"The Saxons were a Gothic or Scythian
Tribe; and of the various Scythian nations which have been recorded, the Sakai,
or Sacae, are the people from whom the descent of the Saxons may be inferred,
with the least violation of probability." Sharon Turner's History of the
Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. p. 100.
"The fact that we have six or seven
hundred words in our language of Persian origin, agrees with our own origin amongst
the Persians, but not [as] of them. Hebrew Roots, too, are amongst our
homeliest words." - Dr. Moore's Lost Tribes, p.91.
F.R.A. Glover: How is England of the Ten Tribes?
About some 120 years before the events
occurred, which were the basis of the Argument of the first fifteen Chapters of
this Book, - viz., the breaking up of the Polity and Rule of the House of
Judah, by its removal from Jerusalem to Babylon, - Phul, Tiglath-Pileser (II
Kings 15:29), Shalmaneser (I Chron. 5:26), &c., led away the Israelites
captive. They were deported to the depopulated cities of the Medes, off the
Caspian Sea, in the territory lying between the rivers Araxes and Gozan, B.C.
720. [JML: In accordance with the Assyrian practice of displacing and
scattering captured peoples to avoid nationalist rebellions.] This done, by the
will of the Lord, they, worthy of punishment, were punished. But, though erring
children, they were Sons of Jacob and Children of Abraham, and neither of the
Patriarchs would God fail because of the unworthiness or sin of their
descendants (Gen. 28:15). So, after punishment, came reconciliation, and
thenceforward prosperity and multiplication; enlargement of their border and manifestation
of power. They stretched up northwards, by land and by sea; and, as a powerful
nation, by the name of Sakae (tzaa-chi), or the Tribes of Isaac
(Isaac, "House of Isaac," Amos 7:9, 16. Heb. tzakhak,
laughter; hence 'Isaac.' Gen. 18:12, 21:6), overlaying the northern sea-board
of the Caspian, were the first people who could say to the conquering
Alexander, "Turn about and return by the way that you came, for here you
shall not pass." And he did turn back.
As to their adoption or acquisition of the
name of Sakae, by which they and their descendants subsequently were known, it
appears that, after the separation of the Ten Tribes, when they, in their pride
and arrogance, refused to be ruled over by a Son of Judah, and renounced thus
the hopes and promises connected with the House of David, they arrogated to
themselves the title of "the Sons of Isaac:" for it was not
until after that event they were known by the name of "the House of
Isaac," as synonymous with the Israel of Jeroboam (amos 7:9, 16).
"This is," as Dr. Moore observes
(It is to be noted that this learned layman, who seems here to touch the
position of the Deistical writers in the "Essays and Reviews," can
hardly have had them in his mind, as his book was written apparently before
theirs was published), "memorable. They did not think, by this rejection
of God's anointed, to reject the hopes of Israel, but rather, in their
wilfulness, appeared to fall back upon the anterior promise, and to look for
blessing and power in the name of Isaac, the true seed of Abraham;" [when
as yet there was no blessing by Israel to a pre-eminent Prince of Judah; but,
in whom, certainly, all the nations of the earth should be blessed.] "They
arrogated the right of dominion, in this name, when occupying the hills of
Samaria; and it is, therefore, highly probable, that when the conquering
Assyrian king drove all their families from their fatherland, they still
boasted of their descent from Isaac. They preferred to mingle idol-worship on
high-places with their traditional ritual; and thought, perhaps, with the
opinionated and Cain-like spirit of refiners of God's ordinances, to honour
Jehovah more, by calling Him Baal, or Lord of All, than by worshipping Him as
the God of their fathers, and the chosen people only. The origin of the name of
Sacae, or Sakai, for the inhabitants of that part of Armenia, which the Sacae
occupied after the expulsion of the Scythians, is thus naturally accounted for.
That they should be confounded with the Scythians is equally natural, especially
as there is reason to suppose that they afterwards colonized amongst that
wide-spread race of marauders, and gave their name to the country they occupied
beside the Massa-Getae [JML: see Herodotus' Histories]. They attained so
conspicuous a position amongst the Scythian nations, from superior arts, power,
and industry, as at length to give their royal name to the dominant part of
that race. It is at least remarkable that the name Sacae is not applied by the
Classic historians and geographers to any tribe of the Scythians until some
time subsequent to the exile of the House of Isaac." - pp. 97-99.
