intellectual beauty of face and manner, that characterized her so eminently.

Bertha was born in Connecticut, among those green rolling hills that skirt the Sound. From her home, could be seen the mirrored surface of that inland sea, dotted with white sails, and beyond, the shores of Long Island. A bright girl, with ambitious parents, she had acquired at an early age, the sum of education offered by her village schools, and was sent to the neighboring city of New Haven, to continue her studies, and prepare herself for the higher education afforded by Wellesley College. Her parents were not wealthy; but they were ambitious that their only child should receive, at least, the heritage of a good education.

In due time she became an inmate of Wellesley, that celebrated college for young ladies, which is not far from Boston, in the State of Massachusetts. Her mind had always inclined towards religion, and she, therefore, paid special attention to that excellent library of commentaries and other works concerning the Bible, known as the "Gertrude" collection. In due time she graduated and returned to her home, which now was without the presence of her mother, who had died soon after her daughter had departed for Wellesley. Nor was her father to be spared to her long, since it was but a year after her return when that gentleman, always delicate, succumbed to the grief that had so heavily preyed upon him, and was laid beside his wife in the cemetery on the wooded hill.

Fortunately for Bertha, she had during her college vacations made many influential friends, during her visits to the homes of her college-mates. Among them was Senator —, of Rhode Island, a man of wealth and affability, who soon heard of the misfortunes of Bertha, and, at the suggestion of his daughter, wrote a kind letter to her, offering her a home in his family as governess. This proposition came to her at a moment when it seemed as though Heaven itself had deserted her. At the death of her father she was cast upon her own

resources, and gladly accepted the offer of a home from an aunt living in a neighboring State. But she soon learned that the proposition of her aunt came not from the heart; it had been made through fear that if it were not made, she, a proud but unfeeling woman, would become the target of criticism. At a time, then, when grief for the loss of her parents and despondency for the future weighed heavily upon her soul, Bertha received, as the gift of heaven, the offer of her schoolmate's father. She made her preparations with an alacrity that was equaled only by the alacrity of her aunt, and took train for Newport, after having duly notified her benefactor that she had accepted his benevolent proffer. Senator and his family passed

their summers at Newport or in travel, and their winters at their beautiful home on Connecticut Avenue in Washington.

During the second winter that Bertha spent in the latter city she accompanied one of her pupils to a lecture on the Mormons, in which was depicted in eloquent language the ignorance of the people and their degradation; in which was recounted the efforts being made by the various Christian sects to establish churches and schools among the villages of this people, to reclaim them and their children from their error, and from the chains forged for them by the Mormon priests. The speaker dwelt upon the horrors of the position of Mormon women; and pointed to the fact that unless the Christian world awakened to its duty and assisted liberally in the support of Christian schools in Utah, the children would grow up unreclaimed.

Of a deeply benevolent and religious nature, the lecture made a profound impression upon Bertha's mind. She saw in Utah a field for the highest usefulness, and at once, unknown to her employer, wrote to the Central Board of Missions, proffering her services as a school teacher among the Mormons. It was not long before she received a reply telling her that a new school was about to be started in a thriving settlement of Cache County, in the Territory of Utah; that the salary would be meagre,

but the field of usefulness, being a new one, was unexcelled in the Territory. She at once apprised the Senator of her determination, who, while he regretted her loss, applauded the motives that actuated her, and rendered her every assistance in preparing for her departure.

In due time she arrived at Salt Lake City, was duly instructed by the clergy of her denomination how to proceed in her labors, and set out for the town which was to be, for a time at least, her future home. Upon arriving there, she met at the depot a fellow church member who had been apprised of her coming, and who escorted her to his house.

There were but few non-Mormon families in the town, with one of which, however, she soon found herself comfortably settled. The school house was a new one and with perfect appointments. There was an immediate prospect of fifteen scholars from among the families mentioned; whether she should secure more would depend upon her own efforts, and would measure the success of her mission-for she so regarded her labors. She was delighted with the climate, and with the mountains and the sky.

