SENECA  MISSION.

Extract of a letter from Rev. T. S. Harris, superintendent of the Seneca Mission, to the publisher of the Rochester Observer, dated:

                                                        SENECA VILLAGE, Feb. 25, 1828.

You are already apprized that within the year past we enjoyed a little season of revival at the Seneca and Cataraugus stations: -- the fruits of which are precious and still remain. It is, dear Brother, a consoling truth of the Bible, that "with God all things are possible." He is able to renew and purify the most degraded -- and for the honor of the gospel and the glory of his own great name, he has sometimes done it to the no small joy of his servants and to the confusion and vast annoyance of infidel objectors.

The church at Seneca has increased from fourteen to thirty native members. A church has been formed at Cataraugus within the year consisting of nineteen adult native members, principally the fruits of this season of refreshing from the presence of God. A number more at both stations of both sexes and of all ages are still inquiring "what must we do to be saved."

The moral influence of the Gospel on the hearts and habits of this people, since its entrance amongst them, is in many respects most cheering. It has taught them to respect themselves, one another-the commands and institutions of God's word. It has promoted the peace of families; -- cleanliness of person -- an almost universal regard for the Sabbath, except where they are led astray b the remains of paganism, or the still more pernicious example of some of the whites, who are seen frequently coming from [------ ----] on this most sacred day -- either for the purpose of collecting accounts, making bargains in lumber, cattle, swine, or some other inconsistent or less laudable object of pursuit. -- This same moral influence has done away an almost incalculable amount of wretchedness in the desertion of wives, children and parents. If it has not killed the Hydra -- intemperance, it has given him many a wound, which I humbly and fervently pray will prove incurable. A few of the most influential chiefs of the Tribe, who have long been thought incurable drunkards, have refrained astonishingly for some time, and appear to be applying to the only effectual remedy, the help that comes from God only.

The people at this station have recently resolved on erecting by private subscription among themselves a neat little Chapel, to be finished the ensuing summer; which shall cost them when completed, $1700. One chief headed the subscription with $1100 in cash. 41000 in cash was pledged; the rest they agree to pay partly in lumber in one of the saw mills, and partly in cash from a few individuals who are expected generously to assist them in Canandaigua and vicinity. The house is to be 50 feet by 40 -- well seated, painted-with tower, dome, bell, &c. &c.

There is at present a very interesting state of feelings amongst the Alleghenies, a branch of the Seneca family on the Allegheny River below Olean. Four of their number were received into the church at Seneca on their own application, better than a year since. These have been very useful in drawing the attention of a number of their countrymen to the concerns of their souls, & have in fact been their only spiritual guides. About a week since, in company with a delegation from the church at Seneca, I paid them another visit, and to our joy, -- we found quite a number on their knees imploring the infinite Redeemer to enlighten their darkness and save their souls. About 30 appeared to be enquiring for Christ with tears. About 20 of both sexes confessed their sins in public conference, with such solemnity of manner and delicacy of sentiment, and tenderness of feeling, as must have penetrated the most obdurate. To see the trickling tear glisten on the cheek of the silver headed warrior, who has long since buried the hatchet beneath the "tree of peace" as he sat reclining his head upon his staff, listening to the statements of his former companions in arms, or to the still more affecting language of the beloved youth of his tribe -- was to me one of the most interesting scenes I could desire to see on this side of heaven. May it prove the indication of the godly sorrow which worketh repentance into life.

Eight were baptized on the Sabbath, who have some time been considered pious, and will be received into full communion with the church in Seneca in the spring, if they continue to be steadfast.

A goodly number of the people love songs of Zion, and it is one of our most delightful exercises on Sabbath evening, after the more public exercises of the day, to sit down surrounded by a group of these interesting children of nature-sometimes engaged with them in singing, and occasionally listening in tearful silence to their expressions of deep-toned affection and penitence."


Note 1: The news that Christianized Indians were experiencing a "revival at the Seneca and Cataraugus stations" of western New York came from the Rev. Thompson S. Harris, a Presbyterian minister operating out of the United Foreign Missionary Society's "Seneca Mission," on the Buffalo Creek Indian Reservation, on the outskirts of Buffalo, New York. Harris' missionizing efforts among the Seneca were previously much opposed by their primary chief, Red Jacket (see the Apr. 7, 1824 issue of the Gettysburg, PA Adams Centinel). The chief petitioned Gov. Clinton and the New York Legislature and was able to shut down the mission for several months. In 1826 the Seneca sold their lands near Buffalo and agreed to move south to the Cattaraugus Creek Reservation.

Note 2: The "Christian faction" among the Seneca eventually gained the upper hand in tribal affairs, and even Red Jacket's own son was married in a Christian ceremony. The missionaries' new successes among the Seneca were publicized in the newspapers during the late 1820s and, no doubt, the earliest Mormons were aware that, on the former Buffalo Creek Reservation lands there remained a number of Seneca who were baptized Christians and who could read and write English. This fact probably accounts for Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, and the other "Missionaries to the Lamanites" stopping over among the Seneca near Buffalo. Pratt identifies the Indians they encountered there as being of the "Cattaraugus tribe," but the Mormons' stopped at the old Buffalo Creek Indian Reservation, and their auditors were probably visitors to the old tribal lands at Buffalo, who had already relocated their homes to the Cattaraugus Creek Reservation.

Note 3: See also Rev. Harris' report of chapel building among the Christianized Seneca Indians, as reported in the June 11, 1828 issue of the Cherokee Phoenix.

INDIANS  IN  NEW  YORK.

Extract from a letter of Mr. Harris to the Corresponding Secretary.

The letter, from which these extracts are made, is dated "Seneca, February 6, 1828."

Cataraugus. -- The Lords Super was administered to the little church at Cataraugus, on the 1st Sab. in Jan. when seven adults were admitted to full communion. One other would have been received, had she not been prevented from attending by sickness...

Ê The church at that station consists in all of twenty-one members. Mr. Thayer has opened his school with considerable embarrassment, owing to the inadequacy of the promised supplies from the Indians. The parents of some have been compelled to withdraw their children, as they are unable to support them. The school contains at present twenty scholars.

Seneca. -- There is one circumstance of recent occurrence at this station, which is not a little gratifying to us, and the friends of the mission hers, and, we doubt not, will be equally so [to] you, The chiefs and people have resolved on building a small but commodious and neat chapel for the worship of Jehovah...

We devoutly thank the God of missions, that his people are disposed to contribute thus willingly to the erection of a house of worship, although of humble structure, to which, we sincerely hope, they and their children, to the last of their race, will be disposed to repair, as did Israel of old "to the place which the Lord chose to set his name there." The chapel is to be situated within a few rods of the mission house.

The school contains near sixty scholars -- all apparently happy and contented.


Note: Since the Book of Mormon promises to deliver a latter day gospel to the remnant of the Lamanites, still living in the "land of promise" when it comes forth during the "fullness of the gentiles," it seems almost inevitable that the early Mormon missionaries would attempt to fulfill that prophecy by (at the very least) making the newly published book available to literate, Christian Indians, like the Seneca of western New York. History does not record that these missionaries made a single convert among the Seneca -- but, of course, the Mormons already had their eyes set upon the great gathering of native tribes then commencing beyond the Missouri River, at the western boundary of the country. See comments appended to the article "The Indians" in the July 20, 1830 issue of the Gettsyburg Adams Sentinel for more discussion of this subject.

From the Monthly Review.

A view of the American Indians. By Israel Worsley. London, 1828.

We shall probably surprise most of our readers when we state the object of this little volume, which is nothing less than to show that the Indians of America are, in all probability the descendants of the lost Ten tribes of Israel. This is an idea which has it seems, of late years occupied some attention on the other side of the Atlantic, the Rev. Dr. Elias Boudinot having published a work in support of it in 1816, entitled A Star in the West, which was followed in 1825 by another written by a Mr. Smith [Ethan Smith] pastor of a church in Poultney. The object of the present writer is chiefly to condense and arrange the facts and reasonings that have been advanced by his predecessors; and to add such additional matter in support of the views which they have advocated, as he has been able to collect in the course of his own reading.

We extract a few sentences from his concluding chapter, in which he give a summary of his argument. -- After contending that the tribes in question must have an existence somewhere, and remarking that in the book of Esdras they are mentioned as having journeyed to a land where no man dwelt, he proceeds in reference to the Indians as follows:

"They are living in tribes-they have all a family likeness, though covering thousands of leagues of land; and have a tradition prevailing universally, that they came into that country at the northwest corner, they are very religious people, and yet have entirely escaped the idolatry of the old words -- they acknowledge On God, the Great Spirit, who created all things seen and unseen-the name to whom this being is known to them all, the old Hebrew name of God he is also called yehowah, sometimes yah, and also abba -- for this Great Being they profess a high reverence, calling him the head of their community, and themselves his favorite people -- they believe that he was more favorable to them in old times than he is now, that their fathers were in covenant with him, that he talked with them & gave them laws -- they are distinctly heard to sing with their religious dances, hallellujh and praise to jah; other remarkable sounds go out of their mouths, as shillu-yo, shillu-he, ale-yo, he-wah, yohewah, but they profess not to know the meaning of these words; only that they learned to use them upon sacred occasions -- they acknowledge the government of a Providence overruling all things,and express a willing submission to whatever takes place -- they keep annual feasts which resemble those of the Mosaic ritual; a feast of first fruits, which they do not permit themselves to taste until they have made an offering of them to God; also an evening festival, in which no bone of the animal that is eaten may be broken; & if one family be not large enough to consume the whole of it, neighboring family is called in to assist: the whole of it is consumed, and the relics are burned before the rising of the next day's sun: there is one part of the animal which they never eat, the hollow part of the thigh; they eat bitter vegetables & observe severe fasts for the purpose of cleansing themselves from sin; they have also a feast of harvest, when their fruits are gathered in, a daily sacrifice, and a feast of love -- their fore-fathers, practiced the rite of circumcision; but not knowing why so strange a practice was continued, and not approving of it, they gave it up -- there is a sort of jubilee kept by some of them -- they have cities of refuge to which a guilt man and even a murderer may fly and be safe." pp. 181, 182.

Another account, we observe of the lost Ten Tribes has lately been given in a German publication, which, on highly probable grounds, makes at least a large portion of them to have established themselves in the district of the great Plain of Central Asia, called Bucharia, where, it appears they amount even at this day to a third part of the population. The traditions preserved among this remnant of the chosen people might perhaps assist in determining whether or not the American Indians are descendants of the same stock.


Note: The "Rev. Dr. Elias Boudinot" referred to in the above article was not the same man as the editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, who was also named Elias Boudinot. Properly speaking, the former Elias Boudinot was not a "reverend," although he wrote as an informed layman on religious subjects. The latter Elias was an educated Cherokee chief.

FOR  THE  CHEROKEE  PHOENIX.

MR. BOUDINOTT. -- I noticed in a late number of your paper a selection from the Monthly Review, containing an extract from Worsley's view of the American Indians, in which he gives a summary view of his argument in favor of the proposition that they are descendants of the long lost ten tribes of Israel. Several statements are there made, as of general application to the Indians, which, being inserted in the "Cherokee Phoenix," if they stand uncontradicted, will be inferred to be true as applicable to the Cherokees. It is doubtless best that the truth should be known, that those, who pursue the inquiry respecting the origin of the Indians, may build their conclusions on only real facts. I therefore, offer a few remarks, promising that my knowledge is limited, and that, if I should make any mistakes, they are made where they are, perhaps, as likely as anywhere to be corrected.

It is said that the Indians have a tradition prevailing universally that they came into this country (America) at the northwest corner. I have not learned that there is such a tradition among the Cherokees. If it exists will not some of your correspondents inform us of it? Some of the aged Cherokees, at least, seem to have understood the tradition to be, that the Indians were created in America.

They have, it is said, entirely escaped the idolatry of the old world. It is true, I believe, that the Cherokees have never worshipped images. Their conjurers, however, address themselves to imaginary beings, who are not God such as the great white dog, the great bear, the lizard, &c. The Osages, it would seem, have regarded earth and the heavenly bodies as gods, and directed their worship to them. (See Miss. Her. pp. 123, 124 of the current volume.)

It is also said that the Indians "acknowledge one God, the Great Spirit, who created all things, seen and unseen."Ê The Cherokees certainly acknowledge one Supreme God, nor do I suppose that their conjurers would consider the white dog and the great bear &c. to whom they direct their prayers, in the light of deities, properly speaking. In regard to the spirituality of God, however, I am not, convinced that they have any correct ideas. Certain it is they have no name for the Deity which signifies the Great Spirit. The same is true of the Choctaws, of whom the Rev. Mr. Wright affirms that "they have no conception of a being purely spiritual," and as I should infer from the account of the religious traditions of the Osages, to which I have already referred, it is true of them also. According to the account of the Rev. Mr. Harris, missionary among the Senecas, it appears that that tribe formerly "regarded God as no other than man," I am apprehensive that, if the point, were investigated, a name for the Deity signifying the Great Spirit, which has, I believe, been generally supposed to be universal among the Indians, would be found among very few. The Cherokees have only two names of God, one of which, [in Cherokee] U-ne-la-nv-hi, signifies the Creator, and the other [in Cherokee] Ga-lv-la-ti c-hi, he who dwells above.

It is asserted, if I understand the language used that the old Hebrew name of God is known to all the Aborigines. I suppose the writer refers to the name El, or Elohim. Certainly this name is not known to the Cherokees.

It is added "He is also called Yehowah, and sometimes Yah, & also Abba." This may be true in regard to tribes with which I am unacquainted. As to Cherokees, the name Yehowah is now known to some, but only to those who learned it by means of Christian missionaries; the name Yah to none, unless a few individuals may have learned that there is such a name in the Hebrews scriptures. As to Abba, it seems to me altogether probable, that it is no other than the Choctaw ubba, which signifies, unless I greatly mistake; above, & is used in connexion with pinke, our father, as a name for the Deity, but probably, according to opinion of the Rev. Mr. Wright, who has the best opportunity of judging, learned from the whites. * (See Miss. Her. vol. xxiv. p. 179.)

Mr. Worsley also affirms, that "they are distinctly heard to sing, with their religious dance, hallelujah, and praise to jah." I believe Cherokee tradition knows nothing of these songs. Mr. Wright informs us that hallelujah is sometimes sung by the Choctaws, who aver that it is not one of their native songs, but was learned from the northern Indians.

"Other remarkable sounds go out of their mouths, as shillu-yo, shil-lu-ho, ale-yo, he-wah, yo-he-wah, but they profess not to know the meaning of these words; &c" -- The Cherokees know nothing of all these.

"They keep annual feasts resembling those of the Mosaic ritual; a feast of first fruits," &c. That a feast of first fruits (the green corn dance) was observed by the Cherokees till within a few years, is certain. They also observed fasts, and had a city of refuge for the manslayer. As to the other feasts mentioned by Mr. Worsley, as also the abstaining from eating the hollow of the thigh of an animal, the former practice of the rite of circumcision &c. if they existed, the traditions have not yet come to my knowledge; but as I am but a white man, and have not yet enjoyed the most extensive means of information, my ignorance of them is not proof that they never existed. If any of your readers can give any information on the subject, I presume the public, as well as your correspondent, will be obliged to him.   W.
________
* Mr. Wright's orthography is Uba pike, but I use that of Ubba pinke, as better adapted to express the sound to mere English readers.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Symmes Ghost. -- The Doctrine of John Cleve Symmes, that the Earth is hollow, is not exploded. The Portsmith [sic - Portsmouth?] Journal states that it yet lives and improves, in the essays of a correspondent of the Gardiner (Me.) Intelligencer. According to the improved theory, the interior is not only inhabitable, but inhabited -- and then, as the Polar ice and winter [snows?] make the entrance somewhat hazardous, he has required a miracle in order to get the people in; and another to get them out.

"The discovery, (adds the Journal,) is happy, on more than one account; for whilst it disposes of the earth's centre in a most pleasant manner, it brings light to the long lost 'Ten Tribes,' (not of the 'Jews' as the author of the essay will have it,) of Israel! Which Tribes, he gravely and soberly locates inside the aforesaid shell of the earth -- building his fabric on a text in the Apocryphal Book of Esdras, which he supposes to mean that these tribes entered the bed of the rivers Gozan and Euphrates, the waters of which dried up before them; that they passed on through the sea on dry land, toward the south pole, and finally reached the inside, where their posterity now live, and from whence at a future time, they will return in a likewise miraculous manner, to take possession of the land of their fathers.

"Now, lest the reader should laugh at all of this, the author anticipates him, and admonishes us all not to think him insane, and then knocks us all on the head with an unanswerable question to this purpose -- If the Ten Tribes be not there, then where are they?"


Note 1: The modern reader can only wonder whether the essays published during the first part of 1831 in the Maine Gardiner Intelligencer influenced the thinking of Joseph Smith, Jr., regarding the latter day location of the Lost Tribes of Israel, their anticipated "return in a ... miraculous manner," from a residence beyond "the Polar ice," and their destined "possession of the land" at Zion and Jerusalem. The notion that the earth's interior, beyond the icy polar openings, was inhabited by an ancient people, was not a new idea in 1831 -- it is, rather, one element of the story told in the 1820 book  Symzonia. See Elder Frederick Culmer, Sr's 1886 book, The Inner World for a Mormon exposition on Symmes' hollow earth, its interior being inhabited by the Ten Tribes, the account of Esdras, Book of Mormon teachings, etc. One piece of "evidence" for Israelites inside the earth, which Culmer might have cited, but did not, was a recollection of a conversation with Joseph Smith, Jr., that Elder Benjamin F. Johnson recorded in his posthumously published 1947 autobiography: "I asked where the nine and a half tribes of Israel were. 'Well,' said [Joseph Smith], 'you remember the old caldron or potash kettle you used to boil maple sap in for sugar, don't you?' I said yes. 'Well,' said he, 'they are in the north pole in a concave just like the shape of that kettle. And John the Revelator is with them, preparing them for their return.'" If this bit of historical conversation does not proved that Smith was an advocate of "Symmes' Hole," it at least lends credibility to the idea that Smith professed that the missing Israelite tribes are within the protective walls of a great concave depression (or enormous cavity) located about where Symmes' placed the vast northern entrance to his hollow earth.

Note 2: The location of the missing Israelite tribes had been a matter of concern for faithful Mormons ever since the publication of the first LDS scriptures in 1830. On Oct. 24, 1831, Joseph Smith, Jr.'s teachings on the subject were allegedly reported by one of his former disciples, Elder Ezra Booth: "The condition of the ten tribes of Israel since their captivity... has never been satisfactorily ascertained. But these [Mormon] visionaries have discovered their place of residence to be contiguous to the north pole; separated from the rest of the world by impassable mountains of ice and snow. In this sequestered residence, they enjoy the society of Elijah the Prophet, and John the Revelator, and perhaps the three immortalized Nephites..." Booth's allegations were largely substantiated a few days later, when the top Mormon leader issued a communication from God (?) at Hiram, Ohio, on Nov. 3, 1831. The official Mormon counterpart to Booth's reporting was first published to the world as a "revelation" in the Church's Evening and Morning Star of May 1833. The Mormon belief in a hidden Israelite nation at or near the North Pole was strengthened by Elder W. W. Phelps' comments, as published in the LDS Messenger and Advocate of Oct. 1835. There Elder Phelps says: "The parts of the globe that are known probably contain 700 millions of inhabitants, and those parts which are unknown may be supposed to contain more than four times as many more, making an estimated total of about three thousand, five hundred and eighty millions of souls: Let no man marvel at his statement, because there may be a continent at the north pole, of more than 1300 square miles, containing thousands of millions of Israelites, who, after a high way is cast up in the great deep, may come to Zion, singing songs of everlasting joy." Phelps' assertion was strengthened, in March, 1867, when LDS Apostle Orson Pratt made a pronouncement in the LDS Millennial Star: "There is a great probability that in that apparently inhospitable solitude will be found the great nation of the ten tribes, not in a barbarous or semi-barbarous state, but in the enjoyment of the Christian religion."

Note 3: The Reorganized LDS Saints' Herald advocated an Arctic home for the Israelites in numnerous articles published from 1864 onwards. As early as 1872 leading RLDS Elders were preaching or speculating that these lost Israelites might be living inside the earth; by 1878 the Saints' Herald was printing letters advocating Symmes' inner world; and in 1881 the same paper published a letter by Americus Symmes, the son of John Cleves Symmes, alleging that "the people" at the Earth's core spoke "the Hebrew language." In the meanwhile the Utah Mormon establishemnt had advanced the polar Israelite claims, by publishing a series of articles during 1878, first in the Deseret News and soon after in the Millennial Star, written by George Reynolds and providing, among other things, a fanciful account of how the lost ten tribes reached the area round about the North Pole in ancient times. Frederick Culmer's 1886 booklet, already mentioned, appears to have been the first publication written by a Mormon that pulled all of this information together and firmly stated that the ten tribes were living inside of Symmes' hollow earth. Thus, what had first been published in the Gardiner Intelligencer in 1831, had become a Mormon tradition within less than three generations. In recent years this farcical theme has been taken up and improved upon by LDS Elders such as Clayton Brough, Rodney M. Cluff and Clay McConkie to a marvelous degree of absurdity.

Mormonites. -- The febrile mania of these madcaps is spreading in Vermont, among the green mountains thereof. The Connecticut Mirror, states, on the authority of the Burlington (Vt.) Sentinel, that some time since a man named Davidson came into the vicinity of Burlington, professing to be a disciple of one Dilks, who has figured in the state of Ohio, for a year or two past. This Davidson impiously pretends that Dilks has Almighty power and is God himself! He has gained an assortment of proselytes in several towns in the neighborhood; endeavors to look Apostolic -- wears his hair long; says that Jesus Christ is a woman, and quite inferior to Dilks -- and that the Millenium is to take place in all next year, 1831 [sic - 1832?] This city of Brotherly Love is the place where the Dilks aforesaid is to assemble his followers, and then all the rest of the inhabitants of the world are to be [taken] away, leaving all sublimnary goods and chattels to Dilks and his disciples. -- We should admire to see Dilks assemble his church militant in this city. He would probably have a speedy opportunity of explaining his tenets before his honor the Mayor. -- Philadelphia Gazette.


Note: This report has an inappropriate heading, as "Mormonites" really do not figure in the story at all.

HUMILIATING OCCURENCE. -- A certain Mr. GREATRAKE (said to be from the upper part of Pennsylvania,) who is at present traversing this state, and professing to be a baptist preacher of the hyper-calvinistic order, has recently visited Georgetown: And as an Editor of a Baptist Journal, we conceive it to be an indispensable duty, to apprise our brethren of the character of his visit here. -- On Sunday night, he was, with much reluctance on the part of the church, until he could produce his credentials (which it seems he had not with him) permitted to preach in the Baptist meeting house. In this discourse his satirical opposition to Fullerites, as he call'd them, and to all the benevolent and moral institutions of the day, satisfied and disgusted many, -- they desired to hear him no more. He, however, made an appointment to "lecture on the times," on the night following, in the Court-house; Which he did. And, shameful to relate, a scene ensued, as we have been informed by many, not being present ourselves, which would disgrace a theatre itself. Several members of the church in Georgetown, and especially the editor of the Chronicle, together with Andrew Fuller, A. Campbell, Sunday Schools, Bible Societies, Missionary Societies, Revivals, &c. &c. were the subject of his lecture. -- A torrent of billingsgate, the lowest sarcastic wit, and the most filthy comparisons, such as we should be ashamed to repeat on paper, interlarded his lecture in thick successive abundance. The ladies present, soon after he commenced, became disgusted and retired. And the gentlemen, who were fond of amusement, among whom were many of the friends of those he was abusing, would frequently suceed his witty expressions and vulgar comparisons, with peals of laughter and cheers of ironic applause, by clapping of hands and stamping of feet, in a manner perhaps not surpassed in any theatre; while some individual would be heard to curse him and give him the lie direct. All, however, was insufficient to modify his career; nor did he for some time, scarcely seem to understand that the applause was ironical, and was intended to bring his pretentions as a minister of the gospel into derision. The lecture, among those fond of amusement, appears to be the principle topic of humerous conversation -- While christians view the occurrence as a matter requiring of them deep humiliation and grief -- a matter tending to promote infidelity, and bring a heavy reproach on the cause of the Redeemer!

We hope he will not suppose that we have been influenced to hand this statement to the public from feelings of resentment: We entertain none. We rather commisserate the puff of billingsgate vanity that can thus insensibly degrade himself, and do violence to the cause that he professes to espouse. But we feel, deeply feel, for the cause he has injured, and is likely to injure -- and we pity the church, if there be any such, that can harbour in her bosom, a man who can thus lose sight of the high character, a minister of the gospel is expected, by the world, to sustain, and transform the labours of a herald of peace at pleasure, on the most sacred subject of the religion of Jesus, into a scene of the lowest ridicule and most vulgar theatrical amusement.


Note: The above report, written by Chronicle editor Uriel B. Chambers, is reproduced from Elder Lawrence Greatrake's 1831 pamphlet, A Miniature Portrait... Greatrake served as Sidney Rigdon's successor in the pastorate of the Pittsburgh First Baptist Church in 1824.

Millenium. -- The Mormonites have announced that the millenium will commence next year at Philadelphia. The New York and Baltimore editors are contending for the precedence. One party insisting it will come to the North, that other that it will first spread to the South.

Note: A totally erroneous report -- see the article reprinted in the Sept. 10, 1831 issue of the Phoenix for an explanation.

From the Boston Courier.

MORMONISM.

A gentleman, of this city has presented for publication, the following extract of a letter from a Mormonite to his friend here. The writer was formerly a respectable citizen of Boston, and we are assured that his credibility and sincerity cannot be obtained.

                                                                Canandaigua, Oct. 9, 1831.
We live in this place, and have ever since the 8th of October last. My mind and time have mostly been taken up in the labor of the new covenant, and I cannot say much which would be interesting either to you or to me, unless I write upon this interesting subject. You must suppose I have had a good opportunity of witnessing much of the proceedings of those who believe in the book of Mormon. The book causes great excitement in these parts, and many [lisp] and foam out their shame, and some believe and become meek and lowly in this region.

There are about one hundred souls who have humbled themselves and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and desired baptism at the hand of Joseph Smith, or some other elder, -- for you must know that there are, in this church, elders, priests, teachers and deacons, each ordained according to the gift and calling of God. Upon him, many have been ordained, and some preach. Four of these only have gone to the Samanites [sic - Lamanites?] (or Indians) to preach the gospel unto them. They passed through Ohio, and preached, and three hundred have come forth; many, on coming, brought all their possessions and gave to the church. One of the first was an old miser, who set the example by throwing in all his property -- eight hundred acres of land under good cultivation. Thus we see, that when the people become right, this will follow, as in the Apostles' days.

There are about four hundred souls, and yet no one has aught he calls his own. This we have not preached; but it is the natural consequence of embracing the Apostolic doctrine, which we have done; for He has visited his people, by the ministration of angels, and by raising up a new seer and revelator, that He may communicate unto us such things as are necessary for our preservation and instruction.

You recollect we were talking of the hill which contained all the sacred engravings; we thought it must be far South. But we were both mistaken; for since I saw you, I have seen the spot, and been all over the hill. The time is short, and this generation will not pass before there will be great and marvellous things take place to the confounding of all false, vain, and pernicious doctrines, and to the bringing to nought the wisdom of the world; for Israel shall be saved with an everlasting salvation, and the day is soon at hand when the wicked shall be cut off and the meek shall inherit the earth, and the Lord God will turn to the people a pure language; this is the first language, and it is still preserved on the plates of Jared, and will be the last language that will be.


Note 1: Inquiry into the back files of the Boston Courier has yet to uncover the original for the above reprinted article.There is no explicit indication as to whether the writer is male or female, but possibly a female -- for there is no mention of an ordination or churchly duties. The writer has lived at Canandaigua since "the 8th of October last," -- evidently since Oct. 8, 1830. Possibly the writer was baptized a Mormon in or near Canandaigua, in late 1830 or early 1831. The writer thus probably knew W. W. Phelps and other Mormon converts living in southern Ontario county, but for some unstated reason has not moved with the New York Saints to Ohio and Missouri.

Note 2: The writer speaks of a time when there was an implicit policy of having new converts donate their worldly possessions to the church -- although the writer points out this was not then an emphatic commandment.

Note 3: The writer says that the "first language" is to be restored -- apparently in the coming millennium. This language is evidently the "pure Adamic tongue" sometimes used by Brigham Young and other early Mormons, when they spoke in "tongues" -- a language in which "Zion" is "Zomas," etc. The "plates of Jared" may refer to the part of the Nephite record which remained untranslated when the Book of Mormon was published; or, perhaps the writer merely confuses the authorship of the "plates of Nephi" with the work of Jared (or the brother of Jared).

                                                            From the Boston Watchman.
The Mormonites. -- It is our humiliating duty to record the fact, that two of the preachers of this fanatical sect have visited our city, endeavoring to propagate their strange doctrines, and it is said that about fifteen persons here have become converts, having been led away by their delusions. Rev. Joshua V. Himes, pastor of a Baptist church in this city, states that he has had several interviews with these men, and has examined their book, which they pretend is a revelation from God. He has acquainted himself with the details of their history and principles, and is satisfied of the delusion and absurdity of their system, and of its evil tendency. One of the leading tenets of these deluded people is, that the promised land is not Palestine, but a tract of country situated in Jackson county, Missouri, ten miles from the town of Independence. Some of these enthusiasts have set out for "the promised land, the place of refuge for the house of Israel, and for all the Gentile world, who will take the warning and flee thither for safety." Mr. Himes says, that two of the individuals who have gone are defenceless females. They had acquired by hard industry $2,300, one of them having $800, the other $1,500, which they have given up to the general stock. One of these females was in a consumption, and her friends thought she would not live to reach her destined place. Her afflicted sister told Mr. Himes, that if she had been buried here, before she had been led away by these errors, and had given satisfactory evidence of grace, her grief would have been much lessened.

Mr. Himes adds "The remaining persons who were baptized and joined the Mormonites, and contemplate going to the West, possess between $3,000 and $4,000, which they also are going to put in the general fund, and which they can river draw out again, should they get sick of Mormonism, and wish to return to their friends." The pretended "promised land" of these ignorant people is about two thousand miles distant.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  MORMONS.

                                          From the Boston Christian Watchman.
SIR, -- Dwelling as I do among a people called Mormonites, and on the very land which they sometimes call Mount Zion, at other times the New Jerusalem, and where, at no distant period, they expect the reappearing of the Lord Jesus, to live and reign with them on earth a thousand years, -- I have thought that it might be a part of duty, to inform those who may be interested in relation of this subject, that although there has been from first to last, four or five hundred Mormonites in all -- men women and children -- arrived at this place, yet there is no appearance here different from that of other wicked places. The people eat and drink, and some get drunk, suffer pain and disease, live and die like other people, the Mormons themselves not excepted, They declare there can be no true church, where the gift of miracles, of tongues, of healing, &c. are not exhibited and continued. Several of them, however, have died; yet none of them have been raised from the dead; and the sick, unhappily, seem not to have faith to be healed of their diseases. One woman, I am told, declared in her sickness, with much confidence, that she should not die, but here live and reign with Christ a thousand years; but unfortunately she died, like other people, three days after. They tell indeed of workig miracles, healing the sick, &c. &c. These things, however, are not seen to be done, but only said to be done. People therefore who set their faces for the Mount Zion of the West, (which by the by is on a site of ground not much elevated,) must calculate on being disappointed if they believe all that is said of the place, or expect much above what is common in any new country of the West.

Of the Mormons as a sect, I am prepared to say little, except that they seem to be made up of people of every sect and kind, Shakers, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and Campbellites, and some have been two or three of these different sects before they became Mormonites. Their best prerequisite for the reception of their expected Saviour, it should seem for the most part, is their poverty. There is no doubt but that some suffer for want of the necessaries of life, and in this respect not a little imitate the good Lazarus. But they have no fellowship for Temperance societies, Bible Societies, Tract Societies, or Sunday school societies.

Their first, best, great and celebrated preacher, Elder Rigdon, tells us the Epistles are not and were not given for our instruction, but for the instruction of people of another age and country, far removed from ours, of different manners and habits, and needing different teaching; and that it is altogether inconsistent for us to take the Epistles written for that people, at that age of the world, as containing suitable instruction for this people, at this age of the world. The gospels, too, we are given by them to understand, are so mutilated and altered, as to convey little of the instruction which they should convey. Hence we are told a new revelation is to be sought; is to be expected; indeed is coming forthwith. Our present Bible is to be altered and restored to its primitive purity, by Smith, the present prophet of the Lord, and some books to be added of great importance, which have been lost.

They profess to hold frequent converse with angels. Some go, if we may believe what they say, as far as the third heaven, and converse with the Lord Jesus face to face. They baptize, saying, "I, John, the Messenger, baptize thee," &c.

More secretly, they are said to impart to their converts the gift of the Holy Ghost. They profess to know where the ark of the covenant, Aaron's rod, the pot of manna, &c. now remain hid. They who can believe all this, will no doubt expect a Saviour soon, and without hestitation will worship the first object that may be proclaimed and presented to them for that purpose.

The last preaching I heard of theirs was a most labored discourse. Its object was to prove that this place, here fixed upon by the Mormons as their location, is the very Mount Zion so often mentioned in scripture. This alone, it should seem, would be a sufficient index to the head or the heart of the preacher, and the belief of it a sufficient index to the reading and understanding of the hearers,

The possessions here are small, very small compared with their numbers; something less, I believe, than four sections of land, which would cost but little more than three thousand dollars. Twenty acres is the portion assigned to each family, to use and improve while they continue members of the society; but if they leave, they are to go out empty. Some in comfortable circumstances at the East have spent or given to the society their little all in coming to this land of promise, and now find themselves in no very enviable circumstances, looking here and there for labor, and women going to wash for their neighbors of the world, to supply themselves with the necessaries of life.

The idea of equality is held forth; but time will show that some take deeds of property in their own name, and those too of the most zealous and forward in the cause and prosperity of the society. And perhaps they do not pretend, like Annanias and Sapphira, to have given all to the society; yet it is a point of duty they most rigidly enjoin on all their proselytes to cast their all into the common stock. Under these circumstances, it needs no prophetic eye to forsee that there will soon be a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews. Indeed there already begins to be some feeling and some defection arising from this subject. There is much reason to believe they cannot hold together long. With Theudas, it is more than probable they will soon be scattered and brought to naught.

The very materials of which the society is composed must at length produce an explosion. Yet judging from the past, and from what our Saviour has told us of the future, that there should be false Christs and false Prophets, showing signs and wonders so as to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect, we may well look on this new sect as ominous of the latter day approaching, and calling upon all to watch and pray, and to give good heed to the word of our Saviour, where he says, "Go ye not after them, nor follow them."   Yours, &c. B. PIXLEY.
Independence, Jackson co. Mo. Oct. 12, 1832.


Note 1: The Rev. Benton Pixley was a Baptist missionary who spent several years with the Osage Indians along the shores of the Missouri. He was living in Jackson Co., Missouri in 1832-34 when the Mormons were gathering to that area and experiencing various difficulties there. Pixley wrote several informative letters regarding the Mormons, to various newspapers during the early 1830s. This appears to have been his first such letter -- it was published in the Boston Christian Watchman about the end of 1832.

Note 2: Some other papers publishing part or all of Pixley's Oct. 12, 1832 letter include: the Boston Independent Messenger of Nov. 29, 1832; the Christian Messenger of Feb. 1833; the Elyria Ohio Atlas of Dec. 6, 1832; and the Missouri Intelligencer of Apr. 13, 1833. A shortened version of Pixley's Oct. 12, 1832 letter was published in the Apr. 23, 1833 issue of the Westfield, NY American Eagle.

Note 3: Rev. Pixley also wrote an 1832 letter to the Baptist Weekly Journal, which was published there under the title, "Mormonites." He then wrote a follow-up letter on Nov. 7, 1833, to the New York Observer. That letter was reprinted in the Christian Watchman of Dec. 13, 1833.

One of the Mormonites has become dissatisfied with his new faith and brethren and has denounced them all, in a Westfield, (N. Y.) paper, in words following:

"And now I testify to you, before God and these witnesses, that I never had any impressions or exercises different from other times, since I joined the Mormons; that the tongues spoken by me are of my own invention, and that, as far as my knowledge extends, the whole is a farce; and may my fate be like that of Annanias and Sapphira if I do not speak the truth honestly before God!"


Notes: (forthcoming)

Extract from Elder Thomas Vandeever of Orange, Ia. to the Editor of the Baptist Chronicle, Aug. 7th 1832.

"We have had some trouble with the Campbellites, Parkerites, Stoneites and Mormonites. But the line is drawn in a number of the churches in this country, and they are on the decline. -- The Mormonites and Mr. Stone's disciples preach and worship together." -- The Editor remarks, "Is this possible! What next?" --

I am as far from believing it a fact that the Christians in Ia., preach and worship with the Mormonites, as that the Campbellites and Stoneites are on the decline in that country, -- It is true the Baptist churches themselves worship with hypocrites, and infidels, and some, probably, with Mormonites in the same house, not from choice, but from unavoidable necessity. But I cannot believe that any of our preachers have, or do deliberately unite with the Mormonites in worship or preaching. Mr. Vandeveer, no doubt, understood the matter as he states: yet when investigated, it will appear, we think, in a different light. It would be humiliating indeed, were it a fact, that men, professing to receive the Bible alone as the rule of their faith and practice, should so suddenly receive another, with no better evidence of its divinity, than the affirmation of poor, fallible men. If any can do this, we may also ask, What next?     B. W. STONE, EDITOR.


Note: This was not the first time the editor of the "Baptist Chronicle" had linked the "Mormonites" with the co-religionists of the Revs. Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell. The Rev. David Staats Burnet, in the Mar. 7, 1831 issue of his Campbellite paper, the Evangelical Inquirer, refers to an article then recently published in "The Baptist Chronicle of Ky." which "endeavored to fasten this imposition upon the current reformation." In other words, Baptists in Kentucky who were unhappy with Alexander Campbell, Barton Stone, and the other "reformers" who sought to change the Baptist religion, were saying that Mormonism had sprung from the work of the Campbellites. Burnet was echoing the Campbellite party line in his editorial reactions to the statements published by the Baptist Chronicle & Literary Register (Georgetown, KY). For an example of Alexander Campbell's own similar response see his Millennial Harbinger Jan. 1831, pp. 38-45 and Feb. 1831, p. 101.

The Mormonites in Missouri. -- It is a painful duty which devolves upon us, to publish in this day's paper, the statements of the atrocious assassination and murder of a number of Mormons, in Jackson county, Missouri. We deprecate, at all times, the unnecessary effusion of human blood, but at such a time, and on such occasion, we deplore the state of society and intelligence of the community, where such outrages are perpetuated. We say, at such a time, when almost the whole people of this vast confederacy are uniting in mighty efforts to educate and moralize the community -- and when intelligence and a correct understanding of the constitution of the United States, prevail among all classes of the community throughout the Union, that such crimes should be committed, is strange to believe.

The occasion is such that, it ought to arouse public opinion into action, and every individual caliming protection under the American constitution should be concerned for the outrages and palpable infraction of the constitution of his country.

We understand the alleged crime of the Mormonites is their religious worship; and for this, they have suffered death by the hand of man, contrary to the principles which were consecrated by the blood of our ancestors.

Each individual has a right to worship God according to the doctrine of his own conscience, and no earthly power (in our happy Government,) has any right to interfer.

Any other religious sect has the same right to be put down and murdered for their religion, as the Mormons. The protection of all religious sects, or rather a constitutional toleration, is one of the greatest privileges of which freemen can boast, and should be held sacred by all.

Should the statements relative to this transaction turn out to be unfounded, we will be glad, for the honor of the present age, to correct the error. -- St. Clair Gazette.


Note: The published reports "relative to this transaction" in Missouri did "turn out to be unfounded," in large measure. The Missourians did not murder Mormons because of their form of worship. On the other hand, the Missourian actions taken in their expulsion of the Mormon were illegal and did result in some loss of life on both sides.

"The Evening and the Morning Star," after rising with some glory in Independence, Missouri, under the authority of the Mormonites, has not been visible here for several months past, and we presume it has gone down [in] the dark regions of the west, to rise no more, when we were admonished with a number by the last mail, that the Starr [sic] of the two hemispheres, has moved with the revelation, and now arises in the north, in Kerkland [sic], Geauga county, Ohio, and this time O. Cowdery, as editor. We shall publish a chapter from the Starr at some other time in our paper.


Note: Perhaps at that point in Mormon publishing history, the old revelation should have been amended, to read: "The Law will go out from Zion -- (or, from the Kirtland Stake of Zion, until Zion is redeemed) -- the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem... etc."

                                                     St. Louis. Jan'y. 30.
THE MORMONS. -- The last Western mail brought us a handbill in defiance of the motives and conduct of the Mormons since their settlement in Jackson county in 1831. It is signed by three individuals of the sect -- Parley Pratt, Newell Knight and John Carrill [sic]; and is dated on the 12th December. This publication describes the persecutions which they have suffered, not to any criminal violation of the laws or the rights of others, but to their religious opinions. These persecutions are said to have been unrelenting, and to have been accompanied by misrepresentation, and serious injury to property and person. Of course, they differ from the opposite party in the details of the disturbances of November last, which terminated in their expulsion from Jackson county. The burden of the blame is thrown upon 'the mob,' as their opponents are called: the writers accuse Lt. Gov. Boggs, Col. Pitcher, and Col. Lucas, of practising a stratagem upon them, and thereby depriving them of their arms. The conduct of the citizens, after the arms of the Mormons had been surrendered, is represented in strong and indifnant terms -- bursting into houses without fear, knowing the arms were secured, frightening the women and children and warning them to flee immediately, or they would tear the house down over their heads, and massacre them before night. -- They accuse the Rev. Isaac McCoy, instead of acting the part of a peacemaker, (as he has stated,) of appearing at the head of a company, with a gun on his shoulder, ordering the Mormons to leave the county forthwith, and surrender what arms they had; and, other pretended preachers, are implicated by them in the persecution.

The writers continue the detail of the flight, subsequent treatment and sufferings of their people, up to the time of publication. The greater portion of them fled to Clay county, 'where the people are as kind and accommodating as could reasonably be expected.' But a number of families -- consisting of about 150 persons -- went into the new county of Van Buren; from whence, the writers state, an express had just arrived, stating, that these families were about to be driven from that county by force, after building their houses and carting grain and provisions for 40 or 50 miles. Several families had already fled. Van Buren county is estimated to contain 30 or 40 families, exclusive of their own sect. In a postcript the writers state, that intelligence had been received from Independence, in Jackson county, of fresh outrages having been committed near the village, on the night of the 2d December, upon four aged and infirm families, who had been suffered to remain there. The houses were injured and the lives of the inmates endangered. -- Republican.


Notes: (forthcoming)

From the St. Louis Republican.

The Mormon Difficulties. -- A late number of the Enquirer -- a paper [just] started at Liberty, Mo., contains a military order from Governor Dunklin to the captain of the "Liberty Blues," commanding him to hold himself in "readiness to assist the civil authorities in apprehending and bringing to trial the persons offending against the Laws, in November, 1833 in Jackson County, in conflicts between the Mormons and a portion of the other citizens of that county." He is commanded to attend the Court in that county, during the trial of the causes, and execute such orders as may be given to him by the Judge or Circuit Attorney. Under these orders, and at the request of Judge Ryland, who stated that a number of Mormons wished to testify before the Grand Jury, Captain Atchison marched his company into Independence, on the day appointed for holding court, having a number of Mormons under his protection. After a stay of about three hours it was concluded by Judge Ryland, the Circuit Attorney, & Attorney General Wells, that "it was entirely unnecessary to investigate the subject on the part of the State, as the jury was equally concerned in the outrages committed and it was therefore not likely that any bills would be found." The Captain was therefore directed to return to Liberty and to discharge his men.

"To see a civil court (the Governor says) surrounded by a military force, is well calculated to awaken the sensibilities of any community;" and the Governor charges his subordinate officer to perform his duties in the mildest manner possible. It is certainly a new thing in this country, to see the military called in to protect the civil authorities in the exercise of their just powers; & goes far to prove how far we have relaxed in virtue and a regard for the laws which ought to govern us. Every patriot must hope, that the occasion may seldom arise when it shall be necessary to surround a judicial tribunal with such guards. It is a pernicious example, but rendered, perhaps, necessary in the present case by the extraordinary circumstances attending the conflict."


Note 1: Although the masthead date reads "May 10, 1834," certain items in the issue's columns indicate that it might have actually been published on May 17th.

Note 2: Six years later the Nauvoo Times and Seasons provided this account of the incident: "The Governor, D. Dunklin, was disposed to bring the mobbers to justice; consequently, ten or twelve, witnesses were subpoened to attend the February term of the circuit court Capt. Atchison was ordered to guard them over to Jackson, and back, with his company of Liberty Blues... after having been there a short time... They informed the witnesses, that such was the excitement prevailing there; that it was doubtful whether any thing could be done to bring the mobbers to justice... in a short time after, they were informed by Capt. Atchison, that the Judge, Mr. Ryland, had sent him word, that the witnesses and guard, were not wanted there any longer; Capt. A. paraded his men, as soon, and as well as he could for the crowd, and immediately marched off, the witnesses following him."

MORMONISM.

The following account of the origin of the Mormons, is copied from a London paper, lately received at New-York. It tallies pretty well with what we remember of their history many years ago.

That many dupes are to be found in the United States to such a combination of folly and knavery, does not augur favorably for the progress of knowledge. But then, again, we must remember that the history of mankind abounds with examples of similar absurdities, whether we turn to the cultivated plains of Hindoostan, the deserts of Arabia, the frozen regions of the north, or the populous towns of France and England. (N. O. Courier.

