Chapter XXVI

PREPARATIONS TO DEFEND NAUVOO--MOB MOVEMENTS ON CARTHAGE ROAD--GOVERNOR FORD'S REVIEW OF HANCOCK COUNTY DIFFICULTIES--JOSEPH SMITH'S ACCOUNT OF THE SAME DIFFICULTIES, DEFENSE OF HIS OWN AND ASSOCIATES' COURSE.

_Saturday, June 22 [continued].--_Legion met as usual; and after receiving instructions, were dismissed until 6 p.m., when they met again.

[Sidenote: Orders for Nauvoo's Entrenchment.]

At 7 p.m. I instructed General Dunham to cause the regiment of the 2nd cohort to turn out tomorrow, and work by turns three or four hours each, with entrenching tools, and to take the best measures in case of attack. I also gave orders that a standard be prepared for the nations.

Almon W. Babbitt arrived from Carthage this morning, having come at the request of the Governor, who thought it not wisdom to have Richards and Phelps and others of the City Council go to Carthage.

Edward Robinson made the following affidavit:

_Affidavit: Edward Robinson--Threats Against Nauvoo_.

STATE OF ILLINOIS,

CITY OF NAUVOO. ss.

On the 22nd day or June, 1844, came before me, W. W. Phelps, clerk
of the Mayor's Court, in said city, Dr. Edward Robinson, who, after
being duly sworn, deposeth and saith that while at Carthage, on the
18th and 19th instant, I heard several persons who had assembled
together for warlike purposes, (having their arms and one cannon
with them) say that they were gathering together for the purpose
of destroying the property of General Joseph Smith, or, as they
said, "Joe Smith," and his followers, and the City Council, with
the exception of {529} one; and finally said they would destroy the
town and exterminate the Latter-day Saints.

EDWARD ROBINSON.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 22nd day of June, 1843.

WILLIAM W. PHELPS, Clerk M. C.

James Olive made the following affidavit:

_Affidavit: James Olive--Mob Movements on the Carthage Road_.

STATE OF ILLINOIS,

HANCOCK COUNTY. ss

CITY OF NAUVOO, June 22nd, 1844.

Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, a justice of the
peace in and for said county, James Olive; who being first duly
sworn, deposeth and saith that on Friday afternoon, the 21st
instant, about 3 o'clock, he was at his own house, about two miles
from Appanoose. In a southeasterly direction, he saw a four-horse
wagon with some men before it, all traveling towards Appanoose.
They went about a quarter of a mile beyond my house; there met a
two horse wagon and a company of men, about fifteen in number.
Both parties then took the road towards the Big Mound. A part of
the men were mounted and a part were on foot. The mounted men were
forward; and after passing my house, they wheeled and rode back to
the footmen who were some little distance behind, and said to them,
"There are some fellows oh the Mound; you had better hurry on, and
we will take those fellows and carry them to Carthage." They used
profane language. I watched them until they got near the Mound, and
saw the guard on the Mound turn and run towards Nauvoo. After that
the company went on to the Mound, and halted near the spot where
the guard had run from.

On the same evening, about sundown, there was a man by the name
of Milton Hamilton came into my house and told me to arm and
equip myself according to the law and stand in readiness; that
the Governor bad demanded Joseph Smith according to law, and
that he would not come it (meaning that Joseph Smith would not
surrender); that the General had issued orders for the militia to
be in readiness to take said Smith. I asked him what general, and
he observed that he believed it was Col. Williams. I asked him if
it was done by orders of the Governor, and he said that was the
understanding. He told me he acted under the orders of Captain
McAuley; and further saith not.

JAMES OLIVE.

[Seal]

Subscribed and sworn to this 22nd day of June, 1844, before me,

AARON JOHNSON, J. P.

{530} Phebe Levett states that she saw Finch, Rollison, Foster, and Squire McAuley in the company who fired on the guard on the La Harpe road.

George G. Johnstone made the following affidavit:

_Affidavit: George G. Johnstone--Militia Under Governor to Move on
Nauvoo_.

