  THE EXODUS—THE FALL OF NAUVOO.
Such were the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith to the Nauvoo Legion on the eighteenth of June, 1844. And the action of the old citizens of Hancock and the surrounding counties subsequent to the murder of the Prophet, prove how truly inspired were the words we have quoted. For no sooner did they discover that the work which Joseph had begun refused to die with him, than they renewed hostilities, and sought by every means their wicked hearts could devise to harass and destroy those who devoted their energies to the consummation of the work which had been started. The mockery of a trial given those who had murdered the Prophets, emboldened the enemies of the Saints, for they saw justice powerless to vindicate outraged law, and that with impunity they could prey upon the citizens of Nauvoo, whom, it would seem, their hatred had selected for a sacrifice. Thieves and blacklegs generally, saw the opportunity of having their crimes charged upon an innocent people, and established themselves in the vicinity of Nauvoo, though principally on the Iowa side of the river, and all the thefts and acts of violence committed by those renegades were charged up to the account of the citizens of Nauvoo, and too gladly believed by the people in the surrounding counties. Not only were the charges of theft and robbery made against the Sainst, but they were also accused of hiding from justice any and all criminals who came into their midst—that Nauvoo, in short, was a rendezvous for outlaws, counterfeiters and desperate men generally. These charges led the city council on the thirteenth of January, 1845, to investigate the allegations and a series of resolutions were adopted stating that the charges of theft for the most part were fabrications of their enemies bent on ruining the reputation of the city, and defied those who made the charges to sustain with proof a single case where the citizens of Nauvoo had screened criminals from justice. The council also extended an invitation to all who had reasons to believe that their stolen property was concealed in Nauvoo to come and make diligent search for it, and pledged them the assistance of the council. To hunt out crime and put away everything that could give rise to even a suspicion of concealing criminals, the mayor was authorized to increase the force of police if necessary to five hundred; and the people were called upon to redouble their diligence in preventing criminals from coming among them, and all such persons as soon as discovered were to be given up to the officers of the law. The next day the action of the city council was submitted to the citizens of Nauvoo, and they approved of it. Fifty delegates were chosen and sent into the surrounding counties to disabuse the public mind relative to the false accusations made against the Saints, and to ask their co-operation in ridding the country of the counterfeiters and thieves which infested it. But all these efforts were fruitless. The falsehoods of their enemies outweighed the truths of the Saints, and prejudice more cruel than hell itself hardened the hearts of the people of Illinois against the appeals of the citizens of Nauvoo, and made them deaf to all entreaties for justice. Twice during the summer of 1845, Governor Ford himself went to Nauvoo to investigate these charges against her people; and when he came to deal with the "Mormon troubles," in his message to the legislature that fall, after speaking of the charges made, he said:
The prejudice, not to say bitterness, of Governor Ford against the Saints would rob his statement of any suspected exaggeration favorable to them. Nor is Governor Ford's voice the only one which vindicates the character of the citizens of Nauvoo. The deputy sheriff of Hancock County exonerated the Mormon people from any participation in the thefts perpetrated in the surrounding country. He testified that stolen property was brought through the country via Nauvoo, passed over the river to the Iowa side and taken into the interior, where it was concealed. He also stated that there were some five or six persons in Nauvoo who were assisting in this nefarious business, but said he, "they are not Mormons nor are they fellowshiped by them." Notwithstanding all this, misrepresentation so far succeeded in poisoning the minds of the public and the leading men in the State, that in January, 1845, the city charter of Nauvoo and the charter of the Legion were both repealed, and thus the protecting aegis of the city government was snatched away from her citizens, when most they needed it, and left them exposed to the fury of their enemies. Of this act of punic faith on the part of the State legislature, the State attorney, Josiah Lamborn, in a letter to Brigham Young, said:
Senator Jacob C. Davis was one among those who had been indicated for the murder of Joseph and Hyrum, and of him the attorney-general said:
In the meantime the Twelve Apostles, sustained by the Saints, put forth every exertion to carry out the designs of their martyred Prophet respecting Nauvoo. The Nauvoo House was hurried on, and the walls were growing rapidly under the constant labor of the masons. Work, too, was vigorously prosecuted at the temple. At the time of Joseph's death that edifice was but one story high, yet on the twenty-fourth of May, 1845, about six o'clock in the morning the cap-stone was laid amid the general rejoicing and shouts of "Hosanna" from the assembled thousands of the Saints. As President Brigham Young finished laying the cap-stone he stood upon it and said:
