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The Lost Tribes and the Return of the Jews to England

Albert M. Hyamson

<plain_text><page sequence="1">THE LOST TRIBES AND THE RETURN OF THE JEWS TO ENGLAND. (Read before the Society on May 18, 1903.) By ALBERT M. HYAMSON. With the death of Solomon, the short-lived greatness and splendour of his kindgom passed away, and the golden age of Israel took up its position in the long procession of historical periods. The coalescence between north and south had never been complete, except perhaps in the time of David, and as a result of Solomon's exasperating partiality towards Judah, Rehoboam had to content himself with the allegiance of the south, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. In the north the standard of rebellion was successfully raised by Jeroboam, an officer who had been expelled by the great and wise king, and out of the territories of the ten remaining tribes Jeroboam built for him? self, and, as he hoped, for his descendants, a new kingdom.1 The two kingdoms, those of Israel the rebel and Judah the loyal, found, however, the same fate, and the captivity of Judah followed on that of her northern neighbour.2 The career of the Jews, the inhabitants of Judah, can be traced ^without difficulty through the subsequent centuries until the present day. Of that of the Israelites, however, nothing authentic is known after their departure from their fatherland to Halah and Habor by the river of Gozan, and the cities of the Medes.3 With the beginning of their captivity they seem to have passed from human knowledge, and the mystery of the Lost Tribes has almost from that day to this been the lodestone that has attracted and bewildered students of many 1 1 Kings xii. 20. 2 2 Kings xxv. Israel feil in 721 B.C., Judah in 586 B.c. 3 2 Kings xviii. 11. 115</page><page sequence="2">116 THE LOST TRIBES. races and varied beliefs. The total absence of all evidence of their fate has cleared the ground for innumerable theories, and the Tribes have at one time or another been located in every district of the earth's surface; no race has escaped the honour, or the sus? picion, of being descended from the subjects of Jeroboam. The discovery of the Lost Tribes has, at different times, been announced in all the continents, and it has even been suggested that they were involved in the destruction of Atlantis. In China, in Tartary, in Afghanistan, in the Sahara, indisputable proofs of their settlement have been produced. In succession, we have been assured, the English, the Irish, the North American Indians, and the Hottentots are of Hebrew descent. On the other hand, some modern authorities deny that there was, in any real sense, a " loss" of the Ten Tribes at all. The present purpose, however, is not to discuss the various theories relating to the fate of the Ten Tribes, nor to follow any of their discoverers along their marvellous itineraries. Neither the time nor the occasion is available. I shall attempt to limit myself to exposing the hold that some of these theories had obtained on the minds of Englishmen during the first half of the seventeenth century, and to showing to how great an extent they assisted Menasseh ben Israel and Oarvajal in their endeavours to secure the resettlement of the Jews, not the Israelites, in this country. Before, however, we deal with the subject proper, passing allusion may be made to the references in early English literature to the kingdom of Gog and Magog, shut up, according to varying versions by Moses or Alexander, in the Caspians. It was in this neighbourhood that George Sandys, in the account of his travels in the East in 1610, locates the Lost Tribes.1 Sir John Maundeville, whose alleged travels are said to have occupied the years 1322 to 1357, connects Gog and Magog with the Israelites, and in the account of his journeys that has come down to us he states that they, the Tribes, were shut up between two mountain ranges in Scythia, and were to remain there until the end of the world.2 This early reference is of so much interest that a quotation from 1 Sandys' Travels, London, 1673, p. 111. 2 J. 0. Halliwell's edition, 1866, pp. 265 et seq.</page><page sequence="3">THE LOST TEIBES. 117 this mysterious author will perhaps be pardoned. In chap. xxvi. of his travels he writes: "In that same regioun ben the Mountaynes of Caspye, that men clepen Uber in the Contree. Betwene tho Moun? taynes, the Jewes of 10 Lynages ben enclosed, that men clepen Gothe and Magothe : and thei mowe not gon out on no syde. There weren enclosed 22 Kynges with hire peple, that duelleden betwene the Mountaynes of Sythye. There Kyng Alisandre chacede hem betwene tho Mountaynes; and there he thoughte for to enclose hem thorghe werk of his men. But whan he saughe, that he myghte not don it, ne bryng it to an ende, he preyed to God of Nature, that he wolde parforme that that he had beg?nne. And alle were it so, that he was a Payneme, and not worthi to ben herd, zit God of his grace closed the Mountaynes to gydre: so that thei dwellen there, alle faste y lokked and enclosed with highe Mountaynes alle aboute, saf only on o syde; and on that syde is the See of Caspye. Now may sum men asken, Sithe that the See is on that o syde, w^herfore go thei not out on the See syde, for to go where that hem lykethe % But to this questioun, I schal answere, That See of Caspye gothe out be Londe, undre the Mountaynes, and rennethe be the Desert at o syde of the Contree; and aftre it strecchethe unto the endes of Persie. And alle thoughe it be clept a See, it is no See, ne it touchethe to non other See: but it is a Lake, the grettest of the World. And thoughe thei wolden putten hem in to that See, thei ne wysten never, where that thei scholde arryven. And also thei conen no Langage, but only hire owne, that no man knowethe but thei: and therfore mowe thei not gon out. And also zee schulle undirstonde, that the Jewes han no propre Lond of hire owne for to dwellen inne, in alle the World, but only that Lond betwene the Mountaynes. And zit thei zelden Tribute for that Lond to the Queen of Amazoine, the whiche makethe hem to ben kept in cloos f?lle diligently, that thei schalle not gon out on no syde, but be the Cost of hire Lond. For hire Lond marchethe to tho Mountaynes. And often it hathe befallen, that s?me of the Jewes han gon up the Mountaynes, and avaled down to the Yaleyes; but gret nombre of folk ne may not do so. For the Mountaynes ben so hye and so streghte up, that thei moste abyde there, maugre hire Myghte. For thei mowe not gon out, but be a littille issue, that was made be strengthe of men; and it lastethe wel</page><page sequence="4">118 THE LOST TRIBES. a 4 grete Myle. And aftre, is there zit a Lond allo Desert, where men may fynde no Watre, ne for dyggynge, ne for non other thing. Wherfore men may not dwellen in that place: so is it f?lle of Dragounes, of Serpentes, and of other venymous Bestes, that no man dar not passe, but zif it be strong Wyntre. And that streyt passage, men clepen in that Oontree, Clyron. And that is the passage, that the Queen of Amazoine makethe to ben kept. And thoghe it happene, sum of hem, be Fortune, to gon out; thei conen no maner of Langage but Ebrow : so that thei can not speke to the peple. And zit nathe less, men seyn, thei schalle gon out in the tyme of Antecrist, and that thei schulle maken gret slaughtre of Cristene men. And ther fore alle the Jewes, that dwellen in alle Londes, lernen alle weys to speken Ebrew, in hope that whan the other Jewes schulle gon out, that thei may undirstonden hire Speche, and to leden hem in to Cristendom, for to destroye the Cristene peple. For the Jewes seyn, that they knowen wel, be hire Prophecyes, that thei of Caspye schulle gon out and spreden thorghe out alle the World; and that the Cristene men schulle ben undre hire Subieccioun, als longe as thei han ben in subieccioun of hem. And zif that zee wil wyte, how that thei schulle fynden hire Weye, aftre that I have herd seye, I schalle teile zou. In the time of Antecrist, a Fox schalle make there his trayne, and mynen an hole, where Kyng Alisandre leet make the Zates: and so longe he schalle mynen, and perce the Erthe, til that he schalle passe thorghe, towardes that folk. And whan thei seen the Fox, thei schulle have gret marveylle of him, be cause that thei saughe never suche a Best. For of alle othere Bestes, thei han enclosed amonges hem, saf only the Fox. And thanne thei schullen chacen him and pursuen him so streyte, tille that he come to the same place that he cam fro. And thanne thei schullen dyggen and mynen so strongly, tille that thei fynden the Zates, that Kyng Alisandre leet make of grete Stones and passynge huge, wel symented and made stronge for the maystrie. And tho Zates thei schulle breken, and so gon out, be fyndynge of that issue." A still more interesting account, inasmuch as it is the earliest known reference to the Lost Tribes theories by an English writer, is that given by Matthew Paris under the year 1241. The period was that of the Crusades, and Europe was trembling before the</page><page sequence="5">THE LOST TEIBES. 