Footnotes
CHAPTER LX.
PACIFIC ADDRESS BY THE PROPHET—THE MOB ASK GOD TO BLESS THEIR WORK OF MASSACRE—LOOKING TO THE WEST—A SUBLIM SERMON—APOSTATES AND THEIR WORK—JOSEPH INDICTED FOR POLYGAMY.
Joseph had endeavored by every means in his power to create pacific feelings between the Saints and the other citizens of Illinois. He addressed many communications to the public, in which he counseled for good sense and good order.
One of his appeals for peace was written on the 17th of February, 1844. That same day an anti-Mormon convention was held at Carthage, the object being to devise ways and means for expelling the Saints from the state as they had been driven from Missouri. Among the resolutions adopted by the meeting was one appointing the 9th day of March following as a day of fasting and prayer, whereon the pious of all the sectarians were to supplicate heaven to aid their efforts against the Prophet and his people. The inciters of this convention purposed that it should inaugurate a massacre; and yet they were so blasphemous as to pretend to ask the aid of the Almighty! Their real supplication, however, was addressed—not to the realms of light, but to the prince of darkness.
On Sunday, the 25th day of February, in a meeting at the assembly room of the Saints in Nauvoo, Joseph prophesied that in five years the Saints would be out of the power of their old enemies, whether apostates or of the world, and he asked the brethren to record the prediction.
About this time he was inspired to direct the glance of the apostles to the western slope where he said the people of God might establish themselves anew, worship after their own sincere convictions, and work out the grand social problems of modern life. This subject was present in his mind and often upon his lips during the brief remainder of his earthly existence. Frequent councils were held and he directed the organization of an exploring expedition to venture beyond the Rocky Mountains, to seek a home for a righteous people denied every right of citizenship within the boundaries of the United States then existing. His purpose was not to sever the Saints from this sublime republic by any emigration; he saw that this country's domain must soon stretch from ocean to ocean. The entire land of North and South America was the Zion of the Lord, and the people might settle in any spot where peace could be enjoyed, always remembering that in the due time of the Almighty the center stake must be built up.
Work was stopped on the Nauvoo House by the Prophet's direction and every effort concentrated upon the temple. He determined that the structure should be fitted to receive the worshiping Saints of the Most High before they should go into voluntary exile or submit to expatriation. And though he did not live to see the consummation of this purpose, it was literally fulfilled. And though he did not live to see the exodus of the Saints nor to send out the first pioneer party of explorers, his inspired suggestion was carried out, and through it his prediction was fulfilled that the Saints in five years should be beyond the power of their old enemies.
In March, the Prophet addressed a memorial to Congress, asking for the passage of an ordinance to protect citizens of the United States emigrating into the western regions. His purpose was to advance, under national authority, beyond the western boundary of the United States and establish American citizens in this vast domain preparatory to the hour when it should become annexed to our country. He drafted the ordinance, and in its provisions he betrayed his usual grandeur of purpose.
A special conference was held, beginning on the 6th day of April, 1844, at which Joseph addressed a congregation of twenty thousand people. He chose for his subject the death of Elder King Follett, who had died a few days before, and he uplifted the souls of the congregation to a higher comprehension of the glory which comes after death to the faithful. His address ceased to be a mere eulogy of an individual, and became a revelation of eternal truths concerning the glories of immortality. The address occupied three hours and a half in delivery, and the multitude were held spellbound by its power. The Prophet seemed to rise above the world. It was as if the light of heaven already encircled his physical being. In a few weeks he was to pass through the portals of the tomb into the radiance beyond, and he wanted his brethren to grasp some of the sublimities comprehended by his own inspired soul. Those who heard that sermon never forgot its power. Those who read it today think of it as an exhibition of superhuman power and eloquence.
The Judas spirit manifested itself in Nauvoo in the spring of 1844. Alarmed by the Prophet's declaration that there was a right-hand Brutus near him, some of the men who were willing to betray him feared that their machinations were discovered and that vengeance might be wreaked upon them. William Law and William Marks both feared or affected to fear for their lives. They made complaint which reached the ears of the Prophet, and he ordered an investigation in which they were allowed the fullest license to examine witnesses. The result was to show to them how utterly groundless was their fear; but further it showed to all the Saints that these men were not faithful. The people said:
Is it possible that Brother Law or Brother Marks is a traitor and would deliver Joseph into the hands of his enemies in Missouri? If not, what can be the meaning of this? The righteous are as bold as a lion.
Joseph merely quoted:
The wicked flee when no man pursueth.
But from this time on he knew from what quarter to expect the kiss of Judas. Jealousy of the Prophet, and their personal impurity led several leading men to apostasy and to a thirst for Joseph's blood. Among them were William Law, Wilson Law, Chauncey L. Higbee, Francis M. Higbee and Robert D. Foster. They became his avowed enemies; but in secret sympathy with them were Sidney Rigdon, William Marks and Austin A. Cowles.
William Law was the leader of the movement. He declared that Joseph was a fallen Prophet, and he attempted to set up a church of his own. The apostates sought by every means in their power to precipitate bloodshed in Nauvoo. They flagrantly violated the law; insulted, abused and threatened the officers; usurped official prerogatives; attempted to shoot Joseph; and spread throughout the country, and even beyond its confines, the most wicked misrepresentations and complaints concerning Joseph and the municipal administration of Nauvoo.
The Prophet had long known of their treachery and had warned the Saints that Judases were in their midst, without naming the individuals. He knew that in a little time the traitors would betray themselves. When this expectation of the Prophet was realized and the Saints were enabled to see the perfidy of these men, they were excommunicated.
After this it seemed as if Satan was turned loose in their souls. Having no longer any profit in concealment they blazoned forth their hatred for the Prophet and their own iniquities. Some of them confessed that they knew that their sins were finding them out and that they would soon have no reputation to lose anyhow, and therefore they would persecute the Prophet and try to drag him down with them. At this time anonymous letters threatening the lives of Joseph and Hyrum were received and every conceivable annoyance was perpetrated upon them.
