and the other Christian apostles men of low birth and mean position before they were called to the ministry? And what had been done before, might it not be done again, if God willed it?'

He appears to have had many contests with the preachers and leading people of other religious sects, and to have signally exasperated them against him by the boldness of his self-sufficiency, and the boundless resources of his ingenuity and impudence, in asserting and defending his pretensions. Yet if he was arrogant and presumptuous, they were not less dogmatic and intolerant. When Joseph proved himself utterly invincible by their logic, and not to be put down by any taunts concerning his unworthiness as a man or his incompetency as a scholar, they had recourse to the ordinary expedient of persecution. Their animosity rose so high at last, that the prophet and his followers found the place too strait for them; and, accordingly, to escape from the virulent opposition they had to contend with, the whole family of the Smiths and the most tenacious of their adherents deemed it prudent to remove from Palmyra and Fayetteville, and to settle themselves in other quarters. The place they selected was Kirtland, in Ohio, the birthplace of Sidney Rigdon, where they received considerable accessions to their numbers. It was, however, regarded only as a temporary resting-place. The attention of the sect was directed, from the very commencement of their organisation, to the desirableness of establishing themselves in the Far West' territories, where, in a thinly settled and partially explored country, they might squat down or purchase lands at a cheap rate, and clear the wilderness for their own purposes. Shortly after their removal to Kirtland, Oliver Cowdery was sent out on an exploratory expedition, and, coming back, reported so favourably of the beauty, fertility, and cheapness of the land in Jackson County, in Missouri, that Joseph Smith himself determined to go and visit the location.

Leaving his family and principal connections in Kirtland, he proceeded with Sidney Rigdon and some others upon a long and arduous journey, his object being to fix upon a site for theNew Jerusalem'-the future city and metropolis of the divine kingdom, where Christ was to reign over the Saints as a temporal king, in 'power and great glory.' They started, apparently, about the middle of June 1831, travelling by wagons or canal-boats, and sometimes on foot, as far as Cincinnati. From this place they proceeded by steamer to Louisville and St Louis, where at length all the civilised means of transport failed them. The rest of the journey, a distance of three hundred miles, had to be performed on foot. With brave hearts and hopeful faces, however, they toiled along through the wilderness, and finally reached the town of Independence, in Jackson County, in the middle of July. Though footsore and weary, they were not sad; for the country, with its grandeurs and conveniences, surpassed their most sanguine expectations. It is pleasant to see

how the prophet was enraptured at the sight of it, and how, in his description, there is even a touch of poetry. Looking intently on the landscape, he notes, as far as the eye can glance, the beautiful rolling prairies lay spread around like a sea of meadows.'

6

That there might be no doubt among his followers that this was assuredly the spot marked out by Providence as their place of settlement, Smith, after the fashion of many greater prophets, produced a direct revelation on the subject-a practice to which he always had recourse whenever a difficulty presented itself or a novelty had to be introduced. On the present occasion, it was revealed to him that a certain district in Jackson County was 'the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion.'

On his return to Kirtland, by the aid of others, members of the church, he established a mill, a store, and a bank. Of the latter, he appointed himself president, and intrusted Sidney Rigdon with the office of cashier. It was the object of himself and of the sect to stay in Kirtland and make money for the next five years; until, in short, the wilderness should be cleared, and the temple built in Zion.

