On Saturday quite a sensation was created in this city, by the appearance of Joe Smith, the Mormon prophet, in our midst. -- He was arrested by the Sheriff upon the warrant of the Governor, with a view of surrendering him to the authorities of Missouri. He was taken from the custody of the Sheriff by the Marshall of this district, upon a writ of Habeas Corpus made returnable before the Circuit Court of the United States, and the time of hearing set for this morning at 10 o'clock. J. Butterfield, Esq., U. S. District Attorney, is his sole counse;. The ground upon which his discharge is based is, that he is not a fugitive from justice within the meaning of the act of Congress, or the constitution of the United States, which authorizes the surrender of an individual in one State to the authorities of another State, for trial, upon an alledged commission of a crime. J. Lamborn, the Attorney General, will appear in support to the legality of the warrant issued by the Governor of this State; but from a candid examination of the law I am satisfied the impostor, Joe Smith, will be discharged. He is clearly not a fugitive from justice within the intent and meaning of both the act of Congress and the constitution of the United States.

He was attended by a retinue of some fifteen or twenty of as fine looking men as my eyes ever beheld. My great astonishment is, how men possessing the intellectual faculties, refinement of education, and cultivated minds, that most of his body guard apparently do, can be so outrageously blinded, and led captive by imposition, as they are by Joe Smith. As for Joe Smith, his demeanor as far as I could observe, was by no means censurable, and he apparently was as unconcerned as to what was passing around him, as though he was a perfect stranger to the whole proceedings. I designated him at once from the accuracy of the likeness in Bennett's exposure of Mormonism...

The report made by the committee on Banks and Corporations, recommending the repeal of all the city charters in the State, was taken up on Thursday, and the House, by a vote of 57 to 59, refused to read the bill a second time. I am inclined to the opinion that very important amendments will be made in [several] of the city charters, previous to the adjournment of the Legislature. None deserves to so great an extent the absolute necessity of the legislative pruning knife as that granted to the Mormons. Their influence, however, over politicians, is unbounded, and they possess neither the moral courage, or firmness, to incur the displeasure of this deluded sect, by manfully coming out and doing what is right in regard to them...

The trial of Joe Smith was put off on yesterday, at the solicitation of the Attorney General, until to-morrow morning, at which time it is expected the argument will be gone into. The result will undoubtedly prove the discharge of the Mormon impostor...


Notes: (forthcoming)

The examination of Joe Smith before the Circuit Court of the United States, resulted, as I anticipated it would, in the discharge of the Prophet. The decision of Judge Pope was uncommonly clear and lucid, and gave universal satisfaction, so fas as I have heard any opinion expressed. As the question decided was of great public interest, it is to be hoped the Judge will furnish a copy of his opinion for publication. It will be recollected, that the question of Joe Smith's having procured Rockwell to commit the dastardly and cold-blooded act, of attempting, under the cover of night, to assassinate Gov. Boggs, did not at all come up in this investigation; but he was discharged upon the broad principle that he was not a fugitive from justice, within the meaning and contemplation of the act of Congress, and the Constitution of the United States. There is, therefore, but one course to be pursued, and that is for the Legislature of this State, by legal enactment, to provide a punishment commensurate with the crime committed, and that should be imprisonment for life, in solitary confinement in the Penitentiary of the State. Joe Smith, for the time being, has escaped that punishment he so richly merits, but a righteous restribution will yet be visited upon him. No man , whose hands are stained with the blood of a fellow mortal can successfully elude the punishment. The day of its visitation upon him may be far distant, but arrive it certainly will...

Mr. Vinyard of Pope, has introduced a bill repealing the Mormon charters. Whether his laudable effort will be sustained by the House, is doubtful. Joe Smith has too great a capital to throw into the political market for investment, to be easily frustrated in any of his nefarious designs. The politicians on both sides will fight sky in committig themselves against him, [tho] virtually by their refusing to take the unconstitutional powers he posses from him, legalizing debauchery, fraud, imposition, and crime of the blackest grade. For a season they may profit by such legislation but ere they little expect it, the indignation of an incensed and insulted community will be so great as to entirely overwhelm every public man, who dares to truckle to Mormonism, for the sake of their support. Every man that does so, secures a few short days of empty political fame at the sacrifice of everything like virtue and correct morals.

Gen. Bennett called upon me to-day. He leaves here to-night, with the intention of stopping at Alton and delivering a course of lectures. My opinion in regard to him has been frankly expressed in the columns of the Telegraph, in a review of his work on Mormonism. A personal interview with him has confirmed, in all respects, what I then thought and said of him.


Notes: (forthcoming)

On Thursday last, a bill introduced by Mr. Vinyard of Pope, providing for the repeal of the Mormon charters, came up for consideration and gave rise to a violent and acrimonious debate. It originated, however, with Smith, the member from Hancock, and the brother of the impostor Prophet, by assailing, in an uncalled for and disgraceful manner, the citizens of the State of Missouri. Mr. Davis, of Bond, replied to him with great force and effect, and triumphantly vindicated our sister State from the foul aspersions sought to be cast upon her by the deluded member from Nauvoo. He warned the House not to tamper longer with these charters, but to obey that voice which came up to them from the people, and repeal them. He showed the extraordinary powers contained in these charters and admonished the House of the evils that would necessarily [flow] from them, and finally deluge this State with their pernicious influences, if not checked now, while in the bud. The appeal came from an honest heart and a sound understanding, but fell upon "stony and barren land." The political influence wielded by the Prophet. made the politicians of both sides shrink from the performance of their duty, and by a vote of 60 to 33, the bill was laid upon the table. May they never have to repent of thisvote; but I fear the day will come when their great error will be seen , but too late to remedy it.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  QUINCY  HERALD,  JUDGE  POPE,
THE  DISCHARGE  OF  JOE  SMITH.

Never have we had called to our notice a more vile, dastardly, unjust, and blackguard attack upon private character and worth, than one which is made in the Quincy Herald of the 12th inst., upon the Hon. N. Pope, Judge of the U. S. District Court; Justin Butterfield, Esq., the U. S. District Attorney; and the Ladies who were in attendance during the argument of counsel, upon an application to discharge Joe Smith upon Habeas Corpus in the U. S. Circuit Court.

The attack is contained in a letter purporting to be written at Springfield, under the signature of Alpha. And never was there in so small a space as the letter occupies, a greater amount of libellous matter contained, than is to be found in the production of this secret and cowardly assassin of private character. The whole tone of the letter is that Judge Pope and Mr. Butterfield, both of whom occupy distinguished and responsible public stations, acting under the solemnity of an oath, had conspired together to arrest Joe Smith, the Mormon Impostor, from the arms of justice, by turning the judicial tribunal over which one of them presides, into a farce, and by going through with the form of a trial, allowing the accused intentionally to elude the penalty of the law. The decision in this important case is denounced by this concealed assassin of reputation, as a "great outrage" "unparalleled in the history of judicial proceedings," and one that "will ever stand as a monument of disgrace to those concerned in the farce."

That the public may judge how perfectly groundless are such accusations, we this day present them the decision of Judge Pope, which will be found on the first side of this days paper. * It is the most triumphant vindication of the foul aspersions sought to be cast upon him by this base libeller, that could be made, and no man having the slightest knowledge of the principles of law, or possessing discernment enough to discriminate between right and wrong, can arise from its perusal save with a thorough conviction of the correctness of the decision to which his honor, Judge Pope came. It is a production which as a jurist he has great reason to be proud of, and which we, as a citizen of Illinois, feel an unbounded pride in spreading before the public.

The truth is, the masterly, clear, and lucid argument of Mr. Butterfield, and the able decision of Judge Pope, has placed the previous legal advisors of Joe Smith, in regard to the legality of the requisition of the Governor of Missouri upon the Governor of this State for him, in rather a sad dilemma. They informed him he had no legal redress, and they stand convicted of either gross ignorance of their profession, or an intention wilfully to deceive Joe Smith as to what his legal rights were. And no matter which horn of the dilemma they assume, disgrace is the inevitable result. For them there is no escape, and to cover their own shame, they seek to cast imputations upon the Judge who tried, and the counsel who defended the accused. And both of whom have forgotten more law, than all the previous legal advisors of Joe Smith combined, ever knew, or will know.

In regard to the attack made by this letter writer upon the ladies who were present during the argument of counsel, it is not our duty to repel it. They were the wives and the daughters of the most respectable citizens of this State. They all have either fathers or husbands living, and it more properly belongs to them as their natural guardians to resent the insult, than to the conductor of a public press. All we can say is, that the attack is as ungentlemanly as it is cowardly.

In the remarks we have made, we do not desire to be viewed in the light of an apologist of Joe Smith. Our opinion of him has been too often, and too unreservedly expressed to need repitition here. We believe he combines in his composition all the elements of a base, wicked, dangerous and corrupt man. And that he has openly violated the laws of God and man for which he should be severely punished. That punishment, however, should be meted out to him in the manner prescribed by the constitution and the laws, and in no other way. And although "his sins were as scarlet" still would we insist upon his being tried and punished, before an impartial legal tribunal, according to the principles of law and justice.

In this case, his discharge was based upon those immutable principles, and with it, as a good citizen, we are bound to be content.

The only reason we do not republish the article to which this is a reply, is, that it is entirely too vulgar and indecent to admit of so doing.

_________
* Not having received a copy of the decision referred to, in season for insertion this week, it will appear in our next paper. -- Publishers.


Notes: (forthcoming)

OPINION  OF  JUDGE  POPE.
________

Circuit Court of the United States, for the District of Illinois -- December Term, A. D. 1842. Before the Hon. Nathaniel Pope, Presiding Judge -- Ex-parte Joseph Smith, (the Mormon prophet,) on Habeas Corpus. J. Butterfield and B. S. Edwards, Counsel for Smith. J. Lambourn, Attorney General, for the State of Illinois.
________

This case came before the Court upon a return to a writ of Habeas Corpus, which was issued by this Court on the 31st of December, 1842, upon a petition for a habeas corpus on the relation of Joseph Smith, setting forth that he was arrested and in custody of William F. Elkin, Sheffif of Sanagmon county, upon a warrant issued by the Governor of the State of Illinois, upon the requisition of the Governor of the State of Missouri, demanding him to be delivered up to the Governor of Missouti, as a fugitive from justice; that his arrest as aforesaid was under color of a law of the United States, and was without the authority of law in this, that he was not a fugitive from justice, nor had he fled from the State of Missouri.

Afterwards, on the same day, the Sheriff of Sangamon county returned upon the said habeas corpus, that he detained the said Joseph Smith in custody by virtue of a warrant issued by the Governor of the State of Illinois upon the requisition of the Governor of the State of Missouri, on the affidavit of Lilburn W. Boggs -- copies of the said affidavit, requisition and warrant were annexed to the said return in the words and figures following: --

"State of Missouri, |
.................................. | s.s.
County of Jackson |

This day personally appeared before me, Samuel Weston, a Justice of the Peace within and for the county of Jackson, the subscriber, Lilburn W. Boggs, who being duly sworn, doth depose and say, that on the night of the sixth day of May, 1842, while sitting in his dwelling in the town of Independence, in the county of Jackson, he was shot with intent to kill, and that his life was despaired of for several days; and that he believes, and has good reason to believe from evidence and information now in his possession, that Joseph Smith, commonly called the Mormon Prophet, was accessary before the fact of the intended murder; and that the said Joseph Smith is a citizen or resident of the State of Illinois; and the said deponent hereby applies to the Governor of the State of Missouri to make a demand on the Governor of the State of Illinois, to deliver the said Joseph Smith, commonly called the Mormon Prophet, to some person authorized to receive and convey him to the State and county aforesaid, there to be dealt with according to law.
                                  LILBURN W. BOGGS.

Sworn and subscribed before me, this 20th day of July, 1842.
SAMUEL WESTON, J. P."


"The Governor of the State of Missouri, to the Governor of the State of Illinois --
GREETING,

Whereas, it appears by the annexed document, which is hereby certified to be authentic, that one Joseph Smith is a fugutive from justice, charged with being accessary before the fact to an assault with intent to kill, made by one O. P. Rockwell, on Lilburn W. Boggs, in this State, and it is represented to the Executive department of this State, has fled to the State of Illinois;

Now, therefore, I, Thomas Reynolds, Governor of the said State of Missouri, by virtue of the authority in me vested by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do by these presents demand the surrender and delivery of the said Joseph Smith to Edward R. Ford, who is hereby appointed as the agent to receive the said Joseph Smith on the part of this State.

In testimony whereof," &c.


"The People of the State of Illinois, to the Sheriff of Sangamon county -- GREETING.

Whereas, it has been made known to me by the Executive authority of the State of Missouri, that one Joseph Smith, stands charged by the affidavit of one Lilburn W. Boggs, made on the 20th day of July, 1842, at the county of Jackson, in the State of Missouri, before Samuel Weston, a Justice of the Peace, within and for the county of Jackson aforesaid, with being accessary before the fact to an assault with intent to kill, made by one O. P. Rockwell, on Lilburn W. Boggs, on the night of the 6th day of May, 1842, at the county of Jackson, in said State of Missouri, and that the said Joseph Smith has fled from the justice of said State, and taken refuge in the State of Illinois:

Now, therefore, I Thomas Ford, Governor of the State of Illinois, pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, and of this State, do hereby command you to arrest and apprehend the said Joseph Smith, if he be found within the limits of the State aforesaid, and cause him to be safely kept and delivered to the custody of Edward R. Ford, who has been duly constituted the agent of the said State of Missouri, to receive said fugitive from the justice of the said State, he paying all fees and charges for the arrest and apprehension of said Joseph Smith, and make due return to the Executive Department of this State, the manner in which this writ may be executed.

In testimony whereof." &c.


The case was set for hearing on the 4th day of January, 1843, on which day Josiah Lamborn. Attorney General of the State of Illinois appeared, and moved to dismiss the proceedings and filed the following objections to the justification of the Court, viz:

"1st. The arrest and detention of Smith was not under or by color of authority of the United States, or of any officers of the United States, but under and by color of authority of the State of Illinois, by the officers of Illinois.

2d. When a fugitive from justice is arrested by authority of the Governor of any State, upon the requisition of the Governor of another State, the courts of justice, neither State or Federal, have any authority or jurisdiction to inquire into any facts behind the writ."

The counsel of the said Joseph Smith then offered to read in evidence affidavits of several persons, showing conclusively that the said Joseph Smith was at Nauvoo, in the County of Hancock and State of Illinois, on the whole of the 6th and 7th days of May, in the year 1842, and on the evenings of those days, more than three hundred miles distant from Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, where it is alleged that the said Boggs was shot, and that he had not been in the State of Missouri at any time between the 10th day of February and the first day of July, 1842, the said persons having been with him during the whole of that period. That on the 6th day of May aforesaid, he attended an officer's drill at Nauvoo aforesaid, in the presence of a large number of people, and on the 7th day of May aforesaid he reviewed the Nauvoo Legion in presence of many thousand people.

The reading of these affidavits was objected to by the Attorney General of the State of Illinois, on the ground that it was not competent for Smith to impeach or contradict the return to the habeas corpus. It was contended by the council of the said Smith, 1st. That he had a right to prove that the return was untrue. 2d, That the said affidavits did not contradict the said return, as there was no averment under oath in said return that said Smith was in Missouri at the time of the commission of the alleged crime or had fled from the justice of that State. The court decided that the said affidavits should be read in evidence, subject to all objections; and they were read accordingly.

The cause was argued by J. Butterfield and B. S. Edwards, for Smith, and by Josiah Lamborn, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, contro.

J. Butterfield, counsel for Smith, made the following points: --

1. The court has jurisdiction.

The requisition purports on its face to be made, and the warrant to be issued, under the Constitution and laws of the U. States, regulating the surrender of fugitives from justice. -- 2nd sec. 4th article Const. U. S. -- 1st sec. of the act of Congress of 12th Feb. 1793.

When a persons rights are invaded under a law of the United States he has no remedy except in the courts of the United States -- 51 sec. 3d article Const. U. S. -- 12th Wend. 323, -- 16 Peters 543.

The whole power in relation to the delivering up of fugitives from justice and labor, has been delegated to the United States, and Congress have regulated the manner and form in which it shall be exercised. The power is exclusive. The State Legislature have no right to interfer, and if they do, their acts are void. -- 2d and 3d clause of 2d sec. 4th article Const. U. S. -- 2d vol. laws U. S. 331. - 16 Peters 617-18, 623. -- 4th Wheaton's Rep. 122, 193-12 Wend. 312.

All courts of the United States are authorized to issue writs of Habeas Corpus when the prisoner is confined under or by color of authority of the United States -- Act of Congress of Sept. 24th. 1780, sec. 14, 2d condensed 33. -- 3d Cranch 447. -- 3d Peters 193.

2. The return to the Habeas Corpus is not certain and sufficient to warrant the arrest and transportation of Smith.

In all cases on Habeas Corpus previous to indictment, the court will look into the depositions before the Magistrate, and though the committment be full act in form, yet if the testimony prove no crime, the court will discharge ex parte. -- Taylor 5th, Cowan 50.

The affidavit of Boggs does not show that Smith was charged with any crime comitted by him in Missouri, nor that he was a fugitive from justice.

If the committment be for a matter for which by law the prisoner is not liable to be punished, the court must discharge him. -- 3. Bac. 431.

The Executive of this State has no jurisdiction over the person of Smith to transport him to Missouri, unless he has fled from that State.

3. The prisoner has a right to prove facts not repugnant to the return, and even to go behind the return and contradict it, unless committed under a judgment of a court of competant jurisdiction. -- 3d. Bacon 435, 438. -- 3d. Peters 202 -- Gale's Rev. Laws of Ills. 323.

The testimony introduced by Smith at the hearing, showing conclusively that he was not a fugitive from justice, is not repugnant to the return.

J. Lamborn. Attorney General of the State of Illinois, in support of the points made by him, cited 2d Condensed Rep. 37; Gordon's Digest, 73; Gale's Statutes of Illinois 318; Conkling 85; 9th Wendall 212.


And afterwards, on the 5th day of January, 1843, Judge Pope delivered the following

O P I N I O N:

The importance of this case, and the consequences which may flow from an erroneous precedent, effecting the lives and liberties of our citizens, have impelled the Court to bestow upon it the most anxious consideration. The able arguments of the counsel for the respective parties, have been of great assistance in the examination of the important question arising in this cause.

When the patriots and wise men who framed our constitution were in anxious deliberation to form a perfect union among the States of the confederacy, two great sources of discord presented themselves to their consideration: the commerce between the States and fugitives from justice and labor. The border collisions in other countries had been seen to be a fruitful source of war and bloodshed, and most wisely did the Constitution confer upon the National Government the regulation of these matters, because of its exemption from the excited passions awakened by conflicts between neighboring States, and its ability alone to adopt a uniform rule, and establish uniform laws among all the States in those cases.

This case presents the important question arising under the constitution and laws of the State of Illinois can be transported from his own State to the State of Missouri, to be there tried for a crime, which if he ever committed, was committed in the State of Illinois; whether he can be transported to Missouri, as a fugitive from justice, when he has never fled from that State.

Joseph Smith is before the Court, on habeas corpus, directed to the Sheriff of Sangamon county, State of Illinois. The return shows that he is in custody under a warrant from the Executive of Illinois, professedly issued in purusance of the Constitution and laws of the United States, and of the State of Illinois, ordering said Smith to be delivered to the agent of the Executive of Missouri, who had demanded him as a fugutive from justice, under the 2d section, 4th article, of the Constitution of the United States, and the act of Congress passed to carry into effect that article. The article is in these words, viz: "A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other crime who shall flee from justice and be found in another State, shall on demand of the Executive authority of the State, from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime," -- The act of Congress made to carry into effect this article, directs that the demand be made on the Executive of the State where the offender is found, and proscribes the proof to support the demand, viz: indictment or affidavit.

The Court is respectful to inform the Governor and Attorney General of the State of Illinois, of the action upon the on the day appointed for the hearing, the Attorney General of the State of Ilinois appeared and denied the jurisdiction of the court to grant the

1st. Because the warrant was not issued under color or by authority of the United States, but by the State of Illinois.

