In a short time my brother &. I went down into the hollow square & gave orders <​directed them​> not to allow their ranks to be broken, I then shook hands with each man, blessing them & welcoming them home.

I then took of my hat, & commenced telling them I am again at liberty & <​related to them​> how I was brought home to the midst of my friends, <​& how I regained my liberty,​> I feel by the Spirit of the Lord that if I had fallen into their <​your​> hands that they <​you​> would either have brought me safe home, or that we should all have died in a heap, together; at this time, a well dressed man, a Stranger, who had a Cloak <​wrapp​> around him, broke thro the South line of the ranks, when the Orderly Sergeant handed his gun to one of the Soldiers & took the Stranger man by the nape of the neck & kicked him outside the ranks, telling him not to come in again; as soon as this quiet was resumed, I continued my address, to the Company, I <​&​> had scarce spoken 15 minutes, when the <​same​> Stranger again broke the ranks, which annoyed me, the & I stopt speaking; the 1st. Lieutt. then marched out of the ranks & struck at him with the barrel of his gun, but he fortunately escaped & retired.

about dusk I dismissed the Company, blessing them in the name of the Lord.

My brother then blest them also, commending them for their diligence & attention to the instructions given them <​by him​> before their departure—

The following is the report of their doings

returned from in the evening, & reported to me that on his arriving at , he found that they <​ & ​> had filed their affidavits, that <​he​> () had with armed force taken me out of their hands at the head of Elleston <​Grove​>; & that they had also got up a petition which was signed by the Inhabitants of , & sent it to by the hands of & , requesting him to issue <​raise​> a comme possetatus <​posse commetatus​> & they would come to & <​re​>take me; they were to start by the mail early on the 2nd. this morning & requestd to go on <​with​> the mail to & request him to suspend all proceedings, until could see him with the documents <​could be got​> to shew the true state of the case; on going to the Stage proprietor, he engaged & paid for the <​a​> passage for one man; on their finding who was going, & objected to him going, & that objection was accepted by the Stage Proprietor, altho he had received the passage money— he then hired a horse from for him to ride. who he arrived at

<​3​> I directed the to call a special of <​to choose​> to go into all the <​different​> Counties of <​to preach the gospel & disabuse the public mind with regard to my arrest—​> Elders , , <​,​> , , & met <​the Elders​> at the <​& it was decided &c​> (see T&S <​black​> 240) Clerk

about noon Gen with 25 men, returned about noon, formed a square in front of my house, & sung a new song. I went out shook hands with each individual & blest them in the name of the Lord

The following is the <​a​> report of their journey expedition—