_Certificate of Elias and Francis M. Higbee_. _Mr. Editor_: Sir, from a perusal of the St. Louis papers, I find from an article signed J. C. Bennett, stating that all who are friends to Mr. Joseph Smith he considers his enemies--as a matter of course, then, I must be one, for I am, and have been for a long time the personal friend of Joseph Smith; and I will here say that I have never yet seen or known anything against him that I should change my mind. It is true many reports have been and are put in circulation by his enemies for political religious effect, that upon investigation are like the dew before the morning sun, vanish away, because there is no real substance in them. Could Dr. Bennett expect any man acquainted with all the circumstances, and matters of fact which were developed both here and from abroad, respecting his conduct and character, previous to his leaving this place, for one moment to believe him--I answer, _No!_ he could not. And all his affidavits, that came from any person entitled to credit, (I say entitled to credit, because some there are who are not entitled to credit; as Dr. Bennett very well knows) are in amount nothing at all, when summed up, and render no person worthy of death or bonds. Francis M. Higbee's knowledge concerning the murder of a prisoner in Missouri, I am authorized to say, by Francis M. Higbee that he {78} knows of no such thing--that no prisoner was ever killed in Missouri, to the best of his knowledge. And I also bear the same testimony that there never was any prisoner killed there, neither were we ever charged with any such thing, according to the best of my recollection. ELIAS HIGBEE. July 22, 1842. This is to certify that I do not know of the murder of any prisoner in Missouri, as above alluded to. FRANCIS M. HIGBEE. July 22, 1842. [The following is the excerpt from the _Times and Seasons_ alluded to in the foot note at page 71:] _John C. Bennett_.