Udgorn Seion, 1853 (Vol.
6):427-31
EXCERPTS
FROM “HISTORY OF HENRY THE EIGHTH.”
TO
THE PRIESTS, OR THE REVERENDS OF THE SURPLICE.
Gentlemen,—Inasmuch as
some of you are as if cacoethes scribendi,
in your
interference with that famous man, Joseph Smith, the
great
founder of Mormonism, before the
principles of which the errors of
late Christianity
vanish, like the morning frost on the hillside from
the fiery heat of
the sun; and all the wisdom of the theologians of
the world’s
colleges retreat to the distant shadows. From now on it
would be better for
you to focus a little attention on your beginning,
and remember the
place from which your Episcopal authority was
fashioned, together
with the establishment of the Head of your
endowed “holy
Catholic” church; and ponder a
little on the virtues of
the life of Henry
VIII, Defender and First Head of the “Church
of England,” not
the Church of Jesus Christ. It is certain that
March the
ninth, together with the twentieth, in the year 1534,
were blessed days
for the spiritual hirelings. In order to turn your
attention to the source
of your Religious Freedom, I shall by doing
you a favor, by
humbly calling your most serious attention to that
which must, of
course, be very dear to your hearts. And here it is,
rather briefly, from
the Account of the Life and Death of Henry
the Eighth. May you compare it
carefully with an Account of the
Life and Death
of Mr. Joseph Smith, who is called a Prophet of
the living God.
Then we shall see if you or the Mormons ought
to be ashamed for
claiming and cherishing the principles of the
founder of their
religion.
Henry VIII was
born in the year 1491, and he began to
reign in the year
1509. In the beginning of his reign he made
for himself bosom
friends of different persons, and he supposed
that they would be
most inclined to cooperate with him in his
treacherous purposes and
craftiness, whatever they might be.
He elevated
them quickly to high and honorable positions; and
after he had thus
elevated them, he lowered them like slaves,
to baseness,
scorn, and shame. The main aim of his campaign
always extended to
the utmost extremes, in political or religious
matters. Soon after
he began to reign, he contended with Luther,
whose doctrine he
supposed to be too democratic, and he became
a defender
of the Catholic faith. Soon after that, he quarreled
with the Pope, who
stood in the way of his marriage. He was
excommunicated twice. He
produced creeds and articles, and
made it a crime
not to swear to them. He produced others which
were completely
contradictory, and made it a crime not to swear
to them. To all
this, the Priests all around were extremely faithful
and diligent, and
those in opposition were burned with a slow
fire! He argued
with one scholar, and he burned him to convince
him. He burned a
young maiden for expressing her mind and her
opinion. He cut off
the head of bishop Fisher, and Sir Thomas
More, for
refusing the succession of the crown, and called his own
children by Catherine
bastards!! He robbed the churches, and he
gave convent money
to a little old woman for pudding. He burned
a comely and
wise lady, for expressing an opinion contrary to
transubstantiation! His
ungoverned carnality, and his fickle and
impulsive affection
drove him to the most wanton, unfeeling, and
shameful extremes. He
first married his sister-in-law, Catherine
of Aragon, the
widow of his brother Arthur. And because two of
her children died
young, he divorced her. He married her maid
of honor, Anne Boleyn,
who was in his court for seven years, and
he made the
senate, and the priests proclaim that he had done
well. After that, he cut off her
head, and four others to keep her
company, for not
bearing false witness against her. Anne’s body
was thrown into
an old elm chest, and she was buried in it. He
also decided to count
Elizabeth, his daughter by Anne Boleyn, a
bastard, the same as
he had done with Catherine’s children! The
day after queen
Anne’s head was cut off, he married his third
wife, Jane
Seymour, and parliament and the priests made it a
transgression to say that
that was not proper. Next, he proposed
that Francis the
1st, bring two princesses to him, and several other
ladies across from France, so that
he could choose a fourth wife
from among them.
