The Life of Joseph Smith, the Prophet

THE CELESTIAL ORDER OF MARRIAGE—ETERNITY AND PLURALITY OF THE COVENANT —THE REVELATION WRITTEN AND DELIVERED TO THE HIGH COUNCIL—JOSEPH, HYRUM AND OTHERS OBEY IT.

Every woman has the right to virtuous wifehood and maternity. This was the omnipotent design in her creation. Yet how shall it be fulfilled under modern systems? Clearly, the Creator can make known.

"When they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage," saith the revelation; therefore the tie of conjugal relation must be made here and to endure beyond the gates of death it must be fixed by an eternal covenant with the divine sanction.

Joseph Smith's mission was all-comprehending. From the Church organization, it expanded until it made known a code of moral law by which the modern world, under the light of Christian truth, may achieve social redemption and be forever purified.

The decree of the Lord making known to the Prophet the eternity and plurality of marriage, was a part of this sublime plan. It came to him little by little, as he was enabled to bear the dazzling light of celestial glory: and when eventually the full view of the holy order was permitted to him, he saw the principles of eternal progression, the laws by which the universe is filled with shining and inhabited spheres to make the infinite glory of our God. The exaltation of these visions was all that mortal man could bear; and the Prophet felt that the dull, selfish world would refuse to understand the purity and promise, would refuse to undergo the earthly trials to secure the heavenly blessing, and would seek the death of such humble disciples of the Savior as should embrace this principle of eternal life.

Even after that portion of the revelation now recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants was made known to him, Joseph did not write it for a time, although he obeyed its commands and taught it to Hyrum and other faithful men, who, in prayer and humility before God, accepted and fulfilled its requirements.

The revelation therefore remained the unwritten law of God, established in the hearts and obeyed in the lives of some of His faithful servants, until the 12th day of July, 1843, when it was recorded, that it might remain a comfort and guide to the people after Joseph and Hyrum should pass away. On that day, under the Prophet's dictation, and in the presence of Hyrum, the revelation was written by William Clayton. A copy of it was taken the next day by Joseph C. Kingsbury for Bishop Newel K. Whitney.

On the 12th day of August, 1843, the revelation was read before the high council and presidency of the stake of Nauvoo. There were present Hyrum Smith, who presented the principle; William Marks, Charles C. Rich, and Austin Cowles, the stake presidency; and Samuel Bent, William Huntington, Alpheus Cutler, Thomas Grover, Lewis D. Wilson, David Fullmer, Aaron Johnson, Newel Knight, Leonard Sobey, Isaac Allred, Henry G. Sherwood and Samuel Smith, the high council.

After reading the revelation, Hyrum promised his brethren that they who accepted it should be blessed and sustained in the Church by the Spirit of God and the confidence of the Saints, and they who rejected it should fall away in their faith and power; and it was even so.

To promulgate this commandment and to obey it was probably the Prophet's greatest earthly trial. Emma did not at first accept it; but later she became convinced of its truth and gave good women to her husband to wife as Sarah of old administered to Abraham.

Some of the Prophet's brethren caused him great sorrow by teaching impurity of life under the guise of this holy principle: but their wickedness was uncovered and the Church was purged of their presence.

The teaching of the revelation has been a test of personal holiness. The men who have seen in this commandment a holy and exalted duty and who obeyed in meekness and purity, have lived by their faith and have come off triumphant; while those who have sought to minister to evil passions have sunk and been cast out.

There is not one word in the revelation, nor was there one word in the Prophet's teaching other than purity and self sacrifice.

The Lord said:

I am the Lord thy God; and I give unto you this commandment—that no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord;

And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God;

For whatsoever things remain are by me, and whatsoever things are not by me, shall be shaken and destroyed.

Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world;

Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory;

For these angels did not abide my law, therefore they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever.

And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power—then it is not valid neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord; neither by my word; when they are out of the world, it cannot be received there, because the angels and the gods are appointed there, by whom they cannot pass; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory; for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God.

And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power, and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them, ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity, and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the Gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.

Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law, ye cannot attain to this glory.

For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me.

But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation, that where I am, ye shall be also.

This is eternal lives, to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law.

* * * * * * * *

And again, as pertaining to the law of the Priesthood: If any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent; and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery, for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else;

And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will reveal more unto you hereafter.

AN EVIL QUARTETTE—REYNOLDS, FORD, BENNETT AND OWENS—A NEW WRIT— JOSEPH KIDNAPPED AT DIXON AND THREATENED WITH DEATH—EFFORTS FOR RELEASE ON "HABEAS CORPUS"—A WRESTLING MATCH—ENTRY INTO NAUVOO— JOSEPH RELEASED—THE KIDNAPPERS AS FOR A MOB ARMY—INDEPENDENCE DAY AT NAUVOO.

A pitiable yielding to murderous hate was exhibited in the conduct in June, 1843, of Reynolds and Ford, the governors respectively of the great states of Missouri and Illinois. The adviser of Reynolds was John C. Bennett, the corrupt traitor; the adviser of Ford was Sam C. Owens, one of the leaders of the Jackson mob.

On the 13th day of June, Thomas Reynolds, governor of the state of Missouri, made a requisition upon the state of Illinois for the person of Joseph Smith, charged with treason, on the ground that he was a fugitive from justice. To show the close communion of the quartette, Reynolds, Bennett, Ford and Owens, it is well to note that Bennett and Owens, before any papers were issued, made their boasts that the governors of the two states would comply with their demands, and that Joseph Smith would be delivered to death at the hands of his old enemies in Missouri. And on the 10th of June, three days before the requisition was issued, Sam Owens and John C. Bennett had informed Governor Ford by letter that Joseph Reynolds, sheriff of Jackson County, (although the alleged offense of treason had been committed in Daviess County) would be appointed by Governor Reynolds of Missouri to receive the person of Joseph Smith from the officials of Illinois; and they, in the same letter, instructed Governor Ford to appoint Harmon T. Wilson of Hancock County, to serve the writ which they demanded Ford to issue. Their reason for wanting Reynolds of Jackson County is clear; he was known to be in sympathy with the mob there, while the officers of Daviess County might have an abhorrence of murder and might refuse to be so pliant as the assassins desired. While their reason for demanding the appointment of Harmon T. Wilson was stated in a letter to Ford by Sam C. Owens in the following words:

Dr. Bennett further writes me that he has made an arrangement with Harmon T. Wilson, of Hancock County, ( Carthage, seat of justice), in whose hands he wishes the writ that shall be issued by you to be put.

