to meet at a certain place and day on important business,
+the nature of which was carefully concealed from them, until they were
+assembled and surrounded by English troops; then the inhuman edict of
+banishment was announced to the heart-broken peasants. Very little time
+was allowed them for preparation. In mournful crowds they were driven
+to the beach. Women with white faces pressed their babes to their
+hearts; children dumb with terror clung to their parents; the aged and
+the infirm as well as the young and strong shared the common fate.
+
+At the large village of Grand Pre, when the moment for embarkation
+arrived, the young men, who were placed in the front, refused to move;
+but files of troops with fixed bayonets forced obedience. As soon
+as they were on board the British shipping, heavy columns of black
+smoke ascending from Grand Pre announced to the wretched Acadians the
+destruction of their lovely village.
+
+The embarkation of these peasants, and the burning of Grand Pre is thus
+described by Longfellow:
+
+  Thus to the Gaspereau's mouth moved on that mournful procession.
+  There disorder prevailed, and the tumult and stir of embarking.
+  Busily plied the freighted boats; and in the confusion
+  Wives were torn from their husbands, and mothers, too late, saw their children
+  Left on the land, extending their arms with wildest entreaties.
+
+  * * * * * * * * * * *
+
+  Suddenly rose from the South a light, as in Autumn the blood red
+  Moon climbs the crystal walls of heaven, and o'er the horizon
+  Titan-like, stretches its hundred hands upon mountain and meadow,
+  Seizing the rocks and the rivers, and piling huge shadows together;
+  Broader and ever broader it gleamed on the roofs of the village,
+  Gleamed on the sky and the sea, and the ships that lie in the road stead.
+  Columns of shining smoke uprose and flashes of flame were
+  Thrust through their folds and withdrawn, like the quivering hands of a martyr.
+  Then as the winds seized the gleeds and the burning thatch, and, uplifting,
+  Whirled them aloft through the air, at once from a hundred housetops
+  Started the sheeted smoke with flashes of flame intermingled.
+  These things beheld in dismay the crowd on the shore and on shipboard.
+  Speechless at first they stood, then cried aloud in their anguish,
+  "_We shall behold no more our homes in the village of Grand Pre_."
+
+The property which had before escaped the hands of the spoilers was now
+laid waste on the plea of discouraging the return of the exiles, who,
+through their blinding tears, saw the land of their homes and their
+hopes fade from view.
+
+No preparations had been made for their settlement elsewhere; nor
+did they receive any compensation for their property from which they
+were forced, or that had been wickedly destroyed. In a starving and
+penniless state, they were put ashore in small groups at different
+points along the coast of New England, where many of them perished
+through the hardships they endured. A pathetic representation of their
+wrongs was addressed to the English government, and by reference to
+solemn treaties made between them and the provincial government, they
+proved their banishment to be "as faithless as it was cruel." "No
+attention, however," says Marcus Wilson, "was paid to this document,
+and so guarded a silence was preserved by the government of Nova Scotia
+upon the subject of the removal of the Acadians, that the records of
+the province make no allusion whatever to the event."
+
+After the close of the French and Indian war, France ceded all her
+possessions in Canada to victorious England. The case of the Acadians
+was again brought before the English government, but no compensation
+was ever allowed them for the outrages committed against them. The
+property of which they were ruthlessly plundered was never restored.
+They were allowed to return to the province, and, on taking the
+customary oaths, could receive lands; but of the eighteen thousand that
+were banished, less than two thousand returned:
+
+  Still stands the forest primeval; but under the shade of its branches
+  Dwells another race, with other customs and language.
+  Only along the shore of the mournful and misty Atlantic
+  Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from exile
+  Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom.
+
+For such atrocious acts as these, we find no apologist among our
+historians. On every hand they meet with execration. Such wanton
+cruelty--such palpable violations of human rights are stains upon the
+escutcheon of the nation that permits them to be perpetrated within her
+borders.
+
+It is quite generally supposed that such atrocious crimes as this
+against the French peasants of Acadia are only to be met with in former
+ages or among non-Christian countries. But in writing the history of
+the Rise and Fall of Nauvoo--strange as it may appear, and almost
+past believing--it is my task to relate events which have taken place
+in the nineteenth century, in this age of boasted enlightenment and
+toleration, that shall make the expulsion of the French peasants from
+Acadia pale in comparison with them; events which have occurred in the
+United States, the boasted asylum for the oppressed of all nations;
+events which would be more in keeping with the intolerance of the dark
+ages and the cruelty of Spain, during the reign of the inquisition,
+than in this age and in this nation. What events are these that so
+thunder in the index? Such deeds as outrage humanity, and well-nigh
+destroy one's confidence in human governments; mock justice; deride the
+claims of mercy; and pull down the wrath of an offended God upon the
+people who perform them, and upon the government which allows them to
+go unwhipped of justice. Listen to the history of the Rise and Fall of
+Nauvoo.
+
+
+
+THE RISE AND FALL OF NAUVOO.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+NAUVOO.
+
+THE history of the Rise and Fall of Nauvoo is worthy the attention of
+the readers of this book because its story is connected with one of
+the most important religious movements of this or any other age; and
+with the life and death of one of the world's greatest and most unique
+characters, the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is worthy of the reader's
+attention because the religious institution founded under God by this
+man--the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--survives him, and
+presents to the world the greatest religious wonder of the age, a right
+conception of which cannot be formed without a knowledge of this Nauvoo
+period of the history of The Church; a period which is essentially
+a formative one, especially in regard to what may be considered the
+higher and more complex doctrines of Mormonism. It was in Nauvoo that
+Joseph Smith reached the summit of his remarkable career. It was in
+Nauvoo he grew bolder in the proclamation of those doctrines which
+stamp Mormonism as the great religion of the age. It was in Nauvoo that
+Joseph Smith's life expanded into that eloquent fullness which gives so
+much promise of what that man will be in eternity. It was in Nauvoo he
+contended against a world of opposition; against the power of falsehood
+and misrepresentation; against priestcraft; against corruption in
+high places; from here he corresponded with statesman, and rebuked
+demagogues; from here he went to martyrdom--to seal his testimony with
+his blood. And after his death, it was from here his people fled to the
+wilderness in the most remarkable exodus of modern times. The Church
+fled into the wilderness--not, however to be hidden from the world, but
+to be lifted up on high as an ensign to the nations, to be as a city
+sitting upon a hill that cannot be hid, but on the contrary, from its
+lofty eminence challenges the attention of the world. In Illinois, as
+in Missouri, the religious toleration guaranteed in the Constitutions
+of both the State of Illinois and of the United States--religious
+toleration, at once the boast and pride of Americans, and also the
+test of true enlightenment and the highest civilization--this vaunted
+toleration was in Nauvoo put to the test and found wanting. That is,
+before the exodus of The Church from Nauvoo, it became evident that
+a people accepting what to their neighbors was a singular faith, and
+one that was unpopular withal, could not live in peace among their
+fellow-citizens of other faiths, and hence the exodus, not only from
+Nauvoo but from the entire State of Illinois and also from the United
+States. The Latter-day Saints, in a word, were expatriated from the
+United States, [1] and sought an asylum in the wilderness, and among
+tribes of savages. From whence, after half a century, that same Church
+emerges, enlarged, prosperous, more firmly rooted in safety and in
+strength of faith than ever before--a greater enigma to the religious
+world than when it made its exodus from Illinois.
+
+All these things have a relation to Nauvoo, for The Church had a
+sort of second birth there, which makes the Rise and Fall of Nauvoo
+a theme of peculiar interest to those interested in what the world
+calls Mormonism, and who is not or should not be interested in a
+religious movement of such proportions, of such pretensions and of such
+achievements in the face of such opposition as it has met? * * * * * *
+
+Nauvoo, then, its rise and its fall, is to be the subject of my
+discourse. The word Nauvoo comes from the Hebrew, and signifies
+beautiful situation; "carrying with it also," says the prophet Joseph
+Smith, "the idea of rest." And, indeed, the location of the city is
+beautiful. No sooner does one come in view of it than he exclaims,
+"It is rightly named!" The city, or at least the marred remains
+of it, stands on a bold point around which sweeps the placid yet
+majestic "Father of Waters"--the Mississippi. The city is at least
+half encircled by that noble stream. From its banks the ground rises
+gradually for at least a mile where it reaches the common level of the
+prairie that stretches out to the eastward, farther than the eye can
+reach, in a beautifully undulating surface, once covered by a luxuriant
+growth of natural grasses and wild flowers, with here and there patches
+of timber; but now chequered with meadows, and, at the time of my
+visit, in 1885, with fields of waving corn.
+
+Opposite Nauvoo, on the west bank of the river, the bluffs rise rather
+abruptly, almost from the water's edge, and are covered, for the most
+part, with a fine growth of timber. Nestling at the foot of one of the
+highest of these bluffs, and immediately on the bank of the river, is
+the little village of Montrose, to which I shall have occasion to refer
+in these pages. Back of these bluffs before mentioned, roll off the
+alternate prairie and woodlands of Iowa. Between Montrose and Nauvoo,
+and perhaps two thirds of the distance across the river from the
+Illinois side, is an island, from three-fourths of a mile to a mile in
+length, and from fifty to one or two hundred yards in width, having its
+greatest extent north and south.
+
+Nauvoo is situated just at the head of what are usually called the
+Des Moines Rapids, about one hundred and ninety miles above St.
+Louis. These rapids were a serious obstacle to the navigation of the
+Mississippi at this point, in an early day, as in the season of low
+water they could not be passed by the steamboats plying the river.
+This difficulty of late, however, has been obviated by the general
+government building a fine canal, running parallel with the west bank
+of the river, from Keokuk to Montrose, a distance of twelve or fifteen
+miles. I was unable to learn the cost of the construction, but judge it
+must have required at least several millions of dollars.
+
+Such is the location of Nauvoo; such its immediate surroundings. It
+now remains for me to relate the events which led to the establishment
+of a thriving city on the site we have briefly described; how it was
+converted from a sickly wilderness to the most desirable section of the
+great State of Illinois; and then how, through acts of injustice and
+treachery, some of its principal founders were murdered and the rest
+of its inhabitants cruelly driven from the city by mob violence into
+the wilderness; and how the city sank from its prosperous condition,
+to become the semi-desolate place it is today; and, what is of more
+importance, to trace the development of that faith taught by Joseph
+Smith, which is destined to become, and indeed now is, one of the
+world's great religions.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. When the Mormon Pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake valley, that whole
+intermountain region still belonged to the republic of Mexico.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE RECEPTION OF THE EXILES IN ILLINOIS.
+
+IN what is properly a companion volume to this--"The Missouri
+Persecutions"--I have told how the Latter-day Saints were driven from
+Missouri under a threat of extermination from the executive of that
+State, Lilburn W. Boggs. When fleeing from Missouri, where they had
+suffered so much from mob violence, and from the State government
+officials, the Mormon exiles crossed the Mississippi into the State of
+Illinois, at the point near where the city of Quincy is located--in
+fact, at the Quincy Ferry. Their destitute condition, together with
+the injustice they had suffered in Missouri--the spectacle of a people
+in free America being driven from their homes and exiled from one of
+the States of the American Union because of religious beliefs--aroused
+the indignation and excited the sympathy of the people of Quincy and
+vicinity. A kind reception was given to the exiles by the people of
+this section of Illinois, one very similar to that given to many of the
+same people by the inhabitants of Clay County, when a cruel persecution
+had driven some twelve hundred of them from their homes in Jackson
+County, Missouri, five years before. [1] The Democratic Association of
+Quincy was especially active in the interests of the exiles. In the
+month of February a meeting was called by this association to inquire
+into the situation of the Mormon exiles. At this first meeting all that
+was done was to pass a resolution, to the effect that the people called
+Latter-day Saints were in a situation requiring the aid of the people
+of Quincy. A committee of eight was appointed to call a general meeting
+of both citizens and Mormons, and to receive a statement from the
+latter of their condition, with a view to relieving their necessities.
+The committee was instructed to get the Congregational church in
+which to hold the next meeting, but the directors having in charge
+that building would not allow it to be used for that purpose. I speak
+of this to show the kind of charity existing in the breasts of some
+pretended followers of Him who taught that charity was the crowning
+virtue. Failing to secure the church, the second meeting was held in
+the courthouse.
+
+At this meeting the special committee appointed at the first meeting
+reported its labors. The committee had received statements from Sidney
+Rigdon and others in relation to the expulsion of the Mormons from
+Missouri, and suggested a series of resolutions setting forth that the
+exiled strangers were entitled to the sympathy and aid of the people of
+Quincy;
+
+That a numerous committee, composed of individuals from every part
+of the town, be appointed to allay the prejudices of the misguided
+citizens of Quincy, and explain that it was not the design of the
+exiled Saints to lower the wages of the laboring classes, but to secure
+something to save them from starvation;
+
+That a standing committee be appointed to relieve, so far as in their
+power, the wants of the destitute and homeless; and to use their utmost
+endeavors to procure employment for those who were able and willing to
+labor.
+
+The report closed by saying:--
+
+    We recommend to all the citizens of Quincy that in all their
+    intercourse with the strangers, they use and observe a becoming
+    decorum and delicacy, and be particularly careful not to indulge in
+    any conversation or expression calculated to wound their feelings,
+    or in any way to reflect upon those who, by every law of humanity,
+    are entitled to our sympathy and commiseration.
+
+This good work begun by the Democratic Association was continued by
+them, and substantial assistance was given to the suffering Saints
+through their exertions. At a subsequent meeting of the association the
+following resolutions were adopted:
+
+    That we regard the right of conscience as natural and inalienable,
+    and the most sacredly guaranteed by the Constitution of our free
+    government;
+
+    That we regard the acts of all mobs in violation of law; and those
+    who compose them individually responsible, both to the laws of God
+    and man, for every depredation committed upon the property, rights,
+    or life of any citizen;
+
+    That the inhabitants upon the western frontier of the State of
+    Missouri, in their late persecution of the people denominated
+    Mormons, have violated the sacred rights of conscience and every
+    law of justice and humanity;
+
+    That the governor of Missouri, in refusing protection to this class
+    of people, when pressed upon by a heartless mob, and turning upon
+    them a band of unprincipled militia, with orders encouraging their
+    extermination, has brought a lasting disgrace upon the State over
+    which he presides.
+
+Thus with expressions of sympathy and material aid did the people of
+Quincy assist the exiles and bid them hope for better days. Nor was
+this kindly feeling confined to the people of Quincy and vicinity;
+it extended throughout the State; and especially was it exhibited by
+some of the leading men thereof, including Governor Carlin, Stephen A.
+Douglas, Dr. Isaac Galland and many others.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Missouri Persecutions, Chapter xiv.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+COMMERCE--LAND PURCHASES.
+
+IN the fall of 1838 a brother by the name of Israel Barlow left the
+State of Missouri under the exterminating order of Governor Boggs. By
+missing his way, or, what is more likely, directed by the hand of a
+kind Providence, he did not leave the State by the same route as the
+great body of his people, but taking a northeasterly course, struck the
+Des Moines River a short distance above its mouth, in the Territory of
+Iowa. He was without food and destitute of clothing. Making his wants
+known to the people living in that locality, they kindly supplied him
+with food and raiment. To them he related the story of the persecution
+of the Latter-day Saints in Missouri, and how his people, poor and
+destitute as himself, were fleeing from the State _en masse_. His
+relation of the sufferings of the Saints, and the cruelties heaped
+upon them by their heartless persecutors, enlisted the sympathies of
+his hearers, and they gave him letters of introduction to several
+gentlemen, among which was one to Dr. Isaac Galland, a gentleman of
+some influence living at Commerce, a small settlement on the banks of
+the Mississippi, in Illinois, and which afterward became the site of
+Nauvoo.
+
+Dr. Galland owned considerable land in Commerce, and he wrote the
+Saints located in Quincy that several farms could doubtless be rented
+in his locality, and that perhaps some fifty families could be
+accommodated at Commerce. In addition to this offer of lands made to
+The Church, another and a previous one had been made of twenty thousand
+acres, between the Des Moines and the Mississippi rivers. This tract
+could have been purchased at two dollars per acre, to be paid in twenty
+annual payments without interest. A conference was convened at Quincy
+in February, and the advisability of making the purchase and settling
+the Saints in a body came up for consideration. It was decided by the
+conference that it was not advisable to locate lands at that time.
+
+Subsequently, however, on the ninth day of March, the Saints having
+received further offers of land in Illinois and Iowa, called another
+public meeting and appointed a committee to go and examine the lands
+offered. In Iowa, the people and officers of the Territory expressed a
+kindly feeling toward the exiled Saints. The governor of Iowa--Robert
+Lucas--had known the Saints in Ohio, and testified to Dr. Galland that
+the Mormon people, when they were in Ohio, were good citizens, and he
+respected them as such now, and would treat them accordingly, should
+they, or any part of them, decide to settle in his Territory. The
+statement is made in answer to a letter of inquiry on the subject of
+the Mormons settling in Iowa. He wrote to Dr. Isaac Galland as follows:
+
+                                   EXECUTIVE OFFICE, IOWA, BURLINGTON
+                                                         March, 1839.
+
+    DEAR SIR--On my return to this city, after a few weeks' absence in
+    the interior of the Territory, I received your letter of the 25th
+    ultimo, in which you give a short account of the sufferings of the
+    _people called Mormons_, and ask "whether they could be permitted
+    to purchase lands, and settle upon them, in the Territory of Iowa,
+    and there worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their
+    own consciences, secure from oppression," etc.
+
+    In answer to your inquiry, I would say, that I know of no authority
+    that can constitutionally deprive them of this right. They are
+    citizens of the United States, and are entitled to all the rights
+    and privileges of other citizens. The 2nd section of the 4th
+    Article of the Constitution of the United States (which all are
+    solemnly bound to support), declares that the "citizens of each
+    State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of
+    citizens of the several States." This privilege extends in full
+    force to the Territories of the United States. The first Amendment
+    to the Constitution of the United States declares that "Congress
+    shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
+    prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
+
+    The Ordinance of Congress of the 13th July, 1787, for the
+    government of the Territory northwest of the river Ohio, secures
+    to the citizens of said Territory, and the citizens of the States
+    thereafter to be formed therein, certain privileges which were, by
+    the late Act of Congress organizing the Territory of Iowa, extended
+    to the citizens of this Territory.
+
+    The first fundamental Article in that Ordinance, which is declared
+    to be forever unalterable, except by common consent, reads as
+    follows, to-wit: "No person demeaning himself in a peaceable and
+    orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of
+    worship, or religious sentiments in said Territory."
+
+    These principles, I trust, will ever be adhered to in the Territory
+    of Iowa. They make no distinction between religious sects. They
+    extend equal privileges and protection to all; each must rest upon
+    its own merits, and will prosper in proportion to the purity of its
+    principles, and the fruit of holiness and piety produced thereby.
+
+    With regard to the peculiar people mentioned in your letter, I know
+    but little. They had a community in the northern part of Ohio for
+    several years; and I have no recollection of ever having heard in
+    that State of any complaints against them from violating the laws
+    of the country. Their religious opinions, I consider, has nothing
+    to do with our political transactions. They are citizens of the
+    United States, and are entitled to the same political rights and
+    legal protection that other citizens are entitled to.
+
+    The foregoing are briefly my views on the subject of your inquiries.
+
+               With sincere respect,
+                      I am your obedient servant,
+                                          ROBERT LUCAS.
+
+    To ISAAC GALLAND, Esq., Commerce, Illinois.
+
+This communication Dr. Galland sent to the Quincy _Argus_, accompanied
+by the following note:
+
+                                                  COMMERCE, ILLINOIS,
+                                                      April 12, 1839.
+
+    MESSRS. EDITORS:--Enclosed I send you a communication from Governor
+    Lucas of Iowa Territory. If you think the publication thereof
+    will in any way promote the cause of justice, by vindicating
+    the slandered reputation of the people called Mormons, from the
+    ridiculous falsehoods which the malice, cupidity and envy of
+    their murderers in Missouri have endeavored to heap upon them,
+    you are respectfully solicited to publish it in the _Argus_. The
+    testimony of Governor Lucas as to the good moral character of
+    these people, I think will have its deserved influence upon the
+    people of Illinois, in encouraging our citizens in their humane and
+    benevolent exertions to relieve this distressed people, who are now
+    wandering in our neighborhoods without comfortable food, raiment,
+    or a shelter from the pelting storm.
+
+             I am, gentlemen, very respectfully,
+                    Your obedient servant,
+                             ISAAC GALLAND.
+
+In conversation with Dr. Galland, Isaac Van Allen, Esq.,
+attorney-general for the same Territory (Iowa), gave him to understand
+that he would, so far as within his power, protect the Mormon people
+from insult and injury. It was these assurances of sympathy and
+protection which led to a reconsideration of the conclusion of the
+former conference, and the appointment of a committee to examine the
+lands offered. But little or nothing was ever done by this committee.
+
+On the twenty-second of April, 1839, the Prophet Joseph joined the
+exiled Saints at Quincy. After a cruel imprisonment of over five
+months, he had escaped from his persecutors while en route from Liberty
+prison, Clay County, to Columbia, Boone County, to which he and his
+companions in prison had taken a change of venue for trial. The guards
+got drunk and were evidently willing for their prisoners to escape.
+At any rate, the Prophet, in stating the circumstance in his history,
+says: "We thought it a favorable opportunity to make our escape;
+knowing that the only object of our enemies was our destruction; and
+likewise knowing that a number of our brethren had been massacred by
+them on Shoal Creek, amongst whom were two children; and they had
+sought every opportunity to abuse others who were left in the State;
+and that they were never brought to an account for their barbarous
+proceedings, but were winked at and encouraged by those in authority.
+We thought that it was necessary for us, inasmuch as we loved our
+lives, and did not wish to die by the hand of murderers and assassins;
+and inasmuch as we loved our families and friends, to deliver ourselves
+from our enemies." And so the Prophet and his companions escaped and
+arrived in Quincy as already stated.
+
+I need not stop to undertake a description of the scenes of this
+exiled people welcoming their youthful Prophet into their midst, after
+such trials as they had passed through, in which the strength of each
+man's soul and love for his brethren had been tested. The Saints had
+seen their Prophet and his fellow prisoners betrayed into the hands
+of a merciless enemy, and knew that a court-martial of the Missouri
+State militia had condemned him and his companions to be shot in the
+public square at Far West. They had seen him and his fellow-prisoners
+torn away from their parents and families, and their people, under
+circumstances the most distressing. They had been told by the haughty
+commander-in-chief of the mob militia forces which invested Far
+West--General Clark--that the doom of their leaders was sealed, and
+they need not expect, nor even let it enter into their hearts that they
+would be permitted to see them again. Many of them had seen him chained
+like a felon, standing before unjust judges, whose hearts were filled
+to overflowing with hatred towards him. Contrary to every principle
+of justice, he had been sent to languish in prison in the midst of
+his enemies; while they themselves, with bursting hearts and blinding
+tears, were compelled to sign away their lands and homes at the muzzle
+of the musket and flee from the Christian State of Missouri, under the
+exterminating order issued by Governor Boggs. Yet in all these trials,
+from the dangers of the murderous militia camps, from the malice of
+corrupt courts, and the injustice of drunken juries, and at last from
+the prison's gloom, a kind Providence had delivered him, and he was
+again in their midst, again with them to still their fears and direct
+their movements.
+
+His presence was the signal for action. He arrived in Quincy on the
+22nd of April. The day following he spent in greeting his friends, and
+receiving visits from the brethren; but on the twenty-fourth he called
+and presided over a conference, at which, in connection with Bishop
+Knight and Alanson Ripley, he was appointed to go to Iowa to select
+a place for the gathering of the exiled Saints. The conference also
+advised the brethren, who could do so, to go to Commerce and locate in
+Dr. Galland's neighborhood.
+
+On the first of May the committee purchased a farm of one hundred
+and thirty-five acres, for which they agreed to pay five thousand
+dollars; also another and a larger farm of Dr. Galland for nine
+thousand dollars. The committee desired that these farms should be
+deeded to Alanson Ripley, but Sidney Rigdon, manifesting a rather
+sour disposition, said that no committee should control any property
+that he had anything to do with. So the purchase made of Dr. Galland
+was deeded to Sidney Rigdon's son-in-law, G. W. Robinson, with the
+understanding that he should deed it to The Church as soon as it was
+paid for according to the contract. This was the first purchase of
+lands made in Commerce. The place is thus described by Joseph: "When
+I made the purchase of White and Galland, there was one stone house,
+three frame houses, and two blockhouses, which constituted the whole
+city of Commerce."
+
+This small collection of houses was immediately on the banks of the
+river, and scattered between them and what afterwards became the south
+part of the city of Nauvoo, were one stone and three log houses. It
+was one of these humble dwellings that Joseph moved into on the tenth
+of May, 1839. Back some distance from the river, however, were other
+dwellings scattered over the country, one of which was the home of
+Daniel H. Wells, a justice of the peace for the district of Commerce,
+and who afterwards became a prominent Church leader, one of the
+counselors, in fact, in the First Presidency of The Church.
+
+Later, when referring to the purchase of lands about Commerce, the
+Prophet Joseph said:
+
+    The place was literally a wilderness. The land was mostly covered
+    with trees and bushes, and much of it was so wet that it was with
+    the utmost difficulty that a footman could get through, and totally
+    impossible for teams. Commerce was unhealthy, very few could live
+    there; but believing that it might become a healthy place by the
+    blessing of heaven to the Saints, and no more eligible place
+    presenting itself, I considered it wisdom to make an attempt to
+    build up a city.
+
+Having spoken of the first purchase of lands at Commerce, it may not
+be amiss here to say that subsequently more extensive purchases were
+made of Dr. Galland and Messrs. Hubbard, Wells, Hotchkiss and others.
+Considerable difficulty and embarrassment to Joseph personally and to
+The Church in general arose over misunderstandings about the Hotchkiss
+land purchase. Hotchkiss sold to Joseph for The Church upwards of
+five hundred acres of land in Commerce, for which he was to receive
+fifty-three thousand five hundred dollars, half to be paid in ten
+years, and the remainder in twenty years. This amount was secured to
+Hotchkiss & Company by two notes, one payable in ten years and the
+other in twenty, signed by Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith and Sidney Rigdon.
+The difficulty connected with this extensive land purchase arose from
+some exchanges that were made of property in the east, by some of
+the Saints, for its equivalent in value in land out of the Hotchkiss
+purchase in Commerce; the matter, however, was finally amicably settled.
+
+The terms on which Dr. Galland let The Church have lands were extremely
+advantageous to the Saints. He sold at a reasonable rate, and on long
+credit, that the people might not be distressed in paying for the
+inheritance they purchased. In addition to the first purchase, he
+exchanged lands with the Saints in the vicinity of Commerce for lands
+in Missouri, to the value of eighty thousand dollars. And he gave
+them a good title to the same. He is described as a man of literary
+attainments and extensive information and influence. All of which he
+used for the good of the exiled Saints in giving them a standing among
+his friends. Finally he joined The Church, thus casting his lot with
+the exiled people he had assisted, and from that time until his death,
+partook of their joys and their sorrows; shared their fortunes and
+reverses.
+
+In addition to these land purchases, The Church made others; some of
+them even more extensive than those already mentioned. The village
+of Nashville, in Lee County, Iowa, and twenty thousand acres of land
+adjoining, was bought, though upon what terms the purchase was made
+cannot be learned. Another purchase also in Iowa was made by Bishop
+Knight, and a settlement was started there called Zarahemla, which was
+opposite Nauvoo. This place was organized into a stake [1] of Zion,
+but in January, 1842, the stake organization was discontinued; though
+Zarahemla continued as an organized branch of The Church.
+
+Stakes of Zion in the following year were organized at Lima, in
+Illinois; also at Quincy, in Adams County, for the benefit of the
+Saints who continued there. Another stake was organized at Columbus,
+in Adams County, Illinois, known as Mount Hope stake; besides these
+stakes, branches of the Church were organized in various parts of
+Lee County, Iowa, and Adams and Hancock counties, Illinois. But as
+Nauvoo rose from the swamps and underbrush of Commerce, and, under the
+industry and enterprise of the Saints, and the blessings of a kindly
+disposed Providence, developed into a healthy, beautiful and prosperous
+commercial and manufacturing city, these stake organizations in the
+surrounding country were discontinued, and Nauvoo became the one great
+gathering place of the Saints.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. A stake of Zion is a territorial division of The Church that
+embraces several wards or branches. The stake is presided over by a
+president, who must be a High Priest, assisted by two counselors, also
+High Priests. There must also be in each stake of Zion a high council,
+consisting of twelve High Priests, over which council the presidency
+of the stake preside. This high council constitutes the judicial power
+(ecclesiastical) of the stake, to which appeals lie from the bishops'
+courts.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+"AS FLIES IN THE OINTMENT."
+
+HAVING described the site of Nauvoo, and related the circumstances
+connected with its establishment as a gathering place of the Saints,
+it is necessary to return to the consideration of some events which
+occurred at Quincy during the sojourn of the Saints at that place.
+
+Paul, in his day, told the Hebrews that all were not Israel that were
+of Israel: so all were not Saints that flocked into Quincy with the
+exiles from Missouri; many of them were altogether unworthy of the
+association of the people of God. These preyed upon the hospitality
+of the people of Quincy to such an extent, that The Church by action
+of a conference authorized Elder John Taylor, then one of the Twelve
+Apostles, and who afterwards became President of the Church, to write
+the following letter, which was printed in the Quincy _Argus_:
+
+    In consequence of so great an influx of strangers, arriving in
+    this place daily, owing to their late expulsion from the State
+    of Missouri, there must of necessity be, and we wish to state to
+    the citizens of Quincy and the vicinity, through the medium of
+    your columns, that there are many individuals among the numbers
+    who have already arrived, as well as among those who are now on
+    their way here, who never did belong to our Church, and others who
+    once did, but who, for various reasons, have been expelled from
+    our fellowship. Among these are some who have contracted habits
+    which are at variance with principles of moral rectitude (such
+    as swearing, dram-drinking, etc.,) which immoralities the Church
+    of Latter-day Saints is liable to be charged with, owing to our
+    amalgamation under our late existing circumstances. And as we as a
+    people do not wish to lay under any such imputation, we would also
+    state, that such individuals do not hold a name or a place amongst
+    us; that we altogether discountenance everything of the kind,
+    that every person once belonging to our community, contracting or
+    persisting in such immoral habits, have hitherto been expelled from
+    our society; and that such as we may hereafter be informed of, we
+    will hold no communion with, but will withdraw our fellowship from
+    them.
+
+    We wish further to state, that we feel laid under peculiar
+    obligations to the citizens of this place for the patriotic
+    feelings which have been manifested, and for the hand of liberality
+    and friendship which was extended to us, in our late difficulties;
+    and should feel sorry to see that philanthropy and benevolence
+    abused by the wicked and designing people, who under pretense of
+    poverty and distress, should try to work up the feelings of the
+    charitable and humane, get into their debt without any prospect
+    or intention of paying, and finally, perhaps, we as a people be
+    charged with dishonesty.
+
+    We say that we altogether disapprove of such practices, and we warn
+    the citizens of Quincy against such individuals who may pretend to
+    belong to our community.
+
+I have given this letter _in extenso_, because it bears upon its face
+the evidence of the honesty of The Church, and its disposition to
+treat the people of Illinois, who had so nobly and kindly received its
+members in the days of their distress, with candor. It also tells us
+of a class even then in The Church, who by the vileness of their lives
+gave some coloring to the charges subsequently so unjustly made against
+the whole Church; a class who brought upon The Church reproach; an
+unrighteous, apostate element, which lingered with The Church for the
+sake of advantage--the bane of the body religious.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+POLITICAL AGITATION.
+
+ABOUT this time, too, the good feeling entertained toward the Saints by
+the people of Quincy and vicinity was not a little endangered through
+the unwise course of Lyman Wight. He began the publication of a series
+of letters in the Quincy _Whig_, in which he laid the responsibility
+of the outrages perpetrated against the Saints in Missouri upon the
+Democratic party, implicating not only the Democrats of Missouri,
+but indirectly the National Democratic party. This gave much
+dissatisfaction to members of that party in the vicinity of Quincy, a
+number of whom had been very active in assisting the Saints; and some
+of the leading men approached prominent brethren, who still remained in
+Quincy, and desired to know if The Church sustained the assertions of
+Lyman Wight. Elder R. B. Thompson wrote a letter to President Joseph
+Smith on the subject, in which he protested against the course taken by
+Lyman Wight, because of the influence it was having on many of those
+who had so nobly befriended the Saints in the day of their distress.
+Besides, it was altogether unjust, for no particular political party
+in Missouri was responsible for the cruelty practiced towards the
+Saints. Those who were in the mobs which robbed them of their homes,
+burned their houses, ran off their stock, and who whipped, murdered and
+finally drove the people from the State of Missouri, were made up of
+individuals of every shade of political faith, and of every religion,
+and many of no religion whatever. It was unfair, then, under these
+circumstances, that the responsibility should be laid at the charge of
+any one party or sect of religion. So that Wight's course was not only
+doing much mischief, but was also unjust.
+
+To counteract the evil effect of Lyman Wight's communication to the
+_Whig_, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Hyrum Smith, then the presiding
+quorum of the Church, published a letter in the _Whig_, from which I
+make the following quotation:
+
+    We have not at any time thought there was any political party,
+    as such, chargeable with the Missouri barbarities, neither any
+    religious society, as such. They were committed by a mob, composed
+    of all parties, regardless of difference of opinion, either
+    political or religious.
+
+    The determined stand in this State, and by the people of Quincy
+    in particular, made against the lawless outrages of the Missouri
+    mobbers by all parties in politics and religion, have entitled
+    them equally to our thanks and our profoundest regards, and such,
+    gentlemen, we hope they will always receive from us. * * * We wish
+    to say to the public, through your paper, that we disclaim any
+    intention of making a political question of our difficulties with
+    Missouri, believing that we are not justified in so doing.
+
+Lyman Wight was a bold, independent-spirited man; inclined to be
+self-willed and refractory. No one could control him; and even counsel
+or advice was usually disregarded--except it was from Joseph Smith. A
+few years subsequent to the time of which I am now writing, Lyman Wight
+himself said: "Joseph Smith is the only man who ever did control me;
+he is the only man who ever shall." But to Joseph's words Lyman Wight
+gave respectful attention, and bent his own strong will to comply with
+the wishes of the Prophet. He himself was a master spirit, and could
+apparently bring himself to acknowledge but one to whom he was willing
+to yield his own judgment and his own will, and that one was Joseph
+Smith. It is said by those acquainted with him, that in the Prophet's
+hands his spirit was as pliable as that of a child.
+
+It was one of Joseph's peculiar characteristics to be able to control
+men--men, too, who were themselves master spirits; who were themselves
+naturally leaders; and it is seldom, indeed, that such characters are
+willing to take a second place. But in the presence of Joseph they
+seemed naturally to accord him the leadership. He was a leader even
+among master spirits; a leader of leaders; and it may not be amiss
+here to briefly inquire into the apparently mysterious influence which
+the Prophet exerted over the minds of others, by reason of which he
+controlled them, since this particular instance in which Lyman Wight
+figures, illustrates it.
+
+In reply to the letter of R. B. Thompson, Joseph admitted that the
+course of Wight was unfair, and said: The Church was not willing to
+make of their troubles a political question; but he also said that
+he considered it to be "the indefeasible right of every free man to
+hold his own opinion in politics and religion;" and therefore would
+have it understood that, as an individual, Lyman Wight had the right
+to entertain and express whatever opinion he pleased in regard to
+their troubles in Missouri; only intimating that care should be taken
+not to set forth individual views as the views of The Church. In
+writing to Lyman Wight on the subject, Joseph did not upbraid him,
+nor peremptorily order him to discontinue the publication of his
+letters, or retract them, but he informed him that the matter had been
+considered in a council of The Church, and that the result was that
+his course was disapproved. But Joseph took occasion to express his
+confidence in Wight's good intentions, and said:
+
+    Knowing your integrity of principle, and steadfastness in the cause
+    of Christ, I feel not to exercise even the privilege of counsel on
+    the subject, save only to request that you will endeavor to bear
+    in mind the importance of the subject, and how easy it might be to
+    get a misunderstanding with the brethren concerning it; and though
+    last, but not least, that whilst you continue to go upon your own
+    credit, you will steer clear of making The Church appear as either
+    supporting or opposing you in your politics, lest such a course may
+    have a tendency to bring about persecution on The Church, where a
+    little wisdom and caution may avoid it. I do not know that there is
+    any occasion for my thus cautioning you in this thing, but having
+    done so, I hope it will be well taken, and that all things shall
+    eventually be found to work together for the good of the Saints.
+    * * * With every possible feeling of love and friendship for an
+    old fellow-prisoner and brother in the Lord, I remain, sir, your
+    sincere friend.
+
+Throughout this whole affair it will be observed that Joseph starts out
+with the idea that every individual is absolutely free and independent
+as to entertaining views and in giving expression to them, both in
+politics and religion, so long as he makes no one else responsible
+for them; that in correcting Lyman Wight, he does it by appealing
+to the man's reason, and by pointing out the possible result of his
+course, which may be avoided by a little discretion; while the whole
+communication breathes such a spirit of confidence in the man he is
+correcting, and love for him as an "old fellow-prisoner," that it was
+altogether irresistible. And this is the secret of Joseph's power to
+control his brethren. There was no petty tyranny in his government.
+He was above that. Every right he claimed for himself, he accorded to
+others; while his mildness in correcting errors and his unbounded love
+for his brethren knit them to him in bands stronger than steel. It was
+ever his method to teach correct principles and allow men to govern
+themselves.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+A DAY OF GOD'S POWER.
+
+DURING the summer of 1839 the Saints who had been driven from Missouri
+continued to gather at Nauvoo and settle on the lands which had been
+purchased by The Church authorities. The violent persecution they had
+passed through in Missouri had well nigh wrecked the people. They had
+been stripped of their earthly possessions, until they were reduced to
+the most abject poverty. And the exposure and hardships endured made
+them an easy prey to the malaria that infected Nauvoo and vicinity.
+Another thing which doubtless contributed to make them unable to resist
+the ravages of disease, was the fact that a period of relaxation was
+following the intense excitement under which they had lived for more
+than two years.
+
+The spirit has such power when it is once thoroughly aroused, that
+for a time it so braces up the body as to make it almost impregnable
+to disease and unconscious of fatigue. But this cannot continue long.
+It wears out the body; and as soon as the excitement is removed, then
+comes the period of relaxation and the body sinks down from sheer
+exhaustion.
+
+Such was the condition of the exiled Saints who came flocking into
+Nauvoo, in the summer of 1839. They had reached a haven of rest. The
+fearful strain on the nervous system under which they had labored
+during the mobbings in Missouri and their flight from that State was
+removed; and they fell down in Nauvoo exhausted, to be a prey to the
+deadly malaria prevalent in that locality. Such was their condition on
+the morning of the 22nd of July. Joseph's house was crowded with the
+sick whom he was trying to nurse back to health. In his door-yard were
+a number of people camped in tents, who had but newly arrived, but upon
+whom the fever had seized. Joseph himself was prostrate with sickness,
+and the general distress of the Saints weighed down his spirit with
+sadness. While still thinking of the trials of his people in the past,
+and the gloom that then overshadowed them, the purifying influence
+of God's Spirit rested upon him and he was immediately healed. He
+arose and began to administer to the sick in his house, all of whom
+immediately recovered. He then healed those encamped in his door-yard,
+and from thence went from house to house calling on the sick to arise
+from their beds of affliction, and they obeyed and were healed.
+
+In company with P.P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Heber C. Kimball,
+and John E. Page, he crossed the river to Montrose, and healed the sick
+there. One case is mentioned by all who have written on the subject
+as being very remarkable. This was the case of Elijah Fordham. He was
+almost unconscious and nearly dead. Bending over him, the Prophet asked
+the dying man if he knew him, and believed him to be a servant of God.
+In a whisper he replied that he did. Joseph then took him by the hand,
+and with an energy that would have awoke the dead, he commanded him
+in the name of Jesus Christ to arise from his bed and walk. Brother
+Fordham leaped from his bed, removed the bandages and mustard plasters
+from his feet, dressed himself, ate a bowl of bread and milk, and
+accompanied the Prophet to other houses on his mission of love.
+
+All day the work continued; and to the Saints who witnessed the
+remarkable manifestation of God's power in behalf of the sick, the
+twenty-second day of July, 1839, is remembered with gratitude to
+Almighty God, who through the demonstration of His power that day, gave
+an indisputable witness to the world that He was with Joseph Smith,
+and had authorized him to speak in the name of Jesus Christ. To the
+Saints it was a testimony that God was with them; for they witnessed a
+fulfillment of God's ancient promise to His people, viz.--
+
+    Is any sick among you? Let him call for the Elders of the Church;
+    and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of
+    the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord
+    shall raise him up. [1]
+
+And again:
+
+    These signs shall follow them that believe: In My name shall they
+    cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; * * * they
+    shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. [2]
+
+These ancient promises to God's people had also been renewed to the
+Latter-day Saints in modern revelations to the Church through the
+Prophet Joseph himself:
+
+    As I said unto mine apostles I say unto you again, that every soul
+    who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the
+    remission of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost; and these signs
+    shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall do many
+    wonderful works:
+
+    In my name they shall cast out devils;
+
+    In my name they shall heal the sick;
+
+    In my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the
+    ears of the deaf; and the tongue of the dumb shall speak; and if
+    any man shall administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them. *
+    * * But a commandment I give unto them, that they shall not boast
+    themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world. [3]
+
+Again, I say, to the Saints who witnessed the demonstration of God's
+power on the 22nd of July, 1839, in the healing of the sick in
+fulfillment of these promises ancient and modern, it was a witness to
+them that God was with them and with their Prophet.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. James v: 14, 15.
+
+2. Mark xvi: 17.
+
+3. Doc. & Cov., Sec. lxxxiv. The revelation was given in September,
+1832.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+DEPARTURE OF THE TWELVE FOR ENGLAND.
+
+A REVELATION had been received by the Prophet Joseph on the eighth of
+July, 1838, in which a commandment was given to fill up the quorum of
+the Twelve Apostles by ordaining John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford
+Woodruff, and Willard Richards to take the places of those who had
+fallen through apostasy. The following spring "let them depart," said
+the revelation, "to go over the great waters, and there promulgate my
+Gospel, the fullness thereof, and bear record of my name. Let them take
+leave of my Saints in the city of Far West, on the twenty-sixth day of
+April next, on the building spot of my house." By the twenty-sixth of
+April, the day set for them to take leave of the Saints to start on
+their mission, nearly all the members of The Church had been driven
+from Far West. I have already related, however, in "The Missouri
+Persecutions" how five of the Apostles and several who were to be
+ordained returned by different routes to Far West, met with a few
+of the Saints there and fulfilled the mandates of this revelation,
+notwithstanding the boasts of the mob that it should fail. [1] For some
+time the Apostles who started from the public square at Far West for
+England were detained to aid in settling the Saints at Nauvoo, but the
+latter part of the summer of 1839 found them making every exertion to
+continue their journey.
+
+Wilford Woodruff and John Taylor were the first of the quorum to leave
+Nauvoo for England. Elder Woodruff at this time was living at Montrose,
+and was rowed across the river in a canoe by Brigham Young. On landing,
+he lay down to rest on a side of sole leather, near the post office.
+While there Joseph came along and said: "Well, Brother Woodruff, you
+have started on your mission?"
+
+"Yes, but I feel and look more like a subject for the dissecting room
+than a missionary," was the reply.
+
+"What did you say that for?" asked Joseph. "Get up and go along, all
+will be well with you."
+
+Shortly afterwards Elder Woodruff was joined by Elder Taylor, and
+together they started on their mission. On their way they passed Parley
+P. Pratt, stripped, bareheaded and barefooted, hewing some logs for a
+house. He hailed the brethren as they passed and gave them a purse,
+though he had nothing to put in it. Elder Heber C. Kimball, who was but
+a short distance away, stripped as Elder Pratt was, came up and said:
+"As Brother Parley has given you a purse, I have a dollar I will give
+you to put in it." And mutually blessing each other, they separated to
+meet again in foreign lands.
+
+On the twenty-ninth of August, Parley P. Pratt and his brother Orson
+started for England, leaving Nauvoo in their own carriage.
+
+On the fourteenth of the following month Brigham Young left his home
+at Montrose and started for England. He had been prostrated for some
+time by sickness, and at the time of starting on his mission was so
+feeble that he had to be assisted to the ferry, only some thirty rods
+from his house. All his children were sick, and he left his wife with
+a babe but ten days old, and in the poorest of circumstances, for the
+mobs of Missouri had robbed him of all he had. After crossing the river
+to the Nauvoo side, Israel Barlow took him on a horse behind him and
+carried him to the house of Elder Heber C. Kimball, where his strength
+altogether failed him, and he had to remain there for several days,
+nursed by his wife, who, hearing that he was unable to get farther than
+Brother Kimball's, had crossed the river from Montrose to care for him.
+
+On the eighteenth of the month, however, Brigham, in company with
+Heber C. Kimball, made another start. A brother by the name of Charles
+Hubbard sent a boy with a team to take them a day's journey on their
+way. Elder Kimball left his wife in bed shaking with ague, and all his
+children sick. It was only by the assistance of some of the brethren
+that Heber himself could climb into the wagon. "It seemed to me," he
+remarked afterwards in relating the circumstance, "as though my very
+inmost parts would melt within me at the thought of leaving my family
+in such a condition, as it were, almost in the arms of death. I felt as
+though I could scarcely endure it."
+
+"Hold up!" said he to the teamster, who had just started. "Brother
+Brigham, this is pretty tough, but let us rise and give them a cheer."
+Brigham, with much difficulty, rose to his feet, and joined Elder
+Kimball in swinging his hat and shouting, "Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah for
+Israel!" The two sisters hearing the cheer came to the door--Sister
+Kimball with great difficulty--and waved a farewell; and the two
+Apostles continued on their journey without purse, without scrip, for
+England.
+
+The departure of Elders George A. Smith, Reuben Hedlock, and Theodore
+Turley was but little less remarkable. They were feeble in health, in
+fact, down with the ague. Before they were out of sight of Nauvoo their
+wagon upset, and spilled them down the bank of the river. Elders Smith
+and Turley were unable to get up, not because of any injuries they had
+received, but because of their illness. Elder Hedlock helped them into
+their wagon and they resumed their journey. They had not proceeded far
+when they met some gentlemen who stopped their team and said to the
+driver: "Mr., what graveyard have you been robbing?" There mark being
+elicited by the ghostly appearance of the Elders _en route_ for England.
+
+Thus in sickness and poverty, without purse and without scrip, leaving
+their families destitute of the comforts of life, with nothing but the
+assurances of the people, who were as poor as themselves, that they
+should be provided for, the Twelve turned their faces toward Europe, to
+preach the Gospel to the highly civilized peoples of the world. Shaking
+with the ague, and then burning up with the fever; now in the homes of
+the wealthy, then in the hovels of the poor; now derided by the learned
+and self-styled refined, and now welcomed by the poor of this world who
+rejoiced in the message they bore--they journeyed on, never looking
+back, nor complaining of the hardships through which they were called
+to pass for the Master's sake. They had ringing in their ears the words
+of Jesus:
+
+"He that loveth father or mother, houses or lands, wives or children
+more than he loveth me is not worthy of me." And again they had the
+promise: "There is no man that hath left houses, or parents, or
+brethren, or wife, or children for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall
+not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to
+come life everlasting."
+
+With this warning and this promise before them, they made their way by
+different routes, but at last met in England, where an effectual door
+was opened for the preaching of the Gospel, and thousands with joy
+embraced the truth.
+
+These men went out weeping, bearing precious seed; they returned in
+time bringing their sheaves with them, and had joy in their harvest.
+And what shall separate these men who endured so much for the Gospel's
+sake, from the love of God? "Shall tribulation, or distress, or
+persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" "Nay, in all
+these things they shall be more than conquerors through Him that loved
+them."
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Missouri Persecutions, Chapter XLVIII.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE "TIMES AND SEASONS."
+
+THE power of the press in sustaining the work he had begun, was
+early recognized by Joseph Smith and his associates; and it was this
+recognition of its powers which led him to establish, as early as
+possible, a paper that would be under the control of The Church,
+voice its sentiments and defend its principles. The Church had been
+organized but eighteen months, and its membership was very small
+when a conference held in Ohio authorized the purchase of a press,
+and instructed W. W. Phelps to begin the publication of a paper in
+Independence, Missouri. In June, 1832, the first number of that paper,
+the _Evening and Morning Star_, was published.
+
+The following year the _Evening and Morning Star_ press was broken and
+the type scattered by the mob, which collected at Independence to drive
+the Saints from Jackson County. The press and the book-binding property
+were never again restored to The Church, though the _Star_ afterwards
+reappeared in Kirtland, edited by Oliver Cowdery.
+
+Another periodical was also published in Kirtland called _The Saints'
+Messenger and Advocate_, the first number of which appeared in
+December, 1833. This periodical was superseded in a few years--1837--by
+the _Elders' Journal_. But when Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon had to
+flee from Kirtland for their lives, in the spring of 1838, the press
+and type on which the _Journal_ was printed were removed to Far West.
+Here an effort was made to re-issue the _Journal_, Sidney Rigdon being
+appointed editor. But again the assembling of angry mobs hindered the
+work. And the night that General Lucas' mob-militia force surrounded
+Far West, this press and type were buried in the dooryard of a brother
+by the name of Dawson. The form for a number of the _Elders' Journal_
+was buried, with the ink on it, in the hurry to get it safely hidden
+from the enemy. It remained in its grave until taken up by Elias Smith,
+Hyrum Clark and some others, and taken to Commerce, where, in the fall
+of 1839, it was set up in a cellar, through which a spring of water was
+running, and on it was published the _Times and Seasons_.
+
+This periodical was issued first as a sixteen page monthly, but
+afterwards became semi-monthly. Its first editor and manager was Don
+Carlos Smith, the youngest brother of Joseph Smith, who learned the
+printer's art in the office of Oliver Cowdery, and at the time he took
+charge of the _Times and Seasons_ was but twenty-four years of age.
+His associate was Ebenezer Robinson. The paper was first issued in
+November, 1839.
+
+Don Carlos Smith continued to act as editor of this paper until his
+death, which occurred on the seventh of August, 1841. Ebenezer Robinson
+then became the editor and Elder Robert B. Thompson was appointed
+to assist him. The manner in which the paper was conducted was very
+unsatisfactory to The Church authorities, and the Twelve Apostles
+took charge of it with Elders John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff as
+its managers, and President Joseph Smith as editor-in-chief. It was
+conducted by these parties for about a year, when the Prophet Joseph
+resigned the editorial chair, and Elder John Taylor was assigned to the
+position of chief editor, and kept that place until the discontinuance
+of the publication, in consequence of the Saints being driven from
+Nauvoo. It was a valuable means of communication for The Church
+authorities, as they were enabled to reach the Saints through its
+columns notwithstanding their scattered condition; and in its pages
+are collected the principal historical events which occurred in the
+early days of The Church; which, in connection with the principles and
+doctrine expounded by its editors, and the communications from the
+Prophet, make it of inestimable value to the student of Church history
+or the development of Church doctrine.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+AN APPEAL TO THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES.
+
+IT will be remembered by those who have read "The Missouri
+Persecutions," that Sidney Rigdon was released from prison in Liberty,
+Missouri, before Joseph and the other brethren escaped. On his arrival
+in Quincy, his position as one of the presidents of The Church, his
+education and eloquence, gave him the attention of the leading citizens
+of Quincy, and particularly enlisted the sympathy of Governor Carlin,
+of Illinois. By coming in contact with him, and relating the cruelties
+practiced against the Saints in Missouri, he conceived the altogether
+fanciful and utterly impracticable idea of impeaching the charter
+of Missouri on an item in the Constitution, viz: "that the general
+government shall give to each State a republican form of government."
+And it was his point to prove that such a government did not exist in
+Missouri. His plan was to present the story of the Saints' wrongs to
+the governors of the respective States, before the assembly of the
+several legislatures, and induce as many of them as possible to bring
+the case before the legislatures in their messages. Another part of the
+plan was to have a man at each State capital armed with affidavits that
+would give the necessary information to the legislatures. After the
+action of the State legislatures the case was to be presented to the
+national Congress for its consideration and action.
+
+To carry out his plans George W. Robinson was appointed to take
+affidavits and collect general information bearing on the subject, and
+Sidney Rigdon himself secured letters of introduction to the governors
+of several States and to the President of the United States from
+Governor Carlin, of Illinois, and Governor Robert Lucas, of Iowa. On
+the fifth of May, 1839, however, at a conference of The Church held
+near Quincy, Joseph Smith presiding, the gigantic and fanciful scheme
+conceived by Sidney Rigdon was considered and somewhat reduced of its
+unwieldy proportions by the conference simply resolving:
+
+    That this conference send a delegate to the city of Washington to
+    lay our case before the general government; and that President
+    Rigdon be the delegate: and that Colonel Lyman Wight be appointed
+    to receive the affidavits which are to be sent to the city of
+    Washington.
+
+Here the matter rested for a time through the inactivity of President
+Rigdon, whose ardor in the work of God about this time began to wane.
+
+In consequence of the inactivity and lack of interest manifested
+by Sidney Rigdon in going to Washington to present the case of the
+Latter-day Saints _vs_. the State of Missouri to the President and
+Congress of the United States, at a High Council meeting, held at
+Commerce on the twentieth of October, 1839, the Prophet Joseph was
+appointed to be the delegate to Washington, and a few days later Sidney
+Rigdon and Elias Higbee were appointed by the same council to assist
+him in this mission.
+
+As a contrast between the two men, Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith,
+I call attention to the fact that after his appointment to go to
+Washington to petition the general government for a redress of
+grievances, in behalf of the Saints, Sidney Rigdon had allowed nearly
+six months to pass away without doing anything; but the ninth day after
+Joseph was appointed to this mission he was found leaving Commerce
+with a two-horse carriage, accompanied by Rigdon, Higbee and Orin P.
+Rockwell, _en route_ for Washington. The Prophet was always prompt in
+action. There were no tedious delays in anything he under took; no
+letting "I dare not wait upon I would, like the old cat 'i the adage."
+His motto for the commencement of his career had been, "When the Lord
+commands, do it." And it was pretty much the same thing when a council
+of the Priesthood, or himself individually, had determined upon any
+particular course of action, he at once set himself about performing it.
+
+The mission for the city of Washington passed through Springfield,
+the capital of the State of Illinois, on their journey, and here met
+with Dr. Robert D. Foster, who afterwards, as we shall see, became
+prominently connected with events at Nauvoo. Elder Rigdon being ill,
+Dr. Foster administered medicines to him, journeying with Joseph's
+party for several days for that purpose. At last, however, Elder Rigdon
+became so weak that it became necessary to leave him near Columbus,
+Ohio; and Orin P. Rockwell and Dr. Foster remained with him, while
+Joseph and Judge Higbee continued their journey to Washington.
+
+It was during this journey, too, that Joseph met another man destined
+to perform a prominent part in the drama enacted at Nauvoo. This was
+William Law, whom Joseph's party met at Springfield, Illinois. He was
+then leading a small company of Saints from Canada to Nauvoo. Joseph's
+company remained several days at Springfield, and he preached there
+several times, staying at the home of James Adams, the probate judge
+of that county. Judge Adams treated the Prophet with the kindness of a
+father.
+
+An incident occurred as the party approached Washington which borders
+on the domain of the romantic, or perhaps may be considered to enter
+directly into it. The coachman stopped his horses in front of one of
+the many public houses they passed _en route_, to get his grog, when
+the horses took fright, and dashed down the road at break-neck speed.
+The passengers, as might be expected, became terror-stricken, and one
+woman in her excitement tried to throw her babe out of the window; she
+was prevented, however, by Joseph, who calmed her fears, and persuaded
+the rest of the passengers to keep their seats. He then opened the door
+of the coach and succeeded in climbing up the side of the vehicle, and
+reaching the driver's seat. Gathering up the reins, he stopped the
+horses before any accident occurred either to coach or passengers.
+
+It is needless to say that Joseph's heroism drew from his
+fellow-passengers their warmest expressions of admiration and
+gratitude. No terms were sufficiently strong to convey their admiration
+of his daring. Among the passengers were several members of Congress
+who proposed mentioning the incident to Congress, for they believed
+that body would reward Joseph's conduct by some public act. With this
+object in view they asked for his name, and were doubtless dumbfounded
+to learn that they had been saved from their imminent peril by the
+courage of the Mormon Prophet. At any rate the profusion of thanks
+and admiration was stayed, "and," says Joseph, "I heard no more of
+their praise, gratitude or reward." Need one stop to moralize on the
+littleness of man when he allows prejudice to dictate his action
+instead of reason?
+
+It was on the twenty-eighth of November, 1839, that Joseph and Judge
+Elias Higbee arrived in Washington, and took up their abode at an
+unpretentious boarding house, on the corner of Missouri and Third
+Streets. They were very much cramped on account of means, as the
+people they represented were poor in this world's goods, and unable to
+supply the means necessary to enable their delegates to indulge in the
+luxurious style of living usually adopted by those who go to the seat
+of government on special missions.
+
+The day following his arrival, Joseph obtained an interview with
+President Martin Van Buren, who had been elected to the presidency
+by the Democratic party. I give Joseph's own account of this visit
+to President Van Buren, that our readers may judge of the impression
+he made upon the Prophet, and what the Prophet thought of Congress
+generally:
+
+    On Friday, the twenty-ninth, we proceeded to the house of the
+    President. We found a very large and splendid palace, surrounded
+    with a splendid enclosure, decorated with all the fineries and
+    elegancies of the world. We went to the door and requested to see
+    the President, when we were immediately introduced into an upper
+    apartment, where we met the President, and were introduced into his
+    parlor, where we presented him with our letters of introduction.
+    As soon as he had read one of them, he looked upon us with a kind
+    of half frown and said: "What can I do? I can do nothing for you!
+    If I do anything, I shall come in contact with the whole State of
+    Missouri." [1]
+
+I cannot determine whether it was on the occasion of this visit that
+President Van Buren made use of the expression, "Your cause is just,
+but I can do nothing for you," or whether he so expressed himself at
+some subsequent meeting. But under date of February 6th, 1840, Joseph
+remarks, in speaking of his mission to Washington:
+
+    During my stay I had an interview with Martin Van Buren, the
+    President, who treated me very insolently, and it was with great
+    reluctance he listened to our message, which, when he heard, he
+    said: "Gentlemen, your cause is just, but I can do nothing for
+    you. If I take up for you, I shall lose the vote of Missouri."
+    His whole course went to show that he was an office-seeker, that
+    self-aggrandizement was his ruling passion, and that justice and
+    righteousness were no part of his composition.
+
+As this language is somewhat different to that reported by Joseph on
+the occasion of his first visit to the President, I am inclined to the
+opinion that the language attributed to him in the latter quotation
+was used at some subsequent meeting to the first. I again quote from
+Joseph's letter to Hyrum:
+
+    Now we shall endeavor to express our feelings and views concerning
+    the President, as we have been eye-witness to his majesty. He is a
+    small man, sandy complexion, and ordinary features, with frowning
+    brow, and considerable body, but not well proportioned as to his
+    arms and legs, * * * and in fine, to come directly to the point, he
+    is so much of a fop or a fool (for he judged our cause before he
+    knew it), we could find no place to put truth into him. We do not
+    say the Saints shall not vote for him, but we do say boldly, that
+    we do not intend he shall have our votes.
+
+Joseph speaks very highly of the senators and representatives from
+Illinois, who rendered him some considerable assistance in getting a
+hearing before a congressional committee, but he was not favorably
+impressed with congressmen or their conduct on the whole. He says:
+
+    For a general thing there is but little solidity and honorable
+    deportment among those who are sent here to represent the people,
+    but a great deal of pomposity and show. * * * There is such an
+    itching disposition to display their oratory on the most trivial
+    occasions, and so much etiquette, bowing and scraping, twisting
+    and turning, to make a display of their witticism, that it seems
+    to us rather a display of folly and show, more than substance and
+    gravity, such as becomes a great nation like ours. However, there
+    are some exceptions.
+
+After the meeting with the President, a meeting with the Illinois
+delegation in Congress was arranged, to take into consideration the
+best means of getting the wrongs of the Saints before Congress. This
+meeting took place on the sixth of December. A Mr. Robinson of that
+delegation, whether a member of the House or Senate I do not know,
+took a stand against the Saints presenting any claims to be liquidated
+by the United States; but Joseph contended against him, and presented
+the constitutional rights of the people, and Mr. Robinson promised to
+reconsider the subject, and at the meeting the next day it was decided
+that a memorial and petition be drawn in concise form and presented
+by Judge Young, who had taken a lively interest in the cause of the
+Saints. At this stage of the proceedings, Joseph and Judge Higbee
+learned that it was necessary to have more positive testimony on the
+subject in hand, so that they sent to Nauvoo and a very large number
+of affidavits were taken and forwarded to Washington to sustain the
+statements to be presented to Congress.
+
+The petition presented to Congress related the outrages committed
+against the Saints at considerable length, from the commencement of
+difficulties in Jackson County, in the autumn of 1833, until their
+final expulsion from the State in the winter of 1838-9; and made
+emphatic the infamy of Governor Boggs' exterminating orders, which gave
+the coloring of authority for the action of the State mob-militia. They
+said in their statement of wrongs that if given an opportunity they
+could prove every allegation they made against the State of Missouri.
+And that "neither the Mormons as a body, nor as individuals of that
+body, had been guilty of any offense against the laws of Missouri, or
+of the United States: but their only offense had been their religious
+opinions."
+
+In conclusion the petition represents that for the wrongs endured--
+
+    The Mormons ought to have some redress; yet how and where shall
+    they seek and obtain it?
+
+    Your Constitution guarantees to every citizen, even the humblest,
+    the enjoyment of life, liberty and property. It promises to all
+    their religious freedom, the right to worship God beneath their
+    own vine and fig tree, according to their own conscience. It
+    guarantees to all the citizens of the several States the right
+    to become citizens of any one of the States, and to enjoy all
+    the rights and immunities of the citizens of the State of his
+    adoption. Yet of all these rights have the Mormons been deprived.
+    They have, without a cause, without a trial, been deprived of life,
+    liberty and property. They have been persecuted for their religious
+    opinions. They have been driven from the State of Missouri at the
+    point of the bayonet, and prevented from enjoying and exercising
+    the rights of citizens of the State of Missouri. It is the theory
+    of our laws, that for the protection of every legal right, there
+    is a legal remedy. What, then, we would ask, is the remedy for
+    the Mormons? Shall they appeal to the legislature of the State of
+    Missouri for redress? They have done so. They have petitioned,
+    and these petitions have been treated with silence and contempt.
+    Shall they apply to the federal courts? They were, at the time,
+    citizens of the State of Missouri. Shall they apply to the courts
+    of the State of Missouri? Whom shall they sue? The order for their
+    destruction, their extermination, was granted by the executive of
+    the State of Missouri. Is not this a plea of justification for the
+    loss of individuals, done in pursuance of the order? If not, before
+    whom shall the Mormons institute a trial? Shall they summon a jury
+    of the individuals who composed the mob? An appeal to them were in
+    vain. They dare not go to Missouri to institute a suit, their lives
+    would be in danger.
+
+    For ourselves we see no redress, unless it be awarded by the
+    Congress of the United States. And we here make our appeal as
+    _American citizens_, as _Christians_, and as _men_--believing the
+    high sense of justice which exists in your honorable bodies, will
+    not allow such oppression to be practiced upon any portion of the
+    citizens of this vast republic with impunity, but that some measure
+    which your wisdom may dictate, may be taken, so that the great
+    body of people who have been thus abused, may have redress for the
+    wrongs which they have suffered.
+
+The statement of wrongs and petition for their redress was introduced
+into the Senate by Judge Young, and referred to the committee on
+judiciary of which General Wall was chairman.
+
+At this stage of the proceedings Joseph left Washington and went to
+Philadelphia, where he labored in the ministry among the Saints; but
+Judge Elias Higbee was left in Washington to look after the interest of
+the petitioners before the Senate committee. The subject was held under
+advisement and discussed occasionally, until the fourth of March, 1840,
+when the committee reported. That report was of a character to crush
+forever the hopes of obtaining, at the hands of the general government,
+any redress for the outrages perpetrated against them in Missouri.
+The report said that after full examination and consideration, the
+committee unanimously concurred in the opinion: "That the case
+presented for their investigation is not such a one as will justify or
+authorize any interposition of this government."
+
+They stated that the wrongs complained of were not alleged to have
+been committed by officers of the United States; that the charges were
+all against the citizens and authorities of the State of Missouri;
+that the petitioners were citizens or inhabitants of Missouri; that
+the grievances complained of were committed within the territory of
+Missouri; and for these reasons the Senate judiciary committee did "not
+consider themselves justified in inquiring into the truth or falsehood
+of facts charged in the petition." The committee represented that if
+the charges were true, then the petitioners must seek redress in the
+courts of judicature, either of Missouri or of the United States,
+whichever might have jurisdiction in the case. "Or," said the report,
+"the petitioners may, if they see proper, apply to the justice and
+magnanimity of the State of Missouri--an appeal which the committee
+feel justified in believing will never be made in vain by the injured
+or oppressed." The report said that it could not be presumed that a
+State wanted either the power or lacked the disposition to redress
+the wrongs of its own citizens, committed within its own territory,
+"whether they proceed from the lawless acts of her officers or any
+other person."
+
+The report closed by asking the passage of the following resolution:
+
+    _Resolved_, That the committee on the judiciary be discharged from
+    the further consideration of the memorial in this case; and that
+    the memorialists have leave to withdraw the papers which accompany
+    their memorial.
+
+The resolution was passed without dissent, and thus the appeal to
+Congress for redress of the outrages committed against the Saints by
+Missouri ended.
+
+At a conference of The Church held in April following, a number of
+resolutions were adopted, regretting and condemning the action of the
+Senate judiciary committee, and approving the course pursued by their
+delegation to Congress, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Elias Higbee,
+and requesting them to continue their exertions to obtain redress for
+a suffering people as opportunities became more favorable for such
+efforts, and if at last all hopes of obtaining satisfaction for the
+injuries done us be entirely blasted, that they then "appeal our case
+to the Court of Heaven, believing that the Great Jehovah, who rules
+over the destiny of nations, and who notices the falling sparrows,
+will undoubtedly redress our wrongs, and ere long avenge us of our
+adversaries."
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Letter to Hyrum Smith, Dec. 5, 1839.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+ORSON HYDE'S MISSION TO JERUSALEM.
+
+THOSE who have read "The Missouri Persecutions," will remember the
+disaffection of Orson Hyde at Far West, and the statements he made
+in connection with Thomas B. Marsh against The Church, in the autumn
+of 1838--that time when men's hearts were failing them for fear, and
+death and destruction were rife; when even strong hearts grew faint
+and brave cheeks were blanched. Well, as stated in the account of his
+disaffection, like Peter of old, this modern Apostle wept bitterly
+for his error, returned to The Church, was forgiven; and during the
+conference held at Commerce in April, 1840, he was called to go on a
+mission to Jerusalem.
+
+It appears that Elder Hyde in a heavenly vision saw himself on the
+Mount of Olives blessing the land for the return of the people of
+Judah, hence, that he might be obedient to the vision, he was appointed
+to go to that land for the purpose mentioned. In the letter of
+appointment, which the Prophet gave him, occurs the following passage:
+
+    The Jewish nation have been scattered abroad among the Gentiles for
+    a long period; and in our estimation the time of the commencement
+    of their return to the Holy Land has already arrived. * * * It
+    is highly important, in our opinion, that the present views and
+    movements of the Jewish people be sought after, and laid before the
+    American people for their consideration, their profit and their
+    learning.
+
+On the 15th of the same month that Elder Hyde was called, he left his
+family at Nauvoo and started for Jerusalem without purse or scrip. The
+next day he met with John E. Page, who subsequently to the conference
+at which Orson Hyde had been called, was appointed to go with him to
+the Holy Land.
+
+They traveled through several States together, preaching as they went.
+In the city of Cincinnati they succeeded in raising up a large and
+prosperous branch of The Church; and while Elder Page remained in
+Cincinnati to strengthen the Saints, Elder Hyde made his way to New
+York.
+
+These labors consumed the summer of 1840, and in January, 1841, the
+word of the Lord came to the Prophet Joseph saying that he was not
+well pleased with the long delays of his servants in starting on
+their mission to Jerusalem, and they were requested to hasten their
+departure. In the meantime, however, Elder Page had lost the spirit of
+his appointment and had no disposition to go, but Orson Hyde on the
+receipt of this reproof set sail at once from New York for England.
+
+It is not our design to follow him through all his meanderings in
+Europe, or relate his trials or his perils in crossing the mighty seas,
+and passing through states in which war was raging. He succeeded in
+reaching the Holy City some time in October, and on the twenty-fourth
+of that month, 1841, early in the morning, was seated on the Mount of
+Olives, as he had seen himself in vision; and wrote the prayer he had
+to offer in behalf of the Jews and their city, which had been for so
+long a time trodden down of the Gentiles.
+
+In that prayer he referred to the prophecies of God's servants in
+relation to the Jews and Jerusalem, and asked that all might be
+fulfilled. He called for the richest blessings of heaven upon the
+Jews; he blessed, by virtue of his Priesthood, the city, the land, and
+all the elements, to the end that Judah might be gathered, Jerusalem
+rebuilt, and become an holy city, that the Lord's name might be
+glorified in all the earth. At the conclusion of his prayer, he says:
+
+    On the top of the Mount of Olives, I erected a pile of stones, as a
+    witness according to ancient custom. On what was anciently called
+    Mount Zion, where the temple stood, I erected another, and used the
+    rod according to the prediction upon my head.
+
+Just what he meant by saying that he had used the rod "according to
+prediction on his head," I have been unable to learn, except that it
+was a rod with which he had measured the city.
+
+I have called the attention of my readers to this mission of Elder
+Hyde's to Jerusalem, because it doubtless has a greater significance
+than most people would be inclined to give it. The rebuilding of
+Jerusalem is regarded by Mormonism as of as much importance as the
+establishment of Zion; the gathering of the dispersed of Judah is as
+much a part of the great latter-day work as the reassembling of the
+other tribes of Israel; and the commencement of that work was made by
+Elder Hyde, when by the authority of his apostleship, he consecrated
+that land to the return of the house of Judah, to inhabit it, and
+rebuild their city according to the predictions of their prophets. It
+may be somewhat beyond the scope of this chapter to call attention
+to it, but surely it will be of interest to the reader to know that
+this apostolic mission and blessing upon the Holy Land has not been
+fruitless, but blessings as a result are flowing unto it, and the Jews
+are beginning to return to it. At the time of Apostle Hyde's visit
+and ceremonies on the Mount of Olives, but very few Jews were in the
+city or in Judea. As late as twenty years ago the consular reports
+show that there were not more than fifteen or twenty thousand Jews in
+all Jerusalem. But in a popular magazine for August, 1896, under the
+editorial caption--"The Plan for a Hebrew Nation"--the magazine said:
+
+    A movement of which Americans hear very little, but which may have
+    an important effect upon the history of the coming century, is
+    going forward upon the shores of the Mediterranean. This is the
+    return of the Jews to their ancient home in Palestine--the Zionite
+    movement it is called. For hundreds of years there has been talk of
+    the Jew returning to Jerusalem. Through all his years of oppression
+    and wandering, this vision of his native land has been held before
+    his eyes by certain of his teachers. But it is only in the last
+    twelve years, since the renewal of persecution in Russia, that
+    the idea has taken shape. There are now more than four thousand
+    colonists in Palestine. At Jaffa the schools are Hebrew, the
+    ancient language being spoken altogether, and a Hebrew literature
+    is being developed. The works of the great English, French and
+    German authors are being translated, and writers of their own race
+    are being encouraged.
+
+    The Zionite movement is backed by the influence of the Rothschilds
+    and other great Jewish families and societies, and as we see its
+    stirring in every country, we can believe it only requires a
+    great popular leader to make it one of the important movements in
+    history. That it is not purely religious, but racial, is proven
+    by the co-operation of Rabinowitz, the Christian Jew who became
+    so well known here during the World's Fair Congress. There is
+    already one Jewish Christian colony in Palestine. * * * As a Jewish
+    state, Palestine might well become a country that would claim
+    consideration among the family of nations. If the Zionite continues
+    to grow, such a result is almost assured.
+
+During the same month, namely, in its impression of August 11th, 1896,
+the St. Louis _Globe-Democrat_ published the following:
+
+    Only two decades ago there were not more than fifteen or twenty
+    thousand Jews in Jerusalem. At that [time] no houses were to be
+    found outside the walls of the city. Since then many changes have
+    taken place and the Hebrew population--mainly on account of the
+    increase of the Jewish immigration from Russia--now stands at
+    between sixty and seventy thousand. Whole streets of houses have
+    been built outside the walls on the site of the ancient suburban
+    districts, which for hundreds of years have remained deserted. It
+    is not, however, only in Jerusalem itself that the Jews abound,
+    but throughout Palestine they are buying farms and establishing
+    themselves in a surprisingly rapid manner. In Jerusalem they form
+    at present a larger community than either the Christian or the
+    Mohammedan.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+DEATH'S HARVEST IN NAUVOO--RETURN OF PRODIGALS.
+
+DURING the summer of 1840, death reaped a rich harvest in Nauvoo.
+Before his ruthless stroke fell many worthy Saints who had been
+connected with The Church from the time it was founded. Among the first
+to fall was Bishop Edward Partridge. He died on the twenty-seventh of
+May, in the forty-sixth year of his age. He was the first Bishop in The
+Church, and in that capacity had presided over the Saints who gathered
+to Zion, in Jackson County, Missouri, during the years 1831-33. Joseph
+described him as a "pattern of piety," and the Lord himself declared
+that he was like Nathaniel of old--his heart was pure before him, and
+he was without guile. His life was indeed an eventful one. He was
+called from his merchandising, and became a preacher of righteousness.
+Much, in fact all, of his riches fell into the hands of the mobs of
+Jackson County, in the autumn of 1833, and upon his meek and uncovered
+head fell a double portion of their fury. Five years later, he passed
+through those trying times experienced by the Saints in their exodus
+from the State of Missouri, under the exterminating order of the
+infamous Governor Boggs; and at that time, he again saw the fruits of
+his industry fall a prey to the rapacity of his relentless enemies.
+Stripped of his earthly possessions and broken in health, he reached
+Commerce, but the trials through which he passed had proven too much
+for his constitution, which was never robust, and he passed away, a
+victim to the intolerance and religious bigotry of this generation.
+
+In September of the same year Father Joseph Smith, Patriarch to The
+Church, and father of the Prophet Joseph, was "gathered to his final
+home," in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He was baptized on the sixth
+day of April, 1830, and was one of the six who organized The Church on
+that date. Indeed he was the one who first received the testimony of
+his son after the angel Moroni visited him on that memorable night of
+September 21, 1823; and it was he who first exhorted his prophet son
+to be faithful and diligent to the message he had received. He endured
+many persecutions on account of the claims made by his son Joseph to
+being a prophet of God; for Joseph's declarations that he had received
+heavenly visions and revelations together with a divine commission to
+preach the Gospel of Christ, not only brought upon himself the wrath
+of the ungodly, but involved his whole family in the persecutions
+which followed him throughout his life. Of these things, however, his
+father never complained, but endured all things patiently, and with
+true heroism, and ever supported his son in carrying out the counsels
+of Heaven. He was born on the twelfth of July, 1771, in Topsfield,
+Massachusetts; and was the second of the seven sons of Asahel and Mary
+Smith; his forefathers being among those who early came from England
+to Massachusetts. He was a large man, ordinarily weighing two hundred
+pounds, was six feet two inches tall, and well proportioned, strong
+and active; and he stood unbowed beneath the accumulated sorrows and
+hardships he had experienced during his nearly three score and ten
+years of sojourn in this life. The exposures, however, that he suffered
+in the exodus from Missouri brought on him consumption, of which he
+died. His was an unassuming nature--noted mostly, perhaps, for its
+sincerity and unwavering integrity. He was a child of nature, and one
+of nature's noblest; his life had been spent in parts remote from the
+busy marts, where "wealth accumulates and men decay," and he had passed
+through his probation on earth without being corrupted by the evil
+influences of luxury or enervating civilization. He was a type of men,
+so well described by one of our poets, in the following lines:
+
+  Simple their lives--yet theirs the race
+  When liberty sent forth her cry,
+  Who crowded conflicts deadliest place,
+  To fight--to bleed--to die;
+  Who stood on Bunker's heights of red,
+  By hope through years were led--
+  And witnessed Yorktown's sun
+  Shine on a nation's banner spread,
+  A nation's freedom won!
+
+Such was the character of the first Patriarch of The Church in this
+dispensation.
+
+Another circumstance of interest in Nauvoo during this eventful summer
+of 1840 was the return of a number of prodigals to The Church. I have
+already stated the case of Orson Hyde. Frederick G. Williams was
+dropped from his position as counselor to the Prophet in November,
+1837, and in March, 1839, was excommunicated at a conference in Quincy,
+Illinois. At the April conference in 1840, however, he came before
+the assembled Church and "humbly asked forgiveness, and expressed his
+determination to do the will of God for the future." He was forgiven by
+the Saints but was never restored to his former position in the First
+Presidency.
+
+About the time Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde fell during the trying
+scenes in Missouri, W. W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery left The Church.
+Elder Phelps was a man who had been of great service to The Church
+and to the Prophet in a literary way, though some of his work in
+that line was marred by pedantic verbosity, and pretension to a
+knowledge of ancient languages which was not justified by any extended
+acquaintance he had of them. Still, he it was who in the early rise of
+The Church gave the cast to very much of The Church literature, and,
+as I remarked, he had been useful to The Church and the Prophet in the
+capacity of an editor and writer.
+
+During the summer of 1840 he began to feel his way back from his
+apostasy into The Church. He had seen his folly and began to tremble at
+the gulf which opened at his very feet to devour him. He felt debased
+and humbled, and most piteously begged to be forgiven and taken back in
+the confidence of his brethren and the Saints. So interesting are the
+circumstances connected with his return that I give _in extenso_ the
+letters which passed between himself and the Prophet.
+
+                   W. W. PHELPS' LETTER TO JOSEPH SMITH.
+
+                                            DAYTON, OHIO, June 29, 1840.
+
+    BROTHER JOSEPH--I am alive, and with the help of God I mean to live
+    still. I am as a prodigal son, though I never doubt or disbelieve
+    the fullness of the Gospel. I have been greatly abused and humbled,
+    and I blessed the God of Israel when I lately read your prophetic
+    blessing on my head, as follows:
+
+    "The Lord will chasten him because he taketh honor to himself, and
+    when his soul is greatly humbled he will forsake the evil. Then
+    shall the light of the Lord break upon him as at noonday, and in
+    him shall be no darkness," etc.
+
+    I have seen the folly of my way, and I tremble at the gulf I have
+    passed. So it is, and why I know not. I prayed and God answered,
+    but what could I do? Says I, "I will repent and live, and ask my
+    old brethren to forgive me, and though they chasten me to death,
+    yet _I will die_ with them, for their God is my God. The _least
+    place with them_ is enough for me, yea it is bigger and better than
+    all Babylon." Then I dreamed that I was in a large house with many
+    mansions, with you and Hyrum and Sidney, and when it was said,
+    "Supper must be made ready," by one of the cooks, I saw no meat,
+    but you said there was plenty, and showed me much, and as good as
+    I ever saw; and while cutting to cook, your heart and mine beat
+    within us, and we took each other's hand and cried for joy, and I
+    awoke and took courage.
+
+    I know my situation, you know it, and God knows it, and I want to
+    be saved if my friends will help me. Like the captain that was cast
+    away on a desert island; when he got off, he went to sea again,
+    and made his fortune the next time--so let my lot be. I have done
+    wrong, and am sorry. The beam is in my own eye. I have not walked
+    with my friends according to my holy anointing. I ask forgiveness
+    in the name of Jesus Christ of all the Saints, for I will do
+    right, God helping me. I want your fellowship; if you cannot grant
+    that, grant me your peace and friendship, for we are brethren, and
+    our communion used to be sweet, and whenever the Lord brings us
+    together again, _I will make all the satisfaction on every point
+    that Saints or God can require_. Amen.
+
+                                                         W. W. PHELPS.
+
+Elders Hyde and Page, _en route_ for the east on their mission to
+Jerusalem, met with Phelps at Dayton, and at his request these brethren
+added the following to his communication:
+
+    Brother Phelps requests us to write a few lines in his letter, and
+    we cheerfully embrace the opportunity. Brother Phelps says he wants
+    to live; but we do not fell ourselves authorized to act upon his
+    case, but have recommended him to you; but he says his poverty will
+    not allow him to visit you in person at this time, and we think he
+    tells the truth. We therefore advise him to write, which he has
+    done.
+
+    He tells us verbally, that he is willing to make any sacrifice
+    to procure your fellowship, life not excepted, yet reposing that
+    confidence in your magnanimity that you will take no advantage
+    of this open letter and frank confession. If he can obtain your
+    fellowship, he wants to come to Commerce as soon as he can. But if
+    he cannot be received into the fellowship of The Church, he must do
+    the best he can in banishment and exile.
+
+    Brethren, with you are the keys of the Kingdom; to you is power
+    given to "exert your clemency, or display your vengeance." By
+    the former you will save a soul from death, and hide a multitude
+    of sins: by the latter you will forever discourage a returning
+    prodigal, cause sorrow without benefit, pain without pleasure,
+    ending in wretchedness and despair. But former experience teaches
+    that you are workmen in the art of saving souls; therefore with the
+    greater confidence do we recommend to your clemency and favorable
+    consideration, the author and subject of this communication.
+    "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." Brother
+    Phelps says he will, and so far as we are concerned, we say he may.
+
+    In the bonds of the covenant,
+
+                                 ORSON HYDE,
+
+                                 JOHN E. PAGE.
+
+To this piteous appeal from one who had wandered far from the fold,
+and who had been torn by the thorns, the Prophet wrote a most worthy
+reply--a reply which clearly indicates that the spirit of the Master
+burned brightly in the breast of the servant.
+
+                JOSEPH SMITH'S LETTER TO W. W. PHELPS.
+
+                             NAUVOO, HANCOCK CO., ILLINOIS, July 22, 1840.
+
+    DEAR BROTHER PHELPS--I must say that it is with no ordinary
+    feelings I endeavor to write a few lines to you in answer to yours
+    of the 29th ultimo; at the same time I am rejoiced at the privilege
+    granted me.
+
+    You may in some measure realize what my feelings, as well as
+    Elder Rigdon's and Brother Hyrum's were, when we read your
+    letter--truly our hearts were melted into tenderness and compassion
+    when we ascertained your resolves, etc. I can assure you I feel
+    a disposition to act on your case in a manner that will meet the
+    approbation of Jehovah, (whose servant I am) and agreeably to the
+    principles of truth and righteousness which have been revealed;
+    and inasmuch as longsuffering, patience and mercy have ever
+    characterized the dealings of our Heavenly Father towards the
+    humble and penitent, I feel disposed to copy the example, cherish
+    the same principles, and by so doing be a savior of my fellow men.
+
+    It is true, that we have suffered much in consequence of your
+    behavior--_the cup of gall, already full enough_ for mortals to
+    drink, was indeed _filled to overflowing_ when _you_ turned against
+    us. One with whom we had oft taken sweet counsel together, and
+    enjoyed many refreshing seasons from the Lord--"had it been an
+    enemy, we could have borne it." "In the day that thou stoodest on
+    the other side, in the day when strangers carried away captive his
+    forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon
+    Far West, even thou wast as one of them; but thou shouldest not
+    have looked on the day of thy brother, in the day that he became a
+    stranger, neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of
+    distress."
+
+    However, the cup has been drunk, the will of our Father has been
+    done, and we are yet alive, for which we thank the Lord. And having
+    been delivered from the hands of wicked men by the mercy of our
+    God, we say it is your privilege to be delivered from the powers of
+    the adversary, be brought into the liberty of God's dear children,
+    and again take your stand among the Saints of the Most High, and by
+    diligence, humility, and love unfeigned, commend yourself to our
+    God, and your God, and to The Church of Jesus Christ.
+
+    Believing your confession to be real, and your repentance genuine,
+    I shall be happy once again to give you the right hand of
+    fellowship, and rejoice over the returning prodigal.
+
+    Your letter was read to the Saints last Sunday, and an expression
+    was taken, when it was unanimously--
+
+    _Resolved_, That W. W. Phelps should be received into fellowship.
+
+         "Come on, dear brother, since the war is past,
+         For friends at first are friends again at last."
+
+                                     Yours as ever,
+
+                                                JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
+
+Some time after this, when laying out work for the brethren to do, in a
+sudden burst of kindness he said to his secretary:
+
+    Write Oliver Cowdery, and ask him if he has not eaten husks long
+    enough. If he is not almost ready to return, be clothed with robes
+    of righteousness, and go up to Jerusalem. Orson Hyde hath need of
+    him.
+
+A letter was written accordingly, but the Prophet's generous tender
+of forgiveness and fellowship called forth no response from Oliver
+Cowdery, once the second Elder of The Church, and the first to make
+public proclamation of the Gospel to the world. Subsequently, however,
+he did return, namely in 1848.
+
+It may not be amiss here to call the attention of the reader to a
+peculiarity of Mormonism, which is illustrated, not only by this case
+of Phelps, but by a multitude of other cases of the same character; and
+that is: whenever the religion of the Latter-day Saints--the Gospel
+of Jesus Christ--takes hold of men, and conviction of its truth has
+struck deep into the human soul, they may through transgression lose
+the fellowship of the Saints and of The Church; they may wander out
+upon the hills and through the deserts, away from the fold, but they
+can never forget the sweet communion of the Spirit of God, which they
+enjoyed before their fall; nor can they forget the fact that they once
+knew that Mormonism was true. The recollection of those things operates
+upon the mind, and not infrequently leads to a sincere repentance; and
+it has often happened, in the experience of The Church, that men who
+through transgression turned away from the truth, after thorns have
+torn their flesh, and the wild briar stripped them of their covering,
+they return and humbly beg to be re-admitted into their Father's house.
+Lucifer-like, they cannot forget the heights from which they fell, they
+cannot all forget the splendor of that glory and the happiness of that
+peace they enjoyed in God's Kingdom, and wicked indeed must that heart
+become, that these recollections will not lead to repentance. May not
+they have so far transgressed that they cannot repent, and are beyond
+even the desire for forgiveness? Are they not the sons of perdition?
+Thank God, their numbers are few!
+
+Again, those who fall away from Mormonism carry with them the evidences
+of that fall. Unbelievers say to Mormons, "Come out of the darkness
+of your superstitions into God's sunlight of freedom"--but when one
+looks upon the fate, the condition and experience of those who have
+denied the faith, he receives small encouragement to obey the summons.
+Seldom indeed are they prospered even in the affairs of this world, and
+the canker-worm gnawing within, writes upon their faces the anguish
+of heart which their lying lips deny. They smile, but smiling suffer;
+the heart still beats, but brokenly lives on; and who so blind that he
+would exchange the peace, the joy, the holy aspirations and assurances
+which the Gospel brings, for the unrest, the gloom, darkness,
+uncertainty and fearfulness, which forever haunt the mind of the
+apostate? Only those who would exchange the glorious light of heaven
+for the murky blackness of hell.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+JOHN C. BENNETT.
+
+ABOUT this time, there were other characters which had become attracted
+to The Church, and who became prominent in the events which occurred
+at Nauvoo. Among them was Dr. John C. Bennett, described as "a man
+of enterprise, extensive acquirements, and of independent mind, one
+calculated to be of great benefit to The Church." His attention had
+been attracted to the Mormon people during their persecutions in
+Missouri. At that time he was brigadier-general of the "Invincible
+Dragoons" of Illinois, and wrote to the leaders of The Church in the
+hours of their deepest distress, proffering to go to their assistance
+with all the forces he could raise in Illinois, as his bosom swelled
+with indignation at the treatment the Saints received at the hands of
+the cruel but cowardly Missourians. That proffered service, however,
+was not accepted; doubtless because the Saints depended for vindication
+of their reputation, and redress of their wrongs, upon the officers of
+the State and Nation, rather than upon adventurers who offered their
+service to wage war upon their enemies. But after the Saints began
+gathering at Commerce, he again expressed a desire to connect his
+fortunes with theirs.
+
+As this man may properly be regarded as the "Benedict Arnold" of
+The Church at Nauvoo, I shall take the liberty of now noting a few
+expressions in his first letters to Joseph the Prophet, which, if they
+fail to adorn a tale, they will at least point a moral.
+
+When he contemplated joining his fortunes with The Church at Commerce,
+he held the position of quartermaster-general in the militia of the
+State of Illinois, a position he did not wish to resign. Indeed he
+expressed a desire to hold the position for a number of years. He was
+also a physician with an extensive practice, and sent extracts from the
+Louisville _Courier-Journal_ which gave evidence of high standing in
+his profession. Writing of these things to Joseph, he said:
+
+    I do not expect to resign my office of quartermaster-general of
+    the State of Illinois, in the event of my removal to Commerce,
+    unless you advise otherwise. I shall likewise expect to practice
+    my profession, but at the same time your people shall have all the
+    benefit of my speaking power, and my untiring energies in behalf of
+    the good and holy faith.
+
+In a communication following the one from which I make the above
+quotation he said:
+
+    You are aware that at the time of your most bitter persecution, I
+    was with you in feeling, and proffered you my military knowledge
+    and powers.
+
+The egotism of the man plainly appears in these expressions, and
+manifests a spirit that is altogether at variance with the humility
+required by the Gospel, and doubtless that self-importance laid the
+foundation of his subsequent fall. While Joseph extended a hearty
+welcome to the doctor to come to Nauvoo, he by no means held out very
+flattering inducements to him, as may be seen by Joseph's letters to
+him in answer to those of Bennett's, expressing his determination to
+join the Saints at Commerce. He said:
+
+    I have no doubt that you would be of great service to this
+    community in practicing your profession, as well as those other
+    abilities of which you are in possession. Though to devote
+    your time and abilities in the cause of truth and a suffering
+    people, may not be the means of exalting you in the eyes of this
+    generation, or securing you the riches of this world, yet by so
+    doing you may rely on the approval of Jehovah, "that blessing which
+    maketh rich and addeth no sorrow." * * * Therefore, my general
+    invitation is, let all who will come, come and partake of the
+    poverty of Nauvoo, freely.
+
+    I should be disposed to give you a special invitation to come as
+    early as possible, believing you will be of great service to us.
+    However, you must make your own arrangements according to your
+    circumstances. Were it possible for you to come here this season
+    to suffer affliction with the people of God, no one will be more
+    pleased to give you a cordial welcome than myself.
+
+Surely this was frank enough, and ought to have dispelled from the
+doctor's mind, if at that time such ideas lurked there, all thoughts
+of winning worldly fame, or gratifying vain ambition, by linking his
+fortunes with those of The Church of Jesus Christ.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES BY MISSOURI.
