by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." This must ever be the chief source of evidence for the truth of the Book of Mormon. All other evidence is secondary to this, the primary and infallible. No arrangement of evidence, however skilfully ordered; no argument, however adroitly made, can ever take its place; for this witness of the Holy Spirit to the souls of men for the truth of the Nephite volume of scripture, is God's evidence to the truth; and will ever be the chief reliance of those who accept the Book of Mormon, and expect to see its acceptance extended throughout the world; for, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so must the testimony of God forever stand above and before the testimony of men, and of things. I confess that these reflections have a saddening effect upon one who undertakes to set forth what he must confess are but the secondary evidences to the truth of the Book of Mormon, and make an argument that he can never regard as of primary importance in the matter of convincing the world of the truth of the work in the interest of which he labors. But I trust these reflections will help my readers to a right apprehension of the importance of Parts I and II, the importance of a clear and, so far as may be, a complete statement of the incidents connected with the coming forth of the book, and also of its contents. To be known, the truth must be stated, and the clearer and more complete the statement is, the better opportunity will the Holy Spirit have for testifying to the souls of men that the work is true. While desiring to make it clear that our chief reliance for evidence to the truth of the Book of Mormon must ever be the witness of the Holy Spirit, promised by the prophet Moroni to those who will seek to know the truth from that source; and desiring, also, as I think is becoming in man, to acknowledge the superiority of God's witness to the truth as compared with any evidence that man may set forth--I would not have it thought that the evidence and argument presented in Parts III and IV are unimportant. Secondary evidences in support of truth, like secondary causes in natural phenomena, may be of firstrate importance, and mighty factors in the achievement of God's purposes. I only desire by these remarks to place the matters to be considered in their right relations. B. H. ROBERTS. Salt Lake City, March, 1909. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I. THE VALUE OF THE BOOK OF MORMON AS A WITNESS FOR THE AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE BIBLE, AND THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. CHAPTER I. The Bible in the Nineteenth Century. CHAPTER II. The Witness of the Western Hemisphere. CHAPTER III. The Purposes for Which the Book of Mormon was Written. PART II. THE DISCOVERY OF THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATION.--MIGRATIONS, LANDS, INTERCONTINENTAL MOVEMENTS, CIVILIZATIONS, AND THE RELIGIONS OF ITS PEOPLES. CHAPTER IV. How Joseph Smith Obtained the Book of Mormon.