The conversation with him was very pleasant, but he did not receive the

message of the gospel. He inquired if his visitor intended calling upon

all the ministers in the city, to which the Elder replied that it was

his determination to deliver the message he had been commissioned with;

he had called upon some ministers and intended to see others; and if

there was liberality enough among the Methodists or other denominations

to open their chapels, he would preach. To this the minister replied

that he thought the doctrines Elder Taylor had to advocate would not

agree with theirs, and that he would have to do as the venerable

founder of Methodism had done--go into the highways and the fields.

"But when Paul, the despised Christian, went into the synagogues of

the Jews, bigoted and fallen as they were," replied the Elder, "they

said to him and his companions, 'Brethren, if ye have any word of

exhortation for the people, say on."

"That is what I say," answered the Methodist, "say on."

"Yes," replied Elder Taylor, "but this is not in your synagogue, sir."

To this gentle hint he could only say that he thought the trustees

would not consent to it. In parting, he shook the Elder by the hand and

wished him God-speed.

Elder Taylor also called upon Mr. Radcliff, agent for the Bible Society

and superintendent of the School of Arts. In a conversation lasting

over of three hours, that gentleman made many admissions relative to

the condition of the religious world, which, when his visitor began to

make use of them to show the necessity of a re-opening of the heavens

and a restoration of the ancient gospel, he stopped alarmed, and

observed that "Mormonism led to tremendous conclusions!"

"I am aware that it does," quietly replied his visitor, "but the words

I have used are not mine, but the words of God."

There was present at this interview a Miss Brannan, from the Isle of

Man, who expressed a fear of Elder Taylor's religion; and who, as

the conversation drew to a close, ventured to censure him because he

condemned others.

"No, he does not," said Mr. Radcliff, "he only says they have been

wrong ignorantly, and that they have doubtless lived up to the best

light they had."

Miss Brannan did not relish this remark, and relapsed into silence.

Before leaving them, Elder Taylor remarked to her that he was thinking

of going to the Isle of Man, and he would be pleased to call upon her.

She would be glad to see him, but not as a religious teacher. Or if

he was like other preachers, she would be pleased to receive him. To

this the Elder replied that he should visit the Isle of Man whether she

desired him to or not; that there were others there who would receive

the gospel if she rejected it, and as to the matter of being like other

ministers, it reminded him of the story of the Prophet Micah, who was

told to speak as the other prophets of king Ahab had spoken, and it

would be well with him; but Micah replied: "As the Lord liveth, even

what my God saith, that will I speak." So, likewise, he could only

declare that which God had revealed; if that came in conflict with the

doctrines and practices of men, so much the worse for their doctrines

and practices.

In this manner Elder Taylor continued to labor day after day, neither

avoiding the poor and lowly nor shunning the high and the learned.

Conscious that he possessed the truth, he fearlessly came in contact

with all sorts and conditions of men; and so gentlemanly and pleasing

was his bearing that it compelled men to listen to the message he

delivered with respectful attention.

On the 6th of April, 1840, Apostles Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball,

Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith and Elder Reuben Hedlock

arrived in Liverpool, from America. The next day they found Elder

Taylor, who was overjoyed to see them. In a few days they repaired

to Preston and held a council--seven of the quorum of Apostles being

present.

The first business of the council was to ordain Willard Richards an

Apostle, and receive him into the quorum. This addition made eight

Apostles in the council. Brigham Young presided; Elder Taylor was made

clerk. The former was also sustained as the President of the Twelve

Apostles, he being next in seniority of ordination to Thomas B. Marsh,

the former President, who apostatized in Missouri.

It was resolved that a periodical should be published and called the

_Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star_, of which Parley P. Pratt was

appointed editor. A hymn book was also to be published, John Taylor

being one of a committee of three to select the hymns. It was also

decided to print an edition of the Book of Mormon.

In appointing the several Apostles to fields of labor, it was decided

that Elder Taylor continue to preach in Liverpool and vicinity.

On his return to that city, the work spread more rapidly than before

the council at Preston. Opportunities for preaching were plentiful,

and baptisms frequent. In May he called those who had been baptized

together, and ordained a number of the brethren Priests and Elders,

which gave them the right to preach the gospel and to administer the

ordinances thereof. These brethren, filled with zeal, went out into

the public parks, to the commons, the fields and even the streets,

proclaiming everywhere the gospel and bearing testimony of its truth.

When the opposition of the priests increased in bitterness, and they

sought by every conceivable device to hinder the work and disturb

the meetings, Elder Taylor instructed several of the most zealous of

the brethren to hold auxiliary meetings simultaneously on the public

thoroughfares--just prior to the time appointed for the main central

meeting--and announce to their hearers that a discourse would be

delivered in the public hall, engaged for that purpose. In this way

an interest was awakened in the work, and the meetings crowded with

people, notwithstanding all the efforts of the hostile ministers to

prevent it.

These labors, and assisting in selecting the hymns suitable for

the worship of the Saints, together with reading the proofs and

superintending the printing of the Book of Mormon, occupied the early

summer of 1840.

In July, however, Elder Taylor took the Music Hall in Bold Street, a

large hall, capable of seating some fifteen hundred people, in which he

proposed delivering a course of lectures.

Pending the opening of this hall for the lectures, he went to Ireland

to proclaim the restoration of the gospel in that land. Among many

others he baptized in Liverpool was a Mr. McGuffie, who had some

acquaintances in Newry, County Down, Ireland. This man and a Brother

William Black he took with him as his companions.

A large company of Saints went with them to the dock to see them off.

It was but natural that Elder Taylor should contrast his situation, now

that he was departing for Ireland, with what it was when he landed in

England a few months before. Then he was friendless, unknown and among

strangers; now he was surrounded by a multitude of friends, anxious to

administer to his necessities and willing to assist him in his mission,

while few men in Liverpool were more sought for, or filled a larger

space in public attention.

The company remained on the pier-head waving their adieux until they

could no longer be seen.

The day after sailing, Elder Taylor and companions arrived in Newry,

a beautiful Irish village nestled among rolling hills, characteristic

of that part of Ireland. Brother McGuffie obtained the Court House

to hold a meeting in, and sent around the bell-man to give notice

of it. A congregation of six or seven hundred gathered in at seven

o'clock in the evening, and Elder Taylor preached to them. This was the

introduction of the gospel into Ireland.

An appointment was given out for the next evening, but only a

few attended, and Elder Taylor turned the meeting into a sort of

conversational, promising to explain anything those present wished to

know respecting the message he had delivered to them the night before.

Thus the evening was passed.

It was determined that night--as his stay in Ireland could only be

brief, in consequence of his appointments in Liverpool--that the next

day they would proceed to the other points they had proposed to visit.

In the night Elder Taylor in a vision saw a gentleman approach him

and ask him to stay, saying he would be pleased to hear him. The next

morning, as himself, Brothers McGuffie and Black and a gentleman of

the name of Thomas Tate were leaving the village in a jaunting car,

the same man whom Elder Taylor had seen in the vision stopped them and

requested him to remain; but as Brother McGuffie expected to return to

Newry and remain there some time, Elder Taylor concluded to go on his

way.

After a ride of seven miles through a beautiful, fertile, undulating

country, cut up into small farms by green hedges closely trimmed, and

plentifully dotted with neatly white-washed cottages, they arrived at

the four towns of Bellimacrat, where, in the evening, Elder Taylor

preached in a barn owned by a Mr. Willie. The following morning they

started on foot for the town of Lisburn, Mr. Tate going with them to

assist in carrying their valises. This Mr. Tate Elder Taylor had met

in Liverpool, and prophesied that he would be the first person to be

baptized in Ireland. As he and Elder Taylor walked on, side by side,

that beautiful, fresh morning they left Bellimacrat, the latter opened

the scriptures to his understanding and taught him the gospel in its

simplicity. The listener was carried away with admiration for the

plan of redemption which God had established for the salvation of His

children, and as conviction of its truth had taken hold of his mind, he

was ready to receive it; and on reaching the summit of a hill, which

suddenly brought them in full view of the beautiful Lock Brickland, he

cried out in ecstacy:

"There is water, what doth hinder me being baptized?"

At this the party stopped, and Elder Taylor, going down into the water,

baptized him. He was the first to receive the gospel in Ireland in this

dispensation.

In the town of Lisburn Elder Taylor preached four times in the market

place to large and attentive crowds.

The preaching in Market Square created considerable interest in that

place, but no one applied for baptism. The whole of County Down had

been considerably excited by the meetings held, and before leaving

Lisburn Elder Taylor learned that Brother McGuffie on his return to

Newry had begun to baptize.

Having thus opened the door of salvation to the Irish nation by the

proclamation of the gospel, Elder Taylor, on the 6th of August, took

passage on a steamer at Belfast for the city of Glasgow. On board

he formed the acquaintance of a gentleman who had met with Elder

Orson Pratt in Edinburgh, where that Apostle was laboring; and also

with an Irish gentleman from Belfast. The latter was a friend of a

Mr. Mulholland, of Illinois, who had written him an account of the

persecutions of the Saints in Missouri. He had the letter published in

one of the Belfast papers.

On arriving in Glasgow, Elder Taylor met with Elders Hedlock, Clark

and Mulliner, and the following Sunday preached to the Saints there,

and ordained two brethren Elders. He also visited a small branch

of the Church in Paisley, Renfrewshire. Here that love which the

gospel inspires in the hearts of those who receive it was abundantly

manifested. Though Elder Taylor was a stranger to the Saints there,

they gathered about him, pleaded with him to remain in their midst and

teach them something further concerning the Kingdom of God. Failing to

persuade him to remain longer, as the time for him to be in Liverpool

drew near, they flocked about him for his blessing, and it was not

until the night was gone and day was approaching that he could get a

chance to retire to rest.

CHAPTER X.

COURSE OF LECTURES--VISIT TO THE ISLE OF MAN--REFLECTIONS--LECTURES IN

DOUGLAS--OPPOSITION--CHALLENGE--DISCUSSIONS--SUCCESS.

Returning to Liverpool Elder Taylor delivered his course of lectures

in the Music Hall, Bold Street. The course covered the principal

events connected with the work of the Lord in these last days.

The transgression of the laws of the gospel; the changing of its

ordinances; the breaking of the covenant thereof after its introduction

by the personal ministration of the Son of God; the restoration of

the gospel through the ministration of angels; the restoration, and

the powers and authority of the Holy Priesthood; the coming forth,

character and value of the Book of Mormon; the gathering of Israel and

final redemption of the earth, etc., etc. The lectures were numerously

attended and created considerable interest in religious circles.

During his absence in Ireland and Scotland the local Elders in

Liverpool had been very active, and a number had been added to the

Church. He also found that Elders Curtis and Winchester had arrived

from New York. Both these Elders were able ministers of the word. The

latter had distinguished himself by his labors in Philadelphia, the

former in New York, near which city was his home. Elder Curtis was sent

to Ireland to continue the work commenced there.

