| 657 the nearest one invested with this power, an examination was had before said court, when it was made to appear that the writ was defective and void; furthermore, that he was innocent of the charges therein alleged against him. It was in this case that Hyrum's testimony was given, which is rehearsed in a preceding chapter."-Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors, pp. 292, 293.
The Times and Seasons gave the following account of the arrest and other incidents connected therewith:-
"Once more at peace, Mr. Smith flattered himself that his relentless persecutors must have satiated their rage and exhausted their ingenuity to find means to prosecute; and he had favorably hoped that had they invented anything else, that the Executive of this State, alive to the injustice that Mr. Smith had already experienced from the hands of Missouri, would not have countenanced or furthered any demands that might be made by that State upon the Executive of this for the person of Joseph Smith. This we believe he had reason to expect; he was in hopes that the time of his trials pertaining to the tyranny of that State was at an end, and that he would be allowed to enjoy the precious boon of liberty, and to dwell in peace in the bosom of his family and with his friends. Feeling perfectly secure, he set off with his family to Mr. Wasson's, to visit his wife's sister, Mrs. Wasson and family, who resided about twelve miles from Dixon, Lee County, in this State. While he was there a Mr. J. H. Reynolds, sheriff of Jackson County, Missouri (so he says), and Mr. Harmon Wilson, of Carthage, arrived at Dixon, professing to be Mormon preachers; from thence they proceeded to Mr. Wasson's, at whose house Mr. Smith was staying. They found Mr. Smith outside of the door, and accosted him in a very uncouth, ungentlemanly manner, quite in keeping however with the common practice of Missourians. [The language here is so profane that we omit as far as the narrative will permit.] They then hurried him off to a carriage that they had, and without serving process, were for hurrying him off without letting him see or bid farewell to his family or friends. Mr. Smith then said: 'Gentlemen, if you
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