|
James Gordon
Bennett, Esq.,
Editor of the
New
York Herald.
Dear
Sir, Presuming somewhat upon your love of liberty,
and freedom from all sectarian prejudices and
superstition, I have the confidence to believe that
you will give place in the
Herald
to the following narrative, which is a more particular
relation of facts, as they occurred from time to
time, relative to the imprisonment and murder of
GENERAL JOSEPH
SMITH, and GENERAL HYRUM SMITH his
brother, as well as the immediate and also more
remote causes of that murder, than has as yet been
offered to the public. One reason why I deferred
this communication to the present time was, the
intense and deep feeling their death gave me, being
a member of the same faith and order as they.
Many have been the versions of, and many the
speculations upon, this unprecedented tragedy; and
these are based upon unconnected documents and ex
parte editorial remarks founded in ignorance. I
grant that the press has pretty generally condemned
the murder, yet it has as generally condemned the
Smiths, and considered them highly criminal, and
worthy to be visited with the severest penalty of
the law. Now it is to correct the public mind with
regard to the criminality of those men, and to
rebut, with facts, the unjust aspersions heaped upon
them, that I write.
I may, perhaps, be rather tedious in detail, but, if
I am, you may depend upon what I say as true. I have
had an opportunity of understanding some of the more
remote causes of this catastrophe, as they developed
themselves from time to time; and also of those
which immediately preceded and led to it.
In order to give a correct understanding of the whole
subject, it is necessary, in the first place, to
notice, that the State of
Illinois granted Nauvoo a
charter and
incorporated it a city. This charter is,
in the main, what all other city charters are, and
grants a regular municipality- a city council, which
is the Legislative Department; a mayor and board of
aldermen, which are the judicial department; and
also a marshal, constables, and policemen, who are
the ministerial department. These all hold their
offices by virtue of provisions in the charter, and,
consequently, have as much right to act in their
sphere, as have the legislative assembly which
granted the charter in theirs, or as the President
of the United States has in his.
In the charter it was expressly granted, that the
City Council might enact any laws for the
convenience of the city,
provided
they did not come
in contact with the
Constitution
of the State, or of the
United
States. It was also as expressly granted, that the said Council
might determine what were nuisances, and have power
to abate the same, and for this purpose they should
have power to command the Legion, if necessary, to
accomplish it. It was also expressly provided, that
the writ of
Habeas
Corpus might be granted in all cases arising under any ordinance
of the city. It was likewise granted that all the
male citizens, subject to military duty, throughout
the county, might form themselves into military
companies, and compose what should be called the
"Nauvoo Legion," with the privilege of electing
their own officers, who should be commissioned by
the State. The Legion was to be subject to the
orders of the Governor in case of invasion, or when
actual service was required.
Now by keeping in mind these several
granted privileges, one will be fully prepared to
understand all the illegal proceedings instituted
against the prisoners, as I shall relate them. I say
illegal proceedings, because I do know that the
prisoners were illegally arrested, illegally
imprisoned, and were undergoing an illegal
examination, during which time they were illegally
shot, by a lawless and infuriated mob. Yes, I say it
emphatically,
and the facts will bear me out in it, that they were
murdered,
and that too while they were
defenseless
prisoners-prisoners voluntarily, relying upon the plighted
faith and honour of the State for their safety and
protection,
because
there could be no legal conviction obtained against
them. The sun, in his meridian splendour, is not
more strikingly manifest than the certainty, that if
the charge preferred against them could have been
sustained, they would not have been murdered, nor
their lives would have been forfeited, and
consequently the strong arm of the law would have
removed them, and this would have saved their
enemies from the sin of imbruing their hands in
innocent blood. Who will stretch forth his hand to
shed the blood of a fellow man to avenge some wrong,
when the State has him in custody, and will herself
avenge that wrong in a legal way? This, therefore,
aside from any other evidence, most clearly proves
their innocence.
But I will return from my seeming digression, to my narrative, and in
doing so, I shall refer next, to the apostasy of
some of the members of the Church during the early
part of this year. I will correct myself by saying
expulsion, instead of apostasy, for they were
expelled from the Church before they openly
apostatized from the faith. These were the Laws, the
Fosters, and the Higbees. But of these, William Law
was the most prominent; and he, as has since been
brought to light, endeavoured, two years ago, to
betray Joseph Smith into the hands of a band of
Missourians, who were ready for the service, and
awaited his movements; but in this, Law was foiled.
