All who were against me had a full chance to talk.
Brother Johnson, who was there, but not as a member
of the Council, was called upon to fill a vacancy occa-
sioned by the absence of some member. He made a
speech to the Council, and showed where I had acted
well; he then voted for my acquittal. Brother Cum-
mings, who had been a member of the Council when
I was first tried in the summer, and who then took my
part, now thought he would make himself popular with
the people, so he volunteered his evidence and bore false
witness against me. This man's action was wrong and
uncharitable. I had been more than a brother to him
in the past; I had supplied his family with food when
they would have suffered but for the help I gave them.
The result of the trial was that I was ordered to con-
fess I had been in fault ; that I was alone to blame, and
must ask the people to forgive me. If I refused I was
to be cut off from the Church.
