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upset his pretensions by printing his first version, which he knew he could not make his second version conform to, left it out altogether, and commenced his book where the lost portion ended; and so much was forever lost to religion. On that occasion he made a mistake by over-caution. When, under somewhat similar circumstances, he was again called upon to act, he made a still worse mistake by taking the opposite course. One day, while this edition was being printed at what is now Independence, Mo., the anti-Mormon border ruffians pounced upon Zion,' as the Mormons called their settlement, and in next to no time their two-story brick printing-office, with all that it contained-building, press, type, sheets, paper and all-were converted into a mass of ruins, and the Saints were running away with nothing but their lives. There can be no doubt that Joe and his lieutenants felt confident that not a copy of the sheets had been preserved. When, in 1835, the book was first given to a wicked world, two years' experience had enabled Joe to make numerous amendments. In some cases he modified or curtailed his revelations; in some cases they are considerably amplified; but in all cases the actions are made to meet the requirements of 1835. That Joe was shameless, audacious, brazen-faced, and would not have risked these alterations had he not felt very certain that every printed copy of the original version had been destroyed, is proved to the satisfaction of people of ordinary intelligence by his conduct in relation to the lost translation of the manuscript of the Book of Mormon ;' but what renders the conclusion absolutely inevitable is the fact that after the revelations were actually published beyond recall they were never again, even in the slightest degree, subjected to the Almighty revision."

CHAPTER VIII.

The Mormons at Nauvoo-Description of the Temple-The Death of the Prophet.

JOSEPH SMITH was now approaching the zenith of his fame and power. He had arrived in Illinois from his imprisonment in Missouri, so far the darkest period of his history. The injustice with which he and his people (as it was at the time generally considered) had been treated served to awaken pity in their behalf.

The Prophet's prospects at once brightened when Dr. Isaac Gallard, a notorious character, presented a part of,

a large tract of land to him in Carthage County, with an

view of making a market for the remainder.

Immediately Joseph had a "revelation" that this was the "centre spot," and he commanded the Saints to assemble there to build a city, a temple, etc. The city, the angel told him, was to be called "Nauvoo," which, he said, means "the Beautiful." It is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, forty miles above Quincy, Ill., and twenty miles west of Burlington, Iowa, at a bend of the river, on rising ground, commanding a magnificent view of the "Father of Waters" for many miles.

The land given to Joseph was divided into lots and sold to the Mormons, by which he realized over one million of dollars. The Saints from all quarters responded to the call to hasten to the new city, and it immediately grew into importance.

Fifteen years before Smith had been known as a com

mon vagrant; now he was known as a mayor, a pontiff, and as a very rich man, the legislature having granted the city a charter with extraordinary privileges, including the authorization of a military body, afterward known as the “Nauvoo Legion," of which he was the lieutenant-general-a corps to which all the male Mormons capable of bearing arms belonged.

Nauvoo became the capital of the world to the Mormons, and attracted general attention. This new "everlasting residence" of the Saints was changed from a desert into an abode of plenty and luxury. Gardens sprang up as if by magic, plethoric with the most beautiful flowers of the New and the Old World, whose seeds had been brought from distant lands as souvenirs to the new "Zion;" broad streets were laid out, houses erected, and the busy hum of industries was heard in the marts of commerce. Steamboats unloaded their stores, and passengers came and departed for fresh supplies of merchandise; fields waved with golden harvests, and cattle dotted the neighboring hills. The new settlement was increased by horse-thieves, house-breakers, robbers, and people of the most disreputable character, who joined the community to cloak their villainous deeds in mystery. Speculators, too, came and bought property with the hope of remuneration. Some of these people were baptized, but being unwilling to pay full tithes, were "ousted" from the ranks, which were again quickly filled.

An intelligent officer of the United States Army, who visited Nauvoo in the height of its prosperity, gives an account of the city and its institutions as he saw them at this time: "Yesterday," he says, was a great day among the Mormons. Their legion, to the number of two thousand men, were paraded by Generals Smith, Bennett, and others, and certainly made a very fine ap

pearance. The evolutions of the troops directed by MajorGeneral Bennett would do credit to any body of armed militia.

"What does all this mean? Why this exact discipline of the Mormon corps? Do they intend to conquer Missouri, Illinois, or Mexico?

"Before many years this legion will be fifty thousand strong a fearful host, and still augmenting, filled with religious enthusiasm, and led on by ambitious and talented officers, and what may not be effected by them? These Mormons are accumulating like a snow-ball rolling down an inclined plane, which in the end becomes an avalanche. They have appointed Captain Bennett, late of the United States Army, their inspector-general, and he is commissioned as such by Governor Curtin. This gentleman is skilled in gunnery, fortification, ordnance and military engineering generally, and I am told he is now under pay from the tithings of this warlike people. I have seen his plans for fortifying Nauvoo, which are equal to any of Tartan's.

'Only a part of their officers are Mormons, but they act with a common interest, and those who are not Mormons when they come here soon become so, from interest or conviction. The Smiths are not without talent, and are said to be brave as lions. Joseph, the chief, is a noble-looking fellow-a Mahomet, every inch of him.

"The postmaster, Sidney Rigdon, is a lawyer, philosopher, and Saint. Their other generals are men of talent, and some of them men of learning. They are all unquestionably ambitious, and the tendency of their religious creed is to annihilate all other creeds; you may therefore see that the time will come when this gathering host of religious fanatics will make the country shake to its centre. A Western empire is certain; ecclesiastical

history presents no parallel to this people, inasmuch as they are establishing their religion on a learned footing. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, is president of their university.

"The military parade astonished me and filled me with fears for future consequences. The Mormons, it is true, are now peaceable; but the lion is asleep-tako care, don't arouse him.

"This place has been settled only three years. It is well laid out, and seems to be well governed. The adjoining country is beautiful—a rolling prairie; Nauvoo contains ten thousand people, and in and near this city are thirty thousand of these warlike fanatics, an incorporated army, to whom the arms of the State have been loaned; and of this army a company has been selected to build the Mormon Temple, the site of which has been selected. I am told that all the converts of Mormonism, here and elsewhere, at this time number one hundred and fifty thousand."

From this statement it is obvious that the Saints were again prosperous some three years after their expulsion from Missouri. Not only was the site of the temple chosen, but a hotel was built, where certain of the leaders. were to be entertained, "free of expense, forever."

Conferences were held semi-annually, and missionaries were appointed to Palestine, Africa, and Europe, and to each Congressional district in the United States. The best educated, the most inquiring and restive ones, were sent on these errands in order to give them a chance to let off the steam of discontent. They were sent with all the promptness of military orders, with a three days' notice for an absence of three years from home and family, which were cared for by the presidency and bishops. Three hundred missionaries were appointed at