God in His wisdom does not permit us always to see what is before us. If those Saints could have looked upon the dark, gloomy years ahead, they would have been sad indeed. Soon after the meeting of the sixth of April a mob of about three hundred men collected in Independence to make a plan to drive away the Saints. They thought it right on such an occasion to drink a good deal of liquor so that their very worst feelings might rule, but they were too generous with themselves. They became drunk and broke up in a general fight. A few of the leading Elders met together when the mob assembled and prayed that they should do nothing to harm the Saints. This prayer, you see, was answered. No more was done by the mob until July, and then through the efforts of ministers and those who called themselves religious men, the people were again stirred up. Minister Pixley was one of the most zealous liars among the enemies of the Saints, and it was greatly due to him that they renewed their persecution. On the twentieth of July a mass-meeting was held, and among the five hundred men present were some of the prominent officials of the state. Col. Richard Simpson was chairman and Col. Samuel D Lucas was one of the secretaries. The meeting resolved that no more Mormons should come into Jackson county, that the Mormons there should sell their property and move out, that the _Evening and Morning Star_ should be published no longer, and that those who would not obey this order should be referred to their brethren who had "the gift of divination and of unknown tongues, to inform them of the lot that awaits them." The main reasons given for these resolutions were that the Saints were poor, they were growing in numbers, and the mob feared they were what in those days were called abolitionists, that is, those who wished the government to stop men from holding slaves. The Saints were from the East and North. They of course held no slaves and hated the system of slavery. And yet they were moderate. The constitution permitted men to hold slaves and the Saints had no desire or intention to run over the constitution. In those days the people of the South were very jealous of their right to hold the black men, and looked with great suspicion on the Northerners. This was shown during the persecution of the Saints in Missouri, and as the Prophet Joseph foretold, it grew and grew until it ended in a bloody war. A committee of twelve was appointed by the meeting to see the leading Elders and report in two hours whether they would accept the terms or not. Truly the mob were expecting much when they demanded that four or five men should agree in about one hour's time that one thousand two hundred souls should be driven from their homes.