Chiefly
from the Correspondence of the late
John Wilson
compiled by his daughter.
London:
S. W. Partridge and Co., 9, Paternoster Row. 1877
John Wilson, 1877. Sixty Anglo-Israel
Difficulties Answered
"Of His own will begat He us with the
Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures."
- James 1:18
Have not I written to thee excellent things
in counsels and knowledge, that I might make thee know the certainty of the
Words of Truth; that thou mightest answer the Words of Truth to them that send
unto thee?" - Proverbs 22:20-21.
IT is matter for congratulation that the
subject of "Our Israelitish Origin," which has now been continuously
before the minds of many Christians for some seven-and-thirty years [since
1840] has borne every test that has yet been applied to it, and of which the
following "ANSWERS TO SIXTY DIFFICULTIES" are sufficient evidence.
Most of them were discussed after Mr.
Wilson's lectures, others were answered by letter, his courtesy, patience, and
sympathy with the enquirer rendering him unusually accessible to any honest
seeker after truth; and thus the subject generally has, to a wide extent,
become an eminently educative power. We should each seek, as far as time and
opportunity allow, to be able to give historical, geographical, ethnological
and linguistic reasons for the faith that is in us on this subject, if we wish
to hold our own with such as will otherwise infallibly bring their own versions
of such matters to our discomfiture.
The mere acceptance of this glorious truth
is both easy and rapid to minds which have not been warped by various
prejudices and ignorances, and have been trained to some systematic
acquaintance with all Scripture, such as is provided for in the daily
reading, and perhaps may best be acquired in the diligent use of the Scriptural
Illustrations of "THE GOSPEL TREASURY OF THE FOUR EVANGELISTS," to
the preparation and perfecting of which (especially the 8vo. edition) Mr.
Wilson gave seven consecutive years of the ablest part of his life, that when
it might be ended his work for Israel should continue. This statement is
necessary, inasmuch as a great want is felt by many of the very identical kind
of help in teaching which these books supply, while those, into whose hands the
late proprietor's copyrights have come, know not their true value in this
respect. (See "TITLE DEEDS OF THE HOLY LAND," p. 8, and "OUR
ISRAELITISH ORIGIN," 5th edition, p. 436.)
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY THE LATE JOHN WILSON:
Answers to Sixty Anglo-Israel Difficulties
England's Duty in Relation to the Christians of Turkey
Title Deeds of the Holy Land
Mission of Elijah
Watchmen of Ephraim (3 vols.)
Our Israelitish Origin (large & small editions)
The Being of God
Handful of Corn on the Top of the Mountains
Gospel Treasury (Compiled by R. Mimpriss)
Every new phase of genuine Truth has to
struggle with the opposition of those who have been built up in contrary
opinions; or, it may be, in no opinion, and dislike having their peace
disturbed, or the perfection of their wisdom called in question. But
controversy may be overruled for good. Even a Jew could ,say, "Doth,
our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doeth?" and
from the darkness and diversity of views prevailing upon the subject of LOST
ISRAEL, it is evident that some fresh light was wanting. Those who have fully
investigated the views contained in the following pages have found them
increasingly satisfying to their own minds, as well as best adapted to meet the
difficulties of those opposed to the truth of Divine Revelation.
Great mischief arises from not recognizing
our own place in prophecy. The time has passed for trifling with the Word of
God. It has been in our hands for hundreds of years. We have had ample time to
think about its contents. The most learned and able men that well-endowed
universities can produce are maintained at great expense to teach its meaning.
Many of us they have had under instruction from early infancy to latest age.
And one day in seven, as if in the performance of a solemn duty, without
contradiction many of us listen quietly to whatever they have to say about the
Sacred Scriptures, and the subjects of which they treat.
In such circumstances it might well be
expected that our people should at least know something about the first book in
the Bible, and the Covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning
which, God has been so earnest as to speak upon oath, which He wrote in the
very names of the great Receivers of the Promises, reiterated again and again;
and at length pronounced by Jacob upon the head of EPHRAIM, who was given the
BIRTHRIGHT and the privileges belonging to the Firstborn (Gen. 48:16-21).
The children of Ephraim were not
"Jews," although they were their brethren. At one time these were
rivals, but they separated thousands of years ago; and the children of Ephraim
have long been lost among the Gentiles.
