NAUVOO. A correspondent of the Madison (Ind.) Courier has been making a pilgrimage to the ruins of what was the stronghold of the "Lat-ter-Day Saints"—in the time when Joe Smith was the Prophet. We extract the following from his interesting letter:
The city of the Mormons once had 20,000 in-habitants: there are now but 2000. One-half of the houses the Mormons left have been removed or pulled down, and the other half are tenantless. Each lot contains an acre. In walking through its deserted streets I started several quails, in the midst of the once populous city. The mansion of Joe Smith is kept by his wife, once his widow, but now again a wife—of another and a live man — as a tavern. Between this mansion and the river are the remains of a famous hotel, which was abandoned after its walls had reached the second story. The walls are of fine pressed brick, with marble door-sills and caps. Joe's store house is also standing. The Masonic Hall is a fine brick building, three stories high. I am told that ail the Mormons were masons. Their lodge was under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. Smith, I am told, initiated some of the "mothers of the church," when the charter was taken from them, and the lodge closed. A com-pany of French Socialists have purchased a por-tion of the property—the site and the ruins of the temple included. They numbor about 400.
