greatest courtesy and charge the bill to them. In four weeks from that time I organized a branch of sixteen members at that place.

At one time I was desirous to create an interest in a district, and hired a town hall at a populous sea-port place; I placarded largely, and soon found that possibly I had created more interest than would be pleasant. As the importance of the meeting grew, so also grew a sense of my own littleness and I sent word to Elder G. B. Wallace, at Liverpool, and Elder Harmon, in Scotland, to come and help me. I paid $17.50 expenses for Bro. Harmon and I think to Bro. Wallace $25.00. On the day of the meeting I learned there would be a large mob present. I went to the hall before the brethren and soon perceived there was trouble ahead, but realizing how much the meeting would cost me and the pains that had been taken I could not bear the thought of a defeat. I had persistently plead with the Lord for victory.

The idea had become prevalent that Brother Harmon was one of the Twelve. I called on him to speak first. The assembly listened to him for about two minutes. Then Brother Wallace tried it, when a blacksmith by the name of Anguish interrupted him, and Brother Wallace spitefully told him to "shut your head." That remark brought matters to a climax. He spoke no more than ninety seconds, and then we had a good representation of what imagination pictures as the pandemonium of hell. I knelt with my back to the congregation and said, "Father! I have done all I know. If there is anything else you wish me to do, manifest it to me when I get up and I will do it." As soon as I arose to my feet, a comic song that I used to sing in those days came to my mind, and I felt as though it wanted to get out of me in all my parts. I paused a moment, stepped to the front, threw my arms out towards the congregation, and said, "Boys, it will be a new thing for you to hear a minister sing a comic song in a meeting; but if you will be quiet, I will sing you one." I sang it better than ever before or since, and at the close they gave me a good, hearty cheer. I then appealed to them as Englishmen, telling them how Americans treated Englishmen when they came to our country. I continued speaking for one hour, and from the first five minutes the dropping of a pin on the floor could have been heard. At the close many came and shook hands, and in sixpences, shillings, etc., gave me something over $17.00.

When my hands went out towards, and over a part of that congregation I felt power and control go with them as tangibly as I ever felt cold or heat, and I learned this lesson, not to shirk my own responsibilities and run for others to fill my place, let me be ever so weak.

CHAPTER III.

AN AMUSING EPISODE—OBTAIN THE KEYS OF A CHURCH—NOTIFY THE PEOPLE THAT A MEETING WILL BE HELD IN IT—A GOOD TURN-OUT—MY COMPANION PREACHES WHILE I, DISGUISED AS A POLICE, GUARD THE DOOR—EXCITEMENT AROUSED—CONTROVERSY WITH A MINISTER—AN ANTI-"MORMON" MEETING HELD—I ATTEND—REPLY TO THE MINISTERS' ATTEMPTS TO EXPOSE "MORMONISM"—MY ESCAPE FROM THE BUILDING—SAVED BY AN INFIDEL—PROSPERITY OF THE WORK—REMARKABLE HEALINGS—A PREDICTION UTTERED AND FULFILLED—MY RETURN HOME—CONTRAST BETWEEN THE CONDITION OF THE SAINTS NOW AND THAT OF THIRTY YEARS AGO.

I will mention an amusing episode, that occurred during a visit that Brother Wallace made the conference. It started in fun but resulted in great good: I took him to a country branch where the work was pretty dead and we stopped with a man who had a standing in the Church, but as a reward for his little faith had been made trustee of one of the prominent sectarian churches and held the keys of their place of worship.

We rather crowded ourselves on to him. It was a damp, cold day, and the man of the house was very stingy with his coal. We finally found his coal-house and helped ourselves to fuel. It was amusing to see the old gentleman come in and out and eye our bountiful fire, and we thought the more coal we burned the more anxious the old man would be to get us out of the house. So the next time he came into the room he found us with a fire that entirely filled the fire place. I took no notice of his sour looks and gravely told him that Brother Wallace was a builder by trade and took great pleasure in visiting the churches and public buildings, and asked him if he would allow us the keys of his church, that we might examine the architectural designs. He gave us the keys and we told him we would not return that afternoon until late.

This town was divided into what was called Upper and Lower Shipdom, and was separated by quite a little distance. The church was in Upper Shipdom. One of us went to the lower town and notified the people quietly that an American gentleman would lecture in the Upper Church that evening, while the other examined the church, arranged the seats and lights. At the hour appointed the church was pretty well filled. We did not light up until all was ready for commencing.

Brother Wallace took the stand, and preached a very good sermon, while I took my stand against the inside of the door dressed as a policeman and with a club in my hand. By occasionally tapping a few on the shoulder I succeeded in keeping pretty good order until "amen" was said, when Brother Wallace made his exit through the back and I through the front door. By some means the door got locked after we had passed out, and the mob, which had by this time collected, imagining we had locked ourselves in, made pretty violent demonstrations at the front of the building trying to get at us while we were laughingly wending our way to some other section.

For the next two weeks the papers of the neighborhood teemed with accounts of "Mormon impudence," etc., and in a little time we could not call a meeting anywhere in the conference, but what it would be crowded. Curiosity was above par.

In another part of the district, at a noted watering place, I secured a town hall. As soon as meeting was opened, I was interrupted by an orthodox minister. He gave me credit for my sincerity but regretted that I had not turned my attention to the heathen, instead of coming there where he had preached so many years. He appealed to the congregation to testify that they all knew he was acquainted with every word in the Bible. I could see that trouble was imminent and my hypocritical opponent knew it, but was desirous of bringing it along in as respectable a manner as possible. I conversed with him for some time on Bible doctrine, and when we had finished the whole congregation had turned away from him and were listening to me with rapt attention. I here learned what simple things and persons the Lord could use to remove grave obstacles.

On two different occasions, when I was in imminent peril, my wife, who was dead, and her father, who died in 1846, appeared to me together and talked to me, and were as natural to me as in life.

The priests were for some time banded together in a secret organization. The first knowledge of which came to me at the place where I was knocked down, as already mentioned. They soon became, however, more bold, and during a visiting tour among the branches of my district I was warned while walking in the road, that something was wrong in Norwich. I went immediately to that place, and before I reached my rooms I was met by two brethren, who said, "There's a big anti-'Mormon' meeting at St. Andrew's hall."

I replied, "Very well, I will brush up and go to it." They and others whom I met plead with me not to go.

When I entered the hall I found it too densely packed for me to get a seat in the body of the house. On looking to the stand I counted seventeen of the prominent ministers of Norfolk and Suffolk comfortably seated. I said to myself, "I also am a minister and that is my place." I walked up and took a seat. There were two thousand people present at that meeting. At that time St. Andrew's hall ranked as the third finest hall in