On the 16th day of June, Judge Jesse B. Thomas came to Nauvoo and

advised the mayor and the other men named in Morrison's warrant to go

before some justice of the peace in the county and be examined upon

the charge named therein. Judge Thomas said that if they would do

this and should be acquitted or bound over, all excitement would be

allayed, the mob would be left without a pretext, and he himself would

be bound to compel the mobocrats to keep the peace. Joseph and his

brethren expressed their readiness to submit to any fair investigation.

The next day, upon the complaint of W. G. Ware, they were arrested by

Constable Joel S. Miles, on a writ issued by Daniel H. Wells for a

riot in destroying the Nauvoo _Expositor_ press. They all submitted

to this process, and went before Justice Wells, who, at this time, it

must be remembered, was not a member of the Church. After a long and

close examination, it appeared to the court that they had not proceeded

illegally, and they were discharged.

As mobs in various parts of the county continued to menace Nauvoo,

the Prophet sent several letters and messengers to keep the governor

informed. Samuel James went to Springfield on the 15th of June, and

Edward Hunter with Philip B. Lewis and John Bills went on the 17th.

To Elder Edward Hunter, Joseph said as he was leaving: "I charge you

solemnly to tell the governor everything you know concerning me, good

or bad."

The most outrageous falsehoods were being circulated to inflame the

people against Nauvoo. Upon this point Governor Ford, in his history of

Illinois, says:

A system of excitement and agitation was artfully planned [by the

mob leaders] 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 country. 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

indeed 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, in the county of

Adams. At the close of the expedition, I called at this same town

of 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. The last informant being told of

the Hancock story, again changed the venue to another distant

settlement in the northern edge of Adams.

* * * * *

Occasional threats came to my ears of destroying the city and

murdering or expelling the inhabitants.

* * * * *

Frequent appeals had been made to me to make a clean and thorough

work of the matter by exterminating the Mormons.

The Warsaw_ Signal_, edited by an infamous man by the name of Thomas

Sharp, took a prominent and diabolical part in arousing the spirit

of murder. It published the minutes of mob meetings and resolutions

adopted there, in which the most fiendish threats were made. Some of

them are as follows:

We therefore declare that we will sustain our press and the

editor at all hazards; that we will take full vengeance, terrible

vengeance, should the lives of any of our citizens be lost in

the effort; that we hold ourselves at all times in readiness

to co-operate with our fellow-citizens in this state, Missouri

and Iowa, to _exterminate, utterly exterminate the wicked and

abominable Mormon leaders_, the authors of our troubles.

_Resolved,_ That a committee of five be appointed forthwith to

notify all persons in our township _suspected_ of being the tools

of the Prophet to leave immediately on pain of _instant vengeance.

And we do recommend the inhabitants of the adjacent townships to do

the same, hereby pledging ourselves to render all the assistance

they may require._

_Resolved,_ That the time, in our opinion has arrived, when

the adherents of Smith, as a body, should 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 extermination should be waged, to

the entire destruction_, if necessary for our protection, _of his

adherents._ And we do hereby recommend this resolution to the

consideration of the several townships, to the mass convention

to be held at Carthage, hereby pledging ourselves to aid to the

utmost the complete consummation of the object in view, that we may

thereby be utterly relieved of the alarm anxiety and trouble to

which we are now subjected.

_Resolved,_ That every citizen arm himself to be prepared to

sustain the resolutions herein contained.

It was further resolved that a deputation be sent to Springfield to

solicit executive help, but the intention was expressed not to allow

the mob movements to be retarded by this action. The mobs at Warsaw

and Carthage pretended to believe that the destruction of the Warsaw

_Signal_ office had been threatened by Hyrum Smith. The statement to

this effect was of a piece with the lies told to the governor. No

threat had been made against the _Signal_ office or the editor, and the

mob well knew that any attack from the citizens of Nauvoo upon anybody

in Carthage or Warsaw was out of the question.

The mail communications of the Saints were cut off with the connivance

of officials.

A company of the mob numbering three hundred, began training at

Carthage on the 13th day of June. Arms were brought to Warsaw and

Carthage from Quincy and other places. On the 17th of June, fifteen

hundred Missourians were reported to have crossed the river and joined

the rabble at Warsaw. Five pieces of artillery had already been brought

to the latter place. From Warsaw the mob forces were to proceed to

Carthage and join the Quincy Grays and other companies from Adams

County. Scattering from here it was their purpose to seize the arms of

all the Saints in Hancock County, outside of Nauvoo, and compel them to

recant their faith or be exterminated. They declared that they would

take Joseph and Hyrum and the city council from Nauvoo on Thursday, the

20th of June, and deliver them up to sacrifice. If any resistance were

offered, the city would be shelled and all the inhabitants slaughtered

or driven away. One of the mob leaders was Levi Williams, a colonel of

militia and a Baptist preacher, and to such as he was due the attempt

to make the Saints recant.

No word came from the governor. Was the city to be left to massacre,

pillage, ravishment, like Far West! Forbid it, Heaven!

Under these circumstances, nothing remained but to prepare for

resistance--not attack, only defense. The mayor, on the 18th of June,

1844, declared the city of Nauvoo under martial law, and called out the

Legion to protect the city from rapine and its people from massacre by

the mob.

CHAPTER LXII.

JOSEPH'S DREAM--HIS LAST PUBLIC ADDRESS--CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIS IMPENDING

FATE--HIS LOVE FOR HIS BRETHREN.

Events were now hurrying on to the last awful scene. Joseph saw the

sacrificial cup prepared for him and knew that he must drink its bitter

draught. As he draws nearer to the final hour clearer and clearer

becomes his mind, more nearly divine are his works, and more closely do

we see the likeness to the sacred Master of whom Joseph deemed himself

but the humblest follower. It is no mere accidental similarity this

betrayal of the modern Prophet by the modern Judas and this sacrifice

of a holy name to glut the hate of Pharisees. The Prophet's work is

almost done. More plainly as the supreme moment draws on he tells his

followers of the fate awaiting him. At first they scarcely understand,

so used are they to see him in the midst of peril. It may be that the

vision of the end is opened to Hyrum's view, for he will not leave his

brother's side. They have loved in life, the elder brother living by

the other's prophetic words, and in death they shall not be separated.

Joseph says: "Hyrum, take your family on the next boat to Cincinnati.

I want you to live to avenge me." Hyrum replies: "Joseph, I will not

leave you." It is not a vengeance of blood that the Prophet means: it

is the triumph of the work over all murderous mobs, a triumph in which

he wants his faithful brother to share in the flesh.

After the traitors had gone out from Nauvoo to join with the Pharisees

in raising a mob, the Prophet related a dream to his brethren,

assembled in meeting. He said that he thought that he was riding in a

carriage, and his guardian angel was with him. They saw two serpents

in the road firmly locked together, and the angel told him that these

were two of his traitorous enemies, Robert Foster and Chauncey Higbee,

so fast bound to each other that of themselves they could not harm him.

Then Joseph rode on farther, but his angel was no longer by his side;

and William Law and Wilson Law came out upon him, dragged him from his

carriage, tied his hands and threw him into a deep pit. After a time he

partly loosened his hands and climbed to the edge of the pit and looked

out. He saw Wilson Law attacked by ferocious beasts and William Law

expiring in the coils of a poisonous snake. They cried for him:

Oh, Brother Joseph! Brother Joseph! save us or we perish!

But he responded that they themselves had deprived him of the power to

aid them. Then, after a little time, his angel came once more and said:

"Joseph, why are you here?"

And he responded: "Mine enemies fell upon me, bound me, and threw me

into this pit."

The angel took him by the hand and drew him up, and they went away

together.

Impressive as was the recital of this dream, his brethren failed to

comprehend its full significance; but scores of them recalled it at a

later time and preserved it as a sacred remembrance.

On Sunday, the 16th day of June, 1844, Joseph preached in the grove

east of the temple to the assembled Saints. The rain fell heavily,

but the people would not disperse while the Prophet spoke. Nor would

he be stayed by all these tears of nature, for it was one of his last

opportunities to advise the people for whom he was willing to give

his life. Often before the Prophet had counseled his brethren that it

was not necessary yet to preach from the revelations of St. John the

Divine; that the plain principles of the gospel should first be taught.

But now, with the consciousness of his approaching death upon him, he

read to the people the third chapter of Revelation. It was to be a

message of comfort to the Saints when he was gone. He then turned to

the first chapter and read:

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first

begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.

Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own

blood.

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him

be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Rev. 1:5-6.)

He carried the Saints into a profounder depth of revealed theology

than ever before. He talked of the plurality of Gods and the different

glories of the eternal realm. He said:

Go and read the vision in the Book of Covenants. There is clearly

illustrated glory upon glory--one glory of the sun, another glory

of the moon, and a glory of the stars; and as one star differeth

from another star in glory, even so do they of the telestial world

differ in glory, and every man who reigns in the celestial glory is

a God to his dominion.

* * * * *

It is in the order of heavenly things that God should always send a

new dispensation into the world when men have apostatized from the

truth and lost the Priesthood; but when men build without authority

from God, and when the floods come and the winds blow, their whole

fabric will crumble.

* * * * *

Oh thou God who art King of kings and Lord of lords!

After the city had been declared under martial law, the Legion was

drawn up in front of the mansion to be addressed by the Prophet. He

stood upon the frame of a building opposite his house, dressed in his

full uniform as lieutenant general.

