The Ten Tribes of Israel: Or the True History of the North American Indians, Showing that They are the Descendants of These Ten Tribes

The Ten Tribes of Israel:

Or the True History of the North

American Indians, Showing that

They are the Descendants of

These Ten Tribes

Timothy R. Jenkins

(Born 1821)

Originally published

1883

Contents

PREFACE

THE TEN TRIBES

The North American Indian

ANCIENT ANTIQUITIES

A RELIC

ANCIENT JEWISH HISTORY

STATE OF THE JEWS

Late Discoveries

LANGUAGE OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN

The Indian Traditions, As Received by Their Nations

General Character and Established Customs Habits of the Indians

PRIVATES.

CONCERNING OFFICERS.

The Known Religious Rites and Ceremonies of the Indians

Their Public Worship and Religious Opinions

THE FEAST OF WEEKS, OR THE HUNTER'S FEAST, OR PENTECOST.

THE FEAST OF HARVEST AND DAY OF EXPIATION OF SIN.

THE FEAST OF THE DAILY SACRIFICE.

THEIR FEAST OF LOVE, &C.

MISCELLANEOUS FACTS

TESTIMONY

MORALITY

SEPARATION OF THE INDIAN WOMEN

INFERENCE

HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA

Fraser's Key To The Prophecies

Mound Builders’ Works Near Newark, Ohio

THE PREHISTORIC RACES.

Discoveries at Newark

Discoveries in West Virginia, 1875

Incidents

Mummies, Coins, Stones, and Relics

Fortancient

History

The Probable Nationality of the Mound Builders

A Crucial Copper

A Story of Indian Missions in Ohio, from the German of Frommann

The Gnadenhuetten Massacre

Customs in Missouri

Pyramids

THE PYRAMIDS OF CENTRAL AMERICA.

CALIFORNIA PYRAMIDS.

Curiosities

Ancient Works in Pickaway County, Ohio

The Lost Arts

Pliny's Sailors And A Prairie Camp Fire.

MASTER ARTISTS INIMITABLE.

ALL MEN BORROWERS.

GREEK JOKES IN THEIR DOTAGE.

TEACHINGS FROM GLASS.

EXCELLENCE PER RE.

THE OLD DYES.

ANCIENT MASTER ARTISANS.

Egypt's Mechanical Marvels.

OLD HINTS OF NEW THINGS.

MODERN KNOWLEDGE UTILIZED.

PREFACE

MANY years ago, the attention of the compiler of the following pages was first called to the subject by hearing a lecture delivered by a highly educated Cherokee Indian, on the manners and customs of the various Indian tribes of North America. During the course of his remarks, he stated that when he came to study the Hebrew language, he was astonished to find so much of his own language that was pure Hebrew. And after enumerating the various words of his own language that were Hebrew, he found them to exceed fifty. And, said he, we were taught this by our ancestors, and they received it from their Hebrew ancestors, the Ten Tribes.

And furthermore, he stated that he was as firmly convinced that the Indian tribes of North America were descendents of the Ten Tribes of Israel, as he was of any other fact. This statement induced us to examine history on this question, and we have found many facts corroborating the testimony of the Red Man of the forest. Though differing from some other writers on this subject, we have the testimony of a number of the most eminent men of America to sustain our position.

THE AUTHOR.

THE TEN TRIBES

THE following is taken from the Apocrypha, II. Esdras XIII, 40—45, to show when the Ten Tribes left the Eastern Country to come to a land not inhabited by man: These are the ten tribes, which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar the king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so came they into another land. But they took counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt. For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is called Arsareth. Now, what are we to learn from the foregoing history? First, we are taught that they understood the geography of the country and the distance they must travel in order to get to this land where no man dwelt; and second, that there was no country in the East but what was more or less inhabited by man, and consequently America was the only country at that time known that was not inhabited.

