Mormon History
John C. Bennett's 6th Disclosure - 1842
The Louisville Daily Journal – August 6, 1842
To the Editors of the Louisville Journal:
CLEVELAND, OHIO,
July 30, A. D., 1842.
I wrote you from Cincinnati,
according to promise, and I presume you are in receipt of that hurried
production, which, however, may not be wholly uninteresting. This letter will,
of necessity, be short and hurried as the former, as all communications
written upon the wing must necessarily be.
In the New York Herald, of
the 26th, inst., Bennett says, "This presents a strange and curious state of
things for the centre of the nineteenth century; and the developments are the
most remarkable we ever heard of. The initiatory proceedings at Joe's "Order
Lodge" resemble those practices by Matthias at Pearson's house, only his members
were females, and they danced round a stone, while Matthias anointed them. But
perhaps, after all, Joe Smith has a secret lodge of women! We shall see." Yes,
Joe has a "secret lodge of women;" and the editor will see. Joe's
female lodge (the Mormon inquisition) is the most singular thing of its age. The
anointing, A LA JOE is a caution to David Crocket. The investment,
the oath, the ceremonies, the lectures and the GRANDE
FINALE, are all done up in such a manner, as to place Matthias in the shade,
and to cover Mahomet, the Oriental prophet, in the rubbish of things that
were. The 'History of the Saints' will give a full account of this nondescript
lodge of the Mormon ladies of pleasure and the fine arts, including all their
cloistered, chambered, and cyprian maids and madams!!! This will be one of
the most curious and interesting works of the age.
The elections will terminate next Monday, and I hope that Missouri will then
demand Joe, and secure him. I will be ready to make good the charges; and
politicians will then see whether the Mormon disclosures were made for
political effect. Time will develop facts, and show the truth, the
undeniable truth, of ALL the charges against Smith, as clear as the sun in
the firmament at noonday. The Roman pontiff never exercised the domination over
the minds and property of the Catholic church, as Joe, the chief of the Mormon
hierarchy, does over his subjects -- the faithful! and the pontifical
bull is harmless in comparison with the Mormon bull, (Joe's letter of marque and
reprisal,) as the latter terminates not in spiritual excommunication and
damnation from all Mormon gospel privileges from off the face of God's earth,
but in murder, cold-blooded, Danite murder! Joe is now making a desparate
struggle to save himself from merited disgrace and condign punishment, by the
forgeries and perjuries of his cyprian girls, cloistered and chamberedvery little things in the eyes of the Mormons,
so long as the holy Joe can, by a "thus saith the Lord," pardon iniquity,
transgression, and sin!!! Joe's father, the Devil, was a liar from the
beginning, and the world believed him not; neither will they believe Joe, the
son, the delectable modern prophet of the latter-day sinners; nor the
sworn Danites, the grand-children, though covered with all the habiliments of
latter-day glory.
Joe's words are lies, and the affidavits of his followers
and friends, PATENT LIES. They swear as they are moved upon by Joe's holy ghost,
and say the things that gold, or interest, or the Prophet's mandate, dictates!!!
You know the proverb used to be, you lie like the Devil;" but it has
changed with the times, as the son has eclipsed the father, so as to read:
"You like like Joe Smith and his Danites and cyprians,"
In haste, yours, respectfully,
JOHN C. BENNETT.
Note 1: John C. Bennett reprinted this letter, with some small modifications, on
pp. 217-18 of his anti-Mormon book, History of the Saints, published
later the same year in Boston.
Note 2: The "Bennett" referred to at the beginning of the letter's second
paragraph was James G. Bennett, the outspoken editor of the New York Herald.
This unrelated Bennett was a critic of John C. Bennett and an occasional
editorial supporter of Joseph Smith, Jr. Nevertheless, the New York editor
reprinted a good deal of what John C. Bennett had to say about the corruption of
the leaders in Nauvoo, and it was probably through the pages of his paper that
John C. Bennett's allegations reached their largest single readership.