Parsons' text book

University of California • Berkeley

PARSONS' TEXT
BOOK

BY A. H. .PARSONS

Of the Reorganized Ckurch of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints

HERALD PUBLISHING HOUSE
LAMONI. IOWA-

Copyrighted 1902

By
A. H. Parsons.

ELDER A. H. PARSONS.

PREFACE.

In presenting the second and revised edition of Parsons'
Text-Book, I do so as the servant of the church. It is the
property of the church. I trust that after months of careful
work in recompiling, all errors found in the former have
been worked out and that no new ones have crept in. It may
seem a small task to one that never had any experience, but
I have found that the best of our writers are not so careful
as they should be in quoting. I have sought to give the exact
statement of the author and I have been greatly assisted by
the following brethren : Arthur Allen, F. M. Slover, C. J.
Hunt, Ammon White, B. J. Scott, L. G. Holloway, J. A. Tan-
ner, Samuel A. Burgess, J. W. Peterson, A. M. Fyrando, J. F.
Mintun, F. G. Pitt, Peter Anderson, E. C. Briggs, and Joseph
B. Smith. We thank these brethren for their assistance.

All citations and quotations from the Book of Mormon are
from the latest, the Authorized Edition.

Your servant and colaborer in Christ our Lord,

A. H. PARSONS.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK.

EARLIEST PRINTED WORKS ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF AMERICA.

Captain Dupaix's work was published in Paris in 1834-35. —
Travels in Central America, p. 262.

Colonel Galindo in 1836 . . . examined them under a com-
mission from the Central American government. His com-
munications on the subject were published in the proceedings
of the Royal Geographical Society of Paris and in the
Literary Gazette of London. — Ibid., p. 131.

Palacios' work was published in 1860 in English. — Native
Races, vol. 4, p. 79.

Josiah Priest's work was published in 1833, copyrighted
March 21, 1833.

Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg's work was published in 1857-
1859. — American Encyclopedia, vol. 3, p. 214.

John L. Stephens' work of his travels in Central America
was published in 1841.

Mr. Waldec's work was published in 1845. — Travels in Cen-
tral America, vol. 1, p. 297.

William Pidgeon's work, Antiquarian Researches, was pub-
lished in 1858.

Fuente's work on the early inhabitants of America was
published in Spanish in 1787, but never published in the
English language.

Baron Humboldt's work was published in the French lan-
guage, between 1809 and 1825; and in the German, 1836;
English, 1846.

Del Rio's work was published in London, England, in 1822.
A London newspaper stated in 1833 of this work, "The facts
contained in it as having recently come to light."

8 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

H. H. Bancroft, in 1875.

Desire Charnay, 1860; second edition in 1884.
J. D. Baldwin, first edition, 1872.
E. G. Squires, 1854.
Delafield, in 1839.
Short, in 1880.
Donnelly, in 1882.

Lord Kingsborough, first work in 1830; second edition in
1845; it cost six hundred dollars.

AMERICA'S PROGENY.

Antiquarian evidence submitted in proof of the claims made
by the fiook of Mormon.

William Pidgeon says: "It can not be any longer doubted
that there has been a day when this continent swarmed with
millions of inhabitants, when arts and sciences flourished,
when men lived, and labored, and reigned, and fought, and
were, in turn conquerors, and conquered, subjects, and kings."
— Antiquarian Researches, introduction.

See Book of Mormon, pp. 286 and 682.

John L. Stephens says: "Here were the remains of a cul-
tivated, polished, and peculiar people, who had passed through
all the stages incident to the rise and fall of nations; reached
their golden age, and perished, entirely unknown. . . . These
were the only memorials of their footsteps upon earth. We
lived in the ruined palace of their kings, we went up to their
desolate temples and fallen altars, and wherever we moved
we saw the evidence of their taste, their skill in arts, their
wealth and power." — Travels in Central America, vol. 2, p.
356.

See Book of Mormon, pages 617 and 624.

J. D. Baldwin says: "This ancient race seems to have
occupied nearly the whole basin of the Mississippi and its
tributaries. . . . To find the chief seats and most abundant
remains of the most remarkable civilization of this old
American race, we must go still farther south into Central
America and some of the more southern states of Mexico.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 9

Here ruins of many ancient cities have been discovered, . . .
Most of these ruins were found buried in dense forests, where,
at the time of the Spanish conquest, they had been long
hidden from observation. . . . The evidence they furnish
that their builders had remarkable skill in architecture and
architectural ornamentation. . . . These edifices were finely
and often elaborately finished, plaster, stucco, and sculpture
being used." — Ancient America, pp. 32, 93, 99.

Professor Le Plongeon says: "Anciently, this country
[Yucatan] now well-nigh depopulated, was thickly peopled
by a highly civilized nation. If we are to judge by the great
number of large cities whose ruins exist, scattered in the
midst of the forests throughout the country, and by the stu-
pendous edifices, once upon a time temples of the gods, or
palaces of the kings and priests, whose walls are covered with
inscriptions, bas-reliefs, and other interesting sculptures that
equal in beauty of design and masterly execution those of
Egypt and Babylon." — Sacred Mysteries, p. 70.

Desire Charnay says: "Numerous races who succeeded
each other, amalgamated on this continent, which, until lately,
was supposed to be so new, and is in truth, so old." — Ancient
Cities of the New World, p. 132.

See Book of Mormon, page 232.

Josiah Priest says: "But what has finally become of these
nations, and where are their descendants, are questions
which, could they be answered, would be highly gratifying."
— American Antiquities, p. 373, edition of 1833.

William Pidgeon says: "But it yet remains for America
to awake her story from sleep, to string lyre, and nerve the
pen, to tell the tale of her antiquities, as seen in the relics
of nations, coeval, perhaps, with the oldest works of man."-
Antiquarian Researches, page 11, edition of 1858.

H. H. Bancroft says: "There are numerous vague tradi-
tions of settlements or nations of white men, who lived apart
from the other people of the country, and were possessed of
an advanced civilization." — Volume 5, p. 24.

William C. Bryant says: "But behind these Indians, who
were in possession of the country when it was discovered by

10 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Europeans, is dimly seen the shadowy form of another peo-
ple who have left many remarkable evidences of their habits
and customs and of a singular degree of civilization, but who
many centuries ago, disappeared. . . . The evidences of the
presence of this ancient people are found almost everywhere
upon the North American Continent." — History of the United
States, vol. 1, p. 20, edition of 1876.

See Book of Mormon, pp. 33, 96, 97, and 307.

Right Rev. Charles P. Mcllvaine, D. D., says: "Suppose
that in searching the tumuli that are scattered so widely
over this country, the silent, aged, mysterious remembrancers
of some populous race, once carrying on all the business of
life where now are only the wild forests of many centuries, a
race of whom we ask so often, who they were, whence they
came, whither they went." — Preface to Delafield's work,
second paragraph, American Antiquities, edition of 1839.

See Book of Mormon, page 61.

RELICS OF TWO CIVILIZED NATIONS.

J. D. Baldwin says: "The evidence of repeated recon-
structions in some of the cities before they were deserted
has been pointed out by explorers. . . . Architectural char-
acteristics so different from each other, that it is as impos-
sible to attribute them all to the same people as to believe
they were all built at the same epoch." — Ancient America,
page 156.

See Book of Mormon, page 714.

William Pidgeon says: "From these facts, in connection
with the traditions of De-Coo-Dah respecting the ancient
inhabitants of these regions, as of various languages, cus-
toms, and color, we are led to the conclusion that at least
two distinct races of men have occupied this territory at dif-
ferent eras, and that both became nationally extinct anterior
to the occupation of the present Indian race." — Traditions
of De-Coo-Dah, page 176.

Desire Charnay says: "The lintels, ... of stone, were cov-
ered with sculptures and inscriptions. ... In this building are
curious traces of masonry out of character with the general

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 11

structure, showing the place to have been occupied at two
different epochs." — Ancient Cities of the New World, page
333.

Again he says: "Here and there closed up passages,
walls rebuilt with materials other than those employed in
the older construction, seem to indicate that the palace was
occupied at two different periods." — Ibid., page 110.

See Book of Mormon, pages 231 and 232.

J. D. Baldwin says: "Ruins and other vestiges reveal-
ing an ancient civilization are found throughout the whole
southern section of North America, extending as far north
as New Mexico and Arizona. But here the antiquities do not
all belong to the same period in the past." — Ancient America,
page 76.

Markham says: "The ruins, scattered over Peru, differ in
style, and thus give evidence of having been erected at dif-
ferent epochs." — Peru, by Markham, page 65. (Quoted from
report of Archasological Committee, page 25.)

Short says: "They were preceded by a race possessed of
no inferior civilization, who were not their ancestors, but a
distinct people." — North Americans of Antiquity, page 27.

J. D. Baldwin says : "These are not the oldest cities whose
remains are still visible, but they may have been built, in
part, upon the foundations of cities much more ancient. ... It
can be seen that some of the ruined cities which can now be
traced were several times renewed by reconstructions." —
Ancient America, pp. 156, 152.

See Book of Mormon, pages 231 and 232.

Again he says: "According to Montesinos, there were
three distinct periods in the history of Peru. Third and last
came the period of the Incas who revived civilization and re-
stored the empire. ... It was originated, he says, by a
people led by four brothers, who settled in the valley of
Cuzco, and developed civilization there in a very human way.
The youngest of these brothers assumed supreme authority,
and became the first of a long line of sovereigns." — Ancient
America, page 264.

See Book of Mormon, pages 5 and 6. Laman, Lemuel, Sam,
Nephi.

12 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

He again says: "This old town became a ruin in ancient
times. After remaining long in a ruined condition it was
again rebuilt, and again deserted after a considerable period
of occupation. It is still easy to distinguish the differences in
construction between the two periods. "The standing walls
rest upon ruins of greater antiquity;" and while the primitive
masonry is about six feet thick, that of the later period is
only from a foot to a foot and a half thick." — Ancient
America, page 80.

See Book of Mormon, pages 202, 269, 270, and 682.

AMERICA'S PROGENY.

ANTIQUARIAN EVIDENCE IN PROOF OF THE CLAIMS MADE BY THE
BOOK OF MORMON.

William Pidgeon says: "It can not be any longer doubted
that there has been a day when this continent swarmed
with millions of inhabitants, when arts and sciences flourished,
when men lived, and labored, and reigned, and fought, and
were, in turn conquerors, and conquered, subjects, and kings."
— Antiquarian Researches, introduction. (Book of Mormon,
p. 286, v. 157, and p. 682, v. 9. I quote from Lamoni edition
of 1908.)

John L. Stephens says: "Here were the remains of a culti-
vated, polished and peculiar people, who had passed through
all the stages incident to the rise and fall of nations; reached
their golden age, and perished, entirely unknown. . . . And
these were the only memorials of their footsteps upon earth.
We lived in the ruined palace of their Kings; we went up to
their desolate temples and fallen altars, and wherever we
moved we saw the evidence of their taste, their skill in
arts, their wealth and power." — Travels in Central America,
vol. 2, p. 356. (Book of Mormon, p. 617, v. 8.)

J. D. Baldwin says: "This ancient race seems to have
occupied nearly the whole basin of the Mississippi and its
tributaries. ... To find the chief seats and most abundant
remains of the most remarkable civilization of this old
American race, we must go still farther south into Central

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 13

America and some of the more southern states of Mexico.
Here ruins of many ancient cities have been discovered, . . .
Most of these ruins were found buried in dense forests,
where, at the time of the Spanish Conquest, they had been
long hidden from observation. . . . the evidence they furnish
that their builders had remarkable skill in architecture and
architectural ornamentation. . . . These edifices were finely
and often elaborately finished, plaster, stucco, and sculpture
being used." — Ancient America, pp. 32, 93, 99.

Professor Le Plongeon says: "Anciently, this country
(Yucatan) now well nigh depopulated, was thickly peopled
by a highly civilized nation. If we are to judge by the great
number of large cities, whose ruins exist, scattered in the
midst of the forests throughout the country, and by the
stupendous edifices, once upon a time temples of the gods,
or palaces of the kings and priests, whose walls are covered
with inscriptions, bas-reliefs, and other interesting sculptures
that equal in beauty of design and masterly execution those
of Egypt and Babylon." — Sacred Mysteries, p. 70.

Desire Charnay says: "Numerous races who succeeded
each other, and amalgamated on this continent, which, until
lately, was supposed to be so new, and is in truth, so old."-
Ancient Citfes of the New World, p. 132. (Book of Mormon, p.
232, vs. 62, 63.)

Josiah Priest says: "But what has finally become of these
nations, and where are their descendants, are questions which,
could they be answered, would be highly gratifying." — Ameri-
can Antiquities, p. 373. Edition of 1833.

William Pidgeon says: "But it yet remains for America
to wake her story from sleep, to string lyre, and nerve the
pen, to tell the tale of her antiquities, as seen in the relics
of nations, coeval, perhaps, with the oldest works of man." —
Antiquarian Researches, p. 11. Edition of 1858.

H. H. Bancroft says: "There are numerous vague tradi-
tions of settlements or nations of white men, who lived apart
from the other people of the country, and were possessed of
an advanced civilization." — Vol. 5, p. 24.

William C. Bryant says: "But behind these Indians, who

14 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

were in possession of the country when it was discovered by
Europeans, is dimly seen the shadowy form of another people
who have left many remarkable evidences of their habits and
customs and of a singular degree of civilization, but who
many centuries ago, disappeared. . . . The evidences of the
presence of this ancient people are found almost everywhere
upon the North American Continent." — History of the United
States, vol. 1, p. 20. Edition of 1876. (Book of Mormon,
pp. 33, 96, 97, 307.)

Right Rev. Charles P. Mcllvaine, D. D., says: "Suppose
that in searching the tumuli that are scattered so widely
over this country, the silent, aged, mysterious remembrancers
of some populous race, once carrying on all the business of
life where now are only the wild forests of many centuries,
a race of whom we ask so often, who they were, whence
they came, whither they went." — American Antiquities, second
paragraph, preface to Delafield's work. Edition of 1839.
(Book of Mormon, p. 714.)

J. D. Baldwin says: "Some investigators, who have given
much study to the antiquities, traditions, old books, and prob-
able geological history of Mexico and Central America, believe
that the first civilization the world ever saw appeared in
this part of Ancient America, or was immediately connected
with it. They hold that the human race first rose to civilized
life in America, which is, geologically, the oldest of the
continents." — Ancient America, pp. 159, 160.

Desire Charnay says: "On looking at them, I seem to
myself to be carried back a thousand years amidst that
grand old race whose ruins I am here to study." — Ancient
Cities, p. 103. Quoted from H. A. Stebbins' lectures, revised
edition of 1901.

Again he says: "Notwithstanding the assertion of most
historians respecting the work of the Aborigines, it is difficult
to account how with the tools they were acquainted with
they could cut not only the hardest substances, but also
build the numerous structures which are still seen in Mexico
and Central America, together with the sculptures, bas-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 15

reliefs, statues, and inscriptions like those we reproduced."
H. A. Stebbins' lectures, p. 27.

RELICS OF TWO CIVILIZED NATIONS.

J. D. Baldwin says: "The evidence of repeated recon-
structions in some of the cities before they were deserted
has been pointed out by explorers. ... Architectural charac-
teristics so different from each other, that it is as impossible
to attribute them all to the same people as to believe they
were all built at the same epoch." — Ancient America, p. 156.
(Book of Mormon, pp. 232, 235.)

William Pidgeon says: "From these facts, in connection
with the traditions of De-Coo-Dah respecting the ancient
inhabitants of these regions, as of various languages, cus-
toms, and color, we are led to the conclusion that at least
TWO distinct races of men have occupied this territory at
different eras, and that both became nationally extinct anter-
ior to the occupation of the present Indian race." — Traditions
of De-Coo-Dah, p. 176.

Desire Charnay says: "The lintels, ... of stone, were cov-
ered with sculptures and inscriptions. ... In this building are
curious traces of masonry out of character with the general
structure, showing the place to have been occupied at TWO
different epochs of time." — Ancient Cities of the New World,
p. 333.

Again he says: "Here and there closed up passages,
walls rebuilt with materials other than those employed in
the older construction, seem to indicate that the palace was
occupied at TWO different periods."— Ibid., p. 110. (Book of
Mormon, pp. 232, 714.)

J. D. Baldwin says : "Ruins and other vestiges that reveal
an ancient civilization are found throughout the whole south-
ern section of North America, extending as far as New
Mexico and Arizona. But here the antiquities do not all
belong to the same period in the past." — Ancient America,
p. 76.

Markham says: "The ruins, scattered over Peru, differ
in style, and thus give evidence of having been erected at

16 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

different epochs." — Peru, by Markham, p. 65, quoted from
report of Archaeological Committee, p. 25.

John T. Short says: "They (Indians) were preceded by
a race possessed of no inferior civilization, who were not
their ancestors, but a distinct people." — North Americans
of Antiquity, p. 27.

J. D. Baldwin says: "These are not the oldest cities whose
remains are still visible, but they may have been built, in
part, upon the foundations of cities more ancient. . . .
It. can be seen that some of the ruined cities which can now
be traced were several times renewed by reconstructions. "-
Ancient America, p. 156, 152. (Book of Mormon, p. 232.)

Again he says: "According to Montesinos, there were three
distinct periods in the history of Peru. . . . Third and last
came the period of the Incas who revived civilization and
restored the empire. ... It was originated, he says, by a
people led by FOUR brothers who settled in the Valley of Cuzco,
and developed civilization there in a very human way. The
youngest of these brothers assumed supreme authority and
became the first of a long line of sovereigns." — Ibid., p. 264.
(Book of Mormon, pp. 5, 6: "Laman," "Lemuel," "Sam," and
"Nephi.")

Again he says: "This old town became a ruin in ancient
times. After remaining long in a ruined condition it was
again rebuilt, and again deserted after a considerable period
of occupation. It is still easy to distinguish the differences
in construction between the TWO periods. "The standing
walls rest upon ruins of greater antiquity;" and while the
primitive masonry is about six feet thick, that of the later
period is only from a foot to a foot and a half thick."—
Ibidv p. 80. (Book of Mormon, pp. 270, 682.

Albert Gallatin says: "However small may have been the
number of those first emigrants, an equal number of years
would have been more than sufficient to occupy in their own
way, every part of America." — Transactions of the American
Ethnological Society, vol. 1, p. 179.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 17

FIRST SETTLEMENT FROM THE TOWER OF BABEL.

Josephus says: "After this (confusion of tongues) they
were dispersed abroad, on account of their languages, and
went out by colonies everywhere; and each colony took
possession of that land which they light upon, and unto which
God led them; so that the whole continent was filled with
them, both the inland and maritime countries. There were
some also who passed over the sea in ships, and inhabited
the Islands." — Antiquities of the Jews, chapter 5, p. 36.
(Book of Mormon, pp. 202, 292, 714.)

H. H. Bancroft says: "Votan ... is said to have been
a descendant of Noah, and to have assisted at the building
of the tower of Babel. After the confusion of tongues he
led a portion of the dispersed people to America." — Native
Races of the Pacific States, vol. 5, pp. 27, 28.

Josiah Priest says: "A colony, very soon after the con-
fusion of the language of mankind, found their way to what
is now called America." — American Antiquities, p. 199. Edi-
tion of 1833.

Donnelly says: "After men had multiplied, they erected
a very high 'zacuali,' which is to-day a tower of great height,
in order to take refuge in it should the second world (age)
be destroyed. Presently their languages were confused, and,
not being able to understand each other, they went to different
parts of the earth." — Atlantis, pp. 103, 104. Edition of 1882.

Desire Charnay says: "Veytia, like all historians of that
time, places the primitive home of the Toltecs in Asia, to
make his account agree with Genesis, where it is said that
after the destruction of the Babylonian tower, 'the Lord
scattered the sons of men upon the face of all the earth.'
... by means of large flat canoes, and square rafts made
of wood and reeds; the former are described, and called,
acalli, 'Water houses,' in their manuscripts. . . whence
originated the various tribes, which peopled America. "-
Ancient Cities of the New World, p. 79.

H. H. Bancroft says : "Noah's ark, says Ulloa, gave rise
to a number of such constructions; and the experience gained
during the patriarch's aimless voyage emboldened his descend-

18 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

ants to seek strange lands in the same manner. Driven
to America and the neighboring islands by winds and currents,
. . . they remained and peopled the land. . . . Siguenza . . .
conjectured that . . . (they) left Egypt (Babylon) for
America shortly after the confusion of tongues, . . , Clavi-
jero considers it proven by the native flood myths and tradi-
tions of foreign origin, that the Americans are descandants
of Noah. He quotes the (Toitec) tradition of Votan, who
is declared to have been closely connected with the Babei
builders. . . . According to the common version of the
Mexican flood myths, Coxcox and his wife Xochiquetzel were
the only human beings who escaped from the great deluge
which covered the face of the earth,- in the age of water.
How when the water went down, the ark in which they
had saved themselves — the hollow trunk of a bald cypress —
rested upon the peak of Culhuacan; and how the dumb
children that were born to the rescued pair were taught many
languages by a dove. . . . The Peruvians were acquainted
with the deluge, and believed that the rainbow was the sign
that the earth would not again be destroyed by water. This
somewhat startling announcement is made by Lord Kings-
borough, and he shows that there can be no reasonable doubt
on the subject in an eminently characteristic manner. . . .
Many of these flood myths are supplemented with an account
of the attempt to provide against a second deluge, by build-
ing a tower of refuge, resembling more or less closely the
biblical legend of the Tower of Babel. Thus a Cholultec
legend relates that . . . the anger of the gods was aroused,
and they slew many of the builders, so the work was stopped.
. . . Those myths have led many writers to believe that the
Americans had a knowledge of the Tower of Babel, while
some think that they are the direct descendants of certain
of the builders of the tower, who after the confusion of
tongues, wandered over the earth until they reached America.
. . . The tradition of the Toltecs regarding their travels
before they reached Huehue Tlapallan has been the theme
of much speculation, especially as connected with their descent
from the Babel builders. . . It is found in the histories

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 19

of the Toltecs that . . . man and all the earth were destroyed
by great showers and by lightnings from heaven, so that
nothing remained, and the most lofty mountains wer2 , . .
submerged to the depth of ... fifteen cubits; and here
they add other fables of how men came to multiply agair,
from the few who escaped the destruction in a ... ciosefl
chest; and how after multiplying the men built ... a very
high tower, in which to take refuge when the world should
be a second time destroyed. After this their tongues became
confused, and not understanding each other, they went to
different parts of the world. The Toltecs, seven in number,
with their wives, who understood each other's speech, after
crossing great lands and seas, and undergoing many hardships,
finally arrived in America, which they found to be a good
land." — Native Races of the Pacific States, vol. 5, pp. 10,
16, 17, 21. (Book of Mormon, p. 714. As to the number
that came with Lehi.)

Albert Gallatin says: "I can not see any possible reason
that should have prevented those who after the dispersion
of mankind towards the east and northeast, from having
reached the extremities of Asia, and passed over to America
within five hundred years after the flood." — Transactions of
the American Ethnological Society, vol. 1, p. 179.

John T. Short says: "Aboriginal Americans believed in
the flood and had traces of the Tower of Babel." — North
American Antiquities, p. 263.

Josiah Priest says: "This is consented to on all hands,
and even contended for by the historian, Humboldt. In order
to show the reader the propriety of believing, that a colony,
very soon after the confusion of the language of mankind,
found their way to what is now called America, we give the
tradition of the Azteca nation, who once inhabited Aztalan.
. . . The tradition commences with an account of the deluge,
as they had preserved it in books made of the buffalo and
deer skin, on which there is more certainty than if it had
been preserved by mere oral tradition, handed down from
father to son.

"They begin by painting, or as we woud say, by telliner us

20 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

that Noah, whom they called Tezpi, saved himself, with his
wife, whom they call Xochiquetzal, on a raft or canoe. . . .
The raft or canoe rested on or at the foot of a mountain,
which they call Colhuacan. . . . The men born after this
deluge were born dumb. ... A dove from the top of a
tree distributes languages to them in the form of an olive
leaf. . . . They say, that on this raft, beside Tezpi and his
wife, were several children, and animals, with grain, the
preservation of which was of importance to mankind. . . .
When the Great Spirit, . . . ordered the waters to withdraw,
Tezpi sent out from his raft a vulture, which never returned,
on account of the great quantities of dead carcasses which
it found to feed upon. Is not this the raven of Noah, which
did not return when it was sent out the second time, for the
very reason here assigned by the Mexicans? Tezpi sent other
birds, one of which was the humming bird; this bird alone
returned, holding in its beak a branch covered with leaves.
Is not this the dove? Tezpi, seeing that fresh verdure now
clothed the earth, quitted his raft near the Mountain of
Colhuacan." — American Antiquities, pp. 199, 200. Edition
of 1833.

Again he says: "The tongues distributed by this bird were
infinitely various, and dispersed over the earth. But; that it
so happened that fifteen heads of families were permitted to
speak the same language, these are the same shown on the
plate. These traveled till they came to a country which
they called Aztalan."— Ibid., p. 202. (Genesis 11: 9; Book of
Mormon, p. 714.)

"While scientists are searching the banks of the Euphrates
for some traces of the Tower of Babel, a most important dis-
covery concerning this famous structure is reported from the
Southwest. In the mysterious cliff ruins of that romantic
region students have found what they believe to be a corrob-
oration of the Bible story of the Tower of Babel. . . . What
more likely than that, having lived in the shadow of the
Tower of Towers on the plains of Shinar, and having helped
build it, they should have departed from that place with the
tower idea indelibly impressed jpon their minds? What

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 21

more natural in the sequence than that they should have
retained that idea when they built in other parts of the
world? What more plausible than that the southwestern,
cliff dwellers who were, perhaps, the first arrivals from
Babel upon this continent should have reproduced that form
of structure which must have transcended the thought of all
other structural forms in the mind of any that hailed from
Babel? One can look at the wonderful towers of the Cliff
Palace in Southwest Colorado and seeing them in the light
of this new discovery, utter a beatitude like, 'Blessed were
the ancient cliff builders, for they saw Babel.' . . . The most
satisfactory proofs of this corroboration of the Bible story
of Babel are to be found within a one hundred mile radius
of the four corners, the Southwesterner's name for the point
at which Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet.
In this canyon scarred land are the three most wonderful
cliff villages in the world, the Cliff Palace with one" hundred
and forty-five rooms, the Spruce Tree House, with ninety,
and the Balcony House with thirty. They are all within a
day's ride of Mancos, Colorado, and the greatest distance
between any two of them is four miles." — Saint Louis Post-
Dispatch, Sunday Magazine, December 31, 1905.

HOW THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS BUILT.

From the Jewish Encyclopedia, we find the following: "Six
hundred thousand men were engaged forty-three years in
building the Tower of Babel. It had reached such a height
that it took a whole year to hoist up necessary building
material to the top ; in consequence material became so valua-
ble that the people cried when a brick fell and broke, while
they remained indifferent when a man fell and was killed.
They behaved also heartlessly toward the weak and sick who
could not assist in any great extent in the building. God at
first permitted the people to continue with their work, waiting
to see whether they would not desist from their sinful
undertaking, and when they still continued, he endeavored to
induce them to repent, but all in vain. The confounding of
languages (before that, they had all spoken Hebrew) then

22 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

compelled them to give up the work, many also perishing on
the occasion; for if anyone received stones instead of mortar,
through misunderstanding of his fellow-workers, he grew
angry and threw the stones upon the one who had given them.
The mighty tower was blown down by winds; according to
the opinion of others, one third of the building was consumed
by fire, one third sank into the earth, and one third remained
standing. This remnant of the Tower is said to be at Bor-
sippa."

THE SECOND COLONY FROM JERUSALEM.

William Penn wrote thus, August 13, 1683: "The natives
. . . are generally tall, straight, well-built, and of singular
proportion ; they tread strong and clever, and mostly walk with
a lofty chin. . . . Their eye is little and black, not unlike a
straight-looked Jew. ... I have seen among them as comely
European-like faces of both sexes as on your side of the sea;
and truly an Italian complexion hath not much more of the
white, and the noses of several of them have as much of the
Roman. . . . For their original, I am ready to believe them
to be of the Jewish race — I mean of the stock of the Ten
Tribes — and that for the following reasons; first, ... in
the next place, I find them to be of the like countenance and
their children of so lively a resemblance that a man would
think himself in Duke's Place or Berry street in London when
he seeth them. But this is not all: they agree in rites, they
reckon by moons, they offer their first fruits, they have a
kind of a Feast of Tabernacles, they are said to lay their
altars upon twelve stones, their mourning a year, customs of
women, with many other things that do not now occur."-
Atlantis, p. 185. Edition of 1882. (Book of Mormon, pp. 4,
63.)

John L. Stephens says: "According to the manuscript of
Don Juan Torres, a grandson of the last King of Quinches,
. . . the Toltecs as themselves, descended from the house of
Israel, who were released by Moses from the tyranny of
Pharaoh, after crossing the Red Sea, fell into idolatry." —
Travels in Central America, vol. 2, p. 172.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 23

Donnelly says: "There is scarcely a prominent fact in
the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis that can not be
duplicated from the legends of the American nations, and
scarcely a custom known to the Jews that does not find its
counterpart among the people of the New World. Even in the
history of the creation we find these similarities: The Bible
tells us (Genesis 1:2) that in the beginning the earth was
without form and void, and covered with water. In the
Quiche legends we are told, 'At first all was sea — no man,
animal, bird, or green herb — there was nothing to be seen but
the sea and the heavens.' The Bible says (Genesis 1, 2) : 'And
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.' The
Quiche legend says, 'The Creator, — the Former, the Dominator
— the feathered serpent — those that give life, moved upon the
waters like a glowing light.'

"The Bible says (Genesis 1:9), 'And God said, Let the
waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place,
and let the dry land appear: and it was so.' The Quiche
legend says, 'The creative spirits cried out "Earth!" and in
an instant it was formed, and rose like a vapor cloud; imme-
diately the plains and the mountains arose, and the cypress
and pine appeared.' The Bible tells us, 'And God saw that
it was good.' The Quiche legend says, 'Then Gucumatz was
filled with joy, and cried out, "Blessed be thy coming, O
Heart of Heaven, Hurakan, thunderbolt." '

"The order in which the vegetables, animals, and man were
formed is the same in both records.

"In Genesis (2: 7,) we are told, 'And the Lprd God
formed man out of the dust of the ground.' The Quiche
legend says, 'The first man was made of clay; but he had no
intelligence, and was consumed in the water.' In Genesis the
first man is represented as naked. The Aztec legend says,
'The sun was much nearer the earth then than now, and his
grateful warmth rendered clothing unnecessary.'

"Even the temptation of Eve reappears in the American
legends. Lord Kingsborough says, 'The Toltecs had paintings
of a garden, with a single tree standing in the midst; round
the root of the tree is entwined a serpent, whose head appear-

24 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

ing above the foliage displays the face of a woman. Torque-
mada admits the existence of this tradition among them, and
agrees with the Indian historians who affirm that this was
the first woman in the world, who bore children, and from
whom all mankind are descended.' (Mexican Antiquities, vol.
8, p. 19.)

"There is also a legend of Suchiquecal, who disobediently
gathered roses from a tree, and thereby disgraced and injured
herself and all her posterity." (Mexican Antiquities, vol. 6,
p. 401.)— Quoted from Atlantis, pp. 198-200.

H. H. Bancroft says (Duran's Theory of the Indians gives
the traditions) : "That their ancestors, while suffering many
hardships and persecutions, were prevailed upon by a great
man, who became their chief, to flee from that land into
another, where they might have rest; they arrived at the sea-
shore, and the chief struck the waters with a rod he had in
his hand; the sea opened, and the chief and his followers
marched on, but were soon pursued by their enemies; they
crossed over in safety, and their enemies were swallowed up
by the sea. . . . Another tradition transmitted from genera-
tion to generation, and recorded in pictures, is that while
their first ancestors were on their journey to the promised
land, they tarried in the vicinity of a certain high hill; here
a terrible earthquake occurred, and some wicked people who
were with them were swallowed up by the earth opening up
under their feet. . . . The Israelites were divided into tribes
and chiefs over them, so the Indians divided themselves; each
tribe forming a little community within the nation — and as
the nation hath its particular symbol so hath each tribe the
badge from which it is demonstrated (or designated.) . . .
The Hebrew nation were ordered to worship Jehovah the true
and the living God, who by the Indians is styled Yohewah. . . .
Their opinion that God chose them out of all the rest of man-
kind as his peculiar and beloved people, fills both the white
Jew and the red American with that steady hatred against all
the world, which renders them hated and despised by all."-
Native Races, vol. 5 (footnote on pages 89, 90, 91, 92). (Book
of Mormon p. 15.)

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 25

Donnelly says: "The Mound Builders made sun-dried brick
mixed with rushes, as the Egytians made sun-dried bricks
mixed with straw; they worked in copper, silver, lead, and
there are evidences, as we shall see, that they wrought even
in iron." — Atlantis, p. 376.

Josiah Priest says: "Among these ancient nations are
found many more traditions corresponding to the accounts
given by Moses, respecting the creation, the fall of man by
means of a serpent — the murder of Abel by his brother, etc. ; .
all of which are denoted in their paintings, as found by the
earlier travelers among them." — American Antiquities, p. 203.

Desire Charnay says: "Toltecs . . . were supposed to have
come from the west, and to have brought with them maize,
cotton, seeds, and the vegetables found in this country; that
they were cunning artists in working gold, precious stones,
and other curiosities." — Ancient Cities of the New World, pp.
82, 83.

ABORIGINES, ISRAELITES: DESIGNATED BY THEIR LANGUAGE.

H. H. Bancroft says: "The theory that the Americans are
Jewish descent has been discussed more minutely and at
greater length than any other. Its advocates, or at least those
who have made original researches, are comparatively few,
but the extent of their investigations and the multitude of
parallelisms they adduce in support of their hypothesis, ex-
ceed by far anything that we have yet encountered." — Native
Races of Pacific States, vol. 5, pp. 77, 78. (Book of Mormon,
pp. 2, 234.)

Donnelly says : "It would appear as if both the Phoenicians
and Egyptians drew their alphabet from a common source, of
which the Maya is a survival, but did not borrow from one
another. They followed out different characteristics in the
same original hieroglyph, as, for instance, in the letter b.
And yet I have shown that the closest resemblances exist be-
tween the Maya alphabet and the Egyptian -signs — in the
c, h, t, i, m, n, o, q, and s, — eleven letters in all; in
some cases, as in the n and k, the signs are identical; the k,
in both alphabets, is not only a serpent, but a serpent with a

26 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

protuberance or convolution in the middle! If we "add to
the above the b and u referred to in the 'Proceedings of the
American Philosophical Society/ we have thirteen letters out
of sixteen in the Maya and Egyptian related to each other.
Can any theory of accidental coincidences account for all this?
And it must be remembered that these resemblances are found
between the only two phonetic systems of alphabet in the
world."— Atlantis, p. 232.

Again he says: "Why is it that we find in Ptolemy's
Geography of Asia Minor, in the list of cities in Armenia
Major in A. D. 140, the names of five cities which have their
counterparts in the names of localities in Central America?

ARMENIAN CITIES. CENTRAL AMERICAN LOCALITIES.

Choi. Chol-ula.

Colua. Colua-can.

Zuivana. Zuivan.

Cholima. Colima.

Zalissa. Xalisco.

—Atlantis, p. 178.

Marquis de Nadaillac (Na-da-yak') : "There is a very
distinct resemblance in some of these hieroglyphics (of Cen-
tral America ) to those of Egypt." — Prehistoric America, p.
328. Edition of 1901.

John T. Short says: "Senor Melgar, a Mexican is convinced
that he sees a resemblance between the names employed by
the Chiapenecs in their calendar and the Hebrew," and Mr.
Short gives the following list:

ENGLISH. CHIAPENECS. HEBREW.

Son. Been. Ben.

Daughter. Batz. Bath.

Father. Abagh. Abba.

Star in Zodiac. Chimax. Chimad.

King. Molo. Maloc.

Name applied to Adam. Abagh. Abah.

Afflicted. Chanam. Chanan.

God. Elab. Elab.

September. Tsiquin. Tischiri

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 27

More. Chic. Chi.

Rich. Chabin. Chabic.

Son of Seth. Enot. Enos.

To give. Votan. Votan.

River of Arica. Lambat. Lambotus.

— North American Antiquities, p. 475. Edition of 1888.

Elder S. F. Walker quotes Professor Rafenesque: "But in
the great variety of Egyptian forms of the same letters, I
thought that I could trace some resemblance with our Ameri-
can glyphs. In fact, I could see in them the Egyptian cross,
snake, circle, delta, square, trident, eye, feather, fish, hand,
. . . and a hundred other nameless signs of Egypt." He quotes
Le Plongeon: "I must speak of that language which has
survived unaltered through the vicissitudes of the nations that
spoke it thousands of years ago, and is yet the general tongue
in Yucatan . . . the Maya. . . . The Maya, containing words
from almost every language, ancient or modern, is well worth
the attention of philologists. . . . One third of the tongue is
pure Greek. Who brought the dialect of Homer to America?
Or who took to Greece that of the Mayas? Greek is the off-
spring of the Sanscrit. Is Maya? Or are they coeval? A
clew for the ethnologists to follow the migrations of the
human family on this continent. Did the bearded men whose
portraits are carved on the massive pillars of the fortress
of Itza, belong to the Maya nation? The Maya is not devoid of
words from the Assyrian. . . . The Maya language seems to be
one of the oldest tongues spoken by man, since it contains
words and expressions of all or nearly all of the known
polished languages of the earth." — Ruins Revisited, pp.
175-178.

"The primeval inhabitants of North America were Asiatics
in their features, their language, and their arts, and tradi-
tion speaks of them as moving from the direction of Asia." —
Sketches of Creation, p. 362.

H. H. Bancroft says: "Joseph Merrick, esq., a highly
respectable character in the church at Pittsfield, gave the
following account: That in 1815, he was leveling some ground
... on Indian Hill. . . . After the work was done, walking

28 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

over the place, he discovered, near where the earth had been
dug the deepest, a black strap, as it appeared, about six
inches in length, and one and a half in breadth, and about
the thickness of a leather trace to a harness. . . . After some
time, he thought he would examine it; but in attempting to
cut it, found it as hard as bone; he succeeded, however, in
getting it open, and found it was formed of two pieces of thick
rawhide, sewed and made water tight with the sinews of some
animal, and gummed over; and in the fold was contained four-
fold pieces of parchment. They were of a dark yellow hue,

and contained some kind of writing Mr. Merrick saved and

sent them to Cambridge, where they were examined, and
discovered to have been written with a pen, in Hebrew, plain
and legible. . . . Quotations from the Old Testament. The
other discovery was made in Ohio, and was seen by my
father, Mr. A. A. Bancroft, who thus describes it: About
eight miles southeast of Newark there was formerly a large
mound . . . the county surveyor . . . who had for some time
been searching ancient works, turned his attention to this
particular pile. He employed a number of men and proceeded
at once to open it. Before long he was rewarded by finding
in the center and near the surface a bed of the tough clay
generally known as pipeclay, which must have been brought
from a distance of some twelve miles. Imbedded in the clay
was a coffin, dug out of a burr oak log, and in a pretty good
state of preservation. In the coffin was a skeleton, with quite
a number of stone ornaments and emblems and some open
brass rings, suitable for bracelets or anklets. These being
removed, they dug down deeper, and soon discovered a stone
dressed to an oblong shape, about eighteen inches long and
twelve wide, which proved to be a casket, neatly fitted
and completely water-tight, containing a slab of stone of hard
and fine quality, an inch and a half thick, eight inches long,
four and a half inches wide at one end, and tapering to three
inches at the other. Upon the face of the slab was a figure
of a man, apparently a priest, with a long flowing beard, and
a robe reaching to his feet. Over his head was a curved line
of characters, and upon the edges and back of the stone were

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 29

closely and neatly carved letters. The slab, which I saw
myself, was shown to the Episcopalian clergyman of Newark,
and he pronounced the writing to be the ten commandments in
ancient Hebrew." — Native Races of the Pacific States, vol.
5, pp. 93-95.

H. H. Bancroft says: "For instance, both Jews and Ameri-
cans gave their temples into the charge of priests, burned
incense, anointed the body, practiced circumcision, kept per-
petual fires on their altars, . . . slew the adulterer, made it
unlawful for a man to dress like a woman, or a woman like
a man, put away their brides if they proved to have lost
their virginity, and kept the ten commandments." — Native
Races, vol. 5, pp. 82, 83.

Again: "The Mexicans applied the blood of - sacrifices to
the same uses as the Jews; they poured it upon the earth,
they sprinkled it, they marked persons with it, and they
smeared it upon walls and other4 inanimate things.

"No one but the Jewish high priest might enter the Holy
of Holies. A similar custom obtained in Peru. Both Mexicans
and Jews regarded certain animals as unclean and unfit for
food. . . . Absolutions formed an essential part of the cere-
monial law of the Jews and Mexicans. The opinions of the
Mexicans with regard to the resurrection of the body, accorded
with those of the Jews."— Ibid., pp. 85, 86.

Delafield says: "Baron Humboldt considers the Mexican
paintings as rather corresponding with the hieratic than the
hieroglyphic writings of the Egyptians, as found on the
rolls of papyrus in the swathings of the mummies, and which
may be considered paintings of a mixed kind, because they
unite symbolical and isolated characters with the representa-
tion of an action. It is the opinion of the author that further
investigations and discoveries in deciphering Mexican hiero-
glyphic paintings will exhibit a close analogy to the Egyp-
tian."— American Antiquities, p. 46. (Book of Mormon, p.
713.)

Again: "One of the most interesting sources of comparison
between Mexico, Peru, and Egypt, is to be found in an
investigation of their hieroglyphic system. Each of these

30 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

countries had a peculiar method of recording events by means
of hieroglyphic signs, sculpturing them on monuments and
buildings and portraying them on papyrus (papirus) and
maguey." — Ibid., p. 42.

"Many Chiapanecs and Hebrew words are almost the same
in Son, Daughter, Father, Star; in Zodiac, King; name
applied to Adam, Afflicted, God, September, More, Rich, Seth
— son of Adam. McNair Wright says, that the native of
South America had five cities with names identical with
cities in Asia Minor, this can hardly be accidental." — Bricks
from Babel, p. 164.

LED TO AMERICA BY FOUR BROTHERS.

— J. D. Baldwin says: "According to Montesinos, (Mon-ta-
se-nos) there were three distinct periods in the history of
Peru. First, there was a period, which began with the origin
of civilization, and lasted until the first or second century
of the Christian era. ... It was originated, he says, by a
people led by four brothers, who settled in the Valley of Cuzco,
and developed civilization there in a very human way. The
youngest of these brothers assumed supreme authority, and
became the first of a long line of sovereigns." — Ancient
America, p. 264. (Book of Mormon, pp. 5, 6.)

"Its first inhabitants flowed in abundantly toward the Valley
of Cuzco, conducted by four brothers, . . . The youngest of
the brothers, who, according to tradition, was at the same
time the most skilled and hardy." — Peruvian Antiquities, p.
52; 1853.

THE CALENDAR OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS INDICATES THEIR

ORIGIN.

Donnelly says: "The Mexican century began on the 26th
of February, and the 26th of February was celebrated from
the time of Nabonassor, 747 B. c., because the Egyptian
priests, conformably to their astronomical observations, had
fixed the beginning of the month Toth, and the commencement
of their year, at noon on that day." — Atlantis, p. 368.

Bancroft, in his footnotes, says: "They count time after
the manner of the Hebrews, reckoning years by lunar months."

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 31

—Native Races of the Pacific States, vol. 5, p. 92. (Book
of Mormon, p. 335, v. 9.)

John T. Short says: "The calendar system of the Mayas
and Nahuas present analogies to the system employed by the
Persians, Egyptians, and certain Asiatic nations, and the
presumption is very strong that the latter furnished the
ground plan upon which the Nahua system was constructed."
— North Americans, p. 519.

Marquis De Nadaillac, (Na-da-yak') says: "The various
races which occupied Central America had some knowledge of
astronomy. They were acquainted with the division of time
founded upon the motion of the sun, and long before the
conquest they possessed a regular system." — Prehistoric
America, p. 305. (Book of Mormon, p. 585.)

Donnelly says: "It will be conceded that a considerable
degree of astronomical knowledge must have been necessary
to reach the conclusion that the true year consisted of three
hundred and sixty-five days and six hours (modern science
has demonstrated that it consists of three hundred and sixty-
five days and five hours, less ten seconds) ; and a high degree
of civilization was requisite to insist that the year must be
brought around, by the intercalation of a certain number of
days in a certain period of time, to its true relation to the
seasons. Both were the outgrowth of a vast, ancient civiliza-
tion of the highest order." — Atlantis, p. 368.

Josephus says: "Berosus mentions our father Abram, with-
out naming him, when he says thus, 'In the tenth generation
after the flood, there was among the Chaldeans a man right-
eous and great, and skilled in the celestial science.' " — Anti-
quities of the Jews, book 1, chap. 7, par. 2, p. 38. (Book of
Mormon, p. 350.)

J. D. Baldwin says: "Mr. Schoolcraft gives this account
of a discovery made in West Virginia: 'Antique tube: tele-
scopic device. In the course of excavations made in 1842 in
the easternmost of the three mounds of the Elizabethtown
group, several tubes of stone were disclosed, the precise
object of which has been the subject of various opinions.
The longest measured twelve inches, the shortest eight. Three

32 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

of them were carved out of steatite, being skillfully cut and
polished. The diameter of the tube externally was one inch
and four tenths; the bore, eight tenths of an inch. This
caliber was continued till within three eighths of an inch of
the sight end, when it diminished to two tenths of an inch.
By placing the eye at the diminished end, the extraneous
light is shut from the pupil, and distant objects are more
clearly discerned." — Ancient America, p. 42.

Again he says: "In this part of Mexico Captain Dupaix
examined a peculiar ruin, of which he gave the following
account: 'Near the road from the village of Tlalmanalco to
that called Mecamecan, about three miles east of the latter,
there is an isolated granite rock, which was artificially formed
into a kind of pyramid with six hewn steps facing the east.
The summit of this structure is a platform, or horizontal
plane, well adapted to observation of the stars on every side
of the hemisphere. It is almost demonstrable that this very
ancient monument was exclusively devoted to astronomical
observations, for on the south side of the rock are sculptured
several hieroglyphical figures having relation to astronomy.
The most striking figure in the group is that of a man in
profile, standing erect, and directing his view to the rising
stars in the sky. He holds to his eye a tube or optical instru-
ment. Below his feet is a frieze divided into six compart-
ments with as many celestial signs carved on its surface.'
It has been already stated that finely wrought 'telescopic
tubes' have been found among remains of the Mound Builders.
They were used, it seems, by the ancient people of Mexico
and Central America, and they were known also in ancient
Peru, where a silver figure of a man in the act of using such
a tube has been discovered in one of the old tombs." — Ancient
America, pp. 122, 123.

Again: "They had an accurate measure of the solar year
and a system of chronology." — Ibid., p. 187.

Josiah Priest quotes Atwater: "I am convinced from an
attention to many hundreds of these works, in every part of
the west which I have visited, that their authors had a knowl-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 33

edge of astronomy." — American Antiquities, p. 265. Edition
of 1833.

Delafield says: "I have also recognized in 'your memoir on
the division of time among the Mexican Nations, compared
with those of Asia, some very striking analogies between the
Toltec characters and institutions of observed on the banks
of the Nile. Among these analogies there is one which is
worthy of attention. It is the use of the vague year of three
hundred and sixty-five days, composed of equal months, and
of five complementary days, equally employed at Thebes and
Mexico, a distance of three thousand leagues (9,000 miles).
. . . The use of a year of three hundred and sixty-five days
and a quarter, is a proof that it was either borrowed from the
Egyptians, or that they had a common origin." — American
Antiquities, pp. 52, 53.

Again: "From the earliest ages, we find skill and knowl-
edge in astronomy; and the more we examine, the more we
are surprised at the extent of astronomical science in the
earliest history of the world." — Ibid., p. 48.

ABORIGINES OF AMERICA METAL WORKERS.

Nadaillac says: "Excavations near Davenport, Iowa. . . .
The objects placed with the dead consisted of a large sea-
shell, . . . two unused copper axes." — Prehistoric America, p.
113.

Josiah Priest says: "A Mr. Thomas Lee discovered, not
long since, on his farm, in Tompkins County in the State of
New York, the entire iron works of a wagon, reduced to
rust. From this discovery much might be conjectured re-
specting the state of cultivation, as a wagon denotes not only
a knowledge of mechanic arts, equal, perhaps, in that respect
with the present times; but also that roads existed, or a wagon
could not have traversed the country." — American Antiquities,
p. 254. Edition of 1834.

Morse says: "In clearing out a spring near some ancient
ruins of the west, on the bank of the Little Miami, not far
its entrance into the Ohio, was found a copper coin, four
feet below the surface of the earth; from the fac simile of

34 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

which it appears, that the characters on the coin are old
Persian characters." (Morse's Universal Geography, vol. 1,
p. 442.) Ibid., T74.

Josiah Priest says: "In Virginia, near Blacksburgh, eighty
miles from Marietta, thjere was found the half of a steel bow,
which, when entire, would measure five or six feet. — P. 177,
edition of 1834.

Nadaillac says: "At Swanton, Vermont, an old burial
place has been discovered, in the midst of a forest where ven-
erable trees replaced others yet more ancient. Here the exca-
vations yielded numerous copper tubes, the length of which
varied from three to four inches. The sheet of copper had
been drawn out, beaten, and rolled in a manner giving a
very high idea of the skill of the workman." — Prehistoric
America, p. 165. (Book of Mormon, p, 63. )

J. D. Baldwin sa^s: "Relics of art have been dug from
some of the mounds, consisting of a considerable variety of
ornaments and implements, made of copper, silver, obsidian,
porphyry, and greenstone, finely wrought. There are axes,
single and double; adzes, chisels, drills or gravers, lance
heads, knives, bracelets, pendants, beads, and the like, made
of copper." — Ancient America, p. 40.

Again: "Modern mining on Lake Superior began effect-
ively in 1845. The whole copper region has not been fully
explored. Works of the ancient miners are found at all the
mines of any importance; and they show remarkable skill
•in discovering and tracing actual veins of the metal." — Ibid.,
p. 46. (Book of Mormon, p. 742.)

Donnelly says: "We find the remains of an iron sword
and meteoric iron weapons in the mounds of the Mississippi
Valley, while the name of the metal is found in the ancient
languages of Peru and Chili, and the Incas worked in iron on
the shores of Lake Titicaca." — Atlantis, p. 462. (Book of
Mormon, p. 742.)

Nadaillac says: "In one mine, which had been choked up in
the course of years with earth and vegetable refuse, the re-
mains of several generations of trees, was found, at about
eighteen feet from the surface, a block of metal measuring

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 35

two feet long by three wide and two thick, and weighing nearly
six tons. This mass had been placed on rollers from six to
eight inches in diameter, the edges of which still bore the
marks of a sharp instrument." — Prehistoric America, p. 178.

Again: "Everywhere copper implements were found side by
side with stone, mostly bearing marks of long service. One
mallet weighed more than twenty pounds. Like all other
copper objects it had been made by hammering unheated. . . .
Toltecs worked in gold, silver, copper, tin, and lead. Their
jewelry is celebrated."— Ibid., pp. 179, 180. Edition of 1901.

Josiah Priest says: "In the county of Haversham, in North
Carolina, was lately dug out of the earth, at a place where the
gold ore is found, a small vessel in the form of a skillet. It
was fifteen feet under ground, made of a compound of tin anu
copper, with a trace of iron." — American Antiquities, p. 398.

Again : "Weapons of brass have been found in many parts
of America, as in the Canadas, Florida, etc. with curiously
sculptured stones, all of which go to prove that this country
was once peopled with civilized, industrious nations." — Ibid.,
p. 223. Edition of 1834. (Book of Mormon p. 758.)

Desire Charnay says: "Hatchets, arms, and scissors were
made of copper found in the mountains of Zocatollan." — An-
cient Cities, p. 70.

William Pidgeon says: "On bank of the River Des Peres, in
Missouri, was found, ... a genuine Roman coin. A Persian
coin also found on the bank of the Ohio River." — Antiquarian
Researches, pp. 16, 17.

"Brass, an important alloy, consisting of copper, and zinc.
The proportions in which the two metals are combined differ
considerably in different kinds of brass. It is malleable and
ductile so that it can be easily rolled into thin sheets, or
hammered into any desired shape. This alloy was known
to the ancients and was made by them before they had any
knowledge of metal zinc as such. It was well known by
Strabo, who describes the mode of manufacture. . . . And
it is not at all unlikely the same was the case with bronze,
and one of its constituents, tin." — Century Dictionary.

"Among the Greeks, and Romans, books of wood were

36 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

common. For the more important purposes they also employed
ivory as well as bronze and other metals." — American Cyclo-
pedia, Art. "Book."

"Copper and brass plates were very early in use, and a
bill of feoffment on copper was some years since, discovered
in India, bearing date one hundred years before Christ. "-
Condensed Cyclopedia (W. S. Trigg, Pub., N. Y.), vol. 3, no.
231, p. 57.

"The materials generally used by the ancients for their
books were liable to be easily destroyed by the damp, when
hidden in the earth; and in times of war, devastation, and
rapacity, it was necessary to bury in the earth whatever they
wished to preserve from the attacks of fraud and violence.
With this view Jeremiah ordered the writings which he deliv-
ered to Baruch to be put in an earthen vessel. (Jeremiah
32.) In the same manner the ancient Egyptians made use of
earthen urns or pots of proper shape for containing whatever
they wanted to inter in the earth and which without such
would have been destroyed." — Watson's Bible Dictionary, 171,
(Book of Mormon, p. 7.)

"Tablets, and sometimes several tablets formed into a book,
like the wooden tablets consisting of plates of lead, copper,
brass and other metals were anciently used either to form
leaves in which the wax might be spread, or else for the
writings to be engraved upon them. The latter process is
exceedingly ancient. Pliny mentions that leaden sheets or
plates were used for important public documents." — Pictorial
Illustrations of the Bible, by Robert Sears.

"And every base had four brazen wheels, and plates of
brass."—! Kings 7: 30.

Apocrypha: "And he commanded that this writing should
be put in tables of brass."---! Maccabees 14: 48.

J. D. Baldwin says: "They had great skill in the art
of working metals, especially gold and silver. Besides these
precious metals, they had copper, tin, lead, and quicksilver.
. . . Their goldsmiths and silversmiths had attained very great
proficiency. They could melt the metals in furnaces, cast
them in moulds made of clay and gypsum, hammer their work

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 37

with remarkable dexterity, inlay it, and solder it with great
perfection." — Ancient America, pp. 248, 249.

Josiah Priest says: "Near the falls of Ohio, six brass orna-
ments, such as soldiers usually wear in front of their belts,
was dug up, attached to six skeletons." — American Antiquities,
p. 226. Edition of 1834.

Delafield says: "In Liberty Township, Washington County,
Ohio, are yet to be seen twenty or thirty rude furnaces, built
of stone, with hearths of clay, containing pieces of stone-coal
and cinders, perhaps used in smelting ore. Large trees are
still growing on them, and attest their age. They stand
in the midst of a rich body of iron ore, and in a wild, hilly,
and rough part of the country, better adapted to manufacture
than to agriculture." — American Antiquities, p. 55. (Book
of Mormon, p. 63.)

Donnelly says : "The Mound Builders made sun-dried brick,
mixed with rushes, as the Egyptians made sun-dried bricks
mixed with straw; they worked in copper, silver, lead, and
there are evidences, as we shall see, that they wrought even
in iron. Copper implements are very numerous in the mounds.
Copper axes, spearheads, hollow buttons, bosses for ornaments,
bracelets, rings, etc., are found in very many of them strik-
ingly similar to those of the Bronze Age in Europe." — Atlantis,
p. 376. (Book of Mormon, p. 15.)

THE GREAT PERUVIAN PUBLIC ROADS.

J. D. Baldwin says: "Nothing in ancient Peru was more
remarkable than the public roads. No ancient people has
left traces of works more astonishing than these, so vast
was their extent, and so great the skill and labor required
to construct them. One of these roads ran along the moun-
tains through the whole length of the empire, from Quito to
Chili.

"Another, starting from this at Cuzco, went down to the
coast and extended northward to the equator. These roads
were built on beds or 'deep Binder structures' of masonry. The
width of the roadways varied from twenty to twenty-five feet,
and they were made level and smooth by paving, and in some

38 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

places by a sort of macadamizing with pulverized stone mixed
with lime and bituminous cement. This cement was used in all
the masonry. On each side of the roadway was 'a very strong
wall more than a fathom in thickness.' These roads went
over marshes, rivers, and great chasms of the sierras, and
through rocky precipices and mountain sides. The great road
passing along the mountains was a marvelous work.
In many places its way was cut through rock for leagues.
Great ravines were filled up with solid masonry. Rivers were
crossed by means of a curious kind of suspension bridges, and
no obstruction was encountered which the builders did not
overcome. The builders of our Pacific Railroad, with their
superior engineering skill and mechanical appliances, might
reasonably shrink from the cost and the difficulties of such a
work as this. Extending from one degree north of Quito to
Cuzco, and from Cuzco to Chili, it was quite as long as the
two Pacific railroads, and its wild route among the mountains
was far more difficult.

"Sarmiento, describing it, said, 'It seems to me that if the
emperor (Charles V) should see fit to order the construction
of another road like that which leads from Quito to Cuzco,
or that which from Cuzco goes toward Chili, I certainly
think he would not be able to make it, with all his power.'
Humboldt examined some of the remains of this road, and
described as follows a portion of it seen in a pass of the
Andes, between Mansi and Loxa: 'Our eyes rested continually
on superb remains of a paved road of the Incas. The road-
way, paved with well-cut, dark porphyritic stone, was twenty
feet wide, and rested on deep foundations. This road was
marvelous. None of the Roman roads I have seen in Italy,
in the South of France, or in Spain, appeared to me more
imposing than this work of the ancient Peruvians.' He saw
remains of several other shorter roads which were built in
the same way, some of them between Loxa and the River
Amazon. Along these roads at equal distances were edifices,
a kind of caravanseras, built of hewn stone, for the accom-
modation of travelers. These great works were described by
every Spanish wri+»r on Peru, and in some accounts of them

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 39

we find suggestions in regard to their history. They are
called 'roads of the Incas,' but they were probably much older
than the time of these rulers. The mountain road running
toward Quito was much older than the Inca Huayna Capac,
to whom it has sometimes been attributed. It is stated that
when he started by this route to invade the Quitus, the road
was so bad that 'he found great difficulties in the passage.'
It was then an old road, much out of repair, and he immedi-
ately ordered the necessary reconstructions. Gomara says,
'Huayna Capac restored, enlarged, and completed these roads,
but he did not build them, as some pretend.' These great
artificial highways were broken up and made useless at the
time of the Conquest, and the subsequent barbarous rule of
the Spaniards allowed them to go to decay. Now only broken
remains of them exist to show their former character." —
Ancient America, pp. 243-246. (Book of Mormon, p. 617.)

Nadaillac says: "The accounts of Spanish historians leave
no doubt of the existence of roads, made for the convenience
of travelers, and above all to give access to the religious cen-
ters. Some of them extended beyond the limits of Yucatan,
and stretched into the neighboring kingdoms of Guatemala,
Chiapas, and Tobasco. Some of these roads were paved; such
were the Calzadas spoken of by Cogolludo and Bishop Landa,
which led to Chichen-Itza, Uxmal, Izamal, and to Tihoo, the
ruins of which have been used to build the modern town of
Merida. These last highways measure from between seven
and eight yards in width; they are made of blocks of stone,
covered with very well-preserved mortar and a layer of cement
about two inches thick. The rivers were spanned by bridges
of masonry; Clavijero, who traversed the whole of Mexico
during the last century, speaks of having seen still standing
in many places, the massive piers intended to support them."
— Prehistoric America, p. 349.

Donnelly says: "The American nations built public works
as great as or greater than any known in Europe. The Peruvi-
ans had public roads, one thousand five hundred to two thou-
sand miles long, made so thoroughly as to elicit the astonish-
ment of the Spaniards. At every few miles taverns or hotels

40 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

were established for the accommodation of travelers. Hum-
boldt pronounced these Peruvian roads 'among the most useful
and stupendous works ever executed by man.' They built aque-
ducts for purposes of irrigation, some of which were five hun-
dred miles long. They constructed magnificent bridges of
stone, and had even invented suspension bridges thousands of
years before they were introduced into Europe. . . . The
Peruvians made large use of aqueducts, which they built with
notable skill, using hewn stones and cement, and making
them very substantial. One extended four hundred and fifty
miles across sierras and over rivers. Think of a stone
aqueduct reaching from the City of New York to the State of
North Carolina! The public roads of the Peruvians were
most remarkable; they were built on masonry. One of these
roads ran along the mountains through the whole length of
the empire, from Quito to Chili; another, starting from this
at Cuzco, went down to the coast, and extended northward to
the Equator. These roads were from twenty to twenty-five
feet wide, were macadamized with pulverized stone mixed
with lime and bituminous cement, and were walled in by
strong walls 'more than a fathom in thickness.' In many
places these roads were cut for leagues through the rock;
great ravines were filled up with solid masonry; rivers were
crossed by suspension bridges, used here ages before their
introduction into Europe." — Atlantis, pp. 141, 393, 394.

William H. Prescott says: "One of these roads passed over
the grand plateau, and the other along the lowlands on the
borders of the ocean. The former was much the more difficult
achievement, from the character of the country. It was con-
ducted over pathless sierras buried in snow; galleries were
cut for leagues through the living rock; rivers were crossed
by means of bridges that swung suspended in the air; preci-
pices were scaled by stairways hewn out of the native bed;
ravines of hideous depth were filled up with solid masonry;
in short, all the difficulties that beset a wild and mountainous
region, and which might appall the most courageous engineer
of modern times, were encountered and successfully overcome.
The length of the road, of which scattered fragments only

PARSONS' TEXT BOO*K 41

remain, is variously estimated, from fifteen hundred to two
thousand miles; and stone pillars, in the manner of European
mile stones, were erected at stated intervals of somewhat
more than a league, all along the route.

"Its breadth scarcely exceeded twenty feet. It was built of
heavy flags of free stone, and in some parts, at least, covered
with a bituminous cement, which time has made harder than
the stone itself. In some places, where the ravines had been
filled up with masonry, the mountain torrents, wearing on it
for ages, have gradually eaten a way through the base, and
left the superincumbent mass — such is the cohesion of the
materials — still spanning the valley like an arch! Over some
of the boldest streams it was necessary to construct suspen-
sion bridges, as they are termed, made of the tough fibers of
the maguey, or of the osier of the country, which has an
extraordinary degree of tenacity and strength. These osiers
were woven into cables of the thickness of a man's body. The
huge ropes, then stretched across the water, were conducted
through rings or holes cut in immense buttresses of stone
raised on the opposite banks of the river, and there secured
to heavy pieces of timber. Several of these enormous cables,
bound together, formed a bridge, which, covered with planks,
well secured and defended by a railing of the same osier ma-
terials on the sides, afforded a safe passage for the traveler.
The length of this aerial bridge, sometimes exceeding two
hundred feet, caused it, confined, as it was, only at the ex-
tremities, to dip with an alarming inclination towards the
center." — Conquest of Peru, vol. 1, pp. 84-86. Edition of 1893.

ABORIGINES OF AMERICA WERE WARRIORS.

J. D. Baldwin says: "Another class of these antiquities
consists of inclosures formed by heavy embankments of earth
and stone. ... In some cases the ditches or fosses were on
the inside, in others on the outside. . . . 'Lines of embank-
ment varying from five to thirty feet in height, and inclosing
from one to fifty acres, are very common, while inclosures
containing from one hundred to two hundred acres are not
infrequent, and occasional works are found inclosing as many

42 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

as four hundred acres.' . . . About one hundred inclosures and
five hundred mounds have been examined in Ross County,
Ohio. The number of mounds in the whole State is estimated
at over ten thousand, and the number of inclosures at more
than one thousand and five hundred. . . . They are more
numerous in the regions on the lower Mississippi and the
Gulf of Mexico than anywhere else; and here, in some cases,
sun-dried brick was used in the embankments. . . . Harrison
Mound, in South Carolina, is four hundred and eighty feet
in circumference and fifteen feet high. Another is described
as five hundred feet in circumference at the base, two hun-
dred and twenty -five feet at the summit, and thirty-four feet
high. ... At Seltzertown, Mississippi, there is a mound six
hundred feet long, four hundred feet wide, and forty feet
high. The area of its level summit measures four acres.
There was a ditch around it, and near it are smaller mounds.
. . . 'The north side of this mound is supported by a wall of
sun-dried brick two feet thick, filled with grass, rushes, and
leaves.' ... In the Southern States these works appear to
assume a closer resemblance to the mound work of Central
America."— Ancient America, pp. 19, 20, 23, 24, 27. (Book
of Mormon, p. 689.)

QUADRUPEDS WERE NATIVES OF AMERICA.

Prof. August LePlongeon, M. D., of Brooklyn, New York,
January 8, 1889, said: "I informed him [Reverend Mr.
Lamb] that seventeen species of fossil horses had been dis-
covered in America. That the buffaloes were cattle, that the
mountain sheep still lived in the Rocky Mountains, and that
peccaries or wild pigs roamed yet in large numbers in the
forests of Central America." — Autumn Leaves. (Book of
Mormon, p. 63.)

Prof. A. Winchell says: "It is a curious fact that so many
generi now extinct from the continent, but living in other
quarters of the globe, were once abundant on the plains of
North America. Various species of the horse have dwelt here
for ages. . . . Here, too, the camel found a suitable home." —
Sketches of Creation, p. 210. Edition of 1875.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 43

Donnelly says: "Recent discoveries in the fossil beds of
the bad lands of Nebraska prove that the horse originated in
America. . . . Fossil remains of the camel are found in India,
Africa, South America, and in Kansas." — Atlantis, pp. 54, 55.

Again: "We find in America numerous representations of
the elephant."— Ibid., p. 8, 95, 737.

Desire Charnay says: "Found in the ruins of Tula the
bones of swine, sheep, oxen, and horses in fossil state, indi-
cating an immense antiquity." — Ibid., p. 350. (Book of Mor-
mon, pp. 537, 617.)

Extract from a letter of Augustus Le Plongeon, to Elder
S. F. Walker, January 8, 1889 : "Your favor of December 28
came to hand three days ago. . . . This calls to my mind the
visit of a certain Reverend Mr. Lamb, who introduced himself
to me by stating that he resided at Salt Lake City, and was
there combating the Mormon doctrine and showing that their
pretended revelations were all humbug.

"He presented me with a book published by him in which
he pretended to show many absurdities contained in the Book
of Mormon. He finished by telling me that he had called
upon me in order to obtain my opinion on what is said in the
book relative to the animals such as the horse, the pig, the
cattle, and sheep that lived anciently on the Western Conti-
nent, which, he contended, proves that the whole book is an
absurd fabrication ; and hoped that I would help him with my
knowledge in showing it to be such.

"The man evidently either had been misinformed concern-
ing me, or had not taken the trouble to inquire. When he
ceased speaking, I asked him if he was a Christian, to which
he emphatically answered, Yes! And I as emphatically re-
plied, No! because he did not follow the doctrine of Jesus —
'Do not do to others what you do not wish others to do to
you.' I informed him that I did not care a straw if the Book
of Mormon was a revelation or a fabrication. That I con-
sidered every man had an absolute right to worship Deity
as best he thought. That on the other hand I could not join
him in disproving the Book of Mormon in the part in which
the animals mentioned are said to have lived on the American

44 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Continent, because I was not in the habit of making a fool
of myself if I could help it.

"Then I informed him that seventeen species of fossil
horses had been discovered in America, that the buifaloes were
cattle, that the mountain sheep lived in the Rocky Mountains,
and that peccaries or wild pigs roamed yet in large numbers
in the forests of Central America.

"AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON."

"The. above extract was taken from a letter written to my
husband, by Mr. Le Plongeon.

"MRS. M. WALKER."

"LAMONI, IOWA."

ELEPHANTS USED IN AMERICA.

Milwaukee Free Press, for September 5, 1903, says: "Most
remarkable of the minor finds made at Paradon is that of the
remains of elephants. Never before in the history of Mexico
has it been ascertained positively that elephants were ever in
the service of the inhabitants. The remains of the elephants
show plainly that the inhabitants of the buried cities made
elephants work for them. Elephants were as much in evi-
dence in the streets of the cities as horses. Upon many of the
tusks that have been found were rings of silver. Most of the
tusks have an average length, for grown elephants, of three
feet, and an average diameter at the roots of six inches. . . .
The flood which destroyed the ancient cities did not have any
connection whatever with the deluge, as far as can be learned
by scientific investigations." (Book of Mormon, p. 737.)

The foregoing from the Free Press was furnished me by
Elder J. W. Peterson.

ANCIENT AMERICANS WERE FARMERS AND
MANUFACTURERS.

Chicago Record, September 27, 1897: "Dempsy Waggy, a
farmer residing in Madison County, Indiana, probably has
the most interesting field of corn in the State. Two years ago
Waggy and Doctor Cullen, a neighbor, were hunting in Ar-
kansas. They were staying in a small village named Marked

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 45

Tree. . . . During their stay some northern scientists visited
the mounds and began explorations, finding many trinkets.
. . . Both jars were air-tight, and when opened were found
to contain corn. It was bright, yellow, solid, and dry as
though it had just been shelled. The explorers took these
vessels, but gave Waggy a handful of the corn.

"He wrapped it up in a handkerchief and threw it into his
traveling chest. There it lay for two years. . . . Waggy
came across the seeds last spring and planted them in his
garden. He was surprised when tiny blades shot up through
the ground." (Furnished by Elder J. W. Peterson.)

Prescott says: "These magazines were found by the Span-
iards, on their arrival, stored with all the various products
and manufactures of the country, — with maize, cocoa, quinna,
woolen. and cotton stuff of the finest quality, with vases and
utensils of gold, silver, and copper." — Conquest of Peru, vol.
1, p. 81.

Donnelly says: "Traces of cloth with 'doubled and twisted
fiber' have been found in the mounds; also matting; also shut-
tle like tablets, used in weaving." — Atlantis, p. 380.