2d. Because no can issue in this case from either the Federal or State Courts, to inquire into the facts behind the writ. In support of the first point, a law of Illinois was read, declaring that whenever the Executive of any other State shall demand of the Executive of this State, any person, as a fugutive from justice, and shall have complied with the requisition of the act of Congress in that case made and provided, it shall be the duty of the Executive of this State to issue his warrant to apprehend the said fugitive, &c. It would seem that this act does not purport to confer any additional power upon the Executive of this State, independent of the power conferred by the Constitution and laws of the United States, but to make it the duty of the Executive to obey and carry into effect the act of Congress. The warrant on its face, purports to be issued in pursuance of the constitution and laws of the United States, as well as of the State of Illinois. To maintain the position that this warrant was not issued under color, or by authority of the laws of the United States, it must be proved that the United States could not confer the power on the Executive of Illinois. Because, if Congress could and did confer it, an act of Illinois could take it away, for the reason that the Constitution and Laws of the United States passed in pursuance of it, and treaties are the Supreme law of the land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the contrary not withstanding. This is enough to dispose of that point. If the Legislature of Illinois, as is probable, intended to make it the duty of the Governor to execute the power granted by Congress and no more, the Executive would be acting by authority of the United States. It may be that the Legislature of Illinois, appreciating the importance of the proper execution of those laws, and doubting whether to carry them into effect, deemed it prudent to impose it as a duty, the neglect of which would expose him to impeachment. If it intended more, the law is unconstitutional and void. -- 10 Peters 617, Prigg vs. Pennsylvania.

In supporting the second point the Attorney General seemed to urge that there was greater sanctity in a warrant issued by the Governor than by an inferior officer. The court cannot assent to this distinction. This is a Government of Laws, which describes a rule of action, as obligatory upon the Governor as upon the most obscure officer. The character and purposes of the habeas corpus aregreatly misunderstood by those who suppose that it does not review the [fact] of an Executive functionary; all who are familiar with English history must know that it was extorted from an arbitary monarch and that it was hailed as a second Magna Charta, and that it was to protect the subject from arbitary imprisonment by the King and his minions which brought into existance that great Palladium of liberty in the latter part of the reign of Charles the Second. It was indeed a magnificent achievement over arbitrary power. Magna Charta established the principles of liberty; the Habeas Corpus protected them. It matters not how great or obscure the prison keeper, this magnificent writ, wielded by an independent Judge, reaches all. It penetrates, alike the Royal Towers and the local prisons, from the garret to the secret recesses of the dungeon. All doors fly open at its command, and the shackles fall from the limbs of prisoners of State as readily as from those committed by subordinate officers. The warrant of the King and his secretary of State could claim no more exemption from that searching enquiry, 'the cause of his caption and detention, than a warrant granted by a justice of the peace. It is contended that the U. States, is a government of granted powers, and that no Department of it can exercise powers not granted. This is true. But the grant is to be found in the 24 section of the 3d article of the Constitution of the United States. 'The Judicial power shall extend to all cases in law or equity, arising under the Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made and which shall be made under their authority.'

The matter under consideration presents a case arising under the 2d section 4th article of the Constitution of the United States, and the act of Congress of February 12th 1793, to carry it into effect. -- The Judiciary act of 1789 confers on this Court (indeed on all the courts of the U. States,) power too issue the writ of Habeas Corpus, when a person is confined 'under color of or by the authority of the United States.' Smith is in custody under color of, and by authority of the 21 sec. 4th art. of the Constitution of the U. States. As to the instrument employed or authorized to carry into effect that article of the Constitution (as he derives from it the authority to issue the warrant,) he must be regarded as acting by the authority of the U. States. The power is not official in the Governor. but personal. It might have been granted to any one else by name, but considerations of convenience and policy recommended the selection of the Executive, who never dies. The citizens of the States are citizens of the U. States; hence the U. States are as much bound to afford them protection in their sphere, as the States in their's.

This court has jurisdiction. Whether the State courts have jurisdiction or not, this court is not called upon to decide.

The return of the sheriff shows that he has arrested and now holds in custody Joseph Smith, in virtue of a warrant issued by the Governor of Illinois, under the 2d section of the 4th article of the Constitution of the United States, relative to fugitives from justice, and the act of Congress passed to carry it into effect. The article of the Constitution does not designate the person upon whom the demand for the fugitive shall be made; nor does it prescribe the proof upon which he shall act. But Congress has done so. The proof is "an indictment or affidavit" to be certified by the Governor demanding. The material part of the letter is in these words, viz: -- "Lilburn W. Boggs who being duly sworn, doth depose and say, that on the night of the sixth day of May, 1842, while sitting in his dwelling in the town of Independence, in the county of Jackson, he was shot with intent to kill, and that his life was despaired of for several days; and that he believes, and has good reason to believe from evidence and information now in his possession, that Joseph Smith, commonly called the Mormon Prophet, was accessary before the fact of the intended murder; and that the said Joseph Smith is a citizen or resident of the State of Illinois" This affidavit being thus verified, furnished the only evidence upon which the Governor of Illinois could act. Smith presents affidavits proving that he was not in Missouri, at the date of the shooting of Boggs. This testimony was objected to by the Attorney General of Illinois, on the ground that the Court could not look behind the return. The Court deems it unnecessary to decide that point, inasmuch as itthinks Smith entitled to his discharge for defect in the affidavit. To authorize the arrest in this case the affidavit should have stated distinctly, 1st. That Smith had committed a crime. 2d That he committed it in Missouri.

It must appear that he fled from Missouri to authorize the Governor of Missouri to demand him, as none other than the Governor of the State from which he fled can make the demand. He could not have fled from justice, unless he committed a crime, which does not appear. It must appear that the crime was committed in Missouri, to warrant the Governor of Illinois in ordering him to be sent to Missouri for trial. The 2d section, 4th article declares, he 'shall be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.'

As it is not charged that the crime was committed by Smith in Missouri, the Governor of Illinois could not cause him to be removed to that State, unless it can be maintained that the State of Missouri can entertain jurisdiction of crimes committed in other States. The affirmative of this proposition was taken in the argument with a zeal indicating sincerity. But no adjudged case or dictum was adduced in support of it. The Court conceves that none can be. Let it be tested by principle.

Man in a state of nature is a sovereign, with all the perogatives of Kings, Lords, and Commons. He may declare war and make peace, and as nations often do, who 'feel power and forget right,' may oppress, rob and subjugate his weaker and unoffending neighbors. He unites in his person the legislative, judicial and executive power -- 'can do no wrong,' because there is none to hold him to account. But when he unites himself with a community, he lays down all the prerogatives of a sovereign, (except self defense,) and becomes a subject. He owes obedience to its laws and the judgments of its tribunals, which he is supposed to have participated in establishing, either directly or indirectly. -- He surrenders also, the right of self-redress. In consideration of all which, he is entitled to the aegis of that community to defend him from wrongs. He takes upon himself no allegiance to any other community, so owes it no obedience, and therefore cannot disobey it. None other than his own sovereign can prescribe a rule of action to him. Each sovereign regulates the conduct of his subjects, and they may be punished upon the assumption that they know the rule and have consented to be governed by it. It would be a gross violation of the social compact, if the State were to deliver up one of its citizens to be tried and punished by a foreign State, to which he owes no allegiance, and whose laws were never binding on him. -- No State can or will di it.

In the absence of the constitutional provision, the State of Missouri would stand on this subject in the same relation to the State of Illinois, that Spain does to England. In this particular the States are independent of each other. A criminal, fugitive from the one State to the other, can not be claimedas of right to be given up. It is most true as mentioned by writers on the laws of nations, that every State is responsible to its neighbors for the conduct of its citizens, so far as their conduct violates the principles of good neighborhood, So it is among private individuals. But for this, the inviolability of territory, or private dwelling, could not be maintained. This obligation creates the right, and makes it the duty of the State to impose such restraints upon the individual as the occcasion demands. It was in the performance of this duty, that the United States passed laws to restrain citizens of the U. States from setting on foot and fitting out military expeditions against their neighbors. While the violators of the law kept themselves within the U. States, their conduct was cognizable to the courts of the U. States, and not of the offended State, even if the means provided has assisted in the invasion of the foreign State. A demand by the injured State upon the U. States for the offenders, whose operations were in their own country, would be answered, that the U. States' laws alone could act upon them, and that as a good neighbor it would punish them.

It is the duty of the State of Illinois, to make it criminal in one of its citizens to aid, abet, [contract], or advise any person to commit a crime in her sister State. -- any one violating the law would be amenable to the laws of Illinois, executed by its own tribunals. Those of Missouri, could have no agency in his conviction and punishment. But if he shall go into Missouri, he owes obedience to her laws, and is liable before her courts, to be tried and punished for any crime he may commit there, and a plea that he was a citizen of another State, would not avail him. If he escape, he may be surrendered to Missouri for trial. But when the offense is perpetrated in Illinois, the only right of Missouri, is to insist that Illinois compel her citizens to forbear to annoy her. This she has a right to expect. -- for the neglect of it, nations go to war and violate territory.

The court must hold that where a necessary fact is not stated in the affidavit, it does not exist. It is not averred that Smith was accessary before the fact, in the State of Missouri, nor that he committed a crime in Missouri: therefore he did not commit the crime in Missouri, -- did not flee from Missouri to avoid punishment.

Again, the affidavit charges the shooting on the 6th pf May, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, 'that he believes and has good reason to believe, from evidence and information now (then) in his possession, that Joseph Smith was accessary before the fact, and is a resident or citizen of Illinois.' There are several objections to this. Mr. Boggs having the 'evidence and information in his possession,' should have incorporated it in the affidavit, to enable the court to judge of their sufficiency to support his 'belief.' -- Again, he swears to a legal conclusion, when he says that Smith was accessary before the fact. What acts constitute a man an accessary is a question of law, and not always of easy solution. Mr. Boggs' opinion, then, is not authority. He should have given the facts. He should have shown that they were committed in Missouri, to enable the court to test them by the laws of Missouri, to see if they amounted to a crime. Again, the affidavit is fatally defective in this, that Boggs swears to his belief.

The language in the constitution is, 'charged with felony, or other crime.' Is the constitution satisfied with a charge upon suspicion! It is to be regretted that an American adjudged case has been cited to guide the court in expounding this article. Language is ever interpreted by the subject matter. If the object were to arrest a man near home, and there were fears of escape if the movement to detain him for examination were known, the word charged might warrant the issuing of a capias on suspicion. Rudyard, (reported in Skin. --) was committed to Newgate for refusing to give bailfor his good behavior, and was brought before the Common Pleas on Habeas Corpus. The return was, that he had been complained of, for exciting the subjects to disobedience of the laws against solitious conventicles; and upon examination they found cause to suspect him. Vaughn, Chief Justice of Tyrrel and Artcher against Wild, held the return insufficient. 1st, because it did not appear but that he might abet frequenters of conventicles in the way the law allows. 2d, To say that he was complained of or was examined, is no proof of his guilt. And then to say that he had cause to suspect him is to cautious; for who can tell what they count a cause of suspicion, and how can that ever be tried? At this rate they would have arbitrary power upon their own allegation, to commit whom they pleased.'

From this case it appears that suspicion does not warrant a committment, and that all legal intendments are to avail the prisoner. That the return is to be most strictly construed in favor of liberty. If suspicion in the foregoing case did not warrant a commitment in London by its officers, of a citizen of London, might not the objection be urged with greater force against a committment of a citizen of our State to be transported to another on suspicion? No case can arise demanding a more searching scrutiny into the evidence than in cases arising under this part of the constitution of the U. States. It is proposed to deprive a freeman of his liberty; to deliver him into the custody of strangers; to be transported to a foreign State, to be arraigned for trial before a foreign tribunal, governed by laws unknown to him; separated from his friends, his family and his witnesses, unknown and unknowing. Had he an immaculate character, it would not avail him with strangers. Such a spectacle is appaling enough to challenge the strictest analysis.

The framers of the constitution were not inawnsible of the importance of courts possessing the confidence of the parties. They therefore provided that citizens of different States might resort to the federal ciurts in civil cases. How much more important that the criminal have confidence in his Judge and Jury! Therefore, before the capias is issued, the officers should see that the case is made out to warrant it.

Again, Boggs was shot on the 6th of May. The affidavit was made on the 20th of July following. Here was time for inquiry, which would confirm into certainty or dissipate his suspicions. He had time to collect facts to be laid before a grand jury, or be incorporated in his affidavit. -- The court is bound to assume that this would have been the course of Mr. Boggs, but his suspicions were light and unsatisfactory.

The affidavit is insufficient, 1st. Because it is not positive. 2d. Because it charges no crime, 3d. It charges no crime committed in the State of Misssouri. Therefore, he did not flee from the justice of the State of Missouri, nor has he taken refuge in the State of Illinois.

The proceedings in this affair, from the affidavit to the arrest, afford a lesson in Governors and Judges, whose action may hereafter be invoked in cases of this character.

The affadavit simply says that the affaint was shot with intent to kill, and he believes that Smith was accessary before the fact to the intended murder, and is a citizen or resident of the State of Illinois. It is not said who shot him, or that the person was unknown.

The Governor of Missouri in his demand calls Smith a fugitive from justice, chargied with being acessary before the fact to an assault with intent to kill, made by one O. P. Rockwell, on Lilburn W. Boggs, in this State, (Missouri). This Governor expressly refers to the affidavit as his authority for that statement. Boggs in his affidavit does not call Smith a fugitive from justice, nor does he state a fact from which the Governor has a right to infer it. Neither does the name O. P. Rockwell appear in the affidavit, nor does Boggs say Smith fled. Yet the Governor says he has fled to the State of Illinois. But Boggs only says he is a citizen or resident of the State of Illinois.

The Governor of Illinois responding to the demand of the Executive of Missouri, for the arrest of Smith, issues his warrant for the arrest of Smith, reciting that "whereas Joseph Smith stands charged by the affidavit of Liliburn W. Boggs with accessary before the fact to an assault with intent to kill, made by one O. P. Rockwell, on Lilburn W. Boggs, on the night of the 6th day of May, 1842, at the county of Jackson, in said State of Missouri, and that the said Joseph Smith has fled from the justice of said State, and taken refuge in the State of Illinois."

Those facts do not appear by the affidavit of Boggs. On the contrary. it does not assert that Smith was accessary to O. P. Rockwell; nor that he had fled from the justice of the State of Missouri, and taken refuge in the State of Illinois.

The court can alone regard the facts set forth in the affidavit of Boggs as having any legal existence. The mis-recitals and over statements in the requisition and warrant are not supported by oath, and can not be received as evidence to deprive a citizen of his liberty, and transport him to a foreign State for trial. For these reasons Smith must be discharged.

At the request of J. Butterfield, counsel for Smith, it is proper to state, in justice to the present Executive of the State of Illinois, Governor Ford, that it was admitted on the argument, that the warrant which originally issued upon the said requisition, was issued by his predecessor; that when Smith came to Springfield to surrender himself up, upon that warrant, it was in the hands of the person to whom it had been issued at Quincy, in this State; and that the present warrant, which is a copy of the former one, was issued at the request of Smith, to enable him to test its legality by writ of Habeas Corpus.

Let an order be entered that Smith be discharged from his arrest.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Mr. Davis of Bond, from the committee on the Judiciary, reported back the bill introduced some time since, by Mr. Vinyard of Pope, providing for the repeal of all the sections in the Mormon charters, which extends to them privileges or powers not possessed under other city charters in the State, and recommended its passage. In consequence of the absence of the Nauvoo member, Smith, the brother of the Prophet, the bill was passed over until his return. Most of those who have heretofore voted against the repeal of the entire Mormon charters, have upon all occasions expressed a willingness and desire to expunge from them all obnoxious provisions contained in those charters. An opportunity is now presented by which the sincerity of these professions can be tested, and if they vote for the passage of this bill reported by the committee on the Judiciary, I shall award to many the praise of being honest, a qualification I now do not think they possess. The desire to carry favor with Joe Smith, and his hordes of deluded followers, purely for the purpose of securing his political influence, blinds many of the Representatives to everything against the performance of a duty which they know the best interest of the country demands at their hands.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Assassin Detected.

O. P. Rockwell, charged with the attempt to take the life of Ex-Governor Boggs, was secured in St. Louis on Sunday last, and has been sent to Jackson County for trial. He came to St. Louis from the Ohio, under a feigned name, and had taken a seat in the stage for Springfield under a second feigned name, when he was recognized and safely committed to the keeping of the ministers of the law. We trust he will receive a fair and impartial trial, and if guilty made to suffer the utmost penalty of the law. It is a pity his principal, Joe Smith, was not in his place. Rockwell was but the dupe of the arch impostor, Joe Smith.

---

... [Legislative Report] ... The bill was then read the third time and passed.

The bill to repeal certain sections of the [bill?] to incorporate the City of Nauvoo, was then taken up for consideration. This bill [repealed?] the [-----------] [-------] of the above [-------] holy city [-----------] [-------] provides for the [-----] boundaries of the corporation of Nauvoo [-------- -------] a Municipal Court in said City [------ ----] the City Council to [issue?] writs of habeas corpus, and to impose a fine of $150 on any person who may refuse to [accept of any office therein] -- and authorizes the establishment of the Nauvoo Legion. The bill having been read, Mr. Smith of Hancock moved to amend the [same] by the addition of a new section, repealing the charters of the different Cities of the State. Some debate ensued, in which Mses. Smith of Hancock, Kuykendall, and Owen took part; when [-----] moved to amend the proposed amendment, so as to direct that the provisions of the bill shall apply to the charters of all the Cities of the State, as well as to that of Nauvoo. The motion was agreed to -- ayes 80, nos 17. The question was then taken on ordering the bill as amended, to be engrossed and carried; ayes 66 nos 31.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MILLER  OUTDONE!

In the Times as Seasons, of March 1st, Joe Smith, the Mormon impostor, addresses a communication to the Editor, which closes as follows: "Therefore, hear this, O Earth, the Lord will not come to reign over the righteous in this world in 1843, nor until every thing for the bridegroom is ready."

We had supposed that Capting Tyler intended vetoing the humbuggery of Mr. Miller, but Joe has got the start of him as will appear from the above. We would advise Miller and Joe Smith to enter into partnership, as together they might for a season longer succeed in humbugging the credulous, while, on the other hand, if they get to prophesying against each other the old adage will be verified -- "When rogues fall out honest men will get their due." It is difficult to ascertain which is the most preposterous, Mormonism or Millerism.

---

AMUSING!

The Mormons, in their Times as Seasons, denouncing Millerism as humbuggers! But calling the kettle black, in every sense of the word.


Notes: (forthcoming)

JOE  SMITH -- THE  IMPOSTOR.

A late number of the Missouri Republican announces that Joe Smith has been indicted in that State for treason and murder, and that a requisition has been made upon the Governor of this State by the Governor of Missouri for him. The Republican further asserts that it was the intention of the authorities to keep this matter secret until the arrest of Joe could be secured; but that some faithful Locofoco at Springfield gave Joe the information that he was about to be arrested, and that he had sloped. We further learn from the same source, that Rockwell, who is now in jail in Missouri, has consented to turn State's evidence, and disclose the designing advisers by whom he is surrounded.

For the honor and credit of the State we sincerely trust this information is correct, and that this base imposter and swindler may be brought to justice. Rockwell now has it in his power to make some little reparation for the evil he has inflicted upon society, by stating publicly and correctly the whole design of Joe Smith, and exposing the frauds, impositions and wrongs that this vile imposter has so successfully and so long perpetrated upon the community. This is due to the public, and more particularly to the people of this State. And for one we will spare no pains to enable those who have so long been led captive by the delusions and humbuggery of Joe Smith, to cast off the chains of idolatry and man worship with which they are bound, and by permitting reason again to resume her sway over them, become good and law-abiding citizens, and worshippers of HIM who hath so touchingly warned us in the book of inspiration, to beware of "False Prophets" that would rise up among them.

There can exist no doubt but that politicians in the neighborhood of the Mormon influence will refrain from an expression of opinion, or lending any assistance toward the faithful and fearless administration of the law upon this Prince of Humbugs. -- Through the influence and aid of this praetorian cohort, Joe may again be enabled to escape. But we have no hesitation in saying that the vast body of the people will visit their indignation and contempt upon any man or set of men who, for political purposes, shall attempt to screen Joe Smith or his deluded followers from being brought to justice wherever and whenever they have violated the laws of their country with impunity.


Notes: (forthcoming)

JOE  SMITH.

We are wholly unable from any accounts contained in the Northern papers, to give any thing like an accurate or satisfactory statement of the arrest and release of Joe Smith, upon the requisition of the Governor of Missouri. Both sides are truckling like whipped puppies to secure the Mormon strength, and the law and its officers are treated with contumely and contempt. A more disreputable state of things never before existed in a free and englightened government.