The missionary labor had not slackened. While Satan was moving the powers of earth and the infernal regions to slay the Prophet, despoil the city and break the growing strength of righteousness, missionaries were being sent into every field. Under date of Friday, May 17, 1844, the Prophet records among other similar events, that Elder Franklin D. Richards, then a faithful youth and later a renowned apostle of the Church, was ordained a high priest and set apart to go on a mission to England.
On Saturday, the 25th day of May, 1844, the Prophet was informed that he had been indicted at Carthage for the alleged offenses of polygamy and perjury on the testimony of William Law and others. Two days later, learning that warrants were out for him from the circuit court upon these indictments, he determined to proceed to Carthage and give himself up. He had a double purpose to serve in this action. He desired as usual to show his respect for law and legal process; and he wanted to avoid having a Carthage mob come into Nauvoo to serve the writs. At Carthage he was informed by Charles Foster and other apostates, who repented their purpose for the moment that a plot had been laid for his death and that it was determined that he should not leave that place alive. He secured lawyers and endeavored to have his case brought forward for trial; but the prosecution insisted upon delay and secured a postponement until the next term. In the meantime Joseph was to be released on bail satisfactory to the sheriff; and that officer told him to go his way without bonds until called upon.
His friends gathered around him when he prepared to depart for home, and by this means his life was saved, for armed men threatened him and tried by force and stratagem to detain him in Carthage until after dark that they might the better accomplish the assassination. But he knew their plot and departed, riding Joe Duncan and accompanied by Hyrum and others, and reached home at 9 o'clock that evening.
CHAPTER LXI.
THE FIRST AND ONLY ISSUE OF THE NAUVOO 'EXPOSITOR'—ITS MURDEROUS PURPOSE—REMOVAL OF A NUISANCE AND ERADICATION OF ITS CAUSE—TRIAL OF THE MAYOR AND OTHERS, AND THEIR ACQUITTAL IN AN HONEST COURT— GATHERING OF THE MOBS—THREATS OF EXTERMINATION—NAUVOO UNDER MARTIAL LAW.
The publishers deem it a sacred duty they owe to their country and their fellow-citizens to advocate, through the columns of the Expositor, the unconditional repeal of the Nauvoo city charter.
This was one of the statements in the prospectus for a newspaper to be issued at Nauvoo by the Laws, Higbees and Fosters. These men had been excommunicated from the Church for their personal impurity and for plotting murder. With their wickedness exposed to the gaze of the world they had no longer any reputation at stake; they associated with gamblers, counterfeiters and thieves; and their great desire was, by every means in their power, fair or foul, to injure their former brethren.
The charter of a city is inestimable to the citizens. Without it rapid advancement is difficult if not impossible. Nauvoo had grown into prominence, and gave promise of becoming an important commercial and industrial center. The apostates knew well the vital point at which to direct their blow. Not only would they paralyze every industry by securing the repeal of the charter, but they would turn the city over to the dictation of hostile county and state officials; so that financial ruin and personal distress would be inflicted upon many of the people. To this end, they leagued themselves with kindred spirits whose evil efforts they could rely upon. The class of allies which they secured is shown by the fact that one of their associates was known to them, and was afterwards proved, to be a fugitive murderer.
Among the minor purposes avowed in this prospectus for the issuance of the newspaper, was the advocacy of the pure principles of morality. This was a high sounding pretense to create favor abroad. The Laws, the Higbees and the Fosters cared nothing for morality, except to abuse it. With them it was but a cloak. They had become accustomed to use it for a covering for vile purposes. This was not the first time nor this the last, when evil men—cast out by the Church for sexual sin—made great pretense in print of their morality and sought to charge offenses upon men faithful and pure.
They announced that they would exercise "the freedom of speech in Nauvoo, independent of the ordinances abridging the same;" and that the end would justify the means. The only restriction upon speech in Nauvoo was the forbidding of slander and immorality, and unless these men had intended to work evil with their paper they need not have promised to transgress the law.
But their purpose was not to convince the people of Nauvoo; it was to create sentiment abroad and to this end slander and falsehood were necessary. They were not the first men shrewd enough to see that the publication, within any city, of statements adverse to the community would be accepted abroad as current fact. Their plan was devised with satanic ingenuity: If the Expositor were allowed to print its defamations and falsehoods unchecked, the world would believe that all they said was true, and overwhelming sentiment would be created against Nauvoo and its people; if their press was stayed in its crime, they would cry that freedom of speech was assailed—and nothing appeals more quickly to the sympathy of Americans than this same cry, whether it is uttered sincerely or only by wretches who want license to traduce and defame innocence.
There was no disposition to restrain these publishers from printing their paper in Nauvoo. Their announcement was made on the 10th of May, 1844; they brought press and materials into the city, and began their work with as much protection and safety as any other publisher there. On the 7th of June next, they were prepared to put forth the first number of the paper. All at once a fear came upon them. They knew the man whom they wished to make their chief victim—Joseph Smith; they knew his truth, dignity and strength; they knew that he would not supinely submit to the ruin of the city and the defamation of its good men and women by such wretches as these publishers were known to be; they knew that if they committed crime they would be called to answer for it if the Prophet lived. So on the very day that the paper was to come forth burdened with lies, Robert D. Foster went to the mansion and demanded a private interview with Joseph. He asked the Prophet to go away with him alone, pretending that he wished to return to the Church and wanted to confer upon that subject. Joseph refused to talk except in the presence of witnesses, for this man Foster had often before misrepresented the Prophet's words. Joseph said to him that there was but one condition upon which he might return and that was to repent and to make restitution as far as possible.
While they stood talking Joseph put his hand upon Foster's vest and said: "What have you concealed there?"
Foster stammered in reply: "It's my pistol."
He would have lied, but under that piercing glance his bravado deserted him, and he was compelled to acknowledge the fact.
