The Lost Ten Tribes, and 1882 Part 15

149. Duke Edward of Kent (17671820), Princess Victoria of Leiningen.

150. Q. Victoria (b. 1819, cr. 1838), Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg.

Thus do we see how G.o.d has kept His word to David, and with this view, English and American history are at once understandable. The future is a.s.suring and grand. G.o.d will a.s.suredly overturn till His throne once more is planted in Jerusalem.

JEREMIAH AND ST. PATRICK.

Discourse XX.

THE PROPHET'S COMMISSION-HIS LIFE-THE TRIBES IN HIS DAY-LANDING OF JEREMIAH IN IRELAND-WHAT HE BROUGHT WITH HIM-COLONISATION OF IRELAND-JEREMIAH THE FOUNDER OF THE ANCIENT IRISH GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION-TEA TEPHI AND HEREMON-THE ANCIENT IRISH FLAG-THE HARP AND LION-SEASON OF IRELAND'S HISTORICAL PRESTIGE-CAUSES OF HER DECLINE-ST.

PATRICK A BENJAMITE-HOW ROME DESTROYED JEREMIAH'S MEMORY AMONG THE IRISH-DESTRUCTION OF TARA-ULSTER NEVER CONQUERED-IRISH INDEPENDENCE-ARK OF THE COVENANT-RUINS OF TARA.

"See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."-Jer. i. 10.

In these words we have set forth the Divine commission given to the prophet Jeremiah. Never before, or since, was such a commission given to mortal man. It is not that Jeremiah is const.i.tuted a prophet for his own people, or over his own nation, and country, but he was Divinely appointed and set over the nations and kingdoms of the earth, with an authority "to root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down." Surely he was rightly named, for the word Jeremiah means the exalted, or appointed one of the Lord. By common consent, the Jews gave him the first place and name among the prophets. Up to the time of the Babylonian captivity he was second, Isaiah being first. But after the captivity, on the re-arrangement of the holy canon, his name was put first, and ever after he was regarded and accepted as the patron saint of Judea. He was born of a priestly family, about 641 B.C., in the priestly town of Anathoth, which was situated a few miles North of Jerusalem, in the territory of Benjamin. His work and commission awaited him, because they antedated his birth, for he says (chap. i. 4), "Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a _prophet unto the nations_." Jeremiah's life-work, extent, and devotion, can only find a parallel in the majesty and compa.s.s of his commission. It is the extent of this commission that I wish you would specially notice, for it is neither tribal nor national in its limitations. He was ordained a prophet unto the nations. Hear the voice of his wailing (chapter xv. 10), "Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the _whole earth_."

Consistent with the vastness of this commission is the recorded fact that he was forbidden to marry in his own land, for "the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons and daughters in this place" (Jeremiah xvi. 2). The claims of a wife and cares of a family could only have been harshly fitted on to such a work and commission. Indeed, every peculiar fact in the life of Jeremiah may be best accounted for by taking into consideration the greatness of his commission. To discard this is simply to invite confusion, and yet, strange to say, many prefer confusion rather than admit that he performed the _role_ a.s.signed him of Heaven. For this very reason writers, even Jewish historians, are at a loss to account for the latter half of the prophet's life. They do not seem to know where he spent his last days; they know not the time, manner, nor place of his death. And why, you ask? We answer, Because they selfishly and persistently limited his life and labours to his own land. They have not been willing to allow that he was set as a prophet over nations and kingdoms. Then again, they have been willing to allow him to be a puller down and destroyer, but not a builder and planter. To grant that he was a builder and planter, would have obliged them to have found the place of his building and the objects of his planting. These they well knew could not be found in Palestine, and they were as loath as many are unwilling to-day to permit Jeremiah to leave his own land. A man who would be equal to the Bible must be large-hearted, generous, and free, not fettered and bound by the errors of youthful training, the selfishness of sectarianism, the bigotry of orthodoxy, or the indifference of infidelity, but seek the truth, no matter from whence, or what it upsets or overturns of preconceived ideas. The command is, "Prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." To hear some people talk and lament, you would think that the command was, Prove nothing, but hold hard on to what you have got.