Ultimately, as Sakae, these people spread
out westward and eastward. And, after many changes of place and power, of those
who came westward, some became the Angles of England. They were followed later
by other off-slips of the same determined race, named Sons of Sakae (Sakasones,
Suni = Söhne, Ger. sons). Lo! the origin of the Anglo-Saxons, - that
ever-advancing Race, who have since occupied all England, and absorbing the
Scottish and Irish, have at length spread themselves out into a "nation of
nations" (Gen. 48:19). [JML: The name "Anglo-Saxons" appears to
have been devised by the Venerable Bede to harmonize the two alternative names
for the same people].
There are three very striking - what may be
called popular - marks, by which this descent of England from Israel
may be seen:
(1) the Wittena Gemote, the evidence of the
Medo-Persian residence of the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons, - such
institution, in name and thing, being, identical with the same custom,
so named also, and so used by the Persians; (There are numerous words in the
Persian language which are, in sound and signification, precisely the same in
the old English ; we will only instance one: Witten-a-gemote, which, in both
tongues, literally means a national assembly. Huet says, the German language
bears a great affinity to the Persian. The cause of this may be imputed to
their common origin from the Scythians." - Pennie's Historical Drama, 530.)
(2) the Seven-Day weekly division of time,
still known among us under the names of the gods whom they, during their
heathendom, held sacred [JML: table of heathen day names omitted]; and
(3) their use of the Three Yearly Feasts of
the Hebrews (Deut. 16:16), the Passover, of which the Saxon heathen name [JML:
!] still remains in use amongst us, as Easter, the Feast of Weeks, as
Whit-Sunday, [JML: Pentecost, traditional day of first communion, when
penitents wore white] - and the Feast of Tabernacles, by the Anglo-Saxons, when
they were still lost in the slough of Wodenism. See Wilson, p. 128.
For further proof on this interesting
subject, the Reader is referred to a Book of "Lectures on Ancient
Israel," setting forth "Our
Israelitish Origin," by Mr. Wilson (Nesbit). This learned layman
commenced to lecture upon it at the instance, it seems, of a valuable and
eminent servant of the Church (Rev. Peter roe, Kilkenny); who was desirous that
what he had himself heard might be delivered in every city and town in Ireland.
This was at once set about; and as well also, many chief places in Scotland and
England benefited by this valuable witness's 'labour of love.' The substance of
the fourteen Lectures has been in print for now twenty-one years [JML: since
1840?], and the Book has gone through many editions.
Mr. Wilson has collected all that is
sufficient, in proof of this case, in his Lectures, to which the Reader is
referred: to cite passages in proof is out of the question: it would be to
reprint the whole book.
In the mean time, Mr. Wilson's authorities
for his facts and deductions are chiefly Mr. Sharon Turner, Rapin de Thoyras,
and the Abbé Milot, from his work, entitled, "Elements of the History of
England:" all of whom, without being at all aware that they are speaking
to the case, and viewing things, in general, from quite different points, most
curiously illustrate the theory of Mr. Wilson; which is, .. That the purpose of
God has been overruling the actings of His people, (the sons of Joseph,) in
such a manner, that their greatness and power is rather the result of a destiny
than any ordinary issue of effect from cause: that they have been made great,
in spite of themselves; their mistakes having been so overruled, as to work out
the advantage of the nation. Thus, he says,
"All changes He hath overruled for
their good. The wonderful manner in which they withstood, as it were, the world
at the commencement of this century [JML: Napoleonic Wars, War of 1812 etc.];
and in which they have been enriching it with their wise and useful inventions,
more and more ever since, is most worthy of note; and all this they are to
ascribe, not to chance, but to the goodness of the God of their Fathers, who
had promised so to defend them, and so to cause them to be for blessings unto
all the nations of the earth. In their case are manifested, not the supposed
freaks of blind fortune, but the good providence of the God of Israel."
"That this people have been wondrously
dealt with is acknowledged," continues Mr. Wilson, "by those who have
had the best opportunity of judging: by those who have studied their history in
comparison with other nations." - p. 120.
