The Mormon Menace | Page 7

they will be right. The motive is three-ply -
made up of a purpose to withstand the Mormon Church as a political
force, limit its spread as a so-called religion, and buckler the mothers
and daughters and sisters of the country against an enemy whose
advances are aimed peculiarly at them. The morals of a people are in
the custody of its women; and, against Mormonism - that sleepless
menace to American morality - these confessions of Lee the Danite are

set in types to become a weapon in their hands. It was the womanhood
of the nation that compelled the present Senate investigation of Smoot
and what Mormon influences and conspiracies produced him as their
representative; and it is for a defense of womanhood and its purity that
this book is made. The battle will not be wholly won with Smoot's
eviction from his Senate seat; indeed, the going of Smoot will be only
an incident. The war should continue until all of Mormonism and what
it stands for is destroyed; for then, and not before, may wifehood or
womanhood write itself safe between the oceans. Congress must not
alone cleanse itself of Smoot; it must go forward to methods that shall
save the politics of the country from a least of Mormon interference,
and the aroused womanhood of the land should compel Congress to
this work. He who would hold his house above his head must mind
repairs, and the word is quite as true when spoken of a country.
Alfred Henry Lewis. New York City,
December 15, 1904.

THE MORMON MENACE OR, THE CONFESSIONS OF JOHN
DOYLE LEE
CHAPTER I
- THE STORMY YOUTH OF LEE
In justice to myself, my numerous family, and the public in general, I
consider it my duty to write a history of my life. I shall content myself
with giving facts, and let the readers draw their own conclusion
therefrom. By the world at large I am called a criminal, and have been
sentenced to be shot for deeds committed by myself and others nearly
twenty years ago. I have acted my religion, nothing more. I have
obeyed the orders of the Church. I have acted as I was commanded to
do by my superiors. My sins, if any, are the result of doing what I was
commanded to do by those who were my superiors in authority in the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My birthday was the 6th day of September, A.D. 1812. I was born in
the town of Kaskaskia, Randolph County, Illinois. My father, Ralph
Lee, was born in the State of Virginia. He was of the family of Lees of
Revolutionary fame. He served his time as an apprentice and learned
the carpenter's trade in the city of Baltimore. My mother was born in
Nashville, Tennessee. She was the daughter of John Doyle, who for
many years held the position of Indian Agent over the roving tribes of
Indians in southeastern Illinois. He served in the War of the Revolution,
and was wounded in one of the many battles in which he took part with
the sons of liberty against the English oppressors.
At the time of my birth my father was considered one of the leading
men of that section of country; he was a master workman, sober and
attentive to business, prompt and punctual to his engagements. He
contracted largely and carried on a heavy business; he erected a
magnificent mansion, for that age and country, on his land adjoining
the town of Kaskaskia.
This tract of land was the property of my mother when she married my
father. My grandfather Doyle was a wealthy man. He died in 1809 at
Kaskaskia, Illinois, and left his whole fortune to my mother and her
sister Charlotte, by will. They being his only children, he divided the
property equally between them.
My father and mother were both Catholics, were raised in that faith; I
was christened in that Church. When about one year old, my mother
being sick, I was sent to a French nurse, a negro woman. At this time
my sister Eliza was eleven years old, but young as she was she had to
care for my mother and do all the work of the household. To add to the
misfortune, my father began to drink heavily and was soon very
dissipated; drinking and gambling were his daily occupation. The
interest and care of his family were no longer a duty with him; he was
seldom present to cheer and comfort his lonely, afflicted wife.
The house was one mile from town, and we had no neighbors nearer
than that. The neglect and indifference on the part of my father towards
my afflicted mother served to increase her anguish and sorrow, until
death