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 INTRODUCTION 
 
 In the year 1856 the authorities of the "Mormon" 
 Church inaugurated a reformation among its mem- 
 bers. They were all required to confess and repent of 
 their sins and renew their covenants with God to live 
 righteous lives and refrain from evil. The President 
 and leading Elders of the Church set the example in 
 this movement, which was generally followed by the 
 Latter-day Saints. Men and women confessed their 
 sins freely, and manifested a disposition to devote 
 themselves to purity of life in all time to come. 
 Certain gross evils being in some instances thus brought 
 to light, the subject of atonement for deadly sin, for 
 transgressions committed after the reception of the 
 Holy Ghost, was forcibly elucidated by leading Elders, 
 particularly by President Young and his counselor, 
 Jedediah M. Grant. Those utterances, given under the 
 circumstances described, have been garbled and misrep- 
 resented and published to the world for the purpose of 
 prejudicing the public mind against the Latter-day 
 Saints and hindering the preaching of the latter-day 
 gospel. To correct false impressions and present the 
 truth on this subject the address is here printed as de- 
 livered, by request. And it is now published in the 
 interest of true religion, for the benefit of erring hu- 
 
4 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 manity and for the vindication of eternal justice, which 
 will surely claim its own while it takes nothing that 
 belongs of right to sweet mercy. 
 
 Charles W. Penrose. 
 
 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION 
 
 The subject treated in the following pages is one 
 that has occasioned much interest and comment. It 
 is still greatly misrepresented by opponents of the 
 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first 
 edition having been exhausted and numerous requests 
 having been made for copies of it, this new edition is 
 now offered to the public in its original form, as it was 
 delivered as a lecture and therefore does not admit of 
 additions or further comments or quotations, although 
 the doctrines set forth are worthy of more extended 
 investigation than is given in this pamphlet. To be- 
 lievers in the Bible, blood atonement should be an 
 established principle of salvation; to the rational 
 skeptic it ought to be accepted as logical and just. It 
 is submitted to the thoughtful consideration of all 
 people of every creed and nation. 
 
 Charles W. Penrose. 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT 
 
 The subject upon which I have to speak to this 
 congregation this evening is one of very great im- 
 portance, and one that has not been preached upon 
 very often in the manner in which I expect to inves- 
 tigate it. The subject of blood atonement, in a certain 
 sense, is a very common one. All the Christian sects, 
 so-called, believe in that doctrine in some form. But 
 there are ideas in relation to this subject which are 
 peculiar to the Latter-day Saints, and it is these I wish 
 to elucidate. It is presented at the present time in 
 consequence of so many misrepresentations concerning 
 it. The Latter-day Saints and their creed are being 
 continually misrepresented in the world. Some people 
 make it a business to set forth notions and ideas which 
 they claim to be the doctrines of the Latter-day Saints, 
 and which they proceed to argue against and demolish, 
 just like setting up a man of straw and then knocking, 
 him down. The doctrine of blood atonement is one 
 of those that are thus misrepresented, and it is be- 
 cause of this that it becomes necessary for me this 
 evening to take up the subject and present it before 
 this congregation. 
 
 There is one thing very consoling to me, and that 
 is that the enemies of our people and our faith are 
 compelled to resort to misrepresentation and falsehood 
 in order to find anything to fight us with. If they 
 
6 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 could bring truth wherewith to meet us they certainly 
 would not resort to falsehood and error, because truth 
 is always mighty, much more powerful than falsehood ; 
 and their only strength lies in the fact that the world 
 is not acquainted with our doctrines, our aims and our 
 desires, and therefore are easily imposed upon by 
 anyone who puts forth an idea however monstrous and 
 ridiculous it may be, purporting to be "Mormonism." 
 The people of the world seem, generally, to be more 
 willing to accept anything that is untrue in regard to 
 us than to receive the facts in the case. But I hope 
 there will come a time when we shall have the ears of 
 the people; when we shall be able to present our doc- 
 trines from our own standpoint before the world; 
 when we shall be able to represent ourselves instead of 
 being misrepresented by others. 
 
 But there is one good that arises out of these per- 
 sistent attacks upon us, and that is, it develops our 
 powers. We are placed continually on the defensive ; 
 we are never let alone; we are all the time stirred to 
 action. This is good for us. It causes us to think 
 and to investigate for ourselves the principles of our 
 holy religion, and to prepare ourselves to defend those 
 principles before all mankind. This develops life 
 among this people. Stagnation is death. Action is 
 life. There is no life without action, and there is no 
 action without some life. 
 
 It will be my purpose this evening to present, first 
 the doctrines of the Latter-day Saints on the subject 
 of blood atonement, then, to show you some of the 
 misrepresentations that have be^en made about it in 
 the world, and let them be compared with the doctrine 
 as we present it from our standpoint. I shall have to 
 take up some of the writings and sermons of some 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 7 
 
 of our leading men now deceased, such as Presidents 
 Brigham Young and Jedediah M. Grant, also to allude 
 to the scriptures and perhaps quote from one or two 
 works written by persons unconnected with our faith. 
 I will endeavor to do this in as concise a manner as I 
 possibly can, and cover all the ground allotted to me. 
 I trust I shall have your patience, and the faith and 
 prayers of my brethren and sisters, as I feel I need 
 both, not having been able to prepare my mind as 
 thoroughly as I would like to have done for a subject 
 of this magnitude. 
 
 The doctrine of blood atonement is founded on the 
 sacrifice made by our Lord Jesus Christ for the sins 
 of the world. When God made this earth — according 
 to the revelations contained in this book, the Bible — 
 He placed a man and a woman in the garden of Eden, 
 and gave them a commandment in regard to a certain 
 tree. They were told not to eat of the fruit of that 
 tree. The penalty if they did eat of it was death. 
 They partook of the forbidden fruit and the penalty 
 came upon them. But a provision concerning this had 
 been previously made, in the mercy and foreknowledge 
 of God. He understood — knowing all things from the 
 beginning to the end — that Adam and Eve would 
 transgress, that they would break the law, and that it 
 would be necessary to provide some means for their 
 restoration from the effects of that fall, and so we 
 read that Jesus was "the lamb slain from before the 
 foundation of the world. " He was provided before- 
 hand as a sacrifice that this sin which our first parents 
 would commit might be atoned for, so that they might 
 be brought back into the condition that they were 
 placed in before they committed the transgression, and 
 — as the effect of their transgression was to fall upon 
 
8 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 others — that their posterity also might be restored 
 through the same sacrifice. 
 
 When Adam and Eve were placed in the garden 
 they were not mortal beings. They were not subject 
 to death. They were able to live forever. If I were 
 asked what an immortal being is, I would say, a being 
 who is capable — that is, by continuing and living in 
 the law of his existence — of living forever. Adam 
 and Eve were capable of continual existence. But 
 they broke the law of their being and the penalty 
 thereof was death. Now, it took a person who was 
 innocent of sin, a person who was spotless before God, 
 a person upon whom death had no claim, to atone for 
 that transgression. In the justice of God, a person 
 upon whom death had no claim had to atone for the 
 sin of one, or rather two people made one, who had 
 committeed that great transgression. They were im- 
 mortal when they committed it, and became mortal 
 and not able to atone for it, and therefore the "Lamb 
 without spot," a sinless person upon whom death had 
 no claim, had to come and atone for the sin thus com- 
 mitted. 
 
 On the occasion when this great atonement was 
 wrought out by the Lord Jesus Christ, who voluntarily 
 sacrificed Himself that He might atone for this sin, 
 not only was Adam's transgression atoned for by the 
 shedding of Jesus Christ's blood, but His blood was 
 shed as an atonement for the actual transgressions of 
 all mankind. The sin that our first parents committed 
 is technically called original sin. The sins of mortal 
 men and women are called actual sins. I wish to direct 
 your attention to this matter — that Jesus Christ not 
 only died as an atonement for the sin of Adam, the 
 original sin, but He died to offer up a sacrifice as an 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 9 
 
 atonement for the sins of all mankind ; for not only did 
 Adam sin, but all his posterity have sinned. As the 
 scriptures say, "All have sinned, and come short of 
 the glory of God." So Jesus, who was sinless, who 
 "knew no sin and guile was not found in His mouth," 
 voluntarily laid down His life for the guilty. It is 
 true that He was taken by wicked hands and put upon 
 the cross and crucified. But He declared before that 
 event took place, "I lay down nry life, that I might 
 take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay 
 it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and 
 I have power to take it again." And further we are 
 told that "He is a propitiation for our sins : and not for 
 ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world;" 
 and "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be 
 made alive." 
 