At length he came to an open rupture, and was
promptly disfellowshipped, with the rest above
named.
Finding that he had hitherto failed in accomplishing his wicked design
of destroying the leader of the Church, he now
determined upon another course, and that was, to
establish a weekly journal, in which he was
associated with six or seven others of the party
already mentioned. This filthy sheet they called the
Nauvoo Expositor. From its very title you have its
object and design. One of their principal objects,
unreservedly expressed in their prospectus, was the
repeal of the City Charter. This would have been not
only an illegal and unjust proceeding by the
legislature, but would have materially retarded the
growth of, if not have destroyed, the place. This
journal teemed with the foulest libelous attacks, in
the form of affidavits, upon Joseph Smith and
others, touching private character.
These attacks, coming in the shape that
they did, if continued, would have foiled any
attempt that might have been made in defense, unless
a negative could have been proved in all cases, and
an oath discredited. This would have required time
and means, and of course could have created no
speedy reaction in the public mind; and in the mean
time there would have continued a constant stream of
filth, falsehood, and misrepresentation from that
vile print. This was well understood here, as well
as were those wicked men; but not so abroad.
The City Council, therefore, at once determined that the
establishment was a
nuisance,
and that it should be forthwith
abated.
It devolved consequently upon the mayor-Joseph
Smith, to see the order of the City Council promptly
executed. He accordingly ordered the City Marshal
and the policemen,
as he was in duty bound to do,
to abate that declared nuisance. This they did in a quiet
and peaceable manner, without opposition.
For this act, the proprietors of said office,
alias nuisance,
had the mayor, the marshal, and all the
policemen apprehended on a warrant for a
riot.
This warrant was put into the hands of a hostile constable
in
Carthage, some twenty miles distant from Nauvoo. And he, to
subserve (sic) the wishes of the mobbers, positively
refused to return the prisoners to any other
magistrate than one in
Carthage. And there is the hotbed of mobocracy, as the world by
this time is aware, and as the sequel will show. The
prisoners
did not refuse
to go before a magistrate for examination, as has
been reported of them, but solicited the constable
to return them anywhere else but in
Carthage and they would cheerfully comply, but without avail. To
Carthage they must go.
It was at this crisis that the Municipal Court sued out the
writ of
Habeus Corpus,
and had the prisoners brought before them for an
investigation. This court promptly decided that
there had been no riot committed, inasmuch as they
were acting in the discharge of their duty, imposed
upon them by the City Council through a solemn
ordinance. The prisoners were of course discharged.
Now who, that has common sense, and is not a mobocrat, does
not see that here this prosecution ought to have
ended? Aye, who, that is not a fool, does not see
that it should not have been begun? The only
question that could have been fairly started, was
not whether a riot had been committed, seeing the
act was in obedience of some compulsory power (but
when this question was raised, and prosecuted, and
these facts were ascertained, there could be no
further legal action on the case), but the question
should have been, at first, or at any rate
immediately after the proceedings above, whether the
City Council
had any legal right to pass such an ordinance, or whether
the Mayor's Court had any authority to issue the
writ of
Habeas Corpus.
Either of these last questions would have involved
the existence of the charter itself. And before a
proper tribunal, it would most unquestionably have
been decided, that we not only had a charter
nominally
but an indefeasible right to exercise all
the powers therein specified. But in this way there
would have been a
quietus
put upon the whole matter, in a civil and peaceable
way, and a legal one too. This was therefore the
objection. These leading apostates did not wish to
have a civil and amicable adjustment of whatever
might seem to be wrong. They thirsted, like the
beast of prey, for blood, and nothing short of that
would satisfy them, And therefore, instead of taking
the peaceable and quiet course suggested above, the
cry was raised far and near, that Smith refused to
subject himself to the law, in not going with the
constable to Carthage. The writ of
Habeus Corpus
and the action of the Municipal Court, they refused
to recognize; and they sent runners, making flaming
speeches, throughout Hancock and the neighbouring
(sic)
counties, to excite the people. In this way they
succeeded in procuring several thousand volunteers,
regularly officered in martial order, to put
themselves under the direction of said constable as
his
posse,
to again arrest Joseph Smith, in defiance
of his liberation, or to
exterminate,
literally and utterly, the "Mormon" people,
man, woman, and child,
and then to lay Nauvoo in ashes. Such was their
language in the
Warsaw Signal,
and in all their numerous meetings, until their
forces had collected together. The idea of making
the arrest spoken of, seemed gradually to wear away
as their forces increased, and utter extermination
seemed now uppermost in their thoughts, and
expressed in all their movements. Volunteers from
abroad were constantly invited, even from
Missouri,
by their
corresponding committee, and by the
Warsaw Signal.
