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BETWEEN Elizabeth T. Cresson, on the one part, as plaintiff, and Warder
Cresson, on the other part, as defendant. The said Elizabeth T. Cresson began
this suit in favor of him whom they call "God the Son." David Paul
Brown declared in court, "that she had to deny either her Savior or her Husband:"
I, therefore, Warder Cresson, had to deny either the One Only God, or my Wife.
ELIZABETH T. CRESSON vs. WARDER CRESSON
| She representing the Son, the Son said, "The Son can do nothing
of himself," John v. 19-30; and so it proved when she lost the suit.* |
He representing the Father, who
"does all things in Heaven and on Earth;" and so it proved
when he gained the suit. |
I have already stated in my introduction, at the commencement of this
work, that in the spring of 1844, I left everything near and dear to me on earth, and went
to Jerusalem, where I remained, in obedience to my walk of faith, until the 20th
day of September, 1848, when I arrived at my home in Philadelphia, at 280 South Eleventh
Street.
My object, as I said before, was "the pursuit of Truth," and
with truth I desired Strength and Rest. I remained in Jerusalem in my
former faith until the 28th day of March, 1848, when I became fully satisfied that I never
could obtain Strength and Rest but by doing as Ruth did, and
saying to her Mother-in-law, or Naomi, (the Jewish Church,) "Entreat me not
to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest I will go;
and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die; and there will I be buried: the Lord do
so to me, and more also, if AUGHT BUT DEATH PART THEE AND ME." Ruth. 1:16 and 17.
In short, upon the 28th day of March, 1848, I was circumcised, entered
the Holy Covenant, and became a Jew, as the above words prove that Ruth became a
Jewess, although "A STRANGER." Ruth 2:10.
Soon after my return home to my family, which I did upon the 20th day of
September, 1848, I found that there was a growing OPPOSITION and ENMITY towards the course
that I had taken, which were daily more and more manifested against me. I tried every way
I could to convince my Wife and Family, whom I most sincerely and most
ardently loved, and to conciliate my views with theirs, but this I found to be
impossible, unless I would abjure or perjure myself, and deny the very foundation
and greatest principle of my faith, which is the Unity of God.
My Wife, Elizabeth T. Cresson, was born and educated a Friend, or Quaker,
as I was; but, about the time I went to Jerusalem, or a little while before, she had been
baptized, and became, during my absence, a rigid Episcopalian, and believer in "One
God being Three," and in "Three being one;" that is, in a Trinity.
I soon found, upon conversation with her, that she could not explain
to me how it was possible for only one Indivisible God to be divided
into Three, and then for these three divided parts to be thrown back
again into that which they say is Indivisible; all the satisfaction I could get
was, "that it was a Great Mystery," (see Rev. 17:5,) "That it
was Inexplicable," and that it was, in short, to receive all this mass of inconsistent
stuff with "implicit faith," without inquiring why or wherefore,
and hence throwing away my reason, "Heaven's best gift," as completely
as I would have to do were I to become a follower of "Brahma,"
"Juggernaut," or the "Grand Lama."
Here was the point, and the one great point, upon which first
commenced all our after difficulties, she maintaining that "three was one,
and that one was three;" that is, she supported a "TRINITY," and I
maintaining that ONE was ONLY ONE, and never was nor never could be three; that is, I
supported the "UNITY" of God.
It was all in vain that I quoted the 12th chap. of Mark, 28 and 29th
verses of her own scriptures, that Jesus himself said, that "the first of all
the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is ONE Lord;" and any rational
mind would have supposed that this was enough, but it was not, for she had got it so pat
from the thirty-nine articles of the church of England, (and nearly all these were taken
from the Church of Rome,) that if they had taught her to believe that thirty Gods were
one, or thirty thousand were one, she would just as soon have believed it, as that one was
three, and that three was one; and she could have just as well reasoned upon the consistency
of the former as of the latter, and just as well believed the one as the other, provided
she followed her own rule to believe all and everything with and in Implicit
Faith, without asking why or wherefore!
However, finding all my endeavors to Instruct and Direct
my family, as the AUTHORIZED HEAD AND FATHER OF IT, (AUTHORIZED BY God HIMSELF, and by his
most Holy Law,) in teaching them the VERY WORDS of the "FIRST (AND GREATEST) OF ALL
THE COMMANDMENTS," disregarded; and finding the prejudice against me,
because I was a Jew, increasing more and more every day, I thought it was high time to
make some inquiry as to what had become of the proceeds of my farm, stock, and utensils,
which my son, Jacob B. Cresson, wrote me, dated Philadelphia, 1848, in which letter he
informed me that my "Farm had been sold to Joseph Ashton, for $10,640, and that the
amount of my goods by vendue, was upwards of $2000."
I had, before I left Philadelphia, in the Spring of 1844, given my Wife a full
and unlimited "power of Attorney" over all that I had here on earth,
except between $400 and $500, and my necessary wearing apparel, which I took with me; but
when I came home, although I remained there from the 20th day of September until the last
week in December, I could never get either the vendue-book, or any satisfactory account of
what had become of its proceeds, except as I stated before, from my son Jacob's letter,
which stated that it amounted "to above $2000," until the latter part of
December, 1848, when I was sitting up stairs, in the same room with my Wife, before a
bureau, and had the second drawer from the top drawn part way out, and lifting up a
newspaper that covered the bottom of the drawer, I perceived the vendue-book that I had so
often asked my Wife for; but I had no sooner taken it up into my hands than it was
immediately snatched from me by her, who ran across the room from me with it; I ran after
her two or three steps with the intention to take it from her, when I thought that it
might lead to a struggle--I often having declared that it was below the dignity of a good
man ever to lay hands upon a woman.
But I never afterwards saw anything of the vendue-book, until all the
remaining proceeds of it had been made over into the hands of Elliott Cresson, by my Wife,
in order to keep it from me. After this trying proceeding, I thought it was high time to
take the necessary steps to see what had become of the remaining money for the sale of my
Farm, as I had understood that "there was a Bond and Mortgage given by Joseph Ashton,
for $5,320."
I therefore went up to the "Recorder's office," for Recording of
deeds and mortgages, &c., and there I found recorded a "Bond and Mortgage, given
by Joseph Ashton, dated July 1st, 1848, for $5,320, to Warder Cresson." I
immediately, upon finding that it was given in my name, revoked the
"Power of Attorney" that had been given to my Wife; this I revoked upon the 19th
day of December, 1848; and got the revocation recorded upon the same day.
I then returned home and found that the storm was increasing more and
more, and that there was a powerful religious influence at work against me, as well on
account of my religious views, as for my money and my property; nearly all my family, who
were Episcopalians, were against me, except my eldest son, John Elliott Cresson, who had
always been, thus far, an industrious, honest, and well-disposed man.
My Wife had been locked up days and nights from me, by a worthless and
unprincipled son-in-law, Alex F. Porter, who was then living in part of the same house,
No. 280 South Eleventh Street, with us, and whose evil eye seemed all directed to the
money that he hoped to get from, or by, my daughter, Emma Cresson, his wife. He, together
with my son Jacob, made my home very unpleasant and insufferable. However, I made
out to stand it until the last week of December, 1848, when I hired a car and moved ONE
LOAD and PART OF ANOTHER* down to Isaac Asch's, in Spruce, between Fourth and Fifth
Streets. The reason I did this was first, because I found I could not live in peace at my
own house; and secondly, because I found I could not encounter my family's opposition, and
keep those laws which my Religion required of me.
* This is what they called "stripping her
dwelling," one of the charges in proof of my Lunacy. See page 215. Mind, "HER
dwelling," not MINE.
After all this base treatment, and after my family having restrained from
me the necessary information of the condition of my affairs, of my vendue debts, and other
matters, I, notwithstanding all this, made over by assignment one-half of the mortgage of
$5,320, for the use of my Wife and family, in order to endeavor to convince them that a Jew
could "do justice, and love mercy," and in order to see if they would
not act justly and fairly with me, in relation to the remaining vendue money.
