We do not go out of Nauvoo to disturb anybody, or any city, town, or place. Why, then, need they be troubled about us? Let them not meddle with our affair, but let us alone. After we have been deprived of our rights and privileges of citizenship, driven from town to town, place to place, and State to State, with the sacrifice of our homes and lands, our blood has been shed, many having been murdered, and all this because of our religion--because we worship Almighty God according to the dictates of our conscience, shall we longer bear these cruelties which have been heaped upon us for the last ten years in the face of heaven, and in open violation of the Constitution and laws of these United States and of this State? God forbid it. _I will not bear it_. If they take away my rights, I will fight for them manfully and righteously until I am used up. We have done nothing against the rights of others. You speak of lawyers. I am a lawyer, too; but the Almighty God has taught me the principle of law; and the true meaning and intent of the writ of _habeas corpus_ is to defend the innocent and investigate the subject. Go behind the writ, and if the form of one that is issued against an innocent man is right, he should not be dragged into another State, and there be put to death, or be in jeopardy of life and limb, because of prejudice, when he is innocent. The benefits of the Constitution and laws are alike for all; and the great Eloheim has given me the privilege of having the benefits of the Constitution and the writ of _habeas corpus_; and I am bold to ask for this privilege this day; and I ask, in the name of Jesus Christ and all that is sacred, that I may have your lives and all your energies to carry out the freedom which is chartered to us. Will you all help me? If so, make it manifest by raising the right hand. [There was a unanimous response, a perfect sea of hands being elevated.] Here is truly a committee of the whole. When at Dixon, a lawyer came to me as counsel. Reynolds and Wilson said I should not speak to any man, and they would shoot any man who should dare to speak to me. An old, grey-headed man came up and said I should have counsel, and he was not afraid of their pistols. The people of Dixon were ready to take me from my persecutors, and I could have killed them, notwithstanding their pistols; but I had no disposition to kill any man, though my worst enemy--not even Boggs. In fact, _he_ would have more hell to live in the reflection of his past crimes than to die. After this, I had lawyers enough, and I obtained a writ for Joseph H. Reynolds and Harmon T. Wilson, for damage, assault, and battery, as well as the writ of _habeas corpus_.