The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1876-03-11
Gold. from the Garden Of Eden to the
Discovery of America.

resume of Biblical and PrOfane his
tory, from tie Garden of Eden to tn
Nineteenth Century of the Christian Era
shows the bloody reign Of king, who's
power over civilized man is second only t.
the power Of the Almighty. Gold is tina
monarch, and the deeds that have beel
committed IN consequence Of it, are enougl
to convince one that it was the forbidden
fruit in the Garden of Eden,
And a river went out of Eden to waite
the garden and from thence it was parted
and became into four heads The name 0
the first Is Pison that is it which com
passeth the whole land of Havilah, wher,
there IS gold. ."-Genesis, I'd Chapter, 10th
and 11th Verses.
Gold must have been known, and useC
In the arts by the Antediluvians for
three hundred and seventy years after tn.
Deluge, Abram sent his servant out 10 find
a wife for his son Isaac, and the servant,
met Rebekah at a well near the city a
Nahor, and she gave.th servant and hil
camels water, and the servant gave her q
gold caring, of half shekel in weight, and
two gold bracelets Of ten shekels in weight.
-Genesls, oath Chapter.
And Abram was very rich in cattle, in
silver, and gold. GENESIS, 18th Chapter,
| I'd Verse
"And he made his seven lamps, and his
shutters, and his snuffdishes, Of pure gold.
Of talent of pure gold made he it, and all
the vessels thereof Exodus, 37th Chap
ter, 23d and oath Verses.
The last quotation refers to the orna-
mehts that were i'll the tabernacle, built by
Moses.
And hey came to Ophir, and fetched
from thence gold, four hundred and twenty
talents, and brought it to king solomon.
/. Kings, 9th Chapter, 2Sth Verse
The four hundred and twenty talents of
gold, here spoken Of, was used in building
the Temple at Jerusalem. Ii was equal in
value to about twelve million dollars.
There was neither gold nor silver coined
in those days, and both Of those metals
we're exchanged by weight A shekel
weighed half an ounce, and a talent
weighed one hundred and twenty-five
pounds, Troy.
The Jews, from the days Of Abram to the
death If Solomon, wore gold hoarders, and
their immense wealth in gold and silver
made them the prey Of o.her nations.
The PhllistInes were continually tight
ing With them, and frequently captured
ther citIes arFd robbed them Of their treas
ures. Dnring King Solomon's reign the
Jewish nation reached Its zenith, but those
lnseparable destrUyers Of nations, gold and
corruption, bred dissenslOn and strife
among the people, and shortly after King
Sulomon's death, the ten tribes Of Israel
seeded, and for nearly five hundred years
they lived at enmity with the tribes Of
Judah
The wars between the tribes Of Israel
and Judah were frequent and of a very
sanguInary character finally Judah tri-
unphed over Israel, and and they were
again united. The meta,Ic wealth Of the
Jewish nation became concentrated in the
city Of Jerusalem, the capital Of Judea !;
and shortly after the reunion Of Israel and
Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king Of Babylon,
made gold raid on Jerusalem robbed il
of its treasure, End reduced the J ,ws to
captivity.
Seventy years later, Cyrus, king Of
Persia, hearing of the great accumulation
of Il easure In Babylon, captured and plum
dered that city and liberated the Jews
After the capture of Babylon, the Jews
returned TO Jerusalem. and for three
hundred years thereafter they were assidu-
ously engaged in hordng gold.
A religious creed prevailed with them at
that time, opposed to fighting on the Sab
bath.
Ptolemy King Of Egypt, hearing Of this
peculiar belief among the Jews, took ad-
vantage of it, and marched an army into
Jerusalem on the Sabbath captured its
treasure, ana carried a hundred thousand
of the inhabitants INTO captivity.
Twenty years later, Antiochus, king of
Syria, captured Jerusalem, robbed it Of its
remaining treasure, and sold forty thousand
Of its citizens into slavery.
Shortly after the raid Of Antiochus, de-
hverer arose among the Jews, named Ju-
das Maccabeus He rallied the scattered
people, and gave battle t. their oppres-
sors. The Jews fought with such heroic
courage that they succeeded in establishing
their Independence again, and enjoyed it
for century and quarter,
Five hundred years before the Christian
era, Syria had become very eslthy III gold
and silver. This excited the cupidity of
Darius, emperor OF Persia, who made gold
raid into the that kingdom, robbed il of it's
treasure, and carried the spoils INTO his
own empire.
About this time, Greece had become q
powerful nation, and the emperor Of Persia
fearing an invasion Of his territory by a
Greek army, used his gold to create des-
sensIon and civil war among the Greeks,
and thereby destroy their power.
This ruse had the desired effect, and
Persia accomplished by gold what she
feared to attempt by arms.
For q long time some of the states of
Greece had opposed the use Of gold as
money. Sparta, one Of the most powerful
Of the states, prohibited the use Of gold as
a currency during the reign Of Lycurgus,
and established iron instead. Subse-
quently, Lysander caused the iron law to
DO abolished, and gold was again used as
currency. Then Persian gold flowed into
Greece ID large quantities, and the people
partook of the forbidden fruit freely this
caused a rapid deterioration in their virtue
and morals, and finally civil war broke out
between the states, which soon reduced
them to condition that invited a con-
queror. Then Philip of Macedonia in
vaded Greece with a large army, anG
fought q decisive battle at Cheronea the
Greeks were defeated, and that proud peo-
pie which had, for upwards Of three CEN
turles, led the whole world in the arts of
civilization, was blotttd out as an inde-
pendent nation.
During the civil wars in Greece, large
portion Of the gold in the country at the
commencement Of those wars was taken to
other countries for security, consequently
Philip was dissatisfied with the amount 81
gold captured in Greece, and determined
to draw on the Persian empire for a larger
supply. When he had fully organized an
army for the invasion of Persia, he was
assasinated by captain in his own ser.
vice.
Alexander, son of Philip, succeeded
him, and after he was well seated on the
throne, he determined to Garry out hil
fathers project Of invading Persia. HI