ATTESTED BY DIRECT EVIDENCE.
The truth of the Book of Mormon is attested by the strongest direct evidence that it is possible to obtain. To show this it will perhaps be as well to consider what constitutes direct evidence. Evidence is understood to be the means of proving an unknown or a disputed fact. There is what is called "circumstantial evidence" and "direct evidence." The first is that kind of testimony which deals with circumstances that are connected with the fact to be proven. As, for example, footprints in the snow, are proof to an observer of them that someone has been where the snow lies since it fell, although the observer has not seen any person there. The marks in the snow are circumstantial evidence that he is correct in his conclusion. Direct evidence is the testimony of a witness to what he has seen, felt, or known by his own senses.
It is a question of dispute whether direct or circumstantial evidence is the stronger, though the first is usually considered so. As against direct evidence it is claimed that witnesses may be mistaken, deceived or may wilfully falsify, while circumstances it is said cannot mislead.
The evidences already set forth to prove the truth of the Book of Mormon are what would be called circumstantial. The only evidence mankind have, aside from inspiration, that the Bible is true is indirect or circumstantial. What is unique about the Book of Mormon is that it is sustained by direct testimony, corroborated by circumstantial evidence which proves that the witnesses were not mistaken nor deceived, and that they did not tell falsehoods. Following the title page of the Book of Mormon is printed the testimony of three witnesses, who give their deposition in the following earnest and emphatic words: