Mr. Editor—

I claimed the protection of the law of the land against designs upon my life, harbored, as I believe, by Joseph Smith, the pretended prophet. Upon the force of the testimony adduced the judges were equally decided, and of course my appeal for and against assassination was lost. The president judge in sustaining his views of the testimony insinuated that my hatred, not my fear, induced the prosecution. I owe it to myself and friends to show, if possible, that the imputation is groundless. I think this will very fully appear from a candid review of the more important parts of the testimony. Denton swore that Smith urged him and Davis to kill me, and enforced the revelation by appeals to the Bible, and [by saying] that it was the will of God. Is Denton entitled to credit? If he is, the charge is established. But admit, a moment, that suspicions attach to Denton, then, is his evidence corroborated by any other witnesses? Sidney Rigdon, however much to be doubted on other occasions, is a credible witness when he gives testimony against the prophet. He said, about two years ago, information came to him from some quarter, but from whom he could not remember, that Davis and Denton entertained designs against my life; that he believed this report, and informed Smith of it; and that afterwards Smith told him that through his influence Davis and Denton had laid aside their purpose. Now the fact that Davis and Denton entertained a purpose to kill me, is proved by Rigdon, a "saint of the latter day," and by the confession of Smith, as sworn by Rigdon. One point sworn to by Denton is thus fully established by the corroborating attestation of Rigdon. The only remaining question on which there is any doubt, is -- did Smith investigate this design? Denton declares that he did. Is Denton's testimony strengthened and supported by circumstances, and by other testimony?

Can anything be drawn from other parts of the testimony corroborative of Denton, on this point? Look at the relation of the parties. -- Denton was a mere boy in Smith's family, entirely under his control, placing in him implicit confidence as a prophet, and taught a blind obedience to all his commands. If Smith designed to assassinate me, could he have found one better trained to execute his wicked purpose? And is it not most unlikely that this boy would conceive so bold a scheme of murder without being instigated by some higher and more experienced leader? The thing is wholly improbable. It was against the leaders in this imposition that I directed my opposition, not on account of their religion, but because they used a religious cloak to defraud ignorant and honest men, and altogether through the policy of Smith and Rigdon, it assumed on their part a personal controversy with me, and they unquestionably harbored against me an implacable hatred. The scheme of my assassination originated in deep revenge for supposed injustice. Denton and Davis were strangers to me, and they had so little personal interest at the time in Mormonism, and no personal hate to me, that the supposition that the design originated with them does violence to all probability. When we look to the circumstances surrounding Smith and Denton, they all point to Smith as the author. He was the bold forger of the Mormon fraud, and that required a heart so thoroughly depraved, that it is now prepared to sustain it by the commission of the most atrocious crimes. The closer we examine the subject the more probable Denton's testimony appears. Orson Hyde swore that as late as February last, Smith said in the office of their Bank, that Newell, if he commenced suits for unlawful banking against any of the Mormons, ought to be put where the crows could not find him; that it would be no sin to kill him, and accompanied these declarations by a long lamentation of the wrongs heaped upon their society. Now to a plain man whose mind has not been carried beyond the light of common sense, Hyde's evidence would be a confirmation of Denton's. Denton's testimony was, that Smith in the spring of 1835, advised him to kill me. Now if Smith gave similar advice last February, does not that fact strengthen the statements of Denton. That Smith advised to my assassination in February, is fully established by Hyde, a Mormon witness. For the defense he was credible. If it were clearly established that Smith entertained designs last February, and Denton swore he entertained the same designs two years before; who cannot see that establishing the fact in February renders the testimony of the existence of a similar design two years before quite probable. And yet the corroboration of Hyde was wholly disregarded, and his testimony laid aside as having no weight in the case. The corroboration of Hyde, and the [past evidences from] the relation of Denton and Smith to each other, and to the Mormon Society, coming in and of the positive testimony of Denton, left a full conviction on the [minds] of [nine] tenths of the very large assembly attendant on the trial, that Denton [told] the truth.

The objections against Denton's credibility because he could not relate the precise language that passed between him and Davis when they met, and agreed to abandon the plan of murder, hatched by the prophet, or mark the rail over which they climbed into the lot, were not sufficient to discredit him. -- When the human mind is under a deep and terrific excitement, will it mark all the little incidents that take place? Will not the main subject of the excitement engross the attention to the neglect of all unimportant circumstances? And yet, because Denton could not point out the rail over which he and Davis passed, and could not repeat the exact words of both -- his Honor, the President Judge, cast away his evidence as worthless. To my mind this course was unphilosophical. Nothing could be bro't against Denton's moral character, except that he was so far deluded as to harbor for a moment the black designs of the prophet.

From this view of the subject, I confidently trust that my friends and the public will clearly see that I was in danger from Smith: -- that I had good cause to fear him, and that in denying me the defence of the law, my rights were disregarded, and a precedent set -- full of danger to the community.

GRANDISON NEWELL.