growth of nauvoo—the mansion—sidney rigdon's recreancy—mobocratic conventions at carthage—inciting the missourians to kidnap—the prophet checks a bombastic politician—appeals for redress—joy on a christmas day—orrin porter rockwell back from missouri.
when the prophet once more saw one hour of security in nauvoo, he recorded the fact that he had been subjected in his time to thirty-eight suits against his person and property. not one of these was just. they were all incited for the purpose of vexing and despoiling him, and by the satanic power that had sought to shed the blood of prophets and holy men through all ages.
but he was compensated and filled with joy to see the progress of nauvoo. from the states in this country and from the lands across the sea, faithful saints were gathering by tens, and hundreds, and thousands. homes were being built and factories were projected; the walls of the temple were rising in grandeur, uplifting the souls of the saints with hope that they would soon minister in the holy ordinances for their living and their dead; and all that was wanted to insure the dominion of peace was the cessation of the wicked assaults upon the prophet and his friends.
on the last of august joseph and his family moved into the nauvoo mansion. it was his intention to support this place as a home for all visitors who should come up to zion seeking to know the glory of god. such hospitality was no new thing for the prophet to bestow. his home, whenever he had one, had always been open to saints and to strangers. it had been a resting place for thousands; and many times his family had gone without food, after giving their last morsel to the poor wayfarers. the mansion was a place in which such hospitality as the prophet loved could well be extended. with these facilities to entertain company, joseph soon found his resources exhausted. but for the persecutions and robberies which he had suffered he might have continued to dispense his bounties with generous hand; but now he was compelled to have the mansion opened as a hotel, at first under his own direction, but a little later it was leased for that purpose to ebenezer robinson, the prophet only retaining two or three rooms for his personal use. joseph's mother lived with him at this time.
among the saddest afflictions of the prophet's closing hours was the recreancy of sidney rigdon. as early as august, 1843, joseph had solemnly withdrawn his fellowship from sidney, and had refused to acknowledge him longer as a counselor—unless the charge could satisfactorily be refuted that he was in league with the prophet's enemies to betray him and give him up to death in missouri. this was not the only ground for complaint. sidney was charged with an alliance with dishonest persons to deal fraudulently against the innocent and unwary. at a special conference begun in nauvoo on the 6th of october, examination was made of the statements against president rigdon. the prophet recalled the many times that he had borne with sidney's failings, having forgiven him again and again; and that now sidney had ceased altogether to be useful and devoted, and joseph lacked entire confidence in his integrity. filled with mercy, hyrum desired that one more trial should be given to elder rigdon, and upon his motion sidney was sustained. the prophet arose and said:
i have thrown him off my shoulders, and you have again put him on me. you may carry him, but i will not.
subsequent events clearly showed how truly the prophet had judged of the man who was once his friend and counselor, but had now lost faith and power in the gospel.
assaults from without were threatened, with violence constantly augmenting. in august some of the brethren who were elected to county offices went to carthage to give bonds and take the official oath. while these men were before the court, a rabble consisting of constable harmon t. wilson and about fifteen others came in armed with hickory clubs, knives and pistols, and swore that the bonds should not be approved nor the men from nauvoo inducted into office; if they were, blood would be spilled; and the mob pledged their words, honor and reputation, not only to keep these men out of office, but to put down the "mormons." after some delay, the rabble withdrew to convene a mob meeting, and the bonds were approved by the court. this mob secured a convention at the courthouse on the 19th of august and appointed a committee to draft resolutions concerning the saints; and at an adjourned meeting held on the 6th of september, 1843, a most vindictive tirade, filled with lies and threats, was presented and accepted under the name of preamble and resolutions. these mobocrats pledged themselves in the most determined manner to give aid in the capture of joseph if he were demanded again, and threatened signal and summary vengeance upon the saints in case of a collision. all the office-seekers were warned that the influence of the mobocrats would be withdrawn from them if they sought support at nauvoo.
