THE PROPHET'S TRIAL AT SPRINGFIELD—MISSOURI AGAIN THWARTED.

It appears that Joseph had resolved to submit no longer to the injustice he had suffered from the hands of the people of Missouri. It was rumored that the officers on leaving Nauvoo, breathed out threats of returning with sufficient force to search every house in the city and vicinity; and Sheriff Ford, the agent of Missouri, threatened to bring a mob against the Mormons, if necessary to arrest the Prophet. Hearing these rumors, Joseph exchanged several letters with William Law, who had been recently elected major-general of the Legion, vice John C. Bennett, cashiered; in which he admonished him to have all things in readiness to protect the people in their rights, and not for one moment to submit to the outrages that were threatened.

"You will see, therefore," said he, in a letter written on the fourteenth of August, to Law, "that the peace of the city of Nauvoo is kept, let who will, endeavor to disturb it. You will also see that whenever any mob force or violence is used, on any citizen thereof, or that belongeth thereunto, you will see that force or violence is immediately dispersed, and brought to punishment, or meet it, and contest it at the point of the sword, with firm, undaunted and unyielding valor; and let them know that the spirit of old Seventy-six, and of George Washington yet lives, and is contained in the bosoms and blood of the children of the fathers thereof. If there are any threats in the city, let legal steps be taken against them; and let no man, woman or child be intimidated, nor suffer it to be done. Nevertheless, as I said in the first place, we will take every measure that lays in our power, and make every sacrifice that God or man could require at our hands, to preserve the peace and safety of the people without collision."

To these sentiments there was a willing response of acquiescence on the part of the major-general, and he pledged himself to faithfully carry out Joseph's orders, provided the emergency for doing so should arise. After a little, however, the excitement began to subside; and as Joseph's hiding place at Derby's was discovered by a young man who suddenly came upon him and his kind host while they were walking out in the woods for exercise, the Prophet moved quietly into the city, staying first at the house of one friend a day or two, and then removing to that of another.

In the meantime the case was plainly placed before Governor Carlin; and the course that Joseph had taken fully vindicated by letters written to him by Emma his wife, who displayed no mean ability in the correspondence she opened up with the governor, which so nearly concerned the peace of her family. She directed the attention of the governor to the fact that Joseph had not been in the State of Missouri for some three or four years—that if her husband had been accessory before the fact, to the assault upon ex-Governor Boggs, the crime, if committed at all—which she stoutly averred was not the case—was done in Illinois, and there was no law to drag a man from a State where the crime was committed, into a State where it had not been committed, for trial; and as her husband had not been in the State of Missouri for several years previous to the assault on Boggs, he could not have fled from the justice of that State, and therefore ought not to be given up under the fugitive-from-justice law.

Letters from many prominent citizens of Nauvoo were also sent to the governor; and the Female Relief Society called his attention to the threat of mob violence and invasion from Missouri, and asked that sufficient military protection might be given to insure the peace and safety of Nauvoo. All these things the governor treated lightly, and claimed that the only excitement that existed was with the Mormon people at Nauvoo, and nowhere else; and there was no need, he insisted, of taking the precautions hinted at by the people; though when talking on another subject he unwittingly remarked that persons were offering their services every day either in person or by letter, and held themselves in readiness to go against the Saints whenever he should call upon them; but he never had the least idea of calling on the militia, neither had he thought it necessary. He maintained that the proper thing for Joseph to do was to give himself up to the authorities of Missouri for trial, and he had no doubt that he would be acquitted. Judge Ralston asked him how he thought Mr. Smith would go through the midst of his enemies without being subject to violence; and how after his acquittal, he would be able to return to Illinois. To that proposition the governor could give no satisfactory answer, but made light of the whole matter. And in spite of all the protests sent in by the people of Nauvoo, he made a proclamation that as Joseph Smith and O. P. Rockwell had resisted the laws, by refusing to go with the officers who had them in custody, and had made their escape, he offered a reward of two hundred dollars for each or either of those "fugitives from justice." Governor Reynolds also offered a reward for their arrest, three hundred dollars for each one or either of them.

Joseph continued to remain in the city and moved about cautiously, attending to his business. A tide of popular prejudice had set in of such proportions that it seemed that it would overwhelm the Saints. It had been created largely through the misrepresentations of John C. Bennett, and Joseph at once determined to counteract it if possible. He ordered that a special conference be called to meet on the 29th of August, to appoint Elders of The Church to go through the State of Illinois and the east to flood the country with the truth in relation to Bennett's character. The conference was called, and in the interim documents and affidavits were prepared that the brethren might be armed with proofs in relation to the facts respecting Bennett and his misrepresentations.

