History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 3Smith, Joseph, Jr.
History
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 3
Smith, Joseph, Jr.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
Previous to this period, very few of the foolish and wicked stories
which filled the weekly journals and pamphlets in America concerning
the "Mormons," as the Saints {22} were termed, had found their way into
the English prints; but immediately after Elders Kimball and Hyde left
Preston, on or about the 15th of April, one Livesey (a Methodist Priest
who had previously spent some years in America, and said he heard
nothing about the Saints in America) came out with a pamphlet, made up
of forged letters, apostate lies, and "walk on the water" stories, he
found in old American papers, which he had picked up while in America.
But he stopped the circulation of his own pamphlet by stating to a
public congregation, that he had accidentally found the contents of
his pamphlet in old papers in his trunk, which was quite providential,
to stop such abominable work as the Saints were engaged in; and in the
same lecture said he "wished the people to purchase his pamphlet, as he
had been at a great expense to procure the materials for writing it!"
His hearers retired.
On the 20th of April Elders Kimball and Hyde sailed from Liverpool on
the ship _Garrick_.
Footnotes.
1. The charges were drawn up and dated the 7th of April, and handed to
Bishop Partridge.
2. The following letter from Oliver Cowdery respecting his difficulties
at this time in the Church, is copied from the Far West Record of the
High Council, and is an interesting document for several reasons:
First, it shows the spirit of Oliver Cowdery at that time, also his
misapprehensions of the policy of the authorities in the government of
the Church, for it is to be noted that the two principal points covered
in this letter, numbers four and five of Elder Brunson's charges, were
rejected by the Council as not being proper to be considered, and
the sixth charge also is withdrawn, so that Oliver Cowdery was not
disfellowshiped from the Church on the points raised in his letter
at all, but on the first, second, third, seventh, eighth and ninth
charges in Elder Brunson's formal accusation, and since these charges
were sustained upon testimony of witnesses, as the minutes of the High
Council proceedings in the Far West Record clearly show, it is to be
believed that the Church had sufficient cause for rejecting him.
_Elder Cowdery's Letter_.
Far West, Missouri, April 12, 1838.
Dear Sir:--I received your note of the 9th inst., on the day of its
date, containing a copy of nine charges preferred before yourself and
Council against me, by Elder Seymour Brunson.
I could have wished that those charges might have been deferred until
after my interview with President Smith; but as they are not, I must
waive the anticipated pleasure with which I had flattered myself of an
understanding on those points which are grounds of different opinions
on some Church regulations, and others which personally interest myself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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