Part 23 (2/2)
”They have lost all their earthly goods, and are now ready to _go and preach the Gospel to a dying world!_
”We have ordained about one hundred Elders into the Seventies.
There are about one hundred and fifty who have gone into the vineyard this winter to preach the Gospel, and many more will go in the spring, and several will come to England with me in the summer or fall.
”Elder Rigdon was bailed out of prison, and has left Missouri.
About ten thousand had gathered to this state. By the first of May, next, there will not be one left who has any faith. Not one-fourth part had any teams to move with, and we had two hundred miles to travel before we could get out of the state. I think their deliverance is a great miracle.”
CHAPTER x.x.xV.
THE BRETHREN IN LIBERTY JAIL--JUDGE KING'S COUP D'ETAT--THE MOB AGAIN THREATEN FAR WEST--FIENDS IN HUMAN FORM--THE PROPHET REGAINS HIS FREEDOM--THE APOSTLES FULFILL REVELATION--FIRST CONFERENCE OF THE CHURCH IN ILLINOIS.
Joseph and his brethren were still in the hands of the enemy, but the hour of their deliverance was drawing nigh. They had suffered severely in their confinement from the cruelty of their captors, but most of them had borne up bravely. Elder Rigdon, whose faith was beginning to fail under the terrible tension of trial, rashly exclaimed in a moment of despair: ”Jesus Christ was a fool to me in suffering.” Soon after, he was released on bail and set at liberty. The others were destined to tarry in chains a little longer.
Judge King now ordered the removal of the prisoners from Liberty to Daviess County, fearing a change of venue might be obtained to some other place where the feeling against them was less intense, and the prospect for a fair trial more favorable.
Heber C. Kimball and another of the brethren were appointed to visit Judge Hughes, a friend of Joseph's, and get him to attend the sitting of the court in Daviess County.
”The Judge,” says Heber, ”who had formerly been an Indian agent, and was a very rough man in his language, cursed the judges, the governor, and everybody else who would not step forward and help the brethren out of the hands of their persecutors, for he did not believe they were guilty of any of the crimes alleged against them; he said there was no proof that they had committed any crime worthy of imprisonment or death, and that the Mormons had been meanly treated in Missouri.
”There were several men in Liberty who were very friendly to the brethren. I called on them when I went there, and they treated me with great civility. General Doniphan and General Atchison and several of the foremost men of the town were among them.
”Those I have mentioned and several others, revolted at the scenes enacted against the Mormons, and would have liberated the brethren had it not been for 'outside pressure,'--that is, the strong prejudice against us by the people, and their bloodthirstiness to kill the prophets.”
Meanwhile, the mob, not content with the ruin they had wrought, continued to threaten the few Saints who remained in Far West, evidently determined to carry out the order of their chief, Governor Boggs, to ”exterminate the Mormons, or drive them from the state.” The main body of the Church, numbering from ten to twelve thousand souls, had already left the state, and were beyond the reach of Missourian mobs, encamped upon the hospitable sh.o.r.es of Illinois.
”On the 14th of April, 1839,” continues Heber, ”the committee who had been left to look after the wants of the poor, removed thirty-six of the helpless families into Tenney's grove, about twenty-five miles from Far West. I was obliged to secrete myself in the corn-fields and woods during the day and only venture out in the evening, to counsel the committee and brethren in private houses.
”On the morning of the 18th, as I was going to the committee room to tell the brethren to wind up their affairs and be off, or their lives would be taken, I was met on the public square by several of the mob.
One of them asked, with an oath, if I was a Mormon.
”I replied, 'I am a Mormon.'
”With a series of blasphemous expressions, they then threatened to blow my brains out, and also tried to ride over me with their horses, in the presence of Elias Smith, Theodore Turley and others of the committee.
”It was but a few minutes after I had notified the committee to leave, before the mob gathered at the t.i.thing house, and began breaking clocks, chairs, windows, looking-gla.s.ses and furniture, and making a complete wreck of everything they could move, while Captain Bogart, the county judge, looked on and laughed. A mobber named Whittaker threw an iron pot at the head of Theodore Turley and hurt him considerably, when Whittaker jumped about and laughed like a madman; and all this at the time when we were using our utmost endeavors to get the Saints away from Far West. The brethren gathered up what they could, and fled from Far West in one hour. The mob staid until the committee left, and then plundered thousands of dollars worth of property which had been left by the brethren and sisters to a.s.sist the poor to remove.
”One mobber rode up, and, finding no convenient place to fasten his horse to, shot a cow that was standing near, while a girl was milking her, and while the poor animal was struggling in death, he cut a strip of her hide from the nose to her tail, to which he fastened his halter.
”During the commotion of this day, a great portion of the records of the committee, accounts, history, etc., were destroyed or stolen.
”Hearing that Joseph and the brethren had escaped from their guard while they were on their way from Daviess to Boone County, to which place they had obtained a change of venue, I called upon Shadrach Roundy, with whom I started immediately towards Quincy.
”On reaching Keetsville, I stopped at the house of Col. Price. The Colonel, hearing of my arrival, came directly into the house, and discovering who I was, said, 'Joseph and Hyrum Smith and the other prisoners have escaped.' I enquired what he knew about them. He answered, 'their guard took breakfast here this morning; they have turned back, saying they were going to Richmond, by way of Tenney's Grove. I know that the guard has been bribed, or they would evince more interest by pursuing them.' After we had partaken of refreshment, Brother Roundy and I pursued our course towards Quincy about fourteen or fifteen miles.
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