[2]. This communication of Hyrum Smith's adds nothing to his very elaborate statement of the wrongs suffered by himself and the Saints in Missouri already published in Volume III, pp. 403-424, except his testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon; and as he was one of the Eight Witnesses to the fact of the existence of the Nephite plates from which the record was translated, the paragraphs relating to that testimony are give here:
"Having given my testimony to the world of the truth of the Book of Mormon, the renewal of the everlasting covenant, and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven, in the last days; and having been brought into great afflictions and distresses for the same, I thought that it might be strengthening to my beloved brethren, to give them a short account of my sufferings, for the truth's sake, and the state of my mind and feelings, while under circumstances of the most trying and afflicting nature. * * * * I had been abused and thrust into a dungeon, and confined for months on account of my faith, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. However I thank God that I felt a determination to die, rather than deny then things which my eyes have seen, which my hands had handled, and which I had borne testimony to, [all in plain allusion to his testimony to the existence of the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated] wherever my lot had been cast; and I can assure my beloved brethren that I was enabled to bear as strong a testimony, when nothing but death presented itself, as I ever did I my life. My confidence in God, was likewise unshaken. I knew that He who suffered me, along with my brethren, to be thus tried, that He could and that He would deliver us out of the hands of our enemies; and in His own due time He did so, for which I desire to bless and praise His holy name."—Times and Seasons, Vol. 1, pp. 20 and 23.
[3]. This treatise on the "Regeneration and Eternal Duration of Matter," was written by Elder Pratt while in Columbia prison, Missouri. He explains that it "was more calculated to comfort and console myself and friends when death stared me in the face, than as an argumentative or philosophical production." This article has for some time been out of print, yet it has much that is instructive in it. The author states as a basic principle in his treatise the following: "Matter and spirit are the two great principles of all existence. Everything animate and inanimate is composed of one or the other, or both of these eternal principles. I say eternal, because the elements are as durable as the quickening power which exists in them. Matter and spirit are of equal duration; both are self-existent,—they never began to exist, and they never can be annihilated. * * * * Matter as well as spirit is eternal, uncreated, self existing. However infinite the variety of its changes, forms and shapes;—however vast and varying the parts it has to act in the great theater of the universe;—whatever sphere its several parts may be destined to fill in the boundless organization of infinite wisdom, yet it is there, durable at the throne of Jehovah. And eternity is inscribed in indelible characters on every particle. Revolution may succeed revolution;—vegetation may bloom and flourish, generation upon generation may pass away and others still succeed—empires may fall to ruin, and moulder to the dust and be forgotten—the marble monuments of antiquity may crumble to atoms and mingle in the common ruin—the mightiest works of art, with all their glory, may sink in oblivion and be remembered no more—worlds may startle from their orbits, and hurling from their spheres, run lawless on each other in conceivable confusion—element may war with element in awful majesty, while thunders roll from sky to sky, and arrows of lightning break the mountains asunder—scatter the rocks like hailstones—set worlds on fire, and melt the elements with fervent heat, and yet not one grain can be lost—not one particle can be annihilated. All these revolutions and convulsions of nature will only serve to refine, purify, and finally restore and renew the elements upon which they act. And like the sunshine after a storm, or like gold seven times tried in the fire, they will shine forth with additional luster as they roll in their eternal spheres, in their glory, in the midst of the power of God." On this theory of the indestructibility of matter the author proceeds to consider the reality of the resurrection from the dead and the future life of man in a sentient, tangible existence. "The resurrection of the body is a complete restoration and reorganization of the physical system of man; * * * * the elements of which his body is composed are eternal in their duration; * * * * they form the tabernacle—the everlasting habitation of that spirit which animated them in this life; * * * * the spirits and bodies of men are of equal importance and destined to form an eternal and inseparable union with each other."
[4]. This affidavit, it will be observed, was given some time after the others of this group, and appears in the Ms. of the Prophet's History under date of March the 5th, but it is brought forward here, with all those that follow in this chapter, that it may appear in connection with the others of its kind.
[5]. That is to say, the legislature had appropriated two hundred thousand dollars to meet the expenses of the mob-militia in unlawfully dispossessing the Saints of their lands and other property, and then expelling them from the state. While on the other hand, it refused to give any consideration worthy of the name to the petition of the Saints for redress of their grievances; and so far was the legislature from giving the Saints any assurance of re-instatement in the rightful possession of their lands and other property and maintaining them in peaceful possession of them, that it finally refused even to investigate the justice of their claims. Under these circumstances the Prophet is undoubtedly justified in using the language of the text. (See Vol. III, chaps. xv, xvi.)
CHAPTER IV.
Departure of the Prophet from Washington—Labors of Elias Higbee Before the Senate Judiciary Committee—Report of the Committee.
Wednesday, 8.—The High Council at Nauvoo voted to loan all the moneys possible for the relief of the poor Saints.
Ministry of Brigham Young and Geo. A. Smith at Richmond, New York.