The Rise and Fall of NauvooRoberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
History
The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Latter Day Saints -- Illinois -- Nauvoo; Nauvoo (Ill.) -- History
Notwithstanding all this, misrepresentation so far succeeded in
poisoning the minds of the public and the leading men in the State,
that in January, 1845, the city charter of Nauvoo and the charter of
the Legion were both repealed, and thus the protecting aegis of the
city government was snatched away from her citizens, when most they
needed it, and left them exposed to the fury of their enemies.
Of this act of punic faith on the part of the State legislature, the
State attorney, Josiah Lamborn, in a letter to Brigham Young, said:
I have always considered that your enemies have been prompted by
political and religious prejudices, and by a desire for plunder
and blood, more than for the common good. By the repeal of your
charter, and by refusing all amendments and modifications, our
legislature has given a kind of sanction to the barbarous manner
in which you have been treated. Your two representatives exerted
themselves to the extent of their ability in your behalf, but the
tide of popular passion and frenzy was too strong to be resisted.
It is truly a melancholy spectacle to witness the law-makers of a
sovereign State condescending to pander to the vices, ignorance and
malevolence of a class of people who are at all times ready for
riot, murder and rebellion.
Senator Jacob C. Davis was one among those who had been indicated for
the murder of Joseph and Hyrum, and of him the attorney-general said:
Your senator, Jacob C. Davis, has done much to poison the minds
of members against anything in your favor. He walks at large in
defiance of law an indicated murderer. If a Mormon was in his
position, the senate would afford no protection, but he would be
dragged forth to jail or the gallows, or be shot down by a cowardly
and brutal mob.
In the meantime the Twelve Apostles, sustained by the Saints, put forth
every exertion to carry out the designs of their martyred Prophet
respecting Nauvoo. The Nauvoo House was hurried on, and the walls were
growing rapidly under the constant labor of the masons. Work, too, was
vigorously prosecuted at the temple. At the time of Joseph's death
that edifice was but one story high, yet on the twenty-fourth of May,
1845, about six o'clock in the morning the cap-stone was laid amid the
general rejoicing and shouts of "Hosanna" from the assembled thousands
of the Saints. As President Brigham Young finished laying the cap-stone
he stood upon it and said:
The last stone is laid upon the temple, and I pray the Almighty in
the name of Jesus to defend us in this place, and sustain us until
the temple is finished and we have all got our endowments.
The whole congregation then following the motion of President Young
shouted as loud as possible: Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! to God and
the Lamb! Amen! Amen! and Amen! [1]
"So let it be, thou Almighty God," solemnly concluded President
Young.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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