this action was designed to comfort the missourians and to incite them to further efforts; and also to warn the office-holders and office-seekers of the state of illinois not to extend any help to joseph and his people in case of an attack upon them. the sole causes of the movements, in addition to the falsehoods of reynolds and wilson, who felt chagrined at their failure to drag the prophet to his death as they had threatened, was that the people were increasing, nauvoo was becoming a beautiful city, and joseph smith, the prophet of god and head of the community, was the object of sectarian and apostate jealousy and political hate. joseph wrote to the governor concerning the threatened movements against the saints, but received no satisfaction.
the promise of the hancock county mob and the quiescence of the governor of illinois gave license and promise of support to the people of missouri in the commission of further outrages. in november, daniel avery and his son philander were kidnapped from hancock county, by a company of missourians, and imprisoned and threatened with death for the purpose of extorting false statements from them upon which prosecutions could be based against the citizens of nauvoo. a man named elliot of carthage, who had assisted the kidnappers, was arrested and brought before a court at nauvoo for examination. no attempt was made to inflict punishment upon him; the evidence clearly showed his guilt, and he was bound over to the circuit court at carthage. this same elliot had sworn to have the prophet's life, and complaint was lodged against him for threatening to kill. elliot was alone and defenseless; and when the prophet saw the man's fear and helplessness, he obtained a withdrawal of the charge, paid the costs himself, and invited elliot to his own home to be fed and lodged.
writs for the other persons engaged in the avery kidnapping were issued, but an armed mob congregated to prevent the service of process. a party of the mob went to the house of david holman near ramus, and in his absence plundered it of provisions and then burned it to the ground, leaving himself and family shelterless in the bleak winter.
an attack was threatened upon nauvoo by gathering mobs from missouri and illinois; and in view of this danger the nauvoo legion was ordered to be kept in readiness to repel unlawful assaults.
the vindictive and lawless character of the mob which menaced the city is shown by the statement of amos chase, who heard the following conversation between a spectator and the rabble:
"what will you do if the governor refuses to sanction your course?"
"damn the governor! if he opens his head we will punch a hole through him! he dare not speak! we will serve him the same sauce we will the mormons."
and their cowardly character is shown by the experience of nelson judd. a man called on brother judd at nauvoo and said he wanted to sell him some wood at a little distance down the river. nelson went with the man and when they came into the woods two men on horseback attempted to kidnap him. he avoided them and they drew their pistols and fired, but without effect. judd then coolly said: "now it is my turn."
putting his hand into his pocket as though to draw a pistol, he looked fiercely at the bandits, and they fled shrieking with terror. nelson had no weapon with him except his bravery and innocence, and he walked home laughing at the ruffians.
at a meeting of the city council in december, 1843, the subject of the menace to the city and the mayor was under consideration, and joseph said among other things:
i am exposed to far greater danger from traitors among ourselves than from enemies without, although my life has been sought for many years by the civil and military authorities, priests and people of missouri; and if i can escape from the ungrateful treachery of assassins, i can live as caesar might have lived, were it not for a right-hand brutus. i have had pretended friends betray me. all the enemies upon the face of the earth may roar and exert all their power to bring about my death, but they can accomplish nothing, unless some who are among us, who have enjoyed our society, have been with us in our councils, participated in our confidence, taken us by the hand, called us brother, saluted us with a kiss, join with our enemies, turn our virtues into faults, and, by falsehood and deceit, stir up their wrath and indignation against us, and bring their united vengeance upon our heads. all the hue and cry of the chief priests and elders against the savior could not bring down the wrath of the jewish nation upon his head, and thereby cause the crucifixion of the son of god, until judas said unto them: "whomsoever i shall kiss he is the man: hold him fast." judas was one of the twelve apostles, even their treasurer, and dipped with their master in the dish, and through his treachery the crucifixion was brought about; and we have a judas in our midst.
james arlington bennett, a lawyer, journalist and politician of new york, had been attracted by the prophet's fame and character. mr. bennett had ambition to run for office in the state of illinois, and he wrote a very complimentary letter to joseph, in which he spoke of the boldness of the prophet's plans and measures; and that he, bennett, would yet run for high office in illinois, and would give the prophet his best services; intimated that he would like to become joseph's right-hand man, since "mahomet had his right-hand man"; and he declared that his mind was of so mathematical and philosophical a cast that divinity made an impression upon him.