Try now, and reasonably and patiently follow me while I trace the wanderings of Jeremiah to Old Ireland. You will be surprised to find how intimate Irishology and theology are.

Ireland and the Tribe of Dan have a peculiar history, which history only can be made plain by reference to the Bible. Ireland has had much to undergo, yet of it G.o.d says, "To the islands He will repay recompense: so shall they fear the name of the Lord from the West."

Ireland's first name was Scuite's Land, or the Island of the Wanderers.

Her second name was Scotia Major, and Scotland was Scotia Minor, and England was Tars.h.i.+sh, and Dannoii and Baratamac, or Land of Tin. Yar in Eirin means the land of the setting sun. Hibernia is an Hebrew word, and means from beyond the river of waters.

Two colonies settled in Ireland; the first, the Phnicians, who were the Philistines or ancient Canaanites; the second settlers were the Tuath de Danan, meaning the Tribe of Dan. The words are Hebrew, yet in Irish.

For further information let any one read "Pinnock's Catechism on Ireland." The Phnicians were a sea-faring people; pressed by Israel, Egypt, and a.s.syria, they finally left Canaan, and settled in Ireland. We find nine-tenths of Irish historians agreeing on this. Then the monuments teach the same-ancient inscriptions, one of which written was, "We are Canaanites who have fled from Joshua, the son of Nun, the robber." The people who show tourists the seven churches of Glendenlough, say they are Hitt.i.tes and Hivites. Again, ruins of Baal temples, Cromlechs, round towers, go to confirm the same. Customs-Baal fires, on May eve, in Irish Ninna-baal-tinne; funeral wakes, or cup of consolation, forbidden to Israel when they sought to copy after the Philistines. "Neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for father or mother" (Jer. xvi. 7). The Irish language came from the Phnician, the alphabet of both being composed of sixteen letters originally, the only alphabet in the world so agreeing. From the Irish came the Gaelic, Welsh, Cornwall, and the Manx from them all.

The second settlement of Ireland is what puzzles historians of to-day-not the old historians, for they, nine out of ten, admit that the Formorians, Firbolgs, and Tuath de Danans, were one and the same people. They were a divine folk. The Tribe of Dan was a sea-faring Tribe, trading from Tyre to Tars.h.i.+sh for tin, and so became acquainted with the British Isles, and during Ahab's persecution many of them fled; so of the Simeonites who settled in Wales. This shows us why the North and South of Ireland should be so distinct to this day in religion, enterprise, and general characteristics. When the Tribe of Dan finally left Palestine, they with the other Nine Tribes went North, settling in Denmark, as in the North of Ireland, leaving their names on rivers, hills, cities, and things.

It is this that accounts for so many words of an Hebrew origin being found in the Irish language. General Vallancy has compared thousands and finds them thus related to the Hebrew. Instance: Jobhan-Moran, Chief Justice; Rectaire, Judge; Mur-Ollam, School of the Prophets; Ollam-Folla, Divine Teacher; Mergech, a Depository; Tara, Law; Tephi, Prince of the East; Lia-Fail, Stone of Destiny; Eden Gedoulah, Precious Stone.

If to Irish history we join Bible history, all is plain. G.o.d promised David repeatedly that he should always have his throne and on it his seed. The permanence of David's throne makes it a fit type of Christ's.

Now, Jeremiah took charge of Zedekiah's daughter when Nebuchadnezzar took the Jews captive. He went to Egypt, then escaped, G.o.d promising to keep him whithersoever he went. So he disappears. No account of his death in the Bible. He had charge of the ark of the covenant, royal seed and Jacob's pillow-the stone of Israel. Irish histories, some twenty of which we find agree, say that about 585 B.C., a divine man landed in Ulster, having with him the king's daughter, stone of destiny, and ark, and many other wonderful things. The people of Ulster, of Dan, understood the old adventurer. Jeremiah married Tephi, Zedekiah's daughter, to Eoiacaid, who agreed to abandon Baal wors.h.i.+p and build a school for the prophets. So he did. He then a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of Heremon of Tara. From Tara, which was changed from Lothair Croffin into Tara. From Tephi comes our G.o.ddess of Liberty, on old coins, sitting on a lion. Now, at Tara, Jeremiah buried the ark of the covenant, tables of law, &c., and inst.i.tuted the nine-arch degree of Masonry, to keep in mind its hiding-place,-so all may understand Jer. iii. 16: "And it shall come to pa.s.s, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more." This means that when the ark is found the ceremony will end; for the ark has to be found and go before the Jews when they return to their own land.

Jeremiah was the first Grand Master. He, too, is the real St.

Patrick-simply the Patriarchal Saint, which became St. Patriarch, then St. Patrick. The Roman Church introduced St. Patrick to offset the St.

Patriarch.

Jeremiah well knew where the Tribes of Israel were in his day. He knew that Judah, Levi, and Benjamin, were in Babylon, filling in the seventy years of captivity, and the small remnant that Nebuchadnezzar left of them in Judah were scattered hither and thither. The Nine Tribes, or Israel, were settled in Central Asia, and were spreading Northward and Westward. This he knew, as easily as Peter did centuries after, when he wrote his epistle to the brethren, scattered abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Asia; or as James, who dedicated his epistle to the Twelve Tribes which were scattered abroad; or as the Blessed Master who commissioned and sent His disciples after the lost sheep of the House of Israel. The place and locality of the Nine Tribes were known to the Jewish nation in the time of Josephus, the historian, for he speaks of them, and gives them a fraternal letter which the House of Judah sent unto the House of Israel. You are to keep in mind that it is after this the Tribes of Israel are to be lost. All prophecies after 700 B.C., up to this, our day, and till about 1882 A.D., that had reference to Israel, plainly mark out the dwelling-place of these Tribes, and yet these prophecies not being understood, till these latter days, Israel was as actually lost as if there had been no such prophecies. These prophecies were first sent North, then West, and then to the "isles of the sea."

The law of the Gospel of Jesus would be sent to these Tribes; till then the "isles had to wait for the law." In due time this law was carried to them by the missionary Tribe of Benjamin. This very thing and time the prophet had foretold, for he says: "Wherefore glorify ye the Lord by the Urim; the name of the Lord G.o.d of Israel in the islands of the Western sea." How true, indeed "the isles of the sea saw it and feared."

Jeremiah knew that the Tribe of Dan were a seafaring people, and in their trading they had become acquainted with Northern Europe and the British Isles. During the persecutions of Ahab thousands of them had left Palestine, settling in Denmark-this word Denmark means the circle of Dan.

In course of time they crossed the sea and took possession of the North of Ireland, settling in the province of Ulster. The Tribe of Simeon, that had ever cast its lot with Dan, left Palestine and settled in Wales.

Read the prophetic benedictions of the patriarch Jacob in the light of these historical facts, and they will stand out in sunlight brightness.

"Dan shall judge his people as _one_ of the Tribes of Israel." In his _oneness_, all alone he shall go out first, mark out and prepare the way of the other Tribes; and the royal seed, the ruling power, shall hide itself in him. "Dan shall be a serpent by the way; an adder in the path that biteth the horses' heels so that his rider shall fall backward."

Yes, Dan will be hid among the Gentiles. He will bite them, sting them, frustrating their purposes. Then exclaims Jacob: "I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord." Dan did wait, until the prophet Jeremiah landed in his midst with Tea Tephi, the daughter of Zedekiah, the royal seed, with the ark of the covenant, the tables of the law, the Urim and Thummim, which would enable Dan to judge his people, with the stone of Jacob, the pillar witness, which is now in the royal chair in Westminster Abbey; and also with the standard of Judah. Thus the prophet, who was the rightful custodian of all these things, carefully cared for the same, leaving them in charge of Dan. All but the stone have been concealed till the latter day. For on this stone have been crowned all the kings and queens of David's line.

Now just here we must take up history-especially Irish history-for in this matter and at this very point, you will find profane and sacred histories agreeing. One will beautifully explain the other; nor can anybody understand Irish history unless they get the key from sacred history. To take this key later writers have been unwilling, and, therefore, they have been unable to solve the problem embodied in this race and nation. No people on the face of the earth have been less understood and more misrepresented. The real allophyllians of Ireland-that is, the first native settlers-are unknown. The present inhabitants are not autochthonal, no more than we are the first settlers of this country. On one point all old historians are agreed-namely, that Ireland has been settled by two distinct colonies of people; and from these two colonies came the present Irish race. These two colonies were distinct in features, manners, customs, enterprise, and religion, and after all these centuries have pa.s.sed away, these differences are discernable in some degree, especially so in enterprise and religion.

