Part 25 (1/2)

* ”The spirit of that covenant evidently bore fruit in the Fourth of July oration of 1838 and the Mountain Meadow Ma.s.sacre.”--The Return, Vol. II, p. 271.

The original name chosen for the Danites was ”Daughters of Zion,”

suggested by the text Micah iv. 13: ”Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thine hoofs bra.s.s; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate thy gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.” ”Daughters” of anybody was soon decided to be an inappropriate designation for such a band, and they were next called ”Destroying (or Flying) Angels,” a t.i.tle still in use in Utah days; then the ”Big Fan,”

suggested by Jeremiah xv. 7, or Luke iii. 17; then ”Brothers of Gideon,”

and finally ”Sons of Dan” (whence the name Danites,) from Genesis xlix.

17: ”Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.”*

* Hyde's ”Mormonism Exposed,” pp. 104-105.

Avard presented the text of the const.i.tution to the court at Richmond, Missouri, during the inquiry before Judge King in November, 1838* It begins with a preamble setting forth the agreement of the members ”to regulate ourselves under such laws as in righteousness shall be deemed necessary for the preservation of our holy religion, and of our most sacred rights, and the rights of our wives and children,” and declaring that, ”not having the privileges of others allowed to us, we have determined, like unto our fathers, to resist tyranny, whether it be in kings or in the people. It is all alike to us. Our rights we must have, and our rights we shall have, in the name of Israel's G.o.d.” The President of the church and his counsellors were to hold the ”executive power,” and also, along with the generals and colonels of the society, to hold the ”legislative powers”; this legislature to ”have power to make all laws regulating the society, and regulating punishments to be administered to the guilty in accordance with the offence.” Thus was furnished machinery for carrying out any decree of the officers of the church against either life or property.

* Missouri ”Correspondence, Orders, etc.,” pp. 101-102.

The Danite oath as it was administered in Nauvoo was as follows:--”In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of G.o.d, I do solemnly obligate myself ever to regard the Prophet and the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as the supreme head of the church on earth, and to obey them in all things, the same as the supreme G.o.d; that I will stand by my brethren in danger or difficulty, and will uphold the Presidency, right or wrong; and that I will ever conceal, and never reveal, the secret purposes of this society, called Daughters of Zion.

Should I ever do the same, I hold my life as the forfeiture, in a caldron of boiling oil.”*

* Bennett's ”History of the Saints,” p. 267.

John D. Lee, who was a member of the organization, explaining their secret signs, says,* ”The sign or token of distress is made by placing the right hand on the right side of the face, with the points of the fingers upward, shoving the hand upward until the ear is snug up between the thumb and forefinger.”

*Lee's ”Mormonism Unveiled,” p. 57.

It has always been the policy of the Mormon church to deny to the outside world that any such organization as the Danites existed, or at least that it received the countenance of the authorities. Smith's City Council in Nauvoo made an affidavit that there was no such society there, and Utah Mormons have professed similar ignorance. Brigham Young, himself, however, gave testimony to the contrary in the days when he was supreme in Salt Lake City. In one of his discourses which will be found reported in the Deseret News (Vol. VII, p. 143) he said: ”If men come here and do not behave themselves, they will not only find the Danites, whom they talk so much about, biting the horses' heels, but the scoundrels will find something biting THEIR heels. In my plain remarks I merely call things by their own names.” It need only be added that the church authority has been powerful enough at any time in the history of the church to crush out such an organization if it so desired.

A second organization formed about the same time, at a fully attended meeting of the Mormons of Daviess County, was called ”The Host of Israel.” It was presided over by captains of tens, of fifties, and of hundreds, and, according to Lee, ”G.o.d commanded Joseph Smith to place the Host of Israel in a situation for defence against the enemies of G.o.d and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.”

Another important feature of the church rule that was established at this time was the t.i.thing system, announced in a ”revelation” (Sec.

119), which is dated July 8, 1838. This required the flock to put all their ”surplus property” into the hands of the Bishop for the building of the Temple and the payment of the debts of the Presidency, and that, after that, ”those who have thus been t.i.thed, shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever.”

Ebenezer Robinson gives an interesting explanation of the origin of t.i.thing. *In May, 1838, the High Council at Far West, after hearing a statement by Rigdon that it was absolutely necessary for the church to make some provision for the support of the families of all those who gave their entire time to church affairs, instructed the Bishop to deed to Smith and Rigdon an eighty-acre lot belonging to the church, and appointed a committee of three to confer with the Presidency concerning their salary for that year. Smith and Rigdon thought that $1100 would be a proper sum, and the committee reported in favor of a salary, but left the amount blank. The council voted the salaries, but this action caused such a protest from the church members that at the next meeting the resolution was rescinded. Only a few days later came this ”revelation”

requiring the payment of t.i.thes, in which there was no mention of using any of the money for the poor, as was directed in the Ohio ”revelation”

about the consecration of property to the Bishop.

* The Return, Vol. 1, p. 136.