The North American Indian

The following is from J. J. Mombert's History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, page 68, being an extract from a letter written by William Penn to the Committee of the Free Society of Traders, in London, England, 1683. He states of the origin of the North American Indian: I am ready to believe them of the Jewish race— I mean of the stock of the Ten Tribes—and that for the following reasons: First, they were to go to a land not planted or known, which, to be sure, Asia and Africa were, if not Europe, and he that intended that extraordinary judgment upon them might make the passage not uneasy to them, as it is not impossible in itself, from the easternmost parts of Asia to the westernmost parts of America. In the next place, I find them of the like countenance, and their children of so lively resemblance that a man would think himself in Duke's Place, or Berry Street, London, when he seeth them. But this is not all; they agree in wrights, they reckon by moons, they offer their first fruits, they have a kind of feast of tabernacles, they are said to lay their altar upon twelve stones, their mourning a year, customs of women, with many other things that do not now occur.

REV. JAMES S. MILLIGAN writes from Argyle, N.Y., May 13, 1853, to a friend in Alleghany, Pa.: Having in my possession a very curious relic, or facsimile of a relic, of that ancient nation, the Jews, I take the liberty of addressing you in reference to it, in order that I and others may have the benefit of your opinion concerning it. That to which I refer is the facsimile in block tin of a silver coin found last summer in Michigan, about twenty miles from Detroit, two feet under the surface of the earth. The coin is about the size of an American half dollar, not so great in circumference but thicker. On one side is represented a censer with smoking incense, with a Hebrew inscription, 'Jewish Shekel' on the other, also, is a Hebrew inscription, 'The Holy Jerusalem,' with a representation of an olive tree, or, perhaps, palm tree. The original piece found is in possession of Dr. Duffield, Detroit. Is it not more than possible that this shekel of Israel was lost by Indians, and is it not another evidence that they are descendents of the Ten Tribes?

Here follows the remarks of his friend: The relic is plainly Israelitish. The facsimile represents accurately the silver shekel of Israel. It was worth fifty cents of our money. Our silver half dollar is nearly a half ounce avoirdupois. The Shekel of Israel was known in Persia. It is mentioned in Xenphon's Anabassis. This relic having been discovered in Michigan, (twenty miles west of Detroit,) two feet underground, it must have been left there before the discovery of America by Columbus. "Who could have left it there but one of the Ten Tribes? If that be true, as Dr. Duffield supposes, it disposes of the theory of some learned men respecting the Hebrew alphabet—that it is Babylonian, brought back at the return of the captives under Cyrus, and that the letters are not those given by God to Moses at Horeb. It is the theory, however, of most modern Hebrew critics, as may be seen in the grammar Gessenins, from whom Professor Stuart, of Andover Seminary, derives it, and gives it in his Hebrew grammar. Those critics maintain that the ancient Hebrew alphabet is now found in the Samaratan. I have long maintained, that this is a false theory. The Hebrew letters found engraven in the toprock at Ticonderoga, the sheens found in Georgia and the inscription; on the shekel, are evidences that those who were taken by Shalmanzer, in the reign of Hoshea, at least seven hundred and twenty-one years before Christ, and, of course, before the carrying into Babylon, before the reign of Jechonias, used the present form of Hebrew letter.

Rev. J. Dodds, pastor of a congregation in Western Pennsylvania, and who takes an interest in the Hebrew language, tells me that there are inscriptions in the ruins of the city of Palenque, in Central America, that seems to confirm Dr. Boudinot's theory, taught in his Star in the West.

The compiler of this volume consulted a Jewish Priest relating to those Hebrew words on the coin described above, and he gave the translation as we have given it.

