The second, in December, 1842, was tried at Springfield before Judge Pope in the U. S. District Court; and from that honorable discharge, as no exceptions from any source have been made to those proceedings, it follows as a matter of course that that decision was just! And the third, in July, 1843, was tried at the city of Nauvoo, before the Municipal Court of said city; and as no exceptions to that discharge have been taken, and as the governor says there is "evidence on the other side to show that the sheriff of Lee county _voluntarily_ carried Mr. Reynolds (who had Mr. Smith in custody,) to the city of Nauvoo without any coercion on the part of any one," it must be admitted that that decision was just! But is any man unconvinced of the justness of these strictures relative to the two last cases, let the astounding fact go forth, that _Orrin Porter Rockwell,_ whom Boggs swore was the principal in his [attempted] assassination, and as accessory to which Mr. Smith was arrested, has returned home, "clear of sin." In fact, there was not a witness to get up an indictment against him. The Messrs. Averys, who were unlawfully transported out of this state, have returned to their families in peace; and there seems to be no ground for contention, no cause for jealousy, and no excuse for a surmise that any man, woman, or child will suffer the least inconvenience from General Smith, the charter of Nauvoo, the city of Nauvoo, or even any of her citizens. There is nothing for a bone of contention! Even those ordinances which appeared to excite the feeling of some people have recently been repealed; so that if the "intelligent" inhabitants of Hancock county want peace, want to abide by the Governor's advice, want to have a character at home, and really mean to follow the Savior's golden rule, "To do unto others as they would wish others to do unto them," they will be still now, and let their own works praise them in the gates of justice and in the eyes of the surrounding world. Wise men ought to have understanding enough to conquer men with kindness. "A soft answer turneth away wrath," says the wise man; and it will be greatly to the credit of the Latter-day Saints to show the love of God, by now kindly treating those who may have, in an unconscious moment, done wrong; for truly said Jesus, Pray for thine enemies. Humanity towards all, reason and refinement to enforce virtue, and good for evil are so eminently designed to cure more disorders of society than an appeal to arms, or even argument untempered with friendship, {220} and the one thing needful that no vision for the future, guide-board for the distant, or expositor for the present, need trouble any one with what he ought to do.