Thus the world began to understand that Mormonism was not born to die with its earthly leaders. And it began to be whispered that the Prophet Joseph dead was even more potent than when living. His testimony had been sealed with his blood, and it gave to his life and his labors an additional sanctity in the eyes of his followers, as well as making it more binding upon the world. Seeing then the continued prosperity of Nauvoo and her citizens, the people in the vicinity of that city and in the surrounding counties again commenced hostilities, if, indeed, it may be said that they had ever ceased. The enormity of the murder at Carthage jail had checked them temporarily; for an instant the torch and assassin's knife had dropped from their nerveless hands and they stood aghast, at that deed of blood. But seeing the work the murdered Prophet had started surviving his fall, they took up again the weapons of fell destruction and rushed once more upon their victims. Early in September, 1845, mobbing the scattered families of the Saints began in earnest. A meeting was held by anti-Mormons near what was called the "Morley settlement," to devise means of getting rid of the Mormons. During the meeting guns were fired at the house where it was held, and the assault charged upon the Saints, though most likely it was done by some of their own party—that they might have an excuse for their meditated acts of violence upon the people of Nauvoo. Such was the general belief at the time; and Governor Ford in his "History of Illinois," speaking of this circumstance, says:
The attack was made upon the Morley settlement, and on the eleventh of the month twenty-nine houses were burned down, while their occupants were driven into the bushes where men, women and children laid drenched with rain, anxiously awaiting the breaking of day. Speaking of this outrage, the editor of the Quincy Whig, Mr. Bartlett, said:
In the midst of the exciting scenes which followed, the sheriff of Hancock County, Mr. J. B. Backenstos proved himself a friend to law and order. He did all in his power to arrest the spread of violence and called upon all law-abiding citizens to act as a posse comitatus, but announced it as his opinion that the citizens of Nauvoo had better take no part in suppressing the mob-violence, since that might lead to a civil war. At the same time he told the people of Hancock, that "the Mormon community had acted with more than ordinary forbearance, remaining perfectly quiet, and offering no resistance when their dwellings, their buildings, stacks of grain, etc., were set on fire in their presence. They had forborne until forbearance was no longer a virtue." His vigorous efforts were making headway against the violators of the law; but in consequence of some parties who had sought his life, while acting in his official capacity, being killed, he was arrested[ In the midst of these tumultuous scenes a mass meeting of the citizens was convened at Quincy on the twenty-second of September. It was generally known that the Prophet Joseph had contemplated going west with the main body of The Church, and it was one of the objects of this meeting to appoint a committee to confer with The Church authorities and learn what their present intentions were as to leaving the State. It was expressed as the opinion of that meeting that the only basis upon which the Mormon troubles could be settled would be the removal of that people from Illinois. "It is a settled thing," said Mr. Bartlett, editor of the Quincy Whig, in his issue following the meeting of the above date—
We are sorry to say that many of the leading men of Quincy, principally prominent members of the bar, who before had been kindly disposed towards the citizens of Nauvoo, now turned against them, and became the advocates of violence, and lent the weight and influence of their characters to the support and spread of mob-law. Among such we are sorry to publish Major Warren and O. H. Browning, the latter having defended the Prophet Joseph on more than one occasion when unjustly charged with crime before the courts of the country. His burning words of eloquence, in reciting the wrongs of the Saints, when cruelly expelled from Missouri, would, one would think, have enlisted the sympathy of adamantine hearts; and now to see him leagued with those bent upon bringing about a repetition of these sorrows, is an event to be truly deplored. In answer to the Quincy committee to state what their present intentions were relative to leaving the State, the Twelve handed them the following communication:
The Quincy committee reported to the citizens of that city, the propositions of The Church authorities, which were regarded as satisfactory in part, but thought they were not so full or decisive as was necessary. The mass meeting to which they reported, however, accepted the propositions and decided to recommend the people in the surrounding counties to do the same. "But," said one of the resolutions:
Of the first of these resolutions Josiah B. Conyers, the author of "A Brief History of the Hancock Mob," says with just indignation and sarcasm:
