Though Marshal Greene's action had been perfectly lawful and regular, it was a somewhat unusual thing to do, and Joseph sent a statement to Governor Ford when the excitement began to rise, telling plainly the whole affair and offering to go to Springfield, the capital of Illinois, to be tried by any court that could properly try the case. Judge Thomas came to Nauvoo on the sixteenth and counseled Marshal Greene, Joseph, Hyrum, John Taylor and the others who had taken part in destroying the press, to go before a justice of the peace and be tried for the offense, saying that if they were acquitted, he would be bound to make the mob keep the peace. They went before Daniel H. Wells, who was not then a member of the Church, and after a full careful trial, were set free, Esquire Wells deciding that they were not guilty.
On the very day that this trial was held mobs began to gather. Hundreds poured over the Mississippi river to have a hand in what they thought would be bloody work, and the worst characters in the surrounding country gathered, with muskets and cannon, to attack Nauvoo. As commanding officer of the Nauvoo Legion, Joseph ordered his men to arms and declared the city under martial law. He stood upon the platform in full uniform and spoke to his soldiers and the Saints. It was his last public address. As he spoke he drew his sword and stretched his arm toward heaven, and standing there in the splendor of his manhood, he uttered these words:
"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."
About this time the Prophet told a dream that he had had. He was riding in a carriage with his guardian angel, and at the roadside he saw two snakes coiled up together. The angel explained that these were Robert Foster and Chauncey Higbee. Farther on William and Wilson Law dragged him from his carriage, and after binding his hands, threw him into a deep pit. Terrible beasts then fell upon Wilson and a serpent coiled itself about William and they cried, "O, Brother Joseph, Brother Joseph, save us or we perish." He told them that they had bound him and thrown him into a pit and he could not help them. Then his angel came and said, "Joseph, why are you here?" He replied, "Mine enemies fell upon me and bound me and threw me into this pit." The angel took him by the hand, drew him up, and they went on together.
Governor Ford came into Carthage three days after the Nauvoo Legion had been called out, and at once sent to Joseph asking that a committee of discreet men be sent to him from Nauvoo. Apostle John Taylor and Dr. John M. Bernhisel, after hastily gathering a number of papers, set out to lay the true condition of things before the governor. He talked with them and read aloud their written statements while in the company of the worst enemies of the Church, who continually interrupted him with oaths and threats. He plainly showed that he was too weak, or at least unwilling, to enforce the law. When Joseph and Hyrum learned this they knew their only course to save Nauvoo, without giving themselves up to slaughter, was to flee.
On the night of the twenty-second of June, while the tears were flowing fast from their eyes, Joseph and Hyrum, in company with Willard Richards, bade farewell to their families and Nauvoo and crossed the Mississippi river. Orrin P. Rockwell rowed them over in a leaky skiff, and on the way they used their boots and shoes to bale out the water to keep from sinking. On the next morning they began to prepare actively for their journey westward, having decided that they would go to the Rocky Mountains, knowing that if they were absent from Nauvoo the mob would hot attack the city.
As they were thus working, word came from Emma and many of those who had pretended great friendship, asking Joseph to return to Nauvoo, insinuating that he was a coward and was running from danger. Joseph and Hyrum were men that could not bear this reproach. They at once set out for home, and as they went Joseph said, "We are going back to be butchered." Hyrum replied, "If we live or die, we will be reconciled to our fate." As they walked to the river bank, Joseph, deep in thought, fell behind, and some one called to him to hasten. He looked up and said, "There is time enough for the slaughter."
Next morning, Joseph, with the seventeen others for whom the order of arrest had first been made, started for Carthage. As they passed the temple the Prophet gazed upon it and looked over the city, then in a tender, sad tone he said to his companions: "This is the loveliest place and these are the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them." On their way they met Captain Dunn with sixty troopers from Carthage. He had an order for the state arms held by the Nauvoo Legion, from Governor Ford, and Joseph, as lieutenant-general, signed this at his request. After this act the Prophet said to those about him:
"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. 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.'"
Dunn feared to go to Nauvoo on the brutal errand of the governor, and asked Joseph to go with him so that he might be safe. Though the brethren were loth to give up their arms, fearing a repetition of Independence and Far West, yet they had such faith in the Prophet's command that they obeyed. These, you remember, were state arms and the governor had a right according to law to demand them, though he was a coward for doing so. Their obedience shows how willing the Saints were to obey the law. Again bidding farewell, Joseph and Hyrum turned away and left Nauvoo forever.