Autobiography 1883 Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine
tized them on the , and
these were the first baptisms performed
by proper authority upon any of the
islands of the sea (to my knowledge) in
this dispensation.
Before we left Kirtland some of the
leading apostates there had tried to dis-
courage Brother Hale about going on his
mission, telling him he would never bap-
tize any one, and he had better remain
at home. When Captain Eames offered
himself for baptism, I told Brother Hale
to go and baptize him, and prove those
men false prophets, and he did so.
On the following Sabbath I baptized
his brother, Ebenezer Eames, another
sea captain, and a young lady.
Mr. Newton, the Baptist minister, now
commenced a war against us, and sent to
the South Island for a Mr. Douglas, a
Methodist minister (with whom he had
been at variance for years) to come over
and help him put down "Mormonism."
Mr. Douglas came over, and they got
as many people together as they could
and held a conference. He railed against
Joseph, the prophet, and the Book of
Mormon, and, taking that book in his
hand, with out-stretched arm, declared
that he feared none of the judgments of
God that would come upon him for re-
jecting it as the word of God, (I never
heard what his sentiments upon this sub-
ject were at the end of his term of
fourteen years' imprisonment in the
Thomaston Penitentiary, for an outrage
upon his daughter, the judgment of
which was given upon the testimony of
his wife and daughter.)
I was present and heard Mr. Douglass'
speech upon this occasion, and took
minutes of the same. When he closed I
arose and informed the people that I
would meet with them next Sunday
in the meeting-house, and answer Mr.
Douglass, and wished him, as well as the
people to be present.
I informed the people that Mr. Doug-
lass had made many false statements
against Joseph Smith and the Latter-day
Saints, with whom he had no acquain-
tance, and he had misquoted much Scrip-
ture, all of which I could correct.
We continued to baptize the people on
the North Island until we baptized every
person who owned an interest in the
Baptist meeting-house. I then followed
Mr. Douglass home to the South Island,
and preached the gospel to and baptized
nearly all the members of his church.
The excitement became great on both