119 first threatening incursion of the Infidels. The Emperor had sent his two sons, Henry and Conrad, to bar the advance of the Tartars and Cumanians, whom, despite the overwhelming forces opposed to them, they succeeded in defeating. " But before it (the enemy) retreated, a circumstance occurred, which proceeded from the trickery of the Jews, who thought that these enemies of ours were a portion of their Jewish race, who had been shut up in the Caspian mountains, and had therefore come to assist them, for the subversion of Chris? tianity; and this enormous wickedness we have thought proper to insert in this work. During all this time, numbers of the Jews on the continent, and especially those belonging to the empire, thinking that these Tartars and Cumanians were a portion of their race, whom God had, at the prayers of Alexander the Great, shut up in the Caspian mountains, assembled on a general summons in a secret place, where one of their number, who seemed to be the wisest and most influential amongst them, thus addressed them: 4 My brothers, seed of the illustrious Abraham, vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth, whom our God Adonai has permitted to be so long oppressed under Christian rule, now the time has arrived for us to liberate ourselves, and by the judgment of God to oppress them in our turn, that the remnant of Israel may be saved. For our brethren of the tribes of Israel, who were formerly shut up, have gone forth to bring the whole world to subjection to them and to us. And the more severe and more lasting that our former suffering has been, the greater will be the glory that will ensue to us. Let us therefore go to meet them with valuable gifts, and receive them with the highest honour: they are in need of corn, wine, and arms.'" Matthew then proceeds to relate how the Jews acted upon these suggestions, and immediately bought up all the arms and armour available, concealing them in casks for the purpose of passing them as wine. " They then openly told the Christian chiefs, under whose dominion they were, that these people, commonly called Tartars, were Jews, and would not drink wine unless made by Jews, and of this they have informed us, and with great earnestness have begged to be supplied with some wine made by us, their brethren. We, however, desiring to remove from amongst us these our inhuman public enemies, and to release you Christians from their impending tyrannical devastation, have</page><page sequence="6">120 the lost tribes. prepared about thirty casks full of deadly intoxicating wine, to be carried to them as soon as possible." 1 The story was believed, but the truth discovered by accident, and as Prynne, who quotes the story with relish in his Short Demurrer, gleefully remarks: " There? upon the Jews were delivered to Tormentors, to be perpetually im? prisoned, and slain with their own swords." 2 Before, however, we go further into the subject, I should like to recount the story of the sons of Moses, who were by many believed to be inhabitants of the lands on the other side of the mysterious river Sambation. The legend was known to English writers long before the Resettlement, and through them, by means of popular publications, to the reading public. Of these, the first post-Biblical history of the Jews read by the common people of Europe was Joseph ben Gorion. The earliest edition of Peter Morwyng's translation appeared in 1558, although no copy earlier than one dated 1561 appears in the British Museum catalogue. Of this work numerous subsequent editions were issued to satisfy the demand to know some? thing of the Jewish people, that was created by the Reformation and the translation of the Bible into English, and frequently recurred from that date to the Resettlement. Morwyng's translation includes in the appendix entitled "The tenne captivities of the Jewes," the following account of the sons of Moses. The date of their first appearance on the scene was that of the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the destruction of the Temple. Morwyng was very exact in his computation of the numbers engaged on that event? ful occasion, for he mentions that exactly 900,001 of the inhabitants of the Holy City were slain at its sack. Coming to the sons of Moses, however, he relates: " The Leuits stoode singing a song whiles slaughter was made of them, but they were not able to finish it, before the enemies entred the Temple, and found them standing in their place, with Harpes in theyr hands. Therfore he carried away in this captiuity the Leuites which were of the seede of Moses 6 cm., whom when the Gentiles had brought unto the Riuers of Babylon, they 1 J. A. Giles's translation, vol. i. pp. 356-8. The information contained in these extracts was obtained by the author from the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor, a French ecclesiastic, who lived in the twelfth century. 2 Page 18.</page><page sequence="7">THE LOST TRIBES. 121 demaunded of the Jewes, Sing vs a song of Sion. And by and by they gnawed of the tops of their fingers with their teeth, saying, Howe shal we sing the song of the Lorde in a strange land ? And the blessed Lord seeing that they wold not sing a song he loosed them &amp; placed them on the further side of Sambatia."1 Morwyng suggests, in the title-page of this work, that he translated it from the Hebrew original. Unfortunately, as Mr. Lucien Wolf has pointed out,2 Sebastian Miinster's Historiariwn Josephi, an abridged transla? tion of the original, appeared just before Morwyng's was written, and our author, who was in exile in Germany at the time, follows this abridgment in every detail. One must infer, therefore, that Morwyng trusted to his knowledge of Latin rather than to the limited acquaintance with Hebrew that he possessed. Howell, a later re? puted translator of Josippon, adopted Morwyng's translation, merely changing the name of the translator on the title-page. It is interest? ing also to notice that the opinion held in England of the sixteenth century was that Josephus and Joseph ben Gorion (Josippon) were the same person, the writings of the former being intended " for them that desire to vnderstand of the feates of the Romanes in the tyme of that age," those of the latter for the amusement and instruc? tion of the Jews.3 The Sambatyon legends were not without their influence on Menasseh ben Israel, who mentions the river in his Hope of Israel. " Lastly," he says, " all thinke, that part of the ten Tribes dwell beyond the River Sabbathian or sabbaticall." 4 To him the river had a real existence. He quotes numerous authorities in support of his view; among others, Josephus, who mentions that the river was seen by Titus, and as a final and overwhelming proof, Menasseh ben Israel points to the testimony of an hour-glass containing some of the waters of the river, that seemed to preserve its miraculous properties. " And I heard the same from my father," continues Menasseh, " which testimony I account as good, as if I saw it my selfe; (for fathers do not use to impose upon their sons). He told me that there was an 1 1593 edition. 2 Josippon in English, Jetvish Chronicle, August 23, 1889. 3 Morwyng's translation, 1575 edition. 4 Mr. Wolfs edition, 1901, p. 35.</page><page sequence="8">122 THE LOST TRIBES. Arabian at Lisborn, who had such an hour-glasse; and that every Friday at evening he would walk in the street called the new street, and shew this glasse to Jewes who counterfeited Christianity, and say, Ye Jewes, shut up your shops, for now the Sabbath comes. Another worthy of credit, told me of another hour-glasse, which he had some years before, before the Port Mysketa. The Cadi, or Judge, of that place, saw him by chance passing that way, and asked him, what it was ? he commanded it to be taken away; rebuking the Mahomitans, that by this, they did confirme the Jewish Sabbath."1 The next theory with which to deal is one that gained consider? able currency early in the seventeenth century, and served as an introduction to its successor, the American Indian, by which Menasseh ben Israel was especially attracted. The first English speculations as to the fate of the Lost Tribes, to be put into literary form, after those of Matthew Paris and Sir John Maundeville (concerning the real nationality of the latter there is some doubt, however), appear in " An essay upon some probable grounds that the present Tartars, near the Cyprian Sea, are the Posterity of the Ten Tribes of Israel," by Giles Fletcher (1549-1611). Although necessarily written previous to 1611, it was not published until sixty-six years later, when it appeared as the first part of Samuel Lee's Israel Redux. Previous to its publication it was, however, known to English writers, for the MS. of the essay was referred to by Thorowgood in his Jeices in America of 1650.2 In the preface to Israel Redux, addressed to the pious reader, Lee explains that, " Having obtained this manu? script of Dr. Fletcher's, from his Grand-son, Mr. Phineas Fletcher, a worthy citizen of London, together with his kind leave to pass it into Publick Light; give me I pray, the liberty of a line or two to acquaint thee, that this Author was a faithful Agent for Q. Elizabeth of Famous Memory, at the Pallace of the great Czar of Moschovy, and hath given us some fruits of his inquisitive travels in a Book of the State Affairs and customs of that large Dominion. Having also collected some Observations about the Tartars, Confining upon those Territories near the Caspian Sea, composed this ensuing Tract, endeavouring by some probabilities to evince, that they may be the Posterity of the 10 Tribes i Papre 37. 2 Page 39.</page><page sequence="9">THE LOST TRIBES. 