 Jesus, then, made a sacrifice for the original sin, 
 and for the actual transgressions of man, but with this 
 difference — Jesus Christ atoned for the sin that Adam 
 committed without any act required on the part of 
 Adam, and without any act on the part of his posterity. 
 Adam's one sin brought death into the world, and it 
 passed upon all mankind. Jesus Christ's atonement 
 brings life again, and so all mankind must stand up 
 again upon their feet in their resurrected bodies and be 
 judged for their own sins, not for Adam's transgres- 
 sion. The penalty for Adam's transgression was death 
 to the human family. The atonement wrought out by 
 Christ brings life to them again. The atonement is 
 as broad as the offense, and the effects of Christ's sac- 
 rifice are as extended as the effects of Adam's trans- 
 gression. As I have quoted to you, "As in Adam all 
 die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." But 
 when all men are made alive again, the good and the 
 
10 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 bad, the bond and the free, Jew and Gentile ; when all 
 are brought up again in the time and order that God 
 has ordained, they must be judged for their own trans- 
 gressions. Now, then, when they are judged for these 
 transgressions, if they have accepted by their obedience 
 to the laws of God, the gospel of Christ and the atone- 
 ment which Christ wrought out for them, His blood 
 will be a propitiation for their actual sins. If they 
 have not accepted that by obedience to the gospel, then 
 the shedding of His blood will not have effect upon 
 them, and they will have to suffer the penalty. That 
 penalty is banishment from the presence of God, which 
 is spiritual death. 
 
 This death was pronounced upon our parents in the 
 beginning. They not only died as to the body, but 
 were shut out from the presence of God. This is the 
 spiritual destruction which is coming upon the wicked. 
 As the Apostle says, "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed 
 from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire 
 taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that 
 obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who 
 shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the 
 presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His 
 power." But if people accept the atonement wrought 
 out by Jesus Christ for them — and that acceptance is 
 not merely in assenting unto it by word, but in obedi- 
 ence to His gospel — then it will act as a propitiation 
 for their actual sins, just as the Apostle John says : "If 
 we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have 
 fellowship one with another, and the blood of Christ 
 His Son cleanseth us from all sin." If they are not 
 in the light as He is in the light, if they have not fel- 
 lowship with Him, then His blood is not a propitiation 
 for their sins. It is shed unconditionally for the sin 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 11 
 
 of Adam; it is shed conditionally for the actual sins 
 of his posterity. 
 
 This may be a little different from the view enter- 
 tained by "Christian" sects ; but all people who profess 
 to be "Christians" believe in the atonement wrought 
 out by Christ in some way or other — that is, they be- 
 lieve that through Christ's blood atonement was made 
 for sin, and that through that atonement they have 
 acceptance with God. They have various views in 
 regard to doctrinal matters, but this is the cardinal 
 point, and it enters into every creed of the "Christian" 
 religion. 
 
 Now, on what principle was this predicated ? It was 
 on the principle laid down by the Apostle Paul in his 
 epistle to the Hebrews, to which I will draw your 
 attention, for there is a reason for all these things. 
 There is a reason why blood had to be shed. Atone- 
 ment could not have been made without the shedding 
 of blood. The 22nd verse of the 9th chapter of the 
 epistle to the Hebrews says: "And almost all things 
 are by the law purged with blood; and without shed- 
 ding of blood is no remission." There is no remission 
 of sins without the shedding of blood, and "the wages 
 of sin is death." That is the penalty. "The soul that 
 sinneth it shall die." This is the law of God. But 
 Christ, who was sinless, offered Himself as a propitia- 
 tion for the sins of those upon whom death had a 
 claim, and if they accept His atonement they obtain 
 the benefit thereof. Instead of the blood of the indi- 
 viduals being shed the blood of Christ was shed for 
 them, and it stands in the place of their blood. What 
 is the reason of that? Why, we are told in the book 
 of Leviticus, the 17th chapter and 11th verse: "For 
 the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given 
 
12 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your 
 souls ; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for 
 the soul." Here you see the doctrine of blood atone- 
 ment laid down, and the reason for it. "The life of 
 the flesh is in the blood," and it requires the shedding 
 of blood to make "atonement for the soul." But, as 
 I have shown you, the blood of every individual man 
 and woman is not required, because of the atonement 
 wrought out by Jesus Christ. Here is a cardinal prin- 
 ciple of the law of God — that without shedding of 
 blood there is no remissions of sins. Therefore, if 
 Christ's blood had not been shed, each individual 
 would have had to have his blood shed, according to 
 Bible doctrine. This may sound very horrifying to 
 some people; but it is Bible doctrine all the same. It 
 is the doctrine of the Old Testament, it is the doctrine 
 of the New Testament; atonement or sacrifice was 
 based on this, and this doctrine was practised by the 
 people before the law of Moses was given. 
 
 Take the Old Testament and read the account given 
 in the Book of Genesis. There you will find that 
 sacrifices were offered as soon as our first parents came 
 out from the Garden of Eden. They understood the 
 principle of sacrifice, for the law of sacrifice was re- 
 vealed to them. If I were to read from the book 
 called The Pearl of Great Price you would see the 
 reason for it; but a great many people would not re- 
 ceive what is contained in that book as authoritative. 
 But the Bible shows that the law of sacrifice was re- 
 vealed to the patriarchs, and under it, before the law 
 of Moses was given, the people are represented as 
 offering up sacrifices for individual sins, and when 
 the law of Moses was received, this was amplified and 
 made clear. Plain and definite laws were given to the 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 13 
 
 people by revelation from God through Moses, so that 
 when they committed certain sins the blood of certain 
 animals was shed as a sacrifice for those sins. 
 
 All those sacrifices which were offered up before 
 Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, came into the world were 
 typical of the atonement that He was to work out. It 
 was not the shedding of the blood of goats, sheep and 
 bullocks upon the altar that made the atonement; but 
 this was typical of the atonement of Jesus Christ in 
 the future ; just as we, when we partake of the Lord's 
 Supper, have a piece of bread and a cup of water, or 
 wine, as the case may be, to represent the atonement 
 wrought out in the past. As the bread and wine, or 
 water, of the sacrament represent the body and blood 
 of Christ who died for us, so all those sacrifices which 
 were offered up in the Mosaic dispensation, and in the 
 Patriarchal dispensation which preceded it, were typ- 
 ical of the atonement to be wrought out by Jesus Christ 
 when He should come, their ceremonies looking to the 
 future, ours referring to the past. So the doctrine of 
 salvation, you see, is absolutely based on blood atone- 
 ment, and without blood atonement there is no salva- 
 tion, for there is no remission of sins. And there 
 would be no resurrection if it had not been for the 
 shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ. He was given 
 as a ransom for us all. He said, "And I if I be lifted 
 up, will draw all men towards me." And again on 
 another occasion : "Marvel not at this : for the hour, 
 is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall 
 hear His voice. And shall come forth ; they that have 
 done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that 
 have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." 
 Showing that though His blood was shed for the res- 
 urrection of mankind, yet when they were resurrected, 
 
14 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 all would not enter into life and receive the full benefit 
 of the atonement because they did not obey His com- 
 mandments. 
 
 Now, the people called Latter-day Saints believe in 
 the efficacy of the blood of Jesus Christ. They be- 
 lieve that it cleanses from sin. They believe that 
 through faith in God and repentance of sin, and bap- 
 tism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of 
 sins, they obtain a remission of all their past guilt; 
 that they become washed and made clean through 
 obedience to this principle and ordinance. This is the 
 gospel revealed in these last times to us, as God re- 
 vealed it through Jesus in former times, which we may 
 read in the New Testament. The people in the days 
 of the Apostles were called upon to believe in Jesus 
 Christ, to repent of their sins, and to be baptized in 
 water for the remission of sins ; remission of sins com- 
 ing through the shedding of Christ's blood, baptism 
 being administered by one having authority from 
 Jesus Christ and being void without it is administered 
 by that authority. But an individual who believes in 
 Christ, and who repents — that is turns away from his 
 sins — and is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ by 
 one having authority from Him, receives the blessing 
 of the remission of sins, which is given to him through 
 his obedience, in the act of baptism, and through the 
 shedding of Jesus Christ's blood. Persons who have 
 been thus washed from their sins, who have been thus 
 made clean, who have been thus regenerated, are thus 
 made fit to receive the Holy Ghost — which Holy Ghost 
 will not dwell in unclean tabernacles. But being washed 
 clean, and believing in the blood of Christ, they are 
 made fit to receive the Holy Ghost. This is the Spirit 
 of Truth, which bears record of the Father and of 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 15 
 
 the Son, and makes the things of God plain to human- 
 ity. It is a constant monitor to those who will listen to 
 its voice. 
 
