Parley P. Pratt, History of the Late Persecution, 1839

  • Source Note
  • Historical Introduction
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the hands of the mighty Nazerene, were to the sons of Anack, or the hosts of Philistia. A smooth stone from the brook, hurled by a shepherd boy, decided the fortune of war between two mighty empires. A jaw bone of the most stupid of animals, wielded by a single arm, prostrated a thousand men, and made a nation tremble. And these were considered as wonderful achievements of olden time. But who, even in that age of wonders, would have believed that a quill, plucked from the wing of a silly goose, and sharpened at one end, when aimed at a Republican State, would have made its rulers and people tremble like a Belteshazer, when weighed in the balance and found wanting. Yet so it was in . Every precaution was taken to prevent our writing and sending truth to the world. Yet here it comes, in blazing torrents, bursting forth like a flame which had been for a moment smothered under the weight of its own fuel. It lays open to the broad light of day, the horrid scenes of murder, treason, robbery and plunder, which have been acted in our renowned Republic, and scenes which would put tyranny itself to the blush, and almost bring tears of blood from the heathen of the darkest age. Would the people of smother the truth under a bushel—hush the impulse of freedom in the bosoms of Americans—silence the voice of Liberty in the free born sons of Columbia? As well may they undertake to drain the ocean, hedge up the waters of the great , that they no longer make their way to the gulf of Mexico; or make a veil for the sun, to prevent its illuminating the face of nature. [p. iv]
the hands of the mighty Nazerene, were to the sons of Anack, or the hosts of Philistia. A smooth stone from the brook, hurled by a shepherd boy, decided the fortune of war between two mighty empires. A jaw bone of the most stupid of animals, wielded by a single arm, prostrated a thousand men, and made a nation tremble. And these were considered as wonderful achievements of olden time. But who, even in that age of wonders, would have believed that a quill, plucked from the wing of a silly goose, and sharpened at one end, when aimed at a Republican State, would have made its rulers and people tremble like a Belteshazer, when weighed in the balance and found wanting. Yet so it was in . Every precaution was taken to prevent our writing and sending truth to the world. Yet here it comes, in blazing torrents, bursting forth like a flame which had been for a moment smothered under the weight of its own fuel. It lays open to the broad light of day, the horrid scenes of murder, treason, robbery and plunder, which have been acted in our renowned Republic, and scenes which would put tyranny itself to the blush, and almost bring tears of blood from the heathen of the darkest age. Would the people of smother the truth under a bushel—hush the impulse of freedom in the bosoms of Americans—silence the voice of Liberty in the free born sons of Columbia? As well may they undertake to drain the ocean, hedge up the waters of the great , that they no longer make their way to the gulf of Mexico; or make a veil for the sun, to prevent its illuminating the face of nature. [p. iv]
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