Chapter XIX: Section 5: And be it further ordained that said Joseph Smith and

his successors are further authorized to build an embankment on the
east side of the aforesaid island, to connect the said dam with the
pier on the north, and to use the top of said dam for a public road
or highway, receiving for compensation from those who cross upon it
such rates as may be allowed by ordinance of said city.

Passed December 8, 1843.

JOSEPH SMITH, Mayor.

WILLARD RICHARDS, Recorder.

[Sidenote: Petition for Nauvoo to Be Placed under the General Government]

{107} I suggested to the Council the idea of petitioning Congress to receive the City of Nauvoo under the protection of the United States Government, to acknowledge the Nauvoo Legion as U. S. troops, and to assist in fortifications and other purposes, and that a messenger be sent to Congress for this purpose at the expense of the city.

Messrs. John Taylor, Orson Spencer, and Orson Pratt were appointed a committee to draft a memorial according to my suggestions.

_Saturday, 9_.--At home.

Prayer-meeting in the assembly room.

I copy from the _Neighbor_.

PUBLIC MEETING AT NAUVOO MAKING AN APPEAL TO THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT
ON SUNDRY LOCAL AFFAIRS.

At a very large meeting of the citizens of Nauvoo, held at the
corner of Main and Water streets, Mr. Heber C. Kimball was elected
chairman, and John M. Bernhisel appointed secretary. Mr. George
A. Smith having made a few observations, Mr. John Taylor read the
preamble and resolutions of a meeting held at the temple, on the
7th instant; also an ordinance entitled "An extra ordinance for
the extra case of Joseph Smith and others," recently passed by
the City Council of the City of Nauvoo; likewise the fifth and
sixth articles of the amendments of the Constitution of the United
States, and the opinion of the Attorney-General of the State of
Illinois on the subject of the organization of the Nauvoo Legion,
he being of the opinion that said Legion was disconnected from the
military communities of the whole State, and in no way subject to
the regular military officers, possessing an exemption even from
subjection to the general military laws, with a law-making power
vested in their own Legion.

After some pertinent remarks by Mr. Taylor, General Joseph Smith
briefly addressed the meeting. He dissented entirely from the
opinion of the Attorney-General, and observed that it was stated in
the Charter that the Legion was a part of the Militia of Illinois,
and that his commission declared that he (General Smith) was the
Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion and of the Militia of the
State of Illinois; and as such, it was not only his duty to enforce
the city ordinance, but the laws of the State, when called on by
the Governor. He also stated that he had been informed that the
Chief Magistrate of Missouri had it in {108} contemplation to make
another requisition on the Governor of Illinois for him (Joseph
Smith).

The meeting then adjourned _sine die_.

H. C. KIMBALL, Chairman.

J. M. BERNHISEL, Secretary.

Received the following;--

_Letter of Wilson Law to Joseph Smith Anent the Legion_.

NAUVOO LEGION, NAUVOO CITY,

December 9, 1843.

_Lieutenant-General Joseph Smith_.

In consequence of the orders I received from you "to hold in
readiness a sufficient portion of the legion, &c.,--to make said
forces efficient," it will be necessary to supply them with
munitions of war, which of course must be done at the expense
of the city. You will therefore please to give orders to the
commandants of cohorts on their application to you on the city
treasury for whatever amount you may think proper on the present
occasion.

Most respectfully your obedient servant,

WILSON LAW,

Major-General, N. L.

_Sunday, 10.--_Rainy day. I stayed at home.

A prayer-meeting held this evening in the assembly room. I was not present. Brigham Young presided. Several sick persons were prayed for.

[Sidenote: Avery Case--a Reminiscence of Missouri Days.]

By letter from J. White, deputy sheriff of Clark county, Missouri, I learn that Mr. Daniel Avery is in Marion county prison, without trial. The sheriff requests several men to go there as witnesses. It is evidently a trap to get some more of our people into their power. When I was in prison in Missouri, my witnesses were arrested before they got into court to testify, except one, who was kicked out of the court by an officer, Lieutenant Cook, who damned him, and ordered some of his company to shoot him. After which, the State's attorney, Birch, turned to me tauntingly, saying, "Why the hell don't you bring on your witnesses?" and Judge King laughed at my discomfiture. The Saints have had enough of Missouri mob justice.