This assignment of one-half of the mortgage of $5,320, was made over in trust to Geo. V.
Bacon, upon the 12th day of January, 1849, and so was recorded.
Yet for all this, upon the following 15th day of May, 1849, at the request
of my Wife and son, Jacob, an "Inquisition of Lunacy" was issued
against me; although, as we can see from the above date of the assignment, and from their acceptance
of that assignment from me, they thought me perfectly sane, so as to
make over the one-half of $5,320 to them, and get it acknowledged before
a Justice of the Peace; thus giving the lie to their charge of Lunacy
against me. How any sane person can have such barefaced duplicity of
mind, and such awful turpitude of heart, cannot be well imagined; but so they
did, and the only rational conclusion is, that they did it under that most blinding of all
other blindness, and that most darkening of all other darkness, and that is, that
blindness and darkness which can alone spring from Religious prepossession and prejudice.
However, they selected a Jury of six men, all of their own choice, and as
they well knew they were all PREPOSSESSED and PREJUDICED against me, many positive
falsehoods were fabricated and preferred; I was consequently condemned, without my being
permitted to bring forward even their own letters and the letters of several ministers, as
full and complete testimony that they thought me perfectly sane.
However, I was informed that it was, as styled, only a 'FEIGNED Issue." I
say, I was consequently condemned.
But upon a Traverse being granted me, April 11th, 1850, I proved
all their charge of "Lunacy" false and unfounded, by
a Jury of twelve men, and that it was truly an issue, like all their charges were, altogether
"FEIGNED;" that is, PRETENDED and DISSEMBLED* only to try to force me back
to perjure myself, and believe, what no sensible little child can believe, that One
is not One, but that "One is Three," and that
"Three is One;" a lie is upon the face of it, and it is all a
FEIGNED ISSUE.
The first came from my own family, and the last
from the "Pious Frauds and Lying Wonders" of the Greek and Latin
Churches.
I will now enumerate some of their false charges as I took them down from
their lawyer, David P. Brown, as follows:--
1st. "Lunacy as far back as 1827."* My Wife's
my Son's, and my Daughter's own letters,† and those from several clergymen, all prove
this charge false, and so does the testimony of SEVENTY-THREE of our FIRST and
MOST RESPECTABLE CITIZENS, including Professors and eminent Physicians.
2d. "Wasting his Estate." This is positively untrue,
as I have bought two farms, which were nothing but poor miserable WRECKS; these I
put all good buildings upon, made them as rich as gardens, and brought up and educated six
children, and had coming to me, upon my return, above $6000 clear.
3d. "Taking Elizabeth's (my wife's) patrimony of
1800." This is untrue, as $650 was taken to set out our daughter Emma, (as was proved
by their own testimony,) who was married only a few days before I left for the East; and
between 8 and $900, to pay off our debts for Building, Lime, and Hiring, as receipt-book
will show.
4th. "Incompetence to manage his (or my)
Estate." Their own letters request me to "come home and help them sell the farm,
and settle up my affairs, as they are not CAPABLE TO DO THIS WITHOUT ME;" and their
accepting the "assignment" of one-half of my mortgage of $5,32- from me. This
proves, from their own act, this charge false.
5th. "Hostility to my family." This charge is
untrue, as I never laid even a finger upon any one of them to correct them. It is true, I
endeavored first by persuasion and entreaty, and them by every lawful means in my power,
(except corporeal chastisement,) as God commands me and every Father and Head of his
family to do, in controlling them, and instructing them, (see Deut. vi.
6 and 7;) and this Authority and Power, given by God's Holy Law to every
Father and Parent, cannot be resisted without "resisting the ordinance
of God" and "receiving to themselves DAMNATION." (Rom. 13:2.)