It is impossible to deny that from this point the history of Mormonism becomes something more than respectable. Whatever opinion we may form regarding the character and motives of the founder, none can doubt that henceforth a certain degree of high enthusiasm prevailed among the sect, and that some of the best virtues of common life, industry, order, sobriety, and cleanliness, were strikingly developed. Rigid and unbending critics may be reluctant to admit that a system founded (as is most certain) on fabrication and falsehood, could ever produce such beneficial results; but it is nevertheless clear, from the testimony of impartial observers, that morally, industrially, and socially, the Mormons were far in advance of their neighbours. The prophet himself seems to have risen in tone with the fortunes of his faith. None of the numerous missionaries of the sect, who spread over the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Illinois, &c., everywhere establishing churches, surpassed its founder in zeal, energy, perseverance, and heroic courage. Of course, his success as a propagandist was the signal for an outburst of persecution. One night, in the month of March 1832, 'a mob of Methodists, Baptists, Campbellites,' and other miscellaneous bigots, broke into his peaceable dwelling-house, and dragging him from the wife of his bosom, stripped him naked, and most despitefully maltreated him. Under the bleak midnight sky, they carried him into a meadow a little distance from the house, and there, with curses and wild uproar, anointed his sacred person with that dark impurity which Falstaff mentions as having a tendency to defile; and then rolling him well in feathers, set him at liberty. Sidney Rigdon was similarly handled, and rendered temporarily crazy by the treatment. As to the prophet, it took the whole night for his friends to cleanse his polluted skin. Yet, the next day being the Sabbath, with his

"flesh all scarified and defaced,' he preached to the congregation as usual, and (for once we record the fact with a certain degree of pleasure) in the afternoon of the same day baptised three individuals. It is but fair to state, however, that the wrath of his enemies was not purely religious, but had also a secular origin. Smith's bank had, it seems, flooded the neighbouring country with notes of doubtful value, and certain business transactions had likewise taken place in which the backwoodsmen thought they had been swindled by the prophet and Rigdon; hence the furious outrage.

Meanwhile the brethren in Missouri continued to prosper, and Smith resolved to pay them a second visit. Accordingly, he started on the 2d of April (eleven days after the tarring and feathering) with a small company of adherents. Some of his inhuman persecutors dogged his steps as far as Louisville, taunting and harassing him by the way; but, getting protection from the captain of a steamboat, he arrived in safety at Independence on the 26th. In obedience to a revelation which he had sent them, a printing-press had been established, and the work of proselytising was advancing vigorously. A monthly periodical, called the Morning and Evening Star, was conducted by Mr Phelps, the printer to the church; and a weekly newspaper, devoted exclusively to the interests of Mormonism, had been started under the title of the Upper Missouri Advertiser. The number of the disciples amounted to nearly 3000; while in Kirtland, including women and children, they had not yet exceeded 150. Being enthusiastically received by the congregation, and solemnly acknowledged as their prophet, seer, and president of the highpriesthood of the church,' Smith, after a brief and pleasant sojourn, left the place in perfect confidence that all was going on prosperously. But the very prosperity of the sect deepened the hostility of all the non-Mormon population. Strange rumours also began to spread concerning their peculiarities of intercourse and ways of living. They were accused of communism, and not simply of a community of goods and chattels, but also of a community of wives. This charge appears to have been utterly unfounded, and probably originated in some manifestations of a tendency towards polygamy, a doctrine not yet revealed, however (in fact, as we have seen, contrary to the revealed doctrine on the subject); but it materially helped to inflame the hatred of the impulsive and unscrupulous backwoodsmen. Smith himself affirms that the neighbours of the Saints were 'many of them the basest of men, who had fled from the face of civilised society to the frontier country, to escape the hand of justice.' Be that as it may, a party was secretly formed whose object was to expel them from the state. The printing-office of the Star was razed to the ground, and the types and presses confiscated. A Mormon bishop was tarred and feathered (July 20), and Editor Phelps had a narrow escape from a touch of the like treatment. Outrages of almost every description were committed by armed

mobs upon the Mormons, till at length they saw no chance or likelihood of ever being left at peace; and the final result was, that -having no other resource-the leaders agreed that, if time were given, the people should remove westward to some other situation. Under circumstances of such peril and humiliation, the Saints despatched Oliver Cowdery to Kirtland with a message to the prophet. Smith proved himself not unfertile in resources. He decided that the Morning and Evening Star should be thenceforth published in Kirtland, and that another newspaper should be started to supply the place of the one lately printed in Missouri. He also resolved to apply to the governor of that state, and to demand justice for the outrages inflicted upon the sect; and on the 8th of October, Elders W. W. Phelps and O. Hyde presented a petition from the Saints praying for redress.