"In the village of Palmyra, in the western part of the state of New York, an idiot, said to have been dumb from his birth, suddenly gave out a few years ago, that 'one night' he had a visit from an angel, who told him to arise from his bed and follow him. He did so, and was conducted by his visitor to a remote and retired spot, where lay a large flat stone, having a ring in the middle of it. This stone was about five feet long, three broad and eight or nine inches thick. On arriving at the place in question the angel commanded the idiot whose name was Joe Smith, to take up the stone by the ring. Smith, as well he might, hesitated to comply with such an order, when his companion told him to take it up boldly, for, if he only had 'faith,' God would instantly give him strength to perform the herculean task. Having prayed inwardly for some minutes, Joe took off his coat, and was making preparations for the performance; but the angel reproved him for his want of faith, made him replace his coat upon his shoulders, and said that even 'if the stone weighed ten thousand tons, divine assistance, through saving faith, would enable him to lift it.' Joe became passive in the hands of the Angel, grasped the ring and found to his astonishment, that the stone weighed as nothing in his hands! On removing it, the idiot discovered that it had served as a covering to a box or chest of the same material, under which were deposited 'twelve golden plates or tables' engraven all over with mystical characters. Upon the upper plate lay a pair of spectacles, made of freestone (save the mark,) which the angel commanded Smith to place astride of his nose. On doing so, Joe's 'tongue was loosened,' as he himself states and his intellect instantly became like those of other men. He saw though the freestone, and the engraving on the golden plates became perfectly intelligible to him. The angel then commanded him to associate with himself 'twelve other men,' whom he named as 'Scribes,' and to interpret to them the writing on the plates. When the work was completely written out, they took it to a printer who demanded $500 in advance for his share in the business. Hereupon the conclave, by dint of pawning, borrowing, selling, and 'finding,' raised the stipulated sum. The book was left with the printer, and the authors were desired to call at the end of the month, when the work would be completed. They now went and 'voluntarily made oath before a justice of the peace that they had written from the dictation of Smith, who, until the time of the angel's visit, had been dumb and an idiot from his birth, and that they had seen the twelve golden tables and the stone spectacles,' adding, that 'no one except Smith could see through them.'

At he expiration of the month they returned to the man of types and demanded their books. The disciple of Caxton met them with a long face, and told them that the whole of the first sheet (16 pages) had been thrown down: and that the manuscripts not having been preserved, he had not been able to fulfil his agreements by the stipulated time: but that if they would write it over again, he would of course print it at his own expense. The Prophets were astounded at this intelligence, and as they had kept no copy of their work, despaired of replacing the inspired writings -- hereupon the printer, by way of removing the difficulty, advised them to 'take another look at the golden plates '

The despairing Mormonites took the hint, and returned with sixteen pages of fresh matter, which the printer immediately composed.

On the publication of the book, the printer worked off and published the sixteen original pages, which he pretended to have lost, and which were altogether different from those they had brought him the second time. This created a terrible sensation among the scribes, who were now called upon by the perfidious printer to produce the plates.

Twelve golden tablets, each of the size of a large tea tray, are not very easy to be procured -- but the angel was good enough to step in once more to their aid. The conclave made oath that the angel had taken the tablets to heaven, on the completion of the work; -- the stone spectacles, however, and the stone chest were produced in evidence, and multitudes of persons were found to be noodles enough to believe the absurd story.

The writer of this, travelling in 1830 through the State of New York, fell into company with a drover, whose uncle had been choused out of $8000 by these fellows. Multitudes had joined them, selling all their property and throwing the proceeds into the common stock and they have several establishments, one of which is in the State of Ohio, where they herd together after a most edifying fashion. Of course, chastity is not among the number of their cardinal virtues. They profess a hearty contempt for all 'unbelievers' and are noted for the promptitude with which they consign to 'everlasting fire and brimstone' all not of their own persuasion.

The poor drover above alluded to, not being himself a Mormonite and having anticipated coming in as heir to the 'old feller,' could in nowise keep his temper when speaking of the 'new revelation.' He consigned Mormon, Joe Smith, and all their followers, to perdition after a most unseemly fashion; libelled the angel who had thrown Joe the box and observed that 'the angel was sharp enough however, for he took good care to carry off the goold; he didn't leave that behind him.' 'Now,' continued he, 'that old Succubus of an uncle of mine might have remembered that he had ten years of my labor and that no man is called upon to throw away his life for nothing; but then the old chap hadn't got no more gumption than a backwoodsman's bull, nor no more steadiness than a monkey upon a water cock, so that when they came to him he got clean frightened out of the little wits that he had. The first time I went to New York he took the opportunity to sell his farm and his stock and every thing and didn't leave himself more clothes nor plunder than what you might ram into a pedlar's wallet; so when I returned, I found myself master of the outside of the house, and a ready furnished lodging in the forest, where I might pick and choose among the trees and live squirrel fashion, that is, if so be as I could have climbed and made up my mind to dine every day on hazel nuts and raw corn. I only wish I could have knowed what was a going on; I'd have found a way to return home time enough to clear 'em all out with my cudgel and that in a fashion that would have made them tremble all the days of their lives at sight of a hickory tree.'

The doctrinal book of the Mormonites, by them called 'The Bible,' has with them entirely superseded the Old and New Testaments. A copy of this book arrived lately in London and is now in the possession of a gentleman residing at Brompton. It is a tolerable thick and closely printed octavo volume, and is divided into a number of books, called after the names of their supposed authors; of these the first in the Book Of Mormon, which has given its name to the whole volume. It is a singular fact that in the Greek language, the word Mormon signifies a mischievous fool or idiot. -- The style and language of this new Bible are an awkward imitation of those of the Old Testament. The book abounds in grammatical blunders and Yankeeisms, and is by no means sparing in marvellous relation of cruelty, murder and rapine. -- There is hardly a glimpse of meaning in many passages of it and the whole is put together in a rambling, unconnected manner, which plainly evinces it to the work of a person or persons wholly unaccustomed to literary composition. It is too absurd for criticism and too brutishly depraved and ignorant to allow if its giving amusement to the reader by it's folly.


Note: See the Nov. 26, 1838 issue of the Philadelphia American Sentinel and the Boston Columbian Centinel of November 24, 1838 for the same story. The report was printed in several newspapers of the period -- in the eastern USA and also in southeastern Canada. The original article apparently came from a London newspaper published during the fall of 1838. The story is filled with peculiar mistakes and misrepresentations, bearing all the marks of a "twice-told tale."

Mormon Prisoners. -- There are now forty-four Mormons in the Missouri jails, six of them charged with treason, five with murder, four with being accessaries before and after the fact of murder, and twenty-nine with the crimes of arson, burglary, robbery and larceny.

Notes: (forthcoming)

An  Insight  into  Mormonism.

From an article in a secent number of the Mobile Planter's Journal, it appears that a singular development, apparently fully authenticated, has recently been made in the eastern papers, of the origin and history of the Mormon Bible. -- Those who have paid attention to the Mormon delusion, and understood the gross ignorance of the first prophets of the faith, and its earliest teachers, have been surprised to find in that work the wild absurdities, marks of great mental cultivation, and traces of extensive knowledge of history and the classics. No clue has been furnished to this anomaly until within a few months, when attention having been attracted particularly to the subject in New England, from the astonishing fact that even in that region of education and intelligence, Mormonism has made some converts, the authorship has been distinctly traced out. It appears that the portion of the work which claims to be historical, in which the literary merits of the production are confined, was written originally by the Rev. Mr. Spaulding, a New England clergyman, who had removed with his family to North [sic] Salem, in Ashtabula county, Ohio. In that township are many remains of ancient monuments, fortifications, &c., sufficient to show that it was once the seat of empire of a powerful people, long since extinct. It was the occupation of Mr. Spaulding for many years, to write a fanciful history of this nation; and his plan was to adopt an ancient style, and write as though he were himself one of the long lost race. The style of the Old Testament was adopted: and the work, purely a creation of the imagination, was occasionally read to parties of his acquaintances.

At Pittsburg, (Pa.) whither Mr. Spaulding and family subsequently removed, the manuscript was read by his friends, and was for some time in a printing office in which Rigdon, who figured largely among the earliestr Mormons, was employed. It is thought he copied it at that time, which was between 1812 and 1816, at the latter date Mr. Spaulding died. The manuscript fell into the hands of his widow, and has been carefully preserved. On the attempt to get up a Mormon meeting in Ohio, the old acquaintances there of the author, recognised his work. The brother of Mr. Spaulding, also a clergyman [sic], was present at the first reading of the pretended Bible, and knew it at once, although it had been disguised and interpolated, to give it supernatural pretensions. To test the question, application was made to the widow, who had returned to New England, for a comparison of the work; and enough, it is said, has been found to confirm this as the true account of the production, and to demonstrate the wicked frauds that have been practised on a harmless essay of fancy, to delude the ignorant. Mormonism having appeared even in New England, Mrs. Spaulding, who by a subsequent marriage became Mrs. Davison, gives this information in a published letter, accompanied by evidences of her entire credibility and respectability.

The story is a singular illustration of the progress of one of the most astonishing delusions of a civilized age and country.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Mormonism. -- The editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser intimates his intention to write a "History of the Mormons." He says: "So far as we are enabled at present to speak, Mormonism is the baldest and most disjointed, incomprehensible, stupid, unmeaning, ridiculous, and silly, of the isms of the age." While the Colonel is about it why can't he put in a small dose about animal magnetism?


Note: Colonel William Leete Stone (1792 -1844) of Hudson, N. Y., was a proprietor and the editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser from 1821-44. Stone apparently ran the Apr. 1839 statement of Spalding's widow in his newspaper. Previous to that, near the end of Aug. 1836, the Commercial Advertiser ran another, earlier version of the Spalding authorship claims, as offered by one of Col. Stone's "correspondents." See the Sept. 9, 1836 issue of the St. Louis Daily Commercial Bulletin for a reprint of the 1836 piece.

A Mormon female, at Quincy, Ill., is said to have produced some beautiful poetry. Her name is Eliza K. Snow, and some of her minor pieces are said to be perfect gems.

Notes: (forthcoming)

An itinerant Mormon is now holding forth in New York -- more with a view of stating the real or supposed grievances, which the sect has suffered in Missouri, than with a design of making converts.

Note: The preacher was Elder John P. Greene, a brother-in-law of Brigham Young. Greene had earlier sought donations to the Mormon cause in Cincinnati -- where he published his 43 page pamphlet, Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons.

THE MORMONS. -- Much has been lately said about this modern sect, and much false sympathy expressed for their supposed "persecution for conscience sake," in Missouri. We are in favor of religious liberty in the most extensive sense of the word. We look on it as almost blasphemy to interfere with any man's religious opinions -- as an affirmation of a perogative which peculiarly belongs to the Creator. If we, therefore do not sing our song of sorrow over the Mormon persecutions, our silence must not be presumed to procceed from bigotry or intolerance, to which our mind is a stranger. Nor do we believe that the Missourians were influenced by these unworthy motives, in their disputes and difficulties with the Mormons. With our present ideas of their unsophisticated candor, and generous nature, we cannot believe their opposition to the Mormons sprung from such a source. It would be a dangerous precedent to establish in any part of the country, that a man's religious opinions placed him in a position above the law of the State in which he resided, or not amenable to ita dictum. To such a complexion would the conduct of the Mormons come at last, in Missouri, had not the authorities and people of the State interposed their constitutional powers. If the Mormons suffered under hardships and privations in the contest, the blame rests on their own heads as the aggressors.

About the sympathetic resolutions passed in their favor in New York, we have not a word to utter. They received a one-sided view of the story, and on that they acted. Their proceedings in the premises are more complimentary to the heart than the head of the Gothamites.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The following passage occurs in a letter in the Journal of Commerce, from Montrose, Upper Mississippi, dated Dec. 4th:

The Mormons, who were driven by mobs from Missouri, and who are now settled in this neighborhood, have some fears that the Missourians from their movements, have designs against them. We have a large Mormon population here, on each side of the River. -- She that was Mrs. Morgan, widow of the murdered Morgan, of Free Mason memory, is settled here, and is now Mrs. Harris, and a good Mormon. Oliver Granger, a brother of Francis Granger of your state, resides here, and is a leader in the Mormon Church.


Note: See also the Journal of Commerce's weekly edition, the New York Mercury of Jan. 2, 1840, for a lengthier article reprint.

Twenty-Sixth Congress.

In the Senate, on Tuesday, among the petitions presented was one by Mr. Young, of Illinois, from Joseph Smith, Rigdon, Higbee, and others of the Mormon faith, setting forth grievances under which they labored while in Missouri, and asking the interposition of Congress in their behalf....

See article in Washington, D. C. paper.

Notes: (forthcoming)

Mormonism. -- This religious or fanatical humbug is rapidly gaining ground in Philadelphia. Hundreds of the ignorant, although many of them make pretensions to the possession of sense, are joining the society.

Notes: (forthcoming)

LATEST  FROM  THE  MORMONS.

It is known that these people, since their dispersion in Missouri, have collected in great numbers in and around Commerce, in this state, on the Mississippi river. The name of Commerce, as we have heretofore stated, they have changed to Nauvoo, from the Hebrew or Egyptian, though of the signification of the term we are ignorant. -- They hold two great conferences every year, -- in the spring and fall, and that appointed for the present spring took place last week, commencing on the 6th and ending on the 9th inst. We learn that between 2000 and 3000 persons were present, and that considerable accessions were made to the church from the surrounding neighborhood. Our informant states that the number was 74, all received by baptism, and that at the same time 30 of the ablest men were ordained to preach the gospel.

The preachers present were Joseph and Hiram Smith, John Page, Orson Hyde and two others. Messrs. Page and Hyde, with ten others, (probably chosen elsewhere) were commissioned to go to the Holy Land to preach the gospel to the Jews. -- They are to meet in Quincy next Sabbath, and from there take their departure for Palestine.

About 300 houses have been put up in Nauvoo since last October. Some of these are neat frame buildings, but the greater portion are log cabins designer for temporary habitations merely. The ground assigned to each is generally one acre, though to some there are five acres.

The increase of population by immigration is very great. Our informant states that several families arrive every day. A gentleman living on the road from Quincy to Nauvoo assured him that on some days at least 15 families passed his house, all bound to the latter place.
                                  Peoria Register.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Mormons. -- These religious humbugs have deputized twelve of their number (answering, we suppose, to the twelve Apostles) to go to the Holy Land, and preach the Gospel to the Jews. John Page and Orson Hyde are two of the number. The head quarters of the Mormons are now at Commerce, Illinois, on the Mississippi river. Their number is increasing.


Notes: (forthcoming)

A  GLANCE  AT  THE  MORMONS.

To the Editors of the Alexandria Gazette.

Since the Mormons were expelled from the State of Missouri, they have purchased the town of Commerce, a situation of surpassing beauty, at the head of the lower rapids, on the Illinois shore of the upper Mississippi river. The name of the place they recently changed to Nauvoo, the Hebrew term for Fair or Beautiful. Around this place, as their centre, they are daily gathering from almost every quarter; and several hundred new houses, created within the last few months, attest to the passing traveller the energy, industry, and self-denial with which the community is imbued. They have also obtained possession of extensive lands on the opposite side of the river, in that charming portion of Iowa Territory, known as the 'Half Breed Reservation;' and there, upon the rolling and fertile prairies, they are rapidly selecting their homes and opening their farms. As the traveller now passes through those natural parks and fields of flowers, which the hand of the Creator seems to have originally planted there for the inspection of his own eye, he beholds their cabins dotted down in the most enchanting perspective, either on the borders of the timber, or beside the springs and streams of living water, which are interspersed on every hand.

Nor are they unmindful of their interests abroad, while they are thus accomplishing so much at home. No sect, with equal means, has probably ever suffered and achieved more in so short a time. Their elders have not only been commissioned and sent forth to every part of our own country, but they have left their families and friends behind them, and gone to Europe, and even to the Holy Land, to reveal the wonders of the "new and everlasting covenant;" and to preach "the dispensation of the fulness of times." They doubt not but that they shall be endued, when necessary, with power from on high to proclaim to all the nations of the earth in their own tongues, the wonderful works of God.

The signal success which every where attends their exertions, proves how well their religious system is adapted to give expression to the various forms of enthusiasm that pervade the religious sentiment of the day. Retaining many truths which are held in common by different denominations of Christians and covering their own absurdities with imposing forms and lofty pretensions, their system opens a winning asylum for all the disaffected or dissatisfied of other persuasions, and much that is congenial to almost every shade of erratic or radical religious character. As an illustration of this, it is stated, in the last number of their own journal, called "Times and seasons," that, on a single occasion in England, one of their elders lately baptized, among others, no less than thirteen preachers of one denomination of Christians.

The name of Mormon they disclaim, and affirm that it was given to them by their enemies. They call themselves "The Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints," and number, among their chief ecclesiastical dignitaries, a prophet, patriarch, and a train of high priest[s], bishops, and elders. They are understood to disallow the truth and validity of other churches, and to believe that their own ecclesiastical constitution entitles them to expect the enjoyment of all other gifts and blessings of the church in ancient times. They teach that all who are baptized by immersion and under proper authority, are legally entitled to the remission of their sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Among other religious exercises, they meet together to testify, to prophecy, to speak with tongues to interpret, and to relate their visions and revelations, and, in short, to exercise all the gifts of God, as set in order among the ancient churches. They believe that the restoration of Israel to Palestine, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the second advent of the Messiah are near at hand, -- and the dreadful calamities which have recently befallen some of the cities of our land, are set down upon their records as prophetic signs of the second coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of Heaven to open their millennial era.

As to the "Book of Mormon," while they place implicit confidence in its truth, they deny that it is a new Bible, to exclude the old but a historical and religious record, written in ancient times, by a branch of the house of Israel that peopled America, from whom the Indians descended. The metallic plates, on which these records was engraved, lay deposited for many centuries in the earth, until at length, they were discovered and translated by Joseph Smith Jr. and found, not only to corroborate and confirm the truth of holy writ, but also to open the events of ancient America, as far back at least as the flood. -- They believe that this book pours the light of noonday upon the history of a nation, whose mounds and cities, and fortifications, still repose, in grand but melancholy ruins, upon the bosom of the western prairies; and the reason that it is not more generally received is the same that operated to prevent the reception of the Gospel, in the early ages of Christianity.

It was a beautiful morning towards the close of April last, when the writer of the foregoing sketch, accompanied by, a friend, crossed the Mississippi River, from Montrose, to pay a visit to the prophet. As we approached his house, we saw him ride up and alight from his beautiful horse; and handing the bridle to one of his followers in attendance, he waited in front of his gate to receive us. A number of principal men of the place soon collected around, apparently anxious to hear the words which fell from his lips. His bearing towards them was like one who has authority; and the deference which they paid him convinced us that his dominion was deeply seated in the empire of their consciences. To our minds, profound knowledge of human nature had evidently taught him that, of all principles, the most omnipotent is the religious principle; and to govern men of certain classes, it is only necessary to control their religious sentiment.

After he had shown us the fine grounds around his dwelling, he conducted us, at our request, to an upper room, where he drew aside the curtains of a case, and showed us several Egyptian mummies, which we were told that the church had purchased, at his suggestion, some time before, for a large sum of money.

The embalmed body that stands near the centre of the case, said he, is one of the Pharaohs, who sat on the throne of Egypt; and the female figure by it was probably one of the daughters.

It may have been the princess Thermutis, I replied, the same that rescued Moses from the waters of the Nile.

It is not improbable, answered the Prophet; but my time has not yet allowed fully to examine and decide that point. Do you understand the Hebrew language, said he, raising his hand to the top of the case, and taking down a small Hebrew Grammar of Rabbi Seixas.

That language has not altogether escaped my attention, was the reply.

He then walked to a secretary, on the opposite side of the room, and drew out several frames, covered with glass, under which were numerous fragments of Egyptian papyrus, on which, as usual, a great variety of hieroglyphical characters had been imprinted.

These ancient records, said he, throw great light on the subject of Christianity. They have been unrolled and preserved with great labor and care. My time has been hitherto too much taken up to translate the whole of them, but I will show you how I interpret certain parts. There, said he, pointing to a particular character, that is the signature of the patriarch Abraham.

It is indeed a most interesting autograph, I replied, and doubtless the only one extant. What an ornament it would be to have these ancient manuscripts handsomely set, in appropriate frames, and hung up around the walls of the temple which you are about to erect at this place.

Yes, replied the Prophet, and the translation hung up with them.

Thinking this a proper time to propose a few inquiries relative to some of his peculiar tenets, I observed that it was commonly reported of him, that he believed in the personal reign of the Messiah upon earth, during the millennial era.

I believe in no such thing, was his reply. At the opening of that period, I believe that Christ will descend; but will immediately return again to heaven. Some of our elders, he continued, before I have found time to instruct them better, have unadvisedly propagated some such opinions; but I tell my people that it is absurd to suppose that Christ "will jump out of the frying pan into the fire." He is in a good place now, and it is not to be supposed that he will exchange it for a worse one.

Not a little shocked by the emblem employed by the Prophet, we descended from his chamber, and the conversation turned upon his recent visit to Washington, and his talk with the President of the United States. He gave us distinctly to understand that his political views had undergone an entire change; and his description of the reception given him at the executive mansion was any thing but flattering to the distinguished individual who presides over its hospitalities.

Before he had heard the story of our wrongs, said the indignant Prophet, Mr. Van Buren gave us to understand that he could do nothing for the redress of our grievances lest it should interfere with his political prospects in Missouri. He is not as fit said he, as my dog, for the chair of state; for my dog will make an effort to protect his abused and insulted master, while the present chief magistrate will not so much as lift his finger to relieve an oppressed and persecuted community of freemen, whose glory it has been that they were citizens of the United States.

You hold in your hands, I observed, a larger amount of political power, and your society must exert a tremendous influence, for weal or woe, in the coming elections.

Yes, said he, I know it; and our influence, as far as it goes, we intend to use. There are probably not far short of an hundred thousand souls in our society, and the votes to which we are entitled throughout the Union must doubtless be extensively lost to Mr. Van Buren.

Not being disposed in any way to intermeddle in party politics, I made no definite reply; but immediately taking leave we returned to Montrose, abundantly satisfied that the Society over which he presided has assumed a moral and political importance which is but very imperfectly understood. Associated on the religious principle, under a prophet and leader whose mysterious and awful claims to divine inspiration make his voice to believers like the voice of God; trained to sacrifice their individuality; to utter one cry; and to think and act in crowds; with minds that seem to have been struck from the sphere of reason on one subject, and left to wander, like lost stars; amid the dark mazes and winding ways of religious error; these remarkable sectaries must necessarily hold in their hands a fearful balance of political power. In the midst of contending parties, a single hand might turn their influence, with tremendous effect, to which ever side presented the most potent attraction; and should they ever become disposed to exert their influence for evil, which may Heaven prevent, they would surround our institutions with an element of danger more to be dreaded than an armed and hundred eyed police.