And the right maintenance of this Authority of Father, over a man's own family of wife and
children, is the only true FOUNDATION and SUPPORT of every other right form of
government and relation in society; without which all is Anarchy and Confusion.
6th. "Haranguing in the Streets." This I have
done, but no more than the first Quakers, Methodists, and Episcopalians, and their Allen
and Wilmer; and as David P. Brown is continually doing in Independence Square and other
public places; and as we are positively commanded to do in Luke x. 10.
7th. "Attaching himself to Shakers, Mormons,
Campbellites, Irvingites, went to England wasting his estate, and then became a Millerite,
and lastly, an Israelite." I never joined but two societies in my life, and them only
partially, except the one I am now a member of. This I can prove by hundreds; so this
charge is false.
8th. Visited Jerusalem TWICE. This everybody almost
knows to be a lie, as I was never there but ONCE.
9th. "Insists upon his wife Elizabeth becoming a
Jewess." This I only wished, upon her becoming most honestly and deeply convinced of
the truth of Judaism as RUTH was, which was my duty if I loved her, and not as an ORPAH.
See my "Paraphrase upon the Book of Ruth" at the latter part of this work.
10th. "Takes separate Lodgings." Why make this
charge if their fifth charge is true, "Hostility to my family?" In fact, nothing
caused me to move away from them but their Hostility to my Faith, and to my authority
and teaching of Deut. vi. 4 to 8, and declared to be the very "first
of all the commandments" in their own Mark xii. 29.
11th. "Resorts to Threats." I never resorted to
any one that I had not full authority from God to do, and not until it was absolutely
necessary.
12th. "Compels her to
resort to the Law." This is false, as I gave them "an assignment" of
one-half my mortgage of $5,320, upon the 12th of January, 1849, and recorded it,
even after they had kept back all the amount of my vendue, which, according to Jacob's
letter, amounted to "more than $2000;" and further, I did everything in my power
to prevent it, after they had set all my authority over my OWN HALF at defiance. I
therefore wrote to them the following proposition, upon the 14th day of January, 1849, and
presented it to them in the presence of three different persons, viz. "By the advice
of counsel I hereby testify, that for the sake of an AMICABLE SETTLEMENT, and to PREVENT
any FURTHER LEGAL LITIGATION BETWEEN MYSELF and FAMILY, I hereby propose to rent a house,
and support my wife and family; provided I shall be permitted to enjoy MY RIGHTS
unmolested without any interference from any person or persons whatever," alluding to
my son Jacob, and son-in-law, Alex. F. Porter, and other bad advisers.
"And with reference to the amount of my vendue-book remaining
unsettled between us, I hereby agree to leave the settlement thereof, or any other
difficulty that may arise or exist between us, to any three respectable citizens, say
Charles Chauncey, Geo. V. Bacon, and, if necessary, any third person.
Signed,
WARDER CRESSON."
Now, after making the assignment upon the 12th day of January, and
the above proposition on the 14th of the very same month, any unprejudiced and
impartial reader cannot help seeing how glaringly false and absurd is the last charge
of "compelling my wife to resort to the law," when I did everything that it
was possible for me to do, except yielding up MY TWO GREAT RIGHTS of "CIVIL and
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY," by giving up the control of my remaining HALF OF THE MORTGAGE,
and PERJURING MYSELF by professing to believe, that "ONE ONLY God IS THREE, and
THAT THREE GODS ARE ONE," and thus violate God's Most Holy Law, (and their Mark 12:29,)
which I shall never do, by the help of God.
