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Title: The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo
Author: B. H. Roberts
Release Date: October 25, 2015 [EBook #50302]
Language: English
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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.
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