ing. As the Elders approached, the leader said, "I have come to make good my word." The Elders assured him that they too, had come to make good their word. A discussion was precipitated. Some of the party commenced to ask questions which the Elders gladly answered. After listening to the Elders for about half an hour, most of the men rode away. Those who remained invited the Elders' home. A very successful branch conference was held at Drummonds, Tipton county. The attendance was good. Elders J. F. Moore, D. E Michollson, J. H. Bagley, Geo. Shaw, Wm. N. Pattin and Jas. W. Gillman were present. There have been eight baptisms during the month. WM. N. PATTEN, President.

MISSION OFFICE-During the month Brother Rich has visited all the conference presidents at their headquarters, excepting one-Middle Tennesseewhich he expects to visit within a few days. He first visited Ohio, then Kentucky, East Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. He held meetings with all the Elders in some of the conferences, and in others he inquired about each individual Elder and acquainted himself with the condition of their health, and is now able to intelligently make a report of the condition of each Elder in the Mission. Some of the brethren have been released because of having served from two to two and a half years, while others have been released because of illness last summer, and it was not deemed wise to keep them through another hot season. The number of Elders in the Mission is very low and the prospects for new aid does not seem bright. We are therefore loath to part with our brethren, so long as they are cnjoying reasonably good health. When we take into consideration the fact that an Elder advances very slowly during the first year and a half of his mission, we feel that his real worth to the cause only begins when he has been in the field about eighteen months and the cause of God is then entitled to his services. During Brother Rich's investigation throughout the Mission, he .found the future prospects to appear brighter than they have ever been before. The reports of conference presidents and Elders show that there are more opportunities for preaching the Gospel at present than has existed in the south for many years. People are beginning to understand us better, more people are traveling, and greater numbers are visiting Salt Lake, and always bring back reports that cause us to be looked upon more kindly. When our Elders take into consideration the truth of the statement that right now every Elder we have in the Mission, could be used with profit in any one state in the South, and then realize that the few brethren we have must be distributed throughout eleven conferences, we trust they will see how great is the harvest and how few the laborers. This condition should inspire them with ambition, and cause them to banish from their minds any desire to return home, so long as they can remain and assist in spreading the light of the Gospel to our brethren and sisters of the South.

Arrivals and Appointments-During the month the following brethren arrived from Zion and were assigned to their respective fields of labor; Lionel L. Myers, Riverton, Utah; Chas. H. Miller, Parker. Idaho; Wm. M. Bettie, Rexburg, Idaho: John P. Lesneur, Springfield, Arizona; all to Georgia; Lucy D. Dinwoody, Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Mission Home; Nephi U. S. C. Jenson, Salt Lake City, Utah, to Mission Office; John E. Pickett, Gunnison, Utah; Erick O. Bylund, Santaquin, Utah, to Kentucky: Henry C. Walk, Salt Lake City, Utah, to Middle Tennessee; Geo. J. Taylor, Rigby, Idaho, to Mississippi; Silas T. Orton, Paroman, Utah, to East Tennessee; John H. Murdock, 11eber City, Utah, to Virginia.

Transfers-Elders David Felshaw and P. R. Wright, both of Georgia, to Kentucky; Elders Geo. L. Spangenburg and A. F. Tolton, both from the Mission Office, to Ohio.

Honorably Released-Elders H. G. Stokes and David Boam, of Kentucky: Elder H. J. Fawkes, of Alabama; Elders Richard Norwood, Jos. Anderson and John H. Cook, of South Carolina; Elders B. E. Stone, Jos. I. Reid and Jas. I. Bawers, of Virginia; Elder H. O. Haskins, of North Carolina; Elder Jesse Winn of Mission Office; Elder Geo. O. Reid, of Middle Tennessee, the latter honorably released on account of sickness.

Two Valuable Works.

Of the many books written on subjects relating to the Gospel and Church organization, there are none more valuable to the male members of the Church than the two very excellent works on Priesthood and Church Government by Elder Jos. B. Keeler of the faculty of the Brigham University. Elder Keeler is a clear, incisive thinker and a patient student, and he has given much time and study to the subject of Priesthood.

