See 1 John 3:17.

The June 1843 authorizations for the twelve apostles to collect temple donations included the same lengthy salutation, minus the scriptural allusion. (See, for example, Authorization for Brigham Young, 1 June 1843.)

Adams had engaged in an extramarital affair that resulted in an illegitimate child, and rumors about his misconduct circulated among Saints and others at the time. JS and other church leaders published multiple notices certifying to Adams’s good standing in the church. (Historical Introduction to Authorization for George J. Adams, 14 Oct. 1843.)

This may have been referring to a naval weapon developed by Uriah Brown during the War of 1812. Brown’s weapon—which he described as a type of “Greek fire” that could propel flaming liquid at enemy ships—elicited occasional interest from the United States government. Although Brown was not a member of the church, he was friends with JS. In January 1843, JS visited Brown’s home in Rushville, Illinois. After reviewing plans for the weapon, JS informed Brown that he “thought that the Lord had designd the apparatus for some more magnificnt purpose than for the defence of nations.” Joseph H. Jackson, an enemy of JS, later claimed that JS persuaded Brown to attempt to sell the weapon to Russia while secretly planning to use the weapon as a bartering tool to negotiate an alliance with the Russian emperor. Although the reliability of Jackson’s accusation is difficult to assess, Utah-era Council of Fifty minutes confirm that JS connected Brown’s weapon with the Russian mission. In 1851, the Council of Fifty discussed Brown’s offer to sell the weapon to Brigham Young to be used to defend Latter-day Saint settlements in the Great Basin. During that discussion, Almon Babbitt connected the weapon with “the Russian mission.” Babbitt also recalled JS’s “favorable reception [of] the invention” and stated that he was “in favor of carrying out the views of Joseph and thinks it a matter worthy of our notice,” though no one at the 1851 meeting specified JS’s views on the weapon’s use. (“On the Expediency of Testing Uriah Brown’s System of Coast and Harbor Defence, by Fire Ships,” American State Papers: Naval Affairs, 3:201; “System of Defence, by Land or Water, by the Use of Inflammable Fluid,” American State Papers: Naval Affairs, 1:353; A Bill Authorising the President of the United States to Cause Experiments to Be Made, to Test the Utility and Practicability of a Fire-Ship, the Invention of Uriah Brown, H.R. 296, 20th Cong. [1828]; JS, Journal, 8 Jan. 1843; Jackson, Narrative, 30–31; Minutes, 25 Aug. 1851, Council of Fifty, Papers, 1845–1883, CHL.)

American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. Edited by Walter Lowrie, Walter S. Franklin, Asbury Dickins, and John W. Forney. American State Papers: Naval Affairs. 4 vols. Washington DC: Gales and Seaton, 1834, 1860–1861.

A Bill Authorising the President of the United States to Cause Experiments to Be Made, to Test the Utility and Practicability of a Fire-Ship, the Invention of Uriah Brown. H.R. 296, 20th Cong. (1828).

Jackson, Joseph H. A Narrative of the Adventures and Experience of Joseph H. Jackson, in Nauvoo. Disclosing the Depths of Mormon Villainy. Warsaw, IL: By the author, 1844.

Council of Fifty. Papers, 1844–1885. CHL.