I 1 joe 1 copyright secure I 1 11 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 SMITH 1839 libert liberty I 1 jail aly 7 county I 1 mo alo march 20 1839 if to 0 the 0 roh of ft zatter latter day saints at quincy ind scattered abroad and to bishop pu Parti k age adge particular in your humble servant joseph smith 1 jr prisoner for the IW jj hotd jesus christs sale sake and and for the saints taen and held by the power of cray under the exterminating t in reign of his flis excellency the governor lilburn lilburne Lilbur nW W bogga with his fellow prisoners and beloved beima brethren caleb baldwin lyman W wight ight H hyrum um smith and alexander mera ilici unto you all greeting may the grace of goethe father and of our lord and SIN Vior jesus christ rest U upon you all and abide with you forever may knowledge be auf multiplied unto you by the mercy of god and may faith and virtue and knowledge and temperance and patience pd and godliness and brotherly kindness and aind charity chari tybe be in you and abound that you may not be barren in anything nor unfruitful forasmuch as we know that the most of you are well acquainted with the wrongs and the high toned injustice and cruelty that is practiced practised upon us whereas we have been taken uk a n prisoners soars charged falsely with every ii hind d of evil and thrown into prison enclosed with strong walls surrounded with a strong guard gaard who continually watch dy day and as indefatigable as the devil is in in tempting epting and laying snares f for or the people of god therefore dearly barly beloved brethren we are the diore more ready and willing to lay claim to fellowship and love for our circumstances cum stances are calculated to awaken our spirits to a sacred remembrance of 0 everything and we think that yours are also and that nothing therefore can separate us from the love of god and fellowship one with an other 1 and that every species of wickedness and cruelty practised practiced upon us will only tend to bind our hearts together and seal them together in luve love we have no need to say to you that we are held irk in bonds without cause neither is it needful that you yoa say unto us we axe are driven from our oar homes and smitten we mu ma 1 dually understand that if the inhabitants inhabit anO of 1 the state of missouri had let the saints I 1 alone and had been a as desirable of peace as they were there would have been noth I 1 ing bat peace and quietude qa i etude in tb this is state unto this his day we should not have been in this hell bell surrounded with demons if not those who are damned they are those who shall be damned and where we are compelled to hear nothing but blasphemous oaths and witness a scene of blasphemy and drunkenness and hypocrisy and debaucheries debau cheries of D every description I 1 and again the cries of orphans and wi aws would not have ascended up to gia goa 0 against then them a it would not have stained ed the he soil of missouri but 0 the unrelenting hand the inhumanity and murderous disposition of this people it shocks all nature it beggars and defies all description it is a tale of woe a lamentable tale yea a sorrowful tale too much to tell too much for or contemplation too much to think of for a moment too much for human beings it cannot be found among the heathen he athens s it cannot bo be f found among the nations whore where kings and tyrants are enthroned it cannot be found among the savages of the wilderness yea and I 1 think it cannot be f found 0 und among the wild and ferocious beasts of the f orest forest that a man should be mangled for sport aport women be robbed of all that they have n ave their last morsel for f or subsistence and then be violated to gratify the hellish desires of the mob and finally left to perish with their helpless offspring clinging around their necks but this is not all after a man is dead he be must be dug up from his grave and mangled to pieces for no other purpose than to gratify their spleen against the religion of god 4 they practice practice these things upon tipon the saints who 0 have done them no wrong who aye are innocent and virtuous who loved the lord their god and were willing to forsake all things for christs sake these things are awful to relate but they are verily true it must needs be that of fences come but wo we unto them by whom they come 0 god where art thou and whore where is the pavilion that coverett cov ereth thy hiding biding place ijo I how jo W long shall thy hand be a stayed and thine eye yea thy pure eye behold from the eternal heavens heaven st the wrongs of t thy hy people and of thy servants and thine eab ear be penetrated with their cries yea 0 lord how I 1 long ong shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful I 1 adf ul oppressions oppress ions before thine heart shall b be e softened towards them and thy bowels be moved with compassion cova passion towards them 0 lord god almighty maker of heaven earth and seas and of all things that in them is and who control leth and subject eth the devil and the dark and benighted dominion of Sha yole stretch orth forth f thy hand let thine eye pierce let thy tb 7 pavilion be taken up let thy hiding biding place no longer be covered let thine hine ear be inclined let thine heart 1 be softened and thy bowels moved with