THE KINGS OF THE JAREDITES FROM OMER TO CORIANTUMR—THE MATERIAL PROSPERITY OF THIS RACE.

OMER was succeeded by his son Emer; he by his son Coriantum; Coriantum by his son Com. Com was slain by his son Heth, who took possession of the kingdom after having murdered his father.

In the days of Heth there was a great famine which destroyed the greater portion of the people, among them the king himself. He was succeeded by Shez, Shez by his son Riplakish, who was dethroned by Morianton, whose son Kim afterwards followed him in the kingly power. Kim was brought into captivity, through rebellion, and it was not until the next reign, that of his son Levi, that the usurpers were driven from the throne. Then follow the reigns of Corom, Kish, Lib and Hearthom. The last named was deposed after reigning twenty-four years, and was held in captivity all the remainder of his days. So also were his son Heth, his grandson Aaron, his great grandson Amnigaddah, and the latter's son Coriantum.

We are not informed what were the names of the kings of the usurping dynasty, who reigned while the royal family served in captivity; but in the days of Coriantum's son Com, the reigning prince was named Amgid. Com went to war against him, overthrew him, and gained possession of the throne of his ancestors. Shiblon, the son of Com, succeeded his father, but was slain, his son Heth being made captive and thus held all his days.

In the next generation, Ahah, Heth's son, regained the throne and reigned over the whole people for a short time. Few and iniquitous were his days. Ethem, called a descendant, and also the son of Ahah, was the next king. His son Moron succeeded him; in his days there were renewed rebellions, which ended, as had been so frequently the case before, in the captivity of the king. Moron was a captive all the rest of his life, and his son Coriantor passed his whole earthly existence in captivity.

Ether, the prophet, was the son of Coriantor. The king in his day was named Coriantumr, the last of his race, for the wars that desolated the land in his reign culminated in the destruction of the Jaredites. This very short sketch of the reigns of their kings shows how thoroughly were the fears of Jared and his brother realized, that the anointing of a king would lead to captivity.

Like their successors, the Nephites, the troubles of the Jaredites grew out of their iniquities. Many mighty prophets ministered to them, but they were only occasionally listened to. Like the Nephites, in another phase of their existence, they owed many of their misfortunes to cherishing the secret bands of Gadianton-like assassins, who, bound by infernal covenants, perpetrated the most unnatural and blood-thirsty crimes. In the days of Omer, the daughter of Jared (who in more than one respect reminds us of the daughter of Herodias) was the instrument in first introducing these soul-destroying confederacies with Satan among the Jaredites; and in after ages they dwindled or flourished, according to the amount of faith and faithfulness in the people.

Materially the Jaredites were wonderfully blessed. It could scarcely have been otherwise; they had all the treasures of this most choice land at their disposal. In the days of Emer, the inspired historian describes them as having become exceeding rich, having all manner of fruit, grain, silks, fine linen, gold, silver, and precious things; and also all manner of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and also many other kinds of animals which were useful for the food of man; and they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful to men, and more especially the elephants, cureloms and cumoms. [35]