LORNE-STREET HALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4372, 17 November 1875, Page 3

LORNE-STREET HALL.

I "THE LOST TEN TRtBES OF ISRAEL." Mr. W. L. Rees, according to announcement, delivered his lecture last evening, upon the question, " Is the British Nation a portion of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel ?" On the motion of • Mr. Batger, Captain Daldy was called to the chair. The lecture occupied two hours in delivery—and Mr. Rees speaks somewhat rapidly,—so that only an outline of his lecture can be transferred to our' columns. In the first place, he insisted that, although the subject might be speculative and hypothetical, the truth with respect to it was of vital importance. It should be remembered that all scientific results were elaborated upon theories -which at first appeared doubtful, but the truth of which became established by the constant acquisition of fresh evidence. The first to draw attention to this subject was Dr. Abbadi, a learned Huguenot, who about 1720 wrote a treatise, in which ho drew attention to many passages in sacred history, and many facts of English life and records, which pointed to the identity of the English nation with a portion of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. The next were the Rev. R. Glover, Mr. John Wane, and Mr. Edward Hind, the last gentleman being at present the editor of a. periodical sending forth from month to! month arguments in.support of this theory. All knew how the Bible told them that God chose Abraham from among all the people then in the world to be His servant, who should worship Him, and that God set him apart, Abraham and his children after him, and promised that his seed should not only be innumerable, but become a mul-, titude of nations, inheriting the favour of! God to the latest ages. "These promises were renewed to Isaac and to Jacob. These generations that were to come afterwards were to inhabit the islands of the west and of the north. They: were to return with, the two tribes of- Judah and Benjamin; from the uttermost.. parts of : the earth. Ezekiel had prophesied that in the future the twelve tribes united should return and claim the land which God' gave to their fathers, and that they should dwell there for. ever. " In Isaac . shall thy seed be called." It was worthy to note a custom prevalent in the Oriental languages. Names beginning with, the aspirated I, or what was equivalent to it, dropped the initial letter. Thus, Istambul became Stamboul, Ispania became Spain, and so a great number of instances might be quoted. In this way the " Sons of Isaac" would undergo a variety of transformations, retaining, however, the main stem of the word, until they got casens, Scythians, Scute or Scots. There was no doubt as to the fact that the Bible was the oldest book in the world, and from that book they learned that, when Jacob was blessing his children, he drew this distinction betweeu Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, that. Manasseh should become " a " nation," but EpL.raim should become a greater nation. There was no doubt time was rapidly approaching to the end of all those prophetic changes which were to take place. The question came broadly before them as to whether there was any existing nation to which the prophetic language of scripture applied. There was only one occasion when God threatened to destroy his people, and that was when Moses was descending from Sinai with the tables of the law :—" This is a stiff-necked people—let me, in my anger, consume them." If ever there was a colossal man, a great self-denying human being, that man was Moses, at whose intercession God forgave his people. The lecturer proceeded to relate the chronology of the separate captivities of two tribes and of the ten tribes, from which it appeared that the ten never returned. The date of the captivity of the Ten was 758 before Christ. The two were taken to Babylon about the year 588 before Christ, remaining there 70 years, and returning under Neheiniah,. It, had been long supposed that no remains of the cities of Babylon and Nineveh were existing, but explorers were bringing to light day after day the secrets which their ruins disclosed. There was no doubt that the direction taken by the Ten Tribes in their wanderings was northwards, and towards the western shores of the Mediterranean. They were told how Alexandria, and several of the cities of Asia Minor, were filled with people of Jewish descent. It was almost cotemporaneous with the disappearance of the Ten Tribes, a prophet appeared in Ireland, accompanied by a beautiful princess. It was remarkable that Jeremiah never appeared again, and that he had charge of the "King's daughters," not of the sons. This princess was buried on Tara Hill, in Ireland. An agitation was on foot to explore this tomb. They were aware that when the English monarch was crowned the cry was the same as that sent up by the people of Israel—"God save the King." This was a coincidence small by iteelf, but having some significance when considered that it was of immemorial usage, and wa» adopted by no other nation or country. There was a rude stone under the English throne of state which was called " Jacob's "Pillow," and it was well known that the descent from the House of David was claimed for the English kings. The name of the prophet mentioned was TuathaDan. Tuatha means " tribe," and the name of the prineess was Tiphas, or " Violet." The Princes Tiphas married one of the ancient kings of Ireland, and was said to be crowned on this stone. The stone had undergone some It fell iuto the hands of Feargus, King of Scotland, who was crowned upon it. All his children who succeeded him aa kings were crowned on it. Edward I. brought it out of Scotland. The English kings have been crowned on it ever since. Then it—lsrael—must be an unconquered nation. The arrival of William the Conqueror could not be called a conquest, for he claimed the kingdom in right of his relationship to Edward the Confessor, and treated Harold as an usurper. What nation was it that had become not only a nation but a "multitude" of nations or a "company" of nations? England fulfilled this designation, with her rising colonies and. her rapidly - increasing numbers. English-speaking people numbered 22,000,000 at the commencement of the present century. Now they number 90,000,000, and Mr. Axam, an eminent statistician, shewing that at the present rate of increase the English-speaking people would, in 120 years, exceed 150,000,000. Then the nation that would fulfil the prophecy should be dominant. England had spread her arms of protection almost over every land ; while every capital in the world was occupied by armed hosts, her's was intact ; she spread abroad liberty, the arts, commerce, and a, hatred of oppression. She had planted !her standard in Burmah, China, in Africa, North Western America, and New Zealand. The descent of the English was plainly tracedback to the Scythians, who were mentioned by Herodotus, Drodorus, Sicculus, Strab, Ephiphanea, Homer, yEschylus, Arion Virgil, and from Scythia came the Scute. It was not an argument to say that because the English language was Aryan and not Shemitic, this was an objection to the theory. But philology had shewn that in the I course of time people lost their native tongue and adopted that of the people amongst whom they came to live. It was a further curious coincidence that while every other nation had adopted a novel system of weights and measures, England still retained the system and method which, was recognised by the ancient people, the sons of Seth—a God-fearing race, who were great astronomers in the land of Chaldea, who -came to Egypt and built a monument. Was there such a monument to be found ? The lecturer gave u history of the measurements of the great pyramid, and the results of explorations by Dr. Piazzi, Smyth, and others, shewing that it marked the measures of time, that it determined the ■weights and measurements, and with these weights and measures the usuage in England for centuries had corresponded, while that in every other part of the world had changed. It might be that the subject wrs speculative, and that all these coincidences did not amount to convincing evidence, There