This mass meeting closed its business by arranging a plan for adopting a preliminary military organization for prompt future action, if occasion should demand. On the first and second of October an anti-Mormon convention assembled at Carthage, in which nine counties, those immediately surrounding Hancock, were represented. A committee on evidence, was appointed, on which Archibald Williams, one of the Saints' bitterest enemies, was chairman. It was its business to collect evidence in relation to the depredations of the Mormons. The chairman made a report to which were appended a number of affidavits, charging various crimes on the people of Nauvoo. It is needless to say that the whole thing was an ex patre affair, and sustained by the men who had assisted in the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith; and it was upon their evidence the convention acted. The convention adopted the course followed by the mass meeting at Quincy—that is, it agreed to accept the propositions of The Church authorities, to remove, in the same spirit they were received at Quincy, and proceeded to prepare a preliminary military organization to act with promptitude, provided the Saints did not remove. The convention also,
O. H. Browning moved the following:
And thus those guilty of mob violence and house burning were to be protected by the Carthage convention from prosecution before the courts; and those who might have the temerity to prosecute them and vindicate the law, were threatened by a renewal of that same lawless violence! Where, then, proud State of Illinois, was your majesty! Your honor! Can you answer? If you, out of very shame, cannot look up and reply, history answers for you, and tells you it was trailed in the dust, under the very feet of as vile a set of traitors as ever brought shame to their country! And where was your virtuous populace, the true watch and guard of a State's honor? Alas, they were blinded by the falsehoods prompted by malice and envy, and started on foot to shield the guilty murderers of innocence, or quelled by the bold front of a traitorous but successful mob. In the meantime every exertion was made by the citizens of Nauvoo, to be ready for the great exodus in the spring. The temple had been so far completed that a conference was held in it on the sixth of October, and committees appointed to negotiate the sale of property and attend to other branches of business. Nauvoo presented a busy scene in those days. Men were hurrying to and fro collecting wagons and putting them in repair; the roar of the smith's forge was well nigh perpetual, and even the stillness of night was broken by the steady beating of the sledge and the merry ringing of the anvil. Committees were seeking purchasers of real estate and converting both that and personal property into anything that would be of service to those just about to plunge into an unknown and boundless wilderness. But while these efforts were being put forth on the part of the people of Nauvoo, to fulfill their agreement with the mob forces, the conditions of removal on the part of the old settlers were frequently violated; and instances of mob violence were almost every day occurrences. The people, who were making preparations to leave the farms, gardens and homes they had redeemed from the wilderness, were constantly threatened with destruction by the hostile demonstrations of their heartless neighbors. To give an earnest of the intentions of the Mormons to leave the State where they had suffered so much, and to thereby remove all occasion for the implacable wrath of their enemies, that was so impatient that it could not wait for the springtime to come, for the sacrifice of its victims, the Twelve and the High Council, with about four hundred families, crossed the Mississippi on the ice, on the eleventh of February, 1846, and were soon lost to view in the wilderness of Iowa. Others continued to follow as fast as they could make ready, until by the latter part of April, the great body of The Church at Nauvoo had gone. But now, purchasers for their property failed those who remained. The people surrounding Nauvoo saw no need of purchasing that which inevitably must become theirs. The result was that it became impossible for this remnant, consisting for the most part, of the destitute, the aged, infirm and sick, to remove. And surely a people who had still any faith left in humanity, would be justified in the belief that these could remain until an asylum was found for them by their friends, who had already gone in search of new homes. But in this, be it said, to the shame of Illinois, they were deceived. In the hardened hearts of their enemies, however, there was no mercy, even for the helpless; no pity for the sick or destitute. In their enemies' veins the milk of human kindness had dried up. During the preparations for the exodus, Major Warren had been stationed with a small military force in Hancock, to keep the peace; but about the middle of April he received orders to disband his force on the first of May, as that was adjudged by "the public expectation," to use a phrase of Major Warren's, when the last of the Mormons should have left the State. So soon as it was understood that there were still left in Nauvoo a number of Mormons who would likely remain through the summer to continue their efforts to dispose of property, an uproar was raised in the surrounding counties, meetings were held and resolutions adopted, demanding that they leave at once, under threats of extermination. When the governor saw this new furore breaking out, he countermanded the order for Major Warren to disband his forces, and commanded him to hold his position and to preserve the peace until he received further orders. The new impetus given to mob violence, however, was not to spend its force without perpetrating some outrage, and a number of cowardly attacks were made upon Mormons. On the eleventh of May, Major Warren found it necessary to issue a circular from which I quote the following:
