President Joseph Smith, Jun., arose, and said, that the decision of his mind was, that Brother Jared Carter erred in judgment in not understanding what the brethren desired of him when they labored with him; and he erred in spirit when he taught in the Church the things testified of here; and that the hand of the destroyer was laid upon him because he had a rebellious spirit from the beginning; and the word of the Lord has been spoken by my mouth, that it should come upon him, and this Council should see it, and now that he has been seized by the destroyer comes in fulfillment of His [the Lord's] word; and God requires him to bear testimony of it before the Church, and warn them to be careful, and not to do as he had done. But instead of doing this, he said he would prove the Book of Mormon, and one thing or another, not being sufficiently humble to deliver just the message that was required, and so he stumbled and could not get the Spirit, and the brethren were not edified, and he did not do the thing that God required, but erred in choosing words to communicate his thoughts; such as commanding the prayers of the Church instead of soliciting them, and also of making himself an example for the Church, when it was only the things that he suffered which were to be as a check upon transgression. His rebelling against the advice and counsel of the Presidents was the cause of his falling into the hands of the destroyer again, as he had done before when he rebelled against the counsel that had been given him by the authorities of the Church; and that in all this, Elder Carter has not designed to do wickedly, but he erred in judgment, and deserves reproof, and the decision is that he shall acknowledge his errors on the morrow, before the congregation, and say, Brethren, I am fully convinced that I have erred in spirit, in my remarks before you, when I spoke here a few Sabbaths since; and now I ask your forgiveness. And if he do this in full faith, and is truly humble before God, God will bless him abundantly as He hath been wont to do. Elder Carter arose, and justified the decision of the Court, and promised to comply. Sylvester Smith, Clerk. {281} [Sidenote: The Prophet Seeks for Blessings.] I labored in obtaining blessings, which were written by Oliver Cowdery. We were thronged with company, so that our labor in this thing was hindered; but we obtained many precious things, and our souls were blessed. O Lord, may Thy Holy Spirit be with Thy servants forever. Amen. [Sidenote: Delight of the Prophet in Being Honest.]