123 of Israel, antiently carried Captives by Sahnanasser into the Northern Mountainous Crags of Assyria and Media, or at least, that they are at this day mixed among those Barbarous Nations, ingeniously leaving the full determination, to farther and future enquiries of Merchants and Travellers, to be discuss'd and argu'd among the Learned," Those fruits of his inquisitive travels to which his editor refers, caused some trouble to Dr. Fletcher, who was not treated with all the respect that the ambassador of this country might expect at the Court of Moscovia. His book, Of the Busse Common Wealth; or Manner of Government by the Russe Emperour (commonly called the Emperour of Moscovia) with the Manners and Fashions of the People of that Country, dedicated to Elizabeth, was hardly as diplomatic as might be expected from an ex-ambassador, and created consider? able alarm among the English merchants trading with the empire mentioned, and at their suggestion the book was immediately suppressed. Dr. Fletcher opens his essay on the Tartars or the Ten Tribes, with the remark that their fate and situation had often been questioned by divines,1 and after a little consideration he arrives at the conclusion that the likeliest place in which to find them is either in or near the localities in which they were originally planted.2 The conjecture of some divines that the descendants of the Tribes were to be found among the Alani, was " not only an improbable but a very absurd and gross opinion." 3 The Alani or Triballi were a European people, " and this passage and expedition through one Country into another, which was to be made through so many great Nations both of the upper and lower Asia, being impossible, at least unlikely to be passed over by all Stories which since have written in every Age." 4 He then proceeds to give a series of reasons for adopting the Tartar theory. First, he argued from the locality. Media, he said, extended far to the north-east of the Caspian, and the large territory since held by the Tartars was included in its limits.5 In Media, as in all other lands, there has been a Jewish question, and, on the revolt of Media from Esar-Haddon, the inhabitants of Media solved their particular problem, Dr. Fletcher suggests, by expelling the Israelites from their 1 Page 1. 2 Page 5. 3 Page 6. * Page 7. 5 Page 9.</page><page sequence="10">124 THE LOST TEIBES. territories.1 The exodus, therefore, was not voluntary, as is suggested in Esdras. The theorist also found great support in the alleged similarity in nomenclature. Samarchian, the most important town of the district, he likened to Samaria, the capital of the kingdom of Israel. Mount Tabor of Tartary, he said, resembled in situation and fortifications Mount Tabor of the land of Israel. Jericho was also to be found on the River Ardoce, near the Caspian Sea.2 Again, the Tartars were divided into ten tribes or Hords,3 just as the Israelites, and the Tartars themselves had a tradition of an Israelitish descent, Tamerlane himself boasting of his Danite ancestry.4 Then there were resemblances between the language of the Tartars and those of the Hebrews and Chaldeans. Certain Hebrew rites possessed by the natives of Central Asia were also called in evidence, and finally, according to the Apocalypse,5 the angel of the sixth vial is to prepare the passage for the kings of the East by drying up the Euphrates. This passage, he says,6 admittedly refers to the Israelites, for no Jews were settled beyond the Euphrates. Yet, as is and has been the fashion among many Lost Tribes theorists, Fletcher seems a little sus? picious of the veracity and reliability of Esdras, " whom I alledge not as authentick to confirm matters of faith and doctrine, but to illustrate as a story, this holy prophecy, which is here more obscurely set down by the apostle." 7 The next English book of interest to students of the subject under treatment was Edward Brerewood's Enquiries touching the Diversities of Language and Religion through the chief parts of the World, the first edition of which was published in the year 1614, a year after the author's death. In the course of his inquiries he devotes a chapter to " the Jews dispersed in several parts of the World," 8 and under the heading Jews includes the descendants of all the tribes. The Tartar theory is described by him as a " phantasie of many Learned men, not unworthy some diligent consideration,"9 and later, " which although it be, as I said, no other than a vain and capricious phantasie, yet, hath it, not only found acceptance and entertainment, with sundry learned and understanding men : but 1 Page 11. 2 Pages 12-13. 3 Page 16. 4 Page 21. 5 Rev. xvi. 12. 6 Page 23. 7 page 25. 8 Page 112. 9 Page 114.</page><page sequence="11">THE LOST TRIBES. 125 reason and authority are produced, or pretend to establish it for a truth."1 The reasons for the identification of the Tartars with the Israelites are quoted by Brerewood.2 Their name Tatari, or rather Totari, is in itself the Syriac or Hebrew for a residue or remainder inin in^n. They possess Jewish customs. The theory agrees with the oft-quoted passage in Esdras. With regard to the first, Brerewood points out3 that the name of the race was more probably derived from the River Tartar, and in support of that sug? gestion he quotes several authorities.4 Moreover, a remnant would hardly be the correct term with which to signify the Tartars, whose numbers certainly very considerably exceeded those of the Israelites or Jews. It was also suggested that the North American Indians were derived from the Tartars, and if that were so, it would increase still further the numbers of the alleged rem? nant. The Jewish rites and customs possessed by the Tartars were adopted with the introduction of Mahommedanism,5 and were only to be found among the Tartar tribes that had accepted Mahommed's teachings. Previous to their introduction the Tartars were not only altogether unconscious of the Mosaic Code, but positively transgressed, in ignorance presumably, many of the injunctions of Leviticus. More? over, " they have no records, nor regard of their ancestors and linage, from whom, or by whom, they are descended, whereof Israelites were ever curious." 6 According to Brerewood there was no affinity what? ever between the respective languages. Turning to " forged Esdras, which hath stirred up as it seemeth this vaporous phantasie. in the brains of new-fangled Antiquaries"6 ? Brerewood was himself a member of the Old Society of Antiquaries?he points out that the theory he was discussing did not agree with that authority, " nor, if it did, could yet the Circumstances of that History agree with the truth."6 Brerewood was also a member of that not unimportant band that expressed considerable doubt as to the value of Esdras as a history. According to that Apocryphal work, the tribes were "a peaceable people and . . . they left the multitude of the Heathen, that they might keep their Statutes, which they never kept in their own 1 Page 115. 2 Page 115. 3 Page 116. 4 Leunclavius, in Panel. Histor. Turc, ? 3 ; Haitho, de Tart., ch. 16. 5 Page 120. 6 Page 125.</page><page sequence="12">126 THE LOST TRIBES. Land.111 Our author points out that in neither respect do the Tartars agree, and with Tamerlane and his successors in our memory we must fain support him. Leaving the theory, Brerewood turns his attention to Esdras, whose account, he points out,2 is not in agreement with those related in Kings 3 and Chronicles.4 Of the last, according to certain Jewish authorities,5 Ezra is the reputed author, and he is therefore responsible for two incompatible statements. Moreover, in the time of Josephus the Tribes were still known to be beyond the Euphrates,6 and, at a still later date, that of the Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela,7 their descendants were to be found in the provinces of ancient Assyria. " But yet," continues Brerewood, " if there were neither authority of holy Scripture, nor experience to refell this Eable, and the fancies that have sprung of it; yet ordinary reason, at least of men that are not ignorant of Geography, and are meanly skilled in the affairs of the world, may easily discern the futility of it. For first, what need was there of such a miracle, as to stay the Course of Euphrates, for the Israelites passage from Assyria. or Media, toward Tartary, the Biver lying far to the West, both of the one Region and of the other, and no way crossing or impeaching their Journey, which lay Northward between that River and the Caspian Sea ? Or, how might those poor Captive Israelites, disarmed as they were, and dispersed in sundry Provinces of the Assyrian Empire, and being under the oversight and government of Assyrian Presidents, be able to leave the places, where by the King's Com mandement they were to inhabit ? Or, if the Israelites were able by force to depart, and free themselves from the Dominion of the King of Ashur, yet were they so wise also, as to forsake the places where they were peaceably settled, and venture their small remainders upon perils and uncertainties, namely, to find out a place where never mankind dwelt? Or, if their stomack served them so well, and their wit so ill, as in such manner to forsake Assyria, yet were they also able to make themselves a way (even a way as he saith of 18 Months passage) through the fierce and mighty Nations of Scythia, whom 1 Verses 39, 41. 2 Page 126. 3 II. xvii. 23. 4 I. v. 26. 5 R. Dav. Kimchi and R. Shelomo Abulens. 6 Antiquities, I. ii. c. 7 Pages 57-9, 70-8, 80-1, 86-7.</page><page sequence="13">THE LOST TRIBES. 