JOHN TAYLOR'S BRAVE DEFENSE OF JOSEPH—THE PROPHET ENCOUNTERS THE SPIRIT OF APOSTASY IN MISSOURI—HYRUM IN THE FIRST PRESIDENCY—BRIGHAM YOUNG'S COURAGE AND DEVOTION—JOSEPH DRIVEN FROM KIRTLAND—DAVID W. PATTEN'S PROPHETIC OBJECTION—SAD EXCOMMUNICATIONS—FATE OF PROMINENT MEN—ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN—THE GATHERING.

After the apostasy became general at Kirtland, those who banded themselves against the Prophet and the faithful Saints set up a claim to the ownership of the Temple. Scenes of a turbulent and even violent character were witnessed in the sacred building. Deadly weapons were drawn and flourished and lives were threatened by the members of the apostate party who sought by these means to overawe the peaceful members of the Church and to accomplish the ends they had in view.

After the visit which the Prophet, Sidney Rigdon and Thomas B. Marsh made to Canada, Elder John Taylor, with the view of making preparations to gather with the Saints and to provide a home for himself and family, repaired to Kirtland. While there he attended services in the Temple. Fault-finding and accusation were indulged in by leading men in their remarks, and the Prophet was the target at which their shafts of censure were aimed. They looked upon him and spoke of him as a fallen prophet. These attacks aroused all the lion of John Taylor's nature—and all who ever saw him when strength and courage were demanded, can remember how grandly he could rise to the occasion and satisfy every expectation—and he arose and obtained the privilege of speaking from one of the stands. He was a stranger to the congregation; they knew not who he was nor whence he came, but the Saints saw in him a man of God. His fine presence, his courageous demeanor, the plainness and strength of his reasoning and the power of God which accompanied his words, made a great impression upon the entire audience. His address was a masterly exposition of the great truths which God had inspired Joseph to reveal—truths of which all the learned and religious world were in entire ignorance until they were brought forth by Joseph—and a defense of him as a prophet of God. The dissenters were rebuked and the Saints were strengthened and encouraged and all felt that a man had appeared upon the scene who would yet be a power among the Saints. This was President Taylor's first public introduction to the Saints at the gathering place.

Undaunted by the apostasy, and relying upon the promise of the Lord, Joseph knew that the work would surely grow and that places must be appointed for the gathering of the Saints in the last days. To every human appearance, in the spring and summer of 1837, the Church was in a state of dissolution; but all who were animated by the spirit of truth knew that the disunion at Kirtland was but the effort of the adversary, which, with patience and faithfulness, might be overcome.

In September, Joseph had not yet learned through any earthly medium of the marvelous work which was to be done abroad among the honest-in-heart; and yet, on the 27th day of that month, he and Sidney Rigdon began a journey to the west to visit the Saints in Missouri and to establish places into which might come converts from every land. They were accompanied on this journey by Vinson Knight and William Smith, while Hyrum was already at Far West, laboring with his accustomed energy and fidelity for the advancement of the gospel and the well-being of the Saints.

While the Prophet and his companions were on the way, Hyrum's wife Jerusha died at Kirtland, leaving five little children. Her dying message was full of faith in the gospel and was a comfort to her absent husband when he learned it, and it proved that she was worthy to be the consort of the destined patriarch and martyr.

A little over a month was consumed in the journey to Far West; and soon after the Prophet's arrival he began to hold meetings for the settlement of all difficulties which had arisen between the brethren there, the same evil spirit which had gained such sway in Kirtland having begun to assert its power in Missouri. On the 7th of November, 1837, a general assembly of the Church was held at Far West, at which Frederick G. Williams was rejected by the congregation as a counselor to the President of the Church; and, upon motion of Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith was elected to fill the vacancy. The local organization was also perfected, and prayer was offered to God that this place might be a gathering spot for the Saints.

As it appeared to the Prophet that the regions surrounding Far West, occupied by other settlers, afforded yet much room, the plat of Far West was enlarged into the dimensions of a city, and every preparation was made to afford a refuge to such as might choose to gather to this new Stake of Zion. It was also decided that the time had not yet come for the building of a temple at Far West, but that the brethren should await the commandment of the Lord upon this subject.

About the 10th of November, Joseph left Far West to return to Kirtland, occupying a month in the journey and reaching his home on the 10th day of December.

While he had been absent, the spirit of apostasy had gained an ascendancy with men who had previously begged forgiveness from the Prophet. Warren Parrish, John F. Boynton, Joseph Coe and others,—deeming that the absence of the Prophet afforded them an opportunity—banded themselves together to accomplish the overthrow of the Church. They renounced the Church of Jesus Christ, renounced the authority of the Prophet of God, and set up an organization for themselves. Denouncing Joseph and his faithful supporters as heretics, they became so violent at any opposition to their falsehoods that they even sought the lives of their former brethren.

Brigham Young always was one of the truest and most intrepid of men; and during all these Kirtland troubles he openly and fearlessly declared to all that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and had neither transgressed nor fallen from his divinely appointed place. His unswerving and undaunted attitude, the plainness of his declarations and the vigor of his defense of Joseph, and his exposure of the schemes of his enemies, aroused their fury. The apostates could not brook this boldness of the Apostle Brigham; it interfered with their murderous designs against Joseph and their hateful purposes against the Church. Threats and cajolery having alike failed to intimidate or divert him, they determined to kill him. But he learned of their designs; and nearly two weeks after the Prophet had returned to Kirtland and was able to assert his own authority, Brigham Young departed for Missouri to escape the assassins who ravened for his life at Kirtland.

In the meantime the work abroad progressed gloriously. On Christmas day, 1837, a conference was held at Preston, at which the reports showed that already the branch of the Church in England numbered about one thousand souls.

The letters conveying these happy tidings had not yet reached the Prophet; and except as hope was inspired in his heart by the Holy Spirit, he had little comfort through the darkness of that night of 1837, for apostasy and transgression strove hard to rule the weak and ruin the staunch at Kirtland.

The experience of 1836-7 in the Church demonstrated as never before, that irrefragable testimonies concerning the divine origin of the gospel and the prophetic calling of Joseph were not alone sufficient to keep men faithful. Unflinching firmness and intrepidity were also indispensable; but preeminent above all other qualities, purity of life was absolutely essential. The half century which has since elapsed has abundantly confirmed this. The virtuous, humble men who possessed steadfastness and faith in the days of trial at Kirtland, have since grown to prominence among the Saints. The qualities which they then exhibited have had ample room for exercise in the subsequent vicissitudes through which the Church has passed. The Lord has tried and proved them; they have acquired confidence themselves; and the people have ever looked to them as leaders who could be trusted and upon whose courage, judgment and integrity they could safely rely.

In this connection it is worthy of remark that the three men who have succeeded the Prophet Joseph as Presidents of the Church, were all distinguished during Joseph's lifetime for their love for the truth and their unswerving affection and loyalty to him as the Prophet of God. President Brigham Young, probably above all men in Kirtland, displayed these qualities during the stormy scenes of the last year of his residence at that place.

President Wilford Woodruff, though not so prominent in those days as he afterwards became, was expostulated with, coaxed and ridiculed by some of his old friends, notably Warren Parrish, who had been his fellow-missionary in the Southern States, for the purpose of inducing him to join them and turn against the Prophet. But the integrity of the man was immovable and all their efforts proved unavailing.

With the dawn of the new year confusion and mobocratic power increased, and on the 12th of January, 1838, Joseph and Sidney were driven from Kirtland to escape mob violence. Their destination was Far West, and they were pursued more than two hundred miles by armed enemies seeking their lives. The weather was intensely severe, and Joseph and his companion, with their families who had joined them, suffered greatly in their endeavor to elude the murderous pursuit. Several times the pursuers crossed the Prophet's track. Twice they entered the houses where his party had gained a refuge, and once they occupied a room in the same building with only a partition between them, through which the Prophet heard their oaths and imprecations concerning him. Thus were they protected by divine power, else murder would have been done, for the long and unavailing pursuit had filled these would-be assassins with a fiendish desire for blood. Owing to the severity of the season two months were occupied in the journey to Far West, which place the Prophet and his family reached on the 14th day of March, 1838, accompanied by Apostle Brigham Young, who had joined him on the way.

His arrival was very timely and necessary. Upon his previous visit objection had been raised to some of the local authorities and they were only accepted by the congregation after having made humble confession of their sins and entered their solemn promise of repentance.

But so soon as the Prophet had turned his back upon Far West to go to Kirtland, the local presidency had again entered into transgression, acting selfishly and arbitrarily in the administration of financial affairs and completely losing the confidence of the body of the people.

While the Prophet had been journeying toward Missouri after escaping the Kirtland mob in January, 1838, a general assembly of the Saints in Far West was held on the 5th day of February, at which David Whitmer, John Whitmer and William W. Phelps were rejected as the local presidency; and a few days later Thomas B. Marsh and David W. Patten, of the Twelve, were selected to act as a presidency until the Prophet should arrive. Oliver Cowdery too had been suspended from his position. Persisting in unchristianlike conduct, W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer had been excommunicated by the high council in Far West, four days previous to the arrival of Joseph.

This was the sad situation as the Prophet approached the dwelling place of the Saints in Missouri. Many of the people went out to meet him, and at a distance of one hundred and twenty miles from Far West they found him and tendered him teams and money to help him forward. The joy they had in his presence arose from an absolute knowledge of his power and authority as a Prophet of God. They were certain that many of their difficulties would end with his presence, because he would give the light of truth by which to guide their footsteps.

On the eighth anniversary of the organization of the Church a conference was held at Far West under the presidency of Joseph. On this occasion David W. Patten declared that he could not recommend William E. McLellin, Luke Johnson and John F. Boynton as members of the Twelve, and he was also doubtful of William Smith. His objection to these men was prophetic; all of them lost their standing, disgraced their calling, forfeited their knowledge of the truth and their promise of reward hereafter, and sank back into the mire of this world.

At the same conference Brigham Young, David W. Patten and Thomas B. Marsh were chosen to preside over the Church in Missouri.

On the 12th of April, 1838, Oliver Cowdery was found guilty of serious wrong-doing for which he had not made repentance, and he was excommunicated by the high council at Far West. Before the same tribunal on the day following David Whitmer was charged with persistent disobedience of the word of wisdom and with unchristianlike conduct, and he was also cut off. Luke Johnson, Lyman E. Johnson and John F. Boynton were excommunicated about the same tune, and less than a month later a similar fate befell William E. McLellin.

It was a sorrowful day for Joseph when he lost the companionship of these men who had been with him during many trials and who had participated with him in the glorious understanding of heavenly things. But they were no longer anything but dead branches, harmful to the growing tree, and it was necessary for the pruner to lop them off. Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer were two of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon, designated by the word of the Almighty to view the plates and to be ministered unto by the Angel of the Record. Oliver had stood with Joseph in the Kirtland temple and seen the marvelous manifestations there. It was sad to see them thus shorn of power and blessing, but they had demonstrated their unworthiness to hold the positions which they had filled, and the penalty must fall upon them that the Church might escape the evil of their sins.

Had Joseph's faith in God and confidence in the mission which the Creator had entrusted to him been less than it was, he might have temporized with these men and not dealt with them in so strict and summary a manner. He was attached to them by many ties. They had been his aids and companions in days when he most needed help, sustenance and friendship. Through his ministrations of the gospel, God had enabled him to abundantly repay them. Still he never could forget their past associations. They were two of the heaven-selected witnesses who had testified that God's voice had declared to them that Joseph's translation of the Book of Mormon had been made by the gift and power of God. If they should be excommunicated from the Church, suppose that they, filled with anger thereat, should abandon themselves to the spirit of evil which so many men, so dealt with, yielded to in those days; what then? Like others, might they not renounce the truth, circulate all manner of falsehoods, deny the divinity of the work and even the solemn testimony which they had borne? These might be the reflections of an ordinary man under such circumstances; but such thoughts never troubled this Prophet of God. This Church was not the Church of man. Jesus Christ, its divine head, had promised He would take care of, sustain and defend it. However much, then, Joseph's affection and friendship might be for these men, he owed a paramount duty to his God to deal with transgressors in His Church according to the laws which He had given. This duty the Prophet performed without hesitation, leaving all consequences for the Lord to control.

Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, the three witnesses of the divine origin of Joseph's translation of the Book of Mormon, were all severed from the Church. They became opponents of Joseph Smith and claimed he had fallen into transgression; but amid all their trials, temptations and vicissitudes they never hesitated or wavered in regard to the published testimony which they gave to the world concerning the Book of Mormon. Each of them to the day of his death, asseverated in the most solemn manner the truth of his testimony. All three are dead; but they still live as immutable witnesses of the truth and divinity of the record known as the Book of Mormon, and by their testimony will the world yet be judged.

In the sacred records which have come to us there is no mention of any other man, that was so highly favored as Oliver Cowdery was, falling from his exalted position and forfeiting his blessings and Priesthood as he did. What a lesson and warning does his history convey! It is generally understood by those who knew him in the days of which we write, that he was guilty of unvirtuous conduct. This came to the Prophet's knowledge. He warned Oliver of the consequences which would follow if he did not repent. The warnings were unheeded. The Spirit of God withdrew itself from him and he fell into darkness; and from being the second Elder in the Church, he lost his standing as a member and became an alien to the people of God. For years he remained in this condition. After the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo and the city of Salt Lake had been founded, he arrived at Kanesville, made suitable acknowledgments in great humility to the Church there and was admitted to it by baptism under the direction of Elder Orson Hyde. He was re-ordained to the Melchisedec Priesthood and shortly afterwards died at Richmond, in the state of Missouri.

Martin Harris also came back penitent to the Church, after being for years separated from it. He was restored to fellowship and the Priesthood, and was strong in his testimony for the truth up to his death, which was at a very advanced age at Smithfield, Cache County, Utah Territory.

David Whitmer never rejoined the Church; but his testimony concerning the divine origin of the Book of Mormon was widely circulated through the newspapers of the country. He died at Richmond, Missouri.

Of the three Apostles who were then excommunicated—Boynton and the two Johnsons—one only rejoined the Church. Luke Johnson came to Nauvoo at the time of the exodus and was again admitted to fellowship. He was one of the company of Pioneers who under the leadership of President Brigham Young, left Winter Quarters on the Missouri River in 1847, to find a home for the Latter-day Saints in the great West, and which resulted in the settling of Great Salt Lake Valley. Luke Johnson was a member of the Church when he died in Salt Lake City.

President Brigham Young related a conversation himself and some others of the Twelve Apostles had with Lyman E. Johnson on one occasion in Nauvoo. It was after the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph. They were speaking of old times when they were all engaged in the ministry and when Lyman E. Johnson was a zealous advocate of the truth. The bitterness he had exhibited in Kirtland had passed away, and he was softened by the association with his old companions. Speaking of the heavenly influence and spirit which had accompanied him in his labors in the ministry, Lyman said, "I would give my right hand to-day if, by so doing, I could feel once more as I did then."

In the month of April, 1838, the Lord commanded His Saints through Joseph that the Church in these last days should be called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also commanded His people to arise and shine that their light might be a standard for the nations, and that the gathering to Zion and her stakes might be a refuge from the storm and from the wrath which shall be poured out upon the whole earth.

During the spring and early summer of 1838, the Prophet was peacefully engaged in his labors at Far West and in the regions surrounding. He established a stake of Zion at Adam-ondi-Ahman in Daviess County, Missouri, at the spot where Adam had dwelt and where, according to Daniel the Prophet, the Ancient of Days shall sit. He assisted in the laying of the corner stones of the house of the Lord at Far West on the 4th day of July. And during all this time he was busily engaged in collating data and recording facts relating to Church history, that the momentous events of the eight years preceding might not be lost to the coming generations.

On the 8th day of July, John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff and Willard Richards were appointed by revelation to fill the places of those who had fallen from the quorum of the Twelve. On the same day the Lord declared the law of tithing to stand for the guidance of the faithful forever.

Joseph also labored in the preparation of the Elders' Journal, the publication of which was resumed in July, 1838, at Far West.

Apostles Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde had returned from England, reaching Kirtland in May, 1838, having left the English mission under the presidency of Joseph Fielding, with Willard Richards and William Clayton as his counselors.

On the 10th of March, 1838, the Seventies at Kirtland had decided to remove their quorum in a camp to the west; and on the 6th day of July of this year, a large body of the Saints, numbering five hundred and fifteen souls—including and in charge of the Seventies—departed from Kirtland for Missouri. Many sufferings were endured by this devoted band. Their ranks were decimated by disease and persecutions. Some of them grew faint and faithless and fell by the wayside. But the majority persevered; and about two hundred of the original number reached Adam-ondi-Ahman in a body, while many of the others came as speedily as their circumstances would permit.

From that time on, until the mob once more triumphed and drove them forth, the gathering of the Saints continued.

PENISTON AROUSES A MOB—HIS EXCITING SPEECH CAUSES A CRUEL ATTACK UPON TWELVE UNARMED BRETHREN—ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MOBOCRATS DRIVE THEM FROM THE POLLS—ADAM BLACK'S PROMISE—FALSE CHARGES AGAINST THE SAINTS—THE SHERIFF OF DAVIESS COUNTY ARRESTS JOSEPH—BOGGS ORDERS THE RAISING OF THE MILITIA—THE PROPHET PERCEIVES THE REAL OBJECT OF THIS ORDER.

In August, 1838, the appalling mob crusade began which resulted finally in the exile of the Saints from the state of Missouri.

Previous to this time lands had been purchased by some of the brethren in Daviess County, adjoining Caldwell on the north. The Saints who settled there were industrious and law-abiding citizens. But the murderous element in that region would not permit them to toil in peace and enjoy the rights of freemen. Some of the old mobbers were there, and they joined with the people who had sold farms to the Saints and who saw in this wicked conjunction of forces an opportunity to recover their possessions, without any other cost than the banishment or murder of the "Mormon" settlers. Colonel William P. Peniston, who had led the mob in Clay County against the Saints, was desirous of being returned to the state legislature as a representative from Daviess County. The election was to be held on the 6th day of August, 1838. Previous to that time Peniston and his friends had organized with a determination to prevent the Saints from voting, as it was believed that they would not aid their old enemy—persecutor and law-breaker that he was—to a seat in the law-making body of the state. A friendly judge named Morin told some of the Elders of the plot against them and advised them to go to the polls armed and ready to resist the unlawful aggression. But, though they were strong in their intention to exercise their rights as set forth in the constitution and the laws, bitter experience had taught them that such an act on their part as carrying arms, merely for self-protection, would be called an unlawful demonstration and would be followed by a general assault upon them under cover of authority. So they went to the polling places with no other weapons than clean consciences, clean ballots and clean, strong hands. At Gallatin, the principal town of the county, twelve of them were preparing to cast their votes. But Peniston mounted a barrel and made an exciting, desperate speech. He was surrounded by an assemblage of ruffians numbering one hundred and fifty. To this inflammable material he applied the torch.

He said:

The Mormon leaders profess to heal the sick, and you know that is a damned lie.

He declared his opposition to the settlement of the Saints in that region and told his hearers that if they suffered the "Mormons" to vote, they would deserve to lose their own suffrages.

Addressing the Saints he declared:

I headed a mob to drive you out of Clay County and would not prevent your being mobbed now.

Incited to horrible rage by his incendiary tirade some of the drunken men in the mob attacked the brethren, and when effective resistance was made by the courageous twelve, the entire rabble of one hundred and fifty set upon them. The brethren fought with desperate courage. They were defending the most sacred right of American citizenship. Before the well-directed blows from their stout arms and bare hands, scores of the mobocrats fell in the dust; but at last, overpowered by numbers, and warned by the authorities of the county that this attack had been premeditated and they would do better to withdraw, the brethren retreated.

