FROM THE MORMON COUNTRY—St. Louis papers to the 4th inst. furnish some farther intelligence from the scene of the disturbances in Hancock Co.
Gen. Harden was at Nauvoo, and on the 27th of September issued a general order from which we make the following extracts:—
By the order of the Governor, an armed force has again been marched into your county. Acts of diso-bedience of the laws, and open violence by mobs, have been frequent in your county, for two years past; the destruction of a printing press, the subsequent re-sistance of the officers of the law, in Nauvoo; the number of prisoners confined in jail, and the recent destruction of numerous houses by fire, are acts which disgrace your county, and are a stigma to the State, the nation and the age. Such flagrant violations of law, be they committed by whom they may, must be stopped.
To effect this object, troops have been called into service by the Governor, whose duty it will be to sup-press all farther illegal violence, and to bring within reach of the tribunals of the law, all persons who have taken a criminal part in the recent disturbances, ei-ther by the destruction of property or life.
The officers and soldiers now in service will take no part for or against Mormons or anti-Mormons. Their object is to assert the supremacy of the laws. The Governor has invested the commanding General with full powers to act as he may deem necessary to carry out this object. The force now in the field is believed to be amply sufficient to maintain order and to prevent farther violations of law. It is desired that no person or party shall have reason to break the peace, or fear that it will again be broken.
It is therefore ordered by the commanding General that no armed force exceeding four persons, shall as-semble in the county of Hancock during the continu-ance of the troops now in service in the field, except such as may be under the immediate command of the commanding General.
The officers of the county are requested to return and resume their duties at the county seat.
The citizens of the county are requested to remain at home and attend to their usual occupations. Should they entertain any serious apprehension of an out break or attack, they will give information of it to the General, who will take immediate steps to prevent it.
It is expected by the Commanding General that good order and quiet will be restored, and that there will be neither violation of nor resistance to the laws. If there should be, it will be his duty to see the laws faithfully executed. The forces under his command are believed to be amply adequate to put down all resistance. Should they not be, a sufficient force will be immediately called out to overwhelm all resistance.
Upon Gen. Hardin's arrival at Carthage, he found the Court House in the possession of the guard left by Backenstos. To these men he gave twenty mi-nutes, in which to leave the town, and they availed themselves of the privilege, without delay.
A second meeting had been held at Quincy. The St. Louis Republican gives the following sketch of the proceedings:
They recommend to the people to accept the pro-position made by the Mormons—already published—to remove from the state next Spring; but to accept it as an unconditional proposition to remove, not imply-ing any obligation to purchase the Mormon property, or to find purchasers for it. They do not endorse the enumeration of grievances set forth in the Mormon proposition. They declare, that it is now too late to attempt the settlement of the difficulties upon any other terms than the removal of the Mormons from the state.
They recommend to the people of the surrounding counties to wait with patience the time appointed for removal. They express the opinion that the peace of Hancock county cannot be restored while Backen-stos remains sheriff, and that he ought to resign that office. They propose that the people of Nauvoo shall appoint commissioners, to whom application for the purchase of real estate may be made; and suggest that all legal prosecutions for alleged offences, during the present excitement, shall be suspended. They recommend that no court be held in Hancock the pre-sent Fall, and that a small military force be kept up in the county to preserve property from depredation.
Similar meetings were held in Henderson and Warren counties, at which the language was equally decided as to permitting the continued residence of the Mormons in the state.
Gov. Ford has issued the following proclamation relative to the interference of the citizens of other states in the quarrels between the Mormon and other citizens of Hancock Co.
Proclamation.
By the Governor of the State of Illinois.
Whereas, it has been represented to me that divers persons from Missouri and Iowa Territory, threaten to invade this state for the purpose of taking part in the civil war, which it is hoped, certain wicked and disorderly persons will not be enabled to carry on in the county of Hancock:—
Now, therefore, I, Thomas Ford, Governor of the state of Illinois, do warn all such persons, who will imprudently thrust themselves into a quarrel with which they have nothing to do as citizens of this state, that if taken in any act of war or mischief, they will be chastised in a most summary manner; and if they escape beyond the limits of this state, they will be de-manded to be surrendered to the authorities of Han-cock county, that they may be tried for their crimes, and punished according to law.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the great seal of the state to be fixed.
Done at Springfield, this twenty-sixth day of Sep-tember, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-five. By the Governor,
THOMAS FORD.
THOMPSON CAMPBELL, Secretary of State.
A meeting was held at Churchvilie, Missouri, four days after the above proclamation, at which, among the resolutions adopted were the following:
Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with our brethren in Hancock county, III. in their present troubles; and, be-lieving as we do, that they are sought for as the victims of malicious and revengeful persecutions, we pledge ourselves to protect and defend them on our soil from the villainous attempts now making to sacrifice them at the shrine of Mormon vengeance.
Resolved, That although Gov. Ford, of Illinois, has thought proper to address a proclamation to the citizens of Missouri and Iowa, warning us to take no part in the quar-rel pending in Hancock county, we shall, nevertheless, act as free men, possessing hearts that can sympathize with their fellow men when wronged, and hands that can assist them when called on in maintaining their rights.
A convention of citizens of the adjoining counties was to meet at Carthage on the 1st inst.