The reason of his visit was soon made plain, and it was made plainer at a later time by the testimony of unimpeachable witnesses, Saints and strangers alike. He had not come to seek forgiveness and restoration of fellowship; he had not come to make amends. He had come to lure Joseph away to his death. His party had sworn to slay the Prophet, and every attempt up to this time had failed. The situation was desperate for the plotters. They were about to commit a flagrant violation of the law, and the one man whom they most feared as the defender and executor of law was the mayor of the city. If they could have taken Joseph away where his assassination could have been accomplished without the instant capture of his murderer, they believed that safe refuge could be found in the bosom of the waiting mob at Carthage and other places.
Joseph smiled upon the craven wretch, and told him to bring his witnesses if he desired and they would confer concerning his restoration to fellowship. This, Foster willingly promised and left the mansion, saying that he would return with his friends immediately. He never came back. His answer was to send forth the Expositor, edited by Sylvester Emmons, reeking with libel and fulfilling its promise to override the law in its determination to deal a death blow at the city of Nauvoo. Naturally the inhabitants were enraged. Citizens said:
If these men do not like Nauvoo, why do they continue to reside here? The repeal of the charter means the financial and social ruin of the city. This would despoil us without benefiting these men, except by the gratification of vengeful hate.
It would have been easy in that state of public feeling to incite an attack upon the paper or its publishers. But the leading men remained cool and counseled strict observance of law. Let this be remembered; for it shows that Joseph was never willing to meet evil with evil; that he would rather suffer wrong than to do wrong; and that his appeal was always made to law and justice instead of passion. And let it be remembered that not only then but afterward through all the difficulties which followed closely upon the publication of the Expositor, the lives of the Laws, the Higbees and the Fosters were as safe in Nauvoo as they would have been in Carthage, Springfield or Washington.
Three days later, June 10, at a meeting of the city council the Expositor was declared a public nuisance and was ordered to be abated. Under the resolution to this effect the marshal was ordered to proceed as he would for the removal of any other nuisance—he was to eradicate it. If a vile odor assail the nostrils of decent people, the only effectual remedy is to abolish the cause; and such was the course pursued in this case. Marshal John P. Greene with his assistants proceeded to the office of the Expositor and destroyed the press and pied the type.
This was summary action; but it was legal. It was the only remedy for any public or private wrong inflicted by the Expositor. Its publishers were impecunious. Suits for private redress or fines for public recompense would have been unavailing; while the imprisonment of the publishers would have been heralded as a still greater wrong against the freedom of the press than was the destruction of the offending materials.
Immediate events showed that the league to ruin Nauvoo by newspaper lies was widely extended, for mobocratic excitement outside of Nauvoo arose on the instant, and wholesale and indiscriminate vengeance was threatened.
And yet the destruction of an offending press was not new in Illinois. Thomas Ford was governor at this time, and in the awful crimes which closely followed he was the responsible participant. It is interesting, therefore, to note what he said of a similar destruction of an unpopular press and type, at another time and in another community. In the history of Illinois, published after his death to get bread for his destitute children, he details the proceedings of the Alton mob. In 1837, Reverend Elijah P. Lovejoy, of the Presbyterian church, published the Alton, Illinois, Observer as a religious paper, in which slavery was opposed. Abolitionism was not popular there and to quote Ford's words: "The people assembled and quietly took the press and type and threw them into the Mississippi. It now became manifest to all rational men that the Alton Observer could no longer be published in Alton as an abolition paper. The more reasonable of the abolitionists themselves thought it would be useless to try it again. However, a few of them, who were most violent seemed to think that the salvation of the black race depended upon continuing the publication at Alton." Certain members of the Presbyterian church determined to continue this paper. One of the principal men engaged in the movement to re-establish the Observer was Reverend Mr. Beecher, president of Illinois college; and of him Ford says: "Mr. Beecher was a man of great learning and decided talents; but he belonged to the class of reformers who disregard all considerations of policy and expediency. He believed slavery to be a sin and a great evil, and his indignant and impatient soul could not await God's own good time to overthrow it, by acts of His providence working continual change and revolution in the affairs of men." A new press was bought, and it was determined that Lovejoy, who was very objectionable to the rabble, should continue as editor. After the arrival of the press it was guarded in a warehouse; but the mob gathered and demanded its possession. Ford speaks of the protectors of the press as being converted into demons of obstinacy. A fight occurred, the mob being the first assailants. Lovejoy and one of the mobocrats were killed; other men were wounded. The press was seized and, like the other, it was thrown into the river—although not a single copy of the paper had yet been printed with these materials. No man was punished for this crime of abolishing a free press at the expense of murder. Thus it will be seen that the will of a community, in other parts of Illinois, was considered sufficient without legal process to secure the extinction of an obnoxious paper and the perpetual silence of its editor—the silence of death by assassination. In Nauvoo no such highhanded course was pursued: no man was injured in his person; and the destroying of the press was in pursuance of a municipal order. At Alton, the unpopular publishers advocated merely a national reform, in the highest interest of human liberty and morality; at Nauvoo the publishers attacked the most vital local well-being and assailed the character of the community for the purpose of advancing an immoral purpose and gratifying the revenge of lustful men. At Nauvoo, the publishers had practically avowed their intention to incite a mob to come upon the city; and the matter printed in the first and only issue of their paper was manifestly of a character to aid the sanguinary plot.
There had not been the slightest excitement or unnecessary noise in the act of removing the nuisance, and this done the people of the city drew a breath of relief. The Expositor had been an invitation to the gathering mobs of Hancock County to descend upon Nauvoo and injure its people and property. It had been calculated to inflame the worst passions of lawless men and to produce murder. In its suppression the people felt that only ordinary prudence and official vigor had been shown. To allay any possible excitement the mayor issued a proclamation in which he detailed the destruction by municipal order of the Expositor press and type, and called upon every citizen to keep the peace by being cool, considerate, virtuous, unoffending, manly and patriotic. The villains who had published the paper threatened everything in the city with destruction. One of their sympathizers declared that he would wade to his knees in blood; others said that the city should be wiped out before "ten suns had set." They sent runners out in all directions to bring the mob upon Nauvoo.
