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Editorial, 16–17 February 1844

Source Note

JS, Editorial, [, Hancock Co., IL, 16–17 Feb. 1844]. Featured version published in “Pacific Innuendo,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 21 Feb. 1844, vol. 1, no. 43, [2]. For more complete source information, see the source note for Notice, 26 Aug. 1843.

Historical Introduction

On the evening of 16 February 1844, JS met for two hours with his scribe and instructed him to write a response to a letter from governor that had appeared in the Warsaw Signal two days earlier. Ford’s letter, dated 29 January, addressed tensions in the region that were growing between the citizens of , Illinois, and their neighbors and recommended peace to both sides. Ford requested that his letter be published in , Illinois, newspapers. The Warsaw Signal printed Ford’s letter in its 14 February 1844 issue.
After the Signal published ’s letter, JS directed to write a response to accompany the printing of the letter in ’s two newspapers, the Nauvoo Neighbor and the Times and Seasons. The editorial, titled “Pacific Innuendo,” served as a preface to Ford’s letter, praising Ford’s position and repeatedly referencing specific passages in his communication. The editorial described the letter as “candid, pacific, and highly creditable advice”—a “manifesto, or olive leaf.”
’s handwritten draft of the document was dated 17 February 1844 by JS’s clerk . Bullock also made a copy from Phelps’s manuscript. The editorial was printed in the 15 February issue of the Times and Seasons and the 21 February issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor. Notwithstanding the earlier dating of the Times and Seasons version, the letter was apparently written for the Neighbor, as it includes a statement in the concluding paragraph about the publishers giving it “a place in the Neighbor.” The Neighbor version likely was available first as well, given that the Times and Seasons was frequently printed behind schedule. The version printed in the Nauvoo Neighbor is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 16 Feb. 1844; “Letter from Governor Ford, in Relation to Our Difficulties with the Mormons,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 14 Feb. 1844, [2].

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  2. [2]

    The tensions heightened following the abductions of Latter-day Saint Daniel Avery and his son Philander in November and December 1843.

  3. [3]

    Thomas Ford, Letter, Springfield, IL, 29 Jan. 1844, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954, Chicago History Museum.

    Chicago Historical Society, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954. Microfilm. CHL. MS 8136.

  4. [4]

    “Letter from Governor Ford, in Relation to Our Difficulties with the Mormons,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 14 Feb. 1844, [2].

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  5. [5]

    [William W. Phelps on behalf of JS], Editorial, Nauvoo, IL, 16–17 Feb. 1844; [Thomas Bullock], Editorial, Nauvoo, IL, 16–17 Feb. 1844, copy, JS Collection, CHL; “Pacific Innuendo,” Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1844, 5:442–443; “Pacific Innuendo,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 21 Feb. 1844, [2].

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Editorial, 16–17 February 1844, William W. Phelps Draft Editorial, 16–17 February 1844, Thomas Bullock Copy Editorial, 16–17 February 1844, as Published in Times and Seasons
*Editorial, 16–17 February 1844
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [2]

