| 352 "J. W. Briggs.-Mrs. Bidamon, have you seen the revelation on polygamy, published by Orson Pratt, in the Seer, in 1852?
"Mrs. B.-I have.
"J. W. B.-Have you read it?
"Mrs. B.-I have read it, and heard it read.
"J. W. B.-Did you ever see that document in manuscript, previous to its publication, by Pratt?
"Mrs. B.-I never did.
"J. W. B.-Did you ever see any document of that kind, purporting to be a revelation, to authorize polygamy?
"Mrs. B.-No; I never did.
"J. W. B.-Did Joseph Smith ever teach you the principles of polygamy, as being revealed to him, or as a correct and righteous principle?
"Mrs. B.-He never did.
"J. W. B.-What about that statement of Brigham Young, that you burnt the original manuscript of that revelation?
"Mrs. B.-It is false in all its parts, made out of whole cloth, without any foundation in truth.
"This certainly stamps the most circumstantial fact alleged, in support of the genuineness of that document, as a base fraud, in keeping with the document itself. False facts are usually alleged to support false theories. Thus at every step in the investigation of this subject, proof develops how untenable is the position assumed for polygamy, both in its alleged facts, its principles, and its fruits."-The Messenger, vol. 1, p. 23.
Elder Young states in the speech previously quoted from that "the world have known, long ago, even in Brother Joseph's days, that he had more wives than one." If the world did know it, they have failed to give us any direct or personal testimony of it.
Those most nearly associated with Joseph Smith did not know it. The following statements were made by his wife but a short time before her death in 1879, in an interview published in The Saints' Herald for October 1, 1879:-
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