Dan Jones.
"Haman " yn hongian ar ei grogbren ei hun! neu Daniel Jones (ddall) a'i lyfr yn profi gwirionedd Mormoniaeth!!
("Haman" hanging from his own gallows! or DanielJones [the blind] and his booklet proving the truth of Mormonism!!)
Merthyr Tydfil: Published and for sale by D. Jones. Printed by John Jones, Rhydybont, [1847].
8 pp. 16 cm.
On 7 July 1846, in the town of Llanybydder, Carmarthenshire, a blind man by the name of Daniel Jones was baptized by the Latter-day Saints. Witnesses, however, testified to having heard Jones admit that he had agreed to the baptism as a "prepared Judas, " who would then reject Mormonism because of the Mormons' inability to heal him of his blindness (see "Haman, " p. 6).
Following Jones's baptism, two Mormon elders--Captain Dan Jones and Abel Evans--anointed his eyes with oil and pronounced a blessing on him. Immediately afterwards, the blind man testified that during the blessing he had seen the candlestick on the table and firmly believed that he was on the verge of a complete restoration of his sight. After attending only two LDS meetings, however, he broke off his association with the Mormons and began to speak out against them, presumably according to his original plan.
A few months later Dan Jones and Thomas Jeremy met the blind man on their way back to Llanybydder. He did not answer when asked why he was persecuting the Mormons, whereupon Jones told him that if he continued his campaign against the Saints the hand of God would be on him and his fate would be hotter than that of Kora, Dathan, and Abiram, the three who were swallowed up in the earth after fighting against Moses.
In spite of the warning, the blind man was persuaded to publish a pamphlet about his experience and thus warn the Welsh of the Mormons' deceit. Twelve pages in length and entitled Y drych cywir, lle y gellir canfod yn eglur twyll y Mormoniaid, neu "Seintiau y Dyddiau Diweddaf; " mewn dull o holiadau ac atebion, rhwng Daniel a'i gyfaill (The correct image wherein the deception of the Mormons of the "Latter-day Saints" can be perceived clearly; in the form of questions and answers between Daniel and his friend), the pamphlet is the account of an interview conducted by the blind man's friend, the Reverend Josiah Thomas Jones, who was editor of Y Drysorfa Gynulleidfaol (The Congregational Treasury), a religious periodical. Also included is an anti-Mormon ballad that became popular in South Wales.
Captain Jones's reaction to the blind man's pamphlet was a pamphlet of his own-- "Haman" yn hongian ar ei grogbren ei hun!--describing the details of the baptism, the momentary restoration of the blind man's sight, and the testimony of various witnesses. "Haman" was published shortly before 25 April 1847, the date of Dan Jones's letter printed in the Millennial Star, in which he states that he has replied to the blind man's pamphlet. He also describes the fulfillment of his prophetic warning given a few months earlier:'
No sooner was the reply out of press, than on the old blind man it came, hot and heavy. He cried out that he was burning up alive; his friends poured cold water on him night and day in vain! He would rush out from them to a pool that was by, and there he would roll, and wallow, and yelp until he terrified the passers by. (15 July 1847, p. 219)
Jones adds that the blind man "died a monument of the displeasure of a just God for hypocrisy."
An epilogue to the whole affair was a second edition over a year later of the blind man's pamphlet. Strangely enough, those behind it claimed that Daniel the Blind was still alive. Thomas Jeremy states in a letter to Dan Jones: "I have been with Mr. James Evans, the Registrar, who recorded the death of Daniel Jones, and he is willing to give a copy to anyone who wants it, by paying two shillings and sixpence and the postage" (Prophwyd y Jubili, November 1848, p. 171).
UPB, USl
Flake no. 4474
The contents of this pamphlet appeared in the Prophwyd y Jubili for September 1846 (pp. 63-70) and October 1846 (pp. 95-101). Dan Jones mentions the pamphlet in a letter to Brigham Young dated 21 June 1847; but it is not mentioned at all in Prophwyd y Jubili or in Udgorn Seion or in any of the book lists. The entire 12 pages are doctrinal in nature and are a direct translation from segments of Charles Thompson's 1841 Evidences in proof of the Book of Mormon.
Contrary to custom, no printer or place of publication is given at the end. One is led to wonder if perhaps there was a printed wrapper, discarded when the pamphlet was bound.
Of the two extant copies of Profion, one is owned by the National Library of Wales, the other by a private collector in Provo, Utah.
WN
