spend forty days in a dark hole, and eat nothing but butter and honey,
and drink milk. On the 29th he was publicly baptised in the river Aire,
above Apperley Bridge, by John Brunton, of Bradford, in the presence of
some thirty thousand spectators.
"Both sides of the river were lined with persons of various ages and
denominations. The Spirit had given John a sign--that on his entering
the water the sun should shine; for during the two preceding days the
weather was extremely cold, with severe frost accompanied with snow. The
Sunday forenoon on which the ceremony was to take place continued very
wet till noon, and when Wroe arrived at the brink of the river, the sun
was still veiled. He walked down the river, intending to delay till the
clouds broke; but the people, thinking that he was afraid of the cold
water, roared at him, 'he dussn't go in! He's runnin' away!' They were
all disposed to view the fun, and they endeavoured to stop Wroe's
further progress. Some friends followed him, urging him not to
disappoint the crowd, and he found that he had better put a bold face on
it, and go in. The sun just then shone forth with a degree of warmth
most unusual at that season of the year. The musicians and singers began
to play and sing, and he descended into the water. But when preparing to
do so, a cry was raised by the multitude, 'Drown him!' The same words
were uttered by some young men who had placed themselves on the branches
of a tree adjacent to the river. John commanded them, in the name of the
Lord, to come down. One of them, named Hudson, who was formerly John's
apprentice, cursed him. Immediately that part of the bank on which the
tree grew gave way, and all were precipitated into the river. None of
them were drowned, but some had five or six miles to travel home in
their wet clothes; and Hudson, who had cursed John, died within a few
days after. When John came out of the water the musicians and singers
again performed."
The mob then set on Wroe with sticks, pelted him with mud, and he and
his band of Believers were obliged to beat a precipitate retreat.
On April 17th, in the same year, he was _publicly circumcised_. This
function was introduced and announced by the band of singers of
Ashton-under-Line marching in procession through the village, playing
and singing the whole way. In the evening the highly unedifying
performance was performed in the meeting-house of the Friends, "in the
presence of the congregation."
On August 30th he was again baptised in the river Medlock, near Park
Bridge, and on coming out of the river he stood with one foot in the
water, the other on the land, raised his hands to heaven, and swore that
there should be no more time--in imitation of the angel described in
Revelation (x., 5, 6).
He seems now to have enjoined circumcision on all male adherents, and
reports circulated that several children had died in consequence. "But,"
says the Autobiography, "these reports, with one exception, were
entirely false." The child who died was the son of Robert Grimshaw, of
Hurst Brook, near Ashton. The poor child died six days after the
operation. An inquest was held by the coroner, and a verdict of
manslaughter was returned against Henry Lees, the operator. He was,
however, acquitted at the Assizes, as the medical evidence was not
conclusive that the wound occasioned by circumcision had caused the
child's death.
On the 11th September Wroe received a call to wander in the fields for
fourteen days, and live on nuts, wheat, blackberries, hips, herbs, and
water. But these, as may well be believed, did not satisfy his hunger.
At the end of this time, which he spent in wandering to Huddersfield and
Oakenshaw, he told his wife "he had a command from God that she should
destroy all pictures, portraits, or likenesses of anything he had
created or caused to grow, whether of iron, stone, wood, cloth, or
paper, and everything of a black colour that could be found within the
house." Which command she, like a dutiful but foolish wife, obeyed.
He then proceeded to Bradford, and on Sunday the 26th addressed a large
congregation which crowded into the chapel to hear him. It ended in a
riot. "John left the room, accompanied by Elizabeth Elsworth and Mary
Brear, with whom he walked about two hundred yards, when one of the
females received a blow and was pushed aside. John was also forced along
for some distance. However, they reached the New Inn, where there were
two horses in readiness for John and his friend. Many of the people were
about to enter, but were prevented by the landlord. Some persons already
in the house said the two females were 'John's women,' and that he was
picking poor people's pockets. The horses being got ready, the people in
the house rushed out, crying to their persecuting companions, 'Now,
lads, he's going!' on which they closed the yard gate. John, however,
escaped by another passage. Having succeeded in getting on the road
leading to Great Horton, a cry was raised, 'Kill him! kill him!' He was
then pursued by the mob, amounting to thousands, some crying out,
'That's the devil who says he's been living on hips and haws, wheat and
nuts, for fourteen days!' He was surrounded, and prevented from
proceeding. By being preceded by Joseph Brear, he soon after succeeded
in clearing his way, and proceeding a little further. But he was
stopped, the mob pulling his horse and tearing his clothes. Joseph again
succeeded in clearing the way a little, but was presently knocked off
his horse by a stone; when remounted, they proceeded a short distance.