STATE OF ILLINOIS,

COUNTY OF HANCOCK. ss

CITY OF NAUVOO, June 22nd, 1844.

Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, a justice of the
peace in and for the county of Hancock, George G. Johnstone, living
on Spring Creek in McDonough county; who, being first duly sworn,
deposeth and saith that yesterday, Napoleon Hardin came to your
deponent and said that the Governor had sent orders for the militia
to be called out for today at 4 o'clock p.m., and to start on the
22nd to Carthage, there to wait until all were ready from the
different counties in the state, and then they should march out
to the prairie. They should stop on the prairie and send a flag
of truce to Nauvoo, and demand the body of General Joseph Smith.
If the people of Nauvoo refused to give him up, then they should
exterminate the whole of them.

GEORGE G. JOHNSTONE.

[Seal] Subscribed and sworn to this 22nd day of June, 1844, before
me,

AARON JOHNSON, J. P.

Gideon Gibbs made the following affidavit:

_Affidavit: Gideon Gibbs--Mob on La Harpe Road_.

STATE OF ILLINOIS,

CITY OF NAUVOO. ss

On the 22nd day of June, 1844, came before me, William W. Phelps,
clerk of the Mayor's Court for said city, Gideon Gibbs, and after
being duly sworn deposeth and saith that on the afternoon of the
21st instant, about a half-mile southeast of the Big Mound on the
La Harpe road, a party of about eight or ten men, in a warlike
attitude, in company with two teams, passed your said affiant, and
one of them said he fired at two men near the Big Mound. Thought he
killed them both and your deponent saith no further.

GIDEON GIBBS.

Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 22nd day of
June, 1844.

WILLIAM W. PHELPS, Clerk M. C.

{531} Luman H. Calkins made the following affidavit:

_Affidavit: Luman H. Calkins--Nauvoo Conspiracy Against the
Prophet's Life_.

STATE OF ILLINOIS,

CITY OF NAUVOO, ss

June 22nd, 1844.

Personally appeared before me, George W. Harris, an alderman acting
in and for the city of Nauvoo, Luman H. Calkins; and being first
duly sworn, deposeth and saith that about seven weeks ago I came on
the steamboat _Ohio_ from St. Louis to Nauvoo, when William Nesbit,
who was on board, entered into conversation with your deponent.

I asked him if he knew anything about the conspiracy in Nauvoo to
kill Joseph and Hyrum, and all that believed on them. He said he
did. It was intended that they should be killed between then and
the 1st of July.

I asked him who was at the head of the conspiracy. He replied he
was sworn not to tell who the head one was. I asked him if there
were any in Nauvoo concerned. He replied there was, and named the
two Laws, two Fosters, two Higbees, Charles Ivins, and several
others. I asked if it was to be made a public thing. He replied the
first blow was to be struck in Nauvoo by those who were opposed to
Joseph. I asked how many they could rely on in Nauvoo. He said they
could rely on five hundred, if they could only get arms for them.

He said as soon as the first blow was struck in Nauvoo, there
were about seven thousand men ready in Missouri to join them to
exterminate all who believed on Joseph Smith. He also told me that
the _Die Vernon,_ when she came on her pleasure-trip to Nauvoo,
that there were none but spies, and who came on purpose to see
the places in order to know how to strike when the time comes to
strike: and he also said "the Reformers" had got spies continually
passing Nauvoo in order to spy out all that took place; that there
was not a thing took place in Nauvoo but what was made known to
them in St. Louis as soon as a steamboat landed.

I told him I should think he would be afraid to stop here. He said
he should stay in Nauvoo and carry on his butchering as usual, as
if there was nothing taking place; that he had as good a gun as any
man ever put to his face, and that the first shot he should fire
would be to kill Joseph and Hyrum. Said I, "The people will surely
kill you then." He replied he would rush through a thousand people
to wash his hands in Joseph's blood, and especially in Hyrum's, if
he was to be immediately cut into a thousand pieces. He said he
should be willing to die as soon as he had killed them.

