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Tuesday 11.-Spent the
forenoon in council with the brethren at my house. Went to the office
and
conversed with my brother Hyrum, Dr. Richards, George G. Adams, and
others.
I
issued the following:
PROCLAMATION
By
virtue of my office as Mayor of the city
of Nauvoo,
I do
hereby strictly enjoin it upon the municipal officers and citizens of
said city
to use all honorable and lawful means in their power to assist me in
maintaining
the public peace and common quiet of said city. As attempts have
already been
made to excite the jealousy and prejudice of the people of the
surrounding
country, by libels and slanderous articles upon the citizens and City
Council,
for the purpose of destroying the charter of said city, and for the
purpose of
raising suspicion, wrath, and indignation among a certain class of
the less
honorable portion of mankind, to commit acts of violence upon the
innocent and
unsuspecting, in a certain newspaper called the Nauvoo
Expositor, recently
established for such purposes in said city, and which has been
destroyed as a
nuisance, according to the provision of the charter. I further call
upon every officer,
authority, and citizen to be vigilant in preventing, by wisdom the
promulgation
of false statements, libels, slanders, or any other malicious or
evil-designed
concern that may be put in operation to excite and ferment the passions
of men
to rebel against the rights and privileges of the city, citizens, or
laws of
the land; to be ready to suppress the gathering of mobs; to repel, by
gentle
means and noble exertion, every foul scheme of unprincipled men to
disgrace and
dishonor the city, or state, or any of their legally-constituted
authorities;
and, finally to keep the peace by being cool, considerate,
virtuous, unoffending,
manly, and patriotic, as the true sons of liberty ever have been, and
honorably
maintain the precious boon our illustrious fathers won.
In
witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of
said
corporation at the city of Nauvoo, this 11th day of June, 1844.
JOSEPH
SMITH,Mayor. |