to this bombastic letter the prophet replied with such incisive vigor that must have taught mr. bennett a lesson:
you say, "the boldness of my plans and measures, together with their unparalleled success so far, are calculated to throw a charm over my whole being, and to point me out as the most extraordinary man of the present age."the boldness of my plans and measures can readily be tested by the touchstone of all schemes, systems, projects and adventures—truth, for truth is a matter of fact; and the fact is, that by the power of god i translated the book of mormon from hieroglyphics, the knowledge of which was lost to the world; in which wonderful event i stood alone, an unlearned youth, to combat the worldly wisdom and multiplied ignorance of eighteen centuries with a new revelation, which (if they would receive the everlasting gospel) would open the eyes of more than eight hundred millions of people, and make "plain the old paths," wherein, if a man walk in all the ordinances of god blameless, he shall inherit eternal life; and jesus christ, who was, and is, and is to come, has borne me safely over every snare and plan, laid in secret or openly, through priestly hypocrisy, sectarian prejudice, popular philosophy, executive power, or law-defying mobocracy, to destroy me.
if, then, the hand of god, in all these things that i have accomplished towards the salvation of a priest-ridden generation, in the short space of twelve years through the boldness of the plan of preaching the gospel, and the boldness of the means of declaring repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, and a reception of the holy ghost, by laying on of the hands, agreeably to the authority of the priesthood, and the still more bold measures of receiving direct revelation from god, through the comforter, as promised, and by which means all holy men, from ancient times till now, have spoken and revealed the will of god to men, with the consequent "success" of the gathering of the saints, throws any "charm" around my being, and "points me out as the most extraordinary man of the age," it demonstrates the fact, that truth is mighty, and must prevail; and that one man empowered from jehovah has more influence with the children of the kingdom than eight hundred millions led by the precepts of men. god exalts the humble and debases the haughty.
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the summit of your future fame seems to be hid in the political policy of a "mathematical problem" for the chief magistracy of this state, which, i suppose, might be solved by "double position," where the errors of the supposition are used to produce a true answer.
but, sir, when i leave the dignity and honor i received from heaven to hoist a man into power through the aid of my friends where the evil and designing, after the object has been accomplished, can look up the clemency intended as a reciprocation for such favors, and where the wicked and unprincipled, as a matter of course, would seize the opportunity to flintify the hearts of the nation against me for dabbling at a sly game in politics; verily, i say, when i leave the dignity and honor of heaven to gratify the ambition and vanity of man or men, may my power cease, like the strength of samson, when he was shorn of his locks, while asleep in the lap of delilah! truly said the savior, "cast not your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
shall i, who have witnessed the visions of eternity, and beheld the glories of the mansions of bliss, and the regions and misery of the damned, shall i turn to be a judas? shall i, who have heard the voice of god, and communed with angels, and spake, as moved by the holy ghost, for the renewal of the everlasting covenant and for the gathering of israel in the last days, shall i worm myself into a political hypocrite? shall i who hold the keys of the last kingdom, in which is the dispensation of the fulness of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began, under the sealing power of the melchizedek priesthood—shall i stoop from the sublime authority of almighty god to be handled as a monkey's catspaw, and pettify myself into a clown to act the farce of political demagoguery? no, verily no! the whole earth shall bear me witness, that i, like the towering rock in the midst of the ocean, which has withstood the mighty surges of the warring waves for centuries, am impregnable, and am a faithful friend to virtue, and a fearless foe to vice; no odds, whether the former was sold as a pearl in asia or hid as a gem in america, and the latter dazzles in palaces or glitters among the tombs.
i combat the errors of ages; i meet the violence of mobs; i cope with illegal proceedings from executive authority; i cut the gordian knot of powers; and i solve mathematical problems of universities with truth—diamond truth; and god is my "right-hand man."
