people gather at a feast, and to decide what to do with the mormons—threats to have roast missionary—saints hold prayer and testimony meeting—kept awake all night—council of natives decides to roast and eat me—fire is built—men sent to drag me to the council—promises of presidents brigham young and willard richards come to my mind—all fear is banished—saints and their enemies ordered to separate—all but two mormons stand by me—sublime courage of a native and his wife—the charge against me—i appeal to the bible, but our enemies refuse to be guided by the law of god—notified of the decision that i am to be burned—spirit of the lord rests upon me in great power, inspiring me to defy our enemies—spirit of confusion enters our foes—they quarrel and fight with each other—difficulty in restraining church members—deliverance which the lord wrought out for me—i am allowed to proceed unmolested—meet a member of the council which condemned me to death—his testimony that a pillar of light descended from heaven and rested on me, filling them with fear—no more anti-mormon councils—natives show no disposition to receive the gospel.
about the 5th of may, 1852, the whole people were called to assemble at the village of tatake and prepare a feast, and at the same time to decide definitely what to do with the mormon minister and his pipis (disciples). everything was excitement. the young braves came armed with muskets, shouting and yelling, saying they were going to have a fat roast for tomorrow, while the old councillors, twenty-five or thirty in number, came with slow, quiet steps and grave countenances, and filed into the schoolhouse just at dark. then the people gathered, loaded down with roast pig, and fruit, fish and poultry. they kindled fires and began shouting, singing and dancing.
soon the young braves were dancing around the house that they were in; for by this time every member of the church had come to one place. the mob seemed to be fully enthused with the spirit of murder, as they shouted, "tomorrow we will have a fat young missionary for a roast!" just then they fired a salute, seemingly under the foundation or sill of the house—a frame building. then they commenced to tear down the post and pole fence that enclosed the premises. this fence, together with other wood, was piled up in a heap, as people in timbered countries stack timber to burn it off their land. then the natives covered the wood with coral rock, as if they were going to burn a lime kiln. they kept up a continual howl all the night long, firing their guns, singing their war songs, and burning their camp-fires.
while this was going on, we held prayer and testimony meeting, never sleeping a moment the whole night. many times we could hear the crowd outside boasting what a fine, fat missionary roast they were going to have enanahe (tomorrow.)
daylight came, and the village was all alive with people, as in america on the fourth of july, at a barbecue. soon the feasting began. the council had been all night in deciding what they would do with the mormons and their minister. the provisions at the feast were apportioned to each village according to its numbers, and subdivided among the families, so that a full allowance was made for the mormon pupu (party). they sent to me the portion of ten men, saying: "here, this is for you, iatobo (james), eat it and get fat for the roast," laughing contemptuously as they did so. by this time the whole people were in high glee, eating, drinking, talking, laughing and jeering, as if all hands were bent on pleasure only. when the feasting was over, all became silent, and it seemed as though everybody had gone to sleep.
by 1 o'clock p.m. all were astir again. two great ruffians came into my apartment, armed with long clubs. they said they had been sent to order me before the council, and if i refused to come they were to drag me there. everybody seemed to be on the qui vive. as quick as thought, the promises of president brigham young flashed through my mind; also the promise of dr. willard richards, in which he told me, in the name of the lord god of israel, that though men should seek my life, yet i should return in safety to the bosom of the saints, having done good and honor to myself and the church and kingdom of god. he also gave me instructions what to do; this was when starting on my mission. the next thought that came to my mind was: have i forfeited those promises? the answer that came quickly from the spirit was no; and this drove away all fear. not a doubt was left in my mind.
without hesitation i arose and walked out to the beach, where the people had assembled, the saints following me. we passed by the log heap to the assemblage, at the head of which stood twelve or fifteen stout, athletic, young braves, with hair cut close. they were stripped naked to their breechclouts, and were oiled. they stood with folded arms, and certainly seemed formidable, although they were without weapons, for they had a fierce and savage look about them that must be seen to be realized in its effect.
as we came near, the man tabate stepped out from the crowd and said, "all the britons stand to the right hand with the sheep, and all the mormons stand to the left hand where the goats are." everyone responded to the order except two men from the mormon party, who drew off to themselves and were neutral. at that, one faithful mormon man named rivae and his wife with an eight months old babe in her arms, stepped forward, well knowing what the sentence was to be. this brave brother said, "if you burn this man," pointing to the writer, "you burn me first." his heroic wife stepped forward, holding her babe at arm's length, and shouted, "i am a mormon, and this baby is a mormon, for 'nits make lice,' and you will have to burn all of us, or mormonism will grow again." i had told the people the story of the massacre at haun's mill, missouri, in which some of the mob shot the children who had crept for safety under the bellows in the blacksmith shop, the murderers saying, as they butchered the innocents, "nits will make lice"—mormons in that instance.
