The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1905-04-27

your great president In the first place,
we hold that after the end of the pres
ent order, which event is to take place
in 1916, it will be found that 1T would not
have made much difference whether the
present inhabitants of the world had
race suicide or not, provided the race
suicide had been accomplished by the
lawful abstinence known as 'celibacy.
For with the Inauguration of the mil
lennium. under the glorious rule of
Christ, there will be a transformation of
the human body that will render it I'M
mortal. BY the exercise of His Divine
power at His second coming the Christ
will cause the blood in our bodies to be-
come transformed into spirit This re-
placing of the blood with spirit will rem
der the body immortal. Only in this way
can the body be saved. 1t was the way
in which were saved the bodies of Enoch,
Elias and Esdras. who, without suffering
the ordeal of death, assembled gl0riously
into Heaven.
ut is our belief that when Christ in
augurates in 1916 His glorious reign OF
the millennium He will find here on
earth, but especially in Benton Harbor's
House of David, the Israelite remnant
described in the book of David as the
$4,000 that shall constitute the elect.
These, because they have faithfully
awaited His second coming. will escape
DEATH Their bodies will become immor-
tai and they shall rule jointly with the
Redeemer until the millennium ends
with the destruction of the earth. Then
they shall ascend with Christ into
Heaven, where, because of their Christ
like and perfect bodies, they shall sit
nearest to the Heavenly throne and be
greater than the angels even as in the
Scriptures Christ Himself is said to be
greater than all the host of angels and
seraphs and cherubim."
There were addenda by another of the
Israelites, matronly lady known as
MARY H." She was formerly Mrs. Mary
MacDermott, of Los Angeles. But she
left a comfortable home and happy
family to take up the Israelite's life OF
abnegation and vigil at Benton Harbor
She said:
I'VE will not depopulate the earth
with race suicide practices like celibacy
after the millennium is inaugurated
On the contrary. the Israelites-that is
to say, the elect, or the people engaged in
this movement Of ours-will then popu-
late the earth with immortal beings.
We believe that our celibacy saves pos
sible children from possible suffering
What's the use of having children now
If the world, as at present constituted,
is to come to an end in 1852"
Preaching in Many States.
Disciples of Benjamin and Mary are
now preaching their cult in many states
of the union, especially in the south and
southwest. The disciples travel in
| "prairie schooners. overland and preach
out of doors in city, town, village and
gulch. Chicago has been let alone SO
far. But it will not be for long, as ex-
tensiye plans are now being made for a
descent upon that metropolis, where the
devil is supposed to be we'll intrenched.
The colony of "Israelites" is located
| about mile outside of this town, and
it is the mecca to which the remnant"
or the "lost tribes of Israel" are turning
| in these days, that is, according to the
statement of Benjamin and Mary.
A company of sc Australians recently
arrived, after long two months pill
grimage by way of the Suez canal and
England They claim to be one of the
lost tribes. The patriarch of the party
is William G. Bulley. He is 20 years old
and has been an Israelite," or "Holy
Roller" or Flying Roller" as they are
variously known, for 81 years.
f, 81 went to Australia with nothing
but my grip in my hand 60 years ago, .
he said, land have seen the movement
grow. We were not SO far advanced as
| the Benton Harbor branch. We obtained
a dispensation from the fifth angel, or
messenger John Wroe. AS soon as
Mary and Benjamin came to us we recog-
nized they were possessed of divine
power and We left all to follow them"
The Colony.
The colony buildings comprise a
group in which the members of the cult
are housed and fed and employed. The
largest of the frame structures is the
administration building which stands
in the center. There is carpenter shop,
q bakery, the kitchen, where the vege-
tables and other food, exclusive OF meats,
are cooked, for the Israelites among
their other peculiar tenets hold that
vegetarianism is the only dietary path
way along which the elect Of God should
walk, and SO the flesh of beast, bird and
fish is barred from the colony with as
much rigor as ordinary people would
observe in guarding against smallpox
or other scourge.
But what they lack in meats they
make up in vegetables, and on the day
that the Australian pilgrims arrived
they had a 16-course dinner for their
dedication, all provided without re-
course to meats, or meat gravies or
soups. And there were cakes and pies
and cookies and doughnuts galore. The
cooking in the kitchen is all done by
steam, the prophet BENJAMIN having
designed the apparatus himself when
not busy with his preaching and other
duties.
There is printing department in the
colony, and a school, and the "Taber-
nacle," where the meetings are held.
So much for what might be called the
plant of this peculiar sect. Now as TO