150 thousand houses for sale in this city and county, and we request all good citizens to assist in the disposal of our property.
"That we do not expect to find purchasers for our temple and other public buildings; but we are willing to rent them to a respectable community who may inhabit the city.
"That we wish it distinctly understood that although we may not find purchasers for our property, we will not sacrifice it, nor give it away or suffer it illegally to be wrested from us.
"That we do not intend to sow any wheat this fall, and should we all sell, we shall not put in any more crops of any description.
"That as soon as practicable, we will appoint committees for this city, La Harpe, Macedonia, Bear Creek, and all necessary places in the country to give information to purchasers.
"That if these testimonies are not sufficient to satisfy any people that we are in earnest, we will soon give them a sign that cannot be mistaken. WE WILL LEAVE THEM.
"In behalf of the council, respectfully yours,
"BRIGHAM YOUNG, President.
"WILLARD RICHARDS, Clerk."
-Life of Joseph the Prophet, pp. 550-552.
Though the "anti-Mormons" had assurance of obtaining all they demanded, many were quiet but for a short time, when they again became clamorous for the Mormons to be off. Some of them were doubtless desirous of plunder, and their hatred of the Mormons was only a pretext, robbery being the chief motive actuating them. Of this, Bancroft in his History of Utah, page 216, writes as follows:-
The arbitrary acts of the people of Illinois in forcing the departure of the saints lays them open to the grave charge, among others, of a desire to possess their property for less than its value. Houses and lots, farms and merchandise, could not be turned into money, or even into wagons and live stock, in a moment, except at a ruinous sacrifice. Granted that the hierarchy was opposed to American institutions,
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