Neither were these calls in vain-they were promptly
responded to, and a constant increase of the mob
forces was the result.
But before I proceed further, I will mention one
circumstance which I had like to have forgotten, and
that is this-as soon as the
Expositor was
destroyed, some of the lawyers gave it as their opinion,
that a press or public journal, whatever might be
its character, could not be constitutionally
destroyed as a nuisance; and that the City Council
had become liable to damages. The mayor, therefore,
immediately addressed the Governor a letter,
informing him of what had transpired, with the
reasons that led to it, and stated emphatically that
if it should be ascertained that the City Council
had transcended any legal bounds, they were ready
and willing to make
all the satisfaction that the law required.
And lest this letter
should not reach his Excellency, there was another
written containing the same things, with the
additional information that large forces were
preparing to make a descent upon Nauvoo, to avenge
the destruction of the
Expositor.
This last was borne by an express, dispatched for
that purpose. The Governor, however, missed both,
being from home. Under these circumstances, critical
in the extreme, it was thought advisable to call out
the Nauvoo Legion, and put them under arms for our
defense, until the Governor should have time to do
something, in this trying emergency, in his official
capacity. We knew it was his duty to take prompt
measures to put down such uncalled-for and
mobocratic movements, and we believed that he would
do it.
The Legion soon swelled to between three and four thousand
men, ready to defend their possessions and their
city; but more especially, that which they held most
dear of all earthly possessions-their wives and
children, to say nothing about their religion, the
peculiarity of which was the primary cause of this
invasion, as it had been of all others, up to that
time. It was thought advisable that all passes to
and from the city should be guarded, and policemen
stationed at suitable distances upon the highways
leading to the city, for the purpose of giving the
alarm in case the enemy should suddenly appear.
Suspicious looking persons prowling through the
streets, were also made to give an account of
themselves and comply with the ordinances of the
city. Our enemies called this
martial law.
In consequence of our numbers and preparation, the
mob took the precaution to remain in
Carthage and
Warsaw for still further reinforcements, determined not to desist
until they had destroyed the "Mormons."
This was the condition of both parties when the Governor
appeared in
Carthage. His Excellency expressed a settled determination to have
every matter legally investigated, and every wrong
corrected. He made several addresses to the people,
and stated to them that the law must have its
course. These were his professions, and so far so
good. But how far he carried them out, the sequel
will show. One would naturally be led to inquire,
what he did with this mighty army of men or mobbers,
who had gathered from different counties, all armed
and equipped for a regular campaign, with BRIGADIER
GENERAL DEMING at their head; also what they wanted,
and by what authority they came there. In the palmy
days of our boasted republic, it would not have been
difficult to divine the course of the Executive of a
State under such circumstances. The leaders of such
a band would have been forthwith arrested for
heading unlawful assemblies, whose declared
determination it was to utterly exterminate a
portion of their fellow citizens. And the multitude
would have been very severely rebuked, and sent
home, well satisfied that no worse thing had come
upon them.
But was this the course of his Excellency? Verily
no!
But he
absolutely
took
command of the mob in person, mustered them into service,
and established his head-quarters in the insignificant
little town of
Carthage-
that is, he
placed himself at the head of a mob, and became
their commander-in-chief. A thousand
groans
for
Illinois! How hast thou fallen from thy proud eminence! Henceforth
Missouri may retire from the gaze and scorn of the pure eyes of the
goddess of liberty, that she may fix them upon thee.
The perfidy, treachery, murder and bloodshed of that
State, have found a covering in thee, for thy dark
deeds have totally eclipsed hers. Thy Executive,
instead of giving dignity to thee and to his
station, by being at thy head, is seen marshaling an
army of lawless mobocrats; and then, the more easily
to secure
thy
prey, thou didst not hesitate to solemnly plight thy sacred
honour; and then didst trample it under thy feet as
a thing of naught, to shed innocent blood. Will I
ever forgive thee?
Never, no
NEVER.
