Show I 1 copyright secured I 1 HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH MARCH 1843 monday 27 I 1 dictated the following letter to sidney rigdon esq dear ideal sir it is with sensations of de deep ep regret and poignant grief that I 1 sit down to dictate d a few iines lines to you this morning to let you know what hat h my feelings are in relation to yourself as it is against my principles to act the part of a hypocrite or to dissemble in any wis wise e whatever with any man 1 I 1 hae tried fried for a jon long jong time siule to smother my feelings and mt let you ihnow know that I 1 thought you were secretly and underhandedly doing all ail you could to take the advantage az and aud d injure me but whether my feelings are right or wrong remains for eternity to reveal t I 1 cannot any longer forbear throwing 11 off the anask and let you know of the secret lings of my heart that you ma may atiat not be deceived in relation to them and a that you yo may be prepared sir to take what whatever eier eler course you see gee ee proper in the premises I 1 am sir honest when I 1 say eay that I 1 believe and am laboring under the fullest convictions that you are actually practicing deception an and wickedness against me and the church of jesus christ of latter day saints ar at d that you cuare are in connection with john C gennett bennett and geo W robinson in the whole of their abominable practices in seeking to destroy me and this people eople and that jared carter is as deep in tile tiie the you sir aarein the mire in your conspiracies aid ard irl that yo you u are in the exercise ot a traitorous spirit against our lives and interest by combining coin coln b inibig with our enemies and the murderous Missour missourians ians lans MY feelings sir bir have been wrought upon to a very great extent in relation to yourself ever since bince soon after the first appearance of john C bennett in n this place there has been cometh something i aness ark dark and mysterious hovering over our b business concerns that are not only palpable but altogether ether unaccountable in relation to the post office ce and sir eirl from the very first of the pretensions of john C bennett to secure to me the lost alost office which by the bye I 1 have never desired if I 1 couin coula have hac jast just justice gice lice done me in that without my occupancy I 1 have known sir that it was a fraud practised practiced upon me and an of the secret plot tings and conn ivings between him and yourself in relation to tee the matter the ilia whole time as well veil as many other things which hldi I 1 have kept locked up tip in my own bosom but I 1 am constrained at this time tune to make mike known my feelings fee linga to you I 1 do not write this with the intention of insulting you or of bearing down upon you or with a desire to take any adAn cdan advantage tage cre ore of you or with the int intention eption edtion of even laying c one straw in your way detrimental to 3 your cur character or influence or to suffer anything whatever that lias taken place which as s within my observation or that has come to my knowledge to go abroad betraying any confidence thallas that bas has ever been placed in me but bat I 1 do assure you most sincerely that what I 1 have said haid I 1 verily believe and this is the reason why I 1 have said it tiia that idu ida yoa yon may know the real convictions of my ray heart not because I 1 have any malice or hatred neither i injure one hair of your head lead and aza I 1 will a assure you that these convictions are arc attended with the deepest sorrow I 1 wish to god it were not so and that I 1 aj cu ld get et rid d of f the achin achins s of mv inv heart on t anal aa R subject rill bild a and I 1 now notify you that unless az ething should tak take a place to restore my inird to its former confidence in you by some on your part party or some explanations pia pla nations that shall do away my j jealousies I 1 wi wit aa a conscientious man mall publish pul 1 ah my gitil al I 1 of my iny fellowship from vou you oa to the cil ell through the me daum of the times and and dimand demand of the ilia conference a hear ilear in aning your case that cyrl tyri conviction of bie b ble gr grounds they will demand demaid d your ilc lie a tl I 1 could ouid say ay muc roach h mo moe e but let the above for the present yours in haste JOSEPH SMITH ara ata sent nio win it to him by dr W richards to HM I 1 rece received ired ived the following reply 44 prost pint J smith dear sir I 1 received your letteer by the hand of dr richards a few min nies nice since sirce the contents of which are surprising to 0 o me though I 1 am glad that you have let iet me mow 0 r your our feelings so as to give me a chance to 0 o rep reply G to them why it is that you have the feelings c which you on seem to entertain I 1 know not and what caused you to think that hlad any connection with J C bennett hennett at any time is not within my m power to say As to the post office I 1 never asked bennett one word about it when I 1 made application for it if he ever wrote to the department at washington anything about it it was and is without my knowledge for surely I 1 know of no such thing being done lone at any time neither did I 1 know at the time I 1 applied for the office that yon intended to apply for it nor did I 1 know of it for some tinie time afterwards as far as the post office is concerned these are the facts I 1 wrote myself to the department departments ofle ofil offering ering ring myself as an applicant and referred the department to several in members embers of congress to ascertain rn my character this is all I 1 ever did on the bli rii j act I 1 never wrote wrol le but one letter to the department on the subject r neither leither had I 1 at the time any acquaintance of any I 1 a mount amount with bennett nor for a very consider able time afterwards lie ile never was at our house but very little and then alwa always Y s on busi bus i ness and always in a hurry did his business and went off immediate immediately ly I 1 know not that bennett ever knew that I 1 lla fia had a applied li lc d for the office and I 1 am quite satisfied ia ne did not till some time after I 1 had llad written to tile the department on the subject and if he lie ever did anything about ft lt it was ana is to this day i without my j having any knowledge of it I 1 As to the difficulties here I 1 never at any I 1 time gave bennett any countenance in rel rei relation atio atlo n