INN II; —— I ~ ______________________IAbcdhim called. 1585______/\ \ Inaelius in Greece 1856 N \\V~~ c - - - ___ Agenendf conqer, Peei, __ ~-~~ft _____________ (Rlo-e fo roded, 7534 ____Greece conqee by Rolmans, 146 ____ ___ ____ ___ ___ De ith ofC wsnr, 4 I ~~~~~~~~Roman Empire begies,. 28 ___I I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ B oi s o f o u r S a v io u r, A. _ _ __D._ 2At5_ __,Crucifixion2 ______ ~ = - ~ —-Jerusalem tak-en by Titus, 70_______ -51~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~ 5 1: — End of the Remian Elmpire,. 476_________ ____ ____ ____ ~ i Clovis King of France,. 486 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ z~-/ —— iooojTMahometns Flight,... 622___ ____ ___ ____ ___Ctarlresas es E speror, So2o __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _____________ IAlfred the Grent, 89 _____________'.< c~i~ - _____ i First Crusade, foio c,1096_____________ Alermicis discovered. 1492 ___ _ Cromwecll Protector, - -- mLricran Revoliutiona 179075__ ~ ~ r \ ~ r ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 7) - - 1 -~~~~ ~~~ 2w ~~~~~~, 0rec Reoltin 179 -- 9 ~K e~ ~ ~ ~ w ~~"'''P`C iii i i I i i i i I \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I ~~~~I~ ~ r ( 14 $ \ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ V \At ,rr. 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C_=_=-5-= —=-l:S-;;- —--; —_t;=== h~t-I.Fir.rre iC-~ A HISTORY OF ALL NATIONS, F'ROM TiIF EARLIEST PERIODS TO THE PRESENT TIME: OR, UNIVERSAL HISTORY: IN WHICH THE HISTORY OF EVERY NATION, ANCIENT AND MIODERN, IS SEPARATELY GIVEN. ILLUSTRATED BY 70 STYLOGRAPHIC MAPS, AND 700 ENGRAVINGS. REVISED EDITION, BROUGHT DOWN TO THE LATEST PERIOD, BY S. G. GOO)RIC I, AUTHOR OF "PARLEY'S CABINET LIBRARY," " PARLEY'S TALES,;; RECOLLECTIOiNS OF A LIFETIME," &C. &C. VOL. I. FURNISHED ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS, NEW YORIK. C, DERIBY & IN, C. MILILELt PUBLISHERiS OE1 SUTJBSCRiPTiON BOOKS, NO. 5 SPRUCE ST (TnInuIE BuILINts). 18G4~, Entered according to Act of Concress ill the year 1850, ByS. G. GOGDRICTJ, In thie Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District o' Massachusetts. 1IUBt ITSI FlIRS' ADVRIITISELMENT TO THE REVISED EDTI I T T TIlIrlTY-six TOUSND COPrmIES of this elaborate work have already been sold! T'i, fi atlerlnC conlfidence indicted by this liberal patronage, has inluced the author and publishers, 1,) revise t b uIo(lk thot'oughlly, to bring it down to the latest period, and to introduce 9 IL W AND SUPERTIOR ILLUSTRATIO, 71.Thus improvecl and perfected, it is believecd that no other Universal History, extant, can-1 iow onaIT Withl this for the fullness and accuracy of its stateniehits, the convenience of its alrranVci\.tt, tlrn amnouiit of blended interest and instruction which it contains, or for the strength, dura, biJt.V anl neatness of its:nechanical execution.'The Work hereafter wll be regealar -ly Rleis eg and can therefore, at all times, be relied upon as containing the latest important eveits, connected with the progress of mankind, in politics, society, arts, science, -in all that belongs to civilization — and in a form convenient, cheap and durable. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1857, By S. G. GOODRICH, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. C. A. ALVORD, PRINTEP., No. 15 ~andewater StreLa,.. CONTENTS OF VOL. 1. INTRIODUCTION. CIHAP. 1. The Nature and Uses of History.................. 9 CIhAP. 15. Present State of the Science of Astronomy, conCHtAP. 2. Of Historyin its Moral and Philosophical Relations, 10 tinued..................................... 29 CHIAP. 3. Of the Materials for and Sources of History —Monu- CHAP. I16. Present State of Knowledge respecting Astronomy, ments, Language, Laws, Medals, and Coins., 10 continued. Fixed Stars: Nebul....................... CHAP. 4. Of Inscriptions, Statues, Seals, Pictures, Ruins &c., 12 CHAP. 1 7. History of Geology,.................. 32 tII'AP. 5. Of the various Methods of Writing History,........ 15 CHAP. 1 8. Geological History of the Earth,................ 34 CIIAP. 6. Characteristics of Ancient tIistory-Hlerodotus,.... 16 CHAP. 19. Geological History of the Earth, continued....... 86 CHAP. 7. Thucydides - Xenophon-Polybius-Livy-Sallnst CHAP. 20. History of Geography —arly Notions of Mankind -Tacitus,.............................................. 17 respecting it-Scripture Geography,........................ 39 CHAP. 8. Of Modern History-Hunie,............... 19 CHAl'. 21. Geography of Hoimer-Of IIerodotus-The Milesian CHAP. 9, Gibbon, Robertson. Voltaire, Sismondi, and others, 20 and Samian Schools,....................................... 40 CHAP. 10. General Remarks-Plan of the present Work,.... 21 CHAP. 22. Eratosthenes-Greek and Roman GeographyCHAP. 11. Of Chronology-Age of the World-Eras, &c,,.... 22 Pliny, Pomnponins, Mela, and Ptolemy,...................... 41 CHAP. 1 2. Cosmogonies, or Theories of the Creation,.... 24 CHAP. 23. Geography of the Middle Ages-The Saracens,.. 42 CHAP. A13. History of Astronomy,.......................... 25 CHAP. 24:. Geographical Discoveries down to the Present CIIAP.I 14. PresentStateof Knowledge inrespecttoAstrono- Time,........................... 48 my-The Solar System,..................................... 26 GENERAL VIEWS OF THE EAItTH. CHAP. 25. Physical Geography,........................... 44 CHAP. 28. Physical Geography, continued-:Eastern HemlsCHAP. 26. Geographical Distribution of Animals: Varieties phere.................................................. 51 of the Human Race......................................... 46 CHAP. 29. Political Geoglraphy-Nations,.,.............. 53 CHAP. 27. Physical Geography, continued-Western hemis- CHAP. 30. General Historical and Chronological Outline,.... 56 phere, &c.,................................................. 50 CHAP. 31. Ancient Geography,.........58 ChIAP. 32. Introduction — Geographical Sketch —Civil and CHAP. 45. Government, Religion, Manners, Customs, &c., of Social State,.............................................. 59 the later Assyrians and Babylonians,........................ CHAP. 33. Preliminary View of the History of Asia-Present CHAP. 46. Recent Discoveriesat Ninevah-Manners and CusPolitical Divisions-Order in which the Subjects will be treated, 63 tomns during the First Period of Assyrian History........... 82 CHAP. 47. Description of Babylon,......................... 85 CHAP. 48. Celebrated Characters aniong the Assyrians and Babylonians-General Remark s,... 86 Zntelbilulvian %gIe. CHAP. 34. Scripture Account of the Creation of MankindEden-The Primeval State................................. 65 pi. CHAP. 35. The Antediluvians,.........66 CHAP. 49. Reign of Dijoces-Scythian Invasion-End of the Median Empire............................................ 88 CHAP. 50. Manners, Customs, &c.,-of the Ancient Medes[1)e patrcftall t'A ge. Celebrated Characters —Antiquities.......................... 90 CHAP. 36. The Deluge-Noah and his Sons................ 67 2tiiceutt }eVsia. sspriianl (1ntpIh'. CHAP. 51. Geographical View,............................ 91 CHAP. 37. Geographical View, Ancient antd Modern.........;9 CHAP. 52. Early History of Persia-Kaiomnrz-Giamuschid, 93 CHAP. 36. Antiquity of Assyria-Tower of Babel-Dispersion CHAP. 53. Zohak-The Blaclksmith Gao -Feridoon-Zalof the People-Nimrod-N-inus-Semiramis,.................. 72 ste-TheLeendof Sohab...... 72P s oSr, 94 oCHAP. 39. R~eopleNig-n of Se m iram is. 8...................72 CHAP. 5. Gushtasp-The Worshipof Fire-Adventures of CHAP. 39. Coian of Semiramis.......................... 73 CCHAP. 40.) Conquests and Death of Semiranis,..........7... 74 Isfundear-Foundation of the Empire of Cyrus............. 95 CHAP. 41. Ninyas-Sardanapalus-End of the First Assyrian CHAP. t5. Cambyses-Conquest of Egypt-False.Smerdis 9B Empire-Its Dismemberment, -................ 7 CHAP. 56. Darius I. —Capture of Babylon —Expedition to CHAP. 42. The Second Assyrian Kingdom................................76.Sc.97 CHAP. 57. Retreat of Darius from Scythia-Wars with the Greeks-The Jews uLnder Darius-Reign of Xerxes-Invasion of Greece-Death of Xerxes................................ 98 JBab~~~1loniaz;~ c ft~ a CHAP. 58. Artaxerxes Longimanus-Battle of Cunaxa-Re* treat of the Ten Thousand Greeks under Xenophlon.. 10( CHAP. 4L3. Belesis-Nebhuchadnezzar —Belshazzar —End of the CHAP. 59. Artaxerxes-Ochns-Darius Codornannus. 103 tiabylonian Empire,......................................7 8 CHAP. 60. Alexander marches against Persia-State of the ClI A P. 41-. (General Views —Trade and Commerce of the As- Enipire-Battle of the Granicus-Battle of the Issus,... l14 -;i:Lss aihl Biabylonians.....................................7 9 CHAP. 61. Habits of Alexander-Conquest of Tyre-Egypt-..... _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ iv CONTENTS.-VOL. I. Battle of Arbela-Conquest of Persia-Progress of Alexander's CHAP. 97. Cyrus, King of Persia-Ezra-Return of the Exiles Conquest-Return to Babylon-His Death,............1..... 105 -Annals-Two hundred thousand Jews settle in Egypt and CHAP. 62. Empire of Alexander-His Successors-Division Cyrane-Annals-Snfferings under Epiphanes-I'e Jews cured of the Empire-The Seleucidwe,................... 109 forever of Idolatry-Revolt-The Maccahees —Independence CHAP. 63. Parthian Dominion in Persia-The Sassanians- established by a Series of glorious Exploits-Annals-DissenShahpoor-Hormuisdas,...................... 110 sions call in the Interference of Rome-Pompey renders the CHAP. 64. Baharam - Nushirvan —Decline of the Persian Jews tributary.......... 176 Emnpire,.................................. 111........... CtIAP. 98. Hlerod, afterwards surnamed "the Great" — Iis CHAP. 65. General Views of Ancient Persia-Extent of the Vigorous hbut Murderous Policy-His Wife Mariamne-Courts Empire-Government and Religion of the Ancient Persians,.. 112 the Favor of the Emperors-IIis Jealousies and Crimes-SarCHAP. 66. State of Civilization among the Ancient Persians casm of Augustus-Rebuilds the Temple-Reduces Judea com-Character, Manner's, &c., of the People..................... 113 pletely to a Roman Province-His Children and SuccessorsCIIAP. 67. Manners, Learning, Military System, &c., of the Jewry in the Times of our Savior-Tho Sanhedrimr-SectsAncient Persians,........................................ 114 Roman Governors-Annals —Agrippa,................... 1..... 19 CHAP. 68. Antiquities of Persia-Persepolis-Shuster-Susa CIIAP. 99. The Roman Rule, continued-Fanaticisln-Collis-Ctesiphon,.............................................. 115 ions between the People and the Roman Soldiery-RobbersCHAP. 69. Famous Men of Ancient Persia-General Remarks, 116 Seditious Impostors-Misconduct of the Roman GovernorsVenality-Portents-The Dreadful Conflict begun-Tyranny and Corruption of Florus-Treacherous Massacre of a Roman Garrison-The Revolt-Murderous Rage of the Nation-Signal Destruction of the Roman Army-Glorious Daring for Liberty fUo1alcn P1l,* ia. -Measures of Nero-Vespasian-Preparatiomns by the JewsCHAP. 70. Decline of the Sassanian Power-Khosrou Pur- Josephus-Expedition against Ascalo...................... 181 veez-Persian Conquests-Reign of Yezdijird,................ 119 CHAP. 100. The Invading Army-Famoug Siege of Jotapata C AP. 71. Rise of the Mahometa~n Power-Arab Invasion of — Curious Stratagem-Daring Exploit-Fate of Jafa, &c.,-PerPersia, z................... ao................ 120 fidy of Nespasian and its Effects-Strange Disasters at the TakCHAP. 72. Battle of Nahavund-End of the Sassanian Dy- ing of Gamala-Jerusalem and its Factions-The Murderous n.asty and Magian Reliaion.................................. 121 Zealots-Insane Conduct-Perea, &c..-Idunmea reduced —VesCHAP. 73. Mahometan Government in Persia-Rise of Ya- pasian called to Rome-lnfatuation-PReconnoitring Adventure koob ben Leis............................................ 121 of Titus-Storming the Walls-Famine and Pestilence-Titus CIHAP. 71. The Sazancess-The Gaznevide Dynasty-Mah- walls in the City —Horrors -- Oath of Titus-The Temple lmood...................12......................... fired-A Million and a half of Victimls-Massada-Land Sale and CHAP. 75. Further Conquests of Mahmood of Ghizni,...... Tribute-Fate of Josephus, Arippa, and Berenie, 184 C-AP. 7 Frro es MCHAP. 101. The Dispersion under the Western Empire-The CHAP. 76. Fall of the Gaznevide Dynasty-The Seljukian Turks-Restoration of the Persian Line —Paper Money in Persia, 125 Jews no longer form a State-The Patriarch in the West, the CHAP. 77. Reign of Shah- Abbas, the Great.................'127 Prince of the Captivity in the East-RIevolt under Trajan — Barcochab's Rebellion-Success-Defeat-Persecution of the CHAP. 78. Nadir Shah-Age Mohammed-Futeh Ali-NesShah.8 A Rabbins —Jews forbidden to visit Jerusalem on pain of Deathsur ud Doon Shah........................................ 128 cur ud Doon,~~~~~ ~ Hadrian-Inextinguislmable Nationality-Sanhedrim of Tiberias CHAP. 79 General Viewss- Military Strength-Inhabitan Jews at Ronme, &c.-Schism —Severus-The Mishna and Taland Government of Persia,................................ s29 lmu d —IHillel-Abolitiomn of the Patriarchate-Persecution —TuC>HAP. 8 0 Persian Cities.................................. 181 alien favors the Jews, also'Hlonorius-Condition at the Fall of CHAP. 81. Domestic Life-Manners and Customs-Agricul-o RPome,..................................................... 188 tore-Commerce-Manufactures and Architecture of the CHAP. 102. The Dispersion during the Dark Ages-Jews nnPersians e r s i a n s.........................131.................. 13I der the Greek Empire-Justinian's Persecution-Jews massaChAP. 82$ Religion, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Science and Literature, Am. usemen, FiosodpDre, Fcne ofrtim, SienPersimis 1 cre Christians, and suffer in Turn-Cruelties at Antioch-Golden erature, Amusements, Food, Dress, &c., of the Persians,...... 133 Age of the Dipersion- ish Comerce and Wealth nder Age of the Di~persion —Jewish Commerce and Wealth under CIIAP. 83. Celebrated Men bf Modern Persia-General Re-Charlemagne, c.-Crusades-Their Lear Scientif tumarzks,......... 1.....................~........;........ ~34 Charlemagne, &c.-Crusades-Their Learning, Scientific Atmarks..................................... 134 tainments, and Influence-Magic-Flourish in Spain-Persecmuted-Jews in Hungary, Germany, Bohemia-Sultferings from the Crusaders-Oppressed and favored alternately throughlout Europe-Massacres in Germany-Jows in England-Banished, ~alesfetine. repeatedly-Also from France and Spain-A simnilar Catalogue of Wrongs in the East....................................... 191 CHAP. 841. Geographical View of Palestine-Physical Geog- CHAP. 103. The Dispersion since the Reformation-General raphy.- Mountains - Rivers - Lakes-Animals-Veetables- Renmarks-Usefulness of the Jewvs in Literature —Trade-War Soil —Climate-Political Divisions-Glance at the History of -Finance-Polish Jews-Toleration slowly advances-MenPalestine-Towns and Cities................................. 136 delssohn-Napoleon assembles a Grand Sanhedrimn at ParisCAP. 85i. Calling of Abrah~am-Iis Mi~gration toCanaan. 140 Toleration in Italy-Germany-Policy of Russia-Perfect TolCHAP. 86. History of Abraham, continued................. 142 eration in the United States, &c.-Jews, &c., in Palestine-The CHAP. 87. Thme Life, and Times of Isaac.................... 144 Hebrew Race found every where —eremarks on Judaism and CHAP. 8 8. The Fortunes of Jacob and his Sons in Egypt,.... 147 Christianity............................ 16 ("HAP. 89. The Bondage in Egypt,....................... 150 CHAP. 89. The Bondage in Egypt.150 CHAP. 1041. General Views-Extent of Jewry-DivisionsCHAP. 90. The Departure and Wanderings of the Israelites, 152 Population-Army —Cities -- Jerusalem — Hebron —Gaza —SaCHAP. 91. The Primitive Nations and Tribes in and around maria —Tiberias-Government —Law of Cleanliness-Of propCanaan-Ethnographical Position of Canaan-Primnitive gigantic erty-Militia-Armor-Weapons - Fortifications-Rites-SacPRaccs —Kenites-IKenizzites-Canaanites proper-Hittites-Je- red Edifices-Synagogues-Festi vals-Per sons-Scap e-Goatbusites-Amorites - Girgashites-Hivites -Amalekites-Moa- Marriage - Education-Tilage-Hltandicrafts-Trade-Building bites-Am monites-Midianites-Philistin es,................. 158 -Music - Literature-l-Io uses-FFurniture —Food-Dress-SoCHAP. 92. Invasion and Partition of Canaan................. 163,ial Distinctions-Celebrated Characters,................. 198 CHAP. 93. The Judges, or the Heroic Age of the Israelites,.. 165 CHAP. 91. The Monarchy-Reigns of Saul and David,...... 168 CHAP. 95. The Monarchy —Reign of Solomon-View of the Kingdom during his Reign,............................. 170 bo t i c CHAP. 96. Kingdom. of Judah and Israel-Ten Tribes rebel, and establish their Independence-Policy of Jeroboamu-Com- CHAP. 105. Geographical Description -Early Historyparison of the Dynasties of the two Kingdoms-Disastrous At- Dukes of Edom —Extension of time Territory-Conquered by tempt at Union-Wickedness of Ahab and his Wife-Apostacy David-Becolnes Tndlependeint-Subject to Babylon-Conquest of Israel-Successful Opposition of Elijah-The True Religion of a part of Judea-Divisions,............................. 213 Restored-Confederation-Annals of Israel-Its Deportation- CHAP. 106. The Nabatheans —Tleir' Wtrs — The City of Its Fate in Assyria-Annals of Judah-Deported by NebucIhad- Petra,...................................................... 214 nezzar —Jerusalem destroyed................................ 173 CHAP. 107. Antiquities of Idlmreaz-Description of Petra,.. 216 CONTENTS VOL. I. V CHAP. 142. Famous Men of Elphesus-Apelles —Ieraclitus, J 0~~i)O~lltCif~iX. ~the Weeping Philosopher.........,.................. 275 CHAP. 108. The Ancient Phoenicians-The Canaanites- CHAP. 143, The City of Smyina, —Aniaxagcoras-Anacreon, 277 Foundation of Sidon-Phoenician Commerce................ 218 CHAP. 141 XEOLIA AND Dors. —Greek Co!onics in Asia CHAP. 109. Sanchoniathon-Agenor-The Persian Conquest Minor............................279 -Revolutions of Sidon.................................. 219 CHAP. 14,5. LYDrA.-Foundation of tihe Kindom-Story of 3HAP. 110. Kings of Tyre-Flight of Dido to Carthage- Gyges and Candaules,.............................2.... 280 Wars with Nebuchadnezzar-Story of Strato-Destruction of CHAP. 146. Alyattes and the Milesinns-Reign of CroesusTyre...................................................... 220 Anecdote of Solon and iEsop-Storv of Adrastuns,............. 281 CHAP. 111. Phoenician Cities —Religion — Manufactures- CHAP. 147. War of Croesus with Cyrus of Persia —The DelArts....................................................... 222 pbian Oracle-Overtlhrow of the Lydian Monarchy.......... 292 CHAP. 112. Comrrerceand Trade of tihe Phaoenicians,... 224 CHAP. 148. CARA. —The Carians —The Leleges —The DorlCHAP. 113. Language, Arts, Dress, Manners, &c., of the ans-The Queens of Caria —Herdutrs-,Bits-Dionysius of Phoenicians-Celebrated Characters........................ 226 Halicarnassus........................................ 284 CHAP. 1 49 LYCTA, PAMPHYLIA, PISIDIA, AND PAPILAGONIA. -Diogenes the Cynic.........28........................ 86 CHAP. 150. BrITITYNrA. -Foundatin of tile Kingrdorm of Inria. Bitlynia —Revol utioni — Prussi. —Nicomedes............... 2SS CHAP. 151, Fanios Menof Bithynlit'L-Z-Zexis —llipparchuts CHAP. 114. Ancient Syrians-Zobah —Damascus-Geshur,. 228 CHAP 51. Faos en of Bithnia-Ze xis —liprchus Xenocrates —Asclepiadelts —Arian-~-Dion Cassius,............ 289 CHAP. 115. The Seleucidoe in Syria —Riseof Antiochus the Xenocrates-Ascleinia Ds-Arrian-Dion Cassius.......289 CHAP. 152. GALArIA AND CrTcxA.-O)ppian —DioscoridesGreat,..................................................... 280 Aratus —Chrysipl...................29.0. Greattns-Cllry~iI~T~ls,...........~.~.~~~~ ~~~~.~~~i...0 290 CHAP. 1 1 6. Decline and Fall of the Syrian Monarchy,...... 231 At.C......2 CHAP. 153. l'oTrtrs. —Fo olrnlatiou of the Kingdor of Pontus CHAP. 1 17. Syria under the Iomnans —Modern Syria....... 238 -Reign of Mithridates..........291.......... I n.............. ~~~~~~~291 CHAP. 118. The MARoNITES of Syria-The Monk Maron and CHAP. 154. War of the Romanrs against Mithridates-Dehis Disciples-Establishulent on Mount Lebanon-Manners, feat and Fliht o the King —ills Extraordinary Adlventures,.. 292 &c., of the Maronites...................................... 235 CHAP. 155. Death of Mithridates —End of the Kingdom of CHAP. 119. The Druses —Origi n of the Druses-Khalif Hak- Pontus.................................................. 294 em-Fakardin............................................ 236 CHAP. 156. CAPPADOCrIA —The Ancient Cappadocians-The CHAP. 120o Fall of Fakardiri-Wars of the Druses.......... 238 Dynasty of Ariarathes-End of the Kingdom-Story of ApolCHAP. 121. Manners, Customs, &c., of the Druses.......... 289 uonis................... 2............................... 296 CHAP. 122 The AssAssxs —Tleir Origin —Hussun Subah- CHAP. 157. PImYGIA. -The Ancient Phrygians-Ninnacus Thie Valley of Paradise............................... 240 -Tantalus-Gordius.................................. 298 CHAP. 123o Success of the Assassins-Sultan Sanjar —Ilus- CHAP. 158. Midas-Gordius II. — Otreus —Gordius III. - sein Ebn Nasser......................................... 242 The Lydian Conquest....................................... 299 CHAP. 124o Decline and Fall of the Assassins............... 243 CHAP. 159. Famous Men of Phrvgia —,Esop-Epictetus,.. 3011 CHAP. 125. Religion. Manners, Customs, &c., of the Ancient CHAP. 160. ISLANDS OF AsrA MINoR.-CYPRTUS.-Ancient Syrians-Goverrnment-Cities-Present Inhabitants.......... 245 History of Cyprus-The Plioenicians-The Greeks-The RoCHAP. 126. Famous Men of Syria-Lucian-Jamblichus- mans-Modern History-The Crusaders-The Venetians-The Libanius-Johannes Damascenus, &c................... 247 Turks-Famous Men of Cyprus.................8......... 02 CHAP. 161. RIooDzs.-Settlem-ent of the Greeks in t}ils Island-Rhodian Revolntions-Government of tile Romrans-TheKnights of Rhodes-The Turks-Famous Men i4f IIhlodes-Cos, Famous Men of this Island.................................. 304 CHAP. 162,. Cnros.-The Greeks of Chios-The GenoeseCHAP. 127. Origin of Palmyra —The Trade of the East- The Turks-Legends of Homer............................ 807 Odenathus-Reign of Zenobia-Seige of Pahnyra by the Ro- CHAP. 163. SAMs. —The Ancient Samians-The Tyrant P.mans,.................................................. 249 lycrates-IRevolutions of Samros-Pythlagoras.- LEsasos.. -Sap. CHAP. 128. Capture of Palmyra-Destruction of the City pho-Pittacus,............................................. 309 -Discoveries-Description of the iuins —Longinus,......... 251 ~rabia. ~rmcui.aia. CHAP. 316&. G~eogratphica~l Description,.................... 812 CHAP. 129. Foundation of tie Armenian Monarchly-Reign CHAP. 16. Geographical Description312 of Tigranes.................................................254 CHAP. 165. Early Traditions of Arabia-Lokman-Division into Tribes —Ishmael and Hagar................15 CHAP. 130. Wars of Tigranes-Conquest of Armenia by the..r15 CHAP. 166. Ancient Kings ofArabia —Kahtan-Dnu lkanainRomans —Modern Revolutions-Partition of tihe Country...... 255 CHAP. 131. Government, Religion, Manners, &c., of the Dulmenaar-Belkis Yasasin-Akran-The Flood of EAremArmenians.258 ~~~~~~~~~~~~Asaad-TTobbaa-Dunowas................................ 3 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~r~~~~~~~.~ 258 CHAP. 167. TIe Abyssinian Conqnuest of Yemen-Reign of Abraha-War of the Elepliant-Persian Coiquest of Yemen, 3!9 CHAP. 168. The Kingdom of Ilira-Malek-Jodaimah2hit ~Uiuor. Amru — Nooman-Mondar-The Gassanite Arabs............. 320 CHAP. 169. Character of the ancient Arabs-Their WarsCHAP. 132. Geographical Description-Sketch of the History Commerce,Traffic, and Productions...................8I..... 21 of Asia Minor-Conquests of Persia, Alexander, the Saracens, CI-AP. 170 Literature, Manners, Customs, Language, Relicg&c.,-Ancient Divisions-Modern Divisions............... 260 ion, &c., of the ancient Arabians..........................23. CHAP. 133. MYsIa. —Tlhe Ancient Mysians-The Kings of CHAP. 171 Tir SArAcENs.-Birth of Maromet, and first Pergamus —The Roman Conquest........................... 263 Preaching of his Docetrine..........................325 CHAP. 134. Citiesand Famous Men of Mysia,.............. 264 CHAP. 172. Flight of Mahornet from Mecca-Success of hIis CHAP. 135. Tmuov. —Foundation of tire Trojan Monarchy —Dcrne.2 CHAP. 135. Tror. —Foundation of the Trojan Monarchy- Doctrine,............................................... 827 Reign of Priam-The Trojan War.......................... 266 CHAP. 173. Thie Holy War-Battle of Ohud-Surrender of CHAP. 136. Probability of the tale ofTroy-A]e~iandriaTroas, 268 Mecca-Triumph of Mahomet....8.........2 8 CHAP. 137. IoNrA. —Migration of tie Ionians from Greece- CHAP. 174 Death of Mahomet-Ilis Ciaracter..... 30 Androclus-Constitution of the Ionian States............... 269 CHAP. 175. Appointment of a Khalif-teign of Abu BekrCHAP. 138. The Cimmerians in Ionia —The Lydians-The Omar-Invsion ofSyri by tie Sracens.331 Persians-Miletus..... 270 CHAP. 176. Capture of Jerusalem —Conquest of Syria and CHAP. 139. Tie Miresian Tales —Storyof Cupid and Psyche, 272 Egypt-Burningof the Alexandrian Library-Death if Omar 333 CHAP. 140. Famous Men of Miletrrs —Thales —Anaximander i CHAP. i 77 Civil Wars of the Saracens-Othman —Moawiyah — Timotheus, ~-...~..~............................... 278 -l-biol~hDa hofIIsi 3 -Timotheus,.273 ~~~~~~~~~i — Ali —Obeidollah —Deathr of Hosein,............. 33 cIHAP. 141. EphesusTheTemple of Diana..2......... 7 24 CHAP. 178o The Ommiades and Abbassides —Administra_______________________ ________________________________ ~Vi~~ ~CONTENTS-VOL. I. tion of the Khalifs-Conquest of Northern Africa-Invasion of Oosun-Cashgar-Goths-Ancient Kirgliis-Alans-Indo-GerSpain,......... 336 mans of Central Asia-Khotan............................ 3 CHAP. 179. Conquest of Spain-Invasion of France-Abu CHAP. 204. The Hunnic and Finnic Races................ 390 Jaafiar —Mahadi-lHaroun................................... 8388 CA.25 h ngos Ec —i-o-yK~ Jaafar-Mahbadi-HE-Iaronn.5338 CHAP. 205. The Tungouas Race —Y-liu —Moo-ky —Khitans CHAP. 1 80. The Saracens attack Constantinople-The Greek Ju-tchin, Kin, or Altoun Kan-Chy-oei..................391 Fire-Ilaroun al Raschid —Massacre of the Barmecides....... 339 CHAP. 206. The Ancient Turkish Race, or Ilioongnoo....... 393 CHAP. 181. Reign of Al Mamoun-Splendor of the Khalifs — CHAP. 207. The Turkish Race, continued-The Thoukhiu, or Decline of the Saracen Empnire-The Turks-Despotism of the Toorks-The Hoe he, or Ouioors.......................... 9 Khalifs —End of the Saracen Empire,......................... 841 I Khalifa-End of the Saracen Empire,....................... 341 CHAP. 208. The Mongol and Tartar Race and Empires,..... 398 CHAP. 1 82. Character of the Mahometan Religion-Paradise CHAP. 209. The Sons of Zingis-Octal, iis Suecessor-Batous and Hell of Maihomet-The Ssunees and Sheahs............. 342 Conquests and Kingdom of Kipzak-Anecdotes of further ConCHAP. 183. Science and Literature of the Saracens-Archi. quests in China-Yelu, the good Minister-Kayuk-Mana-outecture —lThe Koran —Saracen Superstitions................. 844 Kublal............................................... 4 CHAP. 18 *7 Tam WAIsAurss.-Condition of Arabia after the CHAP. 2 10. Mongol Chinese Emperors - Manchoo Tartar Establishment of the Khalifate-Preaching of Abd ul Wahab- Emperors-Grand Hunting Expedition-Kipzak Emupire-Zagatai Enipire —Mongol Persian Empire....................... 4i4 Success of his Doctrine-Capture of Mecca and Medina-Wars gtai Epire-onol Persian Empire4 CHAP. 2! 1 Tamnerlane —Ilia Birth, Childhood, Education and of the Turks and Egyptians against the Wahabees-Capture of Derayeh —Overthrow of the Wahabees.,Eal Epot............. Lerays —Ovethro~v of th Wnhabcs,................. 346 Early Exploits,........................................... 40'l CfIAP. 2! 2. Tamnerlane's Conquests, Government, Dealth,.... 4o8Q CIIhAP. 185. General Views of the Arabians-Manners and CHAP. 21 2. Tamerlanes Conquests, Government, Death 4 Customs —Towns,........................................348 Customs-Towns.348 ~~~~~~~~CHAP. 21! 3. General Views of Tartary,............412 an-Tumxven nrk-en n "sia. Q Itlcgu1 Cnpirc. CHAP. 214. The Mogul Empire —Baber —Humaioon-She re iIIAP. 186. Introduction-Geographical Description,... 1 -Selim-Death of Humaoon............................ 41 CHAP. 187. Origin ofthe Turks —King Disabules-TheKha- CHAP. 21 5 Acbar-Byram - The Atyeen Acberry-Jelhangan —Tumwen Khan-Division of the Turkish Nation........ 857 ghire-Noor Mahl-Shah Jehan-Aurungzebe................. 41S CHAP. 1 88. Origin of the Seljukian Turks —Conquests and' CHAP. 216. Aurungzebe —A cbar II. —Aulum —The SikhsElevation of Toghrul-Victories and Death of Alp Arslan,.... J58 Jhander-Nadir-Aulun IL-The Mahrattas-Gholun KiaCILAP. 189. Administration of Nizam ul Mulk-Glory of the dur - Scindia..................................422..... Reign of Malek Shah-Anecdote of his Flatterers-Disgrace of CHAP. 217. General Views-Military Affairs-Divisionshis Minister-Accession of Sultan Sanjar-His Misfortunes and Cities-Education-The IIousehold and Domestic IHabits,f Death-Decline of the Empire-Toghrul III.-Tokush-Ma- the Grand Mogul-The Seraglio —The Painting Gallery-Public homed-Jellal ud Deen-Eud of the Seljukian Empire,.... 359 Fighlts of Animals —Machlines-Pensions —Festivals —Marria-es CHAP. 190. Rise of the Ottoman Empire-Solyman of Oguz -Hunting and Hawking-Fairs-Weighing the King........ 425 -His Adventures —Ortogrul-Othman —tIcrease of the Turkish Power-Stories and Fables respecting Othman............ 61 CHAP. 191. Reign of Osman II.-Orchan-Establishment of the Janizaries-Character of the Turkish Conquests-Amurath 1)ibet. I. —Wars with the Hungarians..........................362 CHAP. 2 1 8. Geographical Survey -Divisions-Character - CtIHAP. 192. Death of Amurath 1.-Reign of Bajazet —InvaCountry, &c.......................................... 428 sion of Tiiour —Defeat and Death of Bajazet —Mahomet I ChAP. 219. History of Tliibet -Early Tiibeiamia - Wars — Ainurath II.-MvIahomet II.,................................. 364 Empire-Conquest by China................................ 429 CHAP. 220. Religion-Buddhilsm, Lamaiisnm, Sharllanisi, or the Religion of Fo-Its History and Doctrines............... 482 l~1y'aucniasian Qountrits. CHAP. 193, The Caucasian Countries-Ancient Colchis-. Jason and the Argonauts-The Tartars-Russians and Persians li. in the Caucasian Territories.............................. 3866 C IIAP. 2f21. Introduzction —Geographical Skretchi........... 48'6 ChAP. 1 94. Revolutiois of Georgia, Mingrelia, and Circassia CHAP. 222. Preliminary Remarks on China-The Fabulous -Wars of the Russians and Circassians-Description of the Period of Chinese History-The Three Eperors- e e Period of Chinese History —Thle Th-ree Empero1~r s —Thelt l'ive Circassians,.................................................................... 486 Circassians.338 ~~~~~~~~~Emperors,.489 Emetr,................................................. 9 CIAP. 223. Tile HIe and Tang Dynasties.............. 440 CIIAP. 22, The Dynasties of Tchleou, Tlsin, ian, lieou lielan, Tein-ou-ti, and Song —Confucius,......................... 441 jJ'Ar;u~~tll'a. ~CHAP. 2'95. The Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfthl, arlnd ThirCHAP. 95. ise of the Parthian Empire —The Arsacia — teent Dyasties..................................... 444 CInvasion of Crassuse of the Parthian Eniplm-The Arsae..l. 3M CIhAP. 226, Incursions of the Tartars, and other Incidents,.. 44r CHvAP.16.feat of Cr assusPrhn........... I.................. 871 CHAP. 1Q96. Defeat of Crassus-Parthian Conquests......... 371 CCHAP. 227o The Tartar Sway and Present Dynasty,...... 448 CHAP. 1 97. Decline and Fall of the Parthian Empire.- Gov- C CHAP. 228. ThePresentDynastycontinued —Recent Iistory, 449 ernment-Military Strength, &c.............................. 873 CHAP. 229, The War continued-Peace.................... 452 CHAP. 98. HYacAmNIA-So DIANA-BAOTRIANA, &c., —Iis- CAP. 230. General Views-Introduction of Christianity into torical and Descriptive Sketches —Scythia-Sarmatia-Serica,. 8T4 China,............................... 454 CHAP. 231. General Views, continued-Opiumn Trade..... 45; CHAP. 232. Extent of the Empire-Divisions and Chief Cities-Government....................................... 459 " rtarn CHAP. 233. Chinese Language........................... 462 CHAP. 234: Chinese Literature........................... 464 CHAP. 1199. Peliminary View of TARTARY IN GENEr AL. —Di CHAP. 3 Arts and Inventions-Great W -Cnal. 4 CHAP. 235. Arts and lnventions —Great Wall —Canal,....... 4 6.Q visions —Tribes —Historical Topics.......................... 3T6 o.2vision 0-Tribes-HistoricaDNl D rTopics.TARTAP.... GeographyCHAP. 236o Religion-Its Rites and Ceremonies-Josshouses, CHAP. 200. I DEPENDENT TARTARY. —Physical Geography- Idols, &c.................471 The Kirghis and Cossacks —Kokan —Khiva —The Turcomans- Ios -.......................... 7 The Kirghis and Cossacks-Kokan-Khiva-TheTurcomans- CHAP. 237. Characterof the Chinese-Their Institutions,... 474 Bokiara-The Uzbecks-Balkh-Koondooz.................. 377 CHAP. 2011 Early Traditions of Independent Tartary —Smythians —Manners-Massaget — Cyrus, &c.,3............ $$0 CHAP. 202. CumzEss TasTAnY. —Divisions and Physical Ge.ography —Cities - Soongaria-Cashgar —Kalmucks — Mongolia — Kalkas —Manchoos..................................... 38. 82 CHAP. 2 38. Geographical View —Early AnnaIs —~oritomo —CHAk. 203. Tux ALh.iO-GOTnac Oa BLONDE RAOEs. —The Taiko-Gongin.................................. 477 C(ONTENTS.- VOL. I. vii CHAP. 239. Tsouna-Conspiracy-Tsounayosi Assassinated CHAP. 258. Origin of the Siklls-Reformation of lIindooism -Yosimoone-Intercourse with Foreigners-General Views,.. 4T9 preached by Nanak —The Gooroos -Persecution of the Siklhs by the Mahomnetans —Gooroo Griad-Revolution in Northern India-Fluctuations in the Fortunes of the Sikhs-Establishment {01'C2a. - of the Afghan Dominions-Supremacy of the Sikhs in the Punjaub-The Sikh Constitution —Reign of Runjeet Singh-WaI CHAP. 24:O, General Description-Historical Sketch,........ 45 with the British-Battles f Chilliwal ad Gojeat-Annexation of the Punjaub to the British Dominions............ 5 CtlAP. 259. Description and Ilistory of Cashmere-Neplaul2t'9glltanis tan. Subjection of the Hindoos-Clhalraeter of the Blritish ConquestsCHAP. 2411. Origin of the Afghans-Tlle Persian and Hindoo Submissive temper of the lindloos-Grvernisent of Britishl InD om inion............................................ 487 Dominion,.... 451 dia - Ancient Government of the Moguls - Their Military CHAP. 242. Afghan Independence —The British Invasion,.. 4S8 System................................................... 520 CHAIP. 243. Government-Inhabitanlts-(l Cities - nRelifion,'CIIAP. 260 Population —Citis and Towns in India-Calcutta &c., of Afghanistan,..................................... 489 -Del - Surat-Laore - Umritsir- Poonh - 130mby-.Madras,............................................. 2 CHAP. 2414. Agriculture, Trade, Literature, Manners, Dress, A.... Bim e Amusements, &c., of the Afghans....................... 4911. Religion of the in s-Brama-The Avatars — Extravagance of the Hindoo Mythology —Inferior DeitiesReligious Ceremnonies-Festivals-JtJuggernaut-Devotees-Fakirs-The Meternpsychosis,................................. 24 b cl 0o Ci!3~taii- CHAP. 262. Ediucation, Mtrriages, Agriculture, Manufactures, and Ship-Building of the liedoos......................... 527 CHAP. 245. Ancient Gedrosia-The Modern Belooches,.... 492 CHAP. 263. Commerce, Architecture, Painting, Music, &c., of the Hindoos,........................................... 529 CHAP. 264-. Language, Literature, &c., of the IIindoos,..... 531 CHAP. 265k; 1Food, Dress, Traveling, Manners, Qustoms and Jlbia, or f)ilbostanw Character of the Hindoos............................... 532 CHAP. 24-6. Geographical Description,................... 493 CHAP. 24-7. Early History of Hindostan-Extravagant Chronology of the Hindoos-Character of their Early Traditions and Records,..................................... 49 CAP.. Northern Oriin of the Hindoos-The Bramins CHAP. 266. Description of Ceylon —Settlement of the PorCI{AP. 21-$. Northern Origin of the Hindcos-The Brahmins -The Maha-Rajah Dynasty-Reign of Feros-ra-Sinkol-Con- tuguese in the Island-The Dutcl-The British-Description quest of India by Bacchus —Rama's Monkey Army-Conquests of the Cingalese-Cities, &c., of Ceylon,...........5...... 538 of Sesostris —Expedition of Scylax - Conquests of Darius Hystaspes.................................................. 498 CHAP. 24:9. Invasion of India by Alexander of MacedonCapture of Massaga and Aornos-Defeat of Porus —Retreat of Sartl) r Illa Alexander-Reign of Sandracottus-The Kingdom of Magadha CHAP. 267. Description of Farther India-BuIemAm —Early Embassy of Damnaichus.................................... 500 History of the Burmese-War with the Pegnuans — Rise of CHAP. 250. Reign of Vicralnaditya-Embassy of Porus to Alonlpra-Independence of Burmah established - Death of Augustus-Strabo's account of Musican —Tile Temple of Taxila- Alompra —Reign of Shenbu-Yen,..................... 540 Usurpations of the Brahmin — Iise of Buddhlism-The Kingdom CH]AP. 268. Wars with th e Siarmese-P-eign of Mendera-yeeof Kinoge-Maldeo-Expulsion of the Buddhists,............. 502 Nun-Sun-War with tile British —Present state of Burmah,... 541 CHAP. 251. Modern IIistory of HIindostan —Mahlmood of CHAP. 269. Population, Military Strength, Cities, GovernGhizni-The Gaurs-The Patans-The Seids-Zingis Khan- ment, Laws &c., of Burmah................................. 543 Timour-Baber-Acbar............................... 504 CIIAP. 276. Manufactures, Commerce, Agriculture, ArchitecCHAP. 252. Jehanghire-Aurungzebe-Splendor of the Mlo- ture, Amusements, Education, Language, Literature, Food, gul Empire-The Old Woman's War —Sllah Allum —Mahomed Dress, Manners, Customs, and Classes of the Burmese,....... 545 Shah-Invasion of Nadir Shah-Decline of the Mogul Empire, 506 CHAP. 271. SIAM.-Origin of the Siamese-Wars with the CHAP. 253. THE PORTUGUESF, IN INDIA. — Discoveries of Burmese and Peguans-Aduministratiou of Constantine Phalcon Vasco de Gama-Conquests of Alboquerque-,-*Foundation of -Establishment of the Present Dynasty-Population, &c., of Goa-Conquest of Malacca-Splendor of Ormuz-Decline of the the Kingdom,.................................... 54S Portuguese Empire in India................................ 509 CHAP. 272. PEcu.-The Peguan Kings-The War of the CHAP 254. Timn DUTCH IN INDmA.-Heemskerk's Voyage- Idol-Adventures of tlhe Portuguese Pereyra-Subjugatiomn of Settlement of the Moluccas, Java, Ceylon-Decline of the Dutch Pegu by the Burmese........510....................... 550 Emlpire in India. TIIE SPANIARDS IN IN IDmA-Dispute respect- CHAP. 273. COCIIIN CIIINA, OR ANAam-TONQUIN-CAMBOuDIA ing the Moluccas —The Pope's Division of the new Discoveries -LAOS,.................................................. 551 -The Philippines-Mauilla. TIIm DANES IN INDIA-Tranque- CIIAP. 2 7-. MALACCA.-Origin of the Malays - Tradition at bar Serampore.C510 Celebes-Emigration of tihe Malays from Sumatra-Character CIIAP. 2355. Tnue BermesImmlxIINDcA-Description of Bengal ofthe Nation-City of Malacca.......................... 558 -The English East India Coulpany-Catastrophe of the Black H(,le-Exploits of Clive-Grants of the Mogul............... 512 CHAP. 256. Administration of Warren IHastings-The RoIlillas-Confusion of Political Affairs in India-Impeachment -'iiatiCt unsia' iiberit. andl trial of Hastings.............................. 518 C:HAP. 257. Settlementof Madras-Riseof Hyder All-Dc- CHAP. 275. Extent - Siberia - Physical Aspect —Native vastation of the Carnatic-Death of Hyder-Recin and Over- Tribes —Russian Divisions-People-Commerce-HIistory,.... 556 throw of Tippoo Saib-Origin and Conquests of tlme Mahrattas CHAP. 276, GENERAL VIEW OF AsIA-Origin of Language-Their Subjection by the B6ritish-Moditication of the Charter Government, Arts, Science, Religion-Past Condition of Asiaof the East India Company-Conquest of Scinde,............ 515 Its Future Prospects,..................................... 560 tIHAP. 277. Introduction-Geographical Sketch —Climate- -gnpt. Vcgetation-Mountains-Rivers-Political Divisiomsme. 5... 663 CHAP. 2 9. Introduction-Physical Geography, 51........... 1 CHAP. 278. Ancient Geography of Africa- Historical CHAP. 280. Ancient and Modern Cities-Antiquities-AnOutline,...................................... 568.cient Geography of Egrypt......................- 574 viii CONTENTS VOL. I. CIHAP. 281. History of Ancient Egypt from the earliest Peri- CHAP. 299. LIBYA,-Cyrenaica- Mrmarica-Augila-Allod to the Arrival of Alexander of Macedon, 882 B. C.-Mytho- mon.....................62 logical Period-The Thirty-one Dynasties-Cambyses-Ochus CHAP. 300. TuE BARBARY STATES.-Barc a and Tripoli,.... 628 -Alexander-Origin of the Egyptians-Their Civilization,.... 582 CHAP. 301. Tunis and Algeria............................. 629 CHAP. -282. General Views of the Ancient Egyptians-Gene- CHAP. 302. MoRocco.-Foundation of the Empire of Morocco %I Policy-Castes-Priesthood-Army-War, z&c. 585 -Conquests in Spain-Revolution in Morocco-Character of CIIHAP. 283. Learning, Religion, Tombs, Burials, of the An- the Moorish Sovereigns,......................... 632 cient Egyptians.....................................58T CHAP. 303, Manners, Customs, &c., of the Inhabitants of C.IHAP. 2 84. Domestic Life, Arts, Manners and Customs of the Barbary.........6......8........... 683 Egyptians,.................................................. 589 CHAP. 285. The Conquest of Alexand'r — Greco-Egyptian Kings-Cleopatra-Egypt a Roman Province-Origin of Monachism —The Saracens-TheMamelukes-The Turks., 595 Cye Q sert of qalara. CHAP. 286. The French in Egypt-Mehemet All-Destruction of the Mamelukes-Egypt at the present Day............. 598 CHAP. 304. Geographical Description oftheDesert-History, 634 CHAP. 287. Modern Egypt-Manners and Customs,...... 601 vtltjiopia: XNubit etrn tria. CHAP. 2. Ancient Names of Ethiopia-Geographical Ac CHAP. 30 5. Geographical View-Divisions-Native TribesCHlAP. 288, Ancient Names of Ethiopia-Gcoaphical Ac-G 6 count-Interior-Ethiol)ian History-Nubian History........ 605 General History-Re Abnsillia. Qcltral tfriua: qonbact, Nigritia. AP. 29 Abyssinia-Its Name-Geography DvsonCHAP. 306. History of Central Africa and Central Asia com GIIAP. 289,; Abyssinia-Its Name —Gesography —Divisions. and Cities-History-Straggles against Mahometanism.......60 pared-Geography-Soudan and its Divisions —Empires-General History-Remarks,.................................. 641 ~ artlIage, Xutmibia, Otauritania, Kibqa:.ter ira I je Jarbarn fitates. CHAP. 307. Geographical Survey-Divisions-BoshuanasCHAP. 290. The Barbary States-Description of the Country, 612 Caffres-Hottentots-Cape Colony-Towns-General History, 646 CIIAP. 291. CARTHAGE.-Origin of the Carthagenians-Story of Dido,.................................................... 613 CHlAP. 292. Story of the Phil.ani-Invasion of Sicily-Treaty with the Romans-Alliance with the Persians................. 615 CHAP. 293. Disasters of the Carthagenians in Sicily-Expe- (asternt frir'a. dition of Hanno —The First Punic War-Story of Regulus,. 616 CHAP. 308. Geography-Tribes-Mucaranga-Sowby leeCHAP. 294. The Second Punic War —Exploits of Hannibal- Galla-Somaulies-Mozambique-Monomotapa-The InRuin of the Carthagenian Power-The Third Punic War-Siege terior-General History.............................. 651 and Destruction of Carthage-Rebuilding of the City-Its final Extinction,................................................ 617 C.:HAP. 295. Government, Militay System, Religion, Character, Manners, &c., of the Carthagenians,.......................f. CHIAP. 296. Commerce, Trade, Colonies, Monetary System, and celebrated Characters of Carthage,...................... 22 CHAP. 309. African Islands-The Azores-Madeira-The CHAIP 297. NUMIDIA.-The Massyli and Massmesyll-Wars Canaries-Cape Verd Islands-Ascension-St. Helena-Mada Twith Carthage-Mlasinissa-Jugurtha-J uba.-MAURITANIA,.. 623 gascar-Bourbon-Mauritiuts-The Seychelles-Comoros, &c. CHAP. 2f98. Revolt of Firmus-Invasion of the Vandals- -Socotra-Tristan d'Actnha,.......................... 65 Conquests of Genseric-Overthrow of the Vandals by Belisa CHAP. 310. GENERAL VIEW OF AFRICA. -Slavery and the rius —Desolation of Africa Lae................................. 661 eoi o a625 Slave Trade-African Languages,.......................... i1 PI CHA- )' TE' 1 R I. The Ncatre and Usees of Hiistor/y. HISTORY, in its general meaning, signifies an ac- into the causes and consequences of events, the faccount of some remarkable facts which have happened ulty of penetration is sharpened, the attention of the within the knowledge of man, arranged in chronologi- mind is fixed, and the comprehension enlarged. From cal order, together with the causes which preceded this source, the student acquires the power of quick them, and the various effects which they have pro- discernment and accurate discrimination. It is a duced, as far as can be discovered. The word is of great, but prevalent mistake, to imagine that history Greek derivation, and, in its primitive use, denoted is calculated to enlighten the judgment only on those iterally, in that language, a search after curious things, subjects which are connected with the welfare of great or, a desire of understanding and rehearsing such things communities. It is almost in an equal degree capable ~as we have seen. But the signification of the term of affording lessons of wisdom bearing on individual is now much more extensive, and we apply it as well utility and comfort. to knowledge gained from others, as to that obtained In this respect, the advantages of written history are I f'orr our own observation. more important than those which we derive from our History, at the present day, is regarded as a very own individual observation and experience: for, alimportant branch of polite literature. Few accomplish- though the impressions made by the latter may be ments are more highly valued than an accurate knowl- more vivid, and, probably, more permanent, yet the edge of the histories of different nations; and hardly knowledge derived firom history is more correct, and, any literary production is held in greater esteem than consequently, a better guide to us in our intercourse a well-written history. The advantages which may with the world. The examples presented by history be derived from this study are various and important. are generally complete; the whole picture is before It is equally attractive to the popular and the philo- us; whereas, in real life, every scene opens slowly. sophical mind; the former it interests by the excite- and we consequently see but a small part at a time; ment of novelty the latter by the usefulness and hence, we are liable to be deceived in our estimate importance of the general principles deduced from the of men and things. I facts which it records. It improves the best faculties We may easily judge of the importance of the study of man, and furnishes him with the mo()st important of history to the attainment of knowledge in general, species of knowledge. and of political knowledge in particular, when we By the study of history we do not merely furnish reflect, that the most exalted understanding is nothing our memories with a naked catalogue of events, but we more than a power of drawing conclusions and formgain, also, a knowledge of the mechanism of society, ing maxims of conduct from known facts and experio)f the reciprocal influence of national character, laws, ments. The mind of man itself being necessarily amd government; and of those causes and circum- barren of these materials of knowledge, they can be stances that have acted in producing and advancing, obtained only by experience. But the wisdom that is or destroying and retarding, civil and religious liberty, gained by the experience of one man, or of one age, and the various branches of science and literature. must be very scanty and dearly purchased. How slowv It leads to a knowledge of man in his social relations, then, must have been the progress of mankind in wisand exhibits the various operations of different sys- dom and improvement of all kinds, before a method of tems of polity on human happiness. recording facts was invented, by which the people ofi A still higher use of history is to imlprove the under- one age could be made acquainted with the know. standing, and strengthen the judgment. By searching edge of their ancestors! 2,, _ 10 HISTORY IN ITS MORAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL RELATIONS as well as most useful and necessary inclinations of C H A P T E R I I. the human mind. Hence we are' led to devour, too Of H istory in its Morael cand Philosophic al often with an undiscriminating appetite, whatever is PHehition.story related to us in historical connection. We wish to Relations. see the end of the story, whether it be a tale of woe oi " HsTORY'," says Cicero, " is the light of truth" - of joy, cf triumphant vice, or of virtue persecuted and a noble expression, and one which reflects honor on depressed. But it cannot be said that mankind symthe pure and upright mind of its' author. On the pathize more strongly with the wicked than with the clearness and steadiness of this light, depends its whole virtuous; on the contrary, we feel greater pleasure in value in guiding us through the obscure and difficult reading those histories which present illustrious ex passages of human life. We can reason only from amples of patriotism, of self-devotion, of generosity what we know, and without truth our fancied knowl- and whatever ennobles and exalts the human characedge is worse than ignorance. Dionysius of Halicar- ter, than those which abound only in petty intrigues, nassus has remarked, with equal truth and force of and the various artifices of selfishness and corruption. expression, that "history is philosophy teaching by The decline and fall of a great empire is no less example:" a saying which is likely to be repeated as instructive than its origin and growth. The solid long as the true character and uses of this department and permanent pleasure of history does not consist in.if human knowledge continue to be understood. But its highly colored pictures of crime and folly; or- in the. question immediately presents itself, What is strange events, amplifications, and exaggerations; but the philosophy that history should teach? What is in the truth, beauty, and grandeur of the sentiments the utility, which ought to be its main object? The and descriptions which it furnishes; in the simple and answer is plain:- Virtue, the moral improvement of unaffected ease of the narrative; in the great variety Inan, the nature and extent of his duties here, and the of particulars, all bearing upon one general matter, all means which fit him for happiness hereafter. These throwing light on each other, and all illustrating the constitute, not, indeed, the sole, but certainly the first subtle movements of the human heart, the'influence and highest aim, which both the writer and reader of of social principles and institutions, and the great dehistory should keep in view. In this sense, history signs and laws of Providence in the government of las been called by the great Roman orator, " the mis- the world..less of life;" and Tacitus has remarked, that "It is the The reasons, therefore, why history has always been. peculiar office of the historian to take care that virtue and always will be, a most important and agreeable be not passed over in silence, but so to represent department of human knowledge, are perfectly clear. things, that men may fear to do or to speak evil, from To desire to know the past, to ascertain hovw thao tlh.e dread of the infamy which may await them in the which now is became what it is, and to understandt opinion of posterity!" the successive steps of its development, is an active prisA love for history seems inseparable from human ciple of our intellectual and moral constitution. Everynature, because it is inseparable from a regard for thino- which concerns a human being, excites the uni. ourselves. The same principle..n this instance, car- versal sympathies of manlind, and the fate of one cornries us forward and backward to future and past ages. munity is, of course, interesting to all other comrnmunities We imnagine that the things which affect us must The history of a nation, properly defined, may lie affect posterity. This sentiment runs through man- stated to be a narrative, in chronological order, of tbte kind, from Julius Caesar down to a justice of peace. various actions and events bywhich the society which We are fond of preserving, as far as we can, the mem- constitutes that nation, became organized and estabory of our own adventures, or those of our own time lished. Such a narrative, if skilfully executed, will. and of those which preceded it. Rude heaps of stone of itself indicate the general principles which frlo-,l have been raised, and ruder hymns have been com- time to time have affected the condition of society. posed, for this purpose, by nations without letters or But as the main subject of history is the progressive the arts of civilization. Almost all savage nations development of social institutions, that historian 1whol have customs of this sort, and long historical ballads displays the greatest discernment in pointing out those of their huntings and their wars are sung at festivals matters, which, at each stage, characterize this proand on other occasions. gress, will make the nearest approach to the standari It is a common remark, that all history is uncertain; of philosophical perfection in his work. and if this were true to the full extent, there would be little use in attempting to show the value of that which cannot be known with certainty. But though many events, or rather the minute circumstances of C H A P T E R I I I. such events, are uncertain, the most valuable part of history rests upon monuments which have no uncer- Of the Mlaterials for an.d iSoorces of History ytainty in their character. The positive institutions iMonuments, Langeuage, Laws, lCiedals and of every civilized country, its laws, and its literature, Coins. are recorded facts, which are rich in instruction, not to mention an infinity of other facts, of which they are THE knowledge of events, and the state of things conclusive and satisfactory proof. in times past, may be communicated to us not only by Again; the chief interest of history has }been said oral tradition and written histories, but by a variety to arise from the vices and follies of mankind. This of other methods. is by no mneans true. The source of the mistakle may Historical poems and ballads are of great importance be referred to tne fact, that curiosity, or the vague in studying the history of the primitive ages, and lesire of knowledge, is one of the most deeply rooted, particularly in investigating the annals of a semi-bar OF THE MATERIALS FOR HISTORY-MONUMENTS AND COINS. 11 narous people. Thus the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, been even more general than nistorical poems, may orally transmitted for several centuries, have been and be found in visible monuments, such as pillars, edifices, still are a fertile source of historical information, re- heaps of stones, &c., erected upon occasion of remarkspecting the manners, customs, and opinions of nations able events. These monuments, attracting the attenwhich flourished nearly fifteen centuries before the tion of the rising generation, would of course cause Christian era. They also afford unexpected testimony such inquiries concerning their origin and use, as to the truth of the earlier records of the Old Testament, would long preserve the knowledge of the transaction,; as they portray certain curious manners and customs, to which they refer. Thus we find that when the analogous to those described in the sacred volume, of Hebrews crossed the Jordan to invade the land of Canathe same period. an, they set up a heap of twelve stones, to commemno Allother method of preserving tradition, which has rate the event. [Josh. iv. 5.] Tumulus on the plain of'IMarathon. I'he Greeks also, when they defeated, at Marathon, sixth century, the administration of justice was very the Persian armies which had invaded their country, irregular in France, and that a man could have had erected a mound on the plain where the battle was little security for his liberty, property or life. fiught, as a memorial of the victory. This historical But still more curious materials for history exist in monument may be seen at the present day. coins and medals, which may be regarded as a specie:I Of the same nature are national customs in coin- of portable monuments. Such a multiplicity of events nemoration of remarkable facts in history; such as have been recorded by ancient medals, and so great the Paschal Supper among the Jews; the sending a has been the care of antiquaries and scholars in collectship annually to Delos by the Athenians; the carry- ing and preserving them, that they have been made to ing about an effigy of Guy Fawlkes on the 5th of throw great light upon history. They confirm such November, by the English, &c. statements as are true in old authors, clear up whai The language of a people is also an important guide was doubtful, and supply what has been omitted. It is to a historian, both in tracing their origin and in dis- remarkable, for instance, that history scarcely makes |covering the state of many other important circum- mention.of the magnificent cities of Balbec and Palstances, respecting them. Colonists, for instance, will myra, whose ruins are now so famous: we have, indeed, speak the language of their mother country, unless little knowledge of them beyond what is supplied by insome event produce a mnu.re free and constant inter- scriptions and medals. A history, lost to the world, has course with people of a difierent tongue; and even the been recovered by this means. A. small collection of proportion of that foreign intercourse may in some medals gives us a complete chronicle of the kings of nmeasure be estimated by the degree of corruption in Syria, not mentioned by any ancient writer whatever. the language. It may be added, that languagre takes a tincture from the civil policy, manners, customs, employments and taste of the nation which uses it, and l -<- I thus a sagacious observer will be able to make many - d::urio'xs discoveries. ___: I. The laws of a country are necessarily connected. wvith everything belonging to it; so that a thorough... knowledge of these is essential in order to learn its history. As every new law is made to remove some inconvenience to which the community is subject,',.._-: the law itself is, so far, a standing and authentic evidence of the state of things previous to its enactment. I The conquest of Judea, by Vespasian and Titus, w ai, When we read that a law was mlade by Clothaire, commemorated by a medai struck by order of the King of France, that no person should be condemnedlRoman Selate, ancd nowR preserved in the /Lrtisl without being heard, we may be certain that in the Mu[useil. ()f ti_, xO. givere a copy as a specimen. __r —I — ____-. —— ~ —-. —-~- -L~i_ —— ~-~-~ -~-~I- ~. _..".. —-.-~-. ~I,~~~.~~~-~"~; -~L,-.l~-i~ (2 t tSOF INSCRIPTIONS, STATUES, SEALS, LRUINS, PICT RES, ETC. T'the Apamean medal, in the Nat. Library, Paris, such as sacrifices, triumphs, &c. By their help we of which the following represents one side, establishes know the first Roman emperor who wore a beai d and tihe interesting fact that the tradition of the deluge rode with stirrups; on these we see Nero with his fid was preserved in Asia Minor from remote antiquity. - i I."' -. _$ T~~~~~~~ die and Commodus with his lion's skin. Upon corns ~__~ ~~~~:~ \~ -~~ —-X L =:also, which are still preserved, are to be seen plans of the most considerable buildings of ancient Rome. An entire l —-1-yN gallery of ancient architectural monuments might be l'~'~~'~~.... formed from this source alone. It is remarkable that I____ -~- ---—'~- Ithe buildings and other objects thus represented are seen only in front, and never in perspective- an art Apamea was an inland city of Phrygia situated at with which the ancients were but little acquainted. the source of the river Marsyas, not far from the Mieander. Its original name was Kibotos, or Airk. Upon this medal is a representation of the history of the CHAPTER IV. flood. The aik is floatino on the naters and through veiled. A dove is perched upon the roof, and another is flying toward the ark bearing the branch of a tree. O nscripteons, &atues, Seals, Psctures, Before the ark are two persons, who by their attitude seem to have just quitted it. On the ark itself is to be read in distinct characters the Greek name of Noah. THE study of inscriptions upon monuments of stone The inscription surrounding all the figures is thus tablets of metal, c., is also of great utility in the interpreted, "This medal was struck when Marcus Au- prosecution of historical researches. These remains relius Alexander was a second time Chief Pontiff of the of antiquity are very abundant, and, considered as pub~~~~~~Apameans." |lic and contemporary monuments. they form a class of historical evidence worthy of great confidence. Since the revival of letters, much attention has been devoted to the work of discovering, collecting, publishing and explaining inscriptions. They are found upon columns, altars, tombs, vases, statues, temples, and other edifices. Their design is to record some memoIable event, or to point out the use and meaning of the object on which they are engraved. They are mostly in'prose, but sometimes in verse. Greek inscriptions were remiarkable for uniting beauty, perspicuity and vigor. The most ancient inscriptions knoiwn are unIn the British Museum is another medal, of great doubtedly those of the Egyptian temples, tombs. and.nterest, as it appears to have been executed at Tyre, monuments. These are in the hieroglyphical characat a very early date, and presents on one side the form ters, which for a long time eluded all the sagacity of of the iacient Phenician vessels. the learned. But recently the hieroglyphical alphabet These curious relics of antiquity not only preserve has been deciphered through the ingenuity and labors the knowledge of the leading events of history, but of Young and Champoilion, and the inscriptions have'-hey likewise transmit to us information of many' thrown a wonderful degree of light upon the history fhings important to be known, more accurately than of ancient Egypt. Some of them are said to be dated 1 ould be furnished by any written description. Thus 3000 years before the birth of Christ. we find upon medals, traces of manners and customs, The oldest Greek inscription, if it be genuine, is the figures of ancient buildings, instruments, garments, that discovered at Amyclh, in Greece. It contains a &c., which show very strikingly the state of the arts list of the names of the priestesses of the temple of at the time when they were executed. Apollo at that place. The date is fixed at about 1000 Many interesting matters have been neglected by B. C. The Elian inscription, on a bronze tablet found historians as being too familiar to require notice, or I at Olympia, comprises a treaty of alliance between the from a belief that they would never engage the curios- Elians and the Hereans, written in the lEolic dialect ity of after time<. Yet, tortnnately these are supplied The date is supposed to be (i15 B. C. The Sigmana y coins, upon which we see the dresses of different inscription was found upon a piece of marble, supposed:er.sns in different ages, civil and religious customs, to have been the pede stal of a statue. It specifies a i ________________ _ _. ______ _______________.____ ___ __________________________. __ __ ____ _. _ ___ _______ OF INSCU'iPTIONS, STATUES, SEALS, RUINS, PICTURES, ETC. 13 gift of three cups made by Phanodicus to the magis- Since Xerxes formed a bridge of boats on the Helle tratcs of Sigeum. It is referred to the 6th century B. C. spont, and dug through Athos, and the battle was fought The mode of writing, in this inscription, is that very at Thermopyle, and the sea-fight by the Greeks at 1Saancient one, called by the Greeks boustrophedon or lamis against the Persians, in which the Greeks were ox-turn, that is, forward and backward in alternate victorious, 217 years. Calliades being archon at Athens. lines, as an ox ploughs a field. We subjoin a facsimile from this very curious relic. 0O 4-1OT. OTA"q q07C rVEZ O:KA.AO Ko his histories are likely always, to maintain a high, - ~ - rank; but in acuteness of perception and comprehensiveness of genius he must be placed far below Hume and Gibbon. He was, moreover, not fully acquainted with all the subjects on which he wrote, and many important errors and deficiencies are now visible in his works. To these three great English historians, we may [;;2 44 |add Mitford, whose history of Greece is a work of 17r~ -> vast learning and patient research, but disfigured not ~~~ ~ l X Aonly by a bad style, but such gross partiality as detracts immensely from its value. The strong prejuGIBBON's history of the Decline and Fall of the dices of the writer against republican government led Roman Empire is a work of vast and accurate re- him to violate truth in almost every page of his history. search, and of enlarged and philosophical thinking. Amon(g the more recent English historians, Hallain, The minute and extensive learning which it displays, Alison, Turner, Mackintosh, Lingard, and Macaulay not only supports the authenticity of the facts re- occupy a high rank. corded, but also enables the author to discuss many correlative and incidental subjects, which elucidate either the manners, customs, laws, and state of society, at different periods under review, or those institutions which now characterize the principal na- i A tions of Europe. The subject of Gibbon's work is, jZ.. l9;~N perhaps, the most splendid and imposing in the whole i. "'M! 1 // range of history. The overthrow of the mightiest Qmpire that the world ever saw; the decay and ruini of ancient civilization; the birth and organization of I. the social institutions of modern Europe; all these various elements are cast into a magnificent whole,' i -L by the master hand of the historian. Of all the great { k / historical works which distinguish the literature of \ modern times, the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire has attained the most extensive reputation, and appears the most likely to preserve its high rank, /,(/\/ without rival or competition. The style of Gibbon is stately, elegant, and pompous, yet lacks the beautiful I simplicity of Hume. But the fault which has drawn upon him severe and just censure is, the artful and Aniong the modern historians of Continental Eudisingenuous manner in which he has insinuated his attlackls upon the Christian religion, I rope, Voltaire is the most widely known. His writings show great literary skill, with the power of quick, but not very deep penetration. His pen is often guided by a humane and enlightened philosophy, but it is as I~ l f~aX 1often misled by strong partialities. He exhibits, to an 11k:~ A~\E Eundue extent, his systematic hostility against estab~.5_ Jl lished opinions and forms of society, in which he does not scruple to employ the arts of misrepresentation. Voltaire's histories, however, will always be found entertaining, and to a reader on his guard, they may prove useful IDe Thou, a Frenchman, so-nmtimes called Thuanus, wrote the history of his own times, in Latin; a work which has been deemed worthy of comparison with those of the classical ages. Vertot and Raynall have written entertaining histories, but they are thought to have studied too much the arts of embellishment. i,(~~ tdDaniel, Mezeray, and IVelly have written French his11:~ t dtory, but their works are little more than repositories x~1~ ~,:s~~ ~~ 1of facts. These authors have been far surpassed by Robertson has been placed in the same rank with Sismonidi, whose volume shows extensive learning,flHume and Gibban, though he has not sustained hisla praiseworthy impartiality, sound judgment, and GENERAL REMARKS ON THE WRITiNG OF HISTORY. 21 Lhe most liberal and enlightened spirit. Among re- of an ideal world, where shadow and substance are so cent French historians, Thiers, Mignet, Lamartine strangely mingled, that the effort to distinguish them is and others, enjoy great popularity. unavailing. Hence the few individuals who have energy enough to feel or feign the inspiration of a loftieT spirit, are soon listened to as oracles. Their obscure thoughts, expressed in language still more obscure are imperfectly caught by their wondering hearers. Dreams, reveries, and insanity itself, supply the sub|k X 1stance of tradition; and its wild recitals are, of course, \400 <7crowded with the phantoms of a disordered imagination. The commencement of all profane history is mythological. The fabulous beings that are introduced as I'"'~ Amp ~ gods, demigods, heroes, &c., appear to be, in some instances, personifications of the great agencies of nature, — the stormn, the whirlwind, the flood, and the flame. In some of these personifications are repre*\Ig~l sented the sun, moon, and planets; in others, men of b i'. - 1\ W/sX1k>61\~wBextraordinary strength and skill —warriors, kicings, conquerors, teachers, false prophets, and the workers of * l l "I\' $ ltq!0![- i~:- s{J~miracles. The imaginary acts of these supernatural beings are commonly mixed up with shreds and patches Among the modern Italians, Machlavelli was the of true history, with vague traditions of the creation first who treated historical subjects in a philosophical and deluge, of an early state of innocence and a fall. spirit. Guicciardini's history is regarded by hls coun- In proportion as the mythologists acquire arts and I trymen as a finished literary production. Giannoni is letters, they multiply and diversify their fables. They a historian of learning and acuteness. Muratori envelop the truth in a new veil of fiction. They furnishes an immense repertory of facts, arranged in a speak in parables, yet are understood literally. They luminous chronological method. Bentivoglio, Father write in hieroglyphics, and the symbol is mistaken Paul, Davila, and Botta, also maintain a respectable for an exact picture. Finally, the poet comes in aid rank among the Italian historians. of the priest, and enriches the tale of wonder with all Mariana is the chief historian of Spain, his work the charms of verse and all the luxuriance of a fertile is regarded as approaching to the classical model. imagination. Zurita, Conde, Solis, and Herrera, have also written It is at a still later period that the h istorian becomes valuable histories in Spanish. Joan de Barros stands a narrator of actual events, and while making truth at the head of the Portuguese historians. Among the the basis of his representations, still deems it a part of Germans, history has been cultivated with success by his province to deduce lessons of wisdom from the Mosheim, Schiller, Niebuhr, the two Mullers, and story he has told. It is in this view of history that tne many others who have displayed great learning, and present work is undertaken. It can hardly be necessary an uncommon degree of critical sagacity. to add, that the liberal and enlightened spirit of modern Lastly, our own country has made its contributions civilization should guide the pen of the historian who to this important branch of literature. All the old writes for the present age. War and conquest, and exStates of the American Union have their own his- amples of successful ambition, have been too long the torians, who, though they have not, in the greater objects of the blind admiration of mankind. The world number of instances, produced works of high literary is evidently coming to a more just appreciation of the finish, have yet formed very valuable collections of value of mere military renown. The praises of history, facts. Marshall and Ramsay have written histories we trust, are henceforth to be withheld from the oppresof the American Revolution with judgment and imr- sors of mankind, and bestowed rather on those who partiality; and more lately, Prescott, Irving, Bancroft prove themselves the real benefactors of the human race. and Wheatoen, ained a well deserved reputation, A few words are required in explanation of the not only in theirown country, but in Europe, by their plan on which the following history is executed. In h~istorical labors. ]the arrangement of subjects we have adopted that order which combines clearness and perspicuity of /CH HAPTERn X. narration with the regularity and completeness of detail which are so effective in exciting an interest in the (C;ezera~l Renmarks- Plan of the present Woikc. general reader. We have given the history of each WE have thus given a comprehensive sketch of the country and people separate, with such geographical rise and progress of history. This picture of man descriptions as convey a general idea of the physical ihas shared the fate of its original. It has had its characteristics of the territory, and show how these infancy of fable, its youth of poetry, its manhood of peculiarities often exercise an important influence on thought, intelligence and reflection; and it has some- the moral character of races, and thus control the times declined into an old age of dulness, decrepitude, destiny of nations. bigotry, and barbarism. This arrangement, which may be called ethnograThe mind of the savage, like thaf th the infant, is a phic —treating the history of different nations, or races chaos of wonder, confusion, and uncertainty; and as separately —in distinction from a chronological plan, soon as it passes from the impressions of animal want which carries on the whole history of man in the order and gratification, to meditation on the past or antici- of events, and in one continuous view —is preserved pation of the fiuture, it touches at once on the borders throughout the work; yet in order to aid the reader in | 22 OF CHRONOLOGY. the formation of general views, chapters are given, at one to another. chronology only arranges them accord l suitable points, in which the state and progress of the ing to their dates. A general system of chronology world at large, are exhibited. It is believed that this begins with the earliest periods of human history, and method affords many advantages to the general reader. therefore the creation is its point of starting. It presents details first, and thus supplies the materials But with respect to the periods of time at which the for just generalization. It especially avoids the be- Deity executed his several works of creation, mankind wildering maze into which the mind of the youthful have received no particular information. From viewstudent is plunged, by attempting to grasp the whole ing the phenomena of nature, and considering the field of history, and comprehend as well its particular general laws by which they are regulated, we cannot features as its general aspects, even before he is draw any conclusive or even plausible inference as to familiar with any portion of the subject. the precise period when the universe began to exist. History is often spoken of under two divisions, ancient We know not, nor can twe hope to ascertain, whether and modern. Some writers make the birth of Christ the different planets circulating round olr sun, and the point of separation; but this is arbitrary, having other fixed stars, were all created at one period, or no foundation in the subject itself. The best arrange-; each at a different periotl. We cannot determine from ment is that which regards all before the fall of Rome, anything that appears on the face of nature, whether A. D. 476, as ancient, and all since as modern, his- our earth be older or younger than her sister planets tory. Prior to this point, the spirit of antiquity pre- Astronomers are, from time to time, making new disvailed throughout the world: from this period, events coveries in the heavens, and it is impossible to say followed, which have resulted in the development of whether some of these successive discoveries may not new institutions, social as well as political. Thus the be owing to successive creations. extinction of the Roman empire was the termination History is far from being decisive as to the age of of ancient civilization, and forms the broad landmark the world. We have, indeed, as will hereafter appear which divides ancient fiom modern history. many accounts of the creation, and there are also, in It may be proper to say a word as to the different ancient writers, many statements relative to the origin terms applied to historical treatises, according to their of human society. But these accounts are various and a1 I wture and subject. If a work be devoted to a partic- contradictory. Plato mentions an island called Ata. ular class of historical facts, as to those which relate lantis, which was believed to have been buried in the to the church, for example, it is called special; if it ocean 9000 years before the age in which he wrote. |i'ofesses to embrace all topics, it is denominated gen- He affirms that this island was well known to the,, al. If it be confined to the history of one country, as Egyptian priests, and to the contemporary inhabitants lart of France, or the United States, it may be called of Attica. The whole story, however, is now regarded local history; if it gives a view of the history of man- as a fiction. The Chinese represent the world as some lkind, from the beginning, it is universal. The present hundreds of thousands of years old. The Hindoos are work is proposed to be an example of the latter kind. equally extravagant. The astronomical records of the It is necessary to add one remark further, which is, Chaldeans carried back the origin of society for a't.iat these pages are intended rather for popular use space of 473,000 years. It is hardly necessary to say:.an for the learned student. It is not the design of that these accounts are supported by no evidence.:ae author to -unfold new discoveries, or present new The sacred scriptures do not fix the era of creation combinations and inductions. His alms are at faithful with perfect precision. They leave it in some meascompilation, - a collection, in a pleasant and con- ure undetermined whether we are to understand what venient form, of the results of learned researches which they say, as applicable to the whole contents of created have gone before,-making the whole, as far as pos- space, or only to our earth and its inhabitants. Critsible, amusing and instructive, by interesting details ics disagree as to the meaning of the word day in the and apt illustrations. Mosaic account of the creation; some understanding by it the time of twenty-four hours, and others a period of indefinite extent. Moreover, the date of the cornC H A P T E X X I. pletion of the work varies in different copies of the Of Chronology Age of the WorldEras, a'c. Bible. The Hebrew copy, which is generally followed, fixes the creation of the world 3944 years before the birth of Christ. The Samaritan Bible makes it 4305 i~idi~ I ~ years, and the Greek translation known by the name of the Septuagint places it at 5270 years before that era. Different systems of chronology have also been formed from the same source. Usher, whose system [ | ~.. ~ —jllll l ~~ iz'l i | ~ is generally followed, makes out from the Hebrew Bible | The uncertainty of the age of' the world, as inferred from the his Scripture Chronology, says that 300 different opinions, founded | I 4004 ye arsed between th e creation an d th e birth of Christ. abriciusan is iliotheca ntiquaia, has iven a list of 140 of the same authority, 465 years;l'J& -~.I. an.d Pezron. witHales, ithe his ew Analysisp of Chronologint, has extenhibds I; CHRONOLOGYi, lithe uerally, reconn of tme. hle ite aove 120. The or entitled L'A de inferired from the history regards events in their connection and relation contains 108 Professor Playfair has given 88 Desvignolles, il ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~' — — l' l~I' ~~-'` ~ ~ LI —`~~`'~ —- --- OF CHRONOLOGY. 23 This leads us to inquire, what sure means we pos- the death of Cambyses, King of Persia. B.C. 481. sess for fixing the dates of remote historical events. April 19th, an eclipse of the sun at the departure of Anclent manuscripts nevercanbe relied on for accuracy, Xerxes from Sardis. B. C. 463, another eclipse of like printed books. Consequently their dates must ever the sun, followed by the Persian war. B. C. 431, Aube liable to suspicion. Here astronomical facts are of gust 31st, a total eclipse of the sun, followed by a the utmost importance. Of all the incidental circum- plague at Athens. B. C. 413, August 27th, a total stances by which ancient writers enable us in an indi- eclipse of the moon, when Nicias, the Athenian genrect manner to ascertain the time of events, none eral, was defeated at Syracuse. B. C. 394, Augus' afford the means of more clear and satisfactory con- 14th, an eclipse of the sun, when the Persians were clusionls than the mention they make of celestial appear- defeated in a naval battle by Conon. B. C. 168, June ances. 21st, a total eclipse of the moon, the day before PerThe regularity and constancy of the revolutions of seus, King of Macedon, was defeated by Paullus the heavenly bodies are such that we can depend 2Emilius. A. D. 59, April 30th, an eclipse of the upon their uniformity in all ages. In this respect sun, reckoned by Nero among the prodigies which modern chronologies are much indebted to the su- accompanied the death of Agrippina. A. D. 306, July perstition with which the ancients regarded unusual 27th, an eclipse of the sun, at the death of the Emappearances in the heavens. Their imagined porten- peror Constantius. A. D. 840, May 4th, a great tous nature first drew upon them the attention of man- eclipse of the sun, at the death of Louis the Debonkind, who dreaded their unknown influences. It was ncrre. A. D. 1009, an eclipse of the sun at the capon this account, and not because they were thought t.re of Jerusalem by the Saracens. proper subjects of philosophical inquiry, or of any use A history which contains an account of a sufficient in chronology, that they have engaged the attentior number of these phenomena furnishes the surest means af ancient historians. of testing its authenticity. Almost all the credit which Fortunately for us, the catalogue of eclipses - not is given to the Chinese history is derived from this )bserved with a philosophic eye, but gazed at by the source. The eclipses there mentioned, astronomers superstitious vulgar —is pretty full. Along with the affirm, did really occur at the times assigned to them. Ilistory of many remarkable revolutions and critical Eras or Epochs are memorable events from whichl pleriods in the annals of states, the eclipses which pre- time is reckoned, and from which any subsequent year ceded or accompanied them are transmitted to us by receives its denomination. The ancient Hebrews had the historian. Now, when the -time, the place, and no fixed era. The Greeks for a long time had none; the quantity of an eclipse are mentioned, it is very aftervards they reckoned by Olynlpiads, which were easy, by astronomical calculation, to fix the very year games celebrated in honor of Jupiter, once in four tnd day when the event happened: for considering years; this era began in midsummer, B. C. 776. The,he prodigious variety which the three circumstances Romans first called their years by the names of the of time, place and quantity occasion in the appearance consuls presiding at the time; afterwards they dated of eclipses, there is no room to suspect that any two from the foundation of their city, B. C. 753. Some happening within a moderate distance of each other, histories are regulated by the year of Nabonassar, King (anm be in the least danger of being confounded. of Babylon, who began to reign, as was supposed, B. For the satisfaction of the reader upon this interest- C. T47. The Jews under the Greek dominion reel, ing point, we shall notice some of the principal eclipses oned by the year of the Seleucide, sometimes called mentioned by historians, and which may be easily ver- the Year of the Contracts, beginning B. C. 312. ified by any one familiar with astronomical computa- The Christians first made use of the Dioclesian era, tions. B. C. 585, May 28th, an eclipse of the sun which took its rise from the persecution by Dioclesian, foretold by Thales took place. This led to a peace A. D. 284. It was not till about a century later that b)etween the Medes and the Lydians. B. C. 523, July the modern Christian era was adopted in books. The 16th, an eclipse of the moon, which was followed by Russians date their time from the creation of the world. The old Spanish era was reckoned from B. C. his Chronology of Sacred History, states that he has collected up- 38. the period of the conquest of Spain by the Romans. wards of 200 such calculations, of which the longest makes the Tlis was not discontinued till A.D. 1333. The Matime from the creation to the birth of Christ 6984 years, and the This was not discontinued til ihortest 3483. The uncertainty and controversy upon this subject hometans reckon from the Hegira, or Flight of NMtahave been occasioned principally by the disagreement in the ages homet from Mecca, A. D. 622. Their year consisting assigned to the patriarchs, and some other numbers in the Bible. The date of the Deluge varies according to different systems of of twelve lunar months, is shorter than ours, and conchronology in the following manner: tains only 354 days, Mahomnetan reckoning is thus Septuagint Version... B. C. 3246 at variance with the course of the seasons, and its Jackson,...... 3170 New Year's day travels round the whole circle of Halies,..... 3155 the months every 33 years. Josephus,..3146 Persia,..... 3113 In view of this subject, we may remark that beside Hindoo,... 3102 many other considerations, the recent investigations Samaritan,.. *. 2998 of the antiquities of Egypt, Persia and Mesopotamia. Howard, 2698' Playfair,.2352 induce a belief that the generally received Bible chroUsher, and the English translation of tie Bible, 2348 nology, which fixes the creation at 4004 years before Marsham,.... 2344 Petavius.. 2329 Christ, is erroneous, and that the true space of time Strauch,... 2293 which elapsed between these events is greater by one Hulgaebrew,..er22io or tw2o thousand years, at least. Vulgar Jewish version,... 2104 24- 1 \iOSTC)aO()Nl, ES, ()R''HlE;OnltB OF THE CR i IION. IN The cosmogony of Sanconiathon is commonly ranked.C I P E Xnext to that of M9oses in antiquity. This writer was Cosmogonies, or Theor'ies of the CG',eatio. a Phenician, who lived about the time of the Trojanr war. He professed to collect the opinions, traditions, and histories of his countrymen, respecting the first __.-_-_-=_ ages of the world. They closely rlsemble the trait(i ____=_______ ditions of the Greeks, and are, perhaps, the pareil, ____ —-___~ stock from which these were derived. Accordino to /'5 _|i E /. 11 these accounts, chaos and a spirit, or air, were the - _____ _ C origin of all things. The manner in which the creaf. i~ _l_ i_ ~'3 1j ~ -_ tion commenced is not described with much clearness. ______:~ II — tIIIiThe spirit, we are told, fell in love with its own prin_________ \=ciples, and by this action all things were produced. ___ 1!22 B --— As far as this system can be understood, it appears to I I_____________1._____ _ be atheistical; at least, its object seems to be to show | that the gods, as well as everything else, had a begirnning from some necessity of nature. Anaxagoras, B. C. 500, was the first among the - Greeks who entertained any tolerably accura;te notion I__'__I!! Nq- z = ~ of the subject of creation. He believed in the agencyv of an Intelligent Mind in the arrangement of the cha. IT is but natural that mankind should seek to know otic materials. These views were gradually estabthe origin of the wvorld they inhabit, and of the heav- lished among the Greeks, from whom they passed to 2nly bodies with which it seems associated. Accord- he Romans, who generally adopted them, notwithingly we find that in all ages philosophic minds have standing the authority of Lucretius, wAho attempted tu struggled to solve these mighty questions. As mnight make the rival doctrines of Epicurus popular, by have been expected, no subject has given rise to a clothing them in his majestic Latin verse. Ovid has greater number of contradictory theories and systems collected the orthodox ideas which prevailed on the than that of the creation of the world. None of the subject, both among the Greeks and Romans, and has ancient philosophers conceived it possible to produce a expressed them with uncommon elegance in the first substance out of nothing; the Deity himself, according book of his Metamorphoses. There is the most strikto their belief, could not work without materials to ing coincidence betwveen his account and that of operate upon. Hence some of them, arnong whom Moses; the reader would almost think, from the follow. was Aristotle, asserted that the world was eternal, ing extract, he was translating from the book of Genboth as to matter and form. Others, though they esis. believed that the gods had given the world its form, yet imagined the materials composing it to have been Before the seas and the terrestrial ball. in t.... I ~~And heaven's high canopy that covers all, eternal from the beginning. In fact, the opinions of And the face of nature, if a face, the ancients who had not the light of revelation to Rather a rude and indigested mass, (guide them were confused and contradictory, so that A lifeless lump, unfashioned and unframet, little of consequence can be attached to them. Of jarring seeds and justly chaos named. ~ xT * l * * r 1. I No Sun was lighted up the world to view Various cosmogonies, or histories of the creation, as lihted p the wod to vie creaton, o moon did yet her blunted horns renew; have been framed by ancient authors. That of Moses Nor yet was earth suspended in the sky, is unquestionably the most ancient, and had it no Nor poised did on her own foundation lie; other circumstance to recommend it, its superior anti- Nor seas about the shores their arms had thrown, But earth and air and wx ater were in one. quity would atone give it a claim to our attention. But earth and air anclter aTere inone. Then air was void of light, and earth unstable, This history is very plain and simple. It first informs And water's dark abyss unnavigable; us that God created the heavens and the earth, and No certain form on any A-as impressed, then proceeds to mention the order in which the vari- All were confused, and each disturbed the rest; ous objects of creation were called into existence. For hot and cold Iele in one body fixed, And soft.with hard, and llight with heavy mixed. First of all, the materials of wvhich the future universe'with hadudN htv whih heay mixed. uir',11But God and Nature, NV hile they thus contend, wvas to be composed were created. They were thrown To these intestine discords put an end. together in one confused mass, which the ancients Then earth from air, and seas from earth were driveil called chaos, and which they believed to have existed And grosser air sunk fiom etherial heaven. from eternity, but which Mioses affirms to have been Thus disembroiled they take their proper place; The next of kin contiguously embrace, created by the powrer of God. The materials of chaos And foes are sundered by a larger space. were either held in solution by the waters, or floated The face of fire ascended first on high, in them, or sunk under them. They were reduced And took its dwelling in the vaulted sky; into form by the spirit of God moving upon the face Then air succeeds in lightness next to fire, I i' ir 1 r T' 1 1,> a- * 1 * n I Whose atoms from unactive earth retire; of the waters. Light was the first distinct object of hose atoms from unactive earth retire; Earth sinks beneath, and draws a numerous throng creation; fishes wvere the first living things, and man Of ponderous, thick, unwieldly seeds along. was last in the order of creation. About her coasts unruly waters roar, We are not to regard this account as claiming to be And rising on a ridge insult the shore. scientific; it may, however, be remarked, that geologi- ThUs when the god, whatever god was he, caeIseachehaefrni some striking oinciden- U...iHad formed the whole, and made the parts agree, i cal researches have furpnished some striking coinciiden- That no unequal portions might be found, ces with it, so far as concerns the order id wvhich the He moulded earth into a spacious round; work of creation proceeded. In our geological sketch, Then with a breath he gave the winds to blow y.e shall have further ioccasion to refer to this topic. And bade theconregatedwaters flow. _ —— 1 —~ 1 i, —~ —-------— ~_- ~ 1111 —-1 _1_ i ~_ --— ~~ —-~ —— _ HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY 2 l in the ancient Hindoo writings, many sublime se C HAP T E I II timents occur on the subject of creation; and they contain various accounts which bear a close resem- History of. Astronomy. blance to the Mosaic history. Thus we are told that t.. I.'a t.he universe first existed only in the divine idea; and,. i' i that the sole self-existing power expanded this idea, and made the world visible with five elements and other principles of nature. Then He, whom the mind alone can perceive, whose essence eludes the external w m y organs, who has no visible parts, and who exists from eternity, even He, the soul of all beings, whom no one sienli. ha been aIo can comprehend, shone forth in person. He framed i'/ all things. Then He whose powers are incomprehen- sible, having created this universe, was again absorbed.n the spirit, changing the time of energy for the time of repose. The Chaldean cosmogony, when divested of its allegorical form, eems' to amoun t to this, —thiat darkness and water existed from eternity; that Bel divided the humid mass and cgave birth.to creation; and that the human mind is an emanation from the divine nature.' In the cosmogony of the ancient Persians, appear. T eh two eternal principles, -the one good, called Oromosdles or Ormuzd; and the other evil, called Ariman. IT is impossible to trace the history of astronomy These two principles contend with each other in the back to its very earliest state of infancy. Perhaps creation and government of the world. Each has his this science is as old as society itself, and we may province, which he strives to enlarge, and Mithra is regard the rude observations of shepherds and herdsthe mediator to moderate their contentions. men as exhibiting a step in its progress. The invenThe Egyptian cosmogony, according to the account tion of astronomy as a science has been ascribed to given of it by Plutarch, bears a strong resemblance to various nations, as the Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the that of Sanchoniathon. In this system, there was an Chinese, and the Hindoos. It is at least certain. that eternal chaos, and an eternal spirit united with it, these people were very early observers of the niorons whose agency at last arranged the discordant mate- and phenomena of the heavenly bodies, that they regrials, and produced the visible system of the universe. istered certain events, and by these means were able The Orphic Fragments, or verses ascribed to Orpheus, to discover the periods at which these phenomena affirm that everything existed in God and proceeded would return again. This is science in its rudest and from him. This doctrine may be characterized as most imperfect shape. pantheistic, that is, to implying that the universe is The Hebrew Scriptures, which are the most ancient God. writings extant, describe the visible objects of the c uniPlato supposed the world to be produced by the verse just as they appear to the eye. The earth is )eity uniting eternal, immutable ideas, or forms, to represented as a flat plane resting on "foundations variable matter. Aristotle had no proper cosmogony, w hich can never be moved." The sun, moon, and b.rause he supposed the world to he without beginning stars are spoken of as mere lights hung up on high to and without end. According to the doctrine of the shed their beams over the earth. The heavens are Stoics, the divine nature, acting on matter, first pro, described as a firmament dividing the waters above duced moisture, and then the other elements, which from the waters below, and through the openings or are reciprocally convertible. Epicurus held that the windows of which the rain fell upon the earth. The universe was formed by the concourse of atoms, with- ancient Hebrews, evidently, had no idea of astronomy out the intervention of a divine creator. The cosmog- as a science. ony of the barbarous nations of the North, as may be The Chaldeans appear to have made observations collected from the Edda, supposes an eternal principle on eclipses, at a period earlier than the commencewhich existed prior to the formation of the world. ment of written history. Their first notions of the These accounts are interesting nd valuable, as sun and moon were, that these luminaries were on'showing the difficulties which mankind have encoun- fire on one side, and d ark on the other, and that tered in studying the system of the universe, and the eclipses were caused by their occasionally turning errors and absurdities into which they have been led round. Another belief was, tmat these bodies were by following mistaken systems of philosophy, or the carried round the heavens in chariots, close on ali still more illusive guide of fancy. The advances sides except one, in which was a round hole; and that I which have been made in modern times, not only in a total or partial eclipse was caused by the complete or the art by which truth is to be obtained, but in the I partialshutting of this aperture. acquisition of knowledge, will be established in a The Egyptians, previous to the birth of science brief view of the present state of science, respect- among the Greeks, had some correct notions-as to the ing astronomy, geology, and geography, which we length of the year, and had made some advances hall present to the notice of the reader. towards a knowledge of the obliquity of the ecliptic, although they were indebted to Thales of Miletus for the art of measuring the height of their pyramids from the length of their shadows. The Chinese are said ~ PRESENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE IN RESPECT TO ASTRONOMY-SOLAR SYSTEM. nave calculated eclipses more than 2000 years before which are now regarded as the true foundation of the Christ. Of their general notions of astronomy at this solar system. time, however, we know nothing. Galileo invented the telescope in 1610, and by the Thales is regarded as the founder of astronomy help of this instrument, made the first discovery of the among the Greeks. He. flourished about 600 years satellites of Jupiter. He also discovered the phases before Christ. He supposed the stars to be fire, and of Venus. The Catholic church, which had long that the moon received her light from the sun. He defended with intolerent bigotry the Ptolemaic sysunderstood the earth to be round, but supposed it to tem, compelled Galileo to renounce his opinions. Bunt be placed in the centre of the universe. The heavens, the progress of scientific truth was not checked by this in his system, were divided into five circles,-the persecution. equator, the two tropics, and the arctic and antarctic Herschel discovered in 1781 the planet which at first circles. He fixed the length of the year at 365 days. bore his name, and afterwards that of Georgiam Sidas, Thales is also said to have predicted the celebrated but which is now called Uranus. The asteroids were eclipse of the sun which caused the termination of the discovered at various times, from 1801 to 1847. The war between the M-edes and Lydians. most remarkable of astronomical discoveries ut.s that Anaximander, Anaximanes, and Anaxagores, the of Neptune, the most distant known planet of our successors of Thales, within a century of his time, system. The existence of this body was demonstrated contributed much to. the advancement of astronomy. in 1846, by a series of mathematical calculations, made The last taught that the moon was habitable, and con- by Le Verrier, a Frenchman, and Adams, an Engliishsisted of hills, valleys, and waters, like the earth. man-though the honor of the discovery is more genPythagoras, who flourished about 540 B. C., added erally ascribed to the former. The present state of greatly to the science of astronomy. He taught that the science of astronomy deserves particular notice, as the universe was composed of four elements, and that it presents to the mind the most sublime objects of the sun was in the centre; that the earth was round, contemplation, and is calculated to exalt our estimate and that we had antipodes; that the moon reflected of those powers bestowed upon us by the Creator. the rays of the sun; that the stars were worlds con- A brief view of this subject is, furthermore, a fit pre. taining earth, air, and ether; that the moon was in- liminary to the study of the history of man, inasmuch habited like the earth, and that the comets were wan- as it points out his relation to the universe, and shows dering stars, disappearing in the superior parts of their the immeasurable scope of that system of which every orbits, and becoming visible in the lower parts. The individual is a part. white color of the milky way he ascribed to the brightness of a great number of small stars. He supposed the distances of the moon and planets from the earth to be in certain harmonic proportion to one another. He was the first observer who ascertained that the c H A P T E I X I V. planet Venus is both the morning and evening star. Hipparchus, who flourished in the second century Present State of Knowledge in respect to Astronbefore Christ, carried astronomy to still higher perfec- m - The Solar System. tion. He fixed the length of the year at 365 days, 5 hours, and 53 minutes, which is within four minutes and three seconds of the truth. He discovered a method of computing with triangles, and established l the theory of the sun's motion. A new star made its appearance in his time, and this suggested to him the scheme of forming a catalogue of the stars, for the purpose of enabling future astronomers to ascertain whether the general picture of the heavens remained always the same..Ptolemy of Alexandria, in the second century after Christ, established a theory of astronomy which still bears his name. He taught that the earth was immovable, and that the sun and planets revolved round it. The science of astronomy had reached its highest point amongst the Greeks, and began to decline. The Saracens, about the middle of the seventh century, dispersed tLe men of science and destroyed the libraries which had been collected at Alexandria. Astronomy was cultivated by these people after they Comparative Size of the larger Planets. had settled themselves peaceably in the countries which they had conquered.' THE heavenly bodies are to be regarded as com The revival of astronomy in Europe is referred to posed of the Sun and its attendant yrbs, called the the time of Copernicus,'though he was preceded by solar system; and the fixed stars, which are supposed some others, who prevented the last traces of Grecian to be other suns, and centres of tro6ps of planPts zevolv and Arabic science from being effaced, by preserving ing around them. The former are, to us oy far the and studying such works as the dark ages had spared. most interesting, as they are not only so near as to be Copernicus was born in the latter part of the 15th cen- within reach of investigation, but tb Wy are of that tury. He placed the sun in the centre of the revolv- sisterhood of worlds of which our own earth is ai Ing planets, and laid down those general principles member P'itEhiNI brATE OF KNOWLEDGE IN RESPECT TO ASTRONOMY-SOLAR SYSTEM. 27 The Solar System is composed of a great central to pass along every square mile on its surface, at the luminary, the Sun, and a number of comparatively rate of thirty miles every day, it would require more small bodies, the planets, comets, &c., which re- than two hundred and twenty millions of years before volve around it in various periods. The relative the survey of this vast globe could be completed. size of these bodies, and their respective distances "It would contain within its circumference more from each other, may be estimated by the follow- than thirteen hundred thousand globes as large as the ing illustration. On a level field, place a globe, Earth, and a thousand globes of the size of Jupiter, two feet in diameter; this will represent the SUN. which is the largest planet of the system. It is more MmIETcuRY will be represented by a grain of mustard- than five hundred times larger than all the planets, seed, on the circumference of a circle 164 feet in di- satellites, and comets belonging to our system, vast ameter; VENUS, by a pea, on a circle 284 feet in and extensive as some of them are. Although its dialimeter; the EARTH-, a somewhat larger pea, on a density is little more than that of'water, it would circie of 430 feet; MARs, a large pin's head, on a cir- weigh 3360 planets such as Saturn, 1067 planets cle of 6.54 feet; JUNo, CEREs, VESTA, and PALLAS, such as Jupiter, 329,000 globes such as the Earth. and grains of sand, in orbits of from 1000 to 1200 feet; Ju- more than 2,000,000 of globes such as Mercury, PITER, an orange, in an orbit of nearly half a mile although its density is nearly equal to that of lead." across; SATUJRN, a small orange, in an orbit of four The most obvious apyparent motion of the Sun is, fifths of a mile; and URANUS, a cherry, on the circum- that it seems to rise in the morning in the east, to ference of a circle more than a mile and a half in traverse the heavens in a westerly direction, and at diameter. We shall now proceed to give a more par- last, to disappear beneath the horizon. But it is now ticular account of these members of the solar system. well understood that the Sun is quiescent, and that The Sun, when viewed with a telescope, presents the seeming motion we have described is occasioned the appearance of an enormous globe of fire, frequently by the daily rotation of the Earth on its axis. But in a state of violent agitation or ebullition. Black although the Sun is fixed in the centre of the system spots, of irregular form, rarely visible to the naked of planets, it appears that it revolves on its axis like eye, sometimes pass over his disk, in a space of about the other heavenly bodies, and that it completes its fourteen days; one was measured by Sir W. Herschel, revolution in twenty-five days and ten hours. Every in 1779, and found to be 30,000 miles in breadth. A part of its equator moves at the rate of 4352 miles spot, when'first seen on the eastern edge, appears like an hour. It is also considered probable'that the Sun, a line, progressively extending in breadth, till it attended by its troop of planets, makes a vast journey reaches the middle, when it begins to contract, and in space, but whether in a straight line, or in an ultimately disappears at the western edge. In some immense circle, is still matter of conjecture. rare instances, spots reappear on the eastern side, and The planet Mercury is 37,000,000 miles from the are even permanent for two or three revolutions; but Sun, and is the nearest that has yet been discovered. they generally change their aspect in a few days, and It is seldom seen by the naked eye; its daily revoludisappear. tion is performed in 24 hours, 5 minutes, and 20 secAstronomers inform us, that sometimes 50 spots are onds. It revolves round the Sun in the space of 87 seen at once on the Sun's surface. From 1611 to days and 23 hours. When viewed with the telescope, 1629, it was hardly free from spots;. while, from 1650 it presents the various phases of the moon, from a to 1670, scarcely any were to be seen. The same crescent to the full, round orb. irregularity has been frequently noticed. In October, The diameter of Mercury is 3200 miles. Its sur1827, 150 spots were noticed at one time. face contains 32,000,000 of square miles. It is about Sometimes, several small spots unite into a large one fifteenth the size of the Earth. In its revolution one; again, a large one separates into smaller ones, round the Sun, its motion is swifter than that of any which soon vanish. These phenomena induced Her- other planet, being 109,800 miles every hour, 1830 schel to suppose the Sun to be a solid, dark nucleus, miles every minute, and more than 30 miles during surrounded by a vast atmosphere, almost always filled each beat of the pulse. The density of matter comwith luminous clouds, occasionally opening and dis- posing Mercury is twice that of the Earth, yet it closing the opaque mass within. would require twvo millions of globes, of the same size The speculations of Laplace were different; he im- to make one of the size and density of the Sun. agined the solar orb to be a mass of fire, and that the The planet Venus, with the exception of the Ealu violent effervescences and explosions, seen on its sur- and moon, is the most splendid of the heavenly bodies. face, are occasioned by the eruption of elastic fluids It appears like a shining lamp amid the lesserorbs of formed in its interior; and that the spots are enor- night; and, at particular seasons, ushers in the mornnlous caverns, like the craters of our volcanoes. The ing dawn and the evening twilight. But if such is theory of Herschel, however, is that most generally its appearance to the naked eye, it becomez a still received by learned men. more interesting object, when viewed with the telesThe magnitude of this vast luminary is an object cope of the astronomer. It passes through all the which overpowers the imagination. Its diameter phases of the moon, from the crescent to the gibbous Is 880,000 miles; its circumference, 2,764,600 miles; form; and formerly several dark spots were noticed its surface contains 2,432,800,000,000 of square miles, upon its surface. Its daily rotation is perforr,led in 23 nwhich is twelve thousand three hundred and fifty hours and 20 minutes. Several mountains have been times the area of the terraqueous globe, and nearly discovered, and one of them is nearly twenty miles fifty thousand times the extent of all the habitable high, or five times the height of Chlmborazo. It parts of the earth. WTere its centre placed over the possesses an atmosphere supposed to be about three earth, it would fill the whole orbit of the moon, and miles in height, and s supposed to have a satellite, or reach 200,000 miles beyond it on every hand. Were moon; but this is net determined with certainty. a person to travel over the surface of the Sun, so as The diameter of Venus is 7800 miles, being a little' 28 PRESENT SLATE OF THE SCIENCE OF ASTRONOMY less than that of the Earth. It does not appear that is very limited. The deepest mine does not extend any great quantity of water exists upon it. Its quan- more than a mile from the surface; and this depth, tity of iight is about twice that of the Earth. It re- compared with the diameter of the Earth, is not more volves in an orbit of 433,800,000 miles, in the space than the scratch of a pin upon the surface of an artior 224 days and 16 hours. Its distance from the Sun ficial globe. What materials are to be found withirn is 68,000,000 miles; and from the Earth, when near- the bowels of the Earth, will be forever beyond the est to us, about 27,000,000 miles. Its matter is in a power of mortals to determine. It is supposed, howslight degree less dense than that of the Earth. ever, and not without reason, that, while the crust of the globe consists of a framework of rocks, mingled with earth and water, the centre is occupied with a vast mass of matter in a state of fusion from heat. CHA..PTER.XV. The density of the whole Earth, bulk for bulk, is estimated at five times the weight of water, so that it Preselnt State of the Science of Astronormy, con- would counterpoise five globes of water of the same Presnt o thSienued. Cofl size. The diurnal revolution of the Earth is performed in 23 hours, 56 minutes. This gives rise to ~__-. ___.........._ day and night; to which arrangement of nature, the -= —= —- - economy of the vegetable as well as of the animal 5_?______________________________ world is adjusted. The annual revolution of the Earth ____ is accomplished in 365 days, 5 hours, 4.5 minutes, and -_- 51 seconds. From this proceed the varieties of the --—, -- ~ seasons; spring, summer, autumn, and winter, follow __________ —-__ —'__"___ each other in constant succession, diversifying the _:'~__~___ = _~ scenery of nature, and marking the different periods -___ =}~~ - of the year. In those countries which lie in the _ 7 =~-~~i- —— ~ ------------------- ~ southern hemisphere of the globe, as at Buenos Ayres, =_:______= = =___ ______ _:= and the Cape of Good Hope, December, January, and February, are the summer months, while in this northern hemisphere, these are the winter months, when the weather is coldest and the days are shortest. The average distance of the Earth from the Sun is THE Earth, although it appears to be larger than 95,000,000 miles. The length of the path annually all the heavenly orbs, is, in fact, infinitely smaller, travelled by the Earth in its orbit is 567,019,740 and holds a rank with the inferior bodies of the uni- miles, or about 1000 miles a minute, or 17 miles a verse. Although it appears to the eye immovably second. fixed, it has a double motion - one on its own axis, The Moon, a satellite of our own planet, is the and one around the Sun, by which it is transported, heavenly body of which we have the most accurate with all its continents, and oceans, and kingdoms, at knowledge. Its surface exhibits a very large number the rate of more than a thousand miles a minute. of mountains, almost uniformly of a circular or cuspThis planet, like all the other heavenly bodies, has shaped form, the larger ones having, for the most part, a globular shape; but it is not a perfect globe, it being fiat bottoms within, fromr which rises, in the centre, a depressed at the poles. The diameter, through the small, steep, conical hill. They offer, in its highest poles, is 34 miles less than through the equator. This perfection, the true volcanic character, as it may be curious fact was discovered by perceiving that the seen in the crater of Vesuvius. In some of the prinpendulum of a clock had 140 vibrations less in a day, cipal ones, decided marks of volcanic stratification, at Paris, than at Cayenne, in Guiana. Further obser- arising from successive deposits of ejected matter, may vations were made, and it was found that this varia- be clearly traced with powerful telescopes. tion was uniform, and that the vibrations regularly It is, moreover, a singular fact in the geology of the diminished in proceeding northward from the equator. Moon, that, although nothing like water can be per-'his led to many curious investigations, which re- ceived, yet there are large regions perfectly level, and suited in demonstrating the fact we have above men- apparently of an alluvial character. The mountains tioned. It is interesting to observe, that so simple a are known by their shadows, which are distinctly visicircumstance as the' slower movement of clocks, in a ble, and which are long when they are near the bounsouthern latitude, should have led to so wonderful a dary of light and darkness, or when the sun is in the discovery in science as the depression of the poles of horizon, and disappear when they are 90 degrees from the Earth. that boundary, or when the sun is overhead. Were the Earth viewed from some.point in the The Moon is generally believed either to have no heavens - as the moon, for instance- it would have atmosphere, or one of such tenuity as not to equal in somewhat the same appearance as the moon does to density the contents of an exhauste I receiver. From us. The distinction between its seas, oceans, conti- this it has been inferred that there are no fluids at the nents, and islands, would be clearly marked, and would surface of the moori -since, if there were, an atmosappear like brighter or darker spots upon its disk. phere must be formed by evaporation. Without air The continents would appear bright, and the oceans of and water, it would seem that the moon cannot be a darker hue, because water absorbs a great part of inhabited; or, if life exist there, it cannot be in any the solar rays that fall upon it. form which is exhibited in our own planet. The dayWe are quite well acquainted with the surface of and nights in the moon are each 14 days and three the Earth, but our knowledge of its internal structure quarters in length' the intense heat and cold which PRESENT STATE OF THE SCIENCE OF ASTRONOMY 29 must thus alternate would destroy human life, even on farthest, 040,000,000 miles. This fact will explain, the supposition that vegetation could be maintained. what most persons have noticed, that this planet is at The moon, like all other heavenly bodies, appears one time almost imperceptible, and at another seems to rise in the east and set in the western part of the to vie with Jupiter in magnitude and splendor. The horizon. Its real motion, however, is in a contrary diurnal revolution of Mars is performed in 24 hours, direction that is, from west to east, or in the same 39 minutes, 29 seconds. Its orbit is 900,000,000 direction in which all the planets move round the Sun. miles in circumference. It performs this circuit in 1 It is a dark body, deriving its hght from the Sun, and year and 322 days. Its rate of motion is 54,649 occasionally a faint light, by reflection of the Sun's miles every hour, which is more than a hundred times rays, from the Earth. It is about 240,000 miles from greater than the utmost velocity of a cannon-ball. the centre of the Earth, and pursues its course around When viewed through a telescope, this planet prethis planet at the rate of 2300 miles an hour. It sents a variety of dark spots and belts, though of difperforms its revolution in 29 days, 12 hours, and 44 ferent forms and shades. Luminous spots, and zones, minutes.' It is a curious fact, that the revolution on have also been discovered, which frequently change its axis is performed in the same time as its revolu- their appearance, and alternately disappear and return. tion round the Earth. Accordingly, it always presents The latter are supposed to be occasioned by snow; the the same face to the Earth, so that we never see more former are conjectured to be occasioned by a distributhan one side of it. tion of the surface of the planet into land and water. The moon appears nearly as large as the Sun; but It is supposed that one third of the surface is occupied it is but about one fiftieth the size of the Earth, and it by the latter. It is probable that the -diversities in the would take 63,000,000 of globes, of the size of the appearance of Mars, as seen through a telescope, are moon, to male one of the Sun. in part occasioned by clouds. Mars has a variety of seasons, similar to ours, and it bears a closer resemblance to the Earth than any other planet. It is 4200 miles in diameter, a little more than half that of our globe. No moon or satellite has been ____ = 5discovered, as attendant upon it. Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta.-The immense interval which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter had led astronomers to surmise that some - ___ planet, of considerable magnitude, might possibly exist ___-________~-~-' - X' X within this limit. But instead of one, four small orbs have been recently discovered, which bear the above names. The first, called Ceres, was discovered by Piazzi, in Sicily, on the first day of the present century. Pallas was discovered in March, 1802, by Olbers; Juno by Harding, in September, 1804, and Vesta by Olbers, in March, 1807. Awl Eclipnse of the Sun. These four planets are invisible to the naked eye, When the Earth comes between the Sun and moon, and we are, therefore, indebted to the telescope for a it casts its shadow upon the latter, which is then said knowledge of their existence. It is conjectured, and to be eclipsed. An eclipse of the Sun is occasioned not without reason, that these four planets were once by the moon coming between the Earth and the Sun, united in one, and that by some mighty force they thus cutting off its rays. An eclipse of the moon have been sundered, and thrown into their present always occurs at the time of its full; eclipses of the orbits. Their diameter has not been ascertained with Sun occur at the time of the new moon. It is one precision. Herschel reckons that the largest does not of the triumphs of science, that these sublime phe- exceed 500 miles in circumference. nomena, formerly so fruitful a source of superstitious fear and ominous prediction, are now the subject of the most exact calculation, and are as much divested of every mysterious attribute as the common events of sunrise and sunset. Telescopic Views of Jupiter. We now come to one of the most splendid orbs in the planetary system. Jupiter is 495,000,000 miles from the Sun, and the circumference of its orbit is 3,110,000,000 of miles. Around this orbit it moves in lelescopic Appearances of MAlars. 11 years, and 315 days, at the rate of about 30,000 The planet Mars. —The Earth is placed, in the miles an hour. Its nearest approach to the Earth is solar system, between the orbits of Venus and Mars. about 600,000,000 miles. A cannon-ball, flying' at the'rhe latter is 145,000,000 miles from the Sun. When rate of 500 miles an hour, would reach it in a little less.earest the Earth, its distance is 50,000,000; when than a hundred years. The daily rotation of Jupiter I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3'0 PRESENT.STATE OF THE SCIENCE OF ASTRONOMY. is performed in 9 hours, 59 minutes, 49, seconds. Its with us in a cloudy day. Its density is nearly equal circunference is 27S,600 miles. Its density is a little to that of water. Six satellites are supposed to be -more than that of water, or five times less than that connected with this planet; but their periods and other of the Earth. It is the largest planet in our system, phenomena have not yet been accurately ascertained. being 1400 times larger than the Earth. The planet Neptune, as we have said, was discovered The planet Saturn may be considered in many in 1846, by a young Frenchman, named Le Verrier, respects the most magnificent and interesting body and about the same time, by an Englishman, named within the limits of the planetary system. Taking Adams. While other heavenly bodies, beyond the reach into view its satellites and rings, it has a greater of the naked eye, have been found only by the use of quantity of surface than even the globe of Jupiter. the telescope, this was discovered through mathematIts majestic rings constitute the most singular and ical calculation alone. Certain irregularities or perQstonishing phenomena that have yet been discovered turbations having been noticed in the movements of In the sidereal universe. Saturn, it was inferred that there might be a planet in Its distance from the Sun is 906,000,000 of miles, that region, which caused these deviations. Taking the which is nearly twice the distance of Jupiter, or ten records of these perturbations, and other facts, as eleLimes that of the Earth. The circumference of its ments of their calculations, the two mathematicians orbit is 5,695,000,000 of miles. When nearest, it is proceeded with the most careful and toilsome pro S11,000,000 of miles from the earth. A steam car- cesses, and after years of labor, determined the precise riage, travelling at the rate of 20 miles an hour, would point in the heavens where the new planet must be. not reach it in less than 4629 years. On directing the telescope to this quarter, it may well be This planet revolves round the Sun in the space of imagined with what mingled wonder and gratification ibout 291 years. Its motion is at the rate of 22,000 it was found that a new world, infinitely removed from miles an hour. Its diurnal rotation is performed in 10 the reach of the naked eye, was indeed there! This hours, 29 minutes, and 17 seconds. This rotation is planet appears like a star of the eighth magnitude, and perpendicular to the plane of its rings. Its proportion is the most remote, that is known, in our system. of light from the Sun is but one 90th of our own. It We have reason to suppose that other planets exist, is 79,000 miles in diameter, and nearly a thousand beyond the reach of vision; some may be yet distimes larger than the Earth. When viewed with a covered, and others may forever baffle the researches telescope, it exhibits belts, similar to those of Jupiter, of mathematicians and the scrutiny of the telescope. and disposed in lines parallel to the ring. These are Besides the twelve known planets, there are other I-frmanent, and probably indicate a diversity of surface, bodies belonging to the solar system, called Comets either of land or water, or some substance with which These wandering and mysterious orbs have been viewed we are unacquainted. Its figure is spheroidal, with with wonder in every age, and not unfrequently have considerable polar depressions. been the occasion of superstitious terror. They have The phenomena presented by the double ring of been imagined to portend war, pestilence, famine, and Saturn, as before stated, are remarkable. The out- the death of monarchs; to be the vehicles in which deside diameter of the exterior ring is 179,000 miles; parted souls, released fiom the care of guardian angels, the outside diameter of the interior ring is 152,000 were transported to heaven; to have been the cause miles. The breadth of the dark space between the of the deluge; to reinforce the light and heat of the two rings is 1800 miles; so that a body nearly as sun; to break up large planets into smaller ones; to large as our moon could pass through it. The change the climate of countries; to introduce epidemic breadth of the exterior ring is 7200 miles; of the disorders; and, finally, to threaten our globe with interior, 20,000 miles. The thickness of the ring is total destruction. not supposed to be over 100 miles. When it is pre- The belief which prevailed for a long time, with sented edgewise to the earth, it can only be seen with regard to the nature of these bodies, was, that they a powerful glass. This ring is not exactly circular, were meteors Of temporary duration, engendered in but slightly elliptical. It is ascertained to have a the atmosphere of the Earth. Some circumstances, swift rotation around Saturn, which is completed in certainly, gave a degree of plausibility to this supposiabout 10 hours and a half. The outer edge of the tion; the suddenness, in many cases, of their appearring is 550,000 miles in circumference, and moves at ance and disappearance, the transparency of their the rate of more than 1000 miles a minute. tails, and the apparently small density of their bodies. Saturn has seven satellites, all revolving beyond its But accurate observations showed that they were far ring. The nearest is 18,000 miles beyond it.; exterior beyond the region of the moon, rendering it clear that edges; the most distant is 2,297,000 miles from the they could not be vapors generated in our atmosphere, planet, and performs its circuit in about 792- days. and giving a strong probability to the opinion mainThe largest is supposed to be about the size of Mars, tained of old by the Chaldeans, and supported by or 4200 miles in diameter. Seneca, that they were bodies permanent as the planThe planet Uranus, which we have before men- ets of our system, and reappearingat certain intervals, tioned, was made known to us by Herschel, who depending on their peculiar orbits. first saw it in March, 1781. Its distance from the It is probable, however, that comets are nothing but Sun is 1,800,000,000 miles; and when nearest the bodiesofgasorvapor, withoutanysolid matterwhatever. Earth, it is nearly the same distance from us. It Stars have been repeatedly seen through their thickest moves through its orbit in about 84 years. It is the parts. The mechanical effect, therefore, to the Earth, slowest-moving planet in the system, yet pursues its from its collision with a comet, would be no greater course at the rate of 1500 miles an hour. It is than that of a mountain when in contact with a cloud 110,000 miles i l circumference, and 81 times larger the result of such a collision would be the mixture of than the Earth. Its solar light is 360 times less than the gaseous matter with the Earth's atmosphere; a ours; yet it is -ot darker than frequently happens permanent rise, perhaps, in the mean heignt of the lItsE1SE'NT STATE OF'KNOWIEDoE RESPECTING ASTRONOMY. 31 Darometer; and, if the gaseous matter should condense adequate to improve the highest opportunities. The sufficiently to descend to the lower regions of our life of Sir William Herschel marks the first and atmosphere, some effect upon animal or vegetable greatest epoch.of modern astronomy. He was a disexistence, good or bad. The Earth may actually coverer of the first rank; mingling boldness with a have been many times in the tail of a comet, without just modesty, a thirst after large and general 7iews affording any strong marks of such an accident. with a habit of scrupulous obedience to the intimations. The bodies of comets have varied from 30 to 3000 of existing analogies, he was precisely the man to quit miles in diameter; some of them have been entirely paths which, through familiarity, were common and destitute of tails, and others have exhibited them safe, and to guide us into regions dim and remote, 100,000,000 of miles in length. They move m nar- where the mind must be a lamp to itself. row, elliptical orbits, travelling to an immense distance Herschel communicated to the world the first proof out of our system, and at their return approaching, in that there existed in the universe organized systems most cases, much nearer to the Sun than any of the besides our own; while his magnificent speculations planets. Of three of them the periodical revolution on the Milky Way, and the constitution of the Nebhas been ascertained. Encke's comet revolves in ule, first opened the road to the conception that what three years and a half; Biela's in six and three quar- was called the universe, might be, and in all probaters; and Halley's in seventy-five years and a half; bility is, but a detached and minute portion of that the last of these made its appearance in 1835. A interminable series of similar formations, which ought comet with a tail of uncommon magnitude, but with a to bear the same name. nucleus scarcely perceptible, visited us in 1843. The We have not space to pursue this topic at length, great comet of 1680, when at its perihelion, or point and can but briefly notice the FIXED STARS, or that nearest the Sun, was only at the distance of one sixth stellar firmament to which the solar system belongs. of his diameter from that great body of fire; it conse- About 2000, of these stars are visible to the naked quently was exposed to a heat 27,500 times greater eye; but when we view the heavens with a telesthan that received by the Earth-a degree so intense cope, their number seems to be limited only by the as to convert into vapor every terrestrial substance with imperfection of the instrument. In one hour Sir which we are acquainted. One hundred and forty William Herschel estimated that 50,000 stars passed comets have appeared within the Earth's orbit during through the field of his telescope, in a zone of the the last century, which have not again been seen. If heavens two degrees in breadth. It has been calcua thousand years be allowed as the average period of lated that the whole expanse of the heavens must each, it may be computed, by the theory of probabil- exhibit about 100,000,000 of fixed stars, within the ities, that the whole number ranging within the reach of telescopic vision. These stars are classed Earth's orbit must be 1400. But Uranus being according to their apparent brightness; and the places twenty times more distant, there may be no less than of the most remarkable of those visible to the naked 11,200,000 comets, that come within the known extent eye, are ascertained with great precision, and formed of our system. into a catalogue. The whole number of stars regisThe trains of comets are always thrown off in a tered amounts to about 200,000. The distance of the direction opposite to the Sun. No satisfactory solution fixed stars is too great to admit of their exhibiting a of the nature and cause of these has been assigned. perceptible disk. With a fine telescope, they appear The effect is the same as if the nucleus of the comet like mere luminous points. Their twinkling arises were a globe of water, and the Sun, in shining through from sudden changes in the refractive power of the it, cast its refracted rays to a distance beyond. air, which would not be sensible to the eye if they had disks, like the planets. Thus we can learn nothing of the relative distances of the fixed stars from us, and from one another, by their apparent diameters; C H A P T E R X V I. but as they do not appear to change their position Present State of KnIowledge respecting Astron- during the passage of the Earth from one extremity orny, continzued. Fixed Stars: Nebuia. of its orbit to the other, it is evident that we must be more than 200,000,000 miles distant from the nearest. Suca is a brief description of the solar system, Many of them, however, must be vastly more remote; which, down to the beginning of the present cen- for, of two stars that appear close together, one may tury, comprised within its limits almost the whole be far beyond the other in the depth of space. The of astronomical science. Before this period, the light of Sirius, according to the observation of Sir planetary orbits seemed to encircle all the space ac- John Herschel, is 324 times greater than that of a cessible to the human eye; they had effectively star of the sixth magnitude. mstablished limits to systematic inquiry; for astrono- Nothing is known of the absolute size of the fixed mers had never pushed their researches into remoter stars; but the quantity of light emitted by many of depths, having, like the uninstructed multitude, gazed them shows that they must be much greater than the at the further heavens with vague and incurious Sun. Sirius is nearly four times larger, and many glances, content to admire their beauty and confess stars must be of vastly greater size than Sirius. Sometheir mystery. This period, however, was distin- times stars have been known to vanish from the guished by two events, which could not have existed heavens, and never appear afterwards; the lost Pleiad in combination without leading to important results. of classical mythology is one of these. The last disThe telescope, formerly of very limited range, sud- appearance of a star, noted by astronomers, was in denly assumed a capability of sounding immense pro- 1828. Sometimes stars have all at once appeared, fundities of space; and the man in whose hands it shone with a bright light, and vanished. A renlarkattained this new power was possessed of a.genius I able instance of this occurred in lthe year 125, whict} _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 32 1HISTORY OF GEO.LOGY is said to have induced Hipparchus to form the first tions, and have passed into oblivion- or contempt, catalogur,f stars, as we have stated. Yet, as the extravagances of human nature may The stars are very irregularly scattered over the i sometimes furnish instruction as well as amusement, firmnament. In some places, they are crowded together; we shall give a few specimens of the strange theories in others, thinly dispersed. A few groups, more closely of the earth which have been broached by men of condensed, form very beautiful objects even to the learning and ability. naked eye-of which the Pleiades. and the constellation- Berenice's Hair, are the most striking examples. -= But the greater number of these clusters of stars _'-=appear, to unassisted vision. like thin white clouds, or vapor; such is the Milky Way, which, as Sir William _o Herschel has proved, derives its brightness from the - diffused light of the myriads of stars that form it. - Most of these stars appear to be extremely small, on account of their enormous distances, _c~.~ —5__le___,-___ Passing over earlier writers on this' subject, we ~'~.~~-_= —~~ —~~ -~-'~~_~~ come to John Kepler, one of the greatest astronomers -- and athematiciansthat ever lived. In a work pub-.....___ _ —-_ ~ —-- — ~-lished in 1619, he seriously attempted to prove by 5______ ________i~___ —_ —__ — argument, that the earth is an immense animal, and ___________ _breathes forth winds through the craters or chasms __-___ —_'2~ —-~of volcanoes, which serve as a mouth and nostrils By _______________________Plato and the Stoics had adopted a similar theory, of its lungs, occasioned the tides. Besides other argu ments to prove that the earth is animated, he remarks Besides these fixed stars certaein lum inu spots an that in the Scheldt, at Antwerp, the tide rested one meatches have bteleno discoved in the Theavens, by whole day, because the earth was in a fainting-fit. means of telescopes, called Nebul. These are Perhaps, also, in 1550, it was seized with a cough, of various forms, and have given rise to a variety of when, in the British Ocean, at the mouth of th,speculations. It has been imagined by some, that Thames, the tide ebbed and flowed several timt hev are diffused unorganized masses of matter, in within twenty-four hours. p lrocess of being formed into worldsP; while others Other writers have adopted the ideas of Keplei, reo',ard them only as groups of stars, llke the Milky. 1., regard them —- onl as- _ groups f stas, liethe ilk and, like that great astronomer have considered the Way, so very remote that no telescope can separate a p o. A._.~ creature, which, b the heavin of the huge bellowine _them_ f e oof Tts lungs, occas ned theal fluid es. circulatesides n iother a process round from the recent resolution of one of the nebu- ment s to prove that the earth is a nimate d, he remares Be sides these fixednct stars, y certain luminous spots and that in the Shel d t, at Antwerp, the tide rested one naifches have beein discovpowered in the heavey whodiparticle of ear th was it is alive; it possesses of various forms, and have given rise t a variety of wheinstinct and volition, even to the most elementary molecules, xwhich attract and repel each other, according to sympathies and antipathies. Each kind C H A P T E R Xhas been of mineral has the power of converting immense masses into its owen nature, as we convert our-food History of Geolong formed into flesh and blood. The mountains are the respiratory organs of the globe, and the schists its organs of reardo the earliest ages, the attention, of mankind secretion it is by these latter that it adecomposes the Was been directed to the phenomena displayed by the water of the sea, in order to produce the matters earth's surface, and innumerable theories have been ejected by volcanoes. The veins are caitous sores Suggested, as well to account for its origin stinct and volition, even to the most elementary ~~~~out the proceoiso tn S e tsae oules, which at tractnness and dsrepel eawhich is the reasonnow known to have contained glimpses of truth, but that almost all of them have so bad a smell' for the most part;hey are regarded as vain specula- William Whiston, an English divine and inathema HISTORY OF GEOLOGY. 33 tician, published a "New Theory of the Earth" in different habitudes, the races of animals became com-.1708, according to which he deduced the origin of the plicated, and at length appeared in that diversity of terrestrial globe from the condensation of the atmos- form and character which we now perceive. By phere of one comet, and the deluge from the contact means of those various races of animals, part of the of another. Among the daring speculations in which waters of the sea have gradually been converted into this theorist indulged, there is, however, one, which calcareous earth; while the vegetables. concerning the he advanced on fanciful grounds, but which has origin and metamorphoses of which these writers derived much probability from the researches of recent choose to be quite silent, have, on their part, converted inquirers. He imagined the existence in the earth of a portion of the same water into clay; these two a central nucleus, which, while it was a cometary earths, on being deprived of the characters which body, becoming intensely heated by its near approach vitality had impressed on them, are by an ultimate to the sun, has preserved ever since a greatpart of the analysis resolved into silex; and hence the reason high temperature which it had acquired. This doc- that the oldest mountains are more siliceous than the trine of central heat and the gradual cooling of the rest. All the solid parts of the earth, therefore, owe globe found an able advocate in the late Baron Fourier, their existence to life, and without life the globe woald and many facts have been brought forward in support still be entirely liquid. of it by other writers. There is nothing extravagant Other theorists ascribe the origin of the earth to in the length of time during which Whiston supposed fragments which have fallen successively from the the process of cooling to have been going on in the heavens, in the manner of aerolites, or meteoric stones; earth; for in 1680 a comet passed so near to the sun, and thus account for the relics of strange monsters, that, from the calculations of astronomers, it must which they suppose to have been the inhabitants of have acquired a temperature two thousand times that unknown worlds. of red-hot iron, and would require fifty thousand years One bold speculator imagines the earth to be holin cooling. Hence, if the earth was once a comet, its low, and places within it a magnetic nucleus, which nucleus would still be burning; since the epoch of its is transported from one pole to the other, by the access to the sun is supposed not to have exceeded six attraction of comets, carrying with it the centre of thousand years. gravity, and the mass of waters on the surface, and Benedict de Maillet, who held the office of French thus alternately drowning either hemisphere. consul in Egypt, and was the author of some philo- A few years ago, an American officer, named sophical works, was a speculator of a different order Symmes, asserted that the earth is not only hollow, from the preceding. About the middle of the last but also that the interior is habitable, or at least accescentury, appeared one of his productions, containing sible; for he alleged that an opening leading to it some geological theories, abundantly absurd and ex- exists somewhere in the northern hemisphere, and he travagant, but deserving of some notice, as being actually proposed to explore it. founded on accurate and extensive observations of Leibnitz, in 1680, advanced the bold hypothesis. existing phenomena. This gentleman, in the course that the earth was originally a burning luminous mass, of his travels, remarking the occurrence of sea-shells the gradual refrigeration of which produced the primiand other marine remains on the summits of the tive rocks, forming at first a solid crust; and this highest mountains, inferred that the present conti- being ruptured, owino to irregular contraction, the nents were entirely formed beneath the surface of fragments fell into the universal ocean formed by the water, which must have originally covered the whole condensation of vapors on the surface of the globe. earth; that, ever since the first appearance of islands He proceeded to trace the production of inundations, in the universal ocean, the waters have been gradually convulsions, and attrition of solid matter, by its subsedecreasing; in proof of which he instanced the forma- quent deposition constituting the various kinds of sedition of the Delta of Egypt, at the mouth of the Nile, mentary or stratified rocks. Hence, he observes, may and of similar tracts in other parts of the world, and be conceived a double origin of primitive masses. the alleged extension of the sea-shores in various 1, By cooling, after igneous fusion; 2, By reconcreplaces.' He supposed this gradual decline of the sea tion from aqueous solution. "Here," says Conyto be still in progress; and his opinions so far have beare,'.' we have distinctly stated the great basis of been admitted by many other geologists. every scientific classification of rock formations." But De Maillet not only conceived the whole globe Many writers now successively appeared, who adto have been for many thousands of years covered vantageously directed their attention to the investigawith water, but he further alleged that this water tion of particular topics connected with this subject; gradually retreated: that -all the land animals were as, the causes and phenomena of earthquakes and voloriginally denizens of the sea; that man himself com- canoes, the formation of deltas, or low tracts at the menced his career as a fish: supporting his reveries mouths of rivers, the actual structure and position.of by adverting to stories of sirens, mermaids, tritons, mineral strata, and the description of fossil remains satyrs, anti such like monsters; and asserting that of animal or vegetable origin. Among those who yven now almimals may be found in the ocean, half- rendered important services to the cause of science by human and half-fish, but whose descendants will in advancing general views of the theory of the earth. time become perfect men and women. were Dr. James Hutton, of Edinburgh, and Professox Strange and inconsistent as are these speculations, Werner, of Freiberg, in Saxony. they have been revived and extended by more recent The theory of Hutton was admirably illustrate.1 theorists. They suppose that the earth was originally and ably supported by Professor Playfair, of Edin.n a fluid state, that the primitive fluid gave existence burgh, while it was assailed by Murray, Kirwan, to animals, which were at first only of the most simple Deluc, and others; a violent controversy being main kind, as the monas, and other infusory and microscopic tained between the partisans of Werner, who were l PpPCieS; that in process of time, and by assuming Icalled Neptunists, as ascribing the formation of al l 341 eEOLOGTUAL HISTORY OF THE EARTH. rocks to water — and those of Hutton, styled Vulcan- entered on the dark age of nature's history; and lie ists, because they attributed the original formation closes the old chapter of her records. This account of rocks to fire. The Neptunists, for a time, consti- has so much of what is exactly true, that it hardlb; tuted by much the more numerous party; but in the deserves the name of figurative description" course of these discussions, it was at length perceived that speculation had, on both sides, been carried further than was warranted by the extent of existing information; and that, while neither the theory of C H A P T E R XVIII. Werner nor that of Hutton could be considered as affording an explanation of all the phenomena, or Geological History of tle Earth. making near approaches to perfection, there were many points with respect to which the researches and WE have already adverted to the hypothesis which observations of both these philosophers contributed to supposes that the sun was once the nucleus or centre the extension of our knowledge and the improvement of a nebulous mass, reyolving on its axis; that this of the science. became, condensed, and the planets were successively "When we compare the result of observations in thrown off from the central body. This theory considthe last thirty years," says an eloquent author, " with ers the earth to have been at first in a gaseous state, hose of the three preceding centuries, we cannot but similar to the comets. By degrees, its heat was dislook forward with the most sanguine expectations to persed and radiated into space; in consequence of the degree of excellence to which geology may be which, the particles became condensed, yet still in a carried, even by the labors of the present generation. state of fusion. The process of cooling went on, until Never, perhaps, did any science, with the exception the external crust of the globe became hardened into of astronomy, unfold, in an. equally brief period, so the solid materials of which we see it now composed, mnany novel and unexpected" truths, and overturn so yet, perhaps, leaving the central mass in a state of many preconceived opinions. The senses had for incandescence. ages declared the earth to be at rest, until the astron- This theory is not to be regarded as fully estab omer taught that it was carried through space with lished, but it is probably so far true as it regards the inconceivable rapidity. In like manner was the sur- general state of the earth at the end of the process face of this planet regarded as having remained unal- described. At what period this began, or how lonp- a tered since its creation, until the geologist proved that time has elapsed since the work was thus far comit had been the theatre of reiterated change, and was pleted, we have not the means of knowing; but we still the subject of slow but never ending fluctuations. have reason to believe that it was millions of years The discovery of other systems in the boundless ago, andlthat the imagination of man is incompetent regions of space was the triumph of astronomy; to to measure the ages which have rolled away since our trace the same system through various transforma- earth began its career as a planetary body. Fromn tions-to behold it at successive eras adorned with the time that the earth had thus assumed its present different hills and valleys, lakes and seas, and peopled form, we suppose that the great agencies which we with new inhabitants, was the delightful meed of now see at work in changing the surface of the earth geological research. By the geometer, were measured have been in operation, and that these have been the the regions of space, and the relative distances of the instruments by which a series of revolutions and mutaheavenly bodies; by the geologist, myriads of ages tions have been effected. were reckoned, not by arithmetical computation, but The precise order of these changes we cannot trace, by a train of physical events-a succession of phe- yet their general character and tendency we are at no nomena in the animate and inanimate worlds —signs loss to discover. At first, in the process of cooling, which convey to our minds more definite ideas than the crust of the globe was, perhaps, broken and torn, figures can do of the immensity of time. thus presenting the rugged aspect which the telescope " By the discoveries of a new science —the very now unfolds to view in the moon. The pent-up fires name of which has been but a few years ingrafted on within would seek vent, the volcanoes would disgorge our language —we learn that the manifestations of their contents, and the earthquake would shake and God's power on earth have not been limited to the dislocate the land and the sea.' The rain and the few thousand years of man's existence. The geolo- tempest now began their work; particles of earth were gist tells us, by the clearest interpretation of the phe- disengaged from the mountains, and borne by the nomena which his labors have brought to light, that floods to the valleys; and a soil was formed fpr vegeour globe has been subject to vast physical revolu- tation. But, in a world which had sprung from a tions. He counts his time, not by celestial cycles, but molten mass of matter, there was no seed-no princi by an index which he has found in the; solid frame- pie of vegetable or animal life. A creative act of God cwork of the globe itself. He sees a long succession was now necessary to commence the organic king of monuments, each of which may have required a doms. That act was put forth; seeds were created thousand ages for its elaboration. He arranges them and cast into the soil which had been preparing foI in chronological order, observes on them the marks them. These sprang up at the bidding of the Al.Ipf skill and wisdom, and finds within them the tombs mighty. At first, they were the fztci and alga —the of the ancient inhabitants of the earth. He finds rank weeds which grow on the margin of the sea, strange and unlooked-for changes in the forms and These flourish and decay, and their successive generatashions of organic life during each of the long periods tions contribute to form a rich mould which shall give he thus contemplates. He traces these changes back- sustenance to higher forms of vegetation yet to be wards through each successive era, till he reaches a created. time when the monuments lose all symmetry, and the At an early period, and perhaps immediately after types of organic life are no longer seen. He has then the commencement of vegetable life, the lowest fornlms GEOLOGICAL'HISTORY OF TIHE EARTH 35 of animal existence were brought into being. The of the sauroid and shark form succeeded; -and while zo6phytes were seen to swarm in the waters, and shell- these steps of creation were advancing in the waters fish began to abound; crustaceous animals were mul- the land began to put forth its blossoming plants tiplled; myriads of trilobites sported in the sea; fishes I Such is the Silurian or Cambrian Period. GEOLOGICAL SECTION OF THE EARTH. In this figure the crust of the earth is greatly exaggerated, so as more distinctly to show the forms into which its materials are cast. But a change comes over the scene. Continents ble beds of coal, which ages after were to contribute and islands sink beneath the ocean, and new conti- to the civilization of man, to drive the whirling spinnents arise from the bosom of the deep. The old cre- dles of the factory, to work the sledge of the iron-mill, ations are in fact swept away. A new earth appears, to impel the steamboat through the wave, and urge and new beings are created to inhabit it. Fishes of the locomotive on its track. new forms are seen to glide in the waters; scorpions, Another change comes over the scene. A new disspiders, and various insects, are seen upon the land tribution of land and water takes place. Myriads of and the sea. The fresh waters now begin to teem organized existences become extinct, and new ones with shell-fish, and the land becomes clothed with a succeed. Reading the record of this age, as written gigantic vegetation. The pine-tree rises, with its upon the enduring leaves of red sandstone, we see that lofty branches, into the air. The stately palm broods gigantic frogs and birds of amazing stature now dwell in forests over hill and valley; and flowering plants upon the earth. The ichthyosaurus, the plesiosaurus and shrubs appear, in diversified forms and hues, on and other strange yet stupendous reptiles, wonderfully every hand. combining the powers of distinct genera, dwell in the At this age of the world, the climate differs from waters or along their margin, and at the same tine that of the present period. The torrid zone seems to new forms of vegetable life are scattered over the overspread the earth; and even in the polar regions, landscape. where animal and vegetable life can now hardly exist, Still another change appears, and now the marsupial the tropical plants seem to luxuriate, and animals animals are seen; the crocodile, the gavial, and the now confined to the torrid regions sport in the tepid tortoise are created. New fishes, new insects, and waters around the poles. This was the Carboniferous new animals of the crustaceous kind, are discovered Period; and it wvas during this prolific age that the and plants, also, of new forms, spring up fromn tne soil. mighty masses of vegetable matter were produced This is the Oflitic Period. and buried in the earth, to constitute those inexhausti- And now we come to the Wealden Period, the age 36 GEOLOGICAL HIS'T'ORY dF THE EARTH of the iguanodon, that stupendous reptile, whose very The imagination, in turning back to this period, picexistence had never been imagined until a recent tures to itself this mighty reptile rioting in the waters period, and to which the words of Milton have been where the solid earth of the British islands now stands, fitly applied: — and, in place of the human habitations, the ox, the horse, the oak, and the chestnut-which now appear " With head uplift above the waves, and eyes in the scene -discovers flying reptiles in the air. That sparkling blazed, his other parts besides Borne on the floog blazed, exhis other ploarts besides crocodiles and turtles sporting in the fens, and lizards Borne on the flood, extended long and large, Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge and fishes, now blotted out of existence, making the As whom the fables name of monstrous size, waters boil with their gambols. Titanian, or earth-born, that warred on Jove, - Another change takes place, and the Cretaceous Briareus, or Typhon, whom the den Period appears. Again new forms of organized existBy ancient Tarsus held, -or that sea-beastThe mososaurus and othe Leviathan, which God of all his works ence occupy the earth. Created hugest that swim the ocean stream." reptiles are found. New insects, fishes, and crustacea Extinct Animals, Iguanodon, &c. are seen, with many that have before existed. The j of animals have lived and perished; the seasons have vegetable world displays also some new plants, amid come and gone; the elements have performed their varieties that have belonged to other ages. work, and all unwitnessed by human beings. Geology We now come to the Tertiary Period, which is far tells us of the volcano and the earthquake; of the more prolific in organic remains thanthose which have iguanodon and the plesiosaurus; of ages that have gone before. A multitude of new animals and plants fled, and races that have perished; —it opens a new appear to have entered upon their career. Many spe- and wonderful volume of history, and reveals events cies that are now extinct — such as the paleotherium, which would otherwise have slept in oblivion forever;.ophiodon, and dinotherium-are found, with a mul- but it tells us nothing of our own speciez. Man's titude of animals still in existence. The bones of history is recent; his existence, as compared with the creatures now unknown occur confusedly mixed with age of the earth, is as an hand-breadth. We do not those of the bat, wolf, fox, raccoon, squirrel, owl, find his bones imbedded in the ancient rocks; these whale, elephant, ox, deer, &c. Many extinct species hoary archives have not preserved a relic of the race. of genera still existing are discovered. Multitudes of It is only in the alluvial period that we find the traces extinct shell-fish are found with others that still remain, of man, and within a date compatible alike with the and, amid the relics of vegetable races which have records of sacred and profane history. vanished from the earth, we find the fossil remains of poplars, willows, sycamores, and elms. Thus, the old and the new,-the past and the present, — the races that are annihilated, and the races that remain,-are C H A P T E R XIX. found huddled together in one common tomb, formed in that age of the earth to which we give the title of Geological History of the Earth, cotinued. the Tertiary Period. THE greatest thickness of the superficial crust of the But as yet no traces of man appear. Hitherto the globe —that is, of the mass of'solid materials which world has performed its revolutions, and ages have the ingenuity of man has been able to examine. from r lled a.vay; change has followed change; myriads the highest mountain-peaks to the greatest natural o; GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE EARTI. 37 artificial depths —is estimated at about ten miles. I slowly, others suddenly; but all, geologically speakang, As the earth is nearly eight thousand miles in diame- at a comparatively recent period. ter, the entire series of strata hitherto explored is, The superficial crust of the globe is composed o. therefore, but very insignificant, compared with the numerous layers and masses of earthy substances, of magnitude of the globe; bearing about the same rela- which, combinations of iron, lime, and silex, or flint, tive proportion as the thickness of paper to an artificial constitute a large proportion; the latter forming forty sphere a foot in diameter; the inequalities and crevi- five per cent. of the whole. Those strata which have ces in the varnish of such an instrument would be been deposited the latest bear evident marks of equal, in proportionate size, to the highest mountains mechanical origin, and are the water-worn ruins of and deepest valleys. older rocks; as we descend, materials of a denser As a thickness of a hundred miles so far exceeds character appear, which also exhibit proofs of having that of the whole of the strata that are accessible to been subject to the action of water; but when we human observation, we cannot doubt that disturbances arrive at the lowermost in the scale, a crystalline of the earth's surface, even to ten times the depth of structure generally prevails; and while, in the newer those which- come within the scope of geological st'ata, trees, plants, shells. and other remains of aniinquiry, may take place, without in any degree affect- mals and vegetables, are found in profusion,-in the ing the entire mrase ~f the globe. If these facts be most ancient rocks, all traces of organic forms are absent. duly considered, the mnind will be prepared to receive The following figure will indicate the manner in one of the most startling propositions in modern geol- which the various strata upon the earth's surface are ogy-namely, that the highest mountains have once disposed. A reference, also, to the geological section, been the bed of the sea, and have been raised to their at page 35, will aid the reader in forming correct present situations by subterranean agency —some notions on this subject. a/ a Primary Rock. which has been thrown up, so as to disturb and mix itself with'the Secondary Rocks. b Secondary Rocks. thrown into inclinations and curves by the rising of the Primary Rocks. c Tertiary Formation, deposited in a hollow formed by the disturbance of the Secondary Rocks. d Basaltic Columns. e A fault or hitch in the strata. The circles are Boulders or detached stones, rounded by travelling in water, and deposited in hollows formed by water. The dots indicate beds of gravel immediately beneith the soil. No department of geology is more attractive than sometimes thirty feet in length; the plesiosalurus that which relates to fossil remains, and to which we having the head of a lizard, the teeth of a crocodile, have already alluded. It'seems to open a new volume the tail of a quadruped, ribs like those of the chaof the world's history, and to unfold the archives which nreleon, paddles like a whale, and the neck of a have been sealed in oblivion for ages. We cannot serpent; the pterodactyle, with a neck like a bird. present more than a brief outline of this interesting wings like a bat, and a body like a lizard; and the topic. It must be sufficient to say, that the vestiges of iguanod on, an enormous lizard, which we have before trees, plants, and shrubs; of insects, birds, fishes, and described. quadrupeds; are found imbedded in the strata of the These are the remains of some of the wonderful earth; and, what is most wonderful, these are, for the animals found in the more ancient strata. Among the most part, of species now extinct. It may be added, more recent formations, are the remains of the mamthat the remains of animals and vegetables are found moth and mastodon; birds resembling the woodcock, in climates repugnant to their nature; as, for instance, quail, cormorant, owl, and buzzard; fishes of a thouthose of plants and animals fitted only to the tropics sand forms; and shells in countless abundance. and are found abundantly even along the margin of the of infinitely diversified forms. Arctic Sea. No principle, in geology, is better ascertained by Among the fossil animals are the dinotherium, an facts, than that many successive destructions and rennerbivorous quadruped, eighteen feet in length, and ovations have taken place on the surface of our globe. holding an intermediate place between the tapir and We are apt to imagine that all the great revolutions the mastodon; the megathlerium, of the sloth species, of the earth have been sudden and violent, and some covered with a bony coat of armor, like the armadillo, of these have doubtless been so; an instance of and exceeding the rhinoceros in bulk; the ichthyo- this kind is that recorded by Moses, and which, in azius, or fish lizard, resembling the porpoise, and consideration also of the great revolution which 38 GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE EARTH. was effected, and the new aspect which the world times burst forth from the middle of the sea, displacin. l presented, is properly spoken of as a creation. But, the waters, and rearing up islands to the heighh+ os in general, we have reason to believe that the muta- 100 feet. tions and revolutions which have been wrought upon the globe, for a series of ages, have been the work of __ _great and powerful agents still in operation, and still accomplishing their destined task of change and revolution. i There are two great antagonist powers in nature — the aqueous and igneous. These are visible, and in operation, at the present hour. The former, as in springs, rivers, tides, frosts, and rain, is constantly employed in the disintegration of rocks, and in the /; degradation, or levelling, of land. Among the igneous causes of change in the earth's surface are volcanoes and earthquakes, which are Iia'l" inseparably connected, and result from the same causes. The former are chiefly confined to certain F l geographical limits; some are periodical while others. are in a state of constant activity. Stromboli,. in one i of the Lipari Isles, has never ceased its action during l a period of more than 2000 years; while Vesuvius and Etna give forth eruptions only at intervals, and | _others have been dormant for ages. In the snowy regions of the Andes, the effects of an;z| eruption are terrific; for not only are torrents of lava ejected, but the intense heat melts the snow, which causes inundations, carrying the volcanic sand, stones,. and rocks, down with desolating fury upon the plains Earthquakes are remarkable for the extent of counbelow. Iceland is entirely of volcanic origin; and so try over which they operate. The shock of an earthquake in Chili, in 1822, was s multaneously felt throughout a space of 1200 miles, from north to south. ___________ - ADuring the convulsions of an earthquake, the surface ___-_________- ___=of the earth undulates like a boiling liquid; the sea X ________ ___:-=-b —'~ heaves and swells as in a tempest; edifices are thro.wr into heaps of nruins, and enormous fragments of rocks six yearssha gare detached from the mountains. In some instances, whole cities have been ingulfed in the space of a few minutes; and extensive districts of country, teeming with wealth and prosperity, have been suddenly converted into ghastly' spectacles of desolation. The explanation of these sublime yet terrific phenomena is to be found in the action of heat, generated by chemical causes in the bowels of the earth. When bein 160 this has melted vast masses of rock into lava, the boiling flood seeks vent, and, in its egress, rends everything asunder which obstructs its path. There intense has been the volcanic action, that Hecla has is reason to believe that every portion of the earth has sometimes continued in a constant state of eruption for been at successive periods covered by water, and that six years, shaking the whole island, and causing great the present elevations, even including the Andes and changes in its surface. the Alps, have been upheaved from the bottom of the The amazing effects of volcanoes almost surpass sea. conception; mountains of great height have been The difference between the former and the present thrown up in a single day, and have taken their rank temperature of northern latitude is a highly interestamong the permanent elevations of the globe. In ing topic in geology. It is a fact fully admitted, that 1759, Jorullo, in Mexico, was elevated, in the space the climate of the northern hemisphere was once much of two months, into several cones-the central one hotter than it is at present. Fossil plants, and anibeing 1600 feet above the level of the plain. Forty mals, analogous to species which only subsist, at years afterwards, when Humboldt visited the place, he present, in tropical countries, are found strewed over found the mighty masses of lava still so hot, that he the northern parts of Europe. To account for the was able tolight his cigar at the depth of a few inches. change of climate thus indicated, various theories Two small streams, which had disappeared during the have been suggested; but the most probable one is eruption, afterwards burst forth as hot springs in a that the ocean and land had once a different arrangeposition remote from their former course. Such is the ment from the existing one, and that, at a formeI expulsive power of volcanoes, that Cotopaxi has been period, currents flowing from the tropical regions, and Irnown to project rocks, more than 100 tons in weight; other circumstances tending to. the same point, conto the distance of nine miles. tributed to soften the temperature of those regionm'Nor are volcanoes confined to the land; they some- which have since become frigid. EARLY NOTIONS OF GEOGRAPHY. 30 Various attempts have been made to account for existence. That people, it is very clear, never atthe deluge upon geological principles. It has been tempted to form any scientific theory respecting the suggested that an elevation of the bottom of the sea, structure of the earth. Throughout the Bible we with a corresponding depression of the mountains, find prevailing the common notion of all uninstructed making nearly a level surface over the earth, enabled people, that the earth is a flat surface, and the heaven the accumulated waters to spread over the whole a firmament or curtain spread over it. The region extent of the globe. But this supposition appears beneath was believed to be a deep pit, -the abode of inconsistent with the language of Scripture, This darkness and the shadow of death. In one passage Implies a vast increase of the waters upon the earth; we find a grand image of the earth, which represents as we cannot assign any natural cause for this, we it as "hung upon nothing;" but elsewhere, repeated must refer it to the miraculous agency of that mighty mention occurs of the " pillars of the earth," and someBeing whose stupendous operations sink into cornm- c;mes of the " pillars of heaven." It is evident, in parative insignificance the entire creation of a globr. short, that every writer of the Hebrew Scriptures took like ours. up the idea impressed upon his sense and imaginaThe age of the earth, deduced from the archives at tion by the external view of these grand objects, withnature, as recorded in the rocks of the earth's sura: e, out endeavoring to arrange them into any regular has been supposed to be millions of years. Tha nas system. But, although these persons never indulged been thought to impugn the veracity of the Mosaic in speculative geography, yet there are copious examhistory, which seems to represent our globe as having ples, in their writings, of minute and careful topograbeen created about 6000 or 7000 years ago. A proper phy, for practical purposes. reading of the Bible, however, shows no incompati- The objects,always specified by the Hebrew writers bility with the facts attested by geology. The six as placed at the furthest limits of their geographical days spoken of in Genesis, during which the work of knowledge are, Tarshish, Ophir, The Isles, Sheba, creation was performed, may have been six indefinite Dedan, The River, Gog and Magog, and the N2orth. periods of time, each millions of years in length; or, The first of these, Tarshish, has been the subject of what is more probable, the six days were of the ordi- infinite discussion. It has been supposed by some to nary length; but, previously to the first day, a vast be Tarsus, in Cilicia; by others, Tartessus, in Spain, period of time had elapsed, during which all those Cadiz, Carthage, &c. By others, again, Tarshish is strata were formed, and those plants and animals lived, understood to mean the great ocean. the existence of which, previously to our own epoch, Ophir was known to the Hebrews as the country of is so clearly proved. In this view, the Mosaic creation gold. This may have been Dofar, in Arabia, Sofola, is to be regarded as a renovation of animal and vege- on the eastern coast of Africa, or some part of Hindostable life, and a preparation for the reception of man. tan, or Further India. On this point, geographers That such a work was actually performed upon this are not agreed. globe, at the period indicated by the Scriptures, is as Under the name of " The Isles," the Hebrew wrl clearly demonstrated by geology as by holy writ; for, ters are supposed to have designated the southern while we find the vestiges of other races of plants and coast of Europe, comprising both the insular and conanimals, that lived ages ago, we find no traces of man tinental parts. Sheba was, undoubtedly, Sabaea, or himself which indicate his existence at a period earlier Arabia Felix. Dedan is thought to have been a port than that which the Bible establishes. on the Persian Gulf. "The River" was the great stream Euphrates. Gog, Magog, and the North, signify the Hyperborean nations in general, the inhabitants of Scythia, Sarmatia, and, perhaps, of the mountainous C I-I A P T E R X X. regions of Armenia and the Caucasus. It appears, therefore, that the primitive Israelites Histor'y of Geogr aphy.- EazrlCy Notions of 1Man- klnew little beyond the limits of their own country, the kind 1~especlting it. — Scr~ipture Geography. land of Egypt, and the regions lying between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. The Phoenicians or Tyrians, and Sidonians, from the extent of their voyages, surpassed the Israelites in their knowledge of the earth, and they were the first navigators who _ ~ — ~ ~ — ~:~ — -____~~.carried maritime discovery to any considerable extent. __ Cm 5 AAs early as the year 1000 B. C., these people had explored the whole of the Mediterranean, as well as the Black Sea, and had settled colonies on their shores. Afterwards, they sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar, then called the Pillars of Hercules, and " extended their voyages along the western coast both of Europe and Africa; a party of them in the service of Pharoah Necho, King of Egypt, is said to have cir cumnavigated the latter continent. The Greeks, like the Hebrews, were, for the most part, ignorant of the real figure of the earth, and supTilE oldest geographical records are in the sacred posed it to be a vast plain surrounded by an ocean of Scriptures, yet in these books we can discover nothing unknowvn extent. Beneath the earth were the fabled 1ilke a regular systemn of geography. The Hebrew regions of Elysium or Paradise, and Tartarus, or the writers were occupied with higher objects, and do not place of punishment for the wicked. Above the whole evet Mllude to anl such branch of learning as then in rose the great arch of the heavens, which was sup 40 GEOGRAPHY OF HOMER AND IIERODOTUS-THE MILESIAN AND SAMIAN SCHOOLS. posed to rest on the summits of the highest moun- quivering limbs; delusive sirens, who lured but to detains. The sun, moon, and stars were supposed to stroy; magicians, who transformed men to wild beasts; rise from the waves of the sea, and set in them on — these, probably, are only a highly colored repetition their descent from the heavens. It was believed that of the terrific rumors brought by the few who had those who lived in the remote west could hear at returned from those savage coasts. evening the hissing noise made by the sun dipping Impressions of gloomy darkness, and even of death, into the ocean, as if that orb had been a mass of red are, in certain moods of the human mind, associated hot metal. with images of distance and obscurity. These influences gave birth to the fable of the Cimmerians, a people who are described by Homer as dwelling in perpetual darkness, and never illumined by the cheerC H A P T E R X X I. ful rays of the sun. Their chief residence wls supposed to be on the straits, at the mouth of the Sea of Geography of Homer - Of. Herodotus- The Azoph, the most northern point, probably, of which Milesian and &arniaz Schoois. rumor had spoken in the poetical ages, and which was called the Cimmerian Bosphorus. Other fabulous IN the poems of Homer we find the earth described creations, springing from those of Homer, continued as entirely surrounded by water. The geography of long to hold a place in ancient geography. The this poet, however, was very limited. He was well Cyclops, with one eye, were placed in Sicily; the Ariacquainted with the southern parts of Greece and the maspians, of the same character, on the frontier of western coast of Asia Minor, but, beyond' these limits, India, and in the remotest extremity of Africa; the everything appears doubtful and obscure. Some grand Pygmies, or Dwarfs, who fought pitched battles with and distant features, discernible through the gloom, the cranes, were supposed to dwell in Asia Minor, in are exaggerated and distorted by ignorance and super- Libya, in India, and the north of Europe. stition. Thebes, the mighty capital of Egypt when The system of geography embraced in the history that kingdom was in its greatest glory, is celebrated of Herodotus is as complete as could be formed fromn for its hundred gates, and the hosts of warriors which the materials within his reach. It comprises a genthey sent forth to battle. Beyond lay the Ethiopians, eral summary of all that he could learn respecting deemed the most remote of men, dwelling on the fur- the residence of mankind. His information was obthest verge of the earth, and to whose distant confines tained, not merely from books, but from travelling, Jupiter repaired to hold an annual festival. the only mode, in fact, by which, at that era, geoIn the western part of the same continent, the stu- graphical knowledge could be procured in any com pendous ridges of Atlas had excited, in Grecian fancy, pleteness. He assures us, that he had visited Persia, the image of a gigantic deified being, to whom was Assyria, Egypt, Thrace, Scythia, and all the distant intrusted the support of the heavens. Even further regions which he describes. He viewed them, howto the west, the exploits and wanderings of the great ever, only as tracts of territory, the abode of so many Grecian demigod had conveyed a tradition of the tribes of men, and did not attempt to combine them strait leading into the ocean, and of the rocks on each into any geographical system. side, celebrated as the Pillars of Hercules. On the The division of the earth into three portions, oi east, Colchos was distinguished by Homer for its early continents, was in the time of Herodotus completely wealth and commerce. It was regarded as an ocean- formed. Europe and Asia had acquired the names city, and here was believed to be the palace of the which they now bear. Africa was called Libya; it Sun, where, during the night, he gave rest to his was not till the time of the Romans that the name of coursers and from whence, in the morning, he drove the small district of Africa Proper, in which Carthage his char.ot on its diurnal career. Colchos must, was situated, began to extend itself till it finally emtherefore, have been regarded by Homer as placed on braced the whole continent. Herodotus declares, that the mnost eastern verge of the earth. Europe is larger than Asia and Libya together. It is On the north, Rhodope, or the Riphean Mountains, clear that his knowledge of Asia was very circumappeared to be a chain of indefinite extent, closing in scribed. He knew nothing of Further India, Thibet the hyperborean limits of the world. The poet, how- China, Eastern Tartary, or Siberia, which constitute ever, had heard a vague report of the Scythians, under more than half the continent. In Africa he knew the description of a people living on mare's milk. nothing with accuracy beyond the limits of Egypt. The ships which conveyed the Greek army to Troy The whole of Asia, north of the Caspian Sea, he con were, evidently, only large boats, and all distant sidered as belonging to Europe. voyages, or those in which the mariners lost sight of The astronomical schools of Miletus and Samos land, were considered as fraught with the extremest appear to have made the first attempts to form geog.peril. A navigation to Africa or Sicily only. hap- raphy into a system, and to illustrate it by astronomy pened when a vessel was driven thither by storm, and These, and other cities of Asia Minor, rank high a return from these shores was deemed almost miracu- among the early seats of commerce, and they estabous. lished colonies in various quarters of the Mediterra In regard to Sicily, indeed Homer has largely nean and the Euxine. While they continued inde cornmunicated his ideas, having made it the chief pendent, they were very wealthy and prosperous, and theatre of the woes and wanderings of Ulysses. their citizens cultivated the sciences with ardor and Moalng every allowanc for poetical license, we see see success. To a commercial people, practical matheevident traces of an excitea and terrified state of mind matics, and especially those branches subservient to in the navigators who returned from these shores. geography and navigation, must have been peculiarly X:lonsters of strange form and magnitude, who watched interesting Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and;,r the destruction of the mariner, and fed upon his Pythagoras, are celebrated by their countrymen as th. ERATOSTHENES-GREEK AND ROMAN GEOGRAPHY. 41 inventors of all the processes by which the phenomena much greater degree of expansion to the humar mind. c.f the globe are calculated. The gnomon, or sun-dial, That monarch's career of conquest led him into what for ascertaining the progress of the sun from tropic to was then thought to be the remotest region of the tropic, and, finally, the latitude of particular places, the East. The Greeks thus became acquainted with the division of the year into 365 days and into four sea- northern parts of India, and the adjacent countries. sons, are represented as having originated in this Nearchus, the a'niral of Alexander, first opened to school. It appears doubtful, however, whether these his countrymen the view of the Indian Ocean. About discoveries were due to the sole exertions of the the same time, Pythias, a Greek of Mtarseilles, sailed Greeks, or were borrowed from the Egyptians and from Gades, now Cadiz, to Thule, the most northern Chaldeans, whose fame, amid the dim traditions of country known to the ancients, and supposed to have antiquity, stands preeninent for astronomical observa- been either Iceland or Norway. tion. Eratosthenes, B. C. 230, at length succeeded in The distinction of climate seems to have formed the reducing geography to a system, under the patronage first foundation of a geographical division of the earth, of the Ptoleilies of Egypt, which gave him access to all and the climate awas determined by the species of ani- the materials collected by Alexander, his generals and mals and plants produced in each. Thus, the negro, successors, and to the immense mass of documents the rhinoceros, and the elephant, were considered as assembled in the Alexandrian library. The astrocharacteristics of the torrid zone. This very loose nomical observations made in this school were now method soon gave place to another, which was based sufficient to prove the globular fbrm of the earth. on observations, at sundry places, of the length of the Proceeding upon this principle, he made it his study to longest and shortest days. This could be done with adjust to it all the known features of the globe. Hipaccuracy only by a gnomon, or dial, erected on a hori- parchus, B. C. 128, carried this system still further, z6ntal plane, and showing, by the length or shortness and subjected the whole science of geography to asof its shadow, the elevation of the sun above the hori- tronomical principles. His labors in numbering the zon. There is reason to believe that this simple in- stars, and arranging them according to their places in strument was employed by the Egyptians; it has the heavens, were such as appeared marvellous to the even been imagined by some that the pyramids were ancients, and are esteemed by Pliny as achievements only hu(e sun-dials. Thales and his disciples, how- that would have been arduous, even for a god. Hipever, doubtless made large additions to whatever parchus appears to have first conceived the notion of astronomical knowledge they derived from Egypt. transferring the observed latitudes and longitudes of Two books, one on the tropics, and the other on the the stars to their corresponding places on the earth's equinoxes, are reported to have been written by Thales surface, thus fixing the latter with a precision wholly himself. The degree of knowledge thus obtained unknown before. enabled him to discover the error of the vulgar notion But, in tracing the outline of the known world, and that the earth is a plane surface, but he did not fully especially of the continents, geographers still proconceive the idea of its spherical form. Anaximander ceeded amid obscurity and doubt. The great ocean viewed it as a cylinder; some believed it to be shaped of Homer and Herodotus, surrounding the world, still like a boat; others compared it to a lofty mountain. remained in their system. This idea was, doubtless, The cosmography of Pythagoras placed the sun in the supported by facts to a considerable extent, but its centre of the system, with the earth moving round it. application to the world in general was a mere hypothThis knowledge was subsequently lost for many ages, esis. Eratosthenes, in comparing the magnitude and only recovered at a far more advanced stage of of the known world in his time with the oeneral cirhuman science. cuinference of the earth, became sensible that only a third part of the space was filled up. He indulged in conjectures as to the contents of this vast unknown region, which he supposed might either consist of one C HA A 3P 1T E I X x ~ great ocean, the whole of which he denominates the Atlantic, or of land.and islands which might be dis Eratlos/theneFs-Gree~ck anwd Roenman GCeoffrncty covered in sailing westward. 751-Pliny, Pompon7ius M~~ela, an d Ptolry. The Roman geographers never attained to any pro -— Priny, PonmponsZus M~ael% Zad Ptolemny. I Gemy. ficiency in the mathematical branch of the science They made no attempt, therefore, to combine their ma. terials into one harmonious system, or to fix their 4 _.' positions with that strict.accuracy which astronomical observation alone can reach. Yet no nation employe.' greater diligence in the operations of practical survey; The geographical researches of the R1omans were';. however, held strictly subservient to their ambitiou.i~ designs of universal conquest. Itineraries, or, plans of roads, were, therefore, the only form in which. tfAl results of these investigations were presented. According to Vegetius, when the Romans Wrem THE geography of the Greeks was, at first, little about to make war upon any country, their. first,. caemore than a topographical delineation of military was to procure a complete set of routes,.and l:aceroutes; and. as they never cultivated mathematical them in the hands of the general. These itineraries science with any great care, they had no power of contained, not merely the distances between one place arranging even these limited materials into a system- and another. but the quality of the roads, the sm-rroundxtic form. The expedition of Alexander gave a ing objects, the mountains and rivers, delineated ip} - _6 42 GEOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. the utmost precision. These were not only described which hlie adoptedwere strictly correct, for though, as accurately in language, but were drawn and painted, an astronomer, his theory of the whole universe was that the commanders might have before their eyes the essentially false, yet, in two very important points, he. route by which they were to proceed. The Romans had arrived at the truth, namely, the globular form of became thus the surveyors, as wvell as the conquerors, the earth, and the revolution of the heavenly bodies. of the world. Every new war in which they engaged, Ptolemy was the first geographer who combined to, every new conquest which their arms achieved, pro- gether all the sound views of his predecessors, End duced a fresh accumulation of materials for the use of formed out of them a just and harmonious delineation. the geographer. Even after a country was subdued, He rejected the old theory which represented the the necessity for accurate survey did not cease. The earth as enclosed by a circumambient ocean. Merempire was long held in a state of mere military oc- cantile caravans, especially in the east of Asia, had cupation. Camps formed at proper distances were now proceeded considerably beyond that line which connected by those excellent and durable roads, many had been considered the shore of the eastern ocean. of which remain to this day. Aln accurate acquaint- In Ptolemy's map, therefore, the Eastern Atlantic and ance with the positions and intervals of these camps, Northern Oceans were expunged, and an undefined and the nature of the intervening districts, was essen- expanse of unknown territory was substituted as the tial to the maintenance of their dominion over the vasf boundary of the world. Africa was represented as extent of their conquered territories. extending indefinitely south, and was even carried When Julius Cuesar became master of the republic, round to join the east of Asia, and form the Erythreari he immediately gave orders for a general survey of or Indian Sea, into a vast basin. In Asia, Ptolemy the Roman world. Twenty-five years were occupied had obtained some faint knowledge of Further India in this task, which was, perhaps, delayed somewhat and China. In Europe he gives a comparatively by the civil wars that followed the assassination of the accurate account of the British Islands, hut Ire supdictator. But the exact principles upon vwhich the poses the Baltic to be an open sea, which he denomi gratnd measurement was conducted have not been nates the Sarrrlatic Ocean. mentioned by any writer now extant. Pomponius aMela, and Pliny the Elder, wrote geographical works cduring the first century. Mela adopted the general principles of the school of Eratosthenes, incorporating CHAPTER XXIII. into it the new features which had been furnished by Roman conquest. He does not appear to have compre- G eogr aphy of the Middle Ages- The Saracens lended the idea of the globular form of the earth, and he adhered to the old belief of a circumambient ocean. THE science of geography, during the middle ages He made a vague division of the world into east, west, passed into new hands. The Saracens were, for sonme and north, distributing the whole into five zones- time, the most learned of nations. As the mantle of two temperate, one torrid, and two frigid. Only the science dropped from the sages of Greece and Rome, first two were habitable, and that on the south was it fell upon the wild and strange Arab race,-sprung inaccessible to man, on account of the torrid regions from the bosom of bigotry and barbarism. The fanatic intervening. hordes, who, under the guidance of Mahomet, rushed Mela, however, seems to have had a very confused from the burning deserts of the south, owned no law notion of the antipodes, whom he calls antichthones. In but the Koran and the sword. WVhen they had contreatingr of the western shores of Europe, and the " huge quered half the known world, however, and founded and intinite sea" on which they border, he relates powerful and splendid monarchies in the east and with exaggerating wonder the phenomenon, unknown west, there arose among them a race of princes, of to a Mediteranean people, of the tides; that mighty humane tenmper and polished manners, who sought to movement by which the sea alternately advances and light anew the almost extinguished lamp of science. returns into itself, overfloin the land, diving ack The Arabian authors applied themselves with great mighty rivers, and sweeping away the strongest land ardor to the study of geography. Masutdi and Ebn animals. His speculations on the cause are singular; Haukal, in the ninth and tenth centuries, and Abuland he comes to the conclusion, that either the earth feda and Edrisi, in the twelfth and thirteenth, deserve is a great animal, whose breathings excite in its particular mention. The mathematical sciences, and breast these alternate movements, or it contains deep especially astronomy, were among the favorite pursuits caves, which alternately absorb and eject the waters! of the court of Bagdad. In the year 833, the Khalif Pliny, the most learned of the Roman writers, ap- Al Mamoun endeavored, by observations of latitude pears to have possessed a greater store of authentic made at Kufa, and at a point in the desert of Palmyra, materials for geography than any former writer. The to measure the circumference of the globe. In all the different authors from which he compiled his Natural countries subject to the Mahometan arms, numerous History amounted to 2500. Two books of this work observations are recorded, which, though not always are devoted to the subject of geography. But he em- rigorously correct, appear, at least, to have been real. ploys no astronomical elements, and appears to have Mlany countries, before unknown and barbalrous, were taken no pains to construct a regular system. His explored, and in some degree civilized by the Mloslem general ideas are founded on the same basis with that arms. The territories on the Oxus and Jaxartes, the of MIela. Asiatic Scythia of the ancients, and occupied then Ptolemy, the last and greatest of the geographers only by wandering hordes, were covered by the Ma1- of antiquity, lived about the middle of the second cen- hometans with large and flourishing cities. Among tury. He instituted a complete reform of the science, these, Samarcand became afterwards the capital of an t and undertook to purify it from all the false elements empire that extended over half of Asia. At the oppo-;1l with which It had been alloyed. In fact, the principles site extremity of the Saracen dominion, M'iauritanin GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES. 43 which had been regarded by the Romans as almost The picture which they drew of it was highly colored, beyond the limits of social existence, became a flour- according to the Oriental taste. The walls were repishing kingdom, and possessed in Fez an eminent resented to be of iron, cemented with brass, and conschool of learning. Even beyond the limits of the taining a gate fifty cubits high, secured by bolts and Mlahometan world, missions were sent to explore the bars of enormous magnitude. The curiosity of the remote countries of the east and west. Arabians was thus set at rest, and in all their subseThe Arabian geographers, however, notwithstand- quent maps and descriptions of Asia, the mighty casing the new facts within their reach, attached them- tie of Gog and Magog was seen towering at its further selves closely to the ancient theories. They revived extremity. the early impression of an all-surrounding ocean. This, according to a natural feeling, was characterized is the "' Sea of Darkness," an appellation most usually C: H A P T Ei R X X I V. given to the Atlantic; but the northern sea of Europe and Asia, inspiring still more mysterious and gloomy Geogrciaphical Discoveries down to the Present ideas, was called the'" Sea of Pitchy Darkness." Edrisi Time. imagined the land to be floating in the sea, and only part appearing above, like an iceberg. At the same time, he divided the water into seven seas, appropriated to the seven climates into which the earth was divided. In the geography of the Arabs, the boundaries of Asia are much enlarged by new discoveries. China makes a distinct appearance, partly under the appella-'tion of Seen, and partly under that of Cathay. Under the former term was probably included Further India. __, They also mention an island productive in camphor, gold, ivory, and dye-woods, named Lamnery; this was, doubtless, Sumatra. Another island is mentioned under the name of Al Djavah, in which we have no \ difficulty in recognizing Java. Eastern and Western Tartary are for the first time delineated with tolerable accuracy in.the Arabian geographies. Many of the leading positions in this hitherto inaccessible part of _ _ the continent were fixed by astronomical observation, -' and some positive, though faint and indistinct notice, appears to have been obtained respecting the people EUROPE, during the period which followed the ovem situated along the shores of the Northern Ocean. throw of the Roman empire, was overwhelmed with a A very singular circumstance is connected with the deluge of barbarism, and no longer cultivated the geographical discoveries of the Saracens. The main -liberal arts. The rude states into which it was diobjects of curiosity and inquiry were Gog and Magog. vided had only a vague idea of each other's situation Oriental fancy had transformed these imaginary beings The monasteries, during the dark ages, afforded an into two enormous giants, who had erected an impreg- asylum for all that remained of ancient knowledge. nable castle on the borders of Scythia. The efforts The missions undertaken for the conversion of the made by the court of Bagdad in pursuit of this chi- northern pagans were, the principal means by which mera were most extraordinary. geographical knowledge was acqpired. The missionThe first expedition to discover the castle of Gog aries did not, at first, attempt to pass the limits of and Magog was undertaken with the hope of finding Europe, but directed their efforts towards the converit somewhere on the shore of the Caspian Sea. But as sion of the Slavonic tribes, who occupied Poland, the Saracen conquests soon embraced the whole of Prussia, and Livonia. One of these, named Other, that region, without disclosing the slightest trace of appears to have penetrated through'the interior of this tremendous fortress, the more southern country Russia to the White Sea, and along the coast of Norof Bokhara was the next field of research. When way. Otho and Anscaire visited Sweden and Denthat also had been surveyed in vain, the court was mark. But although the monks did something to involved in much perplexity. At length, one of the illustrate the geography of Europe, there is sufficient Khalifs dispatched a mission, with strict injunctions evidence that they were in general grossly ignorant, on no account to return without having discovered the and that many of them knew not even the capital of mysterious castle. The envoys, according to the ac- their own country, or the names of the cities in their count of Edrisi, proceeded first along the shores of the immediate neighborhood. Caspian, then through a vast extent of desert, prob- Charlemagne and Alfred distinguished themselves:bly the country of the Kirghises, when they arrived by their efforts to rescue the age from this profound at a stupendous range of mountains, which must have ignorance. The former constructed a silver table of been the Altai chain. Here they found, or pretended large dimensions, on which was delineated the whole to find, something which they concluded to be the world as far as was known to him. Unfortunately, castle of Gog and Magog. Perhaps this was one of the material was too costly for his finances, and the the ancient structures or monuments which have been silver world was afterwards melted down to supply tlhe seen by travellers along the mountain barrier. The necessities of state. Alfred produced a more valuable envoys gladly seized so plausible a pretext for ridding monument in a description of the north of Europe themslves of their very troublesome commission. compiled from the best materials whlich could be then 44 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. collected, and which forms still the best record of the I imprisoned by Alexander the Great. The Caspian geographical knowledge of that age. Sea, with the bordering countries of Georgia, Hyrcanria The Danes and Norwegians, under the name c. and Albania, stand nearly at the northern boundary Northmen, acquired considerable knowledge of the of the habitable earth. Africa has a sea to the south, maritime parts of northern Europe. They were stated to be inaccessible on account of the heat. familiar with the countries bordering on the Baltic. The Tartar conquests of Zingis Khan and his suc They conquered and explored the Orkney and Shet- cessors, in the 12th and 13th centuries, attracted the land Islands, the Hebrides, and the western coast of eyes of Europeans to the regions of Central Asia. Ireland. They discovered Iceland and Greenland, and Embassies were sent from the pope into those distant established colonies there. In the south their fleets countries, and by this means a large portion of Asia, even reached the shores of Italy and Sicily. In the before unknown to Europe, was explored. Marco west they discovered a portion of the American conti- Polo, a Venetian, was the first person who communlinent, to which they gave the name of Vinland. This, cated to Europeans any distinct knowledge of the however, is a subject of controversy among geographers. great empire of China. He travelled to that country The study of geography was promoted in an espe- by land, on a mercantile expedition, in the 13th cen cial manner by the crusades. These expeditions tury, and returned by way of the Indian Archi formed a series of events which roused the European pelago, visiting Sumatra, and the coasts of Malabar mind from its local and limited range, and directed its and Coromandel. Marco acquired a great amount of scrutinies into the regions of another continent. Not geographical information, but his descriptions of China only the Holy Land, with the kingdoms of Jerusalem were for a long time discredited, though they have and Edessa, founded by the crusaders, but the extei- been confirmed by more modern observation. sive domains belonging to the Saracen and Turkish But geography was now to assume a new aspect, empires, became objects of inquiry. Search wvas now and worlds before unknown were to be included in its made into the writings of the ancient geographers, domain. At the close of the 15th century the Amerand perhaps some light was derived from the Saracen ican continent was discovered by Columbus, and the authors. In a map constructed by Sanudo, a Venetian passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope was ot' the 13th century, Jerusalem is placed in the centre effected by Vasco de Gama. A few years afterwards of the world, as the point to which every other object Magellan explored the great Pacific Ocean, and his is to be referred. The earth is represented as a circle ship sailed round the globe, returning to Europe by surrounded by the ocean. Persia stands in its proper the route of the East Indies. The spherical form of place, but India is confusedly repeated at different the earth, which had for some time been no longer points. The river Indus is given as the eastern doubtful to men of science, was thus demonstrated. boundary of Asia. In the north the castle of Gog Of the minor geographical discoveries at subsequent and Magog crowns a vast range of mountains, within periods, mention will be made in the course of the which it was believed that the Tartars had been following history. GENERAL VIEWS OF THE EARTH. ii I Ii The Earth as viewed from the Moon. |C H A P T E R X X V. and 3d, the Terra Australis or Magellanica, Austral or Southern World; to which afterwards was added thl Physical Geo graphy. Arctic World. At a later period, when the knowledge of the Pacific became more extensive, but the notion 1iT waas in the 16th century that geographers col- of a Southern or Antarctic continent still prevailed, the i elvled the idea of dividing all known lands into three names of Australia were proposed for the island of'i great divisions; 1st, the Old World, comprising Eu- NewHolland and the surrounding groups; Polynesia rope, Asia, and Africa; 2d, the New World or America; for the groups scattered over the Pacific; and Magella I_ _ 1, PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 45. nia, for the supposed Southern continent. Finally, The ocean forms in fact a sinole mass of fluid, sin'geographers have agreed to consider the Island World rounding the land, and penetrating the continents with of the Pacific Ocean as a third continent, under the numerous indentures. But geographers generally name of Oceania. divide it into five great basins: Adopting this classification, we divide the land area The Pacific Ocean, 11,000 miles in length fron of the globe into three great continents, called worlds, east to west, and S,000 in breadth, covers an area of i which are completely separated from each other by 50,000,000 square miles. the circumfluent ocean: The Atlantic, S,600 miles in length from north to1 1st. Old World, subdivided into Europe, Asia, and south, and from 1,800 to 5,400 in breadth, covers Africa. about 25,000,000 square miles. 2d. New World, subdivided into North America and The Indian Ocean, lying between 40 degrees S. South America. and 25 degrees N. latitude, is about 4,500 miles in I 3d. Maritime World, or Oceania, subdivided into length and as many in breadth, covering a surface of Malaysia, Australia, and Polynesia. 17,000,000 square miles. The whole land area of the globe has been differ- The Antarctic Ocean, lying round the South Pole, ently estimated; the most recent and accurate calcu- and joining the Indian Ocean in the latitude of 40 lations make it 50,200,000 square miles, distributed as degrees S., and the Pacific in 50 degrees, embraces j follows: an area of about 30,000,000 square miles, including 11 Divisions. Square Miles. the Antarctic continent. Old World, or Eastern Continent,... 31,230 000 rOld World, or.E.astern Continent,. 31,230,000 The Arctic Ocean surrounds the North Pole, lying i E urope, 3,724,000 Asia,..... 1;, 15'2,000 to the north of Asia and America, and having a circut Africa,.11,354,000 of about S,400 miles. Including the land it may conNew World America, or Western Continent,. 14,800,000 tain, the extent of which is unknown, it may embrace North America,. 8,000,000 S,000,000 of square miles. South America,.. 6,800,000 Maritime World, or Oceania,....4,170,000 Phenomena of the Ocean.-The saltness of the ocetnl Maritime World, or Oceaniad, I4.170,000 The recently discovered Antarctic Continent is of unknown is doubtless caused by its connection with vast reser- extent. voirs of salt, in various parts of the earth. It is a, striAlthough the ocean presents the appearance of a king provision of Providence, for without this quality in barren waste, and in the infancy of human art seems the ocean, its waters would become tainted, and all anito interpose an impassable barrier to the intercourse mal life would perish. The tides of the ocean appeal:t of nations whom it separates, yet in the eye of philos- to be ordained for the purpose of mixing the water. —, So ophy it is the great reservoir of the vapors which feed as to diffuse the saline quality throughout its whole mass. the rivers;, and fertilize the earth; and to civilized The green and yellow shades of the ocean arise frolt I nmlan, it becomes a highway connecting the most dis- marine.plants, scattered through its depths. The I lle tant parts of the globe. Its bosom contains an inex- tints are reflections from the sky, or the atrnosphire. hauistible supply of food, and its comparatively equable The sparkling of the sena, at night, is often very ilviootemperature renders it a source of refreshing coolness sing. A vessel while ploughing her way through the| in the burning climates of the tropics, and of kindly billows, often ampears to mark out a furrow of fire; warlnth in the. more inclement regions, remote from sometimes every stroke of the oar of a boat emits a the equator. light either brilliant (tld dazzling, or tranquil and pearl. ly This wonderful phenomenon is supposed to depend up< on an infinitude of small sea animals diffused throuh the waves, which have the power to throw out phospho-r rescent sparks, as does the glow-worm or lightnin-hlr. The currents of the ocean are very remarkable. There is a general motion of the waters from east to west, both in the Atlantic and the Pacific. Navigators frequently take advantage of these currents. The Giulf Stream is caused by the waters of the Atlantic, near the Equator; these, mnovin g westward and striking on the coast of South America, are turned northward, and mo ve ___~ —-~ —~ —~ —~j / along the coast of the United States, till they are lost in the ocean east of Newfoundland. Climate. Climate has almost as much influence on man, and his history and character, as it has upon vegetation. It comprehends the decrees of heat and cold, the drought, moisture and salubrity that characterise any given region of the earth. The chief causes which afmpct climate, are the action of the sun upon the atmosphere. elevation of site, exposure to the sun and wind, neighThe ocean, with all its inland bays and seas, covers borhood of seas, nature of the soil, state of cultivation an area of nearly 147,800,000 square miles, or about prevailing winds, contiguity of hot or cold regions, &e. three fourths of the surface of the globe. Laplace has Seasons.-The four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, calculated, from the influence of the sun and moon and winter, are only common to the temperate zones. upon our planet, that the depth of the sea cannot In tropicalcountries, orthe torrid zones, it isalways hot, exceed 26,500 feet. If we suppose its mean depth and the only distinction of the seasons is, into the wet to be about two miles, its contents will be nearly and the dry. In the frigid zones, the seasons consist of a 3ti0,000,000 cubic miles. long winter, succeeded by a short period of great heat. 46 (GEOGRAPHICAL, DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. The Vegetable Kingdom. The empire of vegetation gutta-percha tree. There are also various sort- o' embraces the whole globe from pole to pole, and from the summit of the Andes, where the lichen creeps over the hardest rocks, to the bottom of the ocean, where floating fields of plants rise unseen. Cold and heat, light and shade, fertile lands and pathless deserts, every place, every temperature, has its own kind of, vegetation, which thrives and prospers there. There are plants which even ramify upon the dark vaults of mines, and upon the walls of the deepest caverns. The temperature of the atmosphere seems to furnish the only limit of vegetation. The valleys of the Andes are adorned with the bananas and palm-trees found in tropical regions alone; the more elevated regions of that chain support firs, oaks, and other trees common to our own climate. Man has transported. and dissenminated almost over the whole surface of the globe, those vegetables which supply him with his principal nourishment. Some useful plants have been rendered. common to every climate, by nature herself. The verdure of the polar summer is confined to hills Ivhich have a southern exposure. Though extremely Bread Fruit Tree. short-lived, it is sometimes very brilliant. Besides dye-wood, and particular kinds of grain, which belong mosses and lichens, are perceived ferns, creeping almost exclusively to this zone. plants, and bushes with berries, such as currants and others. Nowhere are these fruits more abundant, or possessed of a finer flavor. The frozen zone also admits of some trees, particularly the birch and willow, C H A P T E R X X V I. but they always remain dwarfs, never growing higher Geographical Distriblttiorn of Animals: Variothan two or three feet. ties of the Human Race. The boundary line between the temperate and frigid zones varies considerably in different countries. In North America it is ten degrees farther south than in 8Europe. It is indicated by the fir-trees, which at this point preserve a perpetual verdure. In the northern'" t40 half of this zone, several fruit-trees, the apple, the pear, the cherry, and the plum, and certain vegetables, I I such as the cabbage, peas, and radislhes, grow better, i and are more cultivated. Flax and hemp are indige- - - nous to it. In the middle portions of this zone, the oak, maple, elm, and other forest-trees, gain the superiority over the pine and fir. The more delicate fruits, - - such as the olive, lemon, orange, and fig-and amongst the wild trees, the cypress, cedar, and cork-more especially belong to the southern parts of this zone. The vine and mulberry occupy the space between the |__., 30th and 50th parallels. The true country of the vine is to the south of the 45th degree. Peaches, apricots, almonds, quinces, chestnuts, and nuts, are equally injured in their growth as they approach the neighbor- - hood either of the tropic or polar circles. Oats andl barley are the kinds of corn which best bear the coild.,: Rye, wheat, millet, and buckwheat, grow best between the 40th and 60th degrees. The torrid zone exhibits vegetObie wealth which we should in vain expect to find in other regions of the o globe. It,ot only possesses many species peculiarly its own, but in the more elevated parts it has thosef'- "X M H which are fbund in other climates. It is in this zone: that the most luscious fruits, and the most pungent aromatics, arrive at perfect maturity. Vegetation of every kind is distinguished for stateliness, variety, --- and splendor. It is here that the earth produces the O coffee-tree, sugar-cane, palm, bread-fruit tree, banana,, I " - _-' plantain, date, cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, pep- Comparative Size of the Principal Quadrupeds. per, and camphor-tree. Here also are produced trees TIm~ limitation of groups of distinct species of amyielding various gums, among which the most remark- mals to regions separated from the rest of the globe by able are the caoutchouc or india-rubber tree, and the VARIETIES O THE HrUMAN RACE. 4-7 tertain natural barriers, has long been recognized by stated, it has been found to be full of different organic naturalists as a general law in the geographical distri- substances, animal and vegetable, which have remained bution of organic beings. The discovery of America as the memorials of the revolutions that have taken revealed a race of indigenous quadrupeds, all dissim- place on its surface, and the only monuments of races ilar from those previously known in the Old World; of beings long passed away. Naturalists have studied the elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the and classified these interesting relics, and have shown cameleopard, the dromedary, the buffalo, the horse, the that while many belong to extinct species of still ass, the lion, the tiger, the apes, the baboons, and existing genera, many others belong to distinct o-enera numerous other species of mammalia, were nowhere of which no type now survives. Their relative posimet with on the new continent; while in the old con- tions in the different formations recognized by geolofinent, the American species of the same great class, gists, have also enabled scientific inquirers to detertuch as the tapir, the lama, the pecari, the jaguar, the mine the relative periods at which they acted their cougar, the agouti, the paca, the coati, and the sloth, part upon the changing stage we now occupy —herehad never been seen. after, perhaps, to be trod by an indefinite succession In examining the crust of the earth, as already of new creations. Alithough MAN stands at the head of creation, he is at and has exhibited the moral and intellectual powers his birth one of the feeblest and most dependent of erea- of human nature, in their highest degree of perfection. tures. While animals reach their pertfction with little This variety derives its name from the group of or no instruction man rises to his full development by mountains between the Caspian and the Black Sea, experience, education, and training. Animals depend because tradition seems to point to this part of the chiefly' upon instinct, man upon the divine gift of reason. world as the place of its origin. Theence its diffirent Man seems destined for unlimited progress, animals only for a limited and temporary existence. Of lan, there is bdt one species, yet this embraces severai varieties. ~~' 5 —-:~ ~ CLASSIFIFIcATION OF HUMAN VARIETIES. -In attempting, to form a classification of the human race according to its physical varieties, the most eminent. philosophers agree in considering man as forming a single species of the genus, and differ only as to the ____..' number of varieties into which it is to be sub-divided. The celebrated Cuvier includes all these varieties under three primary divisions, which he terms, 1.:~~~i~~~~~ The Fair, or Caucasian variety. 2. The Yellow, or Mongolian. 3. The Black, or Ethiopian. Blumenbach extends these primary divisions to five, of which we shall here give a brief survey. I. THE CAUCASIAN VARIETY, characterized by a white skin; red cheeks; copious, soft, flowing hair, generally curled or'waving; ample beard; small, oval, branches have issued at different periods, in difleren a nd straight facn, wi th features distinct; expanded directions; and here, even at the present day, we ind forehead; large and elevated cranium; narrow nose; its peculiar physical characteristics in the highest and sm all mouth. This race has give h to re hperfection, among the Georgans and Circassians, who most civilized nations of ancient and modern times, are considered the handsomest people in the wor 48 VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN RACE. It embraces several branches, distinguished by anal- the wandering life, appears to have had its origin in ogies of language, viz: the Altai Mountains, whence it has thrice carried the (Chaldeans, terror of its name, under Attila, Gengis, and TamerAssyrians, lane, over half the Old World. The Chinese, belongThe Syrian branch, Phonicians, ing to this variety, are by some thought to have been comprising the abs, the most early civilized of all the nations of the world, Egyptians, (Copts,) (Chinese, or mass of'c population of China, Abyssinians, (Arab colonies,) &c. Coreans, From this branch, which directed its course south- Japanese, Tungou..-s, (Tungooses Proper in Siberia wards, have sprung the religions which have proved the Tuniohoos, tUnheS Proper io Siberia, ar- I.antchoos, the ruling people of China,) most durable and the most widely extended in the west. IIongols, (Mongols Proper. Kalmucks, &c.,) (Hindoos, It comprises the Birmese or Myamras Persians, Annamites, (Cochinchinese, Tonquinese,) Greeks, Siamese, Romans, Sainoyedes, and numerous other Siberian Celtic Nations, (Ancient Gauls, Celtibe- hordes, rians, Britons, &c., Welsh, Irish, Esquimaux, (classed by some in the Amer. Scotch Highlanders, &c.,) ican variety,) &c. 2 The Indo-Pelasgic Teutonic Nations, (Germans, Danes, branch, comprising 1 Swedes, Norwegians, Dutch, English, &C.,) Sclavonic Nations, (Russians, Poles, Servians, Croatians, Bohemians, Slo-: i wvacs, Wends, &c.,) Romnanic Natitns, (French, Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, Belgians. Walachians, &c.) The nations which compose this branch have ca rried philosophy, science, and the arts to the highett perfection, and for more thadn ehree thousand years have been the depositaries end guardians of knowledge. l Scythians, Parthians, Turklish Nations, (Usbecks, Turk- i 1. The Scythan aor Tarta- mans, Kirghises, Osmanlees or rian branch, comprising Ottoman Turks, &C.,) III. THE AMONGICAN VARIETY has the skin dartk, and Uralian Nations, (Finlanders, Hungarians or Matgyars, Esthonians, more or less red; the hair is black, straight, and Sames or Laplanders, &e.) strong, with the beard small; face and skull very Accustomed to a ro ring and predatory life in the similar to the Mongolian, but the former not so flat vast steppes of Asia, these wandering tribes seem only tened; eyes sunk; forehead low; the nose and other destined to devastate the inheritance, and subvert the features being somewhat projecting. civil institutions, of their more polished brethren. The moral and intellectual qualities of this race I[. THE MONGOLIAN VARIETY has these characteris- approach those of the Mongolian; like that, it has tics: —The skin, instead of being white or fair, is remained stationary, but it has stopped at a point olive yellow; the hair thin, coarse, and straight;little much below the Asiatic variety. The ancient and or no beard broad, flattened face, ith the features no extin ct empires of exico a nd Peru may be conrunning together; small and low forehead; square- sidered analogous tthose of China and India, exhishaped.cranium; wide and small nose; very oblique iting the highest point of civilization to which the two eyes; and thick lips. Stature inferior to the Cauca- races have reached; but arts, sciences, and all those sian. In this race the moral and intellectual energies intellectual endowments which, to a certain extent, have been developed in an inferior degree. belong to the Asiatics, appear to have made little or his vaiety which stno progrethes amongeastwardly the Americans. of the Pacific O cean, and which has mostly retained hair short, black and woolly skull compressed on VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN. RACE. 4a the aides, and elongated towards the front; forehead but it certainly includes races of very different physilow, narrow, and slanting; cheek bones very promi- cal and moral qualities. nent; jaws projecting, so as to render the upper front We may divide it into the Malayan race and the teeth oblique; eyes prominent; nose broad and flat; Melanesian or Papuan race. The former is of a lighter lips, especially the upper one, very thick. Different complexion, longer hair, and somewhat oval counbranches of this race spread over the whole of the tenance. Some of the nations of this race have long African continent, excepting those parts -bordering on possessed alphabets, and made considerable advances the north and east of the Great Desert, which are in civilization, while others are in a low state. The occupied by Caucasian Syrians, and in which all latter have the black complexion and woolly hair of traces of the Negro formation disappear. the Negroes, and are in the most degraded social con. The extension given to this variety seems to be dition, living by fishing or on the spontaneous produc. rather arbitrary, and a more correct division of the tions of the earth, without clothing, without huts, and African races will probably be the result of a better even without arms, except of the rudest construction. acquaintance with that continent. There is, indeed, They form the only inhabitants of the great islands little in common between the Negro and the Berber, of Australia, and are found in the interior of the other and the Hottentot and the Caffre. The Ethiopian principal islands of Oceania, in which the Malayan variety comprises the follrving leading branches, viz: races are generally the ruling people. 1. The Hottentots, (Coronas, Namaquas, Bushmen, and other tribes within the Cape Colony and the basin of the river Malays Proper, (in Sumatra, Borneo, lalacca, Orange.) f the Moluccas, &c.,) 2. The Caffres, (Coosas, Tambookis, Betshuanas, &c., extend- Battaks, Sumatra, ing from Port Natal to an uncertain distance north.) Achinese, 3. The Negroes, occupying the whole continent from about 20~ Bugis, N. to the southern tropic, with the exception of some Macassars, Celebes, regions on the eastern coast, andl including numerous fam-. Malayan l ilies of nations.aayan Dayaks or Haraforas, (Borneo,) 4. The Gallas, (comprising numerous wandering tribes, who branch, in Tatls, have conquered a great part of Abyssinia and the neigh- ludes Bissayos, P boring countries.) Sooloos S. The Barabras or Berbers, (including the native tribes of Mindanaos, Northern Africa; Berbers Proper, Tuaricks, Tibboos, Carolinians, Shelluhs, &c., of the Atlas region; and the Nubians, New Zealanders, KRenoos, Shangalls, Shillooks, Darfurians, Somaulis, &c., Feeeeans, to the east.) Sandwich Islanders, Society Islanders, The Ethiopian variety has ever remained in a rude Friendly Islanders, &c. and comparatively barbarous state; their cities are New Hollanders but collections of huts; their laws, the despotic whim Papuan Inhabitants of New Guinea, Papua, and many of the reigning chief. Incessantly occupied in war branh, in- others, in various islands, mixed with the and the chase, they do not seek to perpetuate their Malays. ideas; they have no written language, the Arabic being the only character used in Africa; and although The origin of the different races of men has been a abundantly supplied with the necessaries of life, they subject of much inquiry The Bible traces them all have retained their condition unchanged, after centu- to one source, and this view is confirmed by scientific ries of intercourse with enlightened nations. Let us investigation. If we resort to the supposition that hope ofthat a better destiny awaits them. Let us the diversities of color, form, and character, which we discover in mankind, proceed from so many different creations, then we shall be driven to the conclusion, that there were, at least, many thousands of these. In Hindostan, for instance, where the people for many centuries have been regarded as one race, there are groups of every shade of complexion, and every variety of stature, form, and character, both mental and physical. Now, had each of these groups original parents - an Adam and Eve, - created by the direct act of God? Such a supposition finds no support in history; on the contrary, all history, both written and traditional. is against it. On the other hand, the variety of races in the human family may be accounted for from facts within our own observation. True whites have been born among negroes and Arabs, remote from all contact with white population. The style of living, the food, the climate, V. THE MALAY RAxE varies in the color of the are well known to produce complete transformations |lain from a light tawny to a deep brown, approaching in the whole physical and mental aspect of families to black; -hair black, more or less curled, and abun- and tribes. We come to the conclusion, then, that dant; head rather narrow; bones of the face large and nature herself has made provision for the varieties of prominent; nose ful and broad towards the lips. the human race, thus adapting them to every zone Such is the account given by many writers of this and every clime, and displaying in the Author of variety, which is spread all over Oceania, and is found nature that wisdom which "sees the end from,ho nm Malacc., in Asia, and on Madagascar, in Africa; beginning." 7 _. 5() WESTERN HEMISPHERE. C HAPTER xx V 11 Physical Geography, continued — Western Henmisphere, ~'c. 90 EXTENT and POPULATION. The continent of America VOLCANOES. The Andes form one of the grea extends from 74~ N. to 54~ S. lat., and from 35~ to volcanic regions of the globe, containing volcanoes 168~ W. loncg. Itsextremelengthisabout9,000miles; through their whole course, from Chili to Russian area, including the islands, 15,000,000 square miles; America. About 20 are known between 46~ and 27~ population about 55,000,000, comprising 29,000,000 S. lat.; 2 in Peru; 5 in the Equator; 6 in New whites, 10,000,000 Indians, 8,000,000 negroes, and Grenada; 21 in Guatimala; 8Sin Mexico, &c. There the same number of mixed breeds (mulattoes, mesti- is also a volcano in South Shetland, several in the West zoes, zambos, &c.) Of this population about 29,600,- Indies, one in Jan Mayen's Island, several in Iceland, &c. 000 speak the English language; 12,500,000, Spanish; CLIMATE. The climate of North America is known 7,600,000, the Indian languages; 4,600,000, Portu- to be colder and more variable than that of Europe; guese; 1,400,000, French,and 300,000, Danish, Dutch, this is explained by the fact that it has but little land and Swedish. surface within the torrid zone, while it extends far MOUNTAINS. The name of Andes may be properly into the frigid zone with a great width. The direcapplied to the whole system of mountains which, un- tion of the mountains being from north to south, At der different names, extends from the Arctic Ocean to great part of the continent is thus exposed to be sweipt the Straits of Magellan, a distance of 10,000 miles. by the icy winds of the poles; and by means of the It is remarkable for its great length, its mineral treas- snow-capt mountains, the polar climate extends quite ures, and the number and elevation of its volcanoes. to the tropic, where winter and summer seem to strugThe mountains of America extend from north to south, gle face to face. The western coast, being sheltered while the great chains of the eastern hemisphere run from the polar winds by the Rocky Mountains, has from east to west. The principal elevations are the a milder climate, resembling that of Europe. following: In South America the most different climates are Nevado de Sorata, 25,420' A|brought into close contact, by the physical character 111imani, 22,550s of the country; the vegetation of the tropics borders Chimborazo, 21,425 1 on districts covered with the plants of temperate re Antisana, 19,136 South America. gions, while above rise in successive layers zones of Cotopaxi, 18,870!Alpine vegetation and of perpetual ice. Pichincha,* 16,500 J NATIVES. Two distinct races of men have been Agua, 15,500 Central America. found in America,'-the Esquimaux, supposed to be Popocatepetl,* 17,800 of the Mongolian stock, and the American Indian, Orizava,* 17,500 -properly so called. Iong's Peakt1, 15,700 North America. The former comprises three principal branches; the Mount St. Elias, 17,860 Karalits or Greenlanders; the eastern Esquimaux, Mount Fairweather, 14,736 J who occupy the north-eastern coast of Labrador; and the western Esquimaux, who roam over the countries ~ Volcanoes bordering on Mackenzie's and Copper Mine rivers EASTERN HEMISPHERE 51 &c. The Esquimaux are essentially a maritime peo- Esquimaux, and althotugh exhibiting great diversities nle, never residing at a great distance from the sea- of physical character, and moral condition, thev are coast, and dependent rather upon fishing than the commonly considered as of a kindred race. Accordchase. The dog is their only domestic animal, and ing to Balbi, more than 438 languages, including uptheir mechanical skill is chiefly confined to the con- wards of 2,000 dialects, are spoken by 10,000,000 struction of their canoes. Indians of America. Our limits will not even permit The American Indians, comprising all the other us to give the names of their tribes, which are still nu. native tribes of America, differ essentially from the merous, notwithstanding the general decay of the race CHAPTER XXVIII. Physical Geography, contintled — Easterin IHentisphere. lI 0 0. o EXTENT and POPULATION. The Eastern Hemisphere, The direction of the mountain chains corresponds with containing the three great divisions of Europe, Asia, the general direction of the land; those of America and Africa, with Australia, presents the largest mass of extending north and south; and those of the Old land on the face of the globe. Exclusive of the isl- World east and west. This is true of the Alps of ands, it extends from 78~ N. lat. to 35~ S. lat., and Europe, the Himalaya, Caucasian, and other chains from 17~ W. long. to 190~ E. long., and has an area of Asia, and seems to be the case with those of Central of about 31,000,000 square miles, with a population of Africa. This remarkable parallelism of the great nearly 800,000,000. Including those parts of Oceania mountainous chains of the globe has led recent geolowhich may be considered as belonging to the Eastern gists to some important conclusions as to their relative Hemisphere, the land area may be estimated at about ages. The highest summits of the eastern continent 34,500,000 square miles, with a population thus dis- are as follows: tributed: Tchamoulari, (Bootan,) Asia, 28,200 Divisions. Area Sq. Miles. Povulation. Dhawalagiri, (Himalaya,) ditto, 28,000 ASIA, 16,150,000 580,000,000 Elburz, (Caucasus,) ditto, 17,000 AFRICA, 11,350,000 65,000,000 Ararat, ditto, 17,000 EUROPE, 3,724,000 280,000,000 Mont Blanc, Europe, 15,732 IsLANDS (Malaysia, Aus- |3500000 20)000 000 Geesh, (Abyssinia,) Africa, 15,000 tralia, &c.; 3,500,000 Mount Rosa, (Alps;) Europe, 15,152 Maladetta, (Pyrenees,) ditto, 11,424 MOUNTAINS. The general direction of the land in' JEtna,* ditto, 10,871 the eastern and western continents is entirely differ- Rusky-Poyana, (Carpathians,) do., 9,912 ent; in the latter it is from north to south, but in the Kvar Kutch, (Ural,) ditto, 5,370 former from east to west. The longest straight line SOIL. It has been estimated that of 31,000,000 o that. can be drawn on the eastern continent is from, Cape Verde to Behring's Strait, 11,000 miles; the long- square miles which compose the eastern continent, thep est line drawn over the new continent runs from th e third, and a pr Strait of Magellan to the Arctic Ocean, 9,000 miles. * Volcano. LI 52 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY even of that third is poor; while of the 13,900,000 tent is yet very imperfectly known. Thus the island,quare miles composing the American continent, of Bourbon belongs to a volcanic region of which!0,000,000 consist of useful soil. A great part of the Madagascar probably forms a part; near the entrance American soil being in warm regions, where it enjoys of the Arabian Gulf is the volcano of Gabel Tor, and the combined advantages of heat and moisture, is also in the province of Cutch, and the adjoining districts of much more productive than the available soil of the Hindostan, violent earthquakes are frequent. Old World. The whole number of volcanic vents in the world VEGETATION. The number of vegetable species at has been estimated at 518, many of which only emit present known is, according to Humboldt, about smoke, and many are quiescent. They are distributed 44,000, of which, 6,000 are cryptogamous, and 38,000 as follows: phanerogamous; according to the same philosopher, Europe, 14 who has paid particular attention to the geography of Asia, 100 Africa, 31 plants, the latter are distributed as follows: America, 20 America, 202 In Asia, 6,500 Oceania, 171 In Europe, 7,000 ARCTIC REGIONS. In the Arctic Ocean navigators In OceAfrica, 3,000 have penetrated to 84~ 30' N. lat., and a Russian In America, 17,000 hunting station has been established on Spitzbergen, It is also observable, that in the Old World large in lat. 80~, which is the most northerly inhabited spot tracts are often vholly occupied bya single species of of the known world. Nova Zembla, discovered by trac ~often w~~Wholly occupied hby ain3 single species ofthe social plants, to the exclusion of all others, but that a Willoughby in 1553; Spitzbergen, discovered by the given space in the New World contains a greater Dutch in 1596; Greenland, probably an island; Iceland; diversity of vegetable forms. the North Georgian Islands, lying on the north of VOLCANIC REGIONS. There are certain vast Barrow's Straits, and numerous islands on the south in the eastern continent, in which active volcanic of the same straits, are the principal masses of land in vents are distributed at intervals, and most commonly these terrtories. arranged in a linear direction, Throughout the intermediate spaces, there is abundant evidence that the - subterranean fire is continuously at work; for the ground is convulsed from time to time by earthquakes, the soil disengages gaseous vapors, and springs of a nigh temperature, and impregnated with the same matter as that discharged by the eruptions of the volcanoes, frequently occur. 