127 neither the Conquerours of the Israelites, the Assyrians I mean, nor the Persians (and I might add also the Grecians and the Romans) were never able to subdue, but were in the after times subdued by them % for that the parts of Scytliia should be without Inhabitants (and in Scythia it must be where they would find that Country where never mankind dwelt, or else it is not in Tartary) is scarce credible, as whereof we read in Histories, to have contended with Egypt for Antiquity of Habitation, and to have prevailed, and for the abund? ance of people, to be termed Hominum Officina. Insomuch that the greatest occasion of swarming abroad of those Nations of Scytliia, and of their overwhelming of Asia and Europe, with their infinite multi? tudes and Colonies, is in Histories recorded, to be lack of room for habitation in their own Countries. " And lastly, to make an end of this tedious discourse, with the end of their imagined tedious Journey: what ancient Geographer or Historian is there (set our Esdras aside) that ever remembred of such a Region as Arsareth, where they are said to have seated them? selves. True it is indeed that I find the City of Arsaratha, mentioned both in Berosus fragments, and in Ptolomy, placed near the issue of the River Araxes into the Caspian Sea: and, it was perhaps one of the Israelitish Colonies, planted in the Confines of the Empire of Assyria: for it may well be that Arsaratha is but JTnKfc? T?JJ or rynKB? "in, that is, the City, or the Hill of the remainder: or perhaps rntf^ ptf (the last letter of the first word cut off in the Greek pronunciation for sounds sake) the Land of the remainder: but the tale of eighteen months Journey, will no more agree with this City, than the Region of Arsareth doth, with Geography or History. " So that methinks this forged story of the Israelites voyage and habitation, in such remote Regions where never Mankind dwelt, savoureth of the same phantastical and Talmudical spirit, that another tale of the same Author doth, touching the collection of all the Waters, into a seventh part of the Earth, the other six being left uncovered . . ."1 In 1652 James Howell (1594-1666), according to Mr. Sidney Lee " one of the earliest Englishmen who made a livelihood out of 1 Pages 129-32.</page><page sequence="14">128 THE LOST TRIBES. Literature,"1 published The Wonderful and most deplorable History of the Loiter Times of the Jews and of the City of Hierusalem. This was Josippon under a new name. Morwyng's translation, after running through many editions, had been deprived of its popularity by the other and more moving interests that engaged the attention of the people. The Civil Wars were now at an end, and at the same time the Jewish question was gaining prominence. The time seemed appropriate for a book about the Jews, and consequently Howell took Morwyng's work, substituted his own name on the title-page for that of his predecessor, and issued it as his own production. Howell had already set forth his impression concerning the Jews in various stray letters, an annotated edition of which was edited by Mr. Joseph Jacobs in 1890, under the title Epistolae Ho-Elianae. In two of these, especial reference was made to the Lost Tribes, the former addressed to the Lord Clifford at Knaresborough and dated June 3, 1633,2 and the latter to Dr. H. B., dated August 1, 1635.3 In these, as in most of his other works, Howell showed himself a diligent reader. The latter reference to which our attention is drawn was derived from the account of Sandys' Travels, with which we have already dealt,4 the former was an almost verbatim quotation from A Voyage into the Levant ... by Master H. B. (Henry Blunt), per? formed in 1634,5 the account of which was published in 1636. One of the objects of this journey, Blunt states in his opening pages, was " In some measure, to acquaint my selfe with those other sects which live under the Turkes, as Greekes, Armenians, EreinJcs, and Zinganaes, but especially the Iewes; a race from all others so averse both in nature and institution, as glorying to single it selfe out of the rest of mankinde remaines obstinate, contemptible, and famous."6 Howell's edition of Josippon was issued rather as a Royalist tract, as was admitted later in the dedication in a reissue published subse? quent to the Restoration,7 to point out to the citizens of London that just as Jerusalem had been ruined by sedition, so would London suffer the same fate in consequence of her adhesion to the Puritans. The body of the work does not deal with the subject that we have 1 Diet, of Nat. Biog. 2 Page 312. 3 Page 383. 4 Page 114. 5 Page 121. 6 Page 2. 7 In 1684.</page><page sequence="15">THE LOST TRIBES. 129 m hand In the Epistle Dedicatory, however, Howell mentioned that the Jews of his day did not know what had become of the Tribes but still believed that they had never become apostates. "Some there are," he says, "and those of the best rank of Learned men, who hold that the Tartars of Scythia, who about the year 1200,' or a little before, became first known to the rest of the World by that name, and hold at this day a great part of Asia in subjection, are of the Israelites progeny." He then proceeds to produce certain so-called proofs, with the nature of which we are by this time well acquainted. The theory is also mentioned by Basnage, who is invariably most sceptical and suspicious whenever lost tribes are men? tioned. Menasseh ben Israel, "one of the Wisest Doctors of the Nation," he relates,1 asserted that the Tribes passed into Tartary and settled there, especially in the Province of Thabor, according to Basnage, confounded by him with the Ohabor of Isaiah xlix. 12. Authorities previous to Menasseh, however, adopted the same view. Of all the various theories that were more or less current in this country during the sixteenth century, by far the most important, inasmuch as it was more carefully considered and discussed than any rival, was that which derived the American Indians from the Ten Tribes. This theory found no acceptance whatever in Jewish circles before the time of Menasseh ben Israel. Its evolution was entirely due to European (especially Spanish) settlers in America, but it obtained so wide a credence, and was adopted to so great an extent in this country at the time, that, in addition to being the direct cause of Menasseh's book, The Hope of Israel, dedicated by him to the English Parliament, it undoubtedly, at a time when the Jewish question had become a matter of practical politics in this country, drew still further attention to the Jews, and exerted influence in favour of the Return. The literature on the subject is very abundant, and to be found in many languages. With the possible exception of the British Israel theory, the supply of pamphlets relating to which seems to be inex? haustible, on no other Lost Tribes theory has so much ink and paper i VI. ?i 1. t VOL. V.</page><page sequence="16">13() THE LOST TRIBES. been expended. One advocate, Viscount Kingsborougb (1795-1837), bad bis attention attracted to the subject by the sight of a Mexican MS. in tbe Bodleian Library. In order to devote himself more thoroughly to his new pursuit he resigned all other interests. In support of his Lost Tribes theory he issued to the world his magni? ficently produced and illustrated Antiquities of Mexico: comprising Facsimiles of Ancient Mexican Paintings and Hieroglyphics, preserved in the Royal Libraries of Paris, Berlin, and Dresden; in the Imperial Library of Vienna; in the Vatican Library; in the Borgian Museum at Rome ; in the Library of the Institute of Bologna; and in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Together with the Monuments of Neio Spain, by M. Dupaix: with their respective scale of measurement and accompany? ing descriptions. The whole illustrated by many valuable inedited manuscripts by Augustine Aglio (1830-48). This work was in nine volumes and a portion of a tenth, each containing more than five hundred pages, and measuring about two feet by one. So ponderous are these volumes, that the British Museum authorities will not issue them to readers, and the student desiring to consult them must do so near their shelves. The book cost Kingsborougb upwards of ?32,000, his reason, and his life. Laden with debt, he was arrested at the suit of a paper manufacturer, and died in prison, a victim of the Lost Tribes. For the ordinary mortal his work is unreadable. It is too immense. Mrs. Barbara Anne Simon, however, evidently went through it, for'her book, The Ten Tribes of Israel, published in 1836, consists entirely of an abstract of Lord Kingsborough's more detailed narrative. To those curious as to the alleged Israelitish ancestry of the wild man of the prairies and the pampas, Mrs. Simon's work on the subject will be more than satisfying. The Spanish historians, mostly ecclesiastics, who dealt with the alleged Israelitish origin of the inhabitants of the New World, ranged themselves in two schools. The one hailed the new subjects of Spain as the progeny of Israel. The other, while admitting the existence of certain Hebrew practices and customs among the natives, suggested Satan as their source. ?Satan had counterfeited in this People (whom he had chosen for himself), the history, manners, customs traditions, and expectations of the Hebrews, in order that their minds might thus be rendered inaccessible to the faith, which he foresaw</page><page sequence="17">THE LOST TRIBES. 