And now at this day comes the said Joseph Smith by Justin Butterfield, his attorney, and presents to the court his petition, setting forth that he has been arrested and is detained in custody by William F. Elkin, Sheriff of Sangamon county, upon a warrant issued by the governor of the state of Illinois, upon the requisition of the governor of Missouri, as a fugitive from justice; and that he is also arrested by Wilson Law, and by him also held and detained in custody (jointly with the sheriff of Sangamon county), upon a proclamation issued by the governor of the state of Illinois; that he is arrested and detained as aforesaid, under color of a law of the United States; and that his arrest and detention is illegal and in violation of law, and without the authority of law in this, that the said petitioner is not a fugitive from justice, nor has he fled from the state of Missouri; and praying that a writ of habeas corpus may be issued by this court, directed to the said William F. Elkin and Wilson Law, commanding them forthwith and without {238} delay to bring the petitioner before this court to abide such order and direction as this court may make in the premises: upon reading and filing of which said petition, it is considered and ordered by the court that a writ of habeas corpus be issued as prayed for in said petition, returnable forthwith. And thereupon a writ of habeas corpus was issued in the words and figures following,--to wit: VIII. #_Writ of Habeas Corpus_. The United States of America to William F. Elkin, Sheriff of Sangamon County, State of Illinois, and Wilson Law, greeting. We command you that you do forthwith, without excuse or delay, bring or cause to be brought, before the Circuit Court of the United States for the district of Illinois, at the District Court-room, in the city of Springfield, the body of Joseph Smith, by whatever name or addition he is known or called, and who is unlawfully detained in your custody, as it is said, with the day and cause of his caption and detention, then and there to perform and abide such order and direction as the said court shall make in that behalf. And hereof make due return under the penalty of what the law directs. Witness, Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States at Springfield, in the district of Illinois, this 31st day of December, A. D., 1842, and of our Independence the sixty-seventh year. [Seal.] JAMES F. OWINGS, Clerk. IX. #_Returns on the Above Writ of Habeas Corpus_. And afterwards, on the said 31st day of December aforesaid, the said writ of habeas corpus was returned, with returns endorsed thereon in the words and figures following:--