Francis considered it too much of a disgrace
and an insult to
the French ladies to do that: thus Henry fell in love
with the portrait
of a German lady, Anne of Cleves, painted by
Hans Holbein, and he married her without ever seeing her. When
she was brought
over, Henry went enthusiastically to Rochester
to see her, but
as soon as he understood that she understood no
language but German,
and because that did not please him, he
swore to them that
they had brought him a Flanders
mare.
After
some time, the
church assembly agreed, at Henry’s request, to
annul the marriage,
and they proclaimed Henry and Anne free to
marry whomever they
wished. Henry called her his adopted sister,
and he gave four
thousand pounds a year for her upkeep. And
as he had
destroyed Cardinal Wolsey, when he grew tired of his
previous wife, thus
also, he cut off the head of Thomas Cromwell,
the Earl of
Essex, when he was sick of this one. Soon after that,
he married the
fifth wife, Kathryn Howard. He delighted so much
in her beauty,
that he caused the bishops to compose forms of
gratitude to God, for the
happy choice he had made, and to read
them with gravity
in the churches. And after a few months she
was condemned—her
head was cut off and that of another lady,
together with her
grandmother, uncles, aunts, cousins, about
twelve in number.
Then, he married his sixth wife, by the name
of Katherine
Parr; she, poor thing, did not have much peace and
quiet. A large
number were burned when she was newly wed.
After
accomplishing all these things, and a thousand others,
Henry died, of
a festering ulcer on his leg, Jan. 28, 1547, fifty seven
years old, after
reigning thirty-seven years and nine months.
“His pride and his vanity governed him. He was arrogant, and
did not tolerate
being instructed: contradicted or assisted: he was
rash, oppressive,
profligate, and maliciously vengeful; a stranger
to compassion
and pity, and he fed his anger and his fury at
the expense of
justice and humanity, without experiencing any
guilt or grief
afterwards. He was so cruel and tyrannical, that
he appeared to
delight in the blood of his subjects. Seventy-two
thousand men were put
to death during his reign, besides those
who were tortured
and burned, which is close to two thousand
each year!!” Those
who ascribe freedom to such a lascivious and
oppressive scoundrel are
so blind! That miserable blackguard must
be so brazen,
impudent, and without conscience, that who is not
ashamed to claim any
relation, or connection with such a cruel
and corrupt
tyrant! Inasmuch as Henry left in his will six hundred
pounds to the
Priests, for praying his soul out of purgatory, they
no doubt have
much more than a full task ahead of them, even if
they work very
hard at it. It will be time enough for them to begin
deriding and trying to
disgrace the Prophet Joseph Smith, or any
other of the
authorized servants of God, after they have gotten
Henry the
Eighth, father of their freedom, out of purgatory.
Have
at it,
go forward bravely,
There is an abundance here—you will get strong;
But seek
discretion, don’t be foolish,
Lest
you go there after him.
“There is no
eternal life left in a murderer.”
I know well of
many priests who are very good men, who
also wish for the
good of others, and who have a secret wish for
the truth. To
such I say from my heart, I know you well; you,
with whom I had
the honor of associating in an enjoyable and
edifying manner in
days gone by. Gentlemen, O repent with your
whole heart, yes, O
free yourselves from the yoke of captivity,
and join with the
Latter-day Saints,—be ready to sacrifice all
earthly pleasures, in
order to take hold of eternal life,—come and
be baptized
every one of you for the remission of sins, and you
shall obtain rest
for your souls. Come now, and do not delay, for
it is short work
that God will do on the earth. I repeat, join with
the Saints, for
these are the only men on the earth who have the
Priesthood
of God among
them. It was conveyed to this earth to
the Prophet Joseph Smith, and
through him to us: I know that. Put
it to the test
yourselves, and you will receive knowledge of that for
yourselves. Fare you well.
I am, lovingly
as always, your friend,
Llanelli. Dewi Elfed.
