| 278 on the fact, that a man of their number, they said, had been killed in the Bogard battle.
The other charges were founded on things which took place in Davies. As I was not in Davies county at that time, I cannot testify anything about them.
A few words about this written testimony.
I do not now recollect of one single point, about which testimony was given, with which I was acquainted, but was misrepresented, nor one solitary witness whose testimony was there written, that did not swear falsely; and in many instances I connot [cannot] see how it could avoid being intentional on the part of those who testified-for all of them did swear things that I am satisfied they knew to be false at the time-and it would be hard to persuade me to the contrary.
There were things there said, so utterly without foundation in truth--so much so--that the persons swearing must, at the time of the swearing, have known it. The best construction I can ever put on it, is, that they swore things to be true which they did not know to be so, and this, to me, is wilful [willful] perjury.
This trial lasted for a long time, the result of which was, that I was ordered to be discharged from prison, and the rest remanded back; but I was told by those who professed to be my friends, that it would not do for me to go out of jail at that time, as the mob were watching, and would most certainly take my life and when I got out, that I must leave the State, for the mob, availing themselves of the exterminating order of Governor Boggs, would, if I were found in the State, surely take my life-and when I got out, that I must leave the State, for the mob, availing themselves of the exterminating order of Governor Boggs, would if I were found in the State, surely take my life-that I had no way to escape them but to flee with all speed from the State. It was some ten days after this before I dare leave the jail. At last the evening came in which I was to leave the jail. Every preparation was made that could be made for my escape. There was a carriage ready to take me in and carry me off with all speed. A pilot was ready-one who was well acquainted with the country-to pilot me through the country so that I might not go on any of the public roads. My wife came to the jail to accompany me, of whose society I had been deprived for four months. Just at dark, the sheriff and jailor [jailer] came to the jail with our supper. I sat down and ate. There were a number watching. After I had supped, I whispered to the jailor [jailer] to blow out all the candles but one, and step away from the door with that one. All this was done. The sheriff then took me by the arm, and an apparent scuffle ensued-so much so, that those who were watching, did not know who it was the sheriff was scuffling with. The sheriff kept pushing me towards the door, and I apparently resisting, until we reached the door, which wsa [was] quickly opened and we both reached the street. He took me by the hand and bade me farewell, telling me to make my escape, which I did with all possible speed. The night was dark. After I had gone probably one hundred rods, I heard some person coming after me in haste. The thought struck me in a moment that the mob was after me. I drew a pistol and cocked it, determined not to be taken alive. When the person approaching me spoke, I knew his voice, and he speedily came to me. In a few minutes I heard a horse coming. I again sprung my pistol cock. Again a voice saluted my ears that I was acquainted with. The man came speedily up and said he had come to pilot me through the country. I now recollected I had left my wife in the jail. I mentioned it to them, and one of them returned, and the other and myself pursued our journey as swiftly as we could. After I had gone about three miles, my wife overtook me in a carriage, into which I got, and we rode all night. It was an open carriage, and in the month of February 1839. We got to the house of an acquaintance just as the day appeared. There I put up until the next morning, when I started again and reached a place called Tenny's Grove; and to my great surprise I here found my family, and was again united with them, after an absence of four months, under the most painful circumstances. From thence I made my way to Illinois, where I now am. My wife, after I left her, went directly to Far West and got the family under way, and all unexpectedly met at Tenny's Grove.
SIDNEY RIGDON.
After hearing the foregoing evidence in support of said Petition-it is ordered and considered by the Court, that the said Joseph Smith, Senior, be discharged from the said arrest and imprisonment complained of in said Petition, and that the said Smith be discharged for want of substance in the warrant, upon which he was arrested, as well as upon the merits of said case, and that he go hence without day [delay?].
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my
L. S. hand and affixed the seal of said Court, at the city
of Nauvoo, this 2d day of July, 1843.
JAMES SLOAN, Clerk.
The Temple is progressing steadily. The walls of that noble edifice continue to rise, and its completion is looked forward to with great interest and anxiety by many.
All kinds of improvement are going on rapidly in Nauvoo and vicinity. Houses are going up in every direction in the city, and farms are being enclosed without. "The wilderness will" soon "blossom as the rose."
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