PACIFIC INNUENDO.
The very candid, pacific, and highly creditable advice, which has done himself the honor to address to “the Citizens of , “Mormons and all,” and which appears in the “Warsaw Signal,” of the 14th inst. is, like the balm of Gilead, well calculated to ease the pain, which has troubled the heads and hearts of the Carthagenians, Warsawvains, and other over jealous bodies for weal and wo. It certainly must be admitted, on all hands, that has exalted himself as a mediator, patriot, lawyer, Governor, peace maker, and friend of all; not only to magnify the law and make it honorable, but also in pointing out the path of peace. Such is what the have ever sought at the hands of those in authority; and, with an approving conscience, clear as the chystal [crystal] spring: and with a laudible intention, warm as the summer zephyr; and with a charitable prayer, mellow as the morning dew, it is now our highest consolation to hope that all difficulties will cease: and give way to reason, sense, peace and good will. The saints if they wil be humble and wise, can now practice what they preach and soften by good examples, rather than harden by a distant course of conduct, the hearts of the people.
For general information it may be well to say that there has never been any cause for alarm as to the Latter Day Saints. The legislature of granted a liberal charter for the city of ; and, let every honest man in the , who has any knowledge of her, say whether she has not flourished beyond the most sanguine anticipations of all; and while they witness her growing glory: let them solemnly testify whether has willfully injured the , , or a single individual one cent: With the strictest scrutiny publish the facts whether a particle of law has been evaded or broken: virtue and innocence need no artificial covering: Political views and party distinctions, never should disturb the harmony of society; and when the whole truth comes before a virtuous people: we are willing to abide the issue.
We will here refer to the three late dismissals, upon writs of , of Joseph Smith, when arrested under the requisitions of . The first, in June 1841, was tried at , before , of the fifth Judicial Circuit, and as no exceptions have been taken to that decision, by this State or , but had previously entered a on all the old indictments against the Mormons in the difficulties of 1838, it is taken and granted that that decision was just! The second, in December, 1842, was tried at before in the U. S. District Court, and, from that honorable discharge, as no exceptions from any source have been made to those proceedings, it follows as a matter of course, that that decision was just!! and the third, in July 1843, was tried at the city of , before the Municipal Court of said ; and as no exceptions to that discharge, have been taken, and as the says there is “evidence on the other side to shew that the Sheriff of voluntarily carried (who had Mr. Smith in custody,) to the city of , without any coercion on the part of any one,” it must be admitted that that decision was just!!!
But is any man still unconvinced of the justness of these strictures relative to the two last cases, let the astounding fact go forth, that, , who, swore, was the principal in his assassination, and, as accessary to which Mr. Smith was arrested, has returned home, “clear of that sin.” In fact there was not a witness to get up an indictment against him.
The Messrs. Averys, who were unlawfully “transported out of this ,” have returned to their families in peace, and there seems to be no ground for contention: no cause for jealousy; and no excuse for a surmise that any man, woman, or child, will suffer the least inconvenience, from General Smith; the charter of ; the city of ; or even any of her citizens. There is nothing for a bone of contention! even those Ordinances which appeared to excite the feeling of some people have recently been repealed—so that, if the “intelligent” inhabitants of , want peace; want to abide by the ’s advice; want to have a character abroad grow out of their character at home; and really mean to follow the Savior’s golden rule: “To do unto others as they would wish other to do unto them,” they will be still, now, and let their own works praise them in the gates of justice, and in the eyes of the surrounding world. Wise men ought to have understanding enough to conquer men with kindness.
“A soft answer turns away wrath.” says the wise man, and it will be greatly to the credit of the Latter Day Saints to shew the love of God, by now kindly treating those who may have, in an unconscious moment, done them wrong: for truly said Jesus: pray for thine enemies. Humanity towards all; reason and refinement to enforce virtue: and good for evil, are so eminently designed to cure more disorders of society than an appeal to “arms,” or even argument untempered with friendship, and the “one thing needful,” that no vision for the future: guide-board for the distant; or expositor for the present, need ‘trouble any one with what he ought to do. His own good, his family’s good, his neighbor’s good, his ’s good, and all good, seem to whisper to every person: the has told you what to do: now do it. The constitution expects every man to do his duty, and when he fails the law urges him: or should he do too much the same master rebukes him. Should reason, liberty, law, light, and philanthrophy now gide the destinies of with as much sincerity as has been manifested for her notoriety; or welfare; there can be no doubt that peace, prosperity, and happiness will prevail, and that future generations as well as the present one, will call a peace maker. The Latter Day Saints will, at all events, and profit by the instruction: and call upon honest men to help them cherish all the love; all the friendship; all the courtesy; all the kindly feelings and all the generosity that ought to characterize clever people, in a clever neighborhood, and leave candid men to judge which tree exhibits the best fruit, the one with the most clubs and sticks thrown into its boughs, and the grass trodden down under it; or the one with no sticks in it, some dead limbs and rank grass growing under it; for by their signs ye can know their fruit; and by the fruit ye know the trees. Our motto then, is, peace with all. If we have joy in the love of God, let us try to give a reason of that joy, which all the world cannot gainsay or resist. And may be, like, as when Paul started with recommendations to Damascus, to persecute the Saints, some one who has raised his hand against us with letters to men in high places, may see a light at noon-day above the brightness of the sun, and hear the voice of Jesus saying: “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”
Intelligence is sometimes the messenger of safety; and willing to aid the in his laudable endeavors to cultivate peace and honor the laws; believing that very few of the citizens of will be found in the negative of such a goodly course; and considering his views a kind of manifesto, or olive leaf, which shews that their is rest for the soles [o]f the Saints’ feet, we give it a place in the Neighbor, wishing it God speed, and saying, God bless good men and good measures, and, as has been, so it will continue to be, a good city, affording a good market to a good , and let those who do not mean to try the way of transgressors, say, Amen. [p. [2]]
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Editorial Title
Editorial, 16–17 February 1844
ID #
21669
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1
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Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Jeremiah 8:22.