13th. "Strips her dwelling with pistols in his
hands." This any person can well see is false, as I never laid a finger or hand UPON
ANY OF MY FAMILY SINCE my return from the east, and both my son and son-in-law know well
what they would be in my hand, and that I never stood in any need of any weapon in order
to contend with either of them; they well knew my strength, and they well knew my right
, secured to me both by the Law of God and Man, and which will YET BE GIVEN ME,
"For with that JUDGMENT YE JUDGE, IT SHALL BE MEASURED TO YOU AGAIN," (see Matt. 7:2;)
and mark, particularly mark, that when the Roman Catholics* get in power for
three and a half years, or "Forty and Two Months," which they will, (if I
understand prophecy,) by the providence of God, and by the help of that Despotic Power
which is now at war with Liberal and Republican Principles, they will then receive, to
their HEARTS' CONTENT, a full reward for all they have done to me, "And it
shall be given unto them GOOD MEASURE, PRESSED DOWN, SHAKEN TOGETHER, RUNNING OVER, SHALL
MEN GIVE INTO YOUR (their) BOSOM," (Luke 6:38;) then will they remember a loving
father's Prayers and Entreaties to "come out of
Babylon," (see Dan. 7:25, and rev. 13:4 and 5,) and my repeating to them the 51st of Jer. 49th and
50th. v. And who is so blind that he cannot see that Absolute or Despotic
power rising here now? But I feel that I have done my duty in warning them. But what
could have been my family's ulterior object in thus persecuting me, under a False
Charge of Lunacy, but Religious Prejudice and the DOLLARS and CENTS of the other
half of the mortgage of $5,320, and what will yet be coming to me from my father and
brother Clement's Estate? and to try and FORCE me to CHANGE AGAIN, after TRYING TO MAKE ME
OUT INSANE FOR CHANGING SO OFTEN?* Ah, the enmity of Esau! Well did the ever Blessed David
say, "Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, (Gentiles,) that I dwell in the tents of
Kedar! (Ishmael.) MY SOUL HATH LONG DWELT WITH HIM that HATES PEACE. I am
for peace; but WHEN I SPEAK, THEY ARE FOR WAR." (Ps. 120:5, 7.) And so it is.
* And every one of my family have changed their Religion,
some of them four or five times, and these are my persecutors too--THIS IS RICH.
And so sure as ever God appointed by his Word the ordinance
of the Husband and Father to be the HEAD and INSTRUCTOR of his family, to teach
the VERY WORDS of the GREATEST and "FIRST of all the commandments, Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God is one Lord," (Mark 12:29,) so sure will his providence support his
word, so far as to make my family yet acknowledge, "That they who RESIST the ORDINANCE
of God shall receive to themselves DAMNATION." Rom. 13:2.
If Justice be retributive, she must PUNISH as well as REWARD.
If this suit against me for Insanity is not for money, or to deprive me of
my Right of Property, which they avow it is not, then it must be waged against my
Right of Religious Liberty, for becoming a Jew; it must be either the one or the other, as
they did not pretend to prefer one charge of immorality against
me.
Both of the above charges are UNCONSTITUTIONAL and ILLEGAL, and therefore,
whenever JUSTICE, with her EVEN BALANCES, WEIGHS THEM, they must be "FOUND
WANTING."
If INSANITY be HEREDITARY, as all medical men assert it is, then if
I am insane, my offspring must inherit the same CURSE, or MALADY.
If I am not insane, all who have sworn falsely against me must be guilty
of PERJURY, and must be so adjudged in the eyes of the public.
However, all must see and know, that if we strike a stroke, and it reverberate
with tenfold force upon ourselves, we must FEEL the FORCE OF THAT STROKE.*
* Elliott Cresson was the GREAT "HAMAN" in my
case.
All men can now see that either Judaism or the Catholicy is true, or else
a house can exist without a foundation, because Judaism existed 1491 B.C. before every the
Catholics existed, (see Ex. 19.,) and the Catholicy existed 1500 years and more before
ever Luther or the Protestants existed, or from whom did they come out, and who did they
PROTEST against?
It is a most remarkable fact, that Quakers, Shakers, Joanna
Southcotians,
Christian Israelites, Millerites, and Presbyterians, all are continually endeavoring to
IDENTIFY themselves with the literal Israel of God, by saying, that "WE ARE THE TRUE
ISRAELITES;" see the Rev. Wm. Miller's "Judaism and Presbyterianism
IDENTIFIED." Now we all well know, that whenever any person has BAD WHEAT, or BAD
WINE, &c., &c., he is always very willing to try to IDENTIFY the BAD with the
GOOD, as the above sects do--but they are never willing to try to IDENTIFY and lose the
GOOD and GENUINE in the BAD. This speaks volumes, and tells who the TRUE ISRAEL of
God is.
And if the Jews were ONCE the CHOSEN PEOPLE of God, as ALL sects admit
they were, and if they are still to this day, the same "STIFF-NECKED,"
"STUBBORN," and "UNALTERED race," that have never CHANGED, and if God
has never CHANGED, they must still remain the SAME CHOSEN PEOPLE OF God; and I challenge
any one to prove that they do not still hold the SAME HOLY LAW, the same UNITY of
God, or
the ONE ONLY God, and the same TEN COMMANDMENTS that they held more than 3000 years since,
when the law was first given to them upon Mount Sinai. If so, I am most surely right that,
having found the Truth I have embraced it; and the more I have been persecuted for so
doing, the more my persecutors will and must be rewarded for their evil deeds.
They say, "Every Tree is known by its own Fruit, (morally as well
as physically speaking:) for of THORNS men do not father FIGS," &c. Luke 6:44.
Yes, I have had the greatest distrust and want of confidence returned
to me by the wife of my bosom, after I had placed all confidence in her by giving her
an unlimited and unreserved "Power of Attorney" over all that I had on earth;
and this was effected by her obeying EVIL ADVISERS instead of her own husband, as she
most solemnly promised to do before God and man "until death should separate
us." Then the next unlawful act was to snatch my vendue-book out of my hand and run away
with it and make the proceeds over to the third person; then swear that I was Insane, and
in order to carry out this false charge, expose my most confidential letters, written to
her upon a subject of the most delicate nature, prohibited by the Law of God, and which
only ought to be known between Husband and Wife. See Lev. 15:19 to 23.
And will any person justify such a breach of FAITHFULNESS and all
CONFIDENTIAL INTERCOURSE and TRUST between Wife and Husband? If so, let me see that
person. That person cannot be found, who would allow it or suffer it himself; and not a
single person to whom I have ever mentioned it has attempted to justify the act; but all
of them have told me that it was a most unjustifiable action for any woman to do, in order
to carry out her own selfish purposes.
The first time I saw this want of confidence manifested on the part of my
wife and family, was only a short time after my return, when I was told that "they
were afraid that I would give all my money away to the Jews, and to BUILD THE TEMPLE; and
so my brother Elliott told Mr. Isaac Leeser--but he laughed at his FOOLISH DISTRUST and
SUSPICION--for how would it be possible for any person to build the Jewish Temple, so long
as Mount Moriah was occupied by the Turks' Mosque of Omar; and so long as Jerusalem and
the whole of Palestine was under the power of their government and direction? Most
ridiculous!
Then the next thing was to ridicule the Jewish faith, that most VENERABLE
FOUNDATION of everything that is good in all faiths, and then saying, "that it was a
disgrace to the Cresson family." But remember, if the Book of Ruth be true, we will
see where judgment will yet fall; although it may be slow, yet it will be SURE and CERTAIN
to come sooner or later; for "he that touches you, touches the apple
of his eye," (Zech. 2:8;) and "cursed be every one that curses thee,"
(Gen. 27:29.) And so they yet will find it, and so will every Gentile, until he overcomes
that natural and innate ENMITY which still exists to this day in the heart of Esau against
his Brother Jacob. And I most faithfully warned my family of this existing enmity.