To those busy trying to raise mob forces, principally Squire M'Calla and Colonel Levi Williams, Major Warren gave warning that a previous order to the effect that not more than four armed men, other than State troops, should assemble together, would be enforced; and that any mob which assembled would be dispersed; his force or the mob would leave the field in double quick time. This had the effect of quieting matters down for a season, but only until Major Warren's detachment was disbanded. A meeting was held at Carthage on the sixth of June, to make preparations for celebrating the fourth of July, the nation's natal day. It was suggested at that meeting that, as all the Mormons had not left the State, the people of Hancock County could not be considered free; and under those circumstances, they ought not to celebrate the fourth with the usual rejoicings. The meeting was therefore adjourned to meet on the twelfth, for the purpose of taking into consideration why it was that all Mormons had not left the city of Nauvoo. That happened to be the day fixed by the governor on which to raise volunteers for the Mexican war, which, in the meantime, had broken out; so that there was considerable excitement among the militia of Hancock County, and the mob leaders doubtless thought the time propitious for making a demonstration against the few Saints still remaining in Nauvoo. A large body of men were found willing to march into Nauvoo, but it was learned that the new citizens who had purchased much of the property of the now exiled people, were unwilling to allow the mob forces to enter the city, and meeting with this unexpected opposition, the mob forces marched to Golden's point, distant from Nauvoo some five or six miles down the river. At this juncture, Stephen Markham returned to Nauvoo from the camp of the Apostles for some Church property; but it was rumored that he had returned with a large body of men, and as Markham's name was a terror among the enemies of the Saints, the mob took to flight, though no one was in pursuit. It was a case of the wicked fleeing when no man pursued. The committee at Quincy having control of the mob forces, either chagrined by the cowardice of those who had collected at Golden's point, or appalled at the prospect of innocent blood being found upon their skirts, retired from the position which had been assigned them. This disorganized the mob and they dispersed to their homes, but agreed to assemble again at the call of their leaders; and laid an injunction upon the Mormons in Nauvoo not to go outside of the city limits, except in making their way westward. This order of the mob was disregarded by a party of new citizens and a few Saints who went into the country several miles, to harvest a field of grain. While engaged in their work, they were surrounded by a mob and captured. They were robbed of their arms, stripped of their clothing, and cruelly beaten with hickory goads. This outrage created intense excitement in Nauvoo, and the new citizens and Saints made common cause in bringing the perpetrators of it to justice. But while the parties accused of the crime were under arrest in the hands of the officers, a second party, consisting of P. H. Young and his son, Richard Ballantyne, James Standing and Mr. Herring were kidnapped, and held by their tormentors fourteen days, during which time they were constantly threatened with death. They finally escaped, however, and returned to Nauvoo. The parties accused of making the assault on those in the harvest field, took a change of venue to Quincy, but whether they were ever brought to trial or not, I cannot learn, but think they were not. Among those arrested for attacking the party of harvesters was Major M'Calla; and in his possession was found a gun taken from the party. The gun was recognized by several persons, among whom was Wm. Pickett, and taken from him. The mobbers then and there made out a charge of stealing, and got out warrants for the arrest of Pickett, Furness and Clifford. Pickett, it would seem, had incurred the hatred of the mob, and they desired to get him into their power. Word was brought to him by a friend that the warrant was merely a subterfuge to get him into the hands of his enemies; consequently, when one John Carlin, a special constable from Carthage, undertook to arrest him, he asked if he would guarantee his safety; being answered in the negative, he resisted the officer and would not be taken. Though it is claimed that afterwards, in company with several friends he went before the magistrate of Green Plains, who, it was said, issued the warrant for his arrest. But as he had no record of the warrant he refused to put him under arrest. The other parties accused were acquitted on examination. The mob now, however, saw an opportunity to accomplish their full purpose of destroying the city of Nauvoo. An officer had been resisted by a citizen, and his fellow citizens approved his course! "Nauvoo was in rebellion against the laws!" Carlin issued a proclamation calling upon the citizens to come as a posse comitatus, to assist him in executing the law. And to his clarion call,