Considerable opposition ran side by side with the labors of Elder

Taylor in Liverpool. The ministers belonging to the churches founded by

Mr. Matthews and his chief supporter, Mr. Aitkins, were the principals

in this opposition. They had been very near the truth at one time--not

far removed from the Kingdom of God; but having made up their minds

to reject it, the light they once possessed departed from them. They

were filled with bitterness, jealousy and hatred, and in their madness

descended to methods of opposition unworthy of those who profess to

be gentlemen, to say nothing of men who professed to be followers and

ministers of the Son of God. They raised commotions in some of the

meetings where Elder Taylor held forth that would have disgraced the

meetings in the very heat of a political campaign. They denounced him

whose doctrines they could not refute by the word of God or by reason,

as a liar, a wolf in sheep's clothing, a hypocrite, a false prophet,

and every other vile epithet that the malice of men or the ingenuity of

Satan could invent. Truly having rejected the truth, they were given up

to a hard heart and a reprobate mind.

Seeing that everything was moving along satisfactorily in Liverpool,

Elder Taylor determined to make his long contemplated visit to the

Isle of Man. He started on the 16th of September, 1840, having for

companions Elder Hiram Clark and Brother William Mitchel, one of the

first to receive his testimony in Liverpool. The party arrived in

Douglas the next day.

It was but natural that his arrival in this island should awaken his

remembrance of "Nora," as he affectionately called his wife, Leonora.

Here she had spent her youthful days in the home of her father. Here,

amid the green hills and flower-flecked vales, which everywhere abound

in this delightful island, she had wandered in girlhood, buoyant with

hope and joy; or with a pleasing fear had seen the storm-clouds gather

about her island home, and saw old ocean's mighty waves lashed into

fury, break into harmless spray on Mona's rugged shores. These thoughts

suggested others. He dwelt in fond remembrance on the occasion of her

becoming his wife, and called to mind her trust and love, and all the

happy scenes and hours they had shared together.

Recollection once at work, stopped not at their joys, but brought up to

his vision their sorrows, their afflictions and the persecutions they

had passed through for the sake of the truth--for the cause of God; and

in conclusion he exclaimed:

"Thou hast passed through trials, Nora, but thou shalt rejoice! Thou

hast been driven from thy home for the truth's sake, but thou and thy

children shall have a home in the Kingdom of God! Thou hast suffered

the bereavement of thy husband--the tender association has been

severed--that others may be made partakers of endless life; but thou

and thy husband shall yet reign together in the celestial kingdom of

God. A few more struggles and the battle will be fought, the victory

will be ours, and with the redeemed out of every nation we will sing,

'Glory, and honor, and power, and might, and majesty, and dominion be

ascribed to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, forever

and forever?'"

A day or two after their arrival it was decided that Elders Clark and

Brother Mitchel should go to Ramsey and Elder Taylor remain to labor

in Douglas. He accompanied the two brethren a short distance on their

journey, and before separating they repaired to a lovely spot in a

field, some distance from the road, and there engaged in prayer. The

burden of that prayer was that an effectual door might be opened to

them in that island for the proclamation of the gospel; that gainsayers

might be put to shame, and that the word might be confirmed by signs

following the believers. After prayer they each sought a stone and

placed it at the foot of a tree, on which Elder Taylor carved their

names and the date of their being there. He also ordained Brother

Mitchel a Deacon; and at the request of Elder Clark he also laid

hands upon his head that he might have the gift of tongues and the

interpretation thereof; and afterwards Elder Clark blessed Elder

Taylor. For some time they spoke in tongues, sang, prophesied, and

finally separated to their respective fields of labor, each to thrust

in his sickle and reap.

Elder Taylor, on returning to Douglas, called on Mr. Cain, a

book-binder and seller, and a Primitive Methodist preacher. Although

he was a minister, he was sensible that his church fell far short of

having a fullness of truth, and hence was ready to listen to one who

claimed to have the fullness of the gospel.

He also called upon a number of his wife's girlhood friends, some of

whom were pleased to see him. In this way he made a large circle of

acquaintances, and taught them the gospel. Finally he engaged the

Wellington Rooms, the largest hall in Douglas, capable of seating one

thousand persons.

In this hall he delivered several lectures amid considerable opposition

from sectarian priests. One of their number, Rev. Thomas Hamilton,

was particularly offensive and made some disturbance, but the Elder

found many who befriended him, and indeed, the people generally seemed

indignant at the course pursued by his opponents. At length Mr.

Hamilton sent a challenge to meet him in public discussion, the body of

which was as follows:

"SIR:--Conceiving that the principles advocated by you in the lectures

which you delivered in the Wellington Rooms have no support from the

word of God, but are diametrically opposed to it, and as you _misquoted

that word, mutilated it, took from_ and _added_ to it; I hereby invite

you to a public discussion of the truth of what I conceive to be mere

assertions, and design to prove you guilty of blasphemy against God and

of decoying souls to perdition."

To this Elder Taylor made the following reply:

"I am not aware of having mutilated, misquoted, taken from or added to

the word of God, or of speaking or teaching blasphemy, or trying to

lead men to perdition, as I am charged with in your note; but have been

conscientiously discharging a duty devolving upon me in unfolding the

principles of eternal truth. But as I never shrink from the task of

supporting those principles, in the strength of the Lord, I comply with

your request on the following terms:

"First. That each of us choose a chairman for the preserving of order

in the meeting.

"Second. That the lectures I have delivered in the Wellington Rooms

be the subject of debate, and that you engage to prove that in those

lectures I have advanced doctrines that are unscriptural.

"Third. That the word of God be the test.

"Fourth. That you have an hour to repudiate those supposed errors, and

that I have the same time to reply; that you then have half an hour to

speak and that I have half an hour to reply, and that the meeting then

close for the evening.

"As you have not said anything in your note about the room being taken

by you, I propose that we take it between us, and make a collection to

pay the charge for its use.

"If these propositions, sir, should meet with your approbation, you may

expect me there at the appointed time.

"As I am a stranger in the town I have not as yet made choice of a

chairman, but as Mr. Cain, in the midst of the confusion the other

evening, spoke a few words in my favor, perhaps I may choose him, if he

will accept it."

The discussion came off in accordance with this arrangement, and Mr.

Hamilton was vanquished. "No great honor, however," says Elder Taylor,

in his account of this affair, "as he was a very ignorant man."

Another minister delivered a course of lectures against him, to which

he replied in his own hall--the Wellington Rooms. Another--a Mr. J.

Curran--published a series of newspaper articles against Mormonism, to

which he replied. At the same time the Rev. Robert Heys, a Wesleyan

Methodist, published three pamphlets in opposition to his doctrines, to

each of which he published a reply. Unfortunately, only one of these

pamphlets--the second--has been preserved; but from it we may learn

something of Elder Taylor's power as a debater, the power by which

he earned his title of "Champion of Truth." It is not my purpose to

follow the discussion in all its details, or even give an outline of

it, but simply introduce a single paragraph that is a specimen of Elder

Taylor's cogent reasoning.

His reverend opponent stoutly objected to Mormonism because it was

based on a new revelation, and in his view the day of revelation had

passed--the volume thereof was complete; and he maintained that the

Bible itself forbids any more revelation being added to it, and as

Mormonism claimed to have come into existence through revelation, it

violated the prohibitions of the Bible, and therefore Mormonism was an

imposture.

In support of this argument, he quoted three passages of scripture:

First from Deuteronomy, "Ye shall not _add_ unto the word which I

command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep

the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you;" second from

Proverbs, "Every word of the Lord is pure, * * * _Add_ thou not unto

his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar;" lastly,

from Revelation, "I testify unto every man that heareth the words of

the prophecy of this book, if any man shall _add_ unto these things,

God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book."

To this argument Elder Taylor replied:

"With astonishing confidence in the infallibility of his skill in

biblical lore, Mr. Heys rapidly carries his readers along with him

through the Old and New Testaments, and then, after showing them why

they were written, he reveals the perfection of his knowledge by

giving publicity to the following, which, for aught I know, he may

consider a new discovery: 'Now of this complete and infallible rule

(meaning the HOLY BIBLE) God has decreed and declared that _nothing

shall be either added to it or taken from it!_' This certainly must

be a _new revelation_, for such a _decree_ or _declaration_ is not to

be found in the whole of the sacred writings! It is true, he quotes

three passages--one from Deuteronomy, one from Proverbs, and another

from Revelation; but not one of them contains the decree! That in

Deuteronomy refers exclusively to the Book of the Law. If they declared

the revelation of God to be _complete_, the other scriptures could

never have been written. That in Proverbs refers to the portion of

the sacred writings then in existence. If it is declared the Holy

Scriptures were _complete_, there would not have been afterwards a

continued written revelation. That in the Revelation refers to the

Apocalypse alone, it being, when written, a separate book, unconnected

with the other books of the New Testament which were not then

collected; it could not, therefore, have reference to any other book

or books of the Holy Scriptures. According to his own interpretation

of the above scriptures, in quoting from Proverbs, he would reject the

New Testament and all the prophets that prophesied after Solomon's day;

and in his quotation from Deuteronomy, he would reject all the Bible

but the five books of Moses. But let Mr. Hays take care that he himself

is not incurring the curse by altering the meaning of the words of the

very books to which the prohibition positively and particularly refers!"

Thus he followed his opponent in all his wanderings, as he promises to

do in the beginning of the reply from which the above is taken--"lest

he should 'pervert the truth' and 'darken counsel by words without

knowledge.'" "And while pursuing him," he continues, "it will afford

me no small degree of satisfaction and delight to observe the mists of

error which he has spread around him, dissipated by the clear light of

the gospel, and to behold the fair flowers of Paradise rising again

unhurt in all their native beauty, from beneath the ruthless tread of

his unhallowed feet."

Despite all the opposition that raged against him, Elder Taylor found

a goodly number who were seeking for the truth, and sufficiently

susceptible to the influence of God's Holy Spirit to receive his

testimony and be baptized. These he organized into a branch of the

Church, and, having placed the work in this island on a substantial

footing, he returned to Liverpool.

CHAPTER XI.

RETURN TO NAUVOO--SICKNESS OF LEONORA--SAVED BY THE POWER OF

GOD--FOUNDS "NAUVOO NEIGHBOR"--EDITS "TIMES AND SEASONS"--NOMINATES THE

PROPHET FOR PRESIDENT--REASONS--INTRODUCTION OF CELESTIAL MARRIAGE--HIS

CONDUCT IN REGARD TO IT.

The remainder of Elder Taylor's time while on his first mission to

England was employed mostly in preaching in Liverpool and in assisting

the Saints who were beginning to emigrate to Nauvoo.

There was something singular in this movement among the British Saints.

When the Apostles started on their missions, the Prophet Joseph had

instructed them to say nothing, for the present, in relation to

the gathering of the people. It was doubtless the unsettled state

of the Church at that time which led him to give such counsel. The

instructions were, of course, followed by the Apostles; but no sooner

were the people baptized than they were seized with a desire to gather

with the main body of the Church. "I find it is difficult to keep

anything from the Saints," writes Elder Taylor, "for the Spirit of God

reveals it to them. * * * Some time ago Sister Mitchel dreamed that

she, her husband and a number of others were on board a vessel, and

that there were other vessels, loaded with Saints, going somewhere. She

felt very happy and was rejoicing in the Lord." Another sister had a

similar dream, and was informed that all the Saints were going. Neither

of these sisters, nor any of the Saints at that time, knew anything

about the principle of gathering, yet all were anxious to leave their

homes, their kindred and the associations of a lifetime, to join the

main body of the Church in a distant land, the members of which were

total strangers to them.