The plan as dictated to the governors by these villains was executed.

On the same day that the governor of Missouri appointed Reynolds to go to Illinois after the person of the Prophet, Joseph started with Emma and their children to see her sister Mrs. Wasson, who lived near Dixon, Lee County, Illinois. Five days later, on the 18th of June, a message was received at Nauvoo from Judge James Adams, of Springfield, from which it was learned that Ford had issued the writ for Joseph and that it was on the way. Hyrum Smith immediately sent Stephen Markham and William Clayton on horseback, William riding Joe Duncan, to find and warn the Prophet. These devoted men traveled two hundred and twelve miles in sixty-six hours, and found Joseph between the town of Dixon and Wasson's place. When they told him of the danger he said:

Do not be alarmed, I have no fear, and shall not flee. I will find friends and the Missourians cannot slay me, I tell you in the name of Israel's God.

Wilson and Reynolds had disguised themselves and proposed to be "Mormon" elders, following Joseph to Wasson's. On the 23rd of June they reached that place while the family were at dinner and said: "We want to see Brother Joseph."

They seized him the instant they found him and presented cocked pistols to his breast, without showing any writ or serving any process. Joseph inquired: "What is the meaning of this?"

And Reynolds replied: "God damn you, be still, or I'll shoot you, by God."

Wilson joined in this awful profanity and threat, and they both struck the Prophet with their pistols. He only said:

Kill me if you will, I am not afraid to die; and I have endured so much oppression that I am weary of life. But I am a strong man, and I could cast both of you down, if I would. If you have any legal process to serve, present it, for I am at all times subject to law and shall not offer resistance.

At this time, Stephen Markham walked toward them and the kidnappers swore they would kill him; but he paid no attention to their threats. Still bruising the Prophet with their pistols and threatening every instant to kill him if he spoke, they dragged him to a wagon without, and would have driven away not permitting him to say one word to his family or to obtain his hat and coat, but Stephen Markham interposed He boldly seized the horses by the bits, and would not let them go until Emma could run from the house with the Prophet's clothing.

Stephen mounted a horse and started to Dixon where the kidnappers also proceeded at full speed without even allowing Joseph to speak to his wife or little children. The wretches had not shown any writ, nor had they told the Prophet what was the charge against him. During the whole journey of eight miles to Dixon they continued to strike his sides with their pistols and to swear that they would have his life. So brutal were their blows that he almost fainted, and each side was turned black and blue for a circumference of eighteen inches.

At Dixon they thrust him into a room at the tavern and guarded him there, while ordering fresh horses to be ready in five minutes. As Stephen Markham had raised an alarm at Dixon and proposed to get a lawyer, Reynolds once more declared his intention to shoot the Prophet. Joseph said: "Why do you make this threat so often? If you want to shoot me, do so. I am not afraid."

The continued calmness and the undaunted heroism of the Prophet had their effect upon his captors; and at last they desisted from their threats, although they continued their abuse. No doubt they would have killed him but they were too cowardly. They wanted to get him into Missouri where the murder could be consummated without any danger to them. The lawyers whom Stephen secured for the Prophet were not permitted by Reynolds and Wilson to consult their client; but the effect of this highhanded proceeding was to arouse the indignation of the landlord and his friends. They gathered around the hotel and told Reynolds that this might be the Missouri way, but it would not do for Dixon, where the people were law-abiding and would not permit any man to be kidnapped and dragged away without knowing the charge against him and without an opportunity for judicial examination. As a large crowd had gathered by this time and as they threatened to take summary action against the brigands, Reynolds and Wilson concluded to permit a consultation with the lawyers. As soon as he could get speech with the attorneys, Joseph told them that he had been taken prisoner without process, had been insulted, bruised and threatened; and that he wanted to sue out a writ of habeas corpus. At this Reynolds swore that he would only wait half an hour. A Mr. Dixon who had opposed Reynolds and Wilson in their outrageous doings, immediately sent messengers to the master in chancery and to Lawyer Walker to have them come to Dixon to get out a writ of habeas corpus.

The next morning the writ was issued, returnable before Judge Caton of the ninth judicial circuit at Ottawa and duly served upon Reynolds and Wilson.

Writs were also obtained against them for threatening the life of Stephen Markham, for assaults upon Joseph and for false imprisonment; and these villains were soon placed in the custody of the sheriff of Lee County, whereupon their demeanor became as craven as it had before been bold and threatening.

In the meantime Joseph had sent William Clayton to Nauvoo to inform Hyrum of what was being done.

The Prophet still in captivity to Reynolds and Wilson, who in turn were in custody of Sheriff Campbell, proceeded that night to Pawpaw grove, thirty-two miles on the road to Ottawa. Here Reynolds and Wilson again began to abuse their captive; but Campbell came to his assistance and slept by his side that night to protect him from further assault.

Early the next morning the hotel was filled with citizens who wanted to see the Prophet and hear him preach. Fearing the effect of an address from Joseph, Sheriff Reynolds yelled: "I want you to understand that this man is my legal prisoner, and you must disperse."

This was false. No writ or other process had been served upon Joseph, and he was nobody's legal prisoner. But without waiting to discuss the legal question, an old man named David Town, who was lame and carried a large hickory walking stick, advanced upon Reynolds and said:

You damned infernal puke, we'll learn you to come here and interrupt gentlemen. Sit down there, [pointing to a very low chair] and sit still. Don't you open your head till General Smith gets through talking. If you never learned manners in Missouri, we'll teach you that gentlemen are not to be imposed upon by a nigger-driver. You cannot kidnap men here. There's a committee in this grove that will sit on your case; and, sir, it is the highest tribunal in the United States, as from its decision there is no appeal.

Reynolds was made aware that Mr. Town was the head of a committee, just then assembled to deal with some land speculators who had attempted to impose upon honest settlers, and he obeyed with great meekness.

The Prophet talked an hour and a half on the subject of marriage, which was the topic selected for him by his congregation. From that hour on his freedom commenced.

Learning at Pawpaw grove that Judge Caton was absent in New York the party turned back to Dixon, arriving there about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of June 25th. A return of the writ of habeas corpus was made to the master in chancery, with the endorsement that the judge was absent; whereupon a new writ was issued, returnable before the nearest tribunal in the fifth judicial district authorized to hear and determine writs of habeas corpus, and Mr. Campbell, the sheriff of Lee County, at once served it upon Wilson and Reynolds. Arrangements were then made to go before Judge Stephen A. Douglas at Quincy, a distance of two hundred and sixty miles; and in the meantime, anticipating treachery, Stephen Markham started with a letter to the Prophet's friends informing them further of his movements. This action was deemed necessary; for the whole country seemed to be swarming with men anxious to carry Joseph into Missouri, where, according to the free boasts of Reynolds, Wilson and others, his death was certain.

