Amador ledger., 1905-09-22
Claim of Divinity
for English Baby

| be the Messiah once more incaInate
on earth, has to conform to the laws
of the country, the outside world
would have learned nothing of the
birth of his son, for whom divinity is
also claimed. If Piggott had conceal
ed the occurrence he would have run
the risk of prosecution, in which
event nothing short of a miracle
would have saved him from punish
ment. Miracles are not in his line
he has found that he can gull people
without them-and so, to escape trou-
BILE with the legal authorities, he has
had the birth registered. In that way
the secret has leaked out, and Incl
dentally a scandal that would have
caused Piggott's ignominious expul-
sion from any community less cIedu-
lous than the Agapemonites. But the
greater the demands their leader
makes on their faith the deeper be-
comes their veneratlon for him, and
the proof he has given that he is one
of the vilest of lmposters will IN all
probability merely raise him higher
in their esteem.
1t is now over two years sincePiggott
announced that he was the Messiah.
The declaration was made at the "Ark
of the Covenant the picturesque
little church at Clapton, in London,
where the Agapemonites in the metro
polls we're won't to assemble for wor-
ship. 81 am," he said, 'that Lord
Jesus Christ who died and rose again
and assembled into heaven. l am that
Lord Jesus come again In my own
body to save those who come to me
from death and judgment. 1 am he
evermorel''
The congregation, composed for the
most part of respectable and well-to-
do people, accepted this statement as
gospel truth, and received it with ecs-
tasy. Piggott arranged tor ''transtig-
uration' and few other things to
prove that he was possessed of divine
power. But they never came off. The
Clapton populace mobbed him and
before the storm of execration he fed
to the ''Abode of Love"-the beauti-
full retreat of the elect established by
the founder of the sect, brotherPrince,
at Spaxton, in Somersetshire. 1t lies
amid a smiling land of green fields
and shady trees. Walls u feet high,
fringed with broken glass and iron
spikes, screen the grounds from obser-
vation and keep skeptics at bay. The
house is country mansion, fair and
/ spacious and beautifully furnished,
for it is not part of tbeAgapemonite
creed that earthly perfection is at
tanned by the practice of asceticism.
Adjoining the house and at right an
giles to it is the chapel where strange
rites are performed and the reincar-
mated Messiah worshiped. From the
back of the house stretches velvety
lawn studded by noble cedar trees.
Beyond that and forming part of the
Agapemonite domain, is winery and
orchard. Part of the grounds are laid
out for croquet and tennis.
The Abode of Love.
: In the Abode of Love there is nei-
ther marriage nor giving in marriage,
and the inmates are supposed to dwell
together in an atmosphere of spiritual
comradeship and pIatonic affection.
Three men and sixty women live
there, and most of the women are
young and handsome. But most beau
tiful of all is Ruth Preece-"S Sister"
Ruth she is called-a tall and stately
creature of about four and twenty,
with fine figure and a head crowned
with wealth of auburn hair. She is
the daughter of London stock ex-
change broker who died few years
ago, leaving widow and three daugh-
ters in comfortable but not affluent
circumstances. The family lived at
Clapton, and Ruth attached herself to
a mission of theWesIeyan church, and
did much genuine good work among
the aged poor, sick and infirm. One
evening she went out of curiosity to
a meeting at the Ark of the Covenant
and fell under Piggott's spell. She
threw up her connection with thieves
leyan body and adopted the more sem
sational cult. In vain her mother and
sisters pleaded with her to abandon
it. She said she had received CALI
and nothing would induce her to turn
back.
! When Piggott left Clapton among
those who followed him to the Abode
of Love was sister Ruth. She was pro-
claimed his spiritual "bride''-a form
of matrimony which, according to the
self-styled Messiah, needs no perfor-
nance of the marriage 1ites to sane
tlon it. Besides the existence of a
legal Mrs Piggott presented obstacles
to anything of that sort. 1t would have
rendered him liable to prosecution
tor pigamy. In taking a spiritual
bride Piggott was merely following
the example of brother Prince, who
had as his spiritual better half beau
tiful girl known as sister Zoe. Her
presence in the the Abode of Love
aroused no little indignation among
the British public thirty years ago,
but there was no such scandaIous Sc