The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo

by B. H. Roberts

You are aware that at the time of your most bitter persecution, I was with you in feeling, and proffered you my military knowledge and powers.

The egotism of the man plainly appears in these expressions, and manifests a spirit that is altogether at variance with the humility required by the Gospel, and doubtless that self-importance laid the foundation of his subsequent fall. While Joseph extended a hearty welcome to the doctor to come to Nauvoo, he by no means held out very flattering inducements to him, as may be seen by Joseph's letters to him in answer to those of Bennett's, expressing his determination to join the Saints at Commerce. He said:

I have no doubt that you would be of great service to this community in practicing your profession, as well as those other abilities of which you are in possession. Though to devote your time and abilities in the cause of truth and a suffering people, may not be the means of exalting you in the eyes of this generation, or securing you the riches of this world, yet by so doing you may rely on the approval of Jehovah, "that blessing which maketh rich and addeth no sorrow." * * * Therefore, my general invitation is, let all who will come, come and partake of the poverty of Nauvoo, freely.

I should be disposed to give you a special invitation to come as early as possible, believing you will be of great service to us. However, you must make your own arrangements according to your circumstances. Were it possible for you to come here this season to suffer affliction with the people of God, no one will be more pleased to give you a cordial welcome than myself.

Surely this was frank enough, and ought to have dispelled from the doctor's mind, if at that time such ideas lurked there, all thoughts of winning worldly fame, or gratifying vain ambition, by linking his fortunes with those of The Church of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER XIII.

RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES BY MISSOURI.

IT would appear that Hatred's hunger is never fed; it seems to possess an appetite which is insatiable, and can never feel at ease so long as the object of its detestation remains within its reach; and even when that object is removed beyond the immediate power of Hatred to do it harm, as the dragon of the apocalypse when he could not follow the woman he had persecuted into the wilderness, cast out of his mouth a flood of water after her to destroy her—even so Hatred, when baffled in his efforts to destroy his victims, sends out floods of falsehood to overwhelm them by infusing his own venom into the breasts of others; that that destruction which he could not bring to pass himself, might be brought about by another.

Such was the course of hate-blinded Missouri towards the Saints of God, whom she had driven beyond her borders. Seeing that she had not destroyed them, but that they were now upon the eve of enjoying an era of prosperity such as they had never enjoyed while within her borders, she employed all her cunning to incite the hatred of the citizens of Illinois against them. But this was not easy of accomplishment; and at first, the misrepresentations of a State that had been guilty of such outrages as those committed by Missouri against the Latter-day Saints, had but little weight in Illinois.

Finding that their accusations against the people whom they had so wronged had little or no effect, an effort was made to give coloring to their statements; and stolen goods were conveyed from Missouri to the vicinity of Commerce, so that when they were found, suspicion might rest upon the people in whose neighborhood the stolen articles were discovered.

Nor did their outrages stop at this. But doubtless being emboldened by reason of the general government's refusing to make any effort to redress the wrongs of the Saints, a company of men led by William Allensworth, H. M. Woodyard, Wm. Martin, J. H. Owsely, John Bain, Light T. Lait and Halsay White, crossed over the Mississippi to Illinois, at a point a few miles above Quincy, and kidnapped Alanson Brown, James Allred, Benjamin Boyce and Noah Rogers; and without any writ or warrant of any character whatever, they dragged them over to Missouri, to a neighborhood called Tully, in Lewis County. These unfortunate men were imprisoned for a day or two in an old log cabin, during which time their lives were repeatedly threatened. At one time Brown was taken out, a rope placed around his neck, and he was hung up to a tree until he was nearly strangled to death. Boyce at the same time was tied to a tree, stripped of his clothing and inhumanly beaten. Rogers was also beaten, and Allred was stripped of every particle of clothing, and tied up to a tree for the greater part of the night, and threatened frequently by a man named Monday, exclaiming: "G—d d—n you, I'll cut you to the hollow." He was finally, however, released without being whipped.