The old mob forces were soon assembled at Carthage, and the command given to Captain Singleton. The citizens of Nauvoo petitioned the governor for protection, and he sent to them Major J. R. Parker, with a force of ten men from Fulton County, and also authorized him to take command of such forces as might volunteer to defend the city against any attacks that might be threatened. He was also empowered "to pursue, and in aid of any peace officer with a proper warrant, arrest the rioters who may threaten or attempt such an attack, and bring them to trial;" and to assist with an armed posse any peace officer in making an arrest, and with a like force to guard the prisoners, during the trial, and as long as he believed them in danger of mob violence. The commission bears date August 24, 1846. Thus equipped, Major Parker went to Nauvoo and issued a proclamation calling upon the mobs then collecting, "in the name of the people of Illinois, and by virtue of the authority vested in him by the governor of the State to disperse." The issue, then, was no longer between the mob forces and the Mormons; it was between the recognized authority of the State and this lawless banditti. Major Parker also announced that he was authorized and prepared to assist the proper officers in serving any writs in their hands. In answer to this proclamation Carlin issued a counter one to the effect that if he met with resistance from Parker, he would consider his detachment as a mob, and proceed accordingly. To which Parker replied, if the forces under Carlin undertook to enter Nauvoo, he would treat them as a mob. Parker also wrote to Singleton, and expressed a desire to bring about a settlement of the difficulty without shedding blood. To this communication Singleton replied that in Parker's proposition he saw nothing looking to the expulsion of the remnant of the Mormon people left in Nauvoo, and "that is," said he "a sine qua non with us." It will be remembered that Carlin's professed object in calling for a posse was to arrest William Pickett; but now something more is demanded—the immediate removal of the Mormons, the surrender of Nauvoo, etc. Singleton concluded his terms to Parker, the representative of the governor of the State, in these words:
At this juncture a committee of one hundred, which had been appointed by the citizens of Quincy, arrived on the scene, to act—ostensibly—as mediators, to bring about a peaceful solution of the trouble, but one cannot help thinking their true mission was to insidiously carry out the project of the mob. But I leave the reader to draw his own inference respecting that; when he hears the terms proposed by that committee, and which all classes of citizens in Nauvoo, seeing no alternative, accepted: The terms offered were that the Mormons move out of the city, or disperse within sixty days. A force of twenty-five to remain in the city during that time, half the expense of maintaining them was to be paid by the people of Nauvoo; for which amount they were to give bond; that the Mormons surrender their arms, which should be returned to them after they left the State; that as soon as those arms were surrendered, the forces under Singleton were to disperse; that all hostilities cease between the respective parties as soon as the agreement was accepted. The singularity about this agreement is that not one word is said about giving up Pickett, to arrest whom the forces under Singleton were ostensibly called out. Does it not reveal the fact that the Pickett episode was merely a ruse—a pretext for gathering a mob to sack Nauvoo and drive away the Mormons? This proposed settlement, however, was rejected by the mob forces. It did not sufficiently gratify their implacable hatred. They did, in very deed, as the Prophet Joseph foretold his people they would, thirst for the blood of every man in whose heart dwelt a single spark of the spirit of the fullness of the Gospel. But when the mob rejected these terms, Singleton and other leaders left them; saying the Mormons had done all that could be required of them. On the retirement of Singleton and others, the command of the mob was given to Thomas S. Brockman, a Campbellite preacher, known familiarly as "Old Tom," among his followers. He at once went into active preparations for bombarding the city; and with a force of more than one thousand men, and six pieces of cannon, took up a position about one mile east of the city, in a cornfield just at the head of Mulholland street; and not far from the house of Squire D. H. Wells. From this position Brockman issued the terms upon which he would grant peace. The terms he offered were much more outrageous than those proposed by the Quincy committee, and therefore were rejected by the people of Nauvoo, both by Mormon and non-Mormon. Brockman addressed his insolent terms of peace to "the commanding officer of Nauvoo, and the trustees of the Mormon Church." The "commanding officer" was Major Clifford, who had succeeded Major Parker in that position. He was vested with the governor's commission as Parker had been, and it was to this representative of Illinois' executive that the demand of Brockman to surrender the city, and stack his arms, was addressed; so that he and his mob forces were pitted against the laws