A little after noon on the 12th day of June, Constable David Bettisworth came to Nauvoo from Carthage with a warrant for the arrest of Joseph Smith, Samuel Bennett, John Taylor, William W. Phelps, Hyrum Smith, John P. Greene, Stephen Perry, Dimick B. Huntington, Jonathan Dunham, Stephen Markham, William Edwards, Jonathan Harmon, Jesse P. Harmon, John Lytle, Joseph W. Coolidge, Harvey D. Redfield, Porter Rockwell and Levi Richards, upon a complaint sworn to by Francis M. Higbee charging the parties named with committing a riot. The writ was issued by Thomas Morrison, justice of the peace at Carthage, and commanded the officer to bring the parties named before Morrison or some other justice of the peace within the county. Bettisworth immediately upon arriving at Nauvoo served this warrant upon Joseph and afterwards upon the others named therein. Joseph called his attention to the clause in the writ, "before me or some other justice of the peace of said county," and demanded to be taken before Esquire Johnson or some other justice of the peace in Nauvoo. Hyrum made the same demand. Many people were present, and Joseph and Hyrum called upon them to witness that they offered themselves in answer to the writ to go forth before the nearest justice of the peace. This was strictly in accordance with law; but it did not answer the purpose of the mobocrats either at Nauvoo or Carthage, and Bettisworth said: "I will be damned but I will carry you before Justice Morrison at Carthage."
As he still held them in custody and was determined to drag them away from Nauvoo, Joseph sued out a writ of habeas corpus in the municipal court, and upon the full showing there he was discharged. Later all the other brethren named in the writ took the same course, and secured their release.
On the 14th of June the mayor addressed a letter of explanation to Governor Ford, in which the entire proceedings against the Expositor were fairly detailed. Joseph stated to the governor that if Ford was not satisfied that the whole transaction had been in accordance with the strictest principles of law and the requirements of good order, he would only have to write his wishes and the mayor and all persons participating in the suppression of the Expositor would go before Judge Pope or any legal tribunal at the capital and submit to judicial investigation. They would not even trouble his Excellency to send a writ or an officer, but would respond promptly to any letter advising them of his wish. Other men in Nauvoo, some of them prominent visitors there, wrote to Ford at the same time, declaring that no excitement had prevailed, that the proceedings had been calmly and legally taken, and that the action of the municipality in ridding itself of such a menace to peace and life was entirely commendable.
On the 16th day of June, Judge Jesse B. Thomas came to Nauvoo and advised the mayor and the other men named in Morrison's warrant to go before some justice of the peace in the county and be examined upon the charge named therein. Judge Thomas said that if they would do this and should be acquitted or bound over, all excitement would be allayed, the mob would be left without a pretext, and he himself would be bound to compel the mobocrats to keep the peace. Joseph and his brethren expressed their readiness to submit to any fair investigation. The next day, upon the complaint of W. G. Ware, they were arrested by Constable Joel S. Miles, on a writ issued by Daniel H. Wells for a riot in destroying the Nauvoo Expositor press. They all submitted to this process, and went before Justice Wells, who, at this time, it must be remembered, was not a member of the Church. After a long and close examination, it appeared to the court that they had not proceeded illegally, and they were discharged.
As mobs in various parts of the county continued to menace Nauvoo, the Prophet sent several letters and messengers to keep the governor informed. Samuel James went to Springfield on the 15th of June, and Edward Hunter with Philip B. Lewis and John Bills went on the 17th. To Elder Edward Hunter, Joseph said as he was leaving: "I charge you solemnly to tell the governor everything you know concerning me, good or bad."
The most outrageous falsehoods were being circulated to inflame the people against Nauvoo. Upon this point Governor Ford, in his history of Illinois, says:
A system of excitement and agitation was artfully planned [by the mob leaders] and executed with tact. It consisted in spreading reports and rumors of the most fearful character. As examples:—On the morning before my arrival at Carthage, I was awakened at an early hour by the frightful report, which was asserted with confidence and apparent consternation, that the Mormons had already commenced the work of burning, destruction and murder; and that every man capable of bearing arms was instantly wanted at Carthage for the protection of the country. We lost no time in starting; but when we arrived at Carthage we could hear no more concerning this story. Again: During the few days that the militia were encamped at Carthage, frequent applications were made to me to send a force here and a force there, and a force all about the country, to prevent murders, robberies and larcenies, which, it was said, were threatened by the Mormons. No such forces were sent, nor were any such offenses committed at that time, except the stealing of some provisions, and there was never the least proof that this was done by a Mormon. Again: On my late visit to Hancock County, I was informed, by some of their violent enemies, that the larcenies of the Mormons had become unusually numerous and insufferable. They indeed admitted that but little had been done in this way in their immediate vicinity, but they insisted that sixteen horses had been stolen by the Mormons in one night, near Lima, in the county of Adams. At the close of the expedition, I called at this same town of Lima, and upon inquiry was told that no horses had been stolen in that neighborhood, but that sixteen horses had been stolen in one night in Hancock County. The last informant being told of the Hancock story, again changed the venue to another distant settlement in the northern edge of Adams.
* * * * *
Occasional threats came to my ears of destroying the city and murdering or expelling the inhabitants.
* * * * *
Frequent appeals had been made to me to make a clean and thorough work of the matter by exterminating the Mormons.
The Warsaw Signal, edited by an infamous man by the name of Thomas Sharp, took a prominent and diabolical part in arousing the spirit of murder. It published the minutes of mob meetings and resolutions adopted there, in which the most fiendish threats were made. Some of them are as follows:
We therefore declare that we will sustain our press and the editor at all hazards; that we will take full vengeance, terrible vengeance, should the lives of any of our citizens be lost in the effort; that we hold ourselves at all times in readiness to co-operate with our fellow-citizens in this state, Missouri and Iowa, to exterminate, utterly exterminate the wicked and abominable Mormon leaders, the authors of our troubles.
