--- title: Times and Seasons description: Issues of 1845 to 1846. authors: - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints editors: - Ebenezer Robinson - Don Carlos Smith - Smith, Joseph, Jr. - Taylor, John collections: - periodicals tags: - newspaper - times-and-seasons - nauvoo - nineteenth-century periodical: Times and Seasons volume: 6 number: 4 published: 1845-03-01 publisher: E. Robinson and D. C. Smith; later John Taylor publisher_place: Commerce and Nauvoo, Illinois language: en type: article reference: "“Laws of the Nez Perces,” *Times and Seasons* 6, no. 4 (March 1, 1845): 829–830." printed_title: Laws of the Nez Perces. source: url: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1845-03-01_6_4 transcription: Text from the Centerplace.org transcription (https://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v6n04.htm), with its page breaks; this Internet Archive scan is the reference copy (its OCR was used only as a witness for OCR repair) identifier: per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1845-03-01_6_4 start_page: 829 end_page: 830 curator_note: A Mormon newspaper published by the church in Nauvoo; included for historical study. Inclusion does not imply endorsement. rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1845 (Nauvoo, Illinois); published before 1931, so public domain in the United States source: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1845-03-01_6_4 publication_year: 1845 --- # Laws of the Nez Perces Article 1.-Whoever wilfully [willfully] takes life, shall be hung. Article 2.-Whoever burns a dwelling shall be hung. Article 3.-Whoever burns an outbuilding, shall be imprisoned six months, receive fifty lashes, and pay all damages. Article 4.-Whoever carelessly burns a house or any property, shall pay damages. Article 5.-If any one enter a dwelling without permission of the occupant, the chiefs shall punish him as they think proper. Public rooms are excepted. Article 6.-If any one steal he shall pay back two-fold; and if it be the value of a beaver skin, he shall pay back two-fold, and receive fifty lashes. Article 7.-If any one enter a field and injure the crops, or throw down the fence, so that cattle or horses go in and do damage, he shall pay all damages, and receive twenty-five lashes for every offence [offense]. Article 8.-Those only may keep dogs, who travel, or live among the game. If a dog kills a lamb, calf, or any domestic animal, the owner of the dog shall pay the damage, and kill the dog. Article 9.-If an Indian break these laws, he shall be punished by his chief. If a white man break them, he shall be reported to the agent, and punished at his instance. Article 10.-If an Indian raise a gun or other weapon against a white man, it shall be reported to the chiefs, and they shall punish him. If a white man do the same to an Indian, it shall be reported to the agent, and he shall punish or redress it. E. WHITE. Having quoted enough to show the saints that Government, money and missionaries, cannot perform what God has declared by the mouth of his prophets, he will do himself, let us proceed to bring together a few ideas relating to this great people and great work. For the prophet Isaiah says: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea." There is a mistaken notion got into the heads of the clergy of these last days; they suppose, or make believe that God wants them to do his business and have the government pay for it. It makes fat livings for priest and plenty of taxes for the people, but as to any signal good to the country, the past and the present know nothing of it, and we have strong doubts whether the future will. The United States' Government puts on a smiling face, and paints the sepulchres [sepulchers] of the dead, and for a pretence [pretense], boasts of charity and benevolence to the Indians; and hires missionaries, school masters, farmers, mechanics, and agents, and at the same time keeps shoving these Lords of the soil 'further west;' and now forsooth, as the case has ever been since, the 'old thirteen United States,' were strong enough to go alone, whenever the whites are numerous enough to take care of themselves a new Territory is ordained; and then 'obedience is better than sacrifice.' The new territories of Nebraska, and Oregon winds up the 'poor Indians' hope' of a glorious hereafter, so far as our Government is concerned in dealing out the destinies of man. The bounty to white families, before a foot of it is purchased, is six hundred and forty acres to each actual settling family! This has some resemblance of that auspicious day when satan took our Savior upon an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth, and the glory of them; all these will I give thee if thou wilt worship me. As to what the missionaries do for the Indians, they have their reward; they are hirelings:-All they have done, and all they will do, will be as a drop in the bucket. Jeremiah told the story when he exclaimed: 'Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was a stronger than he.' It will be seen that God, and not man, has the power to bring Jacob to his glory again. -The book of Mormon in 12th chapter of the 2d Book of Nephi says: "And now I would prophecy somewhat more concerning the Jews and the Gentiles. For after the book of which I have spoken shall come forth, and be written unto the Gentiles, and sealed up again unto the Lord, there shall be many which shall believe the words which are written; and they shall carry them forth unto the remnant of our seed. And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews. And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ which was had among their fathers.-And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God: and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes: and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and delightsome people." But we must close. The strange work of God has begun. The vision which Habakkuk wrote and made plain upon tables, or plates, so that he that run might read,-speaks at the appointed time; and though it tarried several thousand years, yet it is surely here and Israel can live by his faith. The 'remnants,' will know the voice of their shepherd; He that scattered will gather him and no thanks to the Gentiles. We glory in the prospect before us; and every honest man will do likewise. Only think: the mountains to be laid low; the valleys exalted; the seas rolled back to their place; Israel gathered from his long dispersion; Zion and Jerusalem rebuilt; the gentiles cured of their customs; satan bound for a thousand years, and Jesus Christ triumph over his foes! Who would not glory? The constitution guarantees the liberty of conscience, the freedom of speech and of the press, when they are not clandestinely used for murder and treason, to all denominations alike,-(in our opinion,) and we have made use of these rights in the foregoing remarks to open the eyes of men to the great events, which are transpiring and will transpire till 'Babylon sinks, like a millstone cast into the sea.' That we may not be accused of a want of charity, we will state, no doubt, the government officers do what they consider humane and praiseworthy in removing the Indians; and the christian clergy suppose they are rendering God a little service in preaching to and teaching the rude sons of the forest;-but from the results of their labors for a half century; and the sacred word of God, wherein it appears he has never given authority to any to act for him without direct revelation, it will be sufficient for our purpose, to say when the deliverer comes out of Zion, he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.