Weekly Inter-Ocean, December 23, 1890: "A musical in-
strument found some three miles from the village of Mendon,
twenty miles from Quincy, Illinois. The wood of it having
decayed but the copper which seems to have constituted the
sounding-board and keys, still remaining in good condition.
It was made entirely of copper, rivets of copper, a broad
sheet of copper, copper pegs, and copper keys. The instru-
ment seemed to have been a combination of a harp and of a
violin. The shape is three-cornered, like a harp, but the
strings were stretched across a bridge and fastened to the
keyboard at either end as in a violin. There is no instru-
ment like it in modern use. The mysterious part of the whole
relic is that there are ten hieroglyphic characters cut into
the copper sounding-board close by the pegs. These hiero-
glyphics are unlike any musical signs known in modern times.
They resemble the hieroglyphics which were found on the
Davenport tablets. Also the Grave Creek tablet."

Donnelly says: "There have also been found numerous

46 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

musical pipes, with mouthpieces and stops; lovers' pipes curi-
ously and delicately carved, reminding us of Bryant's lines."-
Atlantis, p. 380.

Donnelly says: "The cultivation of the cotton plant and
the manufacture of its products was known to both the Old
and New World. Herodotus describes it (450 B. c.) as the
tree of India that bears a fleece more beautiful than that of
the sheep. Columbus found the natives of the West Indies
using cotton cloth. It was also found in Mexico and Peru.
It is a significant fact that the cotton .plant has been found
growing wild in many parts of America, but never in the
Old World."— Atlantis, pp. 59, 60.

J. D. Baldwin says: "Fragments of charred cloth made of
spun fibers have been found in the mounds. A specimen of
such cloth, taken from a mound in Butler County, Ohio, is
in Blackmore Museum, Salisbury." — Ancient America, p. 41.

Montezuma said: "Gold and native fabrics of the most
delicate character, shields, helmets, cuirasses, collars, brace-
lets, sandals, fans, pearls, precious stones, loads of cotton
cloth, extraordinary manufactures of feathers, circular plates
of gold and silver as large as carriage wheels." — Mexico, New
Mexico, and California, vol. 1, p. 26. (Book of Mormon,
p. 737.)

COMPASS WAS USED BY THE ABORIGINES OF
AMERICA.

Donnelly says: "In A. D. 868 it was employed by the
Northmen." (The Landnamabok, vol. 1, chap. 2.) An Italian
poem of A. D. 1190 refers to it as in use among the Italian
sailors at that date. In the ancient language of the Hindoos,
the Sanscrit — which has been a dead language for twenty-two
hundred years — the magnet was called 'the precious stone be-
loved of iron.' The Talmud speaks of it as 'the stone of attrac-
tion; and it is alluded to in the early Hebrew prayers as 'Kala-
mitah,' the same name given it by the Greeks, from the reed
upon which the compass floated. ... In the year 2700 B. c.
the Emperor (of China) Wangti placed a magnetic figure
with an extended arm, like the Astarte of the Phoenecians,

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 47

on the front of carriages, the arm always turning and point-
ing to the south, which the Chinese regarded as the principal
pole. "_Atlantis, pp. 440-442.

"Chinese invented the mariners compass eleven centuries
before Christ."— See Light in Darkness, by J. E. and A. H.
Godbey, p. 289.

"Earliest references to the use of the compass are to be
found in Chinese history, from which we learn how, in the
sixty-fourth year of the reign of Ho-ang-ti (2634 B. c.)
the Emperor Hiuan-yuah, or Ho-ang-ti, attacked one Tchi-
yeou, on the plains of Tchou-lou, and finding his army embar-
rassed by a thick fog raised by the enemy, constructed a
chariot (Tchinan) for indicating the south, so as to distin-
guish the four cardinal points, and was thus enabled to pursue
Tchi-yeou, and take him prisoner." — Encyclopaedia Britannica,
vol. 6, p. 226.

Chambers' Encyclopedia: "It appears, however, on very
good authority, that it [compass] was known in China, and
throughout the east generally, at a very remote period." —
Vol. 2, p. 546. (Book of Mormon, p. 63.)

ABORIGINES OF AMERICA CAME IN VESSELS.

J. D. Baldwin says: "According to the old traditions of
both Mexico and Peru, the Pacific coast in both countries was
anciently visited by a foreign people who came in ships." —
Ancient America, p. 170.

Josephus says: "God also commanded them to send colo-
nies abroad, for the thorough peopling of the earth." — Antiq-
uities of the Jews, book 1, chap. 4, p. 35.

Again: "After this they were dispersed abroad, on ac-
count of their languages, and went out by colonies everywhere
[America would come under this — 'everywhere'] and each
colony took possession of that land which they light upon,
and unto which God led them; so that the whole continent
was filled with them, both the inland and maritime countries.
There were some also who passed over the sea in ships, and
inhabited the islands." — Ibid., chap. 5, p. 36.

Desire Charnay says: "Veytia, like all historians of that

48 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

time, places the primitive home of the Toltecs in Asia, to
make his account agree with Genesis, where it is said that
after the destruction of the Babylonian Tower, 'the Lord
scattered the sons of men upon the face of all the earth.' Ac-
cording to him, they crossed Tartary and entered America
through the Behring Straits, by means of large flat canoes,
and square raits made of wood and reeds; the former are
described, and called acalli, 'ivater-houses' in their manu-
scripts."—Ancient Cities of the New World, p. 79. (Book of
Mormon, p. 716.)

J. D. Baldwin says: "Pizarro went down the coast,
landing from time to time to explore and rob villages, until he
reached about the fourth degree of north latitude, when he
was obliged to return for supplies and repairs. ... On the
next voyage, one of the vessels went half a degree south of
the Equator, and encountered a vessel 'like a European cara-
vel,' which was, in fact, a Peruvian balsa, loaded with
merchandise, vases, mirrors of burnished silver, and curious
fabrics of cotton and woolen." — Ancient America, p. 225.

CURRENTS IN THE OCEAN.

H. H. Bancroft says: "There have been a great many in-
stances of Japanese junks drifting upon the American coast,
many of them after having floated helplessly about for many
months. Mr. Brooks gives forty-one particular instances of
such wrecks. ... A drifting wreck would be carried towards
the American coast at an average rate of ten miles a day by
this current." — Native Races of the Pacific States, vol. 5, pp.
52, 53.

"Lieutenant Maury's theory of the trade winds, which he
demonstrated and published in 1856 or 1857. . . . Illustration
of the great rivers of the sea (as they are called) you would
find that east of Borneo one of these currents sets across north
of the Equator, directly towards Central America. See also
Johnson's Encyclopedia, vol. 2, p. 341." — Quoted from Book
of Mormon Lectures, by Elder H. A. Stebbins, p. 22.

Bancroft says: "Noah's Ark, says Ullao, gave rise to a
number of such constructions; and the experience gained dur-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 49

ing the patriarch's aimless voyage, emboldened his descend-
ants to seek strange lands in the same manner. Driven to
America and the neighboring islands by winds and currents."
— Native Races of the Pacific States, vol. 5, p. 10. (Book of
Mormon, p. 727.)

A HOLE IN THE TOP AND IN THE BOTTOM.

"The little steamer Norton, which is to sail from Long
Island Sound for Southern France, ... is claimed by her
builder and captain, a craft that can not sink. . . . Water
is admitted through holes in the outer bottom. When the
boat careens, the body of water between the bottoms presses
the air in the compartments, and acts as a ballast, the
air serving as a cushion. This prevents the boat from cap-
sizing or from diverging far from its center, even in the
roughest sea." — Philadelphia Record, 1890.

Donnelly says: "They came from the East in ships or
barks to the land of Potonchan (America), which they com-
menced to populate." — Atlantis, p. 167.

John T. Short says: "That all the natives came from seven
caves, and that these seven caves are the seven ships or
galleys in which the first populators of the land came." — North
Americans of Antiquities, p. 242. Sdition of 1880. (Book of
Mormon, p. 718.)

ANCIENT AMERICANS WORSHIP GOD THE FATHER
AND JESUS CHRIST THE SON.

Prescott says: "The Peruvians, like so many of the other
Indian races, acknowledge a Supreme Being, the creator and
ruler of the universe, whom they adored." — Conquest of Peru,
vol. 1, p. 108.

Donnelly says: "On the western wall (of the Cuzco temple)
was emblazoned a representation of the Deity." — Atlantis,
p. 22.

H. H. Bancroft says in regard to their belief of the creation :
"That man was created in the image of God. . . . The character

50

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

and history of Christ, and Huitzilopochtli, present certain
analogies.'' — Native Races, vol. 5, pp. 85 and 86.

J. D. Baldwin says: "The cross is one of the most common
emblems present in all the ruins. This led the Catholic
missionaries to assume that knowledge of Christianity had
been brought to that part of America long before their arrival;
and they adopted the belief that the gospel was preached there
by Saint Thomas." — Ancient America, p. 109.

Donnelly says : "When the -Spanish missionaries first set
foot upon the soil of America, in the fifteenth century, they
were amazed to find the cross was as devoutly worshiped
by the red Indians as by themselves, and were in doubt
whether to ascribe the fact to the pious labors of Saint
Thomas or to the cunning devices of the Evil One. The hal-
lowed symbol challenged their attention on every hand." —
Atlantis pp. 319, 320.

Cross from monuments
of Palenque.

Cross from Central Cross from monuments

America. of Egypt.

—Atlantis, pp. 319, 320, 322:

Josiah Priest says: "On the breast of this person lay
what had been a piece of copper in the form of a cross. . . .
The cross on the breast of this skeleton, excites the most
surprise, as the cross is the emblem of the Christian religion."
— American Antiquities, p. 180. Edition of 1833.

H. H. Bancroft says: "In a tablet on the wall of a room
at Palenque is a cross surmounted by a bird. . . . One of
the most remarkable emblems of Maya worship in the estima-
tion of the conquerors, was the cross, which has also been

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 51

noticed in other parts of Central America and in Mexico." —
Native Races, vol. 3, pp. 135, 467, 468.

Desire Charnay says: "Since the cross was a symbol of
Tlaloc, the temple in which it stood must have been dedicated
to him, and perhaps Quetzalcoatl also, ... in our cut of the
temple of the cross." — Ancient Cities of the New World, pp.
214, 252.

"New Spain, as Talonaca, they expected the second coming
of the Son of God into the world." — Mexican Antiquities, vol.
6, p. 413.

"Aztec, God of war, was said to have been born of a holy
virgin." — Panorama of Nations, p. 413.

"Torquemanda, says the Bishop of Chiapa, when he passed
through Yucatan, sent his ecclesiastic to the interior of the
country, who at the end of a year wrote to him that he had
questioned a principal lord about the ancient religion, who
informed him that they knew and believed in God, who resided
in heaven ; and that their God was the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost; that the Son was called Bacab, who was born of a
virgin named Chibirias, who was in heaven with God, and
that the name of the mother of Chibirias was Oschil; and that
the Holy Ghost was called Echuah. Bacab, the Son, he said,
was put to death by Eopuco, who scourged him and put a
crown of thorns upon his head, and placed him with his
arms stretched upon a beam of wood, to which they believed
he had not been nailed, but tied, and that he died there, and
remained during three days dead, and the third day came
to life and ascended to heaven, where he is with the Father;
and immediately afterward Echuah coming, who is the Holy
Ghost, filled the ^arth with whatever it stood in need of." —
Mexican Antiquities, vol. 6, p. 141.

De Salcar says: "The chiefs and men of rank in the
province of Chiapa were acquainted with the doctrine of
the most Holy Trinity. They called the Father Icona, the
Son Bacab, and the Holy Ghost Estruach, and certainly these
names resemble the Hebrew, especially Estruach, . . . the
tradition current in Yucatan of Bacab and his crucifixion, . . .
so in these Mexican paintings many analogies may be traced
between the events to which they evidently relate and the

52 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

history of the crucifixion of Christ as contained in the New
Testament. ... In the fourth page of the Borgian manuscript,
he seems to be crucified between two persons who are in the
act of reviling him, who hold as would appear halters in their
hands, the symbols perhaps of some crime for which they were
themselves going to suffer." — Ibid., p. 166.

"It deserves to be remarked, that both of the hands of the
figure seemed to be pierced with nails, the heads of which
are invisible. The tradition current in Yucatan that Eopuco
crowned Bacab with thorns appears also to be preserved in
its headdress. A crown of thorns of another fashion may
perhaps be recognized on the head of another piece of ancient
sculpture discovered by Mons. Dupaix. . . . The crown seems
to be formed out of the thorny leaves of the aloe." — Ibid.,
vol. 7, p. 169. (Book of Mormon, pp. 143, 631.)

THEY HAD SACRED WRITINGS.

Diego de Mercado says he conversed with an aged Otomie
Indian who said, "They in ancient times had been in posses-
sion of a book, which had been handed down successively
from father to son, who was dedicated to the safe custody
of it, and to instruct others in its doctrines." — Mexican An-
tiquities, vol. 6, p. 409.

Doctor West, of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, relates that
an old Indian informed him, "That his fathers in this country,
had, not long since, been in the possession of a book, which
they had, for a long time, carried with them, but having lost
the knowledge of reading it, they buried it with an Indian
chief."— American Antiquities, p. 69. Edition of 1833.

"Among the vast multitude of painted representations found
by this author, [Baron Humboldt] on the books of the natives,
made also frequently of prepared skins of animals, were de-
lineated all the leading circumstances and history of the
deluge, of the fall of man, and of the seduction of the
woman by the means, of the serpent, the first murder as per-
petrated by Cain, on the person of his brother Abel." — Ibid.,
p. 200.

Bancroft says: "In its pages were described the Nahua

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 53

annals from the time of the deluge, or even from the creation,
together with all their religious rites, governmental system,
laws and social customs; ... to the divine book was added
a chapter of prophecies respecting future events and the
signs by which it should be known when the time of their
fulfillment was drawing near." — Native Races, vol. 5, pp.
251, 252.

Ellen Russell Emerson says: "The Ujibway Indians, relates
'Mr. Copway,' had three depositories for sacred records near
the waters of Lake Superior. Ten of the wisest and most
venerable men of the nation dwelt near these, and were
appointed guardians of them." — Indian Myths, pp. 225, 226.

"The materials generally used by the ancients for their
books were liable to be easily destroyed by the damp, when
hidden in the earth; and in times of war, devastation, and
rapacity, it was necesary to bury in the earth whatever they
wished to preserve from the attacks of fraud 'and violence.
With this view, Jeremiah ordered the writings which he
delivered to Baruch to be put in an earthen vessel. (Jere-
miah 32.) In the same manner the ancient Egyptians made
use of earthen urns or pots of a proper shape for containing
whatever they wanted to inter in the earth, and which without
such care would have been soon destroyed. We need not
wonder, then, that the prophet Jeremiah should think it
necessary to inclose those writings in an earthen pot which
were to be buried in Judea, in some place where they might
be found without much difficulty on the return of the Jews
from captivity." — Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, p.
255.

S. G. Goodrich says: "Montezuma was sovereign of the
empire of Mexico when the Spaniards landed there. The
monarch was soon informed of the arrival of these strangers.
Throughout the vast extent of his kingdom carriers were
placed at different distances who speedily acquainted the
court with everything that happened. In the most distant
provinces, their dispatches were composed of pieces of cotton
upon which were represented in pictures the several circum-
stances of the affairs that required the attention of the gov-

54 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

ernment. The figures, or pictures, were intermixed with
hieroglyphic characters which supplied what the art of the
painter had not been able to express. It was to be expected
that a prince who had been raised to the throne by his valor,
who had extended his empire by conquest; who was in pos-
session of numerous and disciplined armies, would have dis-
patched troops immediately to disperse a handful of strangers
who dared to infest and plunder his domains. But this step
was neglected. .. . . The writers of this superstitious nation
have not scrupled to declare to the whole world that a short
time before the discovery of the New World it had been
foretold to the Mexicans that an invincible people from the
East would soon come among them who would in a terrible
manner avenge the gods irritated by their horrid crimes." —
Pictorial History of America, pp. 69, 70.

Again he says in relating the kind of material they used
for writing upon: "It much resembles the Egyptian paper
manufactured from the papyrus. It was made from the agave
... or aloes. Some of the hieroglyphics now extant are painted
on deerskins. . . . Immense quantities of Mexican manuscripts
were burnt by the Spaniards." — Ibid., p. 29. Edition of 1850.
(Book of Mormon, pp. 35, 37, 149.)

AMERICANS WROTE HISTORICAL BOOKS.

J. D. Baldwin says: "It is known that books or manu-
script writings were abundant among them in the ages pre-
vious to the Aztec period. They had an accurate measure of
the solar year and a system of chronology, and many of their
writings were historical. . . . Las Casas wrote on this point
as follows : 'It should be known that in all the commonwealth
of these countries, in the kingdoms of New Spain and else-
where, among other professions duly filled by suitable persons,
was that of chronicler and historian. . . . These chroniclers
had likewise to calculate the days, months, and years; and
though they had not writing like ours, they had their symbols
and characters through which they understood every thing;
and they had great books, which were composed with such
ingenuity and art that our characters were really of no great

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 55

assistance to them. Our priests have seen those books, and
I myself have seen them likewise, though many were burned at
the instigation of the monks, who were afraid they might
impede the work of conversion.' Books such as those here
described by Las Casas must have contained important his-
torical information." — Ancient America, pp. 187, 188.

Prof. John T. Short says: "The infamous crime committed
against the cause of knowledge, and the irreparable injury
done to the natives, their successors, and to the students of
history for all time, by the destruction of those valuable manu-
scripts must ever remain." — North Americans of Antiquities,
p. 429.

Desire Charnay says: • "Documents were not wanting, and
had the religious zeal of the men of that time been less ill-
judged, they would have found in the various and multiform
manuscripts, in the charts or maps, in the idols, in the pottery
and living traditions, ample and reliable materials from which
to write an exhaustive history." — Ancient Cities, p. 270.

J. D. Baldwin says: "Humboldt mentions books of hiero-
glyphical writing found among the Panoes, on the River
Ucayali, which were 'bundles of their paper resembling our
volumes in quarto.' A Franciscan missionary found an old
man sitting at the foot of a palm tree and reading one of
these books to several young persons. The Franciscan was
told that the writing 'contained hidden things which no
stranger ought to know.' It was seen that the pages of the
book were 'covered with figures of men, animals, and isolated
characters, deemed hieroglyphical, and arranged in lines with
order and symmetry.' The Panoes said these books 'were
transmitted to them by their ancestors, and had relation to
wanderings and ancient wars.' " — Ancient America, pp. 255,
256. (Book of Mormon, pp. 16, 98, 157, 167.)

ANCIENT AMERICANS BUILT HOUSES OF
WORSHIP.

Prescott says: "The most renowned of the Peruvian tem-
ples, the pride of the capital, and the wonder of the empire,
was at Cuzco, where under the munificence of successive sov-

56 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

ereigns it had become so enriched that it received the name
of the . . . Place of Gold. It consisted of a principal building
and several chapels, and inferior edifices, covering a large
extent of ground in the heart of the city, and completely en-
compased by a wall, which, with the edifices, was all con-
structed of stone. . . . And was so finely executed that a
Spaniard, who saw it in its glory, assures us that he could
call to mind only two edifices in Spain, which, for their work-
manship were at all to be compared with it. ... The interior
of the temple was the most worthy of admiration. It was lit-
erally a mine of gold. . . . Other temples and religious dwell-
ings were scattered over the provinces, and some of them con-
structed on a scale of magnificence, that almost rivaled that
of the metropolis." — Conquest of Peru, vol. 1, pp. 112, 116.
Edition of 1893.

Donnelly says of the Cuzco temple, Place of Gold: "The
interior of the temple was literally a mine of gold. On the
western wall was emblazoned a representation of the Deity,
consisting of a human countenance, looking forth from amid
innumerable rays of light, which emanated from it in every
direction in the same manner as the sun is often personified
with us. The figure was engravened on a massive plate of
gold, of enormous dimensions, thickly powdered with emeralds
and precious stones." — Atlantis, p. 22.

"The half buried ruins of an ancient temple with huge gran-
ite columns carved in the shape of rattlesnakes is the inter-
esting discovery made by four veteran prospectors, who
recently went out upon the Colorado desert to search for
new mines. ... A rough approximation of the extent of the
ruins showed the temple to be about four hundred and twenty
feet wide"— Philadelphia Record, July 24, 1893.

"When the Peruvians of Cuzco carried their victorious
arms across the Cordilleras to this district [possibly the land
of Zarahemla], they beheld this temple [possibly in the city
of Zarahemla] the doors of which are said to have been
of gold inlaid with precious stones with astonishment, not
only because it rivaled if not surpassed in splendor the famous
TemDle of the Sun at Cuzco, but because it contained no

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 57

image or visible symbol of a god. It was raised in honor
of an invisible and mysterious Deity, whom the inhabitants
called Pachacamac, the creator of the world." — Chambers'
Encyclopedia, article "Peru," vol. 6, p. 193. Edition of 1887.
Milwaukee Free Press, Saturday morning, September 5,
1903: "Dr. Nicolas Leon, archaeologist and ethnologist of the
Mexican Museum of Mexico, has returned to the City of
Mexico after a stay of two weeks in the State of Coahuila;
where he made several important investigations of the recent
finds of cities and animals of antediluvian times. . . . The
excavations made so far show that a large city was buried
not far from the present town of Paradon by an immense
amount of earth, which was evidently washed down from the
mountain floods. How long ago the catastrophe occurred
can not be determined. Portions of buildings so far unearthed
show that the city — at least the largest of the cities that were
covered by the debris of the flood, there being at least three
cities destroyed — was very extensive. The indications are
that there were many massive structures in the city and
that they were of a class of architecture not to be found
elsewhere in Mexico. According to the estimates of the
scientists under whose directions the excavations are being
made, the city in question had a population of at least fifty
thousand. The destruction wrought by the flood was com-
plete. All the inhabitants of the cities were killed, as well
as all the animals. Skeletons of the human inhabitants and
of the animals are strewn all through the debris, from
a depth of three feet, showing that all the debris was deposited
almost at once. Measurements show that the debris is on
an average of sixty feet deep where the largest of the
cities stood." (Book of Mormon, pp. 286, 486, 617, 624, 631,
682.)

ABORIGINES OF AMERICA BELIEVE IN THE
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

Prescott says: "Among the traditions of importance is
one of the deluge, which they held in common with so many
of the nations in all parts of the globe, . . . resurrection of

58 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

the body, which led them to preserve the body with so much
solicitude." — Conquest of Peru, vol. 1, pp. 106, 107.

Donnelly says: "Peruvians believed in the immortality of
the soul and the resurrection of the body, and they too pre-
served the bodies of their dead by embalming them. . . .
When we consider it closely, one of the most extraordinary
customs ever known to mankind is . . . embalming of the
body of the dead man, with a purpose that the body itself
may live again in a future state." — Atlantis, pp. 144, 179.

Pidgeon says: "Ancient Egypt, first in science and famous
in art, has also left her impress here. In 1775, some of the first
settlers in Kentucky, whose curiosity was excited by something
remarkable in the arrangement of stones that filled the en-
trance to a cave, removed them, and on entering, discovered
a number of mummies preserved by the art of embalming in
as great a state of perfection as was known by the ancient
Egyptians, eighteen hundred years before Christ, which was
about the time that the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt. '
— Traditions of De-Coo-Dah, p. 19.

Ysleta, Texas, January 5, 1893: "A few days ago Manuel
Garrizo, found . . . the head of a man inclosed in a box of
virgin silver ... in a mound at the foot of the Horsehead
hills. . . . The mound which is a small one, had always been
looked upon as natural, but now turns out to be the burial
place of a dead and vanished race. . . . The box is roughly
made, and is covered with rude hieroglyphics. . . . The head
had been subjected to an embalming process." — Philadelphia
Press, January 6, 1893.

Prescott says: "Their [the Peruvians'] ideas in respect to a
future state of being deserve more attention. They admitted
the existence of the soul hereafter, and connected with this
a belief in the resurrection of the body. They assigned two
distinct places for the residence of the good and of the
wicked, the latter of which they fixed in the center of the
earth. The good they supposed were to pass a luxurious life of
tranquility and ease, which comprehended their highest notions
of happiness. The wicked were to expiate their crimes by
ages of wearisome labor. ... It was this belief in the resur-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 59

rection of the body, which led them to preserve the body with
so much solicitude." — Conquest of Peru, vol. 1, pp. 106, 107.
"Resurrection of the body we must observe is peculiarly
Christian, . . . when the Spaniards opened their tombs and
scattered the bones the Peruvians entreated them not to do
so assuring them that these bones were to be united in the
resurrection." — Mexican Antiquities, vol. 6, p. 413. (Book
of Mormon, pp. 253, 255, 448, 449.)

WHAT SOME OF THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA
BELIEVE.

The following article by A. M. Fyrando appeared in the
Saints' Herald for April 17, 1907:

"Moooc TRIBE: They believed in one God, before the
white man came; that God made this country especially for
them. In their old country from which they came there was
a sacred mountain which all of them visited once a year,
to worship and be relieved of their sins.'

"JACARILLAS, OF THE APACHE TRIBE: 'Believe in a Messiah
to come.'

CROW TRIBE: 'Believe in the coming of a Messiah . . .
who will re-create the earth, for the benefit of the Indians.'—
Ibid., p. 361.

"Sioux TRIBE: 'Look for the coming of an Indian Messiah
who will cause the dead Indians to come to life, repeople the
country, and restore the Indians' enjoyment.'

"OMAHA TRIBE: 'Have a tradition of the flood, and of an
Indian finding a man in a wigwam building a big canoe, before
the floods came.' — Ibid., p. 377.

"PiUTE TRIBE: 'Their medicine-men cure by the laying on
of hands, asking the good spirit to make the sick one well.'
— Ibid., p. 388.

"UTE TRIBE: 'Their medicine-practice "faith cure." ' — Ibid.,
p. 288.'

"DELAWARE INDIANS: 'Believed that everyone has a guard-
ian spirit, which visited them in dreams, tells them what
to do, or of what may happen.' They also relate that long
ago, on the Atlantic coast, a young Indian had a dream

60 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

before the discovery of America by white men. He related
it in their temple thus. He saw a large canoe with pinions
(wings) coming across the great waters, containing strange
people and predicted that in ten years people with white
faces would come; he related this in the temple every year
for ten years, and they came, in a boat as described, [Colum-
bus and his men — writer].' — Ibid., p. 299.

"WESTERN SHOSHONES: 'Separate, or have their women
to live apart from their families in a house, called the sick
house (hoo-ne-gar-nee) during the monthly period, there to
remain for eight to ten days. The male members of the
tribe could not be induced to touch anything these women
had used during the time of their retirement or enter one
of these houses, believing evil would follow the breaking of
an ancient custom.' — Ibid., p. 387.

"MESCALEROS, OF THE APACHE TRIBE: 'They believe their
ideas of religion, of future punishment, of the formation of
the world and creation of man, of baptism, are the ancient
Indian ideas.'

" 'They reason from sun, moon, and stars that there is
a God.'— Ibid., p. 402.

"DAKOTA TRIBE: 'They worship the Great Spirit, as the
creator of all things, and governor of the universe, the source
of all good, but of no evil whatsoever. They believe in an
evil spirit, constantly engaged in evil; both are eternal, but
the evil spirit is subordinate to the Good Spirit (see Ibid.,
p. 580).'

"POTTAWATTAMIE TRIBE: 'Believe in one great supreme
Creator, and of a future state of rewards and punishments.
(See Ibid., p. 325.) Near Pueblo, the Government agent found
a copper bracelet. Doctor Crane, in his Crania America,
says the Iroquois Confederacy of six tribes were unsurpassed
mentally by any people, the brain capacity of the skull being
88 inches, or less than 2 inches less than the Caucasian race.
(See Ibid., p. 461).'

" 'Eleventh census report of 1890 by the Government, under
Robert F. Parker, superintendent, and Carrol D. Wright,

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 61

commissioner of labor in charge, Washington, District of
Columbia.'

"We also append an article clipped from the Chicago Record-
Herald of February 5, there being strong points of similarity
with Book of Mormon history:

" 'INDIANS AND "TEN LOST TRIBES."

" 'The Indians are the most superstitious people on earth,'
said a man a few days ago who had taught for years in a
Creek Indian school. 'They have myths and legends by the
score. Some of them are as beautiful and picturesque as the
legends of the old Greeks and Romans/ writes the Chickasha
correspondent of the Kansas City Star.

" 'I boarded for five years with a Creek Indian who had
been educated at Carlisle. He knew the Indian legends and
used to tell them to me and his children as we sat around
the fireplace of an evening. You know the Creeks have a
legend that they are one of the lost tribes of Israel. This
Indian was the son of a medicine man who was once great
and powerful in the tribe. All his knowledge of Indian lore
came from his father, the medicine man.

" 'This medicine man said that the Creeks were one of the
lost tribes of Israel. The legend ran that they were once
associated with the other tribes and that they had wandered
and became separated. They wandered for years far to the
north until they came to a sea. There they built boats and
embarked. They steered their course by the wand of a
medicine man. Each morning he went to his tepee and set
up his divining-rod and told them which direction to pursue.
They followed this rod from a warm country to a cold sea
on which they set sail. The sea was crossed and then they
traveled toward the south again.

" 'The Creeks have a covenant of their tribe which is kept
with the chiefs. No one but the elect is ever permitted to
see this guarantee of the genuineness of the Creek faith and
origin.' "ALMA M. FYRANDO."

"MAGNOLIA, IOWA."

62 v PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

THE WORD "MORMON" AND ITS ORIGIN.

Benham says: "Mormon is derived from the Galic Mor,
meaning 'great' and the Egyptian Mon, meaning 'good.' Thus
put together means 'Great good.' " — Dictionary of Religions,
p. 720. Published 1887.

" 'Mormon' — One "of a sect in the United States, followers
of one Joseph Smith." — American Dictionary, p. 859. Pub-
lished 1876.

Cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: "Mor is Galic, means
'great.' Mon is Egyptian, and means, 'good.' The two put
together — Mormon— means, 'Great good.' " — Published at
Hartford, Connecticut, 1902.

IS IT ANOTHER GOSPEL?

Testimonies of different ministers as to the Book of Mormon
being another gospel, in answer to a question asked them by
Bishop C. J. Hunt, Rev. W. T. Moore, M. A., LL. D., wrote
February 8, 1906, as follows: "Of course, if the book found
taught the same gospel principles contained in the New Testa-
ment it would undoubtedly be the same gospel and not an-
other. It might be another book, but it could not be another
gospel, if it taught practically the same gospel that is in the
New Testament. . . . Whatever is the same is the same, and
if any book should teach practically the same gospel found
in the New Testament this would certainly not be another
gospel, though the book might differ in every other respect
from the New Testament." (Italics mine.)

Rev. 0. P. Gifford, D. D., wrote, March 22, 1906: "Sup-
posing such a book to be found, I should say it would be
another witness of the same gospel." (Italics mine.)

Rev. George Batchelor, Unitarian, February 10, 1906, wrote:
"I should say, . . . that the imaginary documents that you
describe would be another version of the same gospel." (Italics
mine.)

Rev. D. M. Mohler, a Dunkard minister, wrote, March 11,
1906: "If it is just like the New Testament gospel it would
not be another gospel" (Italics mine.)

Rev. James D. Moffat, Presbyterian, wrote, February 10,

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 63

1906: "If all the conditions were fulfilled and the book were
found, there would probably be considerable discussion as to
the meaning: of its contents, on the answer to which its ap-
propriate designation would depend. It is hardly conceivable,
however, that anything more than confirmatory evidence to
our present gospel will ever be discovered in the future."

Rev. Charles P. Mcllvaine, D. D., bishop of the diocese of
Ohio, says: "What a wonderful book is the Bible! But what
connection has the Bible with American antiquities? Be-
cause of all antiquities, it is the most valuable and marvelous
specimen; because with all antiquities it is associated in the
most important and interesting relations; because the most
valuable discoveries in antiquity must appeal to the Bible for
interpretation; . . . Suppose that in searching the tumuli
that are scattered so widely over •'•his country, the silent, aged,
mysterious remembrancers of some populous race, once carry-
ing on all the business of life where now are only the wild
forests of many centuries, a race of whom we ask so often,
who they were, whence they came, whither they went; suppose
that under one of those huge structures of earth which remain
of their work, a book were discovered, an alphabetic history
of that race for a thousand years, containing their written
language, and examples of their poetry and other literature,
and all undeniably composed many hundreds of years before
any of the nations now possessing this continent were here!
What a wonder would this be! What intense interest would
attach to such a relic!" — Preface to John Delafield's work on
antiquities of America, p. 1.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ASKED BY BISHOP C. J.
HUNT; ON MEANING OF THE WORD "STICK."

What is meant by the "stick of Judah" and the "stick of
Ephraim, or Joseph?" (Ezekiel 37: 15-20.) Does the first
refer to the Bible, and the second to a record?

Rev. Dr. John Henry Barrows, president of the Oberlin Col-
lege (Congregational), Oberlin, Ohio, gave his answer in a
letter dated December 7, 1899:

"The prophets were accustomed to act or enact signs or

64 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

pictures before the people in order to make vivid their teach-
ings. Ezekiel enacted this sign before the people. If you
will turn to Numbers 17:2 you will notice that the names
of the tribes of the children of Israel were written on
rods or sticks; and so Ezekiel, inspired of the Lord, takes
one stick and writes upon it for Judah, and for the children
of Israel. Judah, Benjamin, Levi, and a part of Simeon
remained faithful to the house of David, and constituted the
southern kingdom. Then the prophet took another stick and
wrote upon it for Joseph, the general name of the ten north-
ern tribes. And he called it the stick of Ephraim, because
Ephraim was the chief tribe. Then he joined the two sticks
together to indicate their unity. The prophet himself explains
by divine command what this all means. 'Thus saith the
Lord God, Behold I take the stick of Joseph, which is in
the hand of Ephraim,' because Ephraim was the chief tribe.
The stick of Joseph was in the hand of Ephraim; but the
stick of Judah was in the Lord's hand. And they were to be
made one. This gathering together of the children of Israel
took place first on the return from Babylon; when in some
measure the distinction between Israel and Judah ceased.
Of course the final unity of Judah and Israel is to be in Christ
and his kingdom." *

Dr. R. S. Storrs, for fifty-four years pastor of the Church
of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn, New York, instructed his secre-
tary, December 21, 1899, to write:

"He understands 'stick' to mean 'tablet,' and the two placed
together to represent the union of the whole Hebrew nation."

Rev. J. Hogan, S. S., D. D., Catholic, New York City, who
is a very noted writer and minister, to which he replied De-
cember 27, 1899:

"The sticks referred to were two real sticks, representing
royal scepters, with labels meant to indicate that they denoted
the southern and northern kingdoms of Judea. They were put
together in order to attract attention and give occasion to the
prophet to explain what they symbolized; viz: the return
of respresentatives of the divided kingdoms to their own (the
promised) land to make a united nation. Ezekiel wrote dur-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 65

ing the captivity of Babylon and his prophecy was an encour-
agement. It was a common thing with the prophets to use
symbols of various kinds to convey their message in a more
striking manner."

Elder J. W. Ellis, LL. D., Ph. D., Christian, writing from
Plattsburg, Missouri, December 19, 1899:

"The word stick in these passages is translated from
the Hebrew, primarily meaning a tree, wood; any wood;
as a stick, rod, etc. The reference is to the writing on
rods the names of Aaron and Levi, etc. (See Numbers 17: 3.)
The tribes of Judah and Benjamin make up the kingdom of
Judah; the other tribes make up Israel. The joining of
the sticks end to end is symbolical of a united kingdom. The
stick of Joseph is representative of the tribe of Joseph; of
Ephraim, the descendants of Ephraim, etc."

The following from the pen of W. W. Bowling, of Saint
Louis, Missouri, who for thirty-five years has been and still
is a popular writer and publisher in and for the Christian
Church, will be of interest:

"The 'sticks' are the tribal rods, (see Numbers 17: 1-3,)
the union of the two rods was a prophecy in action of the
brotherly union which is to unite the ten tribes and Judah."

"Stick (ets) a piece of wood. The use of staves for writ-
ing upon as illustrated in Ezekiel 37: 16-20, was a frequent
practice for ancient nations." — McClintock and Strong, En-
cyclopedia-, article "Stick."

"The rolls or parchment containing writing, consisted of
a single long strip, either paper or parchment, and Mr.
Smith says (Bible Dictionary), 'was usually kept rolled
upon a stick, and was unrolled when a person wished to read
it.' "— Peloubet Edition, page 566.

Historians find this custom of writing in the days of Josiah,
710 years B. C. :

"The king being impatient to know the contents, the scribe
begins to read immediately; and as the books of the times were
written upon long scrolls, and rolled upon a stick, the latter

66 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

part of the book would come first." — History Holy Bible,
John Kitto, D. D., F. S. A., p. 403.

Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, by Rev. John McClin-
tock, D. D., and James Strong, D. D., LL. D., vol. 9, page
1023:

"STICKS. The use of billets or staves of wood for writing
upon as illustrated in Ezekiel 37: 16-20, is a frequent practice
with primitive nations. This indeed is not the first instance
of the practice in scripture; for, so early as the time of Moses,
we find a parallel example of writing upon rods. (Numbers
17: 6.) The custom existed among the early Greeks; as
we are informed the laws of Solon, preserved at Athens,
were inscribed on billets of wood called axones. Several
sticks with writing upon them were united together in a kind
of frame or table, in the manner of a book — so constructed
that each stick might be turned for the facility of reading.

"ROLL. A book in ancient times consisted of a single long
strip of paper or parchment, which was usually kept rolled
upon a stick and was unrolled when a person wished to read it.
What the material was in Old Testament times we are not
informed; but as a knife was required for its destruction
(Jeremiah 36:23), we infer that it was parchment. The
writing was arranged in columns resembling a door in shape,
and hence deriving their Hebrew name "leaves," The con-
clusion has been drawn that the use of such material as
parchment was not known until the seventh century before
Christ. But this is to assume, perhaps too confidently, a late
date for Psalms 40, and to ignore the expression, 'roll to-
gether,' used by Isaiah (34: 4). — Ibid., page 67.

" Take thee one stick.' The symbolic action thus pre-
scribed to the prophet was based on the well-known historical
fact that the tribes of Israel in Mosaic times had been repre-
sented by a rod, on which was inscribed the name of the tribe
(Numbers 17), but whether the stick Ezekiel was instructed
to take was a staff, or a block, or simply a piece of wood, cart
not be decided.

"Stick— alluding- to Numbers 17:2, the tribal rod. The

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 67

union of the two rods was a prophecy in action of the
brotherly union which is to reunite the ten tribes and Judah.
As their severance under Jeroboam was fraught with the
greatest evil to the covenant people, so the first result of
both being joined by the spirit of life to God is, they become
joined to one another under the one covenant king, Messiah-
David.

"Judah and . . . children of Israel his companions — i. e.,
Judah, and besides Benjamin and Levi, those who had joined
themselves to him of Ephraim, Manasseh, Simeon, Asher,
Zebulun, Issachar, as having the temple and lawful priest-
hood in his borders. (2 Chronicles 11:12, 13, 16; 15:9;
30: 11, 18.) The latter became identified with Judah after
the carrying away of the ten tribes, and return with Judah
from ^Babylon and so shall be associated with that tribe at
the future restoration. For Joseph the stick of Ephraim —
Ephraim's posterity took the lead, not only of the other de-
scendants of Joseph, . . . but of the ten tribes of Israel. . . .
God had transferred the birthright from Reuben ... to Joseph,
whose representative, Ephraim . . . was made. (Genesis 48:
19; 1 Chronicles 5:1.)

"Stick of Joseph . . . — Ephraim, of the descendants of
Joseph, had exercised the rule among the ten tribes; that rule,
symbolized by the 'stick,' was now to be withdrawn from him,
and to be made with the other, Judah 's rule, in God's hand.
— Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, vol. 2,
pp. 566, 567."

STICKS, ROLLS, AND RODS.

(These can be placed on canvas or on the blackboard, which
will help an audience to comprehend the facts as set forth.
— A. H. Parsons.)

EZEKIEL 37TH CHAPTER.

STICKS.

ROLLS.

RODS.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 71

"ARIEL" SIGNIFIES JERUSALEM.

Barnes' notes on Isaiah:

"To Ariel. There can be no doubt that Jerusalem is here
intended. 'Yet I will distress Ariel.' The reference here is
doubtless to the siege which God says (verse 3) he would
bring upon the city. 'And there shall be heaviness and sorrow.'
This was true of the city in the siege of Sennacherib, to
which this probably refers. 'And shalt speak out of the
ground.' The sense here is that Jerusalem that had been
accustomed to pride itself on its strength would be greatly
humbled and subdued. It would use the suppressed language
of fear and alarm as if spoken from the dust, or in a shrill,
small voice like the pretended conversers with the dead.
'And the vision of all.' The vision of all the prophets; that is,
all the revelations which God has made to you. The sense
is, that although they had the communications which God
had made to them, yet they did not understand them. They
were ignorant of their true nature as a man who can read
is of the contents of a letter that is sealed up, or as a man
who can not read is of the contents of a book that is handed
to him.

" 'As the words of a book.' It properly means anything
that is written. 'And the book is delivered.' That is, they
are just as ignorant of the nature and meaning of the reve-
lations of God as a man of the contents of a book who is
utterly unable to read."

Isaiah One and His Book One, by George C. M. Douglass,
D. D., professor of Hebrew in Free Church College, Glasgow:

" 'Ariel' means 'the lion of God.' ... It was the sad
task assigned to Isaiah to see and hear the people mock at
his message (29: 9, 14). The evil condition of the people
is owing to spiritual darkness. Isaiah goes on to speak of
their state as one of 'deep sleep'; a word not found again
in this book, and not common elsewhere. It suggests an unnat-
ural sleep, almost always traced to the immediate working
of God, and in the way of judgment. Accordingly it affects
especially those who ought to have been the eyes and the heads
of the people; namely, the prophets and the seers, — Isaiah

72 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

styles them the eyes of the people. Israel, under the influence
of this spirit of deep sleep poured out by Jehovah, was like
a man who has taken a powerful narcotic ; under the influence
of the dose, not wishing to be disturbed, he closes his eyes
and covers his head — deprived of their eyes and having prac-
tically lost their heads, no wonder that to them the true mes-
sage of God is powerless and meaningless. For a time the
Law and the Testimony had been bound up and sealed among
Isaiah's disciples (8: 16). That was during the dark days
of Ahaz — yet now, when Isaiah would have stirred the people
up for a better time, they made the excuse that they could
not read his book because it was sealed, or if it was handed
open to another, he replied that he had not learned to read;
no doubt he had left this task to the prophets and heads with
their pretended visions (38: 15-18). These men were of no
use in the present emergency. Therefore Jehovah was about
to act in a way the most marvelous that could be conceived.
. . . The forest of Lebanon should change places with the
fruitful field, and this in a very little while, as at 10 : 25.
Amid these changes the deaf and the blind should recover
their lost senses, and thus Isaiah would see a happy issue.
His book had been reckoned useless as a sealed book (verse
11), but now even the deaf should hear it, presumably while
the blind read it to them. The meek and the poor are
often the representatives of the true Israel. Their joy is an
ever increasing Joy, for it is in the Holy One of Israel."
—Pages 250-254.

Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical Commentary, by Schaff,
page 316:

"The Lord causes Jerusalem to be told that he will besiege
and afflict her greatly, so that she, bowed low in the dust, will
let her voice sound faintly as the spirit of one dead (verse 4),
but the comforting promise is annexed that the enemies of
Jerusalem will suddenly become as fine dust; or as flying chaff
(verse 5) . The whole force that fight against Ariel, i. e.,
the mount of God, will pass away as a vision of a dream in
the night (verse 7). In verses 9 to 12 the prophet himself
depicts the effect of his words on the obdurant people, they

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 73

build on other aid. They therefore hear the words of the
prophet in fixed amazement (verse 9), for they are blind
(verse 10), and in relation to the prophecy they are as'one
who has to read a sealed document, or as one who has an
unsealed writing given him to rei.d, but he can not read.
Reading was an art which was not understood by everyone.
He who could not himself read, must request another to read
to him. Thus was it too with the prophecy of Isaiah. The
people must apply to their prophets to interpret it for them.
If anyone reaches me a sealed paper, in order that I may
read it to him, he must give permission to unseal it. It
appears to me the1 comparison here made use of is pure im-
agery. It is very unlikely that anyone could not comply
with the request to read a document because it was sealed.
The prophet only imagines such a case. The words of Isaiah
were to many among those prophets of the people sealed
words, i. e., intelligible as to their verbal meaning, but incom-
prehensible as to their inner signification."

Pulpit Commentary, by Rev. H. D. M. Spence, M. A., Dean
of Gloucester, and Rev. Joseph S. Exell, M. A., pages 493,
494:

" 'Ariel' is clearly a mystic name for Jerusalem, parallel to
'Sheshach' as a name for Babylon. (Jeremiah 25: 26.) It is
generally explained as equivalent to Ari-El — lion of God —
or hearth of God, or altar of God. /Thy speech shall be low.'
The feeble cries of a people wasted and worn out by a long
siege resemble those which seemed to come out of the ground
when a necromancer professed to raise a ghost. 'Thy speech
shall whisper,' literally, chirp. 'The Lord hath poured out
upon you the spirit of deep sleep.' Here is a spiritual dead-
ness and impassiveness, an inability to appreciate spiritual
warning. *The vision of all' — the entire vision — 'as the words
of a book.' Rather, the words of a letter or writing. Written
documents were often sealed up to secure secrecy. When the
writing was on a clay tablet it was often inclosed in a clay
envelope. Rolls of papyrus or parchment were secured differ-
ently. 'One that is learned.' One that can read writing,
which the ordinary Jew could not do. Neither the learned

74 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

nor the unlearned Jew would be able to understand Isaiah's
prophecy so as to realize and accept its literal truth. 'To him
that is not learned.' That can not read writing. Even in our
Lord's day the ordinary Jew was not taught to read and write.
'I will proceed to do a marvelous work.' Commentators are
not agreed what this marvelous work was. Some think it to
be the hardening of the hearts of the Jews to such an extent
that even the appearance of wisdom and understanding which
the rulers of the people had hitherto retained would completely
disappear. 'Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field.'
Lebanon, the wild forest, shall become smiling garden ground,
while garden ground shall revert into wild, uncultivated forest.
An inversion of the moral condition of Judea is shadowed forth
by the metaphor. 'Deaf shall hear.' The spiritually deaf
shall have their ears opened, many of them, and shall under-
stand the words of scripture addressed to them."

"A designation given by Isaiah to the city of Jerusalem
(Isaiah 29: 1, 2, 7). We must understand by it either "lion
of God" or the "chief city."— Smith's Bible Dictionary, p. 52.

TESTIMONY AS TO THE CHARACTERS ON THE

PLATES FROM WHICH THE BOOK OF MORMON

WAS TRANSLATED BY JOSEPH SMITH.

Martin Harris says: "I went to the city of New York
and presented the characters which had been translated, with
the translation thereof, to Professor Anthon, a gentleman
celebrated for his literary attainments. Professor Anthon
stated that the translation was correct, more so than any he
had before seen translated from the Egyptian. I then showed
him those which were not translated, and he said they were
Egyptian, Chaldaic, Assyric, and Arabic, and he said that
they were the true characters. He gave me a certificate
certifying to the people of Palmyra that they were true
characters, and that the translation of such of them as had
been translated was also correct. I took the certificate and
put it into my pocket, and was just leaving the house, when
Mr. Anthon called me back, and asked me how the young

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 75

man found out there were gold plates in the place where
he found them. I answered that an angel of God had
revealed it unto him.

He then said to me, 'Let me see the certificate.' I accord-
ingly took it out of my pocket and gave it to him, when he
took it and tore it to pieces, saying there was no such thing
now as ministering of angels, and that if I would bring the
plates to him, he would translate them. I informed him that
part of the plates were sealed, and that I was forbidden to
bring them. He replied, 'I can not read a sealed book."-
Church History, vol. 1, p. 19.

Prof. Anthon said: "This paper, in question, was in fact a
singular scroll. It consisted of all kinds of crooked characters,
disposed in columns, and had evidently been prepared by some
person who had before him, at the time, a book containing
various alphabets, Greek and Hebrew letters, crosses, and
flourishes; Roman letters inverted or placed sideways, were
arranged and placed in perpendicular columns ; and the whole
ended in a rude delineation of a circle, divided into various
compartments, decked with various strange marks." — Church
History, vol. 1, pp. 21, 22.

E. D. Howe says: "When the plates were said to have
been found, a copy of one or two lines of the characters were
taken by Mr. Harris to Utica, Albany, and New York; at
New York they were shown Doctor Mitchill, and he referred
them to Professor Anthon, who translated and declared them
to be the ancient shorthand Egyptian." — History of Mor-
monism, p. 273.

TESTIMONY OF THE THREE WITNESSES TO THE
BOOK OF MORMON.

"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peo-
ple, unto whom this work shall come, that we, through the
grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have
seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of
the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their breth-
ren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower
of which hath been spoken; and we also know that they have

76 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice
hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety, that
the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the
engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been
shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And
we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God
came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our
eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings
thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the
Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bare
record that these things are true; and it is marvelous in our
eyes, nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us that
we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the
commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things.
And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid
our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless
before the judgment seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him
eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God.
Amen.

"OLIVER COWDERY.

"DAVID WHITMER.

"MARTIN HARRIS."

— Book of Mormon.

TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES.

"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peo-
ple, unto whom this work shall come, that Joseph Smith, jr.,
the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of
which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold;
and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated,
we did handle with our hands: and we also saw the engravings
thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and
of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words
of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we
have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said
Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 77

give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that
which we have seen; and we lie not, God bearing witness of it.

"CHRISTIAN WHITMER.

"JACOB WHITMER.

"PETER WHITMER, JR.

"JOHN WHITMER.

" HIRAM PAGE.

"JOSEPH SMITH, SR.

"HYRUM SMITH.

"SAMUEL H. SMITH."
— Book of Mormon.

MISCELLANEOUS TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE

BOOK OF MORMON AND VERACITY OF

THE WITNESSES TO THE SAID

BOOK.

Oliver Cowdery died at Richmond, Missouri, March 3,
1850; his dying charge to David Whitmer being, "Brother
David, be true to your testimony to the book of Mormon."
— Church History, vol. 1, p. 50.

Martin Harris died at Clarkston, Cache Comity, Utah, July
10, 1875. Answering the question of H. B. Emerson, of New
Richmond, Ohio, "Did you go to England to lecture against
Mormonism?" he said, "I ancv/er emphatically, No, I did not;
no man ever heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book
of Mormon." — Church History, vol. 1, pp. 50, 51.

David Whitmer died at Richmond, Missouri, January 25,
1888. ."On Sunday evening at 5.30, January 22, 188S, Mr.
Whitmer called his family and some friends to his bedside,
and addresing himself to the attending physician, said, 'Doc-
tor Buchanan, I want you .to say whether or not I am in
my right mind before I give my dying testimony.' The doctor
answered, 'Yes, you are in your right mind, for I have just
had a conversation with you.' He then addressed himself
to all around his bedside in these words, 'Now you must all
be faithful in Christ; I want to say to all of you that the
Bible and the record of the Nephites (Book of Mormon) is

78 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

true, so you can say that you have heard me bear my testi-
mony on my deathbed.' " — Richmond Democrat January 2G,
1888.

TESTIMONY OF TWENTY-ONE PERSONS AS TO THE
VERACITY OF MR. WHITMER.

"We the undersigned citizens of Richmond, Ray County,
Missouri, where David Whitmer, sr., has resided since the
year A. D., 1838, certify that we have been long and intimately
acquainted with him and know him to be a man of the highest
integrity, and of undoubted truth, and veracity: A. W.
Doniphan; G. W. Dunn, judge of the fifth judicial circuit;
T. D. Woodson, president of Ray County Savings Bank; J. T.
Child, editor of Conservator; H. C. Garner, cashier of Ray
County Savings Bank; W. A. Holman, county treasurer; J.
S. Hughes, banker; James Hughes, banker; D. C. Whitmei
attorney at law ; James W. Black, attorney at law ; L. C. Cant-
well, postmaster; Geo. I. Wasson, mayor; Jas. A. Davif,
county collector; C. J. Hughes, probate judge and presiding
justice of Ray County court; George W. Trigg, county clerk:
W. W. Mosby, M. D.; Thos. McGinnis, ex-sheriff of Ray
County; J. P. Quesenberry, merchant; W. R. Holman, furni-
ture merchant; Lewis Slaughter, recorder of deeds; Geo. W.
Buchanan, M. D.; A. K. Reyburn. Given at Richmond,
Missouri, this March 19, A. D. 1881." — Church History, vol. 1,
p. 56; also Richmond Conservator, March 24, 1881.

CHANGES.

Book of Mormon committee report, published in the Saints'
Herald, August 23, 1884: "While the changes are ma<ty, they
are such as do not affect the doctrine taught, or destroy tne
sense in any respect, but are of the following character:-
Where in the manuscript 'which are,' 'which had,' 'whlcn was,'
and 'they which,' are found they are changed to 'who are,'
'who had,' 'who was' and 'those who.' . . . These changes,
numbers of which were made in the manuscript s«nce the
Palmyra edition was published in 1830, and prior to the pub-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 79

lishing of the Kirtland Edition in 1837, appear to have been

made by whom we can not learn.

"WM. H. KELLEY,
"ALEX. H. SMITH,
"THOS. W. SMITH,

"Committee."

CHARACTER OF EARLY SAINTS.

Mr. Smucker says: "It is utterly incredible that Joseph
Smith who, great impostor as he was, never missed an oppor-
tunity to denounce seducers and adulterers as unfit to enter
into his church, should have been concerned directly or indi-
rectly in proceedings like these; though it is scarcely surpris-
ing that when such stories have been circulated by men whom
the prophet had thwarted or reprimanded there should have
been found some persons willing to credit them. . . . We must
remember, too, that Smith universally in all his letters, reve-
lations, and speeches denounced adultery and fornication.
Subject, as all founders of religious systems are, to calumny,
we can not resist the doubt that there may have been mis-
representation and exaggeration, both as to the character of
Joseph Smith and the cause of his untimely end." — Smucker's
History, pp. 174, 379.

General Doniphan said in 1881 as found in the Kansas
City Journal, of the troubles in Missouri between Latter Day
Saints and the Missourians: "I located in Lexington, Mis-
souri, in 1830. Three years afterward I moved to Liberty,
Clay County. The first acquaintance I had with the ministers
of this peculiar denomination was in 1831. They were north-
ern people, who, on account of their declining to own slaves,
and their denunciation of the system of slavery were termed
'Free soilers.' The majority of them were intelligent, indus-
trious, and law-abiding citizens. Soon after they came to
Jackson County they established a newspaper at Independence
called The Morning and Evening Star, edited by W. W. Phelps,
in which they published their peculiar tenets. This of course
caused hard feelings between them and the people of the
county, which culminated in the month of July, 1833, in a mob

80 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

tearing down the printing house, and destroying a great
amount of their property, and tarring and feathering Bishop
Partridge, and committing numerous other outrages. In
1836-7, I was a member of the legislature, and drew the bill
organizing Caldwell County for the Saints exclusively, and
the offices of the county were given to their people. . . .
While they resided in Clay County they were a peaceable,
sober, industrious, and law-abiding people, and during their
stay with us not one was ever accused of a crime of any kind."

In a sworn statement Benjamin Mark ell, a resident of Kirt-
land, not a Saint, testified November 29, 1884, as follows: "I
was acquainted with old Father Smith's whole family. Knew
Joseph, Hyrum, Carlos, William, and all the rest who came
here. . . . Hyrum was, I always thought, a very exemplary
man. William was more fond of fun and sport. I dwelt with
Joseph Smith when he lived here. At one time I loaned him
about two hundred dollars in money. He paid me as he agreed.
At different other times I loaned him small sums; he always
paid me and acted honorably." — Pioneer Reminiscences Ex-
amined, Willoughby Independent (Ohio).

Hubert H. Bancroft says: "When the testimony on both
sides is carefully weighed, it must be admitted that the Mor-
mons in Missouri and Illinois were, as a class, a more moral,
honest, temperate, hard working, self-denying, and thrifty
people than the Gentiles by whom they were surrounded." —
History of Utah, p. 164.

Reuben P. Harmon, being duly sworn, testified as follows:
"I came to Kirtland in the year 1822. . . . Q. Were you
acquainted with Joseph Smith? A. I was acquainted with
him. Q. You may state anything you know about his con-
duct as being bad? A. I never knew anything bad about him.
. . . Q. What was (his) that reputation? A. I regarded that
it was good. Q. What was his reputation for honesty? State
that — - A. I never heard it questioned. Q. Did you belong to
the church? A. I did not belong to any church. ... Q. Just
state how the people here compared with people in other
places? A. If I was to state what I know, I would say that
I had no right to question their honesty. I have heard reports,

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 81

but I do not know anything against them." — Braden and
Kelley Debate, pp. 391, 392.

A. E. Sanborn, having been produced and duly sworn, tes-
tifies as follows: "Q. Mr. Sanborn, where do you live? A.
I live about a mile east of here [Kirtland]. Q. How long
have you lived here? A. About forty-seven years. . . . Q.
Were you personally acquainted with Joseph Smith? A.
Yes, sir. I was acquainted with Joseph Smith. . . . Q. You
may state all you know about him? A. Well, I knew him to
be a kind, generous and truthful neighbor; he was a very kind
man. Q. What was his general moral character? A. It was
good."— Ibid., pp. 393, 394.

Rev. James K. Applebee, in 1886, said — after quoting the
Word of Wisdom (section 86, page 244, Doctrine and Cove-
nants) :'"In his Word of Wisdom Joseph Smith teaches that
it is not good to drink wine or strong drinks, excepting in the
sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and then it should be home
made grape wine; that it is not good to drink hot drinks or
chew or smoke tobacco; that strong drinks are for the wash-
ing of the body, and that tobacco is an herb for bruises and
sick cattle. . . . Anyhow it has had its effect on the Mormon
people so that next to being the thriftiest, they are the
soberest people on this continent." — Saints' Herald, p. 806,
December 25, 1886.

Quincy, Illinois, Argus, March 16, 1839 : "We give in to-day's
paper the details of the recent bloody tragedy acted in Mis-
souri— the details of a scene of terror and blood unparalleled
in the annals of modern, and under the circumstances of the
case, in ancient history — a tragedy of so deep and fearful, and
absorbing interest, that the very life blood of the heart is
chilled at the simple contemplation. We are prompted to ask
ourselves if it be really true, that we are living in an enlight-
ened, a humane and civilized age — in an age and quarter of
the world boasting of its progress in everything good, and
great, and honorable, and virtuous, and high-minded — in a
country of which, as American citizens, we could be proud
—whether we are living under a constitution and laws, or

82 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

have not rather returned to the ruthless times of the stern
Atilla — to the times of the fiery Hun, when the sword and.
flame ravaged the fair fields of Italy and Europe, and the
darkest passions held full revel in all the revolting scenes of
unchecked brutality and unbridled desire? We have no lan-
guage sufficiently strong for the expression of our indignation
and shame at the recent transaction in a sister State — and
that State Missouri — a State of which we had long been
proud, alike for her men and history, but now so fallen that
we could wish her star stricken out from the bright constella-
tion of the Union. We say we know of no language suffi-
ciently strong for the expression of our shame and abhor-
rence of her recent conduct. She has written her own charac-
ter in letters of blood and stained it by acts of merciless
cruelty and brutality that the waters of ages can not efface."
—Persecution of the Saints, pp. 178-180. Quoted from Truth
Defended, p. 220, by Elder Heman C. Smith.

The Democratic Association, of Quincy, Illinois, on February
28, 1839, after inviting other citizens to meet with it, adopted
the following resolutions: "Resolved, That we regard the
rights of conscience as natural and inalienable, and the most
sacred guaranteed by the Constitution of our free Government.
Resolved, That we regard the acts of all mobs as flagrant
violations of law, and those who compose them, individu-
ally responsible, both to the laws of God or man for every
depredation committed upon the property, rights, or life of
any citizen. Resolved, That the inhabitants upon the western
frontier of the State of Missouri in their late persecutions of
the class of people denominated Mormons, have violated the
sacred rights of conscience, and every law of justice and
humanity. Resolved, That the governor of Missouri in refus-
ing protection to this class of people when pressed upon by
an heartless mob, and turning upon them a band of un-
principled militia, with orders encouraging their extermina-
tion, has brought a lasting disgrace upon the State over which
he presides." — Persecution of the Saints, pp. 190, 191; Ibid.,
pp. 220, 221.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 83

The Western Messenger, of Cincinnati, Ohio, about Novem-
ber or December, 1840, contained the following: "Reader!
Let not the word Mormon repel you! Think not that you
have no interest in the cruelties perpetrated on this poor peo-
ple! Read, we pray you, the history of this persecuted com-
munity; examine the detailed facts of these atrocities; reflect
upon the hallowed principles and usages trampled under foot
by ruffians; bring before your mind the violations of all law,
human and divine, of all right, natural and civil, of all ties
of society and humanity, of all duties of justice, honor, hon-
esty, and mercy, committed by so-called freemen and Chris-
tians— and then speak out, speak out, for prostrate law, for
liberty disgraced, for outraged man, for heaven insulted.

" 'Loud as a summer thunderbolt shall waken a people's
voice.'

"We speak strongly, for we feel strongly; and we wish to
attract attention to a tragedy of almost unequaled horror,
which has been unblushingly enacted in a State of this Union.
Its history should be trumpeted abroad until the indignant
rebuke of the whole land compels the authors, abettors and
tolerators of these wrongs, to make the small return now in
their power, for their aggravated injustice. Life can not be
restored to the murdered, nor health to the broken down in
body and soul, nor peace to the bereaved; but the spoils on
which robbers are now fattening can be repaid; the loss of
the destitute can be made up; the captive can be freed, and
until by legislative acts she makes redress — Missouri is dis-
graced. . . . But when after months, we may say years of
suffering from similar outrages, harassed by anxieties, goaded
by wrongs, and under the advice of authorities, civil and
military, these poor fellows, deserted by the militia guard,
unprotected by the State, did at last defend their houses from
pillage, their children and wives from abuse, themselves from
murder — then was the cry of 'Mormon war' raised, and Gov-
ernor Boggs, to his lasting infamy, sent out his orders for
exterminating these citizens of Missouri, whom it was his duty
under oath to save. In his order of October 27, he says: 'The

84 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be extermi-
nated or driven from the State, if necessary for the public
good.' The Mormons had only defended themselves against
infuriated and lawless rioters; so soon as General Lucas ar-
rived and presented the governor's orders, they submitted to
the authorities of the State. They gave up their arms and
were made prisoners."— Truth Defended, pp. 221, 222, 223.

Davis H. Bays, the "child of providence," has this to say:
"While the Mormons, and more especially the leaders, were
doubtless responsible for a liberal share of these troubles, yet
for this flagrant outrage upon the rights and liberties of free
American citizens, there can not be offered even the shadow
of excuse. The plea that the Mormons had violated the laws
of the State can not be offered in justification of so grave an
offense against the cause of humanity, and the peace and
dignity of the State of Missouri. If the Mormons had violated
the laws of the State, as their enemies charged, why not try
them for their offenses, and if found guilty, punish them
according to the provisions of the law they are charged with
having violated? To say they could not be convicted, if
guilty, can not be entered as a plea in abatement of the
offense, for certainly if the State had the power to expel the
entire Mormon citizenship from the State, it must have pos-
sessed the power to enforce its laws against the individual
transgressor. It matters not what their peculiarities, or how
absurd may appear the tenets of their religion, they were
American citizens, amenable to the laws of the country, and
as such should have been protected in their rights of citizen-
ship. A great nation, a sovereign State, and a large-minded,
liberty-loving people can well afford to deal justly, even with
'Mormons.' The scenes of Independence and Carthage can
never again be repeated in the United States, and well for the
honor of a great nation that it is so." — The Doctrines and
Dogmas of Mormonism, pp. 396, 397.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 85

RETRIBUTION.

ORDER OF GENERAL COMMANDING UNITED STATES FORCES IN

MISSOURI.

"HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF THE BORDER,

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, August 25, 1863.
(General Order No. 11.)

"First. All persons living in Cass, Jackson, and Bates
Counties, Missouri, and in that part of Vernon included in this
district, except those living within one mile of the limits of
Independence, Hickman's Mills, Pleasant Hill, and Harrison-
ville, and except those in that part of Kaw Township, Jack-
son County, north of Brush Creek, and west of the Big Blue,
embracing Kansas City and Westport, are hereby ordered to
remove from their present places of residence within fifteen
days from the date hereof. Those who within that time,
establish their loyalty to the satisfaction of the commanding
officer of the military station nearest their present place of
residence, will receive from him certificates stating the fact
of their loyalty, and the names of the witnesses by whom it
can be shown. All who receive such certificate will be per-
mitted to remove to any military station in this district, or
to any part of the State of Kansas, except the counties on
the eastern borders of the State. All others shall remove out
of this district. Officers commanding companies and detach-
ments serving in the counties named, will see that this para-
graph is promptly obeyed.

"Second. All grain and hay in the field, or under shelter,
in the district from which the inhabitants are required to
remove within reach of military stations, after the 9th day of
September next, will be taken to such stations and turned over
to the proper officer there, and report of the amount so turned
over made to district headquarters, specifying the names of all
loyal owners and the amount of such produce taken from
them. All grain and hay found in such district after the 9th
day of September next not convenient to such stations, will be
destroyed." — History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties,
Missouri, 1886, p. 51 ; Truth Defended, pp. 224, 225.

86 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Josiah Quincy, the honored president of Harvard College,
says: ''Polygamy, it must be remembered formed no part of
the alleged revelations upon which the social life of Nauvoo
was based; indeed, the recorded precepts of its prophet were
entirely opposed to such practice, and it is at least doubtful
whether this barbarism was in any way sanctioned by him." —
Figures of the Past.

MESSAGE OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF

ILLINOIS IN RELATION TO THE DISTURBANCES

IN HANCOCK COUNTY, DECEMBER 23, 1844.

"Justice however requires me here to say, that I have in-
vestigated the charge of promiscuous stealing and find it to
be greatly exaggerated. I could not ascertain that there were
a greater proportion of thieves in that community than any
other of the same number of inhabitants; and perhaps if the
city of Nauvoo were compared with Saint Louis or any other
western city the proportion would not be so great. ... I have
reason to believe, too, that the report of an alliance with the
Indians was a groundless calumny." — Page 7.

"A system of excitement and agitation was artfully planned
and executed with tact. It consisted in spreading reports and
rumors of the most fearful character. As example: On the
morning before my arrival at Carthage I was awakened at an
early hour by the frightful report, which was asserted with
apparent confidence and apparent consternation, that the Mor-
mons had already commenced the work of burning, destruc-
tion, and murder, and that every man capable of bearing arms
was instantly wanted at Carthage for the protection of the
county. We lost no time starting, but when we arrived at
Carthage we could hear no more concerning the story. . . .
No such forces were sent, nor were any such offenses com-
mitted at that time, except the stealing of some provisions,
and there was never the least proof that this was done by a
Mormon." — Ibid., p. 8.

"On the 23d or 24th day of June, Joseph Smith, the mayor
of Nauvoo, together with his brother Hyrum, and all the mem-
bers of the council, and all others demanded, came into Car-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 87

thage and surrendered themselves prisoners to the constable
on the charge of riot. They all voluntarily entered into a
recognizance before the justice of the peace for their appear-
ance at court to answer the charge. And all of them were
discharged from custody except Joseph and Hyrum Smith,
against whom the magistrate had issued a new writ on a com-
plaint for treason. They were immediately arrested by the
constable on the new charge and retained in his custody to
answer it. The overt act of treason charged against them
consisted in the alleged levying of war against the State by
declaring martial law in Nauvoo, and in ordering out the
legion to resist the posse comitatus. Their actual guiltiness
of the charge would depend upon circumstances. If their
opponents had been seeking to put the law in force in good
faith and nothing more, then an array of a military force in
open resistance to the posse comitatus, and the militia of the
State most probably would have amounted to treason. But if
those opponents merely intended to use the process of the law,
the militia of the State and the posse comitatus as cats' paws
to compass the possession of their persons for the purpose of
murdering them afterwards, as the sequel demonstrated the
fact to be, it might well be doubted whether they were guilty
of treason." — History of Illinois, Thomas Ford, p. 11.

"Last week we '(Rustler) stated that it was a sad mistake
the people of Hancock County made when they drove the Mor-
mons out of Nauvoo, and the Quincy Journal comments thus:
'This is the first time that the writer has ever heard or known
of a Nauvooite saying straight out that the people of Hancock
County made a great mistake when they drove the Mormons
out, but we have long inclined to the belief that they did
indeed make a mistake, a sad, sad mistake." — Quoted from
Saints' Herald, December 23, 1893.

Hon. Josiah Quincy, certainly needs no formal introduction
to the public. While not a believer in Mormonism in any
sense, he visited Nauvoo in company with Hon. Charles
Francis Adams, and took notes as follows: "It is by no means
improbable that some future text-book for the use of genera-
tions vet unborn will contain a question something like this:

88 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

What historical American of the nineteenth century has ex-
erted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his
countrymen? And it is by no means impossible that the
answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph
Smith, the Mormon prophet. And the reply, absurd as it
doubtless seems to most men now living, may be an obvious
commonplace to their descendants. History deals in surprises
and paradoxes quite as startling as this. The man who estab-
lished a religion in this age of free debate, who was and is to-
day accepted by hundreds of thousands as a direct emissary
from the Most High — such a rare human being is not to be
disposed of by pelting his memory with unsavory epithets.
Fanatic, impostor, charlatan he may have been; but these
hard names furnish no solution to the problem he presents to
us. Fanatics and impostors are living and dying every day,
and their memory is buried with them; but the wonderful
influence which this founder of a religion exerted and still
exerts throws him into relief before us, not as a rogue to be
criminated, but as a phenomenon to be explained." — Figures
of the Past, pp. 376, 377.

Jacob Gregg, being duly sworn, testified: "I held the office
of sheriff in this county in 1833. . . . During my term of office
is when the Mormons were driven from Jackson County, Mis-
souri. I was not in that affair in any way (not a member
of the church) ... I did not have much communication with
the Mormons while they were in this county. I took the census,
and my impression was that they were a rather law-abiding
class of citizens. I know I did not see anything wrong with
them; they compared with other people here in the county;
appeared to be a law-abiding class of citizens, and I think
they were about as good and as intelligent as their neighbors."
—Plaintiff's Abstract, pp. 287, 289.