1. The volcanic region from the Aleutian Isles to the Moluccas extends in a continuous line, first in an easterly direction for about 1,000 miles, and then southwards, through a space of between 600 and 700 of latitude, to the Moluccas, when it branches off in different directions, to the east and north-west. It thusBM extends through the Aleutian Islands, Kamtschatka, the Kurile, Japanese, and Philippine Isles, and is pro- These dreary regions, where no tree casts a shade, longed through the north-eastern extremity of Celebes, and of which mosses and some stunted shrubs are by Ternate and Tidore, to the Moluccas. Here a the only vegetation, are the abode of winter, the seat great transverse line runs from east to west; on the of fogs, frosts, and storms. It begins to snow as west, passing through the whole of Java, which con- early as August, and duringo the month of September tains 3S large volcanic mountains, and Sumatra; on the whole ground is covered to the depth of several the east, stretching through Borneo, Celebes, Banda, feet; from this time till toward June everything is New Guinea, New Britain, and spreading out over a bound in fetters of ice. In May the snow begins to great part of Polynesia. The whole of the equatorial dissolve, and the ice breaks up, but the air is now Pacific is one vast theatre )f volcanic action, and many darkened by dense fogs, until for a few weeks in July of its archipelagoes are comltosed of volcanic rocks, and August the sun shines out with great power. with active vents here and there interposed. The sun does not appear above the horizon for 2. The other great volcanic region of the eastern about four months, although even in the depth of winhemisphere extends from the. central regions of Asia, ter the light of day does not entirely abandon the on the east of the Caspian, to the Azores, a distance miserable tenants of these regions, and the fitful, but of about 4,000 miles, and reaching from the 35th to brilliant illumination of the Aurora Borealis-North. the 45th degree of latitude. Its northern boundaries ern Morning —relieves the horrors of the scene. are, the Caucasus, the Carpathian and Alpine systems, The only animals which can resist the cold, anc( the Cevennes, and the Pyrenees; its southern limits procure subsistence in this climate, are the reindee | comprise part of the Arabian desert, and of Northern which advances as far north as S0~, but migrates t. Africa. Throughout the whole of this vast area, we the south in October; the great white or polar bear may trace numerous points of volcanic eruptions, hot some species of wolves and foxes,'&c. The seas are springs, gaseous emanations, &c.; and few tracts of crowded with water-birds, during the warm' months any considerable extent have been entirely exempt and the whale, the seal, and the movse or walrus from earthquakes during the last 3,000 years. I attract fishermen in pursuit of their fat, fur, or tusls 3. Beside these great continuous spaces of volcanoes, l The right whale, or Greenland whale, (mybsticetus,,'s there are in the eastern hemisphere several discon chiefly pursuned in the Arctic, and the cachalot, ol nect.d volcanic groups, or which the geographical ex- spermaePti whale, in the Antarctic seas. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY. 53 ANTARCTIC REGIONS. Until the middle of the last little isles of Peter and Alexander, about lat. 70~, centu.ry, geographers and naturalists, reasoning from discovered in 1821, are the Ultima Thule of the the unequal distribution of land in the two hemi- Antarctic seas. spaeres, maintained the existence of a continent round Other islands known here are New South Shetlandl the south pole, to which they gave the name of South- (61 ~-630 lat.,) discovered by Williams in 1819; ern Continent, Australia or Magellanica, and which South Georgia, inaccessible on account of ice for a they conceived necessary to counterbalance the mass fgreat part of, the year, (.54 30' lat.,) discovered in of Arctic land. The voyages of Cook and succeed- 1675; Southern Orkneys, 500 W. long., 600 45' S. ing navigators apparently refuted this supposition; lat., discovered by Weddel in 1822, &c. These but in 1840, an American exploring expedition, com- bleak regions are visited only by whalers and sea. nanded by Captain Wilkes, discovered a vast ex- ships. tent of land, which they named the Antarctic Conti- The voyages of other navigators have made us acnent. It is between the Antarctic Circle and 70~ S. lat. quainted with large tracts of land, the limits and The Magellanic Archipelago, or the islands of extent of which are as yet unknown; Enderby's'lerra del Fuego, are the most southerly part of the Land, discovered by Captain Biscoe in 1831, is in globe inhabited by man; the hichest southern lati- lat. 670 S., lon. 500 E., and Graham's Land is in tude reached by navigators is lat. 740 15', and the about the same lat. in the meridian of 60 —700 W C HAPTER XX X. Political Geography - Nations - Governments — Religions, dyc. Surface of the Earth. Physical Geography regards the earth as consti- populous, becomes complicated and extensive, and iuted by its Creator; Political Geography considers I thus a need arises for various officers, of different mankind in their social capacity including their divis- grades and different functions, to assist in administerion into states and nations, with their various institu- ing the government. tions of government, laws, and religion; including, Forms of Government. The forms of government also, the state of society in respect to civilization. which have been adopted from time to time in the The distribution of imainkind into nations will be con- progress of human society, are very numerous. Those sidered successively, as we treat of the several quar- which exist at the present day are chiefly of two kinds, ters of the globe, and the general condition of each monarchical, and popular. will be duly presented in the course of our work. Monarchical Governments. These areQ principally Government' its Origin, fc. None but savage of three kinds: 1st. Despotic government, in which communities are without government. This, indeed, the will of the sovereign is the supreme law of the begins in the family, and is soon adopted by the coin- land. This exists in Turkey, Russia, Austria, and munity. The union of several families usually con- generally throughout Asia, and parts of Africa. This stitutes the beginning of a state. Aniong agricultural species of government, however, is sometimes modinations the first ruler is generally a patriarch, or some fiod, as in Turkey, where the sovereign is to some person of age and experience, who has acquired au- extent regarded as a religious being, and rutles in the thority by means of his character or his abilities. name of the deity. This characteristic attaches to Among fighting nations, the first ruler is often a most Asiatic despotisms. In even the most despotic chief, who possesses great strength, or courage, or countries, there are also certain usages, customs, and ability in war. traditions, which more or less restrain the power ot As society advances, mankind discover the neces- the monarch. The czar of Russia is under the influsity of stability in their governments, and thus they ence of such a power. At the present time, France found dynasties; they seek security for life and prop- is under a despotic government, though disguised by erty and conscience, and this leads to fixed laws. certain forms, which seem to modify the power of the The business of government, as a nation becomes emperor. ~is tE=P~ ~~~~~~-o-','%',.: —".:':,-~... ""''a TND,' S...... al....... "...'- " 0 Q~" ~~~~~~. ~ e.~,':" ~ ~:..z<)v\o'-'j.."K.-'." s -.~ -~T~-~ e - rm.%0] /~~ ~~~~~~:::::'.'......:....;*'. ~.,'qI.'~::{.;:,..r.~.~]',. dis GA~~~~~~~~~~~~cntons or~r Sitch~~~ ~.~;::..',''~''q. is th piesent codiio of ths ceerae Th hitr -fAsrai once o nywt to~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'.Br us first great em-o t, but wt alhswih piesha tei rs, ndwhrehua cviiztin iSt EtweA ni n gp.AtoeproteAs a 7andacnieal-ereo dvlpet fnnepr mrce ei n esao h at tows He ill hereseethatAssyia Poperisounded mtote similartos hto.eogaadte ao ns -oun thie no erth by stArmena;heonu the ea rstb Mreda; on- Amongthjaen mountains, ofuth northa ithiscler and in the southr byl So asiaa hseeuon the west xebymapile sopotamia. syi, alngdh borders of Armena snowth fyiaal-st r GEOGRAPHICAL VIEW OF cmosiderable depth in winter. The whole may be deemed a fruitful region, producing wheat, rye, barley, sesame and millet; also, grapes, and a great variety of other fruits. In such a climate, irrigation is alone necessary to produce abundant crops, and this was practised to a great extent in ancient times. The kings and emperors caused canals, embankments, and reservoirs, to be constructed on a vast scale, to facilitate irrigation, and owinog to this liberal policy, the whole country became in the hibhest deoree productixe. View of the C it is suppose~d that. the founders of the AssyJrman and Mies 72 ANTIQUITY OF ASSYRIA -lOWER OF BABEL. 4_1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~C H A P T E R X X X V1 IJ II. be pronounced certain and incontestible. It has weet 2221t 0B.C. generally assumed as a safe conjecture, that the em221 to 2000 B. C. pire of Assyria was as ancient as the city of Babylon. Aitiqity of Assyria-Tower of Babel —Dis- We are informed by Callisthenes, a Greek philosopher, persion of th iae Peopler- Nimrd- N ii s- who accompanied Alexander the Great in his career`Semnircamis. of conquest in the East, that the Babylonians reckoned 1903 years from the foundation of their city to ASSYRIA appears to have been one of the earliest its capture by Alexander. - This would fix the begin. settled countries in the world; and according to all ning of Assyria* at the year of the world 1770, or only historical records, it was the seat of one of the most 114 years after Noah's flood, according to Usher'o ancient monarchies. It therefore claims an early Chronology. notice fr.)m the historian, as being connected with the Assyria was, undoubtedly, the first great empire origin of government, arts, and civilization. founded after the deluge. When the waters subsided, Yet, however distinguished for its antiquity, and we are told that the ark rested on the mountains of the power to which it attained, we can give no certain Ararat. These are in Armenia, a country bordering information with regard to the primitive history of on that region where the Assyrian empire afterwards Assyria. The early annalists were deeply infected arose. The sacred historian gives us few partieu. with superstition and the love of fable. The records lars of the migrations of the human race after Noah of the empire, if any existed possessing the character and his family left the arik. One body of them of authenticity, have long sinde perished in the wrecks journeyed east to the land of Shinar, which is sup. of time; and the preposterous vanity of the Greeks, in posed to be Chaldea. Here they undertook a singular neglecting the history of foreign nations, or relying project, -that of building a city and a tower "whose upon their own fanciful historians in preference to top might reach to heaven." Various motives have better attested documents, has involved this subject in been assigned for this enterprise. Some have explained hopeless obscurity. it by the fears of another deluge. Others imagine it The Greek writers inform us that the early Assyr- was intended as a landmark, or object to be seen at a ian history consisted of little more than traditions distance; that wvhen the people wandered hither and of the heroes and heroines who, at some early but un- thither with their flocks, the tower might be visible as certain period, founded a kingdom in the countries a common point of union. Others look upon it as an bordering on the Tigris and LEuphrates. These tra- indication of extravagant ambition and appetite for ditions are said to have been marked by no chronolog- celebrity, which, if unchecked, might have led to the ical data, but to have exhibited the usual features of most criminal excesses. On this point, however. we oriental exaggeration. The Assyrian history con- can offer little except conjecture. The only distinct tained in the Mosaic writings is that of a distinct information we have in relation to it is, that the denation of conquerors, who founded an empire. This sign was displeasing to the Almighty, and to prevent history, however, is confined to incidental notices of the wars between the Assyrians and the Hebrews. B* The foundcling of the Assyrian empire is usually fixed at 2221 B.C., onlv 127 years after the deluge. The ancient histories repreThe Greek historian, Herodotus, dwells briefly on the sent that at this time there were numerous and popuilous nations, subject of the Assyrians, but his narrative, as far as it and in a very short period after, armies amounting to hundreds of goes, confirms the scriptural account. All the his- thousands of men were brought into the field. Cities also were buiit, goes, confirms the scriptural account. All the his- of vast extent'and ast( nishing magnificence. These facts lead to Fories, hoarever, of these early times, are so obscure, the belief that Usher's Chronology is defective, and that a much and the statements they contain so contradictory to longed space of tine elapsed between the founding of Assyria and 2achothr inman matria poitsthatit s imoss- theDeluge than is usually reckoned. The opinion is gaining,ach other in many material points, that it is impossi- ground, that Haile's Chr, nology is more nearly accurate than that Ale to construct a narrative on this subject which can of Usher. See note page 23. REIGN OF SEMIIRAMIS. its completion, he "contouned their speech, so tnat cities, and at length laid siege to Bactria, the capi they left off to build the city," and were dispersed over tal of Bactriana. Here he would probabl have isthe face of the earth. In commemoration of this re- carried in his attempt, but for the extraordinary arkable event, the place was called Babel, or Con- assistance which he received from Semiramis, te fusion. It is supposed that Babylon was afterwards wife of one of his chief officers, and one of the mos built upon this spot. remarkable women of whom history has made men Many traditions of the eastern world referred to this tion. striking catastrophe. Josephus quotes one of the an- 1 cient Sibs as having declared that mankind once spoke acommon language, but having built a tower immensely high, as if with tile intention of scaling C H A P T R X X -CHAPTE R XXXX eaven, the gods sent a wind and overthrew it, giving 2000 B.C. 200.0 E. 0. each man a new tongue; and from this Babylon derives its name. Abydenus, a Chaldean historian, o makes a similar statement, and, to fix the date of this SEMIRABIIS has been regarded by some persons as occurrence ays, "Then began the war between a fabulous being; yet the particulars of her life are Saturn and Titan." There can be little question, that, related with a degree of minuteness altogether inconby divesting history of its poetical decorations, the sistent with a supposition of this kind. Fable, ocelebrated fable of the war of the giants against ever, is very liberally mixed up with her true istory. heaven, originated in this event. We are told she was descended from the goddess DeWhatever opinion we may form respecting this creto, to whom a temple was erected near Askelon, in subject, wemay very reasonably ascribe the origin of Syria. This goddess, according to the legend, atthe Assyrian epire to Ashur, who, according to the tempting to drown herself by jumping into a ake, was osic record, ent out of the land of Shinar, after instantly changed into a fish. Her child ws prethe confusion of Babel, and built Nineveh, and other served by a flock of doves, who nourished her with cities. The reign of Ashur is not marked with any their milk, and sheltered her from the weather by other striking event. After him, Nimrod is mentioned their wings. The birds then fed her with cheese. as a ruler of reat ambition and enterprise. He is said which they stole from the neighboring shepherds to have been a mighty hunter before the Lord!" These persons discovered the little infant, d she was which probably refers to his love of conquest and adopted by the king's principal shepherd, whose name dominion. Nmrod is, perhaps, the same with Belus was Simma. The name of Semiramis was given to or Baa, afterwards worshipped as a god. The city of the foundling, the word signifying, in Syriac, doves or Bablon is mentioned as being the capital of a king- pigeons. We have recited this leend to show now domin the rein of Ninus, the son of Nimrod, though close a resemblance it bears, in some material points somne \vriters regcard these twvo persons as the same. to the story of Romulus and Remus. The fable of All this portion of Assyrian history is involvetl in Semiramis, however, is much the more ancient of the a confuision. which no conjectures can reduce to order. two. We shall only endeavor to produce as clear a narra- Accordingy to all the traditions Semiramis was dislive as the materials wvill adlmit.*. tnguished by gTreat talent, and the most captivating * One of the first measures of Ninus, we are informed, beauty. Menon, a principal person in the household was to enter inito a leagrue with the King of Arabia, by of the King of Assyria, having been commissioned to wvhose assistance his magnificent schemes of conquest inspect the royal flock~s and herds, saw Semiramnis at were, to a great degree, accomplished. Their united the house of Sim ma, and persuaded her to accompany *forces overran a vast extent of country, from Egy pt to him to Nineveh, where she became his wife. She is India and Bactriana. The King of Babylon was made said to hnve possessed a co mplete influence over her prisoner by Ninus, and put to the sword, with. his husband, whose powyer and celebrity were increased bv children. He also conquered Armenia and Media, the wNise and prudent counsels of h'is wife.. puttingr to death all the royal family of the latter At the siege of Bactria. Semiramis resorted to the kingrdom. On his retu rn frorn these conquests, we, camp at the call of her husband. She pointed out the are told he established his court at Nineveh, and errors of the king in attacking the wrong parts of the adored te cty wth nagnficet buldigs. It is enemyv's works, and offered to lend herself' a body of stated, both by sacred and profane writers, to have soldie'rs to the assault of the citadel. This was done;been at this time of great magnitude and splen- the citad-el wns captured, and the king became master mor. "His design, says the Greek historian Diodo- of Bactria. The extraordinary exploits of Semiramis rums, "was to make Nineveh the largest and noblest caused Nin~us to entertain a wish to possess her as *city in the world, and to put it out of the powe-r Of a wife. He entreated her husband to relinquish her those who came after him ever to build, or hope to but without effect. The king, en~raged at his obstiNinus, suhavngthenlrgefrtfean melihdnacy, persecuted him so cruelly that the unfortunate Nins, aviffenlrge, ortfie, ad mbelisedman committed suicide. Semiramis, in consequence. his capital to a wonderful extent,, assembled an im- became Queen of Assyria. The date of these events rnense army for a campaign against the Bactrians. is uncertain, and varies according to different authors If wve may believe Ctesias, a Greek, -who wrote a his- fromn 2100 t~o 1200 B. C. tory of Assyria and Persia, this army consisted of According to some accounts, Ninus was assassinated 1,700,000 foot, 200,000 horse, and 16,000 war chari- byr his new queen;n but otheprs stat t.-fhat he t died npeacer. 74 CONQUESTS AND DEATH OF SEIRAMIS. transmit henerations, and equipped for his servuccedi on the river Some negotiations d zause mankind to forget the obscurity of her birth. precede the breaking out of hostilities, but the arro Collecting, therefore, out of the numerous provinces of Smiamis preented all peaceable accommo of the empire, no less than two millions of men, she dation. She advanced wit her prodigious army to undertook the building of Babylon,* a city whose mag- the Indus, and attempted a passage with her boats. nitude and splendor have excited the astonishment of The two fleets encountered each other with great all subsequent times. The natural propensity of man- alacrity, and the victory was for sne time uncertain. kind, especially in a remote and superstitious age, At length, Semiramis rushed into the ticket of the ought certainly to induce us to receive with consider- fight, and turned the tide of success against the Hinable abatement the high-wrought descriptions of an- doos. A thousand of their boats were sunk, and an cient writers. But in the case of Babylon, of which immense number of prisoners taken. we shall hereafter give an account, there is good evi- Semiramis now pressed forward into the Indian terdence that the marvellous tales of antiquity did not ritory, in pursuit of her fitive eneies. According exceed the truth. to some accounts, the retreat of the Hindoos was a ____________ ~~stratagem to draw the Assyrian army into ambuscades. The counterfeit elephants at first terrified the enemy, C H11 A P T E R XL. but their fears were soon dissipated by some Assyrian deserters, who gave them information of the deception. 2000 B. C. The Hindoos, therefore, faced their foe, and a second Con qestsaiidDeat of emirmis. battle ensued. Some advantage was at first gained Conquests and Death of Sem.iramis. by the Assyrians, but the Hindoos soon rallied-, and ALTHOUGH the building and ornamenting of so stu- supported by their elephants, advanced to the conflict pendous a city as Babylon might seem a sufficient work with great courae and regularity. The counterfeit for a whole life, yet we are told that Semiramis also elephants proved not only useless, but embarrassing, built several considerable cities along the banks of the and contributed to a speedy and most disastrous eTigris. But peaceful and laborious occupations did not feat. furnish sufficient scope for the restless anid boundless The two leaders of the respective armies now met ambition of this extraordinary female. She assembled in sinle combat. The king wounded Semirami, a numerous army, and marched into Media. Along who, finding the battle irretrievably lost, fled from the her route she caused to be constructed many beautiful field, and re-passed the river amid a crowd of fugigardens, adorned withll statues and other monuments, tives, where she had so lately passed into her enemy's to perpetuate her nmemory. From Media she ex- country amid shouts of triumph. Withthe loss of tended her progress into Persia, everywhere erecting two thirds of her immense army, she retreated homepalaces, founding cities and towns, and levelling hills ward, this being the last of all her might~y underthat obstructed the roads. From Asia she is said to takings. have marched into Egypt and the sandy desert of Thus ended the glory of Semiramis, anid, shortly Libya. Her curiosity induced her to visit the cele- afterwards, her life. Having discovered. a conspiracy brated temple of Jupiter Amamon, to inquire of the in the palace against her, shne voluntarily resigned the orace ofthatplac howlon she had to live. The sceptre to herson N~inyas, and withdrew into retireanswer was, that she should die, when her son Ninyas meat. She died at the age of sixty-two, having conspired against her life, and enjoy divine honors reigned forty-two years over a' gre at part of Asia. It after her death. was believed that she left this world in the' form of a On her return to Babylon, new projects inflamed dove, in consequence of which the Assyrians afterher ambition, and she hastened to carry them into wards paid divine honors to this bird. execution. She had received information of the im- The life of this queen must be regarded as one of inense wealth and boundless fertility of India, and she the most uncertain parts of history. The extraordi-,letermined to attempt the conquest of that country. nary actions ascribed to her seem incompatible with An army was collected out of all the provinces of the the state of military science at that time. It is not empire. Shipwrights from Pbmenicia, Syria, and Cy- improbable that the Greek historians may have prus were employed to coastruct the frame-work of blended into one narrative the actions of many of the viessels, which she proposed to transport over land, in Assyrian sovereigns, and invested a single reign with order to cross the broad stream of the Indus. Having the splendor and glory which, in fact, ought to be disunderstood that t~he Hindoos relied chiefly upon. their tributed over a much wider. field of history. This elephants in battle, she determined to produce an imi- may have been done partly from ignorance and mis tation. of these animals. She accordingly ordered conception', anid partly from a love of the marvellous 300,000 oxen to be slaughtered, and their hides to be The real Serniramis, however, was evidently a woman stuffed., and place d on the backs of camels, so as to of masculine mind and wonderful force of character. make them equal in size to el ~phants. With these Valerius Maximus states that her very presence was she hoped to throw terror into the raaks of her eae- sufficient to quell sedition in the multitude. One mies. day, -it is said, while she was engaged in dressing, Such mighty preparations could not l.ong'remain she received information of a tumault in the city, concealed from the Indian king, and this monarch, Upon this, she sallied forth, with her head''half named Stabrobates, assembled an army to meet the dressed, and in that condition harangued the populace, invader. A navy of 4,000 bamboo boats was -also completely tranquillizing anid dispersing them. A NNYAS-SARDANAPALUS-END OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE, ETC. 75 besieged, but he kept his hopes alive by the reme CH HAPTER X L I. brance of an ancient prediction that Nineve cou 2 o876 B. G. never be taken till the river became her enemy." of0te F6st A The city beingo abundantly supplied with provisions, i'V~~inyas-Sa-Envd of the First As- the confederated forces remained two years before the y n m e t ismemberment. alwls; without compelling the inhabitants to surrender. mother Semiramis, and when But at length the Tigris, being swelled by an unusual seated on the throne abandoned himself to slothful inundation, threw down more than two miles of the inactivity and luxury. In order to indulge his taste wall; the besiegers entered by this breach, and made unmolested b public affairs, he withdrew from the themselves masters of the city. Sardanapalus at once sight of his subjects, and shut himself up in his palace comprehended dn his dang er, eand ht ith the eunucs and females with which the royal extinguished, he fled into his wellin abounded. His army was disbanded at the die in a manner suitable to a nd of every year, and replaced by a new one, which ordered a vast funeral pileto be required a considerable time for its organization. By the palace, ald on this he place this arrangement e hoped to prevent all conspira-treasures amounting to an al cis this inglorious life was fol- Upon these he caused to be seated his eunuchs, his lowedby an unlamented death. His successors, wives, and his household attendt duvelve hundred years, con- place among them, he set fire to the pile, and perished prising thirty reins, so closely imitated his example, with all the rest, amid the confl that their history is buried in total obscurity, and we This monarch is said to have ordered two lines to have no one recorded event to mark the annals of the be engraved upon his monume time. This seems incredible, but it is so related to us had taken with him all he had enjoyed, leaving the rest behind; an epitaph, as Aristotle justly observes, fit The last of this race of princeswasSardanapalus, who for a swine. Plutarch mentio acceded to the throne about 900 B. C. His character apalus, representing him in the posture of a dancer, exhibits a perfect specimen of sloth, degeneracy, and with an inscription, supposed to be addressed by the vice. Like his inglorious predecessor, the first of this king to the spectator, in these words Eat, rink, uded himself in his palace, and be merry; everything else is nothing." assumed the dress of a woman, imitated the voice and With Sardanapalus ended te actions of a female, painted his face, handled the dis- archy. The government of the empire was broken taff, &., and abandoned himdelf to every degree of up, and the conquerors are said to have completely folly and depravity, till his actions became the disgrace destroyed Nineveh. If this be true, it must have and scandal of the hol empire. This conduct been rebuilt, for it was afterwards a great city. excited the indignation of Arbaces, the governor of We cannot specify dates with any assurance, in Media, and h reovdt idct h oo ftethis, early part of our history, as the most learned and nation by overthrowing the government of this con- accurate writers dfe eywdl ntercrnlg teptbl dsot Fr hi uros, e nerd nt of the events above related. The duration of the Assyrconfederacy with Belesis, the viceroy of Babylon, to ia mie ccrigt erdts h i olwdb dethone ardnapaus.Theystired p te Meesthe critical Usher, was only 5-20 years. On the other Persiains, and Babylonians, to revolt, and brought thehadteGrkhioinsCeisadDoouad Kin ofAraia ntotheschme.By hes mensthe Latin Trogus Pompeius, who are followed by a they were enabled to gain the control of the army, andgeanubromdrnathslow15yasfr immediately raised the standard of rebellion, the duration of this empire. The date of its concluSardanapalus was suddenly roused from his volup- sion is more certain than that of its commencement. tuous dreams. Inspired by this desperate emergency, Iti omnyfieabu87B.C;sewrts he raised all the forces that remained faithful to him, make it 888, -and others 821 B. C. and boldly encountered his rebel subjects. He was Out of the' ruins of this vast empire were formed victorious in three successive battles, and offered a the osdrbekndos;-taofheMds reward of two hundred talents of gold to any one who udrAbcs h rnia edo h osiay would kill Arbaces or Belesis-and twice that sum to taofBbonaorheAssyrians of Babylon, under, whoever would capture either of them alive. But Belesi~s; and that of theAsyinofiiehwc, these offers were in vain. Belesis, who was a Chal- at no distant day, we find under the dominion of Pul, dean priest, and a great astrologer, consulted the or Phul. Of the latter, which is called the Second-1 stars every night, as we are told, and after the thirdAsyinKgdmwehalowivabrfskth battle solemnly assured his troops that the heavens remarking by the way, tat there is great confso would now be propitious to their arms. Sardanapalus, in this portion of history. We can do no more thani in the mean time, confident of final success, was occu- giewaIem ou hems rbbeve. pied in arranging a sacrifice and festival, to be cele- *The history of the Assyrian empire is one of the most obscure brated by his array after the total destruction of their portions of ancient biblical literature; and thre manner in which it enemies, has been hitherto treated has not contributed in any measure to disTo such an extent did his confidence prevail, that pel the darkness. in the wa nt of all native histories, the only original sources from which the fragments of the earlier history of he thought it unnecessary to take the field again in this country can he drawn are the Old Testament, Herodotus, and perso, bti intrstedthe cmmandof th arm tohi tesias. These sources are all evidently independent of each andshu hisl up in hi paae other, butt the accounts derived from them are so far fr-oi consfitut ~~~~~~76 SECOND ASSYRIAN/ EMPIRE. stricted to Media, cannot be deterrmined. All we can CH A P T E R X L I I,. affirm with certainty is, that within about a centr 876 to 606 B.C. after the overthrow of ancient Assyria, Pl appea seated on the throne of the new kingdom as an indeTh Scond Assyrian Kingdom. second Assyran Kngdom. pendent sovereign, and qualified, not merely to sustain ExcEPT a very general sketch of the foundation of his position, but to extend his dominions by conques. the Assyrian empire, the Bible furnishes us nothing It seems that Menahem, having taken forcible possesof its history, till the time of Pul, who is the first sion of the throne of the kingdom of Assyrian king mentioned in the sacred writings. by the murder of Shallurn, his country was invaded, The preceding particulars are chiefly drawn from the by the Assyrian king, at the head of a large army. Greekwriters; but now we come to the Second As- The usurper averted the threatened blow, presentsyrian Empire, whose history touches upon that of ing his enemy with a thousand talents of silver. In the Israelites, and the accounts of the latter, inciden- consideration of this tribute, he was confirmed in hi tally noticing the former, give us the materials for a throne, and received a promise of the protection of the sistent narrative. Assyrian monarch. Pul returned to Nineve, hi Before we proceed further, it may be well to cast a capital, not only having made the k glance at the surrounding nations, especially those tributary, but having also received which, about this time, begin to figure in the Assy- several other nations in his march. This was a an annals. To the west, and nearly contiguous, to period of great extension of the new empire of As Assyria, la the land of Canaan; but the glorious days syria; and here was the beginning of David and Solomon were passed, and the Hebrew inflicted upon the Israelites by the Assyrian sovernation was divided into two kingdoms; that of Judah, eigns. e letm was thecapital, and that of Israel, From the earliest periods of history, it appears that of which Saaria was the capital. Norith of these captives taken in war were considered as lawful plunterritories were the flourishing commercial cities of der, to be used for the benefit, or even the caprice, of re and Sidon and in the immediate the captors. They were often killed or tortured in viinity wasthe populous kingdom of Syria, Damascus, revenge of resistance they had ma the metropolis being one of the great centres of Asi- querors, or for the amusement which their cries and atic commerce. Asia Minor was thickly peopled, and agonies afforded. Some had their tongues cut out, ad several considerable kingdoms were flourishing there. thus made mutes, were employed as To the north of Assyria was Armenia, already a pop- were maimed, and accordingly a su lous country, and beyond were the extensive regions for the palace wvas obtained; others still had their of the fierce and barbarous Scythians. To the east eyes put out, and were left to their fate; often a whole of Assyria were the territories of Media and Persia, tribe or nation was transplanted to ar and still further, India and China, with many inter-thitonadctesbngldwseaddshte mediate territories, all of which were, at this period, Kings, princes and nobles, decorated the triumphial * more or less thickly inhabited, processions of conquerors. While such was the condition of the nations in the`fs5utm.wt lgt oiiainwr ot centx 1andsouher potios o Asa, gyp wa inmon as well among the Assyrians, as t~he ancient Jewvs, theheiht f is pwer an evn srpasedAssriaEgyptians and Greeks. During the secon-d period of in learning and the arts. Carthage had begun its Assyrian hsoy h epeo h ~okndmso maritime career, and carried its navigation, hy way of the Hebrews - Judah and Israel - suffered fromn sucthe Straits of Gibraltar, into the Atlantic. In Europe,cesvcoqstancpiiiswch ilbedy Greece was advancing towvards the brightest era of its noticed in the history of that people. exisenc; ad Roe, he utur quen f th wold, It is ~evident from these facts, that in the remote was raising its walls along the banks of the Tiber. ages of which we write, the claims of' humanity, so Such was the course of events during the period of familiar now, were'unknown, or at least unacknowl* somewhat more than two centuries, in which theedd.Tagoenrlwhcmksevyhua sacod Asyria empre fourihed.We nw reurnbeing our neigh-bor, and institutes an equality of rights to the thread of our narrative, betwenmnadmn had not been promulgaed How long a time elapsed between the overthrow of The h istory of the good Samaritan had not yet beet] Sardanapalus and the accession of Pul seems uncer- pae eoetewrd sa uhrttv xml tam. Whther Abaces*reigne for atime oer theAlthough mankind have had the advantage of these n'ew kingdom of Assyria, which had been mainly lights for eighteen centuries, there are still many linger. fhunded by him, or -whether his sovereignty was re- mgtae fta nin abrs hc emdi - lawful for one race to reduce another to captivity-, arid nasty. The first closed by Sardaaapalus, about 888 B. C., aad fol- to use the captive as convenilencemihsugt. c lowed bv Arbaces and the Median kings; and the second comnmenc- so n ifcl stemrho recvlzto IIng about SOO or 775 B. C., and subsisting along with the Median * rc. But as Ctesias and Herodotus bo0th profess to have drawn from Plwsscedd 4.Cb i letsn Doriginal sources, and yet differ from each oilher in importan. particu- T'iglath Pileser, on the throne of Assyria; at. the iars, as much as if they were speaking of different states; and as there sm ie i one oNbnsa eaeKn is* 1o [1-round whqtever for distrusting the accounts contained in the * Old Testament, it would seem preferable, on every, critical. as wvell of Babylon, which, at this period, it seemrns, wilas subas other ground, to miake the biblical accounts the foundation of ject to Assyria, or, at least, tributary t~o it. Tiglath ihe Assyrian history.- Robinsonls Notes to Calmet's Dictionar-y. Pileser greatly extended the boundaries of his kinga. *Some authors suppose that Assyria continued still to be a great~ SECOND ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. Drin this reign, the King of Judah was obliged to Senacherib returned to Jerusalem; but, like co pa hea tribute and formally acknowledge himself queror of modern times, -whose army perished in the a vassal of the Assyrian empire. snows of Russia-thus furnishing a striking parallel Salamanezer, called Enemesser in the book of Tobit, to the destinies of the Assyrian hosts,-he was not succeeded Tiglath Pileser, about'725 B.C. He marched softened by misfortune. On the contrary, he seemed aainst Hosea, the King of Israel, who had sought to filled with spite and revenge, which e wreaked on throw off the Assyrian yoke, and to aid in this object, his subjects, and especially on the captive Jews and ad formed an alliance with the King of Egypt. The Israelites, whom he wantonly caused to be slaughtered. immense army of the Assyrians, however, soon overran At last, he was killed by two of his sons, before the the country of the Israelites, and Hosea was obliged to altar of the god Nisroch, at which he was kneeling. shut himself up in his capital of Samaria. Here, for Esarhaddon, another son of Senacherib, succeeded three years, he made a valorous defence; but at last him in 710 B. C. The Medes and Babylonians, who, e was taken, put in irons, and kept in prison duringff itappears, had become tributary to Assyria took advanthe rest of his life. His efforts to liberate his country tage of the weakened state of the Assyrians, caused not only proved vain but resulted in its ruin. The by the misfortunes of Senacherib, to assert their indepeople of the ten tribes were carried into captivity, and pendence. The new king made war on both; he was here history loses sight of them forever. Hosea was unsuccessful against- Media, but he compelled Babythe last sovereign of Israel; and this kingdom, which Ion to acknowledge his supremacy. He conquered had existed distinct from Judah for 250 years, was Syria, and reduced Judah, whose king, Manasse, he thus finally terminated. The latter endured for a carried in chains to Babylon, where e now held hi ~c~ ~ ~~entury and a half, when it fell a prey to Nebuchad- court. After a successfill reign of forty-three years, ~~~~~~~nezzar. ~he was succeeded by Saosducheus, 667 B. C. Salmanezer, after the conquest of Israel, subdued This king was followed by his so Chyniladan, the the cities of Phcenicia, with the exception of Tyre, Nabuchodonoser of the book of Judith, 647 B. C. He which he was unable to capture, though he besieged was ambitious and warlike; and raising a large army, it for five years. He was succeeded by Senacherib, in he marched against the Medes. He defeated them i'714 B. C. This monarch marched against Hezekiah, battle, and taking their fugitive king, Phraortes,-the Ki of Judah, who had refused to pay the stipulated Arphaxad of Scripture,- he shamefully put him to tibute. Encouraged by the prophet Isaiah, Hezekiah death. Returning to Nineveh, now the capital, and refused to deliver up Jerusalem. In the mean time, in all its glory, he feasted his victorious troops for one the armies of Egypt and Ethiopia were coming against hundred and twenty days. He next sent his general, Senacerib. The latter marched to meet them, and Holofernes, to punish the tributary states who had regave them battle. He defeated their armies, and pur- fused to aid in his expedition against Media. Hvin sued them into their own countries, which he ravaged partly fulfilled his mission, Holofernes proceeded and despoiled, bearing away immense treasures. Re- against the Jews; and having invested the town of turning- victorious, he again marched upon Jerusalem. Bethalia, he perished by the hand of Judith, who had In his extremity, Hezekiah entreated the Lord, and an devoted herself t~o the salvation of her country. The answer was returned by the prophet Isaiah: "The Assyrian troops fled in dismay, being pursued by theii King of Assyria shall niot come into this city, nor enemies with great slaughter. shoot an arrow there, nor conie before it with shield, This monarch was succeeded by Sar-ac, 636 B. C. n~or raise a bank agyainst it. By the wvay that he He was a weak prince, and this circumstance seems came, by the same shall he return." And such was to have suggested to Nabopolasser, the ambitious govthe event. That very night, the camp of Senacherib ernor of Babylon, the scheme which followed. He was smitten with pestilence, and 185,000 of his men united with Cyaxares the Me'de, who, in reven.ige for perished, his father's death, bad made wvar on the Assyrians, and defeated their army in a pitched battle. The "4The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, combined Medes and Babylonians now besieged NineAnd his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; veh, but their designs were interrupted by an inroad And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, ofteSyhasinoMda fe aln tuge When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.inwchteepolwreeay.niiaedSrc'Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green, returned to the attack on Nineveh, and by the aid of That host with their banners at sunset were seen; the Babylonian king, it was burne d and -razed to the Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown, ground, 606 B. C. Thus the second Assyrian king.Thathos onthemorow ay ithredandstrwn!dom perished, and the mighty drama of its kings and "For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, ispicswscoe oee And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;. The destruction of Nineveh was fiatal and.-final. And the eyes of the sleeping waxed deadly and chill, Two centuries after, the people around could not tell, And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still! the site of the city. The country is now inhabited by, barbarous bands of Arabs and Chaldeans, who plunder "And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, each other, and are plundered by their chiefs in turn. But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride; Frtvnyfv ude er h rcso h n And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, cetct aebe uidi cuuaio u And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. cin iyhv enbre nacmltn rubish, affording a ghastly spectacle of ruin and desolation. ",And there lay the rider, distorted and pale, Recent excavations have happily brought to light Withthedewon is rowandtheruston is ail soe iterstig vetigs o th anien paace, o 78 BELESIS-NEB UCHADNEZZAR. i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~, oC H A PT E R XL II immediate successors of this king performed no an C H APT ER XMIL I tions worthy of record. Merodach Baladin, who cam-_ 876 to 538 B. C to the throne 721 B. C., is mentioned in the Bible as Belesis -Nebuchadnezzar - Belshazzar- Ezd having written letters to Hezekiah, King of Judah. Of te Babyloian Empire. congratulating him on his recovery fiom illness. of the Babylonian Emrpir-e. Omitting the names of several kings, we come to BABYLONIA, which we have already described as Nabopolassar, whose reign began about 626 B. C lying on both sides of the Euphrates towards its He was an ambitious monarch, and extended his domouth, was also called Chaldea. In this territory was minions to the shores of the Mediterranean. He united the plain of Shinar, and here, at a very early date, with the King of Media against Assyria, and that was a population sufficient to undertake the building empire was overthrown, - its ancient capital, Nineveh, of Babel. It is probable, therefore, that even before being utterly destroyed. the founding of the Assyrian empire by Ashur-who Pharaoh Necho, King of Egypt, took advantage of went thither after the confusion of tongues-there some civil dissensions in Babylonia, to invade the kingwas an established government in Babylonia, founded dom. He induced the governors of Phcenicia and Cceloby Nimrod, the mighty hunter of Scripture. Hence, Syria to revolt, but Nabopolassar made vigorous en some authors suppose that a kingdom originated here deavors to regain his authority in these countries. Ir, as early as 2236 B. C. It is also conjectured that this enterprize, he was materially assisted by his son Babylon, its capital, was built upon the very spot Nebuchadnezzar, who subsequently raised the monar. where the tower of Babel was begun. It would chy to -the highest pitch of greatness. He gained a appear that this country soon became subject to brilliant victory over the Egyptian king at CarcheAssyria, and continuing to be a mere province of that mish, and was about to follow up his success by invadkingdom, its fame was overshadowed and almost ing Egypt, when he was recalled to Babylon by his forgotten in the lapse of centuries. Nineveh sur- father's death, whom he succeeded 604 B. C. passed even Babylon, until Semiramis rebuilt the Nebuchadnezzar conquered the kingdom of Judah, latter on a scale of such grandeur and magnificence and carried several of its princes away to Babylon as as to cast its former glory into the shade. prisoners, or hostages. Among these was the prophet But the date at which the Babylonian Empire, gen- Daniel. Soon after this event, a horde of Tartar4 erally recognized in history, began its career is that from the north, who were then known by the name of 876 B. C., when Belesis, who had assisted in the of Scythians, invaded the Babylonian territories, and overthrow of Assyria, took this portion of its territory the Jews embraced this opportunity of asserting their as his share of the plunder. Whether he was an in- independence. Nebuchadnezzar marched against dependent sovereign, or tributary to Arbaces as chief them with an overwhelming force. Jerusalem was ruler of the several portions of the dismembered As- taken and plundered; its king slain, his son sent a syrian empire, is matter of doubt. After the lapse prisoner to Babylon, and a tributary king appointed of more than a century we find Nabonassar upon by the conqueror. the throne. During his reign, an exact method of The Jews again revolted, relying on the promised reckoning time was introduced, by adopting the Egyp- aid of the Egyptians, but were once more subdued, and dian solar year; and its starting point,-767 B. C.,- treated with barbarous cruelty. Their city was made is known as the Era of Nabonassar. The three desolate, their lands laid waste, and the greater pare TRADE AND COMMERCE OF THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS of the inhabitants were carried into captivity. Nebu- and found wanting! The enemy entered the city, and chadnezzar then pursued his career of conquest into guided by the lights that gleamed from the chambers nicia, which complete]y subdued; after which, of revelry, penetrated into the very heart of Babylon, he invaded Egypt, and ravaged all the northern part and attacked the guards before the palace. The f that country. On his return from this expedition, guests within, startled by the clash of arms, flung te e erected a golden statue in the plain of Dura, com- gates open to learn the cause of the tumult, and thus mandin all his subjects to fall down and worship it,- gave admission to the enemy. Belshazzar, in this as we are informed in the book of the prophet Daniel. hour of despair, behaved in a manner suited to his Towards the close of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar lofty station and illustrious descent. He drew his was punished for his impiety by a fit of madness, and sword, and at the head of a few friends, attempted to the sacred writer informs us that under this infliction drive back the enemy. But his endeavors were vain; he did eat grass as an ox, and his body was wet overpowered by numbers, he was slain in his own with the dews of heaven till his hairs were grown like hall, B. C. 536. With Belshazzar fell the Babylonian eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws." He empire, and Darius the Mede became its ruler for a was succeeded on the throne, 561 B. C., by the prince short space, when Cyrus succeeded him. named in Scripture Evil Merodach, and who was shortly afterwards murdered by his brother-in-law, lNeriglissar. The young prince Belshazzar was saved C H A P T ER XL V. from the atte ts of the conspirators, and continued several years in obscurity, but at length he was placed Genera A syeis Trade nn the throne of hians adfather. There is much confusion in this part of Baby- FROM the preceding sketch, it appears that, although onian history, and we should in vain attempt to Assyria and Babylonia originated as distinct monarlconstruct any clear and connected narrative of the chies, yet, at an early date, theywere blended in one events, for many years. It is said that during the kingdom, and at different periods were under one govouth of Belshazzar, tle administration of the king- eminent. Lying contiguous to each other, the climate was confided to Queen Nitocris. She was a of both was nearly the same, and therefore we may woman of talent and enterprise, and put a finishing regard them as one people, in a general view of their band to many great public works which had been character and institutions. It is proper, however, to begun by Nebuchadnezzar. The great bridge across make a distinction between the two eras of their civilie Euphrates, in the centre of Babylon, and the zation, corresponding to that of their history. The retunnel under the river, are enumerated among the cent discoveries at Nineveh have not only served to works of her reign. This last undertaking was confirm the opinion, now generally adopted, that there accomplished by turning the waters of the river into was a fir-st and second Assyrian empire, but they have, a new channel, during- the progress of the work, by at the same time, thrown great light upon the manners means of an artificial lake and canal. This celebrated and customs of the more ancient periods of Assyrian queen was daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, and mother history. We shall, accordin'ly, notice first the state of Belshazzar. She was buried in a wall over one of of society in the latter period, when Babylon may be the hundred gateways of Babylon. taken as the representative of Assyrian civilization, and When Belshazzar assumed the reins of government, afterwards give a sketch of society in the ancient he deserted the prudent line of policy by which Nito- empire, as exhibited by the vestiges of Nineveh, its cris had delayed t~he downfall of the tottering empire. metropolis. lie. abandoned himself to licentious pleasures, and During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and for a provoked the hostilities of the warlike Medes. In the considerable period before and after, the city of Babprogress of this war, Babylon was besieged by Cyaxa- ylon appears to have been not only the seat of an imres, otherwise called Darius, King of the Medes, joined perial court, -and a station for a vast garrison, but the by Cyrus, his nephew, who was King of Persia. The emporium of an immense commerce. The Babylolatter had already signalized himself as a warrior, and nians were both an ingenious and an industrious he advanced against the Babylonians with a large army, nation, and the clothes which they wore were the and all the pomp of a conqueror. In the siege which product of their own art and labor. They dressed followed, hie seems to have had the chief command. in robes of fine linen, descending to their feet. WoolBelshazzar, confiding in the strength of the walls len tunics were also worn, and thesew~ere generally of' Babylon, laughed his enemies to scorn; and while covered with a white cloak. Their heads were coythey were still urging the attack, the infatuated ered with turbans, or mitres of linen, finely plaited. monarch made a great feast in honor of the success The floors of their houses were covered with double which he expected in driving the assailants from the and triple carpets, of the brightest colors; and the it.Cyrus, learning this; took advantage of the walls were hung with the beautiful cloths called Sinfolly and self-confidence of the Babylonians. He sent dones, which the eastern kings esteemed so highly as a body of men to open the canal leading to the lake to select them for their robes of state. The looms of which had been dug by Nitocris, and gave orders to Babylon, and of the neighboring town of Borsippa. his army, as soon as the water sho uld be drawn from which owed its prospenity to its manufactures, sup. the bed of the river into this lake, to march into the plied'the kingdom with the finest veil:! and hang city under the walls, through the deserted channel. logs, together with various articles of dress and fui In theP height of their midnight feast, the Baby-1 niture composed of cotton, linen, oi woollen. OVERG NMENT, ETC., OF THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. orin the superstitious worship of their gods, appear to I and size to lions. For the purpose of hunting wild have been objects of greater expense to them than beasts, they must have been invaable to the kings to any other people of antiquity. At the annual fes- and satraps of the east, whose favorite recreation lay tival of Jupiter, twenty-five tons of frankincense were in the sports of the chase burned on his altar. Next to this article, the prodi- A brisk trade was also maintained by the Baby gious masses of gold employed in statues and other lonians with the West, by means of caravans, which ornaments, excite our wonder. The Babylonians traversed the Syrian desert, and visited the Phcnician were also curious in their estimation of gemns; every marts of commerce on the Mediterranean. Besides man of any consequence is said to have worn an this route, another and a far longer line of communiengraved precious stone, which was used as a signet; cation existed, by means of the Royal Road, wich the most common were the onyx, the sapphire, and led through the north of Asia Minor to the eastern the emerald. The people delighted also in perfumes, frontier of Europe. The Greek colonies were estabthe use of which was universal. lished at an early period on the northern shore of the The Babylonians carried on an extensive trade in Euxine. By the medium of these trading people, the east ith Persia and northern India. From these the peltry and rich furs of Sarmatia and Scythia were ports tey obtained gold, precious stones, rich dye- carried to Babylon, and diffused over the central stuffs, and other valuable articles. From the coun- provinces of Asia. On the other hand, the spi tries now known as Candahar and Cashmere they aromatics of the east were conveyed to E e. procured fine wool, and the shawls which at the rich traffic was the origin of the celebrated city of esent day are so highly valued. From the Bactrian Palmyra. eser, now called Cobi, they obtained emeralds, The Babylonians also maintained a commercial jasper, and other rare gems. The intercourse with intercourse with the trading establishments of the these countries was maintained by caravans. Phoenicians on the Red Sea, in the neighborhood of Babylon enjoyed also a large maritime commerce. the Ethiopian mines, which had been worked from the Situated in the neighborhood of those great seas and very earliest period of history. The Phcicians likerivers by which the inmost recesses of Asia are pene- wise opened to the Babylonians the trade with Ophir, tted, this city possessed peculiar advantages for com- which is supposed to be Sofala, on the eastern coast bining inland with maritime traffic. It was chiefly of Africa.'* This trade was the source of immense by the help of their commercial allies, the Phoenicians, wealth. that they were enabled to participate in the trade of the Indian Ocean. The Hebrew prophets speak of the Chaldeans, or Babylonians, as a people "whose cry is in the ships;" but it is hardly probable that they C H A P T R XLV. had a navy of their own, except upon the rivers. The Euphrates was navigable for boats more than three Goenet eigolia esO tm,4c, hundred miles. At two hundred miles above its of the later Assyrians and Babylonians. mouth was the commercial town of Gerra, which was THE Assyrian and Babylonian empires were monone of the great marts of Arabian and Indian mer- archies in which despotism in its most severe form chandise, and a place of immense wealth. Its inhab-prvie.Temnchswlwatelw.N itants rivalled the splendor of princes in their manner nrvid code existswilwa helw.N of living. TIheir houses shone with a, profusion of written cdexsed. to curb his arbitrary judgments, godadsilver; the roofs and porticoes were crowned and even ancient customs were set aside at his pleasgold and ~~~~~~~~~ure. He was the head of the church as well as of the'with vases, and studded with jewels; the halls weresteadcimd ivnwohp.Hsalews filled with sculptured tripods, and other householdsteadcimd ivnwohp.Hsalews decorations, of wvhich gold, ivory and gems, constituted crowded with as many wives as he chose to collect, the chef maerial and these were placed under the guardianship of the chief imthatndanrceanwaseunuchs, an unfortunate' race of beings, first known in The Babylonian tradeinteIda Oea ws Assyria. The priesthood seems to have been heredicarried on between the Persian Gulf and the. western tr.Terlgo a htseiso dlt'cle Coast of India and the island of Ceylon. From these ~a herlgowstatpcisfidary cle,countries they imported timber of various kinds, suoar Sbaand consisted in the worship of the sun, mae, pice, cinamo, an peals. t a ery moon, and stars. In later times, they added the wor. -l sice, cnn commercald pesablishments aeyearly si -eriod, they formed cmeiaesblhenson the shpof deified mortals, whom they supposed to be B3ahrein Islands, in the Persian Gulf, where they obtained large quantities of the finest pearls. AlltoteWehr'ph'waonheeisuafMlcaotgos toteChinese Sea, or at Sofala, on the east coast of A'iri Is, is along the shores of this gulf, pearl oysters are abun- doubtful.. I visited Sofala, in her Majesty's vessels Leven and dant. The cotton plantations on the above mentioned B3arracoota, in 1824; and Malacca in 1844, io her Majesty's islans wer extesiveand te artcle srpassd in teamer Spiteful;my opinion is in favor of Malacca being thje'true Ophir. There is a large mountain so named, continuous to the fineness that of India. coast, at.Malacca, and it ahounds in gold. In sailing'close along India dog ~wee vaued t anextrvagat rae bythe shore at iiight, the air- was. perfumed as if with spices and the Bablonians So hih the pssion fr thisfrankincense. Tile, whole country teems with' rich and rare prod the abyonias. o - ighwas h aso o hs ucts. Sofala, on the contrary, is a low, swampy territory; no article of luxury carried among them, that whole mountain is visible; old dust iscetilotandtrebouh provices ere eemptd fro evey othr trbutethatfrom the interior, hut there are no spices, frankincense, or mnyrrh Its latitude pro-hibits the growth of those articles, while Malacca is they might be enabled to defray the expense of tnain- specially adapted for then'i. The transition of the Jews from Ma. tainm~ thse anmals Theyare aid t hav bee a l~acc.un the coast, to China, was an easy matter; ffidced, the g AJ 7ir GOVERNMl N'T', ETC., OF THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. transported to heaven, or to be in some way connected and retaining impressions upon it as distinct, after the with the celestial luminaries. Eastern monarchs of lapse of 2500 years, as when first made. The Baby the present day show something of this belief, in lonians wrote on tiles and cylinders of this clay; but styling themselves brothers of the sun and moon. as their country produced no material from which, in The supreme deity of these people was named the existing state of the mechanical arts, paper could B3euis, Bel, or Baal, signifying " Lord." The Greeks be made, they probably had no books. supposed him to be the same with Jupiter. Many of What we have said of the manners and customs of their religious rites were distinguished by impurity the Babylonians will apply in general to the Assyrians andl cruelty. Human victims were offered up in sac- of Nineveh, of the same date, -that is, during the rifice. Their religion had also much of the absurdity period of the second empire. The descriptions of the of modern Brahminism. Monstrous combinations of ancient writers alone, would not enable us to speak orms were attrillited to the gods; their idols had with much confidence on the subject; but we have many heads, and the limbs of men and brutes were now the means of knowing that there was a pretty combined in a grotesque manner. These had proba- close similarity in the modes of life of the two nations. bly at first a symbolical meaning, which the priests The most particular description which we possess of preserved by tradition, but which was carefully con- Nineveh is in the Greek history of Diodorus. Accord cealed from the multitude. ing to this writer, it was anciently the largest and The Greeks, who visited this country during its most most magnificent city in the world. He might be flourishing period, 330 B.C., were struck with the free- suspected of exaggeration, when he asserts that it was dom of intercourse which existed between the sexes in twenty miles in extent, and sixty in circuit; but Babylon, so unlike the unsocial jealousy of most Ori- these are said to be exactly the dimensions of the ental nations. But if the Babylonian women enjoyed modern city of Yedo, in Japan. The walls of Ninemore liberty, they were also in a more degraded con- veh are described as two hundred feet high, and so dition than their neighbors. No man had a right to thick that three chariots could easily drive abreast dispose of his daughter in marriage. When a girl upon them. They were fortified with fifteen hundred had attained a mature age, she was set up for sale in towers. This description may be understood as applythe public market, and became the wife of the highest ing to the flourishing portion of the second Assyrian bidder. The handsomest, of course, brought the high- empire. est prices, and those who had no outward charms to Our astonishment, however, at the great size recommend them could find no purchasers; but these ascribed to Nineveh and Babylon, may be diminished were allowed the benefit of the funds raised by the sale by the very reasonable supposition that the walls of of the beauties, and in this manner husbands were these cities enclosed some open ground; that the obtained for all. Strange as this custom may seem, houses were not everywhere built in continuous streets, it has a sort of equity in attempting to balance the but stood apart in many quarters, some being surcaprices of nature in a point so important to the sex. rounded by gardens, parks and farms, the size ofHerodotus informs us that sick people were carried which varied according to the rank and wealth of the to the squares and places of public resort in Babylon, respective proprietors. There must have been very that they might be seen by passengers, and obtain great inequalities of condition among the inhabitants, advice for the cure of their complaints. Such a prac- and consequently great contrasts in their dwellings. tice might be advantageous in a city frequented by While some lived in magnificent palaces, others companies of travelling merchants. The Babylonians in the immediate vicinity occupied miserable huts. had made considerable progress in the mechanical arts, Such is the character of eastern cities to the present and in mathematical science. They were somewhat day. acquainted with astronomy, but their knowledge was so Yet, making every abatement, there can be no doubt disfigured by astrological absurdities as to lose much that Nineveh was, indeed, a mighty city. Its ruins of its value. The arts of weaving and' metallurgy have recently attracted great attention; and they are were practised in Babylon; the naphtha a.nd petroleum said to verify the Scripture account, which represents with which the country abounded, furnished excellent the place as three days' journey in circumference. A fuel for furnaces; and the accounts given of their skill number of fragments of these ruins have been recently in working metals show that they had many ingenious taken to London and deposited in the British Museum. * Contrivances, which supplied the deficiencies of stone and wood. The Babylonians were one of the earliest nations * There are three points, all on the eastern side of the Tigris, at that possessed the art of alphabetical writing. Whether which interesting relics have been found: opposite the present town of Mosul; at Khorsabad, north of Mosu, and at Nimroud, they were the original inventors of letters, or obtained some dozen miles to the south of Mosul. The ruins of Khorsabad them from the Phaenicians, cannot be ascertained with have been investigated by M. Botta, the French consul, and interesting and valuable sculptures have been taken thence to Paris, where certainty. Their language belonged to the class they are undergoing careful investigation, from which important called Semitic, of which the Hebrew, Arabic and results are anticipated. At Nimroud the researches have been conSyriac, are branches. Many of the bricks found in ducted by Mr. Layarl, for the British Museum. These appear to a. e the most ancient relics, and are of great interest. The work of the ruins of Babylon are stamped with ancient Mr. Layard, just published, (1849,) gives the result of his labors, characters, called Arrow-head. Elaborate attempts which are of great value, in a historical point of view. The Ninevan relics now in the British Museum consist of various have been nmade, especially in France, to find the key sculptures. One of the relics is an obelisk, covered with sculptures, to this language, and, it is said, with promising suc- divided into compartments. The first compartment represents the:ess. If these writings can be deciphered and inter- gleat King, who, holding two arrows, and attended by his eunuch and b1~~ 1.. 1. 1 mlbearded domestic, the captain of the guard, receives the homage e-eted, many historical mysteries will ue solved. Theof a newly-subjugated province, of which the pelson standing erect slay used in the walls and buildings of Babylon was before him is constituted governor. The king seems to be in the not only abundant, but so durable, when made into act ofpresenting the arrows and a bow, as insignia ofoffice. High in the back ground, between the great King and the satrap, are two brick as still to present fragments as hard as rock, remarkable emblems, one resembling the winged glebe of the at11 8132 RECENT DISCOVERIEa AT NINEVEH, ETU. These,mcnsist of sculptures, whizh reveal, in an unex- seem, also, that the Greeks obtained some of their pected mnanner, a knowledge of the costumes, dwell- elegant designs from Assyria. It is supposed that the Ings, art of war, and customs of private life, in ancient inhabitants of Troy were originally an Assyrian col Nineveh. ony, and thus, by way of Asia Minor, an early exchange of arts and knowledge may have taken place. As to Nineveh, there can. be little doubt that its C II A P T E R X L yT j.dimensions, as given by Greek writers, are nearly cor rect. A square of twenty miles on each side.would Recent Discoveries at Nine ueh. Milanrners and include the ruins opposite Mosul, which have usu Customs during the Firs Period of Assyrian ally been regarded as marking the site of Nineveh History. with those of Nimroud, to the south, and those of Khorsabad at the north. At these several points,.vast ruins IN general, it may be rem:riked, that the late inves- are known to lie buried in the earth: here, doubtless, tigations on the ruins on the eastern bank of the Tigris were the palaces of the kings, while the intermediate nave confirmed the ancient accounts of Assyria. They spaces, now covered over with bricks and fragments pretty clearly show that there were two distinct pe- of decayed architecture, were occupied by the more riods in the history of the empire; the one beginning common dwellings of the people. The walls described. at least 2000 B. C., and coming down to the eighth by Diodorus were not, probably, of such vast height as or ninth century -that is,.to the time of Sardanapalus: he states, except in particular places near the palaces. another, extending from this epoch to the destruction At Nimroud, supposed to be the original site of of Nineveh, and the final overthrow of the empire, 606 Nineveh, and which lies on the east side of the Tigris, B. C. A remarkable inference from these investiga- where that river is intersected by the Zab, excavations tions is, that during this first period many of the arts have been made, which have disclosed the walls of seem, in some respects, to have been further advanced several edifices, some of them belonging to the ancient than during the second; thus showing in the early period of Assyrian history. From these researches, we Assyrians a genius more original, if not more refined, are able, in imagination, to rebuild the lost palaces of than that of their successors. A striking resemblance kings, to re-people them with their ancient inhabitants, appears in many of the sculptures to those of the an- and thus to enter their halls and realize the imposing cient Egyptians, leading to the belief that the latter spectacles presented in their days of glory. We are borrowed many arts from the former, though it is able, by looking at the remains of the sculptured and probable there was an exchange of ideas between the painted walls of these edifices, dimly and imperfectly two nations, especially at a. later period. It would to read the records cr the empire, — its battles, its cient Egyptians, the other a circle surrounding a star. The same military tactics and discipline of those days. Ranks of soldiers emblems occur on other sculptures. are sheltered behind a wicker breastwork. In front of the soldiers is a war-engine on wheels, protected by a hanging, which has been impelled against the wall of a fort up a steep ascent, on which stands a city, a levelled roadway having been evidently formed by the besiegers for the purpose. The two spears of the engine have made a breach in a tower, on the top of which is a man extendina "__F__ ? At BABYLON, the capital of Babylonia, and afterwards The King in his chariot: from Nineveh. of the Assyrian empire, as well as the metropolis of the great empires which followed it, was one of the wonThe king was the source and centre of power; he ders of the ancient world, for its vast size, architecttural was lord of the kingdom, and master of the souls embellishments, and the enormous wealth it contained. and bodies of the people. These yielded without The accounts of this city, in the writings of [he Greeks, nesitation; he accepted, and used without scruple. seem, to an ordinary observer, exaggerated to a high He consumed the treasures which the toil of his sub- degree; yet thesr descriptions are so circumstantial jects had gathered as his own, and he sacrificed their and consistent with known facts, that there can be no happiness, and shed their blood as freely as we do doubt of their general truth. Herodotus, who visite(l that of our domestic animals, — fed and bred for the Babylon about 450 B. C., describes it with great slaughter-house. Nor need we be too harsh in our minuteness and undoubted fidelity. estimate of these monarchs of antiquity, for it is This famous city stood on both sides of the Ebteasy to find resemblances in an age of greater light. phrates, in the middle of a wide plain. It was an Napoleon sacrificed as many lives in his Russian exact square, fifteen miles in length and breadth; concampaign as Senacherib in his invasion of Judah; sequently, the whole circuit of the walls was 60 the French in Algeria have done deeds as merciless miles. They were 350 feet high, and S7 feet thick; as those of any eastern despot; the British. at the they were built of brick cemented with bitumen, and present moment, are wagingr war in India, as grasping were encompassed by a broad ditch, filled with water and merciless as the wars of Nebuchadnezzar, or Tig- On each side of the city were 25 gates of solid brass, lath Pileser; and in our own conquest and removal of and upwards of 100 towers rose above the battlements the Seminoles, we have closely followed the conduct of the walls. The streets of the city were all straight, of the Assyrian kings toward the Jews, which drew crossing each other at right angles; and in this mandown the denunciations and the doom of prophecy. ner they formed 676 squares, each two miles and a Such are the main results of the recent discoveries quarter in circuit. The river ran through the city among the ruins of Nineveh. It is clear that the from north to south, and on each side was a quay of ancient Assyrian manners and customs greatly re- the same thickness as the walls of the city. These sembled those of the Babylonians, which we have quays were furnished with gates of brass, and steps already described. We see in them, indeed, the same leading down to the river. government, religion, and civilization, in their earlier In the centre of the city was a bridge across the stages. This is a great accession to our knowledge; Euphrates, an eighth of a mile in length. The archnes i', at last, the writings upon the bricks and slabs were built of stones fastened together with clamps o' low deposited in London and Paris shall be deci- iron and lead. As the Euphrates is subject to periodphered, still nlore interesting contributions to history ical inundations, occasioned by the melting of the snow will be realized. In that event, long lines of kings, on the mountains of Armenia, two canals were cut, to hithlerto unknown, may be brought to light, wide turn the waters into the Tigris, and vast artifizial chasmfls in chronotogy may be filled up, and the mazy embankments were raised on each side of thie rirer. 86 CELEBRATED ASSYRIAN AND BABYLONIAN CII RACTERS. On the western side of the city was an artificial lake, luxuries. All this may be explained by referring to t'l E 10 miles square and 35 feet deep, into which the fertility of Babyvlonia, which, owing to irrigation of the waters of the river might be turned, when necessary. lands, not only produced more abundantly than otheir At each end of the bridge was a palace, and a tun- countries, but also supplied a quicker succession of crops, nel passing under the river afforded a communication -one product of nature speedily followinhg another in oetween them. The larger of these palaces was sur- the same season. The Babylonians also, like the inounded by walls seven miles in circuit. Within the habitants of Southern Asia in general, lived on the sim>uter circuit were two other walls, the one within the ple and immediate produce of the ground; and it is well )ther, and the whole three were adorned with curious known that nations subsisting chiefly on grains and sculpture, representing different species of animals roots attain a degree of populousness almost incredible and hunting scenes. This palace contained many to those who judge animal food necessary to existence. magnificent works of architecture, among which were In the dry climate of Babylonia the crops of many three halls of brass, one under another, opening by a years might be treasured up with safety, and we have curious mechanical contrivance, and designed for the abundant proof in history that this expedient for pre. celebration of certain festivals. venting scarcity was in actual use by the Babylo. Near the centre of Babylon stood the temple of nians. Belus, attributed to Semiramis. It comprised eight After Alexander's conquest, history says very little stories or towers, rising one above the other, to.the of this great city. For a time it was the capital of height of 600 feet. In the different stories were Seleucus, but he soon transferred his court to Anti large halls, with ceilings, supported by pillars. On och. A Parthian general is said to have ravaged the top of the whole was an astronomical observatory. it about B. C. 127, destroying the public buildings, In the various parts of this edifice were chapels, appro- and carrying off great numbers of the inhabitants priated to the worship of the god Bel, and other divin- to slavery. In the reign of the emperor Augustus, ities, and all of these contained treasures of immense Babylon was almost deserted. Some time afterwards value, in statues, censers, cups, and sacred vessels of the Jews took refuge in this city, where they were massy gold. On the sumrmit of the topmost tower cruelly persecuted by Caligula. In the beginning of were three golden statues of divinities, called by the the fourth century the walls were used as an en. Greeks Jupiter, Juno, and Rhea. The first was forty closure for game, by the King of Persia. In the feet high. That of Juno was proportionally inferior middle of the fifth century the only inhabitants of in size; she was seated on a golden throne, with lions Babylon were a few Jews. At this date the Euphra. at each knee, and two serpents of silver. The statue tes had changed its course, and no longer reached the of Rhea was of the same height with that of Jupiter; city, except by means of a small canal. After this, she grasped a serpent in her right hand, and a sceptre we hear no more of Babylon but as a heap of ruins. enriched with gems in her left. Accompanying these It is now a scene of desolation, and strilingly fulfils statues was a table of beaten gold, forty feet long and the prophecy of Isaiah, uttered in the height of its fifteen feet wide, supporting goblets and vases of the prosperity: " And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, richest description. It has been calculated that the the beauty of the Chaldee's excellency, shall be as.treasures in this temple amounted in value to six when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. The nundred millions of dollars. All this wealth the kings wild beasts of the desert shall lurk in its ruins: the of Babylon had acquired by the plunder of their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; there shall neighbors. the owls dwell and the satyrs dance." The hanging gardens were among the chief curiosities of the city. The wife of Nebuchadnezzar, having been bred in the mountainous part of Media, desired to have something in Babylon to resemble the scenes f her childhood; and the king, to gratify her, caused.hese gardens to be constructed. They consisted of ed Characterians a large terraces raised upon arches, one over the other. B e )n the tops of the highest terraces were first laid large flat stones: over these a layer of reeds mixed with NIMROD was the son of Cush, the grandson'of Ham, bitumen, and on these a layer of bricks closely ce- and great-grandson of Noah. In becoming what the mented. All these were covered with sheets of lead, Scriptures call " a mighty hunter," he seems to have which served as a floor for the garden mould; and had two objects in view. The first was to gain thb this mould was so deep that large trees could take people's affection, by delivering them from the ravages root in it. The whole surface was diversified with of wild beasts. The other was to train up numbers trees, shrubs, and flowers, and with summer-houses, of young people, by the exercise of hunting, to endure from which the most delightful prospects were afforded. labor and hardship; to form them to the use of arms, As it is impossible to call in question the astonish- and the practice of discipline and obedience, that he ing magnitude of Babylon, many persons have been might in the end have a body of soldiers at command perplexed in endeavoring to discover how its inhab- for more serious purposes than hunting animals. itants could have been supplied with food. In the We find in ancient writers some notice of this artinarratives of ancient writers we hear nothing of those fice. Diodorus mentions Nimrod, under the name of famines which often prevail in the populous cities of Ninus, in these words: "Ninus, the most ancient of ChntL, and other countries of the East, and which Assyrian kings mentioned in history, performed great reduce the wretched natives to the most deplorable actions. Being naturally of a warlike disposition, and straits for food. On the contrary, the Babylonians ambitious of the glory that attends valor, he armed a are represented as living in great plenty, and the up- considerable number of young men, who were brave per classes as enjoying the habitual use of expensive and vigorous like himself, trained them up a lone CELEBRATED ASSYRIAN AND BABYLONIAN CHARACTERS. accustomed them to bear the fatigues of war patiently, Cautioned by these considerations, we may still arrive and to tacr danger with courage." at certain important conclusions, in respect to the Semiramls may be regarded as one of the most re- poli.y and influence of these ancient governments. narklable women that ever lived, although, according It is certain that the countries of Assyria and Btab)tO tle opinions of many, the actions recorded of her ylonia once teemed with a population to whom fertile cannot be justly ascribed to a single person, but fields, large flocks, ample harvests, productive manuought rather to be regarded as a collated view of the factures, and an extended commerce, gave occupation achievements of many distinct sovereigns. What is and support; that they were covered with cities known of her, however, serves to show her general spirit abounding in wealth and luxury; and that here, inand character. Ambition, and the love of glory, were deed, was the seat of trade, arts, and civilization. It evidently the predominant features of the character of is e-ually certain that these territories are now, to a Semiramis. Regardless of the welfare of others, she great extent, desolate, the soil unproductive, and the took delight only in conquering nations, andin perform- inhabitants, few in number, iy a state of abject baring deeds designed to send her fame to the remotest barism. As the climate of these lands is the same corners of the globe, and transmit it to posterity. No now as in ancient times, -as the hills, valleys, rivers risk was thought too considerable, no expense too - the great landmarks of nature - are ever the same, great, and no trouble too oppressive, to a woman bent on - whence the amazing difference between the past grasping at splendid though empty distinctions. Her and the present, in all the features of moral and politname is, indeed, recorded on the page of history, and ical geography? mighty actions are ascribed to her; but they are so The answer is full of instruction; it is to governdeeply involved in obscurity that they can scarcely be ment we must impute these striking phenomena. At 2alled the acts of Semiramis; and the progress of in- the outset of society, the rulers of Assyria and Babytellectual light and sound knowledge has shown them lonia, the Nimrods and Ashurs, were doubtless milirather to merit condemnation than applause. tary chieftains, who had yet the enlightened views of Belesis, the governor of Babylonia, was a Chaldean statesmen. They established regular governments, priest. He seems to have been crafty and mean, for insured tranquillity, and gave general security to life he practised deception upon Arbaces, his coadjutor in and property. Under such auspices, the industry and the conquest of Assyria. Beingy informed of the im- genius of the people found scope in the cultivation ol mense treasures consumed in the palaces by the con- the soil, in the pursuits of commerce, and, in due time, flagration of Nineveh, he pretended to Arbaces that in the working of mines, and the labors and inventions he had made a vow to his god, Belus, to carry the attendant upon the arts which have birth among a ashes of the city to Babylon. The ashes were accord- thriving people. ingly taken thither, and were doubtless well sifted by Admitting the despotic character of the Assyrian the pious Belesis. The trickl was afterwards discov- mrronarchies, we still come to the conclusion that they ered, and the deceiver was comidtemuned to death; but were administered, at least for long periods of time. Arbaces generously left him in possession of his throne, with ability and wisdom. Selfish as these sovereigns saying, "The good he has done ought to serve as a seem- blemished as are their personal annals by veil to his crime." It is added that Belesis became so acts of cruelty, debauchery and crime -the results debased,as to disgust Arbaces, who seems to have show that many of them were statesmen of enlarged despised effeminacy. Accordingly, he sent an ambas- views; and if we cannot call them patriots, we may sador to reprove the Babylonian sovereign: but the I at least assign to them that enlightened ambition latter caused the messenger to be assailed by various wI hich seeks glory in national improvement. Not seductions, and forgetting his mission, he became more only the records of history, but the vestiges of canals, dissipated than the object of his intended reproof. dykes, embankments and bridges, testify to the libera. Nebuchadnezzar distinguished himself by executing policy of some of these ancient sovereigns in the pro. the great plujects which had been first conceived by motion of internal improvements for the benefit of his father. After he had firmly established himself agriculture, commerce and the arts. upon the throne, and enlarged and secured the borders To this source, then, - the wise encouragement of of his empire, he turned his attention to the improve- government, - we are to look for the wealth and prosinent and embellishment of his capital. In his hands perity of the Assyrians and Babylonians. The for. Babylon acquired that magnitude and splendor for eign wars of the kings, at certain periods, may have which it was celebrated in subsequent ages. To given to the two great capitals a portion of. their Nebuchadnezzar we must assign the most magnifi- splendor; but the substantial prosperity of the king cent ornamental and useful objects in that great city; dom was doubtless diminished rather than augmented - the fortifications, the gardens, the lakes, &c., which by these means. From the luxury consequent upon some writers ascribe to Semiramis. This suppo- the plunder of other nations, we may suppose the corsition agrees with the scriptural account of his own ruptions sprung which-debased alilike the government vain-glorious boast, as he looked down upon the city and the people, and prepared the way for the total from the terraces of his palace: "Is not this great wreck of society which ensued. In this condition, Baby.on, that I have built for the house of the king- Assyria and Babylonia became the victims of Mahomdomn by the might of my power, and for the honor of etanism, a system of religion and law, which in all my majesty?" ages and all countries has impoverished the masses, If we attempt to pass from these sketches of indi- and proved an effectual barrier to general prosperity vidual character to general views of the Assyrian and national civilization. "The grass never grows mlonLrchs, we are necessarily embarrassed by the im- where the Sultan's horse has set his foot" is an eastpe'fect state of our knowledge, and the apocryphal ern proverb, the force of wvhicn is seen in many of the nature of many of th deritalls, which, in the absence finest portions of Asia. 88 MEDIAN EMPIRE-REIGN OF DIJOCES. C H A P T E R X L I X. at the Persian court in the time of Artaxerxes lVinemen 700 to 534 B.C. tells one story, and Herodotus another. These are Ieig n of Doces - Scythian Invasion End utterly irreconcilable, but on the supposition that each omits large portions of history, and one frequently - of the MIediau. Emnjire. speaks of dynasties wholly overlookeJ by the other. MEDIA comprised the country south of the Caspian Groping'n this darkness, we are only able to assure Sea, now belonging to Persia; and called Irak Adjemi, ourselves of the facts above stated in relation to the or Persian Irak, to distinguish it firom Irak Arabi, or remote onnals of Media. There were, doubtless, Babylonian Irak. It constitutes the central part of the kings and dynasties wholly lost to history, except such present kingdom of Persia. It is traversed by long casual glimpses as are revealed in the accounts of naked mountains, with fertile valleys between. It is Assyria and Babylonia, to which we have alluded. scattered over with ruins of cities, aqueducts, gardens Herodotus speaks of Dijoces as the founder of a very aind roads, whose founders have faded from the pages ancient line of kIings, but we know nothing of them. of history. Subsequent to this, in the eighth century B. C., Such is Media proper; but as spoken of in history, Media appears to be a province of Assyria, of whichl it is impossible to fix its boundaries, for they varied at Arbaces is satrap or governor. Disgusted with the different times. The country is mentioned as early effeminacy of Sardanapalus, he combined with Belesis, as the date of the first kings of Assyria. Semiramis governor of Babylonia, and together they overturned is said to have marched hither with a large army, and divided the empire. 876 B. C. Arbaces became which implies that the Medes were then numerous King of Media, over which he reigned twenty-eight and powerful. She is said to have caused many years. Ctesias makes his dynasty consist of eight monuments to be raised along her track, and some of kings. the existing vestiges of cities and gardens are referred Herodotus considers another Dijoces than the (,lue to her time. already mentioned, as the true founder of the Median The ancient population of Media seems to have empire. He may have been one of the successors of possessed a vigorous character, and to have been Arbaces, who extended his dominion over all Media, greatly addicted to horsemanship. Their country, reducing the independent tribes and consolidating the consisting of mountains and valleys, was favorable to whole into one empire. He was originally no more the breeding of horses, the Nissan plain, alone, having than a private citizen; but he bore a high character for 150,000 at a time. In other respects, the country was talents and prudent conduct. In his time, great disorders also highly productive. For ninmany ages, the Median were prevalent in the country, owing to defects in the nation seems to have been more important than the government, or, perhaps, to the want of all governPersian. In the later ages, when Media became ment. Dijoces, on account of his commanding qualimore known, it is spoken of as divided into Great ties and high reputation, was elevated to the post of Media, of which Echatana, now Hamadan, was the chief man in his native village. In this office he capital; and Lesser Media, of which Gaza, now Febris, acquitted himself with great discretion and success, was the capital. and brought the inhabitants of his village into regp The same confusion which attends the early history lar and peaceful modes of life. The members of th: of Assyria and Babylonia disfigures that of Media. other-communities, whom perpetual disorders had({ Ctesias, a Greek physician, who lived seventeen years kept in a wretched and suffering state, observing t2.'le SCYTHIAN INVASTON-END OF THE MEDIAN EMPIRE. 89 good order and prosperity which the government of ptlrsued and overtaken by his enemies, who deltnerDijoces had introduced, began to apply to him, and ately shot him throulgh with darts. make him the arbitrator of their differences. Cyaxares l. is the next King of Media mentioned The fame of his equity daily increased, and his in- in history. He is said to have begun his reign B. C. fluence in the nation soon eclipsed that of any other 635. He re-established the affairs of the kingdom, man. He now conceived the design of establishing and enlarged its borders by new conquests. He next his authority in a formal and permanent manner. For undertook a war against the Assyrians, to avenge the this purpose, he withdrew from public business, pre- insult which his nation had sustained in the sacking tending to be overwhelmed with the multiplicity of its of Ecbatana. In the first battle he defeated the Ascares. The want of his advice and authority was so syrians, and drove them into Nineveh, their capital. sensibly felt that Dijoces found no difficulty in per- Pursuing his victory, he laid siege to the city, which suading the people to elect him their king. This was on the point of surrendering, when an. unexpected is said to have occurred about 700 years before event suddenly turned the tide of war against the Christ. invaders. Dijoces, having secured his authority in this man- A great army of Scythians, from the neighborhood ner, determined to surround himself with all those of the northern shores of the Black Sea, had a short marks of dignity and power which inspire respect for time before this expelled the Cimrnmerians from Eu. the person of a monarch. He caused his subjects to rope, arid w\Avs still marching, under the command of bluild him a magnificent palace, strongly fortified; Kingy Madyes, in pursuit of them. The Cimmerians and in this residence he maintained a large body of had found means to escape from their enemies, and guards, with trains of attendants, servants, &c. Hav- the Scythians, in the pursuit, advanced as far as Meing thus provided for his personal security, he under- dia. The account of' this invasion was brought to took the task of civilizing the Medes, and bringing Cyaxares while he was encamped before Nineveh. them into sober and orderly habits. Before his time e He irnmmediately raised the siege, and marched with all they led a barbarous life, and their habits were roving his forces against the mighty army of barbarfans and unsettled. Dijoces determined to build a large which threatened to overwhelm all the civilized porcity, as a means of giving a new and permanent char- tion of Asia. The two armies met; the Medes were acter to the population. vanquished, and the Scythians were masters of all MeHe accordingly selected a spot, and marlked out the dia and the neighboring countries. They next directed circuit of the walls. The people willingly assisted in l their march to Egypt, but Psammetichus, the king of carrying his plans into effect; so high an opinion did that country, purchased their friendship with presents. they entertain of his wisdom. When the whole was i They then overran Palestine, and plundered the temple completed, the city was encompassed with seven walls, lof Venus, at Aslkelon, which was the most ancient one within the other; the interior walls rising above shrine dedicated to that goddess. Some of them the outer, so that the inhabitants of the whole seven settled permanently at Bethshah, a city belonging to could be seen at once from without. The site of the the Jewish tribe of Manassehb which, from this cirplace favored this design, it being a rising ground, cumstance, received the name of Scythopolis. with an equal slope on every side. Within the seventh During a period of twenty-eight years the Scytbienclosure stood the king's palace and treasury. Out- ans remained masters of Media, Armenia, Cappadocia, side of this were lodged the officers of his household; Pontus, Colchis, and Iberia: that is, they continued the remainder of the city was occupied by the corn- nmarchin( hither and thither over these countries, mon people. This city he named Ecbatana: it has spreading desolation wherever they came. The Medes, been supposed to be the same with the modern Ispa- filding it impossible to expel them from their territohan, though more probably the site was near the ries by force, resorted to stratagem. Under pretence present city of Hamadan. of strengthening the alliance which they had been Dijoces made good laws for the government of the forced( to make with these people, they invited the Medes; but either from a fear of conspiracies, or with greater part of them to a general feast, whllich was a design to envelop himself in mystery, and thereby particinated in by every family. Each master of the strike the people with awe, he passed all his time in feast made his guests intoxicated, and in that condithe innermost part of his palace, unseen by the multi- tion the Scythians were nearly all massacred. The tude. They continued to regard him with feelings of M Aledes then re-conquered the provin ces which they had obedience and veneration, and his reign passed in lost, and once more extended their empire to the banks tranquillity, undisturbed either by domestic sedition or of the river Halys, in Asia Minor, which was their foreign war. He died B. C. 657. ancient boundary in the west. Phraortes his son, succeeded him. He was of a Those of the Scythians who escaped the massacre very warlike temper, and not content with the king- fled into the kingdom of Lydia, where they were redomn of Media, invaded the territory of the Persians, ceived in a friendly manner by King Halyattes. This defeated them in a great battle, and established his brought on a war between him and Cyaxares; and a own dominion over them. Uniting the Persian army Median army immediately advanced to the frontiers to that of Media, he found himself strong enough to of Lydia. Many battles were fought in the space of attack other neiglhboring nations. He made many five years, without any decisive results. In the sixth conquests, and at length, turned his arms against the year, a very remarkable event happened. At thL Assyrians. In this war, however, he was unsuccess- commencement of a battle between the armies of the ful. The Median army was defeated, and compelled two nations an eclipse of the sun occurred. The comto retreat to their own country. The Assyrians pur- batants, terrified at this phenomenon, believed it to be sued tllern, captured Ecbata.na, pillaged the city, and a sign of the anger of the gods, and immediatel!y put stripped the royal palace of all its treasures and orna- an end to the fight. A peace was concluded between ments. Phraortes escaped to the mountains, but was the two kings in consequence of this interruption 19 U0 MANNERS, CUSTOMIS, E't., OF THE ANCIENT MEDUE. hostilities. The eclipse, although unexpected by the means in a forward state among them. Cyaxares Medes and Lydians, who were ignorant of the regular is thought by some to have been their first king that motions of the heavenly bodies, had been foretold to coined gold money. These pieces wtere, perhaps, the tlhe Greeks by Thales, an astronomer of Miletus. coins which subsequently received the name of Daries, In order to render this peace more firm and sacred, from the belief that they were first struck by Darius. the two monarchs added to it the sanction of an inter- The Medes had a great reverence for diviners and marriage, and Halyattes gave his daughter Aryenis to soothsayers, and were much addicted to the nractice Astyages, the eldest son of Cyaxares. The manner of augury. The priests took from the spoils of con. of contracting an alliance by these people deserves to quest whatever they chose, under pretext of dedicating be mentioned. Among other ceremonies which they it to the gods. They had neither temples, altars, nor used in common with the Greeks, the two contracting statues, to aid their religious worship, nor did they, parties made incisions in their own arms, and licked like many other ancient nations, believe the gods to.;me another's blood. be born of men. They offered up sacrifices on the The first care of Cyaxares, after the peace with summits of mountains, to the sun, moon, earth, fire, lie Lyi ans, was to renew the siege of Nineveh. water, and winds. _Tebuchaf ezzar, the King of Babylon, with whom he The government of tMedia was despotic, from the had contra ted an alliance, joined himn in the war accession of Arbaces to the throne; but the kings, against the Assyrians; and by a union of the forces thouoh they claimed to be nearly equal to the gods of these two powers, Nineveh was taken and destroyed, themselves, had not the power of reversing their owTr. 606 B. C. Cyaxares died shortly after this event. decrees; hence the Scriptures speak of the laws of Astyages succeeded his father Cyaxares B. C. 595. the Mledes and Persians as unalterable. The monHe is supposed to be the monarch called in Scripture arch administered justice in his own person, and in Ahasuerus. His reign, though long, is not marked by order that he might be properly qualified for this any considerable event. lie had two children, Cyax- business; particular care was taken to educate the ares and Mandane: the latter was married to Canmby- kings' sons in a knowledge of the laws of the country. ses, son of Achemenes, King of Persia. Fromn this Slavery existed among the Medes, but the severiti. marriage sprung Cyrus, already mentioned in the his- of this institution was mitigated by strict laws. tory of Babylonia. On the de..th of Astyages, the Celebrated Characters.-If the accounts which throne was occupied by Cyaxares II., his son,' fre- have been handed down to us are worthy of credi, quently called Darius the _Mede. This prince, in several of the Median kings were persons of extraorconjunction with his nephew Cyrus, captured Baby- dinary merit. The mingled prudence, moderation, lon. On the death of Cyaxares and Cambyses, the and wisdom of Phraortes, distinguish him as infinitely kingdoms of Media and Persia both devolved on Cyrus; superior to the ordinary race of ambitious and bloodyc and after this period, they are to be regarded as one founders of empires. Arbaces seems to have been an empire. The further history of this celebrated mon- able soldier, an enlightened statesman, and a generarch will be given in our account of Persia. ous man. Cyaxares I. was unquestionably a monarcl: of more than ordinary ability, and a similar remarlk may be applied to Cyaxares II.; but the value of any general observations upon topics like these will appear small, when we consider that different authors assign.Iianz'ners, Customs, ~c., of the Aniene!t iledes- different dates, names, and actions to these ind ividuals. Celebrated Ch-tar~acters - Antiq7uAities.Antiquities. -However obscure the early history of Media may be, there are existing proofs that it vwas a THE Medes differed more widely from the Babyloni- populous country at a very remote date. Every porans and Assyrians than the two latter nations from one tion of it now displays the ruins of cities, aqueducts. muother. The Mledes are said to have been originally and walls, some of great antiquity. Near the city of very warlike, though in the time of Cyrus they had Teheran, are the ruins of the ancient Rhague, now become effeminate and luxurious, and were charged Rei, to which the Jews were removed after the Babywith corrupting the Persian plainness and simplicity. lonish captivity, as mentioned in the Book of Tobit. They were celebrated for the use of the bow, with For three miles, in every direction, are seen burnt which they fought on horseback. Their arrows are said bricks, mounds, mouldering walls, towers and tombs. to have been poisoned with a bituminous liquor, which Hamadanz, of comparatively modern date, is supburnt the flesh with such intensity that water increased posed to be on or near the site of the ancient Ecbatana. the heat, and dust alone could assuage it. An ancient It presents numnerous vestiges of the ruined city. In writer, quoted by Eusebius, affirms that they main- this region is Besittoon, which forms a high rock, cut tained a breed of dogs for the purpose of devouring smooth on one side, and impending over the road like their friends, parents, and relations, when they were a canopy. On an almost inaccessible point, are sculpat the point of death, because they looked upon it as tured a group which represents a procession. There dishonorable to die on a bed, or be laid in the ground. are also other remarkable excavations and sculptures But we do not find this strange account substantiated This rock is supposed to be the mountain called Bajis. by any trustworthy author. tanon, mentioned in the history of Semiramis, and The practice of polygamy, so destructive to domestic where she is said to have made a garden, and caused happiness, was carried by the Medes to a great excess. her image, with one hundred guards around her, te be According. to Strabo, it was even enforced by law. chiselled on the rocks. Such are some of the antiquirhey were noted for their celebration of birth-days, ties of this region which belong to the Medintn period'helr distinction of ranks, their forls of salutation, of its history. Others are of a later date; and as MIedia:,sd the eagerness with which they adopted for- became, and still is, an important province of Persia..gn fashions. The arts and sciences were by no they will be noticed in the account of that kingdom...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ G(IOGRAPHICAL VIEW OF PERSIA. 91 A-::.,:'..'.. Iv-W I Da- I. 318~ 7f12 B5LfoElCashi Afl Bsill../ A..: L. n..... U t a of- ~~mi~~'~lrs ido apj stmr ru n K(..hi ri~Z~f,~i~PuE;~ oe. B a'~:'i;'':' ".'::.-' of'.?::t..:i:::-:'".'Its'.ari:s::'.::.:i:', _:'::.,::: ulation Y~~~11~lq7' is 1 0.::.::: p;v.: —_.:.: - hd, S'.' henc CHAPTER Lers.a nearlces PersiaProper,':.ty supersede te Sabeierrsm of Byn and terrio'd::i i::;;~i::':'....... T ~ a~ AF -HANISTAN descendnt.i rssgian wftere the t on uetsho, far. The ii an a Geographical View. worshipped images, while the Magians regarded this as idolatry; and hence a strong repugnance between THE present kingdom of Persia, or Iran, is bounded these two ancient modes of faith. The Persians deon the north bv Tartary and the Caspian Sea; on he stroyed the idols of all nations whom they conquered. east by Afghatnistar and Beloochistan; on the south by The modern Guebres preserve the Maglian doctrine. the Persian Gulf, and on the west by the territories but their number is small. of Turkey in Asia. Its extent is 4S0,000'quare Persia Proper is a country of rugged mountains and miles, or one fourth that of the United States; its pop- sandy deserts, interspersed with fertile valleys. Origulation is 12,000,000. inally, the people were hardy and brave, and hence Modern Persia embraces Persia Proper, the ancient they became the conquerors of the adjacent territories. Mledia, Susiana, and Carmania; Ancient Persia erm- Media, now the province of Irak Arabi, has been braced not only these territories, but Hyrcania, Par- already described. Here are the cities of Ispahan, and thia, Gedrosia, Aria, Bactriana, Sogdiana. Persia Teheran; the former'was once the capital, but the Proper is the province now called Fars or Farsistan. king now holds his court at the latter. The Medes.The parent of the nation, according to Scripture, was and Persians are supposed to have been originally the Elam, a son of Shem. The Persians were an ancient same people. people, whose first king, known to history, lived in the Susiana, now Kihusistan, was small in exte nt, but time of Abraham. The Kajanides were a race of of great fertility. Strabo says that its harvests yielded Zoroa1ster was the reformer of this religion. Magiamsm-1+l for their sk i!';r, archery. The capital ias Susa. X ELGRAPHICAL VIEW OF PERSIA. Caramania, the modern province of IKermen, was drugs, are among the products. Many of the fruits separated from Persia Proper by an extensive desert. knowni in Europe, as apricots, grapes and pomegranates, surpass those of all other countries. The Persians call the latter the fruit of Paradise. In the valley of J./r~ — ~.-r z Shiraz the harvest begins in May and ends early in June. The antelope is a native of the country, and its soft melancholy eye furnishes many an illustration to the poets. l 9 Gedrosia, now Beloochistan, is composed of arid mountains and sandy plains. In traversing these deserts, the vast armies of Semiramis and Cvrus were l-( -~ nearly destroyed, and here Alexander and his army suffered intensely from the heat of the climate and the want of water. * r\i Aria was an extensive tract, including the moderr Afghanistan, with a part of Tartary. It was anciently embraced under three divisions; Aria in the centre, largiana in the onorth, and Arachosia in the south. sim ilar [ The people, called Arii, were of the same race as the M edians and Persians. It is supposed that Persia derived its name of Iran, from these. The district is divided by a range of mountains, running east and west, anciently called Paropamisus, now. Elboorz. Parthia lay to the north. The people were a hardy QI,race of Scythian or Tartar warriors, who fought on horseback. Though partially subject to: Persift at an early period, they were never thoroughly conquered; and after the fall of the Persian empire, Parthia rhe name, in Syriac, signifies a vine, which is appro- became the seat of a powerful kingdom. The history priate, as grapes are produced here in perfection. of this country will be hereafter given; it is now a These are the countries which form *the present part of Independent Tartary. kingdom of Persia. They lie between 25 and 3S Hyrcania, lying on the south-easteri border of the degrees of north latitude; — in the south the climate is Caspian Sea, was noted for its tigers aand serpents. nearly that of Georgia and Florida; in the north it is The southern portion was fertile in vines, figs and similar to Virginia. A large portion of the territory olives. The inhabitants were of Scythian origin, and is occupied with arid deserts and barren mountains; the country became subject to Parthia after the decline yet some of the loveliest valleys in the world, such as of the Persian empire. It constitutes the northern those of Shiraz, Keesistan and Ispahan, are found in part of modern Persia, and bears the name of Mazan. Persia. The roses here are the finest that are known. deran and Ghilan. Bactriana lay on the northern side of the Paro. ~~:..~,'.~~,/,:~ ~pamisus Mountains, and was that portion of Indepen. // ~~dent Tartary now called Koondooz. It was a fertile ountry, and early became the seat of a civilized and important kingdom. It was conquered by Cyrus, and ~' ~ h~~:~aBn~, "'~, afterwards by Alexander. -'~ ~~~ ia mBactra, the ancient capital, called the mother of cities, was a splendid place. It now bears the name of. Balkh, and is reduced to insignificance. -rr~~~~~~, }Sogdiana, lay between the Oxus and laxartes rivera NQ ~gr It was a 6fine country, and now 1bears the name of Buchiaria. M1aracanda, or Samnarcanld, xas the cani tal. It is now inhabited by the Usbec Tartars. We shall have occasion, hereafter, to give a more particu-.lar description of some of these countries, when we treat of their separate history. Such were the countries* which constituted the central part of the Persian empire in its early days. It afterwards added Assyria and Babylon, and transferred its capital to the latter. It then'extended its conquests westward to Europe, involving Egypt an6 Asia Minor in its gigantic dominions. The tide of conquest, which set westward for several centuries.ca ~ ~~broke at last upon Greece, and roiling backwards, overwhelmed the whole Persian empire in ruins. Silk is abundant; large quantities are exported, and * For a view of the situation of these countries'in ancient times used in manufactures. Corn, fruit, wine and fine see map,.. 69 EAR.LY HISTORY OF PERSIA. 93 943 C H A P T E R L I I. the middle of the tenth century A. D.* It was compiled 1000 to 800 B. C. from vague traditions, and the few fragments of ancient Persian literature that survived the destruction of the y History of Persia-Kaiona- Gia national records by the Greeks and Parthians, and the fanatical ravages of the first Mahometan conquerors. ()Or all the mighty empires which have flourished The facts in the early history of Persia are disguised in the East, that of Persia is perhaps the most remark- by a multitude of fictions -the invention of the poet able. Including the modern kingdom, it has endured, - and it is difficult to separate the truth frim the through a succession of vicissitudes almost unparal- fanciful embellishments of the story. The poem of leled, for more than 2500 years. It has been by turns Firdusi, however, comprises almost all that Asiatic the prey' of foreign enemies, and the sport of internal writers can produce on the subject of Persian history revolution; yet it has ever been subjected to despotic before the Mahornetan conquest. rule, alternately elevated to the summit of glory and The first monarch of Persia is called Kaiozanurz. prosperity, and plunged into misery and degradation. His descent is traced to Noah, and he is said to have Although the history of Persia, as a prominent flourished eight or nine centuries before Christ. He kingdom, begins with the reign of Cyrus after the was the founder of the race of kings called Paishdacapture of Babylon, still, Persia Proper furnishes dians, or Early Distributors of Justice. His actions annals of a much more ancient date. have been magnified into miracles; his enemies were The sources of the history of this country are more thought to be deevs, or magicians, and his confederates abundant and diversified in their nature than those the lions and tigers of the forest. After a succession of'the nations which have hitherto occupied our of brilliant exploits, he retired to Balkh, his capital, attention. The earlier ages of Persian, as of all other where he died, or resigned the crown to his son Hohistory, are wrapt in -fable and obscurity; but if we shung. The latter was a virtuous king, and invented would investigate the rise and progress of a nation, we many useful axrts; among others, that,of striking fire must not altogether reject the mythology which con- from flints, and that of irrigating land in agriculture. ceals the. traces of its origin.' Yet in drawing from' Giarmschid, or Jumsheed, was the fourth king of this such sources, a. distinction must be made between dynasty, and is one bf the most celebrated of all the early records which have been handed down pure, and fabulous heroes of Persia. His power and riches are those looser traditions which, being the growth of more the theme of multitudes of the historians and romance recent times, should be viewed with greater suspicion. writers of the country, by whom he is extolled as the Whatever we possess entitled to credit, respecting the great reformer of his age. A long course of prosremoter periods of Persian history, has been gathered perity, however, made him proud and arrogant, and'from three sources: first, from the pages of the Jewish he was punished by the invasion of Zohak, prince of Scriptures; secondly, from the Greek historians, and Syria, who defeated and put him to death. thirdly, from the writings of native Persians. Of these last, we niay particularize two-the Zendavesta and * The Shah Nameh, though claiming to he a history, is chiefly (the Shah Nameh. celebrated as a poem. It is written in purer Persian than any other The Zendavesta is a collection of the sacred books considerable work, and is read and admired, by educated Persians, of the ancient Persians. In this work are contained tundgo the resent utilations. copies which now exist appear to have the early traditions of the nation, and the religious sys- the verses or the phraseology, for twenty couplets together. Whole tern and moral code ascribed to Zerdusht or Zoroaster, episodes are omitted, inany verses are rejected, and some copies have not more than 40,000 verses, wvhile the original poem contained the great Persian legislator: This is still the sacred 6(,000. A specimenl of this work is afforded in the liib of Alexan. book of the Guebers, or worshippbers of fire. The Shalt- lel. who is called Sikcandere, and represented as the son of Darab, Namneh, or Book of Kings, is a great epic or historical I Kin of Persia, by the daughter of Failukus (Philip) of Macedon. In olher respects, the history of Alexander is given with tolerable poem, written by FirdtIsi, the Homer of Persia, about i accuracy as to the main outline, 94 ZOHAk-THE BI,ACKSMITH GAO —FERIDOON, ETC. miracles by the poet who describes them, and thus his CH A T E 1R LI,history is enveloped in romance; yet there is no reason to doubt that he was a real personage. He 800 to 600 B. C. commanded the Persian armies against the Tartars ol Znohak —The Blackcsmith Gao —Feridoon — Turan, who crossed the river Oxus, under the corn Zal-zrustenm —- The Leg-end of o/hrab. mand of prince Afrasiab, and invaded Persia. Rustem had received from: his father the club of his ancestoi ZOIIAX, by this victory, became sovereign of Persia. Sam. This tremendous weapon, which had long been Some writers suppose him to have been an Arab; the terror of Persia's enemies, was soon perceived by others think him identical with the Nimrod of Scrip- the Tartars. Afrasiab demanded who that boy was ture, as the chronology of these events is by no means that made such havoc in his ranks. One of his fixed. All accounts represent him as a tyrant, delight- attendants replied, "Seest thou notthat he wields the ing' in blood. The courage of Gao, or Kanak, a black- club of the mighty Sam - that he is a youth the obiect smith, delivered the nation from his sanguinary rule. of whose soul is renown?" Afrasiab, despising his To save his sons, who were doomed to be the victims enemy,'hastened to attaclk him. Rustemn perceived iis Df the despot's cruelty, this man flew to arms, roused intention, and observing that he was almost unarmel, his countrymen, and using his apron as a banner, he threw aside his club and rushed to the combat. After overthrew and slew the usurper, and placed Feridoon, a short but violent contest, the Persian hero seized the the legitimate prince, upon the throne. In these prince and bore him off his saddle; but his girdle accounts, the first glimmerings of truth break through breaking, Afrasiab fell to the ground, and his soldiers the veil of fiction that obscures the early history of crowded to his defence in such numbers that it became Persia. The blacksmith received for- his reward the impossible for Rustem to recover his prisoner. But city of Ispahan with its dependencies as a feudal prin- the rich crown and girdle of the Tartar prince recipality, and in memory of this revolution, his apron mained in the possession of the victor, whose triumph was laid up in the treasury of the Persian kings, and was completed by the entire defeat of the enemy. If enriched with jewels of inestimable, value. It con- we may believe the Persian authors, Rustem slew in tinued to be the royal standard till it was captured by this battle no less than 1160 men with his own hand! -the earliest Mahometan invaders, and sent to the Kai Koos reigned over Persia during the lifetime Khalif Omar. This singular trophy affords a strong of Rustem. He was vain and proud, and appears to confirmation of the traditions of that period. have been in continual distress from the unfortunate The Persian historians expatiate with enthusiasm result of schemes.which were prompted by his ambition, upon the justice, wisdom, and glory of Feridoon, whose but which he had not the ability to consummate. His virtues and prosperity acquired for him the title of the life is connected with a thousand romantic incidents, Fortunate. In the reign of his grandson, flourished which appear with great effect in the poem of Firdusi. the celebrated Rustemr, the Hercules, or national hero, Among them, we find the singular and affecting tale of Persia, whose miraculous birth and marvellous of the combat between Rustem and his son Sohrab, in exploits form the darling subject of the Shah Nameh. which the Persian hero gained a victory that emlbitThis hero was the son of Zal, the prince of Seistan, tered all his future life. who was born with white hair, and consequently The poet commences this episode by calling it a received from his father the name of Zal, or "old fel- tale full of tears. Young Sohrab was an illegitimate low." Sam, the father of Zal, was prime minister of son of Rustem, and unknown to his father; for the Persia. Believing that this white-headed child was mother had written to Rustem that his child was a not his own son, but the offspring of a magician, he daughter-fearing to lose her infant if the truth became exposed him on the top of the mountain Elburz; known. Sohrab, when he grew up, left his mother According to the poetical legend, Zal was nurtured and sought fame under the banner of Afiasiab, where Dn this mountain by a griffin. After a time, his he gained a renown beyond that of all contemporary father, being warned by a supernatural admonition, heroes, excepting only his father. He had carried distook his son home, and brought him up at the Persian may and death into the ranks of the Persians, and had court. In his manhood he accompanied his father to terrified their boldest warriors. At last, Rustem reCaubul and Seistan, over which countries Sam had solved to encounter him, under a feigned name. been appointed governor. One day Zal, while engaged They met three times. At the first, they parted by m -the chase in a forest, came to a tower, and saw mutual consent, though Sohrab had the advantage. standing on one of its turrets a young lady of exqui- At the second, the youth obtained a victory, but site beauty. They mutually gazed and loved, but granted life to his unknown father. At the third there appeared no means by which the enamored Zal meeting, Sohrab received a mortal wound, and fell. could ascend to the battlements. After much embar- Writhing in the pangs of death, he warned his conrassment, an expedient occurred to the maiden. She queror to shun the vengeance inspired by parental loosened her dark and beautiful tresses, which fell in woes, and bade him dread the rage of the mighty ringlets to the foot of the tower, and enabled the Rustemn, who must soon learn that he had slain his young hero to climb up to her. This lady proved to son Sohrab. These words were like death to the aged be Rudabah, the daughter of Mehrab, King of Caubul.'hero. When he recovered from the first shock, he The love occasioned by this extraordinary interview called for proofs of what Sohrab had intimated. The gave rise to a marriage, and Rustem was born of this dying youth tore open his mail, and showed a seal union. Seven nurses were assigned for his support, which his mother had placed on his arm, when she out these proved insufficient, and a flock of sheep were discovered to him the secret of his birth and bade added to suckle the robust infant! Such is the fabu- him seek his father. The sight of his own signet lous account of the birth of the Persian hero. rendered Rusterm insane. He cursed himself, and The deeds of Rustem have been magnified into attempted to commit suicide, but was prevented bv.. )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4 (*UJSHTASP-WORSHIP OF FIRE —ISFUNDEAR. 95 toe efforts of his expiring son. After Sohrah's death pents, that no attempt had ever been made to cross it. lie burnt his tents and all his goods, and carried the This, however, was the route which Isfundear deter. corpse to Seistan, where it was interred. The mother, mined to take, accompanied by only sixty chosen mnen on receiving intelligence of this catastrophe, set fire to He despatched a chief by the longer route, with the hier palace, meaning to perish in the flames-but was army and heavy baggage, directing him to watch as prevented by her attendants. She became quite fran- he approached the city for a signal of fire, and to make tic; now her chief joy was to clothe herself in the the attack the moment he saw it. bloody garment of her son, to kiss the forehead of his Isfundear and his sixty attendants were dressed as favorite horse, to draw his bow, to wield his lance, his merchants, and carried with them a load of marketable sword and his mace. At last, to use the words of the commodities. They passed the desert in safety, and poet, — " She died, and her soul fled to that of her entered Ruendeh without exciting suspicion. They heroic son." caused a report to be circulated, that a wealthy merchant, attended by a number of friends, had escaped from the tyranny of Gushtasp. This, according td CHI A P T E R LIV. design, soon reached the ear of Arjasp, who sent for Isfundear, that he might view his merchandise. The 600 to 529 B. C. disguised prince attended, made an offering of some Gushtasp - YThe T/Vorship of Fire -Advenbtare.s rich jewels, and was assured of favor and protectiotn. of Is/fuder -F Foundatiorsn: of th'~e E*p ir d e r. No suspicion fell upon him, and, at length, he saw the of funs. f Persian army approach the city. In the darkness of the night he made the signal. The troops without THE reign of Gushtasp owes its chief celebrity to its immediately made an attack upon the walls, while the being the period when the Persians were converted prince and his companions rushed to assail the palace. to the worship of fire. Zoroaster, who, it is believed, So sudden and unexpected was the assault, that everyeffected this change in the religion of his country, is thing was thrown into confusion, and no resistance called a prophet, or an impostor, as the events of his was made. When the prince approached the king, life are described from ancient Persian or Mahometan he exclaimed, -" You miscreant Turk! I arn Isfunsources. The former writers pretend that he was a dear, Prince of Persia!" Arjasp fled, terrified at most holy and enlightened man. The latter assert the name, but was soon overtaken and slain; all his that he was an astrologer, who, under the deception of brothers met the same fate. The sister of Isfundear the devil, became the teacher of a new and impious was released and. restored to her father, to whom the doctrine. All agree that he lived in the time of Gush- victorious prince also sent the throne of Arjasp, with tasp, and led him, either by his magical arts or holy an immense booty. These exploits are highly embelmiracles, to become a zealous and powerful propagator lished in Persian romance. The seven stages by of his doctrine. The royal bigot not only built fire- which Isfindear made his way to Ruendeh are each temples in every part of his kingdom, but compelled marked by some formidable obstacle. The first is his subjects to worship in them. The doctrines of defended by two savage wolves; the second, by two Zoroaster spread rapidly over the whole country. The enormous lions; the third, by a dragon with sever. king ordered twelve thousand cow-hides to be tanned heads; the fourth, by a ghoul or demon; the fifth, by a fine, that the precepts of his new faith might be writ- griffin; the sixth, by a perpetual fountain of immense ten upon them. These parchments were deposited in height; and the seventh, by a great lake surrounded a vault hewn out of the rock at Persepolis. Holy men by lofty mountains. were appointed to guard them, and it was commanded These legends may serve to give the reader an idea that the profane should be kept at a distance from the of the ancient Persian. history, as it is told by native sacred records. writers. None of these accounts are to be found in The first consequence of this change of religion was the writings of the Greeks, whose knowledge of Pera war with Arjasp, King of Tartary, who wrote a let- sian affairs, previous to the time of Alexanlder, apter to Gushtasp, warning him against the error into pears to have been very scanty and indistinct. The which he had fallen, and threatening him with anY in- conquest of Persia by Cyrus the Great forms one of vasion if he refused to return to the religion of his the most important eras in the annals of this nation. ancestors. The Persian king was indignant at this Attempts have been made to reconcile the accounts of letter, and hostilities immediately ensued. Isfundear, Cyrus, as given by Herodotus. with those relating to the son of Gushtasp, commanded the Persian army, Kei Khosrou, in the work of Firdusi. and'gave the Tartars a complete overthrow. But The Persian sovereign called Kai Kobad by Firbeing driven into rebellion by the intrigues at court, he dusi has been thought identical with the Dejoces of was thrown into prison by his father. When the Media. The Kai Koos of Firdusi is supposedto be the Tartar king heard of this, he took up arms again, in- same with Cyaxares, or Astyages; but the perplexing vaded Persia, defeated Gushtasp, and made his daugh- I fictions with which the genius of the poet has invested ter prisoner. the history of this period, render everything obscure Gushtasp, in despair at this loss, not only gave I The coincidence of the reigns of Kai Koos and Cyax Isfundear his liberty, but promised to resign his crown ares rests upon a single fact, -a total eclipse of the to him if he succeeded in releasing his sister. The sun, which took place during an engagement between prince agreed to the terms, collected an army, defeated the Medes and the Lydians. This is supposed to be A.rjasp, and prepared to pursue him to his capital, the same phenomenon that, according to Firdusi, strucll. Ruendeh, or the Brazen City, so named from the the army of I(ai Koos with a sudden blindness, in a strength of its walls. Three routes led to this city; battle with the magicians of Mazenderan. the shortest was over a desert so wild and barren, and i It is impossible to say with certainty which of the so infested by ferocious animals and poisonous ser-' kings of Persianhistorv is the CyrusoftheGreelks. TL' 96 CASIBYSES-CONQUEST OF EGYPT-THE FALSE SM3ERDIS. Persians, according to Heeren, were originally a Cyrus seems to have been made acquainted with highland people, and led a pastoral life. They were the prophecies of Isaiah concerning him. Soon after classed into ten tribes, of which the Pasargadm were his accession to the throne of Babylon, he issued a the ruling horde. Their government was a patriarchal decree for the return of the Jews to their own counone, the vestiges of which may be traced throughout try. They were not, however, permitted' to rebuild their whole history. the temple till the expiration of seventy years, when The revolution effected by Cyrus was, according to Darius Hystaspes granted them that privilege. this view, like most other important revolutions of Asia, Cyrus now made war on the Massagetie, a nation "he effort of a great pastoral people, who, impelled by living in the north of Asia. Here he was defeated necessity and favored by circumstance, forsook their and slain by the people, under command of their own seats in search of more peaceful and permanent queen Tomyris, 529 B. C. The enraged sovereign abodes, and drove out some previously successful caused the head of the conqueror to be cut off and invader. Cyrus was, probably, a chief of the Pasar- plunged into a leathern bag filled with human gadse, elected leader of the Persian hordes, and by blood, saying, "Though I am alive, and have contheir assistance became a powerful conqueror, at a time quered you, yet you have undone me by taking my when the Median and Babylonian kingdoms were on the son. I will, however, satiate you with blood." This decline. On their ruins he founded the Persian em- speech, savage as it may seem, still shows the tender pire,which rapidly increased till his dominions extended feelings of a mother, and a just estimate of the charfirom the Mediterranean to the Indus and the Oxus. atter of a conqueror, whose work is the same in all The Greek histories of Cyrus are derived chiefly ages — the shedding of human blood. from Herodotus and Xenophon. The latter writer is Cyrus is considered the great hero of Persian his represented by Plato as having given in his work his tory, and. his name is cherished to the present day own conceptions of what should constitute a just It is said, that there was a tomb erected to his mem. prince, rather than a true account of Cyrus. Cicero ory, at Pasargadm, near the city of Persepolis. Twc also affirms that Xenophon's work was drawn up ex- hundred years after the death of Cyrus, Alexandei pressly as a model of government, and was not in- visited his sepulchre at this place, and offered sacritended as a true history. Herodotus founds the Per- fiees to his shade. He opened the tomb, expecting to sian empire upon the destruction of the Medes. find great treasures; but a rotten shield, two Scythian Xenophon unites the Medes and Persians in the con- bows, and a Persian cimeter, were the only relies. q'lest of Babylon. Other discrepancies occur in the Within the sepulchre was the following inscription' narratives of these two writers which we should in vain " O man, whoever thou art, and whencesoever thou attempt to reconcile. Amid these contradictory views, comest, I am Cyrus, the founder of the Persian emwe can only be sure of certain leading facts. pire: envy me not the little earth that covers my The supremacy of the Medes over the Persian body." principalities was probably first established in the reign of Kai Koos, early in the sixth century, B. C. His son, or successor, Astyages, called also Ahasuerus, a name given to several other oriental monarchs, reconcilied the Persians to his authority by giving his C HI A P T E R L V. daughter in marriage to Cambyses, of the royal tribe of the Pasargadme From this union was born Cyrus, to 521 B. C. or Khosrou, in Persian, signifying the sun. Before his Cambyses Conquest of Egypt - The False accession to the throne, he had been intrusted with Cabyses - est of Egt - e False the command of the Persian armies, and had carried on successful wars against Lydia and other countries CYRUS left two sons, Cambyses and Smerdis. The in Westein Asia. former succeeded him, 529 B. C. He began his Uniting with Cyaxares II. or Darius, king of Media, reign by making war upon Egypt. He invaded that Cyrus marched against Babylionia, and, after a siege country with a powerful army, captured Pelusium, of two years, took its capital. Darius became king and, being aided by local information filrnished by a of Babylon, where he reigned in great pomp and Greek deserter, he overthrew Psammenitus, the king splendor for a short period. He was then succeeded of Egypt, and subdued the whole country. His by Cyrus, who proceeded to consolidate his immense fierce hostility to the sacerdotal caste, which he inconquests. Hence arose the Persian empire, which herited from his father, made him a persecutor of' the extended, during this reign, from the Indus on the Egyptian priests, who, in revenge, have portrayed east to Greece on the west. him as the worst of tyrants. He next determined When Cyrus came to the throne, he found many upon an invasion of Ethiopia. He sent spies into Jews in a state of captivity at Babylon. Among that country, in the character of ambassadors. These these was the prophet Daniel, whom he treated with carried presents from Cambyses, and were directed respect and favor. The prophet Isaiah. had spoken to inquire respecting the marvellous "table of the sun." of Cyrus, long before his birth, as destined to fulfil This was said to be a plain near the chief city of the the high purposes of Heaven. The following pas- Ethiopians, covered to the height of several feet with sage is supposed to refer to him - the roasted flesh of all sorts of animals, and free for I will go before thee and level mountains - every one to eat. Some of the ancient geographers I will burst asunder the folding doors of brass - call this a supernatural production of the earth. And split in twain the bars of iron. The Ethiopian prince easily detected the design of Even I wii give thee athe darf tresurces the pretended ambassadors. He sent back a message, Thatnd thou mayest know ealth of secret plces, advising Cambyses to be content with his own dominWho call thee by thy name, am God of Israel." ions, and not to covet the possessions of another. He DARIUS-CAPTURE OF BABYLON-EXPEDITION TO SCYTHIA. 97 sent him, also, in return for the presents, his own Darius Hystaspes, one of the seven, had a groom bow, saying, " When Cambyses can bend this bow as who managed his horse so cunningly, as to cause him I can, let him attack me." The Persian king, highly to neigh as soon as he had arrived at the place of renincensed by this message, ordered his army to march, dezvous. All the others immediately saluted Darius though quite unprovided for such an expedition: as king of Persia, 521 B. C. "Never reflecting," says Herodotus, " that he was about to visit the extremities of the earth." He left no part of his forces behind, except his Greek auxiliaries, on whom he depended to keep the country in awe. Arriving at Thebes, in Upper Egypt, he detached from this army 50,000 men to march against H Ay P T E R IL I. the Ammonians, with orders to ravage their country, and burn the temple of Jupiter Ammon. 521 to 500 B. C. By the help of guides, the Persian army reached Darius I.- Capture of Babylon- Expedition the city of Oasis, seven days' march from Thebes. What became of them afterwards was never known. Herodotus, who received the story from the Ammo- THE long and successful reign of Darius was marked nians, relates that, " after they had left Oasis, they by events which exercised a powerful influence over halted to take some repast, when a strong south wind the destinies of Persia. Not less a legislator than arose and overwhelmed them beneath a mountain of a conqueror, he divided the empire into nineteen sand." Perhaps the Egyptians, intending the de- satrapies, on each of which was imposed a fixed struction of their enemies, conducted them into the tribute.. The duties of the satraps appear to have last solitudes of Libya, and abandoned them in the been at first confined to the collection of imposts, the night. Being unable to find their way out of the improvement of agriculture, and the execution of the desert, they perished from heat and thirst. royal orders. They were purely civil governors, alCambyses, in the mean time, advanced with his miain though, by an abuse of their powers, they afterwards army against the Ethiopians. He soon began to feel acquired military command. An efficient systemn of the fatal effects of his improvident haste. His scanty checks upon. these officers was imposed by Darius. stores of provision were consumed. The army then Periodical visits were paid to each district by royal fed on the beasts of burden, and, at length, on the commissioners, or by the king himself; and an esroots and herbs which the uncultivated soil could sup- tablishment of couriers was formed for transmitting ply. Cambyses had yet the indiscretion to advance, edicts to every quarter of the empire. The army till his trooos were reduced, amidst sands and deserts, was distributed into commands, formed on the prin. to the dreadful expedient of devouring one another. ciple of decimal division — a system which has ever The whole army was decimated, every tenth man, since prevailed. Greek mercenaries were taken into selected bya lot, being slain and prepared as food for pay, and, on occasion of great wars, recourse was his companions. At last, the king, finding it impos- had to a general conscription. sible to proceed, marched back with the wreck of his The Babylonians broke out into rebellion against army, defeated without seeing the face of an enemy. Darius, and expecting the speedy vengeance of the, The next design of Carlibyses was to carry his arms, king, who mustered his army on the first news of the into Western Africa, against the Carthaginians; but revolt, they prepared to sustain a long siege, and rethe Phcenician mariners on whom he depended for sorted to a horrible expedient. "Of all the women the transDortation of his army, refused to serve against in Babylon," says Herodotus, "each man reserved a people whom they regarded as their brethren. To his mother and one other female of his household; secure his throne, he had taken the cruel precaution of the rest were collected together and strangled." The putting his brother Smerdis to death; but he was now king advanced and laid siege to the city. The'Babyalarmed by hearing that a usurper, under his brother's lonians, confiding in their preparations and the strength name, had seized the crown. He immediately gave of their walls, treated the besiegers with contempt. orders for his army to take up their march for They even amused themselves with dancing on tlie Persia' but, while mounting his horse, his sword ramparts. More than a year and a half was wasted slipped firim the scabbard, and gave him a mortal before the walls, and Darius, at last, began to despair wound in the thigh. Hle died at Ecbatana, in Syria, of taking the city, when the enterprise was accomB. C. 521. plished by a stratagem of Zopyrus, one of his chief The false Smerdis was sustained upon the throne officers. by a faction of the Magi, or Persian priests. But This person cut off his own nose and ears, and Otanes, a nobleman of high rank, suspecting the otherwise mutilated his person in an extraordinary deceit, was enabled to detect it by means of his and cruel manner. He then deserted to the Babydaughters who, having been the wife of Cambyses, lonians, and pretended that he had received this barwas retqined in the usurper's harem. He commu- barous treatment from Darius for advising him to nicated the intelligence to six other chiefs, and a con- raise the siege. The Babylonians could not hesitate spiracy was formed, which succeeded in overthrow- to believe a story accompanied by such convincing ing the impostor, who was put to death, witn a multi- proofs. They received Zopyrus, and gave him the tude of the Magi, his supporters. The conspirators command of a body of troops. With these he sallied then deliberated respecting the fittest form of govern- out of the city, attacked the Persians, and cut off ment. and, having decided that an absolute monarchy several detachments, according to a plan which had was the best, the whole seven agreed to meet on horse- been agreed upon between him and Darius. In this back at sunrise, without the city, and that the crown manner, he raised his character with tlh Ilhbylonians should be given to him whose horse should neigh first. and at length his credit became so far esabhished that 13 98. RETREAr- OF PARIUS FROM SCYTHIA-WVARS WVITH TIhE GREEKS. he was entrusted with the command of all their forces. After the subjugation of Babylon, Darius marched The city being thus entirely in his power, he was en- against the Scythians, under the pretence of reveng. %bled by artful manceuvres to deliver it up to Darius. ing their former invasion of Media. His army is said Thus Babylon fell a second time into the hands of its to have amounted to 700,000 men. He arrived at enemies. Three thousand of the most distinguished Chalcedon, on the Bosphorus, opposite Byzantium, inhabitants were crucified, the walls of the city were where Constantinople now stands. Here a bridge had lowered, and the gates taken away. The Babylonians, been constructed for his army by the ingenuity of erom this time forth, were prohibited from bearing Mandrocles, a Samian. Near this spot Darius orarms; and they were encouraged to pass their time in dered the erection of two columns, on one of which singing, and playing on instruments, and other effem- was inscribed in Assyrian, and on the other in Greek inate occupations. characters, the names of the nations which attended I rn mrmi 1iSl 1 - - Darius, in Asia Minor, erecting two Columns to ceiebrate his Victories. him. He is also said to have erected pillars in other ger bearing the enigmatical gifts of a bird, a miouse, a places, with pompous inscriptions, describing himself firog, and five arrows, which were thus interpreted: as the best and handsomest of all men living. A "Persians, unless you can fly in the air like birds, fleet of 600 ships attended the army, to assist in cross- hide yourselves under ground like mice, or swim in the ing the wide rivers of Thrace and Scythia. water like frogs, you will not escape the Scythian arrows." Darius was struck with the force of this barbarian eloquence, and finding his provisions nearly exhausted, aid his army weary and dispirited, was compelled to abandon his rash enterprise and reCHAPTER LVII. treat. 500 to 464 B. C. The undertakings of Darius in the east were more fortunate. He ordered a fleet to be equipped at Retreat of Darius fromn Scythia - Wars with Caspatyra, a city on the River Indus, and placed under the Greeks - The Jews under Darius- the command of Scylax, a Greek mariner of Cara, Reign of Xerxes -Invasion of Greece- -with orders to proceed down the river and sail westDeath of Xerxes. ward till he should come to Persia. Scylax accomplished a voyage which had never before his time HAVING crossed the Bosphorus with his immense beense been performed. He sailed down the Indus to the army, Darius marched through Scythia, eastward, to Arabian Sea, crossed the Persian Gulf, and coasted the River Tanais, now the Don. The Scythian army along the barren shore of Arabia, to the Straits of retreated regularly before him at the distance of a Babelmrandel, entered the Red Sea, and, after thirty day's march, filling up the wells and destroying the months' navigation, reached Egypt. The information produce of the fields, their families and cattle being which he obtained in this voyage induced Darius to previously sent to the northern frontier. Darius pro- invade India with a large army, and several of its rich ceeded in his march, crossed the Tanais, and pene- provinces were added to his empire. trated as far as the Oasis, supposed to be the Volga. Ithe mean time, the Greeks of Asia Minor had re Here he constructed eight fortresses, he e remains of volted; but Darius quickly suppressedthe rebellion, which were visible in the time of Herodotus. The and treated the revolted cities with great severity. Scythians treated with contempt the demands of Da- Miletus was completely destroyed, and the king reRius, who required of them to submit to him as the solved to extend his vengeance to the Greek allies of "Great King," and to make the usual offerings of those who had resisted his authority. He collected a earth and water. They despatched to him a messen- large naval-and milit a ry force, which he placed under TIlE JEWS UNDER DARIUS-REIGN OF XERXES-INVASION OF GREECE. 9'he command of his son-in-law, Mardonius. The Per- deputies and governlos from laying any taxes,,n,rians crossed the Hellespont, and marched through the Jews. And he sent the vessels, and filfiiled Thrace into Macedonia, which was made a Persian all that Cyrus had intended for the restoration of province. All the neighboring countries submitted, Jerusalem.' but the fleet was shattered in a storm while doubling Xerxes succeeded Darius, his father, 485 B. C. Mount Athos, and the army was soon afterward at- His first exploit was the suppression of a rebe-llion tacked, unexpectedly, by the barbarous Thracian in Egypt, which he performed so effectually that the tribes, who killed many of the soldiers, and severely subjugation of that country was rendered more coinwounded Mardonius himself. A second expedition plete than by the original conquest of Cambyses. He was sent to Greece under the command of Datis and then employed three years in making preparations for Artaphernes, who forced a passage into the northern an invasion of Greece. His army, if we may believe part of that country, and threatened Athens — when Herodotus, amounted to five millions. The dresses they were totally defeated by the Athenians, led by Mil- and arms of the soldiers are described in the followtiades, at the memorable battle of Marathon, 490 B. C. ing manner: The Persians wore on their heads woollen This event will be more particularly described in the tiaras. Their dress was a parti-colored tunic, adorned history of Greece. with plates of steel in imitation of the scales of fishes. To avenge this disgrace, Darius resolved to invade They bore a shield, called gerra. Their spears were Greece in person; but an insurrection of the Egyp- short, their bows large, with arrows made of reeds. tians, and disputes among his children respecting the On the right side they wore a dagger. Tilhe A.syrsuccession, retarded his preparations, and before his ians had brazen helmets of a barbarous form; their army were ready to march, the whole design was arms resembled those of the Egyptians. They had frustrated by his death. also clubs pointed with iron, and linen cuirasses, This monarch is supposed to be the king of Persia which would resist the edge of a sabre. The Arawho showed such distinguished favor to the Jews, by bians wore long, folding vests, which they called zyr~e; aiding them in rebuilding Jerusalem and restoring the their bows were long, flexible, and crooked. The sacred vessels of the temple, which had been carried Ethiopians were clad in skins of panthers and lions; away by Nebuchadnezzar. Josephus states as fol- their bows were of palm, four cubits long; their arlows: "Darius, the son of Hytaspes, while he was a rows were.short, and made of reeds; instead of iron. private man, had made a vow to Heaven, that if he they were pointed with a stone, with which they used came to be king, he would send all the vessels of God to cut their seals. They had spears armed with the which were in Babylon, to the temple at Jerusalem. horns of goats; shaped like the iron of a lance, and He also ordered the rulers of Syria and Phlenicia to also knotty clubs. It was the custom of these people, cut down and carry cedar-trees from Lebanon to when they went to war, to daub one half the body with Jerusalem, and to lend their aid in building the city. gypsum and the other half with vermilion. Likewise he commanded that all the captives return- The cavalry of this army amounted to 80,000, exing to Judea should be free, and he prohibited his elusive of camels and chariots. One body of these Xerxes viewing his Fleet and Army, before crossing the: Hellespont. is thus described by Herodotus. "The Sagartii were thus entangling their enemy, easily put him to death. 8000 in number. These people led a pastoral life, This contrivance is precisely the same with the Soul were originally of Persian descent, and spoke the American lasso. Persian language. They had no offensive weapons To this immense army was attached a fleet or 120() except their daggers. Their principal dependence in ships. Xerxes, having numbered his forces of everyv battle was upon cords made of twisted hide. These description, proceeded to make a formal review of'he:ords, having a noose at the end, they throw out, and, whole armament at Abydos, on the Hellespe:.. A 100 ARTAXERXES LONGIMANUS-BATTLE OF CUNAXA throne of white marble was placed on an eminence, has justly described, or grossly misrepresented, th:, from which he is said to have beheld these myriads character of Xerxes, he has certainly transmitted hl:of troops and vessels at one view, and to have been name to posteritvy s an object of contempt rather thavl further gratified by the exhibition of a naval combat of admiration. No name has been more frequently in which the Phomnicians of Sidon were the victors. employed to "point a moral and adorn a tale." The first feeling of the great king was that of pride, on viewing the vast assemblage of which he was the sovereign; but his mind was soon sobered by different thoughts, and he burst into tears at the reflection that not a man of all that numerous C H A P T E R LVIII. lost would ta al;ve a; hundred years from that ~~~~~~~~~~~~day. -~~~~~~ ~ -465 to 334.B, C. day. He had ordered a bridge to be constructed across Artaxerxes Longirranus - Battle of Cunaxa the Hellespont. This was done by fastening several Retreat of the Ten Thousantd Greecs tiers of ships together by strong cordage. No soonll0l0 er Xcnophon. was this bridge completed than it was bioken by a violent tempest. Herodotus states that Xerxes was he throne by Artaeres enraged at this accident, that he ordtd thie seato be. Loanginmanus, (465 B. C.) who is celebrated for his just enraged at this accident. that lie ordered the sea to be and beneficent administration. But his virtues were beaten with stripes, a pair of' tetters to be thrown into it, and all the workimen elnployted upon the brihdge to insufficient to check the decline of the empire, which beheaded. The bridge was then rebulilt in a stronger Ow began to exhibit signs of weakness in every manner, and- the whole army passed over. They quarter. After countless humiliations, Artaxerxes was marched through Thrace, where the inhabitants made to sign a disgraceful peace, by which he recogtheir submission to Xerxes. The fleet which attended nized the independence of the Asiatic Greeks. Inter. the army was unable to sail round the promontory ofrebellions were of frequent occurrence; Mount Athos, and a canal xvas cut for its ofpassvethe royal forces were often defeated, and the emacross the isthmus. The labor of this is said to have pire was kept in a state of confusion. He died occupied three years. The Persians encountered no great obstacle till they reached the Grecian territory; We now pass over a few other monarchs, unworthy but here, at the mountain pass of Thermopylm, the of particular notice, and come to Art'xerxes ]llnemon, who ascended the throne 405 B. C. He was, howountless hordes of Xerxes were checked and repulsed w by a handful of men, under the command of Leonidas, ever, opposed by his brother Cyrus, who had the supking of Sparta. Treachery, however, enabled the port of the queen mother, and of an armyn of Greek Persians to gain an entrance into the heart of the coun- mercenaies, which he was enabled to raise by his connection with Sparta. try; but the particulars of this invasion belong prop- connection with Spalta. erly to Grecian history. It is sufficient at present to Cyrus assembled his army, consisting of thirteen thousand Greeks and one hundred thousand of othei say, that the mighty hosts of Xerxes were destroyed aby, the Greeks at te gthis, Myo ale, and Platdea; s nd nations, at Sardis, in Asia Minor, and marched towards by the Greeks at Salamis, Mycale, and Plattea; and the great king himself was forced to recross the Hel- Susa-, the Persian capital, to assert his right to the lespont in a fishing-boat, where he had passed, in so throne. At Cunaxa, in Babylonia, he was met by Arpompous a manner, a short time before. The Greeks, taxerxes, at the head of an army amounting, we are following up their success, expelled the Persians from told, to nine hundred thousand men. A battle took the Mediterranean, and made them tremble for the place, 400 B. C. Cyrus was killed and his army dissecurity of their provinces in Asia Minor. persed. The Greeks t were, however, victorious in Xerxes twas at Sardis when he heard of these ac- their quarter of the field, and, after the battle, were * cumulated disasters. He immediately fled from that summoned by Artaxerxes to lay down their arms. This city, giving orders for the destruction of all the tem. proposal washeardwiththeliveliest indignation. They ples in Asia Minor, either from zeal for the Magian were surrounded by enemies, yet they rejected the religion, or to wreak his vengeance on the Greeks. summons without hesitation, being firmly resolved to Upon his return to Persia, he was assassinated by a fight, to the last extremity, rather than surrender. To captain of his own guards, 464 B. C. It is remarkable add to their embarrassments, they were seduced into a that the Persian historians mtake no mention of this deceitful armistice by the Persians, and their generals monarch, and scarcely any thing would have been were treacherously murdered. This act of perfidy known respecting him, but for Herodotus. That converted their previous alarm and apprehension writer's account of Xerxes, and his expedition into almost into despair. They were near two thousand Greece, is certainly full of marvels, and should be received with great caution. It would hardly be rea- excite suspicion, he presents such particulars as confirm his sonble to expect impartiaity, or a scrupulous rerad statements. He gives an enumeration of the land forces, telling us that their number was ascertained, not by countto truth. in the narrative of a credulous and patriotic ing, but by their being marched into enclosures, and the numnGreek, describing the invasion of his country by a ber inferred by calculation. He tells us the number of men haughty and arrogant enemy. Whether Herodotus * in the naval armament, giving us first the number of ships, an, then how many he reckoned to each. Upon these and othei grounds, learned men, generally, consider this portion of the * Whatever doubts we may entertain of the precise accu- history of Herodotus, marvellous as its details may appear, racy of Herodotus, in the details of this part of his history, as worthy of credit. there are good grounds for believing that he is entitled to t For a long period, the Asiatic sovereigns had been accusgeneral confidence. He wrote at no very distant period from tomed to employ Greek soldiers as auxiliaries. These peothe time when the events happened; he appears, always, to pie, like the Swiss and Hessians of modern times, sold their have a sincere regard for truth; and even in giving the num- services to the highest bidder. The Greeks formed the chief bers of the Persian army, where the vastness of his figures reliance of Darius in his conflict with Alexander. RETREAT OF THIE I'TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 1)1 miles from home, surrounded by powerful foes, an( at every step. Provisions could be obtained oniy had-no possibility of retreating except by crossing steep at the point of the sword; every country that lay and craggymountains, rapid rivers, and wide deserts, in their way was hostile; and, although they thus encountering famine, hostility, and treachery, might conquer one enemy, another stood ready to Retreat of the Ten Thiousand Greeks eunder Xenophon.,. oppose them. They had no cavalry to chastise the a village just as it was dark, and found some women clouds of barbarians who would perpetually hang upon and girls at a fountain without the walls, carrying their front, flanks, and rear: under such circumstances, water. These females inquired who they were. The it would seem that victory would be fruitless, and defeat interpreter answered, in Persian, that they were going inevitable ruin. to the satrap from the king. The women replied, that Yet, in the face of all these terrors, the Greeks de- he was not there, but at a place in the neighborhood. termined to make the attempt to fight their way home- It being late, they entered the town with the women. ward. Xenophon, in a council of war, roused the and called upon the governor. Here Cheirisophus troops from the despondency which had taken posses- encamped, with all of his men that could conle up. sion of them, and was elected. general-in-chief.- The The rest, who were unable to continue their march retreat was therefore commenced; but, as they pro- passed the night without food or fire, by which some ceeded, constant attacks in every quarter, made their of them perished; and a party of the enemy, followmarch a continual battle. We can present only a ing them, took those of the sumpter-horses that could portion of their adventures which followed; these we not keep pace with the others. Some of the men. shall give nearly in the words of Xenophon himself, also, who had lost their sight by the snow, or whose who became the historian of the expedition. toes were frozen, were left behind. The eyes of After innumerable skirmishes with hosts of enenmles, the men were relieved from the snow by wearing and a fatiguing march through a desert, they came to black cloth before them, and their feet by continual the Euphrates, near its source in Armenia. This they motion. crossed, the water being breast high. From thence' Their extreme sufferings caused some of the men they marched three days over a -plain covered with to sit down and refuse to march any farther. Xenodeep snow. The last day's march was very painful, phon used all the means in his power to persuade for the north wind, blowing full in their faces, parched them not to stay behind, telling them that the enemy and benumbed the men. One of the priests advised were in great force close upon the rear. At last he them to sacrifice to the wind, which was done, and the grew angry; but they bade him kill them if he chose, violence of the blasts sensibly abated. The snow was for they were not able to go on. Upon this, he detera fathom in depth, so that many of the slaves and mined, if possible, to strike a terror into the pursuers sumpter-horses died, with about thirty soldiers. They lest they should fall upon the men who were thus kept fires during the night, finding plenty of wood unable to proceed. It was now dark, and the enemy where they encamped. In the places where the came on with great tumult, wrangling about the booty fires were made, the snow being melted, there were they had taken. At this moment, such of the Greek large pits which reached down to the ground; this rear-guard as'were able, rose up and rushed upon afforded an opportunity of measuring the depth of the them, while those who were fatigued shouted as loud snow. as they could, and struc-k their shi.elds with tneir pikes. he snow, when many of the men wereat of the Ten Thosnd Greeks nder Xenow, and were heard of no more. it would seem that victory would be fuitless, and defeat interpreter answer ed, in Perst anof thatforces, they were goinred, troops fom the marchdespo ndeny which had taken posses- eus, cnamped, withto assuringll of hissick men that, the next daycould come people U~pon the march, a party, under Cheirisophus, came to assuring the sick men that, the next day, somle people o02 RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. should be sent to them. But, before they had gone began to fail; for the natives inhabited fastnesses, into half a mile, they found others lying down in the snow, the recesses of which they had conveyed all their effects. while no guard was set. They forced these men to The Greeks, at length, arrived at a strong post without rise, and then learned that the vanguard had halted. any houses, but where great numbers of men, with Xenophon, hearing this, pushed forward, sending the'their cattle, were collected. This place Cheirisopltus ablest of the targeteers before, to inquire the cause. attacked, and when one company was roughly received They brought word that the whole army were taking in the assault, another went up; for the place, being their rest in the snow. Xenophon and his men, there- surrounded with precipices, could not be assailed in fore, after setting such guard as they could, passed the all parts at once. night in that spot without fire or food. Towards day- When Xenophon came up with the heavy-armed break, he sent the youngest of his men to compel the rear-guard, Cheirisophus said, " You come very seasick to rise, and proceed on the march. sonably, for this place must be taken, or the army will Meantime Cheirisophus had sent a company from be starved." Upon this a council of war was called, the village, to inquire how the rear-guard fared. These and Cheirisophus said, " The place is accessible only were rejoiced to see them, and, having delivered their at this point, and, when any of our men attempt to go sick to be carried to the camp, they nma(rched forward up, the enemy roll down great stones from the rock to the village. Here Cheirisophus kept his station, and above; and behold the consequence!-" pointing to the remainder of the army took up their quarters:: in his men with broken legs and ribs. "But," replied the villages around. Xenophon, "when they have expended all theiI stones. Polycrates, an Athenian, one of the c-ptains, then what can hinder us from going up? I can see only a took a company of the light-armed troops, and made a few men with arms. The space through which we rapid incursion upon a neighboring village.- He sur- must pass, exposed to the stones, is not above a hlunprised the inhabitants, together with the governor,' in dred and fifty feet in length, one third of which is their houses, and found seventeen colts, that were covered with clumps of large pines, where the soldiers being bred as a tribute for the iking; also the governor's may be sheltered." "But while they are exposed," daughter, who had been married about nine days: her said Cheirisophus, " the stones will fall in a shower." husband, having gone to hunt rabbits, was not taken. "So much the better," replied Xenophon; "they will The houses of these people were under ground, the be out of ammulnlnition the sooner. Let us try it." entrance resembling a well, but the interior was spa- Upon this, Cheirisophus and Xenophon, with Callimcious. There was a passage dug for the cattle, but the achus of Parrhasia, one of the captains, advanced, inhabitants descended by ladders. In these houses all the rest of the officers keeping out of danger. were goats, sheep, cows, and fowls. All the cattle Then about seventy of the men crept forward, one by were fed within doors. There were also wheat, barley, one, under the trees, sheltering themselves as well as pulse, and jars of beer, the malt floating even with the they could. At a safe distance in the rear stood brim of the vessels. The jars contained reeds of Agasius the Stymphalian, andAristonymus of Methydvarious sizes, without joints. When any one was nia. Callimachus advanced two or three paces fiom thirsty, he took one of these in his mouth and sucked. his tree, but as soon as he saw the stones pouring The liquor was very strong, but pleasant to, those down, lie ran back; this he repeated several times, and accustomed to it. on each occasion more than ten cartloads of stones were Xenophon invited the governor of the village to sup thrown at him. WVhen Agasius saw what Callimachlus with him, and encouraged him with the assurance that was doing, and that the eyes of the whole army were his children should not be taken from him, and that, upon him, he began to fear that his rival would beam when the Greeks departed, they would leave his house away the palm of victory; so he pushed forward full of provisions in payment for what they took, pro- Callimachus, seeing him endeavoring to pass by, laid vided he would serve them as a guide till they came hold of his shield; and, in the mean time, Aristonymus. to another nation. The governor agreed to this, and, and after him Eurylochus, ran by them both, for they as a proof of good-will, told them where there was were rivals in glory. some wine buried in the earth. The soldiers enjoyed By this emulation, which urged the assailants to the plenty that night, keeping a watchful eye, however, boldest efforts, the place was taken. And now folupon the governor and his children. lowed a dreadful spectacle; for the women in the garThe next day, Xenophon, taking the governor with rison first threw their children down the precipices, and him, went to Cheirisophus, visiting the villages on his then themselves. The men did the same. tEneas, way, where he found the soldiers feasting and carous- the Stymphalian, a captain, seeing one of the barbari. ing. They all forced him to sit down and feast with ans, richly dressed, running to throw himself down, them, and he every where found the tables covered with caught hold of him, and they both fell over together, lamb, kid, pork, veal, and fowls, with plenty of wheaten and were dashed to pieces. and barley bread. When any one wished to drink to The Greeks now advanced through the country ol his fiiend, he took him to the jar, where he was obliged the Chalybians. These were the most courageous to stoop and drink like an ox. When the party came people they had hitherto met, and a close engagement to Cheirisophus, they found his men also feasting, and soon followed. The enemy had long linen corselets crowned with garlands of hay, having Armenian boys, with thick twisted cords instead of tassels. and their in barbarian dresses, to wait upon them. With these pikes were fifteen cubits long. They kept within their boys they conversed by signs, as if they had been deaf towns till the Greeks had passed, and then followed and dumb. Cheirisophus and Xenophon asked the them with harassing attacks. The latter, however, governor, by their interpreter, what counllltry this was; advanced in spite of every obstacle, and soon cam, rtnd he answered, Armenia. to the River Harpasus, which was four hundred feet From hence, as the army advanced, they came into broad. From thence they marched through the.he counry of the Taochians, and here their provisions country of the Scythians, and in four clays more. RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND —ARTAXERXES-OCHUS. ](3. hley came to a large city, well inhabited, called Gym- would now have taken the shortest way to their reu ias. spective states; but, instead of doing so, such was their partiality for a warlike and adventurous life, ihai they first engaged in the service of Seuthes, a prince of Thrace, and afterwards joined the Lacedmmonian army in Ionia. CHAPTER LIX. 400 to 336 B. C. Ataaxerxes Ochus - Darius Codomannius. and conspiracies. WVhile the court was thus disgraced, Agesilaus, king of Sparta, joined rith the Asiatic Greeks The:Overnor of thism mis country sentdy tohe Gree andmade rapid conuests in wa estern Persia. He would wuide: thin sightofthesea; ifnot, he consented mthepu probably hate dismembered tinhe empire, had not the to death. The fifth day they arrived at the hlpy troubles existing in Greece through a lavish distribution mountain called Theches. As soon as the vanguard of Persian gold, compelled him to return home. 1mut - le Thc. 1 o Ochus, thle youngest son of Artaxerxes came to the Ancient Scythians. ~sceno~hed the mountain and saw the sea, u ed they gave throne 360. C. e hd mudered his bother to great shout, which beingg healrd by Xenophon, and those obtain this dignity; and, to secure the quiet possession.n thne rear, t hey t0hough; ct thie frondt must be attacked. rhe noise, however, increased; for the men, as fast as of it, he put to death no less than eighty of the royal theycame upjoined intheshout. This 1so swelledt e family. Artabazus, the satrap j oinedf Asia Minor, taking xrThe gov.r.n.'- advantage of the unpopulaity which the bloody deeds sound, that Xenophon, thianking something extraold inary e n o t h e had happene, mouf te sea; if nohis horse and rode forwa be put hat t Pdesnatly he fh da theai crrying out " e.y troubhl s seize the throne. But this attempt was unsuccesrtion, te 1sea!" ard chee ring oe* anoth er w t cng rata and Ochus, after defeating Artabazus, marched agalmsi tions. At this moment they all ran, the rear-guad as of Persian gold, compelled him to reans. The son well as the rest, so that the horses and beasts of burden were driven forxvard in the crowd.. ofc theur leader gave Ochus an easy vixerxes. catory, and the reache the tp of te mounain, ad saw hes they. * Phcnnicians were reduced to such desperation, that the asendaced the mo untain a nd saw the sea, they on fire, and. perished, with now deemed tthat they were near their home. rJnders th er to the conflagration. the grateful impulse of the momet, they bought Having thus quelled all resistance to his athoseity, P 1 ^ 1 1 *1 1 Hobtain this dignity; and, to secure the quiet possession together a great number of stones, and built a mound, pon the rear, they piletho up the shionelds, staves anttd buck-ed n of it, be put to death no less th an eighty of' theroya lers, taken i rom the ene e gu as fsmssest of Egypt. thee ie army into that countr. This, but swet wied th a (lisaster on hisn dress, and teno ntk darics. dvantage from the Serbonan Laritye whicha arshy destrict had happened, mounted his'horse and rode forward. PrThe sea which had thus delighted the ees of the ying between Phaenicia and the mouths of the Nsle. Ghe sea ksa ch he Ein ore B hl withaSe. A Yf dsa Durind Oc the continuance f the sou, matherly winds suh treelrs was the suxine T, ad c eering or Bano Sether Afwi thdy onrau 1march now brought 1* n of sand thrownuponthem to the city oans, who had rebelled, and who werou supot, tonarcn n this Morn they all an, the rear-guard asported by the Cyprians and Egyptians. The treason moern a restbizon, a s recian colony on the shore ot bsn sy mwere driven, forward in the crowd. When they all tobe be the Euxine. They had traversed above one thousande..Perians, being unprovided reached the top of the mountain, and saw the sea, they miles of a hostile and naturallydifficult county, wi th with guoides, and perished among withese quares till surprisingly little loss. thl great numbers of them were ingulfed. Ochus, with 1and, at Cerasus, another Grecian city, where t1~y the wreck of hils arm, arrved n Er ofpt; and so now e ed a the o e e feeble a resistance was made by the inhabrtants, that when it ^ was fond muste r..h fr ohe vas able to plunder the land, and return with a rich he grateful impulse tat of the orgmenal ten tousanght eavy-armed men, eiht thousand six hundred still booty to Pers. authority. survived, thous.and six hundred stI The success of ths enterprise so far satisfied him, rom this place they advashiced, partly by land and the buck-dmnstration of the government to two of his partly by water, to the city of Byzantium, now Con- the admnist omw ois stantinople.* Nearly a year had been spent in this officers, Mentor and Bagoas. The latter was a adveturous ad toilsome mach, the success of which Eyptian eunuch, and bore an inveteate malices. lying between Phoienicia and the mouths of the Nile. sTo be a t t skl l ad al of X aganst tle king for having plundeled the temples off the G reeks was the Euxine or Black Sea. A few days', 5 quantity of sand is throw n upon this dangerous spot, m arch now brought Egypt, and led the sacred bull Apis. hesezs, tactse withe regarded as the worst crimes which a humanbein m The genoral route of this retreat may be easily made out could perpetrate, and, under the influence of a fanaton th asurprisingl o The losst, at page 69. icTl zeal, he poisoned his master. Not content w;thl 104 ALEXANDER INVADES PERSIA. this revenge, he cut his bo(lv in pieces, and( caused the enemies behind him, and given. the restive Greeks a flesh to be devoured by cats, and the bones to be madle fearful lesson in the destruction of Thebes, Alexander into sword handles. He then placed the youngest son set out, in the spring of 334 B. C., upon his Asiatic exof Ochus on the throne, hoping to govern the empire pedition. He had a small supply of money, and an in his name. army of but thirty thousand infantry and five thousand Darius Codomannus, the last of his line, thus became horse. Twelve thousand of the foot soldiery werel king of Persia, 336 B. C. Bagoas, finding him less supplied by the republics of Greece, though five thousubservient than he expected, prepared to remove him sand of that number were mercenaries. Macedon likewise by poison. The treacherous project was dis- itself supplied twelve thousand of the infihantry, and{ covered, and Darius compelled the baffled eunuch to the remainder appear to have been chiefly derived drink the fatal potion himself. Bagoas died, and from Thrace and Illyria. Macedon, Thlessaly, and Darius was established upon the throne. But the over-'rhrace, at all times better provided with horses than throw of the Persian empire was now at hand. Alex- republican Greece, fiurnished Alexander with his cnval. ander of Macedon soon appeared upon the scene, and ry. These troops were well armed, the infantry bearthe great Asiatic empire received a new master. ing shields, spears, and battle-axes of iron. The horse were equipped with similar weapons, but defended with helmets and breastplates. The officers all bore swords. The arms of the Persians were similar, though many of their troops used the bow. The C II A P T E it L X. forces of Alexander were, however, better provided, better trained, and far more'athletic, than their Asiatic enemies. Alexander marches a~gai~nst IPersia- &State of VWe must pause a moment to look at that mighty thle Emnpi-re - Battile of tfhe G lraicuzs - Bat- power which had swallowed up Assyria, Babylon, and tie of the JIssus. the other countries froin the Grecian Archiipelago in the west, to India on the east; an extent of territory AccoRDING to the Persian authors, a monarch called nearly three thousand miles in length, and compreDarab theFirst, was contemporary with Philip, the father hending at once the most fertile and populous regions of Alexander. In a war between these two princes, on the face of the globe. Such were the power and we are told that Philip was reduced to such distress, resources of the Persian empire, that, about one hunthat he was glad to extricate himself by giving his dred and fifty years prior to the date of which we are daughter to Darab, and paying an annual tribute of a speaking, it had sent an army, with its attendants, of thousand eggs of pure gold. Darab the Second is five millions of persons, to conquer that very Greece the same with Darius Codomannus. He was deformed which was now preparing to roll back the tide of war, in body and depraved in mind, and his bad ardminis- and put a final period to its proud existence. tration prepared the way for the success of Alexander. The reigning king, Darius II., was a weak and conThe quarrel between the Persian and Macedonipa-. ceited monarch, ill suited to the struggle which was kings was caused by the refusal of Philip's son, Alex- about to ensue. l His situation was very similar to thai ander, to pay the golden eggs. When Darab sent an of the sultan of Turkey at the present day. The Perambassador for the customary tribute, Alexander re- sians, though their king ruled over almost countless naplied, "The bird that laid the eggs has flown to the tions, were comparatively few in number. His revenue other world." was derived from the tribute of dependent princes, and Darab then sent another ambassador, with a bat and the extortions made by his own satraps or governors. bIalI, and a bag of small seed. The two first were His empire,consisting of so many nations, requiree conmeant to ridicule Alexander's youth; the last was in- stant watchfulness to keep all parts in subjection; and, tended as an emblem of the countless numbers of the as the Asiatic troops were inferior, he followed the exPersian army. Alexander took the bat in his hand, ample of his predecessors, and kept in his pay a conand said, "This is my powei with which I will strike siderable number of renegade Greeks as soldiers. the ball of your monarch's dominion." Then, order- Being made aware of the designs of Alexander,* ng the seed to be given to a fowl, he added,;"This Darius sent a vast army westward, and, marching into )ird shall show what a small morsel his army will Syria himself, determined there to await his enemy. prove to mine." Next, giving a wild melon to'the Alexander crossed the Propontis, now Sea of Marenvoy, he desired him to tell his sovereign that the mora, which immediately brought him into Asia taste of that fruit would enable him to judge of the Minor and the dominions of Persia. As soon as he bitter lot which awaited him. Romantic and fabu- landed, he went to Ilium, the scene of the Trojan war lous as this story is, it is certain that such symbolic and the ten years' siege of Troy, celebrated in the messages were not uncommon among Oriental mon- Iliad. He anointed the pillar upon Achilles' tomb archs. with oil, and he and his friends ran naked around it. The true cause of the war of Alexander upon according to the custom which then prevailed. He Persia was, indeed, much deeper than the anecdote also adorned it with a wreath, in the form of a crown. implies. The thirst for military enterprise and renown, These ceremonies are supposed to have been intended stimulated by the remembrance of wrongs inflicted by to enforce the belief that he was descended from, Persia upon Greece, as well as the spectacle of a rich Achilles -a claim which he always maintained. but weak empire, inviting him to conquest, were the Meantime, the Persian generals had pushed forward real motives of the youthful monarch in his daring and posted themselves upon the banks of the Grazicus. project. Having subdued the tribes of barbarians along his * By consulting the map, p. 69, the reader will be abli nomrthern bolrder that he might leave no troublesome to trace the entire route of Alexander in his march. PROGRESS OF ALEXANDER-BATTLE OF THIE ISSUS. 1(}5 r small river now called O'tsvola, which empties' into scription to be made: " Won, by Alexander, of the thie Sea of Marmora. Alexander led the attack upon barbarians in Asia."' them by plunging into the river with his horse. He Alexander soon pushed on to the East, and, meeting advanced, with thirteen of his troop, in the face of a Darius near the Gulf of Issus, now Skanderoon,-and cloud of arrows; and, though swept down by the forming the north-eastern point of the Mediterranean, — rapidity of the current, and opposed by steep banks a tremendous engagement took place, 333 B. C. Dalined with cavalry, he forced his way, by irresistible rius was defeated, and more than one hundred thousanc strength and inmpetuosity, across the stream. Standing of his soldiers lay dead on the field. Darius escapeo upon the muddy slope, his troops were now obliged to with difficulty, leaving his tent, and even his wife and sustain a furious attack, hand to hand and eye to eye. daughter, in the hands of the enemy. When tl-.e'rhe Persian troops, cheered by their vantage ground, fighting was over, Alexander went to see the tent of pushed on with terrific shouts, and hurled their jave- Darius. It was, indeed, a curiosity to one like the [ins, like snow-flakes, upon the Macedonians. Alex- Macedonian king, little acquainted with Eastern refineander, being himself distinguished by his buckler and ments. I-He gazed for a moment at the luxurious baths crest, decorated Nwith white plumes, was the special of Darius, his vases, boxes, vials, and basins, all of wrought gold; he inhaled the luscious perfumes, and surveyed the rich silk drapery and gorgeous fturniture of the tent, and then exclaimed, contemptuously, "This, then, it- seems, is to be a king;" intimating that, if these were the only distinctions of a sovereign, r the title deserved contempt. LWhile Alexander was thus occupied, he was told 2 nthat the wife and daughter of Darius were his captives. (/( llrThe oqueen was one of the loveliest women tdhat wa ever known, and his daughter was also exceedingly b leautiful. rhoufgh Alexander was told of all this, he'~.-~ t. ~sent word to the afflicted ladies that they need have no -—''Vi —-- A'-'exh'~"~~ ~~~'ffPf'~ "' ibi' t:ear' and he caused them to be treated with the _ __ utmost delicacy and attention. He refrained from usfing his power in any way to their annoyance, and. —~.~{/[ t t. ~.,~ ~,,~ hus displayed one of the noblest graces of a gentle/-t ]' t~~'~'~'~" Psia.n z gvwManil and a man - a nice regard for the feelings of the e,,litler sex. This anecdote of the conqueror has shed nih Inore 0honor upon-his name, for two thousand years, Ale:andler at tie l asttle of the d ranics. thxan thTe victory of the Issus; nor will it cease to be cited in his praise as long as history riecords his ib lect of attack. His cuirass was pierced by a jave- name. Iin, at the joint; butthus far lhe was unhurt. Now he was assailed by two chi.ef's of great distindtion. Evading one, he engaged the other. After a desperate struggle in which his crest was shorn away, and his helmet cleft to his hair. he sblew one of the CHAPTE LXI chiefs, and was saved, at the moment of deadly peril, 333 to 323 B. C. by the hand of his friend Clytus, who despatched the other. Habits of Alexander — Conquest of TyreWhile Alexander's cavalry were fighting with the Egypt —Battle of A'bela — Conq-uest of utmost fury, the Macedonian phalanx and the in- Peirsia-Proe'ress of Alexander's Conquest ftkntrv crossed the river, and now engaged the enemy. Re to Blon - is Death. The effect of a leader's example was never more strikingly displayed. Alexander's exhibition of cour- Tin: historians represent Alexander as simple in his ige and prowess made every soldier a hero. They tastes and habits, at this period. H-e was temperate in fiought, indeed, like persons who knew nothing and eating, drank wine with great moderation, and, if he cared for nothing, but to destroy the enemy. Some sat long at table, it was for the purpose of conversaof the Persians gave way and fled. Their hireling tion, in which he excelled —though given to boasting Greeks, however, maintained the fight, and Alex- of his military exploits. When business called, nothing ander's horse was killed under him - but not the celebrated Bucephalus. " When Greek meets Greek,arte sees to have imitated *- \Ve may remark that Bonapm'te seems to have imitated tlhen comes the tug of war." The fight was indeed the tMacedonian conqueror in this kind of boasting. As he severe, but at last Alexander triumphed. The victory -was on his roarch to Russia, he caused to be graven on a stone was complete. The loss of the Persians was twenty- fountain at Coblentz, upon the Rhine, as follows. - five thousand slain; that of the Macedonians less than "Ya i, CCCXIi. Mensortbc fo the Caiacign cgainst en itbssica, 1812." ftiv. CThe RTussian commander, when Napoleon hid been deAlexander had now passed the gates of Asia, and throned, passing through Coblcntz with his troops, caused to had obtained entrance into the dominions of the ene- be carved, immediately beneath, as follows: - my. He paused for a time, to pay the last honors to "Seen and ei~rroved by the Hessin cosnnsnder of tie Town the dead. To each he erected a statue of bra.ss, exe- of Goilentz, Jannary 1, 1814." It is true that no such speedy retort awaited the Macedo cuted by Lysippus. Upon the arms whichl w-ere taken niau conqueror; yet he was bound upon an errand whitb' Ind distributed among the troops, he caused this in- was, ere long, to put a period to his proud career. 106 CONQUEST OF EGYPT, PERSiA, &c. could detain him; but, in times of leisure, his first camped on the banks of the Bumadus, near the town business in the morning was to sacrifice to the gods. of Arbela, in Assyria. Alexander immediately ap He then took his dinner, sitting. The rest of the day proached, and prepared for battle. Being near the he spent in hunting, or deciding differences among his enemy at night, the murmur of the immense multi. troops, or in reading and writing. Sometimes he tude, seeming like the roaring of the sea, startled one would exercise himself in shooting or darting the jave- of Alexander's friends, who advised him to attach'in, or in mounting and alighting from a chariot in full them in the night. The reply was, "' I will not steal a career. Sometimes, also, he diverted himself with victory!" bowling and fox-hunting. His chief meal was supper, During that night, though it was foreseen that which he took at evening, and in a recumbent posture, dreadful and doubtful battle was to be fought the nexl with his friends around him. He was not fond of del- day, Alexander, having made his preparations, slept icacies; and, though they were always found at his soundly. In the morning, on the field, he wore a table, he usually sent them to others. Such xwias Alex- short coat, girt close about him; over that, a breastander during the early periods of his campaigns in plate of linen strongly quilted, which he had taken Asia. We shall see that he was, soon, grievously in the battle of Issus. His helmet was of polished changed. iron, and shone like silver. To this was fixed a gorAfter various operations, Alexander marched against get, set with precious stones. His sword was light, Phoenicia and Sidon, which submitted at once. Tyre and of the finest temper. The belt he wore was superb, resisted, but, after a siege of seven months, wtas taken and was given him by the Rhodians, as a mark of reby storm- Eight thousand Tyrians fell in the onslaught, spect. In reviewing and exercising, he spared his'a and thirty thousand captives were sold into slavery. vorite horse Bucephalus; but he rode him in battle, and Gaza was now taken, after a siege of two months. when he mounted his back, it was always a signal foi Alexander then marched to Jerusalem, to punish the the onset. inhabitants for refusing to supply him with men and Aristander, the soothsayer, rode by the side of money. The high priest, Jaddus, went forth to meet Alexander, in a white robe, and with a golden crown the conqueror, attended by the priests and the people, upon his head. He looked up, and lo, an eagle was with all the imposing emblems and signs of the Jewish sailing over the army! His course was towards the rcligion. Alexander was so struck with the spectacle, enemy. The army caught sight of the noble bird, that he pardoned the people, adored the name of the and, taking it for a good omen, they now charged the Most High, and performed sacrifices in the temple, enemy like a torrent. They were bravely resisted, according to the instructions of Jaddus. The book of but Alexander and his troops burst down upon them the prophet Daniel was shown to him, and the passage like an overwhelming avalanche, cutting their way pointed out in which it was foretold that the king of towards the tent of Darius. The path was impeded Grecia would overcome the king of Persia —with by the slaughtered heaps that gathered before them, which he was well pleased.* and their horses were embarrassed by the mangled and The conqueror now turned his arms against Egypt, dying soldiers, who clung to the legs of the animals, which yielded without striking a blow. Having estab- seeking in their last agonies to resist them. Darius,.ished the government on a liberal footing, he set out, now in the utmost peril, turned to fly, but his chariot 331 A. D., to attack the Persian king, who had gath- became entangled in the slain. Seeing this, he ered an army of a million of men, and was now in mounted a swift horse, and fled to Bactriana, where Persia. About this time, he received a letter from he was treacherouslv murdered by Bessus, the govDarius, in which that prince proposed, on condition of ernor. a pacification and future friendship, to pay him ten Alexander was now declared king of all Asia, and, thousand talents in ransom of his prisoners, to cede though this might seem the summit of his glory, it hinm all the countries west of the Euphrates, and to was the point at which his character begins to decline, give him his daughter in marriage. Upon his comn- He now affected the pomp of an Eastern prince, and municating these proposals to his friends, Parmenio addicted himself to dissipation. He, however, continsaid, "If I were Alexander, I would accept them." ued his conquests. He marched to Babylon, which "So would I," said Alexander, "if I were Parmenio." opened its gates for his reception. He proceeded to The answer he gave Darius was, that if he would Persepolis, which he took by surprise. During his stay come to him, he should find the best of treatment; if here, he entertained his friends at a banquet, at which not, he must go and seek him. This anecdote shows the guests drank, as usual, to excess. Among the Parmenio to have been the better man; Alexander, women who were admitted to it, masked, was Thais, the greater conqueror. the courtesan, a native of Attica, and at that time In consonance with this declaration, he began his mistress to Ptolemy, who afterwards was king of Egypt Imarch; but he repented. that he had set out so soon, About the end of the feast, during which she had when he received information that the wife of Darius studiously endeavored to please the king, in the most was dead. That princess expired in childbed; and the artful and delicate manner, she said, with a gay tone concern of Alexander was great, because he lost an op- of voice, that it would be matter of inexpressible portunity of displaying his clemency. All he could do joy to her, were she permitted, —masked as she was, was to return, and bury her with the utmost magnifi- and in order to end the entertainment nobly,-to burn cence. the magnificent palace of Xerxes, who had burned Alexander, having subdued various places that held Athens; and to set it on fire with her own hand, in out against him, now proceeded in his march against order that it might be said in all parts of the world, Darius. He found him with his immense army en- that the women who followed Alexander in his expedition to Asia, had taken much better vengeance on the * This incident in Alexander's history is supposed by Some Persians for the many calamities they hadbrought on authors to rest upon doubtful authority. the Grecians, than all the generals who had fought foT HABITS OF ALEXANDER-ANECDOTES. 107.hem, both by sea and land. All the guests applauded All things being ready for the campaign, Alexander the discourse; when immediately the king rose from thought this a proper opportunity to reveal a design he the table,- his head being crowned with foowers, — and had long meditated - to have divine honors paid him. taking a torch in his hand, he moved forward to exe- To soothe, and cherish this ridiculous pretension, there cute this mighty exploit. The whole company fol- were not wanting flatterers, those pests of courts who lowed him, breaking out into loud exclamations, and are more dangerous to princes than the arms of their afterwards singing and dancing, they surrounded the enemies. With this view he appointed a festival, and nalace. All the rest of the Macedonians, at this noise, made a pompous banquet; to which he invited the,an in crowds with lighted tapers, and set fire to every greatest lords of his court, both AMacedonians and part of it. Alexander was soon sorry for what he had Greeks, and many of the highest quality among the done, and thereupon gave orders for extinguishing the Persians. With these he sat down at table for sorme flames; but it was too late. The magnificent pile was time, after which he withdrew. a ruin. Upon this, Cleon, one of his flatterers, began;. to I-e now marched into Parthia, and, meeting with a speak, and expatiated very much in praise of the king )eautiful princess, named Roxana, daughter of a Bac- - as had before been agreed upon. He made a long trian king, he fell in love with her, and married her. detail of the high obligations they owed to him; all Some time after this, upon some suspicion of the which, he observed, they might acknowledge and refidelity of Philotas, the son of Parmenio, he caused pay at.a very easy expense, - merely with two grains, him to be put to the torture till he died. He then of incense, which they should offer to hliml as to a god, sent orders to have his father, an old and faithful sol- without the least scruple, since they believed him such. Jier, who had fought under Philip, and who was now To this purpose he cited the example of the Persians In Media, to be put to death —which were but too and added, that in case the rest should not care to do faithfully executed. This horrid transaction was soon this justice to Alexander's merits, he himself was refollowed by another, still more dreadful. Under the solved to show them the way, and to worship him in excitement of wine, a dispute arose between Alexan- case he should return into the hall. He added that all Jer and Clytus, the brave officer who had saved his must do their duty, especially those who professed ife at the battle of the Granicus. wisdom; these, indeed, ought to serve the rest as an Both became greatly excited: taunts and gibes example of the veneration due to so great a monarch. were uttered on either side. Alexander, unable longer It appeared plainly that the close of the speech was to keep down his rage, threw an apple in the face of directed to Callisthenes. He was related to Aristotle, Clytus, and then looked about for his sword; but one and had presented himself to Alexander, his pupil, that of his friends had prudently taken it away. Clytus he might attend upon that monarch in the war of Persia. was now forced out of the room, but he soon came HIe was considered, upon account of his wisdom andt back, and repeated the words of Euripides, meaning gravity, as the fittest person to give him such wholeto apply them to Alexander: - some counsels as were most likely to preserve hint from the excesses into which his youth and fiery "Are these your customs? —Is it thus that Greece temper might hurry him. This philosopher, seeing Rewards her combatants? Shall one man claim The trophies won bay thousands? " that every one, on this occasion, continued in deep silence, and that the eyes of the whole assembly were The conqueror was now wholly beside himself. fixed upon him, addressed himself to Cleon in the folHe seized a spear from one of the guards, and, at a lowing words: "Had the king been present when thou plunge, ran it through the body of Clytus, who tfell madest thy speech, none among us would have atlead, uttering a dismal groan as he expired. tempted to answer thee, for he himself would have Alexander's rage subsided in a moment. Seeing interrupted thee, and not have suffered thee to prompt his friends standing around in silent astonishment, he him to assume the customs of barbarians, in casting hastily drew out the spear, and was applying it to an odium on his person and glory, by so servile ain his own throat, when his guards seized him, and car- adulation:.but. since he is absent, I will answer thee ried him by force to his chamber. Here the pangs in his name. I consider Alexander as worthy of all of remorse stung him to the quick. Tears fell fast the honors that can be paid a mortal; but there is a for a time, and then succeeded a moody, melancholy difference between the worship of the gods and that silence, only broken by groans. His friends attempted of men. The former includes temples, altars, prayers, in vain to console him. It was not till after long and and sacrifices; the latter is confinedl to commenda. painful suffering that he was restored to his wonted tions only, and awful respect. composure. " We salute these, and look upon At as glorious Alexander had determined to carry on war with to pay them submission, obedience, and fidelity; but India, the richest country in the world, not only in we adore the former. We institute festivals to their gold, but in pearls and precious stones, - with which honor, and sing hymns and spiritual songs to their the inhabitants adorned themselves, with more luxury, glory. We must not, therefore,confound things, either indeed, than gracefulness. He was informed that the by bringing down the gods to the condition of mortals, swords of the soldiers were of gold and ivory; and or by raising a mortal to the state of a god. Alexanbeing now the greatest monarch that ever lived, and der would be justly offended, should we pay to another determined to excel all others in splendor, — he caused person the homage due to his sacred person only: the swords of his soldiers to be set off with silver ought we not to dread the indignation of the gods as [plates, put golden bridles to the horses, had the coats much, should we bestow upon mortals the honor due of mail adorned with gold and silver, and prepared to them alone? I am sensible that our monarch is to march for his enterprise at the head of a hundred vastly superior to the rest:.he is the greatest of lings. and twenty thousand men, all equipped with the ut- and the most glorious of all conquerors;'>t then he most rmagnificence. is a man, not a god The Greeks did not woi ship 108 CONQUEST OF TYRE-EGYPT-INDIA, &c. —-DEATH OF ALEXAN"DER. Hercules till after his death; and then not till the ora- savage tribes, being severely wounded he came near cle had expressly commanded it. The Persians are losing his life. On the borders of the sea, he and his cited as an example for our imitation; but how long is companions first saw the ebbing and flowing of the it that the vanquished have given law to the victor? tide-a fact of which they were before entirely ignoCan we forget that Alexander crossed the Hellespont, rant. In this expedition the army suffered greatly: not to subject Greece to Asia, but Asia to Greece?" when it set out for India, it consisted of one hundred T''he deep silence which all the company observed and fifty thousand men; on its return, it was reduced whilst Callisthenes spoke, was an indication, in some to one fourth of that number. measure, of their thoughts. The king, who stood be- Coming to a fertile district, Alexander paused to hind the tapestry all the time, heard what had passed. recruit, and refresh his men. He then proceeded, He therefore ordered Cleon to be told, that, without keeping up a kind of bacchanalian fete, in which the insisting any further, he would only require the Per- whole army participated. His own chariot was drawn sians to fall prostrate, according to their usual cus- by eight horses: it consisted of a huge platform, tom; a little after which he came in, pretending he where he and his friends revelled day and night. had been busied in some affairs of importance. Im- This carriage was followed by others, some covered mediately the Persians fell prostrate to adore him. with rich purple silk and others with fresh boughs. Polysperchon, who stood near him, observing that one In these were the generals, crowned with flowers, and of them bowed so low that his chin touched the ground, inebriated with wine. In the immense procession there bade him, in a rallying tone of voice, to strike harder. was not a spear, helmet, or buckler - but in theil The king, offended at this joke, threw Polysperchon places cups, flagons, and goblets. The whole country into prison. As for Callisthenes, he determined to get resounded with flutes, clarionets, and joyous songs. rid of him, and therefore laid to his charge a crime of The scene was attended wvit.h the riotous dances and which he was in no way guilty. Accordingly, he was frolics of a multitude of Xwomen. This licentious thrown into a dungeon, loaded with irons, and the march continued for seven days. most grievous torments were inflicted on him, in order When he arrived at Susa, one of the capitals of Persia, lo extort a confession of guilt. But he insisted upon Alexander married a grieat number of his friends to his innocence to the last, and expired in the midst of Persian ladies. He set the example by taking Statira, his tortures. daughter of Darius, to himself, and gave her sister The unijst and cruel death of Callisthenes not only to Hephestion, his dearest friend. He now made a reflected the greatest dishonor upon Alexander, but by nuptial feast for the newly-married people, and nine this dreadful example, he deprived all virtuous men thousand persons sat down to the entertainment. Eacle of the opportunity of exhorting him to those things one was honored with a golden cup. which were for his true interest. From that instant On his return to Babylon, Alexander determined no one- spoke with freedom in the council: even those to make that place his residence and capital, and sel who had the greatest love for the public good, and about various plans for carrying this into effect. Bul a personal affection for Alexander, thought themselves hisa mind seemed haunted with superstitious fears, not obliged to undeceive him. After this, nothing was EvenV thing that happened was construed into an listened to but flattery, which gained such an ascen- augury of evil. The court swarmed with sacrificers dency over his mind as utterly depraved him, and and soothsayers, but still, for a long time, peace could iustly punished him for having sacrificed to the wild not be obtained by the monarch. At last he seemed ambition of having adoration paid him, the most vir- to be relieved, and, being asked by Medias to a carou. tuous man about his person. "The murder of this sal, he drank all day and all night, untii he found a philosopher," says Seneca, "' was a crime of so heinous fever coming upon him.f He then desisted, but it was a nature, as entirely obliterates the glory of all the too late. The disease increased, setting at defiance conqueror's other actions." every attempt at remedy, and in the space of about Alexander now set out for the conquest of India. thirty days hlie died, 323 B.C. Such was the lamentable After a series of splendid achievements, he reached end of Alexander the Great. His wife Roxana, with the country now called Punjaub, or the Five Rivers. HFaving reduced one of the Indian kilngs to submission, t Alexander appears by this time to have given himnself up to tiequent debauchery. On one occasion, having invited he rested his weary army at his capital of Taxila. He several of his fiiclldsm and general officers to supper, he lrlothen marched forward to the banks of the Hydaspes.? posed a crown as a reward for him who should drink most. Here he was met by Porus, an Indian king, with an He who conquered on this occasion was Promachus, who immense army, in which were a large number of ele- swallowed fourteen mesules of wine, that is, eighteen or Ab f in which. Alexan-twenty pints. After receiving the prize, which was a crown phants. A bloody battle wollowed, in wvlhich Alexan- worth a talent, i. e. about a thousand crowns, he survived der was victorious and Porus made captive. " i-ow his victory but three days. Of the rest of the guests, forty do you wish to be treated?" said Alexander to the died of their intemperate drinking. unfor tunate monarch. ";Like a kiing,'" awas the brief, In the carousal -which caused his death, Alexander drank to hut significant reply. Alexander granted is request, * Xthe health of every person in company, and then pledged them but significant reply. Alexander granted his request,I this, calling for Iercules's cup, which hed severally. After this, calling for Iercules's cup, which held restored his tlominions, and much enlarged them, an incredible quantity, it was filled, when he poured it all making him, however, one of his tributaries. down, drinking to a Macedonian of the company, Proteas by The conqueror, not yet satisfied, wished to push name; and afterwards pledged him again, in the same fuirious on to the Ganges; but his army refusing to go far- and extravagant bumper. He had no sooner. swallowed it, trh afh n wa b h than he fell upon the floor. "Here, then," says Seneca, dether, he was forced to return. On his way back, he scribing the fatal effects of drunkenness, "'this hero, unconpaid a visit to the ocean, and, in a battle with some quered by all the toils of plrodigious marches, exposed to the "_- dcangers of sieges and combats, to the most violent extremes - This is the modern Jhelurn; and the bloody contest of of heat and cold,- here he lies, subdued by his intemperance, (ihillianwallah, January, 1849,betweenthe British and Seikhs, and struck to the earth by the fatal cup of Hercules." In was nearly on the site of the battle between Alexander and this condition he was seized with a fever, which in a fex Porlus. days terminated in death. EMPIRE OF ALEXANDER-HIS SUCCESSORS. 10.9 the aid of Percl;icas, murdered Statira and her sister, continue to this day to be the chief seats of trade in and the empire of the mighty conqueror was divided the regions where they are placed. between four of his officers. It was in the midst of these large ard enlightened The great achievement of Alexander-the grand schemes of policy that Alexander's career was sudresult of his life —was the subjugation of the Persian denly arrested by death. He had not foreseen this monarchy, which lay like an incubus upon the nu- event, and had made no preparation for its consemerous nations that existed between the Indus and quences upon his empire. He did not even name a the Euxine Sea, and at the same time intercepted the successor; but as an intimation of his wishes, in his communication between Europe and Asia. It was last agony, he gave his cygnet ring to Perdiccas, a in achievement far greater than it would be now to Macedonian nobleman, who had succeeded Hephwestion overthrow the Ottoman throne, and give independence in his favor. to the various tribes and states that are at present un- Possessing no small share of the enthusiasm of his der its dominion. That he accomplished this work from late illustrious master, tempered by policy and pruany good motive, we cannot maintain, for his whole dence, Perdiccas seemed the best fitted of all the course shows, that, like all other conquerors, his ac- generals to consolidate the mighty empire which Alextions began and terminated in himself. But it must ander had acquired. But the Macedonian nobles still be admitted that as a consequence of his career, possessed a more than ordinary share of the pride Europe acquired an intellectual ascendency in the and turbulence that distinguish a feudal aristocracy; East to which the subsequent progress of civilization they had formed several conspiracies against the life in that quarter must, in some degree, be attributed. of the late monarch, by whose exploits and generAs we shall hereafter have occasion to return to osity they had so largely profited, and consequently Alexander, we defer our view of his character till they were not disposed to submit to one who had so rewe have completed his history. It is proper to remark centlybeen their equal. Scarcely had the regency been here, however, that our hasty sketch of his expediti6n formed, when the Macedonian infantry, at the instigation to the East presents but a feeble idea of his vast and of Meleager, chose for their sovereign Aridmcus, the varied operations. He crossed the Propontis in 334, imbecile brother of Alexander. The civil war conseand died in 323 B. C. In the space of eleven years, quent on this measure was arrested at the very instant and at the age of thirty-three, he had overturned the it was about to burst forth by the resignation of Arrhigreatest empire of antiquity, and by means which doeus, and, as his incapacity soon became notorious, seem incredibly small. Nor were his achievements all parties concurred in the propriety of a new arrangeconfined to mere marches and counter-marches, to ment. It was accordingly agreed that Perdiccas should sieges and battles. Wherever he went,he carried plans be regent, but that Aridmeus should retain the shadow of improvement, indicating the liberal spirit and en- of royalty; provision was made for the child with larged views of the statesman. which Roxana, Alexander's widow, was pregnant; and the principal provinces were divided among the Macedonian generals, with the powers previously exercised by the Persian satraps. HA PTE LXII. During these dissensions, the body of Alexander C H A P T R L XI I. lay unburied and neglected, and it was not until two 221 to 280 B. C. years after his death that his remains were consigned Empire, of Alexander - His Successors - Di- to the tomb.* But his followers still showed their Empvvandey —His Succeiresion- of te E herespect for his memory by retaining the feeble Arrhi~visioln~ of the Emnpzire - ~T-he Selencidce. cdueus on the throne, and preventing the marriage of Ir now becomes necessary to take a'survey of the Perdiccas with Cleopatra, the daughter of Philip - a immense empire of the Macedonian conqueror, at the union which manifestly was projected to open his way time of his death. It extended, as we have said, from to the throne. the Indus on the east to Macedonia and Greece on But, while this project of marriage occupied the the west. It embraced the most populous countries attention of the regent, a league had secretly been and the most civilized nations of the globe. It included formed for its destruction, and the storm burst forth in people of various races and languages, and of every a quarter whence it was least expected. Alexander, complexion, and spread over considerable portions in his march against Darius, had been contented with of' three quarters of the globe - Asia, Africa, and receiving the nominal submission of the northern provEurope. It included some hundreds of states and inces of Asia Minor. Impatient of subjection, these monarchies, and probably had a population of at least savage nations asserted their independence after the a hundred millions. death of Alexander, and chose Ariarathes for their Before his death, Alexander had taken efficient leader. Perdiccas sent against them Eumenes, who measures for securing and consolidating his unwieldy had hitherto fulfilled the peaceful duties of a secretary, dominions. Having conquered a country, he bestowed and sent orders to Antigonus and Leonatus, the gov-. upon it that kind of government which he deemed best ernors of Western Asia, to join the expedition with all suited to its condition. Among the Greeks of Asia their forces. These commands were disobeyed, and Minor he established republics; in some places he Perdiccas was forced to march with the royal army confirmed the existing governments, making the satraps against the insurgents. He easily defeated these unor governors his tributaries. His active mind was also disciplined troops,.but sullied his victory by unnecesdirected to commercial intercourse as a means of binding together his European and Asiatic dominions. He' They were taken by Ptolemy to Egypt, and interred in a accordingy selected varios points where he estab-golden coffin, and divine honors were rendered to the mumacoringl selected vari p soint whre. he estb my of the departed hero. The sarcophagus. taken by Bcllished marts of commerce; and a strong proof of his zoni from Egypt to London, bearing Alexander's name, has,agacity is afforded in the fact that many of them received this title without sufficient ervidence. 10 ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS-PARTRIAN DOMINION IN PERSIA. sary cruelty. On his return, he summoned the satraps promote civilization. Accordingly, he built several of Western Asia to appear before his tribunal, and an- cities, the most celebrated of which were Antiocn, in swer for their disobedience. Antigonus, seeing his Syria, and Seleucia, near Babylon. In peopling them danger, entered into a league with Ptolemy, the satrap he gave great privileges to the Jews. of Egypt, Antipater, the governor of Macedon, and From this period, the history of Seleucus belongs to several other noblemen, to crush the regency. Per- Syria, as he removed his capital to Antioch, and condiccas, on the other hand, leaving Eumenes to guard sidered Syria the central part of his empire. He was Lower Asia, marched with the choicest divisions of the treacherously killed, 280 B. C., in the eighty-second royal army against Ptolemy, whose ability he dreaded year of his age, by Ptolemy Ceraunus, who had fled even more than his power. Antipater and Craterus from Egypt, and whom he had hospitably received. were early in the field. They crossed the Hellespont His successors, called Seleucidce, were twenty-one in with the army that had been left for the defence of number, and reigned over Syria till the country Macedon, and, on their landing, were joined by Neop- was conquered by the Roman general Pompey, tolemus, the governor of Phrygia. Their new con- 65 B. C. federate informed the Macedonian leaders that the Seleucus is much praised by ancient writers. He army of Eumenes was weak, disorderly, and incapa- was endowed with great personal strength and courble of making the least resistance. Seduced by this age, and seems to have possessed some generous qualfalse information, they divided their forces; Antipater ities. His ability as a general, and wisdom as a stateshastening through Phrygia in pursuit of Perdiccas, man, were of a superior order, and placed him at the while Craterus and Neoptolemus marched against Eu- head of the successors of the great Macedonian. menes. They encountered him in the Trojan plain, This brief outline shows that the gigantic empire of and were completely defeated. Neoptolemus was slain Alexander continued in his own hands but about ten in the first onset, and Craterus lay mortally wound- years. It then fell to pieces, and became the spoil of ed, undistinguished among the heaps of dead. Eume- his greedy followers, in which not a single descendant nes, having learned the state of Craterus, hastened to of the founder was allowed to participate. The city of relieve him. He found him in the agonies of death, Alexandria, an enduring memorial of his policy, is the and bitterly lamented the misfortunes that had changed only conspicuous object which bears his name. old friends into bitter enemies. Beside the grand divisions of Alexander's empire Immediately after this great victory, Eumenes sent already noticed, and whose history will be given in the intelligence of his success to Perdiccas; but, two days course of our work, several small kingdoms sprung up before the messenger reached the royal camp, the in Western Asia of considerable historical interest. regent was no more. His army, wearied by the long Among them were Pergamus, Bithynia, Paphlagonia. siege of Pelusium, became dissatisfied. Their muti- Pontus, Cappadocia, Greater Armenia, Lesser Armenous dispositions were secretly encouraged by the nia, to which may be added the commercial state of emissaries of Ptolemy. Python, who had been for- Petra and the republic of Rhodes. These also will be merly employed by the regent in the ruthless massacre duly noticed in their place. of some Greek mercenaries for disobedience of orders, organized a conspiracy, and Perdiccas was murdered in his tent, 321 B. C. Had the news of the victory obtained by Eumenes reached the camp earlier, the regent's life might have been saved; but now the news CHAPTER L X I I I. served only to aggravate the malice of the insurgent satraps.280 to 272 B.C. The struggle which followed between the rival as- Parthian Dominion in Persia - The..ssapirants to dominion continued for twenty years, and displayed the most shocking spectacles of intrigue, treachery, and bloodshed. At last, a battle was fought LEAVING the further history of Alexander's succes at Ipsus, in Phrygia, 301 B. C., between the contend- sors, we return to Persia. The authority of the Seleu. ing parties, which ended in the defeat of Antigonus, cidce continued undisturbed for more than half a who had hitherto been in the ascendant. The conse- century, when, about 250 B. C., the Parthians made quence of this was a new division 6f the provinces, the first attempt to snatch the sceptre from them..Arand an erection of the satrapies into four independent saces, a noble of that country, raised a rebellion, kingdoms, the thrones of which were occupied by four expelled the Macedonians from Parthia, and asof Alexander's leading generals. sumed the title of a king. In a moment of victory, Ptolemy became king of Egypt, including some however, he was mortally wounded, and died bequeathcontiguous territory in Asia. His dynasty, embracing ing his crown to his brother Tiridates, and his name to thirteen kings, continued for about two hundred and the Parthian dynasty. The history of this monarchy ninety years, when Egypt was conquered by Rome. will be found in another part of our work. Lysimachus obtained Thrace, to which were attached The Parthian dominion in Persia endured nearlv the northern provinces of Asia Minor. Cassander took five hundred years. This long period is little better possession of Macedon and Greece, with the rich prov- than a blank in the Eastern histories; yet. when we reince of Cilicia. fer to Roman writers, we find this space abounding in Seleucuts, surnamed Nicator, or Conqueror, received events of which a gallant nation might well be proud. the dominion of Upper Asia, of which Babylon was Parthian monarchs, whose names cannot now be dis*he centre; and here, for a time, he had his capital. covered in the history of their own country, were the He extended his empire, which is said at last to have only enemies upon whom the Roman arms, in the fulembraced all the nations conquered by Alexander, ness of their power, could make no permanent Impresfrom Phrygia to the Indus. He was now at leisure to sion. EBut this, no doubt, may be attributed to othsr SASSANIAN DYNASTY —AlDESHIR, &c. 111 causes than the skill and valor of the Parthians. It was One of the characteristic features in the governmen to the nature of their country and their singular mode of Ardeshir was his zeal to sustain the ancient religion, of warfare that they owed their frequent advantages which had been neglected or degraded by the Parthian over the disciplined legions of Rome. The frontier monarchs. This zeal was as much the offspring of which the kingdom of Parthia presented to the Roman policy as of piety. He summoned a great assembly empire extended from the Caspian Sea to the Persian of mobuds and priests from all parts of the kingdom, Gulf. It consisted of lofty and barren mountains, of to assist in this religious reform; and the event is still broad and rapid streams, and of wide-spreading des- regarded as most important, even in the history of the erts. In whatever direction: the legions of Rome creed of Zoroaster. The testamentary advice which advanced, the country was laid waste. The mode in Ardeshir addressed to his son, as recorded by Firdusi, which the Parthian warrior took his unerring aim, exhibits his views of religion and of the duties of a while his horse was carrying him from his enemy, sovereign in a very favorable light. baffled all the efforts of Roman skill and courage, and Slhalpoor, called by the Western writers Sapor, the bravest veterans of the empire murmured when succeeded his father Ardeshir. He carried his arms their leaders talked of a Parthian war. into the Roman territories, and the emperor Valerian, The commencement of the Sassanian dynasty, A. D. then in his 70th year, marched against him. The 226, forms a new era in the history of Persia. These Romans were defeated, and Valerian was taken prismonarchs were engaged in constant wars with the oner. The treatment of the captive emperor has been Roman empire, and the events recorded by the histo- the theme of many a singular tale. It is said that the rians of Rome enable us to correct the accounts of Persian monarch exposed him to the public gaze as a Oriental authors. This dynasty was founded by Ar- monument of fallen greatness; that he used his neck deshir Babigan, a descendant of Sassan, the grandson as a footstool whenever he mounted his horse, and that of Isfundear. A rapid rise in the service of the Par- he finally caused the wretched Valerian to be flayed thian king intoxicated his ardent mind, and dreams, alive, and his skin to be stuffed and preserved in the the offspring of ambitious hopes, confirmed his aspir- chief temple of the empire as a trophy of victory! ing designs. Driven from court, he was received with These accounts are not well authenticated; but it is acclamation by the nobility of the province of Fars. certain that the Roman emperor passed the remainder His resolution to aim at sovereign power was encour- of his life in helpless captivity. Odenathus, prince of aged by the feebleness of' the imperial armies. The Palmyra, and after him the emperor Aurelian, avenged, Persians flocked around his standard. Arduan, the at length, the Roman honor; but Shahpoor, after reigning king, took the field to quell the rebellion. building various cities, and conquering many provThe armies met in the plain of Hoormaz, a desperate inces, bequeathed his dominions, A. D. 271, to his son, battle ensued, Arduan lost his crowin and his life, and Hormisdas. Ardeshir was saluted on the field of victory with the The Persian histories relate a very extraordinary title of Slahan Shah, or King of Kings-a name ever adventure of Hormisdas, before he ascended the since assumed by the sovereigns of Persia. throne. His father had appointed him governor of Ardeshir took advantage of the impression made by Khorosan, where he highly distinguished himself. this great victory not only to subdue the remainder of His conduct; kv1wever, did not prevent some envious the empire, but to enlarge its limits, which he extend- and designing men from exciting suspicions of his ed, if we may credit Persian authors, to the Euphra- fidelity, in the breast of Shahpoor. Hormisdas was tes in one quarter, and the kingdom of Kharism in soon made acquainted with the success of his enemies, the other. The fame of Ardeshir spread in every and resolved on a desperate action. He cut off one direction. All the petty states in the vicinity of his of his hands and sent it to his father, desiring him to empire proffered submission, while the greatest mon- accept that unquestionable proof of his devoted allearchs of the East and West courted his friendship. giance. Shahpoor was horror-struck at the rash act He was one of the wisest princes that ever reigned which his suspicions had led his son to commit. He over Persia. The revolution which he effected in the recalled him to court, and fromn that time gave him his condition of his country was wonderful. He formed full confidence. This virtuous prince reigned but one a well-consolidated empire out of the scattered frag- year. Hue founded a city called by his own name ments of the Parthian monarchy, which had been in xwhere, at this day, the inhabitants show an orangean unsettled and distracted state for centuries. The tree believed to have been planted by him, and which, name of Parthia, which Western writers had given to on this account, is universally venerated. this empire after the'death of Alexander, ceased at his elevation to the throne, and the kingdom which he founded was recognized as that of Persia. Persian writers have preserved sayings of this prince which display both goodness and wisdom. C H A P T ER L X I V. "There can be no power," he remarked, "without,n army; no army without money; no money with)ut agriculture; and no agriculture without justice." Baharam Nushirvan - Decline of the Per[t was a common saying of his, that " a ferocious lion sian Empire. was better than an unjust king; but an unjust king was not so bad as a long war." He was also accus- THE reign of Baharam I., the Varanes of the Greek tomed to say that "kings should never use the sword writers, is remarkable for the execution of Mani, the when the cane would answer"- a fine lesson to founder of the sect of Manichaans, who attempted despotic monarchs, whom it was meant to teach that to amalgamate the doctrine of Zoroaster, the methey should never take away life when the offence will tempsychosis of the Hindoos, and the tenets of admit of a smaller punishment. Christianity into one religious code. Driven fromn 112 N USHIRVAN-CLOSE OF HISTORY OF ANCIENT PERSIA. Persia, in the reign of Shahpoor, he ventured back gence of this was sent to court. The king, partaking in the time of Ballaram, who, under pretext of in the superstition of the age, demanded of the chief hearkening to his instructions, seized the impostor, put mobud or high priest, what it portended. The officer him to death, and ordered his skin, stuffed with straw, gave a reply, which, while it shows him to have been to be hung up at the gate of the capital. a virtuous courtier, satisfies us that Nushirvan, with all The virtues and talents of Baharamz V., his gallantry, his great qualities, was a despot to Whom truth could his munificence, and his mild yet firm government, only be spoken indirectly. "By what'I have learned are favorite themes with the native historians. The from the history of former times," said' the pontiff, patriarchal simplicity of his sway resembled that of " it is when injustice prevails, that beasts of prey an Arab chief rather than the rule of an absolute spread over a kingdom." Nushirvan, who well knew monarch. Fond, to excess, of the sports of the field, what was meant, immediately appointed a secret body he was one day hunting a wild ass on the plain of of commissioners, in whom he placed complete con. Oljam, which abounds with deep morasses. In his fidence, and directed them to visit every, province of heedless pursuit of the animal, the king plunged on the empire, and blring him a true report of the conduct horsebackl into a bog, and was never seen afterwards. of the inferior officers of the state. The result of this In the reign of this monarch, music and minstrels inquiry was the discovery of great abuses, and the were first introduced into Persia from Hindostan. execution of twenty-four petty governors, convicted One day, we are told, Baharam observed a merry of injustice and tyranny. group of people dancing without music. He inquired Whatever success attended the endeavors of Nushirthe cause, and was answered, "' We have sent every van to promote the happiness of his subjects, there can where, and offered a hundred pieces of gold for a be no doubt that he was, personally, a friend to justice. musician, but invain." The king immediately ordered A. Roman ambassador, who had been sent to Persia twelve thousand Hindoo musicians and singers to be with rich presents, was one day admiring the noble invited into his dominions from Hindostan. He died prospect from the windows of the royal palace of A. D. 438. Ctesiphon, observing an uneven piece of ground Khosroml Nushirvan, a prince whose name is repeated asked the reason why it was not levelled. "It is the with enthusiasm and reverence by all the Eastern property of an old woman," said a Persian noble. historians, and which is still in the mouth of every Per- " she refuses to sell it, and the king is more willint sian, as the symbol of wisdom, justice, and munificence, to have his prospect spoiled than to commit injustice." came to the throne A. D. 531. He made great reforms The Roman replied,'" That irregular spot, consecrated in the empire, built caravanserais, bazars, bridges, as it is by justice, appears more beautiful than all the and other public edifices, founded schools and colleges, surrounding scene." The Eastern histories are full encouraged learning, and introduced at his court the of similar anecdotes of NUSHIRVAN THE JUST. The philosophers of Greece. He carried on wars with the noble and firm character of this monarch resisted the Greek empire of Constantinople, and compelled the influence of that luxury by which he was surrounded. emperor Justinian to purchase a peace by a tribute He neither gave himself up to indulgence, nor perof thirty thousand pieces of gold. He conquered mitted it in others; and the aged king of Persia was Syria, and extended the limits of his empire from the seen, shortly before his death, to lead his troops to banks of the Phasis to the shores of the Mediterranean. battle with as active and ardent a spirit as he had But his victorious career in the tWest was checked by shown in his earliest enterprises. the talents of Belisarius. After his conquest of Syria, Nushirvan died A. D. 579. His brilliant reign may he transported the inhabitants of Antioch to the banks be regarded as the close of ancient Persian history.