Just outside of town they held a council to decide whether to return to the polling places or seek their homes. While they were debating this point, they saw crowds of mob recruits rush into the town armed with guns, pistols, knives and clubs; and knowing that these men intended to do murder upon them the brethren hastened to their farms, collected their families and hid them in a thicket of hazel brush for the night. A heavy rain came on. The women and little children, drenched to the skin, were compelled to lie upon the chilling ground through all the stormy hours of darkness, while their husbands and fathers stood sentry at the edge of the copse, expecting every hour that the dread attack would come.

The next morning word was brought to Far West by friendly settlers that some of the brethren had been killed at Gallatin, while attempting to cast their votes, and that the mob power was again supreme and was determined to drive the Saints from the county of Daviess. It was reported that the murderers would not even allow the Saints to obtain the bodies of their dead nor direct their burial.

Without a thought for his personal safety and with that lion-like courage which ever distinguished him, Joseph and his no less heroic brother Hyrum, with fifteen or twenty others, started to aid the Saints in Daviess. On the way Joseph was joined by a few brethren from different places, some of whom were fleeing from the mob, and that night, having reached Colonel Wight's house in Daviess County, he was rejoiced to learn that although some of the brethren had been badly bruised, none had been killed.

Among the men who had sold lands to the Saints was one Adam Black, a justice of the peace and just then judge elect for the county. This man, a sworn officer of the law and an aspirant for further judicial honors, had joined himself with the mob, probably in the hope to recover his farm without cost. Joseph determined to see this treasonable man and remonstrate with him against the cruelty and dishonesty of his course. Upon visiting him the Prophet received a verbal confession of his alliance with the rabble. Being further pressed to declare what his future course would be concerning the Saints and solicited to sign an agreement of peace, he prepared and gave to the Prophet a document, of which the following is an exact copy:

I Adam Black a Justice of the peace of Daviess county do hereby Sertify to the people coled Mormin, that he is bound to suport the constitution of this State, and of the United State, and he is not attached to any mob, nor will not attach himself to any such people, and so long as they will not molest me, I will not molest them. This the 8th day of August, 1838.

Adam Black J. P.

No force nor unkindness was used with Black. No threat was uttered against him. The Prophet merely visited him as he visited other men of prominence or notoriety in that region, in a manly endeavor to subdue the kindling flame. Whatever contempt Joseph felt for the wretch who, with a judge's dignity upon him, could connive with a lawless, murderous mob, he was able to suppress; his demeanor was that of dignity and repose. But, as subsequent events proved, Black could not forgive the Prophet for the humiliation which he had made him feel.

That night some of the leading citizens of the county called upon the Prophet, and together they agreed to hold a conference at Adam-ondi-Ahman the next day at 12 o'clock. Pursuant to this appointment, both parties met in friendly council, and entered into a covenant of peace, to preserve each other's rights and to stand in their defense. For the Saints such men as Lyman Wight, John Smith, Vinson Knight, Reynolds Cahoon, and others resident there, gave this pledge. And for the other settlers, Joseph Morin, senator-elect; John Williams, representative-elect; James P. Turner, clerk of the circuit court; and other men of influence and character, made their solemn promise. Having accomplished so much, the assembly dispersed on terms of amity, and the Prophet and his companions returned to Far West.

The covenant of protection extended by the prominent men of Daviess County, who knew and by their acts admitted that the Saints had been unjustly dealt with and unlawfully threatened, was without avail. On the 10th day of August, 1838, William P. Peniston and several of his creatures made affidavit before Judge Austin A. King that a large body of armed men, whose movements and conduct he declared to be of a highly insurrectionary character, had been collecting in the county of Daviess under the leadership of Joseph Smith and Lyman Wight, to intimidate and take vengeance upon the other settlers, to drive from the county all the old citizens and possess their lands. He further averred that they had already committed great violence upon Adam Black by forcing him to sign a paper of a disgraceful character. This affidavit was made in Ray County; and on the 11th day of August a committee of citizens came from that place to Far West to make inquiry of the Saints concerning the charges therein made. It stands as a monument of disproof against the assertions of Peniston, that the citizens of Ray County did not hesitate to place themselves in the power of the "Mormons" and their Prophet—knowing full well, as they did from past experience, that the Saints were full of kind disposition toward all men who would treat them as fellow-citizens possessed of equal rights.

In answer to the inquiry of the committee from Ray the Saints appointed a delegation of seven men, to make a full explanation of the facts and to demonstrate to all fair-minded men their own innocence as well as the wrongs inflicted upon them.

On the 11th of August, 1838, the Prophet went to visit some brethren from Canada who had settled on the banks of the Grand River, and remained with them through the succeeding day, which was the Sabbath, offering such counsel as their situation required. On the 13th, while returning to Far West, he was pursued by some of the mobbers but managed to elude them. When within eight miles of Far West he was met by several of the brethren who had gone out to inform him that a writ had been issued by Judge King for his arrest and that of Lyman Wight, on a complaint made by Peniston. Calmly as one returning to his evening rest from the harvest field the Prophet went to his home, despite the fears and warnings of his friends. He remained there awaiting the coming of the officers for three days, and all the time being engaged in labor for the prosperity and protection of the community.

On the 16th of August, 1838, the sheriff of Daviess County, accompanied by Judge Morin, appeared and said that he had a writ to take Joseph into Daviess for trial, for the offense of visiting that county on the 7th of August. The sheriff was no doubt surprised to find the Prophet and to serve his writ without molestation, because a report had been spread by the mob that Joseph would not be apprehended by legal process. Joseph informed the sheriff that he always hoped to submit to the law of his country. The sheriff was impressed as well as astonished by the calm action and dignified deportment of the Prophet; and when Joseph expressed a wish to be tried in Caldwell instead of Daviess County, since he thought that the statute of the state gave him that privilege and justice for him in Daviess was out of the question, the sheriff declined to serve the writ and said he would go to Richmond to consult Judge King. Joseph promised to remain at home until the sheriff returned. The pledge was fulfilled; and when the officer got back he told Joseph that Caldwell was out of his jurisdiction and he would not act.

For the greater general prosperity, the Saints in the various parts of Caldwell County now organized under the Prophet's direction into agricultural companies, to enclose their lands into large fields. Joseph showed them how this plan would be economical and add facility to the tilling of the soil. So readily could this inspired man turn from the tragic tribulations of life to render to his brethren calm assistance in their daily labors!