AN INTERVIEW WITH EX-GOVERNOR DRAKE OF
IOWA.

BY ALEXANDER M'CALLUM.

One day in the latter part of May, 1903, I found myself
seated in a railway coach at Centerville, Iowa. Some of UP
had taken refuge there from a violent thunderstorm. The

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 89

thunder and lightning: were incessant. The windows were all
closed and the air soon became very oppressive, being heavy
with tobacco smoke.

By and by I turned to a gentleman who was seated behind
me, smoking, and said, "I hate to disturb one who enj'oys a
cigar as you seem to enjoy that; but is not that smoke getting
pretty thick in here?"

He laughed and said: "I don't know, those ladies seem to
enjoy it," glancing at the ladies of the party, who were fan-
ning themselves and gasping for breath. However, he went
to the door and threw away his cigar and came and sat down
by my side.

We engaged in conversation and I learned that he was Ex-
Governor Drake. I told him that Latter Day Saints were
much opposed to the use of tobacco. Our talk drifted to church
matters and I told him that I married into the "notorious"
Smith family.

"Joseph Smith," said he, "of Lamoni, Iowa? I know him
well. He is a fine man. I knew his father and mother. We
lived neighbors to them. They were nice people in every way,
as was Hyrum Smith, also, whom I knew well. Joseph Smith
had nothing to do with the introduction of polygamy; that was
done by Brigham Young, long years after Joseph died. The
only thing that we ever thought Joseph did wrong in was in
claiming to be a prophet."

This opinion is no more true than if it had been uttered by
any other man; but it has more weight coming from one so
universally loved and respected as was Ex-Governor Drake.

INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI:

— Autumn Leaves, pp. 4 and 5, January, 1904.

Letter written to D. H. Bays, and published in the Chris-
tian-Evangelist, November 2, 1899: "Dear Sir: Yours of
August 9 has been duly received. My statement, that you did
not know what the Spalding theory involved, was made be-
cause your book indicates nothing to show that you ever heard
of Spalding having written three manuscripts; the first of
which simply outlined the story and is the one now in Oberlin.
The second was prepared for the printer; the plot of the story

90 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

changed as to place from which Indians came here, and the
names changed to suit the change in the plot. This is the
one which furnishes the basis for the Book of Mormon. . . .
I can not establish these facts except by hearsay evidence,
which Greenleaf would bar, and yet I do not know of any
historical fact not now within the knowledge of living wit-
nesses that can be established by any but hearsay evidence."
— A. T. Schroeder, attorney of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Rev. D. H. Bays' reply: "I very much regret that from
a library covering considerably over one thousand books and
pamphlets on the subject of Mormonism, you are unable to
furnish me with a single fact in support of the old, exploded
'Spalding Manuscript theory' of the origin of the Book of
Mormon. . . . That there is nothing in my book to indicate
that I had ever heard that Spalding had 'written three manu-
scripts', is certainly true, and for the obvious reason that in
that work I deal with facts rather than fancies and unsup-
ported assertion.* I was, at the time my book was written,
fully aware that such assertions had repeatedly been made,
but as I have never been able to obtain the testimony of a
single witness in support of the claim, I have unhesitatingly
dismissed it as an idle speculation." — Christian-Evangelist,
November 2, 1899, p. 1394.

THE OPINIONS OF SIXTY PROMINENT MINISTERS,
JOURNALISTS, AND HISTORIANS ON PRE-
HISTORIC CIVILIZATION IN AMERICA.
—THE BOOK OF MORMON NEEDED.

Question, asked by Bishop C. J. Hunt:

"Please favor me with the name of a book, if you can, that
will give an authentic account of the peopling of America, the
builders of the great cities, temples, etc., centuries before the
coming of Columbus, or occupancy by the Indians, as proven
by archaeologists."

Answers came as follows:

Rev. G. Campbell Morgan, D. D., London: "I am afraid 1
can not help you."

Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, D. D., Brooklyn: "The best

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 91

book that I know on the subject regarding which you write,
is McMaster's History of the People of the United States, four
volumes."

The editor of the Christian Instructor, Philadelphia, wrote:
"The best book we know of for your reading is Andrew
Bryce's American Commonwealth."

Walter Lemley, editor Zion's Watchman, Albany, New
York: "I am sorry to say that I do not know of any such
book."

Bishop T. N. Morrison, Episcopalian, Davenport, Iowa: "I
can not name a book to you covering the ground."

Bishop C. C. Grafton, Protestant Episcopal, wrote from
Baltimore: "I should be glad to answer your question if I
were able to do so. I do not remember the name of a book
giving the information you desire."

Rev. J. G. Monfort, editor Herald and Presbyter, Cincinnati,
Ohio: "The Antiquarian and Oriental Journal is the highest
authority in this country on this subject."

J. J. Summerbell, editor Herald of Gospel Liberty, Dayton,
Ohio: "I would recommend you to consult a large cyclopedia,
or several, such as are found in public libraries, ... I am
not qualified to pronounce on the reliability of the various
authors, and might mislead. Your position is correct, of the
civilization, and civilizations long ago."

Rev. J. G. Butler, Lutheran, Washington: "I regret that I
am not able to give you the information you desire. I have
made some inquiry, but have not found anyone who knows
more than I about this long ago history."

The International Reform Bureau, Washington: "We spent
considerable time trying to hunt up the matter, . . . but
failed."

Rev. J. C. McQuiddy, office editor, Gospel Advocate, Nash-
ville, Tennessee: "De Roo's Prehistoric America, in two
volumes, . . . will give you the information you desire."

Rev. A. P. Doyle, Catholic, Washington, says De Roo's
works "are the most reliable."

Rev. L. L. Carpenter, Christian, Wabash, Indiana: "I

92 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

regret to say that I am not able to give you the asked for
information."

Rev. D. G. Porter, Christian, Waterbury, Connecticut: "I
doubt very much whether there is any book relating to the
subject which can properly be called authentic."

Rev. T. J. Golighty, Christian, Lebanon, Kentucky: "The
book you call for I have never been able to find myself."

G. F. Bowerman, librarian, Public Library of the District
of Columbia, Washington: "I think that you will find what
you need in volume 1 of Winsor's Narrative and Critical
History of America."

W. E. Huntington, president of Boston University: "I do
not feel competent to answer this request very fully, but judge
from what I know of the literature on such questions that
Prescott's work on Mexico and Bancroft's large book on the
Races of America would be as satisfactory as any you might
consult."

Philip Cowen, publisher American Hebrew and Jewish Mes-
senger, New York: "Replying to your letter . . . asking for a
book that will give an authentic account of the peopling of
America, etc., before the coming of Columbus, I would say
that there is no one work which contains this matter."

B. A. M. Schapiro, Jew, editor The People, The Land, and
The Book, New York: "I think Prescott's works will give
you the information you need."

Prof. I. Friedlanender, of the Jewish Theological Seminary
of America, New York: "I am extremely sorry of not being
able to give you the desired information. I never made a
study of the subject mentioned in your letter."

Henry G. Talmage, associate editor, Sunday School Times,
Philadelphia: "Almost any good history of America would
give the theories of the peopling of America before Columbus'
time."

Rev. I. L. Kephart, United Brethren, editor Religious Tele-
scope, Dayton, Ohio: "Baldwin's Ancient America ... is
the book you want."

Rev. D. R. Miller, D. D., United Brethren, Saint Marys,
Ohio: "A satisfactory description of the people about whom

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 93

you inquire is not well established, nor can we find a book
which will authentically and satisfactorily account for them.
Yet it is reasonably certain that there were approximately
such."

F. L. Piper, editor of the World's Crisis and Advent Chris-
tian Messenger, Boston: "There probably is no such book as
you ask for."

Rev. George Batchelor, editor of the Christian Register,
Boston: "All the best work that is now done* in history is
done by specialists, so that it is impossible for me to name any
one book that covers all the ground you indicate."

W. W. Prescott, Adventist, editor of the Advent Review
and Sabbath Herald, Washington: "I am unable to give you
the name of any book containing the account of the original
peopling of America."

M. C. Wilcox, Adventist, editor of the Signs of the Times,
Mountain View, California: "I know of no such book which
gives any authentic account. The only records which we have
at all are what have been left in the ruined temples and
hieroglyphics of that people. Probably the Mexicans and
Peruvians were their descendants, but they have left us no au-
thentic account. But no one has yet been able to decipher the
inscriptions on the monuments so as to get from them the his-
tory of the people. Of course, from the Bible, one thinks that
they must have been descendants of Noah. Remains have been
found which would indicate that they had some knowledge of
God's 'Ten words,' and the tradition of the flood has been
held by many of the later tribes or aboriginal Americans. The
present tribes of Indians may some of them be descendants of
the earlier inhabitants, greatly degenerated."

J. H. Moore, office editor of the Gospel Messenger, Elgin,
Illinois, a German Baptist Brethren paper, said: "I am not
able to give you the desired information regarding the books
treating of the history of this country prior to the discovery
of America by Columbus."

Henry Temple, professor of ancient history in the Wash-
ington and Jefferson College, Presbyterian, Washington, Penn-
sylvania, gave short accounts of Briton's Chronicles of the

94 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Mayas, E. J. Payne's History of the . New World Called
America, and John Fiske's Discovery of America, then said:
"These books represent the sanest scholarship on this matter
and are free from the wild dreams [which] destroy the value
of so many of the popular books about the civilization of
ancient America."

The following gentlemen sent names of books on American
archaeology but did not commit themselves, as a rule, to their
authenticity: Rev. John Alexander Dowie, Zion City; Rev.
J. A. McFaul, Catholic, bishop of Trenton, New Jersey; Rev.
G. B. Winton, editor of the Christian Advocate, Nashville,
Tennessee; Rev. A. H. Bradford, Congregationalist, Montclair,
New Jersey; E. B. Ebey, editor of the Free Methodist, Chi-
cago; Rev. J. Sheatsley, Lutheran, Delaware, Ohio; Rev. G.
T. Cooperider, editor Lutheran Standard, Columbus, Ohio;
J. B. Warren, Ph. D., Presbyterian, Milan, Ohio; Rev. Louis
Klopsch, editor of the Christian Herald, New York; Rev.
Archibald McLellen, editor of the Christian Science Journal,
Boston; Rev. C. H. Forney, editor of the Church Advocate,
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

We now present a number of extracts from some of the
historical works referred to by the above named clergymen
and noted writers, also statements from journals, etc., which
show their own unsettled minds and diversified theories re-
garding prehistoric civilization in America.

Stories of Pioneer Days, etc., introduction, page 13, W. E.
and L. V. Chapin, said of the aboriginal Americans: "Whose
antiquity is unknown."

Josiah Priest, in American Antiquities, edition of 1838, page
361, (1833 edition, p. 373,) says: "But what has finally be-
come of these, nations, and where are their descendants, are
questions, which, could they be answered, would be highly
gratifying."

W. Pidgeon, in his Tradition of De-coo-dah and Antiquarian
Researches, edition of 1853, page 11, says: "But it yet re-
mains for America to awake her story f-om sleep, to string
lyre, and nerve the pen, to tell the tale of her antiquities, as

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 95

seen in the relics of nations, coeval perhaps with the oldest
works of man." — Palmyra to Independence, p. 3.

The Christian Herald, New York, July 8, 1903, quoted
Doctor Leon, the eminent archaeologist of the National Mu-
seum, after he had visited wonderful ruined cities, etc., of
Mexico. He said: "It is strange we should know nothing
of the existence of a people so highly civilized as to erect
such edifices."

Marquis de Nadaillac, in Prehistoric America, page 395,
says: "Everything proves the power and wealth of a peo-
ple the very name of whom has remained uncertain."

Again: "At every turn South America presents vestiges
of a vanished race, of a culture now lost; and we are al-
ways compelled to one conclusion as to our absolute power-
lessness to decide on the origin or cause of the decadence of
these races, now represented by a few miserable savages with-
out a past, as without a future." — Presidency and Priesthood,
pp. 270, 271.

Prof. John L. Stephens, in. Travels in Central America, etc.,
volume 2, page 356, said: "What we had before our eyes was
grand, curious, and remarkable enough. Here were the re-
mains of a cultivated, polished, and peculiar people, who had
passed through all the stages incident to the rise and fall of
nations, reached their golden age, and perished entirely un-
known. The links that connected them with the human family
were severed and lost, and these were the only memorials of
their footsteps upon earth. We lived in the ruined palace of
their kings; we went up to their desolate temples and fallen
altars; and wherever we moved we saw the evidence of their
taste, their skill in arts, their wealth and power."

H. H. Bancroft, Native Races of the Pacific States, Tolume
5, page 146, says: "Stephens' account has been the chief
source from which all subsequent writers, including myself,
have drawn their information." — Lectures by H. A. Stebbins,
p. 71.

John Ranking, in Historical Researches on the Conquest of
Peru, Mexico, etc., speaking of the origin of the native races,
page 290, said: "Clavijero acknowledges, that the more he

96 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

endeavors to elucidate these questions, the more he is puzzled
and reduced to despair." — Zion's Ensign, vol. 16, p. 5.

S. B. Evans, in Chicago Times, 1881, says: "There have
been at least two civilizations that have lived and dwindled
away on the continent prior to the Aztecs or Toltecs, of
Mexico; the last of which must have ceased to exist at least
from a thousand to fifteen hundred years ago, and occupied
the time of at least one thousand years of civilization here." —
Parsons' Text Book, p. 13.

Peru, by Markham, page 68, says: "These marvelous ruins
point to the former existence of a large population, and to the
guiding hand of some powerful sovereign; but their history
is entirely lost in remote antiquity." — Committee's Report,
p. 26.

Professor Le Plongeon, in Sacred Mysteries, page 70, says:
"Anciently, this country [Yucatan] now well-nigh depopu-
lated, was thickly peopled by a highly civilized nation. If we
are to judge by the great number of large cities whose ruins
exist, scattered in the midst of the forests throughout the
country, and by the stupendous edifices, once upon a time
temples of the gods; or palaces of the kings and priests, whose
walls are covered with inscriptions, bas-reliefs, and other
interesting sculptures that equal in beauty of design and
masterly execution, those of Egypt and Babylon." — Parsons'
Text Book, pp. 3, 4.

Prescott, volume 1, pages 12 and 13, speaking of the yarious
races of ancient America, and more particularly of the west
central part of South America: "Who this race were, and
whence they came, may afford a tempting theme for inquiry
to the speculative antiquarian. But it is a land of darkness
that lies far beyond the domain of history." — Committee's
Report, p. 20.

Professor Baldwin in his work issued in 1871, says in its
preface: "The purpose of this volume is to give a summary
of what is known of American antiquities. . . . Many of the
more important of these works are either in French or Span-
ish, or in great English quartos and folios . . . and not one

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 97

of them attempts to give a comprehensive view of the whole
subject."

Doctor George L. Cole, archaeologist, writing to the Epivorth
Herald, a Methodist Episcopal paper, December 3, 1904, said
of the "home of primitive man" in Colorado and New Mexico,
after giving account of several great stone buildings: "Un-
covering forty or fifty rooms in different portions of the
great building, we were able to gather much as to the life,
habits, and customs of the strange people who once dwelt
here, but whose history is otherwise unwritten and unknown."

Reverend Doctor Baum, president of the Records of the
Past Exploration Society, Washington, is reported in the
Denver Post, 1904, on the great prehistoric people of the
southwestern part of the United States. Of their buildings
he said: "They vary from two-room dwellings to structures
containing over two thousand rooms."

Of the people he said: "I believe this region maintained a
population of over ten millions of people. The time and the
cause of their disappearance is the problem we are trying to
solve."

The Gospel Messenger, representing the German Baptist
Brethren Church, (Dunkard,) Elgin, Illinois, January 10,
1903, said editorially: "Most of our readers have wondered
where the American Indians came from. Then they have puz-
zled themselves about the Mound Builders, and still more about
the intelligent races that built great cities in Mexico and Cen-
tral America long before the time of Columbus. Many books
have been written on these subjects, and still the learned
world is searching for more light."

Again, quoting Professor E. Seler, of Berlin, the Messenger
said: "Where the various prehistoric peoples originally came
from, no one knows. I do not think that they came from
Asia in comparatively recent times. Man is very old in
America, I think; perhaps he antedates the glacial period."

Dellenbaugh, in North America of Yesterday, 1901, page
428, said: "The manner in which America was originally
peopled has been the cause of considerable speculation. . . .
It is my belief that all the tribes of the northwest migrated

98 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

there from the south and southeast, and not within recent
geological time from the Asiatic direction." — Zion's Ensign,
March 9, 1905.

Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 1, 1878, article "America":
"If we consider every little "wandering horde a distinct com-
munity, we have a greater number of nations here than in all
the rest of the world. . . . We think we perceive them all to
be descended from the same stock, notwithstanding the prodi-
gious diversity of their languages." — Zion's Ensign, vol. 16,
no. 11.

Doctor West, of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, relates that an
old Indian informed him that his fathers in this country had
not long since been in the possession of a book, which they
had for a long time carried with them, but having lost the
knowledge of reading it they buried it with an Indian chief."
—Views of the Hebrews, p. 223, quoted from Josiah Priest
Autobiography of America, p. 67.

C. J. HUNT.

DELOIT, IOWA.

— Saints' Herald, August 30, 1905.

SOME OBJECTIONS TO THE BOOK OF MORMON.

CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC FACTS.

"Of the rivers of Arabia, none are navigable; few are
perennial or reach the sea. Some such, however, have been
marked ... by the travelers, Wellsted and W. B. Harris.
Glaser . . . would identify the Wady Humd, first traced by
Doughty, which traverses the Hijas and flows into the Red
Sea."— Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 1, p. 132. The New Inter-
national Encyclopedia says: "The Wadj Rumen is the long-
est river, traversing under different names the entire country
from west to east." — Volume 1, p. 691.

" 'Arabia Felix' — the southern coast, — Hadramanta — here
are found all the fruits of temperate and warm climates,
among which the date, the fruit of the palm tree, is the most
common, and is, along with species of grain called dhourra,
the staple article of food." — Encyclopedia Biblical Literature,
vol. 1, p. 180.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 99

"Among the minerals of Arabia, may be mentioned iron,
copper, lead, coal, basalt, and asphaltum." — International
Cyclopedia, vol. 1, article "Arabia," p. 692.

EVIDENCING A KNOWLEDGE OF BURIED RECORDS.

"The Ojibway Indians, relates Mr. Copway, had three de-
positories for sacred records near the waters of Lake Supe-
rior. Ten of the wisest and most venerable men of the nation
dwelt near these and were appointed guardians over them.
Fifteen years intervened between the opening of these records.
If any vacancies had been caused by death, others were chosen
in the spring of the year; and in the month of August these
were called to witness the ceremony. As they were opened,
all the information respecting them was given. After this,
the plates were closely examined, and if any had begun to
decay, they were taken out, an exact copy was made and
placed in its stead. The old one was divided equally among
the wise men. It was very highly valued for being deposited;
every fiber was sacred, and was considered capable of en-
dowing the possessor with wisdom. These records were writ-
ten on slate rock, copper, lead, and the bark of birch trees.
It is claimed they contain the transcript of what the Great
Spirit gave the Indian after the flood, which has been trans-
mitted by the hands of wise men to other parts of the country
ever since. There is a code of moral laws which the Indian
calls a 'path made by the Great Spirit.' They believe a long
life will result from obedience thereto. The records contain
certain emblems, which transmit the ancient form of worship,
and the rules for the dedication to the four spirits who
alone are to expound them. In them are represented how
men lived before death entered the world; and the path he
then followed marked out an example for those of the present
time." — Prehistoric America, by Rev. S. B. Peet, vol. 1, p. 244.

SIDNEY RIGDON'S WHEREABOUTS DESIGNATED.

November 2, 1826: Solemnized a marriage contract be-
tween John G. Smith and Julia Giles, in Geauga County,
Ohio. December 13, 1826, returns and record of marriage.

100 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

January, 1827: Held public meetings in Mantua, Ohio.

Hayden's History of the Disciples of the Western Reserve,
p. 237.

February, 1827: Preached funeral discourse of Hannah
Tanner, Chester, Ohio.

March, April, 1827: Held protracted meetings in Mentor,
Ohio, baptizing Nancy M. Sanford, William Dunsen and wife
and others.

June 5, 1827: Solemnized marriage between Theron Free-
man and Elizabeth Waterman, Geauga County, Ohio.

June 15, 1827: Baptized Thomas Clapp- and others, Men-
tor, Ohio.

July 3, 1827: Solemnized marriage between James Gray
and Mary Kerr, Mentor, Ohio.

July 19, 1827: Solemnized marriage between Alden Snow
and Ruth Parker, Kirtland, Ohio.

August 23, 1827 : Meeting with the Ministerial Association,
New Lisbon, Ohio. — History of the Disciples, pp. 55, 57.

October 9, 1827 : Solemnized marriage of Stephen Sherman
and Wealthy Matthews, Mentor, Ohio.

October 20, 1827: Ministerial Council at Warren, Ohio.—
History of the Disciples, p. 137.

November, 1827: Preaching at New Lisbon, Ohio. — History
of the Disciples, pp. 72-75.

December 6, 1827: Solemnized marriage of Oliver Wait
and Eliza Gunn, at Concord, Geauga County, Ohio.

December 13, 1827: Solemnized marriage of Roswell D.
Cottrel and Matilda Olds, Concord, 'Ohio.

January 8, 1828: Return of marriage made at Chardon,
Ohio.

February 14, 1828: Solemnized marriage between Otis
Herrington and Lyma Corning, Mentor, Ohio.

March, 1828: Instructing class in theology, in Mentor,
Ohio, Zebulon Rudolph being a member. Also held great
religious meetings in Mentor and Warren, Ohio. — History of
the Disciples, p. 198.

March 31, 1828: Returns made to Chardon, Ohio.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 101

April, 1828: Holds great religious revival at Kirtland,
Ohio. — History of the Disciples, p. 194.

May, 1828: Meets Campbell at Shalersville, Ohio, and
holds protracted meetings. — History of the Disciples, p. 155.

June, 1828: Baptized Henry H. Clapp, Mentor, Ohio.

August, 1828: Attended great yearly association at War-
ren, Ohio.

September, 1828: Solemnized marriage between Luther
Dille and Clarissa Kent.

September 18, 1828: Solemnized marriage between Na-
Chore Corning and Phoebe E. Wilson, Mentor, Ohio.

October 13, 1828: Returns made to Chardon, Ohio.

January 1, 1829: Solemnized marriage between Albert
Churchill and Anna Fosdick, Concord, Ohio.

February 1, 1829: Solemnized marriage between Erastus
Root and Rebecca Tuttle.

February 12, 1829 : Returns made to Chardon, Ohio.

March, 1829 : Protracted meeting at Mentor, Ohio.

April 12, 1829 : Protracted meeting at Kirtland, Ohio.

July 1, 1829: Organized church at Perry, Ohio. — History
of the Disciples, p. 346.

August 13, 1829: Solemnized marriage between John
Strong and Ann Eliza Moore, Kirtland, Ohio.

September 14, 1829 : Solemnized marriage between Darwin
Atwater and Harriet Clapp, Mentor, Ohio.

September, 1829: Meeting at Mentor, Ohio; baptized J. J.
Moss, Disciple minister of note.

October 1, 1829: Solemnized marriage between Joel Rob-
erts and Relief Bates, Perry, Ohio.

October, 1829: At Perry, Ohio.— History of the Disciples,
pp. 207-409.

November, 1829: Wait Hill, Ohio; baptized Alvin Wait.
—History of the Disciples, pp. 204-207.

December 31, 1829: Solemnized marriage between David
Cloudier and Polly Johnson, Chagrin, Ohio.

January 12, 1830: Returns to Cleveland, Ohio.

March, 1830: Mentor, Ohio.

102 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

June 1 to 30, 1830: Mentor, Ohio. — Millennial Harbinger,
p. 389.

July, 1830: Protracted meeting at Pleasant Valley, Ohio;
baptized forty-five.

August, 1830: With Alexander Campbell at Austintown,
Ohio.— History of the Disciples, p. 209.

November 4, 1830: Solemnized marriage between Lewis
B. Wood and Laura Cleveland, Kirtland, Ohio.

December, 1830: Was converted to the faith of and united
with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints under
the preaching of P. P. Pratt and Oliver Cowdery.

The State of Ohio, Geauga County, ss. (probate court) :
I, H. K. Smith, judge of the probate court in and for said
county, hereby certify that the above and foregoing certifi-
cates, numbering from one to sixteen, were truly taken and
copied from the record of marriages in this county, preserved
in this office, where the same by law are required to be
kept. In testimony whereof I have set my hand and affixed
the seal of said court at Chardon, this 27th day of April,
A. D., 1891. (Signed) H. K. SMITH,

[SEAL] Probate Judge.

In the probate court, State of Ohio, Cuyahoga County, ss.
I, Henry C. White, judge of said court, do hereby certify
that the foregoing is a true and correct transcript taken from
the marriage records in this office, where the same is by law
required to be kept.

(Signed) HENRY C. 'WHITE, Probate Judge.

[Seal] BY H. A. SCHWAB, Dept. Clerk.

The above obtained by Elder E. L. Kelley, as found in
Saints' Herald, vol. 41, pp. 733 and 734, November, 1894.

FACTS GATHERED BY ELDER J. F. MINTUN; AS

FOUND IN A TRACT ON THE BOOK

OF MORMON.

The wife of Rev. Solomon Spalding wrote in 1839, as
printed in the Boston Recorder:

"In the town of New Salem (sometimes called Conneaut)
were numerous mounds and forts.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 103

"Mr. Spalding . . . conceived the idea of giving an
historical sketch of this long lost race. His sole object in
writing this historical romance was to amuse himself and
neighbors. This was in 1812.

"From New Salem we removed to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Here Mr. Spalding found an acquaintance and friend in the
person of Mr. Patterson, v/ho . . . borrowed it for perusal.

"At length the manuscript was returned to the author . . .
Mr. Spalding, deceased, in 1816. The manuscript fell into
my hands and was carefully preserved.

"The excitement in New Salem became so great that the
inhabitants had a meeting and deputed Dr. Philastus
Hurlbut ... to obtain from me the original manuscript of
Mr. Spalding. . . . This was in 1834."

Mrs. M. S. McKinstry, daughter of Reverend Spalding,
wrote April 3, 1880, as printed in Scribner's Magazine,
August, 1880. From this article I extract:

"During the war of 1812 I was residing in a little town
in Ohio called Conneaut. . . . There were some round mounds
of earth near our house which greatly interested him (Mr.
Spalding) .... He talked with my mother of these discoveries
in the mounds, and was writing every day as the work
progressed. Afterwards he read the manuscript which I had
seen him writing, to the neighbors.

"We removed from Conneaut to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

"In 1816 my father died at Amity, Pennsylvania, and
directly after his death my mother and myself went on a visit
to Onondaga Valley, New York. . . . We carried all our per-
sonal effects with us, and one of these was an old trunk in
which my mother had placed all my father's writings which
had been preserved. . . . There were sermons and other
papers, and I saw a manuscript about an inch thick closely
written. . . . On the outside of this manuscript was written
the words Manuscript Found. ... I was about eleven years of
age at this time.

"In 1820 she (Mrs. Spalding) married Mr. Davison of
Hartwick's, a village near Cooperstown, New York, and sent
for the things she had left at Onondaga Valley, and I re-

104 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

member that the old trunk with its contents reached her
in safety.

"I believe it was in 1834 that a man named Hurlbut came
to my house at Monson, Massachusetts, to see my mother, who
told us that he had been sent by a committee to procure the
'Manuscript Found,' written by the Rev. Solomon Spalding,
so as to compare it with the Mormon Bible. . . . On the
repeated promise of Hurlbut to return the manuscript to us,
she gave him a letter to Mr. Clark to open the trunk and
deliver it to him. We afterward heard that he did receive
it from Mr. Clark at Hartwick's, but from that time we
have never had it in our possession, and have no present
knowledge of its existence."

I have now traced the existence of the manuscript that
has been made to do service in opposing the claims for
the origin of the Book of Mormon, from the time it was
written in 1812 to 1834, when Hurlbut obtained it.

Mr. D. P. Hurlbut wrote August 19, 1879, from which I
extract :

"I visited Mrs. Matilda (Spalding) Davison at Monson,
Massachusetts, in 1834, and never saw her afterwards. I
then received from her a manuscript of her husband's, which
I did not read, but brought home with me, and immediately
gave to Mr. E. D. Howe, of Painesville, Ohio, who was then
engaged in preparing his book Mormonism Unveiled."-
Braden-Kelley Debate, p. 91.

Mr. E. D. Howe wrote, July 26, 1881, to Apostle T. W.
Smith, in which letter is the following:

"The manuscript that came into my possession I sus-
pect was destroyed by fire forty years ago." — Saints' Herald,
vol. 28, p. 269.

Mr. L. L. Rice wrote from Honolulu, Sandwich Islands,
March 28, 1885, to Joseph Smith, from which I extract:

"The Spalding Manuscript in my possession came into my
hands in this wise. In 1839-1840 my partner and myself
bought of E. D. Howe the Painesville Telegraph, published
at Painesville, Ohio. The transfer of the printing depart-
ment, types, press, etc., was accompanied with a large col-

PARSONS'. TEXT BOOK 105

lection of books, manuscripts, etc., this manuscript of Spal-
ding's among the rest. So, you see, it has been in my pos-
session over forty years." — Church History, vol. 4, p. 471.

SPALDING'S ROMANCE FOUND.

"The theory of the origin of the Book of Mormon in the
traditional manuscript of Solomon Spalding will probably
have to be relinquished. That manuscript is doubtless now
in the possession of Mr. L. L. Rice, of Honolulu, Hawaiian
Islands. ... It was enveloped in a coarse piece of wrapping
paper, and was indorsed in Mr. Rice's handwriting, "A
manuscript story." There seems no reason to doubt that
this is the long lost story. Mr. Rice, myself and others
compared it with the Book of Mormon and could detect
no resemblance between the two, in general or in detail.
There seems to be no name or incident common to the two.
. . . Some other explanation of the origin of the Book of
Mormon must be found, if any explanation is required.

"JAMES H. FAIRCHILD."
—Ibid., pp. 470, 471.

"HONOLULU, SANDWICH ISLANDS, May 14, 1885.
"MR. JOSEPH SMITH:

"Dear Sir: . . . Two things are true concerning this manu-
script in my possession — first, it is a genuine writing of Solo-
mon Spalding; and second, it is not the original of the Book
of Mormon. "Very respectfully yours,

"L. L. RICE."
—Ibid., p. 473.

Davis H. Bays says: "The usual debater undertakes to
trace the Book of Mormon to the Spalding romance through
Sidney Rigdon. Nothing can be more erroneous, and it will
lead to almost certain defeat. The well-informed advocate
of Mormonism wants no better amusement than to vanquish
an opponent in discussion who takes this ground. The facts
are all opposed to this view, and the defenders of the Mor-
mon dogma have the facts well in hand. I speak from ex-
perience."—Page 22. Quoted from The Truth Defended, p. 39.

106 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Saint Louis Christian Publishing Company, 1897, has this
to say on Bays' book, Doctrine and Dogmas of Mormonism:
"The subject is given a thorough treatment by one well versed
in Mormonism. The author's knowledge of the teaching, doc-
trines and dogmas of the Mormon church was obtained by a
close relationship with all the prominent leaders of that
faith. It is certainly a book of reference, accurate and relia-
ble. Every important question pertaining to the peculiarities
of the Mormons is discussed and answered from a biblical
and philosophical standpoint. The author does not use ridi-
cule or burlesque to supply the place of logic and argument.
He meets every question with painstaking arguments, showing
great familiarity with the fundamental principles relied on
by Mormons to sustain their doctrines. A careful study of
this work will convince the reader that the author has com-
pletely examined and refuted the 'doctrines and dogmas of
Mormonism.' " — Introductory of the Truth Defended, by Elder
Heman C. Smith.

WOE TO THE LAND SHADOWING WITH WINGS.

A WORD IN A FIT PLACE.

A copy of the Armory, published at Boston, Massachusetts,
by H. L. Hastings, for August, has been sent us by some
friend of the cause. In it is an article from Israel's Messiah,
entitled, "A refuge for persecuted Jews." From this article
we quote the following:

"Rabbi Isaac Leeser, of Philadelphia, the translator of the
Hebrew Bible, says that the prophecy in the eighteenth chap-
ter of the Prophet Isaiah, 'Ho! to the land with spreading
wings, which is beyond the rivers of Cush, that sendeth on
the sea embassadors, and in vessels of gomeh messengers over
the face of the waters,' is a prophecy relating to America.
Standing where the prophet stood, and looking 'beyond the
rivers of Cush,' or Ethiopia, the first land we strike is the
Western World. And this land, — the very name of which was
then unknown, — with its emblem, the eagle with 'spreading
wings,' whose embassadors are all sent by sea, in the swift-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 107

est ships, has opened to the sons of Israei such a refuge
as no other land afforded for seventeen hundred years. Into
this land the teeming multitudes of earth have poured at a
rate unexampled in history; and in this land was first enun-
ciated the grand doctrine that all men were created free
and equal; and that Jews as well as Gentiles had 'a right
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' Some other
nations have since ceased to persecute the Jews, but the
statute books of the United States of America have never
been stained with laws against the exiled sons of Israel; and
here for the first time since their dispersion, was an asy-
lum opened where the Jewish wanderer could find rest, justice,
and right." — International Cyclopedia.

"Ethiopia, the biblical Kush. Originally, all the nations
inhabiting the southern part of the globe, as known to the
ancients; or rather, all men of dark-brown or black color,
were called Ethiopians. Later this name was given more
particularly to the inhabitants of the countries south of
Libya (see gen. hist.) and Egypt, or the upper Nile, extend-
ing from 10 to 25 degrees north latitude, 45 to 58 degrees
east longitude — the present Nubia, Sennaar, Kordofan, Abys-
sinia."— Quoted from the Saints' Herald for July 9, 1902, vol.
49, pp. 679, 680. From the article of Bishop C. J. Hunt.

FACTS I GATHERED MYSELF, IN CONFIRMATION
OF THE BOOK OF MORMON BEING TRUE.

"The wisdom of their wise men shall perish." — Isaiah 29: 14.

A PARADIGM OF MODERN AND ANCIENT WORDS.

Book of Mormon, 1830. Recent Discoveries.

Cumeni, a city (pronounced, Cuemani, a river just north

ku' men-i). of the Equator.

—Alma 26: 15.

Naphtali, section of country, Napiare, river.

—2 Nephi 9: 61.

Nephi, man's name. — 1 Nephi Nechi, a river almost east of

1: 1. the isthmus.

108 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Cumorah, a section of coun- Coromora, a river, north part

try, (pronounced, ku-mo'- of South America.

rah.) — Mormon 3 : 3.

Jarom, a man's name. — Ja- Jiron, a town.

rom 1: 1.

Manti, a man's name. — Alma Manati, a city in the north

1: 78. part of South America.

Moroni, a man's name. — Moreno, a city in the Central

Ether 1 : 82. part of Colombia.

Foregoing information was taken from Rand McNally &
Co.'s Atlas of the World, copyrighted in 1905.

In Ecuador, we find the "Morona River" corresponding
with the name "Moroni." (Ether 1: 1.)

Moroni, as found in northern part of South America. —
Pictorial Atlas.

In Venezuela, is found the word Morni. Rand McNally &
Co.'s Atlas, 1906.

John T. Short says (North American Antiquities, p. 438)
that the translation of the days (of Maya's) are equivalent
to the following: "Muluc," (Book of Mormon, Alma 23: 32
"Mulek"; Mosiah 11:78: "Mulok," and 13:3: "Muloki,")
which Mr. Short says means "reunion." "Ben," which is
an abbreviation of the Book of Mormon, "Benjamin" (Omni
1:40). "Lamot," corresponding with "Lamoni," (Alma 12:
35).

Again he says that they called one of their months "Cumhu,"
almost the same as "Cumeni" (Alma 26: 15)
Fourteen words, many of which are identical with Book of

Mormon names.

p. par. B. of M.

753 37 — Akish, now called Ake, Baldwin's Ancient America,

p. 144.
626 31 — Gilgal, now called Galal, Baldwin's Ancient America,

p. 146.
729 40 — Kib, now called Kabah, Baldwin's Ancient America,

p. 155.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 109

364 29 — Ishmael, now called Izamal, Baldwin's Ancient

America, p. 144.
95 13 — Nephites, now called Neophites, Bancroft, Native

Races, vol. 1, p. 450.
627 38 — Laman, now called Laman, Universal Geography, E.

Reclus, vol. 3, p. 283.
510 15 — Manti, now called Manti, American Antiquarian,

Rev. S. D. Peet, March, 1900, p. 129.
525 5 — Moroni, now called Moroni, any map S. A., Div.,

French and Dutch Guiana.
510 15 — Cumeni, now called Cuemani, any atlas, map of

Columbia.
689 27 — David, now called David, Columbian atlas world, S.

A. Colombia, northwestern part.
81 52— Sam, now called Sami, U. S. Bur. Eth., vol. 19,

pp. 605, 625, 628.

562 129 — Mulek, now called Muluc, North Americans of Anti-
quity, J. T. Short, p. 438.
714 6 — Moron, now called Moron, Bradley's Atlas Argentine

Republic, "J. 19."
387 73 — Desolation, now called Desaldo, any good atlas, Cape,

West Nicaragua.

The foregoing is quoted from an article by Fred B. Farr
in Saints' Herald.

FACTS GATHERED BY BRETHREN MILLER AND
THOMAS, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

"For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish." — Isaiah
29: 14.

Book of Mormon, 1830. Lately Found.

Nephites. Neophites.

Laman. Laman.

Manti. Manti.

Cumeni. Cuemani.

Moroni. Morona, Maroni, Marroni.

David. David.

110 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Sam. Sami.

Mulek. Muluc.

Moron. Moron.

Desolation. Desaldo (the Spanish name

for desolation).

Bancroft, Native Races, volume 1, page 450, edition 1882,
"Neophites," an Indian tribe.

Stamford's Compendium of Geography of Central and
South America, volume 2, page 23, edition of London, 1901:

"Mexican and Central American Stock Races and Language.
Ethnical and Historical Relations."

Stock. Main Division. Location.

Nicaragua.
Chontal LAMAN. Honduras.

Costa Rica.

Universal Geography by E. Reclus, "America," volume 3,
page 283: '"The Lamans . . . mostly designated by the names
of the rivers, inhabited by them."

Laman is also on the map of Central America, volume 3,
page 282, of the Universal Geography.

American Antiquarian, volume 22, No. 2, March and April,
1900, page 129, Reverend S. D. Peet, Ph. D., editor, 5817
Madison avenue, Chicago, Illinois:

"Near Manti, Ecuador, a remarkable archa?ological relic has
been found — one of the most interesting monuments in South
America, of an unknown and extinct civilization. Upon a plat-
form of massive rock blocks of stone, on the summit of a low
hill, is a natural amphitheater, and arranged in a perfect
circle are thirty enormous stone chairs, evidently the seats
of the mighty. Each chair is a monolith cut from a solid
block of granite, and they are fine specimens of stone-carv-
ings. The seats rest upon the back of a crouching sphinx
which has a decidedly Egyptian appearance. There are no
backs to the chairs, but two broad arms. This is supposed
to have been a place of meeting — an open-air council of the
chiefs of several tribes that made up the prehistoric nations

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 111

which were subdued by the Incas of Peru several hundred
years before the Spanish invasion."

Rand, McNally & Co.'s Index Atlas of the World, revised
edition, page 351, map of Colombia, "M. 10." Near the
equator you will find the city of Cuemani. Compare with
our Archaeological Committee's Report on the Book of Mormon,
map of the Land of Zarahemla, map No. 14, and you will
find that Rand, McNally & Co. find Cuemani just where the
Book of Mormon map locates Cumeni.

Prehistoric America by Nadaillac, "In the French colony
of Guiana, ... on the banks of the Maroni." — Page 27. Edi-
tion of 1901.

Morona River in Ecuador. (See Rand, McNally & Co.'s
Index Atlas of the World, revised edition, page 367, Morona
River, "B 3," in Ecuador.)

"Departing from there we went farther for eight miles
and came to a people called Marroni. They are a very
numerous people, and received us very well." The above
was taken from a book published in 1567 in German. A
careful transcript of the title-page reads as follows:

"The Conquest of the River Plate
"1535-1555.

"Voyage of Ulrich Schmidt to the Rivers La Plata and Para-
guia, from the original German edition of 1567.

"Translated for the Hakluyt Society, London, 1891."

U. S. Bur. Ethn., vol. 19, part 2, pp. 605, 625, 628. Under
the column of "men and boy's names" we find "Sami."

Professor Thomas of the U. S. Bur. Ethn., tells us this
name was found among an ancient tribe, one who preserved
their language and customs from contamination with foreign
tribes or people.

John T. Short, North Americans of Antiquity, page 438:
"Muluc" means "reunion." Again, "Muluc" — "to join to-
gether." (See U. S. Bur. Ethn., vol. 6, p. 238.) "To gather
together scattered things." — Brinton, p. 217.

Bradley's Atlas of the World, edition 1895, Argentine Re-
public, "J. 19," Moron.

112

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Universal Geography by E. Reclus, America, volume 4,
page 425:

"The long spear shaped island of which it forms a part has
been well named a 'land of desolation' recalling at the south-
ern extremity of the New World that other land of desolation
which lies at its northern extremity."

Stamford's Compendium of Geography, volume 2, page 487,
edition of London, 1901: In the west central part of Nica-
ragua the west .seashore, 12 north latitude, "Cape Desaldo."

PARALLELS AS FOUND IN THE BIBLE AND BOOK
OF MORMON.

Bible names of men.

Adam, Genesis 5: 1.
Noah, Genesis 5: 29.
Abraham, Genesis 17: 15.

Isaac, Genesis 22: 2.
Jacob, Genesis 27: 11.
Nahor, Genesis 24: 15.
Joseph, Genesis 30 : 24.
Levi, Genesis 29 : 34.
Laban, Genesis 24: 29.
Aaron, Exodus 4: 14.
Moses, Exodus 2 : 10.
Lemuel, Proverbs 31: 1.
Samuel, 1 Samuel 1 : 20.
Ishmael, Genesis 16: 15.
Gideon, Judges 6: 11.
Helem, 1 Chronicles 7: 35.
Manasseh, Genesis 41: 51.
Nimrod, Genesis 10 : 8.
Sariah, Genesis 18: 6.
Isaiah, Isaiah 1: 1.
Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1 : 1.
Timothy, 2 Corinthians 1 : 1.

Book of Mormon name? of

men.

Adam, 1 Nephi 1: 160, p. 15.
Noah, Book of Alma 11: 3.
Abraham, 1 Nephi 4 : 29.

275.

Isaac, Jacob 3: 6.
Jacob, Jacob 2 : 69.
Nehor, Alma 1 : 22, p. 300.
Joseph, 2 Nephi 2 : -6, p. 87.
Levi, Ether 1 : 6, p. 714.
Laban, 1 Nephi 1 : 71, p. 8.
Aaron, Mosiah 11: 203, p. 289.
Moses, Jarom 1: 11, p. 197.
Lemuel, 1 Nephi 1 : 37, p. 5.
Samuel, Helaman 5: 6, p. 587.
Ishmael, 1 Nephi 2 : 12, p. 17.
Gideon, Mosiah 9: 77, p. 262.
Helam, Mosiah 11 : 22, p. 275.
Manasseh, Alma 8: 3, p. 335.
Nimrod, Ether 3 : 60, p. 731.
Sariah, 1 Nephi 1 : 32, p. 5.
Isaiah, Nephi 9:4, p. 654.
Jeremiah, Nephi 9 : 4, p. 654.
Timothy, Nephi 9 : 4, p. 654.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

113

Jonas, John 21: 15.
David, 1 Samuel 16: 19.
Joshua, Numbers 14:6.
Benjamin, Genesis 35: 18.
Ammon, Genesis 19: 38.
Amalek, Genesis 36: 12.
Heth, Genesis 10: 15.
Israel, Genesis 48: 2.
Jared, Genesis 5: 15.
Kish, 1 Samuel 9: 1.
Lehi, Judges 15: 9.
Mary, Matthew 1: 16.
Zedekiah, Jeremiah 29 : 22.

Jonas, Nephi 9: 4, 654.
David, Mormon 1 : 27, p. 689.
Joshua, Mormon 1 : 27, p. 689.
Benjamin, Omni 1: 40, p. 202.
Ammon, Mosiah 5: 23, p. 228.
Amaleki, Omni 1 : 40, p. 202.
Heth, Ether 3: 69, p. 732.
Israel, 1 Nephi 5: 105, p. 55.
Jared, Ether 1 : 36, p. 718.
Kish, Ether 1 : 6, p. 714.
Lehi, 1 Nephi 1: 3, p. 2.
Mary, Mosiah 1 : 102, p. 216.
Zedekiah, 1 Nephi 1 : 3, p. 2.

VARIOUS WORDS USED ON BOTH CONTINENTS.
Zif (month), 1 Kings 6:1.

Jerusalem, Joshua 10: 1.

Sidon, Genesis 10: 15 (man).
Ephraim, Genesis 41: 52

(man).
Tower, Genesis 11: 5 (Babel).

Boaz, Ruth 2: 1 (man).

Antipas, Revelation 2: 13

(man).
Gad, Genesis 30:11 (man).

Jordan, Genesis 13: 10

(river).
Midian, Genesis 25: 2 (man).

Salem, Genesis 14: 18 (city).
Shem, Genesis 5: 32 (man).

Ziff, Mosiah 7:6, p. 239

(money) .
Jerusalem, 1 Nephi 1 : 67, p.

7 (C).

Sidon, Alma 10 : 86.
Ephraim, Ether 3: 46, p. 730.

(H).
Tower, Ether 1:5, p. 714.

(Babel).
Boaz, Mormon 2 : 22, p. 697.

(city).
Antipas, Alma 21 : 89, p. 474

(H).
Gad, Nephi 4:38, p. 627

(city).
Jordan, Mormon 2 : 28, p. 698

(city).
Midian, Alma 14:25, p. 391

(land).
Salem, Alma 10: 11, p. 350

(land).
Shem, Mormon 1 : 48, p. 691

(land).

114 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

BAPTISM BY IMMERSION IN WATER.

Mosheim says: "Baptism was publicly administered. . . .
The candidates for it were immersed wholly in water." — Book
1, cent. 2, part 2, chapter 4, vol. 1; edition of 1841, p. 137.

Smith, in his Dictionary of the Bible, says: "Baptism, . . .
properly and literally mean immersion." — Page 96.

Rev. John Wesley says: "We are buried with him." Allud-
ing to the ancient manner of baptizing by immersion : "That
as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory" — glorious
power of the Father, so we also by the same power should rise
again: and as he lives a new life in heaven, so we should
walk in newness of life. This, says the apostle, our very
baptism represents to us." — Notes on Romans 6 : 4, p. 376.

Again he says: "That he might sanctify it through the
word — the ordinary channel of all blessings; having cleansed
it — from the guilt and power of sin, by the washing of water —
in baptism, if with the 'outward and visible sign,' we receive
the inward and spiritual grace." — Notes on Ephesians 5: 26,
p. 500.

Again: "Which he wrought in you, when ye were as it
were buried with him in baptism. The ancient manner of
baptizing by immersion." — Notes on Colossians 2: 12, p. 520.

Rev. Cardinal Gibbons says: "For several centuries after
the establishment of Christianity, baptism was usually con-
ferred by immersion; but since the twelfth century, the
practice of baptizing by infusion has prevailed in the Catholic
Church, as this manner is attended with less inconvenience
than baptism by immersion." — The Faith of our Fathers, p.
317. Edition of 1897.

Novatus: "Who, aided by the exorcists, when attacked
with an obstinate disease, and being supposed at the point
of death, was baptized by aspersion, in the bed on which he
lay: if indeed, it be proper to say that one like him did
receive baptism. But neither when he recovered from dis-
ease, did he partake of other things, which the rules of the
church prescribed as a duty, nor was he sealed (in confirma-
tion) by the bishop. But as he did not obtain this, how

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 115

could he obtain the Holy Spirit?" — Campbell and Purcell de-
bate, p. 110.

Rev. W. B. Boggs says: "THe Greek, or Eastern Church,
so called in distinction from the Roman, Latin, or Western
Church, extends over Greece and all through Russia, from
the Black Sea to Siberia, and has branches scattered through
Egypt, Abyssinia, Arabia, Palestine, and other African and
Asiatic countries. Now it is well known that the Greek
Church has always practiced, and still invariably practices,
immersion in baptism, even in the severe climate of Northern
Russia."— The Baptists, p. 82.

John Wesley: "The antitype whereof — the thing typified
by the ark, even baptism, now saveth us — that is, through the
water of baptism we are saved from the sin which over-
whelms the world as a flood." — Notes on 1 Peter 3: 21, p. 615.

Bishop Bossuet, a Catholic, says: "In fine, we read not
in the Scripture that baptism was otherwise administered,
(than by immersion;) and we are able to make it appear by
the acts of councils, and by the ancient rituals, that for
thirteen hundred years baptism was thus administered
throughout .the whole church." — Tri-lemma, p. 98, published
in 1883.

Bishop Pise, a Catholic, says: "There are many things
believed by all Christians at the present day, not to be found
in the Scripture. . . . We nowhere find that the apostles
oaptized infants, and if it be proper and necessary to baptize
infants as well as adults, we have no other authority, and
must depend entirely on tradition." — Tri-lemma, pp. 97, 98.

Neander says: "The usual form of submersion at baptism,
practiced by the Jews, was passed over to the Gentile Chris-
tians. Indeed this form was the most suitable to signify that
Christ intended to render an object of contemplation by such
a. symbol; the immersion of the whole man in the spirit of a
new life." — Planting and Training of the Christian Churc'h,
p. 161. Quoted from The Baptists, by Rev. W. B. Boggs,
pp. 68, 69.

Venema says: "It is without controversy that baptism in

116 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

the primitive church was administered by immersion into
water, and not by sprinkling." — Ibid., p. 69.

Professor Kurtz, of the Ecclesiastical History at Dorpat,
says: "Baptism was administered by a complete immersion
in the name of Christ, or the Triune God."— Ibid., pp. 69,' 70.
Dr. Philip Schaff, of New York, says: "The usual form
of the act was immersion, as is plain from the original mean-
ing of the Greek words, from the analogy of John's baptism
in the Jordan, . . . and finally from the custom of the ancient
church, which prevails in the East to this day." — History of
Ancient Christianity (first cent), vol. 1, p. 123. Ibid., p. 70.
Martin Luther says: "First, the name baptism is Greek;
in Latin it can be rendered immersion, when we immerse
anything into water, that it may be all covered with water.
And although that custom has now grown out of use with
most persons (nor do they wholly submerge children, but
only pour on a little water), yet they ought to be entirely im-
mersed, and immediately drawn out. For this the etymology
of the name seems to demand." — Ibid., pp. 70, 71.

John Calvin says: "The word baptize itself signifies im-
merse, and it is certain that the rite of immersing was
observed by the ancient church." — Ibid., p. 71.

Archbishop Tillotson, an Episcopalian, says: "Anciently
those who were baptized were immersed, and buried in the
water, to represent their death to sin, and then did rise up
out of the water, to signify their entrance upon a new life,
and to those the apostles alludes, Romans 6 : 4-6." — Sermons,
vol. 8, p. 179. Ibid., p. 73.

Doctor Whitby says: "It being so expressly declared here
(Romans 6: 4 and Colossians 2: 12) that we are 'buried with
Christ in baptism,' by being buried under water, and the
argument to oblige us to a conformity to his death by dying
to sin, being taken hence; and this immersion being religiously
observed by all Christians for thirteen centuries, and approved
by our church, and the change of it into sprinkling, without
either any allowance from the author of this institution, or
any license from any council of the church, it were to be
wished that this custom might be again of general use."—

PARSONS' TEXT 'BOOK 117

Commentary on the New Testament, Romans 6: 4. Ibid., p. 74.
Dr. Cunningham Geikie says: "John resisted no longer,
and leading Jesus into the stream, the rite was performed.
. . . Holy and pure before sinking under the water, he must
yet have risen from them with the light of a higher glory
in his countenance. . . . Past years had been buried in the
waters of the Jordaa. He entered them as Jesus, the Son
of Man; he rose from them the Christ of God." — Ibid., p. 75.

Presbyterian Westminster Assembly of Divines: "In this
phrase the apostle seemeth to allude to the ancient manner
of baptism, which was to dip the persons baptized, and as it
were, bury them under the water for a while, and then to
draw them out of it and lift them up, to represent the burial
of our old man and our resurrection to newness of life."-
Annotations, published in folio, under the auspices of the
Assembly; Annotations on Romans 6:3, 4. Ibid., pp. 76, 77.

Dr. Adam Clarke says: "We are buried with him by bap-
tism into death. It is probable that the apostle here alludes
to the mode of administering baptism by immersion, the
whole body being put under the water, which seemed to say,
the man is drowned, is dead; and when he came up out of the
water, he seemed to have a resurrection to life; the man is
risen again; he is alive!" — Comment on Romans 6: 4. Ibid.,
p. 79.

Alexander De Stourdza, of the Greek Church, says: "The
verb baptizo, immergo, has in fact, but one sole acceptation.
It signifies literally, and always, to plunge. Baptism and
immersion are therefore identical, and to say baptism by
aspersion, is as if one should say immersion by aspersion,

Rev. D. Z. Sakellarios, a Greek Catholic, says: "The true
meaning of the word baptizo is expressed by the word itself.
Rantizo means to sprinkle ; louo, to wash ; epikeo, to pour upon.
Bapto, or baptizo, means to immerse or baptize." — Ibid., p. 87.

Rev,, Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage baptizes a student in the River
Jordan: "It was a scene of unimaginable solemnity. A
comrade in our Holy Land journey rode up by my side that
day and told me that a young man who is now studying for

118 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

the gospel ministry, would like to be baptized by me in the
Jordan. I got all the facts I could concerning his earnestness
and faith. . . . Then I read from the Bible the account of
baptism in that sacred stream and implored the presence of
the Christ on whose head the dove descended at the Jordan.
Then as the candidate and myself stepped into the waters,
the people on the bank sung in full and resounding voice:
'On Jordan's stormy banks I stand.' By this time we had
reached the middle of the river. As the candidate* sunk under
the floods and rose again." — Philadelphia Record, October 27,
1891.

BAPTISM BY IMMERSION IN WATER FOR THE
REMISSION OF SINS.

Mosheim says: "The effect of baptism was supposed to
be the remission of sins." — Book 1, cent. 3, part 2, chap. 4,
vol. 1, p. 189. Edition of 1841.

John Wesley says: "Baptism administered to real peni-
tents, is both a means and seal of pardon. Nor did God
ordinarily in the primitive church bestow this on any, unless
through this means."— Notes on Acts 22: 16, p. 340.

Again: "The knowledge of the remission of our sins being
the grand instrument of present and eternal salvation, (He-
brews 8: 11, 12.) But the immediate sense of the words seems
to be, to preach to them the gospel doctrine of salvation by
the remission of their sins." — Ibid., p. 144.

Rev. Alexander Campbell says: "Remission of sins can
not be enjoyed by any person before immersion. Belief of
this testimony is what impelled us into the water, knowing
that the efficacy of His blood is to be communicated to our
consciences in the way which God has pleased to appoint."
—Christian Baptism, p. 521. Quoted from the Tri-lemma,
p. 195.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 119

HISTORICAL FACTS TO PROVE THAT THE ELEMENT

OF WATER WAS NOT WANTING FOR

BAPTIZING BY IMMERSION.

Rev. W. B. Boggs says: "Visited the Holy Land in De-
cember, 1878, and bathed in the Jordan at the traditional
place of baptism, east of Jericho. At that time the water
was low, and at that particular place was comparatively
shallow, and yet it was waist deep at one third of the way
across, and to have gone farther would have required swim-
ming. Both above and below this place it was much deeper.
It has also been said that there were no facilities at Jerusalem
for the immersion of three thousand people in one day. Now,
the fact is that the water supply of the city was very abund-
ant, considering that Jerusalem was but a small city com-
paratively. There were, within the walls and outside, in the
immediate vicinity, various tanks and reservoirs of very
large proportion. Some of them may be briefly described.

"The pool of Bethesda is three hundred and sixty feet long,
^ne hundred and thirty wide, and seventy-five deep. The
pool of Siloam is fifty-three feet long, eighteen wide, and
nineteen deep. It now holds two or three feet of water,
which can readily be increased to a much greater depth. . . .
The upper pool is three hundred and sixteen feet long, twr
hundred and eighteen wide, and eighteen deep, covering an
acre and a half of ground. . . . The lower pool, or pool of
Gihon, is five hundred and ninety-two feet long, two hundred
and sixty wide, and forty feet deep, having an area of more
than three and a half acres. . . . Doctor Thomson, the mission-
ary to Palestine already quoted, in seeking to locate the
scene of the eunuch's baptism by Philip, says: 'He would
then have met the chariot somewhere southwest of Latron.
There is a fine stream of water, called Murubbah, deep enough
even in June to satisfy the utmost wishes of our Baptist
friends. ... At Velumpilly, ten miles north of Ongole, in the
Madras Presidency, in the month of July, 1878, two thousand
two hundred and twenty-two persons were baptized by immer-
sion in one day. The administration of the ordinance was

120 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

characterized by due decorum and solemnity. Then* were six
administrators, but only two of them at a time were engaged
in baptizing. They relieved each other when necessary. It
occupied about nine hours. At Ongole, the writer (Rev. W. B.
Boggs,) baptized one hundred and eighty-seven persons on
Sunday evening, April 11, 1880. There was no undue haste.
The usual formula was deliberately pronounced at the bap-
tism of each one. The service occupied about an hour and a
half."— The Baptists, pp. 100-104.

"Lieutenant Lynch, of the United States Navy, was sent by
his Government, in 1848, in charge of an expedition to explore
the River Jordan and the Dead Sea, for antiquarian and scien-
tific purposes. They passed down the entire length of the
Jordan in boats, from the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea.

"The river was found to vary in width from seventy-five to
two hundred feet; and in depth from three to twelve feet.
At Bethabara, where tradition has fixed the place of our
Savior's baptism, and where John baptized the multitudes,
Lieutenant Lynch gives the width as one hundred and twenty
feet, and the greatest depth as twelve feet." — Ibid., pp. 98, 99.

Dean Stanley, who traveled in the Holy Land in 1853, says :
"What then was baptism in the apostolic age? ... In that
early age the scene of the transaction was either some deep
wayside spring or well, as for the Ethiopian, or some rushing
river, as the Jordan, or some vast reservoir, as at Jericho or
Jerusalem, whither, as in the baths of Caracalla, at Rome, the
whole population resorted for swimming or washing." — Ibid.,
pp. 94, 95.

EXAMPLE OF THE APOSTLES AS GOOD AS A
COMMAND.

"The apostles were commissioned by the Lord to teach the
disciples to observe all things he had commanded them. Now
we believe them to have been faithful to their Master, and
consequently he gave them to know his will. Whatever the
disciples practiced in their meetings with the approbation of
the apostles, is an equivalent to an apostolic command to us to
do the same. To suppose the contrary, is to make the half of

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 121

the New Testament of noneffect. For it does not altogether
consist of commands, but of approved precedents. Apostolic
example is justly esteemed of equal authority with an apostolic
precept. Hence, say the Baptists, 'Show us where Paul or any
apostle sprinkled an infant, and we will not ask you for a
command to go and do likewise.' It is no derogation from the
authority for observing the first day of the week, to admit
that Christians are nowhere in this volume commanded to
observe it. We are told that the disciples, with the counte-
nance and presence of the apostles, met for worship on this
day. And so long as we believe they were honest men, and
taught all that was commanded them, so long we must admit
that the Lord commanded it to be so done. For if they allowed,
and by their presence authorized, the disciples to meet reli-
giously on the first day, without any authority from their
King, there is no confidence to be placed in them in other mat-
ters. Then it follows that they instituted a system of will wor-
ship, and made themselves lords instead of servants. But the
thought is inadmissable, consequently the order of worship
they gave the churches was given them by their Lord, and
their example is of the same force with a broad precept. "-
Christian Baptist, p. 180.

LAYING ON OF HANDS, FOR CONFIRMATION.

Bishop John B. Purcell, of the Catholic Church of Cincin-
nati, Ohio, said: "But neither when he (Novatus) recovered
from disease, did he partake of other things, which the rules
of the church prescribed as a duty, nor was he sealed (in
confirmation] by the bishop. But as he did not obtain this,
how could he obtain the Holy Spirit?" — Campbell and Purcel!
Debate, p. 110.

Tertullian says: '"The flesh is overshadowed by the im-
position of hands, that the soul may be enlightened with the
Spirit."— The Faith of our Fathers, p. 323.

Saint Cyprian says: "Because they (the Samaritans) had
received the legitimate baptism, . . . what was wanting, that
was done by Peter and John, that prayer being made for

122 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

them, and hands imposed, the Holy Ghost should be invoked
and poured forth upon them. Which now also is done amongst
us, so that they who are baptized in the church, are presented
to the bishops of the church, and by prayer and imposition of
hands, they receive the Holy Ghost, and are perfected with
the seal of the Lord."— Ibid., pp. 323, 324.

Saint Jerome says: "Do you know, . . . that it is the prac-
tice of the churches that the imposition of hands should be
performed over baptized persons, and the Holy Ghost thus
invoked?"— Ibid., p. 325.

Rev. John Wesley said: "And when they believed, they
were to be baptized with the baptism (not of the Jews, or of
John, but) of Christ. The next thing was to lay hands upon
them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost." — Notes on
Hebrews 6: 1, p. 574.

Bingham says: "All those testimonies likewise which require
heretics to have imposition of hands from the bishop, in order
to obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost, are a further evidence
of this practice. To which purpose we have the decrees of Pope
Leo and Ciricius, who particularly observes this to have been
the general practice of the whole church, both eastern and
western, as well as the church of Rome, in the reception of
those who had been baptized in any heresy or schism. And
to all persons baptized in the church. Saint Austin is a fur-
ther witness, who says, That in propriety of speech, neither
the apostles, nor any other man, but Christ alone, as he is
God, could give the Holy Ghost; for the apostles only laid
hands on men, that the Holy Ghost, by their prayers, might
descend upon them; which custom the church has now ob-
served and practiced by her governors also." — Antiquities,
vol. 1, book 12, chap. 2, p. 550.

Cardinal Gibbons says: "Confirmation is a sacrament in
which, through the imposition of the bishop's hands, unction,
and prayer, baptized persons receive the Holy Ghost." — Faith
of Our Fathers, p. 320.

A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America
and Other Parts of the World, by David Benedict, A. M., pub-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 123

lished in Boston (55 Coitihill street) by Lincoln and Edmonds
in 1813, says (vol. 1, p. 487) :

"The doctrine of laying on of hands was, at the beginning
of this church, [First Baptist Church, Providence,] held in a
lax manner; but it became afterwards a term of communion,
and continued so until after Doctor Manning came among
them; he prevailed with the church to admit to occasional
communion, those brethren who were not convinced of the
duty of coming under hands; but very few such were received
as members till after his death. But on August 4, 1791, the
church had a full meeting, when this point was distinctly
considered, and a clear vote was gained to admit members
who did not hold that doctrine. But notwithstanding this
vote, the laying on of hands, not as an ordinance, but as a
form of receiving new members, was generally practiced until
1808, when the pastor of the church, who had been educated
in the belief of this ceremony, as his father was an advocate
for it, and who had hitherto practiced it, not however, without
troublesome scruples of its propriety, found his mind brought
to a stand on the subject, and after duly weighing the matter
informed the church that he could no longer continue the
practice, and unless they could excuse him, he must ask a
dismission from his pastoral care. After a full discussion of
the subject, the church, with but one dissenting voice, voted
not to dismiss him and laying on of hands of course fell into
neglect. Some few worthy members were desirous of retain-
ing both their pastor and this ancient ceremony, but not
being disposed to act against the voice of the church, no
division and but little controversy ensued." (Supplied by
F. M. Slover.)

I submit the following, taken from an old Baptist Hymn
Book, compiled by John Tillinghast, Providence, 1842:

"If Christians disagree

And walk by different laws,
It plainly does appear to me
Their teachers are the cause.

124 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

"They teach the word in part,

In part their duty do:
The cause why Saints divide in heart,
And different ways pursue.

"If ministers would read

And preach the gospel clear,
Christ's followers would be agreed
And walk together here.

"They all would realize

The doctrine as it stands,
Repent, believe and be baptized,
And pray and lay on hands.

"All eye to eye would see,
Together lift their voice,
And this would make the table free
And Christians all rejoice."

The foregoing was supplied by Bishop C. J. Hunt.

Mr. Comer, pastor of the Baptist Church of Newport, Rhode
Island, 1726, has this to say of the labors of Doctor Benedict:
"The laying on of hands was held in a lax manner, and his
attempts to urge it as an indispensable duty though not as a
term of communion, gave offense to two leading members in
the church, and was the means of his being dismissed from
his office."— Ibid., p. 497.

Again in 1742 this church wakes up on this subject, and in
the Philadelphia association in September, takes a firm posi-
tion in framing their creed as follows: "We believe that
laying on of hands, with prayer, upon baptized believers, as
such is an ordinance of Christ, and ought to be submitted unto
by all ... for the farther reception of the Holy Spirit of
promise." — Historical Vindications, by Professor Cutting.

Rupp's History of Religious Denominations, page 81, speak-
ing of the English and Welsh Baptists in their mode of con-
firmation, the laying on of hands, says: "It was recognized
as an ordinance of Christ in their confessions, and practices in

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 125

many of their churches for more than a hundred years after
their first formation. It seems to have grown into disuse by
slow degrees and yet was earnestly advocated and contended
for by many of their most learned and influential men. This
was the case in England and America."

Andrew Rivet says: "The imposition of hands joined with
the doctrine of baptism, (Hebrews 6: 2,) refers to that solemn
benediction of baptized persons which the ancients so often
speak of, and which was in use in the primitive church. "-
Rivet, Cathol. Orth. Tract 3:29. Quoted by Bingham, vol.
8, p. 173.

Herzog says: "In the apostolic church the laying on of
hands was connected with baptism, as the means of communi-
cating the gift of the Holy Ghost. . . . Baptism was incomplete
without the laying on of hands, and the gift of the Holy
Ghost; wherefore, Protestant polemics should never have al-
lowed itself to accept the declaration that these passages,
Acts 19: 6, and &: 12-19, Hebrews 6:1, 2, did not refer to
the Holy Ghost, but only to the special gifts of the Spirit in
apostolic times." — Herzog's Prost. Theol. Encyc.

Dr. William Gouge, a Puritan minister, says: "Ordinary
cases wherein imposition of hands was used, were (1) blessing
children by our Savior, (2) setting men apart to the public
function of ministers of the word, (3) deputing men to some
special work, (4) confirming such as had been instructed in
the principles of religion." — Camfield, p. 35.

Edmund Calamy, a Presbyterian minister, says: "Whereto
I answer, that there is a general unanimity among those who
have been most diligent in searching into ecclesiastical antiq-
uity, in reporting this as the current practice of the primitive
church; and that not only while miraculous gifts continued, but
afterward. That it is convenient and warrantable by Scrip-
ture as well as antiquity, was the opinion of our first reform-
ers here in England and the most celebrated divines we have
had amongst us ever since. This was also the judgment of
the learned Grotius, who was perhaps one of the greatest men
these parts of the world ever produced. Nay, the same was
the sentiment of the famous Calvin, who founded confirmation

126 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

by imposition of hands on Hebrews 6: 2, where we find laying
on of hands in the rank of fundamental, in the fourth place,
after repentance, faith and baptism, and before the resurrec-
tion and eternal judgment." — Practical Discourse Concerning
Vows, published 1704.

The celebrated Puritan, John Milton, says: "In the case of
the baptized, imposition of hands conferred, not indeed saving
grace, but miraculous powers and the extraordinary gifts of
the Spirit." — Christian Doctrine, p. 449, edition Cambridge,
1825.

Richard Baxter, the celebrated nonconformist, says: "But
let us inquire whether the Scriptures lay not some kind of
obligation on us to use this ceremony in confirmation, to which
end let these several things be considered. (1) We find in
Scripture a blessing of church members with the laying on of
hands. (2) We find in Scripture that the Holy Ghost is
promised in a special manner to believers, over and above that
measure of the Spirit which caused them to believe. (3) We
find that prayer with laying on of hands, was the outward
means to be used by Christ's ministers for the procuring of
this blessing — Holy Ghost. (4) We find that this was a fixed
ordinance to the church, and not a temporary thing." — Minis-
terial Imposition of Hands in Confirmation, p. 271.

Again he says: "When I have proved it once appointed,
it lieth on the contrary-minded to prove it changed or ceased.
If I show them an obligation once laid, they must prove it
taken off. Their only argument is, that the persons and
occasions were only extraordinary, and are ceased, and there-
fore so is the sign and means. . . . The use and ends of the
ancient imposition of hands do still continue: therefore, we
are to judge that the sign and means is not to cease. The
baptized believer may still want the joy of the Holy Ghost,
and boldness of access to God, and the shedding abroad of
fuller love in the heart. . . . The Scripture signifieth to us,
that imposition of hands was of standing use in the church,
and therefore not to cease." — Ibid., p. 272.

Seventh-day Baptist Confession of Faith, adopted at a
General Conference in 1833, 15 sec.: "Concerning imposition

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 127

of hands, we believe it was the practice of the apostles and
the primitive church, to lay hands upon the newly baptized
believers, and it should be perpetuated in the church." — Rupp's
History of Religious Denominations, p. 81.

Mr. Vavasor Powell, a Baptist minister of Wales, says:
"Laying on of hands, on newly baptized, and anointing the
sick .with oil, according to the apostolic direction." — Crosby,
vol. 1, p. 378.

Professor Cutting, of the Rochester University, in his His-
torical Vindications, page 96, says: "It must appear from
these quotations that the laying on of hands was of very
general prevalence among the first Baptists in this country."
Besides this we have their declaration in favor of the rite in
their first confession as set forth by the Philadelphia Associa-
tion in September, 1742.

APOSTASY FROM THE PRIMITIVE ORDER.

Mosheim says: "Christian churches had scarcely been
gathered and organized, when here and there men rose up,
who, not being contented with the simplicity and purity of
that religion which the apostles taught, sought out new in-
ventions, and fashioned religion according to their own liking."
—Book 1, cent. 1, part 2, chap. 5, vol. 1, p. 88. Edition of
1841.

