"Silence! Ye fiends of the infernal pit! In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die this instant!"
He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained, and without a weapon, calm, unruffled and dignified as an angel, he looked down upon the quailing guards, whose knees smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet until exchange of guards.
I have seen ministers of justice, clothed in ministerial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended upon a breath, in the courts of England; I have witnessed a congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and of emperors assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms. But dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon, in an obscure village of Missouri.
After Joseph and his companions had been taken by General Lucas to Independence, General Clark with about two thousand men came to Far West. This made six thousand soldiers that had preyed upon the little town during one week. He had all the brethren marched out and placed in line before him. They were perfectly harmless since their arms had been taken away. After putting fifty-six of them under arrest he commanded the remaining ones to prepare to flee from Missouri. He told them they need not hope ever to see their leaders again for their fate was fixed. After his speech he compelled the brethren, at the point of the bayonet, to sign deeds giving up their property to pay the expenses of the mob.
General Wilson had been sent to Adam-ondi-Ahman. He put a guard around the town, arrested all the men and then tried them in a court of which Adam Black was judge. The men of the town were so manifestly innocent of wrong doing that even Adam Black would not convict them. Wilson ordered that within ten days they should all be gone from Daviess county.
Clark, with his fifty-six prisoners, came to Richmond to meet Joseph and the rest of the prisoners. He seems to have settled on their fate, for Elder Jedediah M. Grant heard him say to his soldiers: "Gentlemen, you shall have the honor of shooting the Mormon leaders next Monday morning at eight o'clock." But Clark was a great lawyer and knew that such action would be absolutely lawless. He therefore hunted for days to find some charge that he could make against his prisoners. In a letter to the governor, he said they were guilty of treason, murder, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny and perjury, but he decided to count mainly on treason and murder.
A mock trial was held for sixteen days, and at the end of this time all but eleven, including Joseph, Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon and Parley P. Pratt, were either let out on bail or discharged. Austin A. King was judge and let the worst falsehoods be given in testimony. The brethren were asked to call their witnesses. They named over fifty, and Bogart was sent out with a force of soldiers to bring them in. Instead of being put on the witness stand, however, they were thrown into prison. Whenever any witness showed that he would tell the truth about the prisoners the mob rushed upon him with their bayonets.
The condition of the Saints was now very, very dark. Joseph and his two counselors, Sidney and Hyrum, were put in Liberty jail, as it seemed, only to await death. Parley P. Pratt, one of the Apostles, was in prison at Richmond. David W. Patten had been killed, and Thomas B. Marsh, William E. McLellin and others of the Apostles, had denied the faith and become the bitterest enemies to the Church. The governor of the state had ordered the soldiers to slay the Saints. Winter was coming on and once more they had to flee and find new homes.
CHAPTER XXX.
1838-39.
PETITION THE LEGISLATURE FOR JUSTICE—JOHN TAYLOR AND JOHN E. PAGE ORDAINED APOSTLES—PREPARATIONS TO LEAVE MISSOURI—TREATMENT OF JOSEPH AND HIS FELLOW-PRISONERS—ILLINOIS THE NEXT GATHERING PLACE OF THE SAINTS.
When Joseph and his two counselors, Sidney and Hyrum, who formed the First Presidency of the Church, were thrown into prison, the Saints, though in great trouble, were not without a leader. Brigham Young was President of the Twelve Apostles, the quorum next in authority to the First Presidency. He gathered about him the faithful Apostles and brethren and declared that he knew Joseph was a true Prophet. He called all those whose faith was still strong to join him in aiding the Saints. An earnest petition, telling of the wrongs our people had suffered and asking for justice, was sent to the legislature of Missouri. On the 19th of December this was discussed, and though many of the members were honorable men and worked hard for the cause of the Saints, yet those who had helped in the outrages were too strong. The petition was laid on the table, and this meant that nothing would be done in the matter. On that very day John Taylor and John E. Page were ordained Apostles under the hands of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball at Far West.