| 135 man to a debate on religion, in my life. But if my information be correct at a meeting had by the Campbellites, some where on Bear creek, John Rigdon, after a pretty good display of bombast which is the principle ingredient in the Campbellite religion, and this the canded [candid] and thinking part of them is begining [ beginning] to discover; and the consequence is, they are embracing the truth, gave a public challenge to all the saints for a debate on religion. He was taken up, on the spot, by Br. Alaxander [Alexander], and notwithstanding, his boldness in challenging, he had to meanly creep out, and declined acting on his own challenge, saying to Br. Williams that he would not argue with any of mine or Br. Smiths understrappers, but he would meet either of us. In this management, he displayed as much cunning as I supposed was in him. And I also discovered, that by his connection with A. Campbell, he had inhailed [inhaled] the meanness of his leige [liege] lord, and the master whom he serves, [A. Campbell] the bombast was made, for the purpose of making proselytes, not at all with the design or expectation of ever having it placed in such a situation, that I nor Br. Smith could not consistently, with the dignity and character of both ourselves and the church to which we belong, meet him. John Rigdon knew perfectly well, that he himself was as much the understrapper of A. Campbell, as Br. Williams was our understrapper, and that, if it were a condescention [condescension] for him, to meet our understrappers, or as he meanly called them, it was equally a disgrace for us to meet an understrapper of A Campbell's. Having thus fortified himself, as he supposed, by stratagem, as well as a porcupine is by his quils [quills] he wrote me a letter, stating his conviction of the necessity of his and my meeting and investigating the subject of the difference of our religious sentements [sentiments]. Previous to the time of his writing, he had assertained [ascertained], that myself and a number of my family were laying very sick, and the probability was, we or at least some of us would never recover, which proved to our great affliction to be true. He also knew before he wrote his letter, that it would be out of my power, if well, to meet him at that time, as he knew of my previous engagements to go to Washington city, and he knew that it was my sickness alone that had hindered me from being gone before he wrote: to this letter I told a young man by the name of Higbee to reply, and tell him of my sickness and that of my family, not knowing, at that time, that he knew of it, and also of my engagements to go to Washington. This last I knew he knew before. And I have since found out that he knew of the other, at the time of his writing.
I am convinced when I put the whole of this maneuvering together, that there was no intention on the part of John Rigdon, or his friends, to have a debate, but only to open a door for bombast, which seems to be their particular business, otherwise, he would not have put it out of my power, at the begining [beginning], to meet him.
In the letter written by Mr. Higbee I told him, to say to John Rigdon, that I would find a man who would dispute with him, I had my eye on Elder John Taylor, but before I was able to do any thing in the matter, Mr. T. had gone to England, there were two others on whom I designed to call, but before I had health and the circumstances of my family would admit of my doing any thing about it, they had both gone, one to England, the other to Philladelphia [Philadelphia] This I purposed to do, before I had knowledge of all the meanness of their maneuvering in this affair. Since I have been made acquainted with the low condescention [condescension] J. Rigdon in this matter, as well as that of his frothy satelites [satellites] I feel myself bound, to take a different course. I say frothy satelites, [satellites] I say so to make a distinction between the persons who profess faith in that religion; for among them there are gentlemen who would scorn to be found engaged in the low driveling and ribaldry, of those who take for their pattern bombastic leaders.
John Rigdon did at Carthage; if the statements made to me by Mr Harper, with whom he had a controversy at that place be true,. throw out insinuations, on this same subject, that were as mean as they were false. And also at your place, (Columbus) as declared to me by Mr. Driskill, a merchant of
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