and lawful authority of the State, and we shall see, as we proceed, how mobs were more powerful than the State authorities; or rather, how the lawful authorities of the State were so lost to all sense of shame, so recreant to the trust reposed in them, so neglectful of the honor and dignity of the State, that they permitted their own representatives to be driven in disgrace from the field by the mob led by Brockman: and furthermore, those same authorities were so lost to every principle of humanity, that they permitted the helpless and unoffending people to be driven from their homes out into the wilderness to perish from exposure. The citizens of Nauvoo were not willing to allow Brockman's mob to enter the city without making some effort to prevent him; and although their forces numbered not more than three or four hundred, they presented a determined front to the mob. They converted some steam-boat shafts into cannon—five pieces in all—and threw up some fortifications on the north of Mulholland street, facing the mob's camp. These works were under command of Captain Lamareux. On the south of of Mulholland street, the companies of Gates and Cutler were stationed. On September 10th, 11th, and 12th, there was some desultory firing on both sides, without much advantage being gained. On the thirteenth, however, the mob-forces advanced in solid column, making a desperate effort to reach Mulholland street, the principal street leading into Nauvoo from the east. If the onset was desperate, the resistance was equally determined. The main shock of the conflict was sustained for a time by Gates' and Cutler's companies, and they must inevitably have been overpowered by the superior numbers of the mob, had not Squire Wells come up with Lamareux's company to reinforce them. The doughty squire had ridden across an open field exposed to the fire of the enemy, to where Lamareux's company lay behind their fortifications. He called upon them to advance at once to check the approach of the mob. There was one brave spirit who needed no second call to perform his duty. That was William Anderson, captain of what was known as the "Spartan Band." He leaped from behind the trenches and calling on his men to follow, started for the front. The rest of Lamareux's company did not so readily respond, and manifested a disposition to retreat rather than advance. Squire Wells, observing this, and seeing Anderson and his few brave followers rushing headlong into the conflict, raised in his stirrups, and swinging his hat, shouted: "Hurrah for Anderson! Who wouldn't follow the brave Anderson!" This rallied their spirits, and they followed the squire to the front, where they were soon firing at the enemy as steadily as their comrades. The mob forces by this time had nearly reached Mulholland street, but now they recoiled from the rapid firing of the reinforcements and beat a retreat to the house of a Mr. Carmichael, but a short distance from Squire Wells' house. Here they waited until wagons came from their camp, and putting their dead and wounded into them, returned to where they were encamped in the morning. The number of killed and wounded of the mob has never been ascertained, as the facts were kept concealed. The intrepid Anderson and his equally brave son, a lad not more than fifteen years of age fell in the engagement; and one Morris was killed while crossing a field by a cannon ball. Negotiations were now renewed, and the citizens of Nauvoo, seeing that the State authorities rendered them no assistance, but permitted even their own authority to be braved by a lawless mob, and knowing that they would eventually be overpowered, accepted the following terms of settlement, in order to stop the further effusion of blood:—
These terms of capitulation were signed on the part of the citizens of Nauvoo, by Almon W. Babbitt, Joseph L. Heywood and John S. Fullmer; and on the part of the mob by Thomas S. Brockman and John Carlin; and by Andrew Johnson on behalf of the Quincy committee. The rest of my story is soon told. There was a hasty flight of the "Mormon" population and a number of the new citizens who had assisted in the defense of Nauvoo. They left their homes without being able to carry with them anything for their comfort. The sick, aged and infirm, together with the youth, without regard to sex or condition, shared the same fate; they had to lie out on the Mississippi bottoms where many perished through exposure, and beyond all doubt, all would have famished from hunger, had not their camp been filled with innumerable flocks of quail, so tame that women and children caught hundreds of them in their hands, and thus was the cry of hunger relieved, by what would generally be regarded as a miraculous occurrence.[ Brockman and his forces entered the city, and once in, he insolently violated every condition of the treaty of surrender. But lest I should be charged with inaccuracy—for such events as I am recording seem almost too much to believe—I quote from the report made by Mr. Brayman to Governor Ford. Mr. Brayman had acted as the Governor's agent, for some time, in a secret capacity from the commencement of the difficulties at Nauvoo, and the following abstract is from an elaborate report he gives of the final struggle for the defense of the city. Moreover, the fact that I have never seen this matter reproduced in any of our books encourages me to insert it here:
