of the mayor, in executing the laws and ordinances of the city. The act, also, "entitles the Nauvoo legion to its proportion of the public arms." Joseph Smith, "the prophet," has since been commissioned lieutenant-general, and the Nauvoo legion been supplied with arms out of the public arsenal. When we take into consideration the fact, that Lieutenant-general Smith had just arrived here from Missouri, at the time of receiving his commission, we must confess, that his promotion was exceedingly rapid. In order to carry out and perfect this system of entire independence, the city council, by the 24th section of the act, is author. ized to establish a university, by the name of the "Chancellor and Regents of the University of the City of Nauvoo," with perpetual succession, "and full power to pass, ordain, establish, and execute all such laws and ordinances, as they may consider necessary for the welfare and prosperity thereof," regardless of the laws, which are again omitted here as before. The act, therefore, to incorporate the city of Nauvoo, it would seem, is a perfect anomaly in legislation.

The beneficence, however, of the General Assembly, did not terminate with the incorporation of the city. On the 23rd of February thereafter, they incorporated a tavern within the city, with a capital of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, under the name of the "Nauvoo House Association." This is the house of which we have already spoken. The 9th section of the last act declares, that no liquors shall ever be vended as a beverage, or introduced into common use in said house. (See note 4.) And as Joseph Smith furnished the lot whereon to erect said house, it was further declared, "that said Smith and his heirs, shall have a suite of rooms in said house, in perpetual succession."

Having incorporated a city, and a tavern within the city, the General Assembly proceeded next, and four days only thereafter, (February 27, 1841,) to incorporate the "Nauvoo Agricultural and Manufacturing Association," with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, and the privilege of increasing it to three hundred thousand dollars.

The sole object of said association, by the 2nd section of the act, is declared to be "the promotion of agriculture and husbandry, and for the manufacturing of flour, lumber, and such other useful articles as are necessary for the every-day purposes of life."

The General Assembly also passed a special law, for the appointment of a notary public, in the city of Nauvoo. Of this, however, we do not complain.

And in the act in relation to a road therein named, which is an act to amend "an act, concerning the road from Warsaw to Quincy;" they added a second section, which provides "that any citizen of Hancock county may, by voluntary enrollment, attach himself to the Nauvoo legion, with all the privileges which appertain to that independent military body."

This last act, and this last extraordinary provision, is referred to on this occasion, merely to exhibit a specimen of improvident legislation;

not on account of any intrinsic importance it possesses. In a country, and under a government like ours, excessive legislation is always inexpedient, and sometimes dangerous; it should, therefore, be avoided. The idea of passing a special statute for every little daily occurrence, is too ridiculous to be tolerated, too expensive to be endured, and too absurd to be persisted in for a length of time. The Mormons are entitled to the same protection as the rest of our citizens; to the same privileges, which are common to us all. The idea, however, of enacting half-a-dozen statutes, in as many weeks, for their special benefit, is too preposterous, we hope, to be again repeated.

The practice of the Mormons, under their act of incorporation, deserves next our attention.

That the Mormons were dealt harshly with in Missouri, there is no doubt. That they were wronged in many respects, we believe. That Governor Boggs's exterminating order was issued without authorityoppressive, impolitic and unjust-seems now to be conceded. Still, it furnishes no excuse for some of the Mormon proceedings.

On the 8th of December, 1943, an extra ordinance was passed by the city council of Nauvoo, for the extra case of Joseph Smith; by the first section of which it is enacted, "That it shall be lawful for any officer of the city, with, or without process, to arrest any person who shall come to arrest Joseph Smith with process growing out of the Missouri difficulties; and the person so arrested, shall be tried by the municipal court upon testimony, and if found guilty, sentenced to imprisonment in the city prison for life."

Here, then, is a direct attempt to set the laws of the State, and of the nation, at defiance; an attempt to legislate without authority, and to nullify a solemn act of our Legislature.

