Edward Davis's defense of the Church in London

“On the evening of the 27th of October, Elder Wood and myself were invited to take tea with a gentleman in London, who is a member of the Church of England. We accepted the invitation, and upon our arrival found that a Professor Hamilton, who has been lecturing against the Latter-day Saints in this city, had also been invited. The Professor, as soon as he saw us, began to make some very ungentlemanly remarks, and continued to do so for some time, making the most absurd and slanderous statements regarding the character of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the people of Utah. I determined in my own mind not to engage in argument, but simply to tell the religious faith, morals and history of the Latter-day Saints, and prove, to the satisfaction of any that were willing to accept the evidence of the Scriptures, that our doctrines were sustained by the Bible. I waited until he had exhausted his stock of abuse, and then, in a calm and quiet manner, I commenced to speak. I had no interruption. I spoke for about an hour, explaining the first principles of the Gospel, the restoration of the Priesthood, and the history of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Spirit of the Lord was with me, and I felt that my words had an effect upon the company. The Professor did not stay many minutes after I had done speaking; he bade the company good night, feeling, no doubt, that he had no weapons with which to combat truth. The gentleman, who had extended the invitation to us, shook us warmly by the hand, as did nearly all of the company, and said they were very pleased and thankful to us for our visit, promising to come and see us at the office. We left the house feeling that we had done a good work, and that the prejudice which had been created by the Professor's lectures had been, in a great measure, removed from the minds of those present.”

— Edward Davis, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star