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PERSECUTIONS. 99

the county records will show. In regard to the landrt of the Indians, no violence or injustice is contemplated ; and if it were, what record of robbery, murder, and treacherous betrayal could excel that already made by the people of Missouri and others in the United States for our example ?^'^

On the 20th the people again met according to ap- pointment. The old charges were reiterated, and the old resolutions renewed, with some additions.^^ To put them into action the men of Jackson county

3^ Persecution of the Saints, 21-8. Mackay, The 3Iormons, 72-4, says 'the manner in which the Mormons behaved in their Zion was not calculated to make friends. The superiority they assumed gave offense, and the rumors that were spread by some false friends, who had been turned out of the church for misconduct, excited against them an intense feeling of alarm and hatred. They were accused of communism, and not simply a community of goods and chattels, but of wives.. .Joined to the odium unjustly cast upon them for these reasons, they talked so imprudently of their determination to possess the whole state of Missouri, and to suffer no one to live in it who would not conform to their faith, that a party was secretly formed against them, of which the object was nothing less than their total and immediate expulsion from their promised Zion... The anti-Mormon press contained at the same time an article entitled "Beware of false prophets," written by a person whom Joseph called a black rod in the hand of Satan. This article was distributed from house to house in Independence and its neighbor- hood, and contained many false charges against Smith and his associates, reiterating the calumny about the community of goods and wives.' Smith calls this man 'one Pixley,' and says he was sent by the missionary society, to civilize and christianize the heathen of the west, and that he was not only a black rod, but 'a poisoned shaft in the power of our foes, to spread lies and falsehoods '... It is also probable that the more indolent Missourians gazed with jealous eyes as the new-comers exhibited that agricultural thrift which has always characterized them as a people; for we find the twelve high priests, througii Hyde and Hyrum Smith, reprimanding Brother Phelps as follows: "If you have fat beef and potatoes, eat them in singleness of heart, and boast not yourselves in these things. " ' Times and Seasons, v. 721; vi. 816. 'It was conjectured by the inhabitants of Jackson county that the Mormonites as a body are wealthy, and many of them entertain fears that next Decem- ber, when the list of land is exposed for sale, they will outbid others, and establish themselves as the most powerful body in the county.' Booth, in Hoice's Mormonism Unveiled, 195.

2" It was further declared: '1st, That no Mormon shall in future move and settle in this county. 2d, That those now here, who shall give a defi- nite pledge of their intention, within a reasonable time, to remove out of the county, shall be allowed to remain unmolested until they shall have sufficient time to sell their property and close their business without any sacrifice. 3d, That the editor of the Star be required forthwith to close his office, and discontinue the business of printing in this county; and as to all other stores and shops belonging to the sect, their owners must in every case comply with the terms strictly, agreeably to the 2d article of this declaration; and upon failure, prompt and efficient measures will be taken to close tlie same. 4th, That the Mormon leaders here are required to use their influence in prevent- ing any further emigration of their distant brethren to this county, and