On the 17th of February, 1842, an ordinance was passed, entitled “An ordinance concerning marriages," by the second section of which a person is authorized to marry with, or without license. We have a statute, requiring a license, in all cases, from the clerk of the commsssioner's court. Whether the law be expedient or not is immaterial. The idea of its being repealed, or annulled, by the city council of Nauvoo, is not to be tolerated.*

On the 21st of November, 1843, an ordinance was passed by the city council, making it highly penal, even to one hundred dollars fine, and six months imprisonment, for any officer to serve a process in the city of Nauvoo," unless it be examined by, and receive the approval and signature of the mayor of said city, on the back of said process."

* A new kind of ceremony, appertaining to marriage, has lately been introduced into the municipal regulations of Nauvoo. Persons, inclined so to do, are married for the next world, as well as this. The ceremony is, therefore, performed in the alternative for time or eternity. Those married for time, have recently, as we have been informed, been married a second time, for eternity.

The conduct of the city council, in relation to the above ordinances, or rather the conduct of Lieutenant-general Smith, who unites in his own person the office of prophet, priest, and king, and is, in fact, council, mayor, and executive officer of Nauvoo, has begun already to breed a tempest; and great prudence will, unquestionably, be required to assuage its fury. The Mormons have occupied already more space than we had intended; still we are unwilling to leave the subject without inserting some extracts from the British Critic, an English publication, printed in London, in October, 1842.

"An English gentleman, (Mr. Henry Caswell,) of talents and respectability, ascending the Mississippi in a steamboat, in 1842, was told that three hundred English emigrants were on board, to join 'the prophet' at Nauvoo. He walked into that part of the vessel appropriated to the poorer class of travellers, and beheld his countrymen crowded together in a comfortless manner. He addressed them, and found they were from the neighborhood of Preston, in Lancashire. They were decent looking people, and by no means of the lower class. He took the liberty of questioning them respecting their plans, and found they were the dupes of Mormon missionaries.

"Early on Sunday morning he was landed opposite to Nauvoo, and in a few minutes crossed the river in a large canoe, filled with Mormons 'going to meeting;' and in a few minutes found himself in this extraordinary city. It is built on a grand plan, accommodated to the bend of the river, and to the site of the temple.

"The view of the winding Mississippi from this elevation, (the temple,') was truly magnificent. The whole lower part of the town from thence was distinctly seen, and contained, as was said, ten thousand people.*

"The temple," says Mr. Caswell, "being unfinished, about half-past ten o'clock a congregation of perhaps two thousand persons assembled in a grove, within a short distance of the sanctuary. Their appearance was quite respectable, and fully equal to that of dissenting meetings generally in the western country. Many gray-headed old men were there, and many well-dressed females. Their sturdy forms, their clear complexions, and their heavy movements, strongly contrasting with the slight fig ure, the sallow visage, and the elastic step of the American. There, too, were the bright and unconscious looks of little children, who, born among the privileges of England's church, baptized with her consecrated waters, and taught to lisp their prayers and repeat her catechism, had now been led into this clan of heresy, to listen to the ravings of a false prophet, and to imbibe the principles of a semi-pagan delusion.

*Large accessions to its population have been made since, and it is now (1844) said to contain eighteen thousand people; some say twenty-two thousand. This may be, and probably is, an over estimate. It is, however, the largest town in the State, and rapidly increasing.

"Two elders shortly came forward, and one of them having made a few commonplace remarks on the nature of prayer, and dwelt for a considerable time on the character and perfections of the Almighty, proceeded in the following strain:

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،،، We thank thee, O Lord, that thou hast, in these latter days, restored the gifts of prophecy, of revelation, and of great signs and wonders, as in the days of old. We thank thee, that as thou didst formerly raise up thy servant, Joseph, to deliver his brethren in Egypt, so thou hast raised up another Joseph to save his brethren from bondage to sectarian delusion, and to bring them into this great and good land—a land flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, and which thou didst promise to be an inheritance for the seed of Jacob for ever more. We pray for thy servant and prophet, Joseph, that thou wouldst bless him, and prosper him; that although the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him, his bow may abide in strength, and the arms of his hands be made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. We pray also for thy temple, that the nations of the earth may bring gold and incense; that the sons of strangers may build up its walls, and fly to it as a cloud, and as doves to their windows. We pray thee, also, to hasten the ingathering of thy people, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. We pray, that as thou hast set up this place as an ensign for the nations, so thou wouldst continue to assemble here the outcasts, and gather together the dispersed from the four corners of the earth. May every valley be exalted, and every mountain and hill be made low, and the crooked pla. ces straight, and the rough places plain; and may the glory of the Lord be revealed, and all flesh see it together. Bring thy sons from afar, and thy daughters from the ends of the earth, and let them bring their gold and their silver with them.