The facts, as near as we can ascertain them, are that Joe was arrested by the agent from Missouri and an officer of this State, at Dixon, Lee county, upon a requisition of the Governor of Missouri. He applied, and obtained a writ of habeas corpus and was taken before that very impartial and disinterested lrgal tribunal, the Municipal Court of Nauvoo. The officers of this misnamed court of justice are composed of the most blinded, infatuated and unprincipled of Joe's deluded followers, and the result was precisely what every man of common sense might have known it would be -- a discharge of the Prophet from the legal custody of the officers of the law. The State Register asserts that the agent of Missouri has applied to Gov. Ford for an armed force to aid him in arresting Joe again, but that the Governor had not decided whether to grant the request or not. By this we understand that if the Mormons will vote for Mr. Hoge, the Loco-foco candidate for Congress, the request will not be granted; if on the other hand, they refuse, then Gov. Ford will turn out the militia to arrest, if possible, the Prophet. -- Thus the administration of the law will be basely prostituted for political effect.

We regard the location of this unprincipled scoundrel in Illinois, as one of the greatest calamaties that ever befel the State. He, and those over whom he exercises the most unlimited control, now hold the balance of political power in this State. Governed by no political principles whatever, they at every election throw themselves in the market like cattle for sale. They vote, or promise to vote, with this party, or that, as their personal interests are advanced by those to whom they give a support. The result is, their blasphemies, their violations of law, their utter disregard of all the social relations of life, are permitted to progress with impunity. And when justice is attempted to be visited upon them, the arm of the law is found to be too short to reach them. Politicians and Demagogues not only court but fear them, solely in consequence of their political power and strength; and attempt to disguise it as we may, the Mormons are now a privileged sect in this boasted land of equal rights. We therefore regard it as the most unfortunate affair that ever befel the State of Illinois, when Joe Smith selected this State as the theatre of his actions, to carry out his blasphemous, corrupt, and irreligious designs. It speaks but poorly in favor of the advancement of christianity or even civilization.


Notes: (forthcoming)

JOE  SMITH.

We learn, from good authority, that the Prophet has surrendered his office, and annointed his brother. Joe, for some time past, has been in deadly fear of the "Goths and Vandals" of Missouri, and he verily believes that his holy person will be more secure in performing a pilgrimage in Europe or the Rocky Mountains, than it will be to remain under the shadow of the temple, protected by that immaculate body, the Nauvoo Municipal Court. An appropriate text for the Prophet's valedictory, when he cast his mantle upon his brother, might have been found in the 109th Psalm, 6th verse -- "Set thou a wicked man over (them); and let Satan stand at his right hand."


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  MORMONS.

Voted, at last, against their particular friend, Cyrus Walker, Esq., to a man. This is no more than we expected, and it is a righteous retribution upon those Whigs, who, for political effect, have been truckling to the depravity and baseness of the Mormon, with holy Joe at their head. They have proven, by this last vote of theirs, that no dependence whatever can be placed upon them or their promises -- that they are without principle, political or moral, and that treachery and deception constitute one of the principal attributes of their nature.

We hope the Whigs in the Mormon section of the country will hereafter have nothing to do with them whatever. They are congeniel spirits for Locofocos and repudiators, and consequently cannot entertain feelings in common with men of integrity and honor. It is far more creditable to Mr. Walker to have been defeated by their union against him, than to have been elected by their votes. Of this, reflection will satisfy him, and candor compel him to admit. Every political stride of "HOLY JOE." emboldens him in impudence and lawlessness. -- The following, which we cut from the last Illinoisn, displays in a graphic manner the love Joe entertains for the laws and the peace of society. It is but the beginning of the end.

"MORMON OUTRAGE -- A gentleman of this town, who has just returned from a visit to Carthage, states that "considerable excitement exists in Hancock county on account of a gross outrage commited by holy Joe Smith, upon the Collector of that county.

It seems that Joe had taken offense at the Collector on account of the manner in which he had discharged his duty, in reference to some of the prophet's lots in Nauvoo; and during a recent visit of the Collector to that city, he was attacked and cruelly beaten by Joe in presence of several hundred of his faithful. The Collector had been quite ill for some weeks, and was scarcely able to travel at the time the outrage was perpetrated. From the statement of our informant, we shall not be surprised to hear of Joe's sudden disappearance shortly."


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> A gentleman from Nauvoo, informs us that Joe Smith has sent to Gov. Ford for authority to defend himself by military force against a supposed attack from the Missourians. It is well understood that Joe apprehends no such attack. And that his making this request is more for the purpose, if granted. of warring upon our own citizens, than upon those of Missouri. Joe doubtless understands that his contract with Gov. Ford was, in trabsferring the Mormon vote to Hoge, and it is a reasonable presumption that his call upon the Governor for the necessary authority will not be in vain.


Notes: (forthcoming)

GREAT ANTI-MORMON MEETING.

Below will be found the proceedings, in part, of a large meeting of citizens, without distinction of party, lately convened in Hancock county, in this State. This meeting was composed of those comprising the immediate neighbors of the Mormons, and consequently acquainted from personal observation with the many outrages committed by this deluded sect against the citizens of this State. Those outrages are enumerated in the proceedings which follow this article; and we most earnestly commend them not only to the perusal, but the serious reflection of every well wisher of Illinois.

That the people of this State would finally be driven to the course pursued by the citizens of Hancock county, to protect themselves and their property from the unbridled violence of the impostor, Joe Smith, we have never for a moment doubted; and we have been the more firmly convinced, by seeing politicians of both sides winking at their lawless enormities, and truckling to their vile and debased practices, solely for the purpose of securing the influence and votes of the Mormons, as candidates for office. In view of this inevitable result, we have unremittingly and fearlessly warred against Joe Smith, as well as the course of politicians towards him, [maugre?] the complaints of even many with whom we have and do act politically. The charge, that in our opposition to the Mormons we have been governed by political considerations, we have treated with that silent contempt it alone merited; relying upon the virtue and intelligence of the people, who may have watched our course in this respect, as a shield against any such imputation. Whether the fears we have entertained and so frequently reiterated in regard to the designs of the vile impostor, Joe Smith, are about being realized, we leave to the judgment of every unprejudiced mind who may peruse the proceedings of the citizens of Hancock county. All we can now urge is, for the people of this State to act as become good citizens, as christians, as law-abiding men, without regard to party, in the suppression of the open and unblemishing vices and blasphemies practiced, unrebuked, by the Mormons at Nauvoo. Without we unite as did the "law and order party" in Rhode Island, regardless of party distinctions, for the suppression of Mormonism in our midst, they will finally triumph over us; and the early settler and sturdy pioneer together with all who do not avow and practice their absurdities, wickedness and blasphemies will be banished from this State or fall victims to their vengeance and lawlessness.

What a rebuke is the present state of things at Nauvoo, and in Hancock county, upon those members of the last Legislature, who, for political considerations entirely, refused to repeal such portions of the Mormon charters as were clearly in violation of the Constitution of this State, and of the U. States; and which conferred powers upon that sect, which no other denomination or portion of the citizens of Illinois possessed or asked? How can such unfaithful, unpardonable public servants, reconcile their coduct with the duty they owed to their injured and abused constituency? How can they expect the countenance or support of any honest man, when they reflect that it was entirely within their power to have averted the storm that now threatens to burst upon us, and yet shrunk from a faithful performance of their duty? For all such, whether Whig or Locofoco, there is no excuse -- no palliation whatever. They have sacrificed their country at the shrine of party, and alike deserve and will receive the execrations of all good citizens.

There is no part of the proceedings of the citizens of Hancock, that gratifies us as much as the resolution which declares, that as a body, they will withhold their support from ALL CANDIDATES who shall hereafter be found truckling to the Mormons for their support. Let this course be pursued in all parts of the State, and an issue will then be made which must result in the triumph of law, order, virtue and religion, over lawless violence, disorder, vice in its most aggravated forms, and unheard of blasphemies -- an issue which must determine whether the prophecy of this unmittigated scoundrel. Joe Smith, "that Illinois was to become his without a conquest," is indeed to be realized or not. The citizens of Illinois have long enough slumbered upon their posts at the rapid encroachments made upon the laws and institutions of their country by the deluded and misguided Mormons. They have too long -- either for their credit or security -- suffered the public functionaries of their State to barter and trade with the Mormons, and to screen them from the penalties of violated laws, merely to secure Mormon support. It is to be hoped they will become awakened to a sense of their duty, and, by bringing every violator of law within the Mormon camp to speedy justice, teach them that they cannot, as heretofore, trample upon the laws of the country with impunity.

---

GREAT MEETING OF ANTI-MORMONS. -- A meeting of the citizens of Hancock county, was held at the Court House in Carthage, on the 19th of August, for the purpose of giving an expression of their feelings, and uniting their influence to reform Mormon abuses in that county. The meeting adjourned on that occasion, until the 6th of September, when it again assembled and reported the following preamble and resolutions:

This meeting having convened for the purpose of taking under advisement a subject of vital importance, not only to this country, but to all the surrounding counties, regret that we are necessarily and irresustibly forced to the conclusion, that a certain class of people have obtruded themselves upon us, calling themselves Mormons, or Latter Day Saints, and under the sacred garb of Christianity, assumed, as we honestly believe, that they may the more easily, under such a cloak, perpetrate the most lawless and diabolical deeds, that have ever, in any age of the world, disgraced the human species,

In evidence of the above charge, we find them yielding implicit obedience to the ostensible head and founder of this sect, who is a pretended Prophet of the Lord, and under this Heaven-daring assumption, claiming to set aside, by his vile and blasphemous lies, all those moral and religious institutions which have been established by the Bible, and which have, in all ages been cherished by men, as the only means of obtaining those social blessings, which are so indispensably necessary for our happiness.

We believe that such an individual, regardless as he must be of his obligations to God, and at the same time entertaining the most absolute contempt for the laws of man, cannot fail to become a most dangerous character, especially when he shall have been able to place himself at the head of a numerous horde, either equally reckless and unprincipled as himself, or also made his pliant tools by the most absurd credulity that has astonished the world since its foundation.