And though, of course, in these latter years, they have become considerably mixed, yet an appeal on either of these points will mark out the Danite from the Phnician. From the loud boasting of the Phnician Irishman in Ireland, when speaking of America, you would think that he would pluck out his eyes and give them for a gift if need be. Well, a few years ago, Chicago was bitterly scourged with a fire. The need and distress thus caused appealed to the nations of the earth for help. The response was grand and glorious. Even hateful old John Bull did well.

But what did Ireland do? Take two of her leading cities as an example; one in the North, the other in the South. Belfast in the North, of the Tribe of Dan; Dublin in the South, of the Phnicians. Belfast sent 36,000 dols.; Dublin, 2,000 dols. Why this difference? We answer, Forsooth, the people of Belfast are Danites; they of Dublin are Phnicians.

The Phnicians, or Philistines, were the ancient Canaanites. They took early possession of Ireland. On this point the old as well as the new historians generally agree. But there was another early settlement in the North of Ireland whom the historians called _Tuath de Danan_, which simply means the folks of the Tribe of Dan. They introduced into the Irish language hundreds of Hebrew words, with many customs and legends of the Hebrews. They were very distinct in their enterprise and religion from the other settlers. About the year 580 B.C. there appeared before this people a strange man, whom the historians call _Ollam-Folla_, which means a divine teacher; the name or t.i.tle is in Hebrew. This man, whoever he was, soon wielded great power in their midst. What he commanded they seemed ready to do. He very soon inaugurated wonderful reforms. He gave them a parliament, made them give up their idolatrous customs. He founded a college to train students to teach and preach his religion. It was called _Mur-Ollam_, school of the Divine. Here again the name is Hebrew, although in Irish. This wonderful man had with him a fair young princess, whose name in Hebrew-Irish was _Tea Tephi_, which means the beautiful one from the East. This lovely princess was married to the governor of Ulster, Heremon. He resided in the City of Lothair Croffin. In the agreement of the marriage, among many things, he was to accept her religion, give her joint authority, and build the Mur-Ollam, or college, and sustain it. Also to change the name of his city from _Lothair Croffin_ to _Tara_, which means law; to adopt her standard or banner emblem, the harp and lion, and to be crowned on the wonderful stone called in Irish-Hebrew, _Lia-Fail_, which means stone of destiny, sometimes called _Eben Gedoulah_, the precious stone. From this Tea Tephi we get our female G.o.ddess of liberty, who on old coins is seated upon a lion with the Davidian harp in her hand.

Our text tells us that Jeremiah was to plant and build up. Here he planted, and here he did build. He planted and built a throne, a college, and a religion. Turn to Ezekiel, chapter xvi., and read the famous riddle. Tea Tephi is the tender twig that was cropped off from the high cedar, King Zedekiah, and planted among the merchants by great waters on the mountain of Israel. She was the tender one that was to take root downward. To Jeremiah, the Lord said, "Verily it shall be well with thy remnant." Nay, more, He told him that He would give him his life for a prey whithersoever he went. And in 2 Kings xix. 30, we read: "And the remnant that is escaped of the House of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and they that escape out of Mount Zion; the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this." And Ezekiel, in his captivity, sent forth a prophecy referring to the wicked prince, Zedekiah, saying of his throne in the name of Jehovah: "I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it Him." So was this throne overturned, and was never after established in Jerusalem. You will notice that there are three overturnings, and as Scriptural language is emphatic and not superfluous or tautological, these overturnings mean something. Turn to history, and you will find this throne has been turned over just three times-first, from Jerusalem to Ireland; second, through King Fergus to Scotland, and, third, through King James, from Scotland to England. This throne can never be turned over again, for Jerusalem will be incorporated into the British Empire.

