Joseph C. Kingsbury, having stated that he was of lawful age, refused to take the ordinary oath to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth of his knowledge of and touching the matter in controversy," but was sworn by affirmation, and testified as follows: —

I live here in Salt Lake City. Before coming to Salt Lake, I resided at Nauvoo, in the State of Illinois. I came to Nauvoo, I think in 1840. I left there in 1846, in February. I belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at Nauvoo. I held the office of a High Priest. I was ordained in Kirtland during the year 1834 or '35. I hold the office of a High Priest at the present time; have held it continually ever since that time, — of course I have. I have continued right with the church in that office from that time to this. I held the office of High Priest in the second ward while I was here for a while.

Joseph Smith taught me the principles of polygamy. He gave me to understand with his own mouth that he had married more wives than one.

I knew in regard to the revelation concerning the doctrine of plural marriage, cannot tell you exactly when I first saw it; it was along in the middle of July somewhere, in 1842. Yes, I guess it was in 1842.

Bishop Whitney got the revelation, and presented it to me, and wanted me to copy it, and so I went into a room by myself, and copied it; that is, I copied the revelation on plural marriage that he handed me, and just as I got through copying it, Hyrum Smith came in and wanted it, — the original revelation was what he wanted.

He came in to see how I got along with it; that is, Bishop Whitney did, and then he went out and told Hyrum Smith that he would hand him the revelation in a few minutes, for I was not quite through making the copy. When I had got through making the copy, I took the one I had made myself and read it, and he took the other a&d read it at the same time to see if I had made any mistakes, and that it was correct, and when he found that it was all correct, he took the one that I had made, and went out and handed it to Hyrum Smith, who was outside the door ready to take it. I copied it just a day or two after it was given. The revelation I copied is just the same as the one published in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants by the Salt Lake Church in Defendant's Exhibit A.

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Q. — Are you willing to go on record as swearing that within two or three days after it was revealed to him you copied the revelation?

A. — I cannot tell you exactly the number of days. I presume it was within ten days after it was revealed to him that I copied it, but it might have been more than that. I am willing to swear that within twenty days after that I copied it, and that it was revealed to him within twenty days prior to the time I copied it.

Yes, sir, I swear to that, right straight up and down. He told me it was revealed to him, that was the way I knew it, but of course I do not know anything more about that than what he told me. He did not tell me he got it just two or three days before I copied it. It is hard for me to testify and say I know a thing when I do not.

You ask me to testify and say a certain thing occurred between or within so many days, and I can't tell you just how many days or just when it was, but I do know that the revelation was a doctrine of the church.

Yes, I said I would swear that it was within twenty days of when it was received by Joseph Smith that I copied it. All I know about its being within twenty days is what he told me. He did not tell me when he had received it, the day nor the hour that he had received it, nor the month; did not tell me anything about when he received it, and I do not know when he got it, but I suppose that was when he got it. I do not know when he received it except from circumstances. One of the circumstances is that Bishop Whitney got it soon after it was received, but I do not know that, except as I said, by circumstances.

Q. — Well, now, what are the circumstances?

A. — The circumstances are that as soon as the revelation was received, that Bishop Whitney went and got the revelation from Joseph Smith, according to his testimony to me, and he handed it to me to make a copy of it.

I do not know anything about where Bishop Whitney got it, except "what he told me. All I know about where he got it is what Bishop Whitney told me.

I did not hold the office of secretary or private secretary or any office of that kind with reference to the Bishop. The Bishop did not have any office at that time.

. . .

Yes, sir, I said I copied that revelation, and I copied the whole of it according to my best recollection. I cannot tell you exactly how long it took me, but I know I copied it just as^fast as I could take it down, and I could write pretty well then.

Q. — How many sheets of paper did you have?

A. — I could not say. There was as much as two large sheets of paper, common paper used in those days. The usual size of paper. I do not know what kind it was, but I suppose it was common foolscap. There were two sheets of it. There must have been. I know there was more than one. I wrote on what paper it took, but I cannot tell how much it took. I cannot remember these things, and I do not believe anybody else could. I suppose I was not more than an hour. Perhaps it took an hour and perhaps not over half an hour. I have not seen a copy since I saw it in Nauvoo, soon after I wrote it.

Q. — Don't you know that you did not write quite a page of foolscap paper at that time, is that not true?

A. — I know I wrote just what it took, whatever that was. There was more than that, but I do not know just how much there was; I cannot just say. I do not know whether I wrote it in an hour or not, possibly I might. My best judgment is that it was an hour, more or less. I do not know whom the revelation was given to of my own personal knowledge. I do not know what day of the week it was when I copied it. Cannot say whether it was Sunday or not. It was somewhere along during the middle of the day, but I cannot say whether it was in the forenoon or afternoon. I never saw the copy after that day.

. . .

I cannot say how long it took me to copy the revelation on polygamy. I told you before I could not tell you how long it took, whether it was an hour, or half an hour, or how long. I said it was . not over an hour, and maybe it wasn't that long. I cannot say how long it took me. It took me an hour, I should say, maybe not so long. Exhibit A, section 132; yes, sir, that is the revelation I said I copied. It makes eleven pages of this book, Exhibit A, and I am going on record here as testifying that I said I copied it in the neighborhood of an hour.

I was a pretty good writer in those days, and I could write pretty fast when I tried, and I do not think it was more than an hour that I was copying it, but I do not know. The paper I copied, I presume was copied in an hour, but I could not tell you exactly, of course. Yes, I said I copied the revelation on one sheet of paper, — foolscap.

Q.— Now, don't you know that you could not copy that revelation, section 132 of Exhibit A on one sheet of paper, and that you could not copy it on twenty sheets of paper, foolscap or any other kind of ordinary writing paper?

A. — No, sir, I do not know anything about it.

Q. — Don't you know that you could not copy it in three hours?

A. — No, sir, I think I could copy it in nearly an hour; do not think it would take me much over an hour to copy it, and I do not think I was much over an hour in copying it either.

I never saw the copy after I made it. I remember it was the revelation printed in here because I read the one I copied, and I remember enough of the one I copied to know it. I never saw it from the time I copied it until I came out here, and then it was printed. I cannot say how long after I came out here. Exhibit A was printed in 1876. I think it was printed before that, but in 1876 was the first time it was printed in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, I think.

I cannot tell you how many paragraphs there are in the one I copied, nor I cannot tell you how many paragraphs are in the one in Exhibit A. I do not believe I knew anything about the number of paragraphs; did not notice to see. That was a long time ago, and I cannot remember, even if I knew then. I do not know whether there .were twenty, and I do not know that there were any that were marked off in paragraphs. The one I copied was not in verse.

I do not know that I can remember a single, solitary sentence of the one I copied without the aid of this book, Exhibit A, I do not know that I can. I cannot repeat a sentence of the one I copied without the book, nor one single idea.

I do not remember whether the one I copied used the word sealing or polygamy. I do not remember what the title of it was, or that it had any title. I was not an extra writer nor a first-class writer, but I was pretty good. That revelation teaches that if the first wife refuses her consent to the marriage of her husband to the second wife and persists in her refusal, that she will die in the flesh. That was not the law of the church prior to the death of Joseph Smith that I know of.