{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_49375/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_49375","id":"gutenberg_49375","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49375","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Doctrines","Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines","Lost tribes of Israel"],"text":"ARE WE OF ISRAEL?\n\nBY ELDER GEORGE REYNOLDS\n\n\"Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the world with\nfruit.\"--_Isaiah_.\n\nSECOND EDITION.\n\nGEO. Q. CANNON & SONS CO. PRINTERS, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, 1895.\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nIntroductory--The promises of God to Abraham and his Posterity--The\nseed of Joseph in America--The Journey of the Ten Tribes\nNorthward--Ephraim mixed with all Nations--Testimony of Prest. Brigham\nYoung.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nIsrael a Maritime Nation--Tyre and Sidon--The Lacedemonians claim\nrelationship with Israel--The Ionians, Etrurians, Danes, Jutes,\netc.--The various captivities of Israel and Judah--Media.\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nThe Land of the North--Jeremiah, Ether and Esdras' Testimonies--The\nCourse of the Israelites Northward--The Jordan, the Don, the Danube,\netc.--The Land of M\u00e6sia and Dacia-The Get\u00e6 Zalmoxes.\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nIsrael's Journey Northward--Esdras and Modern Revelation Compared-The\nTestimony of Jesus to the Nephites--Ephraim to be gathered from all\nCountries--The Coasts of the Earth--The Ancestors of the Latter-day\nSaints.\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nThe Origin of the Anglo-Saxons--Derivation of the Word Saxon--The\nGoths and Vandals--Overthrow of the Roman Empire--The Mythology of the\nAncient Scandinavians--Baldur--Their early Literature.\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nThe Numerous Identifications Considered--Religion and Laws of the\nAncient Northern Races--Free Masonry--Language\n\nCHAPTER VII. Salvation a Gift to all--God's Covenant with\nAbraham--Proselytes--The Dispersion--Conclusion.\n\n\n\nARE WE OF ISRAEL?\n\n\"Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the world with\nfruit\"--_Isaiah_.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n_Introductory--The promises of God to Abraham and his Posterity--The\nseed of Joseph in America--The journey of the Ten Tribes\nnorthward--Ephraim mixed with all nations-The testimony of President\nBrigham Young_.\n\nThe belief that the Latter-day Saints hold that the great majority of\ntheir number are of the house of Israel, and heirs to the promises\nmade to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, like many other portions of\ntheir faith, has received the ridicule of the unthinking and the\ncontempt of the ungodly. However, it is not our present intention to\nanswer such, but to seek to adduce evidence outside of the sure word\nof modern revelation, to prove that the Latter-day Saints have good\nreasons, drawn from history and analogy, for believing the words of\ntheir Patriarchs who, in blessing them, pronounce them of the house of\nAbraham and of the promised seed of Jacob.\n\nIt is unnecessary to here quote all of the many gracious promises made\nby the great Father of us all to His friend Abraham, and to that\nPatriarch's immediate posterity, as they are cherished by the Saints\nas of more than earthly value, as pearls beyond all price, as sweet\ncomforters in the day of trial, and as strong towers of defense in the\nhour of temptation; yet it may not be out of place to refresh our\nminds by the recital of a few of the most prominent, that we may\nbetter comprehend the ideas and statements that follow after.\n\nIt is recorded (_Genesis xvii: 4-7_) that the Lord covenanted with\nAbraham, saying:\n\n\"As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a\nfather of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called\nAbram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations\nhave I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will\nmake nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will\nestablish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in\ntheir generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee\nand to thy seed after thee.\"\n\nAgain (_Genesis xxii: 16-18_.) Jehovah declares:\n\n\"By myself have I sworn saith the Lord, for because thou hast done\nthis thing, and has not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in\nblessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy\nseed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea\nshore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy\nseed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.\"\n\nTo Isaac and to Jacob were these glorious promises confirmed if\npossible in yet stronger wording. (_Genesis xxvi: 4-10; xxviii: 14_.)\nTo the latter it was said:\n\n\"And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread\nabroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the\nsouth: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth\nbe blessed.\"\n\nThe blessing of Jacob upon his son Joseph is doubtless so familiar to\nthe majority of our readers, that we shall simply quote the latter\nportion:\n\n\"The blessings of thy father have prevailed, above the blessings of my\nprogenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They\nshall be upon the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him\nwho was separate from his brethren.\"\n\nWe will take but one step further in this direction. Jacob, in\nblessing Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, said: (_Gen.\nxiviii: 16_.)\n\n\"Let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and\nIsaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.\"\n\nWhen Joseph reminded the aged Patriarch that his right hand was placed\non the head of the younger boy, he declared:\n\n\"I know it, my son, I know it. He (Manasseh) also shall become a\npeople. And he also shall be great. But truly his younger brother\nshall be greater than he; and his seed shall become a multitude of\nnations.\"\n\nThere are two points in these blessings that are very noteworthy. The\nfirst, that the seed of these Patriarchs should become innumerable,\nand grow to be a multitude of nations in the midst of the earth; the\nsecond, that in or through this seed all the nations and families of\nthe earth should be blessed. With Abraham a covenant was made by the\nMost High, that he should become the father of many nations, and when\nwe have laid aside the descendants of Ishmael--the Arabians and their\nfellows, who have grown into mighty multitudes, and not even counted\nthe posterity of the sons of Keturah and of Abraham's other wives, yet\nin the one son Isaac the promise is renewed, his seed also is to\nmultiply \"as the stars of heaven.\" Once again we will divide the\nposterity, and leave unnoticed the dukes of Edom and the other\ndescendant of Isaac's favorite son. We will speak alone of Jacob. To\nhim was repeated the divine promise: \"Thy seed shall be as the dust of\nthe earth;\" and again, \"A nation and a company of nations shall be of\nthee.\" Here let us pause for a moment and ask, are they whom the world\nregard as the only representatives of Jacob today--the dispersed of\nJudah--all that that holy man has to show as the fulfillment of so\ngreat a promise as the one last quoted? We think not, but believe that\nfuture research will vindicate prophecy, and prove that the promises\nof the Eternal are not cut short in their complete fulfillment.\n\nWe are well aware, so great is the tendency of the races of the earth\nto mix and intermingle, that the Jews, as well as many Christians,\npoint to their continued existence as a distinct people, as an\nunanswerable argument in favor of the divinity of their scriptures and\nthe inspiration of their prophets. But their history, their\nexclusiveness, their dispersion, etc., do not fulfill a vast number of\nthe prophecies uttered with regard to Israel. Yet when the history of\nall Israel is written, of Ephraim as well as of Judah, we are\nsatisfied that no portion of God's holy word will be found to have\nreturned to His mouth unfulfilled, and He will be as much glorified in\nthe hiding up of the Ten Tribes and the mixing of Ephraim among the\nnations, as in the scattering of the sons and daughters of Judah.\n\nJacob had one son (and he not the ancestor of the Jews), to whom these\nblessings were not only renewed, but extended. To Joseph it is said\nthat his blessings have prevailed above the blessings of his\nprogenitors unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, while of\nJoseph's younger son it was declared, \"his seed shall be a multitude\nof nations.\" Thus we observe that with each succeeding heir to these\nchoice blessings the promises seem to have grown, extended and spread\nout. To Abraham it was promised that he should be the father of many\nnations; to Ephraim, his grandson's grandson, it was said of his seed,\nhis seed alone, that it should become a multitude of nations. Where is\nthat multitude of nations today? is a pertinent question, for God has\npromised it and they must exist.\n\nThe average student of history cannot answer this question. He knows\nnothing of the posterity of Ephraim; they are hidden from his sight.\nBut the believer in the Book of Mormon will point to its record and\ndeclare that in the aborigines of North and South America and of many\nof the Pacific isles, we find the seed of Joseph grown into a\nmultitude of tribes, peoples and nations. We thankfully admit this\ntruth, we cannot contradict it did we wish to do so. God has so\nrevealed it, and the external confirmatory evidences are growing\nstronger and more convincing every year. Yet another pertinent\nquestion here presents itself. We understand, from the Book of Mormon,\nthe Lamanites to be of the house of Manasseh; that is their great\nfather Lehi and his sons, the founders of the Nephite and Lamanite\nraces, were of that tribe. If so, his greatness does not fulfill the\npromises to Ephraim, who was to be greater than he. Surely the Lord,\nhaving so abundantly fulfilled His promise to the one brother, has not\nforgotten His covenant with His \"first born.\" But shall we be deemed\ninconsistent if we say that we do not think that the whole of that\nmultitude of nations is found in the descendants of Lehi, of Mulek and\ntheir companions. Is it supposable that the Lord has confined the\nfulfillment of the promises to Joseph (whose blessings were to prevail\nabove those of his progenitors), to tribes who are today and the\nmajority of which have been for fifteen hundred years--or one-quarter\nof this world's existence since mortals dwelt hereon--among the\nwildest, the most degraded of mankind? If so, the descendants of those\nto whom no promises were made have enjoyed the greater blessings.\n\nWe contend that where Israel is not under the ban of God's displeasure\nthrough his sins and follies, he leads the world. His sons are princes\namong men and the ministers of God's law to all people, indeed that in\nhim, according to the oft repeated promise, all the families of the\nearth will be blessed. Here we may be interrupted by our readers (for\nit is Latter-day Saints we are addressing) with the question if we\nhave forgotten the Ten Tribes hidden by Divine Providence in the far\noff frozen regions of the north, and environed by a belt of snow and\nice so impenetrable that no man in modern days has reached them. No,\nwe have not forgotten them, and through them, we believe, as through\nLehi and others, have the promises of God to Jacob and Joseph been\npartially fulfilled. But we ask further, is it altogether improbable\nthat in that long journey of one and a half years, as Esdras states\nit, from Media, the land of their captivity to the frozen north some\nof backsliding Israel rebelled, turned aside from the main body,\nforgot their God, by and by mingled with the Gentiles and became the\nleaven to leaven with the promised seed all the nations of the earth?