Not only had this desire to gather with the Church taken hold of them,

but those who had means were moved upon to assist those who were poor.

Altogether more than eight hundred Saints left England before the

Apostles turned their faces homeward, and Elder Taylor was of material

service to them in Liverpool, as he secured for them the best possible

terms for their passage; organized them into companies, appointing

the most experienced and wisest among them to take charge, that the

inexperienced might not be a prey for sharpers and rogues to feast upon.

In addition to these labors, Elder Taylor visited Manchester,

Birmingham, Sheffield and many other cities, everywhere preaching the

gospel with great success, converting the unbelieving and strengthening

and encouraging the Saints. Thus the autumn and winter of 1840--41

passed away.

The object for which the Apostles had visited Great Britain was

accomplished. They had established the Church there on a sound basis.

The Book of Mormon and the Hymn Book had been published; a periodical

to advocate and defend the faith delivered to the Saints established;

a permanent shipping agency founded to aid the Saints in gathering to

Zion; branches had been organized in nearly all the principal towns of

the kingdom, and some eight thousand souls had been baptized. In all

this labor Elder Taylor had taken an active, prominent part; and now,

in company with his fellow Apostles, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball,

Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith and Willard Richards, he

sailed on the ship _Rochester_ for America.

Elder Taylor arrived in Nauvoo on the 1st of July, 1841. Here a great

sorrow was awaiting him--his faithful, patient Leonora was sick

nigh unto death. The hardships in Missouri, the separation from her

husband,--on whose strong arm and steadfast courage she was wont to

lean,--and the consequent increase of care in watching over her family,

had at last broken down her strength; and hence he found her pale and

wan, and death clutching at her precious life. He called in twenty

Elders, who prayed for her; she was anointed with oil, hands were laid

upon her, and, in fulfillment of God's promise, the prayer of faith

healed the sick--the Lord raised her up.

It was shortly after the return of the Twelve from England that

the Prophet Joseph made known to them the doctrine of celestial

marriage--the marriage system that obtains in the celestial worlds

where the Gods dwell,--marriage that is to endure for time and for

eternity, the ceremony being performed by one holding that power which

binds on earth and binds in heaven. Celestial marriage also includes a

plurality of wives.

This system of marriage had been revealed to the Prophet a number of

years before, but he had kept the matter in his own heart. The time

had come, however, when the principles of this marriage system must

be made known to others and the practice thereof entered into by the

faithful in the Priesthood. Hitherto the Saints, in common with the

so-called Christian world, had married until death did them part; but

now, through the introduction of celestial marriage, the covenants

between men and their wives were to be made for eternity as well as

for time. In this marriage system the great truth is revealed that the

association of husband and wife, with all its endearing associations is

to continue forever; and that--to paraphrase the words of one who spake

as if inspired on this theme [1]--as long as there is room in infinite

space, or matter in the exhaustless storehouse of nature, or as long

as the bosoms of the Gods glow with affection, just so long will new

worlds be created and filled with the ever increasing posterity of the

righteous, and new kingdoms added to the dominions of the Fathers!

The plurality of wives included in this system of marriage is what gave

rise to grave concern in the minds of the faithful men to whom it was

revealed. The world never made a greater mistake than when it supposed

that plural marriage was hailed with delight by the Elders who were

commanded of the Lord to introduce its practice in this generation.

They saw clearly that it would bring additional reproach upon them from

the world; that it would run counter to the traditions and prejudices

of society, as, indeed, it was contrary to their own traditions; that

their motives would be misunderstood or misconstrued. All this they

saw, and naturally shrank from the undertaking required of them by the

revelation of God. How Elder Taylor looked upon this matter and how he

received it is best told in his own words:

"Joseph Smith told the Twelve that if this law was not practiced,

if they would not enter into this covenant, then the Kingdom of God

could not go one step further. Now, we did not feel like preventing

the Kingdom of God from going forward. We professed to be the Apostles

of the Lord, and did not feel like putting ourselves in a position to

retard the progress of the Kingdom of God. The revelation says that

'All those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same.'

Now, that is not my word. I did not make it. It was the Prophet of God

who revealed that to us in Nauvoo, and I bear witness of this solemn

fact before God, that He did reveal this sacred principle to me and

others of the Twelve, and in this revelation it is stated that it is

the will and law of God that 'all those who have this law revealed unto

them must obey the same.'

"I had always entertained strict ideas of virtue, and I felt as

a married man that this was to me, outside of this principle, an

appalling thing to do. The idea of going and asking a young lady to be

married to me when I had already a wife! It was a thing calculated to

stir up feelings from the innermost depths of the human soul. I had

always entertained the strictest regard of chastity. I had never in my

life seen the time when I have known of a man deceiving a woman--and it

is often done in the world, where, notwithstanding the crime, the man

is received into society and the poor woman is looked upon as a pariah

and an outcast--I have always looked upon such a thing as infamous,

and upon such a man as a villain. * * * Hence, with the feelings I had

entertained, nothing but a knowledge of God, and the revelations of

God, and the truth of them, could have induced me to embrace such a

principle as this.

"We [the Twelve] seemed to put off, as far as we could, what might be

termed the evil day.

"Some time after these things were made known unto us, I was riding out

of Nauvoo on horseback, and met Joseph Smith coming in, he, too, being

on horseback. * * * I bowed to Joseph, and having done the same to me,

he said: 'Stop;' and he looked at me very intently. 'Look here,' said

he, 'those things that have been spoken of must be fulfilled, and if

they are not entered into right away the keys will be turned.'

"Well, what did I do? Did I feel to stand in the way of this great,

eternal principle, and treat lightly the things of God? No. I replied:

'Brother Joseph, I will try and carry these things out."'

So indeed he did, for within two years, in Nauvoo, he married Elizabeth

Haigham, Jane B. Ballantyne and Mary A. Oakley. Subsequently, in Utah,

he married Harriet Whitaker, Sophia Whitaker and Margaret Young. [2]

By tongue and pen, as well as by the force of example, he defended this

celestial order of marriage against all who assailed it; and among all

who have advocated it in the face of the fierce opposition it provoked,

or who spoke out in its defense both at home and abroad, there was not

one whose arguments carried more weight than did his.

Meantime Nauvoo had arisen from the bogs of Commerce, and was now an

incorporated city, divided into four wards, with a population of nearly

five thousand. A glorious temple and other public buildings were in

course of construction, a periodical--the _Times and Seasons_--was

being published, and there was every prospect of the city becoming a

commercial and manufacturing center as well as the headquarters of the

Church.

It is scarcely necessary to say that the Twelve were heartily welcomed

home by the Prophet. He at once rolled on their shoulders much of the

responsibility he had carried during their absence; and called upon

them to assist in gathering the people to Nauvoo and to build up the

Stakes of Zion.

The Twelve forthwith published a proclamation to the Saints in the

British Isles, calling upon them to gather to Zion and to assist in

founding manufactories and other enterprises. Another was issued

denouncing thieves who began to infest Nauvoo, and whose villainy was

charged to the Saints; another calling for aid in the construction of

the temple. In all these labors Elder Taylor took a prominent part. He

was also elected a member of the City Council, made a member of the

Board of Regents for the Nauvoo University, and chosen Judge Advocate

with the rank of colonel in the Nauvoo Legion, a position that made him

the responsible adviser of the court and also the public prosecutor in

affairs military.

These labors, in connection with his private business, occupied his

attention after his return from England until February, 1842, when he

was chosen associate editor of the _Times and Seasons_, the Prophet

Joseph being editor-in-chief. This appointment introduced him into a

field of labor for which he was admirably adapted, and in which, during

his lifetime--notwithstanding his labors in that sphere were frequently

interrupted by the drivings of the Church and calls to other kinds of

employments--he accomplished much good, and became well known as a

powerful writer.

He occupied the position of associate editor on the _Times and Seasons_

for about a year, when the Prophet's increasing cares made it necessary

for him to resign his place as editor-in-chief. Elder Taylor was

appointed to take his place. He continued to edit and publish that

periodical until the Church was driven out of Nauvoo in the spring of

1846.

In addition to his labors on the _Times and Seasons_, within a year

he became the editor and proprietor of another paper, the _Nauvoo

Neighbor_, a large imperial sheet issued weekly, and devoted "to the

dissemination of useful knowledge of every description--the arts,

science, religion, literature, agriculture, manufactures, trade,

commerce and the general news of the day." In both these periodicals he

ably defended the truth against all comers, and did much to stem the

flood of falsehood that set in against the character of the Prophet

Joseph.

The progress of Nauvoo was now by leaps and bounds, rapidly increasing

in trade, commerce and population. The Prophet Joseph's career, too,

was approaching its zenith. He was the most prominent man in the

State of Illinois, and much courted because of his supposed political

influence. Some of the most prominent men in the State sought his

friendship, but it too frequently happened that it was for selfish

purposes they courted him. No one was more sensitively aware of that

fact than Elder Taylor. He knew them to be flatterers of the Prophet,

that political thrift might follow fawning. They were heartless

parasites, clinging to him in his hour of prosperity, but ready to fall

away from and even betray him should the tide of his fortunes begin to

ebb, or their interests require his immolation to satisfy the clamor of

a prejudiced populace.

It was to remove the Prophet out of the filthy slough of party

politics, that he and his people might not be the shuttle-cock for the

battledoors of political demagogues--that he and they might not be the

subjects of fulsome praise on the one hand, nor of fierce denunciation

or unseemly vituperation on the other, that Elder Taylor urged the

Prophet's nomination for the presidency of the United States, in

February, 1844.

In a long editorial in the _Neighbor_, in which he nominates the

Prophet for President, he represents that as Henry Clay--then one of

the prominent candidates for President--inclined strongly to the old

school of federalists, his political principles were diametrically

opposed to those entertained by the people of Nauvoo, and hence they

could not conscientiously vote for him; and they had even stronger

objections to Mr. Van Buren, who, when the Saints appealed to him to

redress the outrages put upon them in Missouri, admitted the justice of

their cause, but claimed that he was powerless to assist them; he also

held that Congress was powerless to redress their grievances.

"But all these things are tolerable to what we have yet to state," says

Elder Taylor. "We have been informed from a respectable source, that

there is an understanding between Mr. Benton [Senator], of Missouri,

and Mr. Van Buren, and a conditional compact entered into that if Mr.

Benton will use his influence to get Mr. Van Buren elected, that Mr.

Van Buren, when elected, shall use his executive influence to wipe

away the stain from Missouri by a further persecution of the Mormons,

wreaking vengeance on their heads, either by extermination or by some

other summary process. We could scarcely credit the statement, and we

hope yet, for the sake of humanity, that the suggestion is false; but

we have too good reason to believe that we are correctly informed."

