JOHN MILLS, THE MORMON. HIS FIGHT WITH COLONEL TURK.

New Zealander, Volume 6, Issue 484, 4 December 1850, Page 4

J OH N MILL S, THE M OR M ON. HIS FIGHT WITH COLONEL TURK.

When flic Mormons settled in Missouri, in 1833, nn cnthusias'ic young man nnmrd Mills w;n their most popular and admired preacher. Indeed, so great was his fume, that whenever he held meetings, a crowd of the sainti were Bine to be present. A strong and violent mob of Lynchfrs wn< about that time organized to put down the Mormons, under command of Col. Turk — one of the most desperately dangeioua men that Missouri, or in truth, any other, country, ever produced. Some of the Mormons were turred and feathered, some weie scourged with long knotty hickories, till they fuinted from the excess of toituie and the loss of blood ; others weie forcibly deprived of their property, and leduced in a dny to the condition of beggars ; while others still shared a doom of more mercy, and were shot down on the priaries like so mnny wolves. At last Tuik resolved to take some of the conceit out of the young picacher, Mills, and he gave notion to his men accordingly. It was a dreadful cold night in mid-winter, 1833, nnd although the nky was cloudless and the lull moon ehone out in all her splendor, the earth lay in tliut pearly radiance, chill and dreary as a frozen tomb ; for a thick sheet of snow crusted its surface, and a north wind howled over it a dismal dirge. It wai a night to drive even thievei and outlaws into burnes and stables for a shelter, and to keep lioneit people by the blaze of their own roaring; heurths. And yet strange to say, in a large tog cabin, within three hundred yards of the Missouri, then frozen from shore to slioie, at least one hundred people hail usiem-. bled to hold a religious rqeeting. They were Mormons, you may be Bure, no f<inutics of nn old faith would have turned out on such a night ; they must be freih zealots, with a new idea, but at its birth, in their hearts, and flaming like a meteor in their imaginations, or they never could have ventured to face such an icy blase as that. The congregation included men and women, in about equal numbers, and many of the former carried rifles, which they grasped with one bund even when kneeling down iv prayer, — such was the imminence of peril either real or imagined, they deemed pending over them. The preacher, the enthusiast Mills, had advanced to a thrilling head of his eloquent discourse, and was painting in terrible language the persecution which followed the footsteps of all gieat reformers, since the beginning of time. Never befoie had he been half bo animate, or half ko affecting. His blue eye gleamed like a star,— his voice pealed like a trumpet, shrill as the wind which whistled over the house top ; and his beardless lip seemed literally loaded with music. Tear*, groans, and wild shrieks fiom the audience, proved the despotic power of his eloquence. Suddenly thiee rifles exploded in quick succession before the door, and three sentinals, shaking with terror, mshed into the room, crying out— " The mob 1 the mob ! Save yourselves from Colonel Turk's mob." No person can depict the scene of dismay and confusion that ensued. The females screamed aloud, as if all hop- had departed. Several of the men sprang out of the windows, as if pursued by a legion of devils, while most of those who remained appeared stupified imd totally powerless, either to escape or make ready for resistance. Indeed there was little space allowed for preparation ; in a few moments a mol> numbering hundreds, had surrounded the building, and the muzzles of fifty cocked guns and pistols were thrust through the doors and windows. Still none within liftad a finger in defence— fenr seemed to have turned them into stone. Persecution had not yet hardened the " Latter Day Saints" into veterans, and the since famous " Mormon Legion" existed then only in the imagination of the Prophet. Presently the Lynchcrs, headed by the all dreaded nnd gigantic Col. Turk, rushed in, and began to beat the people with the iron ramrods of their guns, with very little distinction of merry as to age or six. The cries of the poor sufferers swelled to a wail wilder than the howling of the wind without. At length ColTurk roared— " Turn out the women and se'ze the men, nnd let us have the hickory switches, and the tar and feathers." And the drunken mob shouted, nnd hastened, to execute the brutul mandate. Up to this time young Mills, had continued standing with the Bible of their prophet in his hand, but unearthly pale and strikingly excited, his teeth clenched, and his bright eye swimming in a halo of fire. Suddenly he made a bound for an adjacent window, and noU withstanding more than twenty endeavoured to seize him, he effected his escape from the house. " Chase him — shoot him — take him alive or dead Il'I 1 ' cried Turk, in a transport of rage, letting the example by commencing the pursuit himself. The flight of Mills was directed in a straight line for the river and his agility, added to the start he had first got Boon placed him some distance a head. They fired both rifled and shot-guns at him as he ran, but happily without effect. When he came to the river side, he stooped down and hastily fastened on a pair of feltates, which he had cairied in his pocket for the last few days lo be ready for any emergency ; and then talcing the ice, skimmed over the frozen stream with the swiftness of tbe wind. " Has nobody a pair of skates?" shouted Turk, striking his forehead with a gesture of wrath and vexation. " I have," said one, " but I shall certainly not try them on the ice such a night as this 1" " Be quick — give them to me !" exclaimed Turk, in a tone of fiery impatience. Tiie skates were produced; the rager Colonel tied I them on ; »ud then swearing a dreadful oath that < he would bring back the preacher's scalp or leave his own, he began the pt-ri'ous chase Oh ! there is no danger like the courage inspired by puss on for revenge ! In the meanwhile, Mills had approached the farther shore, when he discovered the startling apparition of armed men on the bank. He knew at a glance what it meant. The mob, to prevent any of the M<nmons from escaping, had itationed a guard b»yond the river. < He instuntly turned his course down the stream, when 3 a whole platoon let off their rifles, but the dis- r tance vtas 100 considerable. A hail of bullets rattled , around him on the ice without injury, * " I will foil the fiends yet,'» he said to himself and 1 put forth all his speed. Mills flew away when lie became conscious that some one was pursuing him. j He slackened his velocity, and gradually wheeled about to obtain a view of hi? enemy. But the latter was still ' too remote for an accurate survey, and the Mormon l utteied aloud a mad prayer—" God gri>nt me that it be S Col. Tuik and I am willing to die !" „ On rushed tbe pursuer— on, still on, like an avalniiche. The noise of tbe iron skates could he heard above the roar of the northern blast, and his dark form loomed in the glittering moon beams, large in stature i SB a giant. As he drew nearer, the youug preacher ] Biniled venomously. He recognised the arch persecu* tor, Col. Turk, and he laughed out right, a laugh that rung over the frozen river like the wild Hcoff of some 1 demon, when he saw the other uiuhonib his gleaming