"For the noble simplicity and the majesty dignity of the
Christian religion were lost, or, at least, impaired when these
philosophers presumed to associate their dogmas with it,
and to bring faith and piety under1 the dominion of human
reason." — Ibid., book 1, cent. 2, part 1, chap. 1, p. 104.

"These councils, — of which no vestige appears before the
middle of this century, second, changed nearly the whole form
of the church. For by them, in the first place, the ancient
rights and privileges of the people were very much abridged;
and on the other hand, the influence and authority of the
bishops were not a little augmented. At first, the bishops
did not deny, that they were merely the representatives of
their churches, and that they acted in the name of the people ;
but by little and little, they made higher pretensions, and

128 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

maintained that power was given them by Christ himself, to
dictate rules of faith and conduct to the people." — Book 1,
cent. 2, part 2, chap. 2, vol. 1, p. 117. Edition of 1841.

"It is certain that to religious worship, both public and
private, many rites were added, without necessity and to the
great offense of sober and good men." — Ibid., chap. 4, p. 132.

John Wesley says: "The gifts of the Holy Ghost were no
longer to be found in the Christian church.; because the Chris-
tians had turned heathens again, and had only a dead form
left."— Ninety-fourth sermon, vol. 2, p. 266.

Again: "I doubt whether you ever knew a Christian in
your life. ... I believe it: you never did; and, perhaps you
never will; for you will not find them in the great and gay
world, . . . though they are called Christians, yet they are
as far from it as hell is from heaven." — Sixty-sixth sermon,
vol. 2, p. 65.

Professor Swing, of Chicago, said: "This kingdom of the
Lord has either by accident or design been broken up into
many fragments, and we meet to-day in the name of only
one of these numerous and widely scattered parts. . . . This
house which we dedicate to God this day, wears the name of
Presbyterian upon its party flag, not because the kingdom of
Christ is Presbyterian, but because our form of church gov-
ernment and of thought are cast in the Presbyterian mold."-
Chicago Tribune, 1874.

Marsh says: "The revolution under Constantine (beginning
of the fourth century) was one from which almost every-
thing which the Christian values might be hoped. But alas!
such is the depravity of hilman nature, it was one in which
almost everything of evangelical worth was lost. Constan-
tine brought the world into the church, and the church was
paralyzed. . . . The body existed, but the Spirit had fled.
Constantine set up an immense national church, but the
humility, faith, and the spirituality of the age of Polycarp
had passed away."— Pages 198, 199.

Reverend Jones says: "Now they began to new-model the
Christian church, the government of which was, as far as
possible arranged conformably to the government of the state.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 129

The emperor — Constantino, himself assumed the title of bishop
and claimed the power of regulating its external affairs and
he and his successors convened councils in which they pre-
sided, and determined all matters of discipline." — Gospel
Reflector, p. 10.

Barton W. Stone says: "By a comparison of the present
state of Christianity with what it was once, all are brought to
the conclusion that we are yet in the apostasy — under the
reign of the man of sin ; yet in Babylon, yet in the wilderness."
— Presidency and Priesthood, p. 97.

Rev. A. Campbell says: "Since the full development of the
great apostasy foretold by prophets and apostles, numerous
attempts at reformation have been made. . . . But we know
of none that has fully attained to that model." — Preface to
the Saint Louis Edition of Christian System, pp. 291, 292.

Rev. T. A. Goodwin, of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
at Indianapolis, Indiana, February 23, 1890, said: "For
more than seventeen hundred years the church has been
tinkering at her creeds until they are a theological hodge
podge, in many cases widely departing from the faith once
delivered to the Saints. . . . What of Methodism and some
other creeds, for nearly three hundred years they have been
quartered in a house of theological patchwork. The whole
needs to be torn down and reconstructed from cellar to garret,
so as to make a systematical and congruous structure con-
sistent with itself and the Bible." — Indianapolis Herald.

Rev. Dr. B. Colman, a Congregational minister, says: "The
confession of the name of Christ is after all very lame and
will be so till the discipline which Christ ordained be restored."
— Episcopalian Watchman, May 2, 182p, pp. 51, 52.

Rev. R. Williams, a Baptist minister, says: "'I conceive
that the apostasy of anti-Christ hath so far corrupted all,
that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy till Christ
shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anew.'—
Knowles' History, p. 172." — Presidency and Priesthood, p.
235.

"Rev. T. G. Jones, D. D., in his History of the Origin and
Continuity of the Baptist Church, says: *As a visible and

130 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

located organization, where is the church founded at Jeru-
salem? For long ages it has ceased to exist, in member di-
gesta.' — Page 46." (Quoted from Presidency and Priesthood,
p. 124.)

"Second Thessalonians 2:3: 'Except there come a falling
away first.' We have the original word apostasia in our word
apostasy; and by this term we understand a dereliction of the
essential principles of religious truth — either a total abandon-
ment of Christianity itself, or such a corruption of its doc-
trines as renders the whole system completely inefficient to
salvation." — Adam Clark, Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1565.

John Wesley says: "It does not appear that these extraor-
dinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church
for more than two or three centuries. We seldom hear of
them after that fatal period, when Emperor Constantine called
himself a Christian; and from a vain imagination of pro-
moting the Christian cause thereby, heaped riches and power
and honor upon the Christians in general; but in particular
upon the Christian clergy. From this time they almost totally
ceased; very few instances of the kind were found. The
cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) 'be-
cause there was no more occasion for them,' because all the
world had become .Christian. This is a miserable mistake;
not a twentieth part of it was then nominally Christian. The
real cause was, 'the LOVE of many,' almost of all Christians,
so-called, was 'WAXED COLD.' The Christians had no more of
the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens. . . . This was
the real cause. . . . The Christians had turned heathen again
and had only a dead form left." — Ninety-fourth sermon, p.
266, vol. 2.

Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage, on the need of a new creed, said:
"I am sorry to have the question disturbed at all. The creed
did not hinder us from offering the pardon and comfort of the
gospel to all men, and the Westminster Confession has not
interfered with me one minute. But now that the electric
lights have been turned on, the imperfections of creed — and
everything that man fashions is imperfect — let us put the
old creed respectfully aside and get a brand new one. I

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 131

move for a creed for all our denominations made out of
Scripture quotations pure and simple." — Globe-Democrat,
March 3, 1890.

Rev. Mr. Campbell says: "Under the present administra-
tion of the kingdom of heaven, a great apostasy has occurred,
as foretold by the apostles. As the church, compared to a city,
is called 'Mount Zion,' the apostate church is called 'Babylon
the Great.' Like Babylon the type, 'Mystery Babylon,' the
antitype, is to be destroyed by a Cyrus that knows not God.
She is to fall by the sword of infidels, supported by the fierce
judgments of God. 'The Holy City' is still trodden under foot,
and the sanctuary is filled with corruptions. It is, indeed, a
den of thieves; but strong is the Lord that judges the apostate
city." — Christian System, p. 190, second edition, published at
Saint Louis, Missouri.

J. H. Merle D'Aubigne says: "But the writings of these
very apostles forewarn us that from the midst of these breth-
ren, there shall arise a power which shall overthrow this sim-
ple and primitive order." — Page 2.

"The living church retiring by degrees to the lonely sanc-
tuary of a few solitary souls, — an exterior church was sub-
stituted in place of it, and installed in all its forms as of
divine institution. Salvation no longer flowing forth from that
word which was now hidden — it began to be affirmed that it
was conveyed by means of certain invented forms, and that
none could obtain it without resorting to such means." —
Page 3.

"An edict of Theodosius 2, and of Valentinian 3, proclaimed
the bishop of Rome 'ruler of the whole church.' " — Page 4.

"Works of penance, thus substituted for the salvation of
God, multiplied in the church from the time of Tertullian to
the thirteenth century." — Page 8.

"The kingdom of heaven had disappeared; and men had
opened in its place on earth, a market of abominations. "-
Page 12.

"The internal strength of the church was gone, and its life-
. less and exhausted frame lay stretched over the Roman world."
—Page 14.

132 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

"The popes had added now this, and now that article to the
Christian doctrine. They had changed or removed only what
could not be made to square with their hierarchy; what was
not opposed to their policy, was allowed to remain during
pleasure." — Page 17.

"The Lord has wrought in you, that the light of his holy
word may again shine forth in Germany, where, for so many
ages, it has been, alas! not only stifled, but extinct." — Page 30.

WAS IT A TRUTH THAT THE CHURCHES WERE
WRONG?

Joseph Smith, a young man in his fifteenth year, in the
State of New York, a resident of Palmyra, went into the
woods in 1820, to pray; and while engaged in prayer, he says:
"I saw two personages, (whose brightness and glory defy all
description,) standing above me in the air. One of them spake
unto me, calling me by name, and said, (pointing to the other,)
'This is my beloved Son; hear him.' My object in going to
inquire of the Lord, was to know which of all these sects was
right, that I might know which to join. ... I asked the per-
sonages who stood above me in the light, which of all the
sects was right — for at this time it had never entered into my
heart that all were wrong — and which I should join. I was
answered that I must join none of them, for they were all
wrong; and the personage who addressed me said that all
their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those pro-
fessors were all corrupt. 'They draw near me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrine the
commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they
deny the power thereof.' " — Church History, vol. 1, pp. 9, 10.

CONFIRMING THE STATEMENT OF JOSEPH SMITH.

Rev. J. D. Williamson said before the presbytery at Cleve-
land, Ohio: "To suppose that those Westminster divines
reached the high watermark of biblical statements of truth
is to my mind preposterous." — Cleveland Plain Dealer, Octo-
ber 8, 1899.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 133

Rev. Dr. Henry Van Dyke, a Presbyterian, said: "Why
should we retain in our creed what none of us believe, what
all our teachers of theology reject, and what serves only to
bring reproach upon our doctrine among them that are with-
out?"— Presidency and Priesthood, p. 210.

Philip Schaff, D. D., LL. D., said: "We need a theology
and a confession that is more human than Calvinism. . . .
These doctrines are no longer believed by a majority of Pres-
byterians, nor preached by any Presbyterian minister, as far
as I know."— Ibid., pp. 210, 211.

Rev. David Swing, of Chicago, February 1, 1874, said in
his sermon at the dedication of the Presbyterian church: "The
kingdom of the Lord has, either by accident or design, been
broken up into many fragments and we meet to-day in the
name of only one of these numerous and widely scattered
parts. . . . Until the wise men have shown us that all these
sects must be solved into one, let us feel that we are only one
among a multitude of these kingdoms of God. This house
which we dedicate to God this day wears the name of Presby-
terian upon its party flag, not because the kingdom of Christ
is Presbyterian, but because our form of church government
and of thought are cast in the Presbyterian mold." — Chicago
Tribune, 1874.

"The present popular exhibition of the Christian religion
is a compound of Judaism, heathen philosophy, and Chris-
tianity."— Christian Baptist, p. 9.

"The worshiping establishments now in operation through-
out Christendom, increased and cemented by their respective
voluminous confessions of faith, and their ecclesiastical con-
stitutions, are not churches of Jesus Christ, but the legitimate
daughters of that mother of harlots, the church of Rome."-
Millennial Harbinger, vol. 3, p. 362.

"I read, some time since, of a revival in the State of New
York, in which the Spirit of God was represented as being
abundantly poured out on Presbyterians, Methodists, and Bap-
tists. I think the converts in the order of the names were
about three hundred Presbyterians, three hundred Methodists,
and two hundred and eighty Baptists, . . . these being all

134 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

regenerated without any knowledge of the gospel. ... I think
it would be difficult to prove that the Spirit of God had any-
thing to do with the aforesaid revival." — Christian Baptist,
p. 50.

"A reformation of popery was attempted in Europe, full
three centuries ago. It ended in a Protestant hierarchy, and
swarms of dissenters. Protestantism has been reformed into
Presbyterianism — that into Congregationalism — and that into
Baptistism, etc., etc. Methodism has attempted to reform all,
but has reformed itself into many forms of Wesley ism. None
of these has begun at the right place. All of them retain in
their bosom, in their ecclesiastical organizations, worship,
doctrine, and observances, various relics of popery; they are
at best but a reformation of popery." — Ibid., p. 15.

"The Baptists, too, have got their schools, their colleges,
and their Gamaliels, too — and by the magic of the marks of
the beast, they claim homage and respect, and dispute the
high places with those very rabbis whose fathers were wont
to grin at their fathers." — Millennial Harbinger, vol. 1, p. 15.

"Protestantism characterizes Romanism as the 'great apos-
tasy,' and of this fact there can be no doubt according to the
language of the Apostle John; but John calls Rome 'the
mother of harlots.' And how can she be a mother without
having daughters? And who are the daughters? Answer:
The Protestant sects; and the difference between mother and
daughters is made manifest in the fact that while the mother
of harlots affiliates with paganism in its grosser forms, the
daughters, arrayed in meretricious ornaments, and exhaling
sweeter perfumes, are found confederating with paganism in
its subtler forms." — Christian Leader, October 6, 1896.

THE RESTORATION LOOKED FOR.

John Wesley says: "The times which we have reason to
believe are at hand (if they are not already begun) are what
many pious men have termed the time of 'the latter day
glory,' — meaning, the time wherein God would gloriously dis-
play his power and love, in the fulfillment of the gracious

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 135

promise that, 'the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth,
as the waters cover the sea.' . . . Neither he, nor the gen-
erality of Christians, so-called, saw any signs of the glorious
day that is approaching. But how is this to be accounted
for? How is it that those who can now 'discern the face of
the sky,' ... do not discern the signs of these glorious times,
which, if not begun, are nigh even at the door? . . . They
can see no signs at all of God's arising to maintain his own
cause, and set up his kingdom over all the earth. . . . What
could God have done which he hath not done, to convince you
that the day is coming, that the time is at hand, when he
will fulfill his glorious promises, when he will arise to main-
tain his own cause, and to set up his kingdom over all the
earth?" — Seventy-first sermon, vol. 2, pp. 95, 96, 98.

Sir Isaac Newton said: "About the time of the end, in all
probability, a body of men will be raised up who will turn
their attention to the prophecy; and insist upon their literal
fulfillment in the midst of much clamor and opposition. "-
William Newton, Lecture on Daniel, p. 201.

Rev. Dr. B. Colman says: "The confession of the name of
Christ is after all very lame and will be so till the discipline
which Christ ordained be restored." — E. W., pp. 51, 52.

Alexander Campbell said: "The primitive gospel in its
effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor
to regenerate the world." — Hayden's History, p. 37.

Alexander Campbell: "Societies indeed may be found
among us far in advance of others in their progress towards
the ancient order of things, but we 'know of none that has
fully attained to that model." — Christian System, pp. 291, 292.
second edition.

"But the preparation of a people for the coming of the
Lord must be the result of the restoration of the ancient gos-
pel and order of things." — Ibid., p. 311, published at Saint
Louis, Missouri.

Rev. Roger Williams : " 'There can be no recovery out of
that apostasy till Christ shall send forth new apostles to
plant churches anew.' — Knowlis History, p. 172." — Presidency
and Priesthood, pp. 109, 110.

136 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Alexander Campbell said: "Some new revelation or some
new development of the revelation of God must be made, be-
fore the hopes and expectations of all true Christians can be
realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of
this world? We want the old gospel back and sustained by
the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of
the divine Spirit is all we do want, or can expect, to reform
and save the world. And if this gospel as proclaimed and
enforced on Pentecost can not do this, vain are the hopes,
and disappointed must be the expectation of the so-called
Christian world." — Christian System, p. 250, published at
Saint Louis, Missouri.

Alexander Campbell says: "If Christians were and may
be the happiest people that ever lived, it is because they live
under the most gracious institution ever bestowed on men.
The meaning of this institution has been buried under the
rubbish of human traditions for hundreds of years. It was
lost in the Dark Ages and has never been, till recently, dis-
interred. Various efforts have been made, and considerable
progress attended, them; but since the Grand Apostasy was
completed, till the present generation, the gospel of Jesus
Christ has not been laid open to mankind in its original plain-
ness, simplicity and majesty. A veil in reading the New In-
stitution has been on the hearts of Christians as Paul declares
it was upon the hearts of the Jews in reading the old Institu-
tion toward the close of that economy." — Christian System, pp.
192, 193, published at Saint Louis, Missouri.

"The preaching that is to bring America into the fellow-
ship of the apostolic church must be accompanied by a
revival of apostolic gifts, and I believe it will be." — Rev.
Lewis T. Wattson, in Pulpit of the Cross.

"And should the apostolic church finally be reproduced,
thereby bringing Christ to the earth again in personal power
and rest-giving influence, what would then be the prospect
before us? . . . The full realization of this splendid ideal is
what the world is waiting for, and until it is realized we
must continue to trust, pray, labor, hope, and patiently wait."

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 137

— W. T. Moore, in The Christian Evangelist, December 18,
1890.

DARKNESS SO THICK THAT IT. CAN BE FELT.

"At Salem an intelligent writer said: 'Perhaps it was
never darker since the children of Israel left the house of
bondage.' Dr. Samuel Adams and Hon. Wheeler Morten, and
others also, testify that 'it could be felt on waving the hand
in the air' — the same language used by Moses concerning the
supernaturally and miraculously produced cloud that shut
down over Egypt, causing a thick darkness of three days'
duration." — Facts of the Times, p. 283.

"Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may
be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may
be felt."— Exodus 10: 21.

"Could feel the vapor of darkness." — Book of Mormon, p.
625.

INDICATION OF A CHANGE IN THE CLIMATE, AT
SOME PERIOD OF THE PAST.

Prof. John T. Short says: "The next stratum is from
three to four feet in thickness, and consisted of a brown
alluvium of the Eocene region, and was composed of vegetable
matters of a tropical production. It contained all the re-
mainder of the skeleton. Most of these vegetables were in
a great state of preservation and consisted of a large quantity
of cypress burs, wood and bark, tropical cane, ferns, pal-
metto leaves, several stumps of trees, and even the greater
part of a flower of the strelitzia class, which, when destroyed,
was not full bloom. . . . These various matters had been torn
up by their roots and twisted and split into a thousand pieces
apparently by lightning combined with a tremendous tempest
or tornado; and all were involved in one common ruin." —
American Antiquities, pp. 118, 119. Edition of 1880. (Book
of Mormon, pp. 624, 625.)

Larkin's Ancient Man in America, published in 1880, page
19, says : "My theory that the prehistoric races used, to some

138 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

extent, the great American elephant, or mastodon, I believe
is new, and no doubt will be considered visionary by many
readers, and more especially by prominent archaeologists.
Finding the form of an elephant engraved upon a copper
relic some six inches long and four wide, in a mound
on the Red House Creek, in the year 1854, and represented in
harness with a sort of breast collar with tugs reaching past
the hips, first led me to adopt the theory." — American Archae-
ology, p. 75.

Dana says: "Viewing the globe as a whole, in this Quater-
nary era, we observe, 1. The gigantic size as well as large
numbers of the species, — the elephants, lions, bears, and
hyenas of the Orient far larger than the modern kinds; so
also the horse, elephant, mastodon, beaver, and lion of North
America." — Manual of Geology, p. 571, published 1880.

TREPANNING IN ANCIENT AMERICA.

M. D. Nadaillac says: "Trepanned skulls have also been
taken from a mound near Sable River, . . . They were often
surgical, and made upon the skull of the living (figure 218).
Every age and both sexes were subject to them. Their posi-
tion, form, and length varied according to the wound or the
nature of the malady they were supposed to relieve." — Pre-
historic America, pp. 510, 511, edition, 1901.

PUNCTUATION.

Punctuation is a matter of individuality.

"It has become a recognized principle, that punctuation is
as much a matter of taste and judgment as of rigid rule." —
Bigelow's Handbook of Punctuation.

"'Those who think everything in the Bible inspired of God,
including its divisions into chapters, verses, and punctuation,
should read the following and profit by it:

"Of the four generally used points, only the period (.) dates
earlier than the fifteenth century. The colon (:) is said to
have been first introduced about 1485; the comma (,) some
thirty-five years later, and the semicolon ( ;) about 1570.

"Not till the tenth century was the uncial character aban-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 139

doned, and the cursive or running hand generally adopted;
but it was felt necessary long before this time to have re-
course to something like punctuation. This is indicated in
some manuscripts by a point or a space, and in others by
writing the text in short lines, according to the sense. The
latter system, known as 'stichometry' was introduced in the
second half of the fifth century, while punctuation proper
dates no farther back than the invention of printing (1438)."
— Bagster.

"The modern came into use very gradually after the in-
vention of printing, the comma, parenthesis, note of interro-
gation, and period being the earliest introduced, and the note
of exclamation the last. The first printed books have only
arbitrary marks here and there, and it was not until the
sixteenth century that an approach was made to a regular
system by the Manutii of Venice." — American Encyclopedia,
article on punctuation; quoted from Facts of the Times, p.
268.

Quackenbos' Rhetoric, page 81: "The modern system of
punctuation was invented by Manutius, (Manutii) a learned
printer who flourished in Venice at the commencement of the
sixteenth century. To him we are indebted for developing the
leading principles of the art, though in some of their details
they have since that time undergone considerable modifi-
cation."—Ibid., pp. 268, 269.

ANCIENT RELIGION OF TRINITY.

George Rawlinson says: "Roman-gods — Minerva, Jupiter,
and Juno. The three together form the Capitoline Triad.
. . . The only theory which accounts for all the facts, for the
unity as well as the diversity of the ancient religion, is that
of a primeval revelation variously corrupted." — Ancient Re-
ligion, pp. 33, 176.

Frederich says : "Greek triad of Zeus, Athene, and Apollo
bears an unmistakable analogy to the Christian trinity of
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."— Odyose, part 3, pp. 65, 68, 69.

Malbet says: "They — the Gomerites of Northern Europe

140 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

in ancient times — held the eternity and unchangeableness of
the supreme God. Yet the supreme gods are three — Odin,
Freya, and Thor; this triad of gods run through all myth-
ologies."— Northern Antiquities.

Osborn says: "Theirs (Egyptians') was a religion of self-
justification — of ritual. They had dim glimpses of God's
unity and trinity. Also of the incarnation of deity." — Antiq-
uities of Egypt, vol. 1, p. 152.

Professor LePlongeon says: "The idea of a sole and
ominpotent Deity, who created all things, seems to have been
the universal belief of early ages and among all the nations
that had reached a high degree of civilization. . . . The Hin-
doos had the same conception about a Deity as was held by
the Egyptians, . . . that there are only three gods, and that
these three designate one sole Deity. . . . These conceptions
concerning the triune god have come down through the vista
of ages." — Sacred Mysteries, pp. 53, 55, 58.

THE CROSS KNOWN LONG BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN

ERA.

Donnelly says: "From the dawn of organized Paganism
in the Eastern World to the final establishment of Christianity
in the Western, the cross was undoubtedly one of the common-
est and most sacred of symbolical monuments; and to a
remarkable extent, it is so still in almost every land where
that of Calvary is unrecognized or unknown. . . . All these
and similar traditions are but mocking satires of the old
Hebrew story — jarred and broken notes of the same strain.
. . . Its undoubted antiquity, no less than its extraordinary
diffusion, evidence that it must have been, as it may be said to
be still in unchristianized lands, emblematical of some funda-
mental doctrine or mystery. ... In Egypt, Assyria, and Britain
it was emblematical of creative power and eternity; in India,
China, and Scandinavia, of heaven and immortality. . . .
In both hemispheres it was the common symbol of the resur-
rection, or sign of the life to come; and finally in all heathen
communities, without exception, it was the emphatic type,

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 141

the sole enduring evidence of the divine unity. . . . The
Buddhists and Brahmans, who together constitute nearly half
the population of the world, tell us that the decusated figure
(cross), whether in a simple or a complex form, symbolizes
the traditional happy abode of their primeval ancestors. . . .
A circle and a cross; the one to denote a region of absolute
purity and perpetual felicity; the other, those four peren-
nial streams that divided and watered the several quarters
of it" (earth).— Atlantis, pp. 317-323.

Donnelly says: "It was the symbol of symbols, the mys-
tical Tan, the hidden wisdom not only of the ancient Egyp-
tian but also of the Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Mexicans, Peru-
vians, and of every other ancient people. . . . Thus it was
figured on the gigantic emerald or glass statue of Serapis
which was transported 293 B. c. . . . destroyed . . . (by) Theo-
dosius A. D. 389 despite the earnest entreaties of the Egyp-
tian priesthood to spare it because it was the emblem of their
God and of 'the life to come.' "—Atlantis, p. 319.

Eusebius says: "The very name of Jesus, as also that of
Christ, was honored by the pious prophets of old. And first,
Moses himself having intimated how exceedingly august and
illustrious the name of Christ is. ... But the prophets that
lived subsequently to these times also plainly announced
Christ before by name." — Ecclesiastical History, pp. 21, 22.

"Greek cross is found on Assyrian tablets, on Egyptian and
Persian monuments, on early Asiatic and Greek coins and on
Etruscan pottery. . . . Latin cross, or crux immissa, is also
found on coins, medals, and monuments anterior to Christ.
. . . Egyptian (cross) symbol of life. . . . This is a symbol
of wonderful diffusion. It is the sacred emblem of Vishnu
and the swastika 'of the Buddhist, it is found on Celtic monu-
ments, on Etruscan Cinerary urns and those taken by Cesnola
from the Phoenician tombs of Cyprus. . . . The Spanish con-
querors of the New World found crosses of stone and wood
erected in Mexico, Central and South America. The Muyscas
and the Mayas reverenced it, and among the Toltecs it was
called the 'tree of nutriment,' the 'tree of life.' " — American
Cyclopedia, vol. 5, p. 512.

142 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Baldwin says: "The cross, even the so-called Latin cross,
is not exclusively a Christian emblem. It was used in the
Oriental World many centuries (perhaps millenniums) before
the Christian era. . . . The cross is found in the ruins of
Nineveh. Mr. Layard, describing one of the finest specimens
of Assyrian sculpture (the figure of 'an early Nimrod king' he
calls it), says: 'Round his neck are hung the four sacred
signs; the crescent, the star or sun, the trident, and the
cross.' " — Ancient America, pp. 109, 110.

MODERN MIRACLE.

Attested by a good Methodist minister: "Ezra Booth, of
Mantua, a Methodist preacher of much more than ordinary
culture, and with strong natural abilities, in company with
his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, and some other citizens of
this place, visited Smith at his home in Kirtland, in 1831.
Mrs. Johnson had been afflicted for some time with a lame
arm, and was not at the time of the visit able to lift her
hand to her head. The party visited Smith partly out of
curiosity, and partly to see for themselves what there might
be in the new doctrine. During the interview, the conversa-
tion turned on the subject of supernatural gifts, such as were
conferred in the days of the apostles. Some one said, 'Here
is Mrs. Johnson with a lame arm; has God given any power
to men now on earth to cure her?' A few moments later,
when the conversation had turned in another direction, Smith
rose, and walking across the room, taking Mrs. Johnson by
the hand, said in the most solemn and impressive manner:
'Woman, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command
thee to be whole,' and immediately left the room. The company
were awe-stricken at the infinite presumption, of the man, and
the calm assurance with which he spoke. The sudden mental
and moral shock — I know not how better to explain the well-
attested fact — electrified the rheumatic arm — Mrs. Johnson
at once lifted it up with ease, and on her return home the
next day she was able to do her washing without difficulty
or pain." — Hayden History, p. 250.

Mr. Kennedy, in his book on Mormonism, pages 121 and

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 143

122, verifies the statement, and adds: "Upon her return
home she discovered that she could use it equally with the
other, and thus it remained until her death, fifteen years
later." — Quoted from White-Sewell Debate, p. 39.

"DAYS," AS USED IN THE BIBLE, MEANS YEARS.

"Forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniqui-
ties, even forty years." — Numbers 14 : 34.

"I have appointed thee each day for a year." — Ezekiel 4 : 6.

"Mr. Wintle has shown that both the New Testament and
classic writers use times (or seasons) for years; so we some-
times say so many summers or winters. These years usually
consisted of three hundred and sixty days, prophetically used
for years. Thus three years and a half, or twelve hundred
and sixty days, will stand for so many years." — Cottage
Bible (quoted from Facts for the Times, p. 38).

Alexander Campbell: "A time is one revolution of the
earth."— Ibid.

Professor Bush : "Nay, I am even ready to go so far as to
say that I do not conceive your errors on the subject of
chronology to be at all of a serious nature, or in fact to be
very wide of the truth. In taking a day as the prophetical
term for the year, I believe you are sustained by the soundest
exegesis, as well as fortified by the high names of Mede,
Sir Isaac Newton, Bishop Newton, Kirby, Scott, Keith, and
a host of others who have long since come to substantially
your conclusions on this head." — Advent Library, no. 44, p.
6; Ibid., pp. 38, 39.

Barnes: "Revelation 12: 6: 'A thousand two hundred and
threescore days.' That is regarding these as prophetic days, in
which a day denotes a year, twelve hundred and sixty years.
The same period evidently is referred to in verse 14, in the
words, 'for a time, times, and a half a time'; and the same
period is undoubtedly referred to in Daniel 7: 25, 'And they
shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and
the dividing of time.' " — Ibid., p. 40.

Bagster: "Until a time (i. e., a year), times (two years),
and the dividing of time (i. e., half a year), making, in the

144 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

whole, three prophetic years and a half; or reckoning thirty
days to a month, twelve hundred and sixty days, equal to the
same number of years in prophetic language.": — Ibid.

Scott: "Thus matters would be left in his hands a 'time,
and times, and the dividing of time'; that is, for three years
and a half, or forty-two months, which, reckoning thirty days
to a month (and that was the general computation), make
just twelve hundred and sixty days, and those prophetical
days signify twelve hundred and sixty years, a number which
we shall repeatedly meet with in the Revelation of Saint
John." — Ibid., pp. 40, 41.

Sir Isaac Newton: "The sanctuary and host were trampled
under foot twenty-three hundred days (verse 14), and in
Daniel's prophecies days are put for years." — Ibid., p. 48.

Bagster: "Two thousand and three hundred days (see
margin) , that is two thousand and three hundred years."
—Ibid.

Bishop Newton :"Two thousand three hundred years . . .
may properly enough be said to be for many days." — Ibid.

Scott: "It is universally allowed that the seventy weeks
here mentioned mean 'seventy weeks' of years.; that is four
hundred and ninety years." — Ibid.

Rev. Joseph S. C. F. Frey (a Jew) : "That the seventy
weeks mentioned are weeks of years, i. e., every week seven
years, making in the whole four hundred and ninety years,
is agreed both by Jewish and Christian commentators." —
Ibid., pp. 49, 50.

THE PROPER METHOD OF INTERPRETING GOD'S

WORD.

"Whoso readeth, let him understand." — Jesus.

"No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpreta-
tion."—Peter.

"Words which admit of different senses should be taken
in their most common and obvious meaning, unless such a
construction leads to absurd consequences, or be inconsistent
with the known intention of the writer." -Hedge's Logic
(Quoted from Facts for the Times, pp. 10, 11).

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 145

Bishop Jeremy Taylor: "In all the interpretations of scrip-
ture, the literal sense is to be presumed and chosen, unless
there be evident cause to the contrary." — Ibid., p. 11.

Prof. J. A. Ernesti: "There is in fact but one and the
same method of interpretation common to all books, whatever
be their subject." — Ibid.

Vitringa: "We must never" depart from the literal mean-
ing of the subject mentioned in its own appropriate name."
—Ibid., p. 12.

Dr. John Pye Smith: "The common rule of all rational
interpretation; viz, the sense afforded by a cautious and criti-
cal examination of the terms of the passage, and an impartial
construction of the whole sentence according to the known
usage of the language and the writer." — Ibid.

"Language is used literally and figuratively, but it can
not therefore be said that language has a literal and a figura-
tive meaning. The figurative use must conform to the literal
signification, otherwise we could no more judge of the cor-
rectness of the figure than if the terms used had no meaning."
—Ibid.

Dr. Clarke: "Without all controversy, the literal meaning
is that which God would have first understood. . . . Remember
you are called not only to explain the things of God, but also
the words of God. The meaning of the thing is found in the
word." — Ibid., p. 12.

Bridges, on "Christian ministry," says: "Inferences from
scripture that appear to be strictly legitimate must be received
with the greatest caution, or, rather, decidedly rejected, except
as they are supported by explicit scripture declaration. "-
Ibid., p. 13.

Martin Luther: "Let the Christian reader's first object
always be to find out the literal meaning of the word of God;
for this, and this alone, is the whoia foundation of faith and
of Christian theology. It is the very substance of -Chris-
tianity."— Milner's History, vol. 5, p. 460.

William Tyndale: "No man dare abide the literal sense
of the text but under a protestation, if it please the pope.
Thou shalt understand, therefore, that the scripture hath but

146 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

one sense, and that is the literal sense. . . . The greatest cause
of which captivity and decay of faith, and this blindness
wherein we are now, sprang from allegories; for Origen,
and the doctors of his time, drew all the scriptures into alle-
gory, insomuch as that twenty doctors expounded one text
twenty different ways. . . . Yea, they are come into such
blindness that they not only say the literal sense profiteth
not, but also that it is hurtful, and killeth the soul."-
Works, vol. 1, p. 307. Ibid., p. 11.

PROPHECY AND WHEN FULFILLED.

"A prophecy is demonstrated to be fulfilled when we can
prove from unimpeachable authority that the event has actu-
ally taken place precisely according to the manner in which
it was foretold." — Home's Introduction, Compendium, p. 147.
(Quoted from Facts of the Times, p. 28.)

PREJUDICE.

J. A. Woods: "The verdict of an English jury, was, we find
and present Charles Wesley, to be a person of ill-fame, a vaga-
bond, and a common disturber of his Majesty's peace; and
we pray he may be transported." — Book Perfect Love, p. 249.

Lardner says of the early Christians: "That besides
atheist, or impiety to the established duties, they the ancient
Christians were charged with having their wives in common
with promiscuous ludeness. With incest and cannibalism.
That they were generally hated for their wickedness." — Vol. 1,
p. 240.

"Jesus," he says, "was born of a poor woman who subsisted
by the labor of her hands. Condemned of adultery, cast off
by her husband, wandering about in a shameful manner, and
giving birth to Jesus in an obscure place. And he (the child)
being in want served in Egypt for a livelihood; becoming
familiar with some Egyptian charms he returned and set
himself up for a God. Then taking ten or eleven vile publi-
cans and sailors he went about getting his living in a bad
and shameful manner." — Vol. 8, p. 19.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 147

ORIGIN OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH.

Doctor Cramp says: "There has been much dispute re-
specting the manner in which they proceeded, some maintain-
ing that Smyth baptized himself and then baptized the others.
It is a thing of small consequence. Baptists do not believe
in apostolic succession as it is commonly held, but the probabil-
ity is that one of the brethren baptized Mr. Smyth, and that
he then baptized the others. ... A church was formed, by
Mr. Smyth and he was chosen pastor. At his death, which
took place in 1611, Mr. Thomas Helwys was appointed in his
place." — Baptist History, by Dr. J. M. Cramp, D. D., p. 287.

Rev. D. C. Haynes says: "The two oldest Baptist churches
in the United States, namely, first Providence and first New-
port, Rhode Island, who still dispute the honor of being the
older, bear date, the former, A. D. 1639, and the latter, A. D.
1644. The chain of Baptist history thus crosses the Atlantic
Ocean connecting the two countries. . . . Roger Williams flies
from Salem, persecuted by the Pilgrim Fathers, and after a
short sojourn with the Indians in their native forest, founds
the State of Rhode Island and the city of Providence, A. D.
1636. He was accused, before leaving Salem, of preaching
doctrines tending to ana-baptistry. He was then a Presby-
terian and pastor of a Presbyterian church. In March, 1638-
1639, he was baptized and was honored with being the apostle
of the Baptist in America. . . . Roger Williams did not leave
England until he was about thirty-two years old. . . . He
arrived at Nantucket, near Boston, in 1630, in the prime of
life, with an excellent reputation. Governor Winthrop, speak-
ing of the arrival of the ship, says: 'She brought Mr. Wil-
liams, a goodly minister, and his wife.' He immediately be-
gins to develop the principles which resulted in his becoming a
Baptist and champion of soul liberty, and a sufferer for
conscience sake. Though it was eight years later before he
was baptized and formed the first baptist church in America
at Providence." — Baptist Denomination, pp. 51, 52, 300.

Rev. D. C. Haynes says: "Rev. J. Newton Brown, D. D., and
. . . author of the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, who

148 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

has given much attention to church history says: 'The Baptists
have no difficulty whatever in tracing up their principals and
churches to the apostolic age. It has often been said by
our enemies that we originated in the German city of Munster,
in 1534. Lamentable must be the weakness and ignorance of
such an assertion, come from whom it may. It were easy
to recite eminent Pedo-Baptist historians to refute this cal-
umny— especially Limbrach and Mosheim, of the last cen-
tury.' " — Baptist Denomination, p. 24.

Dr. Thomas Armitage says: "But the first sign of a church
is found some time previous to March, 1639, when Williams
and eleven others were baptized and a Baptist church was
formed under his lead. Hubbard tells us that he was baptized
by one Holliman, then Mr. Williams baptized him and some
ten more. ... In the baptism of these twelve we find a case
of peculiar necessity, such as that in which the validity of
'lay-baptism' has never been denied. ... So far as appears,
there was not a baptist minister in the colony at the time.
Williams was an ordained minister in the English Episcopal
Church, and had been reordained at Salem, May, 1635, after
the congregational order." — History of the Baptist, pp. 658,
659.

Doctor Benedict says: "This church, which is the oldest
of the Baptist denomination in America, was formed March,
1639. Its first members were twelve in number, namely, Roger
Williams, Ezekiel Holliman, Stuckley Wescott, John Green,
Richard Waterman, Thomas James, Robert Cole, William
Carpenter, Francis Weston, and Thomas Olney. ... As the
whole company, in their own estimation, were unbaptized and
they knew of no administrator in any of the infant settlements
to whom they could apply, they with much propriety hit upon
the following expedient; Ezekiel Holliman, a man of gifts
and piety, by the suffrage of the little company, was appointed
to baptize Mr. Williams, who in return baptized Holliman
and the other ten."— Baptist History, p. 450.

Doctor Cramp says: "The result was, however, that twelve
men declared themselves Baptist in principle. Then the
question arose, How were they to be baptized since .they had

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 149

no minister? They might have been sent to England for one,
but the application might not have been successful, and it
would have involved an expense which they were ill prepared
to meet, besides which, a long delay would have occurred.

In this dilemma they adopted the only expedient that
seemed to meet the case. One of their number, Ezekiel Holli-
man, was chosen to baptize Mr. Williams, who then baptized
the others. This was in March, 1639." — Baptist History,
p. 461.

Doctor Armitage says: "On arriving at Amsterdam, Smyth
at first united with the ancient English Separatists church
there, in charge of Johnson, with Ainsworth as teacher. At
that time the Separatists of Amsterdam were in warm con-
troversy on the true nature of a visible church. Smyth pub-
lished a work on the fallen church, entitled The Character of
the Beast, and a tractate of seventy-one pages against infant
baptism, and in favor of believer's baptism. For this he was
disfellowshipped by the first church. . . . This led Smyth,
Helwys, Morton, and thirty-six others to form a new church,
which should practice believer's baptism and reject infant
baptism. Finding themselves unbaptized they were in a strait.
They were on good terms with the Dutch Baptist, but would
not receive their baptism lest this should recognize them as
a true church; for they believed that the true church of
Christ had perished. . . . He believed the apostolic church
model was lost, and determined on its recovery. With the
design of restoring this pattern he baptized himself on his
faith in Christ, in 1608, then baptized Thomas Helwys with
about forty others and so formed a new church in Amster-
dam."—Pages 453, 454.

Doctor Cramp says: "The Second Baptist Church in Rhode
Island was formed at Newport, in 1644, by Dr. John Clark
and eleven others. Doctor Clark became the pastor, which
office he resigned in 1651, when he accompanied Roger Wil-
liams to England on business connected with the charter of
the colony. He was succeeded by Obadiah Holmes." — Page
462.

Doctor Armitage says: "Clark, who was born in Suffolk,

150 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

England, in 1609, was liberally educated and practiced as a
physician in London for a long time; . . . His religious and
political principles led him to cast in his lot with the New
World and he arrived in Boston, November, 1637. There is
no evidence that he was a Baptist at this time, but rather he
seems to have been a Puritan, much like Roger Williams,
when he landed there. These settlers numbered eighteen, most
of them being Congregationalists, and members of Cotton's
church in Boston, but some of them were under its censure
for imbibing peculiar views of Christian doctrine. . . . As
far as appears none of them were Baptist. , , . It is not
clear whether Clark was at this time a Congregational! st.
But they formed a church to which he was the preacher,
whether or not he was the pastor. These things taken to-
gether lead to the highly probable conclusion that Clark
became a Baptist somewhere between 1640 and 1644." — Pages
669-671.

Again he says: "True, Williams had ceased to be a Bap-
tist, when the Baptist church of which Clark became pastor,
was formed, ... he could not have baptized Clark. But
other elders had taken the church that Williams had left and
Clark could have received baptism of one of them at Provi-
dence. . . . Morgan Edwards writes of the Newport church:
'It is said to have been a daughter of Providence church, which
was constituted about six years before, and it is not at all
unlikely that they might be enlightened in the affair of believ-
er's baptism by Roger Williams and his company for whom
they had the greatest kindness. . . . Clark, its first minister,
1644, remained pastor till 1676, when he died. . . . Tradition
says that he was a preacher before he left Boston, but that
he became a Baptist after his settlement in Rhode Island,
by means of Roger Williams.' " — Ibid., pages 671, 672.

Rev. W. B. Boggs, D. D., a Baptist, says: "That these
two officers, bishop and deacon, were the only ones recognized
in the primitive churches seems evident from Paul's directions
both to Timothy and Titus."— The Baptist, p. 33.

Rev. Edward T. Hiscox, D. D., says: "The history of
American Baptists goes back somewhat more than two hun-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 151

dred years. At what time they first came to the country it
is impossible to say. The first church was organized at
Providence, Rhode Island, under the care of Roger Williams,
1639. ... As there was no Baptist minister in the colony,
now accessible, Mr. Williams was immersed by one of his
associates, a layman, when he in turn baptized his associates,
and organized a church 1639." — Baptist Church Directory,
pp. 251, 252.

Again he says: "The next church formed was in Newport,
in 1644."— Ibid., p. 252.

ORIGIN OF THE ADVENTIST CHURCH.

Mr. W. N. Glenn says: "William Miller was a member
of the Baptist Church, . . . and was licensed to preach in 1833.
I believe he was not an ordained minister. Elder James White
was a member of the Disciple Church, and Mrs. White (then
Ellen G. Harmon) was a member of the Methodist Church.
They were both interested in the movement conducted by Mr.
Miller." — From Bishop C. J. Hunt's work on The Origin of the
Seventh Day Adventist Church, pp. 2, 3.

"But how did the observance of the seventh day become a
cardinal feature of their faith and practice? The primary
causes of this change were the following: Late in the autumn
of 1844, the time of which we have been speaking, Mrs. Rachel
D. Preston, a Seventh Day Baptist, removed from the State
of New York to Washington, New Hampshire, where there
was a flourishing company of Adventists. All parties were
zealous to give and receive new light, and a mutual exchange
of views took place, she adopting their views of the soon
coming of the Savior; and they, by faith seeing the ark con-
taining the ten commandments in the temple in heaven, as
a part of their views of prophecy, were all ready to accept
her views of the binding obligation of the Sabbath of the
Decalogue, and to begin its observance. Thus the doctrine
of the observance of the seventh day, and the doctrine of
the soon coming of Christ, came together; and those in whom
these views were united, thus became Seventh Day Adventists.
The first church of Seventh Day Adventists was thus de-

152 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

veloped in Washington, New Hampshire, in the last three
months of 1844.

"These views of the sanctuary modified and enlarged their
views of prophecy to a great extent, but their doctrines did
not become sufficiently formulated to begin to constitute a
settled system of belief till the following year, or 1845, which
may therefore be set down as the year in which the Seventh
Day Adventist denomination began." — Camp Meeting Journal,
Sparta, Wisconsin, June, 1898. (Quoted in Bishop Hunt's work
above cited, pp. 4, 5.)

Elder J. N. Loughborough, acting church historian, Oak-
land, California, May 12, 1904, says: "Some of our earliest
ministers were those who had been ordained to the gospel
ministry in other denominations, and went forward under that
ordination. . . . The first one ordained as a Seventh Day Ad-
ventist minister by Seventh Day Adventists was myself. This
ordination was at Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the month of
June, 1854."

J. W. Watt, president of the Vermont conference of Ad-
ventists, who wrote from North Walcott, December 30, 1904,
said: "It would not be consistent for ministers of another
denomination to ordain a man to eldership in a Seventh Day
Adventist church. I think such a thing would be entirely
out of place." (The above are clippings furnished by Bish-
op C. J. Hunt, and certified to as being correct.)

Editorial in Our Hope, published at Mendota, Illinois, May
2, 1906, which gives us the history from an Advent Christian
standpoint: "The denominational organization of our people
into churches and conferences was a matter of gradual adop-
tion, as circumstances forced its necessity upon them. The
preaching of William Miller and his cowo*kers was among the
churches of all the Protestant denominations reckoned evan-
gelical. A great many preachers and devout Christians of
all faiths accepted the Advent message and retained for some
time their connection with their churches, and it was not sup-
posed at first that it would be necessary to organize separately.
A call for a general conference of Adventual believers, "of

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 153

the United States and elsewhere," to meet at Boston, Massa-
chusetts, October 14, 1840, at 10 o'clock a. m., brought to-
gether the first gathering of this faith. The call stated that
'The object of the conference will not be to form a new organi-
zation in the faith of Christ, nor to assail others of our
brethren who may differ from us in regard to the period
and manner of the advent, but to discuss the whole subject
faithfully and fairly in the exercise of that spirit of Christ
in which it will be safe immediately to meet him at the judg-
ment seat; etc.' An Episcopal clergyman was president of
that conference, a Baptist clergyman made the opening prayer,
and a Methodist minister delivered one of the leading ad-
dresses. William Miller was prevented from attending by
illness. A circular address of considerable length was adopted
at this conference and published, with a full report, and was
widely scattered, and may be found in I. C. Wellcome's
History of the Second Advent Message, chapter 8, pages 176-
197. Other general conferences followed, of the same unde-
nominational character. The first Adventist camp meeting
was held in Hadley, Lower Canada, commencing June 21,
1842, and was followed June 29, by a camp meeting at East
Kingston, New Hampshire.

"Though but twenty-six tents were erected, the attendance
was from seven to ten thousand people from all parts of New
England, and the contributions offered amounted to one thou-
sand dollars. In these early meetings no denominational
lines were drawn or th/ought of. In 1843 a movement began
among various denominations to expel believers in the soon
coming of Christ. . . .When the date that had been given
(1844) for the second advent went by, and the Lord did not
appear, this opposition grew very strong against all who had
been interested in Adventist views. . . . Great confusion fol-
lowed, and many opinions, and conflicting views were held
by self-appointed leaders and teachers, until what is called
a 'Mutual Conference' was called at Albany, New York, for
April 29, 1845. At this conference William Miller was tem-
porary chairman and Elder J. V. Himes secretary. Its object
was stated to be 'To consult together respecting the condition

154 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

and wants of brethren in the several sections of the country,
that we may be better enabled to act in concert, and with more
efficiency in the promulgation of gospel truths.' After per-
fecting its organization by electing Rev. Elon Galusha, of
Lockport, New. York, president; and Sylvester Bliss and O.
R. Fassett, secretaries; the conference adopted a report con-
taining a statement of important truths, and a recommenda-
tion for associated action.

" 'The New Testament rules for the government of the
church' were declared 'binding upon the whole brotherhood of
Christ.' And any congregation of believers habitually assem-
bling for the worship of God and due observance of gospel
ordinances was declared to be a church of Christ. A plan of
operations was suggested embracing Sunday schools and Bible
class instruction, and the circulation of good books and reli-
gious literature, and the brethren were recommended to accept
as ministers and teachers only those who had scriptural quali-
fications as to outward life and behavior, and who taught the
unadulterated word of God. This report was signed by Wil-
liam Miller as chairman of the committee appointed to draft
it, and was the beginning of the denominational organization
of the Advent-Christian people. . . . We wish here to say that
in proclaiming the coming of Christ to the world, nothing
was further from our thoughts than to form a separate, dis-
tinct body of Christians; it never came into our hearts. . . .
It is the writer's conviction that the Providence of God, in
view of the opposition of the recognized denominations to Ad-
ventual truth, called out the Advent-Christian people to bear
witness to this truth and proclaim the great message of com-
ing judgment and the kingdom of God."

The following, was gathered by Bishop C. J. Hunt: "The
Adventists were of all churches, and they had no idea of
forming another church. After 'the time' (1844) passed, there
was great confusion, and the majority were strongly opposed
to any organization, holding that it was inconsistent with the
perfect liberty of the gospel ! Mrs. White was always opposed
to every form of fanaticism, and early announced that some
form of organization was necessary to prevent and correct

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 155

confusion. Few at the present time can appreciate the firm-
ness which was then required to maintain her position against
the prevailing anarchy. All the union which has existed
among Seventh Day Adventists is due to her timely warnings
and instructions." — Publisher's footnotes in Experiences and
Views, published 1891.

Mrs. White said of William Miller, as found in same book:
"As John the Baptist heralded the first advent of Jesus, and
prepared the way for his coming, so William Miller and those
who joined with him, proclaimed the second advent of the Son
of God."

Mrs. White, the prophetess of Adventism, relates: "I was
struck dumb, and for a few moments was lost to everything
around. ... A card was held up before me, on which were
written in gold letters the chapter and verse of fifty texts
of scripture. After I came out of (the) vision, ... I took
the Bible and readily turned to all the texts that I had seen
upon the card. I was unable to speak all day." — Christian
Experiences, p. 18.

In answer to a question asked by Bishop C. J. Hunt, Mr..
J. 0. Johnston, president of North and South Carolina con-
ference of Seventh Day Adventists, replied, May 10, 1904,
as follows: "Seventh Day Adventists regard Mrs. White as
a prophetess or 'mouthpiece for God,' just as truly as the
church in the wilderness regarded Moses, but she is not in any
sense .a leader of the church as was Moses. Her work corre-
sponds more to the work of John the Baptist than it does to
Moses, though we do not claim that she is that 'Elijah that was
to come' or anything of that kind. We believe that God has
given a work to our denomination that corresponds exactly to
the work of John the Baptist. . . . Mrs. White is recognized
among us, and has been for fifty years, as one to whom God
has given divine revelations for the guidance of his work here
upon earth."

Mrs. E. G. White's view of the "gathering time," as found
in volume 1, of Experiences and Views, and Spiritual Gifts
(furnished by Elder F. G. Pitt) : "September 23, the Lord

156 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

showed me that he had stretched out his hand the second time
to recover the remnant of his people, and that efforts must be
redoubled in this gathering. . . . Then I was pointed to some
who are in the great error of believing that it is their duty
to go to old Jerusalem, and think they have a work to do
there before the Lord comes. Such a view is calculated to
take the mind and interest from the present work of the Lord,
under the message of the Third angel; for those who think
they are yet to go to Jerusalem, will have their minds there,
and their means will "be withheld from the cause of present
truth. I saw that such a mission would accomplish no real
good, and it would take a long time to make a very few Jews
believe even in the first advent of Christ, much more to believe
in his second advent. I saw that Satan had greatly deceived
some in this thing, and that souls all around them in this
land could be helped by them, and led to keep the command-
ments of God, but they were leaving them to perish. ... I also
saw that old Jerusalem never would be built up; and that
Satan was doing his utmost to lead the minds of the children
of the Lord into these things now, in the gathering time, to
.keep them from throwing their whole interest into the present
work of the Lord, and to cause them to neglect the necessary
preparation for the day of the Lord." — Pages 63-65.

GENERATION DEFINED.

"Question corner" of a leading Adventist paper, Signs of
the Times, published at Oakland, California, issue of December
22, 1898: "Please explain Matthew 24: 34. What generation
is this? How long is this generation? When does it be-
gin? "A. T."

"It means the generation which sees the fulfillment of the
signs mentioned by our Lord. It began between the falling
of the stars in 1833 and 1844, when the last part of the
message of Revelation 14:6-14 began, and ends when the
Lord comes. A generation is not a definite time. It means
generally the people living upon earth at the time.

"DELOIT, IOWA. "C. J. HUNT."

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 157

SUCCESSION CLAIMED.

Editor Prescott, in answering Bishop C. J. Hunt's inquiry,
said, September 11, 1904: "We regard the Seventh Day Ad-
ventist Church as in the direct line of apostolic succession,
inasmuch as they teach the pure gospel as taught by the
apostles. Further than this we have not been accustomed
to make comparisons between our rights, powers, and privi-
leges, and those of other denominations." (Mr. W. W. Pres-
cott is editor of the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald,
published at Washington, D. C.)

The Advent leader put himself on record in the following
statement: "I hereby acknowledge that I have long believed
it my duty ... to leave for the instruction of my brethren,
friends and children a brief statement of my faith (and which
ought to be my practice) ; and I pray God to forgive me where
I go astray. I made it a subject of prayer and meditation,
and therefore have the following as my faith, — reserving the
privilege of correction." — William Miller, p. 77, of his Mem-
oirs.

One of the articles adopted by Mr. Miller, article 15, reads:
"I believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ is near,
even at the door, even within twenty-one years, — on, or
before, 1843."

DOCTRINAL FEATURES OF THE ADVENTISTS.

Mr. M. C. Wilcox, editor of the Signs of the Times, answered
Bishop C. J. Hunt, from Mountain View, California, January
29, 1905, as follows, as to who has the right to baptize: "I
would say, 'Yes,' only those ordained according to the gospel
have the right to administer baptism" (Hebrews 5:4).

BAPTISM IN WATER IS NOT FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS; ACCORD-
ING TO ADVENTIST TEACHINGS.

W. J. Stone, president of the Indiana conference, wrote
January 23, 1905, to Bishop Hunt, as follows: "I do not under-
stand that a person's sins are washed away by baptism. The
sacrifice of Christ atones for our sins. *If we confess our

158 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' — 1 John 1 : 9. Then we
are cleansed before we ever go into the water. And unless
one has been baptized into Christ's death, and cleansed from
sin, he is not a fit subject for water baptism. Water bap-
tism is simply following the command of Christ, and the
answering of a good conscience." — 1 Peter 3: 21.

Editor W. W. Prescott made the following reply to Bishop
Hunt, January 30, 1905: "Water baptism has no efficacy
in itself, and is not, as the Roman Catholic Church teaches, a
sacrament by means of which a person is cleansed from sin.
It is, however, the outward profession and sign of an inward
work. When, therefore, a truly repentant sinner is baptized,
it ought to be true that he is baptized for the remission of
sins, but the remission comes through his faith and not
through the efficacy of the rite of baptism. Christ is the
door and not baptism. And yet it is true that every member
of the church ought to be baptized. You will see that the out-
ward form and the inward experience ought not to be sepa-
rated."

Again he says, September 11, 1904: "1. A believer who
has been baptized by immersion, by any evangelical minister,
is usually received in full fellowship into the Seventh Day
Adventist Church without being rebaptized, unless he, himself,
desires rebaptism. The usual method would be to receive him
on profession of faith and previous baptism."

ORIGIN OF THE ADVENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

"The Advent Christian Association was organized in 1857,
and during all those years its annual sessions were held in
connection with the Wilbraham meeting." — Prophetic and
Mission Record, Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. A., December,
1905.

"Have we a creed?" "However, Second Adventists, in gen-
eral, and we suppose without exception among all branches
of the Adventist family, have no authoritative creed but the
Bible. That is, every statement of faith or belief is valueless
as authority unless in Bible terms. The Bible, and the Bible

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 159

alone is our rule of faith." — Our Hope, Mendota, Illinois',
March 28, 1906.

THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK THE REST DAY FOR
THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST.

THEIR SABBATH.

Encyclopedia Britannica: "The first day of the week was
everywhere set apart for this purpose. Thus Acts 20 : 7 shows
that the disciples in Troas met weekly on the first day of the
week for exhortation and the breaking of bread ; 1 Corinthians
16: 2 implies at least some observance of the day; and the
solemn commemorative character it had very early acquired
is strikingly indicated by an incidental expression of the writer
of the Apocalypse (1: 10) who for the first time gives it that
name ('the Lord's day') by which it is almost invariably re-
ferred to by all writers of the century immediately succeeding
apostolic times. Amon-g the indications of the nature and uni-
versality of its observance during this period may be men-
tioned the precept in the (recently discovered) teaching of
the apostles (c. 14) : 'And on the Lord's day of the Lord
. . . come together and break bread and give thanks after
confessing your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be
pure.' Ignatius (Ad. Magn., c. 9) speaks of those whom he
addresses as 'no longer Sabbatizing, but living in the observ-
ance of the Lord's day ... on which also our life sprang
up again.' Eusebius (H. E., 4.23) has preserved a letter of
Dionyius of Corinth (175 A. D.) to Soter, bishop of Rome, in
which he says: 'To-day we have passed the Lord's holy day,
in which we have read your epistle'; and the same historian
(H. E., 4.26) mentions that Melito of Sardis (170 A. D.) had
written a treatise on the Lord's day. . . . The first writer who
mentions the name of Sunday as applicable to the Lord's
day is Justin Martyr; this designation of the first day of
the week, which is of heathen origin (see Sabbath, vol. 21, p.
126), had come into general use in the Roman world shortly
before Justin wrote. The passage is too well known to need
quotation (Apol. 1, 67) in which he describes how 'on the

160 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

day called Sunday' town and country Christians alike gath-
ered together in one place for instruction and prayer and
charitable offerings and the distribution of bread and wine;
they thus meet together on that day, he says., because it is
the first day in which God made the world, and because Jesus
Christ on the same day rose from the dead. As long as the
Jewish Christian element continued to have any prominence
or influence in the church, a tendency more or less strong
to observe Sabbath as well as Sunday would of course per-
sist."— Vol. 22, pp. 653, 654.

FIRST ENACTMENT OF LAW IN REGARD TO SUNDAY.

"The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a
legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321 A. D."-
Ibid., p. 654.

"Sunday was emphatically the weekly feast of the resur-
rection of Christ, as the Jewish Sabbath was of the feast of
Creation. It was called the Lord's day, and upon it the primi-
tive church assembled to break bread." — Schaff-Herzog En-
cyclopedia, p. 2259.

"The Sabbath was now reinstituted with peculiar solemnity,
and its observance was placed in the moral code, among the
ten commandments. But it is probable that the day of its
observance was changed. For the day first marked out for the
Jewish Sabbath by the manna's not falling upon it, was the
twenty-second of the second month, and counting backward
seven days, we find the people performing, by divine direction,
a long and wearisome march. The original Sabbath, conse-
crated by the heathen to the Sun, may have been set aside,
and that day made holy on which the Jews came out of
Egypt. Of that event, the Sabbath now became a special
memorial. He who is Lord of the Sabbath has a right to
alter the day of its observance. He did alter it at a subse-
quent period, to commemorate his own resurrection. And
if the Sabbath was then put back one day, as has been com-
puted by some learned men, we have now the original Sab-
bath, and do commemorate both the creation and redemption
of man." — Rev. John Marsh, Ecclesiastical History, p. 59.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 161

"The Christians of this century, assembled for the worship
of God and for their advancement in piety, on the first day of
the week, the day on which Christ reassumed his life; for that
this day was set apart for religious worship by the apostles
themselves, and that, after the example of the Church of
Jerusalem, it was generally observed, we have unexceptionable
testimony." — Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History, vol. 1. chap.
4:4, p. 85.

ORIGIN OF THE MOURNERS' BENCH.

"The Six Months' Probation, and Mourners' Bench Theories
of Methodism.

"Rev. James M. Buckley, LL. D., editor of the Christian
Advocate, New York City, wrote November 2, 1905: 'In the
early days of Methodism in this country the probation was
three months. It was afterwards made six months. It was
adopted by the conferences.

"The mourners' bench was first introduced by Aaron Hunt,
in the year 1809, though a brother by the name of Valentine
Cook introduced it elsewhere about the same time.'

"The above item of history can, I believe, be relied upon,
as Doctor Buckley is a prominent educator in the Methodist
Ji-piscopal Church." — C. J. Hunt, in Zion's Ensign, November
23, 1905.

ORIGIN OF THE DUNKARD CHURCH.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BRETHREN OR DUNKARDS.

Ever since the decline of primitive Christianity in the
early age of the church, God has had a people who protested
against the departures from the usages of the apostolic
church. The Brethren come in this line of succession, and
the movement which resulted in their closer organization
grew out of the great religious awakening which occurred
in Germany during the closing years of the seventeenth cen-
tury, when large numbers, becoming dissatisfied with the lack
of spirituality in the state church, withdrew from its com-
munion and met together for the worship of God. They were

162 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

called Separatists, or Pietists, and among them were to be
found such men as Jacob Philip Spenner, Herman Franke,
the founder of the Orphans' Home and School at Halle,
Ernest Christian Hochman, Alexander Mack, and many other
earnest, pious men whose names have become historical. The
Pietists were bitterly persecuted by the Reformed and Catho-
lic churches, and were driven from place to place until finally
Count Cassimir, of Witgenstein, opened a place of refuge for
the persecuted brethren in his province. Here, in the village
of Schwartzenau, Alexander Mack, and others, similarly
minded, met together to read and study God's word. They
mutually agreed to lay aside all existing creeds, confessions
of faith, and catechisms, and search for the truth of God's
Book, and, having found it, to follow it wherever it might
lead them. They were led to adopt the New Testament as
their creed and to declare in favor of a literal observance of
all the commandments of the Son of God.

In 1708, a small company, that is to say eight souls, repaired
to the river Eder and were buried with Christ in baptism,
triune immersion being the mode used. The church was organ-
ized, and Alexander Mack was chosen as its first minister,
but he has never been regarded as the founder of the church.
The Brethren claim to follow only Christ, and, as they accept
his word as their rule of faith and practice, the claim is well
founded. The infant church increased in numbers rapidly,
but even in Witgenstein their peace was soon disturbed, and,
although they lived peaceful and harmless lives, the hand of
persecution was laid heavily upon them. Mack, in company
with Hochman, preached -the word of truth in many parts of
Germany, visiting Holland also. Here they met and formed
the acquaintance of William Penn, who was at that time much
interested in his colony in the New World. The Brethren were
invited to settle in Pennsylvania, and, as they were sorely per-
secuted, the invitation was accepted.

In 1719 they commenced emigrating to America, and in less
than ten years the entire church found itself quietly settled
down in the vicinity of Germantown and Philadelphia. From
this nucleus, formed in the New World, the church spread

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 163

southward and westward, and flourishing congregations are
now to be found in many of the States. They are, however,
most numerous in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas. At
the annual conference, held at Warrensburg, Missouri, 1890,
twenty-two States and two foreign countries, Sweden and
Denmark, were represented by delegates on the standing com-
mittee.

DOCTRINE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, FROM THEIR
OWN BOOKS.

SOME INTERESTING ROMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINE AND HISTORY
FOUND IN THEIR NEW BOOK, THE QUESTION BOX.

"It is ever a law of scripture interpretation that an obscure
text should always be explained in the light of clear and
explicit passages."

Catholics claim succession :

"Christ was the answer of the world's longing for a divine,
infallible teacher of God's truth. His church is the con-
tinuation of that divine, infallible teaching until the second
coming of the Christ." — Page 17.

"A Catholic knows there is no danger of deception, be-
cause he believes in the authority of God, voiced to him by
the living, infallible witness of Christ's mouthpiece, the Church
of God."— Page 19.

"You can not do away with Christ's divinity and pretend to
follow out his teaching. If he be only man, his power to com-
mand is subject to the caprice of every individual. If he is
God, then it follows naturally that his doctrines must be
believed under penalty of damnation (Mark 16: 16), and his
commandments obeyed under penalty of hell. Logically, also,
there must be in the world to-day a teacher of his gospel,
divine as he was divine, infallible as he was infallible, voic-
ing his gospel to all men unto the end (Matthew 28: 20; Acts
1:8); an authority of which he said : 'He that heareth you
heareth me'" (Luke 10: 16).— Page 58.

"The church teaches by divine authority; in submitting to

164 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

her we submit to God, and are freed from all human au-
thority."—Page 119.

"Christ was not merely a teacher of doctrine, but an organ-
izer of a society. He chooses twelve men under the leader-
ship of Simon Peter."— Page 104.

"The true apostolic succession demands more than mere
natural love of the brethren. An apostolic church must have
apostolic doctrine, orders, and authority. The Bible gives us
unmistakable evidence of a church built on the apostles, and
continuing one and the same for ever without even the pos-
sibility of failure."— Page 188.

"All the apostles were commissioned in common to establish
the church, to preach the gospel, . . . but Peter alone was
made the rock, the key-bearer, the confirmer of the brethren,
and the shepherd of the flock. This has ever been the witness
of Catholic tradition."— Page 280.

"The church is indeed built upon all the apostles and proph-
ets, but not in the same manner, for surely the prophets were
not teachers of Christ in the same sense as the apostles." —
Page 286.

"Conditions were vastly different in apostolic times, for the
Catholic Church teaches that each apostle was infallible with
and under the pope, while to-day the plenitude of apostolic
power of teaching and ruling resides only in the bishop of
Rome."— Page 289.

"A visible church needs a local government upon earth
according to the divine plan." — Page 284.

"If Saint Peter or his successor, speaking authoritatively to
the church, could teach false doctrine, then he would instantly
cease to be the firm rock foundation on which Christ built his
church, the gates of hell would prevail, . . . and the whole
flock of Christ would be deprived of the true food of divine
faith (John 21: 15-17)."— Page 303.

A challenge:

"Catholics are glad to challenge any comparison when it
comes to morality and religion." — Page 158.

The trinity:

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 165

"There is one divine nature, and in that divine nature there
are three persons." — Page 37.

The Bible:

"The real question is: Is the Bible and the Bible alone the
way to find out the gospel of Christ? The Catholics answer
this question in a decided negative." — Page 64.

"Deny the church's infallible witness, and lo! the Bible is
reduced to the level of mere oriental literature, full of errors
and utterly devoid of divine inspiration. . . . The Bible does
not pretend to be a formulary of belief, as is a creed or
catechism. There is nowhere in the New Testament a clear,
methodical statement of the teachings of Christ." — Page 66.

"The Bible was never intended to take the place of the
living, infallible teacher, the [Catholic] church, but was writ-
ten to explain or to insist upon a doctrine already preached.

"How indeed could a dead and speechless book, that can not
be cross-questioned to settle doubts or decide controversies, be
the exclusive and all-sufficient teacher of God's revelation?"
—Page 67.

"The Apocalypse [the revelation of Saint John] is '„ re of
the most obscure portions of Holy Writ, and no one pretends
to be able to interpret it with any certainty." — Page 562.

"Catholics are infallibly certain that all the books of their
Bible are inspired, because of the divine, infallible witness of
the Church of Jesus Christ, voiced by the Councils of Trent
(1545-1565) and the Vatican (1869-1870). Protestants, lack-
ing this divine, infallible teacher, can never be certain what
books form the canon of Holy Scripture." — Page 76.

"Christ, therefore, either established a church that could not
err, or he never established any teaching authority at all."
—Page 132.

"The Catholic's loss of faith is ever traceable to the break-
ing of the ten commandments. The church felt this keenly
herself, and reformed many abuses at the Council of Trent,
1545-1563."— Page IBo.

"The ceremony performed by John was not a sacrament at
all, but aroused feelings of sorrow, which prepared the hearts

166 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

of his hearers for the true sacrament of Christ, as we learn
from Acts 19: 3-5."— Page 353.

Infant baptism. Here is something well worth preserving
on that question:

"It is probable that there were children in the households
baptized by Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 1: 16; Acts 16: 15, 33),
although there is no conclusive proof in the New Testament
of the practice of infant baptism. In this matter many Protes-
tants inconsistently violate their principle of the Bible only
as a rule of faith, and follow the divine tradition of the Cath-
olic Church."— Page 368.

Baptizing church bells.

"Bells are not baptized, for only rational creatures are fit
subjects for Christ's baptism. They are merely blessed, as
are many other inanimate objects, with a special prayer pre-
scribed by the liturgy."— Pages 272, 273.

Water baptism:

"Catholics are fully aware that the early practice of the
church . . . was to immerse, and that this custom prevailed in
both the East and West in the solemn administration of the
sacrament till the end of the thirteenth century. But, on the
other hand, there is abundant evidence to prove that immersion
was not the only mode, and that pouring on of water was con-
sidered equally valid. It is doubtful, to say the very least,
whether the three thousand converts of Saint Peter on Pente-
cost day (Acts 2: 41) were immersed, because of the scarcity
of water in the city of Jerusalem . . .

"If, again, immersion be the only valid mode, none are
really baptized save those who have been immersed. It would
follow then that over a hundred years after the Reformation
unbaptized men (A. D. 1638) restored th. church, which had
been entirely lost in the world, by giving to one another that
which they did not possess themselves. If baptism had entirely
perished, whence the right of any man to restore it on his own
authority?

"The Catholic Church, therefore, as the infallible interpreter
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, declares that all three ways of
baptizing are equally valid, by immersion, by pouring, or by

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 167

sprinkling. The present mode of pouring arose from the many
inconveniences connected with immersion, frequent mention of
which is made in the writings of the early Christian Fathers.
But, as a necessary safeguard, Catholics are not permitted to
use the form of sprinkling." — Pages 364-366.

"Three things are necessary for a sacrament: First, the
sensible sign, as in Baptism the outward washing of the body
with the invocation of the Blessed Trinity." — Page 345.

"We do not believe that sacraments act like magic to cleanse
a soul from sin independently of the interior disposition of the
one receiving them. The Catholic Church demands: First.
That a person be qualified to receive them." — Page 348.

"Pope Saint Stephen (A. D. 255-257) decided against Saint
Cyprian that the baptism conferred by heretics was valid, and
that rebaptism was unlawful. . . . Thus, infidel and Jewish
physicians in the hospitals of New York, who do not believe in
the Catholic Church, know what a sacrament is, and believe
that it is something sacred, have in cases of necessity validly
baptized dying children, because they out of courtesy and re-
spect to the wishes of Catholic priests have had the intention of
performing an act held sacred by the Catholic Church."
—Pages 350, 351.

"If a Protestant is uncertain about his former baptism — a
frequent case in our day of lax Christian views and practice
— he is baptized conditionally, with the form: 7/ thou art
not baptized, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' "—Page 98.

Baptism for the dead (1 Corinthians 15: 29) :

"No one knows with certainty what is meant by this obscure
text of Saint Paul. Many interpretations have been suggested,
viz, that it refers to baptism administered over the tombs of
the martyrs, or at the point of death, or some symbolic cere-
mony performed by the relations of a deceased catechumen."
—Page 369.

Who are Catholic?

"No one is a Catholic who is not a Roman Catholic." — Page
183.

"The Church of Christ has been called Catholic as early as

168 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

the beginning of the second century or the end of the first."
—Page 181.

The Great Catholic Church:

"In points of doctrine the Greek Church denies the primacy
and infallibility of the Pope, . . . Until the middle of the ninth
century the Greek Church was in communion with the Roman
Pontiff."— Page 184.

The thief on the cross:

"As for the thief on the cross, it is not evident that he went
instantly to heaven; for Catholics, believing that Christ's soul
immediately after his death went down to Limbo, to announce
to the souls there detained the glad tidings of the redemption
(1 Peter 3: 19), declare that paradise in this passage does not
mean heaven at all." — Page 402.

"Limbo is the place where the souls of the just, who died
before the death of Jesus Christ, were detained." — Page 560.

Resurrection of the body:

"The Catholic Church teaches . . . that all men 'will rise
again with their own bodies which they now bear about with
them.'"— Page 560.

The Millennium:

"The church has defined nothing whatsoever on this subject.
The reign of Christ for one thousand years (Apocrapha 20:
1-10), with the two resurrections of the just and the wicked,
held in the early church by some few writers, is contrary to
the Scriptures." — Pages 561, 562.

Purgatory :

"The word purgatory is not found in the Bible; . . . The
strongest argument for the existence of purgatory and the
practice of praying for the dead is the universal and constant
witness of divine tradition as voiced in the writings of the
fathers."— Pages 562, 563.

The mass:

"We do not pretend to know how far God applies the infinite
merits of the sacrifice of the mass to either the living or the
dead."— Page 454.

The sacrament — bread and wine:

"The Council of Trent says . . . 'that by the consecration of

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 169

the bread and wine a change is wrought of the bread's whole
substance into the substance of Christ our Lord's body, and of
the wine's whole substance into the substance of his blood.' "
—Pages 416, 417.

"The Catholic Church teaches that the reception of commun-
ion under the form of wine is not absolutely necessary, for she
has ever believed that as much is contained under either spe-
cies [bread or wine] as under both." — Page 443.

"The words drink ye all of it (Matthew 26:27) were
addressed, not to the faithful in general but to the Apostles
who alone were present." — Page 445.

Men holding priesthood not to marry:

"Celibacy originated by Christ's appointment, and flows
naturally out of the Christian sense of the dignity of the
priesthood; and voluntarily entered upon in apostolic times,
it became the law for the Western Church [Roman Catholic]
in the beginning of the fourth century." — Page 491.

"Until the fourth century . . . there was no strict law
enforcing celibacy, and therefore many married men received
orders." — Page 494.

"Celibacy is a question of discipline, not of dogma, so that
the Eastern churches that are united to Rome — for instance,
the Maronites — are still permitted a married clergy." — Page
497.

Was the Apostle Peter married?

"He undoubtedly was, yet tradition declares that he did
not live with his wife after the divine call . . . ; the words
of Saint Peter to Christ are plain: 'Behold we have left all
things and have followed thee.' " [Douay Bible.]— Pages
492, 493.

Miracles— Mark 16 : 17, 18 :

"The age of miracles will last until the end of time."—
Page 545.

"We grant that they are not so numerous to-day as in the
first days of the church, when they were specially meant to
aid the spread of Christianity." — Page 546.

This work was done for the Roman Catholic Church by
Reverend B. L. Conway of the Paulist Fathers, in a book

170 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

called The Question Box, of six hundred pages, containing
"answers to over one thousand questions" received from non-
Catholics. The preface to the book is by Reverend James
Cardinal Gibbons, archbishop of Baltimore, America.

We quote from the one hundred and eighty-fifth thou-
sandth edition of 1904.

THE PAPACY.

"Bro. E. J. Haworth, of Wallsend, hands us a copy of the
celebrated speech delivered by Bishop Strossmayer before the
Vatican Council of 1870, when the dogma of papal infallibil-
ity was being discussed. We would like to reproduce the
whole of it, but space forbids. Among other things he said:
'But, my venerable friends, we have a dictator, before whom
we must prostrate ourselves and be silent, even as his Holi-
ness Pius IX, and bow our heads. The dictator is history.
This is not like a legend, which can be made as the potter
makes his clay; but is like a diamond, which cuts on the
glass what can not be canceled. Till now I have only leant
on her, and if I have found no trace of the papacy in the
apostolic days, the fault is hers, not mine. ... I have sought
for a pope in the first four centuries, and I have not found
him.' " — C. J. Hunt, in Gospel Standard, Australia, August
15, 1904, and in Saints' Herald, February 14, 1906.

ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN, OR CAMPBELLITE
CHURCH.

"This modern sect was originated by Alexander Campbell,
in Bethany, Virginia, in 1827."— Tri-Lemma, p. 190.

"After his failure in this [to reform the Presbyterian
church] attempt at reformation, he [Campbell] decided to
unite with the Baptists. . . . Accordingly in 1812 he was im-
mersed by Elder Luce, a Baptist minister." — Ibid., p. 191.

"1827 the Baptists expelled him and all who embraced his
unscriptural views." — Ibid., p. 193.

"Mr. Campbell's baptism, then, according to his own theory,
was a blasted nut, for — first, Mr. Luce never immersed him
for any such purpose. No Baptist church or Baptist minister

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 171

ever baptized to bring the blood of Christ in contact with
conscience of his subject or to produce for him the remission
of sins or regeneration of his heart. Mr. Campbell himself
at this time, 1812, did not know or believe any such doctrine.
He had never thought of it in his wildest imaginations. It
was years after his baptism before his preaching or writings
were tainted by these heretical conceptions." — Ibid., pp. 195,
196.

"If Baptist churches are false, as Mr. Campbell declares,
... a false church can not administer valid baptisms or or-
dinations, and Mr. Campbell and his ministers received theirs
from the Baptist, whose churches and baptisms they deny
to be scriptural! Will not Campbellites ask themselves this
question, when they re-immerse our excluded members, Who
baptized Mr. Campbell?"— Ibid., pp. 196, 197.

Editorial answer: "It is understood by those familiar with
our history that Mr. Campbell was baptized by Elder Luce,
a minister of the Baptist Church, and that Disciples are
therefore in the true line of Baptist succession, but as to
the ecclesiastical ancestry of Mr. Luce we know nothing and
care as much. He was a Baptist in good standing and in
full fellowship and that suffices." — Christian Evangelist, May
16, 1895, p. 308.

"It is a child [the Campbellite sect] of the present cen-
tury."—Dr. M. Burnham, Nineteenth Century, p. 5.

"Campbell, Alexander, founder of the religious sect calling
themselves Disciples of Christ, but commonly known as Camp-
bellites. Born in County Antrim, Ireland, in June, 1786, died
in Bethany, West Virginia, March 4, 1866."— American Cyclo-
pedia, vol. 3, p. 662.

Rev. Campbell says: "He tried the Pharisaic plan, and the
monastic, I was once so straight, that like the Indian's tree,
I leaned a little the other way. ... I was once so strict a
separatist that I would neither pray, nor sing praises with
anyone who was not as perfect as I supposed myself." —
Christian Baptist, p. 238.

"It was the first ecclesiastical body in. modern times, which
transcending the limits of its own constitutional prerogatives,

172 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

initiated a movement exactly conformed to the word of God,
and utterly disentangled from all sectarian restraints. "-
Hayden History, p. 59.

"Assumed the position of a gospel church."— Ibid., p. 113.

"These people were themselves reformers, seeking in the
measure of their light to return to New Testament usages,
but like most of the efforts to return from spiritual Babylon
to Jerusalem, they crystallized around a few items which
they capitalized into undue prominence. The ancient gospel
and ancient order of the church were veiled in obscurity. . . .
But who would have thought it remained for any so late as
1827 to restore to the world the manner — primitive manner
of administering to mankind the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. . . . The ancient gospel and ancient order of the
church must prevail to the certain abolishing of all those
contumacious sects which now so woefully afflict mankind." —
Ibid., pp. 112, 173.

"Persons of good standing in other evangelical denomina-
tions, who desire to unite with us, on presenting satisfactory
letters, we receive, not as disciples of Christ (that would be
impossible without immersion) but simply as Christians. "-
The Christian Evangelist, February 17, 1898, p. 103.

"The Roman Catholic Church was born about 1054; Epis-
copalian Church was born about 1521; Presbyterian, about
1537; Scotch Presbyterian, about 1538; English Presbyterian,
about 1572; Baptist Church was born about 1611; Quaker
Church, about 1655; Methodist Episcopal Church was hatched
out about 1729, in England, by John and Charles Wesley;
but the foul bird grew up mainly in this country." — Primitive
Christian, April 20, 1897, p. 6.

"I have obeyed the gospel after having been misled for over
thirty years and if possible the church was dead during the
dark ages, God has brought it to life again." — Ibid., p. 16.

W. B. Halliday, a Campbellite of Cumberland City, Tennes-
see, says : "The attendance would doubtless have been larger,
only for the sectarian prejudice of the people of the town,
who are nearly all Methodists and who are as completely
under the control of their preachers as a loyal Catholic is

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK ' 173

under the control of the Pope of Rome. There is no one who
knows better than the Methodist preacher that they have
a ghostly skeleton in their closet; that they do not want their
lay members to know anything about. He knows that the
door would be thrown open and his 'Sheep' would see the
unscriptural things that he teaches. May God help the
poor, deluded preacher, and the priestridden people who obey
the commands of men, rather than the commandments of
the Lord." — Gospel Advocate, June 18, 1903, p. 396.

Frank Ansley says: "I renounced the traditions of the
fathers (Methodist) and united with the restored primitive
church" (Campbellite). — Reasons for Leaving the Methodist
Church, p. 5.

"I will build my church, . . . not the Catholic, or the
Episcopal, or the Presbyterian, or the Baptist, or the Metho-
dist."—Ibid., pp. 13, 14.

Hayden says: "This association assumed a new power
and with this high prerogative entered upon the discharge
of far higher and wider responsibilities." — Page 60.

A. Campbell says: "If Christians were and may be the
happiest people that ever lived, it is because they live under
the most gracious institution ever bestowed on men. The
meaning of this institution has been buried under the rubbish
of human traditions for hundreds of years. It was lost in
the dark ages and has never been, till recently, disinterred.
Various efforts have been made, and considerable progress
attended them; but since the grand apostasy was completed,
till the present generation, the gospel of Jesus Christ has not
been laid open to mankind in its original plainness, simplicity
and majesty. A veil in reading the New Institution has
been on the hearts of Christians as Paul declares it was
upon the hearts of the Jews in reading the Old Institution
toward the close of that century." — Christian System, pp.
192, 193.

Mr. Campbell says: "From these intimations we learn
the Apostles Paul and Peter foresaw the rise of sectaries
and sects; and both of them, it is worthy of remark, dis-
tinctly connected the sects with sectarian teachers; for all

174 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

sects have been originated by false teachers or by corrupt
men."— Ibid., p. 109.

Elder W. T. Moore, a Campbellite, says: "It can not be
denied that Campbell was the man who conceived, organized
and made successful the present reformation." — Discipleism,
p. 10.

Elder Dungan, a Campbellite, says: "The word reforma-
tion means "restoration."— Ibid.

Elder B. B. Tyler, a Campbellite, says: "I am compelled
to say that I do not know whether the Christian Church, as
a church, claims to be successors, reformers, or restorers."
—Ibid., p. 8.

"This plea of reformation did not begin nor end in bap-
tism. It saw as its end, and sought nothing less, than the
de-organization of sect, and the reorganization of the saints
on the new covenant, in the express terms and conditions
divinely set forth in the Holy Scriptures. This was clear
as a sunbeam in the preaching and writings of Scott and the
Campbells, and all who were enlisted in the defense."-
Hayden History, p. 158.

"It was this profound conviction that caused the pioneers
in this movement to go back beyond the Lutheran reforma-
tion, and beyond the shadow of the great apostasy to the New
Testament times." — Our Movement, p. 21.

"Alexander Campbell, soon became chiefly and prominently
known as the reorganized head of a new religious movement,
the purpose of which was to restore Primitive Christianity
in all its simplicity and beauty." — Life of A. Campbell, p. 25.

"Doctor Campbell is among the eminent citizens of the
United States, . . . the head and founder of one of the most
important and respectable religious communities." — Professor
Richardson, vol. 2, p. 548.

"OUR RELATION TO OTHER RELIGIOUS BODIES."

"That the religious world had so far apostatized from the
New Testament idea of the church as to have been utterly
rejected and disowned by Christ, so that he had no church
in the world at the time the current reformation was inau-
gurated, and that with the organization of congregations

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 175

under the teachings of the leaders of this movement, he made
a new beginning in church building." — The Christian Evan-
gelist, March 21, 1895, p. 178.

"The chain is now complete. Not another name will be
added, for the reason that the work has been accomplished.
The church of the apostles has been restored. ... If Wycliff
was the 'morning star of the Reformation' (restoration)
Campbell was the morning sun of it." — The Christian Evan-
gelist, May 6, 1897, p. 279.

"Do the Baptists have a perfect organization? They have
no elders. They say they are not needed; that the deacons
can do the work the elders were to do. If that be true, then
Christ's church was not a perfect organization. Would a
Baptist brother admit that Christ's church was not perfect
in organization? Of course he would not. Then the Bap-
tist church is not a perfect organization, for it is not on the
apostolic plan." — Primitive Christian, October 19, 1897.

"We choose to speak of Bible things by Bible words." —
Ibid., p. 125.

"The Christian discipline." — Christian System, p. 85.

Charles V. Segar, a Campbellite, says: "The argument
and details of these views are to be found in a work called
the Christian System, the fundamental work, so to speak,
of the Disciples as a religious people." — Life of A. Campbell,
p. 26.

"As to Brother Campbell, he was a great and good man,
but he was not inspired, and he made some mistakes, and
none worse than failing to adopt the true worship — a thing
he plainly taught — and establishing instead thereof this hire-
ling priesthood, which has grown to be the most intolerant,
impious, and prescriptive religious corporation on earth, not
excepting the Roman hierarchy." — Christian Leader, June 1,
1897. (A Campbellite paper.)

"They were accordingly immersed, on a confession of faith
in the Son of God, and united with the regular Baptists. . . .
The prejudice and passion of some excitable and intolerant
men who then held a leading influence in the Redstone Asso-
ciation, rendered it prudent for Mr. Campbell to withdraw,

176 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

after a few years, from that connection. Against his own
wishes, he was compelled by the force of ecclesiastical oppo-
sition to act separately from the Baptist." — Hayden History,
p. 46.

Editorial in the Christian Leader: "Alexander Campbell
spent fifty years of life trying to uproot an army of clergy-
men, but lo and behold, since the time of his death, which
occurred in 1866, we have an army of clergymen in our midst
as large and menacing as the one he fought against. The
world is about to absorb our distinctive plea." (August 26,
1897.)

"The great reformation which never was PERFECT, and
lacking in power commensurate with its imperfections, is now
practically divided and subdivided. We have the 'Progres-
sives' and the 'Loyal' and in each of these parties there are
MINOR PARTIES." — Gospel Echo, August 13, 1896.

John F. Rowe, a Campbellite, says: "The effort of the
Campbells was not simply to reform the church, as was the
case with Luther, Calvin and Wesley, but to restore the
primitive order of things, as left by the accredited ambas-
sadors of Jesus Christ."— The Disciples of Christ, p. 44. Pub-
lished in Saint Louis, Missouri, 1888.

ANCIENT TRADITION IS NOT NECESSARILY TRUE.

Alexander Campbell: "The plea of ancient tradition is
the strength of popery and the weakness of Protestantism.
We advocate, not ancient, but original Christianity. The plea
of high antiquity or tradition has long been the bulwark of
error. It cleaves to its beloved Mother, tradition, hoary tra-
dition, with an affection that increases as she becomes old and
feeble. Errorists of all schools are exceedingly devout and
dutiful so far as the precept, 'Honor thy father and thy
mother,' is concerned." — Christian Baptism, book 2, chap. 2,
p. 233. (Quoted from Facts for the Times, p. 17.)

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF.

George F. Whitley, a Campbellite, says: "Brethren, I want
to say in all firmness that I believe the Methodist denomina-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 177

tion to be the dirtiest and meanest denomination now extant,
Catholics not excepted. The Methodist Church is a daughter
of Rome and to-day is blinding more eyes in ignorance than
all of Satan's host combined. . . . Now, brethren, come; I am
into it now. I will never give down. I will wield the sword
and I pray for power to behead the Methodist fraternityv"-
Primitive Christian, Wellington, Kansas, May 3, 1894.

Rev. T. H. Popplewell, a noted Campbellite, says: "The
question was asked in our meeting here (Panama, Nebraska) :
Do you believe that all other denominations will go to hell?
To this we [Reverend Popplewell] made the following pointed
reply: They will if they do not comply with the one law of
pardon which was obligatory upon the people of Pentecost at
the house of Cornelius and all other examples found in Acts
of Apostles. Sure this hurt, but is it not the truth?" — Primi-
tive Christian, November 23, 1897.

W. P. Flippon, a Campbellite, says: "They may join the
Baptist Church or Methodist Church, but not the church
of Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is
named. The Lord added to the church of Christ on the
day of Pentecost by the people believing Peter's testimony
concerning Christ, repenting and being baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. That put them
into Christ's church, which is his body. — Primitive Christian,
April 4, 1895, Reverend Popplewell editor.

Rev. Alexander Campbell says: "In truth, there can be
no discipline in any congregation unless it be an organized
body; and no body can be organized unless it is known who are
members of it." — Christian System, p. 91. Published in Saint
Louis, Missouri.

Again he says: "Finally, while endeavoring to abolish the
old sects, let us be cautious that we form not a new one. This
may be done by either adding to, or subtracting from, the apos-
tolic constitution a single item. Our platform must be as long
and as broad as the New Testament. . . . Every party in
Christendom, without respect to any of its tenets, opinions,
or practices, is a heresy, a schism — unless there be such a
party as stands exactly upon the apostles' ground. . . . Whose

178 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

party we are, provided we hold fast all, and only all the
apostolic traditions, and build upon the Bible, the whole Bible,
and nothing but the Bible."— Ibid., pp. 110, 111.

November 20, 1900, on the jubilee anniversary of the intro-
duction of the Reformation in the State. In this address he
said of Alexander Campbell: "Venerable patriarch of the
clean heart and the silver tongue! Faithful servant of God,
and apostle of Jesus Christ!" (Quoted from The Truth De-
fended, p. 75.)

"Here I should speak more particularly of Father Ryder's
relations to the church. ... He was first the eldest brother,
then the father, finally the patriarch." — A. S. Hayden, p.
253. (Ibid.)

Rev. Mr. Campbell, said: "Some new revelation, or some
new development of the revelation of God must be made, before
the hopes and expectations >of all true Christians can be real-
ized, or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world.
We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient
order of things, and this alone by the blessing of the divine
Spirit is all that we do want, or can expect to reform and save
the world. And if this gospel, as proclaimed and enforced on
Pentecost, can not do this, vain are the hopes and disappointed
must be the expectations of the so-called Christian world." —
Christian System, p. 250.

SOMETIMES IT IS WELL TO KNOW WHAT OUR
NEIGHBORS THINK OF US.

In a tract by Jerome A. Scott, entitled V<A brief sketch of
Alexander Campbell," it is stated: "Scotch Anti-Slavery So-
ciety . . . posted in public places placards, bearing the follow-
ing inscription: 'Citizens of Edinburgh, Beware! Beware!
The Rev. Alexander Campbell, of Virginia, United States of
America, has been a slaveholder himself, and is still a de-
fender of man-stealers.' " — Page 37.

Thomas W. Grafton's History of the Campbellites, quoting
from an extract from a journal in Scotland, says: "We
beg to warn our readers against countenancing a Rev. or
Mr. A. Campbell of Virginia, U. S., who has announced a

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 179

course of lectures in the Baptist chapel here. He is the
apologist of man-stealing in its worst form — the advocate of
all that is monstrous in that most monstrous of all systems —
American slavery! Let liberty-loving, slave-despising people
of Paisley repel from their precincts with the scowl of their
worst displeasure, the apologist of American murderers, and
let them show that they despise the advocate of man-stealing,
all the more because he comes clothed in the garb of sanctity"
—Page 196.

Austin Burns Smith says: "The Christian Church as it
is called as a whole is not what it was in the times of Mr.
Campbell." — An Expose of False Religion, p. 3.

DOCTRINAL FEATURES OF THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH.

"All the extraordinary gifts vouchsafed to Moses, and the
apostles and prophets of the gospel institution, ceased when
these institutions were fully developed and established. Still
a regular and constant ministry was needed among the Jews,
and is yet needed among the Christians; and both of these
by divine authority" — Christian System, p. 82, second edi-
tion. Published at Saint Louis, Missouri.

"The whole community chooses — the seniors ordain. -This
is the apostolic tradition. ... So the Christian system in its
elections and ordinations began. It is immutable. . . . Are
we asked for authority? We produce it with pleasure: 1
Corinthians 16: 3 is just to the point. 'And', says Paul to
the Saints in Corinth, 'when I come whomsoever you shall
approve by letter them will I send to bring your liberality to
Jerusalem.' " — Ibid., pp. 88, 90.

"There is no other confession of faith on which the church
can be built, on which it can possibly stand one and undivided,
but on this one." — Ibid., p. 63.

"The only apostolic and divine confession of faith which
God the Father of all has laid for the church — and that on
which Jesus himself said he would build it, is the sublime and
supreme proposition : That Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah,

180 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

the Son of the living God. This is the peculiarity of the
Christian System, its specific attribute." — Ibid., p. 62.

"Let the Bible be substituted for all human creeds. . . .
The positive commandments of God for human legislation
and tradition."— Ibid., p. 117.

Elder Neal, a Campbellite, says: "That a great message
was to come forth, and Alexander Campbell got it from God
and delivered it to the people."— Christian Standard, June 30,
1000.

SUCCESSOR.

Rev. Alexander Campbell said: "Successors must be suc-
cessors in full, or they are not successors at all. To illustrate
this — does not the existing President of the United States
inherit all the power and authority of George Washington,
by virtue of constitutional succession? Does he not possess
the same power, in all its length and breadth, its height and
depth, as did his predecessors, from the first to last? This is
true of every constitutional office in the civilized world. All
the power which any predecessor can have, belongs to every
incumbent: so in the church if it. have constitution at all."
— Campbell and Purcell debate, p. 51.

ORIGIN OF "DISCIPLES OF CHRIST."

Rand McNally and Company's Encyclopedia and Gazetteer,
page 238, says: "Campbell, Alexander, founder of the sect
known as the 'Disciples of Christ,' or more commonly the
'Campbellites,' was born in 1788. At first a Presbyterian,
in 1812 he formed a connection with the Baptists and for
sometime he labored as an itinerant preacher. In 1826 he
published a translation of the New Testament in which the
words baptism and baptist gave place to immersion and im-
merser. Campbell gradually formed a large party of fol-
lowers, who began about 1827 to form themselves into a sect
under the designation of "The Disciples of Christ," which in
1881 had in the United States as many as 5,100 churches and
591,821 members. The late President Garfield was in early
life a Campbellite preacher." (The above paragraph was cop-
ied by F. M, Slover.)

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 181

NAME "CHRISTIAN."

"The disciples . . . were first called Christians at Antioch
. . . contemptuously . . . imposed upon them by the Gentile
world about A. D. 43." — William Smith, Dictionary, p. 152.

Rev. Alexander Campbell said: "If the Lord had given this
name, why have withholden it till the year 45? Why have
given it in Antioch, and not in Jerusalem? Why did not Luke
adopt it in the sequel of his history? Why not adopted by the
apostles in their epistles? Why never used but by enemies
like Agrippa, or in reference to persecutions, as in the case
of Peter's allusion? These, and other such dictates of reason,
show how frail are the arguments of those who assume for it
a divine origin, and would thence enjoin it upon us by a divine
authority. We have no particular objection to being called
Christians, but we object to having the name imposed upon
us as of divine authority." — Millennial Harbinger, vol. 4, pp.
52, 53.

A. Campbell, replying to Mr. Stone's defense of the name
Christian, as a denominational name, says: "I am bold to
affirm, in the face of all criticism, that there is not the least
authority in the word chrunatizo here used (Acts 21, 26) for
concluding that the name Christian came from God. ... If
it had been given by the authority 6f the Lord it would not
have been delayed ten years after the day of Pentecost, nor
reserved for the city of Antioch to be the place of its origin."
— Millennial Harbinger, 5, 2, pp. 395, 396.

Alexander Campbell says: "They were all coelders, co-
bishops, coapostles, as respected each other; and as respected
all other officers, the apostles were first." — Campbell and Pur-
cell Debate, p. 14.

"We have emphatically stated that the first point is. to estab-
lish the office. If there is no office, there can be no officer."
—Ibid., pp. 98, 99.

"Within the past few months the American Institute of
Sacred Literature has been reorganized. While the old name
has been retained, the control has been vested in a body called

182 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

the Council of the Seventy." — The Christian Evangelist, April
16 1896, p. 249

PRESIDENCY.

"The decision of James, which by unanimous consent be-
came the decision of the council." — Christian Evangelist,
December 1, 1892, p. 764-

CAMPBELLITES RECOGNIZE AUTHORITY TO BAP-
TIZE IN OTHER CHURCHES.

Elder J. H. Garrison says: "I would receive all who have
been baptized, whether once or thrice, who are in good stand-
ing as Christians. The extra immersions in the case of Dun-
kards do not nullify their obedience. Persons are not bap-
tized into religious parties, whatever they may think, but into
Christ, if so be that they believe in Christ." — Christian
Evangelist, Saint Louis, Missouri, February 1, 1895.

Elder B. J. Pinkerton says : "As far as my experience and
observation extend, it is the universal custom of our preachers
to receive such persons (that have been baptized by minis-
ters of other churches) without rebaptism, unless they demand
it."

Elder D. R. Dungan^chancellor of Cotner University, Ne-
braska, wrote February 8, 1895 : "Persons who have believed
in the Christ, repented of sin, and confessed the Savior, and
obeyed the Lord in baptism, being buried with Christ, whether
by Methodist or Baptist, have been scripturally baptized; such
is my view."

Elder W. W. Hopkins, of the Christian Evangelist, Saint
Louis, Missouri, February 1, 1895, said in answering a ques-
tion put by Bishop Hunt: "1. We baptize into Christ and
not the church. 2. The validity of baptism depends on the
faith of the candidate and not the office of the administrator.
For the sake of order it would be better for the preacher or
elder to baptize; but a baptism is not invalid because done
by a lay member."

Elder J. H. Garrison, editor of the Christian Evangelist,
wrote in answering a question asked by Bishop Hunt:
"It is not the custom of our ministers to require believers

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK iba

»

uniting from other churches who have been baptized, whether
they understood that when they were baptized, it was for the
remission of sins. That would be an utter perversion of our
position as to what is the creed or confession of faith on
which the church rests. There may be a few schismatics in
Texas who have made that sort of a creed, but they do not
represent the churches of this reformation."

Compare this statement of Alexander Campbell, the
founder of their church: "Now if our baptism is for any
other end or purpose than was that to which Paul submitted,
it is another baptism as much as bathing for health is differ-
ent from a Jewish ablution for legal uncleanness or impurity.
The action has a meaning and a design; and it must be
received in that meaning and for that design, else it is another
baptism."— Campbell and Rice Debate, p. 439.

TWO BOYS BAPTIZED ONE ANOTHER.

"I was attending a meeting held in Coffeyville, Kansas, in
1890,' if I remember right, and there I may have been con-
victed as I have since found out. But at the time another
boy named Cooper, and I thought ourselves converted, and
so we went to a pond and proceeded to baptize each other
in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I was re-
ceived into the Christian ( Campbell! te) Church at Pawnee,
Oklahoma, by Elder Dunkliberger, on the aforesaid baptism
at the organization of the Pawnee Christian church in the
early part of 1895, if I remember the date right. I give this
merely as a statement of facts, and do not regard it as
expressing any opinion of mine on any line." — Signed by
Arthur L. Suthard. Subscribed and sworn to before me this
23d day of October, 1899, Freeman E. Miller, notary public,
Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma.

Editorial: "The 'Christian Church' of to-day represents
the church of Christ plead for by Brother Campbell very
much as the 'sects' and Rome did in the days of Campbell, and
I see no reason why they should not join the 'federation.' If
ever there was a sect or an apostate church, the 'Christian
Church' of to-day is one, and among all the churches, the

184 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

church of Christ has not a more bitter enemy to-day. It is
so here in the town where I am writing these words, and in
many other places, as thousands can testify." — Primitive
Christian, December 16, 1902.

SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS.
"Sea and the waves roaring." — Luke 21:25.

"The tidal disturbances are the most remarkable and exten-
sive of which there is any record. It is said their velocity
was about a thousand miles an hour. Atlantic and Pacific
have been agitated in their whole extent. We mention in
particular the tidal waves at Saint Thomas, and all the neigh-
boring islands, which were full fifty feet in height. . . . Those
who witnessed these waves say that the ocean's roar was ex-
ceedingly frightful." — New York Tribune, November 12, 1868.

"That most horrible phenomena, the tidal wave, how many
struggling mortals has it swept back into the deep? What
countless ships has it crushed against the shores? * What
mighty cities has it plundered of life and wealth, strewing
their streets with the ocean sand, and peopling their palaces
with sea monsters! I saw the whole surface of the sea rise
as if a mountain side actually standing up. Another shock
with a fearful roar now took place. I called to my companions
to run for their lives on to the pampa. Too late, with a
horrible crush the sea was on us, and at one sweep dashed
what was Iquique on the pampa. I lost my companions, and
in an instant was fighting with the dark waters. The mighty
waves surged and roared and leaped. The cries of human
beings and animals were frightful." — Harper's Magazine, 1869.

"These portentous phenomena are seriously engaging the
attention of the scientific world. The remark that they only
seem to us more frequent because our means of communi-
cation are more complete and rapid, and that we now hear
from all parts of the globe simultaneously, will not explain
the matter, since the late commotions have been attended by
disturbances of both land and sea in parts of the earth which
have been constantly accessible for centuries, that were totally

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 185

unparalleled in previous history. The change of the gulf
stream from its course and the alteration of climates have
been some of these increased marvels." — New York Mercantile
Journal, November, 1868.

THE GREAT HURRICANE'S JOURNEY FROM FLORIDA TO EASTERN

MAINE.

"NEW YORK, August 29. — New York was visited by the
extreme eastern portion of the storm, which struck the city
about 1 o'clock last night with a wind velocity of fifty-four
miles per hour.

"Never within the memory of the oldest Battery lounger
was such a tide seen. The waves carried in by the heavy wind,
aided by the strong flood tide, dashed against the sea wall
with terrific force. The spray, which would leap twenty feet
upward, would be carried by the wind fully 300 feet inshore.

"SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, August 29. — This city was struck on
Sunday evening by one of the worst hurricanes it has ever
known.

"The hurricane struck the city almost on the anniversary
of the great hurricane of 1881. The storm, which has been
predicted by the Weather Bureau for several days, began
early in the afternoon and increased from then until it reached
the climax between 11 and 12 o'clock last night, having blown
for eight hours in a terrific hurricane.

"All the wharves along the river front and the Ocean
Steamship Company, and Savannah, Florida & Western
Railroad wharves were under water, and the tide was still
rising rapidly. A view of the city at daylight the next morn-
ing revealed a scene of wreck and ruin that surpassed that
of the great hurricane of 1881.

"The wharves are gone, the new fumigation plant which has
cost the city so much money is in the bottom of the sea, and
nine vessels which were waiting for release to come to the
city are high and dry in the marsh and no doubt will be totally
wrecked.

186 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

"RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, August 29. — Passenger train No. 78,
of the Atlantic Coast Line, with Pullman sleepers attached,
reached here this evening at 6.50, from Charleston, South
Carolina, having been delayed twenty-four hours by the de-
structive storm which swept over the South Atlantic coast
Sunday and Monday.

"J. B. Beddingfield, express messenger, who was in Charles-
ton during the storm, says that the battle of wind and rain
commenced with terrific force at 1 o'clock Sunday afternoon,
and continued without cessation until Monday morning at 7
o'clock.

"There was not fifty yards space in the streets that did not
contain debris, such as roofs of houses, signs, awnings, tele-
graph poles, etc., which were scattered in all directions. The
roof of the Saint Charles Hotel was blown off and the streets
were flooded with water almost to the doors.

"He saw fourteen box cars that had been blown from the
railroad track and turned over. All the phosphate works in
the city were blown down or badly damaged. There was a
schooner lying high in the streets, having been driven from
its anchorage." — Philadelphia Press, August 30, 1893,

THE GULF CALAMITY.

"NEW ORLEANS, October 4, 1893. — The loss of life caused by
the storm will probably reach one thousand. . . . Cheniere
Island only five houses left standing out of three hundred,
while the land was covered with corpses. Damages estimated
at a million dollars. . . . Details almost rival those of the
Atlantic hurricane." — Philadelphia Ledger, October 5, 1893.

EARTHQUAKES.

"Earthquakes in divers places." — Matthew 24: 7.

Mr. D. T. Taylor, in his "Coming Earthquake," quotes from
Messrs. Pontors and Mallett, who prepared and arranged
chronologically, and distinguished the registered earthquakes
into five periods, as follows:

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

187

NO.

NO. OF YEARS.

AVERAGE.

Those recorded before A D 1

58

1700

Thence to the end of the 9th century . . .
Thence to the end of the 15th century . .
Thence to the end of the 18th century . .
Thence to 1850 .

197
532
2804
3240

900
600
300
50

1 in 4 years.
1 in 1 year.
9 in 1 year.

Thence to 1868 .'

5000

18

277 in 1 year

— Saints' Herald, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 10, 11, January 5, 1890.

Burnett, in his Theory of the Earth, remarks: "Let us
then proceed in our explication of this sign, the roaring sea
and waves, applying it to the end of the world. I do not look
upon this ominous noise of the sea as the effect of a tempest;
for then it would not strike such terror into the inhabitants
of the earth, nor make them apprehensive of some great
evil coming upon the world, as this will do. What proceeds
from visible causes, and such as may happen in a common
course of nature, does not so much amaze or affright us ...
And such a troubled state of the waters as does not only make
the sea unmanageable, but also strikes terror into all the mari-
time inhabitants that live within the view or sound of it."-
Truth Defended, -p. 229.

"PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, September 16, 1878. — To
His Excellency, the President of the United States : The con-
viction grows deeper with thoughtful men that 'the Lord has a
controversy with the inhabitants of the land.' On the very
threshold, as we had flattered ourselves, of returning pros-
perity, we find the whole country plunged into mourning, and
the wished for revival of business seriously delayed by the
alarming pestilence which ravages our southern borders. This
is but the last in a long series of calamities which reaches
back to the very beginning of our civil war. That these
facts attest the displeasure of the Supreme Ruler of the world
against this nation we are profoundly convinced, and also
that our only hope of escape from still sorer retributions lies
in a diligent inquiry into the causes of God's anger, and in
speedy and heartfelt repentance and reformation. That the
mind of the people may be turned to these momentous con-

188 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

siderations, and that united prayer for the grace of repentance
and for the removal of his heavy judgments may ascend to the
Father of Mercies through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
we, citizens of Philadelphia and vicinity, respectfully ask you
to appoint, in your wisdom, an early and convenient day to be
observed by the whole nation as a day of fasting, humiliation
and prayer. — John Y. Dobbins, president M*. E. Preachers'
Meeting; Nathan B. Durell, secretary of the Preachers' Meet-
ing; R. Johns, moderator Presbyterian Ministerial Associa-
tion ; Charles Brown, secretary Presbyterian Ministerial Asso-
ciation ; R. G. Moses, president Baptist Ministerial conference ;
J. Newton Ritner, secretary Baptist Ministerial conference;
John Alexander, chairman executive committee Sabbath Alli-
ance; James Pollock, superintendent U. S. Mint; 0. C. Bos-
byshell, coiner U. S. Mint; J. C. Booth, melter and refiner
U. S. Mint; Wm. E. DuBois, assayer U. S. Mint; George H.
Stuart, Joshua L. Baily, Amos R. Little, and many others." —
Saints' Herald, vol. 25, p. 3^5; Truth Defended, pp. 226, 227.
"The Chicago Tribune, for November 15, 1871, contained the
following summary of the calamities for the year: 'The year
1871 will hardly be considered in history a year of grace. In
point of fatality to human life, and destruction to material
values by extraordinary natural causes, no year in the history
of the world can equal it. Overwhelmed as we are by our own
disaster, we have given little attention to what has been trans-
piring abroad, and have almost come to consider ourselves
the only sufferers. The retrospect, however, is a terrible one.
War, famine, pestilence, fire, wind and water, and ice have
been let loose and done their worst, and with such appalling
results, and with such remarkable phenomena accompanying
them, that it is not to be wondered at, men have sometimes
thought the end of the world had come." — Ibid., pp. 230, 231.

"EARTHQUAKE IN ITALY.

"ROME, April 21, 1.45 p. m. — Thirteen earth shocks were
felt in succession this morning in the province of Siena, Tus-
cany. Several buildings were damaged, including the city
hall at Poggibonsi, nineteen miles south of Florence. The

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 189

inhabitants of Poggibonsi were panic stricken." — Kansas City
Journal, April 22, 1906.

"EARTHQUAKE IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

"Summary of Greatest Catastrophe Known in World for
Many Years.

"OAKLAND, April 18.— Two terrific earthquake shocks shook
San Francisco this morning, the first one coming at 5 o'clock,
the second three hours later. Hundreds of .buildings, mostly
in the tenement district, were toppled over. Others were
weakened.

"Fires immediately broke out in many parts of the busi-
ness district and, the fire fighting force being crippled by
lack of water, the flames spread rapidly throughout the heart
of the city.

"At 10 o'clock to-night eight square miles had been burned
and the fire was still raging.

"The number of dead was estimated from 200 to 500, the
injured at 1,000 and the homeless at 20,000.

"The property loss, it is believed, already exceeds $100,-
000,000.

"Three thousand troops patrol the streets, protecting the
banks and the property piled up out of doors.

"Most of the principal buildings in the city have been de-
stroyed.

"The city is cut off from the world by wire, ferry and rail-
road. No one was allowed to enter or leave the city, and the
only messages sent over the one or two wires working from
Oakland were transmitted across the bay by special messenger
service."

"MANY COAST TOWNS SUFFER HEAVY DAMAGE FROM SHOCK

AND FIRE.

"Insane asylum at Agnews demolished and inmates buried
in ruins; all but one of Leland Stanford University buildings
destroyed; Santa Rosa and Salinas each suffer $1,000,000 loss;

190 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Sacramento, Berkeley and Oakland shaken." — The Saint Louis
Republic, April 19, 1906.

"ONE THOUSAND KILLED.

"Jamaica Earthquake Disaster Grows in Horror.

"City of Kingston in Ashes.
"Every House Within a Ten-Mile Radius Damaged.

"90,000 Persons Homeless.
"Bodies of Dead Burn in Their Ruined Homes.

"Negroes loot rum shops amid ghastly scenes; with money
useless, rich and poor face hunger; United States battle ships
hurry food to famishing refugees.

"SAINT THOMAS, D. W. I., January 16. — Reports received
here from Jamaica say it is estimated that 1,000 persons have
been killed by the earthquake and fire, and that 90,000 per-
sons are homeless. The damage to Kingston alone is placed
at fully $10,000,000.

"Advices received from Jamaica declare that all people have
been warned to keep away from Kingston. The stench is
described as awful. Money is useless. The banks have been
burned, but the vaults are supposed to be safe. The misery
on ail sides is indescribable. Rich and poor alike are home-
less. Provisions of all kinds are urgently needed.

"Sir James Fergusson, vice-chairman of the Royal Mail
Steamship Company, is among the killed. The dead are being
buried under smoldering ruins. The mercantile community
suffered most severely, warehouses falling on them. Many
professional men a*re dead or injured.

"The negroes are looting. Ghastly scenes are being wit-
nessed. All the shops have been destroyed and all the build-
ings in and around Kingston are in ruins.

"The governor and his party are safe.

"It is reported that an extinct volcano in the parish of
Portland is showing signs of activity. No news has yet been
received from other parts of the island of Jamaica." — Kansas
City Journal, January 17, 1907.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 191

"TWO THOUSAND WERE KILLED.

"Awful Loss of Life by the Valparaiso Earthquake.

"Property Loss Two Hundred and Fifty Million.

"Many Large Adjacent Towns are Destroyed.

"Eighty-two shocks were felt Thursday night; fire is con-
suming what is left of the stricken city; railroads are all
destroyed; food is scarce and meat impossible to obtain;
nights are cold and people are sleeping in the open ; the catas-
trophe is worse than the San Francisco horror; many are
killed at Santiago." — Kansas City Journal, August 20, 1906.

"THE COSTA RICAN EARTHQUAKE THE WORST IN THAT
COUNTRY'S HISTORY.

"SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA, May 7. — As order is partly re-
stored and the district stricken by the earthquake of Wednes-
day heard from in a direct manner, it is recognized that the
country has suffered the greatest catastrophe of its history.
While it was first believed that not over one thousand per-
sons were killed when the ancient capital, Cartago, was de-
stroyed, it is now apparent' that this number will not near
cover the casualties.

"Aside from the one thousand dead and two thousand in-
jured in Cartago news from Paraiso to-night says that one
thousand persons were killed there. It is now believed that
the entire death roll will amount to at least 2,500. The prop-
erty loss may reach thirty million dollars.

"Many smaller towns in the mountain districts have not
been heard from, but it is feared many of them suffered.
The entire country is still near a panic. Pestilence has added
to the suffering at Cartago. Of the five hundred bodies re-
covered yesterday only a small percentage were buried to-day.

"The quake has had a demoralizing effect on the ignorant
classes of the people, so that many have turned back toward
pagan practices and are erecting altars and offering sac-
rifices."— The Kansas City Star, Sunday, May 8, 1910.

192 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

FREQUENCY OF EARTHQUAKES ARE INDICATIVE
OF LAST DAYS.

"THREE DESTRUCTIVE ONES OCCUR WITHIN A YEAR.

•"That within a single year three earthquakes of sufficient
violence to throw down houses and destroy life should have
occurred in such close proximity to large cities as to cause
the appalling disasters at San Francisco, Valparaiso, and
Kingston is certainly remarkable. It is not to be wondered
at that this coincidence, for such it must be considered, has
given rise to a widespread popular belief that the earth is in
a state of unusual instability. It is to be noted, however, that
there are thousands of earthquakes each year, and that of
these from fifty to seventy-five annually are of sufficient
violence to be classed as world-shaking — that is to say, of
such vigor as to make pronounced records on the seismographs
in all parts of the world, and to endanger life and property
near the center of the disturbance. There have been no more
such shocks than usual during the past year; but three of
them have happened to occur near centers of population in
the Western Hemisphere.

"Most of the violent earthqu'akes pass with little or no
public notice, because they produce no noteworthy effect on
human beings. For example, the earthquake off the coast of
Colombia, January 31, 1906, one of the most violent of the
year, attracted almost no attention; yet had it occurred near
a city there would inevitably have been terrible destruction.
Of all the earthquakes recorded, whether vigorous or moder-
ate, the vast majority occur in the two well defined earth-
quake belts. Up to 1903 approximately 160,000 earthquakes
had been recorded, 94 per cent of which occurred in these two
belts. One of the earthquake belts, which nearly encircles the
Pacific, and in which lie both San Francisco and Santiago, has
been the seat of 53 per cent of all recorded earthquakes.
The other belt, in which Jamaica lies, extends nearly east and
west, including the East and West Indies, the Mediterranean,
and the Caucasus and Himalayan regions. It is a noteworthy
and significant fact that the Panama canal zone lies in this

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 193

belt. In it 41 per cent of all recorded earthquakes have oc-
curred."— Leslie's Weekly.

"TOWN WIPED OUT.

"Bellevue, a Texas Village, Destroyed by Tornado.

"At Least Eleven Killed.

"Fire Followed the Tornado and Consumed the Ruins.
"Only three houses out of two hundred remain standing;
town of Stoneburg struck also and several persons said to
have been killed there." — Kansas City Journal, April .27, 1906.

"TORNADOES KILL FOURTEEN.

"Deal Death and Destruction in Northern Texas.

"Partly Wreck Five Towns.
"One Hundred People Injured, Some Fatally.
"FORT WORTH, TEXAS, May 25. — Town residences, farm
buildings and crops destroyed and live stock killed; sweep
swath two hundred yards wide through villages." — Kansas
City Journal, May 26, 1907.

"A SMALL TWISTER IN KANSAS.

"No One Injured, but Some Damage in Jefferson County.

"PERRY, KANSAS, April 28. — A tornado swept a tract three
miles long and one half mile wide last night between Oska-
loosa and Perry, in Jefferson County.

"Fences, trees, and sheds on the farms of A. Hart, Frank
Hebbe, and William Patterson were lowered, and the resi-
dence of Charles Young was damaged. It is not known that
anyone was injured." — Kansas City Star, April 29, 1906.

PAST DISASTERS AT SEA.

"THE FRENCH LINER 'LA BOURGOYNE' WENT DOWN SIX YEARS
AGO TO-DAY.

"The loss of the Norge comes on the eve of the anniversary
of the sinking of the French liner La Bourgoyne, July 4,
1898, which had stood out as the most appalling sea tragedy

194 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

of modern times. The Bourgoyne was in collision with the
British ship Cromarty shire, sixty miles south of Sable Island.
The accident happened at 5 o'clock in the morning, a time
when practically all the passengers were asleep in their berths.
Of the 734 on board the Bourgoyne, 535 were drowned or
killed. Of the 217 first and second cabin passengers 206
were lost.

"The next previous great shipping disaster occurred March
7, 1897, when the French line steamship Ville de Saint Na-
zaere, bound from New York to Port Au Prince and carrying
a crew of seventy men and ten passengers, ran into a terrific
storm off Cape Hatteras, took fire and went down. Only
twenty-nine hands got away from the vessel.

"In June, 1897, the steamer Aden, bound from Yokohama
to London, was lost off the island of Gocotia, east of Africa,
and seventy-eight hands were lost. Another great tragedy
was the loss of the North German Lloyd steamer Elbe, on
the morning of January 30, 1895. Of the 350 passengers
and crew on the Elbe only twenty were saved in one of the
boats, which was picked up by a fishing smack the following
evening.

"The Hamburg-American Packet Company's steamship
Pomerania, from New York for Hamburg, was sunk in the
English channel, off Dover, at midnight November 25, 1878,
by a collision with a British bark. Every member of the crew
got safely away, but the forty-seven passengers were drowned.
April 2, 1873, the White Star steamer Atlantic, from Liverpool
to New York, was wrecked on Mars Heads, Cape Prospect,
near Halifax. Five hundred and forty-six persons perished.
The steamship Hungarian of the Montreal Steamship Company
foundered in a storm February 20, 1860, on Cape Ledge, near
Halifax. Two hundred and five persons, including all the
officers, were drowned.

"Thrilling is the story of the sinking of the Arctic, in colli-
sion with the Vesta, in mid-ocean in September,. 1854. The
Arctic was the crack ship of the Collins line. It was a paddle
wheel steamer, the Vesta a screw steamer. Of the 400 passen-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 195

gers on the Arctic 323 were lost." — Kansas City Times, July
4, 1904.

"Tidal wave sweeps an island off Florida and kills 325
persons. Hurricane at Havana, cost twenty lives and does
$2,000,000 damage on the Island of Cuba. The United States
cruiser Brooklyn grounded. Two thousand American soldiers
suffered and two are seriously hurt. Central America is
ravaged by storms lasting ten days." — Saint Louis, Missouri,
Republic, October 22, 1906.

"Hundreds plunge to death. Rock Island train goes into
Cimarron River, in Oklahoma. The loss of life has been
frightful according to reports. Only six passengers saved.
Estimated that two hundred and twenty-five were drowned.
Engine and all the cars are submerged in swollen waters. No
names can now be given. All is confusion at scene of the
frightful disaster." — The Topeka State Journal, September
18, 1906.

RAILROAD WRECKS.

YEAR. KILLED. INJURED.

1895 - 6,136 33,748

1896 5,845 38,687

1897 6,437 36,731

1898 6,859 40,882

1899 7,123 44,620

1900 7,865 50,320

1901 8,455 53,339

1902 8,588 64,662

1903 9,840 76,553

1904 10,000 76,000

— New York Herald, 1904, quoted from the Autumn Leaves.

"IS CHRISTIAN SCIENCE THE SECOND COMING OF
CHRIST?

"We answer no; but find that some of the most prominent
representatives of that faith do claim that Christian Science
is the second coming of Christ to earth.

"In a letter to the writer dated Boston, Massachusetts,

196 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

June 13, 1898, Rev. S. J. Hanna said in answer to the ques-
tion: 'Christian Scientists have no doubt this is the Second
Coming.' This Reverend Hanna was, for many years, editor
of the Christian Science Journal and First Reader of the
First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.

"A similar question had been sent to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy,
the founder of the Christian Science Church, and in reply she
directed her secretary, Calvin A. Frye, to write from Concord,
New Hampshire, April 21, 1895, as follows: 'I am requested
to say in the words of scripture, "Go and tell John the things
ye see and hear; the sick are healed, the deaf hear, the lame
walk, etc., and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended
in me." '

"Kind reader, take your Bible and turn to Matthew 11: 1-6
and Luke 7: 19-23, and you will have no doubt but what Mrs.
Eddy would have every reader of those texts, and her letter
referred to above, to know that she is positive that Christian
Science is the second coming of Christ.

"Mr. Ezra W. Reid, a prominent writer and defender of
Mrs. Eddy's claims as a restorer or discoverer, is the author
of a leading article on the Second Coming of Christ in the
October, (1897) Christian Science Journal of Boston. Mr.
Reid refers to several religious societies as having taught the
second coming of Christ, but having all failed in their expecta-
tions, it was left to Mrs. Eddy to present to the world the
glorious coming of the Lord in what she proudly advocates
as Christian Science.

"Reverend Reid says: 'We can not, within the limits of
this article, enter into the discussion of the various beliefs of
these people, their differences, and the mathematical, chrono-
logical, and historical arguments which prove the time of the
•second advent; suffice it to say, that from 1843 to 1873 there
was quite a widespread expectation that it would occur within
that period. In fact, many eminent English standard writers
and commentators fixed upon the year 1866 as the year which
would bring the Lord and his kingdom. This date is one
which especially interests Christian Scientists. . . . Was it
co-incidental that Christian Science should have been dis-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 197

covered in the year 1866? As indicated in the above quotation,
there is no reason for expecting that the beginning of the
new dispensation should be so very different from the years
preceding it, that is from the standpoint of mortal man.
Are not all of God's works performed through the still small
voice? It was in this manner, and in this year of 1866, that
Rev. Mary Baker Eddy discovered Christian Science, which,
from the testimony of Jesus and the apostles, we feel sure
is the second coming of Christ. . . . The kingdom has come,
and as the light which is all diffused, is the presence of the
Christ.'

"Mr. Reid also said: 'It was the Christ of whom Jesus
was the "highest human corporeal concept" . . . who was to
come again after the gospel parenthesis; but when Jesus
ascended from the Mount of Olives, he laid aside for ever the
flesh — body — and "henceforth know we him no more after the
flesh." '

"It seems strange that anyone capable of reading the Bible
would believe and support a religious theory so wholly adverse
to the true mission of the blessed Lord as that advocated by
so-called Christian Scientists. We must conclude that the
wisdom of that church is no wiser than its founder, Mrs. Eddy.

"A very instructive account of Christian (?) Science (?)
will be found in the Saints' Herald of December 20, 1899. It
is well worth rereading.

"C. J. HUNT."
— Zion's Ensign, December 29, 1904.

This statement indicates that we have reached our golden
mean theologically, and are on the decline:

"DECLINE IN NUMBER OF DIVINITY STUDENTS.

"The decline in the number of divinity students is by no
means confined to the English speaking race. For the past
twenty years, in Germany there has been a steady decrease
in the number of those who enter the divinity schools of the
universities. Statistics recently published go to show that the
total number of students of all faculties has during the past

198 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

twenty years risen from 27,245 to 42,390, and shows a rela-
tively larger increase than the population. Law, medicine and
philosophy have all flourished as the population has increased,
but theology has steadily declined. Twenty years ago, there
were 2,610 divinity students. Ten years ago the number had
dropped to 1,627, while five years ago it had further fallen
to 1,042. To-day the number is only 993, or a little over a
third of what it was twenty years ago. This decrease is not
peculiar to any one school, but affects all the divinity schools,
from Berlin to Erlangen and Griefswald. To account for this
is not a very difficult matter. Many may say that the falling
off is due to the openings for brilliant careers constantly
occurring in other directions. For ourselves, we believe it
is entirely due to the decay of faith in the German universi-
ties. The teacher's rostrum may be occupied by a man of
brilliant gifts and profound learning, but if he have no faith,
his class room is robbed of both light and heat. When skep-
ticism masquerades as advanced Christian thought, we are
not surprised if the class rooms are empty." — Episcopal Re-
corder. . (Quoted from Our Hope, Mendota, Illinois, May 23,
1906.)

"THE CHURCH LOSING POWER.

"Opinion of Bishop William Lawrence at Boston.
"Doubtful if It Is Keeping Pace with the Population, He Says;

the Commercial and Material Life's Strong Hold on the
People.

"BOSTON, May 13. — At the 118th annual convention of the
Episcopal Church in the diocese of Massachusetts here to-day,
Bishop William Lawrence in his address said:

" 'So far as statistics can show, it is doubtful if the church
is more than keeping pace with the population. The ministry
is not apparently increasing in numbers or power. A great
proportion of the intelligent men and leaders of our communi-
ties have no interest in the church. There is a great mass
of fine character and of Christian temper outside the church.
Infidelity, sincere and insincere, is all about us.

" 'More than that, the interest in commercial, material,

"PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 199

social, and intellectual life is gaining a stronger hold on the
people. The tests of life among many are in social and finan-
cial success. Sport and amusement have made great inroads
on our Sunday congregations.

" 'Below all these influences are the lower standards of
taste and the grosser immoralities. The power of strong
drink has its clutch upon our cities, their people and govern-
ment; lust is firmly intrenched; gambling is unsettling habits
of industry; many forms of temptation are undermining the
characters of hosts of youth. All these influences are potent
enemies of the Christian faith.'

"In view of such conditions, the bishop deprecated the dis-
cussion now going on in diocesan conventions of the question
whether the name of the church should be changed, and con-
cluded thus:

" The truth is, my brethren, that there is one thing that
we all in this church do need — bishops, clergy and laity — and
that is a more personal revision of our responsibility to God
and a closer abiding in his presence.' " — Kansas City Times,
May 14, 1903.

INSPIRATION WANTING.

"New York Arena, pages 190, 191: So long as they appeal
to the inspiration of the past for all authority, disclaim any
right of their own to speak in the name of Jehovah, teach
that revelation is finished and sealed up, so long they will go
halting and their words be well nigh powerless. While they
need not assume a boastful spirit, yet they should have
wrought within their souls a conviction of the truths they
utter, should feel that these truths are from God and that in
expressing them they speak for God. They should, moreover,
teach the possibility of present-day prophets and prepare the
people to receive them. Let this be done, and then, when a new
prophet arises, he will be quickly understood. . . . To-day the
cry comes to the clergy of America as never before, Prepare
ye the way of the Lord" — Saints' Herald, September 3, 1902.

200 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

BABIES OUT OF HELL.

Rev. Dr. George L. McNutt said: "The Presbysterian
Church let the babies out of hell a few years ago; or rather,
they confessed that the babies had never been there." — Farm-
ington, Iowa, Chautauqua, July 23, 1905. (Supplied by Elder
Elbert A. Smith.)

"BABIES RELEASED FROM HADES, SAYS BISHOP.

"SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, May 21. — Bishop P. A. Ludden, of
the Roman Catholic Church, made the following comment
yesterday upon the revised Presbyterian confession before the
general assembly in New York:

" 'On behalf of all the infants who have been in hell for
two hundred and fifty years I wish to express gratification
that they are to be let out. All those who are to come will
be grateful to their friends that they are not to meet the same
awful fate. These poor people are coming back to the mother
church which they left years ago.

" 'As to the Pope: Well, I don't see that they have changed
his position any. They called him an anti-Christ. It was
exceedingly kind of them, exceedingly kind.' " — Farmers' Trib-
une, May 20, 1902.

"THEOLOGICAL CEMETERIES."

Dr. Austin K. Deblois said: "Our theological seminaries
should be called, theological cemeteries. They are places
where young men go to be buried." — Farmington, Iowa, Chau-
tauqua, July 23, 1905. (Supplied by Elder Elbert A. Smith.)
SULTAN OPENS TURKEY TO JEWISH COLONISTS.

"CONSTANTINOPLE, March 3, 1906. — The Sultan has opened
the gates of Palestine to the wandering children of Israel, by
signing an edict permitting them to establish themselves in
any part of the Ottoman Empire.

"As a sign of protest against the cruel treatment of Rus-
sia toward the Jews, the Sultan ordered the officers at the
different boundaries of the empire to allow the Jew entrance
with or without passports. The Russian Zionists sent a

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 201

delegation to Turkey and Egypt to prepare everything for a
systematic emigration from the Czar's empire into the new
land of promise." — Saint Louis, Missouri, Post-Dispatch, Sun-
day, March 4, 1906.

"CONSTANTINOPLE, August 1, 1906. — The influx of Jews into
Palestine during the last few months has been remarkable.

"Some weeks ago about 5,000 Jewish immigrants from
Russia and the Balkan States landed at Jaffa. They are
settling in the plain of Sharon, round the towns of Ramleh
and Lydda and in other Jewish colonies along the seacoast.
... It is a noteworthy fact that some of the most fertile
districts of Palestine are possessed by Jewish colonists. The
Jews are repossessing the land by degrees, and should this
quick rate of possession continue, the whole country will in a
few years belong entirely to them. — Post-Dispatch, Saint
Louis, Missouri.

RETURN OF THE JEWS.

"Rev. R. H. Hershall, by birth and honor a Jew, having
extensively visited his brethren in Europe and Asia, and heard
in their synagogues, their confessions of sin and their earnest
cries unto the Lord in the land of their dispersion, says :

"I found a mighty change in their minds and feelings in
regard to the nearness of the time of their deliverance. Some
assigned one reason, some another, but all agreed in thinking
the time is at hand."— Page 360.

Hand of God in History, by Rev. Hollis Read, A. M., pub-
lished in 1870, p. 348: "There is much at present in their
civil condition that indicates the returning favor of heaven.
Nothing decisive or permanent was done to remove the dis-
abilities of the Jews till the beginning of the present century.
... In England, a single ray of light darted above the horizon,
but was soon extinguished. An act passed in Parliament
(1753) , in favor of the Jewish emancipation, but was repealed
the next year; and not until the year 1830 was the question
renewed, and then only to be lost. Yet in the same year a bill
in their favor was carried in France."

On page 352, he says: "Fifty years ago every Jew in the

202 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Turkish Empire might have been slaughtered, and no great
sensation produced anywhere. But now, so changed is public
feelings towards the Jews that let the foot of oppression
attempt to crush them, or the bloody mouth of persecution
to devour them, and ten thousand voices are raised in one
general remonstrance."

"The 'pillar of cloud and of fire' has long turned its dark
side towards them, and God has treated them as aliens and
enemies; and now that the light side is beginning to shine
on them, we may indulge the delightful hope that God's former
love is about to return. . . . Recent religious and intellectual
movements among them indicate that the day of their redemp-
tion is near. The Jewish mind is everywhere awake. Never
was there among them such a spirit of inquiry. A few facts
will illustrate. . . . Some are anxiously looking for the speedy
restoration of their nation to their beloved Palestine; others
expect the immediate advent of the Messiah; others doubt
whether he be already come." — Page 353.

From Jewish Chronicle, (London, England,) of 1854, we
select as follows:

"Why should not the springs and brooks flow from the hills
of Judea as freely as from the hills of Ephraim and Samaria?
In form and composition they are the same; and, what is in
their favor in this respect, they are larger and more in
number. But they do not. Water is their greatest want.
Much more artificial irrigation is needed here than further
north. It is this dryness and heat of the soil that makes
this part of the country so much more adapted to vines and
figs than farther north. These thrive best in a hot and
dry soil.

"The Israelites were often threatened by Moses and the
prophets, that in case of disobedience, 'the rain should be
withheld.' If they were withheld, they must, of course be
shortened in duration. Now the rains that fell in the latter
part of the rainy season, and especially those that fell after
the usual period for them to cease, were called 'the latter
rains.' These occasional showers, if continued through the
time of the ripening fruit and grain, would add greatly

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 203

to their abundance and perfection. The withholding of them
would have the contrary effect. The withholding of the 'latter
rains,' and the promise of their return, are things often
spoken of in scripture. These latter rains have been withheld
century after century, till the land has been brought to the
state that we now [1854 — C. S.] find it; and there can be
but little doubt that the return of these rains again will be
the means that God will employ to restore the land to its
ancient fruitfulness.

"If we had no scripture to bear us out in this opinion, we
should be well assured of it, from the well-known scientific fact
that all soils require a certain amount of rain to carry on the
decomposition of mineral matter in sufficient quantities for
the annual supply of the crops. This is especially necessary in
such a geological formation as the land of Palestine. So we
see there is no physical obstacle in the way, for God has the
means close at hand, whenever the time for him to do it comes.
For this event we can all adopt one of the expressions in a
Jewish prayer — 'The Lord hasten it even in our day.' And
one fact there is, that I will mention, that looks somewhat as
though this prayer might be answered "even in our day.' For
since the efforts that are now making for the improvement
and settlement of the Jews in Palestine commenced, the rains
have fallen more than they have for many an age before. No
question is more often asked respecting this land than, What
can be done to reclaim it from its barrenness? I know not
that a better answer can be given than this — cultivate it, and
trust the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for the 'former
and latter rains.' " — Jewish Chronicle, October 13, 1854; also
Millennial Star, vol. 16, October 23, 1854.

"The late Russian embassador at the court of Rome, de-
clared that 'throughout the vast dominion of Germany and
Poland, there is a general movement of inquiry, and a longing
expectation abroad, that something will take place to restore
them to the land of their fathers.' Rev. T. Grimshawe says:
'A vast number of Jews are preparing to emigrate from
Germany and Poland to settle in Palestine; while throughout
the whole of Europe and Asia a general expectation is raised

204 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

among them that the ^me of their deliverance is drawing
near. Throughout Italy the same uneasiness and expectation
may be observed/ This movement of the Jews towards
Palestine, whatever may be thought of it as an evidence of
a literal restoration, is at least indicative of a state of mind
not to be overlooked in our present discussion." — Page 356.

"Rev. Mr. Bellson, a converted Jew and missionary in
Posen, and late candidate for the bishopric in Jerusalem: 'I
am more than ever,' says he, 'impressed that the Jews are
hastening to a great crisis. It must be evident to any common
observer that there is a great movement among them. This
wonderful people, who for eighteen hundred years remained
unaltered, have undergone a marvelous revolution within the
last forty years, especially within the last twenty.'" — Page
357. (Quoted from Saints' Herald, March 7, 1898, p. 158.)

"The first act in the modern emancipation of the Jews was
the enfranchisement of the Jews in England in 1753." —
Kellog, p. 160.

"In the year 1755 Moses Mendelssohn, a student of great
culture and almost boundless influence over his people, pub-
lished the first of his writings, which prepared his people for
the great change that was about to dawn upon them. In
1874 Louis XVI of France abolished the 'body tax,' which re-
duced the Jews as far as possible to the level of beasts. In
1787 Frederick William of Prussia repealed many of the
oppressive laws against the Jews. In 1788 Louis XVI ap-
pointed a royal commission to remodel, on principles of justice,
all laws concerning the Jews. When the French revolution
arose the emancipation of the Jews in France became complete,
and as it spread over Europe there went with it everywhere
the proclamation of liberty to the Jews." — Kellog, p. 198.

"Eighteen centuries of war, ruin and neglect, have passed
over it. Its valleys have been cropped for ages without the
least attempt at fertilization. Its terraced walls have been
allowed to crumble, and its soil has washed down its ravines,
leaving the hillsides rocky and sterile. Its trees have been
cut down and never replaced. Its fields have been desolate.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 205

Its structures pillaged and all its improvements ruthlessly
destroyed. A land of ruins without man or beast. Every-
where, on plain or mountain, in rock desert, or on beetling
cliff, the spoiler's hand has rested." — McClintock and Strong's
Encyclopedia, Article, "Palestine."

"The beauty and fertility of the Holy Land, so much cele-
brated in ancient times both by sacred and profane writers,
are scarcely discernible in its present 'desolate and neglected
condition. The culture of its finest plains has long ceased.
Its springs are buried beneath heaps of rubbish. The soil
of the mountains, formerly kept up by terraces and covered
with vines, is washed down into the valleys. And its emi-
nences, once covered with woods, have been stripped bare,
and parched into barrenness. This melancholy change is
not owing to any deterioration of the soil or of the climate,
but to the degeneracy of the inhabitants, who groan under
the most intolerable oppression, and are exposed to every
kind of pillage." — Edinburgh Encyclopedia, David Brewster,
edition of 1830, volume 16, page 274, article "Palestine."

"I know not whether you are aware of the fact, but it
is one that is fully authenticated, that the 'latter rain' returned
last year to Mount Zion — a rain, that had been withheld,
so far as our information goes, ever since the dispersion of
the people; and he who has brought back the 'latter rain' in
its season, will also give the 'former rain' in its season ;
and these returning showers of earthly blessings are the
harbingers of returning showers of spiritual benedictions
from on high." — Rev. Hugh Stowel, in Scottish Presbyterian
Magazine, 1853.

"I arrived in Indiana a few days since, from the Eastern
Continent; I stopped at Joppa nearly the whole winter. For
my part I was well' pleased with the country. It is certainly
a land of most wonderful fruitfulness with a delightsome
climate, producing everything if properly cultivated, and
from two to three crops in a year. They have grain,
fruit and vegetables all the year round; in fact, I
never was in such a country before; I have seen much

206 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

good country in Europe and America, but none to com-
pare with Palestine; its fruitfulness is uncommon, and the
climate the most delightsome, even in winter. I did not see
the least sort of frost, and vegetables of every sort were
growing to perfection in gardens. It is a fact that the
rain and dew are restored; recently (in 1853), the former
and latter rain were restored, to the astonishment of the
natives." — Louis Van Buren, sr., November 14, A. D. -1867.

"At present the Jews are coming here by the hundreds. . . .
A half a century ago there were only thirty-two Jewish
families in all Jerusalem, and the number in Palestine was
only three thousand; now there are nearly fifty thousand in
the Holy Land, and three fourths of the population is
made up of them." — F. G. Carpenter, writing from Jerusalem,
June 15, 1889, in National Tribune.

"Everywhere, from Dan to Bersheba, I saw evidences of
Jewish return and the renewed energy and activity of the
Jewish race. As a people the Jews are flocking back to the
land of their forefathers in great numbers and from all parts
of Europe. In Jerusalem and its neighborhood particularly,
every plot of ground for sale is eagerly bought by them. —
Correspondent of the London Times, 1875. The products of
the soil range from peas, beans, wheat and barley to grapes,
figs, olives and apricots. Lemons, oranges, dates and melons
are abundant. Average annual rainfall at Jerusalem is
sixty inches. (Our own Atlantic seaboard is only forty-five
inches. Pacific, same climate as Palestine, only twenty-five.)
— Herzog's Encyclopedia, Article, "Palestine."

"They have grain, fruit, and vegetables all the year round;
in ... Palestine; its fruitfulness is uncommon, and the cli-
mate the most delightsome; ... It is a fact that the rain
and dew are restored; recently, in 1853, the former and the
latter rain were restored, to the astonishment of the natives."
—Presidency and Priesthood, pp. 216, 217. *

CHRISTIANS ARE NOT ALL PRIESTS.

Webster says of the priesthood: "The order of men set
apart for sacred offices."

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 207

WATERFALL IN PALESTINE.

On pages 22 and 23, Mr. Glaisher says: "The average
annual fall of rain, which is shown at the foot of the last
column, is 25.87 inches, being very nearly the same as the
fall in London, though the annual fluctuations are very much
greater.

"By taking the annual falls and laying them down as a
diagram the results can be seen at a glance. The first thing
noticeable is the evident increase in the fall of rain in the
later years of the series. Up to the year 1878 no fall of rain
had reached 30 inches, the nearest approach being 29.75
inches in 1874; but in the diagram in the years from 1878
to 1897 the points in twelve years, viz: 1878, 1880, 1883, 1886,
1888, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1896, and 1897, were all
well above 30 inches. . . .

"By taking the means of the annual falls in four parts,
viz: the ten years from 1861 to 1870, ten years from 1871 to
1880, ten years, 1881 to 1890, and eleven years from 1891 to
1901, the means of the four periods were found to be:

"In the 10 years, 1861 to 1870 21.84 inches.

"In the 10 yea.rs, 1871 to 1880 24.61 inches.

"In the 10 years, 1881 to 1890 27.69 inches.

"In the 11 years, 1891 to 1901 29.03 inches.

"Therefore the mean fall in the second period was 2.77
inches larger than the first, in the third 3.08 inches larger
than in the second, and in the fourth period 1.34 inches
larger than in the third. This is very remarkable, for it
shows that the yearly fall of rain, though not distributed
over a greater number of days than was the case at the be-
ginning of the series, becomes larger with each succeeding
period.

"PAUL M. HANSON."

— Saints' Herald, April 4, 1906. (Letter was dated at Jeru-
salem, Palestine, February 27, 1906.)