\nThe account given in the Book of Mormon of a single family of this\nsame house, its waywardness, its stiffneckedness before God, its\ninternal quarrels and family feuds are, we fear, an example on a small\nscale of what most probably happened in the vast bodies of Israelites\nwho for so many months wended their tedious way northward. Laman and\nLemuel had, no doubt, many counterparts in the journeying Ten Tribes.\nAnd who so likely to rebel as stubborn, impetuous, proud and warlike\nEphraim? Rebellion and backsliding have been so characteristically the\nstory of Ephraim's career that we can scarcely conceive that it could\nbe otherwise and yet preserve the unities of that people's history.\nCan it be any wonder then that so much of the blood of Ephraim has\nbeen found hidden and unknown in the midst of the nations of northern\nEurope and other parts until the spirit of prophecy revealed its\nexistence? But before proceeding further in our research, it may be\nwell to insert the words of one having authority, to the effect that\nthe Latter-day Saints are of Ephraim; to adduce ideas and reasons to\nsubstantiate this statement will be our pleasure as we proceed.\n\nPresident Young delivered a discourse in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake\nCity, April 8th, 1855, from which the following are extracts:\n\n\"The set time has come for God to gather Israel, and for his work to\ncommence upon the face of the whole earth, and the Elders who have\narisen in this Church and kingdom are actually of Israel. Take the\nElders who are now in this house, and you can scarcely find one out of\na hundred but what is of the house of Israel. It has been remarked\nthat the Gentiles have been cut off, and I doubt whether another\nGentile ever comes into this church.\n\n\"Will we go to the Gentile nations to preach the gospel? Yes, and\ngather out the Israelites wherever they are mixed among the nations of\nthe earth. What part or portion of them? The same part or portion that\nredeemed the house of Jacob and saved them from perishing with famine\nin Egypt. When Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph, 'guiding his\nhands wittingly,' he placed his right hand upon Ephraim, 'and he\nblessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and\nIsaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,\nthe Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads,' etc.\nJoseph was about to remove the old man's hands, and bringing his right\nhand upon the head of the oldest boy, saying, 'Not so, my father; for\nthis is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.' And his\nfather refused, and said, 'I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall\nbecome a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger\nbrother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a\nmultitude of nations.' Ephraim has become mixed with all the nations\nof the earth, and it is Ephraim that is gathering together.\n\n\"It is Ephraim that I have been searching for all the days of my\npreaching, and that is the blood which ran in my veins when I embraced\nthe gospel. If there are any of the other tribes of Israel mixed with\nthe Gentiles we are also searching for them. Though the Gentiles are\ncut off, do not suppose that we are not going to preach the gospel\namong the Gentile nations, for they are mingled with the house of\nIsrael, and when we send to the nations we do not seek for the\nGentiles, because they are disobedient and rebellious. We want the\nblood of Jacob, and that of his father Isaac and Abraham, which runs\nin the veins of the people. There is a particle of it here, and\nanother there, blessing the nations as predicted.\n\n\"Take a family of ten children, for instance, and you may find nine of\nthem purely of the Gentile stock, and one son or one daughter in that\nfamily who is purely of the blood of Ephraim. It was in the veins of\nthe father or mother, and was produced in the son or daughter, while\nall the rest of the family are Gentiles. You may think that is\nsingular, but it is true. It is the house of Israel we are after, and\nwe care not whether they come from the east, the west, the north or\nthe south; from China, Russia, England, California, North or South\nAmerica, or some other locality; and it is the very lad on whom father\nJacob laid his hands, that will save the house of Israel. The Book of\nMormon came to Ephraim, for Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite, and\nthe Book of Mormon was revealed to him, and, while he lived he made it\nhis business to search for those who believed the gospel. * * *\n\n\"You understand who we are; we are of the house of Israel, of the\nroyal seed, of the royal blood.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n_Israel a Maritime Nation--Tyre and Sidon--The Lacedemonians Claim\nRelationship with Israel-The Ionians, Etrurians, Danes, Jutes,\netc.--The various Captivities of Israel and Judah--Media_.\n\nThe idea, though not until lately widely diffused, that many of the\nraces inhabiting Europe are impregnated with the blood of Israel, is\nby no means a new one. Many writers, in their researches into the\nearly history of that continent, have been forcibly struck with the\nsimilarity that existed between the laws, manners, customs, etc., of\nthe ancient inhabitants of its northern and northwestern portions and\nthose of ancient Israel. These writers have endeavored to account for\nthis peculiarity in two ways. First by the supposition that\nIsraelitish colonies for various causes, left the land of their\ninheritance and gradually worked themselves north and northwestward\nover Europe; and second, by the argument that remnants or branches of\nthe lost Ten Tribes had emigrated from Media into Europe, and through\nthe ignorance of historians, disguised under other names, they had\nremained unknown until the present, their habits, customs, traditions,\netc., having in the meanwhile become so greatly changed by time and\ncircumstance, as to render them unrecognizable at this late day.\n\nWe will take up the first of these ideas, and present a few of the\narguments advanced by those who support it. It is asserted by them\nthat Israel early became a maritime nation, that its location on the\nMediterranean Sea admirably adapted its people for such pursuit. By\nmeans of the Red Sea in its rear, it also had undisturbed access to\nAfrica, India, and the isles beyond. As early as the days of the\nJudges (say B. C. 1,300) we find that Deborah and Barak, in their song\nof triumph, complain that Dan came not up to the aid of Israel in the\nhour of need, but remained in his ships while his fellows were\ncontending with Sisera and his hosts. \"Why did Dan remain in ship?\"\n(_Judges v: 17_) is the exact question asked. This shows that thus\nearly in Israel's history it had commenced to hold commercial\nrelations with its neighbors.[A] The tribes whose inheritances\nbordered on the Mediterranean, commencing at the north, were Asher,\nManasseh, Ephraim, Dan and Simeon. Asher's inheritance lay contiguous\nto the great ports of Tyre and Sidon, while Simeon's bordered on\nEgypt, and contained within its confines other seaports of the\nPhilistines or Ph\u0153nicians, to whom, we think, profane writers have\ngiven credit for many of the commercial ventures undertaken by the\nIsraelites.\n\n[Footnote A: We have seen a translation of an ancient Danish history,\nin which it is asserted that Angul of Issacher, a brother of Tola, who\njudged Israel about 1,225 years B.C., invaded England, and was\nassisted by Tola in so doing. In the name of Angul we find another\nderivation of the word Angleland (England).]\n\nIt must not be supposed that these maritime tribes were the only ones\nthat would be found spreading abroad. The members of the various\ntribes did not strictly confine themselves to the boundaries assigned\ntheir tribe by Joshua, but they intermingled for trade, etc., and many\nmen of other tribes resided within the borders of Judah's inheritance,\nand _vice versa_. We have a notable example of this (B. C. 600) in the\ncase of Lehi and Laban, who were of the seed of Joseph, yet were\nresidents of Jerusalem, and Nephi incidentally remarks that his\nfather, Lehi, had dwelt in that city \"all his days.\" The children of\nEphraim, from their great enterprise and force of character, seem to\nhave early spread, not only among other tribes, but also into foreign\nnations, notably to Egypt, and the anger of the Lord is repeatedly\nexpressed through His prophets at His people's disregard of His law in\nmixing with the heathen. In Isaiah's time, Ephraim had, like a \"silly\ndove,\" mingled himself among the people to the displeasure of his God.\n\nBut it was not only for trade and commerce that Israel spread abroad;\nher children were sometimes forced to foreign lands against their\nwill. Two hundred years before Lehi left Jerusalem, the Lord upbraided\nTyre and Sidon through Joel his servant (_Joel iii: 6_), telling them,\namong other things, \"The children also of Judah, and the children of\nJerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians\" [or Gentiles], \"that ye\nmight remove them far from their border.\" Here we obtain a glimpse of\nthe policy of these two cities; they sought to weaken Israel by\ndeporting her children as captives to other nations afar off, and with\ntrue commercial instincts endeavored to make the transaction a\nprofitable one. And if Judah and Jerusalem, at the other end of the\nland, thus suffered at the hands of Tyre and her sister city, is it\nnot a certainty that other tribes, living nearer, would suffer from\nthis same cause, and probably more severely?\n\nWe are of the opinion that this wholesale slave trade of the\nPh\u0153nicians is greatly under-estimated as a factor in the diffusion of\nIsraelitish blood throughout the world. So great was the number of\nslaves held by these people, that at one time in their chief city, the\nslaves exceeded the freemen in number, and their maritime enterprise\nwas such that they established colonies or depots on all the islands\nof the Mediterranean Sea, in France, Spain, Italy, Britain, and\nprobably in Germany. The whole coast of northern Africa was studded\nwith their colonies, which they carried south as far as Timbuctoo and\nthe Niger, while by way of the Red Sea they reached eastern Africa,\nPersia, India, and some suppose China; in fact, they traded with, and\nestablished colonies all over the then known world.