This degree is composed of females, whether married or unmarried, who, by an express grant and gift of God, through his Prophet the Holy Joe, are set apart and consecrated to the use and benefit of particular individuals, as secret, spiritual wives. They are the Saints of the Black Veil, and are accounted the special favorites of Heaven, and the most honorable among the daughters of Jacob . Their spiritual husbands are altogether from the most eminent members of the Mormon Church , and participate in the holiness of their consecrated wives.

. . .

This is the highest degree in the Harem, and, in the order of the Prophet's licentious arrangements, is held as the very acme of perfection, and it is, indeed, the ne plus ultra of depravity. Its ranks are filled up in the following manner: When an Apostle, High Priest, Elder, or Scribe, conceives an affection for a female, and he has satisfactorily ascertained that she experiences a mutual flame, he communicates confidentially to the Prophet his affaire du casur, and requests him to inquire of the Lord whether or not it would be right and proper for him to take unto himself the said woman for his spiritual wife. It is no obstacle whatever to this spiritual marriage if one or both of the parties should happen to have a husband or wife, already united to them according to the laws of the land.

. . .

Joe Smith told me, confidentially, during the absence of her husband, that he intended to make Mrs. Pratt one of his spiritual wives, one of the Cloistered Saints, for the Lord had given her to him as a special favor for his faithfulness and zeal . . . He then continued, "Sister Pratt, the Lord has given you to me as one of my spiritual wives. I have the blessings of Jacob granted me, as God granted holy men of old . . ."

. . .

Joe afterwards tried to convince Mrs. Pratt of the propriety of his spiritual wife doctrine, and she at last told him peremptorily, "Joseph, if you ever attempt any thing of the kind with me again, I will make a full disclosure to Mr. Pratt on his return home. Depend upon it, I will certainly do it."

. . .

Knowing that I had much influence with Mr. Rigdon's family, Joe Smith said to me, one day last summer, when riding together over the lawn, in Nauvoo, "If you will assist me in procuring Nancy as one of my spiritual wives, I will give you five hundred dollars, or the best lot on Main Street."

. . .

General Bennett states that Smith offered him $500, or his choice in town lots on Main Street, if he would succeed in getting him Mr. Rigdon's eldest unmarried daughter for a spiritual wife.

. . .

The fact of Smith's wishing to marry Miss Rigdon as a spiritual wife, of his attack upon her virtue, his teachings about his having the blessings of Jacob, &c. &c. as stated in General Bennett's letters, ARE TRUE; and if I am called upon to prove it, I SHALL DO IT, to the satisfaction of the public, and to the chagrin and mortification of Smith and others.

. . .

In concluding this subject, however, I will semi-state two or more cases, among the vast number, where Joe Smith was privately married to his spiritual wives.

. . .

"On the 17th day of May, A. D. 1842, Joe Smith requested to see me alone in the preparation room of Nauvoo Lodge, U. D., on some important business. We entered, and he locked the door put the key in his pocket DREW A PISTOL ON ME, and said, "The peace of my family requires that you should sign an affidavit, and make a statement before the next City Council, on the 19th, exonerating me from all participation whatever, either directly or indirectly, in word or deed, in the spir- itual WIFE DOCTRINE, or private intercourse with females in general; and if you do not do it with apparent cheerfulness, I will make cat-fish bait of you, or deliver you over to the Danites for execution to-night."