constitutional rights and chartered privileges; to overthrow all good and wholesome regulations in society; to strengthen themselves against the municipality; to fortify themselves against the Church of which I am a member, and destroy all our religious rights and privileges by libels, slanders, falsehoods, perjury, etc., and sticking at no corruption to accomplish their hellish purposes; and that said paper of itself was libelous of the deepest dye, and very injurious as a vehicle of defamation, tending to corrupt the morals, and disturb the peace, tranquillity, and happiness of the whole community, and especially that of Nauvoo.
"After a long and patient investigation of the character of the 'Expositor,' and the characters and designs of its proprietors, the Constitution, the Charter (see Addenda to Nauvoo Charter from the Springfield Charter, sec. 7), and all the best authorities on the subject (see Blackstone, iii., 5, and n., etc., etc.), the City Council decided that it was necessary for the 'peace, benefit, good order, and regulations' of said city, 'and for the protection of property,' and for 'the happiness and prosperity of the citizens of Nauvoo,' that said 'Expositor' should be removed; and declaring said 'Expositor' a nuisance, ordered the mayor to cause them to be removed without delay, which order was committed to the marshal by due process, and by him executed the same day, by removing the paper, press, and fixtures into the streets, and burning the same; all which was done without riot, noise, tumult, or confusion, as has already been proved before the municipality of the city; and the particulars of the whole transaction may be expected in our next 'Nauvoo Neighbor.'
"I send you this hasty sketch that your excellency may be aware of the lying reports that are now being circulated by our enemies, that there has been a 'mob at Nauvoo,' and 'blood and thunder,' and 'swearing that two men were killed,' etc., etc., as we hear from abroad, are false—false as Satan himself could invent, and that nothing has been transacted here but what has been in perfect accordance with the strictest principles of law and good order on the part of the authorities of this city; and if your excellency is not satisfied, and shall not be satisfied, after reading the whole proceedings, which will be forthcoming soon, and shall demand an investigation of our municipality before Judge Pope, or any legal tribunal at the Capitol, you have only to write your wishes, and we will be forthcoming; we will not trouble you to file a writ or send an officer for us.
"I remain, as ever, a friend to truth, good order, and your excellency's humble servant,(Signed),Joseph Smith."His Excellency Thomas Ford."
IV.
I think that the unpalatable assertion in the text will be proved by the following contrasted extracts from the London "Times" and the "Deserét News."
The Black Country.—The reports of the assistant commissioners engaged in the recent education inquiry contain some very painful notices of the state of morals in some parts of the kingdom. In collier villages in Durham, where the men earn high wages, which they know no way of spending but in the gratification of animal appetites, the condition of the people in respect to morals and manners, it is said, may not be described. Adultery is made a matter of mere jest, and incest also is frightfully common, and seems to excite no disgust. In some of those parts girls mingle with boys at school till 13, 14, or 15 years of age, and that in schools not superintended by women; it is impossible to state the coarseness of manners that prevails in these schools. Coming south, into Staffordshire, we are told that in the union of Dudley, where boys and girls can earn high wages, their independence of their parents' aid to maintain them leads to a remarkable independence of conduct, and, in fact, no restraint is put upon their inclinations either by their parents or the opinion of the neighborhood. It is held rather a shame to an unmarried woman not to have had a child; and the assistant commissioner, Mr. Coode, says that the details given to him by the most respectable and trustworthy witnesses would, if they could be reported, be discredited by most men of the world only acquainted with the ordinary profligacy of the poor; but he adds that, notwithstanding all this, the behavior and manners in other respects of girls and women is not in public less decent than that in places of better repute, and it is generally asserted that this early corruption of females does not hinder them from being very good neighbors, and excellent, hard-working, and affectionate wives and mothers. Education in this district is not much prized; it is