Was this arch traitor, Brockman, hung for his treason against the State? No; nor even tried or questioned, neither he nor his followers. Perhaps it was thought that an investigation might reveal the fact to the world that many high officials, and chief among them the governor of the State, had been engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to drive from Illinois an innocent community, whose rights they had not the moral courage to defend against the fierce attacks of lawless mobs, whose hands were crimson in the blood of innocence; and who repeatedly trampled the honor and dignity of the State under their feet. After a time the most of the new citizens returned to the homes they had purchased for little or nothing from the now exiled founders of the beautiful city. But Nauvoo never prospered under its new masters. Out of sympathy for those who had redeemed it from a wilderness, and some portions of it from a swamp, its fields and gardens refused to yield in their strength to the industry of other hands. Its decline was as rapid and disastrous as its rise had been sudden and glorious. A French communistic society had purchased considerable property in the deserted city, and into their hands passed the splendid temple the Saints at such sacrifice had erected. Externally, the building had been completed in the spring of 1846, even to the gilding of the angel and the trumpet at the top of the spire. During the winter of 1845-6 various rooms of the temple were dedicated for ordinance work, and there hundreds of the faithful Saints received their endowments—the sacred mysteries of the faith. The main court of worship was also prepared; and on the evening of April 30th, 1846, the building was privately dedicated, Joseph Young, the senior president of the First Council of Seventy, offering the dedicatory prayer. On the first of May, 1846, under the direction of Apostles Orson Hyde and Wilford Woodruff, the edifice was publicly dedicated, according to the order of the Holy Priesthood, revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The temple was always a source of envy to the enemies of the Saints, and it was feared that if it continued to stand it would be a bond between its exiled builders and the city from which they had been cruelly driven, and an inducement for them to return. On the tenth of November, 1848, an incendiary, therefore, set it on fire, and the tower was destroyed, and the whole building so shattered, that on the twenty-seventh of May, 1850, a tornado blew down the north wall. I was informed by M. M. Morrill, who at the time of my visit was mayor of Nauvoo, and, by the way, one who had assisted in its defense when attacked by the mob, that one Joseph Agnew, confessed to being the incendiary. Finally all the walls were pulled down and the stone hauled away for building purposes, until now, not one stone stands upon another. Even the very foundation has been cleared away, and the excavation for the basement filled up and the site covered with inferior buildings. At the time of my visit, in the summer of 1885, the population of Nauvoo numbered about seventeen hundred, nine-tenths of whom were Germans. The principal occupation is grape-growing, vineyards covering some portions of the city plat, which was once the principal business center. The whole place has a half-deserted, half-dilapidated appearance, and seems to be withering under a blight, from which it refuses to recover. Such is the fate of Nauvoo, which once promised to be the first city of Illinois, and beyond all question would have been so had there existed sufficient virtue and honor in that State to have protected its founders in their rights. * * * * * * *
The quotation connects me with my introduction, and reminds me that I have completed the task proposed in these pages. But in the fate which overtook the survivors of the Acadian peasant-exiles from Nova Scotia, and the Mormons exiles from Illinois, the former fails altogether to suggest the faintest hint of a parallel.
Finishes the story of the Acadian exiles. Not so the story of the exiles from Illinois. They did not perish in exile, nor did merely a handful of them, broken in spirits as in fortunes return to live silent and sad on the site of their former homes. The Mormon exiles were not broken and scattered—they remained a people; beyond their exile they were destined to have a glorious history. Their faith in their religion was not shattered. Their church was not disrupted. Their hearts were not turned against their prophets. Their spirits were not blighted nor their hearts bowed down beyond the power of recovery; nor their fortunes so blasted that they could not hope for prosperity—for God was with them. The institution—The Church—brought into existence, and its doctrines developed amid so much of spiritual tempest and pursued so relentlessly by mob violence, and which may be said to have had a second birth at Nauvoo, and to have received sanctification from the martyrdom of her earthly founder—The Church which these exiles bore with them into the western wilderness was not born to die. Whatever might be the fate of The Church and the Saints in other dispensations of the Gospel, God had now introduced the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, in which He has decreed that all things in Christ shall be gathered together in one—even in Him.[ Footnotes |
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