ANCIENT ANTIQUITIES

REV. J. R. WILLSON, D.D., a learned Hebrew scholar, writing in 1853 on Hebrew antiquities, gives the following: "There are very learned works on Grecian and Latin antiquities. These are much used in schools. There are also very elaborate volumes on the antiquities of the Jews, such as 'Rouse's Archaelogia' and 'Lewis's Hebrew Antiquities.' These works have fallen into disuse for nearly one hundred and fifty years. They have all been intended to illustrate the ancient habits, manners and usages of the South of India after the secession of the Ten Tribes. There has been very little inquiry after the remnants of the Ten Tribes since they were carried away by Salmanasar, in the reign of Hezekiah, more than six hundred and fifty years before Christ.

We have, however, great and precious promises to all the seed of Jacob, yet to be fulfilled. (Psalm CXLVII, 2.) 'He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.' (Isaiah XI, 12.) 'And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.' Here the Ten Tribes of outcasts are distinguished from the 'dispersed of Judah.' That promise has never been fulfilled. But where are they? That they will be found does not admit of any reasonable doubt.

In this age, when men run to and fro and knowledge of all kinds is increased, these long outcasts of Israel will no doubt be found. There have been various conjectures as to where they arc. Some of them seem probable, but none upon the whole very satisfactory. One theory of late has been held and brought before the public, accompanied with arguments which render it, as many think, almost certain. Dr. Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey, the first President of the American Bible Society, published an octavo volume, which he called 'The Star in the West.' The name was suggested to the Doctor by a learned work of a Christian traveller in the East, whose name was Buchanan He had published, some time before, a book called 'The Star in the East,' a very interesting work, in which he states that he found in the south of Asia numerous descendents of the Ten Tribes. The ' Star in the West' ought to be read by every friend of the Israel of God. The readers of your publication would be interested by a statement of a few arguments in support of Dr. Boudinot's theory: First—A Rabbi from beyond the Caspian sea wrote to one of his friends remaining in the land of Israel, that he and his brethren had determined to go in a body a journey of one year and six months, and go to a place where they never could he heard of again. His letter is found in the Apocrypha, which, though uninspired, is generally found to be good history. The king of Assyria, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, carried away Israel beyond the Caspian sea. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria and put them in Malah and Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. (II. Kings XLIII, 2.) The river of the Medes is Gihon, which enters into the Caspian sea on south, through ancient Media. Peter the Great, of Russia, adopted the same policy with the Finlanders, when he conquered them, planting them in the eastern outskirts of his empire. Now those Hebrews could not go south, for Hindoostan was peopled by the descendents of Abraham many hundred years before, for they sent away the children of the concubines to the east country. Shinar was peopled by the children of Keturah.  The whole valley of the Euphrates and Tigris was thickly settled by the Assyrians; of course there was no other way for the colony of Hebrews than toward Behring's Strait. That journey would have required one year and six months, for a large colony, their carriages, cattle and provisions, through an unsettled country. Behring's Straight is forty miles, and is even now frozen over in winter, and much more would it be then. Second—A second argument that the Tartars are descendents of the Ten Tribes: Mr. Daschoff, the Russian Ambassador, told the writer, thirty-six years ago, that he knew that the Tartars were Hebrews. He said: 'My family came from Tartary to European Russia one hundred and fifty years ago. Our chiefs were called Knies. When I came to America and saw Indians, I asked how Tartars came here, for,' said he, ‘the Tartars in all their leading features are Hebrews.' The names of the rivers, mountains and towns in Tartary being disguised, Hebrews bear testimony to Mr. Daschoff's testimony. Third—The names of the mountains, rivers and tribes of our Indians are also disguised. Hebrew Mount Elias is 17,900 feet high at the north end of the Rocky Mountains and in north latitude sixty degrees. That mountain must have been named in remembrance of Elijah, upon Mount Carmel in the west of Palestine, a little south of where the Kishon falls into the Meditterranean. Charlevaux, the French Jesuit who traveled from Canada to Louisiana, about twenty years ago, did not go so far north; neither did Carver. If they had both gone so far, they would not, probably, have called a mountain by his name; but nothing could be more natural than that these exiled Hebrews should have called it a name which they almost venerated, in the time of Christ. When we come farther south, the names of rivers are more clearly Hebrew. 'Great garden' is derived from 'a God' and 'gen garden;' 'Ohio' is 'Jehova' pronounced without the points; 'Acocaooa Youghioghenv' is the same name; the old name was 'Ohiopoe,' which means 'Little Ohio.' The Pottowattamy Indians call the Mississippi 'Mishapawaw,' which is plainly derived from 'Mesah' (Moses), and 'Pawaw' (Father), which means 'Father Moses,' and we call it the Father of Waters. 'Kanawha' is 'Guna Abba' (Father). The patience of the reader would be exhausted should the writer attempt to identify the Hebrew names with the one-tenth of American rivers. The names of tribes and towns are as clearly of Hebrew origin. The 'Mandans' from 'man' and 'dan,' and means Dan. Other names of tribes are to the same effect. Fourth—From the literature of the Indian tribes, (if it may be called by that name,) the writer has seen a paradigm of the Mohegan verb.