John then turned and said something to the people. John and his horse
were then pulled down and struck; the bridle and girth were broken in
pieces. He at length succeeded in getting on the causeway, and resumed
his journey on foot; stones and other missiles were showered against him
in all directions. Some of his companions entertained fears that he
never would reach Horton with life."
The bursting of a storm of rain fortunately dispersed the mob, and the
Prophet escaped. "On arriving at Moses Elsworth's nearly his whole body
was black; he had also one of his eyes much discoloured, and received a
cut on his face from a stone." On the following day he obtained
warrants against nineteen of the mob, who appeared before the
magistrate, were bound over to keep the peace for twelve months, and had
to pay all expenses.
Prophet Wroe now deemed it expedient to visit London. Accordingly he had
a revelation in August, 1825: "Go thou to Tozer, and stand before him,
and prophesy, with thy rod in thy hand, and say, 'Thus saith the Lord,
the Lord thy God has showed thee many things; and for this end wast thou
born. The seal thou hast received thou shalt be able to retain; but thy
body shall go to the dust, and thou shalt put on incorruption at the
first resurrection.... Thou shalt be a witness for Joanna, and thou
shalt come with her, and at that day thou shalt be great unto the ends
of the earth."
On the 28th August, John Wroe, with his faithful ally, William Lees,
visited the chapel of Mr. Lindsay, a prophet of the congregation of
Joanna Southcott in London. Lindsay received them cordially, and
announced to his congregation that "Brother Wroe" was to have full
liberty to use the chapel morning and afternoon.
Now Tozer was the right-hand man of Lindsay--his faithful witness, who
wrote down the oracles that dropped from his lips. He was, in fact, to
Lindsay what William Lees was to John Wroe. It was to this Tozer that
Wroe bore the message given above, which was a speech wrapped up in the
most flattering and complimentary language, but a snub for all that. Mr.
Tozer was wont to designate himself, "The man clothed in linen, with the
writer's inkhorn," and believed himself, or endeavoured to induce others
to believe, that he was the person spoken of by the Prophet Ezekiel
(ix., 2); and when Mr. Lees appeared on the scene with a white surplice
on and an ink-bottle at his left side it was a distinct throwing down of
the gauntlet, and was likely to lead to unpleasant results. Foreseeing
which, Wroe wrestled in prayer before the congregation that "Satan might
be rebuked within _them_ walls that day." Then Wroe stood up and said
with a loud voice, "Thus saith the Lord, There are in this place those
whose places shall be taken by others who have mocked and despised them.
None shall enter but such as are circumcised or married." Lindsay turned
red, trembled, and knocked over his inkstand. Tozer got up and said,
"Friends, what must be my feelings at this time? This day of the month,
this day of the week, eleven years ago, I addressed 1500 people in this
city, and since that time the visitation has been trodden under foot.
Eleven days were spoken of by the Woman--take them to mean years--(see
the book, and find it). God grant that this may be the beginning of the
Gathering." The people answered "Amen." It is evident he was overawed by
Wroe and Lee in his white surplice and ink-pot.
In the afternoon Wroe was again at the chapel, and again hinted that
there was now a new outpouring upon himself, and that the old prophets
were to yield to him. "Thus saith the Lord, Many in this place that are
first shall be last." Tozer and Lindsay looked uneasy. "If you will sign
for Satan's destruction, let a man be deputed to Ashton on the 17th of
next month. Many dreams have been interpreted there; let the same be
sent to those who profess to be visited, and see who will get an answer
in truth."
Lindsay walked backward and forward, in and out of the room, whilst John
Wroe spoke, but said nothing. At the conclusion of Wroe's speech,
Lindsay, who was greatly agitated, said, "I have received an order from
above to go and see the Living Skeleton now exhibiting in Pall Mall, at
three o'clock to-morrow, and John, with others, must go with me. And
let so-and-so take his clarionette and play a tune before the skeleton,
but for what purpose I know not."