+
+IT would appear that Hatred's hunger is never fed; it seems to possess
+an appetite which is insatiable, and can never feel at ease so long
+as the object of its detestation remains within its reach; and even
+when that object is removed beyond the immediate power of Hatred to do
+it harm, as the dragon of the apocalypse when he could not follow the
+woman he had persecuted into the wilderness, cast out of his mouth a
+flood of water after her to destroy her--even so Hatred, when baffled
+in his efforts to destroy his victims, sends out floods of falsehood to
+overwhelm them by infusing his own venom into the breasts of others;
+that that destruction which he could not bring to pass himself, might
+be brought about by another.
+
+Such was the course of hate-blinded Missouri towards the Saints of
+God, whom she had driven beyond her borders. Seeing that she had not
+destroyed them, but that they were now upon the eve of enjoying an era
+of prosperity such as they had never enjoyed while within her borders,
+she employed all her cunning to incite the hatred of the citizens of
+Illinois against them. But this was not easy of accomplishment; and at
+first, the misrepresentations of a State that had been guilty of such
+outrages as those committed by Missouri against the Latter-day Saints,
+had but little weight in Illinois.
+
+Finding that their accusations against the people whom they had so
+wronged had little or no effect, an effort was made to give coloring
+to their statements; and stolen goods were conveyed from Missouri to
+the vicinity of Commerce, so that when they were found, suspicion might
+rest upon the people in whose neighborhood the stolen articles were
+discovered.
+
+Nor did their outrages stop at this. But doubtless being emboldened
+by reason of the general government's refusing to make any effort to
+redress the wrongs of the Saints, a company of men led by William
+Allensworth, H. M. Woodyard, Wm. Martin, J. H. Owsely, John Bain, Light
+T. Lait and Halsay White, crossed over the Mississippi to Illinois, at
+a point a few miles above Quincy, and kidnapped Alanson Brown, James
+Allred, Benjamin Boyce and Noah Rogers; and without any writ or warrant
+of any character whatever, they dragged them over to Missouri, to a
+neighborhood called Tully, in Lewis County. These unfortunate men were
+imprisoned for a day or two in an old log cabin, during which time
+their lives were repeatedly threatened. At one time Brown was taken
+out, a rope placed around his neck, and he was hung up to a tree until
+he was nearly strangled to death. Boyce at the same time was tied to a
+tree, stripped of his clothing and inhumanly beaten. Rogers was also
+beaten, and Allred was stripped of every particle of clothing, and
+tied up to a tree for the greater part of the night, and threatened
+frequently by a man named Monday, exclaiming: "G--d d--n you, I'll cut
+you to the hollow." He was finally, however, released without being
+whipped.
+
+After they had received this inhuman treatment, their captors performed
+an act purely Missourian in its character, that is, they gave them the
+following note of acquittal:
+
+                                         TULLY, MISSOURI, July 12, 1840.
+
+    The people of Tully, having taken up Mr. Allred, with some others,
+    and having examined into the offenses committed, find nothing to
+    justify his detention any longer, and have released him.
+
+    By order of the committee.
+
+                                                   H. M. WOODYARD.
+
+As soon as the people of Commerce and vicinity were informed of this
+outrage, Gentiles as well as Mormons were loud in their condemnation
+of it, and at once a mass meeting was called, and resolutions were
+adopted, expressing their unqualified indignation, and calling upon
+the governor of Illinois to take the necessary steps to punish those
+who had committed this outrage, and by vindicating the law, give the
+Missourians to understand there was a limit beyond which their deeds of
+violence must not pass.
+
+D.H. Wells, not then a member of The Church, and George Miller were
+appointed a committee to wait upon Governor Carlin, and lay the case
+before him. For this purpose they repaired to Quincy, and at the
+recital of the cruelties practiced upon the men who were the victims of
+the Missourians, the governor's wife, who was present at the interview,
+was moved to tears, and the governor himself was greatly agitated. He
+promised to counsel with the State attorney, who by law was made his
+adviser, and promised to take such steps as the case seemed to require,
+and the law to justify. Just what was done by Governor Carlin, however,
+I am unable to learn; but one thing is certain, and that is, the guilty
+parties were never brought to justice, nor even to a trial--indeed it
+may be that even then the love which Governor Carlin once had for the
+Saints, and which at last became dead, had begun to grow cold.
+
+Scarcely had the excitement occasioned by the kidnapping of Allred
+and his associates subsided, when Governor Boggs of Missouri made a
+requisition on Governor Carlin, of Illinois, for the persons of Joseph
+Smith, Jr., Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, P.P. Pratt, Caleb Baldwin and
+Alanson Brown, as fugitives from justice. Governor Carlin granted the
+requisition--was it another case of Herod and Pilate being made friends
+over the surrender of God's Prophet? But fortunately when the sheriff
+went to Commerce with his requisition, Joseph and his brethren were
+not at home, and could not be found; so that the officers returned
+without them. These men were not fugitives from justice, no process
+had ever been found against them, the governor himself had connived at
+their escape from the hands of the officers charged with the duty of
+conducting them from Liberty, Clay County, to Boone County; [1] and
+these men did not feel disposed to try again "the solemn realities of
+mob law in Missouri."
+
+These circumstances gave the Saints to understand that their peace
+in their beautiful situation on the banks of the placid, grand,
+old Mississippi was not to be without alloy; the goal of their
+final triumph and rest had not been reached. These incidents were a
+premonition of danger; they were indeed the few drops of rain which
+sometimes precede the storm, but a kind Providence shut out from their
+vision how fierce that storm would be, or how would they have had the
+courage to meet it?
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Missouri Persecutions, Chapter XLVII.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+FOUNDING A CITY.
+
+MEANTIME Commerce had become Nauvoo. The city of Nauvoo was
+incorporated by act of the legislature of Illinois, on the fourteenth
+of December, 1840. The charter granted on that date described the
+boundaries of the city, but gave to the citizens--whom it erected a
+body corporate and politic--the right to extend the area of the city
+whenever any tract of land adjoining should have been laid out into
+town lots and recorded according to law. The city council was to
+consist of a mayor, four aldermen and nine councilors to be elected
+by the qualified voters of the city. The first Monday in February was
+appointed for the first election of officers.
+
+The charter granted to the citizens of Nauvoo the most plenary powers
+in the management of their local affairs. Indeed, about the only limit
+placed upon their powers was, that they do nothing inconsistent with
+the constitution of the United States, and the State constitution of
+Illinois. But inside of those lines they were all powerful to make
+and execute such ordinances as in the wisdom of the city council were
+necessary for the peace, good order, and general welfare of the city.
+It afterwards became a question in the State as to whether or not
+powers too great had not been granted the city government--but of that
+I shall have occasion to speak further on.
+
+The leading men of the State appeared not only willing but anxious
+to grant the privileges of this city government to the Saints. S. H.
+Little, of the upper house of the State legislature, especially stood
+by the Saints, and pleaded for their rights; together with Messrs.
+Snyder, Ralston, Moore, Ross and Stapp; while Mr. John F. Charles, the
+representative to the lower house from the district in which Nauvoo
+was located, manfully discharged his duties to the Nauvoo portion of
+his constituents, by using all his energy to secure them their city
+government.
+
+An incident connecting Abraham Lincoln with the passage of this charter
+may not be without interest. The State of Illinois was at that time
+divided into two political parties, Whigs and Democrats. Both parties
+were friendly to the Saints, who considered themselves equally bound
+to both parties for acts of kindness. Lincoln was a Whig, and in the
+November election his name was on the State electoral ticket as a
+Whig candidate for the State legislature. But many of the people of
+Nauvoo, wishing to divide their vote, and to show a kindness to the
+Democrats, erased the name of Lincoln, and substituted that of Ralston,
+a Democrat. It was with no ill feeling, however, towards Mr. Lincoln
+that this was done, and when the vote was called on the final passage
+of the Nauvoo charter, he had the magnanimity to vote for it; and
+congratulated John C. Bennett on his success in securing its enactment.
+
+The Saints rejoiced in the prospects of liberty secured to them by
+their city government, and of it Joseph said:
+
+    I concocted it for the salvation of The Church, and on principles
+    so broad, that every honest man might dwell secure under its
+    protecting influences, without distinction of sect or party.
+
+An inspection of the charter will bear out this opinion of it, for
+while it was "concocted for the salvation of The Church," it by
+no means secured that salvation by trespassing upon the rights of
+others, but by recognizing the rights of the Saints to be equal to
+the rights of other citizens. Nor was it intended that Nauvoo should
+be an exclusive city for people of the Mormon faith; on the contrary,
+all worthy people were invited to come and assist to build it up
+and partake of its liberty and anticipated prosperity. An official
+proclamation, issued over the signatures of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon
+and Hyrum Smith, who then constituted the First Presidency of The
+Church, contains the following passage:
+
+    We wish it likewise to be distinctly understood, that we claim
+    no privileges but what we feel cheerfully disposed to share with
+    our fellow-citizens of every denomination, and every sentiment of
+    religion; and therefore say, that so far from being restricted to
+    our own faith, let all those who desire to locate in this place
+    (Nauvoo) or the vicinity, come, and we will hail them as citizens
+    and friends, and shall feel it not only a duty, but a privilege to
+    reciprocate the kindness we have received from the benevolent and
+    kind-hearted citizens of the State of Illinois.
+
+And as an earnest of the intention, so far as the Saints were
+concerned, of carrying out in practice these liberal sentiments and
+extending equal rights to people of all religious persuasions, among
+the first acts of the city council was the passage of the following
+ordinance, introduced by Joseph Smith:
+
+    SECTION I. Be it ordained by the city council of the city of Nauvoo
+    that the Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Latter-day
+    Saints, Quakers, Episcopalians, Universalists, Unitarians,
+    Mohammedans, and all other religious sects and denominations,
+    whatever, shall have free toleration and equal privileges in this
+    city; and should any person be guilty of ridiculing and abusing,
+    or otherwise deprecating another, in consequence of his religion,
+    or of disturbing or interrupting any religious meeting within the
+    limits of this city, he shall, on conviction before the mayor or
+    municipal court, be considered a disturber of the public peace, and
+    fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisoned
+    not exceeding six months, or both, at the discretion of said mayor
+    and court.
+
+The second section made it the duty of all municipal officers to notice
+and report any violation of the law--and in fact, of any other law of
+the city--to the mayor; and the municipal officers were authorized
+to arrest all violators of this law, either with or without process;
+so that the fullest religious liberty was secured to all sects, and
+all religions, and to people of no religion at all if any such there
+should be. Under such an ordinance, people could worship Almighty
+God according to the dictates of their consciences, without fear of
+molestation from any one; but they were restrained from interfering
+with the religion or mode of worship of their fellows--they were told,
+in a manner, that their liberties ended where those of other people
+commenced.
+
+On the first of February, 1841, the first election for members of the
+city council took place, as provided by the city charter. John C.
+Bennett was chosen mayor; William Marks, Samuel H. Smith, D. H. Wells,
+and N. K. Whitney, aldermen; Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon,
+Chas. C. Rich, John T. Barnett, Wilson Law, Don C. Smith, J. P. Greene
+and Vinson Knight, councilors. On the third of the month the city
+council was organized, by appointing the following officers: marshal,
+H. G. Sherwood; recorder, James Sloan; treasurer, R. B. Thompson;
+assessor, James Robinson; supervisor of streets, Austin Cowles.
+
+Mayor Bennett, the same day, delivered his inaugural address.
+After making several recommendations to the council relative to
+the establishment of an educational institution, a militia, the
+enactment of a temperance ordinance, and other measures affecting
+the manufacturing and commercial interests of the city; and further
+recommending that the protecting aegis of the corporation be thrown
+around every moral and religious institution of the day, which was
+in any way calculated to ennoble or ameliorate the condition of the
+citizens, he concluded his speech in these words:
+
+    As the chief magistrate of your city, I am determined to execute
+    all State laws, and city ordinances passed in pursuance of law, to
+    the very letter, should it require the strong arm of military power
+    to enable me to do so. As an officer, I know no man; the peaceful,
+    unoffending citizen shall be protected in the full exercise of all
+    his civil, political and religious rights, and the guilty violator
+    of the law shall be punished without respect to persons.
+
+The first act of the city council, after its organization, was to
+express its gratitude for its privileges and powers conferred upon the
+city by its charter. For this purpose the following resolution was
+introduced by Joseph Smith, and adopted:
+
+    _Resolved_, by the city council of the city of Nauvoo, that the
+    unfeigned thanks of this community be respectfully tendered to the
+    governor, council of revision, and legislature of the State of
+    Illinois, as a feeble testimonial of their respect and esteem of
+    noble, high-minded, and patriotic statesmen; and as an evidence of
+    gratitude for the signal powers recently conferred--and that the
+    citizens of Quincy be held in everlasting remembrance for their
+    unparalleled liberality and marked kindness to our people, when in
+    their greatest state of suffering and want.
+
+The next move was to pass a temperance ordinance, which practically
+made Nauvoo a prohibition city--that is, so far as prohibitory
+ordinances prohibit.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE NAUVOO LEGION.
+
+THE Nauvoo charter proper really contained two other charters, viz: One
+for the establishment of a university within the limits of the city
+"for the teaching of the arts and sciences, and learned professions,"
+and another for the organization of an independent military body to be
+called the "Nauvoo Legion."
+
+An ordinance was passed on the third of February, in relation to the
+university, appointing a chancellor and board of regents. A site for a
+building was selected, and plans of the structure were drawn, but that
+was as far as the matter went, as the city had no funds with which to
+proceed with the work of construction.
+
+An ordinance was also passed on the above date authorizing the
+organization of the Nauvoo Legion. The original provision in the Nauvoo
+charter establishing this military body provided that the city council
+might organize the inhabitants of the city, subject to military duty
+under the laws of the State, into an independent body of militia; and a
+subsequent amendment to the charter extended the privilege of joining
+the Legion to any citizen of Hancock County, who might by voluntary
+enrollment desire to do so; and in that event he was to have all the
+privileges to be enjoyed by members of that organization. The charter
+provided that the officers of the Legion should be commissioned by the
+governor; and that the members thereof be required to perform the same
+amount of military duty as the regular militia of the State; they were
+to be at the disposal of the mayor in executing the laws and ordinances
+of the city, and the laws of the State; and also at the disposal of
+the governor for the public defense, and the execution of the laws
+of the State and of the United States; and were entitled to their
+proportion of the public arms; but were exempt from all military duty
+not specified in these provisions.
+
+The commissioned officers of the Legion were constituted its
+court-martial, which was its law-making department; but no law
+inconsistent with either the Constitution of the United States or
+the State of Illinois was to be enacted by this court. The privilege
+of organizing the citizens of Nauvoo, and as many of the citizens of
+Hancock County as might desire to unite with them, into an independent
+military body, was highly gratifying to the people of Nauvoo, but
+more especially so to Joseph Smith, who, in speaking of it, in a
+proclamation to the Saints scattered abroad, said:
+
+    The Nauvoo Legion embraces all our military power, and will enable
+    us to perform our military duty by ourselves, and thus afford us
+    the power and privileges of avoiding one of the most fruitful
+    sources of strife, oppression and collision with the world. It will
+    enable us to show our attachment to the State and Nation, as a
+    people, whenever the public service requires our aid, thus proving
+    ourselves obedient to the paramount laws of the land, and ready at
+    all times to sustain and execute them.
+
+The city ordinance provided that the Legion should be divided into
+two cohorts, the horse troops to constitute the first cohort, and
+the infantry the second. The commander-in-chief of the Legion was to
+be known as the lieutenant-general, who was also made the reviewing
+officer and president of the court-martial and Legion. His staff was
+to consist of two principal aides-de-camp with the rank of colonel of
+cavalry; and a guard of twelve aides-de-camp with the rank of captain
+of infantry; and a drill officer, with the rank of colonel of dragoons,
+to be the chief officer of the guard.
+
+The second officer was a major-general, to act as the secretary of
+the court-martial and Legion. His staff consisted of an adjutant;
+surgeon-in-chief, a cornet, quartermaster, paymaster, commissary, and
+chaplain; all to hold the rank of colonel of cavalry; besides these,
+there were to be in his staff, a surgeon for each cohort, quartermaster
+sergeant, sergeant-major, and a chief musician--with the rank of
+captain of light infantry; and two musicians with the rank of captain
+of infantry. Besides these officers there were created by the ordinance
+an adjutant and inspector-general; and a brigadier-general to command
+each cohort. The staff of each brigadier-general consisted of an
+aide-de-camp with the rank of lieutenant-colonel of infantry, and when
+not otherwise in service, these brigadiers had access to the staff of
+the major-general.
+
+The ordinance organizing this body of militia provided that the
+court-martial should adopt for the Legion, so far as practicable,
+the discipline, drill, uniform, rules and regulations of the United
+States army. And a law passed by the court-martial shortly after
+its organization, required all male citizens within the limits of
+Nauvoo, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, excepting such
+as were exempted from service under the laws of the United States, to
+perform military duty under the penalty of being fined for absence
+from general parades, as follows: generals, twenty-five dollars;
+colonels, twenty dollars; captains, fifteen dollars; lieutenants, ten
+dollars; and musicians and privates, five dollars. For absence from
+company parades--of course without good reason for the absence--the
+fines were fixed at these rates: commissioned officers, five dollars;
+non-commissioned officers, three dollars; and musicians and privates,
+two dollars.
+
+The first election of officers of the Legion took place on the fourth
+of February, 1841; and resulted in Joseph Smith being unanimously
+chosen lieutenant-general; John C. Bennett, major-general; Wilson
+Law, brigadier-general of the first cohort; and Don Carlos Smith,
+brigadier-general of the second cohort. The staffs of the respective
+generals were chosen from the leading citizens of Nauvoo, some of whom
+were not members of the Mormon Church. There were but six companies at
+the time the Legion was organized, in February, 1841, but in September
+following, the number of men had increased to one thousand four hundred
+and ninety; and at the time of the Prophet Joseph's death, some three
+years later, the Legion numbered about five thousand.
+
+With such strict regulations, accompanied by a natural enthusiasm for
+military display, and drilled by competent military officers, it is
+not to be wondered at if the Legion became the best body of militia in
+the State of Illinois. It excited the jealousy and envy of the rest of
+the militia in the surrounding counties, and all the laudable efforts
+of the Legion to become an efficient body of militia, with a view of
+assisting in the execution of the State and National laws, if occasion
+should require, were construed by their enemies to mean a preparation
+for rebellion, and the establishment and spread of the Mormon religion
+by conquests of the sword, as, it is alleged, Mohammed established his
+religion. Thus the forming of an independent body of militia, enabling
+the Saints to perform their military duty by themselves, which the
+Prophet fondly hoped would remove "one of the most fruitful sources of
+strife, oppression and collision with the world," and which he further
+hoped would give the Saints, as a people, an opportunity of showing
+their attachment to the State and Nation, whenever the public service
+required their aid--by the misrepresentation of their enemies, was
+made one of the principal rocks of offense, and was used to excite the
+apprehensions and prejudices of the good people of Illinois.
+
+The people of the United States have always been jealous of military
+power, and hence have been careful in forming their political
+institutions to subordinate the military to the civil authority, except
+in times of actual war; and, therefore, notwithstanding the very good
+intentions of the Saints at Nauvoo, it was a very easy matter for
+their enemies to excite the prejudice and awaken the fears of the
+people of Illinois by pointing to the existence of this elaborate and
+efficient military organization with its frequent musters and parades,
+and captained by a great religious leader, whom, notwithstanding his
+virtues and the uprightness of his intentions--they had come to regard
+as a wild, religious fanatic, prepared to go to what lengths they knew
+not in the promulgation of his religion. Hence that which was to be a
+bulwark to the city, and a protection to the Saints, was transformed by
+their enemies into an occasion of offense, and an excuse for assailing
+them.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+RECONSTRUCTION OF QUORUMS--THE NAUVOO HOUSE AND THE TEMPLE.
+
+In the meantime important changes in The Church organization were
+pending. An important revelation was received on the nineteenth of
+January, 1841, [1] which provided for filling the vacancies in the
+several quorums and a reconfirmation of all the authorities of the
+Church. Hyrum Smith, who had stood in the position of counselor to his
+brother Joseph, since the apostasy of F. G. Williams and his expulsion
+from The Church, on the seventh of November, 1837--was appointed to
+succeed his father as Patriarch to The Church; to hold the sealing
+blessings of The Church, even the Holy Spirit of promise, whereby the
+Saints are sealed up unto the day of redemption, that they may not
+fall, notwithstanding the day of temptation that might come upon them.
+He was also appointed a prophet, seer, and revelator, as well as Joseph
+with whom he was to act in concert, and from whom he was to receive
+counsel. The Prophet was to show unto him the keys whereby he might ask
+and receive, "and be crowned with the same blessing and glory and honor
+and priesthood, and gifts of the priesthood that once were put upon him
+that was my servant Oliver Cowdery."
+
+Joseph Smith was given, as the presiding Elder of The Church, to be
+a translator, a revelator, a seer and prophet. Sidney Rigdon was
+admonished of his neglect of duty, and of his lack of faith; he was
+told, however, if he would repent of his sins, and stand in his place
+and calling, he might continue to act as counselor to Joseph, and the
+Lord promised to heal him, and make him powerful in testimony. The
+reason for this admonition, as one may judge from the spirit of it, was
+that he to whom it was given had become sour in his feelings toward the
+work of God. His ardor was cooling, and his zeal, which at times had
+been inordinate, seemed now to be oozing out of his disposition.
+
+William Law, whom, it will be remembered, Joseph first met when _en
+route_ for Washington--Law then leading a small company of Saints to
+Nauvoo from Canada--was appointed to fill the vacancy in the First
+Presidency made by the appointment of Hyrum Smith to the office of
+Patriarch. And such blessings and spiritual powers were pronounced upon
+him by the Lord, as seldom falls to the lot of man. On condition of his
+faithfulness he was to have power to have the sick, cast out devils, be
+delivered from those who administered unto him poison, and the serpent
+that might lay hold upon his heel; "And what if I will," said the Lord,
+"that he should raise the dead, let him not hold his voice."
+
+Brigham Young was appointed the president of the Twelve Apostles, and
+liberty was given to appoint another man to fill the vacancy made in
+the quorum through the death of David W. Patten, who was killed by the
+mob, at the battle of Crooked River, in Missouri. The High Council for
+Nauvoo was named, and a presidency given to the High Priests; the seven
+presidents of the Seventies were appointed; and all the quorums of the
+Priesthood both in the Melchisedek and Aaronic divisions were set in
+order, so far as the appointment of presidents was concerned.
+
+Besides setting the Priesthood in order, the Lord in this revelation
+required that a house should be built to His name; "a house worthy of
+all acceptation; that the weary traveler may find health and safety
+while he contemplates the word of the Lord;" and the Prophet Joseph
+and his family were to have a right of permanent residence in it. It
+was to be known as the "Nauvoo House," and built unto the name of
+the Lord. The possession of individual stock was to range from fifty
+dollars to fifteen thousand dollars; no person being allowed to put in
+less than fifty, nor more than fifteen thousand. And it was specially
+provided that none but those who believed in the Book of Mormon and the
+revelations of God were to be permitted to hold stock in the house.
+
+In addition to this commandment to build the Nauvoo House, the Lord
+told the Saints that there was not a place found on the earth to which
+He might come and restore that which was lost, or which he had taken
+away, even the fullness of the Priesthood; nor was there a baptismal
+font upon the earth where the Saints might be baptized for the dead.
+
+The doctrine of baptism for the dead had been made known to the Saints
+some time previous to this, and the ordinance had been performed in the
+Mississippi and other convenient places; but this is an ordinance of
+God's house, and cannot be acceptable to Him when performed elsewhere,
+only in the days of the poverty of His people. And as more prosperous
+times had dawned upon The Church, the Saints were required to build a
+temple to the name of the Most High; and they were further told that
+they were granted sufficient time to build a temple, and if they failed
+to build it at the expiration of that appointed time, they should be
+rejected as a Church together with their dead. To show to The Church
+the importance of erecting this temple, the Lord reminded them how He
+had commanded Moses to build a tabernacle, that the children of Israel
+could bear with them into the wilderness, that those ordinances might
+be revealed which had been hidden from before the foundation of the
+world. Therefore said the Lord--
+
+    Let this house be built unto my name that I may reveal mine
+    ordinances therein, unto my people. For I design to reveal unto my
+    Church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation
+    of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the
+    fullness of times; and I will show unto my servant Joseph all
+    things pertaining to this house, and the Priesthood thereof. * *
+    * And ye shall build it on the place where you have contemplated
+    building it, for that is the spot which I have chosen for you to
+    build it.
+
+The location which the Saints had contemplated as the site for the
+temple was on a bold eminence overlooking the river, the landscape on
+the Iowa side, and all the surrounding country for miles around. It was
+not only by far the noblest site in Nauvoo for a temple, but ideal in
+its fitness.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Doctrine and Covenants, Section 124.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE CONFERENCE OF APRIL 6TH, 1841.
+
+THE sixth of April, 1841, was a memorable day in the history of Nauvoo.
+That day the corner stones of the great temple which God by revelation
+had commanded His people to build were to be laid. To the Prophet
+Joseph the day must have been a veritable gleam of sunshine amid the
+constantly renewing storms of his eventful career. It was a beautiful
+day, clear and balmy--propitious for the exercises to take place.
+
+Early in the morning there was a hurrying to and fro in the streets
+of militiamen, for the presence of sixteen uniformed companies of
+the Nauvoo Legion was to add brightness and interest to the imposing
+ceremonies. A great procession was formed and marched to the temple
+site. Here the Legion was formed in a hollow square surrounding the
+excavations made for the foundation of the temple and enclosing the
+officers of the Legion, choir, citizens and prominent Elders of The
+Church who were to lay the corner stones of that structure. Sidney
+Rigdon was the orator of the occasion; and, doubtless owing to the
+recent admonition he had received in the revelation from the Lord--to
+which reference has been made--he was aroused from his lethargy for the
+time. At any rate, on this occasion he spoke with his old fervor and
+eloquence. He reviewed the trials of the past, the blessings they then
+enjoyed, the brightening prospects of the future, and dwelt at some
+length upon the importance of building temples, and the labor to be
+performed in them.
+
+At the conclusion of the oration, at the direction of the First
+Presidency, the architects lowered the southeast cornerstone to its
+place, and Joseph Smith said:
+
+    This principal corner-stone in representation of the First
+    Presidency, is now duly laid in honor of the great God; and may it
+    there remain until the whole fabric is completed; and may the same
+    be accomplished speedily; that the Saints may have a place in which
+    to worship God, and the Son of Man have where to lay His head.
+
+To which Sidney Rigdon added:
+
+    May the persons employed in the erection of this house be preserved
+    from all harm while engaged in its construction, till the whole is
+    completed, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
+    Holy Ghost. Even so, amen.
+
+Thus were laid the corner-stones of the Nauvoo Temple, amid the
+rejoicing of the Saints; and even strangers forgot their prejudices
+and joined with hearty good will, as interested spectators of the
+proceedings. "Such an almost countless multitude of people," says one
+enthusiastic account of the scenes of the day, written at the time,
+"moving in harmony, in friendship, in dignity, told with a voice not
+easily misunderstood, that they were a people of intelligence, and
+virtue, and order; in short, that they were Saints; and that the God of
+love, purity and light, was their God, their exemplar and director; and
+that they were blessed and happy."
+
+While on this subject, I quote the instructions on temple building from
+the history of the Prophet:
+
+    If the strict order of the Priesthood were carried out in the
+    building of temples, the first stone will be laid at the southeast
+    corner, by the First Presidency of The Church. The southwest corner
+    should be laid next. The third, or northwest corner next; and the
+    fourth or northeast corner the last.
+
+    The First Presidency should lay the southeast corner-stone, and
+    dictate who are the proper persons to lay the other corner-stones.
+
+    If a temple is built at a distance, and the First Presidency are
+    not present, then the quorum of the Twelve Apostles are the proper
+    persons to dictate the order for that temple; and in the absence
+    of the Twelve Apostles, then the presidency of the stake will lay
+    the southeast corner-stone. The Melchisedek Priesthood laying
+    the corner-stones on the east side of the temple, and the Lesser
+    Priesthood those on the west side.
+
+During the remaining days of the conference, opened with such splendid
+ceremonies, the Saints were instructed in principle and doctrine, the
+quorums of the Priesthood were arranged in their proper order and
+the important questions of business put to each quorum separately
+and voted upon; especially the names of those whom God had appointed
+and reappointed to fill the respective positions alluded to in the
+revelation above quoted.
+
+Besides this, the several charters of Nauvoo, the Legion, University,
+Agricultural and Manufacturing Association, Nauvoo House Association,
+etc., were read and accepted by the people. Lyman Wight was sustained
+to fill the vacancy in the quorum of the Twelve. John C. Bennett
+was presented in connection with the First Presidency as assistant
+President until Sidney Rigdon's health should be restored. Everything
+necessary for the welfare, happiness and prosperity of the Saints was
+considered, and preparations made to push the work of God forward in
+all its departments. The conference lasted from Wednesday morning until
+Sunday night; and is one of the most important ever held by The Church.
+
+Indeed the circumstances surrounding the Saints at the time were of
+a character to bid them hope that Nauvoo would be to them "a safe
+retreat." The friendship of nearly all of the leading men of the State;
+the universal sympathy felt by the people of Illinois for the victims
+of Missouri's fury; the action of the State legislature in granting
+the several charters noted in chapter fifteen--all supported the hopes
+entertained.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+PROPHET'S TRIAL AT MONMOUTH.
+
+EARLY in the summer of 1841, an event happened which threatened
+the peace of the inhabitants of Nauvoo. When busily intent in the
+performance of some labor, or duty, or even when in pursuit of
+pleasure, how often it happens that we work on, or enjoy our pleasure
+in the bright sunshine, without ever thinking of storms, until a
+sudden clap of thunder startles us, and looking up we see that dark
+clouds have arisen above the horizon; the bright skies are rapidly
+becoming overcast--a storm is impending! So it was with the Saints at
+Nauvoo concerning the matter of which we speak. It fell upon them as
+unexpectedly as falls a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky.
+
+It occurred in this manner: When Hyrum Smith and William Law started
+on the mission to the Eastern States, to which they were appointed by
+the revelation of January 19, 1841, Joseph accompanied them as far as
+Quincy; and when returning to Nauvoo he stopped at Heberlin's hotel,
+on Bear Creek, some twenty-eight miles south of that city. While here
+a sheriff's posse under the direction of Thomas King, sheriff of Adams
+County, accompanied by an officer from Missouri, arrested him on a
+requisition from the governor of the State of Missouri. The warrant
+upon which the arrest was made was the one issued by the authorities of
+Missouri early in September, 1840; an effort to serve which was made on
+the fifteenth of that month, but the officers failed in their errand,
+as the brethren wanted, viz: Joseph Smith, Jr., Sidney Rigdon, Lyman
+Wight, P. P. Pratt, Caleb Baldwin and A. Brown were not in Nauvoo, that
+is, they evaded arrest, as already related in a former chapter.
+
+The complaint on which the requisition of the governor of Illinois was
+based charged that these men were fugitives from justice; and they
+were wanted in Missouri to answer to the old charges of "theft, arson
+and murder," supposed to have been committed in Caldwell and Daviess
+counties in the summer and fall of 1838.
+
+What made Joseph's arrest more a matter of surprise to him was, that
+only a few hours previous to its being made, he had been in company
+with Governor Carlin at the latter's residence, and was treated with
+the greatest respect and kindness; yet not one word was said by the
+governor about the requisition made by Missouri for his arrest.
+
+Joseph returned to Quincy in company with the sheriff's posse and
+secured a writ of _habeas corpus_ from Charles A. Warren, master in
+chancery. The same evening, Saturday, June 5th, Judge Stephen A.
+Douglass arrived in Quincy, and appointed the hearing on the writ to
+take place the following Tuesday, at Monmouth, Warren County.
+
+In the meantime the news of Joseph's arrest reached Nauvoo and created
+no little excitement. A party of seven men, under the leadership of
+Hosea Stout, left Nauvoo for Quincy, Sunday morning, in a skiff, to
+render the Prophet any assistance in their power, and prevent if
+possible his enemies taking him to Missouri. They struggled against
+a head-wind all day, but reached Quincy at dusk, only to learn that
+Joseph had gone to Nauvoo in charge of Sheriff King and another
+officer; there was nothing for them to do but to return.
+
+Sheriff King was taken sick at Nauvoo, but Joseph nursed him with all
+the tenderness of a brother, and the day following Monday, started for
+Monmouth, accompanied by a large number of the leading men of Nauvoo,
+and the sheriff, whom Joseph cared for personally during the journey of
+seventy-five miles. The party arrived at Monmouth on Tuesday, but at
+the request of the State attorney, who claimed he was not prepared on
+the case, the hearing was postponed until the next day.
+
+The appearance of Joseph in Monmouth caused considerable excitement. He
+was invited to preach, but thought it best, as he was a prisoner, not
+to do so; but he appointed Amasa Lyman to preach in the court room on
+Wednesday evening.
+
+The prejudice of the people of Monmouth was as excessive as it was
+blind. They employed at their own expense several attorneys to assist
+the prosecution, and declared that if there were any lawyers in the
+district who would even undertake the defense of the Prophet, they
+never need look to the people of that county again for political
+favors. But there were strong men in attendance at the court, men not
+to be frightened by such threats, and whose souls despised the petty
+minds that could frame them; Joseph, therefore, was ably defended by
+Messrs. Charles A. Warren, Sidney H. Little, O. H. Browning, James H.
+Ralston, Cyrus Walker, and Archibald Williams.
+
+The pleadings of the lawyers for the defense were peculiarly affecting,
+since all of them were more or less acquainted with the condition of
+the Saints when they fled from the violence of Missourians to Illinois.
+O. H. Browning had seen several of these companies of Saints in their
+flight and could trace them by the blood left in their footprints on
+the snow; his recital of their sufferings moved Judge Douglass, most
+of the officers of the court and the spectators to tears. One of the
+brethren present who wrote an account of the trial for the Nauvoo
+papers says:
+
+    He [Mr. Browning] concluded his remarks by saying, To tell the
+    prisoner to go to Missouri for a trial was adding insult to injury,
+    and then said: "Great God! Have I not seen it? Yes, my eyes have
+    beheld the blood-stained traces of innocent women and children, in
+    the dreary winter, who had traveled hundreds of miles barefoot,
+    through frost and snow, to seek a refuge from their savage
+    pursuers. 'Twas a scene of horror, sufficient to have enlisted the
+    sympathy of an adamantine heart. And shall this unfortunate man,
+    whom their fury has seen proper to select for sacrifice, be driven
+    into such a savage land, where none dare to enlist in the cause of
+    justice? If there was no other voice under heaven ever to be heard
+    in this cause, gladly would I stand alone, and proudly spend my
+    latest breath in defense of an American citizen."
+
+The lawyers for the prosecution, according to Joseph's own account,
+acted honorably and confined themselves to the merits of the case,
+excepting two--Messrs. Knowlton and Jennings. They made an appeal both
+to the passions and prejudices of the people, and sought to create an
+excitement over the matter. Judge Douglass, however, was impartial
+in his rulings, and doubtless one officer of the court--the sheriff
+of Warren County--thought him severe in his efforts to protect the
+prisoner. The court room was densely packed and the judge ordered the
+sheriff to keep the spectators back; but this he neglected and the
+judge fined him ten dollars. In a few minutes the order to keep the
+spectators from crowding the prisoner and witnesses was repeated, and
+the sheriff told the court that he had ordered a constable to do it.
+"Clerk," said Judge Douglass, "add ten dollars more to that fine." This
+was effectual, the sheriff after that did his duty.
+
+Joseph claimed in this case that he was unlawfully held a prisoner, and
+he could prove that the indictment upon which he was arrested had been
+obtained by fraud, bribery and duress. This line of defense, however,
+raised the question as to whether the court had the right to inquire
+into the merits of the case. A long debate between opposing counsel
+followed. But it will be remembered that an attempt to arrest Joseph
+on the requisition from the governor of Missouri had been made in
+September previous; and it appears that after the fruitless effort to
+make the arrest, the sheriff of Hancock County returned the writ; and
+the defense claimed that after the return of the writ to the executive,
+the defendant could not be again legally arrested upon it. It was upon
+this point that the court set Joseph at liberty. Following is Judge
+Douglass' decision on this point:
+
+    The writ being once returned to the executive by the sheriff of
+    Hancock County was dead, and stood in the same relationship as
+    any other writ which might issue from the circuit court, and
+    consequently the defendant cannot be held in custody on that writ.
+
+On the other point in the case--as to whether evidence in the case was
+admissible--the judge withheld his opinion for further consideration,
+as the question was a grave one, involving the future conduct of the
+States in their relationship with each other; but on the ground that
+the writ was void, dead by reason of a former return being made on
+it by the sheriff of Hancock County, he ordered the discharge of the
+prisoner. And Missouri was again foiled in her designs upon the life of
+the Prophet.
+
+At the conclusion of the trial Joseph ordered dinner for his company,
+which numbered by that time some sixty men. "And when I called for the
+tavern bill," says Joseph, "the unconscientious fellow replied, 'only
+one hundred and sixty dollars.'" Some time after this, in September
+following, Joseph sent the costs of this trial to the sheriff of Adams
+County, of which the following is a copy:
+
+                                          NAUVOO, September 30, 1841.
+
+    _To the Deputy Sheriff of Adams County_:
+
+    The following is a statement of my expenses, costs and liabilities,
+    consequent upon my arrest and trial while in your custody, to-wit:
+
+           To amount of fees to Esquires Ralston, Warren & Co...$250.00
+
+            To Esquires Little, Williams, Walker and Browning...$100.00
+
+    To seven days for self, horse and carriage, @$5.00 per day...$35.00
+
+        To money spent during that time consequent upon arrest...$60.00
+
+                                          To twelve witnesses...$240.00
+                                                           ____________
+
+                                                                $685.00
+
+To which was added this note:
+
+    DEAR SIR.--You will please take such measures as to put me in
+    possession of the above amount, which is justly due me as above
+    stated; to say nothing of false imprisonment and other expenses.
+
+    * * *
+
+    Receive my respects, etc.
+
+                                                      JOSEPH SMITH.
+
+With the exception of the difficulty just considered, the summer of
+1841 glided pleasantly by, bringing to the busy inhabitants of Nauvoo
+many occasions of social and spiritual enjoyment.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+EVENTS OF THE SUMMER OF 1841.
+
+NAUVOO was the most promising and thrifty city in Illinois, and the
+fame thereof extended throughout the nation, due, in part, of course,
+to the peculiar religion of its inhabitants. Strangers from far and
+near made it a point to visit Nauvoo, and the peace, sobriety, industry
+and public spirit of the citizens challenged their admiration, whatever
+views they might entertain respecting their religion. A large bowery
+was constructed just west of the temple site where the people assembled
+for worship. Here the Prophet Joseph preached some of his most powerful
+discourses, and taught his people in the doctrine of the heavenly
+kingdom; and not infrequently it happened that
+
+    Fools who came to mock, remained to pray.
+
+The Saints never intended to make either their city or the Nauvoo
+Legion exclusively Mormon. [1] On the contrary, the people at Nauvoo
+expressed a willingness to unite with their fellow-citizens in every
+good work and enterprise, and tolerate religious differences. Indeed,
+repeated invitations were sent out to the honorable men, not only of
+the State of Illinois, but of the United States, to men of capital
+and of influence and of integrity, asking them to come to Nauvoo, and
+assist in building up a glorious city.
+
+In July, Sidney H. Little, of the State senate, was killed by leaping
+from his carriage while his horse was unmanageable; and that the
+"Saints might mourn with those who are called to mourn," the eighteenth
+day of July was set apart as a day of fasting among the people of
+Nauvoo. By thus manifesting a feeling of sympathy and interest, they
+sought to cultivate peace and good-will among their fellow-citizens,
+and a number of honorable, and some of them influential men, while not
+accepting the faith of the Saints, became friendly disposed towards
+them, and associated with them in various business transactions.
+
+But the good-will of the Saints was not very generally reciprocated
+by the people of Illinois; and there were, even at that early date,
+envyings and bitterness manifested by those who were jealous of
+the prosperity and increasing power of the Mormons in Nauvoo and
+vicinity. The same spirit existed to some extent in Iowa as will be
+seen by the following occurrence: General Swazey, in command of the
+militia of Iowa, Territory, invited Joseph and Hyrum Smith and General
+Bennett to attend the parade of the militia of that Territory at
+Montrose. The invitation was accepted, and General Swazey received
+his visitors courteously, and so did the militia. But during a recess
+in the exercises taken at noon, a Mr. D. W. Kilburn tried to create a
+disturbance by circulating the following note among the troops:
+
+    Citizens of Iowa--The laws of Iowa do not require you to muster or
+    be reviewed by Joe Smith or General Bennett; and should they have
+    the impudence to attempt it, it is hoped that every person having a
+    proper respect for himself, will at once leave the ranks.
+
+The facts are that these militia companies were not mustered by
+Joseph's order, nor did he expect to review them. He had simply
+accepted General Swazey's invitation to witness the movements of the
+troops as other spectators were doing, and neither Joseph nor Hyrum was
+in uniform. General Swazey had been several times invited to attend the
+drills and reviews of the Legion at Nauvoo, and he had simply returned
+the courtesy to the officers of the Legion. Kilburn's effort, however,
+to create a disturbance was not successful, though the papers of the
+State commented upon it, and some of them began to whisper that it was
+Joseph's ambition to build up a military church and extend his faith,
+"Mohammed-like," by the sword.
+
+Early in the summer of 1841, in fact in the month of May, Joseph called
+upon the Saints everywhere to come into Hancock County, that there
+might be a concentration of effort to build up Nauvoo. The proclamation
+closed with these words:
+
+    Let it therefore be understood that all the stakes excepting those
+    in this county (Hancock) and in Lee County, Iowa, are discontinued;
+    and the Saints instructed to settle in this county as soon as
+    circumstances will permit.
+
+The Twelve Apostles, whose departure from Nauvoo on their missions
+to England under very trying circumstances, was related in a former
+chapter, returned during the summer, after accomplishing one of the
+most successful and remarkable missions in modern times. They were a
+tower of strength to Joseph, and he was not long in availing himself of
+their valuable support. At a special conference convened in Nauvoo on
+the sixteenth of August, 1841, Joseph said:
+
+    The time had come when the Twelve should be called upon to stand
+    in their place next to the First Presidency; and attend to the
+    settling of emigrants and the business of The Church at the stakes,
+    and assist to bear off the kingdom victoriously to the nations. [2]
+
+And he at once turned over to their management many of the temporal
+affairs, with which he had been perplexed, and devoted himself more
+exclusively to spiritual labors.
+
+One of the most pleasing events that happened, during the summer of
+which I write, was the visit of the Indian chief Keokuk to Nauvoo. He
+was accompanied by Kiskukosh, Appenoose and about one hundred chiefs
+and braves of the Sac and Fox tribes, together with their families.
+They were brought over from the Iowa side on the ferry and two large
+flat boats. The band and a detachment of the Legion met them at the
+landing, but as soon as Keokuk failed to recognize Joseph among those
+who had come to bid him welcome, he refused to land or allow any of his
+party to go ashore until Joseph made his appearance. The arrangement
+had been made for the band and the detachment of the Legion to lead the
+dusky visitors to the grove where the Saints held their meetings; and
+there Joseph would have joined them. But Keokuk seemed to have his own
+ideas in relation to the etiquette to be observed at his reception, and
+waited until the Prophet met him at the landing and bade him welcome to
+Nauvoo.
+
+At the grove Joseph addressed the Indians at some length, upon what the
+Lord had revealed to him concerning their fore-fathers, and recited to
+them the glorious promises contained in the Book of Mormon respecting
+themselves, the despised remnants of a once splendid race. How their
+hearts must have glowed and their eyes brightened as they listened
+to the young Prophet relate the story of their forefathers' rise and
+fall, and the bright promises held out to them of redemption from their
+fallen state! In conclusion Joseph counseled them to cease killing each
+other, and warring with other tribes or with the whites. To Joseph's
+speech Keokuk replied:
+
+    I have a Book of Mormon at my wigwam that you gave me a number of
+    moons ago. I believe you are a great and good man. Keokuk looks
+    rough, but I am a son of the Great Spirit. I have heard your
+    advice. We intend to quit fighting, and follow the good talk you
+    have given us.
+
+After the "talk," they were feasted by the Saints with good food
+and dainties and melons. At the conclusion of the feast, they gave
+a specimen of their war dance to entertain the spectators, and then
+returned to the Iowa side of the river to their encampment.
+
+Thus passed away the summer of 1841; and by the first of October--the
+date fixed for the semi-annual conference--the early autumn frosts had
+tinged the forest leaves with purple and gold, giving to the splendid
+scenery about Nauvoo an additional charm. President Joseph Smith was
+not present at the opening of the conference. He had that morning
+gone to assist in laying the corner-stone of the Nauvoo House which
+the Saints by revelation had been commanded to build; [3] and the
+conference was opened by President Brigham Young.
+
+The principal subject brought before the people at this conference
+was the redemption of the dead, and building the temple. This matter
+appeared to impress itself upon the mind of Joseph with great force,
+and nothing, apparently, gave him more delight than to explain its
+importance to his people. Up to this time many baptisms for the dead
+had been performed in the river, but it was now announced that no more
+baptisms for the dead should be attended to, until it could be done
+in the font of the Lord's house, for thus had the Lord commanded. The
+Saints, however, were not long denied the privilege of performing this
+work of baptism for their dead, as on the eighth of November, following
+the conference, a temporary baptismal font had been completed and
+dedicated in the basement of the temple. [4]
+
+On the occasion of the angel Moroni's first appearance to Joseph
+Smith, in 1823, he repeated to the young Prophet the words of Malachi,
+recorded in the fourth chapter of the Book of Malachi, the fifth and
+sixth verses, though quoting somewhat differently from the language of
+King James' translation, as follows:
+
+    Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of
+    Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day
+    of the Lord; and he will plant in the hearts of the children the
+    promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall
+    turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be
+    utterly wasted at his coming.
+
+In fulfillment of this promised visitation, in April, 1836, Elijah the
+prophet appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and said:
+
+    Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken by the mouth of
+    Malachi, testifying that he (Elijah) should be sent before the
+    great and dreadful day of the Lord come, to turn the hearts of the
+    fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the
+    whole earth be smitten with a curse. Therefore the keys of this
+    dispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know
+    that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the
+    doors.
+
+And now when something like peace had come to The Church, and settled
+conditions obtained, the Prophet of God began to unfold the doctrine
+of salvation for the dead--the application of those principles of
+salvation to past generations who had lived upon the earth when neither
+the Gospel nor divine authority to administer its ordinances were among
+men.
+
+In addition to the main idea of this doctrine which he taught with such
+great power, the following gems are gathered from his teachings at this
+conference, chiefly relating to the same subject:
+
+    The proclamation of the first principles of the Gospel, was a means
+    of salvation to men individually, and it was the truth and not men
+    that saved them; but men by actively engaging in rites of salvation
+    substantially became instruments in bringing multitudes of their
+    kindred into the Kingdom of God. [And hence] he presented baptism
+    for the dead as the only way by which men can appear as saviors on
+    Mount Zion.
+
+    * * *
+
+    The difference between an angel and a ministering spirit: the one
+    [the first] is a resurrected or translated body with its spirit
+    ministering to embodied spirits; the other a disembodied spirit
+    visiting and ministering to disembodied spirits.
+
+    * * *
+
+    Jesus Christ became a ministering spirit (while his body was laying
+    in the sepulchre) to the spirits in prison, to fulfill an important
+    part of his mission, without which he could not have perfected his
+    work or entered into his rest. After his resurrection he appeared
+    as an angel to his disciples.
+
+    * * *
+
+    Translated bodies cannot enter into rest until they have undergone
+    a change equivalent to death.
+
+    * * *
+
+    Translated bodies are designed for future missions.
+
+    * * *
+
+    The angel which appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos was a
+    translated or resurrected body.
+
+    * * *
+
+    Jesus Christ went in body after his resurrection to minister to
+    translated and resurrected bodies.
+
+    * * *
+
+    It is no more incredible that God should _save_ the dead than that
+    he should raise the dead.
+
+    * * *
+
+    There is never a time when the spirit is too old to approach God.
+
+    * * *
+
+    All are within the reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed
+    the unpardonable sin, which hath no forgiveness, neither in
+    this world, nor in the world to come. There is a way to release
+    the spirit of the dead; that is by the power and authority of
+    the Priesthood--by binding and loosing on earth. This doctrine
+    appears glorious, inasmuch as it exhibits the greatness of divine
+    compassion and benevolence in the extent of the plan of human
+    salvation.
+
+    This glorious truth is well calculated to enlarge the
+    understanding, and to sustain the soul under troubles,
+    difficulties, and distresses. For illustration, suppose the case
+    of two men, brothers, equally intelligent, learned, virtuous and
+    lovely, walking in uprightness and in all good conscience, so far
+    as they had been able to discern duty from the muddy stream of
+    tradition, or from the blotted page of the book of nature. One dies
+    and is buried, having never heard the Gospel of reconciliation; to
+    the other the message of salvation is sent, he hears and embraces
+    it, and is made the heir of eternal life. Shall the one become a
+    partaker of glory, and the other consigned to hopeless perdition?
+    Is there no chance for his escape? Sectarianism answers, none!
+    none! none!!! Such an idea is worse than atheism. The truth shall
+    break down and dash in pieces all such bigoted Pharisaism; the
+    sects shall be sifted, the honest in heart brought out, and their
+    priests left in the midst of their corruption.
+
+    * * *
+
+    This doctrine presents in a clear light the wisdom and mercy of
+    God in preparing an ordinance for the salvation of the dead,
+    being baptized by proxy, their names recorded in heaven, and they
+    judged according to the deeds done in the body. This doctrine was
+    the burden of the Scriptures. Those Saints who neglect it, in
+    behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their
+    own salvation. The dispensation of the fullness of times will
+    bring to light the things that have been revealed in all former
+    dispensations; also other things that have not been before revealed.
+
+    * * *
+
+Another interesting feature of the conference was the report made by
+the Prophet of The Church property in his charge as trustee-in-trust
+for The Church. He also took occasion to report the amount of his own
+earthly possessions, of which the following is a copy:
+
+    Old Charley, a horse given to him several years before in Kirtland;
+    two pet deers; two old turkeys and four young ones; an old cow
+    given to him by a brother in Missouri; old Major, a dog; his wife,
+    children, and a little household furniture!
+
+Surely his earthly possessions did not far exceed those of Him who had
+not where to lay His head!
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. The Legion is not, as has been falsely represented by its enemies,
+exclusively a Mormon military association, but a body of citizen
+soldiers organized (without regard to political preferences or
+religious sentiments) for the public defense, the general good, and
+the preservation of law and order--to save the innocent, unoffending
+citizens from the iron grasp of the oppressor, and perpetuate and
+sustain our free institutions against misrule, anarchy and mob
+violence; no other views are entertained or tolerated.--_Joseph Smith_.
+From an official letter published May 4, 1841.
+
+2. Minutes of special conference, Aug. 16, 1841. Millennial Star, Vol.
+xviii, page 630.
+
+3. Doctrine and Covenants, Section 124.
+
+4. The font was constructed of pine timber, and put together of staves
+tongued and grooved, oval shaped, sixteen feet long east and west, and
+twelve feet wide, seven feet high from the foundation, the basin four
+feet deep; the moulding of the cap or base was formed of beautiful
+carved wood in antique style, and the sides were finished with panel
+work. There were steps leading up and down into the basin in the north
+and south sides, guarded by side railings. The font stood upon twelve
+oxen, four on each side and two at each end, their heads, shoulders
+and forelegs projecting out from under the font. They were carved out
+of pine plank, glued together, and copied after the most beautiful
+five-year-old steer that could be found in the country. * * * The
+oxen and ornamental mouldings of the font were carved by Elder Elijah
+Fordham, from New York. * * * The font was inclosed by a temporary
+frame building sided up with split oak clap-boards, with a roof of
+the same material, but was so low that the timbers of the first story
+of the temple were laid above it. The water was supplied from a well
+thirty feet deep in the east end of the basement. This font was built
+for the baptism for the dead until the temple could be completed, when
+a more durable one was to take its place.--_Millennial Star_, Volume
+XVIII, 744.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW MARRIAGE SYSTEM.
+
+ANOTHER matter of very great importance, and one which has exercised
+a great influence upon the course of events in the history of The
+Church--and especially upon the events of this Nauvoo period--belongs
+to the spring and summer of 1841; and many things of our history will
+be all the plainer if the matter referred to be considered now. I
+refer to the introduction, in practice, of the marriage system which
+afterwards obtained in The Church. The chief and greatest feature
+of this marriage system--celestial marriage it is called by The
+Church, because it is the marriage system that obtains in celestial
+worlds--is the eternity of the marriage covenant. "Until death us do
+part" is usually the mutual covenant of man and woman in the orthodox
+"Christian" marriage ceremony. [1] That is, the marriage covenant
+is understood among "Christians" generally as being a matter that
+pertains to time only, the contract obligations ending with death. But
+this celestial marriage system of The Church regards the incident of
+death not at all, but makes the covenant of marriage for time and for
+all eternity; a covenant which is sealed and ratified by that power
+of the Priesthood in the administrator which binds on earth and it
+is bound in heaven. [2] That is, the covenant of marriage holds good
+through time and will be in effect and of binding force in and after
+the resurrection. In other words this marriage system regards man as
+enduring eternally, and formulates his marriage covenants in harmony
+with that view of him. Of course this contemplates the continuation of
+the marriage state in eternity. Not only the spiritual and intellectual
+companionship, but all the relations of the wedded state, with the joys
+of parentage--the power of endless lives being among the means of man's
+exaltation and glory. That this is a view of marriage quite distinct
+from the usual "Christian" view, goes without saying. It throws a new
+light upon man's future existence. It destroys the vagueness which
+through nearly all ages like a mystic pall has hidden the glory and
+exaltation destined for man in the future eternities of God. It should
+be said, in this connection, that the revelations of God to Joseph
+Smith even before this marriage system was made known, held out to man
+the hope of a tangible future existence in a resurrected, immortal
+body of flesh and bones quickened by the spirit, and clothed with the
+glory of immortal youth. The future life was to be a reality, not a
+land of shadows; his heavenly home was to be upon the earth, after
+it had become sanctified and made a celestial sphere. His relations
+with his kindred and friends were to be of a nature to satisfy the
+longings of the human heart for society, for fellowship; and needed
+only the revelation of this marriage system to complete the circle of
+his promised future felicity. For grant to man in his resurrected state
+a real, tangible existence; an immortal youth that knows no pain or
+sickness or disease; the power to "hive" knowledge and wisdom as the
+centuries, the millenniums and eternities roll by; grant him the power
+to build and inhabit; to love and be loved; and add to that the power
+of endless lives--the power and privilege to perpetuate his race under
+an eternal marriage covenant--grant this, and the future happiness,
+exaltation and glory of man stands revealed as being absolutely without
+limitations, and far greater and beyond in majesty anything within our
+power to conceive in our present state of semi-dullness.
+
+I say that the primary principle of the marriage system of The Church
+is the eternity of the marriage covenant; but owing to the fact
+that the system also includes the doctrine of a plurality of wives,
+the importance and grandeur of the doctrine of the eternity of the
+marriage covenant to a very great extent has been lost sight of in the
+discussion of and the popular clamor concerning the plurality feature
+of this new marriage system. The revelation making known this marriage
+doctrine came about in this way: First it should be stated--and it is
+evident from the written revelation itself, which bears the date of
+July 12th, 1843, [3]--that the doctrine was revealed and the practice
+of it began before the partial [4] revelation now in the Doctrine and
+Covenants was written. As early as 1831 the rightfulness of a plurality
+of wives under certain conditions was made known to Joseph Smith.
+In the latter part of that year, especially from November 1831, and
+through the early months of 1832, the Prophet with Sidney Rigdon as his
+assistant was earnestly engaged at Hiram, a village in Portage County,
+near Kirtland, Ohio, in translating the Jewish scripture. [5] It must
+have been while engaged in that work that the evident approval of God
+to the plural marriage system of the ancient patriarchs attracted the
+Prophet's attention and led him to make those inquiries of the Lord to
+which the opening paragraphs of the written revelation refer, viz:--
+
+    Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph, that
+    inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand, to know and understand
+    wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac and
+    Jacob; as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching
+    the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and
+    concubines: behold! and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer
+    thee as touching this matter.
+
+The doctrine revealed at that time to the Prophet, however, was not
+to be made known to the world; but Joseph did make known what had
+been revealed to him to a few trusted friends, among whom were Oliver
+Cowdery and Lyman E. Johnson, the latter confiding what the Prophet
+had taught him to Orson Pratt, his missionary companion. With these
+and a few other exceptions, perhaps, the knowledge of the truth and
+righteousness of this principle of the future marriage system of The
+Church was locked up in the bosom of the Prophet of God.
+
+About 1840, however, the Prophet began to be moved upon to make known
+the doctrine to others. He taught the principle to Joseph Bates Noble
+for one, as early as the fall of 1840. According to the affidavit of
+Noble, given before James Jack, a notary public, in and for the county
+of Salt Lake, Utah, in June, 1869, Joseph Smith declared to Noble
+that "he had received a revelation from God on the subject, and that
+an angel of the Lord had commanded him (Joseph Smith) to move forward
+in the said order of marriage; and further, that the said Joseph
+Smith requested him (Joseph B. Noble) to step forward and assist him
+in carrying out the said principle." This same man Noble gives the
+following affidavit with reference to the introduction of the practice
+of this principle by Joseph Smith, the Prophet:
+
+    Territory of Utah, County of Salt Lake, ss
+
+    Be it remembered that on this 26th day of June, A. D. 1869,
+    personally appeared before me, James Jack, a Notary Public in and
+    for said county, Joseph Bates Noble, who was by me sworn in due
+    form of law, and upon his oath saith, that on the fifth day of
+    April, A. D., 1841, at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State
+    of Illinois, he married or sealed Louisa Beaman, to Joseph Smith,
+    President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
+    according to the order of celestial marriage revealed to the said
+    Joseph Smith.
+
+                                             (Signed) JOSEPH B. NOBLE.
+
+    Subscribed and sworn to by the said Joseph Bates Noble the day and
+    year first above written.
+
+                                            JAMES JACK, Notary Public.
+
+The introduction of the practice of plural marriage by the Prophet
+then began even before the return of the Twelve from England. On their
+return Joseph soon began to teach the principle to them, and urged upon
+them the importance of putting it into practice. The dread with which
+the doctrine was regarded, the prejudices against it in the hearts of
+those faithful men who accepted it as a revelation from God through
+the Prophet, are all illustrated in the reflections and testimony of
+Elder John Taylor, one of the Twelve at that time, and subsequently
+the President of the Church. And here let me repeat what I said in his
+biography some years ago: "The world never made a greater mistake than
+when it supposed that plural marriage was hailed with delight by the
+Elders who were commanded of the Lord to introduce its practice in this
+generation. They saw clearly that it would bring additional reproach
+upon them from the world; that it would run counter to the traditions
+and prejudices of society, as, indeed, it was contrary to their own
+traditions; that their motives would be misunderstood or misconstrued.
+All this they saw, and naturally shrunk from the undertaking required
+of them by the revelation of God." And now Elder Taylor:--
+
+    Joseph Smith told the Twelve that if this law was not practiced, if
+    they would not enter into this covenant, then the Kingdom of God
+    could not go one step further. Now, we did not feel like preventing
+    the Kingdom of God from going forward. We professed to be the
+    Apostles of the Lord, and did not feel like putting ourselves
+    in a position to retard the progress of the Kingdom of God. The
+    revelation says that "All those who have this law revealed unto
+    them must obey the same." Now, that is not my word. I did not make
+    it. It was the Prophet of God who revealed that to us in Nauvoo,
+    and I bear witness of this solemn fact before God, that he did
+    reveal this sacred principle to me and others of the Twelve, and
+    in this revelation it is stated that it is the will and law of God
+    that "all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the
+    same."
+
+    I had always entertained strict ideas of virtue, and I felt as a
+    married man that this was to me, outside of this principle, an
+    appalling thing to do. The idea of going and asking a young lady
+    to be married to me when I had already a wife! It was a thing
+    calculated to stir up feelings from the innermost depths of the
+    human soul. I had always entertained the strictest regard of
+    chastity. I had never in my life seen the time when I have known of
+    a man deceiving a woman--and it is often done in the world, where,
+    notwithstanding the crime, the man is received into society and the
+    poor woman is looked upon as a pariah and an outcast--I have always
+    looked upon such a thing as infamous, and upon such a man as a
+    villain. * * * Hence, with the feelings I had entertained, nothing
+    but a knowledge of God, and the revelations of God, and the truth
+    of them, could have induced me to embrace such a principle as this.
+
+    We [the Twelve] seemed to put off, as far as we could, what might
+    be termed the evil day.
+
+    Some time after these things were made known unto us, I was riding
+    out of Nauvoo on horseback, and met Joseph Smith coming in, he,
+    too, being on horseback. * * * I bowed to Joseph, and having done
+    the same to me, he said: "Stop;" and he looked at me very intently.
+    "Look here," said he, "those things that have been spoken of must
+    be fulfilled, and if they are not entered into right away the keys
+    will be turned."
+
+    Well, what did I do? Did I feel to stand in the way of this great,
+    eternal principle, and treat lightly the things of God? No. I
+    replied: "Brother Joseph, I will try and carry these things out."
+
+So indeed he did, for within two years, in Nauvoo, he married Elizabeth
+Haigham, Jane Ballantyne and Mary A. Oakley.
+
+After this the testimony is abundant that plural marriage as well as
+marriage for eternity was abundantly practiced in Nauvoo, [6] though
+the revelation which made its rightfulness known was not written until
+July 12th, 1843.
+
+I have remarked in the opening of this chapter that the consideration
+of this subject at this period of Nauvoo's history would aid the reader
+to understand more clearly many things in the subsequent events we
+have to relate. It is to be observed first of all that this principle
+of plural marriage had to be introduced secretly; first, because of
+the traditions and prejudices of the Saints themselves; and, secondly,
+because of the advantage that their enemies surrounding them would have
+when once the doctrine was publicly proclaimed. This enforced secrecy,
+then, which a reasonable prudence demanded, gave rise to apparent
+contradictions between the public utterances of leading brethren in The
+Church and their practice. Wicked men took advantage of the situation
+and brought sorrow to the hearts of the innocent and reproach upon
+The Church. Some, possessed of a zeal without wisdom, knowing of this
+doctrine, hastened without authority to make public proclamation of it
+and had to be silenced, as, for instance, a number of Elders who were
+reproved by Hyrum Smith for preaching this doctrine at a branch of
+The Church at China Creek, near Nauvoo; [7] and later one Hiram Brown
+who did the same thing in Lapeer County, Michigan; for which he was
+disfellowshiped from The Church and notified by Joseph and Hyrum to
+attend the conference in April of that year to give a further account
+of his proceedings. [8]
+
+Then again there were others who falsely taught that the Prophet
+approved of promiscuous intercourse between the sexes, and that there
+was no sin in such relations so long as they were kept secret and
+brought no scandal upon the community. This afforded villains their
+opportunity, and such men as John C. Bennett; the Laws, Wilson and
+William; Dr. Foster; the young Higbees, Chancy L., and Francis M.; and
+others, to reap their harvest of wickedness. There was necessarily
+enough of mystery in the movements of the Prophet and his faithful
+brethren connected with the matter of plural marriage to give something
+of color to the false statements of these wretches, and hence many
+otherwise good people were deceived. The duty of the Prophet and his
+associates, however, to denounce this wickedness that had crept into
+The Church was not shirked by the leading Elders of The Church. The
+Prophet was bold in his denunciation of the evil and snatched the masks
+from the faces of corrupt men, and did all in his power to protect the
+innocent from the deceptions of the vicious, though it pluck down upon
+his own head the vengeful wrath of the ungodly. With this situation in
+mind I am sure the reader will better appreciate the many complications
+which follow.
+
+In order that the reader who is a stranger to Mormonism may see how far
+the principle of the eternity of the marriage covenant and the plural
+marriage system of The Church is removed from the sensuality that
+is often attributed to it, I quote _in extenso_, in concluding this
+chapter, the revelation which justifies and authorized it:
+
+    Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph, that
+    inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand, to know and understand
+    wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac and
+    Jacob; as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching
+    the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and
+    concubines:
+
+    Behold! and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as
+    touching this matter:
+
+    Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions
+    which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law
+    revealed unto them must obey the same;
+
+    For behold! I reveal unto you a new and everlasting covenant; and
+    if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can
+    reject this covenant, and be permitted to enter into my glory;
+
+    For all who will have a blessing at my hands, shall abide the law
+    which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof,
+    as were instituted from before the foundation of the world;
+
+    And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was
+    instituted for the fullness of my glory; and he that receiveth a
+    fullness thereof, must and shall abide the law, or he shall be
+    damned, saith the Lord God.
+
+    And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are
+    these:--All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows,
+    performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that
+    are not made, and entered into, and sealed, by the Holy Spirit of
+    promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all
+    eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment
+    through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the
+    earth to hold this power, (and I have appointed unto my servant
+    Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but
+    one on the earth at a time, on whom this power and the keys of this
+    Priesthood are conferred,) are of no efficacy, virtue or force, in
+    and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that
+    are not made unto this end, have an end when men are dead.
+
+    Behold! mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not
+    a house of confusion.
+
+    Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in
+    my name!
+
+    Or, will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed!
+
+    And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law,
+    even as I and my Father ordained unto you, before the world was!
+
+    I am the Lord thy God, and I give unto you this commandment, that
+    no man shall come unto the Father but by me, or by my word, which
+    is my law, saith the Lord;
+
+    And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of
+    men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name,
+    whatsoever they may be, that are not by me, or by my word, saith
+    the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are
+    dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your
+    God;
+
+    For whatsoever things remain, are by me; and whatsoever things are
+    not by me, shall be shaken and destroyed.
+
+    Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry
+    her not by me, nor by my word; and he covenant with her so long as
+    he is in the world, and she with him, their covenant and marriage
+    are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the
+    world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out
+    of the world;
+
+    Therefore, when they are out of the world, they neither marry nor
+    are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which
+    angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are
+    worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of
+    glory;
+
+    For these angels did not abide my law, therefore they cannot be
+    enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in
+    their saved condition, to all eternity, and from henceforth are not
+    Gods, but are angels of God, for ever and ever.
+
+    And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a
+    covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant
+    is not by me, or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by
+    the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and
+    appointed unto this power--then it is not valid, neither of force
+    when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me,
+    saith the Lord, neither by my word; when they are out of the world,
+    it cannot be received there, because the angels and the Gods are
+    appointed there, by whom they cannot pass; they cannot, therefore,
+    inherit my glory, for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord
+    God.
+
+    And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my
+    word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant,
+    and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him
+    who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power, and the
+    keys of this Priesthood; and it shall be said unto them, ye shall
+    come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first
+    resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones,
+    kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and
+    depths--then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that
+    he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if
+    ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed
+    innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever
+    my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity,
+    and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they
+    shall pass by the angels, and the Gods, which are set there, to
+    their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon
+    their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of
+    the seeds for ever and ever.
+
+    Then shall they be Gods, because they have no end; therefore shall
+    they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue;
+    then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto
+    them. Then shall they be Gods, because they have all power, and the
+    angels are subject unto them.
+
+    Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye abide my law, ye cannot
+    attain to this glory;
+
+    For straight is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the
+    exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that
+    find it, because ye receive me not in the world, neither do ye know
+    me.
+
+    But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall
+    receive your exaltation, that where I am, ye shall be also.
+
+    This is eternal lives, to know the only wise and true God, and
+    Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my
+    law.
+
+    Broad is the gate, and wide the way that leadeth to the deaths, and
+    many there are that go in thereat; because they receive me not,
+    neither do they abide in my law.
+
+    Verily, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according
+    to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise,
+    according to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin
+    or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and
+    all manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder, wherein
+    they shed innocent blood--yet they shall come forth in the first
+    resurrection, and enter into their exaltation; but they shall be
+    destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings
+    of Satan unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God.
+
+    The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven
+    in the world, nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder,
+    wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after
+    ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord
+    God; and he that abideth not this law, can in no wise enter into my
+    glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord.
+
+    I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the law of my Holy
+    Priesthood, as was ordained by me, and my Father, before the world
+    was.
+
+    Abraham received all things, whatsoever he received, by revelation
+    and commandment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into
+    his exaltation, and sitteth upon his throne.
+
+    Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit
+    of his loins,--from whose loins ye are, namely, my servant
+    Joseph,--which were to continue so long as they were in the world;
+    and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they should
+    continue; both in the world and out of the world should they
+    continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the
+    sand upon the sea shore, ye could not number them.
+
+    This promise is yours, also, because ye are of Abraham, and the
+    promise was made unto Abraham; and by this law are the continuation
+    of the works of my Father, wherein he glorifieth himself.
+
+    Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham; enter ye into my
+    law, and ye shall be saved.
+
+    But if ye enter not into my law ye cannot receive the promise of my
+    Father, which he made unto Abraham.
+
+    God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And
+    why did she do it? Because this was the law, and from Hagar sprang
+    many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling among other things,
+    the promises.
+
+    Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily, I say unto you,
+    Nay; for I, the Lord, commanded it.
+
+    Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac; nevertheless, it was
+    written, thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and
+    it was accounted unto him for righteousness.
+
+    Abraham received concubines, and they bear him children, and it
+    was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given
+    unto him, and he abode in my law, as Isaac also, and Jacob did none
+    other things than that which they were commanded; and because they
+    did none other things than that which they were commanded, they
+    have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and
+    sit upon thrones, and are not angels, but are Gods.
+
+    David also received many wives and concubines, as also Solomon and
+    Moses my servants; as also many others of my servants, from the
+    beginning of creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin,
+    save in those things which they received not of me.
+
+    David's wives and concubines were given unto him, of me, by the
+    hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the
+    keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against
+    me, save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and, therefore he hath
+    fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he shall
+    not inherit them out of the world; for I gave them unto another,
+    saith the Lord.
+
+    I am the Lord thy God, and I gave unto thee, my servant Joseph, an
+    appointment, and restore all things; ask what ye will, and it shall
+    be given unto you according to my word:
+
+    And as ye have asked concerning adultery--verily, verily I say unto
+    you, if a man receiveth a wife in the new and everlasting covenant,
+    and if she be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her
+    by the holy anointing, she hath committed adultery, and shall be
+    destroyed.
+
+    If she be not in the new and everlasting covenant, and she be with
+    another man, she has committed adultery;
+
+    And if her husband be with another woman, and he was under a vow,
+    he hath broken his vow, and hath committed adultery,
+
+    And if she hath not committed adultery, but is innocent, and hath
+    not broken her vow, and she knoweth it, and I reveal it unto you,
+    my servant Joseph, then shall you have power, by the power of my
+    Holy Priesthood, to take her, and give her unto him that hath not
+    committed adultery, but hath been faithful; for he shall be made
+    ruler over many;
+
+    For I have conferred upon you the keys and power of the Priesthood,
+    wherein I restore all things, and make known unto you all things in
+    due time.
+
+    And verily, verily I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on
+    earth, shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever you bind on earth,
+    in my name, and by my word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally
+    bound in the heavens; and whosesoever sins you remit on earth shall
+    be remitted eternally in the heavens; and whosesoever sins you
+    retain on earth, shall be retained in heaven.
+
+    And again, verily I say, whomsoever you bless, I will bless, and
+    whomsoever you curse, I will curse, saith the Lord; for I, the
+    Lord, am thy God.
+
+    And again, verily I say unto you, my servant Joseph, that
+    whatsoever you give on earth, and to whomsoever you give anyone on
+    earth, by my word, and according to my law, it shall be visited
+    with blessings, and not cursings, and with my power, saith the
+    Lord, and shall be without condemnation on earth, and in heaven;
+
+    For I am the Lord thy God, and will be with thee even unto the end
+    of the world, and through all eternity; for verily, I seal upon you
+    your exaltation, and prepare a throne for you in the kingdom of my
+    Father, with Abraham your father.
+
+    Behold, I have seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all your
+    sins; I have seen your sacrifices, in obedience to that which I
+    have told you; go, therefore, and I make a way for your escape, as
+    I accepted the offering of Abraham, of his son Isaac.
+
+    Verily, I say unto you, a commandment I give unto mine handmaid,
+    Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay
+    herself, and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer
+    unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did
+    Abraham; and that I might require an offering at your hand, by
+    covenant and sacrifice;
+
+    And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been
+    given to my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before
+    me; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall
+    be destroyed, saith the Lord God;
+
+    For I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice; and I give
+    unto you my servant Joseph, that he shall be made ruler over many
+    things, for he hath been faithful over a few things, and from
+    henceforth I will strengthen him.
+
+    And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto
+    my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this
+    commandment, she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the
+    Lord thy God, and will destroy her, if she abide not in my law;
+
+    But if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant
+    Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said; and I will
+    bless him and multiply him and give unto him an hundred-fold in
+    this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses
+    and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal lives in the
+    eternal worlds.
+
+    And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant
+    Joseph his trespasses; and then shall she be forgiven her
+    trespasses, wherein she has trespassed against me: and I, the Lord
+    thy God, will bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart to
+    rejoice.
+
+    And again, I say, let not my servant Joseph put his property out of
+    his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy him; for Satan seeketh
+    to destroy; for I am the Lord thy God, and he is my servant; and
+    behold! and lo, I am with him, as I was with Abraham, thy father,
+    even unto his exaltation and glory.
+
+    Now, as touching the law of the Priesthood, there are many things
+    pertaining thereunto.
+
+    Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, by mine own
+    voice, and by the voice of him that sent me: and I have endowed him
+    with the keys of the power of this Priesthood, if he do anything
+    in my name, and according to my law, and by my word, he will not
+    commit sin, and I will justify him.
+
+    Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph; for I will justify
+    him; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands,
+    for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God.
+
+    And again, as pertaining to the law of the Priesthood: If any man
+    espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give
+    her consent; and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins,
+    and have vowed to no other man, then he is justified; he cannot
+    commit adultery, for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit
+    adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else;
+
+    And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot
+    commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto
+    him, therefore is he justified.
+
+    But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused,
+    shall be with another man; she has committed adultery, and shall be
+    destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish
+    the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfill the promise
+    which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world;
+    and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear
+    the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued,
+    that he may be glorified.
+
+    And again, verily, verily I say unto you, if any man have a wife,
+    who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law
+    of my Priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then shall she
+    believe, and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith
+    the Lord your God, for I will destroy her; for I will magnify my
+    name upon all those who receive and abide in my law.
+
+    Therefore, it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law,
+    for him to receive all things, whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will
+    give unto him, because she did not administer unto him according to
+    my word; and she then becomes the transgressor; and he is exempt
+    from the law of Sarah, who administered unto Abraham according to
+    the law, when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife.
+
+    And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily I say unto you,
+    I will reveal more unto you, hereafter; therefore, let this suffice
+    for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. See The Book of Common Prayer, Church of England, article,
+Solemnization of Matrimony.
+
+2. Jesus said unto Peter: I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom
+of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in
+heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
+heaven.--Matt. xvi: 19.
+
+3. See Doc. and Cov. Sec. 132: 52.
+
+4. _Ibid_, verse 66.
+
+5. See Millennial Star, Vol. XIV. (Supplement) pp 80, 83; also pp. 114
+and 116 same volume. Doc. and Cov. Sec. 76: 11-16.
+
+6. See a collection of affidavits on this subject in the Historical
+Record, Andrew Jenson, compiler; and also affidavits in Succession in
+Presidency, 2nd edition.
+
+7. See Times and Seasons for March, 1844.
+
+8. See Times and Seasons for February 1st, 1844.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+CAMP FOLLOWERS.--BANKRUPTCY.
+
+AMONG the most despicable occupations that men engage in, that of camp
+follower holds a front rank. By plundering the dead, by the practice
+of extortion upon the living, by taking advantage of the license
+and reign of terror that follows in the wake of an army, the camp
+follower plunders the terrified people, not unfrequently claiming
+to be authorized by the commanders of the army, in order to be more
+successful in his rapine. Thus he seeks to enrich himself upon the
+misfortunes and terrors of others and at the expense of the reputation
+of armies and their commanders. More loathsome are such characters
+than the vultures that hover about the fields made red by human gore,
+to glut themselves upon the festering, swollen bodies of the dead.
+Yet more to be despised than the camp follower is that man who will
+attach himself to a religious association with a view of profiting
+in schemes of villainy; and when discovered in his crimes throws the
+responsibility of his evil doing upon the leaders of said association,
+claiming that his crimes have been taught to him as a part of his
+religion! Such men are wholesale character assassins, for by their
+deeds virtuous communities are brought into disrepute, and reproach is
+cast upon their religion.
+
+Some such characters had attached themselves to the Saints in Nauvoo
+and vicinity, and gave a coloring to the charges that were made against
+The Church, to the effect that the leaders thereof sanctioned stealing,
+so long as it was practiced on the Gentiles--those not belonging to
+The Church. Such were the rumors given out by some members of The
+Church engaged in this infamous business. On the eighteenth of November
+a nest of such vipers was uncovered at Ramus, near Nauvoo; and they
+were promptly excommunicated from The Church by the Apostles, who were
+holding a conference at the place on the date above mentioned. Both
+Joseph and Hyrum took advantage of the occasion to make affidavits
+before proper officers of the law to the effect that they had never
+given their sanction to such infamous doctrine as that attributed to
+them; [1] and the Twelve Apostles in an epistle to the public disavowed
+ever sanctioning the crime of theft.
+
+Hyrum in his affidavit says:
+
+    I hereby disavow any sanction, or approbation by me of the crime
+    of theft, or any other evil practice in any person or persons
+    whatever, whereby either the lives or property of our fellow-men
+    may be unlawfully taken or molested; neither are such doings
+    sanctioned or approbated by the First Presidency or any other
+    persons in authority or good standing in The Church, but such acts
+    are altogether in violation of the rules, order and regulations of
+    The Church, contrary to the teachings given in said Church, and the
+    laws of both God and man.
+
+In a public declaration to which Joseph appended his affidavit, the
+Prophet said:
+
+    It has been proclaimed upon the housetops and in the secret
+    chamber, in the public walks and private circles throughout the
+    length and breadth of this vast continent, that stealing by the
+    Latter-day Saints has received my approval; nay, that I have
+    taught them the doctrine, encouraged them in plunder, and led
+    on the van--than which nothing is more foreign from my heart. I
+    disfellowship the perpetrators of all such abominations; they are
+    devils and not Saints, totally unfit for the society of Christians
+    or men. It is true that some professing to be Latter-day Saints
+    have taught such vile heresies, but all are not Israel that are of
+    Israel; and I want it distinctly understood in all coming time,
+    that The Church over which I have the honor of presiding, will ever
+    set its brows like brass, and its face like steel, against all such
+    abominable acts of villainy and crime.
+
+Nor were the Twelve less forcible in denouncing this iniquity. In an
+epistle printed at the same time with the above they said:
+
+    We know not how to express our abhorrence of such an idea, and can
+    only say it is engendered in hell, founded in falsehood, and is the
+    offspring of the devil; that it is at variance with every principle
+    of righteousness and truth, and will damn all that are connected
+    with it. * * * We further call upon The Church to bring all such
+    characters before the authorities, that they may be tried and dealt
+    with according to the law of God and delivered up to the laws of
+    the land.
+
+About this time, too, there were gangs of robbers operating up and
+down the Mississippi river from which the Saints suffered, as many of
+their horses and cattle were stolen; but more serious injury arose from
+the fact that the acts of these robbers were attributed to the Saints
+themselves, and did much to prejudice the minds of the public against
+them.
+
+In the month of December the attempt to build up the town of Warren,
+located one mile south of Warsaw, was abandoned. As early as the fall
+of 1839 Daniel S. Witter, a man owning a sawmill at Warsaw, held out
+inducements to the First Presidency of The Church to settle at or in
+the vicinity of Warsaw, but the location where the Saints built up
+Nauvoo was considered preferable. Still Witter, Aldrich, Warren, and
+others continued to solicit the authorities of The Church to make an
+attempt to build up a city near Warsaw; and finally, in the spring of
+1841, an agreement was entered into between The Church authorities and
+Witter, Warren and Aldrich--owners of the school section located just
+south of Warsaw--by which any of the Saints settling on this school
+section, already surveyed into town lots and called Warren, were to
+have certain privileges granted them.
+
+In September, Willard Richards was located at Warsaw and made what
+preparations he could to receive settlers. Some few families of Saints
+gathered there, and in November two hundred and four emigrants from
+England were counseled to locate in that vicinity. But no sooner had
+preparations to build up the place been made than the citizens of
+Warsaw attempted to form an anti-Mormon association, and manifested
+other symptoms of an unfriendly character. They raised the rents--Mr.
+Witter himself raised one dollar per barrel on flour, while Aldrich
+forbade the people using the old wood on the school section. These
+unfriendly demonstrations led to the abandonment of the enterprise of
+building up Warren, and the Church authorities promptly advised the
+Saints who had located there to remove to Nauvoo.
+
+The winter of 1841-2 was a busy one for Joseph and those who labored
+with him as his scribes. He read the proof-sheets of the Book of Mormon
+previous to its being stereotyped; and prepared that concise yet
+admirable historical sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Church,
+together with a summary of the principles it teaches--now known as the
+Articles of Faith--for Mr. Wentworth of Chicago, who was writing a
+history of Illinois. He also prepared for publication his translation
+of the Book of Abraham from Egyptian papyrus, and which in its
+importance as a record of the ancient saints brought to light in this
+age, stands only second to the Book of Mormon.
+
+The Egyptian papyrus came into the possession of the Prophet through
+one Michael H. Chandler, who was travelling through Ohio exhibiting
+several Egyptian mummies and rolls of papyrus that were found in the
+coffin containing the mummies. Chandler claimed to have obtained the
+Egyptian treasures as a bequest from an uncle who had traveled in
+Egypt. But it matters little how Chandler came into possession of the
+mummies; the Saints in Kirtland purchased them, and the two rolls of
+papyrus proved to be the writings of Abraham and of Joseph who was sold
+into Egypt; and the record of Abraham, at least in part, was translated
+and published by the Prophet. Its importance is of the character above
+stated. [2]
+
+These labors, together with instructing the Saints, attending debating
+schools, laboring in the city council, and organizing and instructing
+women's Relief Societies, occupied the attention of the Prophet until
+the opening of spring.
+
+Meantime Nauvoo had been rapidly building up. Work on the temple and
+Nauvoo House was being pushed with considerable vigor; and many neat
+cottages had taken the place of the rude temporary cabins that had been
+constructed to shelter the people until their industry could win better
+homes. The population in the spring of 1842 was between eight and ten
+thousand. The stream of emigration from the British mission by that
+time had commenced to flow in and the new citizens assisted in no small
+degree to increase the prosperity of this central gathering place of
+the Saints.
+
+But The Church had passed through a long period of disaster. Time and
+again the early members of The Church had been driven away from their
+homes, and while their faith in their religion remained unshaken, these
+frequent drivings and mobbings stripped them of their property and of
+course ruined their financial schemes; and though their prospects at
+Nauvoo began to brighten, the people were constantly plagued by the
+presentation of old claims upon them, their creditors making small or
+no allowance for the disasters which had overtaken them. This was a
+constant draft upon their resources and a great hindrance to the growth
+of Nauvoo. Finally, as a means of protection against unreasonable,
+importunate creditors, a number of the leading brethren, among them
+the Prophet Joseph, took advantage of the bankrupt law. Under this law
+any one owing a certain amount more than he was able to pay, made out
+a schedule of his property and likewise of his debts, and placed both
+in the hands of an assignee, who paid his creditors whatever percentage
+of his debts his property amounted to; and the assignor could start
+again without being compelled to pay any of the old claims held against
+him previous to his declared insolvency. In whatever light this action
+on the part of the brethren may appear at first sight, an examination
+into all the circumstances will reveal the fact that as a means of
+self-protection it became absolutely necessary. They were financially
+down, and before they could rise to their feet, inexorable creditors
+were upon them to take away their substance. If it is possible for an
+individual or a company to be justified in taking advantage of the
+bankrupt law, then the Mormon leaders were. There was no effort on the
+part of those who took advantage of the bankrupt law to defraud their
+creditors. To parties with whom Joseph had contracted for lands, he
+wrote that he still considered his contracts with them as good; and in
+the case of the Hotchkiss purchase he proposed to renew the contract.
+This step placed the brethren beyond the power of their unjust
+creditors, and necessity compelled the action.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Times and Seasons for December, 1841.
+
+2. Those who would know more of this ancient record are referred to
+the Pearl of Great Price where they will fund the translation of it;
+and for a pretty full consideration of its claims to being a genuine
+ancient record, and an inspired book, the reader is referred to "The
+Divine Authenticity of the Book of Abraham," by Elder George Reynolds.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+SUSPICIONS OF TREACHERY.
+
+AS early as January, 1842, Joseph, as lieutenant-general of the Legion,
+issued orders for a general military parade and review of the Legion to
+take place on the seventh of May following. A subsequent order, issued
+in April, marking out the programme for the day's exercises, contained
+the following clause:
+
+    At three o'clock p. m. the cohorts will separate and form in line
+    of battle, the brigadiers assume their respective commands, and
+    General Law's command [cavalry] will make a descent upon that of
+    General Rich's [cohort C, infantry] in order of sham battle.
+
+The lieutenant-general had invited the consolidated staff of the Legion
+to partake of a _repast militaire_ on the occasion, at his house.
+
+On the morning of the day appointed for the drill and review two
+thousand troops were in the field; and an immense concourse of
+spectators, both of Saints and strangers. Such was the interests taken
+in the movement of the people of Nauvoo, that a number of the prominent
+men of the State within reach of the city attended the review. Judge
+Stephen A. Douglass adjourned the circuit court, then in session
+at the county seat, Carthage, in order to attend. As soon as the
+lieutenant-general heard of the presence of Judge Douglass, he sent him
+an invitation to attend the military dinner given at his house, which
+the judge accepted.
+
+It was a glorious day, passing off without noise or disorder; and even
+the strangers expressed themselves as highly satisfied with what they
+had witnessed. But even during the brightest days clouds will sometimes
+drift across the sun's disc: so in the moments of man's supreme
+happiness, it often occurs that shadows arise to alarm his fears, and
+remind him how fleeting are the joys of this life--
+
+  Some drops of joy with draughts of ill between;
+  Some gleams of sunshine 'mid renewing storms,
+
+are all that he may hope for. So was it with the principal founder
+of Nauvoo on the day of the sham battle. When the respective cohorts
+were drawn up in line of battle, facing each other, Major-General John
+C. Bennett rode up to General Smith and asked him to lead the charge
+of the first cohort, but Joseph declined. He next asked him to take
+a position in the rear of the cavalry without his staff during the
+engagement, but against this Captain A. P. Rockwood, the commander of
+Joseph's life guard, objected, and Joseph with his staff chose his own
+position.
+
+Of this incident--and it is for this reason that I have referred to
+this parade and sham battle--Joseph remarks:
+
+    If General Bennett's true feelings towards me are not made manifest
+    to the world in a very short time then it may be possible that the
+    gentle breathings of that Spirit which whispered to me on parade
+    that there was mischief in that sham battle, were false; a short
+    time will determine the point. Let John C. Bennett answer at the
+    day of judgment, Why did you request me to command one of the
+    cohorts, and also to take my position without my staff, during the
+    sham battle on the seventh of May, 1842, where my life might have
+    been forfeited and no man have known who did the deed?
+
+This is about the first intimation that we have in any of The Church
+records of John C. Bennett's disaffection towards Joseph or The Church.
+Two years before he had come to Nauvoo--then Commerce--filled with that
+fiery zeal "for the holy faith" which is only known to the newly-made
+convert. He was a man of considerable learning and ability, and devoted
+himself assiduously to bring to pass the prosperity of Nauvoo. He was
+of great service to Joseph as a lieutenant, and the Prophet was wont
+to say of him that he was about the first man he had about him who
+could do exactly what he wanted done, the way it should be done, and
+who would do it at once. In training the Legion and assisting in the
+drafting of the Nauvoo and other charters, he had rendered invaluable
+service; and had he possessed qualities of heart equal to those of his
+mind, he was calculated to have been a valuable acquisition to the city
+of Nauvoo. Nor am I willing to believe that his motives in uniting
+himself with The Church were altogether evil, notwithstanding his life
+previous to his joining The Church was immoral. I am quite willing to
+believe that when he came to the Saints it was his determination to
+reform and win for himself an honorable standing among his fellow-men;
+but the evil habits he had contracted were too strong for his will, and
+he sought the gratification of his lusts which led to his fall.
+
+Soon after he settled at Nauvoo, he paid his addresses to a respectable
+young lady of the city, and she, believing him to be an honorable man,
+accepted them, and he promised to marry her. In the meantime, however,
+Joseph had received information from the vicinity of Bennett's former
+residence to the effect that the doctor was a wicked man, and that he
+had a wife and several children in McConnellsville, Morgan County,
+Ohio--a thing the doctor had kept concealed. Learning this, Joseph
+persuaded him to discontinue his attentions to the young lady; but he
+soon renewed them; whereupon Joseph threatened to expose him if he did
+not desist, which, to all appearances, had the desired effect.
+
+Being foiled in his advances toward this young lady, and finding that
+Joseph stood like a lion in his path to prevent the accomplishment
+of his evil designs and protect the unsuspecting, he drew around him
+a covering of hypocrisy, carefully concealed his movements from the
+Prophet, and proceeded to teach some women, who only knew him as an
+honorable man, that promiscuous intercourse of the sexes was a doctrine
+believed in by the Latter-day Saints, and that there was no harm in it.
+In his first efforts he was unsuccessful; but in his subsequent advice,
+in the same line, he told them that Joseph and others of The Church
+authorities both sanctioned and practiced this wickedness, saying that
+the Prophet only denounced such things so vehemently in public, because
+of the prejudice of the people and the trouble it might create in his
+own house. In this manner he succeeded in overcoming the scruples of
+some of his dupes, and seduced several females. Nor did the evil end
+here. Bennett induced other men to adopt his evil practices; among them
+Francis M. and Chauncy L. Higbee. These men repeated the assertions
+made by the doctor, and thus the evil spread, and the reputation of the
+Prophet was being undermined.
+
+But evils of this character cannot long be practiced without coming
+to light, and Doctor Bennett, finding that his corruption was about
+to be uncovered, began to prepare for the shock. When confronted with
+positive evidence that it was known that he had a wife and family, and
+that his seductions were also known, he attempted suicide by taking
+poison, and resisted the administration of antidotes, but he was
+rescued from this fate in spite of himself.
+
+Before his evil course was known, arrangements were made to run the
+doctor for representative from the district in which Nauvoo was
+included, to the State legislature. But one day Joseph met the doctor
+in the presence of Squire Wells, and addressed him in substance as
+follows: "Doctor, I can sustain you no longer. Hyrum is against you,
+the Twelve are against you, and if I do not come out against sin and
+iniquity I shall myself be trodden under foot as a Prophet of God."
+That sentence sounded the death knell to the standing of Dr. Bennett in
+Nauvoo. Joseph had clung to him in the hope of reforming him, but that
+could no longer be expected; and when the Prophet let go his hold upon
+him, there was nothing could avert his downfall.
+
+On the nineteenth of May Bennett resigned his position as mayor and
+Joseph was elected to that office. On this occasion, and before the
+whole city council, Joseph asked Doctor Bennett if he had anything
+against him, to which the doctor replied:
+
+    I know what I am about, and the heads of The Church know what
+    they are about, I expect; I have no difficulty with the heads of
+    The Church. I publicly avow that if any one has said that I have
+    stated that General Joseph Smith has given me authority to hold
+    illicit intercourse with women he is a liar in the face of God.
+    Those who have said it are damned liars; they are infernal liars.
+    He never either in public or private gave me any such authority or
+    license, and any person who states it is a scoundrel and a liar.
+    * * * I intend to continue with you, and hope the time may come
+    when I may be restored to full confidence and fellowship, and my
+    former standing in The Church, and that my conduct may be such as
+    to warrant my restoration, and should the time ever come that I
+    may have the opportunity to test my faith, it will then be known
+    whether I am a traitor or a true man.
+
+    _Joseph_--Will you please state definitely whether you know
+    anything against my character, either in public or private.
+
+    _Doctor Bennett_--I do not. In all my intercourse with General
+    Smith in public and in private he has been strictly virtuous.
+
+In addition to this statement before the city council, Doctor Bennett
+made affidavit before Squire Wells to the same effect as the above.
+
+On the twenty-sixth of May, the case of Bennett came up in the Masonic
+lodge, of which the doctor was a member, as were also nearly all
+the principal men of Nauvoo. In the presence of one hundred of the
+fraternity, he confessed his licentious practices, and acknowledged
+that he was worthy of the severest chastisement, yet he pleaded for
+mercy, and especially that he might not be published in the papers. So
+deep, apparently, was his sorrow, that Joseph pleaded for mercy in his
+behalf, and he was forgiven as a Mason; but previous to this, the First
+Presidency of The Church, the Twelve and the Bishop had sent a formal
+notice to him that they could not fellowship him as a member of The
+Church, but they withheld the matter from publication, at his earnest
+solicitation, because of his mother.
+
+John C. Bennett, however, had fallen too far to recover from the
+effects of his deep transgression. He suddenly left Nauvoo, and soon
+afterward was found plotting with the enemies of the Saints for the
+destruction of The Church. By this time the Masonic lodge found that he
+was an expelled Mason, and had palmed himself off on the Nauvoo lodge
+as a Mason in regular standing, consequently he was disfellowshiped
+from the Nauvoo lodge, and was also cashiered by the court-martial of
+the Nauvoo Legion; and thus plucked of all his glory, he was left to
+wander as a vagabond and an outcast among men.
+
+After he so suddenly left Nauvoo, he again said that the Prophet Joseph
+had authorized and encouraged sexual wickedness, and when confronted
+with his own affidavit, which declared Joseph to be a virtuous man, and
+a teacher of righteousness, and upright both in his public and private
+character, he claimed that he was under duress when he made that
+affidavit. But Squire Wells, before whom he had qualified to make his
+sworn statement, went before a justice of the peace, and made affidavit
+that during the time that this development of his wickedness was going
+on, and he making statements favorable to Joseph and The Church, that--
+
+    During all this time, if he (Doctor Bennett) was under duress or
+    fear, he must have had a good faculty of concealing it; for he was
+    at liberty to go and come when and where he pleased, so far as I am
+    capable of judging.
+
+Squire Wells further testifies in the same statement:
+
+    I was always personally friendly with him, after I became
+    acquainted with him. I never heard him say anything derogatory to
+    the character of Joseph Smith, until after he had been exposed by
+    said Smith on the public stand in Nauvoo.
+
+So soon as it was learned that the doctor had left Nauvoo, and was
+operating for the destruction of The Church, the whole case was
+published in the Nauvoo papers, and his corruption made known to the
+world. Those whom he had involved in his vile snares, both men and
+women, were brought before the proper tribunals of The Church; some
+of them were disfellowshiped, and others who sincerely repented were
+forgiven.
+
+The only description I have seen of Doctor Bennett is given in the
+Essex County _Washingtonian_, published in Salem, Massachusetts, and
+that is contained in the issue of the fifteenth of September, 1842.
+According to that description he was a man five feet nine inches high,
+well formed, black hair sprinkled with grey, dark complexion, a rather
+thin face, and black, restless eyes.
+
+The fall of Doctor Bennett added another evidence to the fact that
+neither natural nor acquired attainments, however brilliant they may
+be, can secure one a safe standing in the Church of Jesus Christ of
+Latter-day Saints, when not accompanied with righteousness of life.
+Moreover, experience has proven that to brilliancy of intellect highly
+cultivated, may be added inspired dreams, visions, the revelations
+of God, and the visitation of angels--and yet, if the daily life and
+conversation runs not hand in hand with righteousness, these things
+furnish at best but an insecure foundation on which to stand.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF GOVERNOR BOGGS.
+
+It was rumored in Nauvoo about the middle of the month of May, 1842,
+that ex-Governor Boggs, of Missouri, had been assassinated by an
+unknown hand, at his residence in Independence, Jackson County,
+Missouri. The ex-governor, however, did not die from the wounds he
+received, but recovered in the course of several days. The assault
+made upon him by his enemy, whoever he might be, occurred on the sixth
+of May, in the year above named. He was seated in a room by himself,
+when some person discharged a pistol loaded with buckshot, through the
+adjoining window. Three of the shot took effect in his head--one of
+which, it was said, penetrated his brain. His son, hearing the shot,
+burst into the room and found him in a helpless condition. The pistol
+from which the shot was fired was found under the window, and there,
+too, were the footprints of the would-be assassin.
+
+No sooner was the news of the affair heard than speculation was rife
+as to the parties who had perpetrated the deed; and in consequence of
+the infamous part taken by Boggs in driving the Saints from the State
+of Missouri, during the period that he was governor, it was not long
+before "Joe Smith and the Mormons" were accused of the deed. The Quincy
+_Whig_, in its issue of May 21st, said:
+
+    There are several rumors in circulation in regard to the horrid
+    affair; one of which throws the crime upon the Mormons, from the
+    fact, we suppose, that Mr. Boggs was governor at the time, and
+    in no small degree instrumental in driving them from the State.
+    Smith, too, the Mormon Prophet, as we understand, prophesied a year
+    or so ago, his death by violent means. Hence, there is plenty of
+    foundation for rumor.
+
+To this statement the Prophet Joseph wrote a reply and sent it to the
+editor of the _Whig_, Mr. Bartlett:
+
+    DEAR SIR--In your paper of the 21st inst., [May] you have done me
+    manifest injustice, in ascribing to me a prediction of the demise
+    of Lilburn W. Boggs, Esq., ex-governor of Missouri, by violent
+    hands. Boggs was a candidate for the State senate, and, I presume,
+    fell by the hand of a political opponent, with his hands and face
+    yet dripping with the blood of murder; but he died [1] not through
+    my instrumentality. My hands are clean and my heart pure, from the
+    blood of all men.
+
+As soon as Boggs recovered sufficiently, he went before Samuel Weston,
+a justice of the peace at Independence, and one of the characters
+that some of my readers of "The Missouri Persecutions" will remember
+as taking part in driving the Saints from their homes in Jackson
+County--before him Boggs made affidavit that he had reason to believe,
+from evidence and information then in his possession, that "Joseph
+Smith, the Mormon Prophet, was accessory before the fact of the
+intended murder," and therefore applied to Thomas Reynolds, governor
+of Missouri, to make a demand on the governor of Illinois, to deliver
+Joseph Smith up to some person authorized to receive him on behalf of
+the State of Missouri, to be dealt with according to law.
+
+Governor Reynolds promptly granted the request and made the demand on
+the governor of Illinois for the surrender of Joseph to one E. R. Ford,
+who was appointed the agent of Missouri to receive him. In making the
+demand, Governor Reynolds said:
+
+    Whereas it appears * * * that one Joseph Smith is a fugitive from
+    justice, charged with being accessory before the fact, to an
+    assault with intent to kill, made by one O. P. Rockwell, on Lilburn
+    W. Boggs, in this State [Missouri]; and is represented to the
+    executive department of this State as having fled to the State of
+    Illinois; Now, therefore, I, * * * do by these presents demand the
+    surrender and delivering of the said Joseph Smith, etc., etc.
+
+We have given this extract for the requisition _verbatim_, because, in
+the first place, the affidavit of Boggs, upon the strength of which
+Governor Reynolds made his demand for the surrender of Joseph Smith,
+does not claim that he was a fugitive from justice, or that he had
+fled from the State of Missouri to Illinois; but on the contrary, the
+affidavit says that he was a "citizen or resident of Illinois," hence
+the statement of fact in the affidavit was not sufficient to justify
+the demand for Joseph Smith to be surrendered to Missouri. A person
+resident in a State may not be delivered up to the authorities of
+another State for alleged offenses, unless it is represented that he
+has fled from the State making the demand for his surrender, to escape
+from justice. This charge was not made by Boggs in his affidavit,
+which was Governor Reynolds' only authority for making the demand.
+But in what Boggs failed, Governor Reynolds made up; and upon his own
+responsibility, charged in his demand on Illinois that Joseph Smith was
+"a fugitive from justice," and had "fled to Illinois;" a statement that
+was at once untrue, and wholly gratuitous on the part of the executive
+of Missouri, and proves him to be a willing persecutor of the innocent.
+Secondly, it was this assumption on the part of Reynolds that did much
+towards making the demand on Illinois void. But more of this anon.
+
+Governor Carlin, of Illinois, respected the demand of Missouri, and
+issued a warrant for the arrest of O. P. Rockwell as principal and
+Joseph Smith as accessory before the fact, in an assault with intent
+to kill, upon ex-Governor Boggs. The papers were placed in the hands
+of the deputy sheriff of Adams County, who, with two assistants, at
+once repaired to Nauvoo, and on the eighth of August, 1842, arrested
+the above named parties. There was no evasion of the officers, but the
+municipal court of Nauvoo, at once, on the application of the parties
+arrested, issued a writ of _habeas corpus_, requiring the officers
+having the prisoners in charge, to bring them before that tribunal, in
+order that the legality of the warrant under which they were arrested
+might be tested. This the sheriff refused to do, as he claimed that
+the municipal court had no jurisdiction in the case, but he left the
+prisoners in the care of the city marshal, without, however, leaving
+the original writ upon which alone they could be held; and the deputy
+sheriff and his assistants returned to Quincy; the prisoners being
+turned loose to go about their business.
+
+During the absence of the deputy sheriff, Joseph had secured a writ of
+_habeas corpus_ from the master in chancery, as it was questionable if
+the municipal court of Nauvoo had the authority to issue such writs in
+cases arising under the laws of the State or the United States. [2] The
+officers returned from Quincy on the tenth, but in the interim it had
+been decided by Joseph and his friends, that the best thing for himself
+and Rockwell to do under the excitement of public sentiment then
+existing was to keep out of the way for a season; so that the officers
+were unable to find them on their return.
+
+Joseph crossed the river and stayed at his uncle John's house for a
+few days, in the settlement called Zarahemla; but on the night of the
+eleventh of August, he met by appointment his brother Hyrum, Rockwell,
+his wife Emma and several other friends at the south point of the
+island that stands midway in the river between Nauvoo and Montrose.
+
+It had been rumored that the governor of Iowa had also issued a warrant
+for the arrest of Joseph and Rockwell, where-upon it was decided that
+it would be better for them to remain on the Illinois side of the
+river. Subsequent events, however, proved that this rumor was a false
+one. Joseph was rowed up the river by a Brother Dunham to a point
+near the home of a Brother Derby. Rockwell had been set ashore and
+had proceeded to the same point on foot, where he built a fire on the
+bank of the river, that Dunham might know where to land. At Derby's,
+the Prophet remained in hiding for some time, and Rockwell went east,
+remaining for several months in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
+
+From his place of concealment, Joseph directed the movements of the
+people at Nauvoo, and managed his own business through faithful agents,
+who met with him occasionally. Emma spent considerable of her time with
+him, and beguiled the loneliness of those weary hours of inactivity
+that he, whose life is the synonym for activity, had to endure.
+
+During those days of exile, one gets a glimpse of the Prophet's private
+life and character, that in part explains the mystery of his power and
+influence over his friends and his people:--it was his unbounded love
+for them. Speaking of the meeting with his friends in the night at the
+island, in the account he gives of it in the Book of the Law of the
+Lord, he says:
+
+    How glorious were my feelings when I met that faithful and friendly
+    band, on the night of the eleventh [of August], on the island at
+    the mouth of the slough between Zarahemla and Nauvoo. With what
+    unspeakable delight, and what transports of joy swelled my bosom,
+    when I took by the hand, on that night, my beloved Emma--she that
+    was my wife, even the wife of my youth, and choice of my heart.
+    Many were the vibrations of my mind when I contemplated for a
+    moment the many scenes we had been called to pass through, the
+    fatigues and the toils, the sorrows and sufferings, and the joys
+    and the consolations, from time to time, which had strewed our
+    paths and crowned our board. Oh, what a commingling of thoughts
+    filled my mind for the moment!--and again she is here, even in the
+    seventh trouble--undaunted, firm and unwavering--unchangeable,
+    affectionate Emma!
+
+Of his brother Hyrum on the same occasion he says:
+
+    There was Brother Hyrum, who next took me by the hand--a natural
+    brother. Thought I to myself, Brother Hyrum, what a faithful heart
+    you have got! Oh, may the Eternal Jehovah crown eternal blessings
+    upon your head, as a reward for the care you have had for my soul!
+    Oh, how many are the sorrows we have shared together! and again
+    we find ourselves shackled by the unrelenting hand of oppression.
+    Hyrum, thy name shall be written in the Book of the Law of the
+    Lord, for those who come after to look upon, that they may pattern
+    after thy works. [3]
+
+So he goes on to call the faithful by their names and record their
+deeds of love manifested towards himself, and pronounces his blessings
+upon them; and if, as one of old said, "We know that we have passed
+from death unto life because we love the brethren"--surely Joseph Smith
+possessed that witness--he loved his brethren better than his life!
+
+Some of the brethren proposed that Joseph should go up to the pine
+woods of Wisconsin, where a number of the brethren were engaged
+in getting out timber for the Temple and Nauvoo House, until the
+excitement should subside in Illinois. Of this proposition, Joseph said
+in a letter to Emma:
+
+    My mind will eternally revolt at every suggestion of that kind. * *
+    * My safety is with you if you want to have it so. * * * If I go to
+    the pine country, you shall go along with me, and the children; and
+    if you and the children go not with me, I don't go. I do not wish
+    to exile myself for the sake of my own life. I would rather fight
+    it out. It is for your sakes therefore that I would do such a thing.
+
+This plan, however, was abandoned.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. It was then supposed that Boggs was dead. It was not until several
+days later that the news of his recovery reached Nauvoo or Quincy.
+
+2. I say "questionable" as representing the views of the Prophet's
+friends. As a matter of fact, in my judgment, there could be no
+question about the municipal court having no such power. And if the
+letter of the Nauvoo charter justified the idea that the municipal
+court possessed any such power to interrupt the process of the State
+and United States courts, it was a manifest defect in the wording of
+the charter, a solecism that would render that part of the charter void.
+
+3. Some years before this, in December, 1835, Joseph said of Hyrum: "I
+could pray in my heart that all men were like my brother Hyrum, who
+possesses the mildness of a lamb, and the integrity of a Job, and in
+short, the meekness and humility of Christ; and I love him with that
+love that is stronger than death, for I never had occasion to rebuke
+him, nor he me."--Mill. Star, vol. VX. P. 521.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE PROPHET'S TRIAL AT SPRINGFIELD--MISSOURI AGAIN THWARTED.
+
+It appears that Joseph had resolved to submit no longer to the
+injustice he had suffered from the hands of the people of Missouri. It
+was rumored that the officers on leaving Nauvoo, breathed out threats
+of returning with sufficient force to search every house in the city
+and vicinity; and Sheriff Ford, the agent of Missouri, threatened to
+bring a mob against the Mormons, if necessary to arrest the Prophet.
+Hearing these rumors, Joseph exchanged several letters with William
+Law, who had been recently elected major-general of the Legion, _vice_
+John C. Bennett, cashiered; in which he admonished him to have all
+things in readiness to protect the people in their rights, and not for
+one moment to submit to the outrages that were threatened.
+
+"You will see, therefore," said he, in a letter written on the
+fourteenth of August, to Law, "that the peace of the city of Nauvoo
+is kept, let who will, endeavor to disturb it. You will also see that
+whenever any mob force or violence is used, on any citizen thereof,
+or that belongeth thereunto, you will see that force or violence
+is immediately dispersed, and brought to punishment, or meet it,
+and contest it at the point of the sword, with firm, undaunted and
+unyielding valor; and let them know that the spirit of old Seventy-six,
+and of George Washington yet lives, and is contained in the bosoms and
+blood of the children of the fathers thereof. If there are any threats
+in the city, let legal steps be taken against them; and let no man,
+woman or child be intimidated, nor suffer it to be done. Nevertheless,
+as I said in the first place, we will take every measure that lays
+in our power, and make every sacrifice that God or man could require
+at our hands, to preserve the peace and safety of the people without
+collision."
+
+To these sentiments there was a willing response of acquiescence on
+the part of the major-general, and he pledged himself to faithfully
+carry out Joseph's orders, provided the emergency for doing so should
+arise. After a little, however, the excitement began to subside; and
+as Joseph's hiding place at Derby's was discovered by a young man
+who suddenly came upon him and his kind host while they were walking
+out in the woods for exercise, the Prophet moved quietly into the
+city, staying first at the house of one friend a day or two, and then
+removing to that of another.
+
+In the meantime the case was plainly placed before Governor Carlin;
+and the course that Joseph had taken fully vindicated by letters
+written to him by Emma his wife, who displayed no mean ability in
+the correspondence she opened up with the governor, which so nearly
+concerned the peace of her family. She directed the attention of the
+governor to the fact that Joseph had not been in the State of Missouri
+for some three or four years--that if her husband had been accessory
+before the fact, to the assault upon ex-Governor Boggs, the crime, if
+committed at all--which she stoutly averred was not the case--was done
+in Illinois, and there was no law to drag a man from a State where the
+crime was committed, into a State where it had not been committed, for
+trial; and as her husband had not been in the State of Missouri for
+several years previous to the assault on Boggs, he could not have fled
+from the justice of that State, and therefore ought not to be given up
+under the fugitive-from-justice law.
+
+Letters from many prominent citizens of Nauvoo were also sent to the
+governor; and the Female Relief Society called his attention to the
+threat of mob violence and invasion from Missouri, and asked that
+sufficient military protection might be given to insure the peace and
+safety of Nauvoo. All these things the governor treated lightly, and
+claimed that the only excitement that existed was with the Mormon
+people at Nauvoo, and nowhere else; and there was no need, he insisted,
+of taking the precautions hinted at by the people; though when talking
+on another subject he unwittingly remarked that persons were offering
+their services every day either in person or by letter, and held
+themselves in readiness to go against the Saints whenever he should
+call upon them; but he never had the least idea of calling on the
+militia, neither had he thought it necessary. He maintained that the
+proper thing for Joseph to do was to give himself up to the authorities
+of Missouri for trial, and he had no doubt that he would be acquitted.
+Judge Ralston asked him how he thought Mr. Smith would go through
+the midst of his enemies without being subject to violence; and how
+after his acquittal, he would be able to return to Illinois. To that
+proposition the governor could give no satisfactory answer, but made
+light of the whole matter. And in spite of all the protests sent in
+by the people of Nauvoo, he made a proclamation that as Joseph Smith
+and O. P. Rockwell had resisted the laws, by refusing to go with the
+officers who had them in custody, and had made their escape, he offered
+a reward of two hundred dollars for each or either of those "fugitives
+from justice." Governor Reynolds also offered a reward for their
+arrest, three hundred dollars for each one or either of them.
+
+Joseph continued to remain in the city and moved about cautiously,
+attending to his business. A tide of popular prejudice had set in of
+such proportions that it seemed that it would overwhelm the Saints.
+It had been created largely through the misrepresentations of John C.
+Bennett, and Joseph at once determined to counteract it if possible.
+He ordered that a special conference be called to meet on the 29th of
+August, to appoint Elders of The Church to go through the State of
+Illinois and the east to flood the country with the truth in relation
+to Bennett's character. The conference was called, and in the interim
+documents and affidavits were prepared that the brethren might be
+armed with proofs in relation to the facts respecting Bennett and his
+misrepresentations.
+
+The conference convened on the day appointed and Hyrum Smith addressed
+them on the mission that many of them were expected to take. At the
+conclusion of his remarks, Joseph suddenly stepped into the stand
+to the great joy of his people, many of whom thought he had gone
+to Washington, and others to Europe. His appearance created great
+cheerfulness and animation among the people. Joseph, naturally
+impulsive, was overjoyed to again stand before the Saints. He addressed
+them in more than his usual spirited manner and called upon the
+brethren to go through the States taking documents with them, "to show
+to the world the corrupt and oppressive conduct of Boggs, Carlin and
+others, that the public might have the truth laid before them." In
+response to this call to sustain the Prophet's character, three hundred
+and eighty Elders volunteered their services, and announced their
+willingness to go immediately.
+
+For several days after the conference the Prophet continued about home,
+but it being revealed to him that his enemies were again on the move
+to take him; he found it necessary to drop out of sight. It was during
+this time of hiding that he wrote those instructions respecting baptism
+for the dead, contained in the 127th and 128th sections of the Book of
+Doctrine and Covenants.
+
+But notwithstanding his enemies were on the watch for him, he now and
+then visited his home; and on the occasion of paying one of these
+visits to his family he nearly fell into the hands of the officers. He
+was at dinner with his family at the "Mansion," when Deputy Sheriff
+Pitman, of Adams County, and an assistant suddenly presented themselves
+at the door. Fortunately John Boynton, who was present, saw them first
+and went to the door to meet them. They asked him if Joseph Smith was
+present, to which he gave an evasive answer, saying that he had seen
+Joseph that morning, but did not say he had seen him since. During this
+conversation the Prophet stepped out of the back door, ran through the
+corn in his garden and so to the house of Bishop N. K. Whitney. Emma
+now engaged the sheriff in conversation. He said he wanted to search
+the house. She asked if he had a search warrant, to which he answered
+in the negative; but insisted on searching the house nevertheless, and
+as she knew that Joseph had escaped, she did not refuse. Of course the
+search was fruitless.
+
+It was reported that a party of fifteen left Quincy with the sheriff
+the day before, and that they rode all night expecting to reach Nauvoo
+before daylight, surround the "Mansion," and capture Joseph. But in the
+night they got scattered and did not meet again, nor did Sheriff Pitman
+reach Nauvoo until about noon, when he made the effort above detailed.
+
+About the first of October, Elder Rigdon and Elias Higbee were in
+Carthage, and from a conversation with Judge Douglass, they learned
+that Governor Carlin had purposely issued an illegal writ for the
+arrest of Joseph, thinking he would go to Carthage to be acquitted on
+_habeas corpus_ proceedings before Judge Douglass; when an officer of
+the State would be present with a legal writ and serve it upon him
+immediately, and thus drag him to Missouri. The plot, however, was
+discovered in time to thwart it, and Joseph, in company with Elder John
+Taylor, Wilson Law and John D. Parker, left Nauvoo for the home of
+Elder Taylor's father, about a day and a half's ride from Nauvoo, and
+there the Prophet remained for about a week.
+
+Meantime, through Major Warren, master in chancery, Joseph's case
+was presented to Justice Butterfield, of Chicago, and United States
+attorney for the district of Illinois. He wrote out an elaborate review
+of the case in which he claimed that Joseph could be released on a writ
+of _habeas corpus_; that he would have the right to prove that he was
+not in Missouri at the time the alleged crime was committed--that of
+necessity, if he was guilty of the crime with which he was charged, he
+must have committed it in Illinois, and therefore was not a fugitive
+from justice--and the governor of Illinois had no right to surrender
+him to the authorities of Missouri as such. Mr. Butterfield contended
+that a warrant for the action of the governor of a State, in delivering
+up a person to the authorities of another State, was found in that
+clause of the Constitution which says:
+
+    A person charged in any State with treason, felony or other crime,
+    who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State,
+    shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from
+    which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having
+    jurisdiction of the crime. (Constitution, Article 4; Section 2.)
+
+Mr. Butterfield insisted that it was unnecessary to inquire into the
+laws that had been enacted by Congress on the subject, since:
+
+    Congress has just so much power and no more than is expressly given
+    by the said clause in the Constitution.
+
+"What persons, then," he inquires, "can be surrendered up by the
+governor of one State to the governor of another?"
+
+    First: He must be a person charged with treason, felony or other
+    crime. It is sufficient if he be charged with the commission of
+    crime, either by indictment found or by affidavit. Second: He
+    must be a person who shall flee from justice, and be found in
+    another State. It is not sufficient to satisfy this branch of the
+    Constitution, that he should be "charged" with having fled from
+    justice. Unless he has actually fled from the State, where the
+    offense was committed, into another State, the governor of this
+    State has no jurisdiction over his person and cannot deliver him up.
+
+Mr. Butterfield reviewed the subject of _habeas corpus_ writs and their
+operations both in England and the United States, and quoted a number
+of cases from the courts of New York, and the action of the executives
+of the several States to support the principles he contended for, and
+concluded his communication in these words:
+
+    I would advise that Mr. Smith procure respectable and sufficient
+    affidavits to prove beyond all question that he was in this State
+    [Illinois] and not in Missouri at the time the crime with which he
+    was charged was committed, and upon these affidavits, apply to the
+    governor to countermand the warrant he has issued for his arrest.
+    If he should refuse so to do, I am already of the opinion that,
+    upon that state of facts, the supreme court will discharge him upon
+    _habeas corpus_.
+
+Joseph acted upon this advice, and sent agents with all the necessary
+papers to Springfield and applied to Governor Ford--Carlin's term
+of office in the meantime having expired--to revoke the writ and
+proclamation of ex-Governor Carlin for his arrest. The supreme court
+being in session, Governor Ford submitted the petition and all the
+papers pertaining thereto for their opinion, and they were unanimous in
+their belief that the Missouri writ was illegal, but were divided as
+to whether it would be proper for the present executive to interfere
+with the official acts of his predecessor, and therefore Governor Ford
+refused to interfere; but said, in a personal letter addressed to the
+Prophet:
+
+    I can only advise that you submit to the laws and have a judicial
+    investigation of your rights. If it should become necessary, for
+    this purpose to repair to Springfield, I do not believe that there
+    will be any disposition to use illegal violence towards you; and
+    I would feel it my duty in your case, as in the case of any other
+    person, to protect you with any necessary amount of force, from mob
+    violence whilst asserting your rights before the courts, going to
+    and returning.
+
+This reply was endorsed by Mr. Butterfield and James Adams, in whom
+Joseph had great confidence; and in conformity with the advice, Joseph
+was arrested by Wilson Law, on Carlin's proclamation. Application was
+made at Carthage for a writ of _habeas corpus_ to go before the court
+at Springfield. No writ could be obtained at the court in Carthage,
+as the clerk had been elected to the State senate; but an order for
+such writ was issued on the master in chancery, and with that document
+Joseph, in the company of his brother Hyrum, John Taylor and others,
+and in charge of Wilson Law, started for Springfield, where they
+arrived in the afternoon of the thirtieth of December, 1842.
+
+Judge Pope had continued his court two or three days in order to give
+Joseph's case a hearing, and in the first interview the judge had
+with him, agreed to try the case on its merits, and not dismiss it on
+any technicality. The deputy sheriff of Adams County was present, but
+refused at first to say whether he had the original writ or not; but
+finally King, his associate, admitted he had it.
+
+Fearing that it was the object of these men to hold the original writ
+until after proceedings had concluded on the arrest made by virtue
+of Governor Carlin's proclamation, and thus create more trouble, a
+petition was made to Governor Ford to issue a new writ, that the case
+might come up on its merits, which was granted, and Joseph was arrested
+by Mr. Maxey, and a writ of _habeas corpus_ was issued by the court;
+but as several days must elapse before a hearing could be had, Joseph
+was placed under $4,000 bonds, Wilson Law and General James Adams being
+his bondsmen.
+
+At last the day of trial came on and the attorney-general of the State
+made the following objection to the jurisdiction of the court:
+
+    1. The arrest and detention of Smith, was not under or by color of
+    authority of the United States, or of any officer of the United
+    States, but under and by color of authority of the State of
+    Illinois, by the officer of the State of Illinois.
+
+    2. When a fugitive from justice is arrested by authority of the
+    governor of any State, upon the requisition of the governor of
+    another State, the courts of justice, neither State nor Federal,
+    have any authority or jurisdiction to inquire into facts behind the
+    writ.
+
+These points were ably argued _pro_ and _con_ by Mr. Butterfield for
+the defense, and the attorney-general for the State. After giving a
+patient hearing, the court gave its opinion, saying in relation to the
+first objection, that, "The warrant on its face purports to be issued
+in pursuance of the Constitution and laws of the United States, as well
+as of the State of Illinois;" and therefore the court had jurisdiction.
+
+"The matter in hand," said Judge Pope, "presents a case arising under
+the second section of article IV of the Constitution of the United
+States, and an act of Congress of February 12th, 1793, to carry it into
+effect. The Constitution says: 'The judicial power shall extend to all
+cases in law or equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the
+United States, and treaties made, and which shall be made under their
+authority.'"
+
+Therefore, on that line of reasoning, the judge concluded the court had
+jurisdiction. As to the second objection--the right of the court to
+inquire into facts behind the writ--the judge held it unnecessary to
+decide that point, as Smith was entitled to his discharge, for defect
+in the affidavit on which the demand for his surrender to Missouri was
+made. To justify the demand for his arrest the affidavit should have
+shown, "First, that Smith committed a crime; second, that he committed
+it in Missouri. And it must also appear 'that Smith had fled from
+Missouri.'" None of these things the affidavit of Boggs did, and the
+judge held that it was defective for those reasons, and added:
+
+    The court can alone regard the facts set forth in the affidavit
+    of Boggs as having any legal existence. The mis-recitals and
+    over-statements in the requisition and warrant are not supported by
+    oath and cannot be received as evidence to deprive a citizen of his
+    liberty, and transport him to a foreign State for trial. For these
+    reasons, Smith must be discharged.
+
+And Joseph had scored another victory over his old enemies in Missouri.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+INCIDENTS OF THE TRIAL AND ACQUITTAL.
+
+DURING the trial, excitement at times ran high and threatened to break
+out into acts of violence. When Joseph first made his way through the
+throng about the court-house, some one in the crowd recognized him,
+and exclaimed: "There goes Smith now!" "Yes," said another, "and a
+fine looking man he is, too." "And as damned a rascal as ever lived!"
+put in a third. Hyrum Smith, overhearing the last remark said: "And
+a good many ditto!" "Yes," said the person addressed, "ditto, ditto,
+G--d d--n you, and every one that takes his part is as d--d a rascal
+as he is." "I am that man;" shouted Wilson Law, "and I'll take his
+part!" Whereupon both parties prepared for a fight; but Mr. Prentice,
+the marshal, interfered and quelled the disturbance; and the excitement
+soon quieted down.
+
+During the progress of the trial the Prophet had good opportunity of
+associating with some of the leading men of the State, among them the
+judges of the supreme court, and Governor Ford, who ventured to caution
+the Prophet to have nothing to do with electioneering in political
+contests; a thing, the Prophet said in reply, he had never done.
+Governor Ford also told him that he had a requisition from the governor
+of Missouri for the arrest of himself and others on the old charge of
+treason, arson, etc., but he happened to know that the charges were
+dead. The State legislature was also in session and consequently there
+was a general gathering of the principal men of Illinois, and the
+Prophet extended largely his circle of acquaintances among them.
+
+The time occupied by the trial kept Joseph and his party over one
+Sunday in Springfield, and the use of the hall of representatives was
+tendered him in which to hold religious services. The use of the hall
+was accepted and Orson Hyde preached in the forenoon, and Elder John
+Taylor in the afternoon; the services being largely attended by members
+of the legislature.
+
+It required several days to make the journey from Springfield to
+Nauvoo, and the Prophet's party suffered no little from the extreme
+coldness of the weather. The news of Joseph's triumph had preceded
+him, and as his party approached the city, of which he was the chief
+founder, the people turned out almost _en masse_ to bid him welcome
+to his home; and though there was little or none of the pomp and
+circumstance and splendor that attend the welcome of a king by his
+subjects, yet never did king receive more hearty or sincere welcome
+from his people than did Joseph from the citizens of Nauvoo.
+
+The day following his return home the Prophet issued invitations to the
+Twelve Apostles and their wives and other leading citizens to attend
+a feast at his house in honor of his release from his enemies. The
+Twelve at the same time issued a proclamation inviting the Saints in
+Nauvoo to unite with them in dedicating Tuesday, the seventeenth of
+January, 1843, as "a day of humiliation, fasting, praise, prayer and
+thanksgiving before the Great Eloheim," because of the deliverance
+He had wrought out for His servant. The Bishops were instructed to
+provide suitable places in their respective wards for the people to
+meet in, and one or more of the brethren who had been with Joseph at
+Springfield, would be present to relate what had happened.
+
+Although to relate here the circumstances that befell the man who was
+accused as the chief actor in the assault upon ex-Governor Boggs--O.
+P. Rockwell--takes us beyond many events of which we desire to speak,
+we think it proper to record how, after spending several months in
+the eastern States, he returned to St. Louis where he was recognized
+by Elias Parker, who made affidavit that he was the O. P. Rockwell
+advertised for in the papers, and on the fourth of March, 1843, was
+arrested by Mr. Fox, and taken to Independence for trial. Rockwell
+wrote from his prison in Independence to Bishop N. K. Whitney, for
+bail, which was fixed at five thousand dollars; but as the court in
+Missouri would only take some responsible person resident in Missouri,
+bail could not be secured for him.
+
+I have not the space to give a detailed account of all Rockwell's
+adventures and sufferings during his weary imprisonment of nearly eight
+months. He suffered much cruelty in prison life, and when his case
+came before the grand jury there wasn't sufficient evidence to justify
+an indictment against him. But in the meantime he had made an effort
+to escape, and was held on a charge of jail-breaking, for which, when
+he came to be tried, he was sentenced to five minutes' imprisonment,
+though they kept him for several hours while an effort was made to
+trump up new charges against him.
+
+One incident occurred during Rockwell's imprisonment that we can not
+pass without notice. Sheriff Reynolds made an effort to induce him to
+go to Nauvoo, and as the Prophet Joseph had great confidence in him,
+Reynolds' proposition was that he should drive Joseph in a carriage
+outside of Nauvoo, where the Missourians could capture him; and then,
+as to himself, he could either remain in Illinois, return to Missouri
+or go where he pleased. "You only deliver Joe Smith into our hands,"
+said Reynolds, "and name your pile." "I will see you all damned first,
+and then I won't," replied Rockwell.
+
+After meeting with many adventures he arrived in Nauvoo on an evening
+when there was a social party in progress at the Prophet's house.
+In the midst of the festivities Joseph observed a rough-looking man
+with long hair falling down over his shoulders, staggering among his
+guests as if intoxicated, and the suspicion arose at once that he was
+a Missourian. Joseph quietly spoke to the captain of police who was
+present, and told him to put the stranger out. A struggle ensued, and
+during its progress the Prophet had a full view of the man's face, and
+at once recognized his devoted friend O. P. Rockwell. It is needless to
+say he was given a hearty welcome or that the story of his adventures
+among the Missourians contributed no little to the enjoyment of the
+evening, though some portions of his narrative were so burdened with
+accounts of his sufferings and the cruelties practiced towards him,
+that they were calculated to produce sorrow rather than joy. But these
+feelings were banished by the fact that he was now delivered out of
+them all, and honorably discharged in fulfillment of the prophecy
+uttered by Joseph shortly after he heard of Rockwell's arrest in St.
+Louis, nearly a year before. The party which had been so rudely yet so
+pleasantly interrupted, proceeded, no one enjoying it more than the
+"long-haired stranger."
+
+A few days, only, after the departure from Springfield of the Prophet
+and his party, John C. Bennett arrived there. The measures he then
+set on foot, and which produced, ultimately, what very nearly became
+serious results, may be judged from the following letter addressed to
+Sidney Rigdon and Orson Pratt, under date of January 10, 1843:
+
+    DEAR FRIENDS--It is a long time since I have written to you, and
+    I should now much desire to see you; but I leave tonight for
+    Missouri, to meet the messenger charged with the arrest of Joseph
+    Smith, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight and others, for murder, burglary,
+    treason, etc., etc., and who will be demanded in a few days on new
+    indictments found by a grand jury of a called court on the original
+    evidence, and in relation to which a _nolle prosequi_ was entered
+    by the district attorney.
+
+    New proceedings have been gotten up on the old charges, and no
+    _habeas corpus_ can then save them. We shall try Smith on the
+    Boggs case, when we get him into Missouri. The war goes bravely
+    on; and although Smith thinks he is now safe, the enemy is near,
+    even at the door. He has awoke the wrong passenger. The governor
+    will relinquish Joe up at once on the new requisition. There is
+    but one opinion on the case, and that is, nothing can save Joe on
+    the new requisition and demand, predicated on the old charges on
+    the institution of new writs. He must go to Missouri; but he will
+    not be harmed if he is not guilty; but he is a murderer, and must
+    suffer the penalty of the law. Enough on this subject.
+
+    I hope that both of your amiable families are well, and you will
+    please to give to them all my best respects. I hope to see you
+    soon. When the officer arrives I shall be near at hand. I shall see
+    you all again. Please write me at Independence immediately.
+
+This letter was handed by Orson Pratt to Joseph, and was read by him
+to Sidney Rigdon and the company which gathered at the Nauvoo Mansion
+to celebrate the Prophet's release by a feast, to the discomfiture
+of Sidney Rigdon, who of course was averse to having it known that
+he held any correspondence with Bennett. The action of Orson Pratt
+in this matter paved the way for his return to his position in The
+Church, for he had been suspended from his quorum in the Priesthood,
+having been led to oppose the counsels and falsely accuse the Prophet,
+in consequence of the misrepresentations and malicious schemes of
+John C. Bennett. But after the above incident, he was re-baptized by
+the Prophet and received back into the quorum of the Apostles in full
+confidence and fellowship.
+
+Meantime Nauvoo was growing. At this period--the winter of 1843--her
+inhabitants are variously computed from twelve to sixteen thousand.
+Her public buildings, chiefly the Temple and the Nauvoo House, were
+progressing rapidly. More pretentious buildings were being erected, and
+new additions to the original town plat were made, and the city, early
+in December, 1842, had been divided, ecclesiastically, into ten wards,
+and Bishops were appointed by the High Council to preside over each.
+The city council was active in passing ordinances to meet the growing
+necessities of a rapidly increasing population, looking especially
+to the cleanliness, health and morality of the city. In February,
+1843, Joseph was elected a second time to be mayor, and all things
+considered, Nauvoo was rapidly approaching the high water mark of her
+prosperity.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT AT NAUVOO--INTERPRETATION OF THE SCRIPTURES.
+
+AFTER the effort of the Prophet's enemies to drag him into Missouri
+on the charge of being an accessory before the fact in an attempt
+upon the life of ex-Governor Boggs, Nauvoo was granted a blessed
+season of peace, lasting from January, 1843, to the month of June
+following. It is well to note the circumstance, for Nauvoo had few such
+periods. Peace is essential to the growth of cities. Commerce flees
+from strife; and trade sinks into decay where conflicts distract the
+people. Nauvoo was favorably located and no city in the inland-West
+gave better promise of becoming an important center of domestic
+commerce, manufactures, and inland and river trade. With peace it
+could easily have become the rival of St. Louis or Chicago; and Kansas
+City and Omaha as outfitting points for the great West might scarcely
+have been known. In addition to being a center of trade, manufactures
+and domestic commerce, the presence of the Church of Jesus Christ of
+Latter-day Saints would have made it a shrine, a gathering place for
+the faithful from all parts of the world, and an educational center
+also; for already the charters were secured and the faculty chosen
+for a great university; and the keen interest which the Prophet and
+his followers had ever manifested in education gave every promise
+that Nauvoo in time would be one of the prominent centers of higher
+education in the United States.
+
+The peace essential to this material and educational growth, however,
+was not granted to Nauvoo. Sectarian bitterness against the religion of
+the Prophet and his followers was too deep-rooted; political jealousy
+was too strong; and hence strife, plots, threats of violence, actual
+violence, rumors of invasions from Missouri, hints of assistance from
+mobs in Illinois, the frequent arrest of the founder of the city,
+the false reports that went abroad concerning its inhabitants--all
+combined to blight the growth which otherwise might have been hoped
+for from Nauvoo's favorable position and early development. But this
+lull referred to in that all but incessant storm which beat upon the
+uncovered head of Joseph Smith from the time he announced to the
+world a revelation from God until this period of grace--from January,
+1843, to the June following--was employed by him to good advantage
+in the matter of the doctrinal development of The Church. It was in
+this period that he unfolded the doctrines which most distinguish The
+Church, which under God he had founded, from the sectarian churches
+founded by men. Unfortunately we do not have _verbatim_ reports of
+his discourses during this period. Most of them were reported in
+long-hand by Willard Richards, his confidential friend and secretary,
+and Wilford Woodruff, one of the Twelve Apostles and noted among other
+things for daily journalizing events passing under his observation.
+But these reports are not _verbatim_, and there doubtless exist many
+verbal inaccuracies, and often the impression of the idea left upon the
+mind of the reporter rather than the idea itself. But notwithstanding
+some verbal inaccuracies that may exist, and even the statement of the
+impression of ideas for the ideas themselves, still these long-hand
+reports of the discourses of the Prophet, stand among the most valued
+documents of our annals.
+
+Without strict regard to the chronological order in which occur his
+discourses, conversations, letters, and revelations quoted in the
+following pages of the chapters devoted to doctrinal subjects, I wish
+to present the substance of his teachings within the period named.
+
+THE FUNCTIONS OF THE PRIESTHOOD TO BLESS.
+
+To Orson Hyde, one of the Twelve, somewhat given to prophesying
+calamities and speaking with severity to those slow to receive his
+words, the Prophet took occasion to say in a council meeting of the
+Twelve:
+
+    I told Elder Hyde that when he spoke in the name of the Lord, it
+    should prove true; but he must not curse the people--rather bless
+    them.
+
+A remark which at once recognizes the power of that Priesthood held by
+Orson Hyde--even though he curse the people--but he more especially
+points out the fact that the chief function of that Priesthood is to
+bless and not curse.
+
+THE SCRIPTURES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION.
+
+Occasionally the Prophet expounded the Scriptures, and in this he
+was most happy: not so much on account of his knowledge of ancient
+languages--though that knowledge, when his opportunities for acquiring
+it are taken into account, was surprisingly extensive--as from that
+divine inspiration which so mightily rested upon him at times. Of the
+Bible itself the Prophet said:
+
+    I believe the Bible as it read when it came from the pen of the
+    original writers. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or
+    designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors.
+
+As an example of the errors which had crept into the holy record he put
+in contrast the following:
+
+    It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth.--Genesis v:
+    6.
+
+    God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man that
+    he should repent.--Numbers xxiii: 19.
+
+His exegesis, which at once harmonizes the conflicting passages, and
+satisfies the understanding, is as follows:
+
+    It ought to read: It repented _Noah_ that God had made man. This I
+    believe, and then the other quotation [meaning the second] stands
+    fair. If any man will prove to me by one passage of holy writ one
+    item I believe to be false, I will renounce and disclaim it as far
+    as I have promulgated it.
+
+In like manner he set the following passage right, Hebrews VI: 1-6.
+
+    The first principles of the Gospel, as I believe, are, _Faith,
+    Repentance, Baptism_ for the remission of sins, with the promise
+    of the _Holy Ghost_. Look at Hebrews VI: 1, for contradictions!
+    "Therefore _leaving_ the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let
+    us go on unto perfection." If a man _leaves_ the principles of the
+    doctrine of Christ, how can he be saved in the principles? This is
+    a contradiction. * * * I will render it as it should be: "Therefore
+    _not_ leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go
+    on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance
+    from dead works, and of faith towards God," etc.
+
+In like manner he pointed out a solecism in the Lord's prayer. It reads
+in our common version:
+
+    _Lead_ us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine
+    is the kingdom, the power, etc.
+
+In contrast with this may be placed the statement of James:
+
+    Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God
+    cannot be tempted with evil, _neither tempteth he any man_.--James
+    1: 13.
+
+Then why pray to God the Father--
+
+    And lead us not into temptation?
+
+The Prophet's exegesis was:
+
+    The passage should read: And _leave_ us not--or, suffer us not to
+    be led, into temptation, for thine is the kingdom, etc.
+
+Again, in a public discourse he dealt with the following passage:
+
+    Among those that are born of women, there hath not arisen a greater
+    prophet than John the Baptist: nevertheless, he that is _least_ in
+    the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
+
+Taking up the first part of the question, viz: the greatness of John,
+he thus expounded it:
+
+    Firstly, he [John] was trusted with a divine mission of preparing
+    the way before the face of the Lord. Whoever had such a trust
+    committed to him before or since? No man. Secondly, he was
+    intrusted with the important mission, and it was required at his
+    hands to baptize the Son of Man. Whoever had the honor of doing
+    that? Whoever had so great a privilege and glory? Whoever led the
+    Son of God into the waters of baptism, and had the privilege of
+    beholding the Holy Ghost descend in the form of a dove, or rather
+    in the sign of a dove, in witness of that administration? * * *
+    Thirdly, John at that time was the only legal administrator in the
+    affairs of the kingdom there was then on earth and holding the
+    keys of power. The Jews had to obey his instructions or be damned
+    by their own laws, and Christ Himself fulfilled all righteousness
+    in becoming obedient to the law which He had given to Moses on the
+    mount, and thereby magnified it and made it honorable, instead of
+    destroying it. The son of Zachariah wrested the keys, the kingdom,
+    the power, the glory, from the Jews, by the holy anointing and
+    decree of heaven; and these three reasons constitute him the
+    greatest Prophet born of women.
+
+Taking up the second part of the subject--"He that is least in the
+kingdom of heaven is greater than he," [i. e., greater than John]--it
+was made easy to understand in the following manner:
+
+    How was the least in the kingdom of heaven greater than he [John]?
+    In reply, I ask who did Jesus have reference to as being the least?
+    Jesus was looked upon as having the _least_ claim in all God's
+    kingdom, and was _least_ entitled to their credulity as a Prophet,
+    as though he had said: "He that is _considered_ the least among
+    you, is greater than John--that is myself."
+
+Explaining the matter of interpretation itself, he said:
+
+    What is the rule of interpretation? Just no interpretation at
+    all. Understand it precisely as it reads. I have a key by which I
+    understand the Scriptures. I inquire, what was the question which
+    drew out the answer or caused Jesus to utter the parable? * * * To
+    ascertain its meaning, we must dig to the root and ascertain what
+    it was that drew the saying out of Jesus.
+
+While this was said especially in relation to the parable of the
+prodigal son, it may well be given a wider application; and it will
+be found a great aid in arriving at the truth of many supposedly hard
+sayings of the Scriptures. But while this key or rule of interpretation
+was doubtless of great service to the Prophet in his study of the
+scriptures, he was helped in another and a more important way to
+understand them; to understand them in a manner which I cannot explain
+better than by quoting a passage with which he dealt at an earlier
+date than the period with which I am now dealing, but which is of
+such moment and helps to illustrate the work we find him doing at
+Nauvoo during this interim of peace, that we can well afford to stop
+and consider it. As early as 1831 the Prophet with Sidney Rigdon set
+about the task of bringing forth a new and inspired translation of the
+Bible. Their work extended also into the year 1832. On the 16th day
+of February of that year, they came, in the course of their work, to
+the twenty-ninth verse of the fifth chapter of John's Gospel, speaking
+of the resurrection of the dead, concerning those who shall hear the
+voice of the Son of Man, and shall come forth, and which in our common
+version stands:
+
+    And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
+    resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
+    resurrection of damnation.
+
+But to the Prophet it was given:
+
+    * * * And shall come forth: they who have done good in the
+    resurrection of the just, and they who have done evil, in the
+    resurrection of the unjust.
+
+Then follows upon this rendering of the passage by the Spirit, a
+revelation concerning the future state of man and the different degrees
+of glory which he will inherit, the like of which is not to be found
+elsewhere in all that is written among the children of men; and which,
+in part, I quote. Reverting to the passage as given by the Spirit, the
+Prophet says:
+
+    Now this caused us to marvel, for it was given unto us of the
+    Spirit; and while we meditated upon these things, the Lord touched
+    the eyes of our understandings and they were opened, and the glory
+    of God shone round about;
+
+    THE VISION OF THE SON'S GLORY.
+
+    And we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the
+    Father, and received of his fullness;
+
+    And saw the holy angels, and they who are sanctified before his
+    throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him for ever and
+    ever.
+
+    And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him,
+    this is the testimony last of all, which we give of him, that he
+    lives;
+
+    For we saw him, even on the right hand of God, and we heard the
+    voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father--
+
+    That by him and through him, and of him the worlds are and were
+    created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and
+    daughters unto God.
+
+    THE FALL OF LUCIFER.
+
+    And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was
+    in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only
+    Begotten Son, whom the Father loved, and who was in the bosom of
+    the Father--was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,
+
+    And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him--he was
+    Lucifer, a son of the morning.
+
+    And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen! even a son of the
+    morning.
+
+    And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us
+    that we should write the vision, for we beheld Satan, that old
+    serpent--even the devil--who rebelled against God, and sought to
+    take the kingdom of our God, and his Christ,
+
+    Wherefore he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasses
+    them round about.
+
+    And we saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom he made
+    war and overcame, for thus came the voice of the Lord unto us.
+
+    Thus saith the Lord, concerning all those who know my power, and
+    have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves, through
+    the power of the devil, to be overcome, and to deny the truth and
+    defy my power--
+
+    They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it
+    had been better for them never to have been born,
+
+    For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God,
+    with the devil and his angels in eternity;
+
+    Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world
+    nor in the world to come,
+
+    Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having
+    denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father--having crucified him
+    unto themselves, and put him to an open shame.
+
+    These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and
+    brimstone, with the devil and his angels,
+
+    And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power;
+
+    Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due
+    time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath;
+
+    For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the
+    dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain,
+    who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.
+
+    And this is the gospel, the glad tidings which the voice out of the
+    heavens bore record unto us,
+
+    That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the
+    world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the
+    world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;
+
+    That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into
+    his power and made by him,
+
+    Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands,
+    except those sons of perdition, who deny the Son after the Father
+    has revealed him;
+
+    Wherefore, he saves all except them they shall go away into
+    everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is
+    eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in
+    eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched,
+    which is their torment;
+
+    And the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment,
+    no man knows,
+
+    Neither was it revealed, neither is, neither will be revealed unto
+    man, except to them who are made partakers thereof:
+
+    Nevertheless I, the Lord, show it by vision unto many, but
+    straightway shut it up again;
+
+    Wherefore the end, the width, the height, the depth, and the misery
+    thereof, they understand not, neither any man except them who are
+    ordained unto this condemnation.
+
+    And we heard the voice, saying, Write the vision, for lo! this is
+    the end of the vision of the sufferings of the ungodly!
+
+    OF THOSE WHO INHERIT THE CELESTIAL GLORY.
+
+    And again, we bear record, for we saw and heard, and this is the
+    testimony of the gospel of Christ, concerning them who come forth
+    in the resurrection of the just;
+
+    They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed
+    on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial,
+    being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the
+    commandment which he has given,
+
+    That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed
+    from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on
+    of the hands of him who is ordained and scaled unto this power,
+
+    And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of
+    promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just
+    and true.
+
+    They are they who are the church of the first born.
+
+    They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things--
+
+    They are they who are Priests and Kings, who have received of his
+    fullness, and of his glory,
+
+    And are Priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchisedek,
+    which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of
+    the Only Begotten Son;
+
+    Wherefore, as it is written, they are Gods, even the sons of God--
+
+    Wherefore all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things
+    present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's
+    and Christ is God's;
+
+    And they shall overcome all things;
+
+    Wherefore let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God,
+    who shall subdue all enemies under his feet--
+
+    These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ for ever
+    and ever.
+
+    These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in
+    the clouds of heaven, to reign on the earth over his people.
+
+    These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection.
+
+    These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.
+
+    These are they who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of
+    the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.
+
+    These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels,
+    to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the first born.
+
+    These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and
+    Christ are the judge of all.
+
+    These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the
+    mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect
+    atonement through the shedding of his own blood.
+
+    These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of
+    the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the
+    sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.
+
+    THOSE OF THE TERRESTRIAL GLORY.
+
+    And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these
+    are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that
+    of the church of the first born, who have received the fullness of
+    the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the
+    firmament.
+
+    Behold, these are they who died without law,
+
+    And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the
+    Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be
+    judged according to men in the flesh,
+
+    Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but
+    afterwards received it.
+
+    These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded
+    by the craftiness of men.
+
+    These are they who receive of his glory, but not of his fullness.
+
+    These are they who receive of the presence of the Son, but not of
+    the fullness of the Father;
+
+    Wherefore they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial,
+    and differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun.
+
+    These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus;
+    wherefore they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God.
+
+    And now this is the end of the vision which we saw of the
+    terrestrial, that the Lord commanded us to write while we were yet
+    in the Spirit.
+
+    THOSE WHO INHERIT THE TELESTIAL GLORY.
+
+    And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that
+    of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of
+    the glory of the moon in the firmament.
+
+    These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the
+    testimony of Jesus.
+
+    These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit.
+
+    These are they who are thrust down to hell.
+
+    These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil, until the
+    last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb shall have
+    finished his work.
+
+    These are they who receive not of his fullness in the eternal
+    world, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the
+    terrestrial;
+
+    And the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial;
+
+    And also the telestial receive it of the administering of angels
+    who are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be
+    ministering spirits for them, for they shall be heirs of salvation.
+
+    SUMMARY OF THE GREAT VISION.
+
+    And thus we saw in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial,
+    which surpasses all understanding,
+
+    And no man knows it except him to whom God has revealed it.
+
+    And thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial, which excels in all
+    things the glory of the telestial, even in glory, and in power, and
+    in might, and in dominion.
+
+    And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all
+    things--where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne for ever
+    and ever;
+
+    Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence and give him
+    glory for ever and ever.
+
+    They who dwell in his presence are the church of the first born,
+    and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having
+    received of his fullness and of his grace;
+
+    And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.
+
+    And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun
+    is one.
+
+    And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the
+    moon is one.
+
+    And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the
+    stars is one, for as one star differs from another star in glory,
+    even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world;
+
+    For these are they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas.
+
+    These are they who say they are some of one and some of
+    another--some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses, and
+    some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of
+    Enoch;
+
+    But receive not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither
+    the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant.
+
+    Last of all, these all are they who will not be gathered with the
+    saints, to be caught up unto the church of the first born, and
+    received into the cloud.
+
+    These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and
+    whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.
+
+    These are they who suffer the wrath of God on the earth.
+
+    These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.
+
+    These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of
+    Almighty God, until the fullness of times when Christ shall have
+    subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his
+    work,
+
+    When he shall deliver up the kingdom, and present it unto the
+    Father spotless, saying--I have overcome and have trodden the
+    wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the
+    wrath of Almighty God.
+
+    Then shall he be crowned with the crown of his glory, to sit on the
+    throne of his power to reign for ever and ever.
+
+    But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the
+    telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the
+    firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the sea shore,
+
+    And heard the voice of the Lord, saying--these all shall bow the
+    knee, and every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the
+    throne for ever and ever;
+
+    For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man
+    shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the
+    mansions which are prepared,
+
+    And they shall be servants of the Most High, but where God and
+    Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.
+
+    This is the end of the vision which we saw, which we were commanded
+    to write while we were yet in the Spirit.
+
+    But great and marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the
+    mysteries of his kingdom which he showed unto us, which surpasses
+    all understanding in glory, and in might, and in dominion,
+
+    Which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the
+    Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter;
+
+    Neither is man capable to make them known, for they are only to
+    be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God
+    bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him;
+
+    To whom he grants this privilege of seeing and knowing for
+    themselves;
+
+    That through the power and manifestation of the Spirit, while in
+    the flesh, they may be able to bear his presence in the world of
+    glory.
+
+    And to God and the Lamb be glory, and honor, and dominion for ever
+    and ever. Amen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT AT NAUVOO--THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE
+RESURRECTION.
+
+IT should be remembered that the preaching of Alexander Campbell,
+the founder of the "Church of the Disciples," or "Christians," had a
+widespread influence in the western States of the Union, including
+Illinois. Among other things taught by him in his public ministry was
+that the baptism of John was not identical with Christian baptism, and
+that the Kingdom of God was not set up in the earth until after the Son
+of God was glorified and the day of Pentecost was come. It was perhaps
+because of the very extended acceptance of these views throughout the
+West which led the Prophet to make the following comprehensive remarks
+about the baptism of John and the Kingdom of God.
+
+    OF JOHN'S BAPTISM.
+
+    Some say the Kingdom of God was not set up until the day of
+    Pentecost, and that John did not preach the baptism of repentance
+    for the remission of sins; but I say, in the name of the Lord, that
+    the Kingdom of God was set up on the earth from the days of Adam
+    to the present time. * * * As touching the Gospel and baptism that
+    John preached, I would say that John came preaching the Gospel
+    for the remission of sins; he had his authority from God, and the
+    oracles of God were with him, and the Kingdom of God for a season
+    seemed to rest with John alone. * * * John was a priest after the
+    order of Aaron and had the keys of that Priesthood, and came forth
+    preaching repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, but at
+    the same time cries out, "There cometh one after me more mighty
+    than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose;" and
+    Christ came according to the words of John, and he was greater than
+    John, because He held the keys of the Melchisedek Priesthood and
+    Kingdom of God, and had before revealed the Priesthood to Moses;
+    yet Christ was baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness. *
+    * * [John] preached the same Gospel and baptism that Jesus and
+    the Apostles preached after him. The endowment was to prepare the
+    disciples for their mission unto the world.
+
+    OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
+
+    Whenever there has been a righteous man on earth unto whom God
+    revealed His word and gave power and authority to administer in
+    His name, and where there is a priest of God--a minister who has
+    power and authority from God to administer in the ordinances of the
+    Gospel and officiate in the Priesthood of God--there is the Kingdom
+    of God; and in consequence of rejecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ
+    and the Prophets whom God had sent, the judgments of God have
+    rested upon peoples, cities and nations, in various ages of the
+    world, which was the case with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,
+    which were destroyed for rejecting the Prophets. * * * Whenever men
+    can find out the will of God, and find an administrator legally
+    authorized from God, there is the Kingdom of God; but where these
+    are not, the Kingdom of God is not. All the ordinances, systems
+    and administrations on the earth are of no use to the children of
+    men, unless they are ordained and authorized of God; for nothing
+    will save a man but a legal administration; for none other will be
+    acknowledged either by God or angels. * * *
+
+    * * * Some say the Kingdom of God was not set up until the day of
+    Pentecost, and that John did not preach the baptism of repentance
+    for the remission of sins; but I say, in the name of the Lord, that
+    the Kingdom of God was set up on the earth from the days of Adam
+    to the present time. * * * Now I will give my testimony. I care
+    not for man. I speak boldly and faithfully, and with authority.
+    How is it with the Kingdom of God? Where did the Kingdom of God
+    begin? Where there is no Kingdom of God, there is no salvation.
+    What constitutes the Kingdom of God? Where there is a Prophet, a
+    Priest, or a righteous man unto whom God gives His oracles, there
+    is the Kingdom of God; and where the oracles of God are not, there
+    the Kingdom of God is not. In these remarks I have no allusion
+    to the kingdoms of the earth. We will keep the laws of the land;
+    we do not speak against them; we never have, and we can hardly
+    make mention of the State of Missouri, of our persecutions there,
+    etc., but what the cry goes forth that we are guilty of larceny,
+    burglary, arson, treason, murder, etc., etc., which is false. We
+    speak of the Kingdom of God on the earth, not the kingdoms of men.
+    * * * But, says one, the Kingdom of God could not be set up in the
+    days of John, for John said the Kingdom was at hand. But I would
+    ask if it could be any nearer to them than to be in the hands of
+    John? The people need not wait for the day of Pentecost to find the
+    Kingdom of God, for John had it with him, and he came forth from
+    the wilderness, crying out "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is
+    nigh at hand," as much as to say, "Out here I have got the Kingdom
+    of God, and I am coming after you; and if you don't receive it, you
+    will be damned," and the Scriptures represent that all Jerusalem
+    went out unto John's baptism. There was a legal administrator, and
+    those that were baptized were subjects for a king; and also the
+    laws and oracles of God were there, therefore the Kingdom of God
+    was there, for no man could have better authority to administer
+    than John, and our Savior submitted to that authority Himself by
+    being baptized by John, therefore the Kingdom of God was set up on
+    the earth even in the days of John.
+
+    * * * Again, he says, "Except ye are born of the water and of the
+    Spirit, ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of God; and though the
+    heavens and earth should pass away, my words should not pass away."
+    If a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he can get into the
+    Kingdom of God. It is evident the Kingdom of God was on earth, and
+    John prepared subjects for the Kingdom, by preaching to them and
+    baptizing them, and he prepared the way before the Savior, or came
+    as a forerunner, and prepared subjects for the preaching of Christ,
+    and Christ preached through Jerusalem on the same ground where John
+    had preached, and when the Apostles were raised up, they worked
+    in Jerusalem and Jesus commanded them to tarry there until they
+    were endowed with power from on high. Had they not work to do in
+    Jerusalem? They did work and prepared a people for the Pentecost.
+    The Kingdom of God was with them before the day of Pentecost, as
+    well as afterwards.
+
+It is evident from all this that, speaking broadly, with the Prophet
+the Kingdom of God was the government of God on earth and in
+heaven--whether that government was manifested through the authority
+of a single individual or a complete system of ecclesiastical or
+national government. This is, however, speaking broadly, not to say
+loosely; and in the same manner that the subject is spoken of in holy
+scripture where the phrases _Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, the
+Church of Christ, Church of God, the Church_, etc., are often used
+interchangeably and indiscriminately to represent in a general way
+that divine institution which God in whole or in part from time to
+time establishes to help man in the matter of his salvation. But it is
+proper for the reader to know that Joseph Smith when speaking strictly
+recognized a distinction between "The Church of Jesus Christ" and the
+"Kingdom of God." And not only a distinction but a separation of one
+from the other. The Kingdom of God according to his teaching is to be
+a political institution that shall hold sway over all the earth; to
+which all other governments will be subordinate and by which they will
+be dominated. Of this Kingdom Christ is the King; for He is to reign
+"King of Kings" as well as "Lord of Lords." While all governments are
+to be in subjection to the Kingdom of God, it does not follow that all
+its members will be of one religious faith. The Kingdom of God is not
+necessarily made up exclusively of members of the Church of Christ. In
+fact the Prophet taught that men not members of The Church could be,
+not only members of that Kingdom, but also officers within it. It is
+to grant the widest religious toleration, though exacting homage and
+loyalty to its great Head, to its institutions, and obedience to its
+laws.
+
+On the other hand the Church of Christ is purely an ecclesiastical
+organization, comprising within its membership only those who have
+embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who inwardly have accepted its
+principles in their faith, and outwardly have received the rites and
+ceremonies it prescribes. Of this Church Jesus Christ is the Head,
+since He is to be "Lord of Lords" as well as "King of Kings." The
+Church is peculiarly Christ's. It bears His name. It is composed of
+members who, while not behind others in doing Him homage, as the head
+of the Kingdom of God, accept Him as more than the King of Kings--they
+accept Him as Lord--as Lord of Lords, as Redeemer--Savior--God. But
+the Church of Christ, precious as it is; beloved by its great Head;
+in the harmony of its truth, perfect; in the beauty of its holiness,
+passing all praise; in its power of salvation, absolute--yet the
+Church of Christ will doubtless stand under the protecting aegis of
+the Kingdom of God in common with other systems of religion, enjoying
+only such rights as will be common to all. And while the Church of
+Christ will enjoy to the full her privileges, promulgate her faith
+without let or hindrance, make known the truth she holds and her
+saving grace and power, and manage her own affairs--yet she will not
+usurp the prerogative of the Kingdom of God, nor interfere with those
+outside the pale of her jurisdiction--outside of her membership. Such,
+in substance, was the teaching of the Prophet on this subject. Not
+publicly, or at least not very publicly; but he taught the foregoing
+in the counsels of the Priesthood as many testify, and effected an
+organization as a nucleus of the Kingdom above referred to of which
+some who were not in The Church were members.
+
+It will be understood, then, that what I have quoted from the Prophet's
+discourses on the subject of the Kingdom of God is spoken broadly; in
+a sense which recognizes the Kingdom of God simply as the government
+of God on earth or in heaven; and whether represented by a single
+individual holding divine authority, or a regular system of government;
+and which, loosely, may be and is applied to the Church of Christ, or
+some part thereof.
+
+THE GLORIOUS COMING OF THE SON OF GOD.
+
+It was this year, 1843, that the speculations of William Miller fixed
+upon for the glorious coming of the Son of God, to reign with His
+Saints on the earth for a thousand years. Though Mr. Miller was but a
+religious enthusiast, yet his teachings and his deductions from the
+prophecies of Daniel and John the Revelator created no little stir
+throughout the United States, and many thousands of people were looking
+for the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, expecting the resurrection
+of the dead to begin, and the promised reign of righteousness to
+follow. The agitation concerning this great event naturally led to
+many inquiries being submitted to the Prophet concerning it, and he
+did not hesitate to boldly cross the statements of Mr. Miller on the
+subject, and contradict his deductions based upon the predictions of
+the prophets. Joseph Smith stood at the head of the Dispensation of
+the Fullness of Times, and he knew too well the then present status
+of the work of God to be deceived into believing that the time for
+the coming of the Son of God had arrived. The great preliminary work
+which is to precede that great event had not been accomplished, and
+until that work was done the Prophet knew that Jesus would not come in
+the clouds of heaven in power and great glory. It was reported in the
+Chicago _Express_ that one Hyrum Redding had actually seen the promised
+sign of the coming of the Son of Man, concerning which Joseph in a
+communication to the _Times and Seasons_ said:
+
+    Mr. Redding may have seen a wonderful appearance in the clouds
+    one morning about sunrise, (which is nothing very uncommon in the
+    winter season,) he has not seen the sign of the Son of Man, as
+    foretold by Jesus; neither has any man, nor will any man, until
+    after the sun has been darkened and the moon bathed in blood;
+    for the Lord hath not shown me any such sign; and as the prophet
+    saith, so it must be: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He
+    revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." (See Amos,
+    III, 7.) Therefore hear this, O earth. The Lord will not come
+    to reign over the righteous, in this world, in 1843, nor until
+    everything for the Bridegroom is ready.
+
+Referring again to the subject, some time later, he said, in a public
+discourse--
+
+    I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of
+    the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following: "Joseph,
+    my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou
+    shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice,
+    and trouble me no more on this matter." I was left thus without
+    being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning
+    of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should
+    die and thus see His face. I believe that the coming of the Son of
+    Man will not be any sooner than that time.
+
+On still another occasion the Prophet said:
+
+    Were I going to prophesy I would say the end will not come in 1844,
+    5 or 6, or in forty years. There are those of the rising generation
+    who shall not taste death until Christ comes. I was once praying
+    earnestly upon this subject, and a voice said unto me, "My son, if
+    thou livest until thou art eighty-five years of age, thou shalt see
+    the face of the Son of Man." I was left to draw my own conclusion
+    concerning this: and I took the liberty to conclude that if I did
+    live to that time, He would make His appearance. But I do not say
+    whether He will make His appearance or I shall go where He is.
+    I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written,
+    The Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am
+    eighty-five years old. [He] then read the fourteenth chapter of
+    Revelations, 6th and 7th verses: "And I saw another angel fly in
+    the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto
+    them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
+    and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and
+    give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come." And Hosea
+    6th chapter, after two days, etc.,--2,520 years; which brings it
+    to 1890. The coming of the Son of Man never will be--never can be
+    till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out; which
+    judgments are commenced. Paul says: "Ye are children of the light
+    and not of the darkness, that that day should overtake you as
+    a thief in the night." It is not the design of the Almighty to
+    come upon the earth and crush it, and grind it to powder, but He
+    will reveal it to His servants the prophets. Judah must return,
+    Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the Temple, and water come out from
+    under the Temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It
+    will take some time to build the walls of the city and the Temple,
+    etc., and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His
+    appearance. There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the
+    heaven above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness
+    and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas
+    heaving beyond their bounds; there will appear one grand sign of
+    the Son of Man in Heaven. But what will the world do? They will say
+    it is a comet, a planet, etc. But the Son of Man will come as the
+    sign of the coming of the Son of Man which will be as the light of
+    the morning cometh [coming] out of the east.
+
+I would again remind the reader that these reports of remarks and
+discourses of the Prophet's are imperfect, having been written in
+long-hand, and in part from memory and therefore really are only
+synopses of what was said. I call attention to this at this point
+because the imperfections in construction of the above are very
+apparent, so also the fact that the report in this case is very much
+abbreviated. Still the substance--the great facts concerning the work
+to precede the coming of the Son of Man, and the prediction that the
+Son of Man will not come until that work is performed, are all there,
+and that is the important thing.
+
+Of the appearance of the Savior when He does come, the Prophet said;
+
+    When the Savior shall appear, we shall see Him as He is. We shall
+    see that He is a man like ourselves, and the same sociality which
+    exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be
+    coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.
+
+OF THE RESURRECTION.
+
+No less interesting were the Prophet's teaching on the subject of the
+resurrection of the dead. To a remark of Elder Orson Pratt's to the
+effect that a man's body changes every seven years, the Prophet replied:
+
+    There is no fundamental principle belonging to a human system that
+    ever goes into another in this world or in the world to come. I
+    care not what the theories of men are. We have the testimony that
+    God will raise us up, and He has the power to do it. If any one
+    supposes that any part of our bodies, that is, the fundamental
+    parts thereof, ever goes into another body he is mistaken.
+
+Speaking of the desirability of an honorable burial, and of living and
+dying among friends in connection with the resurrection, the Prophet
+said at the funeral services held in honor of Lorenzo D. Barnes, who
+had died while on a mission to England:
+
+    I believe those who have buried their dead here, their condition
+    is enviable. Look at Jacob and Joseph in Egypt, how they required
+    their friends to bury them in the tomb of their fathers. See the
+    expense which attended the embalming and the going up of the great
+    company to the burial. It has always been considered a great
+    calamity not to obtain an honorable burial; and one of the greatest
+    curses the ancient prophets could put on any man was that he should
+    go without a burial. * * * * * *
+
+    * * * I would esteem it one of the greatest blessings if I am
+    going to be afflicted in this world, to have my lot cast, where
+    I can find brothers and friends all around me. But this is not
+    the thing I referred to: it is to have the privilege of having
+    our dead buried on the land where God has appointed to gather His
+    Saints together, and where there will be none but Saints, where
+    they may have the privilege of laying their bodies where the Son
+    of Man will make His appearance, and where they may hear the sound
+    of the trump that shall call them forth to behold Him, that in the
+    morn of the resurrection they may come forth in a body, and come
+    up out of their graves and strike hands immediately in eternal
+    glory and felicity, rather than be scattered thousands of miles
+    apart. There is something good and sacred to me in this thing. The
+    place where a man is buried is sacred to me. This subject is made
+    mention of in the Book of Mormon and the Scriptures. Even to the
+    aborigines of this land, the burying places of their fathers are
+    more sacred than anything else. When I heard of the death of our
+    beloved Brother Barnes, it would not have affected me so much if
+    I had the opportunity of burying him in the land of Zion. * * * I
+    have said, Father, I desire to die here among the Saints. But if
+    this is not Thy will, and I go hence and die, wilt Thou find some
+    kind friend and bring my body back, and gather my friends who have
+    fallen in foreign lands, and bring them up hither, that we may all
+    lie together. * * * * * * * *
+
+    * * * If tomorrow I shall be called to lie in yonder tomb, in the
+    morning of the resurrection let me strike hands with my father,
+    and cry, "My father, father!" and he will say, "My son, my son!"
+    as soon as the rocks rend and before we come out of our graves.
+    And may we contemplate these things so? Yes, if we learn how to
+    live and how to die. When we lie down we contemplate how we may
+    rise up in the morning: and it is pleasing for friends to lie down
+    together, locked in the arms of love, to sleep and wake in each
+    others' embrace and renew their conversation. * * *
+
+    * * * Would you think it strange if I relate what I have seen in
+    vision in relation to this interesting theme? Those who have died
+    in Jesus Christ may expect to enter into all that fruition of joy,
+    when they come forth, which they possessed or anticipated here.
+    So plain was the vision, that I actually saw men, before they had
+    ascended from the tomb, as though they were getting up slowly. They
+    took each other by the hand, and said to each other, "My father,
+    my son, my mother, my daughter, my brother, my sister." And when
+    the voice calls for the dead to rise, suppose I am laid by the side
+    of my father, what would be the first joy of my heart? To meet my
+    father, my mother, my brother, my sister and when they are by my
+    side, I embrace them, and they me. It is my meditation all the
+    day, and more than my meat and drink, to know how I shall make the
+    Saints of God comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing
+    surge before my mind. * * * Lay hold of these things, and let not
+    your knees or joints tremble, nor your heart faint; and then what
+    can earthquakes, wars and tornadoes do? Nothing. All your losses
+    will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue
+    faithful, by the vision of the Almighty I have seen it.
+
+    * * * More painful to me are the thoughts of annihilation than
+    death. If I had no expectation of seeing my father, mother,
+    brothers, sisters and friends again, my heart would burst in a
+    moment, and I should go down to my grave. The expectation of seeing
+    my friends in the morning of the resurrection cheers my soul and
+    makes me bear up against the evils of life. It is like their taking
+    a long journey, and on their return we meet them with increased
+    joy. God has revealed His Son from the heavens, and the doctrine
+    of the resurrection also, and we have a knowledge that those we
+    bring here God will bring up again clothed upon and quickened by
+    the Spirit of the Great God, and what mattereth it, whether we
+    lay them down, or we lay down with them, when we can keep them no
+    longer? Then let them sink down like a ship in a storm--the mighty
+    anchor holds her safe. So let these truths sink down in our hearts,
+    that we may even here begin to enjoy that which shall be in full
+    hereafter. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna to Almighty God, that rays of
+    light begin to burst forth upon us even now!
+
+GOD'S AND ANGELS' TIME.
+
+    In answer to the question, "Is not the reckoning of God's time,
+    angels' time, prophets' time and man's time according to the planet
+    on which they reside?" I answer, yes. But there are no angels who
+    minister to this earth but those who belong or have belonged to
+    it. The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth; but they
+    reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and
+    fire, where all things for their glory are manifest--past, present
+    and future, and are continually before the Lord.
+
+THE EARTH IN ITS SANCTIFIED STATE.
+
+The following is an entry in his journal:
+
+    Saturday, 18th of February [1843.] While at dinner I remarked to my
+    family and friends present, that when the earth was sanctified and
+    became like a sea of glass, it would be one great Urim and Thummim
+    and the Saints could look in it and see as they are seen.
+
+Later in public, on the same subject, he said:
+
+    The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim. This
+    earth in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto
+    crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell
+    thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom
+    or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who
+    dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ's. Then the white stone
+    mentioned in Revelation II: 17, will become a Urim and Thummim to
+    each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a
+    higher order of kingdoms, will be made known, and a white stone is
+    given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon
+    is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth
+    it. The new name is the key word.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT--PROPHECIES.
+
+THIS period under consideration was rich in prophecies. The boldness of
+Joseph Smith's predictions was startling; but it is to be remarked that
+they have been fulfilled as fast as the wheels of time have brought
+them due.
+
+A PREDICTION UPON THE PRESENT GENERATION.
+
+    I prophesy, in the name of the Lord God of Israel, anguish and
+    wrath and tribulation and the withdrawing of the Spirit of God from
+    the earth await this generation, until they are visited with utter
+    desolation. This generation is as corrupt as the generation of the
+    Jews that crucified Christ; and if He were here today and should
+    preach the same doctrine He did then, they would put Him to death.
+    I defy all the world to destroy the work of God, and I prophesy
+    they never will have power to kill me till my work is accomplished,
+    and I am ready to die.
+
+PROPHECY ON WAR.
+
+    I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, that the commencement of
+    the difficulties which will cause much bloodshed previous to the
+    coming of the Son of Man will be in South Carolina. It may probably
+    arise through the slave question. This a voice declared to me while
+    I was praying very earnestly on the subject, December 25th, 1832.
+
+These remarks were made in April, 1843, at a place called Raymus, near
+Nauvoo; and the incidental reference to what a voice had declared to
+him respecting the war to begin in South Carolina, is doubtless an
+allusion to the more formal prophecy on that great subject, and which I
+consider of so much importance that while it does not strictly belong
+to the period under consideration, I give it _in extenso_, as connected
+with the lesser prophecy quoted above.
+
+    PROPHECY ON THE WARS OF THE LAST DAYS.
+
+    Verily, thus saith the Lord, concerning the wars that will shortly
+    come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which
+    will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls.
+
+    The days will come that war will be poured out upon all nations,
+    beginning at that place;
+
+    For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the
+    Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other
+    nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and
+    they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend
+    themselves against other nations; and thus war shall be poured out
+    upon all nations.
+
+    And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up
+    against their masters, who shall be marshalled and disciplined for
+    war:
+
+    And it shall come to pass also, that the remnants who are left of
+    the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceeding angry,
+    and shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation;
+
+    And thus with the sword, and by bloodshed, the inhabitants of the
+    earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquakes,
+    and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also,
+    shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and
+    indignation and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the
+    consumption decreed, hath made a full end of all nations;
+
+    That the cry of the saints, and of the blood of the saints, shall
+    cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from the
+    earth, to be avenged of their enemies.
+
+    Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day
+    of the Lord come; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the Lord Amen.
+
+I do not hesitate to refer to this prophecy as one of the boldest,
+most forceful and remarkable ever uttered by a prophet of God in
+either ancient or modern times; and its exact and minute fulfillment
+to be read in the history of the United States and other countries
+is as astonishing as the prediction is bold. [1] This prophecy was
+given in December, 1832; and the Elders in those days, at least a
+number of them, carried manuscript copies of it with them on their
+missionary journeys, and frequently read it to their congregations in
+various parts of the United States. In Volume XIII of the _Millennial
+Star_, published in 1851, pages 216, 217, is an advertisement of a new
+publication to be called the _Pearl of Great Price_. In the announced
+contents is named this revelation of December, 1832, on war, with the
+statement that it had "never before appeared in print." Subsequently,
+but in the same year, 1851, the _Pearl of Great Price_ with this
+prophecy in it, word for word as it is here quoted, was published by
+Franklin D. Richards, in Liverpool, England. There are copies of the
+first edition still extant.
+
+PREDICTION THAT THE SAINTS WOULD REMOVE TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS AND
+BECOME A GREAT PEOPLE.
+
+No less remarkable perhaps was the Prophet's great prediction of
+the sixth of August, 1842, given in his history under that date and
+published in the _Millennial Star_, [2] concerning the removal of the
+Latter-day Saints to the Rocky Mountains, then a thousand miles beyond
+the frontiers of the United States; but of which I shall not say more
+here as it is to receive consideration in a subsequent chapter.
+
+PROPHECY UPON THE HEAD OF STEPHEN A. DOUGLASS.
+
+In the daily journal of Wm. Clayton, who at the time the following
+prophecy was made was private secretary of the Prophet, and almost his
+constant companion--under date of May 18th, 1843, occurs the following
+entry concerning a visit with the Prophet to Judge Douglass at Carthage:
+
+    Dined with Judge Stephen A. Douglass, who is presiding at court.
+    After dinner Judge Douglass requested President Joseph to give him
+    a history of the Missouri persecutions; which he did in a very
+    minute manner for about three hours. He also gave a relation of
+    his journey to Washington City, and his application in behalf of
+    the Saints to Mr. Van Buren, the President of the United States,
+    for redress, and Mr. Van Buren's pusillanimous reply: "Gentlemen,
+    your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you," and the cold,
+    unfeeling manner in which he was treated by most of the senators
+    and representatives in relation to the subject, Clay saying, "You
+    had better go to Oregon," and Calhoun shaking his head and solemnly
+    saying, "It's a nice question; a critical question, but it will not
+    do to agitate it." The judge listened with the greatest attention,
+    and then spoke warmly in deprecation of the conduct of Governor
+    Boggs and the authorities of Missouri, who had taken part in the
+    extermination, and said that any people that would do as the mobs
+    of Missouri had done ought to be brought to judgment; they ought
+    to be punished. President Smith, in concluding his remarks, said
+    that if the government which received into its coffers the money
+    of citizens for its public lands, while its officials are rolling
+    in luxury at the expense of its public treasury, cannot protect
+    such citizens in their lives and property, it is an old granny
+    anyhow, and I prophesy, in the name of the Lord God of Israel,
+    unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the
+    Saints in the State of Missouri and punish the crimes committed by
+    her officers, that in a few years the government will be utterly
+    overthrown and wasted and there will not be so much as a potsherd
+    left, for their wickedness in permitting the murder of men, women
+    and children and the wholesale plunder and extermination of
+    thousands of her citizens to go unpunished, thereby perpetrating a
+    foul and corroding blot upon the fair fame of this great republic,
+    the very thought of which would have caused the high-minded and
+    patriotic framers of the Constitution of the United States to hide
+    their faces with shame. _Judge, you will aspire to the presidency
+    of the United States; and if you ever turn your hand against me
+    or the Latter-day Saints you will feel the weight of the hand of
+    the Almighty upon you; and you will live to see and know that I
+    have testified the truth to you, for the conversation of this day
+    will stick to you through life. He appeared very friendly and
+    acknowledged the truth and propriety of President Smith's remarks_.
+
+This prophecy was published in Utah, in the _Desert News_ of September
+24th, 1856; and afterwards in England in the _Millennial Star_ of
+February, 1859. It is well known that Douglass did finally aspire
+to the Presidency of the United States, that he was nominated by a
+confident, aggressive party in 1860; and it is also known that in the
+elections of that year that party which had controlled the destinies
+almost uninterruptedly for forty years became demoralized; that Abraham
+Lincoln was triumphantly elected, receiving one hundred and eighty
+electoral votes, while Mr. Douglass received but 12; that Mr. Douglass
+some six weeks later died a disappointed not to say heart-broken man.
+All this is known, but it is not so generally known that on the twelfth
+of June, 1857, about one year after the prediction of his friend Joseph
+Smith was published in the _Desert News_, in Utah, he most cowardly
+betrayed the people of that friend and united with their enemies in
+a most unjustifiable assault upon them, and in the fervor of his
+eloquence and to gain the favor of the populace, he cried out against
+them--
+
+    The knife must be applied to this pestiferous, disgusting cancer
+    which is gnawing into the very vitals of the body politic. It
+    must be cut out by the roots, and seared over by the red hot
+    iron of stern and unflinching law. * * * Repeal the organic law
+    of the Territory, on the ground that they are alien enemies and
+    outlaws, unfit to be the citizens of a Territory, much less to ever
+    become citizens of one of the free and independent States of this
+    confederacy. [3]
+
+He little dreamed that in these utterances he was sealing his own
+political doom, and leaving on record an event that was to stand as a
+monument to the inspiration of Joseph Smith.
+
+Footnotes:
+
+1. For the consideration of the fulfillment of this prophecy the reader
+is referred to the writer's "New Witness for God," ch. XXIII.
+
+2. Vol. xix, page 630.
+
+3. The speech is published in the _Missouri Republican_ for June 18,
+1857. For a more complete consideration of the prophecy, the reader is
+referred to the author's "New Witness for God," chapter xxii.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT AT NAUVOO--OF THE BEING AND NATURE OF GOD.
+
+WHEN Joseph Smith in 1820 declared that he had in open vision seen God
+the Father and His Son Jesus Christ standing together above him in the
+air, surrounded by a glorious brilliancy of light which defied all
+description, and that God the Father pointed to Jesus and said:
+
+    "_Joseph, this is my beloved Son, hear Him_"--
+
+it is quite evident that new ideas pertaining to God were about to
+be promulgated among men. The facts of this vision were quite at
+variance with the orthodox notions entertained about the Godhead.
+It is quite true that Christians talked about the Father and the
+Son, and as for the latter they had to concede that He was in the
+form of man, and remains so to this day, as they have no reason to
+believe that the all-glorious resurrected body of flesh and bones
+with which Jesus ascended to His Father has been dissolved and become
+incorporeal; but no orthodox Christian believed that the Father and the
+Son of the Scriptures were two distinct and separate individuals--a
+conclusion which this very first vision of the Prophet's forces upon
+the understanding if it is believed. The anthropomorphism of the
+vision is also too emphatic for the orthodox conception of God; for
+notwithstanding the Scriptures teach that man was created in the image
+of God; [1] and that Jesus Christ was the express image of His Father's
+person [2]--and certainly Jesus was in the form of man--yet the
+Christian orthodoxy gave such explanations of these facts of Scripture
+that they accepted not at all the idea that God the Father was a
+personage like unto man in form and as distinct as to His person from
+His Son Jesus Christ as is any father and son among men. The orthodox
+creed of the Godhead is as follows:
+
+    We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the maker of all
+    things visible and invisible; and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the
+    Son of God begotten of the Father, only begotten (that is) of the
+    substance of the Father; God of God, Light of Light, very God
+    of very God; begotten, not made; of the same substance with the
+    Father, by whom all things are made, that are in heaven and that
+    are in earth; who for us men, and for our salvation, descended and
+    was incarnate, and became man; suffered and rose again the third
+    day, ascended into the heavens and will come to judge the living
+    and the dead; and in the Holy Spirit. But those who say there was
+    a time when He [the Son] was not, and that He was not before He
+    was begotten, and that He was made out of nothing or affirm that
+    He is of any other substance or essence, or that the Son of God
+    was created, and mutable, or changeable, the Catholic Church doth
+    pronounce accursed.
+
+This is the creed of St. Athanasius, formulated at the Council of
+Nice, A.D. 325, and is universally accepted by orthodox Christians.
+The explanation of the creed as given by Athanasius will also be of
+interest:
+
+    We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity; neither
+    confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance. For there
+    is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of
+    the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost
+    is all one: The glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. Such as the
+    Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father
+    uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate. The Father
+    incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible. The Father eternal,
+    the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet these are
+    not three eternals, but one eternal. As also there are not three
+    incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated and one
+    incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son
+    Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty, and yet there are not three
+    Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God,
+    and the Holy Ghost is God, and yet there are not three Gods, but
+    one God.
+
+It is of course apparent at a glance that the first great revelation
+to Joseph Smith declared facts in relation to the nature of God--His
+personality--the fact that the Father was distinct from the Son--the
+fact that the there were two--or a plurality of Gods--which are at
+variance with the orthodox creed on the subject of Deity. This truth
+he continued to unfold from time to time, though the fullness and
+climax respecting this doctrine was reached at Nauvoo; and as it is the
+teachings of the Prophet and not a defense of them which I here wish to
+exhibit, I quote his own words:
+
+GOD'S DISTINCT PERSONALITY.
+
+    The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as a man's,
+    the Son also, but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones,
+    but is a personage of spirit. Were it not so the Holy Ghost could
+    not dwell in us. A man may receive the Holy Ghost, and it may
+    descend upon him and not tarry in him.
+
+THE HOLY GHOST A PERSONAGE.
+
+    The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the
+    world, a witness of the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come
+    in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and is in
+    the form of a personage. It does not confine itself to the form
+    of a dove, but in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be
+    transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was given to John
+    to signify the truth of the deed, as the dove is an emblem or token
+    of truth and innocence.
+
+IGNORANCE AS TO THE CHARACTER OF GOD.
+
+    It is necessary for us to have an understanding of God Himself in
+    the beginning. There are but a very few beings in the world who
+    understand rightly the character of God. The great majority of
+    mankind do not comprehend anything, either that which is passed,
+    or that which is to come, as it respects their relationship to
+    God. They do not know neither do they understand the nature of
+    that relationship, and consequently, they know but little above
+    the brute beast, or more than to eat, drink and sleep. This is all
+    man knows about God or His existence, unless it is given by the
+    inspiration of the Almighty.
+
+WHAT KIND OF A BEING GOD IS.
+
+    I want to ask this congregation, every man, woman and child, to
+    answer the question in their own heart, what kind of a being God
+    is. * * * God Himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted
+    man, and sits enthroned in yonder heaven! That is the great secret.
+    If the veil was rent today and the great God who holds this world
+    in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His
+    power, was to make Himself visible, I say, if you were to see Him
+    today, you would see Him like a man in form--like yourselves in
+    all the person, image and very form as a man, for Adam was created
+    in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received
+    instruction from and walked, talked and conversed with Him, as
+    one man talks and communes with another. * * * It is the first
+    principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of
+    God and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses
+    with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea that God
+    Himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus
+    Christ Himself did, and I will show it from the Bible.
+
+PLURALITY OF GODS ESTABLISHED BY THE LANGUAGE OF GENESIS.
+
+    I shall comment on the very first Hebrew word in the Bible; I
+    will make a comment on the very first sentence of the history of
+    creation in the Bible--_Berosheit_. I want to analyze the word.
+    _Baith_--in, by, through and everything else. _Rosh_--the head.
+    _Sheit_--Grammatical termination. When the inspired man wrote it
+    he did not put the _baith_ there. An old Jew without any authority
+    added the word: he thought it too bad to begin to talk about the
+    head! It read first, "The head one of the Gods brought forth the
+    Gods." That is the true meaning of the words. _Baurau_ signifies
+    to bring forth. If you do not believe it, you do not believe the
+    learned man of God. Learned men can teach you no more than what
+    I have told you. Thus the head God brought forth the Gods in the
+    grand council. * * * The head God called together the Gods and sat
+    in grand council to bring forth the world. The grand councilors sat
+    at the head in yonder heavens and contemplated the creation of the
+    worlds which were created at that time. * * * In the beginning,
+    the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods, and they came
+    together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it.
+
+Later in dwelling on the same subject he said:
+
+    I will show from the Hebrew Bible that I am correct, and the first
+    word shows a plurality of Gods, and I want the apostates and
+    learned men to come here and prove to the contrary, if they can.