But

The governor of Missouri responded by a sensible and conciliatory letter. He alluded to the attack upon them as being illegal and unjustifiable, and recommended them to remain where they were, and to apply for redress to the ordinary tribunals of the country. Acting on the strength of this advice, the Mormons commenced actions against the ringleaders of the mob, engaging, by a fee of 1000 dollars, the best legal assistance to support their case. on the 30th of October, the mob again rose in arms to expel them. Several houses of the Saints were sacked and partially demolished. The Mormons, in some instances, defended their possessions, and a regular battle ensued between them and their opponents. In this encounter, it happened that two of the latter were killed. 'This was the first bloodshed, and the Mormons shed it,' say their opponents with rather silly exultation. Thenceforth the fray became so furious and alarming, that the militia had to be called out to suppress it. The militia, however, being anti-Mormon to a man, took sides entirely against them, and the hapless Saints had no alternative except in flight. They sought refuge across the Missouri river, November 4, and encamped in the open wilderness, but ultimately took up their abode for the most part in Clay County, where they appear to have been received with some degree of kindness.

The public authorities of Missouri, and indeed all the principal people, except those of Jackson County, were exceedingly scandalised at these proceedings, and sympathised with the efforts of the Mormon leaders to obtain redress. The attorney-general of the state wrote to say, that if the Mormons desired to be re-established in their possessions, an adequate public force should be sent for their protection. He also advised them to remain in the state, and organise themselves into a regular company of militia, promising to supply them with arms at the public expense. About the same time a message arrived from the prophet, who had now returned to Kirtland from a missionary tour through Canada, urging them to abide by their possessions, and not in any case to sell any land to which

they had a legal title, but hold on 'until the Lord in His wisdom should open a way for their return.'

The Mormons, however, were never more restored to their beloved Zion. They remained for upwards of four years in Clay County. The land on which they settled was mostly uncleared, but being an industrious and persevering people, they laid out farms, erected mills and stores, and carried on their business as successfully as in their previous location. But here also the suspicions and ill-feeling of the people were soon aroused against them, and were eventually the cause of their expulsion from the whole state of Missouri. The bearing of the Mormons towards the slavery question, the calumny about their community of wives, their loud pretensions of superior holiness, their repeated declarations that Missouri had been assigned to their possession by divine command, and the quarrels that were constantly resulting, brought about the same kind of misunderstandings and collisions which they had experienced in Jackson County.

On the 3d of May 1834, a conference of elders was held in Kirtland, and the Mormon body was first named 'The_Church_of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.' Two days later, the prophet marched for Missouri at the head of an organised body of Mormons, one hundred and fifty in number, mostly young men, and nearly all priests, deacons, teachers, and officers of the church. Twenty of them formed the body-guard of the prophet; his brother, Hyrum Smith, being captain, and another brother, George Smith, his armourbearer. His aim was to put the affairs of his scattered and dispirited disciples into order; but the Missouri mobs were convinced that he meant to conquer the state, and introduce a theocratic government, and accordingly the history of the sect for the next three years is one of strife and contention with their enemies.

Meanwhile, a remarkable accession to their ranks had been received. On the 14th of April 1832, Brigham Young (born 1801) was converted by Elder Samuel Smith, and baptised by Eleazar Millard. In the year following, he came to Kirtland, and soon rose to high honour among the Saints. His wonderful sagacity and force of character, his immovable faith in Mormonism, his ardent but not obstreperous enthusiasm, marked him out from the beginning as a natural leader of the new church; and when in February 1835 a further step was taken in the development of a hierarchy, by the institution of a body of apostles-twelve in number-Young was appointed head of the apostolic college. A fortnight later, the organisation of the 'Seventies' was established. On the 3d of May, the apostles departed on their first mission among the Gentiles-Young being ordered down east among the New Englanders, where he made numerous converts, even among that acute race. Shortly after the departure of the Twelve, a 'discovery' was made of certain rolls of Egyptian papyrus, which contained the writings of Abraham and