Then, after enlarging upon the fitness of the Prophet for the high

office of President of the United States, he adds:

"One great reason that we have for pursuing our present course is that

at every election we have been made a political target for the filthy

demagogues in the country to shoot their loathsome arrows at. And every

story has been put into circulation to blast our fame, from the old

fabrication of 'walk on the water' down to the 'murder of Governor

Boggs.' The journals have teemed with this filthy trash, and even men

who ought to have more respect for themselves--men contending for the

gubernatorial chair--have made use of terms so degrading, so mean, so

humiliating, that a Billingsgate fisherwoman would have considered

herself disgraced with. We refuse any longer to be thus bedaubed for

either party; we tell all such to let their filth flow in its own

legitimate channel, for we are sick of the loathsome smell. * * * Under

existing circumstances we have no other alternative [than that of

withdrawing from both political parties,] and if we can accomplish our

object, well; if not we shall have the satisfaction of knowing we have

acted conscientiously and have used our best judgment; and if we have

to throw away our votes, we had better do so upon a worthy, rather than

upon an unworthy individual, who might make use of the weapon we put in

his hand to destroy us.

Then the Prophet was put before the country for President of the

United States. He published his views on the powers and policy of the

government, and called upon his friends to support him.

By adopting this policy there was a candidate in the field the Saints

could vote for conscientiously; and if their candidate from the

beginning was sure of defeat, they had at least removed themselves and

their religion from the filthy vortex of political controversy.

Footnotes

1. Parley P. Pratt's _Key to Theology_.

2. For dates of these marriages, birth of children, etc., see Appendix.

CHAPTER XII.

A RETROSPECT--A STATE'S CRIME--TROUBLE BREWING.

Thus far I have spoken only of those prosperous events which befell the

Saints at Nauvoo from the return of the Twelve from England, in July,

1841, to the nomination of the Prophet Joseph for president of the

United States, February, 1843. It now becomes necessary to note some of

those unfortunate events which befell them during the same period, with

all of which Elder Taylor had more or less to do.

Missouri was not satisfied with robbing the Saints wholesale and

expelling them from her borders, her hatred followed them to Illinois.

Of course the Prophet Joseph was the chief object of their fury. In

the fall of 1841 he was arrested upon a requisition from the Governor

of Missouri on the old charge of "theft, arson and murder," assumed to

have been committed in Caldwell and Daviess Counties, in the autumn of

1838. He obtained a writ of _habeas corpus_ and the case came up before

Judge Stephen A. Douglass, at Monmouth, who found the writ on which he

was held illegal, and discharged the prisoner.

In the spring of 1842 an attempt was made to assassinate ex-Governor

Boggs of Missouri, and as soon as he recovered from the injuries

received, he charged Joseph Smith with being accessory before the

fact to the attempted murder. Again the Prophet was arrested under a

requisition from the Governor of Missouri, and again he obtained a writ

of _habeas corpus_ and went before the circuit court of the United

States, Judge Pope of Springfield, Illinois, presiding. Elder Taylor

and a few others accompanied him. The Prophet was anxious to have the

case tried on its merits, but this Judge Pope held to be unnecessary as

he was entitled to be discharged because of defects in the affidavit on

which the demand for his surrender to Missouri was made.

As the state legislature at the time was in session, there were

gathered in Springfield the principal men of the state; and as

they were all anxious to learn something of "Mormonism," the

Representatives' Hall was tendered the brethren for holding religious

service, on Sunday, and Elder Taylor and Orson Hyde were appointed by

the Prophet to preach, the latter in the forenoon, the former in the

afternoon.

In all these vexatious prosecutions Elder Taylor stood very near the

Prophet, and ably defended him through the editorial columns of the

_Times and Seasons_ and the _Neighbor_.

In the meantime the phenomenal growth of the Church, the prosperity of

the Saints in Nauvoo, and the rapid progress of the city, while very

gratifying to the founders of both Church and city, attracted to the

body religious and municipal a class of men that were very undesirable.

Adventurers seeking for place and power and wealth; demagogues who by

fulsome flattery of the people hoped to attain through their political

influence a realization of their ambitious dreams; knaves who by

falsely professing conversion, thought to cover up corrupt, licentious

lives, and thrive by villainy; thieves and counterfeiters who saw their

opportunity to live by roguery, and steal on the credit of the Mormons,

of whom the people of Illinois were too ready to believe anything that

savored of evil, because prejudiced against their religion--all these

characters were attracted to Nauvoo by the prosperity that reigned

there; and their ungodly conduct hastened the evil day of the city's

destruction.

Chief among these reckless adventurers was John C. Bennett, a man of

learning and intellectual ability but a moral leper. He was guilty of

the most infamous, licentious practices, and seduced several women by

representing that promiscuous intercourse of the sexes was a doctrine

believed in by the Latter-day Saints and that there was no harm in it.

He also said that Joseph Smith and other Church leaders both sanctioned

and practiced such wickedness; that Joseph only denounced such things

in public so vehemently because of the prejudice of the people, and the

trouble that might arise in his own house.

For this conduct he was excommunicated from the Church, compelled to

resign the Mayorship of the city, expelled from the Masonic Lodge,

chastised by the Legion, and his infamy published to the world and

denounced.

This filled him with bitterness against the Saints, and especially

against the Prophet. He at once set on foot measures that he hoped

would bring him a terrible revenge. He succeeded in getting the

Missourians to issue a new warrant for his arrest on the old charge of

"theft, arson and murder," and a new requisition for his arrest was

granted by Governor Ford, of Illinois.

The warrants were served on the Prophet in Lee County, some two hundred

miles from Nauvoo. The officers who arrested him sought to drag him

immediately into Missouri, but in this they failed, as Joseph through

some friends obtained a writ of _habeas corpus_, and the legality of

the warrant was enquired into by the municipal court of Nauvoo. The

court also went behind the writ and tried the case _exparte_ on its

merits, and discharged the accused for want of subsistence in the

warrant on which he was arrested, as well as upon the merits of the

case.

Elder Taylor in an editorial in the _Neighbor_ of July 5th 1843, thus

deals with the course pursued by Missouri in these several instances of

persecution against the Prophet:

"It has fallen to our lot of late years to keep an account of any

remarkable circumstances that might transpire in and about this and

adjoining states; as well as of distant provinces and nations. Among

the many robberies, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes,

fires, mobs, wars, etc., which we have had to record, there is one

circumstance of annual occurrence which it has always fallen to our

lot to chronicle. We allude not to the yearly inundation of the Nile,

nor the frequent eruptions of Vesuvius or AEtna, but to the boiling over

of Tophet, _alias_ the annual overflow of the excrescence of Missouri.

Not indeed, like the Nile, over-flowing its parched banks, invigorating

its alluvial soil and causing vegetation to teem forth in its richest

attire; but like the sulphurous flame that burns unnoticed in the

bowels of a volcano; kept alive by the combustion of its own native

element, until it can contain itself no longer within the limits of its

crater; it bursts beyond its natural bounds; spreads its sulphurous

lava all around, leaving naught but desolation in its path,--destroying

alike the cot of the husbandman, and the palace of the noble, in one

grand sweep; covering vegetation with its fiery lava, and turning the

garden into a bed of cinders. So Missouri has her annual ebulitions,

and must belch forth her sulphurous lava and seek to overwhelm others;

and as it happens that we are so unfortunate as to live near the

borders of this monster, we must ever and anon, be smutted with the

soot that flies off from her burning crater.

"Without entering here into the particulars of the bloody deeds, the

high-handed oppression, the unconstitutional acts, the deadly and

malicious hate, the numerous murders and the wholesale robberies

of that people, we will proceed to notice one of the late acts of

Missouri, or of the governor of that state, towards us. We allude to

the late arrest of Joseph Smith."

Then follows an account of the arrests of the Prophet and the manner in

which he was released from the officers as already briefly stated in

this chapter; he dwells at some length on the events of the last arrest

made near Dixon, detailing the cruelty and brutality of the officers.

He then concludes:

"Why Governor Ford should lend his assistance in a vexatious

prosecution of this kind we are at a loss to determine. He possesses a

discretionary power in such cases, and has a right to use his judgment,

as the chief magistrate of this state; and knowing, as he does, that

the whole proceedings connected with this affair are illegal, we think

that in justice he ought to have leaned to the side of the oppressed

and innocent, particularly when the persecuted and prosecuted were

citizens of his own state who had a right to his sympathies and to be

shielded by his paternal care, as the father of this state. Does not

his excellency know, and do not all the citizens of the state know,

that the Mormons have been robbed, pillaged and plundered in Missouri

without any redress? That the Mormons _en masse_ were exterminated from

that state without any legal pretext whatever? How, then, could they

have any legal claim upon Joseph Smith or any Mormon? Have the Mormons

ever obtained any redress for injuries received in Missouri? No. Is

there any prospect of their receiving any remuneration for their loss,

or redress for their grievances? No. When a demand was make upon the

governor of Missouri, by Governor Carlin of this state for the persons

who kidnapped several Mormons, were they given up by that state? No.

Why then should our executive feel so tenacious in fulfilling all the

nice punctillios of law, when the very state that is making these

demands has robbed, murdered and exterminated by wholesale, without

law, and is merely making use of it at present as a cat's paw to

destroy the innocent and murder those that they have already persecuted

nearly to the death.

"It is impossible that the State of Missouri should do justice with her

coffers groaning with the spoils of the oppressed, and her hands yet

reeking with the blood of the innocent. Shall she yet gorge her bloody

maw with other victims? Shall Joseph Smith be given into her hands

illegally? Never! _No, never!!_ No, NEVER!!!"

He afterwards published in the _Neighbor_ full details of this

_exparte_ trial with the affidavits of the several witnesses given

_in extenso_. Those affidavits make up an indictment against the

State of Missouri which brings the hot blush of shame to the cheek

of every lover of his country's institutions. In their treatment of

the Latter-day Saints the leading officials of Missouri were guilty

not only of high-handed oppression, but of such high crimes and

misdemeanors as would have hung them had they met the just penalty of

their misdeeds. But as those who suffered were members of an unpopular

Church, the atrocious and bloody deeds of that state were passed by and

no one felt called upon to demand justice in behalf of the oppressed;

and those powers that were appealed to for redress of grievances--the

President and congress of the United States--claimed to have no power

to interfere. Mobocracy had triumphed in Missouri, and there was no

power in the government to call Missouri to an account for her wrong

doing.

At the time of the Prophet's arrest at Dixon there was an exciting

political campaign in progress in that part of Illinois where Nauvoo

was located, for representative to congress, and also for county

officers. Two parties were in the field, Whigs and Democrats; each

anxious to obtain the Mormon vote. The Democrats accused the Whigs of

being the instigators of this last arrest of Joseph Smith, at that

particular juncture, that Governor Ford, a Democrat, might be compelled

to issue a warrant for his arrest and thus influence the Saints against

the Democrats; and in proof of this referred to the fact that John

C. Bennett, at whose instance, doubtless, this last warrant for the

arrest of the Prophet was gotten up in Missouri, was the special pet

of what was called the "Whig junto" in Springfield; that a special

session of the circuit court was called in Daviess County, Missouri,

in order to have the warrant act at the proper juncture; that Cyrus

Walker, the Whig candidate for Congress, was within six miles of Dixon

when the Prophet was arrested; that he refused to act as council for

him only on the condition that he pledged him his vote (that pledge

Walker was pleased to consider as binding to his interest the entire

Mormon vote); that on this pledge being given he cancelled all his

appointments to speak in that part of the state and repaired to Nauvoo

where the validity of the arrest and warrants on which it was made were

investigated.