But to return from this digression, I will just ask you,
kind reader, what you think this stickler for the
supremacy
of the law, this never-to-be-forgotten
peace-making
Governor, did, after placing himself at
the head of this professedly exterminating band or
army of mobbers. Why, inasmuch as
peace
was his object he ordered the Nauvoo Legion, who
stood in the
defense
of their own lives and the lives of their
wives
and children, and the rights, both civil and religious,
guaranteed to them by the constitution and laws of
the land, to be
disbanded
and this, while they remained upon their
own ground
and within the limits of the city
corporation, while at the same time the belligerent
army under his command were = suffered to remain in
a hostile attitude, and prowling all around our
borders with impunity. Under these ex parte
and suspicious movements, especially when it is
remembered that self-defence is the first law of
nature, who could have expected us not to stand in
our own defence, Governor or no Governor, order or
no order; for it is as unlawful for a
Governor
to crush a people to death, as for a
mob
to do it. Such a move was, in my opinion, evidently
intended to make us disobey orders that the charge
of
treason
might be sustained against us. This was well
understood by us. We knew it would only give new
occasion to destroy us, we therefore determined
to obey orders,
and wrest the weapons from our enemy by obedience,
and so we disbanded. This order (so far was the
Governor from being satisfied with our unparalleled
submission) was now immediately followed by an order
that the marshal and the policemen, who had abated
the nuisance, together with the mayor, Joseph Smith,
should appear before a magistrate in Carthage,
according to the previous notice of said constable.
Thus you see that even his Excellency was trampling
under foot the privileges of the City Charter, the
legislative power of the City Council, the
Judiciary,
Habeas
Corpus, and all powers and privileges granted by the
General Assembly, and ratified by his predecessor.
It was at this stage of the game, that he was heard
to say (as it was told us by good authority), that "
he would have Joe, or lay the city in ashes."
It was now reduced to a demonstration that our enemies were
determined that the law should not benefit us, and
that nothing could be hoped for from the Governor.
They had for a long time sought the life of the
Prophet, and now it seemed as if they were
determined to have it. There was but one alternative
left, and that was to make his escape. He meditated
doing so for a time and had crossed over the river
that he might deliberate on the course to pursue,
whether to go away for a season or offer himself for
his people. When. he thought of going away, the
certainty of the destruction of the city, together
with the people whom he loved, and whom he had been
the means of collecting from the four winds, would
rise in his imagination before him, and reproach him
with the calamity that his absence would bring upon
them. Thus he mused within himself and with his
brother Hyrum, and at length they both determined to
return, and stand between the brethren and the rage
of the mob. They now prepared to go to
Carthage, and, on leaving, Joseph returned the second and third
time, and at each time took an affectionate leave of
his family. On his way out, he said, to the few of
his friends who accompanied him, these remarkable
words-
"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 towards God and towards all men. I shall die
innocent, and it shall yet be said of me, He was
murdered in cold blood."
Immediately after this, and while these voluntary martyrs
were on their way, an order from the governor, who
knew of their approach, met them,
demanding all the State arms
belonging to the Nauvoo Legion. It appears his Excellency
feared that the Legion, although disbanded, might
avenge any outrage that might be committed on the
persons of their leaders, and so thought he had
better disarm them, as he had already disbanded them
This order was also promptly obeyed, although the
mob were suffered to retain their arms, even when
within a half day's march of us, and in a
threatening and hostile attitude; while the Legion
had not evinced any disposition whatever, except to
defend their city in case it should be invaded, and
had not set a foot without the limits of the
corporation. This last demand was so manifestly void
of all good feeling, and so unjust withal, that it
was thought advisable, by these devoted heroes, for
Joseph Smith to return in person to Nauvoo, lest the
officers and men, in their great indignation, should
treat such an arbitrary demand with contempt, and,
perhaps, disobey it. He accordingly returned, and
having accomplished the delivery of the public arms,
he again set out, accompanied by his brother Hyrum,
who never forsook him, for the head quarters of
mobocracy--Carthage, where they arrived late the same night, having travailed
nearly the whole distance from Nauvoo to
Carthage three times that day.
On the following morning the Governor's mobocratic troops
were all paraded and formed in line for review. This
done, his Excellency passed along their front,
accompanied by Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith, whom
he introduced to the troops as military officers,
calling them General Joseph and General Hyrum Smith.