See notes to Boudinot's Star in the West, which gives a vocabulary of some of the words.

The Rev. Wm. Smith, a Presbyterian minister among the Indians, who has finished a translation of the New Testament in the Mohegan language, told the writer that he had for years labored to make a paradigm of the Mohegan verb. At length it struck me that it was cast in the Hebrew mould, and I made this one. Which I will show you. It was printed on a large sheet, and any Hebrew scholar would at once recognize the suffixes and affixes of the Hebrew Bible. At the time the writer heard this, Mr. Smith was in Albany, superintending the publication of the Mohegan Testament. Several years before that, the writer of this article had seen a grammar of the Chilian language, and the verb was cast in that Hebrew mould. No Hebrew scholar could doubt this. It may be said that Chili is South America. Very true, but let it be remembered on our side that Hebrew emigrants had been in America five hundred years before Christ, and of course the Mexicans are descendents of the Hebrews, if it be true that the Chilians are. Judge Breckenridge, who was Secretary of the Legation to Mexico, told the writer that the language of the Mexican's was a very jingling language—a great many consonants and few vowels. In that it resembles the language of the Tartars. Their usages indicate the same thing. First—They have a long festival in spring, the time of year the Jews keep their passover. Second—Many of the Indians, especially those of Western Pennsylvania, seventy years ago did not eat of the sinew that shrank. Third—They make a tent and enter that tent to purify themselves. Sixth—One tribe at least has a box in which is a copy of parchment which they keep most sacred. This the writer had from Mr. Shannon, a very respectable gentleman, who said that after great persuasion they shewed it to him. It was written in large letters with blue ink. Mr. Shannon was not a Hebrew scholar, and did not know what language it was. Seventh—Inscriptions. (The writer will speak in the first person, as is customary now.) In going down lake Champlain, in December, 1832, I was detained by an accident, which happened to the steamboat at Lake Ticonderoga. There I discovered, near a small village, Hebrew letters on the rocks. At first I thought they were the marks of feet upon the rocks, which Mr. Morse speaks of in his Geography, but on reflection I saw that some were Hebrew sheens: they were large letters—from four to five inches long—and beautifully carved. They are engraved in hard trap rock, a quarter of an inch deep and a quarter of an inch wide in the thickest part and then in beautifully curved hair-lines. I found, also, gimel yod heth in its oldest form—vaw and taw. I did not count them, but presume to say that there were more than a hundred, near the outlet of Lake George. I found an anchor with two flukes. I found but two words—shoo goo-goo—for family, (the family of the Shuhites.) There are other inscriptions in Pennsylvania, on the rocks on the route of the canal, I have heard.

Now all these facts render it probable that our Indians are the outcasts of Israel. It is hoped that our ministers in the West will enter into further investigation. J. R. W.

[As the ministers have failed to make any further investigation of the subject, the writer feels called upon to give the public all the information he has collected on this subject during the past fifteen years.]