William W. Phelps read from an extra issue of the Warsaw _Signal_ of

the day before, calling upon all the old citizens to assist the mob in

exterminating the leaders of the Saints and driving the people into

exile.

Joseph then recounted the doings of the time at Nauvoo, and

demonstrated that he and his brethren had been willing and were still

as willing as ever to submit to the authority of law; that they had not

transgressed the statutes; that the effort making against them was the

device of Satan. He told them that a pretext had been sought by their

enemies in order that a band of infuriated mob men might be congregated

to fall upon Nauvoo, to murder, plunder, and ravish the innocent. He

said:

We are American citizens. We live upon a soil, for the liberties of

which our fathers periled their lives and spilt their blood upon

the battle-field. 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 your lives, the laws of our country, and the liberties and

privileges which our fathers have transmitted unto us, sealed with

their sacred blood? ["Aye," shouted thousands.] It is well. If you

have not done it, I would have gone out there, [pointing to the

west], and would have raised up a mightier people.

I call 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. Come, all ye

lovers of liberty, break the oppressor's rod, loose the iron grasp

of mobocracy, and bring to condign punishment all those who trample

under foot the glorious principles of our Constitution and the

people's rights [Drawing his sword and presenting it to heaven.] I

call 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 be protected from mob violence, or my blood

shall be spilt upon the ground like water, and my body consigned to

the silent tomb. While I live, I will never tamely submit to the

dominion of accursed mobocracy. I would welcome death rather than

submit to this oppression; and it would be sweet, oh, sweet to rest

in the grave, rather than submit to this oppression, confusion and

alarm upon alarm, any longer.

* * * * *

Peace shall be taken from the land which permits these crimes

against the Saints to go unavenged.

I call upon all friends of truth and liberty to come to our

assistance; and may the thunders of the Almighty, and the forked

lightnings of heaven, and pestilence, and war, and bloodshed come

down on those ungodly men who seek to destroy my life and the lives

of this innocent people.

I do not regard my own life. I am ready to be offered a sacrifice

for this people; for what can our enemies do? Only kill the body,

and their power is then at an end. Stand firm, my friends; never

flinch. Do not seek to save your lives, for he that is afraid to

die for the truth will lose eternal life. Hold out to the end,

and we shall be resurrected, and become like Gods and reign in

celestial kingdoms, principalities and eternal dominions, while

this mob will sink to the portion of all those who shed innocent

blood.

God has tried you. You are a good people; therefore I love you

with all my heart. Greater love hath no man than that he should

lay down his life for his friends. You have stood by me in the

hour of trouble, and I am willing to sacrifice my life for your

preservation.

May the Lord God of Israel bless you forever and ever. I say this

in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and in the authority of the Holy

Priesthood, which He hath conferred upon me.

And all the people cried Amen!

The vast assemblage had listened to his words with breathless

attention, for he spoke with a power transcending anything that the

Saints had ever before heard, even from him whose speech was always

soul-touching. Had he expressed a wish to fight, his people would have

followed him with joy to the contest. It is no wonder that his words

sank deep into their hearts; it is no wonder that to their sight he

appeared grander than mortal. It was the last time for many of them in

the flesh that they were to listen to the music of his voice or to feel

the spell of his mighty inspiration. It was his last public address! In

a few short days that Godlike form, so perfect in its manly beauty, was

to be locked in the embrace of the tomb; and that voice, whose angelic

sweetness had comforted them in the hour of darkest woe, was to be

hushed in death.

On the 20th of June he wrote to all the apostles who were absent on

missions to come home immediately. Only two of the twelve were with

him, Apostles John Taylor and Willard Richards. He had often stated to

the twelve that upon them would devolve the work when he was gone, and

he knew that their presence would soon be needed.

His consciousness of his impending fate and his fortitude were divine.

His last deeds and his last thoughts were for the cause and the people

whom he loved.

CHAPTER LXIII.

PONTIUS PILATE FORD'S ENTRANCE UPON THE SCENE AT CARTHAGE--THE OLD CRY

OF "CRUCIFY!"--JOSEPH'S FINAL EFFORT TO AVERT DANGER FROM NAUVOO--LACK

OF FAITH AND SUSPICIONS OF COWARDICE--FATAL BLINDNESS--LIKE A LAMB TO

THE SLAUGHTER--THE ARMS DEFENDED--FAREWELL TO NAUVOO--AT CARTHAGE.

On the 21st day of June, 1844, Thomas Ford, governor of the state of

Illinois, arrived at Carthage. What Pontius Pilate was to the divine

atonement on Calvary, this man Ford was to the sealing martyrdom at

Carthage. [1]

He was a politician, a friend to the masses, right or wrong. He

submitted himself at Carthage to the direction of the mob leaders. From

the moment of his arrival there until the deed was done, he interposed

no hand to stay the awful deed. He could not have been so blind as to

fail in seeing that murder impended for the Prophet and Patriarch;

and that extermination threatened the Saints. A statesman and a true

and brave patriot could have put forth his power and dissipated the

evils at a stroke; but Ford was not of such mettle. He affected to

view Joseph and his brethren as rebels and the mob as law-abiding

citizens--at best, he classed them altogether. How he must have cringed

when the Prophet asked him:

Sir, is it not an easy matter to distinguish between those who have

pledged themselves to exterminate innocent men, women and children,

and those who have only stood in their own defense, and in defense

of their innocent families, and that, too, in accordance with the

Constitution and laws of the country as required by the oaths, and

as good and law-abiding citizens?

On the 21st Ford wrote to Joseph asking for a conference at Carthage

with discreet representatives from Nauvoo. Apostle John Taylor and Dr.

John M. Bernhisel went at once, in obedience to this request, carrying

with them a full account of the situation and the circumstances which

had led to it, and a score of affidavits from trustworthy men--some

of whom were not connected with the Prophet or his people--showing

clearly the purpose of the mob to commit murder. The next day Lucien

Woodworth was sent to him from Nauvoo, with further documents and

with a letter from the Prophet. When Apostle Taylor and Dr. Bernhisel

reached Carthage, they found that the governor had taken the entire

mob into his service; that he had passed judicially upon the municipal

ordinances and proceedings at Nauvoo; and that, without hearing from

them, he had decided upon his course. He received them coolly and as

he read their communications aloud, he was surrounded by mobocrats

who interrupted him at every sentence with a torrent of profanity and

threats. He could listen to no argument and weigh no justice, for the

cry was in his ears, "Crucify! Crucify!" By the hands of these brethren

he sent a communication back to Nauvoo to require "all who are or shall

be accused, to submit themselves to arrest by the same constable, by

virtue of the same warrant, to be tried by the same magistrate whose

authority had heretofore been resisted."

He asked that martial law should be abolished. He sent the constable

with a guard to Nauvoo to secure Joseph and his friends. Of this

circumstance Ford himself says:

Upon the arrival of the constable and guard [at Nauvoo], the

mayor and common council at once signified their willingness to

surrender, and stated their readiness to proceed to Carthage next

morning at 8 o'clock. Martial law had previously been abolished.

The hour of 8 o'clock came, and the accused failed to make their

appearance. The constable and his escort returned. The constable

made no effort to arrest any of them, or 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 a small force then under my command, but the officers

were of opinion that it was too small, and many of them insisted

upon a further call of the militia. Upon reflection, I was of

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 it 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.

Informed of all the plots against him and seeing the executive weakness

or connivance with the mob the Prophet determined to make one final

effort to draw the menace from Nauvoo. He addressed a letter to the

governor, in which he exposed the fallacy and cowardice of Ford's

official proceedings and personal position. Then, after dark on the

night of the 22nd of June, he called Hyrum, Willard Richards, John

Taylor, W. W. Phelps, A. C. Hodge, John L. Butler, Alpheus Cutler

and some others into his house and read to them the letter from the

governor, merely remarking: "There is no mercy--no mercy here!"

Hyrum said: "No: as sure as we fall into their hands, we are dead men."

Joseph then told the brethren that if he and Hyrum should leave Nauvoo

the attention of the mob would be attracted away from the Saints and

in pursuit of the Prophet and Patriarch; and if the people would go

quietly about their business none of them would be harmed. With this

purpose he prepared to cross the river and go into the west. That night

they bade farewell to their families. As they departed it was seen that

Joseph's tears were falling fast, and he uttered not a word while they

walked down to the bank of the river. Joseph, Hyrum and Willard, rowed

by Orrin P. Rockwell, crossed the Mississippi in a leaky skiff, bailing

out the water with their boots and shoes to keep the frail boat from

sinking. They found refuge on the Iowa side at the house of Brother

William Jordan, and made immediate preparations to depart toward the

Rocky Mountains. But while they were packing their provisions, on the

23rd day of June, messengers came from Emma and others in Nauvoo,

entreating the Prophet to return and by innuendo accusing him of

cowardice in thus leaving the city. It was a fatal blindness on the

part of these professed friends. They seemed to fear that the governor,

failing to find Joseph and Hyrum, would fall upon Nauvoo with the

militia. The Prophet knew better, that Ford would not dare such a thing

as this--he might consent to the murder of individuals but he dare not

lead an army against an unoffending city. It is pitiable to think that

the Saints could have so misjudged their leader as to suspect him of

cowardice. But it is often so, that men placed in responsible stations,

who act by the light of heaven and for the benefit of their brethren,

without one thought of personal safety or advantage, are condemned by

the unthinking.