 But there are persons who, after having been washed 
 and made clean through the blood of Christ, and made 
 members of His Church, again commit sin. What 
 about them? Why, if they truly repent, and make all 
 the restitution that lays in their power, they may be 
 forgiven, they may be cleansed again. But there are 
 some sins that can be committed from which they 
 cannot be cleansed by the blood of Christ. After receiv- 
 ing the gospel and entering into sacred covenants with 
 God Almighty, after having been enlightened by the 
 Spirit of Truth, having tasted of the good word of 
 God and the power of the world to come, if they 
 commit certain sins they cannot gain the remission of 
 those sins through the blood of Jesus Christ. That 
 may be a new doctrine to many people of the world, 
 but it is an old doctrine to the Latter-day Saints, and 
 you can find it laid down distinctly and clearly in the 
 Bible. 
 
 As the misrepresentations that have been made con- 
 cerning this doctrine are all founded upon some re- 
 marks made some years ago by Presidents Brigham 
 Young and Jedediah M. Grant, I will here read Presi- 
 dent Young's doctrine on this subject so that you may 
 understand it as it was enunciated by him. I have 
 here a volume of a work called the Journal of Dis- 
 courses, containing sermons preached by our leading 
 Elders for many years, These were first published in 
 the Deseret News in this country, and afterwards in 
 England — 42 Islington, Liverpool — in book form. Thus 
 they were no secret, as some traducers would have the 
 
16 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 world believe. What I am about to read is in the 
 Fourth Volume, page 53 : 
 
 "There are sins which men commit for which they 
 cannot receive forgiveness in this world, or in that 
 which is to come, and if they had their eyes open to see 
 their true condition, they would be perfectly willing 
 to have their blood spilt upon the ground, that the 
 smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering 
 for their sins; and the smoking incense would atone 
 for their sins, whereas if such is not the case, they will 
 stick to them in the spirit world. 
 
 "And furthermore I know that there are transgres- 
 sors, who, if they knew themselves, and the only con- 
 dition upon which they can obtain forgiveness, would 
 beg of their brethren to shed their blood, that the 
 smoke thereof might ascend to God as an offering to 
 appease the wrath that is kindled against them, and 
 that the law might have its course. I will say further 
 I have had men come to me and offer their lives to 
 atone for their sins. 
 
 "It is true that the blood of the Son of God was 
 shed for sin through the fall and those committed by 
 men, yet men can commit sins which it will not re- 
 mit." 
 
 Now, according to the doctrine of President Brig- 
 ham Young, the blood of Jesus Christ, as I have shown 
 you, atoned for the original sin, and for sins that men 
 commit, and yet there are sins which men commit for 
 which they cannot receive remission through the shed- 
 ding of Christ's blood. Is that a true doctrine? It is 
 true if the Bible is true. That is Bible doctrine. I will 
 direct your attention to one or two passages of scrip- 
 ture which bear on this subject. In the first place I 
 will refer you to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 which you will find in the 12th chapter of the gospel 
 according to St. Matthew and the 31st and 32nd 
 verses, namely : 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 17 
 
 "Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and 
 blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blas- 
 phemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven 
 unto men. 
 
 "And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son 
 of Man, it shall be forgiven him : but whosoever speak- 
 eth a word aginst the Holy Ghost, it shall not be for- 
 given him, neither in this world, neither in the world 
 to come." 
 
 Here is one sin spoken of by the Lord Jesus Christ 
 which will not be forgiven in this world, nor in the 
 world to come, notwithstanding that Christ's blood has 
 been shed for the remission of sins. And why is this? 
 It is to be supposed that a person who sins against 
 the Holy Ghost must have first received the Holy 
 Ghost. A person who never received the Holy Ghost, 
 never was enlightened by it, never enjoyed that heav- 
 enly gift, could not sin against the Holy Ghost; but 
 if he has received the Holy Ghost through obedience 
 to the gospel of Jesus Christ — having first been washed 
 clean of his transgressions through the atoning blood 
 of Christ — then if he sins against that Holy Ghost he 
 sins aginst light, he sins aginst knowledge, he sins un- 
 derstandingly, he sins wilfully, and then there is no 
 more cleansing from sin, as I will show you from an- 
 other text, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, 10th chapter, 
 26th verse: 
 
 "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received 
 the knowldge of the truth, there remaineth no more 
 sacrifice for sins." 
 
 There is then no more sacrifice for sins. Why? Be- 
 cause he has received the benefit ,of Christ's atonement 
 and the light of God as the consequence of obedience, 
 and then sinned against that light, for which there is 
 
18 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 no forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come. 
 Now, you take that with the doctrine of Brigham 
 Young and you will find that they harmonize and that 
 there are some sins for which we cannot receive for- 
 giveness. We must pay the penalty. There are some 
 sins that people commit, and no matter how much they 
 may repent, no matter how sorry they may be after- 
 wards, yet the effects of the sins have such far-reach- 
 ing consequences that they will have to pay the pen- 
 alty of their transgressions before they can come forth 
 from punishment and receive the blessing of God. As 
 Jesus said, "They shall be cast into prison and verily 
 they shall not come out thence until they have paid 
 the uttermost farthing." There are sins that can be 
 forgiven. There were sins that could be forgiven in 
 olden times by offering certain sacrifices on the altar. 
 Then there were other sins that could not be atoned for 
 in that way; the individual himself had to pay the 
 penalty by his blood, as I can show by reference to 
 the book of Leviticus. However, I will cite you now 
 to the First Epistle of John, 5th chapter and 16th 
 verse, namely: 
 
 "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not 
 unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life 
 for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto 
 death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." 
 
 The Apostle John seems to have understood this 
 doctrine in the same way that President Young under- 
 stood it — that there are some sins that are sins unto 
 death, and he would not counsel men to pray for a man 
 who had sinned unto death. Hence you see that John 
 the Apostle and Brigham Young are in harmony on 
 this question. Let me turn now to the Epistle to 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 19 
 
 the Hebrews, the 4th verse of the 6th chapter, which 
 reads : 
 
 "For it is impossible for those who were once en- 
 lightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and 
 were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 
 
 "And have tasted the good word of God, and the 
 powers of the world to come, 
 
 "If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto 
 repentance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son 
 of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame." 
 
 According to the Apostle Paul, then, after a man has 
 been enlightened by the heavenly gift, after he has 
 received the Holy Ghost as a gift from God, after he 
 has tasted of the good word of God and of the powers 
 of the world to come, if he shall fall away it is impos- 
 sible to renew him again unto repentance ; therefore it 
 is impossible for him to be saved; for he cannot re- 
 pent, and there is no forgiveness without repentance, 
 and when a man gets into such a condition that he can- 
 not repent, he cannot be saved. If he cannot repent, 
 he cannot be forgiven; he must pay the penalty; and 
 if his sins are of such a character that he is worthy of 
 death he must suffer the penalty ; otherwise there is no 
 salvation for him, according to the doctrine that the 
 Apostle lays down in the Epistle to the Hebrews. 
 
 Now let me cite you to the First Epistle of Paul to 
 the Corinthians and 5th chapter. In the first part of 
 this chapter the apostle refers to a very great sin, a 
 sexual crime, which was had among the Corinthian 
 saints. The former-day saints sometimes committed 
 great transgressions just like some of the Latter-day 
 Saints, so that the Latter-day Saints are no worse 
 than the former in that respect. For in the ancient 
 Church of Christ some apostatized, and those who 
 
20 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 came into that Church and afterwards fell away, be- 
 came much worse than people who had never tasted of 
 the word of God, nor of the power of the world to 
 come. The Apostle Paul writes about a gross sin that 
 I need not mention tonight ; but he says : 
 
 "For I verily, as absent in body but present in spirit, 
 have judged already as though I were present con- 
 cerning him that hath done this deed, 
 
 "To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruc- 
 tion of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the 
 day of the Lord Jesus." 
 