  2. [2]

    Illinois’s Twelfth General Assembly granted the city of Nauvoo expansive powers in its incorporating act, the city’s exercise of which had become a focus of criticism during the intervening years. (See Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)

  3. [3]

    The church’s Nauvoo newspaper, Times and Seasons, published a summary of this first Missouri extradition attempt and Douglas’s discharge of JS. (“The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447–448; see also Historical Introduction to Extradition of JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  4. [4]

    A nolle prosequi (Latin: “we shall no longer prosecute”) is a formal notice that a case is being dropped or that the charges cannot be proved. (“Nolle Prosequi,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 2:216.)

    Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.

  5. [5]

    See JS, Journal, 30 Dec. 1842–5 Jan. 1843; and Missouri Extradition Attempt, 1842–1843, Selected Documents.

  6. [6]

    See Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 30 June 1843.

  7. [7]

    Unlike JS’s habeas corpus discharges before Douglas and Pope in the first two Missouri extradition attempts, JS’s third discharge by Nauvoo’s municipal court in 1843 was in fact broadly criticized. Ford had the actions of the municipal court investigated by his friend Mason Brayman, who reported to Ford that the court had acted appropriately. (See “An Enquiry,” Warsaw [IL] Message, 18 Oct. 1843, [1]; “Gov. Ford and the Mormons,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 7 Sept. 1843, [3]; Thomas Ford, Springfield, IL, to Mason Brayman, 3 July 1843, Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852, Illinois State Archives, Springfield; and Letter from Mason Brayman, 29 July 1843.)

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

    Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

  8. [8]

    Thomas Ford, Springfield, IL, to Thomas Reynolds, 14 Aug. 1843, in Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 7 Sept. 1843, [3]. Jackson County, Missouri, sheriff Joseph H. Reynolds and Hancock County, Illinois, constable Harmon T. Wilson arrested JS near Dixon, Illinois, on 23 June 1843. JS’s attorneys obtained a writ of habeas corpus for JS and in turn arrested Reynolds and Wilson. Lee County, Illinois, sheriff James Campbell took custody of Reynolds and Wilson, along with JS, and conveyed them to Nauvoo. (“Part 4: June–July 1843.”)

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

  9. [9]

    Boggs’s affidavit, made before Justice of the Peace Samuel Weston on 20 July 1842, did not name Rockwell, though it did name JS as an “accessary before the fact” to whoever tried to murder the former Missouri governor in May 1842. However, Boggs’s successor, Thomas Reynolds, issued a requisition, dated two days later and based on Boggs’s affidavit, that named Rockwell as the alleged shooter. (Lilburn W. Boggs, Affidavit, 20 July 1842; Thomas Reynolds, Requisition, 22 July 1842.)

  10. [10]

    Rockwell was arrested in March 1843 in St. Louis for the attempted murder of Boggs the previous year, but he was never indicted for the shooting. Rockwell escaped from jail but was quickly recaptured. On the charge of jailbreak, he was indicted, convicted, and sentenced to imprisonment for five minutes. He was released on 13 December 1843 and arrived in Nauvoo on Christmas Day. (Notice, Daily Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 6 Mar. 1843, [3]; JS, Journal, 13 Mar. 1843; JS History, vol. E-1, 1827–1829; JS, Journal, 25 Dec. 1843.)

    Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.

  11. [11]

    Latter-day Saint Daniel Avery and his son Philander were abducted in Bear Creek Precinct, Illinois, in November and December 1843 and taken across the Mississippi River to Missouri on charges of horse theft. Philander escaped incarceration, and Daniel was eventually discharged on habeas corpus by a Missouri court. Both returned home before the end of December. (See Letter to Thomas Ford, 1 Jan. 1844.)

  12. [12]

    Two ordinances passed in December 1843 limited the authority of any law enforcement officers seeking to arrest JS or other Nauvoo citizens without consent of the mayor. After being heavily criticized, both ordinances were repealed on 12 February 1844. (See Ordinance, 8 Dec. 1843; Ordinance, 21 Dec. 1843; and Ordinance, 12 Feb. 1844.)

  13. [13]

    See Matthew 7:12.

  14. [14]

    See Proverbs 31:31.

  15. [15]

    See Proverbs 15:1.

  16. [16]

    See Matthew 5:44.

  17. [17]

    See Luke 10:42.

  18. [18]

    See Matthew 7:16–20.

  19. [19]

    See 1 Peter 3:15.

  20. [20]

    See Acts 9:2–5.

  21. [21]

    See Proverbs 13:15.

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