"We are going back to be butchered," said Joseph; "if we live or die we

will be reconciled to our fate," said Hyrum; as they moved down to the

river to cross to Nauvoo on that 23rd day of June. While they walked

Joseph fell behind, deep in thought. Someone shouted to him to quicken

his steps, and he remarked: "There is time enough for the slaughter."

That night, Sunday, June 23rd, 1844, Joseph sent a letter to the

governor informing him that he would go to Carthage the next morning

to meet his trial. He asked that the governor send a posse to meet him

near the Mound, outside of Carthage, about two o'clock on the afternoon

of the 24th. Seeing the determination of Joseph, the very friends who

had induced him to return would now have interposed; but he was firm.

To remain in Nauvoo would be to draw the vengeance of the mob upon that

city. The next morning Elder Jedediah M. Grant and Theodore Turley, who

had carried Joseph's communication to the governor, returned to Nauvoo

and reported their mission. Ford had at first agreed to send a posse

to escort Joseph in safety to Carthage, but some of the mobocrats and

apostates made bitter speeches to him and he rescinded his promise.

He refused to send or allow an escort for Joseph, "as it was an honor

not given to any other citizen." He would not even allow Elders Grant

and Turley to remain in Carthage that night, but sent them out with a

demand that Joseph should appear unaccompanied at Carthage the next

morning. The messengers told the Prophet that intense excitement

existed at Carthage; but he would not heed their warning.

On the morning of Monday, the 24th of June, 1844, Joseph and the

seventeen other men named in the old writ from Morrison, started from

Nauvoo. When they reached the temple, the Prophet looked upon it with a

long and wistful gaze, and then turned his eyes upon the city, saying:

"This is the loveliest place and these are the best people under the

heavens. Little do they know the trials that await them."

As they passed out of the city the Prophet said to Daniel H. Wells:

"Squire Wells, I wish you to cherish my memory, and not think me the

worst man in the world, either."

On the way out they met Captain Dunn coming from Carthage with about

sixty mounted men. Joseph said: "Do not be alarmed, brethren, for they

cannot do more to you than the enemies of truth did to the ancient

Saints--they can only kill the body."

Dunn presented to Joseph an order from Governor Ford for all the

state arms in the possession of the Nauvoo Legion. Joseph immediately

countersigned the order. Then he turned to the company and spoke these

memorable 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 TOWARD GOD

AND TOWARD ALL MEN.

Again, he said: "If they take my life I shall die an innocent man, _and

my blood shall cry from the ground for vengeance_, and it shall yet be

said of me, 'He was murdered in cold blood.'"

Joseph sent Henry G. Sherwood back to Nauvoo to get the arms ready

for Captain Dunn and to have all things done with good order and

regularity. But Dunn feared that the governor's demands, coming at

such a time, would excite resistance, and he requested Joseph and

the brethren to return with him to the city under a pledge of mutual

protection. He preferred to depend upon the well-known integrity of

Joseph rather than to risk the wounded feelings of a much abused

people. When the order for the state arms was made known in Nauvoo many

of the brethren regarded this as a preparation for another Far West

tragedy: but they heeded the Prophet's word and unresistingly yielded

obedience to the requirement.

It was an outrage to ask these arms under the circumstances; they were

borne by men who were on the defensive, not the offensive--men who

carried them for the protection of home and virtue, and who had not set

foot outside the limits of their own city. Ford's action in this matter

was atrocious; the compliance of the Prophet and the Saints was noble.

Joseph again bade farewell to his family, and looked again and again

upon the fair domain which his mortal eyes were beholding for the last

time. His face was white and luminous, yet upon it and in his eyes

was a look of anguish. His friends would even now have detained him,

be the consequences what they might; but he told them he must either

yield himself to his sworn murderers or the city would be given up to

massacre and pillage under the sanction of the governor.

Shortly after leaving Nauvoo they met Brother A. C. Hodge coming from

Carthage, who told them that a minister--whom Joseph had previously

treated with great kindness--warned him that so sure as Joseph and

Hyrum came to Carthage they would be killed. He also said that

Hamilton, the innkeeper at Carthage, had pointed to the Carthage Greys,

saying: "Hodge, there are the boys that will settle you Mormons."

A little farther on the way, the Prophet received letters from

attorneys at Carthage to whom the governor had pledged his own honor

and the honor of the state of Illinois that the prisoners should be

protected from all harm. This pledge Ford reiterated often; and upon

the strength of it many of the Prophet's friends felt that he was safe.

It was not until a little before midnight that the party reached

Carthage, but they found the mob up and expecting them with great

anxiety. As they passed the public square, many troops, especially the

Carthage Greys, gave way to a frenzy of joy.

Some of them shouted, "God damn you, old Joe Smith, we have got you

now." Others cried, "Where is the damned Prophet!" "Stand away, you

McDonough boys, and let us shoot the damned Mormons." "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, and kill all the damned

Mormons."

The profanity of the mob was an avalanche. Such ravings and cursings

were scarcely ever before heard from civilized men. The governor was

an ear witness to it all and leaned from his tavern window to say in a

fawning voice to the rabble:

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.

At this there was a hurrah for Tom Ford, and the mob obeyed his wish.

The prisoners were quartered at the tavern of Hamilton, who had

threatened Brother Hodge that the Carthage Greys would settle the

"Mormons." At the same inn was a party of apostates. One of them, John

A. Hicks, formerly president of the elders' quorum, stated to Brother

Cyrus H. Wheelock that it was determined to shed the blood of Joseph

Smith, whether he was cleared by the law or not. Hicks talked freely

and unreservedly upon the subject, as if he were discoursing upon the

most common occurrence of life; and boldly declared that the Laws, the

Higbees and the Fosters were all agreed upon this course.

Elder Wheelock carried this information to Governor Ford, but that

craven wretch treated it with perfect indifference and suffered Hicks

and his associates to go on with their plans for murder.

A few hours later the most prominent enemies of the Prophet at Carthage

declared:

_There is nothing against these men; the law cannot reach them, but

powder and ball shall. They will never get out of Carthage alive._

Footnotes

1. Sixteen years after Ford had acquiesced in the murder of Joseph and

Hyrum Smith, he said in his history of Illinois:

The Christian world, which has hitherto regarded Mormonism with silent

contempt, unhappily may yet have cause to fear its rapid increase.

Modern society is full of material for such a religion. At the death

of the Prophet, fourteen years after the first Mormon Church was

organized, the Mormons in all the world numbered about two hundred

thousand souls (one-half million according to their statistics); a

number equal, perhaps to the number of Christians when the Christian

Church was of the same age. It is to be feared that, in the course of a

century, some gifted man like Paul, some splendid orator, who will be

able by his eloquence to attract crowds of the thousands who are ever

ready to hear, and be carried away by the sounding brass and tinkling

cymbal of sparkling oratory, may command a hearing, may succeed in

breathing a new life into this modern Mahometanism, and make the name

of the martyred Joseph ring as loud, and stir the souls of men as much,

as the mighty name of Christ itself. Sharon, Palmyra, Manchester,

Kirtland, Far West, Adam-ondi-Ahman, Ramus, Nauvoo and the Carthage

jail, may become holy and venerable names, places of classic interest,

in another age: like Jerusalem, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Mount of

Olives, and Mount Calvary to the Christian, and Mecca and Medina to

the Turk. And in that event, the author of this history feels degraded

by the reflection, _that the humble governor of an obscure state, who

would otherwise be forgotten in a few years, stands a fair chance, like

Pilate and Herod, by their official connection with the true religion,

of being dragged down to posterity with an immortal name_, hitched

on to the memory of a miserable impostor. There may be those whose

ambition would lead them to desire an immortal name in history, even in

those humbling terms. I am not one of that number.

CHAPTER LXIV.

VOLUNTARY YIELDING TO PROCESS--JOSEPH AND HYRUM CHARGED WITH TREASON

--FORD'S COWARDICE AND FALSE-HOOD--IN CARTHAGE JAIL--THE FIRST DAY AND

NIGHT--PREACHING TO THE GUARDS--FORD LEAVES THE MARTYRS TO THEIR FATE.

When the morning came on the 25th of June, 1844, Joseph and his

brethren voluntarily presented themselves to Constable Bettisworth,

who had held the original writ against them. They sought and had an

interview with the governor at his headquarters; and he then and there

pledged his own faith and that of the state of Illinois that Joseph

and Hyrum and the other prisoners should be protected from personal

violence and should have a fair and impartial trial.

A few moments after 8 o'clock a.m., Joseph and Hyrum were arrested upon

warrants issued by Justice Robert F. Smith, of Carthage, charging them

with treason, upon the affidavits of Augustus Spencer and Henry O.

Norton.

After making an inflammable speech to the rabble army, the governor

led the brothers before the troops, as the mob had requested to have a

clear view of Joseph and Hyrum. As they passed in front of the lines,

Ford introduced the Prophet and Patriarch as Generals Joseph and Hyrum

Smith. The Carthage Greys refused to receive them by that introduction,

and some of the officers threw up their hats, drew their swords and

said: "We will introduce ourselves to the damned Mormons in a different

style." The Governor quieted them by saying:

_You shall have full satisfaction._

An hour later the Carthage Greys revolted and were put under guard;

they could not be content to wait another hour for the murder. But they

were soon released.

Joseph had asked a private interview with Ford, but it had been

refused. In declining, the governor looked down with shame.