The title of the first is "First Steps in Church Government." It explains in a very simple and plain way the powers and functions of the Lesser Priesthood. The arrangement is logical, and the work is admirably adapted for the study of the younger members of the Church, who are just commencing to work in Priesthood callings.

Lesser Priesthood and Church Government is the title of the work intended for more advanced students. It treats in a very comprehensive but simple way the subjects of Priesthood and Church Government. Part one gives a breif history of the Aaronic Priesthood from the earliest times to the present, together with an outline of the duties and limitations of each office in that Priesthood. Part two gives a very complete outline of Church government. The relationship of the Church to State is defined. The necessity and purpose of church government is fully explained. The duties, powers and functions of the different Priesthood quorums are clearly pointed out. All in all it is a most excellent work and should be in the possession of every man who works in any Priesthood calling.

We are very desirous that every Elder and male member of the Church in the Southern States Mission become acquainted with the subjects treated in these works; and we most earnestly recommend them to all who would understand, God's system of Church government.

These books can be purchased through the Southern States Mission, as we will soon have on hand a supply of them. Your order should be in by July 1. We most earnestly recommend that the old Elders obtain and study both of these works.

We note in this issue the honorable release of Elder Lewis Loraine Bagley, who during the greater part of his two years' mission has filled the position of stenographer at the headquarters. Elder Bagley has spent some time in active work in the field, laboring first in Florida and then in Virginia. Wherever he has been called to labor he has been faithful and diligent in performing the various duties placed upon him, and he returns home with an efficiently and honorably filled mission to his credit. In addition to his daily routine of office work, he has struggled hard to take out a degree in the law department of the Grant University, of this city, and just prior to his departure this institution conferred this honor upon him. It can therefore be said that his mission has been a double success. Brother Bagley enjoys the good will, the fullest confidence and love of all his companions, and he returns home with the united prayers of them all for his continued faithfulness to the Cause and his future success in his chosen profession.

The prophetic glass before the eyes of the ancient Seers brings the rays of Jehovah's power to a focus on this earth, in these our days. For kings and rulers to manage their responsibilities in these critical times is an affair which no servant of God, truly enlightened. covets or desires.-Orson Hyde.

Be sure to get the spirit of revelation, so that you can tell when you hear the true Shepherd's voice, and know him from a false one.-Brigham Young. Our worship and devotions should be earnest and intelligent, not a mere formalism.--George Teasdale.

Good works produce good faith, and faith without works is dead.-Heber C. Kimball.

Truth is light, and light is life.-Heber C. Kimball.

Report of Mission Conferences for Two Weeks Ending May 17, 1907.

The following lines are dedicated to Elder Austin Watts by his sister, Ada Neeley:

Quiet reigns this Sabbath evening, 'round a western cottage home;
Even the telephone is silent, save an ever ceasless moan.

In the twilight sits a sister, but her thoughts are far away;

She is thinking of a brother-Will they meet again some day?

Harken to the spirit's whisper! "He who marks the sparrow's fall,

In His kind care will remember those who answer duty's call."
He, like many scores of others, labors in a Southern clime,
For the spreading of the Gospel, to establish truth sublime.

"Cast thy bread upon the waters and it shall return again;
So these faithful Elders labor, fishing for the souls of men.
Thus this absent one is doing, with no thought of home or time.
Send to him these words of comfort-I will read them line by line.

You are far away, dear brother, but you're held in memory still,
May the grace of heaven guide you, strengthen hope, and courage give.
You may miss the dear home fireside, but the flames still brightly burn;
Father, mother, there are waiting, praying for your safe return.

Faithfully perform thy mission, brother, then through wind and storm
You are the Lord's true service, He will keep you from all harm.
Then how sweet the recollection of a noble work, well done,
When you leave Kentucky's border and return to welcome home.

Died.

We have learned with sincere regret and profound sorrow of the death of the little son of Elder Jos. A. McRae, president of the Western States Mission. The child died at the mission headquarters in Denver, May 27. Our deep sympathy goes out to Brother and Sister McRae in their hour of bereavement.

Published by THE SOUTHERN STATES MISSION, Chattanooga, Tenn.

PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY BY THE

SOUTHERN STATES MISSION

Office, 711 Fairview Avenue, Chattanooga, Tenn.
P. O. Box 417.

