CHAPTER XXIII.
THE DAYS OF THE JUDGES—THEIR NAMES AND REIGNS—THE HERESY OF NEHOR—HE SLAYS GIDEON AND IS EXECUTED—AMLICI'S REBELLION—THE BATTLE OF AMNIHU—THE CONFLICT AT THE CROSSING OF THE SIDON—A THIRD BATTLE.
(ALMA CHAP. 1 TO 3.)
FOR a period of about one hundred and twenty years succeeding the death of king Mosiah, the Nephite commonwealth was governed by judges. These were chosen by the united voice of the people, as provided in the constitution framed under Divine inspiration by the last king, and acknowledged as the supreme law of the nation, through its unanimous acceptance as such, by the entire people. At the end of this period the republic was overthrown through the great wickedness of all classes of the community, and the people divided themselves into numerous independent tribes.
It is not actually certain that the Book of Mormon gives us the names of all the Nephite chief judges. In the earlier portion of the annals of these times the order of succession is plainly stated, but in the record of later years the name of the judge is sometimes only mentioned incidentally in the historic narrative. It is therefore beyond our power to determine if there were, or were not, others whose names have been omitted by the sacred historians. The judges mentioned by name or description are twelve in number. Of these, five, Pahoran II., Cezoram, Cezoram's son (whose name is not given), Seezoram and Lachoneus II., were assassinated; one, Pacumeni, was slain in battle with the Lamanites; two, Alma and Nephi, were translated or taken by the Lord; three, Nephihah, Pahoran I., and Helaman, died a natural death, whilst of the manner of the decease of one, Lachoneus I., we have no record. They judged the Nephites in the following order: 1 Alma (the younger), from B. C. 91 to B. C. 83; 2 Nephihah, from B. C. 83 to B. C. 68; 3 Pahoran I., from B. C. 68 to B. C. 53; 4 Pahoran II., from B. C. 52 to B. C. 52; 5 Pacumeni, from B. C. 52 to B. C. 51; 6 Helaman (the younger), from B. C. 50 to B. C. 39; 7 Nephi, from B. C. 39 to B. C. 30; 8 Cezoram, from B. C. 30 to B. C. 26; 9 Cezoram's son, from B. C. 26 to B. C. 26; 10 Seezoram, B. C. — to B. C. 23, 11 Lachoneus I., from — to —; 12 Lachoneus II., from — to A. C. 30.
It is possible that some unnamed judge may have ruled the Nephites for a short time after the murder of Cezoram's son, and before Seezoram was chosen, and still more probable that one or more rulers presided over the destinies of the nation between the death of Seezoram and the election of Lachoneus I., as there was a space of fifty-three years between the murder of Seezoram and that of Lachoneus II., who succeeded his father. Alma, the son of Alma, was the first chief judge of the Nephite republic, having been called to that high position before the death of king Mosiah.
It was the first year of Alma's reign. Could our readers have taken a glimpse at the fair capital of the Nephites at that time (B. C. 91), already rich in the awards of human industry, combined with the lavish productions of nature in that much favored land, they might have noticed in the principal street, a portly, handsome man, manifesting in his carriage the evidence of great bodily strength, combined with vanity, self-sufficiency and subtlety. They might have observed that his raiment was made of the finest fabrics that the looms of Zarahemla could produce, lavishly embroidered and ornamented with labors of the cunning workman in silk, in feathers and the precious metals, whilst at his side hung a richly decorated sword. This man was no king, no governor, no general of the armies of Israel; he was simply Nehor, the successful religious charlatan of the hour, to whom the unstable listened and the weak-minded flocked. His teachings had at any rate the interest of novelty to the Nephites, yet some of his theories were older than Idumea. They had been rejected in the counsels of heaven before Lucifer, the son of the morning, fell. He would save all men in their sins and with their sins; he abolished hell, established a paid order of priests, and taught doctrines so liberal that every man could be a member of his church and yet continue to gratify every vice his nature inclined to. For this liberality of doctrine, Nehor expected in return liberality of support for himself and assistants, in which anticipation he was not disappointed. Many adopted his heresies; his success fired his zeal and developed his vanity. He was so used to the sycophancy of his converts that he was restive under contradiction, and when Gideon, the aged patriot, and teacher in the true church, one day met him in the streets of Zarahemla and upbraided him for his wicked course, neither respecting his great age nor his many virtues, Nehor drew his sword and smote him till he died. For this wilful and unprovoked crime, the murderer was tried, convicted, and afterward executed. His execution took place on the hill Manti, and, from the way in which his death is spoken of, we imagine that he was hanged.