In the afternoon several officers of the mob militia called upon Joseph

at the tavern. They gazed upon him with much curiosity, and he asked

them if he appeared like a desperate character. They replied that his

outward appearance seemed to indicate exactly the opposite, but they

could not tell what was in his heart. To this Joseph responded:

Very true, gentlemen, 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 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 regret and 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 to be true.

At 4 o'clock Joseph and Hyrum, and thirteen other brethren were taken

before Robert F. Smith, justice of the peace and captain of the

Carthage Greys, on a charge of riot in destroying the printing press

of the _Expositor_. Robert Smith took the place of Morrison, by the

direction of the mob and with the connivance of the governor, although

Ford had stated that the hearing must be had before the same justice

who issued the original writ. But he had only made this assertion in

order to justify himself in overlooking the proceedings in Justice

Wells' court. Now that he had the brethren at Carthage he was willing

that the mob should have them tried before the most vindictive man

to be found exercising judicial functions. Upon this hearing before

Robert F. Smith, the fifteen brethren were admitted to bail in the sum

of $7,500, and John S. Fullmer, Edward Hunter, Dan Jones, John Benbow,

and others as sureties. Then the court was adjourned without calling on

Joseph and Hyrum to answer to the charge of treason, or even intimating

to them or their counsel that an examination of this charge was to be

made.

About dark that night the constable appeared with a mittimus from

Justice Smith and demanded that Joseph and Hyrum go to jail upon

the charge of treason. This mittimus falsely alleged that the trial

for treason had been begun and had been postponed. Joseph and his

counsel, Messrs. Woods and Reid, exposed this tyrannical proceeding,

showing clearly that the law did not permit the justice to send them

to jail by mittimus without having them first brought before him for

examination, and appealed to the governor. He refused assistance. A

little later Captain and Justice Robert F. Smith applied to him to

know how he should enforce the illegal mittimus, and the governor said

significantly: "You have the Carthage Greys at your command." The mob

captain took the hint and dragged the prisoners violently to jail.

Apostles John Taylor and Willard Richards, and John P. Greene, Stephen

Markham, Dan Jones, John S. Fullmer, Dr. South wick and Lorenzo D.

Wasson accompanied the Prophet and Patriarch to prison; and it is well

that they did so. Stephen Markham and Dan Jones walked one on either

side of Joseph and Hyrum, keeping off the drunken rabble which several

times broke through the ranks of the file of soldiers guarding the

brethren on their way to prison.

They made their dungeon seem a heaven that night by their prayers and

by their faith.

After spending the night in Carthage jail, Joseph wrote on the

morning of June 26th, 1844, soliciting an interview with Ford. The

governor sent back a favorable reply, and to the messengers he spoke

apologetically of his failure to interfere the previous night. Apostle

John Taylor had been to him in the meantime and had made him feel

his falseness and cowardice. About 9:30 a.m. the governor came to

the prison and had a lengthy interview with Joseph. President Taylor

was present and made an extensive report of the conversation. Joseph

charged Governor Ford with absolute knowledge that the enemies of the

Saints had first commenced these difficulties; that Joseph and his

people had not transgressed the law; and that the Nauvoo Legion had

only been ordered out in pursuance of orders received by Joseph from

the governor requiring him to assemble the Legion for the protection of

Nauvoo against armed bands of marauders.

As they parted the governor reiterated his promise, pledging his faith,

the honor of his officers, and the good name of the state of Illinois

that the brethren would be protected. He said that he might go to

Nauvoo that day or the next, and if so he would take Joseph with him.

After Ford left the prison, he went to Hamilton's hotel and began to

converse with a mob soldier standing there. Alfred Randall, a man of

approved veracity, testified that he heard the mobocrat saying to Ford,

"The soldiers are determined to see Joe Smith dead before they leave

here;" and heard Ford reply, "If you know of any such thing keep it to

yourself." It was common conversation that day on the camp ground and

in the dining-room of the hotel in the presence of Governor Ford: "The

law is too short for these men, but they must not be suffered to go at

large." "No; if the law will not reach them powder and ball must."

Most of the afternoon of the 26th was spent by Dan Jones and Stephen

Markham in hewing the warped door of the cell in which the brethren

were confined with a penknife so that it would fasten in the frame.

The brethren preached by turns to the guards, several of whom were

relieved before their watch was out because they admitted that they

were convinced of the innocence of the prisoners.

One of them said: "We have been imposed upon; these men are guiltless."

Another said: "Let us go home, boys, for I will not fight any longer

against these men."

During the day Hyrum vainly attempted to lead Joseph into a belief that

his life would be saved. To his brethren Joseph said: "Could my brother

Hyrum but be liberated it would not matter so much about me."

Then he said: "Poor Rigdon, I am glad he has gone to Pittsburg out of

the way. Were he to preside he would lead the Church to destruction in

less than five years."

At half-past two that afternoon Constable Bettisworth demanded the

persons of the prisoners from the jailor upon an order signed by

Justice Robert F. Smith. The jailor refused, as the prisoners had

been committed to his charge to be held by him until released from

his custody by due course of law. The justice then inquired of the

governor what he should do, and Ford once more responded: "There are

the Carthage Greys under your command, bring them out; we have plenty

of troops."

Again taking the significant hint, the mob captain and justice used his

willing rabble of soldiers to drag Joseph and Hyrum illegally away. He

had them brought before him, Robert F. Smith, captain of the Carthage

Greys, at the court house. The grave charge against them was treason

and when they asked for time in which to get witnesses, they were

vehemently opposed. Finally at five o'clock in the afternoon the court

adjourned until noon of the next day to give the defendants opportunity

to send to Nauvoo, twenty miles distant, and obtain their witnesses.

Subsequently, without any notification to the prisoners or their

counsel, the mob justice and captain postponed the trial until the 29th

of June.

Patriarch John Smith, father of Apostle George A. Smith, came from

Macedonia to see his nephews Joseph and Hyrum in jail. He narrowly

escaped with his life from mobbers on the way. It was with difficulty

that he secured admission to the prison. After remaining an hour he

left the jail to carry a message to Almon W. Babbitt, requesting his

assistance as attorney for the Prophet at the expected trial. Patriarch

John Smith found Babbitt, but learned from him that he could not comply

with Joseph's request.

That night in prison Hyrum read from the Book of Mormon concerning

the sufferings and deliverance of the servants of God from the hands

of their enemies. Joseph arose and bore a powerful testimony to the

guards to the divinity of the book; he declared that the gospel had

been restored and that the kingdom of God was again established on the

earth for the sake of which he was then incarcerated in prison, and not

because he had violated any law of God or man. They retired to rest

very late. In the room with the Prophet and Patriarch were Apostles

John Taylor and Willard Richards and Elders John S. Fullmer, Stephen

Markham and Dan Jones.

In the night Joseph whispered to Dan Jones, "Are you afraid to die?"

Brother Jones answered: "Has that time come, think you! Engaged in such

a cause I do not think that death would have many terrors."

Joseph replied: "You will yet see Wales and fulfill the mission

appointed you, before you die." [1]

In the morning Dan Jones went down, at the Prophet's request, to learn

the cause of a disturbance of the night, and Frank Worrell, the officer

of the guard of Carthage Greys, said to Dan:

We have had too much trouble to bring old Joe here to let him ever

escape alive, and unless you want to die with him, you had better

leave before sundown; and you are not a damned 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.

Brother Jones started to find the governor and on the way saw an

assemblage of the mob, and heard one of them who was making a speech

say:

Our troops will be discharged this morning in obedience to order,

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 these men, if we have to tear the jail down.

When Dan found the governor, and related the threats, Ford only sneered

at him. Ford was actually preparing to go to Nauvoo. He had disbanded

some of the troops and in his hearing they declared that they would

return and kill Joseph and Hyrum as soon as he was far enough away from

town.

Ford refused permits for the Prophet's friends to pass in and out of

the prison. This deprived Joseph and Hyrum of the society of all but

Apostles Taylor and Richards who remained constantly with them.

The governor held consultation with the officers of the mob army. A

Dr. Southwick who was there afterward declared that the purpose of the

meeting was to consider the best way of stopping Joseph Smith's career,

as his views on the government were being widely circulated and they

took like wildfire. The mobocrats said that if he did not get into the

presidential chair this election he would be sure to next time; and if

Illinois and Missouri would join together and kill him, they would not

be brought to justice for it.

As the governor continued his preparations to depart from Carthage

to Nauvoo, and as it was clear that he intended to break his solemn

promise by failing to take Joseph with him, Cyrus H. Wheelock, Dan

Jones and John P. Greene went in town to him and protested with all

possible solemnity against his deed. He professed to reassure them;

and then he took with him Captain Dunn, and his company--of all the

militia the least vindictive against the Prophet; and left as a guard

the Carthage Greys--of all the mob the most bloodthirsty. These

Carthage Greys had but two days before been under arrest for insulting

the commanding general; their conduct had shown them to be notoriously

hostile to the prisoners; and they had often in the governor's hearing

threatened the lives of Joseph and Hyrum. Of the disbanded troops the

governor permitted two or three hundred under Colonel Levi Williams,

a sectarian preacher and a sworn enemy to Joseph, to remain encamped

in the vicinity of Carthage, awaiting the hour when they might safely

descend upon the jail.