A RELIC

THE following is from Alexander's Messenger, published many years ago, in Philadelphia, Pa:

A government officer stationed at Lake Superior, at an early day, before any white settlers had invaded that part of the country, after becoming acquainted with a number or Indian tribes, found one tribe in possession of a copper tub tightly soldered; and when asked what it contained they said they were not able to tell, but they had received it from their ancestors a long time ago. The officer finally prevailed upon them to let him open the article, and when he did so he found it filled with parchment, with inscriptions that he could not read, but by sending the parchment to Washington City, where it was examined by competent Hebrew scholars, it was declared to be part of the five books of Moses.

Here we have another link in the chain, proving that the Hebrews were here many years before the white man came to this continent, and that the present North American Indians are their descendents.

ANCIENT JEWISH HISTORY

HOWEVER despised the Hebrews were among the Greeks and Romans and others of their neighbors, during the existence of their civil government, and by all the nations of the earth ever since, there can be no doubt now, that they have been — and still are the most remarkable people that have existed since the first century after the flood.

It does appear from their history, and from the Holy Scriptures, that the great Governor of the Universe, in his infinite wisdom and mercy to our fallen race, did select this nation, from all the nations of the earth, as his peculiar people, not only to hand down to mankind at large, the great doctrine of the unity of his divine nature, with the principles of the worship due to him by intelligent people—the universal depravity of man by the fall of Adam, with the blessed means of his restoration to the favor of God, by the shedding of blood, without which there could be no forgiveness of sin. But that also through them the means and manner of the atonement of sin by the promised Messiah, who was to be sent into our world in the fullness of time for this invaluable purpose, and who was to be a divine person and literally become the desire of all nations, should be propagated and made known to all mankind, preparatory to his coming in the flesh. And that afterwards, this people should be supported and proved in all ages of the world, by means of their miraculous preservation; against all the experience of other nations. For while dispersed through the world without a spot of land they could properly call their own, and despised and persecuted in every part of it, yet they have continued a separate people, known by their countenances, while their enemies and conquerors have wasted, away, and are, as it were, lost from the earth, in fulfillment of the declarations of their prophets, inspired by God, to the astonishment of all nations.

This people was also a living example to the world of the dealings of Divine Providence towards the workmanship of His hands, by rewarding their obedience in a very extraordinary manner, and punishing their wilful transgressions in a most exemplary manner.

Though he often declared them his peculiar—his chosen—his elect people—nay that he esteemed them as the apple of his eye, for the sake of his servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their progenitors, yet he has fully shown to the world, that however dear a people might be to him as their governor and king, or by adoption, that no external situation or special circumstances would ever lead him to countenance sin, or leave it unpunished, without a suitable atonement and deep repentance.

They also answered, but in a stronger manner, the use of hieroglyphics; and figures, as a universal language, to instruct all mankind in the mind and will of God, before letters were in general use, and had this knowledge been properly improved, would have been more effectual, than instruction by word of mouth or personal address.

God has acknowledged them by express revelation—by prophecies, forewarning them of what should befall them in the world, accordingly as they kept his commandments, or were disobedient to them, until their final restoration to the promised land. In short, their long dispersed state, with their severe persecutions, and still continuing a separate people among all nations, are standing, unanswerable and a complete fulfilment of the many prophecies concerning them, some thousands of years past.

Another essential purpose, in the course of God's providence with his people is also to be produced. The restoration of this suffering and despised nation to their ancient city and their former standing in the favor of God, with a great increase of glory and happiness, are expressly foretold by Christ, his prophets and apostles, as immediately preceding the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to this our earth, with his saints and angels, in his own glory as mediator, and the glory of the father, or of his divine nature, plainly distinguished from that humility and abasement attending his first coming in the flesh. Of course, whenever this restoration shall come to pass, it will be so convincing and convicting a testimony of the truth-and certainty of the whole plan and predictions of the sacred record, as powerfully to affect all the nations of the earth, and bring them to an acknowledgment of the true God, even our Lord Jesus the Christ.