[B]\n\n[Footnote B: \"Although the ancient Jews were mainly an agricultural\nnation the geographical position of Palestine and the contiguity of\nsome of the tribes of Israel to the Mediterranean Sea, induced the\nJewish people to make common cause of their friendly neighbors, the\nsea faring Phoenicians. There were two causes which conduced to render\nthe Jews well acquainted with navigation on high seas. Many of them\nwere carried away as captives in their frequent, and often\nunsuccessful, warfare with more powerful nations. The prisoners of war\nwere forced to serve on land and sea. Allusions to redeemed prisoners,\nreturning from the Islands of the Sea and from the \"four corners of\nthe earth,\" occur in many parts of the Hebrew Scripture and the\nexperiences of the Jews in sea voyages are graphically depicted in the\nBible (Psalm 107). Then there were missionary voyages of the Jews for\nthe inculcation of monotheistic teachings. The Jewish missionaries\nvisited many lands across the sea, as is attested in many parts of the\nprophetic writings. Allusions to a life on the ocean and to the\nunpleasant experiences of sea-sickness occur in several places in the\nscriptures together with magnificent representations of the wondrous\nsights of mid-ocean. Such descriptions were not borrowed from alien\nand pagan nations for the simple reason that the admirers of God's\nmarvelous work on the sea are mentioned as coming home from their\nperilous expeditions and praising God's glory in the midst of their\nown people. The distribution of the Jews in many sea-girt places of\nthe Gentiles is often mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and bears evidence\nto the sea-faring habits of many Jewish families; David's conquest of\nEzeon-Gaber; the greatest sea-port in Southern Arabia, was followed by\nother kings, Jewish and non-Jewish, who coveted the possession of that\nharbor. The history of King Solomon's alliance with the Phoenician\nKing Hiram is given in the Book of Kings. The building of merchant-men\nin Ezeon-Gaber and the voyages undertaken by the Jewish mariners could\nnot be merely legendary seeing that even in the latter days when the\nRomans attacked the Jews the latter had numerous ships and seamen on\nthe inland seas. On this subject we find many notices in the works of\nJosephus and in parts of the New Testament.\"--Dr. Lowry.]\n\nIt is also a remarkable fact that a few hundred years after Joel had\ndelivered his message of condemnation to Tyre and Sidon, that the\npeople of one of these Grecian states, the Lacedemonians or Spartans,\nclaimed relationship with Israel as children of Abraham, and had their\nclaim allowed, and still more remarkable in the light of poetical\njustice, that these Lacedemonians were the ones used by Alexander the\nGreat in the destruction of Tyre, and in the fulfillment of the words\nof the Lord through Joel: \"Behold I will raise them out of the place\nwhither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your\nown head\" (_Joel iii:7_). It would appear that the sons destroyed the\ncities that had sold their fathers into captivity. The fact that these\nLacedemonians did claim kindred with Israel, is narrated both by\nJosephus and the author of the First Book of Maccabees. The writers of\nboth histories give a synopsis of the letter sent by Oreus, king of\nthe Lacedemonians, to Onias, the High Priest of Israel. The two\naccounts agree very closely. Josephus gives the opening clause of the\nking's letter in these terms: \"We have met with a certain writing\nwhereby we have discovered that both Jews and Lacedemonians are of one\nstock, and are derived from the kindred of Abraham.\" In the book of\nMaccabees it runs as follows: \"It is found in writing that the\nSpartans and Jews are brethren, and come out of the generation of\nAbraham.\" (_I Mac. xii_.) The Jews admitted the relationship in a\nletter full of sentiments of friendship and brotherhood, sent by a\nspecial embassy to the Spartan court. This letter is given in full in\n_I. Maccabees, chap. xii_. In neither history is any hint given as to\nwhich branch of Abraham's family the records showed that the\nLacedemonians belonged, but from their rigid virtue and honesty, and\ntheir near approach to the united order in their daily lives, it is\npresumable that they had not been long separate from a people in whose\nmidst the law of the true God was known and observed.\n\nIt being thus admitted that the people of one Grecian state were of\nthe family of Abraham, students of history have endeavored to trace\nIsrael to other parts. The inhabitants of the Ionian commonwealth, one\nof the most enterprising communities of ancient Greece, are claimed to\nhave been of Israelitish stock, the most weighty argument used in the\nadvocacy of this idea is the great similarity that existed between\ntheir laws and customs and those of the Jews. Attention is especially\ndrawn to the fact that the Ionians were divided from choice, and not\nfrom the force of circumstances or geographical position, into twelve\ncommunities, corresponding with the twelve tribes of Israel. The same\nargument is advanced regarding the Etrurians who were among the\nearliest settlers in Italy, and who, tradition states, emigrated from\nTyre or its neighborhood. They also were divided into twelve\ncommunities or states, but all under one king. Admitting that these\ntwo nationalities were of the outcasts of Israel, there is no\ndifficulty in understanding how the children of Jacob spread abroad\nover all the coasts of Europe and northern Africa, as they were\n(especially the Ionians) renowned for enterprise at sea, the last\nnamed being the first people among the Greeks to undertake long\nvoyages.\n\nMore than one author has advanced the idea that the Welsh are of the\ntribe of Manasseh, some vague traditions of that people being thought\nto point in that direction; it has also been asserted that the Irish\nare of that tribe. From this idea we differ. With greater show of\nreason it has been claimed that Denmark was colonized by the tribe of\nDan (in Danish it is Danmark, or Dan's land, to this day), so,\naccording to this, a Dane is simply a Danite. Jutland, adjoining, is\nregarded as Judah's land, Jute being considered merely another form of\nthe word Jew; while a little further north we find Gottland, Gothland,\nor Gad's land, as these writers believe, thus tracing in immediate\nproximity the homes of three prominent tribes of Israel through the\nnames given to the regions they settled in.\n\nSome who, of late years, have made the subject of Israel's\n\"identification\" their study, have gone almost to the verge of the\nridiculous in the minuteness with which they have endeavored to fix\nthe boundaries of the lands which, they assert, were occupied by\ndescendants of the different tribes. Our position is the Biblical or\nprophetical one, that Ephraim has mixed himself with the nations;\ntheirs, that remnants of all the tribes can be localized and their\ndescendants determined with the same certainty as the posterity of\nthose races who have never in God's providences, and for the\naccomplishment of His purposes, been \"lost.\" One set of these\nenquirers claim to have made the following discoveries. They have\ntraced the tribe of Dan to the north of Ireland and of Scotland;\nSimeon to Wales; Naphtali, as Jutes, to Kent; Gad and Asher, as Angles\nand South Angles, to Mercia and East Anglia in England; Ephraim to\nNorthumberland and as far north as Edinburgh; Manasseh to the north of\nEngland; Reuben as East Saxons, to Essex; Zebulon, as West Saxons, to\nWessex; Issacher, as South Saxons, to Sussex; all these last named\nplaces being in England.\n\nThere is another cause that many believe led to the migration of\ncertain families of Israel and Judah. Before the final captivity of\neither kingdom was brought about there were several partial\ndeportations of the people to Assyria and Babylon, or local\ncaptivities. Assyria commenced by carrying off the inhabitants nearest\nher dominions and gradually extended her incursions. The captivity of\nJudah was still later. In the interval, it is argued, that many\nIsraelites, believing in the words of the prophets and seeing the\nevils that were coming upon them, migrated to Egypt, Greece, or other\nconvenient lands; some, doubtless, led, as were Lehi and the son of\nZedekiah, by the revelation and commandment of God, others simply\nfollowing the inclinations of their own feelings.\n\nAs abundant proof that many were led by God from the land of promise\nbefore the days of the captivity we have the words of Nephi:\n\n\"For it appears that the house of Israel, sooner or later, will be\nscattered upon all the face of the earth, and also among all nations,\nand behold there are many who are already lost from the knowledge of\nthose who are at Jerusalem. Yea, the more part of all the tribes have\nbeen led away; and they are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the\nsea; and whither they are, none of us knoweth, save that we know that\nthey have been led away. And since they have been led away, these\nthings have been prophesied concerning them, and also concerning all\nthose who shall hereafter be scattered and be confounded.\"\n\nAlso the testimony of his brother Jacob:\n\n\"And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given\nus so great knowledge, concerning these things, let us remember Him,\nand lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not\ncast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our\ninheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has\nmade the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea. But great\nare the promises of the Lord unto they who are upon the isles of the\nsea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this,\nand they are inhabited also by our brethren. For behold, the Lord God\nhas led away from time to time from the house of Israel, according to\nHis will and pleasure. And now behold, the Lord remembereth all they\nwho have been broken off, wherefore He remembereth us also.\"\n\nThat we may better understand the various partial and subsequent\ngeneral captivities of Israel and Judah, the following short statement\nthereof is here inserted. The dates given are those of the commonly\naccepted chronology:\n\nPul, or Sardanapalus, imposed a tribute on Menahen, king of Israel,\nabout 770 B. C.\n\nTiglath Pileser carried away the tribes living east of the Jordan and\nin Galilee, B. C. 740.\n\nShalamaneser twice invaded the kingdom of Israel, took Samaria, after\nthree years' siege, and carried the people captive to Assyria B. C.\n721.\n\nSennacherib (B. C. 713) is stated to have carried 200,000 captives\ninto Assyria from the Jewish cities that he captured.\n\nNebuchadnezzar, in the first half of his reign (B. C. 605-562),\nrepeatedly invaded Judea, besieged Jerusalem and carried its\ninhabitants to Babylon.\n\nThe next question that presents itself is, to what portion of the land\nof Assyria were the Israelitish captives taken. Scripture has not left\nus in the dark on this point. Both the book of Chronicles (_I Chron.\nv: 26_) and the book of Kings (_II Kings xxvii: 6_) give us the needed\ninformation. In the latter book it is stated (and the statement in the\nbook of Chronicles is almost identical therewith), that the king of\nAssyria \"carried Israel away captive into Assyria, and placed them in\nHalah, and in Harbor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the\nMedes.\"\n\nMedia, the land of the Medes, lay to the north of Assyria proper,\nembracing the country lying on the southern border of the Caspian Sea,\nas far west as the River Araxes. The exact location of Halah and\nHarbor has long since been lost sight of and the only river that\nto-day, in name, bears any affinity to the Gozan is the Kuzal Ozan,\nwhich empties into the Caspian Sea to the south-east of the Araxes.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n_The Land of the North--Jeremiah, Ether and Esdras' Testimonies-The\ncourse of the Israelites Northward--The Jordan, the Don, the Danube,\netc.--The Land of M\u00e6sia and Dacia--The Cetae--Zalmoxes_.