Excerpt from The Kingdom of All-Israel: Its History, Literature, and Worship IN the following pages I have endeavoured to tell in our English tongue a story that was told well-nigh three thousand years ago in a language, which has long ceased to be a living language on the earth. It is the story of the kingdom of all-israel, as the Hebrew empire was called in its most flourishing days. Small though that kingdom was, its annals have always been regarded as a heritage of mankind, fraught with welfare to the whole world. The writings which contain this history are frequently described as not altogether worthy of credit. While they contain much that is undeniably ancient, they are also believed to contain much that is comparatively recent. The original books are said to have been curtailed of parts which are now lost beyond recovery; and parts are alleged to have been added which can only be ascertained by skilful inquirers and the application of most delicate tests. Evidently, then, it is the duty of a historian either to vindicate the reality of the history, or to separate the wheat of truth from the chaff of romance. The proofs of authenticity are so numerous and so convincing, that I have accepted the history, as it is read in the Hebrew, notwithstanding undoubted difficulties in the narrative. Of the skill and industry shown by several authors, who, after careful inquiry into words and things, have undertaken to distinguish the true from the false in the history, no one can speak without respect. But the value of their researches is to be measured, less by the theories they have proposed, than by the necessity, under which they have laid those who differ from them, of examining every difficulty that had formerly been passed by or lightly esteemed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.