Washington telegraph., 1912-05-24

and vain dressing, for L have
ordered it a day of rest. | will
have that day kept holy that your
sins may be forgiven you.
You will not break my com
mandments, but observe and
keep them, they being written
by my hand and spoken from
my mouth. You shall not only
go to church yourselves, but
also your man servant and maid
servant. Observe my words and
learn my commandments.
You shall finish your work
every Saturday at o'clock in
the afternoon, at which hour the
preparation for the Sabbath be-
gins. l advise you to fast five
days in the year, beginning on
Good Friday and continuing the
five days following in remem-
brance of the five bloody wounds
/ received for you and mankind
You shall love one another
and cause them that are not bap-
tized 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 I will give you long life
and many blessings. Your land
shall be replenished and bring
forth abundance and [ will com
fort you in the greatest tempta-
ton, and surely he that doeth to
the contrary shall be cursed.
I will also send hardness of
the heart on them and especially
on hardened and unpenitent un-
believers. He that hath given
to the poor shall find it profitable.
Remember to keep the Sabbath
day, for the seventh. day I have
taken as resting day to myself.
And he that hath copy of
this letter written by my own
hand and spoken by my own
mouth and keepeth it without
publishing it to others, shall not
prosper, but he that publisheth
it to others shall be blessed by
me, and if their sins be as many
as stars by night, and if they
truly believe they shall be par
doned. and they that believe not
this writing and my command
ments will have my plaques upon
you and you will be consumed
with your children, goods and
cattle and all other worldly en-
joyments that I have given you.
Do not once think of what [ have
suffered for you; if you do, it
will be we'll for you in this world
to come.
Whosoever shall have a copy
of this letter and keep it in their
house, nothing shall hurt them,
neither pestilence, thunder nor
lightning, 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
prosperity shall be in the house
where a copy of this letter shall
be found. Finished"
The story goes that the little
child who found it passed it to
one who became a convert to the
Christian faith He failed to
have the letter published. He
kept it, however, as a sacred me-
mento of Christ, and it passed
hoWn to different generations of
dis family for more than one
thousand years.
During this period the family
suited repeated misfortune, mi
grated to different countries
until one of them came to Amer
lea, bringing the letter with him.
They settled in Virginia, then
moved further south, still fol
lowed by misfortune, when
finally the last member, a daugh-
ter, approached her deathbed
and called a neighbor, Mrs.
Thompson, giving her the letter
and related its history for more
than one thousand years. The
Thompson woman began the at
tempt to have it published and it
first appeared in the Rome (Ga.)
Tribune on October 81, 1891. 1t
then appeared in the Dalton (Ga.)
Citizen, and Mrs. Workman, now
living in Marion, Ind, clipped it
and kept it in her possession for
many ye4rs without an effort to
have it published. She was fol
lowed by misfortune, which she
attributed to her neglect in try
ing to have the letter published.
Mrs. Ruby Crutchfeld of
Trezavant, Tenn, is also said to
have had copy and failed to
makean effort to have Unpublished
for three years, and was follow
ed by varied lot of misfortunes
which she attributed to the fact
Of her neglect in this respect.