John Wroe answered--"If the Lord hath commanded me to go, I will go; if
not, I cannot go."
This Living Skeleton was Claude Ambroise Seurat, born in 1797, who was
exhibited in London in 1825. His flesh had wasted completely away, and
when he had attained his full height he presented the extraordinary
spectacle of a skeleton covered with skin, alive and able to move and
converse. A portion of Mr. Hones' description of him must be quoted
here:--"He seemed another 'Lazarus come forth,' without his
grave-clothes, and for a moment I was too consternated to observe more
than his general appearance. My eye then first caught the arm as the
most remarkable limb; from the shoulder to the elbow it is like an ivory
German flute, somewhat deepened in colour by age; it is not larger, and
the skin is of that hue, and not having a trace of muscle, it is as
perfect a cylinder as a writing-rule. Amazed by the wasted limbs, I was
still more amazed by the extraordinary depression of the chest. Its
indentation is similar to that which an over-careful mother makes in the
pillowed surface of an infant's bed for its repose. Nature has here
inverted her own order, and turned the convex inwards, while nobler
organs, obedient to her will, maintain life by the gentle exercise of
their wonted functions in a lower region. If the integument of the
bowels can be called flesh, it is the only flesh on the body; for it
seems to have wholly shrunk from the limbs, and where the muscles that
have not wholly disappeared remain, they are also shrunk."
That this emaciated object, whose appearance in London created a
sensation, should have been supposed by superstitious people, eagerly
looking out for portents and realisations of wild prophecies, to be
sent into the world with some peculiar significance, is not to be
wondered at.
Lindsay seems to have resolved to put Wroe's apostleship to the proof by
a visit to the extraordinary phenomenon, then exhibiting in the Chinese
Pavilion, in Pall Mall. The Living Skeleton was to have decided between
them, and confounded him who was the false prophet and impostor.
But Wroe would not go through this ordeal: he slunk away, conscious,
perhaps, that he was an impostor, and with superstitious fear of the
Walking Skeleton. He escaped to Greenwich, where he pretended to be ill.
Lindsay, finding Wroe was not at the exhibition, pursued him to
Greenwich, and an angry meeting ensued.
Next Sunday, Wroe again invaded the chapel of Lindsay, who began to
prophesy against him, saying, "I say, in the name of the Lord, you shall
shave!" Then John Wroe took the prophetic rod, and thrusting it towards
Lindsay, thundered forth, "Dost thou come to defy Israel? The Lord
rebuke thee, Satan!"
Lindsay was silent, but presently tried to create a diversion by setting
Wroe and his follower Lees at variance, for he pointed to the latter and
said, "Thus saith the Lord, This man shall shave, and shall prophesy
against his master." "When will he shave off his beard?" asked Wroe
indignantly. "When thine is plucked up by the roots," answered Lindsay.
The scene was becoming undignified. The prophets seemed to be aware of
it, and that it was necessary to patch the matter up; so Lindsay said,
"You see the spirits seem to differ a little; it is we who do not
understand how they work and move."
By degrees Wroe succeeded in obtaining recognition as the Prophet from
the majority of Joanna Southcott's congregations. The faithful men wore
long beards, "the city mark," as it was called, and white linen
vestments at the religious meetings in their tabernacles.
George Turner had succeeded Joanna Southcott; he was succeeded by
William Shaw, and then Wroe received general acknowledgment. He
announced that his mission would last forty years, and that at the
expiration of this period Shiloh would come.
As soon as he was acknowledged as Prophet, he had a power in his hands
which he did not fail to exercise. In 1830 he announced that he had
received orders from heaven that seven virgins should be delivered to
him to comfort and cherish him, and three of his believers at once gave
up to him their daughters. With these poor girls and some married women
Wroe wandered from place to place. They were with him in Kent, in
Devonshire, in Lancashire, and Yorkshire--wherever Wroe pretended that
he was called. The matter became scandalous, and the confidence of
several of the members of the community was shaken. The girls were
questioned, and made shocking disclosures. Two of the Society, named
Masterman and Walker, rose in the congregation at Ashton, on February
27th, 1831, and charged him with profligacy. Wroe could not stand
against the storm; he escaped through a trap-door in the orchestra,
amidst cat-calls, jeers, and howls. He remained secreted in Ashton a few
days, and then left the place for ever.