Cyrus H. Wheelock was permitted to enter the prison, and during his

visit he slipped a small revolver, of the kind known in those days as

the "pepper-box" revolver, into Joseph's pocket. Cyrus was going to

Nauvoo with messages from the brethren in prison. They were so numerous

that Dr. Richards proposed to write them down feeling that Wheelock

might forget, but Hyrum fastened his eye upon the messenger, and with a

look of penetration, said:

Brother Wheelock will remember all that we tell him, and he will

never forget the occurrences of this day.

Footnotes

1. This prediction was gloriously fulfilled.

CHAPTER LXV.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE HOLY ENDOWMENTS--THE WORK OF THE CLOSING

MONTHS--UNION OF SATANIC FORCES AGAINST THE PROPHET--A MOMENTARY GLANCE

AT HIM BEFORE THE FINAL HOUR.

Before recounting the final act which closed this great life, we may

pause to glance at some of the work of the Prophet and some of the

difficulties which beset his path and wrought the martyrdom.

During the winter of 1843-4 superhuman power rested upon the Prophet

in his teachings and administrations. He was impelled to constant

labor in his ministry as if he had the briefest possible time in which

to accomplish his work. Perhaps he was not fully aware how little

there was of mortal life left to him, yet many of his expressions

at this time were recalled by the Apostles and others afterwards as

foreshadowing the nearness of his departure. He bestowed upon the

faithful Apostles and other chosen ones the endowments, and gave

them the keys of the Priesthood in their fullness as he had received

them. He also taught and administered to them the sealing ordinances,

explaining in great plainness and power the manner in which husbands

and wives, parents and children are to be united by eternal ties,

and the whole human family, back to Father Adam, be linked together

in indissoluble bonds. In imparting these glorious principles and

bestowing these keys and powers upon his fellow Apostles, the Prophet

was filled with god-like power. More important doctrines and ordinances

were never imparted unto man. The spirit which rested upon Joseph in

teaching and upon the people in listening to them (for he dwelt much

upon these principles in his public discourses) will never be forgotten

by those who heard him. It was to the deep and abiding effect of these

teachings upon the minds of the Saints that the extraordinary exertions

which were made after his death in completing the temple may chiefly be

attributed.

* * * * *

The perusal of the History of the Church during the life of Joseph

the Prophet suggests many reflections and to many minds prompts many

inquiries. One cannot fail to be struck with the unceasing opposition

with which he had to contend. From the day that he received the first

communication from heaven up to the day of his martyrdom his pathway

was beset with difficulties, his liberty and life were constantly

menaced. Had he been an ordinary man he would have been crushed in

spirit and sunk in despair under the relentless attacks which were

made upon him. To find a parallel to his case we must go back to the

days of our Savior and His Apostles and the prophets who preceded

them. Joseph's life was sought for with satanic hate. The thirst for

his blood was unappeasable. Had there not been a special providence

exercised in his behalf to preserve him until his mission should be

fulfilled, he would have been slain by murderous hands long before the

dreadful day at Carthage.

To the inexperienced reader it seems unaccountable that any generation

of men could have been so blind to everything god-like, so dead to

every humane sentiment, so utterly cruel and barbarous, as not to

recognize in the teachings, works and life of God's beloved Son the

divinity with which He was clothed and to nail Him upon a cross between

two thieves. Also that His chosen Apostles, filled with angelic power,

preaching so pure a doctrine and laboring with such self-denial and

unselfish zeal for the salvation of mankind, should have been slain by

the very people whose benefactors they sought to be.

But in our own age the same scenes are re-enacted. Joseph Smith, a

Prophet of God, called by the Almighty to receive the everlasting

Priesthood to lay the foundation of the Church of Christ, and to preach

the ancient pure gospel, performs the mission to which he was divinely

appointed, and is pursued with vindictive hate through his life, and is

finally barbarously slain. The explanation of all this is given by the

Lord Himself in His words to His disciples: "If ye were of the world,

the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but

I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."

According to the predictions, this is the dispensation of the fullness

of times--the crowning dispensation of all. To leave the world without

excuse and to prepare the way for the second coming of the Lord, the

holy Priesthood, the pure gospel and the true Church of Christ are

restored to earth through the ministration of angels. Satan, fully

conscious that if these prevail his dominion will be overthrown, arrays

all his forces against the servants and work of God. He resorts to his

old tactics to accomplish his purposes. He was a liar and a murderer

from the beginning. Lies and murder are the agencies he depends upon.

Many, being free agents and having power to choose whom they will

serve, become the instruments of hate, and the earth is drenched with

the blood of innocence. The Prophet Joseph, while he lived, was the

conspicuous object of his vengeance. Like Paul, he could have recounted

a long list of perils which he had to encounter, not the least of

which, as in the case of Paul, were "perils among false brethren."'

Of all the evils with which this great Prophet had to contend, none

were so grievous or so hard to be borne as the defection and treason

of "false brethren." The most deadly wounds he ever received were from

those who, Judas-like, had been his companions. When, through their

transgressions, they lost the Spirit of God, and turned away from the

truth, the spirit of murder took possession of them, they became fit

instruments for Satan's service, and to this class more than to any

others, can the foul murders of the 27th of June, 1844, be charged.

The great bulk of those who composed the mobs which attacked the Saints

in Missouri and Illinois were ignorant men. Their passions were easily

aroused. A few cunning and unscrupulous leaders were able to use them

to accomplish their ends. Seeing the increase of the Saints, they were

easily persuaded that, if left to themselves, they would soon outnumber

the old settlers, they would outvote them, take possession of the

offices, and drive them out of the country. By such representations

and artifices as these, appealing to the lowest and basest of motives,

they were able to inflame the minds of ignorant and unprincipled men.

Envious of the prosperity of the Saints, coveting their possessions,

they thought to profit in driving them from their homes. Apostates had

personal vengeance and hates to gratify; politicians saw a growing

power which they could not control, and whose union made it formidable

in county and state affairs; the clergy saw a system of religion which

they could not controvert; and the rabble had their cupidity excited

at the prospect of plunder, which might fall to them through the

abandonment of lands and improvements and stock by the people whom they

were driving away.

CHAPTER LXVI.

THE LAST DAY--FORD'S ACTION AT NAUVOO--CONSPIRACY BETWEEN THE GUARDS

AND THE MURDEROUS MOB MILITIA--THE PRISONERS LEFT TO THEIR FATE--"A

POOR WAYFARING MAN OF GRIEF"--THE ASSAULT AND THE MURDER--THE END.

Governor Ford went to Nauvoo on the morning of the 27th of June,

1844, accompanied by a body of troops. When he arrived there he made

a public speech before thousands of the Saints, in which he used this

expression: "A great crime has been done by destroying the _Expositor_

press, and placing the city under martial law, and _a severe atonement

must be made, so prepare your minds for the emergency_."

Whether Ford was fully cognizant of the plot to murder the Prophet

during his absence from Carthage is not altogether clear. He was

unquestionably aware of the murderous feeling which existed among the

Carthage Greys, and the men who were associated with Levi Williams

and the Laws, Higbees, Fosters and others at Carthage. It has been

stated upon good authority, and it has never been disputed, that he was

informed of the intentions of the mob. But he ventured into Nauvoo.

Would a cowardly man like he was have dared to risk himself in such a

manner at such a time, if he was fully advised of the time the massacre

was to take place? The presumption is that he was indifferent as to the

fate which would befall the Prophet and his companions; but that he did

not know, as some of his officers did, that the bloody deed was to be

consummated while he was absent at Nauvoo. If Ford had been a man of

greater daring, it might with certainty be assured that his visit to

Nauvoo was a part of the conspiracy, and that he went there to avoid

the appearance of complicity in the murder. This is certain, that while

Ford was addressing the people, a sound like the distant firing of a

cannon, or the slight sound of distant rumbling thunder, was heard by

many in the audience, and by some of Ford's aides who stood near him,

and that they whispered something to him, and without loss of time and

in the greatest haste, he and his escort rode out of Nauvoo. Their

departure was more like a flight than the decorous leave-taking of the

executive of the state accompanied by a command of troops. A cannon was

fired at a certain point distant from Carthage, as a signal that the

massacre had been accomplished; but it was never known whether or not

this was the sound which attracted attention at Nauvoo. Governor Ford's

hasty flight at that time has always been deemed conclusive evidence

that he had been informed by some of his companions--if he had not been

fully advised of the plot and its details before--that Joseph Smith and

his companions had been murdered.

Ford and his aides occupied a room in the Nauvoo mansion that day.

Orrin P. Rockwell heard one of them at three o'clock say: "the deed is

done before this time."

The governor and his company went to the temple. Some of the officers

broke the horns from the oxen supporting the baptismal font, while Ford

made rare sport of the sacred edifice.

One of his attendants remarked: "This temple is a curious piece of

workmanship; and it was a damned shame that they did not let Joe Smith

finish it."

Another said: "But he is dead by this time, and he will never see this

temple again."

Brother William Gr. Sterrett stood by and replied: "They cannot kill

him until he has finished his work."

At this Ford gave a significant smile and one of his aids standing by

said: "Whether he has finished his work or not, by God, he will not see

this place again, for he is finished before this time."

At Carthage, after the governor left, the external situation was this:

The guarding of the jail had been left to General Deming who had the

Carthage Greys under his command; but Deming retired during the day for

fear of his life, as he saw the determination of the troops to connive

at murder. The main body of the company was stationed in the public

square, one hundred and fifty yards from the jail, awhile eight men

were detailed, under the command of Sergeant Frank A. Worrell, to guard

the prisoners. The disbanded mob militia had come up to Carthage to the

number of two hundred, with their faces blackened with powder and mud.