On the 28th day of August, 1838, Adam Black made oath before a justice of the peace of Daviess County that he had been threatened with instant death by an armed force of more than one hundred and fifty men on the 8th day of August. He named several of the brethren whom he charged with aiding and abetting in the perpetration of the offense, and this was Black's revenge upon the Prophet who had detected him in an attempt to steal back the land which he had sold to the Saints.

The agitation in Daviess County and the perjuries of the foiled mobbers aroused Lilburn W. Boggs, of memory already infamous, who was now governor of the state; and he sent letters to General David R. Atchison and six other generals, ordering them to raise immediately within the limits of their divisions four hundred mounted men armed and equipped as infantry or riflemen. This act, which was ostensibly for the protection of good order, accomplished its wicked purpose. It aroused intense excitement and inflamed the desire of the mob to find an excuse for an attack upon the Saints, since they knew that the militia would be composed of men who hated the "Mormons" and would be willing to plunder them on the first opportunity.

Joseph saw the tendency of events and wrote at this time in his journal as follows:

There is great excitement at present among the Missourians, seeking if possible an occasion against us. They are continually chaffing us, and provoking us to anger if possible; one sign of threatening following another. But we do not fear them; for the Lord God, the Eternal Father is our God, and Jesus, the Mediator is our Savior, and in the great I AM is our strength and confidence. We have been driven from time to time, and that without cause, and been smitten again and again, and that without provocation, until we have proved the world with kindness, and the world proved us that we have no design against any man or set of men; that we injure no man; that we are peaceable with all men; minding our own business, and our own business only. We have suffered our rights and our liberties to be taken from us; we have not avenged ourselves for those wrongs. We have appealed to magistrates, to sheriffs, judges, to governors and to the President of the United States, all in vain. Yet we have yielded peaceably to all these things. We have not complained at the great God. We murmured not; but peaceably left all, and retired into the back country, in the broad wild prairie, in the barren and desolate plains, and there commenced anew. We made the desolate places to bud and blossom as the rose; and now the fiend-like race are disposed to give us no rest.

JOSEPH VOLUNTEERS FOR TRIAL AND LYMAN WIGHT FOLLOWS—BEGINNING THE STUDY OF LAW—THE TRIAL BEFORE A COWARD JUDGE, WITH A PERJURED WITNESS—MILITIA CALLED OUT, BUT THE MOB PRACTICALLY DEFIES IT—BOGGS CONTINUES THE WORK OF OPPRESSION.

Angered at the frustration of their plots of force and legal treachery against the Prophet, the mob continued to spread reports in August and September of 1838, that he was defying the law and refusing submission to process of court. This perjured tale received additional credence among the uninformed from the fact that the Daviess County sheriff had failed to arrest him; though, as all should have known, this failure was no fault of Joseph. But the falsehood was bringing renewed menace upon the Saints. Upper Missouri erupted a lava stream of bad men into Daviess, Carroll, Saline and Caldwell Counties. Something must be done to turn aside the overflow or it would sweep over all the dwelling places of the Saints.

To stay the fiery river of hate, the Prophet offered himself as a sacrifice. On the fourth day of September, 1838, he volunteered, through his lawyers, Generals Atchison and Doniphan, to be tried before Judge King, in Daviess County. Lyman Wight, who had been charged with him, followed his example.

It was characteristic of this industrious Prophet, that on the day when he tendered his liberty and his life as a price for the physical and political redemption of his brethren, he began the methodical study of law. The anxiety natural to his position was unfelt. He had looked so often upon danger that its face was no longer terrible. And he knew that such learning as he should ever acquire must be gained in the midst of turmoil. He wanted to know the science upon which statutes were based, and to become learned in the knowledge of his country's constitution and enactments that he might the better minister temporal salvation to his fellowmen, and the hour when prison and even murder menaced him was as propitious as any he might ever see.

The time appointed for the trial in Judge King's court was Thursday, the 6th day of November, 1838. Joseph was there, but the case could not proceed, because the prosecuting witness was absent, and no testimony was forthcoming. The court adjourned for the day, and Joseph returned to his home, but the next morning he was again in attendance and the trial proceeded. Peniston prosecuted and Adam Black swore to everything which Peniston asked. He had been bribed by money, promises or threats, else he was incited by murderous hate, and he told things which manifestly could not have had any existence except in his false mind. He was the only witness against the defendants. In their behalf four reputable men testified, proving incontestably that Black's oaths were perjury and Peniston's complaint was a lie. Judge King admitted in private conversation that nothing had been proved against the Prophet and his companion, and yet he bound them over in bonds of $500. Without a murmur the Prophet and Lyman submitted and gave the necessary bail.

From the trial they were followed to Far West by two gentlemen who stated that they had come from Chariton County as a commission of inquiry in behalf of their fellow citizens. A demand had been made by the mobbers upon the residents of Chariton County for assistance to capture Joseph Smith and Lyman Wight, and a committee had been appointed by the fair-minded people of Chariton to investigate the situation. When these gentlemen saw that the real purpose of the request was to secure ruffian help to impoverish the defenseless Saints and drive them once again into the wilderness, they declared that they had been outrageously imposed upon by the demand of the mob, and they returned to their own county filled with sympathy and friendly feeling for Joseph and his brethren. Their findings they subsequently embodied in an affidavit.

An attack was planned by the mob upon Adam-ondi-Ahman; on the 9th a wagon laden with guns and ammunition in charge of a party of the murderous rabble was going to that place from Richmond. But it was intercepted by Captain William Allred, who arrested the men in charge, John B. Comer and two others—Miller and McHoney—and took possession of the weapons. A letter was addressed to Judge King immediately by the Saints, asking him what should be done with the prisoners and the captured munitions. This coward responded to turn the prisoners loose and let them receive kind treatment. He was the judicial officer who, to satisfy the mob instead of satisfying justice, had placed the Prophet and Lyman Wight under bonds when, by his own confession, not one illegal act could be proved against them. Concerning the guns he was reluctant to give advice, although he promised that they should not be taken from the Saints to be converted and used for illegal purposes.

Under the same date this unjust judge wrote to General Atchison to send two hundred or more men to force the "Mormons" to surrender. He well knew that the Saints were not in a rebellious or unlawful attitude, nor in a position to fight. They had not even the power to resist mobocratic aggression against themselves, to say nothing of being the assailants in any illegal movement.

On the 12th of September, the men who had been arrested while transporting guns to the mob in Daviess County, were held to bail for their appearance at the circuit court.

About the same time a large body of the mob entered De Witt in Carroll County, and warned the brethren to leave on pain of death.

William Dryden, justice of the peace in Daviess County, complained falsely to the Governor that service of process from his court, issued against Alanson Ripley, George A. Smith and others for threatening Adam Black, had been withstood.

