Copyright 1913, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

CHAPTER 9

GROWTH OF A SULTANATE

IN the fall of 1839, Brigham had left Nauvoo, a settlement in its raw beginning. In the summer of 1841, he returned to find it a considerable town, booming along under the weirdest government which up to that time ever afflicted an American city.

Smith and Rigdon had secured from the Illinois legislature a charter which in substance legalized the theocratic despotism of the prophet's church, and gave him a military force to execute his decrees. Save for the power of the legislature to repeal the charter it had given, Nauvoo was hardly a part of Illinois at all. The executive powers of the city were vested in a mayor; the legislative powers in a council of four aldermen and nine councillors. The mayor and the four aldermen were likewise justices of the peace and, sitting together, they constituted the municipal court.

The council had power to pass any ordinances it wished which were not contrary to the state or federal constitutions. This was a practically unlimited grant of legislative authority within the city limits. The mayor, as judge, had sole jurisdiction in all cases arising under these ordinances; but an aggrieved litigant or prisoner might appeal from the mayor to the municipal court, presided over by the mayor. The municipal court had powers to grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases arising under the ordinances; which again amounted to a practically unlimited grant of judicial authority within the city limits.

Finally, there was a military organization, the Nauvoo Legion; a city militia subject to the sole orders of the mayor of Nauvoo, and not affiliated with the regular state militia. Within the bounds of a municipality, all powers possessed by the state of Illinois were handed over to the city of Nauvoo -- which meant to Smith and his associates.

Much ingenuity has been wasted in search of the "author" of this amazing charter. Its real "author" stands plain in view -- the doctrine and experience of the Mormon church. Adhering to a centralized despotism in religious and social affairs, why should the Mormons do other than try to mould their political organization on the same model? They had been harried and hounded by the militia of Missouri; what more natural than that they should demand an organized militia of their own? Rigdon had enjoyed and Smith had longed for the benefits of a writ of habeas corpus; it was inevitable that they should seek to get this potent instrument into their own hands. Neither at Nauvoo nor at Springfield were there persons in authority who could foresee that this grant of vast powers would rouse the jealous hostility of the state.

Short-sighted experience demanded the charter, and short-sighted expediency granted it. Mormon votes were needed by the small Democratic majority then in control of the state; and until religious and social antagonism swept party distinctions aside, the prophet could have nearly everything he wanted.

No place was reserved in the political organization of Nauvoo for the ablest man among the Saints, now returned after nearly two years' absence and unexampled service to the church. This of itself would show that Sidney Rigdon made good use of Brigham's absence; and that Joseph's loyalty to his best and wisest friend depended in large measure on that friend's constant presence. Other indications pointing the same way are not wanting. Rigdon was again made one of Joseph's counsellors, William Law being the other, and the three constituting the first presidency. About this time, too, Sidney Rigdon became postmaster of Nauvoo, and hung out his sign in that city as attorney-at-law. The relation between Rigdon and Smith was a puzzling one throughout their association. Smith in a way despised, and perhaps distrusted, Rigdon; yet in the absence of stronger counsels, Rigdon seldom failed to shape the prophet's course.

But Brigham Young did not need an office to make him a power among his people. He had been confirmed in his position as president of the Twelve Apostles; and that was enough. Eight days after his return, he had re-established his influence far enough to secure the revelation commanding him to stay at home and take care of his family. His practical wisdom and mechanical knowledge and skill were in demand on the temple which was rising to be a momentary wonder of the West. Sidney Rigdon might be professor of church history in the "small university," but Brigham Young was professor of church policy in these religious conclaves which really governed the city.

There was plenty of work for a level-headed, practical man in the throng gathering at Nauvoo. The site of that latest Zion had no particular advantages. No one had built a town of any importance there before; and no one has done it since. But converts from all points of the compass were flocking to the standard of the prophet, and human industry can build a city anywhere. Some of the converts had money, more had not. But though there were much hardship and some downright privation in the settlement of Nauvoo, the sojourn there was comparatively a placid and prosperous time in the stormy career of the Saints.

The unhealthfulness of the place has been noted. There was a heavy death-rate among the gathering converts for a season or two; especially among those from England whose systems had not acquired partial immunity to malarial poison. The clearing and draining, incident to building the city, rid the place of most of its mosquitoes, and malaria fell away in consequence. Manufactures of divers sorts were established with varying success. One of the most prosperous of these was a steam sawmill built by William and Wilson Law, two Canadian converts of much greater wealth than was usual among the immigrants to Nauvoo, and apparently of high character. We shall hear of the Laws later.

Aside from the very practical matter of getting a living, the chief industry at Nauvoo was temple-building. The foundations of this structure were laid April 6, 1841; and the mere statement of its dimensions shows that Smith planned in this case to "astonish the natives" as he never had done before. The ground plan measured eighty-three by one hundred and twenty-eight feet; the body of the structure contained two stories and a basement, and was about sixty feet high. The steeple -- never finished -- to surmount this edifice was planned to be one hundred and twenty feet in height. Architecturally, the work was a hodge-podge, neither better nor worse than most of the half-baked, half-borrowed structures with which our land is dotted; but at least it expressed devotion, rather than mere dollars. It was built by contributions from the people in the form of tithes, by donations of labour, materials, and money in excess of tithing, by sacrifices which only a profoundly earnest people would make. In spite of the contrast in artistic and structural merit, the temple at Nauvoo was as truly a work of faith as the cathedral at Chartres; and the words Lowell spoke of one may apply to the other:

"By suffrage universal was it built,
Each vote a block of stone securely laid
Obedient to the builders' deep mused plan."