131 the church would in due time introduce amongst them!"1 In the former school were to be found Las Casas, Sahagun, Boturini, Garcia, Gumilla, Beneventa, and Peter Martyr. In the latter, the advocates of Satan, were included Torquemada, Herrera, Gomara, Acosta, Cor tez, D'Olmes, and Diaz. Mrs. Simon suggests, I know not on what authority, that most of these Jesuits were of Jewish descent.2 The discovery of Judaism in America, according to the Antiquities of Mexico, was the cause of the delay of three years before Catholic priests were sent to the New World.3 " The real cause/' it continues '' might have been a wish to avoid scandal, and to have time to root out, with the secular arm, some traces of Judaism, which could not fail to strike a clerical order of men, however they might have been passed over unheeded by the military followers of Cortes. . . . It is a curious fact that many obscure passages of Scripture may be eluci? dated by referring to the works of Torquemada, Gomara, and Acosta." 4 As illustrative of the views of the Spanish advocates of the Israelitish descent of the natives of America, we may accept the opinions expressed by Gregorio Garcia, in his Origen de los Indios, published in 1607.5 By him, that view is stated to have been generally adopted by the unlettered multitude, although not so universally by scholars. It is of course based on the well-known passage in Esdras, and the apparent difficulty of the passage of the Pacific from Asia to the New World, is explained by the suggestions that either the two continents were joined where the Behring Straits are now situated, or that the width of the sea to be traversed at that point was then inconsiderable. Once on American soil, it would be comparatively easy for the wanderers to make their way southward.6 So long a distance from the starting-place in Media would be necessary, since the object of the exiles was to reach an uninhabited land. Of course Garcia admits that the view was also held that the Israelites never left Media, but, replied the Spanish ecclesiastic, a statement that was at variance with Esdras was unworthy of 1 The Ten Tribes of Israel, by Mrs. Simon, p. 1. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. p. 18 ; Antiquities of Mexico, vol. vi. p. 330. 4 Ibid. p. 19 ; Antiquities of Mexico, vol. vi. p. 330. 5 Book III. pp. 79-128. 6 Page 81,</page><page sequence="18">132 THE LOST TRIBES. consideration. A further question of his is unanswerable. "Must not Mexico be included in the direct declaration of God, that he would scatter the Jews over all the earth ?" The author quotes a long catalogue of similarities between the Jews and Americans in point of character, dress, religion, physical peculiarities, conditions, and customs. In order to make the parallels more remarkable, he bestows upon the Jews many unfavourable qualities that they are not universally admitted to possess. Sometimes, however, in his Jesuitical eagerness to prove his case, his arguments are hardly reconcilable. For example, in one instance he accuses both American Indians and Jews of uncleanliness, while a little later he attempts to prove their identity by mentioning that both races were accustomed to frequent bathing. Another analogy he finds in the ingratitude of the Jews for the many benefits conferred upon them by the Deity, and the ingratitude of the Indians for all that they owed to the Spaniards. To the objection that the Jews were physically and intellectually the finest race in the world, while the Americans were the lowest, Garcia replies that the best type of Jews was represented by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who did not go to the New World. Other objections he demolishes in a similar manner until, tiring of the discussion, he quotes the convenient theory of a special act of God in reply to all criticisms. He is not satisfied, however, with calling the Deity as a witness on his behalf. Satan is also pressed into his service. To the inquiry, What has become of the Hebrew tongue that the descendants of the Tribes should possess ? he replies that in the first place the language has gradually changed, as is the universal experience among other races; secondly, there are many traces of Hebrew in the American languages; thirdly, the devil prompted the Americans to learn new tongues in order to secure them from receiving instruction in Christianity. Fortunately, how? ever, the missionary became acquainted with these new and strange tongues, and thus cheated the Evil One.1 Any one of the three explanations might perhaps be accepted. Taken together, however, they appear to be mutually destructive. Supporters of the theory were drawn from all directions. Argu 1 Pages 119-23.</page><page sequence="19">THE LOST TRIBES. 133 merits and analogies are quoted in profusion by the various advocates of the American Israel theory, in support of which even a reference to scalping is found in the Book of Psalms (lxviii. 21). To the English public the theory was introduced by the publication in 1650 of Jewes in America, or Probabilities that the Americans are of that Race, by Thomas Thorowgood, B.D., one of the Assembly of Divines. The intention of the work was to draw the attention of the benevo? lent public to the remarkable missionary efforts of the Rev. John Eliot, " the Indian Apostle," and to profit by the friendly interest in Jewish affairs aroused among English people to induce their financial support of Mr. Eliot's untiring efforts. The book was written in 1648, and dedicated to the king, but the renewal of the Civil War prevented its publication. In the meanwhile the proof sheets were submitted to John Dury or Durie, the Puritan divine who when in Amsterdam had met Menasseh ben Israel, and had heard certain stories concerning the Israelitish origin of the natives of the Western Hemisphere, and especially the relation of Antonio Montezinos alias Aaron Levy. This was to the effect that when travelling in South America he had discovered the retreat in the Cordilleras of a tribe that, in his opinion, was undoubtedly de? scended from Reuben. Montezinos had supported, in an affidavit executed before the heads of the Amsterdam congregation, this curious story of his discovery of this Israelitish tribe, and, in response to the request of Durie, Menasseh immediately sent him a copy of the affidavit, which was printed as an appendix to Thorow good's book under the heading, "The Relation of Master Antonie Montezinos, translated out of the French Copie sent by Manaseh Ben Israel" The appendix concludes with the following testimony: " I, Manasseh Ben Israel underwritten, beare witnesse, that this present paper hath been coppied with the whole truth of the originall, and that the Author, Montezinos, is a vertous man and separate from all manner of worldly interests; and that hee swore in my presence that all that which he declared was a truth." The text of this rela? tion appears in full in the valuable work on Menasseh ben Israel for which this society and the reading public is indebted to Mr. Lucien Wolf. The incorporation of " The Relation " in Thorowgood's work was</page><page sequence="20">134 THE LOST TRIBES. not the sole consequence of Dury's interest in the subject. It was his communication with the rabbi that suggested the idea afterwards realised in the writing of The Hope of Israel, which by a coincidence was issued to the English public in the same year as the Jewes in America. Menasseh's original intention was to deal with the Lost Tribes generally, but instead his treatise was devoted almost entirely to American Israelite theories. The following quotations from letters sent by him to John Dury at the time explain his position :? '* Amsterdam, November 25 [1649]. " By the occasion of the questions you propose unto me concern? ing this adjoyned Narrative of Mr. Antonio Montezinos, I, to give you satisfaction, have written instead of a Letter a Treatise, which I shortly will publish &amp; whereof you shall receive so many copies as you desire. In this Treatise I handle of the first inhabitants of America which I believe were of the ten Tribes; moreover that they are scattered also in other Countries, &amp; that they keep their true Religion, as hoping to returne againe into the Holy Land in due time."1 The second quotation runs :? ''Amsterdam, December 23, 1649. il (In my Treatise) I declare how that our Israelites were the first finders out of America; not regarding the opinions of other men, which I thought good to refute in few words onely; and I thinke that the ten Tribes live not onely there, but also in other lands scat? tered every where; these never did come backe to the second Temple, &amp; they keep till this day still the Jewish Religion, seeing all the prophecies which speake of their bringing backe unto their native soile must be fulfilled : so then at their appointed time, all the Tribes shall meet from all the parts of the world into two provinces namely Assyria and Egypt, nor shall their kingdome be any more divided, but they shall have one Prince the Messiah the Sonne of David. I do also set forth the Inquisition of Spaine, and rehearse diuers of our Nation, &amp; also of Christians, Martyrs, who in our times have suffered 1 L. "Vfolf s Menasseh ben Israel, p. lxxviii.</page><page sequence="21">THE LOST TRIBES. 135 seuerall sorts of torments, &amp; then having shewed with what great honours our JewTs have been graced also by severall Princes who professe Christianity. I proue at large, that the day of the promised Messiah unto us doth draw neer, upon which occasion I explaine many Prophecies."1 In addition to the Epistle Dedicatory and the Preface to the Reader, both by the author, an " Epistolicall Discourse of Mr. John Dury to Mr. Thorowgood" is affixed to the body of the work. In this Dury relates his gradual conversion to the views of Thorowgood, " partly from relations which I had heard a few yeeres agoe concern? ing the ten Tribes, which the Jewes here in Europe had given out." Among the rumours that had reached his ears and had assisted in his conversion was a story to the effect that a messenger had come from the Ten Tribes to the Holy Land " to make enquiry concerning the state of the Land; and what was become of the two Tribes and the half which was left in it, when they were transported from thence by Sal??ianasser." This messenger related the story contained in Esdras and announced that "they have increased into a great Nation, and are to come from thence into their owne land by the direc? tion of God ; and to shew them that hee was a true Israelite, hee had brought with him a Scroule of the Law of Moses, written according to their custome." Shortly after he had received this information Dury heard of the relation of Montezinos. Thorowgood opens his con? siderations with a recitation of the various other theories concerning the origins of the American Indians that had their advocates in his day. One of them was that of a descent from the Canaanites who fled to the Western Continent before the invasion of Joshua.2 A second derived the American natives from Tartar immigrants.3 The traditions of the Indians themselves regarding their ancestry, he said, certainly fitted in with a Hebrew origin. Many of their legends, which bore a remarkable resemblance to the episodes of Genesis, he quotes from writers conversant with native thought. There were even parallels, it appears, between Indian beliefs and rabbinical teachings.4 If these supposed parallelisms were to be examined in detail the whole of this paper could well be devoted to such a con 1 L. Wolf's Menasseh ben Israel, p. Ixxviii. 3 Page 3. 3 Ibid. 4 pages 3 4&gt;</page><page sequence="22">136 THE LOST TRIBES. sideration. Advocates of the theory go into the matter so deeply that, in the time at our command, it is useless to attempt to follow them. It must be sufficient for this occasion merely to note the endless catalogue of alleged resemblances between the customs, practices, rites, laws, fashions, ceremonies, language, and traditions of the American Indians and those of the Israelites. Mr. Thorow good even saw the prophecies of cannibalism to be found in Deuter? onomy,1 2 Kings,2 Lamentations,3 and Ezekiel,4 literally fulfilled in the customary practices of some American tribes in his day.5 In the sufferings endured by the American Indians he found confirmation of the plagues threatened to the Jews.6 The first part of the work consists of a general proof to the above effect of the* origin of the natives. In the second the author considers and replies to the arguments of the opponents of his theory. He deals with each argument by itself, and any one interested in the subject might well consult the book if he desires any of his doubts to be dissipated. Thorowgood even mentions the Jewish tradition that the Tribes were lost, and asks where else could they be lost but in America, all other lands but those of that continent being well known.7 Thorowgood also quotes from Buxtorf a tradition that 44 saith when Vespatian wan Ierusalem, he gave order that three ships laden with that people might be put to Sea, but without Pilot, oares, or tackling, these by windes and tempests were woefully shattered, and so dispersed, that they were cast upon severall coasts; one of them in a Countrey called Lovanda, the second in another region named Arlado, the third at a place called Bardeli, all unknown in these time." 8 The king of the last country tried " Nabuchodonosor's experiment" on three young men with miraculous results. All of which is very interesting, but hardly furthers the case that the author is attempting to prove. The third part of the book is entitled 44 Humble desires to all, for hearty endeavours in all, to acquaint the Natives with Christianity." There is no need for us to trouble Mr. Thorowgood on this subject. The extraordinary theory thus published to English ears for the 1 xxviii. 53. 2 vi. 28. 3 iv. 10. 4 v. 9, 10. 5 Page 17. 6 Page 26. 7 Page 37. 8 Page 38; Buxtorf, Synag. Jud., IX. p. 231.</page><page sequence="23">THE LOST TRIBES. 137 first time simultaneously by Thorowgood and Menasseb did not find universal acceptance. In 1652 (? Oct. 1651) a reply by Sir Hamon L'Estrange was issued from the press.1 This author, while refusing to accept the Israelitish descent of the natives of America, admits that they were probably of Semitic descent. " As the progeny of Iaphes or Cham approached nearer towards them (the descendants of Shem), so they removed still more East, and soon after planted and peopled the nearest, and more parts of America, and so verified that in Gen. ix. 19. The three Sonns of Noah overspread all the Earth." 2 L'Estrange deals with Thorowgood's conjectures seriatim. In reply to the first, the opinions of the natives themselves on the subject, he quotes Acosta, who " tells us (lib. 5, cap. 25) that what the Americans talk of their beginning is nothing worth, and rather a dream than any likelyhood of a true story." 3 The similarities quoted by Thorowgood either did not exist in his critic's opinion or were not peculiar to the Hebrews. Computation by nights, for instance, was common to many eastern and other nations. According to Caesar, lib. vi., the Gauls stated that they were descended from Pluto, and therefore computed their time by nights. " As the Americans fear Pluto, Dis, the Devill, the God of darknesse most, so their stupidity and ignorance may justly give the Night precedence in their com? putation of time." 4 L'Estrange further pointed out that there was no agreement between the religious beliefs of the various tribes that occupied America on its discovery by Europeans, and that the tradition of the Flood they possessed was derived from ancestors, the sons of Shem, who peopled America in the first instance.5 It seems that one theory could not be disproved without another, almost as fantastic, being elevated into its place. L'Estrange had little patience with the suggested parallelisms in the languages of the races compared. " If a man," he says, " have a minde to trifle away time, he may now and then hit upon some words among them that may agree in sound and sence with some of ours in Europe ; as the Priest, chief or leader of every company among the Samoeds was called Papa,6 and in the Brasilian tongue betwixt the River of 1 Americans no lewes, or Improbabilities that the Americans are ofthat race. a Page 9. 3 Page 13. 4 Pages 22-3. 5 Page 49. t Purchas, Asia, xvii.</page><page sequence="24">138 THE LOST TRIBES. Amazons and Orenoque, Papa is a father,1 and in the 'New-Spaine the chiefe Priest was called Papa.2 In the Province of Cusco they call their Sisters Nanna, which among the English is the most common name for women, and so we are like to be of kindred to the Americans." 3 He also protests against accusing a nation of cannibalism because occasional instances of resort to such devices by individuals in sore straits are recorded. Dealing with the statement that " the people that have not yet received the Gospel are Jews," he points out that numerous heathen nations in addition to those of America were in that position in his day. To the argument deduced from the calamities of the Indians, he replies, " It may be the Spaniard per? ceiving some few apish imitations of the Iewish customes among the Americans taught them by the Devill, the Spaniard, by the same Satans suggestions taught them also to derive themselves from the Iewes, that the Spaniard might have the better warrant to execute all cruelties in accomplishment of the curse upon them." 4 Discussing Thorowgood's opinions as a whole, L'Estrange sums up by saying, " He often makes that a Custome among the Americans, which is drawn from the reason of nature, and necessity, and is common to all, as to dance, laugh and sing in matters of joy, to cry, howle and weep in accidents and objects of heavinesse and sorrow, and many such like, which granted (as is gathered and applied) will make all the world Iewes." 5 L'Estrange had finished his work when a copy of Menasseh ben Israel's Hope of Israel came into his hands, and he resumed his pen in order to put forth the impressions he derived from it. The criticism is short but sharp and severe, and it is apparent that he had a worse opinion, if possible, of Menasseh's views than of those of Thorowgood.6 This attack by L'Estrange did not pass without a corresponding defence, but the reply of Thorowgood was delayed for eight years, and before we come to examine it, it would perhaps be more con? venient to deal with Menasseh's public entry into the discussion. The circumstances of the composition of the Hope of Israel have De orig. gent., p. 182. Page 60. Page 66. 2 Purchas, de America, 4 Page 64. 6 Pages 75 et seq.</page><page sequence="25">THE LOST TUBES. 