Thirty (1835)they termed it, they must now continue their faith and contrive some means to pay the debt.
Notwithstanding they were deeply in debt, they had so managed as to keep up their credit, so they
concluded to try mercantile business. Accordingly, they ran in debt in New York, and elsewhere,
some thirty thousand dollars, for goods, and shortly after some fifty or sixty thousand more, as I was
informed; but they did not fully understand the mercantile business, and, withal, they suffered pride
to arise in their hearts, and became desirous of fine houses, and fine clothes, and indulged too much
in these things, supposing for a few months that they were very rich. They also spent some thousands
of dollars in building a steam mill, which never profited them anything. They also bought many
farms at extravagant prices, and made part payments, which they afterwards lost, by not being able
to meet the remaining payments. They also got up a bank, for which they could get no charter, so
they issued their paper without a charter, and, of course, they could not collect their pay on notes
received for loans, and, after struggling with it awhile, they broke down.” (John Corrill, A Brief
History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints (Commonly Called Mormons;)Including an account of
Their Doctrine and Discipline; with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church [St. Louis: self-
published, 1839] 22–3. (This book can be seen at the following site, although the page numbers do not
correlate with the print edition. See pgs. 26–7 for the above quote:
http://olivercowdery.com/smithhome/1830s/1839Corl.htm#pg043b.)
(^53) DHC, 1:408.
(^54) PGP, Abraham, chapters 1–5.
(^55) PGP, Abraham 3:1.
(^56) PGP, Abraham 3:11.
(^57) Genesis, chapter 17; compare PGP, Abraham 3:23.
(^58) DHC, 2:238, 286, 318, 320; 6:79. See also “Discovery, Church Acquires Historical Documents”
Ensign, Jun. 1975: 34; Ronald V. Huggins, “Jerald Tanner’s Quest for Truth – Part 3 | Joseph Smith’s
Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar,” Salt Lake City Messenger, Nov. 2008, Utah Lighthouse™ Ministry, 9
Jun. 2011 http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no111.htm#Grammar; and H. Michael Marquardt, The
Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers (Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse™ Ministry, 2009).
(^59) Compare BOM, Jacob 4:14.
(^60) See “The Pearl of Great Price,” Marvelous Work and a Wonder®, 2011, A Marvelous
Work and a Wonder Purpose Trust, 9 Jun. 2011
http://marvelousworkandawonder.com/q_a/contents/3lds/q04/4lds004.htm.
(^61) Compare BOM, Jacob 4:14.