"The wrongs complained of are not alleged to have been committed by any of the officers of the United States, or under the authority of its government, in any manner whatever. The allegations in the petition relate to the acts of the citizens, and inhabitants, and authorities of the State of Missouri, of which State the petitioners were, at the time, citizens or inhabitants. The grievances complained of in the petition are alleged to have been done within the territory of the State of Missouri. The committee, under these circumstances, have not considered themselves justified in enquiring into the truth or falsehood of the facts charged in the petition. If they are true, the petitioners must seek relief in the courts of judicature of the State of Missouri; or of the United States, which has the appropriate jurisdiction to administer full and adequate redress for the wrongs complained of; and, doubtless, will do so fairly and impartially; or the petitioners may, if they see proper, apply to the justice and magnanimity of the State of Missouri; an appeal which the committee feels justified in believing will never be made in vain by the injured or oppressed. It can never be presumed that a State either wants the power, or lacks the disposition, to redress the wrongs of its own citizens, committed within her own territory; whether they proceed from the lawless acts of her officers, or any other persons. "The committee therefore reports, that they recommend the passage of the following resolution: "_Resolved_, That the committee on the Judiciary be discharged from the further consideration of the memorial in this case; and that the memorialists have leave to withdraw the papers which accompany their memorial." The action of the general government on this momentous subject, establishes the precedent that there is no power in the government to carry out the principles of its own Constitution. Fifteen thousand citizens of the United States can be murdered, robbed, plundered, driven from their lands, or disinherited, while the Constitution guarantees to them liberty and protection, _and yet there is no power to protect or reinstate them_. Congress only mocks them by referring them to their murderers for redress. It seems almost superfluous to say that the Saints appealed to a higher tribunal--even the throne of God, where the case is yet pending; and that the Congress of the United States is charged with being accessory to these highest crimes known to the laws of God and man. They hold in fellowship this guilty partner--Missouri--after knowing her to be a wholesale murderer and land pirate. As the case is yet pending before the court of Heaven, we will drop the subject and proceed with our own history. CHAPTER XXXVIII. ------------------------