Mount Pleasant, Miles Olsen, a pioneer of Southern Utah, aged 90 years.-Tuesday, 21st, in Salt Lake City, Mary E. Gray, a Church veteran who passed through the trials of Missouri and Illinois. She was born in Canada in 1833.-Wednesday, 22nd, in Ogden, Henrietta Lamont, a pioneer resident of Ogden, born February 4, 1835, and when 16 years of age joined the Church and came to Utah in 1863. -Friday 24th, in Salt Lake City, George Coulam, one of the oldest residents of the city, born in Louth, Lincolnshire, England, May, 1848, and came to Utah with his parents that year.

Death of Patriarch Johnson.-Benjamin F. Johnson, one of the oldest members of the Church, and a Patriarch in the Maricopa Stake of Zion, died in Mesa, Saturday, November 18, in his 88th year. He was born in New York, July 29, 1818, and when thirteen years of age joined the Church. He was closely associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith and family in Missouri and Nauvoo, and from 1842 to 1844 acted as his business agent, and part of the time as his private secretary. During the exodus he was the captain of the first company that left Nauvoo, but did not arrive in Utah until 1849, as the duties assigned to him prevented him from coming at an earlier date. For many years he was an active participant in laying the foundation of the state of Utah; he filled several missions, served in the Utah Indian wars, and, in 1881, was called as a pioneer in Mexico and Arizona. At the time of his death his posterity numbered in the neighborhood of 800 souls.

The Late Elections.-The November elections in the United States were characterized, as usual with non-presidential elections, by the victory of the Democrats, in a large number of the municipalities of the nation. In Utah the election was noted for the winning of the so-called “American” party in Salt Lake City. Ezra Thomson was elected Mayor, and all the general officers of his party went in with him. A Democratic Mayor was elected in Ogden, but the other general officers are Republican. "Boss Rule" received a severe set-back in the large cities of the nation.

New English Liberal Cabinet.-On December 4, Premier Balfour terdered the resignations of himself and the members of his cabinet to King Edwaru who accepted them, and summoned Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Liberal leader, to form a new Cabinet. On the evening of December 10 the new Premier presented to the King the names he had selected for his Cabinet, and received the royal approval. The names he selected are regarded in England, by all parties as a surprisingly strong Ministry; and it is said that he has secured the support of all the factions of the Liberals. The new Cabinet is said to believe in the right of the Irish to govern themselves, and the party is now united on the Home Rule policy which has divided it ever since 1885, when Gladstone declared for it.

Dowie and Zion.-Dowie, the Zionist leader of Chicago, has abdicated in favor of three men known as the Triumvirate, who will manage the affairs of Zion City, hereafter. On the 20th of December, Dowie set sail for an island in the Carribean Sea, so it is said, where he will spend the remainder of his days. He is suffering from nervous troubles.

First organizer of the Y. M, M. I. A.. and son of Hon. Daniel H. Weils and Hannah Free, born Salt Lake City, Utah, June 1, 1854.

Designer of the Joseph Smith Memorial

Monument at Vermont.

IMPROVEMENT ERA.

VOL. IX.

FEBRUARY, 1906.

No. 4

ATONEMENT.

BY PRESIDENT JOHN G. MCQUARRIE OF THE EASTERN STATES MISSION.

The most important question in connection with the atonement is this: Is it a fact? Revelation, which is our only source of information on this particular point, answers the question in the affirmative. Here the defenders of the faith usually rest the case; drawing the conclusion that in some mysterious way Christ bears the burden of our sins.

Religion is supposed to be a perfect philosophy of life, a philosophy built on two theories-the fall of man and the atonement of Jesus Christ; but if we reply that in some mysterious way man fell, and in some mysterious way Christ brought about a redemption, then it follows logically that in some mysterious way man is saved by the operation.

It is hard to build a logical philosophy on two mysteries; hence, to many, the atonement is an unreal conception, and they continually ask: Why was it necessary, and how does it apply to our lives?

If we could understand God's purpose in the atonement, what he did to bring it about, and some of the reasons for such actions,

then what we should do to avail ourselves of that law would become clear.

Without attempting to delve into that which is mysterious in the atonement, we hope to prove the absolute necessity for Christ's transcendent sacrifice, and that if we accomplish what Christ made possible for us, we shall attain to a divine life.

In order to determine whether the ministry of Jesus Christ is an absolute necessity, we must first admit that it is necessary to attain to some condition. Let us take the premises that it is necessary to reach a state of happiness, and that we should avoid the opposite condition, a state of misery..

It is probable that every sane person is trying to reach the former and to avoid the latter. It is true that some regard these conditions only as they affect the present life, while others extend them into eternity. It is evident, however, that we are either soaring toward the one, or sinking into the other.

How are we going to reach the coveted condition? Some have argued that if God is all powerful he could make our happiness complete by relieving the stress of life, by keeping us from contact with law, or by preventing the pain and penalty that follow the breaking of law, but a little reflection will show us how impossible, how unjust, such an action would be. To remove the danger from the operation of the elements, would be to destroy their power and to rob them of their utility.

If there were no penalties following the breaking of law, there would be no incentive to study its operation. In fact, there could be no law. If the forces of nature operated just as they do, but mankind were kept from contact with them by the power of a superior mind, free agency would be denied, and liberty destroyed. Moreover, no experience would be gained, and hence no knowledge acquired; and, as knowledge is power, we should be deprived of knowledge, power and freedom, the prime elements of greatness, the essential principles of happiness, the glory of God and man. Besides, if it were impossible for us to break a law, it would be equally impossible to possess a virtue. We might remaim innocent, but could never become virtuous. We cannot refer to infants as being virtuous; we can only call them innocent.

To be released from law is to be outcast, not free.