It cannot in truth be claimed that any favor shown by the Democratic party, as such, to the Mormon people was the cause of the announcement of the above independent attitude in politics. For while Judge Douglas, a leading Democrat, had recently rendered a decision favorable to the Prophet, liberating him from the clutches of Missouri, it should be remembered that the Judge had but pronounced upon the course of the officers of the states of Missouri and Illinois and found that course at variance with the law, and there was no alternative but to set the Prophet free. But it was the law that vindicated Joseph Smith, not the favor of Judge Douglas. And then, if a Democratic Judge had decided a case in favor of the Prophet, it should be remembered that it was the act, and I might say the unwarranted, the illegal act, of a Democrat, Governor Carlin, which had put the life and liberty of the Prophet in jeopardy by issuing an illegal requisition for his arrest and deliverance to Missouri, This to show that it was not any favor that had been shown by the Democratic party, as such, that prompted the assumption of an independent attitude in politics by the Prophet; but that for weal or woe, the attitude was taken as a measure of self-defense, and for the protection of the people in whose interest it was announced.
[4]. Alpheus Gifford was born in Adams township, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, August 25, 1793. At the age of eighteen, having scarcely sufficient learning to enable him to read the Bible, he commenced preaching the Gospel, not for hire, but for the salvation of souls.
In 1817, he married Anna Nash, who bore him seven sons and three daughters. In the spring of 1831, hearing of the doctrines taught by Joseph Smith, he made diligent inquiry, and found they were scriptural, and was baptized and ordained a priest; he brought home five Books of Mormon which he distributed among his friends; he was then living in Tioga county, Pennsylvania. Soon after he went to Kirtland, Ohio, to see the Prophet Joseph Smith and the brethren, when he was ordained an Elder; he was accompanied by his brother Levi Elial Strong, Eleazar Miller, Enos Curtis and Abraham Brown, who were baptized. On returning to Pennsylvania he preached and baptized many, among whom was Heber C. Kimball. The gifts of the Gospel were enjoyed by many; signs following those that believed, devils were cast out; the sick were healed; many prophesied; some spake with new tongues; while others interpreted the same. Mr. Calvin Gilmour, with whom Brother Gifford had previously been associated in preaching, heard him speak in tongues and interpret. Gilmour declared he understood the languages and that they were interpreted correctly, but that he would rather be damned than believe in Mormonism.
In June, 1832, Brother Gifford started for Missouri; traveled to Cincinnati and wintered there with a few Saints, who had been baptized by Lyman Wight. He arrived in Jackson county, Mo., in March, 1833, where he preached much. He was driven with the saints in the fall of that year. He removed to Clay county, and subsequently went to Kirtland, Ohio, and attended the dedication of the Temple and received the ordinances there administered. He returned to Missouri, and removed with the Saints to Far West, Caldwell county. In the winter of 1839 he was driven from Missouri. He located in the Morley settlement near Lima, Illinois, and subsequently removed five miles above Nauvoo, where he died December 25, 1841. (The above is taken from a sketch of his father's life by Samuel K. Gifford, furnished the Church Historian in November, 1861, and filed in the History of the Church under date of December, 1841.)
[5]. "If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, at the most by three, and that by course, and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the Church; and let him speak to himself and to God."
[6]. This reference is to Thomas Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Signal, a bitter anti-Mormon, and described by the late President John Taylor, as "a violent and unprincipled man, who shrank not from any enormity."
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Opening of the Year 1842—Whereabouts of the Twelve Apostles—Correspondence of Elder Hyde from Trieste—Report of High Council on Affairs in Nauvoo—Events and Conditions in British Mission.
Sundry Labors of the Prophet.