139 already been explained. Its issue created a great deal of interest and pleasure in this country inasmuch as a member of that race to which many English were at that time fond of comparing themselves had referred therein in such sympathetic terms to the Republican Government. The interest was, however, but short-lived and led to no immediate result. The Government had at that time more im? portant matters than the Jewish question with which to deal, and after a short interval English authorities such as John Sadler began to cast doubt on the story told by Montezinos. Sadler, in his Rights of the Kingdom, published anonymously in 1649?a volume dealing mainly with the origins and History of the English Constitution, to which further reference will have to be made?touches upon a multi? plicity of subjects in the course of the lengthy digressions with which the volume is filled. Prophecies and their interpretation, legends relating to many different races, even occasional lapses into millen arianism, according to my limited experience one of the most terrible of theories to which a human being had ever to submit his reason, all find a welcome in his pages. In addition to all these meshes and snares the pagination of the volume is extremely erratic. One or two references are of importance at this point of our consideration. In the course of his dissertation on the English Constitution, Sadler thinks fit to give his readers a little information concerning the Jews, not however that they apparently had much at that point to do with the subject with which he was dealing. After telling us of their hopes and wishes he proceeds, " Nor do they think the Time farre off. And that, from better grounds perhaps, then is the old prediction in their Zohar which fortels their Redemption should be upon, or about, the yeare last past. To which they add, somewhat they see, or have heard, from their Brethren of Iuda, in Brasile: or of Israel in other parts of America, which they cannot much believe, (till it be better confirmed:) although it be, with many Arguments, asserted by a Grave, Sober Man, of their own Nation, that is lately come from the Western World."1 He then gives more details of the American Israelite theory. On a later page we find a reference to Rab Men asseh Ben Israel, " Him, that hath so much obliged the World, by 1 Pages 38-9.</page><page sequence="26">140 THE LOST TRIBES. his learned Writings, ... a very learned, Civill man, and a Lover of our Nation."1 Sadler was afterwards on very friendly terms with Menasseh. Menasseh's views differed in essentials from the American Israel theory current at that day. The advocates of the latter saw in the natives of America generally, the descendants of the Lost Tribes, and the discussions of its supporters and opponents raged principally round the point whether the alleged Jewish customs, &amp;c, admitted by most of the disputants to be possessed by the natives, were due to an Israelitish ancestry or to the machinations of Satan. Menasseh's theory, founded on the relation of Montezinos, was different. It was to the effect that the first inhabitants of the Continent were the Ten Tribes, but the Tartarians followed them across the Straits of Anian, conquered and drove them before them, and the remnant was forced to take refuge in the fastnesses of the Cordillera Mountains.2 He opposed the theory of Alexis Vanegas, that the West Indies and South America were peopled by the Carthaginians. He preferred that of Arias Montanus, that the Indians of New Spain and Peru were the offspring of Ophir, the son of Jokton, the nephew of Heber ?the suggestion being that Peru is Ophir transposed, and Yucaton equals Jokton. He does not follow Montanus to the fullest extent, for he admits the bases of his theory are rather far-fetched, inasmuch as the name Peru was unknown until introduced by the Spaniards.3 The Israelitish observances possessed by the Indians, Menasseh de? clared, had been derived from their predecessors, whom they had driven into the mountains.4 In Section 37 he sums up his opinions on the fate of the Tribes in the following seven articles :? " 1. That the West-Indies were anciently inhabited by a part of the ten Tribes, which passed thither out of Tartary, by the Streight of Anian. "2. That the Tribes are not in any one place, but in many; because the Prophets have fore-told their return shall be into their Country, out of divers places; Isaiah especially saith it shall be out of eight. " 3. That they did not returne to the Second Temple. Page 18. 2 Page 11. * Pages 22-3.</page><page sequence="27">THE LOST TRIBES. 141 " 4. That at this day they keep the Jewish Religion. u 5. That the prophecies concerning their returne to their Country, are of necessity to be fulfilled. " 6. That from all coasts of the World they shall meet in those two places, sc. Assyria and JEgypt; God preparing an easie, pleasant way, and abounding with all things, as Isaiah saith, ch. 49, and from thence they shall file to Jerusalem, as birds to their nests. " 7. That their Kingdome shall be no more divided ; but the twelve Tribes shall be joyned together under one Prince, that is under Messiah, the Son of David ; and that they shall never be driven out of their Land." The reply to Hamon L'Estrange's Americans no Jewes came in 1660; the turmoils and irruptions that immediately preceded that date undoubtedly delaying its publication,1 It has several very lengthy prefaces, the greater portion of which is taken up by theo? logical rhapsodies of more interest to the writer than to the modern reader. One, an Epistle Dedicatory to Charles IL, compares the king in his wanderings and adventures to David ; another, in the form of a letter to Mr. Thorowgood, filling twenty-eight closely printed pages, is by John Eliot, the missionary. Despite its length, there is nothing of interest to the ordinary reader in it. The usual arguments are repeated with slight variations, and Spanish authors, D'Acosta, Malvenda, and Ynca Garcilasso de la Yega especially, are quoted at some length in support of the writer's views. The chief interest of the volume lies in a critique of Menasseh's Hope of Israel. Thorowgood was careful to preface his notice with a disclaimer of any supposed Judaising tendencies. He says: " Lest any should conceive me also to Judaize, and to be in love even with the wandrings of that unhappy people, I will here professe, I am not yet perfectly recon? ciled to them, in respect of those horrid injuries they did to our most dear Saviour, while he lived, and bringing him at last to that cruel and ignominious death, but we shall be friends, when they with Repentance of heart, &amp; tears in their eyes, Shall look upon him whom they have pierced, Sfc. (Zech. xii. 10), and be reconciled to Christ; in the mean time, I have not onely affections for them, as men, but I do 1 Jews in America, or Probabilities that those Indians are Judaical, made more probable by some Additionals to the former Conjectures.</page><page sequence="28">142 THE LOST TRIBES. honour them, chiefly, for that to them were commited the Oracles of God (Rom. iii. 2), and they have with faithfulnesse and care trans? mitted them unto us Gentiles, but most especially because of them concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever " (Rom. ix. 5).1 The Rabbi himself he describes as "a magnifier of mans Free will, an admirer of Astrological constellations, an afleetor of /xeTe/x ^uX^0"6^ or transmigration of souls." 2 Of the book, " there be some things, which neither myself nor other Christians can allow, as that the Messiah is not yet come ... he accuseth the English and some other Christians of falshood and cruelty, highly commending the Spaniard, that turned Jew, and circumcised himself, and would be called believing Judas. It must be confessed, many learned and profitable things are to be found in his writings, it being his Custome as he saith, to treat onely of solid, and unquestionable matters, such as concerned their Law ... in another of his books he professeth, he will not say anything, whereby Christian Religion is im? pugned. . . . This Israelite is worthy of commendation likewise for maintaining the total sanctification of the Sabbath; more might easily be added, and certainly, making allowance for the common frailties of nature, and the national mistakes, to which he is as yet wedded (in respect whereof, he is to be pitied, instructed and prayed for), he is abundantly learned, and morally good, and hath also given fair respect to the English Nation."3 For the most part, the arguments used by Menasseh he adopts as in support of his own theory. The object of Thorowgood's second volume appears on a later page, in the form of an appeal for financial and personal assistance in solving once for all the question whether the descend? ants of the Lost Tribes were to be found in America. Pointing to the precedent of the spies who were sent by Moses into Canaan, he calls for Calebs and Joshuas to make another voyage of discovery, " and I am confident," he continues, "if means and monies could not be obtained from the publick to defray all needful expences, it might soon be had from the voluntarie contributions of private Christians. In this disquisition we should have the Jews assistance." 4 1 Page 28. 2 Page 29. 8 Pages 29-30. 4 Page 49.</page><page sequence="29">THE LOST TRIBES. 