This charge the Whigs vehemently denied and in turn accused the

Democrats with having made it to influence the Mormon vote in favor of

themselves. Thus crimination and recrimination went on, and whichever

party the people of Nauvoo voted for, they were sure to incur the wrath

of the other.

The Prophet Joseph kept his pledge with Cyrus Walker and voted for him,

but the Democratic ticket was overwhelmingly successful in Nauvoo, and

in the county and district. As soon as the result was made known the

disappointed candidates and their friends were enraged. They began

plotting against the people of Nauvoo, and started an agitation that

had for its object the expulsion of the Saints from the state. Public

meetings were called and committees appointed to correspond with

surrounding counties to ascertain how much assistance they would render

in expelling the Mormons from the state.

No effort whatever was made to conceal their intentions. The banishment

of the citizens of Nauvoo from the state was openly discussed and

advocated in public meetings and through the press. Bitter fruit, this,

to be found growing on the tree of liberty, in the land of the free--in

the asylum for the oppressed of all nations!

CHAPTER XIII.

AN IMPORTANT YEAR--APOSTATES--AGITATION OF THE MORMON QUESTION--THE

NAUVOO "EXPOSITOR"--ITS SUPPRESSION--EFFECT OF SUPPRESSION--GOVERNOR

FORD'S ORDER--NAUVOO UNDER MARTIAL LAW.

We have now reached the eventful year of 1844, the year of the great

tragedy, the martyrdom of the Prophets Joseph and Hyrum Smith--a

martyrdom which Elder Taylor shared.

The situation of the Saints at that time was, to say the least,

remarkable. Besides the arch fiend Bennett, the Church had warmed

within her bosom a number of other snakes that turned and stung her.

Among these was William Law, Counselor to the Prophet Joseph, and yet

his most bitter maligner and enemy. A smooth, dissembling villain! The

kind that can look like the innocent flower and yet be the serpent

under it. Not only was he guilty of the grossest immorality, but

he conspired with assassins from Missouri, to take the life of the

Prophet; and even conducted them himself to the house of Joseph. They

were only prevented from accomplishing the foul murder that was in

their hearts, by the faithfulness of two guards, Josiah Arnold and

David Garn, who refused to admit them to the Prophet's presence.

Second to him in treachery and villainy was his natural brother,

Wilson Law, a general in the Nauvoo Legion. Dr. R. D. Foster, a man

not only inclined to profligacy, but one who had the means to indulge

his inclination to the top of his bent, as he was wealthy. Besides

these men there were the two Higbees, Francis and Chauncy, the latter a

young lawyer. They were both sons of Judge Elias Higbee, a man highly

respected by the Church for his upright life and sterling integrity.

All the above named apostates were excommunicated from the Church for

their wickedness, chiefly for seduction and adultery; and so abandoned

and shameful were their crimes that the High Council which tried them

had to sit with closed doors. Besides these leaders in wickedness

there were a large number of apostates in Nauvoo and vicinity that had

been expelled from the Church. They were recreant to every principle

of righteousness, and full of bitterness. Fitful anger rankled in

their breasts. They seemed to have lost the power to repent, and even

the desire for forgiveness. They were possessed wholly with a fierce

determination to destroy the structure--the Church--where in the days

of their righteousness they were wont to find spiritual repose.

In addition to these enemies, the sectarian religionists, maddened to

frenzy because unable to cope successfully with Mormonism, stood ready

to persecute to the death those whom they could not convert. Then

there were the two political parties, Whigs and Democrats, so equally

balanced that whichever party the Saints voted with gained the victory.

It often happened that candidates for office made an issue of the

Mormon question--promising to exterminate them, or lend their influence

to that end if elected. As often as this was done the Saints were

compelled in self-defense to vote against them, and their opponents

were generally defeated. But whichever party the Saints voted with the

other was sure to be offended, and would heap unstinted abuse on their

uncovered heads, filling their press with accounts of "the enormities

of Nauvoo, and of the awful wickedness of a party which would consent

to receive the support of such miscreants."

There was also another class of people that did no end of mischief

to the character of the Saints at Nauvoo. They were counterfeiters,

horse-thieves, cut-throats and all-round scoundrels, which not only

infested Nauvoo and vicinity, but the whole western country. "In some

districts", says Elder Taylor, "their influence was so great as to

control important state and county offices." Of these Governor Ford

bears witness, saying--

"Then again, the northern part of the state was not destitute of

its organized bands of rogues, engaged in murders, robberies,

horse-stealing, and in making and passing counterfeit money. These

rogues were scattered all over the north, but most of them were located

in the counties of Ogle, Winnebago, Lee and DeKalb." [1]

They extended into other counties, however, and even judges, sheriffs,

constables, jailors and professional men were privy to their deeds and

sharers in the fruits of their robberies. "Their object in persecuting

the Mormons," says Elder Taylor--and these characters did persecute

them--"was in part to cover their own rascality, and in part to prevent

the people of Nauvoo from exposing and prosecuting them; but the

principal reason was plunder, believing if the Saints could be removed

or driven they would be made fat on Mormon spoils, besides having in

the deserted city a good asylum for the prosecution of their diabolical

pursuits."

All these elements found it convenient to combine against the Church

for its destruction, the overthrow of the Prophet and those who stood

near him. A regular system of agitation was began, having for its

avowed object the extermination of the Saints from the city founded

by their industry. Meetings were held in various parts of Hancock

and surrounding counties, at which speeches the most intemperate,

resolutions the most inflammatory, and accusations the most vile and

false were fulminated against Nauvoo and her inhabitants. The press

supported the actions of these meetings, publishing their proceedings,

and encouraging them by commendatory comments. Especially was this the

case with the _Warsaw Signal_, edited by one Thomas Sharp, whom Elder

Taylor alludes to as "a violent, unprincipled man, who shrunk not at

any enormity."

Such were the elements that combined against the peace of Nauvoo and

the destruction of her leading citizens. Seeing mischief afoot and an

ever growing popular sentiment against the Mormons and in favor of the

reckless, not to say lawless, course of the anti-Mormon agitators, the

apostates in Nauvoo ventured to publish the most infamous sheet ever

issued from the press--the _Nauvoo Expositor_. Its mendacious slanders

were aimed at the most prominent and virtuous of Nauvoo's citizens. No

sooner did it appear than a storm of indignation passed through the

city; and the people threatened to annihilate it. Wishing to avoid any

unlawful procedure, the city council was convened to consider what

steps should be taken to suppress the unclean and untruthful thing.

The _Expositor_ was produced and read in the council. It was held by

some that the purpose for which it was published was to provoke the

people to some overt act which would make them amenable to the law, and

increase the bitterness of the outside prejudice against them. This was

doubtless the case. Such it seems was the understanding of the council.

In relation to this circumstance Elder Taylor remarks:

"With a perfect knowledge, therefore, of the designs of these infernal

scoundrels who were in our midst, as well as those who surrounded us,

the city council entered upon an investigation of the matter. They felt

that they were in a critical position, and that any move made for the

abating of that press would be looked upon, or at least represented,

as a direct attack upon the liberty of speech, and that, so far from

displeasing our enemies, it would be looked upon by them as one of

the best circumstances that could transpire to assist them in their

nefarious and bloody designs."

After spending nearly a whole night in considering the best plan to

pursue, it was finally decided to declare the _Expositor_ a nuisance,

and order its abatement. Elder Taylor made the motion and it was

carried unanimously, with the exception of one vote, and that person

acknowledged the righteousness of the movement, but feared it would

afford the enemies of the city too great an advantage by giving some

ground for the cry that would be raised, that the freedom of the

press had been overthrown in Nauvoo. It is quite certain, however,

that if the city council had not taken this means of suppressing the

_Expositor_, the citizens would have risen _en masse_ and a mob would

have destroyed it: and that would have given the enemies of the Saints

as good ground for agitation against Nauvoo and her people as the

action of the city council did. So Elder Taylor's motion prevailed.

The _Expositor_ Press was destroyed by the city marshal, John P. Green,

and a small _posse_ of men he called to his assistance. The type was

pied in the streets and the papers in the office taken out and burned.

The whole proceeding was done quietly but determinedly. The only force

employed was the breaking in of the doors to the _Expositor_ office

when admittance was denied. Some of the leading apostates set fire to

their houses and fled to Carthage, the county seat of Hancock County,

with the lie on their lips that their lives were in danger. Fortunately

the police in Nauvoo discovered the houses of these men on fire and

extinguished the flames before any material harm was done, so that they

had no blackened ruins to point to as a witness of Mormon atrocity.

All the mischief anticipated from suppressing the _Expositor_ nuisance

came to pass. "The Mormons had laid unhallowed hands upon the press!"

"They opposed the freedom of speech!" "The laws were no longer a

protection to life and property in Nauvoo!" "A mob at Nauvoo under a

city ordinance had violated the highest privilege in the government!"

Such were the sentences that flew as if on the wings of the wind to all

parts of Illinois.

A mass meeting was held at Warsaw, the prevailing sentiment of which

was that "to seek redress in the ordinary mode would be utterly

ineffectual." The meeting therefore adopted resolutions announcing

that those present were at all times ready to co-operate with their

fellow citizens in Missouri and Iowa to exterminate--_utterly

exterminate_--the Mormon leaders--the authors their troubles. Another

mass meeting was held at Carthage at which the Warsaw resolutions were

adopted.

The anti-Mormon press teemed with intemperate articles, outrageously

false accusations and frantic appeals to the very worst passions of

human nature. The citizens of Nauvoo were represented as a horde of

lawless ruffians and brigands; anti-American and anti-republican;

steeped in crime and iniquity; opposed to freedom of speech and to

progress; among whom neither persons nor property were secure. They

were accused also of having designs upon the citizens of Illinois and

of the United States; and for these things the people were called upon

to rise _en masse_ and utterly exterminate them.

While these falsehoods were being extensively circulated through

Illinois and the surrounding states, it was the most difficult thing,

almost impossible to get a true statement of the case before the

country. True accounts of the proceedings of the city council in the

_Expositor_ affair were published in the _Times and Seasons_ and also

in the _Neighbor_; but it was impossible to circulate them in Hancock

and surrounding counties, as they were destroyed at the post offices.

To get them abroad Elder Taylor had to send them a distance of thirty

or forty miles from Nauvoo before posting them. In some instances they

had to be taken to St. Louis, a distance of two hundred miles, to

ensure their reaching their destination.

The systematic circulation of falsehood on the one hand, and the

suppression of the truth on the other, resulted in a tremendous storm

of indignation against the Saints--especially against the leading

Elders--that threatened to overwhelm them.