{532} About five weeks since I had another conversation with
William Nesbit, when he confirmed the whole of the foregoing
conversation; and he also said he had made arrangements with Mr.
Bostwick of St. Louis to send him a brace of the best pistols, for
the purpose of being ready when he wanted them. He also said that
he would kill Hyrum any time he could get an opportunity without
being detected. I then asked him if Hyrum could be put in his way
so that no man would mistrust him, would you kill him? He said, "By
God, I would." I asked if he would not be afraid to kill him in
cold blood. He replied, "No, I would not; I would do it in a moment
if I could get an opportunity."

The day following I left for Galena, and returned on Tuesday, the
18th instant, and on the 19th I saw William Nesbit in the ranks,
and I cautioned Richard Brazier to keep an eye on Nesbit, for he
had sworn to wash his hands in Joseph's and Hyrum's blood.

LUMAN H. CALKINS.

Subscribed and sworn to this 22nd day of June, 1844, before me,

GEORGE W. HARRIS,

Alderman of the City of Nauvoo.

At 12, noon, orders were sent to the different guards and pickets to let persons pass and repass without hailing until further orders.

I issued the following:

GENERAL ORDERS.

MAYOR'S OFFICE AND HEADQUARTERS, OF THE NAUVOO LEGION,

NAUVOO, June 22nd, 1844.

_To Col. Jonathan Dunham, Acting Major-General Nauvoo Legion_:

SIR.--You will proceed without delay, with the assistance of the
Nauvoo Legion, to prepare the background [Eastern part] of said
city for defense against an invasion by mobs, cause the Legion to
be furnished with tents, and make your encampment in the vicinity
of your labor.

JOSEPH SMITH,

Mayor of the City of Nauvoo, and Lieut.-Gen. Nauvoo Legion.

To COL. JONATHAN DUNHAM, Major-General in command Nauvoo Legion.

[Sidenote: A Prophecy.]

At 6 p.m. I prophesied that in the sickly seasons sickness would enter into the houses of the mob and vex them until they would fain repent in dust and ashes. They will be smitten with the scab, &c.

At 7 p.m. I received the following:

{533} _A Petition to Hear the Prophet Speak_.

We, the undersigned citizens of Hancock county, respectfully
request General Joseph Smith to preach on tomorrow, and that we
have liberty of seats near enough to the stand to hear, inasmuch as
we have an opportunity to hear him but seldom, and some of us have
not heard him at all.

Yours respectfully,

JAMES HAMILTON AND CO., Capt. at the Liberty Branch.

NATHANIEL CASE, Capt. 7th Co., 4th Reg., 2nd Cohort, N. L. from La
Harpe.

URIAH H. YAGER AND CO., Captain at the Branch of Macedonia, 2nd
Cohort.

HIRAM CLARK 1st Lieut. at the Midland Branch Company.

Z. D. WILSON'S COMPANY.

ALNA L. TIPPETT'S COMPANY.

S. HANCOCK, Major of the First Battalion of the 3rd Regiment.

WARREN SNOW, Captain and Co., 4th Reg. 2nd Cohort of N. Legion.

At 10 p.m. I received the following letter by the hands of Captain Yates, who accompanied Elder John Taylor and Dr. John M. Bernhisel on their return from Carthage:

_Letter: Governor Ford to Mayor and Council of the City of Nauvoo_.

HEADQUARTERS CARTHAGE, June 22nd, 1844.

_To the Mayor and Council of the City of Nauvoo_:

GENTLEMEN.--After examining carefully all the allegations on the
part of the citizens of the country in Hancock county, and the
defensive matters submitted to me by the committee of your citizens
concerning the existing disturbances, I find that there appears
to be but little contradiction as to important facts, so that it
may be safely assumed that the immediate cause of the existing
excitement is the destruction of the press and _Nauvoo Expositor,_
and the subsequent refusal of the individuals accused to be
accountable therefore according to the general laws of this state,
and the insisting on your parts to be accountable only before your
own municipal court, and according to the ordinances of your city.