The confidence of his faithful disciple Lees was somewhat dashed shortly
before this by an exposure of the Prophet at Manchester. Lees had a
friend at Manchester with whom he did business. Wroe used to spend much
of his time in Lees' house. The Prophet announced to Lees that he was
called by the Spirit on a mission, but that he had no money. Lees called
a covenant meeting, and the sum of eighty pounds was raised, and placed
at the disposal of the Prophet, who departed with it. Now it happened
that Lees' friend did business at a certain public-house in Manchester,
and having noticed Wroe there, and being shortly after at Ashton, he
asked Lees where the Prophet was. Lees told him that he had gone on a
mission. His friend laughed, and said, "Come with me and you shall see
him."
With difficulty he persuaded Lees to get into a cab with him and drive
to Manchester to the public-house. The two men went in, opened the door
into a back parlour, and found the Prophet sitting by the fire, in his
low-crowned brown hat and long coat, between two low women, drinking hot
whiskey and water with them. The landlord informed them that Wroe had
been there several days. Lees went home, burned his white robe,
destroyed all his books and tracts belonging to the Society, shaved off
his beard, and next Sunday was in the parish church, which he had been
in the habit of attending before he fell under the influence of Wroe.
But his humiliation did not end here. His daughter gave promise of
becoming a mother by Wroe. In vain did the Prophet assure him that the
child that would be born was the promised Shiloh. It turned out to be a
girl. Lees put Wroe out of his doors.
It was soon after this that the Prophet was met by Masterman and Walker,
and the scandal of the virgins was exposed.
Lees, hearing that Wroe was coming to Ashton, exasperated at the
dishonour of his daughter and the dupe that had been made of himself,
stationed himself behind a chimney and fired a gun at Wroe. The ball
whizzed past his hat, and fortunately did him no injury. But the rumour
of these scandals and the death of a child named Wood whom he had
circumcised, caused a riot at Bradford when he visited it shortly after.
The mob broke into the tabernacle, tore up the benches, smashed the
windows, and would have maltreated Wroe if they could have caught him;
but the wary Prophet made his escape in time.
One day in July he had a vocation to go on a mission. He was then living
at Pudsey. His followers raised a handsome sum to defray his expenses,
and he departed. After he had gone, it was observed that his wife passed
a certain public-house in the neighbourhood every day. This was unusual,
and it was agreed to watch her. After John Wroe had been gone fourteen
days, she was followed at a distance. She went down a lane to a
corn-field and made a signal, whereupon Wroe was observed to creep out
of the standing corn. His wife opened her basket and produced a dish of
new potatoes and a mutton-chop, and a four-ounce bottle of wine. The
Prophet drew a horse-rug from out the corn, and prepared to seat himself
on it and enjoy his dinner, when the spies rushed upon him, carried him
in triumph into Pudsey, set him on a donkey, rode him through the town,
then tied a rope round his body, threw him into a horse-pond, pulled him
out, and threw him in again and again; till the women, seeing him nearly
exhausted, interfered and begged that he might be spared.
When he was living at Bowling he had a trance which lasted ten or twelve
days. He lay apparently insensible on a stump bedstead, and people came
from far and wide to see him. At the foot of the bed was a basket in
which the visitors deposited silver and copper; and all who came were
expected to give a trifle. There was a fixed hour at which the cottage
door was opened and closed, and when it was closed the key was turned in
the lock, and no one was admitted on any excuse.
It unfortunately happened that one night Mrs. Wroe went out for some
purpose or other, and left the door unfastened behind her, intending to
return in a minute. A man named Holt and his son lived close by. As
they saw Mrs. Wroe go out, they and a neighbour who was with them
thought the opportunity was not to be neglected, and opened the door of
Wroe's house and peeped cautiously in. To their surprise John was
sitting very comfortably in the ingle-nook, eating beef-steak, pickled
cabbage, and oat-cake.[2] Next day he was laid on his bed as usual in a
trance, and so he continued for three or more days. One of the visitors
wished to thrust a needle under Wroe's nail, to prove if he were
perfectly sensible, but his wife would not permit it.
