A minor incident among those leading up to Smith's final catastrophe was a quarrel, some time later, between the prophet and Francis M. Higbee. This resulted in a suit for libel against Smith, tried in May, 1844, in which much testimony disclosing the rotten condition of affairs in Nauvoo was given, and in the arrest of Smith in a suit for $5000 damages. The hearing, on a writ of habeas corpus, in Smith's behalf, is reported in Times and Seasons, Vol. V, No. 10. The court (Smith's Municipal Court) ordered Smith discharged, and pronounced Higbee's character proved "infamous." CHAPTER X. -- THE INSTITUTION OF POLYGAMY The student of the history of the Mormon church to this date, who seeks an answer to the question, Who originated the idea of plural marriages among the Mormons? will naturally credit that idea to Joseph Smith, Jr. The Reorganized Church (non-polygamist), whose membership includes Smith's direct descendants, defend the prophet's memory by alleging that "in the brain of J. C. Bennett was conceived the idea, and in his practice was the principle first introduced into the church." In maintaining this ground, however, they contend that "the official character of President Joseph Smith should be judged by his official ministrations as set forth in the well authenticated accepted official documents of the church up to June 27, 1844. His personal, private conduct should not enter into this discussion."* The secular investigator finds it necessary to disregard this warning, and in studying the question he discovers an incontrovertible mass of testimony to prove that the "revelation" concerning polygamy was a production of Smith,** was familiar to the church leaders in Nauvoo, and was lived up to by them before their expulsion from Illinois. * Pamphlets Nos. 16 and 46 published by the Reorganized Church. ** "Elder W. W. Phelps said in Salt Lake Tabernacle in 1862 that while Joseph was translating the Book of Abraham in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1835, from the papyrus found with the Egyptian mummies, the Prophet became impressed with the idea that polygamy would yet become an institution of the Mormon Church. Brigham Young was present, and was much annoyed at the statement made by Phelps; but it is highly probable that it was the real secret that the latter then divulged."--"Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 182.