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Amalekiah. the 19th year of the judges (B. C. 73), one of those frequently occurring outbreaks in favor of a change in the form of the Nephite government took place. The hallowed glories of Mosiah's reign were still bright in the hearts of many, while others, by ambition led, intrigued for the restoration of the kingly power, that they might find place and profit at the court. The plan for a revolution was laid, the king-men gathered in armed array and Amalekiah was chosen as their general; but they were disappointed, the masses did not join their standard in the expected numbers. On the other hand, Moroni, the Nephite commander, gathered so great a force for the defence of the commonwealth, that retreat was considered the better part of wisdom; but his followers being out-generaled by Moroni, Amalekiah fled to the court of the king of the Lamanites.

The king received him with much honor. It is altogether probable that the monarch also was of an apostate Nephite family. Seven or eight years previously the Christian Lamanites with the king at their head had been ruthlessly driven from their homes by their unbelieving fellow countrymen, led by members of the various Nephite apostate orders who had taken up their residence amongst the Lamanites. A leader of one of these sects would naturally work his way to the throne when the rightful king and his family sought refuge in the land of Zarahemla. What makes this idea more probable is that Amalekiah afterwards married the widowed queen, a thing he was much more likely to do if she were a fair Nephite, than a dark-skinned daughter of Laman. On the first favorable opportunity Amalekiah commenced to rekindle the fires of hatred in the bosoms of the Lamanites toward his former friends. At first he was not successful; the recollection of their recent defeats was too fresh in the memory of the multitude. The king issued a war proclamation,