Whether he did this out of
respect
to his distinguished prisoners, or whether he did it
to gratify the mob with a sight of their intended
victims, can be pretty correctly inferred from the
proceedings already related. But some of the troops
doubtless misconstrued his Excellency's object, and
thought he was doing these men, whom they regarded
as criminals, too much honour, and therefore
mutinied,
and became exceedingly boisterous, and for
a time it was feared that nothing could stay their
hands from violence and bloodshed. The Governor,
however, succeeded in pacifying them by making to
them a speech, in which he promised them
full
satisfaction.
But as this was made in public, he of course had to promise
it through a lawful channel. These mutineers, I wish
it distinctly remembered, were the
"Carthage Greys. "
The prisoners, for so they were considered,
delivered themselves into the hands of the
constable, and they were brought before the
magistrate for examination on the charge of
riot.
And after every effort was made on the part of the
prosecution to prevent it, they, with some of the
City Council and a number of policemen, who had also
obeyed the warrant, succeeded in giving the required
bail to answer to the charges preferred, before the
next Circuit Court. It is worthy here to notice,
that in case the charges could have been sustained
at court, the prisoners could have been fined only
at most in the sum of
two
hundred dollars; yet this
military
esquire absolutely demanded the sum of five
hundred dollars
for each man's recognizance, which was
two-and-a-half
times as much as the
penalty
of actual guilt. The prisoners being fifteen in number, the
court hoped that the required sum could not be
vouched for by those present, and that they must
consequently be committed to jail. But there was
strength enough at hand, and a sufficiency of
unquestionable bail, notwithstanding the
unparalleled amount, was instantly forthcoming, and
the prisoners were once more free men. But liberty
was not for them, for in less than half-an-hour,
there was a
Mittimus
served on Joseph and Hyrum Smith, against whom the spite of
the mob was always directed. In this Mittimus, the
constable was ordered to confine them in jail.
But I am a little before my story. I should have said that
on the morning of the arrival of the Smiths in
Carthage, to answer for a charge of riot, they were both
apprehended on the charge of
Treason.
But the case on the charge of riot came on first, and
terminated as stated above; and the prisoners had
not, as yet, been brought before the justice, in the
case of treason, for examination. He could not,
therefore,
legally
imprison them; but he was captain of the mutinous
"Carthage Greys, "
as well as justice of the peace, and of course
things had to go according to his liking. So
notwithstanding the protests of Mr. Smith's counsel,
of illegality, he had them dragged to jail by a
company of armed men, detailed for the purpose; and
although the Governor had previously
pledged his honour, and the honour of the State,
in case the Smiths should drive themselves up; that they
should be protected from illegal violence, and that
the law only was sought to be enforced. This pledge
he frequently repeated; yet when they had confided
in the strong assurances of his Excellency, and had
submitted to, and were willing to abide, the law of
the land, and while being illegally ordered to be
imprisoned by this military magistrate, they
appealed in vain, again and again, to the Governor
himself, reminding him of his pledges, to arrest
that order from being executed. His Excellency
pleaded that he had no authority to stay civil
process, or the due course of law; that the
prisoners were in the hands of the civil
authorities, and that he could not interrupt a civil
officer in the discharge of his duty. But what are
the facts? A justice of the peace, acting as a
military officer also, by virtue of his commission
as such, orders his command to appear under arms and
to safely incarcerate the prisoners, whom he had
just before ordered the constable to commit to jail
by
Mittimus ere they had been brought before him for
examination;
and the Governor, having been himself, at
one time, a judge upon the bench, knew and well
understood the illegality of the above proceedings;
he also well knew that military power and authority
were used; and yet he, acting at that time as
Commander-in-Chief,
in a military point of view, which gave
him all the supervision over all his officers, and,
in fact, made him responsible for all their acts and
movements, refused to interfere, or to countermand
the order-the illegal, oppressive, and unofficer-like
order, of one of his captains. But again, having
taken the oath of office, he was, by virtue of that
oath, bound to see the laws
faithfully
executed, and not violated and trodden
under foot, and that right in his presence, and at a
time too, when he had the
bone
and
sinew
of the
State, over which he then presided, collected
together
for the express purpose,
professedly, at least, of enforcing the
law, magnifying it, and making it honourable. I
would here stop to inquire, whether his Excellency
did not render himself liable to be court-martialed
and
cashiered
for unofficer-like conduct; and also to
impeachment,
for a neglect and violation of his oath of office, as the
chief magistrate of a great State? I give the
affirmative as my deliberate opinion in both
specifications.
