following the assassination of the Smiths,
comparative quiet prevailed in the Mormon country. The selection of
a successor to their murdered prophet, was now the absorbing question
among the Mormon people. Revelations were published that the
prophet, in imitation of the Saviour, was to rise from the dead,
and some even reported that they had seen him attended by a celestial
army coursing the air on a great white horse.

Sydney Rigdon now aspired to be the head of the Church as the
successor to the martyred prophet. His claims were verified by
a pretended revelation direct from heaven. He was, however, at
once antagonized by the "quorum of the Twelve," and after a bitter
struggle, Apostle Brigham Young was chosen, and Rigdon expelled
from the Church and "given over to the buffetings of Satan."

The quiet immediately succeeding the tragedy was of short duration.
It was only the calm which precedes the storm. While his followers
were invoking the vengeance of the law upon the murderers of the
prophet, the anti-Mormons were quietly organizing a crusade for
the expulsion of the entire Mormon population from the State. The
trial of the assassins of the Smiths resulted in their acquittal, as
was to have been expected when the intense anti-Mormon feeling
existing throughout the immediate country is taken into account.
The result is even less surprising when it is remembered that
the principal witness for the prosecution supplemented his testimony
of having seen the crime committed, by the remarkable declaration that
immediately upon the death of Joseph, "a bright and shining
light descended upon his head, that several of the conspirators
were stricken with total blindness, and that he heard supernatural
voices in the air confirming the divine mission of the murdered
prophet."

In the narration of these exciting events, the names of men who at
a later day achieved national distinction frequently occur. The
Hon. O. H. Browning, since Senator and member of the Cabinet,
was chief counsel for the alleged murderers of the Smiths. He was
at the time a distinguished Whig leader, and one of the most eloquent
men in the State. The disorder and outrages that followed the
acquittal just mentioned called Governor Ford again to the seat of
war. He says:

"When informed of these proceedings, I hastened to Jacksonville,
where in a conference with General Hardin, Judge Douglas, and
Mr. McDougal the Attorney-General of the State,