In the midst of this excitement, complaint was made by Francis M.

Higbee, and a warrant issued against the members of the city council

for riot in destroying the _Expositor_ press and fixtures. The warrant

was issued by Mr. Morrison, a justice of the peace in Carthage, and

required the constable, Mr. Bettisworth, to bring the parties named

in it before him, "or some other justice of the peace," to be dealt

with according to law. When the writ was served on the members of

the council they expressed a perfect willingness to submit to an

investigation of their proceedings; but as the law of the state made it

the privilege of the accused to "appear before the issuer of the writ

or any other justice of the peace," they desired to avail themselves

of this privilege, and go before some other magistrate than Justice

Morrison, alleging as their reason for this that it was unsafe for

them to go to Carthage. The constable refused to grant their request,

whereupon they sued for a writ of _habeas corpus_ before the municipal

court of Nauvoo, and on a hearing of the case they were dismissed. [2]

This was declared to be resistance to the law, and made use of to

further influence the public mind against the Mormons. Mobs were

therefore assembled and the work of violence inaugurated by kidnapping,

whipping and otherwise abusing the Saints living in out-lying districts

of Nauvoo. For protection the people thus abused fled to Nauvoo, and

this was heralded abroad as the massing of the Mormon forces.

Governor Ford was kept informed of all that was transpiring in Nauvoo

by the city authorities, and in answer to the question, "What course

shall we pursue in the event of an armed mob coming against the city,"

he replied that Joseph Smith was Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo

Legion; it was his duty to protect the city and surrounding country,

and issued orders to him to that effect. Thus qualified to act, by the

Governor of the state, the Legion was called together and measures were

taken for the defense of the city: as the mob forces grew bolder every

day, Nauvoo was at last placed under martial law.

Footnotes

1. Ford's History of Illinois, p. 246.

2. Subsequently, at the instance of Judge Thomas, the circuit judge of

the judicial district in which Nauvoo was located, the city council

submitted to a new trial, on the same charge, before Squire Wells and

were again acquitted.

CHAPTER XIV.

ARRIVAL OF GOVERNOR FORD IN CARTHAGE--MOB CONVERTED INTO MILITIA--ELDER

TAYLOR AND DR. BERNHISEL GO TO CARTHAGE--DEMANDS OF GOVERNOR

FORD--PLEDGES THE HONOR OF THE STATE FOR JOSEPH'S PROTECTION--JOSEPH

STARTS FOR THE WEST--RETURNS--ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION AT CARTHAGE.

Meantime the mobocrats were active in making their misrepresentations

to the governor. He finally determined to visit the scenes of the

difficulty. He went from Springfield to Carthage, the head-quarters of

the mob forces, and received them as the militia of the state.

His first move was to send a message to Nauvoo asking that a committee

be appointed to represent to him the state of affairs in the county.

Elder Taylor and Dr. J. M. Bernhisel were appointed that committee.

Armed with affidavits and duplicates of documents which had been sent

to the Governor at Springfield--he had missed the messengers bearing

them by starting for Carthage--they left on the evening of the 21st

of June, to wait upon the Governor, arriving in Carthage about eleven

o'clock at night. The town was filled with a rabble more or less under

the influence of liquor. The yelling and swearing would justify them in

the belief that they had arrived in pandemonium.

Elder Taylor and companion put up at the Hamilton House; the Governor

also had his rooms there. On retiring they had to pass through another

bed-room to get to their own, and stretched out on the bed was one

Jackson, a vicious cut-throat and desperado, one of the chief enemies

of the Saints. On reaching the chamber assigned them, Elder Taylor

hinted to his companion that things looked suspicious, and took the

precaution to see that his weapons were in order.

No sooner had they retired than the young apostate Chauncy Higbee

came to their door, and stated that Daniel Garn was under arrest and

was about to be committed to prison; that as he believed him to be an

honest man, one who had done wrong only through the instigation of

others, he thought it a pity for him to be committed to prison, and he

had come to ask Dr. Bernhisel to be his bail. Touched by this appeal

the doctor said he would go, and Higbee left him while he dressed,

saying he would call for him in a few minutes.

After the departure of Higbee, Elder Taylor expressed his fear that

this was but a ruse to separate them. They had important documents to

submit to the Governor, and it was his opinion that the object was to

separate them and get possession of those papers, and perhaps murder

one or both of them. The doctor admitted the probability of this and

informed Higbee that Elder Taylor and himself would wait upon the

justice in the morning. That night Elder Taylor laid awake with his

pistols under his pillow, ready for any emergency.

The light of morning came at last, and with the darkness fled their

apprehensions. They waited upon the justice who held Daniel Garn in

custody, and offered to be his bail. The justice answered that he

doubted if property in Nauvoo would be worth anything in a few days,

and therefore refused to accept them as bondsmen. They both had

property outside of Nauvoo which they offered as security. The justice

then told them that such was the nature of the accusation against Mr.

Garn, that he would not feel justified in admitting him to bail. This

confirmed Elder Taylor's suspicion that the request for them to be his

bail the night before was only a ruse to separate them.

That morning they had an interview with the Governor. "And such an

interview!" exclaimed Elder Taylor. He was surrounded by the very

vilest of apostate Mormons and desperadoes, bent on the destruction of

the Saints. As he opened and read aloud some of the documents submitted

to him, he was frequently interrupted with such expressions as, "that's

a lie!" "that's a G--d d----d lie!" "that's an infernal falsehood!" etc.

After the whole case was stated to the Governor, and all the documents

submitted, he insisted that in order to prove to the people that they

were willing to submit to the law, it would be best for Joseph Smith

and all concerned in the destruction of the _Expositor_ press to come

to Carthage for examination. Elder Taylor represented that they had

already been examined before two competent courts on that charge, the

municipal court of Nauvoo and before Squire Wells, a justice of the

peace, and each time acquitted; that they had fulfilled the law in

every particular and that their enemies had murderous designs and were

only making use of this matter to get Joseph Smith and other leading

men into their power. The Governor, however, insisted that the proper

thing for them to do would be to come to Carthage.

Elder Taylor then stated that in consequence of the excitement

prevailing, it would be extremely unsafe for Joseph to come to

Carthage; that they had men and arms to defend themselves, but if

their forces and those of their enemies should be brought into close

proximity the most probable result would be a collision. In reply to

this the Governor "strenuously advised us," says Elder Taylor, "not to

bring our arms, and _pledged his faith as Governor, and the faith of

the state, that we should be protected, and that he would guarantee our

perfect safety_."

After waiting until evening for a communication which the Governor

prepared for Joseph, Elder Taylor and companion started for Nauvoo

in company with Captain Gates and a squad of mounted men sent by

the Governor to escort the Prophet to Carthage, should he conclude

to act on his advice. They reached Nauvoo about nine o'clock, and

at once delivered the Governor's message to Joseph with a report of

their labors. Joseph was much displeased with the spirit manifested

in the Governor's letter and with his whole course. The little group

of friends that met in council were much perplexed as to what course

to pursue, and various plans of action were discussed. Among others

the feasibility of Joseph going to Washington to lay the case before

President Tyler. At this juncture the council was interrupted by the

withdrawal of Joseph to give an interview to two gentlemen,--one of

whom was a son of John C. Calhoun,--who had arrived at the mansion and

were anxious to meet with the Prophet. He was detained sometime, and

between two and three o'clock in the morning, having had no rest the

night before, and thinking that Joseph would not return, Elder Taylor

left the mansion for his home, to rest.

Shortly after he retired, however, the Prophet returned and the

informal council meeting was resumed. The project of laying the

case before President Tyler was abandoned. Joseph had received an

inspiration to go west, and all would be well. He said: "The way is

open. It is clear to my mind what to do. All they want is Hyrum and

myself; then tell everybody to go about their business, and not collect

in groups, but scatter about. There is no danger; they will come here

and search for us. Let them search; they will not harm you in person or

in property, and not even a hair of your head. We will cross the river

tonight and go away to the west."

The Prophet and his brother Hyrum at once crossed the river and their

friends were instructed to procure horses for them and make all

necessary preparations to start for "the Great Basin of the Rocky

Mountains."

The next morning a Mrs. Thompson entered Elder Taylor's house about

seven o'clock.

"What, you here!" she exclaimed, very much surprised, "the brethren

have crossed the river some time since."

"What brethren?"

"Brother Joseph and Hyrum, and Brother Richards."

Elder Taylor at once concluded that those brethren had determined

finally to leave for the East for a season, as had been talked of the

night before, instead of going to Carthage. He knew what a storm of

rage and disappointment that would arouse in the breasts of the mob

militia at Carthage, who were waiting with ill-concealed impatience for

the coming of their prey. Being satisfied that if the mob forces which

Governor Ford had exalted to the dignity of "state militia" should come

to Nauvoo, and find their victims gone, the first thing they would do

would be to destroy the printing office. He therefore called to his

assistance a few brethren in whom he had confidence and removed the

type, the stereotyped plates of the Book of Mormon and the fixtures

that were the most valuable.

This done he made arrangements for the adjustment of his accounts,

having determined, in the event of not finding Joseph and his

companions, to go to Upper Canada for a season. In caring for the

valuables in the printing office, and in making his preparations to

leave Nauvoo, he had been materially assisted by Cyrus H. Wheelock. He

was an active, enterprising man, just such a man as Elder Taylor would

need if he went to Canada, so he said to him:

"Brother Wheelock, can you go with me ten or fifteen hundred miles?

"Yes."

"Can you start in half an hour?

"Yes."

Those were times and circumstances that required prompt action, and

Brother Wheelock had evidently drunk deeply into the spirit of the

times. Brother Wheelock lived on the Montrose side of the river; and

Elder Taylor told him to go and visit his family, procure horses and

the necessary equipage for the journey, and if they heard nothing from

Joseph they would start by night fall. He also arranged for Brother

Wheelock and a Brother Bell to row him across the river during the

afternoon. That he might not be recognized while leaving Nauvoo, he

went to the house of a Brother Eddy on the banks of the river, and

there disguised himself as an old man. He went down to the boat while

the brethren were sauntering along on the banks just below it. Brother

Bell did not recognize him and at last remarked to Brother Wheelock--"I

wish that old gentleman would go away; he has been pottering around

that boat for some time, and I am afraid that Elder Taylor will be

coming." His mistake, when discovered, afforded them considerable

merriment.

At Montrose he was taken by the brethren to a house surrounded by

timber, and there made arrangements to take the stereotyped plates of

the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants with him, thinking he

could supply the publishing company at Nauvoo subsistence money through

the sale of these books in the east.

Meantime Elias Smith, cousin to the Prophet, had procured him some

money for his journey; his horses were reported ready, the friendly

night which would cover him from the eyes of his enemies was

approaching, when word was brought to him from Joseph to meet him in

Montrose. The Prophet had suddenly changed his mind and had determined

on going to Carthage to give himself up; and he wished Elder Taylor to

accompany him.

"I must confess that I felt a good deal disappointed at the news," says

Elder Taylor, "but I immediately made preparations to go."

