Chapter XXIII. Escape of the Prophet

Whitmar, though in Apostacy, Testifies to the Angel and the Plates. Brigham's Joy at Meeting Joseph again. A Day of God's Power. The Twelve start for Foreign Lands. Abroad under their Peter.

START FOR FOREIGN LANDS ABROAD UNDER

THEIR PETER.

About this time [March, 1839], Elders Kimball and Turley made a persistent effort to obtain a writ of habeas corpus for the release of the prisoners, traveling hundreds of miles in quest of the Governor and the Supreme judges, but were defeated in the attempt.

On their return to Far West, in the forepart of April, a somewhat heated discussion took place between Elder Turley, on the one hand, and Captain Bogart, John Whitmer and others, on the other, as to the possibility of fulfilling the revelation concerning the Twelve, before alluded to, and the authenticity of the Book of Mormon was incidentally called in question, when John Whitmer, though in apostacy, affirmed the fact of the angel Moroni's appearing with the plates.

April 6th, by order of the judge under whose jurisdiction the prisoners were, they were started

under guard for Davies Co., where they arrived on the 8th, and on the 9th were put upon their trial before the Grand Jury, which, on the following day, brought in a bill of indictment against Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, and Caleb Baldwin, for " Murder, Treason, Burglary, Arson and Larceny."

Having procured a change of venue, the prisoners were, on the 15th, removed to Boone Co., under a strong guard.

April 16th. "This evening," says Joseph, "our guard aot intoxicated. We thought it a favorable opportunity to make our escape, knowing that the only object of our enemies was our destruction. * * We thought that it was necessary for us, inasmuch as we loved our lives, and did not wish to die by the hand of murderers and assassins ; and inasmuch as we loved our families and friends, to deliver ourselves from our enemies, and from that land of tyranny and oppression, and again take our stand among a people in whose bosoms dwell those feelings of republicanism and liberty which gave rise to our nation — feelings which the inhabitants of the State of Missouri were strangers to. Accordingly we took advantage of the situation of our guard, and departed. * * * We continued on our journey both by night and by day ; and after suffering much fatigue and hunger I arrived in Quincy, Illinois; amidst the congratulations of my friends and the embraces of my family, whom I found as well as could be expected, considering what they had been called to endure."

Reviewing the period of his imprisonment, he

says : " I was in their hands, as a prisoner, six months; but notwithstanding their determination to destroy me, with the rest of my brethren who were with me, and although at three different times, as I was informed, we were sentenced to be shot, without the least shadow of law, — as we were not military men, — and had the time and place appointed for that purpose, yet, through the mercy of God, in answer to the prayers of the saints, I have been preserved and delivered out of their hands, and can again enjoy the society of my friends and brethren, whom I love, and to whom I feel united in bonds that are stronger than death."

But self with Joseph was ever but a passing subject. With that magnanimous spirit which so characterized him, and the wondrous love which made him the Father of his people, even in his youth, his great heart turned immediately to them ; and thus he expatiates on their virtues and action in the trying scenes through which they had just passed:

"The conduct of the saints, under their accumulated wrongs and sufferings, has been praiseworthy; their courage in defending their brethren from the ravages of the mobs ; their attachment to the cause of truth, under circumstances the most trying and distressing which humanity can possibly endure; their love to each other; their readiness to afford assistance to me and my brethren who were confined in a dungeon ; their sacrifices in leaving Missouri, and assisting the poor widows and orphans, and securing them houses in a more hospitable land ; all conspire to raise them in the estimation of good and virtuous men, and has secured them the favor

and approbation of Jehovah, and a name as imperishable as eternity."

Here is a passage which again foreshadows his martyrdom :

" Marvel not, then, if you are persecuted, but remember the words of the Saviour: ' The servant is not above his Lord ; if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also ; ' and that all the afflictions through which the saints have to pass are in fulfillment of the words of the Prophets which have spoken since the world began. We shall therefore do well to discern the signs of the times as we pass along, that the day of the Lord may not 'overtake us as a thief in the night.' Afflictions, persecutions, imprisonments, and deaths, we must expect, according to the Scriptures, which tells us that the blood of those whose souls were under the altar could not be avenged on them that dwell on the earth until their brethren should be slain as were they."

Upon the marvel that such occurrences as had recently transpired could be possible in America, he says :

" If these transactions had taken place among barbarians, under the authority of a despot, or in a nation where a certain religion is established according to law, and all others proscribed, then there mieht have been some shadow of defence offered. But can we realize that in a land which is the cradle of liberty and equal rights, and where the voice of the conquerors who had vanquished our foes had scarcely died away upon our ears ; where we frequently mingled with those who had stood amidst

' the battle and the breeze,' and whose arms had been nerved in the defence of their country and liberty; whose institutions are the theme of philosophers and poets, and are held up to the admiration of the whole civilized world — in the midst of all these scenes, with which we are surrounded, a persecution the most unwarrantable was commenced, and a tragedy the most dreadful was enacted, by a large portion of the inhabitants of one of those free and independent States which comprise this vast Republic." * *

And he closes this historic paper with the following solemn appeal to the genius of the American Constitution :

" I ask the citizens of this vast Republic, whether such a state of things is to be suffered to pass unnoticed, and the hearts of widows, orphans, and patriots to be broken, and their wrongs left without redress ? No ! I invoke the genius of our Constitution. I appeal to the patriotism of Americans, to stop this unlawful and unholy procedure, and pray that God may defend this nation from the dreadful effects of such outrages."

Concerning his meeting with Joseph, after his escape, Brigham Young said: "It was one of the most joyful scenes of my life to once more strike hands with the Prophet, and behold him and his companions free from the hands of their enemies. Joseph conversed with us like a man who had just escaped from a thousand oppressions, and was now free in the midst of his children."

Joseph and the Twelve next founded Nauvoo, at a place then called Commerce, in Hancock

County, Illinois, and soon again the saints gathered together.

But the unhealthy labor of breaking new land on the banks of the -Mississippi, for the founding of their city, invited pestilence. Nearly every one "was down " with fever and ague. The Prophet had the sick borne into his house and door-yard, until his place was like a hospital. At length even he succumbed to the deadly contagion, and for several days was as helpless as his disciples. He was a man of mighty faith, however, and "the spirit came upon him to arise and stay the pestilence."

"Joseph arose from his bed," narrates Brigham, "and the power of God rested upon him. He commenced in his own house and door-yard, commanding the sick, in the name of Jesus Christ, to arise and be made whole ; and they were healed according to his word. He then continued to travel from house to house, and from tent to tent, upon the bank of the river, healing the sick as he went, until he arrived at the upper stone house, where he crossed the river in a boat, accompanied by several of the quorum of the Twelve, and landed in Montrose. He walked into the cabin where I was lying sick, and commanded me, in the name of Jesus Christ, to arise and be made whole. I arose and was healed, and followed him and the brethren of the Twelve into the house of Elijah Fordham, who was supposed by his family and friends to be dying. Joseph stepped to his bedside, took him by the hand, and commanded him, in the name of Jesus Christ, to arise from his bed and be made whole. His voice was as the voice of God. Brother

Fordham instantly leaped from his bed, called for his clothing, and followed us into the street. We then went into the house of Joseph B. Nobles, who lay very sick, and he was healed in the same manner! And when, by the power of God granted unto him, Joseph had healed all the sick, he recrossed the river and returned to his home. This was a day never to be forgotten."

While yet emaciated from their recent sickness, the Twelve started on a mission to England. Leaving home in September, the Apostles reached Liverpool on the 6th of April, 1840, — the anniversary of the organization of the church, just ten years before.