 I wonder how much our modern Christian friends 
 understand of that doctrine. Paul understood it, the 
 Corinthian saints understood it. Here was a man 
 who came into the Church, received the Holy Ghost, 
 was made partaker of the heavenly gift, had rejoiced 
 in the truth, and then, through temptation and wicked- 
 ness, he went into corruption, violated the covenants he 
 had made to be true and faithful to God by ceasing 
 from sin, and committed a gross transgression for 
 which he could not have forgiveness — such a one was 
 to be delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the 
 flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the 
 Lord Jesus. Now, it seems, according to this doc- 
 trine of the Apostle Paul, that if that man was de- 
 stroyed in the flesh there would be some chance for 
 him to be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Why? 
 Because he had made as much atonement as he pos- 
 sibly could for his sin. He had given his life. What 
 is life? The life of the flesh is the blood. So the 
 scriptures say. He was delivered over to the buffet- 
 ings of Satan that he might be saved in the day of the 
 Lord Jesus. This is the same as the doctrine taught by 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 21 
 
 the Savior. Brigham Young understood it perfectly. 
 He says there are some sins men may commit for 
 which they cannot get forgiveness, for which they will 
 have to suffer the penalty in the world to come, but if 
 their blood is shed as an offering for their sin, their 
 spirits might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus; 
 just exactly as the Apostle Paul teaches here, in the 
 text I have read to you. 
 
 Now, what kind ,of sins are there for which men can- 
 not get forgiveness? The Apostle John says in the 
 same epistle I read from just now — the 3rd chapter of 
 the First Epistle of John: 
 
 "No murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." 
 
 The man who commits murder, who imbrues his 
 hands in the blood of innocence, cannot receive eternal 
 life, because he cannot get forgiveness of that sin. 
 What can he do ? The only way to atone is to shed his 
 blood. Hanging is not the proper method. I refer 
 you now to the 9th chapter of the Book of Genesis, 6 
 verse : 
 
 "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his 
 blood be shed." 
 
 That is the law of God as laid down in the begin- 
 ning; that if a man shall shed blood, by man shall his 
 blood be shed. Why? Because the blood is the life 
 of the flesh, and is the only atonement a man can make 
 for killing another. A murderer, by the shedding of 
 his blood, may make some atonement for his sin; but 
 he cannot come forth and inherit an exaltation in 
 eternal life, he must be content with a less degree of 
 glory. Still, as Brother Brigham taught, there is a 
 chance for some men who have committed this great 
 
22 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 transgression if their blood be shed, and there are 
 others who, even if they were willing to have their 
 blood shed, could not obtain forgiveness for their 
 transgressions. You can read about this in the rev- 
 elation on celestial marriage. (Doctrine and Cove- 
 nants, Sec. cxxxii, par. 26-7.) They are those who have 
 not only been baptized into the Church of Christ, re- 
 ceived the power of the Holy Spirit and been enlight- 
 ened from on high, but have been in the most sacred 
 places on the earth, ordained of God by His holy 
 law, and have made special covenants in relation to 
 that and other sins; they have been specially enlight- 
 ened ; they have gone from step to step, from grace to 
 grace, from knowledge to knowledge, and have had 
 keys of power placed in their hands whereby, if they 
 are faithful, they may climb to the highest pinnacle of 
 honor and glory in the presence of our Heavenly 
 Father, and then they turn round and commit this great 
 transgression, the shedding of innocent blood. For 
 them there is no forgiveness. They will be banished 
 from the presence of God ; they cannot inherit the glory 
 which was sealed upon them, however repentant they 
 may be ; they cannot come up in the first resurrection 
 and enter into their exaltation ; but they must be cast 
 out from the presence of God a>nd have the everlasting 
 penalty pronounced, "Depart from me ye workers of 
 iniquity." They will be banished from the presence of 
 God, which is spiritual destruction, that spiritual death 
 which is called the "second death." 
 
 But, there are other persons who by making this 
 atonement may obtain redemption — persons that have 
 not advanced to this degree of knowledge and under- 
 standing, and whose sins are not of so heinous a 
 nature. Because sin is gauged by the light of the in- 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 23 
 
 dividual. The depth of man's infamy is gauged by 
 the degree of his light and his opportunity. He that 
 knows much is expected to do much. Of him that 
 knows but little, only little is expected. If a man has 
 great light and he sins he is the greater sinner. I have 
 heard people argue that all sin is the result of ignor- 
 ance. Well, it is just the other way. Sin is rather 
 the result of knowledge; because a man cannot sin 
 without some light. An idiot cannot sin, because he 
 is irresponsible. It takes a responsible being to do re- 
 sponsible wrong. The more responsible a man is, the 
 greater wrong he does if he commits transgression. 
 The greater a man's light is, the greater his sin. The 
 greater the light, the greater the condemnation for 
 doing wrong. That is based upon the eternal prin- 
 ciple of justice. From this, then, it would seem that 
 if a man commits a sin unto death there is no re- 
 demption: if not unto death, and he pays the pen- 
 alty, there is for him a chance of salvation. 
 
 This divine law for shedding the blood of a murderer 
 has never been repealed. It is a law given by the Al- 
 mighty and not abrogated in the Christian faith. It 
 stands on record for all time — that a murderer shall 
 have his blood shed. He that commits murder must 
 be slain. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall 
 his blood be shed." I know there are some benevolent 
 and philanthropic people in these times who think that 
 capital punishment ought to be abolished. Yet I think 
 the Lord knows better than they. The law He has 
 ordained will have the best results to mankind in gen- 
 eral. 
 
 Well, is there any other sin that a man may commit 
 which is worthy of death? I think there is. I will 
 
24 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 refer to one in the Book of Leviticus, 20th chapter and 
 10th verse: 
 
 "And the man that committeth adultery with an- 
 other man's wife, even he that committeth adultery 
 with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adult- 
 eress shall surely be put to death." 
 
 That was the law of God in the days of Moses. It 
 was the law of God previous to the days of Moses, as 
 you will find by reference to the Book of Genesis. It 
 has been a law of God from the beginning. Some 
 people have an idea that Jesus Christ did away with 
 that law, and they bring up the case of the woman that 
 had been taken in transgression The object of the 
 Pharisees in bringing the woman to the Savior was 
 that they might catch Him in some way. You will find 
 by reading the history of Jesus Christ's ministry on 
 the earth that it was then as it is today — snares are all 
 the time being laid to catch the servants of God. They 
 tried to entrap Him in many ways, but He was able to 
 meet them with the wisdom of the great God ; for the 
 Spirit of God was given to Him without measure. The 
 woman they brought to Him was taken in this great 
 transgression. The Pharisees knew the law of Moses 
 was that she should be put to death.. They inquired 
 what Jesus had to say. He stooped down and thought 
 a little while, then wrote with His finger on the ground 
 and exclaimed, "Let him that is without sin cast the 
 first stone!" The Pharisees looked at each other and 
 finally they slipped away. Why? Because that was 
 "an evil and adulterous generation." These self-right- 
 ous hypocrites were guilty of the transgression them- 
 selves, and the person to inflict the penalty, justly, 
 had to be one who was not guilty; for how could one 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 25 
 
 such sinner rightly inflict the penalty upon another? 
 Jesus Christ's words smote them to the heart, and they 
 slunk off and left the woman standing there. Did the 
 sinner go free ? Did Jesus say the law ought not to be 
 inflicted ? No. He asked : " Woman, where are thine 
 accusers?" They are gone. "Neither do I accuse 
 thee." It must be remembered that there must be ac- 
 cusers as well as judges. Jesus set a pattern which 
 judges in these times would do well to follow. He did 
 not act as an attorney for the prosecution or as a wit- 
 ness against the accused as well as a judge to pro- 
 nounce the sentence. "Woman, where are those thine 
 accusers * * * Neither do I condemn thee; go, 
 and sin no more." 
 
 In regard to this offense the law of the Lord to the 
 Latter-day Saints teaches that if a member of the 
 Church commits adultery and repents with all his heart 
 he shall be forgiven, but if he does it again he shall be 
 cast out. But there is another law in relation to this 
 that goes a little further, that is in regard to persons 
 who have advanced in the knowledge of God. A man 
 who comes into this Church and is baptized for the re- 
 mission of his sins and advances no further in the order 
 of God, if he commits this transgression and truly re- 
 pents and commits the sin no more — and true repent- 
 ance is shown by refraining from sin in future — he 
 may be forgiven. But if he has entered the sacred 
 covenants spoken of in the revelation on celestial mar- 
 riage and then commits that transgression, what is the 
 penalty? Why, if it were carried out to the full extent 
 as in times of old his blood would be shed. As it is he 
 is excommunicated — cut off from every gospel priv- 
 ilege. Is not that strong doctrine? Yes, it is strong 
 doctrine, but it is true doctrine. Should not virtue be 
 
26 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 at least as dear to us as life? I think it should. I 
 think that virtue should be dearer than life, if there is 
 any difference between them. Then if he who sheds a 
 man's blood should have his blood shed; if he who 
 takes life is worthy of death, then he who takes that 
 away which is dearer than life is also worthy of death, 
 and any man who commits adultery with his neigh- 
 bor's wife, after he has entered the new and everlasting 
 covenant, ought to make atonement for his transgres- 
 sion by the pouring out of his blood upon the earth. 
 For he has tampered with the fountain of life, he has 
 defiled life at its mainspring and polluted the source 
 from which life comes. That is the doctrine upon 
 which the law was predicated — that the adulterer and 
 the adulteress hould be put to death. Thus, there are 
 some sins that cannot be atoned for through the blood 
 of Christ. They can only be atoned for by the shed- 
 ding of the sinner's blood. A murderer is one, and an 
 adulterer is another. And there is plenty of proof in 
 what I have read that this is Bible doctrine. 
 