rivae and his wife was ordered to stand back, while as a prisoner i was called to take a position in the space between the two parties. as i obeyed the command, i was confronted by tabate, the spokesman or judge, who had been the chief promoter of all the trouble from the beginning. said he: "iatobo, you have caused the people of our land to sin by having them to travel more than a sabbath day's journey on the sabbath. you have also taught the people that god is a material god, and that is not lawful to teach in our land." to this i answered, "show me where the teaching is wrong from the bible." at the same time i opened the bible. a strong and determined voice told me to shut the book, and put it up, for that was the law of god, and the decision of the landholders and authorities was that i should be burned to death, and thus they would rid the land of mormonism.
pointing to the left and rear of the prisoner, to the log heap, which was then at the zenith of its burning, with haughty demeanor and in an exulting voice, tabate said, "look there at that fire. it is made to consume the flesh off of your bones." in that moment the spirit of the lord rested mightily upon me, and i felt as though i could run through a troop and leap over a wall. "in the name of israel's god," i said, "i defy ten of your best men, yea, the host of you, for i serve that god who delivered daniel from the den of lions, and the three hebrew children from the fiery furnace!"
image: fire prepared to roast the missionary--sentenced to death.
fire prepared to roast the missionary—sentenced to death.
dear reader, it is impossible for me to describe the power, the cool resignation, the unshaken confidence, and the might that overshadowed my soul and body, that thrilled through every fibre of my existence. for there was absolutely not one particle of fear or tremor in my whole being. but i did feel thankful for that great and marvelous deliverance, because in the very moment that i defied the host the spirit of division rested upon the judge who had passed the sentence, his counselors, and the executioners, insomuch that the counselors faced the executioners, and they grappled with each other in a sharp tussle. from that ensued a fight, until the whole people were mixed up in it.
even two of our old tottering mormons, tautene and hauty, came in with their clubs, and were so enraged that they actually champed their teeth together till the froth filled the corners of their mouths, as i have seen it with mad dogs. both of them had been great warriors in their time, and could boast of having eaten human flesh, but at this time they were so old and feeble that i took each of them by the arms and forced them from the fight into the house, where i had ordered all the mormons to go. i told them to stay in the house or i would excommunicate them from the church. as they seemed to be almost ungovernable, i gave fute, a priest and a stout man, a club, and told him to keep them in the house if he had to knock them down to do it, while i went back to the battleground, picked up my bible and hat, and returned to find my party reconciled to their fate, and feeling more like rejoicing than fighting. in an effort to free himself from her clinging embrace hauty had struck his wife with a club. this was before i had got hold of him. she was trying to keep him out of the melee. the woman was very lame for weeks after receiving the blow.
during all this time our enemies quarreled and fought with clubs and stones, pulled hair and screamed. they did not cease fighting till sundown. then, with many sore heads, and more sore limbs, they dispersed, and i doubt very much if the majority of them knew what they had been fighting for. after they left, a feeling of quiet and safety pervaded the village, especially in and about our residence, such as we had not before known on the island, and for weeks everything was strangely peaceful. people who once seemed surly and defiant, now had a tame and subdued expression in their countenances, and appeared to prefer passing by unnoticed rather than otherwise.
some two months later, i was traveling alone in the timber, and at a short turn in the road i chanced to meet one of the old counselors who decided that i should be burned. we were close together before we saw each other. at sight of me he turned and ran as hard as he could, and i, without any particular object in view, gave chase and ran him down. i seized him by the neck, and asked why he ran from me and why he was afraid of me. said he: "your god is a god of power, and i was afraid to meet his servant." i inquired how he knew that my god was a god of power, and why they had not burned me when they had decided to do so. he answered: "at the moment that you defied us there was a brilliant light, or pillar of fire, bore down close over your head. it was as bright as the sun. we remembered reading in the bible about elijah calling fire down from heaven so that it consumed the captains and their fifties, and we thought that you had prayed to your god of power, and that he had sent that fire to burn us and our people if we harmed you. the young men did not see the light. they were going to burn you, and we tried to stop them. so we got into a fight. now we all know that you are a true servant of god, and we do not like to meet you, out of fear."
from what i was able to learn, that feeling was shared by the whole community, and i was treated with great respect ever afterwards. i felt freer and safer when alone than ever before. indeed, there never was another council meeting called to devise a way to get rid of the mormons from that island, while i remained there. but for all that, the islanders did not want to learn the gospel. yet ever afterward, when they feasted i was always remembered with a very liberal portion of the very best they had. i do not remember baptizing another soul there after that event. there i remained, and part of the time i fished, also hunted the wild chickens that abounded in the mountains—fowls of the common dominique variety, which had grown wild in the fastnesses of the hills, and could fly equal to the sagehen or prairie chicken.