Another of his devices for raising money was not more honest. He
announced that the Lord had declared to him that every member of the
Society of the house of Israel was to wear a gold ring of the value of
£1 3s. 6d., which was to be procured from the Prophet, and it was to be
a sign and a seal to them that they were the elect. This was in 1856,
and all the members were supplied with gold rings by 1857. At this time
the number of the members was thought to be about 6000, of whom 700 were
in Ireland.
Unfortunately for the credit of the Prophet, towards the end of 1856 one
of the members, who had not wholly lost his common-sense, thought it
advisable to have his gold ring tested with nitric acid, and the
startling discovery was made that the rings were not of gold at all, not
worth a florin each. Wroe threw the blame on the goldsmith who had
provided him with them, and ordered that no more should be issued.
About 1854 John Wroe said he had a command from the Lord to build a
mansion. The treasury of the "House of Israel" was empty; so the pillars
of the Church met, and on consultation agreed to let Wroe have the
Flying Roll money. This was a fund to which, after the death of Joanna
Southcott, all sealed members paid according to their income or ability.
It was a sacred fund retained by the Society for the purpose of
publishing the Eternal Gospel and sending it to all parts of the world,
proclaiming the millennium, the outpouring of the Spirit, and the Great
Desolation. This eternal Gospel was to be published forty years after
the death of Joanna.[3] The sum amounted to a large amount--over two
thousand pounds.
Wroe bought a piece of land on a height near Wakefield, and on this
began to build. The house, said Wroe, was to be dedicated to the Lord,
and was to belong to the members of the "House of Israel" gathered out
of all nations. No architect was to be employed. It was to be built as
the Spirit directed.
Subscription-books were issued to all the sanctuaries. Every member's
contribution was to be entered separately, and no man was to know what
his neighbour gave. The poorest workman was to contribute not less than
10 per cent, of his earnings.[4] All extra gifts were to be sent to John
Wroe at Wrenthorpe, near Wakefield, and those who did not wish to pay to
the local treasurers might send their subscriptions direct to the
Prophet.
During 1855 and 1856 post-office orders poured in from all parts, and
it was said in Wakefield at the time that Wroe had more orders cashed
than all the tradesmen of the town put together.
The female members of the Society were to furnish the mansion. They were
not to tell their husbands how much they gave; and many put down their
names for sums which they really could not pay, and had to sell goods
and borrow cash to keep up their payments to the end of 1856.[5]
The land was bought of Mr. William Ramsden, farmer, of Wrenthorpe, and
was conveyed by Mr. Haigh, solicitor, of Horbury, to John Wroe, and not
to the Society. A farm of upwards of a hundred acres was bought in
addition, and was conveyed to himself.
The rumour of this produced some uneasiness among the members, and
twenty of them waited on the Prophet to question him about the
conveyance. He spoke them fair, assured them that the mansion and land
would go to the Society, and in their presence drew up a will wherein he
devised the whole estate to the Society. Messrs. Snell, Currey, Gill,
and Farren, leading members and pillars of the Church, witnessed it, and
departed in satisfaction to their homes. A fortnight after, Wroe sent
for a solicitor of Wakefield, and privately drew up a new will,
cancelling the old one, and in this latter will he devised the mansion
and ninety-eight acres of land to his grandson, James Wroe; and to his
daughters, Susanna and Sarah, property producing about £50 per annum to
each; and to his only son Joseph property of the value of £60 per annum.
The mansion was designed somewhat in the style of Melbourne Town Hall.
It cost upwards of £2000, but need not have cost half as much. When Wroe
saw how the money poured in, he had the north-east wing taken
completely down, and enlarged the building. Much of the work was done
two or three times over. The glazier (Mr. Slater) had a contract to do
all the glazing, and as soon as his contract was finished, Wroe
contracted with Mr. Slater to take every square of glass out again, and
put good plate-glass into the windows instead.
Wroe found he could not get on without an architect, and therefore
employed Mr. Thorpe, of Wakefield, and worried him out of all endurance.
Wroe visited Australia in 1850, 1854, 1859, and 1862. He was in America
in 1840, 1848, 1853, and 1859. His wife died May 16th, 1853, aged
seventy-four years, a fortnight after he left for America. He is said to
have treated her badly. On his travels he assumed different names;
sometimes he called himself Johanan Asrael, sometimes Yokkow or
Yockaman.