Yet upon this "lost"
people were to come the accumulated blessings promised to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. The blessings were to "come upon the head of Joseph, and upon
the crown of the head of him that was separate [the Nazirite] from his
brethren." Here, then, appears to be a wonderful blank! Where are
the children of promise, the offspring of Ephraim and Manasseh? Manasseh was to
be "great;" but truly his younger brother Ephraim was to be
"greater than he, and his seed" was to "become a multitude of
nations."
We are told (Heb. 11:21), "By faith
Jacob blessed both the sons of Joseph," giving them, through the Cross,
the blessing of which he was the divinely appointed heir, and for which he
suffered so much from the folly of his parents, and the hatred of his brother.
But where is this "multitude of nations"? Where is this
"Fullness of the Gentiles"? Where are Ephraim and Manasseh, who were
to be patterns of blessing for all the tribes of Israel?
We all know that the people called
ANGLO-SAXONS have possession of those things which constitute the
Birthright [ABCOG: written in 1877]. They have the means of ministering
blessing to all nations. In their National Liturgy they claim to be the Lord's
"people" - "the sheep of His pasture" - "the remnant
of the true Israelites, among whom is Salvation." Being made disciples of
Christ as "being born [ABCOG: begotten] again of the incorruptible seed of
the Word," they are made "sons of the living God" and
in the right of "the Man that is a Jew" (Zech. 8:23) they are
children of Abraham by faith. If the Birthright had been given to Judah, and
nothing had been said about the Sons of JOSEPH being constituted heirs of the
promises, there would seem to be something in this...
But the fact remains that the fulfillment of
the Promises to the Jews, whether natural or spiritual, can never answer
to the conditions indicated in Gen. 48, 49. The lost children of Joseph must
themselves inherit the blessing.
Observe, also, that the children of JOSEPH
were brethren of the Jews, and thus were descendants of SHEM; while the English
are said to be descended from Japheth. If this be so, we must look elsewhere for
the children of promise.
Yet supposing the Aborigines of the
British Isles to be, like the Lapps, descendants of Japheth, or, like some of
the Irish Phoenicians (Fenians), the offspring of Canaan, this would not prove
the present inhabitants of the British Isles to be descendants of either
Japheth or Ham; because shortly before the Christian era the north of Europe
received a new population of Semitic origin, and repeatedly thereafter.
We are not a beardless race like the
descendants of Japheth. Like the Jews, we are of Caucasian, that is of Semitic
origin. Japheth was to dwell in "the tents of Shem," but Shem was to
be master of the tents. The Birthright also belonged to Shem (Gen.
9:26), and as "the Lord God of Shem" the Most High bestowed the
Blessing. But our teachers have comparatively nothing to say upon the
Birthright, the culminating point of Patriarchal Revelation. They pass it by
altogether, and do not seem to understand the emphatic manner in which
reference is made to the Cross as the Ensign under which the Blessing was to
come upon the children of Joseph.
So blind have we been that we have
even confounded Judah with Joseph, and have regarded "All Israel" as
Jews, notwithstanding the marked distinction made by God between even the two
sons of Joseph, and much more between them and Judah (Gen. 48:19).
So ignorant of Scripture have our poor
people been left, that multitudes have become the prey of even Mormon
imposture, which one would think is sufficiently palpable when pretending to
reply to the questions, "Where are the children of Ephraim"? "
Where are the people who were to inherit the promises"? These Mormons say,
"Look to the North American Indians. There is the promised
multitude of nations. True, they are not at present under blessing but under
curse, indicated by their dark skins. [ABCOG: Do Mormons still teach this?] But
these are to become white when they embrace the creed of Joseph Smith."
That is, when the white-faced followers of Joseph Smith come to inherit their
lands, and take the place of the pretended multitude of nations, which is fast
perishing from off the earth.
And yet the Book of Mormon does not at all
pretend what the apostles of Mormonism took for granted - that the Indians are
descended from Ephraim. It says they are of a family of Manasseh, who
more than a hundred years after the two half-tribes of Manasseh were lost, came
out of "the land of Jerusalem," and having travelled away to America,
became the progenitors of the Indian tribes.
Our guilt is doubtless as great as our folly
in refusing to acknowledge the truthfulness of God in fulfilling to us the
Promises made to our Fathers; and it is high time to throw away the absurd
fallacy of our being descended from Japheth, as if we were the aborigines of
these European countries any more than our kindred in America are descended
from those of America.
About 1,328 years ago (549 A.D.) the Angles
obtained their final settlement in this "place appointed" for them
from the days of old (2 Sam. 7:10). Previously they came from where Israel were
lost. And let it never be forgotten that WHERE THE PEOPLE WERE LOST TO WHOM THE
PROMISES WERE MADE, THENCE THE PEOPLE HAVE COME TO WHOM THE PROMISES ARE BEING
FULFILLED.
God calls upon us to consider prophecy and
its fulfillment, and to say whether or not it be truth. But if we give no heed
to the Faithful Promiser, how can we expect to escape without damage in the
great changes which are taking place in the earth?
Most of the objections, difficulties, and
hindrances to understanding the truth with regard to our Israelitish origin
arise from the very widespread ignorance of even the broad facts of Scripture,
English, and Jewish history, to say nothing of language. Many mistakes might
easily be corrected by a judicious reference to the historical parts of the
Bible, and to such well-known works on our own early national existence as Dr.
Henry's " History of Great Britain," and Sharon Turner's
"History of the Anglo-Saxons;" while Josephus and Prideaux should not
be entirely overlooked when considering matters RELATING to the Jews.
It is repeatedly asserted by the prophet
Isaiah that the Lord hath not merely "created" Israel as He hath done
all men, but also that He hath "formed" them to show forth
His praise; hath, as it were, with laborious carefulness fashioned them for the
manifestation of His glory in the latter time. The wisdom of the Great Teacher
of Israel in their training, as recorded in Scripture, even after they were led
into captivity and seemingly abandoned, is manifest; for this happened to them
only that they might be taken up by the Lord in another way, so that He should
be able to say, as in Isa. 41:9, "I have chosen thee, and not cast
thee away." The great work of "forming" a people
for Himself was still to be going forward according to promise, "for
the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. 11:29).
Now, it is remarkable that in all researches
after the Lost Tribes this important truth has been overlooked, that the
Infinitely wise God in all their wanderings would continue to be the Instructor
of Israel; so in place of looking for the Promised Seed where we ought, we, in
the pride of our Gentileism, have been looking for them among the most
degraded, uneducated, and savage races on the face of the earth, altogether by
nature incapacitated for taking the part appointed prophetically to Israel. But
"shall the work say of Him that made it, He made me not? or shall the
thing framed say of Him that framed it, He had no understanding?" No, the
"work" will justify the wisdom of the Worker. "The thing
framed" will witness to the wonder-working power of Him that framed it.
The "dry bones" are here - nay, "flesh and
sinews" have come upon them, and "skin" begins to cover
them above. Let but "the breath" of the Lord breathe upon
them; let the Word of God pass freely over them, declaring His purposes
regarding themselves, and they will stand up "on their feet an
exceeding great army" prepared to follow the Captain of their
salvation in triumph over all the powers of darkness.
These views have been adopted cautiously,
after many years' study of the Holy Scriptures and Providence. Although we have
carefully discussed many controverted points, we have, happily been kept out of
mere disputation, and have felt ourselves free to follow Truth. If we seem to
fail in this on any important point, it is rather perhaps because sometimes our
readers may be disposed to tell our meaning before we utter it.
For, notwithstanding, all that is said about
ISRAEL and EPHRAIM, it is quite possible that some of our friends, as well as
others who are directly opposed, may still think of our work as especially
relating to "the Jews;" whereas the prime object is to show that God
has been keeping His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom He was
known by the name of "God Almighty." He was also known to them by His
name JEHOVAH "(He who causes to be or bringeth to pass)," and
by oath He confirmed to them His Covenant. (WATCHMEN of EPHRAIM, Vol. 1)
The promises to the fathers were made sure
to Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph, who was constituted the Heir in Christ,
from whom chiefly was to descend that "great nation" pointed
forward to in the name of Abram, the first great receiver of the promises, and
also that "multitude of nations" referred to when his name
was enlarged to ABRAHAM.
On the disruption of the tribes at the death
of Solomon, Judah, Benjamin, and fragments of other tribes, with many of the
priests and Levites, adhered to the throne of David, and were called "the
house of Judah;" but Ephraim and the other tribes to the north, and east,
and west of the Jordan, under the name of ISRAEL, or ALL ISRAEL, remained a
distinct kingdom until the captivity of Israel, which began about B.C.
740, and was completed thirty years after - B.C. 710.
Israel had been called near to the Lord, had
been led about, instructed, and given abundant evidence of the justice and
mercy of God, and of His determination to accomplish all He had promised.
EPHRAIM had been a ringleader in rebellion, to such a degree as that the Lord
had said, B.C. 742 , "Within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken
that he be not a people." This curse was to take effect B.C. 677.
Before that time Ephraim was to be "lost among the Gentiles," and
so it came to pass.
There was one hopeful feature in Ephraim's
case. The last view we have of him in Scripture previous to his expatriation
was as bringing forth "the fruit of the Kingdom." The army
of Israel had made war upon the Jews, and brought immense spoil and many prisoners
to Samaria. Against the host thus returning from the war a prophet of the Lord
went forth, and the Word of the Lord spoken by him was taken up by "the
men of Ephraim expressed by name" who, acknowledging their own sins
against the Lord, protested against adding to their guilt by being the wilful
instruments of punishing their brethren of the house of Judah. The soldiery
seem to have bowed to the Word of the Lord as well as the civilians, so that
they left both the prisoners and the spoils in the hands of "the men
of Ephraim," who clothed those who were naked among them, arrayed
them, gave them to eat and to drink, anointed them, carried all the feeble
among them upon asses, and having brought them "to Jericho, the city
of palm trees," they returned to Samaria (2 Chron. 28). The Lord must
have seen something of this when He said, about the same time, or just after, "How
shall I give thee up, Ephraim?" (Hos. 11:8). And although the decree
had gone forth, and Ephraim must be cut off as a people, we may be quite sure
that in thus bringing forth the "fruits" called for, in the
judgment of the nations, preparatory to being given to inherit the Kingdom
(Matt. 25), this practical exhibition of repentance towards God, and kindness
to the poor and needy of that people whom the Lord condescended to make His
brethren according to the flesh, was not overlooked by the Great Messenger of
the Covenant when sending forth the Word of His Grace; and may well believe it
was directly pointed to when He said to the Jews, after speaking of the very
different kind of treatment which they had given to the Lord's messengers,
" Therefore say I unto you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from
you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it." This
saying of our Lord is like that in Jer. 3: "The backsliding Israel
hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words
towards the north, and say, "Return, thou backsliding Israel, I will not
cause Mine anger to fall upon you, saith the Lord." The Apostle
[Paul] witnesses that upon the Jews of his generation wrath" was
"come to the uttermost" (I Thess. 2:16). But this was not to be
the case with Ephraim: "I will surely have MERCY upon him,
saith the Lord" (Jer. 31:20).
The Word of the Lord, to which Ephraim had
at length shown a disposition to give ear while yet in the Land, was sent after
him into the North Country, after the nation to which he belonged had been "given
a bill of divorce and sent away" (Jer. 3:8). We are, therefore, not
to look for Israel as still under the law, like the Jews; nor even as bearing
their own name of Ephraim or Israel. They were cast out among the Gentiles,
and were to become "a multitude of nations," or as the
phrase is rendered by the Apostle Paul, "THE FULLNESS OF THE GENTILES
" (Rom. 11:25).
Let us then proceed in the direction in
which the Word of the Lord went forth from Jerusalem. Following the course of
that great Apostle of the Gentiles, we find that every successive journey was
more and more towards these "isles afar off" where we find a
people dwelling "alone," who are also "without number among
the nations." Upon the "multitude of nations" to whom
they have given birth in all "the ends of the earth" has
fallen the pleasant lot of ministering to the wants of all the nations of the
earth. God has done for them, and enabled them to do "great
things" for themselves and for others. But in nothing have they been
more signally favored than in this, that to them has been committed that which
was taken from the Jews, "the keeping of the Oracles of God," the
ministration of the Bread of Life to all people, the causing to be proclaimed
in all languages the wonderful works of God.
The people upon whom this privilege has
fallen came from the borders of the Caspian Sea, whither the Assyrians carried
the people upon whom it was promised the blessing should come. The destiny
promised to the Firstborn was special, and it is specially that of the English.
All things agree to confirm the word that God "hath remembered His
mercy and His truth toward the House of Israel." "We are indeed His
People and the sheep of His pasture." May this be proved,
not only by the Lord's kindness to us, but by our making a right use of our
privileges; by our truly fulfilling our destiny in being for blessing unto all
the nations of the earth.
Saxo Grammaticus, who wrote about the middle of the twelfth century,
asserts that a certain man named DAN was the founder of the Danish monarchy,
and that his brother was called "ANGUL." And at the Royal Academy in
1877 a most graphic picture by Keeley Halswelle (No. 1,394) was
exhibited representing the oft-told, though sometimes discredited tale of
Gregory the Great looking with tender compassion on some beautiful children
"every one like the son of a king" exposed for sale in Rome.
Inquiring of his companions who they were, he was told they were ANGLI, and is
thought by many to have perpetrated but a poor pun when he exclaimed, "Non
Angli, sed Angeli."
Now the fact is, in those early days (A.D.
588) Roman Churchmen were far better scholars than they were after "the
Dark Ages" of ignorance and superstition had set in; and it is likely that
the Hebrew word (Engel) was familiar enough to him as the name for a CALF,
YOUNG BULL, or BULLOCK; but the Roman power having by previous heathen conquest
acquired the Four Standards of Israel (the Man, the Lion, the Eagle, and the
Bull, called "living creatures" in Ezek. 1, and "beasts"
in Rev. 4), the Church thought the symbols of too great value to be left
unused, appropriated them to the Four Evangelists, and called them by the same
name angeloi (Gk.), angeli (Latin.), angels (or messengers), possibly
from their " feet," which are said to be those of "a
calf" (Engel), the word still used in Germany for "an
angel."
There is much more in this than at first
meets the eye, causing one's thoughts to flash backwards and forwards along the
lines of Prophecy and Providence in relation to that people, after whom the
south part of this island is called ENGLAND, the world's carriers and
messengers, and whose voice is popularly but in this case correctly, translated
by that of JOHN BULL, possibly the rough wit of some Meso-Goth on hearing the
word Euangelion (Gk.) for the first time, the first syllable of which
would sound like the contraction (in hebrew) of John (and means the same), and
Engel as pronounced in Germany. For those among them who "feared the
Lord, and spake often one to another (Hebrew, a man to his runi, the
Icelandic for one who knows the secret), a Book of Remembrance," the
Gospels, the Good Message, the New Testament or Covenant was written "before
Him" (Mal. 3:16; John 14:26).
Yes, let us be thankful that the English
name, even as "Engli," is inscribed in Mal. 4:2, and that
the last message of the Old Testament has come to us from the Lord, saying, "But
unto you fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with
healing in His wings; AND YE SHALL GO FORTH AND GROW UP AS CALVES (Ka-Engli),
OF THE STALL" - strong for the Lord's work. "Remember ye the law
of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb, for All-Israel, the
statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."
A great change was indeed necessary. "The
ox (the standard of Ephraim) knoweth his owner, and the ass (that
of Issachar) his master's crib); but Israel doth not know; My people doth
not consider" (Isa. 1:3). "Ephraim is a heifer that is taught... I
will make Ephraim brake the ground." (Engle) (Hos. 10:11, B.C. 740).
"Worshippers of golden calves" (Englim, chap. 13:2).
"Thy calf, O Samaria," &c. Engli-ka. chap. 8:5). But a
great and gradual change is recognized by the Prophets. Thus JEREMIAH 31:18,
B.C. 606, -
"I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus:
Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like a bullock (Ka-Engel) unaccustomed to the yoke.
Turn thou me (convert me), and I shall be turned,
For thou art the Lord my God."
ZECHARIAH also, B.C. 518 (chap. 9:12), -
"Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners
of hope:
Even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee
When I have bent Judah for me,
Filled the bow (Kasheth) with Ephraim,
And raised up thy sons, 0 Zion, over thy sons, O Javan (or Ivan),
And made thee as the sword of a mighty man."
And many hundreds of years before that,
JACOB with the eye of faith had foreseen the ultimate result, along with the
CAUSE of Joseph's power, when he prophesied, -
"His bow (Kashto) abode in
strength,
And the arms of his hands were made strong
By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob,
BY THE NAME OF THE SHEPHERD, THE STONE OF ISRAEL."
Gen. 49:24.