Many other facts have been asserted on both sides as tending to
increase the excitement; but as they mostly relate merely to
private persons, and committed by individuals, and tend simply to
show the present state of affairs, I will not further notice them
in this communication.

The material facts to be noticed are that a newspaper called the
_Nauvoo Expositor_ was established in Nauvoo; that this newspaper
was {534} deemed offensive to the people of that city; that the
Common Council, without notice or process to the owners, entered
into a trial and heard statements not under oath, and evidence
which was under oath, in relation to the character, conduct
and designs of the owners and editors of the press; that, upon
hearing such statements and evidence, the Common Council passed
an ordinance or resolution declaring said press and paper to be a
public nuisance, and ordered the same to be abated as such; that a
writ was issued by the Mayor to the Marshal of the city for that
purpose; that a military order was issued at the same time by the
Mayor, who is also Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion, to the
Major-General in command of that Legion, for a force sufficient to
ensure the execution of the writ aforesaid.

It appears also the press was destroyed in obedience to the
foregoing ordinance and writ, according to a return on the same by
the Marshal in the following words: "The within press and type is
destroyed and pied according to order on this 10th day of June,
1844, at about six o'clock p.m.--J. P. GREENE, C.M."

It appears also that the owners of the press obtained from a
justice of the peace at Carthage a warrant against the authors
of this destruction for a riot; that the constable charged with
the execution of this process, arrested some of the persons
accused, who immediately obtained writs of _habeas corpus_ from
the Municipal Court of your city, by virtue of which they were
tried in Nauvoo and discharged from arrest, and that they have ever
since refused to be arrested or to submit to a trial at any other
place or before any other court, except in the city and before the
Municipal Court aforesaid.

It has also been reported to me that martial law has been declared
in Nauvoo; that persons and property have been and are now forcibly
imprisoned and detained there, and that the Legion has been ordered
under arms to resist any attempt to arrest the persons accused.
I have not particularly inquired into the truth of these latter
reports; for although they may become matters of great importance
in the sequel, they are not necessary to be ascertained and acted
upon at present.

I now express to you my opinion that your conduct in the
destruction of the press was a very gross outrage upon the laws and
the liberties of the people. It may have been full of libels, but
this did not authorize you to destroy it.

There are many newspapers in this state which have been wrongfully
abusing me for more than a year, and yet such is my regard for
the liberty of the press and the rights of a free people in a
republican government that I would shed the last drop of my blood
to protect those presses from any illegal violence. You have
violated the Constitution in at least four particulars. You have
violated that part of it which {535} declares that the printing
presses shall be free, being responsible for the abuse thereof, and
that the truth may be given in evidence.

This article of the Constitution contemplates that the proprietors
of a libelous press may be sued for private damages, or may be
indicted criminally, and that upon trial they should have the right
to give the truth in evidence. In this case the proprietors had no
notice of the proceeding.

The Constitution also provides that the people shall be protected
against unreasonable searches and seizures of their property and
"That no man shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, except
by the judgment of his peers (which means a jury trial) and the
law of the land," which means due process of law and notice to the
accused.

You have also violated the Constitution and your own charter in
this: Your Council, which has no judicial powers, and can only pass
ordinances of a general nature, have undertaken to pass judgment as
a court and convict without a jury a press of being libelous and a
nuisance to the city.

The Council at most could only define a nuisance by general
ordinance, and leave it to the courts to determine whether
individuals or particulars accused came within such definition.

The Constitution abhors and will not tolerate the union of
legislative and judicial power in the same body of magistracy,
because, as in this case, they will first make a tyrannical law,
and then execute it in a tyrannical manner.

You have also assumed to yourselves more power than you are
entitled to in relation to writs of _habeas_ under your charter.
I know that you have been told by lawyers, for the purpose of
gaining your favor that you have this power to any extent. In this
they have deceived you for their own base purposes. Your charter
supposes that you may pass ordinances, a breach of which will
result in the imprisonment of the offender.

