| 1121 no need to break the laws of the land," therefore, as the people of God, we come before the world and claim protection, by law, from the common officers of justice, in every neighborhood where our people may be; we claim the same at the hands of the governors of the several States, and of the President of the United States, and of the friends of humanity and justice in every clime, and country on the globe.
By the desperate acts of the inhabitants of Jackson county, many hundreds of American citizens are deprived of their lands and rights; and it is reported we mean to regain our possessions and even Jackson county, "by the shedding of blood" but if any man will take the pains to read the 153rd page of the book of Commandments, he will find it there said:
"Wherefore the land of Zion shall not be obtained but by purchase, or by blood, otherwise there is none inheritance for you. And if by purchase behold you are blessed; and if by blood, as you are forbidden to shed blood, lo, your enemies are upon you, and you shall be scourged from city to city, and from synagogue to synagogue, and but few shall stand to receive an inheritance."
So we declare, that we have ever meant, and now mean, to purchase the land of our inheritance, like all other honest men, of the government and of those who would rather sell their farms than live in our society; and, as thousands have done before us, we solicit the aid of the children of men, and of government, to help us to obtain our rights in Jackson county, and the land whereon the Zion of God, according to our faith, shall stand in the last days, for the salvation and gathering of Israel.
Let no man be alarmed because our Society has commenced gathering to build a city, and a house for the Lord, as a refuge from present evils and coming calamities; our fore-fathers came to the goodly land of America, to shun persecution and enjoy their religious opinions and rights, as they thought proper; and the Lord, after much tribulation, blessed them, and has said, that we should continue to importune for redress and redemption by the hands of those who are placed as rulers, and are in authority over us, according to the laws and constitution of the people, which he has suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principle; that every man may act in doctrine and in principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which he has given them; that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment; and for this purpose he has established the constitution of this land by the hands of wise men whom he raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood.
Now we seek peace, and ask our rights, even redress and redemption, at the hands of the rulers of this nation; not only our lands and property in Jackson county, but for free trade with all men, and unmolested emigration to any part of the Union, and for our inherent right to worship God as we please. We ask the restoration of these rights because they have been taken from us, or abridged by the violence and usurpation of the inhabitants of Jackson county; as a people we hold ourselves amenable to the laws of the land, and while the government remains as it is, the right to emigrate from state to state, from territory to territory, from county to county, and from vicinity to vicinity, is open to all men of whatever trade or creed, without hinderance [hindrance] or molestation; and as long as we are justifiable and honest in the eyes of the law, we claim it, whether we remove by single families, or in bodies of hundreds, with that of carrying the necessary arms and acoutrements [accouterments] for military duty, and we believe that all honest men, who love their country and their country's glory, and have a wish to see the law magnified and made honorable, will help to perpetuate the great legacy of freedom, that came unimpaired from the hands of our venerable fathers to us, but they will also protect us from insult and injury, and aid the work of God, that they may reap a reward in the regions of bliss, when all men receive according to their works.
In relation to our distress, from the want of our lands in Jackson county, and for the want of the property destroyed by fire and waste, rather than do any act contrary to law, we solemnly appeal to the people with whom we tarry, for protection from insult and harm, and for the comforts of life by labor or otherwise, while we seek peace and satisfaction of our enemies through every possible and honorable means, which humanity can dictate, or philanthropy urge, or religion require. We are citizens of this republic, and we ask our rights as republicans, not merely in our restoration to our lands and property in Jackson county, Missouri, but being considered honest in our faith, honest in our deal, and honest before God, till by due course of law, we may be proved otherwise; reserving the right of every man's being held amenable to the proper authority for his own crimes and sins.
"Crowns won by blood, by blood must be maintained," and to avoid blood and strife, and more full satisfy the world, that our object is
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