It is worthy of observation that, of the
nations from the north of Europe which came into Britain, the ANGLES alone, who
came last, and ultimately gave their name to this country, left no known portion
of their people on the Continent. They seem to have merely passed through
the country of the Jutes and Saxons, and to have almost entirely transported
themselves into this island, after whom the whole southern portion of it came
ultimately to be termed ENGLAND. It would, however, be an error to suppose that
they only occupied Yorkshire. Partly by direct emigration, and partly by the
scattering occasioned by the incursions of the Danes and Norman conquest, the
same race which peopled at first the central parts of the island, called in the
times of the Heptarchy EAST ANGLIA, Mercia (from the Gothic "Merc," a
boundary), and Deira (or Northumberland), spread southward to the Saxon
quarters, and even. westward Into Wales, as well as northward into Scotland...
In their quarters are found the principal and most ancient seats of learning,
such as Oxford and Cambridge; also the chief manufacturing districts, whether
of clothes, metals, earthenware, or chemical preparations; as well as the
greatest marts, with the exception of London, for the import of the 'fullness
of the earth' by sea, and for sending forth to all quarters of the globe the
productions of English ingenuity and industry... Nor is it to be overlooked
that from these same quarters London itself is supplied with some main portions
of its population which have carried literature, science, and art to such
perfection, as well as mercantile and missionary enterprise to the bounds of
the habitable globe." - Wilson's "Lectures on our Israelitish
Origin," 5th edition.
It is interesting to note the various kinds
of evidence which connect the SAXONS with India. The BEHISTUN ROCK at
Kermanshah, in Persia, said to be erected by Darius Hystaspes (of Ezra 4.) the
year before his ratification of the decree of Cyrus for rebuilding the Temple
at Jerusalem (B.C. 521), contains the figures of nine men tied together, and
another in a high cap, under whom is written in three languages - the key
discovered in 1837, whereby the Nineveh inscriptions have been read, - 'THIS
is SAKUKA, THE SACAM OR SAXON.'" - Vaux Persia, and "Christian
Observer," 1876.
"The White Island, SACAM or
SAXAM, as pronounced by our Saxon ancestors, as well as by certain adjacent
parts of the Continent - such as Saxony - is stated in the Puránás (or very old
writings) named "Varaha and Matsya," to be in possession of the Saks,
who conquered it at a very early period." Asiatic Researches, 11.
"From a Druidical record we know that a
people using Hebraic language visited Britain when Druidism was the dominant
religion, proving alike by their language and their religion their connection
with the Sakai and the Buddhists of the East. At the time of Caesar's invasion
(B.C. 56) we find a people bearing a name precisely similar to that adopted by
the Buddhists in the most ancient period of record, as at Kanari - the CASSI or
KASHI (i.e., bowmen)." - Dr. Moore's "Saxons of the East and
West". From the same author's "Ancient Pillar-Stones of
Scotland," we learn of the death of Aittie, a Buddhist missionary,
the Runic or Pali inscriptions round whose tombstone at Logie-Elphinstoe,
Aberdeenshire, reads thus: 'When Baal ruled Jutland and the coast before thee,
Iatti was smitten;" and on the other side, -
"In the tomb with the dead is Aitti,
The light of the darkness of a perverted people.
Who shall be consecrated pure priest to God?
Like The vessel of prayer my glory covered me."
The "Ynglengla Saga"
tells that in Suithiod (Sweden) Odin established the same laws which had been
observed by the Asae; and that in memory of distinguished men, sepulchral
mounds, now called by the people kin-barrows (atte hogar) were to be
erected; and memorial stones (bauta stenar) besides to every man who had shown
himself valiant.
Many are the hindrances existing in the
minds of men, from whom, in an ordinary way, it might be expected that they
would give this subject at least an honest hearing, There are the whisperings
of infidelity where one least expects; there are the mental warpings acquired
while groping through the fogs of ignorance unaided by such assistance as a
liberal familiarity with the various stores of knowledge, in a measure
necessary to the right apprehension of the question in its various
ramifications, would supply. There are the consistencies and inconsistencies of
the various schools of prophetic interpretation bringing in their claims; there
are vested interests to be considered; to say nothing of the lazy selfishness
of human nature, which querulously asks, "Cui bono?" [Who benefits?]
Let us take a few of these, and briefly reply to the more general.
from Sixty
Anglo-Israel Difficulties Answered. Chiefly from the Correspondence of the
late John Wilson, compiled by his daughter. London: S. W. Partridge and
Co., 9, Paternoster Row. 1877
John Wilson, 1877. Sixty Anglo-Israel
Difficulties Answered