It was all in vain that hearings were had before the municipal court of Nauvoo, on the _Expositor_ matter; in vain that a subsequent hearing was had before Esquire Wells, then not a Mormon and living outside of Nauvoo limits; in vain that the _Nauvoo Neighbor_ sought to conciliate the awakening wrath that was aroused in the community, by pleading that if the city council had "exceeded the law of the land, a higher court could regulate the proceedings;" in vain that President Smith urged Governor Ford to come to Nauvoo to make personal investigation of conditions and take the necessary steps to prevent riot and war--all was in vain; preparations were in the making on all sides for an uprising against Nauvoo and the Saints, and there was nothing left but to defend the city by placing it under martial law and calling upon the Legion to resist the threatened assault, which act was made the basis for the subsequent charge of "treason." Then followed in quick succession the demand of the governor for the Mayor and members of the City Council to come to Carthage and submit to trial under circumstances that inevitably meant death; the inspiration of the Prophet to go to the West and all would be well; the crossing of the Mississippi by the Prophet and a few trusted friends to make preparations for that journey; the accusation by false friends of cowardice on the Prophet's part, the flight as of a false shepherd leaving the flock to be devoured by wolves; the lightning-like retort of the Prophet--"_If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of none to myself;"_ the return to Nauvoo; the subsequent going to Carthage to submit to the demands of the governor of Illinois in every particular, and the well-known story of Carthage jail--the martyrdom. _XVII. The Prophet's Nobility in the hour of Trial._