In a work like this Brigham Young was indispensable. He was the only man high in the councils of the church who had any mechanical training or aptitude; and he was easily foremost in his ability to handle men and plan large labours. In more subtle ways, his influence was soon quite as pervasive.

Before Brigham came to Kirtland, Smith had a revelation with every change of the wind, and sometimes when the wind held constant. After Brigham returned to Nauvoo from England, Smith gave up "revealing" almost altogether. The plan was evolved that when the prophet had one of these spiritual visitations, he should first present it to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. If the Quorum thought well of the matter, it would be presented to the church. This remarkable scheme for saving the Lord and his prophet from the evil of hasty speaking is ascribed by tradition to Brigham Young -- and, indeed, it could have come from no other source. The mere fact that the revelations were to be vised by the Quorum, of which Brigham was head, would be enough to clinch the truth of the tradition. We may anticipate enough to say that in all his rule of the church, Brigham Young gave but one revelation, though the brethren were clamorous for him to take up that prophetic habit.

The first election under the new charter was held in February, 1841. A new convert to the church, Dr. John C. Bennett, was chosen mayor -- in compliance with some of the political bargains made in granting the charter. Rigdon and Smith "accepted" places in the municipal council, and Smith was made commander of the Nauvoo Legion. Napoleon conquered Italy as colonel of artillery; but Joseph Smith could not endure to command the Legion with any less title than that of "Lieutenant-General." A little over a year later -- May 17, 1842 -- Bennett left the Saints after a quarrel with Smith, and made a campaign against the church with all the ardour of an apostate; but it does not appear that his philippics had much to do with the final outcome. He annoyed the faithful, angered the prophet, and drew from both an amazing flow of that kind of speech known among Gentiles as billingsgate; but told, he accomplished little more.

Other annoyances were more potent. A few days before Bennett shook the dust of Nauvoo from his feet, Governor Boggs of Missouri was shot, and it was thought mortally wounded. The Mormons hated Boggs -- with perfect justice -- and the instant thought in the mind of every Missourian vas that the shot was fired by someone among the Saints. Smith himself could prove an alibi; so the natural inference of his enemies was that he had sent one of his subordinates to perform the deed. On this charge of being an accessory before the fact, the state of Missouri issued a requisition on the governor of Illinois for Joseph Smith, and the prophet was arrested at Nauvoo, August 8, 1842, on the governor's warrant. He immediately demanded to be taken before his own municipal court; and was released forthwith on a writ of habeas corpus issued by that body.

No one can blame Smith for not wanting to go back to Missouri. His experiences there warranted the suspicion that if he entered that state again, he would never leave it alive. But Smith assuredly did not have Socrates' reverence for "The Laws" when he perpetrated this grotesque travesty upon them. The clamour resulting was so great that after some weeks of hiding Smith submitted to arrest. This time his defence was made in accordance with law, and the United States district court at Springfield, Illinois, freed him on a writ of habeas corpus. His Missouri enemies had failed once before to get him across the river; they made still another attempt; and failing in that left him alone.

The actual shooting in the Boggs case was charged against "Port" Rockwell, a picturesque character of the church, long famous in a later period throughout Utah for his unshorn hair, his unrivalled skill in breeding and training horses, and the hair-raising, soul-satisfying thoroughness of his drunken sprees. He was arrested at St. Louis and tried for the crime in 1843, and was acquitted. In spite of the jury's verdict -- which seemed to show that Smith need not have feared a Missouri trial -- there is a well-defined tradition in the church that "Port" Rockwell fired the shot at the enemy of the Saints, and never ceased to mourn that the bullet did not do its desired work.

If the Missouri enemies of Zion were discouraged, the Saints were having their usual success in raising a crop of enemies nearer home. Before they had been long at Nauvoo, charges began to circulate that they were systematically robbing their Gentile neighbours. Accusations of theft are made in all border feuds, and need not be taken seriously in the absence of corroborating evidence. Such evidence, for the most part, is absent in this case of the Mormons. There were some thieves among them, and some zealots not normally thievish had been soured by sufferings until they were ready to spoil the Egyptians at the first good chance. But generally speaking, the Mormons were as honest in financial matters as their neighbours; though, as Huckleberry Finn might say, "that ain't no flattery, neither."

In one way, however, the Saints had themselves to thank for their unsavoury reputation. In their eagerness for converts, they would baptize any one into the church; and if the newcomer remained obedient to the prophet and faithful to his religious duties, they would stand by him through thick and thin. The Mississippi bottoms in those days were haunted by regular gangs of thieves; and some of those operating near Nauvoo soon saw the advantage of a fellowship which gave them standing and helped to protect them from the outside world. Many of these joined the Mormons for strictly utilitarian purposes. They were Saints by day and horse-thieves by night; but unless their rascality became too notorious, their new associates would protect them.

The Gentile who came to Nauvoo on a mission that might trouble the brethren "whittled out." Groups of men and boys with sticks and long knives would surround the undesirable intruder, and whittle, whittle -- occasionally letting the knife slip towards him in a harmless but unpleasant sweep. Wherever he went, the whittlers would follow; and at the end of an hour or two of this entertainment, almost any one was anxious to emigrate from the city of the whittling Saints.