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168 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

more than a huridred thousand; his fortune was es- timated at a milhon dollars; he was commander- in-chief of the Nauvoo Legion, a body of troops ''which," remarks an artillery officer, from his own observation, "would do honor to any body of armed militia in any of the states, and approximates very closely to our regular forces;" he was mayor of the city; and now, as the crowning point of his earthly glory, he was announced in Februar}^ 1844 as a candi- date for the presidency of the United States, while Sid- ney Rigdon was named for vice-president. Whether this was done for effect or in earnest is somewhat doubtful, for it appears that the prophet's head was a little turned about this time; but it is certain that the people of Illinois and Missouri believed him to be in earnest. Addressing letters to Clay and Calhoun, near the close of 1843, he asked each of them what would be his rule of action toward the Mormons as a people should he be elected to the presidency. The reply in both cases was non-com- mittal and unsatisfactory;^^ whereupon Joseph issues an address setting forth his views on the government and policy of the United States, and foreshadows his own policy, in which we find many excellent features and many absurdities. "No honest man can doubt for a moment," he says, "but the glory of American liberty is on the wane; and that calamity and con- fusion will sooner or later destroy the peace of the people. Speculators will urge a national bank as a savior of credit and comfort. A hireling pseudo- priesthood will plausibly push abolition doctrines and doings and 'human rights' into congress, and into every other place where conquest smells of fame or opposition swells to popularity.""*

^^ Copies of the correspondence may be found in Times and Seaaons, v. 393-6, 544-8; Markay's The Mormons, 151-62; Okhausen, Geschichte der Mormon fn, 202-19.

'•'* 'Now, oh people !' he continues, 'turn unto the Lord and live; and re- form this nation. Frustrate the designs of wicked men. Reduce congress at least one half. Two senators from a state and two members to a million of population will do more l)usiuess than the army that now occupy the halLs