FORCE OF EXAMPLE. 77
Rigdon was a cogent speaker of imposing mien and impassioned address. As a man, however, his charac- ter seems to have had a tinge of insincerity. He was fickle, now and then petulant, irascible, and sometimes domineering. Later, Joseph Smith took occasion more than once to rebuke him sharply, fearing that he might assume the supremacy.
Upon hearing the arguments of Pratt and Cow- dery, and investigating the book of Mormon, Rigdon was convinced that he had not been legally ordained, and that his present ministry was without the divine authority. In regard to the revival of the old dis- pensation, he argued thus: "If we have not familiar- ity enough with our creator to ask of him a sign, we are no Christians; if God will not give his creatures one, he is no better than Juggernaut." The result was, that he and others accepted the book and its teach- ings,* received baptism and the gift of the holy ghost, and were ordained to preach.
On one occasion Cowdery preached, followed by Rigdon. After service they went to the Chagrin River to baptize. Rigdon stood in the stream and poured forth his exhortations with eloquent fervor. One after another stepped forward until thirty had been baptized. Present upon the bank was a hard- headed lawyer, Varnem J. Card, who as he listened grew pale with emotion. Suddenly he seized the arm of a friend and whispered, "Quick, take me away, or in a moment more I shall be in that water!" One hundred and twenty-seven converts at once, the num-
- Howe intimates that Rigdon knew more of the book and the people than
he pretended. Of the proselytes made in his church he says: ' Near the res- idence of Rigdon, in Kirtlaud, thei-e had been for some time previous a few families belonging to his congregation, who had formed themselves into a common stock society, and had become considerably fanatical, and were daily looking for some wonderful event to take place in the world. Their minds had become fully prepared to embrace Mormonism, or any other mysterious ism that should first present itself. Seventeen in number of these persons readily believed the whole story of Cowdery about the finding of tlie golden plates and the spectacles. They were all reimmersed in one night by Cowdery. ' Mormonism Unveiled, 103.
