The secret of their failure in accomplishing anything was this: A few of the brethren, learning that such a meeting was being held, met for secret prayer, and petitioned the Father to frustrate the plans of this ungodly mob, who were seeking their destruction. The Lord, in view of the fact, doubtless, that this people were partially repenting of the evils for which they had been reproved, in his mercy heard their prayers, and thwarted the designs of their enemies. But the angry clouds of the threatened persecution had been merely drifted aside, not driven from the horizon; and in a few months they assumed a more threatening aspect than on their first appearance. The sectarian priests inhabiting Jackson and the surrounding counties were earnestly engaged in fanning the flames of prejudice, already burning in the public mind. The Rev. Finis Ewing, the head and front of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, published this statement: "The 'Mormons' are the common enemies of mankind and ought to be destroyed." The Rev. Pixley, who had been sent out by the Missionary Society to Christianize the savages of the west, spent his time in going from house to house, seeking to destroy The Church by spreading slanderous falsehoods, to incite the people to acts of violence against the saints. Early in July, a document was in circulation known as the "Secret Constitution," setting forth the alleged grievances of the mob, and binding all who signed it to assist in "removing the 'Mormons.'" The document set forth the following: The signers believed an important crisis was at hand in their civil society, because a pretended religious sect--the "Mormons"--had settled in their midst. The civil law did not afford them a sufficient guarantee against the threatening evils, and therefore they had determined to rid themselves of the "Mormons," "peaceably if they could, forcibly if they must;" and for the better accomplishment of this object, they had organized themselves into a company--pledging to each other their "bodily powers, their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors!" The saints are represented as being the very dregs of that society from which they came; and also as being poor, "idle, lazy, and vicious." They are accused of claiming to receive direct revelation from God; to heal the sick by the laying on of hands; to speak in unknown tongues by inspiration; and, in short, "to perform all the wonder-working miracles wrought by the inspired apostles and prophets of God;" all of which, the document claims, "is derogatory of God and religion, and subversive of human reason." The signers of this document also accuse the saints of sowing dissensions and inspiring seditions among their slaves. They further charge that the "Mormons" had invited "free people of color" to settle in Jackson County; and state that the introduction of such a caste among their slaves, would instigate them to rebel against their masters, and to bloodshed.