| 667 build this temple. As has been previously stated, Elder Rigdon was not in our councils before he went away. But, Brother Hyrum used to go and see him, and labor with him, and Sidney would make great promises, which would cause Hyrum to come and plead with Joseph again, and say, Brother Joseph bless him, he will come back &c. He is going contrary to Joseph's instructions, and he shall not lead the innocent to destruction; I say it in the name of Israel's God. His orders was to go to Pittsburgh and build a kingdom, but he was positively prohibited from taking any one with him from this place, but, now he wants to divide the people and take them somewhere, to the mountains near Pittsburgh. Elder Rigdon can go to Carthage, and to Warsaw, and he is in no danger from the mob; but can a prophet of God go there with safety? No, he cannot.-If I was to lay down my authority in this church, they would soon say, Mr. Young how do you do, I approve of your course. As to Elder Rigdon's revelations, they are from the same source as Oliver Olney's, Gladden Bishop, Mr. Strang's, &c. They are from the devil. John C. Bennett passed up the river last Tuesday, and called at the upper landing. He sent a messenger to Elder Rigdon and wished to see him, and Elder Rigdon would have gone had not a Mr. Lawrence, (who professes no kind of religion) rebuked him. If you make Sidney Rigdon your president and leader, you will soon have John C. Bennett here, with the Laws and Fosters and all the murderous clan. Elder Rigdon was the prime cause of trouble in Missouri, by his fourth of July oration. He is liable to be deceived, and has already been deceived. As to a person not knowing more than the written word, let me tell you that there are keys that the written word never spoke of, nor never will.
All I ask of men or women to do, is, if they believe in Sidney Rigdon and want him to lead them, I want they should be bold enough to go with him, and not say they want to tarry with the church. They say they believe in Joseph Smith, and at the same time all their operations are to destroy and tear down what he has built up.
Elder P. P. Pratt briefly referred the people to the plea of Elder Marks, "that he did not know any thing to cut Elder Rigdon off." He referred the people to the testimony before them concerning his revelation to destroy this people and yet he has not done enough for Elder Marks.
TIMES AND SEASONS.
CITY OF NAUVOO,
OCTOBER 1, 1844.
CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
At the Methodist general conference for 1844, held in New York, the subject of slavery was brought up. The first object of investigation was F. A. Hardin, of Baltimore, a member of the conference, who had become a slaveholder by marrying a woman who owned a lot of slaves. The north and south very soon made a question of it; the north voted to suspend Mr. Hardin, and the south, surprised at the severity of the case, voted against it; both parties thought they acted according to the 'Discipline.'
A strong committee of six; three north and three south, were appointed, but as they could not agree, they were discharged; and in their own language; "then came the struggle in the case of Bishop Andrew. The committee on Episcopacy, under the special instruction of the conference, reported a statement of the facts, from which it appears beyond controversy that he was connected with slavery, and was in fact a slaveholder. A resolution was first introduced asking him to resign; but this was subsequently superceded [superseded] by another declaring it to be sense of the conference that he should cease to exercise the functions of his office until the impediment of his connection with slavery should no longer exist. The debate on this resolution lasted about a fortnight, the south occupying the largest share of the time. The north with but few exceptions, contended that the resolution was the very last which could preserve the church here from destruction, while the south declared, without a dissenting voice, that its passage would bring disaster and ruin upon her. The former affirmed the lawfulness of the measure, while the latter strenuously maintained that it was extra-judicial and utterly subversive of the Discipline. The excitement was intense, and all hope of a compromise was apparently at an end. In these circumstances, the bishops interposed and endeavored to persuade the parties to postpone all action on the question until the next general conference, to be held in 1848. This proposition satisfied neither party, and was therefore dropped by general consent.-Then came the final struggle-the resolution was put to vote and adopted by a large majority, nearly the whole north voting in its favor.
The south united in a strong protest against the proceeding, written by Dr. Bascom, of Kentucky, which was placed on the journal and referred
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