History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 6Smith, Joseph, Jr.
History
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 6
Smith, Joseph, Jr.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
Let Missouri alone. Keep out of her territory. Don't go over there
on any business whatever. Any of this people would be subject to
cruel abuse, if found in that State, in the same manner that Porter
Rockwell has been. He was seized in St. Louis while attending to
his lawful business, picked up and ironed, and thrown in jail
without any form of law, conveyed to Independence in the custody of
a ruffian who swore falsely in the hope of getting a reward, kept
in irons all the way, lodged in Independence jail without even the
form of an inquiry, chained double in a filthy, damp, unventilated
dungeon,--chained hand and foot, so that he could not straighten
for months, till his body was reduced to a mere skeleton, and he
unable to walk when the irons were taken off, and he had to be
led,--half fed on the refuse of what dogs would not eat: his case
presented to a Jackson county grand jury, and not evidence enough
to warrant them in even finding an indictment. After which, the
Missouri court, in the plenitude of their justice, transmitted the
innocent and unindicted man back to the dungeon, without fire,
provisions, or any other comfort,--hoping by this torture, no
doubt, to produce death, or force him to accede to an infamous
proposition, "that whether Jo Smith was guilty or innocent, only
come out against {152} him, you shall have your liberty, and
receive a liberal reward." After months have passed away, without
any shadow of law, the door is opened, and he is told to "slip off
privately, or the people will hang you." Keep out of Missouri, if
you don't want such treatment as this; for the Averys, Rockwell,
and many others have been thankful to get away with their lives.
If any man attempts to bribe you in any way whatever, or persuade
you to neglect your duty, tell the same to me. Let us have a
reformation.
There are speculators in this State who are wanting to sell
revolving pistols to us, in order to fight the Missourians, and at
the same time inciting the Missourians to fight us. Don't buy: it
would be better to buy ploughshares and raise corn with them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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