The party in charge of the Prophet proceeded toward Quincy. On Tuesday, the 27th of June, shortly after crossing Fox River, they met seven of the Prophet's friends. The brethren burst into tears at sight of Joseph; and as they embraced him he spoke to his captors who, it must be remembered, had not yet shown any writ or other process and were therefore kidnappers:

"I think I will not go to Missouri this time, gentlemen. These are my boys."

Then he mounted his favorite horse, Joe Duncan; and the entire company proceeded to a farmhouse and made a halt. This party of the Prophet's friends was under the leadership of Thomas Grover, and from them it was learned that Elders Charles C. Rich and Wilson Law with other and larger parties were seeking the Prophet to prevent his murder and abduction.

Reynolds and Wilson shook with fear. Peter W. Cownover, one of the Prophet's friends, said to Wilson: "What is the matter with you? Have you got the ague?"

Wilson managed to stammer, "No."

Reynolds asked, "Is Jem Flack in the crowd?"

Someone answered: "He is not now, but you will see him tomorrow about this time."

"Then," said Reynolds, "I am a dead man; for I know him of old."

Cownover told the foolish fellow not to be frightened, for no one intended to injure him.

Stephen Markham had turned back when he met this party and was with them. He walked up to Reynolds and offered his hand, when the bandit cried out: "Do you meet me as a friend? I expected to be a dead man when I met you again."

Markham replied: "We are friends, except in law; that must have its course."

At Andover that night Reynolds and Wilson gathered a party and held a consultation. They intended to raise a company, take the Prophet by force, escape from their own arrest, and run with him to the mouth of Rock River, on the Mississippi, where they said they had a company of men all ready to drag him into Missouri and wreak vengeance upon him. But for Stephen Markham's vigilance they would have executed this plan, but he foiled them by putting the Sheriff of Lee County on his guard.

On Wednesday, the 28th of June, they encamped in a little grove at the head of Elleston Creek. While the animals were feeding, Reynolds said: "No, we will go from here to the mouth of Rock River and take steamboat to Quincy."

Markham replied: "No; for we are prepared to travel and will go by land."

Wilson and Reynolds both yelled out: "No, by God, we won't; we will never go by Nauvoo alive."

Both drew their pistols upon Markham, who turned to Sheriff Campbell saying: "When these men took Joseph a prisoner, they took even his pocket knife. They are now prisoners of yours and I demand that their arms be seized."

Reynolds and Wilson refused to yield their weapons; but when the sheriff threatened to call for assistance, they submitted.

While on this journey and resting in a little grove of timber where the ground was well sodded, one of the lawyers for Reynolds and Wilson began to boast of his prowess as a wrestler. He offered to wager any sum that he could throw any man in the state of Illinois at side-hold. Stephen Markham, a side-hold wrestler, told the lawyer that he would not contest for money but would try a bout for fun. They grappled, and the man threw Markham, when a great shout arose from Joseph's enemies, and they began to taunt the Prophet and his friends.

Joseph turned to Brother Philemon C. Merrill, a young man from Nauvoo, subsequently adjutant in the Mormon Battalion, and later a resident of St. David, Arizona, and said: "Get up and throw that man."

Merrill was about to say that side-hold was not his game; but before he could speak the Prophet commanded him in such a way that his tongue was silenced. He arose to his feet filled with the strength of a Samson. Merrill lifted his arms and said to the lawyer: "Take your choice of sides."

The man took the left side with his right arm under; when the company all declared that this was not fair, as he had a double advantage. Merrill felt such confidence in the word of the Prophet that it made no difference to him how much advantage his opponent took, and he allowed the hold. As they grappled Joseph said: "Philemon, when I count three, throw him!".

On the instant after the word dropped from Joseph's lips, Merrill, with the strength of a giant, threw the lawyer over his left shoulder, and he fell striking his head upon the earth.

Awe fell upon the opponents of the Prophet when they saw this, and there were no more challenges to wrestle during the journey.

While they were lodged at a farm house near Monmouth one night Reynolds and Wilson again plotted to raise a mob and seize Joseph; but Peter Cownover detected them, and Sheriff Campbell put them under restraint, feeling that they were no longer to be trusted. On Thursday, the 29th of June, another party of the Prophet's friends joined him. He called James Flack to his side and told him he must not injure Reynolds whatever the provocation might have been; for the Prophet had pledged himself to protect the Missouri sheriff.

The lawyers and Sheriff Campbell, with other civil officers, decided that the hearing upon the writ of habeas corpus might lawfully be held in Nauvoo, and they desired to go there rather than to Quincy; so the party turned in that direction. This occasioned great joy to Joseph. His bruises were forgotten, and that night when they reached the house of Michael Crane, on Honey Creek, he sprang from the buggy, walked up to the fence, and leaped over without touching it.

A messenger had carried the news of the homecoming to Nauvoo, and on Friday, June the 30th, a joyous cavalcade went out to meet the Prophet. The meeting between Joseph and Hyrum was most touching. Joseph had just passed through one of the many perils of his life, but one of the few which Hyrum did not share; and his return caused Hyrum to weep for joy as he took the Prophet in his arms. The spectacle of the entry into Nauvoo was most imposing, for the delighted people sang for joy and made such demonstration of love and gladness in Joseph's behalf, that the lawyers and officers from Dixon were charmed and deeply impressed.

After they were within the city the multitude seemed unwilling to disperse, but Joseph said to them:

I am out of the power of the Missourians again, thank God; and thank you all for your kindness and love. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. I shall address you in the grove, near the temple, at 4 o'clock this afternoon.

A feast had been prepared at Joseph's house, and there he went—still in the hands of his captors, Reynolds and Wilson, who were the prisoners of Sheriff Campbell of Lee County; and all of these with about fifty of the Prophet's friends sat at his table. The place of honor was given to Reynolds and Wilson who were waited upon by Emma with as much courtesy as could have been bestowed upon a beloved guest. This kindness heaped coals of fire on their heads, for they remembered the time when they had dragged the Prophet from the side of his wife and little ones and had refused to permit him to say farewell.

Under advice of the lawyers, Joseph with his captors was brought before the municipal court at Nauvoo, and all the writs and other papers were filed there. The case was heard upon its merits, and the Prophet was discharged. The lawyers concurred that in all the transactions since the day of his arrest Joseph had held himself amendable to the law and its officers; and that the decision of the municipal court of Nauvoo was not only legal and just but was within the power of this tribunal under the city charter.

But before the actual hearing began in the municipal court, Reynolds and Wilson in company with Lawyer Davis, of Carthage, started for that place threatening to raise a mob with which to drag Joseph from Nauvoo. Desiring a larger force than they could readily command at Carthage, they applied to Governor Ford for the state militia. But the governor sent a trusted messenger to Nauvoo to obtain evidence concerning the seizure of the Prophet and his discharge on the writ of habeas corpus; and this gentleman secured a copy of all the papers and evidence in the case. Prominent citizens of Lee County added their affidavits; and several gentlemen went up to Springfield to represent the matter fairly to his Excellency. Whatever Ford's motive may have been—whether a desire to make political capital for his party with influential men who took the side of the Saints in this question, or whether he had fear that he would lose his personal prestige by precipitating the unlawful strife—he took the only proper course; and after long consideration, and upon the presentation of his trusted messenger, he refused to order out the militia, and so reported to Sheriff Reynolds and Governor Reynolds of Missouri. The position which Ford assumed was that no resistance had been made to any writ issued by the state of Illinois, and therefore that Illinois had neither right nor interest in the matter.

On the 2nd and 3rd days of July parties returned who had been out from Nauvoo searching for the Prophet. One party had gone up the river on the little steamer Maid of Iowa, under command of Dan Jones, and had passed through a very adventurous voyage. This company was accompanied by Apostle John Taylor. Another party, under the leadership of General Charles C. Rich, had traveled five hundred miles on horseback in seven days. They were all delighted to find the Prophet safe at home; and he blessed them for their love and devotion to him.

At a special conference, on Monday, the 3rd day of July, a large number of elders were called to go into the different counties of Illinois, to preach the gospel and convey correct information to the people of the state concerning the Prophet's arrest and his discharge from custody.

On the 4th day of July about fifteen thousand people congregated at the grove near the temple, among them being about one thousand ladies and gentlemen from St. Louis, Quincy and Burlington, who listened attentively to orations and speeches. In the course of the address which he delivered, the Prophet spoke a few words in relation to his own arrest, in which he defended himself to the satisfaction of the vast multitude, both Saints and visitors:

I never spent more than six months in Missouri, except while in prison. While I was free in that state, I was at work for the support of my family. I was never a prisoner of war during my stay, for I had nothing to do with war. I never took a pistol, gun, or sword; and the most that has been said on this subject by the Missourians is false. I have been willing to go before any governor, judge or tribunal where justice would be done, and have the subject investigated. I could not have committed treason in that state while I resided there, for treason against Missouri consists in levying war against the state or adhering to her enemies. Missouri was at peace, and had no enemy that I could adhere to, had I been disposed; and I did not make war, and no command or authority, either civil or military, but only in spiritual matters as a minister of the Gospel.

GROWTH OF NAUVOO—THE MANSION—SIDNEY RIGDON'S RECREANCY—MOBOCRATIC CONVENTIONS AT CARTHAGE—INCITING THE MISSOURIANS TO KIDNAP—THE PROPHET CHECKS A BOMBASTIC POLITICIAN—APPEALS FOR REDRESS—JOY ON A CHRISTMAS DAY—ORRIN PORTER ROCKWELL BACK FROM MISSOURI.

When the Prophet once more saw one hour of security in Nauvoo, he recorded the fact that he had been subjected in his time to thirty-eight suits against his person and property. Not one of these was just. They were all incited for the purpose of vexing and despoiling him, and by the satanic power that had sought to shed the blood of prophets and holy men through all ages.

But he was compensated and filled with joy to see the progress of Nauvoo. From the states in this country and from the lands across the sea, faithful Saints were gathering by tens, and hundreds, and thousands. Homes were being built and factories were projected; the walls of the temple were rising in grandeur, uplifting the souls of the Saints with hope that they would soon minister in the holy ordinances for their living and their dead; and all that was wanted to insure the dominion of peace was the cessation of the wicked assaults upon the Prophet and his friends.

On the last of August Joseph and his family moved into the Nauvoo Mansion. It was his intention to support this place as a home for all visitors who should come up to Zion seeking to know the glory of God. Such hospitality was no new thing for the Prophet to bestow. His home, whenever he had one, had always been open to Saints and to strangers. It had been a resting place for thousands; and many times his family had gone without food, after giving their last morsel to the poor wayfarers. The mansion was a place in which such hospitality as the Prophet loved could well be extended. With these facilities to entertain company, Joseph soon found his resources exhausted. But for the persecutions and robberies which he had suffered he might have continued to dispense his bounties with generous hand; but now he was compelled to have the mansion opened as a hotel, at first under his own direction, but a little later it was leased for that purpose to Ebenezer Robinson, the Prophet only retaining two or three rooms for his personal use. Joseph's mother lived with him at this time.

Among the saddest afflictions of the Prophet's closing hours was the recreancy of Sidney Rigdon. As early as August, 1843, Joseph had solemnly withdrawn his fellowship from Sidney, and had refused to acknowledge him longer as a counselor—unless the charge could satisfactorily be refuted that he was in league with the Prophet's enemies to betray him and give him up to death in Missouri. This was not the only ground for complaint. Sidney was charged with an alliance with dishonest persons to deal fraudulently against the innocent and unwary. At a special conference begun in Nauvoo on the 6th of October, examination was made of the statements against President Rigdon. The Prophet recalled the many times that he had borne with Sidney's failings, having forgiven him again and again; and that now Sidney had ceased altogether to be useful and devoted, and Joseph lacked entire confidence in his integrity. Filled with mercy, Hyrum desired that one more trial should be given to Elder Rigdon, and upon his motion Sidney was sustained. The Prophet arose and said:

I have thrown him off my shoulders, and you have again put him on me. You may carry him, but I will not.

Subsequent events clearly showed how truly the Prophet had judged of the man who was once his friend and counselor, but had now lost faith and power in the gospel.