+    An unlearned boy must give you a little Hebrew. _Berosheit baurau
+    Eloheim ait aushamayeen uenhau auratis_, rendered by King James'
+    translation: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the
+    earth." I want to analyze the word _Berosheit_. _Rosh_, the head;
+    _sheit_, a grammatical termination. The _Baith_ was not originally
+    put there when the inspired man wrote it, but it has been since
+    added by an old Jew. _Baurau_ signifies to bring forth; Eloheim
+    is from the word _Elio_, God, in the singular number, and by
+    adding the word _heim_, it renders it Gods. It read first, "In the
+    beginning the head of the Gods brought forth Gods," or as others
+    have translated it, "The head of the Gods called the Gods together."
+
+SUSTAINED BY JOHN THE REVELATOR.
+
+    President Joseph Smith read the third chapter of Revelations, and
+    took for his text first chapter, sixth verse: "And hath made us
+    kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and
+    dominion for ever and ever. Amen." It is altogether correct in the
+    translation. Now you know that of late some malicious and corrupt
+    men have sprung up and apostatized from the Church of Jesus Christ
+    of Latter-day Saints, and they declare that the Prophet believes
+    in a plurality of Gods, and lo and behold! we have discovered a
+    very great secret, they cry: "The Prophet says there are many
+    Gods, and this proves that he has fallen." * * * I will preach on
+    the plurality of Gods. I have selected this text for that express
+    purpose. I wish to declare I have always, and in all congregations
+    when I have preached on the subject of the Deity, it has been the
+    plurality of Gods. It has been preached by the Elders fifteen
+    years. I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus
+    Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and
+    the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit; and these
+    three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods. If this
+    is in accordance with the New Testament, lo and behold, we have
+    three Gods anyhow, and they are plural, and who can contradict it?
+
+BY THE TESTIMONY OF PAUL.
+
+    Our text says: "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and
+    _his Father_." The Apostles have discovered that there were Gods
+    above, for Paul says God was the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
+    * * * John was one of the men, and the Apostles declare they were
+    made kings and priests unto God the Father of our Lord Jesus
+    Christ. It reads just so in the Revelation. Hence the doctrine
+    of a plurality of Gods is as prominent in the Bible as any other
+    doctrine. It is all over the face of the Bible. It stands beyond
+    the power of controversy. "A wayfaring man, though a fool, need
+    not err therein." Paul says there are Gods many and Lords many. I
+    want to set it forth in a plain and simple manner, but to us there
+    is but one God--that is _pertaining_ to us, and He is in all and
+    through all. But if Joseph Smith says there are Gods many and Lords
+    many, they cry, "Away with him, and crucify him, crucify him!"
+    Mankind verily say that the Scriptures are with them. Search the
+    Scriptures, for they testify of things that these apostates would
+    gravely pronounce blasphemy. Paul, if Joseph Smith is a blasphemer,
+    you are. I say there are Gods many, and Lords many, but to us only
+    one; and we are to be in subjection to that one, and no man can
+    limit the bounds or the eternal existence of eternal time. * * *
+    Some say I do not interpret the Scriptures the same as they do.
+    They say it means the heathen's gods. Paul says there are Gods many
+    and Lords many, and that makes a plurality of Gods, in spite of the
+    whims of all men. Without a revelation I am not going to give them
+    the knowledge of the God of heaven. You know and I testify that
+    Paul had no allusion to the heathen gods. I have it from God, and
+    get over it if you can. I have a witness of the Holy Ghost, and a
+    testimony that Paul had no allusion to the heathen gods in the text.
+
+BY THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABRAHAM.
+
+    I want to reason a little on this subject. I learned it by
+    translating the papyrus which is now in my house. I learned a
+    testimony concerning Abraham, and he reasoned concerning the God
+    of heaven. "In order to do that," said he, "suppose we have two
+    facts; that supposes another fact may exist--two men on the earth,
+    one wiser than the other, would logically show that another who is
+    wiser than the wiser one may exist. Intelligences exist one above
+    another, so that there is no end to them. If Abraham reasoned thus:
+    If Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and John discovered that God,
+    the Father of Jesus Christ, had a Father, you may suppose that He
+    had a Father also. Where was there ever a son without a father? And
+    where was there ever a father without first being a son? Whenever
+    did a tree or anything spring into existence without a progenitor?
+    And everything comes in this way. Paul says that which is earthly
+    is in the likeness of that which is heavenly. Hence, if Jesus had a
+    Father, can we not believe that He had a Father also? I despise the
+    idea of being scared to death at such doctrine, for the Bible is
+    full of it.
+
+BY THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS.
+
+    I believe all that God ever revealed, and I never hear of a man
+    being damned for believing too much; but they are damned for
+    unbelief. They found fault with Jesus Christ because He said He
+    was the Son of God, and made Himself equal with God. They say of
+    me like they did of the Apostles of old, that I must be put down.
+    What did Jesus say? "Is it not written in your law, I said, ye are
+    Gods? If he called them Gods unto whom the word of God came, and
+    the Scripture cannot be broken, say ye of him whom the Father has
+    sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I
+    said I am the Son of God?" It was through Him that they drank of
+    the spiritual rock.
+
+    Of course He would take the honor Himself. Jesus, if they were
+    called Gods unto whom the word of God came, why should it be
+    thought blasphemy that I should say I am the Son of God? [3]
+
+HOW GOD CAME TO BE A GOD.
+
+    We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I
+    will refute that idea, and will take away the vail, so that you may
+    see. * * * The Scriptures inform us that Jesus said, "As the Father
+    hath power in Himself, even so hath the Son power"--to do what?
+    Why, what the Father did. The answer is obvious--in a manner to
+    lay down His body and take it up again. Jesus, what are you going
+    to do? To lay down My life as My Father did and take it up again.
+    Do you believe it? If you do not believe it you do not believe the
+    Bible. Here then is eternal life, to know the only wise and true
+    God, and you have got to learn to be Gods yourselves, and to be
+    kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before
+    you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a
+    small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation
+    to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead and
+    are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory as
+    do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power.
+
+THE APPOINTMENT OF GODS.
+
+    The Scriptures are a mixture of very strange doctrines to the
+    Christian world, who are blindly led by the blind. I will refer
+    to another Scripture. "Now," says God, when He visited Moses in
+    the bush, (Moses was a stammering sort of a boy like me,) God
+    said, "Thou shalt be a God unto the children of Israel." God said,
+    "Thou shalt be a God unto Aaron, and he shall be thy spokesman." I
+    believe those Gods that God reveals as Gods to be sons of Gods, and
+    all can cry, "Abba Father!" Sons of God who exalt themselves to be
+    Gods, even from before the foundation of the world and are the only
+    Gods I have a reverence for.
+
+THE APPOINTMENT OF OUR GOD.
+
+    The head of the Gods appointed one God for us; and when you take
+    a view of the subject, it sets one free to see all the beauty,
+    holiness and perfection of the Gods. All I want is to get the
+    simple, naked truth, and the whole truth.
+
+THE ONENESS OF GOD--IN WHAT IT CONSISTS.
+
+    Many men say there is one God; the Father, the Son and the Holy
+    Ghost are only one God! I say that is a strange God anyhow--three
+    in one, and one in three! It is a curious organization. "Father, I
+    pray not for the world, but I pray for them which Thou hast given
+    me." "Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast
+    given me, that they may be one, as we are." * * * I want to read
+    the text to you myself: "I am agreed with the Father and the Father
+    is agreed with Me, and we are agreed as one." The Greek shows that
+    it should be "agreed." "Father, I pray for them which Thou hast
+    given me out of the world, and not for these alone, but for them
+    also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all
+    may be agreed as Thou, Father, art agreed with me, and I with Thee,
+    that they also may be agreed with us--" and all come to dwell in
+    unity, and in all glory and everlasting burnings of the Gods; and
+    then we shall see as we are seen, and be as our God, and He as His
+    Father.
+
+OF MAN AND HIS IMMORTALITY.
+
+The doctrines which Joseph Smith taught respecting God were also
+calculated to have an effect on his teachings respecting man, and that
+it did so is evident from the following:
+
+    I have another subject to dwell upon which is calculated to exalt
+    man. * * * It is associated with the subject of the resurrection of
+    the dead, namely, the soul--the mind of man--the immortal spirit.
+    Where did it come from? All learned men, and doctors of divinity
+    say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the
+    very idea lessens man in my estimation. I do not believe the
+    doctrine. I know better. Hear it, all ye ends of the world, for God
+    has told me so, if you don't believe me, it will not make the truth
+    without effect. * * * We say that God Himself is a self-existent
+    being. Who told you so? It is correct enough, but how did it get
+    into your heads? Who told you that man did not exist in like manner
+    upon the same principles? God made a tabernacle and put a spirit
+    into it, and it became a living soul. [Refers to the old Bible.]
+    How does it read in the Hebrew? It does not say in Hebrew that God
+    created the spirit of man. It says, "God made man out of earth and
+    put into him Adam's spirit, and so became a living body." * * * I
+    am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical
+    to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that
+    it had a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning,
+    neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a
+    beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were
+    not spirits, for they are co-equal with our Father in heaven.
+
+THE PROPHET'S VIEWS ON IMMATERIALITY AND ON CREATION.
+
+    There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter,
+    but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer
+    eyes. We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified, we shall
+    see that it is all matter.
+
+    * * * You ask the wise doctors why they say the world was made out
+    of nothing, and they will answer, "Don't the Bible say He created
+    the world?" And they infer from that word _create_ that it must
+    be made out of nothing. Now the word create came from the word
+    _baurau_, which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to
+    organize, the same as man would organize material and build a ship.
+    Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out
+    of--chaos--chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells
+    all the glory. Elements had an existence from the time He [God]
+    had. The pure principles of elements can never be destroyed, they
+    may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They had no
+    beginning, and can have no end.
+
+In order to present a more complete view of the importance of man as
+connected with the work of his redemption, his future exaltation and
+glory, as taught by the Prophet, I quote two discourses of his preached
+in Nauvoo some time previous to the period under consideration. The
+first is an excerpt from remarks of the Prophet made in reply to
+certain questions about the Priesthood and other subjects; the second
+is from an article presented by him at the October conference of 1840:
+
+I.
+
+    The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First
+    Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation.
+    He obtained it in the creation, before the world was formed,
+    as in Gen. 1, 20, 26, 28. He had dominion given him over every
+    living creature. He is Michael, the Arch-Angel, spoken of in
+    the Scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel; he stands next in
+    authority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was called of God to this
+    office, and was the Father of all living in his day, and to him was
+    given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in
+    heaven.
+
+    The Priesthood is an everlasting principle, and existed with God
+    from eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or
+    end of years. The keys have to be brought from heaven whenever
+    the Gospel is sent. When they are revealed from heaven it is by
+    Adam's authority. Daniel VII, speaks of the Ancient of Days; he
+    means the oldest man, our Father Adam, Michael; he will call his
+    children together and hold a council with them to prepare them for
+    the coming of the Son of Man. He (Adam) is the father of the human
+    family, and presides over the spirits of all men, and all that have
+    had the keys must stand before him in this grand council. This may
+    take place before some of us leave this stage of action. The Son of
+    Man stands before him, and there is given Him glory and dominion.
+    Adam delivers up his stewardship to Christ, that which was
+    delivered to him as holding the keys of the universe, but retains
+    his standing as head of the human family.
+
+    The spirit of man is not a created being; it existed from eternity,
+    and will exist to eternity. Anything created cannot be eternal;
+    and earth, water, &c., had their existence in an elementary state,
+    from eternity. Our Savior speaks of children and says, their angels
+    always stand before my Father. The Father called all spirits
+    before Him at the creation of man, and organized them. He (Adam)
+    is the head and was told to multiply. The keys were first given to
+    him, and by him to others. He will have to give an account of his
+    stewardship and they to him.
+
+    The Priesthood is everlasting. The Savior, Moses, and Elias, gave
+    the keys to Peter, James, and John, on the mount, when He was
+    transfigured before them. The Priesthood is everlasting--without
+    beginning of days or end of years; without father, mother, &c. If
+    there is no change of ordinances, there is no change of Priesthood.
+    Wherever the ordinances of the Gospel are administered, there is
+    the Priesthood.
+
+    How have we come at the Priesthood in the last days? It came down,
+    in regular succession. Peter, James, and John had it given to them,
+    and they gave it to others. Christ is the great High Priest; Adam
+    next. Paul speaks of The Church coming to an innumerable company
+    of angels--to God, the Judge of all--the spirits of just men made
+    perfect; to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, &c., (Heb.
+    III, 23.)
+
+    I saw Adam in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. He called together
+    his children and blessed them with a patriarchal blessing. The
+    Lord appeared in their midst, and he (Adam) blessed them all, and
+    foretold what should befall them to the latest generation. (See D.
+    C., sec. III, pars. 28, 29.)
+
+    This is why Abraham blessed his posterity; he wanted to bring them
+    into the presence of God. They looked for a city, &c. Moses sought
+    to bring the children of Israel into the presence of God, through
+    the power of the Priesthood, but he could not. In the first ages of
+    the world they tried to establish the same thing; and there were
+    Eliases raised up who tried to restore these very glories, but
+    did not obtain them; but they prophesied of a day when this glory
+    would be revealed. Paul spoke of the Dispensation of the Fullness
+    of Times, when God would gather together all things in one, &c.;
+    and those men to whom these keys have been given, will have to be
+    there; and they without us cannot be made perfect.
+
+    These men are in heaven, but their children are on earth. Their
+    bowels yearn over us. God sends down men for this reason. (Matt.
+    XIII, 41.) And the Son of Man shall send forth His angels, &c. All
+    these authoritative characters will come down and join hand in hand
+    in bringing about this work.
+
+II.
+
+    In order to investigate the subject of the Priesthood, so important
+    to this, as well as every succeeding generation, I shall proceed
+    to trace the subject as far as I possibly can from the Old and New
+    Testaments.
+
+    There are two Priesthoods spoken of in the Scriptures, viz., the
+    Melchisedek and the Aaronic or Levitical. Although there are two
+    Priesthoods, yet the Melchisedek Priesthood comprehends the Aaronic
+    or Levitical Priesthood, and is the grand head, and holds the
+    highest authority which pertains to the Priesthood, and the keys of
+    the Kingdom of God in all ages of the world to the latest posterity
+    on the earth, and is the channel through which all knowledge,
+    doctrine, the plan of salvation, and every important matter is
+    revealed from heaven.
+
+    Its institution was prior to "the foundation of this earth, or
+    the morning stars sang together, or the Sons of God shouted for
+    joy," and is the highest and holiest Priesthood, and is after the
+    order of the Son of God, and all other Priesthoods are only parts,
+    ramifications, powers, and blessings belonging to the same, and are
+    held, controlled, and directed by it. It is the channel through
+    which the Almighty commenced revealing His glory at the beginning
+    of the creation of this earth, and through which He has continued
+    to reveal Himself to the children of men to the present time, and
+    through which He will make known His purposes to the end of time.
+
+    Commencing with Adam, who was the first man, who is spoken of in
+    Daniel as being the "Ancient of Days," or in other words, the first
+    and oldest of all, the great grand progenitor of whom it is said in
+    another place he is Michael, because he was the first and Father
+    of all, not only by progeny, but the first to hold the spiritual
+    blessings, to whom was made known the plan of ordinances for the
+    salvation of his posterity unto the end, and to whom Christ was
+    first revealed, and through whom Christ has been revealed from
+    heaven, and will continue to be revealed from henceforth. Adam
+    holds the keys of the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times; i. e.,
+    the dispensation of all the times, have been and will be revealed
+    through him from the beginning to Christ, and from Christ to the
+    end of all the dispensations that are to be revealed: Ephesians,
+    1st chap., 9th and 10th verses, "Having made known unto us the
+    mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he has
+    purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of
+    times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
+    which are in heaven and which are on earth in him."
+
+    Now the purpose in Himself in the winding up scene of the last
+    dispensation is that all things pertaining to that dispensation
+    should be conducted precisely in accordance with the preceding
+    dispensations.
+
+    And again: God purposed in Himself that there should not be eternal
+    fullness until every dispensation should be fulfilled and gathered
+    together in one, and that all things whatsoever, that should be
+    gathered together in one in those dispensations unto the same
+    fullness and eternal glory, should be in Christ Jesus; therefore He
+    set the ordinances to be the same forever, and set Adam to watch
+    over them, to reveal them from heaven to man, or to send angels to
+    reveal them: Hebrews I, 14,. "Are they not all ministering spirits,
+    sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation?"
+
+    These angels are under the direction of Michael or Adam, who acts
+    under the direction of the Lord. From the above quotation we learn
+    that Paul perfectly understood the purposes of God in relation
+    to His connection with man, and that glorious and perfect order
+    which He established in Himself, whereby He sent forth power,
+    revelations, and glory.
+
+    God will not acknowledge that which He has not called, ordained
+    and chosen. In the beginning God called Adam by His own voice.
+    See Genesis 3rd Chapter, 9th, 10th v., "And the Lord called unto
+    Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy
+    voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and hid
+    myself." Adam received commandments and instruction from God; this
+    was the order from the beginning.
+
+    That he received revelations, commandments and ordinances at the
+    beginning is beyond the power of controversy; else how did they
+    begin to offer sacrifices to God in an acceptable manner? And if
+    they offered sacrifices they must be authorized by ordination. We
+    read in Gen. 4th chap., 4th v., that Abel brought of the firstlings
+    of the flock and the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect to Abel
+    and to his offering. And, again. Hebrews XI, 4th, "By faith Abel
+    offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which
+    he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his
+    gifts; and by it he being dead, yet speaketh." How doth he yet
+    speak? Why, he magnified the Priesthood which was conferred upon
+    him, and died a righteous man, and therefore has become an angel
+    of God by receiving his body from the dead, holding still the keys
+    of his dispensation; and was sent down from heaven unto Paul to
+    minister consoling words, and to commit unto him a knowledge of the
+    mysteries of Godliness.
+
+    And if this was not the case, I would ask, how did Paul know so
+    much about Abel, and why should he talk about his speaking after he
+    was dead? Hence, that he spoke after he was dead must be by being
+    sent down out of heaven to administer.
+
+    This, then, is the nature of the Priesthood; every man holding the
+    presidency of his dispensation, and one man holding the presidency
+    of them all, even Adam; and Adam receiving his presidency and
+    authority from the Lord, but cannot receive a fullness until Christ
+    shall present the Kingdom to the Father, which shall be at the end
+    of the last dispensation.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Genesis I, 26, 27.
+
+2. Heb., I, 3.
+
+3. I think in this last sentence the report is imperfect. The Prophet
+doubtless meant to represent Jesus as still talking, that is, as if the
+Prophet had said--_Jesus continues:_ "If they were called," etc.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT AT NAUVOO--MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
+
+In this chapter I quote the sayings and instructions of the Prophet
+on a variety of topics, uttered principally within the period under
+consideration--from January to June 1843--though there are some
+exceptions.
+
+THE VARIOUS KINDS OF BEINGS IN HEAVEN.
+
+    There are two kinds of beings in heaven, viz: Angels who are
+    resurrected personages, having bodies of flesh and bones. For
+    instance, Jesus said, "Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not
+    flesh and bones as you see me have." Second, the spirits of just
+    men made perfect, they who are not resurrected, but inherit the
+    same glory.
+
+HOW TO DETERMINE THE NATURE OF AN ADMINISTRATION.
+
+    When a messenger comes, saying he has a message from God, offer
+    him your hand, and request him to shake hands with you. If he be
+    an angel, he will do so, and you will feel his hand. If he be the
+    spirit of a just man made perfect he will come in his glory, for
+    that is the only way he can appear. Ask him to shake hands with
+    you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of
+    heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his
+    message. If it be the Devil as an angel of light, when you ask him
+    to shake hands, he will offer you his hand but you will not feel
+    anything; you may therefore detect him. These are three grand keys
+    whereby you may know whether or not any administration is from God.
+
+THE PROPHET'S VIEW ON THE CREEDS OF MEN.
+
+    I cannot believe in any of the creeds of the different
+    denominations, because they all have some things in them I cannot
+    subscribe to, though all of them have some truth. I want to come up
+    in the presence of God, and learn all things; but the creeds set up
+    stakes and say, "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further," which I
+    cannot subscribe to.
+
+THE PROPHET ON FRIENDSHIP.
+
+    Friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of
+    "Mormonism" to revolutionize and civilize the world, and cause wars
+    and contentions to cease, and men to become friends and brothers.
+    Even the wolf and the lamb shall dwell together; the leopard shall
+    lie down with the kid; the calf and young lion, and the fatling;
+    and a little child shall lead them; the bear and the cow shall lie
+    down together, and the sucking child shall play on the hole of the
+    asp and the weaned child shall play on the cockatrice's den, and
+    they shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the
+    Lord of hosts. It is a time-honored adage that love begets love.
+    Let us pour forth love--show forth all kindness unto all mankind
+    and the Lord will reward us with everlasting increase; cast our
+    bread upon the waters, and we shall receive it after many days,
+    increased to a hundredfold.
+
+ON THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD.
+
+    Every word that proceedeth from the mouth of Jehovah has such
+    an influence over the human mind--the logical mind--that it is
+    convincing, without other testimony. Faith cometh by hearing. If
+    ten thousand men testify to a truth you know, would it add to your
+    faith? No. Or will ten thousand testimonies destroy your knowledge
+    of a fact? No. I don't want any one to tell me I am a prophet, or
+    attempt to prove my word.
+
+THE PROPHET ON THE LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE AND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
+UNITED STATES.
+
+    It is one of the first principles of my life and one that I have
+    cultivated from my childhood, having been taught it by my father,
+    to allow every one the liberty of conscience. I am the greatest
+    advocate of the Constitution of the United States there is on the
+    earth. In my feelings I am always ready to die in the protection of
+    the weak and oppressed in their just rights. The only fault I find
+    with the Constitution is, it is not broad enough to cover the whole
+    ground. Although it provides that all men shall enjoy religious
+    freedom, yet it does not provide the manner in which that freedom
+    can be preserved, nor for the punishment of government officers
+    who refuse to protect the people in their religious rights, or
+    punish those mobs, States or communities who interfere with the
+    rights of people on account of their religion. Its sentiments are
+    good, but it provides no means of enforcing them. It has but this
+    one fault. Under its provision, a man or people who are able to
+    protect themselves can get along well enough, but those who have
+    the misfortune to be weak or unpopular are left to the merciless
+    rage of popular fury. The Constitution should contain a provision
+    that every officer of the government who should neglect or refuse
+    to extend the protection guaranteed in the Constitution should be
+    subject to capital punishment; and then the President of the United
+    States would not say "Your cause is just but I can do nothing for
+    you;" governors issue exterminating orders; or judges say, "The men
+    ought to have the protection of law, but it won't please the mob;
+    the men must die anyhow to satisfy the clamor of the rabble; they
+    must be hung, or Missouri be damned to all eternity." Executive
+    writs could be issued when they ought to be, and not be made
+    instruments of cruelty to oppress the innocent, and persecute men
+    whose religion is unpopular.
+
+THE PROPHET'S COMMENT ON GOOD MEN.
+
+    I do not think there have been many good men on the earth since
+    the days of Adam; but there was one good man and His name was
+    Jesus. Many persons think a prophet must be a great deal better
+    than anybody else. Suppose I would condescend--yes, I will call
+    it condescend--to be a great deal better than any of you, I would
+    be raised up to the highest heavens, and who should I have to
+    accompany me? I love that man better who swears a stream as long as
+    my arm, yet deals justice to his neighbors and mercifully deals his
+    substance to the poor, than the long, smooth-faced hypocrite. I do
+    not want you to think I am very righteous, for I am not. God judges
+    men according to the use they make of the light which He gives them.
+
+THE PROPHET'S ESTIMATE AND DESCRIPTION OF HIMSELF.
+
+    I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain,
+    and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by
+    coming in contact with something else, striking with accelerated
+    force against religious bigotry, priest-craft, lawyer-craft,
+    doctor-craft, lying editors, suborned judges and jurors, and the
+    authority of perjured executives, backed by mobs, blasphemers,
+    licentious and corrupt men and women, all hell knocking off a
+    corner here and a corner there. Thus I will become a smooth and
+    polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty, who will give me
+    dominion over all and every one of them, when their refuge of lies
+    shall fail, and their hiding place shall be destroyed, while these
+    smooth polished stones with which I come in contact become marred.
+    * * * I am a rough stone. The sound of the hammer and chisel was
+    never heard on me until the Lord took me in hand. I desire the
+    learning and wisdom of heaven alone. I have not the least idea, if
+    Christ should come to the earth and preach such rough things as He
+    preached to the Jews, but that this generation would reject Him for
+    being so rough.
+
+OTHER WORLDS THAN OURS AND THEIR REDEMPTION.
+
+Commenting on Revelation v: 13--"And every creature which is in heaven,
+and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and
+all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory,
+and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb,
+for ever and ever"--the Prophet said:
+
+    I suppose John saw beings there of a thousand forms, that had
+    been saved from ten thousand times ten thousand earths like this,
+    strange beasts of which we have no conception; all might be seen in
+    heaven. The grand secret was to show John what there was in heaven.
+    John learned that God glorified Himself by saving all that His
+    hands had made, whether beasts, fowls, fishes or men, and He will
+    gratify Himself with them.
+
+THE PROPHET'S DEFINITION OF THE WORD MORMON.
+
+    Before I give a definition, however, to the word Mormon, let me say
+    that the Bible, in its widest sense, means good, for the Savior
+    says, according to the Gospel of John, "I am the good shepherd,"
+    and it will not be beyond the common use of terms to say that good
+    is among the most important in use, and though known by various
+    names in different languages, still its meaning is the same, and
+    is ever in opposition to bad. We say from the Saxon good; the Dane
+    god; the Goth goda; the German gut; the Dutch goed; the Latin
+    bonus; the Greek kalos; the Hebrew tob, and the Egyptian mon.
+    Hence, with the addition of more, or the contraction mor, we have
+    the word Mormon, which means, literally, more good.
+
+MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE.
+
+    Commenting on II Peter I, 5-10, and also verse 19, the Prophet
+    said: Now there is some grand secret here, and keys to unlock the
+    subject. Notwithstanding the Apostle exhorts them to add to their
+    faith virtue, temperance, etc., yet he exhorts them to make their
+    calling and election sure. And though they had heard an audible
+    voice from heaven bearing testimony that Jesus was the Son of God,
+    yet he says we have a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do
+    well that ye take heed as unto a light shining in a dark place.
+    Now, wherein could they have a more sure word of prophecy than to
+    hear the voice of God saying, "This is my beloved Son?" etc. Now
+    for the secret and grand key. Though they might hear the voice
+    of God and know that Jesus was the Son of God, this would be no
+    evidence that their election and calling was made sure; that they
+    had part with Christ, and were joint heirs with Him. They then
+    would want that more sure word of prophecy, that they were sealed
+    in the heavens and had the promise of eternal life in the kingdom
+    of God. Then, having this promise sealed unto them, it was an
+    anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast. Though the thunder might
+    roll and the lightning flash and earthquakes bellow, and war gather
+    thick around, yet this hope and knowledge would support the soul
+    in every hour of trial, trouble and tribulation. Then knowledge
+    through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the grand key that
+    unlocks the glories and mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven.
+
+THE VALUE OF AGED MEN IN COUNCIL.
+
+    The way to get along in any important matter is to gather unto
+    yourself wise men, experienced and aged men, to assist in council
+    in all times of trouble. Handsome men are not apt to be wise
+    and strong-minded; but the strength of a strong-minded man will
+    generally create coarse features, like the rough, strong bough of
+    the oak. You will always discover in the first glance of a man, in
+    the outline of his features, something of his mind.
+
+SALVATION--IN WHAT IT CONSISTS.
+
+    Salvation is nothing more nor less than to triumph over all our
+    enemies and put them under our feet. And when we have power to
+    put all enemies under our feet in this world, and a knowledge to
+    triumph over all evil spirits in the world to come, then we are
+    saved as in the case of Jesus, who was to reign until he had put
+    all enemies under His feet, and the last enemy was death.
+
+DESIRABILITY OF POSSESSING EARTHLY TABERNACLES.
+
+    Now, in this world mankind are naturally selfish, ambitious and
+    striving to excel one above another, yet some are willing to build
+    up others as well as themselves. So in the other world there are a
+    variety of spirits. Some seek to excel. And this was the case with
+    Lucifer when he fell. He sought for things which were unlawful.
+    Hence he was cast down, and it is said he drew away many with him,
+    and the greatness of his punishment is that he shall not have a
+    tabernacle. This is his punishment. So the Devil, thinking to
+    thwart the decree of God by going up and down in the earth seeking
+    whom he may destroy--any person that he can find that will yield to
+    him, he will bind him, and take possession of the body and reign
+    there, glorying in it mightily, not thinking that he had gotten a
+    stolen tabernacle, and by and by some one having authority will
+    come along and cast him out and restore the tabernacle to its
+    rightful owner. But the devil steals a tabernacle because he has
+    not one of his own, but if he steals one, he is always liable to be
+    turned out of doors.
+
+OF THE SPIRITS IN PRISON.
+
+    I will say something about the spirits in prison. There has been
+    much said by modern divines about the words of Jesus (when on the
+    cross) to the thief, saying, "This day shalt thou be with me in
+    paradise." King James' translation makes it out to say paradise.
+    But what is paradise? It is a modern word, it does not answer at
+    all to the original word that Jesus made use of. Find the original
+    of the word paradise. You may as easily find a needle in a haymow.
+    Here is a chance for battle, ye learned men. There is nothing in
+    the original word in Greek from which this was taken that signifies
+    paradise, but it was, "This day thou shalt be with me in the world
+    of spirits: then I will teach you all about it and answer your
+    inquiries." And Peter says he went out and preached to the world of
+    spirits (spirits in prison, 1st Peter, 3rd chapter, 19th verse), so
+    that they who would receive it could have it answered by proxy by
+    those who live on the earth. * * * Hades, the Greek, or Sheol, the
+    Hebrew, these two significations means a world of spirits. Hades,
+    Sheol, paradise, spirits in prison, are all one, it is a world of
+    spirits. The righteous and the wicked will go to the same world of
+    spirits until the resurrection. "I do not think so," says one. If
+    you will go to my house any time, I will take my lexicon and prove
+    it to you. The great misery of departed spirits in the world of
+    spirits, where they go after death, is to know that they come short
+    of the glory that others enjoy, and that they might have enjoyed
+    themselves, and they are their own accusers.
+
+THE PERSISTENCE OF OBTAINED INTELLIGENCE.
+
+    Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life,
+    it will rise with us in the resurrection, and if a person gains
+    more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence
+    and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in
+    the world to come. There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven
+    before the foundation of this world, upon which all blessings are
+    predicated, and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by
+    obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.
+
+THE DESIRABILITY AND POWER OF KNOWLEDGE.
+
+    If we get puffed up by thinking that we have much knowledge, we
+    are apt to get a contentious spirit, and correct knowledge is
+    necessary to cast out that spirit. The evil of being puffed up with
+    correct [though useless] knowledge is not so great as the evil of
+    contention. Knowledge does away with darkness, suspense and doubt,
+    for these cannot exist where knowledge is. * * * In knowledge there
+    is power. God has more power than all other beings, because He has
+    greater knowledge, and hence He knows how to subject all other
+    beings to Him. He has power over all. * * * It is not wisdom that
+    we shall have all knowledge at once presented before us, but that
+    we should have a little at a time; then we can comprehend it. *
+    * * Add to your faith knowledge, etc. The principle of knowledge
+    is the principle of salvation. This principle can be comprehended
+    by the faithful and diligent; and every one that does not obtain
+    knowledge sufficient to be saved will be condemned. The principle
+    of salvation is given us through the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE PROPHET ARRESTED ON MISSOURI'S OLD CHARGES.
+
+IF it should be asked what class of men can do the State the most harm,
+or the church most mischief, the universal answer would be--_traitors_!
+So patent is the correctness of the statement, that we deem it
+unnecessary to inquire into the reasons that lead to the conclusion.
+What state has perished but by traitor's hands? What patriot suffered,
+but by a traitor's perfidy? And so, as we proceed, we shall see that it
+was principally through the schemes of traitors that Nauvoo's budding
+prospects were blighted, and her virtuous people driven into the
+wilderness.
+
+It will be remembered that in a former chapter a letter written by John
+C. Bennett to Sidney Rigdon and Orson Pratt is reproduced, in which
+he stated that he was then _en route_ for Missouri for the purpose
+of getting out an indictment against Joseph for treason against that
+State, said to have been committed during the troubles at Far West, in
+the fall of 1838. Whether Bennett went to Missouri or not I cannot say,
+but through his influence the old charge of treason was revived, and
+an indictment found at a special term of the circuit court for Daviess
+County, Missouri, on the fifth of June, 1843; and on the thirteenth of
+the same month Governor Reynolds issued a requisition on the governor
+of Illinois for Joseph Smith, and appointed Joseph H. Reynolds the
+agent of Missouri to receive the Prophet from the authorities of
+Illinois. Accordingly the warrant for the arrest was placed in the
+hands of Harmon T. Wilson by Governor Ford, of Illinois, and Wilson and
+Reynolds started to find the Prophet.
+
+In the meantime Joseph's friends were not inactive. The day before
+Governor Ford issued the warrant for the apprehension of the Prophet,
+he incidentally mentioned to Judge James Adams that a requisition had
+been made by Missouri for the arrest of Joseph, and that he should
+issue it the next day; where-upon Judge Adams dispatched an express
+from Springfield to Nauvoo with this information. The express arrived
+in Nauvoo on the sixteenth of June; but three days before, Joseph with
+Emma had left Nauvoo to visit Emma's sister, a Mrs. Wasson, living near
+Dixon in Lee County, a little more than two hundred miles north of
+Nauvoo. On the arrival of the messenger from Judge Adams, Hyrum Smith
+at once dispatched Stephen Markham and William Clayton to Joseph with
+the information. They left Nauvoo about midnight of the eighteenth, and
+sixty-six hours later arrived at Wasson's, having ridden two hundred
+and twelve miles in that time, changing horses only once and that
+near the end of the journey. Shortly after the arrival of Clayton,
+a Mr. Southwick of Dixon rode out to Inlet Grove, where Mr. Wasson
+lived, to inform Joseph that a writ was out for him, and for his pains
+and interest the Prophet paid him twenty-five dollars, though he had
+already been informed by Clayton and Markham.
+
+After the receipt of this information, however, Joseph concluded to
+remain where he was, for, if he started for home, he might meet the
+officers where he had no friends, and be run over into Missouri among
+his enemies.
+
+Just how the officers Wilson and Reynolds came to know of the
+whereabouts of Joseph is not known. But at any rate they went directly
+to Dixon, nearly killing their horses by hard driving. At the village
+of Dixon they represented themselves as Mormon Elders, wanting to see
+the Prophet. They succeeded in hiring a man with a two-horse team to
+drive them out to Wasson's. On the way they passed William Clayton,
+who had been sent by Joseph to see if he could learn anything of the
+movements of the officers at Dixon. But as the sheriffs were disguised,
+Clayton did not recognize them.
+
+The officers arrived at Wasson's and found Joseph walking down the path
+leading to the barn. They sprang upon him like wild beasts upon their
+prey, presenting their pistols, and Reynolds exclaimed--"G-- d-- you,
+sir, if you stir, I'll shoot!" and this with slight variations he kept
+repeating. Joseph asked them what was the meaning of all this, for they
+attempted to serve no process, and to their oft-repeated threats of
+violence, which they sought to make emphatic with blood-curdling oaths,
+the Prophet bared his breast and told them to shoot, if they desired
+to, for he had endured so much oppression that he was weary of life.
+
+By this time Stephen Markham arrived on the scene, and immediately
+started to the Prophet's assistance, despite the threats of the
+officers to shoot him if he advanced another step. Nor did the brave
+man check his advance until Joseph cautioned him not to resist the
+officers of the law.
+
+Reynolds and Wilson, with much rudeness and many unnecessary
+imprecations, hustled their prisoner into the wagon they had hired in
+Dixon, and were for starting off without giving the prisoner a chance
+to say one word to his friends, bid his wife or children good-by, or
+even get his hat and coat. But Markham, regardless of the threats of
+the officers to shoot him, seized the team by the bits and said there
+was no law requiring an officer to take a man to prison without his
+clothes, and held on until Emma could bring out Joseph's hat and coat.
+
+All this time they had served no process on their prisoner, and had
+repeatedly thrust the muzzles of their pistols against his sides until
+he was badly bruised by the uncalled-for violence.
+
+Joseph shouted to Markham as he was driven away, to go to Dixon and
+obtain a writ of _habeas corpus_, but as the horse Markham rode was
+jaded, and the officers ordered their driver to whip up, they kept up
+with him, and both parties went into the town together.
+
+The sheriffs thrust their prisoner into a room in a tavern kept by Mr.
+McKennie, and ordered fresh horses to be ready in five minutes. Joseph
+told them he wanted to obtain counsel. "G-- d-- you, you shan't have
+counsel, one more word and G-- d-- you, I'll shoot you!" was the brutal
+answer. Just then, however, a man passed the window and to him Joseph
+shouted, "I am falsely imprisoned here, and I want a lawyer." Presently
+Lawyer Southwick, the gentleman who a few days before had rode out
+to Wasson's to inform the Prophet that a writ was out for him, came
+to the house, but only to have the door slammed in his face, and be
+denied admittance. Another lawyer, Shepherd G. Patrick, tried to gain
+admission to the prisoner but met with the same treatment as the first.
+But at last, through the influence of a Mr. Sanger and a Mr. Dixon,
+owner of the hotel building where the Prophet was detained a prisoner,
+Reynolds was given to understand that his prisoner must have a fair
+trial, and all the protection the laws afforded him. A writ of _habeas
+corpus_ was sued out before Mr. Chamberlain, the master in chancery,
+who lived some six miles from Dixon, made returnable before Hon. John
+D. Caton, judge of the ninth judicial circuit at Ottawa.
+
+Before starting for Ottawa, however, Joseph learned that Cyrus Walker,
+Esq., was in the vicinity on an electioneering tour, he being the Whig
+candidate for Congress from that district; and the Prophet attempted
+to secure his services in his defense, as he was the greatest criminal
+lawyer in that part of Illinois. Walker, however, refused to engage in
+his defense unless Joseph would agree to vote for him at the coming
+election, and the Prophet promised him his vote.
+
+Writs were sued out before the justice of the peace against Reynolds
+and Wilson for making threats against the lives of Markham and Joseph;
+and another writ for a violation of the law in relation to writs of
+_habeas corpus_; and still another, this time from the circuit court
+of Lee County, for private injuries, false imprisonment, claiming
+$10,000 damages. Whether or not the sheriffs were released from the
+first writ, I cannot learn; but on the last writ they were held in
+$10,000 bonds, and as they could get no bondsmen this side of Missouri,
+they were taken in charge by the sheriff of Lee County, and were under
+the necessity of obtaining a writ of _habeas corpus_ themselves. So
+that while Joseph was the prisoner of Reynolds and Wilson, pending
+the hearing on the writ of _habeas corpus_ he had sued out, they were
+prisoners under the same circumstances, in charge of the sheriff of Lee
+County. And in this manner all started for Ottawa for a hearing on the
+several writs before Judge Caton.
+
+The whole company left Dixon on the twenty-fourth of June, and the
+same day arrived at Pawpaw Grove, a distance of thirty-two miles. The
+arrival of the Prophet and party at Pawpaw Grove created no little
+excitement, and the next morning the people gathered into the largest
+room in the hotel, and insisted upon hearing the Prophet preach. To
+this Sheriff Reynolds objected and said to the people, "I wish you to
+understand this man (pointing to Joseph) is my prisoner, and I want you
+should disperse." At this an old gentleman by the name of David Town
+spoke up and said:
+
+    You damned infernal Puke, [1] we'll learn you to come here and
+    interrupt gentlemen! Sit down there, pointing to a very low chair,
+    and sit still. Don't open your head till General Smith gets through
+    talking. If you never learned manners in Missouri, we'll teach you
+    that gentlemen are not to be imposed upon by a nigger-driver. You
+    cannot kidnap men here. There's a committee in this grove that
+    will sit on your case; and, sir, it is the highest tribunal in the
+    United States, as _from its decision there is no appeal_.
+
+Old Mr. Town was lame and carried with him a heavy, hickory walking
+stick with which he emphasized the significant parts of his speech
+by striking the end of it on the floor. It had the desired effect
+on Reynolds, who humbly took his seat, while the Prophet without an
+interruption addressed the company for about an hour and a half on the
+subject of marriage.
+
+At this point it was learned that Judge Caton was absent in the State
+of New York, hence the party returned to Dixon, and the officers
+made returns on the respective writs of _habeas corpus_ by endorsing
+thereon--"Judge absent." New writs, however, were sued out, and at
+Markham's request, the one in behalf of Joseph was made to read:
+"Returnable before the nearest tribunal in the Fifth judicial district
+authorized to hear and determine writs of _habeas corpus_"--and thereby
+hangs a tale, as the sequel will show.
+
+Arrangements were made with a Mr. Lucien P. Sanger, who was in the
+stagecoach business, to take the respective prisoners to Quincy, a
+distance of two hundred and sixty miles, to obtain a hearing on the
+several writs before Judge Stephen A. Douglass.
+
+_En route_ for Quincy, Joseph convinced his lawyers and Sheriff
+Campbell, of Lee County, and others, that the municipal court of Nauvoo
+had the right to try cases under writs of _habeas corpus_, and since
+the writ that he had sued out and served on Reynolds of Missouri was
+made "returnable before the nearest tribunal in the Fifth judicial
+district authorized to hear and determine writs of _habeas corpus_," he
+insisted on being taken to Nauvoo for a hearing. He prevailed, too, and
+for that place the now large party directed its course.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. A common nick-name for Missourians in those days.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+MINOR MATTERS IN THE NEW MOVE AGAINST THE PROPHET.
+
+IT now becomes necessary to note a few minor events that occurred. As
+soon as the sheriffs started for Dixon with Joseph in their power, Emma
+Smith had her carriage made ready and at once started for Nauvoo with
+her children, in order to set some scheme or other on foot looking to
+her husband's deliverance.
+
+Joseph, when arriving at Dixon a prisoner, dispatched William Clayton
+with a message to his brother Hyrum telling what had befallen him, and
+requesting that assistance be at once sent to him. Clayton boarded the
+steamer _Amaranth_, at Rock Island, and arrived in Nauvoo about two
+o'clock in the afternoon of Sunday, the twenty-fifth of June. Meeting
+was in progress when Hyrum stepped into the stand and interrupted the
+proceedings, by announcing that he wanted to meet with the brethren at
+the Masonic Hall.
+
+The quiet of the Sabbath was immediately changed into excitement, and
+the brethren rushed to the hall in such numbers that not one-fourth
+could gain admittance, so the meeting was adjourned to the green, where
+a hollow square was formed about Hyrum, who related the story Clayton
+had told him respecting the capture of his brother, and called for
+volunteers to go to his assistance, and see that he had his rights.
+Immediately three hundred offered their services and from them a
+company was selected such as was needed; and before sunset, one hundred
+and seventy-five men were in the saddle under command of Generals
+Wilson Law and C. C. Rich, _en route_ for Peoria.
+
+Before the company left Nauvoo Elder Wilford Woodruff opened a barrel
+of gunpowder and invited every man that was going to the assistance
+of the Prophet to fill his flask or powder horn. The company was well
+armed and well mounted, and presented rather a formidable appearance.
+
+Besides sending out this company to find and protect his brother, Hyrum
+sent about seventy-five men on the steamer _Maid of Iowa_, a small
+steamboat purchased by the people of Nauvoo some months before, and
+placed under the command of Captain Dan Jones.
+
+The company was to go down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Illinois
+river, thence up that stream as far as Peoria; for it was expected
+that Joseph was being conveyed to Ottawa, and it was feared by Hyrum
+that an attempt would be made when the party approached the Illinois
+river to convey Joseph to one of the crafts plying between Peoria and
+St. Louis and so take him to Missouri. Hence this company on the _Maid
+of Iowa_ was instructed to take the course mentioned, and to examine
+the steamboats they met, and if they learned that the Prophet was a
+prisoner on any one of them, they were to render whatever assistance
+might be within their power.
+
+The command under Brothers Law and Rich divided and subdivided in going
+through the country, and on the twenty-seventh a small company under
+the command of Captain Thomas Grover met Stephen Markham, whom Joseph
+had dispatched to find the brethren that he suspected had been sent
+from Nauvoo to his assistance; Markham had instructions to meet the
+Prophet with any company of brethren he might find at Monmouth.
+
+Near Monmouth, and before the arrival of the main body of Joseph's
+friends, Reynolds and Wilson planned a scheme of going into that town,
+raising a mob and taking the Prophet by force into Missouri. The plot
+failed, however, as it was overheard by P. W. Conover, and Sheriff
+Campbell took both Wilson and Reynolds into his immediate custody.
+These men had a strong dislike of going to Nauvoo, as they feared
+they would never leave the place alive. But the Prophet pledged his
+word that no harm should befall them. As the friends of Joseph kept
+dropping in singly, or in squads, the fear of his enemies increased.
+Reynolds made special inquiries as to whether "Jem Flack" was in the
+company, and on being answered in the affirmative, he exclaimed, as he
+turned deathly pale, "I am a dead man!" for he had given Flack a deadly
+provocation. When Flack rode up, however, the Prophet called him up to
+him and strictly charged him that whatever insult he had received from
+Reynolds, not to injure a hair of his head, since he had given his word
+of honor that he should not be injured; and Flack agreed to let him
+alone.
+
+Before noon of the thirtieth, Joseph's company, which now numbered
+about one hundred and forty, approached Nauvoo. Word had previously
+been sent in as to the probable time of his arrival, and the people
+prepared to give him a royal reception.
+
+Hyrum Smith and Emma, accompanied by the brass band and a long train
+of carriages, met the Prophet's company a mile and a half north of the
+city, and received him. The enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds.
+The Prophet met his brother and wife with a fond embrace; from the
+latter, only a few days before, he had been torn away in the most
+arbitrary and cruel manner, and their reunion was a joy indeed.
+
+Joseph now mounted his favorite horse, "Old Charley," and with Emma
+riding proudly at his side, and surrounded by his body guard, he led
+the procession into the city, amid the enthusiastic cheers of the
+people, the firing of musketry and cannon, and the lively strains of
+the band. At the gate of the Mansion stood the Prophet's mother, with
+tears of joy rolling down her aged cheeks, to welcome her son, whom
+she had seen so many times in the hands of his enemies. Here, too, his
+children flocked about him and welcomed him with unreserved, childish
+delight.
+
+The vast crowd that had gathered in front of the Mansion appeared
+unwilling to leave without some word from their revered leader. When
+he observed this, he mounted the fence, thanked them and blessed them
+for their kindness to him, and told them he would address them in the
+grove, near the temple, at four o'clock.
+
+A company of fifty sat down at the Prophet's table to partake of
+the feast provided, and Wilson and Reynolds, who had treated him so
+inhumanly when he was in their power, were placed at the head of
+the table, and waited upon by Emma with the utmost regard for their
+comfort, though they had denied her speech with her husband, and were
+not even willing that she should take to him his hat and coat. Gall to
+them indeed must have been the kindness of the Prophet and his wife,
+whom but a few days before they had treated with such harshness.
+
+In the afternoon, several thousand people assembled at the grove, and
+at four o'clock, the Prophet addressed them in an animated speech of
+considerable length, in which he related to them his adventures while
+in the power of his enemies, and contended that the municipal court
+had the right to hear cases arising under writs of _habeas corpus_. In
+the course of his speech he allowed himself to be carried away by the
+fervor of his eloquence beyond the bounds of prudence; a circumstance,
+however, that will create no astonishment when the excitement and the
+indignation under which he was laboring, and that arose out of sense of
+outraged justice and humanity is taken into consideration. Under such
+circumstances and from such temperaments as that of the Prophet, we
+shall look in vain at such times for dispassionate discourse, and more
+than human must that man be, who, under the accumulated wrongs of years
+of oppression, can always confine his speech, when recounting those
+wrongs, within the lines that cold, calculating wisdom would draw. The
+speech, however, was doubtless one of the most characteristic that we
+have of the Prophet, and for that reason I give it _in extenso_, as
+reported by Elders Willard Richards and Wilford Woodruff. It should
+also be remarked that the report was made in long-hand, and doubtless
+there exist many imperfections in it, and it should only be regarded as
+a synopsis of his speech:
+
+    The congregation is large. I shall require attention. I discovered
+    what the emotions of the people were on my arrival at this city,
+    and I have come here to say, "How do you do?" to all parties; and
+    I do now at this time say to all, "How do you do?" I meet you with
+    a heart full of gratitude to Almighty God, and I presume you all
+    feel the same. I am well--I am hearty. I hardly know how to express
+    my feelings. I feel as strong as a giant. I pulled sticks with the
+    men coming along, and I pulled up with one hand the strongest man
+    that could be found. Then two men tried, but they could not pull me
+    up, and I continued to pull, mentally, until I pulled Missouri to
+    Nauvoo. But I will pass from that subject.
+
+    There has been great excitement in the country since Joseph H.
+    Reynolds and Harmon T. Wilson took me; but I have been cool and
+    dispassionate through the whole. Thank God, I am now a prisoner in
+    the hands of the municipal court of Nauvoo, and not in the hands of
+    Missourians.
+
+    It is not so much my object to tell of my afflictions, trials, and
+    troubles as to speak of the writ of _habeas corpus_, so that the
+    minds of all may be corrected. It has been asserted by the great
+    and wise men, lawyers, and others, that our municipal powers and
+    legal tribunals are not to be sanctioned by the authorities of the
+    State; and accordingly _they_ want to make it lawful to drag away
+    innocent men from their families and friends, and have them put to
+    death by ungodly men for their religion!
+
+    Relative to our city charter, courts, right of _habeas corpus_,
+    etc., I wish you to know and publish that we have all power; and if
+    any man from this time forth says anything to the contrary, cast it
+    into his teeth.
+
+    There is a secret in this. If there is not power in our charter and
+    courts, then there is not power in the State of Illinois, nor in
+    the Congress or Constitution of the United States; for the United
+    States gave unto Illinois her constitution or charter, and Illinois
+    gave unto Nauvoo her charters, ceding unto us our vested rights,
+    which she has no right or power to take from us. All the power
+    there was in Illinois she gave to Nauvoo; and any man that says to
+    the contrary is a fool.
+
+    The municipal court has all the power to issue and determine
+    writs of _habeas corpus_ within the limits of this city that the
+    legislature can confer. This city has all the power that the State
+    courts have, and was given by the same authority--the legislature.
+
+    I want you to hear and learn, O Israel, this day, what is for the
+    happiness and peace of this city and people. If our enemies are
+    determined to oppress us and deprive us of our constitutional
+    rights and privileges as they have done, and if the authorities
+    that are on the earth will not sustain us in our rights, nor give
+    us that protection which the laws and Constitution of the United
+    States and of this State guarantee unto us, then we will claim them
+    from a higher power--from heaven,--yea, from God Almighty!
+
+    I have dragged these men here by my hand, and will do it again; but
+    I swear I will not deal so mildly with them again, for the time has
+    come when _forbearance is no longer a virtue_; and if you or I are
+    again taken unlawfully, you are at liberty to give loose to blood
+    and thunder. But be cool, be deliberate, be wise, act with almighty
+    power; and when you pull, do it effectually--make a _sweepstakes_
+    for once!
+
+    My lot has always been cast among the warmest-hearted people. In
+    every time of trouble, friends, even among strangers, have been
+    raised up unto me and assisted me.
+
+    The time has come when the vail is torn off from the State of
+    Illinois, and its citizens have delivered me from the State of
+    Missouri. Friends that were raised up unto me would have spilt
+    their life's blood to have torn me from the hands of Reynolds
+    and Wilson, if I had asked them, but I told them no, I would be
+    delivered by the power of God and generalship; and I have brought
+    these men to Nauvoo, and committed them to her from whom I was
+    torn, not as prisoners in chains, but as prisoners of kindness. I
+    have treated them kindly. I have had the privilege of rewarding
+    them good for evil. They took me unlawfully, treated me rigorously,
+    strove to deprive me of my rights, and would have run with me into
+    Missouri to have been murdered, if Providence had not interposed.
+    But now they are in my hands; and I have taken them into my house,
+    set them at the head of my table, and placed before them the best
+    which my house afforded; and they were waited upon by my wife, whom
+    they deprived of seeing me when I was taken.
+
+    I have no doubt but I shall be discharged by the municipal court.
+    Were I before any good tribunal, I should be discharged, as the
+    Missouri writs are illegal and good for nothing--they are "without
+    form and void."
+
+    But before I will bear this unhallowed persecution any
+    longer--before I will be dragged away again among my enemies for
+    trial, _I will spill the last drop of blood in my veins, and will
+    see all my enemies_ IN HELL! To bear it any longer would be a sin,
+    and I will not bear it any longer. Shall we bear it any longer?
+    [One universal "NO!" ran through all that vast assembly, like a
+    loud peal of thunder.]
+
+    I wish the lawyer who says we have no powers in Nauvoo may be
+    choked to death with his own words. Don't employ lawyers, or pay
+    them money for their knowledge, for I have learnt that they don't
+    know anything. I know more than they all.
+
+    Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel. He that believeth
+    in our chartered rights may come here and be saved; and he that
+    does not shall remain in ignorance. If any lawyer shall say there
+    is more power in other places and charters with respect to _habeas
+    corpus_ than in Nauvoo, believe it not. I have converted this
+    candidate for Congress [pointing to Cyrus Walker, Esq.,] that
+    the right of _habeas corpus_ is included in our charter. If he
+    continues converted, I will vote for him.
+
+    I have been with these lawyers, and they have treated me well;
+    but I am here in Nauvoo, and the Missourians too. I got here by a
+    lawful writ of _habeas corpus_ issued by the master of chancery
+    of Lee County, and made returnable to the nearest tribunal in the
+    fifth judicial district having jurisdiction to try and determine
+    such writs; and here is that tribunal, just as it should be.
+
+    However indignant you may feel about the high hand of oppression
+    which has been raised against me by these men, use not the hand
+    of violence against them, for they could not be prevailed upon to
+    come here, till I pledged my honor and my life that a hair of their
+    heads should not be hurt. Will you all support my pledge, and thus
+    preserve my honor? [One universal "YES!" burst from the assembled
+    thousands.] This is another proof of your attachment to me. I
+    know how ready you are to do right. You have done great things,
+    and manifested your love towards me in flying to my assistance on
+    this occasion. I bless you, in the name of the Lord, with all the
+    blessings of heaven and earth you are capable of enjoying.
+
+    I have learnt that we have no need to suffer as we have heretofore:
+    we can call others to our aid. I know the Almighty will bless all
+    good men; He will bless you; and the time has come when there will
+    be such a flocking to the standard of liberty as never has been or
+    shall be hereafter. What an era has commenced! Our enemies have
+    prophesied that we would establish our religion by the sword. _Is
+    it true?_ No. But if Missouri will not stay her cruel hand in her
+    unhallowed persecutions against us, I restrain you not any longer.
+    I say in the name of Jesus Christ, by the authority of the Holy
+    Priesthood, I this day turn the key that opens the heavens to
+    restrain you no longer from this time forth. I will lead you to
+    the battle; and if you are not afraid to die, and feel disposed to
+    spill your blood in your own defense, you will not offend me. Be
+    not the aggressor: bear until they strike you on one cheek; then
+    offer the other, and they will be sure to strike that; _then defend
+    yourselves_, and God will bear you off, and you shall stand forth
+    clear before His tribunal.
+
+    If any citizens of Illinois say that we shall not have our rights,
+    treat them as strangers and not friends, and let them go to hell
+    and be damned! Some say they will mob us. Let them mob and be
+    damned! If we have to give up our chartered rights, privileges, and
+    freedom, which our fathers fought, bled, and died for, and which
+    the Constitution of the United States and of this State guarantee
+    unto us, we will do it only at the point of the sword and bayonet.
+
+    Many lawyers contend for those things which are against the rights
+    of men, and _I can only excuse them because of their ignorance_. Go
+    forth and advocate the laws and rights of the people, ye lawyers!
+    If not, don't get into my hands, or under the lash of my tongue.
+
+    Lawyers say the powers of the Nauvoo charter are dangerous; but
+    I ask, is the Constitution of the United States or of this State
+    dangerous? No. Neither are the charters granted unto Nauvoo by
+    the legislature of Illinois dangerous, and those who say they are
+    are fools. We have not enjoyed unmolested those rights which the
+    Constitution of the United States of America and our charters grant.
+
+    Missouri and all wicked men raise the hue and cry against us, and
+    are not satisfied. Some political aspirants of this State also are
+    raising the hue and cry that the powers in the charters granted
+    unto the city of Nauvoo are dangerous; and although the general
+    assembly have conferred them upon our city, yet the whine is
+    raised--"Repeal them--take them away!" Like the boy who swapped
+    off his jack-knife, and then cried, "Daddy, daddy, I have sold my
+    jack-knife and got sick of my bargain, and I want to get it back
+    again."
+
+    But how are they going to help themselves? Raise mobs? And what
+    can mobocrats do in the midst of Kirkpatrickites? No better than a
+    hunter in the claws of a bear. If mobs come upon you any more here,
+    dung your gardens with them. We don't want any excitement; but
+    after we have done all, we will rise up, Washington-like, and break
+    off the hellish yoke that oppresses us, and we will not be mobbed.
+
+    The day before I was taken at Inlet Grove, I rode with my wife
+    through Dixon to visit my friends, and I said to her, "Here is a
+    good people." I felt this by the Spirit of God. The next day I was
+    a prisoner in their midst, in the hands of Reynolds, of Missouri,
+    and Wilson, of Carthage. As the latter drove up, he exclaimed,
+    "Ha, ha, ha! By G--, we have got the Prophet now!" He gloried
+    much in it, but he is now our prisoner. When they came to take
+    me, they held two cocked pistols to my head, and saluted me with,
+    "G-- d-- you, I'll shoot you! I'll shoot you, G-- d-- you,"--repeating
+    these threats nearly fifty times, from first to last. I asked them
+    what they wanted to shoot me for. They said they would do it, if I
+    made any resistance.
+
+    "Oh, very well," I replied, "I have no resistance to make." They
+    then dragged me away, and I asked them by what authority they did
+    these things. They said, "By a writ from the governors of Missouri
+    and Illinois." I then told them I wanted a writ of _habeas corpus_.
+    Their reply was, "G-- d-- you, _you shan't have it_." I told a man
+    to go to Dixon, and get me a writ of _habeas corpus_. Wilson then
+    repeated, "G-- d-- you, _you shan't have it:_ I'll shoot you."
+
+    When we arrived at Dixon, I sent for a lawyer, who came; and
+    Reynolds shut the door in his face, and would not let me speak
+    to him, repeating, "G-- d-- you, I'll shoot you." I turned to him,
+    opened my bosom, and told him to "shoot away. I have endured so
+    much persecution and oppression that I am sick of life. Why, then,
+    don't you shoot and have done with it, instead of talking so much
+    about it?"
+
+    This somewhat checked his insolence. I then told him that I
+    _would_ have counsel to consult, and eventually I obtained my
+    wish. The lawyers came to me and I got a writ of _habeas corpus_
+    for myself, and also a writ against Reynolds and Wilson for
+    unlawful proceedings and cruel treatment towards me. Thanks to the
+    good citizens of Dixon, who nobly took their stand against such
+    unwarrantable and unlawful oppression, my persecutors could not get
+    out of the town that night, although, when they first arrived, they
+    swore I should not remain in Dixon five minutes, and I found they
+    had ordered horses accordingly to proceed to Rock Island. I pledged
+    my honor to my counsel that the Nauvoo city charter conferred
+    jurisdiction to investigate the subject; so we came to Nauvoo,
+    where I am now a prisoner in the custody of a higher tribunal than
+    the circuit court.
+
+    The charter says that "the city council shall have power and
+    authority to make, ordain, establish and execute such ordinances
+    not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States, or of
+    this State, as they may deem necessary, for the peace, benefit,
+    and safety of the inhabitants of said city." And also that "the
+    municipal court shall have power to grant writs of _habeas corpus_
+    in all cases arising under the ordinances of the city council."
+
+    The city council have passed an ordinance "that no citizen of this
+    city shall be taken out of this city by any writ, without the
+    privilege of a writ of _habeas corpus_." There is nothing but what
+    we have power over, except where restricted by the Constitution of
+    the United States. "But," says the mob, "what dangerous powers!"
+    Yes--dangerous, because they will protect the innocent and put down
+    mobocrats. The Constitution of the United States declares that
+    the privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ shall not be denied.
+    Deny me the writ of _habeas corpus_, and I will fight with gun,
+    sword, cannon, whirlwind, and thunder, until they are used up like
+    the Kilkenny cats. We have more power than most charters confer,
+    because we have power to go behind the writ and try the merits of
+    the case.
+
+    If these powers are dangerous, then the Constitution of the United
+    States and of this State are dangerous; but they are not dangerous
+    to good men: they are only so to bad men who are breakers of the
+    laws. So with the laws of the country, and so with the ordinances
+    of Nauvoo: they are dangerous to mobs, but not to good men who wish
+    to keep the laws.
+
+    We do not go out of Nauvoo to disturb anybody, or any city, town,
+    or place. Why, then, need they be troubled about us? Let them
+    not meddle with our affair, but let us alone. After we have been
+    deprived of our rights and privileges of citizenship, driven
+    from town to town, place to place, and State to State, with the
+    sacrifice of our homes and lands, our blood has been shed, many
+    having been murdered, and all this because of our religion--because
+    we worship Almighty God according to the dictates of our
+    conscience, shall we longer bear these cruelties which have been
+    heaped upon us for the last ten years in the face of heaven, and in
+    open violation of the Constitution and laws of these United States
+    and of this State? God forbid it. _I will not bear it_. If they
+    take away my rights, I will fight for them manfully and righteously
+    until I am used up. We have done nothing against the rights of
+    others.
+
+    You speak of lawyers. I am a lawyer, too; but the Almighty God
+    has taught me the principle of law; and the true meaning and
+    intent of the writ of _habeas corpus_ is to defend the innocent
+    and investigate the subject. Go behind the writ, and if the form
+    of one that is issued against an innocent man is right, he should
+    not be dragged into another State, and there be put to death, or
+    be in jeopardy of life and limb, because of prejudice, when he is
+    innocent. The benefits of the Constitution and laws are alike for
+    all; and the great Eloheim has given me the privilege of having the
+    benefits of the Constitution and the writ of _habeas corpus_; and I
+    am bold to ask for this privilege this day; and I ask, in the name
+    of Jesus Christ and all that is sacred, that I may have your lives
+    and all your energies to carry out the freedom which is chartered
+    to us. Will you all help me? If so, make it manifest by raising the
+    right hand. [There was a unanimous response, a perfect sea of hands
+    being elevated.] Here is truly a committee of the whole.
+
+    When at Dixon, a lawyer came to me as counsel. Reynolds and Wilson
+    said I should not speak to any man, and they would shoot any man
+    who should dare to speak to me. An old, grey-headed man came up and
+    said I should have counsel, and he was not afraid of their pistols.
+
+    The people of Dixon were ready to take me from my persecutors, and
+    I could have killed them, notwithstanding their pistols; but I had
+    no disposition to kill any man, though my worst enemy--not even
+    Boggs. In fact, _he_ would have more hell to live in the reflection
+    of his past crimes than to die. After this, I had lawyers enough,
+    and I obtained a writ for Joseph H. Reynolds and Harmon T. Wilson,
+    for damage, assault, and battery, as well as the writ of _habeas
+    corpus_.
+
+    We started for Ottoway, and arrived at Pawpaw Grove, thirty-two
+    miles, where we stopped for the night. Esquire Walker sent Mr.
+    Campbell, sheriff of Lee County, to my assistance, and he came and
+    slept by me. In the morning, certain men wished to see me, but I
+    was not allowed to see them. The news of my arrival had hastily
+    circulated about the neighborhood, and very early in the morning
+    the largest room in the hotel was filled with citizens, who were
+    anxious to hear me preach, and requested me to address them.
+
+    Sheriff Reynolds entered the room and said, pointing to me, "I
+    wish you to understand this man is my prisoner, and I want you
+    should disperse. You must not gather around in this way." Upon
+    which, a aged gentleman, who was lame and carried a large, hickory
+    walking-stick, advanced towards Reynolds, bringing his hickory upon
+    the floor, and said, "You damned infernal puke, we'll learn you
+    to come here and interrupt gentlemen! Sit down there, (pointing
+    to a very low char,) and sit still. Don't open your head till
+    General Smith gets through talking. If you never learned manners
+    in Missouri, we'll teach you that gentlemen are not to be imposed
+    by a nigger-driver. You can _not_ kidnap men here, if you do in
+    Missouri; and if you attempt it here, there's a committee in this
+    grove that will sit on your case. And, sir, it is the highest
+    tribunal in the United States, _as from its decision there is no
+    appeal_."
+
+    Reynolds, no doubt, aware that the person addressing him was at the
+    head of a committee who had prevented the settlers on the public
+    domain from being imposed upon by land speculators, sat down in
+    silence, while I addressed the assembly for an hour and a half on
+    the subject of marriage, my visitors having requested me to give
+    them my views of the law of God respecting marriage.
+
+    My freedom commenced from that hour. We came direct from Pawpaw
+    Grove to Nauvoo, having got our writ directed to the nearest court
+    having authority to try the case, which was the municipal court of
+    this city.
+
+    It did my soul good to see your feelings and love manifested
+    towards me. I thank God that I have the honor to lead so virtuous
+    and honest a people--to be your leader and lawyer, as was Moses
+    to the children of Israel. Hosannah! _Hosannah!!_ HOSANNAH!!! to
+    Almighty God, who has delivered us thus from out of the seven
+    troubles. I commend you to His grace; and may the blessings of
+    heaven rest upon you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
+
+    President Smith then introduced Mr. Cyrus Walker to the assembled
+    multitude, and remarked to him, "these are the greatest dupes, as a
+    body of people, that ever lived, or I am not as big a rogue as I am
+    reported to be. I told Mr. Warren I would not discuss the subject
+    of religion with you. I understand the Gospel and you do not. You
+    understand the quackery of law, and I do not." Mr. Walker then
+    addressed the people to the effect that, from what he had seen in
+    the Nauvoo city charter, it gave the power to try writs of _habeas
+    corpus_, etc. After which, President Smith continued as follows:
+
+    "If the legislature have granted Nauvoo the right of determining
+    cases of _habeas corpus_, it is no more than they ought to have
+    done, or more than our fathers fought for. Furthermore if Missouri
+    continues her warfare, and to issue her writs against me and this
+    people unlawfully and unjustly, as she has done, and to take away
+    and trample upon our rights, I swear, in the name of Almighty God,
+    and with uplifted hands to Heaven, I will spill my heart's blood
+    in our defense. They shall not take away our rights; and if they
+    don't stop leading me by the nose, I will lead them by the nose,
+    and if they don't let me alone, I will turn up the world--I will
+    make war. When we shake our own bushes, we want to catch our own
+    fruit. The lawyers themselves acknowledge that we have all power
+    granted us in our charters that we could ask for--that we had more
+    power than any other court in the State; for all other courts were
+    restricted, while ours was not; and I thank God Almighty for it. I
+    will not be rode down to hell by the Missourians any longer; and it
+    is my privilege to speak in my own defense; and I appeal to your
+    integrity and honor that you will stand by and help me according to
+    the covenant you have this day made."
+
+In the meantime, a requisition was made on Sheriff Reynolds, to bring
+his prisoner before the municipal court of Nauvoo, that the validity
+of the writ, by virtue of which he held him, might be tested. Reynolds
+refused to recognize the summons of the court; therefore, his prisoner
+petitioned the court for a writ of _habeas corpus_ to be directed to
+Sheriff Reynolds, commanding him to bring his prisoner before said
+court, and there state the cause of his capture and detention, in order
+that the lawfulness of his arrest might be inquired into. Reynolds
+complied with the attachment, and the Prophet was delivered into the
+charge of the city marshal. The next day, the municipal court held
+a session, William Marks, acting chief justice, D. H. Wells, N. K.
+Whitney, G. W. Harris, Gustavus Hills and Hiram Kimball, associate
+justices.
+
+When Joseph was on trial for this same offense before Judge Douglass,
+on a writ of _habeas corpus_ in 1841, as already related in a previous
+chapter, the court refused to enter into the consideration of the
+merits of the case, as the judge doubted whether on a writ of _habeas
+corpus_ he had a right to go behind the writ and inquire into the
+merits of the case. The same point was avoided by Judge Pope in
+the hearing Joseph had before him on a similar writ, when charged
+with being accessory before the fact in an assault upon the life of
+ex-Governor Boggs. But the municipal court had no such scruples, and
+at once proceeded to try the case _ex parte_, on its merits; and Hyrum
+Smith, P. P. Pratt, Brigham Young, G. W. Pitkin, Lyman Wight and Sidney
+Rigdon were examined as witnesses. Their affidavits before that court
+concerning events that happened to the Saints in Missouri, afford the
+most circumstantial, reliable, and exhaustive data for the history of
+The Church while in that State that has ever been published.
+
+After hearing the testimony of these witnesses, and the pleading of
+counsel, the court ordered that Joseph Smith be released from the
+arrest and imprisonment of which he complained, for want of substance
+in the warrant by which he was held, as well as upon the merits of the
+case.
+
+At the conclusion of the trial the citizens of Nauvoo held a mass
+meeting and passed resolutions thanking the people of Dixon and
+vicinity, and of Lee County generally, for the stand they had taken in
+defense of the innocent, and in favor of law and justice.
+
+A copy of the proceedings of the municipal court of Nauvoo, and of
+all the papers connected with the case were immediately sent to the
+governor, as also were affidavits from leading counsel and gentlemen
+from Dixon, as to the treatment of Wilson and Reynolds, that the
+governor and the world might know that they had not been injured.
+
+We may conclude the account of this adventure of Joseph's by saying
+that about a year afterwards, a jury in Lee County awarded forty
+dollars damages, and costs, against Wilson and Reynolds, for false
+imprisonment and abuse of the Prophet--a verdict which, while it
+confirms the unlawful course of those officers, and the fact that their
+prisoner was abused, insults justice by awarding such an amount for
+damages.
+
+At the time of this action before the municipal court of Nauvoo, it was
+a question in Illinois whether said court had the authority to hear and
+determine writs of _habeas corpus_ arising from arrests made by virtue
+of warrants issued by the courts of the State or of the governor, as in
+the foregoing case; or whether the clause in the city charter granting
+the right of issuing such writs was not confined to cases arising from
+arrests made on account of the violation of some city ordinance. The
+clause in the charter giving to the municipal court the power to issue
+writs of _habeas corpus_ was as follows:
+
+    The municipal court shall have power to grant writs of _habeas
+    corpus_ in all cases arising under the ordinances of the city
+    council.
+
+And in addition there was the general welfare provision, which provided
+that the
+
+    City council shall have power and authority to make, ordain,
+    establish and execute such ordinances not repugnant to the
+    Constitution of the United States, or of this State, as they may
+    deem necessary for the peace, benefit and safety of the inhabitants
+    of said city.
+
+It was maintained on the part of those who believed that the municipal
+court had the right to issue writs of _habeas corpus_ against process
+issued from the State courts that all the power there was in Illinois
+she gave to Nauvoo, and that the municipal court had all the power
+within the limits of the city that the State courts had, and that power
+was given by the same authority--the legislature. A number of lawyers
+of more or less prominence in the State professed to hold the same
+views; but little reliance can be put in the support they bring to the
+case, since they were seeking political preferment and would, and did,
+in their interpretations of the powers granted by the charter, favor
+that side of the controversy most likely to please the citizens of
+Nauvoo.
+
+Governor Ford, too, at the time, gave a tacit approval of the course
+taken by the municipal court in issuing the writ of _habeas corpus_,
+though he afterwards became very pronounced in his opposition to the
+exercise of such powers. It occurred in this way: As soon as Joseph
+was liberated, Sheriff Reynolds applied to Governor Ford for a posse
+to retake him, representing that the Prophet had been unlawfully taken
+out of his hands by the municipal court of Nauvoo. The governor refused
+to grant the petition. Subsequently the governor of Missouri asked
+Governor Ford to call out the militia to retake Joseph, but this he
+also refused to do, and gave as a reason that "no process, officer,
+or authority of the State had been resisted or interfered with," and
+recited how the prisoner had been released on _habeas corpus_ by
+the municipal court of Nauvoo. The governor acted in this instance
+with perfect knowledge of what had taken place, for the petition and
+statement of Reynolds were in his possession as were also complete
+copies of all the documents, which contained the proceedings before
+the municipal court of Nauvoo; and in addition to these sources of
+information, the governor had dispatched a trusted, secret agent, a Mr.
+Brayman, to Nauvoo who investigated the case and reported the result to
+him.
+
+On the other hand it was contended that the grant in the charter was
+intended by the legislature only to give the power to the municipal
+court to issue writs of _habeas corpus_ in cases of arrest for
+violation of city ordinances, and that giving power to the municipal
+court to test the warrants or processes issued from the State courts,
+was never contemplated by the legislature, and that the passage of any
+ordinance by the city council that would bring about or authorize any
+such unusual proceeding was an unwarranted assumption of power, utterly
+wrong in principle and consequently subversive of good government.
+
+But whatever opinion may be entertained on the point under
+consideration, there can be no question but what upon the broad
+principles of justice the Prophet Joseph ought to have been set free.
+The State of Missouri had no just claims upon him. He had been arrested
+and several times examined on these old charges now revived by the
+personal malice of John C. Bennett, and after being held a prisoner
+awaiting indictment and trial for five months, so conscious were the
+officers of the State that they had no case against him that they
+themselves connived at his escape. After such proceedings to demand
+that he be dragged again into Missouri among his old enemies was an
+outrage against every principle of justice.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+POLITICAL PERPLEXITIES--JOSEPH SMITH A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE
+UNITED STATES.
+
+THE events related in the last two chapters occurred on the eve of an
+election for United States representatives, State and county officers.
+The Whig and Democratic parties were so divided in Illinois that the
+citizens of Nauvoo held the balance of power in the congressional
+district where they were located, and also in the county. Whichever
+party they voted with, as they voted unitedly, gained the election.
+This circumstance brought to the people of Nauvoo many concessions, and
+caused the candidates of both political parties to fawn at their feet.
+It was a case where "Bell boweth down, and Nebo stoopeth." But we shall
+see that it also brought with it serious difficulties that contributed
+in no small degree to hasten the fall of Nauvoo; and yet it was a
+situation forced upon the Saints rather than a policy deliberately
+chosen by them. The Prophet himself has given the very best explanation
+of the enforced necessity of the Saints voting unitedly while in
+Illinois, and I here quote that explanation:
+
+    With regard to elections, some say all the Latter-day Saints vote
+    together and vote as I say. But I never tell any man how to vote,
+    or who to vote for. But I will show you how we have been situated
+    by bringing a comparison. Should there be a Methodist society here
+    and two candidates running for office, one says, "If you will vote
+    for me and put me in governor I will exterminate the Methodists,
+    take away their charters, etc." The other candidate says "If I am
+    governor, I will give all an equal privilege." Which would the
+    Methodists vote for? Of course they would vote _en masse_ for the
+    candidate that would give them their rights. Thus it has been
+    with us. Joseph Duncan said, if the people would elect him, he
+    would exterminate the Mormons and take away their charters. As to
+    Mr. Ford he made no such threats, but manifested a spirit in his
+    speeches to give every man his rights; hence The Church universally
+    voted for Mr. Ford, and he was elected governor. [1]
+
+In the election above referred to a circumstance occurred which greatly
+intensified the political bitterness. It will be remembered that Cyrus
+Walker refused to assist Joseph when under arrest at Dixon, unless he
+would pledge him his vote in the then pending election. This Joseph did
+and Walker was satisfied that he would go to Congress, as he expected
+that Joseph's vote would bring to him the entire vote of Nauvoo,
+which would insure his election; and so expressed himself to Stephen
+Markham. But the day before election, which was Sunday, Hyrum told
+Joseph that the Spirit had manifested it to him that it would be to the
+best interests of the people to vote the Democratic ticket, including
+Mr. Hoge, the Democratic candidate for Congress. Joseph made that
+announcement in a public meeting, but in addressing the people he said:
+
+    I am not come to tell you to vote this way, that way, or the other.
+    In relation to national matters I want it to go abroad to the whole
+    world that every man should stand on his own merits. The Lord has
+    not given me a revelation concerning politics. I have not asked Him
+    for one. I am a third party, and stand independent and alone. I
+    desire to see all parties protected in their rights.
+
+Referring to what Hyrum had communicated to him he said:
+
+    I never knew Hyrum to say he ever had a revelation and it failed.
+    Let God speak, and all men hold their peace.
+
+Joseph kept his pledge personally, and voted for Cyrus Walker; but the
+Democratic ticket was overwhelmingly successful in Nauvoo.
+
+It ought to be said here in justification of the course of the people
+of Nauvoo, that very good evidence existed to the effect that the whole
+difficulty connected with the arrest of Joseph at Dixon on the old
+Missouri charges of "treason, arson," etc, etc., was a political scheme
+planned with a view of securing the Mormon vote for the Whig party.
+The _Illinois State Register_ in July published the following on the
+subject of the arrest of the Prophet at Dixon, to justify the charge
+it made that the whole affair was but a Whig plot to secure the Mormon
+vote:
+
+    The public is already aware that a demand was lately made upon the
+    governor of this State for the arrest of Joseph Smith, and that a
+    writ was accordingly issued against him. We propose now to state
+    some of the facts, furnishing strong grounds of suspicion that the
+    demand which was made on the governor here was a manoeuvre of the
+    Whig party.
+
+    1st. A letter was shown to a gentleman of this city, by the agent
+    of Missouri, from the notorious John C. Bennett to a gentleman in
+    one of the western counties of that State, urging the importance of
+    getting up an indictment immediately against Smith, for the five or
+    six years old treason of which he was accused several years ago.
+
+    2nd. This charge had been made once before, and afterwards
+    abandoned by Missouri. It is the same charge on which Smith was
+    carried before Judge Douglass and discharged two years ago. After
+    that decision, the indictment against Smith was dismissed, and the
+    charge wholly abandoned.
+
+    3rd. But in the letter alluded to, Bennett says to his Missouri
+    agent, Go to the judge, and never leave him until he appoints
+    a special term of court; never suffer the court to adjourn
+    until an indictment is found against Smith for treason. When an
+    indictment shall have been found, get a copy and go immediately to
+    the governor, and never leave him until you get a demand on the
+    governor of Illinois for Smith's arrest; and then dispatch some
+    active and vigilant person to Illinois for a warrant and let him
+    never leave the governor until he gets it; and then never let him
+    come back to Missouri without Smith.
+
+    4th. A special term of the circuit court of Daviess County,
+    Missouri, was accordingly called on the 5th day of June last. An
+    indictment was found against Smith for treason five years old. A
+    demand was made and a writ issued, as anticipated, by the 17th of
+    the same month.
+
+    5th. Bennett it is well known has for a year past been a mere tool
+    in the hands of the Whig junto at Springfield. He has been under
+    their absolute subjection and control, and has been a regular
+    correspondent of the _Sangamo Journal_, the principal organ of
+    the Whig party. He has been a great pet of both the _Journal_ and
+    the junto; and that paper has regularly announced his removals
+    from place to place, until latterly; and within the last year has
+    published more of his writings than of any other person, except the
+    editor.
+
+    6th. Cyrus Walker, a short time after his nomination, as the Whig
+    candidate for Congress in the 6th district, made a pilgrimage
+    to Nauvoo, for the purpose of currying favor with the Mormons,
+    and getting their support. But in this he was disappointed and
+    dejected; and it was generally believed that, failing to get the
+    Mormon vote, he would be beaten by his Democratic opponent.
+
+    7th. Let it be also borne in mind that the treason of which Smith
+    was accused was five or six years old; that it had been abandoned
+    as a charge by Missouri; that the circuit court of that State
+    sat three times a year; that Smith was permanently settled at
+    Nauvoo, no person dreaming that he would leave there for years
+    to come; that they might have waited in Missouri for a regular
+    term of the court, if the design was simply to revive a charge
+    of treason against Smith, with a perfect assurance that he would
+    always be found at home, and be as subject to arrest at one time
+    as another. But this delay did not suit the conspirators as it
+    would put off an attempt to arrest Smith until after the August
+    election. Let it be borne in mind also that the agent of Missouri,
+    after he had obtained the custody of Smith at Dixon, refused to
+    employ a Democratic lawyer, and insisted upon having a Whig lawyer
+    of inferior abilities, simply upon the ground as he stated, that
+    the Democrats were against him. Let it also be borne in mind
+    that Cyrus Walker, the Whig candidate for Congress, miraculously
+    _happened_ to be within six miles of Dixon when Smith was arrested,
+    ready and convenient to be employed by Smith to get him delivered
+    from custody; and that he was actually employed and actually did
+    get Smith enlarged from custody; and withal let it be remembered
+    that John C. Bennett is the pliant tool and pander of the junto
+    at Springfield; and that he was the instigator of an unnecessary
+    special term in Missouri, on the 5th day of June last, for the
+    purpose of getting Smith indicted. We say let all these facts
+    be borne in mind, and they produce a strong suspicion, if not
+    conviction, that the whole affair is a Whig conspiracy to compel
+    a Democratic governor to issue a writ against Smith, pending the
+    congressional elections, so as to incense the Mormons, create a
+    necessity for Walker's and perhaps Browning's professional services
+    in favor of Smith, to get him delivered out of a net of their own
+    weaving, and thereby get the everlasting gratitude of the Mormons
+    and their support for the Whig cause. (_Illinois State Register_,
+    quoted in History of Joseph Smith, Millennial Star, vol. XXI, p.
+    762.)
+
+Such a plot coming to the knowledge of Joseph and the citizens of
+Nauvoo would certainly justify them in voting against the perpetrators
+of such an outrage. Of course it cannot be denied that Cyrus Walker was
+justified in believing that the vote of Joseph Smith pledged to him at
+Dixon, and which by him was made a condition precedent to his coming
+to the assistance of Joseph, was understood as meaning something more
+than the individual vote of the Prophet, nor do I think the Prophet
+censurable for using any means at his command under the circumstances
+to deliver himself from the hands of his enemies. But if afterwards
+the people of Nauvoo learned--as they evidently did--that a plot had
+been laid to ensnare them, to secure their vote though it involved
+the liberty, and perhaps the life of their Prophet-leader, they were
+justified in casting their votes against the men guilty of such perfidy.
+
+This sudden and unexpected change in the vote of the citizens of
+Nauvoo, stirred up to the very depths the enmity of the defeated
+political party; and when, shortly after the election, R. D. Foster,
+who had been elected school commissioner, and G. W. Thatcher, who had
+been elected clerk of the commissioner's court for the county, appeared
+at the courthouse in Carthage to take the oath of office, and file
+their bonds, an attempt was made to keep them from doing so; and the
+court was threatened with violence if the Mormons were permitted to
+qualify.
+
+They qualified, nevertheless; whereupon a call was issued for an
+anti-Mormon meeting to convene in Carthage on the following Saturday,
+August the 19th, to protest against the Mormons holding office. The
+people of Carthage and vicinity assembled at the appointed time,
+organized with a chairman, Major Reuben Graves; and a secretary, W.
+D. Abernethy; and a committee of nine to draft resolutions. After
+listening to speeches by Valentine Wilson, Walter Bagby and others, the
+meeting adjourned to meet again on the sixth of September.
+
+To enumerate the crimes alleged against the Saints in general and in
+particular against Joseph Smith, in the preamble to the resolutions
+adopted at their second meeting, would be drawing up a list of all
+the crimes that ever threatened the peace, happiness, prosperity and
+liberty of a nation. They resolved that from recent movements among
+the Mormons, there were indications that they were unwilling to submit
+to the ordinary restrictions of law; and therefore concluded that
+the people of Illinois must assert their rights in some way. That
+while they deprecated anything like lawless violence, they pledged
+themselves to resist all wrongs the Mormons should inflict upon them
+in the future--"peaceably if they could, but forcibly if they must."
+They called upon all good and honest men to assist in humbling the
+pride of that "audacious despot," Joseph Smith; pledged themselves to
+raise a posse and take him if the authorities of Missouri made another
+demand for him; that it might not be said of them, that they allowed
+the most outrageous culprits "to go unwhipped of justice." They agreed
+to support no man of either political party who should truckle to the
+Mormons for their influence, and finally
+
+    Resolved that when the government ceases to afford protection, the
+    citizens of course fall back upon their original inherent right of
+    self-defense.
+
+One of the principal movers in these meetings was Walter Bagby, the
+county collector, with whom Joseph had some difficulty in relation
+to the payment of taxes. In the dispute that arose Bagby told Joseph
+he lied, and for this insult Joseph struck him, and would doubtless
+have thrashed him soundly but for the interference of Daniel H. Wells.
+From that time on, Bagby became the relentless enemy of Joseph and the
+inspirer of these meetings at Carthage; and afterwards went to Missouri
+where he conferred with the Prophet's old enemies, and brought about
+that concerted action between the Missourians and the anti-Mormons of
+Illinois which resulted finally in his assassination.
+
+Later in the fall, acts of violence began to be perpetrated upon
+the Mormon people who lived at a distance from Nauvoo; and threats
+of violence were frequent. In December of the year of which I am
+now writing--1843--a member of The Church living near Warsaw, by
+the name of Daniel Avery, and his son Philander, were kidnapped by
+Levi Williams, of Warsaw, John Elliot and others, and run across the
+Mississippi to Missouri, where for several weeks Daniel Avery was kept
+a prisoner in Clark County, while one Joseph McCoy was hunting up
+witnesses to prove that he had stolen a mare from him. Philander Avery
+escaped and returned to Illinois; but his father remained a prisoner,
+and suffered great cruelty at the hands of his captors. Finally,
+however, he was released by writ of _habeas corpus_, and went to Nauvoo
+where he made affidavit as to his treatment.
+
+Wild rumors abounded also as to what the Missourians intended to do;
+and some of the letters from Missouri that fell into Joseph's hands,
+through friends of his, threatened Illinois with invasion, and for
+a season it would seem that a border war was inevitable. Joseph was
+careful to keep Governor Ford informed as to all acts of violence
+perpetrated upon his people, and especially as to the threats of the
+Missourians respecting an attack, and went so far as to tender the
+services of the Legion to repel any attempted invasion of the State
+should it occur. Governor Ford, however, refused to believe there was
+any danger in the threats, and therefore would detail no portion of the
+Legion, or of the other State militia, to be ready for such an assault.
+
+A petition signed by nearly all the citizens of Nauvoo, asking
+the governor to issue no more warrants at the demand of Missouri
+for the arrest of Joseph Smith on the old charges, was presented
+to the executive, but the governor refused to give the people any
+encouragement that he would favorably entertain their suit.
+
+In the meantime another important event began to take shape. As the
+time of the presidential election was now approaching the probable
+candidates for the office began to be discussed.
+
+It was well known that the vote of the citizens of Nauvoo would be
+important, as it would most likely determine whether Illinois would go
+Whig or Democratic. The political friends of John C. Calhoun at Quincy,
+early perceived the importance of securing their favor, and began to
+work for it. A Colonel Frierson, of Quincy, the political friend of
+John C. Calhoun, expressed great sympathy for the Saints because of the
+injustice and persecution they had received at the hands of Missouri,
+and intimated to Brother Joseph L. Heywood that the Hon. B. Rhett, a
+representative from South Carolina to the United States Congress, and
+also a political friend to Mr. Calhoun, had expressed a willingness to
+present to Congress a memorial for a redress of wrongs suffered by the
+Saints in Missouri; but was careful to intimate to Brother Heywood,
+and through him to the citizens of Nauvoo, that he supposed that Mr.
+Calhoun would be a more acceptable candidate to them than Mr. Van Buren.
+
+Colonel Frierson afterwards went to Nauvoo, met in council with the
+leading citizens, and drafted a memorial to Congress; a copy of which
+he took with him to Quincy to obtain signers, but I think it never
+reached the House of Representatives.
+
+The incident, however, suggested to the Prophet the propriety of
+addressing letters to each of the candidates for the presidency--five
+in number, viz.,--John C. Calhoun, Lewis Cass, Richard M. Johnson,
+Henry Clay and Martin Van Buren--to ascertain what policy they would
+adopt respecting the Saints and redressing the wrongs done them by
+Missouri. Only two out of the number, however, gave a reply. They
+were Calhoun and Clay. The former was of the opinion that the general
+government possessed such limited and specific powers, that the
+Missouri troubles did not come within its jurisdiction. As to his
+treatment of the Latter-day Saints, as the Constitution and the laws of
+the Union made no distinction between citizens of different religious
+creeds, he should make none; but so far as the executive was concerned
+all should have the full benefit of both, and none should be exempted
+from their operation. [2]
+
+Clay partially disclaimed being a candidate for the presidency, but
+said if he ever entered into that high office, he must do so free and
+unfettered, with no guarantees but such as might be drawn from his
+whole life, character and conduct. But he was careful to say, that he
+had watched the progress of the Saints, and sympathized with them in
+their sufferings under injustice, which had been inflicted upon them;
+and thought that they, in common with other religious communities,
+should enjoy the security and protection of the Constitution and laws.
+
+To these letters the Prophet Joseph wrote scathing replies. The
+particular portion of Calhoun's answer with which he dealt, was that
+which claimed that the general government had no jurisdiction in the
+case of the Saints and Missouri, and handled rather severely the
+senator's doctrine of the limited powers of the general government. [3]
+
+In reply to Henry Clay he dealt chiefly with his "no pledge nor
+guarantee" doctrine, only such as could be drawn from his whole life,
+character and conduct; and drew such a picture of that statesman's past
+conduct, that the Kentucky senator could not feel flattered withal, to
+say the least; and in good round terms he denounced the subterfuges
+of politicians, and demanded of the nation justice in behalf of his
+afflicted people. In reading this correspondence one cannot but think
+that the Prophet is unnecessarily harsh of expression, and some phrases
+we cannot help but feel are certainly unworthy of him. The faults of
+these letters, however, are not so much the fault of the individual as
+the fault of the times. Those were days when moderation in language was
+certainly not characteristic of the political literature of the times.
+Personal abuse often seems to have been mistaken for argument, and
+severity of expression was often thought to out-weigh reason. One other
+thing should be remembered also, and that is the Prophet Joseph very
+largely depended upon others for the expression, for the literary form
+of those ideas which he advanced, and these secondary persons yielded
+too often to the spirit of the times in what they set down as coming
+from the Prophet.
+
+When it was ascertained that from none of the candidates in the field,
+the citizens of Nauvoo could hope for assistance in obtaining justice
+for the wrongs they suffered in Missouri, Joseph allowed a convention
+at Nauvoo to put his name in nomination for the office of president;
+and he published his "Views on the Powers and Policy of the Government
+of the United States," a document of great strength and one which
+excited considerable comment from the press of the country, very much
+of which was favorable.
