The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1868-07-07

| IS furnished US by Mr. ID. A. Alta1er, OF
| this place, in whose family it has been
| carefully preserved for three or four gen.
erations. 1t is printed in English type
on coarse paper that may once have been
white, but is now faded and rotten. The
copy in the hands Of the Californian men,
toned in the above, extract is probably
similar to the one in our possession.
The history of this one, as related to us
by Mr.. Altaffer, is as follows: One of
the ancestors of Mrs. Altaffer, hundred
years ago or more, was an unwilling
student or priest in a monastery at Ge-
noa, Italy, where was also reluctant
nun. These two formed an attachment
for each other, escaped from Genoa to
England, and were married, carry ing
with them the only copy of "a letter
said to have been written by our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ" which had
been sacredly preserved in the monas-
terry. Religious superstition invested it
with miraculous powers, and it was pre-
served as a ''charm." 1t emigrated to
America with the family, aud is proba-
bly, the only copy in the United States.
besides the one in California. The doc
ument is as follow:
COPY OF LETTER SAID TO HAVE BEEN
WRITTEN BY OUR LORD AND SAVIOR
JESUS CHRIST,
and found eighteen miles from 1conium,
twenty five years after our blessed Sa-
vior's crucifxion. and transmitted from
the Holy City by converted Jew, and
faithfully translated from the original
Hebrew copy, now in the possession OF.
Lady Cubass' family, in Mesapotamia.
The letter was found under a stone
both round and large. at the foot OF a
cross, eighteen miles from Iconium, near
village called Mesapotamia. Upon
the stone was written and engraved
BLESSED be he that shall turn me over"
All that saw it prayed to God earnestly.
and desired that He would make known
nEto them the meaning of this writing,
that they might not in vain turn it over.
In the meantime little child, about
six or seven years of age, turned it over
to the admiration Of all present and
under the stone was written the COT =
mands of Jesus Christ in a letter, which!
was afterward published by the an
Gabriel. ninety eight years after q
death Of our blessed Savior, and car &6
by person belonging to Lady CUT -
and made public in the city of Iconi5s
etc. - 80 ~ E - e.
The letter of Jesus Christ is as fol-
loweth s~ ~ H &
..Whoever worketh on the Sabbath
day shall be cursed. / command you
to 90 to church and keep the Lords day
holy, without doing any manner of work.
You shall not idly spend your time in
bed, or decking yourself with superfui
ties Of costly appearance and vain
dresses, for have ordained it a day of
rest; will have that day kept holy, that
your sins may be forgiven you. You
shall not break my commandments, but
observe and keep them. Write them in
your heart, and steadfastly observe that
it is written with my own hand, and
spoken with my own mouth You shall
not only go unto the church yourself,
but also cause your men servants and
your maid servants to do the same. and
to observe my words, and learn my CON-
mandmehts.--You You shall finish your la
Dor every Saturday in the afternoon, by
six of the clock, at which hour the pre-
para.ions for the Sabbath begins. ] ad
wise you to fast five Fridays in every
year. beginning with Good Friday. and
continuing the four Fridays Immediately
following. You shall diligently and
peaceably labor in your respective dwell
ings, wherein it hath pleased God to call
YOU You shall love one another with
brotherly love, and cause them that are
not baptised to come to the church and
receive the sacrament Of baptism, and
, receive the Lords supper, to be made
, members of the church. In SO doing,
. I will give unto you long life and
. many blessings; your land shall flourish
and your cattle bring forth abundance,
and will give unto yOu mans blessings
and comforts in the greatest temptations
And he that doeth to the contrary
shall be Improbable. I will also send
a hardness of heart upon them, until
see them;but especially upon the imper
,inent and unbelievers. He that hath
given to the poor shall not be unprofta
! bile. Remember to keep the Sabbath
day holy; for on the seventh day have
taken to rest myself. And he that hath
a copy Of this letter: written with my
, own hand, and spoken with my own
, mouth. and keepeth il without publish
ing it to others. shall not prosper; bu
he that publisheth it to others. shall bt
blessed of me, and til ough his sins he ir
r number as the stars of the heavens, anG
he believe in this, he shall be pardoned
and if he believe not in this writing anC
, these commandments, I will send my
own plague upon him, and consume boil
him and his children and his cattle -
3 And whosoever have copy OF this let
ter, written with my own hand and 81 o
ken with my own mouth, and keep it il
, the house, nothing shall hurt them ; no
I the lighting, fire, thunder or pestilenc'
e shall happen to them to do -tiem an.
, harm And if a woman with child ane