Assaults from without were threatened, with violence constantly augmenting. In August some of the brethren who were elected to county offices went to Carthage to give bonds and take the official oath. While these men were before the court, a rabble consisting of Constable Harmon T. Wilson and about fifteen others came in armed with hickory clubs, knives and pistols, and swore that the bonds should not be approved nor the men from Nauvoo inducted into office; if they were, blood would be spilled; and the mob pledged their words, honor and reputation, not only to keep these men out of office, but to put down the "Mormons." After some delay, the rabble withdrew to convene a mob meeting, and the bonds were approved by the court. This mob secured a convention at the courthouse on the 19th of August and appointed a committee to draft resolutions concerning the Saints; and at an adjourned meeting held on the 6th of September, 1843, a most vindictive tirade, filled with lies and threats, was presented and accepted under the name of preamble and resolutions. These mobocrats pledged themselves in the most determined manner to give aid in the capture of Joseph if he were demanded again, and threatened signal and summary vengeance upon the Saints in case of a collision. All the office-seekers were warned that the influence of the mobocrats would be withdrawn from them if they sought support at Nauvoo.

This action was designed to comfort the Missourians and to incite them to further efforts; and also to warn the office-holders and office-seekers of the state of Illinois not to extend any help to Joseph and his people in case of an attack upon them. The sole causes of the movements, in addition to the falsehoods of Reynolds and Wilson, who felt chagrined at their failure to drag the Prophet to his death as they had threatened, was that the people were increasing, Nauvoo was becoming a beautiful city, and Joseph Smith, the Prophet of God and head of the community, was the object of sectarian and apostate jealousy and political hate. Joseph wrote to the governor concerning the threatened movements against the Saints, but received no satisfaction.

The promise of the Hancock County mob and the quiescence of the governor of Illinois gave license and promise of support to the people of Missouri in the commission of further outrages. In November, Daniel Avery and his son Philander were kidnapped from Hancock County, by a company of Missourians, and imprisoned and threatened with death for the purpose of extorting false statements from them upon which prosecutions could be based against the citizens of Nauvoo. A man named Elliot of Carthage, who had assisted the kidnappers, was arrested and brought before a court at Nauvoo for examination. No attempt was made to inflict punishment upon him; the evidence clearly showed his guilt, and he was bound over to the circuit court at Carthage. This same Elliot had sworn to have the Prophet's life, and complaint was lodged against him for threatening to kill. Elliot was alone and defenseless; and when the Prophet saw the man's fear and helplessness, he obtained a withdrawal of the charge, paid the costs himself, and invited Elliot to his own home to be fed and lodged.

Writs for the other persons engaged in the Avery kidnapping were issued, but an armed mob congregated to prevent the service of process. A party of the mob went to the house of David Holman near Ramus, and in his absence plundered it of provisions and then burned it to the ground, leaving himself and family shelterless in the bleak winter.

An attack was threatened upon Nauvoo by gathering mobs from Missouri and Illinois; and in view of this danger the Nauvoo Legion was ordered to be kept in readiness to repel unlawful assaults.

The vindictive and lawless character of the mob which menaced the city is shown by the statement of Amos Chase, who heard the following conversation between a spectator and the rabble:

"What will you do if the governor refuses to sanction your course?"

"Damn the governor! If he opens his head we will punch a hole through him! He dare not speak! We will serve him the same sauce we will the Mormons."

And their cowardly character is shown by the experience of Nelson Judd. A man called on Brother Judd at Nauvoo and said he wanted to sell him some wood at a little distance down the river. Nelson went with the man and when they came into the woods two men on horseback attempted to kidnap him. He avoided them and they drew their pistols and fired, but without effect. Judd then coolly said: "Now it is my turn."

Putting his hand into his pocket as though to draw a pistol, he looked fiercely at the bandits, and they fled shrieking with terror. Nelson had no weapon with him except his bravery and innocence, and he walked home laughing at the ruffians.

At a meeting of the city council in December, 1843, the subject of the menace to the city and the mayor was under consideration, and Joseph said among other things:

I am exposed to far greater danger from traitors among ourselves than from enemies without, although my life has been sought for many years by the civil and military authorities, priests and people of Missouri; and if I can escape from the ungrateful treachery of assassins, I can live as Caesar might have lived, were it not for a right-hand Brutus. I have had pretended friends betray me. All the enemies upon the face of the earth may roar and exert all their power to bring about my death, but they can accomplish nothing, unless some who are among us, who have enjoyed our society, have been with us in our councils, participated in our confidence, taken us by the hand, called us brother, saluted us with a kiss, join with our enemies, turn our virtues into faults, and, by falsehood and deceit, stir up their wrath and indignation against us, and bring their united vengeance upon our heads. All the hue and cry of the chief priests and elders against the Savior could not bring down the wrath of the Jewish nation upon his head, and thereby cause the crucifixion of the Son of God, until Judas said unto them: "Whomsoever I shall kiss he is the man: hold him fast." Judas was one of the Twelve Apostles, even their treasurer, and dipped with their Master in the dish, and through his treachery the crucifixion was brought about; and we have a Judas in our midst.

James Arlington Bennett, a lawyer, journalist and politician of New York, had been attracted by the Prophet's fame and character. Mr. Bennett had ambition to run for office in the state of Illinois, and he wrote a very complimentary letter to Joseph, in which he spoke of the boldness of the Prophet's plans and measures; and that he, Bennett, would yet run for high office in Illinois, and would give the Prophet his best services; intimated that he would like to become Joseph's right-hand man, since "Mahomet had his right-hand man"; and he declared that his mind was of so mathematical and philosophical a cast that divinity made an impression upon him.

To this bombastic letter the Prophet replied with such incisive vigor that must have taught Mr. Bennett a lesson:

You say, "The boldness of my plans and measures, together with their unparalleled success so far, are calculated to throw a charm over my whole being, and to point me out as the most extraordinary man of the present age."The boldness of my plans and measures can readily be tested by the touchstone of all schemes, systems, projects and adventures—truth, for truth is a matter of fact; and the fact is, that by the power of God I translated the Book of Mormon from hieroglyphics, the knowledge of which was lost to the world; in which wonderful event I stood alone, an unlearned youth, to combat the worldly wisdom and multiplied ignorance of eighteen centuries with a new revelation, which (if they would receive the everlasting Gospel) would open the eyes of more than eight hundred millions of people, and make "plain the old paths," wherein, if a man walk in all the ordinances of God blameless, he shall inherit eternal life; and Jesus Christ, who was, and is, and is to come, has borne me safely over every snare and plan, laid in secret or openly, through priestly hypocrisy, sectarian prejudice, popular philosophy, executive power, or law-defying mobocracy, to destroy me.