in december memorials were prepared and sent to congress supplicating for a redress of the wrongs inflicted upon the saints in missouri and for protection against further plundering. this seemed necessary, for the governor of illinois had practically confessed the helplessness of the state to prevent the infliction of additional wrongs upon this longsuffering people. the memorials were signed by the citizens of hancock county and the city council of nauvoo; they were truthful and eloquent; and they were of as little avail as other appeals for justice made by the people of god in this and other ages. several of the elders wrote addresses to their native states, setting forth with the vigor of truth the wrongs and oppressions which had been inflicted upon them by missouri. joseph wrote a stirring appeal to the people—the green mountain boys—of his native state of vermont. after sketching the great wrongs which the people had endured, the prophet says:
must we, because we believe in the fullness of the gospel of jesus christ, the administration of angels and the communion of the holy ghost, like the prophets and apostles of old,—must we be mobbed with impunity, be exiled from our habitations and property without remedy, murdered without mercy, and government find the weapons and pay the vagabonds for doing the jobs, and give them the plunder into the bargain? must we, because we believe in enjoying the constitutional privilege and right of worshiping almighty god according to the dictates of our own consciences, and because we believe in repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the holy ghost by the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, the millennium, the day of judgment and the book of mormon as the history of the aborigines of this continent,—must we be expelled from the institutions of our country, the rights of citizenship, and the graves of our friends and brethren, and the government lock the gate of humanity and shut the door of redress against us? if so, farewell freedom! adieu to personal safety! and let the red hot wrath of an offended god purify the nation of such sinks of corruption; for that realm is hurrying to ruin where vice has the power to expel virtue.
my father, who stood several times in the battles of the american revolution, till his companions in arms had been shot dead at his feet, was forced from his home in far west, missouri, by those civilized or satanized savages, in the dreary season of winter, to seek a shelter in another state; and the vicissitudes and sufferings consequent to his flight brought his honored gray head to the grave a few months after.
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i appeal to the "green mountain boys" of my native state to rise in the majesty of virtuous freemen, and by all honorable means help to bring missouri to the bar of justice. if there is one whisper from the spirit of an ethan allen, or a gleam from the shade of a general stark, let it mingle with our sense of honor and fire our bosoms for the cause of suffering innocence, for the reputation of our disgraced country, and for the glory of god; and may all the earth bear me witness, if missouri—blood-stained missouri, escapes the due demerit of her crimes—the vengeance she so justly deserves, that vermont is a hypocrite, a coward, and this nation the hot-bed of political demagogues.
i make this appeal to the sons of liberty of my native state for help to frustrate the wicked designs of sinful men. i make it to hush the violence of mobs. i make it to cope with the unhallowed influence of wicked men in high places. i make it to resent the insult and injury made to an innocent, unoffending people, by a lawless ruffian state. i make it to obtain justice where law is put at defiance. i make it to wipe off the stain of blood from our nation's escutcheon. i make it to show presidents, governors and rulers prudence. i make it to fill honorable men with discretion. i make it to teach senators wisdom. i make it to teach judges justice. i make it to point clergymen to the path of virtue. and i make it to turn the hearts of this nation to the truth and realities of pure and undefiled religion, that they may escape the perdition of ungodly men: and jesus christ, the son of god, is my great counselor.
on christmas morning, 1843, joseph and hyrum were roused from their slumbers by the hymn of a choir singing, "mortals, awake! with angels join." the choir was composed of a widow named lettice rushton and her children and neighbors; and their sweet voices and the noble sentiments of the hymn thrilled the souls of the prophet and patriarch into gladness and thanksgiving. joseph blessed the singers and thanked his heavenly father for the visit. hyrum said that he thought at first that a cohort of angels had descended, for the music had such a heavenly effect upon his soul. it was the last christmas carol that joseph and hyrum heard in this life. before another year had passed these two grand mortals had passed into the slumber of death, to awake with immortality upon them and to join with the choir invisible.
on the night of the same day another joy came to joseph. he was entertaining a company of friends at his house when the festivities were interrupted by a man who came unbidden to the feast. his hair was long and fell over his face and upon his shoulders. he seemed a stranger to all and yet acted boldly and confidently as if at home. the company thought he was a missourian and he would have been ejected, but the prophet came and looked him fairly in the face and discovered to his great joy that it was his long-tried and persecuted friend orrin porter rockwell who, in fulfillment of the prediction of joseph, had come away honorably from missouri.