* of the Tigris. Here he built, near Ctesiphon, a city He found the monarchy hastening to decay, and he exactly like Antioch, according to a minute plan attempted to restore its strength. His success was drawn for that purpose. The resemblance'was so unparalleled, and his great genius preserved the perfect, that, on the arrival of the Antiochians at the declining empire during his own lifb. But, fiom the new city, every man went as naturally to his own moment of his decease, the fortunes of Persia assumed house, as if he had never left his native home! an entirely new face, and the national history became Historians have dwelt on the magnificence of the stamped with a character unknown to former times. courts which sought the friendship of Nushirvan. The emperors of China and Hindostan are the most distinguished. Their presents to the sovereign of Persia are described as exceeding in curiosity and CHAPTER LXV value, any that were ever before seen. Eastern C H monarchs delight to display their wealth and grandeur in the splendor of their embassies; but this conduct has, in general, a better motive than vanity. It is the Empire - Government and Religion of from the style of his equipage, lhe magnificence of the Ancient Persians. his presents, and the personal deportment of an am- WVE have already alluded to the vast extent of the bassador, that ignorant nations judge of the power Persian empire, in the time of its greatest prosperity. and character of the monarch whom he represents. We need only add a few particulars respecting its All the vigilance and justice of Nushirvan could central provinces. I;s original territory of Elam, or not prevent corruption and tyrannv among the officers Fars, was small, and from this the seat of empire was of his government. During the latter years of his transferred to Babylon. Babylonia was a central reign, an immense number of jackals, from the deserts province, and contiguous to it on the east, and of Tartary, invaded the northern provinces of Persia, and the inhabitants were greatly alarmed at the horrid * In the preceding History of Persia, we have omitted screams and howlings of their new visitors. Intelli- several soveleigns whose reigns afford nothing of interest. PROVINCES OF PERISIA-GENERAL VIEWS. 11,3 separated by the Tigris, was Susiana, of which Susa, or Cyrus the Great had no income but presents. Darius, Shushan - the "City of Cities" -was the chief town. in consequence, was nicknamed " the Merchant." This was situated on the Choaspes River, and, though while Cyrus was called " Father." Before the conwith( ut walls, was a place of great strength, having a quest of Lydia, the Persians are said to have had n( strong citadel called the Memnonica. Alexander, on his money, and so little artificial wealth of any kind march towards India, here found fifty thousand talents that they had no clothing -except the skins of beasts. of uncoined gold, besides silver, and precious stones, of No religion except that of the Jews, has experienced great value. It is said that the prophet Daniel died here, so little change as that of the ancient Persians. and here the people pretend to show his monument. Originating in an age when history is lost in fable, Here, also, Esther prevailed on Ahasuerus to spare it maintained itself through good and bad fortulle, till the lives of the Jews, whom Haman had persuaded in our days it faintly appears in the persecuted secl him to destroy. Here Alexander married a daughter of the Guebres, in Persia, or among the more of Darius, and ten thousand Macedonians wedded as fortunate and industrious Parsees of India. The many Persian women. Klhusistan, the modern name primeval religion of Persia consisted in a belief in of Susiana, is a corruption of its ancient title. one supreme God, a pious fear, love, and adoration Persia Proper, the central part of modern Per- of him, a reverence for parents and aged persons, sia, was but a province of the empire. Carmania a paternal affection for the whole human race, and we have described as a province lying between Persia a compassionate tenderness for the brute creation. proper and Gedrosia. Its capital, Carliana, now _Ka- This belief was followed by the adoration of the host mzan, was in the interior. On the coast is the little of heaven or the celestial bodies. To this worship island of Tyrine, now Ortnats, and famed for the succeeded that of fire. According to Herodotus, the wealth of its commerce three centuries since. Persians had neither temples, statues, nor idols, though Gedrosia, now Beloochistan, and Aria, or Ariana, they offered sacrifices to the Supreme Being on the now Afghanistan and part of Independent Tartary, tops of high mountains. were, at one time, provinces of Persia. The latter Zoroaster, if not the founder of the Persian religion, was famous for its mines. Here was anciently a tribe so perfected it as to make it identified with his own called Evergetce, or Benefactors, in consequence of name. His history is obscure, and he had the repusaving many persons lost in the deserts of the country. tation of being a great astrologer. His religious The people were formed into republics, and showed system has been pronounced the most perfect that such evidences of intelligence, that Alexander con- was ever devised by unassisted human reason. He ferred upon them special privileges. taught that God existed from all eternity, and was In Aria was the town of Prophthasia, where like infinity of time and space. He believed there Alexander caused Philotas, son of Parmtenio, to be put were two principles animating the whole universe; to death. From one of the Arian tribes, called the one good, nanimed Ormnuzd, and the other evil, Cabolitce, the modern city of Cabul derives its name. named Alhriman. Each of these had the power.Margiana was a part of this territory, and celebrated of creation, but that power was exercised with opfor its grapes. Here many of the Roman soldiers, posite designs. From their united action, an admixafter their defeat under Crassus, were taken, and, ture of good and evil was found in every created intermingling with the people, refused to leave the thing. The good principle alone was believed to be country. These were among the more immediate eternal, and destined ultimately to prevail. With and central provinces of ancient Persia, and constituted these speculative tenets was combined a system of the heart of the empire. castes. the introduction of which is ascribed to GiamFrom the earliest periods of history, Persia appears schid. The conservation of the ordinances regulating to have been under a despotic government. Of the the public morals was entrusted to the Magians, who precise form of this government we know merely appear to have been originally a tribe of the Medeb. that it was an hereditary monarchy,' that the sovereign Zoroaster reformed the institutions of this body, and was absolute, and his person almost sacred. The- made the priestly dignity accessible to men of every Greek historians assert that ancient Persia was in- class, though few persons assumed the office who habited by a wise and enlightened race of men who were not of Magian descent. The Persian court was lived under a just government; and we read in principally composed of sages and soothsayers. The Scripture that the laws of the Medes and Persians priests also were judges in civil cases, because religion were unchangeable. The kings of Persia, from the was the basis of their legislation. earliest ages. have assumed extravagant titles, and lived in' great splendor; but they seem to have been subject to the occasional check, if not the control, 3f a military nobility, many of whom descended from the royal family, and held the richest provinces as CHAPTER LXVI principalities. These nobles were always assembled State of Civilization among the ancient Perbefore a monarch was placed upon the throne; and sians - Character, Manners, I"c., of the their assent was, in fact, necessary, as they held, by People. right of birth, the several commands in the army. The ministers of the crown seem, in ancient times, MANrY argou ients for the ancient civilization and as at present, to have been generally chosen from prosperity of Persia are founded on the extent and men of learning and experience, but of low birth. magnitude of its edifices: but amid these ruins we find The collection of the revenues was first settled by few that were dedicated to purposes of real public Darius Hystaspes, who divided Persia into twenty utility. The polished fragments of vast palaces, and satrapies or governments, and fixed the regular the remains of rich sculpture, prove only that ths contributions from each. This was an inn:ovation. kings were wealthy and powerful monarchs - not thai 114 MANNERS, LEARNING, MI:LITARY SYSTEM, &u., OF THE ANCIENT PERSIANK they had happy or civilized subjects. The object of ambition among all Eastern kings is to enjoy grandeur, C H A P T E R L X V I I. and to leave a great name. The luxury in which the Learng, ilit S sovereigns of Persia have always indulged, extended to the nobility, and, in prosperous times, it must have the ancient Persans. been generally diffused over the empire. That such THE manners of the Persians, it is true, were softluxury could not have existed without many of the ened, and in some degree refined, by a spirit of arts of peace, and a certain progress in civilization, is chivalry which prevailed in Persia between the time obvious; but this progress was continually retarded of Cyrus and that of Alexander. Courage was by the internal wars consequent upon the system of the hardly held in more esteem than generosity and hugovernment. manity; and the first heroes in the Persian romantic That the ancient Persians inhabited towns and cities, histories are not more praised for valor than for clem. is proved both by history and by the antiquity of some ency and munificence. If we may believe Firdusi, of the most extensive ruins now visible. In the earliest the laws of modern honor were well understood and ages of which we have any knowledge, they must practised by the ancient Persians. The great respect have depended more upon agriculture than on their in which the female sex was held, was, no doubt, the flocks for support, as we are assured that they long principal cause of their progress in civilization. Wo. held animal food in abhorrence. The ancient Persians men had an honorable rank in Persian society. The were athletic and strong, and of a good personal warriors, as an incentive to courage, often took with appearance. Some of their descendants are now them to battle their wives and children. settled on the western coast of Hindostan': these The residence of the Persian kings varied with the persons are of pure blood, and never intermarry with season, during the early ages of the empire. The any'other race. But after a residence of eleven court was held generally about seven months al hundred years in an enervating climate, they are still Babylon, three at Susa, or Shushan, and two at Ecbatsuperior to the modern inhabitants of Persia, who ana. At a later date, Persepolis became the chief belong to a great number of mixed races that have capital. The royal palace in this city was very poured into the kingdom since the overthrow of magnificent, and its furniture of inestimable v;.lle. Yezdijird and the establishment of Mahometanism. According to the description of Herodotus, the walls The Persian troops, in the days of Cyrus, were and ceilings of the apartments were entirely covered looked upon as invincible. This is ascribed to the with gold, silver, ivory, and amber. The throne was temperate and laborious life to which they were of fine gold, supported by four pillars richly adorned accustomed from infancy. They drank only water; with precious stones. The same author describes a their food was bread and roots, and the bare ground vine of gold, presented to Darius by Pythias, a Lydian, generally their bed. They were also inured to the of which the trunk and branches were enriched with most painful exercises and labors. They were trained jewels of great value. The clusters of grapes which up to military service from their most tender years, hung over the king's head, as he sat on the throne,. by passing through different exercises. They served were all composed of precious stones. Adjoining the in the army from the age of twenty to that of fifty, palace were fine gardens, parks, &c. and whether in peace or war, they always wore Nushirvan was the first monarch whom historians swords, as was the custom in most European countries mention as the founder of a college; but the mtobuds, till within a century. The hardy education of the or priests, had their books of religion at an early Persians, however, belongs only to the age of Cyrus, period, and the chronicles of the kings of Persia were anal perhaps a short period afterward. When we preserved with great care. It is not easy to ascertain compare the manners of these times with those of a how far learning was cultivated by the ancient Perlater age, they hardly seem to indicate the same people. sians. Their wise men were distinguished for their The conquests of Cyrus led to the corruption of knowledge of astrology, which implies some acquaintthe Persian. manners. The ancient, simple attire was ance with the science of astronomy; but this study, exchanged for foreign apparel - shining with gold and as well as most others, appears to have been confined purple. Luxury and extravagance soon rose to a to the priesthood. Whatever treasures in science ruinous excess. The monarch carried all his wives and learning the ancient Persians may have poswith him to the wars, and his chief officers followed sessed, they are now irrecoverably lost. The reign of his example. The most exquisite meats and costly Nushirvan is said to have been the Augustan era of dainties were provided for the commanders of armies Persian literature; but the learned men of Rome, who during the whole of their campaigns. This luxury, resorted to *the court of that monarch, returned diswe are told by Plato, was one of the causes of the appointed at not finding so advanced a state of knowldecline of the Persian empire. Another was the want edge as they had expected. of public faith. The primitive Persians prided them- Persia, however, is the earliest country in which selves upon Okeeping their word; but the servile flatter- we find the use of regular posts and couriers. This ers of the great king relapsed into falsehood, deceit, invention is ascribed to Cyrus, and by some writers and perjury, and sacrificed every thing to the humor to Darius. As the empire, by conquests, had become of the despot. greatly enlarged, it was essential that all the governors The lesson taught by the history of Persia is the of the provinces should send accounts to the seat of same as that which we gather from the annals of government, at stated times, of every thing that passed Greece and Rome. Corruption of public morals inev- in their several districts. To accomplish this with the itably leads to political disease and dissolution. A greater despatch, post-houses were built, and messensound moral basis is as essential to the durability of gers stationed in every province. At all these stations government as a good foundation to the stability of an were large stables, with relays of horses, postmasters a.rchlitectural edifice. &c., so that the couriers were kept going day and night. ANTIdQUT1TIES OF PERSIA-PERSEPOLIS-SHUSTER-SUSA. 1 5 The Persian armies were a great source of evil to lated pillars of this edifice, which, founded in an age the country. An enormous military force was con- beyond the reach of tradition, have witnessed the stantly maintained, and hordes of the wandering tribes, lapse of' countless generations, and seen dynasties and on the borders of the empire, were kept in pay. empires rise, flourish, and decay, while they still real Every man capable of bearing arms was enrolled in their gray heads unchanged. The palace seems to his own district, and forced to become a soldier on have been at the same time a citadel and a bulwark; the first summons. This military constitution enabled the columns are disposed in a c.olonnade around a the Persians to make rapid conquests, but it prevented terrace. They are of gray marble, upwards of seventy all stability in the government. The soldiers fought feet in height. The capitals and decorations are very for pay or plunder, and were held together by no beautiful, although in a taste different from the Grecian. common principle save attachment to their leader. Many parts of these ruins are covered with sculpThe death or flight of a commander in-chief instantly tures, which are very curious as illustrations of the decided the fate of a Persian army. A heavy tax ancient costumes and manners of ts4e Persians. They on the nation was required to support the vast military represent trains of' subjects from different parts of the force, and maintain the barbarous splendor with which kingdom bringing presents to the sovereign. Battles, the kings and satraps deemed it necessary to surround single combats, and other incidents in the Persian histheir dignity. The exactions wrung from the culti- tory, are alsd depicted, sometimes according to nature, vators of the soil rendered the Persian peasantry the and at other times by symbols. Among the ruins most miserable in all Asia. have also been found inscriptions in the arrow-headed Of the agriculture and manufactures of the ancient character, differing from those of Nineveh, and called Persians history says but little. The commercial Persepolitan. These are supposed to be in the Zend power of the Babylonians fell into their hands, but language, or sacred dialect of the Magians. As we they opened no new branch of trade, and scarcely have already stated, they have been a subject of much maintained those which they found already established. investigation with the learned of Europe. They coined money at a very early period. The The architecture of Persepolis is quite different from daric wa~ a gold coin named from Darius, but whether that of the more ancient cities of Babylon and Nineveh. Darius the Mede, or Darius Hystaspes, antiquarians In some respects it resembles that of Egypt, though do not agree. It was in value about ten dollars, and in others it is quite distinct. There are tombs and was stamped on one side with the figure of an archer sepulchral chambers cut in the face of rocks; but they clothed in a long robe, wearing a spiked crown, and are shallow, with porticos richly sculptured. The entire holding a bow and arrows; on the other side was the surface of the walls is covered with figures and inscriphead of Darius. All the other coins of the same tions, the drawings being stiff and the representations weight and value, which were struck by the succeed- generally in profile. Other parts of the architecture ilng kings of Persia, whether of the native or of the seem to resemble that of Greece. On the whole, it Mcedomnan race, were called darics. The original bears no distinct character, and seems rather a crude pieces were mostly melted down by Alexander the jumble than an original and peculiar style. The vast Conqueror. extent of the edifices, the high finish of the decorations, and the occasional beauty both of design and workmanship displayed, must, however, always render these ruins a matter of the deepest interest. Should C H APTER L X I II. the arrow-head writings ever be translated, they will Antiquities of Persia -Persepolis - Shuster - doubtless throw great light upon the history of ancient Persia. Susa - Ctesiphon. Persia. The ruins of Shuster belong to the Sassanian era. THE antiquities of Persia may be divided into two This city is said to have been founded by Shahpoor. classes, referring to different periods -those of an age A tradition, still extant, affirms that this monarch conprevious to the conquest by Alexander, and those be- pelled his Roman captives to aid in building the city, longing to the era of the Sassanides. Of the former and the natives point out to travellers the tower in class, by far the most interesting and extensive are the which they believe Valerian was confined. What ruins of Persepolis, called by the natives Tchil Minar, renders this city the most remarkable, in one respect or the forty columns. This city is said to have been among the ancient monuments of Persia, is the dike twenty-five miles in length. Its palace, filled with in its vicinity, which Shahpoor built across the Karoon, treasures, was set on fire by Alexander, as elsewhere to turn the waters of that river into a course more related: this and a part of the town were destroyed. favorable for agriculture. This dike is formed of Persepolis was much injured, though it continued to be hammered stone cemented by mortar and fastened toa place of importance. It has, however, long been gether with iron clamps. It is twenty feet broad and reduced to ruins. Nothing can be more striking than twelve hundred in length. The work is the more the appearance of these relies, situated at the base of deserving of notice from being almost the only one a rugged mountain overlooking a wide plain. They of a useful nature amid those vast ruins which bespeak are enclosed on all sides by distant but dark cliffs, and the power and magnificence of the monarchs of Per watered by a river that once supplied a thousand sia. As if preserved by its nobler character, it has aqueducts. But the watercourses are choked up, the survived all the sumptuous palaces and luxurious ediplain is a morass or a wilderness, the great city has fiees of the same age. disappeared, and its gray columns rise in solitary and The ruins of Shus, or Susa, consist, like.those of desolate grandeur. Babylon, of large mounds composed of bricks and The remains of the royal palace form the grandest colored tiles. At the foot of one of these mounds stands part of these ruins. The imagination cannot picture the tomb of the prophet Daniel, which we have already. sight more imposing than the vast solitary apd muti- mentioned. Here a number of dervishes watch over.. -~. ------------— Ii 116 FAMOUS MEN OF PERSIA -: A. ~. Ruins of Persepolis. tne remains of the holy man, and are supported by the The general maxims taught in the Zendavesta are alms of those who resort to his sepulchre. These are moral and just, and well calculated to promote industhe only human inhabitants of Susa, and wild beasts try and virtue. The principal tenets of the faith of roam over the spot on which some of the proudest Zoroaster were pure and sublime, and inculcate the palaces of the earth have stood. worship of an immortal and beneficent Creator. This Of ancient Ctesiphon an arch is still standing, one lawgiver, however, artfully adapted his creed to the hundred sixty feet in height, and eighty-five feet span. prejudices of his countrymen, by sanctioning the worOf Seleucia not a fragment remains. Ruins of cities ship of fire as a symbol of the Deity, and in this way and bridges, of Persian origin, are scattered along the opened a wide door to superstition. banks of the Tigris, and these abodes of ancient mag- Feridoon, who lived about 800 B. C., was one of the nificence are now occupied by the scattered tents of most esteemed of the ancient Persian heroes. He Arabian robbers. A few miles from the city of I(er- escaped in an almost miraculous manner when his manshah are wonderful excavations in the rocky sides father, Giamschid, was murdered by Zohak, the Syrian of a mountain, exhibiting sculptured figures in a style usurper of the Persian throne. At the age of sixteen, of excellence surpassing every other work of the kind he collected a large body of his countrymen, defeated in Persia. and dethroned Zohak, and became the sovereign of Persia.' His reign was marked by the strictest integrity. A Persian poet mentions him in the following language: "The happy Feridoon was not an angel: CHAPT E R L XIX. he was not formed of musk or amber. It was by his of Aciet Psia - eneral justice and generosity that he gained good and great Pamous Men of Ancient Persia- General Remarks. ends. Be thou just and generous, and thou wilt be a Feridoon." ZOROASTER is the most celebrated name in ancient Ba/hram GoutZ flourished about A. D. 430. He was Persian history. There is much obscurity in what has one of the best monarchs that ever ruled in Persia. been handed down to us respecting this personage. During the whole of his reign, the happiness of his Some writers maintain that there were two individuals subjects was his sole object. His government was ofthe name, and others are of opinion that the title more simple and patriarchal than that of any other Perwas assumed by a succession of lawgivers in Persia. sian monarch. His munificence, his virtues, and his The more common opinion is, that there were two Zo- valor, are the theme of every Eastern historian. His roasters. The first was a native of Rhe, or Rages, in generosity was not limited, to his court or capital, but Media, who established his religion in Bactriana under extended all over his dominions. No merit went Clyaxares I., built a great fire-temple in Balkh, called unrewarded. His first act, on ascending the throne, Azer Gushlasp, and was put to death, wtih his priests,, was to pardon those who had endeavored to deprive during the incursion of the Scythians, about the year 630 him of his birthright. B. C. The se-cond Zoroaster is supposed to have been a. Shahpoor II., A. D. 310, distinguished himself by disciple of the prophet Daniel, who was made chief of his successes against the Romans. His life is dec he Magians by Cyrus, in which capacity he restored orated with fables by the Persian historians; but it and confirmed the ancient religion of the country, and is evident that he raised his country to the greatest wrote or compiled the book called Zendavesta. He prosperity by defeating his enemies and extending was blelieved by the Persians to be a great astrologer, the limits of the empire in every direction. He was who, from his knowledge of the heavenly bodies, could alike remarkable for wvisdom, valolr, and military concalculate nativities and foretell events. This knowl- duct. Some of his sayings which have been recorded edge, it was thought, descended to the priesthood of his display much penetration and knowledge of lhunman followers. i character. He was accustomed to remark, that "words GENERAL REMARKS ON PERSIAN KINGS. 117 tnay be more vivifying than the showers of spring, and There is hardly a virtue which may not find exalnple sharper than the sword of destruction. The point of a and illustration in the biographies of Cyrus, Xerxes, lance may be withdrawn frolm the body, but a cruel Darius, and their successors. We are told that the word can never be extracted from the heart it has first of these sovereigns, when offered the hand of' the once wounded." only child of Cyaxares in marriage, with the assurance As we have not noticed all the sovereigns of Persia of succession to the throne of Media, tempting as was n our historical sketch, we shall subjoin a full list from the proposition, deferred his acceptance, till he had [he time of Cyrus, with the dates of their reigns. We taken counsel of his father and mother. When he may remark, that prior to the reign of Cyrus, Persia was twelve years old, his mother, Mandane, took him was a semi-barbarous country, sometimes independent, with her into Media, to his grandfather Astyages, who, and at other periods a province of Media or Assyria. from the many things he had heard said in favor of From the time of Cyrus it became a great empire, and that young prince, had a great desire to see him. In so continued till the conquest of Alexander. From this court, young Cyrus found very different manners this period, a considerable intercourse was kept up from those of his own country' pride, luxury, and with the Greeks: many persons of that country set- magnificence, reigned universally. All this did not tied in Persia; Greek literature and the Greek lan- affect Cyrus, who, without criticizing or condemning guage were diffused through Parthia and other kindred what he saw, was contented to live agreeably to his nations they had subdued. The Greek tongue be- education, steadily adhering to the principles he had came, to a certain extent, the official language, and was imbibed from his infancy. spoken by the nobles and other members of the court. He charmed his grandfather by his sprightliness and The coins of the Arsacidoe, still extant, are marked wit, and gained every body's favor by his.noble and wvith Greek inscriptions. Thus, for several centuries, engaging behavior. Astyages, to render his grandson the European intellect seemed to exercise a com- unwilling to return home, made a sumptuous entermanding influence, not only in this quarter, but in all tainment, in which there was a profusion of every Western Asia. thing that was nice and delicate. All this exquisite'The reign of Ardeshir, the founder of the Sassa- -cheer and magnificent preparation Cyrus looked upon nian dynasty, wrought a great change. The Greek with great indifference.' The Persians," said he to mnythology had, in some degree, become mixed with the the king, " instead of going such a roundabout way to Sabeism of the country, which now prevailed. The appease their hunger, have a much shorter to the same new king, a zealous Magian, restored the religion of end; a little bread and a few cresses, with them, Zoroaster, and, in crushing what he deemed the idola- answer the purpose." Astyages desiring Cyrus to tries of the people, expelled also Greek literature and dispose of all the meats as he thought fit, the latter the Greek language. From this period, the dynasties immediately distributed them to the king's officers in 3f Persia became again thoroughly Asiatic. They have waiting; to one, because he taught him to ride; to continued for sixteen hundred years; and though another, because he waited well upon his grandfather; mnany able sovereigns have arisen, Persian society and to a third, because he took great care of his mother. seemns incapable of rising above a point of improve- Sarcas, the king's cupbearer, was the only person ment which must be called barbarous. If these to whom he gave nothing. This officer, beside the countries are ever to be regenerated, it would seem place of cupbearer, had that likewise of introducing that the impulse must come from Europe. those who were to have an audience of the king; In a general view of the sovereigns of Persia, we and as he did not grant that favor to Cyrus as often must remark that, while they retained the despotism, as he desired it, the prince took this occasion to show pride, and arrogance of their Assyrian and Babylonian his resentment. Astyages testified some concern at predecessors, they manifested little of their wisdom the neglect shown to this officer, for whom he had a andc patriotism. The Persian kings seemed to aim at particular regard, and who deserved it, as he said, on,iches and power, as the means of displaying a gor- account of the wonderful dexterity with which he geous magnificence and enjoying licentious pleasures. served him. "Is that all, sir? " replied Cyrus. " If The fruit of successful conquests was usually expended that be sufficient to merit your ffavor, you shall see I in the construction of palaces shining with precious will quickly obtain it, for I will take upon me to serve metals, and harems filled with wormen whose beauty you better than he." might vie with the gems that glittered upon their per- Cyrus was immediately equipped as a cupbearer; sons. In the long line of ancient Persian kings we and, advancing gravely, with a serious countenance, find few who seem to have entertained the enlightened a napkin upon his shoulder, and holding the cup nicely views which led the monarchs of Assyria and Babylonia with three of his fingers, he presented it to the king to promote the interests of commerce, agriculture, and with a dexterity and grace that charmed both Astyages manufactures, as the true sources of national wealth and his mother Mandane. WVhen he had done, he fnd prosperity. We hear of splendid structures raised flung himself into his grandfather's arms, and kissing to gratify the personal wishes of the sovereigns, and him, cried out with great joy, " (0 Sarcas, pool fragments of these remain to attest their splendor; Sarcas, thou art undone! I shall hav. thy place." but we find among their performances few such monu- Astyhages embraced him with great fondness, aund said, ments of' public utility as the bridges, dikes, and res- 1" I am well pleased, my son; nobody can serve with -l ervoirs, constructed by the more ancient kings along better grace; but you have forgotten one essential the banks of the Tigrisaand Euphrates, serving to give ceremony, which is that of tasting." And indeed the impulse to all the diversified arts of peace. cupbearer was used to pour somen of the liquor into It must nevertheless be admitted, that, if history his left hand, and taste it before he presented it to the speak the truth, many of the Persian kings, in the king. " No," replied Cyrus, "it was not through formidst of their crimes, vices, and follies, frequently getfuilness that I omitted this ceremony." dislnayed aure sentimentP and lofty conceptions. I "Why, then," said Astyages, "' for what reason did 1 18 CHARACTER OF ANCIENT PERSIAN KINGS. you omit it?" "Because I apprehended there was Just before the battle of Cunaxa, in which Cyrus poison in the liquor." " Poison, child! How could you was contending for the crown against his brother think so?" "Yes, poison, sir; for not long ago, at an Artaxerxes, the rormer was advised by Clearchus not to entertainment you gave to the lords of your court, charge in person. " What," said the youthful prince, after the guests had drunk a little of that liquor, I per-." at the time I am endeavoring to make myself king ceived that all their heads were turned: they sang, would you have me prove myself unworthy of being so? made a noise, and talked, they did not know what: We are told that A.rtaxerxes, being requested by an you yourself seemed to have forgotten that you were officer to confer a favor upon him, which would have a king, and they that they were your subjects; and involved an act of injustice, gave him a sum of money, when you would have danced, you could hardly stand saying, "Take this token of my friendship: this canapon your legs." "V Why," said Astyages, "have you not make me poor; but if I complied with your. wish, never seen the same thing happen to your father? " it would make me poor indeed, for it would make me "No, never," said Cyrus. "WVhat then? How is it unjust." with him when he drinks?" "Why, when he has Such are some of the anecdotes handed down drunk, his thirst is quenched, and that is all." to us respecting the ancient Persian kings. Yet, in Perhaps no higher model of a gentleman can be spite of these incidents, the reign of every one of found than Cyrus, as portrayed by Xenophon. The these monarchs is marked with pride, vanity, and ningled ease and dignity of his intercourse with his selfishness. "If you consider the whole succession friends were indeed admirable. His self-discipline of Persian kings," says Seneca, " will you find any seems to have been perfect. Cicero remarks that, one of them that ever stopped his career of his own during the whole period of his reign, he was not accord, that was ever satisfied with his conquests, or known to speak a rough or angry word. His ideas of that was not forming some new project or enterprise the nature and duties of government were of the most when death surprised him? Nor ought we to be asexalted kind. "It is the duty of a king," said he, tonished at such a disposition; for ambition is a gulf, "' to work that his people may live in safety and quiet; and a bottomless abyss, where every thing is lost that to charge himself with anxieties and cares that they is thrown in, and where, though you were to heap may be exempted from them; to choose whatever is province upon province, and kingdom upon kingdom, salutary for them, and to reject whatever is hurtful you would never be able to fill up the mighty void." and prejudicial; to place his delight in seeing them Unhappily, sensibility is no substitute for principle. increase and multiply, and valiantly oppose his own It is, indeed, a casual, not a steady light; and so far person for their defence and protection. This is the from being an infallible guide, it leads not unfrequently natural idea and the just image of a good king. It is to error and crime. The greatest sentimentalists are,reasonable, at the same time, that his subjects should frequently the greatest sinners. A lively perception lend him all the services he stands in need of; but it of the beauty of truth and virtue is not necessarily is still more reasonable, that he should labor to make connected with devotion to the one or the practice of them happy, because it is for that very end that he is the other. The history of Athens affords the most their king, as much as it is the end and office of a touching instances of friendship, love, piety, and pashepherd to take care of his flock. —I have prodigious triotism, while the nation at large was steeped to the riches," said he to his friends, " and I am glad the brim in licentiousness, treachery, and falsehood. The world klnows it, but you may assure yourselves they very people that could condemn an honest man and are as much yours as mine. For to what end should a patriot to death by poison, would on the morrow I heal) up wealth? For my own use, and to consume - wreathe laurels on the brow of one who had saved it myself? That were impossible if I desired it. No; the life of a fellow-being. The Persians resemble the the chief end I aim at is to have it in my power to re- Greeks; the history and the literature of these two ward those who serve the public faithfully, and to suc- nations show the same clear perceptions of the path cor and to relieve those that will acquaint me with of wisdom, with the same aptitude to walk in the path their wants and necessities." of folly. Experience, as well as faith, teaches us that Xerxes and his brother Artabazanes both claimed man needs some authority higher than his own. Even the succession upon the death of their father. This if we can see the truth, we require a master to enforce event occurred when Artabazanes was absent, and its observation. Christian nations cannot too greatly Xerxes assumed at once all the functions of sover- estimate their privilege in possessing an authority which eignty. But when his brother returned, he took off not only shows the way, but ibrings with it an influence his crown, and went forward to meet him. They which commands attention and enforces obedience. greeted each other cordially, and amicably referred Let those who would reject or abate its power pontheir rival claims to their uncle. While the case was der well the lessons of history. The beautiful perceppending, they lived in a state of mutual kindness and tions of the Persians, the philosophy of the Greeks confidence, and when at last it was decided in favor and the grand political institutions of the Romans of Xerxes, Artabazanes bowed before his brother, and could not save society from destruction; for in each then led him to the throne. of these cases, it was built upon the sands. Sovereigns of Ancient Persia. DYNASTY OF CYRUS. Sogdianus....424 the Arsacidce 246 Baharam II., 277 Yezdijird II.,.442 Date of Accession. Darius NotheS,.. 423 B. C. to A. D. 229 Baharam III.,.. 294 Hormnooz III.,... 458 Cyrus, B.. C. 550 Artaxerxes Mnemon, 405 Narsi, or Narses, 294 Firose, or Peroses, 458 Cambyses,.... 29 Artaserses Ochus,. 360 SASSANIAN DYNASTY. Hormooz II., 303Palash,..... 486 Smerdis Magus,.. 522 Darius Codomannus, 336 Ardeshir, founder of Shahpoor II.,. 310tKobad.4..... 488 Darius Hystaspes,. 521 GnEaxc SOVisEIGNS. the dynasty,... 226J Ardishir II.,. 3811Jamaspes isurps the Serxes I.,.... 485 Alexander,.... 331 Shahpoor,.... 24C Shahpoor III., 385 throne, IKobad beArtaxerxes e Loni- The Seleucidm, 323 to 246 Hormooz, or Hormis- Baharam IV.,..390 ing deposed,. 498 mannto....... 463 AS.SACcID.I.: das,. 2711 Yezdijird I.,... 404 IKobad restored,. 562 Xcrxes I..... 4245 Parthian dynasty of Baharam I..... 274 Baharam V.,... 420 Khosrou Nullshirvan. 531 DECLINE OF THE SASSANIAN POWER-KHOSROU. 119 W3hiiecrn'trsia. C IH A P T E R L X X. after assassinated, and Khosrou, forgetful of the clalnis |A. D. 579 to 632. |of gratitude, immediately invaded the Roman domiliions with a large army. Syria was laid waste, JerusaDecline of the Sassanian Power Khosrou lem taken, and the magnificent churches of Helena Purveez - Persian Conquests - Reign of and Constantine were destroyed by the flames. The Yezdijird. devout offerings of three hundred years were rifled FRoB.i the history of ancient Persia we now pass to in a sinle day. Ninety thousand Clistians ee that of the modern kingdom.* The glory of the Sas- massacred, and the true cross, or what was believed to sanides, as we have already remarked, attained its be such, was carried of to Persia. The victorious height with Nushirvan, who died A.D. 579. Hoormuz hosts of Khosrou swept next over Egypt, from the pyramids of Memphis to the borders of Ethiopia, and II. his son, a weak and vicious prince, in his short and of Memphis to of Ethiopia, and disastrous reign excited a general disaffection, which the Persians advanced westward, through the sands of was repressed only by the talents of his general Baha- the Libyan desert, as far as Tripoli. Another army ram Choubeen. This service was requited by inograti- traversed Asia Minor, and etrated to the Tracian tude and affronts, under the influence of which Ba-Bosphorus. Chalcedonsurendere fterlongsiege haram put to death his unworthy sovereign, and and a Persian camF was maintained above ten year, aspired to the supreme authority. But he was unable in sight of Constantinople. Had Khosrou possessed a to resist the power of the Roman emperor, M14aurice, naval force, his boundless ambition would have spread who raised to the throne Khosrou Purveez, the son of slavery and desolation throughout Europe. (he murdered monarch. Maurice himself was soon But Kbosrou was neither a soldier nor a legislator While his generals were carrying fire and sword into * Persia is divided into eleven provinces, each of which is the heart of the Byzantine empire, the Persian monuader a governor called Beglerbey. The provinces are sub- arch himself, instead of watching over the safety of divided into districts, governed by Hakims. The following his extensive dominions, and studying to promote the is a list of the provinces, with their capitals happiness of his people, was revelling in the most Provi Lces. Icient.Name. Capital. Acient Present expensive luxuries. Every season of the year had its,fame, Pop. rak Adjemi Media...... Teheran...... 130,000 palace fitted up with appropriate splendor. His thrones Kamis tand ~Ta-. t........ Demavend blazed with gold and gems; his harem contained twelve beristan.............' Mazanderan'.. Sari.n. 30,000 thousand women, every one, if we may believe the Ghilan... Hyrcania..... Resht.60000 Persian- writers, equal to the moon in splendor ano kzerbijan Part of Media. Tabreez.Tauris 50,000 beauty; his stables had fifty thousand horses, among iurdistan.. Part of Susiana. Kermanshah 40,000 y Farsistan.... Persia, or Persis. Shiraz.. 30,000 which historians have recorded the name of Shub Khusistan.... Susiana.. Shster S...Ssa 20,000 Deez, his favorite Arabian charger, fleeter than the Kerman.. Carmania... Serjanr. 30,000 wind; twelve hundred elephants also formed a part Khuhistan.... Part of Aria... Sheheristan.... of the royal equipage. All these, with his musicians Khorassan.... Part of Aria....Meshed 32..... 3, 0 0 0 thorassan.. fr... Partud n of Aria.. Meshed.32,000 and singers, are subjects on which countless volumes A onsiderable portion of the people of Persia are Tedshikshave been witten by his countrymen aor orginoal Persians. TherearealsosomeKoods Bstzcharians, For thirty yearsthe reign of Khosrou ihad been Turkom.Cens, Armenians, &ce. Some of the people, along t he northern borders of the kingdom, are nearly independents marked by an almost unparalleled coure of prosperity See mapp of Persia, p. 90. But this is in a great measure to be ascribed to the. 1203 ~RISE OF THE MAHOMETA. A POWVER. distracted condition ( the Roman empire under the polity, the morals, and the religion of Asia. Twenty rule of the despicable Phocas, and during the feeble years after his death, the whole of Arabia, Egypi commencement of the reign of Heraclius. But the Syria, and Persia, had been compelled to acknowledge latter emperor, though effeminate and luxurious in the his creed. palace, was brave and skilful in the field. Roused at The reign of Yezdijird has obtained celebrity foi length to a sense of danger, he awakened Khosrou having been that in which the ancient empire rcf Perfirom his dream of pleasure by suddenly invading Per- sia was overthrown by a band of naked lizard-ca.ers; sia. The wonderful success with which the Roman for such was the contemptuous appellation formerly arms were crowned is fully related by the historians of used by the Persians when they mentioned the Arabs. the West, and is not contradicted by those of the East. No slight cause could have produced such a revoltiIn the space of. six years, Khosrou lost all his foreign tion. Persian historians are alike disposed, from su. conquests. He saw Persia overrun by victorious ene- perstition and from patriotism, to pronounce it one of mies, who defeated his troops wherever they encoun- the greatest miracles by which the truth of the Matered them, and marched in one direction as far as hometan religion has been attested. Those who take a the Caspian Sea; in another to Ispahan, destroying, in philosophical view of this great event will discover thai their progress, all his splendid palaces, plundering his a monarchy like that of Persia, enervated by luxury, hoarded treasures, and dispersing the countless slaves distracted by internal divisions, exhausted by ibroeign of his pleasure. wars, and bending to its fall from age and weakness, The Persian king belheld all this without making one was ill calculated to resist the enthusiastic robbers of effort to arrest the mighty work of ruin. At the ap- Arabia, who, fired by the double hope of present and proach of Heraclius, he fled alone, like a deserter, from futture enjoyment, rushed like all overwhelming torrent nis own troops. Yet, even in the wretched state to on the nations around them. which he was now reduced, he rejected an offer of The first intelligence of the new religion reached peace made by the generous humanity of his con- Persia in the reign of Khosrou. On the banks of the queror. But the subjects of Khosrou had lost all regard River I Karasu, that monarch received, fr om, an ul1for a monarch whom they believed the sole cause of known person calling himself "M lhtomtet, t/e Camzel/ the desolation u:weir country. A conspiracy was driver of l/Iecca," a letter commanding him to abljulr( formed against him, and, that his cup of misery might the errors of that faith in which his fathers lid Livecl, be full, he was seized by his eldest son, cast into a and to embrace the religion of the only true God, dungeon, and soon after put to death by the unnatural whose prophet Mahomet declared himself to be. Inprince, who pretended that the clamors of the people dignant at a message so insulting, the kin'g tore the had forced him to the parricidal act. letter, and threw its fragments into the passing stream. The events which immediately followed the death The zealous Mahometan historian who records this of Khosrou do not require a particular mention. They fact is certain that all the miseries which inlbittered denote a state of anarchy in Persia. The elevation of the last years of Khosrou were owing to this saclilea great number of pretenders to the crown shows that gious deed. He asserts, also, that the waters of the the management of' public affairs was at this period a river, which till then had supplied the means of irrigasubject of contest among the chief nobles, who desired tion to a large extent of country, shrank in iorrori intc to veil their ambition under the garb of loyalty and their present deep and scanty channel, where, he ob-.attachment to the family of'Sassan. The sovereign, serves, they have ever since remained useless andI for the time being, was merely an instrument in the accursed. hands of ambitious nobles. Yezdijird ILI., called Isdi- The first invasion of Persia by the Arabs was dluring sertes by Western writers, acceded to the throne the reign of the Khalif Omar, who commanded one A. D. 632. The character of this prince was feeble, of his generals, Abu Obeyd, to cross the Euphrates. nis descent uncertain, and he remained, like his prede- The first rencounter was furious; but the Arabian cessors, a puppet in the hands of those who made him chief lost the victory by his imprudent courage. -le king. Yet his reign was distinguished by events infi- observed a white elephant in the centre of the Persian nitely more important than the fall of a tyrant or the host, and towards this animal, which he deemed the change of a dynasty. The same torrent that swept object of their superstition, he fought his way with the race of Sassan from a throne which they had occu- irresistible valor, and, by one blow of his cimeter. pied more than four centuries, abolished the ancient struck off his trunk. Maddened with pain, the furious religion of Zoroaster, and established a new religion, animal rushed upon his assailant, and trampled him to which has effected the most remarkable changes in the death. The Arabs, dispirited by the loss of their Eastern world. leader, fled in confusion. In another attempt to penetrate into Persia, they were again defeated; but this success encouraged the Persians to venture upon a third action, in which they were overthrown. They now C 1H A i T E R L X X I. ascribed their ill success to the incompetency of their sovereigns. Ruler after ruler was dethroned and murA. D. 632 to A. D. 641. dered, until the elevation of Yezdijird, which gave a Rise of the Mahomtetan Power - Arab'Inva- momentary hope to the falling nation. He proposed sion of Persia. a negotiation to the Arabian commander, and the following conversation tookl place between the king andc IN the year 569 of the Christian era, and during the the Mahometan ambassador: — teigtl of the great Nushirvan, Mahomet was born-the 6' We have always held you," said Yezdijird, " in -rophet and lawgiver of Arabia. Forty years after the lowest estimation. You Arabs have hitherto been -is birth, he began-the promulgation of those doctrines known in Persia either as merchants or as beggars. i-wnich were dest" ed, in so short a time, to regulate the Your food is green lizards, your drink salt water, youlr END OF THE SASSANIAN DYNASTY. 121 clothes hair-cloth. But lately you have come in large mand of the whole army to a chief called omntan, with, numbers to Persia, you have tasted good food, you orders to destroy forever the impious worship of fire. hlave drunk sweet water, you have worn good clothes. On the plains of Nahavund the two armies continued You have told your countrymen of these things, and in sight of each other for two months. The Persian. they are flocking hither to partake of them. But, not were determined not to quit their intrenchments, an(d satisfied with all that you have thus obtained, you wish the zeal of the Arab leader became impatient of delay. l to force a new religion upon us. You appear to me like He drew up his army in order of battle, and thus adthe fox of our fable, who went into a garden where he dressed them: " My friends, prepare yourselves to found plenty of grapes. The generous gardener conquer or to drink the sweet sherbet of martyrdom. would not disturb a poor, hungry fox: but the animal, I shall now cry,'God is great,' three times. At the not content with eating his fill, went and brought all first cry, you will gird up your loins; at the second, the other foxes into the garden; and the indulgent mount your steeds; at the third, point your lances, and owner was forced to kill them to save himself fiom rush to victory, or to paradise. As for me, I shall be ruin. However, as I am satisfied that you have been a martyr." impelled by want, I will not only pardon you, but load Without a pause, the fanatical leader sounded the your camels with wheat and dates, that when you re- war cry. At the second call, every man was upon his turn you may feast your countrymen. But, if you are horse; and at the third, which was repeated by the whole insensible to my generosity, and continue to remain army, the Mahometans 6harged with a fury that was here, you shall not escape my just vengeance." irresistible. Noman was slain, as he had predicted; To this the chief ambassador of the Arabs replied, but his army gained a decisive and memorable victory. l What you have said of the former condition of the Thirty thousand Persians were pierced by their lances; Arabs is true. Their food was green lizards; they eighty thousand more were drowned in the deep Irench buried their infant daughters alive; nay, some of them by which they had surrounded their camp. Their feasted on dead carcasses and drank blood; they general, with four thousand men, fled to the hills; but robbed and murdered, and knew not good from evil. such was the terror on one hand, and confidence on Such was our state. But God in his mercy has sent the other, that he was pursued, defeated, and slain, by. us, by a holy prophet, a sacred volume which teaches a body of not more than a thousand men. us the true faith. By this we are commanded to war The battle of Nahavund decided the fate of Persia, against infidels. We now solemnly require you to which now fell under the dominion of the Arabian receive our religion. If you consent, not an Arab khalifs. Yezdijird wandered for several years up and shall enter Persia without your permission, and our down the country, and at last fled to the city of Meru, leaders will only demand the established taxes which on the northern frontier of the kingdom. The gov all believers must pay. If you do not accept our re- ernor of that place invited a neighboring Tartar chief ligion, you are required to pay the tribute fixed for to seize the person of the fugitive monarch. He acinfidels. If you reject both these propositions, you cepted the offer, entered Meru, and made himself masmust prepare for war." ter of the city. Yezdijird escaped on foot during the contest between the Tartars and the inhabitants. He reached a mill a few miles from Meru, and, by the present of his rich sword and belt, prevailed upon the miller to conceal him. But this person, tempted by C H A P T E R L XXII. the valuable robes and other equipments of his guest, A. D. 638 to 650. murdered the unfortunate monarch in his sleep, and threw the corpse into the mill-stream. The governor Adttle of Nalavund - End of the.assanian of Meru, in a few days, began to suffer from the tyrDynasty and Magian Religion. anny of the Tartars, and the inhabitants, seizing their THESE degrading conditions were rejected, and the arms, expelled the invaders from the city. A diligent war was renewed with all the vigor of which the de- inquiry was made after Yezdijird, and his fate was dining empire was capable. At length a decisive bat- soon known. The treacherous miller fell a victim to tie was fought at Cadesia. The Persians were defeated popular rage, and the corpse of the monarch was em-. with the loss of nearly one hundred thousand men, balmed, and sent to Istakhar, to be entombed in theA. D. 638. The celebrated standard of the black- sepulchre of his ancestors. Thus ended the dynasty, smith's apron, which had been enlarged by successive of the Sassanides, and with it, as a national faith —monarchs to the length of twenty-two feet and the the religion of the Magians. breadth of fifteen, and embroidered with jewels of inestimable value, fell into the hands of the conquerors, and was broken up for distribution. The booty obtained by this victory, and the sack of the city of' Modayn, which immediately followed, was immense; C I-I A P T E R L X X I I I. and the naked robbers of the desert were enriched by A. D; 650 to 900. the possession of wealth far beyond their comprehension. Silver they had seen; but gold was a metal of Mahometan Government in Persia Rise. of which they knew not the value; and the ignorant Yakoob ben Leis. Arabs went round with their plunder, saying, " I will A NEW era now commences in Persian, history. give any quantity of this yellow metal for a little The army of the Mahometans effected a great revoluthat is white." tion in this country. But, though its religion, was cornYezdijird, notwithstanding this severe defeat, found pletely changed, and the manners of its inhabitants means to assemble another army. T'he Arabian kha- were greatly altered, the government continued to be [ii sent reinforcements into Persiai intrusting the comr administered in much the same manner as belfore; al 16 122 MAHOMETAN GOVERNMENT IN PERSIA-YAKOOB BEN LEIS least the Persian historians have neglected to record any khalif sent an army under the command of his brother facts that indicate essential alterations in this respect. who met and defeated Yakoob near Bagdad. But tne Asiatic writers, indeed, seldom speculate upon changes latter, undismayed by a casual reverse, soon recruited in the manners of men, in the frame of society, or in his forces, and advanced to attack that capital. The the form of governments. They are entire strangers to khalif sent another mission to Yakoob, who, when the science of political economy, and never reason on it reached his camp, lay ill of a dangerous complaint. any subject connected with the rise and fall of nations, He commanded that the envoy should be brought into except with reference to the personal character of their his presence, and that his sword, some coarse bread, rulers. It must be obvious that such writers, though and dried onions, should be laid before him. "Tell they may be more free from error than modern histo- your master," said he to the envoy, " that if I live, this rians, can never attain any portion of that excellence sword shall decide between us. If I conquer, I will da which marks the writings of those who have mixed the as I please; if I am defeated, this coarse fare will sufwisdom of philosophy with the facts of history, so as fice for me." This speech, indicating his stern resoto instruct future ages by a narration of the events of lution, is the last act recorded of him. He died two the past. The tale of despotism, which is the only one days afterward, A. D. 877, leaving almost the whole that Eastern annalists have to tell, is always the same; kingdom of Persia to his brother Amer. Yakoob is and the quick succession of absolute monarchs and described by all the Eastern authors as a person whose servile ministers often renders the page of history a manners were most pleasant and conciliatory, and at mere catalogue of names and crimes. the same time marked by great simplicity. The atAfter the flight of Yezdijird, the Arabians overran tachment of his followers to his person and fortunes the whole of Persia, from the Euphrates to the Oxus, was extreme; and the playmates of his boyhood rose destroying, with bigot fury, all that was useful, grand, to the highest stations in his government. or sacred. A great portion of the conquered people Amer, the brother and successor of Yakoob, showed embraced the religion of the conquerors, to avoid a very different disposition by his conduct toward the death or oppression, while others fled into distant lands. khalif. He addressed him a respectful letter, and conThe progress of the Mahometans was rapid and won- sented to hold the kingdom of Persia as the nominal derful. Colonies from the burning deserts of Arabia slave of the Commander of the Faithful. For some were spread over the cold countries of IKhorasan and years he prospered, sending annual presents to the Balkh; and they flourished in the soil to which they khalif. But this loyalty was not permanent'; disagree. were transplanted. When the great conquest was ments and wars arose, and the khalif, unable to encompleted, governors were appointed to the different force his authority, instigated a chief of Transoxiana provinces of the country, and Persia was held under to attack his rebel vassal. Amer despatched one of his the dominion of the khalifs for more than two hundred generals against him; but this officer was defeated, and years. Its history during' that period is to be found in Amer determined, contrary to the advice of his counsel. that of its conquerors; and even there it occupies but lors, to advance and cross the Oxus. He led an army of a small and unimportant space. The only events of seventy thousand men in this expedition. The Tartar consequence are petty revolts of insubordinate govern- chief did not bring above twenty thousand into the ors, who, when the power of the khalifs declined, at- field; but valor overcame numbers, and the Persians tempted to erect their provinces into hereditary princi- were completely routed. Amer fled; but, his horse palities. laving fallen, he was made prisoner. The fury of religious enthusiasm soon spent itself; The change of fortune caused by this defeat was and, when the person ot the khalif was no longer held immense; but the catastrophe was marked by an occursacred, the sceptre of Persia was ready to fall from rence, so ludicrous, yet significant, that even the (1ethe grasp of the feeble successor of Omar and Ali. throned monarch was compelled to smile at the alteraSo dlazzling a prize could not fail to tempt the ambi- tion which a few hours had made in his condition. tious chieftains of Persia; and it was soon obtained by While he sat on the ground, a soldier was preparing a a man who, born in the lowest ranks of life, was en- coarse meal for him, and, as it was boiling, a dog thrust nobled bvy his valor'. generosity, and wisdom. Yakoob, his head into the pot. The mouth being narrow, he or Jacob, ben Leis, was the son of a pewterer of Seis- could not draw it out again, and he ran away with the tan. He worked, when young, at his father's trade; pot and its contents. Amer burst into laughter, and, but all his gains were squandered among boys, with xwhen questioned as to the cause of his mirth, replied, whom his boldness and prodigality made him a favor- " This morning the steward of my household comite. As he grew up, tempted by the distracted state plained that three hundred camels were not sufficient of the country, he became a robber, and was followed to carry my kitchen furniture; and now that dog has iby those whom his liberality from chi!hood had at- carried off not only my kitchen, but all my meat!" tached to his fortunes. The number of his attendants With Amer fell the fortunes of his family. His'and the success of his enterprises soon gave him grandson, Taker, struggled for power in his native wealth. In such a state of society, the change from the province; but, after a reign of six years, his authority successful robber to the chief of reputation, was easy was subverted by one of his own officers, who seized and natural. The usurping governor of his native and sent him prisoner to Bagdad. The only other province solicited his aid, and he availed himself of the prince of the family that attained any eminence was a confidence reposed in him to seize at once the person chief named 6.Kuliph, who established himself in Seisof'his ally and the authority which he had assumed., tan, and maintained his power over that province till The khalif gladly received the alliance of Yakoob, Iahrmo'ud oJf Ghizni defeated and made him prisoner. and gave him a commission to make war upon his From the downfall of the house of Ben Leis to the rebellious tributaries; but the daring and unscrupulous rise of Mahmoud is a period of nearly a century. adventurer again betrayed his trust, and made himself during which Persia was divided between two families, naster of the greater part of Eastern Persia. The the Samanee and Dilemee. The'minute history of the 1IHE SAMANEES-i LE GAZNEVID E DYNASTY-MAHMOOD. 123 vwars carried on by the monarchs of these houses, and of Yakoot, the former governor of Fars. One day by their dependants, would afford little instruction to while reclining on a couch, he observed a snake thrust the reader. We can only give a few anecdotes of his head through a crevice of the wall and draw it some of the most distinguished of these princes. back again. To get rid of so dangerous a visitor, he ordered the wall to be taken down. In doing this, a large quantity of treasure was found, which Yakoot had caused to be carefully boxed up in the masonry On another occasion, a tailor, who had served the forC H A P T E R L X XI V. mer governor, came to make Ali some clothes. The latter called for a stick, meaning a measure; but the A. D. 900 to 1008. guilty conscience of the tailor gave another interpreThe Samanees - The Gaznevide Dynasty tation to the word. He threw himself on the ground, Ma1cchmood. ~exclaiming, "Be merciful! do not flog me to death. and I will discover all the cloth belonging to Yakoot." ISMAIL SAMANEE, the first king of his race, traced The surprised. Ali bade him do so, and the tailor prohis descent from Bahram Choubeen, the warrior who duced seventeen chests of cloth, which he had stolen contended for the crown of Persia with Khosrou Pur- upon the flight of the governor. This discovery led veez. All Eastern authors agree in the character of to further search, and enormous quantities of hidden ihis monarch. He was brave, generous, pious, and wealth came to light. By these fortunate discoveries, just. He made -Amer prisoner, and when that prince Ali was enabled to enlarge his territory, and he was offered to ransom himself by revealing immense left, without a rival, in possession of all the countries treasures, Ismail spurned the offer. " Your family," from Khorasan to the vicinity of Bagdad. This dosaid he, " were pewterers: Fortune favored you for a minion, after a few generations, became transferred to day, and you abused her favors by plundering the Mahmood of Ghizni. faithful. That wicked act has rendered your fall as The Gaznevide empire derives its name fiom Ghizrapid as your rise. Seek not to make my fate like ni,* a city in Afghanistan, about sixty miles south of yours, as it would be if I soiled my hands with such Cabul. It has been usual to include the history of' sacrilegious wealth! " the Gaznevide sovereigns in that of Persia, though their But the virtue of Ismail endured a still more severe dominions were not always comprised within the limits. trial. His army, after he had taken the city of Herat, was of Persia proper. The founder of this empire wa: in great want of money. Ismail had given his word not Abustakeen, a noble of Bokhara, who, about the year to levy a contribution on that city, but his soldiers 976, renounced his allegiance to Munsoor, a prince of clamorously demanded that he should consider their the house of Saman, and withdrew to Ghizni, at the merits and necessities before a pledge that had been head of seven or eight hundred followers. By suctoo hastily given. Ismail, however, was firm; and as cessful wars with the Persians, he was enabled to the army became every hour more distressed and establish a petty principality, of which Ghizni became se(litious, he ordered them to march away, lest the the capital. Subuctageen, one of his successors, temptation to violate his word should be too great. turned his arms against Hindostan, to which country He pitched his camp at a distance from Herat, and he was invited by the desire of fame, of plunder, and here a singular accident relieved his wants. A vul- of fulfilling the commands of the prophet in conture, hovering over his tents, espied a ruby necklace verting or destroying idolaters. worn by. one of his ladies: mistaking the redness of Subuctageen defeated Jypaul, the sovereign of the precious stones for meat, he made a stoop at it, Northern India, captured Cabul, and overran the and carried it off. The flight of the vulture was fine province of the Punjaub, in his first campaign. watched, and he was seen to deposit the jewel in a He was still more successful in the second. Jypaul, dry well, which was immediately searched. The after suffering a severe overthrow, made submissions, necklace was recovered, and in the same spot were and agreed to pay a yearly tribute to the princes of found several boxes of treasure, which proved to be Ghizni. The zeal of young Mahmood, the son of part of the wealth of Amer, which had been stolen Subuctageen, spurned these offers. He vehemently by one of his servants from the palace of Seistan. urged his father to enter into no compact with idolIsmail rejoiced at this boon of fortune; he paid his aters. The Hindoo prince, when he heard of Mal soldiers, and bade them learn, from what had happened, mood's intolerance, bade him beware how he drove that God would never desert the man who withstood brave men to despair. " My followers," said he. temptation and preserved his faith inviolate. "who appear so mild and submissive, wrill; if they are The Dilemee family received that name from their irritated, soon change their characte:. They wil, native village. They traced their descent to the an- murder their wives and children, burn their houses, cient kings of Persia, but the first of the race men-'loosen their hair, and rush upon your ranks with the tioned in history was a fisherman of Dilem. Ilis son energy of men whose only desire is revenge and ~lA/i Buyah, who held a command in the Persian army, death." defeated the governor of lspahan, who held his authority Subuctageen knew there was truth in this, and reunder the khalif of. Bagdad. By the immense plun- fused to listen to his son. But hostilities could not der obtained by this victory, Ali became at once a long be suspended, "and the armies of Ghizni within a leader of reputation and power. He expelled the few years overran the territory of Jypaul with terrible khalif from his capital; but, by a treaty with that slaughter. Subactageen died soon after this, and was potentate, he received tihe appointment of viceroy of succeeded by his son Mahmood, A. D. 977. Tills Fars and Irak. His advancement in power was pro- monarch came to the throne at a ripe age, when his mroted by two singular accidents. Ali had taken possession at Shiraz of the palace * This name is also spelt Gazna and Ghuznee. 124 CONQUESTS OF MAHMOOD OF GHIZNI. powers were matured by experience both in war and of his army. So rapid were his movements, that the' government. His ruling passions were devotion to city was completely surprised, and fell an easy prey religion and love of glory. They had both become to the invader. His next conquest was Meerut,'a ardent from restraint, and blazed forth on his acces- great and opulent principality. Muttra, a holy city sion to power with a splendor which, to use the words of the Hindoos, fell into his hands: he broke all the of a Mahometan author, filled the whole world with idols in the place, but the complete destruction of its terror and admiration. great and solid temples, we are told, was beyond his Mahmood, after securing the friendship of the power. But it seems more probable that his bigotry khalif, and connecting himself by marriage with the was restrained by his love of the arts, as he gave in ruler of Tartary, commenced a religious war against the letters which he wrote to Ghizni the most enrap. the idolaters of Hindostan, which occupied the greater tured account of the architecture of this beautiful edipart of his reign. In his first two campaigns he was fice. When he returned to his capital, his own share completely successful. Jypaul, unable to defend his of. the plunder was estimated at two million two hun country, determined, by an heroic sacrifice of his own dred and fifty thousand dollars in money, fifty-three life, to propitiate the gods whom he adored, in hope of thousand captives, three hundred and fifty elephants, seeing the divine interposition manifested for the defence and an immense number of jewels! The private spoil of the national religion. He delivered over the gov- of the army was much greater. ernment to his son, and, mounting a funeral pile, prayed that his death, amid the flames, might expiate those sins which he conceived had drawn the vengeance of Heaven on his unhappy kingdom. Anundpal, the son of this devoted sovereign, was C H A P TE L X X V. not more successful than his father. His army, encamped near the Indus, is said to have exceeded A. D., 1008 to 1028. three hundred thousand men. Mahmood appears to have regarded it with some apprehension. He re-d f Gh mained in sight of it forty days without coming to AFTER this success, Mahmood, as if sated with an action, defending his camp by a deep intrench- conquest, seemed inclined to indulge himself with a ment. His enemies at length resolved to attack him. period of repose. Part of the wealth which he had The trench was carried by the fury of the first assail- accumulated was laid out in adorning his capital. ants, and great numbers of the Mahometans were The nobles imitated the example of their king, and slain.' But in the midst of this success, the elephant of Ghizni soon rivalled in the beauty and magnitude of Anundpal took flight, and, retreating at full speed, its public and private buildings, the proudest cities of carried dismay and confusion among the ranks of the the East. The grand mosque which Mahmood erected Hindocs, who instantly abandoned the field. They surpassed every other edifice. The beauty of the marwere pursued for two days, and above twenty thou- ble of which it was built, and the superior style of the sand were slain. Mahmood improved this success by architecture, were not more admirable than the richadvancing into Hindostan, destroying temples and ness of the carpets and the golden branch-lights with idols in his progress, and seizing the wealth of those which it was ornamented. The vanity of the monwhom he had vanquished. On his return to Ghizni, arch was flattered by hearing this -favorite edifice he celebrated a festival, at which he displayed to the called by the lofty title of the "Celestial Bride." He admiring and astonished inhabitants golden thrones, sent an account of his victories, written in.verse, to magnificently ornamented, constructed from the plun- the khalif of Bagdad, with a variety of valuable presder of twenty-six thousand pounds of gold and silver ents. The poetic eulogy was read publicly at the plate, with fourteen hundred and eighty pounds of pure capital of the khalif, and all means were used that gold, seventy-four thousand pounds of silver, and could stimulate the pride and bigotry of the conquerci seven hundred and forty pounds of set jewels. to further exertions in the cause of Mahometanism. Mahmood's next expedition was directed against The fanatic zeal and avarice of Mahmood required Jannaser, a celebrated site of Hindoo worship, sev- no stimulant. He had heard of a rich Hindoo templ, enty miles north of Delhi. The temple at this place in Guzerat, the priests of which boasted of the poweI was destroyed by the fanatic zeal of the Mahometan of their- famous idol Somnauth, and attributed all the conqueror; its famous idol, Jugsoom, was broken, and misfortunes of Northern India to the impiety of the the fragments were sent to Ghizni to be converted inhabitants. Mahmood determined on the destruction into steps for the principal mosque, that the faithful of this last refuge of idolatry, as it was then termed. might tread on the mutilated image of. superstition, as He directed his march to Somnauth, which is dethey entered the temple of the true God. The next scribed by Persian authors as a lofty castle situatea two years were devoted to the conquest of Cashmere'on a narrow peninsula, defended on three sides by the and the hilly provinces in its vicinity. A great pro- ocean. The sultan had scarcely encamped near il portion of the inhabitants, as in all the countries which when a herald from the castle informed him that the Mahmood annexed to his government, were compelled god Somnauth had brought the Mahometans before to embrace the religion of. the conqueror. the walls of his temple that he might blast them with Hindostan obtained a short respite of a year, while his wrath. Mahmood smiled at the threatened venMahlnood was establishing his authority in Khorasan. geance of the idol, and gave orders for the assault the When this was accomplished, he p)repared to attack the next morning. famous Hindoo cityof'Kinoge. The distance was great, The Hindoos were driven from the ramparts at the and the obstacles were numerous, but Mahmood com- first attack, and thronged to their idol, imploring his aid menced his march at the head of one hundred thou- - but in vain. Finding no supernatural relief at hand sand horse and thirty thousand foot - the best soldiers they rushed upon their foes with all the fury of desnair FALL OF TILE GAZNEVIDE DYNASTY. 12b Their efforts were not unavailing, and they forced the ceeded either from a sense of the vanity of all earthly assailants back from the walls. Night ended the glory, or from a reluctance to abandon his vast wealth dreadful carnage, and the attack was renewed the and power. next morning with increased vehemence.: Every The court of Mahmood was splendidbeyond exam where the Mahometans mounted the ramparts, but pie. The edifices which he raised were noble monuevery where they were cast headlong down by the ments of architecture, and he gave to learned men and Hlindoos, whose eyes, we are told, were streaming poets the most liberal encouragement. It is to his love with tears, while their bosoms were burning with rage. of literature that we owe all that remains of the history They believed themselves abandoned by the god they of ancient Persia contained in the noble epic poen. adored, and had no desire for life but as it enabled called the Shah Na\leh, or Book of Kings, by Firdusithem to take vengeance on the authors of their misery. which we have already noticed. The dark shades of Their desperate valor was for a time successful. his character are love of war and religious persecution. Mahmood drew off his dispirited troops, having re- In every country that he subdued, the horrors of war were solved to raise the siege rather than hazard another increased by religiousfanaticism. Thedesolation caused attack. by his armies is illustrated by a popular tale. The sultan's But Fortune seemed resolved not to desert her favor- vizier pretended to know the language of birds. One ite. The Hindoos received an unexpected reenforce- day, as these two persons were walking in a forest, ment, and the battle was renewed. The defeat of the they espied a couple of owls perched together on a Mahometans appeared certain. Mahmood saw his tree. The sultan desired to know what was the troops exhausted and giving way before the enemy. subject of their conversation. The vizier, after preHe sprang from his horse, and, prostrating himself on tending to listen to the birds, said, " The old owl is the earth, implored God to favor one who had no desire making a match with the other for her daughter. She but to advance the glory of his mighty name. In an offers a hundred ruined villages as her dowry, and instant he remounted, and, seizing one of his bravest says,' God grant a long life to Sultan Mahmood, and generals by the hand, invited him to charge the en- we shall never want for ruined villages."' erny, and gain either the crown of martyrdom or a glorious victory. His soldiers, when they saw their prince resolved not to survive defeat, determined to share his fate, and rushed'again into action, with a fury that was irresistible. The Hindoos gave way in C. every direction, and a complete victory crowned the A. D. 1028 to 1587. determined valor of Mahmood. The inhabitants of Somnauth, who had watched the Fall of the Gaznevide Dynasty - The Selbattle with trembling solicitude, seeing that all was lost, jukian Turks - Restoration of the Persian abandoned those walls which they had before so bravely Lze - Paper ioloey in Persia. defended. Great numbers of them put to sea with their families and property; but they were pursued MAHIrOOD died in 1028. His successors merit but and captured. The spoil found in the temple was im- brief notice; for the rise of this dynasty was not mense. But the glory which Mahmood claimed was the more rapid than its downfall. Mlasoud, his son, made destruction of the celebrated idol -a gigantic image several incursions into Hindostan, to maintain the tranfifteen feet in height. The sultan, after giving it a quillity of those possessions which his father had acblow with his mace, ordered it to be broken, and that quired. But he was disturbed in his own dominions two fragments of it should be sent to Ghizni, one to be by the inroads of the Seljukian Turks, and, at length, placed at the threshold of the great mosque, the other completely overthrown. His brother, Madood, sucin the court of his palace. Two pieces were to be ceeded him, and in his reign the monarchy declined transported to Mecca and Medina. At this moment a with a rapid pace. Its history, for more than a cennumber of Brahmins came forward, and offered sev- tury, presents an uninteresting and disgusting detail of eral millions of money if he would spare the idol. petty wars, rebellions, and massacres. In the reign Mahmood was advised by his officers to accept the of Byrant, Ghizni was captured by Souri, an Afghan ransom; but he exclaimed that he desired the title of prince of Ghour. But, after a short time, Byram, a breaker, not of a seller, of idols, and ordered that it favored by the attachment of the inhabitants, recovshould be demolished instantly. The idol was burst ered the city, and made his enemy prisoner..It)en, and discovered an immense quantity of rich Unfortunately for himself and his subjects, Byram jewels concealed within, the value of which far ex- knew not how to use his victory. He sought to retalceeded the ransom that had been offered! iate the disgrace he had suffered by inflicting the most To detail the many conquests and adventures of cruel punishment on his captive. He ordered him to Mahmood would fill a volume. He enlarged his terri- be stripped, painted black, then mounted upon a lean tories, till the monarchy of Ghizni equalled in power bullock, with his face to the tail, and, in that condition, the empire of Shahpoor and Nushirvan. It extended to be carried through the streets of Ghizni. These on the north to Bokhara and Cashgar, to Bengal and orders were obeyed, and Souri, after he had been exthe Deccan in the east and south, and to Bagdad and posed to all the insults which a senseless and cowardly Georgia on the west. Mahmood breathed his last in a mob could offer to a brave man, was put to death by tmagnificent edifice, which he had vainly called "The the most cruel torture. His head was sent, as a token Palace of Felicity." Immediately before he expired, of triumph, to Sanjar, the king of the Seljukian Turks. he took a last and mournful view of his army, his Allah, the brother of Souri, no sooner learned his court, and the enormous treasures which he had accu- fate, than he called his mountaineers to arms, who rnml!ated by his unparalleled successes. He is said to advanced to Ghizni, breathing vengeance against the n;ice lhlrst into tears at the sight, which may have pro- murderers of their prince. The fury of the Afghalns 1'26 THE SELJUKIAN TURKS. was irresistible. Byram, thrown from his elephant, MIongols, under Zingis Khan, Hulaku, and Tirnour with difficulty saved his life, and fled to Hindostan. which will be described in the chapters devoted to Mon[lis army was completely routed, and the victorious golian history. Allah entered Ghizni, and abandoned that noble city, The short and inglorious reign of lKei IKhatou, who for seven days, to the fury of his soldiers. The hor- occupied the throne of Persia from 1291 to 1299, rors which they perpetrated cannot be described. would not merit notice from the historian, were it not Neither age nor sex was spared. The humble shed, for one measure which, from its singularity, must prethe lofty palace, and the sacred temple, were all mixed serve'it from'oblivion. When his unexampled prodiin one common ruin. But the appetite for vengeance gality had exhausted his treasures, and left him so was not sated. A number of the -nobles and priests, overwhelmed with debt that money could not be raised who had been taken prisoners, were carried to Ghour, to defray the expenses of his household, a plausible and there publicly put to death. Their blood was used but novel scheme was laid before him to introduce a to wet the mortar for repairing the walls of the city! paper currency into his dominions. The author of this The cruelty of Byram was visited on his descend- scheme was an officer of the revenue, named Ezudants. His grandson Khosrou II., was made pris- deen Maztffier, and he is supposed to have taken the oner by Allah, and put to death. Khosrou was the hint of it from the Chinese, who, at that time, used a _ast of a dynasty whose fame in history may be solely paper medium of exchange. We are told, by the ascribed to Sultan Mahmood. They were overthrown Persian historians, that Ezuddeen and the vizier held a by a family which had long submitted to them, but correspondence with the minister of the emperor of whose uncertain allegiance was the source of constant China and T~rtary, before they communicated their uneasiness; for the princes of Ghour, who derived plan to the sultan. The proposal was eagerly grasped their descent from Tobak, and who boasted that their at by the monarch, who was now burdened with a debt ancestors had successfully opposed Feridoon, submit- of above ten millions of dollars;, and was ready to ted with reluctance to the rulers of Ghizni. The sit- adopt any measure that promised to relieve him from uation of their country, amid rugged and barren moun- his embarrassment. tains, was favorable to insurrection, and their power A proclamation was immediately issued prohibiting increased as that of the successors of Mahmood de- the use of gold and silver either as a medium of' value cdined, till they at last rose on their ruin, not only to in trade or as a material of manufacture. It was exthe throne of Ghizni, but of Hindostan. In the year pected that this measure would, without injuring indi 1160, the Gaznevide empire came to an end, and the viduals, cause all the precious metals in the country to Seliukian Turks were masters of Persia. flow into the royal treasury. To provide a circulating The Tartar or Turkoman tribe of Seljukee derive medium, it was ordained that banking-houses or stamptheir name from Seljuk, a chief of great reputation, offices should be established in every large town in who had been compelled to quit the court of Bighou Persia. It was at the same time provided that all goldKhan, the sovereign of the Kapjack Tartars. He wan- smiths, embroiderers, and money-changers, who might dered, with his tribe, to the plains of Bokhara, where be deprived of employment by the operation of this he died at a very advanced age. His son, Michail, system, should be indemnified by annual stipends, paid became known to Sultan Mahmood, and was greatly in bank notes. This plan was carried into execution. honored by that monarch. The numbers of this tribe Banking establishments rose in every quarter: they and their adherents may be estimated from the follow- were called Tshau KhCanah, or " stamp-houses." Tshlau, ing relation: It is said that Mahmood asked the am- the name given to the bank note, is evidently a Chibassador of the barbarian chief what force the tribe nese word, and affords testimony that this -scheme could bring to his aid. "Send this arrow," said the was really copied from the Chinese. From the deenvoy, presenting one of two which he held in his scription, also, it appears that the note was an oblong hand, "and fifty thousand horse will appear." " Is piece of paper, like a modern bank bill, bearing a that all? " asked Mahmood. " Send this other," re- short inscription in Chinese characters. In the middle plied the Turk, "and an equal number will follow." was a circle containing the value of the note, the date "But," continued the Sultan, "suppose I was in. ex- of its issue, and a mandate of the sultan for all his treme distress, and wanted your utmost exertions." majesty's subjects to receive it as money, on pain of "Then," replied the ambassador, " send my bow, and condign punishment in case of refusal. two hundred thousand horse will obey the summons." In a kingdom like Persia, where the instruments of The proud conqueror heard with secret alarm the ter- government have ever been rude and misshapen, - rifying account of their numbers, and we are told that where there is always much of natural liberty, turbuhe anticipated the future overthrow of his empire. lence, and latent sedition,-such a scheme could hardIn the year 1042, Togrul Beg, the Seljukian chief, ly fail to ruin the most powerful monarch. The first made himself master of Khorasan, and assumed the attempt to carry it into effect caused a general clamor state of a sovereign at Nishapour. In less than twenty throughout the kingdom. All classes of people joined years, he extended his dominion over all Persia. Bag- in execration of the paper money and its authors. The dad was taken, and the khalif became the prisoner of indolent and irresolute sultan took the alarm, and imTogrul. Nearly all Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, mediately gave up the scheme, after a trial of three fell under the Seljukian dominion. The history of days, during which Mazuffer was torn in pieces by the this power will occupy a separate place in another mob. But Kei Khatou could never regain the public part of our volume. These monarchs reigned more confidence which he had lost by this attempt. A few than a century and a half over Persia, when they were months afterward, the resentment of a personal insucceeded by the Attabegs, petty princes, who dis- jury led Baider Khan, one of the princes, to rebel puted among themselves, for a time, the authority over against his authority. The unfortunate sultan, after a the principal provinces of the empire. The anarchy short struggle, was made prisoner, and put to death "y of thre Attabegs was followed by the invasion of the a confederacy of his own dlsaffected nobles. REIGN OF SHIAH ABBAS THE GREAT. 127 It was not till the beginning of the 16th century that his authority. Selim, the Turkish sultan, advanced the sceptre of Persia was again wielded by a native from Constantinople, to crush the rising power of his prince. Ismael St/fee, in 1503, became the founder rival. Ismael was defeated in a great battle on the of the Suffavean dynasty. He was descended from frontiers; but the death of Selim shortly afterward enaSheik Suffee, a hermit or holy Mussulman of the town bled him to retrieve his losses, and subject even Georgia of Ardebil. Ismael, from small beginnings, saw his to his sway. He is venerated to this day by the Perpower increase till the whole of Persia submitted to sians, as the restorer of their national independence. Palace of Shah Abbas at Ispahan. C I:I ABP T E R L XXVII. Company, who were jealous of their commercial rivals, Abbas. attacked Ormuz, which was unable to resist A. D. 1587 to 1722. these powerful enemies. This capture proved fatal to Retign of sShah Abbas, the Great. the place, and Ormuz, once the richest emporium of the East, soon relapsed into its original insignificance. THE reign of Shah Abbas, the most brilliant in Abbas, however, was generally liberal in his foreign modern Persian history, commenced in 1587. This policy. He granted toleration to the various religions was the period when the English first opened an ami- of those who resorted to his dominions, though he pronable intercourse with Persia. Sir Anthony Shirley, fessed to be a devout Mussulman.' As a parent and a with his brother Sir Robert, and twenty-six followers, relative, his character appears in a less amiable light. repaired to the court of Abbas, in the character of He had four sons, on whom he doted so long as they military adventurers, and were favorably received. were children. But when they approached manhood. Their military skill enabled the shah to discipline his they became objects of his jealousy; for the bitteres' army in a superior manner, and to oppose an effectual foes of an absolute prince are those of his own houseresistance to the Turkish power, which till then had hold. The eldest of his sons, Suffee Mirza, a brave been so formidable to Persia. At the battle of Erivan, and high-spirited youth, fell the first victim of parental one hundred thousand Turks were defeated by little suspicion. He was stabbed as he came out of the bath, more than sixty thousand Persians. In consequence by order of his unnatural father, who shortly after was of this victory, all the Turkish territories on the Cas- stung with remorse, and put to death the nobles who pian Sea, in Azerbijan, Georgia, Koordistan, Bagdad, had poisoned his mind against his son. Repentance, Mosul, and Diarbekir, were reannexed to the Persian however, wrought no change in the gloomy soul of empire. Abbas. One of his sons had died before the murder Abbas studied to improve the administration of Per- of Suffee Mirza, and the eyes of the rest were put out sia, and his exertions proved beneficial to his subjects. by their inhuman parent. The eldest of these had The revenues of the kingdom were spent upon useful two children, one of whom, Fatima, a lovely girl, was public works. Caravanserais, bridges, aqueducts, ba- the delight of her grandfather. zaars, mosques, and colleges, arose in every quarter. The father of this child, goaded to desperation by Ispahan and other cities were splendidly embellisherl. the loss of his eyes and other misfortunes, seized her Even at this day, if a stranger sees an edifice of more one day, as she came to caress him, and, with maniac than ordinary beauty or solidity, and inquires who fury, deprived her of life. He then groped for his was its founder, the answer is likely to be, " It is the infant boy; but the shrieking mother fled, and carried work of Shah Abbas, the Great! her child to Abbas. The rage of the distracted monThe Portuguese, in the mean time, had passed the arch at the loss of his favorite gave a momentary joy Cape of Good Hope, and penetrated into the Indian to the miserable father, who concluded the horrible Seas. On the Island of Ormuz, at the mouth of the tragedy by swallowing poison. Such appalling scenes Persian Gulf, they had founded a rich commercial set- are of frequeut occurrence in the palace of an Eastern tlement. The opulence of this place excited the envy despot; yet Shah Abbas is the sovereign whom the of Abbas. In coniunction with the English East India Persians most admire; and so precarious is the tenure 128 NADIR SHAH-AGA MOHAMMED. of arbitrary power, that monarchs of a similar charac- with blood; and so utterly was the spirit of the peoter alone have successfully ruled the nation. The ple broken, that it was a common thing to see one prosperity of Persia ended with the reign of Abbas, Afghan leading three or four Persians to execution. A. 1). 1627. But the practice of these horrid massacres soon The perpetration of crime seems too often the dread- drove Mahmood to insanity. He shut himself up in a ful obligation of that absolute power to which an Ori- dungeon for a fortnight, fasting and practising the ental monarch is born; and it is therefore the charac- severest penances, with the hope of propitiating ter of the government, more than that of the despot, Heaven. This only increased his madness; and at which merits our abhorrence. There have been few length his mother, compassionating his sufferings, sovereigns who have done morel substantial good to caused him to be smothered. Aslruff, his cousin, suctheir country than Abbas the Great. He established ceeded to his authority. an internal tranquillity tinroug-hou, Persia that had been tnknown for centuries.' He put an end to the annual ravages of the Uzbeck Tartars, and confined them to their own territories. He completely expelled the A P T E R L XX II Turks from his native land, of which they held some of the finest provinces when he ascended the throne. AI. D. 1725 to 1848. Justice was administered according to the laws of re- Nadir Shah - Aga Mohammed - Futeh Ali - ligion, and the state seldom interfered, except to support the law, or to punish those who thought themselves Nessur ud Doon Shah. above it. In short, he raised Persia to a height of prosperity beyond what it had known for ages. In the reign of Hussein, who came to the throne about the close of the 17th century, the Afghan tribes, who had long been subject to Persia, broke out into rebellion. At the same time, the Uzbeck Tartars ravaged Khorasan, and tribes of wild Koords overran diffbrent parts of the country. Hussein was totally in- - competent to the government of the kingdom in such _ a conjuncture; and, to add to his, perplexities, the astrologers predicted the total destruction of Ispahan by _ __ __ an earthquake. This caused a universal panic. The ____ shah, with his court, fled from the capital, and the priests assumed the management of affairs, prescribing _ l_ every measure that fanaticism could suggest to avert the vengeance of Heaven. In this state of things, it was announced that an Afghan army of twenty-five thousand men, under _ Mahrnmood Ghiljee, had invaded Persia. The inhabitants heard this as the signal of their doom, but made no adequate' preparations to meet the enemy. The invading army advanced with great rapidity. They amounted to scarcely twenty thousand men, while the THE fortunes of Persia were soon retrieved, and forces of the shah exceeded fifty thousand. The Per- Ashruff encountered a rival in a quarter where he sians shone in gold and silver, and their pampered least expected opposition. Tamasp, the son of Hussteeds were sleek from high feeding and repose. The sein, had assumed the nominal sovereignty of the kingAfghans were mounted on horses lean, but hardy, and dom, and was supported by a chief named Nadir nothing glittered in their camp but swords and lances. Kouli, wlio, from the condition of a common laborer, The two armies met at Gulnabad, nine miles from had risen to the head of the tribe of Affshar, and now Ispahan. The Persians were defeated, and fled in declared his resolution to drive every Afghan from the disorder to the city, which was immediately besieged scoil of Persia. Ashruff prepared for war, but in three by the victors. The misery of the inhabitants during great battles he was defeated by Nadir, and at length the siege was indescribable; they were compelled to the whole Afghan force was compelled to evacuate eat human flesh; the streets, the squares, and the Ispahan. They were overtaken by Nadir at Persepo. gardens, were covered with putrefying carcasses. lis, where they were again defeated, and fled to Shiraz. After enduring these miseries for seven months, Ispa- Their numbers still amounted to twenty thousand, but. han surrendered, October 21, 1722. | their leader having deserted them to save himself, they Hussein was deposed by the Afghans, and thrown dispersed, and very few reached their homes. Ashruff into prison, where he was soon put to death. Mah- was overtaken in Seistan, and,lain by a Belooche, mood, amazed at his own success, adopted, at first, who sent his head, with a large d imond which he wore, conciliatory measures; but, finding the inhabitants to Tamasp. Such was the close of the Afghan invarecovering from their apathy, he became gloomy and sion, which cost Persia the blood of a million of its suspicious, and resolved upon the frantic enterprise of inhabitants. exterminating all the conquered people. He began by Nadir, whose ambition was insatiable, soon deposed massacring three thousand of Hussein's guards and the puppet of a sovereign whom he had served, an] three hundred nobles. Next, every person who had caused himself to be proclaimed shah of Persia in been in that sovereign's service was proscribed. For 1736. He drove the Turks out of the country, remore than a fortnight, the streets of Ispahan flowed duced Khorasan, Candahar, Balkh, and Afghanistan MIL1TARY STRENGTH OF PERSIA. 129 He next invaded Hindostan, and by a single victory reign of Mohammed Aga, yet the political condition became master of the great Mogul empire. Delhi, its of the kingdom is ed harrassing. Great Britain and capital, was plundered, and the Persian army returned Russia have long been jealous of each other's dehome with a booty estimated at three hundred and fifty signs upon this country, and the shah's court is the millions of dollars. The proud days of Persian do- constant theatre of intrigues in which these two minion seemed to be restored, and the boundaries of powers attempt to circumvent each other. Unable the monarchy, as in former days, were the Oxus, the to resist either, it seems hardly possible for this kingIndus, the Caspian, the Caucasus, and the Tigris. dom to avoid the fate of ultimately becoming the ButNadir, like Abbas, in the midst of his glory was vassal of the one or the other, or perhaps of being rendered miserable by domestic calamities. Ambition partitioned between the two unscrupulous rivals. At had rendered him haughty, while avarice made himn all events, the decaying strength of Persia, and its suspicieus and cruel. He out cut the eyes of his son peculiar situation between two mighty err.pire, appear Reza, whom he suspected of having attempted his life. to render it impossible that this ancient monarchy "It is not my eyes you have put out," said the prince should ever again assume that important rank which to his father, " but those of Persia." The prophetic it formerly occupied amongst the countries of the East truth sunk deep into the heart of Nadir, who became from that moment a prey to remorse and gloomy antici~pations. He never afterwards knew happiness, nor desired that others should enjoy it. The remainder of his life offers a frightful succession of cruelties. C HAPTER LXXIX. Whole cities were depopulated by his murders, andews ilitry tren Inhabipeople leaving their abodes fled for safety to caverns Genera ews Military n rength Inab and deserts. At length, his madness rose to such a tants and Government of Persia. hei'ght, that he designed to put to death nearly every THE great events which have occupied the attention Persian in his army. His own officers were compelled of the reader in the preceding chapters, and the imto assassinate him, to save their own lives, A. D. 1747. posing magnificence of the details perplexing the imaPersia relapsed into anarchy on the death of Nadir. gination with images of countless multitudes of people, The Afghans and Uzbecks asserted their independ- exhaustless wealth, and almost boundless power - natence. The crown of Persia was contested by vari- urally lead to the conclusion that Persia must be popous competitors. IKerimn IKhan held the chief sway ulous, fertile, well cultivated, and abounding in every from 1759 to 1779, and fought successfuilly against source of prosperity. Yet this is far from being the the Ottoman and Turkoman enemies of Persia. But fact. The dazzling pages of history, the recollections the troubles of the kingdom were renewed at his death, of Darius and Xerxes, and the pomp and splendor of and the Russians took advantage of this anarchy to the Great King, produce impressions which are strengthseize Georgia in 1783. At length, Aga ]Mohammed ened by contemplating the mighty scale of conquest IKhan Khajar established his authority in 1795, and be- which characterizes Asiatic history. These imprescame the founder of the present dynasty of Persian sions have been the means of throwing over the events sovereigns. of this quarter of the world a delusive brilliancy. In Aga Mohammed removed the seat of government estimating the power of this monarchy, it must be from Ispahan to Teheran. He then invaded Georgia, recollected that its most successful sovereigns did not captured Teflis, the capital, and gave it up to pillage draw their riches from Persia alone, but from Asiatic and massacre. But his tyrannies caused his own Turkey, Egypt, Bactriana, Kharism, Cabul, and Tarmen to assassinate him, and he was succeeded by his tary, as well as from the trade with Hindostan and nephew Futeh Ali in 1797. The early part of the China. long reign of this monarch was distinguished by the Two centuries ago, Chardin who resided a long rival intrigues of the French and English at his court. time in Persia, estimated the population of the kingHe next became involved in two disastrous wars with dom at forty millions. At the present day, it is Russia, the first of which lasted from 1804 to 1813, thought not to exceed twelve millions. The military and ended in the treaty of Gulistan, by which Persia force, as in all other Eastern monarchies, has always lost most of her provinces on the Caspian Sea. The varied, both in numbers and quality, with the character second war broke out in 1806, and continued two of the reigning sovereign. Previous to the reign of years, ending in the cession to Russia of Erivan and Shah Abbas, there were no troops immediately paid by all the country extending to the Araxes. Futeh Ali, the crown, but each province supplied a fixed number however, recovered Khorasan from the Uzbecks of horsemen. There were also the registered militia On the death of this king, in 1834, England and of the country, which constituted a very uncertain Russia interfered in the struggle between his sons, and body, both as to discipline and numbers. The militia placed the crown on the head of Shah Mohammed, his were enrolled from among all denominations of the grandson. Some of the relatives of this individual people; they provide their own arms and clothing, and contested his claims, and a civil war was the conse- are maintained by their respective provinces or vilquence. Mohammed, however, was enabled, by the lages, receiving, when in service, a small pay from the help of a British auxiliary force, to crush his opponents, public treasury. They have no pretensions to disciwho were barbarously put to death by order of the pline, obey only their own officers, and in fact are shah. His reign was not marked by any political rather a species of police than a body of regular events worth recording. He died in September, 1848, soldiers. Besides the several classes whose profession and was peaceably succeeded by his son Nessur ud is arms, every man carries weapons of some sort or Doon S/lah, a youth but eighteen years of age. other, so that the whole male population may be called Although the internal tranquillity of Persia has not into the field by a warlike sovereign. The physical been seriously disturbed since the beginning of the character of the Persians is fine, both as to strength 17 130 INHABITANTS AND GOVERNMENT OF PERSIA. and beauty; but they possess no very strongly marked was the submissive reply. "Now that is real power,' features. So many migratorv-.ations have settled in continued the shah; but it has no permanence. My this country, that it retains only a fragment of its na- sons, when I am gone, will fight for the crown, and it tive race. The complexion, according to the climate, will fall into the hands of the best soldier." varies from an olive tint to a deep brown. The inhab- The precarious tenure by which the sovereign holds itants of the towns are denominated Shleierees by the the throne induces him to employ strange and barbarural tribes, who hold them in contempt as a mongrel rous methods of crushing the attempts of rival claimrace. They are a mixed breed of Turks, Tartars, ants. Muitilation and putting out the eyes are employed Arabians, Armenians, Georgians, &c., engrafted on against all who are suspected of any ambitious design. the stock of the ancient Persians. The merchants are The daughters of the shah are given in marriage, not numerous, and often wealthy, though, with the caution *to the nobility, but to the priesthood, excluded by their of those who know the hazard, they do not often dis- profession from all pretensions to the royal authority play their riches. Traders throughout the East enjoy Yet, unlimited as the power of a Persian sovereign a peculiar degree of favor, being protected both as a may appear, there are few reigning monarchs who source of revenue, and as a medium for maintaining are more controlled by the pressure of business. He useful relations with foreign states. must not only watch against foreign aggressions and The government of Persia is perhaps the most ab- internal conspiracies, but he must sit in the judicial solute in the world. The despotic principle inculcated tribunal and administer the laws. Every day he in the Koran, by which the sovereign exercises what is holds a court of justice in his hall of audience, redeemed a divine right over the persons and property ceives petitions, and decides such cases as come before of his subjects, is fully recognized here. All the re- him. The duties of religion oblige him to rise early, sources of Ofliental exaggeration are exhausted by the and almost every hour has its prescribed occupation. grandees in the lofty epithets with which they address Persia is treated by its sovereign, not as his native the monarch, and the humble-appellations which, in his country, but as his conquest. His systematic aim is presence, they apply to themselves. There has seldom to combine the two objects of breaking down the been such a thing as a popular commotion in Persia; power of the nobility, and of amassing wealth. The the people seem never to have suspected that their own governments of all the principal provinces are bestowed, will ought to exert any influence in the regulation of if possible, upon members of the royal family. The the government. The word of the reigning sover- object of all the princes is to secure a treasure for the eign is law, in this country; and, in exercising un- anticipated struggle at their father's death; that of the limited control over every thing in the kingdom, he is parent to provide at the public expense for the main. liable to no check but the fear of exciting rebellion or tenance of his children, and to make them collector, provoking assassination. it is therefore the feeble who for his own coffers. The shah fixes a sum to be suffer most, while the strong arid the bold find means remitted from each province, and this is rigidly exfor their own protection. acted. The governors force their agents to raise the Yet, though there are no legal restrictions, there are money; these persons are equally peremptory with some actual, though rude limits to the royal authority. the collectors of districts, who enforce the system in The khans of the upland districts, ruling over tribes at- the same manner through all the gradations of office tached to them by ties of kindred and clanship, enjoy below them. Each officer raises enough beyond the permanent and hereditary rights to which the sov- required sum to leave a remnant in his own hands, ereign seldom attempts to refuse his sanction. They and in this manner the peasantry suffer enormous oppay merely a tribute and furnish their quota of troops pression. The condition of a province is rarely inin:w ar, but are allowed to rule their own districts quired into until the revenue begins to fail, or the cry without molestation. As these.khans form the mili- of distress deepens into the muttering of disaffection. tary strength of the empire, the sovereign has the less The smallest expense in the way of public improveinclination to offend them; and as, from motives of per- ment is avoided; or, if any thing of this sort be done. sonal attachment, caprice, or ambition, they are often the district or town where the money is to be laid out ready to espouse the cause of different pretenders to is sure to be made answerable for it. Even the the throne, they have a powerful influence in perpet- palaces and royal gardens are frequently suffered to uating those evils of disputed succession to which Per- fall into decay, as no fund adequate to their mainsia is liable. tenance has ever been regularly provided. The authority of the sovereign is also supreme in The ministers of state are usually selected from the his own family; and, although custom requires him to class called mirzas, or secretaries, or, as the word recognize the son of his legitimate wife as successor may be more accurately translated, men of business. to the crown, yet, if he choose, he may nominate the These individuals are, in general, citizens who have offspring of a slave, and secure the realm from civil devoted themselves to duties which require a good broils after his own decease by cutting off the heads education. They are mostly free from the arroor putting out the eyes of all the rest of his progeny. gance of the nobility, and are often highly accomSuch was the frequent practice in former times. No plished; but they are equally versed in deceit, and not Persian pretends to dispute the right of the shah to very remarkable for strict morality. Nothing more decapitate any person at his pleasure. " There," strikingly illustrates the degrading influence of despotsaid Futeh Ali one day to the British envoy, in con- ism in Persia, than the insensibility to disgrace which versing upon the difference between a king of it produces among allclasses of people- a callousness England and a shah of Persia,-" there stand Solyman quite remarkable even among courtiers. A minister, Khan Kajar and several more of the chiefs of the or governor offends the shah, or is made the object empire; I can cut off their heads if I please, can I of accusation, justly or unjustly. He is condemned, not?" added he, addressing them. "Assuredly, perhaps unheard, his property is confiscated, his farmPoint of the World's Adoration, if it is your pleasure," ily and wives are insulted, and his person is disgraced PERSIAN CITIES-MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 13l or mutilated by the executioner's knife. Nothing ever, a great city, with an extensive trade and some can be imagined more complete than such a degrada- flourishing manufactures, particularly of gold brocade. tion, and nothing apparently could be more deadly Its population is about 150.000. than the sufferer's hatred and thirst for revenge. Yet Tehran, in the north, was selected for the residence these reverses are considered merely as among the, of the shah on account of its situation near the Ruscasualties of service, as clouds obscuring for a while sian frontier, which has lately been the theatre of the splendor of courtly fortune, but which will soon almost constant war. The city, apart from the circurnpass away, and permit the sun of prosperity to shine stance of its being the capital, merits little attention. again in its fullest lustre; and experience proves that The shah's palace is the only building of any consethese calculations are correct; for the storm often quence. The private houses are plain but comfortable. blows over as rapidly as it came on. Royal caprice The population varies with the movements of the soyreceives the sufferer again into favor, and he is rein- ereign. During his stay here, it amounts to 100,000; stated in the government which he had lost, carrying at other times, it sinks to 30,000. Shiraz, though with him a sentence of disgrace for his successor, to neither a very large nor ancient city, has long been whose intrigues he owed his fall. When an officer one of the boasts of Persia, fromn the beauty of its of state has fallen under displeasure, or when the environs, and the polished gayety of its inhabitants. shah wishes.to extort money from him, he is fire- It has also been the favorite seat of the Persian muse, quently put up to sale, the price being fixed at the and near it fare still to be found the tombs of Hafiz sum demanded of him. In this way, an intriguing and Saadi, the'chief national poets. Its wines are courtier may purchase his rival, who immediately be- celebrated as the most valuable in the East, and it is comes his slave. the seat of a considerable trade. It is about five The numberless contests for power which have miles in circuit, but one fourth of the houses are in marked the domestic history of this country, have ruins. The population is about 30,000. been carried on merely by the princes and their Mushed, the capital of Persian Khlolrasan, rose ou adherents: the people, in such cases, look on as of the decay of the ancient city of Toas, the ruins spectators, ready to be transferred to the one master of which are not far distant. Nadir Shah lavished )r the other, as the fortune of war may decide. great wealth upon the shrine of Imam Reza, a Mussulman saint, whose tomb, may still be seen in this city. It is a splendid structure, surrounded with a double row of arched niches, all superbly ornamented with lackered tiles; and at each end stands a lofty C H A P T E R L XXX. gateway, embellished in the same fashion, which is thought to be the most perfect specimen of the kind Persiaz Cities. in the wvorld. Neither Christian nor Jew is permitted ISPAHAN was once the capital of Persia, though the to enter the enclosure of this mausoleum under paih c, Irt has been recently transferred to Tehran. From of death. *he earliest known times, it has always been a great city, and some authors suppose it to be the same with the Ecbatana* of ancient history. Placed in the centre of the Persian empire, and surrounded by' fertile and beautiful plain, it became a mart forXX I the inland commerce of Asia, and attained, at one estic Life - Domestic Life - Manners anid Customsperiod, to a height of prosperity unrivalled in the Agriculture - Com.erce - 7anufactures western part of that continent. The Persians, with their usual vanity, believed that no city in the universe ald ArchitectUre of the Persiams. could equal it in size and splendor, and it was a com- THE Persian women, of the better ranks, are often mon proverb with them that "Ispahan is half the exceedingly fair, of good complexion, generally fill world." The country, for thirty miles round, was formed and handsore. The stlong admixture of richly covered with gardens, orchards, and cultivation Georgian, Circassian, and Armenian blood has tended of every kind; and fifteen hundred well-peopled vil- to improve the Tartar physiognomy of the rural tribes, lages poured their daily supplies into the capital. So and the somewhat heavy figlre and sallow complexion closely invested was Ispahan by these orchards, and of the aboriginal Persians. The occupations of the so numerous were the rows of the noble chenar-trees sex are few and uninteresting. Ladies of rank lneet within the walls, that scarcely any buildings were to talk gossip and tell stories, to show eaich other their discernible fr(omn a distance, except the domes and finery and jewels, to listen to singing-women and see minarets whieff rose above the foliage. The popula- them dance, or to hold parties of pleasure at each tion of the citr, in the time of Chacrdin, was estimated other's houses. But the bath is the chief scene of to be equal to that of London. But since the capture relaxation and enjoyment, where each, secure froi and sack of I ipahan by the Afghans, in 1722, it has interruption, lays aside restraint, and gives full sco1)e rapidly decli, <>d; and, in consequence of the removal to merriment and scandal. Of the manner in which of the court no efforts have been made for its res- they educate their children little is known. The toration. A *nan may now ride through parts of it for harem is a sort of prison, and its secrets seldom miles withol;' seeing an inhabited house,and its proudest transpire. in the middle and lower orders, howedifices ey?,it only piles of rubbish. It is still, how- ever, the jealous tyranny of the men disalppears,...... tand the wives and daughters of the peasantry plursue -'* Tle,beC ral opinion has been that HcnadaeT is the site -x TI~s ~F).r:L1 opinionhrts TVen that I~t~zndn~z their occup ratolns like the same class of persons in.f tee,'rc',; Ecbatallna; but it seems probable, friom recent investi;,',i,.:a, that Ispahan is the true site of that celebrated Europe. capltal. Like all other Moslems, the Persians are restricted I 132 AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES, ARCHITECTURE, &c. to four legitimate wives; but the number of irregular domes and minarets in Persia. Inkstands and small female associates is only limited by their means or de- boxes are made at Shiraz and Ispahan, and adorned sires. All females not within the prohibited degrees with paintings skilfully executed. Stone and seal of kindred may be legally taken into the harem in one cutting are practised with considerable skill. Gold and of three ways - by marriage, by purchase, or by hire. silver brocade, and silks of much beauty, are produced The parties are often betrothed in infancy, though they in many parts of the country. never see: each other till they stand before the priest. There are many natural obstacles to commerce in The nuptial ceremony must be witnessed by two men, Persia. The roads are bad; navigable rivers are unor one man and two women. Weddings are occasions known; and the seaports are few and unimportant. of great and almost ruinous display. The period of Goods are transported on the backs of camels, mules, feasting occupies from three to forty days, according and horses; hence the prices of all commodities betc the condition of the parties. When the bride is come greatly enhanced by the expense of carriage. carried into the room allotted for her reception, the The chief exports are silk, cotton, tobacco, rice, grain, husband appears, and sees her face for the first time fruits, sulphur, horses, wax, gall-nuts, &c. The prinin a looking-glass. He then takes a bit of sugar candy, cipal commercial intercourse is carried on with Russia, and, biting it in halves, eats one himself, and gives the Turkey, Arabia, and the Uzbecks and Turkomaans. other to his bride. He then takes her stockings, throws The imports are English cloths, muslins, calicoes, and one over his left shoulder, places the other under his hardware. The coin in circulation consists of Spanright foot, and orders all the spectators to withdraw. ish dollars, French and German crowns, and Persian By the Mahometan law, a man may divorce his wife tomnans, the value of which is about one pound sterling. at pleasure; and the only check to this arbitrary power Accounts are kept in dinars, an imaginary money, less is the scandal which appears to attach to the measure, than a cent in value. The common weight is the and the necessity of returning the dower. maund, which is not quite seven pounds avoirduAgriculture is not practised with much science in pois. Persia; yet such is the feitility of the soil in those The Persian architecture, in general, is monotonous parts susceptible of cultivation, that the profits of the and wanting in the picturesque. The common houses husbandman are high. Their houses are comfortable are mostly built of mud, with flat roofs. They do not and neat, and are seldom found without a supply of differ in color from the earth on which they stand; and, good wheaten cakes and cheese. Their wives and on account of their lowness and irregular construction, children, as well as themselves, are well clad; and, if they resemble casual inequalities on the surface rather a guest arrives, there are few who cannot display a than human dwellings. Those of the higher classes nzmed, or felt carpet, in a -room for his reception. In seldom exceed one story, and the lofty walls which fact, the high rate of wages proves that the rewards surround them produce a blank and cheerless effect. of the cultivator are ample, while food is cheap. In ad- There are commonly no public buildings in a Persian dition to the peasantry, who occupy fixed habitations, town except the mosques, colleges, and caravanserais; there are wandering tribes, of nomadic habits, warlike, and these are usually mean structures, like the rest. rude, quarrelsome, eager for plunder, despising the lying hid in the midst of the mouldering relics of for. pacific drudges that dwell on the cultivated tracts mer edifices. The general prospect embraces an and in the cities. These people wander almost at will assemblage of flat roofs, little rounded cupolas, and over pathless deserts, like the wild ass in his plains, long walls of mud, thickly interspersed with ruins. uncertain in their loyalty, idle and profligate, yet hos- Minarets and domes of any magnitude are rare, and pitable and generous. Being exceedingly poor, they few possess claims to elegance or grandeur. The only are frugal in their diet. They dwell in tents, and gen- relief to the monotony of the scene is afforded by the erally grow up in ignorance of every thing but martial gardens adorned with chenar, cypress, and fruit-trees, exercises and stealing. The domestic animals most' which are seen near all the towns and villages itr cornmon in Persia are the horse, the camnel, the ass, the Persia. mule, the cow, and the sheep. No people in the world On approaching these places, even such of them as better deserve the appellation of a nation of horsemen have been capitals of the empire, the traveller casts than the Persians; and in no country, not even in his eye around for those marks of human intercourse, England, where so much science and expense are lay- and listens for that hum of man, which never fail to ished on the stable, is greater attention paid to the cheer the heart and raise the spirits of the wayfarer; management of horses. There are various breeds in but he looks and listens in vain. Instead of the well, Persia; but the most esteemed are those of the Turk- ordered road, bordered with hedgerows and enclosures oman tribes, mingled with Arab blood. The ass of and gay habitations, and leading to an imposing street Persia is generally a poor and miserable drudge, as in of lofty and substantial edifices, he finds a narrow and other countries. The mules are a superior race; they dirty lane, rugged as the bed of a torrent, and confined are not large, but their strength and powers of endur- by ruinous mud or brick walls. He. must pick his unance are prodigious. The camels are of several sorts, certain way among heights and hollows, the fragments and are well adapted to the peculiar character of the of old buildings, and the pits which have supplied the country. materials for new ones. Entering the ruined wvalls, Manufacturing industry appears never to have re- he finds himself in a confusion of rubbish as shapeless Leived much encouragement in Persia. The carpets and disorderly as that without. In vain he looks for of this country are the only article of manufacture by streets; even houses are scarcely to be discerned amid which the Persians are known to other nations. Coarse the heaps of mud and ruins which are burrowed by China and glass are made at various places. The holes, resembling the perforations of a gigantic ant's sword-blades of Herat, Mushed, and Shiraz, are highly nest, rather than human abodes. The residences esteemed. Cashan is known for its manufacture of of the rich and great, whatever be their internal comlackered tiles, which ornament many of the gorgeous fort or luxury, are carefillly secluded by high mInlt RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, &c. 133 Awalls; and around them, even to the very entrances, of the perfection of God. This doctrine, indeed, preare clustered the hovels of the poor. sents an infinity of shapes, according to the taste and Among these unsightly heaps, the stranger makes genius of its professors. It is the superstition of the his way through lanes and passages so narrow, that a freethinker, and is often assumed as a cloak to cover loaded ass gets along with difficulty. The bazaars are entire infidelity. Like scepticism in general, it attacks the only thoroughfares that deserve the name of streets. all existing religion, and unsettles all belief, without Some of them are spacious, lofty, solidly built, and, offering any substitute on which the harassed soul may comparatively speaking, magnificent. A paved path. lean. The origin of Suffeeism may be traced to the way, from ten to sixteen feet in width, runs between aspirations of an enthusiastic temperament, which dis. two rows of small shops or cells, where the vendors pose the. mind to abstruse metaphysical inquiry. Disof commodities sit on a platform with their goods be- satisfied with existing opinions, minds so constituted side them. The vaults contain the rest of their stock. presumptuously plunge into that ocean of' mystery The whole is arched over with masonry or clay, or, in whose shores are wisely'hid from hurnan investigation. very inferior establishments, with branches of trees Suffeeism, in' fact, has existed, in one shape or another, and thatch, to keep out the sun. Smiths, braziers, in almost every age and country. Its mystical doc. shoemakers, saddlers, potters, tailors, cloth-sellers,.&c., trines are to be found in the schools of ancient Greece, are generally found together. Attached to the ba- and in those of the modern philosophers of Europe zaars, in the larger towns, are usually several caravan- and America. With us it is known as Pantheism. serais for the accommodation of travelling merchants. Zeal and enthusiasm are the characteristics of the Persian Suf.,ee, and he is ready to perish for his opinions. Those who thus suffer are accounted martyrs, and many fables are related of them. One who had been flayed alive for raising a dead man to life, conC H APTE R LXXXII. tinued to walk about, carrying his own sikin on his Religion, Philosophy, Fine Arts, &cience and arm! Such are the stories believed in Persia of these devotees. Solitude, prayer, and long fasts, are held Literatutre, Amusements, Food, Dress, I'c. of the Persans. 7 in high esteem by them; but the real learning of many Suffees appears to have elevated their doctrine above TrLE Persians are Mahometans of the Sheah sect. all superstitious observances. The finest poets of PerA strong religious hatred exists between them and the sia have been among the most distinguished of their Turks, who are of the rival sect of the Sunnees. teachers; for we are told that poetry is the very These two nations, in the fierce bitterness of supersti- essence of Suffeeism; and the works of the moral tious rancor, doom each other to everlasting perdition. Saadi, the divine Hafiz, and the celebrated Jami, may With this exception, the Persians display little of that be termed the Scriptures of Suffeeism. The doctrines bigoted and persecuting spirit which reigns among the which they profess to inculcate are piety, benevolence, nations by whom the Mahometan faith is professed. virtue, forbearance, and abstemiousness, although the Europeans, in traversing the country, are not viewed terms in which these lessons are conveyed might staras objects of horror and opprobrium; and even the tle the Christian reader, and induce him to imagine he long and cruel persecution practised against the Gue- was perusing an exhortation to sensuality and proflibres, or ancient worshippers of fire, has now ceased; gacy. Some of these people reject the doctrine of about four thousand of them still remain in Persia. future rewards and punishments. Others promise to Mahometanism, in fact, is on the decline every where. the virtuous a purer bliss than the sensual paradise of In Persia, the indications of this are very strong. Un- Mahomet, and condemn the wicked to the horrors of a believers are numerous; and there is a class known visionary hell. It has been estimated that there are by the name of Su.ees, whose tenets are peculiar, and between two and three hundred thousand professed who have frequently exercised a singular influence on Suffees in Persia; but beside these there are vast numthe political as well as religious condition of Persia. bers of ostensible Mahometans who are secretly inThe doctrines of Suffeeism, as far as they can be dlined to infidelity. reduced to definite terms, appear to be as follows: Painting and sculpture can meet with little encour. The almighty Creator of the universe is diffused agment in Mahometan countries, as it is forbidden by throughout creation. The essence of his divinity, era- the Koran to make any representation of the human anating from him continually, as rays from the sun, form. The Persian artists are ignorant of the first vivifies all nature. The souls of men are scintillations principles of drawing and perspective. Geography is of this essence, and therefore are on equality with very little understood. In astronomy, the Persians God. - The Suffees represent themselves as constantly adopt the system of Ptolemy, with some fanciful addiengaged in searching after truth and admiring the per- tions of their own. Astrology is a favorite study; and fections of the Deity. An ardent but mystical love of no Persian will undertake the most trivial affair, far the Creator, which frequently breaks forth in the most less any enterprise of moment, without consulting a extravagant manner, and toward the most extraordi- professor of this delusive art. Their metaphysics and nary objects, in which they fancy the divine image to logic are puerile. Mathematics are taught on better be reflected, is the soul of their creed, and reunion principles; for the Persians are acquainted with the with him their ultimate object. works of Euclid. Chemistry is unknown; but alcheThe Mahometan. Sqlfees pretend that the founder of my leads many in an eager search after the philosotheir religion professed the doctrines.of Suffeeism. pher's stone. In their knowledge of medicine, tne Even the patriarch Abraham is declared by them to have Persians are deplorably deficient. They declare thembeen one of their teachers. They are strict predesti- selves pupils of Galenr and Hippocrates, called by them narians; many of them deny the existence of evil, Jalenoos and Bocrat. Bqt their practice is the most holding the belief of it to be an impious arraignment wretched imaginable. They are totally ignorant of 134 POETRY, HOSPITALITY, &c. anatomy and the circulation of the blood; so that their The food of the Persians varies according to the surgery is no better than their medicine. Though they means of the individual. The lower -classes live on admire the skill of Europeans, they adhere obstinately very simple diet, generally vegetables. The tables to their own practice. of the rich are loaded with pillaus, stews, sweetmeats, With the exception of the Chinese, the Persians are and other delicacies. The cookery is excellent; but the most literary people among the Asiatics, at least there is, throughout the whole arrangement of a Perof modern times. The modern literature is chiefly sian dinner, a mixturd of refinement and uncouthness confined to works on theology. There are rude trea- highly characteristic of the country. Persians, like tises on the various sciences we have mentioned, as other Orientals, eat with their fingers; and the meat well as works on history, poetry, and romance; but is cut into convenient mouthfuls, or stewed down, so little improvement has been made in these branches as to be easily torn to pieces. Wine is forbidden by for centuries. Neither bard nor historian has appeared the Koran; yet the wine of Shiraz is in high repute, and in these latter days like those who adorned the age of' the Persians are well acquainted with its good qualities. the Gaznevide sovereigns and the monarchs of the Domestic repose and the company of his wives are house of Seljuk. The Persian historians are too nu- the enjoyments highest in the estimation of a Persian merous to mention. They are sometimes affected noble. Next are the diversions of horses, arms, dress, with a taste for florid and hyperbolical- ornament; but and equipage. The Persians love splendid apartments they generally relate with accuracy the events within covered with red carpets, perfumed by flower-garden.s their own knowledge, and are free from political pre- and refreshed with sparkling fountains. The other judices, except when recording the actions of their amusements are illuminations, fireworks, wrestlers, sovereigns or patrons. jugglers, buffoons, puppet-shows, musicians, and danPoetry is with the I trsians a ruling passion; and, cers. But the bath is of all other luxuries the most in this department of literature, ihey have displayed an extensively enjoyed; and a few copper coins enable Oriental softness and luxuriance of imagery which the poorest people to avail themselves of this healthful have been admired even in European translations. pleasure — so necessary to those who are not over mieca The Persian poets are very numerous. Sir William in the use of their linen. Jones. mentions a native work containing the lives of The Persian male dress varies much, according to one hundred and thirty-five of the finest bards of this the rank and taste of the individual. In general, it nation, who have left very ample collections of their consists of flowing robes and loose trousers. The works; but the versifiers are without number. The female dress is simple, comprising trousers, a jacket Persian people, from the highest to the lowest, have an or pelisse, with a shawl, cloak, or furs, according to the exquisite relish for poetry. Not only do persons of state of the weather. Round the head is an immense education repeat whole poems, but the very muleteers silk handkerchief, wound in a peculiar shape, like a and grooms will thunder out a passage from Firdusi, turban. When women go abroad, they wear a wrapper or chant an ode of Hafiz. The poetry of Persia may of blue checked stuff, which envelops them from head be divided into epic, didactic, and lyric. Firdusi is to foot. No husband can recognize his own wife, at the head of the epic poets. He is, as we have said, should he meet her. This custom pertains to the cities. the Homer of Persia. His Shah Nameh, or Book of in the country, the sex are less restrained. Kings, comprises a series of narratives describing the historyv of the country for thirty-seven hundred years, from the most ancient period down to the Arabian conquest. The whole contains sixty thousand couplets, C HAP TE L I X X X III. making a poem longer than the Iliad. In this work, the most critical European reader will meet with numer- Celebrated Men of Modern Persia - General ous passages to gratify his taste. The narrative is Remarks. generally perspicuous, the characters are various and FIRDUSI, the great epic poet of Persia, was born striking, the figures bold and animated, and the diction about the year 930. He spent the greater part of his every where sonorous, yet noble, - polished, yet full life in his native village of Shadab, in Khorasan. At of fire. Next' to Firdusi, in the same style of writing; about fifty years of age, he was attracted to Ghizni! by may be mentioned Nizami, who wrote a life of Alex- the encouragement which Sultan Mahmood gave to litander the Great — displaying great genius and rich- erature and the fine arts. That sovereign received ness of imagination. Among the didactic poets, Saadi him honorably at his court, and engaged him to write ranks the highest. the history of the kings of Persia in verse, promising Hospitality is a virtue common to many Asiatic him a piece of gold for every couplet. Firdusi denations, and enjoined by the precepts of the Koran. voted thirty years to this labor, and produced his celeIn Persia, a very extensive exercise of its duties may brated Shah NCai7eh, of sixty thousand couplets. But he be remarked, not only among the peasantry and wild was deprived of his reward by the intrigues of certain tribes, -but also in towns and cities. The Persians are courtiers, who persuaded the sultan that the poet had cheerful and social. The visits of private individuals insulted the religion of Mahomet by the praises which are as unceremonious as those of Europeans. In he bestowed on Zoroaster. Under this prejudice, larger parties and public meetings, more attention is Mahmood sent him only a paltry sum, which the indigpaid to established rules of behavior; but there is nant poet immediately gave away. The sultan con nothing of that taciturnity and lifeless abstraction which demned him, for this insult, to be trodden to death by.haracterize an assembly of Turks. Smoking is com- an elephant; but Firdusi, with great difficulty, obmon at a meeting of friends; after the pipe, coffee, tained a remission of this sentence. After this, he usually strong, and without milk or sugar, is presented wandered firom country to country, persecuted by the in small Clhina cups. This is followed by a cup of sultan, and at length died in his native village, ir the mwcet slherbeti or of sweetened tea. 89tlh year of his age. Mahmood is said to have re ANECDOTES OF THE PERSIANS. 13d ipented of his ingratitude when it was too late; and the progress under an able king, to return to that state of daughter of the poet refused the sixty thousand pieces barbarism which blends certain mental and moral reof gold which were offered to her by the tardy justice finements with general ignorance, superstition, and of the sultan. degradation. There seems to be a certain point of Massoomi Ali Shah was a remarkable religious or progress which this nation has often reached, but be. philosophical teacher. He preached the doctrines of vond which it can never permanently advance. Suffeeism during the 12th century. His followers at The days of Shah Abbas are often referred to as a Shiraz soon amounted to more than thirty thousand; golden period in the history of Persia, and this soverand he gave such alarm to the orthodox Mahometan eign is among the favorites of the nation. The sketch priests, that they persuaded the sultan to banish him we have given shows his character, and what qualities from the city. Notwithstanding this, his disciples in- are required by public opinion in Persia. The followcreased so rapidly, that the priests raised a cruel per- ing anecdote exhibits him in a pleasanter light: — secution against them, and great numbers of the most When the shah was on a hunting excursion one eminent Suffees were punished with the loss of their morning, just at the dawn, he met a very ugly man, al noses and ears. Massoom was compelled to make his the sight of whom his horse started so violently, as escape. [le fled to Khorasan, and from thence to nearly to unseat the monarch. Abbas, who, like most Afghanistan; but, not finding a safe asylum, he was of his countrymen, was superstitious, deeming this a obliged to return to Persia, where he was shortly after bad omen, ordered the man's head to be struck off. murdered by the fanatical multitude in a popular com- The poor peasant was immediately seized, and the motion, which was stirred up by the high priest of cimeter was drawn for his execution, when he begged Kermant Shah. that they would inform him what crime he had comHatiz, the celebrated lyric poet of Persia, was born mitted. " Your crime," said the shah, " is your unat Shiraz about the beginning of the 15th century. He lucky face, which is the first object I saw this mornwas well educated, and paid great attention to the ing, and which had nearly caused me to break my study of Mahometan theology and jurisprudence. He neck." "Alas! " said the man; " by this rule, what afterwards applied himself to poetry, and became so must I say of your majesty'sface, which was the first celebrated that he was invited to court. He appears, object that I saw this morning, and which is about to however, to have remained in his native city during cause me to lose my head? " The shah was so divert. the greater part of his life. His Persian biographers ed with the man's wit and presence of mind, that he not describe an interview which he had with the celebrated only spared his life, but made him a liberal present. Timour, who conquered Shiraz in 1387. The date of The following shows the extent to which family his death is uncertain; but a splendid monument was influence is carried at the Persian court — erected to his memory at Shiraz. Hajee Ibrahim was a noble of Ispahan a few years During the long period which we assign to the his- ago. A shopkeeper of the capital went, one day, to tory of modern Persia, this country has been under a the brother of Ibrahim, who was governor, to request variety of dynasties, and a long list of sovereigns. the abatement of a tax which he was unable to pay. After the termination of the Sassanian line, it fell "You must pay, or leave the city," replied the gov tinder the khalifs, and, for nearly two hundred years, ernor. " Where shall I go?" asked the shopkeeper. fulrnishes little of interest for the page of the historian. "To Shiraz," was the reply. "Your nephew rules After the Mahometan rule, Persia experienced a vari- that city, and all your family are my enemies," said ety of fortune, till the thirteenth century, when it was the shopkeeper. "Then to Cashan." "But your subjugated by the Mongols, and became a part of the uncle is governor there."'Then complain to the Mongol empire. The Suffavean dynasty succeeded shah." "But your brother Hajee is prime minister." in 1523, and has come down to the present' time. "Then go to the lower regions! " exclaimed the govAmong the various Persian kings, whose dominion ernor, in a passion. "But your pious father is dead," covers a space of more than twelve hundred years, we retorted the shopkeeper. Ibrahim burst into a laugh find several wilo appear to have entertained enlight- at the witty impudence of the man, and said, ":Then ened views; but we are struck with the ephemeral I will pay your tax myself; as myfamily keeps you character of all improvements in this country, and the from all means of redress, both in this world and the constant tendency, even after a period of considerable next." Kings of 3Modern Persia. SASSANIAN DYNAISTY. 901. The Samainees and 1291. Kai Khatou. 1420. Secunder. 172.5. Ashruff. Date of Accession to the Throne. Dilemees. 1294. Ghazan Khan. 1464. Jehanl Shah. 1736. Nadir Shah. A. D. 976. Abustakem 1303. Mahomed. 1466. Hussun Ali. 1747. Adil Shah. 579. Hoormuz III. 977. Subuctageen. 1316. Abu Seyd. 1499. Shah'Ismael. 1750. Suliman.. 590. Baharam. 977. Mahmoud of 1356. Hoossein Boozoorg. 1756. Kerreem Khan. 591. Khosrou Purveez.* Ghizni. 1356. Aweis. SUFFAVEAN DYNASTY. 1779. Abool Fatteh 628. Shiroueh. 1028. Massoud. 1356. Jellal ud Deen. 1523. Tamasp. Khan. 631. Pooran Dokt. 1041. Madoud. 1387. Timour. 1576. Ismael Mirza. 1781. Ali MIoorad Khan. 632. Shenendeh. 1055. Toghrul. 1406. Peer Mahomed. 1577. Mahomed Mirza. 1789. Lootf Ali Khan. 632. Yezdijird. 1184. Khosrou II. 1406. Khulleel Sultan. 1582. Abbas the Great. 1796. Aga Maltomed 1185. The Atta Begs. 1408. Shah Rokh. 1627. Shah Suffee. Khan. THE IuHTLITs. N 1446. Ulugh Beg. 1641. Abbas II. 1796. F;2'eh Ali Khan. 641. The khalifs reign for THE MONGOIs. 1456. Baber. 1666. Shah Soliman. 1834. shah -Mohammed. near 200 years. 1253. Hulaku Khan. 1468. Abu Seyd. 1694. Hoossein. 1848. Nussu:r ud Door, 877. Yakoob ben Leis. 1281. Abaka Khan. 1468. Hoossein Mirza. 1722. Mahmoud the Af- Shah. 900. Amer. 1284. Argoon Khan. 1468. Kara Mahomed. ghan. * Not only did the ancient Greeks anal Persians give different names to rou, Chosroes; Firou, Firose, Peroses, &c; I-iormrnz, Hormooz; Khosrou thei same individual, thus causing sonle confusion in history, but, in the Purveez, Khosrou Perwiz; Bahlran, Batlllan, Baltaram, &c. notales of modern sovereigns, we find great diversity of orthograplhy among Amid such diversity, we have generally chosen the most common orthbg difhibrent authors. the following are sotne of these instances of various raphy. pellintg: Shapoor, Shtapur, Sapor; KIobadt, Cobades; Khosrew. Khos5 __ _. _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I-~ 136 PALESTINE-ITS VARIOUS NAMES-ITS BOUND&RIES. C H APTER LXXX I V. Animals — Vegetables - Soil - Chitnate - Geographical View of Palestine —Physical Political Divisions -Glance at the History of Geography - Mountains - Rivers- Lakes Palestine - Towns and Cities. THIS celebrated country has borne -- - -- - - - _..A__ various names at different periods. _ - {-y.(-}w s —ltxIUA ptilkOt Its earliest title was Canaan, from! \ i the son of Ham of that name, whose. I posteritvy settled here. It was called F AMs IASC the Promised Land, because it was ANCIENT -"'~'? ~.,1 li promised to Abraham and his de- | ALEST INE. eePhi ia scendants. It was called the Land of the Hebrews, from Eber, the an- a | GAo Ir cestor of Abraham. It was called;, the Land of Israel, from Israel, or A Jacob; the Holy Land, it being the j i Capuri a.L a residence of God's chosen people; e"AchI Be,~ S.a 4d Gi.ce Judea, from the tribe of Judah; |car UK:gL, _ Ca_ oLll oiif jtha 2 and Palestine, from a portionof a'"~.abo ibI kias..: its ancient inhabitants - the Philis-' tines.'- 4oo', I Palestine ties at the eastern ex-,.Ik. lousrn'{a "I~~ Ca sarea..... ID: o tremity of the Mediterranean Sea, at 9 )0 SueCot-h a distance of about five thousand 6 boa miles from New York. It is in the?./. l,/,...a. same latitude as Georgia and Ala- I bama. Its extent was small, for a / W 0?. 1 country so renowned -as it is only I c 0,:..Z." / Ib i, about one hundred and seventy-five ai i,i1,_a_. miles long, and from fifty to ninety o l I. i wide. It contained thirteen thousand Y Eker - 0 IA less than one third the extent of the -'".|, 1,"-;' IR, state of New York. ib4O~i k' On the west, Palestine is bounded:: by the Mediterranean; on the north z J by Phcenicia and Syria;* on the a,' east by the Syrian Desert, which ex- /; " L Adm,. n I |) tends to Mesopotamia; on the south, by the Arabian Desert. The position I - i4 of this country, in relation to others,'.aeerhe la -:..........'..oZoar may be seen by looking at the map.......... of The East, p. 70. This topic will.' ".......... Ft, I be further explained by the follow-:_ t ---— t.....4 i ing TABLE, V _t.. a..t r w...'.... Shiowing the Distance and Direction of various Places Smyrna, in Asia Minor,. 900. Nearly north-west fwg ein a Derecsae m. IEphesus, in Asia Minor,.. 850 Nearly north-west. from Jerusalem. Byzantium, or Constantinople, 950 North-west. Places. Dist. from Jerusalem. Direction from Jerusalem. Athens, in Greece...1.... 1500 Nearly north-west. Memphis, in Egypt,..... 300.. Nearly west. Rome, in Italy,. 2000 Nearly north-west. rhebes, Upper Egypt,.400. South-west. Carthage, in Africa,.800 Nearly west. Alexandria, in Egypt..... 500.. Nearly south-west. An examination of the map at p. 70 will show that Mount Sinai, in Arabia,....280 Nearly south. Palestine, and the adjacent territory of Syria, lay in Petra, in Edom or Idumea,.. 150. South. Babylon, in Chaldea, or Babylonia, 450.. Nearly east. the natural route of land travel between Egypt; Arabia, Nineveh, in Assyria.450.. Nearly north-east. Persia and Assyria, on one side, and the countries of Persepolis, in Persia.. 900.. Nearly east. and on River Indus, in India..... 175.. East. Asia Minor and Europe on the other. It therefore Ecbatana, in Media...... 700.. Nearly north-east. was the pathway of the great armies which in ancient Mount Ararat, in Armenia,.. 600.. North-east. ountioch Ararat, in SyAr menia, 00 North-east. days were led by conquerors from one side of the Antioch, in Syria..... 300 North. Damascus, in Syria,.. 200 Nearly north. continent to the other; and hence this territory has Camsarea, in Asia Minor,.. 500 Nearly north. been involved in nearly all the great struggles whlich -~ -~ t h e I~ prsn tme nin i,. nfor forty centuries have agitated Asia. * At the present time, the ancient Syria, Phmenice, and The natural features of Palestine are striking. It is Palestine, are included under the general name of Syria. To. t;he view of that country we refer for various geographical covered over with mountains, hills, and valleys. Twc, particulars. ranges of mountains traverse nearly its whole leiz~l A MOUNTAIN S-CLIMATE..57 from north to south: of those on the west side _ of the Jordan, Lebanon is the most remarkable. It is very elevated', and its tops are covered with perpetual snow. Its cedars, so celebrated in ancient' days, are nearly stripped from its sides -. ——,/ In former times, Lebanon was the abode of___....'-_ eagles, lions, leopards, and other savage beasts. l The most fjmous of the mountains on the.,' east of the Jordan, are Hersnon, B asthan, Gilead and Abharim'. The former is covered withsnowv: /[I"l great quantities of this was anciently, carried |__l__ l l from Hermon, as well as Lebanon, to Tyre, a.nd sold as a luxury. Bashan was famed for its rich pastures, its fine cattle, and itsstately oaks. Gilead was noted for its medical gu9m. or balm. South of Gilead are the Abarim.._____ __ Mountains, on the highest peak of which, called View of Mount Lebanon. 1|isgah, Moses had a view of the Promised Land. Carmel, on the sea-coast, is noted as the residence of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. North-east from Carmel is Mlount Tabor, on: - _'_'._-. whose summit it is supposed our Savior's transfiguration took place. North of this is the -. Mnount of the Beatitudes, where Christ delivered the sermon on the mount. Mount'Gilboa, in this region, is famous for the battle in which the sons of Saul were slain. The principal river of Palestine is the Jordan, which rises at the foot of Mount Hermon, and, flowing southwardly one hundred and obrty miles, empties into the Dead Sea. It is deep and rapid, and about a hundred feet in width l toward its mouth. The Jabbok, Gadara, and Mount Car'mel. lleshbon are the principal tributaries of this stream. The Dead Sea, or Sea ofJ the Plain, or Lake AspimAiltites, is a salt lake, remarkable for being:__ fourteen hundred feet below the level of the MNediterranean. its waters are bitter, and des- e _____ titute of fish. No bird frequents its bosom or - its shores. All around is still, desolate, and barren. The Sea of Galilee, Sea of Genesareth, or Sea of Tiberias, is surrounded by beautiful scenery. The River Jordan passes through it.'This lake is the scone ofsome of the mnost S interesting passages in the New Testament The mountainous regions of Palestine, abound. ing in limestone, are filled with caves, which in early times were the abodes of large numhers of persons, and even whole tribes. T'hey... _ were often resorted to for concealment or de-..ont'taor. fence, in times of trouble, war, and persecution........................___ The term wilderness, in Scripture, is often -....... applied to fields and high plains reserved for pasture. Many of the plains of' Palestine, as ___.. Esdraelon, or Megiddo, Sharon, the Jordan,...- - and Rephaimrn, were exceedingly fertile.' ",_' - - The climate of Palestine is warm, like that..... of South Carolina, though the high and hilly re- I _____ /, t, __.__:,.. gions are more temperate. In spring, and late -. in autumn, the rains are copious; in summer, there is no rain, but the dews are heavy. In the latter part of this season, the east wind dries _ uip vegetation and withers the herbage. The - - p'hysical features of this country furnish to the __ sacred writers an unbounded source of beautiful mnd striking imagery. In ancient times, Palestine was a prolific tamei, Ox, and Ass. 18 |[3tJ8 ANIMALS-VE GETABLE PRODUCTIONS Jountry; the pastures were teeming with flocks; the and mules were numerous, and the white ass, or valleys were covered with corn; and the hlil sides atzn, was an object of peculiar value and high regard. were clothed with vineyards. Solomon had forty We are told that Job had no less than a thousand of.housand stalls of horses for his chariots, besides drom- these. The fatlings of Bashan are often mentioned in edaries. The children of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh Scripture. Sheep and goats were abundant. took fifty thousand camels from the Arabs. Asses Among the wild animals were the bear, fox, wolf White Ass.,ion, leopard, and jackal. The latter animal, seeming was, to a great extent, the result of cultivation; for at a compound of the dog and wolf, was common, and the present day, large portions of the country, once went about in prowling bands, destroying the sheep, covered with crops, are absolutely barren and desrobbing the graveyards, hanging upon the skirts of elate. A few valleys and districts are still producarmies, and even entering the houses carrying off tive; but, on the whole, this portion bears the same leather harnesses, boots, and shoes, for food. In pur- general aspect of waste and poverty which belongs suing their dreary hunt, they were accustomed to cheer to the other dominions of Turkey. The present each other with a desolate yell, like that of wailing population of Palestine is hardly a million, while in the time of King David it was from five to seven millions. In orderto understand the many changes in the political divisions of this country, it is necessary to glance - ~ —— _.._~ —~~__ at the course of its history. Abraham, having removed from Mesopotamia, settled in Canaan, which i at that remote period -previous even to the settlemen -W- m 3 I of Greece -was filled with various populous tribes, ~_'~~~ ~Long after, when the Israelites returned from Egypt and entered the country under the command of Josh~~~~~ ~~ua, about 1450 B. C., it was occupied by nations, some of which had large cities, and were consideras. bly advanced in the arts. A. sketch'of these, with i - " ~,,t,~~Nn~~~~-~ 1~-~ c~~~~ 39 a a map, will be found in Chapter XCI., beginning at p. 154. At account of the distribution of the conquered territory among the twelve tribes, will be found at p. 165. -'h~0,. ~,x~.~~' [d [ 1: _ For several hundred years, the tribes continued either under the- government of the Mosaic law, or the sway 1 Jackal. of judges, who were remarkable persons, coming intc notice by the call of emergency or necessity. children. It is conjectured by some learned men, Under Saul, the first king, all the tribes were united, that the foxes of Samson, which set fire to the fields and David, who succeeded, extended the boundaries (if the Philistines, were jackals. of the kingdom, and raised the nation to its highest Among the remarkable vegetable productions of pitch of wealth and power. Solomon succeeded, and this quarter of the world, we may mention the stately during his reign the country continued to flourish. cedars of Lebanon; the palm-tree, one of the noblest This was the period of the Greek poet Homer,products of the forest; the mustard plant, that here about 1000 B. C. At this time, the ancient empires grows to such a height as to cover a tent; the pome- of Assyria and Babylonia were in all their splendor, granate, a delicious fruit; the mandrake, to which the Phcenicia was the great leader in commerce; Egypt Jews attached many superstitious notions; with other had, perhaps, passed its zenith of power and glory; trees, plants, and shrubs, common to this region. Asia Minor and Greece were peopled, and many petty The fertility of Palestine, of which we have spoken, kingdoms were rising into notice. -I ires _lns _n.hus omnt hsrfin sa iio n reewr epeadmn et Fo r oboam, the son of Solong space, the Israelit- centuries it was a portioned; ero, oman empire. It was rael, (975 B. C.) Judanh consisted of the tibes, Syrians of tury, and finally it came under the Romainion of tamphiat last to the Romans. It was in tribese year 63 B.C. hered to Israel, of whippodrome, is one of the diRomans, Paltiestine was ndivided two hundred and fifty years, when ithat Palestine was conquered of the Janordan; and Pera, east of the seaportdan. -ven. CnJopa, or JGaff a. byof Jerthsalem, now called Jassyria, is a placthe peof opighlike mostly carried The towns and cities ofin Palestine have undergone as into captivity, (729 Bsea. C.) It is now an insignificant townf thougdah wachurches, or temples, which aseem almost incredible. Jerusalemsts an independent kingdom for more han a ve witnessed mornce containring a millionks. Sri the capitantsl of the kings of Isor first miracle, is so nearly lost that its site is matter of his residence, is a heap of ruins, occupied by miseradispute.. rusetlem was taken, the birthple of David and e-ble Arabs. A recent traveller here fousand an Arab susFor a long space, the Jews were subject successavior lived the turnaving is plough around; Jerichone of the columns only to Jhe first thie years of his life, reeks, Egyptians, yriansfied, andvery prusalae eanred under the Romaught Herodssing an Ruins of Askelon. at skeloastn, one of the strong cities of the year 63 Philistnes, ed," said the ppodrophet Zechariah; and the event con i stine was conquered by Pompey a m onfl scenet of desms to th e prediction. Ashdod, whic withstoort.haiofed ruins. Its massive wfalls ar place of high like throwstn down, ther places in PaleEgyptian king, Psammeticus, fmemor tweny-in and its port is filled onp ith stones. nceThe king shall yearsojects beingthe longest seige on record is a markisea byl ersh spots om thaza. globe havelon shall not be inhabitg and villmonage, amiid he apsital of ruthe kings of Is Is a murnul cee o deolaio - a- mas f ni- fom otepedcin sdd wihwtso( 140 CALLING OF ABRAHAM-HIS MIGRATION TO;ANAAN. i i In- _ ~ _ _ Mosque of Abraham at Orfa. C II A P T E R LXXXV. and ceremonies, events and transactions, of a kind 1996 to 1821 B. C. widely different from any others, and instructs mankind in a mode unknown to other narratives, because naaatn. ola gooit brings directly into view the supernatural operatlions naan. of the Creator. Throughout the whole history, the TITE people who now claim our attention have been divine design seems to be kept ill view, in setting apart iKnown by several names; as, Hebrews, Israelites, and one family fiom the rest of the nations; and that is. to Jews; these having been given to them in the succes- preserve the true religion in the world, and to prepare sive periods of their history. The last is the name by the way for -the great development, by Jesus Christ, which they have generally been called for many ages in after ages. The national faith, amid all its expopast, and is derived from Judah, who was the head of sures and temporary suspensions, is identified with ti;e the principal tribe. history of the nation. To a Jew, state and church are'Phis nation, without reference to its religious belief, ever the same; his government is his religion, and his is among the most remarkable in the annals of man- religion is his government. kind. It sprang from one definite stock, at an early The father of the Jewish nation was Abraham, at period of the world, and has ever since retained its first called Abram, born in the year 1996 B. C. lHe individual, isolated character amid an infinite variety was a member of a pastoral family, whose head was of fortune. The Jews have ever been known as a Terah, and whose brethren were Nahor and Haran. peculiar people, whether united jn national sovereignty Haran, probably the eldest, died early, leaving a son under varying forms of government, or expelled from named Lot. Abram was married to Sarai, daughter their native land, and dispersed among other nations. of Terah by another wife. Nahor married Milcah, a They constitute, perhaps, the only unmingled race daughter of Haran. which can boast a very remote antiquity; and, though The native place of this family was Ur,f a district hated, scorned, and oppressed, in most countries, they of Chaldea. This region, though well suited for passubsist a numerous and often a thriving people. In ture, was not adapted to tillage, as it was an open, dry all the changes of manners and opinions around them, and barren country. It could not, therefore, support they preserve their time-hallowed institutions, their a numerous people, as the descendants of Abraham national spirit, and their deathless hope of restoration were destined to be. The nature of the country, as to grandeur and happiness in thehome of their fathers.* well as the design of God, as will hereafter appear, The religious history of this people is also peculiar would not admit of the continuance of this household and extraordinary. It informs us in regard to opinions where they had hitherto resided. Aside from its * "If we speak of pedigrees, the Talbots, Percys, and him by the peculiar mercy of his God, in his transition state Ho-wards, are like mushrooms of yesterday! Show me a Jew, from bondage to freedom, and, by the innate depravity of his and you show me a man whose genealogical tree springs from human nature, from prosperity to; insolence, ingratitude, and Abraham's bosom, whose family is older than the decalogue, rebellion. and who bears incontrovertible evidence, in every line of his "Following him on, you find him the serf of Rome. You Oriental countenance, of the authenticity of his descent trace him from the smouldering ashes of Jerusalem, an outthrough hundreds of successive generations. cast and a wanderer in all lands; the persecutor of Christ, "'You see him a living argument of the truth of divine rev- yQu find him the persecutor of Christians, bearing all things, elation. In him you behold the literal fulfilment of the suffering all things, strong in the pride of human knowledge, prophecies. Writh him you ascend the stream of time, not stiffnecked, and gainsaying, hoping all things;'For the Lord voyaging by the help of the dim, uncertain, and fallacious will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set light of tradition, but guided by an emanation of the same them in their own lands; and the strangers shall be joined light which to his nation was a' cloud by day and a pillar with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.' " of fire by night.' In him you see the representative of the Blackwood. once favored people of God, to whom, as to the chosen of t The city of Orfa, in Mesopotamia, is imagined to be the mankind, he revealed himself their legislator, protector, and birthplace of Abraham; and here a splendid mosque is,zing; who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of erected to his memory, as we have stated in the introductlon he ho-lse of bondage. You behold him established, as it to Assyria. were, forever in the pleasant places allotted him. You trace MIGRATION-CANAAN-ITS PEOPLE-PHARAOH-LOT. 141 uncongenial soil, it was the locality and the inspirer of a priest of the most high God; but, as will be seen mn a.alse worship. On its spacious plains of Chaldea, due time, they must have rapidly degenerated. From.wkere the nights are cool and serene, a pastoral people the earliest times, the PheniclLns were addicted to would naturally direct their attention to the heavenly learning. The sciences of arithmetic and astronomy bodies. Hence, not only was the science of astronomy were invented or improved by them, and they are known first cultivated here, but the earliest form of idolatry to have introduced letters into Greece. In manuwas adopted; viz., the worship of the sun, moon, and factures and architecture they had made some progstars, which we have already mentioned under the head ress at a very early period." From the brief account of Sabeisnm. which the Scriptures give of the dealings of Abram A change of location, so common to the nomadic with the Canaanites, it would appear that the arts of tribes of the East, at length took place among the the Phlanicians were spread among them, for they family of Terah, which migrated to Charrre, or Haran were acquainted with the use of money, and other in-a barren region lying west of Ur. Here they had ventions, which indicate a degree of advancement in not long been settled, before Abram, by the com- intellectual culture. mand of God, set forth to establish an independent The occurrence of a famine in Canaan, soon after tribe in a distant country. It was a separation, as he arrived in the land of Canaan, induced Abram to already intimated, for high religious purposes, and oc- remove into Egypt, one of the earliest and most procurred 1921 B. C. Lot, the son of his brother, Haran, ductive corn countries of antiquity. Here his domestic chose to accompany him. Abram was now in his peace was exposed and invaded, partly by means of 75th year, and he had already, while in Ur, received his own disingenuousness, and partly through the a divine communication on the subject of his removal cupidity of the Egyptian monarch. Fearing that his into a new region, and the future destinies of his pos- fair wife might be seized and transferred to the harem terity. He had the promise of a numerous race, and of Pharaoh, and that he might be slain on her account, a mysterious intimation was added, that some portion he adopted the precaution of making her assume the of his future progeny should exercise a most important name of his sister, she being in fact his step-sister. influence on the destinies of the world. The artifice, however, brought him into difficulty, The family of Abram at this time included a group for Sarai was taken and narrowly escaped being added of several persons; and, with all their servants and to the number of the king's wives. The divine visitaflocks, they commenced their removal. He must have tion upon the latter, for his breach of hospitality to the taken a north-western direction, over a part of the stranger, induced him at once to restore her to her desert of Syria. It was a long journey of at least husband; and Abram returned to Canaan with all the three hundred miles from his home. Tradition says possessions he had acquired in Egypt, including large that he dwelt some time near Damascus. According presents which he had received from Pharaoh on acto the Bible, the first part of Palestine in which he set- count of his wife. Abram's wealth is described as tled was Sichem, a valley five hundred yards wide, being very great, consisting not only of flocks and between the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, running into herds, usually the principal property of a pastoral a fine plain, seven or eight miles long and one or two chieftain, but of gold and silver. broad, on the east. Then he moved to a mountain on Abram first re-occupied his former encampment bethe east side of Bethel; afterwards, he journeyed tween Bethel and Hai, and offered sacrifice for his safe towards the south. When he first came into the return from Egypt. As the former inhabitants doubt. country, we learn, from the sacred record, that " the less possessed much of the best land, the remainder Canaanite was in the land." It was the land of Ca- could not, in one district, support such large flocks as naan, therefore, to which he was called, and which was were owned by Abram and Lot. This circumstance promised to him and his descendants. created a difficulty between the herdsmen of the two The first inhabitants of this country were descended patriarchs. Fearing this might prove prejudicial to from Canaan, the son of Ham, and the eleven sons of their interests among the native clans, they put an end that patriarch. Here they flourished exceedingly; to it by agreeing to separate. Lot departed eastward trade and war seem to have been their first occu- into the fertile valley of the Jordan, which had within pations. These, with manufactures, gave rise to their its borders a large and flourishing population, dwelling riches, and to the several colonies settled by them in cities and towns. After the separation, — which was subsequently over almost all the islands and maritime an event propitious to the isolation of the chosen famprovinces of the Mediterranean. That they were an ily, — the Lord renewed his promise to Abran of a ingenious people, and somewhat advanced in the arts countless race to proceed from him, and of the fail even in the time of Abram, is not to be doubted. In- land which was to be their inheritance. Abram again eluding the Phoenicians, they must be. considered as changed his residence, and the tents of his tribe were among the more early civilized communities, however pitched in the " plain of Mamre, that Was in Hebron." rude they were in comparison with some nations who At this juncture occurred the first wars the details followed them. of which are recorded in history, and in them the head Among this people were the different classes of mer- of the Hebrew nation became implicated. Lot, who chants, artificers, soldiers, shepherds, and husbandmen. had not been long in his new location, was taken capThose who resided on the sea-coast were merchants tive with others, when Sodom -the place in which he and artificers- occupations in which the neighboring lived -and all the adjacent region was ravaged and Phoenicians were engaged. They who resided inland, subdued by the arms of Chedorlaomer, king of Elam. in fixed abodes and walled places, cultivated the land. This prince, joining in a confederacy of kingdoms, or Shepherds and soldiers led a more wandering life. In predatory tribes, on the Euphrates and Tigris, had, war, they manifested courage and craft. Their reli- thirteen years before, attacked the princes of the valgion seems to have been uncontaminated to the days lev of the Jordan, and subjected them to the payment of Abram, when Melchizedek, being among them, was of tribute. They were invaded again in consequence 42 HISTORY OF ABRAHAM. af endeavoring to throw off the yoke, and with the in safety. He recovered also the booty which the dep. same success on the part of the invaders. redators had taken away. He was greeted, oi his When the news of Lot's disaster was conveyed to return, as a victorious leader. One extraordinary per. Abram by one who had escaped, he immediately col- sonage paid him a peculiar honor. Melchisedek, the ected three hundred and eighteen of his own servants, king of Salem,-probably Jerusalem,- who united in and with some of his confederates in the vicinity, he his person the offices of king and priest, and worshipped pursued the enemy to a place near the fountains of the the one true God, brought forth bread and wine, and Jordan. Here he made a night attack upon them, blessed the deliverer of his country. dispersed them, and brought back Lot and the captives View on the Shores of the Dead Sea. C H A P TIE R L X X XVI. VISubsequent to these transactions was the destruction 1996 to 1821 B. 0. of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, the licentious cities among whose people Lot had taken up his abode. History of Abraham, continued. The intercessions of the benevolent patriarch for the P.os os in. ext l cs preservation of these places would have availed, had Pr 1 S in externa circumstances, still the pios 1ten righteous persons been found within their prepatriarch had no heir. Notwithstanding the divine b f wh t pre patriarch ha no heir.Notwitstandingthedivine cincts; but the guilt was universal, and the ruin became assurances given on the subject of a numerous poster-intbu he gitwau isa and r n be ity, he began to indulge some anxiety. He was, there- nei. Teventw its esad onse fore, again confirmed, through a divine vision, in the I which gives a vivid picture of the violation of the expectation which he had been led to form, preceded he viion, by an aile vc fm hea... I sacred laws of nature and hospitality of which the was of a propheti c charater, and t he fate of his de-.ndeed, by an audible voice from heaven. The vision people were guilty, on a certain occasion, and of the was of a prophetic character, and the fate ofhi fiery inundation that swallowed them up. Physical scendants, through several succeeding ages, was briefly fe y iowe te up Psia pictured to him. At the same time, the whole terri- cue d rectb roin e wr ote e tory from the Euphrates to the. sea, was insuredby ployed to effect the ruin of this portion of the valley covenan to his offspring. watered by the Jordan. Present appearances, as well covenant to his-offspring. In despair of having children, the custom of the as the records of history, show the reality and the I nature of the catastrophe here described. All whc East was adopted, by Sarai, of substituting a slave in t re of the e he d ie A wh her place, whose children were entitled to all the rank t rn and privileges of legitimacy. Hagar, an Egyptia mony as to the peculiarities of the whole region; the servant, was thus substituted, and the seprecipitous crags hanging over dull and gloomy waves, servant, was thus substituted, and the son which she boreto Abm ws c h. To t7 c. the apparent purity of the water, and yet the bitter brtoAbram was strongl att ache. a Thoughi assurd saltness of its taste, the unwholesome fogs that envelop Abram was strongly attached, and, though assured, some years afterwards, by a new revelation, that Sarail.I1- 1... ^ 1 1.. tinually rising up firom the bottom. Evident traces of would have a son, he desired to transfer the blessing to Ishmael, rather than to the unborn. But such was volcanic action appear throughout the valley.* not the divine will; the race of Abram was to have no taint of illegitimacy. He was now commanded to * The Dead Sea, of which so many strange stories have been told is about forty-four miles long and eleven broad. assume the name of Abraham,- father of a multi-Sme iaototy ssume the name of braham, -at.er of a mu Some m ake it considerably more, some rather less. It lies in tude, -or the progenitor of a great people, who were to a deeply depressed hollow, having mountains of twenty-five become masters of Palestine. Distinguished, from this hundred feet on the east, and fifteen hundred on tlhe west. period, by the rite of circumcision, they were to be From its great depth, and the concentration of heat over it, constituted, in this special sense, likewise, a peculiar by the glare from its whitish and naked borders, it nation. At this same period, the name of Sarai was has been compared to a seething caldron. Its surface is many. nation. At this same period, the name of Sarai was hundred feet — accounts vary from five hundred to fourteen c hanged to Sarah.| hundred feet — below that of the Mediterranean Sea; and [ CHAPTER LXXXVI. Subsequent to these transactions urr~s the destruct [! HISTORY OF ABRAHAM. 143 Lot providentially escaped from the devoted city- to obey, and had actually proceeded so far as to raise where he dwelt, but his wife, lingering behind, became the sacrificial knife in order to give the fatal blow a victim of the divine displeasure, being changed into when his arm was arrested, and an animal was suba pillar of salt. Lot fled from the devoted city, first stituted in the room of Isaac. The place of this trans. to Zoar, which was spared at his instance; afterwards action was Mount Moriah, which Abraham called.Je he took refuge in the adjacent mountains, where his hovah Jireh- the Lord will provide. In this case, the daughters betrayed him, during a state of intoxication, conduct of the patriarch is to be regarded as a simple into gross iniquity. though signal act of faith, in no respect analogous to Soon after this period, Abraham removed from the the impious offering of the first born, in the worship Ilains of Mamre into the country of the Philistines, of Moloch. where the licentious designs of King Abimelech, in Abraham's honorable and quietdemeanor toward his respect to Sarah, were arrested by a direct monition neighbors was well calculated to conciliate the affecof God, in consequence of which Sarah was sent tion of the surrounding tribes, so that, on the death ot back to her husbandd, with many valuable presents. Sarah, he found no difficulty in procuring her sepulture At the appointed time, the child of promise, afterwards in the territory of a neighboring prince. He had named Isaac, was born, in the year 1896 B. C., Abra- lived with her about thirty-six years from the birth of ham being a hundred years old. The birth was an Isaac. The place which he purchased for the purpose occasion of unwonted joy, and was celebrated by a was the cave of Machpelah, with the field belonging household feast. An alloy to this happiness sprang to it, the property of Ephron the Hittite. He gave up, at length, from the jealousy which the free-born four hundred pieces of silver for it, and there he child occasioned to Hagar and her son; for the former deposited, the remains of his wife. From the beginhad scarcely attained his seventh year, when his ning, the Hebrew people were to be separate from mother, perceiving that Ishmael treated him with dis- every other, and this separation was to be observed in respect, resolved to part them forever. Sarah's the article of sepulture. It was on this account that request, enforced by divine sanction, induced the pa- Abraham refused to accept the generous offer of the triarch to send Hagar and her son away. Though chiefs of the tribe of Heth, to bury his dead in their the son of the bondwoman might have no share in the national sepulchres. This might have the appearance inheritance, yet, according to divine promise, Ishmael of a formal union between the clans. He even rewas to become the father of a great nation.* fused it as a gift, and insisted on purchasing a separate About twenty-five years after this event, Abraham's field. faith and obedience were put to the most severe trial, The Abrahamic family, in the progress of its hisas he was commanded by the great Disposer of life to tory, is marked by another instance of isolation - and take his beloved son to a certain mountain, and there that pertains to its marriages. The wife of the now offer him up as a burnt sacrifice. Abraham prepared marriageable Isaac, who was in his fortieth year, must its level varies ten to fifteen feet, at different seasons, the No living thing was found in the sea; the fish that the evaporation being, of course, immense. fresh and salt streams-for there were several of both, warm Precipitous crags, of frowning grandeur, hang over this as well as cold - brought into the sea, - and the streams conremarkable sea; a solemn desolation is the characteristic tained plenty, -were suffocated on coming into its waters, and feature of its scenery; the shadow of death seems to rest floated dead upon the surface. Fish, too, that were taken alive, upon it. Yet there are, on its shores, occasional patches of in the streams, by the party, and thrown into the sea, immeverdure, where a fresh water stream, of which there are sev- diately perished. Ducks, however, were seen swimming and eral, flows into it. In such spots reeds and palms are found, playing upon the water, and birds flying over it. and at Engedi are also cultivated fields. Excellent drinking At the extreme -south point of the Dead Sea is a ridge of water is found by digging in the dark brown sand of the rock salt, one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet high shore. and five miles long. Here is found what the Arabs tradiA writer belonging to the expedition sent by our govern- tionally deem to be Lot's wife, transformed into a pillar of ment, in 1848, to survey this sea, gives us the following facts: salt. It is a column of crystallized rock salt, sixty feet high Near the northern end, the sea was found to be two hundred and forty in circumference. All, however, that we actually and forty feet deep; near the middle, ten hundred and eighty; know of the disaster of Lot's wife, is from the sacred record, at the south bay, one to five feet. The bottom is of mud, which simply states that " she became a pillar of salt." We slime, or salt crystals. The water is very salt and bitter, may suppose a shower of nitro-sulphurous particles from the transparent, and surprisingly buoyant; so much so, that a atmosphere, and a setting on fire of the hollow, asphaltic plain, horse led in had his legs lifted to the surface, and was thrown with its cities built of combustible bitumen; and that, beover upon his side. The extreme density of the water was wildered and suffocated by her too long delay, or attempt to further manifested, not only by the boat's drawing less return, the unfortunate woman became an incrusted salsowater than when floating on the Jordan, but by the solid bituminous heap or pillar, a monument of salt, or lasting thumping of the waves, in a storm, against the boats. This memorial of the effects of disobedience. the iron boat was able to bear; but the copper boat was so * It is said of Ishmael, in Scripture, that he shall be a battered as to require repairs; a wooden boat would proba- "wild man." The Hebrew is, literally, a " wild ass of a man." bly have been destroyed. What is said of the wild ass (Job xxxix. 5-8) is the best Lavoisier's analysis gives, in one nundred grains of the description of the descendants of Ishmael- the Bedouins and water, six and a quarter of chloride of sodium, and about wandering Arabs. God hath sent them out fiee; loosed them thirty-eight and a seventh of muriated lime, and muriate of from political restraint. The wilder ness is their habitation, and magnesia. On bathing in it, the skin becomes covered with in the parched land, where no other human beings could live, an oily substance, occasioning prickling and very uncomfort- they have their dwellings. They scorns the city, and therefore able sensations, till washed off in fiesh water. While the have no fixed habitations; for their multitude they are not surveyors were floating on this sea, so completely was the afraid, and when they make depredations on cities, they retire atmosphere saturated, that even their clothing became salt, with such precipitancy, that all pursuit is eluded: in this and the skin of the hands and face, during the day, became respect, the crying of the driver is disregarded. They may be stiff, disagrecable, and oily, with a prickly feeling. Common said to have no lands, tlEeir soil not being portioned out to salt would not dissolve in the water, and it is said to preserve individuals in fee simple; yet the range of the mountains is vegetable and animalsubstances, immersed in it, from decay. their pasture, — they pitch their tents and feed' their flocks the stones of the beach were incrusted with salt; and in the where they please; they search after every green, thing, - cvery course of an hour, fresh footprints in the sand were covered kind of property they meet witL is their prey. - Dr. Adalmn with an incrustation. This was in the month of April. Clarke. 144 THE LIFE AND TIM'l S OF ISAAC. be sought among his father's relatives in Charran. record, it is precisely opposite. God and man are Accordingly, one of the patriarch's most faithful ser- separated by a wide and impassable interval. Abra. vants was commissioned, under the solemnity of an ham is the emir of a pastoral tribe, migrating from oath, to undertake the procuring of a wife for Isaac, place to place, his stations marked with geographical in pursuance of certain instructions which he had re- accuracy and with a picturesque simplicity of local ceived on the subject. The servant proceeded with description; here he pitches his tent by some old and all possible speed to Charran, where Abraham's brother, celebrated tree; there, on the brink of a well known Nahor, resided; and partly by rich presents, partly fountain. He is in no respect superior to his age or by the favorable account he gave of Abraham's wealth country, excepting in the purity of his religion. He and greatness, he easily obtained the fair Rebekah, is neither demi-god, nor mighty conqueror, nor even daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, for his young mas- sage, nor inventor of useful arts. His distinction is ter. Having acquitted himself of his commission. the worship of one God. and the intercourse which the messenger, with Rebekalh, reached in safety the he is permitted to hold with this mysterious Bieing. encampment of Abraham, where Isaac conducted his Society, during the times of Abraham, appears in betrothed into, and put her in possession of, the tent all its primitive character. What it was, compared of his mother, Sarah. The marriage relation com- with a preceding era, that immediately after the floodmenced from this period. what its progress was —we are not able to say, as Several years after the death of Saiah, Abraham we have no means of making a comparison. The married Keturah, by whom he had six sons. Those brevity of the scriptural record does not admit it. he afterwards specially portioned, that they might not We only know that the human family, at a very interfere with Isaac's inheritance. They accordingly remote period, were sufficiently advanced to enter lived apart from the latter, in the Eastern country, upon the construction of such a work as the tower of probably in Arabia, where some traces of their names Babel. In respect to the condition of society in the are supposed still to be found. Their descendants are time of Abraham, and in the countries where he frequently recognized among the people noticed in the mostly dwelt, nothing could exceed its simplicity. In Jewish history, but always as aliens from the stock of reading the few incidents of his life, we are thrown Abraham. Nothing more is recorded of this renowned back into a state of society not merely different from ~man than that he died at the age of one hundred and modern usages, but from those which prevailed among seventy-five years, and was buried by his sons, Ishmael the Jews after their departure from Egypt. Every and Isaac, in the sepulchre of Machpelah.* thing is plain, unadorned, natural, primeval. Every Such is the history of their great ancestor, pre- thing breathes the free air of the wide and open plains served in the national records of the Jewish people, of inland Asia, where the inhabitants are spreading, remarkable for its simplicity and historic truth, when without opposition or impediment, with their flocks, compared with the mythic or poetic traditions of almost herds, and camels, ovei' unbounded regions. Mankind all other countries. The genealogies of most nations, appear in their infancy, gradually extending their ocparticularly the Eastern, are lost among their gods. cupancy over territories either entirely unappropriated, It is impossible to define where fable ceases and his- or as yet so recently and sparsely peopled, as to adtory begins, and the higher we ascend, the more indis- mit, without difficulty, the new swarm of settlers tinct and marvellous is the narrative. In the Hebrew which seem to come fiom the birthplace of man, in the heart of Asia. They are peaceful shepherds, * No personage of antiquity is more renowned than Abra- tending their flocks, or travelling on their camels from ham. The Arabs boast their descent -from the "father of place to place, and pitching their tents as convenience the faithful," the "friend," as they call him; and he is equally or necessity requires, or as richer pastures invite. venerated by Christian, Jew, and Mahometan. He was se- Wherever they settle they sink wells, and thus render lected from that nomadic race, which, under various names, stretches from the north-eastern extremity of Asia to the the unpeopled districts, habitable. The camel and the north-western shore of Africa. ass are the only beasts of burden; the war horse is This race, of a stubborn but simple character, of a rude unknown among the mere nomadic countries. but indomitable energy, from the habits incident to their condition as rovers of illimitable plains, not settled with cities, and fit only for pasturage, and that precarious, have never fallen into that grossness of idolatry which has infected all the civilizations bordering upon them, - that is, all the civilizations of the earth. Their minds, though stupid, were, and C H A P T E L X X X V I I. are, mostly unsophisticated by faire science, false. doctrine, 1821 to 176 B. C. faklities of education. On the other hand, a settled com dlition, a fertile soil, and the wealth consequent thereupon, together with the misap- The Life and Times of Isaac. plied learning and leisure of a we.l endowed priesthood, TIE tenor of Isaac's life was more even than tiat have sooner or later led more highly civilized nations into idolatry; and this so corrupted their intellect and affec- of his father, and hence furnishes a less prolific theme tions, that, in fact, the " common sense of mankind "-the for the historian. It is also the less necessary to dwell educated part of it —in Abraham's time, and. long before, upon it, in order to the right'understanding of the repudiated, as ridiculous, the idea of one God. The central Jewish history It is however the same truthful idea being false, all other truths, which are but derivatives of simple, and vivid narrative,incudin the incidents of it, became more or less distorted and falsified also. simple, and vd narrative, including the incidents of Abraham, whose simple, unadulterated mind had become the lives of his children, Esau and Jacob, and their impregnated, by divine revelation, with the central truth, the families, until nearly the time of the migration into one idea, became the proper witness of it to the chief nations Egpt. Though marie agreeably to is wishes and of the earth with which he was respectively brought into Ept h marrie reeal to his wh ad contact, especially, if Ur was, as some maintain, on the happy n his marriage, e emaned a long time chld borders of Northern India. He was, in fact, a princely mis- less; but the hopes of the descendant of Abraham, sionary from country to country, between nation and nation. and the hei; of the p'omise, were at length fulfilled in JACOB'S JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF HIS ANCESTORS. 145 the birth of a twin offspring, Esau and Jacob, in the pursued his long journey into the land of the people year 1837 B. C. of the East. His course, after leaving Bethel, lay, for With the earliest tokens of a struggle for superiority, the most part, in the north-eastern portion of Palesas would appear from the sacred account, these were tine, where he crossed the Jordan, and towards the destined thereafter to be the heads and representatives north-western frontier of Mesopotamia. Here, it is be of two hostile races. In temperament and disposi- lieved, Padan-aram was situated. tion they were opposite. Esau was fierce, reckless, The description of the primitive and picturesque restless, and sensual; Jacob was gentle, cautious, scenes of his meeting with Rachel, the daughter of quiet, and calculating. The red-haired, rough Esau Laban, the brother of his mother; his reception by the was a hunter, and delighted in the ruder exercises and family, and his numerous other adventures among his scenes of life. The smooth Jacob sought the pastoral nomadic ancestors, will not here be attempted. It can occupation, and cherished the peaceful, practical appear only in its real simplicity and beauty in the thoug'hts N which it inspired; he was, of course, far language of' Scripture. We need but state that, aftei better fitted to become the father of a united and both good treatment and bad, hospitality and churlish. settled people than his brother. Though the descend- ness, honesty and treachery, -after a series of serants of Esau, the Edomites reached a higher civiliza- vices of twice seven years for his two wives, and six tion, or rather were less removed from barbarism, than years for his cattle, - the various difficulties of his the Bedouins, who sprung from Ishmael; yet, in their protracted exile were surmounted, and Jacob: set out scattered condition, and continual wars, either among on his return, with wives, and children, and servants - themselves or with others, they must be viewed as an- a man of affluence, and one on whom the Divinity had tagonistic to the purposes that were sought in the iso- stamped the seal of his favor. This event occurred lation of the Abrahamic race. According to the ex- 1739 B. C. pressions of holy writ, they would live, as their pro- But, on his journey homeward, he would meet his gonitor did, by the sword and by the bow. vindictive and powerful brother, Esau. The latter was As Jacob was destined to inherit the blessing, or the to be appeased, if possible; and accordingly, when privilege of the first born, which seems to have con- Jacob had reached the borders of the land of Canaan, sisted in the acknowledged headship of the tribe, and at a place called Mahanaim, and which was situated on as he probably knew the fact through his mother, to the brook Jabbok, he sent messengers to announce his whom it was revealed, he took advantage of the earli- approach, as far as Seir-a district extending from est opportunity to secure it. After a day of unsuc- the foot of the Dead Sea. The messenger found cessful hunting, and consequent hunger and exhaus- Esau already gone forth with four hundred men to tion, Esau sold his right of primogeniture to his meet Jacob, and, upon their return, so informed him. brother for a mess of herbs. In addition to this ad- Although Jacob had been cheered by a vision, yet, vantage, the latter obtained, by craft, in connection to meet the emergency, he made such a disposition of with his mother's counsel and directions, the solemn his company and effects, as a wise caution, mingled blessing of his father — a blessing which at least con- with fear, might suggest; having in view the ultimate firmed the iight of primogeniture. " Be thou lord over safety of that portion of them which he most valued. chy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down With this preparation, he passed over the brook Jabbefore thee." There was now a pretext for a deadly bok, which lay in front. During the night that fol..eud between the brothers, the elder swearing revenge lowed, he is assured by another vision, in which he on account of these repeated injuries. The blessing supposes himself wrestling with a mysterious being. could not be recalled; but the life of the subject of it from whom he extorts a blessing, and also receives the might be rendered insecure and miserable through the name of Israel- The Prevailing. But his anxious, anger of a powerful brother and chieftain. The man- careful arrangements, together with his munificent agement, however, which secured for Jacob the bless- presents in preparation, proved not to have been ne. ing, provided the way -for his temporary escape, at cessary. least, from the threatened evils. Esau met his brother with every token of kindness With a view to this object, Jacob is sent to the home and affection; so entirely had Providence turned the of his ancestors in Mesopotamia, connected, also, with heart of the violent, but perhaps generous, hunter the purpose of seeking a wife among their descend- The latter accepted the gifts, after strong solicitation ants; for the isolation of the chosen race must con- and, at length, the two brothers separated. Jacob tinue to be maintained. The marriage connection instead of going to Seir, turned off towards the Jordan, even of Esau with the race of Canaan, which had encamped first at Succoth, and then crossed the above previously been consummated, was a subject of grief named river, and settled near' Shalem, or, perhaps, both to Isaac and Rebekah - so great was the aversion Shechem. This place was west of his former posiof the descendants of Abraham to the people of Ca- tion, and nearly central in Palestine; that is,: about naan. The sacred record states that Jacob went out forty miles north of Jerusalem. Here he purchased a from Beersheba, which is in the southern part of Pal- field of the inhabitants, and resided in security, until estine, and- that he journeyed to a certain place, where an event happened which drove him and his family he had a singular and animating vision. The place he away. called Bethel, though it had borne before the name of Isaac, in the mean time, had continued to reside in Luz. It was about eight miles north of Jerusalem; so the southern border of the promised land; he had conmthat he had come some forty miles in a northerly menced the cultivation of the soil, the results of which direction from Beersheba. were highly profitable. His wealtll, doubtless, was even Encouraged by the vision, which was that of a flight greater than that of his father; and the dignified quiet of steps reaching from earth to heaven, with minister- in which he passed his days, presents a beautiful picture ing angels perpetually ascending and descending, sym- of rural life in those times. Isaac seems to have slur bolical of the universal providence of God- Jacob passed the native population in one most useful art. - 10 146 DEATH OF ISAAC. that of sinking wells. It was invaluable in a region like He was, however, previously careful to remove from that of Palestine; and though he was forced to leave, in his family e very trace of the idolatries of Mesopotamia, one instance after another, the favored localities where some emble ms of which they had brought with them. a convenience of this kind had been procured, yet These, consisting of small images of the deities, and he was content to try others. The fact that he was ear-rings, probably considered as amulets, were deliv. driven by the native herdsmen from place to place, in ered up to Jacob, who buried them under an oak near order to enjoy the fruits of his labor, indicated their Shechem. This removal of Jacob and his family want of skill, or at least of success, in providing for seems to have been a kind of flight, for " the terror of themselves. He finally sunk a well where there was no God was upon. the cities that were round about them, strife, and he called it Rehoboth, - intimating hereby and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob." At that the Lord had made room for him and his family, Luz, he raised an altar, and called the place El where they would be fruitful in the land. Bethel, the Lord at the same time renewing the Such had been his manner of life from the time of promises made to his ancestors, Isaac and Abraham. his early domestic settlement. It was little varied by From Bethel, Jacob removed to Ephrath, which is the adventure or exposure. The risk he ran, in one in- same as Bethlehem, a few miles south-west from Jerustance, of losing his wife, through the curiosity or salem, where David, as well as our Savior, was aftermistake of Abimelech's people, was similar to that of wards born. his father, and was incurred by a similar, though Near this spot, and while on the journey, Rachel, the greater deceit; and a covenant which he made with favorite wife of Jacob, died, on giving birth to a child, Abimelech, at Beersheba,* was a token, as it was also afterwards called Benjamin. Having raised a monua means, of their mutual peace and good neighbor- ment over her grave, the patriarch sought a new sethood in time to come. tlement beyond the tower of Edar, the site of which is The event referred to above, in Jacob's family, was unknown, but is supposed to have been near Jerusathe violation of Dinah, his only daughter, by Shechem, lem. Here he was disturbed by the iniquity of Reuben, the son of Hamor, the great chieftain of the tribes his eldest son. At length, Jacob removed south to occupying the part of Canaan where Jacob then so- Hebron, "where Abraham and Isaac sojourned," and journed. It is a sentiment impressed on the Eastern from whence the plain of Mamre is spread out to the mind, especially on that of the Arabian tribes, that an view. Isaac was still alive, but his end was at hand. outrage of this kind is a wound inflicted most of all Having attained to the very great age of one hunon the brother of the female, and is to be by him re- dred and eighty years, he died, " and was gathered sented as an indignity offered to the tribe, or family. unto his people." With filial piety, both Esau and The steps taken by two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon Jacob paid due respect to his venerable remains. and Levi, to avenge the affront, were evidently fraught From this period, an entire separation ensued in with evil; they were a great trial to Jacob, and, as an Isaac's family. The two sons were possessors of indication of divine disapprobation, a degree of odium more wealth than was compatible with their contiguous attached to the names of the perpetrators. Jacob, in settlement. Esau occupied the country about Mount iiis last vision, reprobated Simeon and Levi as violent Seir, where also his descendants, the Edomites, conand bloodthirsty men; and, as if their descendants had tinued. Their history will be found in another place. inherited this trait, the latter are dealt with in a some- Jacob remained in Canaan with his opulent and powerwhat retributive manner, by receiving a smaller and ful family, until dissensions among his sons gave a turn divided portion of the Canaanitish territory. to their destiny of a most remarkable kind, separating Jacob retired to Luz, some twenty miles to the south,' for a long period the chosen people from the Land of where he had formerly parted from his brother Esau. Promise, — ever the bright star of their hopes, — and * The present appearance of this locality, so often and yet at length bringing to them the entire possession of long the residence of the Hebrew patriarchs, is thus truth- that inheritance. fully described by Messrs. Robinson and Smith. Approaching By the conclusion of this period we may notice some Canaan from the south, across an elevated plateau of the advance in the state of society from that of the Abradesert, one comes upon an open, undulating country. All hamic age. The progress of improvement is incidentaround are swelling hills, covered, in ordinary seasons, with grass and rich pasturage, but now, April 12, arid and parched ally revealed in the brief summary of the Scripture with drought. The site of Beersheba is on the north side record. The transactions are such as we might exof a sad'y, (a ravine dry at some seasons, at others the pect in those primitive times, under the circumstances bed of a stream,) which, running by Hebron south-west- that existed. They show that natural advancement erly, makes a wide curve to the south, and then tends from the simple aad rude state to that which implies north-westerly to the Mediterranean. Near the watercourse of the ravine are ten circular wells of fine water, more a higher degree of art and refinement. Abraham than forty feet deep., They are surrounded with drinking finds no impediment to his settling wherever fertile troughs of stone, for the use of camels and flocks. On the pastures invite him to pitch his camp. It is only in a higher ground, north of the wells, are ruins extending over a place of burial that he thinks of securing a proprietary plain of a half by a quarter of a mile. Here, then, is the spot where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob right. Jacob, on the contrary, purchases a field where often lived; here Samuel made his sons judges; and here he may pitch his tent. When Abraham is exposed Elijah went out into the desert, and sheltered himself beneath to famine, he appears to have had no means of sup. the rethem, a broom shrub, as do the Bedouins, nightly. ply but to go down himself to Egypt. In the time of To Hebron is twelve and a half hours, about thirty miles, Jacob a iegular traffic in corn existed between the north-east by east. After an hour and a half, we come out upon an open plain covered with grass, but now parched two countries, and caravanserais were established on with drought. Fields of wheat and barley are seen all the way. Trading caravans had likewise begun to around, and before us are the hills, the beginning of the traverse the Arabian deserts with spices and other mountains of Judah. At Dhoheriyeh, the first Syrian vil- products of the East, and with slaves, which they lage, thehills around are covered with millngled flocks of sheep and goats, and herds of neat cattle, horses, asses, and imported into Egypt. Among the simple nomads of camels, in the true patriarchal style of ancient days. Mesopotamia, wages in money were unknown: among JACOB AND HIS SONS IN EGYP'T. 147 the richer Phcenician tribes, gold and silver were of the domains of nature, for his hundred fold increase already current. showed that he turned up a hitherto unbroken soil. So, in regard to the matter of hospitality, the usages Even the characters of the different personages are of Abraham are more rude and primitive. He klills singularly in unison with the state of society described.he calf with his own hands, and uses no beverage There is the hunter, the. migratory herdsman, and the but that possessed by the mere owner of flocks, viz., incipient husbandman. These incidents, apparently kmilk. Isaac, a tiller of the ground, and commanding inconsiderable, still serve to show, with some clearness, more comforts around him, is able to gratify his taste the gradual advance of the human mind, and.he imwith savory meats and with wine for ordinary use. His provement of society, in the lapse of a few ages,:illage also exhibits something new in the management during the infancy ef the race. The Cup found in Benjamin's Sack. C I A P T E R iL x x XV I I. Iof Judah saved them from the guilt of fratricide. As a caravan of Arabian traders happened to pass by, 1716 to 1577 B.' C. while they were in the act of burying him in a pit, he proposed to his brethren to sell Joseph to them as a slave. To this they acceded; but the results were only THE migration of Jacob and his family into Egypt known in the councils of Him who governs the future. occurred in the year 1706 B. C., ten years after the They meant it for evil, but he intended it for good' death of Isaac; but as the circumstances which led to their cruel intimation of his death, by carrying the'his event,'transpired a few years previously, it is bloody coat of Joseph and presenting it to Jacob, as necessary to go back for a brief space, in order to no- though the child had been destroyed by a. wild beast, tice those circumstances. had well nigh distracted the doting father; but he Among the sons of Jacob there were rivalries and lived to see, as the end of this very crime, such {a lealousies of an unhappy nature, particularly on ac- happy reversion of the designs of the perpetrators, as count of Joseph, who happened to be the favorite of credulity itself could have scarcely believed. his father. Several of Jacob's other children had been By a variety of incidents, beautifully told in the guilty of criminal c6nduct, and brought calamity both sacred narrative, Joseph, being taken to Egypt, rose on him and themselves; but Joseph was faultless in. from the condition of a slave. to that of the grand disposition and character; he was, moreover, beautiful vizier, or chief minister, of Pharaoh. He was placed in person, and the son of the beloved Rachel. These in this station as well by his personal merit and signal circumstances influenced very greatly his parental abilities, as to meet the exigency of the seven years affections, and he was, unhappily, but too ready to of famine, that, according to Joseph's predictions, were evince his partiality by external tokens of regard. to be experienced throughout the kingdom of Egypt. Thus he habited his favorite in a coat of many colors, As these years were to be preceded by an equal and so distinguished him from his other sons. This period of unexampled plenty, it was necessary to make injudicious manifestation awakened the envy of Joseph's provision for the days of want, by laying in store of brethren. Their feelings were further irritated by two the superabundance which was first to flow upon t!he successive dreams, experienced by Joseph, which, in land. Joseph was appointed to conduct this operathe frankness of his disposition, he was free to make tion, and finally his superintendence of public afTIirs known to them. These dreams were of such a char- seemed to be limited only by the extent of the kingacter as naturally seemed to intimate his future supe- dom. riority over the whole family of Israel. The famine soon began to be felt, not only in Egypt. Jealousy and hatred, thus rankling in their bosoms, but in all the adjacent countries; and among the tirst soon induced them to seize an occasion to revenge vwho came to purchase corn, appeared the ten sons of themselves of their supposed wrongs, either by taking Jacob. Joseph knew them, although they knew not his life, or removing him firom their sight. The for- him. He conversed with them by an interlpreter, and mne' project was first resolved upon, but tile opposition by various inquiries satisfied himself respecting the 148 JACOB AND HIS SONS IN EGYPT. condition of his father, and younger brother, Benjamin, am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren who remained at home. He then contrived, by sev- could not answer, for they were troubled at his preseral innocent artifices, to try their sincerity and fidelity; ence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near and, as they were obliged to visit Egypt several times to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he for the purchase of grain, he at last brought them into said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into a. position of great difficulty, by causing a cup to be Egypt. Now, therefore, be not grieved nor angry placed in the sack of Benjamin, and then sending a with yourselves that ye sold me hither, for God did send messenger to overtake them, and find the cup; thus me before you to preserve life, and he hath made me a making it appear as if they had been guilty of theft. father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler When the brethren were all gathered before him in over all the land of Egypt." It would seem that the distress and confusion, by reason of what had taken inimitable pathos of the story, as given in the Bibld, place, the scene was too affecting for the magnani- were incontestable evidence of the truth of the narrative. mous brother longer to endure. He at once made Joseph sent his brethren away with ample prohimself known: "And he said unto his brethren, I visions, and with an equipage of wagons, slited to =. The Meeting of Joseph and his Brethren. transport their father and all the family into Egypt, for tion to that country, in order fully to understand the the famine was to continue five years longer. When history of the Hebrews at this period. Some important they arrived in Canaan, and told their aged father what particulars on this subject are gathered from the story had transpired, Jacob could not at first credit it. Con- of Jacob and Joseph, as recorded in the Scriptures, vinced, at length, of the wonderful change of fortune, and these coincide with our knowledge as derived from he assented to the proposal to go and see his long-lost other sources. Being one of the most celebrated son. The resolution was soon put into execution. countries of the ancient world, and possessing monuAll the legitimate descendants of Abraham, with all ments of surpassing greatness and most undoubted their families, amounting to seventy persons, migrated antiquity, attention is ever turned towards it with thrillinto Egypt, 1706 B. C. The meeting of Jacob and ing interest. It was even at this early date a splendid Joseph was affecting, and the introduction of the for- kingdom, and had reached a very high civilization: mer to Pharaoh was characterized by all the simple not that its claims to an indefinite antiquity can be at dignity and grace of antiquity. Joseph's high credit all substantiated, though its origin seems to have been insured to all his father's family a friendly reception, a problem to itself; and consequently to all others. and the fertile district of Goshen, the most productive The mysterious allegories of its worship.; the dark of the provinces, and having the best pasture land of grandeur of its morality; above all, the perplexing Egypt, was assigned by the liberal sovereign for their enigma of its written monuments, threw a mythoresidence. It included those low and sometimes logical veil over its history. The learned approach marshy meadows, which distinguish the Pelusiac branch this shadowy land, as if in the most obvious facts they of the Nile, and extend very considerably to the south, had to decipher a hieroglyphic legend, and inclined to and also many watercourses, grassy at certain sea- look upon the Egyptians as a people that, even in its sons, extending far into the eastern desert. It was a more modern periods, retained the faint tints and illregion eminently adapted to the purposes of the Israel- defined traits of remote antiquity, and which might ites, in the raising and tending of their flocks and herds.* consequently boast an existence beyond the reach of It will be interesting briefly to consider here the calculation. But the persevering study of a host of condition of Egypt at the period of Jacob's migra- scholars has at last penetrated the mysteries of their * Goshen, now called Es-,Shurkiyeh, is still, as formerly, the and intersected by wide shallow valleys, where is abundance richest district of Egypt, - " the best of the land." It extends of grass, bushes and shrubs during the rainy season. from south-west to north-east, along the Pelusiac branch of the Through the wadys Tumilat and Seba Byar ran the canal Nile, and south of it and Lake Mlenzaleh. It hasthebroadwady which united the Nile to the Red Sea: on its north was Tumilat, which the Nile inundates, iz its southern part; its Rameses. In A. D. 1376, Goshen had three hundlred and west and southl-western part is watered by the Nile; the east- eighty towns and villages. It Ipnoduced eight thousand erm part is higher land, covered more or less, with vegetation, pounds of silk in 1831; and the viceroy of Egypt settled PAINTINGS, SCULPITURES, &c., OF AN.CIENT EGYPT. 14i9 lieroglyphics, and made the events and people of those tians had made in civilization, occurs in their treat distant ages almost as familiar to us as those of the ment of women. As early as the times of Abraham, last century. we learn that the ladies were unveiled in public, but When, after so many ages of uncertainty, we see the that a fair complexion was esteemed a great attraction lost history of this people thus revive, and take its by the nobles of Egypt. If the face of Sarai had stand beside that of other empires; when we read the been concealed, the princes of Pharaoh could not have inscriptions of its kings, recording their exploits and seen her, nor would the patriarch's alarm have been qualities, and gaze upon their monuments with a full aggravated by the reflection that she was a fair woman. inderstanding of the events which they commemorate The Egyptians were a swarthy race: on the monu. - the impression is scarcely less striking to an enlight- ments the men are usually painted red and the ened mind, than that which the traveller would feel, if, women yellow. Ladies of high rank are represented when silently passing the catacombs at Thebes, he should in lighter tints than their at tendtnts. The social inter. see those corpses, so wonderfully rescued from decay course of males and females in Egypt appears to have by the embalmer's skill, on a sudden burst from their been free and unrestrained. According to the symcerements, and start into life from their niches and bols employed, in some instances we find men and their sepulchres. The appeal of the sceptic to these women sitting together, - strangers as well as the men for the illimitable antiquity of Egypt, has been members of the same family. answered. Its temples have answered it in language The paintings and sculptures found upon existing more intelligible than could have been anticipated. monuments reveal all the processes of the arts and The ingenuity and persevering study of Young and of domestic life, the manners and customs of the Champollion have penetrated into the secret of the earliest ages, with a definiteness and minute accuracy mysterious hieroglyphics of Egypt. By their labors, a surpassing the most lucid and truthful narrative. Be flood of light has been thrown upon'that ancient land, sides the sculptured and pictorial representations of rendering the main: outlines of its history as distinct ancient usages, there are remains of art in the cabinets and certain as the history of modern times. of European kings and antiquarians, among which An instance of the great progress the ancient Egyp- may be found specimens of almost every article of:, Architecture of Ancient Egypt. furniture, tool, and ornament, used by the Egyptians. We may then, in imagination, mount the car of the It is probable that a workshop, or a kitchen, might be warrior amid fallen foes, or accompany the priest to furnished with its appropriate implements from the his shrine, or step into the carriage of an Egyptiag tombs of Egypt. The paintings upon the walls of the gentleman, and drive with him to a party in high life tombs show how they used the furniture and tools. and witness the sights that would be severally pre The whole public and private life, from the bloody sented in the excursions. Or we may visit, if we arena of mailed warriors to the puppet-show- from the please, the shops of the mechanics, the fields of the dignified monarch to the nursery sports of children- farmers, the pleasure grounds of the nobles, the kitchen is engraved and painted on these enduring monuments. of the housewife, the parlor of the lady,- we shall some five hundred Syrians in the valley Tumilat, who have n the owners all at home, each with his stone concultivated the nine hundred thousand mulberry-trees he tenance fixed and changeless as eternity. caused to be planted in it, and are rearing the silk-worm on Before Jacob and his sons went to Egypt for the m.n immense scale. purpose of obtaining food, that country had long been There are, in Gosnme, d h hen, mor e anfloks, anf herds, and fisher- men, than any where else in Egypt. The population is half the g ana e w t w a teol [nigratory, and another million might now be sustained in vation, but dependent for its fertility on the annual overthe district. -Expl. Bib. Atlas. flow of the river on whose banks it lay. The cause 150 THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOSEPH. of the long petred of famine is nowhere indicated, but tend still further to promote the population of the the calamity was not confined to that country; it ex- flourishing district of Goshen. tended to all the adjacent regions, the drought in which, At the end of seventeen years, Jacob died, aged one most probably, must have affected the supply of the hundred and forty-seven. Before his death, he bewaters of the Nile. But whatever might be its cause, stowed his last blessing on Joseph, and solemnly Egypt escaped the famine, which pressed so severely charged him to transfer his remains to the common on other countries, only through the forecast and dis- burying-place in Canaan. The story of Jacob's life creet management of Joseph. As, at the time when terminates with a striking poetical prophecy, describing Moses penned his narrative, the Egyptian civilization his sons and their respective possessions in the partition was probably at its height, we must presume that she of the promised land. Every honor was paid to the had already reared her vast and mysterious pyramids, memory of the patriarch. The funeral procession commenced the colossal temples of Ibsambul and conducted his body, with Egyptian magnificence, to Thebes, and excavated those wonderful subterranean the sepulchre of his fathers, affecting the native Casepulchral palaces for her dead kings. naanites with peculiar astonishment. Of her singular constitution of government we have The protecting presence of their father being withdistinct indications in the Mosaic narrative. The peo- drawn, the brothers began again to apprehend the hosple were divided into castes, like those which exist at tility of Joseph, and accordingly, in a most humble present in India. The priesthood stood at the head of manner, deprecated his displeasure. How little reasor. these. Tile king was usually selected from this order. they had for these feelings, appears from the result, as In rank and power it far surpassed the rest of the peo- it might, also, have been certainly inferred fromn ple. The priests not only officiated in religion, but Joseph's previous kindness towards them, and hiswellwere the hereditary conservators of knowledge; they known character. He wept when they spoke to hitn were the architects, magistrates, physicians, the public and his tears were those of generosity and affection astronomers, geometricians, and chroniclers of events; He gave them all the assurance of continued friendship they filled all the liberal professions, in fine, and were which they required, and.his favor was extended ovel the possessors, also, of unbounded political power. the growing settlement. He himself, having lived tc As an interpreter of dreams, Joseph doubtless intruded see his great grandchildren upon his knees, was thern into the p)rovince of that potent caste, and the king, called from life, having attained to the age of one most probably with a view to disarm their jealousy, hundred and ten years. He left directions for the dismarried him to the doughter of the Priest of the Sun, position of his remains, and they embalmed him, and who resided in a city called afterwards, by the Greeks, he was put in a coffin in Egypt. All his brethren Iteliopolis. The priests were invested inalienably with soon afterwards died. The age of only one of them the ownership of one third of the land. This was not is given, that of Levi -one hundred and thirty-seven touched by Joseph, in the resumption of the other two years. thirds of the land into the hands of the crown. The next caste in dignity was that of warriors.'he lower classes of the people constituted the rest of the orders, the number of which is differently stated by different historical authorities. They were such as 1577 to 1491 B. C. shepherds, manufacturers, and shopkeepers, interpreters, and laborers. None might ever leave these castes. Th}e son held forever the same rank and pur- TrHE Egyptian bondage' commenced not far from sued the same calling with his father. The profession 1577 B. C., or about sixty years after the death of least of all esteemed was that of- a shepherd. Joseph. The family of Jacob, after having been faThe administration of Joseph was conducted with vored by those in the government who remembered consummate vigor and prudence. He acquired great Joseph and his services, and in the midst of a wonderpopularity among all classes of. the nation, though his ful increase during these few scores of years, were at measures seem calculated to raise the'royal authority. length brought under less propitious circumstances, Perhaps, after the exhaustion of the money and the through the fears or jealousy of a king who knew not parting with the lands, the re-letting of the latter, with Joseph. The dates nave been given as above, accorda reservation of one fifth to the king's exchequer, —the ing to the common computation; although it is well rate still in use in the East, —was liberal and advan- known that the period between the migration into I tageous to the cultivator, compared with the state of Egypt, under Jacob, and the exodus, or departure, unthings that previously existed. Joseph's removal of der Moses, has been a matter of dispute from the earlithe people into the cities may have been designed to est ages. secure the improvident peasantry, if they were situated While some assign the whole duration of four hunas that class are at the present day, against the danger dred and thirty years, elsewhere spoken. of in the and loss to which they were exposed by the occasional Bible, to the captivity in Egypt, others include the resrising of the Nile beyond its usual level. idence of the patriarchs, two hundred and fifteen yea"'s, Under his fostering care and the divine blessing, his within this period. The Hebrew and Samaritan texts, father's family could not but flourish. Seated in the and the different copies of the Greek version of the midst of plenty, they began to increase with great Scriptures, differ. Some of the learned have surmised rapidity. The soil and climate of Egypt, it is said, that several names have been lost from the genealonot only augment the productiveness of vegetable and gies, between Kohath, son of Levi, and Amraml, orl animal life, but also render the human race prolific; between Amram and Moses -a surmise rather-conso that, according to Aristotle, three, four, and even firmed by the fact that, in the genealogy of Joshlla. in;even children were sometimes produced at a birth. the Book of Chronicles, he stands the twelfth in descent Early mnarriages and the longer duration of life would from Joseph, while Moses is the fourth fitom Levi MOSS —HIS DIVINE MISSION. 