\n\nHaving traced the Ten Tribes to Media, the next question is, what has\nbecome of them, for they are not to be found in that land today. Many\nattempts have, at various times, been made to discover the Ten Tribes\nof Israel as a distinct community, but all have failed. Josephus\n(_Antiquities xi_) believed that in his day they dwelt in large\nmultitudes somewhere beyond the Euphrates, in Asareth, but Asareth was\nan unknown land to him. Rabbinical traditions and fables, committed to\nwriting in the middle ages, assert the same fact, with many wonderful\namplifications. The imaginations of certain Christian writers have\nsought them in the neighborhood of their last recorded habitation.\nJewish features have been traced in the Affghan tribes; statements are\nmade occasionally of Jewish colonies in China, Thibet and Hindostan\n(the Beni-Israel), while the Black Jews, of Malabar, claim affinity\nwith Israel. But none of these people would, in any but the slightest\ndegree, fill the place accorded in the prophecies to Ephraim and his\nfellows.\n\nThe fact that James the Apostle opens his epistle with the following\nwords, has been adduced as an argument that the condition of the Ten\nTribes was known to the early Christians: \"James, a servant of God and\nof the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are scattered\nabroad, greeting.\" But it would rather convey the idea to our mind\nthat the epistle was addressed to those of the houses of Israel and\nJudah, who, for the various reasons before cited, and which by that\ntime had multiplied, had wandered into Egypt, Greece, Rome and other\nparts of the earth, and not to those whom God had hidden to fulfill\nmore completely His promises to the Patriarchs.\n\nWe have before stated that the Latter-day Saints believe that the Ten\nTribes still exist, and that their home is in the far north. That they\nstill exist is absolutely necessary to fulfill the unfailing promises\nof Jehovah to Israel, and to all mankind. The presence of the remnants\nof Judah, in every land today, is an uncontrovertable testimony that\nthe covenant made with Abraham has not been abrogated or annulled. The\nvitality of the Jewish race is proverbial, and can we reasonably\nexpect that when one branch of a tree shows such native strength, that\nthe other branches will not be proportionately vital? Is it not more\nconsistent to believe that, as the Jewish race under the curse of the\nAlmighty and suffering centuries of persecution, still survives, so is\nit with the rest of Jacob's seed, rather than that they, ages ago,\nwere blotted out of earthly existence?\n\nThe belief that the Latter-day Saints hold that these tribes are\nresidents of the northern regions of the earth, is sustained by a\ncloud of scriptural witnesses of _ancient_ and _modern_ days, to whom\nwe now appeal. Our first witness shall be the Prophet Jeremiah. In the\nthird chapter of his prophecies we find the Lord rebuking both Israel\nand Judah for their treachery and backsliding, yet still proclaiming\nHis long-suffering and mercy to His covenant people. He then gives\ncommand to the Prophet, saying:\n\n\"Go and proclaim these words towards the north, and say, return thou,\nbacksliding Israel, saith the Lord, and' I will not cause mine anger\nto fall upon you; for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not keep\nanger forever. * * * In those days [the latter days] the house of\nJudah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come\ntogether _out of the land of the north_ to this land that I have given\nfor an inheritance to your fathers.\"\n\nAgain, in speaking of the mighty works accompanying the final glorious\nrestoration of the house of Jacob, the same prophet declares:\n\n\"Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no\nmore say, the Lord liveth which brought up the children of Israel out\nof the land of Egypt, but the Lord liveth which brought up and which\nled the seed of the house of Israel out of the _north country_, and\nfrom all countries whither I had driven them, and they shall dwell in\ntheir own land.\" (_Jeremiah xxiii_). Again it is written (_Jeremiah\nxxxi_): \"For thus saith the Lord, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and\nshout among the chief of the nations; publish ye, praise ye, and say,\nO, Lord save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold I will bring\nthem from the north country and gather them from the coasts of the\nearth * * * I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born.\n\nWe will turn for a moment from the Asiatic to the American continent.\nThere we find Ether, the Jaredite, about 600 years B. C., prophesying\nof the latter days: \"And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and\nthe inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed\nin the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and\ngathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the _north\ncountries_ and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which\nGod made with their father Abraham.\"\n\nBut the most definite word on this subject given by any of the ancient\nwriters of the Asiatic continent is contained in Esdras, a book of the\nApocrypha (_II Esdras xiii_). Therein is given a dream and its\ninterpretation showing forth the works and the power of the Son of\nGod. It is to Him and His gathering of the people together that the\nProphet refers. The verses more particularly bearing on our subject\nread as follows:\n\n39. \"And whereas thou sawest that He gathered another peaceable people\nunto Him. 40. \"Those are the Ten Tribes which were carried away\ncaptives out of their own land in the time of Oseas the king whom\nSalmanaser the king of the Assyrians took captive, and crossed them\nbeyond the river; so were they brought into another land. 41. \"But\nthey took this counsel to themselves, that they would leave the\nmultitude of the heathen, and go forth unto a further country where\nnever man dwelt, 42. \"That they might there keep their statutes which\nthey never kept in their own land. 43. \"And they entered in at the\nnarrow passages of the River Euphrates. 44. \"For the Most High then\nshowed them signs, and stayed the springs of the flood till they were\npassed over. 45. \"For through the country there was great journey,\neven of a year and a half, and the same region is called Arsareth (or\nArarath). 46. \"Then dwelt they there until the latter time, and when\nthey come forth again, 47. \"The Most High shall hold still the springs\nof the river again that they may go through; therefore sawest thou the\nmultitude peaceable.\"\n\nThe statements of Esdras throw considerable light upon the reasons why\nthe captives in Media preferred not to return to their ancient home in\nCanaan; supposing always that that privilege had been accorded to them\nas well as to the captives of the house of Judah. In their home of\npromise they had seldom kept the counsels and commandments of God and\nif they returned it was probable they would not do any better,\nespecially as the Assyrians had filled their land with heathen\ncolonists whose influence would not assist them to carry out their new\nresolutions. Hence they determined to go to a country \"where never man\ndwelt,\" that they might be free from all contaminating influences.\nThat country could only be found in the north. Southern Asia was\nalready the seat of a comparatively ancient civilization. Egypt\nflourished in Northern Africa and Southern Europe was rapidly filling\nwith the future rulers of the world. They had, therefore, no choice\nbut to turn their faces northward. The first portion of their journey\nwas not however north; according to the account of Esdras, they appear\nto have at first moved in the direction of their old homes, and it is\npossible that they originally started with the intention of returning\nthereto, or probably in order to deceive the Assyrians they started as\nif to return to Canaan, and when they had crossed the Euphrates, and\nwere out of danger from the hosts of the Medes and Persians, then they\nturned their journeying feet toward the polar star. Esdras states that\nthey entered in at the narrow passage of the river Euphrates, the Lord\nstaying the \"springs of the flood until they were passed over.\" The\npoint on the River Euphrates at which they crossed would necessarily\nbe in its upper portion, as lower down would be too far south for\ntheir purpose.\n\nThe upper course of the Euphrates lies among lofty mountains and near\nthe village of Pastash, it plunges through a gorge formed by\nprecipices more than a thousand feet in height and so narrow that it\nis bridged at the top; it shortly afterwards enters the plains of\nMesopotamia. How accurately this portion of the river answers the\ndescription of Esdras of the \"narrows,\" where the Israelites crossed!\n\nFrom the Euphrates the wandering host could take but one course in\ntheir journey northward, and that was along the back or eastern shore\nof the Black Sea. All other roads were impassable to them, as the\nCaucassian range of mountains with only two or three passes throughout\nits whole extent, ran as a lofty barrier from the Black to the Caspian\nSea. To go east would take them back to Media, and a westward journey\nwould carry them through Asia Minor to the coasts of the\nMediterranean. Skirting along the Black Sea, they would pass the\nCaucassian range, cross the Kuban River, be prevented by the Sea of\nAzof from turning westward and would soon reach the present home of\nthe Don Cossacks. It is asserted, on good authority, that along this\nroute and for \"an immense distance\" northward, the country is full of\ntombs of great antiquity, the construction of which, the way in which\nthe dead are buried therein, and the jewelry, curiosities, etc., found\non opening them, prove that they were built by a people of similar\nhabits to the Israelites. Dr. Clark, a well-known traveler, states\nthat he counted more than ninety such mounds at one view near the\nKuban River.\n\nWe will here digress, and give some of the ideas of a writer on the\nIsraelitish origin of the nations of modern Europe (Mr. J. Wilson),\nthough in our own words. He endeavors to prove that Israel traveled\nnorth-westward from the neighborhood last spoken of, and claims that\nthe names of all the principal rivers, in the regions round about,\nshow that colonists from the Holy Land gave them. The Jordan was\ndistinctively the River of Canaan as the Nile was of Egypt. The word\nJordan is by some claimed to mean flowing, by others the River of\nEden. There was also the Dedan or Dan (el Leddan) flowing into it;\nwhich would lead to the supposition that the word Dan had some\nconnection with Israelitish rivers not now understood. Suffice it, the\nexiles doubtless carried with them many hallowed recollections of\ntheir ancient river, which it was but natural they should seek to\nperpetuate as they journeyed farther and farther from its waters and\nfrom their long-cherished home. As a result we find in south-eastern\nEurope the Don, the Daniz or Donitz, the Daneiper and Daniester (now\ncontracted to Dneiper and Dniester) and the Danube. The conclusions of\nthe writer already referred to are that Israel gradually drifted\nwestward to the region known to secular history as M\u0153sia and Dacia,\nthe one north and the other south of the Danube, and called by modern\nEnglish speaking people, Roumania and Bulgaria. To further strengthen\nhis theory he claims that M\u0153sia means the land of Moses, and Dacia the\nland of David (after Israel's shepherd king), and that the people of\nthe latter kingdom were called the Davi. In this country dwelt also\nthe Get\u00e6 (a Latinized form of Gad) who, some historians assert, were\nthe forefathers of the Goths, of whom we shall speak again hereafter.\nThe historian Herodotus, in recounting the conquest of his people by\nDarius states, that the Get\u00e6 \"believed themselves to be immortal; and\nwhenever one dies, they believe that he is removed to the presence of\ntheir god Zamoxis (Zalmoxis) * * * and they sincerely believe that\nthere is no other deity.\" He also states that this god left them the\ninstitutions of their religion in books. Mr. Wilson directs attention\nto this idea of only one God, so different to the Pantheism of the\nsurrounding peoples, and that of man's immortality as tending to prove\nthe Israelitish origin of the Gat\u00e6, particularly as in analyzing the\nword Zalmoxis he finds it to be composed of Za, el, Moses. If his\nfacts be correct, his conclusions are warranted, but of his facts we\nexpress no opinion.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n_Israel's Journey Northward--Esdras and Modern Revelation\nCompared--The Testimony of Jesus to the Nephites--Ephraim to be\nGathered from all Countries--The Coasts of the Earth--The Ancestors of\nthe Latter-day Saints_.\n\nHaving considered the causes that led the outcasts of Israel to\ndetermine to seek a home in a new and uninhabited land, we may be\nexcused if we endeavor to follow them in fancy in their journey\nnorthward. We have no way of accurately estimating their numbers, but\nif the posterity of all those who were carried into captivity started\non this perilous journey, they must have formed a mighty host.\nNecessarily they moved slowly. They were encumbered with the aged and\ninfirm, the young and the helpless, with flocks and herds, and weighed\ndown with provisions and household utensils. Roads had to be made,\nbridges built, and the course marked out and decided by their\nleaders.[A] Inasmuch as they had turned to the Lord and were seeking a\nnew home wherein they could the better serve Him, they were doubtless\nguided by inspired leaders, who, by Urim and Thummim, or through\ndreams and visions, pointed out the paths ahead. Perhaps, as in the\ndays of the deliverance from Egypt, a pillar of cloud by day and of\nfire by night guided their footsteps; no matter the means, the end was\naccomplished, and slowly and gradually they neared the frozen regions\nof the Arctic zone. The distance in a direct line from the conjectured\ncrossing of the Euphrates to the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, would be\nabout 2,800 miles, or a seven months' journey, averaging fifteen miles\na day. But according to Esdras, one year and a half was consumed in\nthe journey, which is an evidence that they were encumbered with\nfamilies and cattle, who could only travel slowly and for whom many\nresting places had to be found where they could recuperate. It is\nhighly probable that, like modern Israel in its journey westward to\nthe valleys of Ephraim, they planted temporary colonies by the way.\nWhere the weary rested and crops were raised for future use.\n\nThe length of the journey had its advantages as well as its drawbacks.\nThe slow rate at which they traveled enabled them to become\nacclimatized to the rigors of the frigid zone. We must recollect that\nwe are dealing with a people cradled in the burning sands of Egypt,\nand who, for many generations, had dwelt in one of the most balmy and\ngenial climates on this globe. Their temporary sojourn in the bleaker\nregions near the Caspian Sea had partially prepared them for that\nwhich was to come, but it required time to give them the capability to\nendure the rigors of a northern climate, as they were, by ancestry and\nlocation, distinctively children of the sunny south.\n\n[Footnote A: Jesus distinctly states to the Nephites, that these\ntribes were led \"by the Father out of the land.\"]\n\nNo doubt, as the hosts of Israel advanced, the change in the climate,\nthe difference in the length of the days and nights, the altered\nappearance of the face of the country, and the newness, to them, of\nmany of its animal and vegetable productions, struck them with\namazement, perhaps with terror, causing some of the weak-kneed to\nfalter and tarry by the way. These defections probably increased as\nthe changes became more apparent and the toils of the journey grew\nmore severe. But what must have been their sensations when they came\nin view of the limitless Arctic Ocean, if the climatic conditions were\nthe same as those which exist today; of which, however, there is\nperhaps some reason to doubt. No matter whether they drew nigh unto it\nin winter or in summer, the prospect must have been appalling to the\nbravest heart not sustained by the strongest and most undeviating\nfaith in the promises of Jehovah. Supposing they reached the northern\nconfines of the European continent in summer, they were in a land\nwhere the snow is almost perpetual, and scarcely else but mosses grow.\nBefore them was a troubled ocean of unknown width, every step they\nadvanced took them further north into greater extremes of cold. Well\nmight they question, if so little is here produced for the food of man\nand beast, how will it be yet further northward? Must we perish of\nhunger? If, on the other hand, they approach the frozen shores of this\nunexplored waste of waters in the gloom of the long night of an Arctic\nwinter, with the intense cold freezing to their very blood, their\nfeelings of dread must have been yet more intense. No wonder if some\nturned aside, declared they would go no further, and gradually\nwandered back through northern Europe to more congenial climes. Again\nit may be asked, how did this unnumbered host cross this frigid ocean\nto their present hiding place? On this point both history and\nrevelation are silent. The Arctic Ocean was no narrow neck of the\ngreat waters like the Red Sea, with the mountains of the opposite\nshore full in view. No, it spread out before them eternally--north,\neast and west, with no inviting shore in sight beyond. Yet despite all\nthis, they did cross it, but how, we know not--perhaps on the ice of\nwinter, perhaps the Lord threw up a highway or divided the waters as\nhe did aforetime, that they passed through dry shod. But we must abide\nHis time, when this and other secrets of their history shall be\nrevealed.\n\nSince penning the foregoing ideas, we have been informed that certain\nancient Scandinavian legends entirely agree with our theory. We\nunderstand that these legends state that the Ten Tribes, in their\njourney northward, erected at various points, on prominent mountain\nheights and such like, monuments or heaps of stones, so that if they\ndetermined to return they might have some guides on the road back to\nthe Euphrates. These same traditions state that colonies of the very\nyoung and infirm, as well as of the wayward and rebellious, were left\nby the wayside, and from these colonies the fathers of the Norsemen\nsprang. These legends, in time became crystalized, and make their\nappearance as verities in the traditional histories of the nations of\nnorthern Europe.\n\nEsdras says that he was shown that they abode in this north country\nuntil the latter time, when they were to come forth again, a great\nmultitude, to add to the glory of Messiah's kingdom. This statement\nagrees with the word of modern revelation to which we now draw\nattention.\n\nMore than half a century ago the Lord, through Joseph Smith, in\nspeaking of the lost Ten Tribes, says: (Doc. and Cov., Revelation\ncalled the Appendix). \"They who are in the north countries shall come\nin remembrance before the Lord, and their prophets shall hear His\nvoice, and shall no longer stay themselves, and they shall smite the\nrocks and the ice shall flow down at their presence. And an highway\nshall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.[B] Their enemies\nshall become a prey unto them, and in the barren deserts there shall\ncome forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no\nlonger be a thirsty land. And they shall bring forth their rich\ntreasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants. And the\nboundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence.\nAnd they shall fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by\nthe hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim.\"\n\n[Footnote B: Query-The Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans.]\n\nIt is very evident from the above quotation that Ephraim, or at least\na large portion of that tribe, had at some period of his history,\nseparated from the rest of the tribes of Israel, and at the time of\nthis restitution was to dwell in a land far from the north country in\nwhich the residue were hidden. These tribes are to have the frozen\nbarriers of the north melted, so that the ice shall flow down, then a\nhighway is to be cast up for them, in the midst of the great deep,\nnext they cross barren deserts and a thirsty land and eventually\narrive with their rich treasures at the home of Ephraim, the first\nborn of God of the house of Israel, to be crowned with glory at his\nhands.\n\nWe must now draw the attention of our readers to certain extracts from\nthe Book of Mormon, which show that at the time of our Savior's visit\nto this continent, Ephraim and the Ten Tribes dwelt neither on this\nland nor on the land of Jerusalem. Jesus says: \"Verily, verily, I say\nunto you, I have other sheep which are not of this land nor in the\nland of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land, round about\nwhither I have been to minister. But they of whom I speak have not as\nyet heard my voice, neither have I at any time manifested myself unto\nthem; but I have received a commandment of the Father that I should go\nunto them and they shall be numbered among my sheep, and there shall\nbe one fold and one shepherd, therefore I go to show myself unto them.\nAnd I command you that ye shall write these sayings, after I am gone,\nthat if it be so that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me,\nand been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name that\nthey may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and also of the\nother tribes that they know not of, that these sayings which ye shall\nwrite shall be kept, and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles, that\nthrough the fullness of the Gentiles the remnant of their seed who\nshall be scattered forth upon the face of the earth, because of their\nunbelief, may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer. And\nthen will I gather them in from the four quarters of the earth; and\nthen will I fulfill the covenant which the Father hath made unto all\nthe people of the house of Israel.\" (III. Nephi, chap. xvi.)\n\nThe statement of Jesus above cited, that the Ten Tribes did not dwell\nin the land of Jerusalem _either in any parts of that land round\nabout_, effectually disposes of the theory of Josephus and others,\nthat they dwelt near the river Euphrates. The reason why the Jews had\nlost sight of their brethren of the house of Israel is explained by\nJesus in the same chapter of the Book of Mormon as that from which the\nabove quotation is taken. He states: \"The other tribes hath the Father\nseparated from them [the Jews]; and it is because of their iniquity\nthat they knew not of them.\"\n\nSome have imagined that it was unscriptural to look for Israel except\nin three places: The scattered Jews in all the world, the Lamanites on\nthis continent, and the Ten Tribes in Azareth. But we claim that we\nhave abundant reason from scripture to expect to find the seed of\nJoseph as well as that of Judah in every nation under heaven. The\nprophecies recorded in the Old Testament expressly state that Israel,\nespecially Ephraim, was to be scattered among all people.