compassion toward us let thine anger be kindled against our enemies and in the fury of thine heart with thy sword avenge avedge us of our wrongs remember thy suT suffering ering saints sainta 0 our god and thy servants will rejoice in thy name forever dearly and beloved brethren we see that perilous times have come as was testified of we may look then with most perfect assurance for the rolling in of all those things that have been written and with more confidence than ever bea before ore lift lif t up our eyes to the luminary of day and say in our hearts soon thou wilt veil thy blushing face f ace he that said let abe there we be light ight and there was light hath spoken this word and again thou moon thou dimmer light licht thou luminary of night shall turn to blood we see that averytt everything king is f fulfilling al fillin and the time shall soon come com is when tho the son bon of man shall descend in the clouds of heaven our hearts do n not ot shrink neither are 0 our ur spirits ts altogether broken at the grievous yoke yok which is is put upon us we know that G god 0 adwill will have our dur oppress oppressors orsin in derision that he will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh oh that we could be with you brethren and our f feelings to you we would tell that we should have been liberated at the time elder rigdon was on the writ of habeas corpus had not our own law yera interpreted the law contrary to what it reads against us which prevented us from introducing our evidence before the mock court they have done us much harm from the beginning they have of late acknowledged that the law was misconstrued and tantalized our feelings with it and have entirely forsaken us and have forfeited their 0 oaths ath S and their bonds and we have a come back on them for they are workers coworkers co with the mob As nigh as we can learn the public mind has hai been for a long time turn turning ing in our favor i v or and the majority is now friendly and the lawyers can no longer browbeat us by saying that this or that is a matter of public opinion for public opinion is not willing to brook it for it is beginning to look with feelings of ind indignation n against our oppress ors and to say that the mormons cormons Mor mons were not noi I 1 in the fault in the least we think that truth honor and virtue and innocence will eventually come out triumphant we should have taken a habeas corpus before escaped the in mob ob in a the high judge and summary way but unfortunately for us the timber of the wall being very hard bard our auger er handles gave cand bin hindered dered us 10 longer nger man atan we elpe expected acted we applied to a frien dand a very slight alight in incautious P antons au tOns met act gave rise to some suspicions suspicion 8 and before we could fully succeed our plan was d discovered is covered w we e ha had bevery every thing in readiness 3 but the last stone and ana we could have made our escape in in admirably one on m minute a and aad ad should have succeeded admirably had it not been for a little imprudence or over on part pan or of our inena the sheriff and jailer did not blame us for our attempt it was a fine breach and cost coat the county a round sum but public opinion says that we ought to have been permitted to have made our escape that then the disgrace would have been ap pp 0 now it must I 1 pome come on the state c that there cannot bo be any charge sustained against us and that the I 1 conduct of the tool mob the murders committed at hauns mills and the exterminating t order of the governor a and n d the one s sided i ded rascally proceedings of the legislature has damned the state of missouri to 0 all eternity I 1 would just name also that general atchison has proved himself as contemptible as I 1 any anhof of them elwe elany I 1 have tried for a long time to get our lawyers to t 0 draw us some petitions to the supreme judges of this state bat they utterly refused ref ased we have examined the law and drawn the petitions ourselves and have obtained abundance of proof to counteract all the testimony that was against us so that if the supreme judge does not grant us our liberty he be has got to act without cause contrary to honor bonor evidence law or justice to please the devil but we hope better things and trust before many daa da s god will so or order d er our case that we shall be set at liberty and take up our habitation with the saints S i we received some letters last evening 11 one from emma one from don 0 smith and one from bishop partridge all breathing a kind and consoling condoling spirit we were much gratified with their contents gehad we had been a along long time without information and when we read those letters they were to our souls as the tb e gentle air is refreshing but our joy was mingled with grief because of the sufferings of the poor and much injured saints and we need not say to you yon that the floodgates flood gates of our hearts were hoisted ind and our eyes were a fountain of tears but those who have not been enclosed in the walls of prison orison without cause or provola tion bioni oan can have but little litile idea how sweet the voice of a friend is one token of friend shiu from any ant source whatever awakens and calls into action every sympathetic feeling it brings up in an