151 Others, in order to surmount the great difficulty in- tured, and when, if ever, the strong desires of a bevolved in the prodigious inbrease of the, Israelites by nevolent mind impel to generous deeds, Moses went the time of the ex)odus, suggest that there are certain out and beheld the oppression under which his brethren grounds for suspecting some general error through the were laboring. As he perceived one of the Egypwhole numbering of the Israelites in the desert. How- tians - probably an officer- exercising some great ever these things may be, there was room for a very personal cruelty on one of the wretched slaves under large increase during the two hundred and fifteen his charge, he rose lup in the defence of his countryyears. The oppression of the people by Pharaoh man, slew the Egyptian, and concealed his body in the seems not to have repressed, but only to have stimu- sand. lated it, continuing, as that oppression did, almost The next day, when Moses took upon himself the ninet) years. It commencedl about six years anterior office of mediating between two Israelites who had to the birth of Moses, and he was eighty years old quarrelled, he found that the deed of yesterday was not when he went before Plaraoh. a secret. As no one had been in sight, his own deAt the expiration of sixty years, as above intimated, livered countryman had divulged the affair. This the state of things was greatly changed. The mon- circumnstance naturally suggested tQ the mind of Moses arch now on the throne had forgotten, or never knew, the insecurity of his own condition, and the present that there had been such a benefactor of Egypt as hopelessness of any scheme of emancipation, if he had Joseph, the popular vizier of one of his predecessors. entertained such an idea. Ekxposed now to the venIt is not necessary here to suppose a change of dy- geance of Egyptian law, he fled to Midian. nasty during this interval. The Israelites had now Here, in the tents of the nomadic tribes, which lie become numerous; they were a distinct and peculiar on the borders of Palestine and Arabia, he'was safe,; people, refusing to blend with any other nation. Their and, for forty years, the future lawgiver of the Jews power, either by themselves or in confederacy with followed the lowly occulpation of a shepherd. Here any foreign invader, naturally became a subject of he became allied in marriage with a daughter of the concern to the Egyptian government, considering that priest of Midian, and, seeing his children rising around they occupied an open and accessible fiontier, which him, he seemed to forget his oppressed countrymen in' had been repeatedly invaded by nations of similar Egypt. But an interposition of the Deity now turned habits. Pharaoh, with an inhuman policy, commenced the views of this great man in a new and more noble a system of oppression, intended both to check their channel. The superhuman task of delivering a nuincrease, and forestall the danger of revolt. They merous people from bondage, out of the hands of a were seized and compelled to labor at the public rich and powerful nation, was suddenly imposed upon works, in building new cities, Pithom and Raamses, him at a period of life when the fire of ambition is called treasure cities. According to Josephus, they usually burnt out, and the spirit of active adventure is were employed on the pyramids, and the great works greatly abated. connected with irrigation by the waters of the Nile. Of his divine legation, Moses has given a simple and Oppression, however, is usually unprofitable to the sublime account. He had driven his flocks into the oppressor, as it is outrageous to the oppressed. It not mountainous solitudes of Sinai and Horeb. These only failed of its purpose, but increased the evil it eminences stand between the two forks of the Red Sea, sought to avoid. Now, instead of a separate tribe, the western fork running up to the modern Isthmus of inhabiting a remote province whose loyalty was only Suez, the eastern extending not quite so far to the doubted, the government at last found a still more north. Here, on a sudden, he beheld a bush kindling numerous people spread throughout the country, and into a flame, yet remaining unconsumed. Next was rendered hostile by cruelty and oppression. Tyranny, heard a voice which announced the presence of the having thus wantonly made enemies, must resort to God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also his commore barbarous measures to crush them. A dreadful passion towards the race of Israel, and his intention to decree is issued; the midwives, who, in this land of effect their deliverance and restoration to the fertile hereditary professions, were probably a distinct class, land of Canaan. At the same time, He commissioned under responsible officers, were commanded to destroy Moses as the agent in this great undertaking, and ended all the Hebrew children at their birth. They diso- by communicating His own mysterious name, "I am beyed or evaded the command, and the king had now that I am;" implying the dread attributes of selfno other alternative than to take into his own hands the existence and eternity. execution of his exterminating project, which, if car- The meek and diffident spirit of Moses held him ried into effect, would have cut short, at once, the race long in indecision, notwithstanding the most positive of Abraham. Every male child was commanded to assurances of support; and it was not until repeated be cast into the river; the females were to be pre-'miracles were wrought by the Divine Power, through served, probably to fill the harems of their oppressors. his hands, that he was inspired with courage and resoBy a series of striking events, the man was now lution to set forth on his appointed task. Aaron, the raised up who was not only to become the deliverer of brother of Moses, and three years older, was associated God's chosen people, but the founder of a religion of with him in this enterprise. The signs they were the most opposite character to that of the mysterious empowered to display awed the people, who yielded polytheism of Egypt. Thrown, from his earliest life, their passive assent, without entering into any plan of' into circumstances in which he was imbued with all the organized resistance. This was all that was required learning and wisdom of the Egyptians, and entitled to on their part. their high consideration, - a son of a Hebrew, and The modes of access to Eastern nionarchs, which yet the adopted child of an Egyptian princess, - he are through a sort of open court or divan, where an) was emninently fitted for the great piurp)oses to xyhich he one may appear with a claim or plea, probably renwas consecrated. At a period of life when the pas- dered it not difficult.for Moses and Aaron to presenl qtons are strong, and the judgment is somewhat ma- their message to Pharaoh. Their first presentation of 1.52 THE BONDAGE IN EGYPT. it, at the divine command, was ill re~ceived by the three days; but still the deliverance could not be exproud king. That the Israelites should go and offer torted but by a calamity even more dreadful than these. sacrifice to their God was sternly refused, and, what In the going forth of the Israelites from Egypt, they was still worse, their labors were redoubled. They were to receive an indemnity for their years of hard were commanded not merely to finish the same portion and cruel servitude. They therefore levied on their of work in the brick-field, but to provide themselves affrighted masters contributions in gold, silver, and with straw. For a failure to perform that which was jewels. These were not now withheld, as the slaves impracticable, they were subjected to severe chastise- had become objects of superstitious terror. Indeed, mont. This aggravation of their wretchedness they Moses advised their reception of all presents which charged on Moses and Aaron, who were become too might be thus obtained. The last night of servitude obnoxious in the eyes of the people for the exertion of was at hand, now that the partial rewards, at least, of any salutary influence over them. Yet these benevo- their hitherto unrequited toils had been secured. But lent men, having engaged in it, shrank not from their it was a night never to be forgotten by the descendants high purpose. of the Hebrews, much less by their oppressors. The The God of their fathers assumed, for their encour- former escaped the angel of death; the latter suffered agement, that ineffable name, Jehovah, which the the loss of the first-born of each and all their families. Jews fear to pronounce. The release of the people, This is still commemorated by the ordinance called they declared, shall be effected by means with which the Passover, from the circumstance that God passed they are divinely armed. Again they appeared in the over them when he destroyed the eldest child in each presence of Pharaoh; and, to bring him to assent to Egyptian family. The people were probably dravwn their request, they performed a miracle before him. together during the suspension of all labor, and, being It, however, produced no effect, as the magicians or organized in some way, each tribe and family having priesthood of Egypt imitated the miracle of turning its own flocks and herds, and sufficient provisions for the rod of Aaron into a serpent, through their enchant- an immediate supply, together with the property obments. A contest, from this time, if such was to be tained from their masters, were in a state of preparathe means of effecting Israel's deliverance, was to be tion to leave forever the land of their slavery. carried on between these two servants of the Most High and the whole array of. Egyptian necromancy; for though, in the first instance, Aaron's serpent swallowed up the rest, it was a circumstance not likely to C HI AP T E R X C. work conviction upon a people familiar with such feats, 1491 to 1452 B. C. which they ascribed to magic. As respected the sov- The Departure and Wanderings of the isereign, he was only the more obstinate, and resolved to raelites. keep the people rigidly to their service. ileep the people rigdly tof their service. h a oIN this condition of things, when all was terror and Still the leaders of the bondmen had now assumed courage; their demands were more peremptory, their dismay in Egypt, and light and joy in Gosben, the miracles more general and public. The plagues of Egyptians became only anxious to accelerate the Egypt, which successively afflicted the king, the priest- delarture of the Hebrew people; and the latter set forth to seek a land of' fireedom, once the residence of hood, and the people, which infected every element, to seek a land of feedom, once the residence of and rose in augmented terror one above another, here their progenitors, and now the repository of their commenced. They need not be individually recounted ashes. The bones of their great ancestor, Joseph, they or analyzed; their obvious aim was to affect the mon- bore along with them, to be laid in the common separch and his subjects, in respect to interests which were ulchre of the patriarchs. This event occurred 1491 to them the most dear and sacred. They were coun- years B. C., on the 15th of our month of May. terfeited, to some extent; but at length, the magicians, DveraAed by the evident tokens of the divinity, with- s, which, according to the usual calculations, drew from the contest. Still the monarch remained would make the whole sum of the people between inflexible, except that, in one or two instances, he promised to suffer the departure of the people, upon * Moses, having previously collected his people at the renthe removal of an instant plague. After the visitation dezvous, and made every arrangement, seems to have had of the supernatural, palpable darkness, he would have them all ready to start at a moment's warning. The details let the people go, reserving only their cattle, as his own of his regulations doubtless find a counterpart in those of the had been destroyed; but the cattle of' the Israelites caarvans so common from the earliest times, with their captains, sub-captains, lieutenants, and other officers, as now seen being absolutely demanded, he again peremptorily in the yearly caravan for Mecca, which gathers at Cairo. refused compliance. Their rendezvous, Rameses, ("hero city," Herodpolis,) was Tlhus, then, the whole kingdom of Egypt had been laid forty-nine and a half miles north-east of Memphis, (Noph,) wvaste by successive calamities; the cruelty of the o- thirty-seven and a half from Suez, and but twenty-one and a fourth south-south-east of Zoan, (Taunis, San ruins,) which pressors had been dreadfully rebuked; all classes had was probably the Pharaonic capital; for the Psalmist mensuffered in the indiscriminate desolation; their pride tions the miracles of Moses as " wonders done in the field" had been humbled, their most sacred prejudices (royal parade-ground, or territory) "of Zoan,"'' and the distance wounded; the Nile had been contaminated, their agrees better with the narrative. The judgment lappened at midnight. Roused by the general wail of agony, -for the dwellings polluted by loathsome reptiles, their clean- i Orientals are very noisy in their grief, - Pharaoh summons ly persons defiled by vermin; their pure air had Moses in all haste, and could have had him at the palace in swatmed with noisome insects; their cattle had a little more than two hours, if droImedaries were used; or perished by a dreadful malady; their bodies had if at the palace, in waiting, Mioses could have gotto Rameses broken out with filthy disease; their early harvests in about an hour. Four hours would suffice to pass over tlhe hadX bn so bt hidistance three times; so that the Israelites might have been had been destroyed by the hail, the later, by the on the move and well on their way by dawn —the favorite locllsts; an awful darkness had enveloped them for travelling hour of the East. 'WANDERINGS OF THE ISRAELITES..1b5j3,"b View in the Desert of Arabia; Mount Sinai in the distance. sex'eral bodies had collected, it was a journey of but a people had emerged in safety, and the infatuated few weeks to the borders of Canaan, even by so great Egyptians had advanced midway into the chasm. a multitude. I-lad it been immediately attempted by a Thecn the waters were permitted to return into their northern route, near the sea, the warlike Philistines bed; the chariot-wheels sank into the sand, broke and would have been in their way. There was another overthrew the chariots, and the whole host, thus deand more southern route, which they actually took in layed, became a prey to inievitable destruction. the commencement of their march - a route passing ",The sojourners of Goshen" now "beheld, immediately around the head of the western branch From the safe shore, their floating carcasses, of the Red Sea. And broken chariot-wheels." The first resting-place they came to was Succoth, Different opinions have been adopted and mainoriginaily a place of tents, but afterwards, probably, tained as to tle llace where the passage was eflfected. groxwn into a village. From Succoth they proceeded'lie one carries the Israelites neaslv seventy miles to Etham, by some supposed to be a castle or small down the western shore of the sea to Bedea, where it towTn at the extreme point of the Red Sea. Here, in is said that an inlet, now dry, ran up a defile in the proxisinity to the desert, they might soon have been mountains, the openirg of which was the Pi-hahiroth beyo:nd tlhe reach of pursuit, by passing into the sandy of Moses. Here, however, the sea is nearly twelve region, where neither the chariots nor the horsemen of miles broad. The other hypothesis, entertained by ETgypt could follow, the track being suited only for Niebuhr, who investigated the luestion on the spot, thle camel. Here, however, the wvanderers suddenly makes the passage to have been effected near the modchanged their course. Instead of pressing rapidly ern Suez, which occupies the site of an old castle, onward, keeping the sea on their right, and so passing called bv the Aralians, El Kolsurm. I-ere Nieluhi by the head of tIle gulf, they turned to the south, withe sea, which is about two miles the sea on their left, and encamped at Pi-hahiroth, not but he asserts with confidence that the clianfhr distant from the shore. In the event of being pur- a mt have foerly been uch deepe ne] must have formerly been mnuch deeper, and that sued by the Egyptian king, their situation was perilous tle gulfextended muc farther to the nolth than at pieirntleed, with, apparently,-no escape. ent. The same views are entertained by Bulckhardt.' But the king was now in hot pursuit, having recovered from the panic into which he was thrown by the ered from the panic into which he was thrown by th e, * In this latter opinion Dr. Itobinson substantially concurs, awfiul occurrences of the few past weeks. The great who examined the spot in connection with the Rev. Eli Slith, caste of warriors, the second in dignity in his kingdom, in their journey from Eg'ypt to Palestiiue, in 1838. "All the regularly quartered on the different frontiers, were preceding considerations," he says, viz.., those connected with ~asily mustered in any crisis. With great rapiditv the means or instrumelnt with which tle mihacle,as wrought, eted sx hre a rt anda and the interval of time during which the passage was l-lharaoh collected six hundred war-chariot4s, and a muleffected, "tend conclusively to limit the place of passage to titude of others, fully equipped and armed; and the the neighlborhood of Suez. The part left dry might have Israelites had scarcely been well encamped before lie been wvithin the arm which sets lp from the gulf, which is was nigh their rear with all his forces. The Israelites now two thirds of a nile wide in its narrowest part, and was w7elre thrown into the leepest cdismlay, with no po )'e p robably once wider; or it might have been to the southward,., where the brold.shoals are still left bare at the ebb, and the o1 resistance, and no apparent way of escape. Their channel is sometimes forded. If similar shoals might be sup.-,cader alone preserved his equanimity, and was ena- posedi to have anciently existed, the latter supposiOti' l wOld bled to perform manfully the part assigned to him in be the most probable. The Israelites would then naturally this fearf~ul crisis. have crossed fi'om the shore west of Suez, in an oblique di-,rection - a distance of thlree or four miles from shore to shore. On a sudden, at the divine command, he advancecd r,,"To the former supposition, that the passage took place towards tlte sea, and, extending his rod, a violent wind through the arm of the gulf above Suez, it is sometimes obfrom the east began to blow, which causetl the waters jectetd, that there could not be, inlithat part, space and dep.th lo recede. A way was thus opened for the fugitives enough of water to cause the destruction of the Egyptians in the manlner related. It must, however, be rememberedl to pass over; it was an awful gulf; but He "whose that this arm was anciently both wider and deeper, andl il -I \vay is in the sea" prevented the heaped-up waters tllhat the sea, in its reflux, would not ortly return w+itl l;he from rushingr into theCr wonted channel, till his chosen Usual power o-f the flood tide, but with far gieater force al:l 2o- .iO-l. ~ THE ISRAELITES IN THE- DESERT. The history of the exodus, or deliverance of the ciate together, at one time, Osarsiph (Joseph) andl Jewish people, under the direction of Moses, was un- Moses. The only source of reliapce in respect to the doubtedly preserved in the Egyptian records; and history of these early events pertaining to the chosen thence was derived the strange and disfigured story people of God, is to be foundlin the sacred Scriptures. set forth in.the ancient classics. The former enmity Delivered from the oppressions and power of Egypt, between the Egyptian and Hebrew people was kept the whole people of Israel set forth upon their pilgrimrn alive by the civil, religious,, and literary dissensions age towards thel promised land. It had ever been pre., and jealousies, under the reign of the Ptolemies in sented to their faith as a land of beauty and plenty, Alexandria - an unfavorable circumstance for the where they were destined, in the end, to enjoy quiel advancement of historical truth. The Egyptian ac- and peace, and to- flourish as a great and powerful counts, as they are extracted by Josephus from:iMa,- fnation. -'But, ati. present-, a dreary desert lay before netho, Cheremon, and Lysimachus, seem to be ex- them -long levels of sand, or uneven, stony ground, stremely contradictory. Their aim is to identify or con- broken by barren ridges of. rugged mountains. Scatnect the Hebrews with the,earlier Shepherd Kings-. tered thiough this whole region was here and there ap the objects of excessive detestation to the E~gyptian oasis, with a fewv palm-trees and springs of water. p)eople. In one instance, they even-confound or asso- A desert and its tenants are usually the same from..-.ag-e.to age; and the traveller at z2. 3 4 _ 3 3,5 "W;: this time witnesses the same scenes as were presented to the Israelites CANAAN'.I'' ~~ it! ill their wanderings. Hence he is IIL"-'T~ BG P f o ~'' " able to identify, in part, their sta-. \!T CAIS AAXI &.BGYtPT s. 8' tions in the wildeirness especially i'RAF LIBTES.o 11 the earlier ones. The bitter wa S /LIT ES7-G'V! tel s of Marah are recognized. " From Ayeon Moosa, (the.wet's.of,' _. F passage was made, it is a journey i'~":;o~.,f ~.,~ ON:.-:! 5 42i] of less than sixteen hours for the iiS ~_=odern traveller, though three e ti seA0 t ln I.'. days could not be too. long for i k,~}~ -~~~1~~~'~ (-.' whole people, like the Israelites. ~ttsra. l The spring was sweetened by the! aholi,:~~:;~.:-.~.~;r;;7~.~.~;I; b ranch of a tree lwhieh Moses c F 1~ ses...l..a It..... i."''steem mocoera', -c into it, probably not from any na,. 11 ero-'sp.;...O.", o l.o::,:n.:-e. -Yasion' thence the company pass on'.I...:..'-. the o:_% days c d e l f:i a. —,th,' |hl'. i;.f,:''":'' ural virtue of the plant. Froiti 11....::'e: fortdaHor Elime, which all travellers plac(,', -..::.,.:.-..i..:..:..' 4 in the valley of Ghorondel. Hlenr --- g'"~~.:}: pass.etoo. -:c, a~-. isshoilljw. botbh springs of water and seventy I11thea,t........... —..-.. v se i.::....:- palm-trees were found; and hert'"'"': I.....:: i the nation rested during a month* a. -:::I/''I.I I;hOi It is said that nine of the wells still |. nn':' tremain, and that the. palmn tree-, 11:~ an] th ofhave spread out into a fine grove. 1 - ~"Wq~'"'~ii r1:-'::??.':- ar.'':.~I When the people re-commenced l j~ tciain match, it was not in the di-.r. IS'i';.i!.~;*' restion of Palestine, but towards:..'_.":'-,:::::: that Iiallowed mountain where God ~P ~~~~~~. ~~~~fiist made himself known to. Mo 1h > P...v.:.._j, ai.an. ses. In the course of their Jiour~ I-i..~:i'. _, -_?; lney, their provisions entirely failed therm, and they had before them'T-5 laontiud_' t4.;as1t f-ore_ -1.r.e:...:..:3:. the dreadfbl prospect of perishing ~j.-u ~.-~,r-. s' -by'famine. Regrets at leaving Egypt, distrust of the divine promises, forgetfulness depth, in consequence of having been drivenout bya north- of miracles wrought in their behalf, and disregard of' east wind. It would seem, moreover, to be implied, in the the auhhority of Moses, all benan to be manifested triumphal song of Moses on the occasion, that, on the return of the sea, the wind was also changed, and acted to drive in Murmurs and remonstrances broke forth, and little was the flood upon the:_Egyptians. Even now, caravans -never wanted to cohstitute an open rebellion. Moses, in this c ross the abrv. ve Suez; and it. is considered dangerous, exigency, as in others, confided in God his and tlir except at qiit low water. - almighty Protector and. Provider. He promised them " Our ownobser vation on the spot led both my companion a supply for their wants, which came in season.quails andl myself to incline to the other supposition, viz., that the a lar ei a conua passage took place across shoals adjacent to Suez on the south. and manna. The latter was designed as a continual But, among the many changes which have taken place here supply. This was a kind of coagulated dew, of' ar m the lapse of ages, it is of course impossible to decide with aerecable taste, gathered from the ground ad calle I certainty as to the precise spot; nor is this necessary.-' Eithr the bread of heaven," as it seemed to istil fo of the above suppositions satisfies the conditions of theav cas e on either the deliverance of the Israelites was equally great skies. ani tah,arm of Jehovan gloriously revealed." After two or three other halts; the Israelites arurved e THE DELIVERY OF THE LAW. I5:at the foot of Sinai.:.But here they were threatened Jewish leader proceeded to Organize the body of the. with destruction-by thirst, as they had been before by people, under more appropriate regulations, with the hunger - a circumstance which called forth new mur- necessary sub-rulers and judges. When these arrangemurs and complaints. The- recent experience of the ments were completed, they came to the plain. which divine interposition seems to. hlave ibeen perfectly un- spreads out before the lofty peak of Sinai.@ heeded, through the sort of madness produced by "Here, after the most solemn preparations, and under raging thirst. But the ingrates were speedily furnished the most terrific circumstances, the great lawgiver of with the liquid element. Moses struck the rock, and ithe Jews delivered to his people that singular constitu-. water gushed out. Massah and Meribah were the tion and code which presupposed their possession of names given to the place, from the discontents of the a rich and fertile territory, in which, as yet, they had people. Here, also, occurred the first collision they:not occupied an acre, but had hitherto been wandering had with an enemy in the desert. The camp was in an opposite direction, and not even approached its suddenly surrounded by one of the wild, marauding borders. -The laws of a settled and civilized commuclans, the Amalekites; but, after a long and strenuous nity were enacted among a wandering and homeless fights they were repulsed by Joshua, at the head of a horde, who were traversing the wilderness, and more chosen band of warriors. likely, under their existing circumstances, to sink beWhen Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, heard of low the' pastoral life of -their forefathers, than to adthese great events, he joined the canmp of the Israelites, varnce to the rank of an industrious, agricultural comin company with Zipporah, the wife, and Gershom munity. Yet at this time the law must have been and Eliezer, the sons, of Moses., He was received enacted.'" with proper. respects and, by. his discreet advice, the The circumstances of the giving of the:law with Ij`~~~~~ i/f ~~~~~~~~~I Mose'deliv eringi, the,. the presence of the Deity, and all the astounding phe,'Egyptian festival. The result, however, of suc}l u1omena, could be narrated with due-effect only in the strange and impiousconduct, and': o'f t.he forgetfulness simple and sublime language of.-thet-Bible, to which-. of the God who had brought them out- of slavery, was the reader is referred. The continuance of Moses on such as might have been expected. Threb. thousandthe mountain, day. after day, seems at length to have Dr. Edward Robinson, in his" Biblical esearches," supawakened a suspicion among -t-he-. people that lie had | - awakene a sspicion amo,. p. tt poses that, in the Scriptures, the name tloreb is applied to- a either abandoned them, or else had himself' perished. vast circular assemblage of summits, cleft and surrounded byWhat would become of them without their leader? a labyrinth of passes, and that Sinai is the name of the parEven Aaron is in the same ignorance as to the designs.tigcular summit from which the law.was given- exactly conandfa te of his brother. Their fears cauased them to. trary to the present application of these names by-most commentators. That summit itself he and his feilow-travellers sink back to the superstitions of the country they had determined to their satisfaction, by the existence of tLe great left..They insisted, and Aaron consented, that an- plain Er-Rahah, thlere being no other area inl-all the::region image of gold should be cast, similar to the symbolic capable of holding such a multitude as the assembled tribes representa..tions of the principal deity of the Egyptians, of Israel. The almost inaccessible peak, which appeared to uneprthesetor of ano o,icalf. t. thi godin i impend over the plain, is called, by the Arabs,:Es-Sitfssdtfeh. nder:.the ~otrn on an os or cmig. lio this god, in their is described as a place of awful grandeuri',d:befitting the madness, they paid divine honors, as i mingling in an solemnities once enacted there. 156 JOURNEY OF THEI: ISRAELITES. of the offenders perished by the sword of the tribe of in the vicinity of Sinai. The particular stations canl Levi, without regard to kindred or relationship. The na- not all be determined, though the probable genera: tional crime having been thus punished, the intercourse course of travel can be indicated. The physical char between the Deity and Moses was renewed. From acter of a supposed station, expressly described or this period, the preparations for the religious ceremo- implied'n the sacred narrative, its (istance from some nial of the Jews were comlmnenced, particularly for the known I oint, the similarity of the Arabic name to the sacred tabernacle or pavilion, a temple which was to ancient Hebrew, or a concurrence of all these particoccupy the central place of honor; for no religious ulars, goes to determine a felw localities. These points impressions, in such an age, and upon such a people, being fixed, the progress of' the Israelites from oie to would be lasting, which were not addressed to the another is sometimes limited to certain roads by the senses. physical character of the county -the mountains mnd "Thus the great Jehovah was formally and deliber- passes. Thus Sinai and Kadesh Barnea are two'itely recognized by the people of Israel, as their God - points whose relative position is known; and fiorn the the sole object of their adoration. By the law to which former there are two great routes leading in the direc. they gave their free and unconditional assent, he be- tion of the latter place. The western route leads ovei came their king, the head of their civil constitution, the elevated desert, and the eastern through the wad) and the feudal lord of all their territory, of whom they el Arabah. were to hold their lands, on certain strict but equitable It is altogether probable that the wanderers took the terms of vassalage. The tenure by which they held eastern route, since the sacred writer seems to imply all their present and future blessings, - fieedom from that their course led along Mount Seir, and since, if slavery, the inheritance of the land flowing with milk they had taken the western route, they would have and honey, the promise of unexampled fertility, - was arrived on the borders of Palesline, at Beersheba, in the faithful discharge of *their trust, the preservation stead of Kadesh Barnea, whiclh layv on'the borders of of' the great religious doctrines the worship of the one Edom. A year and a month had, elapsed since their great Creator. Hence any advantage to be derived departure fiom Egypt. They again commenced theil from foreign commerce, or a large intercourse with march, in improved order and under military discipline. the neighboring tribes, - wealth, or the acquisition of The supernatural cloud; which head been presented tc useful arts,- could niot, for an instant, come into com- their view in passing-over the Red Sea, as their gLuide petition with the great danger of relapsing into poly- I and encouragement, still led the wcay. theism. This was the great national peril, as well as the great national crime." It was, in fact, treason and " B day, along the astonished lands, The cloudy pillar glided slow; ~~~~~~~~reb'o~~ellion.:By night, Arabia's crimson sands At length, the Israelites broke up their encampment 1teturned the fiery column's glow" The Tabernacle in the Wilderness. With few Incidents, they arrived, at length, at Ka- inhabitants of Canaan, so it was resolved that they desh Barnea; but now a great crisis was at hand. The should never enter that land. The decision was inreport of the spies, sent forward into the land which stantaneously formed, the plan of immediate conquest they were expected to subdue, completely paralyzed at once abandoned, and, by the coinmand of God, the the people with fear. They felt incompetent to grap- people are required to retreat directly from the borders ple with foes- of a gigantic stature, and to attack of the promised land. They are, moreover, given to strongly fortified cities. Their long slavery had de-. understand that all of them, with the exception of based their minds to cowardice, and their confidence Joshua and Caleb, from twenty years old and upwards. in the divine protection gave way, at once, before their would perish in these barren regions, after wandering sense of physical inferiority. The general wish ex- in them for a definite period of forty years. Even pressed was to return to the " house of bondage." Moses was required to acquiesce in this divine appointAll that the lion-hearted Joshua and Caleb could do ment, in regard to his personal anticipations of the res' was (lone to inspire a better feeling in the minds of the of CanLaan. He was only to see the glorious land al nlultitude, but in vain. The die was cast. As they a distance, from the heights of Pisgah. A dangerous feared to attack, even under the divine auspices, the and widely organized rebellion soon followed this m in DEATH OF MOSES. 57 Korah and his Company destroyed. ifestation of the divine will respecting their protracted pastoral life, and rich in flocks and herds, found the continuance in the desert. There were two hundred region on the east side of the Jordan well suited to and fifty engaged in the insurrection, headed by Ko- their purpose. They demanded, therefore, their porrah, a Levite, and Dathan, Abiram, and On. The last tion of the land in that quarter; Moses assented to three were descendants of Reuben, and rested their their request on the condition that their warriors, leavclaim to preeminence on the primogeniture of their ingotheir women and children behind, should cross the ancestor. But the conspirators, and thousands joining river and assist their brethren in the conquest of the with them, were overwhelmed by the most fearful western country. Accordingly the region on the east punishment. of Jordan was assigned to Reuben, Gad, and the Of the Hebrew history during the remaining period half tribe of Manasseh. But before Palestine could of thirty-eight years passed in the wilderness, nothing come into the possession of the Israelites, their greal is known except the names of their stations. Most of lawgiver must yield up his spirit to his Maker. He these were probably'in the elevated country around had, in one instance, sinned from want of confidence Mount Sinai or Horeb, which included an extent of in the divine aid, and the penalty affixed to his offence about thirty miles in diameter. This district, as being was exclusion from the promised land, though he was thme most fruitful part of the peninsula, would supply graciously indulged in a sight of it. The concluding the tribes with water and pasture for their flocks and scene of his life, as given in the Bible, is suited to his cattle. When, near the expiration of the set time, the lofty character. After this single-minded and selfformtner generation had gradually passed away, and a denying sage had poured out his pious and patriotic new race, of better habits and more rigid discipline, emotions in a Song of great beauty and sublimity, the had arisen, the Hebrew nation suddenly appeared Lord spake to him, saying,again at Ka.desh, the extreme point which they had "Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto Mouni reached many years before. From this point they Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against pushed forward, taking a circuit southward around Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan which I give Mount Seir, —but not without resistance fiom some of unto the children of Israel for a possession: and die the native tribes that dwelt on the confines of Canaan. in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered Two decisive battles, however, made the Israelites unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in Mount masters of: the whole eastern bank of the Jordan and Heor, and was gathered unto his people." the Lake of Gennesaret. These battles were fought "And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto with Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the chief- the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is tain of Bashan. Still the promised land remained over against Jericho: and the Lord showed him all unattempted, and the conquerors drew near the river, the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and at no great distance from its entrance into the Dead the land-of Ephrainm, and Manasseh, and all the land Sea, in a level district belonging to the Moabites, of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and nearly opposite to Jericho. From this latter people the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palmresistance was also experienced in the form of religious trees, unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This fanaticism; but the imprecations of Balaam, intended is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, to bear upon the chosen people of God, were turned and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I upon their enemies; and the tribes of Midian in have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou alliance with the Moabites, by corrupting a portion of shalt not go over thither." the Israelites through their impure and flagitious rites, "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the paid at length-a dreadful forfeiture for their crimes. land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. Their country was wasted by fire and sword, and And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, nearly the awhole population cut off. over against Beth-Peor: but no man knoweth of his After this conquest, some of the tribes sought re- sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was a hundred pose. Those of Reuben and Gad,' addicted to a and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not.__ _ — Ir l 15r3 PRIMITIVE TRIBES. dim, nor his natural force, abated.-. And-the children Moses. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel of Israel wept for Moses in -the -plains of-Moab thirty. lil:- unlto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. lays' so the days of weeping and, mourning for -in-:al] the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent Moses were endedd. — And Joshua the son: of Nun him to do in:the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all was full of the spirit of wisdomrn;.for. Moses had laid [his servants, and to all his land; and:in all that mighty his hands upon him: and the children of Israel-hear-.hand, and in' all the great terror which Moses showed kened unto him, and:did as the Lord commandedi in the sight of all Israel."' Moses on Mount Nebo. C IH A PT E R XCI. c The Avites, in the: south-west, were partly exteryni nated and partly driven south.' by the Philistines, a colThe -primitive Nations and. Tribes in and ony from Crete. around Canaan- Ethnographical Position The Horites, "Cave-dwellers," or Troglodytes, of Canaan -Primnitive gigantic Races - seem to have been invaded by, and to have mingled KJenites - Kenizzites Canaanfites proper with, the Canaanites. They inhabited Mount Seir also, ~Hittites - Jebusites - Amisorites - Gir- whence they were exterminated by the Edomites. gashites - Hivites - Amalekites - Mloab- The Rephtaim were a very ancient people of East Canaan, tall of stature, divided into several famnilies, ites Ammnonites M Midianites Philisand having many cities, which were, in the sequel, destroyed, founded anew, or occupied by the later IT is proper, in order to a clear understanding of Canaanites. Connected with them were tle Ernims the history of the Jews, to give a sketch of the na- or "Terribles," so called'by the Moabites, and a tive tribes in and around Canaan. By reference.to wealthy people of high stature, whose territory was a map on a previous page, it will be seen that: Syria, afterwards called the Land'of ]/Ioab;'the Zamzum. of which Canaan is a part, is about equidistant from mims, also, as the. Amnnonites called.them, a rich peo. the- snowy wastes of the arctic and the burning heats ple, and of extraordina:ry stature. Their territory was of the torrid zone; from the United States,: the, focus called the Land of the Rephaim, and, after their extirof Occidental civilization, on the west, and China, the pation, the Landi of t-he Ammonites. A- plain- and focus:of Oriental civilization, on the east. It. is as it valley contiguous to Jerusalem, on the south-west, bore were an island,, having its sea of sand on.the east, and the name of these "'giants." The' Rephaim of the of water on the west, of mountains on the north, and kingdom' of Bashan., called- the Land of the Rephainl, of rocks' on the south'..Or it may be deemiled.the probably the only remnants of this people, were exteristhmus connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. Whether minated by Moses. approaching from the'; Mediterranean, or from Ithe The'Anaknim, that is, " Giants," were; a mountain Syrian desert, the traveller first beholds; a long line of race very formidable to the Israelites. Like the Re. fleecy clouds upon the horizon; these gradually assume phaim, they were -divided into several families, as the a -more determinate shape, till'Lebanon is distinctly Nephilim, about Hebron,- of whom were, probably, traced - the'most conspicuous mass of the ridge that Arba, Ahiman,' Sheshai, and Talmai; the Anakim of stretches across. the horizon like a wall..: The beau- the mountains, not only of Hebron, but of Debir, Anab, tiful Lebanon, once forested with cedars; and still and. most of tthe mountains of Judah and Israel; both full -of delicious valleys, is -described in Arab -poetry in the north and south of Canaan: these were all deas having winter' crowning its head, spring mantling stroyed by Joshua.'The Anakims- of Gaza, and Ashits- shoulders, autumn nestling in its; bosom, while dod, and Gath, were alone left. Of.the -last named summer lies smiling at its feet. was Goliath.;Of the: south part of Syria, called Canaan, the The Kienites dwelt in the land in Abraham's time, earliest inhabitants known: seem to have been a large, and seem to have been' driven southward by the powerful, and vigorous race, whose stature quite dis- Canaanites, and to have settled among'the MidiLanites, t.inguished'them from the Canaanites and Hebrews. as Hobab is said to have been' their father. In the O)f these we shall give a brief account. tinme of Moses, they resided in the mountains, near PRIMITIVE TRIBES IN AND AROUND CANAAN. 1591 Moab and Amalek. Saul, when about to: invade halves the vallev from the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf Alinalek, warns the Kenites to depart from among the of Akaba f —for their southern boundary. Before the Amalekites, lest they be destroyed with them. time- of Moses, they had founded two kingdoms, Ba. ~ The Kenizzites are thought to have dwelt in Edom, shan' on the north, and another south: to the Arnon, because.Kenaz is named as a- duke of~ Edom. The driving out the Ammonites and Moabites from between -Kadidonites,'that is, " Easterns," or' Orientals," re- that river and the Jabbok.: This latter territory Israel sided about.Mount. Hermon, and were probably Hivites. took from the Amorite king Sihon. T.Ihe Pestizzites, tllatis,' " Dwellers in the Plain," were The Gergeshites dwelt between the Canaanites an3 betweeh Bethel and Ai,'and about Shechem; also in Jebusites; and a region east of the Sea. of Galilee is the lot of' Ephraim and Manasseh, and in South Judah. called the Land of the Gergesenes. It is the only tribe The - Canaanites -were descended from the eleven we miss in the subsequent history, except the Zemar sons of Canaan, son of Halm. The descendants -of ites, who are mentioned but once, namely, in Gen. x., five, of these- sons, named, respectively, Sidon, Arki, though a city, Zemaraim, is noticed in Joshua. Arvadi, Hamathi, and Sini, settled in Syria and Phce- The Hivites were in -the northern part of the land, nicia; and their history will be given with that of the at the foot of Anti-Lebanon, or Hermon, in the land Syrians'and Phcenicians. of Mizpeh. Some yet remained in Lebanon, between The descendants of the other six sons of Canaan, Baal Hermon and the boundary of Hamath, for their namely, of Heth, Jebusi, Amori, Gergashi, Zemari, and cities are named in David's time; and the remnant of Hivi, settled in Canaan Proper. We' shall now pro- Hivites, as well as Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and ceed to give an account of these Canaanites proper, Jebusites, were taxed for bond service by Solomon. -in their order; first premising that they are sometimes The Gibeonites and' Shechemites were of this i'ace. spoken of as a subdivision, part of whorm dwelt on the'As the Kadmonites were probably of this race, and as sea-coast, and part -by the River Jordaan, and so are the word Hivite is said to mean "serpent," we are -called, in Joshua, eastern and western. reminded of Cadmus and his dragon brood, who carThe children of Heth, or Hittites, dwelt among the ried the alphabet from Syria to Greece;; and some supAmrnorites, in the mountains of Judah; they possessed' pose he migrated thither when the Danites conquered Hebron in Abraham's time, and he bought of them the the region at the foot of Hermon. cave of' Machpelah, which was made the family tomb A brief account of the! Amalekites, Moabites, Am-:of the.patriarchs. It is still shown beneath the mosque monites, and Philistines, not generally reckoned as of. Abraham, at Hebron. As Esau married two HIit- Canaanites, will close the catalogue of tribes in and tites, while his father resided at Beersheba, they are around Palestine. The history of the important nation thought also to have resided in that neighborhood; but of the Edomites, or Nabatheans, is treated at large in on. -the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan, they another part of this work. seem to have removed northward. Sculptures on the The Arabian poets consider Arabia to have been the -Egyptian monuments show that, in patriarchal times, original country of the Canaanites, under the name -of they were'waging a continual war with the Egyptians. Amalekites, who anciently held the country around.In Judges the country around&Bethel is called the Land Mecca, descendants of Ham's son Amalek. Amalek of the Hittites. Uriah, the Hittite, was one of David's is called, in Numbers xxiv. 20, the oldest of the na )fficers;-Solomon was the first to render them. tribu- tions, whose king was the~ most powerful known to tary and we -find Hittites:in his harem. Before this, Balaamn; though some think the phrase " first of the they must -have continued to maintain' themselves in'nations." means the nation that first fought against the land, as we read of Hittite kings in both the first Israel. Chedorlaomer warred against the Amalekites and send d book of Kings.: The last we hear of them in Abraham's time. According to the above menis, on the-return of the. Jews from the Babylonish cap- tioned poetical authority, some emigrated from Arabia tivity, when they are mentioned as one of the heathen to North Canaan and built Zidon, their most ancient tribes from -which the Jews unlawfully took wives. capital, whence Herodotus says the Phoenicians, whose - The Jebusites dwelt in the city and mountains of native'name was Ccanaan, that is, "merchant," origi-.Jerusalem, and were'neither exterminated nor driven nally dwelt on the Red Sea, whence they migrated to out by the Benjamites. After David took the place, the Mediterranean; and that others took possession of they seem -also to have still dwelt there -under his laws, the interior of Canaan. for he -bougfht the temple area, on Mount Moriah, of a; t'.he Arna'izeltiies, however, are generally thought. to Jebusite, These people often warred with -Egypt, as have sprung from Esau's grandson, a duke of Edom; appears on the ancient monuments. there seems, however, to lhave been a mutual aversion The Arnorites are found in Abraham's time, about- between the Edomites, or Gebalites, and the AmalekEngedi, a fertile spot, with a tropical climate, lying on ites. They occupied from South Canaan to the velry the western coast of the Dead Sea, improved after- angle of the Sinlaitic peninsula. They attacked the awards by Solomon for a botanic garden. Spreading rear'of the Israelites, on their march from Rephidim thence over the mountainous: country xwhich forms the to Horeb, and inflicted some loss upon them, but, after south part of Canaan, they gave their name to it. a hardifought battle, were put to flight. At Hormah, Jacob speaks of a piece of ground he got from them, they, in conjunction with the Canaanites, repulsed the by force:of arms, as far north as Shechem. Israelites from the southern slope of Judea. They also IIn the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, the name is used allied themselves with Eglon, king of Moab,'and the for Canaanites in general; and in Joshua, it is'applied Ammonites; and afterwards with the Midianites, under to ~the mountaineersof the regions'above noted.'In Zebaand. Zalmunna, to root out the Israelites, but, by a Judges, they are said to have obliged the Danites, in stratagem of Gideon, were made to destroy each other. the north, to remain in the,:mountains; while in the WVe do nothear of themr again till the time of Sail. middle tof the land, they established athemselves in The sentence of extermination pron-ouneed;against Ajalon, and had the hill Akrabbim - a bluff which them by Joshua, when their deadly hostility to -srae' 160 PRIMITIVE TRIBES IN AND AROUND CANAAN. first manifested itself, was partially executed by Saul, undertook to curse them, but could not; he, however more completely by David, and consummated by the gave advice as sagacious as it was wicked, and in Simeonites in the reign of Hezekiah. And in this finitely worse than any verbal curse. connection, we may remark that it must have been of He told his employers that the Israelites would pros-'mportance to rid the southern frontier of a race of per, as long as they did what was pleasing to God, inveterate enemies, who. seem to have been the coun- and that the only way to injure them was to make terpart of the incorrigible Bedouins that infest that them disobe;iiernt and idolatrous. He therefore recomregion at the present day. mends, as most proper to effect his purpose, that they Saul, therefore, invaded them with an army of two should be allured to heathenism, by the charms of hundred and ten thousand men, and all were mas- Moabitisht and Midianitish women. The advice was sacred, that could be taken - men, women, and even followed, even the chief men among the people not infants. Their king, Agag, was a very graceful per- hesitating to send their very daughters on this infason, of noble bearing and address, and on that account mous errand. The flagitious scheme succeeded but we are told that his life was spared. But Samuel bar- too well; the enamored Israelites found the blandish. barously hewed him in pieces, publicly. The few who ments of the beautiful idolatresses more formidable escaped again took possession of their devastated than the weapons of their men; they could not withcountry, as we find them spoken of as associates of stand their allurements to participate in the irreligious the people of Geshur and Gezer, when David threw worship! Dissensions broke out in consequencehimself on the protection of King Achish. David in- their-debaucheries infected them with a deadly plague. ficted severe sufferings upon them; and tle Ama- which carried off twenty-four thousand, besides those lekites, collecting together to revenge themselves, went whom Moses caused to be put to death. Thus was to Ziklag, David's abode, which he had left defenceless, the ruinous treason punished -a dreadful lustration, took it, and destroyed it by fire, sparing, however, the before entering the promised land. inhabitants. Among their captives were two of Da- The next circumstance recorded of the Moabites, vid's wives. Hastening away with their captives, the except what is indicated in the Egyptian sculptures, is, Amalekites encamp where there are water and shade; that they were the instruments of the second opprestheir position is betrayed to David by an Egyptian sion of the Israelites after their settlement in Canaan. whom they left behind; meantime, careless of surprise, At the death of Othniel, his people, being without a they give themselves up to repose and amusement. leader, and probably, by the returning of many to idolTowards the close of the day, David, from a neigh- atry, being divided among themselves, and thus weakboring height, descries them thus unprepared, and, ened, were very successfully attacked by the confedwaiting till the hour of soundest sleep, attacks them erated Moabites, Ammonites, and Amalekites, who iust before daybreak, and commences a furious slaugh- seized on the eastern part of the country, and palrticu. ter, which lasted till sunset: not a soul of them escapes, larly on Jericho. They put garrisons into the cities to except four hundred young men, who, mounting, on keep the people in subjection, obliged them to pay swift dromedaries flee into the depths of the desert. tribute, and treated them in a very tyrarlnical manner Lot's posterity, the lfoabites and Amzmonites, root- for a period of no less than eighteen years. From ing out the gigantic Emims, spreadl themselves to the this oppression they were freed by the, dagger of an eastward of the Dead Sea, which still bears, among assassin, which deprived them of their king, and the the Arabs, the name of Lot's Sea. Thus the Am- slaughter of ten thousand of their picked men. mrnonites occupied from the Arnon to the Jabbok, at one "In the time of Saul, we find that monarch warred time, and the Moabites both sides of the Arnon. The against the with success, and the Arnon. heagainst them with success, and the enmity which country of the Moabites-about forty miles square- consequently existed between the Moabites and Saul was bounded south by the brook Zered, Miian, and probably induced David, when persecuted by that Edomn, east by the Arabian desert, north by the Am- prince, to ask protection for his parents of the king of nmonites, and west by the Dead Sea and Jordan. It is Moab, until his affairs should take a better turn. chiefly mountainous, having valleys of good pasturage. This request was readily granted, and the Moabites The Israelites were forbidden to disturb them in their treated his parents with great hospitality, while David possessions, notwithstanding great provocations. The was concealed in the cave of Adullam. But when Amorites, however, having taken most of the land of David had mounted the throne, this people entered into the Ammonites, and also all of Moab adjoining astfar a confederacy with several of the neighboring nations as the AInon, the Israelites scrupled not to keep thus against him, whereupon he declared wvarl; anl d having much of Moab, after they had rescued it from the obtained a signal victory over themn, he, witll usual Amorites, for centuries, until it was recovered by the royal ingratitude, put two thirds of' tlhe to the sword Moabites when they overran the territories inhabited and compelled the remainder to become his vassals, by Reuben and Gad, on the decline of the kingdom and to pay him tribute. ofion, ten tribes. "The Moabites continued fcrom this time to be When the Israelites, under Moses, had subdued subject to David and Solomon, till the revolt of the Sihon, they pitched their camp in that part of their ten tribes, when they appear to have been tributaries new acquisitions called the plctins of hoab, because to the king of Israel; but they nevertheless had, all they had lately belonged to the Moabites. The king along, nominal kings of their own, who, in reality of Moab, disyed at their sne, dismayed aunable to were nothing more than viceroys. Mesha, king of resist them, assembled the most eminent men of his. the Moabites, relbelled against Ahaziah, whose short nation, and also the sheikhs of the Midianites, a part reign did not permit any attempt to subdue the of which nation dwelt in Moab; and, on consultation Moabites. But his brother and successor, Jehoram wit them, it was deemed best to send for Balaam, a assisted by Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and the king famous exorcist, to curse Israel. Balaam, after two of Edom, his tributary, made an expedition for tha; several messages, and liberal promise of reward, purpose, and took a march of seven dlays over tb,, PRIMITIVE TRIBES IN AND AROUND CANAAN. 161 desert of Edom, in order to surprise the enemy. In such confusion that they made very little resistance to the ensuing battle, the Moabites were defeated, and the Israelites, who continued to kill them till the hea their cities demolished, except Kir-hareseth, in which of the day, when they were so'completely routed and the king of Moab shut himself up. dispersed that no two of them could be seen together. "But, being besieged and closely pressed, Mesha About sixty years after, on David's sending a conmade a sally with seven hundred choice men, gratulatory message to their king, EIanun, they treated endeavoring to escape by breaking through the his messengers with the most shameful indiignity. quarters of the Edomites, who were the weakest. This brought on a war: Hanun cast about for allies, Failing in this attempt, in the height of despair, he and got together a vast host of Syrians, Moabites, and took his eldest son, —or, as some will have it, and Ammonites. Joab, David's lieutenant, was intrusted with more probability, the son of the king of Edom, with the invading army. The Ammonites and their whom he had taken in the sally, — and offered him auxiliaries form in two bodies; Joab divides his army for a burnt sacrifice upon the wall. This inhuman into two: with one he attacks the allies, and with the act, it is said, raised such commiseration, and perhaps other the Ammonites, and routs both. Next year, the horror, among his enemies, that they immediately Syrians, mortified at their defeat, again ally themabandoned the siege and returned home." selves with Ammon, but are defeated by I)avid in The Moabites soon attempted to revenge their person. Joab lays siege to Rabbah, their capital, and losses on.ehoshaphat, by whom Jehoram had been David takes it by storm, and wreaks terrible ven. enabled to inflict such injuries on them. They there- geance. fore strengthened themselves by an alliance with the About one hundred and forty-two years after, they Ammonites, and Edomites, and some other neighbor- allied themselves again with Moab, and invaded Judah; ing nations: thus collecting a vast army, they secretly but the allied armies quarrelled, and destroyed each entered Judea, probably along the south shore of the other: they were long in recovering from this dreadDead Sea, and encamped at Engedi. Here, falling ful blow. Uzziah defeated them and rendered them into their own ambushments, through mistake, and tributary, but they rebelled against his son Jotham. struck with panic, they destroyed each other, until Again defeated, they were compelled to pay one hunnone were left. They probably suffered from Uzziah, dred talents of silver, ten thousand measures of wheat, Jotham, and Salmanezer, the evils threatened them and as many of barley, - that;is, one hundred and by Isaiah and Amos, the prophets. Unlder Nebu- sixty thousand bushels; - and all this tribute for three chadnezzar, they doubtless partook the fate oi tie -ther successive years. When Reuben and Gad were carpeople of Syria. Josephus says they were a popsuoim s ried captive, the Ammonites occupied their empty nation in his time; but in the third century of thb'.ties.* Christian era, they lost their name and became inclu- In Zedekiah's attempt to throw off the yoke of ded under the general designation of Arabians. Nebuchadnezzar, Baalis, the last king of Ammon, Thie Atomchit'es, descendants of Lot, destroyed *The Amaits, descendants of Lot*.,, )destroyed The Orientals are in many respects so unchangeable, the gigantic Zarnzummims, and occupied their place, especially the nomadic tribes, that a description of the looks, which fell into the possession of Moses, who divided dress, customs, dwellings, &c., of the present inhabitants of it to Gad and Reuben. It is described with enthusi- the country immediately east of the Sea of Galilce, the Jorasm by travellers, as a charming country of hills, dan, and the Dead Sea, gives us a quite probable picture of groves, valleys, and streams, presenting lovely images the appearance, conveniences, habits, and costume, of the n'' t,. Ammonites, Moabites, Midianitces, Reubenites, and Gadites, of pastoral beauty, and the Arab proverb extols it as occupying the same territory, —although they lived thou, incomparable. sands of years ago. Ammon joined Moab under Eglon, in oppressing The gown is of coarse white cotton; the head cloth is tied Israel, as allreaddy noticed. About two hundred years with a rope of camel's hair. Over the shoulder they wear the abba, a long, narrow, carpet blanket, called poncho by later, we find them as principals in a war against the the Mexicans, with a longitudinal slit in the middle, to thrust Israelites, under an unknown leader. This prince the head through. The breast and feet are naked. The attempted also to recover the ancient country of the Bedouins are generally of short stature, with thin visage, Ammonites, which had passed through the hands of the scanty beard, and brilliant black eyes; while the Fellahs - Amorites to Israel. He invaded this land, and held it resident cultivators —are taller and stouter, with a strong aHe inwded this an, and held it beard, and a less piercing look: to the age of sixteen, howin subjection many years. Encouraged by success, he ever, both look alike. crossed the Jordan, and insulted and pillaged Judah, Among the Fellahs, the richest lives like the poorest, and Benjamin, and Ephraim; returning, he aimed to displays his superior wealth only on the arrival of strangers. make a complete conuest of the whole country at The ancient buildings afford spacious and convenient dwellewhole country; at *ings to many of the modern inhabitants, and those who the same time, - whether with or without concert is not occupy them may have three or four rooms for each family; known, - the Philistines invaded it from the south-west. but in newly built villages, the whole family, with all its Jephthah, then judge, tried to reason with him, but in household furniture, cooking utensils, and provision chests, vain: he then attacked him, near Aroer, and defeatedis commonly huddled together in one apartment. Iiere, also, they keep their wheat and barley in reservoirs formed of him with great slaughter, putting an end to the Am- clay, five feet high and two feet in diameter. monitish tyranny. The chief articles of furniture are, a hand mill, which is The next of the kings of the Ammonites, that we used in summer, when there is no water in the watercourses read of, is Nahash, who lived in Saul's time. He to drive the mills; some copper kettles, and a few mats; in revived the old claim, and in the beginning fought the richer houses, we meet with some coarse woollen stuffs, called lebaet, used for carpets, and in winter for horse-cloths: with great success. At last, he besieged Jabesh-Gilead, real carpets or mattresses are seldom seen, except on the and it was just at the point of falling into his hands arrival of strangers of consequence. In the middle of the on the most barbarous conditions,- namely, that the room is a fireplace to boil coffie. Their goats' hair sacks inhabitants should each lose an eye, - when Saul as- and camp and camel equipments, are the same as those of the Bedouins. Each family has a large earthen jar, which saulted his camp at three several points. Taken by is filled every morning, by the females, from the spring, with surprise, the Ammonites were thrown instantly into water for the day's consumption. 21 162 PRIMITIVE TRIBESS IN AND AROUND -CANAAN. seems- to have joined him;::but when Jerusalem was to, come and refresh himself.: They obeyed, — and, destroyed, the Ammonites exulted over its ruin,. we may::be illowed to surmise, without any objection, This Baalis advised Ishmael to assassinate Gedaliah, and brought Moses to their father, who was-so well appointed by the king of Babylon to govern the poor pleased with the stranger, that:he retained him in -his remnant of Jews. Ishmnael did so, and Baalis, having farmily,.committed to him the care of his flocks, and, harbored him, was punished by a Babylonian general, in the course of time, gave to him in marriage his who wasted Ammon with fire and sword, and de- daughter,-Zipporah."- Thus, like a modern hero of stroyed' its famous capital, Rabbah, carrying Baais romance, he becomes the lover and husband, of her and his-chiefsubjects into exile. whom he had; protected. A long time after, we find them:united with- the. After:this domestic; picture of pastoral life, which Arabians, Moabites, and Samaritans, in attempting to reminds us that Arabia is the native land of chivalry, prevent the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Probably Cyrus as well as of. fireebooting. - and trading, we miss.the had restored them, as we find them, even-previous-to Midianites from history for half a century. They apthis, subject, now to Egypt, now to Syria., Urged -by pear to have grown -rich by trade, as'-we read of their ancient and implacable hatred, they also harassed jewels of gold, -chains, bracelets, rings, earrings, tabthe Jews when they were exposed -to Antiochus lets, or scent boxes, the purple raiment of their priestEpiphanes. Under the leadership of Timotheus, their kings, and- the gold chains and twisted collars around governor, they fought with Judas Maccabeus, who,at the- necks of their camels. The art of writing was last burnt their city, massacred its inhabitants;, and early familiar to them. Traces of the worship of the extinguished them as a nation. Yet, in the second crescent planet Venus, or the crescent moon, are century - of our era, we find them mentioned as -a met, with among them a kind of connecting- link numerous people; but soon after, their name; is between the early Babylonian and Cannanite idolatries, merged in the -general -appellation of Arabs. and adopted for the symbol of Islamism. The MidAs to -the ]Vlidianiles, -there is great uncertainty-in ianites of the south - seem -to have had a purer theology the boundaries -of their domain: we know that they The, Midianites had not reason to exult over the dwelt east and south of.- Edom. Moses- found. them success of-the nefarious stratagem advised by-Balaam, about Sinai, and one of their chief-cities, calledMid- and in which they had heartily cobperated with the ian, or- Madian, was in the north, towards- Rabbath- Moabites — for Moses sent twelve thousand men Moab, and.. another, of the same name, in-the'south, against them, under command -of Phinehas. They by.the Red Sea, on the eastern shore of the neck:.of fortified their castles and collected their forces to the Gulf of. Akaba. They are thought- to have sprung resist, but in vain;. they were defeated, and every firom Abraham's fburth son; we find them early con- man -of them: put -to the sword, including - Balaam., and founded with: the Ishmaelites, later with the Kedarenes all- their towns and castles were burnt. Every person and' Nabatheans; and, in the time:'of Moses,.the was destroyed, except thirty-two thousand virgins, who Midianites and Moabites appear to have been almost were made prisoners. The country was laid waste, one people, alike in religion and interests. This nu-. and the cattle driven -off, to the. number of' six hunmerous; people- are early, known as rovers,.divided dred and seventy-five thousand sheep, seventy-two into two classes — the shepherds and the- merchants. thousand beeves, and sixty-one -thousand asses; and The latter, as early as the time of Joseph, were en- the spoil of gold, silver, iron, and other -metals, was gaged in the trade from Gilead to Egypt.- The shep- immense. herds lived in: tents, and had their cattle by them, - A century and a half later, Zeba and. Zalmunna;' at even in war.'lThe merchants, carriers at different the head of an army of'Midianites,Amalekites, and epochs of the trade between the Mediterranean and Arabians, were defeated by the stratagem of Gideon, India,- Assyria and E.gypt, moved in caravans. with — the'trumpets and lamps;- and, as -fi-equently They left the care of their cattle to women: hene happens in the heterogeneous and undisciplined arJethro's daughters -are - met tending the flocks of their mies of the East, the nocturnal panic was extremely father. -Her e wefind the magnanimous Moses acting destiuctive, as they were of different language, and again in character, as a vindicator of the_ oppressed, in darkness. One hundred and -twenty thousand men though suffering exile for his late act of patriotism are: said to have fallen.in this and a;subsequent and philanthropy. - slaughter,"besides those: slain at the rock Oreb, so -that - This Jethro, — khohen, that is,-" prince-priest,"- a it was, called doomsday of Midian.- -Many ages- afterKenite, lived in -the city of Midian." "' It happened. wards, the tribe is noticed for its industry and wealth, that, one day, his daughters, who were- seven:in num- and the-magnificence of its tents; but incourse of time, ber, were insulted by. certain. shepherds..- Moses,'wlio its disti-nctive name was merged in that of'the -Arabs. had,.,a short,time before, taken up his abode in the.. We close this: brief: notice of these petty-nations, city,- perceived the outrage of:' the'shepherds, who who, have long since passed away from the:domain drove the maidens and their cattle from the water they of history, with the annals.of one of the most vigorous, had just drawn; -and,- hastening to their-aid,(he as- most highly civilized, and -most respectable of: them sisted them so:valiantly that- they were enabled to all, -the Philistines, inferior in attainments only -to accomplish their purpose, the ~.Phcenicians and- Egyptians. The Explanatory "When the maidens arrived at home, their.father Bible Atlas gives the following summary of their wondered to see them return. sooner than usual; but, annalson inquiry, they told him of the insult they had re-: The: - Philistines were Misraimites,* -through the ceived at the well, and how an Egyptian had protected and assisted them. Jethro'instantly inquired where.:'.-.* According-to-llindoo tradition, a-powerful tribe, called - -the -chivalrous stranger was, and, blaming his: daughl the Paii P-uhas, migrated from India, took possession.of Arater'freinsipol o - to bg ibia, as well as the coast on the west:of the Red Sea, and exters-:~fo.:.being.: so- impoitei as not. to —bring him home tended themselves to the shores of the Mediterranean. Somie with them, instantly sent them to invite their protector think -these were -the ancestors of- the. Philistines.~ and find ARMSIt OF'THE PH~IL'1STINES -THE1 t SHIPS OF WAR. 1G;3 Caslullim, and coming from Caphtor, that is, the Nile are not further named as a nation, except in- subijec Delta, or Crete, they drove out the Avites, settling tion: to the Asmonean government, as before noted up[on the southern half of that fertile plain,' alternate- we may well suppose that, with many other sail. ly rolling orllevel, which is bounded north'by the tribes, they were, swallowed'up by the great conquer. ridge of Carmel, south by the desert, west by the ing nations.who successively overran these regions. Mediterranean, and' east by the mountains of Judah. Alexander was so enraged at the protracted defence Phis energetic race was under five. lordships, each of Gaza, that he tied its defender, Betis, to the back with its head city, namely, Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, of his chariot, and dragged him round the walls, in Gath, and Ekron. They were not, indeed, destined miserable imitation of the truculent exploit of Achilles, to extermination; but Joshua attacked them, though, who thus dragged the brave Hector round the walls of till'David's time, they had their kings, and some of Troy. these'oppressed Israel, at one time or another, for From the pictures upon the contemporary monumany years. ments of Egypt, we learn that the personal appear.'C David subdued them, as did Jehoram, son of Je- ance of: the Philistines _differed but little from fthat of hoshaphat, on their revolt, and Uzziah; yet, in the the Egyptians. Like them, they were tall, and well reign of Ahaz, they annoyed Judah: hisison, how- proportioned, with regular features, but of a somewhat ever,'subdued them, though they afterwards freed 0 lighter complexion. They shaved both beard and themselves entirely, and became very mischievous.: whiskers, and differed very conspicuously, both in They were partially conquered by Esarhaddon and arms and equipments, fiom all other nations east )f Psammeticus, and perhaps Nebuchadnezzar; after- Egypt. wards' by the Persians, and by Alex-ander, -who de- They wore a head-dress, or helmet,, of a peculiar stroyed Gaza. After this, they fell under the Asmo- form; and their corselet was quilted wvith leather, or nean government, which is the last we hear of them plates of metal, reaching only to the chest, and supin history.".ported by shoulder straps, leaving the shoulder and Two of the towns of the Philistines sustained fa- the arm at full liberty. At the waist, it was confined.mous sieges. Ashdod, afterwards called Azotus, with- by a girdle, from which depended a skirt, quilted like stoodl the whole force of Egypt, under Psammeticus, the corselet, that hung down nearly to the knee. TIhe for the space of twenty-nine years. This is the long- Shield was'large and circular, exactly resembling that est siege recorded in history; but it may have been afterwards used by the Greeks. Their weapons were interrulted and resumed during the period of which the javelin or spear for a distant fight, and the poniard interruptions, however, the historian takes no notice. and long sword for close combat. They used war The Egyptians having some time before wrested it chariots of a form closely resembling those of the frtom rthe Philistines, had made it, by strong fortifica- Egyptians, and carts and wagons of various forms, kMing'-of Assyria, had become master of it, through Their ships of war were sailing vessels, and not Tartan, his general; and' the new occupants must have galleys, like most of those belonging to the Egyptians. defended it with vigor and perseveiance. Their coun- The rigging was a simple mast, with a watch-box at try having' become the theatre of wvar between these the top of it, which supported one large sail. The two, mighty nations, we may well infer that the Philis- form of the vessel approached as nearly as possible to tines were for a long period subjected_ to many vexa- that of a water bird, and the figure head was that of tions,'and lost their independence. a duck or goose. ~ From this time they became tributary to the great ealpires that succeeded each other; and we know that in the- beginning of this'servitude they were badly treated by the Egyptians, who, in order to form a barrier agaillst the Assyiamns, took Gaza from them. C H4 A TER XCII. Alexander foiund a king at,Jaza, named Betis, who 1452 to 1426 B. C. was subject to the Persians; and as the Philistines tIlvasion acd Partition of ctac'an., support for their opinion in the fact of the early civilization'WE now return to our narrative. Joshua, the sueof Crete,'and that 1'ali-stlani is slepmherd-coltiery, in Sanscrit, cessor of Moses, to, whom was assigned the office of the ancientlanguage of India. * Pmthe fci mobtmla o guaofe of India. conducting the Israelites into Palestine, has already. ~ Professor lRobinsonr saysr of ttiis plain, covered. withlruis,. 1."'. been introduced to the notice of the reader, As, the shnowing its ancient populouslness,' the soil of all the plain een ntroud to the notce of the eader As the through which we passed, from Hebron to Gaza, is goc.od native. inhabitants, on account of their cri mes, were as is proved by the abundant crops of grain we saw upon it.. doomed to extirpationi, their place was to be occupied, The lwhole of this vasi't level tract is the property of'overn- as fast asi they were subdued, by their conquerors. in Mtidad.:not of the inhlabitants. WVhoever will may ceulti- * metandcnot' of the inhibmts Whoever wll mu culti he first military opefration of Joshua was to send vate.. it, and ma,plough in any place n-ot alreadv preoccupied. But for every two oke of' oxen thus employed inl spies to obtain intelligence, and to survey the fortificltillage, he must pay to the government about thirty-five tions of Jericho, the most powerfut city near the' place bushels of wheat, antd fortv bushels of barley. The peas where it was proposed to dross the Jordan. T.his oh. anhts, ihnaen rich ei ough to owsrn osen, prlough ancl sor on ject was effectually accomplished, and the sties.t their-owr n:aceount;'but:they fifcrluc tly tre the partneri, of * merchants and others in the cities. Tihe merchant furnishes- n sfety, though the th6 oxen, n'lid the Fellah does the work; wvhile.the expenses exposed. to detection in prosecuting their enterprise. anlld income are dividced equally.between thenm. We see, They owed their safety to the kindness of a woman thi'refoi, why tae bclmtitul- plaills of P'alestine and Sxria. named Rahlab, who kept a caravanserai, and whx, iare' so miuch x-orse cultivat.ed than the inferior soil u pon her house, so as toelude pursit.,tee)s of ILebanon: the latter is. held izfre simple b: its cul- seceted them in her house, so as to;eudepursit. tGivmtori. In the season of verdure, the plain presents a The entrance into the piomised land wa.s effected scene of surpassing btauty and loveliness. with suitable solemnity. I'he ark moved forward to 164 THE ENTRANCE INTO CANAAN. the bank of the river, and the whole army followed, which their strength lay, were soon rendered useless I at the distance of more than three quarters of a mile. by the hands of the conqueror. The Jordan was now at its height, it being the season The war lasted about seven years, the latter portion of the flood; but no sooner had the priests, bearing of which was consumed in the reduction of the cities. the ark, entered the stream, than the descending waters During this period, the seven nations - the Canaanites, were arrested, the channel became dry, and the whole properly so called, the Amorites, the Hittites, the bo.dy passed in safety to the western bank. At Gilgal, Hivites, the Gergashites, the Perizzites, and the Jebuthey observed the foltieth passover since its first insti- sites -were entirely subdued, though not extirpated. tution in Egypt. As a commemoration of their won- Thirty-one kings had fallen under the sword. Wearied derful passage, a rude monument was set up, formed with war, the Israelites at length suspended that work of twelve stones from the bed* of the river. All who of death which they were commanded to undertake, had not undergone circumcision were initiated, by that almost in the midst of their career. Too many of' rite, into the national fraternity - an ordinance which the dangerous, seductive Canaanites were left in the had been omitted while they were in the desert. land, as the people found to their grief and disapAt the time of the Jewish invasion, Palestine was pointment, in their subsequent history. On every governed by a multitude of petty kings, who seemed occasion that offered, the natives were ready to wreak to be, in a great measure, independent of one another. their vengeance on the conquerors,. and they were perThey lived in their walled cities, and, with their sub- petually engaged in alluring the chosen race to their jects, passed their time in sensuality, in idolatrous own impure and idolatrous rites. The two great conobservances, and doubtless in collisions one with cerns to which the attention of the Israelites was another. The Canaanites are supposed, upon the called, after the conquest, were, first, the solemn recincrease of their families, to have possessed them- ognition of the Lord as king, and swearing allegiance selves of the Arabian side of Egypt, and there to have to the constitution, on Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, acerected a kingdom coeval with that of Misraim; but cording to the last instructions of Moses; and next, the the beginning of their history is extremely dubious. survey and partition of the land, with the location of The general denomination of Canaanites included the several tribes. seven nations, as described in the preceding chapter. In tracing the separate portions into which the counOn the approach of the Israelites, they at first en- try was divided, so as to accommodate each of the tered into no league to oppose the common enemy; twelve tribes, we may begin with the trans-Jordanic each kingdom or city was left to make the best de- possessions. Of these, the River Arnon, which sepafence in its power. Jericho was first attacked by the rated the land of the Hebrews from that of Moab, wa, invaders. It fell in a manner which attested a super- the southern boundary. Ilere the tribe of Reuben natural agency. The ark having been carried around received their allotment —the northern bank of the It for six successive days, on the seventh, as this mys- Arnon up to Aroer. It embraced a large portion of terious circuit was repeated, the walls of the city were the valley of the Jordan, and had, for its principal thrown down, at the sound of the priests' trumpet, and cities, Heshbon, Eleale, and Sibmah, celebrated for the united shout of the army. The inhabitants were their vines. To this day, tlie superiority of the pastuall put to the sword, except Rahab, who had sheltered rage of this district renders it an object of fierce conthe spies, and her family. The capture and destruc- test among the Arabs. tion of Ai soon followed this event. At this juncture, The tribe of Gad was placed to the north of the the kings of Canaan combined against the invaders, Reubenites. Their land was on both sides of the with the exception of the Gibeonites, who craftily con- Jabbok, - the modern Zurka, - but how far south it is trived to save their own lives by making a league with difficult to determine. It contained all the east side Joshua. The treaty was held sacred, the lives of the of the valley of the Jordan, up to the point of the Sea Gibeonites were spared; but they wvere at length of Genesareth, and the southern part of the mountain deputed to the servile offices of the house of range called Gilead. It abounds in the most romantic God. scenery, and Gilead was celebrated for its goats and The league which was formed included the southern for its flocks generally. princes of the Amoritish race, five in number, head- The half tribe of Manasseh was settled north of ed by Adonibezek, king of Jerusalem.'When they Gad. It occupied the eastern shore of the Lake of heard that Gibeon had fallen off, they at once attacked Genesareth, the whole of Bashan, famous for its catit; but, through the assistance of Joshua, the place tle, and probably some part of the cultivated lands of was saved, and the enemy, moreover, signally discom- the ancient Auranitis, now El Ledjah. fited, while a tremendous hail-storm increased the Passing into Canaan proper, we find part of the tribe panic and destruction of their flight. After this vic- of Dan stationed on the most northern point, at the tory, the conquest of the country was rapid and easy. foot of Lebanon and He'imon, and near the source of The five kings had fled for refuge to a cave, from the Jordan. This portion of the tribe, finding themselves which they were taken and put to death. City after straitened in their quarters in South Canaan, removed, city fell- tribe after tribe was exterminated. Tne and took the town of Laish, which assumed the name Jewtsh commander returned to Gilgal, having completed of their tribe. the subjugation of the south as far as Gaza, with the Contiguous to Dan was the tribe of Naphtali, its exception of some of the strong fortresses. But the possessions probably extending up into the valleys of north, in its turn, was to come under the rule of a for- the Anti-Libanus, or Hermon. eign sovereignty, to be established in their flourishing The allotment of Asher was a long and narrow cities and towns. The chieftains of this part of Pal- slip of land on the sea-coast, from the frontiers of estine organized a powerful confederacy against Israel; Sidon, all around the Bay of Ptolemais, excepting liut Joshua fell suddenly upon them, and vanquished where it was interrupted by a part of the territory of them in a single battle. The cavalry and chariots, in Zebulon, as far as Carmel. It included th, mounta.ip tARTITION OF THE LAND. 165 itse'f, and part of the adjacent valley. -. Some of the seaports, however, remained 35 3 in the power of the old inhabitants. To Zebulon was assigned a tract of l,t, If- a country lying between the Lake of Genesareth and the sea. Ieo The allotments of Issachar, the othert 4 p K half tribe of Manasseh, and Ephraim, -'',rFn.. included severally, tracts which lay in J thle same manner, one south of the 03UPo3l % o R other, from the Jordan to the Mediter- ar cranean.- These were all more" or less 4~L C,,a, hilly and mountainous regions, though mostly very fertile. K ai" and the western part of the inland dis- 1 trict fell to the lot of Dan.. 1a The possessions of Benjamin were in q /'-.:'.M.. the plain of Jericho, and in a part of the'ey >':''''i valley of the Jordan, and the head of the Dead Sea, extending westward to, Jebus, afterward Jerusalem. t - tha:a7 To Judah belonged the rest of the 8S M southern country, as faIr as the borders. I of Ephraim, with the exception of a. 4.. S district on the south-west, about Gaza,;. which was assigned to Simeon. Judah's was a large and rich domain. ~Sjrt —. Such was the establishment of Israel.., in their several tribes, each having their; -o ML own boundaries, and enjoying the pecu- 1 K I. liar advantages of the district to which they belonged, whether these were pas — tures or cornlands, or vineyards and olive grounds. During the lifetime of 4 al i - -_-, > P_ Joshua, scarcely any thing occurred to _ __ —' -. disturb the harmony of the tribes. The.. t a....&;Lro,',rinL ut13 afihir of erecting a public altar to God I. Aslher. IV. Issachar. VII. Benjamin. X. Judah. XII. Gad. on the east side of the Jordan, which rL. Naphtali. V. Manasseh. VIII. Dan. XI. Manassell, XIII. Reuaten eaten d a serios alienation, was Zebulon. VI. Eplraim. IX. Simneon. (beyond Jordan.) speedily compromised and settled, so as to occasion no marriages and idolatrous worship. The people gen. ultimate disturbance.- erally had deteriorated in respect to their religious Joshua, after having gathered together all the people, character, although there were noble exceptions. exhorted them to obedience, and renewed the oath of It was a time when wild adventures and desperallegiance and fealty, died, aged one hundred and ten ate feats of individual prowess abounded. Personal years, 1426 B. C. Hie appointed no successor to activity, courage, and craft, were the qualifications the supreme authority, and the separate republics, which raised the judges to their title and distinction. under the control of their own chieftains and other loyal On this account, the period of the judges may be called officers, regulated the public affairs. It was an era of the heroic age of Hebrew history. These public men general virtue and vigor, and there began to be a taste were not so much administrators of justice, as gallant of true happiness throughout this fair land; but the insurgents, partisan leaders, captains of a clan. They one great ristake and act of disobedience, in desist- were a sort of military dictators, raised, on an emering, prematurely, fiom the war of conquest, tempted cgency, to the command of the forces of a tribe or them repeatedly to treason, bringing upon them wars, other collection of warriors.'* As the several -tribes and what was worse, the intolerable evils of servitude. were deficient in union, so there was little nationa' strength; and, surrounded as they were by the old in habitants, and mingled with them, they were constantl) * The Hebrew heroes may be contrasted with their IIo- C H A P T E R x C I IjI I merie and Grecian contemporaries, of classic. reuowtv - Samlson with Hercules and Theseus; Shamngar with Achiles; Jojh1426 to 1095 B. C. l thah with Aaninemnon; Saul with Hector, he. &c. Also, the donmestic life of the Homeric aoe, as described by HImer, The Judges, or the Heroic Age of the Israelites. may be contrasted with the pleasanlt picture of HIebrew rural life given in the Book of Ruth. AFTER the decease of Joshua and the elders who Of this picture, Voltaire says, "These times and manners I outlived him, and who remembered the divine inter- have nothing in common witn our ovn, whether good ol bac. positions in behalf of the Israelites, there suceeded a thir spirit is not ours, their good sense is not ours. On this,}nern.of'mn.ho Ii e tvery account the five books of Moses, Joshua, and the Judges generation of men vwho disregarded the piou4 customs a re a thousand times more instructive than IHomer and of their fathers. and mingled with the Canmanites in I Herodotus." 166 HEROIC AGE OF THE ISRAELITES. liable to attack in their separate domain. A few of were thrown into, such a panic and confusion, that they the tribes were occasionally aggressive upon the strong turned their arms upon each other. The fugitives places left in the land, as Laish, Jebus, Hebron, Bethel, were then slain by the rest of Gideon's troops. The and others; yet the tribes generally seem to have war was pursued to the utmost extremity, and ended adopted the dangerous measure of entering into terms not until one hundred and twenty thousand of the op. with their enemies, and permitting them to reside in pressors perished. the land on the payment of tribute. The offer of royal authority was madd to the. victoBefore any judge was actually raised up for the pro- rious chieftain, but his ambition was satisfied With the tection or deliverance of the people, -there were several deliverance of his country. After the death of Gideon., transactions which exemplified, in a striking degree,:his illegitimate son, Abimelech, a daring and bloody the decline of the national faith and the depravation of man, aspired to. the authority which his father- had manners. It was a period of anarchy and confusion refused. He succeeded but in part, as his authority when every man did that which Seemed right in his seemed to be confined to Sichem and its neighborhood. own eyes.; Suchlwas the transaction of the Danites in His shocking cruelty in murdering the seventy sons of respect to the silver idol of'Micah, and especially that his father, in order to reach the goal of his ambition, which pertained to the outrageous treatment of the was recompensed in his own ignominious and miseraLevite's concubine, in the city of Gibeon, which be- ble death, at the expiration of a few short years. Tola, came the cause of a most bloody civil war among the of the tribe of'Issachar, and Jair, a Gileadite,'succestribes, almost exterminating one of them -that of sively followed as:judges;. but they were undistin-'Benjamin.. guished. Jephthah, an illegitimate son of Gilead, next The earliest judge and deliverer,of the people was appears as the champion of Israel, the Philistines having Othlniel, a nephew athd son-in-law of Caleb. A Meso- attacked the.southern border; and the Aminonites havpotamian king had extended his conquests as far' as ing not merely subdued the tribes beyond Jordan, bul the Jordan, on the western side; the defence of the crossed it, and engaged the combined forces of Ephraim, subjected tribes was undertaken by the judge, and at; Judah, and Benjamin. Jephthah, as a noted captain the end of eight years, the Mesopotamian was entirely *-of freebooters, possessed the daring. requisite to engage defeated, and the whole land remained in peace dur- the oppressors of his country. He attacked them, and ing forty years more. The eastern tribes were -then gained a splendid victory, which was, however, sullied assailed by a confederacy under Eglon, king of bthe by the rash vow he had made, requiring him to sacriMoabites, as also a part of the territory of Benjamin. fiee his only daughter upon his return home. He The oppression lasted eighteen- years, and was thrown avenged himself'on the Ephraimites, who had cornoff only by a desperate enterprise of. Ehud, a. Benja- menced a quarrel with him, by putting forty-two'thoumite. Having obtained an audience of Eglon, a: man sand of them to:the sword without-mercy, at the passage of great obesity, he boldly'struck his dagger into the of the Jordan. He enjoyed his.dignity for seven years. body of the latter, and happily escaped..; Flying to Following him were several judges, of whom. little the mountainous part of the land of Ephraim, he more than their names is recorded. roused that powerful tribe, and totally defeated the Among the enemies of Israel there were none-more enemy. A long era of peace, said to be eightyyears, dangerous and implacable than the Philistines, on the followed this exploit.: The next' judge was Shamgar, southern -borders. They had subdued, apparently, the who, with a vigorous arm and fornlidable weapon, a whole allotment of Simeon, so that, probably,this- tribe Syrian ox-goad,: slew six hundred.-Philistines..' -.:- was scattered' for refuge among the rest. Gaza and The next deliverer was Deborah, a high-born woman'Askelon were in the power of' the conquerors,:and of the tribe of.Ephraim, who, rousing Ephraim, Ben- their. frontier'was boldly stretched to that of Dan'..To jamin, and Manasseh, as well as the northern tribes, at- humble so: insolent an -enemy, the most extraordinary. tacked the Canaanites in the north, who had oppressed;of the! Jewish heroes appeared- a man endowed' with that portion' of the people for twentyyears,::They were amazing -physical power.:. Samson was the tru'e Hercompletely routed,-and their general,. Sisera, a -man cules',of'fantiquity.' His efficiency in crippling the terrible for his valor and conduct, was slain,'after power, of the Philistines,- consisted rather in feats of' having taken refuge in the tent of Jael, a woman of personal daring;, than in any well conducted plan of the Kenite tribe. Seizing the opportunity when he defence'or of;.conquest. His life began in a marvel, was asleep, she drove one of'the iron- pegs of the tent' and ended'in the deepest tragedy., His birth' and into his head and killed him. This success, issued in character were made a subject of divine revelation, securing peace- and fireedom for forty years.. The with instructions as to the manner of his training. As next occasion for the interference and intrepidity of -a "soon as he attained manhood, he entered' upon thal judge or' leader, was fturnished by' the.oppressions -and;- series of exploits, the story of'which has excited the' ravages of the wild.hordes of the desert, the Midianites,-'admiration of all time. In several instances, by his Amalekites, and other nomadic'tribes. -The confu- personal prowess, he avenged himself on the Philistines sion, misery, and want, which were produced by their for the wrongs he had received at their hands. But irruption andl settlement over the land, were almost in- the most signal instance of his -triumph over them was describable. To exterminate these enemies of Jehovah'at his death. By the acts of Delilah, his mistress, and his people, Gideon,. of the tribe of Manasseh,'shorn of his strength and made a prisoner, deprived of received a- divine commission. A large number of sight, and set to the servile task of grinding at the. warriors was gathered, consisting of thirty-two thousand'mill, he'was for the time entirely at' the mercy of his men; but only three hundred of them were required for enemy. Ithappened, on one occasion, thatthey wished the service to be performed. By a singular stratagem, to make a public exhibition of their distinguished capwhich' conveyed to the enemy the impression of fearful tive, for their diversion, in a sort of rude amphitheatre. nulmbers and power, they rustled -in the nr:idle of He was placed in the area of it, and the roof, which ~he night —upon. the wild and mingled tribes, who formed the seats, was crowded with spectators.. But GOV}ER NME TN'T 01' SAAM U -L. 167 Samson pulling down the Temple; his str-ength was now returned; the building was sup- broke his neck. The prospects of the race of Abraham [)pt:lted chiefly by two pillars; these lhe grasped, and, were at this moment dark indeed - in hopeless serleilning himself forward, dragged down the entire vitude and forsaken of God. With the ark, not only mass, burying himself and all the Philistines present, their glory, but their political existence, had, in their in one common ruin. HIe had passed twenty years as view, departed. With what a. glad surprise, thein, the judge oft Israel, and as the terror of his own and must they have received the extraordinary intelligence;his country's enemies. that, after seven months, the Philistines were sending During the time of Samlson, a wiser and more useful back the ark of God,-with special tokens of reverence. head of the state was growing up within the precincts During their retention of it, it had proved a: terrible' of the tabernacle. This was Samuel, destined to be, bane and humiliating rebuke to the nation, and they the last, as he proved to be also the nmost distin-: could no longer endure its-'presence. guished, of the judges. i-le was the son of Hannah,: Yet twenty -years londger the Israelites. groaned one of the wives of Elkanah, a Levite, who resided in- under the yoke of the Ph:}isti.ness; but Samuel was now a city in Mount Ephraim. He was educated in the grown to manhood, a;ntiw.as. established not' merely service of the high priest Eli, having from the first with the authority of aj:'ue,,b'ut likewise of a prophet. been consecrated to God by his pious- mother. The The high priesthood had passed' into- the next branch Tabernacle and the ark were at Shiloh, in the territory of the family of Elij and sunk into comparative insigof Ephraim, and wherever these were. was the tern'- nificance before the acknovwledged weight of the nevt porary capital of the state. iHence in Eli was concen- leader. Samuel, heaving labored with success to extir trated, for the -time being, a civil as well as religious, pate the idolatrous practices which had grown - ul. supremacy. - But there were defects in him, and espe — among the people, summoned a general'assembly al cially int his,: family, which- required a change in the Mizpeh... The Philistines -took ialarm, and put their office of the priesthood. His sons, Hophni and Phineas, forces in -motion. to suppress the insurrection,' The, were indeed a burning disgrace to the order., Samuel., Israelites were full of terror, but too far engaged to" however, even in such society, grew up blameless-and recede; their confidence in the favor of God towards uncorrupted. Already, in his early youth, he had. re- their righteous judge, induced them to risk their safety ceived. divine intimations of his future usefulness, and'on the acceptance of his prayers. The event was a by the voice of God he was commanded to communi- victory. so complete, caused: partly by a tremendous t:ate to the aged Eli the fate which awaited him and'storm, that the Philistines, were forced to evacuate the his family. whole country and to accept of equitable terms of peace. That fate was near at hand!: the war between the:'The measures adopted by Samuel were most salu Philistines and Israelites broke out anew, and a bloody tary. He united at least all the southern tribes under battle took place at Aphek, in the northern part of Judah, his authority; at Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpeh, he held in which the Israelites were totally defeated. In this three' annual sessions of justice,'while he fixed his, emergency, they sent for the: ark of God, and placed it' residence in his native city of Ramah.'But in his old' In the centre of their forces, hoping that victory, as of. age, innovations upon the ancient practice were intro-:' old, would attend the consecrated symbol of the divine duced, through the venality of his sons, who were in-' presence. Under the circumstances, however, the stalled,in the judicial office, and the people became expedient was unavailing; it: was not authorized by dissatisfied with their republican or theocratic polity. the command of the Deity. In the ensuing, battle,'They demanded a: monarchical form of government,~ilirtv-two thousand Israelites perished, the guilty sons from the belief -of its superior efficiency, both in' wvar of Eli were slain, and - the most dreadful calamity of and peace.' Their avowed objects were,-the more'cer all -the ark of God fell into the hands of the idol- tain administration of justice, and the organization ol aters. Tle tmdings conveyed suddenly to the aged a strong and permanent mllilitary. Their demand was Eli caused his deatlh, as he fell fronm his seat and com-npliedl x;th, Samuel having first presented to themn 168 THE HEBREW MONARCHY-SAUL. a fair statement of the dangers and evils of an Orien- administration, some considerable time must have tal despotism. elapsed, as his son Jonathan had now grown up to It became a matter of great importance, of course, man's estate -a gallant warrior. H-is early measures to make the selection. The prophet was' divinely in- were in general well advised; but in thle afifair of a structed on the subject, and when the designated indi- war with the Philistines, by assuming tlhe priestly funcvidual was found, he was privately anointed as the tion, he violated the Hebrew constitution, and forfieited future king. He proved to be the son of a Benjamite the claim to the kingdom as an heleditary possession. chieftain, a youth of a singularly tall and striking per- In a war with the Philistines, he had been eminently son, who had come to Ramah in search of a valuable successful, but for a rash vow of lhis own, - that the property in asses belonging to his father. After a people should not tast6 food until the close of the day. proper course of religious instruction, at one of the This abridged his victory, by taking from his men the schools of the prophets, to fit him for his high office, power of a prolonged pursuit of the enemy, through the youth, whose name was Saul, was designated by very exhaustion. On all quarters now his enemies -lot at a solemnassembly, at Mizpeh, and received as were defeated by his arms; particularly were the king by the great majority of the people. The young Amalekites made to feel the law of a stern reprisal. A sovereign being soon called into the field to resist the warofextermination -such was the divine comma I-nd - Ammonites, was able to muster an immense army, and was to be carried on against so cruel, relentless, and totally defeated'and dispersed the foe. This was so unimprovable an enemy. In the conduct of his expeprosperous a commencement, that Samuel assembled dition, Saul again transgressed the divine comllnandthe people at Gilgal, and. proceeded to the formal inau- ment; he reserved the best part of the spoil under the guration of the king elect.; at the same time rehearsing pretext of offering.it in sacrifice, and spared the life his own course as judge, and rebuking the people for of the Amalekite king. His repeated acts of disobe their innovation on the established constitution, without dience made it evident that he was unfit to be the tan express pre-intimation of the divine will. ruler of the Lord's chosen people, and this unfitness The period of the judges thus came to a close, with was now still further manifested in the paroxysms of its lofty daring, its spirit of personal adventure, and its insanity which came over him from time to timle. eventful changes. It was a period of several cen- A successor to Saul in the kingdom was to be sonuohi turies, and included a great variety of fortulne; but in another family, notwithstanding the excellent clar the years of servitude and warfare did not bear a large acter of his son Jonathan: such was the divine deter proportion to the whole. The Israelites, under this mination. That successor was David - the youngest form of government, had enjoyed, in all, three of the eight sons of Jesse -a youth of great }bea.uty centuries of peace: engaged almost entirely in the piety, and courage, who was selected and anointed cultivation of the soil or in the care of their flocks by Samuel, at Bethlehem. His peacefiul, pastoral life and herds, there doubtless obtained among them was signalized by hlis intrepidity, once and agrin; but a uniform simplicity of manners. This character- the public life on which hle soon entered was marlied istic of a pastoral or agricultural community is seen by the most extraordinary feats of valor. The first in the circumstances of those who were called at display of the kind was his successfill encounter with times to the supreme authority. Gideon was taken a gigantic champion, Goliath of Gath, a terrible tbe. from the threshing-floor in order to lead the armies of encased in brazen armor. -Him the modest and.l fearhis country, as Cincinnatus, among the Romans, was less David slew with a stone from his sling. I his bold summoned from the plough. Saul, even after lie was achievement endeared him to the kindred spirit of elected king, was found driving his herd. And David, Jonathan, and proved the commencement of a romantic called to the same high station, had from earliest life friendship scarcely equalled in the annals of the world. been familiar with the care of sheep. The rural life On the father, however, it produced a very diftbren of the Israelites in these days is admirably pictured to efbect - a feeling of deadly jealousy, first awaklenei us, in all its truth and beauty, in the story of Ruth by the triumphant songs of the maidens of Israel and her kinsman. ascribing to David a higher honor than to their king. For several years, the jealousy of Saul and his increasing malady brought, both upon David and Jonathan, a degree of distress and perplexity which only tleir C H A P T E R X C T V piety and mutual affection could have enabled them to 1095 to 1015 B. c. endure. Alternately caressed and persecuted; now a son-in-law of the king, and then deprived of his wife Thze M/onarchy - Reigns of Stnl land David. barely escaping the secret assaults of the moody monTHE Hebrew monarchy, though limited to a small arch; sometimes soothing him with music, and anon extent of territory, became, at length, rich and power- fleeing from his murderous wrath; driven from home ful. Its aim, however, was not conliquest, but rather and country; seeking security in the haunts of the wilthe cultivation and development of its internal re- derness, the fastnesses of the mountains, or the capital sources. In this national pursuit they were favored of an enemy's land; now fighting battles for his masby their fertile soil, salubrious climate, and wise insti- ter, and then with/ him, or rather sparing him iwhen in tutions. Saul, as the first Icing, had a new field in his power,- in all these singular circumstancec:s, David which to try his capacity for government; and his ad- passed a novitiate such as few candidates foi royalty ministration must doubtless be pronounced, on the ever experienced. whole, a failure. His temperament, hasty, impetuous, b The.noble Jonathan, in the mean time, not merely and self-confident, ill fitted him to defer:n every thing sacrificed his hopes of a kingly succession to h:is firiend, to the divine guidance, maintain the niajesty of the the designated heir of the throne, but exposed his quiet laws, or deal out even-handed justice. Between his and his life to save David firom destructioin. nom.inanatlon to the supreme authority, and his active The days of Saul were now speedily to be nurn THE; REIGN'OF DAVID. 169 hered. Though ill supported by:his subjects, he deter- at Hebron', David determined to have a capital, wlhere mined to risk his crown and kingdom on a great battle should be concentrated the powers of the government with the Philistines. Actuated by superstitious fear, and' the rites of religion. Jerusalem was destined to he first consulted the witch of Endor as to the' result of become the favored place, and *the scene* of mightier the conflict, and learned it with sufficient significance, wonders and stranger vicissitudes than.ever:characthough he did not see fit to withdraw from the contest. terized any other' city' on earth.' It included a fortress The prediction, like many. others, may have contrib- which had remained in possession of the native inhabuted to its own'fulfilment. On the mountains of Gil- itants, the Jebusites, till, together with the'town,'it was boa, the Israelites were defeated,, and Jonathan and taken byDavid. The citadel stood'on Mount Zion, and other sons of Saul were slain.- The. monarch, in:his there he established his royal residence. That, hill deep mortification and despair, procured his own death. rose to the south; it was divided, by a deep and narrow Profoundly was the catastrophe lamented by the loyal ravine, from the other hills over which the city gradu. and gifted David, in his elegy on thisoccasion...'ally extended. Having founded his capital, David next " Thebeauty of Israel:is slain upon thy high places: reistablished the national religion with appropriate how are the' mighty fallen! grandeur. The ark, which probably had remained at "Tell it not in Gath,. publish it not in the streets of Kiirjath Jearim ever since its restoration' by the PhilisAshkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, tines, was removed into Jerusalem, with every token lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. of religious awe, solemnity, and joy. "Ye mountains of Gilboa, let' there be no dew, A royal palace had already been reared'for David, neither let there be. rain upon you,:nor fields of offer- with the assistance of Hiram, king of Tyre, between ings: for' there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast whom and David, and their respective nations,:,a long away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been cherished amity was enjoyed. A permanent temple, anointed with oil. too, for the- public worship of God, was in contempla"From the blood' of the slain, from the fat of the tion by the religious king; but for such a service, it was mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the divinely intimated, he could not be employed, as his sword of Saul returned not empty. mission had been one of war and blood. A difibrent ~ "Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant' in character was to be concerned in the erection of a their lives, and: in their death:'they were not divided: temple for the worship of a God of love and mercy. they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than' David's career of conquest was not yet- terminated. lions. On every side, he:: extended his frontier to the farthesl "Ye daughters' of: Israel,- weep over Saul, who limits-of the promised land, and secured the whole clothed you in scarlet', with "other delightS; who put country by exterminating, as fast as possible, its restless on ornaments of -gold uponyour apparel. enemies. He successively defeated the Philistines, the "How- are the mnighty fallen in the midst of the bat' Edomites, the Moabites, the Syrians of Zobah,- suptle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thy. high places.: posed to be the'kingdom of Nisibis, bordering on "I am distressed for. thee, my brother Jonathan:: Armenia,: —the Syrians of Damascus, and eventually very pleasant I hast thou been. unto me: thy love to me -the Ammonites. Thusbhe extended his kingdom east was wonderful, passing'tie.love of women. to the:Euphrates;-. the northern part-was secured by "HoW are the mighty fallen, and the weaponsof the occupation:' of the fortresses in the kingdom of war perished!" Damascus, and by his friendly' relations with Tyre'This touching-and sublime ode wvas set to music by' the southern bythe destruction of the Philistines and David,.'and, bciniig taught throughout the nation,:doubt- the military possession of the territory of Edom. Juless' had, like the popular ballads of. later times, great dab, according to the prophecy, now: lay in triumphant effect in soothing distempered feelings among all par' ease, like a full-grown, victorious lion, reposing in conties,- for who could fail to love and respect the' au-. scious strength-and majesty, " Who shall rouse himni thor of such a lament overa ruthless enemy? - Wvho up?" could:resist such an appeal' to patriotism and every David's: career had been hitherto splendid and pros generous -emotion.? -dou El' ageneradaous.tiuemotionhp.:peorous far beyond.the ordinary: lot of humanity. Hi. Iavingpaid a due Atribute toloyalty and friendship,~ subsequent course contrastedunhappily with it, for the David suddenly appeared at. Hebron,.was welcomed. most'part, and presents'a-striking memento in respect by the tribe of Judab, and'immediately raised -to the ftothe dangers' of greatness. He-fell by'a twofbld vacant throne, 1055:B. C. Abner, the- chief captain heinous crime, in the.. m idst of his- glory and success, in'.Saul's army, appealed to the jealousy of the north- and leftfa stain on his'character which even the deepern tribes against Judah, and set:up Ishbosheth, Saul's est repentance and bitterest' suffering, have scarcely.only remaining son, as king.' After a civil war of two been able to efface. Offending. the' holy law of God years, Abner,.on -some disgust, forsook the.! cause of. in the, matter of.Bathsheba, the wife' of Uriah, he follshbosheth, and went over to the side of David.,'He lowed the sin'by constructive murder.:'Uriah, the was at length assassinated.by Joab, a brotherofbave an unofending o fi the victim of bae the Asahel, whom Abner had previously slain. With-the king's.wrong, was purposely exposed on a post of detection and death of Abner, the party of: Ishbosheth danoger, where his death was inevitale. i: From this was prostrated..period,,the courseaof the war-worn monarch was more David was now in the strength of manhood, and, rough and toilsome than. all the scenesv of battle and having triumphed over all the jealousies ofth the-tribes, strife through which he had passed from his youth up. occupied a position of great interest.' The whole na-'" -curse as fatal as thatwhich the. old Grecian tragetion received'.him'.as their king.' The valiant captains dy'delights to paint hung' over his house. Incest of their united forces ranged themselves'ivith pride fratricide, rebellion of the son against the father, civli under his banner. The Philistines:were: defeated in war, the expulsioni of the king from his calital - such all qu'arters. After residing seven' years and a half t were the crimes and calamities which blacken thle an 22 170 THE REIGN OF SOLOMON. nals of his later years." They need not be rehearsed, the peace of the world; for the long period of tranexcept to say that the death of his favorite and wicked quillity enjoyed through the reign of the son is to be as. son Absalom, who revolted against the government cribed to the bravery, energy, and wisdom of the father. of the king, was felt by the father as the climax of calamities. Did ever words express a more deep and tender, a more inconsolable grief, than his? When the news of the rebel son's death reached him, "theH A T E king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he wept, thus he said: 1015 to 975 B. C. O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! The Monarchy - Reign of Solomon ~ View would God I had- died for thee, O Absalom, my son, of the Kingdoml, dJuring his Re(gn. my son " The suppression of Absalom's revolt, though the THE life of Solomon forms, in many respects, an:ieath of the son caused so profound a grief in the entire contrast to that of his father. The latter )arental bosom, was the salvation of David in respect was full of adventure and incident, of variety and to his kingdom. He was immediately established in change, stirring, thrilling, and perilous to all that one full power; but his calamities were not at an end. In holds dear furnishing the best discipline to character, the pride of success, for conquest, or from other ima- and the best materials of history. The days of Solo-! proper motive, David determined to take a census of mon, on the contrary, were passed in peace, ease, and his extensive dominions. According to one account, luxurL - in the enjoyment of the acquisitions made by: which gives the lowest number, there were eight hun- his father, and in the safer as well as more agreeable dred thousand men fit to bear arms in Israel, and five employment of adorning his country with works of hundred thousand in Judah. No census was taken of art, or enriching it with lessons of science and wisdom. Benjamin and Levi. The procedure called down the They were both alike devoted to the real interests and divine displeasure. The king was permitted to choose gran(leur of the nation, both sagacious and experienced,. between three forms of evil- either seven years of just and trustworthy, zealously laboring for the institufamine, three months of unsuccessful, disastrous war, tions of religion and the state, but with different tastes or three days' pestilence. David,-with a subdued, pen- and dispositions, or, if not different, yet expressed each, itent temper, left the judgment in the divine hand.- in its peculiar mode. Accordingly the pestilence broke out, and seventy Solomon was twenty years of age when he ascended; thousand persons died. The malady spread to Jerusa- the throne. He was soon required to adjust several lem, but was arrested by the building of an altar to the difficult cases connected with the pretensions of Adoni-, Lord on Mount Moriah, the site of the future tem- jah, his brother, and the charge or advice of his father... pie.* Eventually, Adonijah wvs put to death, with Joab and The remainder of David's life was spent in making Shimei, both dangerous men, and all of them guilty the most costly preparations for the building of the of capital crimes; and Abiathar, the high priest, who temple, and in securing the succession to Solomon, his supported the pretender, was suspended from his. son by Bathsheba. The former object was effected office, and banished from Jerusalem. Thus secured, with comparative ease, as he had commended the en- by the policy of his father, from internal foes, and by terprise to the zeal and piety of the people. But the the terror of his arms from foreign invasion, Solomon: latter was a purpose much more difficult of execution. commenced his auspicious reign. Then it was emiThe evils inseparable from Oriental monarchies, where nently that Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man polygamy prevails, and where no certain rule of suc- under his vine and under his fig-tree, " from Dan eveiln cession is established among the offspring of different unto Beersheba." With his administration of justice. no'hers, began to be felt, as the aged king drew near all parties were content. Every one was filled with, his death. Amid factions and the development of an admiration of his wisdom. God had endowed himt intention, on the part of one of the king's sons, to se- with a vast capacity, and his mind was stored and em-: cure the crown, measures were promptly taken, by the bellished with the knowledge of every science and art... public authorities, to anoint and proclaim Solomon. In answer to his prayer for wisdom to guide his peo-:: This was done at Gihon, 1015 B. C., and the young ple, the Lord not only conferred that distinction, but king entered Jerusalem amid the loudest acclamations. added the gift of honor and riches. Having given his son such instructions and charges as The internal government of his dominions was ad-. his experience and sagacity dictated, as to his conduct mirably adjusted and administered. He divided hiss in:the realm, David breathed his last, having reigned kingdom into twelve districts. Over each of: these he forty years over a monarchy which he had himself. appointed an officer for the collection of the royal, X principally built up. I-e bequeathed to Solomon a tribute. This was in addition to the local and munifair, rich, powerful, and prosperous kingdom, which, cipal governors. Each of those officers supplied the, through the well-disciplined veterans of the army, and qourt for a month. The daily consumption of his the viorouls administration of government, held the household was immense, including,, among other balance of power between Asia and Afriica, and secured articles, three hundred bushels of fine flour, and six hun-' __ a n t i-qu ity, _____many____one__ofmodern__times__as dred of a coarser sort; ten fatted, with twenty other oxen,i * It mav be observed that one prominent cause of the pun- and one hundred sheep. Forty thousand holses were Tshment-inflicted may have been that the census was taken by supplied with provender, besides a large number of". military preifects, andl not by the genealogists, which, was a dromedaries. The foreign relations of the king were. violation of theHebrew constitution. Nor was it the pur- also wisely directed; their aim and effect were the pose of the Deity that the nation should start forth on a aintenance of frienship andpeace. Such washis career of conquest, as David seems to have intended, and thus antenance of friendship and peace Such washis ruin itself in the manner thaw. every prosperous kingdom of matrimonial alliance with the royal family of Egypt.:t ant;iquity, and many a one of modern times, has done. as also the renewal of his commercial alliance with BUILDING'AND DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 171 Dedication of the Temple. ahe king of Tyre. To the latter are to be attributed splendor. Poetry, philosophy, the natural sciences, the facilities afforded to Solomon for the building of and divine knowledge, appear each to have been culthat great national work-the Temple. The king of tivated by him with wonderful success. His poetry, Tyre furnished both the materials and the artisans; consisting of one thousand and five songs, except his the latter were the most skilful workmen in every kind epithalamium, and perhaps some of his psalms, has of manufacture, particularly in the precious metals. been entirely lost. The same fate has attended his The preparations being made, the work was corn- natural history of plants and animals. But all the menced in the year 1012 B. C., which was the 480th conclusions which bear the stamp of a divine revelayear after the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. tion are embodied in the book of Proverbs and EcIt was erected upon the eminence of Moriah, on the east clesiastes. The latter book seems to be, among othei side of the city, the spot where Abraham offered his things, a confession of the errors of his life, and the son. It was finished in the eleventh year of the king's summing up of its natural good, vanity of vanities!-a reign, having been seven years and a half in building. melancholy comment from one who had every means It is not necessary here to give the details respecting of earthly happiness in his power. The errors of his this celebrated structure. Its richness and magnifi- life, especially of the latter part of it, were not few cence were probably unequalled. "It was a wonder or inconsiderable. He had set at defiance the plainest of the world, from the splendor of its materials, more intimation, of the divine will, had formed a connection than the grace, boldness, or majesty of its height and with Egypt, had multiplied a great force of cavalry, dimensions." A profusion of gold was lavished on had accumulated gold and silver, had lavished the every. part of the edifice, within and without, the resources of the people in his mania for building, and floor, the walls, the ceiling,- indeed, the whole house had married many foreign wives. These women, is described as overlaid with that precious metal. As educated in idolatry, led him to permit an idolatrous soon as the temple, with its courts, was completed, the worship within his dominions. Nor was this the most solemn dedication was performed by the king, with his heinous of his crimes; he even consecrated to the high officers of state, all the orders of the priesthood obscene orgies of the heathen, a part of one of the hills and the Levites, and the assembled thousands of Israel. which overlooked Jerusalem,-a spot almost fronting The language of the king was equal to the occasion; the temple which he had erected to the one true God. and the act was accompanied with the greatest mag- Moloch triumphed here. nificence which the sovereign and the nationi could "The wisest heart display. It was hallowed by every imposing religious Of Solomon he led by fiaud to build rite, and the presence of the Deity His temple right against the temple of God, The Temple was not the only magnificent work of On that opprobrious hill, and made his grove The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence So!omon. He reared sumptuous palaces for his own And black Gehenna called, the type of hell." residence, with a display of opulence and profusion, not surpassed probably by.the older monarchs: of Htence sprang the difficulties of his declining days Egypt or Babylonia. The great palace, which was — enemies without and within, whoattempted conquest, fifteen years in building, stood in Jerusalem. It was or revolt, or the dismemberment of the empire. It was so constructed as, by a causeway, to lead directly to a dissatisfied people and an insecure throne that he the temple. Another palace was erected, in a roman- was about to bequeath to his heir. He died, after a tic spot in the country, for the king's wife, the daugh- reign of forty years, and with him departed the glory teri of Pharaoh. and power of the Jewish monarchy. Had Solomon been merely a magnificent prince, As the Hebrew nation had reached the height of its hle would have been little remembered by mankind. greatness and splendor during the reign of Solomon, a His wisdom was his chief endowment, and that has concise description may properly be given of its coilexcited the admiration of ages. Neighboring princes dition at that era. visiteid him to admire his wisdom no less than his In respect to the extent of the Hebrew dominions, 172 REVE 1N U.ES OF":1: SOLOG MON" — OMMERCE- PHILOSOPHY-RELIGION. which were then-i at the..greatest, they seem to have people.. There-:was always an inland trade, thougl been generally thfe same.-as in the time o~. Davyid,.with". so meiwha.t..limited in.extent.; but until the time of David, the exception of the cities:which he received from the: t:thepeople had nothing. to. do with navigation. One or king of Egypt as.;the. dowry: of: his wife, and, on the- two seaports,:upon the Red Sea,:secured through the authority of Josephus, the:desert of Syrja,:i' iwhich conquests. of David; furnished Solomon, if not David Tadmor was built;;".:rhe~, kingdom extende d. from the' also, xith the means:of a mmst lucrative commerce. If Mediterranean as fa~ras the PersianGulf..The:boun- we::may.judge from;:the, profit ofela single voyagc lary on the north,'.iis: not clearly defined. One of wiich -has een computed,at -: -fifteen millions of dolSolomon's prefects: was over the country-about Tyre lars, it must have been a. source of immense wealth.* and Sidon. It seeiris. probable that- Solomon owned That commerce )wa`s cherished:.by olomon with the the country, but not. the.. cities on the coast._. The most ~assiduous. cai.e He visitedin.person Elath and northern limit on theMediterranean,was Berytus; -the: EzionGeber,: superntendedthebuidn of shs, and edit W.s:~ Ber. - -th; ~ G s.-perineiide' ithp;h i H in of ships, and i southern was Sichor,.or River:of Egypt and,:the.took:pains itose ttle these citiesf:ivth seafaring inhabElanitic Gulf, or easterncarm of theRed Sea.';..itants.from:Tyrer iis:,efoi'os e:ie successful, andt The populatior-,of,the.empire-is isomewhata matter — were:thei means of driing. to these ports and thence of conjecture, as:.there. isn statement of it in the t J aem, the thtrade of:. fiia, Aiabia, Persia, Scripture narrative.I-:.,t- is estimated, however, that -it: and India,: In respct:to the sitution of Ophir, innuwas very large. tIf we. imay. judge from:-.the number merablconjectures hayve beenpu;. foith All the facts of the militia in thetime:of David,-one rmllon:t hree;:that tre ever likely to be.knowin.regard to it we learn hundred thousand,- it cannotbesupposed that the. -firom the Bible,:..and they are:these:: the ships sailed number of inhabitants'. under:-Solomon was less than from -Ezion-Geber; the voyage to and from Ophil eight millions. Taking the ratio of the nuimber of' occupied' three years; the articles imported were gold, militia to the number of inhabitants. to. be as one to peao ck- apes, spices,:ivory, and ebony.;(See note seven, the population would even exceed that; but per- p. 80.) haps, in respect to-the Israelites,;we may take the ratio The. allia'nece of Israel. with the Phcenicians and as one.:to. six, or six and a. half.,- To support. so,great Egyptians xwas of great' importance ein, relation to the a:population must hayve: required, notwithstanding the improvement of:the arts-of civilized life.' The:Phe. aids of eormmerce,:a soil of uncommon fertility.:: The nicians, although they did not control the trade of the great progress ofthe:Israelites, 1oth: in commerce and East,- were even now distinguished for'their commer agriculture,.at this.era, must necessarily be inferred.., cial enterprise and nautical skill. The Tyrian'artists, The: revenue of the governm ent is said.:to have been.employed:in the erection and decoratiorin of'the Term. derivcedfrom gifts, spoils, confiscation, crown lands, ser- ple, elevated:theideas- of the Israelites in every thing vices of labor, monopolices in trade;, particulartaxesandi connected.. with- -taste,:.and inspired:'them.with a fondin extreme cases, polltaxes,-. The treasury:of Solomon, ness for elegance:: and. symmetry,: while -the Tyrian it. is probable, was enriched from most.of these sources. mariners, engaged in. navigating their ships, gave tc From' all, quarters he received the'most, splendid and their. character a tone of-ardor and.-of enterprise which costly. gifts..:- The' spoils.-of his enemies came into the it never before possessed. account;butt these, in his peaceful. reign,:could.: not have - The.-philosophiy andi literature Of the reign of Solobeen.,' considerable-~:: The confiscation,of::estates.,was mon were: included:in his own. productions.'It is.no doubtless a source.:;of. revenue, such, as those of Ado- Dunlikely-that authors' and ment of.genius: abounded in nijahi;.Joai> b, and -othe~rsi.~whom ihe put to death:,in con- his day:; yet., we know nothing. of:,what was::.donee by formnity. to te:,fie dem ands...of.justice-.. or. the. will: of his others..'he T!philosophy.:wasa: religious philosophy fathe;'~..-rI. Hlie'inherited;- of course: the possessions.of his the ihest hgSv and,:-only' true on;'.,::an d. it:was.;also'a father,. receved. the, income of: the.'.crown:?lands,,-t he religious' literature, chiefl,:' tat prevailed,';as wa'the vineyards theolive-treestesycore-te, rds fatth.'iveithr.that which'existed before ol om on's time of.'Sh'aron., and',:te herds ofWthe,::alleys, ithe. camzels, tlhe inc luding.the:potetic:effusions of..hiis,renwned father ases,;ant the flocks..: From services of,.labor, a. large The rearks already.made upon?,the produetionsi of Sol incme was. derived, particularly. inn::.the'.:ommerce o.mon, must:-suffice for the present. eondense4 na'rrative. which:wa:-;vas.earried, on by.the spice imerhants.and - FT:he peculiarities?0f the government and,religion of others, by land and by sea, and-in.:the pvrivilege.of the ebrews'.as. agents in: melioratingi;thir,irchaetei exporting horses and chariots from Egypt for the king and:promoting heir im pro.vement: will' have: suffic.ientand the neighboring regions. To' furnish: the means ly" appeared: from:.the many:incidents recorded in of completing.the magnificent building which Sqlomon their history.': Their, government.was: a. theoracy al erected,.wa~s add'ed a publie~c: levy; and t~is:was:P proba-.firsti;.,rbut wbwhen,,this ceased, is.. a matter.of dispute. bly a part, of: the, heavy burden of which' the. people Some suppose. it.terminated with- the'ijudges,.others at complained when they assembled to crown'Rehoboam. the time of the captivity, and::others! not.:unii the Of the public~ works oofo Solo'mon-the rmagnificent advent of Christ.; for the king was. ever expected to buildings which he caused.to'be reared-we have alrca- act,but as tihe viceroy of Jehovah!, the real Sovereign. dy spoken.,These certainly indicate great. progress In respect to their religion, a-s...it. was pratised,'there in taste and in the,' artsi both mechanic and initative,. were:causes,..in operation uhat tended.i to: excite' and The advancement in the:art of'government is shown..It is ai th.at silver, so abudnt inSpan was ex ti n.works:'for national defence'-the surrounding of Je-. -t is aid that silver, so abundant in Spain, was exdifferent'parts0 of is kingdom. the: abundance. ofthese precious metals-in. Jerusalem, so -: The stalte of. comme;rce,: particularly, is:interesting4 strongly expressedj in Scripture -"2' gold- plentiful as stones, as exhibiting the advancement of.a people in. civiliza:- and.'silver.nothing accounted of." Every nation used the bspices of the East, especially frankincense, without stint, in tion. Before the establishment of a monarchy, com, the rites ofworship, and at any price. Thtese waerenalwayc.merce'.seenms to.:have received little attention from this very costly,'and the staple ofta mnst lucrative trade. KLtU;ioJ0 OF J UDJAH AND ISRAEL. 173:hernsh a vindictive spirit and roughness of:character, passions.:-They'thus rose above the partisan feelings contrary. to thei evident intent of. the. precept. But of the-common people,' and' left their:. retirement with this influence'was, in some degree, counteracted by more liberal and benevolent' principles. - They.con-' I the establishment of the schools of the -prophets. In tributed, of course, to the refinement of the nation, these institutions, the: precise nature of, which- is doubt- A better state of things existed under both David and ful, men.were.secluded - for a.season -from.the — tu- Solomon, who, notwithstanding'their many errors and mults..of wars,:..which.- harassed the multitude,-: and mistakes, were in the main, earnestly-devoted to the lneeessarily. awakened.and. strengthened the turbulent moral -and religious advancement. of their people. _____ —:. J}, ii Capture of Jerusalem by:the Assyrians under Nebuchadnezz.r. C H A P~T ER X C v I. still heavier burdens than his father had laid upon them. This was done at Shechem when the nation, with the 979 to 587... C-". popular Jeroboam at their head, petitioned for an- alle-;Ingdoms of Judah and Israel- Ten Tribes viation of burdens which it was then impossible to bear. rebel, and7establish t heir I p e *- 7 7:.'The despotic and fool-hardy temp er of the monarch rebel, and establish'. their nideoen'dence - thus resulted in an.immediate determination'to revolt. Policy of Jeroboam., - Comparison of the Ten tribes unanimously- renounced their allegiance, Dynasties of the two Kin gdom's — Disas- raised Jeroboam to'the. throne, forced the son.of Solotrous Attempt at.Union - Wickedness of mon to fly to his native kingdom of Judah, and stoned.Ahab and his.Wife- Apostasy- of Israel. Adoram, the collector of his tribute. The..'tribes of Sulccessful- Opposition of. Elijah -- T. he tr.te Judah.:.and Benjamin: alone remained faithful, to the Religion restored-..Confederation -— Annals true succession... - of Israel"- Its Deportationl — Its Fate in As a matter of poliey,-and' an expression oft his: dis Assyria -Annals of Juda-Deported- by regardof the. religious rites. of the H-ebrew nation,.JerNebuchdnea - J a'detre. oboam appointed a separate priesthood;and a separate Nebuchadnezzar Jerusale' 1 lestroyed.. place and establishment for religious.purposes. - He TEE successor of Solomon was his son Rehloboam; sought: thus to avoid the: danger of reuni i'i through but the time had.:arrived for:. a great change to pass-.the attraction of the national worship at'Jerusalem — over this splendid monarchy. It'Vas: destined to un6 which, -ambng other things, was doubtless intended to dergo: a disastrous partition, and to be divided into two bind the tribes. together by domestic, commercial, and from the. roll of nations. The immediate cause of the ality. -To0this end, Jeroboam caused two golden. calves metancholy change was.-the'indiscretion..and haughti-;to b'e made; and consecrated' some obscure persons, ness of tch new monarch in answer to-the.. reasonable -not of-the Levitical'.tribe, as the''priesthood..-'These ],nands of his..people-and threatening- themr with calves were set up', the one: in the central' position-of 174. KINGS OF ISRAEL. Bethel, and the other in the remote city of Dan. This ship over all their idolatries, and the people, being at flagrant violation of the Mosaic polity did not pass once convinced, put the law in force, and the idolaunnoticed by the God of the Hebrews. It subjected trous priests present on the occasion were slain on the Jeroboam and his house to calamities, and the latter banks of the Kishon. finally to destruction. A degree of prosperity attended the affairs of Israel It is not proposed here to enter minutely into the after the restoration of the ancient religion. A powhistory of the separate kingdoms of Israel and'Judah erful invasion of the Syrians was repelled once and during this long period. There were about twenty again; but Ahab and his queen, though divinely sovereigns in each of them, although the kingdom of favored by the success of their arms, and by other Judah lasted more than a century beyond that of means, were neither reconciled to the worship of the Israel.'lThe throne of Judah, deriving its prestige true God, nor brought to a just reverence for the instifrom David and Solomon, passed quietly from father tutions of Israel. Among other crimes, they wantonly to son, and the reign of its occupants in several in- murdered Naboth for refusing to give up his vineyard stances was quite protracted. The race of Jeroboam, to'the king. Both perished miserably, as did their having no hereditary greatness in their favor, for he whole family at subsequent periods. was on'y a domestic in the family of Solomon, -was During the short reign of Ahaziah,o(891 B. C.,) the speedily cut off from the succession, and adventurer son and successor of Ahaz, the two Hebrew kingdonms after adventurer contested the kingdom of Israel. were joined in a confederacy. Its duration was only Their reigns were generally insecure and short. Only two years. the more striking incidents in the lives of some of the The crown was next worn by Jehoram, brother of kings, of both nations, will be introduced into this nar- Ahaziah; but he was destined to die a violent death. rative. That which further relates to Jeroboam and after a reign of twelve years. Xhis successors will be first separately noticed..Jehu, a caltain under Jehoram, was anointed king A war occurred between the two nations imme- by the prophet Elisha, and, though a profligate and diately after the accession of the second king of Judah, ambitious man, was the instrument of executing the Abijah, (962 B. C.,) in which their whole military force divine vengeance upon his impious contemporaries. was called out,- eight hundred thousand men on the He put to death the seventy sons of Ahab, and, aftel side of Israel, and four,hundred thousand on that of having slain all the priests of, Baal, he destroyed the Judah. Although the design of Abijah was to reduce' images and the house of their God. the kingdom of Israel to subjection, and he obtained a Jehoash (638 B. C.) was a successful warrior. IIe great victory, yet the object was not attained. The defeated Benhadad, king of Syria, in three battles. In disaster, however, preyed'upon Jeroboam's mind, and a war against Amaziah, king of Judah, he took the lat he never afterwards recovered his power or enterprise. ter prisoner, broke _down the wall of Jerusalem, and Ant his death, his son Nadab, who succeeded him, plundered the temple and' the king's palace. (977 B. C.,) was dethroned and put to death, and his "Pekah,-(758 B. C.,) an unprincipled but able monwhole lineage destroyed by'Baasha, (955, B. C.,) who atrch, made war against Judah with Rezin, king of Daoccupied the throne twenty-four years. mascus-an event'which, with other collisions be'twveen Zimri, the fourth sovereign'after Jeroboam, enjoyed the two kingdoms, hastened their ruin. Their- first the crown only seven days. The beautiful city Tirzah, expedition did not meet with much success: a second in which he was besieged by Omri, being taken, he descent was more fatal. The loss of Judah was greal. burnt himself to death in his palace, and the royal During Pekah's reign, a part of the ten tribes were residence was transferred to Samaria-so long the carried captive to Assyria by Tiglath Pileser. hated rival of Jerusaleri. The end of the kingdom now drew near. After a Under Ahab, the sixth in succession after Jeroboam, period of anarchy which lasted about nine years, the the apostasy of the ten tribes reached its height. sceptre fell into the feeble hands of Hosea. He had Ahab was the most impious king that ever reigned reigned nine years, when Shalmaneser, an Assyrian over Israel. He married Jezebel, a daughter of the monarch of great ambition, made him tributary. But king of Sidon, under whose auspices the Sidonian wor- Hosea having revolted, the Assyrian king besieged ship of Baal, the sun, was introduced. This species Samaria, which, after an obstinate resistance of three of idolatry, so fierce and persecuting, threatened to years, surrendered; and thus terminated forever the exterminate the ancient religion. Its preservation from independent kingdom of Israel. (See p. 77.) utter extinction in the ten tribes, was owing to the This melancholy event occurred in a little more intrepidity of the prophets, who, though put to death than two centuries and a half after the separation of in great numbers, or obliged to lie concealed, often the ten tribes from those of Judah and Benjamin, the arose to remonstrate against the wickedness of the former having suffered in the mean while a dreadful king and his fierce, vindictive consort. series of calamities. Except a few who remained in Elijah, the greatest of the whole prophetic race, Canaan, the Israelites were dispersed throughout Asentered so vigorously into the contest, and was so sus syria, and lost their distinctive' character. Those who tained by divine interposition, that he triumphed over remained in their native country became intermixed the impious house of' Ahab. They of the prophetic with strangers. The descendants of these mingled order were, at this period, the principal conservators races were afterwards known by the name of Samar. of religion, particularly in that part of the country itans. Whether that larger portion of them, whc whence the Levites had been expelled, and where were removed, became extinct as a separate people, the priesthood had been degraded. They were the or roved into remote and inaccessible regions, where champions of right and of liberty, and of the strict their descendants even now expect the final restoration observance of the law, civil and religious. Elijah, by of the twelve tribes to their native land, is still a qluesa public challenge of the numerous priests of Baal, vin- tion among the learned. dicated and proved the sllperiority of the ILord's wor- The contemporaneous history of Judah is, of courlse'| KINGS OF ISRAEL-THE CAPTIVITY AT BABYLON. 175 somewhat involved in that of the ten tribes. Her kings prudent and pious course of his father. The kingdloilo were, many of them, devoted to the religion and insti- was in a high state of prosperity under his sceptre, tutions of their country, and ruled in the hearts of but, in an evil hour, during an alliance with tie kirg their people. A few of. them imitated the profligate of Israel, he married his son Jehoram to Athldialh kings of Israel; bhut a reign of misrule and irreligion, the cruel and ambitious daughter of Ahab. She afterwas almost invariably succeeded by a return to order wards introduced the crimes and calamities of the and the national faith. Israelitish dynasty into the royal house of Judah. Rehoboam, of whom an account has already been Jehoram succeeded his father Jehoshaphat, 893 B. C.; given in part, reigned seventeen years. During his during his reign the fatal consequences of the conreign, Shishak, king of Egypt, made a descent upon nection with the bloody house of Ahab appeared. This Judea, took Jerusalem, and cari'ied off the treasures of reign began in blood, and proceeded in idolatry and the temple and of the palace. defeat. He was succeeded by his son Abijah, (962 B. C.,) Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, (885 B. C.,) was directed whose war with Jeroboam has already been noticed. by the counsels of his profligate mother. He went, Asa, the son of Abijah, followed, 959 B. C. He with the vicious Jehoram, king of Israel,- of the same was a wise and religious prince, employed in fortify- name with his father, and in part contemporaneous with ing and establishing the national religion, as of old. the latter, —to war against Hazael, king of Syria. He repelled an immense force of a million men, When Jehu destroyed the house of Ahab, he sought headed by Terah, the Ethiopian, who invaded his Ahaziah, who was hid in Samaria, and slew him. dominions. Passing over two or three reigns, as not important After a reign of forty-one years, Asa was succeeded or interesting, we come to the long, religious, and thereby his son, Jehoshaphat, (918 B. C.,) who pursued the fore prosperousreign of Uzziah, (809 B. C.,)who swayed - _2. —-< _!__ Jews taken captive to Babylon. the sceptre of Judah during fifty-one years. He was which shortly after consigned them to ruin and slavery. in every respect an efficient sovereign, both in war and The prince himself, subdued by Esarhaddon, the Aspeace. He made successful attacks upon the Philis- syrian king,'was carried to Babylon, bound with fettines and Arabians. But this excellent prince, becom- ters. Here he learned wisdom and piety, and, in the ing intoxicated with success, went into the temple to end, was restored to the throne of his ancestors. burn incense upon the altar, and, for his presumption, Josiah, who came to the throne at the age of eigh' was struck with leprosy, which caused him to be set years, (640 B. C.,) surpassed even his most religious aside, and the administration of public affairs to be predecessors in zeal for the reformation of the national committed to Jotha-m, his son. religion, which had been prostrated by his father Jotham's was an able and conscientious, but not an Amon and grandfather Manasseh. But the virtues eventful reign. of Josiah only delayed for a time the fate of JerusaAhaz, son of the pious Jotham, commenced his lem and of the kingdom. He was killed in a battle reign 742 B. C., and proved to be the worst and most with Necho, king of Egypt, who took Jerusalem. unfortunate monarch who had ruled in Judah. The Jehoahaz, a younger son of Josiah, had been raised' idolatry of Ahaz was punished by the captivity of to the throne. After a reign of three months, he was two hundred thousand of his subjects, though they deposed and imprisoned by Necho, who placed Jehoiwere afterwards sent back, upon the remonstrance of akim in his room. From this -period, the kingdom of the prophet (tbeo. Judah fell into a condition of alternate vassalage to Hezekiah succeeded his impious father on the throne the two conflicting powers of Egypt and Assyria. of Judah, 726 B. C. He proved to be a most virtuous There was but a shadow of the native authority!eft. prince and eminent reformer, demolishing, with un- In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, who came to the sparing severity, the materials and the means of idol- throne 601 B. C., the powerful Nebuchadnezzar was atry. associated in the Assyrian empilre with his father, and, He was followed, in the succession, by his son within a year or two, passed the Euphrates, and rapManasseh, 697 B. C.; a king to whose crimes and idly overran the whole of Syria and Palestine. The irreligion the Jews mainly attribute the. dreadful evils Jewish king, on his submission, was spared;: but the 176 RETURN OF THE.CAPTIVE JEWS. temple was plundered, and a number of well-born placed over this wreck ofa kingdom, attempted, in the youths, among whom were Daniel and three others, ninth year of his reign,: a resistance against the Aswere carried away captives. The captivity of seventy- syrian king, and Jerusalem, with all it contained, was years commenced from this. date. Jehoiakim, how- levelled iri one common ruin. This work of destrucever, rebelled, but perished, in a short time, amid the tion was consummated in the year 587 B. C., and is devastation of his country. Jeconias, his son, had bewailed in. the inimitable Lamentations of Jeremiah. scarcely ascended the throne, when Nebuchadnezzar After this event, there were a few efforts among contendin person appeared at the gates of Jerusalem, and ing chiefs for the sovereignty ofJudea, but they were of received its submission. Almost every thing valuable no avail. Here closes the first period of Jewish history, remaining in the temple, as well as the king and his but not the existence of the: Israelitish race, as might family, the strength of the army and nobility, and all the have, been expected. ~ Their laws and their religion more useful artisans, were carried away to Babylon. have proved to be the principle of an inextinguishZedekiah, the younger son of Josiah, (598 B..C.,) able nationality. Ezra reading and explaining the Law.. -.. CHAPTER X C VIIy.- j j s arch of-all the territories of the kingdom. It was doubtless. through the influence of the prophet Daniel yru King of Persia-z. that Cyrus issued the welcome edict in respect to the ~yrus, King of Persia - Ezra -Return of the Sexiles of Judea. Exiles - Annals -.Two hundred thousand The affairs of the returned Jews had fallen into Jews settle in Egypt and Cyrene -Annals confusion, when, in 457 B. C., the Persian king sent - Sufferings under Epiphanes- The Jews Ezra, the priest and scribe, to put things in order. cured forever of Idolatry - Revolt The His commission was ample, and exactly suited to the laccabees - Indepe-ndence established by a case. He was empowered, as governor, to appoint Series of gloriou~s ELxploits - Annalsi s- - superior and inferior judges, rectify abuses, enforce sesin clli the interference of Drs- the observance of the law, and punish the refractory sensions call i theteference ofRoe - with fines, imprisonment, and even death; and various Pompey relnders t/he Jews tributary. means were allowed him for the use of the temple. AFTER the Jews had In four months, the caravan from Persia, led by -......-: been in captivity to the Ezra, and numbering about six thousand souls, reached, a 3Babylonians the seventy Jerusalem. Having deposited the donations to the. i a|2 yeats predicted by Jere- temple, and shown his commission, Ezra reformed the miah, they were permit- practices of the colonists, and caused the law to be pubg ted by Cyrus, king of licly read to the assembled.people, explaining it to i Persia, to return to their them in their own idioms. He also collected an-d t~/, 1f' iA fi Persnative land, 534 years irevised the books of the Old Testament, and gave them B. C. Previously to this their present form. The patriotic Nehemiah was sent event, important and in- as governor, in 444 B. C. He rebuilt the walls of Jeruteresting. incidents oc- salem, and the Jews long remained quiet, happy, and P curred, in which several faithful to the Persian. government, to which they seem High Priests. kings of Babylon in suc- to have been as much attached as it was possible for cession, and Daniel, with his associates, were con- them to be to any foreign.power. ~ernedl. These are minutely related in the prophecy At length, the peace of this favored district was of Daniel, and need not be here repeated. At the interrupted by the invasion ofAlexander, (333 B. C.,),lose of the seventy yealrs, Cyrus, who had succeeded whose career of conquest:over Asia had commenced. )Darius, and who became the founder of a new dynasty He received the submission of the people, and is said mad a new empire, found himself the undisputed mon- to have transplanted. one hundred thousand of them ANTIOCHUS EPI:PHANES-THE MACCABEES. 177 io his new colony in Egypt. On the death of Alex- place of the priest's residence.. Hewas supported in ander, Judea came into, the possession of Laomedon, this bold measure by his five sons, now in the-prime one of his generals..On his defeat, Ptolemy,. the king of life, Johanan, Simon, Judas, Eleazar, and Jonathan. of Egypt, advanced against Jerusalem, assaulted it on He fell upon the king's commissioner, put'him: to the Sabbath, and met with no resistance, the -Jews death, and summoned all the citizens who were zeal. scrupling to desecrate the holy day even in self- ous for the law, to follow him to the mountains. One defence. Ptolemy held the country, however, with thousand of them, however, perished in their caves, no firm grasp. Twice was it wrested from his hands as they would not defend. themselves onthe Sabbath, by Antigonus; but finally it was made part of his share when they were. attacked by the Syrians. Upon the as one of the successors of Alexander. lie carried occurrence of this:event, Mattathias' and his followers away;one hundred thousand captives, whom he settled discarded that':superstitious view of the day, and assertchiefly in.Alexandria and Cyrene. ".ed the lawfulness of defensive war on the Sabbath. During this period, Onias, the high priest, admin-' Mattathias soon died, and Judas Maccabeus, the most istered the public affairs for twenty-one years; He valiant of:his sons, took upon himself the managewas succeeded,'(332 B. C.,)the. year after the battle of ment of this greast and glorious enterprise, (166 B.C;) Issus, by Simon'the Just, a pontiff of great repute in Having tried" the soldiers by manyg'allant adventures, Jewish tradition. Under the first three Ptolemies, surprising several cities, which:he garrisoned and forboth the native and Alexandrine Jews enjoyed' many tified,:Judas determined to meet the enemy in the marks of the royal favor; but their - prosperity:was field. Apollonius, fthe governor of Samaria, first adendangered by the misconduct of the high priest, son vanced against: him, and -was totally defeated'and and'successor of Simon the Just. They were *deliv- slain. Seron, teovrnor:f Lower Syria, advanced ered, however, from a threatened Egyptian invasion to avenge the defeat of Apollonius; but Judas encounby the address of Joseph, son of Tobias, who collected tered him, slew eight hundred'of hismen, and pul the tribute which the high priest''ha'd failed to pay. the rest to oflight. Antiochus; the next year, sent a The attempt of Antiochus: Epipha'nes,.who succeed- large: army of forty-seven::thousand':men against the ed to the Syrian throne, 176 B. C., to exterminate the Jews; but: Judasdefeated them'with immense s augh religion of the Jews, and substitute that of the Greeks, ter. Lysias' soon appeared: in, Judea with a still roused the dormant energy of the whole:people. He larger force, obut Was overcome by Judas, lost'fie had, upon the intimation of'-an insurrection in Judea, thousand bf his men;and vas obliged to retreat. rThe which was magnified into:a' revolt Jof the whole Maccabean triumphantly entered the:desolate Jerusanation, marched against' Jerusalem,: sacked and pilJ lemf, purified the terrimple, and set'it in order, and built laged the temple, destroyed:forty thousand:of:the a wall about Mounit Zion. iHe' now acted no longer inhabitants, and seized as many m6re, to be:'sold as on the defensive alone, but carried his victorious arms slaves. These and othei' outrages were followed', by into the: territories of. tie' Id'imeans and Ammonites, attempts to abolish the worship of God, and to'force and enlarged the boundaries of his country. the Jews to forsake their religion. The Samaritans In the mean time, the great oppressor of the Jews, were now disposed to disown their relation to the' Antiochus, had died in Persia. He met witha misJews, to whom, in prosperity, they pretended alliance, erable end, as both Jewish and. Roman historians and they consecrated their temple on Mount Gerizim attest. As he hastened'homeward to repair the dis, to Jupiter. astrous state of his affairs in Palestine, he was seized But:the Jews, instructed by the early. history of with an incurable disorder - a loathsome ulcer, breedtheir nation, and cured forever of idolatry by the ing worms. Accompanying this painful condition of captivity, were not so easily persuaded to'irenounce his body was his more agonized mind, affected by the religion of their fathers. Antiochus, in pursuance horrible apparitions and remorse of:conscience — the of his impious purpose, met their' fidelity to their God fruit of his dreadful bairbarities'and sacrilege -in Judea. with the fiercest persecutions. Two women,. who cir- His son Antiochus Eupator, a child of nine' years cumcised their children, were hanged in'a conspicuous old, succeeded him, (162 B. C.)'He made: peae with part of the city, with their children round their necks. the Jews, but quickly violated it., Menelaus,' the high Cruelties-too horrible to be related, sometimes for'that priest, he put to death, and conferred the priesthood reason, do not meet with the detestation they'deserve, on Alcimus or' Jacimus. In the mean while, DemeAmong other martyrdoms, Jewish tradition points, trius Soter, the son of' Seleucus, the lineal heir to the with pious exultation, to that of Eleazar, an aged throne of Antioch, had escaped' from Rome, where he scribe, ninety years old, who determined "to leave a had been confined, and came intoSyria. He caused notable example to such as be: young,'to:die willingly himself to be crowned king; and, after sonme:struggle, and courageously for. the honorable andt holy laws; he overpowered Lysias and. Antiochus, and put them and to that of the seven' brethren who, encouraged by to death. their mother, rejected the most splendid offers, and At the instance of Alcimus, Demetrius:sent Nicaconfronted the most terrible torments, rather than in- nor, with. a great army,:against Judas, whom' he:en. fringe the -law. From",'the capital,. the persecution deavored' to surprise. They joined in battle, but the spread: throughout the country, and such was the zeal superior forces of'Nicanor Were totally routed,: and with which the pagan rites were enforced, that,. though he himself slain. Judas heieupon.took a more denumbers resisted unto death,'the worship of Jehovah cided'step to secure the independence' of his country, came near being totally abolished. and entered into a formal- treaty of alliance with'At this crisis, divine Providence interposed in' be- Rome;'but before the treaty was made known:, the half of the descendants of Abraham.' attathias, a glorious career of the Maccabee' had.terminated. man of the priestly: line of Jomirib,:though advanced'in Demetrius sent Alcimus and Bacchides with a new years, resisted the officer of Antiochus, who came to army of'twenty thousand" men against him. Judas execute the edict against the'Jewish religion in the I was abandoned by all his troops except eight hundred 23 178 ASMONEAN PRINCES-TRYPHON-HIS TIRCEACHERY. men, yet he would not be prevailed upon to retreat. government and high priesthood were settled on him He fell, nobly fighting to the last, (161 B. C.) and his heirs, and the Jews were by this means dis. His brother, Jonathan, was chosen general in his stead. charged from all manner of tribute to any foreign Athirdmemberofthis gallant race, John, had fallen in an prince. He took Zion, the fortress of Jerusalem, drove affray with an Arab tribe. Jonathan now entered into out of the city all idolaters, and placed in it the true an alliance with Rome, or consummated that made by worshippers of-God. Under his prudent administrahis brother; and, having wearied Bacchides with war, tion, the wasted country began to resume its ancient as well as alarmed him in view of the danger of fertility. oppressing an ally of Rome, obliged the latter to make Simon, now grown old, (135 B. C.,) intrusted the a league, and withdraw his army from Judea. command of his forces to his sons Judas and John Alexander Balas, an adventurer, who announced him- Hyrcanus. But the Maccabean race seemed destined self as the son of king Antiochus Epiphanes, ventured to perish by violence. Ptolemy, the son of Ahabus, with an army into Syria; the garrison of Ptolemais Simon's son-in-law, invited Simon and his son Judas opened their gates to him on account of their hatred to to a castle which he had fortified, and there, at a banDemetrius, and the latter consequently prepared him- quet, barbarously murdered them both. An attempt self for war. As he courted an alliance with Jonathan, was made to secure John in Gazara; but he contrived the Jewish general seized the occasion of repairing to escape,. and was unanimously proclaimed'the highl the fortifications of Jerusalem. Alexander was also no priest and ruler of his country. He inherited the less desirous to obtain the friendship of Jonathan, and, vigor and ability of his family, and his administration to oblige him, conferred on him the high priesthood. of the government was attended with success. He Jonathan immediately assumed the pontifical robe, reduced Idumea to subjection, and incorporated its and in his person commenced the reign of the Asmo- people with the Jews. Among other exploits, he nean Princes, (152 B. C.) Demetrius and Alexander took Sechem, and demolished the temple on Mount having come to a battle, Demetrius was defeated and Gerizim, two hundred years after it had been built slain. His eldest son, however, Demetrius Nicanor, by Sanballat. He governed Judea twenty-nine entered Cilicia with an army, 148 years B. C. Ap- years. ollonius, his general, receiving the command of Aristobulus, (Judas,) the eldest son of Hyrcanus, Syria, attacked Jonathan, the high priest, who over- succeeded his father (107 B. C.) in the governmen' came him, took Joppa and Azotus, and burnt the and high priesthood. He was the first, after the temple of Dagon. return from the captivity, who set a crown upon his Dissensions having arisen, at this era, between Ptole- head, and changed the state into a monarchy. His my Philometer, king of Egypt, and Alexander Balas, reign was short, but filled with crime and misery. It who had become his son-in-law by marrying Cleopa- is recorded that he caused his brother Antigonuss io tra, his daughter - and both having soon perished- be killed on suspicion of disloyalty; that his mother, Jonathan availed himself of the opportunity to besiege claiming a right to the sovereignty by virtue of the the citadel at Jerusalem, held by a garrison of Mace- will of Hyrcanus, was barbarously stoned to death; donians. Complaint being made to Demetrius, Jona- and that her other sons were held in close confinethan appeased him by presents, and obtained new ment. In his wars he was successful, but his wicked favors for the Jews. In the year 144 B. C., Tryphon, life and reign were speedily closed. He died in a with some soldiers who revolted from Demetrius, un- paroxysm of remorse for his crimes. dertook to establish Antiochus, the son of Alexander There were several successors of the Asmonean Balas, in the.kingdom of Syria. With this view, war race in the kingdom, as Alexander Jannteus,, Alexanwas made upon Demetrius by young Antiochus, and dra, Aristobulus II., Hyrcanus II., -and Antigonus, the former, being vanquished, fled into Seleucia. whose rule, including that of the founder of the dyJonathan, who assisted Antiochus in this enterprise, nasty, continued about one hundred and twenty-six was crowned with signal honors. Tryphon, actuated years. In the year 63 B. C., Pompey came to Jeruby ambitious views, now engaged in measures to get salem to settle the affairs of Judea. He restored rid of Antiochus, and reign in his stead; but, fearing Hyrcanus, between whom and his brother Aristobulus Jonathan's opposition, he invited him to come to Ptole- there had been a contest for the crown, with the title mais, and bring with him some few of his soldiers, of "Prince of the Jews," and conferred the govern promising to deliver the city into his hands. Jonathan, ment of the country on Antipater, an Idumean prossuspecting no treachery, came thither with only a elyte. thousand men. No sooner had he entered the city, Pompey had the curiosity to enter the temple itself, than Tryphon commanded the gates to be closed. even to the most holy place,'With some of his officers,. Jonathan was taken prisoner, and all his men put to no one venturing to oppose the act. He noted every the sword. thing with a wondering eye, though he left the sacred Upon this occurrence, the -Jews made choice of utensils untouched, and did not disturb the treasures Simon Maccabeus for their general, in the place of his contained in the temple. He, however, made the Jews brother Jonathan. The crafty Tryphon began to ne- tributary to the Roman people. In the civil wars be. gotiate: he offered to yield up Jonathan for one hun- tween Caesar and Pompey, the former sent Aristobudred talents of silver. The money having been paid lus, whom Pompey had carried captive to Rome, intc him, he violated his promise, and put the illustrious Judea, to engage the Jews in Caesar's cause; but he prisoner to death.' Simon, having collected the bones, was poisoned by his enemies. At the same time erected a stately monument of seven pillars for his Pomrpey caused his son Alexander to be beheaded father, mother, and five Maccabean brethren, at Modin, After one other revolution, giving Hyrcanus the ful' their native place. priesthood and a share in the government, the family The Rorrans, at this period, renewed their leagues of the Herodians was seated on the throne of Judea wlh Simon, and wrote them in tables of brass. The of whom an account remains to be given. HEROD-HIS WIFE MARIAMNE-HIS CRIMES. 79 utmost bitterness, with his barbarous conduct towards CHAPTER XCVIII. her relatives. Stung with such an exhibition of indif37 B. C. to A. D. 44. ference and resentment, and urged on by his envious sister Salome, he ordered her to execution. Herod, afterwarrds surlzatnaed " the Great "-. She met her fate with the calm intrepidity of innoHis Viogorous but M'lIurderous Policy- His cence, and died worthy of the noble lineage of which Wife Mariamnne- Courts the Favor of the the last blood flowed in her veins. But the murderer Emperors -His Jealousies and C(rimes of Mariamne, as also of her grandfather, father, brother, Starcasm of Augustus - Rebuilds the Tern- and uncle, could feel no satisfaction or repose. All ple - Reduces Judea completely to a Roman his passions were alike without bounds. From the Province - His Children and Successors - extreme of love and resentment, his stormy mind Jewrzy in tihe Twimes of our ~S~avior - The vibrated to the extreme of remorse and despair. On Santhedrirn - Sects - Roman Governors his imagination was ever pictured the form of his still dear though murdered Mariamne. He sought alleviation from horror and grief in every variety of amuseH.v.R oD, afterwards named the Great, who was a ment; but in vain. Anguish of mind at length brought younger son of Antipater, the Idumean, had figured in on disease of body and temporary derangement; and Jewish story some years previously to his possession though he recovered from this malady after a time, of the sovereignty. His father had appointed him to an ineffaceable gloom was left upon his spirit. His the government of Galilee, in the year 47 B. C., and fierce and violent temper received from this hour a in this capacity the natural decision and severity of his fearful exacerbation, and his future course was marked character began to be developed. In the year 40 B. C., more than ever with cruelty and blood. He put to he defeated his rival, Antigonus, and Pacorus, the death many men of rank and distinction. Parthian, who had invaded Syria, plundered Jerusalem, At the instigation of Antipater, a son of Herod by his and ravaged the Holy Land. Two years subsequent- wife whom he divorced in order to marry Mariamne, he ly, he took Jerusalem, married the beautiful Mariamne, condemned to death his two sons by Mariamne, Aristo daughter of Hyrcanus, of the Asmonean- family, and bulus and Alexander-youths of a noble bearing, and was made king of Judea by the Roman power. He greatly beloved by the Jewish people. He was brought was the last independent sovereign of Palestine, and to this dreadful purpose by the strong urgency of his began his reign 37 B. C. own suspicious and jealous nature, and after a miseraThe people being attached to theAsmonean family, ble conflict with his fears and affections. It was either lie had great difficulties to encounter from their opposi- on this or on some similar occasion, his imperial tion; but he proceeded with such vigor in his admin- patron, Augustus, uttered the bitter sarcasm, that he had istration, as to make every thing bend to his will. rather be one of Herod's swine than one oJ his sons. Against the faction of Antigonus, which was strong in The crime did not remain long unpunished; it recoiled Jerusalem, he proceeded without scruple, put to death with dreadful force upon almost all who were impliforty-five of the chiefs, and confiscated all their prop- cated in it. Antipater, his beloved son, the heir of his erty. The whole Sanhedrim fell victims to his ven- kingdom, for whom he had imbrued his hands in the geance, except Shammai and Pollio, who, during the blood of his own children, fell a special victim, as he was siege of the city, had endeavored to'persuade it to clearly proved to have conspired to poison his old and capitulate. A short time after his establishment on doting father. His execution took place only at the the throne, Herod, in order to please Mariamne, ap- last moment of Herod's life, (4 B. C.,) when also the pointed her brother Aristobulus high priest; but, per- will of the sovereign, in respect to the succession. eiving that he was much beloved bythe Jews, and fear- received its last remodelling. Herod had suffered'ng a rival, he caused him to be drowned while bathing. from a terrible disease, and perished gradually in the After the battle of Actium, (31 B. C.,) Herod went utmost torture of body and mind. to Rhodes, to meet Augustus; and though he had been It was either late in the year before,; early in attached to Antony, he manifested before the con- the same year with the death of Herod, - four years queror such a frankness and loftiness of tone, as won before the vulgar Christian era,-that the murder of the kindred heart of the arbiter of the world's desti- the children of Bethlehem took place. The jealnies. Augustus confirmed Herod's title as king of ousy of Herod against any one who should be born as Judea. Upon his return from Rhodes, the king con- a King in Judea —the dread that the high religious demned to death his wife Mariamne, and her mother, spirit of the people might be resuscitated by the hope Alexandra. of a real Messiah - as well as the summary manner The cause of this nefarious deed was, the in-'in which he endeavored to rid himself of the objjects extinguishable jealousy he entertained that, in the of his fears, are strictly in accordance with the reevent of his death, his beautiful Mariamne would be- lentlessness and decision of his character. come the wife of another. On two occasions, when he During the reign of Herod, Judea fast sunk into a left home on some dangerous enterprise, he left orders province of the Roman empire, and he, instead of that she should be killed upon the contingency of his being head of the Hebrew religious republic, became death. In each instance, she had discovered the fatal more and more on a level with other kings, - vassals of secret, and as she was so imprudent the first time as to Rome. By his affability and the most costly adulation, intimate to him her knowledge of it, she barely es- he secured his interests with Rome. and by creating a caped being slain on the spot; but the power of beauty strong Grecian party, he hoped to neutralize the turbu. overcamne the resolution of Herod. He sparedher; lent and exclusive spirit of his Jewish subjects. lte yet the second time, upon his return, instead of sub- built magnificent works, and even reared the temple ili mitting to his caresses, she manifested the most repul- its former pride and splendor. The structure of Zoroba sive indifference., and reprc:achet htim, in terms of the bel, erected five hundred years before, had become 180 FAMILY: OF; HEROD THE GREAT-THE SANHEDRIM. much~ dilapidated by time and violence: it: was thrown small must be the share of domestic enjoy ment or social down, and a new fabric, of more regular and stately' cultivation. The age, as'such, was one of high civilizaarchitecture, arose with its, glittering masses of white tion; the condition of literature and the arts was flourmarble and pinnacles of gold, crowning the brow of ishing. It was the age of the Roman Augustus, the Mount-Moriah. Yet the people were ill satisfied with great patronof literary men; but in the more secluded all these attempts to ingratiate himself in their affec, district of-Judea, its influence was comparatively unfelt. tions, as. at the same me ehe: patronized the-, Grecian - erod's administration contributed to the advanceinstitutions, and personally; presided, at the Olympic'ment of the nation in some.particulars, more. especially games. The Jews suspected him, not without- reason, in, works of art; but the modes of artificial luxury of a fixed determination to heathenize their nation prevalent in this age of the world were destructive to and country. Added to this, during his long reign, general happiness. No resources, no incomes were they were kept under a most rigid and vigilant police,, adequate to the demands made. by the indulgence of forbidden all fraternities and assemblies,. and exposed'such tastes' and propensities.'The sufferings of the, to be immured in dungeons, whence; few returned:to -mass of the people must have been excessive, in' order the light of day.. to supply the more elevated classes with the means of' The family left by Herod the Great, thollgh thinned their enormous luxury. So far as the Roman modes oy the sword of the executioner, was still.numerous of living.were introduced into Judea, and the people and -.powerful. There were several conspicuous per- were in-fected by them, the evils above adverted -to sonages among them, as will- appear- in the course of were -felt in their full force. Plenty and want, power the history. He married ten wives; but it was chief- and oppression, violence and unresisting submission; ly among the children of the sixth, Malthace, a Sa- side by side, present but a sad picture to the eye of maritan, that his dominions were divided. By the benevolence. Such was the condition of Judea, and will of Herod, to her sons -Herod Antipas and Arche- more or less, of the Roman world, when our Savioi laus-were assigned,to the former, Galilee and Perea; appeared among men. His doctrines and his religion to the latter, Idumea, Samaria, and Judea. The were needed, at such a period, -to save the world from pomp of the funeral rites of: the old king was such as the most frightful miseries. became the external splendor of his reign; but he The supreme judicial authority was exercised by bequeathed to those who came after him an oppressed the Sanhedrim, or Court of Seventy, the great ecclesi. and unhappy kingdom. astical and civil council. It was probably confined tc The two brothers sought: from Augustus a confirma- its judicial duties; it was a plenary court of justice. tion of their respective titles; or, rather, Antipas, the and no more, during the reigns of the later Asmoneai younger brother, sought a confirmation of his title to princes, and during those of Herod the Great and his the whole kingdom, grounded on a former will -of son Archelaus. Herod. While they were in Rome, prosecuting their The greater body of the people, at least all above object, the whole country tended fast to confusion the lowest order, seem to have addicted themselves and anarchy. Other sons of the deceased'king pre- to one or other of the two great prevailing sectsferred their claims, and the whole Herodian family the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The former were involved in dissensions. During the uncertainty held the sway over the multitude, though these of the succession, adventurer after adventurer ap. were not actually enrolled as adherents. The Sadpeared, and dreadful scenes of violence were enacted.'ducees were less numerous and less influential, The Romans stationed in the country were oppressive and were a species; of unbelievers. Besides these and exacting, and the most unhappy divisions existed two great sects, there was a considerable party at. among the Jews themselves. tached to the persons of the. Herodian family, and At length, the imperial edict appeared: it con- probably comprehended what may be called the GreLrmed, for the most part, the will of Herod.. Philip, cian party. There were a few who belonged to the however, was made to share in the inheritance, Au- sect of the Essenes. They were properly the puriranitis,Trachonitis, Paneas, and Batanea being assigned tans, or the'monastic orders of the Jews. to himn. Archelaus received only' the title of eth- -It was in vain, at this era, to attempt to excite the narchl., Under'this name he assumed the dominion religious national spirit of the Jews, as it was excited of Judea, (3 B. C.,) and governed with great injustice under the. banner of the Maccabeans. The God in and cruelty. After a reign of nine years,. he was whose-. name and under whose protection they had deposed and banished by the Roman emperor. His been accustomed to; triumph, was now about towithestates were confiscated, and -Judea: reduced to a Ro- draw his presence. A kingdom, not of this world, man province the last semblance of independence was to rise out of the ruins of the temporal sovereignty having passed away.: Thus the seeptre finally de- which had been held ever since the time of David. parted from Judah, and the kingdom of David and An attempt at insurrection, under Judas,.the Galilean,Solomon sank into a district dependent on the pre-, signally failed. fecture of Syria, though administered by its own A rapid succession of provincial governors took governor - a man usually of the equestrian order. place at the close of the reign of Augustus. His sucAs. this was the, era- of the advent' of Jesus Christ cessor, Tiberius, pursued a different policy; and. among the Jews, a brief account may here -be given during, his reign of twenty-three years, Judea had only of the state of the people, and -their more important two rulers,- Valerius Gratus (A. D. 16) and Pontius institutions.. The condition of the country may; be Pilate, (A. D. 29.) The scheme of Tiberius was well judged of by the preceding narrative, covered, less onerous to the Jewish people, as "the rapid as the whole land was, by rival factions and warlike succession of rulers," observed the shrewd despot:. adventurers, permitting little attention to be given to "only increases the oppressions and exactions of the ordinary arts of life and the cultivation of the the provinces.'. intellect. Amid scnes of anarchy and contention, It was before thile tribunal of Pontius Pilate that f 111 I~~~~~~M Fiji~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i DEATH OF HEROI)-AGRIPPA. Jesus Christ was led. Pilate was not naturally dis- Having completed a reign of three years over his posed to cruelty; but when the peace of his province enlarged dominions, — the whole of Palestine,- Ag ip. appeared in danger, he was stern, decided, and reckless, pa ordered a splendid festival at Cmsarea, in honor of of human life. He was, probably, not much'affectedby the emperor. It was on:this occasion that his dcc tse any apprehension, in respect to the Roman rule, from occurred. Receiving gross adulation as a god fr 3m a person of such humble and quiet demeanor as that the assembled multitude, he was immediately Struck of Jesus. Still, however,:he; shrunk, from the impu- in the language of the sacred volume, "by an angel. tation- of not being'Cbesar's friend,' and could: ot Being seized with violent internal pains, he lingered think the life of one man, however innocent, of much a few days,: and died in extreme agny, "eaten of ys::an d xe~treme: ctggonN Me;cten ~of importance, ill compar.ison with the peaceof the coun- worms." He died Al.:D. 44, tafter a reign'f ten try, and his own favor at Rone. n this dilemma, he years,- the: first: seven: having been:over only! a part naturally endeavored to avoid the: responsibilityo::,of of his. dominions.,- He left'oride Asn Agrippa, pand decision, by transferring the accused to' the itribunal three:daughters. of Herod —-to whose' jurisdiction Ch'ist, as a Galilean,. belonged,- and who happened to be at Jerusalem' for the: celebration of the' passover.; ht~~~~~~~~~~~le i ~~~~~~~~~C.11P P-T E R.!,-: X C Ii1 X At length, however, finding the uproar increasing, he'yielded without'' much further scruple, and' the-'Ro -.:.::D. 44:t6"67. man soldiery were permitted to become the willing The Roma n Rlu'le,: contined- Fana'tcism instruments of-the'Jewish priesthood,; in the crucifixion:- Collisions letw een the Peopleand t he Ro(A. D. 33,) of that' Person in' whom:Pilate himself could find no fault.: We leave to the Christian histoiian...a.diery Robbers -Sedtis ost o rar.z.ucMis tLe Roman,::o~or:the deseription of this event, and all its consequenceS tors.MicodUCtfthe RomanGoernor Ve. have,. said'.enough to show that the state of the eality rt - e def l Connublic mind' in Judea', as well, as:the character of' flict-.begum~n,- T y- - and-a:' Corriuption of Pilate, the. chief agent in'-the transaction, harmonize Florus. — Treacherous Massacre- of a,'Roin the most iremarkable' manner with,:them narrative* of' man: Garrison -:'he Revolt - Mlurderous the evangelists.:Rage a f.'the Nation,- Signal Destruction' During: this' period, the other two: sons:of Herod had he Roa ry Glrious ig for ofthe Romnan Army- Glorio~us Daring for reigned in peace over their respective provinces,- ib - sures of Nero - espasian -.Liberty' Measu res of N eo IVespasinHerod. Antipas, as tetrarch: of Galilee;-,Philip in eprions by te Jes -Joephus - E-.Piepara.tions by~the Jews-?.'.Josephus —Exthe district beyond the Jordan.'. Philip was a prince p-jedition:- against.. Ascalon... of -great justice and.'humhanity'.: — he6 died without issue,''pedition againstAscalon. and his territory was annexed to the province of Syria..THE'son.: of Herod, Agrippa, was too young'.to The:accession of Caligula,: as emperor of:Rome, was bear the. burden of royalty, and Judea: relapsed into tan event-of importance to another branchrofthe Hero- a Roman province. Cassius Longinus was appointed dian family —Agrippa, the: son,of Aristobulus, o.ne of to the presidency of Syria. Fadus was sent' as gov. the two unfortunate princes,'sons of Herod the Great. ernor.of Judea.'. Finding that a civil wai'disturbe d' The early life of Agrippa-.had been:,passed'- in':a the district:beyond Jordan, he soon made:its agitators strange, course of -adventure and vicissitude.''After feel. the- vigor of the.Roman' arm,.and effectually many dangers and escapes, he was received:at the quelledthe turbulence. g~~~~~~~~~~qelledn thcae a trbuence.'" court of Caligula, and had the vacant tetrarchate:of Before:the recall of':Fadus, a singular fanaticism:Philip conferred:onlhim, with the' title of- king. He was excited among the' rabble, who were' made t0 took possessionof his: dgnity:vith royal pomp.' Duringl entertains the beief that, like their ancestors of old, his, reign, many:caiamities,'befelle the Jews - not:only under Joshua, they could:pass'through the'waters of thoSew::W ho inhabited Judea, but the. Jews;of Alexan- the Jordan' in sfety. An impostor by the name.off dia:and of-Babylonia. InAleex andria and on thle Eu- Theudas, who represented himself as:a prophet, had:phrates, they were m assacred.without:mercy, onthe. inspired them with this: belief; and multitudes, throng. most frivolous pretexts. ing f6rth, witi: all tlieir possessions, to thi banks of the:T he project of the Roman- emperor to'set upa river, indulged the confident expectation that he would statue, of'himself in-:the temple, was the- occasion of divide-:the stream'in the midst, and cariy them through the troubles'experienced;by the Jeews of, Palestine. in triumph. The vigilant Fadus seized the impostor, Though threatened with evil and death itself, the whole and, cutting off his:head, sent it to'Jerusalem. population were: determined.to perish, rather:than be.' Tiberius Alexander succeeded Fadus; but his gov. guilty of the idolatry of sacrificing to Caligula., His ernment was short and uneventful.'Next succeeded death;at, length,; happily released them,from their dis-: Ventidius Cumanus,:' (A. D 48.-) "'During his adminis-.ressing dilemma. tration, the first murmuring of the wrathful storm-which On,thie accession of Claudius to.the empire, an'finally swept over Palestine, and laid it waste for ages. enlargement was made of the..domiinions of Agrippa, was heard.' Mutual animosity began' to be manifested on account of the services he'had'rendered to-the between the people and. the Roman soldiery. Indeed. emperor- he. having been present at Rome at the time'several scenes of violence. took place, in which thouof'the election. He retu'ned to Palestine in great sands'of lives were sacrificed. Cumanus, found guilty splendors and henceforward endeavored to ingratiate before the. emperor for. the part he had acted,.was himself With the Jews by observing the Mosaic law banished,- and Claudius Felix, who was born a. slave, with particular exactness. In this spirit, also,' he com- received the appointment of governor.~ Felix admin -roenced- a persecution of the unoffending Christians. istered' his office with the' authority of a king, and the He put to death James, the brother of lohn, and threw disposition:of a slave.' He shrunk from no &' ime which Peter into prison. - he felt it to be for his interest to commni:. 182 PORCIUS FESTUS-ALBINUS-GESSIUS FLORUS. The land, at this time, was full of armed robbers, who The fatal flame finally broke out at Cuesarea, from wasted the country. Felix at first endeavored to sup- an old feud which had arisen between the Greek mapress them, but afterwards, for his private ends, entered gistrates of the city and the Jews who dwelt there. A into a confederacy with some of the most daring. conflict ensuled, in which the Jews were worsted. At Among other enormities which were enacted in con; this era, (A. D. 65,) another disturbance took place nection with these banditti, was the murder of Jona- pertaining to religious matters, in regard to which than, the high priest, who had offended Felix by his the Jews exhibited their wonted pertinacity, even as to remonstrances and rebukes. Jonathan was killed, in the smallest concerns. They had, however, in this the temple itself, by a party of these wretches, at the instance, been annoyed, in a most unreasonable maninstance of Felix. Murders and robberies perpetrated ner, by the approach to their synagogue being made under the authority, or. at least by the connivance, as difficult as possible; also by an insulting heathen of the government, indicated a strange and shocking augury connected with their sacred things. The Jews state of things. No man was secure from the dagger flew to arms. This result was anticipated on the part of the assassin. of the encroaching strangers, who were fully prepared Nor was this all. In every quarter arose impostors for it. and pretenders to magic, who inveigled the people into The flame spread. to Jerusalem. Florus had drivan desert places, and there, by harang,,li, endeavored to the people to insurrection, with a view to his ox n excite them against the Roman govt:-, llleint. The con- wicked and avaricious purposes, and then he wreaked sequences, as may well be imagined, were disastrous to his vengeance upon, them in a most summary and the subjects of the imposition, exposing them to the cruel manner. Three thousand six hundred men. vengeance of their masters. Even the sacred order women, and children, were butchered in the streets of of the priesthood became involved, at length, in deadly Jerusalem. The Jews who had attained even the feuds among themselves - the chief priests with the equestrian rank were scourged and executed, as well inferior priesthood. The result, in many instances, as their meaner countrymen. A temporary pacificawas, that the tithes, which belonged to the latter, being tion took place, by the submission of the Jews to a. levied by force in behalf of the high priests, the com- certain condition imposed upon them. This, however, mon priests were deprived of the means of sustaining suited not the object of Florus, who fomented the collife, and actually died of hunger. In some instances, lisions between the people'and the Roman authorities, serious resistance was offered to the Roman authorities, for the sake of plunder; and advantage was soon taken which ended in blood and in augmented alienation. still further to involve the Jews in difflculty. JerusaPorcius Festus, who came in the place of Felix, by lem became a scene of the utmost confusion and sufhis rigid and upright administration, caused a short fering. The evil, both in the city and in the country. interval of comparative order and tranquillity. He was, in some cases, heightened by the acts of a bigrepressed tile insurgents and bands of robbers. Un- oted, rash, and violent Jewish party, who refused obehappily for this devoted country, the faithful Festus diemice even to lawful authority. It was consummated. died in Judea, and Albinus arrived as his successor, at length, by furious and bloody collisions amlong tlhe (A. D. 62.) His avaricious disposition soon mani- Jews themselves; that is to say, between the party who fested itself, and venality reigned under his adminis- desired to submit peacefully to the Romans, and thai tration. At first, he severely chastised the robbers which would admit of no compromise. and assassins, but, at length, set a premium, in effect, Of the latter party, Manahem was a vigorous leader on their vocation, by extorting enormous ransoms for a period; but he fell by his own rashness. If h9 for their freedom. Gessius Florus'succeeded Albinus, had united discretion with his courage, he might have (A. D. 45.). Above even the measure of Albinus, he given the insurgents what they felt the want of during was rapacious and cruel. He pillaged not only indi- the whole war- an acknowledged leader, who should viduals, but communities, and seemed to grant a concentrate the resources and consolidate the strength general indemnity for spoliation, provided only that of the revolt. By an instance of outrageous treachery to him a fair portion of the plunder was allowed.: In on the part of the insurgents, in the massacre of a garsome instances villages and towns were entirely de- rison of' Roman soldiers who had submitted on condiserted, as the inhabitants fled their country tc be tion that their lives were spared, the last faint hope of beyond the reach of his exactions. accommodation was quenched, as it were, in blood. In the mean time, according to the Jewish annals, The more moderate saw the inevitable ruin, and did fearful prodigies had appeared, foreshadowing the not conceal their deep sorrow. To counterbalance approaching desolation. A comet, in the shape of a this ferocious act, was the destruction of twenty sword, hung above the city for the space of a year. thousand Jews in Cmesarea, probably under secret A Sudden and most brilliant light shone for the space instructions from Florus. of half an hour about the altar and the temple.'he By this latter act, committed through the enormities appearance: of chariots and armed squadrons was at of their brethren in Jerusalem, the whole nation was one time noticed in the heavens. Unnatural, unearthly driven to madness. They- felt that, as mankind had voices, denouncing woe, were heard. These and sim- made war upon them, they would make war upon ilar portents are spoken of as filling the minds of men mankind. Thousands sallied forth into the regions with apprehension. It.is probable that the prophecies adjacent, and laid waste city after city. Syria and of the coming ruin of Jerusalem, disseminated by the other countries felt the power of the angry and desChristians, added' to the general fear. They must perate irruption. A dreadful retaliation consequently have declared the assertions of our Savior respecting ensued, and the Jews residing in those regions were this great event, and produced a deep impression on put to death by thousands. In Palestine, the whole the minds of the people, by their abandoning Jeru- nation had revolted against the Roman power, encoursalenm in:a body, and retreating to Pella, a town beyond aged by the success of some of the people against Ccesthe Jordan. tius Gallus, prefect of Syria. This man, after halving WARLIKE PREPARATIONS OF THE JEWS. 183:::Cestius harassed by the Jews in his Retreat.. conquered several places in his route, had at length be- and they were still numerous, amounting, )robably, to sieged Jerusalem, and was near taking it; but he nearly three millions made, in a general assembly, most unaccountably withdrew his forces from the city. what preparations they were able; chiefly by assignThis circumstance, giving courage to the Jews, issued ing the defence of important places and districts to in the destruction of his army. They pursued the particular individuals, in whose wisdom or valor con. advantage of his retreat, which soon became a flight, to fidence might be reposed. The charge of the most the utmost extent. The Roman arms had not received important part of the country, viz., Galilee, was comso disgraceful an affront, nor suffered so serious a loss, mitted to Joseph, the son of Matthias, better known as since the defeat of Varus in the forests of Ger- the celebrated Josephlus, the historian, and a man of any. illustrious descent. On this province the storm, ince the storm, in all What other portion of the r portion ofe human race would have probability, would first break. Josephus himself ha entertained the design of throwing off the the Roman yoke, been an advocate of peace; but it is probable that he in the condition of the Jews? - a small people, without had acquired some confidenc with the w ar party, else allies, without a lead, whith no organized or disci- he would scarcely have been intrusted with the complined force, no warlike engines, except those captured mand in Galilee. His whole course was marked from the enemy, no provisions of any kind for a long with caution and conciliation, yet with vigor. His war, and with divisions among themselves. Yet they object was to promote union, and organize the whole conceived the idea, and carried it eventually into country on one regular system; and this object, in a effect. In their stubborn patience, stern enthusiasm, great measure, he effected; he made admirable proand desperate valor, they ventured to resist the Roman vision for the defence of important places in Galilee, authority - supreme, then, on earth - unto death, and and finally raised an army of one hundred thousand, perished in the attempt. They perished, unassisted, armed them with weapons obtained from all quarters, unpitied, aimost unadmired, in their mortal struggle appointed centurions and decurions, and regularly for freedom, as if they were an exception to the gen- exercised the whole in military manceuvres. - He had erous sympathy which such efforts call forth in regard difficulties, however, to meet of a peculiar nature, to other nations. arising from the opposition arising from the opposition of a subtle enemy, John When the revolt of this inconsiderable province, of Gischala, and his judicious arrangements were often with the defeat of Cestius and a Roman legion, was disconcerted. But the petty plots which were conannounced, great was the astonishment of the Roman trived to frustrate his measures, or to take his life, and people. The emperor Nero, who was then in Achaia, thet adroit schemes he laid to meet them- as the histoexpressed great contempt of the affair; but the real rian himself has related, cannot here be detailed. importance attached to it may be judged of by his selec- In Jerusalem, the preparations for war were alsd tion of the most aDle and distinguished military co- pressed. Ananus, the chief priest, took the lead; mander in the empire, to conduct the war. This was arms were fabricated with the greatest expedition, the, Vespasian, who had been bred to arms from his youth, wallsstrengthened, military engines mniade, and stores' and whose exploits were thehe theme of the age. With of the age. ithof every kind laid in, with the utmost diligence and: is characteristic despatch, Vespasian immediately sent care. He likewise experienced opposition, not only his son Titus to Alexandria, to conduct the fifth and from the timid and moderate, but from daring -bandits, tenth legions, while he himself travelled with all speed, at the head of whom was the fierce Simon, who had iby land, to Syria, gathering armed forces in his rendered good service at the retreat of Cestius. n rain. Against him Ananus was forced to send troops. The; In the mean time, the insurgents were not inactive. magistrates of Idumea, also, were constrained to set i: Some of the more prudent retired from their,native guard in every village. iand; others were brought over to the cause of their It was probably soon after the defeat of Cestiu: time-hallowed country. The Jews who remained- that an unsuccessful expedition was attempted against 184 - PROCEEDINGS OF: VESP'AS1AN.' Askalon. It was weakly garrisoned by the Romans I Silas,:and John the Essene, but in two sllccessive under a commander named: Antonius.: The Jews combats were reDulsed with the loss of eighteen tl-:ou, marched against them with:great force under Niger,' sand men. S -. Siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. CI HPA P T E R C. C Jotapata,. the strongest of the fortified towns; Which was an inspiriting commencement of the conflict., But.. D.. 6/, 4. 7 8to 76... -:: the vast army of Vespasian was moving on,- and was not to be. arrested. The sight or rumor of this treThe Invading Army -. Famous Siege of Yo- mendous invasion scattered the weak forces utinder tapatal — Curiouis Stratagen-. Daring-E- Josephus, and he fled himself, with the: wreck of his ~:ploit - Fate of Jafa, 5"c. — Perfidy of Vespa- army, to Tiberias. Vespasian came upon Gadara, and',sian -and its Effects-Strange Discasters at the cut off almost:.all its inhabitants, as:well las those of the;. taking.:of Gamala -- Jerusalem, and its; Fac- villages around.: He, next came to Jotapata, whose tions —.. The, -murlderous.':Zealots' —- Insane power. of resistance lay. in its almost impregnable posli-, ~ Conduct —'Perea, c. -— Iduvmea reduced tion. Josephus had previously contrived -to throw: espasi a' called to Rome}'T' - -.InfatUatio-: himself into. it, Difficult'as it was of -access, yet the Respasani. v e...... _- i,. s l-tom -m. Romans, with their vast means, made their way to it, R*:.e —con —tnoit~ring A7.'.dventure of. -''cutting.through.'mountnains, and' constructing a:road in; the - Valls - Famine ad:Pestilence where it would seem that nature. had. eternaltly inter-Titus;alls'in the City —-Horrors - Oat/iA dicted it.- -Their serried legions, on the 14th of:May,.::".of Tiu —ztits.The. -7Templefired,-A: mZillion presented' themselves in. full sight of the Jewish forces and a ha.f of -.Victiims Massada -Land in the city. -.".Sale and' -Tribute —.Fate.of Josephus,. Arip-, r -; Th e:.consternation.pi oduced by the view was une:~ - e.and..:a n d.Bieric e, -.:.~.. p z an~~d Berenice.; -qualled, and- the. Jews, knowing that they-. could bui perish, were prepared to sell their lives, at the dearesl -:;EARY in. the spring (A. D.:67);Vespasian, with.his rIate,:6 All hope of escape was cut off, for: the Rotnans powerful.army, arrived at Antioch, and was met there - had drawn' a- triple line of circumvallation rouiid the by. Agrippa with lhis- soldiery..As she advanced. to city. The attack".began the next day..It is imposPtotlemgis, he received thence a deputation.from. Sep- sible, in this succinct narrative, to enter-into the detailsphoris,' the metropolis of Galilee, who made -overtures of this memorable conflict, as Josephus,'the writer and. i to sjoin:the invader. This proceeding was contrary to the hero, has described it. The perseverance, the: the. authority and threats of Josephus,-'who made.an stubborn resolution,- the, fierce valor, the strategy, and attempt to:secure the place; but it having been strength- the innumerable expedients of the besieged,: surprised& ened by a detachment of Vespasian's troops, he was and confounded the Romans..On the one side they repulsed; a circumstance which only:the: more.exas-: fought from desperation;; on- the other, from' the haughperated the Romans. The son: of Vespasian joined:. ty shame of being-defeatc.d by such an enemy. Day his father. at Ptolemais, having sailed from:Alexandria., after day the resources of Vespasian's steel-clad legion. Vespasian, with his own forces and thosei of his: alliies, ares;, with.theirucatapults, and balistas,-and batteringwas now at the head of sixty thousand regular horse rams, were called:out to match the despelate bravery and foot, in addition to a force which was less dis- and subtle contrivances of this people, cooped up' like ciplined. ~ wild beasts intheir lair. —: The campaign was now formally opened: a small As an instance of the cunning of the besieged, tile advantage was at first obtained by the Jews under the:.following is recorded: In: the scanty supply of water command of Josephus, in an attack by Placidlus on lay one of the greatest dangers of the Jeus.- Thls thle CAPTURE, OF JOTAPATA-GAMALA. 185 mnemy, from certain circumstances, had reason to and discipline. In some instances where the insur-:hink was the fact; and as the city was now blockaded, gents were not put to the sword, they were sent i;y t was hoped that this want would reduce them to the thousands to Nero, to be employed in his mad scheme aecessity of capitulation, in a short time. The fertile of digging through the isthmus of Corinth, or were mind of Josephus adopted an expedient to remove this sold as slaves. Impression. He ordered a great number of his men A base act of Vespasian in putting to death the to steep their clothes in the water that remained, soldiers who had surrendered at Tarichea, upon an and hang them up from the battlements, till the wall assurance of amnesty, appalled the whole of Galilee; ran down with the dripping moisture. The Romans and most of the towns capitulated at once, to avoid the were confounded; for men ~who could waste so mi ch same barbarities. Three cities alone still defied the water out of mere wantonness, could not possibly be conqueror, Gamala, Gischala, and Itabyrium - the city in the wretched state of destitution they had hoped. which Josephus had fortified on Mount Tabor. GamVespasian, weary of blockading a city so amply sup- ala was more inaccessible than Jotapata. It stood on plied, returned to the assault the mode of attack a long and rugged ledge of mountains, which sloped which the Jews sought. downward at each end, and rose in the middle into a The daring exploit of an individual, a Galilean, sudden ridge, like the hump of a camel —whence the Eleazar by name, may also be mentioned. VWith an name of the city. One peculiarity of its structure immense stone from the wall he took such sure aim, that was, that the houses rose one above another on the he struck off the iron head of the Roman battering ram; steep declivity of the hill, and were crowded very he then leaped down from the wall, secured the prize thick and close. This circumstance was one of the and was bearing it back to the city. He was unarmed, causes of the difficulty and disaster experienced by and all the darts and arrows of the enemy were dis- the Roman army, after they had forced their way into charged at him. He was transfixed by five arrows: the place. As:it presents singular incidents in warfare, still, however, he passed on, regained the walls, stood it may be related in a few of its particulars. boldly up, displaying his trophy in the sight of all; The Jews thronged the narrow streets, and bravely and then, still clinging to it with convulsive grasp, fell resisted the advance of the assailants. At length, down and expired. overpowered by numbers, who attacked them on all Jotapata had resisted the whole Roman army during sides, they were forced up the steep part of the city. forty-seven long days and nights, and was overcome at There they turned, and, charging the enemy with llast only by the discovery of its critical situation,through fury, drove them down the declivities, and made great a deserter. Vespasian followed the intimations of the havoc among them, as they endeavored to make their perfidious wretch, and succeeded in entering into the way up the narrow streets and along the rugged and Ihe city. During the siege and capture, forty thousand craggy paths. The Romans, who could not repel their men perished. The city was razed to the ground. enemy, thus hanging, as itwere, over their heads, nor yet J.osephus, after secreting himself for some days, was break through the throngs of their own men, who forced frund, and, upon his surrender, and apparent ad- them on from beneath, took refuge in the houses of the lesion to the Romans, was spared, through the respect citizens which were very low. The crowded houses inspired by his skill and heroism. In the mean time, a could not bear tme weight, and came crashing down. neighboring city, Jafa, was attacked by Trajtan, and, One, as it fell, beat down another, and so all the way after a bloody combat, was taken-losing fifteen thou- down the hill. The situationof the Romans wvas tersaz2d of its brave defenders. A body also of Sa- rific. As thevy felt the houses sinking, they leaped on the maritans, who, strange to tell., made common cause in'roofs, and fell with the tumbling buildings. Many were this insurrection, was defeated on the sacred mountain totally buried in the ruins; many were caught by some of Gerizim, by Cereales, and more than eleven thou- part of their bodies as in a trap; many were. suffocated sand of them were slain. Both Trajan and Cereales by the dust and rubbish.' The Gamalites seemed to had been detached by Vespasian with a strong force behold the hand of God in this unexpected calamity' of horse and infantry. of the foe. They rushed on regardless of their own, The Romans, long and unexpectedly delayed by the lives, struck at the enemy on the roofs, or as they desperate valor they had met, now proceeded with were slipping about in the narrow ways, and aiming, greater rapidity. Vespasian returnad to Ptolemais, steadily from above, slew every one who fell. Ther whence he proceeded along the coast to Cesarea. Its ruins furnished them with stones, and the slain of the. Greek inhabitants, having now the whole region at their enemy with weapons. They drew the swords of tihe command by the massacre of their Jewish competitors, dead to plunge into the hearts of the living. Many of received him with every demonstration of joy. Here the Romans who had fallen from the houses kil'ledi he made his. winter-quarters for two of his legions. themselves. Flight was impossible, from thei- i-gno, Soon after, he sent a considerable force against Joppa, rance of the nays and the blinding dust. Many slewwhose inhabitants, fleeing to their boats, perished, each other by mistake, and fell among their own men. either in the waves by means of a storm which sud- Those who could find the road retreated from the city.. denly arose, or by the arms of the enemy as they were Yet the city fell at last by the perseverance of the Jlrown upon the shore. In the progress of the war, Romans, and the exhaustion of its provisions -the other places were assaulted and taken, and their de- twenty-third of September, A. I). 67. Nino thousand fenders put to the sword without mercy, while the Jews perished -five thousand by castings themselves. women anad children were secured as captives. Such down the precipice. was the fate of Tiberias and Tarichea, cities belong- The story of Itabyrium and Gischal'. embodies inIng to the dominions of Herod, and early manifesting cidents scarcely less tragical and interesting; but these symptoms of insurrection - much against his wishes. must be passed over. Both of the cities fell, and thoueThe Jews in these places exhibited their accustomed sands of their inhabitants perished. Ia the mean while'. valor, bult nothing was proof against Roman prowess Jerusalem, instead of aiding or being able to aidl then, 24.j —-- I —--— ~- ~ —L. -L I 1a6 FACTIONS IN JERUSALEM. other cities of the land, was torn by domestic factions, was received into the city, that he might overawe the and poorly preparing herself for the fearful crisis at hand. faction headed by John. Thus there were three conrile factions arose in reference to the question of war tending parties in the city, instead of two: no rest, no and peace. They who advocated the war were the most order could be enjoyed in this wretched and doomed numerous, and consisted of men of the vilest charac- capital. The streets ran with blood. Vespasian, ter. They opposed all pacific measures with invinci- having assumed the purple, delivered Josephus from l)le obstinacy, and breathed out t slaughter, his bonds, and, at the commencement of the ensurapine, and devastation. These abandoned wretches ing year, turned his attention towards his rebellious began to exercise their wanton cruelty in plundering province, Palestine, sending his son Titus to complete and assassinating all who presumed to oppose them, its subjugation by the conquest of its capital. in the vicinage of Jerusalem, and then proceeded into It was in this deplorable condition of the city that the capital, with.Zechariah and Eleazar at their head. Titus marched against it, having received powerful Here they met with a strenuous opposition, as Ananus, reinforcements from his friends. Previously to his the late high priest, exhorted the citizens to arm in forming a regular siege, he went in person, with.a their own defence, and boldly repulse those factious body of six hundred horse, to reconnoitre its strength men, who had seized upon the temple and made it and avenues. He seemed to flatter himself that the their garrison for offensive operations against the Jews would readily open their gates to him; but they inhabitants. made so vigorous and unexpected a sally, that he saw The people adopted this advice, and made so vigor- himself surrounded in a narrow defile, and escaped ous an attack upon the Zealots, as these pretended with extreme difficulty. He was obliged to cut his champions of the cause of God were called, that they way fiercely through, while darts and Javelins fell in were compelled to retreat into the inner cincture of showers around him, the temple, and were there closely besieged by Ananus. Dissensions still prevailed in the city- a circumJohn, of Gischala, under pretence of espousing the stance which greatly encouraged the enemy. Titus, pontiff's cause, was intrusted with some proposals of in the mean time, had caused his troops to level all peace for the besieged; but instead of executing his the ground, in their approach to the walls, and to make commission with fidelity, he persuaded them to hold every preparation for a vigorous onset. Some proout with unshaken firmness; and in the end, he was posals of peace were sent to the besieged, but they the means of bringing in -twenty thousand Idumean were rejected with indignation; and the Romans were auxiliaries. These parties, having united, immediately consequently ordered to play their war engines against began to perpetrate the most horrid cruelties on those the city with all their might. The Jews were comof the opposite party. Twelve thousand individuals pelled to retire from those dreadful stones which the of noble extraction, and in the flower of their age, enemy threw incessantly; and the battering-rams were murdered by the most cruel methods. Not were at full liberty to ply against the walls. A satiated with the blood of so many persons- of distinc- breach, at length, was made, and compelled the betion, they turned their sanguinary hands against the sieged to retire behind the enclosure. This lodgelower class, and literally filled Jerusalem with anguish. ment was effected about a fortnight after the beginning All who opposed them, or censured their doings, or of the siege. wept for their dead, were deemed guilty of a crime to The second wall was then immediately attempted, be exp)iated only with blood. At length, the Zealots and the engines and battering-rams were applied so began to turn their murderous weapons against each furiously that one of the towers began to shake.' The uoner. Jews who occupied it, aware of their impending ruin, Vespasian well saw - the advantage this state of set it on fire, and precipitated themselves into the things would bring to his own cause, and suffered it flames. The fall of this structure afforded. an ento proceed till his plans were fully matured. Being trance to the second enclosure; but, as Titus was invited, in the mean time, by the inhabitants of Gadara, desirous of preserving the city from demolition, the he sent Placidus to take possession of it. The latter breach and the lanes were left so narrow that a great accordingly fought his way thither, through several number of his men perished for want of room, when strong bodies of the rebels, and exerted himself so they were attacked by Sirnon. Titus, however, quickeffectually, that, in a short space of time, all that part ly rectified this mistake, and carried the place four of Judea which lies east of the Jordan was com- days after the first repulse, entering that part of the pletely reduced, except a single castle. Vespasian, in lower city which was within the wall. the beginning of spring, marched against Idumea, and A famine now raged in this afflicted place, and a reduced most of tne towns and villages to ashes. pestilence followed in its track. As these calamities Jerusalem now beheld the enemy at her gates: every increased, so did the cruelty of the factions, who approach to the city was cut off; every hour her forced the houses in quest of provisions, punishing wretched inhabitants expected to see the plain to the those with death who had any, because they.had not north glitter with the arms and eagles of Rome. On apprised these robbers of it; they put others to the a sudden, however, intelligence came from the Impe- most excruciating tortures, under the )retence that rlal City which checked his march; and Jerusalem had they had concealed food. Titus again attempted to yet a long period either to repent, or submit, or to prevail on the Jews to surrender, by sending Joseprepare for effectual resistance. The result of the phus to represent the fatal consequences of their obc'hanges in Rome was the election of Vespasian as stinacy -but without effect. He then caused the city emperor - whither he departel -A. D. 70. to be surrounded by a high wall, to prevent their reBut this delay of an attack was not improved by ception of any kind of succor, or their escape by Jerusalem. Infatuation possessed her councils, and flight. to consummate her internal evils, Simon, a man of Nothing was now to be seen inthe streets of Jeru.',lo(,d, who had wasted the country around Jerusale-i, salemn but putrescent bodies, emaciated invalids, anld MlSERIES OF THE BESIEGED. 187 objects of the deepest distress; and even those who an(d orders of Titus, who wished to preserve the escaped in safety to the Roman camp were murdered temple, one of his soldiers set that noble edifice on by the soldiers, who inferred, from certain circum- fire. Efforts were made to extinguish it, but in vain stances, that they had swallowed quantities of gold.'With a view to save what lie could of its conIn searching for this, two thousand of thlemn were tents, the commander entered the sanctuary, and the ripped up in a single night. While the military op- most holy place, where he found the golden carnleerations against the city wvere making progress, the stick, the table of show-bread, the golden altar of famine within made a still greater advance. perfumes, and the book of tile law, wrapped up in a In the language of the historian, " Men would fight rich tissue of gold. even the dearest friends for the most miserable mor- A dreadful slaughter now ensued, in which many sel. The very dead were searched, as tl-ough they thousands perished; some by the sword, some by the might contain some scrap of food. Even the robbers flame, and others by falling from the battlements. began to suffer severely; they went prowling about The conquerors, exasperated by the useless obstinacy like mad dogs, or reeling, like drunken men, from of the people, carried their fury to such a height as to weakness, and entered and searched the same house massacre all whom they met, without distinction of twice or thrice in the same hour. The most loath- age, sex, or quality, and even to inflict the dreadful some and disgusting food was soldi at an enormous torture of crucifixion on many wretches who fell into price. They gnawed their belts, shoes, and even the their hands. All the treasure houses were burnt, leathern coats of their shields; chopped hay and though they were full of' the richest furniture, vestshoots of trees sold at high prices. Yet what are all ments, plate, and other valuables. In short, they perthese horrors to that which followed? There was a sisted in their barbarous work, till the whole of the holy woman of Perea, Mary, the daughter of Eleazar. building was utterly demolished, except two of the She possessed considerable wealth when she took gates of that part of the court which was appropriated refilge in the city. Day after day, she had been to the women. Great preparations were made, in the plundered by the robbers, whom she had provoked by mean time, for attacking the upper city, and the royal her bitter imprecations. No one, however, would palace; and, on the 8th of September, the engines mercifully put an end to her misery; and, her mind played so furiously on the iniquitous Zealots, that they maddened with wrong, her body preyed upon by were overwhelmed with confusion, and ran, like lunaramine, she wildly resolved on an expedient which tics, towards Shiloah, intending to attack the wall of might gratify' at once her vengeance'and her hunger. circumvallation, and by that means effect their escape. Slhe had an infant that was vainly endeavoring to ob- They were, however, repulsed by the enemy, and tain some moisture from her dry bosom; she seized it, compelled to hide themselves in the public sinks and cooked it, ate one half, and set the other aside! sewers, while all the other inhabitants were put to the "The smoke and the smell of food quickly reached sword, except some of the most vigorous, who were the robbers. They forced her door, and, with horrible reserved for the victor's triumph. Among the latter threats, commanded her to give up what she had been were John and Simon, the two most desperate rebels. feasting on. She replied, with fierce indifference, When the slaughter had ceased for want of subjects, that she had carefully reserved her good friends a and the troops were satisfied with plunder, Titus gave p)art of her meal. She uncovered the remains of her orders for the total demolition of the remaining parts child. The savage men stood speechless, at which of the city, with its fortifications, palaces, towers, and she cried out, with a shrill voice,'Eat, for I have sumptuous edifices, excepting a part of the western eaten; be ye not more delicate than a woman, more wall, and the three towers of Hippicus, Phasael, and tender hearted than a mother.' They retired, pale Mariamne, which might prove to future times the and trembling with horror. The story spread rapidly astonishing strength of the city, and the valor of its through the city, and reached the Roman camp, where conqueror. it was first heard with incredulity - afterwards with the During the whole siege, the number killed was one mil. deepest commiseration." It was upon hearing of this lion one hundred thousand; that of the prisoners, ninetydreadful deed, that the Roman general swore to ex- seven thousand. In truth, the population, not of Jerusatirpate both city and people, at the same time taking lem alone;but of the adjacent districts, -many who had Heaven to witness that this was not his work. taken refuge in the city, and more who had assembled Towards the end of summer, the Romans had made for the feast of unleavened bread, had been shut up themselves masters of Fort Antonia, and set fire to by the sudden formation of the siege. If the numbers in the gates, after a destructive encounter; yet, so blind Josephus may be relied on, there must be added to this were the Jews to their real danger, that, though nothing fearful list, in the contest with Rome, nearly one hunwas left but the temple, which must soon fall, they dred and thirty thousand slain before the war under could not persuade themselves that God would permit Vespasian, one hundred and eighteen thousand during his holy habitation to be taken by the heathen. the war in Galilee and Judea, and after the fall of JeOn the 17th of July, the daily sacrifice ceased for rusalem, nearly nine thousand in other parts of the the hrst time since its restoration by Judas Maccabeus, country. The prisoners who, in the whole of these.iher'e bein( no proper person left in the temple to wars, amounted to over one hundred thousand, were mnake the offering.,The gallery that afforded a com- doomed to be exposed in public, to fight like gladiators, munication between the temple and Fort Antonia was or be devoured by wild beasts; twelve thousand pernow u)llrnt down and the Jews, having filled the ished from want, either through the neglect of their western portico withl comnb-ustibles, induced the Ro- keeI)ers, or their ovwn sullen despair. These items mans, by a feigned flight, to scale the battlements, swell the number of victims of the war to more than and set fire to the building; so tllat the tlroops were a million and a half of souls. eitiler consrumed in the flames, or dashed to pieces by The fortresses of HIerodion, Massada, and Mlacheror, ealing from the roof. Contrary to the intentions indifferent partsof the country, were left uncaptured b.v 0 88 8 SUBJUGATON OF JUDEA. _:.......- _ —.,._.! —-' -..... -.... t~'ir"':::lli, Romans crucifying Jews Titus, but two of them, namely, Herodion and Machab- the prejudices of his Roman subjects. The time of ron, were soon afterward reduced by Lucilius Bassus; the death of either of these individuals is unknown. and that of Massada was attacked with such vigor by History loses sight of Josephus in his fifty-sixth or Flavius Silva, that Eleazar, the commander of the fifty-seventh year. Sicarii, persuaded the inhabitants, in the spirit of despair, to kill all their wives and children; next, to choose ten men by lot, who should despatch all the rest; and lastly, to select one out of the ten to kill them and C HAP T E R C I. himself. This terrible tragedy was accordingly enacted; and the Romans, preparing the next morn- A. D. 76 to 476. ing to scale the walls, received information of the The Dispersion under the Western Empire particulars from two females who had escaped the The Jews nto longerform a State- The Patrimassacre by concealing themselves in an aqueduct. arch in the West, the Prince of the Captivity Thus terminated the final subljugation of Judea, in the - evol - in the East -Revolt under Trajan -Barthough the embers of the war still smouldered in dis-ess Defeat tant countries, where the Jews resided. An edict of the emperor to set up all the lands for sale, had been Persecution of the Rabbins - Jews forbidden received by Bassus. The whole profits of the sale to visit Jerusalem on Pain of Death - Hahad been reserved to the imperial treasury. At the drian - Inextinguishable Nationality same time, all the Jews within the empire were com- Sanhedrimn of Tiberias - Jews at Rome, manded to pay a tribute of half a shekel into the Arc. - Schism — Severus -- The Mishna and same treasury —the sum which they had formerly Talud - Hillel - Abolition of the Patripaid for the use of the sanctuary. Vespasian also archate- Persecution- Julian favors the caused all the branches of the house of Judah to beCondition at the cut off, to defeat their hopes of a future Messiah. The fate of Josephus, King Agrippa, and his sister of Rome. Berenice - the most important personages in the Jewish THE great event which had been the subject of scrip nation, may be told in a few words. Th'pv escaped from tural prophecy in respect to the Jews, namely, the Disthe general wreck of the country. Josepnus lived in persion, took place upon the conquest of Judea and high favor at Rome, where he wrote his Histories, its capital, and the annihilation of its civil and ecclesiwhich Titus vouched as authentic by signing the man- astical polity. It has continued ever since, and is not uscript with his own hand, when it was deposited in yet terminated. It may be considered, however, untne public library. Agrippa, among the luxuries of der its various phases, and for convenience' sake, dithis great capital, forgot the calamities of his country vided into three eras, up to the present time. The and the ruin of his people. He lived and died the first term of time is designated under the caption of humble and contented vassal of Rome. In him the the present chapter. It must necessarily constitute line of the Idumean sovereigns was extinct. Berenice a very compressed narrative. would have been taken to the throne by Titus, who The political existence of the Jewish nation was now became enamored of her beauty, had it not been for at an end; it was never again recognized as one of THE HEBREW MONARCHY-SAUL. 189 the states or kingdoms of the world. Their history, circumcision, the reading of the law, and the observa. except for a period, must be pursued where they are tion of the Sabbath, This was to be consummated by found, in different parts of the globe, among various the establishment of a Roman colony in Jerusalem, nations. For, refusing still to mingle their blood with and the building of a temple to Jupiter. A town had, any other race of mankind, they dwell in their distinct by this time risen by degrees out of the ruins of Jefamilies and communities, and still maintain, notwith- rusalem, in connection with the three towers and a standing their. long separation from each other, the part of the western wall which had been left. The principle of national unity. They have ever been formal establishment of a colony implied the perpetuaJ remarkable for attachment to their sacred writings and alienation of the soil. The Jews looked on with disrites; for their persecution by the powers of the world; may, with anguish, with secret thoughts of revenge; and for their industry, wealth, and numbers. " Per- at length, with hopes of glorious deliverance. petually plundered, yet always wealthy,- massacred At this crisis, it was announced that the Messiah had by thousands, yet springing again from their undying come. The period of the first appearance of this imstock, - the Jews appear at all times and in all regions: postor is by no means certain; even his real name is untheir perpetuity, their national immortality, is at once known. He is designated by his title Barcochab, "the the most curious problem to the political inquirer; son of the star;" meaning that "star" which was to to the religious man a subject of profound and awful " aris& out of Jacob." His claims were acknowledged admiration." - by the greatest of the rabbins, Rabbi Akiba; but his Some time after the dissolution of the Jewish state, countrymen, in the bitterness of disappointment, were it revived again in appearance, under the form of two induced at last to change the title to Barcosba, " the separate communities, mostly independent of each son of a lie." He is said to have been a robber, and, in other; one under a sovereignty purely spiritual, the heading an insurrection among his countrymen, showed other partly spiritual and partly temporal; but each no common vigor and ability. Many important advancomprehending all the Jewish families in the two great tages were manifestly gained, and the Romans, under divisions of the world. The Patriarch of the West Severus, found it expedient to act on the defensive, was at the head of the Jews on this side of the Eu- and reduce the province rather by blockade and famphrates; of those on the East, the chief was called ine, than by open war. At one time, the Jews were in the Prince of the Captivity. Nothwitnstanding the de- possession of fifty of the strongest castles, and nine struction of life during the Roman wars, and the mul- hundred and eighty-five villages. titude carried off as prisoners, there was doubtless a At length, the discipline of the Roman troops, and very considerable population left in their native seats. the consummate conduct of Severus, brought the war But the country was not their own, and a foreign race to a close. At the siege of Bether, the last strong was probably introduced into it, to some extent. The city that held out, Barcochab was killed, and his head state of things at this era is not well ascertained, carried in triumph to the Roman camp.'The war, though we may be certain that, as their religious con- which lasted, as nearly as can be ascertained, from cerns were all in all to the Jews, they were occupied A. D. 130 to 135, seems to have been much more forin a due attention to these. Their Sanhedrim and midable than could well have been expected from their various schools would naturally give little con- the situation of the Jews - only at the distance of two cern to the Romans, and would, in all probability, even generations from their subjection under Vespasian. excite their contemptuous indifference. The admin- But there was no Josephus to chronicle its evenlts, and istration of ecclesiastical law was now the only resort the extant accounts are few and imperfect. Dion Cas. of the Jew; and whether it assumed the form of an sius states that, during the whole war, the enormous oligarchy or a monarchy, he submitted himself, with number of five hundred and eighty thousand fell by the most implicit confidence, to the Rabbinical do- the sword, not embracing the multitudes who perished minion. by famine, disease, and fire. The country was nearly Under the reign of Vespasian and his immediate a desert; wolves and hyenas went howling through the successors, (A. D. 70 to 96,) the Jews, though looked streets of the desolate cities. The inhabitants were upon with contempt, were regarded with jealous watch- reduced to slavery by thousands. The worst threatfulness. The tax imposed by Vespasian was exacted enings of prophecy seemed now to be accomplished with unrelenting rigor, and, like the rest of the empire, with this indomitable but misguided people, whose surthey shared in the evils experienced during the cruel prising destiny has even yet much to unfold. despotism of Domitian, (A. D. 81 to 96.) The reign of The most furious persecution was commenced Nerva gave a brief interval of peace to the Jews with against all the rabbins, who were looked upon as the rest of the world; but in that of Trajan, either the the authors and ringleaders of the insurrection. oppressions of their enemies, or their own mutinous Burning, flaying alive, and transfixing with spears, disposition, drove them into a serious and disastrous were some of the modes of execution. It was forrevolt. It was finally subdued only after an obstinate bidden to fill up the number of the great synagogue, struggle and great loss of life. In Egypt, in Cyrene, or Sanhedrim; but Akiba, just before he was put to and in Babylonia, where the insurrections mostly oc- death, had named five new members; and another, curred, thousands of this oppressed or infatuated peo- Judah, before he perished, secretly nominated others ple perished, as also thousands perished by their hands. in a mountain glen, where he had taken refuge. Under IHadrian, (A. D. 117,) the Jews of Palestine Hadrian, to dissipate forever all hopes of the restosounded the lowest depths of misery. Hadrian had ration of the Jewish kingdom, accomplished his plan witnessed their horrible excesses in the island of of founding a new city on the site of Jerusalem, peoCyprus, and, apprehending that similar mischief pled by a colony of foreigners. The city was called might be brooding in Palestine, he resolved on the iElia Capitolina. The Jews were prohibited by an means of prevention. An edict was issued, which was, edict from entering the new city, on the pain of death, in effect, the total suppression of Judaism, interdicting or even approaching its environs so as to behold afar 190 RABBINS-THE MISCHNA-THE TALMUD. off its hallowed heights.