 But I want to carry this subject a little further. 
 Suppose we grant the position that a murderer is 
 worthy of death, and that he is particularly worthy of 
 death if he has been enlightened by the power of God 
 and knows the full etxent of that great transgression 
 — supposing we admit that for the sake of argument 
 — the next question that arises is, Who is to inflict this 
 penalty? What do our Church laws say on this 
 subject? I will refer you to section xlii of the Book of 
 Doctrine and Covenants, and the eighteenth verse : 
 
 "And now, behold, I speak unto the Church. Thou 
 shalt not kill ; and he that kills shall not have forgive- 
 ness in this world, nor in the world to come. 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 27 
 
 "And again, I say, Thou shalt not kill ; but he that 
 killeth shall die." 
 
 Here is the law of God to the Church. You know 
 it is represented abroad that the Latter-day Saints 
 believe in killing in a great many different directions. 
 But here is the law of God to the Church by revela- 
 tion. This is the word of God Almighty to the Saints. 
 This law is given to people who have been baptized, 
 who have received the Holy Ghost, who have been 
 made partakers of the heavenly gift — "Thou shalt not 
 kill ; but he that killeth shall die." But that does not 
 answer the question, Who is to inflict the penalty? I 
 will refer you to a passage a little further on in the 
 same revelation — section xlii, verse 79 : 
 
 "It shall come to pass, that if any persons among 
 you shall kill, they shall be delivered up and dealt with 
 according to the laws of the land ; for remember that 
 he hath no forgiveness, and it shall be proven accord- 
 ing to the laws of the land." 
 
 Now, there is the word of the Lord to this Church 
 — that if a man kills he shall be delivered up to be 
 dealt with according to the laws of the land. Here, 
 you will see, there is a general principle laid down 
 by the Lord to the Church — that they are to obey the 
 laws of the land. If a man commits a crime he is 
 to be delivered over to be dealt with according to the 
 laws of the land, and his offense is to be proven, not 
 by the laws of the Church, but by the laws of the land. 
 The Church can withdraw fellowship from him, but 
 the Church has no authority to execute the death 
 penalty. A man may be deserving of death, but it is 
 not in the province of the Church to kill, he must be 
 delivered over to be dealt with according to the laws 
 of the land. 
 
28 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 But here I shall be cited by our opponents to some 
 remarks by Elder Jedediah M. Grant. Little bits of 
 extracts have been sent abroad from time to time, and 
 a great many false constructions put upon them. But 
 here is something that seems to come in conflict with 
 the revelation I have read : 
 
 "I say that there are men and women that I would 
 advise to go to the President immediately, and ask 
 him to appoint a committee to attend to their case; 
 and then let a place be selected, and let that committee 
 shed their blood." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, 
 page 51.) 
 
 What kind of folks was he talking about? Let us 
 see. 
 
 "Some have received the Priesthood, a knowledge of 
 the things of God, and they dishonor the cause of truth, 
 commit adultery and every other abomination beneath 
 the heavens, and then meet you here or on the street 
 and deny it." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, page 51.) 
 
 These were the kind of people he was talking about. 
 Brother Grant expressed in this strong language his 
 feelings in regard to these transgressors. He felt 
 that they were worthy of death; and that the only 
 chance for them was to have their blood shed. You 
 must remember that this was at the time of the refor- 
 mation, when all the people in these valleys were re- 
 quired to repent of their sins and renew their cove- 
 nants ; when the power of God rested upon the peo- 
 ple and caused them to rise in their meetings and con- 
 fess their sins, and then it was found that some men 
 who had received the Priesthood had committed adul- 
 tery and other great transgressions, as members had 
 done in the early Christian church. This was why 
 Brother Grant expressed himself so strongly. 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 29 
 
 The question arises whether any one of these re- 
 ceived the penalty. Does any one know of a single 
 case of blood atonement, in the popular sense of the 
 term, having" been inflicted in Utah? If you do, you 
 know more than I do, and I have investigated the mat- 
 ter pretty thoroughly. Has there ever been a case of 
 blood-shedding by the authorities of the Church, or by 
 the sanction of the Church, outside of the regular op- 
 erations of the criminal law? I say there has not, and 
 let those who say there have been such instances bring 
 forth proofs. The burden of proof is upon them. I 
 deny that there has ever been a case of blood atone- 
 ment in Utah, in the sense that the charge has been 
 spread abroad to the world. I admit that the doctrine 
 has been preached, that men have committed sins for 
 which they were worthy of death — sins for which they 
 could not get forgiveness short of shedding their 
 blood ; but I deny that the law has been enforced, and 
 I will give you the reason why it was not enforced. 
 This is from a sermon by President Brigham Young, 
 published in the same book, page 220 : 
 
 "I could refer you to plenty of instances where men 
 have been righteously slain in order to atone for their 
 sins. I have seen scores and hundreds of people for 
 whom there would have been a chance (in the last res- 
 urrection there will be) if their lives had been taken 
 and their blood spilled on the ground as a smoking 
 incense to the Almighty, but who are now angels to 
 the devil until our Elder Brother Jesus Christ raises 
 them up — conquers death, hell and the grave. * * * 
 The wickedness and ignorance of the nations forbid 
 this principle's being in full force, but the time will 
 come when the law of God will be in full force. ,, 
 
 I now read from the same discourse, page 219: 
 'The time has been in Israel under the law of God, 
 
30 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 the celestial law, or that which pertains to the celestial 
 law, for it is one of the laws of that kingdom where 
 our Father dwells, that if a man was found guilty 
 of adultery he must have his blood shed, and that is 
 near at hand. But now I say, in the name of the Lord, 
 that if this people sin no more, but faithfully live their 
 religion, their sins will be forgiven them without tak- 
 ing life." 
 
 President Young and Jedediah M. Grant preached 
 this doctrine to the people at that time, because there 
 was a necessity for it in consequence of the trans- 
 gressions of the people, and it worked upon them in 
 the same way that the instructions which Jesus Christ 
 gave to His apostles acted upon the people in His day, 
 and have a similar effect in this day — that is, by the 
 principle of fear. For instance, Jesus declared: 
 
 "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, 
 and he that believeth not shall be damned." 
 
 You will find just such declarations all through the 
 revelations of God. His servants in preaching the 
 gospel have had to hold up the penalty for sin that fear 
 might take hold upon the wicked, and that people might 
 be led not to transgress the divine commands. There 
 is a higher law to which we all should advance, and 
 that is that men should learn to do right for right- 
 ousness sake; men should learn to avoid wrong be- 
 cause it is wrong, not because they will be damned 
 for doing it, not because there will be a penalty in- 
 flicted for committing sin, but because it is wrong 
 and their souls revolt against it. Men should do right 
 for the love of it, not because there is a reward for 
 doing right, but because right is good, and is beauti- 
 ful, and is exalting. But have all mankind reached 
 that high plane? No; very few have advanced to it. 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 31 
 
 The doctrine of condemnation has to be preached to 
 the world as well as the doctrine of salvation. People 
 have to be encouraged by the hope of reward, and 
 deterred from doing wrong by the fear of punishment ; 
 whereas, he that is governed by the higher law — the 
 law that God lives, that Jesus Christ lives — says, "This 
 is right, therefore I will do it ; that is wrong, therefore 
 I will avoid it because it is wrong; for if I do wrong 
 it debases me, but if I do right it exalts me." For the 
 practice of right elevates a man, while the practice of 
 wrong brings him down and degrades him. But the 
 divine appeal to all is, generally, "If you will keep 
 my commandments you will be rewarded ; if you com- 
 mit transgression you shall be damned." That is the 
 word of the Lord to the world. Now, Brothers Jed- 
 ediah M. Grant and Brigham Young, because of the 
 transgressions of the people, spoke as I have quoted. 
 This was the time of the "reformation" and the fears 
 of evil-doers were worked upon to induce reform, and 
 hence the strong language used at that time. Do we 
 need the same language now? I hope not; but if 
 there was any need for it, it would be just as applicable 
 now as then. 
 
