Angered at the frustration3 of their plots of force and legal treachery against the Prophet, the mob continued to spread reports in August and September of 1838, that he was defying the law and refusing submission4 to process of court. This perjured tale received additional credence5 among the uninformed from the fact that the Daviess County sheriff had failed to arrest him; though, as all should have known, this failure was no fault of Joseph. But the falsehood was bringing renewed menace upon the Saints. Upper Missouri erupted a lava6 stream of bad men into Daviess, Carroll, Saline and Caldwell Counties. Something must be done to turn aside the overflow7 or it would sweep over all the dwelling8 places of the Saints.
To stay the fiery9 river of hate, the Prophet offered himself as a sacrifice. On the fourth day of September, 1838, he volunteered, through his lawyers, Generals Atchison and Doniphan, to be tried before Judge King, in Daviess County. Lyman Wight, who had been charged with him, followed his example.
It was characteristic of this industrious10 Prophet, that on the day when he tendered his liberty and his life as a price for the physical and political redemption of his brethren, he began the methodical study of law. The anxiety natural to his position was unfelt. He had looked so often upon danger that its face was no longer terrible. And he knew that such learning as he should ever acquire must be gained in the midst of turmoil11. He wanted to know the science upon which statutes12 were based, and to become learned in the knowledge of his country's constitution and enactments13 that he might the better minister temporal salvation14 to his fellowmen, and the hour when prison and even murder menaced him was as propitious15 as any he might ever see.
The time appointed for the trial in Judge King's court was Thursday, the 6th day of November, 1838. Joseph was there, but the case could not proceed, because the prosecuting16 witness was absent, and no testimony17 was forthcoming. The court adjourned18 for the day, and Joseph returned to his home, but the next morning he was again in attendance and the trial proceeded. Peniston prosecuted19 and Adam Black swore to everything which Peniston asked. He had been bribed20 by money, promises or threats, else he was incited21 by murderous hate, and he told things which manifestly could not have had any existence except in his false mind. He was the only witness against the defendants23. In their behalf four reputable men testified, proving incontestably that Black's oaths were perjury24 and Peniston's complaint was a lie. Judge King admitted in private conversation that nothing had been proved against the Prophet and his companion, and yet he bound them over in bonds of $500. Without a murmur25 the Prophet and Lyman submitted and gave the necessary bail26.
From the trial they were followed to Far West by two gentlemen who stated that they had come from Chariton County as a commission of inquiry27 in behalf of their fellow citizens. A demand had been made by the mobbers upon the residents of Chariton County for assistance to capture Joseph Smith and Lyman Wight, and a committee had been appointed by the fair-minded people of Chariton to investigate the situation. When these gentlemen saw that the real purpose of the request was to secure ruffian help to impoverish28 the defenseless Saints and drive them once again into the wilderness30, they declared that they had been outrageously32 imposed upon by the demand of the mob, and they returned to their own county filled with sympathy and friendly feeling for Joseph and his brethren. Their findings they subsequently embodied33 in an affidavit34.
An attack was planned by the mob upon Adam-ondi-Ahman; on the 9th a wagon35 laden36 with guns and ammunition37 in charge of a party of the murderous rabble38 was going to that place from Richmond. But it was intercepted39 by Captain William Allred, who arrested the men in charge, John B. Comer and two others—Miller and McHoney—and took possession of the weapons. A letter was addressed to Judge King immediately by the Saints, asking him what should be done with the prisoners and the captured munitions40. This coward responded to turn the prisoners loose and let them receive kind treatment. He was the judicial41 officer who, to satisfy the mob instead of satisfying justice, had placed the Prophet and Lyman Wight under bonds when, by his own confession42, not one illegal act could be proved against them. Concerning the guns he was reluctant to give advice, although he promised that they should not be taken from the Saints to be converted and used for illegal purposes.
Under the same date this unjust judge wrote to General Atchison to send two hundred or more men to force the "Mormons" to surrender. He well knew that the Saints were not in a rebellious43 or unlawful attitude, nor in a position to fight. They had not even the power to resist mobocratic aggression44 against themselves, to say nothing of being the assailants in any illegal movement.