The conference convened on the day appointed and Hyrum Smith addressed them on the mission that many of them were expected to take. At the conclusion of his remarks, Joseph suddenly stepped into the stand to the great joy of his people, many of whom thought he had gone to Washington, and others to Europe. His appearance created great cheerfulness and animation among the people. Joseph, naturally impulsive, was overjoyed to again stand before the Saints. He addressed them in more than his usual spirited manner and called upon the brethren to go through the States taking documents with them, "to show to the world the corrupt and oppressive conduct of Boggs, Carlin and others, that the public might have the truth laid before them." In response to this call to sustain the Prophet's character, three hundred and eighty Elders volunteered their services, and announced their willingness to go immediately.

For several days after the conference the Prophet continued about home, but it being revealed to him that his enemies were again on the move to take him; he found it necessary to drop out of sight. It was during this time of hiding that he wrote those instructions respecting baptism for the dead, contained in the 127th and 128th sections of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.

But notwithstanding his enemies were on the watch for him, he now and then visited his home; and on the occasion of paying one of these visits to his family he nearly fell into the hands of the officers. He was at dinner with his family at the "Mansion," when Deputy Sheriff Pitman, of Adams County, and an assistant suddenly presented themselves at the door. Fortunately John Boynton, who was present, saw them first and went to the door to meet them. They asked him if Joseph Smith was present, to which he gave an evasive answer, saying that he had seen Joseph that morning, but did not say he had seen him since. During this conversation the Prophet stepped out of the back door, ran through the corn in his garden and so to the house of Bishop N. K. Whitney. Emma now engaged the sheriff in conversation. He said he wanted to search the house. She asked if he had a search warrant, to which he answered in the negative; but insisted on searching the house nevertheless, and as she knew that Joseph had escaped, she did not refuse. Of course the search was fruitless.

It was reported that a party of fifteen left Quincy with the sheriff the day before, and that they rode all night expecting to reach Nauvoo before daylight, surround the "Mansion," and capture Joseph. But in the night they got scattered and did not meet again, nor did Sheriff Pitman reach Nauvoo until about noon, when he made the effort above detailed.

About the first of October, Elder Rigdon and Elias Higbee were in Carthage, and from a conversation with Judge Douglass, they learned that Governor Carlin had purposely issued an illegal writ for the arrest of Joseph, thinking he would go to Carthage to be acquitted on habeas corpus proceedings before Judge Douglass; when an officer of the State would be present with a legal writ and serve it upon him immediately, and thus drag him to Missouri. The plot, however, was discovered in time to thwart it, and Joseph, in company with Elder John Taylor, Wilson Law and John D. Parker, left Nauvoo for the home of Elder Taylor's father, about a day and a half's ride from Nauvoo, and there the Prophet remained for about a week.

Meantime, through Major Warren, master in chancery, Joseph's case was presented to Justice Butterfield, of Chicago, and United States attorney for the district of Illinois. He wrote out an elaborate review of the case in which he claimed that Joseph could be released on a writ of habeas corpus; that he would have the right to prove that he was not in Missouri at the time the alleged crime was committed—that of necessity, if he was guilty of the crime with which he was charged, he must have committed it in Illinois, and therefore was not a fugitive from justice—and the governor of Illinois had no right to surrender him to the authorities of Missouri as such. Mr. Butterfield contended that a warrant for the action of the governor of a State, in delivering up a person to the authorities of another State, was found in that clause of the Constitution which says:

A person charged in any State with treason, felony or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. (Constitution, Article 4; Section 2.)

Mr. Butterfield insisted that it was unnecessary to inquire into the laws that had been enacted by Congress on the subject, since:

Congress has just so much power and no more than is expressly given by the said clause in the Constitution.

"What persons, then," he inquires, "can be surrendered up by the governor of one State to the governor of another?"

First: He must be a person charged with treason, felony or other crime. It is sufficient if he be charged with the commission of crime, either by indictment found or by affidavit. Second: He must be a person who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State. It is not sufficient to satisfy this branch of the Constitution, that he should be "charged" with having fled from justice. Unless he has actually fled from the State, where the offense was committed, into another State, the governor of this State has no jurisdiction over his person and cannot deliver him up.