If, then, the hand of God, in all these things that I have accomplished towards the salvation of a priest-ridden generation, in the short space of twelve years through the boldness of the plan of preaching the Gospel, and the boldness of the means of declaring repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, and a reception of the Holy Ghost, by laying on of the hands, agreeably to the authority of the Priesthood, and the still more bold measures of receiving direct revelation from God, through the Comforter, as promised, and by which means all holy men, from ancient times till now, have spoken and revealed the will of God to men, with the consequent "success" of the gathering of the Saints, throws any "charm" around my being, and "points me out as the most extraordinary man of the age," it demonstrates the fact, that truth is mighty, and must prevail; and that one man empowered from Jehovah has more influence with the children of the kingdom than eight hundred millions led by the precepts of men. God exalts the humble and debases the haughty.

* * * * *

The summit of your future fame seems to be hid in the political policy of a "mathematical problem" for the chief magistracy of this state, which, I suppose, might be solved by "double position," where the errors of the supposition are used to produce a true answer.

But, sir, when I leave the dignity and honor I received from heaven to hoist a man into power through the aid of my friends where the evil and designing, after the object has been accomplished, can look up the clemency intended as a reciprocation for such favors, and where the wicked and unprincipled, as a matter of course, would seize the opportunity to flintify the hearts of the nation against me for dabbling at a sly game in politics; verily, I say, when I leave the dignity and honor of heaven to gratify the ambition and vanity of man or men, may my power cease, like the strength of Samson, when he was shorn of his locks, while asleep in the lap of Delilah! Truly said the Savior, "Cast not your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

Shall I, who have witnessed the visions of eternity, and beheld the glories of the mansions of bliss, and the regions and misery of the damned, shall I turn to be a Judas? Shall I, who have heard the voice of God, and communed with angels, and spake, as moved by the Holy Ghost, for the renewal of the everlasting covenant and for the gathering of Israel in the last days, shall I worm myself into a political hypocrite? Shall I who hold the keys of the last kingdom, in which is the dispensation of the fulness of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began, under the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood—shall I stoop from the sublime authority of Almighty God to be handled as a monkey's catspaw, and pettify myself into a clown to act the farce of political demagoguery? No, verily no! The whole earth shall bear me witness, that I, like the towering rock in the midst of the ocean, which has withstood the mighty surges of the warring waves for centuries, am impregnable, and am a faithful friend to virtue, and a fearless foe to vice; no odds, whether the former was sold as a pearl in Asia or hid as a gem in America, and the latter dazzles in palaces or glitters among the tombs.

I combat the errors of ages; I meet the violence of mobs; I cope with illegal proceedings from executive authority; I cut the Gordian knot of powers; and I solve mathematical problems of universities with truth—diamond truth; and God is my "right-hand man."

In December memorials were prepared and sent to Congress supplicating for a redress of the wrongs inflicted upon the Saints in Missouri and for protection against further plundering. This seemed necessary, for the governor of Illinois had practically confessed the helplessness of the state to prevent the infliction of additional wrongs upon this longsuffering people. The memorials were signed by the citizens of Hancock County and the city council of Nauvoo; they were truthful and eloquent; and they were of as little avail as other appeals for justice made by the people of God in this and other ages. Several of the elders wrote addresses to their native states, setting forth with the vigor of truth the wrongs and oppressions which had been inflicted upon them by Missouri. Joseph wrote a stirring appeal to the people—the Green Mountain boys—of his native state of Vermont. After sketching the great wrongs which the people had endured, the Prophet says:

Must we, because we believe in the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the administration of angels and the communion of the Holy Ghost, like the prophets and apostles of old,—must we be mobbed with impunity, be exiled from our habitations and property without remedy, murdered without mercy, and government find the weapons and pay the vagabonds for doing the jobs, and give them the plunder into the bargain? Must we, because we believe in enjoying the constitutional privilege and right of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own consciences, and because we believe in repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, the millennium, the day of judgment and the Book of Mormon as the history of the aborigines of this continent,—must we be expelled from the institutions of our country, the rights of citizenship, and the graves of our friends and brethren, and the government lock the gate of humanity and shut the door of redress against us? If so, farewell freedom! adieu to personal safety! and let the red hot wrath of an offended God purify the nation of such sinks of corruption; for that realm is hurrying to ruin where vice has the power to expel virtue.

My father, who stood several times in the battles of the American Revolution, till his companions in arms had been shot dead at his feet, was forced from his home in Far West, Missouri, by those civilized or satanized savages, in the dreary season of winter, to seek a shelter in another state; and the vicissitudes and sufferings consequent to his flight brought his honored gray head to the grave a few months after.

* * * * * * * * *

I appeal to the "Green Mountain Boys" of my native state to rise in the majesty of virtuous freemen, and by all honorable means help to bring Missouri to the bar of justice. If there is one whisper from the spirit of an Ethan Allen, or a gleam from the shade of a General Stark, let it mingle with our sense of honor and fire our bosoms for the cause of suffering innocence, for the reputation of our disgraced country, and for the glory of God; and may all the earth bear me witness, if Missouri—blood-stained Missouri, escapes the due demerit of her crimes—the vengeance she so justly deserves, that Vermont is a hypocrite, a coward, and this nation the hot-bed of political demagogues.

I make this appeal to the sons of liberty of my native state for help to frustrate the wicked designs of sinful men. I make it to hush the violence of mobs. I make it to cope with the unhallowed influence of wicked men in high places. I make it to resent the insult and injury made to an innocent, unoffending people, by a lawless ruffian state. I make it to obtain justice where law is put at defiance. I make it to wipe off the stain of blood from our nation's escutcheon. I make it to show presidents, governors and rulers prudence. I make it to fill honorable men with discretion. I make it to teach senators wisdom. I make it to teach judges justice. I make it to point clergymen to the path of virtue. And I make it to turn the hearts of this nation to the truth and realities of pure and undefiled religion, that they may escape the perdition of ungodly men: and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is my great counselor.

On Christmas morning, 1843, Joseph and Hyrum were roused from their slumbers by the hymn of a choir singing, "Mortals, Awake! with Angels Join." The choir was composed of a widow named Lettice Rushton and her children and neighbors; and their sweet voices and the noble sentiments of the hymn thrilled the souls of the Prophet and Patriarch into gladness and thanksgiving. Joseph blessed the singers and thanked his Heavenly Father for the visit. Hyrum said that he thought at first that a cohort of angels had descended, for the music had such a heavenly effect upon his soul. It was the last Christmas carol that Joseph and Hyrum heard in this life. Before another year had passed these two grand mortals had passed into the slumber of death, to awake with immortality upon them and to join with the choir invisible.