 The reason why this penalty referred to by Presi- 
 dent Young was not inflicted as in olden time was 
 because ,of the laws of the land. We have to observe 
 them as I have just read to you. The law of the land 
 says that if a man kills he shall suffer death. But the 
 laws of the land do not say that the adulterer shall be 
 put to death. Therefore, the penalty, however de- 
 served, cannot be inflicted. Sometimes an injured hus- 
 band pursues the seducer or the adulterer, and sheds 
 his blood, and it is very seldom, if ever, in this coun- 
 try, that a person who takes the law into his own hands 
 
32 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 and inflicts this penalty has to suffer the judgment of 
 the law against murder. A jury of his countrymen 
 will scarcely ever convict a man who takes vengeance 
 on the seducer of his wife, sister or daughter. But 
 it is not for the Church to inflict this deserved penalty, 
 because the Church wishes to observe the laws of the 
 land ; and the commandment of God is, if a man com- 
 mits murder he shall be delivered up to be dealt with 
 according to the laws of the land. 
 
 Now, if there appears to be some conflict between 
 Elder Jedediah M. Grant's remarks which I have 
 quoted, and what I read to you from the Doctrine and 
 Covenants — I don't think there is however — it must be 
 remembered that we are to be governed by the law of 
 God. And the law of God by revelation from on high, 
 the law of God as revealed through the head, is of 
 greater importance and more binding than the opinions 
 of any man no matter who he may be. The law of 
 God is paramount. When men give their views upon 
 any doctrine, the value of those views is as the value 
 of the man. If he is a wise man, a man of under- 
 standing, of experience and authority, such views are 
 of great weight with the community ; but they are not 
 paramount, nor equal to the revealed law of God. 
 However, I see no conflict between Brother Grant's 
 views and the revelation, and I have explained to you 
 from President Young's own discourse the reason why 
 the death penalty was not inflicted, and this is evidence 
 that as a matter of fact it was not inflicted. 
 
 Yet the most frightful stories have been published 
 concerning the alleged blood atonement among the 
 "Mormons," and the most horrible pictures have been 
 printed to illustrate those imaginary sacrifices. I wish 
 I could throw upon a screen these pictures published in 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 33 
 
 this book "The Mysteries of Mormonism," that you 
 might see for yourselves. These stories and disgusting 
 pictures have been published and spread abroad 
 throughout the United States for the purpose of mis- 
 representing this doctrine of blood atonement. I know 
 of no fitting use for such works unless it is to be put 
 in the fire. But that you may know something of the 
 character of this book I will read to you an extract: 
 
 "Mrs. Maxwell had two sons, aged respectively 
 fourteen and sixteen years. Their father urged them 
 to go through the Endowment House and become Mor- 
 mons, bound by all the oaths of the church. Mrs. 
 Maxwell objected, and in order to prevail over her sons 
 she told them the secrets of the Endowment House. 
 
 "The penalty for revealing these secrets is dismem- 
 berment of the body, the throat cut, and the tongue 
 torn out. 
 
 "Mr. Maxwell overheard his wife, being in an ad- 
 joining room, and forthwith he informed the Elders, 
 who sent for the unfortunate woman and her two sons. 
 They were taken into what is called the 'dark pit/ a 
 blood-atoning room under Brigham Young's house. 
 The woman was then stripped of all her clothing, and 
 then tied on her back to a large table. Six members 
 of the Priesthood then performed their damnable 
 crime; they first cut off their victim's tongue, they 
 then cut her throat, after which her legs and arms 
 were severed. 
 
 "The sons were compelled to stand by and witness 
 this dreadful slaughter of their mother. They were 
 then released and given twenty- four hours to get out 
 of the Territory, which was then an impossibility. The 
 sons went directly to the house of a friend, to whom 
 they related the butchery of their mother, and obtain- 
 ing a package of provisions they started; but on the 
 following morning they were both dead. 
 
 "They had met the Danites. 
 
 "Created in the most sombre secrecy, this infam- 
 
34 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 ous organization was from the first a shadowy terror 
 known only by its works. The real calling of a 
 'Destroying Angel' is rarely known save among his fel- 
 lows. To the bulk of the people to whom he is a con- 
 stant menace, the assassin of the church is a mere 
 spectre, red-handed, merciless and deadly, but invis- 
 ible" "and therefore the more dreadful. Your mur- 
 derer might be your own brother, and you never dream 
 it, so well are the secrets of this shameful order kept." 
 
 Now the person who wrote this, claims to have seen 
 one of these "Destroying Angels," or "Danites," and I 
 will read what is said, so that you will see how much 
 value to place upon the story : 
 
 "An instance of this : One day in Salt Lake City I 
 was out walking with a male relative, and a man 
 stopped us. During the conversation I watched him 
 closely, because he was so handsome — with light, 
 wavy brown hair, skin like a girl's, and beautiful blue 
 eyes. He was tall and of slender build. He was 
 dressed after the fashion of men in general, except that 
 he wore a large sombrero, which he kept drawn well 
 over his face. He conversed affably, his voice being 
 noticeably melodious. After he went his way my 
 cousin said: 
 
 " 'Well, you have seen one at last.' 
 
 "'One what?' I asked. 
 
 " 'An Avenging Angel.' 
 
 '"Where, where?' I asked, looking around. 
 
 '"Why, the man who has just left us. He is the 
 chief 'Avenging Angel,' and has had a hand in the 
 bloodiest deeds that have stained the record of this 
 Territory.' ' 
 
 That is how she knew that she had seen a "Destroy- 
 ing Angel." What could be more convincing? Her 
 cousin told her so and she was prepared to credit that 
 and more too, and hence the "horrible tales" that are 
 told to travelers who are ready to gulp them down. 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 35 
 
 These are the kind of stories published to the world 
 in regard to this doctrine of blood atonement. I think 
 I will read an extract or two from another work: 
 "Fifteen years among the Mormons, " which has been 
 circulated extensively throughout the country. The 
 author of this work — Mrs. Mary Ettie V. Smith — 
 says: 
 
 "I deem it proper to state in connection, that the 
 mysteries of the Second Anointing of the Endowments, 
 among other inhuman ceremonies are supposed — " 
 
 A good many things supposed, you see. 
 
 "to be defiled by the monstrous rite of offering human 
 sacrifices, or at least, that the doctrine is fully taught 
 and developed there. Enough has already transpired 
 among the women to justify this conclusion. Those 
 who have not taken this anointing, and but a compar- 
 atively small number have taken it, are very alarmed 
 about this as they know not what to expect. They 
 are always upon the rack, as they are liable to be 
 called upon at any time to go to the Endowment rooms 
 for that purpose. ,, 
 
 How much truth there is in that you folks that are 
 "on the rack" can tell. You would never have known 
 in what fears you lived if this veracious (?) historian 
 had not told you. 
 
 Again : 
 
 "The Mormons recognize the right, and inculcate the 
 duty of the father to slay his daughter or her lover, as 
 a last resort, to prevent her marriage with a 'Gentile.' " 
 
 Did you "Mormons" ever hear of such a "right or 
 duty" before? But here is a story of a father who is 
 said to have been absent when his daughter married a 
 "Gentile." I read from the same book : 
 
 "For when he heard of it, he wrote to the prophet 
 
36 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 blaming him very severely for not preventing the mar- 
 riage by the sacrifice of her life. He wrote that he 
 should always feel dissatisfied because the blood of his 
 daughter had not been shed to atone for the sin of 
 marrying out of the church." 
 