The Carthage Greys were informed that the assassin band was ready; and

it was then arranged that the guard at the jail should load with blank

cartridges and that the mob should attack the prison and meet with some

show of resistance.

Within the jail, the brethren, Joseph and Hyrum, John Taylor and

Willard Richards, were confined in a room upstairs and were busy,

during the day, writing letters, conversing and praying and singing.

Between three, and four o'clock at the Prophet's request, Apostle

Taylor sang this sweet and comforting poem:

A poor wayfaring man of grief,

Hath often cross'd me on my way,

Who sued so humbly for relief

That I could never answer _Nay_.

I had not power to ask his name;

Whither he went or whence he came;

Yet there was something in his eye

That won my love, I know 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 rais'd the suff'rer up;

Thrice from the stream he drain'd my cup,

Dipped and return'd 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 warm'd, I cloth'd, I cheer'd my guest,

I laid him on my couch to rest;

Then made the earth my bed, and seem'd

In Eden's garden while I dream'd.

Stripp'd, wounded, beaten nigh to death,

1 found him by the highway side;

I rous'd his pulse, brought back his breath,

Reviv'd his spirit, and supplied

Wine, oil, refreshment--he was heal'd;

I had myself a wound conceal'd;

But from that hour forgot the smart,

And peace bound up my broken heart.

In prison I saw him next--condemn'd

To meet a traitor's doom at morn;

The tide of lying tongues I stemm'd,

And honor'd 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 started from disguise;

The tokens in his hands I knew,

The Savior stood before mine eyes.

He spake--and my poor name he nam'd--

"Of me thou hast not been asham'd;

These deeds shall thy memorial be;

Fear not, thou didst them unto me."

And when it was done, Joseph asked him to repeat it. He replied that

he did not feel like singing. He was oppressed with a sense of coming

disaster; but to gratify Hyrum, he sang the hymn again, with much

tender feeling.

At four o'clock the guard was changed. A little after five, the jailor

came in and said that Stephen Markham had been surrounded by a mob and

driven from Carthage. A little later there was a slight rustling at the

outer door of the jail, and a cry of surrender, then a discharge of

three or four guns. The plot had been carried out: two hundred of the

mob came rushing into the jail yard, and the guards fired their pieces

over the heads of the assailing party.

Many of the mob rushed up the stairs while others fired through

the open windows of the jail into the room where the brethren were

confined. The four prisoners sprang against the door, but the murderers

burst it partly open and pushed their guns into the room. John Taylor

and Willard Richards, each with a cane, tried to knock aside the

weapons. A shower of bullets came up the stairway and through the door.

Hyrum was in front of the door when a ball struck him in the face and

he fell back saying:

"I AM A DEAD MAN."

As he was falling, another bullet from the outside passed through his

swaying form, and two others from the doorway entered his body a moment

later. When Hyrum fell, Joseph exclaimed, "Oh, my dear brother Hyrum!"

and opening the door a few inches he discharged his pistol into the

stairway--but two or three barrels missed fire.

When the door could no longer be held, and when he could no longer

parry the guns, Elder Taylor sprang toward the window. A bullet from

the doorway struck his left thigh. Paralyzed and unable to help himself

he fell on the window sill, and felt himself falling out, when by some

means which he did not understand at the time he was thrown backward

into the room. A bullet fired from the outside struck his watch and the

watch saved his life in two ways, it stopped the bullet, which probably

would have killed him, and the force of the ball in striking it threw

him into the room. The watch stopped at sixteen minutes and twenty-six

seconds past 5 o'clock. After he fell into the room three other bullets

struck him, spattering his blood like rain upon the walls and floor.

Joseph saw that there was no longer safety in the room; and thinking

that he would save the life of Willard Richards if he himself should

spring from the room, he turned immediately from the door, dropped his

pistol and leaped into the window. Instantly two bullets pierced him

from the door, and one entered his right breast from without, and he

fell outward into the hands of his murderers exclaiming:

"OH LORD, MY GOD!"

When his body struck the ground he rolled instantly upon his

face--dead. As he lay there, one of the mob, bare footed and bare

headed, wearing no coat, with his trousers rolled above his knees and

his shirt sleeves above his elbows, seized the body of the murdered

Prophet and set it against the south side of the well curb. Colonel

Levi Williams then ordered four men to shoot Joseph. Standing about

eight feet from his body they fired simultaneously. The body slightly

cringed as the bullets entered it, and once more Joseph fell upon his

face. He had smiled with sweet compassion in his countenance as he

gazed upon his murderers in the last moment of his life; and this was

the expression when the face was set in death.

The Missourians had offered a large reward for Joseph's head; and the

ruffian who had set him against the well curb now approached with a

glittering knife for the purpose of severing the head from the body.

William M. Daniels who claims to have been an eye-witness to the

proceedings says that as he was about to make the awful stroke a vivid

light burst from the heavens upon the bloody scene. It passed between

Joseph and his murderers, and they were struck with terror. The knife

fell from the powerless hand of the ruffian, and he stood transfixed.

The muskets dropped from the arms of Williams' four executioners, and

they had not the power to move a limb.

Horrified, the mob scattered in all directions. Williams cried to them

to come back and carry off the four men who still stood like marble

statues, frozen with terror. They obeyed, and these men were lifted

into the baggage wagons as inert as corpses.

When Joseph fell from the window the mob on the stairway rushed down

and out of the building to find him; and it was this which saved the

lives of Willard Richards, and John Taylor. Willard started to leave

the room thinking all were dead but himself; but Elder Taylor called

to him. He returned, took up the body of John, which was bleeding from

four ghastly wounds, and carried him into an inner dungeon cell and

placed him on a filthy mattress which was lying there, saying: "If your

wounds are not fatal I want you to live to tell this story."

Nearly all the inhabitants of Carthage followed the mob in their flight

of horror. The governor came to Carthage in the night, wrote an order

for the citizens of Nauvoo to defend themselves, and then the miserable

coward fled to Quincy.

Having provided as well as possible for the wounds of John Taylor, on

the morning of the 28th of June Dr. Richards started for Nauvoo with

the bodies of the martyrs. They were met by thousands of lamenting

Saints whose wailings ascended into the ears of Almighty God. Ten

thousand people were addressed by Apostle Richards, Colonel Markham and

others who admonished them to keep the peace and trust to the law for a

remedy for the awful crimes which had been committed, and when the law

failed, to call upon God in heaven to avenge them of their wrongs.

The bodies of the martyrs were taken to the Mansion House and cared for

by loving friends. The loved ones of the dead Prophet and Patriarch

were first admitted and fell upon the dear faces and kissed them and

begged for one more word of comfort.

Early the next morning the bodies were placed in coffins covered with

black velvet, and the caskets were then placed in rough pine boxes.

The doors were thrown open, and ten thousand people walked through the

Mansion and gazed upon the martyred clay. All this time the people

were in constant expectation of an attack by the mob army upon the

defenseless city.

At night the house was closed and then the coffins were lifted out of

the boxes and concealed in an apartment of the Mansion while bags of

sand took their place in the outer caskets. A mock funeral was held;

the boxes were carried in a hearse to the graveyard and there deposited

in the earth with the usual ceremonies. The course seemed necessary,

because the enemies of Joseph and Hyrum had taken a ghastly oath to

steal the remains.

At midnight the bodies were taken in their caskets from the Mansion

House by Dimick B. Huntington, Edward Hunter, William D. Huntington,

William Marks, Jonathan H. Holmes, Gilbert Goldsmith, Alpheus

Cutler, Lorenzo D. Wasson, Philip B. Lewis and James Emmett to the

Nauvoo House, the foundation of which was then built, and they were

interred in the basement. Immediately afterward, a terrific storm

of rain came on accompanied by thunder and lightning. The tears of

heaven obliterated all traces of the newly dug graves, and the bodies

remained there in safe repose until a later time when they were removed

elsewhere.

The woe of the Saints cannot be described. They were menaced with

extermination. Their Prophet and Patriarch were dead. Only two of the

Apostles were there, and one of these was supposed to be dying.

The enemies of truth were sure that they had now destroyed the work.

And yet it lives, greater and stronger after the lapse of years! It is

indestructible for it is the work of God. And knowing that it is the

eternal work of God, we know that Joseph Smith, who established it, was

a Prophet holy and pure.

ANECDOTES AND SAYINGS OF THE PROPHET.

"Seek ye wisdom from the best books."

"The cause of human liberty is the cause of God."

"We will never be justly charged with the sin of ingratitude."

"Baptism is a covenant with God that we will do His will."

"All men will be raised from the grave by the power of God, having

spirit in their bodies and not blood."

"Our affections should be placed upon God and His work more intensely

than upon our fellow-beings."

"I will walk through the gates of heaven, and claim what I seal and

those that follow me and my counsel."

"I understand some law, and more justice and know as much about the

rights of American citizens as any man."

"All children are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and the moment

they leave this world they are taken to the bosom of Abraham."

"The Lord once told me that what I asked for I should have. I have

been afraid to ask God to kill my enemies, lest some of them should,

peradventure, repent."

"Beware, oh earth! how you fight against the Saints of God and shed

innocent blood; for, in the days of Elijah, his enemies came upon him,

and fire was called down from heaven to destroy them."