In the opinion of this meeting, a crisis has arrived, when many of the evils to be expected from a state of things so threatening have transpired. We feel convinced that circumstances have even now occurred, which prove to us most conclusively, that Joseph Smith, the false Prophet before alluded to, has evinced in many instances, a most shameless disregard for all the forms and restraint of Law; by boldly and presumptuously calling in question the acts of certain officers, who had fearlessly discharged the duties absolutely imposed upon them by the laws, particularly when they have come in contact with his own sordid and selfish interests.

He has been heard to threaten -- nay, he has committed violence upon the person of an officer, because that officer dared honestly to do his duty according to law.

He has caused his City Council to pass laws contrary to the laws of the State, and subversive of the rights of citizens of this State.

Citizens have been arrested, tried and punished, for breaches of these mock laws, from time to time, in such manner that they have been compelled in the humiliating necessity of seeking an asylum elsewhere, in order to escape the tyranny and oppression of this modern Caligula.

He has caused the writ of habeas corpus to be issued by the Municipal Court of the City of Nauvoo, in a case not provided for in the Charter of that city, and indeed contrary to the letter of that instrument, and, himself a prisoner, arrested under grave charges made by a neighboring State, brought before said court, tried and acquitted -- thereby procuring his own rescue from the custody of the law.

Citizens from the adjoining counties have been denied the right to regain property stolen and taken to Nauvoo, even after they have discovered both the thief and the property; and themselves, under the most frivolous pretenses, arrested, fined, and other property rifled from them, to satisfy the mock judgment and costs of his cormorant officers.

Persons upon whom stolen property has been found in the city of Nauvoo have been brought before this religious political Chief, and he, in the capacity of Mayor of the city, has refused to convict them, where the cases have been most clear and palpable.

We have had men of the most vicious and abominable habits imposed upon us, by his dictum, in order, as we verily believe, that he may the more certainly control our destinies, and render himself, through the instrumentality of these base creatures of his ill directed power, as absolute a despot over the citizens of this county, as he now is over the serfs of his own servile clan.

And to crown all, he claims to merge all religion, all law, and both moral and political justice, in the knavish pretension that he receives, fresh from heaven, divine instructions, in all matters pertaining to these things; thereby making his own depraved will the rule by which he would have all men governed.

He has caused large bodies of his ragamuffin soldiery to arm themselves, and turn out in pursuit of officers legally authorized to arrest himself, he being charged with high crimes and misdemeanors committed in the State of Missouri, and those officers arrested by the vilest hypocrisy, and placed in duress, that he might enable himself to march triumphantly into Nauvoo, and bid defiance to the laws of the land.

In view of the above grievances, this meeting feel that it is their bounden duty to resist by every laudable means, all such unwarrantable attacks upon their liberties: therefore,

Resolved, 1st, That, inasmuch as we honestly believe that the combination of people calling themselves Mormons, or latter day saints, have given strong indications in their recent movements that they are unwilling to submit to the ordinary restraints of law, we are therefore forced to the conclusion, that the time is not far distant when the citizens of this county will be compelled to assert this right, in some way.

Resolved, 2d, That while we would deprecate anything like a lawless violence without justifiable cause, yet we pledge ourselves in the most solemn manner, to resist all the wrongs which may be hereafter attempted to be imposed on this community by the Mormons, to the utmost of our ability; peaceably if we can, but forcibly if we must.

Resolved, 3d, That in the event of our being forced into a collision with that people, we pledge ourselves, that we will stand by and support each other, in every emergency, up to the death.

Resolved, 4th, That we believe, that it is also the interest of our friends in the neighboring counties, and. also, in the neighboring States, to begin to take a firm and decided stand against the high pretensions and base designs of this latter day would-be Mahomet.

Resolved, 5th, That provided we must necessarily, for the well being of this community, the protection of our dearest rights, and the preservation of our excellent institutions, adapt measures to humble the pride and arrogance of that audacious despot; we therefore call upon all good and honest men, without distinction of party or place to come to the rescue.

Resolved, 6th, That we pledge ourselves in the most determined manner, that, if the authorization of the State of Missouri shall make another demand for the bofy of Joseph Smith, and our Governor shall issue another warrant, to stand ready at all times to serve the officer into whose hands such warrant may come, as aPosse in order, that it may not be said of us, in future, that the most outrageous culprits have been suffered 'to go unwhipped of justice.'

Resolved, 7th, That a corresponding committee be appointed to communicate with the different parts of this county, and also with other counties; and we would also recommend to all surrounding counties to appoint like committees, for the purpose of a mutual interchange of views in regard to the subjects embraced in these proceedings.

Resolved, 8th, That as it has been common for several years past for politicians of both parties, not only of this county, but likewise of the State, to go to Nauvoo and truckle to the heads of the Mormon clan, for their influence, we pledge ourselves, that we will not support any man of either party, in future, who shall thus debase himself.

Resolved, 9th, That if the Mormons carry out the threats they have made in regard to the lives of several of our citizens, we will, if failing to obtain speedy redress from the laws of the State, take summary and signal vengeance upon them as a people.

Resolved, 10th, That when the government ceases to afford protection, the citizens of cpourse fall back upon their original and inherent right of self defense.

Committees were appointed in all parts of the county to correspond and co-operate with citizens in other counties to further the object of this meeting.

On motion of Chas. C. Stephens, the following Resolution was unanimously adopted.

Resolved, That the President of this meeting be requested to communicate with the Governor of Missouri, and responsibly request him to make another demand upon the authorities of this State for the body of Joseph Smith, commonly called the Mormon Prophet; and in the event of a requisition and an order, for the arrest and delivery to the proper officers of the State of Missouri, we offer our service to enforce said order -- and pledge ourselves to sustain the supremacy of the laws in all hazards, and under all circumstances.

---

==> What will Gov. Ford say to the developments made by the citizens of Hancock county, of the conduct of his new allies -- the Mormons. We advise him, instead of running as a candidate for the United States Senate to move to Nauvoo and become one of Joe's disciples.


Notes: (forthcoming)

KIDNAPPING -- UNHEARD-OF  OUTRAGE.

A few days since, two Mormons were kidnapped from the neighborhood of Nauvoo, by some citizens of Missouri, who are now in confinement in that State. The excuse for this high-handed measure, it is unnecessary for us to look intoNo matter how great the injury inflicted by those who have been kidnapped, upon their captors, the act is alike arbitrary, illegal, and oppressive. No man in his senses, who, for the last three years has been accostumed to peruse the Telegraph, will accuse us of either favor or partiality towards the Mormons. We have spoken of them from our firm convictions of right, and as we believed, the evidence in our possession justified. Unprincipled, and unworthy of the countenance of all honest men, as the leaders among them may be, they are, nevertheless, Citizens of the State of Illinois, and, as such, are entitled to all the protection that the constitution and the laws of the State throw around the person, the property and the liberty, of the most worthy and favored in our midst.

We understand that satisfactory evidence of the caption and unlawful detention of the two Mormons, has been transmitted to the Governor; and his aid asked, as the Executive of this State, in demanding the release of the two citizens of Illinois from the authorities of Missouri. This demand, we are credibly informed. the Governor has refused to make. Why he has done so, is to us most inexplicable. Here has been a direct invasion upon the rights of two of our citizens, the protection of whose life, liberty and property, is guarantied to them by the constitution of Illinois -- an utter disregard and palpable violation of our State sovereignty -- and a gross outrage committed against our laws. And yet, we are told the Executive has not the power to demand of the authorities of Missouri, the release of two of our citizens, who have been illegally captured, within the limits of our State, and transported via et armis, into the State of Missouri. What, we would inquire, was, some short time since, the conduct of the Governor of Vermont when one of its citizens was captured by British subjects, and taken into British territory? A demand -- yes, an unqualified demand, was made by the Governor of Vermont; upon the British authorities, for the immediate release of the citizens of Vermont, and that demand was not only unhestitaingly complied with, but an ample and satisfactory apology was made for the offense. When any of our seamen have been impressed, what has been the course of the Executive of the nation? It has been an instantaneous demand for their release. And, we insist, there is no difference in principle, between impressing our seamen, and the caption of the citizens of Vermont, and the case of the two Mormons under consideration. We trust Gov. Ford will recall this hasty determination of his, and act as becomes the Executive of an independent and Sovereign State, and not as a pot-house politician. This a grave and serious question, directly affecting every citizen of this State For if our State Government is inadequate to the protection of the liberty and persons of the citizens, it is time for us to know it. We do not believe, if a proper demand was made by Gov. Ford, that the Executive of Missouri would for a moment hesitate to comply with it. And, if he did, we are satisfied the citizens of Missouri would not uphold him in his course. They, as well as us, and in fact, the citizens of the whole Union, have the deepest, most abiding interest, in the rigid maintenance of the laws and a faithful allegiance to the principles of the constitution, both Federal and State. At that moment we even indirectly acquiesce in any such unlawful and mobocrat seizure of the person or property of the citizen, that instant we are levelling a blow at the civil institutions of our countrywhich will make the mighty fabric of American Independencetotter to its very base. The evil of one such violationof the constitution is incalculable and goes farther to bring a Republican form of government into disrepute than any other misfortune that could befall us. Against every thing of the kind, partaking in the remotest degree of a mobocratic or turbulent spirit, we enter an unqualified protest. We are against it as a citizen, as a professional man, as an Editor, and as a Whig; the fundamental principle of whose political creed is -- obedience in every respect to that constitution and the laws of the country.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  LATE  KIDNAPPING.

The Warsaw Message of the 17th of January -- which reached us only a day or two since -- expresses the opinion that the remarks in the Telegraph of December 30, condemnatory of the kidnapping of two Mormons by certain citizens of Missouri, "need not have been quite so severe upon the actors in this matter," and that although justly censurable, "there is more excuse for them" than we "seem to appreciate." This may be so. It is quite as possible that the outrage in question was attended by extenuating circumstances, the force of which could not well be estimated "at a distance of 150 miles," as was that to which the worthy Editor alludes. We are gratified to believe that he concurs with us in the opinion that a resort to violence. in any case, is unjustifiable in a country of laws; and cheerfully transfer to our columns his own account of the affair, which is as follows:

A certain Mormon, named Avery, was arrested in Missouri, on a charge of horse stealing, and is now, as we believe, in jail in Palmyra waiting his trial. On his examination he implicated his father, who resides on this side of the river, and who had a most notorious character. Some citizens of Missouri came over, and in company with citizems of this State, arrested said Avery, (without process) and took him to Missouri, where a Grand Jury found a true bill against him for the crime of which he was accused. (He has since, however, as we learn, been set at liberty, by the operation of the Habeas Corpus -- which has become in this country a mere mockery, and a machine of injustice.