 What do you think of a story like that? But here 
 is an account of a man by "the name of Hardy," who 
 is said to have been "blood atoned :" 
 
 "I do not understand all he discovered, or all he did ; 
 but they found he had written against the Church, 
 and he was cut off; and the prophet required, as an 
 atonement for his sins, that he should lay down his life. 
 That he should be sacrificed in the endowment rooms, 
 where human sacrifices are sometimes made in this 
 way. This I never knew until my husband told me, 
 but it is true. They kill those there who have com- 
 mitted sins too great to be atoned for in any other 
 way. The prophet says if they submit to this he can 
 save them; otherwise they are lost. Oh, that is hor- 
 rible P 
 
 It is indeed very horrible ; almost as horrible to in- 
 vent such falsehoods as the stories would be if they 
 were true. But I do not think I will take up any more 
 time in reading extracts of that kind. There is just 
 one more, however, that I would like to read from a 
 lecture by the Rev. Sheldon Jackson, who was once in 
 this city, and who has delivered a great many mislead- 
 ing lectures on "Mormonism." In a lecture delivered 
 in Dr. Cuyler's church in Brooklyn, he said: 
 
 "The Mormon women are expected to do all the 
 work of the farm and support the man, leaving him to 
 idle away his time if he likes, perhaps hunting or fish- 
 ing. They are not only servants, but slaves; and if 
 any wife tries to escape she is shot down by the 
 Danites, and her carcass is left to rot on the ground." 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 37 
 
 These are a very few of the stories circulated in 
 regard to this doctrine of blood atonement, and it has 
 been given out by a sheet published in this city — the 
 name of which I never like to mention, it always leaves 
 such a bad taste in my mouth — that a great many 
 persons, Latter-day Saints, have been blood-atoned; 
 that is, they have had their blood shed for the com- 
 mission of certain sins ; that the doctrine of the Church 
 is that apostates must have their blood shed, and to 
 carry this doctrine still further it has been stated that 
 persons who never were members of the Church at all 
 have been "blood-atoned." The Mountain Meadows 
 massacre is referred to. Those who suffered that 
 awful fate, were it is asserted, "blood-atoned ;" and 
 the same has been said of some horse-thieves who were 
 killed while escaping from the officers of justice. 
 Well, the best answer to all these stories is, that they 
 cannot produce a single case of blood-atonement — can- 
 not produce one individual case of a man or woman in 
 this Territory who has suffered, at the hands of the 
 Church, this penalty that President Young said ought 
 to be inflicted upon persons guilty of capital crimes. 
 There are, no doubt, many persons that ought to be 
 killed who are still living, and you need not go very far 
 from this hall to find them. Criminals may be worthy of 
 death, but who is going to kill them ? I would not soil 
 my hands with their blood nor their persons. The 
 further I can get away from them the better for me. 
 Would I touch a hair of their heads? No, I would 
 not. I would let the law take its course, and if the 
 law does not take its course, then I would leave them 
 in the hands of the Lord. Is not that the doctrine of 
 the Latter-day Saints? I think it is. I know the 
 principles of our faith pretty well. 
 
38 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 I know the feelings of the leaders of the Church — 
 Presidents Taylor, Cannon and Smith — and other au- 
 thorities of the Church. They have a horror, a repug- 
 nance to the shedding of blood. They have no desire 
 in their hearts to inflict any penalty of that kind upon 
 any individual. And as to transgressors who are not 
 of our faith, they want nothing to do with them. All 
 we claim the right to do in this respect is to defend 
 ourselves against our enemies, and we have the law of 
 God on that question. We are told in the book of 
 Doctrine and Covenants that if our enemies come 
 against us and they repent, we are to forgive them. 
 And if they come again the second time, they are to be 
 forgiven ; also the third time they are to be forgiven ; 
 and if they still persist and seek our lives, we have the 
 right to defend ourselves to the last extremity. But 
 if we then forgive them we shall be rewarded for our 
 righteousness. All this shows that the Lord does not 
 delight in the shedding of blood, neither do His ser- 
 vants. We are told that we shall not be blood shed- 
 ders. We are to be temple builders. David of old was 
 not allowed to build the temple because he was not 
 clean from the blood of his generation. And the people 
 called Latter-day Saints, from the heads of the Church 
 down to the humblest member, have a horror of the 
 shedding of human blood. They are not a bloody- 
 minded people. They are a forbearing people, as our 
 cowardly persecutors are well aware. And yet there 
 is a point where forbearance ceases to be a virtue. 
 
 These are some of the ideas entertained by the Lat- 
 ter-day Saints on the subjecct of blood atonement. 
 After baptized persons have made sacred covenants 
 with God and then commit deadly sins, the only atone- 
 ment they can make is the shedding of their blood. At 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 39 
 
 the same time, because of the laws of the land, and the 
 prejudices of the nation, and the ignorance of the 
 world, this law cannot be carried out. But when the 
 time comes that the law of God shall be in full force 
 upon the earth, then this penalty will be inflicted for 
 those crimes committed by persons under covenant not 
 to commit them. 
 
 There is one passage I read from Prest. Young's 
 discourse that may need a little explanation. We will 
 let him explain himself. I read to you just now that 
 Prest. Young said he had known of many instances 
 where men had been righteously slain to atone for their 
 sins. Let me read it again : 
 
 "I could refer you to plenty of instances where men 
 have been righteously slain in order to atone for their 
 sins." 
 
 That sentence is copied and scattered broadcast 
 throughout the nation, coupled with some other little 
 bits, here and there, from his sayings. Our opponents 
 tack them together, sometimes giving the first part of 
 a sentence and leaving the latter part out; at others, 
 giving the latter part, but omitting the former, mak- 
 ing the quotation have a different meaning to that 
 which was intended; after the fashion of joining these 
 two scraps of scripture : 
 
 "And Judas went out and hanged himself." 
 "Go thou and do likewise." 
 
 They tack portions of sentences together and send 
 them forth as the veritable utterances of the "Mormon" 
 leaders. I will read to you what Brigham Young really 
 meant and said in regard to those who had been "right- 
 eously slain for their sins." I read from the same page 
 
40 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 of the same discourse. {Journal of Discourses, page 
 220) : 
 
 "Now, take the wicked, and I can refer you to where 
 the Lord had to slay every soul of the Israelites that 
 went out of Egypt except Caleb and Joshua. He slew 
 them by the hands of their enemies, by the plague 
 and by the sword. Why ? Because He loved them and 
 promised Abraham He would save them." 
 
 Who was Brigham Young referring to when he 
 said that in many instances men had been righteously 
 slain to atone for their sins? Any one who had lived 
 in latter times ? No, but those old Israelites whom the 
 Lord slew. He referred also to the people that lived 
 in the days of Noah, and other transgressors in early 
 times whom the scriptures say the Lord destroyed for 
 their sins. Now, that is Brigham Young's doctrine 
 of blood atonement. 
 
 It will be necessary to say a few words in regard to 
 the supposed order of "Danites," because the doctrine 
 of blood atonement, as misrepresented to the world, 
 is always intimately connected with that alleged order. 
 Danites are supposed to be a body of men who inflict 
 the penalty of blood atonement. Let me say here, once 
 and for all, that I know of no such order, never have 
 known of any such order. Is there anybody here who 
 knows of Danites, cut-throats or destroying angels, 
 who lie in the way of apostates, and prevent their leav- 
 ing the Territory? No. You will find that all these 
 stories told by lecturers and others are derived from 
 tales told by untruthful men who are opposed to us. 
 Talk about Danites and destroying angels, and about 
 people being killed to prevent their escape from Utah ! 
 Is it not remarkable that these people who have been 
 in such imminent danger of being killed always man- 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 41 
 
 age to make their "escape?" Our enemies cannot point 
 to a single instance where a person who wanted to get 
 away from Utah did not "escape." 
 
 The Danite idea sprang from a circumstance that 
 occurred in the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I 
 will read an extract from the history of Joseph Smith, 
 under date of October, 1838, published in the Millen- 
 nial Star, in 1854. This idea of Danites had gone 
 abroad so much that the Prophet thought the false- 
 hoods circulated ought to be corrected : 
 
 "And here I would state, that while the evil spirits 
 were raging up and down in the State to raise mobs 
 against the 'Mormons/ Satan himself was no less busy 
 in striving to stir up mischief in the camp of the 
 Saints; and among the most conspicuous of his will- 
 ing devotees was one Doctor Sampson Avard, who 
 had been in the Church but a short time, and who, 
 although he had generally behaved with a tolerable 
 degree of external decorum, was secretly aspiring to be 
 the greatest of the great, and become the leader of 
 the people. This was his pride and his folly, but as 
 he had no hopes of accomplishing it by gaining the 
 hearts of the people in open strife, he watched his op- 
 portunity with the brethren, at a time when mobs op- 
 pressed, robbed, whipped, burned, plundered and slew, 
 till forbearance seemed no longer a virtue, and nothing 
 but the grace of God without measure could support 
 men under such trials, to form a secret combination by 
 which he might rise a mighty conqueror, at the ex- 
 pense of the overthrow of the Church; and this he 
 tried to accomplish by his smooth, flattering and win- 
 ning speeches, which he frequently made to his asso- 
 ciates, while his room was well guarded by some of 
 his pupils, ready to give him the wink on the approach 
 of anyone who would not approve of his measures. 
 
