THE MORMON TRIALS.—On the 21st ult. the trial of the persons charged with the murder of Hiram and Joe Smith, commenced at Carthage, Illinois. The prisoners, J. C. Davis, late an Illinois Senator, T. C. Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Signal, Mark Aldrich, Wm. N. Gro-ver, and Col. Levi Williams, complained by affidavit of the partial manner in which the ju-rors had been selected, and prayed the Court that Elisors be appointed to select a jury, which the Court granted. The jury was not entirely empannelled at the last accounts. A corres-pondent of the St. Louis Republican says; Every thing thus far has been entirely quiet and peaceable, yet there is a deep and intense anxiety felt, which pervades all classes; the characters of the accused, the nature of the charge against them, and the peculiar state of the relations existing between the Mormons and anti-Mormons, all conspire to make the present trials of deep interest to the old citizens of this county. Every body almost attending Court comes armed to the teeth, and frequently muskets and rifles will be seen taken out of wagons with as much deliberation as if they were attending a military muster instead af at-tending a court of justics. This is a bad state of things, but extraordinary cases demand ex-traordinary remedies. The Mormons are said to have expressed a determination to take revenge, in case the de-fendants should not be convicted, but it is ho-ped that more discreet counsels will prevail.
19th Century Mormon Article Newspaper Index