Note: The editor's introduction to the above communication says: "The article in to-day's Gazette, containing an account of the Mormons, is from the pen of a gentleman who has lately visited that people, and studied their whole system, and has been communicated at our request. It will be read with great interest. The personal observation of the writer, and the ability with which he has prepared his statement, unite to make the sketch he has drawn of the singular body of fanatics of whom he writes, by far the best that has yet appeared."

... a very interesting account of the Mormons [is] given by a correspondent of the Alexandria Gazette. Any fears of the continued increase or influence of these infatuated people we think ill-founded. Christianity has at all times had silly sects upon its skirts, which soon quit their hold if unnoticed. Joannah Southcote had quite as formidable a train at one time as Joe Smith now has. -- Many men and women gray in years of experience were happy in the blessed assurance that she was destined to give birth to a Messiah. The whole sect has dissolved, and no vestige of the congregation remains. So, too, Mathias the Prophet had cajoled many respectable persons and was in a fair way of establishing wider faith in his mission, when his villainy, paramount to his cunning, brought him into a court of justice and dissolved his scheme of deception. It is melancholly to know that well meaning and even well informed people can become the dupes of Southcotes, Mathiases and Joe Smiths; but the evil can hardly fail to work its own cure. Had the latter scamp been let alone when he commenced his game of imposture, it would have fallen long ago by its own weight. But opposition and injury clothed him with the attributes of a martyr and hence his greater success. There is now but one mode to circumscribe the growth of the Mormons -- to let them alone. -- National Gazette.


Notes: (forthcoming)

LATTER DAY SAINTS. -- It is a singular fact that England, with the richest endowed church in the world, propt up by the State -- the best paid ministers of religion that are to be found in any Christian country -- that England, boasting of being in the advance of all other nations in the road of literature, the arts and the sciences, is still, or seems to be, wrapped up in benighted superstition. To support this assertion it is only necessary to point to the thousands who placed implicit belief in the absurd and blasphemous doctrines of Johanna Southcote, Irvine, the Scotch preacher, and mad Courtney.

We perceive that some new sect has sprung up there, which is "going ahead" and coming ahead at the same time.

The late Liverpool papers announce that the New York packet ship North America, Capt. Lowbar, sailed from that port on the 8th September, having on board 200 steerage passengers, the whole of whom were of a sect calling themselves Latter Day Saints, who were bound for Quincy, Michigan, (query, Illinois?) where a large tract of ground was purchased by one of the brotherhood who preceeded them: 2,000 more, says the paper, are in treaty to follow them next spring. Many of them belonged to the total abstinence society.


Notes: (forthcoming)

A Mormon Newspaper. -- The Mormons have recently started a newspaper at Nauvoo, Ill., called "The Times and Seasons."It recognizes the whole of the Scriptures and the doctrine of infinite atonement, and ascribes to both ancient and modern apostles miraculous powers, speaking unknown tongues, &c.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMONS. -- The believers in the "Book of Mormon" in the United States number about fifty thousand.

Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMONS. -- Two hundred Mormons arrived in this city a day or two since from England, on their way to the settlement at Nauvoo, Ill.

Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMONISM. -- The Saint Louis New Era of late date says: "A report was in circulation to-day that the Prophet Smith and S. Rigdon lately took a ride together from the city of Nauvoo; that Smith returned without Rigdon, and that, when asked what had become of him, he replied that he had been translated to heaven."


Note: This same report was published in the Apr. 21, 1841 issue of the Warsaw Western World. It probably appeard in the St. Louis paper a couple of days prior to that. Compare this story to a similar account, given in the June 9, 1842 issue of the Washington, D. C. Kendall's Weekly Expositor and a contemporary issue of the Norwalk Gazette.

The Mormons -- The corner stone of the great Mormon Temple, to be built at Nauvoo, Illinois, was laid with imposing ceremonials on the 6th April, in presence of seven or eight thousand persons, and the Nauvoo Military Legion, consisting of six hundred and fifty men.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMON CITY OF NAUVOO. -- As this city is, in some respects, a curiosity, we have watched its proceedings with interest. From the "Times and Seasons" we learn the following facts in regard to it:

The City Council have prohibited any person from selling whiskey in a less quantity than one gallon; and any other liquor in less than a quart, unless on the prescription of a physician.

The University of Nauvoo has been duly organized by the election of a Chancellor and Trustees, James Kelley, A. M. an Alumnus of Trinity College Dublin, has been elected President of the University.

The Nauvoo Legion has been also organized, and officers have been elected. The Council have passed a vote of thanks to the State Government, for the favors it had conferred, and to the citizens of Quincy, for the protection received, when driven from Missouri. --   St. Louis Gazette.

Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMONS. -- This sect of fanatics seems to be making considerable progress. Two or three months ago the Adjutant General of Illinois joined the Mormons, and now it appears the Governor himself has joined them. The St. Louis Republican of the 1st says: "The fact of the Governor's joining this society was looked upon as an unmeaning 'sign of the times' to come. They are also building an extensive something which they call a temple, but which has very much the appearance of a fort."


Notes: (forthcoming)

From the Rochester Democrat.

MARTIN  HARRIS, THE  MORMON.

In an article we published on Tuesday, it was announced that Martin Harris was found near Nauvoo, the city of the Mormons, shot through the head, and that there was no doubt of his having been murdered.

We have ever regarded Mr. Harris as an honest man. We first became acquainted with him at Palmyra, in the spring of 1828, shortly after the plates from which the Book of Mormon is said to have been translated, were found. At that time Jo Smith had a mere handful of followers, most of whom were as destitute of character and intelligence as the "Prophet" himself. Mr. H. however, was an exception. Though illiterate and naturally of a superstitious turn of mind, he had long sustained an irreproachable character for probity. He became an early believer in the doctrines of Mormonism, and neglected no opportunity of inculcating them, even at the expense of his pecuniary interests. By his neighbors and townsmen with whom he earnestly and almost incessantly labored, he was regarded rather as being deluded himself, than as wishing to delude others knowingly; but still he was subjected to many scoffs and rebukes, all of which he endured with a meekness becoming a better cause.

Mr. Harris was the only man of wealth among the early Mormons, and many were the calls made upon his purse for the purpose of feeding Smith and fostering his humbug in its incipient stages. The heavier taxes to which he was at first subjected, were for two journies to Pennsylvania, by command of Smith, who was then in that State, and who had received, if we are to credit him, a revelation from the Lord, to the effect that the suffering condition of the Gentiles in that region demanded Mr. H. these visits. -- That Smith's pecuniary sufferings at least were relieved, is certain. The next was for a journey to Dr. Mitchell of New York, and other men of science in the eastern states, to ascertain whether they were sufficiently profound to render into English the hieroglyphic characters which had been intrusted to Mr. H., and represented as fac similies of those on some of the plates which Smith pretended to have found, But the most severe tax upon Mr. Harris' purse, was for the publication of the Book of Mormon. To secure the printer he mortgaged his farm, one of the best in the town, and ultimately lost it. The work did not meet with as ready a sale as was anticipated; but had those to whom its sale was entrusted, appropriated the proceeds as honesty would have dictated, he probably would have been enabled to redeem his farm.

A few years after this, we saw Mr. Harris in Lyons, and found him as firm as ever in his belief in the purity of Mormonism, nothwithstanding he had been fleeced of his goodly estate. He had just arrived from Liberty, Missouri, the then "promised land," and soon afterwards returned to that place. We have not seen him since, and supposed, until we saw the announcement of his death, and the cause of it conjectured, that he was still among the most zealous and conspicuous of Jo. Smith's followers. But we were wrong. Mr. Harris's native honesty had gained the mastery of his credulity. He had been so long a confident of Smith and his leading associates, and had seen so much of their villainy, that he undoubtedly felt it a duty to expose them and their debasing doctrines. Hence his lectures against Mormonism in Illinois, and hence, too, his probable murder by some of that sect.

Mr. Harris was about 55 years of age. His first wife died in Palmyra some four years since, having refused to accompany him to the "promised land," -- about a year after which time, he returned to Wayne county and married again.


Note 1: Other reprints of the article reproduced this closing paragraph: "We have so often expressed our conviction of the humbuggery of Mormonism and the worthlessness of its propagators, that we need not do so at this time. We have merely to express the hope, that the authorities of Illinois may spare no pains or expense in ferreting out the murderers of Mr. Harris, and bringing them to merited punishment."

Note 2: The contributor of the above report remains unidentified. The article could have been composed by Alvah Strong, who was then editor of the Rochester Democrat, but the more likely writer was Mr. Strong's journeyman printer foreman, Jonathan A. Hadley. Its content reads very much like that of two other Hadley articles, mentioning Martin Harris, published in 1829 and in 1842.

Note 3: See also one editor's response to this mistaken Harris death notice, as published in the Ohio Painesville Telegraph of June 30, 1841.

THE  MORMONS.

The following extract of a letter to the editor of this paper, though not designed for publication, will, no doubt, be read with much interest, inasmuch as it gives some interesting facts as to the introduction of Mormonism into the State of Missouri. The statements here may be relied on, as they come from a gentleman of respectability and unquestioned veracity.

"Five in number first came to Jackson county during my residence there. They took up their lodgings at a tavern in Independence (the county seat). Not being a tavern.-haunter myself, I formed no personal acquaintance with them. They lived somewhat retired, (having a hired room) for several weeks; presently, however, they made some attempts to negotiate with the neighboring Indians, whom they style their brethren the Canaanites [sic, Lamanites?]. Being repulsed by the agents, they secured several tracts of land in the vicinity of Independence, and a few lots in town. About this time they began to come on by considerable numbers from the east, and settle[d] in little huts which they built on the lands which had been bought, which were cut in very small tracts for each family, under the name of an inheritance. Independence being the then designed site for their New Jerusalem. All except their leaders, being poor people, and of a low class, they employed as many as they needed in building the Lord's Printing Office, as they call it, and the balance were compelled to hire out to the citizens, in order to get sustenance for themselves and families. About this time they opened a store, which they called the Lord's store; and began to publish in the Lord's Printing Office, a paper entitled "The Evening and the Morning Star," W. Philips [sic, Phelps?] editor. In this appeared a great many of their pretended revelations from the Lord, shewing them, (the Mormons, to be the rightful inheritors of the land of Missouri.

"Their number now growing, both from emigration and proselytes, and finding no room in the vicinity of Independence, (about this time I moved to Clay county,) and finding vacant lands from 8 to 10 miles off, on Big Blue river, they pretended to have received a revelation leading them to that part of the country, for the erection of their New Jerusalem. There they settled in considerable numbers, growing all the while still more bold in the publication of their pretended revelations, as having in them promised immense armies for the final subjugation of their enemies (the citizens) and final and complete possession of their inheritance, the land of Missouri. The citizens having, in the mean time, become tired of the repeated pilfering of their poor, and finding legal redress troublesome, if not impracticable, treated a few of them roughly. This, (although their leaders would condemn the [pilfering]) caused them to show still more of their pretended authority, and here the citizens called a council, and agreed to have no more dealings with the Mormons, either buying or selling. This reduced them to straits, and enraged them very much, so that the Mormons, professing to be under the influence of inspiration, and under the immediate protection of the angels of God, defied the citizens to touch or injure them or their property; and about this time, the Mormons on Blue river marched their forces, in obedience to a pretended revelation, to take possession of Independence by force. But I think after the revelation came out, and before the above march, the citizens collected in sufficient numbers around the "Lord's Printing office," to lay it in ruins, and took possession of a number of their papers, &c. Now, the citizens being by this time apprised of the approach of the Mormons, collected their forces and repulsed them without a fight. Then a skirmishing, irregular fight ensued, in which several were killed on both sides, and the Mormons were out to flight, making their escape by crossing the Missouri river into Clay county, into my neighborhood. It was fall, and the fast approach of winter finding a number of fellow-beings without homes or the means of sustenance, called to exercise he clemency of the citizens of Clay county for them. All that would labor, were employed -- but many were gratuitously fed through the winter.

"Having, however, been received here with the express understanding and and agreement that they would leave the county whenever a respectable majority of the citizens became dissatisfied, they remained some months pretty silent, except their threats against the citizens of Jackson county -- generally countenanced as objects of pity. Presently emigration began to flock in from the east. Their prophet, Jo Smith, had information of their defeat in Jackson county, and came on with an armed force of several hundred for the purpose of reinstating them in their possessions in that county by force. This excited considerable alarm, both with the citizens of Clay and Jackson. A consultation of the citizens of Jackson county, by a chosen delegation, was held with the leaders of the Mormons, in Liberty, Clay county, at which the citizens of Jackson, and the Mormons, came upon terms of agreement, and Smith returned to the east, leaving most of his army in Clay county, after having appointed a few apostles. Through these, they began to grow bold again in their threats of possessing their inheritance, and in their denunciations of the dreadful calamities that would befall the citizens of Clay county too, if they did not subscribe to the Mormon faith, &c.

"These threats aroused the citizens to very great dissatisfaction, which gave rise to a general meeting of the Mormons and citizens, the result of which was, the Mormons at a given time, agreed to leave the county. They then went and formed Caldwell county, where they prospered and multiplied by emigration, until (I suppose,) they considered themselves strong enough to take the county; and forming themselves into bands, one called the Danites, or Destroying Angels -- they commenced on Daviess county, entering houses armed, and disarming the men by taking away their guns, took off such household goods as they wanted -- drove off the family, and set fire to the house, moving their property, thus taken, to a fortified bend of Grand river for safe keeping; and in more than one case, drove women out of doors to wade through snow several inches deep but a few days after the birth of the infant which she was compelled to carry in her arms, and leave her to the mercy of the merciless Danites. [This] they did without any provocation that I know of, upon which the militia were ordered against them; and finding themselves out-numbered, they proposed a treaty in which they finally succeeded, and promised to leave the State at a given time, and did not come to a general fight; yet several on both sides had been killed before, and during the time of making the compact or treaty,

"Now they are gone -- and as I have written the account in quite an abridged way, I have no doubt but many important circumstances are left out, which might make this appear less interesting; yet the facts here stated as to their crimes, I will say are not less exaggerated -- and if you request it, I can produce many affidavits of respectable citizens of Daviess county, specifying their crimes separately, and send them to you.

:As to the Mormons attempting to influence the blacks, [it is] a matter that must stand upon circumstantial evidence, as negro testimony is inadmissible; but this I will say, that it is here generally believed.

"N.B. In addition to the Danites, another band was employed in taking and hauling off corn, where they could find it, and another in driving off stock in the same way, and two other bands in smaller matters. Attested by numbers."


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMONISM IN ENGLAND. -- A late London paper, speaking of the departure of great numbers of deluded people for the Mormon settlements in this country, adds that "some of these unfortunate dupes, who have broken up comfortable establishments at home, are on the brink of the grave, but they believe that on their arrival at the American paradise, they shall be made young again and shall live for a thousand years! On Wednesday about 70 of these people went down to the Gloucester Canal to Sharpness Point, and on Thuesday a waggon-load of the same description of ignorant fanatics took their departure for the same destination, all of them intending to embark at Sharpness for America."


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORE MORMONS. -- A body of Mormons numbering about seventy individuals, passed lately through Montreal, on their way to join their brother religionists at Nauvoo, Illinois. The Montreal Herald says of them: "They were from Gloucester, Eng., and arrived at Quebec in the Collina. They appeared to be quiet, inoffensive people, and possessed of some means. They call themselves 'Latter Day Saints,' or Mormons, from having adopted the book of Mormon as a part of divinr revelation. They believe in the efficacy of prayer as a means of curing all diseases. One of their children, when at the immigrant sheds, was seized with a toothache, and two of them, laying their hands on her head, prayed that the Almighty would be pleased to relieve her. We do not know whether the deluded creatures had their delusion strengthened or weakened by the result.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMONS. -- Three or four columns of a late number of the Warsaw Signal are occupied with testimony taken in the case of the People against five Mormons charged with stealing a cow. They were acquitted. We notice, says the St. Louis Era, that a strong feeling is getting up, whether well or ill founded we know not, both in Iowa and Illinois, against the Mormons, and many charges of theft are made against them. In some cases, notice to quit particular neighborhoods have been given.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMONS. -- There was a row among the Mormons on Sunday night. Some young gentlemen, wishing to join in the hymn but not knowing the words, substituted those of "Rosin Da Bow," which the Rev. disciple of Rev. Joe construed into offence. Then there was a hub-bub and a highly edifying little fuss, which went off in first rate style.

The preacher assured us that the falling stars of 1834 had a great deal to do with Mormonism, and, though some philosophers have asserted that a single star falling upon the earth would crush it into powder, he didn't believe it. He thought nothing impossible, and the stars might come upon the earth! Aint he a star!


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> Somebody says Jo Smith, the Mormon prophet, is about to purchase the National theatre, Chestnut street, Philadelphia, and convert it into a tabernacle for the Latter Day Saints. Jo, you are noy "going to do that," are you?


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> The New York Tattler reports that Joe Smith, the Mormon, has been caught kissing another man's wife. However, there was nothing thought of it. They take such things easy up at Nauvoo as they do their bread and butter. Joe himself, the rogue, it is whispered -- we trust the whisper's a scandel -- claims as free pasturage half the pretty lips in the city. A happy and comical fellow, this Joe. We wish we stood in his shoe leather!


Note: This appears to be an early, if unclear allusion to polygamy within the ranks of the top churchly leadership at Nauvoo (where the Mormons "take such things easy"). Two years later, after people like Martha Brotherton and John C. Bennett had already exposed Mormon polygamy in the public press, Charlotte Haven would write from Nauvoo: "... some others have reasoned with her that plurality of wives is taught in the Bible... and if right for them, it is right for the Latter Day Saints... I cannot believe that Joseph [Smith] will ever sanction such a doctrine..."

==> Joe Smith and his two right hand men, Sidney Rigdon and Hiram Smith, have applied for the benefit of the bankrupt act. The prophet's debts, as he sets them down, amount to about $100,000.

Notes: (forthcoming)

==> The Mormons have nominated a full ticket for county officers, of their own religious denomination, in the county of Hancock, Illinois.

Notes: (forthcoming)

==> The Wasp, one of the Mormon papers, at Nauvoo, Illinois, speaks of the attempt to murder Gov. Boggs as "a noble deed." The Mormon editor is evidently apprehensive that the assassin may turn out to be his prophet, Joe Smith.

When these Mormons were hunted and shot by the people of Missouri, we sympathized with them. We have no doubt, however, that they are a blasting curse to any land they infest, and that a very large portion of them are utterly unfit to be out of the penitentiary.

---

==> Judge Ford is the Locofico candidate for Governor of Illinois. He is spoken of in the Alton Telegraph as a Mormon. Is it a fact that the Mormons constitute so large a proportion of the Locofoism of Illinois that they can dictate the selection of its candidates?

Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMONS. -- There is great excitement in Illinois in regard to the Mormons. Their acts, if report be true, are too outrageous to be borne in silence. We sincerely hope that their conduct will be promptly and thoroughly investigated, and that, if the charges against them are found true, the penal laws of the State will ve sternly executed. From an article in the Sangamo (Ill,) Journal of the 1st inst., we copy the following:

"There are individuals in his 'Joe Smith's] flock, possessed of talents and disposition to use them for the benefit of their sect and country. Among these individuals we reckon Gen. Bennett, Sidney Rigdon, Esq., Mr. George Robinson, and others. But the Prophet will scarcely permit them to think or act except in entire subservience to his wishes. It is now understood, that, within a few days past, Smith has made a desperate, blackguard, and abusive public attack on General Bennett, Mr. Rigdon, and Mr. Robinson; and reports (and we place great reliance upon them) go so far as to say that the life of the former has been threatened, and that orders have been issued to the Danite band to murder him in a clandestine manner on the first opportunity. Indeed, the report goes further and states that two of the Danites have been in hot pursuit of Gen. Bennett for several days, in order to accomplish the nefarious purpose, and thus prevent a public exposition of the corruptions of the great impostor.

"We call upon the people of our State to have an eye upon this matter; and, if either of the individuals mentioned should be missing, that there shall be no hesitation in placing the responsibility of the act upon its proper authors, and in making them feel in their own persons that murder shall be avenged.

"We take no pleasure in placing these remarks upon paper. If a secret band of assassins shall prowl about among this community, who is safe? The fate of Gov. Boggs is an event not to be unheeded. But we should be unworthy of our position should we fail to meet this matter as it deserves. And we now call upon Gen. Bennett, if the rumors we have stated have just foundation, 'to take his life into his hands,' if that be required, and with the true spirit of a soldier and a patriot, expose the crimes, if such exist, of the Heaven-daring impostor. We call upon Gen. Bennett to come out NOW. We appeal to him to do this in behalf of his fellow-citizens, who claim this of him, by all the considerations which can be presented to him as a lover of his species and as the servant of his God. Such an exposure may save life, may expose corruption, may avert consequences which no man can contemplate without fearful apprehensions. We call upon Gen. Bennett to produce documentary evidence, that the public may form opinions that cannot be gainsaid -- that they may understand the entire character, as it stands naked before his God, of a long successful religious impostor."

From the following, which we find in the last number of the Burlington Hawkeye, it appears that Gen. Bennett will not disregard the calls that are made upon him, but will tear the mantle of sanctity from the accursed shoulders of the lying and murdering Prophet:

"NAUVOO, ILL., June 27, 1842.           

"MR. EDWARDS: In your paper of the 23d you alluded to the 'trouble among the Mormons,' and expressed a desire or hope that 'the schism is incurable,' and I assure you it is really so. The holy Joe fears the consequences of my disclosures, and has threatened to take my life, and has ordered some of his Danite band to effect the murder clandestinely -- but he shall be exposed. If he murders me, others will avenge my blood, and expose him; if I live, I will do it to the entire satisfaction of all. Just suspend your judgment for a few days until you see my expose in the 'Sangamo Journal' of next week, or the week following, over my own name.

                          In haste,yours, respectfully,
                          "JOHN C. BENNETT."


Note 1: The June 27th "trouble among the Mormons" letter by John C. Bennett was widely reprinted from the Burlington Hawkeye of June 30, 1842. An example may be found in the St. Louis Native American Bulletin of July 7, 1842. There was widespread interest among readers in the east, in regard to the Mormons and their leader, Joseph Smith. The original Burlington Hawkeye article of June 23, 1842 was quickly reprinted as far east as Pittsburgh, very shortly after its initial publication.

MORMONISM. -- It is most extraordinary and unaccountable how this mad creed is flourishing. Some remarks in the New York Mechanic have astonished us. "The society presents at present some of the most incongruous features that has ever been among the people calling themselves Christians. They pretend to be united, holding a very large property in common, yet their three prophets and leading men have applied for the benefit of the bankrupt law, thus defrauding their creditors probably of some hundred thousand dollars. They style themselves "Latter Day Saints," and preach humility, meekness and submission, yet have got a regular and well-equipped army of two thousand men, prepared to fight and destroy the lives of their fellow beings. There appears to be neither love, harmony nor sympathy among themselves, and their mode of worship has no authority but a book of blasphemous falsehood, which they know was forged by themselves. Their most pious priests have assumed military authority and carry swords. Yet, even in the enlightened New England States, they have gathered ten churches. It is very unaccountable.