 "In this situation, he stated that he had the sanc- 
 tion of the heads of the Church for what he was about 
 to do ; and by his smiles and flattery persuaded them 
 
42 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 to believe it, and proceeded to administer to the few 
 under his control, an oath, binding them to ever- 
 lasting secresy to everything which should be commun- 
 icated to them by himself. Thus Avard initiated mem- 
 bers into his band, firmly binding them, by all that 
 was sacred, in the protecting of each other in all 
 things that were lawful; and was careful to picture 
 out a great glory that was then hovering over the 
 Church, and would soon burst upon the Saints as a 
 cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, and would 
 soon unveil the slumbering mysteries of heaven, which 
 would gladden the hearts and arouse the stupid spirits 
 of the Saints of the latter-day, and fill their hearts 
 with that love which is unspeakable and full of glory, 
 and arm them with power, that the gates of hell 
 could not prevail agninst them; and would often af- 
 firm to his company, that the principal men of the 
 Church had put him forward as a spokesman, and a 
 leader of this band which he named Danites. * * * * 
 
 "After those performances he held meetings to or- 
 ganize his men into companies of tens and fifties, ap- 
 pointing a captain over each company. * * * * 
 
 "When a knowledge of Avard's rascality came to the 
 Presidency of the Church, he was cut. off from the 
 Church, and every means properly used to destroy his 
 influence, at which he was highly incensed, and went 
 about whispering his evil insinuations, but finding 
 every effort unavailing, he again turned conspirator, 
 and sought to make friends with the mob. 
 
 "And here let it be distinctly understood, that these 
 companies of tens and fifties got up by Avard, were 
 altogether separate and distinct from those compan- 
 ies of tens and fifties organized by the brethren for 
 self-defense, in case of an attack from the mob, and 
 more particularly that in this time of alarm no family 
 or person might be neglected, therefore, one company 
 would be engaged in drawing wood, another in cutting- 
 it, another in gathering corn, another in grinding, 
 another in butchering, another in distributing meat, 
 etc., so that all should be employed in turn, and no- 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 43 
 
 one lack the necessaries of life. Therefore, let no 
 one hereafter, by mistake or design, confound this or- 
 ganization of the Church for good and righteous pur- 
 poses, with the organization of the Danites, of the 
 apostate Avard, which died almost before it had ex- 
 istence." 
 
 There is a further reference on the same subject in 
 a letter from the Prophet Joseph Smith, dated Decem- 
 ber, 1838, to be found in the same volume, page 627: 
 
 "We have learned also since we have been prisoners, 
 that many false and pernicious things, which were 
 calculated to lead the Saints far astray and to do great 
 injury, have been taught by Dr. Avard as coming from 
 the Presidency, and we have reason to fear that many 
 other designing and corrupt characters like unto him- 
 self, have been teaching many things which the Presi- 
 dency never knew of being taught in the Church by 
 anybody until after they were made prisoners, which 
 if they had known of, they would have spurned them 
 and their authors from them, as they would the gates 
 of hell. Thus we find that there have been frauds 
 and secret abominations and evil works of darkness 
 going on, leading the minds of the weak and unwary 
 into confusion and distraction, and palming it all the 
 time upon the Presidency, while meantime the Presi- 
 dency were ignorant as well as innocent of those things 
 which were practising in the Church in their name." 
 
 It will be seen, then, that this notion about "Danites" 
 and "Destroying Angels" originated in the way indi- 
 cated in what I have read. This was the little bit of 
 fire from which all this smoke has arisen. Behold 
 how great a matter that little fire hath kindled! All 
 the stories about preventing people leaving this Terri- 
 tory, about "Danites" or "Destroying Angels" way-lay- 
 ing apostates and shedding their blood ; all the horrible, 
 blood-curdling stories like those I have refererd to — 
 
44 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 stories about men and women being taken out on the 
 prairie to starve or to welter in their blood — all these 
 are lies made out of whole cloth. The organization 
 was started in the way I have shown. That is all 
 there is to that matter. 
 
 But before I sit down I want to say a word or two 
 about the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Perhaps this 
 subject should be taken up on another occasion and 
 gone into fully. I claim, however, that the Latter-day 
 Saints are no more to be charged with the great crime 
 that was committed at Mountain Meadows than any 
 other church is to be charged for the wrongs done by 
 its church members. I have not time tonight to go into 
 the details of this subject, to show who were engaged 
 in the crime, and how it came to be committed ; I will 
 leave that to be done on some other occasion. I wish, 
 however, to put on record for myself, and my brethren 
 and sisters of the Church of which we are members, 
 that we have a horror, a loathing and a repugnance at 
 the wickedness of that crime; that the Church never 
 did endorse the deed ; that the Church never had any 
 hand in it; that the Church never condoned it after- 
 wards; that as soon as the President of the Church 
 found out that John D. Lee had been implicated in it 
 he was cut off from the Church and left to be dealt 
 with according to the laws of the land ; that President 
 Young was innocent of any participation in that crime ; 
 and that the delay in bringing Lee to justice was not 
 due to President Young, or to any stumbling blocks 
 thrown in the way by the Latter-day Saints — any lead- 
 er of the Church, any Elder or any members of the 
 Church — but was due to the laxity of the officers of 
 
BLOOD ATONEMENT. 45 
 
 the law themselves, and I could prove it, if there was 
 time, by documents which I could produce.* 
 
 But the word has gone out to the world — it is pub- 
 lished all over the earth wherever our Elders go; it 
 is sent out from this city purposely to misrepresent this 
 people, and our Elders who go forth to preach the gos- 
 pel without purse or scrip, who leave their homes and 
 suffer hunger and thirst, and sometimes have no place 
 to lay their heads, to bear testimony, as servants of 
 God, to the truth as it has come from heaven — that the 
 gospel is restored, that the power of the Priesthood is 
 here, that the way is opened up whereby men may 
 gain access to the Father and a knowledge of the 
 things of eternity; I say when these men go out to 
 preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to warn the in- 
 habitants of the earth of the judgments to come, they 
 are met with copies of that sheet that I have alluded 
 to with falsehoods about the Mountain Meadows mas- 
 sacre, holding the Church responsible for it, putting the 
 blame on President Young, and people's minds are 
 closed against the truth in consequence of the flood 
 of falsehoods that has been poured out. 
 
 I wish to say here tonight, that the Church never 
 authorized that terrible crime committed upon the emi- 
 grants at Mountain Meadows ; that the few whites en- 
 gaged in it claimed that it was principally done by 
 Indians; that the Church does not condone the shed- 
 ding of blood; that the doctrine of the Church is, he 
 that kills shall be delivered over to be dealt with accord- 
 ing to the laws of the land, but it shall be proven 
 against him by the laws of the land. Has there ever 
 been an iota of proof brought forward to connect Pres- 
 
 *See my lecture, "The Mountain Meadows Massacre." 
 
46 BLOOD ATONEMENT. 
 
 ident Young with that terrible crime at Mountain 
 Meadows? No. No proof, but a great deal of sup- 
 position. If imaginaion and jumping at conclusions 
 are worth anything it might be said to have been 
 proven. But it cannot be proven because it is not true. 
 President Young's body lies in the tomb ; his spirit has 
 gone to the spirit world ; he is not here to defend him- 
 self; but I take the liberty of saying, in behalf of 
 President Young, from conclusive evidence, that he 
 was not aware of that dreadful crime until after it was 
 committed ; that he never condoned it, never sanctioned 
 it, never palliated it in the least degree ; he had a hor- 
 ror of it. And our leading men today — Presidents 
 John Taylor, George Q. Cannon, and Joseph F. Smith 
 — have a horror ,of that dreadful deed ; they denounce 
 it as a crime and never palliated it in the least degree. 
 From what I have read to you tonight you will see that 
 our belief accords with the scripture that says: "A 
 murderer hath not eternal life abiding in him," and that 
 a man who has been enlightened by the Holy Ghost and 
 who commits that great crime cannot obtain forgive- 
 ness in this world nor in the world to come, and that 
 after receiving the new and everlasting covenant even 
 the shedding of his blood would not atone for that sin. 
 Now, my brethren, and sisters, and friends, although 
 I have had to lay aside a number of extracts, which I 
 have not had time to introduce, I think I have proved 
 to you that the doctrine of blood atonement is a Bible 
 doctrine, Patriarchal, Mosaic and Christian; not only 
 an Old Testament, but a New Testament doctrine; 
 that the Bible as well as President Young teaches that 
 a murderer should have his blood shed, and that the 
 adulterer should suffer the penalty of his crime by 
 death; that the stories that have been circulated and