Kirtland Friday Dec 17th <18th> 1835

Answer to the foregoing Letter from Br. William  Smith a Copy

Br. William.

having received your letter I  now procede to answer it, and shall first  procede, to give a brief naration of my feel ings and motives, since the night I first  came to the knowledge, of your having a  debating school, which was at the time I  happened, in with, Bishop [Newel K.] Whitney his Father  and Mother &c— which was the first that I  knew any thing about it, and from that  time I took an interest in them, and was  delighted with it, and formed a determination,  to attend the school for the purpose of obtain ing information, and with the idea of imp arting the same, through the assistance of  the spirit of the Lord, if by any means I should  have faith to do so; and with this intent, I went  to the school on <last> Wedensday night, not with the  idea of braking up the school, neither did it  enter into my heart, that there was any wra ngling or jealousy’s in your heart, against me;

Notwithstanding previous to my leaving home  there were feelings of solemnity, rolling across  my breast, which were unaccountable to me,  and also these feelings continued by spells to  depress my feelings <spirit> and seemed to manifest  that all was not right, even after the debate  school commenced, and during the debate,  yet I strove to believe that all would work together  for good; I was pleased with the power of the  arguments, that were aduced, and did [p. 80]