* This interdiction, however, They were occasionally expelled — often oppressed. d-d not extend to the more peaceful Christians. Still, here, as elsewhere, persecution seemed not to be The Jewish people had hitherto, in the course of their the slightest check to their increase. Of their estab. history, been four several times nearly exterminated. lishment in other provinces of the Roman empire, no Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, Titus, Hadrian, had suc- certain information is possessed. The probability is, cessively put forth their utmost efforts to extinguish not that the Jews spread with the dominion of the Roman merely the political existence of the state, but even the arms,'part as slaves, part as freemen, with commercial. separate being of the people. Yet the great peculiarity objects, and seeking only an eligible settlement. of the race continued, namely, their isolation and distinct It is by no means certain at what time the Princes existence in the various regions which they occupied. of the Captivity commenced their dynasty. Towards Before the close of the second century, not sixty years the latter part of the second century after Christ, the after the war under Hadrian, the Jews present the ex- schools of Babylonia and Palestine fell into an open traordinary spectacle of two regular and organized schism concerning the calculation of the paschal feast. communities-the one under the Patriarch of Tiberias, The western patriarch determined to assert the supethe other under the Prince of the Captivity, as has been riority of the patriarchate of Tiberias over his disoalready mentioned. Under the former were included bedient brethren. At length, the authority was uni all of Israelitish descent who inhabited the Roman versally recognized. It continued till the political empire. To the latter all the eastern Jews. paid their separation of the Babylonian from the western Jews, allegiance. Under the more indulgent emperors who on the restoration of the Persian monarchy. Antece. followed, the Jews in the empire were restored to dently to that event, the patriarch of Tiberias main, many of their ancient privileges. This circumstance tained his uncontested supremacy over the whole, may account, in part, for their returning prosperity after Jewish commonalty. such desolations of their land, and such interruptions of Not much remains to be said of the Palestinian their institutions. New synagogues were frequently Jews at this period, as connected with their Roman erected in the principal cities of the empire, and they masters. The laws of Severus (A. D. 194,) were became, through the indulgence or indifference of their favorable to the Jews. The edict of Antoninus was masters, more submissive and peaceful subjects. reenacted, though still with its limitation against cirThe rabbins, who had been hunted down with re- cumcising proselytes. The Jews were permitted to morseless cruelty, after danger was over began to undertake the pupilage of pagans, — an evidence that creep forth from their places of concealment, and they continued to enjoy the privileges of R1 man soon not only made their public appearance, but re- citizenship, and that they were exempt from burdens established their schools and synagogues. Prosperity incompatible with their religion. Still they were not began to attend these means of religious improvement permitted to approach the walls of the holy city, and and knowledge, and though, under Marcus Aurelius their general condition was that of dispersion and (A. D. 169 to 180,) some severe laws were enacted exile -of estrangement from the sympathies of man. against the Jews, on account of symptoms of disaffec- kind. For several reigns, (A. D. 211-234,) Judas. tion, yet they were either speedily annulled, or never ism, though to this extent proscribed, might boast its put in force. The rabbinical dominion gradually influence on the imperial throne. "Among the increased, and perhaps, in this interval, the Sanhedrim strange medley of foreign superstitions, with which fixed its pontifical throne at Tiberias, where it main- the filthy Heliogabalus offended even the easy and tained its supremacy for several ages. In every region tolerant religion of his Roman subjects, he adopted of the west, in every province of the Roman empire, the Jewish usages of circumcision and abstinence from the Jews of every rank readily submitted to the sway swine's flesh; and, in the reign of the good Alexan. of their spiritual chief. His supplies were levied der Severus, -that beautiful oasis in this desert pe. without difficulty in Rome, in Spain, in Africa; and riod of the imperial history, - the Jews enjoyed the his power, according to Origen, was little less thanl equal protection and favor of the virtuous monthat of a king. arch." That the Jews, at this period, were scattered over At this era, the patriarchal throne was held by the most countries, is obvious from all the accounts that most famous of the rabbinical sovereigns, Jehuda, son have been handed down respecting them; yet their of Simon. His whole life was one of the most spotorigin, in particular localities, is frequently obscure, as less purity, and to him is to be ascribed a new constiin Italy, or even Rome itself. It is usually ascribed, tution for the Jewish people. He embodied, in his in respect' to Rome, to the vast number of slaves celebrated Mischna, all the authorized interpretabrought to the capital by Pompey, after his conquest tions of the Mosaic law, the traditions, the decisions of Jerusalem; these, almost without exception, are of the learned, and the precedents of the courts or said to have been emancipated by their tolerant mas- schools. As this work was afterwards commented on, ters. It is supposed that there were already in Rome it was at length superseded by the more voluminous many opulent commercial Jews, who purchased, to the Talmud. extent of their means, their unhappy countrymen, and In the mean time, the rival throne in Babylonia enabled them to settle in freedom in the great metropolis. that of the Prince of the Captivity, was rapidly rising to that palmy state which it did not fully attain till ehopelessness escape, from timperial p of the era of the Persian monarchs. But the accounts any one who fell under its displeasure, when Rome swayed the sceptre of the whole civilized world, is forcibly drawn of the Oriental Jews, at this early period, are so obby Gibbon. He illustrates it by relating the fact, that when scure, or so nearly fabulous, that they may be passed the court poet, Ovid, had grievously offended the emperor, over. he was simply told to go and reside at Tomi, on the northern The shore of the Black Sea. No guard was needed - no precau-The period between the death of Jehuda and the actions; if wanted, he could, at any moment, be grasped by cession of the emperor Constantine, A. D. 306, is barreln sore, one of the ten thousand arms of governlment. of important events in Jewish history. The patriarclale THE DISPERSION DURING THE DARK AGES. ]l[ of Tiberias seems gradually to have sunk in estimation. tribute, they were permitted the freedom of commerce. The exactions of the pontiff and the rabbins became They were, however, prohibited the possession of titmore and more burdensome to the people. Jehuda ular dignities and of civil and military offices, all of was succeeded in the patriarehate by his son Ganmaliel, which were interdicted them by the Roman emperors. who confirmed his father's Mischna, and died, A. D. 229. Theodosius, in particular, protected them against the His son Judah did nothing worthy of notice, except- Christian zealots, and would permit no compulsory ing that he left his dignity to his son Hillel II., a per- means for their conversion. son of great excellence and learning. This patriarch was the first who computed the years from the creation. The cycle of nineteen years was also invented by him, in order to cause the course of the sun and moon to agree. Before his death, Hillel was converted to the Christian faith. The last who bore the patriar- A. D. 476 to 1453. chal office was a grandson of Hillel, the emperor Theodosius having abolished it, A. D. 429, after it had The Dispersion during the Dark Ages - ews continued in the same family during thirteen gen- under the Greek Empire -Justinian's Pererations. secution -Jews massacre Christians, and The emperor Constantine was under the necessity stffer in Turn-Cruelties at Antioch - Goldof enacting several severe laws against the Jews, to en Age of the Dispersion —Jewish Cornprevent their attempt at proselytism, and to suppress merce and Wealth under Charlemaglne, yc their insolence against the Christians. The Persian _ Crzsades- Their Learning, scientific Jews, at this era, it is said, cruelly persecuted the fol-, d I.fluence - Magic lowers of Christ, by exciting the prejudices of the A colrt against the Eastern Christians, so that Christian- Flourish in Spain - Persecuted - Jews izn ity was nearly obliterated in that quarter. The same Hungary, Germany, Bohemia Sufferings severity of treatment that Constantine had exercise S fronm the Crusaders - Oppressed and favored against the Jews was felt to be necessary by Constans, alternately throughout Europe - Massacres and for the same cause, -with the addition of their in Germany - Jews in England- Baninsurrection in Judea, - fear that they might cooperate ished, repeatedly - Also from France and with the Persians against the empire. The emperor, Spain - A similar Catalogue of W[rongs in being a Christian, and also inflamed with resentment East. against the Jews, enacted laws of still greater severity than ever, with a view to crush their rebellious temper. TIE Jews in the West, under the Roman emperors Every Jew that married a Christian, or circumcised a at Constantinople, soon after the beginning of the slave, was punished with death. sixth century, found their condition to be that of an From Julian, (A. D. 361,) the Jews received very oppressed and miserable people. The Greek empire, sensible marks of favor and distinction. He not only though it lingered on for several centuries after this exempted them from taxes, and allowed them the period, was rapidly verging to decay. The imperial undisturbed exercise of -their religion, but permitted court was a scene of intrigue and licentiousness, more them to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, furnishing them like that of an Asiatic sultan than of the heir of the with men andcmaterials'for the work. The attempt, with Roman name. It was splendid, but effeminate. The all the zeal that was manifested, proved unsuccessful. Jews, probably by their industry as traders, and their Divine Providence completely defeated their designs. connection with their brethren in the East, ministered Such a series of astounding and dreadful events followed considerably to the luxury of the court; but the fall the undertaking, that the Jews were compelled to desist of the patriarchate, and the dispersion of' the commufrom their proceedings, and the prediction of our nity in Palestine, lowered the whole race in general Savior, on the subject, acquired additional force from estimation; they sank into a sect, little differing from this abortive attempt. other religious communities, which refused to acknowlThe Jews were favored, under Valentinian and edge the supremacy of the established Christian church. Valens, A. D. 364; but, becoming insolent and se- The first-cause of their complaint against Justinian, ditious, the emperor Theodosius saw fit to punish (A. D. 527,) who assumed to decide in all matters of them, and, by severe edicts, to restrain their propensity religion, was the edict of that emperor, which prohibto persecute the Christians of the empire. Under the ited them'from celebrating the passover according to government of Honorius, the Jews enjoyed the full their own calculation, and enjoined the observance of exercise of their religion. That emperor had enacted this feast at the same time with the church. This a law which displayed his liberal and extensive views, edict was soon after followed by others still more seand which imported that the real glory of a prince vere, forbidding the education of their children in the consisted in permitting all his subjects the peaceable Jewish faith, and even the exercise of their religion enjoyment of their rights, even though he could not in a certain district. A revolt was the consequence agree with them in matters of religion. of these stern edicts. A certain Julian, reported to Upon the overthrow of the Roman empire by the have been a robber chieftain, and who pretended to be Vandals, it might have been expected that the Jews the Messiah, and assumed the title of king, appeared would have been worse treated than others of the peo- at the head of thousands of the inhabitants of Palesple,'by that fierce and barbarous nation. But they en- tine, and led them against the Christians, at that:ine joyed the same privileges, and only participated in the expecting no hostilities from this quarter. common miseries which are the usual attendants of All around Neapolis, they wasted the possessions great revolutions.' They were allowed the unrestricted of the Christians with fire and sword, burned the exercise of their religion; and, on the payment of a churches, and treated the priests with shameless in 192 CONDITION OF THE JEWS IN THEIR D[SPEItSION. dignities. By one account, Julian is said to have ly subdued Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, when, about entered Neapolis while the games were celebrating. the year 637, the victorious Omar turned his arms Nicias was the name of the victor. Julian summoned against Jerusalem. After a siege of four months him before his presence, and demanded his religion. during which the Arabs suffered extremely from the Oll his reply that he was a Christian, he struck his inclemency of the winter, a capitulation was proposed head off at a blow. The whole district wasmade a des- and agreed to, when the conqueror entered the city, ert: one bishop had fallen in the massacre, and many seated on a red camel, which carried a bag of corn priests were thrown into prison, or torn in pieces. A and dates -and without guards or any other precaugreat force was sent into the province, and after a tion. Palestine afterwards became a scene of devas bloody battle, the insurgents were defeated, Julian tation and trouble from the contests between the slain, and thus was the revolt terminated. Ommiades, Abbasides, and Fatimite khalifs. In 848, Some time after, (A. D. 555,) the Jews at Cesarea Jerusalem was taken by Achmet, a Turk, but recovrebelled against the Roman government, and were, ered, in 906, by the khalifs of Bagdad. It passed on this occasion, -a rare occurrence in their history, several times from one power to the other, but the -joined by the Samaritans. Their united forces khalifs held it when the crusaders first appeared in attacked and destroyed many of' the churches, and the Holy Land. massacred great numbers of the Christians, and par- In some of the countries which had been lost to the ticularly Stephanas, the prefect, in his palace. His Empire of the West in consequence of the irruption wife fled to Constantinople. Adamantius was commis- of the barbarians, as France and Spain, the Jews sioned to inquire into the origin of the tumult, and to at length became the olbjects of dislike, on account proceed against the guilty with the utmost rigor. Ad- either of their restive temper, or of their practices, amantius condemned the insurgents, executed many, particularly as traders and:- usurers. Under Bathilda, confiscated the property of the most wealthy, and re- the widow of Clovis. (A. 1).' 565,) the capitation tax duced the whole province to peace. When, however, was abolished in France, because it restrained people a war occurred in Italy, about this time, the Jews from marrying, and obliged many to sell their chiljoined with the Goths against Justinian and his general dren, that they might avoid paying the impost. The Belisarius, and, in conjunction with the Gothic forces, Jews, who had become odious and detested by their they defended the city of Naples with such obstinacy, traffic in those children, whom they sold to barbarous that the Roman soldiers became exceedingly exas- nations, were obliged to restore the captives that they perated against them. Upon the capture of the city, had in possession, and forbidden that cruel and unthough Belisarius endeavored to inspire his troops with natural commerce for the future. In general, how. sentiments of clemency and pity, the Jews, without ever, the times were becoming more propitious to the any distinction of age, sex, or rank, were barbarously professors of Judaism, and in the succeeding century, put to death. they may be said to have enjoyed the golden age of This dreadful severity overawed the devotees of their dispersion. Judaism for a time, and, during the two subsequent Under Charlemagne, (A. D. 768-814,) the Jews reigns, we read of neither revolt nor persecution. enjoyed much favor. We shall have occasion to notice But under Phocas, (A. D. 602,) at Antioch, where the curious circumstance of his receiving the keys of they had become numerous and wealthy, they raised Jerusalem from the Arabian khalif. His empire gave an insurrection against the Christians, who, not being this busy people a wide field for their commercial sufficiently powerful to offer any resistance, were operations. From the ports of Marseilles and Narmade to suffer the most shocking cruelties. Great bonne, their vessels kept up a constant communication numbers of the latter were burned in their houses; with the East. In Narbonne, they were so flourishing, and the bishop, Anastasius, and many others, after that of the two prefects, or mayors, of the city, one was having endured the greatest indignities, were thrown always a Jew, and the most regular and stately part of into tne nire and destroyed. But the emperor inflicted the city of Lyons was the Jewish quarter. In a period a condign punishment upon the perpetrators of such when nobles and kings, and even the clergy, could not cruelties, although his previous severity in compelling always write their names, the superior intelligence many of their brethren to receive Christian baptism, and education of the Jews fitted them to become the was the occasion of their rash insurrection. physicians and ministers of finance to nobles and Pope Gregory the Great, who reigned about this monarchs. Only one instance is on record where the time, anticipating the conversion of the Jews, exhorted Jews became the objects of Charlemagne's displeasure. his clergy and flock to treat them with candor and When Charlemagne had defeated the Saracens, he kindness. But their condition became worse after the determined to put to death those Jews who had flavored emperor HIeraclius (A. D. 610-641) had concluded the Saracenic invasion, and occasioned so much blooda. peace with the Persian monarch, Chosroes. Yet we shed. He was, however, prevailed on to commute have no account of great severities, except that the law their punishment, and only the principal and most of Hadrian was reinacted, which prohibited the Jews, guilty persons among that people suffered death. The who had gained access to Jerusalem, from approach- remainder, who inhabited the city of Narbonne, were ing within three miles of the city -a law which, in condemned to receive a box on the ear, and to pay a the exasperated state of the Christians at that time, in perpetual fine of thirteen pounds of wax. consequence of their suffering from the Jews, might The golden age of the Jews endured in still increasbe a measure of security or mercy, rather than of ing prosperity, during the reign of Charlemagne's oppression. successor, Louis le Debonnaire, or the Pious, (A. D. Palestine continued to own the sway of the Greek 815.) Such was their influence at court, that their emperor till the rise of the Arabian power in the interest was sought by the presents of nobles and East. The followers of Mahomet, extending their princes. The emperor's most confidential adviser was doctrines and their dominion by fire and sword, rapid- a Jewish physician, named Zedekiah. The people, in JEWS IN FRANCE, SPAIN, HUNGARY. 193 their wonder, attributed his influence over the emperor carried it by assault, with a prodigious slaughter of to magic, in which he was considered a profound adept. the garrison and inhabitants, which was continued for With every sign of awe-struck sincerity, the monkish three days, without respect either to age or sex. Eight historians relate tales of his swallowing a whole cart days after, the Latin chiefs elected Godfrey to preside of hay, horses and all, and flying in the air like Simon over their conquests in Palestine. In a fortnight, he Magus of old. was called out to defend his capital against the powerful The Jews had the liberty of erecting new syna- army of the sultan of Egypt, and overthrew him at the gogues, and obtained such great and extensive privileges battle of Ascalon. The four cities of Hems, Haunder this prince, that they became extremely haughty mah, Damascus, and Aleppo, were soon the only relics and insolent. Agobard, the bishop, indignant at the of the Mahometan conquests in Syria. The feudal consequence they had obtained, began to impose re- institutions of Europe were introduced into this kingstrictions upon them. He forbade their purchase of dom in all their purity, and a code of laws estabChristian slaves, and the observation of their Sabbath. lished. In addition to this, he interdicted the Christians from The defeat and dispersion of the armies of the buying wine and from carrying on any traffic with second crusade tended greatly to weaken the Christian them, during the time of Lent. But the Jews, having cause in the Holy Land, and shake the foundations of complained of these edicts, were immediately restored the kingdom of Jerusalem. Treason and dissension to their former privileges, and Agobard could obtain also contributed to its overthrow. In the midst of them, no redress. Sultan Saladin, a prince uniting refined humanity to Under Charles the Bald, the condition of the Jews valor, policy, and military skill, assailed the kingdom. was not, in every respect, so agreeable and easy. The His complaints of the pillage of the caravans of pil. conversion of Jewish children being the effect of meas- grims being unheeded, he invaded Palestine with eighty ures taken by the bishop of Lyons, the Jews removed thousand horse and foot. In a decisive battle at the their offspring to Vienne, Macon, and Arles, where siege of Tiberias, the Christians were completely overthere was less zeal. Remigius, the bishop, an- thrown, with the loss of thirty thousand men. Folnounced his success to the king, and desired that lowing up his victory, Jerusalem was taken by the the bishop of Arles might be admonished to fol- sultan after a siege of fourteen days; and the Latin low the example of his zeal. The councils began kingdom, though, for a time, sustaining itself on the again to launch their thunders; that of Meaux re- coast, and even regaining Jerusalem, was at last put an enacted the exclusion of the Jews from all civil end to at the capture of Acre by the Mamelukes, about offices. This decree was followed up by that of Paris. 1250. Palestine continued under Egypt, with two But in the distracted state into which the kingdom soon short exceptions, till it fell under the Turks, who have fell, probably these ordinances were not executed. held it for the last three hundred years. During the wars that subsisted between the Saracens and the Christians in the tenth century, the rabbinical schools in Spain were in a flourishing condition, and the Jews in that country became numerous and wealthy. Indeed it was in Spain, that the golden age of the Jews shone with the brightest and most enduring splendor. The wars in this kingdom continued during the eleventh century. Rabbi Samuel Levi, being secretary and prime minister to the king of Granada, was by him created chief of the Jewish nation, and used his utmost endeavors to promote the honor and advantage of that people. But on their attempting to make converts to the Jewish religion, the king of Granada caused the principal offenders to be taken and hanged; and such a persecution of the Jews immediately commenced, that one hundred thousand families felt its dreadful and destructive effects'. The iron age of Judaism had now come both in the West and East. They had risen but to be trampled down by \ the fiercer and heavier heel of ojpression and persecution. / The Jews flourished, during the latter part of the eleventh century, in Hungary, where St. Ladislaus, who then reigned, convening a synod, had several reg\' ulations entered into, which imported that if a Jew should marry a Christian woman, or purchase o a Chris. rusadetian slave, they should on proof of the fact, be set at liberty, and their price confisc ted to the bishop. Coloman, his son and successor, for Jade the Jews to make use of Christian slaves; but he permitted them to buy and In 1099, the crusaders, having the year before The number and power of the Jews had also betaken Nice and Antioch, laid siege to Jerusalem, and j come great in Germany and Bohemia, where they had 25 [19t4 PERSECUTIONS OF THE JEWS. created many stately synagogues. They suffered in- But the treasures thus wickedly obtained from this deed grievous persecutions in several parts of those unhappy race did not enrich the kingdom in the least kingdoms from the zealots of other persuasions. But Before twenty years had elapsed, France beheld hei that which chiefly contributed to excite the fury and haughty monarch recalling thi, people; for their pres. resentment.of others against them, was the march of ence was deemed important to the purposes of thrift the crusaders through the several cities of Germany. and trade. It was not till twenty years after, that all Of all people, the zealous Jews must have beheld with edict was issued to regulate their usur;ous exactions, the greatest amazement the course of this fanaticism, especially as to the persons to whom it might be lawful when the whole Christian world, fiom the king to the to lend money. Under Louis, VIII. and Louis IX.peasant, was suddenly seized with the resolution to commonly called St. Louis- (1223-1271,) the Jews conquer the Holy Land of their fathers, in order to suffered the usual evils incident to their race - plunsecure the desecrated sepulchre of Jesus Christ! But der anti oppression. Under St. Louis, frightful ravthe occasion must have opened a most extensive field ages were committed, in 1239, upon the Jewish quar for traffic and usury; and no doubt the Jews, suppress- ter in Paris- an example which was followed in ing their astonishment, were forward to avail them- Orleans, and many other cities. The great vassals selves of such a golden opportunity for gain. Nothing also were not behind in lawless barbarity. The king was so valuable, or dear, or sacred, but that it might endeavored to root out the religion of the Jews. By be disposed of to equip the soldier of the cross. Arms an edict, the volumes of the Talmud were destined fbr and money must be had, and the merchant or usurer destruction, and, as the consequence, four and twenty might dictate his own terms. carts full of ponderous tomes were committed to the But little did this prudent people foresee the storm flames in Paris! which impended over them. When the first horde of The professors of Judaism were treated with kindcrusaders, of the lowest order, assembled near the city ness by Philip the Bold, (A. D. 1275,) who recalled of Treves, a murmur spread rapidly through the camp, them from the exile to which St. Louis had, in the end, that, while they were advancing to recover the sepul- subjected them. Philip was induced to this measure by chre of Christ from the infidels, they were leaving their known and acknowledged usefulness, in the promobehind worse unbelievers -the murderers of the Lord. tion of commerce and the circulation of money, which With one impulse, the crusaders rushed to the city, could not fail of improving the finances of the nation. and commenced a relentless plunder, violation, and They became powerful and wealtby under the reign of massacre, of every Jew they could find. In this dread- this monarch. They were again expelled the French ful day, men were seen to slay their own children, to dominions under Philip the Fair, A. D. 1300. It is save them from the worse treatment of these wretches; generally allowed that his motive in this act was the women, having deliberately tied stones round them- enriching of himself by plunder. Many of them died, selves that they might sink, plunged from the bridge, through want, in exile. But they were soon recalled unto save their honor and escape baptism! Such scenes der Louis, his successor, again to enrich the country by were repeated in Metz, in Cologne, in Mentz, in their trade, commerce, and unwearied industry. Thus Worms, in Spires. The outrageous character of these was this wretched people banished and recalled, as proceedings was, however, perceived by some who the freaks of monarchs or the exigences of the state had power and influence, as the bishop of Spain, and demanded ever the sport of the most unstable and the emperor Henry the Fourth. The latter issued an cruel fortune. As this was the tenor of their history edict, permitting such Jews as had been baptized by afterward in France, where, for the most part, they force to resume their religion, and ordered their prop- endured untold deprivations, miseries, and wrongs erty to be restored. At this period, many took refuge with alternate prosperity and favor, it need not be in Silesia and Poland, A. D. 1097. rehearsed; except to say that toward the close of the Half a century elapsed for the devoted race of Israel fourteenth century, the whole Jewish community, with to multiply its numbers, and to heap up new treas- the exception of those: in the city of Metz, by the edict ures to undergo the doom of pillage and massacre. of Charles VI., crossed for the last time the borders of A second storm swept over them with terrible effect in France, for a long and indefinite period of banishment many parts of Europe, though in Germany its force A great similarity is found in regard to the history was broken by the kindness and interposition of the of the Western Jews in other parts of Europe. It is emperor. During the twelfth century, two of the scarcely necessary to repeat the story of their oppres.popes in'succession, Innocent and Alexander III., sions and persecutions, or of that fanatical and usuribefriended this miserable people, who on this account ous disposition which, in some instances at least, flourished exceedingly; and the town of Cozzi, in provoked retaliation. In Italy, the popes were genMilan, and other places in Italy, produced manylearned erally favorable and kind to the race of Israel. rabbins. In France, at this period, the Jews were Gregory X. (A. D. 1227-1244) imitated the examboth numerous and wealthy; but the imputation of ple of his predecessors; and though he was a zealous many odious crimes, probably in most instances false, promoter of the holy war, yet observing that the cru subjected them to cruel suspicions and recriminations. saders commenced their pious work with the massacre To avenge some alleged diabolical acts, King Philip, of this people, he took every method to prevent such surnamed the August, (A. D. 1180,) under pretence barbarity. But at length they became the objects of of piety and zeal for the honor of God, not only ban- persecution in Naples. ished them his dominions, but confiscated all their In Spain, the Jews suffered, at an early period, wealth and effects, insomuch that they were reduced more than the common oppressions of the race. to the greatest misery. Many fell victims to these The crusaders there, under the impression that to oppressive and tyrannical proceedings. The king's wreak their vengeance on the enemies of Christ — real object, in this infamous procedure, was to relieve the Jews —was an infallible method of obtaining the his own burdened subjects. blessing of Heaven on their enterprise, made sulcll PERSECUTIONS OF THE JEWS. ]193 navoc among them, that this is reckoned as one of the possessors of their valuable libraries. Two centuries four most severe and bloody persecutions which the after their expulsion from England, and one after their.lews ever experienced. In one instance, about the expulsion from France, Spain, as if not to be outclone middle of the fourteenth century, an insurrection broke in religious persecution, followed the shameless exout against them at Toledo, when the most extraordi- ample, though with more terrible effect; for the Jews nary effects of fury and despair were exhibited by a of Spain, instead of being a caste, as in other countries, single Jew. Perceiving the zealots breaking into his were an order of the state. Ferdinand issued a dehouse with intent to massacre all they found, he killed cree by which the whole Jewish nation were comP very individual who had taken refuge with him, and manded to leave that monarch's dominions in the space [hen destroyed himself, that he might deprive his ene- of four months; and the people were prohlibited, unmies of that gratification. der the severest penalties, from affording victuals or Asto Germany-whetherthe Jews committed greater any other assistance to such as should be found in the and nmore numerous offences, or the people were more kingdom after that period. The misery and suffersuperstitiously zealous against them than in other ings of those who thus embarked for foreign countries countries - there is scarcely a kingdom in which they are inexpressible, and almost inconceivable. We may have been so much abused. As a specimen, may be well decline the horrible detail. mentioned the charge brought against the Jews about The history of the Eastern Jews is similar to that the middle of the fourteenth century, of having poi- which has been already given, in respect to the opsoned the rivers and wells, because they escaped the pressions and miseries that fell on the devoted race, common mortality that happened in most parts of alternated with a few gleams of prosperity and hapEurope. This occasioned a persecution in several piness. Space is wanting to present even a faint outprovinces of Germany, in which some were burned line of their varied fortunes. In the Persian dominions, alive, and others most cruelly slaughtered. Those of under Kobad, in the sixth century, an attempt was Mentz, however, resolved to defend themselves, and, made to compel all the professors of Judaism to emhaving seized about two hundred unarmed Christians, brace the Persian religion. Chosroes the Great, his put them to death in a barbarous manner; upon which successor, treated that people with still greater severity. the incensed populace collected in great numbers, Under Hormisdas III., they enjoyed a period of privand, attacking the Jews with fury, killed about twelve ilege and repose. Chosroes 1I. at first persecuted thousand of them. The indignation and persecu- the'nation, but was afterwards reconciled to them, tion extended over all Germany. In some parts of and they seem to have rendered him many important the country, the whole Hebrew nation was at this time services. When that prince took Jerusalem, he (dewithout friends or retreat, and no one dared, at so livered all the Christian prisoners into their hands; and critical a period, to interpose in their behalf. no less than ninety tho-usand were put to death, to gratThe Jews were invited into England by William ify the implacable Jews. the Conqueror, A. D. 1066-1087. During the reign When Mahomet appeared, in the seventh century, of King John, (A. D. 1200-1216,) the kingdom was many of the Jews in the East, thinking him to be the distracted with intestine broils, and he swas under the promised Messiah, became converts to the religion necessity of supporting his government by the most op- which he promulgated. He, however, at length gave pressive exactions, theheaviestofwhich fell ontheJews. that people little reason to think that he entertained At length the king confiscated their property and effects, towards them any special regard. They became oband expelled them from the country, by a public edict. jectrs of his detestation, and, engaging in war with them. Henry III. endeavored to procure their conversion; for under their leader Cagab, he routed them, and dewhich purpose he founded a seminary (A. D. 1233) stroyed great numbers. After the conquest of Persia for the maintenance of Jewish converts, in which they by Omar - the khalif that succeeded Mahomet - the might live without labor or usury. This arrangement Jews under that monarchy became subject to the induced many to prof'essChilristianity; and that institu- Saracens, and shared the common misfortunes resultticn we are told, continued a considerable period. ing from the changes introduced by war and conIn Norwich, the Jews were accused of having stolen quest. During the eighth and ninth centuries, they a Christian child, and of having kept him a year, with were occasionally favored by the khl'alifs. Under the a' view to crucify him at the ensuing passover; but, Saracen rule their academies flourished, and they were being detected previously to that period, they suffered permitted to enjoy their ancient privileges. At othett a severe punishment. In London, the Hebrews were times, they were oppressed and down-trodden, accordaccused of some murders and other atrocious offences, ing to their usual fate. and,afterenduringvariousvexations and sufferings, they In the tenth and eleventh centuries, the Eastern were obliged to pay one third of all their wealth.'The Jews enjoyed a degree of light and prosperity, whilst holy war, in which King Henry embarked, was another the rest of the world was overwhelmed in darkness pretence for demanding money from his sulbjects, and and infelicity; but these seasons were of short duration. especially from the Jews, whom he scrupled not to de- Their internal disputes, and the zeal of the crusaders, prive of what they had left, (A. D. 1252.) Subsequently occasioned the destruction of their several academies. the king actually sold to his brother, Richard of Corn- and the almost total expulsion of' the Jews from the wall, all theJews in the realm for five thousand marks, East. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the giving him full power over their property and persons! number and power of this people in that quarter had It is agreed by most writers that the Jews were ex- greatly decreased. Many were converted to Mahornepelled England bv a perpetual edict about this time, tanism, and others left the Babylonian territories. The A. D. 1291. Their number is variously estimated at wars that succeeded, tended to complete their ruin in trom fifteen thousand to over sixteen thousand; all that country. It is probable that the Jews in the Gre their property, debts, obligations, mortgages, es- cian empire during the thirteenth and fourteenth centheated to the king. The convents made themselves turies enjoyed tranquillity. 1: 96 DISPERSION SINCE THE REFORMATION. CHEEAPTER CIII. maxims of toleration which eventually resulted from that great revolution. A. D. 1517 to 1849. During the Thirty Years' War, the Jews assisted The Dispersion since the Reformationl - Ge~n- with great valor in the defence of Prague, and obtained eral Remarks - sefctllhess of thae Jetws the good will of the grateful emperor. Before that, Literatuemre - Tradfue Wsar - Fint ace inthe Reformation had incidentally been the cause of Polish Jews' Trade- slowly advance- another important benefit —the opening of the free Polis sh.ets- Naoleatonaslowly avandces - cities of Holland, where a great number of PortuMendelssohn - Nanpoleon asseambles a Grand guese Jews settled and contributed largely to the comASanhedrinz at Paris- Toleration in Italy - mercial wealth of the republic. In England, during Germany - Policy of Russia - Perfect Tol- the protectorate of Cromwell, the question of permiteration int- the United States, Sac. - Jews, ac., ting the Jews to come into that country was seriously izn Palestine - The Hebrew Race Hfoud debated; but no decision was then arrived at. The:every where- RemnarAks on.Judaism and necessities of Charles II. and his courtiers quietly effected the introduction of that people into the king. dom. The convenient Jews, insensibly stealing into THe Dark Ages, commencing in the fifth century, it, have ever since maintained their footing, and have and ending in the fifteenth, had now finished their doubtless contributed their due proportion to the nitsluggish and disastrous course. They brought with tional wealth. them woe and misfortune to all, but to none more than At the commencement of the eighteenth century, to the descendants of Abraham. As we have seen, Poland and the adjacent provinces had, for some time, during this long night of the world, they were sub- been the head-quarters of the Jews. Here they had aljected, by the dominant powers both of the West and most every branch of traffic; in some towns, they formed of the East, to every species of deprivation, persecu- the greater part of the population. In that kingdom, tion, and misery. Not a tithe of the hardships and in- they constituted the only middle order between the justice which they endured has here been put on record, nobles and the serfs. There, also, was the seat of and, indeed, only an inconsiderable proportion of their rabbinical papacy. In Western Europe, in the mean crimes. But, in regard to their fellow-men, the pun- time, those great changes which disorganized the ishment seems to have far exceeded the provocation. framework of society, were maturing. The condition They were Jews, and therefore hated, scorned, and of the Israelite, and even his religion, was affected by oppressed by all mankind. Such were the ancient the new opinions, as they affected Christians and Chrispredictions of their prophets. tianity. Time-honored institutions and principles were, But the times were changed. The spirit of perse- in both orders, for a time shaken. By the philosophic, cution, though by no means extinct, began by degrees atheistic school the Jews were detested, as the ancesto abate, and the general Jewish character to undergo tors of the Christians. But the problem of toleration sorlme improvement. The great events of this period and freedom was in process of being worked out by - the invention and rapid progress of printing and the degrees. The new views had, in effect, an application Reformation - could not but have some effect on the to all nations and classes of men. Still the early and condition of the Jews. This people were by no ancient prejudices against the Hebrew race abated but means slow to avail themselves of the advantages slowly. offered to learning by the general use of printing. The legislation of Frederic the Great - in the middle From their presses at Venice, in Turkey, and in other of the eighteenth century - was rigid and' absurd. It quarters, splendid specimens of typography were sent limited the number of the Jews in the kingdom; divided forth, and the respect of the learned world was insen- them into those who held an ordinary or extraordinary sibly increased by the facilities thus afforded for the protection from the crown; banished widows who marknowledge of the Scriptures in the original language, ried foreign Jews, and enacted other similar relics of and the bold opening of all the mysteries of rabbini- the dark ages. In England, a more tolerant spirit was cal wisdom to those who had sufficient inquisitiveness exercised, though a bill for naturalizing all the Jews and industry to enter on that wide and unknown field who had resided three years in the kingdom, which of study. was passed by both houses of Parliament in 1753, The Reformation affected the Hebrew people rather caused so great a popular clamor, that it became netn its remote than in its immediate consequences. cessary to repeal the obnoxious statute. In Italy, after' They were still liable to suffer from the prejudices the French revolution, this people enjoyed freedom and entertained against them by men in power; but, ex- quiet. In Rome, they experienced some restrictions. eluded from one city or state, they found refuge in In the maritime towns, they continued to prosper. another till the storm passed off. Wherever they had In Germany, the celebrated Moses Mendelssohn, a Jew opportunity, they opened important branches of com- of vast genius and learning, had the influence, through rerce, though they were usually more addicted to his temper and writings, to inspire an unusual kindness money-lending and the sale of gold trinkets and jew- of feeling toward the race to which he belonged. By elry. Luther was disposed, on the whole, to regard his example, he emancipated many of the Jewish youth this people humanely; though detesting them as from the control of rabbinism. In the year 1780, usurers, he thought their conversion, should be at- when Joseph II. ascended the throne, among the first tempted only by persuasion. But the condition of the measures of this restless and universal reformer was Jews was ameliorated through the Reformation, by its one for the amelioration of the condition of the ndirect action in raising up new and more dangerous Jews. They had been barely tolerated for some time enemies to the power of the Catholic church. They previously, except that, in certain parts of the empire, were, in fact, forgotten or overlooked in the conflict. they lived without much molestation. The act of'T'heir condition was ameliorated especially by the wise Joseph opened to them the schools and universities of JEWS IN FRANCE, RUSSIA, UNITED STATES, &c. 19I the empire, and an almost unlimited field of trade. A wh ch any other class of citizens enjoys, all offices few restrictions, however, were imposed upon them. of power and trust are open to them, equally with the The French revolution -that event which effected members of any other creed or sect; and;they have so many changes, both evil and good, and whose con- uniformly been treated with the consideration and sequences are still in progress among mankind -found respect to which all the inhabitants of the land are some Jews in France, as a few were permitted to settle entitled, according to their personal character and con-:here after the great final expulsion, and a number had duct. Although, in all Protestant countries, they ma) seen allowed to remain in the country. In the years not receive the consideration which is thus accorded 1784 and 1788, some grievances were redressed, in to them in the United States, yet they are treated with reference to this people, by the king's government; great comparative mildness and charity. In England, but, in 1790, they were recognized as citizens of the they have been long allowed the full liberty of their regreat republic. In 1806, Napoleon, n the height of ligion, an unrestrained freedom of commerce, and the his power and grandeur, condescey ded to take into quiet and peaceable enjoyment of their property. More consideration the condition of the Jews, and summoned recently, the civil disabilities have been removed, and a grand sanhedrini to assemble at Paris. Several im- a professed Jew -Baron Rothschild for the first time, portant questions were submitted to be answered by has been admitted as a member of Parliament.; that body. The deputies, upon their assembling, gave The Israelitish race, driven, at an early period, from different answers to the questions, though it is supposed their native land by the Roman arms, have never,hat these were not universally recognized as the au- since fully re-occupied it. At present, only a small thoritative sentence of the nation. Napoleon's object proportion of its inhabitants are Jews, although their was less a matter of vanity and benevolence than of numbers have considerably increased of late years. policy. He knew their importance in the financial The country languishes under the rule of the Turks, department of his government and empire, and was having a mixed population of Ottoman Turks, Greeks, not unwilling to secure their aid and friendship. The Arabs, Turkomans, Copts, and Armenians. As the result was a decree, declaring those only to be French Turkish government has recently manifested a spirit citizens, who followed some useful calling, while all of liberality and toleration, the country will doubtless Jews were subject to conscription. improve with a good deal of rapidity. The laws of France relating to the Jews have re- An ancient people, called the Druses, still occupy mained unaltered, unless of late. In Italy, excepting the more northern heights of Lebanon; but, as they in the Tuscan dominions, they became, some few properly come within the limits of Syria, we shall no years since, subject to the ancient regulations, which tice them in giving the history of that country. A were more favorable than in most other countries of an small remnant of the Samaritans still worship on early date. In Rome, all distinctions, separating them Mount Gerizim. The city of Tiberias, built by.from the rest of the community, have, it appears, Herod the tetrarch, is still a place of residence for }been abolished. In Germany, not long since, some the Jews. In the minds of many of this race, the hostility was lurking in the popular feeling, not so hope of a return to the home of their fathers is chermuch from religious animosity as from commercial ished with the liveliest enthusiasm and the fondest jealousy, in several of the great places of trade. The affection; and occasionally, in modern times, there king of Prussia, even before the year 1815, when the have been seeming indications of the possibility, if nol diet of the German empire had pledged itself to turn probability, of the event. its attention to the improvement of the civil state of the In our day, the Jews have partaken largely of the Jews, had encouraged the interests of education among spirit of the age. Individuals of this ancient and rethat people. His zeal for this and other important nowned race appear to be pressing, with new earnestobjects, in reference to them, was not wasted on an ness and success, into every path of honorable disungratefiul race. Many of them are stated to have tinction. A great degree of intellectual activity, infallen in the Prussian ranks at Waterloo. As late deed, prevails throughout the nation. Besides the as the year 1829, while the states of WVurtemberg indefatigable toils of Wolff in all parts of the world, were discussing a bill for the extension of the civil many distinguished Hebrews, accepting Christ as the rights to the Jews, the populace of Stuttgard surrounded true Messiah, have made great efforts to convert their the hall of assembly with fierce outcries,-" Down with race, and unite them in a consentaneous effort for the the Jews; down with the friends of the Jews! " But, improvement, elevation, and moral regeneration, of all to the honor of the states be it said, they remained who bear the name of Judah, or boast the lineage of unmoved, and proceeded to ratify the obnoxious edict. Jacob. The policy of the Russian government seems to The Hebrew race, at present, occupy the four liave been, in more modern times, less liberal than quarters of the globe. They are found under every that of other European governments. The over- climate, in every region, under every form of governthrow of the rabbinical authority has been aimed ment, wearing the indelible national stamp upon their at; many Jews have been transferred from the features, united by the close moral affinity of habits crowded Polish provinces to the less thickly settled and feelings, and. at least the mass of the community, parts of the empire. Some restrictions as to trade treasuring in their hearts the same reliance on theii have been imposed within the present century; and a national privileges, the same trust in the promises of decree of the emperor Nicholas, some eighteen or their God, the same conscientious attachment to the twenty years since, seemed to be directed partly at religion of their fathers, the same hone of. return to the rabbins, and partly at the petty traffickers. The Canaan and prosperity in the land of their glorious latter are entirely prohibited in the Russian do- ancestors. But, whatever purposes may have been minions. once answered by Judaism as a local, restricted, repIn the United States, under the constitution, the resentative religion, - and they were infinitely imporlews have all the liberty, rights, and privileges, tant purposes. —-it is plain that a religion like Chris 198 EXTENT OF JEWRY-DIVISIONS-POPULATION, &c. tianitx, which embraces the whole human race in the been given, making their number from about 3,000,000 sphere of its benevolence, is alone suited to any con- to 6 or 7,000,000. The WVeimar estimate, made sistent and enlarged view of the ultimate designs of some years since, gave the total amount of the Jewthe Creator. ish population in the world, at a little more than 3,000,000. In that statement, the Jews of Africa stand as follows: Morocco and Fez, 300,000: Tunis, 130,000; Algiers, 30,000; Gabez or Habah, 90,000; C 1APT E R C I V. Tripoli, 12,000; Egypt, 12,000;- total, 504.000. General Views - Extent of JewTry Divisiolns The Jews of Asia: Asiatic Turkey, 330,000; Arabia. Popnulation - Army - Cities - erusa- 200,000; Hindostan, 100,000; China, 60,000; Tur1em -Hebronl - Gaza - Samkari- Ti- kistan, 40,000; Province of Iran, 35,000; Russia in Asia, 3000; total, 738,000. The Jews of Europe:-In Russia and Poland, 608,800; Austria, - Of Property - ilitia -Armor - Weap- 453,524; European Turkey, 321,000; States of the ons - Fortifications -Rites - acred Ed- German Confederation, 138,000; Prussia, 134,000; ifices - Synagogtues -Festivals - Persons Netherlands, 80,000; France, 60,000; Italy, 36,000, - AScape- Goat - arriage Education Great Britain, 12,000; Cracow, 7,300; Ionian Isles, Tillage -Handicrafts - Trade — Building 7000; Denmark, 6000; Switzerland, 1970; Sweden, -Miusic Literature-b Houses -h i'Z- 430; total, 1,918,053. The Jews of America: — ture F- ood - nDress - Social Distiznctio~ns:North America, 5000; Netherlandish Colonies, 500; y- Celebratedl Ch ara7cters. Demerara and Essequibo, 200; -total, 5700. But -Celebrated Characters. the Jewish population has doubtless increased greatly IN the course of the preceding narrative, the extent, since this estimate was made, especially in the United divisions, population, &c., of the Jewish dominions States. If it has participated in the proportionate inhave been incidentally presented, and, perhaps, with crease of the inhabitants of Europe and America since as much minuteness as the design of this work would the general pacification in 1815, we may place the admit. In addition, it may be remarked, that, as to number of this people at least one third higher than extent, the Hebrew territory properly included, as set- the Weimar statement. In the United States, through tled and afterwards conquered by the twelve tribes, the extent of immigration of late years, we may put il an area of seven degrees of latitude, by about as at more than ten times the number there assigned tc many of longitude. This was in the time of David this country. and Solomon, when the empire was most powerful. - As to military power - militia levies sometimes, as in The Arnon was the boundary which separated the Jehoshaphat's reign, brought more than a million of men Hebrews on the east from the Ammonites, and on the into the field at once. The standing army of David south from the Moabites, until they were subdued by amounted to twenty-five thousand, and the militia to David. Then the lines of his dominion extended upwards of a million of men; and this force enabled the north as far as 35~ 15' of latitude, where the city of Jews, in Solomon's time, to hold the political balance Thapsacus was situated. The kingdom of Damascus, of the world - being between Egypt and all Africa, with the cities of Batack and Banath, was for a time oc- on the dne side, and Assyria, at the head of Asia, on cupied by the armies of David. On the east, his the other. dominions may, in a loose sense, be said to have Chief Cities. — Such, in ancient times, was the extended to the Euphrates, as they reached to the fertility of the soil of Palestine, and the density and extensive deserts which gird the shore of that river. industry of its inhabitants, that many considerable The portions assigned at first to the several tribes cities were sustained, and very many more towns of need not here be repeated, but the names of the several smaller size. Indeed, for the extent and resources of divisions of the Holy Land, as it was known in the the country, it is wonderful that such collections of days of its splendor, are here given. It embraced Ju- people were brought together for the purposes of trade dea, Samaria, Galilee, Syro-Phaenicia, and Perea, with and the arts, and especially for war. other smaller divisions. These continued nearly the We are informed by Josephus that, in Galilee alone same to the time of Christ. The numbers and military there were two hundred and four cities and towns power having also been successively exhibited in the that the largest of the cities had one hundred and fifty narrative, it remains that we give only their present thousand, and the smaller towns fifteen thousand, innumber. Scattered and divided over the face of the habitants. If this were literally so, and the other parts earth, they have now, of course, no military power aside of the Holy Land bore any proportion to this amount from that of the communities to which they belong. it displays an astonishing state of things in respect t( In some instances, though not all, they may add their the productiveness of the territory, and the ingenuity quota to the national strength. This is allowed, and of its people. Its largest and most celebrated city': even required, in some governments, as in ours, but is -one of the most celebrated in the world- and the probably, even at this day, no part of the regulation of most hallowed in its associations, was Jerusalem. some countries containing within them a Jewish pop- According to Josephus, Jerusalem -was the capita ulation. The aggregate of the Hebrew nation in the of Melchisedec's kingdom, called Salem, in Genesis world is still very considerable. They have ever been a And the Arabians assert that it was built in honor of -most prolific race, as the history of their repeated wars Melchisedec by twelve neighboring kings, and that he and massacres, destruction and repair, has evinced. called it Jerusalem. But nothing is known with cerTo estimate the number of a people thus scattered tainty respecting it till the time of David, who captured and diffused in almost every nation, is an attempt it firom the Jebusites, and made it the capital of his which no one can make with any hope of a certain kingdom. [)lpr.xinmtuon to the trllth. Estimates have,'owever, It has undergone a greater variety of fortune, per F. DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 1.99 -Presentation of the Keys of Jerusalem to Charlemagne. haps, than any other city on the globe; has been palace, which became the residence both of himself oftener taken, destroyed,. and rebuilt- as if it were and his successors. 2. The lower city, in which stood held for some mysterious, ulterior purpose. It was the two sumptuous palaces which Solomon built for first taken by Hazael, the king of Syria, who slew all himself and queen, and other stately buildings erected the inobility, but did n!ot destroy the city. It was by Herod and others 3. The new city, mostly in afterwards taken by Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed habited by tradesmen, artificers, and merchants; and, it, and carried away the inhabitants. It was rebuilt 4. Mount Moriah, on which was built that wonder of sohape seventy years after by permission of Cyrus, and the world, thich became theof Solomon, and since then, that continued the capital of Judea till the time of Vespait w erected by t successors. heir return from Babylon, and ian, byfwhose son Titus, it was wholly destroyed, at- afterwards extensively repaired, adorned, and enriched tended by an amazinae, amount of misery and slaughter. by Herod the Grat. The new buildings afterwards erected amidst the ruins Jerusalem at present is but the shadow of what it weite levelled with the ground by Hadrian, A. D. 118. was in ancient times. It is now a town not fawonder ofro conde the auspices, however, of thise timperor it was three miles in circumference, situated on a rockynd finally rebuilt, and seemed likely to recover its for- mountain, surrounded on all sides, except the north, mer grandeur; but it was a short-lived change. The with a steep ascent and deep valleys, and then again city was found in a forlorn and ruinous situation by environed with other hills at some distance from these. the empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. The soil is, for the most part, stony,: yet affords corn, It was taken by the victorious Omar, in 637, and wine, and oil, where cultivated. The houses are built held by the khalifs, one of whom, Haroun Alraschid- with flint stones, one story high The top of the a name rendered familiar to us by the Oriental ro- dwelling is flat and plastered, having battlements a mance of the " Thousand and One Nights "- sent yard high. In the daytime, the people screen themthe huge keys of the city to his friend Charlemagne, selves from the sunt under the roof; in the night, they a kindred spirit, in token of admiration and esteem. walk, eat, and sleep on it. The number of inhabitants Omar, its conqueror, erected the beautiful mosque is said, by some, to be about twenty thousand; by which now bears his name, on the site of the temple. others, however, it is put considerably less. The lowOf this mosque the curious fact is related, that when est estimate given of late is, probably, that of Dr. Saladin retook Jerusalem from the crusaders, he Robinson, in his Biblical Researches. He puts down,aused the mosque to be purified by washing it all over the Mahometans at four thousand five hundred; the with rose water. The holy city has been in a com- Jews, three thousand; the Christians, three thousand paratively depressed state ever since the khalifs, in- five hundred. To these are to be added, for the condeed, ever since Constantine, with sot.le occasional vents and garrison, about five hundred more, making alleviation of its miseries,-contended for and overrun in all eleven thousand five hundred. Surely the glory successively by many tribes and nations.. of Jerusalem is departed, and she has sunk into the Jerusalem, in the height of its greatness, was divided neglected capital of a petty Turkish province! into four p~ rts, each enclosed within its own walls- Some streets seem to consist of ruins rather than 1. The old city of Jebus, which stood upon Mount dwelling-houses. Within the walls large places;lie'ion, where David built a magnificent castle and desolate, covered with stones and rubbish. In digging 120) JERUSALEM-HEBRION-GAZA. ~ i _,... ~........... _ _. 1~c~-1 Walls around the City of Jerusalem. for the foundations of the English church, on Zion, Abraham bought of Ephron. Hebron still survives forty feet of rubbish and ruins were penetrated. The but very much fallen from its ancient lustre. It forgardens are badly managed, being surrounded with merly stood on a hill to the north, but has insensibly low walls of mud, which are constantly washing down, changcd its site, in the course of its various reblild. and requiring new repairs. The citizens are tailors, ings. A castle now stands on its highest elevation. cooks, smiths, or shoemakers - a destitute, immoral and this is its only defence. Its inhabitants are chiefly race, the refuse of different nations. Turks, mingled with a few Jews. Its situation is such. Jerusalem is surrounded with high walls of hewn that it overlooks the plain of Mamre. Here are the stone, flanked with towers. Several of the mosques ruins of a church built by Constantine, and another are splendid edifices of great size, and adorned with built by Helena, supposed to be on the spot where numerous columns and domes. The most magnificent the patriarchs were buried. It is now a mosque veneedifice in Jerusalem is the Mosque of Omar, which rated both by Christians and Mahometans. Hebron is consists, in fact, of a collection of mosques and chapels, somewhat distinguished by its manufactories of soap environed with a vast enclosure. It is upon the site and glass, and its fabrication of rings, bracelets, and of the ancient temple. One of the chapels, called the other trinkets. Rock, is an octagon of one hundred and sixty feet in Gaza, lying on the eastern shore of the eastern ore of the Mediterradiameter, rising from a platform four hundred and nean, and'at the southern extremity of Palestine, first sixty feet long by three hundree hundred and thirty-nine broad, belonged to the Philistines, then to the Hebrews. It rewith a marble pavement, raised sixteen feet; its in- covered its liberty in the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz, terior is decorated with great splendor, and is always and was reconquered by Hezekia. It was then subjectilluminated with thousands of lamps. ed to the Chaldeans, who conquered Syria and Phoenicia. Several Christian edifices adorn the holy city. Afterwards it fell into the hands of the P'ersians. Among these, are the Church of the the Holy Sepulchre, They were masters of it when Alexander besieged, said to be built upon the spot where the body of Jesus took, and destroyed it. Strabo says that "he renwas entombed; the Catholic convent of St. Savior, in dered it a desert." He at least dismantled it, and the church of which are gold a nd silver vessels and another city, rose from its ruins, nearer to the sea. ornaments valued at nearly two million dollars; and It has since undergone many changes. The town the Armenian convent, with more than eight hundred stands three miles from the sea, and has an indiffer-cells for the accommodation of pilgrims,-many thou- ent port. Its population is fifteen to sixteen thousand, sands of whom visit this spot every year. and is engaged in part in the manufacture of cotton. There are other cities which claim a brief notice Its position as -a frontier town, the key of Palestine, here. Hebron, probably the most ancient city in the gives it importance, and it is now the most populous world, was situated upon an eminence twenty miles of the cities of Palestine. A considerable number of south of Jerusalem. It was built seven years before Christians live here by themselves, in a particular part Zoan, or Tans, the capitalo of Lower Egypt. Abra-of the place. As Gaza stands on an eminence, it is ham, Sarah, and Isaac, were buried near Hebron, in rendered pictulesque by the number of its fine minarets the cave of Machpelah. or the double cave, which or spires, which rise majestically above the buldlings..re.eroz.rbal.h.os Inin iyi h ie t~rprahe n ti o h otpp N APLOUS -TABARI2. Z.i 1 /7 1— 2 ~.: ~ >~.,/:._.... _,..-_: 6'.83 22 PLAN OF JERUSALEM. Jaffa Road; by which pilgrims and 12. Armenian Convent. closure around it is interdicted to 33. Garden ofGethsemane, and Tomb travellers usually arrive fromn thle 13. Jewish Qtuarter. Chlristians. of the Virgin. coast. 14. Citadel. 26. Mosque of El Aksa; another 34. Mou'nt of Olives. T'1he Mont 1. UpperPool of Gihon; probably of 15. English Church. extensive mosque. of Olives overlooks Jerusalellm on high antiquity. Around it are the 16. Church of the Holy Sepulchre 27. Remarkable Jewish Masonry. the east1 being one hundred andt tomrbs of thle Turkish ceinetery,onie and Greek Convent. The large stones, formning part of seventy-five feethighertlihMul loitl of lwhich is il tle view. 17..Latinl Convent; the usual stop- the ancient temple wall, are very Zio. It is still scattered over with 3. Plain of Rephaim. The Bethle- ping place of travellers in Jerisa- conspicuous at this point. olive-trees, and there are p)tl-lvays hem road crosses this plain, of letm. 28. O)phel. The site of this quarter across to Bethiny, whence (Christ which a portion only is seen. 18. Damascus Gate; a Saracenic of the ancient city is now covered entered into Jerusalemi. 4. Lower Pool of Gihon. structure. with olives.:5. Chapel of itle Prediction. 5. Hill of Evil Counsel; a bold 19. Tronibs of the Kings. 29. Fotuntain of the Virgin; an atll- 36. Camel Road from lethaniy and height opposite Mount Zion. 20. Tirkish Mosque in Bezetha. cient fount tin,comninunicating with Jericlho. 6. Valley of Hinnoni; rising in the 01. Ch-urch of St. Anne. tihat of Siloam bv a slbterraneous 37. Road to Anata. On this road is high land near the Janlt gate. 22. Gate of St. Stephen; so called ipassage cut in tile rock. the finest view of thle city. 7. Toimbs and "; Aceldania," which fioin the tradition tiat St. Stephel 30. Villafe of Siloamn; a niserable 38. Nebi Samnwil; a reinariatle hill, are very numerouis, cut in the v was stoned just without it. plalce, btiilt amoning the tombs over- about four mtiles froii thie city, siuprocky side of the hill. 2 3. Golden Gate; magnificenit gate lintiting thile Valley of Jehoshapliat; p6ised, by Dr. Robinson, to be the 8. En Rogel; a deep well. of Roman architecture. otlv the top of its tuildings can ancient Mizpeh. 9. Pool of Siloamri. 24. Governlr's Houses. b. seen. 39. Hill of Offence. Th'is is, in fact, 10. T'omb of David. Aosque, origi- 25. Nlosquie of Oiar; a mainificent 31. V:ll w of Jeloshaphat, tnd Jew- a portion of the range of the 51oiunlt nally a Cir-is iatt ctinilm;and S aracenic strucitrCe, occeupyi g the isI e (nietery. of Olives, so called beciauise the Arnienian coiv yen.site of the teimple of Solomon. It 32. l'tonib of Alssilom. This tolbi, traditional site of Solomnons wor, 11. Zion Gate I) tween the Jlffina stands n a raisedla1tfo iofman- intl titlets ear it, hlewn in tile rock ship of Ashitaroth. gate and thaSt of St. Stepileen: witiint ble, approachled tlhroughi the gates fiacinl tilhe temple, are the most 40. Group of Arabs. are tile lhatl)itationis of lie lepers. seen i h view. vast en re rk able groupabouttthe city. and by the beautiful date trees interspersed. Stretch- Without the city are some handsome mosques, which ing far north is an immense olive grove; rich gardens, were once Christian churches. The Armenians have hedged with prickly pear, are on the south, east, and a church here, and the Greeks one of great beauty, north; the fertile soil around produces abundance of the roof of which is supported by marble pillars of the grains, and fruits of every quality and the finest kinds. Corinthian order, with their appropriate ornaments. Modern Gaza. Naplous, or Napolose, near the site of the ancient The city was built by Herod the tetrarch, and became Samaria, is one of the most beautiful and flourishling the seat of a renowned rabbinical university. It has cities of the Holy Land. It stands in a fertile valley, suffered severely and repeatedly frome. earthquakes. surrounded by hills, and imbosomed in stately groves Abundant ruins are found to the southof the present and finely cultivated gardens. Its population is about town, which was described, in 1838, as "a pictulre of ten thousand. Tabaria, or Tiberias, already men- disgusting filth and frightful wretchedness." Pop)ula tioned, stands on the lake of that name, which, in tionI, about two thousand, two thirds Jews. ancient times, was bordered with several large cities. Gocernment. - The posterity, of Jacob,. while ft = =. i _.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-5 — 2 0 2 GOVERNMENT-LA W S-W AR. maining in Egypt, maintained, notwithstanding the adaptation to the great purposes had in view, in the increase of their numbers, that patriarchal form of existence of the Hebrew people as the depositaries of' government which is so prevalent among the norn- the true religion. As most of these will be brought ads. Every father of a family exercised a father's into view in other connections, they need not be dwelt authority over those of his own household. Every upon here, except to present two or three charactertribe obeyed its own prince, who was originally the istic specimens. first born of the founder of the tribe, but, in progress There was a peculiarity in respect to the law ot of time, he appears to have been elected. slavery. As the institution was very generally adoptAs this people were set apart and destined to the ed in the heathen world, so it was recognized by the great object of preserving and transmitting the true Mosaic statutes; but Moses alone, of all the ancient religion, upon the augmentation of their numbers it lawgivers, endeavored to mitigate its evils. An Isra. appeared very evident that they could not live among elite might be reduced to slavery either by his own nations given to idolatry, without running the hazard consent, or by condemnation as an insolvent debtor. of being infected with the same evil. They were or as a thief destitute of the means of making restitutherefore assigned to a particular country, where the tion. In either case, he was entitled to freedom at necessities of their condition would drive them to ag- the end of seven years. If he so chose, he migh' riculture, if they would live independently of other remain in servitude; but it must be his real choicr, nations, and be preserved from contamination. Hav- proved to be such by the ceremony of a public reing this object in view, the fundamental principle of consigning himself to slavery. He appeared before the Mosaic institutions was, that the true God, the the magistrate, his ear was perforated, and he was (reator and Preserver of the universe, and no other, thus judicially delivered back to his master. But even Ou ght to be worshipped. this servitude expired at the jubilee, when the freeTo secure this end the more certainly, God, through born Hebrew returned into the possession of his patrithe instrumentality of Moses, offered himself as king monial estate. to the Hebrews, and was accepted on their part. The law respecting cleanliness was rigid, though Accordingly, the land of Canaan, which was destined merciful in its intent. Cleanliness was maintained by to be occupied by them, was declared to be the land the injunction of frequent ablutions, particularly after Of Jehovah, of which he was to be the king, and the touching a dead body, or any thing which could possiliebrews merely the hereditary occupants. In con- bly contaminate the person; by regulations concernsideration of their acknowledgment of God to be ing female disorders and the intercourse between the their ruler, they were bound, like the Egyptians, to sexes, provisions which were doubtless intended to pay a twofold tithe. correct unseemly or unhealthful practices, either of The part sustained by Moses was that of a media- the Israelites or of the neighboring tribes. Against tor, or internuncio, between God, as the ruler, and the the leprosy, a most loathsome and putrid disease, people, as subjects. The part sustained by Joshua the directions were most minute and stringent, yet was the subordinate office of military leader of the kind. Israelites, in their conquest of the land of -Canaan. The law of property may be noticed in one or two The part sustained by the judges was, in some re- particulars. The great principle of this law was the spects, paramount to the general comitia of the nation inalienability of estates. Houses in walled towns — a sort of supreme executive, exercising all the might be sold in perpetuity, if unredeemed within the rights of sovereignty, with the exception of enacting year; land only for a limited period. At the jubilee, 1laws and imposing taxes. The part sustained by the every estate reverted, without repurchase, to the kings was that of vicegerents. After the monarchy original proprietor. Even during this period, it might was constituted, the terms of the government, as re- be redeemed, should the proprietor become rich spocrted the Deity were the same as before. enough, at the price which the estate would produce''hus, in the principle of it, the government of the during the year, unelapsed, befoqe the jubilee. This Hebrews, in all the periods of their independent ex- remarkable agrarian law secured the political equality isternce, was a theocracy. Their institutions, repre- of the people, and anticipated all the mischiefs so fatal sentative of a true church, were regarded as the pro- to the early republics of Greece and Italy - the aptectingr shell of an infinitely precious kernel, enclosed propriation of the whole territory of the state by a rich in xwhich it passed safely down through ages of violence and powerful landed oligarchy, with the consequent and darkness. Under the guardianship of the Deity, convulsions of the community from the deadly strugthe true -religion was thus preserved among them, and gle between the patrician and plebeian orders. In at length propagated to other -nations, according to the Hebrew state, the improvident individual might repromise, after the final overthrow of the Hebrews duce himself and family to penury, or servitude; but and their ultimate and effectual expulsion from their he could not perpetuate a race of slaves or paupers. native country. Some reckon that twenty-one acres of land were al. Peculiar Laws. — The laws of communities and lotted to each family. Under the sky of Palestine, nations are-designed to be adapted to their character, this lot, by improved culture from generation to gencircumstances, and wants. The laws of the Hebrews eration, would suffice for a long time - perhaps till had this adaptation in an eminent degree, as they "every rood of ground maintained its man." originated froln the Lawgiver of the universe himself. War. - At first, the Hebrews, in their contests with There were, of course, many peculiar laws, or laws pe- the neighboring nations. were not always successful culiar in their application; for the character, circum- but in the reign of David, they acquired such skill in stances, and necessities of this people were in many the military art, together with such strength, as to give respects unique. The laws respecting circumcision, them a decided superiority over their enemies on the tithes, usury, slavery, property, cleanliness, marriage, field of battle.- Solomon introduced cavalry into the theft, war, and the like, were admirable in their military force of the nation, and also chariots. In the MI LITARY WEAPONS-RELIGION. 203 subsequent agf,, military arms were improved in their The Sling. Thle sling is among the most primeval construction, the science of fortification advanced, and instruments of warfare. The persons who used slings large armies were mustered. were enrolled among the light armed troops. Much In the second year after the departure from Egypt, practice was necessary for its successful use. It was there was a general enrolment of all who were able of course an offensive weapon. to bear arms, namely, of all who were between the Among the engines or instruments of war of a more ages of twenty and fifty years. The second enrol- massive kind, and worked usually by machinery, were ment was made in the fortieth year after that event. catapults, balistce, battering-rams, &c., but our limits it is believed the enrolment was made by the geneal- forbid a particular description of them. They were ogists, under the direction of the princes. In the used for the heavier purposes of warfare, for reaching event of war, those who were to be called into actual the enemy at a great distance, or for demolishing service were taken from those who were thus enrolled, walls. inasmuch as the whole body were not expected to go. Military fortifications were at first nothing more out to war, except on extraordinary occasions. than trenches or ditches, dug round a few cottages or The infantry, the cavalry, and the chariots of war, elevated ground, together with mounds formed by the were so arranged as to malke sel)arate divisions of' an earth dug out of them. In the age of Moses and trmy. The infantry were divided likewise into light Joshua, the walls which surrounded cities were of armed troops, and into sl)earmen. The formuer were considerable height, but probably possessing no great furnished with a sling and javelin, with a bow, arrows, strength. The art of fortification was encouraged by and quiver; and also, at least in later times, with a the Hebrew kings, and Jerusalem was always well buckler. They fought the enemy at a distance. The defended. The principal parts of a fortification were spearmen, on the contrary, who were armed with the walls, towers, bastions, the fosse, and the gates. spears, swords, and shields, fought hand to hand. Religion. - On an article embracing so many imThe tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin commonly fur- portant considerations as the religion of the Hebrews, nished the light armed troops. we can only slightly touch. Many things pertaining The weapons, both defensive, and offensive, used by to it have necessarily been presented in the foregoing the Israelites, were chiefly as follows:- narrative. Their religion was in one sense their allThe Shield. - This arm of defence was manufac- their government, their polity, their wealth, their haptured sometimes of a light sort of wood, sometimes piness, their national elevation; it was the ornament of osiers woven together and covered With bull's hide, of peace, the inspiriting principle in war. They lived and sometimes of a bull's hide merely, with several for it, and on its account they died. They were folds. Shields made wholly of brass were uncom- not at every period equally attached to it - to its mon; it was sometimes the case, nevertheless, that spirit and its rites; there were times when they rethey were covered with thin plates of brass or other lapsed into idolatry. But from these defections they metal. Shields were borne by soldiers when they were usually restored, and a strong regard for their went to war, and were confined to their bodies by a religion was a general characteristic of the race. It thong which went round the left arm and the neck. is so with those who remain Jews to the present day The Helmet. - This was a piece of armor which notwithstanding Christianity has, by divine appointcovered the forehead, and the -top and hind part of the ment, superseded it. head. The material from which it was made was an ox The rites of Judaism were many and peculiar. hide; but it was usually, in the more recent ages, cov- They seem to have been generally designed to disered with brass. Its object was the defence of the head. tinguish and separate them from all other nations, as The Breastplate, or Coat ofJ'ail. -The breastplate, all others were idolatrous until the establishmlent of sometimes rendered in the English version a coat of Christianity in the world. This circumstance will mail, and sometimes habergeon, consisted of two parts, account for the minute and very singular character of the one of which covered the front, the other the back certain regulations in respect to religious observances. of the body, both pieces being united at the sides by These rites pertained to their sacred places, their clasps or buttons. This piece of armor was very sacred seasons, their sacred persons, and their sacred rommon among the Hebrews, after the reign of David. things. It was an efficient means of protection to the body. Among the sacred places or structures may be The Javelin. - This was a missile weapon, and con- named the tabernacle, with its altar and brazen laver sequently one of offence. It is almost always men. its golden candlestick, table of show-bread, and ark tioned in the Bible in connection with the weapons of of the covenant; Jerusalem, the holy city, with its light armed troops. It was thrown at the enemy, often Mount Moriah, and temple, and sanctuary of that temto a great distance. ple; and the synagogues of the land. The tabernacle The Bow, Arrow, and Quiver. - The bow and was the place where public worship was held from the arrows are of very ancient origin, as a weapon of time of Moses till Solomon. It consisted of three offence, and are spoken of in Genesis. Archer: parts - 1. The area or court, a space of about a Mwere very numerous among the Hebrews, espe. hundred feet long and seventy-five broad; 2. The cially among the'tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin. tabernacle, strictly so called, situated in the middle of Weapons of' this description properly belonged to the western side of the court, being an oblong square hLle light armed troops. Bows were sometimes made of about forty-five feet long and fifteen broad, cov of brass, though generally of a strong, tough wood. ered on every part, and also walled up with boards; Arrows at first were merely a reed fitted for the pur- 3. The entrance, which was closed by means of a'curpose; subsequently they were made of a light sort tain made of cotton. of wood, and. were surmounted with an iron point. The synagogues were places of worship restricted to The quiver contained the arrows, and was suspended no particular spot, as the temple was required to be - upon the back. where alone sacrifices could be offered —but were !204 SACRED SEASONS, PERSONS, AND THIINiS. located wherever there were Jews in sufficient num- the feast of the harvest. The feast of tabernacles, bers to support them. They were first erected under celebrated from the fifteenth to the twenty-third of the the Maccabean princes, and abounded in the time of seventh month, was instituted in memory of the jourour Savior and his apostles. They were built in ney through the Arabian wilderness. It is also a fesimitation of the temple at Jerusalem. tival in honor of the vintage and the gathering of the Among the sacred seasons were the Sabbath, the fruits, and was a season which witnessed the most sabbatical year, the year of jubilee, and the great fes- marked indications of joy. tivals of the passover, pentecost,l'andfeast of taberna- In respect to sacred persons, it may be remarked, cles. The last two, not having been mentioned before, that the whole nation of Israel was in a sense "sacred may be briefly described. The pentecost, the fiftieth or holy, as being separate from others, and consecrated from the second day of the passover, is otherwise to the care and exercise of the true religion; but the called thefeast of weeks, from the circumstance that tribe of Levi is more particularly to be viewed in this it followed a succession of weeks. It was a festival light, and more especially still the priests among that of thanks for the harvest, and is accordingly called also tribe. From this tribe Aaron and his posterity were j I ill,:t~, I1, -i Scape-Goat-showing the priestly Costumes. consecrated to the priesthood, to whom a near access of food which were reckoned unclean, but to keep was given to the throne of God in the holy place. The themselves free fiom moral defilement and to be pure rest of the Levites performed those religious duties as God is pure. They were taught to love their which were of an inferior kind, except that they were neighbor as themselves, not only the Hiebrew, but the allowed servants for the more menial offices. The stranger also. Hatred and revenge are prohibited by high priest sustained the highest office in the tribe. the Mosaic laws, as also cruelty and inhumanity tr Amnong sacred things may be named sacrifices, of servants. The exhibition of kindness to the poor, likewhich there existed a great variety and for various wise to widows and orphans, is inculcated. They purposes -purifications, the first born, thefirst J/uits, were forbidden to uLtter failsehoods and to retail scan'itIes, oaths, and vows. Concerningr these there were dal. They were not left at liberty to utter curses many and particular regulations, but there is no o cca - against those magistrates who, in their view, had been sion to speak of them here. unfavorable to them. There was one very singular rite, the meaning of These and numerous other provisions show that the which it is not our province here to discuss he religion of Moses had a good moral tendency; and sending forth of the scape-goat into the wilderness. the many men whom it disciplined to high moral elein atonement for national sins, after the lustration of vation and worth, have been examlles to mankind in the holy place, the tabernacle, and the altar, the high eve'ry age. If it had sorme relgulations that seem not priest was directed to procure a live goat, lay both to be accordant with our ideas of) propriety or good. hands upon his head, confess over him all the iniqui- ness, it is to be remembered that Moses legislated in an ties, transgressions, and sins of the nation, putting themn unenlightened age, an( for a rude and sensual people,. upon the head of the goat, and then let him go fiee in and suited his instructions to their circumstances andl the desert. condition, purposely by divine sluperintendence, leaving The religion' which was revealed and embraced open that field which was afterwards to be occupied;n the Mosaic institutions, and which is the basis of by Christianity, and whence the whole world was to Judaism, had all the excellence becoming its divine gather, in time, fruits of righteousness and salvation. roirce. The people were. every wherle taught that M:[arriage Rites. Polygamy very much prevaile d God is the Creator and Governor of the universe, to among the Hebrews in the time of Moses. That this wh om all men owe gratitude and obedience. They mnight ultimately be check ed, he gave a narrative of the,ere not onl) admonished to abstain friom those kinds original institution of marriage, and showed the evils MARRIAGE CEItEMONIES-C H LI) REN-AGRICULT U RE. 205 which had resulted from a plurality of wives evils brated with renewed expressions of joy. By the fulwhich travellers in Eastern countries give us to under- filment of the rite of circumcision, which took place stand are very great. There were some special regu- on the eighth day, the male child was consecrated to lations, also, which tended to restrain polygamy, and the service of God. He then received his name, whicl: in the course of time the evil was much diminished. was frequently suggested by the circumstances of his The father of a family selected wives for his sons birth, or by some peculiarities in the history of the land husbands for his daughters. Where the son ex- family. In the East, it has always been a practice frepressed a preference of any person for his wife, he quently to change names. Hence so many persons in asked his father to obtain her from her father. But Scripture have two names. the father could not marry the daughter without the The first born was the object of special affection to consent of her brothers, if she had any. There were his parents. But before the time of Moses, the right of certain restraints by which the fathers of families were promogeniture might be transferred by the father to limited in making choice of wives for their children. the younger child; yet the practice occasioned great These are mentioned in Leviticus, chap. 20, &c. In- difficulty. termarriages were probibited with the Canaanites, for The first born inherited peculiar rights and privifear that the Hebrews should be seduced to idolatry. leges. 1. He received a double portion of the estate. This prohibition was afterwards extended by Ezra and 2. He was the priest of the family. In the case of Nehemiah to all foreigners. A high priest might not the tribe of Reuben, it was transferred to that of Levi marry a widow, nor a woman of foreign extraction. by the express command of God. 3. The first bo'rrf Daughters who were heiresses to an estate, from the enjoyed an authority over those who were younger, want of brothers, were enjoined to marry one of their similar to that which the father possessed. own tribe, and even some kinsman, lest the estate In the earliest times, the offspring were nursed by should go to another tribe or family. the mother, and that from thirty to thirty-six months. The marriage vow was a covenant between the The day.of weaning a child was made a festival. father and the brother of the bride and the father of the Nurses were employed, in certain cases, from the bebridegroom. The vow was made in the presence of ginning, and in later ages, they took the place of the witnesses. Bv the vow, not only was the wedlock mother, as ladies became more delicate and luxurious. confirmed, but the amount of presents was deter- The sons remained in the care of females till the mined which was torbe given to the brothers, and also fifth year; then the father took charge of them, and the dowry which accrued to the father. The latter they were taught not only the arts and duties of was the case, inasmuch as the bride, formerly, was life, but were instructed in the Mosaic law, and other valued at a certain price, the medium estimation of parts of religion. For the purpose of a more exwhich, in the time of Moses, was thirty shekels. The tended instruction, the son was taught by a private daughter, however, was sometimes parted with without teacher, or else sent to some priest or Levite who had any compensation, and sometimes also received a other children under his care. In this way the schools. dowry. of the prophets were constituted. *When the day of marriage had arrived, which was The daughters rarely left the apartments approprJcommonly some ten or twelve'months after the agree- ated to females. *They spent their time in acquiring ment to marry was made, the bride, having previously an acquaintance with those domestic arts which be. visited the bath, adorned herself very richly with ap- come a woman's situation and character. At the propriate ornaments, particularly the head. It was the proper time, they were given in marriage, or had the duty of the bridegroom to see that a feast was pre- worse fortune of being sold into that state by their pared for the occasion. About evening, the bride- brothers. groornm, clothed with the festival robe, attended with a Agricultuire. — Agriculture, as also the keeping of company of young men of about the same age, and flocks and herds, was an art of the primitive ages; regaled with songs and instrumental music, conducted and the Hebrews, doubtless, learned the value and best the bride from her father's house. She was in like methods ofcultivating the soil while remaining in Egypt manner conducted by virgins of her own age to his The laws of Moses especially favored agriculture, father's house. as will have already been seen from the history of the In the time of our Savior, whenever the bride was Hebrews. It was on political accounts, as well as conducted by the bridegroom and his attendants to the from the disposition and habits of the people, held in house of the bridegroom's father, in case it was even- high repute. The naturally fertile soil of Palestine ing, the way before them was lighted by a sort of was made more fertile by the pains taken to enrich it. flambeaux. After arriving at the place where the The means were, principally,' clearing of the soil of nuptials were to be celebrated, all the parties indulged stones, irrigation, the application of ashes, the main festivities and gayety- the men and women apart. nuring with dung, and the burning over the surface of At length the nuptial blessing, viz., a numerous off- the ground after the sabbatical year, thus consuming'spring, was implored upon the parties concerned, -the the wild products of that year. only ceremony which anciently appears to have been The cldierent kinds of grain and pulse, cultivated performed, - as a consummation of the marriage. by the tillers of the soil, were wheat, millet, spelt, Treatment of Children. - It was a custom, at a very barley, beans, lentils, meadow-cumin, &c. They early period, for the father to clasp the new-born child also raised flax and cotton, which grew on trees and to his bosom, and by this ceremony he was understood bushes. The cotton was enclosed in what may be to declare it to be his own. This practice was imi- called the nuts of the tree. A species of cucumber trated by wives, who adopted the children of their was raised, melons, and perhaps rice. maids. The news of the birth of a son was received The instruments of agriculture were of a very rude with special gratification. His birthday was made a and simple kind, at the beginning. Sharp sticks only'estival, which, on each succeeding year, was cele- were then used in the culture of the soil. By these _______________- ____________________ _ - 206 AGRICULTURE —M3ANUFACTURES-COMMERCE. the ground was loosened, until spades and shovels, and by degrees, invented various articles for use, and even not long after ploughs, were invented. All these in- for ornament. Before the flood, mention is made of struments, as well as the pickaxe and mattock, were artificers in brass and iron, as also of musical instruwell known in the time of Moses. The first plough ments. The building of the ark implied an acquaintwas doubtless nothing more than a stout limb of a tree, ance with the mechanic arts to no small extent. which projected over another shortened and pointed This knowledge, doubtless, was retained after the limb. On this rough material improvements were deluge, by the family who. survived that catastrophe. grafted, till it became an efficient instrument, and the Hence, at no great distance of time, we find mention most important in the culture of the soil. made of many things, such as edifices, utensils, and The beasts of burden employed in agriculture were ornaments, which imply an acquaintance with the bulls and cows, he asses and she asses; but it was arts. forbidden to yoke an ass with an ox, that is, with a Egypt, in early times, excelled all other nations ill bull or cow, for with the Hebrews there was no other a knowledge of the arts. The Hebrews, in conse ox. When the animal became unmanageable through quence of remaining several centuries in that country, rich pasturage, its nostrils were perforated, and a ring could scarcely fail of learning somewhat of the handimade of iron or twisted cord was thrust through, to craft in which their'masters were adepts. Hence we which a rope was fastened. This so impeded the find among them men who were sufficiently skilful respiration, that the most turbulent mright be managed for the construction and ornament of the tabernacle. with ease. Soon after the death of Joshua, mention is made of The sowing of wheat was performed in the autum- the valley of craftsmen, and also of artificers in gold nal months; barley was committed to the earth in the and silver. The arts, however, could not be then said months of January and February. The land was greatly to flourish. Some of the less complicated and ploughed, and the quantity which was ploughed by a difficult instruments used in agriculture, each one yoke of oxen in one day was called a yoke, or acre. made for himself. The women spun, wove, and ernIn Palestine, the crops are as advanced in the month broidered, and this even beyond the wants of their: of February, as they are in this country in the families. They had a surplus for sale or barter. For month of May.. The crops in the southern parts, and the more difficult performances, they had a moderate in the plains, come to maturity about the middle of number of artificers, who were not servants and slaves, April, but are three or more weeks later in the north- as among the Greeks and Romams, but men of rank. ern and mountainous sections. As luxury, however, increased, this class of citizens The reapers consisted of masters, children, men- became quite numerous, as in the days of Solomon servants, maidens, and hired laborers. Merry and and subsequently. cheerful, they were still intent upon their labor, and the During the captivity, many Hebrews applied them. song of joy might be heard on every side. Travellers selves to the arts and merchandise. Afterwards. congratulated them on the rich harvest, which was at- when they were scattered abroad among different tributed to the beneficence of the Deity, and considered nations, it was enjoined upon them by the Talmudists a great honor; while, on the other hand, sterility of that all parents should give each child some art or soil was supposed to be a divine punishment and handicraft. Accordingly, we find in the New Testadisgrace. It was required that the corners of the ment that several of the principal characters mentioned field and the gleanings should be left for the poor. therein were mechanics or craftsmen. In the East, the land generally yields ten fold, - Commerce. -The most ancient accounts of Eastern rarely twenty or thirty; but formerly it yielded thirty, countries make mention of the business of the mersixty, and a hundred fold. (See Matt. xiii. 8, and chant, and the means of his traffic, viz., public roads, Gen. xxvi. 12.) This agrees with accounts given by fording-places, bridges, beasts of burden, ships, &c. Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny. For the common purposes of security against depreThe culture of vineyards, in Palestine, was quite im- dations in the land trade, the Oriental merchants travportant. Its soil yielded the best of wine in great elled, in company, as is practised in Asia at the present quantities. At the present. day, the clusters of the day. The name caravan is given to a large company vine grow to the weight of twelve -pounds. The of this kind. Every caravan had a leader, to conduct grapes are large, and mostly red or black, whence it through the desert. This was an arrangement originated the expression blood of grapes. The sea- adopted among the Jews, as among other Eastern son of vintage, which was commonly in the latter part nations, whenever a large company was to go to Jeruof our summer or the former part of our autumn, was salem. A caravanserai is named in the story of Joseph. a most joyful one. On all sides were shoutings when In the Mosaic code, there appears to be no enactthe grapes were plucked off and carried to the wine- ment in favor of commerce; the reason is, that the press, which was in the vineyard. The treading of Hebrew people could not mingle with foreign idolatrous the wine-press was also attended with glee, though nations without injury. But the great established feslaborious in itself, and unfavorable to cleanliness. tivals of the nation gave occasion for some mercantile The treaders, as they jumped with the sound of music, intercourse, and the law of Moses did not interdict exclaimed what may be rendered from the Hebrew, even foreign commerce. It was, however, neglected Ho up! in the following reigns; and it was not until after Manufactures. -Not many trades or manufactures several centuries that it became so considerable in could have been carried on by the Israelites anterior to Jerusalem —in the time of Ezekiel- as to give occathe time of Solomon, as they had been, through all the sion of envy even to the Tyrians themselves. After previous periods of their history, engaged in agriculture the captivity, a great number of Jews became meror war. Still these objects received some measure of chants, and travelled, for the purpose of traffic, intc atttention, inasmuch as they were matters of necessity. various countries. Theii ancestors and the early fathers of the world had, Money, Weights and Measures.- For the carrying COMMERCE, ARCHITECTURE, MUSIC. 207 )n of commerce, coin, and a well-understood sys- " everlasting houses" that are scattered over the coun-.em of weights and measures, were required. In the try. The most beautiful, called the royal sepulchres, E]ast, weights and measures were regulated at a very are situated in the north of Jerusalem, and were probearly period. As far as concerned the Hebrews, Mo- ably the work of the Herods. The fine arts of the ses made the necessary regulations; and models for imitative kind, such as painting and sculpture, seem weights, &c., were deposited in the tabernacle at first, not to have flourished, or even to have been much aIfterwards in the temple; consequently, when the tem- known among the Hebrews, unless some of the decople was destroyed, they perished with it.. While in rations of the temple or sepulchral monuments may captivity, this people used the weights and measures be cited as specimens, particularly of the latter. of their masters; and therefore a distinction is to be Music. - The Hebrew people could have been made between the standards before and after the cap- scarcely otherwise than attached to music, and skilled tivity. Concerning the former, they cannot be accu- in it, in view of their poetic genius. In poetry they rately determined. We can come no nearer than by a were distinguished, as we shall soon see; and music reference to those parts of the human body from which is coeival with that. Music and poetry went hand the Jews, and, indeed, almost all nations, have taken in hand. The bard himself sung his own poems, their measures of length, viz., a digit, a palm, a span, accompanying his voice with instruments. a cubit, &c. The occasions and themes of music, with the IsraelIn Oriental countries, as far back as the time of ites, were chiefly marriages, anniversary birthdays, Abraham, the value of goods was estimated at a cer- anniversaries of victories, inaugurations of kings, pubtain quantity of silver, the purity of which was taken lic worship, and the great festivals of the nation. The into account by the merchant. But there is no trace Levites were the lawful musicians in the tabernaof stamped silver, or coin, previous to the captivity. cle and temple; but any one who chose might use Nor, indeed, was it, at that early period, divided in musical instruments on other occasions, except the pieces of an equal size; though rings were very early holy silver trumpets, which were interdicted. The used in Egypt. It was commonly weighed out in bal- four thousand Levites who were consecrated to sacred ances, or by means of an instrument answering to musical performances in the tabernacle, David divided the modern steelyards. Merchants were accordingly into twenty-four classes. These sang psalms, and acmn the habit of carrying about with them balances companied them with music. The times and succession and weights, in a sort of pouch or bag. The weights of their duties were assigned to them. This arrange. were stones. Persons who were disposed to be fraudu- ment was continued after the erection of the temple,'ent sometimes carried two sets of weights, a heavier and transmitted till the period of Jerusalem's overthrow. and a lighter set, using them as best suited their It was even continued after the captivity; but, from interest. Gold was weighed like other articles, even that period, both the music and poetry deteriorated. as late as David's time, it not being used as a stand- The instruments of music most in use among the ard of value, but held merely as a precious article Jews were the harp and psaltery, which were stringed of commerce. instruments; the organ, or shepherd's pipe, the trumThe coin which the Jews used after the captivity pet, both crooked and straight, and an instrument was, the Persian, Grecian, and Roman. They had no called hatil, which were wind instruments; and also mint of their own till the time of the Maccabean different sorts of drums, as the timbrel, cymbal, and prir.ces; then they coined gold and silver for them- menaaneim. There were others, as higgaion, gittith, selves. The Jewish prince Simon struck off a cur- &c., whose use is little known. It was loud and rency under the denomination of shekels, which noisy music, in which the people delighted. But their weighed each two hundred and eighty-eight grains. taste is not properly a matter of criticism with us, at The value of the silver shekel, in English money, was so distant an age, and with habits so dissimilar. two shillings, three pence, and three farthings - fifty- Learning. - Books and writings are spoken of in five cents. When coined in gold, its value was one the times of Moses, as is well known. A record of pound, sixteen shillings, six pence -about eight dol- observations on the heavenly bodies at Babylon must lars and twentty-five cents. have commenced, by all accounts, as early as the Architecture. - As an art, architecture was not days of Abraham. But, as letters were doubtless ingreatly cultivated in Palestine. Although they had vented for the purpose of commercial intercourse, ingenious men and architects employed on their pub- they must have been known long before they were lic buildings, yet they yielded the palm to the Tyri- employed to transmit the motions of the stars. ans, and were willing to be instructed by them. The Letters, thus early known, were communicated palaces erected by David and Solomon, and especially through all the East and West by the Phoenician merthe temple, during the reign of the latter, show that a chants and colonies, of which fact a strong evidence taste and a love for the sublime and beautiful in exists in the similarity of the different alphabets, bearchitecture had arisen in the nation, or rather in the traying a common origin. The Hebrew patriarchs mind of these princes. But it seems to have become received their alphabet from their Phonician neighno permanent characteristic of the Hebrew mind, or bors, or, which is the same thing, fiom the Canaanites. perhaps the means of indulging a taste of this kind It is certain, also, from the works of their genealogists, were most wanting in after times. The two several that the Israelites preserved a knowledge of alphabet. temples that followed after the destruction of the first ical writing during their abode in Egypt, where essenwere inferior, in beauty and splendor, to that of Solo- tially the same alphabet was in use. A proof of the mon, although the last one, built by Herod the Great, fact is, moreover, afforded by the inscription of the was a noble piece of art. law on stones. We need not here mention the mate There are no architectural remains of the earlier rials'on which written characters were impressed, or periods of Jewish history- none as late as the times the instruments of writing, as they were common to rf our Savior, unless it may be the sepulchres, those other nations with the Hebrews. 208 DWELLINGS-FURNITURE AND UTENSILS. As far back as the time of Moses, poetry reached, custom of the Orientals. They often ascend these not only among the Hebrews, but also among some roofs, to enjoy a purer air, to sleep on them, or for other nations, a high degree of perfection. It after- purposes of convenience or luxury. To prevent one wards flourished among that people for almost one fiom falling, the roofs are surrounded by a breastthousand years. Besides exciting pleasure, the design' work or wall which is as high as the breast. In regard of it was to preserve historical narratiofis, and more to the Hebrews, this was required by law. The gate or particularly to subserve pious purposes. Hebrew poe- door opening to the streets was shut, and one of the try, like other true poetry, is characterized by ardent servants acted the part of a porter. The space immefeelings, magnificent thoughts, beautiful images, con- diately inside of the gate was called the porch, and densation, strength, and elegance of expression. was square. On one side of it was erected a seat for The literature of the Hebrews was limited chiefly the accommodation of those strangers who were waitto ethics, religion, the history of their nation, and'Nat- ing to be received into the interior of the house. ural history. Its most flourishing era was during the From the porch was the passage through a second reigns of David and Solomon, and these kings were door on to the quadrangular area or court. This was the most celebrated of' the Hebrew authors. Little commonly paved with marble of various kinds. The progress was made in science and literature after the court was generally surmounted on all sides with a time of Solomon. During their captivity; it is true, cloister, penstyle, or covered walk, over which, if the they acquired many foreign notions with which' they house had more than one story, was a gallery of the had not been previously acquainted; and they subse- same dimensions, supported by columns. Large comquently borrowed much, both- of truth and falsehood, panies were received into the court, as at nuptials, from the philosophy of the Greeks. The author of circumcision, &c. The back part of the house was the book of Wisdom, with some other of the Jewish allotted to the women, the door of which was almost writers, has made pretty good use of the Greek phi- always kept locked, and opened only to the master losophy. It is clear, notwithstanding this, that the of the house. Jews, after the captivity, fell below their ancestors in The: chambers were large and spacious, and con: respect to history; as the published annals of that structed so as to extend round the whole of the open period are not of a kindred character with those of the court. The houses, or palaces, so called, expressly primitive ages of the country. made for summer, were very large, and in point of The Bible is an ample testimony to the art of his- height did not yield much to modern churches. The torical writing, as well as to the ethics, religion, and lower stories were frequently under ground, and the poetry of the Hebrews. It relates the prominent front of these buildings faced the north, so that cool events from the creation down to the fifth century be- breezes, which in the summer blow from that quarter, fore Christ, and it speaks of several historical works might be enjoyed. which have now perished. The prophets among the There is no mention made of kitchens, or places for Hebrews recorded the events of their own times, and cooking, unless in a single place in Ezekiel. The in the earliest periods the genealogists interwove many use of chimneys for the conveyance of smoke was not historical events with their accounts of the succession known to the Hebrews. Those of modern construeof families. In giving a concise account of the gene- tion were invented in the fourteenth century of the alogy of a person, the Hebrews, as well as the Arabs, Christian era. The Hebrews, however, like the peotook the liberty to omln, according to their pleasure, pie of the East at the present day, had openings in one or more generations. their houses, by which the smoke might escape. Little appears in regard to the acquaintance which The windows looked from the front chambers into the ancient Israelites had with the sciences; but arith- the court —from the female apartments into the ga,'metic and astronomy must have been known, in some den behind the house. Occasionally a window wa~ to measure, from the enumerations that are made, and be seen which looked toward the street. The windows the divisions of time, that are found in the Bible. were large, and extended almost to the floor; they In regard to mathematics, also - geometry, mensura- were not set with glass, but latticed. tion, navigation, &c.- so far as a knowledge of these Furniture and Utensils. —The furniture and uten-. was required by the condition and employments of the sils of a house were few and simple in the most people, we may suppose that it actually existed, al- ancient periods. The most essential, such as some though nothing is directly recorded on these subjects. sort of an oven to bake in, and a hand-mill, were first Dwellings. —The dwellings or shelters of the early possessed. Afterward domestic implements were fathers of mankind were at first shady trees and caves multiplied in the form of pots, kettles, leathern bottles, -next tabernacles and tents. It was only in the prog- plates, cups, and pitch:ers. ress of time that houses were erected. These were Mats of carpet were used to cover the floors, which small at first, afterwards larger, especially in extensive were supplied also with a kind of mattress of coarse citie- The addition of stories was practised at an materials, for the purpose of rest. Bolsters, which e,,sy period, as may be gathered from the construe- were a nicer article, were also used. In the place of tion of Noah's ark and the tower of Babel. The these, the poorer class made use of skins. The He houses in Babylon, and Thebes in Egypt, were several brews appear to have had a kind of bed which resem stories in'height; but in Palestine, in the time of bled the Persian settees —sofas, so called —having a Joshua, they appear to have been low. In the time of back and sides. These were furnished also with Christ, the houses of the rich and powerful- were bolsters. splendid, and built in tile style of Grecian architecture. In order to prevent the mats and carpets from being In form, nmaly of the large houses were tetragonal, soiled, it was not perrlitted to wear shoes or sandals and enclosed a square area. The proper definition of into the room. These were left at the door. Lamps, a palace is such a house, built with turrets and walls. which were fed with the oil of olives, were kept burnTl'he roofs of the houses were flat; and this is still the ing all the night. The lamps of the olpulent, if it may FOOD AND DRINKI-DRESS. 20y *be inferred from the golden lamp of the tabernacle, sikera, - which was made of dates and various sorts were rich and beautiful. of seeds and roots. As wine in Eastern countries is Food and Drink.- Anterior to the deluge, the flesh rich, its use led to ebriety, and the strong drink spoken af animals was doubtless converted into food, else of was sufficiently powerful, also, to produce intoxi-,heir distinction into clean and unclean (Gen. ix; 5, 6) cation. It was, however, usually drunk mixed with would not have been observed. After that catas- water. From the pure wine and sikera there was trophe, animals are expressly mentioned as being made an'artificial drink, which was taken at. meals, slain for food. But as neither the flavor nor nutritious with vegetables and bread. (Ruth ii. 4.) It was also quality of' meat, in warm countries, makes it very de- a common drink, and was used by the Roman soldiers. sirable, so fruits, bread, olives and milk are usually (Matt. xxvii. 48.) The Talmudists speak of a kind preferred. of wine called vinegar, whence the passage in Matt. Corn was originally eaten without any preparation; xxvii. 34 may be elucidated. The effects produced nor had this custom gone entirely into disuse in the by the use of wine furnish many scriptural tropes. time of our Savior. (Matt. xii. 1.) Parching it became Dress. - The art of manufacturing clothes by spinearly a very common mode of preparing it as food. ning and weaving, is of very great antiquity, as would The idea of mortars, and eventually of mills, was at appear from several allusions contained in the books length suggested. Fine meal - that is, common grain of Genesis and Job. The Egyptians were skilled in ground or beaten fine — is spoken of as far back as the manufacture of cloth. The Israelites, while living the days of Abraham, when, of course, the means of among them, acquired the art, and even excelled their grinding grain must have been known. The mill masters.. The cloth most esteemed was cotton; next common among the Hebrews is nearly the same as to that, woollen, and linen. White cotton cloth was that now used in Egypt and the East. It consisted considered the most splendid dress. White, purple, of two circular stones, the lower one fixed in the floor, and scarlet, were the colors which the Hebrews preand the upper one movable, having a hole in it to re- ferred in their clothing. ceive the grain, and a handle attached, by which it Among the different articles worn on the different was moved on the lower one, and in this way the parts of the body, we may first name the tunic. This grain was broken. was a piece of cloth, commonly linen, which encircled Each individual family had its own mill, which was the whole body; it was bound with a girdle, and deused daily- as farinaceous food, in the East, becomes scended to the knees. As the lower folds of the insipid and unpleasant the second day. The supply tunic were liable to be lifted up with the. wind, it was had, therefore, to be constant. The mill was com- expedient to have an under garment, which, in the monly turned by two persons —the lowest maid-ser- time of Moses, reached only from the loins to the vants - who sat opposite to each other. One impelled knees; but in the progress of time, it was extended the mill half way round, the other completed the rev- down to the ankles. ilution. The labor was severe and deemed menial. In order that the tunic should not impede a person The baking of bread was anciently performed by in walking, it was the custom to wear girdles. These women, however high their stations: afterwards, as were of different sorts; but the more valuable one was'uxury prevailed, the business was given up to their wrought of cotton or flax, and sometimes of silk. The maids. The bread was made into thin, round cakes, girdle had a clasp by which it was fastened over the about nine or ten inches in diameter: it was not cut fore part of the body. It was the custom of the He. with a knife, but broken. There were several sorts of brews to carry a knife or poniard in the girdle, as is ovens, or places for baking, in use, but they cannot practiced by the Arabs at the present day. here be described. There were several upper garments worn among The cooking was generally done by the matron of the Hebrews, as, for instance, a garment which anthe family, though the services of the maids were liable swered the purpose of a cloak, consisting of a piece to be required. Vegetables, lentils especially, which of cloth, nearly square; its size varied, though it was are greatly delighted in to this day among the Orien- commonly large. It also answered the purpose of tals, were the principal food. Cakes mixed with carrying burdens. and, with the poor, served as a blanhoney were also much esteemed. Flesh was com- ket. On this account, the Mosaic law directed that the monly served up for special occasions. As luxury, upper garment when given as a pledge, should not however, increased, animal food came more into vogue. be retained over night. Hats, or turbans, were in use. The meats common in our times were partaken of, The ephod, worn over the breast and back, was more but the flesh of lambs and kids was esteemed the appropriately the garment of the high priest. choicest of any. The custom of the East, prevalent Originally, no covering was used for the feet but at the present day, in cooking all the flesh of a slain sandals, which were bound around the foot with thongs animal at once - owing to the difficulty of preserving of leather. They were put off when people entered a it in a warm climate - was the custom of the ancient house, and put on as they left it. It was the business Hebrews. of the lowest servants to loose and bind on sandals. As all are aware, some sorts of food were inter- The expressions in the Gospels, to " loose one's shoes, dicted to the Hebrews. The distinction was made and to bind them," are proverbial, and mean the same between clean and unclean animals-between what it thing —the business of a servant. As stockings were was lawful to eat and what unlawful. The object of not known, the feet became dirty and soiled; accordthe interdiction was to prevent the Hebrews from eat- ingly, upon entering a house, when the sandals were ing with the Gentiles, or frequenting their idolatrous laid aside, the feet were washed, which was also the tfeasts, by means of which they would be in danger of office of the lowest servants. The master of a family, falling into idolatry. however, occasionally performed the office, when disThe drink of the Hebrews, in addition to water, was tinguished visitors came. wine; and sometimes what is called strong drink, — Among the Hebrews, the beard was considered a 27 210 CLASSES AND ORDERS-EMINENT PERSONAGES. great ornament, as it is to this day among the Eastern the Romans, they had restored the ancient monarchy nations. It was not allowable to touch it, except as it After that event, they were governed by tetrarchs and was to be kissed. To pluck or shave the beard, or procurators appointed by the emperor. injure it in any way, was looked upon as a great dis- Celebrated Characters. -All nations have their disgrace. A heavy head of hair was also esteemed a tinguished or illustrious men, whose virtues, genius, or special ornament; it was combed, and set in order, exploits become the theme of admiration in every sucand anointed, particularly on festive occasions. Bald- ceeding age. The Hebrews have, perhaps, their full ness was a source of contempt. proportion, and are equally entitled to the eulogiums The veil was indispensable in the dress of the He- which are passed upon a people or race that have conbrew women, as it is in the East at present. All fe- ferred benefits on mankind, through their legislators, males, excepting maid-servants and others of a low warriors, kings, poets, or other eminent individuals. condition in life, as also those of ill fame - wore the We have space only for a brief sketch of some of the veil; nor did they ever lay it aside, unless in the more prominent of'this class. presence of servants, and those relatives with whom Abraham, as the immediate progenitor of the Henuptials were interdicted. There were many kinds brew nation, is one of the most renowned men in the of veils in use, not necessary here to be described, just annals of the world. He was the son of Terah, and as they are worn by Asiatic ladies at this day. Rings, born in Chaldea. When his father died, he was sevenpendants, necklaces, bracelets, &c., were in use as ty-five years of age, at which time he was commanded ornaments, particularly by females, whose dress was by the Deity to proceed to the land of Canaan, which always expensive. was promised to him and his posterity. In the year The dress worn on festive occasions was very following, a famine in the land of Canaan forcedAbrasplendid. Vast expense was bestowed upon it, both ham with his family to go into Egypt. In the same as respected quality and number of garments; and as year, however, in company with his nephew, Lot, he the fashion was unvarying, these accumulated from returned to Canaan, and at length fixed his residence generation to generation. It was white, and, as often in Hebron. as the festival returned, was newly washed, and per- As the incidents of his life have been before detailed fumed with myrrh, cassia, and aloes. The mourning in the general narrative of the Hebrew people, they dress was sackcloth. It was merely a sack thrown need not here be repeated, except to say that the over the person, and extended down to the knees, divine promises to him, in respect to the increase but which, nevertheless, had arm-holes for the admis- of the family, and their inheritance in Canaan, sion of the arms. The material was a coarse, dark were all fulfilled, in the face of the most formidable cloth of goat's hair. difficulties. Classes and Orders of,M/en. - There were the All nations and ages have venerated Abraham common people, undistinguished by office or authority, " the friend of God." Many of the tribes of the East who constituted the vast proportion of the Hebrew regard him as their progenitor, and he is mentioned nation —as is the case in every country of every period. with respect by the Arab of the deser as well as by These consisted of agriculturists, artisans, traders, ser- the literal Hebrew. He is not celebrated as a convants, &c. In addition to what has been said under queror, a man of genius, a scholar, or philosopher, in the heads of Government and Religion, it may be neither of which characters did he seek distinction; remarked that under the supreme authority, whether but as a leader in the worship of the true God, in a theocratical or monarchical, there were always judges, dark and idolatrous age - the highest. of earthly disgenealogists, the heads of families or clans, and the tinctions. princes of the tribes. These acted the part of a legis- Little needs be added to that which has been before lative assembly to the respective cities in or near said of Joseph, the son of Jacob, in this work. A which they. resided. man of a more extraordinary character for wisdom Under the kings, there were the royal counsellors, and goodness, or of more surprising turns of fortune, the prophets, who were consulted by pious kings, is not to be met with in the range of history. He was while kings of a different character consulted Yooth- the instrument, under God, of saving his father's famsayers and false prophets; the secretary, or scribe, ily, and thus the heads of the Hebrew race - when his who committed to writing the edicts and sayings of own life had been attempted by his brethren, and by the king, and indeed every thing of a public nature means flowing from this very attempt itself. The event that related to the kingdom; and the high priest, who was overruled to bring about one of the grandest purhad access to the king in the character of a counsellor. poses recorded in history. The triumph of innocence, There were officers of the palace, who constituted the and the success of piety, in this instance, were complete king's domestic establishment, and who were numer- As one of the greatest legislators of the world ous —as, the supplier of his table, the exacter of tribute, Moses will be remembered to the latest age. But the governor of the palace, the keeper of the wardrobe, he was more than a legislator. He had received the king's friend or intimate, and the king's life-guard. a divine commission for the deliverance and reg. The king's intimate was one with whom he conversed ulation of the Hebrew community; and the evi. with the greatest familiarity, and who sometimes had dence of this fact is furnished by the control which the charge of the kingdom. he exercised over a rude and intractable people During the captivity, and subsequent to that period, These could be operated upon only by the most palthe class of officers denominated heads of families, and pable supernatural agency. His institutions moulded, perhaps likewise the princes of the tliibes, were con- not only that particular nation, but have had an effect tinued. After their return, they had a chief who may on every civilized country down to the present day, be called president: such were Zerubbabel, Ezra, through Christianity, in which they were designed to and Nehemiah, who were invested with ample powers terminate. uf government Before the Jews became subject to To his own nation Moses was chieftain, hlstoriran -EMINENT PERISONAGES. 211 poet, lawgiver. He was more than all these - he was Daniel was one of those noble youths who were the author of their civil existence. Other founders of transported to Babylon at the first invasion of Nebl. republics, and distinguished legislators, have been -like chadnezzar, and who were educated, with great care, Numa - already at the head of a settled and organized in tlhe manners and duties of the officers of the Ascommunity, or have been voluntarily invested in legisla- syrian court. He became singularly eminent, not only torial authority, like Charondas, Lycurgus, and Solon, in purity of character, but by the extent of his knowlby a people suffering the inconveniences of anarchy. edge, particularly in the interpretation of dreams. It Moses had first to form his own people, and to bestow on was by means of this latter characteristic chiefly, thli them a country of their own, before he could create his Daniel, like Joseph, acquired his high distinction. He commonwealth. The Hebrews would either have been was called in three several instances to this implorlant absorbed in the population of Egypt, or remained a office by his royal masters, and was successful in wretched Pariah caste, had Moses never lived. Yet each. with singular disregard of his own fame, though with For his conscientiousness in the matter of his religreat advantage to his design, Moses uniformly re- gion, he was called to an account in two instances, and ferred to an earlier and more remote personage -the subjected to the peril of terrible lpunislhments, from dignity of Parent of his people. The Jews were chil- which, however, he was miraculoiusly delivered. Like dren of Abraham, not of Moses." Joseph in Egypt, he became one of the viziers or satraps Joshua shone chiefly as a military chieftain under of the Assyrian empire, when it passed into the hands a divine guidance, having a commission to execute in of the Medes and Persians. His deliverance from the the conquest and destruction of the Canaanites. Hav- lions' den had raised him in the estimation of I)arius, ing divided the land of Canaan among the twelve and Daniel became invested with new dignity. He betribes, he died, aged 110 years, (1426 B. C.) To his came at length the supreme head of the pachas to bravery and energy, under Providence, the Israelites whom the provinces of the vast Persian empire were were indebted for a home and quiet resting-place. committed. Josephus attributes to Daniel, besides his Samson, the Hercules of heathen antiquity accord- religious and political wisdom, great skill in architecing to some, had strength and prowess seldom, if ture, and ascribes to him the building of tile splendid ever, equalled in the annals of the world. Endowed Mausoleum at Ecbatana, where the kings of Persia with extraordinary muscular power, he employed were interred. it to avenge the Israelites on their oppressors. His Ezra, the priest and scribe, is reckoned by the Jews exploits need not be repeated here. Some parts las their greatest character next to Moses; hence they Df his character are very far from deserving imitation. call him " the second Moses." Sent out by the Davidl was the son of Jesse and anointed king of Persian king as governor, soon after the retlrnl. Israel while keeping his father's flocks. He was a he put the civil and ecclesiastical affairs of the colonv valiant, prosperous, and warlike prince, and raised on a stable footing. The great work for which the himself and people, as we have seen, to great emi- world is so vastly indebted to him is his revision of the nence and renown. His name began to be known and canon of the Scriptures. According to the constaint celebrated from the time he killed Goliath, the gigantic tradition of the Jews, he collected as many copies of champion of the Philistines. His military operations the sacred books as he could obtain, and, by correcting were planned with wisdom and executed with vigor. the errors o'f former copyists, and by adding, in variHe was distinguished as a sacred poet and writer ous places, what appeared to be absolutely necessary of psalms. No one in this department has ever to illustrate, connect, or explain, the context, he proequalled him. These inspired productions are markdd duced one perfect copy, which becamne the exeml!ar by loftiness, strength, and felicity of expression, abound- for all subsequent transcribers. No ancient books have ing in the sublimest strains of devotion, conveying the come down to us with a thousandth part of the accura-t most important truths and instructions to the mind. cy of these; and, as every jot an-d tittle in them, every This religious oand high-minded prince was left to dot and every mark, was supposed holy by the Jews, fall into scandalous crimes, in a few instances, par- infinite pains have always been taken by transcribers ticularly in the afflir of Bathsheba: but he bitterly to avoid errcr; so far, indeed, that the number of times repented of them, tnd was restored to the divine favor. each letter occurs, each word, each mark, &c., is Solomon was the son of David by Bathsheba. In piously registered. Ezra wrote the book that bears some respects, he stands higher than the two individ- his name, and is said to have written the Chronicles. uals of the Hebrew race who were most distinguished John Hyrcanus was prince and high priest of the by genius and capacity -Moses and David. He was Jews in the second century preceding the Christian pronounced the wisest of niankind. He wrote many era. He restored his nation to independence from the works, doubtless evincive of his vast comprehension power of Antiochus, king of Syria, and died 106 B. C. of mind; but only his divinely inspired productions He was illustrious by his virtues and valor, as well as have been preserved to instruct and edify mankind. by the fact that he was the progenitor ofa race of princes. Isaiah was the son of Amos, and of the lineage of He was succeeded on the throne of Judea by a son of' David. He prophesied from 735 to 681 B. C., during the same name, who perpetuated the line of Asmonean the reigns of several kings of Judah. He was the sovereigns. greatest and sublimest of the prophets. He reproved Josephtus, the great historian of the Jews, flourished the profligate of his day with boldness, and exposed during the first century of the Christian era. He was with unsparing severity the many vices that prevailed the son of Matthias, and a man of illustrious race, in the nation. The title of evangelical prophet is ac- lineally descended from a priestly famnily, the first of corded to him by way of eminence, from his frequent the twenty-four courses — an eminent distinction. By allusion to and prediction of gospel times. He is said his mother's side he traced his genealogy up to the to have been cut in two with a wooden saw, by the Asmonean princes. He had a great reputation f'o cruel command of Manasseh the king. early intelligence and memory. At fourtee, vears 212 JOSEPHUS, MAIMONIDES, ABRtABANEL, MENDELSSOIHN. Josephus. old, he was so fond of letters, that the chief priests to genius, learning, political sagacity and abillty. HIt used to meet at his father's house, to put to him diffi- ancient and distinguished family boasted its descent cult questions of law. At the age of sixteen, he from King David. His parents were wealthy, and set himself to the study of the three great prevailing gave him an excellent education, which his quick sects among the Jews, viz., those of the Pharisees, genius well improved. Turning his attention to poliSadducees, and Essenes. He at length joined the tics, he held several offices under Alphonso V., and Pharisees. lived to his forty-fifth year in splendor, till that king He was much engaged in the stirring scenes of the died, when he was obliged to fly.to Castile. This reage, participated in the conflicts between his country- called him to his early studies. But ambition, and the men and the Romans, and gave a minute account of memory of past splendor, tormented him, and he the transactions and events connected with that disas- insinuated himself at the court of Ferdinand of Spain, trous period, in his celebrated work of the History of who received him graciously. He lived at court eight the Jewish War. His narrative, however, is to be re. years, till 1492, when a sudden and fatal decree of the ceived with a degree of reserve, as he wrote to con- king obliged all Jews to leave Spain. Abrabanel used ciliate the Romans to his own person, and the misera- his utmost efforts to save himself and his nation, but ble remnant of his people., Some particulars as to was obliged to retire to Naples. Here he ingratiated the latter part of his life are mentioned in the narra- himself with the reigning king, and his successor, with tive portion of his work, to which the reader is re- whom he fled to Sicily. In 1503, he negotiated a ferred. peace between Portugal and Venice, and died in ilMaimonides flourished at the end of the twelfth cen- Venice, at the age of seventy-one. He has shown tury, and was the greatest ornament of the school of great talent, a profound mind, vast erudition, a store Arabico-Jewish learning. He was "' the first who, in- of sacred archeology, theology, polemics, history, stead of gazing with blind adoration and unintelligent science, and acute ratiocination. wonder at the great fabric of the Mosaic law, dared to Aloses Mendelssohn, a German Jew, who flourished survey it with the searching eye of reason -and was during the latter half of the eighteenth century, ranked rewarded by discovering the indelible marks of the high as a metaphysical and philosophical writer. By divine wisdom and goodness. Maimonides was be- his genius and unwearied application, he broke through yond his age and country. He resided at the court of the most formidable obstacles- poverty, dependence the sultan of Egypt, in Cairo, where he was held in the and the bigotry of his sect. His religious opinions are highest estimation as the royal physician. He was not well defined. He remained outwardly a member anathematized by the more superstitious of his breth- of the synagogue, while he renounced the trammels ren; but, in later ages, with the more enlightened of of rabbinism. His success in letters inspired a degree the race of Israel, the fame of him whom his ardent of respect for the Jewish name, and emancipated admirers proclaimed a second Moses, has stood higher many Jewish youth from the dominion of the rabbins. and higher." He died A. D. 1205. though it unhappily led, also, in some instances, to the Abrabanel was born in Lisbon, in 1437. He was prevalence of scepticism among them; a tendenrcyv one of the greatest men of the Hebrew race in respect quite general among the educated. Jews. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPT-ION OF EDOM. 21W Destruction of Edom. CHAPTE R C VAT. yielded water; the land of Uz, the scene of the wealth and woes of Job, — are all comprehended within this 1700 to 320 B. C. territory Rocks deserts, and mountains, constitute the geilGfeographical Description, - E arly History — eral features of this country; but, amidst these barren Dukes of Edon -Extension of tle Teri- tracts are scattered ma ny patches of fruitful soil. The tory - Conquered by David - Becomes in- name of Arabia Petrcla, or Slony Arabia, has been depelzlndent u- Abject to Babylozn -` Conqluest given to a portion of it, on account of its stony charof a Par t of RJndea - Divisions. acter. The peninsula of Sinai attracts attention in a peculiar manner. No part of ldumea has been so THE country called Edonm in Scripture, and Idumea minutely explored, or so elaborately described, as this by the Greeks, belongs, geographically, to Arabia; interesting locality. Its general aspect is singularly but, as its history is intimately connected with that of wild. A recent traveller describes it as a " sea of desothe Jews, and as it constituted, for a long period, a lation." It would seem, says he, as if Arabia Pepart of the Jewish kingdom, it seems proper to notice trea had once been an ocean of lava, and that, while its it here. It presents an interesting subject of contem- waves were literally running mountains high, it was plation and study: its magnificent ruins, now imbo- commanrded suddenly to stand still. The whole of somed in almost pathless deserts, suggest at once its this wilderness is a collection of naked rocks and former splendor and its subsequent doom - the awful craggy precipices, interspersed with narrow defiles and fulfilling of prophecy. sandy valleys, which are seldom refireshed with rain or Edom derived its name from Edom, or Esau, who adorned with vegetation. The ridge of mountains settled among the Horites, in the region of Mount Seir, called Seir and Hor in Scripture, stretches from this (see map, p. 154,) about eighty miles south-east of region to the borders of the Dead Sea. On the west. Jerusalem. Here, within a narrow space, was the ern side runs a long valley, which is still the route propetl Edom of -the Scriptures; but it appears that of caravans, as it once and again defined the path o? the Edomites extended their domain, so as to include the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert. the greater part of the country from Palestine to the Near the cen-tre of the peninsula stands the group Red Sea. In this extended sense, it must be regarded of the Sinai Mountains, the upper region of which as the scene of some of the most extraordinary events forms a circle of thirty or forty miles in diameter. It recorded in the Scriptures, and exciting a kind and is difficult to imagine a scene more desolate and terdegree of interest, which belongs to no other country rific than that which meets the eye from the top of except Judea. Sinai. Nothing is to be seen but huge peaks and The sacred mountain of Sinai; the rock of Horeb, crags of naked granite, composing, as far as the sight with its burning bush, and its caves that gave shelter can reach, a wilderness of steep and broken rocks, to Elijah when he fled fionl the persecution of Jeze- and valleys destitute of verdure. Yet, in the highest bel; the pastoral solitudes where Moses kept the flocks parts of this region, water is to be found, together with of Jethro, the priest of Midian; Shur and Paran, with small spots of' soil which produce fruit-trees. The the bitler wells of Marah, and the smitten rock that sacred mountain consists of two elevations, now called 214 THE NABATHEANS. Gebel Mousa and Gebel Katerin, which are generally The Edomites continued in subjection to the Jewl i1 identified with Sinai and Horeb. sovereigns for about a century. In the reign of Jehoram The first historical notices of this country occur in (888 B. C.,) they shook off the yoke and maintained the Hebrew Scriptures. While the Israelites were de- their independence, till, at the end of eighty years, they tained in bondage in Egypt, the Edomites, or descend- were again subdued by Uzziah. More than two hunants of Esau, became a rich and powerful nation. dred years later, they became subject to NebuchadThe dukes of Edom, as we learn from the book of nezzar, and assisted that monarch when he besieged Genesis, were famous long before there reigned any Jerusalem. During the flourishing state of the Asking over Israel, and they refused Moses a passage syrian and Babylonian empires, which put a period to Ihrough their territories to the land of Canaan. The the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the wild freebooters Edomites, as already stated, first settled in the rocky of Edom remained either entirely independent, or fastnesses of Mount Seir, which commanded the great acknowledged a temporary alliance with their enemies. roads traversed by the commercial caravans of the When Babylon fell before the arms of Cyrus, and early ages. Their capitals were Bozrah and Petra. when Cambyses and Darius led their armies to the The latter was situated at the foot of Mount Hor, in a west or the north, these conquerors found it necessary deep valley, and the only access to it was through a to keep up a friendly understanding with the tribes of narrow defile, partly natural and partly cut through the the desert, in order to obtain a passage through their solid rock, which hung over the passage, and often territories, and supplies of water and provisions for interrupted the view of the heavens. The sides of the their armies. Herodotus informs us that on this account rock were excavated into.numerous dwellings; and to they were exempted from paying tribute, while the this circumstance the prophet Jeremiah probably al- neighboring provinces were heavily taxed. When the ludes in his denunciation of God's vengeance against Jews were in captivity at Babylon, the Edomites conEdom. "Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and quered the southern part of Palestine, and seized the the pride of thine heart, 0 thou that dwellest in the city of Hebron. After this, the name of Idumeans clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill. was given to those who occupied the frontiers of PalThough thou shouldst make thy nest as high as tle estine, while those who remained in Petra were called eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Nabathleans, as some think, from Nebaioth, a son of Lord." Ishmael. Under a race of native princes, the Edomites long preserved a distinct name as a nation, asserting their independence alike against the hosts of Egypt and Ethiopia, the Jews, the Assyrians, the Greeks, and the C H A P T E R C v I. Romans- all of whom successively assailed their terri- 320 B. c. to A. D. 1400. tories. Diodorus Siculus affirms that, thirteen hundred years before the Christian era, Sesostris, king of Egypt, The Nabatheans - Their Wars - Te City was so harassed by the wars which the Edomites car- of Petra. ried on against him, that he was compelled to draw a ANTIGONUS, one of the successors of Alexander line of defence across the Isthmus of Suez, from Heli-' obtained possession of Syria and the neighboring opolis toPelusium-to secure'his kingdom against their provinces. This monarch soon became involved in incursions. He adds, that it was extremely difficult to hostilities with the Nabatheans, who ravaged his terriattack or subdue these people, because they retired to tories, and refused to allow him to collect bitumen their deserts, where, if an army ventured to follow from the Dead Sea. He despatched an army, under,hem, it was sure of perishing by thirst and fatigue, as his general Atheneus, against them, at a time when.he wells and springs were known only to the natives. the greater part of the Nabatheans were absent from When David reigned over Israel, the Edomites had their homes, at a neighboring fair, where they were greatly extended their dominions. They possessed accustomed to barter the woollen goods which they the ports of Elath and Ezion Geber, in the northern obtained of the Tyrians for the spices brought by the part of the Red Sea, and through these places they caravans from the East. The passes of the country had opened a flourishing trade with India and Ethiopia. having been left but slightly guarded, Atheneus easily They also carried on an extensive commerce with made himself master of Petra, from which he returned Phcenicia, Egypt, and Babylonia. They were con- richly laden with plunder to the Syrian frontier. The quered, however, by David, who planted Hebrew gar- Nabatheans, enraged at the tidings of this calamity, risons at Elath and Ezion Geber, and probably com- collected their forces to pursue him. They urged their menced the trade with Ophir, which was afterwards dromedaries with incredible speed through the desert, pursued extensively by Solomon and Hiram. In the overtook him near Gaza, and cut his army almost enreign of Solomon, an Edomite prince, named 1iadad, tirely to pieces. Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, who had fled for shelter to Egypt, when his native hastened to avenge this calamity; but the fastnesses country was conquered, returned to Edom, and raised and deserts of the country baffled all his.attempts. an insurrection against the conquerors. This effort An Arab chief harangued him from the top of a rock, appears to have been but partially successful, for we and set before him in such lively terms the danger of find that the Edomites continued subject to the kings the enterprise in which he was engaged, that Demeof Judah for many years afterward. The native tra- trius was convinced of the impossibility of accomplish. ditions of the country preserve the memory of the ing his design, and retired immediately to Syria. reign of King Hadad: one of the ruined edifices now Ptolemy Euergetes, king of Egypt, made himself' to be seen at Petra is called by the Arabs, the palace master of the Arabian ports on the Red Sea, but he of Pharaoh's daughter. According to the Scripture penetrated no farther into the country. From about account, Pharaoh gave Hadad his sister-in-law, in the year 200} B. C. to the Christian era, several of the nmar age.. Arab chieftains distinguished themselves in the wars WARS OF THE NABATHEANS-CITY OF PETRA. 215 of the Jews, sometimes joining the Syrians, and some- of the assaults which he headed in person, the emperor times the Egyptians. Antiochus the Great reduced narrowly escaped being slain. His horse was woundpart of the northern tribes to submnission, and his son ed, and a soldier was killed by his side; for the Arabs Hyrcanus w.,s occupied several years in chastising notwithstanding his disguise, discovered him by his their incursions and depredations. About 170 B. C., gray hairs and majestic mien. The Romans were the Nabatheans were ruled by a prince named Hareth, compelled to abandon the siege of Petra; and this called Aretas by the Greeks. His dominions ex- repulse is ascribed bhy the historians of the times to tended to the confines of Palestine, and included part the violent tempests of wind and hail, the dreadful of the land of the Ammonites. Having made peace flashes of lightning, and the swarms of flies that inwith tile Jews, they permitted Judas Maccabaus, and fested the camp of the besiegers. The repulse of the his brother Jonathan, to pass through their territories. Romans from Petra appears to be the last militar) But notwithstanding the amity subsisting between exploit recorded of the Nabatheans. them, the Nabatheans could not resist the temptation The city of Petra deserves a particular notice in to pillage even their friends, when an opportunity the history of Arabia and Edom. The time of its offered. Accordingly, they fell upon a detachment foundation is unknown; but it appears to have been'of the Jews on their march, seized their carriages, and coeval with'the birth of Eastern commerce, and there plundered the baggage. is full evidence that it was a flourishing mart of trade The Idumeans, who had settled in Judea, also dis- seventeen hundred, years' before the Christian era. played their ancient aversion to the Jews, during the' It was the point to which all the commerce of Northern wars of the Maccabees. They were severely pun- Arabia originally tended, and where the first merished by Judas, who took and sacked their chief city, chants of the earth stored the precious commodities HIebron destroyed upwards of forty thousand of their of' the East. It formed the great emporium of mersoldiers, and levelled their strongholds with the ground. cantile exchange between Palestine, Syria, and Egypt. The subjugation of the Idumeans was completed, about The famous soothsayer Balaam, was a native of this 130 B. C., by John Hyrcanus, the Jewish leader, place; and its inhabitants, in his time, were renowned wvho reduced them to the necessity of either embra- for their learning, their oracular temple,. and their skill cing the Jewish religion, or quitting the country. in augury. During the whole period of which we They chose to adopt the laws of Moses, and in this have given the history, this city appears to have been manner soon became completely incorporated with the seat of wealth and commerce. Strabo, at the their neighbors.'The name of Idumea gradually fell commencement of the Christian era, describes it from into disuse, till, in the first century of the Christian the account of his friend Athenodorus, the philosopher, era, it became entirely obsolete. who spoke with great admiration of the civilized manThe Nabatheans maintained their independence for ners of its inhabitants, of the crowds of Roman and fcra much longer period than the Idumeans. When eign merchants there, and of the excellent government Alexander, king of Syria, was defeated by Ptolemy of its kings. The city, he says, was surrounded with Philometer, of Egypt, (146 B. C.,) Zadbdiel, a Naba- precipitous cliffs, but was rich in gardens, and supplied thean prince, afforded protection to the vanquished with an abundant spring, which rendered it the most monarch; but the influence of money afterwards in- important fortress in the desert. Pliny, somewhat later, duced him to violate the laws of hospitality, and de- describes it, more correctly, as a city nearly two miles liver up the royal fugitive. Josephus mentions another in extent, with a river running through the. midst of it, of these princes, named Obodas, who defeated the Jews and situated in a vale enclosed with steep mountains, by drawing them into an ambuscade, where they were by which all natural access to it was cut off. cut to pieces, (92 B. C.) The same author informs With the decline and fall of the Roman power in us that Hareth, or Aretas,' the ruler of Arabia Petraea, the East, the name of Petra, for a time, almost vanishes overthrew Antiochus Dionysius, king of Damascus, from the page of history. About the period of the and invaded India with an army of fifty thousand crusades, however, it was held in such esteem by the men. The repeated inroads of the Arabs into Syria at sultans of Egypt, on account of its great strength, that length provoked the hostilities of the Romans, whose they made it the depository of their choicest treasures. dominions extended as far as the Euphrates. Lucul- During the whole of these religious wars, Petra lus, Pompey, Scaurus, Gabinius, and Marcellinus, all formed an object of earnest contention between the proconsuls of Syria in succession, undertook expe- Christians and the Mussulmans, who "regarded it as ditions against them, without gaining any other advan- the key to Palestine. After the cessation of the crutage than the paymnent of a tribute, or a temporary sades, it was known only as the seat of a Latin bishop, cessation of hostilities. Augustus claimed the right of and its once crowded market ceased to be the emporiimposing a king upon the Nabatheans; but they elected urnum of nations. Gradually it faded from notice, be-i sovereign of their own, who assumed the name of came forgotten, and was a lost city to the rest of the Aretas, and maintained peace with the Romans till world. The obscurity of a thousand years covered its his death, (A. D. 40.) ruins, and the very place where it stood became a In the reign of Trajan, (A. D. 106,) Petruea was subject of controversy. mnade a Roman province, under the name of Palesti- The country is now wandered over by a kind of mlsna Tertia, or Salutaris; but the fluctuating condition erable outcasts, who gain a precarious livelihood by of the Roman power in the East was such, that this the feeding of sheep and goats in their scanty pastureprovince could not be kept in a state of absolute de- grounds, and the hunting of wild goats. They still pendence. Trajan, however, put an end to the dyn- pretend to exercise a lordship over the soil, by requirasty of the ancient Nabathean kings, and besieged ing of travellers the payment of such sums as they Petra with a numerous army; but, from its strong can extort, for the privilege of passing through their position and the gallant defence made by the garrison, territory. But they are the least intelligent and most he found the reduction of the city impossible In one wretched of all the tribes of Arabia. .216 ANTIQUITIES OF IDUMEA —DESCRIPTION OF PETRA. Building;t Petra, cut out of the solid Rock. C ~I-i A P E R C TI Istreams of water issue, are clothed with the tamarisk, the wild fig, the oleander, and other trees, which someAntiquities of Idumnea -- Description of Petra.times hang down from the cliffs and crevices in beautiful festoons. Near the entrance of the pass, a bold AT length, Petra, after being for a series of ages as arch of masonry is, seen springing over the yawning completely hidden from the knowledge of the rest of abyss, at a great height, and apparently inaccessible. the world, in its solitude, as the Island of Atlantis or the For nearly two miles, the sides of the chasm continue fabled Paradise of Irem, was suddenly and unexpect- to increase in height as the path descends. The soliedly brought to light. For this discovery we are tude is disturbed by the incessant screaming of eagles. indebted to the traveller Burckhardt, who visited Petra Farther onward, a stronger light begins to break in 1S12. Since that time, other travellers have re- through the sombre. -perspective, until, at length, the sorted to the spot, and by their picturesque and accu- ruins of the city burst on the view of the astonished rate dlrawings, have done, for the temple and catacombs traveller, in their full grandeur, shut in on every side of Petra, what the splendid illustrations of Wood and by barren, craggy precipices. Dawkins performed for the ruins of Palmnyra. The Safety and protection appear to have been the only first emotion in the minds of all these visitors was that objects that could induce a wealthy people to make of astonishment at the utter desolation which now choice of so remarkable a site for -a capital. The reigns over those once celebrated regions. It is whole face of the cliffs and all the sides of the mounscarcely possible to imagine how a wilderness so tains are covered with an endless variety of excavated dreary and desolate could ever have been adorned tombs, private dwellings, and public buildings, prewith walled cities, or inhabited for ages by a powerful senting altogether a spectacle without a parallel in any and opulent people. The aspect of the surrounding part of the world. The rocks are tinted with the most country is singularly wild and fantastic. On one side extraordinary hue. They are generally of a dark stretches an immense desert of shifting sand, the sur- color, with veins of white, blue, purple, and orange, face of which is covered with black flints, and broken in rainbow streaks. Their summits present an aspect by hillocks into innumerable undulations. On the of Nature in her most savage and romantic form, while other side are rugged and insulated precipices, among their bases are worked out in all the symmetry and which rises Mount Hor with its dark summits; regularity of art, with colonnades, and pediments, and near it lies the ancient Petra, in a plain or hollow of ranges of corridors adhering to the perpendicular, unequal surface, enclosed on all sides with a vast am- surface. The inner and wider extremity of the cirphitheatre of rocks. cuitous defile by which the city is approached is The entrance to this celebrated metropolis is firom sculptured and excavated in a singular manner; and the east, through a deep ravine; and it is not easy these works become more frequent on both sides, unti to conceive any thing more awful or sublime than the at last it has the appearance of a continued street of sight here presented. Its width, in general, is not tombs. more than sufficient for the passage of two horsemen About midway in this passage is a spot abrupt and abreast, and through the bottom winds the stream that precipitous, where the area of the natural chasm once watered the city. On the sides of the ravine spreads a little, and sweeps into an irregular circle rise perpendicular walls of rock, from four hundred Here is to be'seen the most singular of all these ar to seven hundred feet high, which often overhang to chitectural monuments: the natives call it the Castle o/ such a degree as almost to touch each other at the top, Pharaoh, though it more resembles a sepulchre than th.leaving scarcely more light than in a cavern. The sides residence of a prince. The front rises in se:eral of this romantic chasm, from which several small stories to the height of sixty or seventy feet, ornaTM RUINS OF THE' CITY OF PETRA. 217 mented with columns, rich friezes, pediments, and with heaps of hewn stones, foundations of buildings, large figures of horses and men. On the summit is fragments of pillars, and vestiges of paved streets — a large vase, supposed by the Arabs to be full of coins; the sad memorials of departed greatness. hence they give to this mysterious urn the name of the The immense number of these stupendous ruins Treasury of Pharaoh. Its height and position seem corroborates the accounts given, both by sacred and to have baffled every approach of avarice or curiosity. profane writers, of the kings of Petra -their courtly IProm above it is rendered inaccessible by the bold grandeur, and their ancient and long-continued royalty. projection of the rough rocks, and from below, by the Great must have been the wealth of a city that could smoothness of the polished surface. The interior of dedicate such monuments to the memory of its rulers. this mausoleum or castle consists of a large, square Its magnificence can be explained only by the imchamber, with walls and ceiling perfectly smooth. mense trade of which it seems to have been the comThe surprising effect of the exterior is heightened by mon centre from the very dawn of civilization. The the situation and singular character of the approach to fashion of many of these edifices denotes, pretty it. Half seen, at first, through the dim and narrow nearly, the age to which they belong. Their relics opening, columns, statues, and cornices, gradually ap- exhibit a mixture of Grecian and Roman architecture, pear, as if fresh from the chisel, without the tint, and although the ground is strewn with others of a more weather-stains of age, and executed in stone of a pale ancient date. On one of the tombs is a Latin inscriprose color. This splendid architectural elevation has tion, with the name of a magistrate who died in the been so contrived, that a statue with expanded wings city, being governor of Palestina Tertia, in the second just fills the centre of the aperture in front, which, being century after Christ. closed below by the ledges of the rock folding over These magnificent remains can now be regarded each other, gives to the figure the appearance of being only as the grave of Idumea, in which its former suspended in the air at a considerable height. No wealth and splendor lie interred. The state of desopart of this stupendous temple is built, properly speak- lation into which it has fallen is not only the work of' ing; the whole is hewn from, the solid rock; and its time, but the fulfilment of prophecy, which foretold minutest embellishments, wherever the hand of man that "wisdom and understanding should perish out of has not effaced them, are so perfect, that it may be Mount Seir; that Edom should be a wilderness, and doubted whether any work of the ancients, except in its cities a perpetual waste, the abode of every unEgypt, has survived with so little injury from the lapse clean beast." The prediction of Isaiah is literally of time. verified-" Thorns shall come up in her palaces. The ruins of the city itself open on the view with nettles and brambles in the fortress thereof: the corsingular effect, after winding two or three miles through morant and the bittern shall possess it, and it shall be the dark ravine. Tombs present themselves, not, a habitation for dragons and a court for owls." only in every avenue within it, and on every precipice These ghastly vestiges of ancient wealth and splenthat surrounds it, but even intermixed with the public dor are not confined to Petra and the immediate and domestic edifices; so that Petra has been truly vicinity. In various parts of the country are immense denominated one vast necropolis. It contains above ruins, testifying its former magnificence.:' But for two hundred and fifty sepulchres, which are occasion- these, which, in their present state of desolation, beally excavated in tiers, one above the other, and in speak the glory of former ages, the traveller couldl places where the cliff is so perpendicular that all ac- scarcely believe that a region absolutely divested of cess to the uppermost seems impossible. There are, inhabitants, blasted by the scorching sun, and chiefly besides, numerous mausoleums of colossal dimensions, tenanted by scorpions, could once have been covered' and in a state of wonderful preservation. Toward with waving fields of corn, rich vineyards, pastures| the middle of the valley are two large truncated pyra- teeming with cattle, and cities filled with people, busy mids, and a theatre, cut out of the solid rock, with in the arts and cares of husbandry, commerce, and complete rows of benches, capable of containing above manufactures! How strange, how fearful are the I[ three thousand spectators. The ground is covered mutations of human fortune!.. —-w~~~r'-~=I~_T'-_i 218 AN CIENT PH(EN I CANS. i$. Tyrian Fleet retlurnilt froi a Commercial Expedition. CH AFT E R c VI Ibeen the same with that of Abraham and the patriarch and this continued to be the case for a long time after 2000 to 1497 B. C. ward. They were divided into a number of small, inde. Th'A~e Ancient Plhznicians - T'hze Canctanites - pendent communities. Every town, with a small surFoundaction of iS~idon - P4hcncician Corn- rounding district, and some dependent villages, appears to have been a sovereign state, acknowledging the merce. control of no superior, but being in alliance with its PH(ENICIA, or, more properly, Phcenice, was'the neighbors for common objects. The meleks, or kings, ancient name of that country on the eastern shore of of these small principalities, were little more than the Mediterranean, lying between Syria on the north chief magistrates or patriarchal chiefs, with very limand Judea on the south. Sometimes this name was ited powers. Indeed, it is doubtful whether they had given to all the maritime territory of Syria and Judea. any independent civil power; for a king, in that quarThere is little agreement among ancient geographers ter of the world, appears to have been regarded merely as to the limits of Phmenicia Proper. According to as the military commander of the army in time of Ptolemy, it extended beyond Mount Carmel to the war, and the agent of the public transactions with south. This province was considerably extended after other states. The real power of these small states the Christian era, when, being regarded as a part of evidently remained in the body of the adult male popSyria, it included Damascus and Palmyra. But it is ulation, and practically in the elder portion of it, as only of Phcenicia in its restricted sense that we are appears from the deference paid to seniority in thosr called upon to speak in this part of our history. This times. -country was a narrow strip of territory, lying between The Phcenicians were the Canaanites of the sea the Lebanon chain of mountains and the Mediterra- coast. The oldest city in this quarter was Sidon. oi nean Sea. The length of this little state was about Zidon. According to Josephus, this city was founde{ one hundred and twenty miles, and its width less than by Sidon, the eldest son of Canaan, who is called in twenty. Its extent was about one fourth that of the Phmnician history a king. But of the actions of his state of Massachusetts; but such was the activity of reign we have no account, nor are we better acquainted its commerce, that, in the height of its prosperity, it with the history. of his immediate successors; for was thick set with towns and villages, and seemed to though the Sidonians are mentioned in the books of be almost one continued city. The soil of this terr- Moses, Joshua, and the Judges, we find no express tory is -good, and the climate agreeable and salubrious. mention of their kings till the time of the prophet:It is plentifully watered by small rivers, which, run- Jeremiah, who speaks of ambassadors sent, by the ning down from the mountains, sornetimes overflow king of Sidon, to propose to Zedekiah a league against their banks and inundate the country. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Tyre and Aradus It is generally allowed that the Phmnicians were were the cities next in antiquity to Sidon. Canaanites by descent. A division of the posterity The history of the Phoenicians, in its earliest stages, of Canaan, tile youngest son of Ham, is supposed to is so closely connected with that of the other nations.have left the Arabian shore of the Red Sea, and set- of Canaan, that it is impossible tn separate them. At tied in the country afterwards known as Canaan, Pal- all times it is involved in much obscurity. The Phrx-: stine, Phoenice, &c. Thoeir language seemns lto hav I niciars if not the inventors of alphabetical writing.~~~~~~ —-. ------- _ -------------------- --- SANCHONIATHON ON PIIENICIA. 219 possessed this art at a very early period, and are said called Thoth, Hernmes, and M4ercury, who was believed to have kept their ancient historical records very faith- to be the inventor of letters. Sanchoniathon's books fully. But these writings have all perished, and we were translated from the Phoenician language into are compelled to resort chiefly to the Greek historians, Greek by Philo Biblius, a famous grammarian, who for our knowledge of the Phoenicians. They boasted lived in the first century after Christ. He begins his of an excessive antiquity, and, carried back their reck- history of Phoenicia with the creation of the first pair onings no less than thirty thousand years. of mortals, from whom, in process of time, were born The first distinct knowledge which we can obtain certain giants, who settled on the mountains of Phoeof these people is in connection with their foreign nicia, and gave them their own names of Cassius, trade. They seem to have been fiom their infancy a Libanus, Antilibanus, and Berothis. In our account commercial nation. Their narrow line of coast, in- of cosmogonies, in the introductory part of this work, dented with excellent bays and harbors, was covered we have related some of the fables accompanying this with lofty and wooded mountains, which jut out into portion of Sanchoniathon's history, and which need the sea, and form bold promontories. Several islands not be repeated here. The whole narrative seems are scattered along the coast; and these, as well as the to be little more than a history of the origin of Phoeharbors of the main land, afforded excellent sites for nician idolatry. commercial establishments. More than a thousand The Greek account differs from that of Sanchoniayears before the Christian era, we find the Phoenicians thon. According to this authority, Agenor was the already engaged in active trade with foreign nations. first king of Phllcenicia. He was an Egyptian, and the In the time of King David, there appears to have been son of Neptune. He emigrated into Phmcnicia, where a considerable emigration of Edomites to Phcenicia. he settled 1497 B. C., and became the father of a Commercial countries seem, in all ages, to have been numerous family. His two daughters, Ismea and Melia, places of asylum for fugitives expelled from their married their cousins ZEgyptus and Danaus. Cilix, his homes by war, privation, and other calamities. Hol- son, removed to Cilicia, and gave his name to that land, Great Britain, and the United States, are exam- country. Phoenix, another son, succeeded his father ples of this in.modern times, and Phoenicia affords an in the kingdom, which from that time was called after instance in the very earliest periods of history. him, Phconicz. Eusebius informs us that he was the The Edomites communicated to the Phoenicians a first discoverer of the famous scarlet color, which afterknowledge of the Red Sea, and of the shores of Arabia, wards became known as the Tyrian dye. The next Egypt, and Ethiopia. This information enabled them king of Sidon was Phalis, whose reign was contempoto extend their commerce both in the south and the rary with the Trojan war. He was an ally of the west. All their thoughts were now occupied in ad- Greeks, and used his utmost endeavors, though in vancing their trade. They affected no empire but vain, to draw Sarpedon, king of the Lycians, over to that of the sea, anid seem to have had no national ob- their side. He is mentioned by Homer, and honored ject but the peaceable enjoyment of their commerce. with the title of " most illustrious." But little reliThey traded with all the known parts of the world ance, however, can be placed on any of these Greek that were within the reach of their ships. They visited accounts, as they are mixed up with so many fables, the shores of the Black Sea, and established commer- that it is hardly possible to distinguish historical mrnat cial factories there. They carried on a very profitable ters from those that are purely mythological. trade with Spain, from which country they obtained The Hebrew Scriptures mention Sidon and Tyre, abundance of silver. Their ships even ventured together with the Phcenician tribes of the Arkites, the through the Herculean Straits into the Atlantic, and Hivites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, &c., whose tersailed northward as far as the British Isles, called by ritories appear to have extended along the coast norththe Greeks Cassiterides. In the south, they formed ward from the city and territory of Sidon. The settlements on the coasts of the Red Sea, and their ancient Phoenician city of Arca probably took its name fleets sailed to India, and even visited the Island of from the Arkites. It stood nearly midway between Ceylon. When we reflect that all these things were Tripoli and Tortosa, about five miles from the sea, done before the discovery of the mariner's compass, among the lower ranges of Mount Lebanon. The we nlust entertain a high estimation of the courage Arvadites are said by Josephus to have occupied the a,.d commercial enterprise of these people. little island of Arvadus, called Arvad and Arphad in the Scriptures. The inhabitants of this island are mentioned by Ezekiel, along with the Sidonians, as taking an active part in the maritime commerce of Tyre. The Arkites, Hivites, Arvadites, and Zemarites, are CHtA?TER CIX. scarcely.mentioned, historically, in the Scriptures. 1497 to 332 B. C.. It is not till the period of the expedition of Xerxes Sanchoniathon - Acrgeor - The Persian Con- against Greece, (480 B. C.,) that we find any mention in quest Revolutions of Sidon.the Greek historians of a Phoenician king, who appears to be a real historical personage. Herodotus informs THE first history of Phoenicia was written by Sancho- us that Tetramnestes, king of Sidon, assisted the Perniathon, whom we have already mentioned as a native sian invader with a fleet of three hundred ships, and of this country, and who wrote a cosmogony or history that this king was one of the chief commanders in the of the creation. His Phoenician history was compiled Persian navy. After this, we find mention of Tennes, f'om materials communicated to him by a priest named king of Sidon, in whose reign the dominion of the Hierornbalus. He is said also to have been assisted Persians appears to have been established in Phoenicia. in his work by the registers of the Phoenician cities, But this yoke being found intolerably oppressive, the whichl he found preserved in the temples, and to have inhabitants rose in rebellion, and, with the assistance;arefillly investigated the writings of Taut, otherwise of Nectanebus, king of Egypt, expelled the Persian, 220 DESTRUCTION OF SIDON-KINGS OF TYRE. from their territories. Darius Ochus, the Persian king, offered it to one of the chief citizens. This person immediately raised an army of three hundred thousand not at all dazzled by the tempting gift, begged to be men to reduce the Phoenicians to obedience and invade excused, as, not being of the royal family, he had no Egypt. The approach of this army so terrified Men- just title to the dignity. He was then requested to tor, the Rhodian, who commanded the Egyptian auxili- point out an individual of the royal race on whom the ary troops in Phoenicia, that he privately sent a mes- crown'could be properly conferred. He named Balsenger to the Persian king, offering to deliver up Sidon lonymus, a man of unblemished character, but so to his arms, and assist him in the invasion of Egypt. deeply sunk in poverty, as to lead the life of a day Ochus accepted his offer, and by their joint machina- laborer. A messenger was immediately despatched tions the king of Sidon was drawn into a treacherous to him, with the royal robes, and the tidings of his eleplot against his own people. vation to the throne. The messenger found him clad When the Persian army approached, the Sidonians, in rags, and drawing water out of a well. Hle was who had not the smallest suspicion of the treason immediately invested with the regal garments, and meditated against them by their king and ally, made conducted into the city, where, amid the joyful shouts.preparations for a vigorous defence. As soon as of the people- who were highly pleased with his elematters were ripe for the treachery, Tennes marched vation - he was proclaimed king of Sidon, (332 B. C.) out of the city with a body of troops, and a hundred From this period, Phoenicia must be regarded as a porof the most eminent citizens, on pretence of joining a tion of the Macedonian monarchy; and the remainder general assembly of the Phoenician states. Instead of of its history is connected with that of Syria. doing this, he proceeded directly to the Persian camp, and delivered up the citizens to Ochus, who caused them to be instantly put to death. This so terrified the Sidonians, that five hundred more of the citizens, all men CH A P T E CX. of rank, went out to throw themselves at the conqueror's feet and implore his mercy; but these shared the 1245 to 332 B. C. same fate with the first. Kings of Tyre- Flight of Dido to Carthage Thlie inhabitants of Sidon were now reduced totory of -W-ars?wth Nebuchadn ezzar-Story of utter despair. They had previously burnt all their ships, to prevent any one from withdrawing himself from the defence of his country; and they now saw THEr ancient Tyre — for there were two or three themselves cut off from all chance of escape. Find- cities of this name - was built upon the coast, about ing all resistance to the enemy useless, they shut them- twenty-five miles south of Sidon. When the city was selves up with their wives and children in their houses, besieged by Nebuchadnezzar, the greater part of the and setting fire to them, with all their most valuable inhabitants, reduced by famine, withdrew to an island effects, perished, to the number of forty thousand souls. opposite, and built there a new city, called the Island Tennes, the traitor king, did not escape the general Tyre. This soon eclipsed the mother city, and became calamity; for Ochus, either exasperated by the destruc- the chief mart of trade. It had two harbors; and, in tion of the city, or detesting the traitor who could do process of time, the island was joined to the continent him no further service, ordered his throat to be cut b- a neck of land, on which a third city was erected. upon the ruins of the city over which he had reigned. It appears that these three cities together were only As Sidon was, a.t this period, in the height of its com- about three miles in circuit. The island at present mercial prosperity, and the most wealthy city in Phce- contains but forty acres of surface.'On account of nicia, it contained an immense quantity of gold and the narrow limits of the place, the buildings were silver. These metals were melted down in the con- raised to a great height, and they are described by flagration, and found afterwards in great lumps among Strabo as being loftier than those of Rome. The the ruins. This was the chief spoil obtained by the Tyrian priests informed Herodotus that their city was Persians in their conquest of Sidon. The destruction founded 2740 B. C., which is earlier than the common of the city took place 351 B. C. The catastrophe of date of the deluge. Sidon terrified the other cities of Phcenicia to such a The first king of Tyre mentioned by the ancient degree that they submitted to the conqueror without historians is Abibal, who was contemporary with King further resistance. They obtained better terms than David, and probably joined the neighboring nations might have been expected, as Ochus was impatient to against him, since David counts the inhabitants of prosecute his designs against Egypt. These cities, Tyre among his enemies. Abibal was succeeded by therefore, escaped the severe fate of Sidon; but the his son Hiram, or Hutram, who entered into friendly Persian dominion was completely reestablished over relations with David, alld sent him ambassadors to conthe country. gratulate him on his victory over the Jebusites, and to Although Sidon was entirely destroyed, a consid- form an alliance with him. He sent him, also, cedarerable number of the inhabitants, being absent at sea, trees, and skilful workmen, to build him a palace at escaped the catastrophe. These persons, returning to Jerusalem. their homes after the departure of the Persian armies, The kingdom of Tyre appears to have been in a rebuilt the city. The Sidonians, as was natural, ever very flourishinlg condition during the reign of' Hiram. afterwards cherished an inextinguishable animosity He enlarged and improved many of the towns in his against the Persians. They were the first among the dominions. lie also built a mole from the continent Phoenicians who, on the approach of Alexander, as he to the island, uniting the two cities of old and new marched to invade Persia, sent ambassadors to make Tyre. Many beautiful temples were erected by him, their submission to him. Strato, who was king of and adorned with statues. He appears to have beet: Sidon at this time, opposed the measure, for which rather a religious than a warlike prince; as we read ieason Alexander deprived him of his crown, and of only one military expedition undertaken by hini, r DIDO-SIEGE OF TYRE. 221.wh1.h was against one of the towns that were tributary city of Carposia, in that island. He also made a to Tyre. This place attempted to throw off its de- present to the temple of Hercules, at Gades, now pendence, but was quickly reduced by the arms of Cadiz, in Spain; this present consisted of an olive-tree Hiram. His amicable relations with King Solomon of massy gold, of the most exquisite workmanship, and continued during his life. According to the statement studded with berries of emerald. of the Phoenician historians, Solomon married the Eululaus is the next king of Tyre mentioned in hisdaughter of Hiram, and, by her persuasion, introduced tory. He reigned in the time of Shalmaneser, king of the worship of Astarte, a Sidonian deity, among the Assyria. Eululaeus made war upon the Philistines and Jews. attempted to reduce the city of Gath, which had some Ithobal, or Eth Baal, one of the successors of time before revolted from the Tyrian dominion. The Hiram, reigned about fifty years after him. In his Philistines applied to Shalmaneser for assistance, and reign, Sidon appears to have been subject to Tyre, or he marched at the head of a powerful army into Phceat least to have comprised a part of the same domin- nicia; but Eululaeus soon concluded a peace with him. ion, as this monarch is called by Josephus king of Tyre A short time after this, Sidon, and several other mariand Sidon. He built the town of Botrys,.in Phoenicia, time cities of Phoenicia, found the yoke of the Tyrians and Auzates, in Africa. His daughter Jezebel was so oppressive, that they revolted, and sought the hssistmarried to King Ahab. The Greek historian Menan- ance of Shalmaneser. A war ensuted between that der relates that, in his time, there was an extreme prince and Tyre; he attacked them with a land army drought, which lasted a whole year. Prayers were and a fleet of sixty ships. But the Tyrians were much offered up to avert the calamity which impended over more expert in naval warfare than the Assyrians; with the nation, and these, it is said, were followed by only twelve ships they encountered the fleet of Shalmighty peals of thunder. This is supposed to be the maneser, dispersed it, and captured many of the ships, drought mentioned in the scriptural account of King with five hundred prisoners. This victory so cornAhab. pletely established the naval supremacy of the Tyrians, Pygmalion, king of Tyre, reigned about 900 B. C. that the king ever afterwards confined his hostile oper. He had a sister named Elisa, or Dido, who was mar- ations to the land. He turned the war into a blockade, ried to his uncle, Sichmus, a priest of Hercules, and and reduced the city to great extremity by cutting off a very rich man. Pygmalion cast a longing eye upon the aqueducts and intercepting the supplies of prothe wealth of his kinsman, and, finding no other way visions. The citizens, however, by digging wells of obtaining possession of it, determined to put Si- within the city, and other measures, held out against chmus to death. For this purpose, he invited him, one the Assyrians for five years, at the end of which Shalday, to hunt with him; and, watching his opportunity, maneser died, which put an end to the war. while his attendants were engaged in pursuit of a wild In the reign of Ithobal II., Nebuchadnezzar, king boar, he ran him through with a spear, and then threw of Babylon, made war upon Tyre, and laid siege to the his body down a precipice, so as to make it appear that city for thirteen years, when the inhabitants, despairan accidental fall had killed him. According to Justin ing of succor, and yet unwilling to surrender themand Virgil, Pygmalion murdered Sichoeus at the altar; selves prisoners, withdrew from the continent to the but this is probably a poetical embellishment of the island, and abandoned the old city to the besiegers. story. Whatever was the mode in which the deed was The conqueror, finding nothing to reward his long accomplished, the perpetrator reaped no advantage labor in the siege but empty houses, vented his rage from it. Elisa quickly divined the motives of the act, upon them by levelling the whole of the old city to its and, being a woman of deep sagacity, she disguised foundations. Shortly after this event, the form of govher feelings, and made preparations to escape the ernment among the Tyrians was changed. The snare that was laid for her. kingly office was abolished, and the supreme authority Determining to fly to some distant land for an asy- was lodged in the hands of magistrates, called sholum, she feigned a design to visit her brother Barca, phetim or sufetes. The government, however, did not who resided at Chartsea, a small town between Tyre endure long, and the monarchy was restored. and Sidon. At her request, Pygmalion furnished her Mapen was king of Tyre at the period of the expewith ships for this voyage. Elisa, having engaged a dition of Xerxes against the Greeks. He assisted that considerable number of followers to aid her in her monarch in his enterprise, as naval commander of the flight, secretly conveyed her treasures on board the Phoenicians; and from this circumstance it appears ships, and set sail before Pygmalion discovered the that the Persians had reduced the Tyrians, and proba. stratagem. When he became apprised, of her design, bly all Phoenicia, under their dominion. The reign of he sent a fleet in pursuit of her; but this was unavail- Mapen was terminated by an extraordinary catasing. According to some accounts, he was dissuaded trophe. The slaves, being vcy numerous in Tyre, from pursuing the fugitive by the tears of his mother formed a conspiracy against their masters, and in the and the threats of an oracle. Elisa steered toward dead of the night made themselves masters of the city, the Island of Cyprus, an ancient Phcenician colony; and murdered the greater part of them. They then and here her followers furnished themselves with married their mistresses, and gave themselves up to wives from the young women of the island. From feasting and enjoyment. After a while, they judged it Cyprus they directed their course to the coast of necessary to choose a king frommamong themselves, and Africa, and landed at Utica, another Phoenician colony, agreed that he who, on the following morning, should where they were well received by the inhabitants. first see the light of the sun, should receive the crown. After this, they proceeded a short distance to the south, For this purpose, it was concerted that they should all ar.nd founded Carthage, of which we shall give an ac- meet at midnight in a wide field to the east oI the city, cournt in another part of our history. and there await the rising of th- 3un. Cyprus appears at this time to have been subject There was a person named Strato, wno had beeln wto Tyre. We are informed that Pygmalion built the saved from the massacre and secreted by the fidelity of 222 SIEGE AND FALL OF TYRE. nis slave. This man, having been made acquainted with fident in the strength of their city, refused to subml. the device for selecting a king, advised his slave not to to him, and were besieged seven months by the whole look to the east at the rising of the sun, as the others of the Macedonian forces. At length, Alexander, by probably would,but to the west, and there fix his eye on building a mole from the shore into the sea, toward the highest tower of the city. The slave did as he was the island, after many repulses, gained possession of instructed, and was laughed at by his companions, who the city, put great numbers of the inhabitants to the thought him no better than an idiot, to look for the sword, crucified two thousand, and sold thirty thousand rising sun in the west. But on a sudden, they were into slavery. These cruelties were practised upon the made sensible of their mistake, for while they were Tyrians in consequence of the bravery with which all straining their eyes, to catch the first glimpse of they had defended themselves; for Alexander was sunlight in the east, Strato's slave called out to them highly exasperated that so small a city should have to turn round and see the lofty towers of the city stopped the march of his army for seven months. But tlready illuminated with the rays of the rising orb. to palliate the enormity of his barbarity, Alexander This unexpected sight struck them so forcibly, that pretended that he exercised these cruelties for the they all cried out he should be the king of Tyre. But purpose of avenging the blood of the ancient Tyrians, though' all applauded the ingenuity of the thought, it who had been murdered by their slaves, and that the was believed he was not capable of conceiving it of inhabitants who had fought against him, being descendhimself: he was therefore pressed with inquiries as to ants of these slaves, merited crucifixion as a punishthe person who had suggested it to him. After much ment for the crimes of their ancestors. To make this reluctance, and a promise of protection for the one pretence appear the more plausible, he ordered the poswhom he should name, he acknowledged that out of terity of Strato to be spared, as not involved in the compassion and gratitude toward his master, who had guilt of the rest. always treated him with great kindness, he had saved Tyre was completely destroyed by Alexander. But both him and his son from the general massacre, and the conqueror rebuilt it, and peopled the new city that it was by his instructions he had practised the with inhabitants drawn from the neighboring territory, above-mentioned device. Hereupon Strato was re- in consequence of which le thought fit to style himgarded as a man preserved by the particular provi- self the founder of'yre, though he was in reality its dence of the gods, and he was proclaimed king, instead destroyer. The commerce of Tyre, and of all Phce. of his slave. nicia, received a fatal blow from the Macedonian On the death of Strato, his son ascended the throne, conquest, and the country from this period has no and the kingdom of Tyre was ruled by his descendants longer a distinct national history. Phoenicia became till the time of Alexander the-Great. That conqueror, an appendage to the Macedonian and Syrian monin his expedition against the Persians, found it neces- archies till these were swallowed up in the great Ro. sary to subjugate all Phcenicia. The Tyrians, con- man empire..~ ~.: ~______ -________________ —_____________-_ _ Ruins of Tyre. CHAPTER CXI. ating influence on certain occasions; and in times of Phoemnic; at C~ities -Religion - Mfanufactmures war against a foreign enemy, the general organization n Cities - Religion - lin f was such as to place some one city at the head. ns — Arts. the supreme authority. At certain times, also, all the THOUvGc we have spoken of Phcenicia as a commu- cities entered into a grand confederation, at the head nity having a distinct national existence, perhaps it of which stood originally Sidon, and afterwards Tyre. never became what may with strict propriety be called When the Assyrian and Persian dominion became ~ne state; but from the earliest period to which his- established in Phoenicia, the bonds that united the vari torical lknowledge reaches, down to the subjugation of ous communities of this country became loosened, and the country by the Persian and Macedonian conquerors, the dependence of the smaller towns upon Tyre and it was d ivided into a number of small states, independ- Sidon ceased. Tyre, however, maintained its rank'at, Ir a greater or less degree, of one another. The and continued, to the last, to be regarded as the chief'vagrer cities appear to have exercised a preponder- city of Phoenicia. PHmENICIAN CITIES. 22 | Tyre, now called Soor, presents, as we have seen, with busy people from all parts of the world, is a abundant and interesting materials for history. In the dreary waste; and the circuit of the ancient city is division of Canaan among the Israelites, it was allotted only indicated by a few columns of granite, mar.'o the tribe of Asher; but they never succeeded in dis- ble, and porphyry, lying neglected amid mounds of placing its ancient inhabitants. Few cities have wit- sand! nessed such stirring incidents, or experienced such con- Sidon, now Saida, was'second only to Tyre. It is irasts of fortune, as Tyre. Once its merchants were frequently mentioned in the Bible, and figures largely princes; now it is a desolate, repulsive village, of low, in ancient history. It was situated on a promontory;cattered buildings, with a few squalid inhabitants, sloping to the sea. Its harbor has been filled up, so as chiefly fishermen, loitering on the beach. Near the to be only fit for boats. It is still encircled by walls, landing are a few tolerable buildings; but the bazaar and has seven thousand inhabitants. The country in,i mean, and the streets narrow and crooked. The the.vicinity is yet fertile, and fine fruits are abundant. -,lendid harbor is choked up; cultivation around the The streets are narrow and crooked, but many of the.VI, ha- nearly ceased; the peninsula, once crowded houses are fine and roomy. V~ i —-~ -_ __ _ _ Modern Sidon The ther cities were numerous; but we need only sterns of their ships with the images of these deities. mentic t Byblos, now Gebele; Acco, afterwards Ptole- They also reverenced as gods the men who had renmais, and now Acre; Berytus, now Beyroot; Sarepta, dered great services to mankind. They decreed them now Sarphand; and Aradus, anciently next to Tyre divine honors, appropriated temples to their service, and Sidon in importance. and erected columns on which their names were inEach of the Phoenician cities was ruled by its own scribed. The first of these was Chrysor, who was peculiar government, and in domestic affairs they must famed for having invented the arts of metallurgy and be considered as states independent of each other. navigation. He was worshipped wherever Phoanician The chief authority was exercised by magistrates colonies were established. Another was Agroneros, called kings, though they possessed very limited pow- who was venerated as the inventor or improver ers. Under the Persian rule, the royal dignity was of tillage and husbandry. This nation resembled maintained, though the Phcenician kings were but vas- the Jews in abstaining from the use of swine's sals to the Eastern monarchs. There were kings in flesh. Aradus and Byblos, as well as in Tyre and Sidon, as The Phoenicians were early distinguished as a manlate as the time of Alexander. At certain periods, ufacturing nation. The Sidonian and Tyrian cloths there appears to have been held a general congress were celebrated in very remote ages. Among their of the Phmnician cities, in which the king and other inventions may be mentioned the art of dyeing, in members of this assembly, deliberated upon affairs which they excelled all other people of antiquity. which concerned the common weal of the country. The beautifully colored garments of Sidon are menThe religion of the Phcenicians was originally the tioned by Homer, and the Tyrian purple was iarnous same with that of the other Canaanites. They wor- in all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. shipped one God, to whom they gave the name of This purple was not a single color, but appears to have Baal. The Greek writers take it for granted that he been a general name for all the shades of purple and is the same with their Zeus, or Jupiter. Afterward scarlet. The Phbnicians pretended that the matter they paid their adorations to the sun, moon, and stars; which afforded this color was obtained from a shelland this worship was succeeded by polytheism and fish found on the sea-coast, but there is reason to bedolatry. Astarte was worshipped as a goddess by the lieve that this is only a story invented by these shrewd Sidonians. Hercules was the great and ancient deity people to conceal the true origin of it. Some have of Tyre. The other deities were ThaLmmuz or Osiris, supposed they were acquainted with cochineal. VeAdonis, Dagon, Atlas, and the Patacei. The Phceni- getable dyes of great beauty were used by the Phceninians were aecustomled to ornament the prows and cians, and they were acquainted with the art of pro 224 COMMERCE AND TRADE OF THE PH(ENICIANS. ducing changeable colors by working together threads ancient Phoenician mariners were pirates; as, in those of different tints. Their dyeing was always performed days, piracy was not regarded as more disgraceful than upon the raw material. privateering is at present. In the time of Homer, they Glass is said to have been invented by the Phoenicians, visited the islands and shores of Greece as merchants although articles of this substance have been found or pirates, according as opportunities offered for trade among the vestiges of the ancient Egyptians and Assyr- or plunder. They carried trinkets, beads, and bawbles, ians, showing that its manufacture must have existed in which they sold at high prices to the inexperienced and hose countries at a remote date. The Phoenicians had simple Greeks, as the European and American sailors glass manufactories during a long succession of centu- sell these articles to the South Sea Islanders. In the ries; the most considerable were at Sidon and Sarepta. prosecution of this traffic, they found opportunities to The sand of which the glass was made, was obtained kidnap the Greek boys and girls, whom they sold in from the little river Belus, at the foot of Mount Car- the slave markets of Asia. But when the Greeks grew mel. The Phoenicians were accustomed to ornament formidable at sea, and their fleets covered the Medithe ceilings and walls of their apartments with glass, terranean, the Phoenician piracies received a check; but they appear to have been ignorant of the use of and thenceforth these people applied themselves to window-panes. peaceful commerce. The Phoenicians also excelled in the manufacture The maritime trade of the Phaenicians was closely of ornaments of dress, trinkets, jewelry, carvings o' connected with their colonial system. Cyprus was a wood and ivory. Homer mentions a skilfully wrough. colony of the Phoenicians, and from this island their chain of amber and gold brought by a Phoenician ship settlements extended westward through the whole into Greece. Ezekiel speaks of artificial works in ivory length of the Mediterranean, into the Atlantic, as far supplied by their trade with India and Ethiopia. The as Cadiz, in Spain, called by them Gades. Along this fame of the people of Sidon for elegant taste, the arts line were the colonies of Crete, and the Greek Archiof design, and ingenious invention, was such that what- pelago, Sicily and Sardinia, with the African cities of ever was elegant, neat, or pleasing to the eye in ap- Leptis, Carthage, Utica, &c. These cities rose to parel, utensils, ornaments, or toys, was distinguished greater splendor and opulence than even Tyre herself. by way of eminence as " Sidonian." The Tyrians In the south, the Phoenicians had commercial estabwere held in high estimation by their neighbors for lishments on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia; and their skill in working metals, in hewing timber and it is believed that they had formed colonies on the stone, and, in general, for their superior knowledge of western coast of Africa, and in the Island of Madeira. what was solid, great, and ornamental in architecture. It is known that they preceded the Greeks in making Money appears to have been used in Phcenicia at a settlements along the coast of Asia Minor and the very early period. There are yet extant some ancient shores of the Black Sea. loins of Sidon, bearing on one side the head of a fe- To Greece the Phoenicians exported perfumes and male crowned with turrets, and on the other the ancient spices, which they obtained from Arabia, and which Phoenician characters, similar to those used by the were articles of prime necessity to the Greeks in their Hebrews before the Babylonish captivity. religious sacrifices. They also sold to them the manThe raw materials used in the Phcenician manufac- ufactures of Tyre and Sidon- purple garments, jewtures must have been, for the greater part, imported els, trinkets, &c. The richest trade was carried on from abroad, as the narrow territory of these people with Spain, which was the Peru of the old world, and could have furnished but a small portion of what was abounded in the precious metals. It is supposed that necessary to supply the demands of their numerous this is the country called Tharshish, or Tarshish, in customers scattered all over the world. It is there- the Old Testament. When the Phoenicians first visited fore evident that the. Phoenicians must have had a very this region, it is said they found silver here in such extensive trade. In relation to this point, the twenty- abundance, that they not only loaded their ships with seventh chapter of Ezekiel contains much information. it to the water's edge, but made anchors and other We there find a geographical description of the com- utensils of it. Spain was also rich in corn, wine, oil mercial countries of the East, so precise that the wax, fine wool, and fruits. From Gades the Phceni reader might imagine Ezekiel had a map of the world cians sailed to the Cassiterides, or Tin Islands, supposed before him. This sketch of the Hebrew poet affords to be the British Islands —though this was a secret an interesting picture of the great international com- known only to these people, They also visited a part merce of the interior of Asia, which enlarges our of the world where they obtained amber, which was ideas of ancient trade by showing us that it connected probably on the coast of the Baltic. It was greatly to nearly all the countries of the known world. the advantage of the Phoenicians to keep all knowledge of these two countries from their commercial rivals. The amber trade was especially profitable in their monopoly of it; as the high price of this article, which was equal to that of gold, would have been much reCHAPTER CXII. duced by competition. For this reason, the commerCommerlce and Trade of the ~Phcniccians. cil secrets of the Phoenicians were most faithfully kept. Mystery, to a seaman of this nation, was an [rHE Phcenicians were led to commercial pursuits elementary principle of his profession, and one to and maritime enterprise by the peculiarity of their sit- which he was taught to adhere, at the risk of his life. ration. Inhabiting a narrow strip of territory along Strabo informs us that the captain of a Phoenician ship, the sea, and placed midway between the eastern and who was on a voyage to the Cassiterides for a carge western portions of the old world, they found their of tin, happened to be discovered by a Roman vessel. position favorable for exchanging the commodities of He immediately ran his own ship ashore, rather than he two extremes. It is supposed, also that the most take the risk of disclosing the obiect atld dirtection of IMARITIME EXPEDITIONS OF THE PHCENICIANS. 225 hVs voyage. For this act of resolution he was richly of the mariner's compass, but steered their course, "'xwarded on his return to Tyre. when out of sight of land, by the heavenly bodies. The Phoenician commerce on the Red Sea arose out They were the first people who used rudders and sails. of their connection with the Jews, and the extension A curious anecdote is related by Herodotus, which of the dominions of King David. Hiram and Solomon shows at what time the Phoenician commerce with the are said to have sent their ships to Ophir for gold. west of Europe first became known to the Greeks. Much difference of opinion has prevailed respecting A merchant of Samos, named Colkeus, while on a the situation of this country. Heeren is of opinion voyage from that island to Egypt, about the year 630 that Ophir denotes no particular spot, but all the rich B. C., was driven out of his course by contrary winds, countries of the south lying on the African, Arabian, and obliged to scud to the westward, till, at length, he and Indian coasts, as far as they were then known. found himself outside the Pillars of Hercules, in the Three years were spent in one of these voyages; and broad Atlantic Ocean. Here he put into a port on the it appears, from the Hebrew writings, that the profits coast of Spain, which proved to be Tartessus, where the derived from them were immense. The Phcenicians Pheinicians had before established a colony. To his also fitted out exploring expeditions, for the purpose great joy and astonishment, he found a most inviting of opening new channels of commerce. Herodotus market for the cargo which he intended to carry to has preserved some particulars respecting a few of Egypt, and sold every article of goods on board at the these enterprises. In one of these voyages toward the most exorbitant price. "; He and his crew," says HeHellespont, which they undertook in the very infancy rodotus, "realized a profit from this voyage greater of their navigation, they discovered the Island of Tha- than ever before or since fell to the lot of any known sos, on the coast of Thrace, and were repaid for their man among the Greeks, except Sostratls, of,Egina, enterprise by the rich gold mines of that island. with whom no one can compete." The profits of the Another-of their undertakings is described-in the fol- voyage were equal to eighty thousand dollars, without lowing words:- making any allowance for the superior value of money "When Necho, king of Egypt, had desisted from at that day. The fortunate adventurers, on their return his attempt to join the Red Sea with the Mediterranean to Samos, presented a votive offering to the temple of by means of a canal, he despatched some vessels, Juno at that place, consisting of a large bronze vase under the conduct of the Phoenicians, with orders to ornamented with projecting griffins' heads, and suppass the Pillars of Hercules, and, after penetrating the ported by three bronze kneeling figures of colossal Northern Ocean, to return to Egypt. These Phceni- stature. 3ians, therefore, taking their course by the way of the This accidental voyage of Colaeus opened to the; Red Sea, sailed onward to the Southern Ocean. Upon Greeks of that age a new world, hardly less important the approach of autumn, they landed in Libya, and than was the discovery of America to the Europeans planted some corn in the place where they first went of the fifteenth century. The report of these gains on shore. When this was ripe, they cut it down, and was well calculated to act as a stimulant to enterset sail again. Having, in this manner, consumed prising mariners; and other Greeks, during the two years, in the third they passed the Pillars of Her- course of fifty years, pushed their exploring voyages cules, and returned to Egypt. Their story may be along the shores of the Mediterranean, till they at believed by others, but to me it appears incredible; length reached Tartessus. for they affirm that, when they sailed round Libya, The land trade of the Phcenicians may be divided they had the sun on their right hand." into three branches. The first of these comprises the When Herodotus wrote the above, the Greeks were southern traffic, or that with Ar:abia, India, and Egypt; unacquainted with the phenomena of a shadow falling the second is the eastern, or Assyrian and Babylonian; lo the south; and such a circumstance was not likely and the third is the northern, comprising the Armeto be invented in that age. It is evident that if the nian trade, or that overland with Scythia and the Phoenicians had actually sailed round the continent of Caucasian countries. The trade with Arabia was Africa, they must of necessity have had the sun on direct, and an intercourse was kept up with every part their right hand, or to the north, and their shadow, of this country. Yemen, or Arabia the Happy, was consequently, to the south. The statement, therefore, not only important, in a commercial point of view, for which caused the historian to disbelieve the tale of the its own productions of frankincense, myrrh, cassia circumnavigation of Africa is one very strong proof of gold, and precious stones, but it was the great mart of the reality of the event. Although doubts have been Ethiopian and Indian merchandise, of which the more raised in modern times as to the correctness of this precious commodities were cinnamon, ivory, and narration, Rennell and Heeren, two very learned and ebony. Between Arabia and Phaenicia, the trade was able writers, have refuted the objections. The Phaeni- carried on by caravans across the desert, till the cians do not appear to have reaped any advantage Phcenicians established an emporium for commerce from this discovery; but this was doubtless owing to at a port on the Red Sea. Strabo informs us that the ihe wars of Nebuchadnezzar, which at this time gave caravans were seventy days in going from Yemen to a serious check both to their power and to that of Petra. It seems that this caravan road must have the Egyptains. passed through Mecca, the ancient Macoroba. The art of navigation was carried to a high degree The trade with Egypt was carried on entirely by of improvement by the Phoenicians, and their com- land, for the entrance to Egypt by sea was forbidden mercial enterprise far surpassed that of the Venetians to foreigners previous to the reign of Amasis. This and the Genoese during the middle ages. Their numer- trade was so extensive, that the Phoenician merchants ous fleets were scattered over the Mediterranean Sea occupied an entire district in the city of Memphis. and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans; the Tyrian pen- One of the principal articles exported to Egypt was nant waved at the same time on the coast of Britain wine. Palestine was the granary of the Phcenicians and that of Ceylon. The Phoenicians knew nothing the corn of Judea surpassed that of Egypt. 29 226 LANGUAGE, ARTS, &c., OF THE PHIENICIANS. As the Hebrews were not an inventive or manu C H A T ER C X I I I. facturing people, it is probable that they obtained their ornaments of dress and articles of household Language, Arts, Dress, Manners, /'c., of the luxury from their neighbors the Phcenicians. In this Phoenicians —Celebrated Characters. view, it may be interesting to refer to the catalogue oft THE Phoenician language was a dialect of the an- these articles in Isaiah, c. iii. v. 18. There can be cient Hebrew, and the same with that of the Canaan- little doubt that all these commodities were of Phceniites. The alphabet was that of the very oldest cian manufacture. " In that day the Lord will take Hebrew writings, and from this proceeded all the away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about alphabets of the nations of Europe. The Greeks their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the. ascribed the invention of letters to Cadmus. Proba- moon; the chains, the bracelets, and the mufflers; bly this is only a signification that they obtained them the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the from the Phaenicians, for Cadm, in Hebrew, means head-bands, and the tablets, and the earrings; the east, and Phcenicia was an eastern country to the rings, and nose-jewels; the changeable suits of appa. Greeks. rel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crispMathematics, astronomy, and the mechanic arts ing-pins; the glasses, and the fine linen, and the appear to have been the branches of knowledge chiefly hoods, and the vails." cultivated by the Phcenicians. They were somewhat Among the celebrated characters of Phoenicia, was addicted to philosophical studies, and a Sidonian Sanchoniathon, an ancient historian and native of Tyre, named Jlioschus is said to have taught the doctrine of or Berytus, whom we have before mentioned. The atoms before the era of the Trojan war. The Phceni- time when he flourished is uncertain, but it is comcians transmitted their sciences to the Greeks, and their monly supposed to have been near the period of the country continued to be the seat of learning down to Trojan war. He wrote the history of his own country a very late period. in the Phoenician language, which was translated into The ancient paintings of the Egyptians afford us Greek by Philo of Byblos, and some fragments of this some very curious particulars respecting the personal have been preserved by Porphyry and Eusebius. appearance and dress of the Phoenicians, which cir- He also wrote a treatise on the religious institutions cumstances, till within a few years, were regarded as of the Phmenicians, another on the philosophy of utterly beyond the reach of historical investigation. Hermes, and a third on the Egyptian theology. All They had dark, florid complexions, and well formed, his writings, however, are lost, with the exception of regular features, approaching to the European cast. the fragments above mentioned. These are consid They had blue eyes and flaxen hair. The latter, when ered as highly valuable on account of the agreement dressed for ornament, was powdered white and covered which exists between them and the books of the Old with a net-work of blue beads, or a close cap wound Testament.* round by a fillet of scarlet leather, with two long ends hanging down behind, in the Egyptian fashion. X We have given the common received account of Sanchoniathon, but it is proper to state that modern scholars are The Phoenician dress was generally a short cloak or sceptical, not only as to his works, but even as to his existcape thrown over the shoulders and reaching to the ence. The following extract furnishes the views on this side elbows, and confined at the waist by a golden girdle, of the question: — which, in solme cases, passed many times round the "It is quite clear, from the preceding account, that we have no evidence even for the existence of Sanchoniathon, except body and tied in front with a large bow-knot. The in- the testimony of Philo Byblius himself. He is not mentioned ner garment was of fine linen, bound round the waist by any writer before Philo Byblius, not even by Josephus or and reaching nearly to the ankles. The Phcenicians by Philo Judaeus, who might have been expected to have also wore mantles and tunics of woollen stuff, whidh heard, at least, of his name. This is suspicious at first sight. must have been of fine texture, as the contour of the The discovery of ohearld, and iwritten by an eaduthor, ofis a arms and chest is represented in the pictures as visible kind of imposture known to modern as well as ancient times. beneath the mantle, which, as well as the tunic, was The genuineness and authenticity of the work must rest en., edged with gold lace. The colors were purple and tirely on the nature of its contents; and, even a superficia. scarlet, which were so arranged that one half the per- perusal of the extracts in Eusebius, will convince almost every scholar of the present day that the work was a forgery son was of one color and one half of the other: both of Philo. Nor is it difficult to see with what object the forcolors were extremely bright, and the scarlet was spot- gery was executed. Philo was evidently one of the many ted with purple. adherents of the doctrine of Euhemerus, that all the gods In the Egyptian paintings, the Sidonians appear as were originally men, who had distinguished themselves in their lives as kings, warriors, or benefactors of man, and beallies of the Pharaohs in their wars with the other Ca- cae worshipped as divinities after their death. This docnaanitish tribes. The statesmen and merchants are rep- trine Philo applied to the religious system of the Oriental resented with the hair and beard long, and a fillet round nations, and especially of the Phcenicians; and, in order tc the head. The soldiers are depicted with the hair, gain more credit for his statements, he pretended they were beard, and whiskers cropped close. The arms and taken from /n ancient Phoenician writer. This writer, he says, was a native of Berytus, lived in the time of Semiramis, and accoutrements of the Sidonians were remarkable for dedicated his works to Abibalus, king of Berytus. Having their elegance and finish. The helmet was of silver, thus invented a high antiquity for his Phoenician authority with a singular ornament at the crest, consisting of a he pretends that this writer had taken the greatest pains to obtain information, that he had received some of his accounts disk and two horns of a heifer, or of a crescent moon. from Hierombalus, the priest of the god Jevo, and had colThe breastt was of silvefrom Irierombalus, the priest of the god Jevo, and had colThe breastplate was of silver, quilted upon a white lected others from inscriptions in the temples and the public linen garment, which was laced in front and reached records preserved in each city. This is all pure invention, to up to the armpits, being supported by shoulder-straps. impose more effectually upon the public. The general nature The shield was large and round; it was of iron of the work is in itself' sufficient to prove it to be a forgery; but, in addition to this, we find an evident attempt to show rimnmed and studded with gold. The sword was of that the Greek religion and mythology were derived from the bronze, and two-edged. The spear was of great length. Phoenician, and a confusion between the Phoenician and HIe PHCENICIAN AUTHORS. 2g27 Moschus, a native of Sidon, is celebrated as an Heliodorus, preferring the honors of authorship to ancient philosophical teacher. He is said to have lived those of office, resigned his see and title. There about the time of the Trojan war, and to have taught is nothing in his work offensive to morals or decorum the doctrine of atoms, or the construction of the uni- It was long supposed to be lost; but, in the sixteenth verse by the fortuitous concourse of particles of matter. century, a manuscript copy of it was found by a solVery little, however, is known of him. dier, at the capture and sack of Buda. Porphyry, one of the most learned and celebrated This romance of Heliodorus is written with remarkphilosophers of the Plotinian school, was born at Tyre, able elegance and perspicuity, considering the age in A. D. 233. He was introduced at an early age to the which he lived. His style possesses great sweetness study of literature and philosophy, under the Christian and simplicity, and is entirely free from affectation. father, Origen. Afterwards he went to Athens, where It abounds in descriptions, many of which are exhe became the pupil of Longinus. He then visited tremely interesting. His accounts of the manners Rome, and became the disciple of Plotinus, who es- and customs of the Egyptians are said to be very teemed him one of the brightest ornaments of his correct, and he describes particular places with an school. Porphyry was naturally a hypochondriac, and accuracy which gives an air of reality to his fictions. the fanatical spirit of the philosophy which he em- He seldom, however, delineates the great outlines of braced, produced such an effect upon him, that he nature, or touches on those incidents which render formed a resolution to commit suicide, in order that, scenery sublime or beautiful. He chiefly delights in according to the Platonic doctrine, he might release minute descriptions of the pomp of embassies and his soul from her wretched prison, the body. Plotinus, processions - and, as was natural in a priest — of however, having discovered this mad design, dissuaded sacrifices and religious rites. These might be tiresome him from it, and advised him to divert his melancholy in a modern novel, but the representation of manners, by quitting Rome and taking a journey to Sicily. customs, and ceremonies is much more valuable in an With this advice Porphyry complied, and soon recov- old romance than pictures of general nature.?red his cheerfulness. According to the historian A very curious illustration of the state of society Socrates, Porphyry was originally a Christian; but among the nations bordering on the Mediterranean is having received a sound beating from some Christians afforded by this work. Pirates and robbers have a in Palestine, he abjured that religion. We are not principal share in the events which it describes. Their informed whether the beating was done with sticks or leaders are not generally painted as endued with any arguments. He died at Rome, at the age of seventy. He peculiar bad qualities, or as exciting aversion in the was a man of great learning and acuteness, and wrote other persons in the fiction. This representation apon a variety of philosophical subjects; but most of his pears not to be inconsistent with the manners of the works have perished. - His imagination appears to period in which the events are supposed to have ochave been occasionally heated to such a degree, as to curred. In the early ages of Greece, piracy was not lead him into extravagant fanaticism. He relates that accounted a dishonorable employment. In the an. ne was once in a sacred ecstasy, in which he saw the cient poets, the mariners who sail along the shore are Supreme Intelligence,. the God who is superior to all usually accosted with the question, whether they are gods, without an image. He wrote a work, in fifteen pirates; as if the inquiry would not be taken as an hooks, against the Christians, of which only some affront, and as if pirates would readily confess their fragments have been preserved. The emperors Con- vocation. Even as late as the Peloponnesian war, the stantine and Theodosius issued edicts commanding the AEtolians, Acarnanians, and some other nations, subwritings of Porphyry to be destroyed. sisted by piracy; and, in the early ages of Greece, it Heliodorus was born at Emesa, in Phoenicia, in the was the occupation of all who dwelt upon the seaatter part of the fourth century. In his youth, he coast. composed a romance in Greek, entitled /Ethiopica, The romance of Theagenes and Chariclea has sup 3r the Loves of Theagenes and Chariclea. It is an plied the materials for romance to many later writers ingenious and amusing story, and has served as a not only among the Greeks, but among the moderns in Inodel for subsequent works of this class. The author Western Europe It was the model of those heroic was afterwards made a bishop of Thessaly. It is fictions which, through the writings of Gomberville stated that an ecclesiastical synod required him either and Scuderi, became, for a considerable period, so to burn his romance or give up his office, and that popular in France. The Italians have also availed themselves of the incidents that occur in the work of brew religions, which are of themselves sufficient to convince eliodorus. The circumstances of the birth and any one that the work was not of genuine Pheenician origin But, though the work is thus clearly a forrgery, the question ife of Clornda, n the twelfth canto of Tasso's still remains whether the name Sanchoniathon was a pure Jerusalem, are taken, with hardly any variation, invention of Philo or not? Movers, who had discussed the from the story of the infancy of Chariclea. This fiction whole subject with ability, thinks that Philo availed himself has likewise been imitated in the Pastor Fido of of a name already in use, though it was not the name of Guarini, and the Astrea of D'Urfe. There are person. Hle supposes that Sanehoniathon was the name of the sacred books of the Phmenicians." - Smith's Dictionary of many French tragedies founded upon this conceit Greek and Rornan Biography, &Zc 228 ANCIEN'1 SYRIA. - ~ ~ --. __ -----.,x View of Damascus. Tual snow. The chief rivers are the Euphrates, Oron CHAP TER CXIV. tes, and Leontes, all of which have a part of thei, 1095 to 740 B. C. course in Syria. The small river Eleutherus was anciently said to be haunted by a dragon, whose enorAncient Syrians - Zobah - Damascus - mous jaws could receive a mounted horseman. The Geshur. Sabbatum was reputed to cease flowing on the Sabbath, and the Adonis, tingedwith reddish sand in the rainy SYRIA, at the present day, is a province of Asiaticn SYRIA, t the present day, is a province of Asiatc season, was believed to' flow with blood on the anniverTurkey, and embraces what was anciently called Syria, sary of the death of Adonis, who was killed by a wild with Phoenicia and Palestine. Including these, its extent boar on its banks is about seventy thousand square miles, and its population nearly two millions. It is an isthmus, between -, the Mediterranean, which stretches two thousand miles to the west, and the Desert of Arabia, which extends 1 six hundred miles to the east. It is this peculiar position, as the gateway between the nations of the East and West, that has involved it in the ebb and flow of revolutions, for ages. The Greeks extended the boundaries of Syria, also, to the adjoining territories of Palestine and Phoenicia. I But the Jews always regarded these three countries as distinct from each other. Confining ourselves to Syria proper, we may describe it as bounded on the west by the Mediterranean Sea, on the north by Mount Amanus, on the south by Arabia, and on the east by the Euphrates. The chief divisions, in ancient times, were three: 1. Syria Proper; 2. Ccele-Syria, or Eiollow Syria, so called from being situated in a sort of valley among the mountains of Libanus; and, 3. Comagene, in the north. Palmyra, in the desert, was included in the boundaries of Syria; but of this famous city we shall give a distinct history. The principal mountains of Syria were Amanus, row Al Lucan; Casius, now Gas; Libanus, and Vineyards. Anti-Libanus, called Mount Lebanon in Scripture. The The palm, the plane-tree, and the cypress, are among atter has been described as being capped with perpet- the forest trees. Grapes are abundant; the vatiols UAMASCUS-ZOBAH — BENHADAD III. 229 __" ~(lr~hlwu...,~............. J- V The Syrian Goat. kinds of grains are producad, and millet, which is so summoned to attend Benhadad in his wars. These extensively used in Asia and Africa, on account of kings, as they were styled, amounted to thirty-two. In the facility with which it is cultivated, is a cornm- the reign of David, however, we find that Damascus mon grain. The climate is similar to that of Pal- had no such chief, but that the affairs of the commuestine. nity were managed by the people themselves. SubseSyria has the animals common to this portion of quently, a monarchical government was established in Asia, and a few which are regarded as specially be- Damascus. longing to it. The Syrian goat is a very elegant spe- Zobah was, perhaps, the most ancient of the Syrian cies, remarkable for the length of its hair and its kingdoms. That of Damascus rose upon the ruins of pendulous ears. The hair has been a valued article it, after Saul, king of Israel, had vanquished the kings of commerce for centuries. The wolf, jackal, and of Zobah. The Syrians of Damascus became involved fox, are found in the mountains. in hostilities with King David, who defeated them in a The chief city of ancient Syria was Damascus, great battle, and captured Damascus, Belah, and Bebelieved by the people to be the original seat of para- rothai. Toward the close of Solomon's reign, Rezin. dise. Antioch was long the capital, and renowned for who had been originally a slave, threw off the Israelits beauty and splendor. It is now reduced to insig- itish yoke, and founded the kingdom of Damascus. nificance. Near Antioch was the celebrated grove of The revolution by which the Hebrew nation was diDaphne, where Venus was worshipped with licentious vided into the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and rites. Hieropolis was noted for its temple of Venus, which took place shortly after this event, was probably which was so rich that, when plundered by the Roman the reason why the Syrians were enabled to maintain general Crassus, he was occupied several days in their independence. weighing the spoils. Emesa had a temple of the sun, Benhadad I. made war against the Israelites, and whose priest, Heliogabalus, was made emperor of his son, Benhadad II., the most powerful of the sucRome at the age of fourteen. Tadmor, in the desert, cessors of Rezin, continued it. He is represented as or Palmyra, and Heliopolis, or Balbec, will be here- having thirty-two vassal kings in his army during the after noticed. reigns of Ahab and Jehoram. He was put to death The most ancient inhabitants of Syria are supposed in a treacherous manner (884 B. C.) by Hazael, one to have been the Aramites, or the descendants of of his servants, who usurped the vacant throne. BenAram, the youngest son of Shem. Some of the pos- hadad adorned Damascus with fine buildings, and did terity, also, of Hamath, one of the sons of Canaan, much for the glory of his kingdom. Hazael was a dwelt here at a very remote period. In the early warlike and successful ruler. He gained several imScripture times, Syria appears to have been divided portant victories over the armies of Israel and Judah. into small states or kingdoms, as Damascus, Hamath, compelling the kings of both those nations to resign Lobah, and Geshur. At what period this:country was important territories, and pay him tribute. He also first settled we cannot discover; but it is reasonable made himself master of Elath, on the Red Sea, and to suppose that it was one of the earliest inhabited re- greatly increased the commercial prosperity of his gions in the world. Traditions are still extant among dominions. After his death, he.was worshipped by the the modern Syrians, purporting that their country is Syrians as a god. the oldest upon the face of the globe. Benhadad III. had none of the talent or energy of The first historical knowledge which we gain of his father. He was three times defeated by the IsraSyria shows that the people were governed by heads elites, and lost all the provinces which his father had of families, bearing the name of kings, this title being taken from them. Either in his time, or shortly after, given by the ancient writers to every ruler, or leader, the Syrians became tributary to Jeroboam, king of or chief magistrate, of a community. This was the Israel. They appear, however, to have regained their case in the time of King Saul, (1095 B. C.,) as appears independence amid the disorders which arose in Israel from the account that the kings of Zobah and Mesopo- on the death of Jeroboam. The last of the ancient tamia, then included under the name of Syria, were kings of Syria was Rezin. He entered into an alliance 230 THE SELUCID]E IN SYRIA. with Pekah, king of Israel, against Ahaz, king of Ju- empire was divided among his generals. Syria and 1alt, with the design to dethrone him, and put in his Phmenicia fell to the share of Laomedon. place a stranger to the house of David, called Tabael. Seleucus was ambitious, enterprising, and unscrupuThe allied kings laid siege to Jerusalem, but were un- Ious. Having conceived hopes of raising himself to able to reduce that city. Disappointed in this attempt, the station of a powerful monarch, he abandoned the they carried on a predatory war during the year fol, province of Babylon, and engaged with Ptolemy, king!owing, and the Syrians returned to Damascus with of Egypt, in designs against the other successors of rich spoils and a great number of captives. Alexander. He soon collected a powerful army, -w1ith This success, however, brought ruin in its train. which he not only overran his original pi ovince cf Ahaz, thirsting for revenge, sent all the treasures he Babylon, but also subjugated Persia, Media, Bactria, could collect to Tiglath Pileser, king of Assyria, to and Hyrcania -thus adding to his dominions all the gain his powerful aid against his enemy. The As- territories conquered by Alexander to the west of the syrian monarch immediately marched, with a strong Indus. Hle now caused himself to be proclaimed king army, into Syria, captured Damascus, and put Rezin of Babylon and Media. In the mean time, Syria had to death. The inhabitants, or the greater part of them, passed from the hands of Laomedon to those of Anwere transplanted to Kir, in'Media; and thus ended tigonus, another of Alexander's generals. Seleucus the ancient kingdom of Damascus, (740 B. C.) marched against him, defeated him in battle, and beThe kings of Hamath are mentioned in history, but came master of his kingdom, (300 B. C.) little is known respecting them. One of them, named Having settled the kingdom of Syria in tranquillity, Toi, sent to King David, after he had defeated Hadad- Seleucus built the city of Antioch, which soon became ezer, a costly present, consisting of golden, silver, and the metropolis of the East. He also founded the cities I brazen vessels, congratulating the Hebrew king on his of Seleucia, Laodicea, Apamea, and several others. successes, and offering him his allegiance. The sue- He reigned eighteen years in peace, but at length be. ceeding kings of Hamath seem to have lived on peace- came involved in wars with his old associates. At able terms with the Israelites till the foundation of the Curopedia, in Phrygia, he fought a battle with Lysimakingdom of Damascus, when Hamath became subject chus, who ruled over Thrace and the adjacent countries. to that power. At a subsequent date, the Hamathites Lysimachus was slain, and his army defeated; thus were conquered by Sennacherib and Esarhaddon, leaving Seleucus the sole survivor of the more promi kings of Assyria, and carried away captive to distant nent generals of Alexander. On account of this imregions. portant victory, he received the appellation of Nicator The kings of Geshur were but petty princes, more or Conqueror, by which he is commonly distinguished considerable for the alliance which David made with from other princes of the same name who reigned in their family, than for the extent of their territory. Syria. He did not long enjoy his triumph; for, as They are supposed to have belonged to one of the he was marching toward Macedonia with a design to royal families which, at a very early period, divided spend the remainder of his life in his native country, the whole of Syria among them. None of their he was treacherously murdered by Ptolemy Ceraunus, names, however, are mentioned in history, except as we have before stated, (281 B. C.) those of Ammihud, and his son Talmai, the latter Antiochus, the son of Seleucus, having burnt the body of whom gave his daughter Maacha in marriage of his father with extraordinary pomp, and erected a to King David, and sheltered her son Absalom magnificent chapel to his memory, took possession of three years, when he fled from his country for the his empire. The commencement of his reign was murder of his brother Ammon. It appears that the marked by his renunciation of the crown of Macedon inhabitants of Geshur bore the yoke of Damascus till in favor of Antigonus, and a successful expedition the invasion of the Assyrians, and that they were against the Gauls, who had long harassed Asia Minor afterwards transplanted by the conqueror into other with predatory incursions. The victories of Antiochus countries. over these marauders procured him the surname of Soter, or Savior. He was unsuccessful, however, in his wars with the kings of Pergamus and Egypt, during which he sustained several mortifying defeats. The CHAPTER C X v. Gauls, having renewed their incursions into Asia Minor, 312 to 200 B. C. and advanced towards Ephesus, Antiochus marched agains them, but was defeated and slain near that city, The Seleucidce in Syria- Rise of Antiochus (262 B. C.) (262 B.tC.) the Great. Antiochus II. avenged his father's death on the SYRIA, being absorbed into the Assyrian monarchy, Gauls, and received from the excessive adulation of passed from that empire into the dominion of the Per- his subjects, the surname of Theos, or God. In his sians, having no distinct history while under the rule reign, hostilities'of an alarming nature broke out in of these foreign dynasties. The conquest of the Per- the eastern provinces of the empire, and the power of sian empire by Alexander led the way for the erection the Syrian king rapidly declined in that quarter, owing of a new kingdom in Syria, under the sway of the Seleu- to the progress of the Parthians, the oppressions of the cidse, a family founded by Seleucus, one of the gen- provincial governors, and the unwise efforts of An erals of Alexander, as already mentioned. From his tiochus to force the Greek customs and religion on his earliest youth, Seleucus appears to have been employed Oriental subjects. Theodotus, the governor of Bactria, in the service of the Macedonian monarch; and he threw off his allegiance, and assumed the name and acquired such a reputation by his bravery and pru- authority of a king. In the midst of these troubles dence, that, on the death of Alexander, he was intrusted Antiochus was poisoned by his wife Laodice, who, as wvith the cotnnmmand of the Macedonian cavalry and the soon as the deed was accomplished, caused his body government of Babylon. The whole of Alexander's to be privately removed, and placed another per ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT. 231 son on the royal couch. This person, artfully counter- where he obtained such advantages, that Arsaces, king fIited the dying monarch, and induced the Syrian no- of Parthia, was glad to purchase a peace by offering lbles to acknowledge Seleucus Callinicuzs as their king, to assist Antiochus in the reduction of the remaining the lawful heir being another son of Antiochus by a provinces. The latter met with full success in this previous wife. The stratagemsucceeded, but the reign campaign. He concluded a matrimonial alliance with of Callinicus was marked by turbulence and misfor- the king of Bcetica, renewed a former league of tune.,After many wars, both with his own subjects amity with the reigning sovereign in the north of and with foreign powers, he marched to subdue the India, and established his authority in Arachosia, Parthians, but was defeated and made prisoner by Drangiada, and Carmania. He then returned, after therm, (236 B. C.) He remained in captivity till his an absence of seven years, to Antioch, with a reputadeath, (227 B. C.) tion which began to be formidable, not only to the SeleLuct;, his eldest son, acceded to the throne, and powers of Asia, but to those of Europe. took the surname of Cercluzus, or the Thunderer, an Shortly after his retllurn, (203 B. C.,) Ptolemy Philopappellation ill suited to his character. He lived through ator, king of Egypt, died. Antiochus immediately a reign of three years, distinguished by nothing but entered into an alliance with Philip of Macedon, for baseness and imbecility, and died by poison. His the purpose of depriving the young king of Egypt, cousin Achmus, managed to secure the crown for Epiphanes, of his dominions. In pursuance of this his son Antiochus, afterwards honored with the title plan, Antiochus marched into Caele-Syria and Palesof the Great. This prince, in the early part of his tine, which provinces had been wrested from him by ieign, was brought into great danger by the intrigues the deceased king. In two campaigns, Antiochus reof his prime minister Hermeias, who set on foot a annexed them to his dominions. In the mean time, quarrel between the king and Achoeus, to whom he the Roman senate, at the request of the Egyptians, was indebted for his crown. By the same intrigues, took upon themselves the guardianship of Epiphanes, NMolo and Alexander, the satraps of Media and Persia, and commanded Antiochus and Philip to withdraw were stirred up to revolt. Antiochus, after seeing his their forces from the newly conquered provinces, on general defeated by the rebels, took the field in person pain of their resentment. M. ZEmilius Lepidus, the against them, contrary to the advice of his prime min- Roman ambassador, having delivered this order to the ister. When the armies were about to engage, the royal confederates, repaired to the court of Egypt, rebel soldiers, yielding to a sudden impulse of loyalty, where he placed the management of public affairs in threw down their arms, and submitted themselves to the hands of Aristomenes, an old and experienced their sovereign. Molo committed suicide to escape minister. punishment, and his body was fixed to a cross and set This new governor despatched a numerous body on the top of one of the highest mountains of Media. of forces, under the command of Scopas, an -Etolian, Alexander, hearing of the catastrophe, murdered his into Palestine and Ccele-Syria. In a short time, all mother, wife, and children, and lastly killed himself. Judea was reduced under the Egyptian authority. H[ermeias expiated his treason upon the scaffold. Several cities in Ccele-Syria were captured, and the Achueus, in the mean time, had usurped the sover- army returned to Alexandria, loaded with plunder. eignty of Asia Minor, and Ptolemy Philopator, king But no sooner did Antiochus appear at the head of his of Egypt, threatened Syria from the opposite quarter. troops, than the scene was changed; and Scopas, who Antiochus marched southward and met the Egyptian returned to oppose his progress, was defeated with army at Raphia, near Gaza. Here an iEtolian in the dreadful slaughter. Many important cities were capSyrian service, named Theodotus, under cover of a tured by the Syrians, and the people of Jerusalem (lark night, boldly entered the Egyptian camp, and delivered up their keys to Antiochus, welcoming the penetrated to the royal tent, in hopes of terminating the conqueror with loud acclamations. Shortly after, a war by Ptolemy's death; but, the king happening that peace was concluded with Egypt, and a marriage night to sleep in another tent, the adventurer killed the agreed upon between Epiphanes and Cleopatra, the chief physician, whom he mistook for Ptolemy, wounded daughter of Antiochus,' who stipulated to cede the two other persons, and escaped in safety amid the con- conquered provinces as a dowry for the youthfui fusion which followed. princess. A battle soon after took place at Raphia, in which the Syrian army was put to flight; and Antiochus, having narrowly escaped with his life, agreed to a,peace, by which he lost a considerable territory. Being C HAP TE R C X V I now delivered from his Egyptian enemy, he concluded 200 to 64 B. C. a league with Attalus, king of Pergamus, and marched against Achoeus, who defended himself, in the city of Decline and Fall of the Syrian Monarchy. Sardis, for more than a year, against these two kings. BEING thus left free to pursue his designs upon Asia Hie was at length betrayed by some Cretans. When Minor, Antiochus despatched his two sons, Mithridates Antiochus saw the great man, to whom he was in- and Arduas, with his land forces, to Sardis, ordering debted for his crown, brought before him loaded with them to halt at that city, while he sailed northward, chains, like a common malefactor, he was greatly with a fleet sufficiently powerful to strike terror into agitated, and burst into tears. But, reasons of state all the coasts of the Mediterranean. As he coasted prevailing over compassion, he ordered him to be be- along Cilicia, Pamphylia, Caria, and Lycia, many of headed the same morning. the maritime cities escaped his vengeance by volunThe execution of Achseus having put an end to the tary submission. Ephesus and Coracesium were taken war in Asia Minor, Antiochus turned his attention to by assault. The Greek cities of Asia Minor, which the eastern provinces, which had thrown off the Syrian had hitherto enjoyed peace and prosperity.under firee yoke. He marched against Media and Parthia, governments of their own, were greatly alarmed a; ,23..2 SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR-SELEUCUS EPIPHANES. these proceedings, justly believing that Antiochus de- or three servants, and he frequently spent whole days signed to subject them to the same tyrannical sway in the shops of goldsmiths and carvers, disputing with which had been exercised over them by his predeces- them about the mysteries of their trade, which he sors. They applied, therefore, to Rome for protection ridiculously affected to understand. When he learnt against this powerful enemy. The senate caught that any young rakes were assembled on a party of' with eagerness at this pretext for interfering in the pleasure, he hastened to join their wanton frolic withaffairs of Asia, and immediately despatched ambassa- out any regard to the decorum proper to his station, dors into that country. or even to common decency. Sometimes he strolled Antiochus, in the mean time, had carried his arms about in a Roman toga, with a garland of' roses on his so far north as to seize upon the Thracian Chersonesus. head, carrying stones under his garments, for the purHere he was employed in rebuilding the city of pose of pelting any one who presumed to follow him. Lysimachia, which had lately been destroyed by the He also frequented the public baths, where he behaved Thracians, when the, Roman ambassadors arrived in in thle most preposterous manner. his camp with a body of deputies from the Greek He commenced his reign with a war against Egypt, cities in Asia. Antiochus designed to fix his residence in consequence of the claim made by the Ptolemies at Lysimachia, and make that city the capital of his to the possession of Syria and Palestine. In this war empire. He received his visitors with every mark of the Syrians were very successful, and penetrated to respect, and they exerted all their eloquence to dis- the walls of Alexandria. Ptolemy Philometor, the suade him from his design. The parties, however,'rightful heir of the Egyptian throne, who had been soon became disgusted with each other. The Romans, expelled by his brother Physcon, fell into the hands of assuming those imperious airs which so strongly Antiochus, who concluded an advantageous peace marked their character, peremptorily demanded the with him. But scarcely had he withdrawn his forces, restitution of all the provinces which Antiochus had when the Egyptain brothers entered into an accom conquered from the Egyptian prince. The king was modation, and combined to resist the power of Syria. filled with indignation at this insulting proposal, and, Antiochus, enraged at this treachery, immediately being instigated by Hannibal, who had been compelled directed his march toward Egypt; but his further to abandon his own country by the persecutions of the progress was stayed by the interference of the RoRomans, and had sought shelter at the court of Antio- mans, at whose imperious command he found himself chus — he set the Romans at defiance. War immedi- compelled to resign all his conquests. On his return ately ensued; but the Syrian king lost the fairest from this unsuccessful expedition, he vented his fury opportunities of success by neglecting the advice of on the unoffending city of Jerusalem, whose inhabitHannibal. In a series of battles, he was driven from ants he massacred in the most barbarous manner. Europe into Asia, and forced to act solely on the He left an army of sixty thousand men to accomplish defensive. At length, he was totally defeated near the extirpation of the few brave men who continued Mount Sipylus in Magnesia, and compelled to sue for to defend themselves in Judea. He also prohibited peace. The Romans deprived him of all his dominions the observance of the Jewish law, profaned the temple in Asia Minor, the greater part of which were'annexed of Jerusalem, and get up his own statue on the altar to the kingdom of Pergamus. The unhappy Antio- of burnt-offering. chus did not long survive this reverse of fortune. *Antiochus next issued a decree ordering all the While he was making a progress through his eastern nations subject to his dominion to conform to the reliprovinces, in order to levy tribute, he imprudently gion of the Greeks, and abandon all others. This seized the treasures in a temple of Jupiter Belus, and caused the immediate revolt of Parthia and Armefell a sacrifice to the fury of an incensed populace, nia. Antiochus immediately marched into Arme(187 B. C.) Such was the end of Antiochus the nia, where he defeated Artaxias, the king of that Great-who is highly commended by the ancient his- country, and took him prisoner. He then directed torians for his humanity, clemency, and munificence. his course toward Persia, to enforce the payment of His undertakings were attended with brilliant success the yearly tribute. On his march he attempted to till the fiftieth year of his age, after which period he plunder a temple at Elymais; but the inhabitants of gradually declined in political importance, till at that city and the neighboring villages immediately took length his ignominious peace with the Romans totally up arms and repulsed him with circumstances of great obscured the glory of his former exploits. ignominy. Overwhelmed with confusion at this disSeleucus, surnamed Philopator, succeeded to an grace, he retired to Ecbatana, where he received intelempire now rapidly falling to decay, and burdened ligence that his armies had been defeated in Judea, with a heavy tribute to the Romans. His reign was and that the Jews had demolished the heathen statues, feeble and inglorious. He commissioned Heliodorus and restored the ancient worship. This news exasto plunder the temple of Jerusalem, but was soon pun- perated him so violently that he instantly resolved to ished for this deed by the very hand which he had march in person to Jerusalem, and extirpate the whole employed to perform it. Heliodorus poisoned his Jewish nation. But while hastening his movements master, and placed the crown upon his own head, for this purpose, he died suddenly on the road to Baby(176 B. C.) Antiochus, the brother of Seleucus, applied ion, (165 B. C.) to Eumenes, king of Pergamus, by whose aid he ex- He was succeeded by his son Antiochus Eupator, pelled the usurper and mounted the throne. He as who was destined to a very short reign, for Demetrius, sumed the surname of Epiphanes, or Illustrious; but his cousin, who had been a hostage at Rome, escaped according to the concurrent testimony of the ancient from that city, and fled to Asia, where his appearance writers, no title was ever worse applied, for his con- immediately collected so strong a body of partisans, duct was so extravagant as to gain him the appellation that he easily dethroned Antiochus, who was but a boy. of Epimanes, or Madman. He was accustomed to Demetrius, with the usual barbarity of Asiatic soverramble about the streets of Antioch, attended by two eigns, immediately put the young prince to death, ail SYRIA UNDER THE ROMANS. 