The facts in the case were that some of Joseph's friends, learning that

he was intending to leave Nauvoo, instead of rendering him all possible

assistance to escape from his enemies, complained of his conduct as

most cowardly, and entreated him to return to the city and not leave

them like a false shepherd leaves his flock when the wolves attack

it. The parties most forward in making this charge of cowardice were,

Reynolds Cahoon, L. D. Wasson and Hiram Kimball. His wife Emma also

sent a letter by the hand of Reynolds Cahoon, entreating him to return

and give himself up, trusting to the pledges of the governor for a

fair trial. Influenced by these entreaties to return, and stung by the

taunts of cowardice from those who should have been his friends, the

Prophet said: "If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of none

to myself." And against his better judgment, and with the conviction

fixed in his soul that he would be killed, he resolved to return. He

crossed over the river to Nauvoo, and sent a message to Governor Ford

that night that he would be in Carthage the next day.

Early the following morning Elder Taylor started in company with the

Prophet and others for Carthage. Within four miles of that place they

met Captain Dunn _en route_ to Nauvoo, with a requisition from the

Governor for the state arms. [1] At the solicitation of Captain Dunn

and his command, the party from Nauvoo returned with him to assist

by their influence to obtain the arms belonging to the state. This

accomplished, the whole party again started for Carthage.

It was midnight when they entered the town, but a militia company

encamped on the public square--the Carthage Greys--were aroused and

gave vent to profane threats as the company passed, of which the

following is a specimen: "Where's the d----d prophet? Stand away you

McDonough boys and let us shoot the d----d Mormons! G----d d----n you,

old Joe, we've got you now! Clear the way, and let us have a view of

Joe Smith, the prophet of God! He has seen the last of Nauvoo! We'll

use him up now."

A crowd followed the party from the public square, and hung round the

Hamilton House yelling and cursing like demons. Governor Ford pushed

up a window and thus addressed them: "Gentlemen, I know your 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." There was

a faint "Hurrah for Tom Ford," and the crowd withdrew.

Footnotes

1. It was on the occasion of meeting Captain Dunn and his company that

Joseph uttered those prophetic words--"I am going like a lamb to the

slaughter, but I am calm as a summer's morning. I have a conscience

void of offense toward God and toward all men. I shall die innocent,

and it shall yet be said of me, 'he was murdered in cold blood.'" Hyrum

Smith that morning, before leaving Nauvoo, and in spite of an assumed

cheerfulness, had also left evidence that the fate awaiting himself

and brother at Carthage had been foreshadowed in his mind. He read a

passage in the Book of Mormon, near the close of the 12th Chapter of

Ether:

"And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give

unto the Gentiles grace that they might have charity. And it came to

pass that the Lord said unto me, if they have not charity, it mattereth

not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy garments shall

be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be

made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have

prepared in the mansions of my Father. And now I----bid farewell unto

the Gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love until we shall

meet before the judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that

my garments are not spotted with your blood."

On this passage he turned down the leaf, and there it is, a silent

witness that he, too, knew he was going "like a lamb to the slaughter."

CHAPTER XV.

THE MARTYRDOM.

The next morning--the 25th of June--the city authorities of Nauvoo and

some persons who had assisted the marshal to remove the _Expositor_

press, appeared before Robert F. Smith, a justice of the peace, to

answer again to the charge of riot. Owing to the excitement prevailing,

the aforesaid parties consented to be bound over to appear before the

circuit court at its next session; and became security for each other

in $500 bonds each.

No sooner was this matter thus disposed of than one Henry O. Norton and

Augustine Spencer--two worthless scoundrels whose words were utterly

unreliable, went before the justice of the peace who had just dismissed

the brethren, and charged Joseph and Hyrum Smith with having committed

the crime of treason. The warrant for their arrest was placed in the

hands of Constable Bettisworth, an over-bearing, insolent officer. He

went to the Hamilton House, where the Messrs. Smith and their friends

were staying: he arrested them and was for dragging them off to jail.

They demanded to see the mittimus committing them to prison, a request

which at first was denied, but finally the instrument was produced.

It recited that the parties under arrest had been before the justice

for trial, but that said trial had been necessarily postponed because

of the absence of material witnesses. That was an infamously false

statement, unless the accused could have appeared before the justice

without being present in person or by counsel. It afforded Constable

Bettisworth an excuse, however, to drag these men off to jail, and

this he was determined to do, their vigorous protest to the contrary

notwithstanding.

Seeing his friends thus illegally and brutally dealt with aroused the

righteous indignation of Elder Taylor. He sought out the governor,

informed him of what was going on, and the character of the men who had

made the charge. The governor regretted that the thing had occurred,

he did not believe the charges, but thought the best thing to do was

to let the law take its course. All this was unsatisfactory to Elder

Taylor. He reminded the governor that they had all come to Carthage

at his instance, not to satisfy the law, for that had no claim upon

them; but to manifest a willingness to meet their action in relation

to the _Expositor_ affair; that at his suggestion they had given bonds

to appear before the circuit court; that they had come without arms at

his request, and relied upon him to shield them from insult; that after

his solemn pledge to Doctor Bernhisel and himself he thought they had a

right to expect protection from him: but if in his very presence they

were to be subject to mob rule, and, contrary to law, be dragged into

prison at the instance of every infernal scoundrel whose oath could be

bought for a dram of whiskey, his protection did not amount to much and

they had miscalculated his promises.

Leaving the presence of the governor he hurried back to his friends. A

great rabble, a mixture of soldiers and citizens and partly under the

influence of liquor, had gathered in the street about the hotel, and

rowdyism and excitement were running high. Fearing a design was on foot

to kill the prisoners on the way to the jail, Elder Taylor hailed a

soldier and said: "I am afraid there is a design against the lives of

the Messrs. Smith; will you go immediately and bring your captain, and

if not convenient, any other captain of a company, and I will pay you

well for your trouble."

The man departed and soon returned with his captain, who, when Elder

Taylor told him of his fears, went after his company and brought them

up just as the constable was hurrying off his victims to jail; this

company of militia guarded them to the prison.

The next day--the 26th of June--there was a long interview between

Governor Ford and the Prophet, at which Elder Taylor was present. All

the difficulties that had arisen were related by the Prophet and the

action of himself and associates explained and defended. In concluding

that conversation the Prophet said: "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."

"And you shall have protection, General Smith," replied the governor.

"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."

In the afternoon of the same day Joseph and Hyrum were as illegally

dragged out of prison as they had been unlawfully thrust into it; for

the justice having committed them to prison, "there to remain until

discharged by due process of law," had no more power over them. But

notwithstanding this fact, he ordered the constable to bring them

from jail into his court; and when the prisoners refused to go at the

bidding of this autocratic justice, the constable, under instructions

from the magistrate, called to his assistance a detachment of the

Carthage Greys under Frank Worrell, and again presented himself at the

jail, and in spite of the protests of the prisoners and the jailer,

they forced them to go before Justice Smith.

On arraignment before the justice, counsel for the accused asked for

a continuation until the next day to procure witnesses. This was

granted; a new mittimus was made out and they were again committed to

prison. After the departure of the accused, and without consulting them

or their counsel, the time for the hearing of the case was further

postponed until the 29th.

The following day--the ever-memorable 27th of June--the governor broke

the promise he had made to Joseph Smith the day previous, viz.: that if

he went to Nauvoo he would take him along. He disbanded the mob militia

except a small company he detailed to accompany him to Nauvoo, and the

Carthage Greys, a company of the very worst enemies the Smiths and

their friends had--these he left to guard the prisoners!

The mob-militia, after receiving their discharge, before leaving the

public square in Carthage, publicly boasted that they would only go

a short distance from town, and after the governor left they would

return and kill the Smiths and their friends if they had "to tear down

the jail to do it." Captain Dan Jones, one of the brethren, heard this

threat and informed the governor of it. The only answer he received was

that he was too anxious for the safety of his friends.

Later in the day Captain Jones was dispatched to Hon. O.H. Browning,

a prominent lawyer of Quincy, to secure his professional services in

the pending trial. Cyrus Wheelock left for Nauvoo a little after noon

to obtain witnesses. Before going he left a six-shooting revolver

belonging to Elder Taylor with the Prophet. Stephen Markham being seen

on the street was captured, put on his horse and compelled to leave

town at the point of the bayonet. The departure of these brethren left

only John Taylor and Willard Richards with the Prophet and his brother

Hyrum.

The afternoon drew its slow length along. The four friends carried on

a desultory conversation, in which Elder Richards remarked: "Brother

Joseph, if it is necessary that you die in this matter, and if they

will take me in your stead, I will suffer for you."

Other thoughts were passing through the mind of Elder Taylor. He

regarded the whole thing as an outrage on their liberties and rights;

and the mob proceedings under the forms of law a legal farce. As he

contemplated these acts of injustice he broke out with--"Brother

Joseph, if you will permit it, and say the word, I will have you out of

this prison in five hours, if the jail has to come down to do it." His

idea was to go to Nauvoo, collect a sufficient force of the brethren to

liberate his friends. Joseph refused to sanction such a course.

The four friends were sitting in a large, square room in the prison,

usually occupied by men imprisoned for the lighter offenses. The

afternoon was warm and the spirits of the brethren extremely dull and

depressed--did the shadow of their impending fate begin to fall upon

them? Elder Taylor sang the following song, which had recently been

introduced into Nauvoo. The tune is the one to which he sang it on that

melancholy occasion:

A poor, wayfaring man of grief

Hath often crossed 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 knew not why.

Once when my scanty meal was spread,

He entered--not a word he spake!

Just perishing for want of bread;

I gave him all; he blessed it, brake,

And ate, but gave me part again;

Mine was an angel's portion then;

For while I fed with eager haste

The crust was manna to my taste.

I spied him where a fountain burst

Clear from the rock; his strength was gone;

The heedless water mocked his thirst;

He heard it, saw it hurrying on--

I ran and raised the sufferer up;

Thrice from the stream he drained my cup;

Dipped, and returned it running o'er;

I drank, and never thirsted more.

'Twas night; the floods were out; it blew

A winter-hurricane aloof;

I heard his voice abroad, and flew

To bid him welcome to my roof.

I warmed and clothed and cheered my guest;

I laid him on my couch to rest;

Then made the earth my bed, and seemed

In Eden's garden while I dreamed.

Stripped, wounded, beaten nigh to death,

I found him by the highway side;

I roused his pulse, brought back his breath,

Revived his spirit and supplied

Wine, oil, refreshment--he was healed;

I had myself a wound concealed;

But from that hour forgot the smart,

And peace bound up my broken heart.

In prison I saw him next,--condemned

To meet a traitor's doom at morn;

The tide of lying tongues I stemmed,

And honored him 'mid shame and scorn.

My friendship's utmost zeal to try,

He asked if I for him would die;

The flesh was weak, my blood ran chill,

But the free spirit cried, "I will."

Then in a moment to my view,

The stranger darted from disguise;

The tokens in his hands I knew;

The Savior stood before mine eyes.

He spake, and my poor name he named--

"Of me thou hast not been ashamed;

These deeds shall my memorial be;

Fear not, thou didst them unto me."