For the purpose of insuring more speedy relief to such persons,
authority was given to the Municipal Court to issue writs of_
habeas corpus_ in all cases arising under the ordinances of the
city.

It was never supposed by the Legislature, nor can the language of
your charter be tortured to mean that a jurisdiction was intended
to be conferred which would apply to all cases of imprisonment
under the general laws of the state or of the United States, as
well as the city ordinances.

It has also been reserved to you to make the discovery that a
newspaper charged to be scurrilous and libellous may be legally
abated or removed as a nuisance. In no other state, county, city,
town or territory {536} in the United States has ever such a thing
been thought of before. Such an act at this day would not be
tolerated even in England. Just such another act in 1830 hurled
the king of France from his throne, and caused the imprisonment of
four of his principal ministers for life. No civilized country can
tolerate such conduct, much less can it be tolerated in this free
country of the United States.

The result of my deliberations on this subject is, that I will
have to require you and all persons in Nauvoo accused or sued to
submit in all cases implicitly to the process of the court, and
to interpose no obstacles to an arrest, either by writ of _habeas
corpus_ or otherwise; and that all of the people of the city of
Nauvoo shall make and continue the most complete submission to the
laws of the state, and the process of the courts and justices of
the peace.

In the particular case now under consideration, I require any and
all of you who are or shall be accused to submit yourselves to be
arrested by the same constable, by virtue of the same warrant and
be tried before the same magistrate whose authority has heretofore
been resisted. Nothing short of this can vindicate the dignity of
violated law and allay the just excitement of the people.

I am anxious to preserve the peace. A small indiscretion may bring
on a war. The whole country is now up in arms, and a vast number of
people are ready to take the matter into their own hands. Such a
state of things might force me to call out the militia to prevent
a civil war. And such is the excitement of the country that I fear
the militia, when assembled, would be beyond legal control.

You are wrong in the first instance, and I can call out no portion
of the militia for your defense until you submit to the law. You
have made it necessary that a _posse_ should be assembled to
execute legal process; and that _posse,_ as fast as it assembles
is in danger of being imbued with the mobocratic spirit. If you,
by refusing to submit, shall make it necessary to call out the
militia, I have great fears that your city will be destroyed, and
your people many of them exterminated.

You know the excitement of the public mind. Do not tempt it too
far. A very little matter may do a very great injury; and if you
are disposed to continue the causes of excitement and render a
force necessary to coerce submission, I would say that your city
was built, as it were, upon a keg of powder which a very little
spark may explode.

It is my intention to do all I can to preserve the peace, and
even, if obliged, to call the militia to prosecute the war so
as not to involve the innocent and comprehend all in the same
punishment. But excitement is a matter which grows very fast upon
men when assembled. The {537} affair, I much fear, may assume a
revolutionary character, and the men may disregard the authority of
their officers.

I tell you plainly that if no such submission is made as I have
indicated. I will be obliged to call out the militia; and if a few
thousand will not be sufficient, many thousands will be.

I sincerely hope that your people may do nothing which will
make such a proceeding necessary. I hope also that they will be
well-disposed to co-operate with me in allaying the excitement of
the public mind. Immediately discharge such persons as you have
under martial law. Let them go without molestation. Abstain from
all injury to private property. Let people go where they please
without swearing them first to take no part against you. All such
proceedings tend only to inflame the public mind, and raise up ten
men disposed to fight you for every one thus foolishly disabled.

Your committee assures me that you are sincerely desirous of
preserving the peace; and if so, I hope you will co-operate with me
in everything necessary to allay the excitement in the minds of the
people.

The following-named persons are reported to me as being detained
against their will by martial law: John A. Hicks, H. O. Norton, A.
J. Higbee, John Eagle, P. J. Rolf, Peter Lemon, and T. J. Rolf. It
will tend greatly to allay excitement if they shall be immediately
discharged and suffered to go without molestation.