Notes: (forthcoming)

A NEW CANDIDATE!

The Nauvoo Neighbor -- a Mormon journal -- in a long and elaborate article, in which it attempts to show that "the Latter-day Saints" have but little to expect to fear from the success of Mr. Van Buren, avows its determination to support Gen. Joseph Smith for the next Presidency! We opine that the Prophet, whatever may be his merits, will not get more votes at the approaching election, than the Locofoco candidate obtained in 1840.

Notes: (forthcoming)

Some weeks since, we announced the discontinuance of the "Message," -- a Whig journal, hithertofore published at Warsaw, Hancock county, in this State, and the contemplated resurrection of the "Signal." in its stead. Two or three numbers of the last mentioned paper have recently found their way to our desk, and make quite a respectable and and business-like appearance. We regret, however, to notice the tone in which, in his introductory address, the Editor alludes to the difficulty now existing between the Mormons and the other citizens of Hancock. It is not to our design to interfer in the controversy, unless it should unfortunately become a State affair. But we hope the leading men on both sides, and especially the conductors of the press, instead of laboring to keep alive the flame of discord, will do all in their power to allay an excitement which can lead only to the most disasterous results.


Notes: (forthcoming)

About 300 Mormons, recently arrived from England, have passed up the river, within the last two weeks, on their way to Nauvoo. The most [-------] acquisitions to the Saints now seem to come from abroad.

Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMON  STATE  CONVENTION.

It appears, by the last Nauvoo paper, that, at a public meeting held in that city on the 23d of last month, the Mormons resolved to call a State Convention, to assemble at the same place on the 19th of May inst. for the purpose of consulting upon measures for the furtherance of their designs in the next Presidential elections. Every country is invited to send two delegates, "to whom the hospitalities of the city will be tendered" during their attendance. The meeting expressed the opinion that the Mormons "can bring, independent of any other party, from two to five hundred thousand into the field;" and nominaled several gentlemen to attend the Baltimore Convention, (which?) to make overtures to that body!" "It is in contemplation," adds the Neighbor, "to hold a National Convention, in the city of Baltimore, or some other Eastern city, as shall be agreed upon." -- Well, we shall see what we shall see.

---

THE  MORMONS.

In noticing the resuscitation of the Warsaw Signal, in our paper of March 25, we took occasion to express our regret at the tone in which the Editor, in his salutatory Address, had referred to the difficulties existing between the Mormons and other citizens of Hancock, as well as the hope that the leading men on both sides, and especially the conductors of the press, would do all in their power to allay the prevailing excitement. The Signal of April 24th, favors us with a long reply, in which the misdeeds of the Mormons, and the crimes imputed to their Prophet are enumerated; and which winds up by saying, that we can know nothing of the atrocities perpetuated by those people, or that we would not "lecture" it "for endeavoring to expose such a gang of outlaws, black-legs, and bloodsuckers."

Now, we readily admit that our acquaintance with the matters spoken of, is very limited; and, under this conviction, we have for some time past seriously thought of paying a visit to Nauvoo, in the course of the present summer, for the purpose of ascertaining, by personal observation, how far the reports so extensively circulated, to the prejudice of that famous city, and her singular population, are entitled to credit. We acknowledge farther, that if the charges exhibited by the Editor, against the Mormons, are susceptible of proof, then his denunciation of them, in, his first number, may be entirely justifiable. -- Our objections to his address do not arise so much from our belief that there was no real fround for suspicion, as because it appeared to have perjuried the case, and to be calculated to inflame passions, and increase prejudices, already too much excited. We did not intend to "lecture" our contemporary; but merely volunteered a little advice, which we hoped would be received in the spirit in which it was given, and we shall regret to be compelled to believe the contrary.

---

==> The last Warsaw Signal announces the discontinuance of the Hancock Democrat -- a small Locofoco "campaign paper," published at the same place, the first appearance of which was noticed in the Telegraph of the 6th of April -- after a painful struggle between life and death, of about three weeks duration. It seems now that the Mormons have set up for themselves, and brought out a candidate for the presidency, Locofocism is in the wane in Hancock and the neighboring counties, and bids fair soon to become totally extinct in that section of the State. The Signal adds, that the Democrat, "never having any soul, there are no hopes of its resurrection." Peace to its' ashes!


Notes: (forthcoming)

SCHISM  AMONG  THE  MORMONS.

The last Warsaw Signal states that a rupture has taken place among the Mormons -- a respectable number of the most intelligent members of that body have seceded, under the guidance of William Law, and set up for themselves. It does not appear that the religious views of the seceders have undergone any material change. They profess to believe that Joseph Smith was once a true prophet; but contend that he is now fallen from grace, and no longer worthy to remain at the head of the Church. Private information confirms the above intelligence in its most essential features.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  MORMON  SCHISM.

In our paper of the 18th ult., we briefly noticed a report, which had reached us from various quarters, that an open rupture had taken place between Joseph Smith and some of the most intelligent of his former adherants; and that the latter had actually renounced their allegiance to the Prophet and set up for themselves. Later accounts indicate that these seceders are in earnest. -- They have issued a Prospectus for a new paper, to be called the "Nauvoo Expositor," which is expected to appear immediately; and is to be published under the superindentence of William Law, Wilson Law, Chas, Jones,, Francis M. Higbee, Robert D. Foster, and Charles A. Foster, all, until within a short period, leading members of the Mormon Church. Its avowed object is to hold up, in all their naked deformity, the countless and unheard-of enormities practiced by Jos. Smith, and those who adhere to him, under and assumed and unwarrantable construction of the provisions of the charter granted them by the Legislature of Illinois. The Prospectus also promises, that the "Expositor" will advocate an "unconditional repeal of the Nauvoo City Charter -- unmitigated disobediance to political revelations -- the pure principals of morality and truth -- the exercise of freedom of speech in Nauvoo -- to sustain all in worshipping God according to their consciences, and oppose, with uncompromising hostility, any union of church and State -- and to give a statement of the facts as they really exist in Nauvoo."

In the controversy between Joseph Smith and his adherents on the one hand and the seceders on the other, we mean to take no part. Our opinions, in relation to the former, have been heretofore spread before the readers of the Telegraph, and nothing his since come to our knowledge to force us to change, but on the contrary, much to confirm them. The publication of the "Expositor" will, we trust, lead to the elucidation of all the facts; and enable the people of Illinois to decide how far the longer toleration of Mormonism, as it has hitherto existed among them, with all its privileges and immunities is consistent with their safety, and the welfare of the state. Let us have the truth -- the whole truth -- and if the Prophet and his followers prove as vile and unprincipled as we and many othershave hitherto held them to be, let them be punished according to the magnitude of their transgressions. If not, let the excitement prevailing against them cease altogether; and let them continue to remain undisturbed. Although we honestly believe Joseph Smith to be an impostor, yet, if it shall be made to appear that he is a virtuous man, and his adherents a blameless and law-abiding community, it will afford us pleasure to recall all we may heretofore have said to their prejudice, and lend them all needful aid in making their innocence known to the world.

---

==> HYRUM SMITH, upon whose shoulders Joseph has allowed his mantle of prophecy to fall, was one of the delegates to the Locofoco Convention that lately nominated J. P. Hoge, Esq., for re-election to Congress. Hyrum is said to have asserted before the Convention, that he had received a revelation from the Lord, that the 2000 Mormon votes in the district were to be given to Mr. Hoge. Was there ever greater blasphemy or hypocrisy?

---

MORMON  OUTRAGES  RENEWED.

A Deputy Marshall of the district of Illinois, proceeded to Nauvoo a few days since, with a process issued by Hon. Nathaniel Pope, Judge of the District Court of the United States, for the arrest of JEREMIAH SMITH, upon a criminal charge of embezzling money. The Deputy Marshal succeeded in arresting Smith; when "HOLY JOE," by the exercise of his arbitrary power, caused his follower to be taken out of the possession of the United State's Officer, and brought before the Municipal Court of Nauvoo, for an examination under the writ of "Habeas Corpus," issued by that immaculate body. The Marshal, Col. Prentiss, favored the writer with a perusal of the letter of his Deputy, in which he stated that the examination was to come off on the next day, and the result was involved in doubt. He farther avowed a fixed determination on his part fearlessly and faithfully to execute the process of the United States Court, regardless of the course of this mock tribunal of justice, whose chief business is the release of all rogues who take shelter at Nauvoo, and are subsequently arrested by any process of law, whether issued from the State or Federal Courts. Should Joe Smith refuse to surrender the accused into the hands of the Deputy Marshal, Col. Prentiss will repair in person to the scene of the action, with such a force as will insure obedience to the Constituted authoriries of the Government.

---

==> The Upper Mississippian republishes a paragraph from a late number of the Telegraph, in which we (the Senior Editor) had announced the intention sometime this summer, "of paying a visit to Nauvoo, for the purpose of ascertaining, by personal observation," the correctness of the reports so extensively circulated, to the prejudice of that famous city; and then discourseth as follows: --

"Ah! indeed. If you should stay a day or two in Nauvoo, you will go away fully prepared, doubtless, to pronounce a verdict upon that 'famous city and her singular population,' -- much more so than those citizens of the country and neighborhood, who have been witnesses of their conduct for years! What would be thought of us, if we should visit the 'famous city' of Alton, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the Editor of the Telegraph and the rest of her 'singular population,' are knaves and swindlers? We should of course call on the suspected individuals, (as you will when you go to Nauvoo) and if they should deny the charge -- or if 'Knavery' is not written in black letters n their foreheads -- their innocence is completely established of course!

We could name more than one individual, who has done the same thing the Telegraph designs doing, and for the same purpose; and who, after having been kindly received by the Prophet -- rode round in his carriage, and shown the 'lions' of the city, the oxen and the mummy -- have gone away fully convinced that Joe is a much abused and persecuted individual, and a very fine fellow, after all! and discrediting the concurrence testimony of hundreds of witnesses, who have had ten times the opportunity of knowing, and no more inducements for misrepresentation."

