TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES.
The following letter was addressed to the editor of the Millennial Star, a Latter-day Saint magazine, published at 42 Islington, Liverpool, England:
"With pleasure I write to inform you that through the administration of Elders C. Measom and G. II. Meadows, on Sunday, March 7, 1897, and by the power of God after being confined to my bed for two years suffering greatly with pains in my head, etc., I was enabled to get up and walk into the next room, where I partook of refreshments and sat up for six hours. I have been free from pain since the pain left me, which was before their hands were removed from my head. I am fifty-one years of age, and have been brought up in the Church of England. Since the Elders named came to labor in this district, I have had frequent conversations with them, which, with the loan of books, has enabled me to have faith to believe that God would use them as His instruments for my recovery. I am not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but hope to be so shortly.
Yours respectfully,
"Mrs. E. Bond."
Castle Hill, Warwick, March 9, 1897.
The subjoined article is a testimony from outside the Church, impartial and unimpeachable. It appears in the Zanesville, O., Daily Signal of December 20th, 1897, under the caption "A Modern Miracle."
"Mr. Matthew Gray of the seventh ward is perhaps the happiest person in Zanesville to-day; so he seemed, at least, when seen at his pleasant Abington Avenue home by a Signal representative at an early hour this morning.
"And, too, there is nothing strange or remarkable about Mr. Gray's happiness, though it was the result of one of the strangest and most remarkable faith tests ever enacted in this city; and the story of Mr. Gray's miraculous cure of a relentless affliction will be read with much interest.
"In October, three years ago, Matthew Gray was stricken with paralysis, the terrible disease affecting his entire left side. For a year to the month Mr. Gray was able to walk with the help of crutches, but during the following October, two years ago, he was the recipient of a second stroke of paralysis, and from that time until yesterday Mr. Gray had been deprived of all use of his left side, the entire left portion of his body being apparently dead, his left arm being limp and palsied at his side and his left foot and leg were in the same inanimate condition.
"Such, in brief, has been Matthew Gray's condition for more than three years, and two years of that time he has either sat helplessly in his large arm chair or has lain in bed seemingly waiting for the death angel to relieve him of his suffering.
"Last Thursday two visitors, peculiarly clad, knocked at the Gray homestead and were granted admission to the afflicted man's chamber. These visitors were two Mormon Elders who have been in Zanesville for the past few weeks, and whose mission to the Clay city has been regarded with only passing interest. . . . .
"Now for the interesting part of the story, related to a Signal reporter by Mr. Gray himself, and given as near as possible in his own words:
"'Last Friday four Mormon Elders called at my home here. They were very genteel in appearance and actions and asked me if I wouldn't like to look over some of their tracts, etc., and also asked me if I would not let them cure me by faith. I consented and they impressed upon me very strongly that I should not have faith in them but should place all my faith in God as it was through Him and not them that my cure would be accomplished. This liberal statement on their part and their own sincerity aided me materially, for I always knew that God alone could cure me, and, do you know, I have always thought that God would cure me.
"'As I said before, I consented and they set Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock for the time of holding the meeting, and additionally stated that from then, Friday morning, until after the faith meeting they would not eat anything, as a period of fasting seemed necessary.
"'Sunday afternoon, or yesterday afternoon, at 2 o'clock the four Elders came here to my home and after repeatedly instructing me to put my faith in God they knelt at my bedside in prayer, my wife being the sixth occupant of the room.
"'Following this first prayer, and while I was sitting here in my big arm chair, one of the Elders liberally anointed my head with oil—sacred oil—and after that was done they formed a circle around my chair, each one placing his right hand on my head and all placed their left hands on each other's shoulders. I had perfect faith in all that they were doing, and, while each of the four Elders earnestly prayed, I, too, bent my head in reverence and appealed with all the faith at my command to God for deliverance from my affliction.
"'Finally they concluded and one of the Elders commanded me to walk. All at once I became possessed of an almost superhuman desire to get up and walk, and when I tried to, after my muscles quivered for a brief instant, I raised my left arm and then stood up. I took a step and found I could move my left leg. I took another step and walked out into the kitchen and back. After awhile I made the round trip to the kitchen again and while on the third trip, my left ankle turned slightly and I sat down.
"'While I am profusely thankful to the four Elders for the interest that they manifested in my case, I want it distinctly understood that I look to God as my deliverer and not to them.'
"When seen by the Signal representative this morning, Mr. Gray was sitting in his big arm chair with his left foot in a bucket of hot water—a household remedy for sprains. To illustrate the extent of his cure the happy gentleman shook hands with the writer, using first his right hand and next his left hand, and the latter member, which for three years had remained dead almost at his side, contained a strong and hearty grip. Many times he raised his left arm above his head and waved it to and fro to illustrate the positive use he had of the member, and while relating the above experience he gesticulated as freely with his left arm as with the right. Many times he lifted the left foot from the water without any apparent effort and accompanied the pleasant movement with a smile almost glorious in its extent and meaning.
"Matthew Gray is a well-known citizen of Zanesville. He was born and raised in Muskingham County and he and his good wife have reared a family of ten children, all but one of whom reside in the county."
Edward F. Turley, one of the Latter-day Saint Elders who administered to Mr. Gray, relates the circumstances of the remarkable healing in a letter to the Deseret News, written from Zanesville, Ohio, on December 20, 1897. His version is as follows:
"Last Thursday while out tracting I met a lady very much opposed to us. Among other things, she said: 'If you people have power to heal the sick as you claim, why don't you heal this man next door, who has been an invalid for twenty-nine months. He hasn't been on his feet for that length of time.' I said to the person that the signs followed the believers to-day as much as anciently.
"I called on this gentleman, Matthew Gray, who has been an invalid for twenty-nine months. I asked him if he had faith enough to believe that he could be healed by the power of God. 'Yes,' said he. I told him we would be there on Sunday at 2 p.m. We called according to appointment. Less than three minutes after the administration he commenced shaking. His whole frame shook. He commenced rising up in his chair. His wife then threw her arms around him and they both shouted: 'Bless the Lord. The Savior has come! I know these are the servants of the Lord.' Father, mother and a grown daughter were so overjoyed that they wept. The man walked into the kitchen three times. For twenty-nine months his entire left side had been paralyzed. The three persons bore testimony that this was the first time their father had walked for twenty-nine months."
The Deseret News, a paper issued in Salt Lake City, Utah, of February 24, 1898, publishes a letter, written by a United States soldier stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. The writer's name is Arthur M. Swigart. His letter is dated February 9, 1898, and reads as follows:
"While living in Denver I had the fortune to become acquainted with some of the Saints there. After being thoroughly convinced of the authenticity of the Gospel as taught by them, I made application for baptism, but before the day appointed for this ordinance to take place I threw my left knee out of joint and fractured my knee cap. I was a soldier at the time and was taken to the government hospital, where I spent nine weeks, and was pronounced a cripple for life by Major Munn, surgeon U.S.A. On the second day of July, 1897, I was baptized by Elder H. S. Ensign, and when I came up from the water I was a sound man; and on December 16, 1897, I stood the examination at the recruiting office at Evansville, Indiana, and am again in the service of the United States.
"If you deem my testimony worthy of publication and think by it some may be led to investigate the truths of our precious Gospel, please publish it."
Below is an extract from a letter written by Henry Coulam, a Latter-day Saint missionary who was at the time of writing (December 1, 1896), in Bradford, Yorkshire, England: