President of the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints. Footnotes 1. This incident occurred in Dublin, Indiana, where, and after, the Prophet had sought for a job at cutting and sawing wood to relieve his necessities.--"Life of Brigham Young," (Tullidge), p. 85. 2. See Vol. II, p. 511. 3. The question raised here several times by the brethren, and hereafter alluded to by the defendants in the case, concerning the illegality of the Council attempting then to try David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and William W. Phelps, constituting the local Presidency of the Church in Missouri, grew out of a misapprehension of a council provided for in the revelations of God for the trial of a President of the High Priesthood, who is also of the Presidency of the whole Church. The said revelation provides that if a President of the High Priesthood, shall transgress, he shall be brought before the Presiding Bishop, or bishopric, of the Church, who are to be assisted by twelve counselors chosen from the High Priesthood. Here the President's conduct may be investigated, and the decision of that council upon his head is to be the end of controversy concerning him. (See Doc. and Cov., sec. 107:76, 81, 82, 83). But the Presidency of the Church in Missouri was a local presidency, hence they could not plead the illegality of a local council of the Church to try them. 4. The law of Missouri excused from military duty all licensed ministers of the Gospel, and as nearly all the adult members of the Church who were worthy had received ordination to the Priesthood, it left the community in Far West, then a frontier country and liable to be raided by warlike tribes of Indians, without militia companies and state arms for its protection; hence the recommendation of the Council that the brethren within the ages specified, and not actively employed in the ministry, place themselves in a position to accept militia service. 5. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cxiii. {13} CHAPTER II. Excommunication Of Oliver Cowdery And David Whitmer--the Work In England. [Sidenote: Arrival of Sidney Rigdon at Far West.] President Rigdon arrived at Far West with his family, Wednesday, April 4th, having had a tedious journey, and his family having suffered many afflictions. _Minutes of a General Conference of the Church at Far West_. Far West, April 6, 1838. Agreeable to a resolution passed by the High Council of Zion, March 3, 1838, the Saints in Missouri assembled in this place to celebrate the anniversary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and to transact Church business, Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, presiding.