And pray, found, what would you have us do? Having little or no faith in Mesmerism, we are not fortunate enough to possess the gift of clairvoyance; and consequently, at this distance from the stage of action, we are wholly unable to see the 'tricks" which Joseph Smith is said to be playing "before high Heaven," and in arrogant defiance of the State authorities. Now, we confess, we feel some little curiosity to see this "Lion in his den." We are inclined to believe that there must be something attractive about him -- that he is not, perhaps, so utterly depraved as he is represented to be -- since he has been able to exercise almost unlimited control over the minds and persons of a large and rapidly increasing number of followers, some of whom are unquestionably men of intelligence, and, so far as is known, of good moral character, for ten years upwards. If he is in fact both a fool and a knave, his position, during the period mentioned, has been a standing miracle. We wish, if practicable, to ascertain if this is really the case.

Our friend and associate in the management of this paper, is pretty decidely Anti-Mormon in his opinions, as the columns of the Telegraph during the campaign of 1841-42, will abundantly testify. We, on the contrary, are Anti-Humbug; that is all, and as Locofocoism is by far the most widely-spread, as well as incomparably the most mischevious, of all the Humbugs of the day, we are disposed to war against it exclusively, without meddling with controversies which may arise on other subjects any farther than the public good seems absolutely to require. If Mormonism is actually founded on imposture, as its opponents profess to believe, it will surely come to naught; and will not outlive the generation in which it was ushered into existence. But if a mere harmless excrescence on the vigorous and prolific tree of liberty, growing on the American soil, it may be safely suffered to remain until it shall either drop off, or be reincorporated into the parent trunk. At any rate, we never have believed, since it first began to attract attention, that it will ever prove sufficiently formidable, if left to itself, to do as much mischief as would be unavoidably occasioned by any attempt to put it down by any means other than enlightened public opinion.

---

JOE  SMITH  vs.  HENRY  CLAY.

The last Nauvoo Neighbor publishes a correspondence, which has recently taken place between the Mormon Prophet and the Whig candidate for the next Presidency, the character of which induces us, (the senior Editor); not without much reluctance, to give up the hope hitherto cherished, almost against our own convictions, that the former is not quite as great a villian as he is generally represented to be as well as the idea of visiting Nauvoo. The gravest charges against him, if clearly proved, could not possibly make a more unfavorable impression on our mind than the perusal of his last letter of the 13th of May -- which would disgrace the vilest wretch in the Penitentiary -- and henceforward, we shall endeavor to shun him, and his adherents, as a moral pestilence. -- It is perhaps proper to remark, that the preceeding article was in type, when the correspondence reached us; otherwise it would not have appeared.


Notes: (forthcoming)

JEREMIAH  SMITH,

whom we mentioned last week as having beenwrested from a deputy Marshal by the authorities of Nauvoo, was released by "HOLY JOE." Concluding, however, that discretion was the better part of valor, Mr. Smith. subsequently determined to attend the deputy Marshal to Springfield; when his honor, Judge Pope, after giving him a hearing, directed he should be sent to the District of Columbia for trial, where he stands indicted for embezzling money.

---

The impostor, Joe Smith, was indicted upon several criminal charges at the late term of Hancock Circuit Court. Of the grand jury who found the bills against him, twelve were Mormons. -- Justice, thought sometimes tardy, is generally sure. What bew move this arrant scoundrel will adopt to get rid of paying the penalties of the law, we know not. -- But if his future efforts are as successful as his past, there is little danger of his conviction.


Notes: (forthcoming)

ANOTHER  OUTRAGE  AT  NAUVOO.

The new Nauvoo journal -- the 'Expositor' -- made its appearance last week; and according to promise, began its career by divilging the 'secrets of the prison-house.' It seems, by an extra from the 'Neighbor' -- the Prophet's official organ -- that these new 'revelations' did not suit his holiness; and that the City Council, at a meeting held on Monday last, declared the establishment 'a nuisance,' under the provisions of their charter, and commanded the Marshal to abate it. This officer accordingly preceeded to the office, at the head of the police, took the press, materials, and paper into the street, and made a bonfire of them! What will be the result of this outrage none can tell; but, for the honor of the State, we hope it will not be suffered to go unpunished.

---

THE  CRISIS.

Ever since our earliest connection with the press, either as Editor or correspondent, we have unceasingly raised our feeble but disregarded voice against the course adopted by politicians, in clothing the arch impostor, JOE SMITH, with power, and attaching importance to him and his deluded followers by courting their support as a body, and chiming in with their miserable cant, that they were an "abused and persecuted race." We have insisted that, so lsoon as they were fairly warmed into existence, they would turn upon those who had sustained them; and that violence, bloodshed, and a wanton disregard of the law, would be the only means by which they would attempt to maintain their power, against the civil and religious institutions of our country. That crisis, which we have so often foretold as with prophetic certainty, has arrived. Joe Smith has proceeded from one extreme to another of lawless violence, until the citizens of the county in which he has located have arisen without distinction, and determined, by solemn resolutions, to wage against the Mormons A WAR OF EXTERMINATION. The cause which has given rise to this unjustifiable course, grows out of a most shameful attack made by Joe Smith and his minions upon the liberty of the Press. It is already known that a newspaper, called the "Nauvoo Expositor," lately made its first appearance in that modern Sodom, under the auspices of an association of gentlemen, who are seceders from the mockery and blasphemies of "HOLY JOE." The first number of the Expositor we have perused with care, and feel no hesitation in saying that it was conducted with all the decorum, and propriety, that could be expected from any paper, engaged in the attempt to expose the enormities of Mormonism, and correct the evils that inevitably flow from so corrupt a fountain. This paper, Joe Smith -- under the sanction of the power vested in the corporate authorities of Nauvoo by an Illinois Legislature -- pronounced a nuisance, and directed that it should be removed by its destruction. A lawless gang of desperadoes, without principle, and without responsibility, in obedience to the edict of the PROPHET! assailed the office in which were the press and materials of the Expositor, and made a bonfire of all that could be consumed by that element, and destroyed the residue by breaking it into a thousand atoms. The Editor of the Warsaw Signal was also threatened with death, if he dared to persist in his denunciations of the impostor and villain, Joe Smith.

The citizens of Hancock, aroused to a pitch of phrenzy, and smarting under the accumulated wrongs heaped upon them by Joe Smith, called a public meeting, and passed resolutions inflammatory in the extreme; and in a spirit which, if carried into execution, renders a personal collision between the citizens and the Mormons inevitable. We cannot better portray the feeling that pervades that community, than by quoting from an Extra of the Warsaw Signal, giving the proceedings of the citizens, the following extract:

"We have only to state, that this is sufficient! War and extermination is inevitable! Citizens, arise, one and all!!! Can you stand by, and suffer such infernal devils to rob men of their property and rights without avenging them? We have no time for comment -- every man will make his own. Let it be with powder and ball!!!"

No one will accuse us of partiality or favor towards the Mormons, No one will so far forget what is due to candor and truth as for a moment to doubt, that nothing would afford the writer more gratification than to see the Mormons who are guilty brought to justice, and, the whole of them removed peaceably beyond the limits of our State. When therefore, we condemn, as we unhesitatingly do, the mobocratic tone of the proceedings of the public meeting at Warsaw, it is only for the reason that we regard the maintenance of the law and its supremacy as of far greater value than any other earthly consideration. There is a remedy for the punishment of those who have destroyed private property, and threatened the life of an estimable and unoffending citizen. The institutions under which we libe furnish AN AMPLE PROTECTION TO BOTH LIFE AND PROPERTY, if we will confide in their authority, instead of resorting ro brute force. Let the guilty, then, be arrested, condemned, and punished to the very extent of the law. Let the citizens turn out en masse to aid the officers of the law in its administration. If it becomes necessary. But as a friend deeply sympathising with the citizens of Hancock under their wrongs -- as one who has ever cried aloud and spared not, against the wickedness, blasphemy, and hypocrisy, of Joe Smith -- we earnestly intreat them not to violate the law -- the only resort potent enough to furnish them protection -- by attempting a "war of extermination" against the Mormons, outrageous and disgraceful as has proven their conduct. We warn them against a resort to violence. Should they do it, instead of receiving the sympathy of the citizens of other States, they will be visited with their anathemas. For the time has come, which demands of the law abiding citizens from one extremity of the Union to the other, to raise their voices against every thing wearing the semblance of a mob.

We are free to admit, that we have regarded with no less mortification than alarm, the frequency with which the torch of the public incendiary. the destruction of private property, the pillage of public institutions; and the loss of life, have been heralded forth to the world as the trophies of victory of a ruthless and ungovernable mob. We have read with chagrin and humiliation, the censure of the European press, upon these frequent outbreaks throughout our land, and smarted under the consciousness of the justness of the rebuke, that such scenes would disgrace the most despotic government in the world. much more a people boasting of its Republican, Democratic institutions. In them the dispassionate observer can discover the germ of anarchy, disorder, and ruin; and conscience proclaims in every American heart, that, unless a stop is put to these lawless outbreaks, we will soon, as a nation, be numbered only among those that were. In conclusion, then, we again intreat the citizens of Hancock not to indulge in the spirit evinced by the published proceedings of their public meeting; but, under any and all circumstances, to flee to the law as the agis of their safety and protection.

---

THE  MORMONS.

Our latest intelligence from Nauvoo is down to Tuesday evening. It is reported that about 1,000 persons were assembled in arms, at Carthage and Warsaw, and designed making an attack upon Nauvoo on Wednesday last. A mass meeting of the citizens of Hancock county was convened at Carthage on the 13th inst., at which great indignation was expressed on account of the recent destruction of the printing office of the Nauvoo Expositor, by the authorities of Nauvoo. At this meeting inflammatory resolutions were passed, in which we were sorry to see the mob spirit so strongly predominate. Nauvoo was under Martial law, and preparations making for a vigorous defense in case of attack. Great numbers are deserting the Prophet in his hour of need. Notwithstanding all the warlike demonstrations that have been making, er are inclined to believe that no attack was made on Wednesday by the citizens of the adjoining counties, as contemplated. For the honor of our State, we hope that it has not been disgraced by mob violence. Let us trust in the civil law for redress. From present appearances these deluded people are about to be scattered from internal commotions. Sidney Rigdon, and his family, passed down on the Osprey, on Wednesday last. He is proceeding to fulfill the Prophet's vision, by settling in the vicinity of Pittsburg.


Notes: (forthcoming)