As soon as she had an opportunity to look around, she began to correct many of her erroneous and preconceived opinions concerning the people in whose midst she had been thrown. She found them to be thrifty, the evidences of which fact, she saw on every hand, in the neat dwellings, the cultivated fields and orchards, in the public buildings, in the air of prosperity that seemed to accompany the people. She found also that the general morality of the people, their soberness and honesty, surpassed that of any town with which she was acquainted. She attended their services and heard earnest sermons delivered by intelligent men, whom she was astonished to find numbered among a people so much traduced-sermons, too, in every word of which she could agree.

But despite these favorable impressions, she did not forget that the people taught and practiced polygamy, and en

tertained other beliefs, which seemed to her to be immoral and wicked, beyond the possibility of doubt or discussion. What she saw made her all the more desirous of wielding such an influence over the minds of such scholars as she might obtain, as should enable her to lead them gently, but certainly away from the religion of their parents. She was a wise young woman, and went about her labors in the most successful manner. We all have had occasion to observe how much more successful are methods of gentleness, than those of force; how much greater efficacy has persuasion than command. The opponent whom we, because of superior strength, order to think as we think, will be very apt to be embittered against us; while, had we gently argued with him, we might have brought about the opposite result. Such were the methods of Bertha Somerville.

She first endeavored to make acquaintances among the Mormons, and by sweetness of manner and constant thoughtfulness, soon turned each acquaintance into a friend. She never spoke either to parent or child upon the subject of religion; she feared that she would frighten her game away before she had secured it. Indeed so careful was she upon the matter, that when the Mormon teachers would point out to one of their brethren or sisters the folly of sending their children to the "outside" school, the reply would always be made that there was not a word of religion taught in Miss Somerville's school. Such a reply was a glowing tribute to the success of that young lady. Her plan was first to gain an ascendency over the hearts and minds of the scholars, and then to lead them, little by little, into her way of religious thought.

They saw not into the depths of her plans; to them she was but an affable and accomplished young lady, a better teacher by far than the other teachers of the town, who were of the old class, having little sympathy with learning, and none at all with their scholars; who drove and did not; who made themselves so utterly objectionable to their unfortu

nate victims, that the latter were ready to take sides against them, on all questions, whether of faith or reason. This stricture applicable to some of our teachers of years ago, is not applicable to those of the present day.

The young ladies of the place soon became devotedly attached io Berthathey regarded her as the pattern of fashion as well as the pattern of intelligence. She was adept at all sorts of fancy work, and had a thousand suggestions for the adornment of the home and the person; and, moreover, she seemed overjoyed to impart of her knowledge to any of her scholars or their friends who, at first, timidly approached her in request of information. She would remain after hours with a troubled pupil, she would entertain others at her cosy room; she presented them with books, and displayed constantly an interest in the happiness and welfare of those with whom she came in contact, that she could not fail to succeed.

The fact that her school was the best in the town, and the most comfortable, and because she seemed to avoid entirely the subject of religion, led many Mormon parents to place their children under her charge. They did not know, what she realized so well, and what, indeed, had been so strongly impressed upon her by her clerical advisers, that if you once secure empire in the mind of the child, and be regarded by him as the wisest of mortals and the best, the child is yours, and you may shape his ideas pretty much as you choose. They did not realize, as she did, that the child is father to the man; they did not appreciate the force of the Catholic aphorism, to the effect-"Give us a child from six to ten years of age, and you may take him ever after-he will remain a Catholic.”

