The leaven of opposition, however, was at work, and the citizens were aroused. Nothing but the departure of the "Mormon" people from the state would satisfy their unjust and iniquitous demands. They appealed to the governor to aid them in expelling the people who had done nothing to provoke opposition, but who were unpopular because of their faith. While the governor informed them he could take no legal action warranting such expulsion, yet he privately advised the Saints to depart peaceably towards the West, as the Prophet Joseph Smith had contemplated doing, and there, said he, they could set up an independent government of their own. So lacking was he in the disposition to enforce the law and protect the innocent, that the enemies of the Church were encouraged in their unlawful course. Repeal of the Nauvoo Charter The city charter of Nauvoo had proved a protection to the Saints, and guaranteed safety against the plottings of the wicked. It was the aim of the Nauvoo conspirators to cause its repeal. The first attempt to do this, as we have learned, failed. Now, however, the opposition had become so strong that the enemies of the Latter-day Saints accomplished their purpose. The charter was repealed by the legislature in January, 1845. Some of the murderers of Joseph and Hyrum Smith sat in that body and violently denounced the "Mormons," although it was well known that their hands were stained with innocent blood. After the repeal of the charter, and without hope of protection from the officers of the state, the Saints were at the mercy of their enemies. The prediction of the Prophet Joseph that after they had shed his blood they would seek the lives of every soul in whom was found the testimony of the Gospel, was literally fulfilled. The plots of the wicked were now turned against President Brigham Young and the leading brethren, who were forced to go into hiding from time to time. Attacks Upon the Saints In September, 1845, the scattered families of Saints were sorely persecuted. Many were driven from their homes, which were burned. Sheriff J. B. Backenstos endeavored to perform his duty, and took a determined stand against mob law. For his pains he was arrested on the charge of murder, as a mobber had been killed, but violence against the "Mormons" was permitted to go unchecked. Governor Ford had promised and pledged his word, that the murderers of the Prophet and Patriarch should be brought to justice. When he appealed to the citizens of Warsaw to sustain him in this pledge, they positively informed him that they would do nothing of the kind. Similar answers were given by other citizens, who not only took a stand in opposition to the trial of the murderers, but brazenly appealed to the governor to give his aid in expelling the "Mormons" from the state. That weak and pusillanimous individual, by his subsequent actions, acknowledged his defeat and the abdication of government in Illinois. The Quincy Mass Meeting