Prof. J. Leslie Porter, M. A., who visited those regions
forty years ago: "On emerging from Bashan and the olive
groves of Gaza, the desert was before us — bare, white, and

208 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

monotonous, without a solitary tree, or 'the shadow of a great
rock/ or a single patch of verdure. As we rode on we had
overhead the bright sky and blazing sun; and beneath, the
flinty soil, reflecting burning rays that scorched the weeds
and stunted camel-thorn, and made them crackle like charred
sticks under our horses' feet. As the day advanced, the
sirocco came upon us, blowing across the great 'Wilderness
of Wandering.' At first it was but a faint breath, hot and
parching, as if coming from a furnace. It increased slowly
and steadily. Then a thick haze of a dull yellow or brass
color, spreading along the southern horizon, and advanced,
rising and expanding, until it covered the whole face of
the sky, leaving the sun, a red globe of fire, in the midst. In
a few minutes, fine impalpable sand began to drift in our
faces, entering every pore. Nothing could exclude it. It blew
in our eyes, mouths, and nostrils, and penetrated our very
clothes, causing the skin to contract, the lips to crack, and the
eyes to burn. Respiration became difficult. We sometimes
gasped for breath; and then the hot wind and hotter sand
rushed into our mouths like a stream of liquid fire. We tried
to urge on our horses, but though chafing against curb and
rein only an hour before, they were now almost insensible
to whip and spur. We looked and longed for shelter from
that pitiless storm, and for water to slake our burning thirst;
but there was none. No friendly house was there; no rock
or bank; no murmuring stream or solitary well. It seemed
to us as if the prophetic curse pronounced by the Almighty
on a sinful and apostate nation was now being fulfilled."
—Giant Cities- of Bashan, p. 210.

Dr. Alexander Keith says: "By the concurring testi-
mony of all travelers, Judea is called a field of ruins.
Columns, the memorials of ancient magnificence, covered with
rubbish, and buried under ruins, may be found in all Syria. . . .
How marvelously are the predictions of desolation verified,
when in general nothing but ruined ruins form the most
distinguished remnants of the cities of Israel, and when the
multitude of its towns are almost all left, with many a vestige

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 209

to testify of their number, but without a mark to tell their
name." — Evidences from Prophecy, p. 93.

COLONIES IN PALESTINE.

Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 1, page 246, 1904 A. D., say
that in Palestine there are twenty-seven colonies, distributed
as follows:

1. In the land of Judah — 9 colonies occupy 9,254 acres.

2. In Samaria — 8 colonies occupy 16,129 acres.

3. Upper Galilee — 8 colonies occupy 19,047 acres.

4. Trans Jordan, Damascus — different societies own and
control 16,507.

Prophetic conference, held at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, July
15, 1895, in charge of the Presbyterian, United Presbyterian,
Baptist, and Methodist denominations, said: "Another sign
is the return of the Jews to Palestine. There are more of
them there now than there were after the return from the
Babylonian captivity. ... A sign which is undeniably miracu-
lous, too, is that Palestine is again becoming fruitful, after
years of desolation, during which scarcely anything would
grow. It was under a curse and the curse is now being lifted."
— Chicago Inter-Ocean, -August 17, 1895.

Christian Evangelist: "We have noted the completion of
the railway from Joppa to Jerusalem. This is apparently only
the beginning of a new era for Palestine. The land that has
been buried in slumber for eighteen hundred years is awaken-
ing. ... Is Palestine to enter upon a new era of prosperity?
That now seems probable." — January 19, 1893.

M. A. Beck says: "Of late years, there has been a very
remarkable confluence of the Jews towards Palestine. . . .
But ever since 1832, when Mehemet AH took possession of
Assyria, there has been a remarkable flocking of the Jews to
Palestine. The precise number of them at present (1842) in
the Holy Land is estimated to amount to about forty thou-
sand."—History of the Jews, published 1843, pp. 285-288.

210 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

New York Evening Post, May 22, 1901: "In Jerusalem
there are now electric lights, telephones, phonographs, sani-
tary plumbing, modern stores, houses built with 'a. m. i.,' and
in short, most of the comforts of civilized life."

Christian Herald of September 8, 1897: "The restoration
of the Jews to their own land was one of the signs by which
we were to recognize the days of the closing dispensation."

MRS. E. G. WHITE'S VIEW ON THE JEWS GATHERING
BACK TO THE HOLY LAND.

Mrs. E. G. White said: "September 23 the Lord showed me
that he had stretched out his hand the second time to recover
the remnant of his people, and that efforts must be redoubled
in this gathering. . . . Then I was pointed to some who are
in the great error of believing that it is their duty to go to
Old Jerusalem, and think they have a work to do there before
the Lord comes. Such a view is calculated to take the mind
and interest from the present work of the Lord, under the
message of the third angel; for those who think they are yet
to go to Jerusalem, will have their minds there, and their
means will be withheld from the cause of present truth. I
saw that such a mission would accomplish no real good, and
it would take a long time to make a very few Jews believe
even in the first advent of Christ, much more to believe in his
second advent. I saw that Satan had greatly deceived some
in this thing, and that souls all around them in this land
could be helped by them, and led to keep the commandments of
God, but they were leaving them to perish. ... I also saw
that Old Jerusalem never would be built up; and that Satan
was doing his utmost to lead the minds of the children of the
Lord into these things now, in the gathering time to keep
them from throwing their whole interest into the present work
of the Lord, and to cause them to neglect the necessary prepa-
ration for the day of the Lord." — Experiences and Views, and
Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, pp. 63-65. (The foregoing was fur-
nished by Elder F. G. Pitt.)

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 211

PRIESTHOOD.

Buck, in his Theological Dictionary, says: "A person set
apart for the performance of sacrifice, and other offices and
ceremonies of religion." — Page 369.

"Smith, in his Bible Dictionary, says: "The idea of a
priesthood connects itself, in all its forms, pure or corrupted,
with the consciousness, more 'or less distinct, of sin. Men
feel that they have broken a law. The power above them
is holier than they are and they dare not approach it. They
crave for the intervention of some one of whom they can
think as likely to be more acceptable than themselves. He
must offer up their prayers, thanksgivings, sacrifices. He
becomes their representative 'in things pertaining unto God.'
He may become also (though this does not always follow) the
representative of God to man. The functions of priest and
prophet may exist in the same person." — Page 763.

Bingham says: "When his (God's) ministers are to be
distinguished from the rest of his people in the church, then
the name clerici, or clergy, was their appropriate title, and
the name of the other, laymen. And this observation will help
to set another sort of persons right, who confound not only
the names, but the offices of laity and clergy together; and
plead that originally there was no distinction between them.
The name of priesthood indeed is sometimes given in common
to the whole body of Christian people (1 Peter 2:9; Revela-
tion 1:6), but so it was to the Jewish people (Exodus 19: 6) :
'Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation';
yet everyone knows that the offices of priests and Levites
among the Jews were very distinct from those of the com-
mon people, not by usurpation, but by God's appointment.
And so it was among the Christians, from the first founda-
tion of the church." — Ant. Chris. Church, vol. 1, p. 13. Edi-
tion of 1875, book 1, chap. 5.

Again: "Tertullian says it was customary among heretics
to confound the offices of the clergy and laity together." — Ibid.,
p. 14.

Again: "Saint Jerome observes, 'They (the early Chris-

212 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

tians) reckoned that to be no church which had no priests"
—Ibid., p. 14.

Again: "Saint Jerome, who will be allowed to speak the
sense of the ancients, . . . says, that both in the Old and New
Testament the high priests are an order, the priests another,
and the Levites another." — Ibid., p. 17, book 2, chap. 1.

Again: "These allegations' are sufficient evidences as to
matter of fact, and the practice of the church in the first three
ages, that there was then an order of chief priests, or bishops,
superior to the presbyters, settled and allowed in the Christian
church."— Ibid., p. 18.

Eusebius, on priesthood in the primitive Christian church,
says: "Polycrates, (who was bishop) of the Church of
Ephesus, says: 'John who rested upon the bosom of our
Lord, who also was a priest and bore the sacerdotal (priestly)
plate.' "—Pages 194-196.

Of Origen he says: "He had not yet obtained the priest-
hood by the laying on of hands." — Page 226.

"At this time, Origen, being compelled by some necessary
affairs of the church, went to Greece by way of Palestine,
where he received the ordination to the priesthood at Cesa-
rea, from the bishops of that country." — Ibid., p. 229.

High priest: "Melchisedec . . . was not the solitary occu-
pant of that dignity, but one in succession." — Marvelous Dis-
coveries in Bible Lands, p. 40.

"John the Baptist was of the priestly race by both parents.
. . . John was ordained to be a Nazarite from his birth." —
Smith Dictionary, p. 422.

"Officers there must be while there are offices, or services
to be performed. ... So long also as the Christian body is an
organized body having many services to perform, it must have
organs or officers by which to enjoy itself and operate on
society." — Christian System, p. 78, Cincinnati, Ohio, edition;
Saint Louis edition, p. 83.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 213

PROPHETS AND MIRACLES.

"Justin Martyr," says Mr. Wesley, "who wrote about fifty
years after apostles, says: 'There are prophetic gifts among
us until now.' You may see with us both women and men
having gifts from the Spirit of God. He particularly insists
on that of casting out devils, as whatever one might see
with his own eyes. Ireanaeus who wrote somewhat later,
affirms: 'that all who were truly disciples of Jesus wrought
miracles in his name; some cast out devils; others had visions
of the knowledge of future events.' "

Church History, page 143, says: "Though the miraculous
dispensations attendant on Christianity form no part of the
plan of this history, I can not but observe on this occasion,
how stiongly their continuance in the third century is here
attested. Pinions affirms that devils were first ejected by
Christians in the name of Christ, and he does this in the face
of enemies, who would have been glad of the shadow of an
argument to justify their bitterness, resentment and perfidy."

American Baptist, January 6, 1892: "The Hebrew root
which is translated prophet in our Bible, signifies the act of
pouring forth or uttering and is applied to one who speaks for
God, not only in his name and by his authority, but under
his influence and by divine inspiration. A prophet, therefore,
was one who spake for God, foretelling future events, de-
claring God's will or expounding what had already been
revealed."

American Baptist, of January 14, 1892, says, quoting from
Doctor Schaff: "In the second and third centuries . . . the
apostles, prophets and evangelists disappeared." Then they
were continued longer than John the Revelator. Why did they
not last longer than the second and third centuries? Let
Mosheim and Milner answer.

John Wesley says: "For the spirits of the prophets are
subject to the prophets — but what enthusiast considers this?
The impulses of the Holy Spirit, even in men really inspired,
so suit themselves to their rational faculties, as not to divest
them of the government of themselves, like the heathen priests

214 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

under their diabolical possessions. Evil spirits threw their
prophets into such ungovernable ecstacies, as forced them to
speak and act like madmen. But the Spirit of God left his
prophets the clear use of their judgment, when and how long
it was fit for them to speak, and never hurried them into any
improprieties, either as to the matter, manner, or time of
speaking." — Notes on 1 Corinthians 14: 39; p. 440.

DEGREES OF INSPIRATION.

Doctor Buck says, that inspiration is "the conveying of cer-
tain extraordinary and supernatural notions or motives into
the soul, or it denotes any supernatural influence of God upon
the mind of a rational creature, whereby he is formed to any
degree of intellectual improvement, to which he could not or
would not, in fact have attained in his present circumstances
in a natural way. And thus the prophets are said to have
spoken by divine inspiration.

"1. An inspiration of superintendency, in which God does so
influence and direct the mind of any person, as to keep him
more secure from error in some various and complex dis-
course, than he would have been merely by the use of his
natural faculties.

"2. Plenary superintendency inspiration, which excludes any
mixture of error at all from the performance so superintended.

"3. Inspiration of elevation, where the faculties act in a
regular, and, as it seems, a common manner, yet are raised
to an extraordinary degree, so that composure shall, upon
the whole, have more of the true sublime, or pathetic, than
natural genius could have given.

4. Inspiration of suggestion, where the use of the faculties
is superseded, and God does, as it were, speak directly to the
mind, making such discoveries to it as it could not otherwise
have obtained, and dictating the very words in which such
discoveries are to be communicated, if they are designed as a
message to others." — Page 196.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 215

URIM AND THUMMIM.

Smith, in his Dictionary of the Bible, says: "In what way
the Urim and Thummim were consulted is quite uncertain.
Josephus and the Rabbins supposed that the stones gave out
the oracular answer by prenatural illumination. But it seems
to be far simpler, and more in agreement with the different
account of inquiries made by Urim and Thummim (1 Samuel
14: 3, 18, 19; 2: 4, 9, 11, 12; 28: 6; Judges 20: 28; 2 Samuel
5: 23, etc.), to suppose that the answer was given simply by
the word of the Lord to the high priest (compare John 11: 51) ,
when he had inquired of the Lord, clothed with the Ephod and
Breastplate." — Page 723.

Comment by Whitson on Josephus, says: "The answers
by the oracle of Urim and Thummim, which words signify
light and perfection, or as the Septuagint renders them, reve-
lations and truth, and denote nothing further that I see but
the shining stones themselves which were used, in this method
of illumination, in revealing the will of God, after a perfect
and true manner to his people Israel." — Antiquities of the
Jews, p. 94, book 3, chap. 8.

Josephus says of this stone: "Now this breastplate and
this sardonyx left off shining two hundred years before I
composed this book." — Ibid., p. 95.

David Whitmer says: "But a stone had been found with
the plates [of the Book of Mormon] shaped like a pair of
ordinary spectacles, though much larger, and at least half an
inch in thickness, and perfectly opaque (not transparent)
save to the prophetic vision of Joseph Smith." — Chicago
Times, August, 1875.

"There were two stones in silver bows, and these stones
fastened to a breastplate constituted what is called the Urim
and Thummim." — History of the Church, vol. 1, p. 13.

PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH IN NEW TESTAMENT

TIMES.

Milner's Church History, page 145: "Towards the end of
the first century, all the churches followed the model of the
mother church at Jerusalem, where one of the apostles was

216 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

the first bishop. A settled presidency obtained, and the name
of angel was first given to the supreme ruler, though that of
bishop soon succeeded. That this was the case in seven
churches of Asia is certain. The address of the charges to
him in the book of Revelation demonstrate his superiority.
The deacon it is well known, was chosen to administer in
sacred employments of an inferior kind. These three ranks
appear to have been general throughout the Christian world
in the former part of this century." — Page 250.

PETER'S SUPREMACY.

As seen through Catholic specks: "Peter, it is true, besides
the -prerogatives inherent in his office, (president or pope,)
possessed also the gift of inspiration and the power of work-
ing miracles. . . . These two latter gifts are not claimed by
the pope, as they were personal to Peter and by no means
essential to the government of the church." — Faith of Our
Fathers, pp. 132, 133.

Mosheim says: "It became necessary, that the council of
presbyters should have a president, a man of distinguished
gravity and prudence, who should distribute among his col-
leagues their several tasks, and be as it were the central point
of the whole society. He was, at first, denominated the angel
(Apocalypse 2 and 3: 13) ; but afterward the bishop; a title
of Grecian derivation, and indicative of his principal busi-
ness. It would seem that the church of Jerusalem when grown
very numerous, after the dispersion of the apostles among
foreign nations, was the first to elect such a president; and
that other churches, in process of time, followed the example."
—Vol. 1, cent. 1, part 2, chap. 2, par. 11, p. 71. Published
1841.

"James the president and head of the church. Here we find
James superior to the very chief est apostles. For by this time
he had been appointed to preside over the infant church, in its
most important center."— Dr. William Smith, Dictionary of
the Bible, p. 270.

"We find there were there in the church of Jerusalem offi-
cials named — presbyters, who were the assistants of James,

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 217

the chief administrator of the church. James, the brother of
the Lord, remained unmolested during the persecution of
Herod Agrippa, in the year 44, and from this time he is
the acknowledged head of the church of Jerusalem." — Ibid.,
p. 112.

Mosheim says: "The bishops were at first innocently called
high priests." — Vol. 1, cent. 2, part 2, chap. 4, par. 4, p. 133.

HIGH PRIESTS.

"The high priest was at the head of all religious affairs, . . .
The high priest wore nearly the same dress with the priests,
and four articles in addition."-5 — Bible Dictionary, p. 353.

Josephus says: "I think it necessary to set down the names
of the high priests." — Antiquities of the Jews, book 10, chap.
9, par. 6, p. 280.

"Ananus, the ancientest of the high priests." — Ibid., "Wars
of the Jews," book 4, chap. 3, par. 7, p. 682.

"This Matthias was the son of Boethus, and was one of
the high priests." — Ibid., book 5, chap. 13, par. 1, p. 735.

"Some also there were who, watching for a proper oppor-
tunity when they might quietly get away, fled to the Romans,
of whom were the high priests Joseph and Jesus." — Ibid., book
6, chap. 2, par. 2, p. 744.

Fleetwood's Life of Christ: "The office of high priest was
bestowed upon Aaron, the brother of Moses, and his descend-
ants in perpetuity. . . . The high priest was the means of
communication between God and the people; he alone could
enter the recess of the sanctuary." — History of the Jews, p.
725.

"Melchisedec, king of Salem and priest of the most high
God, who is taken as a type of Christ in his united kingly
and priestly offices, was not the solitary occupant of that
dignity, but one in a succession of priest-kings." — Marvelous
Discoveries in Bible Lands, p. 41.

"The number of high priests from Aaron to Phannias, was
according to Josephus, . . . eighty-three; . . . The last high
priest Phannias, . . . With him the Old Testament, high priest-

218 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

hood ignominiously ended." — Schaff's Religious Encyclopaedia,
vol. E to L, p. 991.

PATRIARCH.

Mosheim says: "The custom of holding these councils had
extended over the Christian world, and the universal church
had acquired the form of a vast republic composed of many
lesser ones, certain head men were to be placed over it
in different parts of the world, as central points in their
respective countries. Hence came the patriarchs; and ulti-
mately a prince of patriarchs." — Vol. 1, book 1, cent. 2, part
2, chap. 2, p. 117. Edition of 1841.

"The princes among the bishops, were those who had before
held a preeminent rank, namely, the bishops of Rome, Antioch,
and Alexandria; with whom the bishop of Constantinople was
joined, after the imperial residence was transferred to that
city. These four prelates answered to the four praetorian
prefects created by Constantine, and perhaps even in this
century bore the Jewish title of patriarchs." — Ibid., cent. 4,
p. 232.

"In this manner there were five principal bishops over the
Christian world, created in this century, and distinguished
from others by the title of patriarchs." — Ibid., cent. 5, p. 324.

J. H. Merle D'Aubigne says: "In later times they bore
the more ecclesiastical name of patriarch." — Published 1843,
p. 3.

Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: "Patriarch, father and
ruler of a family; one who governs by paternal right, . . . usu-
ally applied to the progenitors of the Israelites, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, and the sons of Jacob, or to the heads of families
before the flood; as, the antediluvian Patriarchs. Second — A
learned and distinguished character among the Jews."

Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edition: "Patriarch (lit., the
head or ruler of a tribe, family, or clan), occurs four times
in the New Testament, being applied to Abraham, the twelve
sons of Jacob collectively, and David, and several times in the
70, where the word is used to denote the officials called by
the chronicler 'prince of the tribes of Israel,' 'princes of

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 219

hundreds/ 'chiefs of the fathers.' . . . The title at an early
date passed over into the Christian church." — Vol. 18, p. 410.

Mr. A. Campbell says: "Family worship was, therefore,
the first religious institution. At the head of this institution
naturally stood the father of every family. . . . Hence the first
religious and political institution is properly called 'the patri-
archal.' . . . And thus we find Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, and
other patriarchs. . . . To him the patriarch Abraham paid
tithes or gave the tenth of the spoils. . . . Melchisedec blessed
Abraham, Isaac blessed Jacob, and Jacob blessed the twelve
patriarchs." — Christian System, pp. 137, 140-141. Published
at Saint Louis, Missouri.

Campbellites, who believe in the Bible and nothing but'the
Bible, through the Christian Evangelist for December 6, 1900,
by one of their leading ministers, make this statement touch-
ing Alexander Campbell, their leader: "Venerable patriarch
of the clean heart and the silver tongue! Faithful servant
of God, and apostle of Jesus Christ."

A. S. Hayden: "Here I should speak more particularly of
Father Ryder's relations to the church. . . . He was first the
eldest brother, then the father, finally the patriarch." — History
of the Disciples, p. 253.

Fleetwood: "The western Jews, who were scattered all
over the Roman Empire, had their spiritual head in the
patriarch." — History of the Jews, p. 738.

"During this period of peace, Rabbi Jehuda, one of the
patriarchs of Tiberias." — Ibid.

ANOINTING WITH OIL.

Rev. John Wesley said: "Having anointed him with oil —
this single, conspicuous gift, which Christ committed to his
apostles, Mark 6: 13, remained in the church long after the
other miraculous gifts were withdrawn. Indeed it seems to
have been designed to remain always, and Saint James
directs the elders, who were the most, if not the only gifted
men to administer it. This was the whole process of physic
in the Christian church, till it was lost through unbelief." —
Notes on Saint James 5: 14, p. 606.

220 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

"The Grecian Christian, when dangerously sick, sent for
the elders of the church, agreeably to James 5: 14, and after
the sick man had confessed his sins, the elders commended
him to God in devout supplication, and anointed him with oil."
— Mosheim, book 1, cent. 1, part 2, chap. 4, p. 87.

INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE.

The necessity for the Inspired Translation of the Bible is
made apparent from the following:

In the Baptist-Catholic debate in the American Baptist, 12th
negative, Doctor Ray says: "The collection of books called
the Bible by Catholics and Protestants is of course the same
book, but in the hands of Roman Catholics, its text has become
corrupted and perverted." Here's Baptist authority, will that
do? There are about one hundred and eighty translations.

"Saint Jerome, in his commentary upon the 40th chapter
of Ezekiel, says: 'When we translate the Hebrew words into
Latin, we are sometimes guided by conjecture.' "

Again he says: "Saint Jerome makes frequent mention of
the additions, corrections and subtractions made in the ver-
sions of the Septuagint, by Origen."

He continues: "Saint Jerome says with reason, that in
his time the version of the Septuagint was nowhere to be
found in its purity. It is mere assumption to assert, as some
authors do, that the Hebrew text which we have at present
is not corrupted in any place, and that there is no fault, nor
anything left out, and that we must indisputably follow it
at all times."

This Complete History of Canon, etc., says: "There are
differences in punctuation about the consonant and whole
words and verses, which shows that, let them be ever so dili-
gent, it is impossible but some faults will slip in, either in
the copying or printing of a work. . . . Nor can it be said for
certain that all these books which are cited in the Holy
Scriptures were of divine inspiration. ... It can not be said
that no fault has crept into the scriptures by the negligence
or inadvertency of the transcribers, or even by the boldness
of those who have ventured to strike out, add. or change some

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 221

words which they thought necessary to be admitted, added
or changed. This is the common fate of all books, from which
God has not seen fit to exempt even the sacred writings."
Change to suit their doctrine. If they didn't believe in "bap-
tism for the remission of sins" and they found such in the
text, out it would go with "boldness."

Dupin: "The critics have sometimes reformed the text,
because they looked upon it as faulty; they have met with
a sense that shocked them in the text, and which might be
reformed by taking away one single word; they have deter-
mined that the text ought to read so and so, and have boldly
corrected the text upon a mere conjecture." — Complete History
of the Canon.

March's Introduction, volume 2, page 846, and Penn's An-
notatioris says, in reference to our King James' translation:
"The common version of the Bible was printed in A. D. 1611.
The only printed editions of the Greek Testament at that time
were Cardinal Ximime's, printed A. D. 1514; Erasmus', in
1546, and Beza's, in 1562, with some editions taken from these;
substantially the same may be said of the Old Testament.
King James' translation was made from no uniform edition
whatever. Although there is, by authority, a standard English
edition of the Bible, there is no standard Hebrew or Greek
text manuscript for the original of that version."

The Companion of the Revised Version of the English New
Testament, by Alexander Roberts, D. D., one of the committee
who revised "our latest or national translations," pages 39,
40, 41, says: "Such is the parentage of the Authorized Ver-
sion— Beza, Stephens, Erasmus. What manuscript authority,
let us ask, is thus represented? . . . Erasmus, indeed, said his
was rather 'tumbled headlong into the world than edited.' "

Again, Roberts says, speaking of Erasmus: "For the
Apocalypse, he had only one mutilated manuscript. He had
thus, no documentary materials for publishing a complete
edition of the Greek Testament. The consequence would have
been that some verses must have been left wanting had not
Erasmus taken the vulgate and conjecturally retranslated
the Latin into Greek. Hence has arisen the remarkable fact

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

that in the text from which our Authorized Version was
formed, and in the ordinary uncritical editions of the Greek
current at the present day, there were, and are, words in the
professed originals, for which no divine authority can be
pleaded, but which are entirely due to the learning and imag-
ination of Erasmus."

In volume 1, page 90, of Home's Introduction, you will find
this principle laid down. Home explicitly declares, that
when the Holy Spirit spoke through Paul, Jesus, Peter, etc.,
it came not in classic Greek, but in the vernacular of the
times. See also volume 2, pages 22, 23.

Home in his Introduction, on "the critical study and knowl-
edge of the Holy Scriptures," says: "Inspiration in the
highest sense, is the immediate communication of knowledge
to the human mind by the Spirit of God; but, as we have
already observed, it is commonly used by divines, in a less
strict and proper sense, to denote such a degree of divine
influence, assistance, or guidance, as enabled the authors of
the Scriptures to communicate religious knowledge to others,
without error or mistake, whether the subjects of such com-
munication were things then immediately revealed to those
who declared them, or things with which they were before
acquainted.

"When it is said that Scripture is divinely inspired, we are
not to understand that God suggested every word, or dictated
every expression. From the different styles in which the
books are written, and from the different manner in which
the same events are related and predicted by different authors,
it appears that the sacred penmen were permitted to write as
their several tempers, understandings, and habits of life,
directed: and that the knowledge communicated to them by
inspiration on the subject of their writings, was applied in
the same manner as any knowledge acquired by ordinary
means. Nor is it to be supposed that they were even thus
inspired in every fact which they related, or in every precept
which they delivered. They were left to the common use of
their faculties, and did not, upon every occasion, stand in need
of supernatural communication; but whenever, and as far

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 223

as divine assistance was necessary, it was always afforded.
In different parts of Scripture we perceive, that there were
different sorts and degrees of inspiration. God enabled Moses
to give an account of the creation of the world; Joshua to
record with exactness the settlement of the Israelites in the
land of Canaan; David to mingle prophetic information with
the varied effusions of gratitude, contrition and piety; Solo-
mon to deliver wise instructions for the regulation of human
life; Isaiah to deliver predictions concerning the future
Savior of mankind; and Ezra to collect the sacred Scriptures
into one authentic volume; 'But all these worketh that one
and the selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as
he will' (1 Corinthians 12: 11). In some cases, inspiration
only produced occurrences and accuracy in relating past cor-
rectness, or in reciting the words of others; in other cases,
it communicated ideas not only new and unknown before,
but infinitely beyond the reach of unassisted human intellect."
— Biblia for June, 1890.

The New Testament was written in Greek, which had, since
the Macedonian conquest of Alexander the Great, supplanted
Hebrew in common use among the Jews who dwelt in the
Roman provinces, and was the medium of communication be-
tween all parts of the civilized world.

The Greek of the New Testament differs in many respects
from the language as it was written by Herodotus or Thucy-
dides. The Greek language was the one most widely spread
over the civilized world. When our Lord appeared in the
flesh, the Greek tongue was current in Palestine, and was the
book language of the Egyptian Jews. Hence the apostles
were under the necessity of using it in their preaching and
writing, when they went forth from Palestine to promulgate
that new religion with whose propagation they were interested.

The classical Greek, spreading over the Asiatic kingdoms
which arose from the Macedonian conquest, and accordingly
over Syria, naturally became somewhat modified by the local
and dialectical peculiarities in which it was spoken. The Greek
compound varying in some respects in the various provinces
in Asia and Africa subjected to the Macedonian rule, consti-

224 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

tutes the special foundation of the diction of the New Testa-
ment, as it does also of the Septuagint and Apocrypha.

The diction of the New Testament partakes of a Hebrew
coloring, arising from the fact that the writers were Hebrews
accustomed to speak the Aramaean or later Hebrew, and in
some instances acquainted with the ancient language of the
Scriptures. Lexical Hebraisms are more numerous than gram-
matical, and consist partly in the extension of the signification
of words, partly in the imitation of entire phrases, and partly
also in the analogous formation of new words to express
corresponding Hebrew terms. The language of the several
books of the New Testament, however, vary according as every
individual writer has his peculiar modes of expression.
In particular the historical books differ from the epistolary
inconsequence of their differing aim and contents; inasmuch
as the historic, especially the gospels of Matthew, Mark and
John, approximate more to the language of the people; the
epistles, on the other hand, particularly those written by Paul
to Greek speaking churches and persons in Europe and Asia,
are connected, as respects language with the literary Greek
then in use, with certain modifications, such as some adoption
or imitation of Semitic idioms or at least a choice of such
Greek idioms as resembled the Semitic most; while the writ-
ings of Luke, especially the Acts, are full of genuine Greek
turns and constructions, although instances of the opposite
are not wanting in them. The language of the Apocalypse
is distinguished from all the rest by great and sometimes very
anomalous peculiarities in word and structure.

One great characteristic of the New Testament Greek is
that it is an eminently translatable language. There is very
little grammar compared with other Greek. But it is very
interesting to note the conciseness, the exactitude with which
the most subtle shades and gradations of thought are ex-
pressed in this rich and flexible language. And the more the
language is investigated, the more apparent becomes the wis-
dom of God in having selected so clear and so admirable a
medium for making known to man the new covenant in

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 225

Christ Jesus. The language is at once vigorous and flexible,
profound and clear, remarkably well suited to express every
variety of thought. It is equally adapted to the concise, the
critical and the commonplace. In short, every order of mind
can use it appropriately.

Smith, article "gospels," in these words: "It is probable
that none of the gospels was written until many years after
the day of Pentecost, on which the Holy Spirit descended on
the assembled disciples. From that day commenced at Jeru-
salem the work of preaching the gospel and converting the
world. Prayer and preaching were the business of the
apostles' lives. Now, their preaching must have been, from
the nature of the case, in great part historical; it must have
been based upon an account of the life and acts of Jesus of
Nazareth. There was no written record to which the hearers
might be referred for historical details, and therefore the
preachers must furnish not only inferences from the life of
our Lord, but the facts of the life itself. The preaching then,
must have been of such a kind as to be to the hearers what
the reading of lessons from the gospel is to us. There is no
impossibility in supposing that in the course of twenty or
thirty years' assiduous teaching without a written gospel, the
matter of the apostolic preaching should have taken a settled
form. Not only might the apostles think it well that their
own accounts should agree, as in substance so in form; but
the teachers whom they sent forth or left behind in the
churches they visited, would have to be prepared for their
mission; and so long as there was no written gospel to put
into their hands, it might be desirable that the oral instruction
should be so far as possible one and the same to all. The
guidance of the Holy Spirit supplied for a time such aid as
made a written gospel unnecessary; but the apostles saw the
dangers and errors which a traditional gospel would be ex-
posed to in the course of time, and whilst they were still
preaching the oral gospel in the strength of the Holy Ghost,
they were admonished by the same divine Person to prepare
those written records which were hereafter to be the daily

226 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

spiritual food of all the church of Christ. Nor is there any-
thing unnatural in the supposition that the apostles uninten-
tionally uttered their witness in the same order, and even, for
the most part, in the same form of words. The language of
their first preaching was the Syro-Chaldaic, which was a poor
and scanty language and though Greek was now widely spread,
and was the language even of several places in Palestine,
though it prevailed in Antioch, whence the first missions to
Greeks and Hellenists, or Jews who spoke Greek, proceeded
(Acts Hi 20; 13: 1-3), the Greek tongue, as used by Jews
partook of the poverty of the speech which it replaced; as,
indeed it is impossible to borrow a whole language without
borrowing the habits of thought upon which it has built
itself."— Dictionary of the Bible, pp. 298, 299.

Prof. C. E. Stowe, in his History of the Bible, has this to
say on the point: "The Bible is not a specimen of God's skill
as a writer, showing us God's mode of thought, giving us
God's logic, and God's rhetoric, and God's style of historic
narration. How often do we see men seeking out isolated
passages of Scripture, and triumphantly saying that such ex-
pressions are unworthy of God, and could not have proceeded
from him. They are unskillful, the mode of thought is faulty,
they are illogical, in bad taste, the reasoning is not conclusive,
the narrative is liable to exception. God has not put himself
on trial before us in that way in the Bible, any more than
he has in the creation — any more than he has promised that
the Bible shall always be printed for us on the best of paper,
with the best of type and perfect freedom from typographical
errors, and that after it is printed, it shall never be torn,
nor soiled, nor any leaf lost; or that apostles and preachers
shall be regularly handsome, men of fine forms and beautiful
faces, and faultless elocution. It is always to be remembered
that the writers of the Bible were 'God's penmen, and not
God's pens.' . . .

"It is not the words of the Bible that were inspired, it is
not the thoughts of the Bible that were inspired; it is the
men who wrote the Bible that were inspired. Inspiration acts

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 227

not on the man's words, not on the man's thoughts, but on
the man himself; so that he, by his own spontaneity, under
the impulse of the Holy Ghost, conceives certain thoughts
and gives utterance to them in certain words, both the words
and the thoughts receiving the peculiar impress of the mind
which conceived and uttered them, and being in fact just as
really his own, as it could have been if there had been no
inspiration at all in the case." — Pages 18, 19.

W. T. Moore furnishes a paper on "the turbulent period"
of their movement and it is published in the Reformation of
the Nineteenth Century. On page 220 he says: "From .the
beginning of their movement the Disciples had always taken a
deep interest in translations of the New Testament. This
feeling was strictly logical in view of their religious position.
They magnified the word of God as no other people did. It
was therefore all important that they should possess, as far
as possible, the exact mind of the Holy Spirit in any trans-
lation that might be used. They felt that the Authorized Ver-
sion, though incomparable in many respects, was, nevertheless,
in some important particulars, far from what it ought to be.
Mr. Campbell had himself taught them to discredit King
James' Version, as he had published a version made by George
Campbell, Philip Doddridge arid others. Consequently when it
was proposed by the American Bible Union to publish a re-
vised edition of the New Testament, the Disciples at once
threw themselves into the proposal with a heartiness which
did much to assure success; and as Mr. Campbell had been
selected to translate the Acts of the Apostles, this fact gave
additional interest to what they already felt in the forthcom-
ing work.

"The first edition of this translation was published in 1864.
Upon the whole it was not very favorably received by scholars,
and especially by those of the brotherhood. Its merits were
many, and these were at once distinctly recognized. But it
was a disappointment with respect to some important points
where better things had been expected."

228 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

SPIRIT AND BODY— THE SPIRIT IMMORTAL.

MAN A DUAL CREATURE.

Wilson's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, says of the Spirit:
"The animal life, or that principle by which every animal
according to his kind lives; hence life, vital principle."-
Quoted from Miles Grant's work, p. 7.

Imperial Lexicon: "The spiritual, rational, and immortal
substance in man, which distinguishes him from the brute." —
Ibid., p. 8.

Philo Judeas, a learned Jew contemporary with Claudius
Caesar, says: "When Moses uses the expression, he breathed
into, etc., he means nothing else than the divine Spirit, pro-
ceeding from that happy and blessed nature, sent to take its
habitation here on earth, for the advantage of our race, in
order that even if man is mortal according to that portion of
him which is visible, he may at all events be immortal accord-
ing to that portion of him which is invisible; and for this
reason, one may properly say that man is on the boundaries
of a better and an immortal nature, partaking of each as far
as it is necessary for him; and that he was born at the time,
both mortal and immortal ; mortal as to his body, but immortal
as to his intellect."— Ibid., p. 60.

Josephus says: "Moses, after the seventh day, began to
talk philosophically and concerning the formation of man says
thus, that God took dust from the ground and formed man,
and inserted in him a spirit and a soul." — Antiquities of the
Jews, book 1, chap. 1, par. 2, p. 29.

Again he says: "The bodies of all men are indeed not found
mortal, are created out of corruptible matter; but the soul is
immortal, and is a portion of the divinity that inhabits our
bodies." — Quoted from Miles Grant's work, p. 61.

Again he says: "When souls have to leave the body, they
speak with the sincerest freedom." — Ant., book 4, chap. 8,
par. 2. Translated by William Whiston, A. M., p. 116.

Cruden says: "Spirit signifies the reasonable soul which
continues in being, even after the death of the body. That
spiritual, reasoning, choosing substance, capable of eternal

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 229

happiness." — Page 676, par. 12. Quoted from The Instructor,
p. 6.

Matthew Henry, the great commentator, says: "That the
soul or spirit exists and acts in a state of separation from
the body, and is therefore immortal; that death does not ex-
tinguish this 'candle of the Lord,' but takes it out of a dark
lantern. It is not, as Grotius well observes, the krasis, or
temperament of the body, or anything that dies with it; but
it is the anthuposaton, something that subsists by itself,
which, after death, is somewhere else than where the body
is."— Ibid., vol. 3, p. 383.— Ibid., p. 6.

John Brown's Dictionary of the Bible says: "Soul signifies
that spiritual, reasonable, and immortal substance in man,
which distinguishes him from the beasts, and is the source of
our thoughts and reasoning." — Ibid., p. 7.

Dr. S. Drew says: "The soul can not perish, either from
choice or necessity; nor from any material cause; nor from
the presence or absence of any natural power. It is invariably
independent, inaccessible to all violence, and necessarily im-
mortal."— Sec. 4, p. 331. — Ibid.

Sir Kenelm Digby says: "That man's soul is a substance:
That man is a compound of some other substance besides his
body. That the soul doth subsist of itself independently of
the body."— Chaps. 9 and 10, pp. 79-87.— Ibid.

Ecclesiastes 12: 7: "'And the spirit shall return to God
who gave it.' From whom it is, by whom it is created, who
puts it into the bodies of men, as a depositum they are in-
trusted with and are accountable for, and should be con-
cerned for the safety and salvation of it; this was originally
breathed into man at his first creation, and is now formed
within him by the Lord; hence he is called the 'God of the
spirits of all flesh.' (See Genesis 2:4; Zechariah 12:1;
Numbers 16: 22.)"— Gill's Commentary, vol. 3, p. 668.

"That when the body, which is here its prison, rather than
its mansion, falls to the earth, 'tis not oppressed by its ruins,
but set free and enjoys the truest liberty. This made Hera-
clitus say that the soul goes out -of the body like lightning

230 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

from a cloud, because it is never more clear in its conceptions
than when freed from matter.

"And what Lucretius excellently expresses in his verses, is
true in another sense than he intended:

" 'Credit item retrode terra, quod fuit ante,

In terram; sed quod missum est ex Athens oris,
Id rursus cceli fulgentia templa receptant.'

1 'What sprang from earth falls to its native place,
What heav'n inspired, released from the weak tie
Of flesh, ascends beyond the shining sky.' "
—Dr. William Bates, chap. 10, p. 182.— Ibid., p. 8.

"There can be no doubt, then, that Paul really expected to
be immediately with Christ when he died; that in proportion
as his labors were protracted before death would the time be
put off when he should be with Christ, and that if his period
of labor was cut short by death would the period be shortened
which intervened between him and Christ; and yet this could
not have been the case had he believed that the soul died with
the body." — Immortality of the Soul, by Rev. Luther Lee, p.
123.— Ibid., p. 9.

"Ecclesiastes 12:7: Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave
it.' Putrefaction and solution take place; the whole mass
becomes decomposed, and in process of time is reduced to dust,
from which it was originally made; while the spirit (harnach) ,
that spirit which God at first breathed into the nostrils of
man, when he in consequence became a living soul, an intel-
ligent, rational, discoursing animal, returns to God who
gave it.

"Here the wise man makes a most evident distinction be-
tween the body and the spirit; they are not the same; they
are not both matter. The body, which is matter, returns to
its original dust; but the spirit which is immortal returns to
God. It is impossible that two natures can be more distinct,
or more distinguished. The author of this book (Ecclesiastes)

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 231

was evidently not "a materialist." — Dr. Adam Clark's Com-
mentary, vol. 3, p. 2,560.

Professor Drummond says: "In short, this is a correspond-
ence which at once satisfies the demands of science and reli-
gion. In mere quantity it is different from every other cor-
respondence known. Setting aside everything else in religion,
everything adventitious, local and provisional; dissecting into
the bone and marrow we find this — a correspondence which
can never break with an environment which can never change,
Here is a relation established with eternity. The passing
years lay no limiting band on it. Corruption injures it not.
It survives death. It, and it only, will stretch beyond the
grave and be found inviolate.

"When the moon is old, and the stars are cold,
And the books of the Judgment day unfold."

— Natural Law in the Spiritual World, p. 167. Quoted from
What is Man, p. 39.

Liddell and Scott define psuche, the Greek for soul, as fol-
lows: "1. Breath, life, spirit. 2. The soul or immortal part
of man as opposed to the body or perishable part." Nephesh,
according to Fuerst, "means the soul or spirit; in other cases,
an individual, a person, man." Gesenius defines it to mean,
"spirit, soul, mind; also a man, person."

Liddell and Scott, in their Greek Lexicon, define pneuma,
the Greek for spirit, as follows: "Wind, air, the air we
breathe, 'breath of life,' spirit, that is feeling. The spirit, a
living being, a spirit, spiritual being." — Ibid., p. 54.

SPIRIT OF MAN INTELLIGENT BETWEEN DEATH
AND THE RESURRECTION.

THE PRISON HOUSE THE ABODE OF THE WICKED.

Prof. Taylor Lewis says: "We are taught that there was
a work of Christ in Hades. He descended into Hades; he
makes proclamation, ekeruxen, in Hades to those who are
there." — Hailey, Discrepancies of the Bible, p. 192. Quoted
from Joseph the Seer, p. 114.

232 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Alford says: "I understand these words (1 Peter 3: 18,
20) to say that our Lord, in his disembodied state, did go to
the place of detention of departed spirits, and did there an-
nounce his work of redemption, preach salvation in fact, to
the disembodied spirits of those who refused to obey the voice
of God when the judgment of the flood was hanging over
them." — Ibid.

Professor Hindekoper says: "In the second and third cen-
turies every branch and division of the Christian church, so
far as their records enabled us to judge, believed that Christ
preached to the departed." — Ibid.

"Souls being immaterial and incorporeal are invisible to the
bodily eye; these, therefore, were either clothed with cor-
poreal forms, as angels are, or as John saw them on the Isle
of Patmos in a visionary way; and these were the souls of
such as had been slain ; their bodies were dead, but they were
alive; which shows the immortality of souls, and that they
die not with their bodies; and that they live after them in a
separate state of existence." — Gill's Commentary, vol. 2, p. 971.
— Instructor, p. 18.

"Hell, the place and state of the damned. The wicked shall
be turned into hell. . . . The wicked in hell not only undergo
the punishment of sense, but also that of loss." — Cruden's
Concordance, vol. 1, p. 327. — Ibid., p. 23.

Matthew Henry's comment on Matthew 17, says: "He will
come, at last, with ten thousand of his saints; as a specimen
of that there now appeared unto them Moses and Elias talk-
ing with him; observe (1) : There were glorified saints attend-
ing him, that when there were three to bear record on earth,
Peter, James, and John, there might be some to bear record
from heaven too. Thus here was a lively resemblance of
Christ's kingdom, which is made up of saints in heaven and
saints on earth, and to which belong the spirits of just men
made perfect. We see here, that they who are fallen asleep
in Christ are not perished, but exist in a separate state,
and shall be forthcoming when there is occasion. (2) These two
were Moses and Elias, men very eminent in their day." — Vol.
3, p. 139.— Ibid., p. 13..

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 233

"Upon John 17: 24 (3) : The request itself: That all the
elect might come to be with him in heaven at last, to see his
glory, and to share it. It is' where Christ is, where I am, in
the paradise where Christ's soul went at death; in the third
heavens, where his soul and body went at his ascension: Where
I am, — am to be shortly, — am to be." — Vol. 3, p. 675. — Ibid.,
pp. 14, 15.

Again he says: "The beggar died, and was carried by
angels into Abraham's bosom. (1) His soul existed in its
state of separation from its body. It did not die or fall
asleep with the body, his candle was not put out with him,
but lived, and acted, and knew what it did, and what was
done to it. (2) His soul removed to another world, to the
world of spirits; it returned to God who gave it, to its native
country; this is implied in its being carried. ... (5) The
next news that we hear of the rich man, after the account
of his death and burial is, that 'in hell he lifted up his eyes,
being in torment.' His estate is very miserable. He is in hell,
in Hades, in the state of separate souls, and there he is in the
uttermost misery and anguish possible." — Volt 3, p. 438. —
Ibid., p. 15.

Sir Kenelm Digby writes that a "separate soul knoweth all
that it knew while it was in the body." — Par. 6, p. 693. — Ibid.,
p. 16.

"That the thinking principle in man is of an immortal
nature, was believed by the ancient Egyptians, the Persians,
the Phoenicians, the Scythians, the Celts, the Druids, the
Assyrians, — by the wisest and most celebrated characters
among the Greeks and Romans, and by almost every other
ancient nation and tribe whose records have reached our time.
. . . They all embraced the idea, that death is not the destruc-
tion of the rational soul, but only its introduction to a new
and unknown state of existence. . . . Immortality of the soul
did not originate with the Egyptians, but being attributed
by Josephus to the Greeks. Plato himseif, the greac Greek
philosopher, distinctly shows that he derived it from the
Jewish writers of antiquity. — Dick's works, vol. 1, pp. 9-11.
—Ibid., pp. 16, 17.

234 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Abbott's Dictionary of Religious Knowledge, article "Im-
mortality"; . . . "Belief in the immortality of the soul is
almost universal." — Ibid., p. 17.'

"Therefore with Alford, Trench, Wordsworth, and the best
commentators, we take the passages relative to the rich man
and Lazarus as teaching, at all events, two things: first, that
the soul of man is conscious after death ; and secondly, that,
according to its moral character, it goes either into a place
of happiness and repose, or into one of disquiet and misery.
These two thoughts not only lie upon the surface of the nar-
rative, but they also constitute its very life and essence."-
Discrepancies of the Bible, pp. 190, 191. — Ibid.

"Theologians have endeavored to get rid of this obvious
reference (1 Peter 3:19, 20) by explaining it of Christ
preaching in the person of Noah; or by making 'He preached'
mean 'He announced condemnation.' . . . These attempts arise
from that spirit or system which would fain be more orthodox
than Scripture itself." — Early Days of Christianity, pp. 91,
92.— Ibid., p. 24.

"In Murdock's Syriac, which is a translation of the Teshito
Syriac New Testament,' we have the following rendering of
the same passage (1 Peter 3: 19) : 'And he preached to those
souls which were detained in Hades.'" — What is Man, p. 69.

PARADISE THE ABODE OF THE GOOD SPIRITS
BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION.

Josephus says: "The countenance of the fathers, and of
the just, which they see, always smiles upon them, while they
wait for that rest and eternal new life in heaven which is to
succeed this region. This place we call the bosom of Abra-
ham."— Page 744, Whitson edition.

Saint Clement in his first epistle to the Corinthians, says:
"Peter . . . suffered martyrdom, by the command of the gov-
ernors, and departed out of the world, and went unto his holy
place." — Apostolic Fathers, Wake's Translation, p. 60. — Jo-
seph the Seer, p. 116.

Of the martyrdoms of Saint Ignatius it is said in an epistle
from the church at Smyrna, where he suffered: "Being sud-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 235

denly taken by the beasts from the world, he might appear
before the face of Christ." — Apostolic Fathers, p. 179. — Ibid.

Eusebius, in giving an account of the martyrdom of Lucius,
represents him as saying to his judge: "For now I ani liber-
ated from wicked masters, and am going to the good Father
and King, even God." — Ecclesiastical History, chap. 17, pp.
141, 142.

Again he says: "About this time (A. D. 244), also, other
men sprung up in Arabia as the propagators of false opinions.
They asserted that the human soul, as long as the present
state of the world existed, perished at death, and died with
the body, but that it would be raised again with the body at
the time of the resurrection." — Chap. 37, p. 239.

Tertullian says: "There is a sister amongst us who pos-
sesses the faculty of revelation. . . . She informed us that
she had seen a soul in a bodily shape; ... It was tender
(delicate) , shining, of the color of the air, but in everything
resembling the human form." — History Supernatural, vol. 1,
p. 443. — Joseph the Seer, p. 117.

Matthew Henry says: " 'This day shalt thou be with me';
to-night ; before to-morrow. The souls of the righteous, after
they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are imme-
diately in joy and felicity." — Vol. 3, p. 478. Quoted from The
Instructor, p. 19.

"Our Savior must have used this word (paradise) in the
sense in which the Jews understood it; the place of happiness,
into which pious souls, when separated from the body, are
immediately received." — Doctor Whitby, from New Testament
(Doctor Mant and Doctor D'Oyley, D. D.).— Ibid., p. 20.

"Second Corinthians 12:4: 'How that he was caught up
into paradise,' and had a foretaste of the blessed state of the
faithful souls between death and the resurrection. For such
is the sense of the word paradise in the New Testament-
Doctor Parkhurst. — Ibid.

"Abraham's Bosom." — This phrase, used in Luke 16: 22, as
a description of heaven, takes its significance from the practice
customary in the Orient, at the time of Christ, of reclining on
couches at meals in such a way that each guest rested upon

236 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

the bosom of his left hand neighbor. This position with
respect to the master of the house was one of especial honor,
and only occupied by dear friends. To lie in Abraham's bosom,
thus became a metaphor expressive of the highest spiritual
condition and felicity, and, as such, was employed by Christ in
contrasting the condition of Lazarus in the other world with
that of the rich man who had his good things in his lifetime. —
Dictionary of Religious Knowledge, by Lyman Abbott. Quoted
from What is Man, p. 140.

HELL OR HADES, THE ABODE OF SPIRITS.

-THE PRISON HOUSE.

Plato, the learned Greek, tells us that hell— Hades— (Greek
words) is "the world of spirits." — Plato, by Pond, p. 125. —
Joseph the Seer, p. 121.

William Smith, in his Bible Dictionary, says: "The word
sheol (Hebrew) is never used of the grave proper, or place
of burial of the body. It is always the abode of spirits, like
the Greek Hades."— Note on "hell."— Ibid.

In revisers' preface of the Revised Version of the Bible,
1885, we have this: "Hebrew sheol, which signifies the abode
of the departed spirits, and corresponds to the Greek hades.

Irenaeus, who lived between the years 120 A D. and 202
A. D., among other things, says: "And to as many as continue
in their love toward God, does he grant communion with him.
But communion with God is life and light and the enjoyments
of all the benefits which he has in store. But on as many as
according to their own . choice depart from God, he inflicts
that separation from himself which they have chosen of their
own accord. But separation from God is death, and separa-
tion from light is darkness; and separation from God consists
in the loss of all the benefits which he has in store. . . . God
however does not punish them immediately of himself, but
that punishment falls upon them because they are destitute
of all that is good. Now good things are eternal and without
end with God, and therefore the loss of these is also eternal
and never ending. It is in this matter just as occurs in the

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 237

case of a flood of light; those who have blinded themselves
or have been blinded by others, are for ever deprived of the
enj'oyment of light. It is not, however, that the light has
inflicted upon them the penalty of blindness, but it is that the
blindness itself has brought calamity upon them." — Adv. Hasr.,
vol 27, p. 2.

Tertullian, A. D., circ., 150-216: "In short, inasmuch as we
understand the prison pointed out in the gospel to be Hades
and we also interpret the uttermost farthing to mean the
very smallest offense which has to be atoned for there before
the resurrection (Matthew 5: 25, 26), no one will hesitate to
believe that the soul undergoes in Hades some compensatory
discipline without prejudice to the full process of the resur-
rection when the recompense will be administered through
the flesh besides." — De Anima, 58.

Lactantius, d. A. D. circ. 312: "If the soul which has its
origin from God, gains the mastery, it is immortal and lives
in perpetual light; if, on the other hand, the body shall over-
power the soul and subject it to its dominion, it is everlasting
darkness and death, and the force of this is not that it alto-
gether annihilates the souls of the unrighteous, but subjects
them to everlasting punishment. We term that punishment
the second death which is itself also perpetual, as also is
immortality. . . . We thus define the second death: Death is
the suffering of eternal pain; or thus: Death is the condem-
nation of souls for their deserts to eternal punishments."
—Institutes, 2 : 3.

Clement of Alexandria, circ. A. D. 200, (Punishment aims
at the sinner's own good) : "The general of an army by in-
flicting fines and corporal punishments with chains and the
extremest disgrace on offenders, and sometimes even punishing
individuals with death, aims at good, doing so for the admoni-
tion of the officers under him." — Oratio Catechism, chap. 8.

Diodore of Tarsus, d. A. D. 394, says: "A perpetual
reward is prepared for the good on account of their labors
and the right, justice, and equity of the rewarder; but the
punishment of the unjust is nevertheless not perpetual, nor
shall the immortality prepared for them be made useless to

238 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

them, but they may be tortured for a short time according to
the measure and merit of their sin and impiety, and according
to the amount of malice in their works. They shall then
suffer pain and torment for a short time, but the happiness
of immortality which shall have no end shall remain for them.
Indeed, if the rewards of good works are so surpassing, how
much could the length of eternity prepared for them exceed
the length of time of the limited strifes in the career of the
present age; the punishments indeed which are to be inflicted
for the many and weighty crimes shall be far exceeded fey
the greatness of compassion. It is not then for tfre good, so
far as this is concerned, that the grace of the resurrection
is reckoned, but even for the wicked. For the grace of God
honors the good indeed munificently and freely; but pitifully
and mercifully does he determine the torments of the wicked."
—In Asseman Biblical Oriental, vol. 3, p. 322.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, circ. A. D. 350-428, says: "In the
world to come those who have chosen good things shall with
praise receive the fruit of their good works; but the wicked
who have done wrong throughout their life, after great and
fearful punishments, shall come to their senses, and choosing
the good, not among the good, but among the wicked, since
they have sinned, shall learn to hold themselves steadfast
and in this way shall obtain a knowledge of the blessed
doctrine of the fear of God, having learned to believe in it
with a good will. Then at last they shall merit the enjoyment
of the divine liberality. For he would never have said, 'Until
thou shalt return the last farthing,' unless it had been possible
that it should be done; that removing the punishment of sin
we should be set free from them. Neither would he have said,
'He shall be beaten with many stripes, and he shall be beaten
with few stripes,' if there was no end to the infliction when
men had suffered a punishment commensurate with their sin."
—In Asseman Biblical Oriental, vol. 3, p. 323.

Augustine, A. D. 353-450, says: "For our part we recognize
that even in this life some punishments are purgatorial. . . .
But temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life
only, by others after death, by others both now and then; but

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 239

all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But of
those who suffer temporary punishment after death, all are
not doomed to those everlasting pains which are to follow
that judgment; for to some as we have already said, what
is not remitted in this world, is remitted in the next, that is
they are not punished with the eternal punishment of the
world to come." — Civit Dei, 12, 13.

'Ambrose, A. D. 340-397, says: "No one ascends into the
kingdom of heaven, except by means of the sacrament of
baptism. . . . For unless a man has been born again of water
and the Spirit, he can not enter the kingdom of God." — De
Abrah, 2, 11.

Caesarius of Aries, circ. A. D. 480-543, says: "All the
good who serve God faithfully, who seek to apply themselves
to reading and prayer, and to persevere in good works, build-
ing up (cf. 1 Corinthians 3: 12) — neither capital crimes nor
small sins — but good works, shall pass through that fire of
which the apostle speaks. But those who are apt to commit
small sins, and are negligent to make amends, shall come unto
eternal life, because they believed in Christ and committed
no capital crimes, but before that, they shall be purified either
in this age by the justice of God by means of the bitterest
tribulation, or by their own acts; by many charities, and
especially when they are mercifully kind to their enemies, and
shall be freed by the mercy of God; or else certainly they
shall be tortured for a long time by that fire of which the
apostle speaks; that they may attain to the future life, with-
out spot or wrinkle." — Homil 8, 8.

Pope Gregory the Great, A. D. 540-604, says: "Some faults
may be forgiven in this age and some in the age to come, for
since it is denied concerning one thing, the logical conse-
quence is evident that it is conceded of certain others."-
Dial. 4, 39.

Master Eckhart, A. D. 1260-1329, says: "The question has
been raised, What is it that burns in hell? The masters
generally say it is self-will. But I say in truth it is not
having, which constitutes the burning of hell. Learn this
from a parable: If you were to take a burning coal and

240 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

put it on my hand, and I were to assert that the coal is
burning my hand, I should be wrong. But if I be asked,
what is it that burns me, I say it is the not having, that is
the coal has something which my hand has not. . You per-
ceive then that it is the not having which burns me. But if
my hand had all that which the coal has, it would possess the
nature of fire. In that case you might take all the fire that
burns and put it on my hand without tormenting me. In
the same manner I say, if God and those who stand before
his face enjoy that perfect happiness which those who are
separated from him possess not, it is the not having which
torments the soul in hell, more than self-will or fire." —
Predigt auf denersten Sonnt nach Trin. Stud. u. Krit, 1839.

Thomas Erskine, of Linlathen, A. D. 1788-1870, says: "I
have a hope which I would not willingly think contrary to
the revelation of mercy, of the ultimate salvation of all. I
trust that he who came to bruise the serpent's head will not
cease his work of compassion until he has expelled the fatal
poison from every individual of our race. I humbly think the
promise bears this wide interpretation. You believe not, I
know. Well the judge of all the earth will do right. . . .
I hope for the departed. I hope in that unmeasured love
which gave the Savior; in fact my soul refuses to believe
in final ruin, when it contemplates the blood of Christ. . . .
I hope that he who came to bruise the serpent's head, and to
destroy the works of the Devil, will not cease his labors of
love till every particle of evil introduced into this world has
been converted into good." — Letters, pp. 92-105.

Charles Chauncy, A. D. 1705-1787, says: "Upon the whole,
therefore, what I mean to prove, in the following essay, is
that the scheme of revelation has the happiness of all man-
kind lying at bottom, as its great and ultimate end; that it
gradually tends to this end and will not fail of its accomplish-
ment when fully completed, . . . [Those] who have proved
incurable under the means which have been used with them in
this state, instead of being happy in the next will be awfully
miserable; not to continue so finally, but that they may be
convinced of their folly, and recover to a virtuous frame of

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 241

mind. . . . And there may be yet other states before the
scheme of God may be perfected, and mankind universally
cured of their moral disorders, and in this way qualified for,
and finally instated in, eternal happiness." — Sensible Thoughts
on the State of Religion in New England, preface.

SPIRITUALISM' EXPOSED— THE DEVIL'S WORK—
THE COUNTERFEIT.

HOW TO BECOME A MEDIUM.

Professor Cadwell, a mesmerist, medium, and spiritual lec-
turer, in a pamphlet entitled "Spiritualism versus the Bible,"
says: "Your best and quickest way is to be mesmerized by any
mesmerist that you may have confidence in, requesting that, as
soon as you become unconscious, he ask some spirit to come
and take control of your physical system. . . . One great
hindrance to mediumship, with those who sit, is the fear of
being made to say or do something they may be ashamed of
... If you sit for spirits to control you, let them do it the
best way they can, and not interfere too much. ... If you
wish to know whether you are a medium for a partial -or full
form materialization, sit with a few intimate friends, place
a number of articles on the tab.le before sitting around it,
and make the room perfectly dark during the first few sit-
tings. There may be a guitar or violin on the table, a small
tea bell, a glass partially filled with water, and one contain-
ing a teaspoon. Sit with hands joined a part of the time,
and engage in light, but not frivolous or excitable, conversa-
tion, and in singing some well known song, in which the
majority or all should join. About one hour is long enough
to sit, unless the manifestations commence. Do not expect
too much at first. Let the same company sit, and in the same
room at regular intervals once or twice a week, for not less
than eight or ten weeks. Let no others join, unless known
to be in perfect sympathy and very mediumistic. The proba-
bilities are, judging from my past experience, that five out
of ten of such circles will get manifestations within a month."
— Spiritual Gifts and Spiritual Manifestations, pp. 95, 96.

242 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

TESTIMONY AS TO THEIR METHOD OF WORKING WONDERS FROM
VARIOUS SPIRITUALISTIC SOURCES.

Mrs. Cora Hatch, lecturing in Boston, Massachusetts, while
in a trance state, was asked to explain why it was necessary
to have the room darkened when those wonderful phenomena
are performed. She replied that "the spirit said": "The
action of light agitates, dissipates, or in some way so dis-
turbs the fluid, gas, magnetism, or whatever the instrumen-
tality be called, which is employed by spirits in acting upon
grosser matter, that they are unable to control and employ it."
— The Spiritualist, of August 15, 1857. Quoted from Spirit-
ualism Unveiled, p. 14.

"There is a distinction between mesmerism and spiritual-
ism." The following answers the question: "Mesmerism is
something which a man does while he has his clothes on;
spiritualism is a similar act of his after his clothes have been
put off. Suppose I magnetize you to-day; and that I, the
mesmerizer, speak, write, act, through you, you being uncon-
scious— this is mesmerism. Suppose, further, that I die to-
night, and that to-morrow, I, a spirit, come and magnetize
you, and then speak, write, act, through you — this is spir-
itualism."— Spiritual Age, April 3, 1858. — Ibid., p. 15.

In the Banner of Light, July 30, 1857, we find the follow-
ing: "The correctness of communications from spirits,
through trance mediums, depends upon the more or less per-
fect mesmeric control the spirit has over the medium or sub-
ject."—Ibid.

Again, in August 22, 1863, we read the following account of
questions put to a spirit and the answers returned:

"Q. How do we* understand that spirits control an or-
ganism?

"A. We have just informed you that they do so by means
of the magnetic aura, or animal magnetism.

"Q. Do spirits concentrate their power upon the brain and
nerves?

"A. Sometimes on the nervous system. In cases of me-
chanical writing, power is concentrated upon the ganglion of

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 243

the arm, ancT is not at all connected with the brain. In cases
of entire physical control, then it pervades the entire physical
body."— Ibid., p. 16.

"At a spiritualist circle held at the office of the Banner of
Light, in Boston, May 2, 1864, the communicating spirit was
asked, 'What is the modus operandi of controlling a medium?'
The spirit answered: 'As a free intelligence, or spirit, who
by nature has no right to the medium's body, my first step
is to come and hold communion with the spirit who owns the
body. The result of that communion is not transmitted to
the external senses of the medium, but to the internal; there-
fore it is quite as tangible, as real, to the spirit, as it could
be to the external. I ask that spirit, 'Will you yield me up
the control of your mortal form for a short time?' The
answer is generally 'I will.' The spirit is subjected to the
entire control of the predominating spirit. It is, in a word
magnetized by the spirit; held in perfect subjection. And it
seems to sleep; and it does sleep, so far as external life is
concerned." — Ibid.

In the Banner of Light, February 4, 1865, we find the fol-
lowing record of a conversation with a spirit:

"Q. What is the process of introduction of a subject by a
developing medium?

"A. Well, the process is a changing of the magnetic and
electric condition of the subject under a course of treatment.
For instance, there may be a superabundance of magnetism.
The developing spirit endeavors to equalize the forces, or to
bring about an electrical and magnetic condition that shall be
adapted to the return of the disembodied spirits, and the
making of various manifestations.

"Q. Are these changes effected by the brain?

"A. No; the nervous system is generally affected, then the
system entire — not simply the center, but the system entire.

"Q. Has the spirit any other way of manifesting itself ex-
cept through the brain or nervous instruments?.

"A. Yes.

"Q. Where a spirit controls the hand of a medium to write,
is the impression always made through the brain?

244 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

"A. Sometimes the control is what is termed mechanical
control; then the connection between arm and brain is entirely
severed, and yet the manifestation is made through what is
called the nervous fluids, a certain portion of which is retained
in the arm for the purpose of action. But when the mani-
festation is what is called an impressional manifestation, then
the brain and entire nervous system is used." — Ibid., p. 17.

Mr. A. E. Newton, a noted spiritualist, and formerly editor
of the Spiritual Age, has this to say: "First. It is alleged
to be possible and common for spirits of a certain class to
assume the appearance and characteristics of other spirits, or
of other persons still in the body, so completely that the
disguise can not be detected by ordinary spirit seers. This
may be so, and hence the common evidences of the identity of
spirits are little to be relied on. Second. When two persons
are closely in sympathetic or magnetic rapport with each
other, the images that are in one mind may be perceived as
objective realities by the other. This seems to be the case
with the magnetizer and his subject, in the once common
phenomenon of mesmerism. The operator forms an image, as
of a person, a serpent, a fire, or any other object, in his own
mind, when the subject, if well under control, instantly sees
the same thing as an objective reality. So, positive minds in
a circle, or positive spirits who are around, may present the
image of any person with whom they are familiar, and it
may appear as a reality to the impressible medium." — Ibid.,
pp. 22, 23.

Andrew Jackson Davis, formerly editor of the Herald of
Progress, October 27, 1860, has this to say: "It is known
that a wise and strong-minded person in the spirit world has
the power to make visible to the eyes of mortals the exact
appearance or semblance of the body it wore before death.
This representation is elaborated sometimes to the minutest
particular, even to the reproduction of the appearance of the
habiliments, etc., by which the person was characterized and
identified while a resident of the earth." — Ibid., p. 24.

Again he says in the Herald of Progress, February 1, 1862:
"All intelligent spirits are great artists. They can vsycholo-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 245

gize- a medium to see them, and to describe them in the style
which would produce the deepest impression on the receiver.
. . . They can easily represent themselves as being old or
young, as in worldly dress or flowing robes, as is deemed best
suited to accomplish the ends of the visitation." — Ibid.

ITS MORAL INFLUENCE.

Their Doctrinal Claims Set Forth.

"The spiritualism of the present day is that which was
preached eighteen centuries ago." "Christianism should then
be synonymous with spiritualism." The doctrines of Christ
are to be reestablished in their purity. This is to be done
by spiritualism,, which embraces all that tends to elevate man,
and will be to the New Testament what that was to the Old
— a light thrown on its obscurities." — Ibid., p. 19.

Again, a spirit which professes to be that of John Adams,
says: "I was happy ... in the religion of Christ which he
taught eighteen hundred years ago — in spiritualism as it is
now called." — Ibid.

Mr. Partridge, editor of the Spiritual Telegraph, speaking
of the permanency of spiritualism, says: "It is likely to
pervade and absorb all denominations of Christians, exert a
moral and reformatory power among the nations, and inaugu-
rate the millennial era." "We feel that our advance will be
irresistible, and our conquests speedy and sure. To spiritual-
ists is committed the gospel of the present age." — Ibid., pp.
29, 30.

In Spiritual Age, of July 4, 1857, we read: "Christianity
and spiritualism stand upon the same foundation. . . . Spir-
itualism has given it (Christianity) a vitality which it had
not possessed before since the time of the apostles." — Ibid.,
p. 30.

"Mrs. Laura McAlpine Cuppy, after her lecture in the
Dodsworth Hall of New York, Sunday evening, November 22,
1863, was asked this question:

" 'In what does the new gospel consist?'

"Answer: The new gospel, as we understand it ... is
the philosophy of spiritualism, so called, and the philosophy of

246 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

spiritualism embraces all the virtues, and strikes at the root
of all evils, social, political, and religious. . . . There is one
thing we know, viz, that we are by nature divine. . . . We
have always asserted that there is not a single argument that
can be brought against spiritualism that is not competent as
an argument against the Christianity of the past — not one.
"Q. I understand the word gospel to mean 'good news.'
"A. It does; and spiritualism is good news — the best that
ever came to earth." — Ibid.

THE OTHER SIDE, BY THOSE WHO KNOW.

Dr. B. F. Hatch, formerly husband of Mrs. Cora V. Hatch,
the noted trance speaking medium, says: "The extensive
opportunity which I have had, and that too among the first
class of spiritualists, of learning its nature and results, I
think will enable me to lay just claims to being a competent
witness in the matter.

"I am aware that what I have to say will offend many who
are less acquainted with the whole phenomena than myself,
and such as may feel themselves involved, and will please
others; but it is for neither purpose, that I write, but that
the inexperienced may more fully comprehend the dangers
attending it. I am frequently asked if I still believe in the
phenomena of spiritualism. I answer, Yes. I should deem
it more than a waste of time to write about what does not
exist. . . . But through it all, I believe that there is a
powerful influx of an infernal error into nearly all medium-
istic minds which greatly corrupts the moral sensibility and
proves almost universally most disastrous to its victims.

"I have heard much of the improvement in individuals in
consequence of a belief in spiritualism. With such I have
had no acquaintance. But I have known many whose integ-
rity of character and uprightness of purpose rendered them
worthy examples to all around, but who, on becoming mediums
and giving up their individuality, also gave up every sense of
honor and decency. A degree of severity in this remark will
apply to a large class of both mediums and believers. There
are thousands of high-minded and intelligent spiritualists who
will agree with me that it is no slander in saying that the

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 247

inculcation of no doctrines in this country has ever shown
such disastrous moral and social results as the spiritual theo-
ries. . . . Iniquities which have justly received the condemna-
tion of centuries are openly upheld; vices which would destroy
every wholesome regulation of society are crowned as virtues;
prostitution is believed to be fidelity to self; marriage an out-
rage on freedom; love evanescent, and like the bee, should
sip the sweets wherever found; bastards are claimed to be
spiritually begotten. All change, of whatever nature, is be-
lieved to be an improvement, as there is no retrogression.
Iniquity is only the effervescence of the outworkings of a
heavenly destiny. God is shorn of his personality and be-
comes simply a permeating principle; the Bible a libel on
common sense and Christ a mere medium, hardly equal to the
spiritual babies of 'this more progressive age.'

"With such doctrines before us, what have we to hope?
That they are rapidly increasing, no one can deny. The end
is not yet.

"The most damning iniquities are everywhere perpetrated
in spiritual circles, a very small percentage of which ever
comes to public attention. I care not whether it be spiritual
or mundane, the facts exist, and should demand the attention
and just condemnation of an intelligent community. Look at
the iniquities which have been committed within the past two
weeks in this city, and that, too, by spiritual mediums who
claim to be controlled by angels. It is worse than useless to
talk to the spiritualists against this condition of things, for
those who occupy the highest position among them, are aiding
and abetting in all classes of iniquities which prevail amongst
them. The abrogation of marriage, bigamy, accompanied by
robbery, theft, rapes, are all chargeable to spiritualism. I
most solemnly affirm that I do not believe that there has,
during the past five hundred years, arisen any class of peo-
ple who were guilty of so great a variety of crimes and in-
decencies as the spiritualists of America.

