The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1884-03-15
SEALED UNTO HIM.
Story of the Early Daysof Mormonism,
By JOAQUIN MILLER,
Author of "Songs of the Sicrras," "The
Danites," ~" Memorie and Rimc," etc.
CHAP TER I.


FOUNDATION OF THE ORDER OF DASITEs.
"Dan shall judge his people as one of the
tribes of Israel
"Dan shall be a serpent hv the way, an
adder ir the path, that biteth the horse
heels, so that his rider shall fall backward"
GEN. AZ l6, IA.
Planted down in the heart of the con
tiuent, and ''by the way 'in the path,
of the weary pilgrims journeying to the
remote West, you Can well see how the
Mormon elders put their fingers on this
text, and told their ignorant following
that they were the chosen people re-
ferred to here; that they were the chill
dren of Dan; that they should judge the
people who came that way; that they
the Mormons, az the children of Dan,
We're 1.-THE serpent by the way" zap ad.
der in the path"
In the large reading of the text, and a
liberal view and look of it all, it seems
plausible almost, even to us, How Ger
tain then did it seem to these ignorant
and merciless followers of the dread or
der of the Danitos, established there
''by the way" lin the path, that they
were, as they sat in the heart of the
desert, to be The judges" OF those who
passed by!
Back Of this Bible text lay much bit
terness, induced by sad history, much
suffering and persecution. The Nor
mons firmly believed that the order Of
the Danites was necessary, not only for
the purpose of Judging" the earth, but
for tbeir own preservation.
More than thirty years ago first en-
countered these people, My father and
his little Sunday train-that is - train
that would not travel on Sunday in
crossing the plains, because OF religious
scruples-pitched tent on the banks OF
the Missouri at Council Bluffs, right in
their trails. We saw there thousands of
caves, little mud huts, novels. all sorts
of miserable little habitations, where the
whole mass of Mormons had winttred II
few seasons before, in their exodus from
the United States 10 what was then sup
posed to be Mexico. When our traiu
crossed the Missouri aud pushed west to
try to reach the Pacific, we still were IN
their trails, following the marks their
great moving caravan made as it drew its
notified length like shining serpent
across the great deserts to Salt Lske.
was but small lad at that time, not
big enough to bear arms, or indeed TO
understand much of any thing, Bat
this much understood. and understood
so well that it became part of my life:
that ws were in peril. II was not Iu-
dians We feared. My father was
Quaker, and he feared no man whom he
could look in the face. But he did fear
the Danites, whom no man might see
till they did their bloody work.
Not that he or his had ever had any
part or hand in their persecution; but
this terror of them was in the air, it was
over all things, We knew that our road
lay through or by Salt Lake. There
was no escaping that We must follow
on in their track till we came in our
journey to where Dan, who judged his
people, lay like serpent by the way,
ian adder in the path"
forgot TO mention that my father
had done little something III his quiet
Quaker like way to help, or try to help,a
beautiful young woman who had come
in great distress to our camp one eve
ming, while tented in the old Mormon
winter quarters on the banks of the
Missouri. But surely be had no cause
to fear evil for good.
The facts were simply these. This
beautiful, blaok-eysd little lady was one
of the ten thousand emigrants starting