2~,l found means to'purchase the pardon of his crimes sions of the Parthians; and it was not till the full estab from the Roman senate. After an inglorious reign, he lishment of the power of Augustus, that the country was killed in battle by Alexander Balas, an impostor, became quietly settled as a part of the Roman empire who pretended to be the unfortunate Eupator, and was It was governed by a proconsul, who commonly resupported in his fraud by the Romans, and the Macca- sided at Anltioch. In the sixth year of the Christian era, bees of Judea. Balas was in his turn defeated by upon the banishment of the Jewish king Archelaus. Demetrius Nicator, and forced to seek refuge in Ara- the province of Syria was augmented by the addition bia, where he was murdered. of Judea and Samaria. The city of Palmyra, with the Nicator then took possession of the throne; but after district called Palmlyrene, was also regarded as politi. a while he lost the affections of his people, and was cally connected with Syria; but of this we shall give expelled from Antioch. He then attempted to estab- the history in another part of our work. lish another kingdom in Upper Asia, to which quarter Under the Roman emperors, Syria was esteemed one he was invited by the descendants of the Greek and of the most populous, flourishing, and luxurious provMacedonian colonists, to defend them against the at- inces of the East. Diocletian and Constantine made some tacks of the Parthians. In this enterprise, he'fell into alteration in the boundaries of its government, and the hands of his enemies, who detained him in captivity Adrian fixed the eastern limit of Syria and of the emfor ten years. His brother Antiochus Sidetes obtained pire at the Euphrates. This country continued to be the crown of Syria; but this prince engaged in a war the seat of a great commerce, and formed the enmwith the Parthians, in which he was treacherously porium which connected the eastern and western murdered by his own allies, (130 B. C.) quarters of the known world. On the decline of the A series of bloody civil wars and- violent revolu- Roman power after the time of Adrian, the frontiers tions followed, the details of which would only fatigue of Syria were exposed again to the inroads of the Parthe reader, without imparting the smallest instruction. thians and the Persians. The province was overAt length, the Syrians, weary of these turbulent scenes, run and almost subjugated by Sapor, king of Persia, determined to exclude the race of Seleucus from the (A. D. 258;) but his poweri in Syria was overthrown by throne, in hopes of finding tranquillity under the sceptre Odenathus, the sovereign of Palmyra. At the close of of a different dynasty. They accordingly conferred the third century, the Arabs of the Desert began to the crown on Tigranes, king of Armenia, (83 B. C.) make their appearance in Syria and on its borders, This prince, after a long and prosperous reign, became sometimes enlisting in the Roman legion, and at other involved in war with the Romans, at the close of times in the armies of the enemies of Rome. The which he was expelled from his throne by Pompey Persians renowed their invasions early in the seventh the Great, (64 B. C.) Syria was thus reduced to a century. Chosroes II., after reducing Mesopotamia Roman province, after having been subjected to the and the neighboring; states, led the Persian armies sway of the Seleucidae for nearly two centuries and across the Euphrates, captured many of the large a half.* cities of Syria, and finally, in 611, made himself master of Antioch, which lie nearly destroyed. Heraclius, the Greek emperor, took the field against Chosroes in 622, and in a series of brilliant campaigns overthrew C HII P T E R C XV I. his armies and drove him beyond the Tigris. Siroes, 64 B. C. to A. D. 1840. the son and successor of Chosroes, made a peace with Heraclius, (A. D. 628;) one of the conditions of which Syria Unwzder the Ronzans -_MIodern Syria.,was the restoration of the true cross, which was beDURING the civil wars of Rome, the Syrians suffered lieved to have been carried into Persia after the sackmuch from the conflicts of the parties that contended ing of Jerusalem by the armies of Chosroes in 614. fur the supreme power in the republic, as also from the This, however, was the last triumph of the Roman depredations of hordes of robbers which infested the arms in the East, and the brilliant recovery of the country. To these sufferings were added the incur- province of Syria, by Heraclius, was the immediate - The Dynasty of thle Selcucidce. 11. Alexander Balas, a usurper, 150 B. C. 1. Seleucus, the son of Antiochus, one of Alexander's 12. Demetrius Nicator, 146 B. C. generals, dates his reign from the defeat of Demetrius, (312 13. Antiochus Sidetes, 137 to 128 1B. C. B. C.) He was murdered 280 B. C. 14. Seleucus, son of Demetrius Nicator, put to deatn oy 2. Antiochus Soter acceded to the throne 280 B. C. his own mother, immediately on his accession. 3. Antiochus Theos acceded 261 B. C. 15. Antiochus Grypus, 125 B. C. 4. Seleucus Callinicus, succeeded his father, Antiochus 16. Antiochus Cyzyceus, 112 to 95, B. C., after the first Theos, 246 B. C. eighteen months of his reign, jointly with Grypus, till the 5. Toward the close of his reign, the king seems to have death of the latter, 96 B. C. made two expeditions against Parthia, in the latter of which 17. Seleucus VI., and last of the name, surnamed Epiph. he was taken prisoner by Arsaces, and it does not appear that anes Nicator, the son of Antiochus Grypus, driven by An,. he was ever released from his captivity. He- died of a fall tiochus Eusebes into Cilicia, was there besieged in Mopsuestia, firom his horse, and was succeeded by his son Seleucus Ce- and killed, 95 B. C. raunus, (226 B. C.) a weak prince, who was cut off by a conspir- 18. Antiochus Eusebes. acy in his own army, while on his march to attack Attalus, 19. Philippus. king of Pergamus, who had seized the greater part of Asia 20. Antiochus. Minor, (223 B. C.) 21. Tigranes, king of Armenia, till 69 B. C. 6. Antiochus the Great, brother to the late king. 22. Antiochus Asiaticus, expelled by Pompey, 65 B.; C. 7. Seleucus Philopator, (187 B. C.,) son of Antiochus, suc- End of the dynasty of the Seleucidie, which had existed' two. ceeded to an impoverished kingdom, and, reigning feebly hundred tand forty-seven years. for twelve years, was murdered by Heliodorus. The existing coins of this dynasty are very numerous 8. Antiochus Epiphanes, his brother, 175 B. C Those of Seleucus Nicator, are distinguibhed from the rest 9. Antiochus Eupator, 164 B. C. by their exact resemblance in type, style, and weight, to those 10. Demetrius Soter, 162 B. C. of Alexander the Great. 30_________________ | J54 S~YRIA UNDER THE TURKS-MOHAMMED ALI-IBRAHIM PACHA. prelude to the final loss of the country under the same Syria fell under the dominion of the Mamelukes of emperor. Egypt. In the early pant of the sixteenth century, the On the rise of the Mahometan power, Syria was Turkish sultan, Seli.n I., became involved in a war one of the first countries that felt the effect of the with the Persians, whom he defeated in a great battle military spirit of the new religion. Scarcely had the at Tabriz, (A. D. 1514.) The Persians in this war had doctrine of Mahomet been established in Arabia when been assisted by the Mameluke sultan Campson Gauri; hlis disciples turned their arms against the neighboring and Selim, to revenge this act of hostility, turned his countries. An invasion of Syria was determined upon arms against Syria, which was then included in the without delay, and requisitions for troops were sent to Mameluke dominions. Campson marched against all the Arabian tribes. The army which assembled him, and the rival armies met near Aleppo. After a for this purpose was the most numerous which had yet sanguinary engagement, the Mamelukes were defeatbeen raised by the votaries of the new faith. In the ed and their leader was slain. Aleppo immediately year 634, the inhabitants of Syria were surprised by a opened its gates to the conqueror, and this example formidable irruption of the marauding tribes of the was followed by all the other cities. Thus, in the year desert. The emperor Heraclius was alarmed at the 1516, Syria was annexed to the Ottoman empire. approach of so threatening an invasion, and sent a Under the Turkish dominion Syria was governed large army to meet the Arabs on the frontiers; but by pachas, who received their appointment from the this body was defeated with great slaughter. The divan at Constantinople, but exercised an irresponsi. Greeks, however, were more successful at Gaza, ble and tyrannical sway over their subljects. In 1832, where they gained a victory over an army of the Mohammed Ali, the pacha of Egypt, a bold and enterSaracens under Abu Obeidah. Notwithstanding this prising warrior, who had risen frdm the lowest station check, the invaders continued to advance. Khaled, to the rank of an almost independent sovereign, took one of their leaders, captured the city of Bozra, and,'advantage of the weakness of the government of Conafter gaining several other advantages over the im- stantinople, and made himself master of Syria as well perialists, he laid siege to Damascus. as of other countries adjoining. This involved him in Heraclius sent an army of one hundred thousand a war with the Porte. Mohammed claimed the hered-. men to relieve this city. Three battles were fought, itary sovereignty of all the territories which he had in all of which the Saracens *ere victorious, and at conquered; but the Porte refused to accede to this delength Damascus was stormed and taken. City after mand, and offered him the government of Syria for city now yielded to the victorious arms of the invaders, life, with the hereditary possession of Egypt. The and another army which the emperor sent to the relief dispute on this point finally involved the principal Euof the Syrians was completely overthrown at the battle ropean powers. Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Great of Yernmk. Encouraged by these successes, the Britain took sides with the Sultan, while France atSaracen commander, Abu Obediah, laid siege to Jerusa- tempted to support the Pacha. After some negotiations. lem, and in four months reduced the garrison to such the allied powers determined to expel the Egyptian distress that a surrender was unavoidable. The armies from Syria by force. These armies were comKhalif Omar came in person to receive the submission manded by Ibrahim Pacha, the son of Mohammed Ali. of the Holy City, and Jerusalem was given up to the The government of this prince in Syria had become Saracens, (A. D. 637.) very oppressive. He had, by stratagem, disarmed the Aleppo the ancient Berea, was the next city attacked Druses and other mountain tribes, and levied heavy by them. It was valiantly defended for four months, taxes upon the inhabitants of the whole country, be. but finally taken by storm. The governor, with sev- sides carrying away the young men to serve in his eral of his officers, embraced the Mahometan faith. armies, and labor upon his fortifications. This system, Antioch and Cmesarea made less resistance, and soon of conscription excited great opposition and loud murfell into the hands of the invaders. Heraclius, dis- murs. Many of the young men cut off their fingers. couraged by these disasters, fled from the province; or put out an eye, to render themselves unfit for miliand his son, after a few unsuccessful attempts to resist tary service. This practice was carried to such an the torrent of invasion, followed him to Constantinople. extent' that the pacha issued a decree condemning ali In six years from their first appearance in Syria, the such offenders to death. At Damascus, the houses Saracens had completed the conquest of the country, were surrounded by troops during the night, and and secured their acquisition by occupying the moun- when morning came, every residence was entered, tain fortresses on the borders of Cilicia, in Asia Minor. and all the strong and healthy young men were car-,- Syria thus became a portion of the great Sara- ried off to the army. cen empire. Shortly after the conquest, the khalif In 1839, the mountaineers revolted against the removed his court from Medina to Damascus, and this Egyptian government and attacked Beyrout, the headcity enjoyed the preeminence of being the capital of quarters of the pacha, and other places of importance. the empire till the year 749, when the residence Ibrahim carried on a cruel war against them, setting of the court was removed to Bagdad. This latter city fire to their villages, destroying their crops, and putting continued to be the metropolis of the Saracen do- their women and children to the sword. During this mi:iions till the final overthrow of the khali-fat in the, contest, an English, Austrian, and Turkish fleet arrived thirteenth century. Under the khalifs, Syria was the off Beyrout, and summoned the commander to surrentheatre of manvy civil wars, and at one time it was in- der. This being refused, the fleet cannonaded the cluded in the jurisdiction of Egypt.'town and nearly destroyed it. In the mean time, the At the commencement of the crusades, Syria was s''.-: had deprived Mohammed Ali of the government invaded by the Frankish armies, and the greater part ofSyria, and declared him a rebel. The Egyptian of the countrv fell into their hands. But the particu- army lost ground every day in Syria, and great num-'ars of these transactions are reserved for the history bers of the troops deserted. The allied fleet sailed thecrusades. After the expulsion of the Christians, along the coast, bombarding and capturing the whole THE MARONITES,Ine of fortified places on the seaboard, with the ex- dreadful scene of desolation was presented to the vic. ception of St. John d'Acre, a place of great strength, tors as they marched into the town. The houses anll and renowned in history during the crusades. fortifications were in ruins, the bodies of the slain On the third of November, 1839, this place was were scattered about the streets, and another explosio, attacked by the combined fleet, and after a cannonade of gunpowder killed the advanced guard of Ei;glish of three hours, the guns of the town were silenced. sailors, together with a great number of poor Arah The inhabitants deserted the place, but a dreadful women, with their children, who had come to seek calamity fell upon the garrison. A bomb shot from their husbands among the dead. the fleet fell into the powder magazine of the citadel, The capture of St. John d'Acre decided the fa e of which instantly exploded, and blew twelve hundred the war, and Mohammed All, after a long negotiation, men into the air with the shattered fragments of the consented to withdraw his troops from Syria, wlhich surrounding buildings. This terrible disaster com- country was restored (1841) to the dominion of the pletely disheartened the Egyptian army, and thev Porte. Since this event, nothing worthy of historical immediately retreated from the neighborhood. A. notice has occurred in that quar'.el The Maronites. C H A P T ER C X VIII. obtained, by his talent for preaching, the reputation of being one of the most powerful supporters of the A. D. 667 to 1588. cause of the Latins, or partisans of the pope. Their The MARONITES of ASyria — The Monk Maron opponents, who took the side of the emperor of Cond his Disciples Establishent on ont stantinople, and were therefore named Melllkites, or Lebanon anners of e r Royalists, made, at that time, great progress in Syria. Lebanon - Manners, Vc., of the Ml'acronites. To oppose them with success, the Latins determined ABOUT the end of the sixth century, while the to send among them John the Maronite. This person monkish spirit of retirement from the world was lost no time in rallying his partisans, and in augmentequally fervid and novel, a hermit named Maron, or ing their number; but, being strongly opposed by the Mlaroun, lived on the banks of the Orontes, a river of Melkites, he thought it necessary to resist force by Svria. This hermit, by his fastings, his solitary mode force. He therefore collected all the Latins in Syria, of life, and his austerities, made himself much re- and settled himself with them, among the mountains spected and venerated by the neighboring people. In of Lebanon, where they formed a society independent the disputes which arose, at that time, between Rome both in civil and religious government, (A. D. 676.) and Constantinople, he employed his credit in favor These people took the name of Maronites, and, of the Western Christians. His death, far from abat- having established order and military discipline among.ng the ardor of his followers, gave them new zeal. themselves, and being provided with arms and leaders, I[t was reported that miracles had been wrought by his they employed their leisure in combating the common remains; and, in consequence of this, many persons enemies of the Christians and their little state. In a assembled from towns in the neighborhood, and built a short time, they became masters of almost all the chapel and a tomb at Hallma, where a convent soon mountainous country as far as Jerusalem. The schism arose, which became very celebrated in Syria. The which took place among the Mahometans facilitated quarrels of the two metropolitan churches of Rome their conquests. Moawiyah's rebellion against Ali, the and Conlstantinople increased, and the whole empire Saracen governor of Damascus, compelled the khalif entered warmly into the dissensions of the priests and to make a disadvantageous treaty with the Greek emprinces. peror, one condition of which was, that the latter Matters were thus situated, when, about the end of should free the khalif from the Maronites. The the sventh century, a monk named John the MIaronite emperor, Justinian II., in carrying this into effect, was = = _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ = _._._.;.=.=._._.; 236 MIARONITE-S-SHE IKS-DRUSTb base enough to cause the chief of the Maronites to be or retained the Arab custom of retaliation, and the assassinated by an ambassador, whom the too generous nearest relative of a murdered person is bound to man had received into his house without suspicion of avenge him. From a habit founded on distrust, every treachery. man, whether sheik or peasant, walks armed with a After this murder, the ambassador compelled, by his musket and poniard. As the country maintains no intrigues, twelve thousand of the Maronites to quit regular troops, all are obliged to join the army in their country, leaving a free passage to the Mahometan time of war. armies. Another persecution menaced them with In religious matters, the Maronites are dependent on total ruin. Justinian sent troops against them, who Rome. But though they acknowledge the supremacy destroyed the monastery of Hama, and massacred five of the pope, their clergy elect their own chief, who is hundred monks; but just at this time, Justinian was styled batrak, or patriarch, of Antioch. Their priests deposed when on the point of causing a general mas- marry, as in the early ages of the Christian church: sacre at Constantinople, and the Maronites, authorized but their wives must be maidens, not widows; nor can by his successor, attacked their invaders, and cut them they marry a second time. They celebrate mass in entirely to pieces. From this period, history loses the Syriac language, of which the greater part of sight of these people till the arrival of the crusaders. them comprehend not a single word. The gospel is The Maronites and the crusaders appear to have read aloud in Arabic, that it may be understood by the been sometimes on friendly and at other times on hos- people. The priests have no revenues from the church, tile terms with one another. The former had, in the but subsist by the free offerings of their hearers and mean time, lost part of their territory, and were re- the labor of their own hands. Their poverty is recduced to the limits which mark their possessions at the ompensed by the great respect which is paid them. present day, paying tribute as often as the Arab or Each village has its chapel and priest, and each Turkoman governors were able to compel them to do so. chapel its bell -?a thing unknown in any other part of In 1014, the khalif of Egypt ceded their territory to a the Turkish dominions. The Maronites are vain of Turkoman prince of Aleppo. Two centuries after- this privilege, and, that they may not be deprived of it, ward, Sultan Saladin having driven the crusaders from will not suffer a Mahometan to live among them. Syria, the Maronites were obliged to submit to his They assume to themselves also the right to wear the power, and purchase peace by contributions. green turban, which, except in their territories, would About the year 1215, they effected a union with the cost a Christian his life. Romish church, from which they were never very widely separated. William of Tyre, who relates this circumstance, adds, that they had at that period forty thousand men able to bear arms. The peace which they enjoyed after this, gave them courage, and, in con- C H AP T E R C X I X. cert with their neighbors, the Druses, they made daily A. D. 996 to 1600. encroachments on the Ottomans. But these enter-s- Origin of the Druses-Kha prises had an unfortunate issue. Sultan Amurath III., Ha/en - taladi despatched against them Ibrahim Pacha of Egypt, who reduced them to obedience in 1588, and subjected IT is necessary to trace the origin of this remarka ~them to an annual tribute, which they continue to pay ble race up to the early times of Islamism. About at the present time. twenty years after the death of Mahomet, the disputes The Maronites are divided into two classes —the between Ali, his son-in-law, and Moawiyah, the Arab common people and the sheiks. By the latter must be governor of Syria, occasioned the first schism in the understood the most eminept of the inhabitants, who, Saracen empire, which continues among the Mahomfrom the antiquity of their families, and their wealth, etans to this day. This difference, however, related are superior to the ordinary class. They all live dis- at first only to the possession of temporal power: and persed in the mountains, in villages, hamlets, and de- the Mahometans, whatever discordant opinions they tached houses. The whole nation consists of culti- might entertain respecting the rightful succession of vators. Every man improves the little domain he the Prophet, agreed in religious dogmas. It was not possesses or hires, with his own hands. Even the till the following century that the study of the Greek sheiks live in the same manner, and are distinguished writings introduced among the Saracens a spirit o' from the rest by a cloak, a horse, and a few slight discussion and controversy to which they had previ. advantages in food and lodging. They all live fru- ously been utter strangers. The consequence was, gally, without many enjoyments, but also with few that by reasoning on matters not susceptible of demonwants, as they are little acquainted with the inventio lns. stration, and guided by the abstract principles of an of luxury. In general, the nation is poor, but no one unintelligible logic, they divided into a multitude of lacks the necessaries of life. Property is as sacred sects and opinions. among them as in Europe or America. Travellers At this period, too, the civil power, among the Saramay journey in their country, either by night or day, cens, lost much of its authority, and was unable to with a security unknown in any other part of the restore unity in the faith of Mahomet. The nations Turkish empire; and the stranger is received with hos. which had adopted this religion mixed it up with theil pitality, as among the Arabs. old superstitions, and the errors which had anciently Conformably to the doctrine of Christianity, they prevailed over Asia again made their appearance. allow but one wife to a man. The marriage is fi'e- though altered in their forms. The metempsychosis, quently performed without any previous acquaintance or transmigration of souls, the doctrine of a good and between the two parties, sometimes without their hay- evil principle, and the renovation of the world aftet ing seen each other. On the other hand, contrary to six thousand years, were again revived among the the precepts of the same religion, they have admitted Mahometans. In this political and religious confusion RISE OF THE DRUSES. 23 mt~IB\I i-~rllllt~ —r OS~J~,.' _>e Druses of Syria. every enthusiast became an apostle, and every apostle became the first apostle of their creed. Differing in the head of a sect. No less than sixty of these per- opinion among themselves on many points, the urgent sons are recorded in history, remarkable for the num- interest of their common safety compelled them to bers of their followers, all differing in some points of adopt the principle of mutual toleration, and they afterfaith, and all disavowing heresy and error! Such was wards united and jointly opposed the crusaders, the the state of the Mahometan world, when, at the com- sultans of Aleppo, the Mamelukes, and the Ottoman mencement of the eleventh century, one of the most Turks. The conquest of Syria by the latter peopfe, extravagant scenes of absurdity and enthusiasm was in the sixteenth century, made no change in their sitexhibited in this quarter. uation. Sultan Selim I., on his return from the conIn the year 996, Hakem b'Amr Ellah, the Fatimite quest of Egypt, after overrunning Syria, meditated khalif of Egypt, came to the throne at the age of no less an exploit than the subjugation of all Europe, eleven years. He was one of' the most extraordinary and disdained to waste his time before the strongholds rulers mentioned in the Saracen annals. He caused of the Druses in the rocks of Lebanon. Solyman II. the first khalifs, the companions of Mahomet, to be his successor, incessantly engaged in important wars, publicly cursed in the mosques, and afterwards re- had no time to think of these people. voked the anathelna. He compelled the Jews and Emboldened by this security from the Ottoman Christians to abjure their religion, and then permitted wars, and not content with mere independence, the them to resume it. He prohibited the making of Druses frequently descended from the mountains to slippers for women, to keep them within doors. He pillage their Turkish neighbors. The pachas in vain burnt one half the city of Cairo for his diversion, while attempted to repel their inroads; their troops were invahis soldiers pillaged the other. Not content with these riably routed or repulsed; and it was not till the year extravagant actions, he forbade the pilgrimage to 1588, that Amurath III., wearied with the complaints Mecca, fasting, and the five Mahometan prayers, and made to him, resolved upon taking the field against at length carried his madness so far as to desire to them with a large force. This design was not alnass for God himself. He ordereda register to be together unsuccessful. His general, Ibrahim Pacha, made of those who acknowledged him to be so, and marched from Cairo and attacked the Druses and the number amounted to sixteen thousand. His blas- Maronites with so much vigor as to drive theim phemous pretension was supported by a false prophet, back into the mountains. This was followed by disnamed Mohammed ben Israel, surnamed El Dorzi, sensions among the chiefs of the Druses, of which who came from Persia, and encouraged the khalif in Ibrahim took advantage, and exacted from them a all his extravagances; but these were carried to such contribution of a million of piastres. After this, they a length, that the people at last rose in insurrection, and were held to the payment of a yearly tribute to the massacred both the monarch and his prophet. Ottoman Porte. The death of these two persons did not check the This expedition was the epoch of a considerable progress of their opinions. A disciple of the prophet, change in the political constitution of the Druses. nanmed Hamza ben Ahmed, preached them with an They had previously lived in a sort of anarchy, under indefatigable zeal in Egypt, Palestine, and along the the command of different sheiks or leaders. The coast of Syria, as far as Sidon and Berytus. His nation was likewise divided into two factions, such as proselytes being persecuted by the sect in power, are to be found in all the Arab tribes, the Kaifi and theyy ook refuge in the mountains of Lebanon, where the Yamini, the one carrying a red flag, and the other they were better able to defend themselves. Here a white one. To simplify the administration, Ibrahim they established themselves, and formed an independ- permitted them to have but one chief, who should be ent society. They took the name of Druses, from responsible for the tribute, and execute the office of DIorzi, the surname of the Persian impostor, who |civil magistrate. This governor, from the nature of 2,3:8 FAKARDIN, CHIEF OF THE DRUSES. his situation, acquired great authority, and became of general inquiry. Their history and religion were almost the,mng of the republic. But as he was al- found to be so little known as to leave it a matter of ways chosen from among the Druses, a consequence doubt whether they should be classed with Mahometans followed which the Turks had not foreseen, and which or Christians. The crusades were called to mind, and was nearly fatal to their supremacy over them. The it was soon suggested that a people who had taken chief, having at his disposal the whole strength of refuge in the mountains of Syria, and were enemies the nation, was able to give it unanimity and action; to the natives of that country, could be no other than and it naturally turned against the Turks, since the the offspring of the crusaders. This idle conceit was Druses, by becoming their subjects, had not ceased to too favorable to the projects of the emir to permit him be their enemies. They took care, however, that their to contradict it; he was artful enough to encourage attacks should be indirect, so as to save appearances, the delusion, by pretending that he -was related to the and engaged only in secret hostilities, more danger- house of Lorraine. The missionaries and merchants, ous, perhaps, than open war. who promised themselves a new opening for converThe power of the Druses attained to its greatest sions and commerce, sustained him in his pretensions. height about the beginning of the seventeenth century. When an opinion becomes generally received, every This was owing to the talents and ambition of the eel- one discovers new proofs of its certainty. The learned ebrated Emir Fakr-el-Din, commonly called Fakardin. in etymology, struck with the resemblance of the No sooner was this prince promoted to the office of names, insisted that Druse and Dreux must be the chief of the Druses, than he turned his whole attention same word; and on this foundation they built the systo the scheme of humbling the Ottoman power, and tem of a pretended colony of French crusaders, aggrandizing himself at the expense of the Turks. In who, under the conduct of a Comte de Dreux, had this undertaking he displayed remarkable address. formed a settlement on the mountains of Lebanon. He first gained the confidence of the Porte, by every This hypothesis, however, is completely overthrown demonstration of loyalty and fidelity: and, as the wild by the fact that the Druses are mentioned by BenjaArabs at that time infested the plain of Baalbec and min of Tudela, a traveller who lived before the time other parts of Syria, he made war upon them, freed of the crusades. Moreover, had the Druses been the inhabitants from their depredations, and thus ren- descended from the Franks, they must have retained dered them desirous of living under his government. some traces of their European language; but that of The city of Beyroot was situated advantageously for the Druses is pure Arabic, without a word of Western his designs, as it opened a communication with foreign origin. countries, and, among others, with the Venetians -the After a residence of nine years in Italy, the emii natural enemies of the Turks. Fakr availed himself returned to resume the government of his country. of the misconduct of the aga of this place, expelled During his absence, Ali had repulsed the Turks, him, seized upon the city, and was adroit enough to appeased discontents, and maintained good order. make his peace with the government of Constantinople, Nothing remained for his father but to apply his newly by the payment of a larger tribute. He proceeded in acquired knowledge in perfecting the internal administhe same manner at Saida, Baalbec, Soor, and other tration of his government, and promoting the welfare places, till at length, about the year 1613, he became of his people. But, instead of introducing the useful master of territory sufficient to constitute a respectable and valuable arts of Europe into his country, he abanprincipality. doned himself wholly to fiivolous and expensive proThe pachas of Tripoli and Damascus could not see jects, for which he had imbibed a passion in Italy. He these encroachments with indifference. Sometimes built numerous villas, constructed costly baths, planted they opposed the Druse chieftain with open force, gardens, and, contrary to the prejudices of his countrythough ineffectually; sometimes they'endeavored to men, employed the ornaments of painting and sculpruin him with the Porte by secret machinations; but the ture, notwithstanding these are prohibited by the emir, who maintained his spies and partisans at the Koran. court of Constantinople, defeated every attempt of his The Druses soon became disaffected; hostilities enenemies. At length, however, the divan began to feel sued with the neighboring pachas, and the sultan himalarm at the progress of the Druses, and made prep- self, at length, resolved to crush.a subject who had arations for an expedition capable of' crushing them. grown almost into a rival. The pacha of Damascus The emir, whether from policy or from fear, did not received orders to march against Beyroot, the usual think proper to wait the coming of this storm. He residence of the emir, while the Turkish galleys had formed connections in Italy, on which he built blockaded it by sea. The emir and his son defended great hopes, and determined to go in person to that the city bravely; but, after repulsing the Turks in country. He therefore embarked at Beyroot, after two engagements, Ali was killed in a third, and his committing the administration of affairs to his son Ali, father, terrified at the loss of his troops, afflicted by and repaired to the court of the Medici at Florence. the death of his son, and enfeebled by age and a voluptuous life, losing all resolution and presence of mind —took to flight. The Turks pursued him to a stronghold on the summit of a rocky mountain, where they besieged him ineffectually for a whole C H A P T E R C X X. year, when they withdrew, and left him at liberty. A. D. 1600 to 1840. But, shortly afterward, the companions of his adversity, wearied with their sufferings, betrayed the old( Fall of Faiacrdin- Wars of the Druses. warrior, and delivered him up to the Turks. He was THE arrival of an Oriental prince in Italy attracted carried to Constantinople, where the sultan, pleased universal attention: inquiry was made concerning his to beholi at his feet a prince so celebrated, treated natlon, and the origin of the Druses became a subject him, at first, with that forbearance which arises from MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE DRUSES. 239 the pride of superiority. Soon, however, returning to cotton, and grain. The chief is styled hakem, or govhis former jealousies, he yielded to the instigations of ernor; also emir, or prince. He is a sort of king, or his courtiers, and, in one of his violent fits of passion, general, who unites in his own person the civil and he ordered him to be strangled. Thus died, A. D. military powers. His authority is sometimes trans1631, after a most eventful life, the Emir Fakr-el-Din, mitted from:father to son, sometimes from one brother the most able and renowned of all the chiefs of the to another; the succession is determined rather by Druses. force than by fixed laws. The office of the hakemn After this catastrophe, the posterity of the emir still is to watch over the good order of the state, and to continued in the possession of the government, though prevent the sheiks and villagers from making war on as the vassals of the Porte. This family failing in the each other. He collects the tribute, from which he male line, at the beginning of the last century, the annually pays a stated sum to the pacha. authority devolved, by the election of the sheiks, on In questions of. peace and war, the hakem must the house of Shebab, in which it has continued down convoke general assemblies of the people, and lay to the present day. before them the state of affairs. In these assemblies, The history of the Druses, during the last and every sheik and every peasant, who has any reputation present century, offers little to interest the reader. In for courage or understanding, is entitled to a vote, so 1822, the reigning emir, Beshir, took the part of the that the government may be regarded as a wellpacha of Acre, in his rebellion against the Turkish proportioned mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and government. By this act he excited the hostilities of democracy. No standing army is maintained. In the Porte, and was expelled from office. He took war, every man able to bear arms is called upon to refuge in Egypt, where he found means to gain the march. He takes with him a little bag of flour, and favor of Mohammed Ali, the pacha of that country, by his weapons, and repairs to the rendezvous. If it be whose mediation he was restored to his country and a civil war, as sometimes happens, the servants, the authority. The protection of the Egyptian chief, farmers, and their friends, take up arms for their however, proved far from acceptable to the Druses. patron, or the chief of their family, and repair to his Mohammed, having subjected the whole of Syria to standard. A traveller in their country gives the folhis rule, treated the inhabitants with great tyranny, lowing account: " When the emir and the sheiks and oppressed them with taxes and conscriptions, to had determined on war at Dair el Kamar, the criers enable him to carry on his war against the Porte. in the evening ascended the summits of the mountains, This excited great discontent. In 1840, he ordered I and there called, with a loud voice,' To war! to war! the emir to deprive the Druses of their arms. These Take your guns; take your pistols. Noble sheiks, people, who understood this measure to be a part of mount your horses; arm yourselves with the lance his scheme for taxing and oppressing them at his and sabre. Rendezvous to-morrow at Dair el Kamar. pleasure, immediately rose in insurrection. They at- Zeal of God! zeal of combats!' tacked Beyroot, Saida, Tripoli, and other places, and "This summons, heard in the neighboring villages, ravaged the country in the neighborhood. The pacha was repeated there; and, as the whole country is was obliged to summon a large force from Egypt, by nothing but a chain of lofty mountains and deep valthe aid of which the insurrection was suppressed in leys, the proclamation passed, in a few hours, to the the course of the year. Since that event, the Druses frontiers. These voices, from the stillness of the have remained quiet. night, the long-resounding echoes, and the nature of The territory of the Druses now comprises the south the subject, had something awful and terrible in their part of the chain of Lebanon, and the region east and effect. Three days after, fifteen thousand armed men south of Beyroot, and as far south as the sources of were collected at Dair el Kamar." the River Jordan. The dominion of the emir extends An army of Druses consists of a crowd of peasants, also over the north part of the mountains as far as the with short coats, bare legs, and muskets in their hands. latitude of Tripoli. Toward the east, it prevails over Their warfare is only a conflict of posts. T'hey never a portion of the Beka, or the plain between the Leba- risk themselves in the plains, being unable to sustain non and Anti-Lebanon chain. The emiracknowledges a charge of cavalry, for want of bayonets. Their the supremacy of the pacha of Acre, and pays tribute whole art consists in climbing rocks and creeping to that chief, on condition that no Turk shall be al- among the bushes, from whence their fire is very lowed to reside within his jurisdiction. The capital effective, as they are most expert marksmen. They of the Druses is Dair el Kamar, a town of about five are accustomed to sudden inroads, surprises by night, thousand inhabitants, situated in a fine valley on the ambuscades, and all rapid movements and close ren. western slope of Lebanon. Part of the inhabitants are i counters. They possess two qualities very important Christians, and the town contains two Maronite and two to soldiers: they strictly obey their leaders, and are Melkite churches. The number of Druses throughout endowed with a temperance and a vigorof health un-,he country is estimated at two hundred thousand. common among civilized nations. They have been known to pass three months in the open air without tents, or any other covering than sheepskins, yet withl no more loss from sickness than if they had staid at home. CHAPTER CXXI. The Druses dress differently from the Maronites. sIacnners, Custonms, Tic., of the 1Druses. | The men wear a coarse black woollen cloak, with white stripes, thrown over a waistcoat, and loose, short TIIE Druses are divided, like the Maronites, into I trousers of the same stuff, tied round the waist by a sheiks and peasants. The greater part are cultivators, white or red linen sash. On the head is worn a flat. every man living on his inheritance, improving his turnip-shaped turban. The women wear a coarse -nulberrv-trees and vines. They also raise tobacco, blue jacket and petticoat, witholt any stockings.'Theim l:Veto AtRCHITECTURE, RELIGION, &c., OF THE DRUSES. lair is plaited, and hangs down in tails behind. When gious matters, and disbelieve a future state. Whei' in full dress, they wear on the head a hollow tube of among the Turks, they affect the exterior of Mahomesilver or tin, with silver bobs to their tresses- the whole tans, frequent the mosques, and perform their abluenveloped in a white linen sheet. tions and prayers. Among the Maronites, they accomThe architecture of the Druses, in general, is rude; pany them to church, and use holy water. Many of but the capital is said to resemble a second-rate coun- them, importuned by missionaries, suffer themselves to try town of Italy. The castle, or palace, of the emir, be baptized. If solicited by the Turks, they will subat Bteddin, near Dair el Kamar, has pretensions to mit to the Mahometan rite of initiation, and conclude elegance. Some of its apartments are very hand- by dying neither Christians nor Mahometans. somely furnished, paved with marble, and adorned with rich folding draperies and divans. The walls are inlaid with ivory and gilding, and ornamented with passages of the Koran and the Scriptures in Arabic, in large embossed gilt characters. C X X. The distinguishing character of the Druses is a sort A. D. 1070 to 1160. of republican spirit, which gives them more energy The AssAssINs Their Origin- Ilusszn Suthan any other subjects of the Turkish government, bah - The. with an indifference to religion, which forms a striking contrast to the zeal of the Mahometans and Chris- DURING the period of the crusades, Syria was the tians. In other respects, their private life, their cus- theatre of a political power the most extraordinary toms and prejudices, are the same as those of the perhaps, that ever existed. A family of chiefs had other Orientals. Their amusements are of the sim- erected a dominion in this country through the means plest character. In the evening, they sometimes of superstition, of so peculiar a nature as to give them assemble in the court, the area, or the house, of unlimited influence over their followers, and enable the chief of the village or family. There, seated in them to strike awe into the most powerful sovereign, a circle, with crossed legs, pipes in their mouths, and and to fill the Eastern world with horror and dismay poniards in their belts, they discourse of their various for nearly two centuries. These men were termed labors, the harvests, peace and war, the conduct of the Assassins, from the Arabic word haschaschin, signify emir, or the amount of the taxes. The children, tired ing a person addicted to the use of an intoxicating of play, come frequently to listen; and a stranger is substance obtained from hemp, and called haschisch. surprised to hear them, at ten or twelve years old, re- The Assassins of Syria occupied the mountainous counting, with a serious air, how the Turks and the region of Lebanon, and the hills of Tortosa, near Egyptians went to war, how many purses it cost the Tripoli. Their leader was styled Sheik ul Gebel, the pacha of Syria, what increase of the tax is likely to Sheik or Lord of the Mountains, which has been follow, how many muskets there were in the camp of wrongly translated into the Old Alan of the Mountain, the Druses, and who had the best mare. This is their the title by which he is commonly known in Europe. only education. They are not taught to read the Some writers have deduced the origin of the AssasPsalms, like the Maronites, nor the Koran, like the sins from the ancient Parthians, and their name from Mahometans. The sheiks hardly know how to write that of the Arsacide. There seems no rational a letter. All classes treat each other with that rational ground, however, for these conjectures. The founder familiarity which is equally remote from rudeness and of the race was Hussun Subah, from whom they were servility. The hakem himself is not a different man originally termed Hussunees, or disciples of Ilussun. from the rest. He is a sort of good-natured country This individual was the son of an Arab of the Hogentleman, who does not disdain to admit the meanest merite family of the Subahs. He was born at Rhe,-in farmer to his table. In a word, the manners of the the Persian province of Irak, in the latter part of the Druses are those of ancient times, and of that rustic life eleventh century, and was educated at Nishapour, in which marks the origin of every nation. Khorasan- at that time the capital of the Seljukian In religion, the Druses hold the doctrine of Moham- princes, who ruled over Persia. He was the college med ben Israel, who taught that it was not necessary companion of Nizam ul Mulk - the celebrated prime to fast or pray, or practise circumcision, or make the minister of Alp Arslan - of Malek Shah, and the pilgrimage to Mecca, or observe festivals; and finally, famous Persian poet Keyomee. Gloomy and reserved that the Khalif Hakem b'amr Ellah was God incar- by nature, his studies were of such a character as nate. They drink wine, eat pork, and allow marriage to increase the'morbid tendencies of his milnd, and between brothers and sisters. In religion, they are he became a morose and moody visionary. A predivided into two classes, called Okkals and Djahel, or diction existed at Nishapour, implying that an exalted the Initiated and the Profane. They have various de- destiny awaited certain students in the seminary of grees of initiation, the highest of which require celi- that city; and this gave rise to a mutual agreement bacy. Those who belong to these, are distinguished among the three friends, that whoever of them first by a white turban, which they affect to wear as a sym- attained to power should assist the fortunes of the bol of their purity. So proud are they of this supposed others, who were less successful. sanctity, that they think themselves sullied by touching The sun of prosperity smiled first on Nizam ul a profane person. All their practices are enveloped Mulk, who rose to the highest rank in the confidence in mystery. Their oratories stand alone on the tops of of Alp Arslan, and Omnar Keyomee was not long in the mountains, and in these they hold secret assemblies. preferring his claim to the benefit of the compact. They have some religious books, which the Okkals " In what can I best. assist thee?"' demanded the conceal with the greatest care. not only from foreign- minister, as he warmly greeted his friend. Omar, who ers, but fiom the uninitiated of their own people. The was enamored of poetry and ease, replied. " Place me mass of the nation are wholly indifferent about reli- where my i;fe may pass without care or annoyance, and HUSSUN SUBARI. 241 The Sheik ul Gebel instructing his Followers. where wine in abunniLinrce may inspire my muse." A vert to the doctrines of these sectaries. He now em pension was accordingly assigned him in the fertile ployed all his energies in working on the enthusiasrr district of Nishapour, where Qmar lived and died, and of others, and attaching to himself a band of devoted where his tomb may still be seen. Hussun was more adherents, in order to secure the power which he covambitious. After years of travel, he also repaired to the eted. Shut out, by his saturnine disposition, his profli court, and reminded the vizier of their agreement. A gate and dangerous character, and his peculiar opinreasonable bounty was offered to him; but this was so ions, from all ordinary paths to distinction, he formed far below his extravagant wishes, that the ungrateful a diabolical plan for assuaging his thirst of dominion, Arab spurned the gift, and attempted to revenge the as well as his hatred of mankind, by inthralling the disappointment by undermining his benefactor in the souls of men. The design at last succeeded, and Hussun favor of the sultan. Failing in this attempt, he re- Subah established a moral despotism more absolute and turned, in a transport of shame and fury, the im- terrible than that of the mightiest monarch of his time. placable foe of the man who had endeavored to serve From Syria, he directed his course again to his him. native town of Rhe, where he met with some disconHe first concealed himself in the house of a respec- tented persons, who declared themselves ready to assist table landholder at Rhe, when his uneasy and sanguine him. His first object was to gain possession of a strongspirit often vented itself in threats of visionary projects. hold, and he succeeded by a stratagem in capturing On one occasion, he uttered an unguarded boast that, with the hill fort of Allahamout, near Casbin, in the mounthe aid of two devoted friends, he would overthrow the tainous region to the south-west of the Caspian Sea. power of the sultan. This so alarmed his simple host, From this fortress he commenced depredations on the that he suspected the brain of his guest to be turned, surrounding country. Malek Shah, the Seljukian suland attempted secretly to regulate his diet and to induce tan, sent a force to reduce him. Hussun had only him to take physic suitable to persons laboring under seventy followers, and was driven to such extremity as mental derangement. Hussun smiled at the mistake; to be on the point of falling into the hands of his eneand many years after, when his power was established, mies, when a seasonable succor of three hundred men he made prisoner of his old host, and carried him away from Rhe,enabled him to make a successful sally from to his castle of Allahamout, among the mountains, where his fortress, which compelled the sultan's army to raise he treated him with all kindness and courtesy, and ad- the siege. dressed him in such terms as these: "Well, my good Having thus laid the foundation of an independent friend, do you still think me crazy? Have you brought power, the fanatical zealot proceeded to erect upon it any more medicine for me? Or do you now compre- a superstructure of the most extraordinary character. bend the power of a few determined and united men? " Superstition, or a blind, devoted faith, was the instrument Hussun proceeded to Syria, where he entered into with which he wrought; and such was the influence thle service of a chief of Ismael, and adopted the ten- which he soon acquired, that the greatest princes of the ets of that sect. The Ismaelites derive their name East trembled at his name. Fate was in his hands; for from adopting the pretensions of Ismael the son of Jaffi- there was no shape which his followers could not aser,the sixth Mahometan imam, or pontiff, whose claims sume, and no danger which they would not brave, to to the pontificate were set aside in favor of his younger fulfil his commands. More than fifty thousand men brother, Kauzim. They also profess certain doctrines gloried in their devotion to his service, and every one at variance with orthodox Islamism. This sect appears of these obeyed, with equal promptitude, an order to to be a remnant of the ancient Karmathians, who dis- sacrifice his own life or to take that of another. The turbed the Mahometan faith in the time of Haroun Al means which he employed to inspire this ardent devo. Raschid, and who have been known under various other tion in his followers are no less singular than the object r ystical designations. Hussun became a zealous con- aimed at by the leader of these fanatic sectaries. 31 - - -- - -----— ~ —~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~242 THE VALLEY OF PARADISE,,4arco Polo, the celebrated Venetian traveller, to whom princes or others gave umbrage tc this chief, they we are indebted for much of our early knowledge of were put to death by these his disciplinee assassins he East, gives the following account of the manner none of whom felt terror at the risk of losing their n which Hussun, or the Sheik ul Gebel, obtained such own lives, which they held in little estimation, provided n1 ascendency over the minds of his disciples — they could execute their master's will. He had two In a beautiful valley, enclosed between two lofty deputies, or lieutenants, one of whom resided near mountains, he had formed a luxurious garden, stored Damascus, and the other in K6ordistan; and these pur. with every delicious fruit and every fragrant shrub sued the same plan which he had established for training that could be procured. Palaces, of various sizes and their young dependants. Thus there was no person forms, were erected in different parts of the grounds, however powerful, who, having become exposed to the ornamented with works in gold, paintings, and furni- enmity of the Old Man of the Mountain, could escape ture of rich silks. By means of small conduits, con-. assassination, when he commanded it. trived in these buildings, streams of wine, milk, honey, and pure water were made to flow in every direction. The inhabitants of these palaces were beautiful damsels, accomplished in the arts of singing, playing upon C H A P T E R C X XIII. musical instruments, dancing, &c. Clothed in rich A. D. 1100 to 1160 dresses, these sirens were seen continually sporting and amusing themselves in the garden and pavilions, Success of the Asscssinls - Sultanz anjartheir female guardians being confined within doors, Hussein Ebn LVasser. and never suffered to appear. TInE Assassins were regularly organized, the whole The object which the chief had in view, in forming institution comprising seven degrees. The Sheik ul this delightful garden, was this: Mahomet having Gebel was the head; next were three dignitaries, styled promised his followers the enjoyments of paradise and the dais al kebir, or grand priors; thirdly were the the society of beautiful nymphs, this chief was also dais, or minor priors; fourthly, the refeeks, or comdesirous of passing himself' off for a prophet, who had panions; fifthly, thefedavees, or devoted; sixthly, the the power of admitting his disciples into the bower of laseeks, aspirants or novices; and lastly, the profane, bliss. In order that none, without his permission, or common people. Hassun composed for the dais, or should obtain access to this delicious valley, he caused initiated, a catechism consisting of seven heads, among a strong and impregnable castle to be built at the en- which'were implicit obedience to their chief, secrecy, trance: the passage into the garden was by a secret and the principle of seeking the allegorical and not way through this castle. At his court, likewise, this the plain sense of the Koran, by which means the text chief entertained a number of youths, from twelve to of that book could be distorted to signify any thing which twenty years of age, selected from the inhabitants of the interpreter wished. The secret knowledge of the the surrounding mountains, who showed a disposition Assassins was confined to a few; the rest were bound for martial exercises, and appeared to possess daring to a strict observance of the letter of the Koran. The courage. To these youths he was in the daily prae- most active and effectual members were the fedarees, tice of discoursing on the subject of the paradise an- who were youths often purchased or'stolen from their nounced by the prophet, and of his own power of parents in infancy. They were clothed in white, with granting admission. At certain times, he caused red bonnets and girdles, and armed with sharp dagdraughts of a soporific nature to be administered to gers; but they assumed all kinds of disguises when ten or a dozen of them, and, when overcome with sent on a mission. sleep, he had them conveyed to the several apartments The use of wine was strictly forbidden to his folof the palaces in the garden. lowers by Hussun, and they were enjoined the most Upon awakening from their lethargy, their senses temperate and abstemious habits. He enforced his were struck with all the delightful objects above de- precepts with the greatest severity; and two of his scribed Each one perceived himself to be attended by sons, it is said, died under the blows which he bestowed lovely damsels, singing, playing, and attracting his re- upon them for disobedience. On sending his wife and gards by the most fascinating caresses; serving him also two daughters to a friend at a distance, that they with delicate viands and exquisite wines, until, intoxi- might be in safety when he was besieged, Hussun cated with excess of enjoyment, he believed himself re- directed that they should receive no support beyond ally in paradise. When four or five days had thus been what they could earn by spinning. passed, they were thrown once more into a lethargy, The success of this extraordinary establishment was and carried out of the garden. Upon being introduced unparalleled. When the Sheik ul Gebel fancied himinto the presence of the chief, and questioned as to self injured or insulted, or even when the caprice of where they had been, their answer was, " In paradise, the moment singled out an object for the work of through the favor of your highness;" and then, before death, he despatched secretly some of his disciples, the whole court, who listened to them with eager cu- fully instructed in the art of disguising their purpose riosity and astonishment, they described the scenes and no precaution was sufficient to guard any man, which they had passed through. The chief, thereupon however powerful, against the attempt of the Assassins. addressing them, said, "We have the assurance of Khalifs, princes, and nobles fell victims to their dagour prophet that he who defends his lord shall inherit gers. The imams and mollahs who preached against paradise; and, if you show yourselves obedient to my their murderous deeds and doctrines were poniarded, orders, a happy lot awaits you." Animated to enthu- pensioned, or silenced, and the Assassins increased siasm by words of this nature, all deemed themselves every year in numbers and insolence. In the year happy to receive the commtnands of their mnaster, and 1077, Nizam ul Mulk fell into disgrace with the sultan were forward to die in his service. The consequence Mlalek Shah, and was dismissed from office. In hi. of this system was, that when any of the neighboring misfortune, the detestable Hassun sent one of his i SULTAN SANJAt —HUSSEIN EBN NASSER. 243 emissaries, who stabbed him on the road from Ispahan brought on a war between Keah and Sultan Mahomed, to Bagdad. He lived a short time after receiving the which continued during the remainder of that monfatal wound, and the last moments of his life were arch's reign. Keah not only defeated the royal troops. spent in writing some verses addressed to the sultan. but conquered the district of Ghilan on the western, T'hey were to the following purport: " Great king, a shore of the Caspian. portion of my life has been spent in banishing injustice Keah died at Roodbar about the year 1150,and was froom your territories. I now go to give.an account succeeded by his son Mahomed, who, after a rule of of my administration to the Almighty King of kings. three years, resigned his dignity to a prince of the famTo him I shall present the proof of my fidelity, and ily of Ismail, calledHussein ebn Nasser, who had fled such titles as I can show for the reputation which I from Syria to the stronghold of the Assassins. Mahave acquired in your service. In the ninety-third homed, however, gave up only the name of power, and year of my life, the thread of my existence has been constituted himself the vizier of the prince, whom he c'ut short by the dagger of an Assassin. It only re- raised to the dignity of chief ruler. The murders cornmnains that I deliver to my son the continuance of those miitted by these people became daily more and more freservices which I have rendered to my king, and that I quent: every one who was deemed their enemy fell by recommend him to the favor and protection of God the hand of an Assassin. One khalif was openly stabbed and your majesty." in the court of Bagdad. Another, who had threatWhile the ruthless Hussun thus gratified a personal ened the Assassins with vengeance, was murdered, as revenge, he had an ulterior object in accomplishing this he lay dangerously ill, by men who seemed to fear murder. He contemplated the death of Nizam ul that death would rob them of their prey. The princi. Mulk as an event likely to throw the empire of the pal mollahs, or chief priests of Persia, shocked at these Seljukian Turks into that state of confusion which sacrilegious deeds, called upon the sultan to purge his would facilitate the execution of his wide-spread plans dominions of such atrocious heretics. He sent a misof domination. In fact, there ensued a period of great sion to Roodbar, and Hussein ebn Nasser assured the turbulence and anarchy in Persia immediately after this, envoy that his followers had been calumniated, and and the crafty leader of the Assassins did not fail to. that they were good Mahometans. A pious doctor of profit by it. But he soon aroused a hostility against laws was deputed to ascertain that point, and the sul him which had well nigh proved fatal to himself and tan was, or pretended to bh, satisfied. his adherents. The outrages perpetrated by these wretches became so numerous that a general outcry was raised throughout Asia, and Sultan Sanjar, who acceded to the Seljukian throne in 1140, resolved to extirpate the detestable sect, whose murders and C H A P T E R C XXI V. depredations had spread terror over his kingdom. He A. D. 1160 to 1256. marched with a powerful force toward the stronghold of the Assassins at Allahamout; but while on his march, waking one morning, he discovered a dagger stuck up WHEN Mahomed the son of Keah died, Hussein would to the hilt in the ground close to his pillow, and read, not allow any successor to be appointed, but usurped with astonishment and alarm, the following label on its the whole power, which he disgraced by his violence handle: " Sultan Sanjar, beware! Had not thy char- and intemperance. His conduct was deemed the more acter been respected, the hand that stuck this blade into scandalous as he was descended from ancestors who the hard ground could with more ease have plunged had cut down the rich vineyards of Egypt lest they it in thy soft bosom! " The warrior, who was insensi- should be tempted to taste the juice of the grape. ble to fear on the field of battle, trembled as he read This debauched chief was slain by his own relatives, this scroll, and desisted from the attack which he had who placed his son Allah ud Deen Mahonzed upon the meditated. throne. The first act of the young prince was to put VWhen Hussun Subah died, he transmitted his author- to death those by whom he had been elevated. An ity and the terrors of his name to his son Keah Buzoorg occurrence took place during his reign which illustrates Omeid. This chieftain was attacked by Mahomed, who the nature of that secret power which the chief of the succeeded to the throne of the Seljuks in 1184. But Assassins exercised. Fakir Razee, a doctor of laws, the Assassins defended themselves with such resolution who was styled the Imam of Rhe, his native town, had that Mahomed was compelled to retreat and make a been supposed to lean to the opinions of the Ismailee truce with Keah. The latter sent an envoy to Ispahan, sect. To remove this impression, he expressed from who was received with distinction at the sultan's court. the pulpit his abhorrence of the race a cd of their tenets. But the populace, less patient than their sovereign, Some time after he had uttered this anathema, he was were so irritated at seeing the representative of a chief surprised to see a man, who had been one of his most of the Assassins in the capital of Persia, that they sur- attentive disciples for several days, enter his private rounded the house of the envoy, and tore him to pieces. chamber. He was still more astonished when the perThe sultan immediately sent a mission to Keah to dis- son, seizing him by the beard, and pointing a dagger tc claim any participation in this act; but the Assassin his breast, asked him whether he knew who he was. chief declared that he would never be pacified till the "I am quite ignorant who you are," said the tremperpetrators of the outrage were given up to his ven- bling divine, " and still less can I conjecture why you seance. It was impossible for Mahomed to discover seek my life." "You abused the sect of Ismail," said the ringleaders of this mob, and Keah, impatient of the man. "I was wrong," replied the learned doctor: delay, sent a party of his men to Casbin, which they " I repent, and will never do so again." "Swear by entered in disguise,and, making an unexpected attack, the holy prophet to what you have now said," cried massacred four hundred of the inhabitants, and car- the assailant. "1I swear," said the imamrn. "Very ried off an immense booty. This act of revenge well," said the man, quitting his hold," I have Darticu 2-44] DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ASSASSINS. lar orders not to slay you, or my dagger should before lished themselves in great strength in Syria, where this have been crimsoned with the blood of your heart. they possessed many castles, particularly in the neighAllah ud Deen desires me to present you his respects, borhood of Tripoli. The crusaders were sometimes and to ask if you arewell informed of the tenets of exposed to their attacks, and at others they found it that sect which you have dared to abuse? He advises convenient to make treaties with themn. Aboos Wefa, you to be most careful of your future conduct, and as the Assassin chief of Syria, entered into an alliance with he has a respect for your character, he sends ydu this Baldwin II., king of Jerusalem, against their common bag, which contains three hundred and sixty gold mo- enemy, the Seljukian Turks. In general, however, the hurs; and here is an order for a similar sum to be paid Assassins kept the Christians of Tripoli in perpetual you annually by one of his agents." The divine took fear. They levied contributions on the crusaders for the money, and continued for many years to receive the safety of their lives, and they even demanded this the pension. His pupils could not but remark that in species of black mail from St. Louis, king of France, his subsequent lectures he carefully abstained from as he passed through Acre on his return from the unmentioning the followers of Ismail. He was accus- fortunate expedition to Damietta. The monarch, howtomed to observe, in reply to such observations, with a ever, indignantly refused payment of this disgraceful suppressed smile, that he had been convinced by some tribute, and, what is remarkable, escaped with his life. harp and weighty argument, that it was better not to Other princes were not so fortunate. The prince of enter into any discussions about the doctrines of that Mosul was stabbed, as he entered the mosque, by sect. an Assassin disguised as a dervise. A sultan of The reign of Allah ud Deen was long and prosper- Egypt met the same fate at Cairo. Raymond, count ous. He was succeeded by his son, Jellal ud Deen of Tripoli, also fell in a similar manner. Conrad, Hussein, the first of this race who cultivated with suc- marquis of Tyre, who had given offence to the Assascess the friendship of the neighboring nations. Even sins, was murdered by two fedavees in the marketthe khalif of Bagdad relaxed fiom his orthodoxy, and place of that city. This outrage was ascribed to showered honors on the envoy of this prince. He en- Richard Cmeur de Lion, king of England, who was at gaged in no war except with the governor of Irak, and that time in the Holy Land, and had become involved the first campaign closed,as was usual, with the death of in a quarrel with the marquis. This affair is still E the person who had ventured to attack the Chief of the subject of controversy among historians. Mountains. The conquests of Zingis Khan commenced The Syrian or western branch of the Assassins be about this period, and an envoy was deputed from came, to a certain extent, independent of the establish. Allahamout to Transoxiana to propitiate the Tartar ment in Persia. The chief seat of the Syrian power invader. Jellal ud Deen, died A. D. 1212. He is was at Massyad, near Beyroot. The history of this celebrated for the kindness and generosity of his dis- branch was at that period much the most familiar to position, and we are informed that this prince of the Europeans, being interwoven with that of the crusaAssassins was also the handsomest man of his age. ders and of the great Sultan Saladin, who was several His son Allah ud Deen Mahomed, a boy of ten times in danger from the daggers of the Assassins. years of age, was placed upon the throne and this The Syrian Dai al Kebir, or supreme chief, named young prince, soon after his accession, put to death all Sinan, a man who had a reputation for sanctity, sent his principal officers, on the pretext that they had an embassy to Almeric, the Christian king of Jerusa. poisoned his father. Though he seems to have been lem, offering, in his own name and that of his people, saved, by the sacredness of his character, from the to embrace Christianity on certain conditions. Almeveingenaoce which he had provoked, he was shunned ric was overjoyed at the offer, and dismissed the envoy and deserted by his followers, and fell into a deep mel- with a favorable answer. But this person, immediately ancholy. In the hope of recovering him from this after his arrival in his own territory was killed by a condition, his ministers were desirous of obtaining for party of knights templars, who were displeased with him the society of Nasser ud Deen, the most cele- the conditions of the treaty. After this, the Assassins brated philosopher of the age. But that learned man, resorted again to their daggers, which they had laid who resided at Bokhara, rejected all the offers that aside for many years. The name of Assassin, becomwere made to tempt him to so barbarous a court as ing familiar to the crusaders, was by them carried to that of Allahamout. He found, however, that he was Europe, where it was used as synonymous with that dealing with a ruler whose agents were accustomed of sicarius- a hired murderer. to consider his will as a divine mandate. After the Assassins had thus in a manner maintained The officer who, governed the province of Kuhistan an empire of superstition and terror over all the monunder Allah u-1 i)een received an order to seize the archies of Western Asia for the greater part of two philosopher, and as Nasser was one day sauntering in centuries, a fatal blow was struck at their power by the the gardens near Bokhara, he was suddenly surrounded Mongols under Hulaku Khan. This chieftain led his by some men, who, pointing to a horse, desired him to hordes of barbarians from the region of Central Asia, mount. He could only oppose arguments which were and in the year 1253 conquered Persia; after which he unheeded, and he was half way to Kuhistan before his continued his course westward, and destroyed all, that friends knew that he was gone. He was kept a long remained of the empire of the khalifs. These con. while in captivity, and it was during this period that quests will be described in our history of the Mongols, lie wrote the most celebrated of all his philosophical The Assassins were unable to resist the Mongolian treatises, which bears the title of " Aklaak Nasseree," arms, and Kaher Shah, whom we have mentioned as olr the Morals of Nasser. the last of a long line of the Chiefs of the Mountains, Allah was slain by one of his own servants in his fell, after a weak and ineffectual struggle, before the hall of audience, A. D. 1255. He was succeeded by conquering march of Hulaku. That conqueror not his son Ruken ud Deen, better known by the name of only made him prisoner, but c:tured and dismantled Kaheer Shlah. By this time, the Assassins had estab- all his 3trongholds in Persia and the regions adjoining RELIGION, MANNERS, &c., OF THE ANCIENT SYRIANS. 240 the Caspian Sea. More than a hundred castles were on which occasion large trees were cut down to make tound garrisoned by the Assassins, and upwards of a sacrificial pile: on this were heaped great numbers twelve thousand of this tribe were put to death by of goats, sheep, birds, rich suits of clothing, and vesorder of Hulaku. This enterprise certainly entitled sels of gold and silver —all which were consumed by the conqueror to the gratitude of the country which fire, while the priests walked round the burning pile he came to subdue, and we receive a favorable impres- with the sacred images. This sacrifice was always Dion of his character from the joy which he testified attended by a great concourse of people, every one -t being able to release Nasser ud Deen, and the high bringing images made in resemblance of those in the estimation in which he continued to hold that eminent temple. philosopher. There was a class of infatuated devotees attached The extinction of the Assassin power may be fixed to the Syrian worship; these persons, at stated times at this date, though a small branch, with a very limited which occurred twice a year, climbed up to the sum. power, remained till the reign of Shah Rokh Mirza, in mits of lofty columns, and remained there for seven the early part of the fifteenth century, when the last days, being supplied with food by means of a chain remnant of their dominion was extirpated by the gov- which they drew up from below. During this space ernor of Ghilan. Though none of this sect have ever of time, they pretended to hold immediate intercourse since enjoyed political power, they still exist in a scat- with the great goddess, and told the wondering poputered state. The Borahs, an industrious race of men, lace that these ceremonies were practised in memory whose pursuits were commercial, and who are well of Deucalion's flood, when men fled for refuge to the known in the British settlements in India, belong to the tops of trees and mountains. At another festival, the sect of Ismail, and they still maintain that part of the gods were transported to a lake near the temple, where Assassin creed taught by Hussun Subah, which enjoins the sacred fishes were kept. Here a strange farce a complete devotion to their high priest. But this was enacted between Jupiter and Juno, the former principle, so dreadful in its operation in a large organ- proposing to go down into the lake, and the latter ized body like the ancient Assassins, seems to be attempting to dissuade him, lest her favorite fishes attended with no manifest evil in a small class of men, should die beneath the effulgence of his glory. Twice who have neither the disposition nor the power to dis- a year, also, the inhabitants went in crowds to the seaturb the peace of the community in which they live. side, and performed certain extraordinary ceremonies in obedience to a pretended command of Deucalion They then returned with vessels full of water, whic' they emptied in a cleft of the temple, which they be CHAPTER CXXV. lieved to be the identical spot where the waters of the deluge were swallowed up. Religion, Manners, Customs, 4,c., of the an- Of the general state of manners among the ancient cient Syrians - Government - Cities - Syrians, we know very little. Plutarch observes that. Present Inhabitants. in his time, these people were an effeminate race, and remarkable for hiding themselves from the light of the THE ancient Syrians were idolaters, though we are sun, in caves and other subterranean places, on the unable to say much of the very earliest forms of reli- death of their relatives. The Syrian language, called gion in this country. At Damascus, the chief object by lexicographers the Syriac, is entirely distinct fiorom of worship was an idol named Rimmon. Another, of the Greek, although the latter, from the time of the later date, was Adad, supposed to be the same with Seleucidw, was the general language of commerce, Benhadad, who was deified after his death. Several government, and literature, in Syria. The Syriac was similar idolatries are supposed to have flourished not only spoken in Syria, but also in Mesopotamia, -here till the conquest of the- country by Tiglath Chaldea, and Assyria; and, after the Babylonish capPileser, when the Syrian worship appears to have tivity, it was introduced into Palestine. It was origi. experienced a change. But we have no circumstantial nally a pure and primitive tongue, and is supposed, by account of the religious rites celebrated here till the many, to be the mother of all the Oriental dialects; second century of the Christian era, when the satirist but, after the Greek began to prevail in Syria, it Lucian, himself a native of Syria, furnishes some was corrupted by the introductioni of words from information on this point, to th.e following purport. that language. In the city of Hierapolis stood a magnificent tem- Ctesias, the Greek historian, states that Semiramis ple, dedicated to the great Syrian goddess, containing employed Syrian mariners in her expedition to India. many golden statues, a celebrated oracle, and a vari- From this fact, we may conclude that the Syrians ety of sacred animals, as oxen, horses, lions, bears, &c. were early addicted to navigation. It is probable that The whole edifice, from the roof downward, glittered they had ships on the Mediterranean as soon as any with gold. The gifts sent to the temple by the sur- of their neighbors, and that they traded with the rounding nations formed a treasure of incredible Eastern countries upon the Euphrates at a very early value. The air of the place was so strongly impreg- period. Their country abounded with valuable com. nated with aromatic odors, that the garments of the modities, fit for exportation; and they are generally worshippers retained their fragrancy for a considerable supposed to have been the first importers of the prod. time. Upwards of three hundred priests, in white ucts of Persia and India into the western parts of Asia. habits, attended the sacrifices. Bands of consecrated Of the political institutions of ancient Syria little minstrels accompanied the solemnities with the sound has been recorded by historians. The government of various instruments. The high priest wore a purple was probably monarchical from the most ancient garmentand golden mitre, and was annually elected to period; and the spoils and tributes which the the sacerdotal dignity. There were regular sacrifices Syrian monarchs obtained by war, and the con: ever)y dav, and an extraordinary offering every spring, morce of the people with the surrounding nations 246 BAALBEC —ANTIOCH-DAMASCU S. enabled the principal communities to become rich This city was also particularly honored by the Jews, oil and powerful. The cities of Syria were remarkable account of the right of citizenship which had been for the magnificence of their architecture, and the granted to them by its founder. A few miles from wealth and luxury'of their inhabitants. One of the Antioch was a place called Daphne, where Seleucus most ancient was Baalbec, called, by the Greeks, planted a grove, and erected a temple consecrated to Heliopolis, or the City of the Sun. It was beautifully Apollo and Daphne. To this spot the citizens resorted situated at the foot of Mount Anti-Libanus, about thirty for their idle pleasures; and it soon became so notomiles from the sea-coast. At what time or by whom rious for the dissipated character of its frequenters, this city was founded, it is impossible to say; indeed, that to " live after the manner of Daphne" was used all the early part of its history is quite obscure. The proverbially to express the most voluptuous and dis. advantages of its situation, both as an agreeable resi. solute mode of life. Luxury and dissipation were, dence and a mart of trade, must have contributed to in fact, the general characteristics of the people of its growth at a very early period. The plains adjoin- Antioch, in almost every period of their history; and ing the city are watered by beautiful streams descend- to this disposition may be ascribed many of the numering fiom the mountains, forming a considerable river ous calamities which befell this celebrated city. It was which flows into the Mediterranean near Tyre. The often the scene of violent tumults and seditions, in connection of Baalbec with Tyre and Palmyra caused which hundreds of thousands of men were killed. It a great portion of the traffic with India to pass through has also been dreadfully ravaged, at different times it. This was probably the source of its early wealth, by earthquakes and fires. In the reign of Trajan, au and furnished the means of erecting those stupendous earthquake shook the city while the emperor was hold.. piles of architecture, the ruins of which now strike the ing his court there. A great part of it was laid in travellec with amazement. Baalbec was a garrison ruins, and the emperor himself escaped with difficultytown in the time of Augustus, and its fortifications and not unhurt - out of a window. In the year 587 were strengthened by the Byzantine emperor Herac- an earthquake levelled almost every house in Antioch lius, to resist the invasion of the Saracens. Being with the ground, and destroyed thirty thousand of its exposed to the ravages of war, however, it rapidly inhabitants. But these are only a small part of the went to ruin. calamities recorded in the history of this city which bore.... _ _-_ _............ the proud title of'" Queen of the East." Antioch is still _.... __-_____inhabited, but is only a collection of ruins and mud- - x.... = =walled hovels, exhibiting every appearance of poverty _ 1;_' ]' -=:-and wretchedness. ________ 1Ad-'' - 5Damascus is one of the very few cities in the world which have maintained a flourishing existence frotm u u h | i ~cities now in existence, being mentioned in the time ~;;~~sSie~~l~~~~ —~ ~of Abraham. Its political importance as the capital of a kingdom, and the residence of the Arabian khalifs. has already been mentioned. The sovereigns of Syria Ruins of Baalbec. held their court here for three centuries.'The situaThe chief edifice now visible amid the remains of tion of Damascus is about fifty miles from the MediBaalbec is the Temple of the Sun, an edifice of terranean, in a fertile plain, watered by a river which enormous dimensions, and constituting one of the most the Greeks called Chrysorrhoas, or Golden Stream, imposing masses of ruins in the world. Many of the but now known as the Barrady. It is the centre of the columns which remain are upwards of seventy feet in Syrian trade, and forms the rendezvous of all the pilheight. - The stones used in the masonry of the walls i grims who visit Mecca from the north of Asia. The are of equally gigantic proportions, some of them streets of the city are varied, and one of them, called being fifty-eight feet long and twelve feet thick. The l " Straight," is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. sculptures which adorn this edifice are remarkable for Damascus is famous for its manufactures, particularly heir boldness and magnificent effect. The architec- of sword-blades, which are of so perfect a temnper, thatl ural order is mostly Corinthian. The material is a | no European art has ever been able to equal them. white granite, a stone which abounds on the spot and Damascus was formerly noted for the fanatical bigin the neighboring mountains. Baalbec is surrounded otry of its inhabitants, and their hatred of Christians. by a wall, and still contains a few thousand inhabitants, A few years ago, a European dared not enter the who dwell in mean hovels, scattered among the ruins. streets of this city unless he could manage to disgti1e1, Antioch was founded by Seleucus, the first of the himself as a Turk or an Arab. As soon, however, asi dynasty of the Seleucidne, (300 B. C.,) and was, for a Ibrahim Pacha had established his authority there, he long time, the capital of Syria. It was situated on the made such regulations as prevented Christian strangers River Orontes, twenty miles from the Mediterranean, from being insulted. In 1833, a British consul made about midway between Constantinople and Alexandria, a public entry into Damascus, amid a numerous coDnor seven hundred miles from each. After the ove- course of spectators, who murmured greatly at this-, throw of the ingdom of Syria, the Roman governors, innovation; but they were restrained from giving an i who presided over the affails of the eastern provinces, further proof of their dissatisfaction by the troops made Antioch their chiefoesidence. n ealrly Christian which lined the streets on the occasion. It s.eeras. ones, it was the sat of the chief atriar of Asia. however, that the introducrtion of Europeans here h ias ALEPPO-SCANDEROON-BEYROOT-FAMOUS MEN OF SYRIA. 247 tended to destroy many prejudices that existed against they exercise the arts. The Arabs and the. Greeks them. inhabit the villages, forming the class of -husbandmen Aleppo, the ancient Berea, stands on a hilly spot in the country and the inferior population in the towns.:djoining the desert. Its numerous minarets and The Turkomans, tile Kurds, and the Bedouins have Jomes exhibit a delightful prospect to the eye, fatigued no fixed habitations, but are perpetually wandering, with the monotony of the brown and parched plains with their tents and herds, in limited districts, of which that stretch around. It is accounted the third city in they claim to be the proprietors. The Turkoman the Turkish empire, yielding the precedence only to hordes generally encamp on the plain of Antioch, the Constantinople and Cairo. This greatness it owes to Kurds in the mountains, and the Arabs spread over the vast extent of its inland trade, for which it is most the whole portion adjacent to the desert. favorably situated, being in close connection with Syria, Asia Minor, Armenia, and Persia. It is also a rendezvous for pilgrims from all these countries to Mecca. Although it contains no grand monuments, nor even any very magnificent modern edifices, it is C H A PTE R C XXVI. yet esteemed the neatest and best built of the Turkish cities. The society is also represented as displaying Famous Men of Siyria - Lucian - Jamblichus more toleration and urbanity than that of other - Libani.s — Johalnes Dam, ascenus,'c. Mahometan cities. Aleppo suffered by a dreadful ONE of the most eminent of the Syrian writers was earthquake on the 13th of August, 1822. Twenty Lucian the Satirist. He was born in the reign of thousand persons were killed in the city, and the Trajan, at Samosata, the capital of Comagene, a provgreater part of the houses were either destroyed or ince of Syria. His father, being poor, sent him to damaged. The population of Aleppo, before the learn a sculptor's trade. But in this he had little sueearthquake, was estimated at 250,000. cess. The manner in which Lucian was determined Scanderoon, or Alexandretta, on the Mediterraneanr, to the vocation of a man of letters is too curious not is regarded as the port of Aleppo. It has a fine har- to be mentioned. We give it in his own words: — bor, which affords the only good anchorage for large " I was fifteen years old when I left off going to vessels on the coast of Syria. The marshes near the school. My father then consulted with his friends place render it unhealthy, so that it is inhabited only how to dispose of me. They did not approve my be. by those persons whom the absolute necessities of ing devoted to letters on account of the expense. 1 commerce compel to make it their residence. It has, was therefore put apprentice to my uncle, who was consequently, never been any thing more than a large, an excellent sculptor. I did not dislike this art, be)pen village. The inhabitants of this place formerly cause I had amused myself, at a very early age, in carried on their correspondence with the merchants maling little figures of wax, in which I succeededof Aleppo by means of carrier pigeons, but this prae- tolerably well. Besides, sculpture seemed to me not tice is now disused. so much a trade as an elegant amusement. I thereBeyroot, the ancient Berytus, and within the limits fore went to work in earnest; but I laid on the chisel of ancient Phcenicia, is beautifully situated in a pleasant so clumsily that the stone broke under the weight of country, which, from the sea-shore to the foot of the my blows; and my angry master beat me. I ran mountains of' Lebanon, is covered with rich plantations home, crying bitterly, to the great affliction of my of olives, mulberry; and palm-trees, diversified with mother. That night I had a dream, which made a picturesque hamlets and villas, and fiagrant lemon strong impression upon me. and orange groves. The town occupies a declivity, " Methought two female figures stood before me the summit of which is uninhabited. It has for some The one was rough in appearance, uncombed and time been a station for the American missionaries. dirty, with sleeves tucked up, and face covered with This place, as has been already remarked, was nearly sweat and dust. The other had a graceful air, a sweet destroyed by the allied fleet in 1839. and smiling aspect, and a neat and modest attire. The present inhabitants of Syria are compounded They pulled me eagerly to and fro, each one desiring of various races. Within twenty-five hundred years me to choose her for my companion, and, at length, may be reckoned ten great invasions, which have intro- pleaded their cause in the following manner: The first duced into this country a succession of foreign nations. said,'My son, I am Sculpture, whom you have lately At the present day, the population may be divided into espoused, and whom you have known from infancy,,three principal classes: 1. The descendants of the your uncle having made himself very famous by me. Greeks of the Byzantine empire; 2. The Arabs, their If you will follow me, I will render you illustrious. conquerors; 3. The Turks, who constitute the present Be not in pain on account of my dress: it is that of ruling power. There are also wandering tribes of Phidias and Polycletus, and other great sculptors, who, Kurds, Turkomans, and Bedouin Arabs. The ancient when living, were adored for their works, and who are Syrians, who inhabited the country before the Mace- still adored with the gods they made. Consider how donian conquest, have been either extirpated or so much glory you will acquire by treading in their steps. completely absorbed by the conquering population, and what joy you will give your father and family.' that they may be regarded as an extinct race. "The other female said,' I am Erudition, who preOf these different inhabitants, some are dispersed side over all the branches of polite knowledge. Sculpover every part of the country, and others confine ture has shown what you will gain from her; but, by themselves to particular spots. The Greeks, the listening to her advice, you will always remain a poor Turks, and the Arabian peasants belong to the former artificer, dependent upon great men for a living. class, with this difference, that the Turks reside only Should you ever rise to the head of your profession.n the towns, where tney possess the military employ- you will only be admired, while none will envy your ments and the offices of the magistracy, and where condition. But, if you follow me, I will teacn vol 248 LUCIAN-JAMBLICHUS-ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS whatever is most noble and excellent in the universe. tonic philosopher, who flourished in the early part or I will adorn you with the most exalted virtues, modes- the fourth century. He was a perfect master of all ty, justice, piety, humanity, equity, prudence, patience, the mysteries of the Plotinian system, and taught it and the love of whatever is praiseworthy. I will even with such reputation and success, that he attracted bestow immortality upon you, and make you live crowds of disciples. He made high pretensions to forever in the remembrance of mankind. Consider supernatural powers, and astonished the people with what JEschines and Demosthenes, the admiration of wonders which he pretended to perform by means of all ages, became by my help. Socrates, who at first an intercourse with invisible beings. lHe appears to followed my rival, Sculpture, no sooner knew me, have been a sort of Mesmerist. He was popularly than he abandoned his first mistress to walk in my known by the name of the " most divine and wonder train.' She had no sooner spoken these words, than I ful teacher." His writings display extensive reading, flew to her embrace. The other, transported with but they are sufficiently obscure. The third Jamblirage and indignation, was immediately transformed chus flourished under Julian the Apostate. He was a into a statue like Niobe. Erudition, to reward my great favorite with that prince, who wrote many letters choice, made me ascend with her into her chariot, to him. His most esteemed work treats of the mysand, touching her winged horses, she carried me from teries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians east to west, causing me to scatter universally some- The two latter authors are often confounded together thing of celestial andl divine, that caused mankind to Libanius, the Sophist, was a native of Antioch. He look up with astonishment, and load me with blessings lived in the fourth century, and enjoyed the friendship and praises. She afterwards brought me back to my of the emperor Julian. He was dis:inguished beyond own country, crowned with glory and honor; and, all his contemporaries in eloquence, and suffered from restoring me to my father, pointed to the splendid robe the envy of rivals, through whose influence he was in which I was arrayed, and said,' Behold the exalted banished from Constantinople, (A. D. 346.) He retired fortune of which you would have deprived your son first to Nice, in Bithynia, and from thence to Nicomedia, had I not interposed.' Here ended my vision!" in the same province, but was afterwards recalled to The effect of this dream was to kindle in the mind Constantinople. Subsequently, however, he withdrew of Lucian an ardent love for the study of polite learn- from that capital, and passed the remainder of his life ing, to which he entirely devoted himself. He first at Antioch. He was admired and patronized by Julian, settled at Antioch; fiom this city he went into Ionia and, in common with that emperor, cherished the hope and Greece, and subsequently travelled in Italy and of restoring the reign of paganism in the Roman Gaul. His longest residence was at Athens. While empire. He wrote a great number of discourses, and at Antioch, he practised as an advocate: in other an autobiography, with about two thousand letters, places he delivered lectures. In his old age, he was some of them to Christian fathers. Basil and Chrysprocurator, or register, of the Roman prefect of ostom were both his pupils. Egypt. He lived to the reign of the emperor Com- Johannes Damascenus, sometimes called St. John oJ modus, to whom he dedicated one of his works. Damascus, was born in the seventh or eighth century. Lucian was neither a Christian nor a pagan, nor did His youth was spent in the service of a Mahometan he espouse any particular sect or creed in philosophy. khalif, but he afterwards retired into the monastery of He wrote on a great variety of subjects, and distin- St. Sabas, in Syria, where he became a monk, and died guished himself by acuteness of observation, liveliness at the age of eighty-four. He was the author of many of wit, and great power of ridicule and satire. The theological and controversial writings, particularly purity of his Greek, and his clear, lively, and animated against the sect of Iconoclasts, which subjected him style, render him one of the most agreeable of all the to much persecution. In the legends of the saints, it ancient writers. Most of his pieces are in the form is stated that his right hand was cut off as a punishof dialogue. The absurdities of the pagan religion, ment for having used his pen against the ecclesiastical and the fashionable conceits, fopperies, and impostures authority which then prevailed, but that it was miracof the day, are equally the butt of his raillery. He ulously restored to him by the Virgin Mary. He is paints in a most impressive style the miseries of an chiefly known as the author of a romance entitled the artificial state of manners, the vanity and credulity Lives of Barlaam and Josaphat. This work appears of mankind, the preposterous pride of philosophers, to have been written with a view to promote the taste and the arrogant conceit of pedants. His Dialogues for monkish seclusion. In the times which succeeded of the Dead are admirable specimens of sly humor the early ages of Christianity, the spirit of the new reand ingenious pleasantry. His study was human ligion was but imperfectly understood by many of its character, in all its varieties, and the age in which he most zealous ministers. A belief most fatal to the praclived furnished ample materials for his observation. tice of genuine religion became prevalent —that the Many of his pictures, though drawn from the circum- rejection of the Creator's bounties in this world is the stances of his own times, are true for every age and best method of securing happiness in the next. John country. The character of his mind was decidedly of Damascus, in striving to enforce this dogma, inventpractical, and he was not disposed to believe any thing ed a fiction which deserves special notice in a history without sufficient evidence of its truth. The Christian of the progress of polite literature. religion is sometimes the object of his satire, but he This author pretends that the incidents of his tale appears to have been acquainted only with its corrup- had been told to him by certain pious Ethiopians, tions. meaning Hindoos, as is evident by referring to the Three distinguished writers of the name of Jambli- state of geographical knowledge at that period. These chus were natives of Syria. They flourished at different Ethiopians found them engraved on tablets of unslusperiods. The first lived in the reign of Trajan, and is pected veracity. The story has furnished a modlel chiefly known as the author of a romance entitled the for all subsequent spiritual romances. It is said; with loves of Sinon and Rodane. The second was a Pla- some probability, to be founded in truth, though the PALMYRA-ITS SITUATION, TRADE, &c. 24 | prophetic orthodoxy of the writer has anticipated reli- breathing flames, and prepared to devour him, while gious discussions which were not agitated till some the unicorn was endeavoring to'reach him firom above centuries after the date of his narrative. Martyrs In this situation, his attention was attracted by drops ol and magicians, theological arguments and triumphs honey distilling from the branclrgs to whichl he clung ovutr infidelity, alternately fill the pages of the romance, Unmindful of the horrors by which he was stlrrounded. while Satan and his agents lie in wait for every oppor- hte occupied himself in licking the honey fromn the tunity to entrap the unwary seeker for religious truth. plant, instead of thinking how he might save his life, The style is formed on that of the Bible. The long In this apologue the unicorn typifies Death, by whomll discourses of Barlaam abound with parables and in- all men are pursued; the pit is the world, fiill of evils: genious and amusing similitudes. It is remarkable the shrub, gnawed by the black and white mice, is life that so long a composition, on a religious subject, should which is diminished, and at last consumed, by r"',l continue throughout to interest the reader, by the vari- and day; the dragon is hell; and the honeyv tem)orall ety of its incidents and the spirit and liveliness of the pleasure, which we eagerly follow, regardless of' the dialogue. Many of the parables and apologues bear snares which are every where spread for our dlestrc- evident marks of Oriental origin. We copy one as a tion." specimen:- In consequence of the number and beauty of tlhese "A traveller once met a unicorn, which pulrsued apologues and parables, the Lives of Barlaam and J3sahim at a furious pace. In attempting to escape, he fell phut bfcame a great favorite in the middle arges,::nd over the edge of a deep pit, but saved himself by wlas frequently imitated. At a later period iis itn i.l grasping the twigs of a shrub which grew on the side. ence was felt in Italian literature. Several of the ta!es W\hile he hung suspended over the yawning abyss, he i of Boccaccio are composed of materials drawn ifroi:1 observed two mice, the one white and the other black, this work, and it was unquestionably the model of that gnawing away the root of the plant by which he held. species of spiritual fiction which was so prevalent i[, At the bottom of the gulf he saw a monstrous dragon, France during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuriets IL II Ruins of Palmyra. C A P T E R C X X V I I. Sea, and from thence towards Palmyra. This latter 1200 B. C. to A. D. 272. city was, therefore, probably only one link in a cong sf Pallmyra'The Trade of the East tinued chain of settlements from the sea to the interior'qIi f Palmyra - The Tr-ade of the East *of the desert —or p)erhaps its termination. l Odenathts -- Re(,r of Zenobia -- Sieg'e -. Odenath - Ri ofThe situation of towns and cities in the sandy deser I of Palmyra by the Roans. |must of necessity be determined by local advantages. ON a small oasis in the Syrian desert, about mid- Palmyra is placed where two ridges of hills converge. way between the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates, The spot is level, enclosed on three sides by lofty. lie the ruins of a city alike wonderful for its extent eminences, and bounded on the fourth by a vast plain.: and( magnificence. This city was Palmyra, called in The hills affor l water, and the air around is salubrioulsl Scripture Tadmor in the Desert. Its origin is uncei. but the soil is barren, producing only a fewv palm.;.ain, nor is it known at what time it was founded. trees. Thme fortunate position of the place, howveri i t'[he coast of Syria was in very early ages rich and Ibetveen Mesopotamia and Syria, recommended it, a[ populous, and the ruins of mome than thirty cities are a very early period, as a proper site for a commercia.,.o be seen in the region to the south-east of the Dead!station. Before the age of Moses, the journeys l.. I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~tj 250 COMMERCE OF PALMYRA-QUEEN OF TIIE EAST. Abraham and. Jacob from Mesopotamia into Syria time of Trajan, who, having conquered almost all the sufficiently prove that a communication existed be- Parthian empire, (A. D: 115,) reduced Palmyra liketween these countries, which must have been carried wise; and this city was afterward accounted a part on through the Syrian desert in the route where Pal- of the Roman dominions. myra was afterwards built. The cinnamon and pearls Palmyra was now a place of great wealth, owing to mentioned in the time of the Hebrew Legislator, seem its situation between the Roman and Parthian territories to indicate a trade then existing with India and the as the caravans, in going to or returning from the Persian Gulf, and the course of this trade must have East, frequented it - thus making it a great emporium been along the Euphrates, and across the desert of trade. When the defeat and capture of the empe. through Palmyra. Tlhe Persian Gulf was anciently ror Valerian (A. D. 259) had so far weakened the the centre of the commerce of the Eastern world. empire that the Persians seemed to be on the point of The first mention of this famous city is in the He- becoming masters of all the eastern provinces of crew Scriptures, where we are told that King Solomon Rome, the people of Palmyra began to think of re" built Tadmor in the Desert." It is doubtful, how- covering their liberty. Odenatlhus, prince of Palmyra ever, whether Solomon was the original founder of sent a very respectful letter to Sapor, king of Persia, the city. Josephus says, " he built strong walls there who had just defeated the Romans and taken Valerian to secure himself in the possession, and named it Tad- prisoner; but the haughty conqueror treated both his mor, which signifies a'place of palm-trees."' Fr;,m letter and embassy with the most provoking contempt. this statement we may reasonably conclude that it was The presents of Odenathus were thrown into the Eualready a place of known importance in the time of phrates, and Sapor replied to his letter, saying that hie Solomon. The palm-trees which he found there are -insolence in writing to his lord was inexcusable, and not tile trees of uninhabited countries. The acquisition he could atone for it only by presenting himself before of Tadmor by Solomon throws a considerable light on the throne bound hand and foot, in token of a con. the history of the adjoining countries. The king of sciousness of his crime, and the punishment which he Jerusalem would never have turned his attention, and deserved. This insult so inflamed the resentment of carried his arms, to so distant and detached a spot with- Odenathus, that he swore an oath either to bring down out some powerful motive of interest, and this could the pride of the haughty conqueror or perish in the have been no other than the interest of an extensive attempt. commerce, of which Palmyra was already the empo- Accordingly, having assembled his forces, he atrium. tacked the Persians on their march homeward, and This commerce was, perhaps, the main cause of routed them with great slaughter, capturing the bagthose various wars in Southern Asia, for which the gage of the army and a number of the women of the barren chronicles of the early times assign no motives. king. This war was carried on for a considerable When, after the reign of Solomon, the Assyrians of time, with much success on the part of Odenathus, who Nineveh turned their ambitious views toward Chaldea caused the Persians many defeats, and fully estaband the lower part of the Euphrates, it was with the in- lished the independence of Palmyra. Yet Valerian tention to approach that great source of opulence - was.never released from captivity, though Odenathus he Persiani Gulf. When the kings of Babylon waged earnestly wished to have. the honor of rescuing him perpetual wars with Jerusalem and Tyre, their object from his enemies. This prince enjoyed his sovereignty was not merely to despoil these cities of their riches, but a very short time, being murdered by his nephew but to prevent them from encroaching on the Baby- who was soon after put to death by Zenobia, the wife lonian trade in the Red Sea. We are informed that of Odenathus, (A. D. 272.) Nebuchadnezzar, before he laid siege to Jerusalem, Zenobia, the queen of Palmyra, occupied the throne took possession of Palmyra. This clearly indicates that after the death of her husband. She possessed extrathe latter city acted in concert with the neighboring ordinary endowments both of body and mind, and is capitals, Jerusalem and Tyre. There is, however, pronounced, by the historian Gibbon, as almost the only no continuous and authentic history of Palmyra till Asiatic female known to us as having surmounted the the capture of the Roman emperor Valerian by the obstacles arising from the confined situation of the sex. Persians-a period of more than twelve hundred years in that part of the world. Having punished the murtrom the foundation of the city. derer of her husband, and secured her position on the The gradual decline of Jerusalem and Tyre under throne, she carried her arms into the neighboring terthe Persian dominion, and that of Alexander's succes- ritories, and added greatly to the extent of the Palmysors, became the efficient cause of the sudden great- renian empire. Before the death of Odenathus, this ness of Palmyra in the time of the Parthians and dominion extended from the Euphrates over a great:Romans. This city then enjoyed a long peace for lportion of Asia Minor to the frontiers of Bithynia. many centuries, which allowed her inhabitants to erect Zenobia added to this the fertile and populous king. those magnificent structures, the remains of which we dom of Egypt.' In her demeanor, she blended the popstill admire. The Roman wrlters first mention Pal- ular manners of the Roman princes with the stately myra as a place which Mark Antony, in his campaign conduct of the courts of Asia, and exacted from her against the Parthians, attempted to plunder, on the subjects the samne adoration that was paid to the suc-* pretence that the city had not observed a just neutrality cessors of Cyrus. The title which she assumed was in the war. Pliny the Elder mentions it as being situ- that of Queen of the East —a splendid but somewhat ated in a rich soil,-meaning, probably, in comparison ambiguous designation, and which appears to have with the desert, —among pleasant streams, and totally been not incompatible with a certain degree of fealty separated firom the rest of the world by vast expanse to the woman empire. The emperor Claudius acUf sand, which had preserved the independence of the kn-owledged her merit, and evinced no disposition tc.place, btxvween the contending empires of Parthia and disturb her in the real or nominal possession of rega Rome. It continued to enjoy its independence tiii thle authority. DEFEAT OF ZENOBIA-SIEGE OF PALMYRA. 201 Zenobia at first maintained the most pacific relations that her reign should terminate only with her life with Rome. She bestowed upon her three sons a Latin The strength of the walls, and the ample store of arms education, and frequently exhibited them to her army and provisions with which the garrison was supplied, adorned with the imperial purple. It seems not un- gave her reason to hope that she could hold out till likely, however, that she had conceived the design of famine or the heat of the climate should drive the erecting an independent monarchy in the East, as a enemy into the desert. This war is one of the most rival to the empire of the Cmsars. It is affirmed, indeed, interesting events that mark the history of the declining that she aimed at universal dominion; and so confident empire of Rome, and no less so from having ultimately were her hopes of being mistress of the whole Roman brought ruin and desolation upon one of the most empire, that she caused to be constructed a mag- opulent and magnificent cities of the ancient world. nificent triumphal car, in which she designed to enter In their march across the desert, the Romans were the city of Rome after her conquest of Italy. Her perpetually harassed by the Arabs; nor could they authority was still extending in Asia Minor, and she had always defend themselves or their baggage from those acquired the kingdoms of Cappadocia and Bithynia, flying squadrons of active and daring robbers, who when the emperor Aurelian acceded to power at watched the opportunities for surprising the Roman Rome. The designs of Zenobia were now too nmani- line of march, and derided the slow pursuit of the fest to be mistaken, and that martial emperor, as soon legions. On arriving before the walls of Palmyra, as he had established tranquillity in the west, resolved Aurelian found the siege of the city an undertalking to wipe away the disgrace of suffering the richest pro- far more difficult and doubtful than he had imagined; vinces in the eastern part of his empire to be usurped and, while with incessant vigor and enterprise he oy a female. He put himself at the head of his legions, pressed the attack in person, he was himself wounded and crossed the Hellespont into Asia, (A. D. 272.) with a dart. One of his bulletins or despatches to the All Bithynia immediately submitted at his approach. senate of Rome has been preserved. "'The Roman Ancyra, the capital of Galatia, opened its gates with- people," says he, " speak with contempt of the war out resistance. Tyana, the birthplace of the philoso- which I am waging against a woman. They are pher Apollonius, after a long and obstinate siege, was ignorant both of the character and of the power of Zebetrayed by one of its inhabitants. Aurelian aban- nobia. It is impossible to enumerate her warlike prepdoned the perfidious traitor to the rage of the inhab- arations of stones, of arrows, and of every species of itants; but a superstitious reverence induced him to missile weapons. Every part of the walls is provided spare the city for the sake of the extraordinary man with two or three balistee, and artificial fires are thrown to whom it had given birth, and who was worshipped from her military engines. The fear of punishment in niany places as a deity. has armed her with a desperate courage. Yet I trust Antioch was deserted on the approach of the Roman still to the protecting deities of Rome, who have hitharmy; but the emperor, by a conciliatory proclamation, erto been favorable to all niy undertakings." recalled the fugitives, and granted a general pardon to all who, from necessity rather than choice, had engaged in the service of the Palmyrenian queen. The unexpected mildness of such a conduct quieted the Syri- C A T E R CXX VIII. ans, and Zenobia saw the necessity of fighting a battle before the enemy approached nearer to her capital. A. D. 272 to 1400. She advanced with her army toward Antioch, and en- Capture of Palm yra - Destruction of the countered the legions of Rome near that city. In the City -Discoveries - Descriptio of the Rubattle she animated the troops by her presence, but intrusted the execution of her orders to Zabdas, her lieutenant, who had already signalized his military AURELIAN, however, doubtful of the protection of talents by the conquest of Egypt. The Palmyrenian the Roman gods, and of the event of the siege, judged forces consisted for the most part of light archers and it prudent to negotiate with the queen. He offered of heavy cavalry, clad in complete steel. The Moor- terms of capitulation, which, for a Roman general ish and Illyrian horse of Aurelian were unable to habituated to conquest, were exceedingly liberal. To sustain the ponderous charge of their antagonists. Zenobia he promised a splendid retreat for the remainThey fled in real or affected disorder, drawing the der of her life; to the citizens, the enjoyment of their cavalry of Zenobia in a laborious pursuit; they then ancient privileges. His proposals were obstinately harassed them by a desultory combat, and at length re- rejected, and the refusal was accompanied with insult. pulsed and dispersed them. This decided the fortune of The proud queen entertained the confident expectation;he day. Zenobia retreated toward the desert, and ral- that the monarchs of the East, and particularly the lied her scattered forces at Emesa. A second battle was king of Persia, would march to the defence of their bfought at this place, so similar in almost every circum- natural ally. But fortune was averse to her hopes, stance to the first, that we can scarcely distinguish and the perseverance of Aurelian overcame every'hem from each other. obstacle which the unfriendly climate and the industry After these two defeats, Zenobia found it impossible I of the Palmyrenians threw in his way. The death of to collect a third arnmy sufficiently powerful to face the Sapor, which happened about this time, distracted the conqueror. Tile nations subjected to her empire, as councils of Persia, and the inconsiderable succors, far as the frontier of Egypt, joined the Romans, which attempted to relieve Palmyra, were intercepted and Alirelianl, liaviirl detached a force to subjugate by the RomLans. From every part of Syria a regular the'Egyptian!l p'ovinces, directed his march to Palmyra. succession of convoys, laden with supplies, arrived Tile Qtueen had retilred within the walls of her capital, safely in the camp of the besilegers, alnd their force and made every hlrepalation for a vigorous defence, was soon augmented by the accession of the legions declaring, withl the spirit and intrepidity of a heroine, which returned from the conquest of Egypt. 252 ZENOBIA TAKEN-LED CAPTIVE INTO ROME. Zenobia saw that the city could no longer be defended; Roman governor, or the rashness of a fickle populabut still, unwilling to surrender herself as a captive to an tion; but the vengeance which it drew upon the enemy whom she had treated with so much arrogance, devoted city was instant and merciless. Without a she resolved to save herself by flight. She mounted moment's delay, the emperor turned his face towards the fleetest of her dromedaries, and left the city by Syria, and did not slacken his march till he was agair night, intending to seek an asylum in Persia. She at Palmyra. The city was taken by storm, and delivhad already reached the banks of the Euphrates, sixty ered up to military execution. No age nor sex was miles from Palmyra, when she was overtaken by the spared; torrents of blood were shed, and the ruthless Roman light horse, and made prisoner. Palmyra soldiery were allowed to pillage and devastate at their soon after surrendered, and was treated by Aurelian pleasure, till the whole city was ruined. with unexpected lenity. The arms, horses, and camels, Zenobia was carried captive to Rome, where she with an immeise treasure of gold, silver, silk, and was led at the chariot wheels of the conqueror, at his precious stones, were all delivered to the conquerors. triumphal entry into that city. The spectacle. of the Zenobia was brought into the presence of Aurelian, celebrated Queen of the East, dethroned and a captive, who sternly asked her how she had presumed to rise was one of uncommon interest, and all eyes were In arms against the emperor of Rome. Her answer fixed on her as the splendid. pageant moved through was a.prudent mixture of respect and firmness.' Be- the streets of Rome. She followed, on foot, the magcause I disdained to consider as Roman emperor an nificent chariot, which, in the day of her prosperity and Aureolus or a Gallienus. You alone I acknowledge proud hopes, she had caused to be made for her own as my conqueror and myr sovereign." triumphal entry into Rome. She was loaded with But the courage of Zenobia deserted her in the hour chtins and fetters of gold, borne up by slaves, and of trial. The Roman soldiery, who were enraged at almost sunk under the weight of the jewels with which the author of a war which had cost them so much she was adorned. After being thus exhibited as a hardship and suffering, called aloud for her execution. spectacle to the Roman populace, she was treated with In this extremity, the queen lost all her fortitude, and humanity by the emperor, who granted her an agreeeven forgot those sentiments of honor which alone able residence in the neighborhood of the city. Here can give dignity to the royal character. She conde- she passed the remainder of her life in a private conscended to save her life by betraying her friends. She dition, and, according to the relation of some writers, threw all the blame of the war upon her counsellors; became the wife of a Roman senator. among whom was the celebrated Longinus, the rheto- Palmyra never recovered from the blow inflicted rician and philosopher. It was their persuasion, she upon it by the inconsiderate and cruel vengeance of declared, which had controlled the weakness of her Aurelian. When it was too late, he discovered some sex, and caused the obstinate resistance of the Pal- pity for the unfortunate inhabitants, and granted them myrenians; and on their heads she directed the cruel permission to rebuild and inhabit their city. But it vengeance of the conqueror. Aurelian doomed them is easier to destroy than to restore. The capital of to death, and spared Zenobia. Her preceptor and Zenobia, the seat of commerce, wealth, luxury, and counsellor, Longinus, calmly followed the executioner, the liberal arts, gradually sunk into an obscure town pitying his unhappy mistress, and bestowing cotnfort a trifling fortress —and at length became nothing more or his afflicted friends. than a miserable village. The emperor Justinian During these events, a singular revolution took place placed a garrison here, and strengthened the fortificain Egypt. There was a Roman merchant settled in tions of the place. It was captured by the Saracens, that country named Firmius, who traded in glue and under Abu Bekr, the successor of Mahomet; and paper, which he exported to Arabia and other Eastern from this time it disappears altogether from history, till countries. By this traffic he became immensely rich, the twelfth century, when it was visited by Benjamin and, amidst the troubles occasioned by the revolt of of Tudela, a Spanish Jew, who described it as encomZenobia, imagined he saw a favorable opportunity for passed with a wall, and inhabited by four thousand striking a great blow in political matters on his own Jews, who were constantly engaged in hostilities with account. His vast wealth enabled him to raise a the neighboring Arabs. T-he latest historical event large army, and he openly espoused the cause of recorded of Palmyra is the capture and plunder of Zenobia, hoping to raise the population of Egypt in her the city by Tamerlane, in the year 1400. behalf, though his ulterior object was probably his own Palmyra remained forgotten by the'rest of the elevation to power. He laid an embargo on all vessels world, when, about the year 1700, some Engbound fromAlexandria to Rome, and, for a short time, lish travellers in Syria heard the Arabs speak of was complete master of the country. But, although certain wonderful ruins in the desert; an expedition the populace embraced his cause, they were unable xwas undertaken in search of these objects, and the to support him against the discipline and valor of the discovery which ensued first disclosed the remains Roman legions. Aurelian, on the first news of the of Palmyra to the knowledge of modern Europe. revolt, took up his march for Egypt. The forces of Three Englishmen, Messts. Wood, Dawkins, and the insurgents were quickly dispersed. Firmius was Bouverie, made a journey to the spot soon after for besieged in the citadel of Alexandria, compelled to the purpose of taiking drawings of these remarkable surrender, and immediately put to death. monuments. They. attempted first to prcoceed by the Aurelian, having placed a Roman garrison in Pal- way of Aleppo, and next by that of Damascus; but myra, took up his march for Italy; but scarcely had the Turkisll governors of those places declared thermhe crossed the Hellespont, when he was provoked by selves unable to secure the safety of the travellers in the intelligence that the populace of Palmyra had risen a tract so much exposed to the incursions of the wild in rebellion, and massacred the whole garrison. We Arabs At Dainascus, however, they learnt that Hasare not informed of the immediate cause of this revolt, sia, a village four days' journey to the north, was ruled whether it was owing to the tyrannical behavior of the by an Aga whose power reached to Palmyra. They RUINS OF PALMYRA. 253 proceeded accordingly to that place, and met with a the waters of which, judiciously distributed, doubtless cordial welcome, which is usually given by chiefs conduced greatly to the subsistence and comfort of occupying those remote situations; and though the the ancient inhabitants, but they are now suffered to object of their journey appeared wholly incompre- lose themselves in the sand. hensible to him, he furnished them readily with an The memory of Longinus, the critic and rhetoriescort of horse in order to effect it. cian, is intimately connected with that of Palmyra. The travellers passed through several poor villages, This celebrated writer is said to have been a native in which were often seen fragments of finely sculp- of Syria, possibly of Palmyra, which, in ancient times, tured marble rudely put together in the erection of was regarded ge6graphically as belonging to Syria. cottages. From the last of these to Palmyra was a In his youth, he travelled for improvement to Athens, plain about eighty miles long and ten broad, in which Rome, Alexandria, and other cities famous for learnthey found neither a blade of grass nor a drop of ing and the arts, and attended upon the lectures of all water, yet disclosing here and there fragments of the eminent masters in eloquence and philosophy. ancient architecture. At the end of that space, the He was a great admirer of Plato, whose memory he hills enclosing the valley opened, and they beheld honored by an annual festival. Such was the extent of suddenly bursting on the view the most extensive and his erudition, that he was called by his contemporaries magnificent mass of ruins they had ever seen. Range the living library. He taught philosophy at Athens, behind range of Corinthian columns of white marble where the celebrated Porphyry was one of his disciappeared standing entire, after the walls and solid piles ples. At length, he settled in Palmyra, and was to which they were attached had yielded to time. All highly favored by Zenobia, who took instructions in around there seemed nothing but an immense level the Greek language from him, and made him hei desert, extending to the distant Euphrates. political counsellor. But this distinction was fatal to As soon as the travellers had recovered from their him. On the capture of Palmyra, by Aurelian, the first impressions of astonishment, they began to take vengeance of the conqueror fell on the head of Lona more minute survey. On the left appeared the ginus, wlho was suspected of having written the spirited most entire monument, consisting of a long range of and defying answers which the queen returned to the wall, with twelve noble windows, belonging to a tem- summons of' Aurelian. Longinus was instantly orple of the sun, the ruins of which rise above it. Be- dered to execution. His philosophy supported him in yond a few Turkish edifices, mixed with some beauti- this hour of trial, and he calmly submitted to his fate. ful detached columns, begins a magnificent colonnade, IHe was the author of many works, but the only extending nearly a mile, through the intercolumnia- one which has escaped the ravages of time is his tions of which are seen other superb structures. Far- Treatise on the Sublime, which is greatly admired for ther to the right are the ornaments belonging to two its lofty sentiments and noble language. His critical other temples, and at some distance in front are four precepts, however, are somewhat obscure, and he is grand columns belonging to some edifice of which more entitled to praise for his lively sensibility to the there remains now no other vestige. The whole plain, beauties of poetry and rhetoric, than for the accuracy for three miles round, is covered with columns, some of his investigations and judgments as to their nature erect and others prostrate, some entire, and others and causes. He is one of the very few ancient writers with broken capitals -- and others exhibiting the scat- who appear to have been acquainted with the Jewish tered fragments of which they were once composed. Scriptures. Ile mentions the books of Moses, and was Palmyra is still inhabited by a few Arabs, whose much struck with the sublimity of this passage of wretched huts fill the court of the great temple, while Genesis — And God said,' Let there be light,' and every spot of ground intervening between the walls there was light!" Moses," he observes, "was no and the columns is laid out in plantations of corn and ordinary man." olives, enclosed by mud walls. There are two streams, sag===L-L=EI 2b4 ARMENIA-ITS BOUNDARIES —TS ANTIQU ITY. iruzntn, lll Armenian Merchants in a Turkish Khan. C HIA PTER cxxIX. Irivals. While the Armenians, who remain at home, 700 to 70 B. C. live in a semibarbarous manner, those who emigrate to other countries become exceedingly intelligent, and P'oundation of the Armenian Mionarchy- thoroughly skilled in every kind of knowledge and Reign of Tigranes. accomplishment necessary to the success of theircom ARMENIA is an interior country, sometimes regarded eial projects. as a part of Asia Minor. It lies to the south-east of This country was peopled at a very ealy date in the Euxine Sea, and, according to the description of the history of the world. Mount Ararat, one of the Strabo, was bounded on the north by Iberia and loftiest peaks of Armenia, is regarded as the spot on Albania, on the east by Media, on the south by vwhich the Ark first rested, after the deluge; but of Assyria, and on the west by Pontus. It is an ele- the first settlement of this region we have no precise vated and mountainous country, abounding in ranges account. The Armenians were always regarded as a and heights covered with perpetual snow. Hence very ancient people. Herodotus deduces their origin the climate is cool, and the winters often very from the Phrygians on cont of some hyga severe. The Euphrates, Tigris, and Araxes Rivers words which he found in the Armenian language; but take their rise in this region. In ancient times, the this is quite as good a reason for supposg the Phy corn, wine, and other natural productions of Armenia, ato were of an inferior quality, and the scanty crops re- rational opinion is, that the Armenians had the same sulted entirely from the unwearied industry and pain- with the ancient Syrians. In process of time ful labor of the inhabitants. The country, howeverhei trading enterprises drew to this quarteremirants is tolerably fertile, and is now well cultivated. from Persia and other countries of the south, together Lyi~ cngutAsiAm ifluewith Greeks and Phrygians. The government seems Lying contiguous to Assyria, Armenia fell under that power at an early period. It was afterward sub- to have been monarchical from the earliest period, bu ject to the Medes, Persians, Greeks, Syrians, Par- at what date the kingdom of Armenia was fourded we have no means of knowing. thians, Romans, Saracens, and finally to the Turks. we have no means of knowing. tneeriitsArenia Major a Berosus * the Chaldean states that the first king of At one period, it was divided into and Armenia wajo and Armenia Minor. Artaxata, Amida, (now Diarbekir,) rnia was Scyth, who was succeeded by his son and Tigranacerta, were the chief towns of ancient Barzanes. Pliny and others relate that, on the death Armenia.. of Barzanes, Armenia was divided into several petty At present, Armenia is shared between Russia, kingdoms. Plutarch mentions one Araxes, king of At present, Armenia is shared between Russia, Persia, and Turkey. The whole nation is supposed to Armenia, who, in a war with the Persians, was assured amount to two millions, two thirds of which are under of success by an oracle, provided he should sacrifice the Ottoman government. The Armenians are scat- Berosus was a priest of Belus, at Babylon, and lived tered, like the Jews, in va ious countries; but they about 330 to 246 B.C. ie was a man of extensive learning, have a great turn for commercial affairs, and a large and understood the Greek language. He wrote a history of share of the trade of Western Asia is in their hands Babylon, and ofthe adjacent countries of Assyria, Media, and They are industrious, and, nthough devoted to gain, ar e b ooks: thesel areee lost, but fragments have ohey har te iGst reeos, w aand, thougdeir ohqtedgn are been preserved in Esebius, Josephus, and othair aniet more trustworthy than the Greeks, who are often their authors, who quote kim. CONQUEST OF TIGRANES. 255 his two daughters. He attempted to practise a fraud all the Asiatic princes, and filled him with pride and upon the divinity by offering up the daughters of one self-confidence. He now began to regard himself as of his nobles, in consequence of which the latter rose invincible. He assumed the haughty title of " kilng in rebellion, and defeated Araxes, who, in his flight, of kings," compelled many sovereigns to wait upon attempted to. swim across the River Helmus and was him in the capacity of menial servants, and ordered drowned. This event caused the name of the river that all foreigners who addressed him on public affairs to be changed to Araxes. It is to be observed that should stand before the throne with their hands claspea the Greeks and Romans had a low opinion of the together, in token of their absolute vassalage. When Armenlans, believing them to be destitute of patriot- he rode out, he was attended by four kings in livery, Ism, and indifferent to liberty or political freedom. who ran by the side of his horse. They appear never to have been a very cultivated Mithridates, king of Pontus, had given his daughter people. in marriage to Tigranes. Being expelled from his Astyages, king of Media, subjected Armenia to his kingdom by the arms of the Romans and a defection dominion in the sixth century'before Christ. The among his own troops, he fled to the court of his soncountry, however, retained its own monarchs, who in-law. Tigranes, puffed up with prosperity gave him acted as viceroys under the Median king. Subse- a very cold reception, refusing either to admit him to quently, Armenia became a province of the Persian his presence or acknowledge him as his relative. He empire, and was governed by satraps till the time promised him, however, personal protection, and alof Alexander the Great, when it fell, with the other lowed him a table and retinue suitable to his quality. Persian provinces, under the Macedonian' rule. The Lucullus, the Roman commander, sent to demand Seleucidm included it in their dominion till the time that Mithridates should be given up, threatening hosif Antiochus the Great, when the two prefects of tilities in case of refusal. Tigranes answered, that he Armenia, Zadriades and Artaxias revolted, and made did not approve of all the acts of Mithridates, but that themselves independent. Byseizing on some'of the the world would condemn him if he delivered a near adjacent provinces, they so far enlarged their territory relation into the hands of his enemies, and he was that two separate kingdoms were formed here, named therefore determined to' protect him in his adverse Armenia'Major and Armenia Minor, the latter lying fortune. Having given this answer, he sent Mithriw-est of the Euphrates. This division was made dates back to Pontus with a large force of cavalry. 97 B. C. Lucullus marched into that country and captured A chasm ensues in Armenian history, during which Slnope. Leaving here one legion of his. troops to twe can learn little, except that the Armenians waged maintain possession, he proceeded with the remainder, an unsuccessful war with Parthia: at the conclusion consisting of twelve thousand foot and three thousand 9f the war, Tigrane.s, a prince of Armenia, was de- horse, toward Armenia, in pursuit of Tigranes. He Livered up as a hostage to the Parthians. 4When his crossed the Euphrates, and advanced as far as the father died, he obtained his liberty by ceding a con- Tigris; then, wheeling to the north, he entered the siderable portion of his hereditary dominions to Par- mountains in the south of Armenia, directing his march thia. With these concessions he was permitted to to Tigranocerta. In the mean time, the "' king of mount the thrdne, (95 B. C.) Shortly afterward, he was kings " was ignorant of the approach of the Romans; led into a war with the Romans by the intrigues of for, as he had cut off the head of the first person who Mithridates of Pontus, and sent an army to invade brought tidings of them, as a propagator of false alarms, Cappadocia, the government of which had recently all others were deterred from giving information. At been conferred by the Romans on Ariobarzanes. length, Mithrobarzanes, one of his friends, ventured This enterprise was crowned with success, and Ti- to assure him that the Romans were near. Tigranes granes bestowed the crown of Cappadocia upon ordered him to take a body of cavalry, attack the RoAriarathes, the son of Mithridates, reserving all the mans, and bring their leader captive. The attempt booty for himself. The Syrians, in the mean time, was made, but Mithrobarzanes was defeated and slain, being harassed by the perpetual contentions of the and Lucullus laid siege to Tigranocerta. Seleucidue, invited Tigranes to take possession of their country. The offer was accepted; the Seleucidme were expelled, and Tigranes became king of Syria. Such successes only incited the ambition of Tigranes to further enterprises. He led his victorious CHAPTER CXX. army into Armenia Minor, which he reduced in a sin- B. C. 70 to A. D. 840. lie campaign. He then marched against the Asiatic W*ars of Tigranes - Conquest of ArmenTia by Greeks, the Adiabenians, the Gordians, and other nations, compelling the people in every quarter to -acknowledge him as their sovereign. On returning tion of the Country. from this expedition, he took Cappadocia in his way, TIGRANES found that a serious blow must be struck from whence he carried into Armenia three hundred for the preservation of his capital. He accordingly thousand captives. These he employed in building summoned troops from all parts of his empire, and an a large city on the spot where he was crowned king. army was collected at Tigranocerta, amounting to one This he called after his own name - Tigranocerta. hundred and seventy thousand foot and fifty-five thou. Tigranes next marched against the Parthians, from sand horse. Mithridates and his general Taxiles, who whom he recovered all the territories which had been knew by experience how ill. suited the Asiatic troops extorted firom him'as a ransom. To these he added were to cope with the Roman legions, advised Tigranes Mesopotamia, Mygdonia, the city of Nisibis, and all not to risk a general engagement, but to starve the enePhmenicia. His repeated siccesses and unvaried good my out of the country by cutting off their supplies. Thle fortune rendered the name of Tigranes formidable to rash and presumptuous despot rejectedthis prlldenltcoun.~~~~~~~~~~_____,. 256 CONQUEST OF ARMENIA BY THE ROMANS sel with scorn, and descended from his advantageous enter the Roman lines on horseback. Tigranes ac position among t'he mountains into the plain. When cordingly dismounted, and, unbuckling his sword he saw the Roman army, he made a jest of their small delivered it up to the Romans. He then advanced on numbers, exclaiming, " If they come as ambassadors, foot, and, coming to the tent of Pompey, took off his they are too many; if as enemies, they are too few." diadem, and threw himself on the"ground before the Lucullus beheld with great joy the Armenian host Roman commander. Pompey raised him from that descending from the mountains to offer him battle. humiliating posture, put the crown again upon his He left a single legion to carry on tile siege of' the head, and spoke to him in language of consolation. city, and marched with ten thousand foot and one Having listened to the statements of both parties. thousand horse to meet the immense numbers of his Pompey decided that the king should retain his paterenemy. As the Romans were preparing to ford a nal dominions, give up all his conquests, and pay a river which separated the two armies, one of the offi- large sum of- money to the Romans for the expenses cers reminded him that the day was marked in the of the war. Tigranes acquiesced with great cheerfulcalendar as unlucky, the Romans having been defeated ness, and, accordingly, ceded to the Romans the on the same day of the year by the Cimbri. Lucullus provinces of Syria, Cilicia, and Cappadocia. He also replied, without any emotion, " It is, therefore, our duty made such valuable presents to Pompey and the other to fight with so much the more courage, that so dismal officers in his army as gained him the title of an ally a day may henceforth be a day of rejoicing." of the Roman republic. He afterward waged an unThe Romans, who dreaded, at first, the great dispar- successful war with the Parthians, and would have ity of numbers, were so animated by the example of been expelled from his throne but for the assistance their leader, that they threw themselves with irresisti- of Pompey. The latter part of his reign was disturbed ble fury upon the enemy, and soon routed them with by the rebellion of his son Saviaster; but the interfergreat slaughter. Never was a victory more decisive. ence of the Romans quelled this revolt, and Tigranes, Tigranes was one of the first to fly from the field of after a life of the most extraordinary vicissitudes, battle. The ground for miles was covered with the died peaceably, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, slain and the spoils of the defeated army, and the (37 B. C.) Romans declared themselves ashamed of having em- The crown of Armenia Minor was bestowed by ployed their arms against such a horde of' cowardly Pompey on Deiotarus, tetrarch of Galatia, as a reward slaves. Plutarch states that one hundred thousand, and for services rendered to Rome in the Mithridatic war. nearly all the cavalry, on the side of the Armeniarqs, This prince lived on terms of the strictest friendship were killed, while the Romans lost but five men killed. with Cicero, Cato, Brutus, Pompey, Lucullus, and This is probably an exaggeration. Lucullus aban- other eminent Romans. Pompey declared that he doned all the booty to his soldiers, and then resumed was the only ally of the republic on whom any dethe siege of Tigranocerta, which soon surrendered, pendence could be placed. When the civil war broke (68 B. C.) out, Deiotarus took the side of Pompey, and fought Mithridates encouraged Tigranes to continue the with great bravery at the battle of Pharsalia. But war. Accordingly new forces were levied, and a sec- while he was fighting for his friend, his own kingdom ond battle was fought at Artaxata. The Armenians was invaded and overrun by Pharnaces, king of were again defeated, and Lucullus determined to Pontus. Deiotarus, however, recovered his dominions follow up his success by conquering the whole country. through the generosity of Julius Caesar, who not only But it was now the autumnal equinox, and the Romans pardoned him for his adhesion to Pompey, but exfound the climate in that elevated region much colder pelled the invaders from Armenia, and restored the than they had imagined. The snow began to fall; the king to his throne. Some time after this, Deiotarus rivers were filled with ice, and difficult to cross; and, was accused at Rome of conspiring against the lite after a march of some considerable distance against of Cuesar; but he was triumphantly defended by Cicero these obstacles, the soldiers mutinied, and refused to in an oration before Cresar, which is now extant. proceed any farther. Lucullus, finding them obstinate, Deiotarus had a very long reign, and, his family bewas compelled to march southward, and put his army coming extinct with his son, the kingdom was no into winter quarters at Nisibis. Shortly after, he was longer governed as a separate principality. It was recalled to Rome, and the command of the army given first attached to some of the neighboring kingdoms, to Pompey. and then reduced to a province of the Roman empire. Young Tigranes, the son of the king, now took up Armenia Major continued under its native kings till arms against his father, and, with the assistance of the reign of the emperor Trajan, when it vwas'nade a Phraates, king of Parthia, compelled him to retire to province of the empire. Not long after this, however, the fastnesses of the mountains. But, on the with- it recovered its liberty, and we find kings of Armenia drawal of the Parthians, the rebels were defeated, and mentioned in history in the time of Constantine the their leader deserted to Pompey, who, by his advice, Great. immediately marched to Artaxata, where the king Ardeshir, the first of the Sassanian kings of Persia, then resided. This monarch was now completely subjected Armenia to his dominions, (A.D. 232.) The cast down from the proud and lofty temper which he country remained under the Persian rule till Dertad, had previously exhibited. His sudden and unexpected or Tiridates, a survivor of the Arsacide family, with misfortunes had completely broken his spirit, and he the support of a Roman army, expelled the Persians resolved to surrender his capital and repair as a sup- and reestablished the independence of the kingdom. pliant to the Roman camp. He laid aside most of Early in the fourtllh century, the king and many of the the ensigns of his dignity, and, approaching the Roman nobility were converted to Christianity. This added station on horseback, was preparing, after the Oriental to the hostile feeling which already existed between fashion, to ride into the camp, when a lictor met him, the Armenians and Persians, and new wars ensued and informed him that he could not be allowed to between these two nations The Persian authorntv TARTAR INVASION-HABITS OF THE ARMENIANS. 207 was, for a time, restored in Armenia, and the Chris- most unfeeling of the barbarous devastators of this fians suffered cruel persecutions. Even after the fall country. That he might defend his frontiers against 9f the Sassanian dynasty, in the seventh century, the the Turks, he coolly determined to draw through country did not enjoy tranquillity, as it became the Armenia a broad intrenchment of perfect desert. Its scene of conflict between the Byzantine Greeks and unfortunate inhabitants, after seeing their houses, and the Saracens. An army of the latter people, under every vestige of cultivation and of home, disappear, the command of Bugla, conquered Armenia, A. D. 855. were collected in the plain of Ararat, and driven, Many of the principal noblemen were transported to like cattle, to Persia. Husbands and wives, parents Bagdad, and forced to become converts to Mahomet- and children, were separated, and multitudes were anism. One of them, named Sempad, refused, and drowned in crossing rivers. Fifty thousand were died a martyr. His son, Ashdod, gained the favor of established as a colony in an unhealthy region, where the khalif, who made him king of Armenia in 859. disease soon swept most of them away. He became the founder of the Bagratide dynasty, Within a few years, Ruqsia has extended her borwhich continued to occupy the throne till A. D. 1080. ders in the direction of Armenia, and, by her successIn the eleventh century, Armenia became an object ful wars with Persia and Turkey, she has been enabled of contention between the Byzantine empire and the to establish her authority over a considerable portion Se]jukian Turks. The northern provinces were con- of this country. Armenia, at this time, may there. quered by these invaders, and the southern by thI fore be regarded as partitioned between Russia, Per. Koords; the remainder of the kingdom became a sia, and Turkey. dependency of the emperor of Constantinople. When The Armenians are chiefly known, at the present the Bagratide dynasty was overthrown, Rulpen, a rela- dclay, not as a nation having a home and country of tive of the last king, fled, with his family, into Phry- their own, but as a scattered race —citizens of the gia, and established an Armenian principality in the world. This is so far from surprising, that one cannot mountains of Taurus, north of Cilicia. These lofty read the history of Armenia without wondering that regions had been previously occupied by a numerous any trace of its ancient inhabitants remains. At an Armenian population, but the standard of Rupen drew early date, they were carried or driven to Mesopotamia away still greater numbers, from the cruelties of the and Cilicia. In later times, the Turkish conquest Turks and the persecutions of the Greeks. The caused many of them to emigrate to Constantinople kingdom increased fiom small beginnings, till it occu- Shah Abbas, as we have seen, forcibly removed many pied. the whole country from the summits of Taurus thousands to Persia. The Saracens and Greeks, while to the sea, and from the Euphrates to the western contending for the possession of Armenia, took away limits of Cilicia. It soon derived importance from multitudes of captives. Toghrul Beg and Timour the services which its princes rendered to the monarchs carried thousands into unknown regions. The Mamof Europe, during the crusades. The Greek empire elukes removed sixty thousand Armenians to Egypt; was its constant enemy. and it is known that the Persians, in every warThe Mongolian Tartars, under Zingis Khan, in their even in the last with Russia -carried away their capinvading progress from their distant home on the north tives into servitude. In addition to these causes of of the Chinese wall, drove westward the different depopulation, multitudes have, at various periods, been hordes of Turks who occupied the regions adjacent induced, by oppression at home, to seek voluntarily an to the Caspian Sea. These spread themselves over asylum in distant countries. The Armenians, thereArmenia in the thirteenth century, subjecting its in- fore, are found not only in almost every part of Turhabitants to the combined evils of war and religious key and Persia, but in India, Russia, Poland, and persecution. The Mongolians who followed were many other parts of Europe. cruel as conquerors and oppressive as governors; but The Armenians are distinguished, in foreign coun-.heir extortions were diminished by a visit of the tries, by their attachment to trade and their love of Armenian king of Cilicia to their distant master, and money. Let an Armenian but once leave his native a temporary tranquillity was restored to Armenia by soil, and settle in a distant land, and his taste at once the personal presence of the Khan, Hulaku, who, in points toward merchandise, as the needle to the pole. 1256, transferred the head-quarters of the Mongolian Thousands migrate, every year, from their native power from the desert to the beautiful city of Mara- mountains to the large cities of Turkey, where they ghta, in Aderbijan, on the Armenian frontier, and practise, for years, the humble occupations of porters changed the encampment of a nomadic horde into a and water-carriers; but, almost invariably, they or civilized and enlightened court. their children work their way into the ranks of trade Toward the end of' the fourteenth century, the Tar- Some begin with the calling of a mechanic, ascend tar conqueror Timour swept away the miserable reln- ing gradually to that of a merchant, and finally rtants of the house of Ziillis, and his armties repeat- the more able or fortunate reaching the dignity of a ecdly traced their bloody tracks across the mountaiins banker —which is the highest summit of their ambition. of Armenia. But this mighty conqueror left behlind They are fond of attending to the purchase and sale him no efficient rulers, aid the Turkoman tribes sooa of their goods in person, however distant the places effaced the fbotsteps of the last of the Mongolians. of purchase and sale may be from each other, and For nearly a century, the sultans of Egypt occ;sioL- thus they become great travellers; almost every imn ally, in league with the Turks of Iconiurn, mrade ii- Iportant fair and mart, from Leipsic and London to cursions into Cilicia, destroying its cities, and carrying, Bombay ani(l Calcutta, is visited by them. its inhabitants into captivity, till finally the Armenian An Armenian rnerchant difiers materially from a kingdom was overthr~owv, (A. D. 1375,) and Cilicia Greek. As in his national character there is more was made a province of Egypt. For a long timne, the sense and less wit, so in his trade there is more Turks and Persians shared the whole of Armenia be- respectability and less firaud. Not that hlie is an hontween themn. Shah Abbas of Persia was one of the est man' for cheating, among the expatriated Arme min 268 - ARMENIAN LANGUAGE, RE' IGION, AND MANNERS. nians, is universal, and is regarded only as an author- torian was Agathangelus, the secretary of King Tn1-. ized art of trade. They admit it, indeed, to be dates, in the fourth century. Zenob, a pupil and immoral; but they say, "' Are we in a convent, that we secretary of St. Gregory, lived about the same time, should be able to live without it? " Their disposition and wrote a chronicle of the province of Daron. to monopolize is exceedingly overbearing. A rich Moses of Chorene, surnamed Kertlhogh, or " the grammerchant will, if possible, crush every one whose marian poet," is regarded by the Armenians as the trade interferes with his. It is, indeed, the. character first of their classical writers. He wrote works on of the nation to be peculiarly intolerant of competition. history, rhetoric, and geography. Nerses Klaietsi, The history of their civil broils, when they had a. surnamed "the graceful," was the inventor or principal political existence, and the enormities to which their cultivator of rhymed poetry among the Armenians. ecclesiastical rivalries now frequently lead, justify the The decline of Armenian literature began at the close remark, that when the bad passions of an Armenian of the fourteenth century. are fully roused, there is no deed too base or dark for The religion of the Armenians is Christianity of him to perform. the Eutychian sect; that is, they own but one nature in Jesus Christ: they hold him to be perfect God and perfect man without mixture. They have a high esteem for a book, called the Little Gospel, which treats C HAlP TIER CXXXI. of the infancy of Jesus. The clergy consists of patriarchs, archbishops, doctors, secular priests, and Government, Religion, Manners, Tic., of the monks. The secular priests are allowed to marry Armenians. once, and maintain themselves by labor or trade. WHEN we investigate the nature of the government, They have seven sacraments, as in the Romish laws, religion, learning, &c., of the ancient Armenians, church, and celebrate baptism and the Lord's supper. we encounter insuperable difficulties in the silence and Their fasts and abstinences surpass in rigor and freuncertainty of ancient history. It appears, however, quency those of all other Christian sects. Among that, in primitive times, the crown was hereditary and the clergy, the higher the rank, the more rigid must the government despotic. The religion appears to be the diet; so that, it is said, the archbishops live on have been idolatry: the supreme object of adoration nothing but pulse. was the goddess Tanais, supposed to be identical with In personal appearance, the Armenians are distinlhe Venus of the Greeks. In the early ages of his- guished by an elegant form and an animated physiog tory, the Armenians appear to have been rude and nomy. They are much addicted to excess in liquor, barbarous. When writing was first introduced among and it is said that an Armenipn priest will drink ten them, the Assyrian, Greek, and Persian alphabets were bottles of wine at a feast. The style of architecture successively employed to record their transactions; throughout the country is rude. Among the mounand it was not till the fifth century after Christ that tains, the houses are all under ground, and lighted an Armenian, named Mesrobes, invented, to express only by an opening at the top, through which the accurately the sounds of their language, that alphabet snow falls. The furniture is equally wretched. A which his countrymen still employ. basket, plastered with mud and cow-dung, serves the The Armenian tongue is rough and overcharged purpose of a meal-tub. The bread is a sort of'"tohnnywith consonants. It does not belong to any known cake," baked in a hole in the ground. family of languages, but. stands quite alone. It has a The condition of females in Armenia is very degreat number of Indo-Germanic roots, and shows graded. They are regarded as inferiors by the other many analogies to the Finnic dialects of Siberia and sex, and are disposed of in marriage by their parents other languages of Northern Asia. Its grammar is without any consideration of their inclinations. A wife excessively complicated. The ancient, or literary, is rather a servant than a companion to her husband. tongue is so different in its structure from the present An Armenian woman in the interior of the country dialect, that the former may be considered as a dead is thus described by a traveller: " Our host's wife, language. Previous to the introduction of Christian- like most of the women in the mountains, was unity, the civilization of Armenia appears to have been veiled. But her chin, in the usual style, was swaddled simnilar to that of the neighboring Persians and Par- in an enormous muffler, reaching to her nose, and a thians; but, with the exception of a few fragments of white cloth, passing over from her forehead, flowed ancient songs, no literary remains of this period have down on her shoulders behind. She spoke not a loud been preserved. With the Christian religion, how- word from the time we entered the house. If occasion ever, a taste for the study of the Greek language and required her to address a person too distant for a very literature became prevalent. The succession of wri- low whisper to be heard, her little daughter stood by ters, in various departments of literature, which Ar- her side, and, listening to her whispers, expressed her menia has produced, from the beginning of the fourth wishes aloud. Such is the etiquette of female modesty, century down to the present day, and the zeal with not only here, but generally among the Armenians. which the people, since their dispersion, have estab- It applies, however, only to the younger women, for lished printing-offices wherever they have settled in some old ladies of the neighborhood, who happened any considerable numbers, prove their aptitude for to call, were not prevented by it, nor by the still the cultivation of letters. greater obstacle of their mufflers, from almost stunning The Armenian historians are valuable on account us with their chatter." of the information which they supply on the history Travellers in Armenia, as in most other parts of the of the Byzantine empire, of the Sassanides, of the Turkish dominions, lodge in khans. These are buildSaracens, the Seljuks, the crusades, the Mongolians, ings peculiarly adapted to the necessities of an and, in short, on the entire history of the East since overland commerce, furnishing magazines for goods the fourth century. The most ancient Armenian his- lodgings for the merchants, and stables for the horses ERZEIROOM-DESTIlUCTION OF ARGURI. 259 of a caravan. They are generally quadrangular struc- tiir and light, which are not to be found in the dusty t.res, consisting of a series of rooms surrounding an and dismal streets. Twenty years ago, Erivan was a uncovered court, upon which they open, and having place of considerable commercial importance. The stables in the back part. In the rooms the merchants great caravan of Tabreez touched here, and the lRhans stow their goods and themselves. The muleteers, and bazaars were animated by the presence of crowds vith their animals, encamp under the open air in the of traders; the peasants of the neighboring country court, or lodge in the stable. The arched gateway, also found a ready market here for their produce. by which alone the court and rooms can be entered, But since the Russian occupation, the flourishing being closed at night, all are as safe as in a castle. transit trade of Erivan has gone entirely to ruin. The The rooms are unfurnished, and are lighted, like most caravans avoid the Russian territory, and the most of the private houses, by paper skylights in the terrace. considerable merchants have emigrated. Those who Food is never furnished in the khans, but coffee is have been compelled to remain, have become wretchalways to be had at a moment's warning. Travelling edly poor; and notwithstanding the religious bigotry in Armenia is reckoned very safe, though, as in most of the Armenians, many of them look back with sorother countries that have been under the dominion of row to the times of Persian dominion. the Turks, the want of good roads is sensibly felt. The little town of Arguri deserves mention for the Erzeroom ranks as the chief city.of Armenia. It dreadful catastrophe by which it was destroyed in ts also the capital of a Turkish pachalic, which is 1840. This place was one of the handsomest in Arhardly exceeded in extent by any in the Ottoman menia. It stood in a ravine of Mount Ararat, twentyempire. It has a very lofty situation at the source of five hundred feet above the level of the River Araxis,:the Euphrates, on a plain at the foot of one of the and had a population of nearly two thousand souls. highest mountains in the country. This city was It was a very flourishing place. Wheat and barley founded by one of the generals of Theodosius II., the throve well in its neighborhood. notwithstanding the Byzantine emperor, (A. D. 415,) and named by him elevated position of the territory. Most of the fruits Theodosiopolis. The Armenians called it Garimn, of Europe were cultivated in its gardens. According after the name of the ancient district of Upper Arme- to the traditions of the country, Arguri was the olldest nia, in which it is situated. Its present name seems town in the world; here the first vine was planted by to be borrowed from a city called Ardzen, which stood Noah, after he came out of the ark; and here he near it. As there was another Ardzen at a distance, formed a settlement, which has continued down to the Saracens distinguished the Greek city by the name the present age. Near the upper end of the ravine of Ardzen el Roon, or the Roman Ardzen. When were great hollows, containing ice and snow of bhe other Ardzen was destroyed by the Seljukian Turks, immense depth, and which never melted in lhe hottest ~Ts surviving inhabitants, its trade and its name, were summers. Most of the chasms in the moluntains Transferred to this place. Erzeroom has a population appear to have been the work of internal fires; but for varying from eighty thousand to one hundred thousand many centuries the existence of slumbering volcanic Inhabitants, about three fourths of whom are Turks. forces had been indicated only by occasional tremThe houses are built of a dark-colored stone, and are bling. This tranquillity of ages was at leangth suddenly mostly one story high, with a cheerless and diminutive broken on the twentieth of June, 1840, by a terrible appearance. The roofs are terraced with earth, which and devastating eruption. is overrun with grass; and this gives the city, when About half an hour after sunset, on that day, the viewed from an eminence above, much the appearance inhabitants of Ararat were startled by the sound of a of a meadow. The city contains a large citadel, sol- tremendous explosion. This was followed by an unduidly built of stone, and containing the bazaars, the lation of the ground, and the sudden yawning of a mosques, and many private dwelling-houses. chasm in the mountain, about three miles above Arguri Erzeroom was once the thoroughfare of most of Out of this chasm burst volumes of gas and steam, the overland commerce between Europe and the East, while stones and masses of earth were hurled with wvhich was not destroyed by the discovery of the passage enormous force down the mountain. The steam was round the Cape of Good Hope. Recently it has de- at first colored blue and red, but soon changed to a dlined from a variety of causes. Still the amount of deep black, filling the air with a sulphureous smell. Joods that now pass through Erzeroom annually is not The mountain roared and the earth shook without ceassmall. From the east are brought the shawls of ing. There was a heavy subterranean noise of crackCashmere and Persia, silk, cotton, tobacco, rice, indigo, ing and bellowing, intermixed with a whistling sound. a-ladder, and drugs; from the west, broadcloths, chintzes, like that of cannon balls - occasioned by the motion of shawls, and cutlery. the stones hurled through the air. Many of these Eri-van, the capital of Russian Armenia, lies on the stones were several tons in weight. The eruption north-east side of the great plain of the Araxes, three lasted an hour, and when the volumes of steam and thousand feet above the level of the Black Sea. It is smoke rolled away, and the shower of stones and mud surrounded by barren hills, and the prospect, in every had ceased, the town of Arguri had totally disapdirection, is of the most desolate character. The inte- peared, and its rich fields and blooming gardens lay rior of the place is hardly more agreeable to the view. buried under heaps of stones and mud. Every inhabThe streets are narrow; the houses are built of irreg- itant of the place perished, except a few who were ular stones, cemented together by a species of mortar absent on distant journeys. Noah's mountain is n,;,v made of mud and chopped straw. The gardens of as solitary as it was on the morning after the subsidenoe the mosques afford the only relief to the eye: here of the deluge. are trees and fountains, with open spaces, affording ~ ~__ 1 ~ ii 260 DESCRIPTION OF ASIA MINOR..Sa SStS p t CrOr.'G - Mat'L o- 3 ae ror lilt C~t Yallidhi _-...i0.._ C H A P T E R C X X X I11. tude is that of our Middle States, but the climate is Geograbphicatl XDescription - SketchofHistor much warmer. In the north, along the Black Sea, the of Asiaf'~lijuor - Conquests of Persia, Alew- winters bring snow and ice. In the elevated central of bsa t uin or CSonqu estrs of ersa, Alle - d o t w b t g regionAs the winters are very severe In the south angera the Paracens, (ec. f Ancieat Itics- the seasons resemble those o f GeoA gia. Here the ionst tode trn Dtvisiofns.ifuits are figs, oranges, Eleanons, citrons, and olives. westernl extremity of Asia. It is bounded on the cense, are abundantly produced in the coiuntry. On north by the EuSine o r Black Sea, on the ea st by Ar-the whole, the soil, climate, and productions of Asia menia and Syria, on the south by the Mediterranean, Minor are greatly varied, and many parts are exceedingand on the west by the pEgea n Sea (Grecian Archioly fertile. The coasts of the Black Sea are deemed pelago) and the Propontis, (Sea of Marmoa.) It cons th finest portions of Asia Minor. The western slores, stitutes the western portisn of Asiatic Tutkey, and is also, along the migean, are productive, and have ever only separa ted ftom the Eur opean territory of Turkey been celebrated for their delici ous climate. by the Sea of Mars ora, and the narow strait called The rivers of Asia Michor aine small, b ut celebrated ian t he Bo sph ors The pat wherete sun rises. The Sangairus Saki(now Kzil-Ermak, or Red River) tinople from the western point of Asia Minor is about rises in Anti-Taurts. It flows between Paphlagonia a mile and a half widedn. It is the largest s ivel in Asia Minor, its The term Asia Minor, or Lesser Asicl, was origi- whole course being about three hueandr fifty nally applied to the western parts only; but, about the miles. The Iris (Yeshil Ermak) is a considerable fourth century, it.was extended to the w hole ter ritory. rive, T he Th ermodas (Tarteh) passed through the is equivalet to th e French term Levant often use d All these, and m any minor streams, rise in the Antisixty. Its extent is nearly one hundred thousand and its tributary, the Pactoluswere noted fo r the gold in pplcaton o te sore alng he estrn xtrm- Tarusrane omoutais, nd lowint th Rlcl Qa PHYSICAL FEATURES OF ASIA MINOR-PRODUCTIONS.' 261 for its windings, and hence the term meandering is west. The southern range is called Taurzts, the descriptive of a crooked stream. These, and some northern, Anti-Taurus. The tops of some of these other small rivers, emptied into the Atgean. are twelve thousand feet high, and are covered with One remarkable feature of Asia Minor is that of perpetual snow. Mapy parts of these mountains are two mountain ranges, which traverse it from east to celebrated in history. Mount Cragus was the supposed The Plane-Tree. residence of the fabled Chimera. Upon Ida, Paris of the Roman bridges are still in use. Along the adjudged to Venus the prize of beauty. Sipy]us was leading routes are relays of horses, stationed at wide the residence of Niobe. The slopes of these moun- intervals, and at the principal towns. The most fretains were noted for more substantial considerations, quented road is that from Constantinople to Smyrna. being productive of rich forests of oak, ash, elm, The regular public communication, between these two beech, &c. Here the plane-tree, the glory of Eastern points, is but twice a month; but the government keeps vegetation, reaches its perfection. In these forests a corps of Tartar couriers, for the transmission of intelan inexhaustible supply of timber is found for the ligence. Turkish navy. Along the eastern coast of Asia Minor, on the MediAnother remarkable feature of Asia Minor is its terranean, are the fine islands of Cyprus, Rhodes, Cosi fresh and salt water lakes. Owing to the forms of the Icaria, Samos, Chios, and Lesbos: the history of these mountains, the greater part of the surface is cut up is intimately connected with that of the contiguous into long valleys and deep gorges, with numerous territory upon the main land. plateaus of greater or less elevation. In the higher The political history of Asia Minor forms a large levels of the south, centre, and south-east, are the chapter in the annals of the world. Forming the salt lakes. In Bithynia are the fresh water lakes, five western portion of Asia, it has been the theatre of being of considerable extent. One, the Ascanius, is numerous struggles for sovereignty. It has witnessed famed for its beauty. On its eastern shore is the city alike the personal prowess and the martial deeds of of Nice, (Isnek,) noted for the ecclesiastical council Achilles, Darius, Xerxes, Alexander, Hannibal, Mithwhich was held there, (A. D. 325.) ridates, Pompey, Cuesar, Timour, Bajazet, and MaIt is well known that Asia Minor abounds in mineral homet II. wealth. The Chalybes, in the north-east, were early In early times, this country seems to have been famous as workers in metals. Copper is found near occupied by a variety of races and tribes, gathered Trebizond and other places along the Black Sea. from different portions of Europe and Asia. rIerodo. There are also mines of lead, cinnabar, and rock- tus says that it contained thirty nations in his dayalum. The gold of Pactolus, which filled the treasury about 450 B. C. The Phrygians claim to be the mosi of the Lydian kings. has been already mentioned. ancient people. The Lydians, under Crcesus, were Asia Minor presents extensive marks of volcanic con- the first to establish an extensive dominion. But, at an vulsions, and there are wide tracts which are little bet- earlier period, the Greeks had established various ter than deserts. colonies along the western shores and the islands tha. However celebrated Asia Minor may be in history, skirt them. it is really but imperfectly known. The Turks build Although the interesting historical transactions conno proper roads; those which now exist are the lines nected with Asia Minor have been numerous, there is of communication established by tlhe lRomllans. Many little unity of history to connect them. The various 26,2. POPULATION, CHIEF TOWNS, &c., OF ASIA MINOtL. Kingdoms, republics, states, and empires, that have ing warlike tribes - allured or compelled to their stand existed in this country, have occasioned such a diver- ard -formed the whole into a vast military mass, which sity in its annals, that a connected narrative of the swept every obstacle before it. This power continued political revolutions of Asia Minor can hardly be at- to hold its chief seat in Asia Minor, till Sultan Amu. tempted. The first picture which history presents to rath transferred it to Adrianople, in Europe, and us in this quarter is that of a variety of nations arrayed finally Mahomet II., in 1453, fixed the metropolis of against the Greeks in the Trojan war. Troy, in that the Ottoman empire at Constantinople. great contest, drew auxiliaries from Caria, Lycia, Asia Minor, in its present state, is perhaps the least Mysia, Phrygia, &c., so that it became almost a con- interesting portion of the great empires which fill so test of Asia against Greece. Afterwards, in the re- large a space in ancient history. It is tyrannized over publics of the refined and effeminate Ionia, we find an by a brutal despotism, which has seated itself above early perfection of the sciences, poetry, music,' and the ancient inhabitants, without imbibing any portion sculpture - then unknown -to Greece - though that of the genius or the arts for which they were distincountry, in arts as well as in, arms, soon eclipsed the guished. Hence this part of the world excites our glory of its mnasters. In Asia Minor, too, the kingdom curiosity rather by the remembrance of what it once of Lydia was early famous, first for political power, was, than by any thing which it now offers to the sight. but much more, afterwards, for wealth and luxurious It is filled with the mighty monuments of former effeminacy. These unwarlike states soon yielded to greatness — vast structures erected by ancient kings the arms of Persia; they were included within its and republics, in which Oriental splendor and magniempire, and their arts and resources served only to tude are combined with the exquisite art and materials swell the pomp of the great king and his satraps. In of Greece and Rome. The most profound emotions this humiliating condition, they lost all their former are excited by the prospect of the vicissitudes of human high attainments, though' sometimes they fell under the glory exhibited on this varied theatre of history; and power of the Athenians, and were ruled by Greeks, the degradation of the present race of its inhabitants instead of barbarians. serves only to render more conspicuous the greatness After the conquest of Persia by Alexander, and of those whose place they have occupied. when the Macedonian empire fell suddenly to pieces, The ancient divisions of Asia Minor were as folsome of the most conspicuous among the fragments lows: Mysia, which included Ilium, or the kingdom were kingdoms established by his successors in Asia of Troy, Lydia, Caria, 2Eolia, Ionia, Doris, Lycia, Minor. It was here that Antigonus and Dernetrius Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Pontus, Phrygia, Pamphylia. collected a great portion of the resources with which Pisidia, Cilicia, Cappadocia, and Galatia; to which I they made so mighty a struggle for the supremacy some geographers add Little Armenia, or the western among the Macedonian chiefs. After their fall arose part of the country of that name. Under the Turks, the kingdom of Pergamus, whose princes, by their Asia Minor has been divided into pachalics, the prin own ability and the alliance of the Romans, became, cipal of which are Anadoli in the west, Trebizond in for a time, the most powerful in Asia. Their glory, the north, Sivas and Koniek in the interior, and Adana however, was surpassed by that of a kingdom formed in the south. in the opposite quarter of the peninsula, - that of Pon- Asia Minor may be considered as more entirely Tlurktus, - by the energetic character and daring exploits of ish than any other part of the Ottoman empire; and Mithridates. Under this able warrior, the last great it is from this country that the Porte has generally stand was made for independence, in opposition to the drawn those vast bodies of irregular cavalry which all-grasping ambition of Rome. With Mithridates, this have formed the chief mass of the Turkish armies. opposition sunkl to rise no more. Asia Minor was re- The peninsula has not, however, been exempt from duced'to the condition of a Roman province, and that spirit of revolt which has lately shown itself so made few and feeble attempts to shake off the yoke. threatening to the Ottoman power. The differenl Under the emperors, this country was chiefly distin- pachas have been accustomed to act almost in the guished in ecclesiastical history by the formation of style of independent princes, and to make war and apostolic churches, and the assemblage of general peace with each other, regardless of the expostulations councils, of which'those of Nice and Chalcedon, in of the sultan. particular, had an important influence on the belief The population of Asia Minor may be estimated at and worship of the Christian world. from four to five millions. This consists of Turks, Protected by its distance from Arabia and the Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, in the towns. In the mountain chain of Taurus, Asia Minor escaped, in a country, there are many people of nomadic habits, great measure, the destructive tide of Saracen inva- bearing the general names of Turcomans. The prinsion. It was not, however, equally well sheltered from cipal towns in Asia Minor at the present day are the inroads of that great succession of barbarous Smyrna, Tocat, Trebizond,Boli,and Angora. Scutari, hordes, who, under the appellation of Turks, poured (Chrysopolis,) opposite Constantinople, is the place down from the central and northern regions of the where the Persians collected their tribute. It is the continent, and, after conquering Persia, crossed the custom of the wealthy Turks of Constantinople to be Euphrates, and took permanent possession of this buried in a fine cemetery here. Scutari is an empo- I country. The Turkish empire of the first invaders rium for the caravans which carry on the trade with became divided and crushed by the early successors the East. Ephesus, Sardis, (Sart,) and various other of the crusaders, and sunk into a languishing and places renowned in history, display only the vestiges almost expiring state. Suddenly, however, from its of former greatness, amid present decay and deso. ashes rose the family of Othman, who, collecting the lation.'I'urlish remnant, and combining it with the neighbor- MYSIA -THE ANCIENT MlYSIANS 263 from him, defeated Attalus. and at length besieged him C H A PTE R C XXXII I. in his own capital. B. C. 2000 to 1000. Attalus was now reduced to great extremities; but he suon found means to extricate himself, by inducing lIYsIA. - The anxcient Mlfysians - 7he Kings his ancient enemies, the Gauls, to march to his relief. of Pergamz us -'The RomCan, Conzquest. By their assistance, he compelled Selencus to raise the MYSIA lay at the western extremity of Asia Minor. siege of Pergamus, and withdraw from his territories. It was divided into two parts —Mysia Major and Attalus then led his troops into Ionia, subjected the Mysia Minor. The former was bounded north by cities of Smyrna, Phoce.a, Teos, and Colophon, and Troas, or the country of the Trojans, east by Phrygia, received the submission of the people of the neighborsouth by JEolia, and west by the _Egean. A portion ing regions, who sent ambassadors to congratulate him of it was sometimes called Phrygia Minor. Mysia on his success, anld offer their assistance. He would Minor was bounded north by the Propontis and Bi- have pursued his victorious career still further; but, thynia, east by Phrygia, south by Troas, and west by when he had reached the banks of the Megistus, an the Propontis. The whole country was anciently eclipse of the moon took place. This so terrified his esteemed the finest part of Asia Minor, being very Gallic auxiliaries, whiclh constituted the main strength fertile and well watered with rivulets. Its name is of his army, that they refused to march any farther. derived from the Lydian word mysos, a beech; these and Attalus was compelled to return to Pergamus. trees being abundant here. The Romans desp)atched an ambassador to him, whom In early times, the Mysians were a brave and war- he received with extraordinary magnificence; and a like people. According to Herodotus, they crossed treaty was conclulded with the republic, which fully the Bosphorus into Thrace, subdued all the people of secured the king in all his possessions.'In the war that country, and even carried their arms as far south with Philip of Macedon, Attalus marched with an army as Thessaly. Diodorus Siculus affirms that Mysia to the assistance of the Romans. When he reached was conquered by Ninus the Assyrian, and that this Thebes, in Bmotia, he made a speech to the people of prince and his successors reigned over the country for that city, for the purpose of engaging them to assist many years; but all this is very doubtful. The first in the war against Philip. In the midst of his disMysian king mentioned in history is Olympus. He is course, he was seized with an apoplexy, and fell down said to have married the niece of Dardanus, king of speechless; but, on recovering a little, he desired his Troy. Telephus was the reigning monarch at the attendants to convey him, by sea, to Pergamus, where time of the Trojan war. He took the part of Troy he died, (198 B. C.) This prince was a friend to literaagainst the Greek invaders, and, according to Homer, ture, and a generous patron of learned men. He is was dangerously wounded by Achilles. After aome said to have ordered the grammarian Daphidas to be time, the Greeks persuaded him to abandon his allies,. thrown headlong from a rock, for speaking disrespectand stand neuter. He had two sons- Eurypylus and filly of Homer. He also wrote several books, which Latinus. The latter was said to have led a colony of are quoted by Strabo, Pliny, and others. Cretans into Italy, from whom the Latins descended. Attalus was succeeded by his eldest son, Eumnenes. All this part of history is very obscure, and we only He continued the alliance which his father had made Know with certainty that Mysia shared the fate of the with Rome, and assisted the republic in war, for which rest of Asia Minor, in falling under the Persian do- he was rewvarded by an addition of territory conquered minion, and fiom thence into the hands of Alexander from the king of Syria. On his return from a visit to of Macedon and his successors. In the year 283 B. C., Rome, he was waylaid in a mountainous part of a kingdom was founded at Pergamus, in Mysia Major, Greece by two assassins, hired by Perseus, king of by Philetcerus, a Paphlagonian of mean descent, who Macedon. They attempted to kill him by rolling commanded the castle of this city, then under the gov- down great stones upon him as he was passing through ernment of Lysimachus, king of Thrace. Philetaerus a narrow defile. IHe was dangerously wounded in raised the standard of revolt, seized the royal treas- the head and shoulder, and carried, in a state of insenlares deposited in the castle, and, by these means, sibility, to Egina. The report of his death was spread maintained a body of mercenary troops. He was thus over all Asia Minor, and fully believed at Rome. His enabled to preserve his usurped authority; and he brother Attalus immediately took possession of the reigned over Pergamus till the eighteenth year of his throne of Pergamus, and married Stratonice, the wife age, when he died, leaving the government to his of Eumenes. brother Eumenes. This prince took advantage of the The king, however, suddenly recovered his senses dissensions then prevailing among the Seleucidme, and -tt Egina, and, in a short time, was completely cured. added a considerable extent of territory to his domin- Attalus was astonished at the intelligence that Eumenes ion. He was succeeded (241 B. C.) by Attalus, the was alive, and approaching his capital. He instantl: first ruler of Pergamus who assumed the name of king. laid aside the ensigns of royalty, and went out to mee The Gauls were at this time very formidable in him in a friendly manner. Eumenes, who was fulls Asia Minor, and had rendered many nations tributary acquainted with all that had happened, embraced hi. to them in that quarter. Attaluns refused the tribute wife and brother with great' affection, but whispered which had been previously exacted by them from the in the ear of the latter, " Do not be in a hurry for my Pergamians. A war ensued, in Y, xeih he defeated the queen till you are sure I am dead." This was the c(auls, and expelled them from his territories. En- only notice which he ever took of the transaction, and couraged by this success, he carried his arms into the he ever afterward treated them both with undimin. neighboring countries, and made several important ished affection. conquests. This, however, was soon followed by a The intelligence of the recovery of Eumenes caused reverse of fortune. Seleucus Callinicus, king of Syria, great rejoicing at Rome, andi a league was immedi reconquered all the territories which had been taken ately formed to take vengeance on tile king of Mace. 264 KINGS OF PERGAMUS-CHIEF CITIES OF MYSIA. don for his treachery. The allies invaded Greece, hands of his enemies: to recommend his counsel the and carried on the war for the space of a year with more strongly, he set the example himself; and fell little success, and at length Perseus found means to on a sword in the presence of Aristonicus. The detach Eumenes from his connection with the Romans. latter, however, refused; he was carried to the Roman The senate were so much incensed at his defection, camp, and kept in chains, to grace the triumph of that they instigated his brother Attalus to seize the the victor. From this period, neither Pergamus nor crown. This step, however, was rendered unnecessary Mysia maintain any independent position in history, by the sudden death of Eumenes, (159 B. C.) Atta- but are to be regarded as appendages to the Roman lies II. peaceably succeeded him, and became involved empire. in various wars, the details of which would only be tiresome to the reader. At his death, (138 B. C.,) he was succeeded by Attalus II., the son of. Eumenes. This prince had scarcely assumed the crown, when he C H A P TE R C XX X I V. began to exhibit marks of a cruel and tyrannical disposition. He put to death his nearest relatives and Cities and Famous Men of lysia. most faithful friends, without any reasonable motive. PERGAMIUS was the most famous city of Mysia MaThe wisest and -nost experienced counsellors in the jor. It was situated on a spacious plain, on the banks kingdom were murdered, with their wives and children, of the River Caicus, and was the royal residence of and bloodshed and mourning filled the whole country. the monarchs of the race of Attalus. This city is After he had perpetrated these enormities, Attalus be- memorable in the annals of literature for its splendid came a prey to the horrors of remorse. The ghosts of library of two hundred thousand volumes, and for the his murdered victims perpetually haunted his imagina- invention of parchment, which, during a long period tion, and he abandoned himself to every sort of extrav- of the classic and middle ages, was almost the only agance. He then relapsed into a fit of deep melan- material of which books were composed. Ptolemy, choly, shunned all intercourse with mankind, dressed king of Egypt, had collected a magnificent library at in rags, let his hair and beard grow, and spent his Alexandria, the books of which were all of papyrus, a time in cultivating a garden, where he raised all sorts material prepared from a- reed growing on the banks of poisonous herbs. These he mixed up with others of the Nile. Eumenes, king of Pergamus, was seized that were wholesome, and sent packets of them to with the ambition of rivalling Ptolemy, and therefore such persons as fell under his suspicion. At length, made preparations for copying all the valuable books a fever put an end to his life, (131 B. C.) He made a extant for a library of his own. Ptolemy, in order to will, by which he bequeathed his kingdom to the Ro- defeat this project, laid a prohibition on the exportaman republic. tion of papyrus from Egypt. Eumenes would have The Romans immediately took possession of Perga- been disappointed in his hopes, had it not been for the mus, and reduced that kingdom to a province, under the ingenuity of a citizen of Pergamus, who invented the name of Asia Propria. But Aristonicus, a relative of method of preparing sheep-skin for writing, which the deceased king, raised a body of adherents, expelled from this place obtained the name of pergamenta, a word the Roman authorities, and assumed the sovereignty. now corrupted to parchment. In this city were also The consul Crassus marched against him, and over- invented the elegant hangings called tapestry, which ran a great part of the Pergamian territory. But the Roman named aulcea, from axtla, a hall - because while he was pillaging the towns, and transporting his the great hall of audience at Pergmus wvas the first booty to the sea-coast, he fell into an ambush in a room adorned with them. narrow defile, and was taken prisoner. As his cap- Cyzicus, a city of Mysia Minor tood on an island tors were hastening to conduct him to the tent of in the Propontis, which was joir.ed to the continent Aristonicus, Crassus attempted to kill himself, in order by two bridges — the work of Ai xander the Great. to avoid the disgrace of captivity; but his intention be- It was believed to have receiveld its name from Cyziing perceived, he was disarmed. Upon this, he struck cus, a king of that island and the neighboring territory, a Thracian soldier, who stood near him, a violent blow, who was kited through mistake by Jason, the Argowhich provoked the latter to run him through with his naut. When this city first became known to the Rosword. Aristonicus was deeply mortified by an acci- mans, it was one of the greatest and most opulent of dent which deprived him of the triumphant pleasure all Asia Minor. The historian Florus calls it the of having a Roman consul in his power. He ordered Rome of Asia; and other Latin writers speak in the head of Crassus to be cut off and publicly exhib- glowing terms of the strength of its walls and bulited in his camp. warks, its commodious harbor, its marble towers, &c. This unexpected success completely turned the Among its many magnificent structures they particu. head of Aristonicus. He imagined he had gained a larize the chief temple, which was built entirely oi decisive victory over the Romans, and that he was no polished marble, thne juntings of which were covered longer in danger from their arms. He accordingly with plates of gold. The pitlars were six feet in diamabandoned hirnmself to feasting and revelry. But the eter, and seventy-five feet high, each one of a single Romans determined to wipe out the disgrace which stone. In the temple was a statue of' Jupiter, covered they had suffered by the disaster of Crassus. They with ivory, of the most exquisite workmanship. The despatched another army, under the command of Per- current coin of Cyzicus was called a stater, and was penna, who quickly defeated the forces of Aristonicus, executed with such nicety and skill, as to excite the and besieged him in the city of Stratonice. After the admiration of every one. The expression "Cyzican I garrison had endured all the extremities of famine, stater" became proverbial to denote any wvorlk of en I they surrendered. Blosius, the Cumman philosopher, graving preeminent for beauty. a companion of the king, advised him to commit sui- This city made an heroic stand against Mitliridates, cide, and escape the ignominy of falling alive into the who besieged it with an arniy of three hundled thousai i DISTINGUISHED MEN OF MYSIA. 265 rnen, but was repulsed with loss and ignominy from its bodies. He is the earliest writer who has said any walls. Yet the ancient inhabitants were regarded as a thing of importance on the blood-vessels: he discovcowardly and effeminate race. Cicero represents the ered by experiment that the arteries contain blool, and Cyzicans of his day as a quiet and inoffensive people, not the mere animal spirits, as was then maintained, averse to war, plots, and. tumults, and addicted a- His writings were very numerous: two hundred oi together to epicurean enjoyments. Under the Romans, his works were lost by the burning of the ternCyzicus was made the capital of a province, called pie of Peace at Rome; yet those which remain are the Consular Hellespont. In the year 943, it was sufficient to compose a large body of theoretical and almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake, and its practical medicine. Galen shows himself well ac. beautiful marble columns were subsequently trans- quainted with philosophy and science in general, and ported to Constantinople, to embellish that capital. he deserves to be regarded as one of the most accomAt present, it is little better than a village. plished scholars of antiquity. Anaxintenes, an historian and rhetorician, was born Euldoxts, the famous navigator, was a native of at Lampsacus, in Mysia, (380 B. C.) He was a dis- Cyzicus, in Mysia, and born in the third century beciple of Diogenes the Cynic. Philip of Macedon in- fore the Christian era. He was sent on a mission to vited him to his court to instruct his son Alexander in Alexandria, in Egypt, then the chief seat of maritime rhetoric; and some writers ascribe to him the rhetorical enterprise and geogiaphical knowledge. His ardent treatise which bears the name of Aristotle. WVith many mind was strongly imbued with the spirit of commerother learned men, Anaximenes accompanied Alex- cial adventure which reigned there, and he made an ander in his expedition against the Persians. The offer of his services to the reigning monarch, Ptolemy inhabitants of Lampsacus, who had espoused the in- Euergetes, to undertake an expedition of discovery. terests of Darius, entreated Anaximnenes, after the The plan first contemplated was to ascend the Nile, conquest of Persia, to implore the clemency of Alex- for the purpose of discovering the sources of that river; ander in their behalf. He undertook the embassy; but a new object was presented by the arrival in Egypt but the conqueror, as soon as he learned his errand, of a person who professed to be a Hindoo, shipwrecked swore he would grant him nothing that he should ask. in the Red Sea. It was decided to undertake discov. Anaximenes, taking advantage of this, put up his re- eries in that direction. Ptolemy fitted out a fleet, wvith quest" in the following manner: " I entreat you to which Eudoxus sailed down the Red Sea. It does destroy Lampsacus, to burn its temple, and to sell its not appear how far he proceeded; but the voyage was inhabitants for slaves! " Alexander, pleased with the very prosperous, and the fleet returned with a cargo ingenuity with which he had been circumvented, of aromatics and precious stones. Eudoxus was spared the city. Another anecdote is related of cheated out of a great part of his gains by the king; Anaximenes, which, though not much to his honor, is but, when Ptolemy died, he was taken into favor worth notice, as, perhaps, the first specimen of a liter- by Queen Cleopatra, who sent him on a second voyary trick. Entertaining a grudge against the historian age. This time he was driven by storms on the coast Theopompus, he avenged himself by writing a severe of Ethiopia, where he was well received by the satire against the Spartans and Thebans, in a style natives, and carried on some profitable trade. His exactly similar to that of the historian. This he ad- return to Alexandria was again unfortunate. Cleopadressed, under the name of Theopompus, to the tra was dead, and her successor treated Eudoxus as Athenians. It was received as the work of that author badly as Ptolemy had done. The navigator, however, throughout all Greece, and brought upon him mucl brought home with him a singular trophy from the discredit and ill will. Anaximenes also wrote the farthest extremity of the country which he had visited: lives of Philip and Alexander, and twelve books on this was the prow of a ship, on which was sculptured the early history of Greece; but all his writings are the figure of a horse, and which was said to have drifted lost. to the African coast from the west. This was seen by Galen, the most eminent of the physicians of anti- some sailors belonging to Gades, now Cadiz, and they quity next to Hippocrates, was born at Pergamus, declared it to be the very form peculiar to a species of (A. D. 131.) His father was an architect of much large vessel which sailed from that port for the coasts, earning in the mathematical sciences. Galen received of Mauritania. Eudoxus heard this with enthusiastica liberal education; but, being admonished by a dream, credulity. He determined to renounce the deceitful. as he informs us, he turned his attention to medicine, patronage of courts, and to fit out a new expedition., and, in pursuit of knowledge in this branch, he trav- fiom the commercial city of Sades. On his way to that elled to Smyrna, Alexandria, and Corinth. In his place, he touched at Massilia, now Marseilles, and" twenty-eighth year, he returned to his native city, and other seaports, where he announced his design, and became surgeon to the public gladiators -- a class of invited all mariners who were animated with the spirit wretched beings, whom the Romans maintained in all of enterprise to accompany him. He succeeded in the large cities of their empire for the brutal pleasure equipping an expedition on a liberal scale, considering of' seeing them fight and kill each other. Galen the time. He had one large ship and two small ones, visited Rome in his thirty-third year, and obtained carrying iiot only goods and provisions, but artisans, great reputation by his skill in anatomy and the prai- physicians, and a band of music. A company so gay, tice of physic. After a residence there of four years, and inspired, probably, with extravagant hopes, were the plague drove him back to his own country. He ill fitted to encounter the perils and hardships of a was, however, recalled to Rome by the pressing en- voyage of discovery. They appear to have sailed to, treaties of the joint emperors Marcus Aurelius and the south along the coast of Africa. The crew teook Lucius Verus. The former made him his family fright on finding themselves far out at sea, and irns.sted physician. It is not known where or when Galen on steering the ships close along the shore. Etudoxrus dled. He was a skilful anatomist for the age in was too experienced a sailor not to know that this was which he lived, and made many experiments on living much the more dangerous route; but he was cornm.., -, _,; 3 4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ,266 FOUNDATION OF THE TROJAN MONARCHY. pelled to do as his men desired. The consequences turned, and applied to Bocchus, king of Mauritania which he had foreseen took place. The ships were for assistance in following up this discovery; but, after wrecked, and the cargoes with difficulty saved. The a while, suspecting that monarch of a treacherous most valuable articles were then placed in one of the design against him, he went again to Spain. Here,he boats, and the voyage was prosecuted till they came succeeded in equipping another expedition; but how to a race of people who appeared to speak the same it resulted we are ignorant, as the narrative breaks off language with those visited by Eudoxus on the oppo- at this point. The story is told by the geograpllet site side of the continent. Imagining that he had now Strabo, who derived it from materials originally turaccomplished the great purpose of his voyage, he re- nished by Eudoxus himself. till'!,, 11".'Iri r';(ei I II _ _ _ Achilles dragging the dead Body of Hector around the WValls of Troy. C H APTER CXXXV. and maintained his kingdom in peace. He is famous 1546 to 1184 B. C. for being the first king, in this part of the world, who TROY. - Foundation of the Trojan nM/onarchly gave his attention to the breeding and training of horses; he was also the first who harnessed these ani- Reign of Prian - The Trojanz War. mals in a chariot. By trading in horses, he became TROY, or Ilium, was a kingdom of small extent, very rich. He is said to have reigned forty-six years, situated within the geographical limits of Mysia, on and to have left his kingdom in a state of high pros, the eastern shore of the Hellespont, the southern coast perity. of the Propontis, and the northern shore of the iEgean His successor, Tros, no sooner ascended the throne Sea.'rhis territory, at its greatest extent, was not than he laid the foundation of a new city, which was above two hundred miles in length, and was very nar- destined to become the most famous in all Asia Minor. row, being shut in by the shores of three seas, and This was built in the plain under Mount Ida, and the lofty mountain ridge of -Ida. It was, however, named, from its founder, Troy. When the building very fertile and picturesque, and enjoyed a mild cli- of the city was well advanced, he invited the neighbormate. Of the ijarticular origin of the inhabitants we ing princes to assist in the solemnities of its dedication, have no account; but they were celebrated, in very but omitted Tantalus, kintg of Sip)vluts. This monarch early times, for their activity in trade and the urbanity resented the affront, and seized the first opportunity of. their manners. Some authors regard them as a of revenge. Ganymede, the son of Tros, having mixture of Greeks and Phrygians, while others consider occasion to pass through his territ(ries some time them as descendants of the Assyrians. afterwards, was seized by him, andl exposed to such ill The founder of the Trojan monarchy was said to treatment as' caused his cleath. The Trojan king made lee Teucer; but neither the date nofr the events of his war upon Tantalus, in retaliation for this outrage; but, 1I ieign are known with accuracy. He was succeeded being unsuccessfiul, he died of chagrin. bhy Dardanus, an adventurer, called by Homer the. lbes, the son of Tros, next ascended the throne, and son of Jupiter. He is represented as a just and wise carried on the war so vigorously, that, he gained many,monarch, who extended the boun(laries of his king- victories, and at length drove Tantaluts out of Asia., dom,. and made many salutary laws. He built a city and possessed himself of all his dominions. Having in the western slope of Mount Ida, overlooking a thus revenged his brother's death, he devoted the, beautiful plain, watered by the Rivers Simois and whole of his time to the improvement of his territories Scamanlder, which afterward]s became famous in poe- and the enactment of just and salutary laws. After a try. This city was called, after his ownl name, Dar- reign of forty years, he died, universally lamented. dacna. He also built the city of Thyrlbra. Dardanus According to some accounts, it was Illus who removed i I is said to have reigned sixty-four years. He was sue- the seat of government front Dardana to the new city t eeded by hii son E'icthonius, whose )rudent conduct in the plain, on which accunt it received the name of; insulred him the obedience and esteem (f his llmbieets, Illioc. The date of this event is quite uncertain TIHE SIEGE OF TROY. 267 Latomedon was the next king. He built a citadel in lis was the general rendezvous of the expedition; and Troy with the treasures which he took from the tern- the combined forces of the Greeks who assembled at ples of Apc:llo and Neptune -a measure which gave this place formed an army of one hundred thousand deep offence to many of his subjects, and subsequently men. The fleet in which they embarked for Troy led the way to great calamities. Jason and the Argo- comprised eleven hundred and fifty vessels; they had nauts, on their expedition from Greece to the Euxine no decks, and carried from fifty to one hundred ant Sea in search of the golden fleece, landed on the fifty men each. The most celebrated warriors besides coast of Troy, and were treated in a hostile manner Agamemnon and Menelaus, were Diomed, Nestor, Dy Laomedon. This occasioned a war. The Greeks Ajax Telamonius, Ajax Oileus, Achilles, Ulysses, Painvaded his territories, under the command of Hercu- troclus, and Idomeneus. les; of the five sons of Laomedon, all were killed The Greeks sailed up the./Egean Sea, and landed but Priam, who was taken prisoner, and ransomed on the plain of Troy. But the Trojans were a brave with a large sum of money. and warlike people, and were not intimidated at the Prinam succeeded Laomedon. He had no sooner sight of this formidable armament. Ulysses and established himself upon the throne, than he built a Menelaus were sent to Priam, to demand the restitu. strong wall round the city of Troy, to prevent a repe- tion of Helen. But the king, in opposition to the tition of the disasters which had recently happened. opinion of his council, refused to comply with the He also embellished the city with many stately towers, demand, and both parties made preparations for battle. castles, and aqueducts, maintained a numerous army The Greeks defeated the Trojans in two successive in constant pay, conquered several of the neighboring engagements, but soon began to feel a scarcity of pro. states, and rose to such a height of power and celeb- visions. They therefore were compelled to divide rity, that he was regarded rather as king of Asia their forces, one part remaining to carry on the siege, Minor than of Troy. while the other went into the country to forage. This I-Ie was the richest and most powerful of all the gave the Trojans leisure to negotiate with the neigh. princes of his line, and was the father of fifty sons. boring states for assistance. Achilles, in the mean When he surrounded the city with walls, he is said time, being engaged in the foraging service, captured to have changed its name from Troy to Pergamnus. several towns, and acquired a valuable booty in cattle. Queen Hecuba, his -second wife, dreamed that one of prisoners, &c. Nine years of the war were consumed her children became a firebrand, which consumed tle in various plundering and military operations, during whole city. Priam was so much alarmed at this por- which the city was not very closely blockaded; so tent, that he ordered the next child born of Hecuba to that the siege of Troy did not properly begin till the be exposed in a desert place among the mountains. tenth year. At this time, a quarrel arose between Notwithstanding this, the boyv was preserved by the Agamemnon and Achilles, in consequence of the care of his mother, and privately reared. IIe was former having seized a female prisoner which-the latnamed Paris. When still a youth, he appeared ter had obtained in one of his plundering excursions. at the court of Priam, where his beautiful person Achilles withdrew his troops from the Greek camp, attracted general admiration. Upon this, he ventured and kept himself apart, taking no share in the siege to discover himself; and the king was so fascinated of the city. with his beauty and accomplishments, that he thought The Trojans were commanded by Hector, iEneas no more of his dream. Deiphobus, and other sons of Priam, together with Some time after this, Paris undertook an expedition Sar-pedon, Glaucus, Memnon, and other chiefs of theii;nto Greece, on pretence of recovering his aunt auxiliaries. They had the advantage in several en, Hesione, who, when very young, had been carried gagements, and made a great slaughter of their eneaway by Hercules, and by him had been given in mies; but none of these actions were decisive. At marriage to Telamon. The story of this event is length, Hector beat the Greeks fairly from the field, related in the following manner: Laomedon, king of attacked their intrenched camp, forced the walls, and Troy, and the father of Hesione, had, as we have set fire to the ships. Victory now seemed on the Iready related, taken the treasures of the temples of point of declaring for the Trojans. Neptune and Apollo for political uses, under a promise But in this critical conjuncture, Patroclps, the friend of repayment. But, being unable or unwilling to per- and companion of Achilles, perceiving the distress of form this promise, the oracle declared that he must his countrymen, advanced to their relief, and arrested expiate the sacrilege by exposing a Trojan virgin to a the progress of the Trojans. After performing prodisea monster. Hesione was condemned by lot to gies of valor, he fell by the hand of Hector. Achilles. undergo this punishment; but Hercules slew the mon- furious at the loss of his friend, immediately forgot ster, and rescued Hesione. This tale has been highly his resentment against Agamemnon, and rushed into embellished by the Greek poets. the thickest of the fight. The tide of battle now Paris, upon his arrival at Sparta, was received in the turned against the Trojans; thoy were driven back to kindest and most hospitable manner by Menelaus, the the city, and in a subsequent engagement Hector and king of that city. But the young Trojan, falling in Achilles met in single combat. Hector was slain, love with Helen, the wife of his host, persuaded her and his body dragged round the walls of Troy at the to run away with him. Menelaus, fired with indig- chariot wheels of his conqueror. nation at this piece of treachery, prevailed upon his The Trojans having lost their most able commandbrother Agamemnon, king of Argos, to -espouse his ers, reposed their last hope on the famous Palladium, quarrel. By their joint efforts, all the other Greek a statue of Minerva, who was named Pallas in Greek. princes were brought to unite in tae same cause, and This was said to have dropped into the city directly they bound themselves, by an oath, either to recover fi'rom heaven; and it was a received opinion, that Helen or to overthrow Troy. Agamemnon was while the Palladium remained within the walls of Troy hosen commander-in-chief of the confederacy. Au- the city never could be taken. There are two differ 26;8 STORY OF THE TROJAN WAR. ent accounts of the capture. According to one of Greece, and by the divine honors paid to her at Sparta.hese, Antenor and _Eneas treacherously betrayed and elsewhere. But a still stronger reason for doubt. the Palladium to the Greeks, and at the same time ing the reality of the motive assigned by Homer for threw open the gates of the city at night. According the Trojan war, is, that the same incident occurs in to the other account, the capture was effected by the another legend, in which the abduction Ot' Helen is stratagem of the wooden horse, which was planned ascribed to Theseus. According to another tradition, by the cunning of Ulysses. A huge, hollow structure, Helen was carried away by Idas and Lynceus, two resembling a horse, was filled with armed men, and heroes of Messene. These various legends seem to left standing in the plain, while the Greeks went on prove that the abduction of Helen was a theme for board their ships, and sailed to the Island of Tenedos, poetry originally independent of the Trojan war, but which lay not far distant. By an artful manceuvre which might easily and naturally be associated with the Trojans were made to believe that this horse was that event by the skill of a great poet. an offering to Minerva, and that they would achieve a As to the expedition which ended in the fall of Troy great triumph by carrying it into the city. Accord- while the leading facts are so uncertain, it must be ingly they made a breach in the wall, and transported hopeless to form any distinct conception of its details. the horse within. In the dead of the night, the Greeks No more reliance can be placed on the enumeration broke out of their concealment, and set the city on fire. of the Greek forces in the Iliad, than on the other The fleet, on a signal given, sailed back from Tenedos; parts of the poem which have a more poetical aspect the army landed; Troy was taken and destroyed. especially as it appears to be a compilation adapted to This event is usually placed about the year 1184 B. C. a later state of things. Thucydides has remarked that the numbers of the armament appear to be exag. gerated by the poet, which we may very readily believe, The son of Hercules is introduced in the Iliad as C HI A P T E R C X X X V II. saying, " My father came here with no more than six B. 0. 