At the conference of the Church held at the city of Nauvoo on the 6th day of April, 1842, the twelfth anniversary of its organization, Apostle Page made explanation of the delays through which he failed to accompany Elder Orson Hyde to Jerusalem.
The Prophet decided that Elder Page should be restored to his fellowship; he took the occasion to instruct the Elders that when they went forth as companions they were to adhere to each other as Elisha and Elijah of old.
During this conference two hundred and seventy-five Elders were ordained under the hands of the Apostles.
On Saturday, the 9th day of April, 1842, the Prophet attended the funeral of Ephraim Marks, a son of William Marks, president of the Nauvoo Stake. President Wilford Woodruff's journal of that date records that Joseph addressed the funeral assemblage, and in the course of his remarks said:
Some of the Saints have supposed that "Brother Joseph" could not die; but this is a mistake. It is true that there have been times when I have had the promise of my life to accomplish certain things; but, having now done these things, I have no longer any lease of my life. I am as liable to die as other men.
This sermon is like a premonition of his own fate. At the time it was uttered his surroundings had never been so propitious since the day when he first received the plates from the Hill Cumorah. But soon after he made this declaration, his enemies began again to pursue him vindictively, and they continued until his death a little more than two years after he delivered that sermon.
In the spring of 1842, the Nauvoo Legion of the Illinois state militia consisted of twenty-six companies, comprising about two thousand troops. On the 7th day of May the staff of the Legion dined at the house of the commander-in-chief. Other guests were there, including Judge Stephen A. Douglas, who had adjourned the circuit court, then in session at Carthage, that he and the lawyers might visit Nauvoo and witness the parade of the Legion. A sham battle between the two cohorts under Brigadier-Generals Wilson Law and Charles C. Rich was a feature of the day. The battle and the parade were brilliant; and the visitors expressed their admiration of the energy and the patriotism of the Prophet and his brethren who had organized and trained this large body of loyal troops to be in readiness for their country's call.
It was during the sham battle of this day that the Prophet became assured that John C. Bennett was a wicked man—impure and traitorous. The proper place for the Lieutenant-General commanding, was upon an eminence where, surrounded by his staff and the ladies and distinguished visitors, he could review the contest between his cohorts. But Bennett made several endeavors to draw Joseph down into the battle; failing in that, to get him separated from his staff and party and in the rear of one of his forces. Joseph might have yielded to some of these requests but the Spirit whispered him that treachery was meditated. A little later the purpose of Bennett was made manifest. He had intended to get Joseph into such a position that he could be killed by a shot and no one be able to identify the assassin. Bennett no doubt had accomplices in this plot, and his plans were shrewdly laid; but this was not the hour nor this the method for the Prophet's death.
In recording the events of this day in his journal, Joseph develops Bennett's treachery and predicts that the wicked doing of the traitor will soon be made manifest before the world. The prophecy was fulfilled.