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A protection was provided for all those who subscribed their names as volunteers, for the destruction of Satan’s kingdom. To every subscriber a folded paper was delivered, endorsed with his name, and secured with the impression of Joanna’s seal in red wax: this powerful talisman consisted of a circle enclosing the two letters J. C., with a star above and below, and the following words, “The sealed of the Lord, the Elect, Precious, Man’s Redemption, to inherit the tree of life, to be made heirs of God and joint-heirs of Jesus Christ.” The whole was authenticated by the signature of the prophetess in her illegible characters, and the person thus provided was said to be sealed. Conformably, however, to the 7th chapter of the Revelations, the number of those highly protected persons was not to exceed 144,000.

The great object of her mission was to bring forth a son, the Shiloh, promised to be born of a virgin: and this event had been looked forward to by her followers with unbounded enthusiasm and credulity. Disappointment, more than once, appeared inevitable; the period, however, at last was said to draw nigh, she being sixty-four years of age. As she laboured under more than the usual indisposition incidental to pregnancy, and it was deemed necessary to satisfy worldly doubts, medical men were called in, to give a professional opinion, as to the fact, from a consideration of all the symptoms, and without reference to miraculous agency. Some asserted their belief that she was pregnant; others disbelieved and ridiculed the idea.