+
+In this document the Prophet-candidate reviews the growth and
+development of the American government until it reached the "_Acme_
+of American glory, liberty, and prosperity" under the administration
+of General Jackson; and then the beginning of its decline under
+the "withering touch of Martin Van Buren." He advocated prison
+reform. Advised the people of the south to petition their respective
+legislatures to abolish slavery by the year 1850, or now, "and save the
+abolitionist from reproach and ruin, infamy and shame." He recommended
+the payment of a reasonable price to the slave-holders of the south
+for their slaves, to be paid by the surplus revenue, arising from the
+sale of public lands, and reduction in the wages paid to congress-men.
+The southern people, said he, are hospitable and noble. They will help
+to rid so free a country of every vestige of slavery, whenever they
+are assured of an equivalent for their property. He recommended more
+economy in the national and state governments, and more equality among
+the people.
+
+For the accommodation of the people he proposed the establishment of a
+national bank, with branches in each State, the directors thereof to be
+elected yearly by the people; and the profits arising from the business
+to be used as revenue, in defraying the expenses of government, the
+profits from the branch banks, being used in the respective States
+where they existed; and those arising from the parent institution by
+the general government; and reduce taxation to the extent of the net
+profits of these institutions.
+
+In the light of the experience he and the Latter-day Saints had passed
+through in Missouri, he advocated the idea of giving the president full
+power to send an army to suppress mobs, "and appealed to the States to
+repeal that relic of folly," which made it necessary for the governor
+of a State to make a demand of the president for troops in case of
+invasion or rebellion. "The governor himself," he goes on to say, "may
+be a mobber; and instead of being punished, as he should be, for murder
+or treason, he may destroy the very lives, rights and property he
+should protect."
+
+He favored the annexation of Texas, and the extension of the authority
+of the United States over contiguous territory on the west, and said:
+
+    When a neighboring realm petitioned to join the Union of the Sons
+    of Liberty, my voice would be, _come_--yea, come Texas, come
+    Mexico, come Canada, and come all the world; let us be brethren,
+    let us be one great family, and let there be a universal peace. [4]
+
+On the seventeenth of June, 1844, a State convention was held at
+Nauvoo, which ratified the views of Joseph on the "Powers and Policy
+of the Government," passed a series of resolutions inviting all men of
+all parties to assist in the work of reforming the government, and in a
+formal manner putting in nomination General Joseph Smith for President
+of the United States, and Sidney Rigdon for vice-president.
+
+James Arlington Bennett, of New York, was asked to take the second
+place on the ticket first; but, he being of foreign birth, was not
+eligible. Then the position was offered to Colonel Solomon Copeland,
+but for some reason he did not accept; so the next choice was Sidney
+Rigdon, who by that time had removed from Nauvoo to Pennsylvania.
+
+Arrangements were entered into, to hold a national convention in New
+York on the thirteenth of July following, and preparations were made
+for an active campaign in favor of the Prophet-nominee; but before the
+time for the national convention had arrived, the standard bearer of
+the new party of reform, Jeffersonian Democracy, [5] free trade and
+sailors' rights, fell pierced by assassins' bullets--the victim of a
+cruel mob.
+
+Of course Joseph had no hope that he would be elected to the
+presidency, but by becoming a candidate, he gave the citizens of Nauvoo
+an opportunity to act consistently with their views of what ought to
+be done for the general good of the nation, and at the same time,
+avoid the wrath of the political parties in the State of Illinois by
+affiliating with neither of them in the ensuing election; for whenever
+they voted with one of those parties the other became enraged and _vice
+versa_. Doubtless the best reasons for, and the best justification of,
+this movement on the part of the people of Nauvoo is to be found in an
+editorial article from the _Times and Seasons_ for February, 1844--with
+which I close this chapter:
+
+    WHO SHALL BE OUR NEXT PRESIDENT?
+
+    This is an inquiry which to us as a people is a matter of the most
+    paramount importance, and requires our most serious, calm, and
+    dispassionate reflection. Executive power, when correctly wielded,
+    is a great blessing to the people of this great commonwealth, and
+    forms one of the firmest pillars of our confederation. It watches
+    the interests of the whole community with a fatherly care; it
+    wisely balances the other legislative powers when overheated by
+    party spirit or sectional feeling; it watches with jealous care our
+    interests and commerce with foreign nations, and gives tone and
+    efficacy to legislative enactments.
+
+    The President stands at the head of these United States, and
+    is the mouth-piece of this vast republic. If he be a man of an
+    enlightened mind and a capacious soul,--if he be a virtuous man,
+    a statesman, a patriot, and a man of unflinching integrity,--if
+    he possess the same spirit that fired the souls of our venerable
+    sires, who founded this great commonwealth, and wishes to promote
+    the universal good of the whole republic, he may indeed be made a
+    blessing to the community.
+
+    But if he prostrates his high and honorable calling to base
+    and unworthy purposes,--if he makes use of the power which the
+    people have placed in his hands for their interests to gratify
+    his ambition, for the purpose of self-aggrandizement or pecuniary
+    interest,--if he meanly panders with demagogues, loses sight of the
+    interest of the nation, and sacrifices the Union on the altar of
+    sectional interests or party views, he renders himself unworthy of
+    the dignified trust reposed in him, debases the nation in the eyes
+    of the civilized world, and produces misery and confusion at home.
+    "When the wicked rule the people mourn."
+
+    There is perhaps no body of people in the United States who
+    are at the present time more interested about the issue of the
+    presidential contest than are the Latter-day Saints. And our
+    situation in regard to the two great political parties is a most
+    novel one. It is a fact well understood that we have suffered
+    great injustice from the State of Missouri, that we petitioned to
+    the authorities of that State for redress in vain, that we have
+    also memorialized Congress under the late administration, and have
+    obtained the heartless reply that "Congress has no power to redress
+    your grievances."
+
+    After having taken all the legal and constitutional steps that
+    we can, we are still groaning under accumulated wrongs. Is there
+    no power anywhere to redress our grievances? Missouri lacks the
+    disposition, and Congress lacks both the disposition and power (?);
+    and thus fifteen thousand inhabitants of these United States can
+    with impunity be dispossessed of their property; have their houses
+    burned, their property confiscated, many of their numbers murdered,
+    and the remainder driven from their homes and left to wander as
+    exiles in this boasted land of freedom and equal rights: and after
+    appealing again and again to the legally constituted authorities of
+    our land for redress, we are coolly told by our highest tribunals,
+    "We can do nothing for you."
+
+    We have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars into the coffers
+    of Congress for their lands, and they stand virtually pledged
+    to defend us in our rights, but they have not done it. If a man
+    steals a dollar from his neighbor, or steals a horse or a hog, he
+    can obtain redress; but we have been robbed by wholesale, the most
+    daring murders have been committed, and we are coolly told that we
+    can obtain no redress. If a steamboat is set on fire on our coast
+    by foreigners, even when she is engaged in aiding and abetting the
+    enemies of that power, it becomes a matter of national interference
+    and legislation; or if a foreigner, as in the case of McLeod,
+    is taken on our land and tried for supposed crimes committed by
+    him against our citizens, his nation interferes, and it becomes
+    a matter of negotiation and legislation. But our authorities
+    can calmly look on and see the citizens of a country butchered
+    with impunity: they can see two counties dispossessed of their
+    inhabitants, their houses burned, and their property confiscated;
+    and when the crys of fifteen thousand men, women and children
+    salute their ears, they deliberately tell us that we can obtain no
+    redress!
+
+    Hear it, therefore, ye mobbers! Proclaim it to all the scoundrels
+    in the Union! Let a standard be erected around which shall rally
+    all the renegadoes of the land: assemble yourselves and rob at
+    pleasure; murder till you are satisfied with blood; drive men,
+    women and children from their homes: there is no law to protect
+    them, and Congress has no power to redress their grievances; and
+    the great father of the Union (the President) has not got an ear to
+    listen to their complaints.
+
+    What shall we do under this state of things? In the event of either
+    of the prominent candidates, Van Buren or Clay, obtaining the
+    presidential chair, we should not be placed in any better situation.
+
+    In speaking of Mr. Clay, his politics are diametrically opposed to
+    ours. He inclines strongly to the old school of Federalists, and
+    as a matter of course would not favor our cause; neither could we
+    conscientiously vote for him. And we have yet stronger objections
+    to Mr. Van Buren on other grounds. He has sung the old song of
+    Congress--"Congress has no power to redress your grievances."
+
+    But did the matter rest here, it would not be so bad. He was in
+    the presidential chair at the time of our former difficulties. We
+    appealed to him on that occasion, but we appealed in vain, and his
+    sentiments are yet unchanged.
+
+    But all these thing are tolerable in comparison to what we have
+    yet to state. We have been informed from a respectable source that
+    there is an understanding between Mr. Benton, of Missouri, and Mr.
+    Van Buren, and a conditional compact entered into, that if Mr.
+    Benton will use his influence to get Mr. Van Buren elected, Van
+    Buren, when elected, shall use his executive influence to wipe away
+    the stain from Missouri by a further persecution of the Mormons,
+    and wreaking out vengeance on their heads, either by extermination
+    or by some other summary process. We could scarcely credit the
+    statement; and we hope yet for the sake of humanity, that the
+    suggestion is false: but we have too good reason to believe that we
+    are correctly informed.
+
+    If, then, this is the case can we conscientiously vote for a man
+    of this description, and put the weapon in his hands to cut our
+    throats with? We cannot. And however much we might wish to sustain
+    the Democratic nomination, we cannot--we will not vote for Van
+    Buren. Our interests, our property, our lives, and the lives of our
+    families are too dear to us to be sacrificed at the shrine of party
+    spirit and to gratify party feelings. We have been sold once in the
+    State of Missouri, and our liberties bartered away by political
+    demagogues, through executive intrigue, and we wish not to be
+    betrayed again by Benton and Van Buren.
+
+    Under these circumstances, the question again arises, Whom shall
+    we support? General Joseph Smith--a man of sterling worth and
+    integrity and of enlarged views--a man who has raised himself
+    from the humblest walks in life to stand at the head of a large,
+    intelligent, respectable and increasing society, that has spread
+    not only in this land, but in distant nations,--a man whose
+    talents and genius are of an exalted nature, and whose experience
+    has rendered him in every way adequate to the onerous duty.
+    Honorable, fearless, and energetic, he would administer justice
+    with an impartial hand, and magnify and dignify the office of Chief
+    magistrate of this land; and we feel assured that there is not a
+    man in the United States more competent for the task.
+
+    One great reason that we have for pursuing our present course is,
+    that at every election we have been made a political target for
+    the filthy demagogues in the country to shoot their loathsome
+    arrows at. And every story has been put into requisition to blast
+    our fame from the old fabrication of "walk on the water" down to
+    "the murder of ex-Governor Boggs." The journals have teemed with
+    this filthy trash, and even men who ought to have more respect
+    for themselves--men contending for the gubernatorial chair have
+    made use of terms so degrading, so mean, so humiliating, that a
+    Billingsgate fisherwoman would have considered herself disgraced
+    with. We refuse any longer to be thus bedaubed for either party.
+    We tell all such to let their filth flow in its own legitimate
+    channel, for we are sick of the loathsome smell.
+
+    Gentlemen, we are not going either to "murder ex-Governor Boggs,
+    nor a Mormon in this State for not giving us his money," nor are we
+    going to "walk on the water," nor "drown a woman," nor "defraud the
+    poor of their property," nor send "destroying angels after General
+    Bennett to kill him," nor "Marry spiritual wives," nor commit any
+    other outrageous act this election to help any party with. You must
+    get some other persons to perform these kind offices for you for
+    the future. We withdraw.
+
+    Under existing circumstances, we have no other alternative; and
+    if we can accomplish our object, well: if not, we shall have the
+    satisfaction of knowing that we have acted conscientiously, and
+    have used our best judgment. And if we have to throw away our
+    votes, we had better do so upon a worthy rather than upon an
+    unworthy individual, who might make use of the weapon we put in his
+    hand to destroy us with.
+
+    Whatever may be the opinions of men in general in regard to Mr.
+    Smith, we know that he needs only to be known to be admired; and
+    that it is the principles of honor, integrity, patriotism, and
+    philanthropy that have elevated him in the minds of his friends;
+    and the same principles, if seen and known, would beget the esteem
+    and confidence of all the patriotic and virtuous throughout the
+    Union.
+
+    Whatever, therefore, be the opinions of other men our course is
+    marked out, and our motto from henceforth will be--GENERAL JOSEPH
+    SMITH.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. History of Joseph Smith, Mill. Star, vol. xxi, p. 668.
+
+The remarks were made at a public meeting soon after the Prophet's
+release by the municipal court of Nauvoo from the custody of Reynolds
+and Wilson.
+
+2. See Appendix I.
+
+3. See Appendix II.
+
+4. See Appendix III.
+
+5. The fifth resolution adopted at the Nauvoo convention read as
+follows:
+
+_Resolved_, that the better to carry out the principles of liberty and
+equal rights, Jeffersonian Democracy, free trade, and sailors' rights,
+and the protection of person and property, we will support General
+Joseph Smith for the President of the United States at the ensuing
+election.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+THE PROJECTED MOVEMENT TO THE WEST.
+
+AS an evidence that the Prophet entertained no thought of success in
+his candidacy for the office of Chief Executive, we may mention the
+fact that, during the time that vigorous preparations were being made
+for the presidential canvass, he was setting on foot a scheme for
+taking the body of The Church into the west to settle Oregon. On the
+twentieth of February, 1844, the Prophet in his journal says:
+
+    "I instructed the Twelve Apostles to send out a delegation, and
+    investigate the location of California and Oregon, and hunt out
+    a good location, where we can remove to, after the temple is
+    completed, and where we can build a city in a day, and have a
+    government of our own, get up into the mountains, where the devil
+    cannot dig us out, and live in a healthy climate, where we can live
+    as old as we have a mind too."
+
+In accordance with that instruction, the Twelve called the council on
+the twenty-first, and Jonathan Dunham, Phinehas H. Young and David
+Fullmer volunteered to go; and Alphonzo Young, James Emmett, George D.
+Watt, and Daniel Spencer were called to go.
+
+Subsequently a memorial was drawn up by the Prophet, asking Congress
+to pass an enactment, authorizing him to raise a company for the
+purpose of establishing colonies in that vast, unsettled section of the
+country in the far West, known under the general name of Oregon. At
+that time there was no particular government existing in the region to
+which the names Oregon and California were loosely given. Nor was it
+certain whether that country would fall into the possession of England
+or the United States, as the northern boundary line question was then
+unsettled, and England and the United States held the country by a
+treaty of joint occupancy. As the Prophet preferred having an assurance
+of protection from the government on his enterprise, he asked Congress
+to pass the act before alluded to.
+
+Orson Pratt and John E. Page, two of the Twelve, went to Washington
+in the interest of this scheme, and urged its consideration among the
+Congressmen. Subsequently, in April, 1844, Orson Hyde was sent to
+Washington in the interest of the same great project; and through the
+influence of Mr. Hoge, Representative to Congress from the district
+in which Nauvoo was included. Mr. Hardin, and Stephen A. Douglass,
+succeeded in approaching a number of members of Congress on the subject
+but received small encouragement, as Congressmen then, as now, were
+extremely cautions in engaging in anything affecting their reputation
+and prospects for political preferment for the future. But however much
+these men objected to advocating anything which looked like favoring
+openly the scheme of the Prophet, they all concurred in affirming
+that he had the right to lead his people to Oregon to settle, and the
+government would protect them. Stephen A. Douglass remarked, that if he
+could command the following that Mr. Smith could, he would resign his
+seat in Congress, to go to the West. On this subject Orson Hyde made
+two exhaustive reports to the Prophet in letters from Washington, which
+I here insert:
+
+                                         WASHINGTON, April 25th, 1844.
+
+    HON. SIR,--I take the liberty to transmit through you to the
+    council of our Church the result of my labors thus far. I
+    arrived in this place on the 23rd instant, by way of Pittsburgh,
+    Philadelphia, and New Jersey.
+
+    I found Elder Orson Pratt here, Elder Page having been called home
+    to Pittsburgh on account of his wife's ill health. Elder O. Pratt
+    has been indefatigable in his exertions in prosecuting the business
+    entrusted to his charge. His business has been before the Senate,
+    and referred to the committee on the judiciary; and the report of
+    said committee is not yet rendered, which is the cause of his delay
+    in writing to you.
+
+    Yesterday we conversed with Messrs. Hoge, Hardin, Douglass, and
+    Wentworth, and last evening we spent several hours with the
+    Hon. Mr. Semple They all appear deeply interested in the Oregon
+    question, and received us with every demonstration of respect that
+    we could desire. Mr. Hoge thought that the bill would not pass,
+    from the fact that there already exists between England and America
+    a treaty for the joint occupancy of Oregon, and that any act of our
+    Government authorizing an armed force to be raised, and destined
+    for that country, would be regarded by England as an infraction of
+    that treaty, and a cause of her commencing hostilities against us.
+
+    But my reply was, These volunteers are not to be considered any
+    part or portion of the army of the United States, neither acting
+    under the direction or authority of the United States; and, said I,
+    for men to go there and settle in the character of emigrants cannot
+    be regarded by our Government as deviating in the least degree from
+    her plighted faith, unless she intends to tamely submit to British
+    monopoly in that country.
+
+    Mr. H., said he would present the memorial, if we desired it. I
+    thanked him for his kind offer, but observed that I was not yet
+    prepared for the bill to be submitted, but wished to elicit all the
+    facts relative to the condition of Oregon, and also advise with
+    many other members relative to the matter; and we could better
+    determine then how the bill should be introduced. We do not want it
+    presented and referred to a standing committee, and stuck away with
+    five or ten cords of petitions, and that be the last of it; but we
+    want the memorial read, a move made to suspend the rules of the
+    house, and the bill printed, etc.
+
+    Mr. Wentworth said--"I am for Oregon anyhow. You may set me down on
+    your list, and I will go for you if you will go for Oregon."
+
+    Judge Douglass has been quite ill, but is just recovered; he will
+    help all he can; Mr. Hardin likewise. But Major Semple says that
+    he does not believe anything will be done about Texas or Oregon
+    this session, for it might have a very important effect upon the
+    presidential election; and politicians are slow to move when such
+    doubtful and important matters are likely to be affected by it.
+    He says that there are already two bills before the house for
+    establishing a territorial government in Oregon, and to protect the
+    emigrants there; and now he says, Were your bill to be introduced,
+    it might be looked upon that you claimed the sole right of
+    emigrating to and settling that new country to the exclusion of
+    others. He was in favor of the Oregon being settled, and he thought
+    the bills already before the house would extend equal protection to
+    us; and equal protection to every class of citizens was what the
+    government could rightly do; but particular privileges to any one
+    class they could not rightly do.
+
+    I observed that the bill asked for no exclusive rights. It asks not
+    for exclusive rights in Oregon, neither do we wish it. Other people
+    might make a move to Oregon, and no prejudices bar their way, and
+    their motives would not be misinterpreted.
+
+    But, said I, Missouri knows her guilt; and should we attempt to
+    march to Oregon without the government throwing a protective shield
+    over us, Missouri's crimes would lead her first to misinterpret
+    our intentions, to fan the flame of popular excitement against
+    us, and scatter the firebrands of a misguided zeal among the
+    combustible materials of other places, creating a flame too hot
+    for us to encounter--too desolating for us to indulge the hope of
+    successfully prosecuting the grand and benevolent enterprise we
+    have conceived. We have been compelled to relinquish our rights
+    in Missouri. We have been forcibly driven from our homes, leaving
+    our property and inheritances as spoil to the oppressor; and more
+    or less in Illinois we have been subject to the whims and chimeras
+    of illiberal men, and to threats, to vexatious prosecutions, and
+    lawsuits.
+
+    Our government professes to have no power to help us, or to redress
+    the wrongs which we have suffered; and we now ask the government
+    to protect us while raising our volunteers. And when we get into
+    Oregon we will protect ourselves and all others who wish our
+    protection. And after subduing a new country, encountering all
+    its difficulties and hardships, and sustaining the just claims
+    of our nation to its soil, we believe that the generosity of
+    our government towards us will be equal to our enterprise and
+    patriotism, and that they will allow us a grant or territory of
+    land, which will be both honorable in them and satisfactory to us.
+
+    This, he says, is all very just and reasonable. But still he thinks
+    that Congress will take no step in relation to Oregon, from the
+    fact that his resolution requesting the President of the United
+    States to give notice to the British government for the abolition
+    of the treaty of joint occupation was voted down; and while that
+    treaty is in force, our government dare do nothing in relation to
+    that country. This resolution was introduced by Mr. Semple to pave
+    the way for the passage of those bills in relation to a territorial
+    government in Oregon.
+
+    All our members join in the acknowledgement that you have an
+    undoubted right to go to Oregon with all the emigrants you can
+    raise. They say the existing laws protect you as much as law can
+    protect you; and should Congress pass an additional law, it would
+    not prevent wicked men from shooting you down as they did in
+    Missouri. All the Oregon men in Congress would be glad if we would
+    go to that country and settle it.
+
+    I will now give you my opinion in relation to this matter. It
+    is made up from the spirit of the times in a hasty manner,
+    nevertheless I think time will prove it correct:--That Congress
+    will pass not act in relation to Texas or Oregon at present. She
+    is afraid of England, afraid of Mexico, afraid the presidential
+    election will be twisted by it. The members all appear like
+    unskillful players at checkers--afraid to move, for they see not
+    which way to move advantageously. All are figuring and playing
+    round the grand and important questions. In the days of our Lord
+    the people neglected the weightier matters of the law, but tithed
+    mint, rue, anise, and cummin; but I think here in Washington they
+    do little else than tithe the _mint_.
+
+    A member of Congress is in no enviable situation: if he will boldly
+    advocate true principles, he loses his influence and becomes
+    unpopular; and whoever is committed and has lost his influence has
+    no power to benefit his constituents, so that all go to figuring
+    and playing round the great points.
+
+    Mr. Semple said that Mr. Smith could not constitutionally be
+    constituted a member of the army by law; and this, if nothing
+    else, would prevent its passage. I observed that I would in that
+    case strike out that clause. Perhaps I took an unwarrantable
+    responsibility upon myself; but where I get into a straight place,
+    I can do no better than act according to what appears most correct.
+
+    I do not intend the opinion that I have hastily given shall abate
+    my zeal to drive the matter through, but I have given the opinion
+    for your benefit, that your indulgence of the hope that Congress
+    will do something for us may not cause you to delay any important
+    action.
+
+    There is already a government established in Oregon to some extent;
+    magistrates have been chosen by the people, &c. This is on the
+    south of the Columbia. North of that river the Hudson Bay Company
+    occupy. There is some good country in Oregon, but a great deal of
+    sandy, barren desert. I have seen a gentleman who has been there,
+    and also in California.
+
+    The most of the settlers in Oregon and Texas are our old enemies,
+    the mobocrats of Missouri. If, however, the settlement of Oregon
+    and Texas be determined upon, the sooner the move is made the
+    better; and I would not advise any delay for the action of our
+    government, for there is such a jealousy of our rising power
+    already, that government will do nothing to favor us. If the Saints
+    possess the kingdom, I think they will have to take it; and the
+    sooner it is done the more easily it is accomplished.
+
+    Your superior wisdom must determine whether to go to Oregon, to
+    Texas, or to remain within these United States, and send forth the
+    most efficient men to build up churches, and let them remain for
+    the time being; and in the meantime send some _wise_ men among the
+    Indians, and teach them civilization and religion, to cultivate
+    the soil, to live in peace with one another and with all men. But
+    whatever you do, don't be deluded with the hope that government
+    will foster us, and thus delay an action which the present is the
+    most proper time that ever will be [in which to accomplish it.--R.]
+
+    Oregon is becoming a popular question; the fever of emigration
+    begins to rage. If the Mormons become the early majority, others
+    will not come; if the Mormons do not become an early majority, the
+    others will not allow us to come.
+
+    Elder Pratt is faithful, useful, and true; he has got the run of
+    matters here very well, and is with me in all my deliberations,
+    visitings, &c.
+
+    Major Semple goes with us this evening to introduce us to the
+    President, and to view the White House.
+
+    My heart and hand are with you. May heaven bless you and me. As
+    ever, I am
+
+                                                            ORSON HYDE.
+
+    To the council of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
+
+Also the following letter:--
+
+                                           WASHINGTON, April 26, 1844.
+
+    DEAR SIR,--Today I trouble you with another communication, which
+    you will please have the goodness to lay before our council.
+
+    We were last evening introduced to the President at the White
+    House by the politeness of Major Semple, where we spent an hour
+    very agreeably. The President is a very plain, homespun, familiar,
+    farmer-like man. He spoke of our troubles in Missouri, and
+    regretted that we had met with such treatment. He asked us how we
+    were getting along in Illinois. I told him that we were contending
+    with the difficulties of a new country, and laboring under the
+    disadvantageous consequences of being driven from our property and
+    homes in Missouri.
+
+    We have this day had a long conversation with Judge Douglass. He
+    is ripe for Oregon and the California. He said he would resign
+    his seat in Congress if he could command the force that Mr. Smith
+    could, and would be on the march to that country in a month.
+
+    I learn that the eyes of many aspiring politicians in this place
+    are now upon that country, and that there is so much jealousy
+    between them that they will probably pass no bill in relation to
+    it. Now all these politicians rely upon the arm of our government
+    to protect them there; and if government were to pass an act
+    establishing a territorial government west of the Rocky Mountains
+    there would be at once a tremendous rush of emigration; but if
+    government pass no act in relation to it, these men have not
+    stamina or sufficient confidence in themselves and their own
+    resources to hazard the enterprise.
+
+    The northern Whig members are almost to a man against Texas and
+    Oregon; but should the present administration succeed in annexing
+    Texas, then all the Whigs would turn round in favor of Oregon; for
+    if Texas be admitted, slavery is extended to the south; then free
+    States must be added to the west to keep up a balance of power
+    between the slave and the free States.
+
+    Should Texas be admitted, war with Mexico is looked upon as
+    inevitable. The Senate have been in secret session on the
+    ratification of the treaty of annexation; but what they did we
+    cannot say. General Gaines, who was boarding at the same house
+    with Judge Douglass, was secretly ordered to repair to the Texan
+    frontier four days ago, and left immediately. I asked Judge D. if
+    he did not speak loud for annexation. He says, no. Santa Anna,
+    being a jealous, hot-headed pate, might be suspicious the treaty
+    would be ratified by the Senate, and upon mere suspicion might
+    attempt some hostilities, and Gaines had been ordered there to be
+    on the alert and ready for action if necessary. Probably our navy
+    will in a few days be mostly in the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+    There are many powerful checks upon our government, preventing her
+    from moving in any of these important matters; and for aught I
+    know, these checks are permitted, to prevent our government from
+    extending her jurisdiction over that territory which God designs to
+    give to His Saints. Judge Douglass says he would equally as soon go
+    to that country without an act of Congress as with; 'and that in
+    five years a noble State might be formed; and then, if they would
+    not receive us into the Union, we would have a government of our
+    own.' He is decidedly of the opinion that congress will pass no act
+    in favor of any particular man going there; but he says if any man
+    will go, and desires that privilege, and has confidence in his own
+    ability to perform it he already has the right, and the sooner he
+    is off the better for his scheme.
+
+    It is the opinion here among politicians that it will be extremely
+    difficult to have any bill pass in relation to the encouragement of
+    emigration to Oregon; but much more difficult to get a bill passed
+    designating any particular man to go. But all concur in the opinion
+    that we are authorized already.
+
+    In case of a removal to that country, Nauvoo is the place of
+    general rendezvous. Our course from thence would be westward
+    through Iowa, bearing a little north until we came to the Missouri
+    river, leaving the State of Missouri on the left, thence onward
+    till we come to the Platte, thence up the north fork of the Platte
+    to the mouth of Sweetwater river in longitude 107 45' W., and
+    thence up said Sweetwater river to the South Pass of the Rocky
+    Mountains, about eleven hundred miles from Nauvoo; and from said
+    South Pass in latitude 42 28' north to the Umpaque and Klamet
+    valleys in Oregon, bordering on California, is about 600 miles,
+    making the distance from Nauvoo to the best portions of Oregon
+    1,700 miles.
+
+    There is no government established there; and it is so near
+    California that when a government shall be established there, it
+    may readily embrace that country likewise. There is much barren
+    country, rocks, and mountains, in Oregon; but the valleys are very
+    fertile. I am persuaded that Congress will pass no act in relation
+    to that country, from the fact that the resolution requesting
+    the President to give notice to the British government for the
+    discontinuance of the treaty of joint occupation of Oregon was
+    voted down with a rush; and this notice must be given before any
+    action can be had, unless Congress violates the treaty; at least so
+    say the politicians here.
+
+    Judge Douglass has given me a map of Oregon, and also a report on
+    an exploration of the country lying between the Missouri river and
+    the Rocky Mountains on the line of the Kansas and Great Platte
+    rivers, by Lieutenant J. C. Fremont, of the corps of topographical
+    engineers. On receiving it I expressed a wish that Mr. Smith could
+    see it. Judge D. says it is a public document, and I will frank it
+    to him. I accepted his offer, and the book will be forthcoming to
+    him. The people are so eager for it here that they have even stolen
+    it out of the library. The author is Mr. Benton's son-in-law.
+    Judge D. borrowed it of Mr. B. I was not to tell anyone in this
+    city where I got it. The book is a most valuable document to any
+    one contemplating a journey to Oregon. The directions which I have
+    given may not be exactly correct, but the book will tell correctly.
+    Judge D. says he can direct Mr. Smith to several gentlemen in
+    California who will be able to give him any information on the
+    state of affairs in that country; and when he returns to Illinois,
+    he will visit Mr. Smith.
+
+    Brother Pratt and myself drafted a bill this morning, and handed
+    it in to the committee on the judiciary from the Senate, asking
+    an appropriation of two million dollars for the relief of the
+    sufferers among our people in Missouri in 1836-9, to be deposited
+    in the hands of the city council of Nauvoo, and by them dealt out
+    to the sufferers in proportion to their loss. We intend to tease
+    them until we either provoke them or get them to do something
+    for us. I have learned this much--that if we want Congress to do
+    anything for us in drawing up our memorial, we must not ask what
+    is right in the matter, but we must ask what kind of a thing will
+    Congress pass? Will it suit the politics of the majority? Will
+    it be popular or unpopular? For you might as well drive a musket
+    ball through a cotton bag, or the Gospel of Christ through the
+    heart of a priest, case-hardened by sectarianism, bigotry, and
+    superstition, or a camel through the eye of a needle, as to drive
+    anything through Congress that will operate against the popularity
+    of politicians.
+
+    I shall probably leave here in a few days, and Brother Pratt will
+    remain. I go to get money to sustain ourselves with.
+
+    I shall write again soon, and let you know what restrictions, if
+    any, are laid upon our citizens in relation to passing through the
+    Indian territories. I shall communicate everything I think will
+    benefit. In the meantime if the council have any instructions to
+    us, we shall be happy to receive them here or at Philadelphia.
+
+    John Ross is here; we intend to see him. It is uncertain when
+    Congress rises. It will be a long pull in my opinion. As ever, I am,
+
+                                                Yours sincerely,
+                                                            ORSON HYDE.
+
+    Elder Pratt's best respects to the brethren.
+
+An event soon afterwards took place in the House of Representatives
+before the Prophet's petition was introduced, which put at rest all
+hopes of Congress doing anything at that time in relation to the Oregon
+territory. A resolution was introduced giving Great Britain notice that
+the treaty of joint occupancy of that country was at an end, but it
+was promptly voted down. That virtually served public notice that the
+Oregon question was not to be reopened by Congress, at least not until
+the conclusion of the presidential election.
+
+Sufficient may be gathered from what is set down in the above, to prove
+that the mind of the Prophet Joseph was bent on establishing his people
+in the West--somewhere in the Rocky Mountains--so soon as they could
+complete the temple. The subject began to take possession of his mind
+wholly. Some eighteen months before his formal appeal to Congress, for
+the privilege of settling with his people in the far West, under the
+protecting aegis of the general government, _viz_., on the sixth of
+August, 1842, he prophesied, that his people would continue to suffer
+much persecution, and at last be driven to the Rocky Mountains. This is
+the prophecy as it stands in the Prophet's journal:
+
+    Saturday, sixth, [August]. Passed over the river to Montrose,
+    Iowa, in company with General Adams, Colonel Brewer, and others,
+    and witnessed the installation of the officers of the Rising Sun
+    Lodge, of Ancient York Masons, at Montrose, by General James Adams,
+    Deputy Grand Master of Illinois. While the Deputy Grand Master was
+    engaged in giving the requisite instruction to the Master elect, I
+    had a conversation with a number of brethren in the shade of the
+    building on the subject of our persecutions in Missouri, and the
+    constant annoyance which has followed us since we were driven from
+    that State. I prophesied that the Saints would continue to suffer
+    much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains, many
+    would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors,
+    or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease, and some
+    of you will live to go and assist in making settlements and build
+    cities, and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of
+    the Rocky Mountains. [1]--_Millennial Star, Vol. xix, page 630_.
+
+As persecution in Illinois grew more relentless, and mobocrats more
+bold, until the whole horizon appeared black, and threatening with
+hatred toward the citizens of Nauvoo, the Prophet told them repeatedly
+it was "light in the west."
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. See the author's work, "Succession in the Presidency," where the
+subject is more exhaustively considered.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+THE STANDARD OF PEACE.
+
+MEANTIME the people of Nauvoo, with the Prophet as chief mover in the
+matter, sought to establish peaceful relations with their neighbors.
+Armed conflict with surrounding peoples, or with any people, was no
+part of the policy of Joseph Smith; and no part of the work that he
+had in hand. It is true that it may be said of the work he introduced,
+as Jesus said of the work which He began by His personal ministry that
+it brought not peace but a sword; [1] in each case, however, "the
+sword" has been found in the hands, not of those who have accepted the
+Gospel, but in the hands of those who have rejected it, and opposed it,
+and made war upon it. Early in the history of the work brought forth
+by Joseph Smith the Lord commanded His servants to "renounce war and
+proclaim peace;" [2] and true to this spirit of the work the Prophet
+especially sought for peace. In the _Warsaw Signal_ of the 14th of
+February Governor Ford published the following letter to the citizens
+of Hancock County, in the hope, evidently, of quelling the threatening
+storm:
+
+                                        SPRINGFIELD, January 29, 1844.
+
+    DEAR SIR,--I have received the copy of the proceedings and
+    resolutions of a meeting of the citizens of Hancock County, which
+    you did me the honour to send me.
+
+    I have observed with regret that occasions have been presented for
+    disturbing the peace of your county; and if I knew what I could
+    legally do to apply a corrective, I would be very ready to do it.
+    But if you are a lawyer or at all conversant with the law, you will
+    know that, I as a governor, have no right to interfere in your
+    difficulties.
+
+    As yet, I believe that there has been nothing like war among you;
+    and I hope that all of you will have the good sense to see the
+    necessity of preserving peace. If there is anything wrong in the
+    Nauvoo charters, or in the mode of administering them, you will see
+    that nothing short of legislative or judicial power is capable of
+    enforcing a remedy.
+
+    I myself had the honor of calling the attention of the Legislature
+    to this subject at the last session; but a large majority of both
+    political parties in that body either did not see the evil which
+    you complain of, or, if they did, they repeatedly refused to
+    correct it. And yet a call is made upon me, to do that which all
+    parties refused to do at the last session.
+
+    I have also been called upon to take away the arms from the
+    _Mormons_, to raise the militia to arrest a supposed fugitive, and
+    in fact to repeal some of the ordinances of the city of Nauvoo.
+
+    Hancock County is justly famed for its intelligence; and I cannot
+    believe that any of its citizens are so ignorant as not to know
+    that I have no power to do these things.
+
+    The absurd and preposterous nature of these requests gave some
+    color to the charge that they are made for political effect only.
+    I hope that this charge is untrue: for, in all candor, it would be
+    more creditable to those concerned to have their errors attributed
+    to ignorance than to a disposition to embroil the country in the
+    horrors of war for the advancement of party ends.
+
+    But if there should be any truth in the charge, (which God forbid)
+    I affectionately entreat all the good citizens engaged in it to
+    lay aside their designs and yield up their ears to the voice of
+    justice, reason and humanity. All that I can do at present is to
+    admonish both parties to beware of carrying matters to extremity.
+
+    Let it come to this--let a state of war ensue, and I will be
+    compelled to interfere with executive power. In that case also, I
+    wish, in a friendly, affectionate, and candid manner, to tell the
+    citizens of Hancock County, _Mormons_ and all, that my interference
+    will be against those who shall be the first transgressors.
+
+    I am bound by the laws and Constitution to regard you all as
+    citizens of the State, possessed of equal rights and privileges,
+    and to cherish the rights of one as dearly as the rights of
+    another. I can know no distinction among you except that of
+    assailant and assailed.
+
+    I hope, dear sir, you will do me the favor to publish this letter
+    in the papers of your county, for the satisfaction of all persons
+    concerned.
+
+                             I am, with the highest respect,
+                                           Your obedient servant,
+                                                          THOMAS FORD.
+
+To this letter three days later the Prophet-mayor made the following
+response in the _Nauvoo Neighbor_, under the caption
+
+    PACIFIC INNUENDO.
+
+    The very candid, pacific and highly creditable _advice_ which
+    Governor Ford has done himself the honor to address to "the
+    citizens of Hancock County, 'Mormons and all,'" and which appears
+    in the _Warsaw Signal_ of the 14th instant, is, like the balm
+    of Gilead, well calculated to ease the pain which has troubled
+    the heads and hearts of the Carthagenians, Warsawvians and other
+    over-jealous bodies for _weal and woe_.
+
+    It certainly must be admitted, on all hands, that Governor Ford
+    has exalted himself as a mediator, patriot, lawyer, governor,
+    peacemaker, and friend of all, not only to magnify the law and make
+    it honorable, but also in pointing out the _path of peace_.
+
+    Such is what the Latter-day Saints have ever sought at the hands of
+    those in authority; and with an approving conscience clear as the
+    crystal spring, and with a laudable intention warm as the summer
+    zephyr, and with a charitable prayer mellow as the morning dew, it
+    is now our highest consolation to hope that all difficulties will
+    cease, and give way to reason, sense, peace and goodwill.
+
+    The Saints, if they will be humble and wise, can now _practice_
+    what they _preach_, and soften by good examples, rather than harden
+    by a distinct course of conduct, the hearts of the people.
+
+    For general information, it may be well to say that there has
+    never been any cause for alarm as to the Latter-day Saints. The
+    Legislature of Illinois granted a liberal charter for the city of
+    Nauvoo; and let every honest man in the Union who has any knowledge
+    of her say whether she has not flourished beyond the most sanguine
+    anticipations of all. And while they witness her growing glory, let
+    them solemnly testify whether Nauvoo has _wilfully injured_ the
+    country, county or a single individual _one cent_.
+
+    With the strictest scrutiny publish the facts, whether a particle
+    of law has been evaded or broken: virtue and innocence need no
+    artificial covering. Political views and party distinctions never
+    should disturb the harmony of society; and when the whole truth
+    comes before a virtuous people, we are willing to abide the issue.
+
+    We will here refer to the _three late dismissals_ upon writs
+    of _habeas corpus_, of Joseph Smith, when arrested under the
+    requisitions of Missouri.
+
+    The first, in June, 1841, was tried at Monmouth, before Judge
+    Douglass, of the fifth judicial circuit; and as no exceptions
+    have been taken to that decision by this State or Missouri, but
+    Missouri had previously entered a _nolle prosequi_ on all the old
+    indictments against the "Mormons" in the difficulties of 1838, it
+    is taken for granted _that that decision was just_.
+
+    The second, in December, 1842, was tried at Springfield before
+    Judge Pope in the United States District Court; and from that
+    honorably discharged, as no exceptions from any source have been
+    made to those proceedings, it follows as a matter of course _that
+    that decision was just_!
+
+    And the third, in July, 1843, was tried at the city of Nauvoo,
+    before the municipal court of said city; and as no exceptions to
+    that discharge have been taken, and as the governor says there is
+    "evidence on the other side to show that the sheriff of Lee County
+    _voluntarily_ carried Mr. Reynolds (who had Mr. Smith in custody,)
+    to the city of Nauvoo without any coercion on the part of any one"
+    it must be admitted _that that decision was just_!
+
+    But is any man still unconvinced of the justness of these
+    strictures relative to the two last cases, let the astounding fact
+    go forth, that _Orin Porter Rockwell_, whom Boggs swore was the
+    principal in his assassination, and accessory to which Mr. Smith
+    was arrested, _has returned home, "clear of that sin_." In fact,
+    there was not a witness to get up an indictment against him.
+
+    The Messrs. Averys, who were unlawfully transported out of this
+    State, have returned to their families in peace; and there seems to
+    be no ground for contention, no cause for jealousy, and no excuse
+    for a surmise that any man, woman or child will suffer the least
+    inconvenience from General Smith, the charter of Nauvoo, the city
+    of Nauvoo, or even any of her citizens.
+
+    There is nothing for a bone of contention! Even those ordinances
+    which appear to excite the feeling of some people have recently
+    been _repealed_; so that if the "intelligent" inhabitants of
+    Hancock County want peace, want to abide by the governor's advice,
+    want to have a character abroad grow out of their character at
+    home, and really mean to follow the Savior's golden rule, "_To do
+    unto others as they would wish others to do unto them_," they will
+    be still _now_, and let their own works praise them in the gates of
+    justice and in the eyes of the surrounding world. Wise men ought to
+    have understanding enough to conquer men with kindness.
+
+    "A soft answer turns away wrath," says the wise man; and it will be
+    greatly to the credit of the Latter-day Saints to show the love of
+    God, by now kindly treating those who may have, in an unconscious
+    moment, done them wrong; for truly said Jesus, "_Pray for thine
+    enemies_."
+
+    Humanity towards all, reason and refinement to enforce virtue, and
+    good for evil are so eminently designed to cure more disorders of
+    society than an appeal to "arms," or even _argument_ untempered
+    with _friendship_ and the "one thing needful," that no vision
+    for the future, guideboard for the distant, or expositor for the
+    present, need trouble any one with what he ought to do.
+
+    His own good, his family's good, his neighbor's good, his country's
+    good, and all good seem to whisper to every person--the governor
+    has told you what to do--_now do it_.
+
+    The Constitution expects every man to do his duty; and when he
+    fails the law urges him; or, should he do too much, the same master
+    rebukes him.
+
+    Should reason, liberty, law, light and philanthropy now guide the
+    destinies of Hancock County with as much sincerity as has been
+    manifested for her notoriety or welfare, there can be no doubt
+    that peace, prosperity and happiness will prevail, and that future
+    generations as well as the present one will call Governor Ford a
+    peacemaker. The Latter-day Saints will, at all events, and profit
+    by the instruction, and call upon honest men to help them cherish
+    all the love, all the friendship, all the courtesy, all the kindly
+    feelings and all the generosity that ought to characterize _clever
+    people_ in a clever neighborhood, and leave candid men to judge
+    which tree exhibits the best fruit--the one with the most clubs and
+    sticks thrown into its boughs and the grass trodden down under it,
+    or the one with no sticks in it, some dead limbs and rank grass
+    growing under it; for by their signs ye can know their fruit, and
+    by the fruit ye know the trees.
+
+    Our motto, then, is _Peace with all_! If we have joy in the love of
+    God, let us try to give a reason of that joy, which all the world
+    cannot gainsay or resist. And may be, like as when Paul started
+    with recommendations to Damascus to persecute the Saints, some one
+    who has raised his hand against us with letters to men in high
+    places may see a light at noonday, above the brightness of the sun,
+    and hear the voice of Jesus saying, "_It is hard for thee to kick
+    against the pricks_."
+
+    Intelligence is sometimes the messenger of safety. And, willing to
+    aid the governor in his laudable endeavors to cultivate peace and
+    honor the laws, believing that very few of the citizens of Hancock
+    County will be found in the negative of such a goodly course; and
+    considering his views a kind of manifesto, or olive leaf, which
+    shows that there is rest for the soles of the Saints' feet, we give
+    it a place in the _Neighbor_, wishing it God speed, and saying,
+    _God bless good men and good measures!_ And as Nauvoo has been, so
+    it will continue to be, a good city, affording a good market to
+    a good country; and let those who do not mean to try the way of
+    transgressors, say "_Amen_."
+
+In addition to this in a note to the editor of the _Neighbor_, he
+advised that he take no further editorial notice of the fulminations
+of the editor of the _Warsaw Signal_ against the people of Nauvoo,
+but recommended that the advice of Governor Ford be honored, and that
+friendship and peace be cultivated with all men.
+
+The Prophet went further than this. He tendered the olive branch of
+peace even to Missouri. He dictated the following to W. W. Phelps which
+was published under the title--
+
+    A FRIENDLY HINT TO MISSOURI.
+
+    One of the most pleasing scenes that can transpire on earth, when
+    a sin has been committed by one person against another, is, _to
+    forgive that sin_; and then, according to the sublime and perfect
+    pattern of the Savior, pray to our Father in heaven _to forgive
+    also_.
+
+    Verily, verily, such a friendly rebuke is like the mellow zephyr
+    of summer's eve--it soothes, it cheers and gladdens the heart
+    of the humane and the savage. Well might the wise man exclaim,
+    "A soft answer turneth away wrath;" for men of sense, judgment,
+    and observation, in all the various periods of time, have been
+    witnesses, figuratively speaking, that _water, not wood, checks the
+    rage of fire_.
+
+    Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
+    the children of God." Wherefore, if the nation, a single state,
+    community, or family ought to be grateful for anything, _it is
+    peace_.
+
+    Peace, lovely child of heaven!--peace, like light from the same
+    great parent, gratifies, animates, and happifies the just and the
+    unjust; and is the very essence of happiness below, and bliss above.
+
+    He that does not strive with all his powers of body and mind,
+    with all his influence at home and abroad, and to cause others to
+    do so too, to seek peace and maintain it for his own benefit and
+    convenience, and for the honor of his State, nation, and country,
+    has no claim on the clemency of man; nor should he be entitled to
+    the friendship of woman or the protection of government.
+
+    He is the canker-worm to gnaw his own vitals, and the vulture to
+    prey upon his own body; and he is, as to his own prospects and
+    prosperity in life, a _felo-de-se_ of his own pleasure.
+
+    A community of such beings are not far from hell on earth, and
+    should be let alone as unfit for the smiles of the free or the
+    praise of the brave. * * * * * *
+
+    So much to preface this friendly hint to the State of Missouri;
+    for, notwithstanding some of her private citizens and public
+    officers have committed violence, robbery, and even murder upon
+    the rights and persons of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
+    Saints, yet compassion, dignity, and a sense of the principles of
+    religion among all classes, and honor and benevolence, mingled
+    with charity by high-minded patriots, lead me to suppose that
+    there are many worthy people in that State who will use their
+    influence and energies to bring about a settlement of all those old
+    difficulties, and use all consistent means to urge the State, for
+    her honor, prosperity, and good name, to restore every person she
+    or her citizens have expelled from her limits, to their rights,
+    and pay them all damage, that the great body of high-minded and
+    well-disposed Southern and Western gentlemen and ladies--the real
+    peacemakers of a western world, will go forth, good Samaritan-like,
+    and pour in the oil and wine, till all that can be healed are made
+    whole; and, after repentance, they shall be forgiven; for verily
+    the Scriptures say, "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that
+    repents, more than over ninety-and-nine just persons that need
+    no repentance." * * * * * *
+
+    When you meditate upon the massacre at Haun's mill, forget not that
+    the constitution of your State holds this broad truth to the world,
+    that none shall "be deprived of _life, liberty, or property_, but
+    by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land."
+
+    And when you assemble together in towns, countries, or districts,
+    whether to petition your legislature to pay the damage the Saints
+    have sustained in your State, by reason of oppression and misguided
+    zeal, or to restore them to their rights according to Republican
+    principles and benevolent designs, reflect, and make honorable,
+    or annihilate, such statute law as was in force in your State in
+    1838,--viz., "If twelve or more persons shall combine to levy war
+    against any part of the people of this State, or to remove forcibly
+    out of the State or from their habitations, evidenced by taking
+    arms and assembling to accomplish such purpose, every person so
+    offending shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for
+    a period not exceeding five years, or by a fine not exceeding five
+    thousand dollars, and imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding
+    six months."
+
+    Finally, if honor dignifies an honest people, if virtue exalts
+    a community, if wisdom guides great men, if principle governs
+    intelligent beings, if humanity spreads comfort among the needy,
+    and if religion affords consolation by showing that charity is
+    the first, best, and sweetest token of perfect love, then, O ye
+    good people of Missouri, like the woman in Scripture _who had lost
+    one of her ten pieces of silver_, arise, search diligently till
+    you find the lost piece, and then make a feast, and call in your
+    friends for joy.
+
+                  With due consideration,
+                      I am the friend of all good men,
+                                               JOSEPH SMITH.
+
+    Nauvoo, Ill., March 8, 1843.
+
+Surely this was going as far in the interests of peace as men or God
+could require him to go; but alas! there was to be no peace.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Matt. x: 34-40.
+
+2. August, 1833, Doc. & Cov. Sec. xcviii.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+"IN PERIL AMONG FALSE BRETHREN."
+
+THE winter of 1843-4 was big with events affecting the destinies
+of Nauvoo. During that winter were set on foot conspiracies which
+culminated in the destruction of Nauvoo. Men who stood nearest to the
+Prophet Joseph, and who were bound in honor to defend his life, not
+bare the knives that were to strike him down, combined together in
+secret covenant for his overthrow.
+
+Owing to the constant efforts of the Prophet's enemies in Missouri,
+to capture him and drag him to Missouri where he might be murdered
+with impunity, the force of police in Nauvoo was increased by the
+appointment of forty night-guards to patrol the city. These made it
+less convenient for the conspirators, who worked, as men ever do when
+engaged in such business--in the darkness. The night guards several
+times came in contact with men moving about the city in a manner
+which, to say the least, was suspicious; and soon complaints were
+made by these same parties that the city government was arbitrary and
+oppressive; they claimed that these night-watchmen threatened their
+peace and even started rumors that Joseph had appointed them for the
+purpose of intimidation.
+
+Among others who complained of the appointment of night-watchmen was
+William Marks, president of the Nauvoo stake. Joseph, in the course
+of a speech made at a meeting of the city council at the time of
+the appointment of the special watchmen, referred to the danger of
+invasion from Missouri and incidentally remarked: "We have a Judas
+in our midst." This gave great offense to both William Marks and
+the Law brothers. The Prophet in his journal, when speaking of the
+circumstance, says: "What can be the matter with these men? Is it that
+the wicked flee when no man pursueth, that hit pigeons always flutter,
+that drowning men clutch at straws, or that Presidents Law and Marks
+are absolutely traitors to The Church, that my remarks should produce
+such excitement in their minds? Can it be possible that the traitor
+whom Porter Rockwell reports to me as being in correspondence with my
+Missouri enemies is one of my quorum [the First Presidency]? The people
+in the town were astonished, almost every man saying to his neighbor,
+'Is it possible that Brother Law or Marks is a traitor, and would
+deliver Brother Joseph into the hands of his enemies in Missouri?' If
+not what can be the meaning of all this? The righteous are bold as a
+lion." [1]
+
+In the spring of 1844, the Prophet was apprised by two young men,
+Denison L. Harris and Robert Scott, the latter living in the family of
+William Law, of a secret movement then on foot to take his life, and
+the lives of several other leading men of The Church; among them the
+Prophet's brother, Hyrum. These young men were invited to the secret
+meetings by the conspirators, but before going, conferred with the
+Prophet, who told them to go, but to take no part in the proceedings of
+these wicked men against himself. They carried out his advice, and at
+the risk of their lives attended the secret meetings three times, and
+brought to Joseph a report of what they had witnessed. [2]
+
+In addition to the testimonies of these young men was that of M. G.
+Eaton, who expressed a willingness to make affidavit that there was a
+plot laid to kill Joseph Smith and others, and would give the names
+of those who had concocted it. There was also one A. B. Williams who
+said the same thing. These men went before Daniel H. Wells, at the
+time a justice of the peace, and made affidavit that such a plot as I
+have spoken of existed. In their statements they named as leaders of
+the movement, Chauncey L. Higbee, R. D. Foster, Joseph H. Jackson, and
+William and Wilson Law. These names correspond with those given by the
+young men before alluded to, except they also name Austin Cowles, a
+member of the High Council, at Nauvoo, as one of the active and leading
+conspirators.
+
+These statements were shortly confirmed by the action of the
+conspirators themselves, as they soon came out in open as well as
+secret opposition to the leading Church authorities; and in March a
+number of them were excommunicated for unchristianlike conduct. Among
+the number was William Law, a member in the First Presidency, his
+brother Wilson Law; the Higbee brothers, Chauncey L., and Francis M.,
+and Dr. Robert D. Foster.
+
+An effort was made by these apostates to organize a church after the
+pattern of the true Church, by the appointment of apostles, prophets,
+presidents, etc., but it failed miserably, their following was
+insignificant. These men were desperately wicked; in addition to gross
+licentiousness they were guilty of theft and of counterfeiting money.
+They brought much reproach upon the city of Nauvoo, since their crimes
+were traced to her borders, and that fact went far towards undoing the
+city's reputation abroad. But though these men at one time, and indeed
+up to the time of their excommunication, held high official positions
+in The Church and the city, their wickedness was not sustained either
+by The Church laws or by the members of The Church, or citizens of
+Nauvoo. It was known that there existed a band of desperate men within
+the city, and these parties were suspected, but it required some time
+to obtain proof sufficiently positive to act upon; and where the
+counterfeiting was done was never learned.
+
+The mask having at last fallen from the faces of this coterie of
+men, they joined with the avowed enemies of the Saints outside of
+Nauvoo, and openly advocated the repeal of the city charter, which
+but a short time before they had assisted to obtain. They violated on
+several occasions the city ordinances, resisted the city officers,
+and threatened the life of the mayor. These disturbances led to the
+arrests and trials before the municipal court, from which the accused
+generally appealed to the circuit courts; and retaliated by counter
+arrests of the city authorities for false imprisonment, defamation of
+character, etc. In all these cases the power of the municipal courts
+to grant writs of _habeas corpus_ was freely exercised, and released
+the city authorities, as the actions were malicious, and without
+sufficient cause on which to base the complaints. Thus the affairs of
+Nauvoo became more and more complicated, and the bitterness constantly
+increased.
+
+At last the disaffected parties imported a press into the city and
+proposed publishing a paper to be called the _Nauvoo Expositor_. It
+avowed its intention in the prospectus it published to agitate for
+the repeal of the Nauvoo charter, and also announced that since its
+position in the city of the Saints afforded it opportunities of being
+familiar with the abuses that prevailed, its publishers intended to
+give a full, candid and succinct statement of facts as they really
+existed in the city of Nauvoo, regardless of whose standing in the
+community might be imperiled. The proprietors of the paper were the
+band of conspirators already named, and Sylvester Emmons was employed
+as editor.
+
+The first, and indeed the only number of the _Expositor_ was published
+on the seventh day of June, 1844, and contained a most scandalous
+attack upon the most respectable citizens of Nauvoo. It at once filled
+the entire city with indignation, and the city council immediately took
+into consideration what would be the best method of dealing with it.
+The result of the council's meditations was this: Blackstone declared
+a libelous press a nuisance; the city charter gave to city authorities
+the power to declare what should be considered a nuisance and to
+prevent and remove the same; therefore it was
+
+    _Resolved_, by the city council of the city of Nauvoo, that the
+    printing office from whence issues the _Nauvoo Expositor_ is a
+    public nuisance, and also all of said _Nauvoo Expositors_, which
+    may be or exist, in said establishment; and the mayor is instructed
+    to cause said printing establishment and papers to be removed
+    without delay, in such manner as he may direct.
+
+On receiving this order the mayor issued instructions to the city
+marshal to destroy the press without delay, and at the same time gave
+orders to Jonathan Dunham, acting Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion,
+to assist the marshal with the Legion if called upon to do so.
+
+The marshal with a small force of men appeared before the _Expositor_
+printing establishment, informed one or more of the proprietors of the
+character of his mission, and demanded entrance into the building to
+carry out his instructions from the mayor. This was denied and the door
+locked; whereupon the marshal broke in the door, carried out the press,
+broke it in the street, pied the type and burned all the papers found
+in the office, and then reported to the mayor, who sent an account of
+these proceedings to the governor of the State.
+
+This act enraged the conspirators to a higher pitch of desperation.
+They set fire to their buildings and then fled to Carthage, the county
+seat of Hancock County, with the lie in their mouths that their lives
+were in danger in Nauvoo, and that they were driven away from their
+homes. Fortunately the police discovered the flames started by these
+incendiaries in time to extinguish them, so that they failed to have
+the smoking ruins of their own houses to support their story; but their
+misrepresentations spread like wild-fire and inflamed the public mind,
+already blinded with prejudice against the people of Nauvoo, to a point
+which made violence almost certain.
+
+Francis M. Higbee made a complaint before Thomas Morrison, a justice of
+the peace, against Joseph Smith and all the members of the Nauvoo city
+council for riot committed in destroying the anti-Mormon press. The
+warrant issued by the justice was served by Constable Bettisworth upon
+Joseph Smith at Nauvoo. It required him and the others named in the
+warrant to go before the justice issuing the warrant, "_or some other
+justice of the peace_." Joseph called the attention of the constable
+to this clause in the writ, and expressed a willingness to go before
+Esquire Johnson, or any other justice of the peace in Nauvoo. But
+Bettisworth was determined to take Joseph to Carthage before Justice
+Morrison, who had issued the writ. Joseph was equally determined not to
+go, and petitioned the municipal court for a writ of _habeas corpus_
+which was granted, and under it the prisoner was honorably discharged.
+The other parties mentioned in the writ followed his example and were
+also discharged.
+
+Meantime indignation meetings were held first at Warsaw, and afterwards
+in Carthage. The men who had used their uttermost endeavors, for more
+than two years to incite the people to acts of mob violence against the
+Saints, had now a popular war cry--"unhallowed hands had been laid upon
+the liberty of the press." "The law had ceased to be a protection to
+lives or property in Nauvoo!" "A mob at Nauvoo, under a city ordinance
+had violated the highest privilege in the government; and to seek
+redress in the ordinary mode would be utterly ineffectual." Therefore
+those in attendance upon these meetings adopted resolutions announcing
+themselves at all times ready to co-operate with their fellow-citizens
+in Missouri and Iowa to exterminate, _utterly exterminate_ the wicked
+and abominable Mormon leaders, the authors of their troubles.
+
+Committees were appointed to notify all persons in the respective
+townships suspected of being the "tools of the Prophet to leave
+immediately, on pain of _instant vengeance_." And it was further
+recommended that the adherents of Joseph Smith as a body, be "driven
+from the surrounding settlements into Nauvoo; that the Prophet and
+his miscreant adherents should then be demanded at their hands; and,
+if not surrendered, a war of entire extermination should be waged to
+the entire destruction, if necessary for the mob's protection, of his
+adherents; and to carry out these resolutions every citizen was called
+upon to arm himself."
+
+The mass meeting at Carthage, which had adopted the Warsaw resolutions
+was in full blast when the news arrived of the failure of Constable
+Bettisworth, to drag the Prophet into their midst. This increased the
+excitement, and poured more gall into the cup of bitterness. It was
+resolved that the "riot" in Nauvoo was still progressing, and of such
+a serious character as to demand executive interference; and therefore
+two discreet citizens were appointed to go to Springfield and lay the
+case before Governor Ford. But this appeal to the executive was not to
+interfere with the resolutions before passed--active preparations for
+the extermination of the Mormons were to be continued.
+
+The authorities at Nauvoo also dispatched trusty messengers to Governor
+Ford with truthful accounts of their proceedings, both as regards the
+destruction of the press and their action in refusing to accompany
+Constable Bettisworth to Carthage, that he might not be misled by a
+false representation of the case, or influenced by the thousand and one
+falsehoods that had been set on foot by the enemies of the Saints.
+
+Both parties then appealed to the executive of the State: the mob for
+assistance to carry out their murderous designs, and to give their
+proceedings a coloring of lawful authority, and the citizens of Nauvoo
+for protection against the combinations of their avowed enemies bent
+upon, and publicly pledged to their extermination.
+
+Without waiting the issue of this appeal, however, the mob forces
+in Carthage, Warsaw and other localities began active operations by
+sending their committees to the settlements of the Saints outside
+of Nauvoo, and threatening them with destruction if they did not
+accept one of three propositions: first, deny that Joseph Smith was
+a Prophet of God, and take up arms and accompany the mob to arrest
+him; second, gather up their effects and forthwith remove to the
+city of Nauvoo; third, give up their arms and remain quiet until the
+pending difficulties should be settled by the expulsion of their
+friends. Usually a few days were given the people to consider these
+propositions, which were utilized by the people in conferring with the
+Prophet, to know what he advised under the circumstances. The advice
+given, in its general purport was to yield up none of their rights as
+American citizens to the demand of mobocrats, but to maintain their
+rights wherever they were strong enough to resist the mob forces, and
+when they were not strong enough, retreat to Nauvoo.
+
+Besides the reports which came to Nauvoo from the Saints who were
+threatened, the air was filled with rumors of mob forces collecting on
+every hand. Great excitement was reported to exist in upper Missouri,
+the part of that State from which the Saints had been driven but six
+years before; and it was reported that the Missourians were going over
+into Illinois in large numbers to assist the anti-Mormons in and around
+Carthage. That arms and ammunition were sent over the Mississippi to
+the mob, is quite certain; and it is also known that Walter Bagley, the
+tax-collector for Hancock County, had spent some time in Missouri as
+an anti-Mormon agent and agitator; seeking to bring about a concerted
+action between the old enemies of the Saints, and those of like ilk in
+Illinois.
+
+While these hostile preparations were being made for his destruction,
+and the extermination of his people, those at all acquainted with the
+temperament of the Prophet Joseph, might well know that he was not
+idle. He kept an efficient corps of clerks busy copying reports and
+affidavits of threatened violence and insurrection, and sent them
+to the governor, whom he petitioned to come to Nauvoo and in person
+investigate the causes of the disturbance. Information was also sent to
+the President of the United States, acquainting him with the prospects
+of an insurrection, and an invasion of Illinois by Missourians, and
+asking him for protection.
+
+Nor was Joseph and his associates neglectful of anything that would
+have a tendency to allay the excitement. Jesse B. Thomas, judge of
+the circuit in which Hancock County was located, advised him to go
+before some justice of the peace of the county and have an examination
+of the charges specified in the writ issued by justice Morrison of
+Carthage, and that would take away all excuse for a mob, and he would
+be bound to order them to keep the peace. Some advised the Prophet to
+go to Carthage, but that he emphatically refused to do. But he and all
+others named in justice Morrison's warrant went before Squire Wells, a
+non-Mormon justice of the peace, and after a thorough investigation of
+the case were acquitted.
+
+In addition to these movements, a mass meeting was held in Nauvoo,
+at which John Taylor was chairman. Pacific resolutions were adopted,
+denying the misrepresentations of the apostates, and appointing men to
+go to the neighboring towns and settlements to present the truth to the
+people and allay excitement. These men were authorized to say that the
+members of the city council charged with riot and the violation of law,
+were willing to go before the circuit court for an investigation of
+their conduct in respect to the _Nauvoo Expositor_, and refused not to
+be bound over for such a hearing. But when this announcement was made
+and it was learned that Judge Thomas had advised this course to allay
+excitement, the mob threatened that a committee would wait upon the
+judge and give him a coat of tar and feathers for giving such advice.
+
+These pacific measures appearing to have little or no effect, and
+active preparations for hostilities continuing on the part of the
+enemy, Nauvoo was placed under martial law; the Legion was mustered
+into service, and Joseph in person took command of it. He was in full
+uniform when he appeared before the Legion, and mounting an unfinished
+frame building near the Mansion, he took occasion to address the
+Legion and the people for about an hour and a half; during which time
+he reviewed the events that had brought upon Nauvoo the issue that
+confronted them.
+
+To dispel any illusion that any of them might have that he was the only
+one threatened, he said:
+
+    It is thought by some that our enemies would be satisfied by my
+    destruction, but I tell you as soon as they have shed my blood,
+    they will thirst for the blood of every man in whose heart dwells
+    a single spark of the spirit of the fullness of the Gospel. The
+    opposition of these men is moved by the spirit of the adversary of
+    all righteousness. It is not only to destroy me, but every man and
+    woman who dares believe the doctrines that God hath inspired me to
+    teach to this generation--
+
+Words which subsequent events will prove to have been prophetic. He
+also said:
+
+    We have forwarded a particular account of all our doings to the
+    governor. We are ready to obey his commands, and we expect that
+    protection at his hands which we know to be our just due.
+
+We may add also, that when a petition was sent to the governor to come
+to Nauvoo in person to investigate the cause of the disturbance, the
+service of the Legion was tendered him to keep the peace. But that
+Joseph had come to a settled determination to maintain the rights of
+the people at all hazards, and submit no longer to mob violence, may be
+clearly understood from the spirit of these extracts from the speech
+made to the Legion on the occasion of his taking command of it.
+
+    We are American citizens. We live upon a soil for the liberties of
+    which our fathers periled their lives and split their blood upon
+    the battlefield. Those rights so dearly purchased shall not be
+    disgracefully trodden under foot by lawless marauders without at
+    least a noble effort on our part to sustain our liberties. Will you
+    stand by me to the death, and sustain at the peril of our lives,
+    the laws of our country, and the liberties and privileges which our
+    fathers have transmitted unto us, sealed with their sacred blood?
+    (Thousands shouted aye!) It is well. If you had not done it, I
+    would have gone out there, (pointing to the west) and would have
+    raised up a mighty people.
+
+    I call upon all men from Maine to the Rocky Mountains, and from
+    Mexico to British America, whose hearts thrill with horror to
+    behold the rights of free men trampled under foot, to come to the
+    deliverance of this people from the cruel hand of oppression,
+    cruelty, anarchy and misrule to which they have long been made
+    subject. * * * I call upon God and angels to witness that I have
+    unsheathed my sword with a firm and unalterable determination that
+    this people shall have their legal rights and shall be protected
+    from mob violence, or my blood shall be split upon the ground like
+    water, and my body be consigned to the silent tomb. While I live, I
+    will never tamely submit to the dominion of cursed mobocracy.
+
+There was much more of a like tenor, but this is sufficient to show
+the determination of the Prophet not to submit to the mobs then rising
+about him; and the people warmly seconded his resolution.
+
+At this juncture Joseph requested his brother Hyrum to take his family
+and go with them to Cincinnati. But Hyrum demurred and said, "Joseph,
+I can't leave you!" Joseph, turning to a number of brethren present,
+said: "I wish I could get Hyrum out of the way, so that he may live to
+avenge my blood, and I will stay with you and see it out." But Hyrum
+Smith was not the kind of man to leave his brother now that the hour
+of his severest trial had come upon him. His noble nature revolted
+at the thought, and though the spirit had doubtless whispered Joseph
+that his life and that of Hyrum's would be sacrificed in the impending
+crisis, his pathetic words, "Joseph, I can't leave you!" bear testimony
+to the nobility of the soul that uttered them, and is a witness to
+the strength of those bonds of love that bound him to his younger
+brother. Moreover, in consequence of the Prophet's premonitions of his
+approaching martyrdom, he had ordained his brother Hyrum to succeed him
+in the presidency of The Church; and hence this consideration as well
+as his affectionate regard for him as a brother doubtless led him to
+try to get Hyrum out of harm's way. [3]
+
+Word was sent to Brigham Young, then on a mission in the eastern
+States, to return to Nauvoo, and to communicate with the other Apostles
+and request them also to return to Nauvoo, as likewise all the Elders,
+and as many more good, faithful men as felt disposed to accompany them,
+to assist the Saints. Thus every effort was being put forth by the
+people of Nauvoo to resist oppression and maintain their rights.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Millennial Star, volume xxii: page 631. This Wm. Marks afterwards
+was prominent among those who induced the Prophet to come back and
+deliver himself up to his enemies after the Prophet had started west.
+After the Prophet's death he joined the apostate James J. Strang in his
+attempt to lead The Church, and still later was a principal factor in
+bringing into existence the "Josephite" or "Reorganized Church." See
+the author's work on "Succession in the Presidency of The Church."
+
+2. A full account of this conspiracy written by Horace Cummings was
+published in the Contributor, vol. v.
+
+3. "If Hyrum had lived he would not have stood between Joseph and the
+Twelve, but he would have stood for Joseph. Did Joseph ordain any man
+to take his place? He did. Who was it? It was Hyrum. But Hyrum fell a
+martyr before Joseph did."--_Brigham Young_, in a speech at the October
+conference at Nauvoo, 1844. In _Times and Seasons_, Vol. v. p. 683.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+COMPLIANCE WITH THE DEMANDS OF GOVERNOR FORD.
+
+IN the midst of these preparations, a message was received from
+Governor Ford, stating that he had arrived in Carthage in the interests
+of peace, and hoped to be able to avert the evils of war by his
+presence; and that he might the better judge of the situation he asked
+that well-informed and discreet persons be sent to him at Carthage,
+where he had established for the time his headquarters. This request
+of the governor's was gladly complied with on the part of the people
+of Nauvoo; and John Taylor and Dr. J. M. Bernhisel were appointed to
+represent their version of the situation, and for that purpose were
+furnished with a copy of the proceedings of the city council, and the
+affidavits of a number of citizens bearing on the subjects that would
+likely be discussed.
+
+These representatives of the citizens of Nauvoo, found the governor
+surrounded by their enemies--the Laws, Fosters, and Higbees, besides
+others living at Warsaw and Carthage. The only audience given to
+Messrs. Taylor and Bernhisel was in the presence of these parties, by
+whom they were frequently interrupted in the most insulting manner, and
+the parties insulting and abusing them were unchecked by Governor Ford.
+
+After the governor had heard the statements of these gentlemen and
+read the documents presented by them, he sent a written communication
+to the mayor, Joseph Smith, in which he said that by destroying the
+_Expositor_ press, the city council of Nauvoo had committed a gross
+outrage upon the laws and liberties of the people, and had violated the
+Constitution in several particulars. He also claimed that the municipal
+court of Nauvoo had exceeded its authority in granting writs of _habeas
+corpus_. He accepted the statement of the mob at Carthage that Joseph
+Smith refused to be tried by any other court than the municipal court
+of Nauvoo, although he had before him the most positive proof that
+Joseph was willing to go before any justice of the peace in Hancock
+County, except Justice Morrison of Carthage, where an angry mob had
+collected, and were threatening his destruction, and since the warrant
+was made returnable to the magistrate who issued it, or any other
+justice in the county, the Prophet expressed a willingness to go before
+any other justice, but very properly refused to go to Carthage. He was
+even willing to be bound over to appear in the circuit court to answer
+for the part he took in abating the _Expositor_ press as a nuisance.
+Yet in the face of these facts--in the face of the fact that all the
+parties charged with riot had appeared before D. H. Wells, a justice of
+the peace and a non-Mormon, and after investigation were acquitted--yet
+the governor charged the members of the city council with refusing
+to appear before any other than the municipal court of Nauvoo for an
+investigation. He demanded that the mayor and all persons in Nauvoo
+accused or sued submit in all cases implicitly to the process of the
+courts and to interpose no obstacles to an arrest, either by writ of
+_habeas corpus_ or otherwise. And in the case of the mayor and a number
+of the city council charged with riot, he required that they should
+be arrested by the same constable, by virtue of the same warrant, and
+tried before the same magistrate, whose authority he insisted had been
+resisted. "Nothing short of this," he added, "can vindicate the dignity
+of violated law, and allay the just excitement of the people." Messrs.
+Taylor and Bernhisel called his attention to the state of excitement in
+Carthage, and informed him that there were men there bent on killing
+the Prophet, and that to ensure his safety it would be necessary for
+him to be accompanied by an armed force which would doubtless provoke
+a collision. In answer to this the governor advised them to bring no
+arms, and pledged his faith as governor, and that of the State, to
+protect those who should go to Carthage for trial. He also made the
+same pledge in his written communication to Joseph.
+
+The conduct of the governor in thus adopting the reports of the enemies
+of the citizens of Nauvoo, and menacing the city with destruction, if
+his arbitrary commands were not complied with, created no small amount
+of astonishment in Nauvoo. Joseph, however, wrote a courteous reply,
+corrected the governor's errors, and also represented that the city
+council of Nauvoo had acted on their best judgment, aided by the best
+legal advice they could procure; but if a mistake had been made they
+were willing to make all things right; but asked that the mob might be
+dispersed, that their lives might not be endangered while on trial.
+Relative to going to Carthage, however, Joseph pointed out the fact
+that the governor himself in his written communication had expressed
+his fears that he could not control the mob; "in which case," he went
+on to say, "we are left to the mercy of the merciless. Sir, we dare not
+come for our lives would be in danger, and we are guilty of no crime."
+
+On a hasty consultation with his brother Hyrum, Dr. Richards, and
+Messrs. Taylor and Bernhisel, after the return of the latter from their
+conference with Governor Ford it was decided that Joseph should proceed
+to Washington and lay the case before President Tyler, and he informed
+Governor Ford of this intention in the letter above referred to. That
+plan, however, at a subsequent council meeting was abandoned; as Joseph
+received an inspiration to go to the West, and all would be well. He
+said to the trusted brethren in that council:
+
+    The way is open. It is clear to my mind what to do. All they
+    want is Hyrum and myself; then tell everybody to go about their
+    business, and not collect in groups, but scatter about. There is
+    no danger; they will come here and search for us. Let them search;
+    they will not harm you in person or in property, and not even a
+    hair of your head. We will cross the river tonight and go away to
+    the West.
+
+This was between nine and ten o'clock on the night of the twenty-second
+of June, and preparations were at once entered into to carry out
+this impression of the Spirit. W. W. Phelps was instructed to take
+the families of the Prophet and his brother to Cincinnati; and that
+night O. P. Rockwell rowed Joseph, Hyrum and Dr. Richards over the
+Mississippi to Montrose, and then returned with instructions to procure
+horses for them and make all necessary preparations to start for "the
+great basin in the Rocky Mountains."
+
+About ten o'clock the next day the governor's _posse_ arrived in Nauvoo
+to arrest Joseph, but not finding him it returned to Carthage, leaving
+a man by the name of Yates to watch for the Prophet's appearing. This
+man said that if the mayor and his brother were not given up, the
+governor had expressed a determination to send his troops into the city
+and guard it until they were found, if it took three years.
+
+At this crisis, some of Joseph's friends instead of rendering him all
+possible assistance to escape from his enemies, complained of his
+conduct as cowardly and entreated him to return to Nauvoo and not leave
+them like a false shepherd leaves his flock when the wolves attack
+them. The parties most forward in making this charge of cowardice were
+Reynolds Cahoon, L. D. Wasson and Hiram Kimball. Emma Smith, his wife,
+also sent a letter by the hand of Reynolds Cahoon, entreating him to
+return and give himself up, trusting to the pledges of the governor for
+a fair trial. Influenced by these entreaties to return, and stung by
+the taunts of cowardice from those who should have been his friends,
+he said: "If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of none to
+myself." And after a brief consultation with Rockwell and his brother
+Hyrum, against his better judgment, and with the conviction fixed in
+his soul that he would be killed, he resolved to return; and crossed
+over the river that evening to Nauvoo.
+
+His first act after arriving in the beautiful city of which he was
+the chief founder, was to send word to the governor, by the hand of
+Theodore Turley and Jedediah M. Grant that he would be ready to go
+to Carthage as early on the morrow as his (the governor's) _posse_
+could meet him--provided he could be assured a fair trial, and his
+witnesses not be abused. That message was delivered to the governor,
+and he decided at once to send a _posse_ to escort Joseph and his
+party to Carthage; but through the influence which Wilson Law, Joseph
+H. Jackson and others of like character had over him, he changed his
+good intention of sending a _posse_, and ordered Joseph's messengers to
+return that night with orders to him to be in Carthage the next day by
+ten o'clock without an escort; and he threatened that if Joseph did not
+give himself up by that time, Nauvoo would be destroyed.
+
+Owing to the jaded condition of their horses the messengers did not
+reach Nauvoo until daylight of the twenty-fourth. After the orders of
+the governor were delivered, the faithful brethren who reported them
+began to warn the Prophet against trusting himself in the hands of his
+enemies, but he stopped them and would not hear them further--he had
+decided on his course.
+
+Early on the morning of the twenty-fourth Joseph and the members
+of the city council, against whom complaints had been made before
+Justice Morrison, accompanied by a few friends, started for Carthage
+to give themselves up. As they passed the temple, the party paused,
+and the Prophet looked with admiration upon the noble edifice and the
+glorious landscape, which everywhere from that spot greets the eye,
+and then said: "This is the loveliest place, and the best people under
+the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them!" On the
+outskirts of the city they passed the home of Squire D. H. Wells, who
+at the time was sick. Joseph dismounted and called to see him. At
+parting the Prophet said to him cheerfully: "Squire Wells, I wish you
+to cherish my memory, and not think me the worst man in the world,
+either."
+
+About ten o'clock the party arrived within four miles of Carthage and
+there met a company of sixty mounted militiamen under the command of
+Captain Dunn, on their way to Nauvoo with orders from Governor Ford to
+demand the State arms in possession of the Nauvoo Legion. It was on the
+occasion of meeting these troops that Joseph uttered those prophetic
+words:
+
+"_I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer's
+morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards
+all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me--he was
+murdered in cold blood_."
+
+At the request of Captain Dunn he countersigned the governor's order
+for the State arms. But the captain prevailed upon him to return to
+Nauvoo and assist in collecting the arms, promising that afterwards
+the militia under his command should escort himself and party into
+Carthage, and he would protect them even at the risk of his own life,
+to which his men assented by three hearty cheers. It is supposed that
+Captain Dunn feared the people in Nauvoo might become exasperated and
+resent the indignity offered them in demanding the surrender of the
+State arms. Hence his anxiety to have Joseph return. A message was sent
+to the governor informing him of this new move.
+
+The arms were collected without any difficulty, though the people
+unwillingly surrendered them, since disarming them and allowing their
+enemies who had vowed their extermination to keep their arms, smacked
+of treachery; but the order of the governor and of their Prophet-leader
+was complied with.
+
+The arms were taken to the Masonic Hall and stacked up,
+Quartermaster-General Buckmaster receiving them.
+
+This demand for the State arms stirred the fiery indignation of Squire
+Wells to the very depths of his soul. He arose from his bed of sickness
+and carried what State arms he had--a pair of horse-pistols--to the
+appointed place, and threw them at the feet of Officer Buckmaster with
+the remark, "There's your arms!" Then as he glared at the officer, he
+said: "I have a pair of epaulets at home, and I have never disgraced
+them, either," and, too full of righteous wrath for further speech, he
+walked away.
+
+The arms collected, Captain Dunn thanked the people for their
+promptness in complying with the demands of the governor, and promised
+them that while they conducted themselves in such a peaceable manner
+they should be protected. The company of militia accompanied by Joseph
+and his party started for Carthage about six o'clock in the evening.
+
+Passing the Masonic Hall where a number of the citizens of Nauvoo still
+lingered, having been attracted there to witness the surrender of the
+State arms, the Prophet Joseph raised his hat and said: "Boys, if I
+don't come back, take care of yourselves. I am going like a lamb to the
+slaughter." When the company was passing his farm Joseph stopped and
+looked at it for a long time. Then after he had passed he turned and
+looked again, and yet again several times. His action occasioned some
+remarks by several of the company, to which, in reply he said: "If some
+of you had such a farm, and knew you would not see it any more, you
+would want to take a good look at it for the last time."
+
+It was midnight when the party entered Carthage, but a militia company
+encamped on the public square--the Carthage Greys--were aroused and
+gave vent to profane threats as the company passed, of which the
+following is a specimen: "Where's the d--n Prophet?" "Stand away, you
+McDonough boys, [1] and let us shoot the d--n Mormons!" "G--d d--n you,
+old Joe, we've got you now!" "Clear the way, and let us have a view of
+Joe Smith, the Prophet of God. He has seen the last of Nauvoo, we'll
+use him up now!"
+
+Amid such profanity and abuse, and violent threats, much of which was
+overheard by Governor Ford, the Prophet's party proceeded to Hamilton's
+hotel, which it entered and took quarters for the night. Under the same
+roof were sheltered the wicked apostates of Nauvoo, J. H. Jackson, the
+Foster brothers, the Higbees and the Laws, besides other desperate men
+who had sworn to take the life of the Prophet.
+
+The crowd which had followed the Nauvoo party from the public square
+still hung round the Hamilton House yelling and cursing, and acting
+like ravenous beasts hungry for their prey. Governor Ford pushed up a
+window and thus addressed them: "Gentlemen, I know your great anxiety
+to see Mr. Smith, which is natural enough, but it is quite too late
+tonight for you to have that opportunity; but I assure you, gentlemen,
+you shall have that privilege tomorrow morning, as I will cause him
+to pass before the troops upon the square, and I now wish you, with
+this assurance, quietly and peaceably to return to your quarters." In
+answer to this there was a faint "Hurrah, for Tom Ford," and the crowd
+withdrew. They could afford to wait. God's servants were in the hands
+of the merciless.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Captain Dunn's company was composed chiefly of men from McDonough
+County, hence the remark.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+THE MARTYRDOM.
+
+EARLY in the morning following their entrance into Carthage, Joseph,
+his brother Hyrum and the other members of the Nauvoo city council
+named in the warrant of arrest sworn out by the Higbees, voluntarily
+surrendered themselves to constable Bettisworth. Shortly afterwards the
+Prophet was again arrested by the same constable on a charge of treason
+against the State and people of Illinois, on the oath of Augustine
+Spencer. Hyrum was arrested on a similar charge, sworn out by Henry O.
+Norton. And thus the difficulties thickened.
+
+Soon after the second arrest, Governor Ford presented himself at their
+rooms at the Hamilton house, and requested Joseph to accompany him,
+as he desired to present him to the troops, to whom he had promised
+the night before a view of the Prophet. The troops had been drawn up
+in two lines and Joseph and Hyrum linking arms with Brigadier-General
+Miner R. Deming passed down them, accompanied by their friends and
+a company of Carthage Greys. They were introduced as General Joseph
+and General Hyrum Smith. The Carthage Greys, a few minutes before, at
+the headquarters of General Deming, had revolted and behaved in an
+uproarious manner, but were pacified by the governor, and accompanied
+him, General Deming and the Prophet and his party to where the other
+troops were drawn up in line. Here they again revolted because the
+Brothers Smith were introduced to the troops from McDonough County
+as "Generals" Smith. Some of the officers of the Carthage Greys
+threw up their hats, drew their swords and said they would introduce
+themselves to "the d--ned Mormons in a different style." They were
+again pacified by the governor, who promised them "full" satisfaction.
+But they continued to act in such an insubordinate manner that General
+Deming put them under arrest, [1] but afterwards released them without
+punishment.
+
+Shortly after this episode with the Carthage Greys, a number of the
+officers of other militia companies and other gentlemen curious to see
+the Prophet crowded into the hotel. Joseph took occasion to ask them
+if there was anything in his appearance to indicate that he was the
+desperate character his enemies represented him to be. To which they
+replied, "No, sir, your appearance would indicate the very contrary,
+General Smith; but we cannot see what is in your heart, neither can
+we tell what are your intentions." "Very true, gentlemen," quickly
+replied the Prophet, "you cannot see what is in my heart, and you are
+therefore unable to judge me or my intentions; but I can see what is in
+your hearts, and will tell you what I see. I can see that you thirst
+for blood, and nothing but my blood will satisfy you. It is not for
+crime of any description that I and my brethren are thus continually
+persecuted, and harassed by our enemies, but there are other motives,
+and some of them I have expressed, so far as relates to myself; and
+inasmuch as you and the people thirst for blood, I prophesy in the name
+of the Lord that you shall witness scenes of blood and sorrow to your
+entire satisfaction. Your souls shall be perfectly satiated with blood,
+and many of you who are now present shall have an opportunity to face
+the cannon's mouth from sources you think not of, and those people that
+desire this great evil upon me and my brethren shall be filled with
+sorrow because of the scenes of desolation and distress that await
+them. They shall seek for peace and shall not be able to find it.
+Gentlemen, you will find what I have told you will come true." [2]
+
+The members of the Nauvoo city council under arrest for riot, in
+destroying the _Expositor_ press, were taken before R. F. Smith,
+justice of the peace and also captain of the Carthage Greys. It
+will be remembered perhaps that Governor Ford had told Joseph, in a
+communication referred to in the last chapter, that nothing but his
+appearing before Justice Morrison, who issued the writ against him
+would vindicate the majesty of the law, but now the prisoners were at
+Carthage where Justice Morrison lived, and could have appeared before
+him, and were willing to do so, they were taken before another justice.
+
+In order to avoid increasing the excitement, the prisoners admitted
+there was sufficient cause to be bound over to appear at the next term
+of the circuit court for Hancock County. The bonds amounted to seven
+thousand five hundred dollars.
+
+Justice Smith dismissed his court without taking any action on the
+charge of treason under which the Brothers Smith were still held; but
+about eight o'clock the same evening, Constable Bettisworth appeared
+at their lodgings at the Hamilton House and insisted on their going to
+jail. The Prophet demanded to see the copy of the mittimus which was at
+first denied; but upon his counsel--Messrs Woods & Reid--informing the
+constable that the accused were entitled to a hearing before a justice,
+before they could be sent to jail, to the surprise of all present he
+produced a mittimus, issued by Justice R. F. Smith. It stated that
+Joseph and Hyrum Smith were under arrest charged with treason; "and
+have been," so the paper read, "brought before me, a justice of the
+peace, in and for said county, for trial at the seat of justice hereof,
+which trial has been necessarily postponed, by reason of the absence of
+material witnesses." Now, this mittimus, so far as it related to the
+prisoners appearing before Justice Smith was an infamous falsehood,
+"unless," as Lawyer Reid says, in the account he published of these
+proceedings--"unless the prisoners could have appeared before the
+justice _without being present in person or by counsel_!" The same
+representation of the case was made to me by Lawyer James W. Woods,
+who, at the time was associated with Mr. Reid as the Prophet's counsel,
+whom I met in the summer of 1880, in Iowa, and from whom at that time I
+received a detailed account of the proceedings.
+
+Joseph and his counsel and his friends protested most vigorously
+against this unlawful proceeding, but to no avail. R. F. Smith finding
+his mittimus unlawful, appealed to the governor as to what he should
+do; to which the governor answered: "You have the Carthage Greys
+at your command." That hint was sufficient. What the _justice_ had
+illegally begun, the same person as _captain_ must with unlawful force
+consummate! Yet when this same governor was appealed to for protection
+against this unhallowed as well as unlawful proceeding, he expressed
+himself as being very sorry the circumstance had occurred, but he
+really could not interfere with the civic powers!
+
+Elder John Taylor went to the governor and reminded him of his pledges
+of protection. Elder Taylor expressed his dissatisfaction at the course
+taken, and told the governor that if they were to be subject to mob
+rule, and to be dragged contrary to law to prison, at the instance
+of every scoundrel whose oath could be bought for a dram of whisky,
+his protection availed very little, and they had miscalculated the
+executive's promises.
+
+In the meantime a drunken rabble had collected in the street in front
+of the Hamilton House, and Captain Dunn with some twenty men came to
+guard the prisoners to the jail. The Prophet's friends stood by him
+in these trying times and followed him through the excited crowd in
+the direction of the jail. Stephen Markham walked on one side of the
+Prophet and his brother Hyrum and Dan Jones on the other, and with
+their walking sticks kept back the rabble, which several times broke
+through the guard, while Elder Taylor, Willard Richards and John S.
+Fullmer walked behind them.
+
+The jail was reached in safety and the prisoners given in charge of
+Mr. George W. Stigall, who first put them into the criminal's cell,
+but afterwards gave them the more comfortable quarters known as the
+"debtors' apartment." When night came the prisoners and their friends
+stretched themselves out on the floor of the old jail--and so passed
+the night of the twenty-fifth.
+
+Governor Ford represents in his "History of Illinois," that these men
+were placed in prison to protect them from the rabble, [3] but says not
+a word about the protests of the prisoners against being thrust into
+jail, or the illegal means employed in putting them there.
+
+In the forenoon of the twenty-sixth, a lengthy interview took place
+between Governor Ford and Joseph in which the whole cause of the
+trouble was reviewed, the causes leading up to the destruction of
+the _Expositor_ press, calling out the Legion on which the charge
+of treason was based, and all other affairs connected with the
+difficulties. Governor Ford condemned the action of the city council,
+but the course pursued by that body was ably defended by Joseph, and
+showed that even if they had been wrong in following the course they
+had taken, it was a matter for the courts to decide and not a thing
+for mobs to settle. In conclusion the Prophet told the Governor that
+he considered himself unsafe in Carthage, as the town was swarming
+with men who had openly sworn to take his life. He understood the
+governor contemplated going to Nauvoo, accompanied by the militia, to
+investigate certain charges about counterfeiting the United States
+currency, and if possible secure the dies and other implements used in
+manufacturing it, and Joseph demanded his freedom that he might go with
+him. The governor promised him that he should go. [4]
+
+The false mittimus on which Joseph and Hyrum Smith were thrust into
+prison, ordered the jailor to keep them in custody, "until discharged
+by due course of law." But on the afternoon of the twenty-sixth, Frank
+Worrell appeared before the jail in command of the Carthage Greys and
+demanded that the prisoners be delivered up to the constable to be
+taken before Justice R. F. Smith for trial. Against this proceeding the
+jailor protested, as the prisoners were placed in his keeping until
+"discharged by due course of law," and not at the demand of a constable
+or military despot. But by threats amounting to intimidation, Worrell
+compelled the jailor against his conviction of duty to surrender the
+prisoners to him.
+
+Meantime a mob had gathered at the door of the jail and seeing that
+things had assumed a threatening aspect, the Prophet stepped into
+the crowd, locked arms with one of the worst mobocrats, and with his
+brother Hyrum on the other arm, and followed by his faithful friends,
+proceeded to the court house. He had been unlawfully thrust into
+prison, and as illegally dragged out of it and exposed to imminent
+danger among his worst enemies.
+
+The counsel for the Brothers Smith asked for a continuance until the
+next day as they were without witnesses, not having been notified when
+they would come to trial. A continuance was granted until noon the next
+day. A new mittimus was made out and the prisoners committed again to
+prison--their old quarters. But after the prisoners were again lodged
+in jail, and without consulting either them or their counsel, Justice
+R. F. Smith changed the time of trial from noon on the twenty-seventh
+until the twenty-ninth.
+
+This change was made in consequence of a decision reached by Governor
+Ford and his military council to march all his troops into Nauvoo,
+except a company of fifty of the Carthage Greys that would be
+detailed to guard the prisoners. So Mr. R. F. Smith, acting, it will
+be remembered, in the double capacity of a justice of the peace and
+captain of the Carthage Greys, as a justice altered the date of the
+return of the subpoenas and excused the court until the twenty-ninth;
+that as a captain of a company of militia he might attend the military
+train entering Nauvoo in triumph!