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> We learn, from an Illinois paper, that Joe Smith, just before he applied for the benefit of the bankrupt law, was in possession of a large amount of most valuable property, the whole of which he made over to himself -- one part of it to himself, as sole trustee, for the use of the Mormon church, and the rest to himself, as trustee, for the use of his wife and children.

If these things are so, will not the God-defying hypocrite be punished for perjury?


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMON CHURCH. -- There appears to be, says the St. Louis Republican, a very considerable flare-up in the church, and it is probable, from the rancor of feeling manifested, and the influence of the parties involved in the contest, that the church itself may be shaken to her foundation by the disturbance. When such [splits] begin in a body held together only as this is, there is no telling where it will stop. The last Warsaw Signal contains the following:

"NAUVOO. -- We understand that the very mischief brewing in Nauvoo, since the threatening of Bennett to expose the villainy of Joe and his satellites. Several of Joe's right hand men, among them, one of the Pratts, G. W. Robinson and Sidney Rigdon, have left the church and joined Bennett's party. One disclosure particularly will prove interesting -- and that is in relation to Boggs's murder. -- Bennett states that A. P. Rockwood started suddenly from Nauvoo, about two weeks before Boggs's assassination; that he (Bennett) asked Joe where Rockwood had gone; and that Joe replied, that 'he had gone to Missouri to fulfil prophecies!' He says further, that Rockwood returned to Nauvoo on the very day that the news of Governor Boggs's assassination arrived. Since that, the Prophet has presented said Rockwood with a carriage and horse, or horses; and he has suddenly become very flush of money, and lives in style. These statements we give as we received them. It is said that Bennett has affidavits to prove every fact stated, and will shortly present them to the world. If this be true, there will but little doubt remain, that Joe Smith was the real instigator of Boggs's assassination."


Notes: (forthcoming)

Schism  among  the  Mormons.

Nauvo is in an uproar, and "awful disclosures" are coming forth in relation to the sublime "hum-a-de-bug" of Mormonism. Statements are forthcoming from various recent seceders, and a loud blow-up is anticipated. -- It is really time that the cunning Joe Smith and his gang of outlaws should be checked in their sacrilegious mockery of religion and driven from their successful career of hypocritical villany. We learn from the St. Louis Republican that among the seceders, who are rapidly increasing to a large party, are Gen. Bennett, Sidney Rigdon and Gen, Robinson. -- We are told that the expose of the iniquities of Mormonism, and the doctrines in inculcates, as practised by Joe Smith and his principal followers (apostles) under his control, is of the most astounding character.

A base attempt upon the honor of a young lady, the daughter of Rigdon, by Smith, has led to this schism among the Mormons, and the forthcoming expose. She happened to be a sensible girl (and is said to be a very beautiful one) and was engaged to be married to a young man of the sect, now a seceder, and was too smart to be imposed upon by the revelations of Smith, or his pretensions to have "received the blessing of Jacob." She escaped from him and communicated the affair to her parents. Bennett had advised Smith to desist from the intemperate course he had been pursuing -- Smith accused him of being his enemy -- a quarrel was the consequence -- and a withdrawal from the Church of the Saints by Bennett Rigdon, Robinson and other principal men, among whom was Pratt, the brother of the head of the Mormon church in England.

Now it is to be devoutly wished for by all good, christian, civilized people, that this blow-up will result in the annihilation of such a monsterous deformity marring the intelligence of the century as Mormonism. The following, from the Warsaw Signal, fixes pretty clearly the origin of the diabolical attempt upon the life of Ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri: --

One disclosure particularly will prove interesting -- and that is in relation to Boggs' murder. Bennett states that A. P. Rockwood started suddenly from Nauvoo, about two weeks before Boggs' assassination; that he (Bennett) asked Joe where Rockwood had gone -- and that Joe replied, that 'he had gone to Missouri to fulfil prophecies!' He says further, that Rockwood had returned to Nauvoo on the very day that the news of Governor Boggs' assassination arrived. Since that, the Prophet has presented the said Rockwood with a carriage and horse, or horses; and he has suddenly become very flush of money and lives in style. These statements we give as we received them. It is said that Bennett has affidavits to prove every fact stated, and will shortly present them to the world. If this be true, there will but little doubt remain, that Joe Smith was the real instigator of Boggs' assassination.

Gen. Bennett says the above is strictly true, with the exception of the name of the assassin -- which is O, P. Rockwell, and that Rockwell arrived at Nauvoo the day previous to the arrival of the news of the assassination.

An attempt has been made to assassinate Bennett -- after he had threatened to make his exposure -- and a day or two before he left Nauvoo, a carriage drove up to his residence with its wheels muffled and the horses hoofs wrapped up to prevent noise -- with several Mormons dressed as women, but Bennett was prepared to receive them, and they went off without molesting him.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  MORMONS --  JOE  SMITH, &c.

Gen. John C. Bennett was lately, next to Joe Smith, the most distinguished member of the Mormon church. He was commander of the Mormon legion, and was, and still is, master in chancery for Hancock county -- a county peopled principally by the Mormons. Some time ago a quarrel broke out between him and Joe Smith, which resulted in his abandoning the the Mormon church, and laying before the world an exposition of Smith's character and conduct. This exposition, as far as we have read it, is one of the most startling things of the kind we ever saw. Moreover, it is deeply interesting to the public. Joe Smith is generally regarded as a mere miserable fanatic; but, although he may be a fanatic, he is something more; he is the prophet and the commander-in-chief of thirty thousand Mormons, all of whom regard him as a leader sent from Heaven, and look upon his commands as emanating from the Most High. Backed by his multidinous and deluded host, he already attempts to control the politics of Illinois, and defies both the civil and military authorities of that State to call him to account for anything that he has done or may do.

Gen. Bennett is publishing a series of letters in the Sangamo Journal, and he promises that, before he has done, the exposition of the Prophet's horrible character shall be thorough. We judge, from the specimens already given, that the pledge will be redeemed. We proceed to give extracts and abstracts of the letters, making the whole as concise as possible.


"To the Editor of the Sangamo Journal:

"NAUVOO, Ill., June 2[7], 1842.    

"I now write you from the Mormon Zion, the City of the Saints, where I am threatened with death by the holy Joe, and his Danite band of murderers, in case I dare make my disclosures in relation to the conduct of that polluted mass of corruption, iniquity and fraud, -- that king of impostors, -- the holy and immaculate Joe Smith. I shall however, expose him, and if I fall by the ruthless hands of such foul assassins, let my blood be avenged by the friends of God and my country. Remember he has threatened me with DEATH in propria persona, and if I should be immolated to satiate his hellish malice, let his blood atone for it -- put his 'head in a charger.' Joe Smith stands indicted for murder, treason, burglary, and arson in Missouri, and he defies the laws and the legally constituted authorities to deliver him over for trial. What a horrible state of society, when men fear to execute the laws, especially in relation to the most foul impostor that ever disgraced the earth! If Governor Reynolds, of Missouri, will make another demand for Joe Smith, and if Governor Carlin will place the writ in my hands, I will deliver him up to justice, or die in the attempt, unless restrained by the constituted civil authority.

"Now, Governor, do your duty. And, citizens of Illinois, be in readiness to sustain your laws. I furnished the State arms to the Nauvoo Legion on a legal requisition, and on a legal requisition they shall be delivered up. The public arms are in a bad situation, and suffering material injury, and they had better be placed in the hands of more deserving men, for the State is sustaining a great loss. If the Governor wishes them for other troops, they are at his service. I derived the command of the Nauvoo Legion, and as Major General I have it, and am liable to trial only on an order from the Governor, detailing a general Court Martial of general officers from the other divisions of the State -- no brevet officer can affect me."


Here Gen. Bennett publishes a copy of a highly honorable dismissal from the Mormon church, given him by the general church clerk and recorder, at Bennett's request, and in accordance with Joe Smith's written instructions. Subsequently to this withdrawal and honorable dismission of Gen. B., Joe Smith, in anticipation of an attempt on the part of the [------ ------ ------], undertook to blast Bennett's character, and destroy his credibility, by publishing a pretended copy of withdrawal of the fellowship of the church from him, giving this withdrawal of fellowship a date prior to that of the honorable dismission, and appending to it the names of men, who, at the date of the document, were more than a thousand miles off. This fraud and forgery, on the part of the Prophet, is rendered so perfectly probable that even he himself cannot pretend to deny it.

The withdrawal of fellowship was dated back in order to have a pretext for my expulsion, and to destroy my influence before I could do any injury to the GREAT PROPHET; and was presented to Orson Pratt, one of the twelve, for his signature some days after I showed him my official withdrawal, and Mr. Pratt refused to sign it. Mr. Pratt is a gentleman of undoubted veracity and I am willing to abide his testimony. Call upon him. Mr. Editor, what think you of these extraordinary papers? What was all this for? I will tell you, it was to destroy my influence, before I should expose Joe's attempt at seduction. Many of his followers will swear to anything he desires them to, and think they are doing God's service, even when they KNOW it to be false. And to begin.

We omit the first charge.

2d. Joseph Smith, the great Mormon seducer, one who has seduced not only hundreds of single and married females, but more than the great Solomon, attempted to seduce Miss Nancy Rigdon, the eldest single daughter of Sidney Rigdon, to submit to his hellish purposes, and become one of his clandestine wives under the new dispensation. Call upon Miss Rigdon, who repulsed him with commendable firmness, and I will abide her testimony. Call, likewise, upon Gen. George W. Robinson, and Col. F. M. Higbee, to state what they know upon this subject. Gen. Robinson and Col. Higbee, can tell some astounding facts in relation to this matter. Joe approached Miss Rigdon "in the name of the Lord, and by his authority and permission," as he said. Joe attacked Mr. Rigdon, Gen. Robinson, Col. Higbee and myself, In order to destroy the influence of all of us to prevent the exposition of this case. But it is all true, and the legal evidence shall be forthcoming. Call upon Miss Martha Brotherton, of Warsaw, and see what she will say as to the base attempt at seduction in her own case. She can tell a tale of woe that would make humanity shudder. Call upon Miss Mitchell, of this city, one of the most chaste and spotless females in the west, and see what she knows as to the PROPHET'S SECRET WIVES. Hundreds of cases can be instanced, and if the Danites do not murder me, you shall hear a tale of pollution and sorrow. Joe's licentiousness is unparalleled in the annals of time. I have the evidence, and it shall come.

"3d. Joe's extensive land frauds in Iowa and Illinois will soon come to light. I will save his Eastern creditors some hundreds of thousands of dollars, by exposing these frauds in the face of open day, both by the legal records of the country and oral testimony. All is in readiness.

"4th. I will expose his actings and doings in Nauvoo Lodge, U. D. when none but the Mormon brethren were present. He has established a new lodge of his own, by inspiration, called ORDER,' in which there are many curious things, and relative to which I have much to say hereafter. The following is a part of the obligation -- 'I furthermore promise and swear that I will never touch a daughter of Adam UNLESS SHE IS GIVEN ME OF THE LORD," so as to accord with the NEW DISPENSATION and the 'ancient order of things.'

"The whole city is now in an uproar in relation to the doctrine of consecration as taught on yesterday. The people are ALL required to come forward and consecrate ALL their property to the LORD by placing it at the APOSTLE'S FEET, or in the hands of JOE SMITH!!! There is much flouncing on this subject, and what will be the issue God only knows. I will give you some important facts in my next.

             "Yours respectfully,
                        "JOHN C. BENNETT."


We must defer till next week our notices and extracts of other and far more startling letters from General Bennett to the Sangamo Journal. We here give, however, a portion of a letter from General B., to the editor of the St. Louis Bulletin, in relation to the attempted assassination of Governor Boggs:

"MESSRS. EDITORS: -- In accordance with your request I now proceed to give you some account of the attempt on the life of Ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri.

"Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, in a public congregation in Nauvoo, last season, (1841,) prophecied that Lilburn W. Boggs, ex-Governor of Missouri, should die by violent hands within a year. Mr. C. S. Hamilton, of Carthage, Illinois, stated, in my presence, and in the presence of several other gentlemen, at the tavern house of Mr. Robinson, in Warsaw, Illinois, on Sunday, the 10th instant, that he was present and heard this prophecy. I was likewise present, as were many thousand people, and heard the prediction.

"In the spring of 1842, Smith offered a reward of $500 to any man that would kill Boggs. I heard the offer made to some of the Danites, and told Smith that if he persisted in such a course, it would result in his ruin. Mr. Jonathan Clark, of Hancock county, Illinois, stated in Carthage on the 6th instant, in the presence of Dr. Thomas L. Barnes, Jonas Hobart, myself and others, that Mr. Taylor, an English emigrant, told him that he heard Smith make the same offer and that he (Taylor) had, in consequence thereof apostatized and written home to his friends in Europe detailing the horrible facts.

"Mr. O. P. Rockwell left Nauvoo from one to two months prior to the attempted assassination of Governor Boggs; told Orson Pratt and wife that he (Rockwell) had been in Boggs' neighborhood, in Missouri, and had had the honor of standing on the corner of Temple lot in Independence, and returned to Nauvoo the day before the report of the attempted assassination reached there -- said he came down the Missouri river to the Mississippi, then down to St. Louis, then up to Nauvoo, &c., &c. At that time the 'Nauvoo Wasp' declared, 'It remains to be known who did the NOBLE DEED.' The Wasp was, and is yet, edited by Wm. Smith, brother to the Prophet.

"Some weeks after Rockwell left Nauvoo, I asked Smith where he had gone. 'Gone,' said he, 'gone to fulfill PROPHECY,' with a significant nod; giving me to understand that he had gone to fulfil his prediction in relation to the violent death of Boggs.

"On the evening of the 29th ultimo, twelve of the Danites, dressed in female apparel, approached my boarding-house, (Gen. Robinson's,) in Nauvoo, with their carriage wheels wrapped with blankets and their horses' feet covered with cloths, to prevent noise, about 10 o'clock, for the purpose of conveying me off and assassinating me, and thus prevent disclosures; but I was so admirably prepared with arms, as were also my friends, that after prowling around the house for some time, they retired.

"On Friday, the 1st. inst., I went to Carthage; and, on the 5th, I had a call from Mr. O. P. Rockwell, the result of which is detailed in the following affidavits, to wit:

"STATE OF ILLINOIS,}
Hancock County,} ss.

"Personally appeared before me, Samuel Marshall, a justice of the peace in and for said county, John C. Bennett, who being duly sworn according to law deposeth and saith, that, on the 5th of July, 1842, at the house of Mr. Hamilton, in Carthage, Mr. O. P. Rockwell came to him and desired a private interview, to which deponent replied that if he (Rockwell) had any thing to say, he could speak it out before the gentlemen present. Rockwell said it was a private matter which interested them only. Deponent then went out with him. Rockwell said, 'Doctor you do not know your friends, I am not your enemy, and I do not wish you to make use of my name in your publications.' Deponent replied that he recognized Joe Smith and all his friends, as his personal enemies. To which Rockwell replied 'I have been informed by Warner and Davis that you said Smith gave me fifty dollars and a wagon for shooting Boggs, and I can and will whip any man that will tell such a cursed lie. Did you say so or not?' After looking at him for a moment or two, deponent said, 'I never said so, sir, but I did say, and I now say it to your face, that you left Nauvoo about two months before the attempted assassination of ex-Governor Boggs, of Missouri, and returned the day before the report of his assassination reached there; and that two persons, in Nauvoo, told me that you told them that you had been over the upper part of Missouri, and in Boggs' neighborhood.'  To which Rockwell replied, 'Well I was there; and if I shot Boggs they have got to prove it. I never done an act in my life that I was ashamed of, and I do not fear to go any where that I have ever been, for I have done nothing criminal.' Deponent replied, 'certainly they have got to prove it on you if you did shoot him; I know nothing of what you did, as I was not there, I only know the circumstances, and from them I draw my own inferences, and the public will theirs; and now, sir, if either you, or Joe Smith think you can intimidate me by your threats, you are mistaken in your man, and I wish you to understand distinctly that I am opposed to Joe and his holy host. I shall tell the truth fearlessly, and regardless of consequences.' Rockwell replied, 'If you say that Joe Smith gave me fifty dollars and a wagon to shoot Boggs, I can whip you, and will do it in any crowd.' Deponent then said: 'Why are you harping on what I have not said, I have told you what I have said to your face and in presence of these gentlemen, and you have acknowledged the truth of all I have said, and I shall say it again, and if you wish to fight I am ready for you.' The conversation then ceased on that subject. Rockwell told deponent that he had been accused wrongfully of wishing to assassinate him, or of being ordered by Smith to do so; but deponent said, 'I believe that Joe ordered you to do it -- I know that orders were sent from him to the Danites for that purpose.' Rockwell said that Smith had never given him any such orders, neither was it his intention; and further the deponent saith not.

"JOHN C. BENNETT.

"Sworn to, and subscribed, this 7th day of July, 1842, before me, at my office in Carthage.
            SAMUEL MARSHALL, J. P."
  (Seal.)

Here General Bennett publishes affidavits made before a justice of the peace, by Jonas Hobart and John H. Lawton, who testify that they were present at the interview between Bennett and Rockwell, and give precisely the same account of what passed that is given by Bennett himself.

"I would say, further, that, before Rockwell left Nauvoo, he was abjectly poor. Since his return, he has left his family in the lower part of the city; taken up his residence at the tavern of Capt. Amos Davis; has an elegant carriage and horses at his disposal, and his pockets filled with gold. Capt. Davis can, and will, if called upon, tell more about his former poverty, and present apparent affluence -- at all events so far as gold is concerned. This is said to be the same carriage and horses that were muffled on the evening of the 29th of June.

"If Smith is demanded, I will show. by Col. F. M. Higbee and others, that he murdered a certain prisoner in Missouri.

"These are some of the facts of this outrage upon civilized society. Now let the demand be made, and the truth shall appear. As Smith was an accessory before the fact in this case, he should be demanded on the old indictments for murder, treason, burglary, and arson and secured. Then the facts shall appear in this case. Rockwell can be demanded on affidavit. I expect Higbee here on Tuesday next, if Smith does not have him murdered to prevent his developments.

"I am aware that Smith now seeks my life, and is fortifying his Mormon witnesses by revelation; but, if the demand is made, as I have suggested, no earthly force can save him.
                              "JOHN C. BENNETT.
"ST. LOUIS, July 13th, 1842."

We would here remark, in explanation of some of the allusions in Gen. Bennett's letters, that the Danites are a secret society of Mormons, bound by the most terrible oaths, to execute all the commands of their Prophet, even to the commission of murder. So, at least, say all the late prominent seceders from the Mormon church.


Note: John C. Bennett reprinted the opening paragraph of this article on page 50 of his anti-Mormon book, History of the Saints, published later the same year in Boston.

==> We copy below, from the Sangamo Journal, the second letter of Gen. Bennett, portraying the character and detailing the horrible and revolting conduct of Joe Smith, the prophet and leader of the Mormons. The exposition, as our readers will see, does not rest at all upon the personal veracity of Gen. Bennett himself, but is sustained by the affidavits of men and women who cannot be mistaken as to the facts stated, and who have no motive for misrepresenting them. Those facts are proved by testimony strong enough to send any man on earth, prophet or no prophet, to the penitentiary or the gallows.

The people in other States have in general no conception of the extent of Joe Smith's power in Illinois. There are several thousands of voters in his church, and he commands all their votes as fully as he commands his own. In consideration of the extraordinary and monstrous privileges conferred on him and his church by the late Locofoco Legislature of the State, he now requires his voters to go for all the Locofoco candidates for office; and he has issued his proclamation to that effect. The consequence is, that he is, for the present, secure from punishment for his atrocious crimes and transgressions. However overwhelming the proofs of his habitual perpetration of the blackest crimes known to the laws, the Locofoco authorities of Illinois dare not punish him, lest they lose the tremendous vote at his command in the approaching elections. So the Prophet and his followers can run riot in crime, unawed by God, and unrestrained by man.

Of the extraordinary and unparalleled privileges and powers conferred on the Mormons in their city charter passed by the late Locofoco Legislature, we have not time now to speak in detail. One section of that charter confers on the city council the power to confine men in prison for life for ant breach of their ordinances and, under the authority of that section, the council have already passed an ordinance, by which any man, who, in passing through Nauvoo, speaks disrespectfully of Joe Smith, may be arrested and imprisoned with or without process. Under another section, Joe Smith has been made Lieutenant General -- "an office," says the Sangamo Journal, "which was never before held by any individual in this country except Washington; and, in virtue of which, the Prophet claims that, in time of war, he is the head of the army of the United States." It is a remarkable fact, that, in the law authorizing the organization of the Mormon legion, neither the officers nor the troops composing it are required to make oath to support the Constitution of the country.

But we have not room to-day for further remarks. We proceed to the publication of Gen. Bennett's second letter. The editor of the Sangamon Journal, in publishing it, alludes to divers names not mentioned by Gen. B. It says: ""We implore Messrs. CHAUNCEY L. HIGBEE, HENRY MARKS, Mrs. SARAH M. PRATT, Miss. NANCY RIGDON, and Miss MITCHELL, all of Nauvoo; and Rev. SAMUEL JAMES, and Capt. JOHN F. OLNEY, of La Harpe, and Messrs. KILBOURNS, of Montrose, Iowa, to come out with published statements, as to their own knowledge of Smith's lascivious and hellish acts."

(From the Sangamon Journal.)

MORMON  DEVELOPMENTS.

To the Editor of the Sangamon Journal:

                            CARTHAGE, Hancock County, Ill.,
                                        July 2, A. D. 1842.
I am now in this place, in order to attend to some of my official duties, as master in chancery; and having some leisure time, I shall proceed with my history of Joe Smith and his saints. It is my determination to state facts, and such facts as will arouse the public indignation, if there is yet virtue and courage left in man -- for we are exhorted to be enterprising and courageous; but the beast and false prophet (Joe Smith) shall tremble in the days of his captivity like an aspen leaf in the wilderness. The "Lord's anointed," as Joe is called, must be washed in the laver of the law, until his polluted carcass, and corrupt soul, shall be purified by fire. And to begin:


1st. On the 17th day of May, A.D. 1842, Joe Smith requested to see me alone in the preparation-room of the Nauvoo Lodge, U. D., on some important business. We entered, and he locked the door, put the key in his pocket, and drew a pistol on me and said: "The peace of my family requires that you should sign an affidavit, and make a statement before the next city council, on the 19th, exonerating me from all participation whatever, either directly or indirectly, in word or deed, in the spiritual wife doctrine, or private intercourse with females in general; and if you do not do it with apparent cheerfulness, I will make cat-fish bait of you, or deliver you to the Danites for execution to-night." I was not aware until Sunday last, that any other person was apprized of the fact of the threat of murder, but on that day Col. Francis M. Higbee told me in the presence of George W. Robinson, that if it came to the worst, he was in possession of a secret that would open the eyes of the people, and that he would file his affidavit if necessary; but he would not tell me what the secret was. Gen. Robinson, however, informed me afterwards that it was a knowledge of Joe's threats of murder. On the 30th of June, 1842, I called upon Col. Higbee for his affidavit, which was taken before Gen. Hiram Kimball, an alderman of the city, and is in the following words, to wit:

"State of Illinois,   }
  "Hancock County,} ss.