1184 to 1200 A. D. ships and few men; yet he laid Ilion waste, and made her streets desolate." This is a great contrast to the Probability of the Tale of Troy —Alexandria efforts and success of Agamemnon, who, with his Troas. twelve hundred ships and one hundred thousand men, SUCH are the leading incidents of the story of the lay ten years before the city - often ready to abandon Iliad, which the genius of the Father of Greek poetry the enterprise in despair, and at last indebted for vichas made familiar to all readers, long before their tory to an unexpected turn of affairs. critical faculties are called into exercise, and before It has been conjectured that, after the first capture they are tempted to inquire into the truth of the histor- by Hercules, the city was more strongly fortified, and ical events which form its foundation. It is difficult, rose rapidly in power during the reign of Priam; but therefore, to enter upon the inquiry without some this supposition can hardly reconcile the imagination prepossessions unfavorable to an impartial judgment. to the transition from the six ships of Hercules to the Many learned and sagacious critics have denied the vast host of Agamemnon. On the other hand, there reality of the Trojan war, and regarded the poems of is no difficulty in believing that, whatever may have Homer as having no more truth at their foundation than been the motives of the expedition, the spirit of advenJohn Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. This opinion, how- ture may have drawn warriors together from all parts ever, seems to us to be pronounced without sufficient of Greece; and thus it may have deserved the charground, and against strong evidence. According to acter, which is uniformly ascribed to it, of a national the rules of sound criticism, very cogent arguments enterprise. The presence of several distinguished should be required to induce us to reject, as a mere chiefs, each attended by a small band, would be suffifiction, an historical tradition so ancient, so universally cient to explain the celebrity of the achievement, and received, so definite, and so interwoven with the whole to account for the success which followed it. mass of the national recollections of the ancient Though there can be no doubt that the object of the Greeks, as that of the Trojan war. The leaders of enterprise was accomplished, it seems to be also clear the earliest of the Greek colonies in Asia claimed that a Trojan state survived the fall of Ilion. An hisAgamemnon as their ancestor. torian of great authority on this subject, both from his The reality of the Trojan war must, therefore, be age and his country - Xanthus the Lydian -affirms admitted. But, beyond this historical fact, we can that the Trojan dominion was finally overthrown by an scarcely venture a step with certainty. Its cause and its invasion of the Phrygians, a Thracian tribe, which issue, the manner in which it was conducted, and the crossed over from Europe to Asia after the Trojan parties engaged in it, are matters so completely in- wvar. This is indirectly confirmed, by the testimony volved in obscurity, that all attempts to throw light of Homer, who introduces Neptune predicting that the rpon these parts of history is utterly vain. It seems posterity of iEneas should long continue to reign over particularly difficult to adopt the poetical story of Helen, the Trojans, after the extinction of the race of Priam. partly on account of its inherent improbability, and Not far from the site of ancient Troy was after partly because there is good evidence elsewhere that ward built a city called Alexandria Troas. It owed IHelen is altogether a mythological person. She is its foundation to Alexander the Great, who, instead of classed by Herodotus with Io, Europa, and Medea - marking his conquering course by mere bloodshed anr all of them persons, who, on distinct grounds, must be devastation, wisely provided more lasting and honor. referred to the domain of mythology. This suspicion able monuments of his passage through the countries,s confirmed by all the particulars of the legend re- which he subdued —causing cities and towns to be specting her- by her birth, by her relation to thle divine erected, and forming plans for their future improvetwins, Castor and Pollux, whose worship seems to have ment and prosperity. As his stay in one place was been one of the most ancient forms of religion in commonly short, the execution of his designs vzas ALEXANDRIA TROAS-i-ONIA. 269 committed to the governors whom he appointed. Al- is told, the ship readily obeyed, and glided at once exandria Troas was one of eighteen cities which bore into the sea. the conqueror's name. It was begun by Antigonus, one Under the Greek emperors, Alexandria Troas de. (f the generals of Alexander, and- from him it was at first dlined, and had probably fallen to ruin before the called Antigonzia. But Lysimachus, to whom, as a suc- extinction of the empire. Many houses and public cessor of Alexander, it devolved, changed the name to buildings at Constantinople have since been raised Alexandria. It was seated on a hill, sloping to the sea, with its materials. Notwithstanding this, the ruins of and divided from Mount Ida by a deep valley. On the city are still very extensive, and all travellers are each side is an extensive plain with watercourses. In struck with their grand and colossal character. The the war between the Romans and Antiochus, king of city wall is standing; the remains of the aqueduct Syria, this city was eminent for its fidelity to the re- extend for miles; and the theatre and baths are yet in public, and it enjoyed the same political privileges as good preservation. an Italian city. Under Augustus, it received a Roman colony, and increased; it was inferior to no city of the same name except the capital of Egypt. Alexandria Troas had a magnificent aqueduct, the C PTE R C X ruins of which are still to be seen. The history of 1500 to 980 B. C. this noble and useful structure affords an illustrious IONIA. - Migration of the Ionians from Greece instance of imperial and private liberality. An Athenian named Julius Atticus, after being reduced Androlus Constitution of the Ionian to great poverty, discovered an immense treasure in States. an old'house in Athens. The sum was so great that THIS portion of Asia Minor was bounded north by he dared not make use of it, and he wrote to the em- LEolia, east by Lydia and Caria, south by Caria, and peror Nerva at Rome, informing him of the discovery, west by the iEgean Sea. It received its name from and desiring to know his pleasure respecting it. The the Ionians, a tribe or nation of Greeks who emigrated good-natured emperor replied, " Use it." Jullus, still to this country, and built twelve cities here. It has doubtful of his safety in appropriating so much wealth, beenwsupposed that, previous to the Trojan war, many wrote again, saying it was too much for one man to Greeks had settled in Asia Minor; and in fact the use. "Then abuse it," replied the emperor. The earliest known people in the western part of this reriches of Julius were inherited by his son Herodes gion differed little in their language and manners Atticus, who was born at Marathon, carefully educated from the people of Greece. Some of the towns on under the most eminent masters, and became so fa- the coast were inhabited by a race so unquestionably mous for learning and eloquence, that he was not Grecian and at so early a period, that the antiquariant surpassed by any man of his age. His generosity of after times —who were unwilling to allow any thing equalled his wealth, and was as noble as it was exten- to be Greek that did not originate in the territory of sive. He was raised to the Roman consulate A. D. Greece -were at a loss to account for their establish143, and presided over the free cities of Asia. See- ment. Miletus, one of the Ionian cities mentioned by ing that Alexandria Troas was destitute of commodi- Homer in his catalogue, and Teos and Smyrna, are aus baths, and of water, except such as was procured said by Strabo to have been Grecian towns before the from muddy wells and cisterns, he wrote to the empe- Trojan war. ror Adrian, requesting him not to suffer an ancient How or when the Ionian settlements were founded, and maritime city to be destroyed by drought, but to we have no history to tell us. An ancient Greek make an appropriation of money for building an aque- legend treats of a great event, called the Ionic migraduct. Adrian complied, and appointed him to super- tion, about one hundred and forty years after the intend the work. The appropriation was three hun- Trojan war. According to this account, the settlers dred myriads of drachms; but, this being insufficient, were led by Androclus and Neleus, the sons of CoHerodes expended seven hundred myriads, paying the drus, king of Athens. A great multitude followed overplus, equal to about eight hundred thousand dol- them, including many Athenians, and the Ionian and lars, out of his own pocket. This was but one of the Messenian families which had been driven by the confew instances of his liberality. The magnificent quests of the Dorians to seek refuge in Athens. buildings which he erected were the ornaments of These adventurers seized upon the finest spots of land Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. Statues were erected along the sea-coast, and there formed permanent to him, and cities vied with each other in honoring establishments. An island closely adjoining the shore their common benefactor. Several of them still retain on a tongue of land, connected with the continent by durable monuments of his splendid liberality. a narrow isthmus, and containing a hill sufficiently The Christian religion was early established at Troas, lofty for a citadel, or acropolis, seems to have been and this is the city at which St. Paul left his cloak, for regarded as the most favorable situation for a Grecian which lie writes in one of his epistles. There is a colonial settlement. Most of the Ionic cities conlegend of the fifth century respecting Bishop Sylva- form to this description. Twelve of these became nus, of this place. A ship on the stocks could not be very flourishing and important places, namely, Milelaunched for some reason, and was supposed to be tus, Myus, Priene, Samos, Ephesus, Colophon, Lebepossessed by a demon. It was of enormous size, dus, Teos, Erythrm, Chios, Clazomene, and Phocma. and intended for transporting large columns, like the At a later period, Smyrna was detached from the one which conveyed the obelisk of Luxor from Egypt AEolians, and added to the Ionian confederacy. to Paris. The bishop was requested to drive away the Asiatic Ionia, according to the opinion of Herodo. demon which prevented the ship from moving. Going tus, was the finest country, and enjoyed the most favordowVn to the beach, he prayed, and, taking hold of a able climate, in the world. It included the island.. o(pe, called on the multitude to assist. As the story of Chios and Samos, with a few smaller ones, andi '270 IONIA, ITS EMINENCE IN THE FINE ARTS. extended not more than forty miles inland. Almost all congress of ministers from independent states. I the towns are represented as having been founded on lacked the authority to enforce its own resolutions. Ii some preexisting settlement of the Carians, Leleges, could make no provision either against foreign eneCretans, Lydians, or Pelasgians. In some cases, the mies or for the maintenance of internal tranquillity. old inhabitants were vanquished in war, slain, or ex- There was no common treasure, nor tribunal, nor pelled; in other cases, they were allowed to combine magistrate, nor law. The Ionic union seems, in fact, with the new settlers, and the Grecian cities, thus con- to have been very similar to the confederacy of tlhe stituted,'acquired a considerable tinge of Asiatic cus- American states previous to the establishment of the, torns and feelings. What is related by HIerodotus federal constitution. respecting the settlement of Nileus and his emigrants at No materials exist for a history of Ionia as a politMiletus is remarkable. They took out with them from ical community; but the inhabitants soon attained to Athens,he says, no women, but found wives in the Carian a very high degree of prosperity. Miletus alone is women of the country, whose husbands and fathers they said to have founded seventy-five towns, or colonies. overcame and put to death. The women, thus vio- They became wealthy, refined, and luxurious. Wherlently seized, manifested their repugnance by taking a ever the spirit of enterprise diffused their settlements, solemn oath among themselves, that they would never they perceived, on the slightest comparison, the supeeat with their new husbands, nor ever call them by riority of their own religion, language, institutions, their personal names. This same pledge they imposed and manners; and the dignity of their character and upon their daughters; but how long the practice lasted sentiments eminently distinguished them from the we are not informed; it rather seems, from- the lan- general mass of the people with whom they came in guage of the historian, that traces of it were visible contact, and whom they justly denominated barbar'ians. even in his day in the family customs of Miletus. Some hundred years before the Christian era, the The population of this greatest of the Ionic cities Ionians far surpassed the European Greeks in prosmust therefore have been half of Carian blood, and perity and mental cultivation. While ancient Greece it is reasonable to suppose that the same was more or was harassed with intestine divisions, and exposed on less the case with the other settlements. its northern frontier to the hostility of the neighboring Androclus fixed his residence at Ephesus; and his barbarians, the eastern colonies enjoyed profound authority is said by Strabo to have extended over all peace, and flourished in the vicinity of Phrygia and the other settlements. Monarchical government, how- Lydia, the best cultivated and most wealthy provinces ever, appears to have soon given way to republican of Asia Minor, and, perhaps, of the ancient world. institutions, each community forming a separate gov- Such advantages could not be neglected by men ernment for itself. All the cities were bound together who had genius to conceive and courage to execute in a confederacy. They had a general council, or the most arduous designs. With the utmost industry congress, called the Pan-Ionion, which held ius ses- and perseverance, the Ionian Greeks improved ant[ sions originally in a desert spot on the promontory of ennobled the useful and elegant arts which they found Mycale, and offered sacrifices to Neptune, who ap- already in practice among the Lydians and Phrygians. pears to have been the tutelary divinity of the lonians. They incorporated the music of those nations with Afterwards, when the country was disturbed by wars, their own. Their poetry far excelled all that pagran a more secure situation was found necessary, and the antiquity could boast. They rivalled the skill of their place of meeting was fixed near Ephesus. neighbors in moulding clay and casting brass. They Few of the Greek colonies were founded with any appear to have been the first people in the world whe view to extend the dominion of the mother country. made statues of marble. The Doric and Ionic orders The leaders were often no better than pirates, not of architecture perpetuate in their names the honoi much unlike the Buccaneers who formed so powerful of their inventors. Painting was first reduced to rule a confederacy in the West Indies in the sixteenth cen- and practised with success by these people, and, dur. tury.; Their common practice was to seize on a por- ing the seventh century before Christ, the Ionians surtion of a coast inhabited by a barbarous. race, make passed all their neighbors, and even the Phoenicians slaves of the natives, and set them to cultivating the in the arts of design, as appears from the fact that the land, while they continued their cruises at sea. When magnificent presents which the oracle of Delphi rea Grecian state, by a public act, sent out a colony, ceived from the Lydian kings were chiefly the pro. the purpose was, generally, no more than to deliver ductions of Ionian artists. In the following century. the community from numbers too great for its territory, Ionia became further distinguished by giving birth tc or to get rid of factious citizens whose rank and power philosophy. at home were unequal to their ambition. For the most part, therefore, in the colonies, as in Greece itself, every considerable town claimed to be an independenit state, and, unless oppressed by a powerful C H A P T E R C X X X V I I I. neighbor, maintained itself by its own strength and 980 B.. to A. D. 60. alliances. Ionia rivalled Greece in science and the fine arts, The Cimmerians in Ionia - The Lychans - if, indeed, the former be not allowed to claim the first The Per sians - Miletus. rank. In extent of maritime communication, the THE first formidable enemies with whom the Ionians colonies far exceeded the mother country. But the were obliged to contend were the barbarous CimmeIonian states, jealous of their separate independence, rians, who, being driven from the banks of the Euxiner had scarcely any political connection with the mother by a Scythian horde still fiercer than themselves. country, and little with one another. The several overran, with irresistible violence, the finest provinces cities, Indeed, maintained a union in religion, and had of Asia Minor. Their irruption had more the eftect their comimon sacrifices; but the Pan-Ionion was but a of a swarm of locusts, an inundation, or a hurricane IONIA UNDER THE LYDIANS AND PERSIANS.' 271 than of an expedition devised and conducted by the magazines, spread their tables in the streets, and aban reason of men. Most of the Greek cities suffered in doned themselves to feasting and jollity. The ambassacommon with those of' the other states of Asia Minor; dors, who had expected to witness nothing but a but the tempest soon spent its force, the inhabitants spectacle of famine and suffering, were struck with recovered from the terror inspired by these marauders, astonishment at the sight of this abundance, and made and, within a few years after their departure, the such a report, on their return to Sardis, the Lydian lonian and AEolian colonies, who seem to have trans- capital, that the king immediately granted honorablle ported their ancient enmities into their new acquisi- terms of peace to Miletus. tions, totally forgot their recent and common danger, The kings of Lydia, notwithstanding their great and engaged in cruel domestic wars. But these un- military power, and the advantages they possessed in natural dissensions were soon repressed by the grow- holding all the surrounding territory, were unable to coning power of the Lydians, which, extending itself on quer the city of Miletus, which, by its nuval enterprise all sides, finally absorbed the greater part of Asia alone, was able to bid defiance to all the land armies Minor, as we have related in another chapter. of' its enemies. Croesus repeated the attempts of his The first attempt of a Lydian monarch to reduce predecessors to gain possession of this city, but withthe Grecian states, recorded in history, was that of out effect. After a time, the Milesians appear to have Gyges, about the year 700 B. C. Deficient as their made a treaty with him, acknowledging a certain political connection was, he found among them a degree of dependence upon him, with the obligation of knowledge of the art of war, as well as a republican tribute. A similar treaty was made with Cyrus the spirit of bravery, which the Asiatics in general did not Persian, when he overthrew the power of Crcesus; and possess. He failed in his attempt upon Miletus and thus Miletus was saved from the ravages of war, which Smyrna, but he took Colophon. The strength, however, desolated all the other Ionian cities at this period of of the kingdom of Lydia, perseveringly exerted, was their history. too great for these little commonwealths to resist. Under the Persian dominion, the Ionians appear to Ardyes, the son and successor of Gyges, succeeded in have been allowed to retain their old forms of munizapturing Miletus and Priene. By the irruption of the cipal government, the conquerors merely exacting a C(immerians, however, the power of the Lydian mon- tribute as a token of dependence. In almost every archy was shaken, and some of the Grecian states one of these cities were two parties -the aristocratic appear to have regained their independence. We find and the democratic: the Persian kings and their Sadyattes, the son of Ardyes, toward the end of his satraps generally favored the former. In the reign of reign, engaged in war with the Milesians, and the Darius, the whole of Ionia was excited to revolt by the contest was continued or resumed by his son Aly- intrigues and ambitious schemes of Histiteus, who had attes. been raised to the sovereignty of Miletus, his native Miletus was then the richest and most populous of city, through the influence of the Persian monarch. all the Ionian cities. None of the greater powers The Athenians were drawn into this war, and sent a having directed their attention toward maritime affairs, force to Asia Minor, which captured and burnt Sardisthe naval force of the little Grecian states gave them the seat of the Persian authority in this quarter. But consequence; and that of MIiletus was superior to any this insult was speedily avenged by the Persian satraps - other. The Lydian monarch had none to oppose it the Milesians were repeatedly overthrown in battle except what he might command from his subject their city was besieged by sea and land, and finally Greeks. The manner in which he carried on the war taken by storm, (497 B. C.) Such of the inhabitants was thus: Marching into the Milesian territory, a as were unable to save themselves by flight were little before harvest-time, with military pomp and the either put to the sword or made prisoners, and carried sound of musical instruments, he cut down all the corn, off to the heart of Asia by the conquerors. These vines, olives, and other valuable trees. This brought captives were at length settled by Darius in the territhe inhabitants out of the city to defend their fields, tory of Ampe, near the mouth of the T'igris. This and the king was enabled thus to cause them two severe drea ful calamity of Miletus - a city which was the defeats. The war continued eleven years, the Mile- pride and ornament of Asiatic Greece —so much affec tsians obstinately defending themselves, and the Lydians ed the Athenians, that when Phrynicus, the tragic poet, every year setting fire to their fields and destroying introduced on the stage a play entitled the Calpture the harvests. In one of these conflagrations, the of IilZetus, the whole audience burst into tears. The flames, driven by a high wind, caught the temple of poet was condemned to pay a heavy fine for disturbing Minerva, in Miletus, and consumed the whole edifice. the minds of his countrymen with such mournful In the twelfth year of the war, Alyattes was seized recollections, and the representation of his play was with a dangerous illness, and, in this state, was filled forbidden! with superstitious fear at the recollection of his impiety, Miletus was given up to the Carians by the Persian i in causing the temple to be burnt. He despatched conquerors, and seems, after a considerable time, te 1 messengers to the Delphian oracle to inquire by what have recovered some portion of its former prosperity. means he could alleviate his distress of mind. The The authority of the king of Persia was still m-lain oracle refused to give him an answer till he had re- tained here when Alexander began his expedition into built the temple. The king sent ambassadors to Asia. After the victory of the Granicus, he marchled Miletus, proposing a suspension of arms till this work to Miletus; but the inhabitants, encouraged by the [)res should be accomplished. He supposed the inhabitants ence of a Persian army and fleet, stationed at Mycale to be reduced to great extremities by the long war, refused to open their gates to him, upon which he toolk and that, on tile expiration of the truce, he would find the city by assault- but treated the citizens with clem it an easy matter to resume the war and capture the ency. From the Macedonian dominion thle Ioan1 t city. The Milesians, being advised of the approach of cities passed into the hands of the Romans. Miletus i'Ile anlbassadors, just before they arrived, opened their is mentioned as a florishing city by Strabo, Plin~, an _I _ _ _ _ __ — — _ 272 MILESIAN TALES. Pausanius. It appears from the Acts of the Apostles ter. We give an epitome of this tale, no less on that St. Paul visited this city, and sojourned some days account of the beauty of the fiction than as a specimen here, on his return fiom Macedonia and Troas, and that of this mode of composition among the ancients. he summoned hither the elders of the Ephesian church, A certain king had three daughters, of whom the to whom he delivered an affectionate farewell address. youngest and most lovely was named Psyche. He.r With the decline of the Byzantine empire Miletus fell charms, indeed, were so wonderful that her father's to ruin, under the ravages of the Saracens and Turks, subjects began to adore her, and to pay that homage and the spot on which it stood can hardly be identified to a mortal which should have been reserved for the at the present day! goddess Venus. The exasperated deity commands her son Cupid to avenge her on this rival by inspiring Psyche with a passion for some unworthy object. But while employed in executing this order, Cupid himself CHAPTER CXXXIX. becomes enamored of the princess. Meanwhile, in obedience to the response of an oracle, Psyche is daze Milesian Tcales — Story of Cupid land exposed on a barren rock, where she is destined to Psyche. become the prey of a monster; but Zephyr appears THE inhabitants of Asia Minor, who possessed one for her relief, and wafts her to a green and delightful of the fairest portions of the globe, were addicted to valley. Here she enjoys a refreshing sleep, and, on every species of luxury and enjoyment. By their early awaking, perceives a grove, in the centre of which is intercourse with the Persians, they imbibed the taste a fountain, and near the fountain is a splendid palace. for amusing and elegant fiction, which had its origin The roof of this structure was supported by golden among the Oriental nations. The Milesians, who spoke pillars, the walls were covered with silver, and every the soft and beautiful Ionic dialect in the greatest purli species of animal was represented in exquisite statuari ty, excelled all their neighbors in ingenuity and eager at the portal. thirst for novelty. They were the first Greek imita- Pysche enters this building,where she finds a splen tors of the Persian art of story-telling. The Milesian did feast prepared. She hears a voice inviting hei Tales were famous in the ancient world; but these to partake of the repast, but no one appears. A fteT fictions, once so celebrated, have all perished. Little the banquet is removed, her ears are struck with is known of them, except that they were not of a very the notes of a delightfiul concert - but the musicians rigid morality, and that they were, for the most part, are unseen. In this enchanting residence, she is the production of an author named Aristides. Some espoused and visited every night by Cupid. Her husidea, however, may be formed of them from the stories band, however, is always invisible, and forbids all of Parthenius of Nice, who appears to have copied, attempt to get a sight of him, informing her that hei or at least imitated, the Milesian tales. Those of Par- happiness depends on her obedience to this injunction thenius are about forty in number, and appear to be After a while, Cupid, being earnestly solicited by her, mere sketches. They consist of accounts of every reluctantly consents that her sisters shall be allowed species of intrigue and adventure, in love affairs. The to visit the enchanted palace. When they have satiated principal characters generally come to a deplorable their curiosity by an inspection of its wonders, they end - though seldom proportioned to what they merit are filled with envy, and try to persuade Psyche that by their vices. her husband is a serpent who will ultimately devout The Milesian Tales found their way into Italy even her. She is alarmed, and resolves to satisfy herself before they were generally known in Greece. They whether this be true or not by the evidence of her were received with eagerness and imitated by the eyes. Bearing a lamp in one hand, and a dagger;n Sybarites -the most luxurious nation in the west of the other —to destroy him should he prove to be a serEurope. These imitations, if we may judge from a pent - she approaches the couch of her husband while solitary specimen, preserved by 2Elian, were of a he is asleep. She discovers him to be no monster, facetious character, and designed to promote merri- but a perfect model of beauty. In her agitation, she ment. "A pedagogue was once walking along the spills from the lamp a drop of scalding oil on his street in company with his pupil. The boy happened shoulder. Cupid awakes, and in a fit of irritation, to get hold of a fig, which he was about to eat, when flees from her presence, leaving her a prey to remorse his tutor interrupted him by a long sermon against and despair. The enchanted garden and the gorgeous luxury and the inclulgence of the appetite; and then, palace vanish with him! snatching the fig from his hand, devoured it with the Psyche then finds herself alone on the blatk of a utmost greediness." With this tale 2Elian was so river. The sylvan deity Pan takes her under his pro. much entertained, that, as he informs us, he learnt it tection. She wanders through the country, and visits by heart, and committed it to writing — as he did not successively the kingdoms of her three sisters, by grudge mankind a hearty laugh. Many of the Ro- each of whom she is repulsed. Venus and Cupid mans, it appears, were as easily amused as iElian; for both persecute her, and she roams through all the these stories enjoyed a great popularity for a long regions of the earth in search of the celestial lover time in their original language, and at length, in whose favor she has forfeited. She is subjected to the time of Sulla, the dictator, they were'trans- various trials by Venus, one of which is to bring watel lated into Latin, by Sisenna, prwtor of Sicily, and from a fountain guarded by ever-watchful dragons. author of a history of Rome. Plutarch informs Jupiter at length takes pity on her misfortunes, en us that when Crassus was defeated by the Parthians, dows her with immortality, and confirms her union the conquerors found volumes of the Milesian Tales with her forgiving husband. On this occasion, the mr the tents of the Roman soldiers. celestial Hlours empurple the sky with roses; the The story of Cupid and Psyche, in the Golden Ass Graces shed aromatic odors through the halls of hea ven; of Apuleius, is unquestionably of the Milesian charac- Apollo accompanies the lyre with his voice; the go(l DISTINGUISHED PERSONAGES OF MILETUS. 273 of Arcadia tunes his sylvan reeds, and the Muses join of the fertility of all their lands, easily transferred this n the chorus! fact to the basis of a philosophical system, and pro This allegory is supposed, by some writers, to be nounced water to be the first principle. founded on an obscure tradition of the fall of man, We must not omit a celebrated joke, of which the and to form an emblem of his temptation, transgres- learned Thales was the subject. As he was walking one sion, repentance, and subsequent restoration to favor. evening in the fields, and attentively viewing the stars, Its meaning, perhaps, is more restricted, and only com- he tumbled into a ditch. An old woman, who saw him prehends the progress of the soul to perfection, the pos- fall, exclaimed, "Ha! Mr. Philosopher! how will you. session of divine love, and the reward of immortality. find out what is over your head when you cannot see From the earliest times, the influence of religious senti- what is under your nose?" We may add that Thales ments has been typified by the hopes and fears of an was, nevertheless, not deficient in worldly wisdom: he amatory attachment. This style of composition was was a shrewd politician, and gained much wealth. To practised by the rhapsodists of Hindostan and Persia, convince the Milesians that - philosopher was not necesand captivated the imagination of the Wisest of Mankind. sarily a fool in business affairs, he entered into a mer One of the ancient Egyptian emblems was Pysche, cantile speculation by buying up all the olive' crop in sometimes represented as a beautiful female, and the territory of Miletus before the trees were in blhw sometimes as a butterfly - an insect which remains in somn. His knowledge of the operations of' nature had a state of torpor during winter, but on the return of enabled him to foresee that the season would be unspring comes forth in new life and beautiful attire. commonly productive. The speculation succeeded, This was deemed a picture of the soul of man, and and the philosopher realized an enormous profit. of the immortality to which he aspired. Thales was a philosopher who united moral and political wisdom to his researches in science. Of his aphorisms, the following are specimens: "Not only the criminal acts, but the bad thoughts, of men are known to the gods." "W Vhat is the most difficult C H APTE R CXL. thing? To know yourself." c "What is the easiest FPamouz s Men, of Miletus - Thales- Anaxi- thing? To give advice to others." "' How shall we mander - Timotheus. best attain to virtue? By abstaining fiom all that we blame in others." "Who is the happiest? He who THALES of Miletus was one of the seven wise men possesses a healthy body, a competent fortune, and a of Greece. He was born 646 B. C. He travelled cultivated mind." " It is better to adorn the mind than much in pursuit of learning, according to the custom the face." Thales was also the author of the famous of the ancients. He went first to the Island of Crete, precept, 1" Know thyself." then to Phcenicia, and afterwards to Egypt, where he It seems probable that Thales admitted the ancient consulted the priests of Memphis, who were famous doctrine concerning God as the animatilig principle for their scientific knowledge. He applied himself to or soul of the world. According to him, a principle geometry, astronomy, and philosophy. Egypt was at of motion, wherever it exists, is mind. thus he taught that time governed by Amasis, a prince distinguished that the magnet and amber have a soul, which is the for his love of letters and his good scholarship. He cause of their attractive powers; the soul being conbestowed upon Thales the most striking testimonials sidered by him as a moving power, which has the of his esteem. But the Greek philosopher was'oo cause of motion within itself, and is perpetually in independent to make a successful courtier. HI-e spoke action. His notions on these matters appear to have freely of the Egyptian government, and gave offence been closely analogous to those of the modern pantheto the king, who withdrew his favor and compelled ists of Germany and America. Thales to quit the kingdom. During his residence there, Anaximnander, a disciple of Thales, was also a Mile he taught the Egyptian mathematicians how to measure sian; but the exact date'of his birth is not known. He the height of the pyramids by observing the shadows at was the first among the Greeks who taught philosophy particular times of the day, and comparing them with in a public school, and is therefore regarded by some the shadow of a man when it is of the same length as the founder of the Ionian sect, though that honor. as his body. He returned to his own country, and in fact, belongs to Thales. The mathematical and died at the age of ninety-two. astronomical sciences are indebted to Anaximander Thales wasesteemed the mostillustriolls of the famous for some improvements. He wrote a compendium of seven sages. He laid the first foundations of philoso- geography, and delineated a map of the earth, in which phy in Greece, and his followVers were called the Ionic he marked the divisions of land and water. The sect. He was also the first Greek who applied him- invention of the sun-dial is ascribed to him; but Heself to the investigation of physical science. The rodotus, with greater probability, ascribes it to the glory of having made several fine discoveries in as- Babylonians. It is related of Anax;mander, that he tronomy, is ascribed to him., One of these, relating predicted an earthquake, and advised the Laced,to the magnitude of the sun's diameter, compared monians to quit their city, that tl;ey mighlt avoid the with that of his orbit, gave him unbounded delight. destruction which threatened them. He believed that He foretold eclipses of the sun and moon with great the stars were globular collections of air and fire - carexactness, and was the first Greek astronomer that ried round with the spheres inwhich they were placedfixed the time of the solar year. In his system of and that they were gods. He supposed the sun to philosophy, he held water to be the first principle of all occupy the highest place in the heavens, the moon the things, and that God was that Intelligent Being by whom next, the planets and fixed stars the.lowest, and that all the materials of the universe were formed from the earth was placed in the midst of the universe, water. The first of these opinions he borrowed from as a common centre. His doctrines concerning the the Egyptians, who, perceiving the Nile to be the cause principles of things, and the origin of nature aro 35 274 FOUNDATION OF EPHESUS imperfectly related He gave the name of infinity to regard for the ancient music and lyre; that he had the first principle from which all things proceed, and multiplied the sounds of the former and the strings of into which they all ultimately resolve —the parts chang- the latter; that he had discarded the ancient simpler ing, but the whole remaining immutable. What he and uniform manner of singing, and had substituted meant by infinity is by no means clear. He is said to for it one more complex, wherein he had introduced have committed his doctrines to writing, but no re- the chromatic kind; that in his poem on the subject nmains of his works are extant. of Semele, he had not observed a proper decorum; Timotheus, the famous musician, was a native of and that, to obviate the effect of such innovations, which Miletus. He was born 308 B. C. IHe wrote lyric could not fail to be hurtful to good manners, the kings and dithyrambic poetry, but applied himself particu- and the ephori of Sparta had publicly reprimanded said larly to music and playing on the cithara or harp. Timotheus, and had decreed that his lyre should be His first endeavors were not successful, and he was reduced to seven strings, as of old, and that all those publicly hissed. This discouraged himto such a degree, of a modern invention should be retrenched, &c. It that he was on the point of renouncing the study of is related that when the Spartan executioner was on music, when he was encouraged to persevere in his the point of cutting away the strings conformably to endeavors by the advice of Euripides, the tragic poet. this decree, Timotheus pointed to a statue of Apollo By diligent application, he soon became the first musi- with a lyre containing as many strings as his, on which cal performer of his day, and he improved the cithara the judges were compelled to acquit him. He suffered by adding several strings to it. This innovation made much malignant criticism from other poets, which, a singular stir among the Greeks. The Lacedemoni- however, did not prevent him from gaining a high ans condemned it by a public decree, which has been reputation. The people of Ephesus are said to hax e preserved in the original language to the present day. rewarded him with a thousand pieces of gold for s This document declares that Timotheus of Miletus, poem on the dedication of the temple of Diana. Hl having come to the city of, Sparta, had shown little died at the court of Macedon, aged above ninety years. Temple of Ephesus restored. l CHAPTE R C XLI. I his mouth, and fell among some dry grass, which toos fire. The flame communicated to an adjoining thicket. 980 B. C. to A. D. 600. and spread to a considerable distance, till a wild boar, which was sleeping among the bushes, started up and Ephesus - Thle Temple of Diana.' ran away. The Greeks pursued him, and at length EPHESUS, as we -have already stated, was one of overtook and killed him with a javelin. On this spot the most ancient of the Ionian cities. There is a Ephesus was founded. A coin of the city, now in the legend connected with the history of the foundation museum of Florence, is stamped with figures refer. of this city, in which it is related that Androclus, who ring to this story. led the Ionian settlers from Greece, first took posses- According to other traditions, Ephesus was founded sion of the Island of Samos. A debate then arose by the Amazons; but Strabo informs us that the first whether the adventurers should remain there or seek inhabitants were Carians and Leleges, who were farther for an abiding place. An oracle was consulted, driven out by the Ionian settlers under Androclus. and gave for an answer that "'a fish should show At all events, Ephesus appears to have been governed them, and a wild boar conduct them." On that re- by this prince and his descendants, who assumed the sponse, they left Samnos for the main land, and rambled title of king, and exercised regal authority over the Ip and down for some time. At length, one morning, new colony; for which reason, even in Strabo's time, when they were broiling some fish for their breakfast, the posterity of Androclus were styled kings, and'ne of the fish lumred out of the fire with a coal in allowed to wear a scarlet robe. In process of time, a THE TEMPLE OF DIANA. 27.5 new form of government was. introduced, and a senate Diana of the Ephesians," as she was styled by her established. This continued tilla bold usurper, named adorers, was a small figure of ebony, which was bePythagoras, overturned the authority of the senate, lieved to have fallen from heaven. This statue was and made himself absolute in the city. He was one first placed in a niche which, it is said, the Amazons of the most inhuman tyrants mentioned in history, caused to be made'in the trunk of an elm. Such was and maintained his power by a constant series of the origin of the veneration paid to Diana, in this place. oppressions and massacres. He was succeeded by In process of time, the reputation of the goddess Findarus, who also exercised arbitrary sway, but increased to a great extent among the people of Asia, treated the citizens with more humanity. In his time, and led to the erection of the magnificent temple Ephesus was besieged by Crcesus, king of Lydia, on above described. This edifice was set on fire and which occasion the inhabitants, according to a super- destroyed 355 B C., on the day when Alexander the stitious practice of paganism, devoted their city to Great was born. Phis act was perpetrated by a man Diana, by fastening her temple to the city wall with named Erostratus, in order that he might be known to a rope. On the capture of the city, Pindarus was posterity as the destroyer of so noble a work of art. deprived of his power by Crcesus, who, out of rever- In order to disappoint this hope, the people of Asia ence for the goddess Diana, treated the Ephesians made a decree that no one should pronounce his with great kindness, and restored them to their former name; but this prohibition only served to perpetuate liberty. the memory of it, and the wicked ambition of ErosEphesus, however, fell again under the power of tratus has been recorded by all the historians of after tyrants, the last of whom, Hegesias, was overthrown times. and expelled from the city by Alexander the Great. Alexander offered to rebuild the temple of Diana, The conqueror established a democratic government, provided the Ephesians would allow him to engrave and bestowed upon the temple of Diana all the tributes his name on the front. This proposal was rejected by which the Ephesians had formerly paid to the king of a most extravagant but ingenious piece of flattery. Persia. In the war between Mithridates of Pontus They replied that "it was not proper for one god to and the Romans, the Ephesians took the part of the build a temple to another!" The temple, however, former, and by his orders massacred all the Romans was rebuilt. The columns and other materials, which who resided in their city. For this barbarous act they had been saved out of the flames were sold; the were severely fined, and reduced almost to beggary Ephesian ladies contributed their jewels, and, by these by Sylla, when he reconquered Asia Minor. At a later means, a sum was raised sufficient to begin the work. period, the Ephesians were treated kindly, and suffered Afterwards contributions came in from various quar. to live according to their ancient laws, as appears from ters, till an immense treasure was collected, and the ancient medals and inscriptions. These people were structure was completed in its original magnificence. much addicted to superstition, sorcery, and curious This edifice was standing in the time of Pliny and arts, as they are called in Scripture. Hence arose Strabo, but is supposed to have been destroyed in the he phrase "Ephesian letters," which signified all reign of Constantine, who issued an edict commanding sorts of spells, charms, and what are vulgarly called that all the heathen temples should be thrown down hocus-pocus tricks. In the time of the apostle and demolished. Paul, Ephesus retained much of its ancient grandeur; The manner in which the marble, used in building Dut under the Byzantine emperors, it began to decline. this temple, was discovered is too curious to be omitted. lustinian pillaged it of its beautiful marble statues and Vitruvius relates the story in the following manner: magnificent columns, to deck the Church of St. Sophia The Ephesians had no marble of their own, and at Constantinople. After this, Ephesus rapidly fell to intended to procure this material from Paros or Proruin. At present, it is inhabited by a few Greek peas- connesus, which places wvere then famous for their ants, in the lowest state of poverty. marble quarries. But one day a shepherd, named The great architectural ornament of this city was Pyxodorus, while tending his flock on the hill near tihe temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of the Ephesus, saw two rams fighting. In running furiously wvorld. The size of this. edifice was so enormous as at each other, one of them hit his horns so violently nearly to exhaust the quarries of stone in the neigh- against a rock, that he split off a piece of it, and disborhood of the city, and more than two hundred years covered it to be a beautiful white marble. The shepwere occupied in its erection. It was four hundred and herd immediately ran with the splinter to Ephesus, wventy-five feet long, and surrounded by a colonnade where the people were then in great embarrassment of one hundred and twenty-seven marble pillars, sev- about the importation of the marble. The discovery enty feet high, twenty-seven of which were carved in caused the highest exultation, and eminent honors were he most exquisite manner, the remainder were polished. decreed to the author. His name of Pyxodorus was These pillars were the gifts of so many different kings changed to Evangelos, signifying the messenger of and princes. The bas-reliefs were executed by Scopas, good news. In the time of Vitruvius, it was the custhe most famous artist in that line, and the altar was tom of the chief magistrate of the city to celebrate the work of Praxiteles, the first sculptor of all antiquity. a sacrifice every month upon the spot where the disThe temple, and the courts attached to it, were sur- covery was made. rounded by a strong wall, and a long portico of columns extended from the temple to a lake in the neighbor~ood. CHAPTER CXLI1 All the inhabitants of Ionia, who travelled, resorted to Ephesus yearly, with their wives and children, and Famous M/Ien of Ephesus- Apelles - l-eraclhsolemnized the festival of Diana with great pomp and tus, the weepoing Philosopher. magnificence. Rich offerings were made to the god- APELLES, the great painter, is regarded as an Epheleqs, and valuable presents to the priests. The "great sian, because he settled in that city, though he was _ - to~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i 276 EMINENT EPHESIANS. born in the Island of Cos. The age of this artist baseness. He was about to order him for executi:)n, witnessed the fiil glory of the art of painting among when the accuser, touched with remorse at seeing an the Greeks. fin had the honor of contributing more innocent man on the point of being put to death, conthan all the other painters to the perfection of the fessedthe falsity of his accusation. The king, ashamed art, not only by his pencil, but by his writings. of having so hastily given ear to calumny, reinstated His industry was excessive; he never passed a day him in his friendship, gave him a large sum of money, without laboring upon his canvas. His custom was, and sold his accuser Antiphilus for a slave. when he had finished a picture, to expose it in the Protogenes, another famous painter, lived at Rhodes. street for the criticism of the passers by, and to listen Apelles, who had never seen him, but had heard of to their remarks behind a curtain, in order to profit by his great reputation, went to Rhodes to pay him a them. One day, a shoemaker, -having perceived visit. When he came to the house of Protogenes, he something wrong in the tying on of a sandal, spoke found nobody at home but his housekeeper. She of it. The next day he found it corrected. Proud asked his name. "I will write it down," said Apelles; of his criticism, he next objected to the leg of a figure and, taking up a brush, painted something on a canvas in which there was nothing to censure. The painter which stood on the easel. Protogenes, on his return then stepped from behind his curtain, and bade the was informed that a stranger had called upon him and shoemaker stick to his trade. This gave birth to the left a token for him, When ie. saw the picture, he proverb, which has been so often repeated, Ne sutor exclaimed, " This is Apelles! No other rilan in the ultra crepidanm -" A cobbler should not go beyond world could have done it!" The two artists soon conhis last." tracted a friendship which lasted during their lives. Apelles took pleasure in doing justice to the merit Pliny has given a long list of the paintings executed of other great masters, and was not ashamed to prefer by Apelles. The portrait of AntigOnus was one of the them to himself in some qualities. He confessed that most famous. This prince had but one eye, on which Amphion excelled him:n grouping, and Asclepiodorus account the artist drew him in profile, thus concealing in drawing. His skill in painting was not his only the defect. He painted many portraits of Alexander, merit: he was eminent for polite learning and knowl- one of which was esteemed the most finished of all his edge of the world. His elegant manners made him works, and was executed for the temple of Diana at highly agreeable to Alexander the Great, who did not Ephesus. The conqueror was represented with thundisdain to visit the painter's house, in order to enjoy the der in his hand, which Pliny, who had seen it, says, charms of his conversation, and witness the wonders appeared actually projecting from the canvas. The performed by his pencil. The conqueror had so high hero himself was accustomed to say there were two an estimation of Apelles, that he published an edict Alexanders -the one of Philip, who was invincible, declaring it his will that no other person should paint and the other of Apelles, which was inimitable. his portrait. The masterpiece of Apelles was his Venus AnadyThe fiank and simple manners of Apelles were not omene, or the goddess rising from the sea. According equally agreeable'to the generals of the Macedonian to Pliny, this painting was celebrated by the verses of monarch. Some time after the death of Alexander, the greatest poets. It is supposed that this was the the painter, being on a sea voyage, was thrown by a picture purchased by the emperor Augustus for a sum tempest on the coast of Egypt. Ptolemy, one of equal to one hundred thousand dollars. At the time Alexander's generals, had received that kingdom as of this purchase, a part of the picture had become his share of the Macedonian conquests. This prince damaged by dampness. Inquiry was made by the bore no good will to Apelles, and did not invite him to emperor for some artist to retouch it; but no one his court. Besides this mortification, there were some was bold enough to undertake to repair a picture by persons who envied him, and were malicious enough Apelles. This augmented the glory of the Greek to attempt to embroil him with the king. For this painter and the reputation of the work itself. Pliny purpose, they induced one of' the officers of the court informs us that this and all the other famous paintings to carry a message to Apelles, as if from the king, of antiquity were executed with only the four primitive inviting tim to dinner. The painter accordingly at- colors. tended at the royal palace; and Ptolemy, in great Heraclitus, the phiiosopher, was born at Ephesus indignation at the intrusion of the unexpected guest, 504 B. C. He showed an ardor for the acquisition of demanded of him who had given him the invitation. knowledge at a very early age, and was soon initiatec Apelles, who was unacquainted with'his name, stood into the mysteries of the Pythagorean school of philos. a moment disconcerted, while his enemies enjoyed his ophy. He stood so high in the public opinion at Ephc. embarrassment, and expected an order to turn him sus, that the citizens offered to make him chief magis out of doors with ignominy. But this triumph was trate; but he declined, partly on account of the short. The painter suddenly caught up a piece of existing form of government, which did not suit his charcoal from a chafing-dish, and, with a few strokes taste, and partly because he was disgusted with the on the wall, sketched the figure of the man in question licentious manners of the people. Soon afterwards so accurately that he was known in an instant. This he was seen playing with boys in the street; and wher incident reconciled Apelles with the king, who after- his friends expressed their wonder, he replied, "Is no wards loaded him with wealth and honors. this better business than governing the corrupt EpheThis success, however, did not silence the enemies sians?" He was of a melancholy temperament, and if Apelles. Some time after, he was accused before disposed to shun intercourse with mankind. A story Ptolemy of having entered into a conspiracy with the has been commonly believed that he was perpetually Tyr:-ansagainsthim. Theaccuserwas apainter named shedding tears for the follies of his fellow-creatures Antlphilus. Ptolemy, without seeking for any further on which account he is generally, denominated the evidence, took it for granted that Apelles was criminal, "weeping philosopher," in contrast to Democritus, wht and reproatched him bitterly witl his ingratitllap sad was called the "laughing philosopher." Under the 'LHE CIT'Y OF SMYRNA.'277 influence of this gloomy and unsocial disposition, Colophon, a city of Ionia, was founded by AndraIHeracitus withdrew from society to a sequestered spot mon, the son of Codrus. It was situated two miles among the mountains, where he devoted himself to from the sea, its harbor being connected with the city stuaious contemplation, and lived only upon the natu- by means of long walls. It was destlroyed by Lysim. ral pioduce of the earth. His fame, however, spread achus, in order to swell the population of Ephesus. abroad, and Darius of Persia sent him an invitation to The Colophonians at one time possessed a very flouroome and reside at his court, that he might profit ishing navy, and their cavalry was in such repute as ty nis instructions. The morose philosopher rudely always to turn the tide of victory wherever it went spuried thie royal civilities. He died of a dropsy, at to battle. Hence the word Colophon became prover. ibout sixty years of age, after vainly attempting to bial to signify a " finisher." The word has been recUre himselt by dwelling in a stable, closely shut up tained in modern languages, and the name of Colophon among oxen, the heat of whose bodies he imagined was used by the old printers to indicate the end of the would absorb all the moisture of his own. He wrote last page, which contained the " imprint," or the name a treatise " On Nature," in a very obscure style, and of the town where it was printed, with the date of the became the founder of a sect in philosoplhy. The edition. Another account states that the proverb arose doctrines of th s sect were atheistic, and many of them from the fact that Colophon enjoyed the privilege of a very absurd. tOne of their notions was, that all nature double vote in the Ionian confederacy, in consequence is fill of souls or demons. Another was, that fire is of which this city was enabled to decide many disthe principle from which all things are produced, and puted questions. Colophon was one of tile cities which that those souls are the best which have the least claimed to be the birthplace of HIomer. moisture, and approach nearest to the primary fire. Modern Smyrna. C HAPTE R C X III. It was esteemed the most beautiful of the Ionian The City of S~rnyrna - Anaxagoras - cities, and was extolled by the ancients under the pom. Te tyo nraAnacareon pous titles of " Smyrna the lovely," "the crown ot Anzacreon. mIonia" " the ornament of Asia." According to a very SMYRNA is one of the most ancient cities of Asia common practice among the Greeks, its principal Minor, and almost the only one which has, in modern public buildings were erected on the slope of a hill times, retained any of its ancient prosperity. Accord- fronting the sea. The hill supplied the marble, while ing to some traditions, it was originally an tEolian col- the declivity afforded a position for the seats rising any, and was afterwards seized by some Ionian exiles gradually one above another, in the stadium, or great of Colophon. Another account describes it as an theatre, for the exhibition of games. This city was Ionian colony of Ephesus. After Melite, one of the one of the chief points of contention between the Ionian towns, had been destroyed by the common con- Ottomans and the Greeks, and, in consequewnce, was sent. of the others, Smyrna was admitted into the con- nearly ruined in the wars between these two iiations. federacy. It was supposed by some to have been the After being in some degree restored, it was taken an(] birthplace of Homer, and on the banks of the Meles, plundered by Timour, A. D. 1402. Almost every vesin its vicinity, there was a grotto, in which he was tige of the ancient city is now obliteraled. The vaulted believed to have composed his poems. The Smyrne- foundation of the stadium remains, but its area is sown ans were proud of this tradition, and endeavored to with grain. There are only a few relies of the theapropagate and confirm it. Sadyattes, king of Lydia, tre, and the castle which crowns the hill. is a structure captured the city, destroyed it, and distributed the erected by the Greek emperorl Johln Comnlenus on the -inhabitants among the villages in the neighhorhood. ruins of the old one, whose walls of immense thickAbout four hundred years afterwvards, Smyrna was ness and strength may still be discovered. Smyrna, rebuilt by Antigonus and Lysimachus, or, according inthe course of its revolutions, has, in a manner, slid to other accounts, by Alexander the Great. down from the bill to the aca, close to which it is now 278 ANAXAGORAS-ANACREON —PARR HASIUS. situated. Under the Turkish government, it has com- his banishment from Athens, he passed the remainder pletely regained its populousness, and has become the of his days at Lampsacus, where he died, (428 B. C.) rmporiurn of the Levant trade. The situation of Being asked, just before his death, whether he wished Smyrna is such, that it could scarcely fail to be a to be carried for interment to Clazomene, he replied, flourishing place. It has a fine bay, with good anchor-'" It is unnecessary; the way to the other world is age, a secure and capacious harbor, and in the rear a equally open every where." The magistrates of fertile plain, watered by the River Meles, which pro- Lampsacus requested to be informed in what manner duces fruits and vegetables in abundance. The groves he would permit them to honor his memory. " Only," and minarets of the city make a beautiful appearance said he, "let the day of my death be kept as a holiday from the sea; but the interior displays ill-paved streets for the schoolboys." This good-humored request was and gloomy walls. The houses along the shore are complied with, and the custom remained in Lampsacus very delightful, having gardens extending down to the in the time of Diogenes Laertius, seven hundred years water, and kiosks scattered about them. The whole afterwards. city is like a market, abounding with the chief corn- Anaxagoras received the name of "' Mind," on acmodities of Europe, Asia, and America. Of the count.of his intellectual superiority. In his philosophy, Asiatics, the Armenians are the most numerous traders he taught that the universe consisted of small bodies here, and the caravans from Persia are principally composed of similar parts, and that mind is the begincomposed of them. The French trade is carried on ning of motion. He was the first among the Greeks chiefly from Marseilles, and the Italian from Leghorn. who conceived the primary active principle in the The exports from Smyrna are figs, raisins, raw silk, universe, MIND, to be simple, pure intelligence, existing cotton, carpets, drugs, &dc. This city is often infested separately from and independent of matter. He must with the plague, which has, at times, committed great have paid considerable attention to the phenomena of ravages. It is also somewhat liable to earthquakes. nature, for he explained the appearance of the rainbow The population is about one hundred thousand, of as the reflection of the solar rays from a black cloud, whom thirty thousand are Greeks, and eight thousand and discovered that wind is" produced by the rarefacAl'menians. tion of the air. 4lnaxagoras, one of the most illustrious philosophers Anacreon, the famous lyric poet, was a native of of antiquity, was born at Clazomene, in Ionia, (500 Teos, in Ionia. He flourished in the sixth century B. C.) Though a person of noble extraction, and pos- B. C., and was in great favor with Polycrates, tyrant sessing a large patrimony, he relinquished his connec- of Samos, at whose court he.esided. Such was his tions and estate, that he might be entirely disengaged poetical fame, that Hipparchus, the son of Pisistratus, from secular concerns. He first became the pupil of tyrant of Athens, sent a vessel of fifty oars on purpose Anaximenes the Milesian. At the age of twenty, he to bring him to Athens. Tie was a professed volupleft Miletus, and entered upon the study of philosophy tuary, and addicted to enjoyment without restraint. at Athens. He acquired high reputation there, and Yet he had a sort of philosophical contempt foi had many illustrious disciples, among wnom were wealth, illustrated by the following anecdote which is Euripides the tragedian, Pericles, and Socrates. With- related of him. Polycrates gave him a large sum out accepting any public office, or making himself of money, which Anacreon at first accepted; but, at conspicuous in affairs of state, he rendered much ser- the end of two days, finding the anxiety of taking vice to the Athenian republic. But neither his learn- care of his wealth had deprived him of rest, he carried ing, nor his disinterested spirit, nor the friendship of it back to the giver, saying, " Money is good, but Pericles, could preserve him from persecution. He sleep is better." He lived to a cheerful old age, and was accused by the demagogue Cleon, of impiety, for died at eighty-five. A tradition was current that he teaching that the sun was no god, but a burning mass was choked by a grape-stone; but this was a very of stone, thereby contradicting the vulgar opinion that natural invention to embellish the story of a poet who the sun was Apollo, one of the greater deities. Anax- had sung the praises of wine. The poems of An/acagoras, indeed, did not scruple, when occasion offered, reon now extant are short odes upon light and joyous to expose the vulgar superstitions. He ridiculed the topics, abounding in sweetness of expression, spright. Athenian priests for predicting a calamity because liness, and elegant fancy. They are so characteristic a ram with but one horn had made its appearance.'in this manner as to have given the name of AnacreonTo convince the people that there was nothing super- tic to the whole class of similar compositions. Some natural in the animal, he opened his head, and showed doubts are entertained as to the authenticity of certain them that it was so constructed as necessarily to pre- of the pieces which form the collection passing for the vent the g rowth of the other horn. Anaxagoras was works of Anacreon; but, in proof that they are genucondemned to death; but, through the interposition of ine, it may be stated that many of them are quoted Pericles, who appeared in his defence, and maintained by ancient writers. that he had committed no capital crime, and that his Parrhasius, the painter, was a native of Ephesus, and, prosecution had been prompted by malice, the sentence in the judgment of antiquity, was worthy to be regardwas changed to that of fine and banishment. ed as the rival of Zeuxis. According to Quintilian, When one of his friends expressed regret on account the former excelled in design and the latter in colorof his banishment, he replied, " It is not I who have ing. Parrhasius is represented as an artist of vast lost Athens, but the Athenians who have lost me." genius and fertility of invention, but most presumptuOne day, while he was lecturing, he received the ous and arrogant in behavior. He dressed in purpi, news of the death of his son. He only observed, wore a crown of gold, carried a richly adorned cane, with perfect calmness, "I knew he was mortal." and displayed gold buckles in his shoes. Everything When he was doomed to death by his judges, he con- about him was in the same ostentatious and lofty style. soled himself by a similar reflection —' Nature long He bestowed upon himself the most pompous and I ago pronounced the same sentence against me." After high-sounding names, which he was not ashamed to GRECIAN COLONIES. 2779 inscribe at the bottom of his pictures. He was the There are many doubtfill legends respecting the "' elegant," the " polite," the "delicate," the " man planting of colonies in Asia Minor, by the heroes who who carried the art to perfection," the man " origin- commanded the Greek armies in the famous expedition ally descended from Apollo," the man " born to paint against that city; and, although it is impossible to sep. the gods themselves." It is allowed that Parrhasius arate the truth from the fiction in these stories, they excelled in depicting the characters of men and the appear not to be wholly groundless. The earliest Greek passions of the soul. One of his pictures represented colonies which can safely be pronounced historical, are the genius and ipe-t):le of Athens. The description of those which were the result of what is commonly this piece indica es an inexhaustible fund of imagina- known as the iE'ol'iCan igration. This was produced tion in the artist. Omitting nothing in the character by the irruption of the _E;olians into Bceotia, and of the of that versatile people, he represented Athens on one Dorians into Peloponnesus. side as capricious, irascible, unjust, and inconstant, The immediate consequence of this irruption was and on the other as humane, merciful, and compas- that a number of AEolians, Beotians, and Achbeans sionate; also as proud, haughty, vainglorious, fierce, formed a resolution to emigrate fiom Greece, and seek and even base and cowardly. It is not very easy to a more peaceful residence in the East. The emiunderstand how all these qualities could be combined grants were headed by chiefs who claimed a descent in a single figure. Perhaps it was an allegorical from Aganemnon. The main body embarked at design, and contained figures accessory to the princi- the port of Aulis, from which he had led the Greek pal one. According to the representation of Pliny, armament against Troy. They took the same direction Parrhasius first gave symmetry to painting - was the at first, and landed in the Isle of Lesbos, where they first to throw a sprightly expression into the counte- founded six cities. Other detachlments occupied the nance, to make the hair flow with elegance, and to coast of Asia, opposite this island, from the foot of infuse grace into the features. Xenophon makes him Mount Ida to the mouth of the River Hermus. an interlocutor with Socrates in a dialogue on the This was the real origin of the greater part of the pictorial art.* He is supposed to have lived about Eolian settlements in Asia Minor, although a tradition 400 B. C. exists that a migration from Peloponnesus toward the East had begun some time previous. Orestes was said to have led an Achbman colony to Lesbos, or C H A P T 1E R C XLIV. e Tenedos. Another band, conducted by Clines and Malaus- descendants of Agamemnon- is said to 1500 to 60 B. C. have emigrated to Asia Minor, where they found the EoLIA AND DORIS. - Greek Colonies in Asia Pelasgians in possession of the coast, but much weakMinor. ened by the Trojan war. The invaders attacked and Y1ioLIA and DoRIs were Greek colonies on the shore took their chief town, Larissa, and afterward founded f Mysia, Lydia, and Calria, which were settled, durin Cuoma, which subsequently obtained the name of Phrihe century that followed the destruction of Troy, i, and becam the chief of the Eoian cities in ty iEolian and D)orian emigrants from Greece. Asia Minor. The LEolian migration may be dated 1124 B. C. - * It is said that P1rrhasius, " being engaged on a painting fifty or sixty years subsequent to the capture of Troy epresenting Prometheus- chained to the rock, bought a cap- For more than a century after the arrival of the first ise taken in war by Philip of Macedon, and then put him colonists, new adventurers continued to flock in. The o death by slow torture, in order to paint from nature the genies of a violent death." The poet —though he has.ocnmitted an anachronism in referring the event to the time this region was sometimes called, amounted to eleven; Af Philip of Macedon —has taken advantage of this legend but about thirty others were afterward founded by the n the following lines:- people of Cuma and Lesbos in the territory of Priam, " Parrhasius stood, gazing forgetfully which the Lesbians seem to have claimed as legitimate Upon his canvas. There Prometheus lay heirs to the conquests of Agamemon. Chained to the cold rocks of Mount Caucasus, The vulture at his vitals, and the links Some time after the settlement, the AEolians conOf the lame Semnian festering in his flesh; centrated their establishments, and formed a species And, as the painter's mind felt through the dim, of federal union, called the Lian league. This Rapt mystery, and plucked the shadows wild Forth with its reaching fancy, and with form consisted of twelve states, or cities, namely, Smyrna, And color clad them, his fine, earnest eyes Cyme, Larssa, Neontichos, Temnos, Cila, Noium Flashed with a passionate fire, and the quick curl Of his thin nostril, and his quivering lip, -Egiroessa, Pitane, iEgma,' Myrina, Grynea. To these Were like the winged god's breathing from his flight. were added several inferior towns, making the whole "' Brinlg lfle thecaptive now! i number of associated communities, thirty. Smyrna My hand feels skilful, and the shadows lift Fromn my waked spirit airily and swift; was afterward transferred to the Ionian union. All And I could paint the bow the _Eolian cities were independent of each other Upon the bended heavens —around me play CoUplo s of suh divinity to-day. me play and had their own constitutions. Sometimes political Colors of such divinity to-day. "' Ia! bind him on his back! disturbances led to the establishment of arbitrary Look! as Prometheus in my picture here- rulers; but, in general, the government was of a Quick, or he faints! Stand with the cordial near! popular character. Crsus of Lydi sujeted ioli Now —bend him to the rock a popular character. Croesus of Lydia subjected ]Eolia Press down the poisoned links into his flesh! to his dominion; and, on the overthrow of this mnonAnd tear agape that healing wound afresh! arch, the Persian authority was substituted, and coin"'So! let him writhe! How long tinued till the Macedonian conquest, after which the What a fine athus? uicg, ony works u po n his br ow! country followed the fortunes of the rest of Asia Minor. Ha! gray-haired, and so strong! The south-western corner of Asia Minor andl the Gods! if I cold sbtutepaintat sadhrt moan! ". neighboring islands were occupied, about the period of i Vz11ts~~~~Willis. the IEolian migrations, by the Dorian and Acheean set 280 LYDIA-ANECDOTE OF GYGES. Jers. The most celebrated of these expeditions was at home. The adventurers placed themselves under led by Althemenes of Argos. He went first to Crete, the command of Tyrrhenus, the king's son, and pro. where he left one division of his followers, and proceed- eeeded first to Smyrna, where they built a fleet. They ed with the rest to Rhodes. About 1049 B. C., Halicar- then sailed westward in search of a country proper nassus was founded on the Carian shore by a colony of for a settlement, and, after a variety of wvanderings Dorians from Troezene, in Greece. Cnidus, in the came finally to Umbria, or Etruria, in Italy. In this same neighborhood, was settled by Dorians from Laco- manner according to Hlerodotus, originated the Etrus. nia. A third band from Epidaurus took possession of cans, afterward so famous. the Island of Cos. These colonies formed an associa- After this occurs a barren period in the history of tion, from which several others of the same race, and in Lydia, which contains a mere catalolgue of' kings, with their neighborhood, were excluded. The confederacy only a few events to distinguish therm, and these of' at first comprised six cities, namely, Cnidus, Cos, an incredible character. It seems probalble, however Camira, Ialysus, Lindus, and Halicarnassus. The last that the Lydians had degeneratedl- firom the ancient was, at a later period, excluded, and the confederacy simplicity of their manners, and had become noted went by the name of the Pentlaolis, or five cities. for profligacy and effeminacy. The dynasty of the They had a chief temple at Triope, where they exhibited Atynade appears to have ended with the transfer of the solemn games in honor of Apollo Triopeus. The crown to Argon, who established the seat of his govprizes were tripods of brass, which the victors were erminent at Sardis. This monarch is described by expected to consecrate to Apollo, and leave in the Herodotus as the first of the Heracelidce. temple. The violation of this custom, by a citizen of Of the immediate descendants of Argon hardly any Halicarnassus, caused that city to be excluded from thing is related, till we come to Candlanies, who flourthe Dorian confederacy. ished perhaps about the time of the foundation of The political history of' these people is substantially Rome, or in the middle of the eighth century before the same with that of their neighbors — the Ionians. Christ. Of this king we have an anecdote preserved After living under free governments for some time, by Pliny the naturalist, who relates that a picture was they were successively subjected to the sway of the once shown to Candaules, which so excited his admiLydians, the Persians, the Macedonians, and finally ration, that he purchased it for its weight in gold. became absorbed into the Roman empire. Herodotus gives a particular relation of the manner in which this monarch lost his throne and his life, whicli has been so often quoted, that it demands some notice CHAPTER CXLV. here. Candaules had a very beautiful wife, whose 1600 to 716 B. C. superiority over other women in personal charms was often the theme of his conversation. It was not cusLYDIA. - Foundation of the Kingdom — Story tomary for females to expose themselves much to of Gyges and Candaules. sight in Lydia, but the king wished to convince his THE kingdom of Lydia comprised various territo- favorite courtier, Gyges, by ocular proof, of the sur ries in Asia Minor, and varied considerably in extent passing beauty of the queen. at different times. In a general description, it may be The courtier in vain expostulated against this pro. said to have been situated between Phyrgia, Mysia, posal; but the king insisted on his obedience to the and the XEgean Sea. It was sometimes called Meonia, command, and Gyges was obliged to acquiesce by from King Meon.' According to Josephus, the Lydians concealing himself in the bed-chamber. On his rewere named from Lud, one of the sons of Shem. tiring, he was observed by the queen, who determined Herodotus, on the other hand, derives the name from to revenge the indignity to which she had been subLydus, an ancient king of the country. jected. The next morning, accordingly, she sent foi On our very first introduction to the history of Gyges, and proposed to him either to assassinate Canthis country, we find an absolute monarchical govern- dauies, and take his place, or to suffer death. Ambition ment, established with an hereditary succession of conspired with the love of life to determine the courtier's power. There have been reckoned three distinct dy- choice. lie assassinated the king during his sleep, and nasties in Lvdia-the Atyadce, named from Atys, the obtained possession of his throne and the hand of hi, son of Manes, the first of the kings respecting whom queen. there is: no distinct account; the Heraclidce, or de- Such is the account of Herodotus; but other Greelk scendants of Hercules; and the Miernmnadce. This Nwriters relate a different story. Plato describes Gyg(:s lltanes has been supposed to be the king mentioned as having been originally a shepherd, who possessed by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who, from being a a magical ring, which had the property of making the slave to a cartwright, was raised to the throne of Lydia. wearer invisible. By the help of this, he gained adIn the reign of' Atys, the son of Manes, which may mission into the king's palace, and was enabled to hbe placed in the seventeenth century before Christ, a carry on such plots and intrigues as to dethrone the severe famine prevailed throughout Lydia for the king and obtain the crown for himself. Cicero also space of eighteen' years. Herodotus affirms that, in relates this fable. Plutarch agrees neither vith Herodtheir distress, the Lydians invented games to amuse otus nor Plato, but makes the accession of Gyges to themselves and draw ofI their thoughts from their suffer- the throne a much more ordinary event. According ings: every second day they played at checkers, hop- to his representation, Gyges raised an insurrection scotch, and similar sports, instead of eating dinner. against Candaules, and overthrew him in battle. He-. But, although they obtained some alleviation of their rodotus, however, has been generally followed as the distress by these contrivances, the famine still pressed best authority, as he was born in a city of Asia Miiior severely upon them; and at length the king divided near to Lydia, and at a time when the events wichl the whole nation by lot into two bodies, one of which he describes were sufficiently recent to be well re was comnelled to emigrate, while the other remained membered. SIEGE OF MILETUS. 281 The Lydians were strongly attached to the memory tions six golden cups, which, from their weight, must of Candaules, and took up arms against his murderer. have been worth upwards of two hundred thousand Gyges contrived to have the question of the'succession dollars. The sentence of the oracle was favorable te to the throne referred to the oracle of Delphi, in Gyges. This prince soon extended the boundaries of Greece, which was famous throughout the neighbor-. his kingdom, by successful, military adventures. He ing countries. He made large presents to the temple reigned thirty-eight years, and died, leaving his son of Delphi, which, no doubt, influenced the decision of Ardyes to complete his conquests. the oracle. Among these presents, Herodotus men-:' I Solon and AXsop at the Court of Crcesus. C I-I A P TE R C X L y I. tured the cities of Smyrna and Clazomene; but },is most serious and protracted conflict was with the peo. 716 to 556 B. C. ple of Miletus..lyattes d the Iilesias —Rei of C s lWhen the siege of this city had been continued for Alyattes and the iilesians Reig Cr six years by the Lydians, the inhabitants were reduced - Anecdote of Solon and zEsop - Story of to great suffering for want of provisions. Alyattes, supAdrastins. posing this to be the case, sent a herald into the city to OF Ardyes and his successor Sadyatti's, there is propose a surrender. The Milesians, having intellilittle recorded to demand our attention. Alyattes, the gence of his approach, determined upon a stratagem. next king, became involved in a war with Cyaxares They collected all the edibles that could be found in the Mede, by the following circumstances, which are the city, and spread them in the market-place. When related on the authority of Herodotus. Certain the herald arrived, he was amazed to see the people Scythian fugitives had taken refuge in Media, where engaged in a plenteous feast. On his return to the they were protected by the king. He intrusted some camp of Alyattes, he informed him of what he had young men to their care, to be taught the Scythian witnessed; and the king, believing that provisions were language and the use of the bow. These strangers abundant within, the city, raised the siege in despair, were skilful hunters; but one day returning from the and made peace with the Milesians. chase without bringing any game for the king's table, Alyattes was succeeded by his son Crcesus, whose he received them with much ill humor. Their anger reign gave great celebrity to Lydia, while his name was roused, and they determined on a horrible re- became proverbial for riches; his story has also assisted venge. They killed one of the young men committed the moralists of every subsequent age to illustrate the to their care, and, dressing the flesh in the manner of uncertain tenure of worldly prosperity. He began game, served it up at the table of Cyaxares. The his reign about 562 B. C. He was almost perpetually crime was discovered, and the Scythians fled to Lydia, engaged in war, and enlarged his kingdom by the where Alyattes refused to deliver them up to the acquisition of Phrygia, Mysia, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, vengeance of the Median king. Pamphylia, and Caria, with all the territories in Asia This refusal brought on a war between the two na- Minor, occupied by the lonians, Dorians, and tEolians. tions. In the sixth year of this war happened the re- Herodotus observes that he was the first conqueror of markable event of an eclipse of the sun at the moment the Greeks of Asia Minor, who till then had never when the Lydian and Median armies were engaged in been subject to a foreign power. battle -which we have already mentioned in the his- Having extended his conquests to the shores of the tory of Media. A peace immediately followed, and the Aegean, he prqjected the equipment of a fleet for the alliance between the two nations was strengthened by purpose of attacking the islands in that sea. Rutl an intermarriage. Alyattes made war upon the Cirn- Bias, one of the wise men of Greece, dissuaded him. mnerians, and drove them out of Asia. He also cap- from this design, and he more wisely soughkt the 38 2 82- ADl)RASTUS-THE DELPHIAN ORACLE. alliance of the Greek islanders. The kingdom of chosen band of dogs and hunters. The young man, Lydia was now of much greater extent than formerly. mortified by his father's determination, expostulated, Sardis, the capital, advantageously situated at the foot and at length was allowed to go to the chase, under of Mount Tmolus, and watered by the Pactolus, a the guardianship of Adrastus.. They attacked the river famous for its golden sands, now became distin- boar, and the king's son was killed by an accidental guished among the great cities of Asia. In the esti- thrust from the spear of the Phrygian. The unhappy lmnation of Xenophon, it was second only to Babylon king pardoned the slayer, believing that his hand had in riches. Herodotus states that it was a place of been guided by an unavoidable fatality; but the latter, great resort, and frequented by all those who were inconsolable for what he had done, retired, at the dead celebrated in Greece for their talents and wisdom. of night, to the spot where Atys was buried, and, conCroesus invited Solon, the Athenian sage, to Sardis, fessing himself the most miserable of mankind, come and hospitably entertained him in his palace; but this mitted suicide upon the grave! wise man beheld the magnificence of the king and his courtiers with a calm and mortifying indifference. lie was conducted to the royal treasury, to view and admire the riches it contained. Crcesus then asked him who, in his opinion, was the happiest man in the C H A P T E R C X L V II. world, expecting to hear himself named. Solon re- 556 to 548 B. C. plied, "Tellus, an Athenian, who, under the protection I 1- > ^ 5. War of Croesus with Cyrus of Persia- The of an excellent form of government, had many virtu- DyrS Oa veesa -v ous and amiable children. He saw their offspring, phian Oracle - Overthaoh of the Lydiacn and they all survived him. At the close of an honor- iortarchy. able and prosperous life, on the field of victory, he CnCEsus passed two years in mourning for his son, was rewarded by a public funeral by the city." who was the only hope of the royal house of Lydia Crlesus, though disappointed in this replv, demanded At length, his jealousy was awakened, and his military to whom Solon would assign the next degree of felicity; dor roused, by the prog;ess of a neighbo power, but receiving an answer no more satisfactory than the which was rapidly advancing to a formidable greatfirst, he exclaimed, " Man of Athens, think you so ness. This was the Persian empire under Cyrus the meanly of my prosperity, as to rank me below private Great, which threatened to make serious encroachpersons of low condition? " Solon, unwilling either ments upon the Lydian dominion, and even to absorb to flatter or exasperate the king, replied, " King of it entirely. Crcesus determined to try the chance of Lydia, the Greeks have no taste for the splendors of war with this new competitor. He was very religious royalty. Moreover, the vicissitudes of life suffer us according to the superstition of the pagans, and never not to he elated by any present good fortune, or to would begin any important enterprise without consultadmlire that felicity which is liable to change. He, i the ministers of the various deities which were ing the ministers of the various deities which were therefore, whom Heaven smiles upon to the last, is, in worshipped in those countries. But, in order to form our estimation, the happy man!" With these words a certain judgment of the answers which he should Solon departed, leaving Crcesus chagrined, but not receive, he desired to assure himself beforehand of instructed. Aisop, the famous fabulist, is said to have the truth of these pretended expounders of supernatualso' been at the court of Sardis; and we are told that ral knowledge. lhe remarked to Solon, " You see that we must either For this purpose, he sent messengers to all the most not come near kings, or say only what is agreeable to celebrated oracles in Greece and Africa, with orders them." To which the sage replied, " We should to inquire every one, at his respective oracle, what either say what is useful, or say nothing." Crcesus was doing at such a day and such an hour, T hle vicissitudes of fortune which Solon would have before agreed upon. The answers, in general, have not letd the king to contemplate, were presently exem- been preserved, and are said to have been unsatisfacplified in the royal family. Crcesus had two sons: tory to the king. But we are told that the messengers one of them was dumb, but the other, whose name had no'sooner entered the temple of Delphi, and pro. was Atys, was distinguished by superior accomplish- posed their question, than the following reply was ments. The king is said to have had a vision, which made: — warned him that this son would die by the point of an "I count the sand; I measure out the sea; iron spear. The terrified father determined to settle The silent and the dumb are heard by me. him in marriage, and devote him to a pacific life. Even now the odors to my sense that rise, He took away his command in the army, and removed A tortoise boiling with a lamb supplies, from those about his person every military weapon. Where brass below and brass above it lies." About this time, an unfortunate homicide, named When Crcesus learnt this, he exclaimed that there Adrastus, arrived at Sardis. He had accidentally was no true oracle but that of Delphi; for, on the day killed his brother, was banished from home by his in question, determining to do what it would be equally father, and, according to the custom of pagan an- difficult to discover or explain, he had cut in pieces a tiquity, sought expiation of a neighboring prince. He tortoise and a lamb, and boiled them together in a covbelonged to the royal family of Phrygia, and was re- ered vessel of brass. Such is the story related by ceived in a friendly manner by Crcesus, who gave him Herodotus, and which has been repeated even by a an asylum at his court. Shortly after this event, a grave and philosophical historian of modern times, as wild boar of extraordinary size appeared near Olym- if it were a well-authenticated fact. That the oracle pus, in Mysia. The terrified inhabitants requested was consulted by Crcesus need not be doubted; but Crcesus to send his son, with hunters and dogs, to de- the marvellous part of the tale is more likely to have stroy the formidable animal. The king, remembering been an invention of the priests of Delphl, to raise the I'he vision, withheld his son, but prolnised them a reputation of their oracle W'AR OF CRCESUS WITH CYRUS- LYDIA 28 C'rcesus, it is said, being thus satisfied of the divine the oracle. They explained the story of the mir.ne as character of the Delphic responses, determined to designating Cyrus, who had a double nationality, being make a magnificent present to the oracle. He col- born of a Persian and a Mede. As to the great emlected three thousand chosen victims, an immense pire which he expected to overthrow, the oracle meant number of couches overlaid with gold and silver, to- the Lydian, and not the Persian power! This is not gether with goblets of gold, and purple vests of enor- the only instance recorded in ancient history, where mous value. All these were cast into a sacrificial pile, the oracles uttered ambiguous sayings, which could be and burned. The gold, being melted, ran into a mass, made to suit any event, and justify the most opposite and of this he formed a number of large tablets, and conclusions. a lion, which, with a nlmber of vessels of gold and The kingdom of Lydia became absorbed into the silver, he sent to the Delphian oracle. The Lydians Persian empire by the conquest of Cyrus, and from who conveyed these presents were directed to inquire this period it has no longer an independent history. whether Croesus might safely undertake an expedition Cyrus appears to have treated Cropsus most humanely against the Persians, and whether he should strengthen during the rest of his' life. He received him into his himself by any new alliances. The answer was, that confidence and familiarity, and even permitted him to by marching against Persia, he would overthrow a retain the title of king. According to Xenophon, great empire, and that he would do well to make alli- Cyrus carried Crmsus with him wherever he went, ances with the most powerfuil of the Greek nations. probably with a double view of securing his person'The king, deeming this ambiguous reply satisfac- and making use of his counsel in administering the tory, was highly elated with the expectation of becom- affairs of the empire. If we may believe this author, ing the conqueror of Cyrus. A third time he consulted the dethroned nionarch was in reality a gainer by the the oracle, desiring to know whether his power would loss of his kingdom, as he exchanged a load of public be perpetual. He received an answer in these terms: care and the pomp of royalty for ease, security, and " When o'er the Medes a mule shall sit on high, enjoyment. O'er pebbly Hermus then, soft Lydian, fly; As the Lydians had no historians of their own, the Fly with all haste; for safety scorn thy fame, accounts which we have given of these people are Nor scruple to deserve a cowrard's name." chiefly derived from the Greek writers, who were very This answer was equally satisfactory with the former apt to exaggerate and embellish all that they related of ones, and Crmesus prepared to march against Cyrus. foreigners. There is probably considerable romance He crossed the Halys, and proceeded through Cappa- in the Lydian history, but, for want of collateral audocia into Syria, wasting the country in his march. thorities, we are unable to separate the true from the Some inferior actions took place between the Lydian fabulous in these narratives. and Persian armies; but, at'length, a great and deci- Lydia was celebrated for its ancient capital, Sardis sive battle was fought at Thymbra. The army of a city whose origin is anterior to the records of history, Crcesus is said to have amounted to four hundred though some believe it to have been founded after the thousand men, and that of Cyrus to one hundred and Trojan war. Its situation was on the slope of Mount ninety-six thousand. This is the first pitched battle Tmolus, and the citadel, which was of remarkable of which any particulars are related by ancient au- strength, stood on a lofty hill, having a perpendicular thors. The Lydian army was defeated, and, the precipice on one side. It is related that one of the greater part being composed of mercenary troops of kings, an ancestor of Crcesus, believed that by leading different nations, dispersed and returned toward their a lion round the wall, he should render this fortress several homes. Crcesus, with the remainder, retreated impregnable. In performing the -ceremony, he negto Sardis, where he made another stand, and attempted lected the steep side, as inaccessible. Crmasus was to drive the Persians back from the walls. But a see- attacked by the Persians, under Cyrus, in the plain.nd defeat rendered his condition utterly hopeless, and before Sardis, and defeated; but the citadel held out. Sardis was taken by storm, 548 B. C. Cyrus laid siege to the place, and offered a reward to Crcesus fell into the hands of the conqueror, who con- any one who would first scale the wall. A Persian demned him to be burnt alive. The funeral pile was soldier, who had seen a Lydian descend the precipice prepared, and the captive prince led forth to execution. for his helmet, which had fallen down the rock in this Just as the torch was about to be applied, Crcesus quarter, tried to ascend there, where not even a senticalled to mind the warning admonitions which he had nel had been placed. He succeeded, and Sardis was received from the Athenian sage. Struck with their taken. Under the Persian dominion, the satraps of ruth, and overwhelmed with grief at having disregard- the monarch resided at Sardis. d them, he cried aloud, "Solon! Solon! Solon! " This city saw many vicissitudes of fortune. In the Dyrus, who. according to the barbarous custom of time of Darius, the Milesians made war against Persia. those times, was present at the spectacle with his chief A body of them sailed to Ephesus, and, leaving their officers, demanded the reason of this outcry, on which ships at Mount Corissus, marched up by the River the whole story was related to him. Cyrus was greatly Cayster, crossed Mount Tmolus, and took Sardis by moved at the narration, and, reflecting upon the tran- surprise. The citadel, however, being strongly garrisitory nature of human greatness, he began to feel soned, resisted the attack. A soldier set fire to one of compassion for the unfortunate king of Lydia. He the houses, which quickly caused a general conflagratherefore ordered the fire to be extinguished, and tion. The city was laid in ashes, and the AMilesians Crcesus to be set at liberty. returned to their ships in safety. On the invasion of On obtaining his freedom, Creesus immediately sent Asia by Alexander, Sardis, with the citadel, fell into to Delphi the fetters by which he had been confined, his hands. Under the Romans, it became a flourislinfg Intending this as a reproach to theoracle for deceiving place, and not inferior to any of its neighbors. In imln with false promises of success to his arms. The the reign of Tiberius, it suffered greatly by an eartllDelphian plriests found no great difficulty in justifying quake, vwhich also did great damage to many otne, 284 CARlA-THE LELEGOE. Burning of Sardis. cities of Asia Minor. In the year 400, it was plun- his maritime expeditions. At one period, according dered by the Goths, who had revolted from the emperor to the same author, the Carians distinguished themArcadius. On the overthrow of the Roman empire, selves above all the neighboring nations. They excelled Sardis was subjected to every sort of calamity from in the manufacture of arms, and the Greeks ascribed the armies of barbarians, who overran the country, to them the invention of crested helmets, and the and at last fell completely to ruin. Walls and col- devices and handles of shields. They seem to have umns, and other fragments of massive ruins, still mark been at an early period, renowned for their piracies, the spot, and the remains of an edifice are pointed out which was, doubtless, the cause of the hostility waged to the traveller as the house of Creesus. against them by Minos, while he was willing, at the A few miles from Sardis is to be seen the burying- same time, to make use of their skill and naval enterplace of the Lydian kings, consisting of mounds or prise to increase his own power. barrows of various sizes. Four or five are distin- There is some reason, however, for believing that guished by their superior magnitude, and are visible on the Phoenicians had settled colonies in Caria before Lhe hills at a great distance. One of them is described the arrival of the Leleges. At a later period, the by Herodotus as the greatest structure in Lydia, and Greeks found their way into this region. Halicarnasinferior only to the works of the Egyptians and sus, the principal city, was founded by a Doric colony Babylonians. This is the monument of Alyattes, the from Trmzene, and, on account of its origin, was at father of Crcesus, a vast mound of earth heaped on a first included in the Dorian confederation. From this basement of large stones. It was erected about 460 society it was expelled by its associates in consequence years before Christ. of a religious scruple. A citizen of Halicarnassus, named Agasicles, having gained the prize tripod at the games celebrated in honor of the Triopian Apollo, carried it home, instead of presenting it to the temple of the god as an offering — which was the usual custom. C H A P T E R C X L V II I. This was deemed a sacrilegious act, and the five other 1400 to 50 B. C. Dorian cities resolved that Halicarnassus should in consequence be excluded from all future participation CARIA. -- The Carians - The Leleges - The in the festivities, which was practically an expulsion Dorians -The Queens of Caria - Herodo- of that city from the Doric union. tus - Bias - Dionysius of Halicarnas- Caria, after enjoying an independent governmen for some time, fell under the sway of the kings of Lydia, and, on the overthrow of that power, it became CARIA lay to- the southward of Lydia, Doris and a province of the Persian empire. The policy of the part of Ionia being included within its limits. It was Persian kings was to establish in each tributary state a one of the smallest of the provinces of Asia Minor; government of despotic authority, in order to secure but the number of cities, towns, and villages, as- its dependence on the head of the empire. Upon this signed to it by ancient geographers, indicate that it system, a dynasty of Carian princes was established must have been exceedingly populous. The soil at Halicarnassus. The conquest of Alexander trans. was fruitful, yielding corn, wine, figs, and oil, in ferred Caria from the Persian to the Macedonian abundance. dominion. Halicarnassus, which attempted to resist The people called Leleges are supposed by Herod- his arms, was captured and razed to the ground. It otus, who was himself a Carian, to have been the was afterward rebuilt, and, to compensate for its losses first inhabitants of this country, to which they were had six towns annexed to its jurisdiction. Caria was driven from the neighboring islands by Minos, king afterward made a province of the kingdom of Egypt. of Crete. After settling in Caria they continued to It then fell under the dominion of Antiochus the Great. acknowledge the authority of Minos, and assist him in king of Syria. On the defeat of this monarch by ARrEMIS I SIA- HER ODOTU S. 2 Scipio, the Romans made a present of Caria to the erosity of his disposition. Several young female Rhodians. It was subsequently conquered by Mithri- captives from Messene, in Greece, having been brought dates of Pontus; but, after his overthrow, Caria was to Priene, and exposed for sale, Bias redeemed them, finally annexed to the Roman empire, and formed a educated them at his own expense, and restored them part of the proconsular province of Asia. Halicar- with gifts, to their parents. He seems to have set a nassus appears to have fallen to ruin at an early period. slight value on the goods of fortune, in comparison Its remains may be seen at the place now called with those of the mind. When his native city was Boodroom. once threatened with a siege, and the inhabitants were Artemisia I., queen of Caria, was the daughter of hurrying away, loaded with their most valuable effects, Lygdamis, a citizen of that city who rose to supreme Bias went forth carrying nothing. On being asked power. She assisted Xerxes in his expedition against why he did not save his property, hie replied," I carry the Greeks, and joined his fleet with a squadron of it all in myself." He pronounced it to be the greatest five ships, which she commanded in person. She was of all evils not to be able to bear misfortune. One the only individual who opposed his design of fighting of his maxims was, " Love your friend as if he were the Greek fleet at Salamis; but, being overruled, she one day to become your enemy." Being once in a acquitted herself with such valor in the combat that storm at sea, and hearing a profligate fellow swearing Xerxes exclaimed, "The men behave like women, and by the infernal gods, " Hold your tongue," said he, the women like men!" She was among the last who " lest they discover you are here!" Bias wrote poetry, fled when the Persians were repulsed by the courage which has not come down to us. His death was and dexterity of the Greeks. Being closely pursued. affecting and truly honorable. While he was pleading by an Athenian ship, she escaped by practising a the cause of a friend, he fell and expired in the arms stratagem more remarkable for boldness and ingenuity of his grandson. than for its humanity. Seeing one of the Persian Herodotus, whom the ancients, as well as the mod. vessels near her, commanded by a person against whom erns, have called the " father of history," was born she entertained a dislike, she ran her own galley against at Halicarnassus, B. C. 484, four years previous to it, and sent it to the bottom with all the crew. The the great Persian invasion under Xerxes. When he Athenians, seeing this, imagined she was a friend, and grew up, he withdrew from his native city, which was gave over the chase. She reached the coast of Asia oppressed by the tyranny of its ruler, Lygdamis, the in safety, and Xerxes intrusted his children to her grandson of Artemisia, queen of Caria. He retired care. The Athenians were so incensed against her, to the Island of Samos, where he acquired the use of that they offered a large reward to any one who would the Ionic dialect, in which his history was afterwards take her alive. She dfterwards gained possession of the written. Few incidents of the early part of his life city of Latmus, into which she was admitted under are known. His history of the Greeks and Persians a pretence that she only wished to sacrifice to Cybele. begins with Cyrus, whom he regards as the first king It is said that, in revenge for this impiety, the goddess of Persia, and is continued through a period of one rendered her desperately in love with a young man hundred and fifty years. Besides the history of the of Abydos, whose eyes she put out in his sleep, on his Greeks and Persians, which are his principal subjects refusing to return her passion, and that she then pre- he treats of the Egyptians and several other nations. cipitated herself from a rock. He seems to have taken great pains to collect inforArtemLisia II. is principally known as the affectionate mation by travelling, and he describes Egypt and widow of Mausolus, to whose memory she erected, at Babylon from personal observation. Of the characHEalicarnassus, a most splendid monument, which was ter of his writings we have spoken at sufficient length regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world, in the introductory part of this work, to which we refer and which has become so famous as to give the the reader. name of mausoleumr to all magnificent structures in Herodotus, having finished his history, adopted avery honor of the dead. She is also said to have mingled effectual method of making it known to all Greece. his ashes in her drink, and to have offered a prize for He went to the Olympic games, where the people the best eulogy on his character. Artemisia appears, assembled periodically from all parts of Greece, and however, not to have altogether abandoned herself to read his narrative to the assembled multitude. It was unavailing sorrow; for, when she succeeded her hus- received With unbounded applause, and the fame of band on the throne of Caria, (B. C. 351,) she defended the historian was immediately established. The style herself valiantly against the Rhodians. By an inge- seemed so sweet and flowing, that the Greeks declared nious stratagem, she captured the whole Rhodian fleet. they seemed to hear the Muses themselves; and on Then manning these ships with her own people, she that account the names of the nine Muses were given sailed to Rhodes. The inhabitants of that place, seeing to the nine books of which the history is composed. their own ships approach, decorated with the ensigns Thucydides,then very young, was present at the readof victory. joyfuilly admitted them into their port; but ing, and was so much affected with the interesting before they could discover their mistake, Artemisia nature of the events related, and the beauty of the landed her thoops and took possession of the city. She language, that he was carried away by a transport of enput to death the leading Rhodians, who had excited thusiasm, and shed tears of joy. Herodotus perceived hostilities against lier, and erected a trophy in the it, and complimented Olorus, the father of Thucydides, forum, with two brazen statues, representing the queen on the genius and taste of his son, predicting that hu as branding the captive city of Rhodes with a hot would one day bean honor to his country. iron. The historian, having established his fame in Greece, Bias, one of the seven wise men of the ancient returi'ned to his native city. By his exhortations, the world, was a native of Priene, an Ionian city of Caria. people of Halicarnassus were induced to rise in arms He lived in the early part of the seventh century against their oppressors, and recover their freedom. before Christ, and was early distinguished by the gen- The accomplishment of this great object seems to 286 I)ONYSIUS OF HALICARNASSUS-LYCIA. have excited the envy of some powerful citizens of the republic. Only about half has been preserved; but HIalicarnassus, and Herodotus was rewarded only with this is exceedingly valuable, as it contains a circumingratitude. The Athenians being about to send a stantial account of the ancient Roman ceremonies, colony into Italy, he joined this expedition, and settled manners, military discipline, modes of election. &c., at Thurium in that part of the Italian peninsula called which we seek for in vain from other ancient historians. Magna Grcecia. Here he ended his days. Dionysius, however, is not always a trustworthy authoiDionysius of Halicarnassus,the historian, was born in ity. He wrote rather for the Greeks than for the the first century before the Christian era. Little is. Romans, and his main object was to relieve the forknown of his early life. He went to Italy about the mer people from the mortification which they felt at time when the civil war between Mark Antony and being conquered by a race of barbarians, as they conOctavius was brought to a close. He lived twenty-two sidered the Romans to be. This he endeavored to years at Rome, where he applied himself to the study of effect by straining the testimonies of ancient writers the language, literature, and history of the country, and and amplifying old legends, so as to make it appear collected materials for the great work which he had in that Rome derived its origin from the Greeks. Dio view. This was entitled Roman Antiquities, and nysius also wrote a treatise on rhetoric, and severe goes back to the origin of the political institutions of works of criticism, which are highly valuable. Diogenes. IC HA P T E R C XL IX. Iquence were determined upon by a majority of votes LYA PAMPHYLIA, PISIDIA, AND PAPHLAGONIA In process of time, the several governments became Y-0A PMHDioAIenes the CynicD P Hconsolidated into one. Herodotus, in enumerating the ~Dio-oenes the Cynic. in I auxiliaries that contributed towards the equipment of the LYcIA was bounded north by Phrygia, east by Pam- fleet of Xerxes, mentions Kyberniscus, king of Lycia phylia, south by the Mediterranean, and west by Caria. This country, however, makes very little figure in his. It was originally called Mylia, from the Mylive, a people tory. Creesus of Lydia subjected it to his dominion of Crete, who first settled here: afterwards it received Cyrus of Persia conquered the empire of Crcesus, the name of Lycia, from Lyeus, the son of Pandion, and Lycia shared the same fate. One event, which king o' Athens, who founded a colony here. Lycia occurred at this time, deserves notice. The people of was the smallest province of Asia Minor, but one of Xanthus, one of the Lycian cities, would not submit tlhe richest and most populous, in proportion to its ter- voluntarily to the Persian conqueror. They defended ritory. It was noted for its fine cedar-trees, which themselves, with incredible bravery, against an imalmost equalled those of Lebanon. The inhabitants mense superiority of numbers. At length, finding were celebrated for their skill in archery. themselves unable any longer to resist the formidable The Lycians at first seem to have lived dispersed host of Persians, they withdrew into their city, shut over the country in separate communities. After this, up their families and treasures in the citadel, and set several petty kingdoms arose among them. They fire to it. They then returned to the engagement. had twenty-three cities, each of which sent deputies rushed into the midst of their enemnies, and were all ] o a general congress, where matters of general conse- | slain to a man. __. PA MPH YLIA-P IS1) IA —PAPHLAGON1A —D1OGENEab. 283 On the overthrow of the Persian empire by Alexan- it to keep out the cold. The wall of Armene became der, Lycia fell into the hands of the Macedonians. The proverbial to denote any extravagant folly. Seleucidue ruled over it till the defeat of Antiochus Diogenes the Cynic is the most famous of the Paph the Great by the Romans, when Lycia was given to lagonians. The cynics were rather a class of re the Rhodians. It was afterwards reduced to a Ro- formers in manners than a sect of philosophers. Their man province. In the latter ages of the republic, name is supposed to have been occasioned by their mothe Lycians of the sea-coast were much addicted to roseness, the word cynic being derived from the Greek piracy. word for dog. Diogenes, however, is commonly reckPABIPHYLIA and PISIDIA were usually reckoned as oned among the philosophers. His father was a banker one province. They were bounded north by Phrygia, of Sinope, and was banished fiom that city for countereast by Phrygia and Cilicia, south by Cilicia and the feiting. Diogenes committed the same offence, and Mediterranean, and west by Lycia and Phrygia. was in like manner expelled. He went to Athens, Neither of these districts was of very great extent. and visited Antisthenes, the founder of the cynical Pisidia lay in the interior, and Pamphylia on the sea- school, who treated him with, great contempt, and shore. The latter was a mountainous and rugged tract would have driven him away with his staff, because of country, originally inhabited by a bold and spirited he wished to have no more disciples. Diogenes was race of men, who maintained a barbarous sort of in- neither surprised nor intimidated. He bowed his head, dependence for centuries, resisting all attempts to and said, " Strike: you will never find a stick hard reduce them. Pamphylia and Pisidia at length shared enough to drive me off as long as you speak." Antisthe fate of the other countries of Asia Minor, and fol- thenes, overcome by his obstinacy, permitted him to lowed the fortunes of the Persian, Macedonian, and be his disciple. Diogenes made great improvements Roman empires; but these districts cannot be said to upon the lessons of his master, and perfectly imitated have any distinct or national history. Perga was the his manner of living. His whole furniture consisted chief city of Pamphyvlia, and contained a magnificent of a staff, a wallet, and a wooden bowl. Seeing, one temple of Diana.. Aspendus, on the River Eurymedon day, a little boy drink out of the hollow of his hand, is famous for a battle in which Cimon, the Athenian he said, " That boy shows me that I have still somegeneral, defeated the Persians. Isaura was the capi- thing superfluous," and instantly broke his bowl. He tal of a district lying partly in Pamphylia and partly always went barefoot, even when the earth was covin Pisidia. The inhabitants of this place were noted ered with snow. A tub served him for a lodging, and for being fierce and rapacious robbers. The Roman this he rolled before him wherever he went, making general Publius Servilius obtained the surname of use of no other habitation. Isauricus for having subdued them during the war with While at Corinth, he was visited by Alexander the Mithridates. Another city, named New Isaura, was Great, who asked him whether he could do any thing built after the destruction of the ancient one, not far to serve him. "Nothing," replied the Cynic, "but to from the same spot. It was here that the pirate get out of my sunshine." The monarch exclaimed, Trebellianus proclaimed himself emperor of Rome, "If I were not Alexander, I should wish to be Dioge(A. D. 264.) He was soon after defeated and slain. nes! " He satirized the instructions of the other philosThirty pretenders were at that time contending for the ophers; and, having heard that Plato defined a man imperial throne. to be a "two-legged animal without feathers," he PAPHLAGONIA was bounded north by the Euxine, stripped a fowl of its plumage, and, taking it into the east by Pontus, south by Galatia, and west by Bithynia. academy, said, " Behold Plato's man! " One day, he It was the most northerly district of Asia Minor, and entered Plato's house, which was handsomely furnished, was noted for the number of its horses and cattle. and trampled a fine carpet under his feet, saying, The mules of Paphlagonia were celebrated as early " I tread upon the pride of Plato." "Yes," replied as the days of Homer, and the sheep of this country the latter," but with another kind of pride." Diogenes furnished wool of the finest quality. The Paphlagoni- had a supreme contempt for all the human race,. or, ans had a bad reputation with the ancients, being regard- what is much more probable, affected to feel it. He ed as knavish and unprincipled. Cleon, the Athenian went at noonday into the market-place of Athens with demagogue, who has been rendered notorious by the a lantern, saying he was in search of an honest man. wit of Aristophanes, was a native of Paphlagonia. Seeing the officers of justice carrying off a man who This country has properly no national history, hav- had been detected in stealing a trifling article, he exing generally formed a part of some one of the pow. claimed, " The great thieves have caught a little one." erful monarchies in its neighborhood. Under the A person, not of the best character, having built a Byzantine empire, the eastern part of Paphlagonia and new house, and placed over the door the inscription, the western part of Pontus were erected into a "Let nothing evil enter here," Diogenes asked province called Heleno-Pontus, in bnnor of the "How will the master get in?" Observing a young empress Helena, mother of Constantih. the Great. man blush, " Take courage," said he; "that is the The most noted city of Paphlagonia was Sinope, on color of virtue." In reply to one who asked him when the Euxine. Here was originally a colony of Miletus, he ought to dine, he said, "If you are rich, when you and enjoyed a thriving commerce. In its turn, Sinope will; if poor, when you can." When he was far also planted colonies in the neighborhood, and thus advanced in life, he embarked on a voyage for Egina. acquired a considerable territory. The tunny fish- butt was captured by a pirate, and sold for a slave in eries on tile coast of the Euxine were a source of Crete. He was purchased by a wealthy Corinthian. great profit to the people of Sinope. This city gave who was struck with the reply which he made to thc birth to Mithridates the Great, and Diogenes the Cynic. auctioneer who put him up for sale. "What can you Armene, a small seaport of Paphlagonia, was famous do? " asked the vendor. "I can govern men," anibr affording a standing jest to the ancient Greeks. swered Diogenes; "therefore sell me to some one is said that the people of this town built a wall round who wants a master." 288 BITHYNIA-PRUSIAS. banished to Armenia, procured the assistance of the C II A PT E R C L. Gauls, expelled his brother, and ascended the throne. He dreaded, however, that these people might be in2000 to 75 B. C. duced to turn their arms against him, and, in order to n3ITHYNI.A. - jFoundation of thae Kil~ng~domr of rid himself of such dangerous friends, he planned a eBihynia - Revoltions - P ruias - Ni*o- 10*bloody treachery. The Gaulish nobles were invited Bithyniaedes. Revolittions - -Prusias - N to a splendid entertainment, and a band of ruffians were 2ne-des. Iprepared to massacre them in the midst of their fesTHis ancient kingdom was bounded north by the tivities. The intended victims, however, received Euxine, east by Paphlagonia and Galatia, south by Phry- private information of the scheme; and, as soon as gia and Galatia, and west by Mysia, the Propontis, and the feast began, they fell upon their treacherous host, the Thracian Bosphorus. It enjoyed the advantage of and put him to death. an extensive line of sea-coast, and appears to have Pritsias, the son of Zela, distinguished himself by his been a very fertile and populous country. Xenophon, successful wars with his neighbors. Hannibal, having who had visited Bithynia more than once, describes been expelled from Carthage by the ingratitude of his the shores of the Euxine as covered with flourishing countrymen, and afterwards hunted from one place to towns and villages, and abounding in almost every another by the persecutions of the' Romans, at length production of nature. took refuge in Bithynia. Such was the influence The information afforded by ancient writers, re- which his great genius exercised over the mind of specting the early inhabitants of this country, is so full Prusias, that, by his counsel, the king renounced the of contradictions, that it appears to be impossible to friendship of the Romans, and declared war against fix the date of the foundation of the first dynasty of Eumenes, king of Pergamus, who was under theii its kings. Diodorus Siculus asserts that Ninus of' protection. Prusias led an army into the territories Assyria conquered Bithynia; and Appian recounts no of Eumenes; but that able commander defeated the less than forty-nine kings who reigned here before the invader, and forced him to accept terms of peace. Romans visited Asia. Little consideration is due to these Hannibal next persuaded Prusias to form an alliance statements. The earliest inhabitants of the country with Philip of Macedon, which led to a new war with were called Bebryces. They seem to have been the the Romans. By employing various stratagems, insame with those of the neighboring districts of Mysia vented by Hannibal, Prusias obtained several brilliant and Phrygia. These were afterwards conquered or victories. The Romans, however, by their intrigues displaced by a horde of Thracians from the European prevailed on Prusias to deliver Hannibal into their side of the Propontis. These invaders were a tribe hands; and the glory which this prince had acquired bearing the name of Thyni, or Bithyni. They appear in the war was tarnished by his base ingratitude to to have had chiefs of their own race from the earliest the great warrior, whose counsels and assistance had times: two of them, Dydalsus and Boteinas, are men- taught him the way to victory. Hannibal, seeing his tioned as having reigned in the fourth century before fate inevitable, swallowed poison, and died. Christ. Prusias now became the slave of the Romans. He Bithynia was conquered by Crcsus, king of Lydia; joined their army in the campaign against the Macebut the conqueror and the conquered were doomed to donians, and went to Italy to offer his congratulations yield to the Persian power. Cyrus the Great estab- on the success of the war. Before he entered Rome, fished his dominion here, and the country remained he laid aside the ensigns of royalty, assumed the dress under the Persian rule till the conquests of Alexander. worn by a slave when he receives his freedom, and in Bas, the son of Boteras, the Persian viceroy at thati this garb was introduced to the senate. His meanness time, took advantage of the overthrow of Darius to set and servility disgraced his own character, without reup an independent authority in Bithynia. In this he fleeting any glory upon the majesty of the Roman name. succeeded so well as to maintain himself on the throne The memory of his past achievements, however during a long reign of half a century. Zipoetes, rendered him still formidable to his neighbors; when who succeeded him, carried on a war with Antiochus he heard of the death of Eumenes, he again made Soter, king of Syria, whose army he defeated; but war on Pergamus, and conquered the capital of that shortly afterward died, leaving the kingdom to his son kingdom, where he practised the most unrelenting Nicomedes. This prince began his -reign by putting cruelties for the space of three years. By the media to death his two brothers. Zipoetes, the youngest, tion of the Romans, however, a peace was concluded fled into Asiatic Thrace, and engaged the tribes of and Prusias sent his son Nicomedes to Rome. that region to espouse his cause. Nicomedes marched This prince shortly after excited the jealousy of his to subdue these people, but was suddenly recalled by father, who sent an assassin to Rome to despatch the intetiigence that Antiochus was preparing to fall Nicomedes. From a feeling of remorge or loyalty upon him. Distrusting his own power, he invited the this man revealed the design to the prince, and these Gauls from the western shores of the Bosphorus into two persons judged it necessary for self-preservation Asia, promising them a settlement in the country. to assassinate Prusias. Nicomedes set sail for PergaAssisted by these barbarians, Nicomedes defeated mus, formed a league with Attalus, the king, invaded Antiochus and expelled his brother. The Gauls were the territories of his father, and was every where rerewarded with the gift of a territory, which from them ceived as the deliverer of the country. Prusias was obtained the name of Galatia. Nicomedes employed deserted by the greater part of his people; and, disthe remainder of his reign in building a magnificent trusting those who remained with him, he fled from city, designed to be the capital of his kingdom. This city to city, in the fond expectation of help from he called, after his own name, N~icomedia. At h;is I Rome. In this he was disappointed, and, at length, decease, Tibites, his youngest son, took possession of shut himself up in his capital of Nicomedia. The the throne; but his eldest son, Zela, who had been I armies of.Attalus and Nicomedes advanlced, and the Z- EUXIS-HIPPARtCHUS —XENOCRATES. 289 gates were immerdiately thrown open by the inhabit- of grapes, which the birds alo pecked at. Upon this ants. Prusias took shelter in the temple of Jupiter; he frankly owned his deficiency of skill; for had the but the sanctity of the place failed to afford him pro- boy been as well represented as the grapes, the birds tection, and he fell by the hand of his own son, would have been afraid to fly at them. Quintilian Nicomedes II., who immediately took possession of states that the ancient painters used to give their gods the throne, (149 B. C.) and heroes the same features and characters as they This monarch assumed the title of Epiphanes, or bore in the pictures of Zeuxis, on which account he Illustrious; but he performed nothing worthy of notice was called the Legislator. Festus relates that the last during the whole of his long reign. Nicomnedes III., painting executed by Zeuxis was the picture of an old his successor, invaded the territory of Mithridates, woman, which was so comical that the painter laughed king of Pontus, who not only repelled his attacks, but himself to death by looking at it. There is little probmarched into Bithynia, defeated the armies of Nico- ability in this story, yet it is not altogether without medes, and expelled him from the throne. By the example. aid of the Romans, however, he was restored; but, Hipparchus, the celebrated astronomer, was a native on his repeating his aggressions upon the dominions of Nice, in Bithynia, and flourished in the second cenof Mithridates, that monarch drove him a second tury before Christ. He enjoys the honor of being the timne from his kingdom, and forced him to seek shelter first person who, from vague and scattered observation, in Paphlagonia, where he led a private life till the reduced astronomy to a science, and prosecuted the invasion of the Romans under Sulla, who once more study of it systematically. Pliny classes him in the replaced him on the throne. He died not long after number of those men of sublime genius, who, by pre. his restoration, and left the kingdom to his son Nico- dieting the time of eclipses, taught mankind that they medes IV. This prince enjoyed a quiet reign, and ought not to be alarmed at the recurrence of such died without issue, (74 B. C.,) leaving his dominions phenomena. We have already spoken of the discovby will to the Roman republic. Bithynia thus be- eries of Hipparchus in our history of astronomy, in arne a Roman province. the introductory part of this work. He made his first observations in the Island of Rhodes; but he afterwards pursued his studies at Alexandria and in Bithynia. He wrote a commentary on the astronomical poem of Aratus, which is still extant. Many othex C H A P T E R C L I. works from his pen are lost. Hipparchus is also celFamnous Men of Bithynia - 7Zeuxis - ip- ebrated in history for his patriotism and public spirit, under the influence of which he is said to have been parchus - Xenocrates - Asclepiades - Ar- greatly instrumental in delivering his country from ian - Dioln Cacssizus. i tyranny. On this account, statues were erected to his ZEUXIS, the celebrated painter, was a native of Her- memory. aclea. There was a city in Bithynia of this name, as Xenocrates, the philosopher, was a native of Chalwell as another in Macedonia, and a third in Italy. cedon, in Bithynia, and was born in the fourth century From the fact that the great rival of Zeuxis was before the Christian era. He was a disciple of Plato, Parrhasius, of Asia Minor, we conclude that Zeuxis and maintained a very high reputation among the belonged to this country also. EIe was born bout 540 Athenians for his probity. Once, when he appeared B. C. He improved so far upon the lessons of his in court as a witness, and was about to take his oath, teacher, that the latter accused him of stealing his the judge declared that this was needless, for his word genius. His success in painting was so great that he was as good as his oath. It was impossible to seduce acquired universal reputation wherever that art was him from uprightness by the temptation of either appreciated. He obtained great wealth, of which he pleasure, riches, or praise. His disinterestedness was made an ostentatious show. He was fond of exhibit- put to the proof by Alexander the Great. The ambasing himself on public occasions, dressed in a robe of sadors of that prince, while at Athens on public business, purple, with his name embroidered upon it in letters offered Xenocrates a present fromrtheir master of fifty of gold. After he became rich, he gave away his thousand dollars. The philosopher invited them to works without taking any thing for them. The reason dinner. The fare was exceedingly plain and frugal. which he assigned for his liberality shows how high an The next day they requested to know into whose hands opinion he entertained of himself. "If I give my they should pay the money for him. "How! " replied works away for nothing, it is because they are above he; "did not my dinner yesterday inform you that 1 all price." In a competition with his rival, Parrhasius, have no occasion for money?" It is remarkable that for a prize, Zeuxis painted a bunch of grapes so a very similar story is related of Dr. Franklin. much to the life, that when it was publicly exhibited, One day, while Xenocrates was lecturing at Athens, the birds pecked at it. The painter, in a transport of a young debauchee, fresh from a bacchanalian riot, and joy at this proof of the fidelity of his representation, wearing a wreath on his head, thrust himself among called upon Parrhasius to produce what he had to the auditors for the purpose of ridiculing the philosorival his grapes. The latter obeyed, and showed a pher. All were filled with indignation at this insulting painting which seemed to be covered with a curtain. intrusion, except Xenocrates, who calmly changed his;' Draw the curtain," said Zeuxis, "and let us see the discourse to the subject of temperance and sobriety. picture." Parrhasius laughed, and replied, "The contrasting them with the oppositevices. His eloquence curtain is the picture!" Zeuxis confessed himself had such an effect, that the young libertine quickly vanquished; "for," said he, "I deceived only the became quiet; next he pulled the wreath from his birds, but Parrhasius has deceived me, who am a head; then he hid his face in his cloak; his thoughts painter, and familiar with counterfeits." Some time and inclinations were now completely changed; he after', Zeusis painted a young man carrying a basket was thoroughly cured of his bad passions by a single SYU~0~ ~GALATIA-CILIULA. discourse. An entire change of conduct ensued, and irresistible. They were regarded by their neighbors from a shameless debauchee he became a sober man, as a stupid and barbarous race, but they seem to have and devoted himself to the study and practice of phi- cultivated music and eloquence. They were accilosophy for the remainder of his life. tomed to indulge in bounteous feasting. Asclepiades, the physician, was a native of Bithynia. Christianity appears to have been established here He at first taught aloquence at Rome, about eighty at a very early period. The inhabitants spoke the years before the Christian era; but he soon quitted that Greek language in common with their neighbors. Yet profession for the practice of medicine. He obtained it seems they had not forgotten the original Gallic great fame by an accident. One day he met a funeral, tongue so late as the fourth century of the Christian and, on looking at the body about to be buried, fancied era; for St. Jerome informs us that their language was that he could discern signs of life. The funeral was the same with that of the Treviri, a people] in the deferred, and Asclepiades succeeded in restoring the northern part of European Gaul. The principal body to animation. This fortunate exploit brought towns of Galatia were Ancyra,Taurium, and Pessinus. him a great multitude of patients. He introduced an The capital was Ancyra, which, according to Pausanias entirechange in medical practice, disregarding in almost was founded by Midas, king of Phrygia, and named every thing the rules and principles of Hippocrates. from an anchor, which was discovered on the spot. Arrian was a native of Nicomedia, and flourished It was afterward greatly enlarged and adorned y in the second century. His learning and eloquence Augustus, who, on this account, may be regarded as raised him to high political dignities, and he was made the founder of the city. It is nowuri, or consul of Rome under the emperors. He was the Angora, andin its neighborhood was fought the famous disciple of Epictetus, the most famous philosopher of battle, in which Timour defeated and took prisoner that time. He wrote a philosophical work on the Bajazet, the Turkish sultan. Conversations of Epictetus, and many other treatises CILICIA was bounded north by Paphylia, Cappado of this sort. He is principally known as the historian cia, and Phrygia, east by Syria, south and west by the of Alexander's expedition. His style acquired him Mediterranean. It comprised two divisions, distinthe title of the "New Xenophon." His history is guished as the Mountainous and the Level. The lofty the more valuable, as the author was both a politician range of the Taurus lies on the north. In these and a military man. mountains is a narrow pass called the ilician Gates Dion Cassius was a native of Nice, and born toward through which the armies of Cyrus the younge the close of the second century. The Roman emper- and Alexander marched in their progress to the East ors had a high regard for him, and he was twice made A similar pass forms a communication with Syria, and consul. During a long residence at Rome, he had is called the Styrian Gates.:pportunities of collecting materials for history, and According to Josephus, this country was first peopled wrote a work in eighty books, comprehending all the by Tarshish, the son of Javan, an ftrwards suju. events from the arrival of?mneas in Italy to his own gated byv a colonyv of Phenicians undr a leder time. He followed Thucydides as a model, and imi- named Cilix. At a later period, otlhci colonies, from tated him with tolerable success. The greater part of Syria, Greece, and Asia Minor, mixed with the first the history of Dion Cassius is lost, settlers, and introduced the vurieicy of' languages for which Cilicia was distinguished. In soi-c parts, Greek _________________ was spoke-t; in others, the Syiian ionuie; but the predominant language was the Pcrsitin. Not much, however, is known of the history of' (~ilielii. Ancient C HA PT ER, C L IL writers represent the inhabitants ot this c )untry as a GALATIA AND CILICIA. - Oppian - Dios-corides rough, unpolished race, proverbial for treachery, vio- Arats - Chysipus lence, and cruelty. The names of several kings of Cilicia are mentioned in history; hut wve know little GALATIA, or GALLo-GrECIA, was bounded north by more of the country in early times than that it was Paphlagonia, east by Pontus and Cappadocia, south by subject to the Lydian and Persian monarchs, then to Phrygia, and west by Bithynia and Phrygia. Tphe pre- the Macedonians, and then to the Romans. The Cilicisc limits, however, cannot be fixed. According to Ptol- cians were most audacious pirates, and, in the latter emy, this country would include the whole of Phrygia days of the Roman republic, their corsairs were the and Paphlagonia. The name of Galatia was given to it terror of the Mediterranean. The Romans found it from the Gauls, or LKelts, who invaded Asia Minor from necessary to send a formidable fleet against them, Thrace, and settled in this country in the third century under the command of' Pompey, who effectually put a before the Christian era. T~hese Gauls, or Galatoe, stop to their depredations, captured the strongholds of were divided into three trihes, the Tectosagi, the the pirates, and- settled these marauders in diffierent Trocmi, and the Tolistoboges. Each of these tribes colonies, where they applied themselves to peaceful was divided into four cantons, governed by as many occupations. tetrarebs. There was a general council of the nation, Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia, was the birthplace of composed of three handred senators. The last te- the apostle Paul; and, at one time, its fame as a seal trarch and king of Galatia was Arnyntas, on the death of learning almost rivalled that of Athens and Alexanof whom the country becamie a Roman province. dnia. This city stood upon the River Cydnus, which FOUNDATION OF THE KINGDOM OF PONTUS. 291 and its accompaniments has afforded a theme for many of subjects, among which were treatises on grammar striking poetical descriptions. and on divination, and precepts for the education of Oppian, a poet and grammarian, was a native of children. He was made a freeman of Athens, where a Anazarba, in Cilicia, and flourished in the beginning statue was erected to his memory. of tile third century. He wrote poems on fishing, hunting, fowling, and other subjects. The two first are still extant. The emperor Caracalla was so well pleased with them, that he gave the author a piece of CHAPTER CLI1I. gold for every line, on which account they obtained the name of " Oppian's golden verses." These works 500 to 87 B. C. -are much esteemed, by modern critics, for the force c PONTUS.-Fooundation of the Kingdom of Pon aind elegance of their descriptions, and the ingenuity of their thoughts and similes. Oppian died of the plague, at the age of thirty. His townsmen honored TIrIs kingdom derived its name from the Pontus'tim with a statue. Euxinus, or Euxine Sea, which formed its northern Dioscorides, the fatmous physician and naturalist, boundary. The territory of Colchis lay on the east, was also a native of Anazarba. He lived in the first Armenia on the south, and the River Halys orn the or second century, and, in the early part of his life, west. The ancient geographers divided it into three was a soldier. Afterwards he studied botany, and parts; Pontus Galatius, so called because it was added travelled in Europe and Asia, to gain a knowledge of to Galatia in the time of the Romans; Pontus Pole. lants. He wrote a work on the materia medica, monaicus, so denominated from Polemon, one of its which, for many ages, maintained the highest authority, kings; and Pontus Cappadocius, which bordered on and has been copied by the ancient Greek physicians, Cappadocia. The Medes and Persians were the posthe Arabians, and the moderns, down to the revival sessors of this country in early times; under the lat. Of science. It has, however, all the rudeness and ter, it was erected into a kingdom, and the clown anaccuracy of the ancient scientific works, and is to- bestowed on Artabazes, one of the royal family of tally deficient in method. Persia, about 500 B. C. The first kings of Pontus Aratus, a poet and astronomer, was born either at were feudatories of the Persian empire. 3oli or Myleanus, in Cilicia, 278 B. C. He was the Alexander of Macedon seized this kingdom at his author of various works, chiefly poetical; but the only conquest of the Persian empire; but, under his suc-:ne now extant is an astronomical poem in Greek, cessors, it revolted, and became independent. Little entitled " Phcenomena."'n this poem, Aratus treats is known of the history of Pontus at this period, exof the nature and motions o.,the heavenly bodies, the cept that Cappadocia and Paphlagonia were comprised figures of the constellations, &c., and the fables con- in its government. Pharnaces, king of Pontus, whc nected with their names. When Cicero was a young reigned 182 B. C., invaded the territories of Eumenes. man, he translated this poem into Latin verse, and king of Pergamus, who was an ally of the Rormans. speaks in high commendation of the poetry, though This brought on a war with the latter people, in which he did not rank the author highly as an astronomer. Pharnaces obtained some advantages. At his death, Some critics are of opinion that Aradas transferred liithridates, his son and successor, entered into an into his poem the observations of various astronomers alliance with the Romans, and was denominated by 9f different countries, and, for want of sufficient skill them the " friend of Rome." After a long and prosin astronomy, confounded them. The poem, though perous reign, he was succeeded by his son Mithridcalittle read in modern times, had many admirers among tes II., 124 B. C. This prince was but eleven years the ancients. It has been copied by Virgil in his old when he assumed the regal authority. Yet, not Georgics. The apostle Paul was familiar with it, and withstanding his tender -age, he began his reign with quoted one of the lines in his address to the Athenians the most inhuman and ua.atural acts of cruelty, caus-" for we are also his offspring;" ascribing it to ing his motner to be thrown into prison, where she fell "certain of their own poets." a martyr to his ill treatment. His tutors, dreading Cllrysippus, a stoic philosopher of great eminence, the eflicts of so unruly a temper, caused him to ride was a Cilician. He was born at Soli, about 290 B. C. a wild, unmanageable horse, and contrived various Hlaving spent his patrimony, he went to study philoso- other schemes for his destruction. But he was so phy at Athens, where he became a disciple of Clean- completely on his guard against every species of thes, the successor of Zeno. He was indefatigably treachery, that they found it impossible to effect their:ndustrious, and wrote a great number of treatises on purpose. He devoted a great part of his time to the philosophy and logic. He had a peculiar talent for exercise of hunting, and often passed whole months disputation, and was accustomed to say to his precep- in the open fields, reposing amid the frozen snow, to for, " Give me doctrines, and I will find arguments." inure himself to hardship. He also fortified himself Such was his self-confidence, that, being once asked against poison, by swallowing powerful antidotes and by a person to recommend some one as a preceptor preservatives. One of the first attempts upon his life for his son, he replied, "' Myself; for, if I thought any was made by his wife, Laodice, who, being detected philosopher my superior, I would become his pupil." in criminal practices, endeavored to escape punishment He regarded the philosophical character as the most by poisoning her husband. But the poison failed to exalted among mankind, and would never pay court take effect, and she was put to death by Mithridates. to princes or persons of rank, by dedicating his writ- Shortly after this, Mithridates seized upon thie kingings to them. He engaged deeply in the disputes con- dom of Paphlagonia, and divided it with his ally, cerning mloral and physical evil, fate, free will, and Nicomedes, king of Bithynia. The Romans, having possibility, which have at all times so much perplexed previously declared Paphlagonia a fri'ee state, sent ammetaphysicians. He wrote books on a great variety bassadors to the invader, threatening htn with wal 292. PONTUS-ATROCITIES OF MITHRIDATES. unless he withdrew his army. But this had so little of Concord, where he cut off their hands, as they emeffect on Mithridates, that he marched immediately braced the sacred statues, and then literally chopped into Galatia, which was then under the Roman pro- them to pieces. Upwards of one hundred and fifty tection, and annexed it to his dominions. He then thousand Romans perished on that day, (87 B. C.,) marched against Cappadocia, and encountered Ariara- which Cicero justly calls a day of horror and conthes, the king of that country, at the head of his army. fusion. Mithridates invited him to a conference, and, in sight of both armies, stabbed him to the heart. The Cappadocians were so overwhelmed with terror and astonishment at this unexpected treachery, that they threw A P T E R C LV. down their arms, and submitted to Mithridates, who 87 to 63 B. C. seized on all their fortresses, and bestowed the crown W7ar of the.Romans against Mithridatesof Cappadocia upon his son, a child of eight years Defeat and Flight of the King - His extraold. The Romans sent large forces into Asia Minor, to resist the growing power of Mithridates, who had ordinary Adventnres. now strengthened himself by alliances with many of MITHRIDATES, being elated with the success of this the neighboring powers. Many battles were fought, diabolical scheme of revenge, imagined himself firml) and the Romans were completely overthrown. Mith- established in his dominion. Hlaving learned that there ridates overran Phrygia, Mysia, Caria, Lycia, and the was a great treasure in the Greek island of Cos, he adjacent countries, and ambassadors came to him from sent a force thither and seized it. This treasure be all parts, to gain his friendship. The Romans who fell longed to the queen of Egypt, and had been deposited into the hands of Mithridates were treated with great there for safe keeping, on the breaking out of a war. severity. Marius Aquilius, the legate of the republic, Besides the property of the queen, money, to the was carried about the,country, bourid to an ass. At amount of nearly a million of dollars, had been placed Pergamus, the king caused him to be publicly scourged, there at the same time by the Jews of Asia Minor. It and then to be stretched upon the rack. Lastly, he appears that, in ancient times, money was deposited in ordered melted gold to be poured down his throat, up- the temples for security, much in the same manner braiding him for his avarice, bribery, and corruption, that it is placed in banks at the present day, and that (88 B. C.) to rob a temple then was held as disgraceful as to The success which constantly attended the arms of plunder a bank in our own times. Mithridates induced the free cities of Asia Minor to The fugitive Romans, who had escaped the general submit voluntarily to his authority, and thus elude massacie, took refuge in the Island of Rhodes. Miththe severities which fell upon those who opposed his ridates embarked with a naval force to reduce this power. In this manner having greatly augmented his island; but the Rhodians defeated him, and sunk sevdominion, and amassed enormous treasures, he resolved eral of his ships. He then withdrew to Pergamus, to take a terrible vengeance on his enemies, the and despatched his lieutenant Archelaus into Greece, Romans. Great numbers of these people were scat- which country submitted at once to his arms. The tered over Asia Minor, and they had settled in multi- generals whom he sent into other quarters were equally tudes in the large cities of that country. Mithridates, successful, so that Mithridates soon became master not in pursuance of his diabolical plan, despatched letters only of Asia Minor, but of Greece, Macedon, and the privately to the governors and magistrates of all the neighboring islands as far as the Cyclades, with the chief towns in his newly-acquired provinces, ordering exception of the Island of Rhodes. them, on pain of the severest punishments, to massacre The progress of the conqueror Nwas, however, soon all the Romans in their territories, men, women, and checked by the Romans, who despatched S1lla with children, on a certain day, and to let their bodies remain an army into Greece. This general reduced Athens unburied in the fields. Half the goods of' the unhappy after a short siege, and then encountered the army of victims were assigned as a reward to their executioners. Archelaus, which he defeated with such slaughter that This cruel order being promulgated, the gates of one hundred and ten thousand men are said to have the several cities were shut at the appointed time, the fallen by the swords of the Romans. Many other king's orders were proclaimed, and a most horrid bloody battles were fought in this war; but at length slaughter ensued. At Ephesus, where Mithridates then Mithridates found his affairs declining to such an ex resided, the wretched Romans were dragged from the tent, that he was glad to purchase a peace by resign shelter of Diana's temple, and put to the sword with- ing all his conquests, and confining himself to the out mercy. At Pergamus, the inhabitants discharged original kingdom of Pontus. Thus ended (84 B. C.) showers of arrows upon them, as they clung for pro- a war of four years, in which Mithridates expended tection to the statues in the temple of JEsculapius. an enormous amount of blood and treasure in the hope At Adramyttium great numbers were murdered in the of acquiring the dominion of all Asia. water, while attempting to swim, with their children on No sooner, was Mithridates relieved from his pow. their backs, to the Island of Lesbos. The Caurians, erful enemies, the Romans, then he resolved to reduce whom the Romans had recently delivered from a those nations which had revolted from him during the foreign yoke, and reinstated in their ancient privileges, war. Accordingly, he led his army against the Col. excelled all the rest in cruelty. The Trallians alone chians, but on his nominating his son Mithridates for refused to imbrue their hands in the blood of their their king, they laid down their arms and submitted. unoffending guests; but as the king's orders were This circumstance suggested to the king a suspicion peremptory, and death was threatened to all who that his son's ambition had caused the revolt, in conhesitated to obey, they hired a Paphlagonian to mas- sequence of which he immediately caused him to be sacre the few Romans who resided among them. bound with golden fetters, and afterwards sentenced Titis inhuman wretch shut them all up in the temple him to death. REVERSES OF MITHRIDATES. 293 Mithridates, having acquired confidence by new suc- also taken and set on fire; but Lucullus repaired the cesses, and learning that Sulla was dead, resolved to damages of the city, and permitted the inhabitants to attempt the recovery of those territories which the enjoy their houses and lands without further molesRomans had compelled him to relinquish. Accord- tation. ingly, he invaded Paphlagonia, Bithynia, and the adja- The whole kingdom of Pontus being thus reduced cent regions, and collected a fleet of above four hun- by the Romans, Lucullus demanded of Tigranes that dred ships. The Romans sent an army under.Cotta he should deliver up Mithridates, threatening him wiih to check his operations. This general took possession war in case of refusal. This demand was unsuccessof Chalcedon on the Bosphorus. Mithridates sent his ful, and a battle soon took place between the Romans admiral to sail into the harbor of this city and destroy and Armenians, in which the latter were defeated with the Roman fleet. This was done with a great loss on'considerable loss; but, Mithridates advancing to their the part of the Romans, whose dead bodies covered assistance, a fresh army was raised, and several imthe sea and the shore for miles. Elated by these suc- portant towns in Pontus were taken by the allied Ikings cesses, Mithridates hastened to form the siege of Cyzi- In one battle seven thousand of the Romans were cus; but.Lucullus, who, commanding the Romans in killed, and the remainder of their army compelled to that quarter, harassed his troops with such vigorous save themselves by flight. Mithridates received a and unexpected attacks, that he was compelled to retire dangerous wound in the thigh, from a Roman centuwith a heavy loss. Lucullus followed up his success, rion, during this battle. After the war had been proand gained a victory over the fleet of Mithridates at tracted for some time, Lucullus was recalled by the Lemnos. He then directed his course to Bithynia and senate, and the command of the Roman army was Paphlagonia, which submitted to him without resist- intrusted to Pompey. This general (67 B. C.) sent. ance. He next invaded the kingdom of Pontus, where proposals of peace to Mithridates, who appeared willMithridates had no army to oppose his victorious march. ing to'treat; but on Pompey's requiring him to lay Luctillus here gave his army a season of refreshment. down his arms, and deliver up all who had revolted Most of the towns submitted to the Roman arms; but from the Romans during the war, he rejected the Amisus, a well garrisoned and strongly fortified city, terms. To this measure he was compelled by the shut its gates,: and was immediately besieged by great number of desertions in his army. Lucullus. Pompey then advanced with a strong force into During the siege, a report reached the latter, that Pontus, but not being able to provoke Mithridates to a Mithridates was advancing with forty thousand men to battle, he directed his course to Armenia, with a design the city of Cabira. He immediately took up his either to reduce that kingdom, or compel the king to march with the bulk of his army in that direction, fight for its relief. Mithridates, divining his purpose, leaving two legions to continue the blockade of Ami- followed him at some distance, and encamped on a sus. A battle ensued, in which Mithridates proved hill in Armenia, opposite to the Roman encampment. victorious, and the Romans were compelled to retire Here he reduced them to great extremities by cutting to the mountains with considerable loss. The next off their supplies, and harassing them with frequent action, however, resulted favorably for the Romans, skirmishes. Pompey at length found means to surand the king hearing that two of his generals were round Mithridates, and the king was compelled to defeated on the frontier of Cappadocia, resolved to break through the Roman lines, under cover of the break up his camp, and retire before Lucullus should night, and retreat with all expedition.,receive a reenforcement. This design was no sooner As the Pontic army pursued their march, and about imparted to the Pontic nobles, than they began pri- the dusk of the next evening entered a narrow valley, vately to send away their most valuable effects. The environed by steep hills, they were unexpectedly soldiers, discovering this, plundered the baggage, startled by the sound of the Roman trumpets, and by and put the escort to the sword. On this occasion, showers of stones and arrows which were discharged Hermeias, a noted soothsayer, was trodden to death, upon them from the hill tops. The greatest confusion and Dorylaus, one of the generals of Mithridates, was ensued, for they were alike incapable of flight or rekilled for the sake of a purple garment which he wore. sistance amid the darkness which soon enveloped them. Being deserted by his army, Mithridates retired with When the moon rose, and showed them the enemy a small retinue te the court of Tigranes, king of in every quarter, a general engagement took place. Armenia. In h;s flight, he was closely pursued, and The troops of Mithridates fought with great valor and at length overtaken, by a band of Galatians: he was resolution; but the Romans rushed with such impetuupon the point of being made a prisoner, but, having osity from the eminences, and the spot was so unfacraftily exposed to their sight one of his mules loaded vorable for resistance, that the whole army was cut to with money, they immediately fell to plundering it, pieces, and the king himself escaped with great diffiand the king escaped while they were quarrelling over culty, by breaking through the Roman ranks at the the spoil. In the mean time, he had despatched a head of a body of cavalry. These horsemen soon person to his capital of Pharnacia, who by his orders abandoned him to his fate, and he travelled all night put to death his wives, sisters, and all his women, with no other attendants than his wife, daughter, and to prevent their falling into the hands of the Ro- a single officer. At daybreak, he fell in with a sinall mans. Lucullus, finding that Mithridates had escaped body of his own forces, who escorted him to a strong him, led his army against Cabira, which soon sur- castle on the frontiers, fiom which lie directed his rendered: this example was followed by most of course for Colchis. This country, hlowever, did not the strong places in Pontus, the governors flocking afford him a safe asylum, and he was compelled again from all parts to make their peace with the conqueror. to take flight, and secure himself from pursuit in the Heraclea made an obstinate resistance, but was at barren wilds of Scythia. length reduced by treachery, given up to plunder, and The Romans pursued MIithridates in his flight, then set on fire and reduced to ashes. Amisus was turning their arms against the barbarous tribes in the 294 DEAtlH OF MITHRIDATES, HIs WIVES AND DAUGHTERS. neighborhood of the Caucasus, whom they subjugated safe conduct for himself and his friends; but this was with little opposition. All the fortresses and cities in refused. He next endeavored to excite the compasPontus were compelled to submit to them, and Pompey sion of his son, by mounting the wall of the city, and became master of an immense treasure in gold, silver, addressing him as a father, and representing the disand other valuables. He also obtained possession of tress to which he was reduced by a son whom he had the manuscripts of Mithridates, from which he obtained ever preferred before all his other children. This paa complete knowledge of the power, wealth, and thetic appeal being entirely disregarded, the wretched resources of his dominions. Having completed the monarch raised his eyes to heaven, and, in an agony conquest of this kingdom, he marched into Syria, with of tears, besought the gods that his unfeeling son a design to establish the Roman authority in that might live to know the pangs that must rend a parent's country, and penetrate through Arabia, as far as the heart on seeing his warmest affection requited with Red Sea. But he was suddenly recalled from this base ingratitude. He then thanked those around him expedition by an unexpected turn of affairs. who had remained faithful to the last, and advised Mithridates had hitherto concealed himself in a them to provide for their own safety by timely subremote part of Scythia; but immediately on the de- mission. For his own part, he solemnly declared he parture of Pompey for the south, he resolved to strike would never survive the rebellion of a son who had another blow for the recovery of his kingdom. He taken up arms against so indulgent a father. left his hiding-place, and suddenly reappeared in Pon- He then withdrew into the apartment of his women, tus, where he soon found means to gather a strong where he administered poison to his wives and daugh. body of' adherents. He then issued a summons for ters, and swallowed a powerful draught himself. The all his subjects, capable of bearing arms, to meet him females died immediately; but Mithridates, as we are at a certain place. They assembled in great numbers, told by historians, had so fortified his system by the and the king was enabled to recover possession of sev- constant use of antidotes, that the poison was without eral strong towns and fortresses. The disaffection, effect upon him, and he was compelled to fall upon however, of one of his officers caused him a serious his sword. Even this, however, did not sufficiently calamity. Four of the sons of Mithridates were made hasten his end; for the rebels, having stormed the city, prisoners in a sedition which was raised by this person. and broken into the royal residence, found the king The king sent his daughters to Scythia for safety, but weltering in his blood, but still retaining possession of they were waylaid and captured by the insurgents, his senses. Pharnaces, hearing of his father's deplore and these children of Mithridates were given up by ble situation, sent a surgeon to dress his wound, hopirng them to the Romans. to ingratiate himself with Pompey by delivering him In this emergency, Mithridates determined to apply up to the Romans. In this, however, he was disapfor succor to the European Gauls, who were then at pointed. A Gaul who served in the king's army, hap. war with the Romans. Accordingly le began his pening to enter his apartment, was struck with inde. march toward the west, designing to cross the Bos- scribable awe at such a spectacle of fallen majesty phorus, and pass round the northern shore of. the and seeing him struggling with the pangs of death, he Euxine Sea, through Dacia to Pannonia, form a junc- drew his sword and put an end to his agonies. Thus tion with the Gallic armies, and invade Italy from the perished (63 B. C.) Mithridates the great, king of' north. This desperate and romantic scheme being Pontus, after he had swayed the sceptre of that kingmade public in the army, the soldiers were struck with dom for sixty years, and maintained a contest with apprehension, and showed symptoms of a mutinous Rome for twenty-seven years, when that republic was disposition; the generals also attemlpted to dissuade at the very height of its martial power. His talentthe king fiom the prosecution of so hopeless an enter- were such as might have placed him on a level with prise. But the severity which he exercised toward the ablest and best of princes, had he not sullied and these friendly advisers silenced all remonstrance, and perverted them by his vices. Enterprising and ambithe army proceeded on its march till it reached the city tious, with great strength of mind and versatile capaof Panticapamum, in the Tauric Chersonesus, now called city, quick to discern advantages, unscrupulous as te X the Crinmea. While they lay encamped at this place, means, utterly regardless of human life and suffering, Pharnaces, the favorite son of Mithridates, raised a and therefore, at times, barbarously cruel, —his greatpowerful faction among the soldiers, by declaiming ness was that of an Asiatic, and his character wili find against the expedition to Italy, and offerinig to lead them many a parallel, though not many an equal, in Orien back into Pontus. This had so decisive an effect, that tal history. He subdued twenty-two nations, eaca' the soldiers encouraged him to assume the supreme speaking a different language, and could converse w\itl' authority, and at length openly proclaimed him king. all in their native tongues.* He was also an accomplished writer, and wrote, among other things, a learned treatise on botany, in Greek. C H A P T E R C L V. Pharnaces caused the body of his father to be em63 B. C. to A. D. 1453. balmed, that he might present it to Pompey, who had now abandoned all thoughts of his Arabian expedition, Death of iit/hrlidaes - End of the Kingdon and was retracing his steps to Pontus. When he of Pontus. heard of the death of Mithridates, he was thrown into MITHRIDATES was taken by surprise on the explosion a transport of joy, and was so impatient to communiof this rebellion. He mounted his horse, and rode cate the news to his army, that he would not wait among the ranks of the soldiery, attempting to appease till a mound of turf could be raised, according to the the tumult. But all was in vain; his attendants joined custom of the camp; but, having ordered his attendants the rebels, and his horse being killed under him,he * NI. Adelung, a learned German, wilo published a book was comlpelled to save himself by a flight backto the upon all the known languages of the world, gave it the title city. HIe then despatched mnessengers, soliciting a of Mithridates, in allusion to this monarch. - _ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ __ __ __ __ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _- - _- - _ _-, END OF THE PONTIC KINGDOM-TRAPEZAS, &c.-STRABO.!..-95') make a pile of saddles, he ascended that, and an- the Ottoman arms -a short time after the capture of riounced that the powerful enemy of the Romans was Constantinople by Mahomet II., in 1453. Since this no more, and that his son Pharnaces was willing to period, the country has continued to form a part of the receive the kingdom of' Pontus as a gift of the Roman Turkish empire. people, or to resign it if they deemed him unworthy of Trapezus, now Trebizond, - already noticed in the the crown. These unexpected tidings were received history of Xenophon's celebrated retreat with the ten with unbounded acclamations, and the day was sol- thousand Greeks, —was one of the chief cities of ernnizecd with feasts and sacrifices, as if in the person Pontus, and stood on the Euxine, and received its of Mithridatcs all the enemies of Rome had perished. name from the Greek word trapeze, a table, in conso( On the reception of the news at Rome, the senate de- quence of the square form in which it was laid out. II creed a thanksgiving of twelve days, and bestowed the was founded by a colony from Sinope. It is celebrated highest honors on Pompey. for the hospitable reception which the inhabitants gave The crown of Pontus was bestowed upon Pharnaces to the ten thousand Greeks on their retreat from Persia, with the title of " Ally of the Romans." He ordered this being the first Greek city which they reached aftei the commanders of all the garrisons in the kingdom the battle of Cunaxa. At a later period, it fell into the to surrender their castles and treasures to Pompey, who hands of the Romans, and was improved and embelthus acquired immense wealth. In the city of Talaura, lished by the emperor Adrian. It was taken from the which Mithridates was accustomed to call his " ward- Romans by the Scythians or Tartars, in the reign of robe," he found two thousand cups of onyx, set in Valerian; but the Greek emperors expelled them. A gold, with such a profusion of gold and silver vessels, separate dynasty of the Byzantine empire was estab and other articles enriched with precious stones, that lished here by Alexius Comnenus in 1204, and lastee the Roman commissaries were occupied for thirty more than two centuries and a half. This was overdays in mnaking an inventory. In one of the castles, thrown, and the city captured, by the Turkish sultan among the mountains, they found a statue of Mithri- Mahomet II., in 1462. Trebizond is now a Turkish dates of massy gold, with his throne and sceptre; and city, and has considerable trade. in another castle were found the statues of Mars, Cerasus, or more properly Kerasus, another seaApollo, and Minerva, of pure gold, with a pair of port of Pontus, was also a Sinopean colony. Xenogaming tables formed of two precious stones, four phon and his ten thousand Greeks halted here on their feet long and three broad, on which stood a moon of march homeward. This place is remarkable as being gold weighing thirty pounds, and nine salvers of massy the spot where the Romans first saw the cherry-tree. gold, enriched with jewels of inestimable value! Some Pliny informs us that Lucullus transported it to Rome of' these treasures had been inherited by Mithridates from Cerasus about seventy years before the Christian from his ancestors; some had formed a part of the era. The name which the cherry bears in all the Ianqueen of Egypt's effects p!llndered at Cos; but the guages of Western Europe, is derived from this place. greater portion had been amn.ssed by the king himself, It is now called Cersonte. The hills in the neighborwho was particularly fond of sumptuous furniture. hood are covered with forests, among which the cherryPharnaces proved himself an unfaithful ally to the tree grows wild. Romans; for no sooner had Pompey withdrawn his Themiscyra was a city of very early origin. In army, than the king suddenly attacked and subjugated the plains adjacent, the Amazons are said to have the Phanagorenses, a people on the Cimmerian Bos- founded a powerful kingdom. Here, according to an phorus, who had been declared free by the conqueror. antique legend, they were encountered by Hercules. When the civil wars broke out, he attempted to profit and many of them slain. The followers of the hero, by the distracted state of the republic, by encroaching on their departure homeward, took on board their on the territories of his neighbors. Julius Cmesar ships as many of the Amazons as they could find alive; marched against him, defeated his armies, and com- but these prisoners, when at sea, rose upon their maspelled him to fly for his life. Shortly afterward Phar- ters, and slew them to a man. According to the same naces was killed in an attempt to recover the kingdom story, the Amazons, being ignorant of navigation, of Bosphorus, which had been. bestowed by Caesar were driven by the winds and waves to Crenlni, on upon Jlithridates Pergameneus. The kingdom of the Palus Mmieotis. Their name still lingered in fable Pontus was then made a province of Rome, and re- for many ages, in connection with the regions of the mained thus till the period of the second triumvirate, Caucasus. when Mark Antony gave the crown to Darius, the son Strabo, the celebrated geograph{er, was a native of of Pharnaces, as a reward for his services during the Amasia, in Pontus. The time of his birth is uncertain, civil war. This prince appears to have lived on the but he lived in the first century before Christ. He most amricable terms with the Romans. To Darius sue- received a liberal education, and was sent to all the ceeded Polenmto, the son of a rhetorician of Laodicea. various schools of philosophy in Asia Minor. He was His successor, Polemonz II., dying without issue, the a great traveller —his journeys extending from Arkingdom of Pontus was dismembered, and never after- menia in the East to Italy in the west, and from the ward reassumed its ancient dignity and title. It fol- Euxine in the north to the frontiers of Ethiopia in the lowed the fortunes of the Roman and Byzantine south. In his advanced age, he wrote his Geograempires, till the time of the emperor Alexius Corn- phy, in seventeen books, which is justly regarded as nenus, in the eleventh century. This monarch one of the most valuable relies of antiquity. As he erected a new empire in Asia Minor, which included was a man of cultivated mind, he has interspersed a great part of ancient Pontus, and was called the it with many philosophical remarks and short narra3rEmpire of Trebizond. This kingdom flourished for tions, relative to history and antiquities, which greatix about two centuries and a half, when it sunk before augment the value of the work. 296 CArPADOu IA. did not, however, long enjoy the fruit of his crime; fbr C HI A P T E R C L V I. the people, unable to bear the excessive tyranny of the B. C. 700 to A. D. 15. governors which he placed over them, shook off this C APPADOCIA..- The ancienkt Ca~alocians - dishonorable yoke, and recalled the king's brother, Cl -Theappadocians who had fled into a distant exile. The Dyrnasty of Ariarathes - End of the The intrigues of Mithridates kept this kingdom in Kintgdomn -Story of Apollonius. perpetual troubles till the Romans interfered. Under CAPPADOCIA is the largest of all the divisions of their protection, Cappadocia continued to enjoy her Asia Minor; and at one time, in conjunction with Pon- own sovereigns, though harassed with wars and revotus and Armenia Minor, it constituted an important lutions. Archelaus, the last king, took sides with Mark kingdom. Cappadocia Proper was bounded north by Antony in the quarrel between him and Octavius. He Pontus, east by Armenia, south by Syria and Cilicia, was on the point of being deprived of his crown after and w st by Phrygia. It was noted for the abundance the triumph of the latter, but, upon the intercession of of its minerals, and its fine breed of horses. The in- his people he was pardoned. On the accession of habitants seem to have been in very bad odor with their Tiberius to the empire, Archelaus was summoned to neighbors; and many proverbial sayings have been Rome, to answer to certain grave charges made recorded which testify to the dislike with which Cap- against him by the emperor, who was his implacable padocians were regarded. The inhabitants adjoining enemy. Here he fell a victim to grief and mortification, Pontus and Galatia were called White Syrians, be- and Cappadocia was made a Roman province, (16 Bl. C.) cause they resembled the Syrians, with a somewhat Apollonius, a Pythagorean philosopher, was born al lighter complexion, and spoke their language. Tyana, a city of Cappadocia, about the beginning of The Lydian and Persian power successively pre- the Christian era. His father, who was a wealthy citivailed over this country. With the Macedonian con- zen of that place, sent him, at fourteen'years of ages, quest, it became a kingdom, under a prince named to Tarsus, to be instructed in grammar and rhetoric by Ariarathes; but little of this portion of its history is Euthydemus, a Phoenician; but he soon became dis. recorded. Ariarathes VI. entered into connection satisfied with the luxury and indolence of the people with Rome, by which he preserved his dominion from of this place, and obtained permission to remove with conquest. Having refused to marry a princess of his preceptor to Atgae, a city not far from Tarsus, Syria, he was attacked by Demetrius Soter, the king which afforded many advantages for education, parof that country, at the head of a formidable army, and ticularly for the study of philosophy. Here he concompelled to abandon his kingdom, (160 B. C.) By the versed with the learned of various sects. He became assistance, however, of Attalus, king of Pergamus, he strongly inclined to the doctrines of Pythagoras, and was enabled to expel the invader, and recover his do- entered upon the rigorous discipline of the followers minions. After being engaged in various petty wars, of that philosopher. In the city of AEgme was a tenlhe was killed in the campaign against Aristonicus of Per- ple consecrated to the god AEsculapius, which had its gamus, in which the Roman consul Crassus lost his life. regular establishment of priests and ceremonies, and He left six sons by his queen Laodice. This unnat- which was famous through all the country for miracuural mother, wishing to reign in her own person, poi- lous cures. The priests even found means to pert' soned five of her children, and attempted the life of suade their credulous votaries that the god himself the sixth; but he escaped. The Cappadocians, filled sometimes condescended to become visible to mortals with indignation at this foul deed, rose in insurrection, In this temple the young Apollonius took up his resi and put the queen to death. dence. In conformity to the institution of Pythagoras The surviving son ascended the throne under the name he refrained from animal- food, and lived entirely upon of Ariarathes VII., (129 B.C.) He espoused Laodice, roots and herbs. Wine he refused, as an enemy to the daughter of Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus, in mental tranquillity. He wore linen garments, and used hope of forming an alliance with that monarch against::o article of dress which was made of animal sub. his rival, Nicomedes, the king of Bithynia. But Mith- stance. He went barefooted, and suffered his hair to ridates, regardless alike of the ties of friendship and grow to its utmost length. The priests of the temple of affinity, caused his son-in-law to be poisoned, and discovered uncommon talents in him, and a disposition then seized the crown, under pretence of defending worthy of cultivation in their school. Those whe the Cappadocians against Nicomedes till the children maintain that Apollonius was an impostor, suppose hirr of Ariarathes should be in a condition to assume the to have been initiated by these priests into all the mys reins of government. This artifice was successful, teries of their deceitful calling. It is said that /Escu and the Cappadocians expressed their thanks to the lapius himself delighted to have Apolonius a witness king of Pontus for his friendly interference. But of his cures; but we do not find that, during his resiwhen he refused to give up the government to the dence at EAgEg, he attempted anything miraculous; he lawful heir, they rose in arms, expelled all his garri- only employed the authority of _Esculapius in enforcing sons, and placed on the throne Ariarathes VIII., the his moral lessons. Upon the death of his father, he eldest son of the deceased monarch, (91 B. C.) visited Tyana in order to bury him. In dividing with The young king soon found himself engaged in a his brother the patrimonial estate, he took only a smal' war with Bithynia. Mithridates took this occasion to portion for himself. Returning to zEgge, where he had offer his services to the Cappadocians. The offer be- acquired a high reputation, he built a temple and estab. ing accepted, Mithridates drew the king into a confer- lished a school of philosophy. ence, and assassinated him in the sight of his own In order to qualify himself completely for the office army. The Cappadocians were struck with such dis- of preceptor in the Pythagorean doctrine, he deter may at the boldness of this atrocity, that they imme- mined to pass through the long probationary disclpliltdiately dispersed in the greatest disorder, and allowed of five years' silence. During this novitiate, lie v-isitec' he murderer to gain possession of the kingdom. He various cities of Pamphylia and Cilicia, without speak ACCOUNT OF APOLLONIUS. 297 tng a word, yet by his looks and gestures conveying Pergamus and the site of ancient Troy, and passed a to the people instruction and admonition. At As- night alone at the tomb of Achilles. He afterwards penda, he quelled a riot occasioned by the speculators informed his companions that, by the power of an inin corn, who had bought up all that commodity in the cantation which he had learned in India, he raised that market. He merely wrote these words: "The earth, hero from the dead, and held a conversation with him. the common mother of all, is just; but ye, being un- He then visited Greece. Happening to arrive al just, would make her a bountiful mother to you alone. Athens when the sacred mysteries were performing, Desist from your iniquitious proceedings, or you shall he presented himself for initiation; but the priest reno longer be permitted to live." The terrified corn- fused him, on the plea that he was an enchanter. A dealers opened their stores, and the people were re- few years afterwards, however, he was admitted. l-e lieved. discourlsed to the Athenians on sacrifices and prayers, When the term of his silence was accomplished, and reproved them for their effeminate manners. H-le Apollonius visited Antioch, Ephesus, and other cities, also visited many other cities of Greece, addressing avoiding the society of the rude and disorderly, and the people with great eloquence, to excite them to associating chiefly with the priests. He gave instruc- reformation of manners; he pretended also to predicl tions to his disciples, and held public assemb'ies, in future events and to perform miracles. At Athens. which he addressed the multitude, reproving them *for he is said to have cast out a demon, who, at his detheir vices. He then resolved to travel by the way parture, threw down a statue; at the Isthmus of the of Babylon to India, that he might converse with the Peloponnesus, he predicted the attempt of Nero to Brahmins. He communicated his purpose to his dis- cut a passage through that neck of land; in the ciples, who were seven in number, but they refused to Island of Crete, during an earthquake, it is said he accompany him; upon which he bade them farewell, cried out, "The sea is bringing forth land!" wl:en, at saying, "Since ye are too effeminate for this under- that instant, an island was seen rising out of tt:e sea taking, stay behind and study philosophy; I go where between Crete and Thera. wisdom and the gods conduct." He left Antioch with From Crete, Apollonius went to Rome, where Nero only two servants, and proceed(ed to Nineveh. Here had just issued an edict banishing from the city all he took as an associate Damis, an inhabitant of that who practised magic. Apollonius knew he should be city. This Assyrian honored him as a divinity, and comprehended in this description, yet he was not to believed that he understood all languages, even those be deterred from his purpose. Under the protection of beasts. Damis kept a journal of his travels, fiom of the sacred habit, he gained admission into the city which a life of Apollonius was afterwards written. with eight of his companions, who alone, out of thirtyOn his way to Babylon, seeing a lioness, with eight four that had accompanied him to Italy, had the courwhelps, killed by huntsmen, he predicted, as we are age to remain with him. After a short stay, in which told, that the time of his stay with the king of Babylon he increased his reputation by the pretended miracle of would be a yea: and eight months. In that city he raising a young woman to life, he left Rome, and conversed with the Magi, and, on entering the king's travelled in Spain, where he continued till the death palace, he showed his contempt of worldly grandeur, of Nero. He then passed through Italy and Greece by conversing with Damis as if he were travelling on to Egypt, where Vespasian was endeavoring to estaba common road, without casting his eyes on the mag- lish his power. That prince knew the value of such nificent objects around him. The king wi.s so well an auxiliary as Apollonius, and attached him to his pleased with his guest, that he gave him permission to interests by consulting him as a sort of divine oracle. make twelve requests. T'he philosopher, vwanting In return, the philosopher employed his influence nothing for himself but bread and fruit, only solicited among the people in favor of Vespasian. Ile indulged that a certain people whom he had visited on his jour- his curiosity by taking a journey into Ethiopia, where hey, might enjoy their territory secure from depreda- he met with many adventures. On his return, he was S;on. Having given the king many good lessons of favorably received by Vespasian's successor, Titus,. ustice, moderation, and prudence, he took leave of who consulted him on matters of government. To; iBabylon, furnished with camels and provision for his this empe:or he wrote the following laconic epistle: journey over the mountains on the north of Hindostan. a" Apollonius to Titus, emperor of the Romans, sendeth, On his arrival in that country, the philosopher made vari- greeting. Since you refuse to be applauded fori ous observations on the new plants and animals which bloodshed and victory in war, I send you the crown. were every where to be seen. At the city of Taxila, of moderation. You know for what kind cf merit the residence of the monarch, who is called by the crowns are due." Greek narrator the king of India, he was received. When Domrnitian became emperor, Apollonius oi1,1 with great honor, and spent three days in company part in a conspiracy against that tyrant, and in favor with the king, who listened attentively to his philo- of Nerva. The plot being discovered, an order was sophical discourses, and dismissed him with presents issued for arresting Apollonius and sending him prisand a letter of recommendation to the chief of the oner to Rome. He repaired thither of his own accord, ltindoo philosophers, or Gymnosophists, residing be- was brought to trial, and acquitted. He then returned tween the Hyphasis and the Ganges. to Greece, and finally settled at Ephesus, where he Apol!onius passed four months with these Hindoo established a Pythagorean school, and had many dis, sages, and then returned to his own country by the ciples. When Domitian was assassinated at Rome, way of Babylon. Such was the fame which he had Apollonius was in the midst of a public discourse. at now acquired, that, when he entered Ephesus, the Ephesus. He made a sudden pause, and exclaimedI people abandoned their work and ran after him in the " Well (lone, Stephen! take courage! kill the tyrant!"'~ streets. He is said to have foretold to the Ephesians Then, after a short interval, he cried,' Thhe tyrant is. an approaching pestilence, and to have predicted dead! he is killed this very hour! " Stephen was the. e'arthquakes, which soon after happened, He visited name of the person who put )omitian to death, and' ____________- ________S_________________________ 2~.98 PHRYGIA-ITS ORiGIN —REI IGION. his story is explained by the supposition that Apollo- Caria. It was sometimes described as divided into lius was privy to the plot by which he was cut off. Greater and Lesser Phrygia, the former including a After this, we hear nothing of Apollonius, except part of Galatia and the latter a part of Mysia. The that the emperor Nerva wrote to him soliciting the aid country was celebrated in ancient times for its fertility; of his counsels, and that he returned the following it bears mariks of volcanic action, and has often been enigmatical answer: "0 emperor! we shall live desolated by earthquakes. together during a very long period, in which we shall The Phrygians believed themselves the most ancient have no authority over others, nor shall others have people in the world; but their origin is uncertain. any authority over us." This probably intimated his They are supposed to have been descended from expectation that they would soon live together in an- Gomer, the son of Japhet. Their character in ancient other world. He died, as is supposed, at Ephesus, history is that of a superstitious, voluptuous, and e'about A. D. 80. feminate people, so servile and brutish that nothing The sources of our information concerning this but stripes and compulsion could make them perform extraordinary man are not very reliable. Philostratus, their duty. Their customs were of a nature to enera sophist of Rome, wrote a biography of him at the vate the mind; various kinds of divination, by the request of the empress Julia, wife of Severus, who singing, flying, and feeding of birds, are ascribed tn began his reign A. D. 194., This work was compiled their invention. from the journal of Damis, before mentioned, as well The religion of the ancient Phrygians was substanas other writings and traditions. It abounds with mar- tially the same with that which prevailed in Greece. vellous tales of giants, pygmies, griffins, phoenixes, Among their deities was one distinct from the Greek dragons, satyrs, and apparitions, which very much mythology. The Phrygians are said to have worweaken the credit of the work. Yet there is sufficient shipped Apollo under the appellation of Smirntheus — testimony that Apollonius was a most remarkable man. a word signifying, in their language, a field-mouse. Ite appears to have travelled through almost every This worship was founded on a tradition that, in an. part of the civilized world, exhibiting in his own char- cient times, the mice committed such devastation in acter a seeming example of strict morality, teaching les- their fields, that the people thought it necessary to soilns of moral wisdom and doctrines of speculative phi- consult the oracle of Delphi for instructions how to losophy, while he sought to gain influence with the people provide against such a calamity. The oracle answered by pretending to supernatural powers. It may not be that, by offering sacrifices to the Sminthean Apollo easy to separate the impostures of Apollonius from the they might be delivered from the ravages of these fictions of his biographers, but there is little room for animals. But another tradition gives a different acdoubt that, after the example of his master, Pythagoras, count of the origin of this worship. It is said that, in he practised the arts of delusion, and that, though with a war with one of the neighboring nations, while they wise men he was a philosopher, among the vulgar he were upon the eve of a battle, a swarm of mice enwas regarded as a magician. His story, at all events, tered the camp of the enemies of the Phrygians, and affords much insight into the manners, customs, and gnawed their bowstrings in such a manner as to make opinions of the age in which he lived, them useless; in consequence of which the Phrygians The great celebrity of Apollonius appears from gained a complete victory, the next day, without fightnumerous attestations. In his lifetime, he was called ing. This is much the more probable story. a god, and accepted the appellation, saying that every The chief deity of the ancient Phrygians was good man is honored with it. After his death, he long Cybele, who seems to have been a personification of continued to be ranked among the divinities. The the prolific powers of the earth. The priests of this inhabitants of Tyana dedicated a temple to his name. goddess were named corybantes: they were celebrate: The Ephesians consecrated a statue to him in com- for their frantic dances, in which they cut and beat me-noration of his having delivered them from the themselves. The national worship of the Phrygians plague.'The emperor Severus kept in his domestic was very widely diffused throughout Europe and Asia temple the image of Apollonius, with those of Abraham, in ancient times, showing that they must have been at Orpheus, and Christ. Aurelian, on his march to Pal- one period a very powerful people. The investigations;myra, refrained from sacking Tyana out of reverence of modern travellers have brought to light new proofs to his memory. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus of their greatness, in the tombs and temples which are:ranks this philosopher among those eminent men who found in this country excavated in solid rocks. The,have been assisted by the supernatural aid of a demon Phrygians were famous for being addicted to dancing. Dr genius. Of the writings of Apollonius none remain In music they excelled all the neighboring nations, except his Apology to Domitian, and eighty-four epis- and their females were renowned for their skill in.les, chiefly philosophical. needle-work. The ancient Phrygian bonnet was the same covering now known as the " cap of liberty." The earliest government of the Phrygians seems to have been monarchical. The first king whose name C H A P T E R C L V I I. is recorded is Ninnacus, or Annacus, who is said to 2000 to 1000 B. C. have lived before the deluge of Deucalion, 1503 B. C. tPIHRYGA. -- T-e Aiicienl Phra*. BNin Pa- But the accounts of these times are chiefly fabulous. Every thing ancient or of uncertain date was referred cus Tanta lus CGordiu s. by the Greeks to the times of i)eucalion. The legends PuRYGIA was one of the largest divisions of Asia of Ninnacus, however, may be given as illustrative of RIinor, and occupied the centre of that country. It the ideas of this early period. After he had lived three was bounded on the north by Bithynia and Galatia, on hundred years, we are told that he sent to inquire of all the east by Cappadocia, on the south by Cilicia, Psidia, the oracles how much longer his life would last. They and Pamphylia, and on the west by Mysia, Iydia, and unanimously replied that when he died all things shoul(. GORDIUS-MIDAS. 299) p)erlsh. On receiving this intelligence, he immediately monarch. The people accordingly all ran to the repaired to the chief temple, attended by a great mul- temple of Jupiter, where Gordius presently made his t.itude of people, who uttered the most lamentable cries appearance, driving his cart. The multitude immeand groans to obtain a reversal of the divine decree. diately saluted him as their sovereign, and he was From this circumstance originated, as it is said, the crowned king of Phrygia. Absurd as this story appears expression, current in ancient times, to'" weep like at first sight, there are many parallels to it in real history. Ninnacus." This story was, perhaps, invented to The popular caprice has often bestowed political power account for the existence of a phrase of which nobody upon obscure persons, from a motive no more rational knew the origin. than the one indicated above. IDuring the middle We can place more dependence upon the informa- ages, in a sedition at Florence, the multitude created ticn afforded us by Homer and some other ancient a wool-comber chief magistrate of the republic, for %writers, whose testimony goes to show that, previous the whimsical reason that, amidst the tumult, he.9 the Trojan war, Phrygia was divided into several chanced to lay hold of the national flag, and wave it petty kingdoms. Homer speaks of Phorcys and As- over the heads of the people. It is not improbable that canius, both Phrygian princes, and commanders of Gordius really owed his crown to some such accident armies which came to the relief of Troy. Cedrenus as we have related. The story of the prodigy might mentions Teuthranes, king of a small district in Phrygia, have been a later invention, designed to dignify the whose dominions were ravaged by Ajax. Another ignoble origin of the dynasty. Phrygian king, still more famous, was Tantalus, who Gordius, to commemorate his remarkable elevareigned over Sipylus and the neighboring district. tion to the throne, dedicated his ox-cart, in the temple According to Homer, he was placed after death in of Jupiter, to regal majesty. He fastened a knot to the infernal regions, tormented with perpetual hunger the beam of the cart, so dexterously involved and perand thirst, yet with food and drink always before plexed, that the oracles promised the dominion of the him: world to the man who should untie it. Probably the untying of it was an impossibility, the two ends of the Pours out deep groans; with groans all hell resounds; cord being woven together. However this may be, E'en in the circling floods refreshment craves, great numbers attempted to loosen it in vain. At And pines with thirst amid a sea of waves. length came Alexander the Great, and made the last When to the iwalter he his lip arpplies, endeavor. This proving equally fruitless with the rest, ack from his lips the treacherous water fliesthrough. This circumAbove, below, around his hapless head Above, belonr, around his haIpless head he drew his sword, and cut it through. This circumTrees of all kinds delicious fruitage spread. stance has given rise to the well-known proverbial There figs, skyr-dyed, a purple hue disclose; saying respecting the Gordian knot. We know noth. Gre.en looks the orange, the pomeganate glows; ing further of Gordius, but that he built the city cf There dangling pears delicious scents unfold, Gordium. And yellow apples ripen into gold. The fruit he strives to seize; but blasts arise, Toss it on high, and whirl it to the skies." Tantalus was believed to have been sentenced to this C H A P T E R C L V III. punishment for his inordinate avarice and covetous- 1000 to 560 B. C. ness. He was celebrated for his wealth. According r - o s to other accounts, it was another Tantalus, a king of Midas Lydia, who was punished in the above manner; but - The Lydian Conquest. the historical facts on which the fables of ancient GORDIUS was succeeded by his son Midas, famous mythology and poetry are grounded are very uncer- for his wealth and the extravagant stories related of tain. him. It is said that, during his infancy, while he was Gordius, a king of Phrygia, is the subject of a very one day asleep, a swarm of ants gathered round him, romantic tale. He was originally a peasant. One and conveyed a heap of wheat, grain by grain, into day, when he was ploughing in the field, an eagle his mouth. This was thought a prodigy, and the perched upon the yoke of his oxen, and remained oracles were consulted. The answer was, that the there all day. Gordius, alarmed at what every one child would become immensely rich -a prediction believed to be a prodigy full of meaning, went to con- which was fully accomplished. The wealth of Midas suit the soothsayers of Telmessus, a city of Lydia, was so unexampled and so widely known, as to give which country was famous, in those days, for the sci- rise to many fables and current proverbs. It was beence of augury. On entering the city, he was met by lieved, or said, that every thing he touched was turned a beautiful young woman, to whom he related what to gold. There were mines of this metal in Mount had befallen him. She assured him that the prodigy Bermius, in Phrygia, which doubtless furnished Midas portended his elevation to a throne, and she offered to with the larger part of his treasures; the great success become his wife, and share his fortune. Gordius, of this king in mining, aided, perhaps, by commerwhether he believed the prediction or not, readily ac- cial speculations, may have given rise to the saying cepted the offer, and they were married. ttat he made gold of every thing he touched. Midas Shortly after this, a sedition broke out among the is also celebrated for his handsome person and the Phrygians, who, it appears, had been living without religious turn of his mind. IHe introduced the custom any ling or supreme ruler. They resorted to the ora- of mourning over the dead with mournful songs, anal is cles for advice how to put a stop to this anarchy. They said to have filled his kingdom with temples, priests, were directed to choose a king, and, for this purpose, sacrifices, and ceremonies. Orpheus is representeil to note the first man wvho should pass the temple of as the instructor of Midas in the mysteries of reJupiter, driving an ox-cart. This person, the oracles ligion. assured them, was destined by the fates to be their A ludicrous story is related of Midas, which will, 30() GORDI)US II.-OTREUS-MIDAS II.-MIDAS IV. perhaps, be longer remembered than any great exploit but none of his actions have been recorded. Lityer of his reign. Pan and Apollo, according to the ancient ses, who followed him, reigned at Celenme, and is legends of the Greeks, were rivals in music, and held described as a cruel tyrant, who frequently labored in a trial of their skill before Midas. He decided in the fields as a common husbandman, and, for his favor of Pan, at which Apollo was so incensed, that amusement, cut off the heads of his fellow-laborers he caused a pair of ass's ears to grow on the mon- and bound up their bodies in the sheaves. For these arch's head, as a token of his stupidity. The unfor- and similar acts of barbarity, he was at length put to tunate king, unable to get rid of his long ears, was death by Hercules, who was, at this period, acting the compelled to invent a covering for his head, in order part of a knight-errant, roaming about the country, LO conceal them, and this was the origin of the royal and ridding it of wild beasts and tyrants. The dead diadem. He succeeded, for some time, in keeping his body of Lityerses was thrown into the River Meander. ears out of sight; but his barber at length discovered The Phrygian reapers are said, for some unknown tnem. Barbers appear to have been, in ancient times, reason, to have cherished the memory of this king, quite as loquacious and communicative as in our and usually sang a hymn, in harvest time, which they own day; and the king's secret was soon divulged. called, after his name, " Lityerses." Another account says that Midas was advised by the The name of his successor is not given in history; oracle to "bury his secret." He accordingly went but, during his reign, the crown was usurped by into the fields, one dark night, with a spade, dug a Midas III. in the following manner: He engaged hole in the ground, and whispered in it, " Midas, the a party of his adherents in a conspiracy, and arranged king, has ass's ears." He then filled up the hole, and a great religious festival, to be celebrated outside went home, believing he had effectually buried the the walls of Gordium. At the time appointed, the secret in the earth. But, some time afterward, a crop whole party marched out of the city, accompanied of reeds sprung up on the spot, which, whenever they by a numerous band of musicians, a'nd all with weap. were agitated by the wind, repeated audibly the words, ons concealed under their garments. The citizens, "Midas, the king, has ass's ears." whose curiosity was excited by this imposing display, Whatever the facts may be, this tale was doubtless followed them out of the city, unsuspicious of treachfounded on some real occurrence. The "ass's ears ery; when the conspirators, suddenly throwing away of Midas" formed a current proverb among the their musical instruments, fell upon them, seized the Greeks; and there is no question of the fact that a city, and proclaimed Midas king. king of this name once reigned in Phrygia. A sepul- This usurper was succeeded by Gordius IIL., whc chral monument has been discovered in this country, was foll6wed by Midas IV. This prince is mentioned bearing the inscription, in ancient Pelasgic characters, by Herodotus as having presented the oracle of Deiphi " To King Midas." It is also remarkable that the with a chair or tribunal of the most exquisite worksame monument is ornamented with a singular species manship. During his reign, Asia Minor was invaded of sculptured knot, which at once calls to mind the by the Cimmerians, a people whose country was beelebrated Gordian knot. Of Midas nothing further lieved to be enveloped in darkness. They dwelt in related, except that his wife Hermodica invented the the north of Europe, a region which was so little ethod of coining money. The date of his reign may known to the Greeks in that age, that the most extravbe fixed at about 650 B. C. agant fables were related of it. The Cimmerians apMidas was succeeded by his eldest son, Gordius II., pear to have been a fierce and barbarous nation; they who fortified the city of Gordium with a strong wall. overran a great part of Asia Minor, captured the great Ancharus, according to some authors, was the succes- and opulent city of Sardis, and made a dreadful sor of Gordius; according to others, he was his broth- slaughter among the people of Lydia, Paphlagonia er, but never attained to the throne. He'is celebrated and Phrygia. Midas, unable to defend his kingdom for having sacrificed himself for his country in the from these cruel invaders, abandoned himself to de. following manner: An earthquake destroyed a great spair, and committed suicide by drinking bull's blood. l part of the city of Cel'enme, and left an enormous The family of this king was peculiarly unfortunate. chasm yawning to a great depth. The oracles were He had two sons, one of whom accidentally killed his consulted, and the answer they gave was, that the brother. The unhappy survivor fled to the court of opening would not close till the most valuable thing in Crcesus, king of Lydia, where, by another accident, human lifh was thrown into it. Upon this declaration, he had the misfortune to kill the son of that king; the inhabitants cast ill their gold, silver, jewels, and upon which he committed suicide. This event will other valuable effects, for the common safety; but the be found more fully related in the history of Lydia. chasm still remained open. Ancharus then, revolving Shortly after this catastrophe, Phrygia submitted to In his mind that life was the most valuable possession, the arms of Crmasus, and became a province of the as it included all other things, resolved to devote him- Lydian empire. On the overthrow of Cr:esus by self for the preservation of his countrymen. Accord- Cyrus the Great, Phrygia fell under the Persian doingly, he took an affectionate farewell of his wife and minion. father, and, mounting his horse, rode at full speed into the opening, which immediately closed upon him. This is one df the tales in ancient history which have C A P T E R C L I X. been copied into the accounts of other countries, particularly by the early annalists of Rome, who relate Famous Men of Phrygia -.AEsop- Epictet.,s. he circumstances of the earthquake and tile chasm as EsoP, the celebrated fabulist, according to the naving happened in the forum of that city, when the most common accounts, was a native of Phrygia. He calamity was arrested by the devotion of Marcus Cur- is represented as very deformed;n person, being tius. History abounds with these repetitions. dwarfish in stature, hunchbacked, and homely in Otreus is mentioned as the next king of Phrygia; countenance. Tn early life he was a slave; and the EMINENT PHRYGIANb —ESOP-EPICTETUS. 30 merchant who had bought him for sale found it very persons of all ages and conditions. He was the first difficult to get him off his hands. For some time he that, in order to give body and substance to virtues was employed as a day laborer; he then served Xan- vices, duties, and maxims of society, used ingeniotts thus, a philosopher, and Demarchus, an Athenian. artifices of invention and description, and successfully After this he became the property of a Samian named clothed these abstractions with graceful and familiar ladtmus, who gave him his freedom. The other cir- images borrowed from nature. The fables of _Esop zumstances of his life are but imperfectly known, are void of all ornament, but they abound with good though many biographies of EAsop may be found, sense. Plato tells us that Socrates, when in prison which are full of particulars concerning him; upon and waiting for the hour of his execution, amused these, however, very little reliance can be placed. It himself by turning some of them into verse. is said that, shortly after obtaining his liberty, he vis- It is doubted whether the fables of 1Esop, such as ited Crmesus, king of Lydia, who had heard of his we have in the common Greek editions, are all his, reputation, and was very desirous of seeing him. The at least in regard to the expression. Many of them I strange deformity of AEsop's person shocked the king are ascribed to Maximus Planudes, a monk of Conat first, and much abated the good opinion which he stantinople, who lived in the fourteenth century, and i had conceived of him. But the beauty of his mind wrote a biography of the fabulist. The English soon shone forth through the coarse veil that covered editions of IEsop contain many additions by later it; and Croesus found, as zEsop said on another occa- writers. ",iEsop's jokes" are mentioned by the sion, that we ought not to consider the form of the Athenian comic poet Aristophanes in terms which vessel, but the quality of the liquor which it contains. lead us to suppose that they were generally repeated _/Esop is said, also, to have made several voyages into at convivial parties. The fables of the Latin poet Greece. Being at Athens a short time after Pisistratus Phoedrus are probably all taken from.Esop. He inhad usurped the sovereignty and abolished the popular troduces them with the following distich: — government, and observing that the Athenians bore this new yoke with great impatience, he repeated to The tales of Psop to rehearse." *them the celebrated fable of the frogs who demanded a king from Jupiter. The Oriental philosopher and fabulist Lokman is Plutarch relates the manner of 2Esop's death thus: supposed by many to have been the same person with He went to Delphi, with a great quantity of gold and AEsop. The former, by the Arabic writers, is made silver, to offer, in the name of Croesus, a sacrifice to contemporary with David and Solomon. It is certain Apollo, and make a gift to each inhabitant. A quarrel that the same fables are current under the names of arose between Aisop and these people, which ocea- both these persons, and the correspondence between sioned him, after the sacrifice, to send back the money their personal histories, as commonly told, is too close to Croesus, with the information that those for whom it to be entirely accidental. was intended had rendered themselves unworthy of Elpictetus the philosopher was a native of Hierapohis bounty. The Delphians, in revenge for tthis, lis, in Phrygia, and was born in the early part of the caused AEsop to be condemned as guilty of sacrilege, first century. Little is known of his early life, except and thrown from the top of a rock. It was believed that he was a slave to one of the guards of the emthat Apollo, offended by this action, punished them peror Nero, named Epaphroditus. He afterwards'with plague and famine, which afflicted them for two obtained his freedom, and embraced the Stoic philosgenerations. To expiate their crime, they caused it ophy, which was at that time the most perfect and to be proclaimed in all the assemblies of Greece, that most severe sect. He lived at Rome till the year 96, if any man, for the honor of EAsop, would come and when all the philosophers were banished from the city [laim vengeance for his death, they would give him by an edict of Domitian. He then went to Nicopolis, satisfaction. In the third generation, a Samian pre- in Epirus, where he resided many years, always in sented himself, who claimed no other relation to the great poverty, but highly honored and esteemed. In fabulist than being descended from the man who had the reign of Adrian, he returned to Rome, and was owned him when a slave. The Delphians made the favorably received by that emperor. He died at an requisite satisfaction to this individual, and thereby advanced age, but the precise date is unknown. His delivered themselves from the pestilence and fam- philosophy consisted in the resolution to suffer evils ine. The Athenians, those excellent judges of true patiently and enjoy pleasure in moderation. When glory, erected a noble statue to zEsop, to remind his master tortured him by binding his leg with great I the world, says Phuedrus, that the path of honor force, he told him calmly, " You will break my leg." is open to all mankind, and that it was not to When the limb really broke, the philosopher only said, birth, but to merit, that they paid so honorable a with equal calmness, " Did I not tell you so? " It is distinction. very evident that Epictetus was indebted quite as iEsop is regarded as the chief of all fabulists, and much to the strength of his nervous system as to even as the original inventor of the simple and natural his philosophic temper for his power of enduring tnanner of conveying instruction by fables. No doubt pain. fables were current among many nations of the East The memory of Epictetus was highly respected by before AEsop's time; but he was the first of all profane persons of all ranks, and the little property of which writers who laid hold of the fiction of the language he was the possessor was so highly prized, that his of brutes, developed and improved it, and made a earthen lamp was sold for a sum equal to five thousand happy and successful application of it, by attracting a dollars. He maintained firmly the immortality of the general attention to this pleasing vehicle of instruc- soul, and speaks in his writings of the happiness of tion, which is within the reach of all capacities, good men after death in terms which might suit a and equally'adapted to the understanding and taste of Christian discourse., `'0 2 ISLANDS OF ASIA MINOR —CYPRUS. - _' __ _ _._ The Island of Cyprus. C H APTE ER C L X. obtained possession of the island. The history of 2000 B. C. to A. D. 1840. Cyprus, under the Pha-nicians, is very little known. When they first landed in the island, it was covered 15,ANDS OF ASIA MINOR. -Cyprus - Ancient with a thick forest. Copper mines were discovered History of Cyprus - The Phcenicians - shortly after, and the woods were cut down for the I T~he Greeks- The bRo~nans - Mioderz His- purpose of smelting the ore. When the Phoenicians The- Gree —!The -1-onzan - Moden His tory - The Crusaders 7 The Venetians - began to navigate the Mediterranean more extensively mo n of the y found the forests of Cyprus valuable.for the tin Thne 1 urkbs - Pamnoits Jllye?-i of eGyprnis. ber they afforded for ship-building. THEoRE are several islands scattered along the coast How long the island continued in a state of dependof Asia Minor, which must be geographically, as wrell ence on Phcenicia is not known. Colonies of Gl eeks as historically, regarded as connected with this portion established themselves on the coasts at an uncertain of the continent. The principal of these islands are date. They first lands conqueed the whole island, it was covered Cyprus,-the largest,- Rhodes, Cos, Samos, Chios, the greater part of it, in the sixth century B. C. Strabo ad Lesbos. Thee are also soe others, of less note. describes Cyprus, about this Copperiod, as divided among CYPRUs lies in the eastern partof the Mediterranean, several petty tyrants or chieftains, who were at times adjoining Asia Minor and Syria, being separated from in alliance with the neiglhboring powers of Asia Minor the former by astrait called the Sa (if Ci/icia. It isafter and th wa oodswith them. cut down the Pefor the about one hundred and forty miles long, and fifty miles sians extenoed their dominion in the west, this island broad. A range of mountains uns through the island shared the pos te of the adjoining states, and became a from east to west, called Olynmpus by the ancient., dependency of the great king. On the overthrow of The highest summits are about seven thousand feet the Persian empire by Alexander Cyprus fell into his above the level of the sea. The plains and hill sides hands. On his death, the island, with Egypt, was asare very fertile, producing corn and wine in abundance: signed t hey afforded for son of Lagus. the latter is reardscattered as the staple production of the The Ptolmies retained possession of Cyprus for as historically, regarded as connecteT with this portion established themselves on the coasts at an unceprtain island. On the plains the heat of summer is intense, many generations. Sometimes it was united to the and the rivers arere e mostly dy at this season. Cyprus kingdom of Egypt, and at others it was governed, asmong is at present called by the Tuks ibris. Inof the Bible an, separate principality, by a chief of the Ptolem tmesan cities. The Greeks gave it a variety of names, as emy Auletes, king of Egypt, the fathers of Cleopatra, Pthe forms, Cyther a, Acamaist Cerat cs, Aspl el incred ther enmity of the Romans in the followingPerabout onhusia, Erosa, &. It was consecrated to Venus, manner: A Roman named Publits Clodius Pulchernd and is represented by the Greek and Latin poets as having been captured by the pirates of Cilicia, sent to the birthplace of that goddess and the abode of the the king of Cyprus for money to procure his ransom. Graces. t he level of thamh eof Cyprus, which has prevailed The king sent so small a slm tdat the pirates refused over all the others, was deuc ived from the cypress-tree, to release to Ptorle soner. Clodius, however succeeded which glatter is re in great abundance in obtaining his liberty by other means, and some time The Ph planicians appear to have been the first in- after his return eratio Rome, watimes elected tribune of the and the rivers are mostly dryperhaps two thousand years before affro kingdom of Egypt, and at others it was governed, ashim cities. The EthiGreeasgave it a variety of names, as emy Auletes, ring of Egypt, the father of Cleopatra, a part of Cytherearl, population but these are supposed, islancurred to hea Roman provincein though no ground og to hand is represented by either Egyptians, or Ethiopian slavpoets quhaving been capturrrel existed between the pirates of Ciliciaons, senxcept tohe who wer all the inothers, was deivoduced fbom the cEgyptiansress-tree, hen the latter private afthefair prisabove related. M.Clodius, howeveras sueedednt with - ------ _____ —----- ~ —------- CYPRUS-ZENO. 303 strong force to take possession of Cyprus; and the Salamis, Leucolia, Citium, Amathus, Paluea. Cunium king, hearing of his approach, was struck with such Treta, Bousoura, and Paphos. Most of these have terror that he committed suicide. Cato found the royal disappeared. The present towns are, Nicosia, the treasury well filled, and sent a large amount of treas- Turkish capital, containing about twelve thousand ure to Rome. Thus the niggardly behavior of the inhabitants; Famagosta, once populous, but now deking of Cyprus cost him his crown and life. cayed; Larnica, which occupies the site of the ancient In those ages, Cyprus was celebrated for its abundant Citium, and is the most flourishing place in the island, population, which was computed at above a million, being the chief seat of trade, and the rtsidence of the and for the beauty of its scenery, and the gay man- European consuls and factors. There are also a few ners and loose disposition of the inhabitants. The other small towns. A great part of this fertile and women were models of beauty, and the whole island beautiful island is uncultivated, and is overgrown with was sacred to Venus; hence she was called Cypria, or thyme and other aromatic herbs. The principal exthe Cyprian goddess. The city of Paphos is said to ports are cotton, wine, salt, corn, opium, turpentine, have been founded on the spot where she first landed silk, and fruit. The population is about fifty thousand, on rising from the sea. The splendid temple in which the greater part of whom are Greeks. she was worshipped, contained a hundred altars, which Zeno, the philosopher, was a native of Cyprus. Hle smoked daily with a profusion of frankincense; and was born at Citium, 346 B. C., and educated as a. though exposed to the open air, it is said they were merchant. On one of his trading voyages, he was never wet with the rain. shipwrecked on the coast of Attica, and lost all his When the Roman empire was divided, Cyprus was property. He wandered penniless to Athens, where, assigned to the Byzantine elmperors. After several as he was strolling about the streets, he entered a vicissitudes of fortune, it became a separate princi- bookseller's shop, and took up a volume, to beguile his pality, under a branch of the imperial house of the melancholy. It was a work of Xenophon, and the Comneni. During the crusades, Richard I. of Eng- reading of it gave him so much pleasure that he forland made himself master of the island, and sold it got his losses. He asked the bookseller where the to the Templars, or Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. philosophers were to be found, of whom Xenophon They governed Cyprus with so much tyranny that the had spoken in this book. Crates the Cynic happeninhabitants revolted, and Richard was compelled to ing to pass by at that moment, the bookseller pointed resume the sovereignty. In 1192, he transferred it to him out, and advised Zeno to follow him. The shipkuy of Lusignan, who had been the Christian king of wrecked Cyprian immediately became the disciple of Jerusalem, but was expelled from that city by the Crates, with whom he studied for ten years. He then Saracens. The Lusignan dynasty reigned in Cyprus passed ten more with Stilpon of Megara, Xenocrates, for nearly three hundred years, during which period and Polemon, after which he instituted a new sect on the island enjoyed great prosperity. In 1458, by the his own authority. As he usually delivered his lecdeath of Johln II. of Lusignan, the crown devolved tures in a porch, called stoa in Greek, his followers on Charlotte, his daughter. She was dethroned by her were called Stoics. Such was the origin of a word illegitimate brother James, assisted by the Mamelukes which has been adopted into all the cultivated lan of Egypt. James, having'married Catharine Cornaro, guages of Europe. a Venetian lady, died in 1473, leaving the kingdom to The reputation of Zeno quickly spread throughout his widow. She was delivered of a son shortly after- Greece. He continued to teach philosophy for fortywards, and the republic of Venice assumed the guar- eight years after the founding of his sect, and he lived dianship of the young prince. On his death, (1489,) to the age of ninety-eight without any bodily disease. the Venetians persuaded Catharine to abdicate the After his death, the Athenians built him a tomb in the crown in favor of the republic; and in this man- suburb of Ceramica, and by a public decree bestowed ner Cyprus became transferred to the dominion of on him a crown of gold, with other extraordinary Venice. honors. Cyprus remained in the possession of the Venetians Zeno borrowed some doctrines of his philosophy nearly a century. In 1570, the Turks, under Selim II., from the other schools. He differed from the Cynics, invaded the.island. They took Nicosia by storm, and as they devoted themselves much to speculative studies, massacred twenty thousand of the inhabitants. They which he wholly discarded. The Stoics, however, next laid siege to Famagosta, which was long and gal- resembled the Cynics to some extent in their general. lantly defended, but was forced to capitulate in 1571. austerity of manners and character. They inculcated The Venetian commander, Bragadino, was flayed indifference to pleasure and pain, adversity and pros alive, in violation of the terms by which he surren- perity, as a state of mind essential to happiness. The dered, and all the other officers were put to the sword. doctrine of hfate was one of their main peculiarities. Th'I'le Turkish pacha, Mlustapha, by whose command They considered all things as controlled by an eternal this act of perfidious cruelty was performed, caused necessity, to which even the deity submitted. Their the skin of Bragadino to be stuffed with straw, and system of morals was in general strict, and outwardly hung up at the yard-arm of his ship, as he returned to correct, but founded on a cold and self-relying pride. Ccnstantinople. The Venetians raised a monument They defended suicide, and Zeno himself is said to to the memory of this brave and unfortunate general, have died by his own hand. Tile doctrines of Stoicism, and his relatives, after a time, ransomed his skin, which however, stimulated men to heroic deeds, and the fater they placed in the monument. The Turks have re- disciples of the sect are supposed to have borrowed tained possession of Cyprus from that time to the some of the principles of Christianity. They speak present day. of the world as destined to be destroyed by a vast The anclen~t cities of Cyprus were Arsinoe, Soli, conflagration, and suceedced by another, new and Limenia, Lapathus, Agidus, Aphrodisium, Carpathia, pure. 3U4; RHODES-EARLY INhABITANTS-GOVERNMENT. "I!5l I Colossus of Rhodes. C H A P T E R C L X I. namely, Lindus, Camyrus, and lalysus, and of a triple division of the island into districts attache to them. 1000 B. C. to A..D 184OI. A second migration from Greece to PRhodes, led by RHODES. Settlemtent of the Greeks in this the Argive Althoemenes, took place about 988 B. C. Island -Rhodian Revolutions - Govern- The three towns above mentioned, in connection ment of the Romans- The Knights of with the neighboring cities, Cos, Halicarnassus, and Rhodes - The Turks - FavCousl Men of Cnidus, formed the Doric confederacy already deRhodes.- Cos.7 - FTam ou s ien of scribed. The Rhodians were early distinguished Isnd. C for their maritime enterprise. They made voyages to distant countries, and founded colonies in various THE Island of Rhodes lies near the coast of Caria, places. Among these were Rhodes in Iberia, Gela in between the Gulfs of Syme and Macri. It is nearly Sicily, Parthenope in Italy, Corydalla and Pllaselis twenty miles from the main land, and is about one in Lycia, and Soli in Cilicia. hundred and twenty miles in circuit. The soil is Rhodes appears to have been at first governed by uncommonly fruitful, which gave occasion to an an- kings; but, about 660 B. C., the monarchical form of cient fable respecting golden showers which fell here. government was abolished, and the administration It produced such abundance of all kinds of delicious intrusted to magistrates called prytanes. During the fruits, and wines of so exquisite a taste, that they were Peloponnesian war, the Athenians and Lacedoemoused by the Romans chiefly in their sacrifices, and nians, by turns,. made themselves masters of Rhodes were thought, as Virgil informs us, to be too good for and the government underwent various fluctuations mortals. This island is blessed with so beautiful a between oligarchy and democracy. In the year 355 climate, that, it is said, no day ever passes without B. C., Rhodes became independent; but this freedom sunshine: on this account, the ancient poets pretended was of short duration. Mausolus, king of Caria, had, that Phcebus was in love with Rhodes. in consequence of the assistance which he afforded This island was one of the earliest inhabited of all the Rhodians in their war with the Athenians, obtained the territories in this quarter; and the Greek poets great power in the island. He now joined the oligarchy have displayed more than their usual ingenuity in in oppressing the citizens. After his death, his widow, inventing fables to account for the origin of the first Artemisia, seized the Rhodian fleet by a strltagem, settlers. Pindar, in one of the most beautiful of his and established her power in the island. Hler reign odes, describes this island as raised from the waves was, at length, interrupted by political disorders, and a by Apollo, like Delos. The earliest inhabitants were mixed government succeeded. Two prytanes were called Telcihines, which is supposed to have been one invested with the chief magistracy, each presiding irn of the many names by which the Phoenicians were his turn for six months. The legislature consisted of a known among foreign nations. After these are men- senate and a popular assembly: in the latter, the people tioned the Heliadce, the Danaides, and others, as voted by show of' hands. The poor were provided inhabitants of Rhodes; but these were, perhaps, with corn and maintained at the expense of the rich. mythological personages. The island was called The superintendence of marine affairs and other pubOpltiusa, zEdrea, and Trinacria. lie concerns was managed on oligarchical principles. Tlepolemus, the son of Hercules, is said to have The good effects of a constitution so modified were settled a colony in Rhodes about the time of the Tro- shown by the cessation of internal convulsions. -an war; and this chieftail is named in the Iliad as Rhodes now became more flourishing and powerful he commander of the Rhodian forces which assisted than ever. The old maritimne powers of Greece hav-:he Greeks in that contest. Horner, at the same time, ing fallen to decay, the supremacy of the seas fell;takes nention of three ancient towns in Rhodes, into the hands of the Rhodians. Commerce and KNIGHTS OF RHODEb. ~05 t"affic received a new impulse, and the inhabitants stantly increasing power of the Ottoman empire. In cultivated the mechanical and elegant arts with great 1344, they attacked Smyrna, which was then in possuccess. The great Colossus, so famous in ancient session of the Turks, expelled them from the place, times, was constructed in the third century B. C. and established a garrison there.'In 1365, they made This was a statue of Apollo, or the sun, entirely war upon' the Mussulman sultan of Egypt, in the of brass, upwards of one hundred feet in height. course of which they captured and plundered AlexThe thumb was so large that few men could spaln it andria. In the following century, Rhodes was bewith their arms. It was begun by Chares, a pupil of sieged by the Egyptian sultan; but, after a conflict Lysippus, and completed by Laches, both of Lindus. of forty days, he was repulsed with great slaughter. Twelve years were employed in the construction of Mahomet II., having captured Constantinople and it. The common belief is, that it stood at the mouth established th~- Ottoman power firmly in Europe, made of the harbor of Rhodes, the capital, with one root o, an attempt on Rhodes; but, notwithstanding the imeach side, and that the ships sailed between its legs; mense force of artillery wh:i.ch he brought against the but this does not seem to be established. After stand- city, he was unable to conquer it. The knights, during for about half a century, it was overthrown by an ing their government of two centuries, had contributed earthquake. much to the prosperity of the island. It was covered The Rhodians joined the Romans in their wars with cornfields, vineyards, and fruit trees of every against Antiochus of Syria, and rendered their allies kind. The inhabitants were principally husbandmen, great service with their naval force. The Romans who were contented under the government of the rewarded them with the government of Caria and knights. The city of Rhodes stood in tile midst of a Lycia; but this new acquisition was fatal to the pros- cultivated plain, round which were hills covered with perity of Rhodes. The continental possession re- vineyards, and olive and fig-trees. It was foitified sisted her authority; and the Romans, by interfering, by a double wall and deep trenches — the wall being were enabled, at length, to establish their sway over strengthened by thirteen towers. Many of these the island. Various revolutions followed, till the reign remain at the present day, and are interesting speciof Vespasian, when Rhodes was incorporated with the mens of the architecture of the middle ages. Roman empire. In this situation, after enjoying an interval of forty Rhodes, in its most flourishing state, was the resort years' peace, the Rhodians were attacked, in 1522, by of learned men from all countries. It was particularly the Turks, under Solyman II. A formidable fleet distinguished for having given birth to a new style of of four hundred ships was equipped for this purpose; oratory, which the ancients regarded as a mixed, or and the announcement of the approach of this overGreco-Asiatic, style. A similar character belonged whelming force threw the inhabitants 6f the island into to their contemporary arts, which seem to have de- great consternation. The terrified peasantry flocked lighted in executing gigantic and imposing concep- to the city for shelter, and the whole population thus tions. Besides the Colossus, three thousand other became crowded within the walls of the capital. The statues adorned the capital city of the island; and of grand master of the knights ordered that the suburbs these, according to Pliny, one hundred were of such should be demolished, and all the beautiful gardens magnitude, that any one of them would have been and orchards without the walls laid waste, that the sufficient to ennoble any site. The architecture was enemy might find no shelter among them. When the of the most stately character. The plan of the city Turkish fleet came in sight, it hovered off the island was perfectly symmetrical; the streets were wide and for several weeks, waiting for the arrival of the sultan, straight, and the temples were full of the finest who, at length, put himself at the head of his forces, paintings. and commenced the attack in person. The combat Rhodes was attached to the Byzantine empire, and was terrible; and so bravely did the knights defend econtinued, with little interruption, in this connection, the city, that the Turks were obliged to retreat. For till the seventh century, when it was conquered by some weeks, they kept. at a distance; but, being rethe Saracens. These conquerors broke up-the famous inforced, they renewed the attack. The defenders Colossus, and sold it to a Jew, who shipped the frag- fought till the walls were beaten down in many places, ments to Alexandria, where nine hundred camels were and a great portion of the city was destroyed. At loaded with them. Such is the story related in the length, the siege and attack having continued from annals of those times, though it seems hardly credible June till December, and the knights finding themselves that such a quantity of brass should have been suf- almost buried under the ruins of the city, they surrenfered to lie untouched for so many centuries. Some dered by capitulation. On Christmas day, 1525, the authors, indeed, have gone so far as to assert that the conquerors marched in triumph into the city. Solyman whole story of the Colossus of Rhodes is a fable. behaved with great courtesy to the brave defenders. The island appears to have been abandoned by the He expressed his regret to the grand master at the Saracens after a short occupation. It formed a part necessity he was under of depriving so valiant a knight of the Greek empire when Constantinople was taken of his home, and made him a present of a handsome by the crusaders, in 1204. At the commencement of dress in testimony of respect for his bravery. He the fourteenth century, it seems to have been possessed allowed the knights to depart in safety from the island, by a body of revolted Greek and Mahometan corsairs. with all thIr movable property. They withdrew to The Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem, having been the Venetian states, till the emperor Charles V. gave expelled from Palestine by the Saracens, landed in them the Island of Malta, where they settled, and took Rhodes, (A. D. 1310,) and made themselves masters the name of Knights of Malta. of the island. Five years afterward, they were at- The capture of Rhodes by the Turks was a heavy tacked by the Turks, but repelled them bravely, not- calamity to all the Christian countries of Europe, as withstanding the unprepared state of their fortifications. the knights had been, for more than two hundred'rom this period, they continuled to resist the con- years, the protectors of the commerce of Christendon: 39 306 PROTOGENES-COo. in the Levant. The merchant ships in that quarter, I should not be diverted from the principal figure. The being now deprived of this safeguard, were in constant shop in which he painted was in the suburbs outside danger from the corsairs of the Turks, which had the city walls; but neither the presence of the enemy become exceedingly formidable. It was at this time during the siege, nor the noise of arms which perpetthat the noted Barbarossa distinguished himself by his ually rung in his ears, could induce him to quit the piratical exploits, and became the terror of all the place or discontinue his work. Demetrius was surChristian states upon the Mediterranean. prised at his coolness, and one day asked him the reaSince the conquest by Solyman, the Turks have son. " It is," replied Protogenes, "because I am continued to retain possession of Rhodes; but their sensible that it is the Rhodians, and not the arts, sway has obliterated almost every vestige of the an- against which you have declared war." Nor was the cient glories of the island. The city exhibits hardly painter deceived in his opinion; for Demetrius showed a trace of the numerous fine edifices with which it himself the protector of the arts. He placed a guard was once adorned by the wealth and taste of the in- around the house of Protogenes, to shield him from habitants. It contains, however, some massy Gothic disturbance and danger. He frequently went to see churches, now converted into mosques. The lofty him work, and could not sufficiently admire his indus mountains in the interior are covered with the noble try and skill in the art of painting. forests of pine out of which the powerful navies of Protogenes was the friend of Aristotle. and painted ancient Rhodes were constructed, and which still sup- the portrait of the mother of that philosopher. Arisply the Turkish dock-yards of Constantinople. The totle highly esteemed the talents of the painter, and lower hills produce a little of the wine so much cel- wished that he had applied them to higher subjects ebrated for its aromatic flavor by the ancient writers. than hunters, satyrs, and portraits. Accordingly he Industry and cultivation are, however, nearly extinct, proposed to him the battles and conquests of Alexanand Rhodes is dependent on Asia Minor for its sup- der, as very proper for historical painting, on account plies of corn. The population is about twenty thou- of tile grandeur of the ideas, the variety of events, sand, two thirds of whom are Greeks. They are gov- and importance of the circumstances to be delineated erned by a bey, who holds his office for life - a But a peculiar taste, and a natural inclination for more circumstance highly favorable to the inhabitants, who calm and grateful subjects, determined the painter to are less oppressed than in most other Turkish territo- works of another kind. All that Aristotle could obtain ries, where there is a more frequent change of mas- of him was a portrait of Alexander, without any hisIers. Ship-building is the chief occupation, and a torical accompaniments. lrigate is fitted out from Rhodes every two or three The Island of Cos lies at the mouth of the Ceramus, years. between Rhodes and Samos. It is small, but fruitful, Protogenes, a painter, was a native of Caunus, a and its wines are famous throughout Greece. At little island dependent on Rhodes. He flourished at what time it was first peopled is uncertain; but we the same time with Apelles, in the fourth century learn from Homer that the Greeks inhabited this island B. C. He employed himself, at first, in painting previous to the Trojan war. It appears probable that ships, and lived in extreme poverty. Afterward he it was settled by the Dorians of Epidaurus. The went to Athens, where he rose to great eminence in worship of Esculapius, at both these places, at a very his profession. His masterpiece was the ialysus, an early period, seems to indicate an identity of races in historical picture of the hero of this name, whom the the inhabitants. The people of Cos were connected Rhodians acknowledged as their founder. He was by a political league with Halicarnassus, Cnidos, and engaged seven years upon this performance, and its the Rhodians. merit was such that, when Apelles saw it for the first Cos was one of the islands over which the Persians time, he is said to have lost his speech in admiration. established their dominion. In the fifth century B. C., It was carried to Rome, and consecrated in the Tem- a governor or viceroy of the king of Persia, named ple of Peace, where it remained in the time of Pliny, Cadmus, held the chief authority here; but, after an nearly four hundred years after the death of the administration of a few years, he resigned his office. painter; but it was subsequently destroyed by fire. The ancient aristocratical constitution was restored One of the figures in this picture was a dog, which and the island seems to have enjoyed political independ. cost the artist great pains; but he could not, at first, ence. But, not long afterward, Artemisia, queen of execute it to his satisfaction. He endeavored to rep- Caria, appears to have been in authority here. We resent the animal panting, and foaming at the mouth, have, however, only incidental notices in history of as after a long chase. But this he found very diffiult. these transactions. In later times, we find a democAfter touching and retouching it many times in vain, racy existing in Cos. This was succeeded by revoluhe was seized with a fit of exasperation and despair, tions, till the establishment of the Roman power in and violently threw upon it the sponge which he had Asia Minor, when this island shared the flte of' the used to wipe off the colors. By this accident, he pro- continent. From the Byzantine emperors it passed duced an exact imitation of the foam which he had so into the hands of the Turks, who hold it at the present ong attempted to depict with his pencil! day. It is now called Stanco. In its flourishing days, Another celebrated picture of Protogenes was that it possessed a fine capital on the north-eastern shore of a satyr leaning against a pillar. He executed this opposite Halicarnassus; but this was ruined by a great at the time the city of Rhodes was besieged by De- earthquake in the time of the Peloponnesian war. metrius, on which account it was said to have been The population of the island is now about eight thoupainted under the sword. At first there was a partridge sand. perched upon the pillar. But, finding that all the This island affords a beautiful prospect to the voyadmiration of the beholders was bestowed upon the ager as he approaches it - the surface rising from the nartridge, whic en, judged to be an injury to his rep- water gradually into hills, from which copious streams of mtation, he strucek it out, that the eye of the spectator water are seen running down to the shore. The wine HIPPOCRATES-CH1OS. 307 of Cos was much admired by persons of nice taste in salus and Draco, who also acquired great reputation ancient Rome; but the manufacture of it is less per- as physicians. fect at the present day. The island is now much over- Hippocrates was the first physician who investigated grown with groves of cypress and turpentine-trees. The the science of medicine systematically, or wrote upon'traveller Thevenot saw a cypress-tree here of such enor- the subject. He possessed uncommon acuteness of imous size, that two thousand men might shelter them- intellect, and a rich variety of knowledge and experiselves under its branches, which extended so widely ence. He left many volumes of writings behind him, that they were propped up with pillars. Under this which have a value not limited to ancient times, but tree were shops, booths, and places of refreshment enduring even to the present day. Of the numerous and amusement for people who sought recreation in works bearing his name, many are spurious. Among the open air. the genuine are his Aphorisms, or brief medical prinHippocrat.es, the celebrated physician, was a native ciples and maxims. To these may be added his Epiof Cos, and was born 460 B. C. He was believed to demics and Prognostics, with the treatises on Air, have been a descendant of Esculapius through Heracli- Water, Climate, Regimen, Wounds in the Head, and des, his father, and of Hercules, through his mother Fracture. Prasitea. He first applied himself to the study of natural The memory of Hippocrates is preserved to this philosophy, and afterward to that of the human body. day by the inhabitants of Cos, and a venerable planeThe Island of Cos was consecrated to Esculapius, who tree is pointed out, under which he is said to have dewas esteemed the god of physic. It was a custom for livered his lectures. all the inhabitants who had been cured of any distem- Apelles, the famous painter of antiquity, was a naper to make an exact memorandum of the symptoms tive of Cos; but, as he passed the greater part of his which attended it, and of the remedies by which it had life at Ephesus, we have given an account of him been relieved. Hippocrates copied all these accounts, among the celebrated characters of that city. and, by studying them, obtained a great amount of medical knowledge. During the ravages of the plague, which has been so well described by Thucydides, the skill and disinterestedness of Hippocrates were manifested in a striking manner. This terrible pestilenec, before it extended to Greece, had made 1000 B. C. to A. D. 1823. great ravages in Persia, and Artaxerxes, the king, CHIos. -The Greeks of Chios - The Genoese who had heard of the reputation of Hippocrates, caused a letter to be written to him, inviting him -- The Tucks Legends of Homer. to his dominions. The king made him the. most THIS island is one of the most beautiful in the advantageous oflers of wealth and honors, and prom- archipelago. It lies close to the coast of Asia Minor, ised to make him equal to the greatest men of his facing the peninsula anciently called Clazomence, and court. Hippocrates sent for reply, that he was free which is formed by the Gulf of Smyrna on the north, from all uncommon wants and desires, and that all and that of Samos, or Scalanova, on the south. It is his skill and labor were due to his friends and coun- about thirty miles long, and ten or fifteen broad. It t rymen. is mountainous and rocky; yet it was anciently called Eastern monarchs are not accustomed to be refused the paradise of Greece; for the mountains and hills, any thing they demand. Artaxerxes was very angry though now rather naked, were formerly covered with at this reply. He sent to the government of Cos, woods. There still remain, in many places, groves demanding that the insolent wretch Hippocrates should of orange, citron, olive, mulberry, myrtle, and pomebe given up to him for punishment, threatening, in granate-trees. The wine produced by its vineyards case of refusal, that he would lay waste the island, was anciently held in high esteem. Horace speaks an.d ruin the city, so that not one stone should remain with great relish of the " best Chian." It is still upon another. The people of Cos were not terrified thought to be superior to any other in the Levant. at this threat. They answered, that the menaces of In the time of Strabo, there were very productive Xerxes and Darius had not been able, in former times, marble quarries in this island. Chios was its ancient to compel them to give these monarchs earth and name. The modern Greeks call it Khiio, and the Italwater, and that they would never give up their fellow- ians Scio, which latter is the name by which it is gencitizen to Artaxerxes. This manly reply had the de- erally known to foreigners. sired effect. The Persian despot found his haughty The Pelasgians, from Thessaly, are supposed to mandates unavailing. have been the first inhabitants of Chios; but of these When the plague broke out at Athens, the people of people we know hardly any thing. When the Ionian that city sent for Hippocrates. He immediately pro- emigrants passed from Greece to Asia Minor, some ceeded thither, and remained in Athens duriing the of them settled in this island, and Chios formed one whole period of the continuance of the disorder. He of the twelve members of the Ionian confederation. devoted himself entirely to the servi'e of the sick, and Of its government and early history we have little his exertions were such, that the Athenians were filled information; but it appears that the people of Chios with gratitude, and ordained, by a public decree, that took part with the Greeks against the Persians, in the lie should receive a crown of gold, the freedom of the invasion under Darius, about 500 B. C. In the naval,ity, and other distinguished honors; that he should, battle fought (494 B. C.) between the Greeks and If he thought proper, be maintained at the public Persians, Chios furnished one hundred ships, which charge during life, and that his children should be fought bravely against the invaders. This, however.. educated in Athens, with all the privileges of citizens. did not prevent the Persians fiom taking possession of'liThe l)artlculars of the death of Hippocrates are not the island. Great ravages wvere committed bythe knowi,. He;ed \ccy aged, and left two sons, Thcs- conquerors. They laid waste the towns and villages _ _ _______________ _- _' j 30(J CHIOS UNDER THE TURKS —iOMEI,. destroyed the temples, and carried off the females into returned, under a promise of protection from the captivity. After the final repulse of the Persians Turkish government; but Scio is now in a ruined used from the Grecian territories, Chios became subject to desolate condition. Athens, then to the Macedonian and Roman empires. Homer, the father of Grecian poetry, has been re-'rhe thiee principal cities on the island, in ancient times, garded by many as a native of Chios, though the uinere Chios, Posidium, and Phanm. question of his birthplace has in all ages been a subThe Byzantine emperors retained their dominion ject of controversy. Seven Greek cities claimed him over %'hios after the downfall of the western empire, as a citizen, according to the well-known verses,till, at length, they became involved in war with the', Seven wealthy towns contend for Homer dead, Genoese, who made a descent on the island, (A. D. Through which the living Homer begged his bread." 