Elder
John
Taylor says:
"As I was
informed of this illegal proceeding, I went
immediately to the Governor
and
informed him of it; whether he was apprised of
it before or not, I do
not know,
but my opinion is that he was. I
represented to him the character
of the
parties who had made oath, the outrageous nature
of the charge, the
indignity
offered to men in the position which they [the
prisoners] occupied, and
that he
knew very well that it was a vexatious
prosecution, and that they were
not
guilty of any such thing."
The
Governor
replied that he was very sorry
that the thing
had
occurred; that he did not believe
the charges, but that he thought that the
best thing to be done in the
premises
was to let the law take its course.
"I
then reminded him that we had
come out there at his instance, not to satisfy
the law, which we had
done
before, but the prejudices of the people in
relation to the affair of
the
press; that we had given bonds, which we could
not by law be required
to do, to
satisfy the people at his instance, and that
it was asking too much to
require
gentlemen in their position in life to suffer
the degradation of
being immured
in a jail at the instance of such worthless
scoundrels as those who had
made
this affidavit.
"The
Governor replied that it was
an unpleasant affair, and looked hard, but
that it was a matter over
which he
had no control, as it belonged to the
judiciary; that he, as the
executive
could not interfere with their
proceedings, and that he had no
doubt but that
they would be immediately dismissed.
"I
told him that we had looked to
him for protection from such insults, and that
I thought we had a right
to do
so from the solemn promises he had made to me
and Dr. Bernhisel in
relation to
our coming without a guard or arms; that we
had relied upon his faith
and had a
right to expect him to fulfill his
engagements, after we had placed
ourselves implicitly
under his care, and complied with all his
requests, although
extra-judicial.
"He
replied that
he would detail a guard, if we required it, and
see us protected, but
that he
could not interfere with the judiciary.
"I
expressed my dissatisfaction at
the course taken, and told him that if we
were to be subject to mob
rule, and to
be dragged contrary to law into prison, at
the instance of every
infernal
scoundrel whose oath could be bought for a
dram of whiskey, his
protection
availed very little, and we had
miscalculated his promises.
"Seeing
there was no prospect of
redress from the Governor, I returned to
the room and found the
Constable, Bettisworth,
very urgent to hurry
Brothers Joseph and Hyrum to prison, whilst the
brethren were
remonstrating
with him.
"At
the same time
a great rabble was gathered in the streets and
around the door, and
from the
rowdyism manifested, I was afraid there was
a design to murder the
prisoners
on the way to the jail.
"Without
conferring with any person, my next feeling was
to procure a guard, and
seeing
a man habited as a soldier in the room, I went
to him and said, "I am
afraid there is a design against the lives of
the Messrs. Smith, will
you go
immediately and bring your captain, and if not
convenient, any other
captain of
a company, and I will pay you well for your
trouble. "
"He
said he would,
and departed forthwith, and soon returned with
his captain, whose name
I have
forgotten and introduced him to me.
"I
told him of my
fears, and requested him immediately to fetch
his company. He departed
forthwith, and arrived at the door with them,
just as the time that the
constable was hurrying the brethren downstairs.
"A
number of
brethren went along, and one or two strangers,
and all of us safely
lodged in
prison, remained there during the night."
As
Esquire Woods went
to the door he met Captain Dunn, with some twenty
men, they having come
to
guard the prisoners in jail. Mr. Woods accompanied
Governor Ford to
(Captain)
Justice Robert F. Smith, who gave as a cause for
issuing the warrant of
committal,
that the prisoners were not personally safe
at the hotel. Mr.
Woods then
requested the Governor to have a
company of troops from
some other
county
detailed to guard the jail.
Captain
Dunn, with his company, escorted
Joseph and Hyrum Smith from their lodgings...to
the jail....
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