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed forthwith to notify all persons in our township suspected of being the tools of the Prophet to leave immediately on pain of instant vengeance. And we do recommend the inhabitants of the adjacent townships to do the same, hereby pledging ourselves to render all the assistance they may require.
Resolved, That the time, in our opinion has arrived, when the adherents of Smith, as a body, should be driven from the surrounding settlements into Nauvoo. That the Prophet and his miscreant adherents should then be demanded at their hands; and, if not surrendered, a war of extermination should be waged, to the entire destruction, if necessary for our protection, of his adherents. And we do hereby recommend this resolution to the consideration of the several townships, to the mass convention to be held at Carthage, hereby pledging ourselves to aid to the utmost the complete consummation of the object in view, that we may thereby be utterly relieved of the alarm anxiety and trouble to which we are now subjected.
Resolved, That every citizen arm himself to be prepared to sustain the resolutions herein contained.
It was further resolved that a deputation be sent to Springfield to solicit executive help, but the intention was expressed not to allow the mob movements to be retarded by this action. The mobs at Warsaw and Carthage pretended to believe that the destruction of the Warsaw Signal office had been threatened by Hyrum Smith. The statement to this effect was of a piece with the lies told to the governor. No threat had been made against the Signal office or the editor, and the mob well knew that any attack from the citizens of Nauvoo upon anybody in Carthage or Warsaw was out of the question.
The mail communications of the Saints were cut off with the connivance of officials.
A company of the mob numbering three hundred, began training at Carthage on the 13th day of June. Arms were brought to Warsaw and Carthage from Quincy and other places. On the 17th of June, fifteen hundred Missourians were reported to have crossed the river and joined the rabble at Warsaw. Five pieces of artillery had already been brought to the latter place. From Warsaw the mob forces were to proceed to Carthage and join the Quincy Grays and other companies from Adams County. Scattering from here it was their purpose to seize the arms of all the Saints in Hancock County, outside of Nauvoo, and compel them to recant their faith or be exterminated. They declared that they would take Joseph and Hyrum and the city council from Nauvoo on Thursday, the 20th of June, and deliver them up to sacrifice. If any resistance were offered, the city would be shelled and all the inhabitants slaughtered or driven away. One of the mob leaders was Levi Williams, a colonel of militia and a Baptist preacher, and to such as he was due the attempt to make the Saints recant.
No word came from the governor. Was the city to be left to massacre, pillage, ravishment, like Far West! Forbid it, Heaven!
Under these circumstances, nothing remained but to prepare for resistance—not attack, only defense. The mayor, on the 18th of June, 1844, declared the city of Nauvoo under martial law, and called out the Legion to protect the city from rapine and its people from massacre by the mob.
CHAPTER LXII.
JOSEPH'S DREAM—HIS LAST PUBLIC ADDRESS—CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIS IMPENDING FATE—HIS LOVE FOR HIS BRETHREN.
Events were now hurrying on to the last awful scene. Joseph saw the sacrificial cup prepared for him and knew that he must drink its bitter draught. As he draws nearer to the final hour clearer and clearer becomes his mind, more nearly divine are his works, and more closely do we see the likeness to the sacred Master of whom Joseph deemed himself but the humblest follower. It is no mere accidental similarity this betrayal of the modern Prophet by the modern Judas and this sacrifice of a holy name to glut the hate of Pharisees. The Prophet's work is almost done. More plainly as the supreme moment draws on he tells his followers of the fate awaiting him. At first they scarcely understand, so used are they to see him in the midst of peril. It may be that the vision of the end is opened to Hyrum's view, for he will not leave his brother's side. They have loved in life, the elder brother living by the other's prophetic words, and in death they shall not be separated. Joseph says: "Hyrum, take your family on the next boat to Cincinnati. I want you to live to avenge me." Hyrum replies: "Joseph, I will not leave you." It is not a vengeance of blood that the Prophet means: it is the triumph of the work over all murderous mobs, a triumph in which he wants his faithful brother to share in the flesh.
After the traitors had gone out from Nauvoo to join with the Pharisees in raising a mob, the Prophet related a dream to his brethren, assembled in meeting. He said that he thought that he was riding in a carriage, and his guardian angel was with him. They saw two serpents in the road firmly locked together, and the angel told him that these were two of his traitorous enemies, Robert Foster and Chauncey Higbee, so fast bound to each other that of themselves they could not harm him. Then Joseph rode on farther, but his angel was no longer by his side; and William Law and Wilson Law came out upon him, dragged him from his carriage, tied his hands and threw him into a deep pit. After a time he partly loosened his hands and climbed to the edge of the pit and looked out. He saw Wilson Law attacked by ferocious beasts and William Law expiring in the coils of a poisonous snake. They cried for him:
Oh, Brother Joseph! Brother Joseph! save us or we perish!
But he responded that they themselves had deprived him of the power to aid them. Then, after a little time, his angel came once more and said: "Joseph, why are you here?"
And he responded: "Mine enemies fell upon me, bound me, and threw me into this pit."
The angel took him by the hand and drew him up, and they went away together.
Impressive as was the recital of this dream, his brethren failed to comprehend its full significance; but scores of them recalled it at a later time and preserved it as a sacred remembrance.
On Sunday, the 16th day of June, 1844, Joseph preached in the grove east of the temple to the assembled Saints. The rain fell heavily, but the people would not disperse while the Prophet spoke. Nor would he be stayed by all these tears of nature, for it was one of his last opportunities to advise the people for whom he was willing to give his life. Often before the Prophet had counseled his brethren that it was not necessary yet to preach from the revelations of St. John the Divine; that the plain principles of the gospel should first be taught. But now, with the consciousness of his approaching death upon him, he read to the people the third chapter of Revelation. It was to be a message of comfort to the Saints when he was gone. He then turned to the first chapter and read:
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Rev. 1:5-6.)
