therefore not to be wondered that there was constant quarrelling and fighting l>etween Saints and Gentiles, until the contest amotmted to civil war, and called for the interference cf the state authorities. That such a step was really necessary became clearly apparent when on Oct. 24, 1838, Thomas B. March, himself the presi- dent of the Mormon Apostolical College, and Ors^^n Hyde, one of the twelve apostles, and now (18~b) again a faithful •• Saint," made before a justice of the peace in Bay County, Mo., an afiidavit in which it is declared that -They (L e. the Mormons imder Smith; have among them a company consisting of all that are con- sidered true Mormons, called the Danites, who have - taken an oath to support the heads of the Church in all things that they say or do, whether right or wrong. . . . The plan of said Smith, the Prophet, is to take this state : and he professes to his people to intend taking the United States, and ultimately the whole world. This is the belief of the Church, and my own i i. e. March's) opinion of the Prophet "s plan and intentiuns. The Prophet inculcates the notion, and it is believed by every true Mormon, that Smith's prophecies are su- perior to the law of the land- I have heard the Prophet say that he would yet tread down his enemies and walk over their dead bodies: that if he was not let alone he would be a second Mohammed to his genera- tion, and that he wotild make it one gore of blood from the Eocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean." Coming from the .Saints" o^vn fellow-worehippers, this statement was of course credited by the "Gentiles."" It wa=, moreover, confirmed by the published utterances of Sid- ney Eigdon, who, in a sermon on July i. 1«38. preached at Far West, had said : " AVe take God and all the holy angels to witness this day that we warn all men in the name of Jesus Christ to come on ns no more for war. The man or the set of men who attempts it does it at the expense of their lives. And that mob that comes on tis to disturb xzs. it shall be between them and us a war of extermination, for we will follow them till the last drop of their blood is sp'Uled, or else they will have to exterminate us. For we will carry the seat of war to their own houses and their own families, and one party or the other shall be unerly destroyed." Near the close of 1838 the state militia was finally called out, nominally to establish peace, really to crush the Mor- mons, After much loss and suffering, esp-ecially at a place called Hawn's MUL where several Mcrmons were massacred, the Saints were driven in the depth of winter across the Mississippi into Illinois, The Prophet, his brother H jTum. and other leading Mormons, were seized, and sentenced by court-martial to be shot : but the sen- tence was not carried out, and after some months" close confinement they all escaped into Illinois ( ApriL 1839). The number of Saints who at this time gathered in Illinois is estimated at no less than 15,CK;»0, notwith- standing the defections which the Saints sustained by their expulsion from the land of promise. The people of Illinois treated the new-comers very kindly, and gave them a grant of land on the east bank of the Mis- sissippi forty miles above Quincy, and twenty miles below Burlington, Iowa. Here, on the bend of the river, upon rising ground that commands a magnifi- cent view of the Mississippi for many miles, they es- tablished themselves a new home, which, in obedience to a " revelation" given to Smith, was called Xavroo, or the "City of Beauty." The country was a mere wilderness when the Mormons setded in it: it soon, however, began to rejoice and blossom as the rose. The foundation of the first house was laid in 1839. and in less than two years over 2tH>C» dwellings- together with school-houses and public edifices, were erected, besides other evidences manifesting the great prosperity of theii body. The Legislature of the state was induced to grant a charter to Xauvoo : a body of Mormon militia was formed under the leadership of the Pn>phet, who. as we have seen before, hesitated not to assume also the part of a militarv leader, and he besides assumed such civil
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offices as gave hira entire con- trol of the place, and made him safe from all persecution of the Missourians, in case they should attempt to take him back into their own state for punishment. He enjoyed, moreover, making military displays. Thus, on April G, 1841, when the comer- stone of the grand Temple was laid, the Prophet appeared at the head of his military legion, and in the local papers of that time is only spoken of in his military capacity'. A special revelation had demanded the building of the Temple, which w^as to be on a far grander scale than the ediliccs in Ohio or Mis- souri (see Doctrines and Cove- nants, sec. 103). Another reve- lation had summoned all con- verts to Naiivoo, bringing with them "their gold, their silver, and their precious stones" (see Doctr. and Cov. sec. 103). Still another revelation now ordered a mansion-house to be begun, where the Prophet and his fam- ily were to be lodged and main- tained at the public cost. '• Let it be built in my name, and let iwy servant Joseph Smith and his house have place therein