"The Smiths are not without talent; Joe, the chief, is a noble-looking
fellow, a Mahomet every inch of him; the postmaster, Sidney Rigdon, is
a lawyer, a philosopher, and a saint. The other generals are also men
of talent, and some of them men of learning. I have no doubt they are
all brave, as they are most unquestionably ambitious, and the tendency
of their religious creed is to annihilate all other sects. We may,
therefore, see the time when this gathering host of religious fanatics
will make this country shake to its centre. A western empire is
certain. Ecclesiastical history presents no parallel to this people,
inasmuch as they are establishing their religion on a learned basis.
In their college, they teach all the sciences, with Latin, Greek,
Hebrew. French, Italian, and Spanish; the mathematical department is
under an extremely able professor, of the name of Pratt; and a
professor of Trinity College, Dublin, is president of their
university.

"I arrived there, incog, on the 1st inst, and, from the great
preparations for the military parade, was induced to stay to see the
turn-out, which, I confess, has astonished and filled me with fears
for the future consequences. The Mormons, it is true, are now
peaceable, but the lion is asleep. Take care, and don't rouse him.

"The city of Nauvoo contains about fifteen thousand souls, and is
rapidly increasing. It is well laid out, and the municipal affairs
appear to be well conducted. The adjoining country is a beautiful
prairie. Who will say that the Mormon prophet is not among the great
spirits of the age?

"The Mormons number, in Europe and America, about one hundred and
fifty thousand, and are constantly pouring into Nauvoo and the
neighbouring country. There are probably in and about this city, at a
short distance from the river, not far from thirty thousand of these
warlike fanatics, and it is but a year since they have settled in the
Illinois."

CHAPTER FORTY.

While I was at Mr Courtenay's plantation I had a panther adventure, a
circumstance which, in itself, would be scarcely worth mentioning, were
it not that this fierce animal was thought to have entirely left the
country for more than twenty years. For several days there had been a
rapid diminution among the turkeys, lambs, and young pigs in the
neighbourhood, and we had unsuccessfully beaten the briars and
cane-brakes, expe