He carried the Saints into a profounder depth of revealed theology than ever before. He talked of the plurality of Gods and the different glories of the eternal realm. He said:
Go and read the vision in the Book of Covenants. There is clearly illustrated glory upon glory—one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and a glory of the stars; and as one star differeth from another star in glory, even so do they of the telestial world differ in glory, and every man who reigns in the celestial glory is a God to his dominion.
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It is in the order of heavenly things that God should always send a new dispensation into the world when men have apostatized from the truth and lost the Priesthood; but when men build without authority from God, and when the floods come and the winds blow, their whole fabric will crumble.
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Oh thou God who art King of kings and Lord of lords!
After the city had been declared under martial law, the Legion was drawn up in front of the mansion to be addressed by the Prophet. He stood upon the frame of a building opposite his house, dressed in his full uniform as lieutenant general.
William W. Phelps read from an extra issue of the Warsaw Signal of the day before, calling upon all the old citizens to assist the mob in exterminating the leaders of the Saints and driving the people into exile.
Joseph then recounted the doings of the time at Nauvoo, and demonstrated that he and his brethren had been willing and were still as willing as ever to submit to the authority of law; that they had not transgressed the statutes; that the effort making against them was the device of Satan. He told them that a pretext had been sought by their enemies in order that a band of infuriated mob men might be congregated to fall upon Nauvoo, to murder, plunder, and ravish the innocent. He said:
We are American citizens. We live upon a soil, for the liberties of which our fathers periled their lives and spilt their blood upon the battle-field. Those rights, so dearly purchased, shall not be disgracefully trodden under foot by lawless marauders without at least a noble effort on our part to sustain our liberties.
Will you stand by me to the death, and sustain, at the peril of your lives, the laws of our country, and the liberties and privileges which our fathers have transmitted unto us, sealed with their sacred blood? ["Aye," shouted thousands.] It is well. If you have not done it, I would have gone out there, [pointing to the west], and would have raised up a mightier people.
I call all men, from Maine to the Rocky Mountains, and from Mexico to British America, whose hearts thrill with horror to behold the rights of free men trampled under foot, to come to the deliverance of this people from the cruel hand of oppression, cruelty, anarchy and misrule to which they have long been made subject. Come, all ye lovers of liberty, break the oppressor's rod, loose the iron grasp of mobocracy, and bring to condign punishment all those who trample under foot the glorious principles of our Constitution and the people's rights [Drawing his sword and presenting it to heaven.] I call God and angels to witness that I have unsheathed my sword with a firm and unalterable determination that this people shall have their legal rights, and be protected from mob violence, or my blood shall be spilt upon the ground like water, and my body consigned to the silent tomb. While I live, I will never tamely submit to the dominion of accursed mobocracy. I would welcome death rather than submit to this oppression; and it would be sweet, oh, sweet to rest in the grave, rather than submit to this oppression, confusion and alarm upon alarm, any longer.
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Peace shall be taken from the land which permits these crimes against the Saints to go unavenged.
I call upon all friends of truth and liberty to come to our assistance; and may the thunders of the Almighty, and the forked lightnings of heaven, and pestilence, and war, and bloodshed come down on those ungodly men who seek to destroy my life and the lives of this innocent people.
I do not regard my own life. I am ready to be offered a sacrifice for this people; for what can our enemies do? Only kill the body, and their power is then at an end. Stand firm, my friends; never flinch. Do not seek to save your lives, for he that is afraid to die for the truth will lose eternal life. Hold out to the end, and we shall be resurrected, and become like Gods and reign in celestial kingdoms, principalities and eternal dominions, while this mob will sink to the portion of all those who shed innocent blood.
God has tried you. You are a good people; therefore I love you with all my heart. Greater love hath no man than that he should lay down his life for his friends. You have stood by me in the hour of trouble, and I am willing to sacrifice my life for your preservation.
May the Lord God of Israel bless you forever and ever. I say this in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and in the authority of the Holy Priesthood, which He hath conferred upon me.
And all the people cried Amen!
The vast assemblage had listened to his words with breathless attention, for he spoke with a power transcending anything that the Saints had ever before heard, even from him whose speech was always soul-touching. Had he expressed a wish to fight, his people would have followed him with joy to the contest. It is no wonder that his words sank deep into their hearts; it is no wonder that to their sight he appeared grander than mortal. It was the last time for many of them in the flesh that they were to listen to the music of his voice or to feel the spell of his mighty inspiration. It was his last public address! In a few short days that Godlike form, so perfect in its manly beauty, was to be locked in the embrace of the tomb; and that voice, whose angelic sweetness had comforted them in the hour of darkest woe, was to be hushed in death.
On the 20th of June he wrote to all the apostles who were absent on missions to come home immediately. Only two of the twelve were with him, Apostles John Taylor and Willard Richards. He had often stated to the twelve that upon them would devolve the work when he was gone, and he knew that their presence would soon be needed.
His consciousness of his impending fate and his fortitude were divine. His last deeds and his last thoughts were for the cause and the people whom he loved.
CHAPTER LXIII.
PONTIUS PILATE FORD'S ENTRANCE UPON THE SCENE AT CARTHAGE—THE OLD CRY OF "CRUCIFY!"—JOSEPH'S FINAL EFFORT TO AVERT DANGER FROM NAUVOO—LACK OF FAITH AND SUSPICIONS OF COWARDICE—FATAL BLINDNESS—LIKE A LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER—THE ARMS DEFENDED—FAREWELL TO NAUVOO—AT CARTHAGE.
