pire of Assyria, continued separate not quite 70 years. Nabonassar was its first king. After a few successive reigns, and interregnums, it was subdued by Esarhaddon, one of the kings of Nineveh, and annexed to his dominions, 680 B. C.

The famous astronomical epocha at Babylon, called the era of Nabonassar, commenced from the reign of this prince. We are unacquainted with the history of his successors, only Merodach seems to be the same prince who sent ambassadors to Hezekiah, to congratulate him on the recovery of his health.

MEDES.

17. The last in order of the kingdoms that constituted the second empire of Assyria was that of the MEDES. After the destruction of the first Assyrian empire, the Medes enjoyed for some time the liberty they had acquired by their valour. They formed a republic; but anarchy having prevailed, they elected a king after 37 years.

Dejoces, the first king, was elected 690 years B. C. The fourth king after him, viz. Cyaxares II. or Darius the Mede, having with his nephew, Cyrus, conquered Babylon, reigned over it two years in conjunction with Cyrus; after which the kingdom of the Medes, and indeed the whole Assyrian empire, was united to that of Persia, 536 years B. C.

§ The Medes are supposed to be the descendants of Madai, the third son of Japhet, from whom they derived their name. They seem to have been independent tribes at first, and not to have been united under one monarchy till the time of Dejoces.

They were governed by petty princes, and some are of opinion, that one of the four kings, who in the time of Abraham, invaded the southern coast of Canaan, reigned in Media. They were first brought into subjection to the Assyrian yoke by Ninus.

Some time after they had shaken off this yoke, they were governed by kings of their own, who became absolute, and were controlled by no law. Of Dejoces it is recorded, that he no sooner ascended the throne, than he endeavoured to civilize and polish his subjects. He built the beautiful city of Ecbatana, and made it the capital of his empire.

He then contrived a code of laws for the good of the state, and caused them to be strictly obeyed. In a war with Nebuchadnezzar I. his capital was plundered, and stripped of all its ornaments, and falling into the conqueror's hands, he was cruelly shot to death with

arrows.

Phraortes, his successor, was much more fortunate, and conquered almost all upper Asia. Cyaxares I. a brave prince, made war upon the kingdom of Nineveh, to avenge the wrongs inflicted by Nebuchadnezzar. A battle ensued, in which the Ninevites or Assyrians

were defeated; but a formidable army of the Scythians having invaded Media, Cyaxares marched with all his forces against them.

The Medes, however, were vanquished, and obliged to make an alliance with the Scythians, who settled in Media, where they remained for 28 years. Finding that they could not get rid of their troublesome guests by force, they effected it by stratagem. The Scythians being invited to a general feast, which was given in every family, each landlord made his guest drunk, and in that condition massacred him.

After this event, Cyaxares entered into a war with the Lydians. This war continued five years. The battle fought in the fifth year, was remarkable on account of a total eclipse of the sun, which happened during the engagement, and which was foretold by Thales, the philosopher.

The Medes and Lydians, equally terrified, immediately retreated, and soon after concluded a peace. Two more princes succeeded, viz. Astyages and Cyaxares II. Astyages married his daughter to Cambyses, king of Persia, of which marriage Cyrus was the issue. After the death of Cyaxares, Cyrus united the kingdoms of the Medes and Persians.

PERSIA.

18. From the days of Cyrus the Great, 536 years B. C. the PERSIAN empire holds a distinguished place in ancient history. It was originally of small extent, and almost unknown; but after being founded by Cyrus, it included all India, Assyria, Media, and Persia, and the parts adjoining to the Euxine and Caspian Seas. It is sometimes called the Medo-Persian empire.

Cyrus is represented as a prince of an excellent character, and he obtained the surname of Great, from his heroic actions and splendid achievements. Having undertaken an expedition against the Scythians, he was surprised and slain by means of an ambuscade from the enemy, 529 years B.C.

