The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1904-12-08


this page full of circumstantial detail
written at the very dawn of anthem
tic history. The walls of Rome were
only three decades old when this rec
ord was made, yet its truthfulness
has had Yeritication in the recently
discovered inscription at Khorsabad,
now in the Museum of Berlin, in which
Sargon says: Il beseiged, took, and
occupied the city of Samaria, and car
ried into captivity 27,2S0 of its inhab-
itants. | changed the former govern
ment of the country, and placed over
it lieutenants of my own"
The fate of the Ten Tribes has al
ways been the play ground of the
Imagination. Fancy has followed
them to impenetrable localities and
affirmed their final res toration to
their native land. Great ingenuity
and learning has been shown in franz
ing theories and defending them. All
start with the assumption that the
tribes preserved their identity, and
We're only modified in racial charac-
teristics by climatic and other condi-
tiOns. How widely divergent the
conclusions of these theorists are, is
apparent from the fact that some
find the missing Israelites among the
Afghans, the Tartars, the HISTORIANS,
the Jews of Malabar, the North Amer
lean Indians, and, the most singular
of all, the modern English. Thus
one theory kills another, and all con
spire to teach us that the lost tribes"
are lost.
The question of cause is more prac-
teal than that of localities. Why"
rather than "Whither?' The uues-
ton is answered in this scripture. 1t
has been aptly called the nations
epitaph. written by the finger of the
Lord. 1t is also an autopsy upon the
nations corpse to find the di ;ease of
which it died. The inquest is so
thoro Igh- going as to leave nothing
of facts wanting. The post mortem
report is in the cearest -cut terms pos
sible.
The children of Israel 'cloaked
their evil practices with the pretense
that they were honoring Jehovah. :"
But they soon threw away the cloak.
They built high places, set up images
and pillars, and burnt incense like
the heather forgetting that for this
very reason the heather had been
carried away. They were deaf to the
Lords entreaties by the voice of his
prophets. They were hardened in
their disobedience and unbelef. They
went to the utmost limit of heathen-
ish superstition and cruelty in offer
ing human sacrifices. The parental
instinct was so blunted that thew
burned alive their own children be-
fore Baal. This brought upon them
the judicial anger of Jehovah. The
order for their national disestahlish-
ment was decreed in the court of
heaven. Sargon. the Assyrian, was
the unconscious instrument carrying
into effect the decree of Jehovah, who
holds nations as well as individuals
accountable for their deeds.
Mosaic from Commentaries
Did secretly. Literally, they cover
ed. They cloaked or covered their
idolatry with pretenses that it was a
worship of Jehovah. Cook. Others,
with the LXN think that the meaning
probably is they decked out their
worship, employed things alien to the
simplicity of the Mosaic ordinances.
Gay religious full of pomp and gold.
Anon. Did secretly: They cover
ed Jehovah with things which were
not right-concealed Him so he could
not be recognized. -Rahr. Tower
City: In every place was some idola-
trous rite.-Clarke. The towers in
which watchmen were stationed to
keep guard over the flocks and crops
We're always in the most lonely and
deserted spots, while fenced cities im-
piled the presence of many inhabi-
tants. So the sense appears to be lin
the loneliest as we'll as in the most
populous places Proverbial He
brew phrase, meaning everywhere
Cam. Bib, Hardened their necks:
A metaphor derived from those oxen.
who in spite of all efforts to guide
them, hold their necks set in the way
they determined to go.-Pentecost.
Did not believe: The original of all
their sins. They did not believe Gods
prophets.-Patrick. Testimonies His
law is the testimony for truth and
against iniquity Left:
AS soon as any other object is set up
instead of God all he values has per-
ished from mans worship-Lumby.
Pass through fire: This idol was made
of brass, and the head was that of a
calf with a crown upon it. 1t made
hollow, and furious fire was kindled
within it. When the arms were red
hot, the victim was thrown into them.