"After prayer, the other elder commenced a discourse on the necessity of a revelation for America, as well as Asia, and on the probability of continued revelations. At its close, a hymn was sung, and a third elder came forward, and observed, that his office required of him to speak of business, and especially of the 'Nauvoo house;' and among other things said, that the Lord had commenced this work, and the work must be done; yes, it shall be done-it will be done.' That a small amount of stock had hitherto been taken; that the committee had gone on borrowing and borrowing till they could borrow no longer; that mechanics had been employed on the house; that they wanted their pay, and the committee were not able to pay them; that he came there with seven thousand dol lars, and now had but two thousand-having expended five thousand upon the work of the Lord. He, therefore, called upon the brethren to obey God's command, and take stock.' This address being concluded, others followed in the same strain, and appeared as familiar with worldly business and operations of finance, as with prophecies and the book of Mormon. None, however, came forward to take stock, and one of the elders thereupon remarked, that as they had not made up their minds as te

the amount of stock they would take, he wished them to come to his house the next day that purpose.'

"The public exercises being closed, Mr. Caswell, accompanied by a prominent member of the church, next visited the temple. Its position, says he, is commanding, and is designed to be one of the best edifices in the country. It is a hundred and twenty feet by a hundred, and when completed, will be fifty feet up to the eaves. Its expense is estimated at three hundred thousand dollars. The baptismal font is finished. It is a capacious laver, about twenty feet square, and rests on the backs of twelve oxen, well sculptured, and large as life. The laver and oxen are of wood, painted, but are to be gilded. Here baptisms for the dead are celebrated, as well as baptisms for the healing of diseases. Baptisms for the remission of sins are performed in the Mississippi."

Since Mr. Caswell's visit to Nauvoo, the temple has progressed considerably, and the Nauvoo House has been finished. It is now occupied by "the prophet," and a suite of rooms reserved therein, as we are gravely told, by God's command, "for his servant Joseph and his seed after him, from generation to generation." How that fact is, we know not; a suite of rooms, however, we know is reserved in the act of incorporation, for Joseph Smith and his heirs, " in perpetual succession."

Mr. Caswell was next introduced to the prophet, and had, as he says, the honor of an interview with him. He describes him as a coarse plebeian person in aspect, and his countenance exhibits a curious mixture of the knave and clown. His hands are large and fat, and on one of his fingers he wore a massive gold ring, with some inscription upon it. His dress was of coarse country manufacture, and his white hat was enveloped by a piece of black crape, being in mourning for a brother. He (Mr. Caswell,) had no opportunity of observing his eyes, he (Smith,) appearing deficient in that open, staid, fixed look which characterizes an honest man." (See note 5.)

"The Mormon system," says Mr. Caswell, "mad as it is, has method in its madness, and many shrewd and calculating hands are at work in its maintenance and propagation; and whatever may befall its originators, it has the elements of increase and endurance. Mormon missionaries have been sent forth, and are now at work in almost every country in Christendom. They have recently gone to Russia, with letters of credence from the Mormon prophet. Their numbers, in England, we have no doubt are increasing rapidly; and it remains," says Mr. Caswell, "for Christians of the present day to determine whether Mormonism shall sink to the level of those fanatical sects which, like new stars, have blazed for a little while, and then sunk into obscurity; or whether, like a second Mohammedanism, it shall extend itself, sword in hand, till Christianity be levelled with the dust."

We may, perhaps, be accused of giving an undue importance to "the prophet." The wretch who burnt the temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was "decreed" to oblivion. Black Hawk, who cost our Government, it