"To narrate what transpired within the seven years in which we built and occupied Nauvoo, the beautiful, would fill many volumes. That is a history that never will, and never can, repeat itself. Some of the most important events of my life transpired within that brief term, in which I was married, and in which my husband, Joseph Smith, the prophet of God, sealed his testimony with his blood.
"Although in my youth I had considered marriage to have been ordained of God, I had remained single; and to-day I acknowledge the kind overruling providences of God in that circumstance as fully as in any other of my life; for I have not known of one of my former suitors having received the truth; by which it is manifest that I was singularly preserved from the bondage of a marriage tie which would, in all probability, have prevented my receiving, or enjoying the free exercise of, that religion which has been, and is now, dearer to me than life.
"In Nauvoo I had the first intimation, or at least the first understanding, that the practice of a plurality of wives would be introduced into the Church. The thought was very repugnant to my feelings, and in direct opposition to my educational prepossessions; but when I reflected that this was the dispensation of the fullness of times, embracing all other dispensations, it was plain that plural marriage must be included; and I consoled myself with the idea that it was a long way in the distance, beyond the period of my mortal existence, and that, of course, I should not have it to meet. However, it was announced to me that the 'set time' had come—that God had commanded his servants to establish the order, by taking additional wives.
"It seemed for awhile as though all the traditions, prejudices, and superstitions of my ancestry, for many generations, accumulated before me in one immense mass; but God, who had kept silence for centuries, was speaking; I knew it, and had covenanted in the waters of baptism to live by every word of his, and my heart was still firmly set to do his bidding.
"I was sealed to the prophet, Joseph Smith, for time and eternity, in accordance with the celestial law of marriage which God had revealed, the ceremony being performed by a servant of the Most High—authorized to officiate in sacred ordinances. This, one of the most important events of my life, I have never had cause to regret. The more I comprehend the pure and ennobling principle of plural marriage, the more I appreciate it. It is a necessity in the salvation of the human family—a necessity in redeeming woman from the curse, and the world from its corruptions.
"When I entered into it, my knowledge of what it was designed to accomplish was very limited; had I then understood what I now understand, I think I should have hailed its introduction with joy, in consideration of the great good to be accomplished. As it was, I received it because I knew that God required it.
"When in March, 1842, the prophet, Joseph Smith, assisted by some of the leading elders in the church, organized the Female Relief Society (now the great female organization of Utah), I was present, and was appointed secretary of that society, of which I shall say more hereafter. In the summer of 1842 I accompanied Mrs. Emma Smith, the president of the society, to Quincy, Ill., with a petition signed by several hundred members of the society, praying his Excellency, Governor Carlin, for protection from illegal suits then pending against Joseph Smith. We met with a very cordial reception, and presented the petition, whereupon the governor pledged his word and honor that he would use his influence to protect Mr. Smith, whose innocence he acknowledged. But, soon after our return, we learned that at the time of our visit and while making protestations of friendship, Governor Carlin was secretly conniving with the basest of men to destroy our leader. He was even combining with minions of the great adversary of truth in the State of Missouri, who were vigilant in stirring up their colleagues in Illinois, to bring about the terrible crisis.
"The awful tragedy of the 27th of June, 1844, is a livid, burning, scathing stain on our national escutcheon. To look upon the noble, lifeless forms of those brothers, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, as they lay side by side in their burial clothes, having been brought home from Carthage, where they had been slaughtered in their manhood and in their innocence, was a sight that might well appal the heart of a true American citizen; but what it was for loving wives and children, the heart may feel, but the tongue can never tell.
"This scene occurred in America, 'the land of the free and the home of the brave,' to which our ancestors fled for religious freedom—where the 'dear old flag yet waves,' and under which not one effort has been made to bring to justice the perpetrators of that foul deed."
To the aged mother of the prophet and patriarch of the Mormon Church shall be given the personal presentation of the subject of the martyrdom; for although the mother's heartrending description cannot be considered as a sufficiently great historical word-picture of the scene, yet there is much of tragic force in it. She says: