e she never will be--and that
she was happy. Her conclusion was sudden, and she appeared to break
off just before reaching an agony-point. The third talker was one of
the old men, and he commenced with things from "before the
foundations of the world," and brought them down to the present day.
His speech was earnest, florid, and rather argumentative in tone.
After stating that he had a pious spell upon him before visiting the
room, and that the afflatus was still upon him, he entered into a
labyrinthal defence of "the church." "Mormonism," he said, "is more
purer than any other doctrine that is," and "this here faith," he
continued, "has to go on and win." He talked mystically about things
being "resurrectioned," contended that the Solomon Spalding theory
had been exploded, and quoting one of the elders, said that
Mormonism began in a hamlet and got to a village, from a village to
a town, thence to a city, thence to a territory, and that if it got
"just another kick it would as sure as fate be kicked into a great
and mighty nation." This "old man eloquent" seemed over head and
ears in Mormonism, and almost shook with joy at certain points of
his discourse.

The fourth, and the last, speaker was the chairman. He raised his
brawny frame slowly, held a Bible in one hand, and started in this
fashion--"Well I s'pose I've to say something; but I can't tell what
it'll be." This declaration was followed up by a long, wandering
mass of talk, full of repetition and hypothetical theology--a
mixture of Judaism, Christianity, and Mormonism, and from the whole
he endeavoured to distil this "fact" that both Isaiah and St. John
had made certain prophetic statements as to the Book of Mormon and
its transcription by Joe Smith. It did not, however, appear from
what he said that either Isaiah or the seer of Patmos had named
anything about the blanket trick which had to be adopted by Joe is
translating "the Book." But that was perhaps unnecessary; and we
shall not throw a "wet blanket" upon the matter by further alluding
to it. When the chairman had done his speech, the doxology was sung,
and this was supplemented by benediction, pronounced by a young man
who shut his eyes, stretched his hands a quarter of a yard out of
his coat sleeves, and in a most inspired and bishoply style,
delivered the requisite blessing. Hand-shaking, in which we found it
necessary to join, supervened, and then there was a general
disappearance. The whole of the