He was succeeded by his son Cambyses, who is called in scripture Artaxerxes, and who added Egypt to his empire. Cambyses was succeeded by Darius, 522 years B. C., the son of Hystaspes, who by a stratagem obtained the sovereignty.

The first inhabitants of Persia were called Elamites, and descended from Elam the eldest son of Shem. During, however, more than 16 centuries we have little information relative to their history. Chederlaomer, the only king of Elam recorded in history, conquered the king of Sodom, but was defeated by Abraham. This incident is mentioned in Scripture.

Cyrus was born but one year after his uncle Cyaxares. The manners of the Persians were admirable in those days, great simplicity of dress, and food, and behaviour, universally prevailed, so that Cyrus

was plainly and wisely educated, as he was treated like other children of his own age. But he surpassed them all, not only in aptness to learn, but in courage and in address.

When he was yet a boy, his mother took him to visit his grandfather, but the pride and luxury of the court of Media quite surprised and disgusted him. Astyages was so charmed with the sensible conversation and artless manners of the prince, that he loaded him with presents. Cyrus, however, gave them all away to the courtiers, according to their merits, or their services rendered to himself.

Sacas, the cup-bearer, he neglected, because he did not let him visit Astyages when he pleased; and when Astyages lamented his neglect of so good an officer, "Oh," said the young prince, "there is not much merit in being a good cup-bearer; I can do as well myself." He then took the cup, and handed it to his mother with great modesty and gracefulness.

Astyages admired his skill, but laughingly observed, "the young waiter had forgotten one thing." "What have I forgotten?" asked Cyrus "To taste the wine before you handed it to me and your mother."I did not forget that, but I did not choose to swallow poison."

"Poison!" exclaimed the king. "Yes, there must be poison in the cup, for they who drink of it sometimes grow giddy and sick, and fall down."" Then do you never drink in your country?" inquired Astyages. "Yes, but we only drink to satisfy thirst, and then a litthe water suffices."

Many similar anecdotes are recorded of this prince, which may be learnt from larger histories. Having reduced all the nations from the Egean sea to the Euphrates, he advanced towards Babylon, and at length entered it by stratagem. Having caused deep and large daches to be dug all around it, he, on a certain night, when all the Babylonians were engaged in feasting and merriment, ordered the dams of the ditches to be thrown open, that the waters of the Euphrates might run into them.

By this means, the channel of the river, which ran through the city, was left dry, so that the troops entered it without opposition. The guards were surprised and slain, together with the king and all his family. The kingdom of Babylon was thus destroyed for ever.

Two years after this, Cyrus reigned over his vast empire alone during seven years, in the first of which he published the famous edict for the return of the Jews.

Of Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, it is recorded that he conquered Egypt, which remained under the Persian yoke 112 years. He made himself master of Pelusium, the key of Egypt, by the following stratagem. He placed in front of his army a great number of those animals considered sacred by the Egyptians, who not daring to injure them, made no opposition to the Persian army.

After an impostor named Smerdis, who reigned 7 months, Darius, a descendant of Cyrus on the mother's side, ascended the throne. In his time it was that the Jews were permitted to rebuild their temple. After a war against the Scythians, he turned his arms, as we thali soon see, against the Greeks.

LYDIANS.

19. In the history of the LYDIANS, the last of its dynasties, was that of the Mermnadæ. Gyges, one of the chief officers of Candaules the king, having murdered the latter, became possessed of his queen and throne, 718 years B. C. He was The fourth prince after him the first of the Mermnadæ race. was Crœsus, so celebrated for his riches. His kingdom was conquered by Cyrus.

§ A circumstance worthy of record occurred in the contest between Cyrus and Cræsus. After Cræsus was taken prisoner, he was condemned by the conqueror to be burnt alive. When the unhappy prince was led to the funeral pile, he exclaimed aloud three times, Solon! Solon! Solon!

Cyrus immediately demanded, why he pronounced that celebrated philosopher's name with so much vehemence in that extremity. Croesus answered, that the observation of Solon, "That no mortal could be esteemed happy till the end of life," had forcibly recurred to his recollection.