But the prisoners being committed, and as
the
Mittimus
recited, " until discharged by due course of law," the
magistrate had no further jurisdiction over them.
They ought, therefore, to have remained there until
the session of the
next Court, or have been brought out by
Habeas Corpus.
On the next day, however, the esquire ordered the
constable to bring them before him into the
Courthouse for examination. The
legal objections
were now made by them and their counsel,
and they refused to go; but there was a way to make
them. He had a curious and convenient coat or badge
of office, which, by a sudden transition, assumed
the
military
or civil form at will-now civil,
now
military,
and in this last, he ordered his " b'hoys," the "
Greys,"
to assist the constable and bring them This done, the
prisoners required time to procure the necessary
witnesses, and prepare for the examination. This was
with great difficulty obtained. The day was already
far spent, say five o'clock, p.m., and time was only
given till
twelve
the next day, in which to write out some thirty or
more
subpoenas,
and then to send them, say twenty miles, to Nauvoo
and other places, and serve them on that number of
scattered witnesses, and have them in court. And now
the defendants were remanded to prison. (This is
only one instance of a constant scene of oppression
to which these men have ever been exposed.)
It was not until during this imprisonment that the Governor
redeemed his oft-repeated promise to give General
Smith a personal interview. He accordingly made his
appearance with a friend of his on the first day of
their incarceration, when the General, like Paul,
had the privilege of answering for himself. He
adverted to all the leading causes which gave rise
to the difficulties under consideration, in a brief,
but lucid, energetic, and impressive manner. The
Governor felt that what was said was
true.
General
Smith read copies of all the orders and proceedings
of the City Council of Nauvoo concerning the
destruction of the
Expositor,
and of the correspondence forwarded to his
Excellency in relation thereto; and also informed
him concerning the call of the Legion, and the
position they occupied of
absolute necessity-not
to make war upon or invade the rights of any portion
of the State, but as the
last resort,
and
only
defence, in
the absence of executive protection,
against a large organized military and mobocratic foe. The
General reminded his Excellency that the question in
dispute was a civil matter, and to settle which,
needed no resort to arms; and that he was ready
at any time,
and had always been to answer to any charge in the
premises, that might be preferred against him,
either as Mayor of the city, or as a private
individual, in any court of justice, unintimidated
by a mob or military array;
and make all the satisfaction that the law required, if
any,
etc. The Governor said he had not called
out this force, but found it assembled in military
order, on his arrival at that place; and that the
law
must be enforced,
but that the prisoners must and should be
protected; and that he again
Pledged his word, and the faith and honour of the
State,
that they should be. He also stated that he intended to
march his troops (that is, those who had assembled
for mobocratic purposes, and whom he had mustered
into service) into Nauvoo, to gratify them, and that
the prisoners should accompany them, and then return
again to attend the trial before the said
magistrate, which he said had been postponed for the
purpose of making this visit.
Afterwards, however, his Excellency called a council, of
war, I
suppose, where it was determined to change the order
of the day. The troops were now all to be disbanded,
excepting two companies. At the head of the one
which was from M'Donnough County, he marched into
Nauvoo; while he had detailed the other, the
mutinous
"Carthage Greys, "
to guard and protect the prisoners whom he left in
the jail, in direct violation of the pledges he had
made to them on the previous day. All the other
troops were disbanded and ordered home, while there
yet retained also a body of several hundred men,
eight or ten miles out, apparently under the control
of no one, except Col. Williams, a sworn enemy, who,
it is well known, had on more occasions than one,
not only threatened Nauvoo with destruction, but the
Prophet with death. This was the condition of things
on the morning of the 27th June,
the day on which was acted the most
unheard of and unprecedented tragedy that, in my
opinion, can be found on record.
JOSEPH and HYRUM, the Prophet and
Patriarch, were that
day slain by
wicked hands, WHILE IMMURED, IN PRISON. And thus was shed,
on that memorable day, the best blood, and the
noblest too, of the nineteenth century.
Great God! what a sudden stroke in thy
Providence was that? Was there no way in thine Omnipotence to avert
it? Or was it requisite for these thy faithful
servants, who loved their brethren as they did
themselves, even unto death, to lay down their lives
and seal their testimony with their blood? Victims
they indeed were to rage, but wo to the man who
participated therein.