instant everything that is passed it seizes the present with the avidity of lightning it grasps after the future with the fierceness of a tiger it retrogrades from one thing to another until final finally lir all enmity malice talice and hatred and past differences misunderstandings and mismanage ments are slain victorious victori s at the feet of hope and when the heart is sufficiently contrite then tha iha voice of inspiration steals along and whispers my son SOD peace be unto th youl thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment and then if thon endure it well god shall exalt thee on high thou triumph over all thy foes I 1 thy friends do stand by thee and the they y shall hail thee aga warm hearts and friendly thou art not yet as job thy f friends do not contend against thee neither charge thee with transgression as they did job and they who do charge thee with transgression tra nag their hope shall be be blasted and their prospects shall melt away as the hoar frost melt eth before the burning rays of the rising sun and also that god hath set to his hand and seal to change 0 the times and seasons and to blind their minds that they may not understand jinders tand his marvellous marcellous marv ellous workings ehst be way may prove them also and take them in their own craftiness also because their hearts are corrupted and the things which they are willing to bring upon others and I 1 love lova to have others ciphers suffer may como come upon themselves to the very uttermost that they may be disappointed also and their hopes may be cut off and not many years hence that they and their posterity shall be swept from under heagen saith god that not one of them is left to stand by the wall cursed are all those that shall lift up the heel against mine anointed saith the lord andery and cry they have sinned when they have not sinned before me saith the lord but have done that which was meet in mine eyes and which I 1 commanded them but those who cry transgression do it because they are the servants of sin and are the children of disobedience themselves and those who swear falsely against my servants that they might bring them into bondage and death wo we unto them because they have offended my little ones they shall be severed from the ordinances of mine house their basket shall not be full their houses and their barns shall perish peri sh and they themselves shall be despised by those that flattered them they shall not have right to the priesthood nor their posterity city after them from generation genera ti lo 10 n to generation it had been better I 1 or them that a millstone had bad been hanged about their necks and they drew drowned a e d in the depth of the sea wo we unto all those that discomfort my people I 1 and drive and murder and testify I 1 against za them saith the lord of hosts a generation of vi vipers ers shall not escape the damn damnation aaion of b hell el behold mine eyes seeth and all their works an and d I 1 have in i n reserve a swift judgment in in the season thereof for them all for there is a time appointed for every man according as his hie works shall be and now beloved brethren we say unto you that inasmuch as god hath said sa I 1 id that he would have a tried people that he would purge them as gold now we think that this time he be has chosen his own crue crucible ible wherein we have been tried and we think if we got get through with any degree dearee of safety and shall have kept the faith f au that it will be a sign to this generation altogether sufficient to bear bea r them without excuse and we think also it will be a trial of our faith equal to that of abraham and that the ancients will not have whereof to boast over us in the day of judgment as bein being tg called to eold pass ass heavier afflictions that t we may hold an even weight in the balances with them but now after having suffered so ireat great sa orifice and having passed through so great a seas season 0 n of trust that a ram ma may y be baue caught h t I 1 hi in t the he thicket speedily il to relieve the 8 sons on and daughters of abraham abr X m from their 9 great reat anxiety and to light up the lamp of salvation upon their countenances that they may hold on now after having gone so far u uto unto everlasting life now brethren concerning t the he places f for or the location of the saints we cannot counsel you as we would if we w e were present with you and as to td the things that were written heretofore wo we did not consider them an anything Y very binding therefore we now say once for all that we think it most proper I 1 that the general affairs of the church vi which aich are necessary to be considered while your humble servant remains in bondage should be transacted by a general conference of the most faithful and the most res respectable 1 actable of th authorities of the hurch church c and n I a minute I 1 of those transactions may be kept k ept and forwarded f or from time to time to your humble servant and if there should be any corrections by the word of the taid lord they shall be freely transmitted and your humble bumble servant will vill approve all things whatsoever is acceptable unto god if anything should have been suggested by us ua or any names mentioned except by commandment or thus thua saith baith the lord we do not consi