known should lose his life. He then submitted his plans to them, which they accepted. The plot was so far successful that they overthrew the kingdom of Omer, but did not succeed in obtaining his head. For the Lord was merciful to Omer and warned him to depart out of the land. So taking those of his family who were faithful to him he traveled for a great distance until he reached the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. There he and his companions tarried until the course of events permitted him to return.
Omer being driven from his kingdom, Jared was anointed king, and his daughter was given to Akish to wife. But this did not satisfy Akish; he had learned the power of these secret combinations, and now determined to use them for his own ends. He aspired to the throne, and made up his mind to murder his father-in-law. So he assembled his followers, instructed them in his wishes, and Jared was slain by them as he sat on his throne giving audience to the people; a case of poetical retribution which, though often found in fiction, is seldom met with in real life. Akish was now made king, and under his cruel rule wickedness became almost universal; the secret societies by which he obtained power had corrupted the hearts of all the people. As may be well supposed, with such a condition of society his throne was not a stable one. He became jealous of one of his sons. What cause, if any, he had therefor, we are not told, but he shut him up in prison and slowly starved him to death. This cruel act greatly incensed another of Jared's sons, named Nimrah, and he, gathering a few followers, fled to the land where Omer dwelt.
Now Akish had other sons, and though they had sworn to support him in all his doings, they were not true to their oaths. They found that the hearts of the Jaredites were consumed with the love of gain, and they bribed the greater portion
