| 766 of the 27th day of June. As soon as notice could be given a crowd of the citizens assembled to hear an address which I proposed to deliver them. The number present has been variously estimated from one to five thousand.
"In this address I stated to them how and in what their functionaries had violated the laws; also the many scandalous reports in circulation against them, and that these reports, whether true or false, were generally believed by the people. I distinctly stated to them the amount of hatred and prejudice which prevailed everywhere against them, and the causes of it, at length.
"I also told them plainly and emphatically that if any vengeance should be attempted openly or secretly against the persons or property of the citizens who had taken part against their leaders, that the public hatred and excitement was such that thousands would assemble for the total destruction of their city and the extermination of their people; and that no power in the State would be able to prevent it. During this address some impatience and resentment were manifested by the Mormons at the recital of the various reports enumerated concerning them, which they strenuously and indignantly denied to be true. They claimed to be law-abiding people, and insisted that as they looked to the law alone for their protection, so were they careful themselves to observe its provisions. Upon the conclusion of this address I proposed to take a vote on the question, whether they would strictly observe the laws, even in opposition to their prophet and leaders. The vote was unanimous in favor of this proposition.
"A short time before sundown we departed on our return to Carthage. When we had proceeded two miles we met two individuals, one of them a Mormon, who informed us that the Smiths had been assassinated in jail about five or six o'clock of that day. The intelligence seemed to strike everyone with a kind of dumbness. As to myself, it was perfectly astounding, and I anticipated the very worst consequences from it. The Mormons had been represented to me as a law-less, infatuated, and fanatical people, not governed by the ordinary motives which influence the majority of mankind.
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