“Dear Sir; Our little town has been in an unusual state of excitement for the few days past, originating from the arrest of General Joseph Smith, which took place at the Inlet Grove, while he was on a visit, with his family, to a sister, who resides there. He was arrested on Friday last, by an officer from , and delivered over to the of , Missouri, in compliance with the orders of the .

The officers who took him, brought him into town in the evening and confined him closely to his room; refusing admission not only to the citizens, whose curiosity had drawn them to the spot, but to counsel whom he had requested to have employed.

Our citizens, conceiving it a violation of right, that a man should be deprived of that advice and assistance which is accorded to the most degraded and guilty offender in all civilized countries, under such circumstances, expressed themselves in such strong and indignant terms, that the officers finally permitted to Counsel to have access to him. He applied for the benefit of the ; and, while the lawyers were busy drawing <​up​> the necessary papers, the officers frequently asserted that they would not wait, but would leave for the , at all hazards. [HC 5:448] They were, however, induced by the <​force of arg​>ument to desist from their intention, and wait until morning: when the habeas corpus was served. After which, they started their determination to go to Rock Island and by steamboat from thence to , before General Smith justly felt fearful that once on a steamboat, he should hardly reach . The distance from this place to Rock Island is the same as from here to . General Smith finding this their determination, commenced suit against the of [p. 1586]