Sad to relate, this faithful public servant, worn with the cares of state, was not even yet permitted to lay aside his armor. The happiness of private life, for which his soul yearned as the hart panteth for the water brooks, was again postponed for the hated bustle and turmoil of politics. In 1852, against his remonstrances, he was again elected to the Legislature, and upon the organization of the House unanimously chosen Speaker. Reluctantly indeed, we now take leave of John Reynolds--the quaintest of all the odd characters this country of ours has known. In doing so, it is indeed a comfort to know that, true as the needle to the pole, his great heart continued to beat in unison with that of the people. Ascending the Speaker's stand, and lifting the gavel, with deep emotion he said--and these are to us his last words: "I have nothing to labor for but the public good. My life has been devoted to promote the public interest of Illinois, and in my latter days it will afford me profound pleasure to advance now, as I have always done in the past, _the best interests of the people."_ XIII THE MORMON EXODUS FROM ILLINOIS DELEGATE CANNON AND SENATOR CANNON, MORMONS--SKETCH OF MORMONISM BY GOVERNOR FORD--JOSEPH SMITH'S OWN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF HIS CHURCH--HOW "THE BOOK OF MORMON" WAS MADE--NAUVOO, "THE HOLY CITY"--EFFORTS OF WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS TO WIN THE VOTES OF THE MORMONS--VICTORY OF THE DEMOCRATS, AND CONSEQUENT ANTI-MORMONISM OF THE WHIGS--JOSEPH SMITH'S PRETENSIONS TO ROYALTY--THE ORIGIN OF POLYGAMY IN THE MORMON CHURCH--CONFLICT WITH THE STATE AUTHORITIES --SURRENDER OF THE LEADERS--ASSASSINATION OF SMITH--BRIGHAM YOUNG CHOSEN AS HIS SUCCESSOR--THE EXODUS BEGINS. Just across the aisle from my seat in the House of Representatives during the forty-sixth Congress sat George Q. Cannon, the delegate from the Territory of Utah. He held this position for many years, and possessed in the highest degree the confidence of the Mormon people. Fifteen years later, when presiding over the Senate, I administered the oath of office to his son, the Hon. Frank J. Cannon, the first chosen to represent the State of Utah in the Upper Chamber of the National Congress. Senator Cannon was then in high favor with "the powers that be" in Salt Lake City, but for some cause not well understood by the Gentile world, is now _persona non grata_ with the head of the Mormon Church. The younger Cannon was not a polygamist, and no objection was urged to his being seated upon the presentation of his credentials as a Senator. His father, the delegate, was in theory a polygamist, and had "the courage of his convictions" to the extent of being the husband of five wives, and the head of as many separate households. This, before the days of "unfriendly legislation," was, in Mormon parlance, called "living your religion."