A SCRAP BOOK OF MORMON LITERATURE

Entered as second-class mail matter at Post Office, Chattanooga, Tenn.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE, $1.00 A YEAR.

"I know not why, but for some reason I am constrained to hasten my preparations, and to confer upon the Twelve all the ordinances, keys, covenants, endowments, and sealing ordinances of the Priesthood, and so set before them a pattern in all things pertaining to the sanctuary and the endowment therein."-JOSEPH SMITH, The Prophet, in the Spring of 1844.

Vol. IV.

JUNE 15, 1907

No. 18

Religious Liberty.

President Eliot was in Utah in 1892. The welcome that was accorded him was most hearty. On the evening of the 16th of March of that year he spoke to an audience that filled the "Mormon" Tabernacle in every part. The address was brief, able, and eloquent, and was widely commented upon in and out of the state. President Woodruff made a few remarks and the big Tabernacle choir rendered musical selections of a character and in a manner that made a marked impression upon the mind of the distinguished visitor, who spoke as follows:

"Ladies and Gentlemen-I have been spending the last forty-eight hours in the wilderness of the Rocky mountains, part of the time unavoidably detained. My mind involuntarily went back to the first journey across the wilderness by civilized men and women, to the planting of this superb colony by a Christian church. It reminded me of another planting, 256 years ago, by the Puritans and Pilgrims in New England. They, too, crossed a wilderness a wilderness of water; they, too, sought freedom to worship God; they, too, fought to subdue the wilderness. They waited much longer for fruition. Their soil was poorer, their labor less promptly rewarded, their sufferings greater.

"Did it ever occur to you what is the most heroic part of planting a colony of people which moves into a wilderness to establish a civilized community? You think, perhaps, it is the soldier, the armed man, or the laboring man. Not so. It is the women who are the most heroic part of (Applause.) Their labors are the less because their Their anxieties are greater, their dangers greater, the

any new colony. strength is less.

risks they run are heavier. We read that story in the history of the Pilgrim and Puritan colonies of Massachusetts. The women died faster than the men; they suffered more. Perhaps their reward was greater, too, They bore children to the colony. Let us bear in our hearts veneration for the women of any Christian folk going out in the wilderness to plant a new community.

"And then, again, in New England in 1636 the same great interest was borne in mind which I find is at heart here among this population - the interest of the rising generation in education. The university which I have the honor to represent was founded in New England six years after the Massachusetts colony was settled, in the year 1636. You have already the beginning of two universities - the University of Utah and the Young University. But here you have not equaled the promptness of the Puritan. fathers. You have been forty-five years getting a real embodiment of the higher education. I wish these universities a prompt success and quick development. But they will never catch up with the old Puritan university of New England, planted there in 1636. We've got a bit the start of you, and we mean to keep it. (Applause.) There is no motive in colonization like the religious motive. The history of the world proves that abundantly. Mind will not do it. Neither will the search for furs, or for game, or for fish, or any other wealth of the land or sea. The great successful colonies of this world are founded by men and women of religious enthusiasm. Here, therefore, you have founded a colony of the finest spirit, in the hope of worshiping God according to your consciences. And yet here in this beautiful valley, here in this most successful of American colonies, so far as redeeming the wilderness and establishing well-being in a single generation is concerned, has already arisen the question of religious liberty. I do not know how any one can have a better right to speak upon that subject than a direct descendant of the Puritan fathers and a teacher of the state of Massachusetts.

"What is the religious liberty which today prevails in Massachusetts, and in Harvard, as a child of Massachusetts? In the first place, all religious denominations or churches stand upon a perfect equality before the law; they are all alike fostered, supported, protected, and sustained. Not directly by taxation, but indirectly and most substantially by exemption. from taxes. There is not a religious community in Massachusetts but what enjoys this favor from the state. It enjoys this favor for all its property devoted to religious uses. And more, every religious denomination in Massachusetts has a right to establish societies for propagating its faith, and such societies may hold property, the gifts of individuals, perhaps raised by general subscription, but property, however obtained, can be held for the propagation of every religious faith represented in the state. That is the religious freedom we would not for the world have abridged in old Massachusetts. But another liberty is ours, a liberty won from a Puritan commonwealth - the liberty of education by any religious community which