"But, I beg leave to say unto you, brethren, that ignorance, superstition, and bigotry, placing itself where it ought not, is oftentimes in the way of the prosperity of this Church; like the torrent of rain from the mountains, that floods the most pure and crystal stream with mire, and dirt, and filthiness, and obscures everything that was clear before, and all hurls along in one general deluge; but time weathers tide; and notwithstanding we are rolled in for the time being by the mire of the flood, the next surge peradventure, as time rolls on, may bring us to the fountain as clear as crystal, and as pure as snow; while the filthiness, flood-wood, and rubbish is left and purged out by the way.

"How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven, upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.

"What is Boggs or his murderous party, but wimbling willows upon the shore to catch the flood-wood? As well might we argue that water is not water, because the mountain torrents send down mire and roils the crystal stream, although afterwards renders it more pure than before; or that fire is not fire, because it is of a quenchable nature, by pouring on the flood, as to say that our cause is down because renegadoes, liars, priests, thieves, and murderers, who are all alike tenacious of their crafts and creeds, have poured down from their spiritual wickedness in high places, and from their strong holds of the devil, a flood of dirt, and mire, and filthiness, and vomit, upon our heads. No! God forbid! Hell may pour forth its rage like the burning lava of

Mount Vesuvius or of Etna, or of the most terrible of the burning mountains; and yet shall Mormonism stand. Water, Fire, Truth, and God, are all the same. Truth is Mormonism; God is the author of it. He is our Shield. It is by him we received our birth. It was by his voice that we were called to a dispensation of his gospel in the beginning of the fullness of times. It was by him we received the Book of Mormon; and it was by him that we remain unto this day; and by him we shall remain, if it shall be for our glory; and in his Almighty name we are determined to endure tribulations as good soldiers unto the end.

"But, brethren, we shall continue to offer further reflections in our next epistle. You will learn, by the time you have read this, and if you do not learn it, you may learn it,—that walls and irons, doors and creaking hinges, and half scared to death guards and jailors, grinning like some damned spirits, lest an innocent man should make his escape to bring to light the damnable deeds of a murderous mob,-is calculated, in its very nature, to make the soul of an honest man feel stronger than the powers of hell.

But we must bring our epistle to a close. We send our respects to fathers, mothers, wives, and children, brothers and sisters; we hold them in the most sacred remembrance.

"We feel to inquire after Elder Rigdon, if he has not forgotten us; it has not been signified to us by his scrawl. Brother George W. Robinson also, and Elder Cahoon, we remember him, but would like to jog his memory a little on the fable of the bear and the two friends who mutually agreed to stand by each other. And perhaps it would not be amiss to mention Uncle John, and various others. A word of consolation, and a blessing, would not come amiss from anybody, while we are being

so closely whispered by the bear. But we feel to excuse everybody and everything, yea, the more readily, when we contemplate that we are in the hands of worse than a bear, for the bear would not prey upon a dead carcase.

"Our respects, and love, and fellowship to all the virtuous Saints. We are your brethren, and fellow-sufferers, and prisoners of Jesus Christ for the Gospel's sake, and for the hope of glory which is in us. Amen.

"JOSEPH SMITH, Jun., "HYRUM SMITH,

"LYMAN WHITE,

"CALEB BALDWIN,

"ALEXANDER M'RAE."

The original document which we have faithfully given above, with all the errors and obscurities which occasionally characterize the style of Joseph Smith, would it not seem to emanate from a pen guided by sincerity and conviction? With the exception of some sentiments hardly consistent with the charity to be expected from one aspiring to be a Christian prophet, it is animated with so much fervour, and has such an appearance of sincere faith, that were we to judge Joseph by this epistle alone, we should term him a fanatic rather than an impostor. As to his followers, the sincerity of their faith cannot be questioned. It would be possible to relate acts of theirs which fully prove it, and which might be supposed taken from the most trustworthy legends of ancient times. Thus, to fulfil

a revelation,—that of the 8th of July, 1838,-a few of the faithful left Quincy the 26th of April, 1839, and, braving every peril, betook themselves secretly to Far-West, where, during the night, after having laid the first stone of the house of the Lord by rolling a huge block of marble to the south-west angle of a site chosen for the temple, and already consecrated, they offered up the prayers usual on such an occasion, and then took their way back to Quincy, where they arrived in safety. Their pious mission had been miraculously protected, and they might consider themselves fortunate in escaping the death which awaited them had they been discovered by their enemies.

We shall relate in the next chapter the new era which dawned upon the Mormons in Illinois, where, in the middle of winter, they had sought an asylum from the persecution in Missouri, and where, after his escape from prison, the Prophet had joined them on the 26th of April, 1839.

R

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CHAPTER III.

FROM THE FOUNDATION OF NAUVOO TO THE DEATH OF THE PROPHET. 1839-1844.

HOSPITALITY IN ILLINOIS TO THE

FUGITIVES.-JOURNEY OF THE PROPHET ΤΟ WASHINGTON.-FOUNDATION OF NAUVOO.-WONDER

FUL PROSPERITY.-JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THE PROPHET. -THE PROPHET APPOINTED GENERAL OF MILITIA.-HE IS A CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES.-HIS ELECTORAL ADDRESS. PROSPERITY INTOXICATES HIM. LETTER OF THE PROPHET TO HENRY CLAY.-DESTRUCTION OF THE PRESSES OF A NEWSPAPER. THE STORM WHICH FOLLOWS. JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHER ASSASSINATED IN THE PRISON OF CARTHAGE.MOURNING AT NAUVOO.-FUNERAL OF THE MARTYRS.-CHARACTER

OF JOSEPH SMITH.

THE Mormons were exceedingly well received, on their arrival in Illinois, by the inhabitants of Quincy, a small town situate on the banks of the Mississippi. They were offered land a few miles to the north on that river, on a site which had been fixed upon for a town to be called Commerce. The situation was delightful, the temperature mild, the soil fertile, and adapted to all kinds of produce.