+
+The evening of the twenty-sixth was spent very pleasantly by the
+prisoners and their friends--John Taylor, Willard Richards, John S.
+Fullmer, Stephen Markham and Dan Jones. Hyrum occupied the principal
+part of the time in reading accounts from the Book of Mormon of the
+deliverance of God's servants from prison, and in commenting upon them,
+with a view, doubtless, of cheering his brother Joseph, since the
+Prophet had expressed himself as having a presentiment of uneasiness as
+to his safety, that he had never before experienced when in the hands
+of his enemies.
+
+Late at night all retired to rest except Willard Richards, who by the
+flickering flame of a tallow candle continued his work of writing out
+some important documents. Joseph and Hyrum occupied the only bedstead
+in the room, and their friends lay side by side on the mattresses
+spread out on the floor. Sometime after midnight a single gun was fired
+near the prison. Elder Richards started in his chair, and Joseph rose
+from the bed where he had been lying, and stretched himself out on the
+floor between Fullmer and Jones.
+
+"Lay your head on my arm for a pillow, Brother John," said the
+Prophet to Fullmer as he kindly placed his arm under that person's
+head. Soon all became quiet, except in a low tone Fullmer and the
+Prophet continued to talk of presentiments the latter had received of
+approaching death. "I would like to see my family again," said he, "and
+I would to God that I could preach to the Saints in Nauvoo once more."
+Fullmer tried to cheer him by saying he thought he would have that
+privilege many times.
+
+Again all was silent, and everybody apparently asleep. But Joseph
+turned to Dan Jones and was heard to say, "Are you afraid to die?" To
+which the one addressed said: "Has that time come, think you? Engaged
+in such a cause I do not think death would have many terrors." And then
+the Prophet said: "You will yet see Wales"--his native land--"and fill
+the mission appointed you, before you die." [5] So passed away the
+night preceding the day which saw enacted that tragedy which robbed
+earth of two of the noblest men that ever lived upon it.
+
+As the morning light struggled through the windows of Carthage jail,
+the prisoners and their friends awoke, and the Prophet required Dan
+Jones to go down stairs and enquire of the guard about the gun that was
+fired in the night, what the meaning of it was, etc.
+
+Jones went accordingly, and found Frank Worrell in command of the guard
+and the answer he received to his inquiry was this: "We have had too
+much trouble to get old Joe here to let him ever escape alive, and
+unless you want to die with him, you had better leave before sun down;
+and you are not a d--n bit better than him for taking his part; and
+you'll see that I can prophesy better than old Joe, for neither he nor
+his brother, nor anyone who will remain with them, will see the sun set
+today." This answer Jones related to Joseph, who told him to go to the
+governor at once and report the words of the guard. On his way to the
+governor's quarters at the Hamilton House, Jones passed a crowd of men
+who were being addressed by a person unknown to him. He paused long
+enough to hear these words:
+
+"Our troops will be discharged this morning in obedience to orders,
+and for a sham we will leave the town; but when the governor and the
+McDonough troops have left for Nauvoo this forenoon, we will return and
+kill those men if we have to tear the jail down," (applause.) These
+words and what the captain of the guard said were faithfully reported
+to Governor Ford, in reply to which he said: "You are unnecessarily
+alarmed for the safety of your friends, sir, the people are not that
+cruel."
+
+Angered at such an answer the following conversation occurred:
+
+    _Jones_. The Messrs. Smith are American citizens, and have
+    surrendered themselves to your excellency upon your pledging your
+    honor for their safety; they are also master Masons, and as such I
+    demand of you the protection of their lives. If you do not this, I
+    have but one more desire, and that is, if you leave their lives in
+    the hands of those men to be sacrificed--
+
+    _Governor Ford_. What is that, sir?
+
+    _Jones_. It is that the Almighty will preserve my life to a proper
+    time and place, that I may testify that you have been timely warned
+    of their danger.
+
+The governor manifested some excitement during this conversation,
+turning pale at the Masonic warning Jones gave him. The effect,
+however, was but momentary.
+
+Jones returned to the jail after his conversation with the governor,
+but was denied admission. He then returned to the governor to secure
+a pass; and arrived at the square just as that officer was disbanding
+the militia. It is customary when the militia has been called together
+to assist in execution of the laws, or to suppress an insurrection, to
+dismiss the respective companies in charge of their several commanders
+to be marched home and there be disbanded. But in this instance the
+governor disbanded all the troops, except the Carthage Greys whom, it
+appears, he had selected to guard the jail, and the McDonough troops
+who were to accompany him to Nauvoo.
+
+Governor Ford himself, in his history of Illinois, represents that
+there were about twelve or thirteen hundred of the militia at Carthage
+and some five hundred at Warsaw. As the disbanded militia left the
+square, they acted in a boisterous manner, shouting that they would
+only go a short distance from town. and then come back and kill old Joe
+and Hyrum as soon as the governor was far enough out of town. Dan Jones
+called the attention of the governor to these threats, but he ignored
+them. I suppose these are the threats of which Governor Ford himself
+speaks in his history of these unfortunate events, when he says:
+
+    I had heard of some threats being made, but none of an attack upon
+    the prisoners whilst in jail. These threats seemed to be made by
+    individuals not acting in concert. They were no more than the
+    bluster which might have been expected, and furnished no indication
+    of numbers combining for this or any other purpose.
+
+It will be remembered that Governor Ford expressed a determination
+to march with all his forces into Nauvoo, and Joseph having heard of
+this, in the interview at the jail before alluded to, expressed a
+desire to accompany him, and the governor promised him he should go.
+This promise the governor failed to keep because a council of his
+officers convinced him that to take the Prophet with him to Nauvoo
+"would be highly inexpedient and dangerous." Indeed the whole plan of
+marching all his forces into Nauvoo, was abandoned. The expedition had
+been formed for the purpose of striking terror into the hearts of the
+citizens of Nauvoo, by a display of military force in their midst, and
+to satisfy the wishes of the anti-Mormons. Speaking of this projected
+semi-invasion of Nauvoo and the preparations made for the start,
+Governor Ford says:
+
+    I observed that some of the people became more and more excited and
+    inflammatory the further the preparations were advanced. Occasional
+    threats came to my ears of destroying the city and murdering or
+    expelling the inhabitants.
+
+    I had no objection to ease the terrors of the people by such a
+    display of force, and was most anxious also to search for the
+    alleged apparatus for making counterfeit money; and in fact to
+    inquire into all the charges made against that people, if I could
+    have been assured of my command against mutiny and insubordination.
+    But I gradually learned to my entire satisfaction that there was
+    a plan to get the troops into Nauvoo, and there to begin the war,
+    probably by some of our own party, or some of the seceding Mormons,
+    taking advantage of the night to fire on our own force, and then
+    lay it on the Mormons.
+
+    I was satisfied that there were those amongst us fully capable of
+    such an act, hoping that in the alarm, bustle and confusion of a
+    militia camp, the truth could not be discovered, and that it might
+    lead to the desired collision. [6]
+
+Such are the reasons assigned by Governor Ford for abandoning his plan
+of marching all his forces into Nauvoo. If he could persuade himself
+to believe that he had those under his command, who would resort to
+the means he himself alludes to in the foregoing, to bring about a
+collision with the citizens of Nauvoo; and that he was fearful that
+his whole command would mutiny when once in the city of the Saints, it
+is unfortunate for the fame of Governor Ford that his fears could not
+be aroused for the safety of his prisoners, who were left at the mercy
+of those same militia forces, of which he himself was distrustful, the
+only barrier between them and the fury of this mob-militia being a
+guard made up of their bitterest enemies.
+
+To satisfy the anti-Mormons the governor told them he would take a
+small force with him and go in search of counterfeiting apparatus and
+would make a speech to the citizens of Nauvoo, detailing to them the
+consequences of any acts of violence on their part. _En route_ for
+Nauvoo, however, some of his officers expressed fears that the Smiths
+would be killed, and the governor informs us that he reduced his
+forces, leaving part of his command on the way, and pushed with all
+speed for Nauvoo; that he might make a speech to the people there and
+return to Carthage that night, giving up the idea of remaining several
+days to search for counterfeiting apparatus and making inquiries into
+the charges against the Mormon people. Leaving him to pursue to his
+journey to Nauvoo, I return to note the events which took place at the
+jail.
+
+Cyrus H. Wheelock visited Carthage jail early on the morning of the
+27th, and when he departed for Nauvoo to secure witnesses and documents
+for the impending trial on the charge of treason, he left with the
+prisoners an old-fashioned, pepper-box revolver. Before leaving
+Carthage, however, he went to Governor Ford, (he leaving Carthage
+before the governor started,) and expressed his fears for the safety of
+the prisoners. He then started for Nauvoo, but with a heavy heart.
+
+Dan Jones was sent to Quincy by the Prophet with a letter to lawyer
+O. H. Browning, applying for his professional services in the pending
+trial. The letter was handed to Jones by A. W. Babbitt, the former not
+being allowed to enter the jail after leaving it in the morning. The
+mob being informed by the guard of the letter, set up the cry that Joe
+Smith was sending an order by Jones to the Nauvoo Legion to come and
+rescue him. A crowd surrounded Jones and demanded the letter but the
+fearless Welshman refused to give it up; whereupon some were in favor
+of forcing it from him, but there was a disagreement in the crowd about
+that, and while they were discussing the point, Jones mounted his horse
+and rode away.
+
+Stephen Markham being seen on the streets in the afternoon, a number of
+the Carthage Greys captured him, put him on his horse and forced him
+out of town at the point of the bayonet, notwithstanding he held a pass
+from the governor to go in and out of the jail at pleasure. This left
+but Elders Richards and Taylor with the Prophet and his brother in the
+prison. They passed the afternoon in pleasant conversation, reading and
+singing. Elder Taylor sand a hymn entitled "A poor wayfaring man of
+grief:" a peculiarly plaintive piece of poetry, and admirably suited to
+their circumstances:
+
+    A poor wayfaring man of grief Hath often crossed me on the way, Who
+    sued so humbly for relief That I could never answer, Nay.
+
+    I had not power to ask His name, Whereto He went or whence He came,
+    Yet there was something in His eye That won my love, I knew not why.
+
+    Once when my scanty meal was spread, He entered, not a word He
+    spake; Just perishing for want of bread, I gave Him all, He blessed
+    it, brake,
+
+    And ate, but gave me part again; Mine was an angel's portion then,
+    For while I fed with eager haste, The crust was manna to my taste.
+
+    I spied Him where a fountain burst Clear from the rock; His
+    strength was gone, The heedless water mocked His thirst, He heard
+    it, saw it hurrying on.
+
+    I ran and raised the suff'rer up; Thrice from the stream He drained
+    my cup, Dipped, and returned it running o'er; I drank and never
+    thirsted more.
+
+    'Twas night; the floods were out; it blew A winter-hurricane aloof;
+    I heard His voice abroad, and flew To bid Him welcome to my roof.
+
+    I warmed and clothed and cheered my guest, And laid Him on my couch
+    to rest, Then made the earth my bed, and seemed In Eden's garden
+    while I dreamed.
+
+    Stript, wounded, beaten nigh to death, I found Him by the highway
+    side; I roused His pulse, brought back His breath, Revived His
+    spirit, and supplied
+
+    Wine, oil, refreshment--He was healed; I had myself a wound
+    concealed, But from that hour forgot the smart, And peace bound up
+    my broken heart.
+
+    In prison I saw Him next, condemned To meet a traitor's doom at
+    morn; The tide of lying tongues I stemmed, And honored Him 'mid
+    shame and scorn.
+
+    My friendship's utmost zeal to try, He asked if I for Him would
+    die; The flesh was weak, my blood ran chill, But the free spirit
+    cried, "I will!"
+
+    Then in a moment to my view, The stranger darted from disguise; The
+    tokens in His hands I knew, The Savior stood before mine eyes.
+
+    He spake, and my poor name He named, "Of Me thou hast not been
+    ashamed; These deeds shall thy memorial be, Fear not, thou didst
+    them unto Me."
+
+Late in the afternoon Mr. Stigall, the jailor, came in and suggested
+that they would be safer in the cells. Joseph told him they would go in
+after supper. Turning to Elder Richards the Prophet said; "If we go to
+the cell will you go in with us?"
+
+_Elder Richards_. "Brother Joseph, you did not ask me to cross
+the river with you [referring to the time when they crossed the
+Mississippi, _en route_ for the Rocky Mountains]--you did not ask me
+to come to Carthage--you did not ask me to come to jail with you--and
+do you think I would forsake you now? But I will tell you what I will
+do; if you are condemned to be hung for treason, I will be hung in your
+stead, and you shall go free."
+
+_Joseph_. "But you cannot."
+
+_Richards_. "I will, though."
+
+This conversation took place a little after five o'clock, and very soon
+afterwards the attack was made on the jail. It appears that a crowd
+came from the direction of Warsaw that evidently had an understanding
+with the Carthage Greys and the members of that company on guard at the
+jail, since the latter, without question, had but blank cartridges in
+their guns; and the attack was made under the very eyes of the rest of
+the company encamped but two or three hundred yards away on the public
+square, and they made no effort whatever to prevent the assaults on the
+prison.
+
+The guard at the jail played their part well. They fired blank shots
+at the advancing mob, or discharged their pieces in the air. They were
+"overpowered" (?), and the prison was in the hands of an infuriated mob.
+A rush was made for the room where the prisoners were lodged, and a
+shower of lead was sent in through the door and the windows from those
+on the outside.
+
+As no account that I could possibly write would equal that given by an
+eye-witness of the whole transaction, I here quote entire the account
+of the tragedy by Elder Willard Richards, as it appeared in the _Times
+and Seasons_ soon after the event, under the caption,
+
+    TWO MINUTES IN JAIL.
+
+    A shower of musket balls was thrown up the stairway against the
+    door of the prison in the second story, followed by many rapid
+    footsteps.
+
+    While Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Mr. Taylor and myself, who
+    were in the front chamber, closed the door of our room against the
+    entry at the head of the stairs, and placed ourselves against it,
+    there being no lock on the door, and no catch that was unsealable.
+
+    The door is a common panel, and as soon as we heard the feet at
+    the stair's head, a ball was sent through the door, which passed
+    between us, and showed that our enemies were desperadoes and we
+    must change our position.
+
+    General Joseph Smith, Mr. Taylor and myself sprang back to the
+    front part of the room. General Hyrum Smith retreated two-thirds
+    across the chamber directly in front of and facing the door. A
+    ball was sent through the door which hit Hyrum on the side of his
+    nose, when he fell backwards, extending at full length without
+    moving his feet. From the holes in his vest (the day was warm and
+    no one had their coats on but myself) pantaloons, drawers, and
+    shirt, it appeared that a ball must have been thrown from without
+    through the window, which entered the back of his right side, and
+    passing through, lodged against his watch, which was in the right
+    vest pocket, completely pulverizing the crystal and face, tearing
+    off the hands and mashing the whole body of the watch. At the same
+    instant the ball from the door entered his nose.
+
+    As he struck the floor he exclaimed emphatically, "_I am a dead
+    man_." Joseph looked towards him and responded, "_Oh dear! Brother
+    Hyrum_," and opening the door two or three inches with his left
+    hand, discharged one barrel of a six-shooter (the pistol left him
+    by C. H. Wheelock) at random in the entry, from whence a ball
+    grazed Hyrum's breast, and entering his throat passed into his
+    head, while other muskets were aimed at him as some balls hit him.
+
+    Joseph continued snapping his revolver round the casing of the door
+    into the space as before, three barrels of which missed fire, while
+    Mr. Taylor with a walking stick stood by his side and knocked down
+    the bayonets and muskets, which were constantly discharging through
+    the doorway, while I stood by him ready to lend any assistance,
+    with another stick, but could not come within striking distance
+    without going directly in front of the muzzles of the guns.
+
+    When the revolver failed, we had no more firearms, and expected an
+    immediate rush of the mob, and the doorway full of muskets half way
+    in the room, and no hope but instant death from within. Mr. Taylor
+    rushed into the window, which is some fifteen or twenty feet from
+    the ground. When his body was nearly on a balance, a ball from the
+    door within entered his leg, and a ball from without struck his
+    watch, a patent lever, in his vest pocket near his left breast, and
+    smashed it into "pie," leaving the hands standing at five o'clock,
+    sixteen minutes, and twenty-six seconds, the force of which ball
+    threw him back on the floor, and he rolled under the bed which
+    stood by his side, where he lay motionless, the mob continuing to
+    fire upon him, cutting away a piece of flesh from his left hip as
+    large as a man's hand, and were hindered only by my knocking down
+    their muzzles with a stick; while they continued to reach their
+    guns into the room, probably left handed, and aimed their discharge
+    so far round as almost to reach us in the corner of the room to
+    where we retreated and dodged, and there I commenced the attack
+    with my stick.
+
+    Joseph attempted as a last resort to leap the same window from
+    which Mr. Taylor fell, when two balls pierced him from the door,
+    and one entered his right breast from without, and he fell outward
+    exclaiming, "_O Lord, my God_!" As his feet went out of the window
+    my head went in, the balls whistling all round. He fell on his left
+    side a dead man. At this instant the cry was raised, "_He's leaped
+    the window_," and the mob on the stairs and in the entry ran out.
+
+    I withdrew from the window thinking it no use to leap out on a
+    hundred bayonets, then round Gen. Smith's body. Not satisfied
+    with this, I again reached my head out of the window, and watched
+    some seconds to see if there were any signs of life, regardless
+    of my own, determined to see the end of him I loved. Being fully
+    satisfied that he was dead, with a hundred men near his body and
+    more coming round the corner of the jail, and expecting a return
+    to our room, I rushed toward the prison door at the head of the
+    stairs, and through the entry from whence the firing had proceeded,
+    to learn if the doors into the prison were open. When near the
+    entry Mr. Taylor cried out "_Take me_!" I pressed my way until I
+    found all doors unbarred, returning instantly, caught Mr. Taylor
+    under my arm, and rushed up the stairs into the dungeon, or inner
+    prison, stretched him on the floor and covered him with a bed in
+    such a manner as not likely to be perceived, expecting an immediate
+    return of the mob. I said to Mr. Taylor, "This is a hard case to
+    lay you on the floor, but if your wounds are not fatal, I want you
+    to live to tell the story." I expected to be shot the next moment,
+    and stood before the doors awaiting the onset.
+
+There was, however, no further onset made on the jail.
+
+Three minutes after the attack was commenced, Hyrum Smith lay stretched
+out on the floor of the prison dead, Elder Taylor lay not far from him
+savagely wounded, the Prophet was lying by the side of the well curb,
+[7] just under the window from which he had attempted to leap, the
+plighted faith of a State was broken, its honor trailed in the dust,
+and a stain of innocent blood affixed to its escutcheon which shall
+remain a disgrace forever.
+
+When it was known that the Prophet was killed, consternation seemed
+to seize the mob and they fled, for the most part, in the direction
+of Warsaw, in the utmost confusion. Such wild confusion reigned in
+Carthage that it was nearly midnight before Elder Richards could obtain
+any help or refreshments for Elder Taylor. At last the wounded man
+was taken to the Hamilton House and his wounds dressed. The bodies of
+Joseph and Hyrum were also taken to the same place and laid out.
+
+Meantime Governor Ford had gone to Nauvoo, where he arrived some time
+in the afternoon. Several thousands assembled to hear his speech, that
+he went there to deliver; and he insulted them, by assuming that all
+that their worst enemies had said of them was true, and threatened them
+with most dire calamities. He himself in his history of Illinois, says
+the people manifested some impatience and anger when he referred to the
+misconduct alleged against them by their enemies; and well they might,
+for baser falsehoods were never put in circulation to slander a people.
+
+The governor was invited to stay all night, but he refused and left the
+city about 6:30 in the evening for Carthage, his escort riding full
+speed up Main street performing the sword exercise; they passed the
+temple, and so left the city.
+
+Three miles out of governor and his escort met George D. Grant and
+David Bettisworth riding toward Nauvoo like madmen with the sad news of
+the death of Joseph and Hyrum. The governor took them back with him to
+Grant's house, one and one half miles east of Carthage, that the news
+might not reach Nauvoo until he had had time to have the county records
+removed from the court house, and warn the people of Carthage to flee,
+as he expected an immediate attack from the Nauvoo Legion, and that the
+whole country would be laid waste.
+
+After being taken back to Carthage, George D. Grant mounted another
+horse and rode that night with the awful news to Nauvoo.
+
+On the arrival of Governor Ford at Carthage the following note was
+addressed to Mrs. Emma Smith and Major-General Dunham of the Nauvoo
+Legion, dated Midnight, Hamilton House, Carthage:
+
+    The governor has just arrived; says all things shall be inquired
+    into, and all right measures taken. I say to all citizens of
+    Nauvoo--My brethren, be still, and know that God _reigns. Don't
+    rush out of the city_--don't rush to Carthage--stay at home and be
+    prepared for an attack from Missouri mobbers. The governor will
+    render every assistance possible--has sent orders for troops,
+    Joseph and Hyrum are dead, will prepare to move the bodies as soon
+    as possible.
+
+    The people of the county are greatly excited, and fear the Mormons
+    will come out and take vengeance. I have pledged my word the
+    Mormons will stay at home as soon as they can be informed, and no
+    violence will be on their part, and say to my brethren in Nauvoo,
+    in the name of the Lord, be still; be patient, only let such
+    friends as choose come here to see the bodies. Mr. Taylor's wounds
+    are dressed, and not serious. I am sound.
+
+                                                    WILLARD RICHARDS.
+
+After the note was prepared the governor wrote an order to the people
+of Nauvoo to defend themselves, and then about one o'clock in the
+morning went out on the public square and advised all present to
+disperse, as he expected the Mormons would be so exasperated that
+they would burn the town. Upon this the people of Carthage fled in
+all directions, and the governor and his _posse_ took flight in the
+direction of Quincy; but there was no uprising and violence on the part
+of the Saints.
+
+The next day the bodies of the murdered men were taken to Nauvoo.
+About one mile east of the temple, on Mullholland street, they were
+met by the people in solemn procession, under the direction of the
+city marshal. Neither tongue nor pen can ever describe the scene of
+sorrow and lamentation which was there beheld. The love of Joseph and
+Hyrum for the Saints was unbounded, and it had begotten in the people
+an affection for them that was equally dear and unselfish. They lived
+in the hearts of the Saints, and thousands would have laid down their
+lives willingly to have saved theirs. With their beloved and trusted
+leaders thus brutally snatched from them; under such circumstances
+of cruelty and official treachery, imagine, if you can, the mingled
+feelings of sorrow and righteous indignation that struggled in every
+heart, and sought expression!
+
+Arriving at the Mansion, the bodies were taken into it to be prepared
+for burial; and Elder Willard Richards and others addressed some
+eight or ten thousand of the people in the open air. The Saints were
+advised to keep the peace. Elder Richards stated that he had pledged
+his honor and his life for their conduct. When the multitude heard
+that, notwithstanding the sense of outraged justice under which they
+labored, and this cruel invasion of the rights of liberty and life--in
+the very midst of their grief and excitement, with the means in their
+right hands to wreak a terrible vengeance, they voted to a man to trust
+to the LAW to deal with the assassins, and if that failed them, they
+would call upon God to avenge them of their wrongs! History records
+few actions so sublime as this; and it stands to this day a testimony
+of the devotion of the Latter-day Saints to law and order, the like of
+which is not paralleled in the history of our country, if in the world.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. The manner of this incident about the revolt of the Carthage Greys
+is thus related in Gregg's History of Hancock County: "It seems that
+after the McDonough regiment had been disbanded, and were about to
+return home, they expressed a desire to see the prisoners, [Joseph
+and Hyrum]. The wish was reasonable, and as the easiest mode of
+gratifying it, they were drawn up in line, and General Deming with the
+two prisoners, one on each arm, and the Greys as an escort, passed
+along the line of troops, Deming introducing them as General Joseph
+Smith and General Hyrum Smith, of the Nauvoo Legion. The Greys not
+aware that this was done at the request of the McDonough men, and not
+satisfied to be made an escort to such a display, exhibited signs of
+dissatisfaction, and finally gave vent to their feelings by hisses
+and groans. As a punishment for this offense they were afterward
+ordered under arrest. In the meantime there was great excitement in
+the company. As a detachment of the troops was being detailed for the
+purpose of putting the general's order into execution the officer in
+command of the Greys addressed them a few words and then said: 'Boys
+will you submit to an arrest for so trifling an offense?' 'No!' was the
+unanimous response. 'Then load your pieces with ball,' was the sullen
+order. In the meantime some explanations had been made, which permitted
+General Deming to countermand the order of arrest, and the Greys were
+quietly marched back to their encampment."
+
+This account says nothing of the fact that it was generally known, that
+the night before, Governor Ford had promised all the troops a view of
+Generals Smith, and the Greys had been in revolt at General Deming's
+headquarters before the party including Joseph and Hyrum reached the
+McDonough troops. Moreover, I was informed by Colonel H. G. Ferris,
+when in Carthage in 1885, investigating these matters, that when word
+arrived in that place that Joseph Smith would surrender himself to the
+authorities, if the governor would pledge him protection and a fair
+trial, the governor made a speech to the mixed multitude of troops
+and citizens in which he stated the proposition of the Smiths, and
+wanted to know if they would sustain him in pledging them protection to
+which they responded in the affirmative. There was some talk, too, of
+sending the Greys as a posse to escort the Smiths into Nauvoo. Against
+this proceeding General Deming protested and told Governor Ford that
+the pledge of protection made by the crowd and the troops was not to
+be depended upon, it was insincere, and that the lives of the Smiths
+were not to be trusted to the Greys. The governor however disregarded
+the warning of General Deming. Colonel Ferris was present at this
+meeting.--_B. H. R._
+
+2. In view of the great civil war which a few years later desolated the
+land it is clear that the above utterance was prophetic.
+
+3. Ford's History of Illinois, p. 338.
+
+4. For this conversation in _extenso_ as reported by Elder John Taylor
+who was present, see Appendix IV.
+
+5. This prediction was fulfilled. Elder Dan Jones went on a mission to
+Wales starting on the 28th of August, 1844, in company with Wilford
+Woodruff, and performed a most wonderful mission in his native land.
+
+6. Ford's History of Illinois, page 340.
+
+7. It is said that after Joseph fell by the well curb under the
+window from which he attempted to leap, he was set up against that
+curb and Colonel Levi Williams ordered four men to fire at him, which
+they did. It is then said that a ruffian bareheaded and barefooted,
+his pantaloons rolled up above his knees and his shirt sleeves above
+his elbows, approached the dead Prophet bowie-knife in hand with
+the intention it is supposed of severing the head from the body. He
+had raised his hand to strike, when a light so sudden and powerful
+flashed upon the bloody scene that the mob was terror-stricken. The
+arm of the would-be mutilator of the dead fell powerless at his side,
+the four muskets of those who fired at him fell to the ground, while
+their owners stood like marble statues unable to move, or join their
+companions in the hurried and confused retreat they were then making,
+and Colonel Williams had to call upon some of the retreating mob to
+carry them away. The history is based upon the statements of Wm. M.
+Daniels,--Blackenberry and a Miss Graham, but how far their statements
+are correct I have no means of judging. When at Carthage I became
+acquainted with W. R. Hamilton, son of the Mr. Hamilton who kept the
+Hamilton House, referred to several times in these pages, and who
+just previous to the murder of the Prophet and his brother had been
+enrolled as a member of the company of Carthage Greys. At the time of
+the attack on the jail he was on the public square and at once ran in
+the direction of the jail and was in full view of it all the time. He
+saw the Prophet appear at the window and half leap and half fall out of
+it. After which the mob fled precipitously. According to his statement
+there was no such an occurrence as setting the body against the well,
+etc. He claims to have been about the first who went to the body of the
+murdered man, and afterwards rendered some assistance in removing Elder
+Taylor and the bodies of the martyrs to his father's house.
+
+It is worthy of note that nothing of all this is recorded by Willard
+Richards, and it smacks too much of the fanciful. There is too much
+deliberation in it to believe it to be the action of a mob.--_R_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+CONFUSION--CHOOSING A LEADER.
+
+THE Saints at Nauvoo were now as sheep without a shepherd. They had
+never contemplated such a crisis as this. That their Prophet would be
+taken from them had not entered their minds, although in the closing
+days of his career he had frequently spoken of his fate if again
+he should fall into the hands of his enemies. On the twenty-second
+of June, five days preceding his death, at the conclusion of the
+consultation with several of Nauvoo's leading citizens, and at which
+time it was decided that the safest thing for himself and Hyrum to do
+was to go West, he remarks in his journal: "I told Stephen Markham that
+if I and Hyrum were ever taken again we should be massacred, or I was
+not a Prophet of God."
+
+When the cowardly appeal made to him by false friends to return to
+Nauvoo, after he had crossed the Mississippi on his way to the West,
+was under consideration by himself and a few friends, he said to his
+brother, Hyrum Smith: "Brother Hyrum, you are the oldest, what shall
+we do?" Hyrum replied, "Let us go back and give ourselves up, and see
+the thing out." "If you go back," replied the Prophet, "I shall go with
+you, but we shall be butchered." Then again, after it was determined
+to adopt the course suggested by Hyrum, and the party was on the way
+to the river where they were to take boats for the Nauvoo side, the
+Prophet lingered behind the rest of the party talking with O. P.
+Rockwell. Those in advance shouted to them to come on. Joseph replied,
+"It is no use to hurry, for we are going back to be slaughtered."
+
+On arriving at Nauvoo, Hyrum, too, seemed to have been impressed
+with a sense of their approaching fate, for on the morning of the
+twenty-fourth of June, when the first start was made for Carthage,
+he read the following significant passage in the Book of Mormon, and
+turned down the leaf upon it:
+
+    And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give
+    unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came
+    to pass that the Lord said unto me, if they have not charity it
+    mattereth not unto you, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy
+    garments are clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou
+    shalt be made strong, even to the sitting down in the place which
+    I have prepared in the mansions of my father. And now I * * * *
+    bid farewell unto the Gentiles; yea and also unto my brethren whom
+    I love, until we shall meet before the judgment seat of Christ,
+    when all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your
+    blood. [1]
+
+I have already quoted the pathetic words of the Prophet on meeting
+Captain Dunn's company of militia four miles out from Carthage, when
+he said: "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a
+summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God and
+towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of
+me--He was murdered in cold blood."
+
+I have also related the circumstance of his lingering to look at his
+farm as he left Nauvoo for the last time, and clearly intimated that
+he would never see it again. But notwithstanding these very plain
+intimations concerning his approaching death, the Saints apparently
+could not comprehend them. They did not sense them; and when his death
+so sudden and pitiful did come, it scarcely seemed possible to them
+that it had taken place. They were unprepared for it, and, as I say,
+were now like sheep without a shepherd.
+
+Sidney Rigdon, the Prophet's first counselor, was in Pittsburg,
+Pennsylvania. He had removed from Nauvoo to Pittsburg, notwithstanding
+in a revelation [2] from God he had been required to make his home in
+Nauvoo, and stand in his office and calling of counselor and spokesman
+to the Prophet. The truth is that from the expulsion of the Saints
+from Missouri in 1838-9, Sidney Rigdon had been of but little service
+either to the Church or to the Prophet as a counselor. He was a man of
+admitted ability as an orator, but lacked discretion; a man of fervid
+imagination, but of inferior judgment; ambitious of place and honor,
+but without that steadiness of purpose and other qualities of soul
+which in time secure them. In the early years of The Church he suffered
+much for the cause of God, but he also complained much; especially
+was this the case in respect to the hardships endured in Missouri,
+and subsequently of his poverty and illness at Nauvoo. This habit of
+complaining doubtless did much to deprive him of the Spirit of the
+Lord; for at times it bordered upon blasphemy. More than once he was
+heard to say that Jesus Christ was a fool in suffering as compared with
+himself! Having lost, in part at least, the Spirit of the Lord, his
+interest in The Church and its work waned, and after the settlement at
+Nauvoo he was seldom seen in the councils of the Priesthood. Moreover,
+it was known that he was in sympathy and even in communication with
+some of the avowed enemies of Joseph, among others with that arch
+traitor, John C. Bennett, who was plotting the overthrow of both Joseph
+and The Church. It was doubtless these considerations which led Joseph
+to make an effort to get rid of Sidney Rigdon as counselor at the
+October conference in 1843.
+
+On that occasion the Prophet represented to The Church that such had
+been the course of Sidney Rigdon that he considered it no longer his
+duty to sustain him as his counselor. Hyrum Smith, however, pleaded
+the cause of his fellow-counselor, and so strongly urged the Saints
+to deal mercifully with Sidney Rigdon, that when the question of
+sustaining him was presented to the conference, the Saints voted in
+his favor. "I have thrown him off my shoulders, and you have again
+put him on me," said Joseph. "You may carry him, but I will not." And
+so confident was he that Sidney Rigdon would continue to fail in the
+performance of his duty, that he ordained Elder Amasa Lyman to succeed
+him, both as counselor and spokesman. "Some of the Elders did not
+understand how Elder Lyman could be ordained to succeed Elder Rigdon,
+as The Church had voted to try him another year. Elder Joseph Smith
+was requested to give an explanation. Why, said he, by the same rule
+that Samuel anointed David to be king over Israel, while Saul was yet
+crowned. Please read the sixteenth chapter of first Samuel. Elder
+Smith's explanation, though short, proved a quietus to all their rising
+conjectures." [3]
+
+Notwithstanding all his fair promises of amendment, Sidney Rigdon
+continued neglectful of his high duties, and if for a time his old-time
+enthusiasm revived--as it seemed to at the April conference following,
+it was as the flickering flame of a tallow dip only--not the steady
+rays of the ever-shining sun. He longed to return to the East; and
+notwithstanding the word of the Lord commanding him to make his home
+at Nauvoo, he frequently talked with Joseph about going to Pittsburg
+to live, and finally obtained his consent to go there, and take his
+family with him, and, as I said before, he was there when the martyrdom
+occurred.
+
+William Law, who had been the Prophet's second counselor, was in
+open apostasy and rebellion against him. He had been and was the
+associate of a corrupt band of men bent on the destruction of the
+Prophet. Prompted by a spirit of mercy, the April conference of 1843
+had passed without taking action against either William Law, or any of
+the other apostates; but on the eighteenth of April, at a council of
+the Priesthood, when six of the Twelve Apostles were present, William
+Law and several other apostates were excommunicated from The Church;
+and later William Law undertook the organization of a church after the
+pattern of the Church of Christ, but it was a miserable failure.
+
+The Twelve Apostles were nearly all absent in the Eastern States on
+missions; and although messengers were sent to call them to Nauvoo
+immediately after the Prophet's martyrdom, it would be some time
+before they could arrive. So that it was a time of general anxiety and
+depression.
+
+It was in the midst of such circumstances as these that Sidney Rigdon
+arrived in Nauvoo and demanded that he be appointed "guardian" of The
+Church. He ignored the members of the quorum of the Twelve who were in
+the city--Elders Willard Richards, John Taylor and Parley P. Pratt; he
+conferred with Elder William Marks, president of the stake of Nauvoo,
+and at once began agitating the question of appointing a "guardian"
+to The Church. He arrived in Nauvoo on Saturday, the third of August;
+next day he harangued the Saints, who assembled in the grove near
+the temple, upon the necessity of appointing a "guardian" to build
+up The Church to the martyred Prophet, and in the afternoon meeting
+urged William Marks to make a special appointment for the Saints to
+assemble on the following Tuesday for that purpose. Elder Marks was in
+sympathy with Sidney Rigdon, but for some reason he refused to make
+the appointment for Tuesday, but made it for Thursday, the eighth of
+August. This was a most fortunate circumstance, since a sufficient
+number of the Twelve to make a majority of that quorum arrived on the
+evening of the sixth, and, of course, they were in time to be present
+at the meeting to be held on the eighth. The day previous to that
+meeting, however--the seventh of August--the Twelve called a meeting of
+the high council and high priests, before which they called on Sidney
+Rigdon to make a statement of his purposes and relate the revelation
+he claimed to have received at Pittsburg, which prompted his journey
+to Nauvoo. In substance he replied that the object of his visit was to
+offer himself to the Saints as a "guardian;" that it had been shown to
+him in vision at Pittsburg, that The Church must be built up to Joseph
+the martyr; that all the blessings the Saints could receive would
+be through their late Prophet; that no man could be a successor to
+Joseph; that The Church was not disorganized, though the head was gone;
+that he had been commanded to come to Nauvoo and see that The Church
+was governed properly, and propose himself to be a "guardian" to the
+people. [4]
+
+To this Elder Brigham Young replied:
+
+    I do not care who leads this Church, even though it were Ann Lee;
+    but one thing I must know, and that is, what God says about it. I
+    have the keys and the means of obtaining the mind of God on the
+    subject. * * * Joseph conferred upon our heads all the keys and
+    powers belonging to the Apostleship which he himself held before he
+    was taken away, and no man nor set of men can get between Joseph
+    and the Twelve in this world or in the world to come. How often has
+    Joseph said to the Twelve, I have laid the foundation and you must
+    build thereon, for upon your shoulders the Kingdom rests. [5]
+
+The next day was the one appointed by Sidney Rigdon for The Church
+to assemble and choose a "guardian." The attendance was large, as
+intense interest had been awakened upon the subject to be considered.
+Sidney Rigdon addressed the assembly, setting forth his claim to the
+"guardianship" of The Church. He had full opportunity to present his
+case and for one hour and a half spoke without interruption; but
+despite his reputation as an orator, he failed to convince the Saints
+that he was sent of God.
+
+As soon as Sidney Rigdon had closed his speech, Elder Brigham Young
+arose and made a few remarks. It was on that occasion that he was
+transfigured before the people, so that through him the Saints heard
+the voice and felt the presence of their departed leader. George Q.
+Cannon, who was present on that occasion, says:
+
+    If Joseph had risen from the dead and again spoken in their
+    hearing, the effect could not have been more startling than it
+    was to many present at that meeting, it was the voice of Joseph
+    himself; and not only was it the voice of Joseph which was heard
+    but it seemed in the eyes of the people as if it were the very
+    person of Joseph which stood before them. A more wonderful and
+    miraculous event than was wrought that day in the presence of
+    that congregation, we never heard of. The Lord gave His people a
+    testimony that left no room for doubt as to who was the man chosen
+    to lead them. They both saw and heard with their natural eyes and
+    ears, and the words which were uttered came, accompanied by the
+    convincing power of God, to their hearts, and they were filled
+    with the Spirit and with great joy. There had been gloom, and in
+    some hearts, probably, doubt and uncertainty, but now it was plain
+    to all that here was the man upon whom the Lord had bestowed the
+    necessary authority to act in their midst in Joseph's stead. On
+    that occasion Brigham Young seemed to be transformed, and a change
+    such as that we read of in the scriptures, as happening to the
+    Prophet Elisha, when Elijah was translated in his presence, seemed
+    to have taken place with him. The mantle of the Prophet Joseph had
+    been left for Brigham. * * * The people said one to another: "The
+    spirit of Joseph rests on Brigham;" they knew that he was the man
+    chosen to lead them and they honored him accordingly. * * * As
+    far as our observation went (we were only a boy at the time) the
+    people were divided into three classes from the time of the death
+    of Joseph up to this meeting of which we speak. One class felt
+    clearly and understandingly that President Brigham Young was the
+    man whose right it was to preside, he being the president of the
+    Twelve Apostles, and that body being, through the death of Joseph
+    and Hyrum, the presiding quorum of The Church. Another class were
+    not quite clear as to who would be called to preside, but they
+    felt very certain that Sidney Rigdon was not the man. They did
+    not believe that God would choose a coward and traitor to lead
+    His people, to both of which characters they believed Rigdon had
+    a claim. The third class, and we think its members were few, was
+    composed of those who had no clear views one way or the other. They
+    were undecided in their feelings. * * * With very few exceptions,
+    then, the people returned to their homes from that meeting filled
+    with great rejoicing. All uncertainty and anxiety were removed.
+    They had heard the voice of the shepherd and they knew it.
+
+In the journal of Elder William C. Staines, of that date, the following
+statement is recorded:
+
+    Brigham Young said: "I will tell you who your leaders or guardians
+    will be. The Twelve--I at their head!" This was with a voice like
+    the voice of the Prophet Joseph. I thought it was he, and so did
+    thousands who heard it. This was very satisfactory to the people,
+    and a vote was taken to sustain the Twelve in their office, which,
+    with a few dissenting voices, was passed.
+
+President Wilford Woodruff, describing the event, says:
+
+    When Brigham Young arose and commenced speaking * * * if I had
+    not seen him with my own eyes, there is no one that could have
+    convinced me that it was not Joseph Smith; and anyone can testify
+    to this who was acquainted with these two men. [6]
+
+The remarks of Elder Young, during which he was transfigured before
+the people, closed the forenoon meeting. When in the afternoon The
+Church again assembled Elder Young addressed them at some length on the
+subject of appointing a leader for The Church, representing the claims
+of the Twelve as the quorum having the right to act in the absence
+of the late Prophet-President. Following are some quotations from a
+summary of his speech taken down at the time:
+
+    For the first time in my life, for the first time in your lives,
+    for the first time in the Kingdom of God in the nineteenth century,
+    without a prophet at our head, do I step forth to act in my
+    calling in connection with the quorum of the Twelve, as Apostles
+    of Jesus Christ unto this generation--Apostles whom God has called
+    by revelation through the Prophet Joseph, who are ordained and
+    anointed to bear off the keys of the Kingdom of God in all the
+    world.
+
+    * * * If any man thinks he has influence among this people, to lead
+    away a party, let him try it, and he will find out that there is
+    a power with the Apostles, which will carry them off victorious
+    through all the world, and build up and defend The Church and
+    Kingdom of God.
+
+    * * * If the people want President Rigdon to lead them, they may
+    have him; but I say unto you that the Quorum of the Twelve have
+    the keys of the Kingdom of God in all the world. The Twelve were
+    appointed by the finger of God. Here is Brigham, have his knees
+    ever faltered? Have his lips ever quivered? Here is Heber, [7] and
+    the rest of the Twelve, an independent body, who have the keys of
+    the Priesthood--the keys of the Kingdom of God--to deliver to all
+    the world; this is true, so help me God. They stand next to Joseph,
+    and are as the First Presidency of The Church.
+
+    * * * You must not appoint any man at our head; if you should, the
+    Twelve must ordain him. You cannot appoint a man at our head; but
+    if you do want any other man or men to lead you, take them and we
+    will go our way to build up the Kingdom in all the world.
+
+    * * * Brother Joseph, the Prophet, has laid the foundation for a
+    grand work, and we will build upon it; you have never seen the
+    quorums built one upon another. There is an almighty foundation
+    laid, and we can build a kingdom such as there never was in the
+    world; we can build a kingdom faster than the devil can kill the
+    Saints off.
+
+    Now if you want Sidney Rigdon or William Law [8] to lead you, or
+    anybody else, you are welcome to them; but I tell you in the name
+    of the Lord, that no man can put another between the Twelve and the
+    Prophet Joseph. Why? Because Joseph was their file leader, and he
+    has committed into their hands the keys of the Kingdom in this last
+    dispensation, for all the world; don't put a thread between the
+    Priesthood and God. [9]
+
+Elder Amasa Lyman spoke in support of the Twelve; and then Sidney
+Rigdon was granted the privilege of speaking; he declined personally,
+but called on Elder W. W. Phelps to speak in his behalf. Elder Phelps,
+while evidently having some sympathy with Elder Rigdon, supported the
+claims of the Twelve. After further discussion Elder Young arose to
+put the question as to whether The Church would sustain the Twelve or
+Sidney Rigdon:
+
+    I do not ask you to take my counsel or advice alone, but every one
+    of you act for yourselves; but if Brother Rigdon is the person you
+    want to lead you, vote for him, but not unless you intend to follow
+    him and support him as you did Joseph. * * * And I would say the
+    same of the Twelve, don't make a covenant to support them unless
+    you intend to abide by their counsel. * * * I want every man before
+    he enters into a covenant, to know what he is going to do; but we
+    want to know if this people will support the Priesthood in the name
+    of Israel's God. If you say you will, do so. [10]
+
+Elder Young was then about to put the question to the assembled quorums
+as to whether they wanted Elder Rigdon for a leader, when, at the
+request of the latter, the question on supporting the Twelve as the
+presiding quorum in The Church was first put in the following manner:
+
+    Do The Church want, and is it their only desire, to sustain the
+    Twelve as the First Presidency of this people? * * * If The Church
+    want the Twelve to stand as the head of this Kingdom in all the
+    world, stand next to Joseph, walk up into their calling, and hold
+    the keys of this Kingdom--every man, every woman, every quorum is
+    now put in order, and you are now the sole controllers of it--all
+    that are in favor of this in all the congregation of the Saints,
+    manifest it by holding up the right hand. (There was a universal
+    vote.) If there are any of a contrary mind--every man and every
+    woman who does not want the Twelve to preside, lift up your hands
+    in like manner. (No hands up.) This supersedes the other question,
+    and trying it by quorums. [11]
+
+This disposed of Sidney Rigdon. He had full opportunity to present his
+case before The Church. The Saints had full opportunity and liberty to
+vote for him had they wanted him for their leader; but they rejected
+him and sustained the Twelve.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Book of Mormon, Ether, Chap. xii.
+
+2. Doc. & Cov., Sec. cxxiv, 103-106.
+
+3. Tract on Sidney Rigdon, by Jedediah M. Grant, pp. 15, 16.
+
+4. History of Joseph Smith, Millennial Star, Volume xxv, page 215.
+
+5. History of Joseph Smith, Millennial Star, Volume xxv, page 215.
+
+6. The above remark of President Woodruff's is taken from a testimony
+of his following a discourse on the subject of Priesthood and the right
+of succession, delivered by the writer.--_Deseret Evening News_, March
+12, 1892.
+
+7. Heber C. Kimball.
+
+8. William Law had been a counselor to the Prophet Joseph, but was
+found in transgression and apostasy, had been excommunicated, and was
+among those who brought about the martyrdom at Carthage.
+
+9. Millennial Star, volume xxv: pages 216, 231-32-33.
+
+10. Millennial Star, volume xxv: page 264.
+
+11. That is, whether The Church wanted to have Sidney Rigdon for a
+"guardian" or leader.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+THE TRIAL OF THE MURDERERS.
+
+MEANTIME there was considerable excitement in Hancock County, since
+the mob party were determined to elect officers who would screen the
+murderers of the Prophets. The Saints were equally determined to vote
+for those whom they believed would sustain law and order; and the
+following were put forward as candidates for the county and district
+offices and elected: M. R. Deming, sheriff; D. H. Wells, coroner;
+George Coulson, commissioner; J. B. Backenstos and A. W. Babbitt,
+representatives.
+
+The account of the trial of the miscreants charged with the murder of
+the Prophet I take from Gregg's "History of Hancock County," beginning
+at page 328:
+
+    TRIALS AND ACQUITTALS.
+
+    At the October [1844] term of the Hancock Circuit Court--present
+    Jesse B. Thomas, judge; William Elliott, prosecuting attorney;
+    Jacob B. Backenstos, clerk; General Minor R. Deming, sheriff.
+
+    The following is the grand jury:
+
+    Abram Lincoln, Jas. Reynolds, Th. J. Graham, Wm. M. Owens, Ebenezer
+    Rand, Th. Brawner, Ralph Gorrell, Brant Agnert, Martin Getter, Wm.
+    Smith, Th. Gilmore, Benj. Warrington, Reuben H. Loomis, Samuel
+    Scott, Jas. Ward, Samuel Ramsy, Th. H. Owen, David Thompson, John
+    J. Hickok.
+
+    Abraham Golden, E. A. Bedell and Geo. Walker excused for cause.
+    Samuel Marshall refused to serve, and fined $5.00.
+
+    The court began its session on Monday the 21st. There had been
+    rumors industriously circulated that the old citizens intended
+    to rally and interpose obstacles in the way of the court and
+    considerable anxiety was felt. The judge in his charge to the grand
+    jury alluded to this rumor and said he was glad to see that no such
+    demonstration was made. He charged them to do their duty in the
+    case likely to come before them and leave the consequences. His
+    charge gave general satisfaction.
+
+    There was a rumor that a lot of Mormons and Indians were encamped
+    near the town and this rumor occasioned considerable uneasiness.
+    Orders were issued to investigate. The facts turned out to be that
+    a number of Mormons had come down from Nauvoo to attend court,
+    and had gone into camp to save expense. As to the Indians it was
+    ascertained that a company of them had gone through the county on
+    their way to Iowa, for some purpose unknown; but the two facts had
+    no connection with each other.
+
+    On Tuesday the grand jury began their work, and on Saturday about
+    noon they brought into court two bills of indictment against nine
+    individuals--one for the murder of Joseph Smith and the other for
+    the murder of Hyrum Smith. The persons indicted were as follows:
+    Levi Williams, Jacob C. Davis, Mark Aldrich, Thomas C. Sharp, Wm.
+    Voras, John Wills, Wm. N. Grover,--Gallaher and--Allen.
+
+    Murry McConnell, Esq., of Jacksonville by special appointment of
+    the governor was present assisting Mr. Elliot in the prosecution.
+    Messrs. Bushnell and Johnson of Quincy and Calvin A. Warren, and
+    perhaps others appeared for the defendants.
+
+    Immediately on announcement of the indictments most of the
+    defendants appeared and asked for an immediate trial. This Mr.
+    McConnell objected to on the grounds of not being ready. His
+    witnesses before the grand jury had departed without being
+    recognized, and besides, Mr. Elliot had gone. It was finally
+    agreed that the causes should be postponed until next term, and
+    that no _capias_ should issue from the clerk in the interim if the
+    defendants would pledge themselves to appear at the time. Agreed
+    on--a compact which was afterwards violated by the prosecution.
+
+    Subpoenas were asked for by the prosecution for between thirty
+    and forty witnesses, among whom were William M. Daniels and
+    Brackenberry, the two miracle men, and John Taylor, Mrs. Emma Smith
+    and Governor Ford.
+
+    On May 19, 1845, court again met in special term at Carthage.
+    Present, Richard M. Young, judge; James H. Ralston, prosecuting
+    attorney; David E. Head, clerk; and R. H. Deming, sheriff. The
+    cause of the people _vs_. Williams _et al_ coming up, Messrs.
+    Williams, Davis, Aldrich, Sharp and Grover appeared and were
+    admitted to bail on personal recognizance in the sums of $5,000.00
+    jointly and severally. Josiah Lamborn of Jacksonville as assistant
+    prosecuting attorney and William A. Richardson, O. H. Browning,
+    Calvin A. Warren, Archibald Williams, O. C. Skinner and Tho.
+    Morrison for defendants. Motion of defendants to quash the array of
+    jurors for first week, on account of supposed prejudice of county
+    commissioners who selected them and of the sheriff and deputies was
+    sustained. Also motion for the appointment of elisors for the same
+    cause, and absence of corner from county. The array was set aside,
+    and Tho. H. Owen and Wm. D. Arbenethy appointed elisors for the
+    case. These gentlemen had a thankless and arduous duty to perform.
+    Usually it is not difficult to find men willing to sit on juries;
+    in this case few were willing to try the experiment of going into
+    court, with the almost certainty of being rejected by one or the
+    other party, and the position was not an enviable one, if taken.
+    Ninety-six men were brought into court before the requisite panel
+    of 12 was full. The following are names of the jurors chosen:
+
+    Jesse Griffiths, Joseph Jones, Wm. Robertson, William Smith, Joseph
+    Massey, Silas Griffiths, Jonathan Foy, Solomon J. Hill, James
+    Gittings, F. M. Walton, Jabez A. Beebe, Gilmore Callison.
+
+    The trial lasted till the 30th when the jury was instructed by the
+    court and after a deliberation of several hours returned a verdict
+    of _not guilty_.
+
+    Instructions to the jury had been asked by both parties, the
+    following among a list of nine asked by defendants' counsel, were
+    given, and probably had most influence on the verdict.
+
+    "That where the evidence is circumstantial admitting all to be
+    proven that the evidence tends to prove, if then the jury can make
+    any supposition consistent with the facts, by which the murder
+    might have been committed without the agency of the defendants, it
+    will be their duty to make that supposition, and find defendants
+    not guilty.
+
+    "That in making up their verdict, they will exclude from their
+    consideration all that was said by Daniels, Brackenberry and Miss
+    Graham. [Witnesses, see note, p. 319.]
+
+    "That whenever the probability is of a definite and limited nature
+    whether in proportion of 100 to 1 or 1,000 to 1 or any rate is
+    immaterial, it cannot be made the ground of conviction, for to
+    act upon it in any case would be to decide that for the sake of
+    convicting many criminals, the life of one innocent man might be
+    sacrificed [Starkie 508.]"
+
+    Same defendants, for murder of Hyrum Smith were requested to
+    enter into recognizance of $5,000 each (with fourteen sureties)
+    to the June term, 1845. At said term case was called, and Elliot
+    and Lamborn not answering, the cause was dismissed for want of
+    prosecution and defendants discharged.
+
+    Colonel John Hay, in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for December, 1869,
+    published an article on this subject. Although but a mere boy at
+    the time of this trial he had within his reach sources of correct
+    information. (He was a member of the State department subsequently.)
+
+    He says: "The case was closed. There was not a man on the jury, in
+    the court, in the county, that did not know the defendants had done
+    the murder. But it was not proven, and the verdict of not guilty
+    was right in law. * * * The elisors presented 99 men before 12 were
+    found ignorant enough and indifferent enough to act as jurors."
+
+The fact is, the trial amounted to nothing more than a farce. The law
+had been outraged, the honor of the State betrayed, her plighted faith
+was shamefully broken, and there was not virtue enough in the people to
+demand its vindication. Nor is this at all an exaggerated statement of
+the matter. The governor of Illinois himself--Thomas Ford--admits all
+that is here said. Of the atrocious deed itself and his determination
+to bring the murderers to justice he says:
+
+_I had determined from the first that some of the ringleaders in the
+foul murder of the Smiths should be brought to trial. If these men had
+been the incarnation of Satan himself, as was believed by many, their
+murder was a foul and treacherous action, alike disgraceful to those
+who perpetrated the crime, to the State, and to the governor, whose
+word had been pledged for the protection of the prisoners in jail,
+and which had been so shamefully violated; and required that the most
+vigorous means should be used to bring the assassins to punishment_. [1]
+
+Speaking of the trial, Governor Ford says:
+
+    Accordingly, I employed able lawyers to hunt up the testimony,
+    procure indictments, and prosecute the offenders. A trial was had
+    before Judge Young in the summer of 1845. The sheriff and panel of
+    jurors, selected by the Mormon court, were set aside for prejudice,
+    and elisors were appointed to select a new jury. One friend of the
+    Mormons and one anti-Mormon were appointed for this purpose; but as
+    more than a thousand men had assembled under arms at the court, to
+    keep away the Mormons and their friends, the jury was made up of
+    these military followers of the court, who all swore that they had
+    never formed or expressed any opinion as to the guilt or innocence
+    of the accused. The Mormons had one principal [1] witness who
+    was with the troops at Warsaw, had marched with them until they
+    disbanded heard their consultations, went before them to Carthage,
+    and saw them murder the Smiths. But before the trial came on, they
+    induced him to become a Mormon; and being much more anxious for the
+    glorification of the Prophet than to avenge his death, the Mormons
+    made him publish a pamphlet giving an account of the murder; in
+    which he professed to have seen a bright and shining light descend
+    upon the head of Joe Smith to strike some of the conspirators
+    with blindness; and that he heard supernatural voices in the air
+    confirming his mission as a Prophet! Having published this in a
+    book, he was compelled to swear to it in court, which of course
+    destroyed the credit of his evidence. This witness was afterwards
+    expelled by the Mormons, but no doubt they will cling to his
+    evidence in favor of the divine mission of the Prophet. [2] Many
+    other witnesses were examined who knew the facts, but under the
+    influence of the demoralization of faction, denied all knowledge of
+    them. It has been said, that faction may find men honest, but it
+    scarcely ever leaves them so. This was verified to the letter in
+    the history of the Mormon quarrel. The accused were all acquitted.
+
+    During the progress of these trials, the judge was compelled to
+    permit the courthouse to be filled and surrounded by armed bands
+    who attended court to browbeat and overawe the administration
+    of justice. The judge himself was in a duress, and informed me
+    that he did not consider his life secure any part of the time.
+    The consequence was that the crowd had everything their own way;
+    the lawyers for the defense defended their clients by a long and
+    elaborate attack upon the governor; the armed mob stamped with
+    their feet and yelled their approbation at every sarcastic and
+    smart thing that was said, and the judge was not only forced to
+    hear it, but to lend it a kind of approval. [3]
+
+And now in conclusion, as promised in the footnote on this page, I
+quote the statement of the martyrdom as vouched for by The Church, and
+published in the book of Doctrine and Covenants:
+
+    To seal the testimony of this book and the Book of Mormon, we
+    announce the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and Hyrum
+    Smith the Patriarch. They were shot in Carthage jail, on the 27th
+    of June, 1844, about five o'clock p. m., by an armed mob, painted
+    black--of from 150 to 200 persons. Hyrum was shot first and fell
+    calmly, exclaiming, "I am a dead man!" Joseph leaped from the
+    window, and was shot dead in the attempt, exclaiming, "O Lord, my
+    God!" They were both shot after they were dead in a brutal manner
+    and both received four balls.
+
+    John Taylor and Willard Richards, two of the Twelve, were the
+    only persons in the room at the time; the former was wounded in a
+    savage manner with four balls, but has since recovered; the latter,
+    through the providence of God, escaped, "without even a hole in his
+    robe."
+
+    Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more (save
+    Jesus only,) for the salvation of men in this world, than any other
+    man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years,
+    he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by
+    the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing
+    it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting
+    gospel which it contained to the four quarters of the earth; has
+    brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this
+    Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and
+    instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many
+    thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city; and left
+    a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died
+    great in the eyes of God and his people, and like most of the
+    Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his
+    works with his own blood--and so has his brother Hyrum. In life
+    they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!
+
+    When Joseph went to Carthage to deliver himself up to the pretended
+    requirements of the law, two or three days previous to his
+    assassination, he said, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter;
+    but I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of
+    offense towards God, and towards all men. I SHALL DIE INNOCENT,
+    AND IT SHALL YET BE SAID OF ME--HE WAS MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD."
+    The same morning, after Hyrum had made ready to go--shall it be
+    said to the slaughter? Yes, for so it was,--he read the following
+    paragraph, near the close of the fifth chapter of Ether, in the
+    Book of Mormon, and turned down the leaf upon it:--
+
+    "And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would
+    give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it
+    came to pass that the Lord said unto me, if they have not charity,
+    it mattereth not unto you, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy
+    garments are clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou
+    shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which
+    I have prepared in the mansions of my Father. And now I * * * bid
+    farewell unto the Gentiles; yea and also unto my brethren whom
+    I love, until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ,
+    where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your
+    blood." The testators are now dead, and their testament is in force.
+
+    Hyrum Smith was 44 years old; February, 1844, and Joseph Smith was
+    38 in December, 1843; and henceforward their names will be classed
+    among the martyrs of religion; and the reader in every nation will
+    be reminded that the "Book of Mormon," and this book of Doctrine
+    and Covenants of the Church, cost the best blood of the nineteenth
+    century to bring them forth for the salvation of a ruined world:
+    and that if the fire can scathe a _green tree_ for the glory
+    of God, how easy it will burn up the "dry trees" to purify the
+    vineyard of corruption. They lived for glory; they died for glory;
+    and glory is their eternal reward. From age to age shall their
+    names go down to posterity as gems for the sanctified.
+
+    They were innocent of any crime, as they had often been proved
+    before, and were only confined in jail by the conspiracy of
+    traitors and wicked men; and their _innocent blood_ on the floor of
+    Carthage jail, is a broad seal affixed to "Mormonism" that cannot
+    be rejected by any court on earth; and their _innocent blood_ on
+    the escutcheon of the State of Illinois, with the broken faith of
+    the State as pledged by the governor, is a witness to the truth
+    of the everlasting Gospel, that all the world cannot impeach; and
+    their _innocent blood_ on the banner of liberty, and on the _magna
+    charta_ of the United States, is an ambassador for the religion of
+    Jesus Christ, that will touch the hearts of honest men among all
+    nations; and their _innocent blood_, with the innocent blood of all
+    the martyrs under the altar that John saw, will cry unto the Lord
+    of hosts, till He avenges that blood on the earth. Amen.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Ford's History of Illinois, page 367.
+
+2. This the "Mormons," however, have not done; and no well informed
+"Mormon," regards the story as being vouched for in any authoritative
+way by The Church. The only authoritative account of the sad martyrdom
+of the Prophets for which The Church stands responsible is that
+published in the Doctrine and Covenants, section cxxxv (and which
+is published at the close of this chapter); and in that account the
+element of the miraculous enters not at all.
+
+3. Ford's History of Illinois, pages 367, 368.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+THE EXODUS--THE FALL OF NAUVOO.
+
+    IT is thought by some that our enemies would be satisfied with
+    my destruction; but I tell you that as soon as they have shed my
+    blood, they will thirst for the blood of every man in whose heart
+    dwells a single spark of the spirit of the fullness of the Gospel.
+    The opposition of these men is moved by the spirit of the adversary
+    of all righteousness. It is not only to destroy me, but every man
+    and woman who dares believe the doctrines that God hath inspired me
+    to teach in this generation.
+
+Such were the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith to the Nauvoo Legion
+on the eighteenth of June, 1844. And the action of the old citizens of
+Hancock and the surrounding counties subsequent to the murder of the
+Prophet, prove how truly inspired were the words we have quoted. For no
+sooner did they discover that the work which Joseph had begun refused
+to die with him, than they renewed hostilities, and sought by every
+means their wicked hearts could devise to harass and destroy those who
+devoted their energies to the consummation of the work which had been
+started.
+
+The mockery of a trial given those who had murdered the Prophets,
+emboldened the enemies of the Saints, for they saw justice powerless
+to vindicate outraged law, and that with impunity they could prey upon
+the citizens of Nauvoo, whom, it would seem, their hatred had selected
+for a sacrifice. Thieves and blacklegs generally, saw the opportunity
+of having their crimes charged upon an innocent people, and established
+themselves in the vicinity of Nauvoo, though principally on the Iowa
+side of the river, and all the thefts and acts of violence committed
+by those renegades were charged up to the account of the citizens
+of Nauvoo, and too gladly believed by the people in the surrounding
+counties.
+
+Not only were the charges of theft and robbery made against the Sainst,
+but they were also accused of hiding from justice any and all criminals
+who came into their midst--that Nauvoo, in short, was a rendezvous for
+outlaws, counterfeiters and desperate men generally. These charges led
+the city council on the thirteenth of January, 1845, to investigate the
+allegations and a series of resolutions were adopted stating that the
+charges of theft for the most part were fabrications of their enemies
+bent on ruining the reputation of the city, and defied those who made
+the charges to sustain with proof a single case where the citizens of
+Nauvoo had screened criminals from justice.
+
+The council also extended an invitation to all who had reasons to
+believe that their stolen property was concealed in Nauvoo to come and
+make diligent search for it, and pledged them the assistance of the
+council. To hunt out crime and put away everything that could give rise
+to even a suspicion of concealing criminals, the mayor was authorized
+to increase the force of police if necessary to five hundred; and the
+people were called upon to redouble their diligence in preventing
+criminals from coming among them, and all such persons as soon as
+discovered were to be given up to the officers of the law.
+
+The next day the action of the city council was submitted to the
+citizens of Nauvoo, and they approved of it. Fifty delegates were
+chosen and sent into the surrounding counties to disabuse the public
+mind relative to the false accusations made against the Saints, and to
+ask their co-operation in ridding the country of the counterfeiters and
+thieves which infested it. But all these efforts were fruitless. The
+falsehoods of their enemies outweighed the truths of the Saints, and
+prejudice more cruel than hell itself hardened the hearts of the people
+of Illinois against the appeals of the citizens of Nauvoo, and made
+them deaf to all entreaties for justice.
+
+Twice during the summer of 1845, Governor Ford himself went to Nauvoo
+to investigate these charges against her people; and when he came to
+deal with the "Mormon troubles," in his message to the legislature that
+fall, after speaking of the charges made, he said:
+
+    Justice, however, requires me to say that I have investigated
+    the charge of promiscuous stealing, and find it to be greatly
+    exaggerated. I could not ascertain that there were a greater
+    proportion of thieves in that community than in any other of the
+    same number of inhabitants, and perhaps if the city of Nauvoo were
+    compared with St. Louis, or any other western city, the proportion
+    would not be so great.
+
+The prejudice, not to say bitterness, of Governor Ford against the
+Saints would rob his statement of any suspected exaggeration favorable
+to them.
+
+Nor is Governor Ford's voice the only one which vindicates the
+character of the citizens of Nauvoo. The deputy sheriff of Hancock
+County exonerated the Mormon people from any participation in the
+thefts perpetrated in the surrounding country. He testified that stolen
+property was brought through the country _via_ Nauvoo, passed over
+the river to the Iowa side and taken into the interior, where it was
+concealed. He also stated that there were some five or six persons in
+Nauvoo who were assisting in this nefarious business, but said he,
+"they are not Mormons nor are they fellowshiped by them."
+
+Notwithstanding all this, misrepresentation so far succeeded in
+poisoning the minds of the public and the leading men in the State,
+that in January, 1845, the city charter of Nauvoo and the charter of
+the Legion were both repealed, and thus the protecting aegis of the
+city government was snatched away from her citizens, when most they
+needed it, and left them exposed to the fury of their enemies.
+
+Of this act of punic faith on the part of the State legislature, the
+State attorney, Josiah Lamborn, in a letter to Brigham Young, said:
+
+    I have always considered that your enemies have been prompted by
+    political and religious prejudices, and by a desire for plunder
+    and blood, more than for the common good. By the repeal of your
+    charter, and by refusing all amendments and modifications, our
+    legislature has given a kind of sanction to the barbarous manner
+    in which you have been treated. Your two representatives exerted
+    themselves to the extent of their ability in your behalf, but the
+    tide of popular passion and frenzy was too strong to be resisted.
+    It is truly a melancholy spectacle to witness the law-makers of a
+    sovereign State condescending to pander to the vices, ignorance and
+    malevolence of a class of people who are at all times ready for
+    riot, murder and rebellion.
+
+Senator Jacob C. Davis was one among those who had been indicated for
+the murder of Joseph and Hyrum, and of him the attorney-general said:
+
+    Your senator, Jacob C. Davis, has done much to poison the minds
+    of members against anything in your favor. He walks at large in
+    defiance of law an indicated murderer. If a Mormon was in his
+    position, the senate would afford no protection, but he would be
+    dragged forth to jail or the gallows, or be shot down by a cowardly
+    and brutal mob.
+
+In the meantime the Twelve Apostles, sustained by the Saints, put forth
+every exertion to carry out the designs of their martyred Prophet
+respecting Nauvoo. The Nauvoo House was hurried on, and the walls were
+growing rapidly under the constant labor of the masons. Work, too, was
+vigorously prosecuted at the temple. At the time of Joseph's death
+that edifice was but one story high, yet on the twenty-fourth of May,
+1845, about six o'clock in the morning the cap-stone was laid amid the
+general rejoicing and shouts of "Hosanna" from the assembled thousands
+of the Saints. As President Brigham Young finished laying the cap-stone
+he stood upon it and said:
+
+    The last stone is laid upon the temple, and I pray the Almighty in
+    the name of Jesus to defend us in this place, and sustain us until
+    the temple is finished and we have all got our endowments.
+
+    The whole congregation then following the motion of President Young
+    shouted as loud as possible: Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! to God and
+    the Lamb! Amen! Amen! and Amen! [1]
+
+    "So let it be, thou Almighty God," solemnly concluded President
+    Young.
+
+Thus the world began to understand that Mormonism was not born to die
+with its earthly leaders. And it began to be whispered that the Prophet
+Joseph dead was even more potent than when living. His testimony had
+been sealed with his blood, and it gave to his life and his labors an
+additional sanctity in the eyes of his followers, as well as making it
+more binding upon the world.
+
+Seeing then the continued prosperity of Nauvoo and her citizens, the
+people in the vicinity of that city and in the surrounding counties
+again commenced hostilities, if, indeed, it may be said that they had
+ever ceased. The enormity of the murder at Carthage jail had checked
+them temporarily; for an instant the torch and assassin's knife had
+dropped from their nerveless hands and they stood aghast, at that
+deed of blood. But seeing the work the murdered Prophet had started
+surviving his fall, they took up again the weapons of fell destruction
+and rushed once more upon their victims.
+
+Early in September, 1845, mobbing the scattered families of the Saints
+began in earnest. A meeting was held by anti-Mormons near what was
+called the "Morley settlement," to devise means of getting rid of the
+Mormons. During the meeting guns were fired at the house where it was
+held, and the assault charged upon the Saints, though most likely it
+was done by some of their own party--that they might have an excuse for
+their meditated acts of violence upon the people of Nauvoo. Such was
+the general belief at the time; and Governor Ford in his "History of
+Illinois," speaking of this circumstance, says:
+
+    In the fall of 1845, the anti-Mormons of Lima and Green Plains,
+    held a meeting to devise means for the expulsion of the Mormons
+    from their neighborhood. They appointed some persons of their own
+    number to fire a few shots at the house where they were assembled;
+    but to do it in such a way as to hurt none who attended the
+    meeting. The meeting was held, the house was fired at, but so as
+    to hurt no one; and the anti-Mormons suddenly breaking up their
+    meeting, rode all over the country spreading the dire alarm, that
+    the Mormons had commenced the work of massacre and death. [2]
+
+The attack was made upon the Morley settlement, and on the eleventh of
+the month twenty-nine houses were burned down, while their occupants
+were driven into the bushes where men, women and children laid drenched
+with rain, anxiously awaiting the breaking of day.
+
+Speaking of this outrage, the editor of the Quincy _Whig_, Mr.
+Bartlett, said:
+
+    Seriously, these outrages should be put a stop to at once; if the
+    Mormons have been guilty of crime why punish them, but do not visit
+    their sins upon defenseless women and children. This is as bad
+    as the savages. * * * It is feared that this rising against the
+    Mormons is not confined to the Morley settlement, but that there
+    is an understanding among the antis in the northern part of this
+    [Adams] and Hancock counties to make a general sweep, burning and
+    destroying the property of the Mormons wherever it can be found. If
+    this is the case, there will be employment of the executive of the
+    State, and that soon. * * * Still later news from above [referring
+    to Hancock County] was received late on Monday night. The outrages
+    were still continued. The flouring mill, carding machine, etc.,
+    of Norman Buel, a Mormon, one mile and a half west of Lima is
+    now a heap of ashes. Colonel Levi Williams, of Green Plains has
+    ordered out his brigade, it is said to aid the anti-Mormons. The
+    anti-Mormons from Shuyler [county] and the adjoining counties,
+    are flocking in and great distress of life and property may be
+    expected. Heaven only knows where these proceedings will end. It is
+    time the strong arm of power was extended to quell them. [3]
+
+In the midst of the exciting scenes which followed, the sheriff of
+Hancock County, Mr. J. B. Backenstos proved himself a friend to law and
+order. He did all in his power to arrest the spread of violence and
+called upon all law-abiding citizens to act as a _posse comitatus_,
+but announced it as his opinion that the citizens of Nauvoo had better
+take no part in suppressing the mob-violence, since that might lead
+to a civil war. At the same time he told the people of Hancock, that
+"the Mormon community had acted with more than ordinary forbearance,
+remaining perfectly quiet, and offering no resistance when their
+dwellings, their buildings, stacks of grain, etc., were set on fire in
+their presence. They had forborne until forbearance was no longer a
+virtue." His vigorous efforts were making headway against the violators
+of the law; but in consequence of some parties who had sought his life,
+while acting in his official capacity, being killed, he was arrested
+[4] by General John J. Hardin and placed on trial for murder; after
+which mob-violence went unchecked of justice.
+
+In the midst of these tumultuous scenes a mass meeting of the citizens
+was convened at Quincy on the twenty-second of September. It was
+generally known that the Prophet Joseph had contemplated going west
+with the main body of The Church, and it was one of the objects of this
+meeting to appoint a committee to confer with The Church authorities
+and learn what their present intentions were as to leaving the State.
+It was expressed as the opinion of that meeting that the only basis
+upon which the Mormon troubles could be settled would be the removal of
+that people from Illinois. "It is a settled thing," said Mr. Bartlett,
+editor of the Quincy _Whig_, in his issue following the meeting of the
+above date--
+
+    It is a settled thing that the public sentiment of the State is
+    against the Mormons, and it will be in vain for them to contend
+    against it; and to prevent bloodshed, and the sacrifice of many
+    lives on both sides, it is their duty to obey the public will, and
+    leave the State as speedily as possible. That they will do this we
+    have a confident hope--and that too, before the last extreme is
+    resorted to--that of force.
+
+We are sorry to say that many of the leading men of Quincy, principally
+prominent members of the bar, who before had been kindly disposed
+towards the citizens of Nauvoo, now turned against them, and became
+the advocates of violence, and lent the weight and influence of their
+characters to the support and spread of mob-law. Among such we are
+sorry to publish Major Warren and O. H. Browning, the latter having
+defended the Prophet Joseph on more than one occasion when unjustly
+charged with crime before the courts of the country. His burning words
+of eloquence, in reciting the wrongs of the Saints, when cruelly
+expelled from Missouri, would, one would think, have enlisted the
+sympathy of adamantine hearts; and now to see him leagued with those
+bent upon bringing about a repetition of these sorrows, is an event to
+be truly deplored.
+
+In answer to the Quincy committee to state what their present
+intentions were relative to leaving the State, the Twelve handed them
+the following communication:
+
+                                         NAUVOO, September 24, 1845.
+
+    _Whereas_, a council of the authorities of the Church of Jesus
+    Christ of Latter-day Saints, at Nauvoo have this day received a
+    communication from Messrs. Henry Asbury, John P. Robins, Albert G.
+    Pearson, P. A. Goodwin, J. N. Ralston, M. Rogers and E. Congers,
+    committee of the citizens of Quincy, requesting us to communicate
+    in writing our disposition and intention at this time, particularly
+    with regard to removing to some place where the peculiar
+    organization of our Church will not be likely to engender so much
+    strife and contention as unhappily exists at this time in Hancock
+    and some of the adjoining counties;
+
+    _And, whereas_, said committee have reported to us the doings of
+    a public meeting of the citizens of Quincy on the twenty-second
+    inst., by which it appears there are some feelings concerning us as
+    a people, and in relation to which sundry resolutions were passed,
+    purporting to be for the purpose of maintaining or restoring peace
+    to the country;
+
+    _And, whereas_, it is our desire and ever has been, to live in
+    peace with all men, so far as we can, without sacrificing the right
+    to worship God according to the dictates of our own consciences
+    which privilege is granted by the Constitution of these United
+    States; and, whereas, we have time and again, been driven from our
+    peaceful homes, and our women and children have been obliged to
+    live on the prairies, in the forests, on the roads and in tents,
+    in the dead of winter, suffering all manner of hardships--even to
+    death itself--as the people of Quincy well know; the remembrance
+    of whose hospitality, in former days, still causes our hearts to
+    burn with joy, and raise the prayer to heaven for blessing on
+    their heads; and, whereas, it is now so late in the season that
+    it is impossible for us, as a people, to remove this fall without
+    causing a repetition of like sufferings; and, whereas, it has
+    been represented to us from other sources than those named, and
+    even in some communications from the executive of the State, that
+    many of the citizens of the State were unfriendly to our views
+    and principles; and, whereas, many scores of our homes in this
+    country have been burned to ashes without any justifiable cause
+    or provocation, and we have made no resistance, till compelled
+    by the authorities of the county so to do, and that authority
+    not connected with our Church; and, whereas, said resistance to
+    mobocracy, from legally constituted authority, appears to be
+    misunderstood by some, and misconstrued by others, so as to produce
+    an undue excitement in the public mind; and, whereas, we desire
+    peace above all earthly blessings;
+
+    _Therefore_, we would say to the committee above mentioned, and to
+    the governor, and all the authorities and people of Illinois, and
+    the surrounding States and Territories that we propose to leave
+    this county next spring, for some point so remote, that there will
+    not need be any difficulty with the people and ourselves, provided
+    certain propositions necessary for the accomplishment of our
+    removal shall be observed, as follows, to-wit:
+
+    That the citizens of this and surrounding counties, and all men,
+    will use their influence and exertion to help us to sell or rent
+    our properties, so as to get means enough that we can help the
+    widow, the fatherless and the destitute to remove with us,
+
+    That all men will let us alone with their vexatious law-suits so
+    that we may have time, for we have broken no laws; and help us to
+    cash, dry goods, groceries, etc., to good oxen, beef cattle, sheep,
+    wagons, mules horses, harness, etc., in exchange for our property,
+    at a fair price, and deeds given on payment, that we may have means
+    to accomplish a removal without the suffering of the destitute to
+    an extent beyond the endurance of human nature.
+
+    That all exchange of property shall be conducted by a committee,
+    or by committees of both parties; so that all the business may be
+    transacted honorably and speedily.
+
+    That we will use all lawful means, in connection with others
+    to preserve the public peace while we tarry; and shall expect,
+    decidedly, that we be no more molested with house-burning, or any
+    other depredations, to waste our property and time, and hinder our
+    business.
+
+    That it is a mistaken idea, that we have proposed to leave in six
+    months, for that would be so early in the spring that grass may
+    not grow nor water run; both of which would be necessary for our
+    removal. But we propose to use our influence, to have no more seed
+    time and harvest among our people in this county after gathering
+    our present crops; and that all communications be made to us in
+    writing.
+
+                                         By order of the council,
+                                                    BRIGHAM YOUNG,
+                                                         President.
+
+    W. RICHARDS,
+         Clerk.
+
+The Quincy committee reported to the citizens of that city, the
+propositions of The Church authorities, which were regarded as
+satisfactory in part, but thought they were not so full or decisive
+as was necessary. The mass meeting to which they reported, however,
+accepted the propositions and decided to recommend the people in the
+surrounding counties to do the same. "But," said one of the resolutions:
+
+    We accept it [the proposition of The Church authorities] as an
+    unconditional proposition to remove. We do not intend to bring
+    ourselves under any obligation to purchase their property or
+    furnish purchasers for the same, but we will in no way hinder or
+    obstruct them in their efforts to sell; and will expect them to
+    dispose of their property, and remove at the time appointed.
+
+    _Resolved_, that it is now too late to attempt the settlement of
+    the difficulties in Hancock County upon any other basis than that
+    of the removal of the Mormons from the State.
+
+    _Resolved_, that whilst we shall endeavor, by all the means in our
+    power, to prevent the occurrence of anything which might operate
+    against their removal, and afford the people of Nauvoo any grounds
+    of complaint, we shall equally expect good faith upon their part;
+    and if they shall not comply with their own proposition, the
+    consequence must rest upon those who violate faith. And we now
+    solemnly pledge ourselves to be ready at the appointed time to act,
+    as the occasion may require, and that we will immediately adopt a
+    preliminary military organization, for prompt future action, if
+    occasion should demand it.
+
+    _Resolved_, that in our opinion, the peace of Hancock County cannot
+    so far be restored as to allow the desired progress to be made,
+    in preparing the way for the removal of the Mormons, while J. B.
+    Backenstos remains sheriff of said county: and that he ought to
+    resign said office.
+
+Of the first of these resolutions Josiah B. Conyers, the author of
+"A Brief History of the Hancock Mob," says with just indignation and
+sarcasm:
+
+    The first one, in our opinion, is unique. They accepted and
+    recommended to the people of the surrounding counties to accept an
+    unconditional proposition to remove. But understand, Mr. Mormon,
+    though we accept it and recommend the surrounding counties to do
+    so, likewise, (reprobate you, unconditionally) we do not intend to
+    bring ourselves under any obligation to purchase your property,
+    or to furnish purchasers; but we will be very kind and obliging,
+    and will in no way, hinder or obstruct you in your efforts to
+    sell, provided, nevertheless, this shall not be so construed as to
+    prevent us from running off the purchaser. But we expect this small
+    favor of you, viz., that you must dispose of your property, and
+    leave at the appointed time. [5]
+
+This mass meeting closed its business by arranging a plan for adopting
+a preliminary military organization for prompt future action, if
+occasion should demand.
+
+On the first and second of October an anti-Mormon convention assembled
+at Carthage, in which nine counties, those immediately surrounding
+Hancock, were represented. A committee on evidence, was appointed, on
+which Archibald Williams, one of the Saints' bitterest enemies, was
+chairman. It was its business to collect evidence in relation to the
+depredations of the Mormons. The chairman made a report to which were
+appended a number of affidavits, charging various crimes on the people
+of Nauvoo. It is needless to say that the whole thing was an _ex patre_
+affair, and sustained by the men who had assisted in the murder of
+Joseph and Hyrum Smith; and it was upon their evidence the convention
+acted.
+
+The convention adopted the course followed by the mass meeting at
+Quincy--that is, it agreed to accept the propositions of The Church
+authorities, to remove, in the same spirit they were received at
+Quincy, and proceeded to prepare a preliminary military organization
+to act with promptitude, provided the Saints did not remove. The
+convention also,
+
+    _Resolved_, that it is expected as an indispensable condition to
+    the pacification of the county, that the old citizens be permitted
+    to return to their homes unmolested by the present sheriff
+    (Backenstos,) and the Mormons, for anything alleged against them;
+    any attempt on their part to arrest or prosecute such persons for
+    pretended offenses, will inevitably lead to a renewal of the late
+    disorder.
+
+O. H. Browning moved the following:
+
+    _Resolved_, that the Hon. W. N. Purple, judge of this judicial
+    circuit court be requested not to hold a court in Hancock County
+    this fall; as, in the opinion of this convention, such court could
+    not be holden without producing a collision between the Mormons and
+    anti-Mormons, and renewing the excitement and disturbances which
+    have recently affected said county.
+
+And thus those guilty of mob violence and house burning were to be
+protected by the Carthage convention from prosecution before the
+courts; and those who might have the temerity to prosecute them and
+vindicate the law, were threatened by a renewal of that same lawless
+violence! Where, then, proud State of Illinois, was your majesty! Your
+honor! Can you answer? If you, out of very shame, cannot look up and
+reply, history answers for you, and tells you it was trailed in the
+dust, under the very feet of as vile a set of traitors as ever brought
+shame to their country! And where was your virtuous populace, the true
+watch and guard of a State's honor? Alas, they were blinded by the
+falsehoods prompted by malice and envy, and started on foot to shield
+the guilty murderers of innocence, or quelled by the bold front of a
+traitorous but successful mob.
+
+In the meantime every exertion was made by the citizens of Nauvoo, to
+be ready for the great exodus in the spring. The temple had been so far
+completed that a conference was held in it on the sixth of October, and
+committees appointed to negotiate the sale of property and attend to
+other branches of business.
+
+Nauvoo presented a busy scene in those days. Men were hurrying to and
+fro collecting wagons and putting them in repair; the roar of the
+smith's forge was well nigh perpetual, and even the stillness of night
+was broken by the steady beating of the sledge and the merry ringing
+of the anvil. Committees were seeking purchasers of real estate and
+converting both that and personal property into anything that would be
+of service to those just about to plunge into an unknown and boundless
+wilderness.
+
+But while these efforts were being put forth on the part of the
+people of Nauvoo, to fulfill their agreement with the mob forces,
+the conditions of removal on the part of the old settlers were
+frequently violated; and instances of mob violence were almost every
+day occurrences. The people, who were making preparations to leave the
+farms, gardens and homes they had redeemed from the wilderness, were
+constantly threatened with destruction by the hostile demonstrations of
+their heartless neighbors.
+
+To give an earnest of the intentions of the Mormons to leave the State
+where they had suffered so much, and to thereby remove all occasion
+for the implacable wrath of their enemies, that was so impatient that
+it could not wait for the springtime to come, for the sacrifice of
+its victims, the Twelve and the High Council, with about four hundred
+families, crossed the Mississippi on the ice, on the eleventh of
+February, 1846, and were soon lost to view in the wilderness of Iowa.
+Others continued to follow as fast as they could make ready, until by
+the latter part of April, the great body of The Church at Nauvoo had
+gone.
+
+But now, purchasers for their property failed those who remained.
+The people surrounding Nauvoo saw no need of purchasing that which
+inevitably must become theirs. The result was that it became impossible
+for this remnant, consisting for the most part, of the destitute, the
+aged, infirm and sick, to remove. And surely a people who had still any
+faith left in humanity, would be justified in the belief that these
+could remain until an asylum was found for them by their friends, who
+had already gone in search of new homes. But in this, be it said, to
+the shame of Illinois, they were deceived. In the hardened hearts of
+their enemies, however, there was no mercy, even for the helpless; no
+pity for the sick or destitute. In their enemies' veins the milk of
+human kindness had dried up.
+
+During the preparations for the exodus, Major Warren had been stationed
+with a small military force in Hancock, to keep the peace; but about
+the middle of April he received orders to disband his force on the
+first of May, as that was adjudged by "the public expectation," to use
+a phrase of Major Warren's, when the last of the Mormons should have
+left the State. So soon as it was understood that there were still
+left in Nauvoo a number of Mormons who would likely remain through
+the summer to continue their efforts to dispose of property, an
+uproar was raised in the surrounding counties, meetings were held and
+resolutions adopted, demanding that they leave at once, under threats
+of extermination. When the governor saw this new furore breaking out,
+he countermanded the order for Major Warren to disband his forces, and
+commanded him to hold his position and to preserve the peace until he
+received further orders.
+
+The new impetus given to mob violence, however, was not to spend its
+force without perpetrating some outrage, and a number of cowardly
+attacks were made upon Mormons. On the eleventh of May, Major Warren
+found it necessary to issue a circular from which I quote the following:
+
+    The undersigned again deems it his duty to appear before you in a
+    circular. It may not be known to all of you, that the day after
+    my detachment was disbanded at Carthage, I received orders from
+    the executive to muster them into service again, and remain in the
+    county until further orders.
+
+    I have now been in Nauvoo with my detachment a week and can say
+    to you with perfect assurance that the demonstrations made by the
+    Mormon population, are unequivocal. They are leaving the State, and
+    preparing to leave, with every means that God and nature has placed
+    in their hands. * * * The anti-Mormons desire the removal of the
+    Mormons; this is being effected peaceably and with all possible
+    dispatch. All aggressive movements, therefore, against them at this
+    time, must be actuated by a wanton desire to shed blood, or to
+    plunder. * * *
+
+    A man of near sixty years of age, living about seven miles from
+    this place, was taken from his house a few nights since, stripped
+    of his clothing, and his back cut to pieces with a whip, for no
+    other reason than because he was a Mormon, and too old to make
+    successful resistance. Conduct of this kind would disgrace a horde
+    of savages. * * * To the Mormons I would say, go on with your
+    preparations and leave as fast as you can. Leave the fighting to
+    be done by my detachment. If we are overpowered, then recross the
+    river, and defend yourselves and property.
+
+To those busy trying to raise mob forces, principally Squire M'Calla
+and Colonel Levi Williams, Major Warren gave warning that a previous
+order to the effect that not more than four armed men, other than
+State troops, should assemble together, would be enforced; and that
+any mob which assembled would be dispersed; his force or the mob would
+leave the field in double quick time. This had the effect of quieting
+matters down for a season, but only until Major Warren's detachment was
+disbanded.
+
+A meeting was held at Carthage on the sixth of June, to make
+preparations for celebrating the fourth of July, the nation's natal
+day. It was suggested at that meeting that, as all the Mormons had not
+left the State, the people of Hancock County could not be considered
+free; and under those circumstances, they ought not to celebrate the
+fourth with the usual rejoicings. The meeting was therefore adjourned
+to meet on the twelfth, for the purpose of taking into consideration
+why it was that all Mormons had not left the city of Nauvoo. That
+happened to be the day fixed by the governor on which to raise
+volunteers for the Mexican war, which, in the meantime, had broken out;
+so that there was considerable excitement among the militia of Hancock
+County, and the mob leaders doubtless thought the time propitious for
+making a demonstration against the few Saints still remaining in Nauvoo.
+
+A large body of men were found willing to march into Nauvoo, but it was
+learned that the new citizens who had purchased much of the property of
+the now exiled people, were unwilling to allow the mob forces to enter
+the city, and meeting with this unexpected opposition, the mob forces
+marched to Golden's point, distant from Nauvoo some five or six miles
+down the river. At this juncture, Stephen Markham returned to Nauvoo
+from the camp of the Apostles for some Church property; but it was
+rumored that he had returned with a large body of men, and as Markham's
+name was a terror among the enemies of the Saints, the mob took to
+flight, though no one was in pursuit. It was a case of the wicked
+fleeing when no man pursued.
+
+The committee at Quincy having control of the mob forces, either
+chagrined by the cowardice of those who had collected at Golden's
+point, or appalled at the prospect of innocent blood being found upon
+their skirts, retired from the position which had been assigned them.
+This disorganized the mob and they dispersed to their homes, but agreed
+to assemble again at the call of their leaders; and laid an injunction
+upon the Mormons in Nauvoo not to go outside of the city limits, except
+in making their way westward.
+
+This order of the mob was disregarded by a party of new citizens and
+a few Saints who went into the country several miles, to harvest a
+field of grain. While engaged in their work, they were surrounded by
+a mob and captured. They were robbed of their arms, stripped of their
+clothing, and cruelly beaten with hickory goads. This outrage created
+intense excitement in Nauvoo, and the new citizens and Saints made
+common cause in bringing the perpetrators of it to justice. But while
+the parties accused of the crime were under arrest in the hands of
+the officers, a second party, consisting of P. H. Young and his son,
+Richard Ballantyne, James Standing and Mr. Herring were kidnapped, and
+held by their tormentors fourteen days, during which time they were
+constantly threatened with death. They finally escaped, however, and
+returned to Nauvoo.
+
+The parties accused of making the assault on those in the harvest
+field, took a change of venue to Quincy, but whether they were ever
+brought to trial or not, I cannot learn, but think they were not.
+
+Among those arrested for attacking the party of harvesters was Major
+M'Calla; and in his possession was found a gun taken from the party.
+The gun was recognized by several persons, among whom was Wm. Pickett,
+and taken from him. The mobbers then and there made out a charge of
+stealing, and got out warrants for the arrest of Pickett, Furness and
+Clifford. Pickett, it would seem, had incurred the hatred of the mob,
+and they desired to get him into their power. Word was brought to him
+by a friend that the warrant was merely a subterfuge to get him into
+the hands of his enemies; consequently, when one John Carlin, a special
+constable from Carthage, undertook to arrest him, he asked if he would
+guarantee his safety; being answered in the negative, he resisted the
+officer and would not be taken. Though it is claimed that afterwards,
+in company with several friends he went before the magistrate of Green
+Plains, who, it was said, issued the warrant for his arrest. But as he
+had no record of the warrant he refused to put him under arrest. The
+other parties accused were acquitted on examination.
