Elder J. W. McMurrin's Spiritual Discernment of an Heckler in Glasgow
Published October 5, 2026 at 6:19 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
During an open-air meeting at Gorbal's Cross in Glasgow, a heckler interrupted President J. W. McMurrin with an offensive question about how many wives he had left behind. McMurrin, suddenly empowered by the Spirit, turned upon the man, pointed his finger, and declared that he had not left as many wives behind as the man had in the city. McMurrin stated that the man's question proved his own adulterous character, as 'out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.' The audience was left spellbound and felt the truth of the rebuke.
In Their Own Words
“At this juncture some one cried out: 'How many wives did you leave?' There was an audible murmur of disapproval at the question, but the effect was unexpected and electrical. President McMurrin turned upon the questioner, and, with head erect and flashing eyes, pointed his finger at him and spoke as follows: 'I will guarantee that I have not left as many wives behind me as that man has in this city, and I do not know him. If he had not been an adulterous man he would not have spoken. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.' Everybody was spell-bound, and felt the palpability of the truth spoken, and we all felt, as one of the brethren expressed it, two or three inches taller, while from the audience arose a hum of satisfaction. — Millennial Star 45:41”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 8 October 1883 (Vol. 45, No. 41). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1883-10-08_45_41 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)
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