“It becomes us, in defense of our rights... to rebuke such an outrage upon the chastity of society.” — “Voice of Innocence”

The "Voice of Innocence" was a public resolution issued in Nauvoo in February 1844, led by Emma Smith and other prominent women, in response to slanderous accusations made by Orsamus F. Bostwick against Hyrum Smith and the women of the city. Bostwick had claimed that many women in Nauvoo, including widows and wives, were involved in immoral activities.² In defense, the women of Nauvoo condemned these slanderous remarks and denounced John C. Bennett’s spiritual wifery system, which had misled people into believing it was endorsed by church leaders. The resolution denounced the men that practiced spiritual wifery as "cowardly assassins", "canker worms", and "ungodly wretches".³ The document stood as a declaration of the women’s virtue and called for the protection of female honor. Emma read the document aloud to a group of gathered Saints on March 9, 1844.²

1. Emma Smith, “Virtue will Triumph,” Nauvoo Neighbor, March 20, 1844

2. Deposition, 26 February 1844 [City of Nauvoo v. Bostwick], The Joseph Smith Papers

3. Nauvoo Neighbor (Nauvoo, Ill. : 1843-1845), Church History Catalog