+
+The mob now, however, saw an opportunity to accomplish their full
+purpose of destroying the city of Nauvoo. An officer had been resisted
+by a citizen, and his fellow citizens approved his course! "Nauvoo was
+in rebellion against the laws!" Carlin issued a proclamation calling
+upon the citizens to come as a _posse comitatus_, to assist him in
+executing the law. And to his clarion call,
+
+    There was mounting in hot haste.
+
+The old mob forces were soon assembled at Carthage, and the command
+given to Captain Singleton.
+
+The citizens of Nauvoo petitioned the governor for protection, and he
+sent to them Major J. R. Parker, with a force of ten men from Fulton
+County, and also authorized him to take command of such forces as
+might volunteer to defend the city against any attacks that might be
+threatened. He was also empowered "to pursue, and in aid of any peace
+officer with a proper warrant, arrest the rioters who may threaten
+or attempt such an attack, and bring them to trial;" and to assist
+with an armed posse any peace officer in making an arrest, and with a
+like force to guard the prisoners, during the trial, and as long as
+he believed them in danger of mob violence. The commission bears date
+August 24, 1846.
+
+Thus equipped, Major Parker went to Nauvoo and issued a proclamation
+calling upon the mobs then collecting, "_in the name of the people of
+Illinois, and by virtue of the authority vested in him by the governor
+of the State to disperse_." The issue, then, was no longer between the
+mob forces and the Mormons; it was between the recognized authority of
+the State and this lawless banditti. Major Parker also announced that
+he was authorized and prepared to assist the proper officers in serving
+any writs in their hands.
+
+In answer to this proclamation Carlin issued a counter one to the
+effect that if he met with resistance from Parker, he would consider
+his detachment as a mob, and proceed accordingly. To which Parker
+replied, if the forces under Carlin undertook to enter Nauvoo, he would
+treat them as a mob. Parker also wrote to Singleton, and expressed a
+desire to bring about a settlement of the difficulty without shedding
+blood. To this communication Singleton replied that in Parker's
+proposition he saw nothing looking to the expulsion of the remnant
+of the Mormon people left in Nauvoo, and "that is," said he "a _sine
+qua non_ with us." It will be remembered that Carlin's professed
+object in calling for a posse was to arrest William Pickett; but now
+something more is demanded--the immediate removal of the Mormons, the
+surrender of Nauvoo, etc. Singleton concluded his terms to Parker, the
+representative of the governor of the State, in these words:
+
+    When I say to you, the Mormons must go, I speak the mind of the
+    camp and the country. They can leave without force or injury to
+    themselves or their property, but I say to you, sir, with all
+    candor, _they shall go_--they may fix the time within sixty days,
+    or I will fix it for them.
+
+At this juncture a committee of one hundred, which had been appointed
+by the citizens of Quincy, arrived on the scene, to act--ostensibly--as
+mediators, to bring about a peaceful solution of the trouble, but
+one cannot help thinking their true mission was to insidiously carry
+out the project of the mob. But I leave the reader to draw his own
+inference respecting that; when he hears the terms proposed by that
+committee, and which all classes of citizens in Nauvoo, seeing no
+alternative, accepted:
+
+The terms offered were that the Mormons move out of the city, or
+disperse within sixty days. A force of twenty-five to remain in the
+city during that time, half the expense of maintaining them was to be
+paid by the people of Nauvoo; for which amount they were to give bond;
+that the Mormons surrender their arms, which should be returned to them
+after they left the State; that as soon as those arms were surrendered,
+the forces under Singleton were to disperse; that all hostilities cease
+between the respective parties as soon as the agreement was accepted.
+
+The singularity about this agreement is that not one word is said about
+giving up Pickett, to arrest whom the forces under Singleton were
+ostensibly called out. Does it not reveal the fact that the Pickett
+episode was merely a ruse--a pretext for gathering a mob to sack Nauvoo
+and drive away the Mormons?
+
+This proposed settlement, however, was rejected by the mob forces. It
+did not sufficiently gratify their implacable hatred. They did, in very
+deed, as the Prophet Joseph foretold his people they would, thirst
+for the blood of every man in whose heart dwelt a single spark of the
+spirit of the fullness of the Gospel. But when the mob rejected these
+terms, Singleton and other leaders left them; saying the Mormons had
+done all that could be required of them.
+
+On the retirement of Singleton and others, the command of the mob was
+given to Thomas S. Brockman, a Campbellite preacher, known familiarly
+as "Old Tom," among his followers. He at once went into active
+preparations for bombarding the city; and with a force of more than one
+thousand men, and six pieces of cannon, took up a position about one
+mile east of the city, in a cornfield just at the head of Mulholland
+street; and not far from the house of Squire D. H. Wells.
+
+From this position Brockman issued the terms upon which he would grant
+peace. The terms he offered were much more outrageous than those
+proposed by the Quincy committee, and therefore were rejected by the
+people of Nauvoo, both by Mormon and non-Mormon. Brockman addressed
+his insolent terms of peace to "the commanding officer of Nauvoo, and
+the trustees of the Mormon Church." The "commanding officer" was Major
+Clifford, who had succeeded Major Parker in that position. He was
+vested with the governor's commission as Parker had been, and it was to
+this representative of Illinois' executive that the demand of Brockman
+to surrender the city, and stack his arms, was addressed; so that he
+and his mob forces were pitted against the laws and lawful authority of
+the State, and we shall see, as we proceed, how mobs were more powerful
+than the State authorities; or rather, how the lawful authorities of
+the State were so lost to all sense of shame, so recreant to the trust
+reposed in them, so neglectful of the honor and dignity of the State,
+that they permitted their own representatives to be driven in disgrace
+from the field by the mob led by Brockman: and furthermore, those same
+authorities were so lost to every principle of humanity, that they
+permitted the helpless and unoffending people to be driven from their
+homes out into the wilderness to perish from exposure.
+
+The citizens of Nauvoo were not willing to allow Brockman's mob
+to enter the city without making some effort to prevent him; and
+although their forces numbered not more than three or four hundred,
+they presented a determined front to the mob. They converted some
+steam-boat shafts into cannon--five pieces in all--and threw up some
+fortifications on the north of Mulholland street, facing the mob's
+camp. These works were under command of Captain Lamareux. On the
+south of of Mulholland street, the companies of Gates and Cutler were
+stationed.
+
+On September 10th, 11th, and 12th, there was some desultory firing on
+both sides, without much advantage being gained. On the thirteenth,
+however, the mob-forces advanced in solid column, making a desperate
+effort to reach Mulholland street, the principal street leading into
+Nauvoo from the east. If the onset was desperate, the resistance was
+equally determined. The main shock of the conflict was sustained for a
+time by Gates' and Cutler's companies, and they must inevitably have
+been overpowered by the superior numbers of the mob, had not Squire
+Wells come up with Lamareux's company to reinforce them. The doughty
+squire had ridden across an open field exposed to the fire of the
+enemy, to where Lamareux's company lay behind their fortifications.
+He called upon them to advance at once to check the approach of the
+mob. There was one brave spirit who needed no second call to perform
+his duty. That was William Anderson, captain of what was known as the
+"Spartan Band." He leaped from behind the trenches and calling on his
+men to follow, started for the front. The rest of Lamareux's company
+did not so readily respond, and manifested a disposition to retreat
+rather than advance. Squire Wells, observing this, and seeing Anderson
+and his few brave followers rushing headlong into the conflict, raised
+in his stirrups, and swinging his hat, shouted: "Hurrah for Anderson!
+Who wouldn't follow the brave Anderson!" This rallied their spirits,
+and they followed the squire to the front, where they were soon firing
+at the enemy as steadily as their comrades.
+
+The mob forces by this time had nearly reached Mulholland street, but
+now they recoiled from the rapid firing of the reinforcements and beat
+a retreat to the house of a Mr. Carmichael, but a short distance from
+Squire Wells' house. Here they waited until wagons came from their
+camp, and putting their dead and wounded into them, returned to where
+they were encamped in the morning. The number of killed and wounded of
+the mob has never been ascertained, as the facts were kept concealed.
+The intrepid Anderson and his equally brave son, a lad not more than
+fifteen years of age fell in the engagement; and one Morris was killed
+while crossing a field by a cannon ball.
+
+Negotiations were now renewed, and the citizens of Nauvoo, seeing that
+the State authorities rendered them no assistance, but permitted even
+their own authority to be braved by a lawless mob, and knowing that
+they would eventually be overpowered, accepted the following terms of
+settlement, in order to stop the further effusion of blood:--
+
+    1. The city of Nauvoo will surrender. The force of Colonel Brockman
+    to enter and take possession of the city tomorrow, the seventeenth
+    of September, at three o'clock p. m.
+
+    2. The arms to be delivered to the Quincy committee, to be returned
+    on the crossing of the river.
+
+    3. The Quincy committee pledge themselves to use their influence
+    for the protection of persons and property from all violence, and
+    the officers of the camp and the men pledge themselves to protect
+    all persons and property from violence.
+
+    4. The sick and helpless to be protected and treated with humanity.
+
+    5. The Mormon population of the city to leave the State or disperse
+    as soon as they can cross the river.
+
+    6. Five men, including the Trustees of The Church, and five clerks,
+    with their families (Wm. Pickett not one of the number) to be
+    permitted to remain in the city, for the disposition of property,
+    free from all molestation and personal violence.
+
+    7. Hostilities to cease immediately, and ten men of the Quincy
+    committee to enter the city, in the execution of their duty as soon
+    as they think proper.
+
+These terms of capitulation were signed on the part of the citizens of
+Nauvoo, by Almon W. Babbitt, Joseph L. Heywood and John S. Fullmer; and
+on the part of the mob by Thomas S. Brockman and John Carlin; and by
+Andrew Johnson on behalf of the Quincy committee.
+
+The rest of my story is soon told. There was a hasty flight of the
+"Mormon" population and a number of the new citizens who had assisted
+in the defense of Nauvoo. They left their homes without being able to
+carry with them anything for their comfort. The sick, aged and infirm,
+together with the youth, without regard to sex or condition, shared
+the same fate; they had to lie out on the Mississippi bottoms where
+many perished through exposure, and beyond all doubt, all would have
+famished from hunger, had not their camp been filled with innumerable
+flocks of quail, so tame that women and children caught hundreds of
+them in their hands, and thus was the cry of hunger relieved, by what
+would generally be regarded as a miraculous occurrence. [6]
+
+Brockman and his forces entered the city, and once in, he insolently
+violated every condition of the treaty of surrender. But lest I
+should be charged with inaccuracy--for such events as I am recording
+seem almost too much to believe--I quote from the report made by Mr.
+Brayman to Governor Ford. Mr. Brayman had acted as the Governor's
+agent, for some time, in a secret capacity from the commencement of the
+difficulties at Nauvoo, and the following abstract is from an elaborate
+report he gives of the final struggle for the defense of the city.
+Moreover, the fact that I have never seen this matter reproduced in any
+of our books encourages me to insert it here:
+
+    The force of General Brockman marched into the city at three
+    o'clock. From fifteen hundred to two thousand men marched in
+    procession, through the city, and encamped on the south side, near
+    the river. The march was conducted without the least disorder or
+    trespass upon persons or property. The streets were deserted--the
+    obnoxious persons had left the city, leaving but little to provoke
+    the resentment of the victors. But a few Mormons remained in the
+    city, and these were hastening their preparations for crossing the
+    river as soon as possible. On my return from Carthage to the city,
+    about noon, I learned that the Quincy committee had closed its
+    labors at sunrise and had left for home, leaving a sub-committee to
+    complete the reception and delivery of the arms of those Mormons
+    who had not yet departed.
+
+    I also learned that in addition to the duty General Brockman had
+    assumed, under the treaty, of superintending the removal of the
+    Mormons from the State, he had issued an order for the expulsion
+    from the State, of all who had borne arms in defense of the city
+    against his force, and all who were in any manner identified with
+    the Mormons.
+
+    It could scarcely be believed that such an order in such palpable
+    and gross violation of the unanimous pledge which had been signed
+    by the officers, agreed to by the whole force, and endorsed by
+    the Quincy committee, had been given. But on applying to General
+    Brockman, I learned that such an order had been given, and would be
+    executed. This order was rigorously enforced throughout the day,
+    with many circumstances of the utmost cruelty and injustice. Bands
+    of armed men traversed the city, entering the houses of citizens,
+    robbing them of arms, throwing their household goods out of doors,
+    insulting them, and threatening their lives. Many were seized and
+    marched to the camp, and after military examination, set across
+    the river, for the crime of sympathizing with the Mormons, or the
+    still more heinous offense of _fighting in the defense of the city,
+    under command of officers commissioned by_ YOU, [Governor Ford],
+    and instructed to make that defense. It is, indeed, painfully true,
+    that many citizens of this State, have been driven from it by an
+    armed force, because impelled by our encouragement, and a sense of
+    duty, they have bravely defended their homes and homes of their
+    neighbors from the assaults of a force assembled for unlawful
+    purposes.
+
+    In the face of the pledge given to protect persons and property
+    from all violence, (excepting of course Mormon persons and
+    property), it may be estimated that nearly one half of the new
+    citizens of Nauvoo have been forced from their homes and dare
+    not return. Thus far, these citizens have appealed in vain for
+    protection and redress.
+
+    It remains yet to be seen whether there is efficacy in the law,
+    power in the executive arm, or potency in public opinion sufficient
+    to right their grievous wrongs. It is disgraceful to the character
+    of the State, and a humiliation not to be borne, to permit a
+    military leader, acting without a shadow of lawful authority, but
+    in violation of law and right, not only to thwart the will of the
+    executive, but to impose upon citizens the penalty of banishment,
+    for acting under it. [7]
+
+Was this arch traitor, Brockman, hung for his treason against the
+State? No; nor even tried or questioned, neither he nor his followers.
+Perhaps it was thought that an investigation might reveal the fact to
+the world that many high officials, and chief among them the governor
+of the State, had been engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to drive
+from Illinois an innocent community, whose rights they had not the
+moral courage to defend against the fierce attacks of lawless mobs,
+whose hands were crimson in the blood of innocence; and who repeatedly
+trampled the honor and dignity of the State under their feet.
+
+After a time the most of the new citizens returned to the homes they
+had purchased for little or nothing from the now exiled founders of the
+beautiful city. But Nauvoo never prospered under its new masters. Out
+of sympathy for those who had redeemed it from a wilderness, and some
+portions of it from a swamp, its fields and gardens refused to yield in
+their strength to the industry of other hands. Its decline was as rapid
+and disastrous as its rise had been sudden and glorious.
+
+A French communistic society had purchased considerable property in
+the deserted city, and into their hands passed the splendid temple the
+Saints at such sacrifice had erected. Externally, the building had
+been completed in the spring of 1846, even to the gilding of the angel
+and the trumpet at the top of the spire. During the winter of 1845-6
+various rooms of the temple were dedicated for ordinance work, and
+there hundreds of the faithful Saints received their endowments--the
+sacred mysteries of the faith. The main court of worship was also
+prepared; and on the evening of April 30th, 1846, the building was
+privately dedicated, Joseph Young, the senior president of the First
+Council of Seventy, offering the dedicatory prayer. On the first of
+May, 1846, under the direction of Apostles Orson Hyde and Wilford
+Woodruff, the edifice was publicly dedicated, according to the order of
+the Holy Priesthood, revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
+
+The temple was always a source of envy to the enemies of the Saints,
+and it was feared that if it continued to stand it would be a bond
+between its exiled builders and the city from which they had been
+cruelly driven, and an inducement for them to return. On the tenth
+of November, 1848, an incendiary, therefore, set it on fire, and the
+tower was destroyed, and the whole building so shattered, that on the
+twenty-seventh of May, 1850, a tornado blew down the north wall. I
+was informed by M. M. Morrill, who at the time of my visit was mayor
+of Nauvoo, and, by the way, one who had assisted in its defense when
+attacked by the mob, that one Joseph Agnew, confessed to being the
+incendiary. Finally all the walls were pulled down and the stone
+hauled away for building purposes, until now, not one stone stands
+upon another. Even the very foundation has been cleared away, and
+the excavation for the basement filled up and the site covered with
+inferior buildings.
+
+At the time of my visit, in the summer of 1885, the population
+of Nauvoo numbered about seventeen hundred, nine-tenths of whom
+were Germans. The principal occupation is grape-growing, vineyards
+covering some portions of the city plat, which was once the principal
+business center. The whole place has a half-deserted, half-dilapidated
+appearance, and seems to be withering under a blight, from which it
+refuses to recover.
+
+Such is the fate of Nauvoo, which once promised to be the first city
+of Illinois, and beyond all question would have been so had there
+existed sufficient virtue and honor in that State to have protected its
+founders in their rights.
+
+* * * * * * *
+
+  Still stands the forest primeval; but under the
+  Shade of its branches
+  Dwells another race, with other customs
+  And languages.
+
+The quotation connects me with my introduction, and reminds me that I
+have completed the task proposed in these pages. But in the fate which
+overtook the survivors of the Acadian peasant-exiles from Nova Scotia,
+and the Mormons exiles from Illinois, the former fails altogether to
+suggest the faintest hint of a parallel.
+
+  Only along the shores of the mournful and
+  mystic Atlantic
+  Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers
+  from exile
+  Wandered back to their native land to die
+  in its bosom,
+
+Finishes the story of the Acadian exiles. Not so the story of the
+exiles from Illinois. They did not perish in exile, nor did merely a
+handful of them, broken in spirits as in fortunes return to live silent
+and sad on the site of their former homes. The Mormon exiles were not
+broken and scattered--they remained a people; beyond their exile they
+were destined to have a glorious history. Their faith in their religion
+was not shattered. Their church was not disrupted. Their hearts were
+not turned against their prophets. Their spirits were not blighted
+nor their hearts bowed down beyond the power of recovery; nor their
+fortunes so blasted that they could not hope for prosperity--for God
+was with them.
+
+The institution--The Church--brought into existence, and its doctrines
+developed amid so much of spiritual tempest and pursued so relentlessly
+by mob violence, and which may be said to have had a second birth at
+Nauvoo, and to have received sanctification from the martyrdom of her
+earthly founder--The Church which these exiles bore with them into the
+western wilderness was not born to die. Whatever might be the fate
+of The Church and the Saints in other dispensations of the Gospel,
+God had now introduced the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times,
+in which He has decreed that all things in Christ shall be gathered
+together in one--even in Him. [8] A dispensation in which the salvation
+of man and the redemption of the earth itself shall be consummated.
+And the earth and men made ready for the all glorious reign of truth
+and righteousness so long promised by God and His prophets. Hence
+The Church was not destroyed; and the people who fled with her to
+the wilderness did not perish. The blinding storms of sleet and rain
+which enveloped their principal companies as in melancholy trains they
+penetrated the wilderness of the then territory of Iowa, might easily
+have been taken for God's curtain rung down upon the most melancholy
+scene in America's history--the scene of a people in free America--the
+boasted asylum for the oppressed, where religious freedom is guaranteed
+by express constitutional provision--fleeing from the worst forms of
+oppression--the oppression of mob violence invoked in Illinois to crush
+their religious faith. But the curtain so rung down was not upon the
+final act. The hand of God again rolled it up; and when He did, it was
+to reveal to the world the exiles as the redeemers of desert wastes;
+the planters of cities; the builders of temples, the founders of
+States; and for themselves and for their religious faith so entrenched,
+so strengthened, so enlarged that the world shall never, while the
+earth itself remains, or sun or stars endure be rid of that faith
+founded--under God--by JOSEPH SMITH, THE PROPHET-MARTYR OF NAUVOO.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. Wm. Clayton's journal, under date of May 24, 1845.
+
+2. Ford's History of Illinois, p. 406.
+
+3. The Hancock Mob, p. 4, by J. B. Conyers, M. D.
+
+4. He was acquitted at his trial which took place at Peoria.
+
+5. Hancock Mob, Conyers, pp. 13, 14.
+
+6. The condition of the exiled Saints at this period is graphically
+described by General Thomas L. Kane, see appendix--
+
+7. The Hancock Mob, by J.B. Conyers, M. D., pages 73, 74.
+
+8. Eph. 1: 9, 10.
+
+
+
+APPENDICES.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I.
+
+CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN JOSEPH SMITH AND JOHN C. CALHOUN.
+
+    HON. JOHN C. CALHOUN.
+
+    DEAR SIR,--As we understand you are a candidate for the Presidency
+    at the next election; and as the Latter-day Saints (sometimes
+    called Mormons, who now constitute a numerous class in the school
+    politic of this vast republic,) have been robbed of an immense
+    amount of property, and endured nameless sufferings by the State of
+    Missouri, and from her borders have been driven by force of arms,
+    contrary to our national covenants; and as in vain we have sought
+    redress by all constitutional, legal, and honorable means, in her
+    courts, her executive councils and her legislative halls; and as
+    we have petitioned Congress to take cognizance of our sufferings
+    without effect, we have judged it wisdom to address you this
+    communication, and solicit an immediate, specific and candid reply
+    to "_What will be your rule of action relative to us as a people_,"
+    should fortune favor your ascension to the chief magistracy?
+
+    Most respectfully, sir, your friend,
+       and the friend of peace, good order,
+           and constitutional rights,
+                                                   JOSEPH SMITH.
+
+    In behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
+
+                                        FORT HILL, 2ND DECEMBER, 1843.
+
+    SIR,--You ask me what would be my rule of action relative to the
+    Mormons or Latter-day Saints, should I be elected President; to
+    which I answer, that if I should be elected, I would strive to
+    administer the government according to the Constitution and the
+    laws of the Union; and that as they make no distinction between
+    citizens of different religious creeds, I should make none. As far
+    as it depends on the executive department, all should have the full
+    benefit of both, and none should be exempt from their operation.
+
+    But as you refer to the case of Missouri, candor compels me to
+    repeat what I said to you at Washington, that, according to my
+    views, the case does not come within the jurisdiction of the
+    federal government, which is one of limited and specific powers.
+
+                       With respect, I am, &c., &c.,
+                                               J. C. CALHOUN.
+
+    Mr. Joseph Smith.
+
+                                    NAUVOO, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 2, 1844.
+
+    SIR,--Your reply to my letter of last November, concerning your
+    rule of action towards the Latter-day Saints, if elected president,
+    is at hand; and that you and your friends of the same opinion
+    relative to the matter in question may not be disappointed as to
+    me or my mind upon so grave a subject, permit me, as a law-abiding
+    man, as a well-wisher to the perpetuity of constitutional rights
+    and liberty, and as a friend to the free worship of Almighty God by
+    all, according to the dictates of every person's own conscience, to
+    say _I am surprised_ that a man or men in the highest stations of
+    public life should have made up such a fragile "view" of a case,
+    than which there is not one on the face of the globe fraught with
+    so much consequence to the happiness of men in this world or the
+    world to come.
+
+    To be sure, the first paragraph of your letter appears very
+    complacent and fair on a white sheet of paper. And who, that is
+    ambitious for greatness and power, would not have said the same
+    thing? Your oath would bind you to support the Constitution and
+    laws; and as all creeds and religions are alike tolerated, they
+    must, of course, all be justified or condemned according to merit
+    or demerit. But why--tell me why are all the principal men held up
+    for public stations _so cautiously careful_ not to publish to the
+    world that they _will judge a righteous judgment_, law or no law?
+    for laws and opinions, like the vanes of steeples, change with the
+    wind.
+
+    One Congress passes a law, another repeals it; and one statesman
+    says that the Constitution means this, and another that; and who
+    does not know that all may be wrong? The opinion and pledge,
+    therefore, in the first paragraph of your reply to my question,
+    like the forced steam from the engine of a steam-boat, makes the
+    show of a bright cloud at first; but when it comes in contact with
+    a purer atmosphere, dissolves to common air again.
+
+    Your second paragraph leaves you naked before yourself, like a
+    likeness in a mirror, when you say that, "according to your view,
+    the federal government is one of limited and specific powers," and
+    has no jurisdiction in the case of the Mormons. So then a State can
+    at any time expel any portion of her citizens with impunity, and,
+    in the language of Mr. Van Buren, frosted over with your gracious
+    "_views of the case_," though the cause is ever so just, Government
+    can do nothing for them, because it has no power.
+
+    Go on, then, Missouri, after another set of inhabitants (as the
+    Latter-day Saints did,) have entered some two or three hundred
+    thousand dollars' worth of land; and made extensive improvements
+    thereon. Go on, then, I say; banish the occupants or owners, or
+    kill them, as the mobbers did many of the Latter-day Saints, and
+    take their land and property as spoil; and let the legislature,
+    as in the case of the Mormons, appropriate a couple of hundred
+    thousand dollars to pay the mob for doing that job; for the
+    renowned senator from South Carolina, Mr. J. C. Calhoun, says the
+    powers of the federal government are so _specific and limited that
+    it has no jurisdiction of the case!_ O ye people who groan under
+    the oppression of tyrants!--ye exiled Poles, who have felt the iron
+    hand of Russian grasp!--ye poor and unfortunate among all nations!
+    come to the asylum of the oppressed; buy ye lands of the general
+    government; pay in your money to the treasury to strengthen the
+    army and the navy; worship God according to the dictates of your
+    own consciences; pay in your taxes to support the great heads of a
+    glorious nation: but remember a "_sovereign State_" is so much more
+    powerful than the United States, the parent government, that it
+    can exile you at pleasure, mob you with impunity, confiscate your
+    lands and property, have the legislature sanction it,--yea, even
+    murder you as an edict of an emperor, _and it does no wrong_; for
+    the noble senator of South Carolina says the power of the federal
+    government is _so limited and specific that it has no jurisdiction
+    of the case!_ What think ye of _imperium in imperio?_
+
+    Ye spirits of the blessed of all ages, hark! Ye shades of departed
+    statesmen listen! Abraham, Moses, Homer, Socrates, Solon, Solomon,
+    and all that ever thought of right and wrong, look down from your
+    exaltations, if you have any; for it is said, "In the midst of
+    counsellors there _is safety;_" and when you have learned that
+    fifteen thousand innocent citizens, after having purchased their
+    lands of the United States and paid for them, were expelled from
+    a "sovereign State," by order of the governor, at the point of
+    the bayonet, their arms taken from them by the same authority,
+    and their right of migration into said State denied, under pain
+    of imprisonment, whipping, robbing, mobbing, and even death, and
+    no justice or recompense allowed; and, from the legislature with
+    the governor at the head, down to the justice of the peace, with a
+    bottle of whisky in one hand and a bowie-knife in the other, hear
+    them all declare that there is no justice for a Mormon in that
+    State; and judge ye a righteous judgment, and tell me when the
+    virtue of the States was stolen, where the honor of the general
+    government lies hid, and what clothes a senator with wisdom. O
+    nullifying Carolina! O little tempestuous Rhode Island! Would it
+    not be well for the great men of the nation to read the fable
+    of the _partial judge;_ and when part of the free citizens of a
+    State had been expelled contrary to the Constitution, mobbed,
+    robbed, plundered, and many murdered, instead of searching into the
+    course taken with Joanna Southcott, Ann Lee, the French Prophets,
+    the Quakers of New England, and rebellious niggers in the slave
+    states, to hear both sides and then judge, rather than have the
+    mortification to say, "Oh, it is _my_ bull that has killed _your_
+    ox! That alters the case! I must inquire into it; _and if, and if_--
+
+    If the general government has no power to reinstate expelled
+    citizens to their rights, there is a monstrous hypocrite fed
+    and fostered from the hard earnings of the people! A real "bull
+    beggar" upheld by sycophants. And although you may wink to the
+    priests to stigmatize, wheedle the drunkards to swear, and raise
+    the hue-and-cry of--"Impostor! false prophet! G-- d-- old Joe
+    Smith!" yet remember, if the Latter-day Saints are not restored
+    to all their rights and paid for all their losses, according to
+    the known rules of justice and judgment, reciprocation and common
+    honesty among men, that God will come out of His hiding place, and
+    vex this nation with a sore vexation: yea, the consuming wrath
+    of an offended God shall smoke through the nation with as much
+    distress and woe as independence has blazed through with pleasure
+    and delight. Where is the strength of government? Where is the
+    patriotism of a Washington, a Warren, and Adams? And where is a
+    spark from the watch-fire of '76, by which one candle might be lit
+    that would glimmer upon the confines of Democracy? Well may it be
+    said that one man is not a state, nor one state the nation.
+
+    In the days of General Jackson, when France refused the first
+    installment for spoliations, there was power, force, and honor
+    enough to resent injustice and insult, and the money came; and
+    shall Missouri, filled with negro-drivers and white men stealers,
+    go "unwhipped of justice" for tenfold greater sins than France?
+    No! verily, no! While I have power of body and mind--while water
+    runs and grass grows--while virtue is lovely and vice hateful, and
+    while a stone points out a sacred spot where a fragment of American
+    liberty once was, I or my posterity will plead the cause of injured
+    innocence, until Missouri makes atonement for all her sins, or
+    sinks disgraced, degraded, and damned to hell, "where the worm
+    dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
+
+    Why, sir, the power not delegated to the United States and the
+    States belong to the people, and Congress sent to do the people's
+    business have all power; and shall fifteen thousand citizens groan
+    in exile? O vain men! will ye not, if ye do not restore them to
+    their rights and two million dollars' worth of property, relinquish
+    to them (the Latter-day Saints,) as a body, their portion of power
+    that belongs to them according to the Constitution? Power has its
+    convenience as well as inconvenience. "The world was not made for
+    Caesar alone, but for Titus too."
+
+    I will give you a parable. A certain lord had a vineyard in a
+    goodly land, which men labored in at their pleasure. A few meek
+    men also went and purchased with money from some of these chief
+    men that labored at pleasure a portion of land in the vineyard,
+    at a very remote part of it, and began to improve it, and to eat
+    and drink the fruit thereof,--when some vile persons, who regarded
+    not man, neither feared the lord of the vineyard, rose up suddenly
+    and robbed these meek men, and drove them from their possessions,
+    killing many.
+
+    This barbarous act made no small stir among the men in the
+    vineyard; and all that portion who were attached to that part of
+    the vineyard where the men were robbed rose up in grand council,
+    with their chief man, who had firstly ordered the deed to be done,
+    and made a covenant not to pay for the cruel deed, but to keep the
+    spoil, and never let those meek men set their feet on that soil
+    again, neither recompense them for it.
+
+    Now, these meek men, in their distress, wisely sought redress
+    of those wicked men in every possible manner, and got none.
+    They then supplicated the chief men, who held the vineyard at
+    pleasure, and who had the power to sell and defend it, for redress
+    and redemption; and those men, loving the fame and favor of
+    the multitude more than the glory of the lord of the vineyard,
+    answered--"Your cause is just, but we can do nothing for you,
+    because we have no power."
+
+    Now, when the lord of the vineyard saw that virtue innocence
+    was not regarded, and his vineyard occupied by wicked men, he
+    sent men and took the possession of it to himself, and destroyed
+    these unfaithful servants, and appointed them their portion among
+    hypocrites.
+
+    And let me say that all men who say that Congress has no power to
+    restore and defend the rights of her citizens have not the love of
+    the truth abiding in them. Congress has power to protect the nation
+    against foreign invasion and internal broil; and whenever that
+    body passes an act to maintain right with any power, or to restore
+    right to any portion of her citizens, it is the SUPREME LAW OF THE
+    LAND; and should a State refuse submission, that State is guilty of
+    _insurrection or rebellion_, and the President has as much power
+    to repel it as Washington had to march against the "whisky boys
+    at Pittsburg," or General Jackson had to send an armed force to
+    suppress the rebellion of South Carolina.
+
+    To close, I would admonish you, before you let your "_candor
+    compel_" you again to write upon a subject great as the salvation
+    of man, consequential as the life of the Savior, broad as the
+    principles of eternal truth, and valuable as the jewels of
+    eternity, to read in the eighth section and first article of
+    the Constitution of the United States, the _first, fourteenth_,
+    and _seventeenth_ "specific" and not very "limited powers" of
+    the federal government, what can be done to protect the lives,
+    property, and rights of a virtuous people, when the administrators
+    of the law and law-makers are unbought by bribes, uncorrupted by
+    patronage, untempted by gold, unawed by fear, and uncontaminated
+    tangling alliances--even like Caeser's wife, not only
+    _unspotted, but unsuspected!_ And God, who cooled the heat of a
+    Nebuchadnezzar's furnace or shut the mouths of lions for the honor
+    of a Daniel, will raise your mind above the narrow notion that the
+    general government has no power, to the sublime idea that Congress,
+    with the President as executor, is as almighty in its sphere as
+    Jehovah is in His.
+
+          With great respect, I have the honor to be
+                                   Your obedient servant,
+                                             JOSEPH SMITH.
+
+    Hon. ("Mr.") J. C. Calhoun,
+        Fort Hill, S. C.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II.
+
+CLAY'S LETTER TO JOSEPH SMITH AND THE LATTER'S REPLY.
+
+                                             ASHLAND, November 15, 1843.
+
+    DEAR SIR:--I have received your letter in behalf of the Church of
+    Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stating that you understand that
+    I am a candidate for the presidency, and inquiring what will be my
+    rule of action relative to you as a people, should I be elected.
+
+    I am profoundly grateful for the numerous and strong expressions of
+    the people in my behalf as a candidate for President of the United
+    States; but I do not so consider myself. That must depend upon
+    future events and upon my sense of duty.
+
+    Should I be a candidate, I can enter into no engagements, make no
+    promises, give no pledges to any particular portion of the people
+    of the United States. If I ever enter into that high office, I must
+    go into it free and unfettered, with no guarantees but such as are
+    to be drawn from my whole life, character and conduct.
+
+    It is not inconsistent with this declaration to say that I have
+    viewed with a lively interest the progress of the Latter-day
+    Saints; that I have sympathized in their sufferings under
+    injustice, as it appeared to me, which has been inflicted upon
+    them; and I think, in common with other religious communities, they
+    ought to enjoy the security and protection of the Constitution and
+    the laws.
+
+    I am, with great respect, your friend and obedient servant,
+
+                                                              H. CLAY.
+
+    To Joseph Smith, Esq.
+
+                                            NAUVOO, ILL., May 13, 1844.
+
+    SIR:--Your answer to my inquiry, "What would be your rule of
+    action towards the Latter-day Saints, should you be elected
+    President of the United States?" has been under consideration since
+    last November, in the fond expectation that you would give (for
+    every honest citizen has a right to demand it,) to the country a
+    manifesto of your views of the best method and means which would
+    secure to the people, _the whole people_, the most freedom, the
+    most happiness, the most union, the most wealth, the most fame,
+    the most glory at home, and the most honor abroad, at the least
+    expense. But I have waited in vain. So far as you have made public
+    declarations, they have been made, like your answer to the above,
+    soft to flatter, rather than solid to feed the people. You seem
+    to abandon all former policy which may have actuated you in the
+    discharge of a statesman's duty, when the vigor of intellect
+    and the force of virtue should have sought out an everlasting
+    habitation for liberty; when, as a wise man, a true patriot, and
+    a friend to mankind, you should have resolved to ameliorate the
+    lawful condition of our _bleeding_ country by a mighty plan of
+    wisdom, righteousness, justice, goodness and mercy, that would
+    have brought back the golden days of our nation's youth, vigor
+    and vivacity, when prosperity crowned the efforts of a youthful
+    republic, when the gentle aspirations of the sons of liberty were,
+    "We are one!"
+
+    In your answer to my questions last fall, that peculiar tact of
+    modern politicians declaring, "_If you ever enter into that high
+    office, you must go into it free and unfettered; with no guarantees
+    but such as are to be drawn from your whole life, character and
+    conduct_," so much resembles a lottery-vendor's sign, with the
+    goddess of good luck sitting on the car of fortune, a-straddle of
+    the horns of plenty, and driving the merry steeds of beatitude,
+    without reins or bridle, that I cannot help exclaiming--O frail
+    man, what have you done that will exalt you? Can anything be drawn
+    from your _life, character or conduct_ that is worthy of being held
+    up to the gaze of this nation as a model of _virtue_, charity and
+    wisdom? Are you not a lottery picture, with more than two blanks
+    to a prize? Leaving many things prior to your Ghent treaty, let
+    the world look at that, and see where is the wisdom, honor and
+    patriotism which ought to have characterized the plenipotentiary
+    of the only free nation upon the earth? A quarter of a century's
+    negotiation to obtain our rights on the north-eastern boundary,
+    and the motley manner in which Oregon tries to shine as American
+    territory, coupled with your presidential race and some-by-chance
+    secretaryship in 1825, all go to convince the friends of freedom,
+    the golden patriots of Jeffersonian democracy, free trade and
+    sailors' rights, and the protectors of person and property, that an
+    honorable war is better than a dishonorable peace.
+
+    But had you really wanted to have exhibited the wisdom, clemency,
+    benevolence and dignity of a great man in this boasted republic,
+    when fifteen thousand free citizens were exiled from their own
+    homes, lands and property, in the wonderful patriotic State of
+    Missouri, and you then upon your oath and honor occupying the
+    exalted station of a Senator of Congress from the noble-hearted
+    State of Kentucky, why did you not show the world your loyalty to
+    law and order, by using all honorable means to restore the innocent
+    to their rights and property? Why, sir, the more we search into
+    your character and conduct, the more we must exclaim from Holy
+    Writ, "The tree is known by its fruit."
+
+    Again: this is not all. Rather than show yourself an honest man,
+    by guaranteeing to the people what you will do in case you should
+    be elected president, "you can enter into no engagement, make no
+    promises, and give no pledges as to what you will do. Well, it may
+    be that some hot-headed partisan would take such nothingarianism
+    upon trust; but sensible men and even _ladies_ would think
+    themselves insulted by such an evasion of coming events! If a
+    tempest is expected, why not prepare to meet it, and, in the
+    language of the poet, exclaim--
+
+      Then let the trial come; and witness thou
+      If terror be upon me,--If I shrink
+      Or falter in my strength to meet the storm
+      When hardest it besets me.
+
+    True greatness never wavers; but when the Missouri compromise
+    was entered into by you for the benefit of _slavery_, there was
+    a mighty shrinkage of _western honor_; and from that day, sir,
+    the sterling Yankee, the struggling Abolitionist, and the staunch
+    Democrat, with a large number of the liberal-minded Whigs, have
+    marked you as a _black-leg_ in politics, begging for a chance to
+    _shuffle_ yourself into the Presidential chair, where you might
+    deal out the destinies of our beloved country for a _game of brag_
+    that would end in--"_Hark from the tombs a doleful sound_." Start
+    not at this picture: for your "whole life, character and conduct"
+    have been spotted with deeds that cause a blush upon the face of
+    a virtuous patriot. So you must be contented in your lot, while
+    crime, cowardice, cupidity or low cunning have handed you down
+    from the high tower of a statesman to the black-hole of a gambler.
+    A man that accepts a challenge or fights a duel is nothing more
+    nor less than a murderer; for Holy Writ declares that, "_Whose
+    sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed:_" and when in
+    the renowned city of Washington the notorious _Henry Clay_ dropped
+    from the summit of a Senator to the sink of a scoundrel to shoot
+    at that chalk-line of a Randolph, he not only disgraced his own
+    fame, family and friends, but he polluted the _sanctum sanctorum_
+    of American glory; and the kingly blackguards throughout the whole
+    world are pointing the finger of scorn at the boasted "asylum of
+    the oppressed," and hissing at American statesmen as _gentlemen
+    vagabonds and murderers_, holding the olive branch of peace in
+    one hand and a pistol for death in the other! Well might the
+    Savior rebuke the heads of this nation with "_Wo unto you scribes,
+    Pharisees, hypocrites!_" for the United States Government and
+    Congress, with a few honorable exceptions, have gone the way of
+    Cain, and must perish in their gainsayings, like Korah and his
+    wicked host. And honest men of every clime, and the innocent, poor
+    and oppressed, as well as heathens, pagans and Indians, everywhere,
+    who could but hope that the tree of liberty would yield some
+    precious fruit for the hungry human race, and shed some balmy
+    leaves for the healing of nations, have long since given up all
+    hopes of equal rights, of justice and judgment, and of truth and
+    virtue, when such polluted, vain, heaven-daring, bogus patriots
+    are forced or flung into the front rank of Government to guide
+    the destinies of millions. Crape the heavens with weeds of wo,
+    gird the earth with sack-cloth, and let hell mutter one melody
+    in commemoration of fallen splendor! for the glory of America
+    has departed, and God will set a flaming sword to guard the tree
+    of liberty, while such mint-tithing Herods as Van Buren, Boggs,
+    Benton, Calhoun and Clay are thrust out of the realms of virtue as
+    fit subjects for the kingdom of fallen greatness. _Vox reprobi, vox
+    Diaboli_!
+
+    In your late addresses to the people of South Carolina, where
+    rebellion budded, but could not blossom, you "renounced ultraism,"
+    "high tariff," and almost banished your "banking system" for the
+    more certain standard of "public opinion." This is all very well,
+    and marks the intention of a politician, the calculations of a
+    demagogue, and the allowance for leeings of a shrewd manager, just
+    as truly as the weathercock does the wind when it turns upon the
+    spire. Hustings for the South, barbecues for the West, confidential
+    letters for the North and "American System" for the East.
+
+      Lull-a-by baby upon the tree top,
+      And when the wind blows the cradle will rock.
+
+    Suppose you should also, taking your "whole life, character and
+    conduct" into consideration, and, as many hands make light work,
+    stir up the old "Clay party," the "National Republican party," the
+    "High Protective Tariff party," and the late coon-skin party, with
+    all their paraphernalia, _ultraism, ne plus ultraism, sine qua
+    non_, which have grown with your growth, strengthened with your
+    strength, and shrunk with your shrinkage, and ask the people of
+    this enlightened republic what they think of your powers and policy
+    as a statesman; for verily it would seem, from all past remains of
+    parties, politics, projects and pictures, that you are the _Clay_;
+    and the people the _potter_; and as some vessels are marred in the
+    hands of the potter, the natural conclusion is that _you are a
+    vessel of dishonor_.
+
+    You may complain that a close examination of your "whole life,
+    character and conduct" places you, as a Kentuckian would pleasantly
+    term it, "in a bad fix." But, sir, when the nation has sunk deeper
+    and deeper into the mud at every turn of the great wheels of the
+    Union, while you have acted as one of the principal drivers, it
+    becomes the bounden duty of the whole community, as one man, to
+    whisper you on every point of government, to uncover every act of
+    your life, and inquire what mighty acts you have done to benefit
+    the nation, how much you have tithed the mint to gratify your lust,
+    and why the fragments of your raiment hang upon the thorns by the
+    path as signals to _beware_.
+
+    But your _shrinkage_ is truly wonderful! Not only your banking
+    system and high tariff project have vanished from your mind "like
+    the baseless fabric of a vision," but the "annexation of Texas"
+    has touched your pathetic sensibilities of national pride so
+    acutely, that the poor Texans, your own _brethren_, may fall back
+    into the ferocity of Mexico, or be sold at auction to British
+    stock-jobbers, and all is well. For "I," the old Senator from
+    Kentucky, and fearful it would militate against my interest in the
+    north to enlarge the borders of the Union in the south. Truly "a
+    poor wise child is better than an old foolish king who will be no
+    longer admonished." Who ever heard of a nation that had too much
+    territory? Was it ever bad policy to make friends? Has any people
+    ever become too good to do good? No, never. But the ambition and
+    vanity of some men have flown away with their wisdom and judgment,
+    and left a croaking _skeleton_ to occupy the place of a noble
+    _soul_!
+
+    Why, sir, the condition of the whole earth is lamentable.
+    Texas dreads the teeth and the nails of Mexico. Oregon has the
+    rheumatism, brought on by a horrid exposure to the heat and cold of
+    British and American trappers. Canada has caught a bad cold from
+    extreme fatigue in the patriot war. South America has the headache
+    cause by bumps against the beams of Catholicity and Spanish
+    Sovereignty. Spain has the gripes from age and inquisition. France
+    trembles and wastes under the effects of contagious diseases.
+    England groans with the gout, and wiggles with wine. Italy and the
+    German States are pale with the consumption. Prussia, Poland, and
+    the little contiguous dynasties, duchies and domains, have the
+    mumps so severely, that "the whole head is sick, and the whole
+    heart is faint." Russia has the cramp by lineage. Turkey has the
+    numb palsy. Africa, from the curse of God, has lost the use of her
+    limbs China is ruined by the queen's evil, and the rest of Asia
+    fearfully exposed to the small-pox, the natural way, from British
+    peddlers. The islands of the sea are almost dead with the scurvy.
+    The Indians are blind and lame; and the United States, which ought
+    to be the good physician with "balm from Gilead" and an "_asylum
+    for the oppressed_," has boosted and is boosting up into the
+    council chamber of the Government a clique of political gamblers,
+    to play for the old clothes and old shoes of a sick world, and
+    "_no pledge, no promise to any particular portion of the people_"
+    that the rightful heirs will ever receive a cent of their Father's
+    legacy. Away with such self-important, self-aggrandizing and
+    self-willed demagogues! Their friendship is colder than polar ice,
+    and their profession meaner than the damnation of hell.
+
+    O man! when such a great dilemma of the globe, such a tremendous
+    convulsion of kingdoms shakes the earth from centre to
+    circumference; when castles, prison-houses, and cells raise a
+    cry to God against the cruelty of man; when the mourning of the
+    fatherless and the widow causes anguish in heaven; when the poor
+    among all nations cry day and night for bread, and a shelter from
+    the heat and storm; and when the degraded black slave holds up his
+    manacled hands to the great statesmen of the United States, and
+    sings--
+
+      "O liberty, where are thy charms,
+      That sages have told me are sweet?"
+
+    And when fifteen thousand free citizens of the high-blooded
+    republic of North America are robbed and driven from one State
+    to another without redress or redemption, it is not only time
+    for a candidate for the presidency to pledge himself to execute
+    judgment and justice in righteousness, law or no law; but it is
+    his bounden duty as a man, for the honor of a disgraced country,
+    and for the salvation of a once virtuous people, to call for a
+    union of all honest men, and appease the wrath of God by acts of
+    wisdom, holiness, and virtue! "The fervent prayer of a righteous
+    man availeth much."
+
+    Perhaps you may think I go too far with my strictures and
+    innuendos, because in your concluding paragraph you say "it is not
+    inconsistent with your declarations to say that you have viewed
+    with a lively interest the progress of the Latter-day Saints, that
+    you have sympathized in their sufferings under injustice; as it
+    appeared to you, which has been inflicted upon them, and that you
+    _think_, in common with all other religious communities, they ought
+    to enjoy the security and protection of the Constitution and the
+    laws." If words were not wind, and imagination not a vapor, such
+    "views" "_with a lively interest_" might coax out a few Mormon
+    votes; such "sympathy" for their suffering under injustice might
+    heal some of the sick yet lingering amongst them, raise some of
+    the dead, and recover some of their property from Missouri; and
+    finally, if thought was not a phantom, we might, in common with
+    other religious communities, "_you think, enjoy the security_ and
+    _protection of the Constitution and laws_." But during ten years,
+    while the Latter-day Saints have bled, been robbed, driven from
+    their own lands, paid oceans of money into the treasury to pay your
+    renowned self and others for legislating and _dealing_ out equal
+    rights and privileges to those _in common with all other religious
+    communities_, they have waited and expected in vain! If you have
+    possessed any patriotism, it has been veiled by your _popularity_,
+    for fear the Saints would fall in love with its charms. Blind
+    charity and dumb justice never do much towards alleviating the
+    wants of the needy; but straws show which way the wind blows. It
+    is currently rumored that your _dernier resort_ for the Latter-day
+    Saints is to migrate to Oregon or California. Such cruel humanity,
+    such noble injustice, such honorable cowardice, such foolish
+    wisdom, and such vicious virtue could only emanate from Clay. After
+    the Saints have been plundered of three or four millions of land
+    and property by the people and powers of the _sovereign_ State of
+    Missouri--after they have sought for redress and redemption, from
+    the county court to Congress, and been denied through religious
+    prejudice and sacerdotal dignity--after they have builded a city
+    and two temples at an immense expense of labor and treasure--after
+    they have increased from hundreds to hundreds of thousands, and
+    after they have sent missionaries to the various nations of the
+    earth to gather Israel, according to the predictions of all the
+    holy prophets since the world began, that great plenipotentiary,
+    the renowned secretary of state, the ignoble duelist, the gambling
+    senator, and Whig candidate for the presidency, _Henry Clay_, the
+    wise Kentucky lawyer, advises the Latter-day Saints to go to Oregon
+    to obtain justice and set up a government of their own.
+
+    O ye crowned heads among all nations, is not Mr. Clay a wise man,
+    and very patriotic? Why, great God! to transport 200,000 people
+    through a vast prairie, over the Rocky Mountains, to Oregon, a
+    distance of nearly two thousand miles, would cost more than _four
+    millions!_ or should they go by Cape Horn in ships to California,
+    the cost would be more than _twenty millions!_ and all this to
+    save the United States from inheriting the disgrace of Missouri
+    for murdering and robbing the Saints with impunity! Benton and Van
+    Buren, who make no secret to say that if they get into power they
+    will carry out Boggs' exterminating plan to rid the country of the
+    Latter-day Saints, are
+
+      "Little nipperkins of milk,"
+
+    compared to "Clay's" great aquafortis jars. Why, he is a real
+    giant in humanity! "Send the Mormons to Oregon, and free Missouri
+    from debt and disgrace!" Ah! sir, let this doctrine go to-and-fro
+    throughout the whole earth--that we, as Van Buren said, know your
+    cause is just, but the United States government can do nothing for
+    you, because it has no power. "_You must go to Oregon, and get
+    justice from the Indians!_"
+
+    I mourn for the depravity of the world; I despise the hypocrisy
+    of Christendom; I hate the imbecility of American statesmen; I
+    detest the shrinkage of candidates for office from pledges and
+    responsibility; I long for a day of righteousness, when "He whose
+    right it is to reign shall judge the poor, and reprove with equity
+    for the meek of the earth;" and I pray God, who hath given our
+    fathers a promise of a perfect government in the last days, to
+    purify the hearts of the people and hasten the welcome day.
+
+    With the highest consideration for virtue and unadulterated freedom,
+
+            I have the honor to be,
+                Your obedient servant,
+                              JOSEPH SMITH.
+
+    Hon. Henry Clay, Ashland, Ky.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III.
+
+JOSEPH SMITH'S VIEWS OF THE POWERS AND POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
+UNITED STATES.
+
+BORN in a land of liberty, and breathing an air uncorrupted with the
+sirocco of barbarous climes, I ever feel a double anxiety for the
+happiness of all men, both in time and in eternity.
+
+My cogitations, like Daniel's have for a long time troubled me, when I
+viewed the condition of men throughout the world, and more especially
+in this boasted realm, where the Declaration of Independence "holds
+these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that
+they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;
+that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;"
+but at the same time some two or three millions of people are held as
+slaves for life, because the spirit of them is covered with a darker
+skin than ours; and hundreds of our own kindred for an infraction, or
+supposed infraction, of some over-wise statute, have to be incarcerated
+in dungeon glooms, or suffer the more moral penitentiary gravitation
+of mercy in a nutshell, while the duelist, the debauchee, and the
+defaulter for millions, and other criminals, take the uppermost rooms
+at feasts, or, like the bird of passage, find a more congenial clime by
+flight.
+
+The wisdom which ought to characterize the freest, wisest, and most
+noble nation of the nineteenth century, should, like the sun in his
+meridian splendor, warm every object beneath its rays; and the main
+efforts of her officers, who are nothing more or less than the servants
+of the people, ought to be directed to ameliorate the condition of all,
+black or white, bond or free; for the best of books says, "God hath
+made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of
+the earth."
+
+Our common country presents to all men the same advantages, the same
+facilities, the same prospects, the same honors, and the same rewards;
+and without hypocrisy, the Constitution, when it says, "We, the people
+of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish
+justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense,
+promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
+ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
+for the United States of America," meant just what it said without
+reference to color or condition, _ad infinitum_.
+
+The aspirations and expectations of a virtuous people, environed with
+so wise, so liberal, so deep, so broad, and so high a charter of
+_equal rights_ as appear in said Constitution, ought to be treated
+by those to whom the administration of the laws is entrusted with as
+much sanctity as the prayers of the Saints are treated in heaven, that
+love, confidence, and union, like the sun, moon, and stars, should bear
+witness,
+
+  (For ever singing as they shine,)
+  "_The hand that made us is divine_."
+
+Unity is power; and when I reflect on the importance of it to the
+stability of all governments, I am astounded at the silly moves of
+persons and parties to foment discord in order to ride into power on
+the current of popular excitement; nor am I less surprised at the
+stretches of power or restrictions of right which too often appear as
+acts of legislators to pave the way to some favorite political scheme
+as destitute of intrinsic merit as a wolf's heart is of the milk of
+human kindness. A Frenchman would say, "_Presque tout aimer richesses
+et pouvoir_." (Almost all men like wealth and power.)
+
+I must dwell on this subject longer than others; for nearly one hundred
+years ago that golden patriot, Benjamin Franklin, drew up a plan of
+union for the then colonies of Great Britain, that _now_ are such an
+independent nation, which, among many wise provisions for obedient
+children under their father's more rugged hand, had this:--"They have
+power to make laws, and lay and levy such general duties, imports,
+or taxes as to them shall appear most equal and just, (considering
+the ability and other circumstances of the inhabitants in the several
+colonies.) and such as may be collected with the least inconvenience
+to the people, rather discouraging luxury than loading industry with
+unnecessary burdens." Great Britain surely lacked the laudable humanity
+and fostering clemency to grant such a just plan of union; but the
+sentiment remains, like the land that honored its birth, as a pattern
+for wise men _to study the convenience of the people more than the
+comfort of the cabinet_.
+
+And one of the most noble fathers of our freedom and country's glory,
+great in war, great in peace, great in the estimation of the world, and
+great in the hearts of his countrymen, (the illustrious Washington,)
+said in his first inaugural address to Congress--"I behold the surest
+pledges that as, on one side, no local prejudices or attachments, no
+separate views or party animosities will misdirect the comprehensive
+and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of
+communities and interests, so, on another, that the foundations of
+our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles
+of private morality, and the pre-eminence of free government be
+exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its
+citizens and command the respect of the world."
+
+Verily, here shine the virtue and wisdom of a statesman in such lucid
+rays, that had every succeeding Congress followed the rich instruction,
+in all their deliberations and enactments, for the benefit and
+convenience of the whole community and the communities of which it
+is composed, no sound of rebellion in South Carolina, no rupture in
+Rhode Island, no mob in Missouri expelling her citizens by executive
+authority, corruption in the ballot boxes, a border warfare between
+Ohio and Michigan, hard times and distress, outbreak upon outbreak
+in the principal cities, murder, robbery, and defalcation, scarcity
+of money, and a thousand other difficulties, would have torn asunder
+the bonds of the Union, destroyed the confidence of man with man, and
+left the great body of the people to mourn over misfortunes in poverty
+brought on by corrupt legislation in an hour of proud vanity for
+self-aggrandizement.
+
+The great Washington, soon after the foregoing faithful admonition for
+the common welfare of his nation, further advised Congress that "among
+the many interesting objects which will engage your attention, that
+of providing for the common defense will merit particular regard. To
+be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving
+peace." As the Italian would say--"_Buono aviso_." (Good advice.)
+
+The elder Adams, in his inaugural address, gives national pride such
+a grand turn of justification, that every honest citizen must look
+back upon the infancy of the United States with an approving smile,
+and rejoice that patriotism in their rulers, virtue in the people, and
+prosperity in the Union once crowned the expectations of hope, unveiled
+the sophistry of the hypocrite, and silenced the folly of foes. Mr.
+Adams said, "If national pride is ever justifiable or excusable, it is
+when it springs not from _power_ or riches, grandeur or glory, but from
+conviction of national innocence, information and benevolence."
+
+There is no doubt that such was actually the case with our young
+realm at the close of the last century. Peace, prosperity, and union
+filled the country with religious toleration, temporal enjoyment, and
+virtuous enterprise; and grandly, too, when the deadly winter of the
+"Stamp Act," "Tea Act," and other _close communion_ acts of royalty
+had chocked the growth of freedom of speech, liberty of the press, and
+liberty of conscience, did light, liberty, and loyalty flourish like
+cedars of God.
+
+The respected and venerable Thomas Jefferson, in his inaugural address,
+made more than forty years ago, shows what a beautiful prospect an
+innocent, virtuous nation presents to the sage's eye where there is
+space for enterprise, hands for industry, heads for heroes, and hearts
+for moral greatness. He said, "A rising nation spread over a wide
+and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions
+of their industry, engaged in commerce with nations who feel power
+and forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of
+mortal eye,--when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the
+honor, the happiness of this beloved country committed to the issue
+and auspices of this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and humble
+myself before the magnitude of the undertaking."
+
+Such a prospect was truly soul-stirring to a good man. But "since the
+fathers have fallen asleep," wicked and designing men have unrobed the
+government of its glory; and the people if not in dust and ashes, or
+in sackcloth have to lament in poverty her departed greatness while
+demagogues build fires in the north and the south, east and west to
+keep up their spirits _till it is better times_. But year after year
+has left the people to _hope_ till the very name of _Congress_ or
+_State Legislature_ is as horrible to the sensitive friend of his
+country as the house of "Bluebeard" is to his children, or "Crockford's
+Hell of London" to meek men.
+
+When the people are secure and their rights properly respected, then
+the four main pillars of prosperity--viz., agriculture, manufactures,
+navigation, and commerce, need the fostering care of government; and
+in so goodly a country as ours, where the soil, the climate, the
+rivers, the lakes, and the sea coast, the productions, the timber,
+the minerals, and the inhabitants are so diversified, that a pleasing
+variety accommodates all tastes, trades, and calculations, it certainly
+is the highest point of supervision to protect the whole northern and
+southern, eastern and western, center and circumference of the realm,
+by a judicious tariff. It is an old saying and a true one, "If you wish
+to be _respected_, respect yourselves."
+
+I will adopt in part the language of Mr. Madison's inaugural
+address--"To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations,
+having corresponding dispositions; to maintain sincere neutrality
+towards belligerent nations; to prefer in all cases amicable discussion
+and reasonable accommodation of differences to a decision of them by an
+appeal to arms; to exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partialities,
+so degrading to all countries, and so baneful to free ones; to foster
+a spirit of independence too just to invade the rights of others, too
+proud to surrender our own, too liberal to indulge unworthy prejudices
+ourselves, and too elevated not to look down upon them in others; to
+hold the union of the States as the basis of their peace and happiness;
+to support the Constitution, which is the cement of the Union, as
+well in its limitations as in its authorities; to respect the rights
+and authorities reserved to the States and to the people as equally
+incorporated with and essential to the success of the general system;
+to avoid the slightest interference with the rights of conscience or
+the functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction;
+to preserve in their full energy the other salutary provisions in
+behalf of private and personal rights, and of the freedom of the
+press,"--so far as intention aids in the fulfillment of duty, are
+consummations too big with benefits not to captivate the energies of
+all honest men to achieve them, when they can be brought to pass by
+reciprocation, friendly alliances, wise legislation, and honorable
+treaties.
+
+The government has once flourished under the guidance of trusty
+servants; and the Hon. Monroe, in his day, while speaking of the
+Constitution, says, "Our commerce has been wisely regulated with
+foreign nations and between the States. New States have been admitted
+into our Union. Our territory has been enlarged by fair and honorable
+treaty, and with great advantage to the original States; the States
+respectively protected by the national government, under a mild
+paternal system against foreign dangers, and enjoying within their
+separate spheres, by a wise partition of power, a just proportion
+of the sovereignty, have improved their police, extended their
+settlements, and attained a strength and maturity which are the best
+proofs of wholesome laws well administered. And if we look to the
+condition of individuals, what a proud spectacle does it exhibit! On
+whom has oppression fallen in any quarter of the Union? Who has been
+deprived of any right of person or property?--who restrained from
+offering his vows in the mode which he prefers to the divine Author of
+his being? It is well known that all these blessings have been enjoyed
+in their fullest extent; and I add, with peculiar satisfaction, that
+there has been no example of a capital punishment being inflicted on
+any one for the crime of high treason." What a delightful picture
+of power, policy, and prosperity! Truly the wise man's proverb is
+just--"_Sedaukauh teromain goy, veh-ka-sade le-u-meem khahmaut_."
+(Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.)
+
+But this is not all. The same honorable statesman, after having had
+about forty years' experience in the government, under the full tide
+of successful experiment, gives the following commendatory assurance
+of the efficacy of the _Magna Charta_ to answer its great end and
+aim--_to protect the people in their rights_. "Such, then, is the happy
+government under which we live; a government adequate to every purpose
+for which the social compact is formed; a government elective in all
+its branches, under which every citizen may by his merit obtain the
+highest trust recognized by the Constitution, which contains within
+it no cause of discord, none to put at variance one portion of the
+community with another; a government which protects every citizen in
+the full enjoyment of his rights, and is able to protect the nation
+against injustice from foreign powers."
+
+Again, the younger Adams, in the silver age of our country's
+advancement to fame, in his inaugural address (1825), thus candidly
+declares the majesty of the youthful republic in its increasing
+greatness:--"The year of jubilee, since the first formation of our
+union, has just elapsed: that of the Declaration of Independence is
+at hand. The consummation of both was effected by this Constitution.
+Since that period, a population of four millions has multiplied to
+twelve. A territory, bounded by the Mississippi, has been extended from
+sea to sea. New States have been admitted to the Union, in numbers
+nearly equal to those of the first confederation. Treaties of peace,
+amity, and commerce have been concluded with the principal dominions
+of the earth. The people of other nations, the inhabitants of regions
+acquired, not by conquest, but by compact, have been united with us
+in the participation of our rights and duties, of our burdens and
+blessings. The forest has fallen by the ax of our woodsman. The soil
+has been made to teem by the tillage of our farmers. Our commerce has
+whitened every ocean. The dominion of man over physical nature has
+been extended by the invention of our artists. Liberty and law have
+marched hand in hand. All the purposes of human association have been
+accomplished as effectively as under any other government on the globe,
+and at a cost little exceeding, in a whole generation, the expenditures
+of other nations in a single year."
+
+In continuation of such noble sentiments, General Jackson, upon his
+ascension to the great chair of the chief magistracy, said, "As long
+as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is
+regulated by their will, as long as it secures to us the rights of
+person and property, liberty of conscience, and of the press, it will
+be worth defending; and so long as it is worth defending, a patriotic
+militia will cover it with an impenetrable _aegis_."
+
+General Jackson's administration may be denominated the _acme_ of
+American glory, liberty, and prosperity; for the national debt, which
+in 1815, on account of the late war, was $125,000,000, and being
+lessened gradually, was paid up in his golden day, and preparations
+were made to distribute the surplus revenue among the several States;
+and that august patriot, to use his own words in his farewell address,
+retired, leaving "a great people prosperous and happy, in the full
+enjoyment of liberty and peace, honored and respected by every nation
+of the world."
+
+At the age, then, of sixty years, our blooming republic began to
+decline under the withering touch of Martin Van Buren! Disappointed
+ambition, thirst for power, pride, corruption, party spirit, faction,
+patronage, perquisites, fame, tangling alliances, priestcraft, and
+spiritual wickedness in _high places_, struck hands and revelled in
+midnight splendor.
+
+Trouble, vexation, perplexity, and contention, mingled with hope,
+fear, and murmuring, rumbled through the Union and agitated the whole
+nation, as would an earthquake at the center of the earth, the world
+heaving the sea beyond its bounds and shaking the everlasting hills;
+so, in hopes of better times, while jealousy, hypocritical pretensions,
+and pompous ambition were luxuriating on the ill-gotten spoils of
+the people, they rose in their majesty like a tornado, and swept
+through the land, till General Harrison appeared as a star among the
+storm-clouds for better weather.
+
+The calm came, and the language of that venerable patriot, in his
+inaugural address, while descanting upon the merits of the Constitution
+and its framers, thus expressed himself:--"There were in it features
+which appeared not to be in harmony with their ideas of a simple
+representative democracy or republic. And knowing the tendency of power
+to increase itself, particularly when executed by a single individual,
+predictions were made that, at no very remote period, the government
+would terminate in virtual monarchy.
+
+"It would not become me to say that the fears of these patriots have
+been already realized. But as I sincerely believe that the tendency
+of measures and of men's opinions for some years past has been in
+that direction, it is, I conceive, strictly proper that I should take
+this occasion to repeat the assurances I have heretofore given of my
+determination to arrest the progress of that tendency, if it really
+exists, and restore the government to its pristine health and vigor."
+
+This good man died before he had the opportunity of applying one
+balm to ease the pain of our groaning country, and I am willing the
+nation should be the judge, whether General Harrison, in his exalted
+station, upon the eve of his entrance into the world of spirits, _told
+the truth, or not_, with acting President Tyler's three years of
+perplexity, and pseudo-Whig-Democrat reign to heal the breaches or show
+the wounds, _secundum artem_ (according to art).
+
+Subsequent events, all things considered, Van Buren's downfall,
+Harrison's exit, and Tyler's self-sufficient turn to the whole, go
+to show, as a Chaldean might exclaim--"_Beram etai claugh beshmayauh
+gauhah rauzeen_." (Certainly there is a God in heaven to reveal
+secrets.)
+
+No honest man can doubt for a moment but the glory of American liberty
+is on the wane, and that calamity and confusion will sooner or later
+destroy the peace of the people. Speculators will urge a national bank
+as a savior of credit and comfort. A hireling psuedo-priesthood will
+plausibly push abolition doctrines and doings and "human rights" into
+Congress, and into every other place where conquest smells of fame,
+or opposition swells to popularity. Democracy, Whiggery, and cliquery
+will attract their elements and foment divisions among the people, to
+accomplish fancied schemes and accumulate power, while poverty, driven
+to despair, like hunger forcing its way through a wall, will break
+through the statutes of men to save life, and mend the breach in prison
+glooms.
+
+A still higher grade of what the "nobility of nations" call "great men"
+will dally with all rights, in order to smuggle a fortune at "one fell
+swoop," mortgage Texas, possess Oregon, and claim all the unsettled
+regions of the world for hunting and trapping; and should an humble,
+honest man, red, black, or white, exhibit a better title, these gentry
+have only to clothe the judge with richer ermine, and spangle the
+lawyer's finger with finer rings, to have the judgment of his peers and
+the honor of his lords as a pattern of honesty, virtue, and humanity,
+while the motto hangs on his nation's escutcheon--"_Every man has his
+price!_"
+
+Now, O people! people! turn unto the Lord and live, and reform this
+nation. Frustrate the designs of wicked men. Reduce Congress at least
+two-thirds. Two senators from a State and two members to a million of
+population will do more business than the army that now occupy the
+halls of the national legislature. Pay them two dollars and their board
+per diem (except Sundays). That is more than the farmer gets, and he
+lives honestly. Curtail the officers of government in pay, number, and
+power; for the Philistine lords have shorn our nation of its goodly
+locks in the lap of Delilah.
+
+Petition your State legislatures to pardon every convict in their
+several penitentiaries, blessing them as they go, and saying to them,
+in the name of the Lord, _Go thy way, and sin no more_.
+
+Advise your legislators, when they make laws for larceny, burglary,
+or any felony, to make the penalty applicable to work upon roads,
+public works, or any place where the culprit can be taught more
+wisdom and more virtue, and become more enlightened. Rigor and
+seclusion will never do as much to reform the propensities of men as
+reason and friendship. Murder only can claim confinement or death.
+Let the penitentiaries be turned into seminaries of learning, where
+intelligence, like the angels of heaven, would banish such fragments of
+barbarism. Imprisonment for debt is a meaner practice than the savage
+tolerates, with all his ferocity. "_Amor vincit omnia_." (Love conquers
+all.)
+
+Petition, also, ye goodly inhabitants of the slave States, your
+legislators to abolish slavery by the year 1850, or now, and save the
+abolitionist from reproach and ruin, infamy and shame.
+
+Pray Congress to pay every man a reasonable price for his slaves out of
+the surplus revenue arising from the sale of public lands and from the
+deduction of pay from the members of Congress.
+
+Break off the shackles from the poor black man, and hire him to labor
+like other human beings; for "an hour of virtuous liberty on earth is
+worth a whole eternity of bondage." Abolish the practice in the army
+and navy of trying men by court-martial for desertion. If a soldier or
+marine runs away, send him his wages, with this instruction, that _his
+country will never trust him again; he has forfeited his honor_.
+
+Make HONOR the standard with all men. Be sure that good is rendered
+for evil in all cases; and the whole nation, like a kingdom of kings
+and priests, will rise up in righteousness, and be respected as wise
+and worthy on earth, and as just and holy for heaven, by Jehovah, the
+Author of perfection.
+
+More economy in the national and state governments would make less
+taxes among the people; more equality through the cities, towns, and
+country, would make less distinction among the people; and more honesty
+and familiarity in societies would make less hypocrisy and flattery in
+all branches of the community; and open, frank, candid decorum to all
+men, in this boasted land of liberty, would beget esteem, confidence,
+union, and love; and the neighbor from any State or from any country,
+of whatever color, clime, or tongue, could rejoice when he put his
+foot on the sacred soil of freedom, and exclaim, The very name of
+"_American_" is fraught with _friendship!_ Oh, then, create confidence,
+restore freedom, break down slavery, banish imprisonment for debt, and
+be in love, fellowship, and peace with all the world! Remember that
+honesty is not subject to law. The law was made for transgressors.
+Wherefore a Dutchman might exclaim--"_Ein cherlicher name ist besser
+als Reichthum_." (A good name is better than riches.)
+
+For the accommodation of the people in every State and Territory let
+Congress show their wisdom by granting a national bank, with branches
+in each State and Territory, where the capital stock shall be held
+by the nation for the mother bank, and by the States and Territories
+for the branches; and whose officers and directors shall be elected
+yearly by the people, with wages at the rate of two dollars per day for
+services; which several banks shall never issue any more bills than the
+amount of capital stock in her vaults and the interest.
+
+The net gain of the mother bank shall be applied to the national
+revenue, and that of the branches to the States' and Territories'
+revenues. And the bills shall be par throughout the nation, which will
+mercifully cure that fatal disorder known in cities as _brokerage_, and
+leave the people's money in their own pockets.
+
+Give every man his constitutional freedom, and the President full
+power to send an army to suppress mobs, and the States authority to
+repeal and impugn that relic of folly which makes it necessary for the
+governor of a State to make the demand of the President for troops, in
+case of invasion or rebellion.
+
+The governor himself may be a mobber; and instead of being punished,
+as he should be, for murder or treason, he may destroy the very lives,
+rights, and property he should protect. Like the good Samaritan,
+send every lawyer, as soon as he repents and obeys the ordinances of
+heaven, to preach the Gospel to the destitute, without purse or scrip,
+pouring in the oil and the wine. A learned priesthood is certainly more
+honorable than "_an hireling clergy_."
+
+As to the contiguous territories to the United States, wisdom would
+direct no tangling alliance. Oregon belongs to this government
+honorably; and when we have the red man's consent, let the Union
+spread from the east to the west sea; and if Texas petitions Congress
+to be adopted among the sons of liberty, give her the right hand of
+fellowship, and refuse not the same friendly grip to Canada and Mexico.
+And when the right arm of freemen is stretched out in the character
+of a navy for the protection of rights, commerce and honor, let the
+iron eyes of power watch from Maine to Mexico, and from California
+to Columbia. Thus may union be strengthened, and foreign speculation
+prevented from opposing broadside to broadside.
+
+Seventy years have done much for this goodly land. They have burst the
+chains of oppression and monarchy, and multiplied its inhabitants from
+two to twenty millions, with a proportionate share of knowledge keen
+enough to circumnavigate the globe, draw the lightning from the clouds,
+and cope with all the crowned heads of the world.
+
+Then why--oh, why will a once flourishing people not arise, phoenix-like,
+over the cinders of Martin Van Buren's power, and over the sinking
+fragments and smoking ruins of other catamount politicians, and over
+the windfalls of Benton, Calhoun, Clay, Wright and a caravan of other
+equally unfortunate law doctors, and cheerfully help to spread a
+plaster and bind up the _burnt, bleeding wounds_ of a sore but blessed
+country.
+
+The Southern people are hospitable and noble. They will help to rid so
+free a country of every vestige of slavery, whenever they are assured
+of an equivalent for their property. The country will be full of money
+and confidence when a national bank of twenty millions, and a State
+bank in every State, with a million or more, gives a tone to monetary
+matters, and make a circulating medium as valuable in the purses of a
+whole community, as in the coffers of a speculating banker or broker.
+
+The people may have faults, but they should never be trifled with. I
+think Mr. Pitt's quotation in the British parliament of Mr. Prior's
+couplet for the husband and wife, to apply to the course which the
+king and ministry of England should pursue to the then colonies of the
+_now_ United States, might be a genuine rule of action for some of the
+_breath-made_ men in high places to use towards the posterity of this
+noble, daring people:--
+
+  Be to her faults a little blind;
+  Be to her virtues very kind.
+
+We have had Democratic Presidents, Whig Presidents, a
+pseudo-Democratic-Whig President, and now it is time to have _a
+President of the United States;_ and let the people of the whole Union,
+like the inflexible Romans, whenever they find a _promise_ made by a
+candidate that is not _practiced_ as an officer, hurl the miserable
+sycophant from his exaltation, as God did Nebuchadnezzar, to crop the
+grass of the field with a beast's heart among the cattle.
+
+Mr. Van Buren said, in his inaugural address, that he went "into the
+Presidential chair the inflexible and uncompromising opponent of every
+attempt, on the part of Congress, to abolish slavery in the district of
+Columbia, against the wishes of the slave holding States, and also with
+a determination equally decided to resist the slightest interference
+with it in the States where it exists."
+
+Poor little Matty made this rhapsodical sweep with the fact before
+his eyes, that the State of New York, his native State, had abolished
+slavery without a struggle or a groan. Great God, how independent!
+From henceforth slavery is tolerated where it exists, constitution or
+no constitution, people or no people, right or wrong: _Vox Matti--Vox
+Diaboli_ ("the voice of Matti"--"the voice of the Devil.") And,
+peradventure, his great "sub-treasury" scheme was a piece of the same
+mind. But the man and his measures have such a striking resemblance
+to the anecdote of the Welshman and his cart-tongue, that when the
+Constitution was so long that it allowed slavery at the capitol of a
+free people, it could not be cut off; but when it was so short that it
+needed a _sub-treasury_ to save the funds of the nation, _it could be
+spliced!_ Oh, granny, granny, what a long tail our puss has got! (As a
+Greek might say, _Hysteron proteron_, (the cart before the horse)). But
+his mighty whisk through the great national fire, for the presidential
+chestnuts, _burnt the locks of his glory with the blaze of his folly_!
+
+In the United States the people are the government, and their united
+voice is the only sovereign that should rule, the only power that
+should be obeyed, and the only gentlemen that should be honored at home
+and abroad, on the land and on the sea. Wherefore, were I the President
+of the United States, by the voice of a virtuous people, I would honor
+the old paths of the venerated fathers of freedom; I would walk in
+the tracks of the illustrious patriots who carried the ark of the
+government upon their shoulders with an eye single to the glory of the
+people and when that people petitioned to abolish slavery in the slave
+States, I would use all honorable means to have their prayers granted,
+and give liberty to the captive by paying the Southern gentlemen a
+reasonable equivalent for his property; that the whole nation might be
+free indeed!
+
+When the people petitioned for a national bank, I would use my best
+endeavors to have their prayers answered, and establish one on national
+principles to save taxes, and make them the controllers of its ways
+and means. And when the people petitioned to possess the Territory of
+Oregon, or any other contiguous territory, I would lend the influence
+of a chief magistrate to grant so reasonable a request, that they
+might extend the mighty efforts and enterprise of a free people from
+the east to the west sea, and make the wilderness blossom as the rose.
+And when a neighboring realm petitioned to join the union of the
+sons of liberty, my voice would be _come_--yea, come, Texas; come,
+Mexico; come, Canada; and come, all the world: let us be brethren, let
+us be one great family, and let there be a universal peace. Abolish
+the cruel custom of prisons (except certain cases), penitentiaries,
+courts-martial for desertion; and let reason and friendship reign over
+the ruins of ignorance and barbarity; yea, I would, as the universal
+friend of man, open the prisons, open the eyes, open the ears, and open
+the hearts of all people, to behold and enjoy freedom--unadulterated
+freedom; and God, who once cleansed the violence of the earth with
+a flood, whose Son laid down His life for the salvation of all His
+Father gave Him out of the world, and who has promised that He will
+come and purify the world again with fire in the last days, should be
+supplicated by me for the good of all people. With the highest esteem,
+I am a friend of virtue and of the people.
+
+                                                      JOSEPH SMITH.
+
+Nauvoo, Illinois, Feb. 7, 1844.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV.
+
+AN ACCOUNT OF THE MARTYRDOM OF JOSEPH SMITH, BY PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR.
+
+BEING requested by Elders George A. Smith and Wilford Woodruff, Church
+historians, to write an account of events that transpired before, and
+took place at, the time of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, in Carthage
+jail, in Hancock County, State of Illinois, I write the following,
+principally from memory, not having access at this time to any public
+documents relative thereto farther than a few desultory items contained
+in Ford's "History of Illinois." I must also acknowledge myself
+considerably indebted to George A. Smith who was with me when I wrote
+it, and who, although not there at the time of the bloody transaction,
+yet, from conversing with several persons who were in the capacity of
+Church historians, and aided by an excellent memory, has rendered me
+considerable service.
+
+These and the few items contained in the note at the end of this
+account are all the aid I have had. I would further add that the items
+contained in the letter, in relation to dates especially, may be
+considered strictly correct.
+
+After having written the whole, I read it over to the Hon. J. M.
+Bernhisel, who with one or two slight alterations, pronounced it
+strictly correct. Brother Bernhisel was present most of the time. I
+am afraid that, from the length of time that has transpired since the
+occurrence, and having to rely almost exclusively upon my memory, there
+may be some slight inaccuracies, but I believe that in the general
+it is strictly correct. As I figured in those transaction from the
+commencement to the end, they left no slight impression on my mind.
+
+In the year 1844, a very great excitement prevailed in some parts of
+Hancock, Brown and other neighboring counties of Illinois, in relation
+to the Mormons, and a spirit of vindictive hatred and persecution was
+exhibited among the people, which was manifested in the most bitter and
+acrimonious language, as well as by acts of hostility and violence,
+frequently threatening the destruction of the citizens of Nauvoo and
+vicinity, and utter annihilation of the Mormons and Mormonism, and
+in some instances breaking out in the most violent acts of ruffianly
+barbarity. Persons were kidnapped, whipped, persecuted and falsely
+accused of various crimes; their cattle and houses injured, destroyed,
+or stolen; vexatious prosecutions were instituted to harass and annoy.
+In some remote neighborhoods they were expelled from their homes
+without redress, and in others violence was threatened to their persons
+and property, while in others every kind of insult and indignity were
+heaped upon them, to induce them to abandon their homes, the County or
+the State.
+
+These annoyances, prosecutions and persecutions were instigated through
+different agencies and by various classes of men, actuated by different
+motives, but all uniting in the one object--prosecution, persecution
+and extermination of the Saints.
+
+There were a number of wicked and corrupt men living in Nauvoo and
+its vicinity, who had belonged to the Church, but whose conduct was
+incompatible with the Gospel; they were accordingly dealt with by the
+Church and severed from its communion. Some of these had been prominent
+members, and held official stations either in the city or Church. Among
+these were John C. Bennett, formerly mayor; William Law, counselor
+to Joseph Smith; Wilson Law, his natural brother, and general in the
+Nauvoo Legion; Dr. R. D. Foster, a man of some property, but with a
+very bad reputation; Francis and Chauncey Higbee, the latter a young
+lawyer, and both sons of a respectable and honored man in the Church,
+known as Judge Elias Higbee, who died about twelve months before.
+
+Besides these, there were a great many apostates, both in the city
+and county, of less notoriety, who for their delinquencies, had been
+expelled from the Church. John C. Bennett and Francis and Chauncey
+Higbee were cut off from the Church; the former was also cashiered from
+his generalship for the most flagrant acts of seduction and adultery;
+and the developments in the cases were so scandalous that the High
+Council, before which they were tried, had to sit with closed doors.
+
+William Law, although counselor to Joseph, was found to be his most
+bitter foe and maligner, and to hold intercourse, contrary to all law,
+in his own house, with a young lady resident with him; and it was
+afterwards proven that he had conspired with some Missourians to take
+Joseph Smith's life, and was only saved by Josiah Arnold and Daniel
+Garn, who, being on guard at his house, prevented the assassins from
+seeing him. Yet, although having murder in his heart, his manners were
+generally courteous and mild, and he was well calculated to deceive.
+
+General Wilson Law was cut off from the Church for seduction,
+falsehood, and defamation; both the above were also court-martialed by
+the Nauvoo Legion, and expelled. Foster was also cut off I believe,
+for dishonesty, fraud and falsehood. I know he was eminently guilty of
+the whole, but whether these were the specific charges or not, I don't
+know, but I do know that he was a notoriously wicked and corrupt man.
+
+Besides the above characters and Mormonic apostates, there were
+other three parties. The first of these may be called religionists,
+the second politicians, and the third counterfeiters, black-legs,
+horse-thieves and cut-throats.
+
+The religious party were chagrined and maddened because Mormonism came
+in contact with their religion, and they could not oppose it from the
+scriptures. Thus like the ancient Jews, when enraged at the exhibition
+of their follies and hypocrisies by Jesus and His apostles, so these
+were infuriated against the Mormons because of their discomfiture
+by them; and instead of owning the truth and rejoicing in it, they
+were ready to gnash upon them with their teeth, and to persecute the
+believers in principles which they could not disprove.
+
+The political party were those who were of opposite politics to us.
+There were always two parties, the Whigs and Democrats, and we could
+not vote for one without offending the other; and it not unfrequently
+happened that candidates for office would place the issue of their
+election upon opposition to the Mormons, in order to gain political
+influence from the religious prejudice, in which case the Mormons were
+compelled, in self-defense, to vote against them, which resulted almost
+invariably against our opponents. This made them angry; and although it
+was of their own making, and the Mormons could not be expected to do
+otherwise, yet they raged on account of their discomfiture, and sought
+to wreak their fury on the Mormons. As an instance of the above, when
+Joseph Duncan was candidate for the office of governor of Illinois, he
+pledged himself to his party that, if he could be elected, he would
+exterminate or drive the Mormons from the State. [1] The consequence
+was that Governor Ford was elected. The Whigs, seeing that they had
+been out-generaled by the Democrats in securing the Mormon vote, became
+seriously alarmed, and sought to repair their disaster by raising a
+crusade against the people. The Whig newspapers teemed with accounts
+of the wonders and enormities of Nauvoo, and of the awful wickedness
+of a party which could consent to receive the support of such
+miscreants. Governor Duncan, who was really a brave, honest man, and
+who had nothing to do with getting the Mormon charters passed through
+the Legislature, took the stump on this subject in good earnest, and
+expected to be elected governor almost on this question alone.
+
+The third party, composed of counterfeiters, black-legs, horse-thieves
+and cut-throats, were a pack of scoundrels that infested the whole of
+the western country at that time. In some districts their influence
+was so great as to control important State and County offices. On this
+subject Governor Ford has the following:
+
+"Then, again, the northern part of the State was not destitute
+of its organized bands of rogues, engaged in murders, robberies,
+horse-stealing and in making and passing counterfeit money. These
+rogues were scattered all over the north, but the most of them were
+located in the counties of Ogle, Winnebago, Lee and De Kalb.
+
+"In the County of Ogle they were so numerous, strong, and well
+organized that they could not be convicted for their crimes. By getting
+some of their numbers on the juries, by producing a host of witnesses
+to sustain their defense, by perjured evidence, and by changing the
+venue of one County to another, by continuances from term to term, and
+by the inability of witnesses to attend from time to time at distant
+and foreign Counties, they most generally managed to be acquitted." [2]
+
+There was a combination of horse-thieves extending from Galena to
+Alton. There were counterfeiters engaged in merchandising, trading,
+and store-keeping in most of the cities and villages, and in some
+districts, I have been credibly informed by men to whom they have
+disclosed their secrets, the judges, sheriffs, constables, and jailors,
+as well, as professional men, were more or less associated with them.
+These had in their employ the most reckless, abandoned wretches, who
+stood ready to carry into effect the most desperate enterprises,
+and were careless alike of human life and property. Their object in
+persecuting the Mormons was in part to cover their own rascality, and
+in part to prevent them from exposing and prosecuting them; but the
+principal reason was plunder, believing that if they could be removed
+or driven they would be made fat on Mormon spoils, besides having in
+the deserted city a good asylum for the prosecution of their diabolical
+pursuits.
+
+This conglomeration of apostate Mormons, religious bigots, political
+fanatics and black-legs, all united their forces against the Mormons,
+and organized themselves into a party, denominated anti-Mormons. Some
+of them, we have reason to believe, joined The Church in order to
+cover their infamous practices, and when they were expelled for their
+unrighteousness only raged with greater violence. They circulated
+every kind of falsehood that they could collect or manufacture against
+the Mormons. They also had a paper to assist them in their nefarious
+designs, called the _Warsaw Signal_, edited by a Mr. Thomas Sharp, a
+violent and unprincipled man, who shrunk not from any enormity. The
+anti-Mormons had public meetings, which were very numerously attended,
+where they passed resolutions of the most violent and inflammatory
+kind, threatening to drive, expel and exterminate the Mormons from the
+State, at the same time accusing them of every evil in the vocabulary
+of crime.
+
+They appointed their meetings in various parts of Hancock, M'Donough,
+and other counties, which soon resulted in the organization of
+armed mobs, under the direction of officers who reported to their
+headquarters, and the reports of which were published in the
+anti-Mormon paper, and circulated through the adjoining counties. We
+also published in the _Times and Seasons_ and the _Nauvoo Neighbor_
+(two papers published and edited by me at that time) an account, not
+only of their proceedings, but our own. But such was the hostile
+feeling, so well arranged their plans, and so desperate and lawless
+their measures, that it was with the greatest difficulty that we could
+get our papers circulated; they were destroyed by postmasters and
+others, and scarcely ever arrived at the place of their destination,
+so that a great many of the people, who would have been otherwise
+peaceable, were excited by their misrepresentations, and instigated to
+join their hostile or predatory bands.
+
+Emboldened by the acts of those outside, the apostate Mormons,
+associated with others, commenced the publication of a libelous paper
+in Nauvoo, called the _Nauvoo Expositor_. This paper not only reprinted
+from the others, but put in circulation the most libelous, false, and
+infamous reports concerning the citizens of Nauvoo, and especially
+the ladies. It was, however, no sooner put in circulation than the
+indignation of the whole community was aroused; so much so, that they
+threatened its annihilation; and I do not believe that in any other
+city of the United States, if the same charges had been made against
+the citizens, it would have been permitted to remain one day. As it was
+among us, under these circumstances, it was thought best to convene
+the city council to take into consideration the adoption of some
+measures for its removal, as it was deemed better that this should be
+done legally than illegally. Joseph Smith, therefore, who was mayor,
+convened the city council for that purpose; the paper was introduced
+and read, and the subject examined. All, or nearly all present,
+expressed their indignation at the course taken by the _Expositor_,
+which was owned by some of the aforesaid apostates, associated with
+one or two others. Wilson Law, Dr. Foster, Charles Ivins and the
+Higbees before referred to, some lawyers, storekeepers, and others in
+Nauvoo who were not Mormons, together with the anti-Mormons outside of
+the city, sustained it. The calculation was, by false statements, to
+unsettle the minds of many in the city, and to form combinations there
+similar to the anti-Mormon associations outside of the city. Various
+attempts had heretofore been made by the party to annoy and irritate
+the citizens of Nauvoo; false accusations had been made, vexatious
+lawsuits instituted, threats made, and various devices resorted to,
+to influence the public mind, and, if possible, to provoke us to the
+commission of some overt act that might make us amenable to the law.
+With a perfect knowledge, therefore, of the designs of these infernal
+scoundrels who were in our midst, as well as those who surrounded us,
+the city council entered upon an investigation of the matter. They felt
+that they were in a critical position, and that any move made for the
+abating of that press would be looked upon, or at least represented,
+as a direct attack upon the liberty of speech, and that, so far from
+displeasing our enemies, it would be looked upon by them as one of
+the best circumstances that could transpire to assist them in their
+nefarious and bloody designs. Being a member of the city council, I
+well remember the feeling of responsibility that seemed to rest upon
+all present; nor shall I soon forget the bold, manly, independent
+expressions of Joseph Smith on that occasion in relation to this
+matter. He exhibited in glowing colors the meanness, corruption, and
+ultimate designs of the anti-Mormons; their despicable characters and
+ungodly influences, especially of those who were in our midst. He told
+of the responsibility that rested upon us, as guardians of the public
+interest, to stand up in the defense of the injured and oppressed, to
+stem the current of corruption, and, as men and Saints, to put a stop
+to this flagrant outrage upon this people's rights.
+
+He stated that no man was a stronger advocate for the liberty of
+speech and of the press than himself: yet, when this noble gift is
+utterly prostituted and abused, as in the present instance, it loses
+all claim to our respect, and becomes as great an agent for evil as it
+can possibly be for good; and notwithstanding the apparent advantage
+we should give our enemies by this act, yet it behooved us, as men, to
+act independent of all secondary influences, to perform the part of men
+of enlarged minds, and boldly and fearlessly to discharge the duties
+devolving upon us by declaring as a nuisance, and removing this filthy,
+libelous, and seditious sheet from our midst.
+
+The subject was discussed in various forms, and after the remarks made
+by the mayor, every one seemed to be waiting for some one else to speak.
+
+After a considerable pause, I arose and expressed my feelings frankly,
+as Joseph had done, and numbers of others followed in the same strain;
+and I think, but am not certain, that I made a motion for the removal
+of that press as a nuisance. This motion was finally put, and carried
+by all but one; and he conceded that the measure was just, but
+abstained through fear.
+
+Several members of the city council were not in The Church. The
+following is the bill referred to:
+
+    _Bill for Removing of the Press of the_ "_Nauvoo Expositor_." [3]
+
+    Resolved by the city council of the city of Nauvoo, that the
+    printing-office from whence issues the _Nauvoo Expositor_ is a
+    public nuisance; and also of said _Nauvoo Expositors_ which may
+    be or exist in said establishment; and the mayor is instructed to
+    cause said establishment and papers to be removed without delay, in
+    such manner as he shall direct.
+
+    Passed June 10th, 1844. GEO. W. HARRIS, President _pro tem_.
+
+    W. RICHARDS, Recorder.
+
+After the passage of the bill, the marshal, John P. Greene, was ordered
+to abate or remove, which he forthwith proceeded to do by summoning a
+posse of men for that purpose. The press was removed or broken, I don't
+remember which, by the marshal, and the types scattered in the street.
+
+This seemed to be one of those extreme cases that require extreme
+measures, as the press was still proceeding in its inflammatory course.
