As the outgrowth of these conditions in Nauvoo at that time, there was held on the 3rd of January, in Joseph's store, a court of inquiry. The inquiry was directed to the conduct of William Law, Wilson Law, and William Marks. Of William Law Elder Woodruff writes in his journal: "He professes to believe that Joseph has instructed the police to kill him, but the truth is that the Laws have turned traitors and are breeding mischief which is intended to take the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith." On the 5th of the month a second court was held relating to the same matter. In contradistinction to the spirit of the Laws there was an enthusiastic, hopeful spirit which caused faithful men and women to look forward with fond anticipations to the completion of the Temple. Work in the house of God was then taking hold upon the feelings of men and women who had had revealed to them the relation and duties they sustain to their progenitors as well as to their posterity. The spirit of Elijah was upon the elders of the Church.
On January 21st, Elder Woodruff records the fact that Apostle Parley P. Pratt had just received second anointings and that he had been instructed by the Prophet that it was his duty to have his wife sealed to him for eternity in order that his glory might be full. Elder Woodruff records the following words from the prophet: "What shall I talk about today? I discern that Brother Cahoon wishes me to speak upon the coming of Elijah. The Bible says, 'I will send you Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come, that he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the chidren and the hearts of the children to their fathers lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.' The word 'turned' should read 'point' or 'seal.' But, what is the object of this important mission, or how is it to be fulfilled? The keys are to be delivered, the spirit of Elijah is to come, the gospel is to be preached, the Saints of God are to be gathered, Zion is to be built up, and the Saints are to come forth as Saviors on Mount Zion. But how are they to come as Saviors on Mount Zion? By building temples, erecting baptismal fonts and receiving in the temples all the ordinances, sealings, and anointings in behalf of our progenitors who are dead, that they may come forth in the first resurrection and be with us exalted to thrones of glory. I would to God that this Temple were now completed, that we might go forth and attend to these ordinances in their fullness! I would advise all the Saints to gather their living relatives to this place and be prepared against the day when the destroying angel shall go forth. My only trouble now is that which concerns ourselves. The Saints may be divided, broken up and scattered before we accomplish the work now in view. There are so many fools in the world for the devil to act upon that it oftimes gives him the advantage. Any person who is exalted to the highest mansion must abide the celestial law and the whole law, too, but there has been much difficulty in getting understanding into the hearts of this generation. Even the Saints are slow to understand. How many will be able to abide the celestial law, endure the trials, and receive their exaltation I am unable to say. 'Many are called, but few are chosen.'"
The Temple was still incomplete. The Presidency and the Twelve were urging the work upon it. In order that the Twelve might be prepared to administer in the ordinances of the house of God they were given their endowments and their wives sealed to them for eternity. Elder Woodruff gives the exact dates when certain members of the Twelve received these ordinances. He says, in his journal, "There is at this time quite a revival throughout Nauvoo and an inquiry after the things of God by all the quorums of the Church generally."
There was a strange commingling of spirits in Nauvoo at that time. Spirits of life and death were at war, and the Prophet's approaching end was made manifest to him in a dream which he related in his office to Wilford Woodruff, Willard Richards, and W. W. Phelps. The Prophet clearly saw the coming storm of persecution which awaited him. His release from opposition was represented by his power to pass through the air and be lifted up by the power of God above the earth.
Furthermore this year was one for a presidential election. The Saints had been constantly ground between the political parties of those days. Whatever significance may be attached to the candidacy of Joseph Smith at that time for the presidency of the United States, it has since been the subject of all sorts of speculation. Elder Woodruff, in his journal, says: "A congregation of the citizens met in the room over Joseph's store to hear his views upon the affairs of government, views which he had written and which were read by W. W. Phelps. 'I would not have permitted my name to be used by my friends as a candidate for the President of the United States if we could have enjoyed, unmolested, our religious and civil rights as American citizens—the rights which the constitution guarantees to all citizens, but rights which have been denied us from the beginning. I feel it my right and privilege to obtain what influence and power I can, lawfully, for the protection of injured innocence.'"
At the close of the meeting there was a unanimous vote passed to support Joseph Smith. The Prophet had reason to appreciate the rights and liberties of mankind, of which he had been so often unlawfully and wantonly deprived.
"On the 21st of February," Elder Woodruff writes, "I met with the quorum of the Twelve at Joseph's store, and according to Joseph's counsel a company was selected to go on an exploring expedition to California, and to select a place for the building of a city. Jonathan Dunham, David Fulmer, Phineas Young, Samuel W. Richards and several others were named for the expedition." The Prophet subsequently, in company with a number of his brethren, left Nauvoo on this proposed expedition, but turned back, as all know from the sad story of his last days, to be a martyr to the work he had been instrumental in establishing.
A curious circumstance of those times was the preaching of an Episcopalian minister in an adjoining room. Following the preacher, Joseph said, "The object with me is to obey and to teach others to obey God and all that He commands us to do. It matters not whether the principle be popular or unpopular, I will always maintain it though I stand alone in doing so." According to Elder Woodruff the Prophet, in 1842, predicted that within five years the Saints would be established beyond the Rocky Mountains and became a mighty people in the inter-mountain regions.
On the evening of February 25th the news of the death of Joseph Duncan and Governor Reynolds of Missouri reached Nauvoo. They were among the most persistent enemies of the Saints. The news of their death called forth a notable prophecy from Joseph Smith, who wished his words recorded that they might be remembered when they were fulfilled. He declared that in five years the Saints would be rid of their old enemies, whether they were apostates or men who were never in the Church. Five years saw the Saints located in the valleys of the mountains. Those predictions were more the voice of the spirit than any expectations of the people who were eagerly working for an early completion of the Temple.
On the 7th of March there was a large meeting of the Saints in Nauvoo. Eight thousand people had gathered by invitation to listen to the words of their Prophet and the Twelve. The latter directed their remarks more particularly to the ordinances which should take place in the house of God. "One of the great objects I had in calling this meeting," said the Prophet, "was to make a few remarks relative to the laws and ordinances of the city and to the building of the Temple. The reason I want to speak of the laws is that the officers have difficulty in administering them. We wish to have the people rule, but rule in righteousness. The laws are enacted and they can be repealed, if the people wish it, but the people should not complain of the officers. I am instructed by the city council to tell this people that if you do not like any law we have passed, we will repeal it for we are your servants. There are those in this community who would oppose anything good. If you preach virtue to them they will oppose it. If a case is tried here, they want it appealed to Carthage."