to it and he knows it as well as I 1 do to and feels it keenly he has threatened me severely that he could do with me as he pleased and if I 1 i I 1 did not cease to aid you and quit trying to save 44 my iny prophet as he calls you ou from froin the I 1 punishment cf of law he would turn against me and while at st louis on his way to upper alls Alis missouri he be in one of his speeches made mauo a I 1 violent attack on myself all predicated on the tha fact that I 1 would no not aid him S ich are his feelings on the subject and his threaten ings ninga As Asto to jared cartel cartei if there is anything in his mind unfavorably disposed to you lie has as far as I 1 know kept it to for lie he never said any thing to me nor in my he hearing ring from which I 1 could draw even an anfe inference reface of that kind lie ire was here yesterday when you came much dejected in spirit in relation to his i temporal affairs and commenced telling of the great injuries he had trece ived by his sonin son in law and the great losses lie he had sL stained sustained by him and seemed greatly d dejected ej e c ted on account of i it but be he never mentioned tied any other subject when man I 1 went to la ilarae on yr friday iday it was purely ii relation to temporal matter making arran arrangements cements for provisions for the enquin ensuing season beason I 1 1 and to regulate some matters in relation to property only while there I 1 heard i th the a re report ort of the new now indictments and mr ilif higbee bee told me the day before I 1 went out that I 1 was va S among mong th tb number of those who were to be demanded A in relation to this I 1 made such inquiry as I 1 thought would enable me to determine the fact but failed in ja the attempt I 1 confess I 1 felt some considerable interest in determining this fact and felt anxious to know if I 1 could ip ind find out how it was now on the broad scale I 1 can ass assal rt in t truth gitil that with myself and any other person on this globe there rever hever never was nor is there now existing anything privately or publicly to injure lis kas your ur character in in any respect what whatever every neither has an any y person spoken ken to me on any S such buch sub jcck all that has ever been bean sai sal sald said by me ilar has been said to your face all of which you know as 1 L A As s u to your rights in the post office you h have ave just jus 6 the same as any other man in the new case which occurred yesterday I 1 have examined all the laws and rules in this office and find but one section ia I 1 relation to it and that indirectly but gives the post master no right to abate the postage nor make any disposition of the letter or letters etters but address the department and they will give such instruction in the case as they may deem correct I 1 have written on the subject to the department I 1 can conclude by only saying saving that I 1 had bad hoped that thit all former difficulties had ceased forever on my part they were never mentioned rn to any person nor a subject of discourse se at an any y time no nor non in any anyplace place I 1 was tired hearing of them andaas and was wab in hopes that they slumbered forever while st at la ilarae the subject was never once mentioned the ilia only thin thing was the inquiry I 1 made myself to find out as far as I 1 could whether the report made to ta m by mr mabee was carreca or no and this in relation to myself only if being bein entirely sll sil silent lenton on the subject at all tines times and in all places is an error then I 1 am guilty if feva evading ding the subject at all times timea wb whenever enever introduced by 0 others erg I 1 be a crime then I 1 am asa g guilty U lity for such is my uniform custom if this letter is not satisfactory ift 11 me know wherein for it ia is peace lawant I 1 have been bein interrupted a great many times since I 1 began to write by people calling at the office respectfully SIDNEY RIGDON ito PS I 1 do consid consider eiJI jt a matter of enst otence to me to hear about bennetts as assisting me to office I 1 shall have a lower c opinion y of myself than I 1 now have when I 1 think I 1 need his assistance si S II 11 opened court to try field for drunkenness and abusing his wife I 1 fined him 10 and costs and required him to find bail of 50 30 to keep the peace for six months A conference held at artland hartland II niagara county new york three elders and one priest were ordained and five added to the church it is estimated that the chinese loss in their recent war with england was men 1500 pieces of cannon and a great portion of their navy tuesday 23 I 1 removed my office from the smoke house which I 1 have been obliged to occupy for some months to the small email upper room in the new brick store josiah butterfield came to my house and insulted me so outrageously that I 1 kicked kicked him out of or the house across the yard and into the street elder B young visited geo A smith who was very sick wednesday 1 2 29 19 sat with Orson Spencer on a ca case care se of debt and gave judgment against dr foster the defendant thursday 30 in the office in relation to a new bond present presented edlo to me by dr brink which I 1 reject rejected pd as informal informal and told charles ivins lie he might impre improve e my share of the ferry one year and cautioned him that if he did not consider brink good for heavy beavy damages he would be foolish to be his bondi bondsman inan prink brink drink brink afterwards took an appeal niu municipal ill lii court to be tried on the loth of april ler cald elder hyde returned from quincy 9 havin having deliver delivered e d ten lectures and baptized three per persons at 14 11 pm I 1 was called to sit as is justice of the peace with alderman G AV harris on til ill the a case of webb v rigby for forcible entry and detainer during the trial the court fined esq 0 C skinner twenty dollars for insulting a witness and would have fined him ten dollars more for his contempt of court but let him off on his submissive acknowledgments the trial closed about one on friday morning in friday 31 at itam houam iau lOu am I 1 opened court for trial of amos lov loi lff for assaulting john joha 11 burghardt Barg hardt after hearing 11 t testimony es ti in ony fined lower 10 er spent ent the afternoon at mr lucian wo wood od w in co company m any with my brother hyrum IT 11 C kimball 5 8 6 hyde IV woodruff and bro ch chey chase ca with our wives had a good time and were feasted on a fat turkey |