It is also reported here, and generally believed, (but whether true
or not I have not yet learned) that there are many foraging parties
abroad from Nauvoo committing depredations upon the cattle and
property in the vicinity. These acts, if correctly reported, must
absolutely cease immediately, if you expect any person here to have
the power to preserve the peace.

In case the persons accused should make no resistance to arrest, it
will be against orders to be accompanied by others. If it should
become necessary to have witnesses on the trials, I will see that
such persons shall be duly summoned,_ and I will also guarantee the
safety of all such persons as may thus be brought to this place
from Nauvoo either for trial or as witnesses for the accused_.

If the individuals accused cannot be found when required by the
constable it will be considered by me as an equivalent to a refusal
to be arrested, and the militia will be ordered accordingly.

I am, gentlemen, with great respect, your obedient servant,

THOMAS FORD,

Governor and Commander-in-Chief.

To which I wrote the following answer:

{538} _Letter: Joseph Smith to Governor Ford--Defending the action
of the City Council in the "Expositor" Affair_.

NAUVOO, June 22nd, 1844, 12 o'clock p.m.

_To His Excellency, Thomas Ford_:

SIR.--Yours of this date is received by Messrs. Taylor and
Bernhisel. A part of the same delegation, Mr. Woodworth, who
was detained yesterday, started for Carthage at 12 noon, this
date, who, we perceive, had not arrived at your last date. Some
documents conveyed by him would tend to counteract some of the
views expressed in your Excellency's communication, and we feel
confident, if all the facts could be before your Excellency, you
would have come to different conclusions.

Our "insisting to be accountable only before our own Municipal
Court," is totally incorrect. We plead a _habeas corpus_ as a
last resort to save us from being thrown into the power of the
mobocrats, who were then threatening us with death, and it was with
great reluctance we went before the Municipal Court, on account of
the prejudice which might arise in the minds of the unbiased; and
we did not petition for a _habeas corpus_ until we had told the
constable that on our lives we dare not go to Carthage for trial,
and plead with him to go before any county magistrate he pleased in
our vicinity, (which occurrence is common in legal proceedings) and
not a member of our society, so that our lives might be saved from
the threats thus already issued against us.

The press was declared a nuisance under the authority of the
charter as written in 7th section of Addenda, the same as in the
Springfield charter, so that if the act declaring the press a
nuisance was unconstitutional: we cannot see how it is that the
charter itself is not unconstitutional, and if we have erred in
judgment, it is an official act, and belongs to the Supreme Court
to correct it, and assess damages _versus_ the city to restore
property abated as a nuisance. If we have erred in this thing, we
have done it in good company, for Blackstone on "Wrongs," asserts
the doctrine that scurrilous prints may be abated as nuisances.

As to martial law, we truly say that we were obliged to call out
the forces to protect our lives; and the Constitution guarantees
to every man that privilege; and our measures were active and
efficient, as the necessity of the case required; but the city is
and has been continually under the special direction of the marshal
all the time. No person, to our knowledge, has been arrested only
for violation of the peace, and those some of our own citizens,
all of whom we believe are now discharged. {539} And if any
property has been taken for public benefit without a compensation,
or against the will of the owner, it has been done without our
knowledge or consent, and when shown shall be corrected, if the
people will permit us to resume our usual labors.

If we "have committed a gross outrage upon the laws and liberties
of the people," as your Excellency represents, we are ready to
correct that outrage when the testimony is forthcoming. All men are
bound to act in their sphere on their own judgment, and it would
be quite impossible for us to know what your Excellency's judgment
would have been in the case referred to; consequently acted on our
own and according to our best judgment, after having taken able
counsel in the case. If we have erred, we again say we will make
all right if we can have the privilege.

"The Constitution also provides that the people shall be protected
against all unreasonable search and seizure." True. The doctrine we
believe most fully, and have acted upon it; but we do not believe
it unreasonable to search so far as it is necessary to protect life
and property from destruction.