On the 21st day of June, 1844, Thomas Ford, governor of the state of Illinois, arrived at Carthage. What Pontius Pilate was to the divine atonement on Calvary, this man Ford was to the sealing martyrdom at Carthage.[[1]]
He was a politician, a friend to the masses, right or wrong. He submitted himself at Carthage to the direction of the mob leaders. From the moment of his arrival there until the deed was done, he interposed no hand to stay the awful deed. He could not have been so blind as to fail in seeing that murder impended for the Prophet and Patriarch; and that extermination threatened the Saints. A statesman and a true and brave patriot could have put forth his power and dissipated the evils at a stroke; but Ford was not of such mettle. He affected to view Joseph and his brethren as rebels and the mob as law-abiding citizens—at best, he classed them altogether. How he must have cringed when the Prophet asked him:
Sir, is it not an easy matter to distinguish between those who have pledged themselves to exterminate innocent men, women and children, and those who have only stood in their own defense, and in defense of their innocent families, and that, too, in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the country as required by the oaths, and as good and law-abiding citizens?
On the 21st Ford wrote to Joseph asking for a conference at Carthage with discreet representatives from Nauvoo. Apostle John Taylor and Dr. John M. Bernhisel went at once, in obedience to this request, carrying with them a full account of the situation and the circumstances which had led to it, and a score of affidavits from trustworthy men—some of whom were not connected with the Prophet or his people—showing clearly the purpose of the mob to commit murder. The next day Lucien Woodworth was sent to him from Nauvoo, with further documents and with a letter from the Prophet. When Apostle Taylor and Dr. Bernhisel reached Carthage, they found that the governor had taken the entire mob into his service; that he had passed judicially upon the municipal ordinances and proceedings at Nauvoo; and that, without hearing from them, he had decided upon his course. He received them coolly and as he read their communications aloud, he was surrounded by mobocrats who interrupted him at every sentence with a torrent of profanity and threats. He could listen to no argument and weigh no justice, for the cry was in his ears, "Crucify! Crucify!" By the hands of these brethren he sent a communication back to Nauvoo to require "all who are or shall be accused, to submit themselves to arrest by the same constable, by virtue of the same warrant, to be tried by the same magistrate whose authority had heretofore been resisted."
He asked that martial law should be abolished. He sent the constable with a guard to Nauvoo to secure Joseph and his friends. Of this circumstance Ford himself says:
Upon the arrival of the constable and guard [at Nauvoo], the mayor and common council at once signified their willingness to surrender, and stated their readiness to proceed to Carthage next morning at 8 o'clock. Martial law had previously been abolished. The hour of 8 o'clock came, and the accused failed to make their appearance. The constable and his escort returned. The constable made no effort to arrest any of them, or would he or the guard delay their departure one minute beyond the time to see whether an arrest could be made. Upon their return, they reported that they had been informed that the accused had fled and could not be found.
I immediately proposed to a council of officers to march into Nauvoo with a small force then under my command, but the officers were of opinion that it was too small, and many of them insisted upon a further call of the militia. Upon reflection, I was of opinion that the officers were right in the estimate of our force, and the project for immediate action was abandoned. I was soon informed, however, of the conduct of the constable and guard, and then I was perfectly satisfied that a most base fraud had been attempted; that, in fact, it was feared that the Mormons would submit and thereby entitle themselves to the protection of the law. It was very apparent that many of the bustling, active spirits were afraid that there would be no occasion for calling out an overwhelming militia force, for marching it into Nauvoo, for probable mutiny when there, and for the extermination of the Mormon race. It appeared that the constable and the escort were fully in the secret, and acted well their part to promote the conspiracy.
Informed of all the plots against him and seeing the executive weakness or connivance with the mob the Prophet determined to make one final effort to draw the menace from Nauvoo. He addressed a letter to the governor, in which he exposed the fallacy and cowardice of Ford's official proceedings and personal position. Then, after dark on the night of the 22nd of June, he called Hyrum, Willard Richards, John Taylor, W. W. Phelps, A. C. Hodge, John L. Butler, Alpheus Cutler and some others into his house and read to them the letter from the governor, merely remarking: "There is no mercy—no mercy here!"
Hyrum said: "No: as sure as we fall into their hands, we are dead men."
Joseph then told the brethren that if he and Hyrum should leave Nauvoo the attention of the mob would be attracted away from the Saints and in pursuit of the Prophet and Patriarch; and if the people would go quietly about their business none of them would be harmed. With this purpose he prepared to cross the river and go into the west. That night they bade farewell to their families. As they departed it was seen that Joseph's tears were falling fast, and he uttered not a word while they walked down to the bank of the river. Joseph, Hyrum and Willard, rowed by Orrin P. Rockwell, crossed the Mississippi in a leaky skiff, bailing out the water with their boots and shoes to keep the frail boat from sinking. They found refuge on the Iowa side at the house of Brother William Jordan, and made immediate preparations to depart toward the Rocky Mountains. But while they were packing their provisions, on the 23rd day of June, messengers came from Emma and others in Nauvoo, entreating the Prophet to return and by innuendo accusing him of cowardice in thus leaving the city. It was a fatal blindness on the part of these professed friends. They seemed to fear that the governor, failing to find Joseph and Hyrum, would fall upon Nauvoo with the militia. The Prophet knew better, that Ford would not dare such a thing as this—he might consent to the murder of individuals but he dare not lead an army against an unoffending city. It is pitiable to think that the Saints could have so misjudged their leader as to suspect him of cowardice. But it is often so, that men placed in responsible stations, who act by the light of heaven and for the benefit of their brethren, without one thought of personal safety or advantage, are condemned by the unthinking.
"We are going back to be butchered," said Joseph; "if we live or die we will be reconciled to our fate," said Hyrum; as they moved down to the river to cross to Nauvoo on that 23rd day of June. While they walked Joseph fell behind, deep in thought. Someone shouted to him to quicken his steps, and he remarked: "There is time enough for the slaughter."
