pains and penalties which are the portion of a minority in the Great Republic. The citizens of the county therefore convened a public meeting, wherein they agreed upon the following (among other) resolutions :

"That no Mormon shall in future move and settle in this country.

"That those now here who shall give a pledge within a reasonable time to remove out of the country, shall be allowed to remain unmolested until they have sufficient time to sell their property.

"That the editor of The Star' (the Mormon paper) be required forthwith to discontinue the business of printing in this country.

"That those who fail to comply with these requisitions, be referred to their brethren who have the gifts of divination and unknown tongues to inform them of the lot that awaits them."

These resolutions were at once communicated to the Mormon leaders; but, as they did not immediately submit, the meeting unanimously resolved to raze to the ground the office of the obnoxious newspaper. This resolution was forthwith carried into effect, and the Mormon "Bishop" (a creature of Smith's, who presided in his absence) was tarred and feathered,-an appropriate punishment enough, which had also been administered to his master, not long before, by a mob in Ohio.

Notwithstanding these hostile demonstrations, the Mormons could not bring themselves to leave their newly-purchased lands without resistance. They ap

pealed to the legal tribunals for redress, and organized a militia, which maintained for some time a guerilla warfare against their antagonists. At length, however, they were overpowered by numbers, and abandoned their beloved Zion. But most of them found refuge in the adjoining counties, where they gradually acquired fresh property, and continued for four years in tranquillity.

Meanwhile their prophet had remained snugly established at Kirtland, which he wisely judged a more desirable home than the wild land of Zion, till the latter should be comfortably colonised by his adherents. Hence he sent out his "apostles" and "elders" in all directions to make proselytes, which they continued to do with great success. The first duty imposed on all converts was the payment of tithing to the "Church." -(D. C. sec. 107.) And those who received the commands of Joseph as the voice of God, did not hesitate to furnish this conclusive proof of the reality of their faith. On the strength of the capital thus placed at his disposal, Smith established at Kirtland a mercantile house and a bank. We find from his autobiography, that the whole Smith family were at liberty to draw without stint from the common stock; and their ill-gotten gains were squandered as recklessly as might have been expected. Embarrassment ensued, and several revelations called upon the saints for money to prop the Prophet's credit.* At length the crash came. The firm failed, the bank stopped payment, and the

* See "Smith's Autobiography," under date of March, 1834.

managers were threatened with a prosecution for swindling. To escape the sheriff's writ, Smith and Rigdon were obliged to fly by night; and they took refuge among their followers in Missouri.

This occurred in the autumn of 1837, four years after the expulsion of the saints from Zion. That expulsion had painfully falsified the prophecies of Smith, who had so completely committed himself to the successful establishment of his people in the spot which he had first chosen, that he did not acquiesce in their abandonment of it without a struggle. In February, 1834, soon after their ejectment, he had promised their immediate restoration in the following revelation :— "Verily I say unto you, I have decreed that your brethren that have been scattered shall return Behold the redemption of Zion must needs come by power. Therefore I will raise up unto my people a man who shall lead them, like as Moses led the children of Israel. Verily I say unto you, that my servant Baurak Ale is the man

Therefore let

my servant Baurak Ale say unto the strength of my house, my young men and the middle-aged, gather yourselves together unto the land of Zion.

And let all the churches send up wise men with their monies, and purchase land as I have commanded them. And, inasmuch as mine enemies come against you, to drive you from my goodly land which I have consecrated to be the land of Zion, ye shall curse

them; and whomsoever ye curse I will curse.

It is my will that my servant Parley Pratt, and my

servant Lyman Wight, should not return until they have obtained companies to go up unto the land of Zion, by tens, or by twenties, or by fifties, or by an hundred, until they have obtained to the number of five hundred, of the strength of my house. Behold this is my will; but men do not always do my will; therefore, if you cannot obtain five hundred, seek diligently that peradventure you may obtain three hundred, and if ye cannot obtain three hundred, seek diligently that peradventure ye may obtain one hundred." -(D. C. sec. 101.)

By such efforts a volunteer force of 150 men had been raised, and had marched from Kirtland in June 1834, to reinstate the saints in their inheritance.* Joseph also, who, to do him justice, seems not to have lacked physical courage, had marched at their head; though why he superseded "Baurak Ale," the divinelyappointed Moses of the host, we are not informed. The little force had safely reached their brethren in Missouri; but the Prophet, finding they were not strong enough to effect their purpose, had disbanded them without fighting, and had himself returned to Kirtland, where he had remained till the commercial crisis which we have just mentioned.

When thus finally driven to take refuge among his followers, Smith found them in a very critical position. Four years had passed since their expulsion from Zion, and they had established themselves in greater numbers than before, in the counties bordering on that whence *See M. Star, XV. 69, 205.

they had been driven. They had cultivated the soil with perseverance and success, were daily increasing in wealth, and had built two towns (or cities, as they called them) Diahman and Far-west. But their prudence had not grown with their prosperity. They thought themselves a match for their enemies, and fearlessly provoked them by repeating their former boasts. The Prophet's arrival added fuel to the flame. The disgraceful failure of his prophecies still rankled in his mind. He declared publicly among his disciples, that "he would yet tread down his enemies, and trample on their dead bodies;" and that, "like Mahomet, whose motto was the Koran or the sword, so should it be eventually, Joseph Smith or the sword."* These and similar facts were disclosed to the Missourians by apostate Mormons, and excited great exasperation. At length a collision occurred at a county election, and open warfare began. For some weeks the contest was maintained on equal terms, and both parties burnt and destroyed the property of their antagonists with no decisive result. But, finally, the Governor of Missouri called out the militia of the State, nominally to enforce order, but really to exterminate the Mormons. They were unable to resist the overwhelming force brought against them, and surrendered almost at discretion, as

*The above statements are in an affidavit (given in "Mormonism Illustrated") made in October 1838, and countersigned by Orson Hyde, who is now the chairman of the Apostolic College. Whether he was then a renegade, who has since repented; or whether he made these confessions under compulsion, we have no information.