The district meeting was the first meeting in the new hall. There were present Elders Charles T. Lesueur, clerk of the conference, K. R. Wooley and Garland Pace, who have charge of the work there, Elder Benjamin R. Birchall of Accrington, and myself. The hall was crowded to its utmost capacity, about three hundred strangers being present besides the saints and friends, and the entire congregation manifested the deepest interest in the excellent, scholarly address on 'Mormonism,' which was delivered by Elder Birchall, who was for some time pastor of a Methodist Episcopal Church in Utah. President Crockett adds: "The elders' reports at the Priesthood meeting on the 3rd inst. were very encouraging. We expect to baptize thirty-two converts this month. The saints are united and the Relief Societies are doing good work.”

Two interesting and largely-attended district meetings were held in the saints' hall in Sheffield at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday last. President Josiah Eardley, Elder William A. Morton, of the Liverpool office, and a large number of the Sheffield conference elders were in attendance. Impressive discourses were delivered on the first principles and ordinances of the gospel, and the importance and magnitude of the great latter-day work were presented in plainness before the congregations. In the evening the large hall was filled with interested and appreciative people. Fully one-half of them were not members of the Church. At the close of the service a number of the visitors were engaged by the elders in friendly conversations, and it was learned that all were well pleased with what they had heard. Elder Morton held a meeting with the Sunday School officers and teachers and gave them a number of very valuable suggestions.

SUNDAY SChool lesSON FOR THEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT. LESSON XXXV.-PRACTICAL RELIGION-CHARITY AND BENEVO

LENCE.

Text: We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul,- We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.-Articles of Faith, 13.

I. What is religion?

1. See definition of James (James 1: 27).

2. Compare religion and theology.

3. Compare religion and morality.

II. Our religion is pre-eminently practical.

1. Shown in its requirements as to affairs of every-day life

2. Shown in the results already achieved-e. g., the establishment of a commonwealth in the Great American Desert, the building of temples, etc.

III. Benevolence.

1. Founded on love for our fellow-men.

2. Its importance. (a) Note the Savior's teaching, in which He places love of fellow-men next to love of God (Matt. 22: 36-40; Luke 10:25-27). (b) Note the teaching of John, who has been called the "Apostle of Love" (I. John 4: 7, 8, 20, 21).

3. Benevolence enjoined (Proverbs 19: 17; Luke 10: 25-37; B. of M., Alma 34: 28, 29; Mosiah 4: 16-24; Doc. and Cov. 38: 35; 42: 30-38; 56: 16-20; 72: 12; 83: 6; 84: 112).

IV. Charity.

1. Charity and benevolence compared. Note the double sense in which the term "Charity" is used. (a) Benevolence includes and far exceeds charity regarded as mere giving, such as alms-giving. (b) Charity means love toward our fellows. Study with care Paul's masterly explanation of charity. Observe that the apostle means by charity more than alms-giving as shown by verse 3 (I. Cor. 13). Among other scriptures see B. of M., Mosiah 4: 16-24.

V. Benevolence Manifested by the Church To-day.

1. Love toward mankind shown by extensive missionary labor -a labor of love and self-sacrifice on the part of individual missionaries and the Church alike.

2. Charity as expressed in material giving-an important requirement in the Church-expressed in our system of tithes and offerings (to be studied in next lesson). General reference: "Articles of Faith," Lecture XXIV, p.p. 441-446.

DIED.

Goss.- At Northampton, October 3rd, 1908, Evelyn Elsie, the infant daughter of Arthur and Annie Goss. Born June 22, 1908. Interment took place at the Billing Road cemetery.

EDITED, PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY CHARLES W. PENROSE, 295 EDGE LANE,

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FOR SALE IN ALL THE CONFERENCES OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF

LATTER-DAY SAINTS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

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No. 43, Vol. LXX.

Thursday, October 22, 1908.

Price One Penny.

PLENTY OF EVIDENCE.

THERE are many people who try to justify themselves in rejecting "Mormonism" on the ground, as they allege, that there is not sufficient evidence to convince them that it is true, and to induce them to accept it. Yet these same people profess a most firm belief in the things which are reported to have happened ages and ages ago, but which are not supported by so much as one thousanth part of the evidence that can be adduced in favor of "Mormonism."

Here is a man, a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church. He says: "I absolutely refuse to believe in the vision which Joseph Smith announced he had received in answer to prayer in the year 1820, in which he alleged he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son."

"And why," we ask, "do you refuse to believe Joseph Smith's statement?"