"For a long time I was swallowed up in its whirlpool of
excitement, and comparatively paid but little attention to its
evils, believing that much good might result from the open-

248 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

ings of the avenues of spiritual intercourse. But during
the past eight months I have devoted my attention to a
critical investigation of its moral, social, and religious bear-
ing, and I stand appalled before the revelations of its awful
and damning realities, and would flee from its influence as I
would from the miasma which would destroy both soul and
body. Spiritualism and prostitution with a rejection of Chris-
tianity, are twin sisters, which everywhere go hand in hand.
With but little inquiry, I have been able to count up over
seventy mediums, most of whom have wholly abandoned their
conjugal relations, others living with their paramours called
'affinities,' others in promiscuous adultery, and still others
exchanged partners. Old men and women, who have passed
the meridian of life, are not unfrequently the victims of this
hallucination. Many of the mediums lose all sense of moral
obligations, and yield to whatever influence may for the time
be brought to bear upon them. Their pledges, the integrity
of their oaths, are no more reliable than the shifting breezes
of the whirlwind, for they are made to yield to the powers
which for the time control them." — Ibid., pp. 31-33.

Dr. F. L. Nichols, a distinguished spiritualist, speaking of
the mission of spiritualism, says: "Spiritualism meets, neu-
tralizes, and destroys Christianity. A spiritualist is no longer
a Christian in any popular sense of the term. Advanced
spirits do not teach . . . the atonement of Christ — nothing
of the kind." — Nichols' Monthly Magazine of Social Science
and Progressive Literature, November, 1854, p. 66. — Ibid.,
p. 33.

Dr. P. B. Randolph, a noted lecturer on spiritualism, who
says he has been in a trance state about two thousand five
hundred times, says: "Spiritualism is all eye and head, no
soul and heart; all intellect, no emotions; all philosophy, no
religion; all spirit, no God! And even the social reformatory
movement has dwindled down into prostitutional nurseries!

"I enter the arena as the champion of common sense,
against what in my soul I believe to be the most tremendous
enemy of God, morals and religion that ever found foothold on

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 249

the earth — the most seductive, hence most dangerous, form of
sensualism that ever cursed a nation, age or people.

"I was a medium about eight years, during which time I
made three thousand speeches, and traveled over several dif-
ferent countries, proclaiming the new gospel. I now regret
that so much excellent breath was wasted, and that my health
of mind and body was well-nigh ruined. I have only begun
to regain both since I totally abandoned it, and to-day had
rather see the cholera in my house than be a spiritual medium.
. . The anti-Bible, anti-God, anti-Christian spiritualism, I had
perfectly demonstrated to be subversive, unrighteous, destruc-
tive, disorderly, and irreligious; consequently to be shunned
by every true follower of God and holiness.

"For seven years I held daily intercourse with what pur-
ported to be my mother's spirit. I am now firmly persuaded
that it was nothing but an evil spirit and infernal demon, who
in that guise gained my soul's confidence and led me to the
very brink of ruin. . . . Five of my friends destroyed them-
selves, and I attempted it by direct spiritual influences. Every
crime in the calendar has been committed by mortals moved by
viewless beings! Adultery, fornications, suicides, desertions,
unjust divorces, prostitution, abortion, insanity, are not evil,
I suppose! I charge all these to this scientific spiritualism.
... It has banished peace from happy families, separated
husbands and wives, and shattered the intellect of thousands."
— New York Tribune, November 21, 1858. — Ibid., pp. 34, 35.

Again he speaks, as found in the Banner of Light, a leading
spiritualist paper: "I have a volume of sixty closely written
pages, of names of those who have been drawn down from
respectability, morality, wealth and intelligence, to the filth of
free love, poverty, and to insanity itself.

"Spiritualism is a synonym of all falsities and lies; a cloak
for all kinds of crimes — adultery, murder and lust; it weakens
man's intellect and individuality; changes his worship of God
to a worship of ghosts." — Ibid., p. 36.

Mr. Joel Tiifany, a man who has been a champion in spir-
itualism, says: "After all of our investigations for seven or
eight years, we must say, that we have as much evidence, that

250 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

they are lying spirits as we have that they are any spirits at
all. . . . The doctrines they teach . . . are mostly contradictory
and absurd." — Ibid.

Mr. T. L. Harris, a Swedenborgian minister, who became a
spiritualist, and lectured in Europe, said, as reported in the
London Advertiser: "The marriage vow imposes no obliga-
tions in the views of spiritualists. Husbands who had for
years been so devotedly attached to their wives that they have
said nothing in the world but death itself could part them,
have abandoned their wives, and formed criminal connections
with other females, because the spirits have told them that
there was a greater spiritualist affinity between these hus-
bands and certain other women, than between them and their
lawful wives. Wives, too, the most devoted and loving, and
true to their husbands, that had ever contracted the marriage
obligation, had left their husbands and children, and lived in
open immorality with other men, because the spirits had told
them that they ought to do so, on the ground of there being
a greater spiritualist sympathy between them and these men
than between them and their husbands." — Ibid., pp. 36, 37.

Mr. J. F. Whitney, editor of the New York Pathfinder, says :
"Now, after a long and constant watchfulness, seeing for
months and years its progress and its practical workings upon
its devotees, its believers and its mediums, we are compelled
to speak our honest conviction, which is, that the manifesta-
tion coming through the acknowledged mediums, who are
designated as rapping, tipping, writing, and entranced medi-
ums, have a baneful influence upon believers, and create dis-
cord and confusion; that the generality of these teachings
inculcate false ideas, approve of selfish, individual acts, when
carried out, debase and make them little better than the brute."

Again he says: "Seeing as we have the gradual progress
it makes with its believers, particularly its mediums, from
lives of morality to those of sensuality and immorality, gradu-
ally and cautiously undermining the foundations of good prin-
ciples, we look back with amazement to the radical change
which a few months will bring about in individuals."

Again: "We desire to send forth our warning voice; and

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 251

if our humble position as the head of a public journal, our
known advocacy of spiritualism, our experience, and the con-
spicuous part we have played among its believers; the honesty
and the fearlessness with which we have defended the subject,
will weigh anything in our favor, we desire that our opinions
may be received, and those who are moving passively down
the rushing rapids to destruction, should pause, ere it be too
late, and save themselves from the blasting influence which
those manifestations are causing." — Ibid., pp. 38, 39.

"FORBIDDING TO MARRY."

"At the Reform Spiritualist Convention, held at Rutland,
Vermont, June, 1858, the following resolution was presented
and defended: 'Resolved, That the only true and natural
marriage is an exclusive conjugal love between one man and
one woman; and the only true home is the isolated home based
upon this exclusive love.' "

Mrs. Julia Branch, of New York, speaking upon said reso-
lution, said: "I am aware that I have chosen almost a for-
bidden subject; forbidden from the fact that anyone who can
or dare look the marriage question in the face, candidly and
openly denouncing the institution as the sole cause of woman's
degradation and misery, are objects of suspicion, of scorn, and
opprobrious epithets."

Again she said: "She must demand her freedom; her
right to receive the equal wages of man in payment for her
labor; her right to have children when she will, and by whom."
—Ibid., pp. 39-41.

Mrs. Lewis said at the Spiritual Convention at Ravenna,
Ohio, July 4, 1857: "To confine her to love one man was an
abridgment of her rights. . . . Although she had one husband
in Cleveland, she considered herself married to the whole hu-
man race (males). All men were her husbands, and she had
an undying love for them. What business is it to the world
whether one man is the father of my children, or ten men are!
I have a right to say who shall be the father of my offspring."
—Ibid., p. 43.

William B. Potter says: "We have through our own medi-

252 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

umship and that of others, had 'spirit manifestations/ which
the most careful and rigidly scientific investigations have
shown, beyond all doubt or possibility of mistake, to be of
spirit origin. Fifteen years of critical study of spiritual litera-
ture, an extensive acquaintance with the leading spiritualists,
and a patient, systematic, and thorough investigation of the
manifestations, for many years, enable us to speak from actual
knowledge, definitely and positively of spiritualism as it is.
Spiritual literature is full of the most insidious and seductive
doctrines calculated to undermine the very foundations of
morality and virtue, and lead to the most unbridled licentious-
ness. . . . Hundreds of families have been broken up, and many
affectionate wives deserted by 'affinity-seeking' husbands.
Many once devoted wives have been seduced, and left their
husbands and tender, helpless children, to follow some 'higher
attraction.' " — Ibid., pp. 44, 45.

THE SPIRITS' CREED.
THE BIBLE IS NOT A RELIABLE BOOK.

In the testimony of a spirit given in the Banner of Light,
November 23, 1861, it is said: "Many times before we have
said that we can not place implicit confidence in that which
we find between the lids of the Bible."

A spirit, claiming to be Rev. John Moore, says: "My friend
asks, 'Do you believe the Bible?' I answer, No, I do not. I
can not believe one word of it as the word of God." — Ibid.,
p. 50.

THERE IS NO SIN.

"We say, as we have said a thousand times before, there
is no such thing as sin; no such thing as evil. . . . Now, then,
if there is sin anywhere, God made that sin — he is the author
of it." "The foundation of your religion is fast fading away.
Soon we shall find you shaking hands with these new things.
This must be s;o. . . . Jesus of Nazareth, if he were here to-day,
would tell you as we tell you." "Spiritually and divinely
considered, there is no sin. Full well we know the book you
call the Bible teaches of sin. Full well we know the whole

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 253

Christian world recognizes such a condition; but, to us, there
is no sin." "Everything that ever has been or ever will be
is an immutable decree of God. ... It is vain for man to talk
about disobeying the law of God; he can at no time disobey
it. ... Every grain of sand you tread upon to-day shall in
time become an immortal soul, endowed with wisdom. . . . You
may curse the Author of your being. Do you sin? No; you
are but casting off the gross in your nature — obeying your
God. . . . We believe our God to be the author of sin, as of
good. If we give him his due, we give him this." — Ibid., pp.
50, 51.

THERE IS NO DEVIL.

"There is no devil either. . . . Seems to me as though man
must be devoid of good sense to believe anything of the kind."
—Ibid., p. 52.

CHRIST IS NOT RAISED.

"But the question arises, What became of the body of Jesus?
We answer, the friends of Jesus stole away the body. ... So
then we will say the natural body of Jesus Christ was never
reanimated after the crucifixion. All nature, our God (self)
tells us so."— Ibid.

MAN IS HIS OWN JUDGE.

"Within the bosom of every man and woman there is a
judgment seat, a throne of God; and before that, and that
alone, should men bow down and worship. By that alone
they are to be guided. He is to be judged by himself as a
spirit; he is to come before no other tribunal. If by the law
of self he is condemned, he must suffer according to the con-
demnation ; if acquitted by self, he is indeed acquitted." — Ibid.

NO RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

"We presume our good brothers will ask if Jesus did not
raise the dead? He never did, and never could." "The grave
is the resting place of the form we no more require." — Ibid.,
p. 53.

254 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

MAN IS HIS OWN SAVIOR.

"The only true religion is a natural religion. . . . You are
your own Saviors." "In answer to the question, 'Did not
Christ die, that through his death we might inherit eternal
life?' a spirit answers, 'No I.Christ did not die, that through
his death we might live. . . . His death has no more to do with
the remission of sins than the death of any of your martyrs.' "
"No man should rely upon any Savior outside of himself. . . .
Each and everyone is a savior, as he is a judge, a god."

MAN IS GOD.

"God is man, and man is God. . . . Tell us of God, . . . they
might as well say, Tell us of ourselves." "The being: called
God exists, organically, in the form of the being called man."
—Educator, p. 303.— Ibid., p. 57.

Another spirit says: "When man became a living soul,
he became a god." "Look within yourself, and behold yourself
a god, responsible for every act. Read the inscriptions there,
and thou shalt learn that thou art a god in thyself, and thine
own judge."

THERE IS NO GOD.

"There is no God anywhere to forgive sin." — Ibid.

"The idea of a God of illimitable capacity is so incompre-
hensible, that, in our judgment, it borders on the absurd. God,
in the abstract, is a nonentity, an ideality of man's brains."
— Spiritual Telegraph, January 24, 1857. — Ibid., p. 58.

Another spirit says: "We must regard him (God) as a
central principle, but not as a being. ... A principle existing
in matter, in all conditions, and in all relations, a part of
everything." "The divine is of necessity, ... a vast ocean of
magnetism." — Educator, p. 526; — Ibid.

Dr. R. T. Hallock said: "Now we may cheerfully sympa-
thize with his mirthful explosion of the popular divinity; no
merciful man will object even to his expunging from his

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 255

vocabulary the three hateful little letters (G-o-d) which ex-
press it." — Spiritual Telegraph. — Ibid., p. 59.

Dr. William B. Potter, in his work, Spiritualism as It Is,
says: "The teachings and theories given through the different
manifestations, are as various as it is possible to conceive.
Indeed, few of the most devoted 'seekers after truth under
difficulties' are aware of the endless contradictions and ab-
surdities that are mixed up with the most exalted truths and
the* most profound philosophies. We have room for only a
tithe of them, for we have not yet found the first question
or subject about which they do not contradict each other."
—Ibid., p. 62.

LATTER DAY APOSTASY.

As foretold by prophets, apostles, and Joseph Smith, the
Seer:

"Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh
flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord:
for he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see
when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in
the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited." — Jeremiah
17: 5, 6. (I emphasize two words salt land to attract your
attention.)

"But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of
uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are
they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities:
having eyes full of adultery, and that can not cease from sin."
— 2 Peter 2: 10, 14. (This was made apparent in the late
investigation before the senatorial committee.)

"But there were false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily
shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that
bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of
whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." — 2 Peter 2:
1,2.

"Notwithstanding her children are scattered, they that

256 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

remain and are pure in heart shall return and come to their
inheritances." — Doctrine and Covenants 98: 4.

"And ye shall be scourged from city to city, and from
synagogue to synagogue, and but few shall stand to receive
an inheritance." — Doctrine and Covenants 63 : 8.

"I have decreed that your brethren, which have been scat-
tered, shall return to the land of their inheritances and build
up the waste places of Zion ; for after much tribulation, » . .
their restoration to the land of Zion, ... ye must needs be
led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched out arm."
— Doctrine and Covenants 100: 3. (These are only a tithe.)

"JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES."

The elders of the Utah church frequently deny statements
from the Journal of Discourses, as not being authentic; and
charging the elders of the Reorganized church with misrep-
resenting facts. The following ought to be of interest to them,
and lead them to a better consideration of those who would
be their friends if they would permit it :

"GREAT SALT LAKE, UTAH TERRITORY, June 1, 1853.

"Elder Samuel W. Richards, and the Saints Abroad. Dear
Brethren: — It is well known to many of you, that Elder
George D. Watt, by our counsel, spent much time in the
midst of poverty and hardships to acquire the art of report-
ing, in phonography, which he has faithfully and fully ac-
complished; and he has been reporting the public sermons,
discourses, lectures, delivered by the Presidency, the Twelve,
and others in this city, for nearly two years, almost without
fee or reward. Elder Watt now proposes to publish a journal
of these reports, in England, for the benefit of the Saints
at large, and to obtain means to enable him to sustain his
highly useful position of reporter. You will perceive at once
that this will be a work of mutual benefit, and we cheerfully
and warmly request your cooperation in the purchase and
sale of the above named Journal, and wish all the profits
arising therefrom to be under the control of Elder Watt."

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 257

(Signed by the) "First Presidency of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints.

"BRIGHAM YOUNG.

"HEBER C. KIMBALL.

"WILLARD RICHARDS."

— Journal of Discourses, vol, 1, (introduction of the book.)
Also Millennial Star, vol. 15, pp. 730, 781.

REORGANIZED AT KANESVILLE BY BRIGHAM
YOUNG.

Millennial Star: "Since the murder of Pres. Joseph
Smith, many false prophets and false teachers have arisen,
and tried to deceive many, during which time we have mostly
tarried with the body of the church, or been seeking a new
location, leaving those prophets and teachers to run their
race undisturbed, who have died natural deaths, or committed
suicides; and we now, having it in contemplation soon to
reorganize the church according to the original pattern, with
a First Presidency and Patriarch, feel that it will be the
privilege of the Twelve, ere long, to spread abroad among
the nations, not to hinder the gathering, but to preach the
gospel, and push the people, the honest in heart, together
from the four quarters of the earth." — Epistle of the Twelve,
Winter Quarters, December 23, 1847, vol. 10, p. 86.

Millennial Star: "At this conference we suggested to the
brethren the propriety of organizing the church with a First
Presidency and a Patriarch, as hinted at in our General
Epistle, and the expediency of such a move at this time was
so clearly seen by the brethren, that they hailed it as an action
which the state of the work at present demanded, and as a
means to liberate the hands of the quorum of the Twelve,
who now feel at liberty to go abroad and herald the truth
to the ends of the earth and build up the kingdom in all the
world. Accordingly Brigham Young was nominated to be
the First President of the church, and he nominated Heber C.
Kimball and Willard Richards to be his counselors, which
nominations were seconded and carried without a dissenting
voice." — Winter Quarters, Jan. 23, 1848, vol. 10, pp. 114, 115.

258 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

WHO ORDAINED BRIGHAM?

Brigham Young said: "Who ordained me to be First
President of this church on earth? I answer, it is the choice
of this people, and that is sufficient." — Journal of Discourses,
vol. 6, p. 320.

F. D. Richards said: "In the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints, no one has ever been ordained to be presi-
dent of the church. In the beginning the Lord sent Peter,
James and John, and they ordained Joseph Smith an apostle
and he was instructed how to organize and build up the
church in this dispensation.

"When the Prophet and Apostle Joseph Smith was taken
from us, Brigham Young, being president of the Twelve
Apostles it devolved upon him to preside over the church, as
the apostle is the highest office known in the church of Christ.
So also, when the Prophet and Apostle Brigham Young died,
John Taylor, being president of the Twelve Apostles, it de-
volved upon him. In the same manner, when he departed,
Wilford Woodruff, being president of the Twelve Apostles, the
Presidency devolved upon him. Neither Joseph Smith, Brig-
ham Young, John Taylor, nor Wilford Woodruff were ordained
presidents of the church. It is not according to the order
of the church to ordain presidents of the church, for there
is no such order of the priesthood known in the church. "-
True Succession in Church Presidency, p. 154.

Brigham Young said: "No man need judge me. You know
nothing about it, whether I am sent or not; furthermore, it
is none of your business, only to listen with open ears to what
is taught you, and serve God with an undivided heart. "-
Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 341-

History of Utah by Whitney, vol. 1, pages 348, 349: "On
the 6th of August the President and the apostles who were
with him, namely: Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Willard
Richards, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith and Amasa M.
Lyman, 'renewed their covenants' by baptism, President
Young, entering the water — City Creek — immersed each of the
others according to the usual mode, after which he laid

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 259

hands upon and confirmed them, resealing upon each his
apostleship. Heber C. Kimball — next to Brigham Young the
senior of the Twelve — then baptized and confirmed the Presi-
dent in like manner."

FIRST PUBLIC INTRODUCTION OF POLYGAMY
WAS MADE IN SALT LAKE CITY.

At a conference in Salt Lake City, August 29, 1852, Orson
Pratt said : "It is quite unexpected to me brethren and sisters
to be called upon to address you this forenoon ; and still more
so, to address you upon the principle which has been named,
namely, a plurality of wives. It is rather new ground for
me; that is, I have not been in the habit of publicly speaking
upon this subject; and it is rather new ground to the inhabi-
tants of the United States, and not only to them, but to a
portion of the inhabitants of Europe; a portion of them have
not been in the habit of preaching a doctrine of this descrip-
tion; consequently we shall have to break up new ground.
It is well known, however, to the congregation before me, that
the Latter Day Saints have embraced the doctrine of a plural-
ity of wives, as a part of their religious faith. It is not, as
many have supposed, a doctrine embraced by them to gratify
the carnal lusts and feelings of man; that is not the object of
the doctrine. We shall endeavor to set forth before this
enlightened assembly some of the causes why the Almighty-
has revealed such a doctrine, and why it is considered a part
and portion of our religious faith. And I believe that they
will not, under our present form of Government, (I mean the
Government of the United States) try us for treason for
believing and practicing our religious notions and ideas. I
think, if I am not mistaken, that the Constitution gives the
privilege to all the inhabitants of this country, of the free
exercise of their religious notions, and the freedom of their
faith, and the practice of it. Then, if it can be proven to a
demonstration, that the Latter Day Saints have actually em-
braced, as a part and portion of their religion, the doctrine
of a plurality of wives, it is constitutional. And should there
ever be laws enacted by this Government to restrict them

260 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

from the free exercise of this part of their religion, such
laws must be unconstitutional." — Journal of Discourses, vol.
1, pp. 53, 54.

Brigham Young said the same day, "You heard Brother
Pratt state, this morning, that a revelation would be read
this afternoon, which was given previous to Joseph's death.
It contains a doctrine, a small portion of the world is opposed
to; but I can deliver a prophecy upon it. Though that doctrine
has not been practiced by the elders, this people have believed
in it for years. . . . The principle spoken upon by Brother
Pratt, this morning, we believe in. And I tell you — for I
know it, it will sail over, and ride triumphantly above all the
prejudice and priestcraft of the day; it will be fostered and
believed in by the more intelligent portions of the world, as
one of the best doctrines every proclaimed to any people. Your
hearts need not beat; you need not think that a mob is coming
here to tread upon the sacred liberty which the constitution
of our country guarantees unto us, for it will not be. . . . This
revelation has been in my possession many years, and who
has known it? None but those who should know it. I keep
a patent lock on my desk, and there does not anything leak
out that should not." — Supplement to vol. 15 of Millennial
Star, p. 31.

"The elders of Israel frequently called upon me — 'Brother
Brigham, a word in private, if you please.' Bless me, this is
no secret to me, I know what you want, it is to get a wife!
'Yes, Brother Brigham, if you are willing.' I tell you here
now, in the presence of the almighty God, it is not the privi:
lege of any elder to have even ONE wife, before he has honored
his priesthood, before he has magnified his calling. If you
obtain one, it is by mere permission, to see what you will do,
how you will act, whether you will conduct yourself in right-
eousness in that holy estate. TAKE CARE ! Elders of Israel be
cautious, or you will lose you-r wives and your children. "-
Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 119.

"Think not, O ye elders of Israel! that your eternal heir-
ship is won, and immutably secured, because you have at-
tained to a portion of the holy priesthood, and a few of its

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 261

initiating: ordinances, while as yet your life and the security
of all your great and glorious blessings in hope and prospect,
are as a vapor before the sun; as yet depending wholly on
your meekness, faithfulness, and perseverance to the end, in
everything good. Think not that you are legally entitled to
even one wife, while yo'u live on this earth, unless you are
sealed up to everlasting lives, by the will and decree of the
eternal Father, and a knowledge of the fact has been com-
municated to you, through the proper source, and not direct
to you, in person. And consider that the blessings you have
hitherto received, through the mercies of him who loveth you,
even your Father in heaven, will all be wrested from you, like
Davitfs of old, should you err like him. To the sisters in
Israel, we say, be patient. If your husband has died in the
faith, and you wish to be sealed to him for eternity, you
must come to Zion to receive that sealing ordinance. And if
a high priest or an elder, should tell you that you can not
be saved if you are not sealed to him, either as proxy for
time, or for eternity to the exclusion of your dead, thrust him
from your presence, as Lucifer was thrust from heaven, for
that high priest or elder, will be damned (unless he speedily
repent) , as sure as Lucifer was, and he can neither save you,
nor you him. But come to Zion, be patient till you can get
here, and the temple is completed, and your oldest son, by
the husband to whom you wish to be sealed, may stand as his
father's legal representative by your side, and by him you
may be sealed to your dead husband ; for it is the legal right,
in God's kingdom, for the oldest son to minister, and obtain
blessings for his father, and act for his father when he is
gone into the eternal world." — Ninth General Epistle of the
Presidency, Salt Lake City, April 13, 1853; Millennial Star,
vol. 15, p. 440.

Mrs. Emily D. P. Young, of lawful age, being produced,
sworn, and examined, testified- as follows: "I was born in
1824; was baptized into the church when I was eight years
old, in Independence, Missouri. . . . My father's name was
Edward Partridge. I was married to Brigham Young in
November, I think, 1844. ... At the time I married Brigham

262 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Young, in November, 1844, I was at the same time sealed to
Joseph Smith, sealed to him for eternity; I was sealed to
Brigham Young for time, and to Joseph Smith for eternity.
The manner that I was married to Brigham Young is known
as marriage by proxy." — Plaintiff's Abstract, pp. 363, 364.

One of the text-books of the faith of the Mormon church
is a book known as a Compendium of the Doctrines of the
Gospel, compiled by Franklin D. Richards, one of the Twelve
Apostles of the Mormon church, and by Elder James A. Little,
and now issued by the Deseret News Publishing Company,
the official publishing house of the Mormon church. In the
latest edition of this Compendium, which bears the date of
1898, on page 125, there occurs this startling statement, which
can not be read by any Christian or loyal American without
feeling his blood boil: "If plural marriage be unlawful, then
is the whole plan of salvation, through the house of Israel, a
failure, and the entire fabric of Christianity without founda-
tion." (Quoted from Saints' Herald, May 9, 1906, p. 434.)

TOWERING PHILOSOPHY.

"I prefer to remark upon subjects as they present them-
selves to my mind; though I might prepare a course of lec-
tures, and confine myself to given subjects, as I have often
done; but when I am in this stand I hoist the gate and let
the flood run, not caring which way it goes, or how. . . .
Come on with your knives, your swords, and fagots of fire,
and destroy the whole of us, rather than we will forsake our
religion. Whether it is true or false is none of your business;
whether the doctrine of plurality of wives is true or false is
none of your business." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 187,
February 18, 1855, Brigham Young.

THE COMFORT OF POLYGAMY.

Brigham Young said, September 21, 1856: "Men will say,
'My wife, though an excellent woman, has not seen a happy
day since I took my second wife.' 'No, not a happy day for a
year,' says one; and another has not seen a happy day for
five years. ... I -am going to give you from this time to the

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 263

6th of October next for reflection, that you may determine
whether you wish to stay with your husbands or not, and
then I am going to set every woman at liberty, and say to
them, now go your way. And my wives have got to do one
of two things; either round up their shoulders to endure the
afflictions of this world and live their religion, or they may
leave, for I will not have them about me. I will go into
heaven alone, rather than have them scratching and fighting
around me. . . . Prepare yourselves for two weeks from to-
morrow; and I will tell you now, that if you tarry with your
husbands after I have set you free, you must bow down to it,
and submit yourselves to the celestial law. You may go
where you please after two weeks from to-morrow, but re-
member that I will not hear any more of this whining. "-
Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, pp* 55-57.

Brigham Young said: "The teasers who come all the
time after women, and soon get tired of them and want to
divorce them, I make pay ten dollars for each divorce, and
that is my individual bank." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 8,
p. 202.

JESUS A POLYGAMIST.

Orson Hyde said : "It will be borne in mind that once on a
time, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and on a
careful reading of that transaction, it will be discovered
that no less a person than Jesus Christ was married on that
occasion. If he was never married, his intimacy with Mary
and Martha, and the other Mary also whom Jesus loved, must
have been highly unbecoming and improper to say the best
of it." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 259.

Brigham Young said: "Now hear it, oh inhabitants of the
earth, Jew and Gentile, saint and sinner! When our father
Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it a celestial
body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped
to make and organize this world. . . . He is our father and
our God, and the only God with whom we have to do." — Journal
of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 50.

Brigham Young said: "Now recollect that two weeks

264 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

from to-morrow I am going to set you at liberty. But the
first (wife) will say, 'It is hard for I have lived with my
husband twenty years, and have raised a family of children
for him, and it is a great trial for me, for him to have more
women'; then I say it is time that you gave him up to other
women who will bear children. If my wife had borne all the
children that she ever would bear; the celestial law would
teach me to take young women that would have children." —
Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, P- 56.

Joseph F. Smith said, July 7, 1878: "Some people have
supposed that the doctrine of plural marriage was a sort
of superfluity, or nonessential to the salvation or exaltation
of mankind. In other words, some of the Saints have said,
and believe, that a man with one wife, sealed to him by the
authority of the priesthood for time and eternity, will re-
ceive an exaltation as great and glorious, if he is faithful, as
he possibly could with more than one. I want here to enter
my solemn protest against this idea, for I know it is false.
There is no blessing promised except upon conditions, and no
blessing can be obtained by mankind except by faithful com-
pliance with the conditions, or law, upon which the same is
promised. The marriage of one woman to a man for time
and eternity by the sealing power, according to the law of
God, is a fulfillment of the celestial law of marriage in part
and is good so far as it goes, and so far as a man abides
these conditions of the law, he will receive his reward there-
for, and this reward, or blessing, he could not obtain on any
other grounds or conditions. But this is only the beginning
of the law, not the whole of it. Therefore, whoever has
imagined that he could obtain the fullness of the blessings
pertaining to this celestial law, by complying with only a
portion of its conditions, has deceived himself. He can not
do it. ... If, then, this principle was of such great importance
that the Prophet himself was threatened with destruction, and
the best men in the church with being excluded from the favor
of the Almighty, if they did not enter into and establish the
practice of it upon the earth, it is useless to tell me that there

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 265

is no blessing attached to obedience to the law, or that a man
with only one wife can obtain as great a reward, glory or
kingdom as he can with more than one, being equally faithful.

"It is a glorious privilege to be permitted to go into a
temple of God to be united as man and wife in the bonds of
holy wedlock for time and all eternity by the authority of the
holy priesthood, which is the power of God, for they who are
thus joined together 'no man can put asunder/ for God hath
joined them. It is an additional privilege for that same man
and wife to reenter the temple of God to receive another wife
in like manner if they are worthy. But if he remain faithful
with only the one wife, observing the conditions of so much
of the law, as pertains to the eternity of the marriage cove-
nant, he will receive his reward, but the benefits, blessings,
and power appertaining to the second or more faithful and
fuller observance of the law, he never will receive, for he
can not. As before stated no man can obtain the benefits of
one law by the observance of another. . . .

"I understand the law of celestial marriage to mean that
every man in this church, who has the ability to obey and
practice it in righteousness and will not shall be damned. I
say I understand it to mean this and nothing less, and I
testify in the name of Jesus that it does mean that. 'But
what will become of him that can not abide it?' Says the
Lord, 'Whoso having knowledge have I not commanded to
repent, and he that hath not understanding it remains with
me to do according as it is written.' In other words he that
is without understanding is not under the law, and it remains
for God to deal with him according to his own wisdom. If a
man acknowledges that he is incapable, or disqualified by a
lack of knowledge, wisdom, or understanding to obey this
law, then it remains with God to deal with him according
to those principles of justice which are written or are yet to
be revealed. It is not likely, however, that he will take his
seat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or share in their prom-
ised blessings." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 20, pp. 28-31.

266 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

POLYGAMY NOT A TENET OF THE CHURCH.

Brigham Young said June 21, 1874: "While we were in
England (in 1839 and 1840,) I think, the Lord manifested to
me by vision and his Spirit things that I did not then under-
stand. I never opened my mouth to anyone concerning them
until I returned to Nauvoo. Joseph had never mentioned this
— polygamy. There had never been a thought of it in the
church that I ever knew anything about at the time; but I
had this for myself and I kept it to myself." — Messenger, vol.
1, p. 29; also Deseret News, July 1, 1874.

Elder H. A. Stebbins says: "In this city — Salt Lake — in
1865, Brigham Young told Vice-president Colfax, Governor
Bross and Editor Bowles, of the Springfield (Massachusetts)
Republican, that polygamy was not a doctrine of the church
originally, but that it was afterwards added." — Notes from
California, No. 13, Zion's Ensign, September 10, 1892.

Brigham Young said: "This revelation (on celestial mar-
riage or polygamy) has been in my possession many years;
and who has known it? I keep a patent lock on my desk, and
there does not anything leak out that should not." — Tullidge
and Crandel, p. 566.

Joseph Smith the Prophet said: "Dr. J. C. Bennett's 'se-
cret wife system' is a matter of his own manufacture; and
further to disabuse the public ear, and show that the said
Bennett and his misanthropic friend Origen Bachelor, are
perpetrating a foul and infamous slander upon an innocent
people, and need but be known to be hated and despised. "-
Times and Seasons, vol. 3, p. 939, October 1, 1842.

February, 1844 : "As we have lately been credibly informed
that . . . Hyrum Brown has been preaching polygamy and
other false and corrupt doctrines, in the County of Lapeer,
State of Michigan: This is to notify him and the church in
general, that he has been cut off from the church, for his
iniquity." "(Signed)

"JOSEPH SMITH.
"HYRUM SMITH."
—Ibid., vol. 5, p. 423.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 267

"W.e the undersigned members of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints and residents of the city of
Nauvoo, persons of families do hereby certify and declare that
we know of no other rule or system of marriage than the one
published from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and we
give this certificate to show that Dr. J. C. Bennett's 'secret
wife system' is a creature of his own make, as we know of
no such society in this place, nor never did.

"(Signed)

"S. Bennett, George Miller, Alpheus Cutler, Reynolds Ca-
hoon, Wilson Law, Wilford Woodruff, N. K. Whitney, Albert
Petty, Elias Higbee, John Taylor, E. Robinson, Aaron John-
son."

"We the undersigned members of the Ladies' Relief Society,
and married females do certify and declare that we know of
no system of marriage being practiced in the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints save the one contained in
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and we give this certifi-
cate to the public to show that J. C. Bennett's secret wife
system is a disclosure of his own make. Emma Smith,
president. Elizabeth Ann Whitney, counselor. Sarah M.
Cleveland, counselor. Eliza R. Snow, secretary. Mary C.
Miller, Lois Cutler, Thirza Cahoon, Ann Hunter, Jane Law,
Sophia R*. Marks, Poily Z. Johnson, Abigal Works, Catharine
Petty, Sarah Higbee, Phebe Woodruff, Lenora Taylor, Sarah
Hillman, Rosanna Marks, Angeline Robinson. — Times and
Seasons, vol. 3, pp. 939, 940.

Testimony of Mrs. Emma Smith-Bidamon : "He [Joseph
Smith] had no other wife but me; nor did he to my knowledge
ever have. . . . He did not have any improper relation with
any woman that ever came to my knowledge. ... I know
that he had no other wife, or wives, than myself, in any
sense, either spiritual or otherwise." — Tullidge and Crandel,
p. 793.

George Q. Cannon, in a sermon June 11, 1871, Journal of
Discourses, vol. 14, pp. 165, 166, says: "A prevalent idea has
been that this prejudice against us owes its origin and con-

268 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

tinuation to our belief in a plurality of wives; . . . Joseph
and Hyrum Smith were slain in Carthage jail, and hundreds
of persons were persecuted to death previous to the church
having any knowledge of this doctrine."

Elder John Taylor said in a discussion in Boulogne-sur-mer,
France, in 1850, as follows: "We are accused here of
polygamy, and actions the most indelicate, obscene, and dis-
gusting, such that none but a corrupt and depraved heart
could have contrived. These things are too outrageous to
admit of belief; ... I shall content myself by reading our
views of chastity and marriage. . . . You both mutually
agVee to be each other's companion, husband and wife, observ-
ing the legal rights belonging to this condition; that is, keep-
ing yourselves wholly for each other, and from all others
during your lives." — Orson Pratt's Works, p. 8 of discussion.

Elder John Taylor says: "The Latter Day Saints are
charged by their enemies with the blackest crimes. Treason,
murder, theft, polygamy, and adultery, are among the many
crimes laid to their charge. . . . Most of these stories against
the Mormons have been propagated by apostates and traitors,
(who have generally been cut off from the church for their
crimes). They publish their lies and straightway they are
believed, and hawked about as awful disclosures* and re-
ceived by community with trembling and holy horror. Sidney
Rigdon, I see by the papers, has made an exposition of
Mormonism, charging Joseph Smith and the Mormons with
polygamy, etc. It does not require a very sagacious mind to
fathom Mr. Rigdon's motive for so doing. . . . Mr. Rigdon's
spiritual wife system was never known till it was hatched by
John C. Bennett who was cut off from the church for seduc-
tion. As to the charge of polygamy I will quote from the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants which is the subscribed
faith of the church and is strictly enforced, article on mar-
riage, section 91, paragraph 4." (This can be read from the
book.) Quoted from the Times and Seasons, vol. 6, p. 893,
May 1, 1845. (Certified to by Bro. L. G. Holloway.)

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 269

SWORN TESTIMONY OF JOHN C. BENNETT.

"May 19, 1842, State of Illinois, City of Nauvoo, personally
appeared before me, Daniel H.. Wells, an alderman of said
city of Nauvoo; John C. Bennett, being duly sworn according
to law, deposed and said: That he never was taught anything
in the least contrary to the strictest principles of the gospel,
or of virtue, or of the laws of God or man, under any cir-
cumstances, or upon any occasion, either directly or indi-
rectly in word or deed by Joseph Smith; and that he never
knew the said Smith to countenance any improper conduct
whatever, either in public or private; and that he never did
teach to me in private that an illicit intercourse with females
was, under any circumstances, justifiable; and that I never
knew him so to teach others. "(Signed)

"JOHN C. BENNETT.

"Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 17th day of May,
1842." — Times and Seasons, vol. 3, pp. 839-842; also appendix
of O. Pratt's Works.

John H. Carter, sr., being sworn, testified: "Some of these
doctrines that were taught by Brigham Young were never
taught in the original church prior to 1844, and if any man
had taught them he would have been disfellowshiped from the
church very quick. That is, up to 1844, at the time that
Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed, the polygamy doctrine
was never taught in the church." — Plaintiff's Abstract, p. 180.

John Taylor, being sworn, testified: "I performed the
duties of teacher from the time I went to Nauvoo (1840) until
1844. . . . Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith never taught
polygamy, and there was no revelations on polygamy or
celestial marriage or anything of the kind. The church was
governed entirely as a monogamy church from 1832, at the
time I became connected with it, up to the time of Joseph
Smith's death."— Ibid., pp. 190-192.

DEFENDANT'S EVIDENCE.

Wilford Woodruff, president of the Utah church, being
sworn, testified: "There was no other rule of marriage

270 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

acknowledged by the church except what is found in the Book
of Doctrine and Covenants, the 1835 edition." — Abstract, p.
303.

Lorenzo Snow, president of the twelve apostles of the
Utah church, being sworn, testified: "Well, it is a fact, that
the order of marriage was changed, but whether that was the
purpose of the substitution or not, I do not know.

"Q. — The order of marriage was changed, and the old
order eliminated; is not that the fact?

"A. — Well, it was changed or extended. It was changed
from the one to the other/' — Ibid., pp. 320, 321.

Lyman 0. Littlefield, president of the seventies in the Utah
churc-h, being sworn, testified:

"Q. — Well, were you not taught it (polygamy) previous to
1840?

"A.' — I can not say; I have told you all I knew about it
with reference to dates, and there is no sense in your asking
me these questions. I never heard Joseph Smith teach it or
preach it. I never heard him say anything about it person-
ally or mention it." — Ibid., p. 328.

Joseph C. Kingsbury was sworn by affirmation, testified:
"I became a member of the church (1832). ... No one had
the privilege under the laws of the church up to 1844, nor
under the laws of the United States, or in any State up to
1844, to take more wives than one. ... I do not remember
hearing any minister in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints, prior to 1844, in Nauvoo or any other place,
preach or teach the doctrine of polygamy." — Ibid., p. 338.

Bathsheba Smith, being sworn, testified: "I never heard
Joseph Smith teach polygamy, nor did I ever hear him say
anything about it, either publicly or privately." — Ibid., p. 361.

Cyrus H. Whelock, being sworn, testified: "I never heard
Joseph Smith teach the practice of polygamy from the stand;
never heard any elder of the church preach it publicly from
the stand in Nauvoo, until after the death of Joseph Smith.
After Joseph Smith was dead I heard polygamy preached
from the pulpit publicly in Nauvoo, by William Smith. He
started a great many things; undertook to prove that po-

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 271

lygamy was right, and that that order of marriage would be
restored, and he preached so many strange things there to
the people that Elder John Taylor got up and corrected him.
. . . Yes, sir, it was forbidden, and William Smith was cut
off from the church because he preached that. That was in
the winter of 1844. . . . The law of the church when I be-
came a member (1839) did not teach polygamy. It was that
one man should have but one wife, and one woman but one
husband. . . . Anybody was liable to be excommunicated or
disfellowshiped from the church who attempted to teach the
doctrine of plural marriage at that time, up to the death of
Joseph Smith."— Ibid., pp. 384-386.

Samuel W. Richards, being sworn, testified: "I do not
know anything about the principles of plural marriage, or
what is commonly called polygamy, before the death of Joseph
Smith, only what was reported to me by other persons. . . .
Yes, sir, I knew all the time I was there in Nauvoo, from
1842 down to the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, that there
was no other system of marriage taught or practiced by the
church than that of monogamy."— Ibid., 390-392.

Jason W. Briggs, being sworn, testified: "The doctrine of
the original church from the time it was established up to
1844, when Joseph Smith was killed, was that one man should
have one wife, and one woman one husband. It was the one
wife doctrine at that time." — Ibid., p. 400.

John Taylor, editor of the Times and Seasons, November
15, 1844, says: "For the communication of an 'Old Man of
Israel,' and the letter of Elder Addison Pratt from the
islands of the Pacific Ocean, we bespeak a hearty welcome.
They are genuine." — Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 711.

"AN OLD MAN OF ISRAEL.

"The Saints of the last days have witnessed the outgoings
of so many apostates that nothing but truth has any effect
upon them. In the present instance, after the sham quota-
tions of Sidney and his clique, from the Bible, Book of Mor-
mon, and Doctrine and Covenants, to skulk off, under the
'dreadful splendor' of 'spiritual wifery,' which is brought into

272 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

the account as graciously as if the law of the land allowed
a man a plurality of wives, is fiendish, and like the rest of
Sidney's revelation, just because he wanted 'to go to Pitts-
burg and live.' Woe to the man or men who will thus will-
fully lie to injure an innocent people!" — Times and Seasons,
vol. 5, p. 715.

Hyrum Smith said March 15, 1844: "// any man write to
you, or preaches to you, doctrines contrary to the Bible, the
Book of Mormon, or the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, set
him down as an impostor. You need not all write to us to
know what you are to do with such men; you have the au-
thority with you, try them by the principles contained in the
acknowledged word of God. If1 they preach, or teach, or prac-
tice contrary to that, dis fellow ship them; cut them off from
among you as useless and dangerous branches" — Times and
Seasons, vol. 5, p. 490.

POLYGAMY NOT PERMISSIBLE UNDER THE STATE
LAW OF ILLINOIS.

G. V. Waite says the following enactment was passed by
the legislature February 12, 1833:

"Section 121. Bigamy consists in the having of two wives
or two husbands at one and the same time, knowing that the
former husband or wife is still alive. If any person or per-
sons within this State (Illinois), being married, or who shall
hereafter marry, do at any time marry any person or per-
sons, the former husband or wife being alive, the person so
offending, shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine
not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisoment in the
penitentiary not exceeding two years.

"Section 122. If any man or woman, being unmarried,
shall knowingly marry the husband or wife of another, such
man or woman shall, on conviction, be fined not more than
five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than one year."
— The Mormon Prophet, pp. 231, 232.

Campbellites' confession of the faith of the early Saints in
Ohio: "Let us not fail to remember, however, that Mor-
monism in northern Ohio, in 1831, was a very different thing

» PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 273

from Mormonism in Utah, in 1870." — Hayden's History, p. 252.

Elder P. P. Pratt said: "But for the information of those
who may be assailed by those foolish tales about the two wives,
we would say that no such principle ever existed among the
Latter Day Saints, and never will; this is well known to all
who are acquainted with our books and actions, the Book of
Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants; and also all our periodicals
are very strict and explicit on that subject, indeed far more
so than the Bible." — Millennial Star, vol. 3, p. 74.

Question: When was the truth told? Read the testimonies
of these earnest workers in the day of their fidelity; and then
later, and there is but one conclusion — apostasy.

SPEECH OF SENATOR J. C. BURROWS.

'The regular and legitimate Mormon Church had its origin
in and grew out of an alleged discovery of some metallic
plates, said to have been found near Palmyra, New York, by
one Joseph Smith, bearing certain inscriptions which were
said to have been translated by him and embodied in what is
known and accepted as the 'Book of Mormon,' belief in which
formed, in 1830, the basis of an organization styling itself
'The Church of Latter Day Saints,' which for fifteen years
increased in membership and extended its influence, until in
1844 it numbered about fifty thousand adherents. On the
27th day of June, 1844, Joseph Smith, the founder of this
cult, while confined in jail at Carthage, Illinois, was set upon
by a mob and killed.

"With the details of the early history of this people, from
1830 to 1844, and their tenets we have nothing to do. It is
sufficient for the purpose of this discussion to state that
previous to the death of the prophet there were no dissen-
sions in the organization so far as known, all subscribing to
a common creed and holding a common faith. Judge Phillips,
in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Western Dis-
trict of Missouri, in delivering the opinion of that court in
1894 in what is known as the 'Temple Lot Cases' involving the
title to certain real estate, said :

" 'Beyond all cavil, if human testimony is to place any mat-

274 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

ter at rest, this church was one in doctrine, government, and
purpose from 1830 to June, 1844, when Joseph Smith, its
founder, was killed. It had the same federal head, governing
bodies, and faith. During this period there was no schism, no
dissensions, no parting of the ways in any matter funda-
mental or affecting its oneness.'

"The death of Joseph Smith in 1844, however, carried dis-
may and demoralization throughout the entire membership
of the Mormon church, scattering its adherents in divers
directions and for the time being seemed to presage the com-
plete overthrow and dissolution of the organization. Recov-
ering, however, from the shock, the scattered bands soon re-
appeared in various parts of the country and promulgated
their doctrines with increased zeal, and set to work to reas-
semble and reorganize their scattered forces, resulting finally
in the formation of what is now known and recognized as the
'Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,'
with headquarters at Lamoni, Iowa, and presided over by
Joseph Smith, a son of the prophet. The courts have re-
peatedly declared this organization to be the legitimate suc-
cessor of the original Mormon church, and its adherents,
numbering some fifty thousand peaceable, patriotic, and law-
abiding citizens scattered throughout the United States in
small church societies, conforming to the laws of their coun-
try wherever they may be and adhering to the faith of the
founder of their creed, repudiating and denouncing the doc-
trine of polygamy and its attendant crimes, without temple,
endowment house, or secret order, worship in the open like
other church organizations, unquestioned and unmolested.

"During this period of disintegration one Brigham Young,
who had identified himself with the Mormon organization as
early as 1832, a man of indomitable will and undaunted
courage, bold and unscrupulous, seized upon the occasion of
the demoralization incident to the death of the prophet to
place himself at the head of some five thousand Mormons,
rnd marching over desert and mountain, established himself
with his adherents in the valley of Salt Lake, July 24, 1847,
then Mexican territory, where he undoubtedly indulged the

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 275

hope that the new doctrine of polygamy about to be publicly
proclaimed by him might be promulgated with impunity and
practiced and maintained without interference by the United
States. These hopes, however, were destined to be blasted,
for by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of February 2, 1848,
this territory passed from the jurisdiction of Mexico to the
sovereignty of the United States, and its inhabitants there-
upon became amenable to its laws.

"Upon this transfer of sovereignty, and in 1849, Brigham
Young and his followers, without authority from any source
whatever, proceeded to set up a government of their own,
embracing a territory of imperial dimensions, christening it
the "State of Deseret," electing Brigham Young, the head of
the church, governor; Heber C. Kimball, an apostle, lieu-
tenant-governor, and filling all other official positions in the
proposed state with their trusted adherents. At the same
time a general assembly was chosen, which in 1849 petitioned
Congress to admit the State of Deseret into the Union, and
commissioned a delegate to the lower House of Congress, who
subsequently presented his credentials and the memorial pray-
ing for statehood.

"Shortly previous to this time it began to be bruited that
the leaders of this organization and founders of the new
state were fugitives from justice and apostates from the true
Mormon faith and were living in polygamy; and it is an
historic fact that when Brigham Young arrived in Salt Lake,
in 1847, he had seventeen wives, and all the so-called apostles,
twelve in number, except possibly one, from two to twenty
wives each. This rumor gained credence and confirmation by
a protest against the admission of the State of Deseret sent
to the Congress of the United States December 31, 1849,
and now on file in its archives, from which I make the fol-
lowing extracts:

" 'Your petitioners respectfully represent that whereas ef-
forts are now being made by the Salt Lake Miormons to
obtain, by false representations and fallacious presentations,
from the Government of the United States a state organiza-
tion to be called the State of Deseret ; and whereas we believe

276 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

that it would be highly detrimental to the best interests of our
country to comply with their request, we do therefore respect-
fully petition your honorable body to provide some other way
for the government of the Salt Lake settlement. Your peti-
tioners know most assuredly that Salt Lake Mormonism is
diametrically in opposition to the pure principles of virtue,
liberty, and equality, and that the rulers of the Salt Lake
church are bitter and inveterate enemies of our Government.
They entertain treasonable designs against the liberties of
American freeborn sons and daughters. . . . They have elected
Brigham Young, who is the president of their church, to be
the governor of the proposed State of Deseret. Their intention
is to unite church and state. . . . We have authentic informa-
tion that more than fifteen hundred Salt Lake Mormons took
the following oath in the Temple of God at Nauvoo: "You
do solemnly swear, in the presence of almighty God, his holy
angels, and these witnesses, that you will avenge the blood of
Joseph Smith on this nation, and teach your children, and that
you will from this time henceforth and for ever begin and
carry out hostilities against this nation, and to keep the same
intent a profound secret now and for ever. So help me God."
" 'The rulers of the Salt Lake church hypocritically pretend
to venerate the name and character of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, that they may retain their popularity among that
people who believe that he was a true prophet. These rulers
are apostates from the true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints, which church Joseph Smith was president of.
They teach and practice polygamy. . . . Surely your honorable
body will not lend your aid to legalize adultery and all man-
ner of wickedness. These men have left their country for
their country's good. They have left it that they might
escape the punishment which their crimes have invoked. . . .
They have been guilty of murders, treason, robbery, counter-
feiting, swindling, blasphemy, and usurpation of power, both
political and ecclesiastical. This is the character of the man
who is the political and ecclesiastical governor of the Salt
Lake colony. The Salt Lake settlement is like Sodom and
Gomorrah. Save the rising generation of that land from

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 277

being trained up in such a sink of corruption, blasphemy, and
treason.'

"The practice of polygamy by this band of apostate Mor-
mons received further confirmation in the official report of the
Indian agent for the Territory of Utah, dated March 29, 1852,
in which it was stated:

" 'Among these men (speaking of the Mormons) was Wil-
lard Richards, who kept a harem of some dozen or fifteen
women, to all of whom he is wedded. He is acting secretary
of state and postmaster of the city.'

"Upon the presentation of the remonstrance referred to,
the National House of Representatives declined to consider
the petition for the admission of the 'State of Deseret' into
the Union, or receive its representative, but in lieu thereof
and on the 7th day of September, 1850, Congress passed an
act providing for the organization and government of the
Territory of Utah. In 1850 President Fillmore appointed
Brigham Young governor of the Territory for the term of
four years, who entered upon the duties of the office in Feb-
ruary, 1851, and thus the chief polygamous saint and head of
the church became the chief executive of the Territory. These
public and official declarations confirmatory of the rumors
of the practice of polygamy by Brigham Young and his apos-
tles, made further concealment of their crime impossible, and
it becam.e necessary in some way to excuse or justify so fla-
grant an assault upon public decency and the civilization of
the age.

"To that end a special conference of the sect was called to
convene at Salt Lake City on the 28th day of August, 1852,
over which Brigham Young presided, attended by the so-called
apostles and high officials of the church to the number of
over two thousand, at which conference, for the first time,
the doctrine of polygamy was publicly proclaimed and d^-
clared to be an accepted tenet of the Utah Mormon faith.
Preliminary to its formal promulgation, and to promote its
reception by the followers of Brigham Young, it was deemed
expedient that some of the high dignitaries who were associ-
ated with him should bear testimony to the saintly character

278 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

of their master and the divine origin of the nefarious doctrine.
To this end Heber C. Kimball, one of the First Presidency
and a polygamist, in calling the meeting to order, took occa-
sion to say:

" 'Brother Brigham Young is the successor of Joseph Smith
and a better man never lived upon the earth, nor ever sought
the interest of this people more fervently.'

"Elder Benson, another polygamist, joined in -the laudation
by saying:

" 'I know that the principles that have been taught by the
prophet Joseph and Brothers Brigham, Heber, and Willard'—

"Composing the First Presidency —

" 'and by every other good man in this church are correct
principles, and that these men have been borne on trium-
phantly over every trial and difficulty they have been called
to pass through. The elders, therefore, can go to the nations
with their consciences as clean as drifting snow, and with the
satisfaction that all is right in Zion and we are led by the
best men upon the face of the earth. I am glad in my heart,
and I say, God bless Brigham, Heber, and Willard. They are
the counsel of heaven to this people, and I mean to honor
them in the earth wherever I go, and I would preach down
in the bowels of hell the same as I do here and not be ashamed
of it.'

"Pandemonium would be a fit place for its promulgation.

" 'My story all the time is, Hurrah for Mormonism. ... I
only throw out these few hints that you may be prepared to
act when you receive the proper instructions from your presi-
dent.'

"Then came Orson Pratt, one of the oldest and most famous
of the apostles and the husband of three wives, who publicly
declared :

" 'It is quite unexpected to me to be called upon to address
you on the subject of the plurality of wives. It is rather new
ground to the inhabitants of the United States, and not only
to them, but a portion of the inhabitants of Europe. A portion
of them have not been in the habit of preaching a doctrine of
this description: consequently we will have to break up new

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 279

ground. It is well known, however, to the congregation before
me that the Latter Day Saints have embraced the doctrine
of the plurality of wives as a part of their religious faith.'

"In order to induce his followers more readily to accept
this infamous doctrine, Brigham Young himself invoked the
name of Joseph Smith, the Martyr, whom many sincerely be-
lieved to be a true prophet, and ascribed to him the reception
of a revelation from the Almighty in 1843, commanding the
saints to take unto themselves a multiplicity of wives, limited
in number only by the measures of their desires. Why and how
this revelation had been kept a secret for nine years Brigham
Young explained as follows:

" 'You heard Brother Pratt state this morning that a reve-
lation would be read this afternoon which was given previous
to Joseph's death. It contains a doctrine which a small por-
tion of the world is opposed to. Though that doctrine has
not been preached by the elders, this people have believed in
it for many years.

" 'The original copy of this revelation was burnt up ; Wil-
liam Clayton was the man who wrote it from the mouth of
the prophet. In the meantime it was in Bishop Whitney's
possession. He wished the privilege to copy it, which Brother
Joseph granted. Sister Emma burnt the original.

" 'The revelation will be read to you. The principle we
believe in. And I tell you — for I know it — it will sail over
and ride triumphantly above all the prejudice and priestcraft
of the day; it will be fostered and believed in by the more
intelligent portions of the world as one of the best doctrines
ever proclaimed to any people. I am now ready to proclaim
it. This revelation has been in my possession many years
and who has known it? None but those who should know it.
I keep a patent lock on my desk, and there does not anything
leak out that should not.'

"Such the mythical story palmed off on a deluded people.
Let me now quote the material part of the pretended revela-
tion of polygamy as given out by authority of Brigham
Young in 1852.

" 'Verily, thus saith the Lord unto his servant Joseph: . . .

280 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

behold and lo, I am the Lord thy God . . . therefore prepare
thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am
about to give unto you, for all those who have this law re-
vealed unto them must obey the same, for behold, I reveal
unto you a new and everlasting covenant, and if ye abide not
that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject
this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory; . . .
and as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was
instituted for the fullness of my glory, and he that receiveth
a fullness thereof must and shall abide the law or he shall
be damned, saith the Lord God. And again, as pertaining to
the law of the priesthood, if any man espouse a virgin and
desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and
if he espouse the second, and they are virgins and have vowed
to no other man, then is he justified. He can not commit
adultery, for they are given unto him, for he can not commit
adultery with that that belongs to him and to none else; and
if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law he can
not commit adultery, for they belong unto him and are given
unto him; therefore is he justified.'

"Thus did Brigham Young and his associates attempt to
explain and justify a practice revolting to every sense of
public decency, subversive of the home, and destructive of the
very foundations of society. Thus were laid with unholy hands
what Brigham Young was pleased to call the foundations of
'Zion,' upon which it was proposed to erect 'the kingdom of
God on earth.' But a doctrine so monstrous needed something
more than the unsupported testimony of Brigham Young to in-
sure its reception and give it credence, in view of the fact that
it had no warrant in the Book of Mormon and was specially
condemned in the book of 'Doctrine and Covenants,' wherein
it is declared 'One man should have one wife, and one woman
but one husband.' To give this creed the semblance of author-
ity and insure its permanency as an article of this Utah Mor-
mon faith the doctrine of monogamy was torn from the book
of 'Doctrines and Covenants,' and the doctrine of polygamy
inserted in its stead, where it is still retained as a cardinal
principle of the Utah Mormon faith. In this way was the

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 281

practice of polygamy inaugurated in the Territory of Utah
and fostered and encouraged by the leaders of this sect." —
Congressional Record for December 13, 1906.

SPEECH OF HONORABLE FRED T. DUBOIS.

(Senator Dubois was also a member of the Committee on
Privileges and Elections, and this speech was delivered De-
cember 13, 1906, in the United States Senate, and published
in the Congressional Record for December 17, 1906.)

"It is only fair, I think, for me to say — and I am glad the
distinguished Senator from Michigan [Mr. Burrows] treated
upon it the other day — that there is a branch of the Mormons,
called the 'Josephites/ who ought to be separated clearly in
the minds of all the Senators from the Brighamite Mormons.
The Josephites claim that they are the custodians of the
church as it was founded. They claim that^Brigham Young
has interjected doctrines into the church which the Mormons
did not accept in the beginning. At any rate, however that
may be, the Josephite Mormons, with their headquarters at
Lamoni, in the State of Iowa, and wherever they are, no mat-
ter in what part of the country, are among the best of our
citizens in all respects. They do not believe in polygamy;
they never practiced polygamy. They discountenanced it.
They do not believe in church dictation in political affairs.
They are the same as other church organizations, and to their
religion no one has any objection. I am glad to call the atten-
tion of Senators to it, so that in the future we may not con-
fuse the Josephite with the Brighamite Mormons."

ADAM, OUR FATHER AND GOD.

Brigham Young said: "One thing has remained a mystery
in this kingdom up to this day. It is in regard to the char-
acter of the well-beloved Son of God. Now hear it, 0 inhabi-
tants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When
our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came
into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his
wives, with him. ... HE is our FATHER and our GOD, and the

232 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

only God with whom WE have to do. Every man upon the
earth, professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it,
and will know it sooner or later. . . . When the Virgin Mary
conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in
his own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost.
And who is the Father?

He is the first of the human family (Adam) ; and when he
took a tabernacle, it was begotten by his Father in heaven,
after the same manner as the tabernacles of Cain, Abel, and
the rest of the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve; from
the fruits of the earth, the first earthly tabernacles were
originated by the Father, and so on in succession. . . . Now,
remember from this time forth, and for ever, that Jesus
Christ was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. I will repeat a
little anecdote. I was in conversation with a certain learned
professor upon the subject, when I replied, to this idea — 'if the
Son was begotten by the Holy Ghost, it would be very
dangerous to baptize and confirm females, and give the Holy
Ghost to them, lest he should beget children, to be palmed
upon the elders by the people, bringing the elders into great
difficulties." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, pp. 50, 51.

0. Pratt says: "If one God can propagate his species, and
raise up spirits after his own image and likeness, and call
them his sons and daughters, so can all other gods that become
like him, do the same thing; consequently, there will be
many fathers, and there will be many families, and many
sons and daughters; and they will be children of those
glorified, celestial beings that are counted worthy to be gods."
— Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 57.

"The fleshly body of Jesus required a mother as well as a
father. Therefore, the father and mother of Jesus, according
to the flesh, must have been associated together in the capacity
of husband and wife; hence the Virgin Mary must have been
for the time being the lawful wife of God the Father. We
use the term lawful wife, because it would be blasphemous
in the highest degree to say that he overshadowed her or
begat the Savior unlawfully." — Seer, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 158, 159.

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 283

THREE SHORT TALKS ON FINANCE.

President Young said, December 5, 1853: "If an elder has
borrowed from you, and you find that he is going to aposta-
tize, then you may tighten the screws upon him; but if he
is willing to preach the gospel without purse or scrip, it is
none of your business what he does with the money he has
borrowed from you." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 340.

President Young said, November 9, 1856: ''Some of the
elders seem to be tripped up in a moment if the wicked
man finds fault with the members of this church; but bless
your souls, I would not yet have this people faultless, for
the day of separation has not yet arrived. I have many a
time in this stand dared the world to produce as mean devils
as we can, we can beat them at anything. We have the
greatest and smoothest liars in the world, the cunningest
and most adroit thieves, and any other shade of characters
that you can mention.

"We can pick out elders in Israel right here who can beat
the world at gambling; who can handle the cards; can cut
and shuffle them with the smartest rogue on the face of
God's footstool. I can produce elders here who can shave
their smartest shavers, and take their money from them.
We can beat the world at any game.

"We can beat them because we have men here who live
in the light of the Lord; that have the holy priesthood and
hold the keys of the kingdom of God. But you may go
through all the sectarian world and you can not find a man
capable of opening the door of the kingdom of God to admit
others in. We can do that. We can pray the best, preach
the best and sing the best. We are the best looking and finest
set of people on the face of the earth; and they may begin
any game they please, and we are on hand and can beat them
at anything they have a mind to begin. They may make
sharp their two-edged swords, and I will turn out the elders
of Israel with greased feathers, and whip them to death.
We are not to be beat. We expect to be a stumbling-block

284 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

to the whole world, and a rock of offense to them." — Journal
of Discourses, vol. 4. p. 77.

President Heber C. Kimball said, July 19, 1854: "It is
believed in the world that our females are all common women.
Well, in one sense they are common — that is, they are like
all other women, I suppose, but they are not unclean, for
we wipe all unclean ones from our midst; we not only wipe
them from our streets, but we wipe them out of existence.
And if the world want to practice uncleanness, and bring
their prostitutes here, if they do not repent, and forsake
such sins, we will wipe the evil out. We will not have them
in this valley, unless they repent; for so help me God, while
I live I will lend my hand to wipe such persons out, and I
know this people will." — Deseret News, August 17, 1854, and
Millennial Star, vol. 16, p. 739.

BLOOD ATONEMENT.

Brigham Young said, October 9, 1852: "What shall be
done with sheep that stink the flock so?- We will take them,
I was going to say, and cut off their tails two inches behind
their ears; however I will use a milder term, and say, cut
off their ears." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 213.

Brigham said again, March 27, 1853: "I say, rather than
that apostates should flourish here, I will unsheath my bowie
knife, and conquer or die. [Great commotion in the congrega-
tion, and a simultaneous burst of feeling, assenting to the
declaration.] Now, you nasty apostates, clear out, or judg-
ment will be put to the line, and righteousness to the plummet.
[Voices, generally, "Go it, go it."] If you say it is right,
raise your hands [all hands up]. Let us call upon the Lord
to assist us in this, and every good work." — Journal of Dis-
courses, vol. 1, p. 83.

Brigham Young said: "Will you love your brothers or
sisters likewise when they have committed a sin that can not
be atoned for without the shedding of their blood? Will
you love that man or woman well enough to shed their blood?
I have seen scores and hundreds of people for whom there

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 285

would have been a chance (in the last resurrection there will
be) if their lives had been taken and their blood spilled on the
ground as a smoking incense to the Almighty. I have known a
great many men who have left this church, for whom there is
no chance whatever for exaltation : but if their blood had been
spilled it would have been better for them. The wickedness
and ignorance of the nations forbid this principle's being in
full force, but the time will come when the law of God
will be in full force. This is loving our neighbors as our-
selves: if he needs help, help him: and if he wants salvation
and it is necessary to spill his blood on the earth in order
that he may be saved, spill it." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 4,
p. 220.

Elder J. M. Grant says: "I say there are men and women
here that I would advise to go to the president immediately,
and ask him to appoint a committee to attend to their case:
and let a place be selected, and let that committee shed their
blood." — Deseret News, vol. 6, p. 335, September 21, 1856.

SALVATION DEPENDS UPON OBEDIENCE TO THE
PRIESTHOOD, RIGHT OR WRONG.

Heber C. Kimball, then of the Presidency, November 8, 1857,
said: "In regard to our situation and circumstances in these
valleys, brethren, WAKE UP: WAKE UP; YE ELDERS
OF ISRAEL AND LIVE TO GOD and none else; and learn to
do as you are told, both old and young; learn to do as you are
told for the future. And when you are taking a position, if
you do not know that you are right, do not take it — I mean
independently."

But if you are told by your leaders to do a thing, do it,
None of your business whether it is right or wrong. Well, now,
if you will do just as you are told, you will increase in knowl-
edge ten thousand times faster than you will to pray six
hours, and if you follow that course, you will not advance in
your religion one hundredth part so much as that man that
will do just as he is told no matter what. Brother Brigham is
my leader; he is my prophet, my seer and my revelator; and

286 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

whatever he says, that is for me to do; and it is not for me
to question him one word, nor to question God a minute. Do
you not see? You and I want to live our religion and do as
we are told, not questioning a word for a moment. You have
got to stop that. It is enough for others to do that, without
our meddling with those things." — Journal of Discourses, vol.
6, pp. 32-34.

Again he said in the Salt Lake City Tabernacle, March 1,
1857: "How can you become impregnated with the Spirit
and power of God, except you become impregnated through
us? There is no true path except to do as you are told by
those whom the Lord has called and chosen, and placed to
direct you." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 250.

June 10, 1855, he said: "When a servant of God counsels
you, it is your duty to hear and obey his words. I am f^ly
aware that the world do not like the idea of one man ruling
this entire people with his word, but I would not give one
farthing for this community if they could not be governed by
one man, beloved and chosen of the Lord. You have no sal-
vation only what you get through that source, and every
true-hearted Latter Day Saint believed so. Our crops are
almost entirely destroyed and what good will that do? It
will bring us into position where we can appreciate the bless-
ings of providence. Brother Brigham says that he does not
fear hell, nor the Devil if this people will do as they are told
and listen to counsel. Do you suppose that the world could
ever come through our bulwarks, if this people were to obey
counsel? No, they could not!" — Journal of Discourses, vol.
5, pp. 262, 263.

On August 30, 1857, he said: "I will ask you this question,
gentlemen and ladies, Can you live your religion except you
do as you are told? I have said again and again, that if we
live our religion and do as we are told those men (Johnson's
army) will never come over those mountains: for we shall
slay the poor devils before they get there. I do not know
of any religion except doing as I am told: and if you do,
you have learned something that I have never learned. You

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 287

have a governor here to dictate to you and to tell you what
to do, and if we will live our religion we are always safe, are
we not?" — Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, pp. 162, 163.

Ezra T. Benson said, July 13, 1855: "I think you are pretty
well satisfied in Provo with those who are placed over you,
for you know that they are appointed by the authority of
heaven, and it is the right of those who appointed them to
dictate you and all others; it is therefore your duty to give
heed to those placed over you in authority, and if you do, you
will enjoy the Spirit of God to a great extent, even to your
heart's satisfaction. We are called upon to uphold, by our
faith, works and our prayers, those who are over us : we have
raised our hands to sustain and uphold them, and we will
turn round and find fault with that which we have sanc-
tioned. Can you enjoy the Spirit of God if you do this? No,
in order to enjoy that Spirit you must reverence all the mem-
bers of the priesthood, no matter who may be in possession
of it." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, p. 63.

"I will give you the pith of the last orders issued: 'That
man or family who will not do as they are told in the orders,
are to be treated as strangers, yea, even as enemies, and not
as friends.' And if there should be a contest, if we should
be called upon to defend our lives, our liberty, and our pos-
sessions, we would cut such off the first, and walk over their
bodies to conquer the foe outside." — BrJgham Young, Journal
of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 167, July 31, 1853.

"There are sins that can be atoned for by an offering upon
an altar, as in ancient days; and there are sins that the
blood of a lamb, of a calf, or of a turtle dove can not remit;
but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man. That
is the reason why men talk to you as they do from this stand;
they understand the doctrine and through a few words about
it, you have been taught that doctrine, but you do not under-
stand it." — Journal of Discourses, vol 4, P- 54.

"I do know that there are sins committed, of such a nature
that if the people did understand of salvation, they would
tremble, because of their situation; and furthermore, I know

288 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

that there are transgressors, who if they knew themselves, and
the only condition upon which they can obtain forgiveness,
would beg of their brethren to shed their blood, that the smoke
thereof might ascend to God as an offering to appease the
wrath that is kindled against them, and that the law might
have its course. I will say further; I have had men come to
me and offer their lives to atone for their sins." — Journal of
Discourses, vol. 4, p. 53.

J. M. Grant said: "We have those among us that are full
of all manner of abominations, those who need to have their
blood shed, for water will not do, their sins are of too deep a
dye." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 49.

Pres. Joseph F. Smith said: "The fact of the matter
is, when a man says you can direct me spiritually, but not
temporally, he lies in the presence of God — that is, if he has
got intelligence enough to know what he is talking about." —
Deseret News for April 25, 1896.

On October 26, 1905, he said: "In a nutshell, the philoso-
phy of the Mormon religion consists in obeying the command-
ments and living up to the revelations of God as revealed to
his chosen servants on earth in this the last dispensation of
the fullness of times."

"The talk was purely doctrinal," says the Utah State Jour-
nal of the 27th of October, in speaking of the effort of the
Editor News, "advising all to lead the life laid down by the
authorities of the church and their teachings."

Brigham Young said, September 2, 1857: "You and I may
be ready to fight; we may be ready to plant seed, and if
called upon to cache grain in the mountains and to do what-
ever the Lord may require at our hands. [This sentence is
as it is written, and is copied correctly: 'To cache grain in
the mountains.' Webster: 'Cache — a hole in the ground
or a hiding place for concealing and preserving provision
which it is inconvenient to carry.' At the time this speech was
delivered, the people were in great distress; the army was
about to come upon them, hence the saying, 'Be ready to
fight, to burn.' The people were on hand to burn all that

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 289

they could not use rather than let it fall to the army. To
cache grain in the mountains, means that they would store
away provisions in the mountains that they may not starve.]
Let us do whatever may be required. If we are called upon
to take our women and children into the mountains, let us do
that; if to burn, let us be on hand to burn; if to build more,
let us do that, and whatever we are required to do let us do.
We called up a bishop the other night, to go on an express;
and when he came to my office I said to him, 'Brother Thomas,
are you ready?' He replied, 'Yes.' Though he did not know
what was wanted of him, yet he was ready. He asked, 'When
do you want me?' I replied, 'Early to-morrow morning,' (now
yesterday morning,) and he was there at the time — which
is the way that men should feel and act." — Journal of Dis-
courses, vol. 5, pp. 257, 258.