"Personally appeared before me, Hiram Kimball, an alderman of the city of Nauvoo, Francis M. Higbee, who being duly sworn according to law, deposeth and saith, that Joseph Smith told him that John C. Bennett could be easily put aside or drowned, and no person would be the wiser for it, so, and that it ought to be attended to; and he further remarked that the sooner this was done the better for the church, fearing, as he said, that Bennett would make some disclosures prejudicial to said Smith. This was about the time of Bennett's withdrawal from the church, or a short time before; and further this deponent saith not.
                      "FRANCIS M. HIGBEE.


"Sworn to and subscribed this 30th day of June, A. D. 184[2].
                        "HIRAM KIMBALL, Alderman."


Now I call upon Col. Francis M. Higbee to come out and tell what he told Gen. Robinson and myself in relation to the murder of a certain prisoner in Missouri. Col. Higbee, do not fear to tell the dreadful story; tell exactly how Joe had the murder done up, and what part he ordered you to take in the affair, but which you did not take. Tell it as Robinson knows it, and as you told me, and do not fear. Governor Reynolds will make another demand, and Joe shall be delivered over. I will visit Missouri and tell the dreadful story. Let the call be made, and the laws shall be executed.


3d. MY LATE VISIT TO SPRINGFIELD. -- On my arrival in Carthage I found, as all the citizens well knew, that I was followed by Mr. O. P. Rockwell, a Danite, who on his arrival late in the night, made strict enquiries as to where I was. His ostensible business was to put a letter in the post office; but judge ye the real design. I was prepared for the gentleman, and he approached me not; but another swift rider, Captain John D. Parker, another Danite, followed me to Springfield, to carry a letter to Dr. Helm; but he had another object, and you may well suppose what it was. I told Capt. Parker that I was aware of his object, but I feared him not. At Virginia, in Cass county, on my return, Parker met me again, and I called the attention of the stage-driver to him, who thereupon put two additional balls into his pistol, and then informed me that he was ready for him or any other person having the same object in view. Many of the Danites have been around me in Nauvoo for the purpose of secret murder, in order to save the arch impostor, (Joe Smith) from public infamy.


4th. Mrs. Sarah M. Pratt, wife of Professor Orson Pratt, of the University of the city of Nauvoo. -- Joe Smith stated to me at an early day in the history of that city, that he intended to make that amiable and accomplished lady one of his spiritual wives, for the Lord had given her to him, and he requested me to assist him in consummating his hellish purposes, but I told him that I would not do it; that she had been much neglected and abused by the church during the absence of her husband in Europe, and that if the Lord had given her to him he must attend to it himself. "I will do it," said he, "for there is no harm in it, if her husband should never find it out." I called upon Mrs. Pratt and told that Joe contemplated an attack on her virtue, in the name of the Lord, and that she must prepare to repulse him in so infamous an assault. She replied, "Joseph cannot be such a man. I cannot believe it until I know it for myself or have it from his own lips; he cannot be so corrupt." "Well," I replied, "you will see unless he changes his mind." Accordingly in a few days Joe proposed to me to go to Ramus with him. I consented to go, and we started from his house about 4 o'clock P. M., rode into the prairie a few miles, and returned to the house of Captain John T. Barnett, in Nauvoo, about dusk, where we put up the horse with Barnett's permission. He (Joe) pretended we were looking for thieves. We then proceeded to the house where Mrs. Pratt resided, and Joe commenced discourse as follows: "Sister Pratt, the Lord has given you to me as one of my spiritual wives. I have the blessings of Jacob granted me, as he granted holy men of old, and I have long looked upon you with favor, and hope you will not deny me." She replied: "I care not for the blessings of Jacob, and I believe in no such revelations, neither will I consent under any circumstances. I have one good husband, and that is enough for me." Joe could not come it! He then went off to see Miss _____ at the house of Mrs. Sherman. He remained with her an hour or two and then returned to Barnett's, harnessed our horse, started for Ramus, and arrived at Carthage at early breakfast. We then went to Ramus, and returned to Carthage that night, and put up at the house of Esq. Comer. Next day we returned to Nauvoo. I called upon Mrs. Pratt and asked her what she thought of Joseph? She replied, "He is a bad man beyond a doubt." Mrs. Pratt in a conversation with Mrs. Goddard, wife of Stephen H. Goddard, said, "Sister Goddard, Joseph is a corrupt man; I know it, for he made an attempt upon me." Three times afterwards he tried to convince Mrs. Pratt of the propriety of his doctrine, and she at last told him: "Joseph, if you ever attempt any thing of the kind with me again, I will tell Mr. Pratt on his return home. I will certainly do it." Joe replied, "Sister Pratt, I hope you will not expose me; if I am to suffer, all suffer; so do not expose me. Will you agree not to do so?" "If," said she, "you will never insult me again, I will not expose you unless strong circumstances require it." "Well, sister Pratt," says Joe, "as you have refused me; it becomes sin, unless sacrifice is offered;" and turning to me he said, "General, if you are my friend I wish you to procure a lamb, and have it slain, and sprinkle the door posts and the gate with its blood, and take the kidneys and entrails and offer them upon an altar of twelve stones that have not been touched with a hammer, as a burnt offering, and it will save me and my priesthood. Will you do it?" I will, I replied. So I procured the lamb from Captain John T. Barnett, and it was slain by Lieutenant Stephen H. Goddard, and I offered the kidneys and entrails in sacrifice for Joe as he desired; and Joe said, "all is now safe. The destroying angel will pass over, without harming any of us."

Time passed on in apparent friendship until Joe grossly insulted Mrs. Pratt again, after her husband had returned home, by approaching and kissing her. This highly offended her, and she told Mr. Pratt, who was much enraged and went and told Joe never to offer an insult of the like again. Joe replied, "I did not desire to kiss her." I now appeal to Mrs. Pratt if this is not true to the very letter. Just speak out boldly.

5th. Miss Nancy Rigdon, daughter of Sidney Rigdon, Esq. -- Joe Smith said to me last summer: "If you will assist me in procuring Nancy as one of my spiritual wives, I will give you five hundred dollars, or the best lot on Main street." I replied, "I cannot agree to it. Elder Rigdon is one of my best friends, and his family are now pure and spotless, and it would be a great pity to approach the truly virtuous." "But," says Joe, "the Lord has given her to me to wife. I have the blessings of Jacob, and there is no wickedness in it. It would be wicked to approach her unless I had permission of the Lord, but as it is, it is as correct as to have a legal wife in a moral point of view." "It may be so," said I, "but you must see her yourself. I cannot approach her on a subject of the kind. Then I supposed the matter had ended; but at the funeral of Mr. Ephraim R. Marks, Mrs. Hyde told Miss Rigdon, that Joseph desired to see her at the printing office, where Mrs. Hyde resides, on special business. She said she would go, and accordingly did, but Joe was busily engaged at his store; Dr. Willard Richards, however, one of the holy twelve Mormon apostles, whom I had long suspected as being up to his eyes in the business with Joe, came in and said, "Miss Nancy, Joseph cannot be in to-day. Please call again on Thursday." This she agreed to do; but she communicated the matter to Colonel Francis M. Higbee, who was addressing her, and asked his advice as to the second visit. I then came to a knowledge of the facts, and went immediately to Joe, and said to him, "Joseph, you are a master-mason, and Nancy is a master-mason's daughter, so stay your hand, or you will get into trouble." Joe replied: "You are my enemy, and wish to oppose me." "No," said I, "I am not your enemy, but you had better stop where you are."

I then went to Col. Higbee and told him Joe's designs, and requested him to go immediately and see Miss Rigdon and tell her the infernal plot -- that Joe would approach her in the name of the Lord, by revelation, &c. -- and to put her on her guard, but advise her to go and see for herself what Joe would do. He did so, and she went down. Joe was there, and took her into a private room, ;ocked the door, and commenced by telling her that he had long loved her, and had asked the Lord for her, and that it was his holy will that he should have her. He told her that it would not prevent her from marrying any other person; that he had the blessings of Jacob granted to him, and all that was right; he desired to kiss her, and wished her to kiss him. She said she would alarm the neighbors if he did not open the door, and let her out; he did so, and requested Mrs. Hyde to explain matters to her. Joe swore her to eternal secrecy. Mrs. Hyde told her that these things looked strange to her at first, but she would become more reconciled on mature reflection. Miss Rigdon replied: "I never shall." Joe agreed to write her, and did so in a few days through Dr. Richards. That letter is now safe in the hands of her friends. I have seen it, so has her father, and various other persons. On Tuesday last, Joe came up to Mr. Rigdon's, accompanied by his High Priest, George Miller, of sable sister notoriety, for a witness, and by boisterous words and violent gestures tried to deny the attempted seduction and alarm the girl; but she told him he was a liar, and that he could not face her to it. Joe then made a full acknowledgment of the whole affair. All the family, and many other persons were present. The holy George observed: "You must not harm the Lord's anointed; the Lord will not suffer his anointed to fall!!" Now call upon Miss Rigdon for the truth of the foregoing. Joe, did you offer another lamb in sacrifice as a burnt-sin offering on an altar of twelve stones? If not, look out for the destroying angel, for he will surely get you.

6th. Now I call upon Miss Martha Brotherton, of Warsaw, to come out and tell boldly the base attempt on her virtue, when in Nauvoo -- how she was locked up, and the proposals that were made to her. I saw her taken to the accursed room, and now let her come out boldly and tell the corruptions of these holy men. The public requires it -- justice and honor require it.

8th. Mrs. Melissa Schindle, wife of Col. George Schindle. I now proceed to give the affidavit of Mrs. Schindle, which is in the following words, to wit:

"State of Illinois,         ) ss.
"McDonough County.)

"Personally appeared before me, Abram Fulkerson, one of the justices of the peace in and for said county, Melissa Schindle, who, being duly sworn according to law, deposeth and saith, that in the fall of 1841, she was staying one night with the widow Fuller, who has recently been married to a Mr. Warren, in the city of Nauvoo, and that Joseph Smith came into the room where she was sleeping about 10 o'clock at night, and after making a few remarks came to her bed-side, and asked her if he could have the privilege of sleeping with her. She immediately replied no. He, on the receipt of the above answer, told her it was the will of the Lord that he should have intercourse with her, and that he never proceeded to do anything of that kind with any woman without first having the will of the Lord on the subject; and further he told her that if she would consent, she could make his house her home as long as she wished to do so, and that she should never want for anything it was in his power to assist her to. But she would not consent to it. He then told her that if she would let him sleep with her that night he would give her five dollars; but she refused all his propositions. He then told her that she must never tell of his propositions to her, for he had all influence in that place, and if she told he would ruin her character, and she would be under the necessity of leaving. He then went to an adjoining bed where the widow ____ was sleeping, got into bed with her, and lay there until about 1 o'clock, when he got up, bid them good night, and left them, and further this deponent saith not.

"MELISSA (her X mark) SCHINDLE.

"Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 2d day July, 1842.
                "A. FULKERSON, J. P.
(seal.)

Joe, did you offer another sacrifice? If not, the destroying angel will come; but as you succeeded with Mrs. _____ that night, as you told me, that may take off the curse. Joe says "there are wonderful things in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea."

I must now bring this short letter to a close, but will write in a few days.

                Yours, respectfully.
                                "JOHN C. BENNETT."


We find in the St. Louis Bulletin of the 16th the affidavit of Martha M. Brotherton who is referred to in the preceding letter of Gen. Bennett. We annex the material parts of it.

                              "ST. LOUIS, July 13th, A, D. 1842.
"GEN. JOHN. C. BENNETT. -- DEAR SIR: I left Warsaw a short time since for this city, and having been called upon by you, through the "Sangamo Journal," to come out and disclose to the world the facts of the case in relation to certain propositions made to me at Nauvoo, by some of the Mormon leaders, I now proceed to respond to the call, and discharge what I consider go be a duty devolving upon me as an innocent, but insulted and abused female. I had been at Nauvoo near three weeks, during which time my father's family received frequent visits from Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, two of the Mormon apostles; when early one morning, they both came to my brother-in-law's (John Mellwrick's) house, at which place I then was on a visit, and particularly requested me to go and spend a few days with them.

Here the lady speaks of her consenting to visit Joe Smith's store in company with Kimball.

"So Kimball and I went to the store together. As we were going along, he said, "Sister Martha, are you willing to do all that the Prophet requires you to do?" I said I believed I was, thinking of course he would require nothing wrong. "Well," said he, "there are many things revealed in these last days that the world would laugh and scoff at; but unto us is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom." He further observed, "Martha, you must learn to hold your tongue, and it will be well with you. You will see Joseph, and very likely have some conversation with him, and he will tell you what you shall do." When we reached the building, he led me up some stairs to a small room, the door of which was locked, and on it the following inscription, "positively no admittance." He observed, "Ah! brother Joseph must be sick, for strange to say, he is not here. Come down into the tithing-office, Martha." He then left me in the tithing-office, and went out, I know not where. In this office were two men writing, one of whom, William Clayton, I had seen in England; the other I did not know. Young came in, and seated himself before me, and asked where Kimball was. I said he had gone out. He said it was all right. Soon after, Joseph came in and spoke to one of the clerks, and then went up stairs followed by Young. Immediately after, Kimball came in. "Now, Martha," said he, "the Prophet has come; come up stairs." I went, and we found Young and the Prophet alone. I was introduced to the Prophet by Young. Joseph offered me his seat, and, to my astonishment, the moment I was seated, Joseph and Kimball walked out of the room and left me with Young, who arose, locked the door, closed the window, and drew the curtain. He smiled, and then proceeded: "Sister Martha, I want to ask you a few questions; will you answer them?" "Yes, sir," said I. "Well," said he, "what are your feelings toward me?" -- I replied, "My feelings are just the same towards you that they ever were, sir." "But, to come to the point more closely," said he, "have not you an affection for me, that, were it lawful and right, you could accept of me for your husband and companion?" My feelings at that moment were indescribable. God only knows them. What, thought I are these men, that I thought almost perfection itself, deceivers? and is all my fancied happiness but a dream? It was even so; but my next thought was, which is the best way for me to act at this time? If I say no, they may do as they think proper; and to say yes, I never would. So I considered it best to ask for time to think and pray about it. I therefore said, "If it was lawful and right, perhaps I might; but you know, sir, it is not." "Well, but," said he, "brother Joseph has had a revelation from God that it is lawful and right for a man to have two wives; for, as it was in the days of Abraham, so it shall be in these last days; and whoever is the first that is willing to take up the cross will receive the greatest blessings; and if you will accept of me, I will take you straight to the celestial kingdom; and if you will have me in this world, I will have you in that which is to come, and brother Joseph will marry us here to-day, and you can go home this evening, and your parents will not know anything about it." "But brother Joseph wishes to have some talk with you on the subject. He will explain things; will you hear him?" "I do not mind," said I. "Well, but I want you to say something," said he. "I want time to think about it," said I. "Well," said he, "I will have a kiss, any how," and then rose, and said he would bring Joseph. He then unlocked the door, and took the key, and locked me up alone. He was absent about ten minutes, and then returned with Joseph. "Well," said Young, "sister Martha would be willing if she knew if was lawful and right before God." "Well, Martha," said Joseph, "it is lawful and right before God -- I know it is. Look here, sis; don't you believe in me?" I did not answer. "Well Martha," said Joseph, "just go ahead, and do as Brigham wants you to: he is the best man in the world, except me." "Well," said Young, "we believe Joseph to be a Prophet." "Yes," said Joseph, "and I know that this is lawful and right before God, and if there is any sin in it, I will answer for it before God; and I have the keys of the kingdom, and whatever I bind on earth is bound in Heaven, and whatever I loose on earth is loosed in Heaven, and if you will accept of Brigham, you shall be blessed -- God shall bless you, and my blessing shall rest upon you; and if you will be led by him, you will do well; for I know Brigham will take care of you, and if he [missing line, see below] make him; and if you do not like it in a month or two, come to me, and I will make you free again; [out of place line, see above: don't do his duty to you, come to me and I will] and if he turns you off, I will take you on." I then rose to go, when Joseph commenced to beg of me again. He said it was the best opportunity they might have for months, for the room was often engaged. I, however, had determined what to do. I shall proceed to a justice of the peace, and make oath to the truth of these statements, and you are at liberty to make what use of them you may think best.
              "Yours, respectfully,
                   "MARTHA H. BROTHERTON.

"Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 13th day of July, A. D. 1842.

              "DU BOUFFAY FREMON.
    "Justice of the Peace for St. Louis county.


Note: John C. Bennett reprinted the opening paragraph of this article on page 54 of his anti-Mormon book, History of the Saints, published later the same year in Boston.

==> Gen. John C. Bennett, the author of the expositions of Joe Smith's character and conduct, passed through this city on Saturday. In consequence of some conversation we had with him, he has since sent the following letter. The astounding facts that it sets forth are certainly worthy of the earnest consideration of the civil authorities of Illinois.

                 STEAMER IMPORTER. July 23, 1842.
To the Editors of the Louisville Journal: --

As I promised to lay before you some of the strong points of objection to "the gathering of the Saints," or the congregating of THE MORMONS at one point, or general head-quarters, I now proceed to redeem the pledge.

1st. Nine hundred and ninety-nine thousandths of all the faithful of the Mormon Church regard Joe Smith as God's vice-gerent on earth, and obey him accordingly; and all the Danites of that Church (and by the bye, they compose no very inconsiderable proportion of their mighty hosts) are sworn to receive him as the supreme head of the Church, and to obey him as the supreme God. If, therefore, any State officer, in the administration of public justice, happens to give offence to His Holiness the Prophet, it becomes the will of God, as spoken by the mouth of his Prophet, that that functionary should DIE; and his followers, the faithful Saints, immediately set about the work of assassination, in obedience, as they suppose, to their Divine Master; and for which NOBLE DEED, they expect to receive an excellent and superior glory in the celestial kingdom!!! It does not require Argus eyes to see the incalculable mischief growing out of such a state of society; and an intelligent community must look on with awful forebodings and fearful anticipations, where such a state of things is suffered. Great God! only look at the horrible picture! The lives of thousands of human beings depending upon the whim or caprice of the most corrupt, heaven-daring, and black-hearted Impostor that ever disgraced the earth! The whole community are in the most imminent danger, from the common citizen to the highest public functionary, unless they chain their fate to the car of Mormon despotism.

2d. Where a large community, like the Mormons, are under the absolute dictation of a vacillating and capricious tyrant, like Joe Smith, who acts under the influence of reason, but is wholly governed by impulses and selfish motives, political demagogues will become fawning sycophants, and the best interests of the country will be sacrificed in the ambitious views of an ancient or modern Prophet -- a Mahomet or a Smith! This state of things is fraught with the most fearful consequences -- the subversion of governments; the fall of kingdoms and empires; the destruction of nations by the shedding of rivers of human blood; and, where consequences of a less serious nature accrue, it destroys natural affection, hardens the heart against the better feelings of our nature, and produces a state of savage barbarity, which causes a civilized man to shudder, and from which he turns with loathing and disgust.

3d. The standard of morality and Christian excellence with them is quite unstable. Joe Smith has but to speak the word, and it becomes the LAW which they delight to obey -- BECAUSE IT COMES FROM GOD!! Acts, therefore, which but yesterday were considered the most immoral, wicked, and devilish, to-day are the most moral, righteous, and God-like, because God, who makes right, has so declared it by the mouth of his anointed Prophet!

4th. Joe Smith designs to abolish all human laws, and establish a Theocracy, in which the word of God, as spoken by his (Joe's) mouth, shall be the only law; and he now orders that his followers shall only obey such human laws as they are compelled to do, and declares that the time is at hand when all human institutions shall be abrogated! Joe's will is to become the law of right, and his power is to execute it.

5th. Under the new order of things, all the property of the Saints, with their wives and little ones, is to be consecrated to Joe, to subserve his purposes and gratify his passions! These are only SOME of the reasons which I shall hereafter, when time permits, consider more in detail; and, in the mean time, I should like your opinion on a matter of so much importance to all of our fellow-citizens.

With high consideration of respect and esteem, suffer me to subscribe myself --   Yours, respectfully,
                           JOHN C. BENNETT.


Note: John C. Bennett reprinted this letter on pp. 148-50 of his anti-Mormon book, History of the Saints, published later the same year in Boston.

FURTHER OF THE MORMONS -- Joe Smith. -- The trickeries and humbuggeries of this arch scoundrel are rapidly to light since Gen. Bennett has left the Mormons. The latter has come out with a statement in the Sangamo Journal, in which, although written under high excitement, may undoubtedly be found many truths. He is said to be a man of great talent and shrewdness, and until he left the accursed fold, was the means of drawing many ignorant and unsuspicious persons into it. We give a few cjoice extracts from his journal.

Joe is a great man of the kind -- but God will damn the kind -- for, if the devil don't get Joe Smith, there is no use for any devil. But to the damnable iniquity of this base impostor -- and to begin --

"Joseph Smith, the great Mormon seducer, one who has seduced not only hundreds of single and married females, but more than the great Solomon, attempted to seduce Miss Nancy Rigdon, the eldest single daughter of Sidney Rigdon, to submit to his hellish purposes, and become one of his clandestine wives under the new dispensation. Call upon Miss Rigdon, who repulsed him with commendable firmness, and I will abide her testimony -- call, likewise, upon Gen. George W. Robinson, and Col. F. M. Higbee, to state what they know upon this subject. Gen. Robinson and Col. Higbee, can tell some astounding facts in relation to this matter. Joe approached Miss Rigdon 'in the name of the Lord, and by his authority and permission,' as he said. Joe attacked Mr. Rigdon, Gen. Robinson, Col. Higbee and myself, In order to destroy the influence of all of us to prevent the exposition of this case. But it is all true, and the legal evidence shall be forthcoming. Call upon Miss Martha Brotherton, of Warsaw, and see what she will say as to the base attempt at seduction in her own case. She can tell a tale of woe that would make humanity shudder. Call upon Miss Mitchell, of this city, one of the most chaste and spotless females in the west, and see what she knows as to the PROPHET'S SECRET WIVES. Hundreds of cases can be instanced, and if the Danites do not murder me, you shall hear a tale of pollution and sorrow. Joe'slicentiousness is unparalleled in the annals of time. I have the evidence,and it shall come; and no attacks on me to divert the public mind from himself, and his iniquity shall avail him. ...

"Joe's extensive land frauds in Iowa and Illinois will soon come to light. I will save his Eastern creditors some hundreds of thousands of dollars, by exposing these frauds in the face of open day -- by the legal records of the country, and oral testimony. All is in readiness."

The Warsaw Signal of the 16th inst., sticks another feather in the cap of Joe Smith's iniquities. It says:

We understand by the Stage Driver from Nauvoo last evening, that O. Pratt had suddenly disappeared from the city. He left a paper containing his reasons for leaving -- which were, the treatment his wife had received from Jo. Smith, and some other matter concerning the policy of the Church. It was supposed in Nauvoo, that he had committed suicide, and about 500 persons were out on the search for him.