In reviewing the proceedings and movements of this
chieftain, his Excellency Governor Thomas Ford, as
impartially as the nature of the case will admit of,
it is difficult to conjecture how he could have
played a card better to suit the mob than he did. He
said he had received an expression of all the troops
and a promise that they would stand by him to see
the laws faithfully executed. But what of all that?
They were still a mob, and now without a head
resolved into its very worst form-that of
disorganization.
It cannot be pleaded, in extenuation, that his Excellency
ordered the troops to return to their homes, because
the only way to have accomplished this was to have
marched them home, under the command of their
respective officers, before they were disbanded. And
this he did not do; on the contrary, he disbanded
companies of men from various counties, all at the
same time and in the same place, over whom, from
that very circumstance, he could have no further
control, even if he had desired it, for they had, by
his act become free men, and, as citizens of
Illinois, had a right to remain or go home at
pleasure, his wishes or orders to the contrary
notwithstanding. But not only so, for if he had
found it necessary, in case of some emergency, to
call a posse to his aid, he could not have commanded
their services without first making call upon some
of their colonels or other officers in their
respective military districts.
But again, instead of remaining upon the ground to see
that his orders were complied with, he forthwith put
himself at the head of a company, I suppose as a
body guard, and took up a line of march for Nauvoo,
where he took occasion, after calling the multitude
together, to insult them in a speech of some twenty
minutes, in a most gross and ignominious manner,
unbecoming any public functionary, charging them
with movements, acts, and inconsistencies, which
were utterly untrue, and never existed, only in the
foul throats of our most inveterate traducers, who
had the adroitness to ingratiate themselves into his
good graces, and prejudice him against us. While
these things were going on, much to his
satisfaction, the prisoners in jail were left to be
guarded ostensibly, by the before mentioned
"Carthage Greys," who, only two days before, came
near committing murder, as well as mutiny, right in
his presence; and of those, only eight men were
detailed to stand guard at a time, at the jail,
while the rest remained in camp on the public
square, one quarter of a mile off. Thus were these
intended victims, instead of being protected, left
at that momentous crisis, with but two of their
friends with them, to wit: Elders Willard Richards
and John Taylor, of the Quorum of the Twelve. The
writer of this was permitted to enter the prison
with them as a friend, and remained with them until
he was sent to Nauvoo, only several hours previous
to the fatal catastrophe, to aid in forwarding
witnesses. And Colonel Markham, who had also
remained with them, was run out of town the same
day, before the bayonets of a promiscuous crowd, who
threatened his life, while making a few little
purchases for the prisoners. And, as might have been
expected, a little after five o'clock in the
evening, at the very time that his Excellency was
insulting the peaceable citizens of Nauvoo, a body
of about one hundred and fifty armed men, with
painted faces, appeared before the jail, unobserved
by the inmates, and without opposition from any
quarter. The guard at the door, it is said, elevated
their firelocks at the approach of these men in
disguise, and, boisterously threatening them,
discharged them over their heads. The crowd by this
time had encircled the building: some shoved the
guard from their post; rushed up the flight of
stairs to the prisoners' apartment, which for that
day was in an upper open room; broke open the door,
and began the work of death, while others fired in
through the open windows. Dr. Richards, with Colonel
Markham's heavy walking stick, defended the door,
knocking down, and to one side, the muzzles of the
assailants' guns, as they fired into the room; and,
strange to say, notwithstanding his exposed
condition, he remained entirely unhurt. The first
shot, however, that was made, was through the door,
before it was opened, at their first approach; this
was the fatal ball that killed Hyrum. It pierced his
face a little below the eye. As he fell he
exclaimed, "I
am a dead man, "
These were his only and last words. He was
afterwards, while down, pierced with a number of
other balls in various parts of his body. Joseph had
taken position on one side of the door, and, with
his left hand, discharged three rounds from a
revolving six-shooting pocket pistol (which had been
handed him by Elder C. H. Wheelock, but who was also
sent away on business by them), and at each fire
wounded his man; the other three caps did not go
off. Elder
Taylor was by this time also thought to have been killed, as he
lay bleeding from many wounds. The Prophet, now
finding himself without any means of defence, his
brother being dead, and himself the only survivor
whose life was sought for, attempted to make his
escape through the nearest window. A number of balls
penetrated his body, however, while making this
attempt;
and in his last moments he did not forget Him whose servant
he was, and for whose cause he was about to lay down
his life. How very like
were his last words to the dying words of
the
Saviour- "My God, my God!
why hast thou forsaken me?" Joseph had only time to
exclaim, "
O Lord, my God!"
and fell out of the building into the hands of his
MURDERERS.
