It may asked why it was that we would countenance him so long after being apprised of his iniquities, and why he was not dealt with long ago. To this we would answer, that he has been dealt with from time to time; when he would acknowledge his iniquity, ask and pray for forgiveness, beg that he might not be exposed, on account of his mother, and other reasons, saying, he should be ruined and undone. He frequently wept like a child, and begged like a culprit for forgiveness, at the same time promising before God and angels to amend his life, if he could be forgiven. He was in this way borne with from time to time, until forbearance was no longer a virtue, and then the First Presidency, the Twelve, and the Bishops withdrew their fellowship from him, as published in the 16th number of this paper. The Church afterwards publicly withdrew their fellowship from him, and his character was published in the 17th number of this paper; since that time he has published that the conduct of the Saints was bad--that Joseph Smith and many others were adulterers, murderers, etc., that there was a secret band of men that would kill people, etc., called Danites--that he was in duress when he gave his affidavit, and testified that Joseph Smith was a virtuous man--that we believed in and practiced polygamy, [B] that we believed in secret murders, and aimed to destroy the government, etc., etc. As he has made his statements very public, and industriously circulated them through the country, we shall content ourselves with answering his base falsehoods and misrepresentations, without giving publicity to them, as the public is generally acquainted with them already. [C] [Footnote B: A distinction here must be kept in mind between the "polygamy" charged against the Saints by Bennett and plurality of wives allowed under certain restrictions by the revelation on the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant. It was the vicious, promiscuous polygamous associations charged by Bennett that belief in and practice of by the Saints is here denied, not the plural relations under the seal and covenant of the marriage law in the aforesaid revelation. See Bennett's "History of the Saints," (1842), pp. 217-260.] [Footnote C: According to Bennett's own statement concerning himself, he joined the Church for the purpose of exposing the alleged treasonable designs of the Mormon people against several of the western states. In his book, entitled "The History of the Saints," (Leland & Whitney, Boston, 1842), he says: