DIRECT EXTERNAL EVIDENCES—THE THREE WITNESSES—SUBSEQUENT LIFE AND TESTIMONIES.  
OLIVER COWDERY.
 
The Witnesses themselves always adhered to the truth of their testimony. They never denied what they in their now celebrated testimony so solemnly affirmed. It was reported at different times during their life time that they had denied their testimony, and such statements are to be found in the earlier editions of such standard works as the American Encyclopedia and in the Encyclopedia Britannica. It is evident that the reports about Oliver Cowdery denying his testimony obtained some credence even among the Saints at Nauvoo; for in the Times and Seasons, published by the Church at Nauvoo, one J. H. Johnson, in some verses written by him maintaining the fact that the truth stands fast though men may be untrue to it, says:
 
  —Or prove that Christ was not the Lord
  Because that Peter cursed and swore,
  Or Book of Mormon not his word,
  Because denied by Oliver.[1]
But notwithstanding all this, the fact remains that Oliver Cowdery never denied his testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon. Whatever his delinquencies in other respects; whatever his grievances, real or imagined; in the Church, and even while out of it, he was true, to his honor be it said, to his testimony to the Book of Mormon. Living he affirmed it, and when dying he renewed the affirmation. It must be said of him that notwithstanding the high favors which God granted him—the favor of being one of these Three Special Witnesses, blessed to see the Nephite plates and the sacred things connected with them under such a remarkable display of God's presence and power; favored to receive with the Prophet the ministration of angels who ordained them both to the Aaronic and to the Melchizedek priesthood;[2] and favored afterwards to behold in open vision in the Kirtland Temple the Savior himself, and a number of angels who came on that occasion to restore to earth through these men the keys of authority and power which they held;[3] favored to be the Second Elder of the Church of Christ, and the first to make public proclamation of the restored gospel—notwithstanding all this, I repeat, it must be said of him that he possessed defects of character[4] which enabled the adversary of men's souls to so far prevail against him that he transgressed some of the laws of God and lost his high station. He was excommunicated from the Church for his sins,[5] and for a time stood as a stranger to the Saints, an outcast from Israel; but in those dark days he still remained true to his testimony.
 
In October, 1848, after an absence of about eleven years, Oliver Cowdery returned to the Church. At that time the movement of the Church to the Rocky Mountains was under way. A large number of the Saints were temporarily located at Kanesville (now Council Bluffs), Iowa, and on the 21st of October of the year above given, a special conference was called, presided over by Elder Orson Hyde, of the Council of the Apostles, in which the case of Oliver Cowdery was considered. Before that conference, at which some two thousand Saints were present,[6] Oliver Cowdery said:
 
Friends and Brethren—My name is Cowdery, Oliver Cowdery. In the early history of this Church I stood identified with her, and one in her councils. True it is that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance; not because I was better than the rest of mankind was I called; but, to fulfil the purposes of God, he called me to a high and holy calling.
 
I wrote, with my own pen, the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph, as he translated it by the gift and power of God, by the means of the Urim and Thummim, or, as it is called by the book, "Holy Interpreters." I beheld with my eyes, and handled with my hands, the gold plates from which it was transcribed. I also saw with my eyes and handled with my hands the "holy interpreters." That book is true. Sidney Rigdon did not write it. Mr. Spaulding did not write it. I wrote it myself as it fell from the lips of the Prophet. It contains the everlasting gospel, and came forth to the children of men in fulfilment of the revelations of John, where he says he saw an angel come with the everlasting gospel to preach to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. It contains principles of salvation; and if you, my hearers, will walk by its light and obey its precepts, you will be saved with an everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God on high. Brother Hyde has just said that it is very important that we keep and walk in the true channel, in order to avoid the sand-bars. This is true. The channel is here. The holy priesthood is here.
 
I was present with Joseph when an holy angel from God came down from heaven and conferred on us, or restored the Lesser or Aaronic priesthood, and said to us, at the same time, that it should remain upon the earth while the earth stands.
 
I was also present with Joseph when the higher or Melchizedek priesthood was conferred by holy angels from on high. This priesthood we conferred on each other, by the will and commandment of God. This priesthood, as was then declared, is also to remain upon the earth until the last remnant of time. This holy priesthood, or authority, we then conferred upon many, and is just as good and valid as though God had done it in person.
 
I laid my hands upon that man—yes, I laid my right hand upon his head (pointing to Brother Hyde), and I conferred upon him the priesthood, and he holds that priesthood now. He was also called through me, by the prayer of faith, an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
This speech was reported by Bishop Reuben Miller, who was present at the meeting where Cowdery spoke, and noted down in his journal at the time what was said, though his notes, it must be remarked, were not published until several years later.[7] The circumstance of Cowdery's return and the spirit of his speech is also supported by other testimony. In a letter dated at Cambridge Port, U. S. A., December 26, 1848, Wilford Woodruff—at the time one of the Twelve Apostles, and subsequently President of the Church—writing to Orson Pratt, then president of the British Mission, said:
 
Dear Brother Pratt—I received a letter from Elder Hyde saying that Oliver Cowdery had come to the Bluffs with his family; and made satisfaction to the Church who had voted to receive him into the Church by baptism; and Elder Hyde expected to baptize him the next day. He was assisting Elder Hyde to put the press in operation for printing, expected to send forth the "Frontier Guardian" soon. I was truly glad to hear this, as Oliver Cowdery was the first person baptized into this Church under the hands of Joseph, and is capable of doing good in the kingdom of God; I was truly glad to hear he had returned to the fold.[8]
 
The Star which published this letter was issued February 1, 1849.
 
George A. Smith, writing from Council Bluffs, under date of October 31st, 1848, ten days after Cowdery's speech before the conference, writes to Orson Pratt of this meeting:
 
Oliver Cowdery, who had just arrived from Wisconsin with his family, on being inv............