The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-15
LAST OF ANCIENT SECT.
SAMARITANs ARE FEW, BUT CLIN GTo THE FAITH.
 CENTURIES.
Trace Their Origin to Jacob-Their City, Formerly Rival of Jerusa- lem, is in Decay, Writes MT.
 William E. Curtis.

wm. E. Curtis in Chicago Record-Herald:: Nablus, Palestine-The region around Samaria is full of history from the re motest times. Its origin IS gwen III tale xvi. chapter of First Kings. whicn says' 'In the thirty and first year or Asa, King of Judea. began Omri 10 relgh over Israel. And he bought the hlli samarla of Shemer. for two talents or silver, ana built on the hill and called the name or the city which he built after the name of the owner of the hill. Samaria. It became the rival of Jerusalem, ana was the capital of the Kingdom oi israel. From here the captives were carried away into Assyria by the rivers Of waters. Later 1t was a Roman province, and one of the most profitable in its revenues to Herod, a rich grain growing country, and the scene of much military activity. po- litical conspiracy and rebellion, religious apostacy. offical corruption, crime and social depravity.
 Babylonian captivity, the Samaritans pro fessed to worship Jehovah and claimed the rights and glory that belonged to the people of God. but ultimately Samaria swailowed all Israel and the word Samar- itan became commonly used to distinguish the descendants of the other tribes from those of Judea and Benjamin. Many learned authorities repudiated their claims to 1sraeitish ancestry, maintain ing that the entire Israelitish population was carried away captive from Samaria by the Kings of Assyria, and that few of them ever returned. There was all ways bitter animositv between them and the Jews. but the inhabitants of the City of Samara' claim to be descended from Joseph, the wisest and the most famous of the twelve sons of Jacob, and gloried in their ancestry.
 Art thou greater than our father Ja cob?" asked the woman of Jesus at the well.
 The incidents of the sojourn of the Saviour in Samaria indicate that the an- cient hatred was in full flame at His time. "The Jews have no dealings with James and John proposed to command fire to come down from Heaven and con sume them" because the people denied ordinary hospitality to the Lord and His disciples when they were passing through the Province of Jerusalem but Jesus re- buked them. He always treated the Sa- maritans with respect and cordiality. and although at first when He sent His disci- ples out upon their ministry, He admon- ished them not to enter into any city of the Samaritans, it was probably because He feared they would not be well re- ceived. He changed his policy soon after He visited and preached to the Samarit- ans and the apostles received many of them into Christian fellowship. But for its crime and corruption "the wrath of Cod' was directed against the ancient city. Therefore will l make Samaria as heap of the field. -. And will pour down the stones thereof into the valley"
 That prophecy has been fulfilled. Every thing is in ruins. The summit and the slopes of tho noble hill upon which the city stood, the valleys that surround it., the olive groves. the wheat fields and vineyards are filtered with the rubbish of walls that have crumbled, of fortifica- tions that have fallen and towers that have been overthrown. Pompey restored the city at great expense Augustus Caesar gave 1t his imperial favor. Herod the Great called it Sebaste and adorned yyi epI r,Ih temples. fountains, baths, theaters, sta diums and colonnades, but all these have disappeared. and in the worlds progress the proud capitab has dwindled to an Insignificant village of shepherds. who do not fill half the mud huts of which 1t is composed.
 In the seventeenth century interest in Samaria was revived by the discovery of e manuscript copy of the Pentateuch, which was found to vary In some import ant particulars faom the text generally accepted by the Jews For a time there was an animated controversy among Ori- ental scholars and Biblical critics but there were no important results. The Samaritans claim that 1t was written by @ grandson of Aaron, but the keenest ex- perts locate it shortly after the Christian era began. The manuscript is q roll about fifteen inches wide upon a silver rod. and is kept Tn costly silver case, with a cover of green Venetian vel vet. This is wrapped in an embroidered scarf of crimson satin, which is moved with great reverence when the manuscript Is about to be shown to visitors. The sii- yer case is adorned with high relief rep resenting scenes that occurred in the tabernacle in the ancient days. Visitors ment of francs, but they may be sure that it is not the genuine one. A copy is kept in duplicate case for that pur- pose.
 The Jews of Jerusalem reject this manuscript with scorn and still deny to the Samaritans the honor of relationship. They condemn the rites practiced by the Jews of Samaria as pagan. and declare those who practice them aliens in blood, in language and in creed, and outcasts from the race of Israel. The Samaritans. on the contrary, ridicule the Jerusalem Jews as narrow bigots. The Samaritan Jews have been reduced to a very small colony. and now number only about TO. They are the oldest and smallest sect in the world, are distinguished by their mo- hle physiosnomy and dignifed appear ance and their long prayers. Their creed is monotheism. They abhor all images, pictures and symbols of werships and forbid human attributes to be ascrbed to God
 They look for the appearance of the Messiah coco years after the creation of the world. which, according to their reck- oning, will come toward the end of the next century, but they are diminishing fast, and as they will not marry outside their own community it is scarcely prob able that any of them will remain for the advent. Bigamy is permitted if the first wife is childess and when a mar ried man dies his nearest relation, except ing his brothers, is bound to marry the widow. Each young man is expected to marry his next of kin, sisters and mem bers of the same family excepted. This intermarriage among relatives has so di- luted the blood that the gradual extinc- tion of the race is accounted for
 Their literature consists of their fa- nous Pentateuch and prayers and hymns their oldest chronicles in manuscript date they festivals of Moses and offer sacrifices at the Passover. At the Feast of Taberna- cles they make a9 pilgrimage to the top of Mount GeriZim, the oldest sanctuary in the world Probably at no other To- cality has the same worship been sus'