Working along these lines for two seasons, Bertha had secured a firm hold on the minds of all her scholars; many of whom began to ponder over the question of her religious belief and theirs. In her they saw a young woman of the world, traveled, highly educated, a member of a highly fashionable church;

on the other hand, they knew no Mormon so well educated, and they also knew that the Mormons were a most unpopular people. Miss Somerville was able to instruct them in so many things, why, they would ask themselves, can she not instruct us in religion? And several of the older ones went to her asking her to tell them whether Mormonism was wrong. She, in the very perfection of diplomacy, would put them off with an evasive answer, well knowing that this seeming desire not to interfere in such an important matter, would raise her in their estimation, and would beget a curiosity, which would soon assert itself in more vigorous inquiries, which could not entirely be avoided. She knew, too, that the circumstance of her apparent unwillingness would be related to the scholar's parents, and would become for them, arguments against her opponents.

And when, ultimately she answered their entreaties for religious instruction, she would not attack the more prominent features of the Mormon belief, but would throw out a few thoughts, for instance concerning the belief in revelation, which, she said, was done away with. Such an idea, of course, sapped the entire foundation of the Mormon Church, and this could be seen by the mind even of a child. At the end of the second season she had seventy-five scholars and nearly all of Mormon parentage; and it may be safely asserted that every one of these children was either on the way to an ultimate rejection of Mormonism, or to its half-hearted acceptance.

At Bertha's return from the ramble with her school children, mentioned in the opening of this story, she found her landlady in a ferment of excitement. "There is going to be," she said, "a dis cussion between the minister and a Mr. Joseph Wealthy, a young Mormon of the town lately returned from a mission." This piece of news quite excited Miss Somerville herself, and she posted off to see the minister of their little church. She ascertained that there was to be a discussion; that the young Mormon had, in a public discourse, made certain

statements which should be answered, and that, therefore, he had challenged him to a public discussion. Bertha had investigated but little the principles of Mormonism, but despite her inherent belief that it was wrong, and her faith in her own tenets, she looked forward to this discussion with feelings akin to apprehension.

She

The evening of debate came, and Bertha, an anxious listener, occupied a seat in the hall. The hours passed, and, as the debate progressed, she saw the brilliant young expounder of Mormonism shatter, one by one, the idols she had so long worshipped; she heard him explain, one by one, the reasonableness of those features of Mormonism she had so long regarded as untenable. went home, and if ever she felt to ask her Maker for light to direct her faltering footsteps, it was then. She had heard presented a scheme of religion which seemed to her unassailable; a scheme, which she had so long neglected as foolish, was placed before her eyes in rational explanation of many of those things her own theology had neglected or described as inexplicable. She sought her pastor, she beseeched him to explain certain difficulties to her, and he essayed to do so, but he was far from satisfactory; she was now in the very agony of uncertainty; she addressed by letter the young man, who had wrought this effect upon her, requesting the privilege of corresponding with him on the subject of his religion. He placed himself entirely at her service; she presented her doubts, and he endeavored to satisfy them. The more she searched the scriptures, the more she learned how completely the Mormon religion corresponded with them, to the extent even of promising the signs to those who believe-and this was a point which she carefully investigated, and as a result, she learned for herself by inquiry and by actual observation that the sick were healed and the blind made to see, by the ministrations of Mormon Elders. Even polygamy, which she so long regarded with an aversion born of prejudice, she came to view as a probable cure for the

great and unquestionable immorality of the world; she admitted its consonance with the scriptures, and became convinced that the objection of the age to it was based entirely upon two thousand years of tradition. Her conversion was by no means sudden; it was a matter of months of earnest prayer and laborious investigation. At the end of this period she had resolved. Come what may, she said, and certainly saints must look to be despitefully used, I shall cast my lot with this people. At her request she was received into the holy communion of the Gospel with a mind resolved upon correcting the evil she had wrought. Installed as a member of the Church and received into its friendship, she soon experienced around her a calm and abiding faith, an earnest rectitude of life that she believed to have perished with the Apostles. Where previously she had labored with the energy of belief, now she labored with an enthusiasm born of a certain knowledge. She became a useful member of Mormon society, shedding around her that same intelligence, and displaying that same 'solicitude that marked the days of her attack upon the faith of her school children-the converter was converted. She often laughed with others over her nearly successful attempt to turn into a Gentile town; but fervently thanked God that he had frustrated her unholy plan.