\n\nHow completely they were to be scattered is shown by the following\nprophecies:\n\nHosea (xiii: 3) in rebuking Ephraim's idolatry in the name of the\nLord, says:\n\n\"Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew\nthat passeth away, as the chaff that is driven by the whirlwind out of\nthe floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.\"\n\nAmos (ix: 8, 9) states:\n\n\"Behold the eyes of the Lord are upon the sinful kingdom [of Israel],\nand I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I\nwill not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For, lo,\nI will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations,\nlike as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall\nupon the earth.\"\n\nCould any scattering be more complete?\n\nWe are directly told that the Lord will bring His sons (Ephraim still\nbeing His first-born) from afar and His daughters from the ends of the\nearth. It is further said that He will gather His Israel--not from the\nnorth alone--but from the north and from the south, from the east and\nfrom the west, and bring them to Zion; and that He (the Lord) will\ngather them from all countries (not America nor the polar regions\nonly, but all countries) in which He had scattered them; among other\nplaces from the coasts of the earth. How apt a description is this\nlast sentence of the lands from which the great bulk of modern Israel\nhave been gathered. From the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, from the\ncoasts of the North and Baltic Seas, they have come to Zion by tens of\nthousands.\n\nPresident Brigham Young stated in the discourse quoted in a previous\nchapter, that ninety-nine out of every hundred of the Elders of the\nChurch of Jesus Christ were of the blood of Israel. The people whom he\nwas addressing were men of various nationalities, but by far the\ngreater portion of them were descendants of those races that in the\nfourth and succeeding centuries of the Christian era swarmed in\nmyriads out of that mother of nations, Scandinavia, and filled central\nand western Europe with a new civilization; the people, in fact, who\noverthrew the great Roman empire and laid the foundation of the\nmajority of the nations of modern Europe. It was to the descendants of\nthe Goths, the Danes, the Jutes, the Angles, the Saxons, the Normans,\nthe Franks, that he was talking, and in our next chapter we shall\nbring forward some of the historical arguments used by Gentile writers\nto prove the Israelitish descent of these races, more particularly of\nthat dominant one known today as the Anglo-Saxon. We do not this\nbecause we think the word of God's servants requires proving by\nGentile evidence, but because it is a satisfaction to many minds, not\nonly to know that a thing is so, but to be able to give a reason, or\nadvance an argument to demonstrate _why_ it is so.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n_The Origin of the Anglo-Saxons--Derivation of the Word Saxon--The\nGoths and Vandals--Overthrow of the Roman Empire--The Mythology of the\nAncient Scandinavians--Baldur--Their Early Literature_.\n\nAs the question, \"What became of the Ten Tribes?\" still remains to the\nworld an unanswered historical enigma, so also is the question\nunanswered, \"Whence originated the vast hosts of so-called barbarians\nwho, descending from the frigid regions of Scandinavia, filled Europe\nwith new races, new laws, new ideas, new languages and new\ninstitutions?\" Some have traced a connection between the loss of the\none people and the advent of the other, and one author of repute--Mr.\nSharon Turner--extensively quoted in this connection, claims that the\noriginal home of the Anglo-Saxons was in the very country where Israel\nis historically lost, and further states that these people commenced\ntheir migration therefrom about the same time as the tribes of Jacob\nmust have taken their journey northward.\n\nMr. Turner, in his valuable history of the Anglo-Saxons, while\ndiscussing the Teutonic descent of many of the nations of modern\nEurope, says:\n\n\"It is peculiarly interesting to us, because, from its branches, not\nonly our own immediate ancestors, but also those of the most\ncelebrated nations of modern Europe have unquestionably descended. The\nAnglo-Saxons, Lowland Scotch, Normans, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes,\nGermans, Dutch, Belgians, Lombards and Franks have all sprung from\nthat great fountain of the human race, which we have distinguished by\nthe terms, Scythian, German or Gothic. The first appearance of the\nScythian tribes in Europe, may be placed, according to Strabo and\nHomer, about the eighth, or according to Herodotus, in the seventh\ncentury before the Christian era. The first scenes of their civil\nexistence, and of their progressive power were in Asia to the east of\nthe Araxes. Here they multiplied and extended their territorial limits\nfor some centuries, unknown to Europe.\" With regard to the Saxons, Mr.\nTurner writes, \"They were a German or Teutonic, that is a Gothic or\nScythian tribe; and of the various Scythian nations which have been\nrecorded, the Sakai or Sacae are the people from whom the descent of\nthe Saxons may be inferred, with the least violation of probability.\nThey were so celebrated that the Persians called all the Scythians by\nthe name of Sacae. * * * That some of the divisions of this people\nwere really called Sakasuna (from which we have our word Saxon or\nSacson) is obvious from Pliny; for he says that the Sakai who settled\nin Armenia were named Sacassani which is Saka-suna, spelt by a person\nwho was unacquainted with the meaning of the combined words; and the\nname Sacasina, which they gave to that part of Armenia they occupied,\nis nearly the same sound as Saxonia. It is also important to remark,\nthat Ptolemy mentions a Scythian people sprung from the Sakai, who\nresided near the Baltic Sea, by the name of Saxones.\"\n\nMr. Turner was not advocating the Israelitish ancestry of the Saxons,\nhence those who believe in that theory put the greater stress on his\ntwo most important statements: that the forefathers of this race dwelt\nin the region east of the Araxes, the exact spot to which Israel was\ncarried captive, and that they began to spread out therefrom some six\nor seven hundred years before Christ, answering to the very period\nthat the children of Jacob dwelt captives in that country. One author\nhas assumed a very unique derivation for the word Saxon. He says: \"We\nsuppose it is derived from Isaac, by which, we find from Amos, this\nhouse of Israel had begun to denominate itself, just before the\ncaptivity. It was usual to contract the commencement of the name,\nespecially when they combined it with any other word, or when it came\nto be familiarly applied. Saxon is, literally or fully expressed, the\nson of Isaac.\" Just as Dickson in modern English was abbreviated to\nDixon.[A] Such abbreviations, we may remark in passing, in familiar\ntalk are also common with our neighbors, the Shoshones, also a remnant\nof the seed of Jacob, One writer on this portion of the subject sees\nin this explanation of the word Saxon a fulfillment of the promise\nmade to our father Abraham, \"In Isaac shall thy seed be called,\" and\ngoes as far as to advance the argument that Cossack is another\nexpression of this same idea, or that a Don Cossack is literally and\ntruly a son of Isaac, of the tribe of Dan.\n\n[Footnote A: It is claimed by some that the word Brahmin is an\nabbreviation of Abraham in fact that the god Brahma is the patriarch\nhimself deified.]\n\nThe ferocity of the northern races, who overthrew the Roman empire, is\nthought by some to argue against their Israelitish origin. But we must\nrecollect that the pictures of the Goths and Vandals, which have been\nhanded down to us, were painted by their enemies. Nor would the\nargument, however true, have any weight with us were the rest proven.\nIf they were of Israel they had been wandering, fighting and\ncolonizing for a thousand years since they left Palestine before they\noverwhelmed Rome. And as far as ferocity is concerned they cannot\nequal the seed of Joseph on this continent, who but three hundred\nyears after the fullness of the gospel was proclaimed to their fathers\nby the crucified Redeemer, committed atrocities that no Goth or Vandal\never exceeded. A very pretty theory has been advocated in connection\nwith this portion of their history, to the effect that as the Roman\nempire was used by the Lord to destroy the house of Judah and slay\nmillions of that devoted race, so the Lord chose a portion of the\nhouse of Israel (unknown to both themselves and their enemies) to\ndestroy the Gentile rulers of the world who had slain and scattered\ntheir brother's house.\n\nThe mythology of the northern races of Europe may also be noticed in\nconnection with these inquiries. Those learned in the mythologies of\nancient Rome and Greece say that it bears no likeness to them: its\npeculiarities would rather tend to the idea that it was of Persian\norigin (British Encyclopaedia). Some of the early Christian fathers\nfancied they discovered a great resemblance between one of their\ndeities, named Baldur or Balder, and our Savior.[B] This god is\nrepresented as the son of Odin and Frigga, youthful, beautiful and\nbenignant, the dispenser of kindness, the bringer of joy and\nblessings, who loves to dwell with men, and whom all men love. But he\nis killed by the wicked. (The manner of his death is surrounded with\nmythological nonsense.) All men mourn the loss of their friend, and\nsearch through the world for some remedy to bring him to life; but in\nvain; stern death has taken him away to the realms of the dead, and he\ncannot come back. His wife Nanna, that she may not be separated from\nhim, has gone to dwell with him there. At last Frigga, his mother,\nsends a messenger to obtain his release. He leaps the gate of the\ngloomy world, sees Baldur, and speaks with him, but no, Baldur cannot\nbe released, here he must remain, and his wife Nanna must dwell with\nhim forever.\n\n[Footnote B: \"The early Saxons.\" American S. S. Union, Philadelphia.]\n\nFrom some of the details not here inserted, we incline somewhat to the\nopinion that the above narration is a confused tradition of the way\ndeath was brought into the world through the transgression of Adam and\nEve, rather than that it bears relation to the life of the Savior.\n\nWe draw attention to the way Baldur's death was brought about. The\ntradition runs (American Cyclop\u00e6dia), Baldur having long been troubled\nby dreams and evil omens, indicating danger to his life, his mother\ntraveled through the whole universe, eliciting from every created\nthing a promise not to injure the god. But she neglected to ask it\nfrom the apparently harmless mistletoe. Loki, the most deceitful among\nthe gods, an enemy of Baldur, noticed this omission, and cut from the\nmistletoe a piece for the point of a dart. The other gods, surrounding\nBaldur, made proof of his invulnerability in sport, by casting at him\ntheir weapons, with stones, etc.; but nothing injured him. Loki\napproached and induced the blind god Hodur to throw the dart he had\nmade from the forgotten mistletoe. Baldur was pierced by it and\nkilled. In this tradition Loki takes the place of Satan, Hodur\ntypifies the serpent, and the mistletoe the tree of knowledge of good\nand evil. It is also noticeable that they represent, in this\ntradition, that man could do nothing, of himself, to overcome the\npower of death.