“ Oct 23d. 1843 Genl. Joseph Smith, Dr Sir, In a conversation with , of this place, a short time since, he expressed in very warm terms, feelings of sympathy for the wrongs yourself and brethren suffered in , as well as his sense of the vindictive feelings the authorities of that still manifested towards you personally.

has not yet had the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with yourself, although he says he had the pleasure of meeting your at her sister’s residence on Rock River. has been written by the Hon. B. Rhett, of S. Carolina, upon the subject of the Persecution and [HC 6:62] thinks of all men he would be the best qualified to present a petition in our behalf— and says should such an arrangement meet your approbation, he will use his influence in favor of a petition, and says he knows of some Honorable men in , whom he has no doubt are anxious to wipe off the stain that rests upon them, by some just reparation. I submit by permission of a copy of a letter he has written to a distinguished citizen of South Carolina, together with a circular put out confidentially by the friends of of S. C., whom with my present feelings I should cheerfully support for our next president, and whom I have no doubt would be preferred by the brethren to .

“To the and churches abroad. “The Twelve,” On our late mission to the eastern states, <​we​> discovered that the publications at , were very little [p. 1760]