The gentleman who accompanied me is a strong Whig, and as the Mormon vote had been given at the recent election to the Locofoco candidate for Congress, thereby defeating Cyrus Walker, Esq, Whig, who had defended “Joe” in several law suits with the Missourians, the conversation took a political turn at first. “Joe” professed to be a great friend to Mr. Walker, and said he had voted for him, but would not interfere with his people in the matter. He said he had never asked the Lord any thing about politics; if he had done so, the Lord would have told him what to do. “The Lord,” said he, “has promised to give us wisdom, and when I lack wisdom I ask the Lord, and he tells me, and if he didn’t tell me, I would say he was a liar; that’s the way I feel. But I never asked him any thing about politics. I am a Whig, and I am a Clay man. I am made of Clay, and I am tending to Clay, and I am going to vote for HENRY CLAY; that’s the way I feel. (A laugh) But I won’t interfere with my people, religiously, to affect their votes, though I might to elect CLAY, for he ought to be President. I have sworn by the eternal gods—it’s no harm to swear by the gods, because there are none, if there is only one God, there can’t be gods, and it’s no harm to swear by nothing, (a laugh)—I have sworn by the eternal gods that I never will vote for a democrat again; and I intend to swear my children, putting their hands under the thigh as Abraham swore Isaac, that they will never vote a democratic ticket in all their generations. It is the meanest, lowest party in all creation.— There is five-sixths of my people so led away by the euphoneous term “democrat,” that they will vote the Locofoco ticket. I am a democrat myself. I am a Washington democrat, a Jefferson democrat, a Jackson democrat, and I voted for Harrison, and I am going to vote for Clay. The Locofocos are no democrats, but the meanest, lowest, most tyrannical beings in the world.— They opposed me in Missouri, and took me prisoner, and were going to shoot me for treason, and I never had committed any treason whatever.— I never had any thing bigger than a jack-knife about me, and they took me a prisoner of war. and twenty men to guard me. I had nothing to do with fighting. Our men, six hundred strong, were in arms, under Col. Hinckle. When the Missourians came marching up, Col. Hinckle ordered us to retreat, when I lifted up my hand, and said, “Boys, I think we won’t go yet; we’ll stand our ground,” and they stood firm, but Col. Hinckle run like the devil. For doing this, they charged me with treason.”

In this manner the prophet ran on, talking incessantly. Speaking of revelations, he stated that when he was in a “quandary,” he asked the Lord for a revelation, and when he could not get it, he “followed the dictates of his own judgment, which was as good as a revelation to him; but he never gave anything to his people as revelation, unless it was a revelation, and the Lord did reveal himself to him.” Running on in his voluble style, he said: “The world persecutes me, it has always persecuted me. The people of Carthage, in a public meeting lately, said, ‘as for Joe, he’s a fool, but he’s got some smart men about him.” I’m glad they give me so much credit. It is not every fool that has sense enough to get smart men about him. The Lord does reveal himself to me. I know it. He revealed himself to me first when I was about fourteen years old, a mere boy. I will tell you about it. There was a reformation among the different religious denominations in the neighborhood where I lived, and I became serious, and was desirous to know what Church to join. While thinking of this matter, I opened the Testament promiscuously on these words, in James, ‘Ask of the Lord who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not.’ I just determined I’d ask him.— I immediately went out into the woods where my father had a clearing, and went to the stump where I had stuck my axe when I had quit work, and I kneeled down, and prayed, saying, ‘O Lord, what Church shall I join?’— Directly I saw a light, and then a glorious personage in the light, and then another personage, and the first personage said to the second, “Behold my beloved Son, hear him.” I then, addressed this second person, saying, “O Lord, what Church shall I join?” He replied, “don’t join any of them, they are all corrupt.” The vision then vanished, and when I came to myself, I was sprawling on my back; and it was sometime before my strength returned[.] When I went home and told the people that I had a revelation, and that all the churches were corrupt, they persecuted me, and they have persecuted me ever since.