MEETINGS IN NEWBERN, IOWA.
By Moses Hull
Considering all the circumstances by which we were surrounded, we think this was a profitable meeting. Newbern is eighteen miles south of Knoxville—just the right distance to hear all manner of reports, and certainly Satan has been busy in that direction. I have not time or space to pen half of the falsehoods that were in circulation about me when I arrived at that place, and although it may sound strange, ministers were foremost in circulating some of the false reports about me. The object was to put me down by them, a thing they could not do by argument. A meeting was called and a vote taken to have me driven out of town. But there were not self-righteous Pharisees enough there to have the vote carried. One man came to me and said, “Now, Hull, I want you to be honest and tell me whether you are living with three wives, or not.” Another told me that he was credibly informed that Bro. Cornell and I quarrelled and parted. I asked what we quarrelled about. He said, “Cornell preached in the tent in Knoxville (he was informed by a witness) that every man ought to have seven wives, and Hull contended that three was enough for any man, and they could not agree, so Cornell bought a tent and went north, and Hull took the old tent and staid in the south part of the State.” A minister was busily engaged in peddling the report that he heard me say that I knew more about the prophecies than Jesus Christ ever did or ever would. The people at first believed all these reports, but afterwards found out that they were false. Several of the best citizens of the neighborhood decided to obey God. May the Lord help them to stand at their post. Yesterday before I left we went to the water, where three precious souls were buried in baptism. Many that did not come out are now investigating, and are warm friends to the Lord’s cause and to his servants. Knoxville, Iowa, Aug. 28, 1860.