“Joseph, don’t do it,” Hyrum said again.
Joseph looked from face to face. He was thoughtful, pensive. Then finally he shook his head. “The gentle breathings of the Spirit whisper that there is mischief in this sham battle,” he said in a low voice. “And I think John C. Bennett is behind it. And if I am not wrong, time shall prove me right about his character.”
He wheeled his horse around again. “Thank you very much, General Bennett,” he called cheerfully, “but my staff still thinks my place is here at the head of the field with our guests and wives.”
True anger twisted Bennett’s features now. He muttered something under his breath, jerked on the reins, and rode back to his position directly in front of the band. Without waiting for a signal from Joseph, he raised his sword. “Let the battle begin.”
It was a grand thing to behold as hundreds of men, with a mighty shout, put spurs to horses. Rifle and musket shots rang out. Puffs of smoke filled the spring air. Swords clanged against swords and men shouted in mock fury. Even the three cannons got into the act, firing off round after round of black powder, but with no cannon balls inside the breech. At first the great crowd was stunned by the seeming fury of it all, but then a thunderous cheer went up and down the line of people. The Nauvoo Legion was giving them a real show.
Benjamin picked up Joseph’s plumed hat and carried it around the grandstand. Joseph was there, still in full uniform but minus his hat, bidding final farewell to their guests. Hyrum stood behind him waiting. Rockwood and his lifeguards were scattered here and there, but Benjamin saw with satisfaction that though they appeared to be relaxed and off duty, they were still watching the dispersing crowd with narrowed eyes and rifles at the ready.
When the entourage finally moved away, Benjamin stepped forward and handed Joseph the hat. “Ah, Benjamin, there it is. The general is complete again at last.”
Benjamin smiled. “Emma said to tell you she would meet you at the house.”
“All right.”
He looked at Joseph. “Do you think—” He stopped, not sure if it was appropriate to ask.
“Yes?” Joseph encouraged him.
“Do you think Bennett had really planned something?”
Hyrum was listening nearby and nodded immediately. So did Captain Rockwood. Joseph just looked at him.
“I mean . . .” Benjamin couldn’t keep the horror out of his voice. “We are talking about assassination here.”
Joseph sighed, tucking his hat under one arm. “I’ll say this much, Brother Ben. Let that man answer on the Day of Judgment when I stand before him and ask him this question: ‘Why did you request me to command one of the cohorts, and also to take my position behind that cohort without my staff, during the sham battle, where my life would have been forfeit and no man would have known?’ At the Judgment, he shall have no choice but to answer me that question, Benjamin. And then we shall know for certain.”
Chapter Notes
On 4 May 1842, Joseph introduced the ordinance of the endowment to eight men. In the
History of the Church,
William Law and William Marks are not listed, probably because of their later apostasy. This was the first time in this dispensation that the full temple ordinance was given to others. (See
HC
5:1–2; Joseph Smith,
The Papers of Joseph Smith,
ed. Dean C. Jessee, vol. 2,
Journal, 1832–1842
[Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1992], p. 380; see also
HC
2:309.) In his history Joseph goes on to say that the next day General Adams departed for Springfield, but that the remainder of the council “continued their meeting at the same place, and myself and Brother Hyrum received in turn from the others, the same that I had communicated to them the day previous” (
HC
5:2–3).
Though news of it would not reach Nauvoo for more than two weeks, ex-Governor Lilburn W. Boggs was shot as he sat in his house by an unknown assailant on 6 May 1842 (see
HC
5:14). This would later prove to have lasting implications for Joseph and the Church.
The descriptions given of militia in general and the Nauvoo Legion in particular are accurate as to numbers, dress, weaponry, and so on (see
In Old Nauvoo,
p. 131).
The attempted assassination as depicted here is described by Joseph in his history (see
HC
5:4–5). His comment about the “breathings of the Spirit” and the question that would be asked of Bennett at the Judgment come directly from his account. It should be remembered that while nothing public had been announced at this point, Joseph was by now fully aware of what Bennett was up to and was moving to take action against him. Whether Bennett knew that or not at this point is not clear.