For, as Bishop Warburton justly asks, If the explanation of the economy of grace, in which is contained the system of prophecy; that is, the connection and dependence of the church of God, of no use? Surely of the greatest, and I am confident nothing but the light which will arise from thence, will support Christianity under its present circumstances. But the contending for single prophecies only, by one who thinks they relate to Christ in a secondary sense, only, and who appears to have no high opinion of secondary senses, look very suspicious.

Had all the great facts of revelation happened several thousand years ago, and the proof of their reality been ever so conclusive at the time, and nothing more done, but barely to hand them down to posterity as then delivered in the testimony for their support at a given period from their fulfillment, would have lost all its weight; and the world might justly have been excused for doubting of their credulity. But God, in His great mercy has left the children of men without excuse; because he has so ordered it, in his infinite wisdom, that the farther we record from the facts, the more do the evidences increase upon us. And this existence of the Jews, as a separate people, under all their afflictions and distresses, and that scattered among almost every nation on earth, is not among the least conclusive; but is like the manna, kept in the ark in a state of purity, which was undeniable evidence of the facts related in their history to the succeeding generations, while the temple lasted. So that now, no reasonable man of common abilities, who studies that history, and their present circumstances in the world with impartiality, care and close attention, attended by a real desire to know the truth, can long doubt the divinity of the sacred volume.

To investigate then the present state and circumstances, of this extraordinary people—to examine into their general history, in as concise a manner as may answer our general plan—and to inquire after the ten tribes, which formerly constituted the kingdom of Israel, that now appear to be lost from the earth, must be an undertaking (however difficult and unpromising) worthy the time and labor, which may be necessarily expended therein.

The writer of these pages must acknowledge himself unequal to the task; but having been for years, endeavoring, but in vain, to urge more able hands to turn their attention to this important subject, he has at last, determined to attempt it, under all his difficulties and deficiencies, on the principle that he may possibly, by drawing the outlines, call the aid of some learned and more able pen into the service, being, in his opinion, of the utmost consequence to the present generation in particular, as that era in which the latter times, the last times of the scriptures, or the end of the Roman government, seem to be hastening with rapid strides.

The subject receives great additional importance from its prophetic connection, as before mentioned, with the second advent of the glorified Messiah, as Son of God, to this our world, in fulfillment of his own gracious promises in his holy word; the signs of approach of which he has expressly commanded us to watch, lest when he comes, as he will, in as unexpected a manner as a thief at night, we may be found sleeping on our post with the foolish virgins, without oil in our lamps.

This subject has occupied the attention of the writer, at times, for more than forty years. He was led to the consideration of it, in the first instance, by a conversation with a very worthy and reverend clergyman of his acquaintance, who, having an independent fortune, undertook a journey (in company with a brother clergyman, who was desirous of attending him,) into the wilderness between the Alleghany and Mississippi rivers, some time in or about the years 1765 or 6, before the white people had settled beyond the Laurel Mountains. His desire was to meet with native Indians, who had never seen a white man that he might satisfy his curiosity by knowing from the best source, what traditions the Indians yet preserved relative to their own history and origin. This, these gentlemen accomplished with great danger, risk and fatigue. On their return one of them related to the writer the information they had obtained, what they saw and what they heard.

This raised in the writer's mind such an idea of some former connection between these aborigines of our land, and the Jewish nation, as greatly to increase a desire for further information on so interesting and curious a subject.