On the 12th of September, the men who had been arrested while transporting guns to the mob in Daviess County, were held to bail for their appearance at the circuit court.
About the same time a large body of the mob entered De Witt in Carroll County, and warned the brethren to leave on pain of death.
William Dryden, justice of the peace in Daviess County, complained falsely to the Governor that service of process from his court, issued against Alanson Ripley, George A. Smith and others for threatening Adam Black, had been withstood.
General Atchison called out the militia of Clay and Ray Counties which, under the command of Brigadier-General Doniphan, marched to the timber on Crooked45 River, while he went with a single aide to Far West, the county seat of Caldwell, to confer with the leading men among the Saints. Here he was the guest of the Prophet.
Doniphan's troops had ostensibly been called into the field to suppress an insurrection and preserve peace. But instead of the military powers being used as a menace to the mob, it was operated as if the long-suffering Saints had been the aggressors. General Doniphan, a friendly, fair and kindly-disposed man, was acting46 under the Governor's orders, and the responsibility of his conduct falls chiefly upon the executive of the state. The mob prisoners were demanded and were set free with no regard for any other law than that which seemed to reign47 supreme48 in Missouri—the law of mobocratic will. The arms which had been seized on the way from Richmond into Daviess County were collected and delivered up to the General. From Crooked River General Doniphan brought his troops through Millport in Daviess County to the spot where a mob had congregated49 to make an attack upon the Saints. When the General read an order of dispersion to the rabble they declared that their object was solely50 for defense29; and yet they would not even permit the General in command of the state militia to approach them without going through such military formalities as might have greeted a flag of truce51 from an opposing force, while all the time that he was conferring with them guards were marching in and out, showing that the camp was being kept in a state of activity. Although they promised to obey the order requiring them to withdraw, they failed to do so.
From this place the General proceeded to the spot where the Saints had assembled together for mutual52 protection under the direction of Lyman Wight. A conference ensued in which the Saints agreed to disband, to surrender up any one of their number accused of crime, on condition that the hostile forces of the mob, only a few miles distant, should be dispersed53. The Saints had every wish to comply with the law and to avoid every appearance of resistance, but they knew too well that if they scattered54, unless the mobbers were also disbanded, they would be murdered and plundered55. General Atchison, also in command of troops, was joined on the 15th at the county seat of Daviess by General Doniphan and his regiments56. He found that the mobbers were still under arms and still aggressive, while the Saints were still huddled57 together for safety. To him the Saints also stated their willingness to yield to any legal requirement, and they would cheerfully submit to any investigation58 which might be demanded. General Atchison thought that peace might be restored and so wrote to the Governor; but immediately Boggs ordered the Booneville guards to be mounted with ten days' provisions and in readiness to march on his arrival; and he also ordered General Lucas to proceed immediately with four hundred mounted men to co-operate with General Atchison. Similar orders were issued to Major-Generals Lewis Bolton, John B. Clark and Thomas B. Grant.
While this military movement was taking place the mob continued to seize prisoners and to send threatening messages, hoping to incite22 the Saints to some overt59 act that the whole power of the mob and militia combined might be brought against them to annihilate60 them. Several times word was brought to the encampment of the Saints that prisoners taken by the mob were being tortured. This was done in the hope to provoke a spirit of retaliation61. It seems strange that this situation could have continued for more than a day with such a military force at hand. A little prompt and vigorous action would have dispersed the mob and taught them to respect the power of the law. It would not have been necessary to shed blood, only to let constitutional majesty62 be asserted; and the Saints might have remained in peace. But this was not the purpose. The troops really had been called out, not to protect the "Mormons," but to answer the lying call of a justice of the peace. This mighty63 power of war was brought into operation to apprehend64 two or three men, charged with a petty offense65, and who had not resisted any attempt to serve legal papers upon them.
On the 20th of September General Atchison wrote to the Governor that the insurrection was practically ended; all the leading offenders66 against the law had been arrested and bound over to appear at court. It is noticeable that the people were called offenders, the plundering67 rabble going scot free. All of the troops, except two companies of the Ray militia under command of Brigadier General Parks, were discharged. In this same letter General Atchison said:
They [the Mormons] appear to be acting on the defensive68, and I must further add, gave up the offenders with a good deal of promptness. The arms and prisoners taken by the Mormons were also given up upon demand with seeming cheerfulness.