\n\nThe very earliest literature of the Scandinavian people, preserved on\nthe island of Iceland, adds many testimonies to the Scandinavians'\nIsraelitish origin. On this point, the Encyclopaedia Britannica says:\n\"On entering on these ancient books, we are immediately struck with\nthe corroborative evidence which they furnish of the eastern origin of\nthe Goths, the fathers of the Scandinavians. As all languages, so all\nmythologies run in lines, which converge in one common center, * * *\nCentral Asia. And little as we might expect it, no sooner do we open\nthe ancient religious books of Scandinavia than we are carried back\nthither. Our northern people are a people of eastern origin. Odin [C]\nand his Asar, are Asiatics, declare themselves to be from the great\nSvithiod, a country which appears to have been the present Circassia,\nlying between the Black and Caspian Seas. The whole of their memoirs\nabounded with the proofs of it. They brought with them abundant\neastern customs, those of burning the dead, and burying under mounds.\nThey practiced polygamy, looked back with imperishable affection to\nthe great Svithiod, to the primitive district of Asgord and the city\nof Gudahem, or the home of the gods. They transferred a religion\nbearing the primal features of those of Persia, India and Greece, to\nthe snowy mountains of Scandinavia.\" In reading the above we were\nstrongly impressed with the geographical idea there expressed. Without\nany great stretch of the imagination we could easily consider the\ntraditions regarding the great Svithiod, to refer to Media, the\nprimitive district of Asgord, to be the dim remembrance of their first\nhome in the land of promise, and Gudahem, the home of the gods, to be\nJerusalem, the city of the great King. The parallel we consider to be\nvery significant.\n\n[Footnote C: Rev. A. B. Grimaldi, M. A., states; \"The Saxon kings\ntraced themselves back to Odin, who was traced back in his descent\nfrom David, as may be seen in a very ancient MSS. in the Herald's\nCollege, London, and in Sharon Turner.\"]\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n_The Numerous Identifications Considered--Religion and Laws of the\nAncient Northern Races--Free Masonry--Language_.\n\nIt would be almost impossible to enumerate the multitude of likenesses\nthat have been found, by authors predisposed in that direction,\nbetween the habits, manners, customs, personal appearance, etc., of\nthe Israelites and the Anglo-Saxons. To give even a cursory glance at\nthese \"identifications\" would occupy more space than we feel would be\ndesirable. We will simply mention a few that have been advanced by\nvarious writers, and then proceed to a short consideration of their\nlaws; it may be observed, however, that some of their identifications\nare very remarkable, while others, in our opinion, are puerile, and\nwould be advanced by none but zealots. Great similarity has been\nclaimed between the form of the Jewish and Saxon heads, and the great\nbeauty of both races has been advanced as a proof of common ancestry.\nThe style of dress of the early northern European nations has also\nbeen claimed to be distinctively Israelitish. The care with which both\npeople kept their records or chronicles has also been largely\ncommented upon. One author claims connection between the two in the\nmanner that they mustered their forces in battle, and their love of\ndistinctive or tribal banners, giving rise in Europe to the system of\nheraldry and the development of chivalry. Their division of the people\ninto tithings, hundreds and thousands, has been a strong argument in\nfavor of the Saxon's Jewish descent. The three great yearly\nconvocations of the people are also said to have taken place on the\nsame dates as the three great feasts of the Jews. The Saxons' marriage\nceremonies, their respect for women, and the great misfortune which\nthe latter esteemed it to be without children, are also adverted to as\nlinks in the chain of evidence. One author (Mr. Ed. Hine) pursues a\ndifferent line of argument and makes the history of the English\nnation, its constitution, laws, insular position, etc., fulfill the\nvaried prophecies of the ancient servants of God with regard to the\nTen Tribes. To our mind, however, these fulfillments of ancient\nprophecy are often strained and frequently untenable.\n\nIn the religion of the ancient Scandinavians, terrible and\nbloodthirsty as were many of its rites, students have found striking\nanalogies to the religion of ancient Israel, so much so that it is\nconsidered one of the strongest proofs of the ancestry of this people\nin Jacob. And it is claimed that the further we trace the matter back\nthrough the centuries, the greater does the likeness become. Least we\nshall be considered as straining this point we will quote the language\nof another: \"They (the Anglo-Saxons and their brethren of the north of\nEurope) are described as having been acquainted with the great\ndoctrine of one supreme Deity, the Author of everything that existeth;\nthe eternal, the living, the ancient, the living and awful Being; the\nsearcher into concealed things; the Being that never changeth; who\nliveth and governeth during the ages; directeth everything that is\nhigh, and everything that is low; of this glorious Being they had\nanciently esteemed it impious to make any visible representation, or\nto imagine it possible that he could be confined within the walls of a\ntemple. These great truths, the same as we know were taught to Israel,\nhad in a great measure become lost or obscured before the people's\ncoming into Britain. But this very obscuration itself, speaks of their\norigin; it having chiefly taken place, it is said, in consequence of\ntheir receiving a mighty conqueror from the east as their god in human\nnature, correspondent to the expectation of Israel with regard to the\nMessiah. This supposed god incarnate is thought to have presented\nhimself among these people about the same time as the true Messiah\nappeared among the Jews.\" (Is it probable that tidings of Jesus' visit\nto the Ten Tribes could have been conveyed to them or have reached\nthem in a vague or adulterated form?) \"The name of this pretender was\nOdin or Woden, and he was esteemed the great dispenser of happiness to\nhis followers, as well as fury to his enemies. When Woden was removed\nfrom them they placed his image in their most holy place, where was a\nkind of raised place or ark, as if in imitation of that at Jerusalem,\nwhere, between the Cherubim, the divine presence was supposed to\nabide. * * * Before this elevation or ark, in this most holy place on\nwhich the symbols of their worship were placed, they had an altar, on\nwhich the holy fire burned continually; and near it was a vase for\nreceiving the blood of the victims, and a brush for sprinkling the\nblood upon the people; reminding us again of what was done in ancient\nIsrael. They had generally one great temple for the whole nation, and\nin one of these, it is particularly noticed, they had twelve priests\npresided over by a high priest, and having under their charge the\nreligious concerns of the whole people. This temple is said to have\nbeen of the most splendid description--of incredible grandeur and\nmagnificence. It was at Upsala, Sweden.\"\n\nAs nearly related to this branch of our subject, it has been remarked\nthat Free Masonry was first known in Europe among these people, a fact\nthat will have its weight among Latter-day Saints. In the middle ages\nthese lodges of free masons built the cathedrals of Europe, and it is\nasserted that \"the English cathedrals appear to have been built after\nthe fashion of the temples that they frequented previous to their\nconversion to Christianity. And these cathedrals, it has been\nobserved, seem evidently to be built after the design of the temple at\nJerusalem. Like this, they have their most holy place, the altar, and\ntheir holy place, choir; and the court outward from thence for the\nbody of the people.\" It is also somewhat remarkable that the only\nGentile people of old, among whom anything like Free Masonry was\nfound, were the Ionians, for whom we stated in a previous chapter some\nclaim an Israelitish ancestry. Their temples dedicated to Bacchus and\nother heathen deities, were built by lodges, who had secret signs,\netc., and conducted their affairs much after the manner of the masons\nof the middle ages.\n\nBut the strongest of all the supposed identifications of the two\nraces, stronger even than the religious phases of the subject, is the\npeculiar Mosaic tendency of the ancient Norseman's laws. So great is\nthe similarity that most writers on this subject have been greatly\npuzzled to account therefor. It is written, \"To those who have\nattentively studied the institutions of Moses, and compared them with\nthe Saxon, there must appear a similarity as will be apt to lead to\nthe conclusion that the Saxon commonwealth was thus framed, after\ntheir becoming acquainted with Christianity. This, however, does not\nappear to have been the case. They brought these institutions with\nthem into England, and left similar institutions among the people in\nthe north of Europe, with whom they had been from time immemorial.\nLimited monarchy, constitutional law, and representative government,\nan efficient civil police, and trial by jury, are among the most\nimportant legacies left the English nation by their Anglo-Saxon\nforefathers, and these may all be easily traced to an Israelitish\norigin. And to this origin they have been traced * * * even by those\nwho were obliged, in rather an unphilosophical way, to account for the\nconnection.\"\n\nAmong the Anglo-Saxons the theory of their constitution seems to have\nbeen, that every ten men or heads of families, should choose one from\namong them, to act for them in the council of their little community,\nconsisting generally of ten such compartments or wards. Ten of these\nwards formed a tything or parish. And ten of these tithings formed a\nhundred, the elders of which, thus chosen, were supposed to meet for\nthe management of matters belonging to the ten tithings in general;\nwhile each tything took charge of the affairs that especially belonged\nto itself. The county which was still more extensive corresponded to\nthe tribe in Israel. The word county or compte seems to be derived\nfrom the Hebrew word signifying to rise up, to stand--and refers to\nthe rod or ensign of the tribe to which they congregated themselves in\nthe large assemblies of the people. * * * The nation of Israel we have\nseen, were, at an earlier period of their history, given proper rules\nfor their association, such as were equally adapted for a small\nsociety or for a large one. The people were given to have a mutual\noversight of each other in tens; each ten had one who represented and\nacted for them. See 1st chapter of Deuteronomy: \"So I [Moses] took the\nchiefs of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over\nyou, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds and captains\nover fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.\"\n\nThe law of primogeniture, so prevalent in different degrees among the\nnations overrun by the Goths and Vandals, and their kinsmen, strikes\nus as being a relic of Mosaic law. According to Hebrew law, the first\nborn son received a double portion of his father's estate. The English\nlaw greatly resembles this. It would almost appear that this double\nportion was conferred, among the Hebrews, on the oldest male child, to\ncompensate in some degree for the loss of the Priesthood held by him\nof right in patriarchal days, but under the Mosaic dispensation vested\nin the house of Aaron, so far as the lesser Priesthood called after\nhis name is concerned, while the higher or Melchizedec Priesthood\nappears, after the days of Moses until the coming of Christ, only to\nhave been held by a certain favored few, who because of their\nrighteousness were endowed with this special measure of Divine favor.