Mr. Butterfield reviewed the subject of habeas corpus writs and their operations both in England and the United States, and quoted a number of cases from the courts of New York, and the action of the executives of the several States to support the principles he contended for, and concluded his communication in these words:

I would advise that Mr. Smith procure respectable and sufficient affidavits to prove beyond all question that he was in this State [Illinois] and not in Missouri at the time the crime with which he was charged was committed, and upon these affidavits, apply to the governor to countermand the warrant he has issued for his arrest. If he should refuse so to do, I am already of the opinion that, upon that state of facts, the supreme court will discharge him upon habeas corpus.

Joseph acted upon this advice, and sent agents with all the necessary papers to Springfield and applied to Governor Ford—Carlin's term of office in the meantime having expired—to revoke the writ and proclamation of ex-Governor Carlin for his arrest. The supreme court being in session, Governor Ford submitted the petition and all the papers pertaining thereto for their opinion, and they were unanimous in their belief that the Missouri writ was illegal, but were divided as to whether it would be proper for the present executive to interfere with the official acts of his predecessor, and therefore Governor Ford refused to interfere; but said, in a personal letter addressed to the Prophet:

I can only advise that you submit to the laws and have a judicial investigation of your rights. If it should become necessary, for this purpose to repair to Springfield, I do not believe that there will be any disposition to use illegal violence towards you; and I would feel it my duty in your case, as in the case of any other person, to protect you with any necessary amount of force, from mob violence whilst asserting your rights before the courts, going to and returning.

This reply was endorsed by Mr. Butterfield and James Adams, in whom Joseph had great confidence; and in conformity with the advice, Joseph was arrested by Wilson Law, on Carlin's proclamation. Application was made at Carthage for a writ of habeas corpus to go before the court at Springfield. No writ could be obtained at the court in Carthage, as the clerk had been elected to the State senate; but an order for such writ was issued on the master in chancery, and with that document Joseph, in the company of his brother Hyrum, John Taylor and others, and in charge of Wilson Law, started for Springfield, where they arrived in the afternoon of the thirtieth of December, 1842.

Judge Pope had continued his court two or three days in order to give Joseph's case a hearing, and in the first interview the judge had with him, agreed to try the case on its merits, and not dismiss it on any technicality. The deputy sheriff of Adams County was present, but refused at first to say whether he had the original writ or not; but finally King, his associate, admitted he had it.

Fearing that it was the object of these men to hold the original writ until after proceedings had concluded on the arrest made by virtue of Governor Carlin's proclamation, and thus create more trouble, a petition was made to Governor Ford to issue a new writ, that the case might come up on its merits, which was granted, and Joseph was arrested by Mr. Maxey, and a writ of habeas corpus was issued by the court; but as several days must elapse before a hearing could be had, Joseph was placed under $4,000 bonds, Wilson Law and General James Adams being his bondsmen.

At last the day of trial came on and the attorney-general of the State made the following objection to the jurisdiction of the court:

1. The arrest and detention of Smith, was not under or by color of authority of the United States, or of any officer of the United States, but under and by color of authority of the State of Illinois, by the officer of the State of Illinois.

2. When a fugitive from justice is arrested by authority of the governor of any State, upon the requisition of the governor of another State, the courts of justice, neither State nor Federal, have any authority or jurisdiction to inquire into facts behind the writ.

These points were ably argued pro and con by Mr. Butterfield for the defense, and the attorney-general for the State. After giving a patient hearing, the court gave its opinion, saying in relation to the first objection, that, "The warrant on its face purports to be issued in pursuance of the Constitution and laws of the United States, as well as of the State of Illinois;" and therefore the court had jurisdiction.

"The matter in hand," said Judge Pope, "presents a case arising under the second section of article IV of the Constitution of the United States, and an act of Congress of February 12th, 1793, to carry it into effect. The Constitution says: 'The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law or equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, and which shall be made under their authority.'"

Therefore, on that line of reasoning, the judge concluded the court had jurisdiction. As to the second objection—the right of the court to inquire into facts behind the writ—the judge held it unnecessary to decide that point, as Smith was entitled to his discharge, for defect in the affidavit on which the demand for his surrender to Missouri was made. To justify the demand for his arrest the affidavit should have shown, "First, that Smith committed a crime; second, that he committed it in Missouri. And it must also appear 'that Smith had fled from Missouri.'" None of these things the affidavit of Boggs did, and the judge held that it was defective for those reasons, and added:

The court can alone regard the facts set forth in the affidavit of Boggs as having any legal existence. The mis-recitals and over-statements in the requisition and warrant are not supported by oath and cannot be received as evidence to deprive a citizen of his liberty, and transport him to a foreign State for trial. For these reasons, Smith must be discharged.

And Joseph had scored another victory over his old enemies in Missouri.