| 392 he became satisfied that an imposition had been practiced upon him, and so returned to England to expose "Mormonism" by delivering lectures against it. The propositions as finally agreed upon were: 'First. 'Is new and immediate revelation indispensably necessary to the accomplishment of God's purpose on the earth?' Briggs to affirm; Owen to deny. Second. 'Is the Book of Mormon a divinely inspired record?' Briggs to affirm; Owen to deny. Third. 'Is Mormonism, as a whole, consistent with the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments?' Briggs to afirm [affirm]; Owen to deny."
This debate began at Birmingham, July 18, 1863. Of this and a subsequent debate Elder Derry writes:-
"Bro. Briggs showed in a pointed manner the necessity of continued revelation. Owen used a good deal of bombast and sophistry, and declared that all the arguments Briggs had brought were true Christianity and not Mormonism. Jason replied in a masterly manner for fifteen minutes, to which Owen replied by complaining that nothing had been said worthy of reply. Jason's physical powers giving way, on the second night I took his place and presented our side of the question. Mr. Owen found it convenient to resort to his usual bombast and did not attempt to meet the question. The Rev. Bray occupied the chair and allowed him to wander as he pleased. It was amusing to see how loudly he was cheered by the audience, and how we were met by hisses and groans whenever we arose to speak.
"The next day Mr. Owen visited us and invited us to go and take tea with the Rev. George Whitehead. We did so, and were kindly treated by the gentleman and his lady, and at night we went to the debate. Bro. Briggs did splendid work, and Mr. Owen never attempted to disprove a single principle, but contented himself with vilifying the character of Joseph Smith and the three witnesses. His weakness was manifest to all but bigots. My heart vas gladdened to see the power of truth over error. The next evening Bro. Jason opened the debate as usual, showing the prophecies in the Bible concerning the stick of Ephraim, the sealed book, add truth springing out of the earth, and that the
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