Franklin's paper the statesman., 1911-06-17

presumably deposited by Him under a
stone at the foot of the cross. On
this stone appeared the legend,
Blessed is he who shall turn me
over
| No one knew what the inscription
meant, or seemed to have sufficient
curiosity to investigate, until the
stone was turned over by little child
and the letter. which follows, was dis
covered:
| The Letter.
Whosoever works on the Sabbath
| day shall be cursed. | command you
to go to church and keep holy the
Lords day, without any manner of
work. You shall not idle or misspend
your time in bedecking yourself with
superfluities of costly apparel and vain
dressing, for l have ordered it day
of rest l will have that day kept holy
that your sins may be forgiven you.
You will not break my command
ments, but observe and keep them.
they being written by my hand ana
spoken from my mouth. You shall
not only go to church yourself, but
also your man servant and maid SER
want. Observe my words and learn
my commandments. You shall finish
your work every Saturday at six
O'Clock in the afternoon at which
hour the preparation for the Sabbath
begins. | advise you to fast five days
in the year. beginning on Good Friday
and continuing the five days following,
in remembrance of the five bloody
wounds | received for you and man
kind. You cause them that are not
baptized to come to church and re-
ceive the Holy Sacrament; that is TO
say, baptism, and then the Supper OF
the Lord, and be made a member
thereof, and in so doing will give you
long life and many blessings. Your
land shall be replenished and bring
forth abundance and | will comfort
you in the greatest temptation. ana
surely he that doeth to the contrary
shall be cursed. l will also send hard
ness of the heart on them and espe-
cially on hardened and unpenitent un-
believers.
He that hath given TO the poor shal
find 1t profitable. Remember to keep
the Sabbath day, for the seventh day
nave taken as resting day to my
self. And he that hath a copy of this
letter, written by my own hand ana
spoken by my own mouth, and keep
eth 1t without publishing 1t to others,
Shall not prosper. but he that publish
eth it to others shall be blessed BY
me. And if their sins be as many as
stars by night, and If they truly be
lieve they shall be pardoned And
they that believeth not this writing
and my commandments will have my
plaques upon you and you will con
sumed with your children goods and
cattle and all other worldly enjoy.
ments that | have given you. DO but
once think of what | have suffered for
you, If you do it will be well Tor you
IN this world, and in the world which
is to come. "Whosoever shall have
copy of this letter and keep 1t in
their house, nothing shall hurt them,
neither pestilence, thunder nor light
ming, and If any woman be in birth
and put her trust in me she shall be
delivered of her child. You shall hear
no more news of me except through
the Holy Scriptures, until the day of
judgment. All goodness and prosper
ity shall be in the house where a CODY
OF this letter shall be found Finished
The story goes that the little chila
who found it passed it to one who be
came convert to the Christian faith
he tailed to have the letter published
He kept Ii, however, as a sacred me.
iiSiitc VI I'll ioA IL pd5Stu OON1l To
different generations of his family for
more than 1000 years. During this
period the family suffered repeated
misfortunes. migrated to different
countries until finally one OF them
came to America. bringing the letter
with him. They settled in Virginia.
then moved further south. still for
lowed by misfortune. when finally the
last member. a daughter, approached
her deathbed and called neighbor.
Mrs. Thompson, gave her the letter
and related it's history for more than
900 years. The Thompson woman
began the attempt to have it published
and 1t first appeared in the Rome
(Ga) Tribune on Oct 81 1891. IL
then appeared in the Dalton (GaD Cit
izen and Mrs. Wortman, now living I'm
Marion, Ind, clipped 1t and kept IL in
her possession for many years with
out an effort to have it published. She
was followed by misfortune, which
she attributed to her neglect in moi
trying to have the letter published.
Mrs. Ruby Crutchfeld of Trezavant.
Tenn, Is also said to have had a copy
and failed to make an effort to have
1t published for three years. and was
followed by varied lot OF misfor-
| tunes, which she attributed to the
fact of her neglect in this respect.
Please publish this without delay.
BY SO doing you will greatly oblige a
new subscriber to your valuable pa
per, The Statesman.
Z