We do not believe in the "union of legislative and judicial power,"
and we have not so understood the action of the case in question.

Whatever power we have exercised in the _habeas corpus_ has been
done in accordance with the letter of the charter and Constitution
as we confidently understood them, and that, too, with the ablest
counsel; but if it be so that we have erred in this thing, let the
Supreme Court correct the evil. We have never gone contrary to
constitutional law, so far as we have been able to learn it. If
lawyers have belied their profession to abuse us, the evil be on
their heads.

You have intimated that no press has been abated as a nuisance in
the United States. We refer your Excellency to Humphrey _versus_
Press in Ohio, who abated the press by his own arm for libel, and
the courts decided on prosecution no cause of action. And we do
know that it is common for police in Boston, New York, &c., to
destroy scurrilous prints: and we think the loss of character by
libel and the loss of life by mobocratic prints to be a greater
loss than a little property, all of which, life alone excepted,
we have sustained, brought upon us by the most unprincipled
outlaws, gamblers, counterfeiters, and such characters as have
been standing by me, and probably are now standing around your
Excellency--namely, those men who have brought these evils upon us.

We have no knowledge of men's being sworn to pass our city. And
upon receipt of your last message the Legion was disbanded and the
city left to your Excellency's disposal.

{540} How it could be possible for us now to be tried
constitutionally by the same magistrate who first issued the writ
at Carthage we cannot see, for the Constitution expressly says
no man shall twice be put in jeopardy of life and limb for the
same offense; and all you refer to, have been, since the issuance
of the_ habeas corpus,_ complied with for the same offense, and
trial before Daniel H. Wells, justice of the peace for Hancock
county, and, after a full investigation, were discharged. But,
notwithstanding this, we would not hesitate to stand another trial
according to your Excellency's wish, were it not that we are
confident out lives would be in danger. We dare not come. Writs, we
are assured, are issued against us in various parts of the country.
For what? To drag us from place to place, from court to court,
across the creeks and prairies, till some bloodthirsty villain
could find his opportunity to shoot us. We dare not come, though
your Excellency promises protection. Yet, at the same time, you
have expressed fears that you could not control the mob, in which
case we are left to the mercy of the merciless. Sir, we dare not
come, for our lives would be in danger, and we are guilty of no
crime.

You say, "It will be against orders to be accompanied by others,
if we come to trial." This we have been obliged to act upon in
Missouri; and when our witnesses were sent for by the court, (as
your honor promises to do) they were thrust into prison, and we
left without witnesses. Sir, you must not blame us, for "a burnt
child dreads the fire." And although your Excellency might be
well-disposed in the matter, the appearance of the mob forbids our
coming. We dare not do it.

We have been advised by legal and high-minded gentlemen from
abroad, who came on the boat this evening to lay our grievances
before the Federal Government, as the appearance of things is not
only treasonable against us, but against the state on the part of
Missouri, unless the same has been requested of Governor Ford by
the Federal Government. And we suppose your Excellency is well
aware by this time that the mass-meetings of the county declared
utter extermination of the Mormons, and that the Legion was not
called out until complaints were made to the Mayor, and the
citizens were afraid of their lives, and losing their confidence
in the authorities of the city, and that nothing on the part of
the city authorities had been wanting, legally and judiciously,
to allay excitement and restore peace. We shall leave the city
forthwith to lay the facts before the General Government, and,
as before stated, the city is left open and unprotected; and by
everything that is sacred, we implore your Excellency to cause our
helpless women and children to be protected from mob violence, and
let not the blood of innocence {541} cry to heaven against you.
We again say, if anything wrong has been done on our part, and we
know of nothing, we will make all things right if the Government
will give us the opportunity. Disperse the mob, and secure to us
our constitutional privileges, that our lives may not be endangered
when on trial.

I remain most respectfully, your Excellency's humble servant,

JOSEPH SMITH,

Mayor, and Lieut.-Gen. N. L.

{542}