We think that the great prophet's duperies are nearly at an end, and that the Latter Day Saints are rapidly approaching the latter days of their vile career.


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> It is said that Joe Smith, the Mormon Prophet, had requested Gov. Carlin to demand of the Governor of Missouri the arrest and delivery of Gen. Bennett. Joe charges Bennett with being guilty of treason against the State of Illinois.


Notes: (forthcoming)

JOE SMITH. -- General Bennett is going on with voluminous letters exposing the impudent mammoth impostor, Joe Smith. At present we have only room for the following important declaration made by the seceding General.

Joe Smith stands indicted for murder, treason, burglary, and arson in Missouri, and he defies the laws and the legally constituted authorities to deliver him over for trial. What a horrible state of society, when men fear to execute the laws, especially in relation to the most foul impostor that ever disgraced the earth! If Governor Reynolds, of Missouri, will make another demand for Joe Smith, and if Governor Carlin will place the writ in my hands, I will deliver him up to justice, or die in the attempt, unless restrained by the constituted civil authority.

Now, Governor, do your duty. And, citizens of Illinois, be in readiness to sustain your laws.

We don't believe much in Bennett, either, but if he succeeds in dethroning Joe he will do this generation and the next an invisible service.


Notes: (forthcoming)

(under construction)

 


Note: This issue reportedly contained an article by John C. Bennett, regarding civil irregularities at Nauvoo, etc. A copy of the text has not yet been located.

A Mormon Convert.

A few days since there was a droll looking individual in one of our public bar-rooms, who attracted considerable attention by relating anecdotes of the Mormons, among whom he had been. At length, flattered by the attentive interest of the bystanders, he declared he would give the whole history of the sect, from the finding of the bible to the secession of Bennett; and mounting one of the auctioneer's stands, he pulled off his coat and hat and went to work. It was just at lunch time and the spectators were augmenting every movement. They drew chairs in front of the eccentric speaker, and quite a large and orderly audience soon surrounded him. We shall not follow him through the whole of his curious discourse, but shall give here the manner in which he said a pair of the priests once set about converting him. He was a man of about forty-five, with regular and agreeable features, a mild and somewhat humorous expression about the eyes and mouth, a well shaped head, and hair thickly sprinkled with iron-grey -- by no means an ordinary looking individual. His dress was peculiar, being of very old cut, and hanging upon him with a sort of mock dignity very farcical in effect.

He said he happened once to come in contact with Dr. Seely and Robinson, a son-in-law of Rigdon, somewhere upon Lake Erie, we forget the exact location he named. They set about converting him, and he paid them most deferential attention, without saying a word one way of the other. Finally he concluded to humor them and see what would come of it, so he gravely nodded his head to all they said, and looked unutterably pious while he remained as mute as a mouse. They accordingly proceeded to confer upon him the gifts of raising the dead, restoring the blind, curing the sick, straightening the deformed, reading aright the new bible, and various other powers only known now to the Latter Day Saints. This solemn process concluded, they told him another important ceremony must immediately take place, and that was his baptism; they would go with him then to the river and he should be confirmed at once as a saint and elder of the great Mormon Church. To this also he good-humoredly agreed, as the horse and waggon in which he was travelling stood ready at the door of the hotel, and they told him the river was but a mile distant. He took Dr. Seely and Robinson into his waggon with him and off they drove.

After travelling briskly nearly a full hour under direction of his new Mormon friends he became convinced some rascality was plotting, as instead of a mile they could not have progressed less than four! They now entered a suspicious looking road through a thick wood, and here the doctor informed him that but one thing more would be necessary after his baptism, an offering to the Church. But the convert declared he had nothing. The doctor inferred that the holy church was not proud and would take the horse and wagon. They were both borrowed from a kind friend and neighbor. No matter; old rules and friendships and laws must be forgotten, for he was now of the new and only true church. Here they came in view of the river, just as our hero concluded he knew quite enough of Mormonism!

Robinson and the doctor tied the horse to the limb of an apple tree, and invited their convert out to prepare for holy baptism. The bank was some forty of fifty feet high and dangerously precipitous, so that our hero suddenly became greatly alarmed at the descent. The water, too, he was sure was too deep, and he couldn't swim a stroke. To convince him the two Mormons instantly stripped off all their clothes and descended into the water, which proved of a very pleasant and safe depth. Our hero now had the game in his own hands, and considered it prudent to make use of his advantage with all possible speed. Hastily unhitching the horse while the doctor was calling to him to come down, he threw the clothes of the two Mormons into the waggon, jumped in after them and exclaiming, "Doctor, I reckon I'll make that offering to the church before the ducking!" he drove off furiously to the hotel, threw the clothes to the landlord as a church offering, and rapidly disappeared upon his journey! How Robinson and Seely got home our quizzical informant left to the imaginative sympathies of his delighted hearers.


Note: The "Dr. Seely" mentioned in this account was perhaps William Seeley (1816-51), the first husband of Lucy Decker, later a plural wife of Brigham Young. Ann Eliza Young, in her famous book on life with Brigham Young, calls him "Isaac Seeley" -- who "suddenly disappeared." George W. Robinson (1814-78) joined the LDS Church in about 1835; he married Athalia Rigdon at Kirtland in 1837. If the "baptism tale" given by the nameless story-teller has any credibility, it must have occurred in Geauga Co., Ohio during the mid-1830s.

To the Editors of the Louisville Journal:

CLEVELAND, OHIO,      
July 30, A. D., 1842.      

I wrote you from Cincinnati, according to promise, and I presume you are in receipt of that hurried production, which, however, may not be wholly uninteresting. This letter will, of necessity, be short and hurried as the former, as all communications written upon the wing must necessarily be,

In the New York Herald, of the 26th, inst., Bennett says, "This presents a strange and curious state of things for the centre of the nineteenth century; and the developments are the most remarkable we ever heard of. The initiatory proceedings at Joe's "Order Lodge" resemble those practices by Matthias at Pearson's house, only his members were females, and they danced round a stone, while Matthias anointed them. But perhaps, after all, Joe Smith has a secret lodge of women! We shall see." Yes, Joe has a "secret lodge of women;" and the editor will see. Joe's female lodge (the Mormon inquisition) is the most singular thing of its age. The anointing, A LA JOE is a caution to David Crocket. The investment, the oath, the ceremonies, the lectures and the GRANDE FINALE, are all done up in such a manner, as to place Matthias in the shade, and to cover Mahomet, the Oriental prophet, in the rubbish of things that were. The 'History of the Saints' will give a full account of this nondescript lodge of the Mormon ladies of pleasure and the fine arts, including all their cloistered, chambered, and cyprian maids and madams!!! This will be one of the most curious and interesting works of the age.

The elections will terminate next Monday, and I hope that Missouri will then demand Joe, and secure him. I will be ready to make good the charges; and politicians will then see whether the Mormon disclosures were made for political effect. Time will develop facts, and show the truth, the undeniable truth, of ALL the charges against Smith, as clear as the sun in the firmament at noonday. The Roman pontiff never exercised the domination over the minds and property of the Catholic church, as Joe, the chief of the Mormon hierarchy, does over his subjects -- the faithful! and the pontifical bull is harmless in comparison with the Mormon bull, (Joe's letter of marque and reprisal,) as the latter terminates not in spiritual excommunication and damnation from all Mormon gospel privileges from off the face of God's earth, but in murder, cold-blooded, Danite murder! Joe is now making a desparate struggle to save himself from merited disgrace and condign punishment, by the forgeries and perjuries of his cyprian girls, cloistered and chambered mistresses, and the Danites. If you will take the trouble to examine all the evidence, you will find that forgery, perjury, theft, robbery, burglary, arson, treason, and murder, are very little things in the eyes of the Mormons, so long as the holy Joe can, by a "thus saith the Lord," pardon iniquity, transgression, and sin!!! Joe's father, the Devil, was a liar from the beginning, and the world believed him not; neither will they believe Joe, the son, the delectable modern prophet of the latter-day sinners; nor the sworn Danites, the grand-children, though covered with all the habiliments of latter-day glory.

Joe's words are lies, and the affidavits of his followers and friends, PATENT LIES. They swear as they are moved upon by Joe's holy ghost, and say the things that gold, or interest, or the Prophet's mandate, dictates!!! You know the proverb used to be, you lie like the Devil;" but it has changed with the times, as the son has eclipsed the father, so as to read: "You like like Joe Smith and his Danites and cyprians,"
      In haste, yours, respectfully,
                                      JOHN C. BENNETT.


Note 1: John C. Bennett reprinted this letter, with some small modifications, on pp. 217-18 of his anti-Mormon book, History of the Saints, published later the same year in Boston.

Note 2: The "Bennett" referred to at the beginning of the letter's second paragraph was James G. Bennett, the outspoken editor of the New York Herald. This unrelated Bennett was a critic of John C. Bennett and an occasional editorial supporter of Joseph Smith, Jr. Nevertheless, the New York editor reprinted a good deal of what John C. Bennett had to say about the corruption of the leaders in Nauvoo, and it was probably tthrough the pages of his paper that John C. Bennett's allegations reached their largest single readership.

==> An Advocate of Mormonism, and an opponent of it with a calibre of mind no larger than that of his adversary, have been discussing the merits of the Golden Bible in Philadelphia -- what Judies!


Note: Possibly the debators here mentioned were the Rev. Tyler Parsons and Elder Freeman Nickerson. They debated in 1841, and possibly again in 1842.

JOE SMITH. -- Some Mormon, in disguise as a western editor, speaking of the "Mormon Prophet" scouts at the idea that he had any hand in the assassination of Ex-Governor Boggs. He says that Smith, beyond all question, is a knave, but he is too fat and good natured to deal in blood. A glance at his corporation and round face, is sufficient to convince the most skeptical, that bad as his life may have been heretofore, he has of late been accustomed to good living. He is not one of the "lean Cassiuses" who are constantly "hatching treason." It is well known in that region, that he is a mere puppet of men of ten times his talents and ambition -- the tool of others. His "revelations" and commands from heaven are all made at the dictation of his rulers who are behind the curtain.


Note: Probably the New Orleans editor is here referring to the Mormons' Democratic political allies in Illinois (like Stephen A. Douglas) as being the "rulers who are behind the curtain." If so, the writer's information is faulty. Although Smith became more corpulent in 1842-44, he became less reliant on the Democrats during this period -- by playing them off against the Whigs and thus giving his ultimate allegiance to neither set of political "wire pullers."

JOE SMITH AND O. P. ROCKWELL -- Our readers will remember that the Governor of Missouri some time since made a demand of Gov. Carlin, of Illinois, for the persons of Smith and Rockwell. Upon this demand Governor Carlin issued the proper writs, and placed them in the hands of the sheriff and two deputies. The agent of the state of Missouri in conveying to the Governor of Illinois the requisition, has returned, and informed the editor of the St. Louis New Era that he accompanied the officers on their mission to Nauvoo.

They found Smith and Rockwell, in a carriage, reviewing a body of Mormon troops, and served the writs upon them.

Smith openly defied the Governments of both States, and declared that he would not be taken to Missouri, where he could not expect a fair trial. Governor Carlin manifested every desire to secure the arrest of the accused, but disliked the expense which would attend the calling out of the militia to enforce his order and the officers were instructed to return a second time to Nauvoo, to execute the process in their hands. They did so, but on their arrival they were unable to find either Smith or Rockwell. It was understood that Smith had been equally expeditious with the officers -- had been advised of movements at Quincy, and acted upon the suggestion of his legal counsel to quit Nauvoo for a time.

Joe's followers, it is said, are too well armed and too numerous to permit his arrest.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The "Latter Night Saints."

More wonderful things than Mesmerism are about to appear. More astounding matters than the revelations of Joseph Smith or the disclosures of Mormon Bennett are about to shoot, meteor-like, across our horizon. Strange and startling developments already claim public attention, which must fix all eyes in wonder on the "Latter Night Saints." Miracles that may not be contradicted... There was also an illuminated history of Tiglith Peleazer, the first of the new night saints, embellished with a portrait done in yellow charcoal...


Note: This is a "nonsense piece," the humor (?) of which probably escaped the comprehension of most of its readers.

==> A Mormon minister lately preached a sermon in Nauvoo. In supplicating grace he said -- "Lord have mercy upon all fools and idiots, and particularly upon the members of the Town Council of Nauvoo!"


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> Bennett, the Mormon moral leper, is now delivering his disgusting lectures, or expositions of the practices of Joe Smith in Boston. Such obscenity as he makes these lectures the medium of would not be tolerated for a moment in this city. But Boston is a Sabbath-observing city.


Notes: (forthcoming)

ARREST OF JOE SMITH. -- The Quincy (Ill.) Whig of the 8th inst. has the following postscript: -- "We understand the Governor has received information, that Jo Smith is in custody at Carthage; and that he is to be brought before Judge Douglass, who is there holding court, on a writ of habeas corpus, for the purpose of trying the validity of the Governor's writ of arrest. From the course things are taking, it is not improbable that the same farce played off two years ago, in which the same two parties were interested, will be re-eacted again in the present instance.


Notes: (forthcoming)

JOE SMITH. -- It is settled, at least by the latest accounts, that Joe Smith has given himself up to the officers sent to arrest him. -- He is to be tried on a writ of habeas corpus, and will probably be discharged, on the ground that the offense with which he is charged in Gov. Carlin's warrant was committed, if at all, in Illinois, and therefore Missouri has no jurisdiction in the case.

Joe's application for the benefit of the Bankrupt Law has been contested. His petition was set down for a hearing on the 4th of this month.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORE MORMON TROUBLES. -- It will be recolected that the late English papers spoke of a party of one hundred and sixty-eight English Mormons being on their way out to this country, with the design of colonizing with Joe Smith at Nauvoo. A letter from the active and intelligent Capt. Taylor, the boarding officer at Belize, to a friend in this city, gives us the next notice of their whereabouts.

Capt. Taylor, in one of his cruizes, on the 14th inst., at the bar of the N. E. Pass, was hailed by Capt. Pierce, of the ship Henry, on board of which the Mormons were. Capt. T. boarded the ship, when he was informed by Capt. P. that the passengers were then, and had been in a state of mutiny, from the time they were three days out from Liverpool. At the request of Capt. Pierce, and on his affidavit, Capt. Taylor made prisoners of the Rev. John Snyder and two others whom Pierce pointed out as the ringleaders.

Capt. Taylor took the prisoners ashore with him. They have been since brought up to the city by the towboat Swan.


Notes: (forthcoming)

An Indian's Opinion of Joe Smith. -- The Indians have the greatest possible contempt for Joseph Smith, and denominate him a Tshe-wal-lis-ke, which signifies a rascal. Nor have other false prophets risen more highly in their estimation. A few years since that notorious deceiver, Matthias, made his appearance...


Notes: (forthcoming)

Mormonism on the Decline. -- A gentleman from Nauvoo states that whole families at a time were continually leaving the place. The delusion appeared to be on the decline. Our informant describes the houses as small and mean looking log, board and sod shanties. -- The Temple is to be large -- that is, should it ever be built; but at present the foundation only is laid. Joe Smith keeps the only store of any consequence, and of course he monopolizes most of the trading profits. The whole matter is a system, as he conceives, of cruel and heartless deception, selecting victims, not only in this country, but even more extensively in England.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Mormonism. -- Twenty persons professing Mormonism were baptized in the Delaware river, at Philadelphia, on Sunday, the 11th instant.

Notes: (forthcoming)

MORE MORMONS. -- The ship Emerald, from Liverpool, brought a batch of 148 Mormon emigrants to the city yesterday. We wish them a safe arrival at Nauvoo, and hope they may meet with no detention to prolong their stay in this region.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMONS. -- Recently, in the Illinois Legislature, a motion was made to repeal the extraordinary charter of Nauvoo, the Mormon city. There was in the House one Mormon member, Joe Smith's brother, who made an earnest appeal against the proposition.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Frozen Mormons, -- Mr. Alpheus Harmon, a preacher of Mormonism, and his nephew, Orsey Harman, were frozen to death on the prairie between Carthage and Nauvoo, Illinois, on the 17th ult.


Notes: (forthcoming)

JOE SMITH. -- By our late St. Louis papers we learn that Joe Smith had arrived at Springfield, Ill., accompanied by a number of his followers, and surrendered himself to the sheriff of Sangamo county. He is held on a warrant issued by the Governor of Illinois, upon the requisition of the Governor of Missouri, upon a charge of being accessory before the fact of an attempted assassination of ex-Governor Boggs. After his arrest by the sheriff, a writ of habeas corpus was sued out by his counsel, Justin Butterfield, Esq., of Chicago, and he was brought before the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Illinois, the Hon. Nathaniel Pope presiding. The Attorney General of the State was to appear against him, but it is thought that Old Joe will be discharged.


Notes: (forthcoming)

JOE SMITH D. D. -- Joe Smith has got home again in triumph, bragging of his recent release, and the Mormons seem as fond of him as ever. They appear to have determined to pay no attention to the exposures relative to Joseph's gallantry to a saint's wife. "Joseph! Joseph! we are afraid your conduct has given that worthy man cause for great uneasiness!"


Notes: (forthcoming)

JUBILEE AT NAUVOO. -- Some rather odd looking newspaper packages reached us yesterday by mail, and upon opening them with some curiosity, we found several Miller and several Mormon journals, coming to us cheek by jowl. We have only room now for the following interesting extracts from the Nauvoo Wasp:

PROCLAMATION TO THE SAINTS IN NAUVOO. -- Feeling a deep sense of gratitude to our Heavenly Father, for the great blessings which he has conferred on us, in the deliverance of our beloved President Joseph Smith, from the oppression with which he has so long been bound, the Travelling High Council invite the brethren in Nauvoo, to unite with them in dedicating Tuesday, the 17th day of January inst., as a day of humiliation, fasting, praise, prayer and thanksgiving, before the great Elohim, that he will continue the outpouring of his holy spirit upon this people.

    *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

We therefore recommend that collections be taken at different meetings, for his (Joseph's) benefit, and that such as have not cash will recollect that provisions will be an excellent substitute whenever it is convenient to bring them in; and we hope our brethren who are farmers in Laharpe, Ramus, Zarahemly, &c., and the region around, will have the opportunity of reading these few hints. A word to the wise is sufficient. The Lord loveth a cheerful and bountiful giver, and will restore an hundred fold -- for the laborer is worthy his hire.   BRIGHAM YOUNG, President.
   W. Richards, Clerk.
Nauvoo, January 11, 1843.


Note: The "collections... taken at different meetings" for the "benefit" of Joseph Smith came as a result of Smith's need to pay his lawyer, Justin Butterfierld. As a prelude to Smith's recent processing of the necessary legal papers to be declared a bankrupt in the State of Illinois, he had divested himself of some cash and property. Still, those possessions went to family members and were immediately reclaimable, for all practical purposes. In terms of valuable resources available to his personal command, Joseph Smith, Jr. was, at this time, the richest man in Hancock Co.

Opening in Joe Smith's Case. -- At the recent trial of Joe Smith in Nauvoo, Judge Pope presided, and the ladies occupied seats on either side of the bench. His counsel, Mr. Butterfield, thus commenced his opening: -- "I rise under the most extraordinary circumstances in this age and country, religious as it is: I appear before the Pope, supported on either hand by Angels, to defend the Prophet of the Lord!"


Note: Judge Pope's seating of numerous females beside him in the court is supposed to have been an implicit, extra-judicial acknowledgement of Mormon polygamy in general and that of Joseph Smith, Jr. more specifically.

The Mormon delusion is not likely soon to come to an end, for it is said that Joe Smith has recently sent out a large number of female preachers, of "great talent and surprising beauty." The will do more to keep up the delusion than could all the men in christendom. --   N. Y. Aurora.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Mormon Temple. -- There are cells under the temple at Nauvoo, which are separated by walls several feet thick. Some think that these cells are intended as "sleeping-rooms" for Anti-Mormons!


Notes: (forthcoming)

(Correspondence of the St. Louis Gazette.)

Nauvoo, April 26, 1844.         

THE MORMONS. -- One of the first things which arrests the eye, Mr. Editor, on approaching the "Mansion House" of General Joseph Smith, is a large sign-board, on the left side of the door, on which in large characters is painted -- "Ancient Records" -- "Egyptian Mummies." What this singular announcement might chance to mean, I at first could not divine; and, although prepared to be amazed at nothing I might behold within the corporate limits of the New Jerusalem, and especially within the precincts of the Prophet's own abode, I must confess myself to have been not a little posed. -- My curiosity was still alive on the matter, when, after a conversation of some length with the Prophet, I casually alluded to what I had seen, and inquired its meaning. On this inquiry I was immediately conducted by mine host into an apartment opposite the public parlor, in which we found several females variously engaged. Two of these were young and had some pretensions to personal comeliness -- or at least to gracefulness of figure; while, to another, who seemed well stricken in years, I was presented, as the Prophet's mother. A single syllable touching "the antiquities" started off the old lady in a strain of volubility quite marvelous to hear from one so old. This, with her was plainly a favorite topic, if it was not the only one on which she had expended time or thought, or either had an opinion, or could express one. -- Throwing open the doors of a piece of furniture somewhat like a Press, or Wardrobe, which stood in a corner of the room, what should I behold but the blackened and ghastly relics of four Egyptian Mummies, from which emanated that aroma peculiar to embalmment, but which is hardly so agreeable as the frankincense and the myrrh, and all manner of secret drugs, through the agency of which, the process which rendered "mortality immortal," was performed. There they stood -- the dry and shriveled tabernacles of those, who, perhaps four thousand years ago walked about on the sands of Egypt -- dwellers of the ancient cities of the Nile! Two of these are quite perfect in the preservation they have retained; the other two are badly mutilated. One has the skull fractured, and the other has a portion of the chest torn away. The cause of these injuries was this: The remains were sent to an illiterate man in New York city by a relative who was a soldier in the East. On receiving the box, the consignee thought he should be compensated by its contents, at least for the charges he had paid; but on opening it, and finding nothing but the shriveled and blackened carcases of human beings, he was so enraged, that, in his wrath, he would have utterly demolished them from head to heel, had not his violence been arrested by one who better understood their value. How they fell into the hands of the Mormon Prophet, or how they reached their present location, I do not well know. I think, however, that they were sent to the erudite author of the Book of Mormon, in order that he might translate the hieroglyphics on the bundles of papyri which were found, as is usual, to accompany the mummies. And, translate them, he verily did! At all events, his venerable old mother -- poor woman -- exhibits half a dozen sheets of papyri, spread out and pasted on sheets of paper, and, from a large octavo, of which her Prophet son is author, reads an interpretation, so called, of the mysterious hieroglyphics, which those ancient records are declared to contain! Important and highly interesting incidents in the lives of Patriarchs of Israel and the monarchs of Hebrew History are read from these "Egyptian records" -- the absurdity of such chronicles being deposited with the Pharaohs for safe keeping, never seeming to have occurred to any concerned. Of course all this is an imposture of the rankest kind; but there is no Champollion, or Denon among the Mormons of Nauvoo to convict their Prophet of fraud, and this wild and ridiculous tale has its thousands of undoubting believers!


