580
THE GREEN BAG
with their entire command of 7,600,000 angels, and cast them into hell, where there were al ready more than 10,000,000, who were in chaos and madness. This Kriste afterwards assembled a number of his men to adopt a code. At this meeting it is said there were produced "two thousand two hundred and thirty-one books and legendary tales of gods and saviors and great men," etc. This council was in session four years and seven months, "and at the end of that time there had been selected and combined much that was good and great, and worded so as to be well remem bered of mortals." Plaintiff's Exhibit A, p. 733> verse 55. The council, or "convention," as it would now be termed, having adopted a platform, — that is, agreed upon a Bible, — then proceeded to ballot for a god. "As yet no god had been selected by the council, and so they balloted in order to determine that matter." Plaintiff's Exhibit A, p. 733, verse 36. On that first ballot the record informs us there were thirty-seven candidates, naming them. This list includes the names of such wellknown personages as Vulcan, Jupiter, Minerva. Kriste stood twenty-second on this ballot. "Besides these, there were twenty-two other gods and goddesses who received a small number of votes each." Plaintiff's Exhibit A. P- 733, verse 37. The names of these can didates are not given, and therefore there is nothing in the record to support the conten tion of the counsel that the list includes the names of Bob Ingersoll and Phoebe Coussins. The record tells us that at the end of seven days' balloting "the number of gods was re duced to twenty-seven." And so the conven tion or council remained in session "for one year and five months, the balloting lasted, and at the end of that time the ballot rested nearly equal on five gods, namely, Jove, Kriste, Mars, Crite, and Siva"; and thus the balloting stood for seven weeks. At this point Hataus, who was the chief spokesman for Kriste, proposed to leave the matter of a selection to the angels. The convention, worn out with speech-making and balloting, readily accepted this plan. Kriste, who, under his former name of Looeamong, still retained command of the angels (for he had prudently declined to surrender one position until he had been elected to the other), together with his hosts, gave a sign in fire of a
cross smeared with blood; whereupon he'was declared elected, and on motion his selection was made unanimous. Plaintiff's Exhibit A, P- 733- We think this part of the exhibit ought to have been excluded from the jury, be cause it is an attack in a collateral way on the title of this man Looeamong, who is not a party to this proceeding, showing that he had not only packed the convention (council) with his friends, but had surrounded the place of meet ing with his hosts, "a thousand angels deep on every side"; thus violating that principle of our laws which forbids the use of troops at the polls. After thus endeavoring to demonstrate that Christianity had its origin in fraud, and thus to prepare the minds of its disciples for the new gospel, the Oahspe proceeds to unfold the beauties and the simplicity of the new faith. Passing over many interesting features contained in this exhibit, such as the birth of Confucius, the rise and fall of Mohammedan ism, the discovery of America by Columbus, etc., the record brings us to the discovery and settlement of the Land of Shalam, which forms the subject of this controversy. As already seen, the record shows that a tract of land in the country of Dona Ana was selected. This was bought and paid for by the appellant Howland, and conveyed in trust for the use of the society. Among other conditions attached to the trust, one was to the effect that "no meat nor fish nor butter nor eggs nor cheese, nor any animal food save honey, shall ever be used upon any part of the premises, except that milk may be given to children under five years old." Transcript of Record, p. 167. It is admitted that this, among many other conditions of the trust, was violated; so that on the thirteenth day of March, 1886, the trustees, among whom was the appellee, made a reconveyance of the property to the said Howland. There are many other interesting features presented by this record. Much proof was taken as to the conduct of the society or community which was incorporated under the name and style of the "First Church of the Tae." Record, p. 180. They organized also a general cooper ative system; established what they called the "Faithist Country Store" (Record', p. 87),— an institution, as we are advised, that did well as long as it kept on hand a good stock of faith.