" How impenetrable are the decrees of
Heaven!" exclaims the Abbé in astonishment,as he contemplates the events
in succession. He concludes his summary of the events of our History in these
words: "To this very imperfect summary of the principal epochas, let us
add, the detail of those laws successively established, to form a rampart to
liberty, and lay the foundation of public order; the progress of letters and of
sciences, so closely connected with the happiness and glory of States: the
singularities of the English genius, profound, contemplative, yet capable of
every extreme; the interesting picture of parliamentary debates, fruitful in
scenes, the variety and spirit of which equally strike us. The reader will
easily conceive that this history is unparalleled in its kind."
[What wonder! is it not the history of Joseph?] "In other countries,
princes, nobles, fill the entire theatre; here, men, citizens, act a part which
is infinitely more interesting to man." - p. 121. [Wilson.]
In page five of his Preface to his third
Edition, in 1844, Mr. Wilson laments that the dissemination of his views has
not been undertaken by the Clergy, and others, and public teachers, "whose
position in society was advantageous for their dissemination to the extent that
is desirable." Of this "desirable extent," it is possible that
an estimate of that is formed elsewhere. When the time comes for
action, men's minds will doubtless be moved. The fact may be, that men may see
a War Rocket in that which Mr. Wilson deems to be only a Signal; and that the
Political Corollary to Mr. Wilson's Religious Proposition is a Fire-Work not to
be ignited, heedless of the political issues of a national adoption of his
hypothesis. In the mean time, notwithstanding all the apparent apathy on the
subject, multitudes of earnest and deeply-religious men have imbibed the great
truth that Mr. Wilson was privileged to proclaim. That the seed was not spread
broad-cast in vain, if his own experience have not already assured him
abundantly, not only may these pages satisfy him, but those of another learned
layman, from whose recent publication I think it right to make the accompanying
extract.
"A work was published some time since,
(by Mr. Wilson of Brighton) entitled 'Our Israelitish Origin' This was too much
opposed to the views of popular expositors to be received with the candour it
deserved; but it must be acknowledged that Mr. Wilson, in that work, has done
much more to meet the requirements of prophecy, than any that preceded him:
and, although we dare not follow him into all the results to which he would
lead us, still he has shown a large amount of probability, and indeed very much
of the letter of Scripture, in favour of the opinion he has advocated, viz.,
that the Saxons are the descendants of the Israelites as distinguished from the
Jews. Mr. Wilson has not advanced any direct evidence of Saxon
connexion with Israel by descent; but he has indicated a great deal in the
Anglo-Saxon character and customs which accords better with the notion of our
Israelitish origin, than with any other explanation of our peculiarities."
"Could we but find the broken link in
the chain, by which the Sakai or Sacae are supposed to have been connected with
the Israelites, [JML: now identified via Dan's "Serpent's Trail",
Gen. 49:17] we should be at no loss to discover some of the modes in which the
wondrous prophecies, so apparently contradictory and paradoxical, concerning
the outcast tribes, have been fulfilled in their descendants: for here we are,
the Anglo-Saxons, with mind and heart imbued with the history and hopes of
Israel, elevated and enlarged by the sublime doctrines and predictions of their
sacred seers, sages kings and prophets, singing the songs of Zion in our
temples, living in the noble expectation of universal blessedness under the
glorious reign of the King of Salem, and desiring and endeavouring to promote
the coming of His kingdom in all lands. The [Anglo]-Saxons embrace the world;
and the devout amongst them realize, in faith and spirit, the visions of all
true prophets and seers that have been since the world began ; and now
anticipate the period when a King, shall reign in righteousness and princes
rule in judgment. (Isa. 32.) What could converted Israelites do more?" -
Dr. Moore's Lost Tribes, pp. 94, 95.
But granting what Sharon Turner, and Rapin, and
others have declared as suggestive of this descent of the Anglo-Saxon races
from the lost tribes deported into the Heathendom of Medo-Persia, and the many
marks existing, among us, political, social, and domestic, by which the
identity of this people with the Tribes of Israel is established, upon what
ground can any one assume that England is entitled to be considered as the
representative of Joseph?
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