That night, Sunday, June 23rd, 1844, Joseph sent a letter to the governor informing him that he would go to Carthage the next morning to meet his trial. He asked that the governor send a posse to meet him near the Mound, outside of Carthage, about two o'clock on the afternoon of the 24th. Seeing the determination of Joseph, the very friends who had induced him to return would now have interposed; but he was firm. To remain in Nauvoo would be to draw the vengeance of the mob upon that city. The next morning Elder Jedediah M. Grant and Theodore Turley, who had carried Joseph's communication to the governor, returned to Nauvoo and reported their mission. Ford had at first agreed to send a posse to escort Joseph in safety to Carthage, but some of the mobocrats and apostates made bitter speeches to him and he rescinded his promise. He refused to send or allow an escort for Joseph, "as it was an honor not given to any other citizen." He would not even allow Elders Grant and Turley to remain in Carthage that night, but sent them out with a demand that Joseph should appear unaccompanied at Carthage the next morning. The messengers told the Prophet that intense excitement existed at Carthage; but he would not heed their warning.
On the morning of Monday, the 24th of June, 1844, Joseph and the seventeen other men named in the old writ from Morrison, started from Nauvoo. When they reached the temple, the Prophet looked upon it with a long and wistful gaze, and then turned his eyes upon the city, saying: "This is the loveliest place and these are the best people under the heavens. Little do they know the trials that await them."
As they passed out of the city the Prophet said to Daniel H. Wells: "Squire Wells, I wish you to cherish my memory, and not think me the worst man in the world, either."
On the way out they met Captain Dunn coming from Carthage with about sixty mounted men. Joseph said: "Do not be alarmed, brethren, for they cannot do more to you than the enemies of truth did to the ancient Saints—they can only kill the body."
Dunn presented to Joseph an order from Governor Ford for all the state arms in the possession of the Nauvoo Legion. Joseph immediately countersigned the order. Then he turned to the company and spoke these memorable words:
I AM GOING LIKE A LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER, BUT I AM CALM AS A SUMMER'S MORNING. I HAVE A CONSCIENCE VOID OF OFFENSE TOWARD GOD AND TOWARD ALL MEN.
Again, he said: "If they take my life I shall die an innocent man, and my blood shall cry from the ground for vengeance, and it shall yet be said of me, 'He was murdered in cold blood.'"
Joseph sent Henry G. Sherwood back to Nauvoo to get the arms ready for Captain Dunn and to have all things done with good order and regularity. But Dunn feared that the governor's demands, coming at such a time, would excite resistance, and he requested Joseph and the brethren to return with him to the city under a pledge of mutual protection. He preferred to depend upon the well-known integrity of Joseph rather than to risk the wounded feelings of a much abused people. When the order for the state arms was made known in Nauvoo many of the brethren regarded this as a preparation for another Far West tragedy: but they heeded the Prophet's word and unresistingly yielded obedience to the requirement.
It was an outrage to ask these arms under the circumstances; they were borne by men who were on the defensive, not the offensive—men who carried them for the protection of home and virtue, and who had not set foot outside the limits of their own city. Ford's action in this matter was atrocious; the compliance of the Prophet and the Saints was noble.
Joseph again bade farewell to his family, and looked again and again upon the fair domain which his mortal eyes were beholding for the last time. His face was white and luminous, yet upon it and in his eyes was a look of anguish. His friends would even now have detained him, be the consequences what they might; but he told them he must either yield himself to his sworn murderers or the city would be given up to massacre and pillage under the sanction of the governor.
Shortly after leaving Nauvoo they met Brother A. C. Hodge coming from Carthage, who told them that a minister—whom Joseph had previously treated with great kindness—warned him that so sure as Joseph and Hyrum came to Carthage they would be killed. He also said that Hamilton, the innkeeper at Carthage, had pointed to the Carthage Greys, saying: "Hodge, there are the boys that will settle you Mormons."
A little farther on the way, the Prophet received letters from attorneys at Carthage to whom the governor had pledged his own honor and the honor of the state of Illinois that the prisoners should be protected from all harm. This pledge Ford reiterated often; and upon the strength of it many of the Prophet's friends felt that he was safe.
It was not until a little before midnight that the party reached Carthage, but they found the mob up and expecting them with great anxiety. As they passed the public square, many troops, especially the Carthage Greys, gave way to a frenzy of joy.
Some of them shouted, "God damn you, old Joe Smith, we have got you now." Others cried, "Where is the damned Prophet!" "Stand away, you McDonough boys, and let us shoot the damned Mormons." "Clear the way and let us have a view of Joe Smith, the Prophet of God. He has seen the last of Nauvoo. We'll use him up now, and kill all the damned Mormons."
The profanity of the mob was an avalanche. Such ravings and cursings were scarcely ever before heard from civilized men. The governor was an ear witness to it all and leaned from his tavern window to say in a fawning voice to the rabble:
Gentlemen, I know your great anxiety to see Mr. Smith, which is natural enough, but it is quite too late tonight for you to have that opportunity; but I assure you, gentlemen, you shall have that privilege tomorrow morning, as I will cause him to pass before the troops upon the square, and I now wish you, with this assurance, quietly and peaceably to return to your quarters.
At this there was a hurrah for Tom Ford, and the mob obeyed his wish.
The prisoners were quartered at the tavern of Hamilton, who had threatened Brother Hodge that the Carthage Greys would settle the "Mormons." At the same inn was a party of apostates. One of them, John A. Hicks, formerly president of the elders' quorum, stated to Brother Cyrus H. Wheelock that it was determined to shed the blood of Joseph Smith, whether he was cleared by the law or not. Hicks talked freely and unreservedly upon the subject, as if he were discoursing upon the most common occurrence of life; and boldly declared that the Laws, the Higbees and the Fosters were all agreed upon this course.
Elder Wheelock carried this information to Governor Ford, but that craven wretch treated it with perfect indifference and suffered Hicks and his associates to go on with their plans for murder.
A few hours later the most prominent enemies of the Prophet at Carthage declared:
There is nothing against these men; the law cannot reach them, but powder and ball shall. They will never get out of Carthage alive.