"Because," he answers, "I have no evidence apart from Joseph Smith's own bare assertion; there was no other person present on that occasion; I am asked to accept the testimony of one man upon such an important matter. I absolutely refuse to do so; therefore I refuse to believe 'Mormonism.'

333

We follow the man to his home. According to his usual custom, he takes down the Bible to read a chapter before retiring to rest. As he reads he comes to the following:

"And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.

"And the Lord spake with Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." (Exodus 33: 9, 10, 11.)

We ask the man if he believes what he has just read and, without the slightest hesitation, he answers, "Every word of it."

Yes, he believes every word of it, yet he has not a particle of evidence, outside of Moses' own statement, to prove to him that the prophet saw and talked with the Lord on that occasion. Moses says that all the children of Israel saw the cloudy pillar, but he does not say that a single soul of them except himself saw the Lord. Our friend refuses to accept Joseph Smith's testimony because it is not backed up with similar testimonies of other witnesses. He might just as well reject the testimony of Moses for the same reason. Examining the testimonies of these two men impartially, every reasonable-minded person would admit that there is just as much ground for believing the one as the other. In fact, we think the weight of the evidence is on the side of Joseph Smith, for he sealed his testimony with his life's blood, which the leader of ancient Israel did not do. What greater evidence could Joseph Smith give to the world of the divinity of his mission than that? What more conclusive evidence ought the world to ask for? Moses tells us that on another occasion he and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel saw the God of Israel (Exodus 24: 9, 10), but he has not furnished us with a single scrap of documentary evidence, except his own statement, to confirm the truth of what he said. Yet millions of people in the world today believe implicitly in the testimony of Moses, notwithstanding the fact that there is no more evidence-no, nor as much-to substantiate it than can be shown in favor of the testimony of the latter-day prophet.

Supposing Joseph Smith had come out with the bold declaration that he, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris and seventy other men had seen God, and he had failed to produce the testimony of even one of the witnesses in confirmation of his statement, what would people have said? They would have said, "We refuse to give credence to Joseph Smith's story because we do not consider there is sufficient evidence to substantiate it. If what he says be true, why does he not get the testimonies of some of the witnesses who he says were with him when he saw God?" But these people declare their most firm belief in the testimony of Moses, although, as we have said, that testimony has not the support of even one of the other seventy-three witnesses. Can such people be considered consistent? We think not.

Notwithstanding the abundance of evidence, both internal and external, which the Latter-day Saints have furnished to the world to prove the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, there

have been only a few out of all the millions in Christendom who have accepted the record as the word of God. That book has come to the world supported by the most incontrovertible evidence. In the first place it has the evidence of numerous prophecies which were made by several of the ancient prophets concerning it. Among these are the prophecies of Isaiah (Isaiah 29: 4, 8, 11-19), and Ezekial 37: 16-19).

Next comes the testimony of Joseph Smith, who has declared in the most solemn and positive manner that an angel of God came down from heaven, in fulfillment of a prophecy made by John the Revelator (Rev. 14: 6, 7); that the heavenly messenger took out of the earth and delivered to him the plates of the Book of Mormon, the contents of which he, by the gift and power of God, translated into the English language.

In addition to the testimony of His servant Joseph Smith, the Lord raised up three witnesses, who have testified to the world in all soberness that they also saw the angel, that he brought and laid before their eyes the plates, that they beheld the engravings upon them, and that they heard the voice of God bear testimony out of the heavens that the record had been translated correctly. But this is not all the evidence. In His infinite love for His children, with an intense desire that they should know the truth, that they might be saved thereby, and that they might be left without excuse if they rejected this inspired volume, which contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel, the Lord raised up eight other witnesses who have given their testimonies to the world that they also saw the plates of the Book of Mormon and handled them.

And in every nation where the elders of Israel have borne witness to the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and people have petitioned the Lord in faith and sincerity to know if the elders spoke the truth, they have received from Him a divine witness-the witness of the Holy Spirit-which has testified to their souls that Joseph Smith is a prophet of the living God, and that the Book of Mormon is a true record.

Couple with the testimony of Joseph Smith, with the testimony of the three witnesses, and also with the testimonies of the eight witnesses, the testimonies of the thousands of living witnesses that are on the earth at the present time, and who declare as solemnly as if they were in the presence of the Eternal Judge that God has revealed to them that "Mormonism" is true, and what an overwhelming mass of evidence there is in support of the Lord's great latter-day work!

Evidence of the truth of "Mormonism"! Why, there is no end to it. But what does all this evidence amount to in the eyes of the so-called Christian world? It amounts to nothing; they absolutely refuse to believe in the latter-day prophet and his work.

If we were to ask them if they believe the testimony of Moses