However, one thing is most certain, that they have made themselves
NOTORIOUS in Philadelphia, and the discerning public can now see how much THEIR OATH IS
WORTH, when it comes in COMPETITION with their RELIGIOUS PREJUDICES, or with THEIR LOVE OF
MONEY.*
For they have made up their minds, that I am very far from being an Insane
Man; and, that their charge of Insanity was merely a FALSE COVER that they tried to
disguise themselves under, saying "it was all done out of affection and good faith
towards me;" and so I suppose they will try to make me believe was their swearing
that "I had been to Jerusalem twice," that I took "twenty or thirty Mormons
at once out at my farm;" and, that "I left my family destitute," when God
knows, and all my neighbors know, and also those who lived with us in our family, that I
left them ABOUNDING WITH EVERY COMFORT; and that I had for years and years before I left
this country for Jerusalem, been enriching my farm, and putting all my buildings and
everything upon it, in the very best order; and most certainly I must have intended it for
my wife and family, or why did I give her an unlimited Power of Attorney.
Why did I not LIMIT HER POWER, through my Attorney, or some other friend?
The reason is plain, that I never indulged nor manifested that WANT OF CONFIDENCE and
trust which they have most ungratefully manifested, and unlawfully shown
towards me since my return.
I have only been acting thus far upon the defensive ground, having been
GOADED and DRIVEN ALMOST TO DESPERATION, by having my wife kept from me, excluded from my
own house in the depth of winter, and bound over to keep the peace, when it was themselves
and others who were in the violation of the peace, and who were advising my wife to
disobedience, in violation of the Law of God and man. Yes, I have been forced and driven
to resistance, in order to justify myself and their attack upon my reason,
"Heaven's highest and best gift to man," and in order to justify my right to
Religious Liberty, and my right to my own property, and only the one-half of
that, as it is well known that I had given my Wife one-half be assignment,
after they had kept back all the remaining vendue-money; and, it is on record that Alex.
F. Porter said, that "Mr. Cresson wanted to take the one-half and go
to Jerusalem, but that these proceedings were commenced at the request of
the family." What proceedings? Why the "Inquisition of Lunacy"
that they commenced against me, and that they have been do most sorely wounded,
in having this their own foolish and wicked act, all recoil upon their own heads.
Thus they have been more sorely foiled in their own proceedings, as is declared "were
commenced at the request of the family," that is, by themselves.
But I shall now take very different ground indeed, not for the sake of resistance,
but for that of Head, Husband, and Father; and see whether God will not support his own Word
and Ordinance, by supporting my Authority, and in
obtaining those rights which the law of God and the laws of my country declare belong to
me, and every other moral and good citizen.
My advice and directions to all my Lawyers have been, from the very
commencement of their suit, to take and pursue only an open, high, and honorable
course, without any duplicity, deception, or low cunning, although I
have been advised by some persons so to do; but as I am a most firm believer in
God's Most
Holy Word, and that of his Prophets, I have tried to pursue a Just and Righteous course. I
well know where the course that my family has taken will land them; and rest assured it
will be hard enough for them in the end, for only look where all the enemies of Israel
have landed themselves to this day. "Truly blessed is he
that blesses thee, and cursed is he that curses
thee." Num. 24:9.
The greatest blessing ever given to Abraham
and to myself, or to any mortal, was that declared in Gen. 17:7, "To be a God
unto THEE," especially if "ALL the GODS of the NATIONS are IDOLS." (Psa.
96:5.) And to make a God of the Humanity in its most perfect form
is indeed Idolatry. See Appendix E.
To give my readers some idea of the malicious feelings that I met
with, and had to encounter in my own house from my son-in-law, Porter, I mentioned to him
that he "well knew that Pork was contrary to the law of God, (Lev. 11:7 and
8,) and, therefore, very disagreeable to me;" he replied to the hired girl,
"Susan, go and get another pound of sausage."
In my book, "Babylon the Great is Falling," was written line
upon line of tantalizing things to try to worry me.
One of my Lawyers asked Porter "whether he thought that Mr. Cresson
knew what half a dollar was? He replied, "He did not think I did."
This is the man who, in open court, swore under oath that "he never was a Millerite
Preacher."*
I shall now introduce in this work the different notices of my suit, taken
in the newspapers in the order that they appeared day after day, as they will give the
reader an understanding of them, particularly if he will make the necessary allowance for
the prejudice that they and I have had to contend against.
See Appendix E.
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