culturists in the regions about, citizens of the United States, driven beyond the border by other citizens : not by reason of their rehgion alone, though this was made a pretence ; not for breaking the laws, though this was made a pretence; not on account of their immorality, for the people of Illinois and Missouri were not im- maculate in this respect; nor was it altogether on account of their solid voting and growing political power, accompanied ever by the claim of general in- heritance and universal dominion, though this last had more to do with it probably than all the rest combined, notwithstanding that the spirit of liberty and the laws of the republic permitted such massing of social and political influence, and notwithstanding the obvious certainty that any of the gentile political parties now playing the role of persecutors would gladly and unscrupulously have availed themselves of such means for the accomplishment of their ends. It was all these combined, and so combined as to engen- der deadly hate. It gave the Mormons a power in proportion to their numbers not possessed by other sects or societies, which could not and would not endure it; a power regarded by the others as unfairly acquired, and by a way and through means not in accord with the American idea of individual equality, of equal rights and equal citizenship. In regard to all other sects within the republic, under guard of the consti- tution, religion was subordinated to politics and gov- ernment; in regard to the Mormons, in spite of the constitution, politics and government were subordi- nated to religion.
And in regard to the late occupants of the place, the last of the Mormon host that now lay huddled to the number of 640 on the western bank of the river in sight of the city :^^ if the first departures from Nauvoo escaped extreme hardships, not so these. It was the
^^ A few mouths before, Nauvoo with the neighboring Mormon settlements had contained some 20,000 saints, of whom in July about 15,000 were encamped on the Missouri liiver, or were scattered through the western states iu search of employment.
