of this has transfigured it into licentiousness such as a community of wives which is an abomination in the sight of God. When we our property to the Lord it is to administer to the poor for this is the law of God. It is not for the purpose of the rich, those who have no need, and when a man consecrates or dedicates his wife and children he does not give them to his neighbour nor his brother for there is no such law for the law of God is that thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not covet they neighbours wife he that looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already in his heart. Now for a man to consecrate his property and his wife & children to the Lord is nothing more or less than feed the hungry clothe the naked visit the widow and the fatherles the sick and the afflicted and do all that he can to administer to their relief in their afflictions and for him and his house to serve the Lord. In order to do this he must be virtueous and must shun the verry appearance of evil. Now if any person has represented any thing otherwise than what we now write he or she is a liar and has represented us falsely and this is another manner of evil spoken against us falsely. We learned also since we have been prisoners that many false and pernicious things that were calculated to lead the saints far astray and to do them greate injury as comeing from the taught by and we have reason to fear that many other designing and corrupt characters like unto himselfe which the presidency never knew that was taught in the by anyone untill after they were made prisoners which if they had known they would have spurned them and their authors from them as they would the verry gates of hell. Thus we find there has been fraud and secret abominations and vile working going on and leading the minds of the weak and unwary into confusion and distruction and [illegible] them all the while upon the presidency meantime the presidency being ignorant as well as innocent of these things which were practiceing on the church in their name and were attending to their own secular and family concernes weighed down with sorrow in debt in poverty in hunger essaying to be fed yet feeding themselves receiveing deeds of charity but inadequate to their subsistance and becaus they [p. [6]]