I was innocent of crime, and . . . I had been dragged from my family at a time, when my assistance was most needed; . . . I had been abused and thrust into a dungeon, and confined for months on account of my faith, and the "testimony of Jesus Christ." However I thank God that I felt a determination to die, rather than deny the things which my eyes had seen, which my hands had handled, and which I had borne testimony to, wherever my lot had been cast.
"To the Saints Scattered Abroad," Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 23.
"It would be beyond my power to describe my feelings when we were admitted into the jail by the keeper and the door was locked behind us," wrote Mercy Thompson of her visit to the prisoners in Liberty Jail. "We could not help feeling a sense of horror on realizing that we were locked up in that dark and dismal den, fit only for criminals of the deepest dye; but there we beheld Joseph, the Prophet . . . confined in a loathsome prison for no other cause or reason than that he claimed to be inspired of God to establish His church among men."
"Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith," Juvenile Instructor, July 1, 1892, 398.