Notes: (forthcoming)

SURRENDER OF JOE SMITH. -- The St. Louis Reveille of the 27th ult. states that the Prophet, with some of his principal men, have finally surrendered themselves for trial, the Nauvoo Legion has been disbanded, and that order once more reigns in that section. Gov. Ford, of Illinois, was discharging the militia that had been called out, and thus has ended the second Mormon war.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  MORMON  DIFFICULTIES.

Tragical End of Joe Smith, the Mormon Prophet, and his Brother Hyrum -- Great Excitement.

Since our last, the exciting news has been received of the tragical death of Joe Smith and his brother Hyrum, who were killed in jail, at Carthage, Ill., by a mob on the 27th ult. In our paper of Thursday we expressed a hope, predicated upon information that the Prophet had surrendered himself, that the Mormon difficulties would end without bloodshed; but it would seem that the people had become so exasperated at Joe Smith's repeated acts of aggression and contempt of the laws, that they fell upon him and took his life in the most summary manner. There appears to be two or three different versions of the affair, all of which we give. The following we copy from the St. Louis Reveille of the 30th ult: --

TERRIBLE  NEWS!

Slaughter of Joe Smith, Hyrum Smith, and Others. -- The steamer St. Croix, which arrived early yesterday morning, enabled us, by means of an Extra, to convey to our citizens the first news of the violent death of Smith, the Mormon Prophet, and some of his fellow prisoners. Premising that, up to the last moment of going to press, the accounts continued to be contradictory and unsatisfactory, we proceed to give our readers all we yet know upon the subject, reserving comment for our next, when the real facts will be known. Our Extra of yesterday morning, containing the story as told by the Quincy Whig, and which we forwarded to our exchanges, we will say, though, does no sort of justice in the case. Joe Smith has been "Lynched," while under the protection of Gov. Ford and the laws! According to the Quincy account --

"The 'Carthage Greys,' a volunteer company, were placed as a guard around the Jail. About 6 o'clock, last evening, an attempt was made by the Mormons on the outside to rescue the Mormon prisoners from the custody of the guard. A youth, about nineteen years of age, (a Mormon,) began the fray, by shooting the sentinel at the door, wounding him severely in the shoulder. Simultaneously with this attempt, the Mormons on the inside of the jail, including the Smiths, presented pistols through the windows and doors of the jail, and fired upon the guard without; wounding, it is supposed, mortally, four of the old citizens of Hancock! It is unnecessary to say that this bloodthirsty attempt, on the part of the Mormons, was the signal for certain and sure vengeance. The lives of the two Smiths, and Richards, were quickly taken, and we believe no others,"

The Warsaw correspondent of the Republican, in this city, sends the following extract from his letter:

"This afternoon, (the 27th) between the hours of 5 and 6 o'clock, an armed multitude visited the jail at Carthage, bore off the guard, and killed Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Report says that two of Joe's associates in confinement were likewise destroyed. The Governor had left Carthage in the morning for Nauvoo, with 50 dragoons, for the purpose of securing the balance of the State arms remaining at Nauvoo, and during his absence this scene occurred."

The following letter, telling its story, reached us about three hours after the receipt of the Quincy Extra:

    Joe Smith and his brother Hyrum Killed!
                STEAMER DOVE, June 28, 1844.
Editors Reveilee -- Passengers from Bryant's Landing report the deaths of Joe Smith and his brother Hyrum, last evening, by a mob of 200 men, dressed in disguise, with their faces blackened, who took them from the jail in Carthage, where they had been confined, and shot them.

It is feared that the exasperated followers of the "Prophet" will make an attack upon the town of Carthage, and make a general massacre of the citizens, unless a sufficient force can be raised to defend the place.

The excitement is great and the whole country is rising, while at the same time to Mormons will muster their entire strength.

I have not time to detail all the circumstances as our passengers report them, but these are the most important. The above has been corroborated by a messenger from Carthage, who stood upon the landing at Bryant's.
                            S. COMPTON SMITH.

We have since conversed with Capt. Reilly, of the Mendota, who left Nauvoo at 4 p.m., on Friday, the 26th. According to the account which he brings, the Carthage jail is in the vicinity of a wood. A large body of men, disguised and painted, broke suddenly from the covert, overpowered the 8 or 10 men who were on guard -- the larger body, appointed for that purpose, being at a greater distance off -- entered the jail, and shot Smith and his brother at once. Richards was not hurt, but Edward [sic] Taylor, the editor of the "Nauvoo Neighbor," was dangerously wounded in the thigh. There had not been the slightest attempt at rescue or escape.

Capt. Reilly had been about Nauvoo, and up at the Temple the people were terribly alarmed, fearing further violence. Gov. Ford, who had been encamped near the city, had intercepted the messenger with the news of Smith's death, and hastened to the spot, sending word to the people of Nauvoo to keep within their city, but to defend themselves if attacked. As the Mendota was about to leave, the body of Smith was brought into Nauvoo. Still, there were no signs whatever of an outbreak for vengeance. The people, in all the towns, were full of alarm and fabricating fearful rumors.

Mr. M. C. Ford, of this paper, left on the Boreas, yesterday afternoon, for the scene of violence, and will send us full and true details of the matter.

The St. Louis New Era of the evening of the 29th ult., after mentioning the death of Joe Smith, and his brother, then goes on to say:

The killing of these men is attributed to an attempt at rescue. Under the circumstances this tale is not probable. The consternation among the Mormons was so great that it is not probable that they would make such an attempt after they were disarmed, and when they knew that the jail was surrounded by a military force. It is still more improbable that Joe and Hyrum drew pistols and attempted to fire on the citizens when they were still in jail, and it is even very improbable that they were permitted to retain arms after they were imprisoned. The probability is that there was such a deep and determined hostility in the minds of the surrounding inhabitants against the Mormons, that they were determined to kill Joe at all events, and that they were ready to arise on any outbreak or imprudent act on the part of the Mormons as a pretext for carrying their designs into execution. In the excitement that prevailed, it is probable that any little disturbance would be called an attempt at rescue. The worst of consequences are to be apprehended.

The same paper, announcing the arrival of the steamer Mendota with the latest news from Nauvoo, has the following:

"The Mendota left yesterday afternoon, the 28th, at 4 o'clock. The Captain says he staid at Nauvoo several hours and talked with a number of the Mormons; that whilst there a body of Mormons came in bearing the dead bodies of Joe Smith and Hyrum Smith. Mr. Phelps was not killed, but was in Nauvoo when the Mendota left, making a speech to the Mormons, and advising them to peace. No Mormons were killed except Joe and Hyrum Smith. The Mormons all expressed a determination to keep the peace, and not to resort to armsexcept in becessary self defence. They state that at Carthage the Mormons were confined; that about fifty or one hundred men disguised suddenly rushed on the jail house; that the guard fired on them and wounded three of them; that the men in disguise fired into the jail and killed Hyrum Smith before the door was opened. Joe Smith had a revolving pistol, and fired it two or three times without effect, but was himself soon killed by the assailants; that Taylor, the editor of the Nauvoo Neighbor, was in jail, and was shot through the thigh, but not seriously injured. After the assault the disguised mob retreated, and it was not even known who they were. The guard consisted of fifty men, left by the Governor, of whom eight or ten were on duty when the attack was made on the jail house.

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DEATH OF THE MORMON PROPHET. -- On the first page will be found commenced an account of the killing of Joe Smith and his brother, at Carthage, Ill., with the attendant circumstances. Whether the death of the Prophet will break up this deluded sect or not, is more than we can say. The next most popular leader of the Mormons is doubtless Sidney Rigdon, a more able and better educated man than the Prophet, but whether he has the influence, boldness, inflexibility, and talent and disposition for humbugging remains to be seen. Our nexy news from the Mormon region will doubtless be interesting.

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Hunt's Mormon War. -- J. B. Steel has sent us a book entitled "A History of the Mormon War, with a prefix embracing the Rise, Progress, and Peculiar Tenets of the Mormon Doctrines," &c., &c. We have not had time to look over it thoroughly, but see that it gives an account of a former trial of Joe Smith for high treason, murder, &c.


Notes: (forthcoming)

More  of  the  Mormon  Difficulties.

Correct Account of the Death of the Smiths -- Governor Ford -- His Address to the People of the State -- Passive Conduct of the Mormons,

We have St. Louis papers to the 2d. inst. -- two days later than previous advices. They give further particulars of the murder of Joe Smith and his brother, and of other matters relative to the Mormon difficulties.

Gov. Ford has fixed his head-quarters at Quincy. His reason for doing so is his want of confidence in the people in the immediate vicinity of the excitement. He is afraid to trust the troops or the citizens around Carthage and Warsaw. He has ordered a large portion of the military of the State to hold themselves in readiness, subject to his call. No further outbreak has occurred since the killing of the Smiths, though great excitement continued to prevail, both at Warsaw and Carthage. It is apprehended that the troops or the citizens from one of these points may make a descent upon Nauvoo. If this is done, the large force alluded to in the Governor's proclamation will be immediately called out.

The Governor has deputed a commission, consisting of Mr. Jonas, of Columbus, and Mr. Fellows, of Schuyler county, to visit the Mormons at Nauvoo, and give them such instructions or orders as they may deem necessary. The same commission is vested with plenary powers in relation to the troops at Carthage and Warsaw, and if they deem it most advisable, may disband them and order them home.

The burial of the two Smiths took place at Nauvoo on the evening of the 29th ult., without creating any excitement or turbulent appearance whatever among the Mormons. "The truth is," says a gentleman writing from Quincy. "no one, so far as my observation extends, regrets the death of those two bad, unprincipled, dangerous men. It is only the manner in which they met their death that has created excitement. My own opinion is, that now the ringleaders are out of the way, much of the delusion that, by their impositions, has clouded the minds of the mass of the populace comprising the community at Nauvoo, will become dissipated, and hereafter they will become, to a great extent, a peaceable and law-abiding people. It does seem to me that all the lessons that have been taught them in Ohio and Missouri, as well as Illinois, cannot be in vain; and that, profiting by this last visitation upon them, they will hereafter conduct themselves as other citizens."

Taylor, the editor of the Nauvoo Neighbor, who was in jail with the Smiths, it is supposed cannot survive. One of his lungs was perforated by a ball, and he was wounded in the fleshy part of the thigh with some four or five other balls.

Gov. Ford has published an address to the people of Illinois, giving a statement of the difficulties so far as they have come to his knowledge. From this it appears that the Smiths had peaceably surrendered themselves, the Governor pledging himself that neither themselves nor their people should be molested, and this pledge being ratified by the word of honor of the officers and men under his command. The Mormons also surrendered the public arms in their possession, and the Nauvoo Legion submitted to the command of Capt. Singleton, not of themselves, but deputed by Gov. Ford for that purpose.

The Governor in his address says --

On the morning of the day the deed was committed, we had proposed to march the army under the command into Nauvoo. I had, however, discovered, on the evening before, that nothing but utter destruction of the city would satisfy a portion of the troops; and that, if we marched into the city, pretexts would not be wanting for commencing hostilities. The Mormons had done every thing required, or which ought to have been required of them. Offensive operations on our part would have been as unjust and disgraceful as they would have been impolitic, in the present critical season of the year, the harvest, and the crops. For these reasons, I decided, in a council of officers, to disband the army, except three companies, two of which were reserved as a guard for the jail. With the other company I marched into Nauvoo, to address the inhabitants there, and tell them what they might expect in case they designedly or imprudently provoked a war. I performed this duty, as I think, plainly and emphatically, and then set out to return to Carthage. when I had marched about three miles, a message informed me of the occurrences at Carthage. I hastened on to that place. the guard, it is said, did their duty, but were overpowered. Many of the inhabitants of Carthage had fled with their families. Others were preparing to go. I apprehended danger to the settlements from the sudden fury and passion of the Mormons, and sanctioned their movements in this respect.

The attack on the jail is thus described:

About 4 o'clock, p. m., a company of about one hundred armed men rushed the jail in Carthage and demanded the prisoners. A rush was made on the guards, who fired, but hurt nobody. They were immediately secured, and the men rushed up stairs to the room of the prisoners. For about two minutes the discharge of fire arms within the jail was very rapid. -- Finally, Joe Smith raised the window, exclaimed, "Oh, my God!" and threw himself out. He fell heavily on the ground, and was soon despatched. Hyrum was shut in the jail. There were two other prisoners -- Dr. Richards, who, we learn, was not hurt, and J. Taylor, editor of the Nauvoo Neighbor, who received five balls in his arms and legs. Immediately on the work being done, the men fled.

It is to be hoped that these disgraceful scenes -- highly disgraceful to the national character -- will end here, and that these deluded people calling themselves Mormons will hereafter conduct themselves in a manner less inimical to the rights and interests of the great body of their fellow citizens.


Notes: (forthcoming)

From the National Intelligencer of July 8,

DEATH  OF  THE  MORMON  PROPHET.

(view original source for this article)

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LATER -- The Cincinnati Atlas, of July 4, contains intelligence from Nauvoo up to 4 o'clock on the evening of the 28th June. We copy the following from that paper.

The steamer Mendota, at St. Louis, left Nauvoo on Friday at 4 o'clock. Capt. Riley says he stopped at Nauvoo several hours, and talked with a number of the Mormons; and that while there a body of Mormons came in, bearing the dead bodies of Joe and Hiram Smith. Mr. Phelps was not killed, but was in Nauvoo when the Mendota left, making a speech to the Mormons, and advising them to peace. Richards was not injured -- no Mormons being killed except Joe and Hiram Smith. The Mormons all express a detrermination to keep the peace and not to resort to arms except in necessary defence.


Note: Either this issue of the Richmand Whig, or that of July 5th, carried this short notice: Murder of Jo Smith. -- The Louisville Journal of Tuesday last says -- "We learn this morning, by passengers on the Louis Philippe, that Jo Smith, his brother Hiram Smith, and another leading Mormon, Col. ____, were murdered in prison the other day at Carthage, Illinois. Jo had seven or eight bullet holes in him. The murderers were unknown. The dead bodies were taken to Nauvoo. This is authentic."

PEPPERING A MORMON. -- It appears that the citizens of Hagerstown have an antipathy to travelling lecturers generally, and Mormon preachers particularly. A few evenings since, one of the prophets lectured there, and the Hagerstown Journal thus describes the scene that followed:

Just in the midst of the sermon, when the speaker had fully broken forth in an eloquent declaration of his ability to perform miracles, they assailed him with that most effectual weapon so peculiar to Hagerstown -- "red pepper." This was done by burning, in one corner of the room, a ball of raw cotton over which Cyenne pepper had been sprinkled. In an instant every spectator, and the prophet too, was seized with an irresistable sneezing and coughing, and the scene became truly ludicrous. The dose was repeated over and over again, until the fumes grew so dense as to come well nigh producing strangulation. At the crisis a citizen stepped forward and very gravely informed the holy messenger that this was a performance peculiar to Hagerstown, and they called it "peppering." A burst of laughter succeeded the communication of this information, and hissing and hooting, and hallowing took the place of order. The prophet gave out a hymn, and was informed that he'd better sing it himself; the sermon ended...

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THE MORMONS. -- Our latest dates from St. Louis, the 7th inst., give no further details of disturbances among the Mormons and their adversaries, but an exciting correspondence has been carried on between the committees of citizens of Warsaw and Gov. Ford. The former are so exasperated that they desire the aid of of the Governor to compel the Mormons to leave the State; otherwise they say they must leave themselves. The Governor replies sharply to them; accuses them of breaking their faith with him, of having placed him in a false position; refuses to attempt the expulsion of the Mormons, no law authorizing it; and finally tells them that he is informed of a design on their part to attack Nauvoo, and warns them most seriously not to make the attempt.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The  Mormons

Latest from Nauvoo -- Reorganization of the Mormons -- Quiet at Nauvoo -- Continued Excitement at Warsaw and other places against the Mormons, &c.

One of the editors of the Reveille, M. C. Field, Esq., has returned to St. Louis from a visit to Nauvoo, and in his paper of the 6th inst. gives an interesting account of the past scenes of outlawery and excitement and present quiet which reigns. Mr. F. says:

"Nauvoo reposes in a state of quietude and tranquility most remarkable. During some thirty hours that we passed in the "Holy City," we heard but one solitary intemperate expression, and the man who uttered it, was instantly checked, and made silent by more prudent spirits around him. Elder Adams and Lyne, accompanied by others, left the city on Tuesday last, their object being to call home the absent Apostles and members of the Council of Seventy. Upon the return of these, there will take place a solemn deliberation of the Twelve Apostles, who will appoint a successor to the lost Prophet, and their appointment will then be acted upon, either to be ratified or rejected by the Council of Seventy."

Speaking of the great Mormon Temple, Mr. Field says that the work had ceased upon it for the present, but elder Phelps, now one of the most influential among the Latter Day Saints, had given notice that it would be immediately recommenced. We quote:

"The system upon which this temple has been building, is the exaction of labor every tenth day from every man who cannot purchase his exemption from the task with money. It will be, if ever finished, a very imposing looking edifice. It stands in a high and commanding position, a prominent object, riveting the stranger's eye at once; and, upon near inspection, the style of architecture is found to be more than commonly attractive, from its singularity. It is like nothing else; and, unless we may be allowed to designate it as the Mormonic order, it certainly has no name at all. The stone is of excellent quality, quarried in the neighborhood, and very good mechanics have been at work upon it. The massive caps of the columns are already carved from huge blocks, showing a gigantic round human face like the broad full moon. The columns are made to rest upon crescent moons, sculptured on the face of the stone, resting with the horns down, with a profile of eyes, nose, and mouth upon the inner curve. What idea this is meant to convey we could not learn, though the impression is irresistible that the church is built up upon moonshine."

Although at Nauvoo all was quiet, it is said that at Warsaw a very different state of things is apparent, for the people were boiling over with excited feeling against the Mormons. -- The editor of the Reveille remained an hour at Warsaw on his return. He says: --

"We found the citizens laboring under such a state of feeling as is quite evident can never be changed. In reply to the deputation from Gov. Ford, consisting of A. Jones, Esq., and Colonel Hart Fellows, the former appearing as spokesman, we were told that a committee had already left Warsaw, to wait upon the Governor, with the deliberate expression that either one or other of the antagonistical parties must abandon the county. Mr. Jones very properly told the people that Gov. Ford could give no reply to such a communication, save one of condemnation; he would be subject, himself, to impeachment by venturing on any action to drive away either the Mormons or their opponents; and in this unsatisfactory manner the meeting at Warsaw broke up, we returning on board the Osprey, and the people to their dwellings."

In relation to the massacre of the Smiths we gather the following interesting particulars: --

"The point most interesting may be the manner of the murder; and without partiality, we can here give the straightforward truth. At the request of their own counsel, the prisoners were placed in an upper apartment of the jail, instead of the cells. This is a point upon which the Mormons feel sore, they believing, or pretending to believe, that the Smiths were so placed with the design to give their assassins more facility in accomplishing their work. -- The first alarm in Carthage was a cry from the vicinity of the jail, "The Mormons! the Mormons! they have come to rescue the prisoners!" It is clear, from all our representations, that such was the instantaneous impression. The Carthage Greys were under arms and immediately commenced quick march for the jail. First was heard a solitary shot, followed by the quick and continuous reports of a revolving pistol, (these latter are known and admitted to have been fired by the Prophet,) and then came a volley of fire arms, succeeded by Joseph Smith tumbling head foremost from a window of the jail. The whole time of the action, from the first cry of "The Mormons! the Mormons!" until the Carthage Greys, on approaching the scene, discovered a band of men disappearing as fast as they could run, was scarcely Ten minutes. This has been all respresented fully at Quincy, though many still, whether from honest impression or fixed design, it is difficult and, perhaps, useless to speak, assume to impugn the integrity of the Greys."

The Nauvoo Neighbor, Joe Smith's organ, comes to us in mourning for the death of the Prophet and his brother. The reception of the bodies of the slain at Nauvoo is described as a scene of a nature truly melancholy and solemn. The editor of the Neighbor, in a subdued tone, says:

"We can assure Gov. Ford, if he can manage human butchers, that he has nothing to fear from armless, timid, and law-abiding Latter-day Saints."

Notwithstanding the deep indignation and threatened vengeance of the Anti-Mormons in the neighborhood of Nauvoo, it is thought that no further scenes of violence will be enacted. The firm conduct of Gov. Ford, and the decided tone of his addresses, will probably awe the more lawless and blood-thirsty into quiet, and induce them to refrain from farther acts of outlawry.

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Mormon Meeting and Disturbance in Boston. -- There was a meeting of Mormons at Boston on the 1st inst., at which several of the apostles and elders officiated. Gen. Joe Smith was nominated for President of the United States, and Sidney Rigdon for Vice President, but before the meeting had got through with its business there was a row created and the whole affair broken up. The rowdies got roughly handled by the Mormons at first, but finally obtained the mastery and cleared the room.


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> Sidney Rigdon, the "right hand man" of Joe Smith, had arrived at Pittsburg at last dates with the intention of residing there permanently. He probably will be called to Nauvoo now the Prophet is dead.


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> Some of the public Journals of the country, we are sorry to see, regret the death of that blasphemous wretch Joe Smith, the Mormon Prophet. Our deliberate judgement is, that he ought to have been dead ten years ago, and that those who at length have deprived him of his life, have done the cause of God, and of the country, good service.

What lead to his death? This question answered properly and no one will be found to regret his death. By order of Smith and his villainous Council, a newspaper press was destroyed on the 10th ultima, for the reason too, that it did not advocate Mormonism! This was followed by a declaration of Martial Law, and the adoption of other arbitrary measures, to the injury and annoyance of other peaceable citizens. These things led to a war, and Smith was killed, as he should have been. Three cheers to the brave company who shot him to pieces!


Note: These caustic remarks are attributed to the Rev. William G. Brownlow, the well known ante-bellum Knoxville newspaperman. Lee Groberg's 1999 PBS biographical program, "American Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith," contains this use of the 1844 text: "Reverend William G. Brownlow of the Jonesborough Whig scorned the lamentations being printed by some papers: "Some of the public Journals of the country, we are sorry to see, regret the death of that blasphemous wretch Joe Smith..."

MORMONISM. -- Sidney Rigdon, who returned to Nauvoo a few weeks since from Pittsburg, to be the successor of Smith, has been regularly unchurched by the Twelve Apostles. The administration of the affairs of the church for the present is to remain in the hands of the Twelve Apostles.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MSON HYDE, one of the Mormon imposters, has written a letter denying all the material statements made in the recent letter of Sidney Rigdon. He charges that Rigdon was expelled from the Mormon Church for offences entirely different from those alleged in his letter. Those Mormon leaders will soon satisfy all the world that they are just that description of men that they have been represented to be by those citizens of Missouri and Illinois, who have had the best opportunity of knowing them. -- St. Louis New Era.


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> Sidney Rigdon now says that the Mormonites are worse than the ancient Sodomites. Hawks should not peck out hawk's eyes.

Notes: (forthcoming)