John Taylor said, September 20, 1857 : "The Presbyterians
used to say that people ought to thank God for the privilege
of being damned. But I would not thank anyone for being
damned, but I think, however, that such men as would not
submit to his authority and rule ought to be damned, whether
they like it or not. Nothing but obedience to his law, obedi-
ence in families, obedience to bishops and to the priesthood
in all its ramifications, and especially to Pres. Brigham
Young as the head, to carry out his law to the whole people,
can accomplish the purposes of God or our salvation as a
people. . . . What does that obedience imply? Obedience in
all things — that the Twelve should be obedient to the Presi-
dency, the seventy to the Twelve and so on through all the
ramifications of the priesthood; obedience of wives to hus-
bands, children to parents and that a general order of this
kind should be established in every neighborhood, in every
house, and in every heart." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, pp.
264, 265.

Wilford Woodruff said, April 9, 1857: "Now, whatever I
might have obtained in the shape of learning, by searching
and study respecting the arts and sciences of men — whatever
principles I may have imbibed during my scientific researches,

290 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

yet if the prophet of God should tell me that a certain prin-
ciple or theory which I might have learned was not true,
I do not care what my ideas might have been, I should con-
sider it my duty, at the suggestion of my file leader, to aban-
don that principle or theory. Supposing he were to say the
principles by which you are governed are not right, that they
were incorrect, what would be my duty? I answer that it
would be my duty to lay those principles aside and to take up
those that might be laid down by the servants of God." — Jour-
nal of Discourses, vol. 5, p. 83.

Again, September 27, 1857: "You need not fear, all we
have to do is to be passive in the hands of the Lord and fol-
low the counsel of our leaders, and not be particularly anxious
that the Lord should reveal to you or to me his mind and
will, and intentions concerning our present difficulties: but
pray earnestly that the Spirit of the Lord may be upon those
men who stand at the head. All we have to do is to live our
religion, and when the Presidency say, 'Come here,' or 'Go
there,' let us be on hand to obey and all will be right."-
Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, p. 268.

Lorenzo Snow said: "When the enemy is near, and when
the storm clouds arise, and the war clouds approach, even then
we can feel free and quiet, and be satisfied that all is right in
Israel. It is only for us to be ready to do our duty, to serve
our president with all our heart, with all our might, with all
our feelings, with all our property and energies, and with all
things that the Lord has put into our hands. Let the power
that God has put into our hands be used; for herein lies a
continued advancement in dominion, in power and in knowl-
edge. We should be ready at all times to exercise all the
power, means and influence we possess in the service of our
God, and resignedly follow out the directions of our presi-
dent and those that are appointed over us. Let us be like
little children, ready and willing to do as we are commanded
by the powers that we should obey." — Journal of Discourses,
vol. 5, p. 314.

Heber C. Kimball said, September 6, 1856: "The church

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 291

and kingdom to which we belong will become the kingdom of
our God and his Christ, and Bro. Brigham Young will become
President of the United States. (Voices responded, Amen.)
And I tell you he will be something more: but we do not now
want to give him the name: but he is called and ordained to
a far greater station than that, and he is foreordained to
take that station, and he has got it; and I am vice-president,
and Brother Wells is the Secretary of the Interior, yes, and
of all the armies in the flesh. You don't believe that, but I
can tell you it is one of the smallest things that I can think of.
You may think that I am joking, but I am perfectly willing
that Brother Long should write every word of it; for I can
see it just as naturally as I see the earth and the productions
thereof." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, p. 219.

Brigham Young, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 26, 1857: "May
the Almighty bless you! May the peace of God be with you
and upon your children and your children's children for ever
and ever. And may God Almighty curse our enemies (Voices:
'Amen'). I feel to curse my enemies; and when God won't
bless them, I do not think he will ask me to bless them. If I
did, it would be to put the poor cusses to death who have
brought death and destruction on me and my brethren — upon
my wives and my children that I buried on the road between
the States and this place. Did I ever wrong them, a man
or woman of them, out of a dime? No; but I have fed thou-
sands where I never received a dime. Poor, rotten cusses!
And the President of the United States, inasmuch as he has
turned against us and will take a course to persist in pleas-
ing the ungodly cusses that are howling around him for the
destruction of this people, he shall be cursed, in the name of
Israel's God, and he shall not rule over this nation, because
they are my brethren; but they have cast me out and cast you
out; and I curse him and all his coadjutors in his cursed deeds
in the name of Jesus Christ and by the authority of the Holy
Priesthood; and all Israel shall say amen. Send twenty-five
hundred troops here, our brethren, to make a desolation of
this people! God Almighty helping me, I will fight until there

292 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

is not a drop of blood in my veins. Good God! I have wives
enough to whip out the United States; for they will whip
themselves. Amen." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, p. 95.

Again, in April, 1852: "I am the controller and master
of affairs here, under heaven's direction; though there are
those who do not believe this." — Journal of Discourses, vol. 1,
p. 48.

We, Elder E. C. Briggs and Joseph B. Smith, certify that
the above quotations are a correct copy and are as they are
written in the respective books, and all the quotations except
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12, (which were copied by Elder Alvin
Knisley and Elder J. D. Stead,) were copied and proof read by
us and we testify that they are a true verbatim copy.
(Signed)

JOSEPH B. SMITH.
E. C. BRIGGS.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 31st day of October,
1907. JUNIUS B. SMITH,

Notary Public.

My commission expires October 3, 1908.
[SEAL]

JOSEPH SMITH SUCCESSOR OF HIS FATHER BY
DIVINE APPOINTMENT.

Joseph Smith being sworn testified : "I remember my father
laying his hands on my head, and saying to the people that
this was his successor, or was to be his successor. I remem-
ber some of the parties that were on the stand, ... I do
not remember all of them. William Marks, George J. Adams,
and I think Willard Richards were on the stand at the time."
— Plaintiff's Abstract, p. 41.

James Whitehead, being sworn, testified: "I took the posi-
tion of private secretary to Joseph Smith on the llth day of
June, 1842. . . . My duties were to keep his correspondence,
letters, books, and everything of that nature belonging to the
office, as his secretary. . . . Held that position until he was
killed, the 27th day of June, 1844. ... I recollect a meeting

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 293

that was held in the winter of 1843, at Nauvoo, Illinois, prior
to Joseph Smith's death, at which the appointment was made
by him, Joseph Smith, of his successor. His son Joseph was
selected as his successor. Joseph Smith did the talking. There
were present Joseph and Hyrum Smith, John Taylor, and some
others who also spoke on the subject; there were twenty-five
I suppose at the meeting. ... He was ordained and appointed
at that meeting. Hyrum Smith, the patriarch, anointed him,
and Joseph his father blessed him and ordained him, and
Newel K. Whitney poured the oil on his head, and he was
set apart to be his father's successor in office, holding all the
powers that his father held. I can not tell all the persons
that were present, there was a good many there. John Taylor
and Willard Richards, they were two of the 'twelve,' Ebenezer
Robinson was present, and George J. Adams, Alpheus Cutler,
and Reynolds Cahoon. . . . The church did take action as a
body on the question of the ordination of young Joseph as his
father's successor; the church consented to it. ... There was
a vote taken, the congregation voted and agreed to the ap-
pointment. . . . The authority for selection and ordination of
Joseph Smith to be his father's successor in office was by
revelation."— Ibid., pp. 28, 30, 31, 33, 36.

John H. Thomas, being sworn, testified: "The spring con-
ference was held on the 6th of April (1847, at Florence, Ne-
braska) . At that conference the main question at issue was,
that none of Joseph Smith's family were along. At that time
we understood and believed, as we do to-day, that Joseph's
family, or the head of his posterity rather, young Joseph,
should be the successor of his father. We understood that
would be the case, and all attempts by Brigham Young to
get any of his family to accompany him were failures.
Brigham had offered inducements, all that could be offered;
but they would not go." — Ibid., p. 255.

W. W. Blair, being sworn, testified: "That ordination was
based, first, upon the laiv of lineage; and second, on the
prophecy to which I have alluded. I mean the prophecy in
the Book of Covenants in regard to the 'seed of Joseph,' or

294 PARSONS' TEX'0 BOOK

the 'head of his posterity' ; and based furthermore upon the
inspired utterances that were delivered by members of the
church in northern Illinois and in the State of Wisconsin as
early as 1851; or I should say, prophecies that were delivered
in Illinois and Wisconsin as early as 1851, and also that were
delivered from that time along down until 1860, all pointing
to the fact that Joseph Smith would come to the church and
become its president." — Ibid., p. 142.

John H. Carter, sr., being sworn, testified: "I was present
at a meeting in the city of Nauvoo. . . . It was held in the
Bowery, right north of the Temple. . . . Joseph Smith came
on the stand leading his son, young Joseph, and they sat
him down on a bench at the Prophet's right hand and Joseph
got up and began to preach and talk to the people, and the
question he said was asked by somebody, 'If Joseph Smith
should be killed or die, who would be his successor?' And he
turned around and said, pointing to his son, There is the
successor,' and he went on and said, 'My work is pretty nearly
done.' "—Ibid., pp. 180, 181.

James Whitehead, being sworn: "Brigham Young said to
me at different times, 'I am not the leader of the church, nor
a prophet of the church; we know who that is, it is Joseph, the
son of Joseph the Martyr.' " — Plaintiff's Abstract, p. 36.

Brigham Young said: "For it is the legal right, in God's
kingdom, for the oldest son to minister, and obtain blessings
for his father, and act for his father when he is gone into the
eternal world."— Ninth General Epistle of the Twelve, Salt
Lake City, April 13, 1853.— Millennial Star, vol. 15, p. 440.

Brigham Young said: "Right of heirship in the priest-
hood. . . . This right did belong, still belongs, and for ever will
belong, to the firstborn son in every family of Adam's race.
. . . This I wish the Latter Day Saints to understand a little
better than they have heretofore." — Millennial Star, vol. 15,
p. 493.

TEMPLE NOT FINISHED.

At the dedication of the Saint George Temple, January 1,
1877, Brigham Young said: "We built one in Nauvoo. I

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 295

could pick out several men before me now, that were there
when it was built, and know just how much was finished, and
what was done. It is true we left brethren there with instruc-
tions to finish it, and they got it nearly completed before it
was burned, but the Saints did not enjoy it." — Millennial Star,
vol. 39, p. 118.

He said in August 31, 1856: "Have you ever seen a temple
finished since this church commenced? You have not." — Man-
ual of the Priesthood, p. 118.

Brigham Young said in Salt Lake City, February 14, 1853:
"Suffice it to say, to this congregation, that we shall attempt
to build a temple to the name of our God. This has been*
attempted several times, but we have never yet had the
privilege of completing and enjoying one." — Journal of Dis-
courses, vol. 1, p. 277.

BRIGHAM YOUNG ADMITS THERE WAS NO COM-
MANDMENT.

Millennial Star, volume 15, page 391, says: "Some might
query whether a revelation had been given to build a house
to the Lord, but he is a wicked and slothful servant who doeth
nothing but what his Lord commandeth, when he knoweth
his Master's will. I know a temple is needed, and so do
you; and when we know a thing, why do we need a revelation
to compel us to do that thing? If the Lord and all the people
want a revelation, I can give one concerning this temple."
—Saints' Herald, August 14, 1907.

JOSEPH F. SMITH PAVES THE WAY FOR
SUCCESSION.

The following quotation from the Salt Lake Tribune for
March 15 throws some light on movements going on within
the Utah church. To us it seems a very late afterthought
to seek "the mind of the Spirit of God" upon the subject.
The Reorganization years ago sought and learned the "mind
of the Spirit."

"The Smiths are evidently aroused to a sense of danger

296 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

to their dynasty. Smith, senior — prophet, seer and revelator
of the polygamous cult — not being in good form to answer
opponents of his right to the presidential succession in his
church, has put up one of the Smithlets; and for the same
reason that doubtful plays are tried in provincial towns
before being trusted in Broadway houses, the initial argument
was opened at Ogden in the local tabernacle there.

"During forty years it was the practice of the Utah Mor-
mon church to ignore the Reorganized Church, refusing
debates to its elders and assuming an air of superiority and
conclusiveness in the matter of the succession. Evidently
•the carrying of the war into Africa by the Reorganized elders
has set the Joseph F. Smith family all atremble for their
crown; and silence is no longer deemed to be sufficiently
effective.

"The argument of the Reorganized Church is that the Utah
church has never had the right of succession to the presi-
dential office; that it was bestowed by revelation to the
original Joseph upon a son of that Joseph. A peculiar
confirmation of this idea was put forth by Joseph F. Smith
himself in the special conference which was convened in the
big tabernacle in Salt Lake City on November 10, 1901. As
reported in the Deseret News, the following is a part of
Joseph F. Smith's address on that occasion:

" 'I desire to read a little from the revelation in relation
to the order of the holy priesthood, that you may understand
our views concerning adhering as nearly as we can to the
holy order of government that has been established by reve-
lation through the Prophet Joseph Smith in the dispensation
of the fullness of times. We can not deny the fact that the
Lord has effected one of the most perfect organizations in
this church that ever existed upon the earth. T do not know
of any more perfect organization than exists in the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to-day. We have not
always carried out strictly the order of the priesthood; we
have varied from it to some extent; but we hope in due time
that by the promptings of the Holy Spirit we will be led up

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 297

into the exact channel and course that the Lord has marked
out for us to pursue, and adhere strictly to the order that
he has established. I will read from a revelation that was
given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, at Nauvoo, Hancock
County, Illinois, January 19, 1841; which stands as the law
of the church in relation to the presentation of the authorities
of the holy priesthood as they are established in the church,
and from which I feel that we have no right to depart. The
Lord says:

" ' "First, I give unto you Hyrum Smith, to be a patriarch
unto you, to hold the sealing blessings of my church, even the
Holy Spirit of promise, whereby ye are sealed up unto the
day of redemption, that ye may not fall, notwithstanding the
hour of temptation that may come upon you."

" 'It may be considered strange that the Lord should give
first of all the patriarch; yet I do not know of any law, any
revelation or any commandment from God to the contrary,
that has ever been given through any of the prophets or
presidents of the church. At the same time we well know
that this order has not been strictly followed from the day
we came into these valleys until now — and we will not make
any change at present. But we will first take it into con-
sideration; we will pray over it; we will get the mind of the
Spirit of God upon it, as upon other subjects, and be united
before we take any action different to that which has been
done.'

"Significant in itself, the utterance acquires additional
emphasis from the well-known fact that the Smiths had been
jealous of the Youngs and all other successors to the presi-
dency, from the time of the death of the Prophet Joseph, the
founder of the faith — until the day when Joseph F. came
to the throne and when Hyrum, his own son, as prince im-
perial, was seated on the steps of the throne, ready to seize
the scepter when it should fall from the hand of his venerable
sire. That jealous feeling and the long and sullen rage with
which Joseph F. waited for his day, are well known to old
timers in Utah. The remarks of Joseph F. at the special

298 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

conference must be read with the understanding that he felt
that the crown had been placed upon his own brow after
years of usurpation by unauthorized kings and prophets. If
the right order had not been followed, as he claimed, then
the wrong order must have been followed; and as he inti-
mated, the presidents intervening between Joseph and Joseph
F. had been usurpers. So far then, Joseph F., the prophet,
sustains the case of the Reorganized Church against what
the Reorganized element called the Brighamite church. Joseph
F. Smith was willing to discredit the reign of Brigham Young
and his successors, but was not willing to impeach his own
title; and therefore, he harked back to an old and almost
forgotten pretended revelation in which his own father was
set at the head of things in this dispensation by the pretended
voice of the Almighty.

"Joseph F. came to the presidency as a successor to Brig-
ham's successors; and, with Brigham's title overthrown,
Joseph F.'s title would go with the overthrow but for his
discovery of another and antedating legitimacy of title. Hav-
ing fixed the right within his family to rule, he clumsily
left the question, with the intimation that he would proceed
no further with the restoration of the proper order until
such time as divine enlightenment should come. The manner
indeed was clumsy, but the purpose was cunning. If the
right to rule is in the Hyrum Smith branch of the Smith
family, then Hy rum's eldest s'on, who is John Smith, the
patriarch, is the chief figure of the Mormon church and king-
dom; and Joseph F., claiming the title of legitimacy over the
usurpation of Brigham Young, becomes himself a usurper
over his brother John. It was well, therefore, that he paused
immediately at the point of establishing himself firmly upon
the throne or the kingdom and fixing his own legitimacy
as ruler by his descent from Hyrum, the patriarch, without
going into further particulars, the exposure of which would
have clearly designated his brother John as the first in the
kingdom.

"The Reorganized Church has now a better opportunity

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 299

than ever before to attack succession in the Utah Mormon
church; for Joseph F. Smith, the present head, has practically
admitted that the rule of Brigham and his successors was one
of usurpation. They have still added opportunity from the
fact that, by Joseph F.'s own theory, he himself is in an
additional sense a usurper.

"Also, it is now clear why the young Smithlets are put
on guard at various points to defend the title. One Gerard
J. S. Abels, of Ogden, a former missionary of the Utah
church to Holland, a man who has been twice trusted by
his church in that important field, has renounced the Utah
Mormon church on the ground that, as admitted by Joseph
F., the church is a usurper of succession to the presidency
and prophetship. This was one of the momentous events
which created the present crucial issue.

"It would be a satire worthy of the whole scheme if Joseph
F., after overthrowing the Brighamite usurpation in order
to defend himself against the charges of the Reorganized
Church and to vindicate his own family pride and vanity,
should make such a strong case that his brother John would
find, established for him, a clear title to the throne — and the
treasury."— Salt Lake Tribune, March 15, 1907.— The Saints'
Herald, March 27, 1907.

TESTIMONY IN COURT AS TO THE SUCCESSOR.

•

W. W. Blair, being sworn, testified: "That is the para-
graph. It says: 'This anointing have I put upon his head,
that his blessing shall also be put upon the head of his poster-
ity after him.' That we understand to mean the ministerial
blessings, and to comprehend the presidency of the church.
The prophetic office is confirmed in this, 'That his blessing
shall also be put upon the head of his posterity after him.'
According to the construction we put upon this, and we believe
it to be correct, 'the head of his posterity' is his eldest son. In
case the eldest son dies, the next son in point of lineage would
then be the eldest son. That follows as a natural consequence.
That is not simply my conclusion. I understand the head of

300 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

a man's posterity, if he has half a dozen sons, may be John
to-day, and if John dies to-day, to-morrow it may be Thomas,
who is the next son in point of succession. In case John was
the eldest and he dies, the next oldest son is the head of his
posterity. I understand that to be the law as laid down in
the section I have read, and it is the law of common sense too.
And it is a fact that if the eldest son dies, having a son
himself, the right goes to that son — that is true; but in this
case, we have been speaking of direct succession from father
to son, and that is the subject that my answers have been
limited to. By direct succession, after this right passes from
the eldest son from the father, then the authority develops in
that son, as a matter of course; and if that eldest son dies
having a son, and all other conditions are favorable accord-
ing to the law, that son inherits from his father in the same
manner as his father inherited before him. . . . Yes, sir, I
have said it is laid down in our standard books, beyond
question, that the office descends from father to son, and it
descends to the eldest. It goes to him because the eldest son
holds the birthright."— Plaintiff's Abstract, pp. 116, 117.

Stenhouse says: "From the death of the founder of
Mormonism, the Saints had their attention riveted on 'the
seed' of the Prophet, and expected that some day the young
man, Joseph, would be the head of the church. Brigham had
fostered this faith in the Saints for some years, but when
in 1860 young Joseph was chosen president of the Reorganized
church, and publicly denounced Brigham, '. , . David H. was
to be the man." — Stenhouse's work, p. 628.

Joseph Smith, to Hon. J. C. Calhoun, said: "While I have
powers of body and mind; while water runs and grass grows;
while virtue is lovely, and vice hateful; and while a stone
points out a sacred spot where a fragment of American liberty
once was; I, or my posterity will plead the cause of injured
innocence, until Missouri makes atonement for all her sins."
— Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 395.

The foregoing statements are confirmed by court decisions
as follows:

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 301

COURT FINDINGS.

"In court of common pleas, Lake County, Ohio, Febru-
ary 23, 1880. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints, plaintiff, vs. Lucien Williams, Joseph
Smith, Sarah F. Videon, M. H. Forscutt, the church in Utah,
of which John Taylor is president, and commonly known as
the 'Mormon church,' defendants. . . . Whereof the court do
find as matters of fact:

"Notice was given to the defendants ... as required by
the statutes of the State of Ohio. . . . *That there was organ-
ized on the 6th day of April, 1830, at Palmyra, in the State
of New York, by Joseph Smith, a religious society, under
the name of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints," . . . and was founded upon certain well-defined doc-
trines which were set forth in the Bible, Book of Mormon,
and Book of Doctrine and Covenants. . , . That the said plain-
tiff, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, is a religious society founded and organized upon the
same doctrines and tenets and having the same church organ-
ization as the original church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints organized in 1830 by Joseph Smith, and was organized
pursuant to the constitution, laws and usages of said original
church. . . . That the church in Utah, the defendant, . . .
has materially and largely departed from the faith, doctrines,
laws, ordinances and usages of said original church, . . . and
has incorporated into its system of faith the doctrines of
celestial marriage and a plurality of wives, and the doctrine
of Adam-god worship, conrary to the laws and constitution
of said original church. And the court do further find that
the plaintiff, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints, is the true and lawful continuation of, and suc-
cessor to the said original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints, organized in 1830, and is entitled in law to all
its rights and property.' '

"In the circuit court of the United States, for the western
division of the western district of Missouri, the Reorganized

302 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints vs. the Church
of Christ, et al.

"Statement of case.

"The courts will adjudge the property 'to the members,
however few in numbers they may be,' who adhere to -the
form of church government, or acknowledge the church con-
nection, for which the property was acquired." (Judge
Strong's lecture on Relation of Civil Law to Church Property,
pages 49-59.)

"Justice Caton in Ferraria et al. vs. Vanconcellos et al.,
31 111., 54, 55, aptly states the rule to be, 'That, where a
church is erected for the use of a particular denomination or
religious persuasion, a majority of the members can not aban-
don the tenets and doctrines of the denomination and retain
the right to the use of the property; but such secessionists
forfeit all right to the property, even if but a single member
adheres to the original faith and doctrine of the church. This
rule is founded in reason and justice. . . . Those who adhere to
the original tenets and doctrines, for the promulgation of
which a church has been erected, are the sole beneficiaries de-
signed by the donors; and those who depart from and abandon
those tenets and doctrines cease to be beneficiaries, and forfeit
all claim to the title and use of such property.'

"No matter, therefore, if the church at Nauvoo became a
prey to schisms, after the death of Joseph Smith, and pre-
sented'as many frightful heads as did the dragon which the
Apostle John saw in his vision on the Isle of Patmos, if there
was one righteous left in Sodom, the promise of the covenant
of the law of the land is to him. It is neither good law nor
Bible history to say that because the Saints became scattered
and without an organism, the faithful lost the benefit of
the church property. Forsooth the children of Israel were
carried captive to Babylon, — 'the mother of harlots and abom-
inations of the earth,' — they did not cease to be children of
the covenant, nor lose their interest in Jerusalem.

"A considerable number of the officers and members of the
church at Nauvoo did not ally themselves with any of the

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 303

factions, and wherever they were they held onto the faith,
refused to follow Brigham Young to Utah, and ever repudi-
ated the doctrine of polygamy, which was the great rock of
offense on which the church split after the death of Joseph
Smith.

"In 1852 the scattered fragments of the church, the rem-
nants of those who held to the fortunes of the present Joseph
Smith, son of the so-called 'Martyr,' gathered together suffi-
ciently for a nucleus of organization. They took the name of
'The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints,' and avowed their allegiance to the teachings of the
ancient church; and their epitome of faith adopted, while
containing differences in phraseology, in its essentials is but
a reproduction of that of the church as it existed from 1830
to 1844. To-day they are twenty-five thousand strong.

"It is charged by the respondents, as an echo of the Utah
church, that Joseph Smith, 'the Martyr,' secretly taught and
practiced polygamy; and the Utah contingent furnishes the
evidence, and two of the women, to prove this fact. It perhaps
would be uncharitable to say of these women that they have
borne false testimony as to their connection with Joseph
Smith; but, in view of all the evidence and circumstances
surrounding the alleged intercourse, it is difficult to escape
the conclusion that at most they were but sports in 'nest
hiding.' In view of the contention of the Salt Lake party,
that polygamy obtained at Nauvoo as early as 1841, it must
be a little embarrassing to President Woodruff, of that organ-
ization, when he is confronted, as he was in the evidence in
this case, with a published card in the church organ at
Nauvoo in October, 1843, certifying that he knew of no other
rule or system of marriage than the one published in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and that the 'secret wife
system,' charged against the church, was a creature of inven-
tion by one Doctor Bennett, and that they knew of no such
society. That certificate was signed by the leading members
of the church, including John Taylor, the former president
of the Utah church. And a similar certificate was published

304 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

by the Ladies' Relief Society of the same place, signed by
Emma Smith, the wife of Joseph Smith, and Phoebe Wood-
ruff, wife of the present President Woodruff. No such mar-
riage ever occurred under the rules of the church, and no off-
spring came from the imputed illicit intercourse, although
Joseph Smith was in the full vigor of young manhood, and
his wife, Emma, was giving birth to healthy children in
regular order, and was enciente at the time of Joseph's death.

"But if it were conceded that Joseph Smith, and Hyrum,
his brother, did secretly practice concubinage, is the church
to be charged with those liaisons, and the doctrine of polyg-
amy to be predicated thereon of the church? If so, I suspect
the doctrine of polygamy might be imputed to many of the
Gentile churches. Certainly it was never promulgated, taught,
nor recognized, as a doctrine of the church prior to the
assumption of Brigham Young.

"It is next charged against complainant church that it
has added to the articles of faith other revelations of the
divine will, alleged to have been made to Joseph Smith, the
present head of complainant church. If so, how can this be
held to be heretical, or a departure, when in the epitome of
faith of the ancient church, is this article, 'We believe all
that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we
believe that he will yet reveal many great and important
things pertaining to the kingdom of God?' And in the Book
of Doctrine and Covenants, paragraph 2, section 14, it is
taught that such revelations might come through him whom
the prophet might ordain.

"In the very nature of the doctrine of the church, that God
in the fullness of time makes known his will to the church by
revelation, additional revelations were to be expected. No
specification is made by learned counsel as to wherein the
alleged new revelations declare any doctrine at variance with
that taught in antecedent revelations.

"It is next charged that the complainants have a new
Bible. The basis for this is that Joseph Smith, the founder
of the church, was as early as 1830 engaged in a translation

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 305

of the Bible, which he is alleged to have completed about 1833
or 1834. This work seems to have been recognized also in a
revelation in section 13, paragraph 15, and in section 58. The
evidence shows that this manuscript was kept by his wife
and delivered to the present Joseph Smith, her son, and was
published by a committee of the church. It is not claimed by
Joseph Smith that this translation is a substitute for the
King James' translation, nor has it been made to appear that
it inculcates any new religious tenet different from that of
the ancient church. In this day of multifarious and free
translations of the Bible it should hardly be imputed a heresy
in this church to take some liberties with the virgin Greek
and Hebrew. It is also charged that the complainant church
has only eleven representing the Quorum of Twelve. I be-
lieve the New Testament records it as a historical fact that
'Peter stood up with the eleven,' after the apostasy of Judas
Iscariot. There is nothing in the code of the present church
to prevent the filling out of the 'Twelve.'

"There are some other minor objections to the present
organization, the answer to which is so obvious that it scarcely
need be made.

"Who are the respondents and in what do they believe?
Looking at their answer in this case, and their evidence, the
idea occurs that in theory they are ecclesiastical nondescripts,
and in practice 'squatter sovereigns.' They repudiate po-
lygamy while looking to Salt Lake City for succor. They
deny in their answer that this property was ever bought for
the church, or impressed with a trust therefor, and yet, when
their head men were on the witness stand they swore they
are a part and parcel of the original church, founded and
inspired by Joseph Smith, 'the Martyr,' and that to-day they
hold the property in question in trust for that church.

"They are commonly called 'Hedrickites' because their
head is Granville Hedrick, who himself was a member of
complainant organization as minister, and participated ac-
tively in its General Conference as late as 1857, receiving the
'right hand of fellowship,' and moving the conference to work?

306 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

of evangelization in his region of the country. It is inferable
from the testimony in this case that they reject measurably
the standard Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and according
to the testimony of respondent Hill they 'repudiate the doc-
trine taught by the church in general after 1833, 1834, and
1835.' And also the law relating to 'tithes and offerings,'
and the doctrine of baptism for the dead, which were taught
by the mother church. They also seem to reject the law
relating to the Presidency, and of 'the Twelve Traveling
High Council/' and also 'the quorum of Seventy Evangelists.'
"They are but a small band, and their seizure of the
Temple Lot, and attempt thus to divert the trust, invoke the
interposition of a court of equity to establish the trust and
prevent its perversion.

"Laches.

"It is urged by respondents that the claim of complainant
is stale, and that a court of equity will not afford relief where
party complaining has been guilty of laches. There are
several answers to this objection. In the first place, this is
an express trust in favor of complainant, arising on the
Partridge deed of 1839. The statute of limitation does not
run against an express trust. There was no repudiation of
the trust by the trustees. Laches is a question determined by
the circumstances of the particular case.

"The delay in bringing this action is not inexcusable. The
beneficiaries of the trust were driven from the State in
1838-39 by military force, and were not permitted to return to
the State. A public hostile feeling and sentiment were excited
against them, which would have blazed up from the slum-
bering fires at any time thereafter prior to the civil war, had
they returned here and attempted to occupy this property. No
one better knew this than the respondents when they laid
hands to this property. The complainants were not here 'to
stand by' while parties were giving and receiving deeds to this
property. No improvements were made on, and no visible
possession taken of, the Temple Lot, until 1882, within ten
years of the institution of this suit, and when the trust deed

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 307

had been of record twelve years. Up to this hostile action of
respondents the complainant had a right to assume that the
trust character of this property was intact, and that the lot
was open for their entry at any time when the auspicious
hour came to build on it.

"In the language of Chief Justice Fuller in Simmons Creek
Coal Company vs. Doran, 142 U. S. 444, 'There was no delay,
therefore, in the assertion of its rights after they were in-
vaded.' See also Burke vs. Bachus (Minnesota), 53 N. W.
Rep. 458.

"A court of equity has jurisdiction in this case. It belongs
to it to remove clouds from title, ''the relief being granted on
the principle of quia timet.' It is peculiarly its province in
a case like this to vindicate the trust, to determine the real
beneficiaries of the trust estate, and to prevent its diversion.

"Decree will go in favor of complainant, establishing the
trust in its favor against respondents, removing the cloud
from the title, enjoining respondents from asserting title to
the property, and awarding the possession to the complainant.

"I, John F. Philips, Judge of the Circuit Court of the
United States for the Western Division of the Western Dis-
trict of Missouri, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a
copy of the opinion handed down by me in the above entitled
cause.

"Witness my hand this 16th day of March, A. D. 1894.

"JOHN F. PHILIPS, Judge"

REORGANIZED CHURCH IN CANADIAN COURTS.

The Decision.

"Reg. v. Dickhout. — J. C. Cartwright, Q. C., and Dymond
for the Crown. W. M. German (Welland) for the defendant.
Case stated by the police magistrate for the town of Niagara
Falls, before whom the defendant was charged for that he
did on the 19th of May, 1893, at that town, unlawfully and
without lawful authority, solemnize a marriage between
Abraham H. Taylor and Alice E. Vance. The question raised
by the case was whether the defendant as a priest of The,

308 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,'
was entitled as a minister of 'a church or denomination'
within the meaning of R. S. O., ch. 131, sec. 1, (to solemnize
a marriage). Counsel for the crown contended as Chris-
tianity was part of the law of the province, the words of the
statute must be read as meaning 'Christian church or denomi-
nation,' and that the body in question was not a Christian
body. At the conclusion of the argument the judgment of the
court was delivered by C. J. Armour, as follows: 'We think
it quite clear that this conviction can not be maintained. The
defendant was clearly a duly ordained minister of this reli-
gious body, and there is no doubt that it is a religious denomi-
nation within the words of the statute. Assuming that Chris-
tianity is the law of the land in a sense, there is nothing
contrary to Christianity in the tenets of this body. It is
true they have something supplemental to the Bible, but that
is the case with every church or denomination. The Church
of England has its creeds and the Presbyterian Church its
confession. That does not make the church an anti-Christian
one. The statute does not say "Christian," but "religious." If
it said "Christian" it would exclude Jews. The fundamental
law of the country makes no distinction between churches or
denominations. Every person is at liberty to worship his
Maker in the way he pleases. We have, or ought to have, in
this country perfect freedom of speech and perfect freedom of
worship. Conviction quashed.'

"Chief Justice Armour, and other judges concurring, said:
" '/ have read the evidence over, and find nothing contrary
to the doctrine of Christ in the teaching of the Reorganized
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.' 'The great
trouble is, the Latter Day Saints' doctrine is Christian in the
highest sense, and the rest of the religious world is opposed
to them because they (the Saints) cling so closely to the
Bible.' 'It seems as though it is jealousy not justice, that
moves the action in this case/ 'But these people teach that
one man should have one wife only, and they stand by that.'
'The doctrine of this church is surely according to the Bible.'

• PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 309

'God has a body.' 'Yes, they teach that God has body, parts,
and passions.' 'I think that doctrine very elementary.' 'Does
not the Bible say that God made man in his own image?
Now, I am a man; I have a body. This point appears to be
in their favor.' 'I am surprised to see this trial, it seems as
if some of the Christians are wanting to go back to the dark
ages; they would have us try heresy here.' 'This is not prose-
cution but persecution.'

"Referring to the R. S. 0., ch,. 131, sec. 1, which says,
'The ministers or clergymen of every church, or religious
denomination, and resident in Ontario, duly ordained or ap-
pointed, may solemnize the ceremony of marriage'; etc., the
learned Chief Justice said:

" 'This clause of the statute is very plain, and was not
written for the benefit of any one denomination, but for the
protection of all.'

"After hearing the argument for the crown he said that it
was not necessary to hear the counsel for the defense, as the
case was clear to the court, that defendant in this case had
the right to solemnize marriage." — Herald, pp. 806, 807.

The foregoing statement as clipped from Saints' Herald
was certified to by Elder R. C. Evans as being correct in
main, as he took it at the time as per statement and findings
of the court, which was ratified by Elder H. C. Smith in letter
in Herald.

Bro. R. C. Evans' letter to me above referred to was writ-
ten October 24, 1906.

POLYGAMY PERMISSIBLE.

Made so by the act of the Congress of the Presbyterian, the
London Church Missionary, and the Baptist Missionary so-
cieties, at Calcutta in 1834, to-wit: "If a convert before be-
coming a Christian had married more wives than one, he shall
be permitted to keep them all, though he shall not be eligible
to any office in the church. In no other case is polygamy to be
tolerated among Christians." — Brown's History of Missions,
vol. 3, pp. 365, 366. (Quoted from Saints' Herald, vol. 51,
August 10, 1904.

310 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1899: "The last day's
session of the Presbyterian General Assembly opened this
morning with a crowded docket. An overture from the Synod
of India, asking for a reply to the memorial upon the subject
of baptizing polygamous converts, was considered. The Mo-
hammedan was admitted to the church and he was allowed to
retain both wives and houses. . . . Doctor Morrison, repre-
senting the synod trial cases and special legislation, held
that the recognition of polygamous marriages by the church
in India was an absolute necessity. 'Any other rule,' said he,
'would rule David out of the church.' " — Kansas City Mail.
(Quoted from Faulty Creeds, pp. 52, 53.)

POLYGAMY AND FOREIGN MISSIONS.

"Under the above heading the Literary Digest dated June
16, 1906, discusses one of the peculiarities of the marriage
question that has been met in foreign lands by one of the
religious bodies, and especially it gives account of the way
one of the missionaries of that sect views the situation. His
view of the matter shows how men hold that they are com-
pelled by circumstances, in the prosecution of their proselyting
work, to advocate certain allowances and to tolerate the cus-
toms and practices of people which they would look upon
with great horror under other circumstances. And perhaps
they would make no allowance if the same conditions were
met by other proselyting bodies rather than by themselves.

"Rev. H. H. White, a Presbyterian missionary in China, who
boldly advocates such allowance in the following words:

" 'Inasmuch as when one in ignorance of the law of God has
the responsibilities of a husband to more than one wife or
concubine, to retract his course would be more sinful than to
remain in it; therefore, in the oase of apparently genuine
repentance on the part of such a one, he should be received
into the church with due instruction as to the heinousness
of his sin, warning as to the future, and being reckoned as in-
eligible to hold office in the church.'

" 'In taking these women as wives or concubines the man

. PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 311

assumes responsibility for their welfare which he can not
evade without sin, and sin made more grievous by the awful
consequences thereof. What can he do with her? Send her
back home? He will have all he can do to escape the vengeance
of her family for disgracing her, without expecting them to
assume the burden of her support and the odium of her dis-
grace. . . . Can he not set her aside on an alimony, some
American will say. And then what is she? Not a wife, not
a widow, not a maid; what but a helpless, defenseless,
tempted, degraded, embittered woman, a bit of humanity at the
mercy of the unprincipled.'

" 'Nor is there any practical danger of its setting a prece-
dent or lowering the standard of the church in China. The
cases are few, and even when they are admitted, so stringently
is the sinfulness of the relation impressed that the isolated
cases are a warning rather than an encouragement.' " — Saints'
Herald of September 12, 1906, from an article by Elder H. A.
Stebbins.

POLYGAMY PERMISSIBLE IN THE CHRISTIAN OR
CAMPBELLITE CHURCH.

Rev. B. W. Johnson, in answer to question on the marriage
problem, said: "The gospel took men as it found them, and
told them to go and sin no more. We not only find traces
of these things in the epistles, but even of a man having more
than one wife. It seems to have been the inspired policy to
exercise the greatest possible toleration. When a man with
two wives was converted he was not required to wrong one
by putting her away, but at the same time the disapproval
of the church was placed on his marriage relations by making
him ineligible to office in the church." — Christian Evangelist,
March 30, 1893.

This is confirmed as his statement and his ability and
qualification to speak intelligently upon such matters by Rev.
J. H. Garrison, editor of the aforesaid periodical, in a letter
to D. A. Holcomb, of Dunlap, Iowa, as furnished me by J. F.
Mintun, through C. J. Hunt: "Replying to your inquiry of

312 . PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

the 24th inst., as to the author of the answer to the query
in the Christian Evangelist of March 30, 1893, signed 'J,'
would say that beyond doubt Bro. B. W. Johnson, then one
of the editors of the paper, was the author of the comment.
This is evident (1) from the fact that the question is ad-
dressed to Brother Johnson; (2) that it is signed by his
initial, j, and (3) it is written in his style and expresses what
I am sure would have been his views of the case."

In the catalogue of the Christian Publishing Company I
find this in confirmation of his ability: "Probably no one
could be named in the Christian Church so well fitted for the
task of preparation, in all respects, as B. W. Johnson. His
reputation as a Bible scholar is too well known to require
a word. His life has been devoted to Bible study, and his
work for years has been the preparation of Bible notes.
Scholarly, studious, full of reverence for the Bible, devout,
with eminent power of clear, strong expression in the fewest
possible words, conspicuous for his knowledge of the history,
geography and customs of Bible times, and also for his insight
into the deep, spiritual meaning of the sacred text, he presents
a rare combination of qualities for this work." — Page 35.

(This last statement was furnished by Bishop C. J. Hunt.)

JOSEPH SMITH THE SEER'S VIEWS OF SECRECIES.

Joseph Smith the Seer said: "We further caution our
brethren against the impropriety of the organization of bands
or companies by covenants, oaths, penalties, or secrecies; but
let the time past of our experience and sufferings by the
wickedness of Doctor Avard suffice, and let our covenants be
that of the everlasting covenant, as it is contained in the
Holy Writ; and the things which God has revealed unto us;
pure friendship always becomes weakened the very moment
you undertake to make it stronger by penal oaths and secrecy.
Your humble servants intend from henceforth to disapprobate
everything that is not in accordance with the fullness of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, and which is not of a bold, frank, and
upright nature; they will not hold their peace as in times

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 313

past when they see iniquity beginning to rear its head, for
fear of traitors, or the consequences that shall follow, from
reproving those who creep in unawares that they may get
something to destroy the flock." Signed by Joseph Smith,
jr., Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, Alexander
McRae. — Church History, vol. 2, p. 324. This is said to have
been written while they were incarcerated in Liberty jail,
March 20, 1839. — Times and Seasons, vol. 1, pp. 183, 134 •

HISTORICAL EVENTS CONCERNING THE RISE AND
REORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH.

Joseph Smith was born December 23, 1805. In March, 1820,
during a religious revival at Palmyra, New York, he prayed
to God for wisdom, and then saw his first vision.

1823, September 21, Joseph was visited by the angel Moroni,
who told him of the plates. The next day he was permitted
to see them.

1827, September 22, he received the plates of the Book of
Mormon.

1828, in February, Martin Harris took to Professor Anthon
and Doctor Mitchill, or New York, a transcript of the char-
acters.

1829, May 15, the Aaronic priesthood was conferred upon
Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by John the Baptist, and
they baptized each other, and also Samuel H. Smith, and in
June, Hyrum Smith, and David and Peter Whitmer. After
that others were baptized. In July the plates were shown to
three and then to eight witnesses.

1830, April 6, the church was organized with six members
present as follows: Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Samuel
H. Smith, Hyrum Smith, David and Peter Whitmer, at Fay-
ette, Seneca County, New York. Joseph Smith, sr., and
Martin Harris, baptized the same day. June 1, a conference
was held at the same place, thirty members present.

1844, June 27, Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed in
Carthage jail.

1851, November 18, revelation to J. W. Briggs that the

314 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

seed of Joseph Smith should yet lead the church. During the
same fall one to Z. H. Gurley, sr., to the same effect.

1852, June 12, a preparatory council or conference held
near Beloit, Wisconsin, (Newark Township). The claims of
all leaders cast off and the right of Joseph's seed sustained.

April 6, 1860, was the long anticipated day for the better
equipment of the Reorganization for the work committed to
its trust, by the presence of Joseph Smith the son of the
martyred Seer. Who when introduced to the congregation
over which Bro. Z. H. Gurley, sr., and William Marks pre-
sided by selection, said: "I would say to you, brethren, as
I hope you may be, and in faith I trust you are, as a people
that God has promised his blessings upon, I came not here
of myself, but by the influence of the Spirit. For some time
past I have received manifestations pointing to the position
which I am about to assume. I wish to say that I have come
here not to be dictated by any men or set of men. I have
come in obedience to a power not my own, and shall be dictated
by the power that sent me." — Quoted from the Church His-
tory, vol. 3, p. 247. (I only quote a part of his address;
what I think will be handy and brief to meet that oft-
repeated statement that he was not called of God.)

RETURNING TO THE LAND OF ZION.

The Saints began returning to the County of Jackson and
State of Missouri, in the year of 1867. The above statement
of facts I gathered when writing up the history of the Inde-
pendence District, a few years ago.

STAKES ORGANIZED.

Stakes were organized by the command of God, by revela-
tion, at Independence, Missouri, and Lamoni, Iowa, April 15,
1901.

Wednesday, April 24, 1901, the Saints of the Independence
District were convened at the Stone Church in Independence,
Missouri, for the purpose of effecting the organization of a
stake as per revelation. President Joseph Smith presided,

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 315

and presented the name of George H. Hulmes as the one
designated by those to whom the matter had been referred
for the consideration and vote of the people for or against.
By motion he was elected and sustained as the president of
the Independence Stake. He selected counselors, and with the
selection of twelve high priests as the stake high council and
the bishop and his counselors, the organization was completed.
The Lamoni Stake was organized a few days afterward
in the same manner.

LETTER FROM UTAH ON THE INSPIRED TRANSLA-
TION.

"OFFICE OF THE FIRST PRESIDENCY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH,

June 28, 1898.
"MR. C. J. HUNT, DELOIT, IOWA.

"Dear Sir: I am directed by President Woodruff to acknowl-
edge the receipt of your favor of June 18 and to say, that
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints does not
use the revision of the Scriptures made by the Prophet Joseph
Smith, for the reason that he never completed the work. It
was his intention to have gone all through the Bible again
and make further corrections, but he did not have the oppor-
tunity of doing so. Consequently it is deemed an injustice
both to the dead prophet and to the reader to place this
unfinished work in the hands of the public. Though we may
rest assured that the changes that he has made are correct,
we have no assurance that he would not have made many
other corrections in his second revision.
"Yours respectfully,

"GEORGE REYNOLDS, Secretary"

(The italics are mine, to call attention to the main point.
— A. H. P.) Note the difference in the reading of King
James' translation and the Inspired: "Thou shalt not walk
in unrighteousness, as did thy father David." — 1 Kings 3: 14,
Inspired Version. Again: "Solomon did evil in the sight
of the Lord, as David his father." — Ibid. 11: 6; also verse 38,
"as David, my servant did in the day that I blessed him."

316 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

— Ibid., 15: 11 says: "Asa did right in the eyes of the Lord, as
he [God] commanded David his father." Compare these texts
with the common version and you will see at once why the
leaders in the valleys of the mountains think the prophet
would have made some other changes in the second revision.
Many other citations can be made as applicable as these.

THE LAST TESTIMONY OF THE THREE WITNESSES
TO THE BOOK OF MORMON.

"It is recorded in the American Cyclopaedia and the En-
cyclopaedia Britannica, that I, David Whitmer, have denied
my testimony as one of the three witnesses to the divinity of
the Book of Mormon, and that the other two witnesses, Oliver
Cowdery and Martin Harris, denied their testimony to the
Book. I will say once more to all mankind, that I have never
at any time denied that testimony or any part thereof. I also
testify to the world, that neither Oliver Cowdery or Martin
Harris ever at any time denied their testimony. They both
died reaffirming the truth of the divine authenticity of the
Book of Mormon. I was present at the deathbed of Oliver
Cowdery, and his last words were, 'Brother David, be true to
your testimony to the Book of Mormon.' He died here in
Richmond, Missouri, on March 3d, 1850.

"A PROCLAMATION.

"Unto all Nations, Kindred Tongues and People, unto whom
these presents shall come : It having been represented by one
John Murphy, of Polo, Caldwell County, Missouri, that I, in a
conversation with him last summer, denied my testimony as
one of the three witnesses to the 'Book of Mormon.'

"To the end, therefore, that he may understand me now, if
he did not then; that the world may know the truth, I wish
now, standing as it were, in the very sunset of life, and in the
fear of God, once for all to make this public statement: 'That
I have never at any time denied that testimony or any part
thereof, which has so long been published with that Book, as
one of the three witnesses. Those who know me best, well

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 317

know that I have always adhered to that testimony. And
that no man may be misled or doubt my present views in
regard to the same, I do again affirm the truth of all my
statements, as then made and published.' " — "An address to
all believers in Christ," published at Richmond, Missouri,
1887, pp. 8, 9.

"At a special conference at Council Bluffs, Iowa, held on
the 21st of October, in the year 1848, Bro. Oliver Cowdery,
one of the three important witnesses to the truth of the Book
of Mormon, . . . made the remarks here annexed. . . . '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 fulfill 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 Smith, as he
translated it by the gift and power of God, by the means of
the Urim and Thummin, or, as it is called by that book, 'holy
interpreters.' / beheld with my eyes and handled with my
hands the gold plates from which it was translated. 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. Spalding did not write it. I wrote it myself
as it fell from the lips of the Prophet." — George Reynolds
in his Myth of the Manuscript Found," pp. 79, 80. (Quoted
from Church History, vol. 1, p. 50.)

David B. Dille, of Ogden City, Weber County, Salt Lake,
Utah, September 15, 1853, asked Martin Harris this question:
"What do you think of the Book of Mormon? Is it a divine
record?" (Answer:) "I was the right hand man of Joseph
Smith, and I know that he was a prophet of God. I know the
Book of Mormon is true — and you know that I know that it
is true. I know that the plates have been translated by the
gift and power of God, for his voice declared it unto us;
therefore I know of a surety that the work is true." — Milieu-

318 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

nial Star. (Quoted from the Church History, vol. 1, pp.
51, 52.)

JOSEPH SMITH, INTRODUCTION TO THE FACTS CON-
CERNING THE RELIGION OF THE AGE.

"Sometime in the second year after our removal to Man-
chester, there was in the place where we lived an unusual
excitement on the subject of religion. ... I was at this time
in my fifteenth year. . . . During this time of great excitement
my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasi-
ness; but though my feelings were deep and often pungent,
still I kept myself aloof from all those parties, though I
attended their several meetings as often as occasion would
permit; ... In the midst of this war of words and tumult of
opinions, I often said to myself, What is to be done? . Who
of all these parties are right? Or, Are they all wrong to-
gether? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how
shall I know it? While I was laboring under the extreme
difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religion-
ists, I was one day reading the epistle of James, first chapter
and fifth verse, which reads: 'If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and
upbraideth not; and it shall be given unto him.'' Never did
any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart
of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to
enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I
reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person
needed wisdom from God I did, for how to act I did not know,
and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had would
never know, for the teachers of religion of the different sects
understood the same passage so differently as to destroy all
confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.
At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain
in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs;
that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination
to 'ask of God,' concluding that if he gave wisdom to them
that lacked wisdom and would give liberally, and not upbraid,

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 319

I might venture. So in accordance with this my determina-
tion, to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt.
It was on the morning of a beautiful clear day, early in the
spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. . . . After I had
retired into the place where I had previously designed to
go, having looked around me and finding myself alone, I
kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart
to God. ... I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head,
above the brightness of the sun; which descended gradually
until it fell upon me. . . . When the light rested upon me I
saw two personages (whose brightness and glory defy all
description) standing above me in the air. One of them
spake-unto me, calling me by name, and said, (pointing to the
other,) 'This is my beloved Son, hear him.' My object in
going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the
sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner
therefore did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to
speak, than 1 asked the personages who stood above me in the
light, which of all the sects was right, (for at this time it had
never entered into my heart that all were wrong,) and which
I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them,
for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed
me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his
sight; that those professors were all corrupt; 'they draw near
to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;
they teach for doctrine the commandments of men, having
a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.' He
again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other
things did he say unto me which I can not write at this time."
—Church History, vol. 1, pp. 7, 8, 9, 10.

HIS FIRST INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF THE
AMERICANS AND GOD'S WORD TO THEM, OR THE

"STICK OF JOSEPH."

"During the space of time which intervened between the
time I had the vision, and the year 1823, having been for-
bidden to join any of the religious sects of the day, and being
of very tender years, and persecuted by those who ought

320 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

to have been my friends, and to have treated me kindly,
and if they supposed me to be deluded to have endeavored
in a proper and affectionate manner to have reclaimed me, . . .
21st of September, . . . while I was thus in the act of calling
upon God I discovered a light appearing in the room, which
continued to increase until the room was lighter than at
noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my
bedside standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the
floor. ... He called me by name, and said unto me that he
was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and
that his name was Nephi. (Moroni.) That God had a work
for me to do, and that my name should be had for good and
evil, among all nations, kindreds, and tongues; or that it
should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He
said there was a book deposited written upon gold plates,
giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent,
and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that
the fullness of the everlasting gospel was contained in it, as
delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants. Also
that there were two stones in silver bows, and these stones
fastened to a breastplate constituted what is called the Urim
and Thummim, deposited with the plates, and the possession
and use of these stones was what constituted seers in ancient
or former times, and that God had prepared them for the
purpose of translating the book. ... Owing to the distinct-
ness of the vision which I had concerning it, I knew the
place the instant that I arrived there. Convenient to the
village of Manchester, Ontario County, New York, stands a
hill of considerable size, and the most elevated of any in the
neighborhood. On the west side of this hill, not far from the
top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates deposited
in a stone box. This stone was thick and rounding in the
middle on the upper side, and thinner towards the edges, so
that the middle part of it was visible above the ground, but
the edge all around was covered with earth. Having removed
the earth and obtained a lever which I got fixed under the
edge of the stone and with a little exertion raised it up, I

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 321

looked in and there indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim
and Thummim, and the Breastplate, as stated by the mes-
senger. ... At length the time arrived for obtaining the
plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the Breastplate. On
the 22d day of September, 1827, having went as usual at the
end of another year to the place where they were deposited,
the same heavenly messenger delivered them up to me, with
this charge that I should be responsible for them; that if I
phould let them go carelessly or through any neglect of mine,
I should be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavors
to preserve them, until he the messenger shouM call for them,
they should be protected. . . . Some time in this month of
February the aforementioned Mr. Martin Harris came to our
place, got the characters which I had drawn off the plates,
and started with them to the city of New York." — Church
History, vol. 1, pp. 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18.

RESTORATION OF THE HOLY PRIESTHOOD TO
JOSEPH SMITH.

"While we were thus employed, praying, and calling upon
the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of
light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us, say-
ing unto us, 'Upon you, my fellow-servants, in the name of
Messiah, I confer the priesthood of Aaron, which holds the
keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of re-
pentance, and of baptism by immersion, for the remission of
sins; . . . and he commanded us to go and be baptized, and
gave us directions that I should baptize Oliver Cowdery, and
afterwards that he should baptize me. Accordingly we went
and were baptized, I baptized him first, and afterwards he
baptized me, after which I laid my hands upon his head and
ordained him to the Aaronic priesthood, and afterwards he
laid his hands on me and ordained me to the same priesthood,
for so we were commanded. The messenger who visited us on
this occasion, and conferred this priesthood upon us, said
that his name was John, the same that is called John the
Baptist, in the New Testament, and that he acted under the

322 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

direction of Peter, James, and John, who held the keys of
the priesthood of Melchisedec, which priesthood he said should
in due time be conferred on us — and that I should be called
the first elder, and he the second. It was on the 15th day of
May, 1829, that we were baptized and ordained under the
hand of the messenger. . . . For we had not long been en-
gaged in solemn and fervent prayer when the word of the
Lord came unto us in the chamber, (Father Whitmer's house,)
commanding us that I should ordain Oliver Cowdery to be an
elder in the Church of Jesus Christ, and that he also should
ordain me to the same office, and then to ordain others as it
should be made known unto us, from time to time; we were,
however, commanded to defer this our ordination until such
time as it should be practicable to have our brethren, who
had been and should be baptized, assembled together, when
we must have their sanction to our thus proceeding to ordain
each other, and have them decide by vote whether they were
willing to accept us as spiritual teachers, or not, when also
we were commanded to bless bread and break it with them,
and to take wine, bless it, and drink it with them, afterward
proceed to ordain each other according to commandment,
then call out such men as the Spirit should dictate, and ordain
them, and then attend to the laying on of hands for the gift
of the Holy Ghost upon all those whom we had previously
baptized, doing all things in the name of the Lord." — Church
History, vol. 1, pp. 34, 35, 36, 60, 61.

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST RESTORED IN
APRIL, 1830, BY THE COMMAND OF GOD.

"In this manner did the Lord continue to give us instruc-
tions from time to time, concerning the duties which now
devolved upon us, and among many other things of the kind,
we obtained of him the following, by the Spirit of prophecy
and revelation; which not only gave us much information,
but also pointed out to us the precise day upon which, accord-
ing to his will and commandment, we should proceed to
organize his church once again here upon the earth: The rise

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 323

of the Church of Christ in these last days, being one thou-
sand eight hundred and thirty years since the coming of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh, it being regularly
organized and established agreeably to the laws of our coun-
try, by the will and commandments of God in the fourth
month, and on the sixth day of the month which is called
April, which commandments were given to Joseph Smith, jr.,
who was called of God and ordained an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to be the first elder of this church; and to Oliver
Cowdery, who was also called of God an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to be the second elder of this church, and ordained
under his hands: and this according to the grace of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be all the glory both
now and for ever. Amen. . . . Accordingly we met together
for that purpose, at the house of the above mentioned Mr.
Whitmer (being six in number) on Tuesday, the 6th day of
April, A. D. 1830. Having opened the meeting by solemn
prayer to our heavenly Father we proceeded (according to
previous commandment) to call on our brethren to know
whether they accepted us as their teachers in the things of
the kingdom of God, and whether they were satisfied that we
should proceed and be organized as a church according to
said commandment which we had received. To these they
consented by a unanimous vote. I then laid my hands upon
Oliver Cowdery and ordained him an elder of the 'Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,' after which he ordained
me also to the office of an elder of said church. We then
took bread, blessed it and brake it with them, also wine,
blessed it, and drank it with them. We then laid our hands on
each individual member of the church present that they might
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and be confirmed members
of the Church of Christ. The Holy Ghost was poured out
upon us to a very great degree. Some prophesied, whilst we
all praised the Lord and rejoiced exceedingly,"— Church His-
tory, vol. 1, pp. 67, 68, 76, 77.

324 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

JAREDITE BOATS.

We now quote from Popular Mechanics for June, 1907, page
626 : "The boat can not sink, for there are eight water-tight
compartments in it, any of which is sufficient to hold the boat
on the surface full of men and women. And in these eight
compartments are eighty-two copper air cases, so that the
boat can be smashed into small pieces, cut in two, in ten,
in a hundred parts, and still there will be enough floating for
those in the boat at the time of the accident to hold on to."

National Magazine, November, 1906, page 163, says: "In
order to procure the self-righting quality, each is furnished
with a heavy iron keel, and well provided with ballast. If
overturned it is impossible for the boat to remain so on
account of the elevated air chambers in the bow and stern, and
as it rolls upon one side, the ballast and the iron keel, which
by its own weight must naturally seek the water, quickly
force it back into position."

Popular Mechanics, June, 1906, page 625 says: "The boat
can not stay upset, and turns over with difficulty; on the
bottom is a heavy keel of metal — gun metal. . . . This eight-
een hundred pounds of keel flops a boat right side up as fast
and as often as a wave upsets the boat — and it must be a
mighty wave indeed which accomplishes the feat. ... The
photographs show the difficulty which is experienced in trying
to upset one of the boats. A number of men with block and
tackle, had to pull and haul a long time, until, inch by inch,
the boat finally keeled over, took water, and at last turned
bottom up. Released, and in a second the heavy keel flopped
back the boat and in no uncertain manner — witness the
splash."

National Magazine, November, 1906, says: "The excited
spectators held their breath, but presently had leisure to
notice certain peculiarities of constructure, namely three
round openings in the bottom of the boat, by means of which
the self-bailing is accomplished. In the boat's floor, which is
so placed as to be on a level with the water when it is
manned, . . . are several openings, each connecting by a

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 325

metal with one in the bottom. As water can not rise above
its own level, and as each tube is closed, at the floor level,
by a valve which opens downward, no water can pass up
into the boat, while any dashing in from above is at once
shipped through the tubes. So quickly is this accomplished
that a full boat can empty itself in about half a minute."

Popular Mechanics, June, 1907, says: "The boat can not
be sunk. They have a false bottom through which run eight
inch tubes; closed with valves, which keep the water out. But
let a wave fill the boat and in less than half a minute the
water all runs out of the tubes back into the sea." — Saints'
Herald, October 16, 1907, written by J. W. Bums.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE, THE SECOND COMING OF
CHRIST.

In a letter dated Boston, Massachusetts, June 13, 1898,
Rev. S. J. Hanna, in answer to the question: "Is Christian
Science the second coming of Christ," said: "Christian Scien-
tists have no doubt this is the second coming."

Reverend Hanna was, for many years, editor of the Chris-
tian Science Journal and First Reader of the First Church of
Christ, Scientist, Boston. A similar question had been sent
to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian
Science Church, and in reply she directed her secretary,
Calvin A. Frye, to write from Concord, New Hampsnire,
April 21, 1895, as follows: "I am requested to say in the
words of scripture, 'Go and tell John the things ye see and
hear; the sick are healed, the deaf hear, the lame walk, etc.,
and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.' "

Please take your Bible and read Matthew 11: 1-6, and Luke
7: 19-23, and you will have no doubt but what Mrs. Eddy
would have every reader of those texts and of her letter re-
ferred to above, to know that she is positive in her own mind
that Christian Science is the second coming of Christ to earth.

Mr. Ezra W. Reid, a prominent writer and defender of
Mrs. Eddy's claims as a restorer or discoverer, is the author
of a leading article on the second coming of Christ in the
Octoper, 1897, Christian Science Journal of Boston. Mr. Reid

326 PARSONS' TEXT BOOK

refers to several religious societies as having taught the sec-
ond coming of Christ; but, having all failed in their expecta-
tions, it was left to Mrs. Eddy to present to the world the
glorious coming of the Lord in what she proudly advocates as
Christian Science. Reverend Reid says:

"We can not, within the limits of this article, enter into the
discussion of the various beliefs of these people, their differ-
ences, and the mathematical, chronological, and historical
arguments which prove the time of the second advent; suffice
it to say, that from 1843 to 1873 there was quite a wide-
spread expectation that it would occur within that period. In
fact, many eminent English standard writers and commen-
tators fixed upon the year 1866 as the year which would
bring the Lord and his kingdom. This date is one which
especially interests Christian Scientists. . . . Was it coinci-
dental that Christian Science should have been discovered in
the year 1866? As indicated in the above quotation, there is
no reason for expecting that the beginning of the new dis-
pensation should be so very different from the years pre-
ceding it, that is from the standpoint of mortal man. Are not
all of God's works performed through the still small voice?
It was in this manner, and in this year of 1866, that Rev.
Mary Baker Eddy discovered Christian Science, which, from
the testimony of Jesus and the apostles, we feel sure is the
second coming of Christ. . . . The kingdom has come, and
as the light which is all diffused, is the presence of the
Christ."

He also says: "It was the Christ of whom Jesus was the
'highest human corporeal concept' . . . who was to come again
after the gospel parenthesis; but when Jesus ascended from
the Mount of Olives, he laid aside for ever the flesh — body —
and 'henceforth know we him no more after the flesh.' "

Rev. S. J. Hanna, in the Christian Science Journal, June,
1907, gives the following historical account of the coming into
organic (?) form (?) of the Christian Science Church. He
says: "The early records of this church contain the follow-
ing interesting and significant item: 'At a meeting of the

PARSONS' TEXT BOOK 327

Christian Science Association, April 19, 1879, on motion of
Mrs. Eddy, it was voted, — To organize a church designed to
commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should
reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of heal-
ing/ We point to the twenty-eight years of intervening his-
tory in witness of the correctness of that early declaration.
. . . We do not hesitate to say, therefore, as a matter of
current history, that to a most wonderful and gratifying
extent primitive Christianity has been reinstated and its
lost element of healing established." — Saints' Herald, Octo-
ber 2, 1907, article by Bishop C. J. Hunt.

JOSEPH F. SMITH ADMITS A DEPARTURE FROM
THE LAW, WITHOUT A RIGHT TO DO SO.

"We have not always carried out strictly the order of the
priesthood. We have varied from it to some extent, but we
hope in due time that by the promptings of the Holy Spirit
we will be led up into the exact channel and course that the
Lord has marked out for us to pursue, and adhere strictly
to the order that he has established." — Remarks at a special
conference held at Salt Lake City, November 10, 1901, as
reported in the Deseret News.

CONTENTS

Aborigines of America came in vessels 47

Aborigines of America, What some of the, believe, .... 59

Aborigines of America, Israelites, 25

Aborigines of America had sacred writings 52

Aborigines of America were warriors, 41

Aborigines of America were metal workers, 33

Adam, our father and God 281

Advent Christian Church, Origin of the, 158

Adventist Church, Origin of, 151

Adventists, Doctrinal features of, 157

America's progeny, 8,12

Ancient traditions not necessarily true 176

Ancient Americans built houses of worship, 55

Ancient Americans worshiped God the Father and Jesus

Christ the Son, 49

Ancient Americans were farmers and manufacturers, ... 44

Anointing with oil 219

Americans wrote historical book 54

America, Led to, by four brothers, 30

Apostasy from the primitive order, 127

"Ariel" signifies Jerusalem, 71

Babies released from Hades, says Bishop, 200

Babies out of hell, 200

Baptism by immersion in water, history, 114, 119

Baptism by immersion in water for the remission of sins, 118

Baptist Church, Origin of, 147

Baptize one another, Two boys, 183

Blood atonement, 284

Book of Mormon, Some objections to, 98

Burrows, Senator J. C., Speech of, 273

Calendar, Mexican, 30

Came in vessels, 47

Campbellite Church, Origin of the, 170

Campbellites recognize the authority to baptize in other

churches, 182

Catholic Church, Doctrine of the, from their own books, 163

Character of early Saints, 79

Changes in climate, at some period of the past 137

Changes made in the Book of Mormon, 78

Christians are not all priests, 206

Christian Church, Doctrinal features of the, 179

'Christian," Name, 181

Christian Science, the second coming of Christ, 325

Christian Science, Is it the second coming of Christ, . . . .195
Church of Jesus Christ restored in April, 1830, by the

command of God, 322

330 PARSONS TEXT BOOK

Comfort of polygamy, 262

Compass used by Aborigines, 46

Construction of boats, 49

Cross, The, known long before the Christian era, 140

Currents in the ocean, 48

Darkness so thick that it can be felt, 137

"Days," as used in the Bible 143

Defendants' evidence, 269

Degrees of inspiration, 214

Disasters at sea, Past, 193

"Disciples of Christ," Origin of 180

Drake, Ex-Governor, Interview with, 88

Dubois, Hon. Fred T., Speech of, 281

Dunkard Church, Origin of the, 161

Earliest printed works on the Antiquities of America ... 7

Earthquakes, 186

Earthquakes, An indication of the frequency of, 192

Elephants used in America, 44

Example of the apostles as good as a command, 120

Facts gathered by Brethren Miller and Thomas, of Pitts-
burg, Pennsylvania, 109

Facts gathered by Elder J. F. Mintun, as found in a tract

on the Book of Mormon, 102

Facts gathered in confirmation of the Book of Mormon

being true, 107

First day the Christian Sabbath, 159

First settlement from Tower of Babel, 17

Great hurricane's journey from Florida to Eastern Maine 185

Gulf calamity, 186

Hell or hades the abode of spirits, 236

High priests, 217

Historical events concerning the rise and reorganization

of the church, 313

Hunt, Bishop C. J., Answers to questions asked by; on

meaning of the word stick 63

Inspiration of the Bible, 220

Inspiration wanting, 199

Inspired Translation, Letter from Utah on the 315

Is it another gospel, 62

Jaredite boats 324

Jesus a polygamist, 263

Journal of Discourses, 256

Latter day apostasy, 255

Laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, 121

Love thy neighbor as thyself, 176

Man a dual creature, 228

PARSONS TEXT BOOK 331

Message of the Governor of the State of Illinois in rela-
tion to the disturbance in Hancock County, December

23, 1844, 86

Miracle, Modern, 142

Miscellaneous testimony concerning the Book of Mormon

and veracity of the witnesses to the said book, 77

"Mormon," The word, and its origin, 62

Opinions of sixty prominent ministers, journalists, and
historians on prehistoric civilization in America — The

Book of Mormon needed, 90

Palestine, Colonies in 209

Palestine, Waterfall in, 207

Paradise the abode of the good spirits between death and

the resurrection, 234

Parallels as found in the Bible and Book of Mormon. .. .112

Patriarch, 218

Peruvian roads, Great, 37

Polygamy and foreign missions, 310

Polygamy, First public introduction of, was made in Salt

Lake City, 259

Polygamy not a tenet of the church, 266

Polygamy not permissable under the state law of Illinois 272

Polygamy permissible, 309

Polygamy permissible in the Christian or Campbellite

Church, 311

Prejudice, 146

President of the church in New Testament times 215

Priesthood, 211

Proper method of interpreting God's word, 144

Prophecy and when fulfilled, 146

Prophets and miracles, 213

Punctuation, 138

Quadrupeds, 42
ailroad wrecks, 195

Records, Evidencing a knowledge of buried, 99

Relics of two civilized nations, 10, 15

Reorganized Church in Canadian courts, 307

Restoration looked for, 134

Restoration of the holy priesthood to Joseph Smith, 321

Resurrection, 57

Retribution, 85

Return of the Jews, 201

Rigdon's, Sidney, whereabouts designated, 99

Rods, 70

Rolls, 69

Salvation depends upon obedience to the priesthood, right
or wrong, 285

332 PARSONS TEXT BOOK

Second colony from Jerusalem 22

Signs of the last days, 184

Smith, Joseph F., admits a departure from the law, with-
out a right to do so, 327

Smith, Joseph F., paves the way for succession 295

Smith, Joseph, jr., His first introduction to the history of
the Americans and God's words to them, or the ''stick

of Joseph," 319

Smith, Joseph, jr., introduction to the facts concerning

the religions of the age, 318

Smith, Joseph, the Seer's views on secrecies, 312

Smith, Joseph, successor of his father, 292

Sometimes it is well to know what our neighbors think

of us, 178

Spaulding Romance found, 105

Spirit of man intelligent between death and the resur-
rection, 231

Spiritualism exposed, 241

Sticks, rolls, and rods 67

Successor, 180

Temple not finished, 294

Testimony as to the characters on the plates from which

the Book of Mormon was translated 74

Testimony in court as to the successor 299

Testimony of eight witnesses, 76

Testimony of John C. Bennett, 269

Testimony of the three witnesses, 76

Testimony of twenty-one persons as to veracity of Mr.

Whitmer, 78

Theological cemeteries 200

Three short talks on finance, 283

Three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, 'Last testimony

of, 316

Towering philosophy, 262

Tower of Babel, How the, was built, 21

Trepanning in ancient America, 138

Trinity, Ancient religion of, 139

Usurpation and reorganization by Brigham Young and

colleagues, 257

Urim and Thummim 215

Was it truth, 132

White's, Mrs. E. G., view on the Jews gathering back to

the Holy Land, 210

Who ordained Brigham, 258

Woe to the land shadowing with wings, 106

Words, Various, used on both continents, 113

Young, Brigham, admits there was no commandment, ...295