{109} _Monday, 11._ The following affidavit will show that some of the citizens of Illinois are so far fallen and so much governed by mobocratic influence as to assist the Missouri wretches in their hellish designs:--

_Affidavit of Sission Chase--The Avery Case_.

STATE OF ILLINOIS,

HANCOCK COUNTY. ss.

On the 11th day of December, 1843, came Sission A. Chase before me
Aaron Johnson, a Justice of the Peace of said county; and, after
being duly sworn, deposeth and saith that the crime of kidnapping
has been committed in Hancock County; and on the 2nd day of this
present December, 1843, at the house of Schrench Freeman, about
four miles and a half south of Warsaw, in said county, your said
affiant heard a man by the name of John Elliot say that he was
going a shooting turkeys. When asked what he was going to shoot
them with, he showed a brace of pistols and a large hickory cane.
Your affiant observed that he thought he could not kill turkeys
with such weapons; and the said Elliot said that there was a
certain cock he meant to take before night, and they would do for
that. He, the said Elliot, went off, and your affiant did not see
him till Sunday evening the 3rd, when your affiant asked the said
Elliot if he had caught his turkey; and he replied, yes, the one
he was after--a Mormon Elder. Your affiant then asked him who he
was; and he said, Daniel Avery. Your affiant then asked the said
Elliot what had been done with said Avery; and he said we put him
on to a horse, tied his legs, and guarded him to the river, from
whence, about ten o'clock at night, we took him into Clark county,
Missouri, for stealing a horse four years ago, where they would try
him; and if found guilty, they would then take him into another
county, where there was a jail, as there was none in Clark county.
On the 4th day of December, I asked him if they had writs or
authority to take Mr. Avery. He replied, we all had writs. On the
5th, said Elliot said he expected to get into difficulty on account
of this scrape; but if any Mormon makes any business with me, I
will shoot him. And further your affiant says not.

SISSION A. CHASE.

Subscribed and sworn to this 11th day of December, 1843, before me

AARON JOHNSON, J. P.

Which I sent to the Governor, with this letter:--

_Letter--Joseph Smith to Governor Ford_.

NAUVOO, December 11, 1843.

SIR:--I herewith forward your Excellency another affidavit on the
subject of the late kidnapping, and shall continue [to do] the same
as they {110} come to hand, expecting your cordial co-operation in
the premises that the laws may be magnified and made honorable, and
our lives held precious, our friends saved from jeopardy, and the
captives freed.

Respectfully, I have the honor to be

Your obedient servant,

JOSEPH SMITH.

[Sidenote: Nauvoo's Police Force Enlarged.]

Meetings were held and resolutions passed in all the wards of the city, requesting the city council to raise a company of forty men to act as police.

Last night, two ruffians, whose names are unknown, went to the house of Brother Richard Badham--a farmer living on the prairie, robbed the house of $4.50, threatened his life, stabbed him in the abdomen, when part of his caul gushed out. Dr. John M. Bernhisel dressed his wounds today, and he thinks there is a prospect of his recovering.

_Tuesday, 12.--_In office at nine a.m., and wrote a letter to my uncle:--

_Letter--Joseph Smith to John Smith--The Latter Appointed a
Patriarch_.

_President John Smith:--_The petition of a special conference at
Macedonia of last November for your appointment as Patriarch in
the Church has been received, duly considered, and is granted. You
have my best wishes in your behalf, as well as my prayers, that
you may fill so honorable and exalted a station with the dignity,
sobriety, and grace which has hitherto characterized your conduct
and communion with men, as a man of God.

Respectfully yours,

JOSEPH SMITH.

At ten, a.m., attended City Council, which passed an ordinance exempting all church property from city tax.

In accordance with the petitions from the several wards, the council passed the following:--"An ordinance for selecting forty policemen and for other purposes.

_Ordinance Enlarging Police Force_.

"Section 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of
Nauvoo that the Mayor of said city be, and is hereby authorized to
select and have in readiness for every emergency forty policemen,
to be at his {111} disposal in maintaining the peace and dignity of
the citizens, and enforcing the ordinances of the said city, for
ferreting out thieves and bringing them to justice, and to act as
daily and nightly watchmen, and be under the pay of said city."

Passed December 12, 1843.

JOSEPH SMITH, Mayor.

W. RICHARDS, Recorder.

The Council also passed "An ordinance for the health and convenience of travelers and other persons."

_Ordinance on the Personal Sale of Liquors_.