On the night of the same day another joy came to Joseph. He was entertaining a company of friends at his house when the festivities were interrupted by a man who came unbidden to the feast. His hair was long and fell over his face and upon his shoulders. He seemed a stranger to all and yet acted boldly and confidently as if at home. The company thought he was a Missourian and he would have been ejected, but the Prophet came and looked him fairly in the face and discovered to his great joy that it was his long-tried and persecuted friend Orrin Porter Rockwell who, in fulfillment of the prediction of Joseph, had come away honorably from Missouri.

Orrin was gladly welcomed then to the banquet, and the Prophet listened to the recital of his adventures. After going to the east in 1842 and remaining some months, Rockwell determined to return to his home in Nauvoo, not desiring perpetual exile. At St. Louis he was captured and thrown into jail. Iron hobbles and manacles were fastened upon him and he was carried to Independence. He was dragged from place to place, from court to court, tortured, threatened, starved, and all without any legal or just charge against him. Not the remotest connection could be traced between him and the attempt upon Boggs' life. He had not been seen in the entire state of Missouri during the year in which that event took place. No court from very shame could hold him on this monstrous charge, but when it failed others were concocted; and in the meantime several mob parties attempted to take his life as he was dragged to and fro in custody. After repeated solicitations he induced Joseph Reynolds, the sheriff of Jackson, to write to Bishop Whitney at Nauvoo, and this is the communication which that officer of law forwarded:

Independence, Missouri

April 7th, 1843

Sir:—At the request of Orrin Porter Rockwell, who is now confined in our jail, I write you a few lines concerning his affairs. He is held to bail in the sum of $5,000, and wishes some of his friends to bail him out. He also wishes some friend to bring his clothes to him. He is in good health and pretty good spirits. My own opinion is, after conversing with several persons here, that it would not be safe for any of Mr. Rockwell's friends to come here, notwithstanding I have written the above at his request; neither do I think bail would be taken (unless it was some responsible person well known here as a resident of this state). Any letter to Mr. Rockwell, (post paid) with authority expressed on the back for me to open it, will be handed to him without delay. In the meantime he will be humanely treated and dealt with kindly, until discharged by due course of law.

Yours, etc.,

J. H. Reynolds

From Orrin's own narrative of his experience the following paragraphs are taken:

When I was put in Independence jail, I was again ironed hand and foot, and put in the dungeon, in which condition I remained about two months. During this time, Joseph H. Reynolds, the sheriff, told me he was going to arrest Joseph Smith, and they had received letters from Nauvoo which satisfied them that Joseph Smith had unlimited confidence in me, that I was capable of toling him in a carriage or on horseback anywhere that I pleased; and if I would only tole him out by riding or any other way, so that they could apprehend him, I might please myself whether I stayed in Illinois or came back to Missouri; they would protect me, and any pile that I would name the citizens of Jackson County would donate, club together and raise, and that I should never suffer for want afterwards: "you only deliver Joe Smith into our hands, and name your pile." I replied—"I will see you all damned first, and then I won't."

About the time that Joseph was arrested by Reynolds at Dixon, I knowing that they were after him, and no means under heaven of giving him any information, my anxiety became so intense upon the subject, knowing their determination to kill him, that my flesh twitched on my bones. I could not help it; twitch it would. While undergoing this sensation, I heard a dove alight on the window in the upper room of the jail, and commence cooing, and then went off. In a short time he came back to the window, where a pane was broken; he crept through the bars of iron, which were about two and a half inches apart. I saw it fly round the trapdoor several times; it did not alight, but continued cooing until it crept through the bars again, and flew out through the broken window.

I relate this, as it was the only occurrence of the kind that happened during my long and weary imprisonment; but it proved a comfort to me; the twitching of my flesh ceased, and I was fully satisfied from that moment that they would not get Joseph into Missouri and that I should regain my freedom. From the best estimates that can be made, it was at the time when Joseph was in the custody of Reynolds.

In a few days afterwards Sheriff Reynolds came into the jail and told me that he had made a failure in the arrest of Joseph.

At last, finding that no charge could be maintained against the prisoner, and that he could not be bribed or cajoled, or driven into a traitorous act, he was turned loose to find his way on foot across the state of Missouri, which swarmed with enemies. He was marvelously preserved from dangers which encompassed his path, and reached Nauvoo as much to Joseph's joy as to his own.

The Prophet must have compared the fidelity of this unpretending but loyal man with the selfish and traitorous action of some men upon whom benefits and confidences had been showered.

JOSEPH SMITH FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES—AN INSPIRED CANDIDATE —HIS VIEWS OF THE POWERS AND POLICY OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT—HOW THE COUNTRY COULD HAVE SAVED THE CARNAGE OF WAR.

For President of the United States: Joseph Smith, of Illinois.

This was the announcement made to the world in the opening of 1844, from Nauvoo. At a political meeting held there on the 29th day of January, Joseph was nominated and on the 17th day of May, at a state convention held in the same place the nomination was sustained.

Such a candidacy was not assumed at such a time without careful and lengthy deliberation. Its purpose was less to secure political fame or elevation for the Prophet, than to bring his patriotic and statesmanlike ideas before the world, and to force the sufferings of the Saints upon the attention of the thinking men throughout the land.

Joseph's views of government, its powers and duties, his knowledge of the steps by which the nation could retrace its way from the gulf into which it was being plunged, were far in advance of his time. The recreancy and the moral cowardice of many of the public men in the republic who were aspirants for that high station, called for some rebuke; for many of them were deliberately precipitating the evils which soon deluged the land with blood, and others through fear were skulking from the face of this danger. It was time for a declaration of truth from a man who not only had the prophetic foresight but who had the courage to declare for justice. Viewed from the standpoint of politicians, the candidacy of the Prophet was hopeless in 1844. What it might have been if he had lived and it had been renewed at a later time, when the best minds of the nation could have grasped and advocated the noble principles which he enunciated, and thinking men throughout the length and breadth of the land could have seen that this was the way of all others for escape from war, let the student of history decide. Certain it is, that had Joseph Smith been elected President of the United States and been sustained by Congress in his policy, this land would have been spared the desolating woe which filled its hamlets and fields with carnage and its homes with sobbing widows and orphans.

From this same state of Illinois a backwoodsman came sixteen years later to settle the national dispute and save the Union by the stern arbitrament of the sword, for by this time the paltering politicians of the schools were by the mighty voice of the people set aside. This man, raised up by Providence for the task, and with the courage to do, was the nation's support and rescuer in 1861-65. But had the nation accepted Joseph Smith, with the views which he proclaimed and with the divine prescience upon him, he would have proved, in 1845-49, the republic's savior. Peaceful methods would have prevailed, and Columbia would have been spared the most bloody and costly civil war of which profane history gives any account.

Looking back upon that time of the war after nearly a generation has past, men are prone to think less of the agonies of the strife; they begin to feel that it was necessary; to feel that the republic is stronger because cemented by the blood of brother who fell under brother's hand and by the tears of the widow and the fatherless. To sense the full beneficence which Joseph Smith might have wrought, let the patriot project his mind into the future and think if peril impended today how much better to save the country and the Constitution by heroic statesmanship than by military valor.

The sentiment which permitted the persecutions in Missouri and Illinois to go unchecked and unredressed was rapidly ripening for the greater strife. Joseph saw this. When he permitted his name to be used he said to his friends:

I would not have suffered my name to have been used by my friends on anywise as President of the United States or candidate for that office, if I and my friends could have had the privilege of enjoying our religious and civil rights as American citizens, even those rights which the constitution guarantees unto all her citizens alike. But this we as a people have been denied from the beginning. Persecution has rolled upon our heads from time to time from portions of the United States, like peals of thunder, because of our religion; and no portion of the government as yet has stepped forward for our relief. And under view of these things, I feel it to be my right and privilege to obtain what influence and power I can, lawfully, in the United States, for the protection of injured innocence; and if I lose my life in a good cause, I am willing to be sacrificed on the altar of virtue, righteousness and truth, in maintaining the laws and constitution of the United States, if need be, for the general good of mankind.

Joseph had not allowed this candidacy to be announced until every effort had been made to impress the leading politicians of the day with a sense of national peril and with recognition of the means by which overhanging disaster might be dissipated. Late in 1843 and in the opening of 1844, he held correspondence with Clay, Calhoun, Van Buren, Cass and others, in which his own courage and exalted ideas of government come in contradistinction to the sycophantic and excessive caution of time-serving politicians.

He hit Calhoun, the champion of states rights, on a tender spot, and used the woes of the Saints for an illustration when he said:

Your second paragraph leaves you naked before yourself, like a likeness in a mirror, when you say that "according to your view, the Federal Government is one of limited and specific powers," and has no jurisdiction in the case of the Mormons. So then a state can at any time expel any portion of her citizens with impunity, and, in the language of Mr. Van Buren, frosted over with your gracious "views of the case," though the cause is ever so just, government can do nothing for them, because it has no power.

Go on, then, Missouri, after another set of inhabitants (as the Latter-day Saints did) have entered some two or three hundred thousand dollars, worth of land, and made extensive improvements thereon; go on, then, I say, banish the occupants or owners, or kill them, as the mobbers did many of the Latter-day Saints, and take their land and property as spoil; and let the legislature, as in the case of the Mormons, appropriate a couple of hundred thousand dollars to pay the mob for doing that job; for the renowned senator from South Carolina, Mr. J. C. Calhoun, says the powers of the Federal Government are so specific and limited that it has no jurisdiction of the case! O ye people who groan under the oppression of tyrants! ye exiled Poles, who have felt the iron hand of Russian grasp!—ye poor and unfortunate among all nations! come to the asylum of the oppressed; buy ye lands of the general government; pay in your money to the treasury to strengthen the army and the navy; worship God according to the dictates of your own consciences; pay in your taxes to support the great heads of a glorious nation; but remember, a 'sovereign state' is so much more powerful than the United States, the parent government, that it can exile you at pleasure, mob you with impunity, confiscate your lands and property, have the legislature sanction it,—yea, even murder you as an edict of an emperor, and it does no wrong; for the noble senator of South Carolina says the power of the Federal Government is so limited and specific, that it has no jurisdiction of the case. What think ye of Imperium in imperio?

And to Clay he said:

True greatness never wavers; but when the Missouri compromise was entered into by you for the benefit of slavery, there was a shrinkage of western honor.

Soon after his nomination was promulgated, he wrote an address to the American people containing his views of the powers and policy of the government of the United States. It was something new in the way of political platforms. Ignoring the evasions and the platitudes with which the scheming and shifting talk of the day was burdened, he uttered burning words of patriotism and statesmanship upon the issues which were then paramount in the land. With the acceptance of his plans, the slave question might have been settled without the effusion of blood and at an expense infinitely less than that of war; and rebellion in any state might have been instantly crushed under the national heel. The following paragraphs are from his address:

Born in a land of liberty, and breathing an air uncorrupted with the sirocco of barbarous climes, I ever feel a double anxiety for the happiness of all men, both in time and in eternity.

My cogitations, like Daniel's, have for a long time troubled me, when I viewed the condition of men throughout the world, and more especially in this boasted realm, where the Declaration of Independence "holds these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" but at the same time some two or three millions of people are held as slaves for life, because the spirit of them is covered with a darker skin than ours; and hundreds of our own kindred for an infraction, or supposed infraction, of some overwise statute, have to be incarcerated in dungeon glooms, or suffer the more moral penitentiary gravitation of mercy in a nutshell, while the duelist, the debauchee, and the defaulter for millions and other criminals, take the uppermost rooms at feasts, or, like the bird of passage, find a more congenial clime by flight.

The wisdom which ought to characterize the freest, wisest and most noble nation of the nineteenth century, should, like the sun in its meridian splendor, warm every object beneath its rays; and in main efforts of her officers, who are nothing more or less than the servants of the people, ought to be directed to ameliorate the condition of all, black or white, bond or free; for the best of books says, God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth."

Our common country presents to all men the same advantages, the same facilities, the same prospects, the same honors, and the same rewards; and without hypocrisy, the constitution, when it says, "We, the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America," meant just what it said without reference to color or condition, ad infinitum.

The aspirations and expectations of a virtuous people, environed with so wise, so liberal, so deep, so broad, and so high a character of equal rights as appears in said constitution, ought to be treated by those to whom the administration of the laws is entrusted with as much sanctity as the prayers of the Saints are treated in heaven, that love, confidence and union, like the sun, moon and stars, should bear witness,

  (For ever singing as they shine.)
  The hand that made us is divine!