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John C. Bennett (1804-1867) History of the Saints (Boston: Leland & Whiting, 1842) pp. 005-132 | pp. 133-256 | pp. 257-341 |
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Bennett's first letter to Sangamo Journal | his first letter to Louisville Journal
(this web-document is still under construction)
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INCIDENTAL REFLECTIONS. 257 I see thy glory, like a shooting star, Fall to the base earth, from the firmament! Thy sun sits weeping in the lowly west, Witnessing storms to come, woe, and unrest; Thy friends are fled, to wait upon thy foes, And crossly to thy good all fortune goes." This thing of sending the Elders to preach, in order to cloister their wives, sisters, and daughters, is Latter Day-ism with a vengeance! "There are none so blind as they that WON'T see." I would invent as bitter searching terms, As curst, as harsh, and horrible to hear, Delivered strongly through my fixed teeth, With full as many signs of deadly hate As lean-faced Envy in her loathsome cave. My tongue should stumble in mine earnest words, Mine eyes should sparkle like the beaten flint, Mine hair be fixed on end like one distract, Ay, every joint should seem to curse and ban; And, even now my burdened heart would break, Should I not curse them. It appears from the mass of evidence in this Exposé, that the Mormon Hierarchy are guilty of infidelity, deism, atheism; lying, deception, blasphemy; debauchery, lascivousness, beastialty; madness, fraud, plunder; larceny, burglary, robbery, perjury; fornication, adultery, rape, incest; arson, treason, and murder; and they have outheroded Herod, and out-deviled the devil, slandered God Almighty, Jesus Christ, and the holy angels, and even the devil himself, when they supposed him inimical to their plans and operations; and it is not, therefore, to be wondered at, that they should pour forth, with great fury and without mixture, the vials of their fierce wrath and fiery indignation, through their eastern and wesyern official organs, upon the head of the author of this work; but their liquid Tartarean lava and barbed arrows, dipped in the quintessence of Mormon ribaldry, shall be turned, by the helmet of truth, against themselves -- the uncircumcised 258 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) INCIDENTAL REFLECTIONS. 259 (this page not yet transcribed) 260 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) INCIDENTAL REFLECTIONS. 261 (this page not yet transcribed) 262 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) [ 263 ] 
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INCIDENTAL REFLECTIONS. 265 place my friends will hereafter direct their communications to me;) and if the war must be carried to the knife, and the knife to the hilt, the sons of thunder will drive it through. The eyes of Boggs will never slumber nor sleep, until the rod of Aaron divides the waters, and the supremacy of the Constitution and the laws is acknowledged in the land, and violence and misrule hide their hydra head; and I shall hold the rapier of justice in my right hand, and my left arm shall bear the shield of truth, until I bruise the Serpent's head. DAUGHTER OF ZION. This is a secret society of many years' standing, and was first formed in Missouri: the great majority of the members are among the "huge paws," of the Mormons, and they compose as pretty a set of ruffians as can be found in Christendom or elsewhere. The society was instituted for the purpose of driving out from the Holy Land, their earthly paradise, in Missouri, all apostates or dissenters from the Mormon faith. It was, therefore, at first called the "Big Fan," inasmuch as it fanned out the chaff from the wheat. This name, however, did not seem sufficiently dignified for so holy a body, and was soon set aside for a scriptural appelation; they were called the "Brother of Gidion;" but the rationale of this title I have never been able to discover. They are usually styled Danites, and sometimes Daughter of Zion, for the origin of which names are Micah iv. 13; read the whole chapter; also Judges xvii and xviii.The following is the constitution of this society: -- "Whereas, in all bodies laws are necessary for the permanency, safety and well-being of society, we, the members of the society of the Daughter of Zion, do agree to regulate ourselves under such laws as, in righteousness shall be deemed necessary for the preservation of our holy religion, and of our most sacred rights, and the rights of our wives and children. But, to be explicit on the subject, it is especially our object to support and defend the rights conferred on us by our venerable sires, who purchased them with the pledges 266 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. of their lives and fortunes, and their sacred honors. And now, to prove ourselves worthy of the liberty conferred on us by them, in the providence of God, we do agree to be governed by such laws as shall perpetuate these high privileges, of which we know ourselves to be the rightful possessors, and of which privileges wicked and designing men have tried to deprive us, by all manner of evil, and that purely in consequence of the tenacity we have manifested in the discharge of our duty towards our God, who had given us those rights and privileges, and a right in common with others, to dwell on this land. But we, not having the privileges of others allowed unto us, have determined like unto our fathers, to resist tyranny, whether it be in kings or in the people. It is all alike unto us. Our rights we must have, and our rights we shall have, in the name of Israel's God. "Art. 1. All power belongs originally and legitimately to the people, and they have a right to dispose of it as they shall deem fit. But as it is inconvenient and impossible to convince the people in all cases, the legislative powers have been given by them from time to time, into the hands of a representation composed of delegates from the people themselves. This is and has been the law in both civil and religious bodies, and is the true principle. "Art. 2. The executive power shall be vested in the President of the whole Church, and his Counsellors. "Art. 3. The legislative powers shall reside in the President and his Counsellors, together with the Generals and Colonels of the society. By them all laws shall be made regulating the society. "Art. 4. All offices shall be during the life and good behaviour, or to be regulated by the law of God. "Art. 5. The society reserves the power of electing all its officers with the exception of the aides and clerks which the officers may need in the various stations; the nomination to go from the Presidency to his second, and from the second to the third in rank, and so down through all the various grades, branch or department retains the power of electing its own particular officers. "Art. 6. Punishment shall be administered to the guilty in accordance to the offense, and no member shall be punished without law, or by any others than those appointed by law for that purpose. The legislature shall have power to make laws regulating punishments as in their judgments, shall be wisdom and righteousness. "Art. 7. There shall be a Secretary, whose business it shall be to keep all the legislative records of the society; also to keep a register of the names of every member of the society; also the rank of the officers. He shall also communicate the laws to the Generals, as directed by laws made for the regulation of such business by the legislature. "Art. 8. All officers shall be subject to the commands of the Captain-General, given through the Secretary of War; and so all officers shall be subject to their superiors in rank, according to laws made for that purpose." The oath by which the Danites were bound in Missouri, is as follows: -- 266 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) DAUGHTER OF ZION. 267 (this page not yet transcribed) 268 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (under construction) DESTROYING ANGEL. From the elite of the Danites, or Daughter of Zion, twelve men are selected, who are called Destructives, or Destroying Angel, and sometimes Flying Angel. Their[ 269 ] 
(view enlargement of graphic) [ 270 ] (this page is blank) DESTROYING ANGEL. 271 (this page not yet transcribed) 272 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) [ 273 ] 
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(this page is blank) ORDER LODGE. 275 (this page not yet transcribed) 276 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) ORDER LODGE. 277 (this page not yet transcribed) 278 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) ASSASSINATION AND ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. 279 (this page not yet transcribed) 280 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) ASSASSINATION AND ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. 281 (this page not yet transcribed) 282 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) ASSASSINATION AND ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. 283 (this page not yet transcribed) 284 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) ASSASSINATION AND ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. 285 (this page not yet transcribed) 286 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) ASSASSINATION AND ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. 287 (this page not yet transcribed) 288 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) ASSASSINATION AND ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. 289 (this page not yet transcribed) 290 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) ASSASSINATION AND ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. 291 (this page not yet transcribed) 292 HISTORY OF THE SAINTS. (this page not yet transcribed) |
John C. Bennett's 1842 Book (under construction) |
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