General Atchison called out the militia of Clay and Ray Counties which, under the command of Brigadier-General Doniphan, marched to the timber on Crooked River, while he went with a single aide to Far West, the county seat of Caldwell, to confer with the leading men among the Saints. Here he was the guest of the Prophet.

Doniphan's troops had ostensibly been called into the field to suppress an insurrection and preserve peace. But instead of the military powers being used as a menace to the mob, it was operated as if the long-suffering Saints had been the aggressors. General Doniphan, a friendly, fair and kindly-disposed man, was acting under the Governor's orders, and the responsibility of his conduct falls chiefly upon the executive of the state. The mob prisoners were demanded and were set free with no regard for any other law than that which seemed to reign supreme in Missouri—the law of mobocratic will. The arms which had been seized on the way from Richmond into Daviess County were collected and delivered up to the General. From Crooked River General Doniphan brought his troops through Millport in Daviess County to the spot where a mob had congregated to make an attack upon the Saints. When the General read an order of dispersion to the rabble they declared that their object was solely for defense; and yet they would not even permit the General in command of the state militia to approach them without going through such military formalities as might have greeted a flag of truce from an opposing force, while all the time that he was conferring with them guards were marching in and out, showing that the camp was being kept in a state of activity. Although they promised to obey the order requiring them to withdraw, they failed to do so.

From this place the General proceeded to the spot where the Saints had assembled together for mutual protection under the direction of Lyman Wight. A conference ensued in which the Saints agreed to disband, to surrender up any one of their number accused of crime, on condition that the hostile forces of the mob, only a few miles distant, should be dispersed. The Saints had every wish to comply with the law and to avoid every appearance of resistance, but they knew too well that if they scattered, unless the mobbers were also disbanded, they would be murdered and plundered. General Atchison, also in command of troops, was joined on the 15th at the county seat of Daviess by General Doniphan and his regiments. He found that the mobbers were still under arms and still aggressive, while the Saints were still huddled together for safety. To him the Saints also stated their willingness to yield to any legal requirement, and they would cheerfully submit to any investigation which might be demanded. General Atchison thought that peace might be restored and so wrote to the Governor; but immediately Boggs ordered the Booneville guards to be mounted with ten days' provisions and in readiness to march on his arrival; and he also ordered General Lucas to proceed immediately with four hundred mounted men to co-operate with General Atchison. Similar orders were issued to Major-Generals Lewis Bolton, John B. Clark and Thomas B. Grant.

While this military movement was taking place the mob continued to seize prisoners and to send threatening messages, hoping to incite the Saints to some overt act that the whole power of the mob and militia combined might be brought against them to annihilate them. Several times word was brought to the encampment of the Saints that prisoners taken by the mob were being tortured. This was done in the hope to provoke a spirit of retaliation. It seems strange that this situation could have continued for more than a day with such a military force at hand. A little prompt and vigorous action would have dispersed the mob and taught them to respect the power of the law. It would not have been necessary to shed blood, only to let constitutional majesty be asserted; and the Saints might have remained in peace. But this was not the purpose. The troops really had been called out, not to protect the "Mormons," but to answer the lying call of a justice of the peace. This mighty power of war was brought into operation to apprehend two or three men, charged with a petty offense, and who had not resisted any attempt to serve legal papers upon them.

On the 20th of September General Atchison wrote to the Governor that the insurrection was practically ended; all the leading offenders against the law had been arrested and bound over to appear at court. It is noticeable that the people were called offenders, the plundering rabble going scot free. All of the troops, except two companies of the Ray militia under command of Brigadier General Parks, were discharged. In this same letter General Atchison said:

They [the Mormons] appear to be acting on the defensive, and I must further add, gave up the offenders with a good deal of promptness. The arms and prisoners taken by the Mormons were also given up upon demand with seeming cheerfulness.

This candid opinion was re-enforced a few days later by a letter from General Parks to the Governor, in which he uses the following expressions:

Whatever may have been the disposition of the people called "Mormons" before our arrival here, since we have made our appearance they have shown no disposition to resist the laws, or of hostile intentions. There has been so much prejudice and exaggeration concerned in this matter that I found things entirely different from what I was prepared to expect. When we arrived here we found a large body of men from the counties adjoining, armed and in the field, for the purpose, as I learned, of assisting the people of this county against the "Mormons," without being called out by the proper authorities.

P.S.—Since writing the above, I have received information that if the committee do not agree, the determination of the Daviess County men is to drive the "Mormons" with powder and lead.

Near the same time, General Atchison wrote to Governor Boggs as follows:

Things are not so bad in this county [Daviess] as represented by rumor, and, in fact, from affidavits I have no doubt your Excellency has been deceived by the exaggerated statements of designing or half-crazy men. I have found there is no cause of alarm on account of the "Mormons;" they are not to be feared; they are very much alarmed.

About the 26th day of September, 1838, a committee from the mob met some of the leading brethren at Adam-ondi-Ahman and entered into an agreement whereby the Saints were to purchase lands and possessions of all who desired to sell; but this resulted in nothing, for the mob had other purposes in view.

About fifteen or twenty of the Saints with Lyman Wight were pledged to appear before the court at Gallatin for trial on the 29th of September.

Hundreds of men drawn into the militia service of Generals Atchison, Doniphan, Parks, and Lucas were in personal affiliation with the mob. When the greater part of the forces were disbanded in Daviess County a general movement took place toward De Witt, in Carroll County. On their way the bandits breathed their murderous intent against the Saints; and before the onslaught, the brethren addressed a humble petition to Lilburn W. Boggs, imploring him to send succor, but he was deaf to the appeal. His ears were always open to the voice of the murderer; never to that of the victim. The mob could not ask him in vain for help; the injured Saints supplicated again and again without a reply. With the opening of October, the mob pressed hard upon the Saints in De Witt, threatening death to men, captivity to children and outrage to women.

BOMBARDMENT OF DE WITT—APPEAL OF THE SAINTS TO GOVERNOR BOGGS—HIS HEARTLESS REPLY—JOSEPH'S PRESENCE ENCOURAGES THE BRETHREN—THE SAINTS LEAVE THEIR POSSESSIONS IN DE WITT—THEY GO TO FAR WEST—ADAM ONDI-AHMAN DEVASTATED—THE SAINTS ORGANIZE FOR DEFENSE—JOSEPH CONTROLS A MOB WHO DESIGN TO MURDER HIM—APOSTASY OF THOMAS B. MARSH—DEATH OF DAVID W. PATTEN—"WHATEVER YOU DO ELSE, OH, DO NOT DENY THE FAITH."

Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend.

On the 5th day of October, 1838, word came to the Prophet of the bombardment of the town of De Witt, in Carroll County, by a mob army with muskets and artillery. The ravenous wretches, many of whom had been in the militia companies of Atchison, Doniphan and Parks, foiled for the moment in Daviess and Caldwell Counties, had concentrated upon the more remote and defenseless places for the purpose of plundering the Saints and driving them forth. As soon as Joseph heard the news he hastened to the scene of conflict. The rage of the mob naturally fell against him more heavily than against anyone else; but it was his nature always to be where danger threatened his brethren.

It was on the 2nd of October that the mob, under the leadership of Dr. Austin, Major Ashley, a member of the legislature, and Sashiel Woods, a Presbyterian clergyman, fired first upon the town of De Witt. They continued during that day and the next, when they were reinforced by two companies of militia under the command of Captains Bogart and Houston, who were soon followed by Brigadier-General Parks. It is not wrong to speak of these troops as a reinforcement of the mob. They were nothing else. Bogart was a Methodist preacher by profession, and only led the company of militia to De Witt for the purpose of wreaking the sectarian vengeance of a bigot upon the Saints. Parks himself confessed that Bogart's men would not be controlled and were with the mob in feeling; and this was the General's excuse for allowing the outrages of this time to go unchecked. On the 4th of October, after forty-eight hours of siege, the people of the town, in command of Colonel Hinkle, returned the fire. Parks made no effort to check the mob's plan of organized murder. On the 6th he coolly wrote in his report to Atchison, as follows:

The Mormons are at this time too strong and no attack is expected before Wednesday or Thursday next, at which time Dr. Austin [who with Bogart was leader of the mob] hopes his forces will amount to five hundred men, when he will make a second attempt on the town of De Witt, with small arms and cannon. In this posture of affairs I can do nothing but negotiate between the parties until further aid is sent me.

Evidently in this posture of affairs Parks wanted to do nothing. The "Mormons" were too strong. He would wait until Austin's rabble increased to five hundred, and by that time he hoped to have more companies of militia, which in turn would swell the ranks of the plundering besiegers. Parks' conduct indicates his utter lack of conscience; because in the same letter he says: "As yet they, the Mormons, have acted only on the defensive as far as I can learn."

General Lucas had been an observer of the gathering at De Witt and had been informed that a fight had taken place there, in which several persons were killed. Upon this he wrote to the Governor that if his information was true it would create excitement in the whole of Upper Missouri, "and those base and degraded beings will be exterminated from the face of the earth." He added that if one of the citizens of Carroll should be killed, before five days there would be raised against the "Mormons" five thousand volunteers whom nothing but blood would satisfy. Without attempting to suggest a remedy to Boggs, this cruel and sanguinary Lucas significantly informs his Excellency that his troops of the fourth division were only dismissed subject to further order and could be called into the field at an hour's warning. He wanted to share in the work of extermination!

These events had happened before the Prophet reached De Witt. It was a trying journey, in which he had been obliged to travel by unfrequented roads and had put his life in constant jeopardy because mobs guarded every ingress to the town. When Joseph entered the place he found the brethren only a handful in comparison to their assailants. Their provisions were exhausted, and there was no prospect of obtaining more. The Prophet concluded to send a message to the Governor and secured the services of several influential and honest gentlemen who lived in that vicinity and who had been witnesses of the wanton attack upon the Saints. These men were bold as well as honest for they made affidavit of the outrages which had been perpetrated within their sight, and they accompanied the supplication for redress to the executive office. The answer of the men who had been chosen by the suffrages of his fellow-citizens as the chief officer of the state, sworn to uphold its honor, protect its dignity and maintain the supremacy of its laws, was only this:

The quarrel is between the Mormons and the mob, and they may fight it out.

Joseph's presence was a solace and a sustaining power to the Saints. He animated them by the courage of his presence and taught them patience by his own tenacity of endurance. He was not there as a warrior; he did not bear arms; and yet he was a tower of strength to his brethren.

Mobs were gathering in from Ray, Saline, Howard, Livingston, Clinton, Clay, Platte and other parts of the state to reinforce the besiegers. For the combined assailants a man named Jackson was chosen as the leader. The Saints were forbidden to leave the town under penalty of death. It was the purpose to starve them, since even this large crowd of mobbers, outnumbering the Saints ten to one, feared to risk a hand to hand contest. Fires were set to some of the houses; the cattle were stolen and roasted; the horses were driven off; while the mob made merry in feasting within sight of the starving people whom they had plundered.

Joseph directed applications for protection to the judges of the circuit court and in other quarters but without avail; for where aid was given, it consisted of men willing to join and abet the mobs and to share in the spoils. In the town, men were perishing for want of food; women and children cried for bread. There was no hope of earthly succor.

In this crisis, Henry Root and David Thomas, two men who had been the sole cause of the settlement at De Witt, solicited the Saints to leave the place, claiming that they had assurance from the besiegers that, in such case, no further attack would be made and all the losses would be paid. Yielding to a necessity the Saints agreed to this proposition. A committee of appraisement was appointed from men not connected with the Saints. They placed a meagre value on the bare land, and said nothing about the houses and other improvements which were still standing or had been destroyed by the mob, and nothing about the stock and the vehicles which had been run off. It was, however, an unnecessary economy of valuation; because the price, meagre as it was, has never been paid.

On the 11th day of October, 1838, the Prophet and the Saints vacated De Witt and started for Caldwell with the small remnants of their possessions which they could gather and hope to convey. They were harassed continually on the journey by the mob which, in violation of its pledge, fired upon the retreating people. Among the exiles men died from fatigue and starvation—for the journey was greatly hurried because of the mobocratic threats; and one poor woman, who had given birth to a child on the very eve of the banishment, died on the journey and was buried in a grave without a coffin.

The experience at De Witt and on the journey from that place to Far West taught the Prophet and the Saints anew that they had no hope of protection, no hope of redress, while they remained in Missouri; and no hope that if they attempted to leave they would not be set upon and massacred by the blood-thirsty mob. Nothing was left them but to organize in some fashion for self defense, as they came fleeing into Far West from all the surrounding country, leaving their worldly all and glad to escape with their lives.

The tiger spirit of the mob had grown upon its food. As the brethren left De Witt, Sashiel Woods called many of the mobocrats together and invited them to hasten into Daviess County to continue their work there. He said that the land sales were coming on, and that if the "Mormons" could be first driven out the mob could get all the land entitled to preemption; besides, they could get back without pay the property already bought from them by the Saints. It was a welcome invitation, and, taking their artillery, this horde, with appetites whetted for their base and cruel work, departed for Adam-ondi-Ahman.

Other mobs were raised in other parts to join in this general movement for rapine, among the rabble being a man named Cornelius Gilliam who called himself Delaware Chief, with a party of miscreants painted to represent Indians.

When the Prophet arrived in Far West from De Witt, on the 12th day of October, General Doniphan informed him that a mob of eight hundred men was marching against the people in Daviess County. A small party of militia had been on the way and might have intercepted the rabble; but Doniphan ordered them back, knowing well that instead of hindering they would join the mob. He said: "They are damned rotten-hearted."

Pursuant to an order made by General Doniphan a company of militia was raised in the county of Caldwell to act under Colonel Hinkle and to proceed to Adam-ondi-Ahman for the protection of that place. Joseph went with the militia to give counsel to his friends, risking his own life again, and taking with him many who were willing to stand with him in martyrdom if need were.

At Adam-ondi-Ahman the scenes of De Witt were repeated. Houses were burned, cattle were run off, women and children were driven out and exposed to a terrible storm which prevailed on the 17th and 18th of October. In many cases people in ill health were torn from their beds and were refused time to secure comfortable clothing in which to make their flight. Among the fugitives was Agnes Smith, the wife of the Prophet's brother, Don Carlos, who was absent on a mission to Tennessee. Her house had been burned by the mob, her property seized, and she had fled three miles, wading Grand River and carrying all the way two helpless babes in her arms—glad to escape death and outrage.

Joseph's soul rose in arms at these crimes. The sacrifice had been sufficient. Every possible appeal had been made and denied. Henceforth the Saints must protect themselves, and God arm the right! It was this resolve alone which saved the remaining element of the Church that finally escaped from Missouri. At Adam-ondi-Ahman the mob intended to make a work of extermination; but after the arrival of the troops there, promises were demanded and secured from General Parks for the organization of a militia company to resist the attack and quell the mob. The force was immediately raised and placed under the command of Colonel Lyman Wight who held a commission in the fifty-ninth regiment under General Parks. These troops went out with a determination to drive the mob or die. They no longer fought in the state of Missouri for their rights as American citizens; that day had passed. They fought for life, for home, and for that which was dearer than all, the honor and safety of their wives and daughters who had been threatened with ravishment.

A remembrance of the day at Gallatin, when twelve had put one hundred and fifty to flight, suddenly came upon the mob as they saw the advancing forces of the Saints; and they fled. But fleeing, they resorted to stratagem. They removed everything of value from some of their own old log cabins and then set fire to these structures, afterwards spreading abroad through all the country the declaration that the "Mormons" had plundered and burned the mansions of law-abiding citizens.

An incident of this period shows the Prophet's calmness and self-command in the face of danger, as well as the influence of his presence even upon sworn enemies.

He was sitting in his father's house near the edge of the prairie one day, writing letters, when a large party of armed mobocrats called at the place. Lucy Smith, the Prophet's mother, demanded their business, and they replied that they were on the way to kill "Joseph, the Mormon Prophet." His mother remonstrated with them; and Joseph, having finished his writing and hearing the threats against himself, walked to the door and stood before them with folded arms, bared head and such a look of majesty in his eyes that they quailed before him. Though they were unacquainted with his identity, they knew they were in the presence of greatness; and when his mother introduced him as the man they sought, they started as if they had seen a spectre.

The Prophet invited the leaders into the house, and without alluding to their purpose of murder, he talked to them earnestly with regard to the persecutions against the Saints. When he concluded, so deeply had they been impressed, that they insisted upon giving him an escort to protect him to his home.

As they departed, one of the mob leaders said to another:

Didn't you feel strange when Smith took you by the hand?

And his companion replied:

I could not move. I would not harm a hair of that man's head for the whole world.

It was always so when men would listen to Joseph long enough to let the Spirit which animated him assert itself to their reason.

The extent of the unhallowed league against the Saints is shown by the fact that not even the United States mails were safe during this period, for every post was plundered and all letters addressed to the Prophet were opened.

Unable to bear the pressure and to face the terrors of the time, Thomas B. Marsh had apostatized and had joined with McLellin and other evil men to act the part of Judas against the Prophet. The faith of others also failed, and, thinking by apostasy to save themselves from the destruction which seemed impending, they came out against Joseph and the Church and went over to their enemies.

On the 24th of October, eight armed mobbers plundered a house some little distance from Far West and took three of the brethren prisoners, namely, Nathan Pinkham, William Seely and Addison Green. With much exultation, these brigands declared their intention to murder their prisoners that night. Learning of this awful boast, the judge of the county instructed Colonel Hinkle to send out a company to rescue the men and disperse their captors. Seventy-five of the militia, under command of David W. Patten, were directed by Hinkle to fulfil this order. In departing, Captain Patten announced his hope to rescue his unoffending brethren without shedding any blood and to bring them back to Far West. Fifty men of this company marched to the ford on Crooked River, where they came upon an ambuscade of the mob, who fired upon them, mortally wounding a young man named O'Banion. Captain Patten ordered a charge upon the enemy, at the same time shouting the watchword, "Our God and liberty!" The concealed mobocrats fired as the company rushed down upon them. A musket ball pierced the bowels of David W. Patten, fatally wounding him. At the same fire a shower of bullets struck Gideon Carter, who fell to the ground to die after a few moments of agony. So defaced was Carter by his many wounds, that later, when his brethren were gathering up their dead and wounded, they failed to recognize his body. Several others among the brethren were wounded. The others, even after the fall of their leader, dashed on in pursuit and put the mob to flight. The prisoners were rescued, but one of them was shot by the mob during the engagement. From them it was learned that Bogart had commanded the marauders and that his forces had been greater than those of the attacking party.

When the affray was over, David W. Patten—still alive, but gasping in mortal extremity—was lifted up by his brethren, and they carried him tenderly to his home.

A courier brought the news to Far West, and Joseph and Hyrum went out to meet the sorrowful cavalcade. Several were with Apostle Patten when he died that night, in the triumph of the faith. He had fulfilled his covenant to yield life rather than to yield the right. As he was departing, he spoke with holy exultation of the eternity opening to his view, and with sorrow of those traitorous Apostles and Elders who had forsaken the Saints to save their own lives and property. One of his last expressions to his wife was:

WHATEVER YOU DO ELSE, OH, DO NOT DENY THE FAITH.

Thus perished the first apostolic martyr to the cause of Christ in this dispensation. How much better his fate than that of the Judases who helped to bring him to his death!

At the funeral, Joseph stood in the presence of the assemblage, and, pointing at the noble form marred by the assassin's bullet, testified:

There lies a man who has fulfilled his word: he has laid down his life for his friends.