The throne has turned over till it got home again; hence, as surely as we live, Palestine will go into the hands of England. The throne, religion, and education established by the prophet have ever kept together. This is the secret of Ireland's prestige and marvellous pre-eminence in centuries past. The college of Armach could boast of 7,000 students at a time. Missionaries went forth from Ireland through all Europe, teaching Christianity, and founding schools. Few men can compare to Virgilus, Eregina, Columba.n.u.s, and Columba. In olden times she was known as the "Isle of the Saints." The day of Ireland's weakness and distress came to her when she permitted her religion to be corrupted and controlled by foreigners; and by these same Italian intriguers she is now impoverished and enslaved. But for this the throne might have remained with her to-day, and England and Scotland have been under her. But when a nation loses her religion, she loses the right arm of power, and the ability to preserve freedom.

Jeremiah was the patron-saint for Ireland for a long time. Simeon (the Welsh) had and have David; and as surely as the Welsh have kept their saint, so surely ought Ireland. St. Patrick is looked upon by many as a mythical person. I believe, however, that he was a veritable man. The best authorities make out that he was born at Bonavena, in ancient Gaul, near what is now called Boulogne, some time about 387 A.D. He is reported as having died March 17th, 465, in the county Down. His father's name was Calpurnius. Young Calpurnius, or St. Patrick, as he was afterwards called, had a hard life of it in youth. I believe him to have been a Benjamite, a Christian; for the Benjamites began to fill in that part of France about that period. This Tribe were by nature missionaries. This prompted him to desire to redeem his brethren in Ireland. In Ulster he began his labours. From this same Tribe others had visited Ireland. History mentions four who preceded St. Patrick.

The name of St. Paul, by many, is connected with a visit to Ireland. It is very easy to see how Jeremiah, the patron-saint of Judah, would be installed in such a relation with the Danites after his death. He was the real sainted patriarch of Ireland. And by a crafty design of Rome, young Calpurnius was created sainted patriarch, or St. Patrick, and by this means Rome linked the greater part of the Irish nation on to herself. Anybody honest and familiar with history knows that St. Patrick was a Christian, and in no sense of the word a Roman Catholic. The fact is, Rome began early to covet Ireland. Once they got possession, it was necessary for them to destroy the influence of Jeremiah. This they did, in part, by subst.i.tuting the name of St. Patrick in the place of the prophet's; and more, they then set to work to destroy even the old and famous capital city of Tara. In 565 St. Ruadham, along with a _posse_ of bishops and chiefs of the South of Ireland, cursed the city, so that neither King nor Queen might ever rule or reign therein again. They forced the government, monarchy and people to abandon the place. From thence Tara was deserted, and the harp sounded no more through Tara's halls. The city thus cursed crumbled to ruins, and remains to this day buried, awaiting a glorious resurrection. Rome caught her prize at last; but neither Rome nor any other power ever enslaved or conquered Ulster.

Beyond the pale-that is, the dividing line, running from the Boyne to the Shannon-Rome never got, nor never will. Irishmen clamour for independence, to be free from England, and wonder why they are not. The reason is that G.o.d cannot trust liberty to them; for a people that yoke themselves to a foreigner, and give themselves over to be governed in spiritual matters, would make a poor effort if trusted with their temporal government. We all know that if Ireland had been free, she would not long have remained so, for body, as well as soul, she would have committed to the Italians. Why Irish Catholics should ask for freedom when they so voluntarily bind themselves to a foreigner, I fail to see. As the Protestants of the North have asked, and had granted, spiritual freedom in the severance of Church and State, so let the men of the South ask and demand, and stop not short of freedom from Rome. A free religion is the parent of a free State, and a free State of free school. A people who are not wise enough to take care of their own religion, are very poorly prepared to be the guardians of liberty. My belief is that Ireland ought to be free. She ought to be an independent province, with responsible government, as other English provinces. And once she becomes free religiously, it will not be long before she will be free politically. Subst.i.tute Jeremiah for St. Patrick, and the Lord Jesus for the Pope, then the day of freedom will not long tarry.

LONDON: PRINTED BY ROBERT BANKS, RACQUET COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C.

Footnotes:

{23} Essay on "Mana.s.seh and the United States," by the author, published by Robert Banks, price 2d.

{159} This Discourse we give to the reader as reported. In all the others we have excluded the reporter's introduction and personal references.