143 Of the British Israel theory little was known by the date which has been chosen for the conclusion of these inquiries. To Richard Brothers the peculiar sect, that considers the English to be the modern representatives of Ephraim, owes its origin. In 1792 he launched the modern movement that, from the number of its publi? cations, periodical and occasional, seems to have a fairly considerable following. The "proofs" on which this hypothesis relies appear from a cursory glance very extraordinary, but this is not the occasion on which to touch them. Suffice it to state, that the great theory appears to have been evolved by Brothers during the numerous intervals between his incarcerations in madhouses, and that the followers had often to lament the forcible removal of their prophet by the machinations of medical men in league with a cruel and sceptical government. Nevertheless, there were some hints beyond the vain imaginings of the Millenarians and others, during the period with which we are dealing, of the Israelitish ancestry of the English people, but before we come more closely to them, one remark of Howell in the Epistle Dedicatory to his translation of Ben Gorion may conveniently be repeated. This work, we have already seen, contains some general remarks about the Jews, with hardly an ex? ception borrowed from earlier English writers on Jewish subjects. Discussing the various European expulsions of the Jews, he mentions that, when compelled to leave England, " it is thought divers families of those banished lews fled then to Scotland, where they have propa? gated since in great numbers ; witness the aversion that nation hath above others to hogs flesh/* John Sadler, orientalist, lawyer, friend of Cromwell, and bene? factor of the Jews, published his Rights of the Kingdom anonymously, as has already been stated, in 1649. This work, although discursive, and from the point of view of method and arrangement chaotic, contains a great number of references that must prove of consider? able interest to modern students of Jewish history, and its reissue by a competent editor would, without doubt, prove a considerable boon. In fact, the same might be said of many publications of this period that have been out of print for centuries. In Sadler's work, in addition to numerous other invaluable remarks, are to be found the earliest hints of an Israelitish ancestry for the English. The book</page><page sequence="30">144 THE LOST TRIBES. is nominally on the English Constitution, and it was therefore within its author's province to try to prove the connection between the legal systems of his own country and those of the Palestinian State. In his own opinion, he proves from various portions of the Talmud that it was the law and custom of Judaea for its kings to be judged as well as to judge.1?The date of this publication is 1649, and the friendliness between its author and him who was shortly after to become Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, should at this point be borne in mind.?Sadler also finds many agreements between the English and Jewish laws and customs,2 and among other suggestions is that of the derivation of the jury of twelve from Chaldean and Jewish sources.3 Excommunication in Christian Britain, he says, dated from an earlier era than that of the Saxons. " Their (the priests') Ceremonies in This, seeme a kinn to the Ieivish Cherem ; Nay, to their Shammatha (or St. Pauls Maranatha)." * The three estates of the realm were hinted at by the prophets. Again, the power of deciding on war and peace under the Plantagenets rested with the great Council, as with the Sanhedrin. Intermingled with items of constitutional history and Hebraic suggestions are many other matters of Jewish interest, including a history of the professing Jews in England. The author comes closer to our point when he asserts the characters of the Druids "to be very like Those of Canaan, but I cannot yeeld them to be Hebreiv, though so many Learned men affirm it."5 The name Britain, however, he derives from a Phoenician source, Berat Anac (The Field of Tin and Lead).6 Sadler does not commit himself to any definite theory of the first settlement in these islands, although he discusses others besides the Hebrew. Of the settlement by Hannibal he expresses his disbelief, "although it be Recorded, in a Jewish Writer, of as much note as Gorionides." 7 Still earlier than this mention, though of still less reliability, are the legends connected with the Coronation Stone. Of these there are a goodly number. Only a portion, however, give it a Jewish connection, and those of a special interest to us refer to the Lia Fail, the Irish Holy Stone, which was undoubtedly distinct from 1 Page 2. 5 Page 47. Page 9 et i Page 47. 3 Page 44. 7 Page 47. 4 Page 57.</page><page sequence="31">THE LOST TRIBES. 145 that which now reposes under the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey.1 In the time of David, so the legends run, the stone was carried in solemn procession to the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite,2 in the presence of the king, when the royal poet was supposed to have recited the psalm, " The stone which the builders rejected is become the head stone of the corner." 3 This prophecy, it was said, was afterwards fulfilled by the erection of the Temple on the site. Tradition also says, that the same spot was the scene of the intended sacrifice of Isaac. The legend continues that the stone was the principal in Solomon's Temple, where it remained until the Babylonian Captivity. On that calamitous occasion the conquerors were unable to remove the whole of the Ten Tribes, and many escaped. Numbers of the tribe of Dan, it is said, who even in those days led a seafaring life, and were thoroughly at home on the ocean, escaped, together with their rescued treasures, in several ships, and sailing westward one was wrecked on the coast of Ireland. Most of the refugees, and a considerable part of their treasure, were saved, and among the other relics of their past, which arrived safely in Ireland, wTas the historic stone, on which, it was believed, Jacob had laid his head. Concerning its subsequent history, there is much disagreement. The Scotch claim that it came into their possession, and is identical with Jacob's pillow appropriated by Edward I. The Irish, on the other hand, contend that the stone never left their island. The recent excitement over the alleged intention to excavate the historic hill of Tara was due to some extent to the belief that the Lia Fail would be found therein, although another theory, namely, that the Ark of the Covenant was buried within the mound, also has a number of not uninfluential supporters. For the present it has been decided that no excavations are to take place, so that the mysteries of both the Holy Stone and the Ark are still to remain unsolved. Mention of Tara suggests one of the most important arguments of the British Israelites. It is to the effect that Tara equals Torah, and therefore, so they continue, the English are of Hebrew descent. It is very 1 Of. p. 112, above. 2 Samuel xxiv. 18. 3 cxviii. 22. VuL, V, K</page><page sequence="32">146 THE LOST TRIBES. difficult to avoid British Israelism when dealing with the Lost Tribes, as the arguments of the advocates of that theory are attractive in their very extravagance. Perhaps therefore, and moreover as it will conclude this paper, the following quotation from a Jewish publica? tion of a date considerably later than 1650 will be pardoned. The writer and possibly the editor evidently believed the account. It appears in The Hebrew Standard, an American journal, and bears date October 31, 1902. . . Then, too, the ancestry of the king himself is worthy of any coronation. The stone under the seat of the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey, is the Bethel Stone, Jacob's pillow, or the old coronation stone on which the Hebrew kings were crowned in the Temple at Jerusalem. The royal house of Great Britain traces its genealogy to the line of David and Judah. According to Irish history, the daughter of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah of David's line, married Eveahide, king of the Danites or Dalrades in Ireland, in the year 583 b.c., the prophet Jeremiah per? forming the ceremony, and crowning the couple on the Bethel Stone. This Eveahide was himself of the royal line of Judah, descending from Zarah, one of the twin-sons of Judah, David being a descen? dant of the other twin. This line in time, through the Bruces and Stewarts, became the royal line of the British Empire. Edward VII. is, therefore, claimed to be a descendant of David, and to belong to a dynasty that can never cease to exist. The royal standard bears the device of the Irish harp, which is really the harp of David, and the lions, also taken from the ancient Irish royal standard, are repre? sentative of the lion of the tribe of Judah. This subject has for sixty years engaged the closest attention of many scholars, since facts that have been discovered make out a strong case in support of the statements here made. Among these scholars are Glover, Grimaldi, Rogers, Milner, Bird, Oxonian, Hanan, Heilden, Simpson, Rhys, and Shirley Smith. The Hebrews and the Celtic nation carefully pre? served the lines of descent of their kings and heroes, and thus it has been possible to trace every link in the chain. But not to let the Irish have all the honour of claiming Hebrew royal lineage, English genealogists say the line of Saxon kings can also be traced back to Odin, who was himself a descendant of David, as an ancient manu? script of the Heralds' College in London shows. One of the Stuarts,</page><page sequence="33">THE LOST TRIBES. 147 Nesta, can be traced to the Emperor Constantine, and from him to the ancient Trojan kings, and to Zarah, son of Judah. Queen Alexandra's descent can also be traced by two different lines to Odin, and so to David, as do also the older Saxon and Norman royal houses, and the houses of Hanover and Brunswick. The Plantagenets and Guelphs also, through Boger the Saracen, are descendants of David through another line. At the desire of Lady Blanche Waterford, a friend of the Duchess of York, and with a belief in the Davidic origin of the royal house, one of the names given to the young prince, and grandson of Edward VII., was that of David. As David, the boy is known in his home, and as David he is to come to the British throne, if he lives to reach that honour."</page></plain_text>

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