Chap. II. 
A EELIGIOUS CUEIOSITY. 
221 
establish principles with excessive severity render a com- 
promise with their opposite inevitable. 
Now that I am on the subject of religion, I will here 
mention a singular book which fell into my hands at 
Independence, and which I perused for want of another. 
It contains the confessions, religious opinions, and justifi- 
cations of Mr. Warder Cresson, of Philadelphia, who was 
first a Quaker, then a Shaker, then a Millerite, and lastly 
made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and there became a Jew. 
On his return his family took steps to get him declared 
insane and have him sent to an asylum : Mr. Cresson, 
however, instituted a desperate lawsuit, which he won. 
The characteristic part in this man's state of mind is 
the combination of the wildest fanaticism with the most 
prosaic realism. He insists on interpreting every sentence 
in the Old Testament according to the letter : the passage 
" Blessed are they who walk on the ways of Jerusalem " 
is, in his view, a command to him to leave his family and 
all his interests in Philadelphia, and to repair to Jerusalem 
by the shortest route. He advises every one to do the 
same, and, for the convenience of all who are willing to 
follow his advice, he gives the following information at the 
end of his book : " From Philadelphia to Jerusalem 21 days 
and a quarter : first class, 190 dollars 75 cents. ; second 
class, 135 dollars 50 cents." 1 In the year 1854, accord- 
ing to Mr. Cresson's interpretation, the kingdom of God 
was to commence, when every one judged worthy was to 
receive his portion of the inheritance at Jerusalem ; and 
the fear of receiving less than others appears to have been 
1 'The key of David. David is the 
true Messiah, &c. &c. Also Keasons 
for becoming a Jew ; with a Revision 
of the late Law-suit for Lunacy on that 
account. By Warder Cresson.' Phila- 
delphia, 5612. 