Soon after, reading (quite accidentally) the 13th chapter of the 2nd Apochryphal book of Esdras, supposed to have been written about the year 100 of the Christian era, his ardor to know more of, and seek further into the circumstances of these lost tribes, was in no wise diminished. He has not ceased since, to improve every opportunity afforded him, by personal interview with Indians—reading the best histories relating to them, and carefully examining our public agents residing among them, as to facts reported in the several histories, without letting them know his object, so as not only to gratify his curiosity, by obtaining all the knowledge relating to them in his power, but also to guard against misrepresentation as to any account he might hereafter be tempted to give of them. His design at present is, if by the blessing of Almighty God his life, now far advanced, should be spared a little longer, to give some brief sketches of what he has learned, in this important inquiry, lest the facts he has collected be entirely lost, as he feels himself culpable for putting off this business to so advanced a period of life, as to leave him small hopes of accomplishing his intentions.

He does not mean to attempt to solve all the difficulties, or answer all the objections that may very probably attend this investigation. It must be obvious to every attentive reader, who considers the length of time since the first dispersion of the Ten Tribes of Israel—the wandering and destitute state of the Indian nations—their entire separation from all civilized society—their total want of the knowledge of letters or of writing—the strange inattention of most of the Europeans, who first settled among them, to record facts relating to them, and the falsehood and deception of many of the few who did attempt it—the difficulties attending the obtaining a critical knowledge of their language, customs and traditions, arising from a prudent, though a violent jealousy and fear of the white people, from whom they have received little else but irreparable injuries, wanton destruction and extreme sufferings. It must be allowed that under such untoward circumstances, many unsurmountable difficulties must arise, that cannot be avoided.

In the prosecution of this compilation, the writer will avail himself of the best accounts given by the Spanish writers he can meet with—the histories written by our own people who first visited this land, or have since made themselves acquainted with the native inhabitants, and recorded anything relative to their languages, customs, manners and habits, such as Golden, Adair, Brainerd, Edwards, and on the language of the Mohegans—also of the information received from the Rev. Dr. Beatty, Bartram, and others, of their personal observations, while with, the Indians.

The writer is aware that Sir William Jones, whose character stands so high in the literary world, has endeavored to show that he has discovered the tribes of Israel in the Afghans of the eastern world, and he produces the account given by Esdras in proof of it—and although the writer would pay the utmost respect to the learning and judgment of that excellent man, and would not dispute the Afghans being of Jewish descent; yet Sir William himself, in his abridgement of Persian work, entitled The Secrets of the Afghans, transmitted to him by Mr. Vansittart, informs us, that this people, in relating their own story, profess to be descended from king Saul. And they say that Afghan lived in the time of David and Solomon, and finally retreated to the mountains, where his descendants became independent, and exterminated the infidels, meaning the heathen. Now, in the first place, Saul was not an Israelite, but the son of Kish, a Benjamite, and therefore many will be found in the East; but not of the tribes of Israel. Secondly.—If we look carefully into the account given by Esdras (and Sir William has given authenticity to his account) we find that the Ten Tribes he speaks of, were carried away by Salamanazar, and it is agreed on all hands, that he sent them into the countries near the Euxine sea. And Esdras says they determined to go to a place where they might keep their laws and remain undisturbed by the heathen; but if they had gone eastward, they would have been in the midst of them. Thirdly.—They traveled a great way to an uninhabited country, in which mankind never yet dwelt, and passed a great water, but the Eastern country, even in that early day, was well inhabited. These facts do not agree with the accounts given by the Afghans, who, from their own statement, belong to another tribe and lived in Persia, from whence they can return to Jerusalem without passing by sea or from the coasts of the earth.

STATE OF THE JEWS

ONE would imagine, from reasoning on the importance of this nation to the world at large—from the many clear and precise histories of them from the time of Abraham, their great progenitor, and from the many great and glorious promises made to them and their posterity by a God of truth and faithfulness, on condition of strict obedience to His laws as contained in the Divine Scriptures, that every person of leisure and observation would wish to become acquainted with the minute circumstances attending upon them from age to age. But such is the nature of man—such his indolence and inattention to things, however important, that relate to distant objects and not present enjoyments, that judging from actual