+It was feared that, as it was almost universally execrated, should it
+continue longer, an indignant people might commit some overt act which
+might lead to serious consequences, and that it was better to use legal
+than illegal means.
+
+This, as was foreseen, was the very course our enemies wished us to
+pursue, as it afforded them an opportunity of circulating a very
+plausible story about the Mormons being opposed to the liberty of the
+press and of free speech, which they were not slow to avail themselves
+of. Stories were fabricated, and facts perverted; false statements
+were made, and this act brought in as an example to sustain the whole
+of their fabrications; and, as if inspired by Satan, they labored
+with an energy and zeal worthy of a better cause. They had runners to
+circulate their reports, not only through Hancock County, but in all
+the surrounding counties. These reports were communicated to their
+anti-Mormon societies, and these societies circulated them in their
+several districts. The anti-Mormon paper, the _Warsaw Signal_, was
+filled with inflammatory articles and misrepresentations in relation
+to us, and especially to this act of destroying the press. We were
+represented as a horde of lawless ruffians and brigands, anti-American
+and anti-republican, steeped in crime and iniquity, opposed to freedom
+of speech and of the press, and all the rights and immunities of a free
+and enlightened people; that neither person nor property were secure:
+that we had designs upon the citizens of Illinois and of the United
+States, and the people were called upon to rise _en masse_, and put us
+down, drive us away, or exterminate us as a pest to society, and alike
+dangerous to our neighbors, the State, and commonwealth.
+
+These statements were extensively copied and circulated throughout the
+United States. A true statement of the facts in question was published
+by us both in the _Times and Seasons_ and the _Nauvoo Neighbor;_ but
+it was found impossible to circulate them in the immediate counties,
+as they were destroyed in the post-offices or otherwise by the agents
+of the anti-Mormons, and in order to get the mail to go abroad, I had
+to send the papers a distance of thirty or forty miles from Nauvoo,
+and sometimes to St. Louis (upward of two hundred miles), to insure
+their proceeding on their route, and then one-half or two-thirds of the
+papers never reached the place of destination, being intercepted or
+destroyed by our enemies.
+
+These false reports stirred up the community around, of whom many, on
+account of religious prejudice, were easily instigated to join the
+anti-Mormons and embark in any crusade that might be undertaken against
+us: hence their ranks swelled in numbers, and new organizations were
+formed, meetings were held, resolutions passed, and men and means
+volunteered for the extirpation of the Mormons.
+
+On these points Governor Ford writes: "These also were the active
+men in blowing up the fury of the people, in hopes that a popular
+movement might be set on foot, which would result in the expulsion or
+extermination of the Mormon voters. For this purpose public meetings
+had been called, inflammatory speeches had been made, exaggerated
+reports had been extensively circulated, committees had been appointed,
+who rode night and day to spread the reports and solicit the aid of
+neighboring counties, and at a public meeting at Warsaw resolutions
+were passed to expel or exterminate the Mormon population. This was
+not, however, a movement which was unanimously concurred in. The county
+contained a goodly number of inhabitants in favor of peace, or who at
+least desired to be neutral in such a contest. These were stigmatized
+by the name of Jack-Mormons, and there were not a few of the more
+furious exciters of the people who openly expressed their intention to
+involve them in the common expulsion or extermination.
+
+"A system of excitement and agitation was artfully planned and executed
+with tact. It consisted in spreading reports and rumors of the most
+fearful character. As examples: On the morning before my arrival at
+Carthage, I was awakened at an early hour by the frightful report,
+which was asserted with confidence and apparent consternation, that the
+Mormons had already commenced the work of burning, destruction, and
+murder, and that every man capable of bearing arms was instantly wanted
+at Carthage for the protection of the county.
+
+"We lost no time in starting; but when we arrived at Carthage we could
+hear no more concerning this story. Again, during the few days that the
+militia were encamped at Carthage, frequent applications were made to
+me to send a force here, and a force there, and a force all about the
+country, to prevent murders, robberies, and larcenies which, it was
+said, were threatened by the Mormons. No such forces were sent, nor
+were any such offenses committed at that time, except the stealing of
+some provisions, and there was never the least proof that this was done
+by a Mormon. Again, on my late visit to Hancock County, I was informed
+by some of their violent enemies that the larcenies of the Mormons had
+become unusually numerous and insufferable.
+
+"They admitted that but little had been done in this way in their
+immediate vicinity, but they insisted that sixteen horses had been
+stolen by the Mormons in one night near Lima, and, upon inquiry, was
+told that no horses had been stolen in that neighborhood, but that
+sixteen horses had been stolen in one night in Hancock County. This
+last informant being told of the Hancock story, again changed the venue
+to another distant settlement in the northern edge of Adams." [4]
+
+In the meantime legal proceedings were instituted against the members
+of the city council of Nauvoo. A writ, here subjoined, was issued
+upon the affidavit of the Laws, Fosters, Higbees, and Ivins, by Mr.
+Morrison, a justice of the peace in Carthage, the county seat of
+Hancock, and put into the hands of one David Bettesworth, a constable
+of the same place.
+
+    _Writ issued upon affidavit by Thomas Morrison, J. P., State of
+    Illinois, Hancock County, ss_.
+
+    "The people of the State of Illinois, to all constables, sheriffs,
+    and coroners of said State, greeting:
+
+    "Whereas complaint hath been made before me, one of the justices
+    of the peace in and for the county of Hancock aforesaid, upon the
+    oath of Francis M. Higbee, of the said county, that Joseph Smith,
+    Samuel Bennett, John Taylor, William W. Phelps, Hyrum Smith, John
+    P. Greene, Stephen Perry, Dimick B. Huntington, Jonathan Dunham,
+    Stephen Markham, William Edwards, Jonathan Holmes, Jesse P.
+    Harmon, John Lytle, Joseph W. Coolidge, Harvey D. Redfield, Porter
+    Rockwell, and Levi Richards, of said county, did, on the tenth day
+    of June instant, commit a riot at and within the county aforesaid,
+    wherein they with force and violence broke into the printing office
+    of the _Nauvoo Expositor_, and unlawfully and with force burned and
+    destroyed the printing press, type and fixtures of the same, being
+    the property of William Law, Wilson Law, Charles Ivins, Francis M.
+    Higbee, Chauncey L. Higbee, Robert D. Foster and Charles A. Foster.
+
+    "These are therefore to command you forthwith to apprehend the
+    said Joseph Smith, Samuel Bennett, John Taylor, William W. Phelps,
+    Hyrum Smith, John P. Greene, Stephen Perry, Dimick B. Huntington,
+    Jonathan Dunham, Stephen Markham, William Edwards, Jonathan
+    Holmes, Jesse P. Harmon, John Lytle, Joseph W. Coolidge, Harvey D.
+    Redfield, Porter Rockwell, and Levi Richards, and bring them before
+    me, or some other justice of the peace, to answer the premises, and
+    farther to be dealt with according to law.
+
+    "Given under my hand and seal at Carthage, in the county aforesaid,
+    this 11th day of June, A. D. 1844.
+
+                                  "THOMAS MORRISON, J. P." (Seal.) [5]
+
+The council did not refuse to attend to the legal proceedings in the
+case, but as the law of Illinois made it the privilege of the persons
+accused to go "or appear before the issuer of the writ, or any other
+justice of the peace," they requested to be taken before another
+magistrate, either in the city of Nauvoo or at any reasonable distance
+out of it.
+
+This the constable, who was a mobocrat, refused to do; and as this
+was our legal privilege we refused to be dragged, contrary to law, a
+distance of eighteen miles, when at the same time we had reason to
+believe that an organized band of mobocrats were assembled for the
+purpose of extermination or murder, and among whom it would not be safe
+to go without a superior force of armed men. A writ of _habeas corpus_
+was called for, and issued by the municipal court of Nauvoo, taking us
+out of the hands of Bettesworth, and placing us in the charge of the
+city marshal. We went before the municipal court and were dismissed.
+Our refusal to obey this illegal proceeding was by them construed into
+a refusal to submit to law, and circulated as such, and the people
+either did believe, or professed to believe, that we were in open
+rebellion against the laws and the authorities of the State. Hence mobs
+began to assemble, among which all through the country inflammatory
+speeches were made, exciting them to mobocracy and violence. Soon they
+commenced their depredations in our outside settlements, kidnapping
+some, and whipping and otherwise abusing others.
+
+The persons thus abused fled to Nauvoo as soon as practicable, and
+related their injuries to Joseph Smith, then mayor of the city,
+and lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion. They also went before
+magistrates, and made affidavits of what they had suffered, seen
+and heard. These affidavits, in connection with a copy of all our
+proceedings were forwarded by Joseph Smith to Mr. Ford, then governor
+of Illinois, with an expression of our desire to abide law, and a
+request that the governor would instruct him how to proceed in the case
+of arrival of an armed mob against the city. The governor sent back
+instructions to Joseph Smith that, as he was lieutenant general of the
+Nauvoo Legion, it was his duty to protect the city and surrounding
+country, and issued orders to that effect. Upon the reception of these
+orders Joseph Smith assembled the people of the city, and laid before
+them the governor's instructions; he also convened the officers of the
+Nauvoo Legion for the purpose of conferring in relation to the best
+mode of defense. He also issued orders to the men to hold themselves in
+readiness in case of being called upon. On the following day General
+Joseph Smith, with his staff, the leading officers of the Legion, and
+some prominent strangers who were in our midst, made a survey of the
+outside boundaries of the city, which was very extensive, being about
+five miles up and down the river, and about two and a half back in the
+center, for the purpose of ascertaining the position of the ground, and
+the feasibility of defense, and to make all necessary arrangements in
+case of an attack.
+
+It may be well here to remark that numbers of gentlemen, strangers to
+us, either came on purpose or were passing through Nauvoo, and upon
+learning the position of things, expressed their indignation against
+our enemies, and avowed their readiness to assist us by their counsel
+or otherwise. It was some of these who assisted us in reconnoitering
+the city, and finding out its adaptability for defense, and how to
+protect it best against an armed force. The Legion was called together
+and drilled, and every means made use of for defense. At the call of
+the officers, old and young men came forward, both from the city and
+the country, and mustered to the number of about five thousand.
+
+In the meantime our enemies were not idle in mustering their forces
+and committing depredations, nor had they been; it was, in fact, their
+gathering that called ours into existence; their forces continued to
+accumulate; they assumed a threatening attitude, and assembled in large
+bodies, armed and equipped for war, and threatened the destruction and
+extermination of the Mormons.
+
+An account of their outrages and assemblages was forwarded to
+Governor Ford almost daily; accompanied by affidavits furnished by
+eye-witnesses of their proceedings. Persons were also sent out to
+the counties around with pacific intentions, to give them an account
+of the true state of affairs, and to notify them of the feelings and
+dispositions of the people of Nauvoo, and thus, if possible, quell the
+excitement. In some of the more distant counties these men were very
+successful, and produced the salutary influence upon the minds of many
+intelligent and well-disposed men. In neighboring counties, however,
+where anti-Mormon influence prevailed, they produced little effect. At
+the same time guards were stationed around Nauvoo, and picket guards
+in the distance. At length opposing forces gathered so near that more
+active measures were taken; reconnoitering parties were sent out, and
+the city proclaimed under martial law. Things now assumed a belligerent
+attitude, and persons passing through the city were questioned as to
+what they knew of the enemy, while passes were in some instances given
+to avoid difficulty with the guards. Joseph Smith continued to send on
+messengers to the governor, (Philip B. Lewis and other messengers were
+sent.) Samuel James, then residing at La Harpe, carried a message and
+dispatches to him, and in a day or two after Bishop Edward Hunter and
+others went again with fresh dispatches, representations, affidavits,
+and instructions; but as the weather was excessively wet, the rivers
+swollen, and the bridges washed away in many places, it was with great
+difficulty that they proceeded on their journeys. As the mobocracy had
+at last attracted the governor's attention, he started in company with
+some others from Springfield to the scene of trouble, and missed, I
+believe, both Brothers James and Hunter on the road, and, of course,
+did not see their documents. He came to Carthage, and made that place,
+which was a regular mobocratic den, his headquarters; as it was the
+county seat, however, of Hancock County, that circumstance might, in a
+measure, justify his staying there.
+
+To avoid the appearance of all hostility on our part, and to fulfill
+the law in every particular, at the suggestion of Judge Thomas, judge
+of that judicial district, who had come to Nauvoo at the time, and who
+stated that we had fulfilled the law, but, in order to satisfy all he
+would council us to go before Esquire Wells, who was not in our Church,
+and have a hearing, we did so, and after a full hearing we were again
+dismissed.
+
+The governor on the road collected forces, some of whom were
+respectable, but on his arrival in the neighborhood of the difficulties
+he received as militia all the companies of the mob forces who united
+with him. After his arrival at Carthage he sent two gentlemen from
+there to Nauvoo as a committee to wait upon General Joseph Smith,
+informing him of the arrival of his excellency, with a request that
+General Smith would send out a committee to wait upon the governor and
+represent to him the state of affairs in relation to the difficulties
+that then existed in the county. We met this committee while we were
+reconnoitering the city, to find out the best mode of defense as
+aforesaid. Dr. J. M. Bernhisel and myself were appointed as a committee
+by General Smith to wait upon the governor. Previous to going, however,
+we were furnished with affidavits and documents in relation both to our
+proceedings and those of the mob; in addition to the general history of
+the transaction, we took with us a duplicate of those documents which
+had been forwarded by Bishop Hunter, Brother James, and others. We
+started from Nauvoo in company with the aforesaid gentlemen at about
+7 o'clock on the evening of the 21st of June, and arrived at Carthage
+about 11 p. m.
+
+We put up at the same hotel with the governor, kept by a Mr. Hamilton.
+On our arrival we found the governor in bed, but not so with the other
+inhabitants. The town was filled with a perfect set of rabble and
+rowdies, who, under the influence of Bacchus, seemed to be holding a
+grand saturnalia, whooping, yelling and vociferating as if Bedlam had
+broken loose.
+
+On our arrival at the hotel, and while supper was preparing, a man came
+to me, dressed as a soldier, and told me that a man named Daniel Garn
+had just been taken prisoner, and was about to be committed to jail,
+and wanted me to go bail for him. Believing this to be a ruse to get me
+out alone, and that some violence was intended, after consulting with
+Dr. Bernhisel, I told the man that I was well acquainted with Mr. Garn,
+that I knew him to be a gentleman, and did not believe that he had
+transgressed law, and, moreover, that I considered it a very singular
+time to be holding courts and calling for security, particularly as the
+town was full of rowdyism.
+
+I informed him that Dr. Bernhisel and myself would, if necessary go
+bail for him in the morning, but that we did not feel ourselves safe
+among such a set at that late hour of the night.
+
+After supper, on retiring to our room, we had to pass through another,
+which was separated from ours only by a board partition, the beds in
+each room being placed side by side, with the exception of this fragile
+partition. On the bed that was in the room which we passed through I
+discovered a man by the name of Jackson, a desperate character, and a
+reputed, notorious cut-throat and murderer. I hinted to the doctor that
+things looked rather suspicious, and looked to see that my arms were
+in order. The doctor and I occupied one bed. We had scarcely laid down
+when a knock at the door, accompanied by a voice announced the approach
+of Chauncey Higbee, the young lawyer and apostate before referred to.
+
+He addressed himself to the doctor, and stated that the object of
+his visit was to obtain the release of Daniel Garn; that Garn he
+believed to be an honest man; that if he had done anything wrong, it
+was through improper counsel, and that it was a pity that he should
+be incarcerated, particularly when he could be so easily released;
+he urged the doctor, as a friend, not to leave so good a man in such
+an unpleasant situation; he finally prevailed upon the doctor to go
+and give bail, assuring him that on his giving bail Garn would be
+immediately dismissed.
+
+During this conversation I did not say a word.
+
+Higbee left the doctor to dress, with the intention of returning and
+taking him to the court. As soon as Higbee had left, I told the doctor
+that he had better not go; that I believed this affair was all a ruse
+to get us separated; that they knew we had documents with us from
+General Smith to show to the governor; that I believed their object
+was to get possession of those papers, and, perhaps, when they had
+separated us, to murder one or both. The doctor, who was actuated by
+the best of motives in yielding to the assumed solicitude of Higbee,
+coincided with my views; he then went to Higbee, and told him that he
+had concluded not to go that night, but that he and I would both wait
+upon the justice and Mr. Garn in the morning.
+
+That night I lay awake with my pistols under my pillow, waiting for any
+emergency. Nothing more occurred during the night. In the morning we
+arose early, and after breakfast sought an interview with the governor,
+and were told that we could have an audience, I think, at ten o'clock.
+In the meantime we called upon Mr. Smith, a justice of the peace, who
+had Mr. Garn in charge. We represented that we had been called upon
+the night before by two different parties to go bail for a Mr. Daniel
+Garn, whom we were informed he had in custody, and that, believing Mr.
+Garn to be an honest man, we had now come for that purpose, and were
+prepared to enter into recognizances for his appearance, whereupon Mr.
+Smith, the magistrate, remarked that, under the present excited state
+of affairs, he did not think he would be justified in receiving bail
+from Nauvoo, as it was a matter of doubt whether property would not be
+rendered valueless there in a few days.
+
+Knowing the party we had to deal with, we were not much surprised at
+this singular proceeding; we then remarked that both of us possessed
+property in farms out of Nauvoo in the country, and referred him to
+the county records. He then stated that such was the nature of the
+charge against Mr. Garn that he believed he would not be justified in
+receiving any bail. We were thus confirmed in our opinion that the
+night's proceedings before, in relation to their desire to have us give
+bail, was a mere ruse to separate us. We were not permitted to speak
+with Garn, the real charge against whom was that he was traveling in
+Carthage or its neighborhood: what the fictitious one was, if I knew, I
+have since forgotten, as things of this kind were of daily occurrence.
+
+After waiting the governor's pleasure for some time we had an audience;
+but such an audience!
+
+He was surrounded by some of the vilest and most unprincipled men in
+creation; some of them had an appearance of respectability, and many of
+them lacked even that. Wilson, and, I believe, William Law, were there,
+Foster, Frank and Chauncey Higbee, Mr. Mar, a lawyer from Nauvoo, a
+mobocratic merchant from Warsaw, the aforesaid Jackson, a number of
+his associates, among whom was the governor's secretary, in all, some
+fifteen or twenty persons, most of whom were recreant to virtue, honor,
+integrity, and everything that is considered honorable among men. I can
+well remember the feelings of disgust that I had in seeing the governor
+surrounded by such an infamous group, and on being introduced to men
+of so questionable a character; and had I been on private business, I
+should have turned to depart, and told the governor that if he thought
+proper to associate with such questionable characters, I should beg
+leave to be excused; but coming as we did on public business, we could
+not, of course, consult our private feelings.
+
+We then stated to the governor that, in accordance with his request,
+General Smith had, in response to his call, sent us to him as a
+committee of conference; that we were acquainted with most of the
+circumstances that had transpired in and about Nauvoo lately, and were
+prepared to give him all information; that, moreover, we had in our
+possession testimony and affidavits confirmatory of what we should
+say, which had been forwarded to his excellency by Messrs. Hunter,
+James, and others, some of which had not reached their destination,
+but of which we had duplicates with us. We then, in brief, related an
+outline of the difficulties, and the course we had pursued from the
+commencement of the trouble up to the present, and handing him the
+documents, respectfully submitted the whole.
+
+During our conversation and explanations with the governor we were
+frequently, rudely and impudently contradicted by the fellows he had
+around him, and of whom he seemed to take no notice.
+
+He opened and read a number of the documents himself, and as he
+proceeded he was frequently interrupted by, "that's a lie!" "that's
+a God damned lie!" "that's an infernal falsehood!" "that's a blasted
+lie!" etc.
+
+These men evidently winced at the exposure of their acts, and thus
+vulgarly, impudently, and falsely repudiated them. One of their
+number, Mr. Mar, addressed himself several times to me while in
+conversation with the governor. I did not notice him until after a
+frequent repetition of his insolence, when I informed him that "my
+business at that time was with Governor Ford," whereupon I continued my
+conversation with his excellency. During the conversation, the governor
+expressed a desire that Joseph Smith, and all parties concerned in
+passing or executing the city law in relation to the press, had better
+come to Carthage; that, however repugnant it might be to our feelings,
+he thought it would have a tendency to allay public excitement, and
+prove to the people what we professed, that we wished to be governed
+by law. We represented to him the course we had taken in relation to
+this matter, and our willingness to go before another magistrate other
+than the municipal court; the illegal refusal of our request by the
+constable; our dismissal by the municipal court, a legally constituted
+tribunal; our subsequent trial before Squire Wells at the instance of
+Judge Thomas, the circuit judge, and our dismissal by him; that we had
+fulfilled the law in every particular; that it was our enemies who were
+breaking the law, and, having murderous designs, were only making use
+of this as a pretext to get us into their power. The governor stated
+that the people viewed it differently, and that, notwithstanding our
+opinions, he would recommend that the people should be satisfied. We
+then remarked to him that, should Joseph Smith comply with his request,
+it would be extremely unsafe, in the present excited state of the
+country, to come without an armed force; that we had a sufficiency of
+men, and were competent to defend ourselves, but there might be danger
+of collision should our forces and those of our enemies be brought into
+such close proximity. He strenuously advised us not to bring our arms,
+and _pledged his faith as governor, and the faith of the State, that we
+should be protected, and that he would guarantee our perfect safety_.
+
+We had at that time about five thousand men under arms, one thousand of
+whom would have been amply sufficient for our protection.
+
+At the termination of our interview, and previous to our withdrawal,
+after a long conversation and the perusal of the documents which we
+had brought, the governor informed us that he would prepare a written
+communication for General Joseph Smith, which he desired us to wait
+for. We were kept waiting for this instrument some five or six hours.
+
+About five o'clock in the afternoon we took our departure with not the
+most pleasant feelings. The associations of the governor, the spirit he
+manifested to compromise with these scoundrels, the length of time that
+he had kept us waiting, and his general deportment, together with the
+infernal spirit that we saw exhibited by those whom he had admitted to
+his counsels, made the prospect anything but promising.
+
+We returned on horseback, and arrived at Nauvoo, I think, at about
+eight or nine o'clock at night, accompanied by Captain Yates in
+command of a company of mounted men, who came for the purpose of
+escorting Joseph Smith and the accused in case of their complying with
+the governor's request, and going to Carthage. We went directly to
+Brother Joseph's, when Captain Yates delivered to him the governor's
+communication. A council was called, consisting of Joseph's brother,
+Hyrum, Dr. Richards, Dr. Bernhisel, myself, and one or two others.
+
+We then gave a detail of our interview with the governor. Brother
+Joseph was very much dissatisfied with the governor's letter and with
+his general deportment, and so were the council, and it became a
+serious question as to the course we should pursue. Various projects
+were discussed, but nothing definitely decided upon for some time.
+
+In the interim two gentlemen arrived; one of them, if not both, sons of
+John C. Calhoun. They had come to Nauvoo, and were very anxious for an
+interview with Brother Joseph.
+
+These gentlemen detained him for some time; and, as our council was
+held in Dr. Bernhisel's room in the Mansion House, the doctor lay down;
+and as it was now between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning, and I had
+had no rest on the previous night, I was fatigued, and thinking that
+Brother Joseph might not return, I left for home and rest.
+
+Being very much fatigued, I slept soundly, and was somewhat surprised
+in the morning by Mrs. Thompson entering my room about 7 o'clock, and
+exclaiming in surprise, "What, you here! the brethren have crossed the
+rive some time since."
+
+"What brethren?" I asked.
+
+"Brother Joseph, and Hyrum, and Brother Richards," she answered.
+
+I immediately arose upon learning that they had crossed the river, and
+did not intend to go to Carthage. I called together a number of persons
+in whom I had confidence, and had the type, stereotype plates, and most
+of the valuable things removed from the printing office, believing
+that, should the governor and his force come to Nauvoo, the first
+thing they would do would be to burn the printing office, for I knew
+they would be exasperated if Brother Joseph went away. We had talked
+over these matters the night before, but nothing was decided upon. It
+was Brother Joseph's opinion that, should we leave for a time, public
+excitement, which was then so intense, would be allayed; that it would
+throw on the governor the responsibility of keeping the peace; that
+in the event of an outrage, the onus would rest upon the governor,
+who was amply prepared with troops, and could command all the forces
+of the State to preserve order; and that the act of his own men would
+be an overwhelming proof of their seditious designs, not only to the
+governor, but to the world. He moreover thought that, in the east,
+where he intended to go, public opinion would be set right in relation
+to these matters, and its expression would partially influence the
+west, and that, after the first ebullition, things would assume a shape
+that would justify his return.
+
+I made arrangements for crossing the river, and Brother Elias Smith
+and Joseph Cain, who were both employed in the printing office with
+me, assisted all that lay in their power together with Brother Brower
+and several hands in the printing office. As we could not find out
+the exact whereabouts of Joseph and the brethren, I crossed the river
+in a boat furnished by Brother Cyrus H. Wheelock and Alfred Bell; and
+after the removal of the things out of the printing office, Joseph Cain
+brought the account books to me, that we might make arrangements for
+their adjustment; and Brother Elias Smith, cousin to Brother Joseph,
+went to obtain money for the journey, and also to find out and report
+to me the location of the brethren.
+
+As Cyrus H. Wheelock was an active, enterprising man, and in the event
+of not finding Brother Joseph I calculated to go to Upper Canada for
+the time being, and should need a companion, I said to Brother Cyrus H.
+Wheelock, "Can you go with me ten or fifteen hundred miles?"
+
+He answered, "Yes."
+
+"Can you start in half an hour?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+However, I told him that he had better see his family, who lived over
+the river, and prepare a couple of horses and the necessary equipage
+for the journey, and that, if we did not find Brother Joseph before, we
+would start at nightfall.
+
+A laughable incident occurred on the eve of my departure. After making
+all the preparations I could, previous to leaving Nauvoo, and having
+bid adieu to my family, I went to a house adjoining the river, owned
+by Brother Eddy. There I disguised myself so as not to be known, and
+so effectually was the transformation that those who had come after me
+with a boat did not know me. I went down to the boat and sat in it.
+Brother Bell, thinking it was a stranger, watched my moves for some
+time very impatiently, and then said to Brother Wheelock, "I wish that
+old gentleman would go away; he has been pottering around the boat
+for some time, and I am afraid Elder Taylor will be coming." When he
+discovered his mistake, he was not a little amused.
+
+I was conducted by Brother Bell to a house that was surrounded by
+timber on the opposite side of the river. There I spent several hours
+in a chamber with Brother Joseph Cain, adjusting my accounts; and I
+made arrangements for the stereotype plates of the Book of Mormon and
+Doctrine and Covenants, to be forwarded east, thinking to supply the
+company with subsistence money through the sale of these books in the
+east.
+
+My horses were reported ready by Brother Wheelock, and funds on hand
+by Brother Elias Smith. In about half an hour I should have started,
+when Brother Elias Smith came to me with word that he had found the
+brethren; that they had concluded to go to Carthage, and wished me to
+return to Nauvoo and accompany them. I must confess that I felt a good
+deal disappointed at this news, but I immediately made preparations
+to go. Escorted by Brother Elias Smith, I and my party went to the
+neighborhood of Montrose, where we met Brother Joseph, Hyrum, Brother
+Richards and others. Dr. Bernhisel thinks that W. W. Phelps was not
+with Joseph and Hyrum in the morning, but that he met him, myself,
+Joseph and Hyrum, W. Richards and Brother Cahoon, in the afternoon,
+near Montrose, returning to Nauvoo.
+
+On meeting the brethren I learned that it was not Brother Joseph's
+desire to return, but that he came back by request of some of the
+brethren, and that it coincided more with Brother Hyrum's feelings
+than those of Brother Joseph. In fact, after his return, Brother Hyrum
+expressed himself as perfectly satisfied with the course taken, and
+said he felt much more at ease in his mind than he did before. On our
+return the calculation was to throw ourselves under the immediate
+protection of the governor, and to trust to his word and faith for our
+preservation.
+
+A message was, I believe, sent to the governor that night, stating that
+we should come to Carthage in the morning, the party that came along
+with us to escort us back, in case we returned to Carthage, having
+returned.
+
+It would seem from the following remarks of General Ford that there was
+a design on foot, which was, that if we refused to go to Carthage at
+the governor's request, there should be an increased force called for
+by the governor, and that we should be destroyed by them. In accordance
+with this project, Captain Yates returned with his _posse_, accompanied
+by the constable who held the writ.
+
+The following is the governor's remark in relation to this affair:
+
+    "The constable and his escort returned. The constable made no
+    effort to arrest any of them, nor would he or the guard delay their
+    departure one minute beyond the time, to see whether an arrest
+    could be made. Upon their return they reported that they had been
+    informed that the accused had fled, and could not be found. I
+    immediately proposed to a council of officers to march into Nauvoo
+    with the small force then under my command, but the officers were
+    of the opinion that it was too small, and many of them insisted
+    upon a further call of the militia. Upon reflection I was of the
+    opinion that the officers were right in the estimate of our force,
+    and the project for immediate action was abandoned.
+
+    "I was soon informed, however, of the conduct of the constable and
+    guard, and then I was perfectly satisfied that a most base fraud
+    had been attempted, that, in fact, it was feared that the Mormons
+    would submit, and thereby entitle themselves to the protection of
+    the law. It was very apparent that many of the bustling, active
+    spirits were afraid that there would be no occasion for calling
+    out an overwhelming militia force, for marching into Nauvoo, for
+    probable mutiny when there, and for the extermination of the Mormon
+    race. It appeared that the constable and the escort were fully in
+    the secret, and acted well their part to promote the conspiracy."
+    [6]
+
+In the morning Brother Joseph had an interview with the officers of
+the Legion, with the leading members of the city council, and with the
+principal men of the city. The officers were instructed to dismiss
+their men, but to have them in a state of readiness to be called upon
+in any emergency that might occur.
+
+About half past six o'clock the members of the city council, the
+marshal, Brothers Joseph and Hyrum, and a number of others, started
+for Carthage, on horseback. We were instructed by Brother Joseph Smith
+not to take any arms, and we consequently left them behind. We called
+at the house of Brother Fellows on our way out. Brother Fellows lived
+about four miles from Carthage.
+
+While at Brother Fellow's house, Captain Dunn, accompanied by Mr.
+Coolie, one of the governor's aides-de-camp, came up from Carthage _en
+route_ for Nauvoo with a requisition from the governor for the State
+arms. We all returned to Nauvoo with them; the governor's request was
+complied with, and after taking some refreshments, we all returned to
+proceed to Carthage. We arrived there late in the night. A great deal
+of excitement prevailed on and after our arrival. The governor had
+received into his company all of the companies that had been in the
+mob; these fellows were riotous and disorderly, hallowing, yelling, and
+whooping about the streets like Indians, many of them intoxicated; the
+whole presented a scene of rowdyism and low-bred ruffianism only found
+among mobocrats and desperadoes, and entirely revolting to the best
+feelings of humanity. The governor made a speech to them to the effect
+that he would show Joseph and Hyrum Smith to them in the morning.
+
+About here the companies with the governor were drawn up in line, and
+General Demming, I think, took Joseph by the arm and Hyrum (Arnold says
+that Joseph took the governor's arm), and as he passed through between
+the ranks, the governor leading in front, very politely introduced them
+as General Joseph Smith and General Hyrum Smith. [7]
+
+All were orderly and courteous except one company of mobocrats--the
+Carthage Grays--who seemed to find fault on account of too much honor
+being paid to the Mormons. There was afterwards a row between the
+companies, and they came pretty near having a fight; the more orderly
+not feeling disposed to endorse or submit to the rowdyism of the
+mobocrats. The result was that General Demming, who was very much of a
+gentleman, ordered the Carthage Grays, a company under the command of
+Captain Smith, a magistrate in Carthage, and a most violent mobocrat,
+under arrest. This matter, however, was shortly afterward adjusted, and
+the difficulty settled between them.
+
+The mayor, aldermen, councilors, as well as the marshal of the city
+of Nauvoo, together with some persons who had assisted the marshal
+in removing the press in Nauvoo, appeared before Justice Smith,
+the aforesaid captain and mobocrat, to again answer the charge of
+destroying the press; but as there was so much excitement, and as
+the man was an unprincipled villain before whom we were to have our
+hearing, we thought it most prudent to give bail, and consequently
+became security for each other in $500 bonds each, to appear before the
+County Court at its next session. We had engaged as counsel a lawyer by
+the name of Wood, of Burlington, Iowa; and Reed, I think, of Madison,
+Iowa After some little discussion the bonds were signed, and we were
+all dismissed.
+
+Almost immediately after our dismissal, two men--Augustine Spencer and
+Norton--two worthless fellows, whose words would not have been taken
+for five cents, and the first of whom had a short time previously
+been before the mayor in Nauvoo for maltreating a lame brother, made
+affidavits that Joseph and Hyrum Smith were guilty of treason, and
+a writ was accordingly issued for their arrest, and the constable
+Bettesworth, a rough, unprincipled man, wished immediately to hurry
+them away to prison without any hearing. His rude, uncouth manner in
+the administration of what he considered the duties of his office made
+him exceedingly repulsive to us all. But, independent of these acts,
+the proceedings in this case were altogether illegal. Providing the
+court was sincere, which it was not, and providing these men's oaths
+were true, and that Joseph and Hyrum were guilty of treason, still the
+whole course was illegal.
+
+The magistrate made out a mittimus, and committed them to prison
+without a hearing, which he had no right legally to do. The statue of
+Illinois expressly provides that "all men shall have a hearing before
+a magistrate before they shall be committed to prison;" and Mr. Robert
+H. Smith, the magistrate, had made out a mittimus committing them to
+prison contrary to law without such hearing. As I was informed of this
+illegal proceeding, I went immediately to the governor and informed him
+of it. Whether he was apprised of it before or not, I do not know; but
+my opinion is that he was.
+
+I represented to him the characters of the parties who had made oath,
+the outrageous nature of the charge, the indignity offered to men in
+the position which they occupied, and declared to him that he knew
+very well it was a vexatious proceeding, and that the accused were
+not guilty of any such crime. The governor replied, he was very sorry
+that the thing had occurred; that he did not believe the charges, but
+that he thought the best thing to be done was to let the law take its
+course. I then reminded him that we had come out there at his instance,
+not to satisfy the law, which we had done before, but the prejudices
+of the people, in relation to the affairs of the press; that at his
+instance we had given bonds, which we could not by law be required to
+do to satisfy the people, and that it was asking too much to require
+gentlemen in their position in life to suffer the degradation of being
+immured in a jail at the instance of such worthless scoundrels as
+those who had made this affidavit. The governor replied that it was
+an unpleasant affair, and looked hard; but that it was a matter over
+which he had no control, as it belonged to the judiciary; that he, as
+the executive, could not interfere with their proceedings, and that he
+had no doubt but that they would immediately be dismissed. I told him
+that we had looked to him for protection from such insults, and that
+I thought we had a right to do so from the solemn promises which he
+had made to me and to Dr. Bernhisel in relation to our coming without
+guard or arms; that we had relied upon his faith, and had a right to
+expect him to fulfill his engagements after we had placed ourselves
+implicity under his care, and complied with all his requests, although
+extrajudicial.
+
+He replied that he would detail a guard, if we required it, and see
+us protected, but that he could not interfere with the judiciary. I
+expressed my dissatisfaction at the course taken, and told him, that,
+if we were to be subject to mob rule, and to be dragged, contrary to
+law, into prison at the instance of every infernal scoundrel whose
+oaths could be bought for a dram of whiskey, his protection availed
+very little, and we had miscalculated his promises.
+
+Seeing there was no prospect of redress from the governor, I returned
+to the room, and found the constable Bettesworth very urgent to
+hurry Brothers Joseph and Hyrum to prison, while the brethren were
+remonstrating with him. At the same time a great rabble was gathered in
+the streets and around the door, and from the rowdyism manifested I was
+afraid there was a design to murder the prisoners on the way to jail.
+
+Without conferring with any person, my next feelings were to procure
+a guard, and seeing a man habited as a soldier in the room, I went to
+him and said, "I am afraid there is a design against the lives of the
+Messrs. Smith; will you go immediately and bring your captain; and, if
+not convenient, any other captain of a company, and I will pay you well
+for your trouble?" He said he would, and departed forthwith, and soon
+returned with his captain, whose name I have forgotten, and introduced
+him to me. I told him of my fears, and requested him immediately to
+fetch his company.
+
+He departed forthwith, and arrived at the door with them just at the
+time when the constable was hurrying the brethren down stairs. A number
+of the brethren went along, together with one or two strangers; and all
+of us, safely lodged in prison, remained there during the night.
+
+At the request of Joseph Smith for an interview with the governor, he
+came the next morning, Thursday, June 26th, at half past 9 o'clock,
+accompanied by Colonel Geddes, when a lengthy conversation was
+entered into in relation to the existing difficulties; and after
+some preliminary remarks, at the governor's request, Brother Joseph
+gave him a general outline of the state of affairs in relation to
+our difficulties, the excited state of the country, the tumultuous
+mobocratic movements of our enemies, the precautionary measures used by
+himself (Joseph Smith), the acts of the city council, the destruction
+of the press, and the moves of the mob and ourselves up to that time.
+
+The following report is, I believe, substantially correct:
+
+    _Governor_--"General Smith, I believe you have given me a general
+    outline of the difficulties that have existed in the country in
+    the documents forwarded to me by Dr. Bernhisel and Mr. Taylor;
+    but, unfortunately, there seems to be a great discrepancy between
+    your statements and those of your enemies. It is true that you
+    are substantiated by evidence and affidavit, but for such an
+    extraordinary excitement as that which is now in the country
+    there must be some cause, and I attribute the last outbreak to
+    the destruction of the _Expositor_, and to your refusal to comply
+    with the writ issued by Esquire Morrison. The press in the United
+    States is looked upon as the great bulwark of American freedom,
+    and its destruction in Nauvoo was represented and looked upon as
+    a high-handed measure, and manifests to the people a disposition
+    on your part to suppress the liberty of speech and of the press.
+    This, with your refusal to comply with the requisition of a writ, I
+    conceive to be the principal cause of this difficulty; and you are
+    moreover represented to me as turbulent, and defiant of the laws
+    and institutions of your country."
+
+    _General Smith_--"Governor Ford, you, sir, as governor of this
+    State, are aware of the persecutions that I have endured. You know
+    well that our course has been peaceable and law-abiding for I have
+    furnished this State ever since our settlement here with sufficient
+    evidence of my pacific intentions, and those of the people with
+    whom I am associated, by the endurance of every conceivable
+    indignity and lawless outrage perpetrated upon me and upon this
+    people since our settlement here; and you know yourself that I have
+    kept you well posted in relation to all matters associated with the
+    late difficulties. If you have not got some of my communications,
+    it has not been my fault.
+
+    "Agreeably to your orders, I assembled the Nauvoo Legion for the
+    protection of Nauvoo and the surrounding country against an armed
+    band of marauders; and ever since they have been mustered I have
+    almost daily communicated with you in regard to all the leading
+    events that have transpired; and whether in the capacity of mayor
+    of the city, or lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion, I have
+    striven, according to the best of my judgment, to preserve the
+    peace and to administer even-handed justice; but my motives are
+    impugned, my acts are misconstrued, and I am grossly and wickedly
+    misrepresented. I suppose I am indebted for my incarceration to
+    the oath of a worthless man, who was arraigned before me and fined
+    for abusing and maltreating his lame, helpless brother. That I
+    should be charged by you, sir, who know better, of acting contrary
+    to law, is to me a matter of surprise. Was it the Mormons or our
+    enemies who first commenced these difficulties? You know well it
+    was not us; and when this turbulent, outrageous people commenced
+    their insurrectionary movements I made you acquainted with them
+    officially, and asked your advice, and have followed strictly your
+    counsel in every particular. Who ordered out the Nauvoo Legion?
+    I did, under your direction. For what purpose? To suppress the
+    insurrectionary movements. It was at your instance, sir, that I
+    issued a proclamation calling upon the Nauvoo Legion to be in
+    readiness at a moment's warning to guard against the incursions of
+    mobs, and gave an order to Jonathan Dunham, acting major-general,
+    to that effect.
+
+    "Am I, then, to be charged with the acts of others? and because
+    lawlessness and mobocracy abound, am I, when carrying out your
+    instructions, to be charged with not abiding law? Why is it that I
+    must be made accountable for other men's acts? If there is trouble
+    in the country, neither I nor my people made it; and all that we
+    have ever done, after much endurance on our part, is to maintain
+    and uphold the Constitution and institutions of our country, and to
+    protect an injured, innocent, and persecuted people against misrule
+    and mob violence.
+
+    "Concerning the destruction of the press to which you refer, men
+    may differ somewhat in their opinions about it; but can it be
+    supposed that after all the indignities to which they have been
+    subjected outside, that people could suffer a set of worthless
+    vagabonds to come into their city, and, right under their own eyes
+    and protection, vilify and calumniate not only themselves, but
+    the character of their wives and daughters, as was impudently and
+    unblushingly done in that infamous and filthy sheet?
+
+    "There is not a city in the United States that would have suffered
+    such an indignity for twenty-four hours. Our whole people were
+    indignant, and loudly called upon our city authorities for a
+    redress of their grievances, which, if not attended to, they
+    themselves would have taken into their own hands, and have
+    summarily punished the audacious wretches as they deserved. The
+    principle of equal rights that has been instilled into our bosoms
+    from our cradles as American citizens forbids us submitting to
+    every foul indignity, and succumbing and pandering to wretches so
+    infamous as these. But, independent of this, the course that we
+    pursued we consider to be strictly legal; for, notwithstanding
+    the result, we were anxious to be governed strictly by law, and
+    therefore we convened the city council; and being desirous in our
+    deliberations to abide by law, we summoned legal counsel to be
+    present on the occasion. Upon investigating the matter, we found
+    that our city charter gave us power to remove all nuisances.
+    Furthermore, after consulting Blackstone upon what might be
+    considered a nuisance, it appeared that that distinguished lawyer,
+    who is considered authority, I believe, in all our courts, states
+    among other things that 'a libelous and filthy press may be
+    considered a nuisance, and abated as such.' Here, then, one of
+    the most eminent English barristers, whose works are considered
+    standard with us, declares that a libelous and filthy press may
+    be considered a nuisance; and our own charter, given us by the
+    Legislature of this State, gives us power to remove nuisances; and
+    by ordering that press to be abated as a nuisance, we conceived
+    that we were acting strictly in accordance with law. We made that
+    order in our corporate capacity, and the city marshal carried it
+    out. It is possible there may have been some better way, but I must
+    confess that I could not see it.
+
+    "In relation to the writ served upon us, we are willing to abide
+    the consequences of our own acts, but are unwilling, in answering
+    a writ of that kind, to submit to illegal exactions, sought to be
+    imposed upon us under the pretense of law, when we knew they were
+    in open violation of it. When that document was presented to me by
+    Mr. Bettesworth, I offered, in the presence of more than twenty
+    persons, to go to any other magistrate, either in our city, in
+    Appanoose, or any other place where we should be safe, but we all
+    refused to put ourselves into the power of a mob. What right had
+    that constable to refuse our request? He had none according to
+    law; for you know, Governor Ford, that the statute law in Illinois
+    is, that the parties served with the writ 'shall go before him who
+    issued it, or some other justice of the peace.' Why, then, should
+    we be dragged to Carthage, where the law does not compel us to
+    go? Does not this look like many others of our persecutions with
+    which you are acquainted? and have we not a right to expect foul
+    play? This very act was a breach of law on his part, an assumption
+    of power that did not belong to him, and an attempt, at least, to
+    deprive us of our legal and constitutional rights and privileges.
+    What could we do, under the circumstances, different from what we
+    did do? We sued for, and obtained a writ of _habeas corpus_ from
+    the municipal court, by which we were delivered from the hands of
+    Constable Bettesworth, and brought before and acquitted by the
+    municipal court. After our acquittal, in a conversation with Judge
+    Thomas, although he considered the acts of the party illegal,
+    he advised that, to satisfy the people, we had better go before
+    another magistrate who was not in our Church. In accordance with
+    his advice, we went before Esquire Wells, with whom you are well
+    acquainted; both parties were present, witnesses were called on
+    both sides, the case was fully investigated, and we were again
+    dismissed. And what is this pretended desire to enforce law, and
+    wherefore are these lying, base rumors put into circulation but
+    to seek, through mob influence, under pretense of law, to make us
+    submit to requisitions which are contrary to law and subversive
+    of every principle of justice? And when you, sir, required us to
+    come out here, we came, not because it was legal, but because you
+    required it of us, and we were desirous of showing to you, and
+    to all men, that we shrunk not from the most rigid investigation
+    of our acts. We certainly did expect other treatment than to be
+    immured in a jail at the instance of these men, and I think, from
+    your plighted faith, we had a right so to expect, after disbanding
+    our own forces, and putting ourselves entirely in your hands. And
+    now, after having fulfilled my part, sir, as a man and an American
+    citizen, I call upon you, Governor Ford, to deliver us from this
+    place, and rescue us from this outrage that is sought to be
+    practiced upon us by a set of infamous scoundrels."
+
+    _Governor Ford_.--"But you have placed men under arrest, detained
+    men as prisoners, and given passes to others, some of which I have
+    seen,"
+
+    _John P. Greene, City Marshal_.--"Perhaps I can explain. Since
+    these difficulties have commenced, you are aware that we have been
+    placed under very peculiar circumstances; our city has been placed
+    under a very rigid police guard; in addition to this, frequent
+    guards have been placed outside the city to prevent any sudden
+    surprise, and those guards have questioned suspected or suspicious
+    persons as to their business. To strangers, in some instances,
+    passes have been given to prevent difficulty in passing those
+    guards; it is some of these passes that you have seen. No person,
+    sir, has been imprisoned without a legal cause in our city."
+
+    _Governor_--"Why did you not give a more speedy answer to the posse
+    that I sent out?"
+
+    _General Smith_.--"We had matters of importance to consult upon;
+    your letter showed anything but an amiable spirit. We have
+    suffered immensely in Missouri from mobs, in loss of property,
+    imprisonment, and otherwise. It took some time for us to weigh duly
+    these matters; we could not decide upon matters of such importance
+    immediately, and your posse were too hasty in returning; we were
+    consulting for a large people, and vast interests were at stake. We
+    had been outrageously imposed upon, and knew not how far we could
+    trust any one; besides, a question necessarily arose, How shall we
+    come? Your request was that we should come unarmed. It became a
+    matter of serious importance to decide how far promises could be
+    trusted, and how far we were safe from mob violence."
+
+    _Colonel Geddes_.--"It certainly did look, from all I have heard,
+    from the general spirit of violence and mobocracy that here
+    prevails, that it was not safe for you to come unprotected."
+
+    _Governor Ford_.--"I think that sufficient time was not allowed
+    by the posse for you to consult and get ready. They were too
+    hasty; but I suppose they found themselves bound by their orders.
+    I think, too, there is a great deal of truth in what you say, and
+    your reasoning is plausible, but I must beg leave to differ from
+    you in relation to the acts of the City Council. That Council, in
+    my opinion, had no right to act in a legislative capacity, and in
+    that of the judiciary. They should have passed a law in relation
+    to the matter, and then the Municipal Court, upon complaint, could
+    have removed it; but for the City Council to take upon themselves
+    the law-making and the execution of the law, is, in my opinion,
+    wrong; besides, these men ought to have had a hearing before their
+    property was destroyed; to destroy it without was an infringement
+    on their rights; besides, it is so contrary to the feelings of
+    American people to interfere with the press. And, furthermore, I
+    cannot but think that it would have been more judicious for you to
+    have gone with Mr. Bettesworth to Carthage, notwithstanding the
+    law did not require it. Concerning your being in jail, I am sorry
+    for that; I wish it had been otherwise. I hope you will soon be
+    released, but I can not interfere."
+
+    _Joseph Smith_.--"Governor Ford, allow me, sir, to bring one thing
+    to your mind that you seem to have overlooked. You state that you
+    think it would have been better for us to have submitted to the
+    requisition of Constable Bettesworth, and to have gone to Carthage.
+    Do you not know, sir, that that writ was served at the instance of
+    an anti-Mormon mob, who had passed resolutions, and published them,
+    to the effect that they would exterminate the Mormon leaders? And
+    are you not informed that Captain Anderson was not only threatened
+    but had a gun fired at his boat by this said mob in Warsaw when
+    coming up to Nauvoo, and that this very thing was made use of as
+    a means to get us into their hands; and we could not, without
+    taking an armed force with us, go there without, according to their
+    published declarations, going into the jaws of death? To have taken
+    a force with us would only have fanned the excitement, and they
+    would have stated that we wanted to use intimidation; therefore, we
+    thought it the most judicious to avail ourselves of the protection
+    of the law."
+
+    _Governor Ford_.--"I see, I see."
+
+    _Joseph Smith_.--"Furthermore, in relation to the press, you say
+    that you differ from me in opinion. Be it so; the thing, after all,
+    is only a legal difficulty, and the courts, I should judge, are
+    competent to decide on that matter. If our act was illegal, we are
+    willing to meet it; and although I cannot see the distinction that
+    you draw about the acts of the City Council, and what difference
+    it could have made in point of fact, law, or justice between the
+    City Council, acting together or separate or how much more legal
+    it would have been for the Municipal Court, who were a part of the
+    City Council, to act separately instead of with the councilors,
+    yet, if it is deemed that we did a wrong in destroying that press,
+    we refuse not to pay for it; we are desirous to fulfill the law
+    in every particular, and are responsible for our acts. You say
+    that the parties ought to have a hearing. Had it been a civil
+    suit, this of course, would have been proper; but there was a
+    flagrant violation of every principle of right--a nuisance; and
+    it was abated on the same principle that any nuisance, stench,
+    or putrefied carcass would have been removed. Our first step,
+    therefore, was to stop the foul, noisome, filthy sheet, and then
+    the next in our opinion would have been to have prosecuted the man
+    for a breach of public decency. And, furthermore, again let me say,
+    Governor Ford, I shall look to you for our protection. I believe
+    you are talking of going to Nauvoo; if you go, sir, I wish to go
+    along. I refuse not to answer any law, but I do not consider myself
+    safe here."
+
+    _Governor_.--"I am in hopes that you will be acquitted, and if I
+    go I will certainly take you along. I do not, however, apprehend
+    danger. I think you are perfectly safe either here or anywhere
+    else. I can not, however, interfere with the law. I am placed in
+    peculiar circumstances and seem to be blamed by all parties."
+
+    _Joseph Smith_.--"Governor Ford, I ask nothing but what is legal;
+    I have a right to expect protection, at least from you; for,
+    independent of law, you have pledged your faith and that of the
+    State for my protection, and I wish to go to Nauvoo."
+
+    _Governor_.--"And you shall have protection, General Smith. I did
+    not make this promise without consulting my officers, who all
+    pledged their honor to its fulfillment. I do not know that I shall
+    go tomorrow to Nauvoo, but if I do I will take you along."
+
+At a quarter past ten o'clock the governor left.
+
+At about half past twelve o'clock, Mr. Reed, one of Joseph's counsel,
+came in, apparently much elated; he stated that, upon an examination of
+the law, he found that the magistrate had transcended his jurisdiction,
+and that having committed them without an examination, his jurisdiction
+ended, that he had him upon a pin hook; that he ought to have examined
+them before he committed them, and that, having violated the law
+in this particular, he had no further power over them; for, once
+committed, they were out of his jurisdiction, as the power of the
+magistrate extended no farther than their committal, and that now they
+could not be brought out except at the regular session of the Circuit
+Court, or by a writ of _habeas corpus;_ but that if Justice Smith would
+consent to go to Nauvoo for trial, he would compromise matters with
+him, and overlook this matter.
+
+Mr. Reed further stated that the anti-Mormons, or mob, had concocted
+a scheme to get out a writ from Missouri, with a demand upon Governor
+Ford for the arrest of Joseph Smith, and his conveyance to Missouri,
+and that a man by the name of Wilson had returned from Missouri the
+night before the burning of the press for this purpose.
+
+At half past two o'clock Constable Bettesworth came to the jail with
+a man named Simpson, professing to have some order, but he would not
+send up his name, and the guard would not let him pass. Dr. Bernhisel
+and Brother Wasson went to inform the governor and council of this. At
+about twenty minutes to three Dr. Bernhisel returned, and stated that
+he thought the governor was doing all he could. At about ten minutes to
+three Hyrum Kimball appeared with news from Nauvoo.
+
+Soon after Constable Bettesworth came with an order from Esquire Smith
+to convey the prisoners to the court-house for trial. He was informed
+that the process was illegal, that they had been placed there contrary
+to law, and that they refused to come unless by legal process. I was
+informed that Justice Smith (who was also captain of the Carthage
+Grays) went to the governor and informed him of the matter, and that
+the governor replied, "You have your forces, and of course can use
+them." The constable certainly did return, accompanied by a guard of
+armed men, and by force, and under protest, hurried the prisoners to
+the court.
+
+About four o'clock the case was called by Captain Robert F. Smith,
+J. P. The counsel for the prisoners called for subpoenas to bring
+witnesses. At twenty-five minutes past four he took a copy of the order
+to bring the prisoners from jail to trial, and afterwards he took names
+of witnesses.
+
+Counsel present for the State; Higbee, Skinner, Sharp, Emmons, and
+Morrison. Twenty-five minutes to five the writ was returned as served,
+June 25th.
+
+Many remarks were made at the court that I paid but little attention
+to, as I considered the whole thing illegal and a complete burlesque.
+Wood objected to the proceedings in total, in consequence of its
+illegality, showing that the prisoners were not only illegally
+committed, but that, being once committed, the magistrate had no
+further power over them; but as it was the same magistrate before whom
+he was pleading who imprisoned them contrary to law, and the same who,
+as captain, forced them from jail, his arguments availed but little.
+He then urged that the prisoners be remanded until witnesses could be
+had, and applied for a continuance for that purpose. Skinner suggested
+until twelve o'clock next day. Wood again demanded until witnesses
+could be obtained; that the court meet at a specified time, and that,
+if witnesses were not present, again adjourn, without calling the
+prisoners. After various remarks from Reed, Skinner, and others, the
+court stated that the writ was served yesterday, and that it will give
+until tomorrow at twelve m. to get witnesses.
+
+We then returned to jail. Immediately after our return Dr. Bernhisel
+went to the governor, and obtained from him an order for us to occupy
+a large open room containing a bedstead. I rather think that the same
+room had been appropriated to the use of debtors; at any rate, there
+was free access to the jailer's house, and no bars or locks except
+such as might be on the outside door of the jail. The jailer, Mr.
+George W. Steghall, and his wife, manifested a disposition to make us
+as comfortable as they could; we ate at their table, which was well
+provided, and, of course, paid for it.
+
+I do not remember the names of all who were with us that night and the
+next morning in jail, for several went and came; among those that we
+considered stationery were Stephen Markham, John S. Fullmer, Captain
+Dan Jones, Dr. Willard Richards, and myself. Dr. Bernhisel says that
+he was there from Wednesday in the afternoon until eleven o'clock next
+day. We were, however, visited by numerous friends, among whom were
+Uncle John Smith, Hyrum Kimball, Cyrus H. Wheelock, besides lawyers,
+as counsel. There was also a great variety of conversation, which was
+rather desultory than otherwise, and referred to circumstances that had
+transpired, our former and present grievances, the spirit of the troops
+around us, and the disposition of the governor; the devising for legal
+and other plans for deliverance, the nature of testimony required; the
+gathering of proper witnesses, and a variety of other topics, including
+our religious hopes, etc.
+
+During one of these conversations Dr. Richards remarked: "Brother
+Joseph, if it is necessary that you die in this matter, and if they
+will take me in your stead, I will suffer for you." At another time,
+when conversing about deliverance, I said, "Brother Joseph, if you
+will permit it, and say the word, I will have you out of this prison
+in five hours, if the jail has to come down to do it." My idea was
+to go to Nauvoo, and collect a force sufficient, as I considered the
+whole affair a legal farce, and a flagrant outrage upon our liberty and
+rights. Brother Joseph refused.
+
+Elder Cyrus H. Wheelock came in to see us, and when he was about
+leaving drew a small pistol, a six-shooter, from his pocket, remarking
+at the same time, "Would any of you like to have this?" Brother
+Joseph immediately replied, "Yes, give it to me;" whereupon he took
+the pistol, and put it in his pantaloons pocket. The pistol was a
+six-shooting revolver, of Allen's patent; it belonged to me, and was
+one that I furnished to Brother Wheelock when he talked of going with
+me to the east, previous to our coming to Carthage. I have it now in
+my possession. Brother Wheelock went out on some errand, and was not
+suffered to return. The report of the governor having gone to Nauvoo
+without taking the prisoners along with him caused very unpleasant
+feelings, as we were apprised that we were left to the tender mercies
+of the Carthage Grays, a company strictly mobocratic, and whom we knew
+to be our most deadly enemies; and their captain, Esquire Smith, was a
+most unprincipled villain. Besides this, all the mob forces, comprising
+the governor's troops, were dismissed, with the exception of one or two
+companies, which the governor took with him to Nauvoo. The great part
+of the mob was liberated, the remainder was our guard.
+
+We looked upon it not only as a breach of faith on the part of
+the governor, but also as an indication of a desire to insult us,
+if nothing more, by leaving us in the proximity of such men. The
+prevention of Wheelock's return was among the first of their hostile
+movements.
+
+Colonel Markham then went out, and he was also prevented from
+returning. He was very angry at this, but the mob paid no attention
+to him; they drove him out of town at the point of the bayonet, and
+threatened to shoot him if he returned. He went, I am informed, to
+Nauvoo for the purpose of raising a company of men for our protection.
+Brother Fullmer went to Nauvoo after witnesses; it is my opinion that
+Brother Wheelock did also.
+
+Some time after dinner we sent for some wine. It has been reported by
+some that this was taken as a sacrament. It was no such thing; our
+spirits were generally dull and heavy, and it was sent for to revive
+us. I think it was Captain Jones who went after it, but they would not
+suffer him to return. I believe we all drank of the wine, and gave some
+to one or two of the prison guards. We all of us felt unusually dull
+and languid, with a remarkable depression of spirits. In consonance
+with those feelings I sang a song, that had lately been introduced into
+Nauvoo, entitled, "A poor, wayfaring man of grief," etc.
+
+The song is pathetic, and the tune quite plaintive, and was very much
+in accordance with our feelings at the time, for our spirits were all
+depressed, dull and gloomy, and surcharged with indefinite ominous
+forebodings. After a lapse of some time, Brother Hyrum requested me
+again to sing that song. I replied, "Brother Hyrum, I do not feel like
+singing;" when he remarked, "Oh, never mind; commence singing, and you
+will get the spirit of it." At his request I did so. Soon afterwards
+I was sitting at one of the front windows of the jail, when I saw a
+number of men, with painted faces, coming around the corner of the
+jail, and aiming towards the stairs. The other brethren had seen the
+same, for, as I went to the door, I found Brother Hyrum Smith and Dr.
+Richards already leaning against it. They both pressed against the
+door with their shoulders to prevent its being opened, as the lock and
+latch were comparatively useless. While in this position, the mob, who
+had come up stairs, and tried to open the door, probably thought it
+was locked, and fired a ball through the keyhole; at this Dr. Richards
+and Brother Hyrum leaped back from the door, with their faces towards
+it; almost instantly another ball passed through the panel of the
+door, and struck Brother Hyrum on the left side of the nose, entering
+his face and head. At the same instant, another ball from the outside
+entered his back, passing through his body and striking his watch. The
+ball came from the back, through the jail window, opposite the door,
+and must, from its range, have been fired from the Carthage Grays, who
+were placed there ostensibly for our protection, as the balls from the
+fire-arms, shot close by the jail, would have entered the ceiling, we
+being in the second story, and there never was a time after that when
+Hyrum could have received the latter wound. Immediately, when the balls
+struck him, he fell flat on his back, crying as he fell, "I am a dead
+man." He never moved afterwards.
+
+I shall never forget the deep feeling of sympathy and regard manifested
+in the countenance of Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and,
+leaning over him, exclaimed, "Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!" He,
+however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined
+expression of countenance, approached the door, and pulling the
+six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door
+slightly, and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of
+the barrels, however, were discharged. I afterwards understood that two
+or three were wounded by these discharges, two of whom, I am informed,
+died. I had in my hands a large, strong hickory stick, brought there
+by Brother Markham, and left by him, which I had seized as soon as I
+saw the mob approach; and while Brother Joseph was firing the pistol,
+I stood close behind him. As soon as he had discharged it he stepped
+back, and I immediately took his place next to the door, while he
+occupied the one I had done while he was shooting. Brother Richards,
+at this time, had a knotty walking-stick in his hands belonging to me,
+and stood next to Brother Joseph, a little farther from the door, in
+an oblique direction, apparently to avoid the rake of the fire from
+the door. The firing of Bother Joseph made our assailants pause for a
+moment; very soon after, however, they pushed the door some distance
+open, and protruded and discharged their guns into the room, when I
+parried them off with my stick, giving another direction to the balls.
+
+It certainly was a terrible scene: streams of fire as thick as my arm
+passed by me as these men fired, and, unarmed as we were, it looked
+like certain death. I remember feeling as though my time had come,
+but I do not know when, in any critical position, I was more calm,
+unruffled, energetic, and acted with more promptness and decision. It
+certainly was far from pleasant to be so near the muzzles of those
+fire-arms as they belched forth their liquid flames and deadly balls.
+While I was engaged in parrying the guns, Brother Joseph said, "That's
+right, Brother Taylor, parry them off as well as you can." These were
+the last words I ever heard him speak on earth.
+
+Every moment the crowd at the door became more dense, as they were
+unquestionably pressed on by those in the rear ascending the stairs,
+until the whole entrance at the door was literally crowded with
+muskets and rifles, which, with the swearing, shouting and demoniacal
+expressions of those outside the door and on the stairs, and the firing
+of the guns, mingled with their horrid oaths and execrations, made it
+look like Pandemonium let loose, and was, indeed, a fit representation
+of the horrid deed in which they were engaged.
+
+After parrying the guns for some time, which now protruded thicker
+and farther into the room, and seeing no hope of escape or protection
+there, as we were now unarmed, it occurred to me that we might have
+some friends outside, and that there might be some chance of escape
+in that direction, but here there seemed to be none. As I expected
+them every moment to rush into the room--nothing but extreme cowardice
+having thus far kept them out--as the tumult and pressure increased,
+without any other hope, I made a spring for the window which was right
+in front of the jail door, where the mob was standing, and also exposed
+to the fire of the Carthage Grays, who were stationed some ten or
+twelve rods off. The weather was hot, we all of us had our coats off,
+and the window was raised to admit air. As I reached the window, and
+was on the point of leaping out, I was struck by a ball from the door
+about midway of my thigh, which struck the bone, and flattened out
+almost to the size of a quarter of a dollar, and then passed on through
+the fleshy part to within about half an inch of the outside. I think
+some prominent nerve must have been severed or injured, for, as soon as
+the ball struck me, I fell like a bird when shot, or an ox when struck
+by a butcher, and lost entirely and instantaneously all power of action
+or locomotion. I fell upon the window-sill, and cried out, "I am shot!"
+Not possessing any power to move, I felt myself falling outside of the
+window, but immediately I fell inside, from some, at that time, unknown
+cause. When I struck the floor my animation seemed restored, as I have
+seen it sometimes in squirrels and birds after being shot. As soon as I
+felt the power of motion I crawled under the bed which was in a corner
+of the room, not far from the window where I received my wound. While
+on my way and under the bed I was wounded in three other places; one
+ball entered a little below the left knee, and never was extracted;
+another entered the forepart of my left arm, a little above the wrist,
+and, passing down by the joint, lodged in the fleshy part of my hand,
+about midway, a little above the upper joint of my little finger;
+another struck me on the fleshy part of my left hip, and tore away the
+flesh as large as my hand, dashing the mangled fragments of flesh and
+blood against the wall.
+
+My wounds were painful, and the sensation produced was as though a
+ball had passed through and down the whole length of my leg. I very
+well remember my reflections at the time. I had a very painful idea of
+becoming lame and decrepit, and being an object of pity, and I felt as
+though I would rather die than be placed in such circumstances.
+
+It would seem that immediately after my attempt to leap out of the
+window, Joseph also did the same thing, of which circumstance I have
+no knowledge only from information. The first thing that I noticed
+was a cry that he had leaped out of the window. A cessation of firing
+followed, the mob rushed down stairs, and Dr. Richards went to the
+window. Immediately afterwards I saw the doctor going towards the jail
+door, and as there was an iron door at the head of the stairs adjoining
+our door which led into the cells for criminals, it struck me that the
+doctor was going in there, and I said to him, "Stop, doctor, and take
+me along." He proceeded to the door and opened it, and then returned
+and dragged me along to a small cell prepared for criminals.
+
+Brother Richards was very much troubled, and exclaimed, "Oh! Brother
+Taylor, is it possible that they have killed both Brother Hyrum and
+Joseph? it cannot surely be, and yet I saw them shoot them;" and,
+elevating his hands two or three times, he exclaimed, "Oh Lord, my God,
+spare thy servants!" He then said, "Brother Taylor, this is a terrible
+event;" and he dragged me farther into the cell, saying, "I am sorry
+I can do no better for you," and, taking an old, filthy mattress, he
+covered me with it, and said, "That may hide you, and you may yet live
+to tell the tale, but I expect they will kill me in a few moments."
+While lying in this position I suffered the most excruciating pain.
+
+Soon afterwards Dr. Richards came to me, informed me that the mob had
+precipitately fled, and at the same time confirmed my worst fears that
+Joseph was assuredly dead. I felt a dull, lonely, sickening sensation
+at the news. When I reflected that our noble chieftain, the prophet
+of the living God, had fallen, and that I had seen his brother in the
+cold embrace of death, it seemed as though there was a void or vacuum
+in the great field of human existence to me, and a dark, gloomy chasm
+in the kingdom, and that we were left alone. Oh how lonely was that
+feeling! How cold, barren and desolate! In the midst of difficulties
+he was always the first in motion; in critical positions his counsel
+was always sought. As our prophet he approached our God, and obtained
+for us his will; but now our prophet, our counselor, our general, our
+leader was gone, and amid the fiery ordeal that we then had to pass
+through, we were left alone without his aid, and as our future guide
+for things spiritual or temporal, and for all things pertaining to this
+world or the next, he had spoken for the last time on earth!
+
+These reflections and a thousand others flashed upon my mind. I
+thought, Why must the good perish, and the virtuous be destroyed?
+Why must God's nobility, the salt of the earth, the most exalted of
+the human family, and the most perfect types of all excellence, fall
+victims to the cruel, fiendish hate of incarnate devils?
+
+The poignancy of my grief, I presume, however, was somewhat allayed by
+the extreme suffering that I endured from my wounds.
+
+Soon afterwards I was taken to the head of the stairs and laid there,
+where I had a full view of our beloved and now murdered Brother Hyrum.
+There he lay as I had left him; he had not moved a limb; he lay placid
+and calm, a monument of greatness even in death; but his noble spirit
+had left its tenement, and was gone to dwell in regions more congenial
+to its exalted nature. Poor Hyrum! he was a great and good man, and my
+soul was cemented to his. If ever there was an exemplary, honest, and
+virtuous man, an embodiment of all that is noble in the human form,
+Hyrum Smith was its representative.
+
+While I lay there a number of persons came around, among whom was a
+physician. The doctor, on seeing a ball lodged in my left hand, took
+a penknife from his pocket and made an incision in it for the purpose
+of extracting the ball therefrom, and having obtained a pair of
+carpenter's compasses, made use of them to draw or pry out the ball,
+alternately using the penknife and compasses. After sawing for some
+time with a dull penknife, and prying and pulling with the compasses,
+he ultimately succeeded in extracting the ball, which weighed about
+half an ounce. Some time afterwards he remarked to a friend of mine
+that I had "nerves like the devil," to stand what I did in its
+extraction. I really thought I had need of nerves stand such surgical
+butchery, and that, whatever my nerves may be, his practice was
+devilish.
+
+This company wished to remove me to Mr. Hamilton's hotel, the place
+where we had stayed previous to our incarceration in jail. I told them,
+however, that I did not wish to go; I did not consider it safe. They
+protested that it was, and that I was safe with them; that it was a
+perfect outrage for men to be used as we had been; that they were my
+friends; that it was for my good they were counseling me, and that I
+could be better taken care of there than here.
+
+I replied, "I don't know you. Who am I among? I am surrounded by
+assassins and murderers; witness your deeds! Don't talk to me of
+kindness or comfort; look at your murdered victims. Look at me! I want
+none of your counsel nor comfort. There may be some safety here; I can
+be assured of none anywhere," etc.
+
+They G-- d-- their souls to hell, made the most solemn asseverations,
+and swore by God and the devil, and everything else that they could
+think of, that they would stand by me to death and protect me. In half
+an hour every one of them had fled from the town.
+
+Soon after a coroner's jury were assembled in the room over the body
+of Hyrum. Among the jurors was Captain Smith, of the Carthage Grays,
+who had assisted in the murder, and the same justice before whom we had
+been tried. I learned of Francis Higbee as being in the neighborhood.
+On hearing his name mentioned, I immediately arose and said, "Captain
+Smith, you are a justice of the peace; I have heard his name mentioned;
+I want to swear my life against him." I was informed that word was
+immediately sent to him to leave the place, which he did.
+
+Brother Richards was busy during this time attending to the coroner's
+inquest, and to the removal of the bodies, and making arrangements for
+their removal from Carthage to Nauvoo.
+
+When he had a little leisure, he again came to me, and at his
+suggestion I was removed to Hamilton's tavern. I felt that he was the
+only friend, the only person, that I could rely upon in that town. It
+was with difficulty that sufficient persons could be found to carry
+me to the tavern; for immediately after the murder a great fear fell
+upon all the people, and men, women, and children fled with great
+precipitation, leaving nothing nor anybody in the town but two or three
+women and children and one or two sick persons.
+
+It was with great difficulty that Brother Richards prevailed upon
+Mr. Hamilton, hotel-keeper, and his family, to stay; they would not
+until Brother Richards had given a solemn promise that he would see
+them protected, and hence I was looked upon as a hostage. Under these
+circumstances, notwithstanding, I believe they were hostile to the
+Mormons, and were glad that the murder had taken place, though they
+did not actually participate in it; and, feeling that I should be a
+protection to them, they stayed.
+
+The whole community knew that a dreadful outrage had been perpetrated
+by those villains, and fearing lest the citizens of Nauvoo, as they
+possessed the power, might have a disposition to visit them with a
+terrible vengeance, they fled in the wildest confusion. And, indeed,
+it was with very great difficulty that the citizens of Nauvoo could be
+restrained. A horrid, barbarous murder had been committed, the most
+solemn pledge violated, and that, too, while the victims were, contrary
+to the requirements of the law, putting themselves into the hands of
+the governor to pacify a popular excitement. This outrage was enhanced
+by the reflection that our people were able to protect themselves
+against not only all the mob, but against three times their number and
+that of the governor's troops put together. They were also exasperated
+by the speech of the governor in town.
+
+The whole events were so faithless, so dastardly, so mean, cowardly,
+and contemptible, without one extenuating circumstance, that it would
+not have been surprising if the citizens of Nauvoo had arisen _en
+masse_, and blotted the wretches out of existence. The citizens of
+Carthage knew they would have done so under such circumstances, and,
+judging us by themselves, they were all panic-stricken, and fled.
+Colonel Markham, too, after his expulsion from Carthage, had gone home,
+related the circumstances of his ejectment, and was using his influence
+to get a company to go out. Fearing that when the people heard
+that their prophet and patriarch had been murdered under the above
+circumstances they might act rashly, and knowing that if they once got
+roused, like a mighty avalanche they would lay the country waste before
+them and take a terrible vengeance--as none of the Twelve were in
+Nauvoo, and no one, perhaps, with sufficient influence to control the
+people, Dr. Richards, after consulting me, wrote the following note,
+fearing that my family might be seriously affected by the news. I told
+him to insert that I was slightly wounded.
+
+    _Willard Richards' Note from Carthage Jail to Nauvoo_. [8]
+
+    "Carthage jail, 8 o'clock 5 min. p. m., June 27th, 1844.
+
+    "Joseph and Hyrum are dead. Taylor wounded, not very badly. I am
+    well. Our guard was forced, as we believe, by a band of Missourians
+    from 100 to 200. The job was done in an instant, and the party fled
+    towards Nauvoo instantly. This is as I believe it. The citizens
+    here are afraid of the 'Mormons' attacking them; I promise them no.
+
+                                                       W. RICHARDS.
+
+    "N. B.--The citizens promise us protection; alarm guns have been
+    fired.
+
+                                                      "JOHN TAYLOR."
+
+I remember signing my name as quickly as possible, lest the tremor of
+my hand should be noticed, and the fears of my family excited.
+
+A messenger was dispatched immediately with the note, but he was
+intercepted by the governor, who, on hearing a cannon fired at
+Carthage, which was to be the signal for the murder, immediately
+fled with his company, and fearing that the citizens of Nauvoo, when
+apprised of the horrible outrage, would immediately rise and pursue, he
+turned back the messenger, who was George D. Grant. A second one was
+sent, who was treated similarly; and not until a third attempt could
+news be got to Nauvoo.
+
+Samuel H. Smith, brother to Joseph and Hyrum, was the first brother I
+saw after the outrage; I am not sure whether he took the news or not;
+he lived at the time in Plymouth, Hancock County, and was on his way to
+Carthage to see his brothers, when he was met by some of the troops,
+or rather mob, that had been dismissed by the governor, and who were
+on their way home. On learning that he was Joseph Smith's brother they
+sought to kill him, but he escaped, and fled into the woods, where he
+was chased for a length of time by them; but, after severe fatigue,
+and much danger and excitement, he succeeded in escaping, and came
+to Carthage. He was on horseback when he arrived, and was not only
+very much tired with the fatigue and excitement of the chase, but was
+also very much distressed in feelings on account of the death of his
+brothers. These things produced a fever, which laid the foundation for
+his death, which took place on the 30th of July. Thus another of the
+brothers fell a victim although not directly, but indirectly to this
+infernal mob.
+
+I lay from about five o'clock until two next morning without having my
+wounds dressed, as there was scarcely any help of any kind in Carthage,
+and Brother Richards was busy with the dead bodies, preparing them for
+removal. My wife Leonora started early the next day, having had some
+little trouble in getting a company or a physician to come with her;
+after considerable difficulty she succeeded in getting an escort, and
+Dr. Samuel Bennet came along with her. Soon after my father and mother
+arrived from Oquakie, near which place they had a farm at that time,
+and hearing of the trouble hastened along.
+
+General Demming, Brigadier General of the Hancock County Militia, was
+very much of a gentleman, and showed me every courtesy, and Colonel
+Jones also was very solicitous about my welfare.
+
+I was called upon by several gentlemen of Quincy and other places,
+among whom was Judge Ralston, as well as by our own people, and a
+medical man extracted a ball from my left thigh that was giving me much
+pain; it lay about half an inch deep, and my thigh was considerably
+swollen. The doctor asked me if I would be tied during the operation;
+I told him no; that I could endure the cutting associated with the
+operation as well without, and I did so; indeed, so great was the pain
+I endured that the cutting was rather a relief than otherwise.
+
+A very laughable incident occurred at the time; my wife Leonora went
+into an adjoining room to pray for me, that I might be sustained during
+the operation. While on her knees at prayer, a Mrs. Bedell, an old lady
+of the Methodist association, entered, and, patting Mrs. Taylor on her
+back with her hand, said, "There's a good lady, pray for God to forgive
+your sins, pray that you may be converted, and the Lord may have mercy
+on your soul."
+
+The scene was so ludicrous that Mrs. Taylor knew not whether to laugh
+or be angry. Mrs. Taylor informed me that Mr. Hamilton, the father of
+the Hamilton who kept the house, rejoiced at the murder, and said in
+company that "it was done up in the best possible style, and showed
+good generalship;" and she further believed that the other branches of
+the family sanctioned it. These were the associates of the old lady
+referred to, and yet she could talk of conversion and saving souls in
+the midst of blood and murder: such is man and such consistency.
+
+The ball being extracted was the one that first struck me, which I
+before referred to: it entered on the outside of my left thigh, about
+five inches from my knee, and, passing rather obliquely towards my
+body, had, it would seem, struck the bone, for it was flatted out
+nearly as thin and large as a quarter of a dollar.
+
+The governor passed on, staying at Carthage only a few minutes, and
+he did not stop until he got fifty miles from Nauvoo. There had been
+various opinions about the complicity of the governor in the murder,
+some supposing that he knew all about it, and assisted or winked at its
+execution. It is somewhat difficult to form a correct opinion; from
+the facts presented it is very certain that things looked more than
+suspicious against him.
+
+In the first place, he positively knew that we had broken no law.
+
+Secondly. He knew that the mob had not only passed inflammatory
+resolutions, threatening extermination to the Mormons, but that they
+had actually assembled armed mobs and commenced hostilities against us.
+
+Thirdly. He took those very mobs that had been arrayed against us, and
+enrolled them as his troops, thus legalizing their acts.
+
+Fourthly. He disbanded the Nauvoo Legion, which had never violated law,
+and disarmed them, and had about his person in the shape of militia
+known mobocrats and violators of the law.
+
+Fifthly. He requested us to come to Carthage without arms, promising
+protection, and then refused to interfere in delivering us from prison,
+although Joseph and Hyrum were put there contrary to law.
+
+Sixthly. Although he refused to interfere in our behalf, yet, when
+Captain Smith went to him and informed him that the persons refused to
+come out, he told him that he had a command and knew what to do, thus
+sanctioning the use of force in the violation of law when opposed to
+us, whereas he would not for us interpose his executive authority to
+free us from being incarcerated contrary to law, although he was fully
+informed of all the facts of the case, as we kept him posted in the
+affairs all the time.
+
+Seventhly. He left the prisoners in Carthage jail contrary to his
+plighted faith.
+
+Eightly. Before he went he dismissed all the troops that could be
+relied upon, as well as many of the mob, and left us in charge of the
+"Carthage Grays," a company that he knew were mobocratic, our most
+bitter enemies, and who had passed resolutions to exterminate us, and
+who had been placed under guard by General Demming only the day before.
+
+Ninthly. He was informed of the intended murder, both before he left
+and while on the road, by several different parties.
+
+Tenthly. When the cannon was fired in Carthage, signifying that the
+deed was done, he immediately took up his line of march and fled. How
+did he know that this signal portrayed their death if he was not in the
+secret? It may be said some of the party told him. How could he believe
+what the party said about the gun signal if he could not believe the
+testimony of several individuals who told him in positive terms about
+the contemplated murder?
+
+He has, I believe, stated that he left the "Carthage Grays" there
+because he considered that, as their town was contiguous to ours, and
+as the responsibility of our safety rested solely upon them, they would
+not dare suffer any indignity to befall us. This very admission shows
+that he did really expect danger; and then he knew that these people
+had published to the world that they would exterminate us, and his
+leaving us in their hands and taking of their responsibilities was like
+leaving a lamb in charge of a wolf, and trusting to its humanity and
+honor for its safe-keeping.
+
+It is said, again that he would not have gone to Nauvoo, and thus
+placed himself in the hands of the Mormons, if he had anticipated any
+such event, as he would be exposed to their wrath. To this it may be
+answered that the Mormons did not know their signals, while he did;
+and they were also known in Warsaw, as well as in other places; and as
+soon as the gun was fired, a merchant of Warsaw jumped upon his horse
+and rode directly to Quincy, and reported "Joseph and Hyrum killed, and
+those who were with them in jail." He reported further that "they were
+attempting to break jail, and were all killed by the guard." This was
+their story; it was anticipated to kill all, and the gun was to be the
+signal that the deed was accomplished. This was known in Warsaw. The
+governor also knew it and fled; and he could really be in no danger in
+Nauvoo, for the Mormons did not know it, and he had plenty of time to
+escape, which he did.
+
+It is said that he made all his officers promise solemnly that they
+would help him to protect the Smiths; this may or may not be. At any
+rate, some of these same officers helped to murder them.
+
+The strongest argument in the governor's favor, and one that would bear
+more weight with us than all the rest put together, would be that he
+could not believe them capable of such atrocity; and, thinking that
+their talk and threatenings were a mere ebullition of feeling, a kind
+of braggadocio, and that there was enough of good moral feeling to
+control the more violent passions, he trusted to their faith. There
+is, indeed, a degree of plausibility about this, but when we put it in
+juxtaposition to the amount of evidence that he was in possession of,
+it weighs very little. He had nothing to inspire confidence in them,
+and everything to make him mistrust them. Besides, why his broken
+faith? why his disregard of what was told him by several parties?
+Again, if he knew not the plan, how did he understand the signal? Why
+so oblivious to everything pertaining to the Mormon interest, and so
+alive and interested about the mobocrats? At any rate, be this as it
+may, he stands responsible for their blood, and it is dripping on his
+garments. If it had not been for his promises of protection, they would
+have protected themselves; it was plighted faith that led them to the
+slaughter; and to make the best of it, it was a breach of that faith
+and a non-fulfillment of that promise, after repeated warning, that led
+to their death.
+
+Having said so much, I must leave the governor with my readers and
+with his God. Justice, I conceive, demanded this much, and truth could
+not be told with less; as I have said before, my opinion is that the
+governor would not have planned this murder, but he had not sufficient
+energy to resist popular opinion, even if that opinion led to blood and
+death.
+
+It was rumored that a strong political party, numbering in its ranks
+many of the prominent men of the nation, were engaged in a plot for the
+overthrow of Joseph Smith, and that the governor was of this party,
+and Sharp, Williams, Captain Smith, and others were his accomplices,
+but whether this was the case or not I do not know. It is very certain
+that a strong political feeling existed against Joseph Smith, and I
+have reason to believe that his letters to Henry Clay, were made use of
+by political parties opposed to Mr. Clay, and were the means of that
+statesman's defeat. Yet, if such a combination as the one referred to
+existed, I am not apprised of it.
+
+While I lay at Carthage, previous to Mrs. Taylor's arrival, a pretty
+good sort of a man, who was lame of a leg, waited upon me, and sat up
+at night with me; afterwards Mrs. Taylor, mother and others waited upon
+me.
+
+Many friends called upon me, among whom were Richard Ballantyne,
+Elizabeth Taylor, several of the Perkins family, and a number of the
+brethren from Macedonia and La Harpe. Besides these, many strangers
+from Quincy, some of whom expressed indignant feelings against the mob
+and sympathy for myself. Brother Alexander Williams called upon me, who
+suspected that they had some designs in keeping me there, and stated
+that he had, at a given point in some woods, fifty men, and if I would
+say the word he would raise other fifty, and fetch me out of there.
+I thanked him, but told him I thought there was no need. However,
+it would seem that I was in some danger; for Colonel Jones, before
+referred to, when absent from me, left two loaded pistols on the table
+in case of an attack, and some time afterward, when I had recovered
+and was publishing the affair, a lawyer, Mr. Backman, stated that he
+had prevented a man by the name of Jackson, before referred to, from
+ascending the stairs, who was coming with a design to murder me, and
+that now he was sorry he had not let him do the deed.
+
+There were others also, of whom I heard, that said I ought to be
+killed, and they would do it, but that it was too damned cowardly to
+shoot a wounded man; and thus, by the chivalry of murderers, I was
+prevented from being a second time mutilated or killed. Many of the
+mob, came around and treated me with apparent respect, and the officers
+and people generally looked upon me as a hostage, and feared that my
+removal would be the signal for the rising of the Mormons.
+
+I do not remember the time that I stayed at Carthage, but I think three
+or four days after the murder, when Brother Marks with a carriage,
+Brother James Allred with a wagon, Dr. Ells, and a number of others on
+horseback, came for the purpose of taking me to Nauvoo. I was very weak
+at the time, occasioned by the loss of blood and the great discharge
+of my wounds, so when my wife asked me if I could talk I could barely
+whisper, no. Quite a discussion arose as to the propriety of my
+removal, the physician and people of Carthage protesting that it would
+be my death, while my friends were anxious for my removal if possible.
+
+I suppose the former were actuated by the above-named desire to keep
+me. Colonel Jones was, I believe, sincere; he had acted as a friend all
+the time, and he told Mrs. Taylor she ought to persuade me not to go,
+for he did not believe I had strength enough to reach Nauvoo. It was
+finally agreed, however, that I should go; but it was thought that I
+could not stand riding in a wagon or carriage, they prepared a litter
+for me; I was carried down stairs and put upon it. A number of men
+assisted to carry me, some of whom had been engaged in the mob. As soon
+as I got down stairs, I felt much better and strengthened, so that I
+could talk; I suppose the effect of the fresh air.
+
+When we got near the outside of the town I remembered some woods that
+we had to go through, and telling a person near to call for Dr. Ells,
+who was riding a very good horse, I said, "Doctor, I perceive that the
+people are getting fatigued with carrying me; a number of Mormons live
+about two or three miles from here, near our route, will you ride to
+their settlement as quick as possible, and have them come and meet us?"
+He started off on a gallop immediately. My object in this was to obtain
+protection in case of an attack, rather than to obtain help to carry me.
+
+Very soon after the men from Carthage made one excuse after another
+until they had all left, and I felt glad to get rid of them. I found
+that the tramping of those carrying me produced violent pain, and a
+sleigh was produced and attached to the hind end of Brother James
+Allred's wagon, a bed placed upon it, and I propped up on the bed. Mrs.
+Taylor rode with me, applying ice and ice-water to my wounds. As the
+sleigh was dragged over the grass on the prairie, which was quite tall,
+it moved very easy and gave me very little pain.
+
+When I got within five or six miles of Nauvoo the brethren commenced to
+meet me from the city, and they increased in number as we drew nearer,
+until there was a very large company of people of all ages and both
+sexes, principally, however, men.
+
+For some time there had been almost incessant rain, so that in many
+low places on the prairie it was from one to three feet deep in water,
+and at such places the brethren whom we met took hold of the sleigh,
+lifted it, and carried it over the water; and when we arrived in the
+neighborhood of the city, where the roads were excessively muddy and
+bad, the brethren tore down the fences, and we passed through the
+fields.
+
+Never shall I forget the difference of feeling that I experienced
+between the place that I had left and the one that I had now arrived
+at. I had left a lot of reckless, bloodthirsty murderers, and had
+come to the City of the Saints, the people of the living God; friends
+of truth and righteousness, thousands of whom stood there with warm,
+true hearts to offer their friendship and services, and to welcome
+my return. It is true it was a painful scene, and brought sorrowful
+remembrance to mind, but to me it caused a thrill of joy to find myself
+once more in the bosom of my friends, and to meet with the cordial
+welcome of true, honest hearts. What was very remarkable, I found
+myself very much better after my arrival at Nauvoo than I was when I
+started on my journey, although I had travelled eighteen miles.
+
+The next day as some change was wanting, I told Mrs. Taylor that if she
+could send to Dr. Richards, he had my purse and watch, and they would
+find money in my purse.
+
+Previous to the doctor leaving Carthage, I told him that he had better
+take my purse and watch, for I was afraid the people would steal them.
+The doctor had taken my pantaloons' pocket, and put the watch in it
+with the purse, cut off the pocket, and tied a string around the top;
+it was in this position when brought home. My family, however, were not
+a little startled to find that my watch had been struck with a ball. I
+sent for my vest, and, upon examination, it was found that there was
+a cut as if with a knife, in the vest pocket which had contained my
+watch. In the pocket the fragments of the glass were found literally
+ground to powder. It then occurred to me that a ball had struck me at
+the time I felt myself falling out of the window, and that it was this
+force that threw me inside. I had often remarked to Mrs. Taylor the
+singular fact of finding myself inside the room, when I felt a moment
+before after being shot, that I was falling out, and I never could
+account for it until then; but here the thing was fully elucidated,
+and was rendered plain to my mind. I was indeed falling out, when some
+villain aimed at my heart. The ball struck my watch, and forced me
+back; if I had fallen out I should assuredly have been killed, if not
+by the fall, by those around, and this ball intended to dispatch me,
+was turned by an overruling Providence into a messenger of mercy, and
+saved my life. I shall never forget the feelings of gratitude that
+I then experienced towards my Heavenly Father; the whole scene was
+vividly portrayed before me, and my heart melted before the Lord. I
+felt that the Lord had preserved me by a special act of mercy; that my
+time had not yet come, and that I had still a work to perform upon the
+earth.
+
+                            (Signed),
+
+                                                       JOHN TAYLOR.
+
+Footnotes
+
+1. See his remarks as contained in his History of Illinois, page 269.
+
+2. Ford's History of Illinois, page 246.
+
+3. _Deseret News_, No. 29, Sept. 23, 1857, p. 226.
+
+4. Ford's History of Illinois, page 330, 331.
+
+5. _Deseret News_, No. 30, September 30, 1857, page 233.
+
+6. Ford's History of Illinois, page 333.
+
+7. The _Deseret News_ gives the following account of Joseph and Hyrum
+Smith's passing through the troops in Carthage:
+
+"CARTHAGE, June 25, 1844.
+
+"Quarter past nine. The governor came and invited Joseph to walk
+with him through the troops. Joseph solicited a few moments' private
+conversation with him, which the governor refused.
+
+"While refusing, the governor looked down at his shoes, as though he
+was ashamed. They then walked through the crowd, with Brigadier General
+Miner R. Demming, and Dr. Richards, to General Demming's quarters. The
+people appeared quiet until a company of Carthage Grays flocked round
+the doors of General Demming in an uproarious manner, of which notice
+was sent to the governor. In the meantime the governor had ordered
+the McDonough troops to be drawn up in line, for Joseph and Hyrum to
+pass in front of them, they having requested that they might have a
+clear view of the General Smiths. _Joseph had a conversation with the
+governor for about ten minutes, when he again pledged the faith of the
+State that he and his friends should be protected from violence_.
+
+"Robinson, the postmaster, said, on report of martial law being
+proclaimed in Nauvoo, he had stopped the mail, and notified the
+postmaster general of the state of things in Hancock County.
+
+"From the general's quarters Joseph and Hyrum went in front of the
+lines, in a hollow square of a company of Carthage Grays. At seven
+minutes before ten they arrived in front of the lines, and passed
+before the whole, Joseph being on the right of General Demming and
+Hyrum on his left, Elders Richards, Taylor and Phelps following.
+Joseph and Hyrum were introduced by Governor Ford about twenty times
+along the line as General Joseph Smith and General Hyrum Smith, the
+governor walking in front on the left. The Carthage Grays refused to
+receive them by that introduction, and some of the officers threw up
+their hats, drew their swords, and said they would introduce themselves
+to the damned Mormons in a different style. The governor mildly
+entreated them not to act so rudely, but their excitement increased;
+the governor, however, succeeded in pacifying them by making a speech,
+and promising them that they should have 'full satisfaction.' General
+Smith and party returned to their lodgings at five minutes past
+ten."--_Deseret News, No. 35, Nov. 4, 1857, page 274_.
+
+8. _Deseret News_, No. 38, Nov. 25, 1857, p. 297.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo, by B. H. Roberts
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 50302 ***