“Infatuated & Deluded Sect.”

Here is a singular picture of human depravity presented to the world for consideration, a man (Governor Boggs) clothed with power, a man whose sole object should be to set an example of equity and truth, for the imitation of the people over whom he rules; descending from that high and honorable station to which he has been called, and placing himself at the head of a gang of ruffian outlaws, and thereby showing to the world that he is not only capable of tolerating, but of participating in one of the most inhuman and barbarious [barbarous] persecutions, ever recorded in the annals of history, by favoring, and encouraging the Missouri mob in butchering, beating, and driving the Saints from the State

and robbing them of their possessions. That he has uttered slanderous falsehoods against the Saints, and caused them to be published to the world; can be clearly and conclusively shown. He has charged them with setting up a form of government different from and opposed to that of the state, within its limits. Here he has resorted to a fools cunning (LIES,) to cover a crime: that charge can easily be proven false, for although we had a church government, yet one of our articles of faith required every church member to reverence and obey the laws of the land. And will the patriotic governor of Missouri contend that such a church government was in opposition to the laws of the state, (for that was the only form of government ever known among the Mormon people other than that of the state.) The governor has stated in his message that the Mormons violated the laws of the land by an open and avowed resistance to them, and by undertaking, without the aid of the civil authorities, to redress their grievances. He cannot be ignorant of our petitioning the civil authorities, time after time for relief, before we even so much as thought of acting in self defence [defense]; but finding at last that if we waited for the interposition of the civil authorities, that we would be butchered by the unrelenting hands of robbers; for our crops had already been destroyed, our goods and chattels plundered, our houses burned, and we driven from our farms in the face of government, without once retaliating.

At the time the mobbers invaded Daviess county; Gen. Parks being in Daviess at that time, we appealed to him to know what we should do, he advised us to go and give them a "complete dressing" for said he "you will never have any peace with them until you do and I will stand between you and all difficulty." Here permit me to state that General Parks was a citizen of Ray co., Mo. and not a Mormon, but one of the commanding generals of the Missouri Militia; this will go to prove that we had orders from a man in authority to do as we did in the defence [defense] of our lives and property. We were denied the protection which the laws of the State was calculated to give, and were thus compelled to follow the advice of Gen. Parks. We were at that time totally at a loss to account for the conduct of men in authority, in refusing us the protection of the laws of the state: but since we have earned [learned] that it was a plan which was concocted by them to drive an innocent people from the state, and divide the property which they might be enabled to obtain by robery [robbery] and pillage, among themselves. For proff [proof] of the above assertion, I beg the privilege of refering [referring] to Uriah B. Powel, a citizen of Clinton co., Mo. who was present when the plot was entered into.

According to Gen. Parks' advice we mustered a small force, and went out to repel the mobbers, who were then in the neighborhood burning houses, and driving away horses and cattle, when they saw us coming out, they fled according to their previous agreement, burning houses as they went. They then sent an express to Governor Boggs, representing to him, that the "Mormons" were burning houses, (a likely thing to be sure, that they should be burning their own houses, for the Mormon houses were the only one's burned,) and ravaging the country.-When Gov. Boggs, being ever willing to "MAINTAIN THE SUPREMACY OF THE LAW," issued a proclamation to EXTERMINATE, or DRIVE the "Mormons" from the state, and ordered out from ten to fifteen thousand men, to see that his brutal edict was faithfully executed.

It was astonishing to think that the humane Govorner [Governor] would endanger the lives of his citizens by sending out only fifteen thousand men to exterminate, a small handful of "Mormons," men women and children--While one division of the Governor's mob, were on their way to Far West, under the command of one Comstock, they came across a company of the Saints who were encamped on Shoal Creek, on their way to Far West from Ohio, who were in a great measure ignorant of the extent of the difficulty, and entirely innocent of any charge that could be prefered [preferred] against them, by the Missourians.-Cumstock [Comstock], on learning that there was a company of Saints encamped on Shoal creek, sent a committee of men to require them to give up all arms and amunition [ammunition] that they might have with them, to which hey [they] replied, we will, provided that we can be assured that the Missourians will not molest us; stating at the same time, that peace was what they desired. An article of agreement was signed to that effect, in which the Missourians pledged their honor for the faithful fulfillment of the same. Articles of this nature, have in all ages of the world been held sacred both by heathen, and civilized nations: and individual, or a nation that was so base, as to forfeit their oaths or solemn pledges, was considered too base to deserve notice, but merited the vengeance of the gods: I would ask, how faithfully did Cumstock [Comstock] and his men keep their vows which they had so solemly [solemnly] pledged themselves to do? on the day following they showed themselves capable of perpetrating the most barbarious [barbarous] acts, as well as violating their solemn pledges; for while the Saints were engaged in solemn prayer to God, these lawless desperadoes came upon them with the fury of demons and commenced firing upon them while they were thus solemnly engaged: the Saints cried for quarters but in vain, they then endeavored to escape by flight but were surrounded;-the Missourians continued to shoot them, they would even place their guns to the heads of their victims, and thus barbariously [barbarously] take their lives. After the firing had partially subsided one of Cumstock's [Comstock's] men found an old Revolutionary soldier, by the name of McBride, under the bank of the creek, on finding him he exclaimed, "you old grey [gray] headed Mormon, I will fix you," the old man got on his knees and begged for his life, but neither age, nor innocence, could afford any protection, he was inhumanly [inhumanely] butchered and thrown into the Creek. During the slaughter a small boy endeavored to conceal himself in a black-smith shop under a bellows, but one of the assassins seeing him, was in the act of shooting him, when one of the company cried out, "do not shoot the boy," another said "shoot him d-m him

he will make a big Mormon some day;" so he put the gun to the child's head, and blew out his brains. There were in this slaughter eighteen of the Saints killed, and thirteen wounded, out of a company of Saints who were on their way moving to Far West, who had never violated the laws of the state, a company who had never taken any part in the past difficulties; a company, whom Gov. Boggs himself cannot (as base and unprincipled as he is,) contend had violated even one clause of the law of the state, or had even acted in concert with their brethren when ingaged [engaged] in self defence [defense], butchered too, by his command, and their waggons [wagons] plundered of their contents, and their dead bodies robbed of their coats, watches, money, hats and boots.

From this place of slaughter the mob proceeded to Far West, where they, with other divisions of the Governor's clan, drove the Saints to the public square, and there at the point of the bayonet compelled them to sign away all their personal and real estate, to defray the expenses of the war: after which they drove sixty or seventy of our citixens [citizens] before them to Richmond in Ray co. and put them in Jail, where they were kept confined in prison a number of weeks withiout [without] even being informed of what they were accused.-At length a mock trial was had, in which case the Saints were refused the privilege of introducing any testimony by "the supreme laws" (the will of the mob) of Missouri and were thus deprived of justice: And will Gov. Boggs, that foul calumniator [calumniator] human character, still contend that the Mormons were the aggressors [aggressors?] Can it be that he is so far lost to a sense of honor, and justice, as to dare accuse the Mormons of violating the laws of the land, after they have sufered (suffered) so much at the hands of the Missouri outlaws? Shall they still endure to be belied by such a worthless vagabond? Is it by such foul and slanderous language as is found in his recent message that he thinks to "maintain the supremacy of our laws" if the supremacy of laws are to be maintained by aiding one part of the community in murdering and plundering the other, it may be truly said that his whole aim and object is to "maintain the supremacy of the law."

After the great quantity of furnitnre [furniture] and other property which the Gov. caused to be robbed from the Saints by his unhallowed order, I should doubt the necessity of his recommending his house be furnished with new and better furniture while he occupies it, for I should think that among the great quantity of furniture which he ordered taken from the Saints, he might at leat [least] find enough to furnish his mansion in splendid style, which too, has cost him but the small sum of the conscience of a thief and a robber. He has shown himself abundantly worthy of being the Govnor [Governor] of Missouri. In his recent message he wishes to impress it on the minds of the legislature, "that the will of the people is the supreme law." In that recommendation he has shown himself to be perfectly consistent, for it is the same doctrine which he preached when he was at the head of a mob in Jackson co. in 1833, at the time the Saints were driven out of it: for said he, -> "law or no law, we will drive the Mormons from the county, for the will of the people is superior to all law." <- Worthy man, you will furnish some biographer with materials that will perpetuate your name throughout the vista of coming ages, for having been honored with the writing of your life. The sage yet unborn, shall consume his midnight oil, in admiring your super-human perfections; you shall be cited as a model worthy of imitation: yes, all rulers in coming ages shall take you as their model-and every member of the "humane society" shall hold you in high esteem.-Time will only make your graces shine with a brighter luster. You can convince the world that a Nero, a Domitian, a Trajan, an Aurelius, a Septimus, a Severus, a Maximin, a Decius, a Valerian, an Aurelian, and a Diocletian, have at last been robbed of their barbarious [barbarous] glory by an obscure, and an illiterate Governor of Missouri.

WILLIAM SMITH.