Cyrus was struck with the remark, and, as if in anticipation of his own tragical end, ordered the unhappy king to be taken from the pile, and treated him ever after with honour and respect.

EGYPT.

20. EGYPT, during the present period, was governed by the following kings-Sabbacon, Tharaca, Pharaoh-Necho, Psammenitus, and a few others. Under the last of these, 525 B. C. Egypt was conquered by Cambyses, king of Per sia, to which power it was subject more than a century.

§ Sabbacon, a king of Ethiopia, it seems, conquered Egypt. He During his killed Nechus, king of Sais; burnt Bocchoris, another king, to death, and forced Anysis the blind to retire into the morasses. continuance in Egypt, he acquired a high reputation for wisdom and integrity. He finally relinquished the sceptre, and returned into Ethiopia, because he would not massacre the priests, agreeably to a suggestion said to have been imparted unto him by the tutelar god of Thebes.

Tharaca, called in scripture Tirhakah, made war against Sennacherib, king of Assyria. After him there was an anarchy of two years, and an aristocracy of twelve governors for fifteen years.

Pharaoh-Necho waged war against the Assyrians and Jews, killed Josiah king of Judah, captured Jerusalem, imprisoned Jehoahaz, and appointed Jehoiachim king.

Psammenitus reigned only six months before the invasion of Cambyses, and the subjection of his kingdom. He was kindly treated at first by the conquerer, but thirsting for an opportunity to revenge himself, he was condemned to drink bull's blood, and died wretch

Distinguished Characters in Period VI.

1. Romulus, founder and first king of Rome.

2. Sappho, a Greek poetess, inventor of the Sapphic verse. 3. Æsop, a Phrygian philosopher and fabulist.

4. Solon, a legislator of Athens, and one of the wisest men of Greece.

5. Thales, founder of the Ionic philosophy.

6. Cyrus, a wise and successful prince, who conquered inost of the East.

7. Anacreon, a Greek poet, and father of the Anacreontic

verse.

S. Pythagoras, a Grecian philosopher.

§ 1. Romulus was a son of Rhea Sylvia, and grandson of Numitor, king of Alba, and born at the same birth with Remus. His story has already been told. As the founder of Rome his name is immortal. His virtues were those of a military chieftain and adventurer in a rude age. He is not undistinguished as a legislator, though his institutions had almost exclusively a warlike tendency.

After a reign of 37 or 39 years, he was killed, as is supposed, by the senators. The fable, however, on this subject is, that as he was giving instructions to the senators, he disappeared from their sight— an eclipse of the sun, which happened at that time, being favourable to the rumor that he was taken up to heaven. The Romans paid him divine honours under the name of Quirinus, and ranked him among the twelve great gods.

2. Sappho was born in the island of Lesbos, about 600 years B. C. She is celebrated for her poetical talents and beauty. Her tender attachments were extremely violent, and the conduct into which they betrayed her must be reprobated by every virtuous mind. She conceived such a passion for Phaon, a youth of Mytilene, that upon his refusal to reciprocate it, she threw herself into the sea from Mount Leucas.

She composed nine books in lyric verses, besides epigrams, elegies, &c. Of all these compositions nothing now remains but two fragments, one of which is preserved by Longinus; though they were all extant in the age of Horace. Her poems were admired for their sublimity, sweetness, and elegance; yet they were highly objectionable, it is said, on account of their licentiousness.

3. Esop flourished about 580 years B. C. Those entertaining and instructive fables which he composed, have acquired for him a high reputation, and he is generally supposed to have been the inventor of that kind of writing. He was originally a slave, and had several masters, but procured his liberty by the charms of his genius. Falling into the hands of an Athenian philosopher, he was enfranchised. He travelled over the greatest part of Greece and Egypt, but re sided much at the court of Croesus, king of Lydia, by whom he was sen to consult the oracle of Delphi. In this commission Esop be

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