This candid69 opinion was re-enforced a few days later by a letter from General Parks to the Governor, in which he uses the following expressions:
Whatever may have been the disposition70 of the people called "Mormons" before our arrival here, since we have made our appearance they have shown no disposition to resist the laws, or of hostile intentions. There has been so much prejudice and exaggeration concerned in this matter that I found things entirely71 different from what I was prepared to expect. When we arrived here we found a large body of men from the counties adjoining, armed and in the field, for the purpose, as I learned, of assisting the people of this county against the "Mormons," without being called out by the proper authorities.
P.S.—Since writing the above, I have received information that if the committee do not agree, the determination of the Daviess County men is to drive the "Mormons" with powder and lead.
Near the same time, General Atchison wrote to Governor Boggs as follows:
Things are not so bad in this county [Daviess] as represented by rumor72, and, in fact, from affidavits73 I have no doubt your Excellency has been deceived by the exaggerated statements of designing or half-crazy men. I have found there is no cause of alarm on account of the "Mormons;" they are not to be feared; they are very much alarmed.
About the 26th day of September, 1838, a committee from the mob met some of the leading brethren at Adam-ondi-Ahman and entered into an agreement whereby the Saints were to purchase lands and possessions of all who desired to sell; but this resulted in nothing, for the mob had other purposes in view.
About fifteen or twenty of the Saints with Lyman Wight were pledged to appear before the court at Gallatin for trial on the 29th of September.
Hundreds of men drawn74 into the militia service of Generals Atchison, Doniphan, Parks, and Lucas were in personal affiliation75 with the mob. When the greater part of the forces were disbanded in Daviess County a general movement took place toward De Witt, in Carroll County. On their way the bandits breathed their murderous intent against the Saints; and before the onslaught, the brethren addressed a humble76 petition to Lilburn W. Boggs, imploring77 him to send succor78, but he was deaf to the appeal. His ears were always open to the voice of the murderer; never to that of the victim. The mob could not ask him in vain for help; the injured Saints supplicated79 again and again without a reply. With the opening of October, the mob pressed hard upon the Saints in De Witt, threatening death to men, captivity80 to children and outrage31 to women.
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1
perjured
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| adj.伪证的，犯伪证罪的v.发假誓，作伪证( perjure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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frustration
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| n.挫折，失败，失效，落空 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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credence
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| n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证 | |
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6
lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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overflow
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| v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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statutes
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| 成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程 | |
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enactments
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| n.演出( enactment的名词复数 )；展现；规定；通过 | |
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14
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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propitious
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| adj.吉利的；顺利的 | |
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prosecuting
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| 检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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18
adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
prosecuted
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| a.被起诉的 | |
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20
bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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21
incited
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| 刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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incite
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| v.引起，激动，煽动 | |
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23
defendants
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| 被告( defendant的名词复数 ) | |
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24
perjury
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| n.伪证；伪证罪 | |
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25
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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26
bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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27
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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28
impoverish
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| vt.使穷困，使贫困 | |
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29
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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30
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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31
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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32
outrageously
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| 凶残地； 肆无忌惮地； 令人不能容忍地； 不寻常地 | |
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33
embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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34
affidavit
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| n.宣誓书 | |
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35
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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36
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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37
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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38
rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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39
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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40
munitions
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| n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品 | |
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41
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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42
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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43
rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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44
aggression
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| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
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45
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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46
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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47
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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48
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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49
congregated
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| （使）集合，聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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51
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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52
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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53
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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54
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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55
plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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57
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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58
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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59
overt
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| adj.公开的，明显的，公然的 | |
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60
annihilate
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| v.使无效；毁灭；取消 | |
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61
retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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62
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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63
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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64
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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65
offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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67
plundering
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 ) | |
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68
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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71
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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72
rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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73
affidavits
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| n.宣誓书，（经陈述者宣誓在法律上可采作证据的）书面陈述( affidavit的名词复数 ) | |
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74
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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affiliation
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| n.联系，联合 | |
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76
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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77
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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78
succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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79
supplicated
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| v.祈求，哀求，恳求( supplicate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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