Elder Brigham Young said, that he was in company with President Joseph Smith, Jun., from about twenty-seven miles of this place [Kirtland] till they arrived in Clay county, Missouri; that at the time the difficulty occurred on the Twenty-five Mile Prairie, when the camp was divided, he concurred in what Brother Hyrum had said, and that he could not relate it any more circumstantially than he had done. He further said that he had not seen anything in President Smith's conduct to justify the charge previously made by Brother Sylvester "that his heart was corrupt." So far from this, he had not seen the least shadow of anything of the kind. He had not seen anything in his [Joseph's] conduct, during his journey to the west, unbecoming his profession as a man of God. _Question by Sylvester Smith_.--Did you not think that my character {156} was injured in the minds of the weaker part of the camp in consequence of those reproofs and chastisements which were given me by Brother Joseph? _Answer_.--I did not. Elder Young further said in regard to a certain difficulty over a dog, that on a certain evening after crossing the Mississippi river, Brother Sylvester came up with the remaining part of the camp, when the dog came out and barked at him; he knew not whether the dog bit him or not. The next morning, after hearing considerable complaint and murmuring concerning the dog, President Smith spoke to several brethren present and said, "I will descend to that spirit that is in the camp, to show you the spirit you are of, for I want to drive it from the camp. _The man that kills that dog, (or my dog), I will whip him_." He thought that about this time Brother Sylvester came up, and said, "_If that dog bites me I will kill him_." Joseph replied, "If you do, I will whip you." Sylvester said, "If you do, I shall defend myself the best way that I can!" Brother Joseph then said that he "would do it in the name of the Lord." President Smith then asked the brethren if they were not ashamed of such a spirit. Said he, "_I am_." He then proceeded to reprove them for condescending to that spirit; that they ought to be above it; that it was the spirit of a dog; and men ought never to place themselves on a level with the beasts; but be possessed of a more noble disposition. He [Joseph] then said, he had condescended to that spirit, in order to show the spirit which was among them. Elder Young further said, that this explanation gave general satisfaction, and the most of the brethren saw that he had only made these remarks for the purpose of instructing them, and warning them against such a spirit or disposition. Elders Lyman E. Johnson and Heber C. Kimball concurred.