Chapter 28
They came quietly to the home of Benjamin and Mary Ann Steed. There were five of them—Nathan and Lydia, Carl and Melissa, and Caroline. They came separately, within minutes of each other. They each knocked softly at the front door rather than simply walking in as was their habit. That alone was proof that they sensed that this was not to be just another evening together at Grandma and Grandpa’s. As Caroline arrived, the last of the five to do so, and Benjamin came into the parlor with her, he saw the surprise on their faces at who had been included in his unexpected invitation and who had been excluded. They were subdued and unusually reserved, though he could clearly see the questions in each one’s eyes.
Benjamin had arranged the chairs so that there were two on one side of the sofa, one on the other. That put all five of them sitting together and facing Benjamin and Mary Ann, who had matching chairs side by side. Carl and Melissa were on the sofa, Caroline in the single chair, Nathan and Lydia in the double set.
Benjamin did not sit down. He stood beside Mary Ann, one hand resting lightly on her shoulder. “Thank you for coming. I know you have many questions, which we shall answer in a moment. This
is
a family council. It is limited to the seven of us for reasons you’ll understand. To begin with, I’d like to take Carl and Nathan with me into the other room for a few minutes. Mother Steed will explain some things to the women while we are gone.”
“But Pa!” Nathan exclaimed, guessing now what this was about.
Benjamin started away. “We’ll meet in the kitchen.”
Obviously agitated, Nathan stood and followed. Carl, his face impassive and unreadable, did the same. Benjamin went into the kitchen and, once Nathan and Carl had joined him, shut the door. Before Nathan could speak, he held up his hand. “I know what you’re going to say, Nathan, and I want you to know that what I do tonight I do not do lightly.”
“Are you telling them?” Nathan flung his head in the direction of the parlor.
“Yes, I am.”
“Pa, we promised we wouldn’t say anything to anyone else unless we all agreed to it.”
Benjamin’s head came up slowly. “There was a plan to assassinate Joseph yesterday at the Legion’s parade and sham battle.”
Nathan rocked back as though struck.
“What?” Carl cried.
He told them quietly, seeing the shock only deepen into total revulsion.
“And Bennett was behind it?” Nathan said in a hoarse voice.
There was a curt nod, and then Benjamin turned to Carl. “I don’t think anything more will come of it. But this isn’t something we can keep in a sack any longer. It could affect our wives and they have the right to know what is going on.”
“Do they know about this, what happened yesterday?” Carl asked.
“No, and that is the one thing I’m not going to share with them. Right now Bennett thinks that his plan was foiled, but he doesn’t know that Joseph suspects him.”
Nathan ran his fingers through his hair, thinking deeply. “You’re right, this changes everything. But why bring Caroline? Joshua is going to see this as a real betrayal.”
Benjamin dropped his second bombshell. “Joseph knows everything, Nathan.”
Nathan had been looking toward the window. Now his head came around slowly. Carl was staring at Benjamin too.
“He knows that Nathan is looking into the plural marriage thing?” Carl asked in alarm.
“You told him?” Nathan exploded. “You told him that, Pa?”
“Nathan, Joseph is not a fool. You’ve been asking questions of the Twelve. You’ve been avoiding him. What did you think he would think?”
Nathan shook that off. “You didn’t say he
suspects,
Pa. You said he
knows.
”
Benjamin sighed. “That’s right. I’ve told him everything.”
Nathan reached him in three strides and grabbed his arm. “After we said we wouldn’t? Don’t you think I wanted to say something to him? Don’t you think I’ve felt awful sneaking around behind his back?”
“Listen to me! This isn’t something we can sit on any longer. Whatever happens now is going to profoundly influence Caroline. Joshua has no right to hide this from her and then spring it on her like a snare. Lydia is already sick with worry about you. You’ve been depressed, withdrawn, distant. She knows something is wrong, but she doesn’t know what. Well, she has a right to know. The same with Melissa and Carl.”
“I’m glad,” Carl said quietly. “I’ve not felt good about this from the beginning.”
“These are our wives,” Benjamin said, pleading for understanding. “Not only do they have a right to know what is going on, but we need their counsel on this. I talked to Joseph and Hyrum about it. It was their suggestion that we hold this family council.” He turned to the door again. “Now we’ve got a long night ahead of us, so let’s get on with it.”
He stepped through the door and walked down the hall to the parlor.
It was obvious that Mary Ann’s news had cast a pall over the three women. Melissa stood as Carl came to her, and put her arms around him. “Oh, Carl,” was all she said.
Benjamin sat down by Mary Ann and she reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently. Lydia also took Nathan’s hand, but she still seemed perplexed. She wasn’t yet sure what all of this about Bennett had to do with Nathan’s recent dark moodiness. Benjamin sighed, dreading having to add to their concern. But stalling wasn’t a solution, so he jumped in, not willing to delay it with small talk. “Mary Ann has explained about Carl’s investigation of Bennett. She hasn’t told you the rest.” He could see the change in their faces. They thought they had heard it all. “There’s something else. Yes, Carl was satisfied that the whole sordid mess that Bennett described was nothing but lies, but—” He drew a quick breath. “But he learned that there was a good possibility that Joseph was teaching the doctrine of plural marriage.”
It didn’t register. All three of them looked blankly at him. “Plural marriage?” Caroline said, genuinely puzzled. “What do you mean by that?”
“That God authorizes a man to have more than one wife,” Nathan said bleakly.
There was a collective gasp and simultaneously they recoiled in horror.
Carl was nodding. “I wasn’t sure. I was just hearing things and—”
Nathan cut in sharply. “Pa, you talked with Joseph today. Did you ask him if it was true?”
“I did.”
Now Nathan’s eyes were filled with undiluted anguish. “And?”
“The answer is yes, Nathan.”
Nathan dropped his head into his hands. “I knew it!” he cried. “They just kept hedging. No one would answer me directly. But they wouldn’t deny it either.”
“Knew what?” Lydia asked, reaching over to try and hold him. She turned to Benjamin in horror. “Are you saying . . . ?” Her eyes widened into great round circles. “You’re not saying that it’s true!”
He wasn’t going to try and shield them on this. They had to know. “Yes, it is true.”
Nathan was still shaking his head and mumbling to himself. “I knew it! I just knew it!” Then suddenly he snapped up. “Has Joseph already—?”
Benjamin said it very quietly, but firmly. “Yes.”
It was as if he had been kicked. The air went out of him in a long whoosh. “No,” he whispered.
Carl was aghast. “You don’t mean . . .”
“Yes.” The weariness made Benjamin’s voice low and heavy. “Heber too.”
“What?” Caroline cried. “What are you saying?”
“They have already married other women.”
“Joseph?” Lydia cried.
“Yes. At least one, maybe more.”
She was dazed. “Who?”
“I don’t know. And I’m not sure that he’s living with them as husband and wife. But they have been joined to him in eternal marriage.”
Nathan was staring at the wall. “So there was some truth to it after all.”
“To Bennett’s lies?” Benjamin retorted in disgust. “Absolutely none. Joseph never gave Bennett any such licence. The man was acting totally out of his own depravity.”
He leaned forward, earnest now, wanting Nathan most of all to understand. “Don’t you see what’s happening here, Nathan? From Satan’s point of view, this is a brilliant strategy. Just as Joseph is about to be told by the Lord that it is time for the principle of plural marriage to be restored, along comes John C. Bennett. He’s smooth, he’s handsome, he helps us get a charter, he’s elected mayor. We are all a little agog that such a man has become one of us. And then he starts his work—silently, insidiously, treacherously. He starts teaching a corrupted form of the very doctrine that is about to be revealed. He’s a man of influence and position. He’s the Assistant President, of all things. There couldn’t be a more destructive problem. It sows doubt, it raises questions, it has the whole city aflame with rumors. It is a brilliant stroke!”
He instantly shook his head. “No, not brilliant, for that implies light, and there is no light in Satan or his followers. But it is cunning to the highest degree.” He paused, deeply depressed suddenly. “And we have not seen the end of this. Not by a long shot.”
Melissa was still in shock. She was whispering something to Carl, and he just kept shaking his head.
Lydia looked ill. Her face was drawn and almost gray. “Does Emma know?” she asked in a small voice.
“Yes,” answered Benjamin.
She felt like she couldn’t get her breath. “And she . . . ?”
Benjamin’s shoulders lifted and fell. “Joseph says she has accepted the doctrine, but not surprisingly she is having a difficult time with its application. But she has accepted the fact that—”