orrin was gladly welcomed then to the banquet, and the prophet listened to the recital of his adventures. after going to the east in 1842 and remaining some months, rockwell determined to return to his home in nauvoo, not desiring perpetual exile. at st. louis he was captured and thrown into jail. iron hobbles and manacles were fastened upon him and he was carried to independence. he was dragged from place to place, from court to court, tortured, threatened, starved, and all without any legal or just charge against him. not the remotest connection could be traced between him and the attempt upon boggs' life. he had not been seen in the entire state of missouri during the year in which that event took place. no court from very shame could hold him on this monstrous charge, but when it failed others were concocted; and in the meantime several mob parties attempted to take his life as he was dragged to and fro in custody. after repeated solicitations he induced joseph reynolds, the sheriff of jackson, to write to bishop whitney at nauvoo, and this is the communication which that officer of law forwarded:
independence, missouri
april 7th, 1843
sir:—at the request of orrin porter rockwell, who is now confined in our jail, i write you a few lines concerning his affairs. he is held to bail in the sum of $5,000, and wishes some of his friends to bail him out. he also wishes some friend to bring his clothes to him. he is in good health and pretty good spirits. my own opinion is, after conversing with several persons here, that it would not be safe for any of mr. rockwell's friends to come here, notwithstanding i have written the above at his request; neither do i think bail would be taken (unless it was some responsible person well known here as a resident of this state). any letter to mr. rockwell, (post paid) with authority expressed on the back for me to open it, will be handed to him without delay. in the meantime he will be humanely treated and dealt with kindly, until discharged by due course of law.
yours, etc.,
j. h. reynolds
from orrin's own narrative of his experience the following paragraphs are taken:
when i was put in independence jail, i was again ironed hand and foot, and put in the dungeon, in which condition i remained about two months. during this time, joseph h. reynolds, the sheriff, told me he was going to arrest joseph smith, and they had received letters from nauvoo which satisfied them that joseph smith had unlimited confidence in me, that i was capable of toling him in a carriage or on horseback anywhere that i pleased; and if i would only tole him out by riding or any other way, so that they could apprehend him, i might please myself whether i stayed in illinois or came back to missouri; they would protect me, and any pile that i would name the citizens of jackson county would donate, club together and raise, and that i should never suffer for want afterwards: "you only deliver joe smith into our hands, and name your pile." i replied—"i will see you all damned first, and then i won't."
about the time that joseph was arrested by reynolds at dixon, i knowing that they were after him, and no means under heaven of giving him any information, my anxiety became so intense upon the subject, knowing their determination to kill him, that my flesh twitched on my bones. i could not help it; twitch it would. while undergoing this sensation, i heard a dove alight on the window in the upper room of the jail, and commence cooing, and then went off. in a short time he came back to the window, where a pane was broken; he crept through the bars of iron, which were about two and a half inches apart. i saw it fly round the trapdoor several times; it did not alight, but continued cooing until it crept through the bars again, and flew out through the broken window.
i relate this, as it was the only occurrence of the kind that happened during my long and weary imprisonment; but it proved a comfort to me; the twitching of my flesh ceased, and i was fully satisfied from that moment that they would not get joseph into missouri and that i should regain my freedom. from the best estimates that can be made, it was at the time when joseph was in the custody of reynolds.
in a few days afterwards sheriff reynolds came into the jail and told me that he had made a failure in the arrest of joseph.
at last, finding that no charge could be maintained against the prisoner, and that he could not be bribed or cajoled, or driven into a traitorous act, he was turned loose to find his way on foot across the state of missouri, which swarmed with enemies. he was marvelously preserved from dangers which encompassed his path, and reached nauvoo as much to joseph's joy as to his own.
the prophet must have compared the fidelity of this unpretending but loyal man with the selfish and traitorous action of some men upon whom benefits and confidences had been showered.