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As an appropriate conclusion, I quote from the
Times and
Seasons, Vol. v.,
No. 12, p. 575, the following
LINES BY MISS
ELIZA R. SNOW
" And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word
of God, and for the testimony which they held:
" And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O
Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge
our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
" And white robes were given unto every
one of them; and it was said unto them, that they
should rest yet for a little season, until their
fellow servants also and their brethren, that should
be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."-Rev.
vi. 9, 10,11.
Ye heavens, attend, let all the earth give ear!
Let Gods and seraphs, men and angels hear!
The worlds on high-the universe shall know
What awful scenes are acted here below!
Had Nature's self a heart, her heart would bleed,
For never, since the Son of God was slain,
Has blood so noble flow'd from human vein,
As that which now on God for vengeance calls
From " Freedom's ground"-from
Carthage prison walls!
O!
Illinois! thy soil has drunk the blood
Of Prophets, martyr'd for the truth of God!
Once lov'd
America! what can atone
For the pure blood of innocence thou'st sown?
Were all thy streams in teary torrents shed,
To mourn the fate of those illustrious dead,
How vain the tribute for the noblest worth
That grac'd thy surface, 0 degraded earth!
O, wretched murd'rers ! fierce for human blood!
You've slain the Prophets of the living God;
Who `ve borne oppression from their early youth
To plant on earth the principles of Truth.
Shades of our patriotic fathers!
Can it be, Beneath your blood-stain'd flag of liberty
The firm supporters of our country's cause,
Are butcher'd while submissive to her laws?
Yes, blameless men, defam'd by hellish lies
Have thus been offer'd for a sacrifice,
T'appease the ragings of a brutish clan,
That has defied the laws of God and man!
'Twas not for crime or guilt of theirs, they fell
?Against the laws they never did rebel.
True to their country, yet her plighted faith
Has prov'd an instrument of cruel death!
Where are thy far-fam'd laws,
Columbia! where Thy boasted freedom, thy protecting care ?
Is this a land of rights ? Stern FACTS shall say,
If legal justice here maintains its sway
The official powers of State are sheer pretense,
When they're exerted in the Saints' defence.
Great men have fal'n and mighty men have died,
Nations have mourn'd their fav'rites and their pride;
But TWO, so wise, so virtuous, great, and good,
Before on earth, at
once,
have never stood
Since the Creation-men whom God ordain'd
To publish truth where error long had reign'd;
Of whom the world, itself unworthy prov'd:
IT KNEW THEM NOT; but men with hatred mov'd
And with infernal spirits have combin'd
Against the best, the noblest of mankind!
O, persecution, shall thy purple hand
Spread utter destruction throughout all the land?
Shall freedom's banner be no more unfurled?
Has peace indeed, been taken from the world?
Thou God of Jacob, in this trying hour.
Help us to trust in thy Almighty power;
Support thy Saints beneath this awful stroke?
Make bare thine arm to break oppression's yoke.
We mourn thy Prophet, from whose lips have flow'd
The words of life, thy spirit has bestow'd?
A depth of thought no human heart could reach
From thee to time roll'd, in sublimest speech,
a From the Celestial fountain, through his mind,
To purify and elevate mankind:
The rich intelligence by him brought forth,
Is like the sunbeam, spreading o'er the earth.
Now
Zion mourns-she mourns an earthly head!
THE PROPHET
and the
PATRIARCH
are dead!
The blackest deed that men or devils know,
Since Calv'ry's scene, has laid the brothers low!
One in their life, and one in death, they prov'd
How strong their friendship-how they truly lov'd.
True to their mission, until death they stood
Then sealed their testimony with their blood.
All hearts with sorrow bleed, and ev'ry eye
Is bath'd in tears-each bosom heaves a sigh?
Heart broken widows' agonizing groans
Are mingled with the helpless orphan's moans!
Ye Saints, be still, and know that God is just?
With steadfast purpose in His promise trust Girded with
sackcloth, own His mighty hand, And wait
His judgments on this guilty land!
The noble martyrs now have gone to move
The cause of
Zion in the courts above.
I am, Sir,
Yours respectfully,
JOHN S. FULLMER.
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