It was a current rumor that the correspondence of our heroine and the young elder had progressed beyond the dull realm of reason into the fairy land of sentiment.

Samuel Sorghum.

The love that will soonest decay, The love that is surest to die, The love that will soon fly away, Is the love

That is told by a sigh.

The love that is surest to last,

The love that a woman's heart needs, The love that will ever be fast, Is the love

That is spoken in deeds.

III.

THE DAYS AND DATE OF CREATION.-II.

EVERY word of the Scripture last quoted is full of significance where interpreted in the light of the present theory. Notice the introduction of the word "generation," which occurs not in the first, but only in the second narrative of creation. Obviously "generation," as used in this connection, can have but one meaning, and that is a mate rial, earthly, formation. Webster says that "to generate" signifies "to produce a being similar to the present." With a brief explanation this definition will be adopted.' When earthly parents generate their offspring and produce beings like themselves, such a "generation" does not have reference at all to a spiritual formation, for the spirit is preexistent, and was "generated" in the spirit world; consequently, a "generation" of the human kind can imply nothing more than the formation of our physical, earthly bodies; and in this sense only parents generate beings like themselves. These earthly formations are due to the operations of spiritual force acting upon the gross material of the earth, for there is no vitalizing force where there is no spirit. In order that we may perceive clearly what Moses meant when he used the word "generation" in speaking of the world's formation as recorded in the second account of creation, we will draw a parallel between the history of man and the his tory of the earth. Since our great progenitor, Adam, figures in many phases of life to which none of us have yet attained, the first portion of the parallel, to make it more complete, will be founded upon facts connected with his history.

Adam now lives in an exalted state, where he is, in no manner, subject to the temptation and power of the devil.- At the close of that period during which Satan is to be loosed upon the earth for a little season, it will attain a corresponding state, for we nowhere read that further evil shall be found upon it, nor that the devil shall have any power over it.

Adam fell from the high estate in which he was once created.- -The loosing of the devil upon the earth for a "little season" completes the parallel here. The earth, too, shall fall.

Before Adam fell he was a resurrected man, that is, his physical body had been disorganized, and then reorganized. The Apostle Peter tells us plainly that this earth is to be dissolved, after which a new world is to be organized. It will be resurrected as Adam was.

Between the time of Adam's resurrection and his fall afterwards, he must have enjoyed a season of rest and peace.- The Millennium which is to give the earth a rest for a thousand years, is the corresponding state in the world's history.

Here we lose trace of Adam's life and will be obliged to complete the parallel from the history of any representative Christian.

A true Christian has hands laid upon him by those having divine authority for the reception of the Holy Ghost.- The authoritative establishment of the Gospel on earth blesses it with the presence of the priesthood, through which alone the powers of the heavens are controlled. He is baptized-buried in water for the remission of sins.— The earth was flooded-buried in water, by which process it was cleansed of a wicked antediluvian race.

He has had a physical body prepared for the accommodation and use of his spirit-he has been "generated."- The "generation" of the earth by the power of Jehovah completes the parallel in this respect.

Man was spiritually pre-existent before he was generated physically.- The earth, also, had a spiritual existence before it was "gener ated," as we shall discover.

Finally, man's spiritual creation is effected by a Being who is individually and absolutely distinct from the person to whom he owes his physical generation. The spiritual creation of the earth was effected by Beings who are distinct as individuals, from the person who formed the physical world. The first or spiritual creation was the work of the Gods. The second or physical formation was accomplished by Jehovah alone.

The curious reader may, without difficulty, extend the narrow limits of this parallel, whose truths beat upon our spiritual vision like the light of a revelation of a revelation of the profound