Shortly Hyrum asked him to sing the song again, to which he replied:

"Brother Hyrum, I do not feel like singing."

"Oh, never mind; commence singing and you will get the spirit of it."

Soon after finishing the song the second time, as he was sitting at one

of the front windows of the jail, he saw a number of men, with painted

faces, rushing round the corner towards the stairs. The brethren must

have seen this mob simultaneously, for as Elder Taylor started for the

door to secure it, he found Hyrum Smith and Doctor Richards leaning

against it to prevent its being opened, as the lock and latch were

of little use. The mob reaching the landing in front of the door,

and thinking it was locked, fired a shot through the key hole. Hyrum

and Doctor Richards sprang back, when instantly another ball crashed

through the panel of the door and struck Hyrum in the face; at the same

instant a ball from the window facing the public square where the main

body of the Carthage Greys was stationed, entered his back, and he fell

exclaiming, "I am a dead man!" With an expression of deep sympathy in

his face, Joseph bent over the prostrate body of the murdered man and

exclaimed, "Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!" Then instantly rising to

his feet he drew the pistol Cyrus Wheelock had left, and with a quick,

firm step, and a determined expression in his face he advanced to the

door and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of the

loads, however, were discharged. [1]

While Joseph was firing the pistol Elder Taylor stood close behind him,

and as soon as he discharged it and stepped back, Elder Taylor took

his place next the door, and with a heavy walking stick--left there

by Brother Markham--parried the guns as they were thrust through the

doorway and discharged.

The firing from within made the mob pause, but it was only for an

instant, and then the attack was more furious than ever. The scene was

terrible! Streams of fire as thick as a man's arm belched forth from

the ever increasing number of guns in the door-way, yet calm, energetic

and determined, Elder Taylor beat down the muzzles of those murderous

guns.

"That's right, Brother Taylor, parry them off as well as you can," said

Joseph, as he stood behind him. Those were the last words he heard the

Prophet speak on earth in the flesh.

Meantime the crowd on the landing grew more dense and were forced to

the door by the pressure of those below crowding their way up the

stairs. The guns of the assailants were pushed further and further

into the room--the firing was more rapid and accompanied with demoniac

yells and horrid oaths and execrations. Certain that they would be

overpowered in a moment if he remained longer at the door, and thinking

that they might have some friends outside, Elder Taylor sprang for the

open window directly in front of the prison door, and also exposed to

the fire of the Carthage Greys from the public square. As he was in the

act of leaping from the window, a ball fired from the door-way struck

him about midway of his left thigh. He fell helpless on the window sill

and would have dropped on the outside of the jail--when another shot

from the outside, striking the watch in his vest pocket, threw him back

into the room. As soon as he struck the floor his animation returned,

and, in order to avoid the range of fire from the door way, he drew

himself as rapidly as possible in his crippled condition under the

bedstead that stood near the window.

While on his way three other bullets struck him; one a little below

the left knee--it was never extracted; another tore away the flesh to

the size of a man's hand from his left hip and spattered the wall with

blood and the mangled fragments; another entered the forepart of his

left arm, a little above the wrist, and, passing down by the joint,

lodged in the palm of his left hand.

As he laid there weltering in his blood, he heard the mob at the door

shout: "He has leaped from the window!" There was a cessation of

the firing, and a general rush down stairs. At the same instant Dr.

Richards crossed the room and looked out of the window.

It would seem that the Prophet Joseph also attempted to leap from the

window, but on reaching it he was instantly shot and fell to the ground

by the side of an old well-curb. It was this that gave rise to the cry,

"He has leaped from the window!" which attracted the attention of Elder

Taylor.

Brother Richards remained but a moment at the window; and then started

for the inner prison, the door of which opened on the landing in front

of the door to the room the brethren had occupied. As he passed him

Elder Taylor said:

"Stop, doctor, and take me along."

Ascertaining that the iron door to the criminals' cell was open, he

returned and dragged his wounded companion into it. Inside the cell he

exclaimed:

"Oh! Brother Taylor, is it possible that they have killed Brothers

Joseph and Hyrum? It cannot surely be, and yet I saw them shoot them!

Oh Lord, my God, spare Thy servants!" he exclaimed several times,

raising his hands to heaven with each exclamation. "Brother Taylor,

this is a terrible event," he went on; and then dragged him still

further into the cell.

Taking up an old filthy mattress he threw it over the wounded man

saying: "I am sorry I cannot do better for you; but that may hide you,

and you may yet live to tell the tale, but I expect they will kill me

in a few moments."

The doctor then went out to learn for certain the fate which had

befallen the Prophet. While he was gone Elder Taylor suffered the

most excruciating pain. Dr. Richards returned in a few minutes, and

confirmed his worst fears--the Prophet was dead!

"I felt," says Elder Taylor, "a dull, lonely, sickening sensation at

the news."

"When I reflected that our noble chieftain, the Prophet of the

living God, had fallen, and that I had seen his brother in the cold

embrace of death, it seemed as though there was a void or vacuum in

the great field of human existence to me, and a dark, gloomy chasm

in the kingdom, and that we were left alone. Oh, how lonely was that

feeling! How cold, barren and desolate! In the midst of difficulties

he was always the first in motion; in critical positions his counsel

was always sought. As our Prophet he approached our God, and obtained

for us His will; but now our Prophet, our counselor, our general, our

leader was gone, and amid the fiery ordeal that we then had to pass

through, we were left alone without his aid, and as our future guide

for things spiritual or temporal, and for all things pertaining to this

world or the next, he had spoken for the last time on earth!"

"These reflections and a thousand others flashed upon my mind. I

thought, Why must the good perish, and the virtuous be destroyed?

Why must God's nobility, the salt of the earth, the most exalted of

the human family, and the most perfect types of all excellence, fall

victims to the cruel, fiendish hate of incarnate devils?"

Ah, why?

Footnotes

1. It was understood that these shots wounded several of the mob, and

that two of them died from the effects of their wounds. The widow of a

Mr. Lawn, captain of one of the companies of McDonough County militia,

meeting with Elder Parley P. Pratt in California in 1856, told him

that a man by the name of Townsend, living in Iowa, near Fort Madison,

was one of the mob who forced the door of Carthage jail on the above

occasion. One of the pistol shots fired by Joseph wounded him in the

arm near the shoulder, and it continued to rot until taken off, and

then it did not heal, but continued to rot, and about nine months after

he was wounded he died. About six months after he was shot Mrs. Lawn

saw his arm and dressed it. Auto. P. P. Pratt, p. 475-6.

CHAPTER XVI.

FLIGHT OF THE MOB--EXCITEMENT OF THE GOVERNOR--ELDER TAYLOR'S

SUFFERING--HYPOCRISY--STILL IN DANGER--THE RETURN TO

NAUVOO--GRATITUDE--"WITH THE GREATEST OF PROPHETS HE SUFFERED AND BLED."

Immediately after the terrible tragedy was ended, fear seized upon

the perpetrators of it, and they precipitately fled. A number of the

inhabitants of Carthage gathered about the jail, and some of these went

to the head of the stairs to see the work that had been done.

Elder Taylor was brought out of the cell to the landing at the head of

the stairs. Through the open door leading into the room that he and his

friends had occupied when the assault was made, he had a full view of

Hyrum Smith.

"There he lay as I had left him," he writes. "He had not moved a

limb; he lay placid and calm, a monument of greatness even in death:

but his noble spirit had left its tenement and had gone to dwell in

regions more congenial to its exalted nature. Poor Hyrum! he was a

great and good man, and my soul was cemented to his. If ever there

was an exemplary, honest and virtuous man, an embodiment of all that

is noble in the human form, Hyrum Smith was its representative." Such

were his thoughts on the character of his friend, even while suffering

excruciating pains from his wounds.

Among those who stood about him on the landing was a doctor, and

feeling the ball that had lodged in the palm of Elder Taylor's left

hand, he took a pen knife, made an incision and then with a pair of

carpenter's compasses pried out the half-ounce ball. The alternate

sawing with a dull pen knife and prying with the compasses was simply

surgical butchery. The doctor afterwards said that Elder Taylor had

nerves "like the devil" to stand that operation.

The crowd now urged him to consent to be removed to Hamilton's hotel,

where he could be cared for, to which he replied: "I don't know you.

Who am I among? I am surrounded by assassins and murderers; witness

your deeds! Don't talk to me of kindness and comfort; look at your

murdered victims! Look at me! I want none of your counsel nor comfort.

There may be some safety here; I can be assured of none anywhere."

They protested that he was safe with them; it was a shame that he and

his friends had been treated in the manner they had; they swore by

all the oaths known to the damned that they would stand by him to the

death. "In half an hour every one of them had fled from the town," says

Elder Taylor.

Meantime a coroner's inquest was being held over the bodies of Joseph

and Hyrum. Robert F. Smith, the justice of the peace who had issued the

warrant for the arrest of the murdered men on the charge of treason,

who without a hearing had illegally committed them to prison and then

in a few hours as unlawfully dragged them out to appear before his

court, who was captain of the Carthage Greys and who had helped to

murder them, was the coroner! During the investigation the name of

Francis Higbee was mentioned as being in the vicinity.

"Captain Smith, you are a justice of the peace--I want to swear my life

against that man," said Elder Taylor. Word was immediately sent to

Higbee and he left Carthage.

Through the persuasions of Doctor Richards Elder Taylor was at last

removed to Hamilton's hotel, though it was difficult to obtain

sufficient help to move him, as a great fear fell upon the people and

they had fled the place as though a plague had fallen upon it. It

was feared that the Mormons being incensed at the murder of Joseph

and Hyrum would call out the Legion and take summary vengeance on

the people of Carthage. It was only by earnest entreaty that Doctor

Richards could prevail upon the Hamiltons to remain.

All the inhabitants of Carthage knew that a terrible outrage had been

perpetrated; that the pledged faith of the state had been broken; that

the martyrs had voluntarily gone to Carthage and placed themselves

in the power of their enemies at a time when they were amply able

to protect themselves against the mob thrice told, and against the

governor's troops besides. No wonder the people of Carthage expected

that the Mormons would take a terrible vengeance.

Doctor Richards was also afraid that he Saints in their just

indignation would rise in their wrath and take vengeance into their own

hands. He took counsel with Elder Taylor and concluded to send a note

to Nauvoo. "Brother Richards, say that I am _slightly_ wounded," said

Elder Taylor. And when the note [1] making the awful announcement of

the murder of the prophets to the Saints was brought to him, he signed

his name as quickly as possible lest the tremor of his hand should be

noticed, and the fears of his family aroused.

This note was entrusted to George D. Grant, who at once started for

Nauvoo. He was met within three miles of the city by the governor

and his escort, who, on hearing a cannon fired in the direction of

Carthage, had immediately left Nauvoo. Governor Ford had gone to Nauvoo

that morning, and during the day delivered a speech to the people. In

it he had insulted them by assuming that all their enemies had said of

them was true. At this, according to his own account of the matter, the

people manifested some impatience and anger, as well they might, for

baser slanders were never circulated of any community, nor a grosser

insult ever offered to one than for the governor to assume, without

investigation, that all that had been said against them was true.