A few months previous to this murder, Joseph, in giving instructions to the Twelve in relation to the building up of Zion, preparatory to the coming of the Son of God, informed them that _his work was finished on the earth_, and from that time the responsibility of carrying the Gospel to every nation devolved upon them; and, as he bid farewell to some friends, on leaving for Carthage, he said: "_I am going like a lamb to the slaughter_; but I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offence towards God, and towards all men; I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me--_he was murdered in cold blood_." An intimate acquaintance with those men from the early rise of the Church to their martyrdom, justifies the writer in bearing this testimony that _he knows_ they were virtuous, honorable and righteous men--men whom God loved, and whom all good men would have respected, loved and honored had they known their true character. Contrary to the hopes and expectations of their enemies, the Saints continued to build their Temple, and attend to their ordinary labors. Petition after petition was presented to government for redress of their grievances; but a deaf ear was turned to their supplications. Their enemies, finding that no persecution nor even the martyrdom of their Prophet could destroy their union, then determined to drive them from their city; at last, persecution became so grievous and insufferable that the Saints were forced to leave their houses in the depth of winter, and wander in the western wilderness. In the beginning of February, 1846, President Brigham Young, the Twelve Apostles, with their wives and families, and thousands of others, left the city of Nauvoo, traveling in a westerly direction, as they were guided by the Spirit of God. By reason of being exposed to the inclemency of the weather, and having only the thin covering of tents and wagons to protect them from its fury, many who had previously suffered from persecution could endure no longer, and fell asleep in death.