Minutes, 28 April 1838, as Reported by George W. Robinson

Saturday 28th This morning Prests Smith & & , were invited into attend the ; and accordingly attended, the buisness before the high council, was the trial of an case appealed, from the of the , near ; Whereas [blank] Jackson was plantiff, and defendant. Council called to order. &. , Presiding, It appeared in calling the council to order, that some of the seats were vacated; the council then proceeded to fill those seats: &c. And as there appeared to be no persons to fill Said Seats, Eligible to that office; Presidents Smith & , were strongly solisited to act as councilors, or to Preside, and let the then presiding officers sit on the council; &c. They accepted of the former proposal, and accordingly Prest. Smith was choosen to act on the part of the defence, and to speak upon the case, togeth[er] with . and , was chosen to act on the part of the prossecution, and to speak upon the case together with , after the council was organized, and op[e]ned by prayer; the notorious case of , was called in question; after some arbitrarious speeches, to know whether witnesses should be admitted, to testify against , or whether he should have the privilege of confessing his own Sins, It was desided; that witnesses Should be admited, and also the writen testimo [p. 34]ny of the said of Said Jackson. Naw as to this man , it is a well known <​fact,​> and without contradiction, that he has been in transgression <​ever​> Since he first came into , which is some four, or five years since, as appeared this day, by different witnesses, which are unimpeacible [unimpeachable]. Witnesses against the <​this​> man , were these 1,st , wife of said plantiff, Jackson. one <​an​> Br. Best: also . Br : also Br. ; also Br Benjamin, and the plantiff; Which testimony says, Whereas, the plantiff, had some time last season, sent his from , Illinois, to this country as he himself could not come, at that time, accordingly his wife , came and settled in the first above mentioned, Now the <​this​> man had settled in this branch also, and was their presiding , and had gained to himself great influence in and on over that branch, and it also appears that the this man had great possessions, and (if we may judge from testimony given this day) calculates to keep them let the saints of God’s necessity necessities be what they may, and it also appears that this man was in want of a wife (if actions bespeak the desires of any man) consequently set his wits to work to get one, he commences by getting (as he said,) revelations from God, that he must marry , or that she was the woman for to make his wife, and it appeared that these revilations were frequently received by him, and shortly introdused them to , It also was manifested that the old man had sagasity enough to know; that unless he used his priestly office, he to assist him in accomplishing his designs, <​he would fail in the attempt;​> he therefore told that he had a had a revelation from god that her husband was dead &c. and that She must concent to marry him, or she would be forever miserable; for he had seen her future state of existance, and that she must remember, that whoom soever he blessed, would be blessed, and whom soever he cursed, would be cursed, [p. 35] influencing her mind if possible, to believe his power was sufficient, to make her forever miserable; provided she complied not with his request. &c. Accordingly, they came to an agreement, and were soon to be married, but fortunately or unfortunately for both parties previous to the nuptial arrival of the nuptial day, Behold!! to the asstonishment of our defendant, the husband of arrived at home, and consequently, disanuled the proceedings of the above alluded parties, the old gentleman , at this time (if not before,) knew verry well, that his god who gave his these revelations, (if any revelations he had,) must of course be no less than the devil, and in order to paliate the justice of his crime, sadled the whole burden upon the devil, that in scourging the person, who had previously befriended him, and counseled him in his former days; peradventure he might extricate himself from the Snare, of his own setting, and dictation. But, alass!! to[o] late for the old man, the testimony, being closed, and the Sword of Justice, began to be unsheathed, which fell upon the old man like a scourge of ten thousand lashes, wielded by the hand of & , inspired by the spirit of justice, accompanied with a flow of elequence, which searched for the feelings, like the sting of so many scorpions, which served to atone for past iniquity. there were no feelings that were not felt after, there were no sores that were not probed, there were no excuses rend[e]red that were not exceptionable. After Justice had ceased to weild his <​its​> sword, Mercy then advanced to rescue its victom, which inspired the heart of President J. Smith Jr, & who, with profound elequence <​&​> with <​a​> deep & sublime thought, with clemency of feeling, spoke in faivour of mercy the , but in length of time, while mercy appeared to be doing her utmost, in contending against justice, the latter at last gained the ascendency, and took full power over <​possession of​> the mind of [p. 36] the speaker, who leveled a voley of darts, which came upon the old man, like <​a​> huricanes upon the mountain tops, which seemingly, was about to sweep the victom entirely out of the reach of mercy, but amidst the clashing of the sword of Justice, mercy still claimed the victom, and saved him still in the , and in this last kingdom Happy is it for those whose sins (like this mans) goes before them to Judgement, that they may yet repent and be saved in the Kingdom of our God. desided, that inasmuch as this man, had confessed his sins, and asked for, forgiveness, and promised to mark well the path of his feet, and do, (inasmuch as lay in his power.) what God, Should required at his hand<​s​>. accordingly, it was decided, that he give up his as , and stand as a member in the Church, this in consequence of his being concidered not capable of dignifying that office, &c Council Adjourned