"Sectarian priests cry out concerning me and ask: "Why is it that this

babbler gets so many followers and retains them?" I answer: "It is

because I possess the principle of love. All that I offer the world is

a good heart and a good hand."

"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 asked a short time since for the Lord to deliver me out of the hands

of the governor; and if it needs must be to accomplish it to take him

away; and the next news that came pouring down from there was that

Governor Reynolds had shot himself."

Speaking of the death of Judge Higbee, a just and good man, Joseph said:

"Who is there that would not give all his goods to feed the poor, and

pour out his gold and silver to the four winds to go where Elias Higbee

has gone?"

At Far West, Missouri, on the 4th day of July, 1838, the liberty pole

was struck by lightning and shattered into splinters. Joseph walked

around on the fragments, saying:

"As that pole was splinted, so shall the nations of the earth be."

Soon after the nomination of the Prophet for the Presidency of the

United States, Apostle George A. Smith related that Elder Farnham heard

the people in St. Louis say:

"Things have come to a strange pass if Joseph Smith is elected

President, he will raise the devil with Missouri; and if he is not

elected he will raise the devil anyhow."

An angry sectarian in Kirtland commanded fire to come down out of

heaven to consume the Prophet and his house. Joseph smiled and said:

"You are one of Baal's prophets; your God does not hear you."

A visitor, who remarked that the people had been gathered from the four

quarters of the earth, of different races and creeds, asked the Prophet:

"Mr. Smith, how do you govern these people?"

"I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves."

"Salvation cannot come without revelation; it is in vain for any man to

minister without it. No man is a minister of Jesus Christ without being

a Prophet. No man can be a minister of Jesus Christ except he has the

testimony of Jesus, and this is the spirit of prophecy."

The Prophet was preaching in Philadelphia, when a man called out for

a sign and would not let Joseph proceed peaceably with his sermon.

After having vainly warned the man of what Christ said concerning

sign-seekers, the person still persisting, Joseph said to the

congregation:

"This man is an adulterer."

"It is true," cried another, "for I caught him in the very act;"

and the sign-seeker after wards confessed that the charge was

correct.

"The Saints can testify whether I am willing to lay down my life for

my brethren. If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to

die for a Mormon, I am bold to declare before heaven that I am just as

ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist or a

good man of any other denomination; for the same principle which would

trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the

rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be

unpopular and too weak to defend themselves."

"There are two Comforters spoken of. The first Comforter is the Holy

Ghost. * * * Now what is this other Comforter? It is the Lord Jesus

Christ Himself. When any man obtains this last Comforter he will have

the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from

time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him. They will

take up their abode in him, and the visions of the heavens will be

opened unto him and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may

have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God; and

this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had

such glorious visions."

Sunday, March 10, 1844--"I prophesy in the name of the Lord that Christ

will not come this year; and I also prophesy in the name of the Lord

that Christ will not come in forty years; and if God ever spoke by my

mouth He will not come in that length of time. Jesus Christ never did

reveal to any man the _precise_ time that He _would_ come."

"The Savior, Moses and Elias, gave the keys of the Priesthood to Peter,

James and John, on the Mount, when they were transfigured before Him. *

* * 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." [The Prophet and Oliver Cowdery].

The Laws, and Fosters, and Higbees had threatened to kill Joseph,

alleging that he was a false Prophet and they would do well to rid the

world of him. He preached a funeral sermon upon Elder King Follett, on

Sunday, the 7th day of April, 1844. Referring to the murderous hate of

his enemies he said:

"If any man is authorized to take away my life because he thinks

and says I am a false teacher, then, upon the same principle, we

should be justified in taking away the life of every false teacher;

and where would be the end of blood? and who would not be the

sufferer?

"But meddle not with any man for his religion; and all governments

ought to permit every man to enjoy his religion unmolested. No

man is authorized to take away life in consequence of difference

of religion, which all laws and governments ought to tolerate and

protect, right or wrong. Every man has a natural, and, in our

country, a constitutional right to be a false prophet as well as

a true prophet. If I show, verily, that I have the truth of God,

and show that ninety-nine out of every hundred professing to be

religious ministers are false teachers, having no authority, while

they pretend to hold the keys of God's kingdom on earth, and was

to kill them because they are false teachers, it would deluge the

whole world with blood."

Elder O. B. Huntington relates the following circumstance, which was

detailed to him by Father Zera Cole while they were at work in the

Logan temple for the dead:

Brother Cole was with the Camp of Zion which went up to Missouri in

1834. While traveling across a vast prairie, treeless and waterless,

they encamped at night after a long and wearisome day's march. They had

been without water since early morning, and men and animals suffered

greatly from thirst, for it had been one of the hottest days of June.

Joseph sat in his tent door looking out upon the scene. All at once

he called for a spade. When it was brought he looked about him and

selected a spot, the most convenient in the camp for men and teams to

get water. Then he dug a shallow well, and immediately the water came

bubbling up into it and filled it, so that the horses and mules could

stand upon the brink and drink from it. While the camp stayed there,

the well remained full, despite the fact that about two hundred men and

scores of horses and mules were supplied from it.

Elder William Cahoon also told Brother Huntington of this incident.

"There are but a 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 past or that which is to come, as it

respects their relationship to God. * * * If a man learns nothing more

than to eat, drink and sleep, and does not comprehend the designs of

God, then the beast comprehends as much. If men do not comprehend the

character of God they do not comprehend themselves. I want to go back

to the beginning, and so lift your minds into a more lofty sphere and a

more exalted understanding than what the human mind generally aspires

to.

"I want to ask this congregation--every man, woman and child--to answer

the question in their own hearts, what kind of a being is God? Ask

yourselves; turn your thoughts into your hearts, and say if any of you

have seen, heard or communed with Him. This is a question that may

occupy your attention for a long time. I again repeat the question,

What kind of a being is God? Does any man or woman know? The Scriptures

inform us that 'This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the

only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.'"

On the 25th day of June, 1844, at about half past nine a. m., after

repeated solicitations from the Prophet for a personal interview,

Governor Ford came to Carthage jail, in company with Colonel Geddes,

and the following conversation occurred, as reported by Apostle John

Taylor:

_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

Esq. 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 our country."

_General Smith_: "Governor Ford, you, sir, as governor of this state,

are aware of the prosecutions and 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 yourself know 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.

"Agreeable 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 administer

even-handed justice to all; but my motives are impugned, my acts are

misconstrued, and I am grossly and wickedly misrepresented. I suppose

I am indebted for my incarceration here to the oath of a worthless man

that 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 we

did not; 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 these 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, and I, when carrying out your institutions, 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 the 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 we have been subjected outside, that

this people could suffer such a set of worthless vagabonds to come

into our city, and right under our own eyes and protection, vilify

and calumniate not only ourselves, but the character of our 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 the matter into their own hands, and have summarily punished the

audacious wretches, as they deserved.

"The principles of equal rights that have been instilled into our

bosoms from our cradles, as American citizens forbid us submitting to

every foul indignity, succumbing and pandering to wretches so infamous

as these. But, independent of this, the course that we pursued we

considered to be strictly legal; for, notwithstanding the insult, we

were anxious to be governed strictly by law, and therefore convened the

city council; and, being desirous in our deliberations to abide law,

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; and, furthermore, upon consulting

Blackstone upon what might be considered a nuisance 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 the power to remove nuisances;

and by ordering that press 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 were willing to abide the

consequences of our own acts, but were 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 know they were in open violation

of it.

"When that document was presented to me by Mr. Bettisworth, I offered

in the presence of more than twenty persons, to go to any other

magistrate, either in our city or Appanoose, or any other place where

we should be safe, but we 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 prosecutions with which you are

acquainted? And had 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 Bettisworth, 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 Esq. 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 these lying,

base rumors put into circulation for, but to seek, through mob

influence, under pretense of law, to make us submit to requisitions

that are contrary to law, and subversive to 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 shrink 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 to, 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, and

think that I have a right to do so, 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."

_Gov. 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 those 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 amicable 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 anyone; 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."

_Col. 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_: "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: yet 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 of 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. Bettisworth 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 cannot interfere."

_Gen. 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 Bettisworth, 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 when coming to

Nauvoo, 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 would only have fanned the excitement, as 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_: "I see, I see."

_Gen. 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 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's 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 separate, instead of with the

councillors.

"Yet, if it is deemed that we did 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 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; but if I go, I

will certainly take yon along. I do not, however, apprehend danger, 1

think yon are perfectly safe, either here or anywhere else. I cannot,

however, interfere with the law. I am placed in peculiar circumstances,

and seem to be blamed by all parties."

_Gen. 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."

The governor Left after saying that the prisoners were under his

protection, and again pledging himself that they should be protected

from violence, and telling them that if the troops marched the next

morning to Nauvoo, as he then expected, they would probably be taken

along, in order to ensure their personal safety.

APPENDIX.

NOTE 1.

FAMILY OF JOSEPH SMITH, SEN.

NO. NAME. WHEN BORN. WHERE BORN. WHEN DIED. WHERE DIED. FATHER'S NAME. MOTHER'S NAME.

1 Alvin Smith 11 Feb. 1799 Tunbridge, Orange Co. Vt. 19 Nov. 1823 Palmyra, Ontario, N. Y. Joseph Smith, Sr. Lucy Mack.

2 Hyrum Smith 9 Feb. 1800 Tunbridge, Orange Co. Vt. 27 June 1844 Carthage, Hancock, Ill. do. do.

3 Sophronia Smith 18 May 1803 Tunbridge, Orange Co. Vt. Coalchester, McDonough, Illinois. do. do.

4 Joseph Smith 23 Dec. 1805 Sharon, Windsor Co. Vt. 27 June 1844 Carthage, Hancock, Ill. do. do.

5 Samuel H. Smith 13 Mar. 1808 Tunbridge, Orange Co. Vt. 30 July 1844 Nauvoo, Hancock, Ill. do. do.

6 Ephraim Smith 13 Mar. 1810 24 Mar. 1810 do. do.

7 William Smith 13 Mar. 1811 Royalton, Vt. Still living 1888. do. do.

8 Catherine Smith 8 July 1812 Lebanon, New Hampshire. do. do.

9 Don Carlos Smith 25 Mar. 1816 Palmyra, Ontario Co. N. Y. Aug. 1841 Nauvoo, Hancock, Ill. do. do.

10 Lucy Smith 18 July 1821 Coalchester, McDonough, Illinois. do. do.

FAMILY OF HYRUM SMITH.

NO. NAME. WHEN BORN. WHERE BORN. WHEN DIED. WHERE DIED. FATHER'S NAME. MOTHER'S NAME.

1 Lovina Smith 16 Sept. 1827 8 Oct. 1876 Farmington, Davis, Ut. Hyrum Smith Jerusha Barden

2 Mary Smith 27 June 1829 do. do.

3 John Smith 22 Sept. 1832 Kirtland, Ohio. do. do.

4 Hyrum Smith 27 Apr. 1834 Kirtland, Ohio. 1843 Nauvoo, Hancock, Ill. do. do.

5 Jerusha Smith 13 Jan. 1836 Kirtland, Ohio. do. do.

6 Sarah Smith 2 Oct. 1837 Kirtland, Ohio. 6 Nov. 1876 Ogden, Weber, Utah. do. do.

7 Joseph F. Smith 13 Nov. 1838 Far West, Caldwell, Mo. do. Mary Fielding

8 Martha Ann Smith 14 May 1841 Nauvoo, Hancock, Ill. do. do.

FAMILY OF JOSEPH SMITH, THE PROPHET.

NO. NAME WHEN BORN. WHERE BORN. WHEN DIED. WHERE DIED. FATHER'S NAME. MOTHER'S NAME.

1 Julia M. Smith 30 Apr. 1831 Ohio. Joseph Smith, Jun. Emma Hale

(adopted daughter)

2 Joseph Smith 6 Nov. 1832 Kirtland, Ohio. do. do.

3 Fredk. G. W. Smith 20 June 1836 Kirtland, Ohio. 1862 Nauvoo, Hancock, Ill. do. do.

4 Alex H. Smith 2 June 1838 Far West, Caldwell, Mo. do. do.

5 Don Carlos Smith 13 June 1840 Nauvoo, Hancock, Ill. Aug. 1841 Nauvoo, Hancock, Ill. do. do.

6 David Hyrum Smith 18 Nov. 1844 Nauvoo, Hancock, Ill. do. do.

NOTE 2.

"As you pass on the mail road from Palmyra, Wayne County, to

Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York, before arriving at the little

village of Manchester, say from three to four, or about four miles from

Palmyra, you pass a large hill on the east side of the road. Why I say

large, is because it is as large, perhaps, as any in that country.

"The north end rises quite suddenly until it assumes a level with the

more southerly extremity, and I think I may say, as elevation higher

than at the south, a short distance, say half or three-fourths of a

mile. As you pass toward Canandaigua it lessens gradually, until the

surface assumes its common level, or is broken by other smaller hills

or ridges, water courses and ravines. I think I am justified in saying

that this is the highest hill for some distance round, and I am certain

that its appearance, as it rises so suddenly from a plain on the north,

must attract the notice of the traveler as he passes by. The north end

(which has been described as rising suddenly above the plain) forms

a promontory without timber, but covered with grass. As you pass to

the south you soon come to scattering timber, the surface having been

cleared by art or wind; and a short distance further left, you are

surrounded with the common forest of the country. It is necessary to

observe that even the part cleared was only occupied for pasturage; its

steep ascent and narrow summit not admitting the plow of the husbandman

with any degree of ease or profit. It was at the second mentioned

place, where the record was found to be deposited, on the west side

of the hill, not far from the top down its side; and when I visited

the place in the year 1830, there were several trees standing--enough

to cause a shade in summer, but not so much as to prevent the surface

being covered with grass, which was also the case when the record was

first found."

NOTE 3.

The record of these inhuman proceedings is made up mainly from the

mobs' own official report of their doings.

NOTE 4.

The revelation in our day of the doctrine of baptism for the dead may

be said to have constituted a new epoch in the history of our race.

At the time the Prophet Joseph received that revelation the belief

was general in Christendom that at death the destiny of the soul was

fixed irrevocably and for all eternity. If not rewarded with endless

happiness, then endless torment was its doom, beyond all possibility

of redemption or change. The horrible and monstrous doctrine, so

much at variance with every element of divine justice, was generally

believed, that the heathen nations who had died without a knowledge of

the true God and the redemption wrought out by His Son, Jesus Christ,

would all be eternally consigned to hell. The belief upon this point

is illustrated by the reply of a certain Bishop to the inquiry of the

king of the Franks, when the king was about to submit to baptism at

the hands of the Bishop. The king was a heathen, but had concluded

to accept the form of religion then called Christianity. The thought

occurred to him that if baptism was necessary for his salvation what

had become of his dead ancestors who had died heathens. This thought

framed itself into an inquiry which he addressed to the Bishop. The

prelate, less politic than many of his sect, bluntly told him they had

gone to hell. "Then, by Thor, I will go there with them," said the

king, and thereupon refused to accept baptism or to become a Christian.

When the Latter-day Saints received the gospel, and learned that

there is but one way by which men can be saved, their thoughts

turned to their dead ancestry. What would be their fate in the great

hereafter? In many cases they knew their parents, grandparents and

other relatives, had been persons who conscientiously lived up to the

light they had received and served God to the best of their ability.

The words of the Prophet Malachi as quoted by the angel Moroni to the

Prophet Joseph, were literally fulfilled:

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 shall 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.

As predicted, Elijah, the Prophet did come. The hearts of the fathers

were turned to the children, and the children to the fathers, according

to the promise. Then came the revelation of God's plan for the

salvation of the dead who had passed away without the opportunity of

receiving the ordinances of the gospel, administered by those whom

God had authorized to perform them in His name. Peter's words were

explained, where he says:

For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead,

that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live

according to God in the spirit.

Also Paul's to the Corinthians, in which he alludes to baptism for the

dead:

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the

dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?

God's justice and mercy were vindicated. The comprehensive and

far-reaching character of the atonement of the Lord Jesus was made

plain, and the children of men had renewed cause to extol the glorious

plan of salvation provided for the redemption of the human family.

Jesus had died for all. His vicarious atonement had broken the bands of

death. In a limited sphere, by the revelation of the sublime doctrine

of baptism for the dead, His brethren and sisters had the glorious

privilege accorded them of becoming saviors, and contributing to

the general salvation of the race. They, also, could, vicariously,

officiate for those who had died without the opportunity of obeying

baptism and other ordinances essential to salvation, administered by

legally authorized servants of God.

NOTE 5.

The _Illinois Springfield Register_ said of the Prophet's candidacy:

GENERAL JOSEPH SMITH A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT.

It appears by the Nauvoo papers that the Mormon Prophet is actually

a candidate for the Presidency. He has sent us his pamphlet,

containing an extract of his principles, from which it appears

that he is up to the hub for a United States bank and a protective

tariff. On these points he is much more explicit than Mr. Clay,

who will not say that he is for a bank, but talks all the time of

restoring a national currency. Nor will Mr. Clay say what kind of a

tariff he is for. He says to the south that he has not sufficiently

examined the present tariff, but thinks very likely it could be

amended.

General Smith professes no such fastidious delicacy. He comes right

out in favor of a bank and a tariff, taking the true Whig ground,

and ought to be regarded as the real Whig candidate for President,

until Mr. Clay can so far recover from his shuffling and dodging as

to declare his sentiments like a man.

At present we can form no opinion of Clay's principles, except as

they are professed by his friends in these parts.

Clay himself, has adopted the notion which was once entertained by

an eminent grammarian, who denied that language was intended as a

means to express one's ideas but insisted that it was invented on

purpose to aid us in concealing them.

The _Iowa Democrat_ said:

A NEW CANDIDATE IN THE FIELD.

We see from the _Nauvoo Neighbor_ that General Joseph Smith,

the great Mormon Prophet, has become a candidate for the next

Presidency. We do not know whether he intends to submit his claims

to the National convention, or not; but, judging from the language

of his own organ, we conclude that he considers himself a full team

for all of them.

All that we have to say on this point is, that if superior talent,

genius and intelligence, combined with virtue, integrity and

enlarged views, are any guarantee to General Smith's being elected,

we think that he will be a full team of himself.

The _Missouri Republican_ believes that it will be death to Van

Buren, and all agree that it must be injurious to the Democratic

ranks, inasmuch as it will throw the Mormon vote out of the field.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Various dates in the Appendix tables appear to be incorrect, but were

left as they appear in the original text.