arrival, and they would soon form an attachment to their new mountain abodes.

Having seen that the Israelites followed, in a great measure, the life of shepherds until the time of their captivity, and that they took their flocks with them into the land of their exile, where a region adapted only to pasturage was assigned them, we shall naturally expect to find them still pasturing their sheep upon the mountains, as most of the Nestorian Christians do at the present day. It is in connexion with the fact that the ten tribes came to this very region in the character of keepers of sheep, that an importance is attached to the same character and practice in the Nestorian tribes. While their fixed habitations, their solid stone houses, their large villages, their ancient churches, and their long-cherished associations with their adopted and secure home, forbid the idea of their being a migratory people, we find a large portion of them retiring to Zozan, and spending from six to nine months in the year under the tabernacles while tending their flocks upon the mountains. Their chief wealth consists in sheep and goats, which furnish them with food and clothing. There may you see the good shepherd calling his own sheep by name, leading them "into green pastures and beside the still waters,' "3 and "carrying the lambs in his bosom," or "seeking that which is lost." If, in their more exposed

situations, the enemy surprises them and steals some of their favourite sheep, they stand prepared to redeem their loss by a larger reprisal from the fold of the invader. While they do not seek to extend their boundaries by aggressive warfare, they manifest the same fearless spirit that was so char acteristic of their Israelitish ancestors; and they are no less feared by the tribes among whom they live. Nor is it surprising, when we look at the inaccessible nature of their country, and their remarkably isolated condition, that they retain to the present day so much of their primitive Hebrew character.

A bond of union like that of their Jewish origin, appears to have operated in preserving their unity and primitive simplicity of character. At the same time, their preservation as a distinct people, in their peculiar circumstances, affords proof of the existence of some bond of union like that of their common relation to Israel, as really as the same fact is evinced in the history of the Jews throughout the world.

Y

CHAPTER X.

The Conversion of the Ten Tribes to Christianity.

THAT the lost tribes of Israel are now, and have long been, within the pale of the Christian Church, may awaken general surprise, if not incredulity. It is therefore highly important, in order to obtain a candid decision of our main question, that this part of the subject receive a careful examination.

But why should we be incredulous as to the fact of their conversion having already occurred, since the pen of inspiration has predicted that event? If in imagination we have been accustomed to regard them Jews adhering to Judaism, it is natural that we should associate with the name the idea of inveterate enmity to the Messiah. But what is the evidence that such is their condition? Should the objection be made, that "blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in," its applicability is admitted in the case of many of the lost sheep of the Jewish fold, and is true, also, in comparison with the greater light which is yet to be revealed with regard to all. But the same apostle also informs us that, as in the days of Elias, God had reserved to himself seven thousand who had not

bowed the knee unto Baal: "Even so, then, at this present time, also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace," while only a part," the rest," were blinded.-Rom., xi., 4-7. If all the rich blessings promised in connexion with their conversion have not, as yet, been realized, it is because the change has been more nominal than real; or, if their graces once flourished, they have become dormant under the thousand untoward influences that have rolled in upon them.

In the following chapter we shall endeavour to place this point in its true light, and remove all apprehension of the failure of one iota of what God has promised. In the mean time, let us, unbiased by preconceived opinions, proceed to examine the evidence to be adduced in support of the position, that the ten tribes received the Gospel in the apostolic age of the Church.

I. Some of them were present, and heard the Gospel on the day of Pentecost. "Parthians and Medes" are the first mentioned among the Jews who were then assembled at Jerusalem, "out of every nation under Heaven." Parthia, at that period, comprised the country of Adiabene, or that part of Assyria where the greater part of the ten tribes then resided. The speech of Agrippa, already quoted, as well as ancient history, establishes the locality of ancient Parthia: "If your fellowtribes in Adiabene," says the king, "would come

to your assistance, yet the Parthians will not let them." A part of these tribes also lived in the cities of the Medes. They probably had heard of the "fame of Jesus, that was everywhere spread abroad." Perhaps the "wise men from the East," who were led by "his star" to Bethlehem, the birthplace of the Saviour, were sons of Israel.

The Nestorians have a tradition, that the magi who visited our Saviour went from Ooroomiah, a city of the Medes. This is supported by certain predictions of Zoroaster,* the leader of the magi, and a native or resident of Ooroomiah. According to the Zendavesta and Abulpharagius, he foretold the coming of a personage corresponding to the character of the Messiah, and charged his disciples to hasten, at the appearance of "his star," to pay to this" mysterious child" their devout adorations. "He," said the venerable seer, "is the Almighty WORD which created the heavens."+ At a later period in the life of our Saviour they may have seen him, in their visits to Jerusalem, at the great festivals, which they were accustomed to observe. But, however this may be, it is certain that Jews from the country where the ten tribes then lived, were present on the memorable day of Pentecost.

The Nestorians say that the prophet Zoroaster was a disciple of Jeremiah: a tradition that derives support from chronology. Prideaux, with good reason, thinks Zoroaster was a disciple of some one of the prophets, if not himself a Jew.

+ See Burder's Orient. Cus., vol. i., p. 18.