might yet be room- for conjecture. Still, they were all arguments that had their significance. The children of Israel, the Ten Tribes, had wandered north and west. Thennames and rites were traced to the uttermost parts of the earth—to the islands of the west. Many ancient 'customs in: England corresponded withithose' of the lost tribes, ! and the remnants of some of them remained ! to this day. - Tho time was coming when circumstances would compel the Enghish nation.to possess herself of Palestine. Turkey was falling'to pieces ; —Germany and Russia would possibly divide the European territory of that Power between • them. But England must have Palestine. She must have it as a security of her commerce in the East. The time indicated as the culmination of prophetic events was ISSl—just five years from this time. There was nothing improbable in the theory that the migration of the tribes through various countries should have ' softened down their eastern peculiarities, yet that they should preserve their destinctive traits of character. These traits of character corresponded very closely with those which distinguish the people of this country. Another remarkable correspondence was the preservation of the Sabbath as a day devoted to religion and rest. This was not customary with any other nation, who gave <the day up. to amusement. Mr. Rees concluded his lecture by an eloquent peroration, in which he enlarged upon the importance of giving to the subject a patient, a deliberate, and dispassionate attention.— Mr. Farnall moved a rote of thanks to the lecturer, which was seconded by the Rev. Warlow Davies, and carried with acclamation. . ■