Thus were laid the corner-stones of the Nauvoo Temple, amid the rejoicing of the Saints; and even strangers forgot their prejudices and joined with hearty good will, as interested spectators of the proceedings. "Such an almost countless multitude of people," says one enthusiastic account of the scenes of the day, written at the time, "moving in harmony, in friendship, in dignity, told with a voice not easily misunderstood, that they were a people of intelligence, and virtue, and order; in short, that they were Saints; and that the God of love, purity and light, was their God, their exemplar and director; and that they were blessed and happy."
While on this subject, I quote the instructions on temple building from the history of the Prophet:
If the strict order of the Priesthood were carried out in the building of temples, the first stone will be laid at the southeast corner, by the First Presidency of The Church. The southwest corner should be laid next. The third, or northwest corner next; and the fourth or northeast corner the last.
The First Presidency should lay the southeast corner-stone, and dictate who are the proper persons to lay the other corner-stones.
If a temple is built at a distance, and the First Presidency are not present, then the quorum of the Twelve Apostles are the proper persons to dictate the order for that temple; and in the absence of the Twelve Apostles, then the presidency of the stake will lay the southeast corner-stone. The Melchisedek Priesthood laying the corner-stones on the east side of the temple, and the Lesser Priesthood those on the west side.
During the remaining days of the conference, opened with such splendid ceremonies, the Saints were instructed in principle and doctrine, the quorums of the Priesthood were arranged in their proper order and the important questions of business put to each quorum separately and voted upon; especially the names of those whom God had appointed and reappointed to fill the respective positions alluded to in the revelation above quoted.
Besides this, the several charters of Nauvoo, the Legion, University, Agricultural and Manufacturing Association, Nauvoo House Association, etc., were read and accepted by the people. Lyman Wight was sustained to fill the vacancy in the quorum of the Twelve. John C. Bennett was presented in connection with the First Presidency as assistant President until Sidney Rigdon's health should be restored. Everything necessary for the welfare, happiness and prosperity of the Saints was considered, and preparations made to push the work of God forward in all its departments. The conference lasted from Wednesday morning until Sunday night; and is one of the most important ever held by The Church.
Indeed the circumstances surrounding the Saints at the time were of a character to bid them hope that Nauvoo would be to them "a safe retreat." The friendship of nearly all of the leading men of the State; the universal sympathy felt by the people of Illinois for the victims of Missouri's fury; the action of the State legislature in granting the several charters noted in chapter fifteen—all supported the hopes entertained.
CHAPTER XVIII.
PROPHET'S TRIAL AT MONMOUTH.
EARLY in the summer of 1841, an event happened which threatened the peace of the inhabitants of Nauvoo. When busily intent in the performance of some labor, or duty, or even when in pursuit of pleasure, how often it happens that we work on, or enjoy our pleasure in the bright sunshine, without ever thinking of storms, until a sudden clap of thunder startles us, and looking up we see that dark clouds have arisen above the horizon; the bright skies are rapidly becoming overcast—a storm is impending! So it was with the Saints at Nauvoo concerning the matter of which we speak. It fell upon them as unexpectedly as falls a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky.
It occurred in this manner: When Hyrum Smith and William Law started on the mission to the Eastern States, to which they were appointed by the revelation of January 19, 1841, Joseph accompanied them as far as Quincy; and when returning to Nauvoo he stopped at Heberlin's hotel, on Bear Creek, some twenty-eight miles south of that city. While here a sheriff's posse under the direction of Thomas King, sheriff of Adams County, accompanied by an officer from Missouri, arrested him on a requisition from the governor of the State of Missouri. The warrant upon which the arrest was made was the one issued by the authorities of Missouri early in September, 1840; an effort to serve which was made on the fifteenth of that month, but the officers failed in their errand, as the brethren wanted, viz: Joseph Smith, Jr., Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, P. P. Pratt, Caleb Baldwin and A. Brown were not in Nauvoo, that is, they evaded arrest, as already related in a former chapter.
The complaint on which the requisition of the governor of Illinois was based charged that these men were fugitives from justice; and they were wanted in Missouri to answer to the old charges of "theft, arson and murder," supposed to have been committed in Caldwell and Daviess counties in the summer and fall of 1838.
What made Joseph's arrest more a matter of surprise to him was, that only a few hours previous to its being made, he had been in company with Governor Carlin at the latter's residence, and was treated with the greatest respect and kindness; yet not one word was said by the governor about the requisition made by Missouri for his arrest.
Joseph returned to Quincy in company with the sheriff's posse and secured a writ of habeas corpus from Charles A. Warren, master in chancery. The same evening, Saturday, June 5th, Judge Stephen A. Douglass arrived in Quincy, and appointed the hearing on the writ to take place the following Tuesday, at Monmouth, Warren County.
In the meantime the news of Joseph's arrest reached Nauvoo and created no little excitement. A party of seven men, under the leadership of Hosea Stout, left Nauvoo for Quincy, Sunday morning, in a skiff, to render the Prophet any assistance in their power, and prevent if possible his enemies taking him to Missouri. They struggled against a head-wind all day, but reached Quincy at dusk, only to learn that Joseph had gone to Nauvoo in charge of Sheriff King and another officer; there was nothing for them to do but to return.
Sheriff King was taken sick at Nauvoo, but Joseph nursed him with all the tenderness of a brother, and the day following Monday, started for Monmouth, accompanied by a large number of the leading men of Nauvoo, and the sheriff, whom Joseph cared for personally during the journey of seventy-five miles. The party arrived at Monmouth on Tuesday, but at the request of the State attorney, who claimed he was not prepared on the case, the hearing was postponed until the next day.
The appearance of Joseph in Monmouth caused considerable excitement. He was invited to preach, but thought it best, as he was a prisoner, not to do so; but he appointed Amasa Lyman to preach in the court room on Wednesday evening.
The prejudice of the people of Monmouth was as excessive as it was blind. They employed at their own expense several attorneys to assist the prosecution, and declared that if there were any lawyers in the district who would even undertake the defense of the Prophet, they never need look to the people of that county again for political favors. But there were strong men in attendance at the court, men not to be frightened by such threats, and whose souls despised the petty minds that could frame them; Joseph, therefore, was ably defended by Messrs. Charles A. Warren, Sidney H. Little, O. H. Browning, James H. Ralston, Cyrus Walker, and Archibald Williams.
The pleadings of the lawyers for the defense were peculiarly affecting, since all of them were more or less acquainted with the condition of the Saints when they fled from the violence of Missourians to Illinois. O. H. Browning had seen several of these companies of Saints in their flight and could trace them by the blood left in their footprints on the snow; his recital of their sufferings moved Judge Douglass, most of the officers of the court and the spectators to tears. One of the brethren present who wrote an account of the trial for the Nauvoo papers says:
He [Mr. Browning] concluded his remarks by saying, To tell the prisoner to go to Missouri for a trial was adding insult to injury, and then said: "Great God! Have I not seen it?