\n\nWith a certain class of scientists, the language of a people has great\nweight in determining its origin. This test has been applied to the\nlanguage of the Anglo-Saxons, and it has been found that a number of\nHebrew words exist almost unaltered in our modern English tongue. On\nthis point, the author of \"Our Israelitish Origin\" writes: \"As to\nlanguage, it is granted, that this, of itself could not identify a\npeople, or distinguish Israel, for example, from the Canaanites. * * *\nStill it may be expected that a sufficiency would remain of the\nHebrew, to tell of this people's (the Saxon's) acquaintance therewith;\nand such is the case. It has been observed by linguists, that a very\ngreat deal of the ancient language of Israel exists in the modern\nlanguages of Europe, and that it is through a Gothic medium that this\nplentiful supply of Hebrew has come. So much have these languages been\nthrown into a Hebrew mould that a French abbe has lately proposed to\nmake use of the Hebrew as a grand key to these languages.\"\n\nAnother writer, referring to Mr. Wilson's statements, remarks: [A]\n\"There is no reason to doubt that in common with the wave of nations\nspeaking the Indo-Germanic dialects, which overflowed Europe on the\nbreaking up of the Roman empire, the Anglo-Saxons came from the\nZend-speaking districts of Asia. And while Mr. Wilson adduces reasons\nfrom the language of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes, for believing that a\nlong and intimate association had existed between these people and the\nPersians before the former moved westward, he also proves the\nexistence of a large admixture of Hebrew words in the language of the\nAnglo-Saxons, and not the least in the Scottish branch of that people.\nIn this he sets a proof of the descent of these people from the\nIsraelitish tribes that were removed by the kings of Nineveh, from\ntheir native land, and planted in the cities of Media and Persia. They\nhad retained, in their new abode, much of their Hebrew mother-tongue,\nwhile gradually adopting the Zend as the body of their new language.\nAn additional and most important confirmation of Mr. Wilson's idea has\nbeen supplied by Prof. C. P. Smyth. This is seen in the circumstance\nthat the Anglo-Saxons possessed a metrology [B] corresponding exactly,\nas far as it extended, with the metrology common to the temple of\nJerusalem and the great pyramid.\"\n\n[Footnote A: \"Ethnic Inspiration\" by Rev. J. T. Goodsir.]\n\n[Footnote B: Metrology--the science of measures]\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n_Salvation a Gift to All--God's Covenant with Abraham-Proselytes-The\nDispersion--Conclusion_.\n\nBefore proceeding further we wish to remark that we trust no one will\nimagine, from reading these chapters, that we believe that the literal\ndescendants of Abraham will be the only ones saved in the kingdom of\nGod. To the contrary we are fully aware that God has made of one blood\nall the nations of the earth, and realize that all men of every clime\nand age, may be partakers of the priceless blessings resulting to\nfallen humanity from the infinite sacrifice on Calvary. We also firmly\nbelieve that within the scope of the gospel covenant are provisions,\nand ways and means, by which the obedient of all races become the\nrecognized children of Abraham, and heirs, by adoption, to all the\nGod-given promises to that Patriarch. John the Baptist told the\ndegenerate Jews of his day who were boasting of their Abrahamic\ndescent, that of the very stones in the roadway, if it so pleased Him,\nGod could raise up children unto Abraham. All we claim for Israel, no\nmore, no less, is the fulfillment of God's covenant with the father of\nthe faithful, which covenant modern revelation lays before us in the\nfollowing language:\n\n\"My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from beginning; therefore my\nhand shall be over thee [Abraham] and I will make of thee a great\nnation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great\namong all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after\nthee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood\nunto all nations, and I will bless them through thy name; for as many\nas receive this gospel, shall be called after thy name, and shall be\naccounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father;\nand I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee,\nand in thee (that is in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy\nPriesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall\ncontinue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the\nliteral seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the\nearth be blessed, even with the blessings of the gospel, which are the\nblessings of salvation, even of life eternal.\" (Book of Abraham.)\n\nFrom this we learn that it has been covenanted by the Eternal One,\nthat Abraham's seed shall bear the message and ministry of God's grace\nto all nations, and that through him and his seed all the families of\nthe earth shall be blessed with the blessings of the gospel which,\nthrough obedience, brings salvation and eternal lives; also as many as\nreceive the gospel shall be called after his (Abraham's) name, shall\nbe accounted his seed, and shall rise up and bless him as their\nfather.\n\nThis last mentioned portion of the covenant was well understood by the\nJews and acted upon by them, even though they had cringed from\nobedience to the fullness of the gospel, and were living under a\nlesser law of bondage and carnal commandments. The manner in which the\nIsraelites received and treated proselytes is certainly not one of the\nleast interesting features of their policy and history, and may here\nbe glanced at, without wandering far from the question under\nconsideration.\n\nThere appears to have been two classes of proselytes recognized among\nthe ancient Jews. The first, known as Proselytes of Righteousness, or\nProselytes of the Covenant, became perfect Israelites, and, according\nto the Talmud, were admitted to the household of Abraham by\ncircumcision and baptism. The other class were termed Proselytes of\nthe Gate (\"the stranger that is within thy gate.\") It is said converts\nof this class were not bound by circumcision and the other special\nlaws of the Mosaic code. It was enough for such to observe the\nprecepts against idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed, uncleanness and\ntheft, and of obedience, also, to that precept against eating \"flesh\nwith the blood thereof.\" Of this latter class were converts who\nembraced Judaism for other than the purest motives; for instance, for\nthe sake of a lover, a husband or a wife, to court favor and\npromotion, or in dread of some calamity or threatened judgment. Such\nconverts were regarded by the Jews of old very much in the same manner\nas their counterparts are regarded among the Latter-day Saints. Again,\nthe Jews sometimes spread their faith with the same weapons as those\nwith which they had defended it. The Idumeans, after their conquest by\nJohn Hyrcanus, had the alternative of death, exile or circumcision\noffered to them. They chose the latter. The Iturians were converted\n(?) in the same way by Aristobolus. In the days of Jesus, when the\nlight of truth shone but dimly in the Jewish creed, and the vices of\nthe degenerate Jews had been engrafted on those of the profligate\nheathen, the Savior cried, \"Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees,\nhypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and\nwhen he is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than\nyourselves.\" (_Matt. xxiii: 13_.)\n\nThere is one factor that tended greatly to the diffusion of\nIsraelitish blood, that we have scarcely noticed, as it relates far\nmore largely to Judah than to Ephraim. We refer to those who remained\nsettled in foreign countries after the return of the Jews from the\nBabylonian captivity, and during the period of the second temple. At\nthe beginning of the Christian era the dispersed were divided into\nthree great sections, the Babylonian, the Syrian, and the Egyptian.\nFrom Babylon the Jews spread through Persia, Media and Parthia. The\nGreek conquests in Asia extended the limits of this dispersion. Large\nsettlements of the children of Judah were established in Cyprus, and\non the western coast of Asia Minor. These latter, to a very\nunfortunate extent, adopted the Greek language and Greek ideas. In\nAfrica, Alexander and Ptolemy I. established large colonies of Jews at\nAlexandria, not far from which place a temple was erected to Jehovah\nafter the order of that at Jerusalem. From Alexandria the Jews spread\nout over the coasts of northern and eastern Africa. How greatly the\nJews had become scattered in the time of Christ, may be judged from\nthe devout men who came up to worship and keep the passover at\nJerusalem, and who listened to the preaching of Peter on the day of\nPentecost. They are stated to have been Parthians, Medes, Elamites\n(Persians), dwellers in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,\nPhrygia, Pamphilia, Egypt, Cyrene (Tripoli), Cretes, Arabians, Romans,\nJews and proselytes.\n\nThere is also another view of the subject, which we are not prepared\nto enlarge upon in this article, but which bears the weight of\nabundant proof. It is, that the Latter-day Saints have been, and are\ntoday, fulfilling the work that it has been oft foretold Ephraim and\nhis fellows should do. Then, if we are doing the work, and claim that\nwe are they who should do it, and it being impossible to invalidate\nour assumption, is not our claim worthy of thoughtful consideration\nand average respect? God has declared that He will make of His\nlatter-day Israel a nation of kings and priests. In former\ndispensations (except that lesser authority among the Jews given to\nthe house of Aaron) the Priesthood was conferred upon the few, it was\nan honor of the highest kind; but in the dispensation of the fullness\nof times, the whole people are to be a race of kings and priests, and\nnot less honorable because of the multitude. To our mind this is a\ngreat proof that that people will be of Ephraim. There is a cause for\nall God's promises--there is one for this. In the order of the higher\nlaw, the Priesthood belongs to the first-born. Ephraim is God's\nadopted first-born in all the races of mankind, therefore, by right of\nthat adoption, they are a nation of priests--priests of God after the\norder of Melchisedek, under Jesus our Redeemer, the Savior of the\nworld.\n\nTo conclude, we believe that there is scarcely a people or nation\nunder heaven in which is not to be found some of the blood of Abraham,\nleavening with the promised seed all the families of the earth. And\nthis chosen generation will, by right of kindred, administer to all\npeople the word of God, and as saviors will they stand upon Mount\nZion, drawing all men unto the great Savior of our race, who will\nstand in their midst, on the right hand of the Father, crowned and\nexalted as King of kings, and Lord of lords, the great Apostle and\nHigh Priest of our salvation. Truly the Lord is fulfilling His\npromises, Israel has blossomed and budded and filled the earth with\nfruit, but in the great future He will do it yet more abundantly and\ngloriously.","title":"Are We of Israel?","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":15816}