kniff, Mills then immediately milled li is own from li is scabbard, and film ted oil to avoid ihe coming shock, which might otlioiwisc prove fatal, by the nieio force of the collision to both. And then began u series of rapid, cunning evolutions to secure the advantage in this r.ew mode of combnr, the most tenilic ever conceived.— -The 1 ) 1 maiked the smooth suiface of the ice with c'nclc, clipscp, anglei, parallelograms, and nlniost e\ery possible figure of plane geomctiy; but each seemed n purled ckatrr and could not find the other ut fault, or take him unprepared. They passed repeatedly within three fuel of each other, nnd mntle quick thrusts whiel pierced to the hone. And at ill the cold grew more intense, and the wrathful wind howled on, while their maiUßiivres and flights somehow carried them lailher down the river, where the crusted ice wns thinue~, find crocked fearfnlly beneath their tieml. Finally, the Mormon took the desperate resolve to terminnte the stnfe by sacrificing his own life to make sure of that of his foe at the same time. In the following rush, he no longer turned aside to nvoid a direct collision, but fiustrated the attempt of L)uchct to thnt eii<^, by blighily swerving from 11 light line. Tlicy mot at full speed, ami the shock was like that of the crus'i o( adverse comets. At the moment of their fall, the quaking ice split beneath their weight, wilh a deafening roar, and the wild watci, boiling and hissing like a hell, swhl'oived them foitver— the per•ecutor and the victim, both victims now I But the river still rolled on its wny to the son ; the star* all shone as bright and beautiful as of old, in the morning of cicalion, when the angels of God channtcd their birth song ; and the width ful wind of winter howled on over the icy grave of the enemies no more.— American I'apir. They Say.— Well, what if they do? It may not be true. A great many fal^e reports aic circulated, and the reputation of a good man may be sadly sullied by a baseless rumor. Have you any reason to believe that what You tay concerning your brother is true? If not. why should you peimit your name to be included among the "they" who circulate a scandal ? they .Srty.— — . Who says ?Is the peison responsible for the assertion ? Such phrases are frequently used to conceal the point of a poignard, who thus meanly itrikes one whom lie dare not openly assail. Are you helping the cowardly attack ? II "they" menu nobody, then regard the rumor as nothing. They Sat, . Why do they say so? Is any good purpose recured by the circulation of the report ? Will it benefit the individual to have it known ; or will any interest of society ba promoted by whispering it about ? If not, you may belter employ time and Bpeech to some more worthy purpose. They Sen/.——. To whom do they say it ? To those who have no business in the affair ? To those who cannot help it or mend it, or prevent any unpleasant results ? That certainly shows a tattling, scandnl-loving spii it, nnd ought to be rebuked. They Say. . Well, do they my it to him, or are they very careful to whisper it in places whcie he cannot hear, or to persons who are kuonn not to be his fiicnds ? Would they dare to soy it to him as well as about bun ? No one hns ft right to say thut concerning another which be is not willing to speak in his own ear. If it should be true, don't bruit it nbroad to his injury. It will not benefit you nor him, nor society, to publish his faults. You arc as liable to be slandered or to err, as your brother, and as you would that he should defend, or excuse, or forgive you, do you even so to him. — Pacific News.