1346,) and conquered it without resistance. The Smyrna and Chios have been generally allowed the government of Constantinople was at this time too preeminence in the rank of claimants. There is a weak to recover its lost provinces from so powerful a fragment of Greek poetry extant, ascribed to Homer, naval people as the Genoese, and the latter maintained in which he styles himself'" the blind old man who their authority here for more than two hundred years. dwelt in Chios;" but we have no sufficient evidence At length, they were expelled by the Turks in 1566. that this fragment is genuine. Every thing, in fact, These people gave it the name of Little Rome, on relating to the life of this great poet, has been a subaccount of the number of Latin churches in the island; ject of dispute; and there is not, even at the present the other Christians of the Levant being chiefly of the day, any general agreement among scholars respectGreek persuasion. In 1694, the Venetians, under ing him. His very existence even has been called in Antonio Zeno, gained possession of Chios, but the question. Turks reconquered it in the following year. The old opinion was mostly in favor of Chios as his The Turks, in their government of this island, re- birthplace; and there may be seen, at the present garded it as a privileged spot, in consequence of its day, in this island, a ruin which bears the name of being granted, as a sort of dowry, to the mother of the " Homer's School." Some ancient authors fixed his sultan, who sent her officers to collect the mastic gum birth at the year 1000 B. C., others at 600. The produced here. This is a valuable commodity, much Arundelian marble establishes it at 907 B. C. Herodused at Constantinople, especially by the females of otus declares that Homer lived four hundred years the sultan's harem, for chewing. Under the protection before his own time, which would carry him back to of the sultana mother, the inhabitants of Chios enjoyed the date of 784 B. C. There is a Life of Homer exan exemption from the ordinary vexations of Turkish tant, ascribed to Herodotus; but it is thought not to be rule. ~ They had their own magistrates, were not op- the work of this author, tlough unquestionably of grea pressed by pachas or other arbitrary chiefs, and lived antiquity. By the ancients, Hoiner was called Maeeon in comparative fieedom and security. The island ides, or the son of Meon, and Mlielisegenes, or born accordingly prospered beyond all its neighbors; and by the River Meles. Many traditions are related to the travellers who visited it during the last century account for these names. The word homneros, inl represent it as a paradise, inhabited by a most happy Greek, means a hostage; and this, also, has been the race of people. Its population exceeded one hundred foundation of many conjectures respecting the poet, and forty thousand, of whom not above four hundred some of which are very absurd. were Turks. Khio, the capital, was a handsome All the stories respecting the life of Homer represent citv, built in the Italian style, and contained thirty him as a rhapsodist or reciter of verses, wandering thousand inhabitants, with a college, in which four or throughout the Greek territories of Asia Minor and five hundred Greek youths were educated, and which the islands of the zEgean Sea, earning his living by contained a good library and a printing office. This reciting poetry. According to some accounts, he was seminary was supported by voluntary contributions blind. His death is described in various ways. One from the merchants of the island, many of whom tradition affirms that he was killed by falling over a were wealthy, and carried on an' extensive commerce stone; another, that he died of vexation because he with Italy and other countries. There were sixty could not solve a riddle which was proposed to hint by towns and villages on the island. some fishermen. None of these accounts are supThe Greek insurrection caused a terrible calamity ported by any good authority. to this island. The inhabitants, at first, remained The two epic poems of Homer, the Iliad and Odyssey, quiet; but, in 1822, a party of insurgents from the originally consisted of various rhapsodies, or detached neighboring islands landed here, and excited the Sciotes pieces, which were first arranged and put into an orto insurrection. The people, however, were of an derly shape by the command of Pisistratus, tyrant of e;ierninate temper and totally unfit for war, and the Athens, about five hundred years before the Christian island offered no natural defences against the invasion era. It is supposed that many additions were made of an enemy. The Turks soon directed their ven- to the original poems long after the death of the augeance upon this devoted race. The Capudan pacha thor, as it does not appear that letters were known to landed with a large force of the most ferocious ruffians the Greeks in Hopner's time; consequently the poems in the service of the Porte. The unfortunate natives must have been preserved by memory alone for sevcould offer no resistance.. There was no fighting, but eral centuries. Many persons regard the Iliad and a general and most horrible massacre: twenty-five Odyssey as a series of songs composed at different thousand were put to the sword; some few escaped by times and successively enlarged. These critics reject fight and concealment; the remainder, without dis- every account of the person of Homer as entirely rinction of age or sex, were carried off, and sold as fabulous. Aseparate question has been raised whothlei slaves in the markets of Smyrna and Constantinople. the Iliad and Odyssey were the productions of the'The whole island was wasted till it became a desert. same author and age. A doubt was expressed on this Somne time afterward, a few thousands of the fugitives point even in ancient times. A modern writer has sAM(OS-POLYCRATESs-PYT II AGORAS. 309 pointed out the diversity of style, manners, and my- kept them involved in troubles for many years The Lhology in the two works as evidence of a double commanding position of the island as a naval statior authorship. Another has attempted to show that caused it to become the prey of the great monarch, Ulysses was the author of the Odyssey. and powerful states, who contended for the supreme The Homeric poems exercised a wonderful influ- dominion during the three centuries which preceded ence upon the Greeks; but we shall reserve our ac- the Christian era. After forming successively a part count of these productions for the general subject of of the Egyptian, Macedonian, and Syrian empires, it Greek literature and mythology. Besides the Iliad was finally made subject to Rome, (B. C. 84.) and Odyssey, there are several other poems extant, On the division of the Roman empire, Samos was ascribed to HoUmer. One of these is a comic piece, attached to the eastern portion, and followed the for entitled the Batrachontmyonmachia, or the Battle of the tunes of the sovereigns of Constantinople. It was Frogs and Mice. There are also thirty-three hymns. conquered by the Saracens in the eighth century, but None of these pieces, however, have the air of anti- recovered by the Byzantines in the thirteenth. Afterquity which belongs to the two great epics. ward it fell into the hands of the Venetians and Gen oese. The Turks, under Mahlomtct II., conquered it in 1453, and still retain it. Pythagoras, the celebrated philosopher, was a native of Samos, and was born about 570 B. C. He CHAPTER CLXIII. was the son of IvInesarchus, a sculptor. He studied 800 B. C. to A. D. 1840. philosophy under Pherecides, and after the death of SAMOS. - The Ancient Scaimians - The Tyrazt his master, feeling an extraordinary desire to know Pol/crates - Re7oluctions of ~S~arnos - Py- the manners of foreign nations, he gave up all his prop titagoras. - RLEsolS.t-osapphof Pittacus. erty, and abandoned his country for the sake of tray thaDoJas. - L~suos. - XC~i~3~hO - P2'12CGCZLS. elling. He visited Egypt, where he spent some time in THE Island of Samos lies about a mile from the communication with the priests of that country, from promontory of Trogyllium, in Asia Minor. It is whom he learned the mysteries of their religion and twenty-four miles long and twelve broad, hilly in some science. Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, held him in parts, but exceedingly fertile, producing great abun- such esteem that he wrote in his favor to Amasis, king dance of fruit in the highest perfection. It is reckoned of Egypt, requesting that he might be treated with the richest island in the Archipelago. It is now called distinction. Pythagoras next went to the East, and by the Turks Sussaim, or Sussamn Abassi. visited the Chaldeans and Magians. Some writers The Carians and Leleges are said to have been imagine that he may have been personally acquainted among the first inhabitants of this island; but its early with Ezekiel and Daniel. After this, he visited Crete history is much mixed up with fable. In the eighth and contracted an intimacy with the famous philosocentury before Christ, the Samians became distin- pher Epimenides. At length, having enriched his guished for commerce and naval enterprise. They mind with a great store of knowledge, gathered in his traded to Egypt under the protection of Psammetichus, travels, he returned to Samos. But he was so grieved king of that country. Colmus, a Samian merchant, to see his country oppressed by the tyranny of Polycmade a successful voyage to Tartessus, about the year rates, that he determined on voluntary banishment. 630 B. C., and gained a large fortune by it, as we He accordingly went into the south of Italy, and eshave related in a previous chapter. The Samians tablished himself at Crotona, where he inhabited the' about this time founded several colonies: they also house of Milo, the famous boxer.'oined the Pan-Ionians, a confederacy of twelve cities Pythagoras founded a school of philosophy, called n Asia Minor. from the country in which he took up his residence In the sixth century B. C., the government fell the Italic. His reputation soon spread far and wide; into the hands of Polycrates, who made himself at Rome he was highly esteemed. According to Plutyrant, or supreme ruler, of the island, and became tarch, the Romans, during the Samnite war, being one of the most powerful and famous of all the sov- directed by an oracle to erect two statues, one to the ereigns in this neighborhood. He extended his sway bravest and the other to the wisest of the Greeks, over several of the adjoining states, and possessed a they set up those of Alcibiades and Pythagoras. He larger navy than any Grecian prince or state of his subjected his scholars to a severe novitiate of silence time. His increasing power at length excited the for two years, and extended it to'five with those who lealousy of the Persian king Darius, who, by means were naturally loquacious. He considered geometry of his satrap Oroetes, inveigled him into his hands, and arithmetic as absolutely necessary to enlarge the and put him to death. Polycrates was evidently a minds of young people, and to prepare them for the man of great political capacity. He seems to have study of great truths. He also set a high value upon designed to make Samos the mistress of the Archipel- music, of which he made a liberal use, in the practice as ago, and to have neglected nothing that could enhance well as theory of his philosophy. He pretended, it is her greatness. He surrounded himself with all the said, that the world was formed by a kind of harmony princely luxuries which the wealth of that time could imitated afterwards by the lyre - and he assigned pecuprocure. Among other eminent men, he invited the liar sounds to the motions of the celestial spheres. h poet Anacreon to his court. was the custom of the Pythagoreans, on rising in the The death of Polycrates caused Samos to fall into morning, to awaken the mind with the sound of the the hands of the Persians, and the prosperity of the lyre, in order to make themselves more fit for action. island received a severe shock. The Persians were Before going to rest at night, they also played on this subsequently expelled; but the Samians never recov- instrument, to prepare themselves for sleep by calming ered their maritime power or political rank. Civil the tumultuous thoughts of the day. Pythagoras had dlisslllsiotls and the interference of their neighbors a great influence over the minds of his scholars. Th, I:- 310 PYTHAGORAS-METEMPSYCHOSI S. fact of his having said a thing, was regarded as a suf- he, had spent a sufficient time in his concealment, he. ficient proof of its trdth; and from this came the appeared in public with a visage pale and thin fron, famous saying'Avuos E"Tlu, or Ipse dixit -" He has confinement, but fully informed by his mother's notes said it." He once reprimanded a scholar in the of all the dates and circumstances of the events tha presence of the rest, which so mortified the young had happened. In an assembly of the people, he philosopher, that he killed himself. From that time, assured them that he had just returned from hell, and, Pythagoras, instructed and afflicted by so mournful an in proof of this, he related what had passed on earth example, never rebuked any one except i.n private. during his absence. All were amazed, and no one His doctrine, and still more his example, produced doubted that Pythagoras was a divine person. a wonderful change in Italy. He found the inhabitants A variety of wonderful and miraculous things are of Crotona abandoned to luxu ry and debauchery; but by related of Pythagoras. It was believed that he made the force of his reasoning and persuasions, they were even the beasts understand and obey him. Ile comreclaimed to sobriety and frugality. He was one of manded a bear that made great ravages in Daunia to the first temperance reformers mentioned in history, be gone, and it disappeared. He whispered in the and he painted in a lively manner the evils of ebriety, ear of an ox, forbidding it to eat beans, and never and the ruin which it had caused both to individuals more did the animal touch them. It was believed that and to states. His discourses made such an impres- he was seen and heard, at the same time, disputing in sion on the people of Crotona, and the change in their the public assemblies of two cities very remote from manners was so radical,that the town retained no marks each other, the one in Italy and the other in Sicily. of its ancient dissoluteness. The zeal of Pythagoras He foretold earthquakes, appeased tempests, expelled was not confined to his school, and the instruction of pestilence, and cured diseases. It was said also that private persons, but even penetrated into the palaces he had a golden thigh, and exhibited it to his disciple of the great. He had the glory of forming disciples Abaris, the priest of Apollo Hyperboreus. Notwithwho proved excellent legislators, as Zaleucus, Cha- standing these absurd tales, which possibly may have rondas, and many others, whose wise laws were use- been the inventions of his admirers, and not counful to Sicily and Magna Grecia. He took great pains tenanced by him, the moral maxims of Pythagoras to put an end to wars in Italy, and to calm the intes- were admirable, and he designed that the study of tine factions which disturbed the tranquillity of states. philosophy should tend solely to exalt the human "War," said he, "should be made only against these character, and assimilate it to that of the deity. Folfive things,-disease of the body, ignorance of the lowing out the principle of the metempsychosis, he mind, passions of the heart, seditions of cities, and held that man committed a great crime by killing discord of families." The people of Crotona directed and eating animals. One of his whimsical maxims that their senate should act in all things by his advice. was, not to eat beans: the reason has not been gener. Trhis city was not the only one that enjoyed the benefit ally understood; but as beans were used for ballots in of his councils. He went from one place to another voting by public assemblies, it has been suggested tht I to diffuse hlis instructions, and left behind him every he advised people, by this enigmatical saying, not to where the fruits of his wisdom in the good order and meddle with party politics. Pythagoras lived to a wise laws whichl he established. very advanced age, and died at Metapontum, in Magna The inmeteir.ps. eosis, or transmigration of souls, was Graecia. the groundwork of the philosophy of Pythagoras. It LESBOS is the most northern of the large islands of' is uncertain whether he borrowed this notion from the Asia Minor. It lies near the gulf of Adramyttium. Egyptians, or from the Brahmins of India; it still and is about forty miles in length and twelve in breadth. subsists among the idolaters of India and China, and It is now called Metelin, from its ancient capital, Mityis the fundamental principle of their religion. Pythag- lene. Its most ancient names were Isa and Pelasg'ia oras believed that the souls of men, at their death, The old traditions of the island state that the Pelas. passed into other bodies; those of the wicked into gians were the earliest inhabitants, and that Lesbos, unclean and miserable beasts, to expiate the faults of the son of Lapithus, and grandson of tEolus, by the their past lives, and that, after a certain revolution of advice of an oracle led a colony to this island, where years or ages, they returned to animate other men. he espoused Methymna, the daughter of Macareus He even asserted that he remembered in what bodies the Pelasgian sovereign, and received with her the he had been before he was born Pythagoras. His dominion of half the island, which from that time was earliest recollection was that of IEthalides, the son of called Lesbos. Mercury. Having had permission to ask whatever he When this island first appears in history, it was inhabpleased of that god, except immortality, he desired ited by a race of /Eolian Greeks, living under a demthat he might remember all things, even after death. ocratic government. They afterward made great Some time after, he was Euphorbus, and received a conquests on the continent, and particularly in the mortal wound fiom Menelaus, at the siege of Troy. Trojan territory. Subsequently they became involved His soul passed next into Hermotimus, at which time in war with the Athenians, the Samians, and the Per he entered into the temple of Apollo, and saw his sians, the last of whom reduced Lesbos to subjection. buckler eaten up with rust, which Menelaus, on his re- After the battle of Mycale, (479 B. C.,) in which the turn from Troy, had consecrated to that god, in token Persians were defeated by the Greeks, the Lesbians, of his victory. He was afterwards a fisherman of threw off the Persian yoke, and became the allies of Delos, and lastly Pythagoras. Such is the fable be- the Athenians. This connection soon assumed the lieved or invented by this great philosopher. character of colonial dependence, and during the To give more credit to this narration, Pythagoras Peloponnesian war Lesbos revolted several times, buh made use of an artifice. He shut himself up in a was always reduced to obedience. One of the citicavern, after directing his mother to keep an exact zens of Mitylene, conceiving himself affronted bv the;onrnal of whatever occurrences took place. When rich inhabitants of that place who had refused },;s - _ _ _-I __ — _ ___1 ——. —-I~ —- _ _ __ 11 LESBOS-SAPPH O —ALC]EUS, &c. 31 1 sons their daughters in marriage, accused them to the equal to h'-is courage in verse.'On marching against Attienians of a design to conspire with the LacedB- the enemy,he was seized with a panic,threw away his monians against Athens. In consequence of this accu- arms, and fled. His works are lost, but they are highly sation, an Athenian fleet sailed to attack Mitylene. praised by QuIntilian for their noble and correct'l'hat city, although assisted by most of the others on style. the island, was unable to resist the invaders; its walls Pittacus of Mitylene was one of the seven sages were levelled to the ground, and a thousand of its of Greece. In the political disturbances to which richest inhabitants were put to death. The Athenians Lesbos was exposed, he joined with Alcumus and his maintained their sovereignty over the island, notwith- brothers in directing a party which expelled a tyrant standing a subsequent revolt of the inhabitants, till at wvho had usurped the government of the island. Afterlength it experienced the fate of their continental ter- wards, in a war with Athens, the inlhabitants of Mityritories, and fell into the hands of the Rornans. Like lene, gave Pittacus the comrmand of their army. To the other islands of Asia Minior, it formed a part of spare the blood of his fellow-citizens, he offered to the Byzantine empire, and at last was conquered by fight,-in single colnbat, Phlrynoin, the enemy's general. the Turks; who retain it at the present day. The challenge was accepted. lPittacus was successLesbos was anciently renowned for its wealth and ful, and slew his adversary. The Mitylenians, out of populousness, but very few mnarks of' its grandeur re- *gratitude, conferred the sovereignty of the city upon main. The inhabitants had the reputation of great him by a unanimonus vote. He accepted it, and ad. refinement of manners, and the most distinguished ministered he government with so much moderation intellectual cultivation. They were notorious also for and wisdom, that lie was always respected and beloved their dissolute manners, and thle whole island was re- by the people. Alcous, however. was a declared garded as the abode of pleasure and licentiousness. enemy to all tyrants." He did not spare Pittacus, in Poetry and music were cultivated here at a very early his verses, notwithstanding the mildness and equity period. The Lesbian school of music was very cele- of his governnient, but inveighed severely against brated, and is said to have had the following origin: him. The poet afterward fell into the hands of Pittacus, WVhen Orpheus was torn to pieces by the Bacchantes, who was so far from taking revenge, that he gave him his head and lyre were thrown into the River Hebrus, his liberty, and treated him with the utmost generosity and both were cast by the waves on the shore of After having held the supreme power for ten years, Lesbos at Methymna. Musical sounds continued to he voluntarily resigned it, and retired to private life. proceed from the mouth of Orpheus, while his lyre, Theophrastus was a native of Lesbos, and flourishell moved by the wind, emitted harmony in unison.. The in the fourth century B. C. Aristotle appointed him Methymnians buried the head, and suspended the lyre his successor in teaching philosophy. He filled the in the temple of Apollo. In return for this act of place of his master at Athens with so much success piety, the god conferred upon them the talent of and reputation, that his lectures were crowded to overmusic. Lesbos, in fact, produced musicians superior flowing. His name of Theoph/rastus, or "divine to all others of antiquity. speaker," was bestowed upon him from the noble and Sapplho, the poetess, was a native of Lesbos. The eloquent style of his discourses. Cicero relates a time of her birth is unknown; but she flourished in story of him which shows the delicate refinement of the sixth century B. C. Fewv particulars of her life the Attic style even among the meanest of the people. can be ascertained; but it was a common belief, in Theophrastus, after having lived many years inAthens, ancient times, that she destroyed herself by leaping imagined himself a perfect master of the language into the sea, in despair at her unrequited love for a of that city. But one day, as he was cheapening some youth namned Phaon. This, however, seems to be a greens at the stall of an herb-women, she detected fiction, which has been founded on some figura- his foreign origin by his speech, and said, " No, Mr. tive poetical expressions used by her. She was a Stranger, you cannot have them for less than so much." contemporary of the poet Alcmus. Her poems were Theophrastus was surprised and mortified that he very hig hly admired by the ancients, but with the ex- could not impose himself even upon an old women ception of one ode, and the fragments of a few others, for a native Athenian. they have all perished. What we possess, however, The small islands of TENEDOS, ICARIA, and PATMOS. is sufficient to justify the admiration of the ancients. are also regarded as belonging to Asia Minor. They In warmth and purity of feeling, in grace and sweet- claim, however, no particular notice in history. ness, in delicacy and beauty of diction, she has, per- Tenedos lies near the site of ancient Ilium, and is haps, never been excelled by any lyric poet either of famous as having been the place to which the Greeks ancient or modern times. She was called the Tenth retired when they practised the stratagem of the Muse, and the people of Mitylene caused her image wooden horse, by which Troy was taken. Icaria gave to be stamped on their coins. She wrote in a measure its name to the Icarian Sea, which was one of the now called Sapplic. appellations of the AEgean. Patmos was the residence Alcaeus was a native of Mitylene, and was the in- of the apostle John, when he wrote the Apocalypse. ventor of the verse called from him Alcaic. He was the, declared enemy of the tyrants of Lesbos, and in The word tyrant had not originally the odious meaning particular of Pittacus, whom he severely lashed in which it bears in modern times. It signified merely a milihis poems. His courage in battle, however, was not tary chief, or commander of a citadel. [312 GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF ARABIA. frnhia. CHAPTER CLXIVT. 6 j 5 s Geographical Description. ARABIA constitutes a broad pen- 1 P A Insula in the south-west of Asia. Its | A shores are washed by the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf on the east,,: by the Indian Ocean on the south, _ J4 and by the Red Sea on the west %i. the northern limit is not very clearly!jA,M E' defined, the desert in this qualtlerr s_-:' < XX i, being sometimes regarded as a part OIL Y e, of Syria, and sometimes as a partI 1 of Arabia. In the south, it extends ei' 5 nearly to the twelfth degree of sad, ) north latitude, and in the north, e:'' 1 beyond the thirty-fourth. Its teritory is about four times as large as lG1 nn. France. V te, ali o X,'li',,i ocsi, This country forms, in a certain, as -— " ~_~ sense, a distinct world, in which the G W.hr e':'t g": n heavens, and the earth, and man, and f beast, wear a peculiar aspect, and are s:"ttingt under the influence of peculiar laws. i'e Throughout this vast region, no river'e f,'.any magnitude takes itscours,: no Sa':n',ountain of any considerable height I..... rears its head to collect the clouds, or to disperse them in rain, or to A ya toi garner up the snows for the refriesh-. e p ment of the burning plains which -... are scorched with perpetual drought.. The interior of the country consists "oTaas% Rd an mostly of burning deserts of sand, 12 0c lying under a sky almost perpetually unclouded, and stretching away into boundless plains, where noth- 50 fat romn eli. ing meets the eye but the uniform horizon of a wild and dreary waste. Over the sur- The general aslpeet of desolation is occasionally reface of this vast solitude, the sand is swept along in Lieved by verdant and inhabitable spots, or oases, as dry billows, or is whirled into hills and columns, hav- they were named by the Greelks, Where the ground ing the appearance of waterspouts, and towering to a affords any moisture that is not speedily absorbed prodigious height, by sand, a green island arises in the bosom of the When the sands of the desert are undisturbed by the desert, groves of palms spring up, and the animals of wind, they resemble the ocean, and their level ex- the neighborhood resort to the spot, submitting to the panse, at a small distance, is sometimes mistaken by control of man with a readiness unknown in other the traveller for a lake of water. The deceitful ap- climes. These oases are scattered at wide distances pearance flies before lhim as he journeys on, keeping over the vast surface of Arabia; but along the shore always in advance, whilst the intermediate space glows of the Red Sea, some spots are marlred by more like a f'lrnace under the effect of the solar rays. Ev- abundant waters, and here flourishing cities have exery object is magnified to the eye; a shrub has the isted from the earliest antiquity. At the extremity of appearance of a tree, and a flock of birds is mistaken the peninsula, or the shores of the Indian Ocean, the for a caravan of camels. The most singular quality kingdom of Yemen, and the part called by Europeans of this vapor of the desert, or sirab, as the Arabs call Arabia 1he Happy, are watered by copious streams, it, is its power of reflection. Objects are seen in it and are carefully cultivated. This is the native counas fron the surface of a lake, and their figures are try of the cofflee-tree, which still covers the hills of sometimes changed into the most fantastic shapes. Yemen. Spices and incense-bearing shrubs flourish The mountains of sand borne along by violent winds here in luxuriance, and their perfumes are said to be often bury the traveller on his route. A few springs, wafted out to sea by the land breezes, and to salute which the industry of man or the instinct of travel- the approaching mariner. lers has discovered, mark, at long intervals, the spots In the greater portion of Arabia, however, the rewhere the life of man may be preserved. But these freshment of cooling breezes, periodically enjoyed in are as distant from each other as the cities of Europe. other sultry climates, is unknown. The air 1s dry and . -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~T rTHE SIMOOM. 313 suffocating. Hot and pestilential blasts frequently this sterile country as a "land of deserts and of pits, diffuse their noxious breath, fatal alike to animal and a land of drought and of the shadow of death; a land vegetable life. An inspired pen has truly described that no man passed through." All the souttlern coast ~~~~ —-~~~~~~~~~~~ —-~~~~~~~~~~~I~~~~,-~~:~:~ Oasls. Ls a wall of naiked rocks, barren aln diisnnl to the last called in that counltry sc'ire'l, or the wind of Syria. degree. Here and there they embosoiln low, sandy'This prevwils often on the frontiers, and more rarely beach; but they are entirely destitute of soil and in the interior. In the arid plains about Bassora and herbage, offering to the eye a striking picture of Bagdad, and ill the environs of Aleppo, it is most sterility and desolation. Some parts of the desert are dreaded. It blows only in the intense hea:s of sum intersected by ridgesof barren mountains, wvhich extend mer, but under its pestilential influence all nature irregularly from the fiontiers of Palestine to the shores seems to languish and expire. The Arabs, being accusof the Indian Ocean; but their rugged peaks and dry tomed to an atmosphere of great purity, are said to and flinty sides afford neither water nor vegetation. perceive it approach by its sulphurous odor, and by Arabia is frequently visited by the terrible simoom, an unusual redness in the sky, which, at other times.. ~ _.______ _.__. I I'. ~' —?z:~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~s~-~ -— ~' — ~ = Approach of the Sirnaoomi in the D:,sert. serene and cloudless, then appears lurid and heavy. animals, the simoom produces a painful feeling of su.The sun loses his splendor, and appears of a violet location, and the body is consumed by an internal solor. The air becomes thick and unfit for respira- heat, which often terminates in convulsions and death tion. Every kind of moisture is absorbed, the skin is The bodies of the dead exhibit symptoms of immediate parched and shrivelled, and paper cracks as if it were putrefaction, similar to what is observed to lake place n the mouth of an oven. 0When inhaled by men or in bodies deprived of life by lightning or electricity. 4L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | 14L GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS Ok aRlABlA. When the simoom visits a town, the inhabitants shut but to fall flat upon his face, till it has passed over, as themselves up in their houses, and the silence of night the poisonous vapor always moves at a certain height every where reigns. The traveller in the desert, over- in the atmosphere. Instinct teaches even animals to! taken by this dreadfill blast, has no means of escape bow down theirheads, and bury their nostrils in the sand ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.. _ —~ —~ —-— U=Tm__ _ — ~ ~ _ - _Y — ~ — ____ _- -~-I__ __ _ /~ nans. The them." After this defeat, the Meccans seem to have Arabs entered on this expedition with rtci ctance. Itv: lost all courage. Mahomet rapidly became the most was the season of harvest, and a time,f scarcity, powerful prince in Arabia. His followers received when their labor was imperiously dema.;Jled in the; his words as the inspired oracles of God; nor were field. Put in vain did they beg for a dispensation, they undeceived by the gross licentiousness in which and urge their different excuses —want of money, he indulged. Such was their veneration for him, that horses and provisions, their ripening crops., and the a hair which fell from his head, and the water in scorching heats of summer. "Hell is much hotter," which he had washed, were preserved, in the belief said the indignant apostle; and the Arabs took the that they contained some divine virtue. The faith of field. Painful and weary was their march. Ten men, his followers was confirmed by revelations which he rode by turns on the same camel, and the suffering. uretended to receive from the angel Gabriel, and from thirst was extreme. After ten days' journey in, which he communicated orally to those around him. a burning desert, the believers reposed-by the waters At length Mahomet marched against Mecca, (A. D. and palm-trees of Tabuc, a town midway between 628.) He found the city too strongly fortified for his Medina and Damascus. Here they learned that the mneans of attack, and therefore concluded a truce Roman army had decamped, which put a stop to much against the will of his followers, by which a the prosecution of the war. It is probable that the, _ _ _ _ _ _ —- I42_ __ _ | I30 DEATH OF MAHOM ET. distressed state of his followers, was the reason why and seemed to leave the matter entirely to the judg. Mahomet declined to hazard his fame and fortunes ment of his followers. He contemplated the approach against the martial array of the emperor of the East. of death with perfect calmness. but he mingled to the The ninth year of the Hegira is called by the last the doubtful pretensions of an apostle with the Mussulmans the Year of Embassies, from the extraor- lively faith of an enthusiast, and recited the words dinary concourse of ambassadors and visitors which which he declared he heard from the angel Gabriel. the fame of the prophet attracted in that year to Mec- He repeated what he had before affirmed, that the ca, to acknowledge his power, or sulpplicate for his angel of death would not bear away his soul till he protection. These devotees were said to " outnumber had obtained permission from him. This permission the dates that fall from the palm-tree in the season of he at length pronounced aloud. The moment of his ripeness." Various arrangements were made to con- departure arrived. His head reclined in the lap of solidate the strength of the infant monarchy. Officers Ayesha, and he fainted from excess of pain. Recovwere appointed to collect the ecclesiastical revenues, ering his senses, he fixed his eyes upon the ceiling, and and the opprobrious name of tribute was exchanged uttered these his last words: " O God! pardon my for that of alms, or oblation, for the service of reli- sins! I come to rejoin my brethren in heaven! " gion. Mahomet assumed great state in his household. With this exclamation he expired, (A. D. 632.) IHis camp included all his wives, who, riding on cam- Such is the story of the life of Mahomet - one of els, were enclosed within pavilions of embroidered the most remarkable men that ever lived. He left to silk. He was followed by, an immense number of the speculation of future ages the problem of his true victims for sacrifice, crowned with garlands of flow- character — whether he was a mere fanatic, sincerely ers. Every spot where he halted and said his prayers believing all that he preached, or whether he was only became consecrated, and the manner in which he ex- an ingenious and successful hypocrite. Yet this is ecuted the various religious rites, from cutting his hair hardly the proper issue of the question; as no im.posand nails to the solemn act of throwing stones at the ture, civil or religious, was ever successful without a devil, is still faithfully copied by the believers of the mixture of sincerity and cunning. Mahomet, in truth, present day. has not generally received justice from the writers of Christendom, who have been disposed to see all evil and no good in the founder of an erroneous religious system. Nothing can be wider from the truth than to C H A PTE R C L XX IV. regard Mahomet as a mere impostor. He doubtless A. D. 631 to 632. considered himself a religious reformer. He urged a whole nation onward in the most important of all steps Death of Mahomet - His Character. in the investigation of truth. He led his countrymen MAHOMET had now reached his sixty-third year. from an absurd and degrading idolatry, from a priestly During four years, his bodily vigor had perceptibly slavery which corrupted morals; and promoted every declined; yet he continued to discharge the duties of a vice by a system of expiations - to a partial knowledge ring, a general, and an apostle. At length, he was of an almighty and beneficent Deity. seized with a fever, attended by occasional delirium. But even in this high career, we have a melan,Finding his condition becoming critical, he caused him- choly example of human weakness -of that mixture self to be conveyed to the mansion of his favorite wife of enthusiasm and artifice, which has in all ages and Ayesha. To her he expressed his belief that he owed countries characterized leaders of sects, and which is the cause of his disease to the poisoned mutton of to be seen even in our own times. This experience Khaibar. As he felt his danger increase, he recom- of the general infirmity of humanity ought to teach us mended himself to the prayers of his faithful followers, indulgence. From enthusiasm to deception the path and asked for the forgiveness of all whom he might is short and slippery, and it is difficult to fix the point have offended. "If there be any man among you," where faith ends and imposture begins. An intense said he, 6" whom I have struck unjustly, I submit my- belief is easily confounded with an internal revelation: self to be scourged in return. If I have injured any the dreams of an excited fancy become sensible ap. man's reputation, let him proclaim my faults. If I pearances; faith in a future event seems to us like a have taken any one's property, or owe money to any prophecy, and, having persuaded ourselves, we are ~ne, let him demand justice, that I may satisfy him." readily disposed to persuade others. Mahomet conYes," exclaimed a voice fiom the crowd, " you owe fessed himself to be nothing more than a mere man me three drachms of silver." The dying apostle im- he made no pretensions to miraculous power, but he mediately paid the debt, and thanked his creditor for felt himself called upon to perform a great work of demanding it in this world, rather' than accusing him religious reformation. Was he an impostor for declarat the day of judgment. He then gave freedom to ing this to be a call from Heaven? But the most perhis slaves, ordered the affairs of his burial, calmed the feet probity affords no security against the dangers of lamentations of his friends, and pronounced a benedic- fanaticism, the intolerance which it engenders, nor the tion upon them. Till his last hour, he continued to act cruelty to which it leads. Mahomet was the reformer the character of the apostle of God, evincing, at the of the Arabs; he taught them, and he wished to teach closing scene of mortality, the same remarkable forti- them, the knowledge of the true God. Nevertheless, tude and presence of mind that he had displayed on from the time when he adopted the character of an the field of battle. Till within three davs, he contin- apostle, his life lost its purity, and his temper its mild- ued to Ietform his devotons in the mosque. When, ness; policy entered into his religion; fraud mingled -|t length, he was too feeble, he charged Abu Bekr more and more with his conduct; and when, at last, he i with this duty; and it was thought that hlie thus in- pretended that his views were sustained by revelations tended to point out his old fiiend as his successor. from [leaven, he laid down a fatal faisehood at the }Rut he expressed no opinion or desire on this subject, very threshold of his system. The vils which have _____ _________I__ ______ CHAItACTER OF IAHORMET. 31 followed, display the danger of a departures from truth, on the ground. When he travelled, he divided his even when the object may seem good. scanty morsel with his servant, who generally rode rhe private and moral character of Mahomet was behind him on the same camel. T'o finishbthis por-. checkered by a strangely inconsistent mixture of vir- trait of. his humility, it is stated that he was in the tue and vice, dignity and condescension. Though habit of performing the most humble and. menialvested with the power and ensigns of royalty, he de- offices of the family. The lord of Arabia disdained spised its pomp, and was careless of its luxuries.. The not to mend his own shoes, and patch his coarse familiarity which gained the hearts of the Arabian woollen coat! He milked the sheep, kindled the fire, nobles, and endeared him to his companions, was ex- swept the floor, and served the guests at his own table..ended to the'meanest of the people, whose wishes His liberality in bestowing alms bordered on extravaand complaints he always listened to with patience. gance, and often left him without money- or provisions,. -le even entertained them occasionally at his table, or for his own household. shared with them their homely meal, while they were. The Arabs had been accustomed. to unbounded seated on benches around the mosque. When, not. license in love and marriage. Mahomet, forbade. inoccupied in matters of graver importance, he threw cestuous unions; he punished dissoluteness, and. retside the forms and restraints of official etiquette, and stricted the right of divorce; but he permitted every condescended to partake in the amusements or jocu- Mussulman to have four wives. Raising lhimself alone lar conversation of his friends. At the head of his above the laws which-he imposed on others, after the.. army, he could maintain the stateliness and grave taci- death of his first wife, KIhadijah, he:married fifteen tu rnity of a Roman emperor. With his soldiers, he, wives in succession..The two things on earth which could unbend hirnself without losing his authority. gave him the greatest delight, were feniale society and He mixed in their pastimes and pleasantries with a perfumes. The fervor of his piety, he affirmed, was freedom which reminds us of the sportive freaks of increased by these enjoyments, and he took care that Cromwell, whose character for military genius, fanati- his religion should make ample provision for them.: nism, and political shrewdness, he in many points. Yet all the inmates of his harem were childless, and resembled. not a son survived to support the decline. of his life, Mahomet courted no distinction beyond others in or uphold, after his death, the dignities of priest and food or dress. Dates and water, or a sparing allow- king. Of his eight children by Kl.ad;ijah, onle alone,. mnce of barley bread, the absteminous diet of his Fatima, lived to enjoy his paternal tenderness. She; 2ountlrymen, were bis usual fare. Milk and honey to married Ali, in the first year of the Hegira, and be. him were luxuries.'When he ate, he sat cross-leggedl caine the mother of an illustrious progeny. II The Khalif on his Throne. CHAPTER CLXX V. faithful was no more. A scene of tumuit and. con A. n. 632 to 635.: fusion ensued which delayed the: interment for some.A~oi~ntmet of a Khalif-Reig of days. It, was a political error in Mahornet, which -poiernt oar haf- I. Resio n o f SyriA by theproved fatal to the unity and stability, of: hisempire, Ber- Omar invasion of Syria by the that he neglected to name his immediate successor Saracens. His decease was the signal for immediate contest beTIE Arabs could scarcely be convinced that they I tween the two chief parties of his fbllovers. The dav had been deprived of their apostle. The fiantic pop- that laid him in the grave saw them assembled to de- ulace of Mecca rushed in crowds to the house of Ma- liberate on the choice of a new sovereign. &A: schism homet, as the unexpected tidings of his death met their appeared inevitable; swords were drawn, and the i ears. Omnar, disregarding the evidence of his senses, hasty structure of Moslem greatness seemed tottering drew his cimeter, and threatened to strike off the head to its fall, when the tumult was seascnably stilled by f any- one who should say that the leader of the the magnanimity of Omar, one of tic claimants o thei f f~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ h magnan-m:~t of — Omar, —- one- of- tbc — claimant to the ~'i-~ —-- ---— ~ —-- ------------ -— ~ —- ~ —-— ~ —— ~ —-I-. —.~-..-I-. —— ~ —1.~.. 332 AB J BEKR-OMAX. succession. He renounced his own pretensions in fa- of the Arabian desert. The Mussulman soldiers were vor of Abu Bekr, the first believer in Mahomet's mission, half naked. When on foot, they were armed only and the companion of his flight. Abu Bekr was there- with bows and arrows; when on horseback, they carfore proclaimed Italif, or lieutenant-a title which was ried a light lance and a cimeter. Their horses were subsequently assumed by his successors in the empire. indefatigable, and unequalled in the world for their The same religious enthusiasm still inspired the docility and spirit. But they did not manceuvre in Mussulmans. Their swords, their wealth, and their large or regular masses. They knew nothing of those power were destined, as they believed, to no other charges of modern cavalry, which bear down batobject than that of extending the knowledge of talions by their resistless w'eight. Single-handed, warthe true God. The part which each man took riors advanced in front of the army to signalize themwas indifferent, provided he labored with all his selves by acts of personal prowess, and after a few strength to this end. Abu Bekr, from his great age, strokes of their flashing cimeters, escaped from their -was unable to lead the armies of the faithful. He enemies by the swiftness of their steeds. Battles were appointed Khaled, surnamed the' Sword of God, his long-continued skirmishes, in which the hostile troops general, and devoted himself to prayer, penitence, did not engage rank to rank; the contest frequently and the administration of justice. At the end of two lasted several days, and it was not till after their adveryears, feeling the approach of death, he named Omar saries, exhausted by unusual fatigue, were put to rout, as his successor. "I do not want the place," said that the Arabs became terrible in pursuit. Omar. " But the place wants you," replied Abu Bekr. The Asiatic provinces of the Greek empire and of Omar, having been saluted by the acclamations of the Persia, alternately devastated by war, in the seventh army, was invested with the khalifate, (A. D. 634.) century had undergone a great change in their politHe had given brilliant proofs of valor during the wars ical state and the character of the people. The forof Mahomet, but he considered the dignity of khalif tresses were dismantled; confidence in the defences as putting an end to his military career, and exacting of the frontiers was gone; the administration was from him an exclusive attention to religious duties. disorganized; and obedience to the government was During a reign of ten years, he was solely intent on irregular and imperfect. The provincials had begun directing the affairs of the faithful, giving an example to take an active share in the affairs of their country, of moderation and justice, of abstinence, and con- and had become soldiers, though very bad ones. At tempt of outward grandeur. His food was barley- this time, we begin to find mention of military bodies read or dates: his drink, water: the dress in which proportioned to the extent of the Byzantine empire - he preached to the people was patched in twelve armies of one hundred thousand men, though their places. A satrap of Persia, who came to do him valor and discipline were of a kind which leads us to homage, found him sleeping on the steps of the mosque suppose that they were composed exclusively of miliat Medina. It was during the reigns of these two tia. The names of the officers which are incidentally peaceful religious votaries, Abu Bekr and Omar, that the mentioned in history are not Greek, but Syrian. The Mussulmans achieved their most wonderful conquests. cities appear to have had an independent existence: The victories, the doctrine, and the revolution, which their own magistrates directed their affairs; and the were the work of Mahomet, had hitherto been confined interests of the empire appear to have been forgotten within the boundaries of Arabia. Changes of opinion in the interests of the provinces. The Mussuimans in an illiterate nation, the language of which had did not attack the Persians or the Syrians by surprise: - never been studied by its neighbors, did not seem of they prefaced their invasion by a summons, in which sufficient importance to engage the attention of the they gave to their enemies the threefold choice, either world. The revolutions of the little republics of the to become converts to Islamism, and, in that case, to Red Sea, had never been felt in other countries, and share all the honors, rights, and privileges of true bethe union of the Arabs of the desert, thus suddenly lievers; or to submit on condition of paying tribute; accomplished by a new religious doctrine, seemed or, lastly, to try the fortune of war. likely to be of short duration. At Constantinople, at Khaled, the Sword of God, was despatched with an Antioch, and at Alexandria, the birth of Islamism was army into Irak and the Persian provinces on the lower either wholly unknown, or was thought too insignificant Tigris, where he gained splendid victories, and imto be feared. Yet the first twelve years which elapsed posed on those countries an annual tribute of seventy after the death of the prophet, are filled with Mussulman thousand pieces of gold. But this general was sudconquests, which astound the imagination. During denly recalled from the banks of the Euphrates, to this short space, the followers of Mahomet subjugated take the command in another quarter. The khalif Syria, Persia, and Egypt. They captured thirty-six had resolved on an invasion of Syria, and an army, thousand cities, towns, and castles, destroyed four under Abu Obeidah, had already marched against that'thousand temples and churches, and built fourteen country. The instructions given to this commander hundred mosques dedicated to their own religion. show the spirit which animated the early Mussulman. These conquerors were utterly ignorant of geogra- "' Remember," said the khalif, " that you are always phy, and of the interests, strength, policy, and lan- in the presence of God, always at the point of death, guages, of the nations which they attacked. They always in expectation of judgment, always in hope had no regular plans of campaign, no schemes to of paradise. Avoid, then, injustice and oppression. i strengthen themselves by alliances, or to establish Study to preserve the love and confidence of your secret correspondence in the countries which they troops. When you fight the battles of God, bear | |were about to invade. The instructions which the yourselves like men, and turn not your backs upon the I khalifs gave to the commanders of their armies were enemy. Let your victories never be sullied by the imple and general. Neither Mahomet nor his sue- blood of women or children. Destroy not the fruitcessors had made any change in the rude armor and trees, neither burn the standing corn; do no damage rregular manner of fighting common to the robbers to the flocks and herds, nor kill any beasts but sutcl: _ ____ _ _ _ __ _____________ ____ _ _ _ _ ___ _ CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM BY fHE SARACENS. 333 as are necessary to your sustenance. WVhatever treaty sailants. The walls were thickly planted with crosses you make, be faithful to it, and let your deeds be ac- banners blessed by the priests, and miraculous images. cording to your words. As you advance into the But all this zeal was fruitless. Sophronius, the patrienemy's country, you will find some religious persons arch of Jerusalem, who directed the efforts of the who live retired in monasteries, designing to serve besieged, was obliged to capitulate. But he refused God in that way. Let them alone, and neither hurt to open the gates of the city until the khalif Omar them nor destroy their houses. But you will find, should come in person to receive so important a suralso, another sort of men, who belong to the synagogue render, and to guaranty the capitulation by his word. of Satan, and who have shaven crowns. Cleave their Jerusalem was as sacred in the eyes of the Mussulskulls; give them no quarter till they either embrace mans as in those of the Christians. Omar set out on our faith or pay tribute." The two classes of religion- his pious pilgrimage. The camel which he rode was ists here indicated are the monks and the secular also laden with his baggage: this comprised only a clergy. The former had obtained the favor of Maho- sack of wheat, a basket of dates, a wooden bowl, and met by some act of kindness extended toward him in a skin of water. When he came in sight of Jerusahis youth, if we may believe an Arab tradition. lem, he exclaimed, " Good and victorious Lord! grant Abu Obeidah attacked Bosra, one of the fortified us a victory unstained with blood." His attendants towns which defended Syria on the Arabian frontier. pitched his tent of camel's hair cloth: he sat down on The Syrians, at first, thought the invasion nothing more the earth, and signed the capitulation, by which he than one of the usual incursions of the wandering promised to leave the Christians liberty of conscience, tribes of the desert, and they gave to the Arabs the and the undisputed possession of the church of the name of Saraken, or " marauders," which, for many holy sepulchre. Having completed this act, he encenturies, had been applied to a plundering horde on tered the city without precaution and without fear, their borders. Such is the origin of the name of discoursing by the way with the patriarch, whom he Saracen, which soon became a terror to the civilized hoped to protect from the fanaticism of his followers world. The governor of Bosra, named Romanus, by this show of confidence. They visited the Church advised the citizens to surrender; and, when they in- of the Resurrection together; and, at the hour of dignantly deprived him of his command, he treacher- prayer, the khalif declined offering his adorations in ously admitted the Arabs by night into the fortress. the interior, preferring the steps of the porch, where On the following day, in the presence of his astonished he spread his mat, and performed his devotions. Ile fellow-citizens, he made a public profession of his laid the foundation of a magnificent mosque on the belief in Mahomet. This was the beginning of a se- ruins of the temple of Solomon. As the spot was ries of desertions, which inflicted a deadly blow upon covered with rubbish of every kind, he set the example the declining Roman empire. All the discontented, of cleaning it by removing some of the earth in his all those whose ambition or cupidity outran their ad- robe. At the expiration of ten days, he returned, in vancement or their fortune, all who had any secret the same simple and unostentatious manner, to Medina. injury to avenge, were sure to be received with open where he passed the remainder of his life in offering arms by the conquerors, and to share their fortunes. up his devotions at the tomb of the prophet. In provinces where the Byzantine commanders had In the year -Which followed the capture of Jerusalem never been able to levy a single cohort, the Saracen'the Saracens made themselves masters of Antioch and army was recruited by filgitives, with a facility which Aleppo. The Byzantine emperor fled from a province proves that it is the government, and not the climate, which he could not defend; the Greek army dispersed which destroys courage. or went over to the enemy; Tyre and Tripoli were The capture of Bosra was quickly followed by the given up to the invaders by treachery; and the remainattack on Damascus, one of the most flourishing cities ing cities of Syria soon after opened their gates by of Syria. This awakened the attention of the em- capitulation. The conquest of Persia, which Khaled peror Heraclius, who collected an army of seventy had commenced, was completed by other generals. thousand men for the relief of the besieged city. A The battle of Cadesia (A. D 636)'established the battle was fought at Aiznadin, (A. D. 633,) in which triumph of the Mussulmans over the Persians,:as we the Christians were defeated, with the loss of fifty have related in the history of the latter people. The thousand men. This decided the fate of the Roman fertile province of Assyria was conquered, and the empire in Asia. Damascus surrendered after a siege possession of it secured, by the foundation of the city of one year. Emesa and Baalbec followed, and the of Bassora, on the Euphrates, about forty miles from Saracens laid siege to Jerusalem. The rival religions the Persian Gulf. were here brought into especial hostility; for the whole Syria and Persia had been but feebly defended by of Christendom had its eyes turned toward the holy the Christians and the disciples of Zoroaster. Egypt city, and regarded this spot as the outward pledge of was given up by the Copts, a native race of Christians, the truth and triumph of the religion of Jesus. who were severed from the established church by a theological dispute, and who preferred the yoke of the Saracens to the persecutions of the orthodox. Even during the lifetime of Mahomet, they had proC H APTE R CLXXVI. posed negotiations to the Arabs; and, after the conA. D. 635 to 644. quest of Syria, Omar, urged by the valiant Amrou, Care of Jersalem - Conquest of Syria and one of the warriors by whom that deed was accomCapture. ~~ plished, had given his consent to the invasion of Egypt Egypt - Burning of the Alexandrian. Li- The fortress of Pelusiumi, which surrendered in 638, brary - Dneath of Omar. after a month's siege, opened to the invaders the enDURING a siege of four months, the religious enthu- trance to that country. The Romans had transferred sKasm of the besieged kept pace with that of the as- the seat of government in Egypt to Alexandria, and a —. —------— _ =. _.__ _. =, =.. t 334 CONQUEST OF EGYPT. Memphis, the ancient capital, had sunk to the rank of were seven hundred thousand volumes collected'li a secondary city. Its population, however, was con- the temple of Serapis and the royal palace. John the siderable, and almost exclusively Coptic, or Egyptian, Grammarian ventured to solicit of the conquering whi'-e Alexandria abounded in Greeks. After a siege general the gift of the royal manuscripts, which, he of seven months, Memphis surrendered. The Sara- observed, the Arabs had omitted as of no value in tens took possession of it, and founded, in one of the sealing up the magazines and repositories of weailth. suburbs, a new town, to which they gave the name of Amrou was disposed to comply; but, as it was beyond Kahira, or the "City' of Victory: " this has been his power to alienate any part of the spoil, the consent corrupted by the Europeans to Cairo. of the khalif was necessary. The answer of Omar The march of Amrou from Memphis was a series is well known: "These books are useless if they of skirmishes and victories; and, after twenty-two contain only the word of God; they are pernicious if days of battle, the Saracens pitched their tents before they contain any thing else: therefore destroy them." the gates of Alexandria. This magnificent city had The sentence was executed with blind obedience, and risen, after the lapse of a thousand years, to be the the books were used as fuel in heating the baths of second capital of the Byzantine empire, and the first the city. The number of the volumes swas so great, emporium of trade in the world. The inhabitants that six months scarcely sufficed for their destruction. made a determined resistance to the attacks of the Such is the story, though it is discredited by some Arabs, and they were abundantly supplied with the historians. It is in opposition to the precepts of the means of defence For fourteen months, the siege Koran, and to the profound veneration of the Mussul was carried on with a fury rarely paralleled in the man for every scrap of paper on which the name of history of var. A singular accident had nearly de- G'od is written. Moreoveir, lhe'ancient library, col prived the besiegers of their commander. In every lected by the magnificent liberality of' the Ptolemies sally and attack, the sword of Amrou glittered in the had long before been destroyed, and we have no evli van. On one occasion, the Arabs were repulsed, and dence that it had been replaced at any later period.' Amrou and his slave were taken prisoners. They The conquest of Egypt was' most opportune. A1 were carried before the-governor of the city. Arnrou no season could the possession of this fertile country was not recognized as the Saracen chief, but his have been more useful to the Arabs. Their own haughty demeanor began to excite suspicion, when his country was suffering from a famine, and Omar earslave, with singular presence of mind, gave him a nestly solicited a supply of corn for the starving inblow on the face, and bade him hold his tongue in the habitants of Arabia. The request was instantly anpresence of his superiors. tie then proposed to de- swered. A train of camels, bearing on their backs spatch him to the Mussulman camp under pretext of the produce of the gardens and granaries of Egypt, obtaining money for his own ransom. The credulous was despatched for their relief in a continuous chain Christians were deceived, and Amrou was dismissed; from Memphis to Medina, a distance of three hundred but they soon bad cause to repent of their folly: in- miles. The tediousness of this mode of conveyance stead of a pacific embassy from the besiegers, they suggested to the khalif the scheme of opening a mariwitnessed only the tumultuous acclamations of joy in time communication between the Nile and the Red( the camp of the Arabs as they hailed the return of Sea -an experiment which Trajan and the Ptolemies their commander. Alexandria at length surrendered had attempted in vain. The resources of the Arabs on the 22d of December, A. D. 640. The siege had were equal to its accomplishment, and a canal, eighty cost the Mussulmans twenty-three thousand men. miles in length, was opened by the soldiers of Amrou.l. Amrou wrote an account of his victory to the khalif Their inland navigation, which would'have connected in the following style: " I have taken the great city the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, continued in of the west. It would be impossible for me to de- use for some time. But, when the khalifs removed scribe all its grandeur, all its beauty. Let it suffice the seat of their government from Medina to Damasto you to know that it contains four thousand palaces, cus, it was sacrificed to an apprehension of the danger four thousand baths, four hundred theatres, or places that might ensue, from its opening to the Christian of public amusement, twelve thousand shops for the fleet a passage to the holy cities of Arabia. sale of vegetables fit for the food of man, and forty The anxiety of Omar to learn something of Egypt thousand tributary Jews. The city has been taken by was natural; and the lively description of Amrou, in force of arms, without treaty or capitulation, and the his answer, would rather augment than diminish his Mussulmans are impatient to seize the fruits of their romantic conceptions of this singular country: " victory." Omar rejected the proposal of pillage, and commander of the faithful! Egypt is a compound of commanded his lieutenant to restrain the rapacity of black earth and green plants, between a pulverized the soldiers, and preserve the wealth of the city for mountain and a red sand. ". The distance from Syene the public service. The inhabitants were numbered; to the sea is a month's journey for a horseman. Along a tribute was imposed upon them, and a land-tax was the valley descends a river, on which the blessing of, assessed according to the annual rent of estates. the Most High reposes both in the evening and mornMany of the inhabitants embraced the religion of the ing, and which rises and falls with the revolutions of conquerors, but the mass of the population remained the sun and moon. When the annual dispensation of Christians; and, even now, the Coptic church in Upper Providence unlocks the springs and fountains that Egypt and the Greek church of Alexandria are not nourish the earth, the Nile rolls his swelling and entirely annihilated. sounding'waters through the land. The' fields are An event connected with the capture of the city is overspread by the salutary flood, and the villagers too famous to be passed over in silence. The destruc- communicate with each other in their painted barks. tion of the Alexandrian library has done more to The retreat of the inundation deposits a fertilizing familiarize us with the name of Omar than all the mud for the reception of the various seeds. The ronouests effected in his name. It is said that there crowds of husbandmen that blacken the fields may be CIVIL WARS. 335 compared to a swarm of industrious ants, and their of government. Yet, during his reign, which lasted native indolence is quickened by the lash of the task- eleven years, the Saracens completed the subjugation master, and the promise of the flowers and fruits of a of Persia; they extended their conquests through plentiful increase. According to the vicissitudes of Asia Minor, threatening Constantinople, and into the seasons, the face of the country is adorned with a Africa, as far as Tripoli. In the midst of these vicsilver wave, a verdant emerald, or the deep yellow of tories, a civil war broke out at Medina, and Othinan a golden harvest." The phenomenon of a country fell by the hand of an assassin, (A. D. 655.) He had alternately a garden and a sea was new to the dwellers given away vast sums in charity, yet he left fifty in the desert. millions of dollars, in money, at his death. The ambition of Amrou was not contented with a Ali, the husband of Mahomet's daughter Fatima, single conquest. He carried his arms westward, and, was chosen to succeed him. This occasion was the in a short time, made himself master of all the country beginning of new political convulsions, and the cause between the Nile and the Desert of Barca. In the of that religious schism which rent the creed of Islam midst of this career of victories, the dagger of an in twain. The discontented faction took the name of assassin put an end to the life of Omar, (A. D. 644.) Motazalites, or separatists. The spirit of discord was A Persian slave, who had a private injury to avenge, irritated by the calumny that Ali was an accomplice watched his opportunity while the khalif was engaged in the murder of Othman. The bitterest enemy of at morning prayers in the mosque, and plunged a the khalif was Ayesha, the widow of the prophet. dagger into his heart. Omar is celebrated for his At Bassora, a great battle was fought between the two piety, justice, abstinence, and simple manners, which parties. Ayesha mixed in the conflict, riding upon a procured him more reverence than his successors, camel in a sort of wooden tower or cage. With her with all their grandeur, could command. " His walk- shrill voice she animated her troops to the combat, an ing-stick," says an Arabian historian, "struck more her tower was pierced with innumerable darts and terror into those who were present than another man's javelins, till it resembled the back of a porcupine. sword." Her party was defeated, and she was taken prisoner. This action was called the Battle of Khoraiba, or the Day of the Camel. In the mean time, Moawiyah, son of Abu Sophian, C I A P T E R C L X X VII. the ancient rival of Mahomet, had been chosen khaA. D. 644 to 680. lif in Syria. On the news of the death of Othman Civil WVars of the S'aracens —Othman — he had declared himself the avenger of the commander of the faithful. He displayed his bloodMoawiyah — Ali - Obeidollah — Death of Hosei~n. t stained garments in the mosque of Damascus, and sixty thousand Mussulmans swore to support his stanDURING the reigns of Abu Bekr and Omar,the Mus- dard. Ali marched against him: all the forces of the sulmans had lost none of the enthusiasm with which conquerors were collected, and, if we may believe the their prophet had inspired them. No private ambition, Arabian histories, the two armies remained face to no jealousy, no personal interest or passion, had as yet face for the greater part of a year. At length, there alloyed that zeal for enlarging the kingdom of God, was a general cry that the rivals should refer their which turned all their efforts toward war, and caused dispute to the decision of two arbitrators, in conformthem to meet death with as much exultation as vic- ity to a precept of the Koran. The two khalifs subtory. The commanders of armies, born in free Ara- mitted. Ali returned to Cufa, on the Euphrates, and bia, accustomed to complete independence of mind Moawiyah to Damascus. Their two representatives, and will, rendered implicit obedience to the khalif; Abu Musa. and Amrou were left to decide which of yet they felt not that they were subject to a master, the two was to retain the Mussulman sceptre. To oecause his will was so exactly in conformity with their depose both, and elect a third, seemed to be the most own. But a new question sprung up after the decease eligible course. Upon this the umpires agreed, and of Omar, both in the civil government and in the Abu Musa announced to the people that Ali had ceased army. The troops had been recruited from foreign to be khalif. The crafty Amrou instantly declared countries, and though they shared the religious enthu- that Moawiyah consequently remained in undisputed siasm of the Arabs, they introduced a new character possession of the khalifate. From this act of treachery and a new species of ambition into the army. dates the schism which still exists between the Shea][s The two khalifs who succeeded Omar resided con- and the Sunnees. The former, and more especially stantly at Medina, and preserved pure and unmingled the Persians, regard the deposition of Ali as illegal; the genuine Arab faith, together with the simplicity of the latter, and especially the Turks, esteem the sucmanners which characterized their predecessors. But cession of Moawiyah as legitimate. they were surrounded by persons who no longer Civil wars broke, out afresh. The empire, founded maintained the ancient purity of character, and they on a long course of victories, seemed on the point of introduced confusion and civil war into a government crumbling to ruin. Ali was assassinated, and Hassan, previously:remarkable for its simplicity. After a his son, and the grandson of Mahomet, was recognized while, the seat of empire was transferred from Medina by the Sheahs as his successor. But this prince, ro Damascus. Oriental despotism then succeeded to the desirous of putting an end to the effusion of blood, liberty of the desert; fanaticism was still kept alive in entered into a treaty with Moawiyah, and renounced ihe armv, but a new principle of government guided all claim to the khalifate. Moawiyah, during a reign the prudence and concealed the vices of the khalifs. of twenty years, restored tranquillity to the Mussulman Othman, who had been the secretary of Mahomet, empire, and turned the arms of the faithful once more Was elected khalif on the death of Omar. He was against their enemies. For seven years, his troops already old, and incapable of supporting the burden laid siege to Constantinople, while other Mussulnvin 336 DEATH OF HOSEI1N. armies traversed the northern part of Africa, and perished with their slaughtered companions. His eld. founded a new capital at Cairouan. But the conquests est son sought revenge in the thickest of the battle, of the Mussulmans were no longer undertaken with and fell after bravely sustaining ten different assaults. the sole view of extending their religion. They now Hosein was overpowered with feelings of anguish, served to establish the supremacy of a new reigning which he could no longer suppress. Alone, weary, family, which united the despotic habits of the an- and wounded, he seated himself at the door of his cient monarchs of the East to the fanaticism of new tent, addressing his supplications to Heaven. His sectaries. Moawiyah had quitted Arabia to return no infant child was brought to his arms, and while pressmore; he preferred the abject submission and servile ing it to his bosom, he saw an arrow pierce it to the habits of the Syrian to the haughty independence heart. His little nephew ran to embrace him, when of the Bedouin. He succeeded in causing his son his head was struck off with a sabre. Hosein received Yezid to be acknowledged as his colleague, thus se- a wound in the mouth while quenching his thirst with curing the sceptre in his family by anticipation. This a drop of water. His enemies gathered thickly around principle being once admitted, the khalifate became him. His sister Zeinab, in a transport of horror, hereditary in the family of Abu Sophian, the earliest rushed from her tent, and begged their general not to and most inveterate enemy of Mahomet. suffer the grandson of the prophet to be murdered The Fatimites, or the party adhering to Ali and before his eyes. Frantic with despair, Hosein threw Fatima, the daughter of Mahomet, were disgusted himself into the midst of the assailants, and the boldest with the vices of Yezid. The second son of Ali named of them retreated before his desperate charge. A Hosein, had served at the siege of Constantinople. feeling of awe kept them at bay till their cowardice The injustice done to his family revived a feeling of was reproached by the remorseless Shamer, whose loyalty toward him, and suggested the thought of name is still detested by the faithful. At length, Ioplacing him on the throne. The inhabitants of Cufa sein was despatched with thirty-three wounds. Thus, invited him to make his appearance in that city, and a on the 10th of October, 680, was the family of Malist was secretly transmitted to Mecca of one hundred homet crushed in the very empire of which he was and forty thousand Moslems in Irak, who professed the founder. The memory of Hosein is still dear to their attachment to his cause, and were ready to draw his Persian votaries, and crowds of pilgrims pay their their swords as soon as he should. appear on the banks devotions at his shrine. The anniversary of his marof the Euphrates. Hosein yielded to their solicita- tyrdom, called the Day of Hosein, is an occasion of tions. With a slender escort of forty horse and one weeping and lamentation, and the hatred of the Turks hundred foot, he left Mecca, followed by a numerous is prolonged by this solemnity. train of women and children. He traversed the deserts of Arabia, in the hope of reaching his friends before the lieutenant of Yezid could receive information of his design; but his expectations were disappointed. Obeidollah, the governor of Cufa, had detected and put to death his faithful agent. As Hosein approached A. D. 680 to 710. the frontier of Irak, the hostile appearance of the The Ommiades and Abbassides - Adninistra country told the melancholy tidings, and his fears tion of the Khalifs - Conquest of Northeri. were confirmed by the intelligence that four thousand Africa - Invasion of Spain. of the enemy were on their way to intercept him. He pitched his tent by the brook of Kerbela, finding it WE have shown, in the preceding chapter, how the impossible to retreat with the encumbrance of so large throne of the khalifs was established. It will not be a family. necessary to repeat the names of all those sovereigns, Obeidollah had issued a peremptory command to many of whom were as little distinguished by political his officers: " Bring me Hosein or his head." The wisdom as by martial courage. Fourteen khalifs of camp at Kerbela was soon surrounded by a hostile the Ommiades, or the dynasty founded by Moawiyah, army. Hosein attempted to negotiate a peace, or reigned at Damascus during a space of ninetv years. return to his home, but in vain. His little band, true till, in the year 750, Mervan II. was deposed and put to his fortunes, and resolved to share his fate, drew up to death by Abul Abbas al Saffah, a descendant of to meet their assailants. The women and children, Abbas, the uncle of Mahomet. With hirm commenced terrified by the certain prospect of death, gave vent the dynasty of the Abbassides, rendered illustrious by to their sorrows in loud and bitter lamentations. The the foundation of Bagdad, upon the Tigris, s Lhere these archers galled them with their arrows. Twenty were princes subsequently fixed their residence, as well as killed in a charge; but the survivors maintained the by the magnificent patronage which they bestowed combat against an inmmeunse disparity of numbers, with upon literature and men of learning. unshaken constancy, until the heat of the day ren- The court of the khalifs was here maintained in the dered their thirst insulpportable. They could obtain most gorgeous and imposing state. Nothing in the palno relief, as they were cut off from all communica- ace of the commander of the faithful was calculated to tion with the river. The cavalry dismounted and remind the observer-of the simple and austere manfought on foot, generously throwing themselves be- ners of the primitive Mahometans. A numerous tween their leader and the swords of the enemy, and guard, shining in gold, and bristling with steel, kept each saluting him, as they passed in succession to the watch at the gatle.'rhe apartments within were decdeadly encounter, " Peace be with thee, thou son of orated with every ornament which wealth and luxurithe apostle of God! Fare thee well." Theiir only ous art could procure. Every delicacy of the most respite was the hour of prayer, and Hosein beheld with sumptuous table was sought for to gratify the palate tears the last of this band of martyrs expire by his of the sovereign; and when he travrelled, four hun side His brothers then rushed to the conflict, and dred camnels were hardly sufficient to carry the appe PROPAGATION OF ISLAMISM BY THE SWORD. 337 ratus of his kitchen. Seven thousand eunuchs were in the army long after a mortal corruption nad seized employed in attendance on his person, or as a guard upon the centre. The obscure and inglorious khalifs to his women. The khalif made it an invariable rule of Damascus and Bagdad continued to conquer coun-t to appear at the great mosque for prayer, and to tries which they never saw, and of which they kneawd preach there on Friday, the day which the Mussulmans not even the names, long after their government had!s devote to public worship. But this was the only become stained with all the vices of a despotic court,:,:. occasion on which he presented himself to the people, long after the most illustrious men had fallen a sacriand he was then accompanied with all the pomp of roy- fice to the caprices of tyranny, and the election or alty. The rest of his life was passed in the Paradise of deposition of the commanders of a brave soldiery was Damascus - the name given by the people of the East, habitually the work of the vilest intrigues. The cause to the gardens of the palace. There the sovereign of of this is to be sought in the fact that these victorious the Saracen empire reposed under fresh and blooming troops fought not for the khalif, but for the Mahomebowers, amid gushing fountains, and breathing an air tan religion; that they oheyed, not the orders from the loaded with perfumes. palace, but the dictates of their own conscience; that But while the character of the sovereigns was utterly they believed themselves free, and the ministers of God. changed, the nation of Mussulmans retained that spirit It was not till a considerable time after they had been of activity and energy which seemed to promise them accustomed to scenes of civil war, and to treachery the dominion of the world, and which w uld soon have and baseness in their leaders, that they discovered they enabled them to complete their conques,, had they not were no longer free citizens, and therefore ceased to been abandoned by their chiefs. The absolute trans- be men. formation of the Eastern nations, effected in so short a During the reign of the Ommiades, the Saracens space of time, is one of the wonders of history. The invaded Europe on the east and on the west at the house of the Ommiades was never beloved, nor zeal- same time- in Greece and in Spain; and their victoously served by the Arabs; its armies were therefore ries in both countries seemed at first to threaten the composed of the new converts - the Syrians, the Per- Christians with destruction. The progress of the Masians, and the Egyptians - people noted for their pusil- hometan army westward was attended by extraordilanimity and effeminate manners. Mahomet taught nary success. The conquest of Africa was accomthese people to think and to act, and the enjoyment of plished between the years 665 and 689, by Akbab, thought and action was as lively and as deep as it was. lieutenant of the khalif Moawiyah and of his son new to them. The rapid metamorphosis of the indo- Yezid. Having led his victorious troops as far as lent and timid Orientals into valiant Mahometans, may those territories which are now under the dominion of be looked upon as a most brilliant example of the the emperor of Morocco, he spurred his horse into the advantages which a legislator may derive from that waters of the Atlantic opposite the Canary Isles, and, thirst for knowledge and improvement, and that love brandishing his cimeter, exclaimed, " Great God! why of action, which are inherent in man, and which, once is my progress checked by these waves? Fain would aroused by a sufficient object, become their own I publish to the unexplored kingdoms of the west reward. that thou art the sole God, and that Mahomet is thine The successors of Mahomet issued their orders in apostle. Fain would I cut down with this sword those nis name, calling themselves his lieutenants. They rebels who worship other gods than thee!" It was were obeyed without hesitation. Yet it cannot be said not, however, till after the second civil wars, from 692 that their authority was despotic. They were but the to 688, that Carthage, the metropolis of Africa, was organs of the public will. One single thought, one besieged by Hassan, the governor of Egypt. The sole passion, absorbed every Mussulman: every effort obstinate resistance of the Christians so provoked his was directed to the great purpose of establishing the resentment, that on capturing that beautifull city, he triumph of the national faith. The first four khalifs gave it up to the flames. The former rival of Rome tttempted nothing in their own name; they reaped was finally and utterly destroyed. Great numbers of no personal enjoyment from the immense power they the inhabitants were put to the sword; many of them possessed, and no jealousy was excited by the exercise escaped to Constantinople; others were scattered over of their authority. During the most brilliant period the coasts of Italy, Sicily, and Spain. Those who preof the Mahometan conquests, the army, urging for- ferred their country to their religion, suffered themward its generals without the check of any re sponsi- selves to be transported to Cairouan, a new capital, bility, acted continually with the spirit of a republic. founded by tile conquerors. The ancient queen of It was this universal passion, this devotion of all to the Africa has never since risen from her ruins. cause of all, which developed, in a manner so brilliant Thirty thousand of the Moors in the north-west of and unexpected, the activity of the people of the Africa embraced Islamismin one day, and were enrolled East; which inspired with so much courage and endur- in the Saracen army. The whole nation, which already ance the sons of the pusillanimous Syrians, which sug- resembled the Bedouins of Arabia in their manners, gested to themn such ingenious manceuvres in the art and were born under a similar climate, adopted the of war, and which maintained their constancy unshak- language and name, as well as the religion, of the en, through danger and privation. Arabs. Spain was the next country threatened by the This complete self-education, this all-pervading sen- conquerors. This country, after having been subject timent, put in action every talent and every virtue to the Carthaginians and Romans, had submitted early which the Saracens possessed; it rendered them happy in the fifth century to the Goths, the most,formidable under all the chances of war and fortune, and consti- of the northern invaders. But these impetuous contuted a reward for- the heroism of the believers far querors had not transmitted their bravery to their demore certain than the black-eyed houris promised to scendants. In the history of Spain, we shall relate them in Paradise. Patriotism, glory, and individual the tale of the degeneracy of the Gothic kings, and happiness flourished on the frontiers of the empire and the romantic incidents, fabulous or true, whidh were 43 _ _ _ _ _ -- - 338 SARACENS IN FRANCE AND SPAIN. connected with the Saracen invasion. We can here recorded in the history of Europe. But this was an Vresent only a brief outline of this greiat event. age without historians; and Isidore, bishop of Beja, in Count Julian,a Gothic noble, having received a deep Portugal, a writer who flourished a little later, is the affront from his sovereign, Rodrigo, or Roderick; only one who devotes more than two lines to this meminvited *the Saracens into Spain in the year 710. orable event. "The Franks," says he, " were planted The first adventurers that crossed the straits were like an immovable buttress, like a wall of ice, againsi commanded by a daring chief named Tarik. Rod- which the light-armed Arabs dashed themelves to rigo despatched an army with orders to drive the pieces without making any impression. The Mussulinvaders into the sea; ~but this army was put to the rout. mans advanced and retired with great rapidity; but The king then assembled all his forces, which are said they were mowed down by the swords of the Germans. to have amounted to nearly one hundred thousand Abderrahman himself fell under their blows. Meanmen. The hostile armies met on the River Guadalete, while, night began to fall, and the Franks lifted up near Xeres. A battle was fought which lasted seven their arms as if to petition their leader for rest. They days. Rodrigo attended his army, bearing on his wished to reserve themselves for the next day's fight, head a crown of pearls, clothed in a flowing robe of for they saw the- distant country covered with Saracen silk and. gold, and reclining in a car of ivory, drawn tents. But when, on the following morning,they formed by two white mules. The troops corresponded in for battle, they perceived that the tents w\ere empty, character to their leader; and it is not surprising that, and that the Saracens, terrified by the dreadful loss in spite of their numerical superiority, they were una- they had sustained, had retreated in Ithe middle of the ble to resist the fierce onset of the fanatical Mahom- night, and were already far on their way." Although etans. The last three days of the battle were little the Mussulman army effected its retreat into Spain else than a disastrous rout, fatal to the Gothic dominion without further check, this great battle was decisive. in Spain. Three hundred thousand of the Saracens are said to have fallen in the field; and Europe at this day owes its religion and its liberty to Charles, who acquired the surname of M2hartel, or the Hammer, from the power.. CHAPTER CLXXIX. with which he shattered the Saracen force. A. D. 710 to 807. In Spain, many old and flourishing cities were de stroyed by the Saracens, and many new ones were Conquest of Spain -- Invasion of France - built by them. In other. respects, they left unaltered Abu Jaafar —-Mahadi - Haroun. the institutions of the country, except that the authority ALMOST all the cities of Spain opened their gates of the khalif was substituted for that of the king. at the first appearance of the Saracens against them. The national assemblies, the nobility, the courts of Before the close of the year 713, the whole kingdom justice, and the laws remained. The Christians obwas conquered with the exception of a few inacces- tained a toleration for their worship, and were only sible fastnesses among the mountains, where some forbidden from speaking against the religion of their petty chiefs still maintained a resistance against the conquerors. Cordova was the capital of the Saracen invaders. Scarcely was Spain added to the Moslem empire in Spain, and this part of the Mahometan dominion, when its conqueror, Musa, was made to ex- dominion soon became an independent government. perience the ingratitude of despotic courts. He was The Ommiades, who, for the greater part of a cenarrested at the head of his army by a messenger from tury, had ruled with so much success and glory, had, the khalif, who commanded him to hasten to Damascus, nevertheless, been regarded by a large party in the East there to render an account for the abuse of power of as usurpers. They were reproached with being the which he was said to have been guilty. descendants of the most virulent enemy of the prophet. France was the next country exposed to the terrors The revolution which transferred the khalifate, from the of Saracen invasion. Zama, the khalif's new lieu- Ommiades to the house of Abbas, led to the dismerntenant, crossed the Pyrenees, and seized upon Nar- berment of the empire. Three parties arose, distin bonne and the neighboring provinces. Christendom gtished by three different colors. Black was the badge was now in extreme danger. No idea of the general of the Abbassides, white of the Ommiades, and green interest of honor, or of the general defence, seemed of the Fatimites. to form a bond of union -among -the people of the The throne of the first Abbasside khalif, AbuL Abbas, west. The dukes of the southern provinces of Gaul surnamed Al Saffah, or the Sanguinary, was raised in began to negotiate and submit. It appeared impossi- blood. He massacred all the princes of the Ommiade ble for the whole kingdom to avoid subjugation, and family whom he could seize, broke open the sepilwith France all Europe must have fallen, for there chres of all the khalifs from Moawiyah downward, was no people in the rear of the Franks in a condi- burnt their mouldering contents, and scattered the tion for war - no other nation which had made any ashes to the winds. This cruelty was combined with progress toward civilization; none, in short, which treachery. The defeated Ommiades accepted a peace either by its valor, its policy, its means of defence, or which was offered them, and relied with confidence the number of its troops, could indulge any hope of on the oaths of their rival. Twenty-four, some authors victory, if the Franks were conquered. say ninety, members of the family were invited to Europe and Christendom were, however, saved by Damascus to a feast of reconciliation. which was to Charles Martel, the mayor of the palace, or chief officer be the seal of a, new alliance. Thev met without ofthe Frankish king. He raised an army to meet the suspicion. A poet, according to a preconcerted aradvancing Saracens, who, under the command of rangement, presented himself before Abdallah Abu Al; Abderrahmnan, had penetrated north as far as the the uncle of the khalif who had given the feast. He plains of Poictiers. Here, in October, 732, after seven recited some verses enumerating the crimes of the days' s;irmishing, wuas foughtthe most important battle house of Moawiyah,: caliing for vengeance on their ALMANSUIR-HAROUN AL RASCH:ID. 339 heads, and pointing out the danger to which their ex- reader by IMoore's poem of Lalla Rookh. Mahadi:,:;tence exposed the house of Abbas. "God has cast lavished the treasures left by his father in various, hem down," he exclaimed; " why dost thou not tram- ways. He made a magnificent pilgrimage to Mecca, |ple upon them?" This ruthless exhortation fell upon a distance of a thousand miles, with such a retinu(e willing ears. Abdallahgave the signal to the execution- as to enable him to carry snow enough to preserve crs, whom he had already prepared, and ordered all the through the desert his accustomed luxuries. His guests to be beaten to death with clubs in his presence. fruits and liquors were daily served, in the scorchling When the last man had fallen under the hands of the sands, with the same coolness and freshness which executioner, he ordered the bodies to be piled together, they possessed when he enjoyed them in his palace at and carpets to be thrown over the ghastly heap. The Bagdad. His brilliant reign was closed by a murder festive board was then placed upon their palpitating intended for another, but which fell on him. It is debodies, while they yet breathed, and the orgies of the serving of mention, as it shows a trait in the moral Abbassides were prolonged amidst the groans of their character of the Eastern nations. He had a multitude expiring rivals. of wives, and among them a favorite named Hasfana. Only one of the Ommiades escaped this butchery. One of the neglected and jealous of his females inI Abd er Rahman, the youngest son of the last khalif serted a deadly poison in a beautiful pear, and preof that race, fled from Syria, and wandered over sented it to Hasfana. She gave it to the khalif, knowAfrica as a fugitive. But in the valleys of Mount Atlas, ing nothing of its contents. He ate it, and died, he learnt that the white banner of his house was still (A. D. 784.) triumphant in Spain. He immediately proceeded to Musa, the son of Mahadi, reigned but two years. that country, and in 755 presented himself to his par- Haroun, his uncle, succeeded him in 786. He was tisans on the coast of Andalusia. He was saluted by surnamed al Raschid, or the Just. This is the fathem as the true khalif, and the whole of Spain soon mous khalif so well known to the readers of the Araacknowledged his authority. He took the title of bian Nights. He is specially celebrated as the patron Erniir al Mumenim, or Commander of the Faithful, of literature. He was always surrounded by learned which the people of the west converted into the bar- men, both at home and on his travels. He made it a barous name of Miramolin. He died after a glorious rule never to build a mosque without attaching a school reign of thirty years. His son and grandson were the to it. He sent two embassies to Charlemagne, the contemporaries of' Charlemagne, and fought with suc- western emperor, in 801 and 807. The first carried cess several times against his generals. The Ommi- the keys of the holy sepulchre, which the khalif ades of Spain retained the sovereignty of the penin- presented to Charlemagne, as the greatest monarch sula for two hundred and fifty years. - Toward the professing the religion of Christ. The second offered middle of the eighth century, an independent monarchy a present of a clock, ornamented with automaton arose in Africa, under the Edrisides of Fez, who de- figures, which moved and played on various musical cared themselves descendants of the Fatimite branch, instruments. This is a proof, among others, of tihe s1snd who recognized neither the western nor the eastern periority of the Saracens of that age over the Christians khalif. in the mechanic arts. The court of Haroun abounded:During the remainder of the Saracenic annals, we with men of learning and genius. He selected a philoscan only touch lightly upon the reigns of the most dis- opher to counsel him and take care of his:conscience. tinguished of the khalifs. One ofthemrwas AbuJaafar, The rules which he prescribed: to ithis Mentor desurnamed Al Mansur, or the Victorious. He acceded serve to be mentioned as illustrative of his: character. to the throne in 754, and signalized his reign by the "Never instruct me in public; never be- in haste to foundation of Bagdad. This city was built on the give me your advice in private. Wait till I question banks of the Tigris, about fifteen miles from the you; answer in a direct and precise manner. if you ancient Ctesiphon. The court of the khalif was fixed see me quitting the path of rectitude, gently lead me here; and so rapid was the growth of the place, that back to it, without any harsh expressions; but never during the reign of its fouinder, the funeral of a popu- address me in equivocal terms." lat Mahometan saint was attended by eight hundred thousand men and sixty thousand women of Bagdad and the adjacent villages. This sovereign was involved in many civil wars, in which abundance of CHAPTER CL X X X. blood was shed; but notwithstanding these troubles, A. D. 801 to 808. and the expense of a magnificent pilgrimage to Mecca, e h. I te Saracens attack Constantinople'- Thez he amassed, during the twenty years of his reign, chid treasure to the value of a hundred and fifty millions of dollars - all which he left behind him at his death. sacre of the Barmecides. He was covetous, perfidious, and cruel, in his govern- THE Byzantine or Greek empire had been for a long ment, but at the same time amiable in privgte life, time exposed to the attacks of the Saracens. Every brave, prudent, and learned.- He is believed to have summer a Mussulman fleet, from the ports of Syria and given the first impulse to literature among the Saracens. Egypt, disembarked a hostile army under the walls Al.M3iohdi, or Mahadi, succeeded him, (A. D. 774.) of Constantinople, its capital. That city was indebted He-was an able and successful sovereign, though his for its preservation to a new and fortunate discovery reign was disturbed by wars and sectarian controver- which chemistry accidentally opened to the Greeks sies. Among the remarkable incidents of this time at a time when there was neither courage, patriotism, was the rebellion headed by the impostor Mokanna; nor talent, among those people sufficient to repel so who had but one eye, and was so hideously ugly that formidable an enemy. An inhabitant of Heliopolis. he covered his face with a veil. The adventures of named Callinicus, discovered a composition of naphlthis impostor have been made familiar to the English tha, or oil of bitumen, pitch, and sulphur, which once ________________________ ___ _I 340 GREEK FIRE-DESTRUCTION OF THE BARMECIDES. set on nre, could not be extinguished by water. This lieving mother! Thou shalt not hear, thou shalt behold inflammable substance adhered to wood with destruc- my reply." Immediately an army of one hundred tive tenacity, and, when thrown upon combatants in and thirty thousand Saracens appeared in the Greek hattle, insinuated itself between the joints of their ar- provinces of Asia Minor, under the black standard of mor, and destroyed them by a torturing death. Cal- the khalif. The whole territory was made to feel the linicus was a subject of the khalif, but a Christian. terrible vengeance of Haroun. The presumptuous Instead of imparting his secret to the Saracens, he Nicephorus was glad to retract his defiance, and recarried it to Constantinople, where it was used in de- turn to submission. fence of Christendom. It was called the Greek Fire, In his administration of the internal affairs of the but its qualities are very imperfectly known to us. empire, Haroun was guided chiefly by his two minisThe historians of the crusades describe it as being ters, Yahia ben Kaled, and Giafar, who were of the shot through tubes from the prows of vessels, and the ancient family of the Barmecides, and whose ancesramparts of towns: when It struck any thing, it imme- tors, through many generations previously to the diately exploded, and set it on fire by some process with introduction of Islamism, had held the hereditary which we are unacquainted. The devoted victims saw office of priest of the fire temple of Balkh. This it approaching in the form of a fiery serpent, till at last family is said to have descended from the monarchs it fell in a burning shower on ships and men. An hour's of Persia; and when they came to the court of Bagfight would cover the sea with this flaming oil, and give dad, they were exceedingly rich. Yahia had been the it the appearance of a sheet of fire. The Saracen governor and instructor of Haroun in his boyhood. fleets were,repeatedly destroyed by it, and their most On his accession to the throne, the khalif appointed valiant warriors, whom the near aspect of death never him grand vizier. When age compelled the minister daunted, recoiled from the terrors and tortures of this to relinquish his post, it was immediately conferred liquid fire, which crept beneath their armor, and clung on his son Giafar, whose abilities equalled those of his to every limb. father. Giafar was the most admired writer and the most eloquent speaker of his age; and, while in office, he displayed the accuracy of a man of business, and the comprehensive ideas of a statesman. His acquirements caused him to become the companion as well as the ministers of the khalif, who, at last, grew so much attached to him, that he appointed his elder brother Fadhel grand vizier in his place, that the affairs of state might not deprive him of the pleasure of his society......i____ ~__=_ For seventeen years, the brothers Giafar and Fad-__-_ —-_-4_ _ v | hel were all powerful, when, on a sudden, the whole family were involved in disgrace, and the treatment which they received is an eternal stain on the character of Haroun. The following circumstances have been assigned as the cause of the catastrophe. The khalif had a sister, named Abasia, of whom he,was passionately fond, and whose company he preferred to I' ix"W 0\\lW 5_ = EW~r "D~ ~/"~' ~ ~}every thing but the conversation of Giafar. These two pleasures he would fain have enjoyed together, by carrying Giafar with him on his visits to Abassa; but the laws of the harem, which forbade any one except IHaroun aI Rashid. a near relation from being introduced there, made that But the Byzantine empire had become so weak- impossible. At length, he thought of uniting Giafar ened, that although the emperors were able to defend and Abassa in marriage, which would remove this their capital, they did not hesitate to buy a peace obstacle. They were married accordingly, but with with the Saracens by the payment of tribute. On the the express condition that they should never meet but accession of Nicephorus to the throne, in 786, he de- in the presence of the khalif. This was promised termined to throw off this badge of servitude. He by the husband and wife; but their mutual affection accordingly sent a letter of defiance to the khalif in the proved too strong; the promise was violated, and two following terms, alluding to the empress Irene, his children were born of this unequal marriage. For predecessor: " The empress considered you as a some time the lkhalif remained in ignorance of this rook, and herself as a pawn. That pusillanimous fe- event; but, when it could no longer be concealed male consented to pay a tribute, when she should have from him, he gave way to his rage, and resolved on lemnianded twice as much from the barbarians. Re- the most cruel revenge. He commanded Giafar to be store, therefore, the fruits of your injustice, or abide put to death, and the whole race of the Barmecides to by the decision of the sword." The Greek ambassa- be deprived of their property, and thrown into prison. dor, who carried the letter, cast a bundle of swords at These orders were obeyed. Giafar was beheaded in the foot of the throne. Haroun ordered them to be the antechamber of the royal apartment, which he stuck in the ground, and then, at one blow, severed had sought to request an interview with the implacathem all, without turning the edge of his cimeter. ble Haroun, and his father and brothers were put to He returned for answer to the letter —"' In the name death in prison. Abassa and her two children were of the most mercifiul God! Haroun al Raschid, com- thrown into.a well, which was closed over them. mander of the faithful, to Nicephorus, the Roman The destruction of the Bartnecides was looked upon dog! I have read thy letter, O thou son of an unbe- as a general calamity. All of them. says an Eastern RE1GN OF AL MAMOUN —SPLENDOR OF THE KHIiALIFS. 31,vriter, enjoyed the singular happiness of being loved example of the khalif was imitated in Egypt, in Spain ts much when in the plenitude of their power as in a and in all the provinces, and the natural enthusiasm?rivate station, and of being praised as much after of the Arabs was devoted to science and literature,heir disgrace and ruin, as when they were at the A vizier founded a college at Bagdad, by a gift of summit of their prosperity. The following verses three and a half millions of dollars. The number of were written on their fall:- students amounted to six thousand, of every class in " No, Barmec! time hath never shown life, from the noble to the mechanic. Every city of So sad a change of wayward fate, the Saracen empire had its collection of literary works Nor sorrowing mortals ever known A private doctor refused the invitation of the sovereign A grief so true, a loss so great. of Bokhara to visit his capital, because the transporta"Spouse of the world! thy soothing breast tion of his books would have required four hundred Did balm to every woe afford; camels. In Egypt, the public library contained one And now, lnoe more bfy thee caressed, hundred thousand volumes, which were free for the The widowed worldl bewTails her lord." gratuitous use of every student. The public libraries This massacre is an odious exception to the mild- in the Mahometan cities of Spain comprised six hun. ness and equity by which the reign of Haroun was dred thousand volumes. generally characterized, and strongly marks the state Notwvithstandig the splendor of the Saracen cour, of society at that period, and the tendency of despot- the empire was disturbed by rebellions, civil wars, and ism itself. The supreme pontificate and the secular the contentions of religious sects. The sovereigns, authority were united in the hands of the khalif, who, although they relinquished all attempts at foreign conbeing invested with the mantle, signet, and staff of the quest, continued to surround themselves with all thec prophet, and bearing the title of Commander of' the show and magnificence of the most powerful and marFaithful, exercised supreme temporal and spiritual tial princes. Motassem, the second khalif after A1 rule, without any other restriction than the vague Mamoun, is said to have had one hundred and thirty ordinances of religion, thousand horses in his stables, which is double the The reign of Haroun al Raschid has always been amount of cavalry possessed by Napoleon in the referred to as the golden age of Arabian dominion. height of his power. Motassern is said to have loaded The wealth and adopted luxury of conquered nations each of his horses with a pack of earth, which was had given to social life a refinement, and to the court carried fifty miles, to raise a mountain in Arab;an of Bagdad a splendor, before unknown among the Irak,on which a palacewas erected, called Stlara. ~Mahometans. Flourishina towns sprung up in all It is also related of this khalif that he had eight sons parts of the empire. Commerce by land and sea in- and eight daughters, reigned eight years, eight months, creased with the luxury of wealth, and Bagdad rivalled and eight days; was born in the eighth month of the Iin magnificence eve the Greek capital, Constantinople. year, was the eighth khalif of the Abbassides, fought Haroun died of despondency, caused by ill-omened eight battles, had eight thousand slaves, and left eigh' dreams, in the year 808, after dividing his empire lion pieces of gold in his treas between his sons Al Mamoun and Amin. A civil m between his sons Al Mamoun an Ain. civil The last of the khalifs distinguished in history was war soon arose between these princes, and the feeble Moctader who acceded to the throne in 833. In his and timid Amin was easily overthrown by his brother, reign, the splendor of the court of Bagdad appears te o who thus became sole master of the eastern empire of have been at its height. On the occasion of receiving the Saracens. an ambassador from Constantinople, a body of troops, amounting to one hundred and sixty thousand horse and foot, were assembled under arms. Thle state officers and favorite slaves of the khalifs stc I round C II A P T E R C L X XX I. him, glittering with gold and gems. Near these were seven thousand eunuchs, black and white. The Tigris A.l D. 808 to 1278. was covered with gorgeous boats and barges. In the Reign of Al Mavmoun - Splendor of the Kha- palace were hung thirty-eight thousand pieces of lifs - -Decline of the Saracen Empire - The tapestry, a hundred lions were exhibited in show, and Turlks - DespotismL of the }Khalifs - End the eyes of the curious were delighted with the spec >of the ~S~aracen~ Empir~e. tacle of a tree of gold and silver spreading out into of the Saracen Emgpire. eighteen branches, on which sat a variety of golden AL MArMOUN was one of the most illustrious of the birds among the golden leaves. By the ingenious khalifs. He was distinguished particularly by two mechanism of this wonderful toy, the birds warbled in things —the magnificent style of his court, and his harmony, and the leaves waved in the wind. Such a patronage of letters. At the marriage of this monarch, proficiency of the Arabs in mechanical science woulo a thousand pearls of the largest size were showered be incredible, were it not confirmed by abundani on the head of his bride, and a lottery of lands and proofs.'houses was distributed to the guests. In a single gift, The glory of the Saracen empire had now reache I he disposed of a sum exceeding four millions of dol- its highest point, and soon began to decline. LWe shall lars. He ordered his ambassadors and agents in all not, however, attempt to follow out historically the I parts of the world to collect books for his use. The progress of this decay. It would be a waste of time, volumes of Grecian literature and science were gath- and an abuse of learning, to load our pages with tile ered at Bagdad, from Constantinople, Armenia, Syria, names of a host of princes whose reigns were marked and Egypt. They were translated into Arabic, and by'nothing useful or interesting. The frequent revo A.l Mamoun exhorted his subjects to the diligent study lutions of the throne of Bagdad ceased to have anlly I,)f them. He attended the assemblies of the learned, influence on the rest of the world. In each success;ive w ho wert, invited to his court from all countries. The reign, some province detached itself frcm the anc en;. I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ v 342 CHARACTER OF. THE MAHOMETAN RELIGION., mnonarchy The khalifs remarked the decline of en- passion or jealous policy, deserve the name of tyranny. thusiasm,..ourage, and even of bodily strength, among These crimes are ill redeemed by ceremonious devotheir subjects, from the time that all noble objects had tion and acts of trifling or ostentatious humility, or ceased to be presented to their ambition or their activ- even by the. best attribute of Mahometan princes -- a ity. Motassem, the twenty-seventh khalif, (A. D. 842,) rigorous justice in chastising the offences of otheIs. endeavored to supply this want by procuring young slaves, bred in the mountain region of Caucasus, whom he trained to the profession of arms, and formed into a guard; and to this guard he intrusted the protection of his palace. CI APTER CLXXXII. These troops obtained the name of Turks, and soon Charcter of the Mahonetan Religion Parabecame numerous and formidable. The rivalry dise d Hell of which existed between them and the Syrians effectually disgusted the latter with military pursuits, and the Turks were soon the only soldiers of the khalifs. MAHOMETANISM was first established by religious The slavery in which they had been reared made zeal and fanaticism, and its earliest form was that of them less faithful, but not more obedient. Most of the paternal authority. Mahomet did not give liberty to revolutions were their work. They hurled from the the Arabs, nor did he impose a despotism upon thenm,. throne or they assassinated those khalifs who were These people had been accustomed to liberty before not the obsequious tools of their insolence and rapa- his'time, and the prophet was careful not to alarm the city. At length, in the year 936, they elected a chief spirit of Arabian freedom by acts or ordinances hostile of their own body, whom they called Emir al Omara, to it. He neither destroyed nor preserved the repubor chief of chiefs. This officer became the true lican institutions of Mecca, but he exalted above them sovereign of the state. He kept the khalif a prisoner the power of inspiration - that divine voice which in his own palace, reducing him to that life of poverty, must silence all the counsels of human prudence. He penitence, and prayer which the early successors of organized no political despotism: this was the workl Mahomet had imposed on themselves by choice. The of religious faith alone. The character of the governTurks would have assumed the nominal authority, if ment and people has been strikingly portrayed by the their conversion to Islamism had not made it indispen- events of their history. This rendered the empire, sahle to keep up a phantom of a khalif as the spiritual prosperous. A characteristic circumstance in tie colI representative of the prophet. While actually in office, quests, of the Arabs was, that whoever embraced the the khalifs were treated with great ceremony; but, faith of Islam was thenceforward reckoned among whenever it suited the Turks, they were thrust from the victorious people, and became as free as the contheir elevation, and substitutes appointed. Several of querors themselves. The nation stood less in awe ofthe deposed khalifs became beggars. The dominion the unlimited power of the khalifs than of God and of the sovereign of the Saracen empire was soon the prophet, whom the khalifs themselves feared, oi reduced to the city of Bagdad: all the provinces set professed to fear. There was a loftiness of char. up independent governments, or were absorbed by acter imparted to the whole nation which became the conquering powers. At length, the Mongolian hordes source of splendid undertakings. The laws of the of Zingis Khan poured in from the east, sweeping people were founded, for the most part, on the comrevery thing before them. Bagdad was taken by storm, mon principles of the understanding, and, on this and sacked, in the year 1278, and the fifty-sixth suc- account, maintained their influence. The government cessor of Mahomet was trodden under foot by the was, in general, so intimately connected with the docTartar cavalry amid the plunder of the city. Two trines of their religion, that the description of the one hundred thousand of the inhabitants of the ancient necessarily involves that of the other. seat of Arabian learning and splendor were put to the The fundamental creed of the Mahometans is sim sword, and the work of destruction continued for the ple. There is but one God, and Mahomet was his spnce of forty days. Such was the end of the Saa- apostle, by whom the law of Moses and the revelation ce-'s dominion! of Jesus were accomplished and perfected. Mahomet The history of this empire, as we have seen, is preached no dogmas substantially new, but only marked by one age of brilliant conquest, a second of adorned, amplified, and exhibited in a form adapted stationary but rather precarious greatness, and a third to the ideas, prejudices, and inclinations of the Orienof rapid decline. The Saracen dominion is also dis- tals, that doctrine which is as ancient as the human,inguished by the strong contrast which it presents to race. lie enjoined many ablutions, well suited to the the European nations of that day. The splendid manners and necessities of hot climates. He ordained palaces of the khalifs, their numerous guards, their five daily prayers, that man might learn habitually to treasures of gold and silver, the populousness and elevate his thoughts above himself and above the senwealth jf their cities, form a striking spectacle when sible world. He instituted the festival of the Ramadan viewed in company with the rudeness and poverty of and the pilgrimage to Mecca, and commanded that the western nations in the same age. Yet the merit every man should bestow in alms the hdndredth part of these monarchs has, perhaps, been exaggerated by:of. his possessions. These observances already exadulation or gratitude. After all the vague praises isted in established custom among the Arabs, or in the of hireling poets, which have been repeated in Chris- circumstances which: gave occasion to their enactment. tendom, it is very rare to find the history of an Eastern In like manner, the prohibition of wine and swvine's despot unstained byt atrocious crimes. 5o Christian flesh, the practice of circumcision and the observance i government, except, perhaps, that of Constantinople, of Sabbath on Friday, were things not absolule!y exhibits such a series of tyrants as the khalifs of new in his creed, and were rather reeommen led Bagdad, if deeds of blood, perpetrated by Ilnbridled than strictly ordained. He established a law adapt. PARADISE AND HELL OF MAHOMET - 34-3 td to circumstances, a religion for different coun- petual youth. At whatever age they may:lave died, tries. in their resurrection, all will be in the prime of manly The Mahometans are rigid fatalists; and a firm vigor, which will be eternal. The ravishing songs of believer in this religion is under the habitual influence the angels and of the black-eyed Houris will, render Of an enthusiasm which elevates his soul above the all the groves vocal; the very trees will celebrate the whole visible world, above the power of perishable divine praises with a harmony such as mortal ear things, and above the fear of death itself. A ready never heard. To these delights will be added the (i'ith in the marvellous is fostered in all its details by music of golden bells, shaken by the odoriferous the letter and spirit of Islamism. The whole life of zephyrs from the throne of God. It would be a jourMahomet may be called a miracle. The Koran treats ney of a thousand years. for-a true Mahometan to of death, the resurrection, the judgment, paradise, and travel through paradise, and behold all the wives, serthe place of torment, in a style which has a most vants, gardens, robes, jewels, horses, camels, furni-?owerful effect on.the imagination. The joys of ture, and other things, which belong exclusively. to paradise were promised to all who fell in the cause of him. religion, and these joys were made exceedingly capti-. The thoughts become bewildered in this voluptuous vating to an Arabian fancy. When Al Sirat, or the maze, and it seems incredible that such a description Bridge of Judgment, which is as slender as the " thread should form a portion of` the religious belief of any of a famished spider, and as sharp as the edge of a existing nation. Yet such is literally the fact. The sword, and beset on each side with briers and hooked glowing and sensual enjoyments of paradise are not thorns," shall be passed by the believer, the Koran understood as mere figurative illustrations of heavenly states that he will be welcomed into the garden of pleasures, but as corporeal realities, to be relished like delight by the black-eyed Houris. These beautiful earthly gratifications, though without being subject to nymphs are not made of common clay, like other satiety or diminution. The hell of Mahomet is as females, but of pure essences and odors, free from all full of terror as his heaven is of delight. The wicked blemish, and subject to no decay of virtue or of beauty. who fall into the gulf of torture from the bridge of Until the time when the destined lovers of these dam- Al Sirat, will suffer alternately from the intensity of sels arrive in the bowers of bliss, they lie secluded in heat and cold: when they are thirsty, boiling and pavilions formed of a' single hollow pearl, so large filthy water will be given them to drink:; they will that some of them are sixty miles long. be shod with shoes of fire, the heat of which will The soil of paradise, according to the same au- cause their skulls to boil like caldrons. The dark.hority, is composed of musk and saffron, sprinkled mansions of the Christians, Jews, Sabeans, Magians, with pearls and hyacinths. The walls of its mansions and idolaters, are sunk below each other with increasire of gold and silver, and the trunks of its trees are ing horrors, in the order of their names. The seventh, encased in gold. The fruits, which here bend spon- or lowest hell is reserved for the faithless hypocrites.aneously to him who would gather them, are of a and nominal professors of every religion. Into this:avor and delicacy unknown to mortals. The tree of dismal receptacle, full of smoke and darkness, the lappiness, which stands in the midst of the palace unhappy sufferer will be dragged, with roaring noise )f Mahomet, is laden with pomegranates, grapes, dates, and fury, by seventy thousand halters, each pulled by nd other productions of extraordinary lusciousness. seventy thousand angels. HIe will be exposed to the lhe boughs of this tree, in addition to every kind extremes of heat and cold, the hissing of reptiles, )f fruit that the eye can desire, bear silken garments, and the scourge of hideous demons, whose pastime is mnd beasts to ride on, ready saddled and bridled, and cruelty and pain. Despair will increase his misery,:.dorned with rich trappings, all of which burst forth for the Koran has condemned him to this everlasting from its blossoms and fruit at the slightest wish of the abode without the smallest hope of deliverance. Every faithful. This tree, moreover, is so large, that a per- corpse, when laid in the grave, is supposed to be cateson mounted on the fleetest horse could not gallop chized by two examiners, Monkir and Nekir — black fi'om one extremity of its shade to the other in a and livid angels of a terrible aspect, who order the tiundred years! Numerous rivers flow through this dead man to sit upright, and answer their interrogatoblissful abode, some of wine, and others of milk, ries as to the soundness of his faith. If his replies honey, and water, the pebbly beds of which are are not satisfactory, he is beaten on the head with iron rubies and emeralds, and their banks of camphor, mallets, and stung and gnawed by ninety-nine dragons, musk, and saffron. with seven heads each, till he receives his final In paradise, the enjoyment of believers will be doom. greater than the human understanding can compass. It has been a common error to believe that Mahomei The very meanest inhabitant will have eighty thousand excluded women from paradise. This is incorrectservants and seventy-two wives. His pavilion will be he has declared that the gates of the blissful abode constructed of pearls, hyacinths, and emeralds. He stand open to both sexes. But whether they are in will be waited upon while he eats by three hundred inhabit the same or separate apartments, is a poirlt attendants. Every dinner will be served up in three which he has left unexplained. They are to be rehundred dishes of gold. Wine, though forbidden on warded and punished like the men, though their fellearth, will be freely allowed in paradise, and there it city will not be so exquisite as that of the other sex, will not hurt nor inebriate. The raiment of the blessed as, according to the Mahometan notions, their deeds will be the richest silks, brocades, and muslins, adorned in this life cannot have been equally meritorious or with gold and silver embroidery, and surmounted with important. bracelets and crowns gemmed with the most costly The three leading Mahometan sects are the Sunnees. pearls and precious stones. The dwellings and every the S/leahs, and the Wahabees. The difference bething else will be on the same scale of' agnificence. tween the two first was origihally more political than Phe inhabitants of paradise will be gifted with per- religious. The Sunnees call themselves the orthodox __________________ ________ ____I_ ________ ___ ___ ____ ~344i SSCIENCE AND LITERATURE OF THE SARACENS-THE KORAN. party: they are traditionists, and acknowledge the extravagance peculiar to the Orientals. They hao authority of the first khalifs, from whom most of the fountains and jets of water even in their sleeping traditions were derived. The Sheahs asserted the apartments, as their religion commanded frequent divine and indefeasible right of Ali to succeed to the ablution, and because, in the desert, water and shady prophet; consequently they consider the first three places were regarded as the greatest of l uxuries. The khalifs and all their successors as usurpers. The court of the khalif surpassed the splendor of that of Persians were the first nation that joined this sect, Constantinople in the abundance of gold, of pearls, and, for more than three centuries, the Sheah faith and of precious stones. The Saracen cities bore has prevailed among them. The spirit of hostility scarcely any resemblance to those of Europe. Their between these two branches of Mahometanism is ran- walls enclosed large districts of ground, beautifully corous and irreconcilable. No wars that ever deso- cultivated. Many of them were built in the midst of lated the Christian world have caused so much blood- deserts; they were the markets and places of deposit shed and misery, or been so deeply stamped with the for the neighboring tribes. Communication was maincharacter of implacable animosity, as those which tained through all parts of the empire, by means of have arisen from the political and religious controver- posts, which the khalif Moawiyah introduced about sies of the Mahometan sectaries. The Wahabees are seven hundred years before they were established in a sect of comparatively modern origin, and their his- France. The same prince laid the foundation of a tory will be given in a separate place. maritime force, which served to connect the provinces. The invention of tournaments is ascribed to the Arabs, from whom they were introduced into Italy and France. The Hindoo numerals, commonly' called Arabic, also came to us through the hands of the CHAPTER CLXXXIII. Saracens. Science and Literature of the Saracens- Ar- In the Saracen literature, the work which first attracts our notice is the Koran. This book contains chitecture - The Koran - Saracen Super- the pretended revelations of Mahomet, and is still received by his followers, as containing every inforTHE first rudiments of the liberal sciences were mation necessary for the guidance and spiritual wvel obtained by the Saracens from the Greeks. John of fare of mankind. It was written from time to time l)amascus translated the writings of the Greek phy- by the disciples of the prophet, from his dictation, and sicians into Arabic, and this gave the first impulse to for want of better materials, upon palm leaves, scraps of scientific study among the subjects of the khalif. leather, and shoulder bones of mutton. Like the Jews, Translations were afterwards made of the works of the Mahometans hold their sacred book in the most exthe Greek astronomers and philosophers. Schools of traordinary veneration. They will not ingeneral suffer learning were established at Bagdad, Bassora, Cufa, it to be read or touched by any man of a different Kesh, Nishapour, and other places. The Saracens religion. They handle it with great respect, never obtained the art of clock-making from the Greeks of holding it below their girdle, and always qualifying Constantinople, and carried it to high perfection. The themselves by first performing their legal ablutions. court of Bagdad bestowed the most munificent pat- They swear by it, consult it on all occasions of mo ronage upon learned men, while the literature of the ment, carry it with them to battle, and inscribe verses Greek capital lay buried in unfirequented libraries. from it on their banners and garments, as they formerThe Arabs, however, often made a perverted use of ly did on their coins. Of its literary merits, the Greek erudition, which they did not, in every case, Mahometans speak in terms of rapture. The most thoroughly understand. Astrology, the interpretation learned Mussulman doctors have pronounced its style of dreams, fortune-telling, and many other supersti- to be inimitable. Whatever may be its defects as a tious follies, were developed among them, and have work of genius, it is universally allowed to be written descended from them to our times. In philosophy, with great elegance and purity of language. Though the Arabs greatly admired Aristotle. They learned in prose, it is measured into chapters and verses, like to distinguish merely in words where he distinguishes the Psalms of David. The sentences have the sweet things. They translated Ptolemy's description of the cadence of poetry, and generally conclude in a longearth, and combined it with a better knowledge of the continued chime, which often interrupts the sense, and globe, and an acquaintance with the starry heavens, occasions unnecessary repetition. But to an Arab, which, among themselves, was an ancient acquisition. whose ear is delighted with musical cadence, this metOn these branches of science, they have left us impor- rical charm is its principal commendation. The matant observations, the sum of which, as far as relates terials of the Koran are borrowed from the Jewish to geography, is contained in the Arabic- work of Abul- and Christian Scriptures, the legends of the Talmudfeda. We are indebted to this author for much of ists, and the traditions and fables of the Arabian and the knowledge which we now possess respecting the Persian mythologies, all heaped together without any countries with which the Arabs held intercourse. The fixed principle or visible connection. In spite of the measure of a degree of latitude was undertaken by hyperbolical praises bestowed on the Koran by the the command of H[aroun al Raschid. The Saracens Arabs, a critic of purer taste will be offended by its were the authors of many improvements in arts and long repetitions of pious declamation, and its incohemanufactures. Before the time of Charlemagne, they rent rhapsody of fable and precept, of promises, had instructed the French in the art of weaving, and threats, and admonitions, which seldom excite any theyintroduced into Europe many Eastern vegetables. definite feeling or idea -sometimes crawling in the Phe fair of Bagdad was the chief market for silk. dust, and sometimes lost in the clouds. They also invented a new species of architecture, Next to the Koran we may rank the Arabian Nights i which is marked by an expression of boldness and a more recent work, but one strongly national in its MAHOME'lAiN BELIEF IN SUPERN4TURAL BEINGS. 3.45 character, and much better known among the people upon the earth; and the de rc, or giants, who freof Christendom. Neither the author of these tales quently make war upon the peris, take them captive, nor the date of their composition can be determined and shut them in cages, which they hang upon with any certainty. Some ascribe this work to a Syr- high trees, where, however, they are soon discovered ian, others to an Egyptian, and others are of opin- by other peris, who come daily to feed them with ion that it is the performance of various authors of the most grateful odors, which are their common various ages. But whatever may be their date and food. The jins, both good and bad, have the power origin, it is agreed by all wilo are acquainted with the of making themselves invisible at pleasure. Besides subject, that those tales accurately-represent the habits, the mountain of Kaf, which is their chief place of feelings, and superstitions of the East. They are uni- resort, the jins abide in ruined cities, uninhabited versally read and admired throughout Asia, by all houses, at the bottom of wells, in woods, pools of ranks of men, both old and young. The Arabs of the water, and among the rocks and sand-hills of the desert will sit round their fires in the evening, and desert. Shooting stars are still believed by the people listen to these stories with such attention and delight as of the East to be arrows shot, by the angels, against totally to forget the fatigue and hardship of their day's the jins who transgress their limits, and approach journey. too near the forbidden regions of bliss. The jins Connected with our subject is that of the Arab are said to carry off beautiful women; whom they superstitions The supernatural part of the Arabian detain as their wives and companions. Many of the Nights is founded on matters firmly fixed in the evil jins delight in mischief for its own sake. They belief of the Mahometans, both ancient and modern. injure and mislead travellers, raise whirlwinds, and It is a portion of the faith inculcated in the Koran, that dry up springs in the desert. The ghoul, which is a both angels and demons exist, having pure and subtile subordinate sort of evil jin, lives on the flesh of men bodies, created of fire, and being free from all carnal and women, whom he decoys to his haunts, in wild and appetites and desires. The four principal angels are barren places, in order to kill and devour them. When Gabriel, the angel of revelation; Michael, the friend it is difficult thus to obtain food, he approaches nearer and protector of the Jews; Azrael, the angel of death, to the habitations of man, and enters the graveyards, to and Israfel, whose office it will be to sound the trum- feed upon the carcasses of the dead. The afrite is a pet at the last day. Every man, according to the powerful.in of the evil and rebellious kind. Mahometan belief, has two guardian angels to attend Among a people devoutly believing these traditions him, and record his actions, good and evil. This doc- concerning jins arind demons, a respect for magic and trine concerning angels is adopted from the Jews, who the power of enchantments would naturally prevail. confessthat they learned it from the Magians of Per- When it could be credited that the throne and sia. The creed relating to demons and jins, or army of Solomon were transported through the air genii, is also in its origin derived from the Hebrews, at a word, by virtue of the possession of a ring, there some of whom assert that the jins were begotten could not be a doubt as to the possibility of the story before the flood. This is assumed on the authority of of the wonderful lamp, or the magical palace of' the Scripture account, that " the sons of God saw the Aladdin, the city of the statues visited by Zobeide, daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took Ali Baba's cavern, and the transformation of the subthem wives of all which they chose," &c. The Jew- jects of the king of the Black Isles into fishes. The ish jins, or shedimz, have wings to fly from one end powers ascribed to magicians were equal, if not supeof the world to the other, like the ministering angels, riot, to those of the jins. They could transport themout they eat, drink, have descendants, and die. selves and others through the air, and could transform The demons of the Mahometan belief are fallen men and animals into whatever shape they pleased, if.ngels. The name of their prince is Eblis, who was no counter influence was exercised against them. lMa — at first one of the angels nearest to God's presence, and gicians, like the jins, were good and bad: the good. was called Azazel. He was cast out of heaven, magician of to-day might be an evil one to-morrow. according to the Koran, for refusing, at the command The history of the Arabs, ancient and modern, is fiull of God, to pay homage to Adam, at the time of the of instances of enchantment, believed by the best creation. The jins are intermediate creatures, neither informed among their sheiks and philosophers, as well wholly spiritual nor wholly earthly. They were ere- as by the most ignorant of the common people. Mai ated of fire, like the angels, but of grosser fabric, homet himself was a believer in Ilhe agency of' magi: requiring meat and drink for their sustenance, and cians, and has inserted many passages in the Koran to being subject to passions and death like common mor- enable the faithful to counteract their spells. tals. Some were good, believing in the Koran and The most distinguished men among the Saracens I the divine mission of Mahomet, and therefore capable have already been mentioned in thecourse of the preof salvation. Others were infidels, and devoted to ceding history. ExceptingMahomet, and a few of the eternal torture. The jins existed long before the cre- Saracen conquerors and sovereigns, there is hardly any ation of Adam. At first they were adorned with individual of this nation whose name has~ been made virtue and goodness; but falling, at length, into almost filmiliar to the people of Christendom. In literature:. universal corruption and wickedness, Eblis was sent and science, however, many subjects of the khalifate to'drive them to a remote and desolate corner of were highly distinguished among their own countrymen. the earth, there to be confined. But some of this gen- Lebid Alamary was a poet of true genius. Asmai, the eration still remaining, an ancient Persian king made author of the romance of Antar, may be regarded as war upon them, and compelled them to retreat to the the originator of tales of chivalry. Masudi, Ebn Han-,.ountains of Kaf. kal, Abtulfeda, and Edrisi contributed largely, by their Among the jins are several ranks and degrees, as writings, to the science of geography. Averrhoes dis-.he peris, or fairies —beautiful female spirits, who tinguished himself by a commentary on Aristotle, and believe in God and his prophet, and seek to do good Avicenna wuas a learned writer on medicine | "Ab ORIGIN OF THE WAIIABEES. The worship of Mahomet was therefore denounced by C E[ A P T E R C L X X X I V. him as impious. Still more reprehensible did he esteem A. D. 1700 to 1818. 1 the sanctity ascribed to imams, doctors, and expounders.' D. 100 o 118:of the law. Pilgrimages performedto peculiar tombs, rHE WAHABEES. - Condition of Arabia after the and virtue attributed to peculiar relies, were treated Establishment of the Khalifate -Preaching by him as rank idolatry. of Abd ul Wahab —Success of his Doctrine The Arab reformer soon gained proselytes, and the - Capture of Mlecca and i7lledina' - Wars of first pious performance which he enjoined upon them, Atthe Turks and Egycptians against the Waa- when they became sufficiently strong in numbers, was habees - Captre of Derayeh - Overthrow the destruction of the chapels of Mecca and Medina. The dust of the pretended saints was, like that of the of the TVahabees. desert, to be scattered to the winds; and the treasures WHEN the Saracen empire rose to splendor and which adorned their monuments were to rewaii the dominion, the barren rocks and rude deserts of Arabia piety of their despoilers. These doctrines were mineeased to be regarded as a fit residence for the com- gled with violent attacks on Turkish tyranny and vice, mander of the faithful. The court of the khalifs was which drew persecution on the head of the.:ew reformer, transferred to Damascus, and from thence to Bagdad, and compelled him for some time to lead a wandering within the old favorite territory and seat of empire on life. At length, he settled at Derayeh, the residence the rich plain of Mesopotamia. Thus left.to herself, of the sheik Ebn Saood. This intelligent chief lis. Arabia seems to have resumed her natural and origi- tened to the words of Abd ul Wahab, became his discinal character, even long before the pomp and magnif- pie, married his daughter, and protected him'ill his icence of Bagdad had been swept away by the torrent death, which too!k place about 1750. of Tartar invasion. The country of Mahomet, and Mohamned, the son of Abd ul Wahab, succeeded the cradle of that religion which had revolutionized half him as a preacher of the' new doctrine. He had been the civilized world, became detached fiom the rest of blind from his youth, and this obstacle hindered him the Mussulman empire, and was restored to its primitive from leading forth his proselytes in person for the state of rude and roving freedom. For many centuries defence and propagation of the new creed; but this Arabia gave birth to no event which calls for notice deficiency was supplied by Ebn Saood, who became from the pen of the historian. In the sixteenth cen- the temporal chief of the Wahabees, while Mohamtury, her coast upon the Red Sea felt the encroach- med remained their spiritual leader. From the mo ments of the Turks, who took possession of the sea- ment that the new faith was adopted by princes of ports as far south as Mocha, and established, in the strip rank and ancient standing, it was able to add the of maritime territory which they occupied, a system force of arms to that of argument, and made rapid.of exclusion which destroyed the commercial pros- and extensive progress. It soon approached the perity formerly enjoyed by this region. But the de- province of Hedjaz, in which Mecca is situated, and (cline of the Ottoman empire, first felt in its extremi- the sherif or prince of this city, the guardian of the ties, enabled the Arabian sheiks along the Red Sea holy place, began to tremble for his power and dominto regain their independence. ion. He stirred up against the Wahabees the mighty During the eighteenth century, a religious fermenta- tribe of Beni Haled, -who occupied the province of. tion similar to that caused by Mahomet, again agitated Hedjaz. Turkish fortifications abounded in this region, the people of Arabia. This was the rise of the Wa- and Turkish families formed a princpal part of its pophabees-a sect of religious reformers, who took their ulation. The chief men were violently hostile to the name from Abd ul Wahlab, a native of the province Wahabees from the beginning, and they obeyed thn' of Nejd. He was born about the year 1700. The summons of the sherif of Mecca with alacrity. They prodigies related as attending the birth of Mahomet took up arms, and marched against Derayeh. are repeated in the case of the Mussulman reformer. The Wahabees had already begun to quarrel among It is believed by the Arabs that a great earthquake themselves, and perhaps would have been speedily shook every mosque in the Mahometan dominion to ruined by internal dissensions, had not this attack from its foundation, and that, during many successive nights, strangers compelled them to stifle their domestic feuds the cities, villages, castles, and fields of Arabia, and for self-defence. Their chief, vho had been constantly the neighboring territories, shone with a brilliant and perplexed with murmurings and mutinies, now found supernatural light; the lamps which burned in the his followers full of obedience and zeal. The Hedjasepulchral chapels of Mahomet, and the other Mussul- zites, after several years war, were compelled to yield tnan saints, went out preternaturally, &c., &c. to their enemies, and at length the Wahabees had | Abd ul Wahab, in his youth, was sent to study law strengthened themselves so far as to be able to turn at Damascus, where he learned from the orthodox their arms against Mecca. Their fame had now Mahomnetans themselves to attack the corruptions reached Constantinople, and the Ottoman Porte, wvtiiich which had been introduced into their creed. On his had hitherto despised these obscure sectaries, began' to return to Arabia, he began' to preach.the necessity of feel alarmed at their progress. The paecha of Bagdad a thorough reformation, and took upon himself the received orders to prepare for the defence of the character of a Mahometan Martin Luther. His first holy city, and this officer instructed his subordinates, aim seems to have been to remove the traditions which the Arab sheiks of Montefih and Beni Haled, agreeahad been grafted upon the pure and primitive Mussul- bly to the mandates of the Porte. These proceedings -man doctrine, and to prevent divine honors from miscarried; the sheik of Montefib was assassinated. being paid to any human being, even to Mahomet. in his own tent by a disguised Wahabee, and the sheik Though he believed the Koran as a direct revela on of Beni Haled, after an unsuccessful campaign,'was 1 fromn the Deitv. he regarded the Arabian prophet as a compelled to fly before his enemies, and leave his merobe mortal, actmrg as the organ of the Most High. capital, El [lassa, to be sacked by the Wahabec army 4I. DECLINE AND FALL OF THE WAHABEES. 34 Bagdad was now in great consternation, for the becoming masters of Medina in 1812, and of Mecca principles of XWahabismn had penetrated into every part in the following year. A peace was concluded in of Arabia north of' Yemen, and had gained the tribe 1815; but, the power of the Wahabees appearing still of Montefih itself, hitherto regarded as the chief bul- formidable, a fresh expedition was sent against them wark of' the Turkish power against the new sectaries. in 1816, under the command of [brahim Paclha, the rThe W\ahalees were little more than an undisciplined eldest son of Mohammed. Deravye, the XWahabee multitude, armed only with matchllocks; but they capital and stronghold, was besieged, and, after an seemed to possess bodies of steel and souls of fire: obstinate defence, surrendered in 1818. The chief their abode was the inaccessible heart of the desert; of the sect, with several of his family, was sent to their power of enduring fatigue, hardship, and priva- Constantinople, where Lhey were carried through the tion was almost beyond belief, and the rapidity of streets in triumph for several days, after which they their movements baffled all calculation. Their obedi- were beheaded, and their bodies exposed to the outence to their chiefs, in whatever concerned their new rages of the populace. creed, knew no bounds; their bravery in battle and The WXahabees, as a ruling power, were overthrown contempt of death were fed by a fanaticism far ex- by this catastrophe; but, as a sect, they were by no ceeding the worn-out zeal of the Turks; and, in all mneans exterminated. They still wander over the their expeditions, they were equally anima'ed by the desert in great numbers, and have, at various times, interests of religion and the hope of plunder. The given serious alarm to the government of Constantinoadvantage, therefore, was altogether'on the side of the lpie. It is believed by many that they will recover Wahabees. In 1797, Solyman, the pacha of Bagdad, their power, overrun Arabia, and establish in that attacked them in the province of El Hassa; but his country a stronger dominion than they have ever yet troops were routed and compelled to retreat. The possessed. Their remctea situation, surrounded with a victorious Arabs overran the district of Basra, and wide expanse of desert, renders it impossible for their captured the holy town of Imam Hosein, where they enemies to extirpate them; and they are now probably destroyed the famous temple, and robbed it of the watching for a favorable moment to invade tile neigh immense treasures which had been deposited there by boring territories, and establish a new empire in the the pious generosity of the Turkish sultans and the East. shahs of Persia. At the present day, the greater patrt of Arabia reThe Wahabees now raised an army of above one mains under the same species of patriarchal governhundred thousand men, which, under their chief, Abd ment which prevailed in ancient times. Each soverel Aziz, the grandson of Ebn Saood, marched against eign, or sheik, intrenched in his rocky castle, or roamMecca, in 1801. After an obstinate siege, the city ing, with his camels and flocks, over the desert, holds was taken in 1803, and the conquerors plundered the himself independent of every other human power. rich tombs of the Mahometan saints. In their zeal individual followers, however, are always ready to for the work of destruction, they did not spare the flock in considerable numbers to the standard of some famous mosque, but stripped it of the inlmense treas- successful warrior, who promises either daring advenures and costly furniture, to which each Mussulman tures or rich booty. Hence it is no difficult'matter to prince in Europe, Asia, and Africa had contributed collect some thousands of freebooters, sufficient to lay his share. Medina fell into their hands in 1804, and under contribution all who pass through their neighthe tomb of Mahomet was plundered and destroyed. borhood. On the route between Egypt and Palestine, Nothing could surpass the conster:tation and horror the borders of Syria, and the tract along the Euphrates, of all the devout Mussulmans throughout the East, large moving encampments of Arabs continually pass when it became known that the holy city was in the to and fro, observing the progress of the travellers and hands of the heretics, and the tomb of the prophet the caravans, and ready to avail themselves of any despoiled. The pilgrimages to Arabia were stopped, faivorable chance for an attack. In the interior, among and, from 1803 to 1807, no great caravan entered the Bedouin camps, this warlike temper vents itself in that country. From the shores of the Atlantic to the almost perpetual petty conflicts with each other. On banks of the Ganges and thile frontiers of China, every the coast of the Red Sea, the pacha of Egypt holds a pious Malliometan was absorbed in grief at the thought part of the territory conquered from the Wahabees. of being cut off from the performance of his most Yemen forms an exception to this proud and aristosacred duty —that of go;ng on pilgrimage to Mecca. cratic independence of the Arabian tribes. The imam The Wahabees pursued their victorious career, and of Sana, who succeeded to the government upon the gained over to their cause the pacha of Bagdad, who expulsion of the Turks in 1630, has established here rebelled against the Porte. Their armies invaded a government formed strictly upon the model of the Syria, and threatened to strike a serious blow at the despotic kingdoms of Asia.'He claims an authority supremacy of the Ottoman power in the East. At both spiritual and temporal, demands from his subjects length, Mohammed Ali, the pacha of Egypt, was in- the most unqualified submission, and the extreme duced, by the solicitations of the sultan, to turn his abuse of his power can only be checked by rebellion. arms against them. In 1809, he built a squadron of He governs the districts and towns by subordinates, ships of war on the Red Sea. and sent a large military raised usually from the lowest ranks, and tile passive and naval force to invade the Wahabee territories, instruments of his will. Some traces yet remain here under the command of his second son, a youth eighteen of Arabian independence in the cadis and the college years of age. This general-in-chief was placed under of justice, without whose concurrence no sentence of the guidance of Ahmed Aga, an officer whose military death can be pronounced. Though these functionaries skill had gained him the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. are appointed and may be removed by the sovereign,''he expedition landed in Arabia in 1811. The this latter prerogative is one which he seldom venturies Wahabees fought desperately in their own defence; to exercise; and their decisions are said to be ofken but they could not prevent the Egyptian troops from distinguished by a high degree of independence and 348 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ARABIANS. integrity. The sovereign is generally called by for- Socotra, the islands of Kishma and Ormoz in the elgners the imam of Muscat, from the name of the Persian Gulf, and a considerable tract of Persian tern seaport where he commonly resides. He holds under tory around Gombroon. his dominion also the African islands of Zanzibar and Arab Sheik and Attendants. Bedouins. C H A P T E R C L X X X V. the place of cloth. People of the middle rank wear Views of theA iansnnersandals, of wood or leather, bound on the feet with G(~~~eneral Viv o th A n -Ma er thongs. The rich, of both sexes, use slippers. In an~d Cu~stoms - Tows. some parts of the country, the hair is generally worn IN the course of our historical sketch, we have had long; in some, it is cut short; and in others, the head occasion to notice the ancient Arabians. Their modern is completely shaved; but in all, the beard is worn descendants resemble them; but, as they are a remark- of its natural length, and is an object of high regard. able people, spread over all Western Asia and a large The scanty clothing of the Arab serves also for his part of Africa, they deserve a particular description. bedding: the linen from his waist forms his mattress, The Arab is not robust, but he is rather tall, well and the cloth from his shoulder is his coverlet. In formed, and active, fearless of danger, and insensible some places, the people sleep in sacks, to protect them to fatigue; his mind is quick, and his character marked from insects. by the extremes of credulity and enthusiasm. His The women always wear shirts and drawers; they head is oval, his brow high and arched, his nose have rings on their arms and fingers, and in their ears aquiline, and his eyes are large. His dark complexion and noses. They stain their nails red, and their hands is rendered still deeper by exposure to the sun; but and feet brown, and paint their eyebrows and lashes I he has a gentle look. The women are taller, in pro- black. Like the females of Egypt, they usually conportion, than the men, and have a dignified deport- ceal the lower part of the face with folds of linen, ment; but their elegant forms are degraded by their leaving only the eyes uncovered; in some parts, they ragged clothir)ng and squalid looks; and the regularity wear veils. of their features loses its attraction by the influence The Bedouins, or wanderers, differ in many respects of their copper tint. To be admired, they must be from the other Arabs. By hard living and constant seen at a distance, and the beholder must confine him- exposure, their persons are lank and thin, and their self to general appearance. complexion is rendered very dark. Their black and The costume of the settled Arabs is various; but, penetrating eyes, added to their general appearance, among the wandering tribes, it is very scanty. The indicate the demi-savage and untutored sons of narich inhabitants of Yemen dress very much after the ture. Their dress consists of a skull-cap and slippers manner of the Turks or Persians, with large trousers, with a white woollen garment, which, covering the and a girdle of embroidered leather about the waist, whole body, reaches to the calf of the leg, and has a in which is stuck a knife or d, gger. Th- head dress hood for the head, and holes for the arms to pass consists of a number of caps, sometimes as many as through. They stain their arms, their lips, and the fifteen, of different sorts, linen, cotton, and woollen, most conspicuous part of their body, of a deep blue worn one upon the other: the outer cap is richly or- color, by puncturing with a needle, so that it can namented, and has some passages from the Koran never be effaced. Some have a small flower upon embroidered upon it. The lower classes wear only the cheek, the forehead, or the chin, colored with two caps. Some of them have drawers and a coarse the smoke of galls and saffron, which make a fine shirt; but the greater number wear nothing more than black color; they likewise blacken their eyebrows. a piece of linen about their loins,.and a strip of cloth! Most of the women wear rings of gold and silver } over the shoulders. In the more elevated parts of the I about three inches in diameter, in their noses. They country, where the climate is colder, shee)-skins suppey I are born mtar; but their complexions are spoiled by MIANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ARABIANS. 349 exposuie to the sun. The young girls are agreeable, who, though temperate in diet and polite in speech. and sinog continuallyv. possess strong passions, and are equally capable of Such of the Arabs as are settled in towns, and apply cruelty and friendship, in the extremes. At one mothemselves to agriculture or trade, are distinguished ment, thev rot) the traveller whom they meet in the for justice, temperance, and humanity; among these, desert, and the next, embrace, without hesitation o i a stranger may travel without danger. T'hey are, inqiuiry, tile stranger -hiho throws himself upon theou I I owever, greatly inferior in numbers to the Bedouins, protection. Bedouins inl the Desert. Some of the principal -people, in the more fertile able. They seldom, however, marry more than two parts, eat nothing but boiled rice, served up in a large wives; and mnany are content with one. The Arab wooden plate; but, in other parts, the produce of the women enioy more liberty than in other Mahlometan flocks and herds constitutes almost their only subsist- nations, and have great power in their families. If ill ence. The milk and flesh of camels, as well as of used by their husbands, they have a right to demand sheep, are in common ulse; various kinds of wild a divorce. Separations, however, are uncommon, and! animals, with lizards and locusts. also afiford the Arabs mostly confined to cases where the husband, from in. a supply of food. They drink little while at table; ability to maintain his wives, sends them back to their but, as they rise, after waslhin~g, they take some cold friends; after which they are at liberty to marry again. water and a cul of coffee. Wine is prohibited by the ~- laws of Mahomet; I)ut several kinds of liquor are made fromz hloney, sugar, raisins, and other fruits, some of which are spirituous, and sometimes indulged |. / in to excess. The Arabs are more fond of smolking /. than the inhabitants of the north of Asia; and a pecu- / liar custom prevails among persons of wealth and I fashion, of carrying about them a box, filled with odoriferous wood, of which they put a small piece into any person's pipe, whom they wish to treat with respect. The Bedouins have neither bread nor wine, neither do they cultivate the ground. Instead of bread, they ):ii[ mlake cakes of a species of wild millet, mixed with i camel's milk, and slightly baked. They hiave flocks j <. of camels, sheep, and goats, which thev conduct from... place to place, till they find sufficient herbage: here:e:e they erect their goat-hair tents, and live till the grass. is consumed, when they go in quest of another fertile' spot. In Arabia, many of them are quiet and peace- c able; but, in most countries, Bedouin Arab is synony- Camels. mous with robber. Though the camel is the most useful of animals to Marriage is reckoned so honorable among the the Arabs, they have a greater admiration for the horse. I Arabs, that a woman will rathelr marry a poor man, The antiquity of his own pedigree, and the superiority. or become a second wife to one already married, than of his horse, are the chief boasts of a Bedouin. incur the obloquy attached to the single life; and the While the whole interior of Arabia remains as it men are.eqlally disyposed to take them, because their was three thousand years ago, the country along the wives, instead of being expeisive, are rather profit- coast has undergone some changes. In general, how! j;; — ____________ —,- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.__ -_ - MECCA —MEDINA-JIDDA, &c. ever, the government and state of society are station- as the burial-place of Mahomet, has never rivalled ary. The western part of the country, forming the Mecca in the veneration of the Mussulman. To visit sheriffate of Mecca, now belongs to Egypt. The chief this city is not even considered as an indispensable town is Mecca, (the ancient Macoraba,) celebrated as duty, and is little practised, except by the Turkish the birthplace of Mahomet, situated in a dry, barren, pilgrims, in whose route it lies. It contains about five and rocky country, forty miles from the Red Sea. It hundred houses, only a few of which are elegant. is supported by the concourse of pilgrims from every The great mosque, which once enclosed the tomb of part of the Mahometan world. The chief ornament Mahomet, is, however, described as very splendid, of Mecca is the famous mosque, in the interior of being surrounded by numerous pillars of marble, which is the kaaba, an ancient temple, said to have jasper, and porphyry, inscribed with golden letters., been built by Abraham; it is a plain square building Yembo, the port of Medina, has a population of five of stone. The most sacred relic in the kaaba is the thousand. black stone, said to have been brought by the angel Jidda, or Jedda, on the Red Sea, is the emporium Gabriel. The grand ceremony through which pil- of the province of Hedjaz, and the chief medium of grims pass is that of going seven times round the the trade between Egypt and Mecca. The annual kaaba, reciting verses and psalms, in honor of God India fleets here unload their cargoes, which are and the prophet, and kissing, each time, the sacred transported, by the merchants of the place, to Suez stone. They are then conducted to the well of Zem- and Cairo. The houses are built of madrepore, a zem, situated in the same temple, where they take sort of shell rock. The place is very flourishing, large draughts, and perform a thorough ablution in its and has a population of fifteen thousand. Some of holy waters. Aromther ceremony, considered as of the merchants are said to he worth a million of dollars. equal virtue, is the pilgrimage to Mount Arafat, At the northern extremity of the Red Sea, stands situated about thirty miles to the south of the city. Akaba, a little village, near the site of which is the port of Eziongeber, frorm which the ships of Solomon sailed to Ophir, and by which the Phenicians carried on their commerce with India. To the west are Mount Horeb, upon which God appeared to Moses, __________E_ and commanded him to deliver his countrymen, and.....Mount Sinai, upon which he gave the law. Here is a monastery, armed with cannon, and accessible only by means of a rope. The imamat of Yemen is a powerful state, in the _...... -E~ ~south-west. The capital and residence of the imam is Sana, built in the middle of a fertile plain, and surrounded with high brick walls and towers. Population, about thirty thousand. Mocha, the principal port on the Red Sea, frequented by Europeans, is in the province of Yemen, and has'six thousand inhabitants.'he hief article of commerce is cofiee, produced in the F' tr. i. I, F vicllnity, and admitted to be the best in the world. Ten thousand tons are exported annually. Besides this, dates, myrrh, gurlu Arabic, ivory, gold dust, and other valuable articles, are exported in considerable Tearple of Mecca. quantities. Mecca is one of the handsomest cities in the East. The imamat of Muscat, on the eastern coast, is It stands in a narrow valley, enclosed among rocky likewise an important state, the government being the lills. The fionts of the houses, instead of presenting, most enlightened in Arabia. The imam resides at as in some Eastern cities, a long range of dead earthen Muscat, a large city, surrounded with gardens and wall, are of stone, raised to the height of three or groves of date-trees. It is the centre of an active four stories, and ornamented with columns and other commerce with India, and a great market for pearls. architectural embellishments. This gay aspect seems It is situated on the Red Sea, just within the Straits to be assumed, in a great measure, to attract pilgrims of Babelmandel, and is frequented by European as.lodgers; and with the same view, the apartments ships. It occupies a flat, sandy plain, continually are made neat and commodious. The temple forms swept by hot winds. Viewed from the sea, it makes'a very spacious square, about a quarter of a mile in a pleasing applearance, with its whitewashed houlrs, extent, with many rows of columns. A very active variegated by handsome minarets and tombs. Incommerce in Mecca is combined with pilgrimage, ternally, it exhibits filthy streets and decaying walls. consisting in the exchange of the richest commodities The population is about five thousand; the trade is of the Mahometan world. The resort of pilgrims of chiefly in the hands of Hindoo merchants. so many different nations, from the extremities of The kingdom of the Wahabees, who as we have Tartary to the banks of the Senegal, rendered Mecca, related, reduced a great part of the peninsula, but in peaceful times, a very flourishing city. It formerly were overthrown by the arms of the Egyptians, is in contained one hundred thousand inhabitants. Since the region. of Nedshed. The capital, Derayeh, was the Wahabite war, however, it has declined; and, at destroyed in 1818. present, the population is estimated at not over thirty. There are many other petty states in Arabia; the thousand The Meccans are proud, gay, and some- great number of the inhabitants, who live in small Wvhat dissolute. tribes, an d lead a wandering life, acknowledge no Miedina, (Iathrippa,) notwithstanding its high claims I superiors but their own chiefs. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF TURKEY IN ASIA. 351 T UIiIUUCY IN a -v I X COIINSTAINTIN S re ~, ~,-~~1....'...... - OTa. b.t.s"....'-.'."::.*...:'..:..a... a n sa -C1Tt Ioopaii~b _12_n~- Mast Om, h,.'I........ ctra. Constantinople in Europe, and Seutari in Asia, Introduction- Geographical Description. are but little more than a mile apart, being separated THis extensive territory embraces that portion of the only by a narrow strait. The following table presents world most renowned in history. Within its limits are at one view, the several portions of Asiatic Turkey:included the scenes of the creation and fall of man; Koordistan-the ancient Assyria. of the deluge, as far as given in the Bible; of the llesopota'mia-the ancient Babylonia and Chaldea. rise and progress of the Jewish nation; and of the Syria - including ancient Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine. crucifixion of our Savior. Here were Assyria and Anatolia or Asia Miner. Armenia- a part only of ancient Armenia, Babylonia, -the first great empires of antiquity. Here were Nineveh, and Babylon, and Tyre, and Sardis, These countries are about one thousand miles in and Troy, and Palmyra; here still are Jerusalem and length, from Constantinople to the Persian Gulf; the Damascus, Antioch and Smyrna. Here are Ararat average width - is about two hundred and fifty miles. and Lebanon, the Jordan and the Euphrates, the The whole extent is nearly two hundred and fifty Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee.' Here are scenes thousand square miles. which have witnessed the presence of Semiramis and Asia Minor; Armenia, and the northern parts of Cyrus, of Abraham and Melehisedek, of David and Koordistan, are mountainous countries. Mount Ararat, Solomon, of Paul and Peter, and James and John. in Armenia, is seventeen thousand three hundred feel Here, too, Cambyses, Darius, Alexander, Seleucus, above the level of the sea.. The highest peaks of Mount Pompey, Omar, Saladin, and Tamerlane, have marched Taurus are twelve hundred feet high. The largesi at the head of their armies, and performed exploits river is the Euphrates, which rises in Armenia, breaks which still echo in the pages of history. Yet famous through the chain of Mount Taurus, and after a course as these regions are in the early annals of mankind, of thirteen hundred miles, empties into the Persian there is hardly any portion of the globe more unblest Gulf. The Tigris is a branch of this river. The Kisil in its present condition than this. Ermak (Halys) is the largest river of Asia Minor. Turkey in Asia includes several countries, of which The climate of a country so extensive and so varied |ve have given geographical and historical sketches. in surface, is, of course, marked with diversity. The We have now only to group them in one general view. northern part resembles New England in its moun|rhe boundaries of this country are, the Black Sea on tainous and rugged character, while the middle por-.he north, the Caucasian countries and Persia on the tions are analogous to our Middle States. The southern mnst, Arabia on the south, and the Mediterranean Sea parts are like Georgia and Alabama. The products mn the west The Asiatic territories of Turkey are are what might be expected from such a climate: the L __________________________________________________________________________________________ 352 NATU RAL PRODUJCT1ONS. oranges, figs, olives, pomegranates, and othelr fruits are food of the people. WTe are indebted to this region very delicious, and form a large part of the staple I for tl e peach, apricot, mulberry, various melons, arnd ~~: *ii~~' I i // Figs some of our most beautiful garden flowers and plants. railroads, the camel is now, as it has been from time The rose is said to reach its highest perfection here. immemorial, the chief reliance of merchants and travThe moss-rose and the rose of Sharon are products ellers in these regions. A large number of them of this favored clime. usually go together for security against robbers, being The camel, an animal unknown to our climate, is called a caravan. The stopping places for travellers, of infinite use to the people of the East. Being are called caravanserais, and are usually provided at adapted to sandy deserts and hot climates, and at the the public expense. They consist of large, square same time living upon frugal fare, it is chiefly used courts, with stalls and recesses on all sides for the for transporting burdens in the interior. There being animals and the people, the latter usually carrying their few roads or bridges fit for wheel carriages, and no I own provisions. Caravan resting at Night The great variety of races in this country, always Armenlans are timid, obsequious, frugal, and induspreserving their several peculiarities of costume, char- trious; many of them are merchants and mechanics. acter, and physiognomy-forms one of its most curious They are pliant to circumstances, bend to authority: features. Besides the Turk, is to be found the Jew, and seek to prosper by peaceful pursuits. They live the Greek, the Armenian, Turcoman, Koord, and in large families, closely united. They have an ani. Arab, all living under the same government, and often mated physiognomy and good features. in the same community —yet never wholly losing or The Jews resemble the Armenians, always mainforgetting their historical and traditional appearance or taining their peculiar characteristics. They have been nabits. degraded and depressed in the Turkish dominions, but The Greeks are not numerous, and are confined to the milder course of the Tu'rkish government recently Asia Minor and the islands along the coast. They adopted toward all religions, has been extended to are, as elstewhere, subtle, cheerful, and adroit. The them. The Arabs have spread themselvtes over Syria, CHARACT E R-D RES S-K 0ORD S. Palestine, and the regions around Bagdad. Some The Druses and Maronites of Lebanon have been roam over the deserts for the sake of plunder, occa- described. The Turcomans occupy the uncultivated sionally driving their flocks into the more fertile pas- table lands in the illterior of Asia Minor, and are suptures. They conform to established manners, and posed to be a branch of the people bearing that name nave a more polished address than the Turks.'Many on the east of the Caspian. They are a wandering of them are settled in the villages, and others become race, driving their flocks in summer to the elevated merchants in the cities; but they never forget their tracts, and in winter to the sheltered valleys. They long genealogies, their reverence for the beard, and combine with domestic simplicity a love of war and admiration for the horse, which characterize them at booty. They make excellent cavalry, and form the home. main military strength of Turkey. I. owl rds ttta,'.k,. it Ga.'., *., The Koords, or Kurds, inhabit a long and rugged in a regioni which presents nothing but rugged stee chain, stretching south-east from the mountains of Ar- frightful ravines, and narrow- valleys. Here, every menia, parallel to the Tigris, along the frontier of the chief is seated in his castle, where he meditates, and Turkish and Persian empires. They are the same whence he attempts the plunder of the rich plains people whom we have mentioned under the ancient which lie beneath him. The Koords have, however, name of Carduchi, through whom Xenophon fought the characteristic virtue of barbarians, — a frank hoshis way, when conducting the famous retreat of the pitality, - and also a pride of pedigree, founded on a Ten Thousand. They have still the same name and national existence which may be traced to high anthe same character, being deemed the boldest and tiquity. rudest in all Asia. Those pastoral pursuits which, on The Turks are the same in Asia as in Europe. the high table plains of Tartary and Persia, vary and They are an Oriental people, and form a complete soften the habits of war and plunder, are impracticable cotrast in all the external forms of life to Europeans I illl!!lali/i,!Eastern lodLe (,f reciniiiig at Meals. The men, instead of our dresses fitted tight to the limbs; and instead of standing, or sitting on cnals body, wear long, flowing robes, which conceal the they remain stretched on sofas in luxurious indolence, 45S 354 CONDITION OF THE WOMEN-AMUSEMENTLS. considering it madness to stir or walk, unless for spe- sian. He is " a solemn, solitary being." The abject cia. purposes or for business. They sit cross-legged, submission to a master, which is esteemed a religious and recline at meals. On entering a house, they take duty, is combined with the pride of a conquering peooff, not their hat, but their shoes. In eating, they use pie, and with the consciousness of being surrounded tile fingers only, without knife or fork; they sleep, not by subject races on whom he has set his foot. The on beds, but on couches upon the hard ground or floor. Turkish character involves great contradictions. They The females, excluded from all society, remain shut are fastidiously refined and coarsely voluptuous; ill up in the harem, and must not be seen or named by some things honest, in others utterly faithless; at once any pelson of the opposite sex. austere and licentious, arrogant and cringing, liberal The grave, secluded, and serious cast, impressed and sordid, and though generally placid, yet fetrocious by a despotic government and by the Mahometan law, and ungovernable when roused. is more decided in the Turk than in the Arab or Pe'i- The condition of the female sex, in Turkey, is parTurks smoking and drilnkinig. ticularly foreign to our manners tand ideas. From the and the property belonging to his wives is untoucheer. moment of marriage, they are immured in the harem, Marriage is a mcre civil contract, fixing the dower excluded from the view of the public, and of the and limiting the number of the husband's wives. The opposite sex, their nearest relations being alone ad- concubines are generally purchased slaves. The chilmitted on occasions of peculiar ceremony. This cir- dren of these are legitimate. The Koran allows four cumscribed existence, and the necessity of sharing wives, but the rich have as many as they please. The with a multitude of rivals the favor of a husband, or poor are usually content with one. rather' master, appears intolerable to European ideas. The amusements of the Turk are chiefly domestic. They are allowed to visit and receive visits, and fre- His delight is to give himself up to continued and unquent the baths, where they meet numbers of their own varied revery; to glide down the stream of time without sex. Here they get the news, and indulge in gossip. thought or anxiety; to retire under the shade of trees there to muse without any ____ - -fixed object, and to inhale _____ through the pipe a gentle,inebriating vapor. Stretched Pec uliain luxurious ease, he takes:I},K ~ ~ -.j pleasure, however, in listening to the narrative of the a', professed story-teller, or in viewing the dances of Greelk vn inyouths, hor Turkish balladiers, at which - though II'_ ithey are by no means remarklable for decorum-he even allows the presence of his wives. The ball, the theatre, the crowded party, Peculiar all that in Europe can be acMlauriaga~e Procession. counted gayety, are utterly Peculiar veneration is attached, in Turkey, to the foreigntoTurkish manners. Turkish Costume. parental character, and particularly to that of a mother. The dress of the Turk consists of long, flowing Even in the fall of a great man, his harem is respected, robes, which do not disturb his.tately walk, though DRESS OF THE LADIES-RELIGION. 35 Uncompatible with rapid motion. The turban is the murmurs; the air is at the same time filled with per. most characteristic feature of Eastern dress, though fumes. The ladies, like their lords, smoke opium th;is is giving place to the Greek cap, as the robe is and tobacco: their long pipes bearing the name of )(,fl-en exchanged for a close jar:ket. The dress of the chibouque. wvomen resembles that of the men in form, though the turban is more light and graceful. The materials of (I temale dress are superb, gaudy colors being prefecrred.'tle hair is usually plaited with an embroidered piece I ot' gauze, which falls to the waist, where it is fastened with gold knobs. A display of diamonds and pearls..is made, according to the wealth of the wearer. On i Various religions exist in Turkey. The Jews preserve their own, and Christianity prevails, to some Eastern Ladies riding and wal i in ments of the fKo ran are, belief in one (-Tod; in Mg6in abroad, the ladies are veiled. The apartments homet's apostolical character; observance of the fasi the harem, which are devoted to the women, are of Ramadan; daily prayers and ablutions; the bestowvai spacious and gorgeously.decorated. The centre room of one tenth of one's revenue in anlms; and the perhas a marble fountain, whose falling waters lull the formance of the pilgrimage to Mecca.. The prayenidolenh to repose, or amuse the thoughtless with its are five, and to be repeated daily. spacious Ine ntrnerous decofa. T ~Pilgrims fin the )suein s f the t. The per'fhormance of the pilgrimage to Mecca is of many cases these pilgrimages are attended with severc such vital importance, that no Musstulman is exempt toil and privation. On arriving at the terh:ple of Mecca: from its obligations, except the grand seignior; and even the pilgrimsmwalk seven times round the mosque, which Arabia, set out for the holy city. In different yeais, water, and imagine that the soul has civ lie number of pilgrims varies from sixty to one hun- compensation for the sufferings of the body. ample sI red thousand souls, and the number of camels from When a man dies, his body is prepared with meuch ] ighty toun t hre ft thousand to a hundred and fifty thousand. In care for the grave. The friends display im lode te _ _ _ __.__ _.__ _ _ _.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _I 3b6 FUNERAL CEREMONIES-MANUFACTURES GOVERN MENT. sorrow, rending their garments and shedding many The body is borne by a procession to the grave, and tears. The women, who flock in fiom all quarters, mourning women are hired to sit by the tomb, ana make their screams heard through the neighborhood. perform a wake in honor of thle dead.,~ ", - -1 7',', 1, -. leather, and soap, are stles of the Levant. The but elancoly lan. Ye, i the idst of this gloom admired Turkey carlpes are woven by the women of these regions strongly engage the attention. There is the wandering tribes inl the upper districts of the coun- no part of the world where so miany objects of histoli- | try. No part of the world aflords such advantages for cal interest are to be seen;, every mountain and river, maritime comnmerce; and in former times this was every plain and valley, almost every product of nature. artied or to;a great extent. Here, indeed, commerce is associated with remembrances of the past. An originated, and for ages this region was the great obscure village bears the title of Bethlehem — and centre of trade as well by land as sea. The splendor excites reverence as the birthplace of our Savior; na of its ancient emporia-Tyre, Sidon, Damascus, An- pillar of salt, in the region of the Dead Sea, reminds tioch, Rhodes, Cyprus, Miletus - excited the admiration of thCe world. Now Srmyrna and Aleppo ae the Est only considerable marts of trade the formeaer exporting / Pl lS he fruits and naufactures of Asia re chiefly o f and statuthessulptu d b hand ofe art a lattern beordiy king the centre of thenal c onsuaravancteist spectaclestrade of thnterioris r enowned eathe, apincd soaes, nd mode of thgovernme nt arei there midst of this gloon the same as in European Turkey:e weby thereforene t tre- i servthe a nderig tribes of it till we come to treat of that of iportion of f te empi sere. We need only say, that theiver thcarrie on great isextent. ee, indeed, districcommerce tis associated withese frequentlymbnces of the past. An centre of v;the as well by land as sa. The splendor excites reverence as he birthplace of our S avior; a of iup tsnt empoa s Tyie, Sidon, Damascus, o f salt, in the region of the Dead Sea, remin Is their administration, they are despotic and oppressive th to the people, plunnsidele marts ofing trade;with little reserve. xporting sothe of the interior and n re mote districts, asr, amond the l atter being d Koords, the chiefs are only tributaryor i Thile otheprincis frequently odeny of government are he sul- i the same as in European Turkey is that of depression and loom senve our accou nt of it till we come th treat of that o plortion of the empire. ne need only say, that the A preoinces; these are su bdivided into sanrrjaps or lisa ls, that is, districts. The lisiits of these flequentloy vany. theiti rudministration, they acle dnspital' fresp andsive mlajestic ruins of cities, columns, capital,, friezes, andi sand hills, is all that r~emains of N~ineveh!i ORIGIN OF TIHE TURKS. 357 were brought out of prison and slain on his tomb, with C II A P T E R C L X X V 11. the horses of the deceased monarch; that they pub, licly worshipped fire and water, and chanted hymns A. D. 500 to 1000. in honor of' the earth, notwithstanding which they Ori~gin of the Turlks — King Disabiules - adored only one God, the Creator of the visible world, The Khargln - Tuirnwmen- Khan - Divisionl and sacrificed to him horses, bulls, and sheep. l 7f' the Turkish NationWhen these people first became known to their neighbors under the name of Turks, they were said'RIE tribes of barbarians who inhabited the wide to be very skilful in forging iron. About the year t.,ct of country to the east of the Caspian Sea re- 500, Disabules, sent an embassy to'Persia, proposing ceived from the ancients the general name of Scythians: a commercial treaty tbr the purpose of carrying on they are now known to Europeans under the appella- the trade in silk. It is said the Persians not only tion of Tartars. Although this country has been from rejected this offer, but poisoned the Turkish ambassatime to time subject to a succession of warlike nations, dors, which occasioned an enmitS between tile two nathey have probably all been derived from the stame tions that has not subsided to this day. It was on this original stock; for, though known to the rest of the occasion that a connection was first formed between world by various names, their habits and character the Turlks and the Byzantine empire. The emperor have always been the same. The Scythians of the Justin entered into a league with lDisabules, and agreec 1 Greeks do not differ essentially from the modern Tar- to invade Media, while the Turks should miake a de. tars. Before the tine of Alexander, the region called scent upon the Persian dominions fromn the north. Transoxiana was inhabited by a nation klnown under'In the reign of the emperor Maurice, an ambassathe general name of,Sace: of these the Gete and dor from the Turkish monarch visited Constantinople 1Iassagetee were powerful tribes. with a letter to the, emperor, addressed thus: " The From the earliest ages of history to the present khagan, the great lord of seven nations, and master time, the pastoral tribes and communities of this region of seven climates of the World, to the king of the have been continually changing. They have, in their Romans." The Greek historians, however, give such!urn, subdued others, and been conquered themselves. scanty and confiused accounts of the transactions with We find them sometimes improving and extending these people, that scarcely any thing can be learned their dominioris; at other times, compelled to leave from them. The chief information resfpecting the their pasture lands to fiercer and more numerous early history.of the Turks is derived from the Persian, l), i1es; and, in all cases, forming, as they proceed'rurkish, and Chinese authors; but the geographical l;o the fertile plains of Southern Asia or of Europe, knowledge of these writers was so imperfect, and the iart of that great tide of violence and rapine, which, difficulty of identifying the names used by' them sc rising near the Frozen Ocean, has been seen to roll, great, that this portion of history is involved in much before its destructive waves subsided, to the shores confusion. of the Indian Ocean. This picture, however just of Tumlowen Khian was one of the most famous of the the greater part of the inhabitants of this country, ancient Turkish sovereigns. He was originally a does not necessarily represent the character of the blacksmith; and, in order to preserve the memory of whole. It shows the progress of the great and pow- the origin of the family, his descendants were accus- 1i erful tribes which have occupied the plains, and given tomed, every second year, to hold a festival with great l sovereigns to this vast region. Many of the smaller ceremony, and hammer a piece of hot iron upon an tribes, unable to defend the level country against in- anvil -a custom which continued to the time of' Zin- [i vaders, took refuge in the lofty and rugged mountains, gis Khan, who was also represented to be the son of a with which many parts of this wide tract is intersected; blacksmith. About the middle of the seventh century, and some of these have continued, for many genera- the Turks made a movement southward, passed the tions, to maintain unchanged their original language River Sihon, and laid waste the country in that quar-. and manners. Other inhabitants, devoted to the ter. Nearly at the same period, the Saracens invaded peaceful arts of husbandry and trade, must have been Persia from the south, and, in a short time, made thempreserved, by the character of their occupations, from selves masters of the whole kingdom. In the early those violent changes to which the martial tribes were part of the eighth century, they expelled the Turks i exposed. This difference in the habits of the people from the provinces which they had conquered to the gave rise to two distinguishing names, which appear south of the Sihon. to have existed from time immemorial among them; The Arabs, as well as the Persians, bore a great Th.rk signifying a man of military habits, and Tanjeck hatred to the Turks, not only on account of their freone devoted to civil pursuits. quent invasions from the north, but also from the inThe people called Hiatilla, or hllite Hans, but who testine disturbances which they caused in their dominwere in reality a tribe of Tartars, issuing from the ions. The khalifs were accustloned to procure great I level country north of' the great wall of China, made numbers of young Turkish slaves, which they retained themselves masters of Transoxiana, about the middle and educated in their country. These were formed of the fifth century. The Byzantine historians give into military companies, and formed a body of p)retous very little information of these people; but they rian guards. T.hey naturally grew insolent by tlhe tell us that the imperial ambassadors found their king, possession of power, frequently rebelled against the Disabndes, under a tent, attended by. a coach, or khalif, and even deposed hin, aind placed a creature wagon, with two wheels; that it was the custom of of their own in his seat. These transactions were these people to shave the beard in token of grief, and generally accompanied by scenes of great turbulence, that this ceremony was required of the ambassadors civil wars, and outrages of every description. an the death of one of the kings. They inform us, As the political power of the Turks attracts more moreover, that, at the funeral of a king, four men notice, we find their history dividing into two separate ORIGIN O0f THE SELJUKIAN TURKS. branches — that of the Seljukians and tha+ or the deemed by orthodox Mahometans the only source of Ottomans. We shall proceed to give a distinct his- legitimate authority. tory of each of these. Toghrul speedily subdued all Persia, and adopted every measure to establish a permanent dominion in this country. He seems to have possessed all the good and bad qualities of a Tartar chief. Violent in CH IAI P - T E c L x 11. his temper, and insatiable of conquest, he was distinguished by courage, frankness, and generosity. His A. D. 1000 to 1073. family and tribe embraced Mahometanism at the Origin of the Seljukian Turks - Conquests period of the first settlement of Seljuk, near Bokhara. cand _Er7levatio~n of''rTog~hrul- e Victories and Toghrul was greeted by the khalif, on his first victoDeath of Alp t >Xo 7 of'sto - uictories an ries in Persia, with the title of Ru/Can u Deen, or the Pillar of the Faith, and he appears to have been a THE Seliukian Turks derive their name from Seljuk, zealous promoter of the religion which he professed. a chief of great reputation, who was compelled to He. erected a great number of mosques, and patronized quit the court of Bighoo Khan, the sovereign of the pious and learned men. Turks of Kipjack, who inhabited the plains of Khozar. Alp Arslan, or the Conquering Lion, succeeded Seljuk, with his followers, emigrated from the steppes his uncle Toghrul, (A. D. 1063.) He united valor of Tartary to the plains of Bokhara, in the early part and generosity with the love of learning; and could of the eleventh century. He died at a very advanced we regard him in the same light in which he is conage. His son Michael became known to Sultan Mah- sidered by Mahometan authors, we should esteem him moud of Ghizni, and was greatly honored by that one of the best, as he certainly. is one of the most remonarch, who, it is said, persuaded him to cross the nowned, among the sovereigns of Asia. But he cruelly Oxus, and settle in Khorasan. The first lands which persecuted the Christians of Armenia, Georgia, and this tribe received from the family of Ghizni were Iberia; and these are the actions which the Mussulman granted by Massoud, the successor of Mahmoud, historians describe as the most praiseworthy. It was i (A. D. 1037.) He was compelled, by his inability to his custom to put a large iron collar, - some writers say5 oppose their progress, to enter into a treaty with them. a horseshoe, - as a mark of ignominy, on the neck of Their leader'Togltrul assumed the title and state of a every Christian who refused to change his religion. sovereign at Nishapour, in the northern part of Kho- His invasion of Georgia, and the severities which he rasan. exercised tupon the inhabitants of that country who From this point he was induced to extend his con- were reluctant to adopt the creed of Mahomet, roused quests westward, by what he had heard of the distracted the court of Constantinople to a sense of its imminent state of the territories of the khalif. Leaving his danger from the Turkish armies, which had now adbrother Daood in Khorasan, he advanced into the vanced as far as Phrygia. Persian province of Irak, which he subdued. He The emperor, Romanus Diogenes, took the field at i then marched upon Bagdad, captured the city, and the head of the imperial forces, and by his courage made a prisoner of the khalif, UI Kaim. After this, and skill soon forced the invading armies back upon he made an expedition against Mosul and the territory their own frontier. Romanus desired to improve his around it, whicll he soon conquered, and returned in success, and advanced into Armenia and Aderbijan. triumph to Bagdad, where he was received with great He was met near the village of' Kdlongo, in the latter pompt) by Ul Kaim. The Turkish monarch, we are province, by Alp Arslan, who, though confident in told, approached the commander of the faithful on his own courage and that of his army, shuddered, as foot, accompanied by his nobles, who, laying aside his panegyrists state, at the thought of shedding the.their arms, joined in the procession. The khalif blood of true believers, and offered liberal terms to appeared with all the equipage of state that belonged the Roman emperor. This prince, they add, imputed to his high office. He was seated on a throne, which the moderation of the Turkish sovereign to a wrong was concealed by a dark veil. The celebrated bourda, cause, and replied, with insolence, that he would hearkor black mantle, of the Abbassides was thrown over en to no terms, unless the sultan abandoned hlis camp to his shoulder, and his right hand held the staff of the Roman army, and surrendered his capital, Rhe, as Mahomet..a pledge of his sincere desire for peace. When Alp Toghrul kissed the ground, and, after standing for Arslan heard this answer, he prepared for action. a short time in a respectful posture, was led to the Romanus was confident of victory. Alp determined alhalif, near whom he was placed on a throne. His not to survive defeat. He made a displaly of pious commission was then read, appointing him the lieu- resignation by tying up the tail of his horse, and clothtenant, or vicegerent, of the vicar of the holy prophet, ing himself in a white robe or shroud, perfumed with and the lord of all Mahometans. [He was invested musk. He exchanged his bow and arrows for a cimeter with seven dresses, and seven slaves were bestowed and mace, while his conduct, his dress, and his speeches on him, which ceremony implied that he was appointed proclaimed to every soldier, that if he could not preto rule the seven regions subject to the commander serve his earthly kingdom by a victory over the infiof the faithful. A veil of gold stuff, scented with dels, he was resolved to obtain a glorious crown of musk, was thrown over his head, on which two crowns martyrdom. were placed, one for Arabia and the other for Pers;i. The troops of Romanus commenced the, action, and i Two swords were girt on his loins, to signify that he were at first successful; but the valor of their enape,',-,- was lrulelr of the East and the West. This display led him too far; and when he desired'to retreat to his satisfied the pride of the khalif, and the Turkish chief camp, the cowardice and treaclerv of his followers was pleased to receive a sanction for his conquests threw his ranks into conflusion.'[lie experience of Cmnim the sliritutal head of his faith. who was still All Arslan took advan' ge of thIis c'isis; and t a i I ALP ARSLAN-NIZAM UL MULK-MALEK SHIAH. 359 general nlharge of his whole army completed the defeat Alp Arslan lived long enough to deliver his empiIe of the Christian host. The emperor was wounded and to his son Malek Shah, (A. D. 1073.) With his dying made prisoner by an obscure officer, whom Alp Ars- breath, he entreated him to intrust the chief manageIan had, on the morning of that day, at a general mei, of affairs to the wise and pious Nizam ul review, threatened to disgrace on account of his mean Mulk, a justly celebrated mninister, to whose virtue anld deformed appearance. The illustrious prisoner and ability he attributed the success and prosperity of was carried before the sultan, who treated him with his own reign. This monarch was buried at Meru, il great kindness and distinction. He asked his captive, Khorassan; and the following impressive sentence was at their first conference,;vllat he would have done if inscribed on his tomb: All who have seen the glory fate had reversed their lot. "[ I would have given of Alp Arslan exalted to the heavens, come to Meru, tnee many a stripe," was the imprudent answer of the and you will behold it buried in the dust." haughty Greek. This excited no anger in the breast of the brave and generous conqueror. He only smiled, and asked Romanus what he expected would be done to him. " If thou art cruel," said the emperor, " put me to death; if vain-glorious, load me with chains, and C IH P T E R C L X X X I X. drag me to thy capital; if generous, grant me my A. D. 1073 to 1250. liberty." Alp Arslan was neither cruel nor vain-glorious. He released his prisoner, gave all his captives Administration of Nizain 1i Mulk - Glory of dresses of honor, and distinguished them by every the Reign of Alalek Shah - Anecdote of his mark of his friendship and regard. Romanus, to re- Flatterers - Dislrace of his Ml/inister - Acquite these favors, agreed to pay a large ransom, and cession of kSultan Sanjar - Hi isfortunes a fixed tribute annually. But he could never recover and Death - Decline of the Empirehis throne, which had been usurped during his absence. Tog'hrul III. -'okuslh i Mahoned- JelAlp was -3reparing to restore him by force of arms,- End of t lal lud Deen -End of the Seljitkian Emnwhen he learned that the unfortunate Romanus Diogenes had been imprisoned and put to death by his subjects. pire. After his triumph over the imperial armies, Alp UNDEIR the administration of Nizam ul Mulk, the Arslan resolved on a still more arduous enterprise. empire of the Seljukian Turks attained the highest He desired to establish the dominion of the family of prosperity, and Persia enjoyed a degree of tranquillity Seljuk over their native country; and he summoned to which that country had long been a stranger. This his warriors to invade those vast regions from whence minister, however, had no talent as a general. In the their fathers had issued. His powernow extended from few military operations in which he was engaged, Arabia to the Oxus; and his army consisted of two he seems to have trusted more to his piety than to his hundred thousand soldiers. He marched into Khar- valor. When foiled in his attempt to make himself ism, the greater part of which he subdued. He then master of a castle in'the province of Fars, he was threw a bridge over the Oxus, and passed that river consoled by the philosophical reflection, that " a man without opposition. But his proud career was now near should not become impatient from disappointment, as its close. His operations in Kharism had been much pro- it could not cure, but it doubled the pain." Whlen longed bythe resistance of a small fortress called Ber- the same fortress capitulated, from the fountains 4em1, defended by a chief named Yusuf. The sultan, which supplied it becoming dry, he ascribed his sue.r.rmitated that his grand designs should have been delayed cess solely to his prayers.!Ly so contemptible a place, after its capture ordered its The generals of Malek Shah conquered almost the gallant defender to appear before him, and, with feel- whole of Syria and Egypt; and this prince, more ings unworthy of his character, loaded him with abuse fortunate than his father, not only subdued Bokhara for his insolence and obstinacy in resisting the Turkish Sarncand, and Kharism,but received homage from the army. Yusuf was provoked to a violent reply; and tribes beyond the Jaxartes, and compelled the sovereign the monarch so far forgot himself as to order him to be of the distant country of Kashgar to coin money in his put to a cruel death. Yusuf instantly drew his dagger, name, and to pay him an annual tribute. It is relatedl and flew at the sultan. The guards rushed in; but Alp, that when Malek Shah was passing the Oxus, the who deemed himself unequalled for his skill in arch- ferrymen on that river complained that they were ery, seized his bow, and ordered them to keep aloof. paid by an order on the revenues of Antioch. The they did so. The sultan missed his aim; and before sultan spoke to his minister, who replied, "-It is not to he could draw another arrow, he fell under the dagger defer payment of their wages, but to display your of the assailant, who received the death which he had glory and the wide extent of your dominions." The braved from a thousand. hands, while the wounded sultan was pleased with this flattery; and the comm(,narch was borne to another tent. " TI now call to plaints of the boatmen ceased when they found that nili d," said he to those around him, "two lessons they could negotiate the bill without loss. This fact wl Oh I received from a reverend sage. The one is curious, as showing something of tile monetary bade me despise no man; the other, not to estimate systems of that day. Malek Shah is said to have traymyself too highly, or to confide in my personal prow- elled over his vast dominions twelve times, which is ess. I have neglected what his wisdom taught. The hardly credible; for the Seljukian empire, in his reign, vast numbers of my army, which [ viewed yesterday extended fiom the Mediterranean nearly to the wall irom an eminence, made me believe that all obstacles of China; so that prayers wevre every day offered up would yield to my power. I have perished firom my for his health in Jerusalem, Mecca, Medina, Bm.gdad errors, and my end will show how weak is the power IspahaLn, Rhe, Bokhllara, Samnarcanlld, Ourgunge, and of Kings and the force of man when opposed to the Kashgar. tdecrees of destiny." Eastern.historians recount many anecdotes to prove! ________________________________ ______ ____________________________ 360 SANJAR-END OF THE SELJUKIAN EMPIRE.:he goodness as well as the greatness of Malek Shah. his army was almost entirely cut to pieces, his family On coming 6lit of a mosque, before he fought a battle were made prisoners, and all his baggage was plun. with his brouler, who disputed his title to the crown, dered. He escaped with a few followers to Khorasan, ie asked Nizam ul Mulk what he had prayed for. " I where he was reminded by a flattering poet, that "the lave prayed," replied the minister, " that the Almighty condition of God alone was not liable to change." may give you a victory over your brother." "' And The monarch whom he thus consoled was reserved I,' said the sultan, " that God may take my life and for still greater. misfortunes. The Turcoman tribe of crown, if my brother is worthier than I to reign over Ghuz had withheld their usual tribute of forty thousand the faithful." A noble sentiment, which was crowned sheep. Sanjar marched against them to compel the by the success it sought, as the reward of superior payment. A battle ensued, in which he was defeateri piety and virtue. But the character of this prince is and taken prisoner. At first he was treated with remarked with a stain which all his glories cannot spect, but soon he was exposed to every hardship and efface. Ile listened to the enemies of Nizam ul Mulk, insult that barbarity could inflict. The savage Tur. and disgraced that old and virtuous minister, who soon comans placed him during the day upon a throne, and after fell by the dagger of an assassin. The fortunes at night shut him up in an iron cage. of Malek Shah appleared to decline from this hour; During his long confinement of four years, the do. and a nation which for half a century had revered the minions of Sanjar were ruled by his favorite sultana, sage whom he destroyed, saw, without regret, the at whose death Sanjar made an effort to escape, and changed lot of his ungrateful pupil. was successful; but he lived only a short time after Malek Shah survived his minister only a few months. regaining his liberty. The desolate and deplorable Being attached to the city of Badgad, he desired to situation of his territories, the greater part of which make it his capital, and attempted to persuade the had been ravaged by the barbarians of Ghuz, preyed khalif Mochtadi to remove to another place. A delay on his spirits, and plunged him into a melancholy fiom of ten days was requested by the latter, and within which he never recovered. This remarktble proof that period the sultan was attacked with an illness of his sensibility to the condition of his subjects, diswhich terminated his life, (A. D. 1092.) Few monarchs loses us to believe the justice of the high eulogiums have attained to the glory and power of Malek Shah; of the Eastern authors on Sanjar, who is as much and there is no other instance, in the history of Persia, celebrated for his humanity and equity, as for his of so long a period of tranquillity as that country en- valor and magnificence. joyed under his reign, or more properly under the After the death of Sanjar, in 1157, Persia contin. administration of Nizam ul Mulk, in whom, till within ued for forty years to be distracted with the wars a few months of his death, the sultan implicitly con- between the different branches of the Seljukian dyfided. The country was greatly improved during this nasty. The last, who exercised power, was Togh/period; many colleges and mosques were built, and rul IllI., who, after overcomnng most of his rivals, agriculture was promoted by the construction of canals and defeating a conspiracy of his nobles, gave himself and watercourses. Learning was also encouraged, up to every species of excess. The ruler of Khoand an assembly of astronomers from every part of rasan, who, after the death of Sanjar, became an indeMalek Shah's dominion, were employed for several pendent monarch, was invited to invade Persia by the years in reforming the calendar. Their labors estab- discontented nobles. He defeated and slew Toghrul, lished the Jellalean, ol- glorious era, which commenced who is said by some to have shown great valor in the on the fifteenth of March, 1079. It was named Jella- action in which he lost his life. The same authors lean, in honor of the sultan, one of whose titles was state, however, that he went forth to battle flushed Jellaledeen, or the Glory of the Faith. This great with wine, and was unhorsed and killed by the monwork is a striking proof of the attention given in the arch of Khorasan, as he was singing with a loud voice Seljukian empire to one of the noblest of all sciences. some stanzas from the Shah Nameh of Firdusi, which From the death of Malek Shah to lihe elevation of describe the prowess of a victorious hero opening a Sultan San[ar, the empire was di.stracted by civil passage for his troops amid the dismayed ranks of his wars. The four sons of the deceased monarch all enemies. Hubbeel ul Seyur, a Persian historian, thus attained to power in their turn. Sl.tnjar, one of these, describes the death of Toghrul. "He sung from the held the govermnlllelt of Kliorasan at the time of his Shah Nameh thus:' When the dust arose which father's decease, and took little share in the troubles attended the march of my enemies, when the cheeks that ensued; bat f'room;the pero(,l of the death of his of my bravest warriors turned pale with affright, I brother fMahlmcoodl, (A. 1. l 1i0,) lie may be regarded raised on high my ponderous mace,' &c. The as the reigning stiltiea. [Ie awavs r:esided in Kho- drunken monarch lifted up his mace. as he sung these rasan, and f'rol thltl ct ol're extemde( hi; power in one verses; but it descended not like that of the hero in direction bevoyl il:,- dlPmiOs, tll ill aother to the Firdusi, on the head of his enemy, but on the knee of Ja.xarmes. Hie to'; miml l vrar m Sli, a i monarch of his own horse, which fell to the ground, and Toghrul the race of' Ghijzim, skiose ({:,tllal \a;ts LLalore, in the was slain as he lay there, not by the king of Khorasan, Punjiaub, to ipay l lt' bil.'T) I'ihl'rr his mrnagnifi- but by one who had formerly been his subject. cence more C0o11nli f. i}I;;e k i,ir of Khorasan was With the death of Toghrul III. termniated the line b)estowed on the cli1ef cill,.te;rel of Sanijar, whicih has of Seljukian monarchs in Persia. They in.d reigned led the flatterers of' ihe sullan to say tiat he was from the time of Toghrul 1. through a period of one served by kings. hundred and fifty-eight years. A brallch of this fainBut Sanjar, after a long reign marked by singular ily, which ruled over the province of hierman,!he ansuccess and splendor, was destinled to experience the cient Carmania, had assumed the title of' sultan; bi: most cruel reverses. [Ie tinderrook a distant expedi- they exercised little more powe' than that of vice.ion into Tartary, to attack Ghour Khllan, tile monarch roys, and paid homage, or withheld it, according to ~f Kara Khatay, in which lie suffered a signal defeat; the strength or weakness of the paramollnt authorny OTTOMAN EMPIRE-SOLYMAN. 361 Jak-ush, the king of Kbarism, who conquered Toghrul monarchy were seized by the emirs or governors of the III., was a descendant of the prince of that country cities and provinces. These continued to exercise an who had been cup-bearer to Sultan Sanjar. At his independent authority, till their territories became graddeath, he left his kingdom to his son Mahomet, whose ually and imperceptibly incorporated with the Ottoman reign, at its commencement, was splendid and success- empire, the rise of which we are now about to notice. ful But his fortune fell before that great destroyer of Solyman, the chief of a Turkish tribe, named the the human race, Zingis Khan, and after his armies had Oguz, perhaps the same with the ancient Ouigoors and been defeated, his countries pillaged, and almost all modern Ogres, had attached himself to the fortunes his family made prisoners, he died of a broken heart, of the sultan of Kharism. When the Kharismian on a small island in the Caspian Sea. His son Jellal u power was overthrown by the Mongols, Solyman fled Deen, the last of this dynasty of kings, long bore up with his followxers to the west. The fugitives were with exeinplary fortitude against the torrent that had accompanied by their wives and children, and their overwhelmed his father; but at last he sunk under the sheep and cattle. They first sought an asylum in Arvicissitudes of fortune. He fled before the Mongols, menia; but after seven years' residence in this countook refuge among the hills of Kurdistan, and was try, thinking the storm of war overblown, they seized slain by a barbarian whose brother he had before put a favorable opportunity of returning to their native to death, (A. D. 1250.) land. In crossing the Euphrates, their leader, SolyThe Seljukians had extended their conquests not man, was drowned. The command of the tribe fell only over Persia, but over nearly all Asia Minor, Syria, to his four sons, who divided their followers among and Egypt. But when the families of the generals them. In consequence of this, great numbers dis. who subdued these countries had obtained power, persed into the deserts; but about four hundred famthey threw off even the show of duty to their former ilies remained attached to one of them, named Orto. masters, the sovereigns of Persia. The dynasties of grul, or Ertogrul, who immediately determined to Iconium and Aleppo were brought into contact with march westward, and seek his fortune in Asia Minor. the armies of the Christian nations, which engaged in The chieftains who then ruled over the fragments of the crusades; but both these governments fell before the Seljukian empire were harassing each other with the victorious career of Sultan Saladin, whose deeds mutual wars, and could not be persuaded to combine will be related in another part of this history. either against the Mongols or the crusaders. Consequently a band of adventurous warriors might reasonably hope to obtain advancement and fortune in so distracted a country. C IH A P T E R C X C. An accidental encounter, upon this march, was atA. D. 1000 to 1326. tended by highly important consequences. One day,'ise of the Ottoman Emnpire - Solyman of the tribe, being on their journey, fell in with two armies engaged in a fierce combat. Ortogrul, without Oguz- His Adventures- Ortogrul —Othwaiting to learn the character of the combatants, or manz- Increase of the Tutrkish Power - the cause of the war, took the chivalrous resolution of Stories and Fables respecting Othman. joining the weaker party. He struck into the thickest WE have already stated that the arms of the Selju- of the fight, and this unexpected aid changed the fortune kian Turks penetrated into Asia Minor. The Sara- of the day. The conqueror proved to be a Seljukian cens had preceded them in the conquest of this country. chief, named Aladdin. He rewarded the adventurer The Turks, in their wars with the Saracens, pursued who had rendered him this timely service, by the pres. them westwardly, advanced into the interior of Asia ent of a rich silk robe, which was a gift of honor in the Minor, drove out the Greeks, took possession of the East, and a grant of a mountainous district on the borterritory, and founded here a kingdom which they ders of Bithynia and Phrygia, where there was abunnamed Roum, fiom its having been once a part of the dance of pasturage for the flocks and herds of the great Roman empire. This kingdom extended from wandering Oguz. The first permanent establishment Constantinople to the Euphrates, and from the Black of these people was a camp of four hundred tents, at Sea to the frontier of Syria, comprehending the an- Surgut, on the banks of the River Sangar, (A. D. 1280.) cient kingdoms of Pontuis, Bithynia, Phrygia, Galatia, Ortogrul, being thus placed on the frontier of the Cappadocia, Armenia Minor, &c. Byzantine empire, made constant invasions into the Solynman, the first sultan of this kingdom, established territories of the Greeks, and being appointed genhis seat of government at Nice, the capital of ancient eral-in-chief of the armies of the sultan of Iconium, Bithynia, and his territories were confirmed to him by he persevered for half a century in preserving and a treaty with the Greek emperor Alexius Comnenus. extending his conquests in that quarter. He had three But his successor was driven from his capital by the sons, the youngest of whom, named Othman, or Oscrusaders, (A. D. 1097,) and by the loss of the battle man, gave his name to the Turkish empire which subof Doryleum, he was stripped of the greater part of sists at this day: -he is generally regarded as its hi is maritime territories. The capital was removed to founder. On the death of Ortogrul, he was chosen to lconium, an obscure inland town, three hundred miles succeed him, in preference to his two elder brothers, frtom Constantinople. Here the successors of Solyman on account of his superior bravery and enterprise. The continued to reign for nearly a century and a half, en- new emir was in high favor with Aladdin II., the last arged in almost incessant hostilities with the Greek em- Seljukian sultan of Iconium, who gave him a castle, perors, till all the west of Asia was overwhelmed by the with an addition of territory, and granted him the irruption of the Mongolian Tartars, under Zingis Khan privilege of holding as his own any Christian states and his successors. The sultan of Iconium, after a fee- which he might conquer. The young warrior did no' ble resistance, fled to his former enemies, the Greeks fail to profit by this permission, and gradually exof Constantinople, and the fragments of the Seliukian tended his acquisitions on every side till he was lordo _ 46 ;J62 OSMAN 1.-OSMAN II.-ORCHAN. of a large territory. The growing power of Osman rial capital of Constantine, which, at the conflux of excited the jealousy of many of the neighboring emirs, two seas and two continents, likle a diamond set be. and numerous stratagems were formed to destroy him. tween two sapphires and two emeralds, forms the On one occasion, he was invited to attend a wedding most precious centre-stone of the ring of universa! at the castle of a distinguished chief; but before the empire. day arrived, he discovered that a plot was laid to murder him at the entertainment. HIe concealed his knowledge of this design, and sent presents to the CIIAPTE R CXCI. bride, according to the custom of the East. He de- A. D. 1326 to 1380. spatched likewise a message, stating that his mother of Os,n. 1'. ^. a 1 Reign of Osmnan II. - Orchan —Establishdesigned to be present on the joyful occasion, and having received a courteous reply, he thus planned his eent of the Janizaries- Character of the revenge. It was customary for females of rank, when Tur-kish Conq'uests - ATlurath I. - Wars they paid visits, to be attended by a train of women, with the HJungarians. who were all closely veiled. Osman disguised a num- ON the death of Aladdin II. without children, his ber of his bravest soldiers in female attire, and sent dominions were seized upon and divided by his emirs. them,thus muffled up, to the castle of his enemy. The Nearly the whole of Bithynia fell to the share of Os gates being thrown open, the disguised warriors passed man II., who assumed the title of sultan, (A. D. 1326.) through them; and immediately throwing off their veils, He was fortunate in winning the friendship of a young they drew their swords, and after a desperate fight, Greek, who embraced Mahometanism to please his slew the wardens, and gained possession of the castle. patron, and instructed the Turkish prince in the art of The chief was absent, having gone with most of his government. From this renegade descended the fampeople to meet the bride. In the mean time, Osman ily of Mikalogli, which so often appears conspicuous went with another band of soldiers to intercept the in the Turkish annals. Osman was chiefly indebted lady, whom he made prisoner, together with her father for the supremacy which he speedily acquired over and relations. By this time, the disappointed bride- his rivals, to the information which he obtained from groom had received intelligence of the capture of his this Greek. His vicinity to the capital of the Byzan castle. He instantly set out in pursuit of Osman, tine empire opened to him a wide field of enterprise, met him, and was slain fighting hand to hand. The and the civil broils between the elder and the youngel lady whose nuptials had been so tragically interrupted, Andronicus, which at this period distracted Constanti. uecame the wife of Osman's son Orchan, and was the nople, left the Asiatic subjects of the empire to their mother of Sultan Amurath I. own feeble resources; in consequence of which, they Osman is a favorite with the Turkish writers, who became an early prey to the first invaders. nave adorned his history with many fables and roman- The Christian princes, in this quarter, alarmed at the tic exaggerations. One of these describes him as see- progress of Osman, united their forces, and endeavored; ing —prefigured in a vision —the future glories of the by one decisive effort to crush the rising power of the, Ottoman empire, and the establishment of its metrop- ambitious Turk. The hostile armies met on the confines olis at Constantinople. This invention shows much of Phrygia and Bithynia; but Osman was victorious, poetic spirit and imagination. It is as follows: and the city of Prusa, the ancient capital of Bithynia. At midnight, a wondrous vision opened a view of fell into his hands, and became the Turkish metropolis, the scenes of futurity to Osman. As he lay reclined under the slightly altered name of Brusa, which it in slumber, the crescent moon appeared to rise above retains at the present day. The policy of Osman was the horizon. As she waxed, she inclined toward Os- equal to his military skill; and what he gained by his man; at her full, she sunk, and concealed herself in valor, he secured by wise and salutary regulations. his bosom. Then from his loins sprang up a tree, By the impartial administration of justice and mercy which grew in beauty and strength ever greater and he reconciled the conquered Christians to his govern. greater, and spread its boughs and branches ever ment; andmany, who fled before his arms, returned tf wider and wider, over earth and sea, stretching its enjoy safety and repose under his powerful protection, shadow to the utmost horizon of the three parts of the Orchan, the son and successor of Osman, prosecutworld. Under it stood mountains like Caucasus and ed with vigor the ambitious design of his father. TrH Atlas, Taurus and Haumus, as the four pillars of the defeated the Christians headed by the emperor Anboundless leafy pavilion. Like the four rivers from dronicus in person. captured Nice and Nicomedia, and the roots-of this tree of Paradise, streamed forth the Ti- extended his dominion to the Hellespont. In the civil gris, the Euphrates, the Nile; and the Danube. Barks war which followed the death of Andronicus, between covered the, rivers, fleets the seas, corn the fields, and the empress Ann and John Cantacuzene for the re. woods the mountains. From the last sprang fountains gency of the empire, the latter solicited the aid, of the in fertilizing abundance, and murmured through the Turkish sultan, and secured his friendship and services rose and cypress thickets of these. Eden-like lawns by giving him his daughter Theodora in marriage. and groves. From the valleys towered up cities, with Orchan assisted him with a body of ten thousand cay domes and cupolas, with pyramids and obelisks, with alry, which, under the command of his son Solyman, minarets and turrets. On the summits of these glit- crossed the Hellespont in 1358, and made themselves tered the crescent. From their galleries the muez- masters of Gallipoli. By the admission of these,zim's call to prayer sounded through the concert of a Turkish auxiliaries into Europe, the Byzantine emthousand nightingales, and a thousand parrots who pire received a deep and deadly wound, wohich sue, i sung and chattered in the cooling shade, the countless ceeding emperors in vain attempted to heal. The leaves of wvhich were formed like swords. Then Turks, as the friends of Cantacuzene, seized upon the arose a prevailing wind, and drove all the points fortresses of Thrace; and though'their restitution was I i against the cities, and particularly against the impe- demanded, and a ransom paid, they still held the most JANIZARIES-AMURATH I. 363 important of these places; and Gallipoli, the key of feudal title, each proprietor being obliged to keep aJ the Hellespont, was peopled by a Turkish colony. horse, and a number of men for military service, proOrcihan was the founder of the order of the janiza- portioned to the size of his estate. The lands were ries, a famous body-guard of soldiers, who were long generally cultivated by the conquered people, mostly the supp.ort of the Turkish throne, and who abused, to Greeks, who paid to their new landlords a certain pora mischievous extent, the power with which they were tion of the produce - generally one tenth. This pracinvested. They were originally composed of young tice was so common, that a Turkish soldier would not Christian captives taken in the wars with the Greeks, accept of land in a province where the population had and were placed in military colleges, where they were been destroyed or expelled, as the people were of more instructed in the Mahornetan religion and the Turkish value than the land. These estates were not heredimilitary discipline. To augment their numbers, a law tary, and might be taken away from the holder at the was made that the Christians living under the Turkish pleasure of the sultan. government should give up all their male children On the death of Orchan, his son An1urath I. acborn in every fifth year, to be educated in the military ceded to the throne, and wielded, with terrible effect, schools, where they were taught to speak the Turkish the cimeter of his warlike father. Ile carried his language, to shoot with the bow, and to wrestle. As arms into Europe, and overran the whole of Thrace hey grew up, some were appointed to attend the sul- from the Hellespont to Mount Hmmus. He removed,an, and guard the palace; the rest were formed into the seat of the Turkish government to Adrianople, companies, and constituted a disciplined army. They where it remained till its final transfer to Constantinoreceived the name of janizaries from a dervis, who ple, in the ensuing century. He was, however, rewas commanded by the sultan to bless and consecrate called from his European conquests by disturbances the new army. Being drawn up in order, this dervis in Asia Minor. Aladdin, the emir of Caramania, who threw the sleeve of his gown over the head of the had married a daughter of Amurath, and was the foremost soldier, and said, " Let them be called jani- most powerful of the Turkish chieftains in that quarzares s-a word signifying new soldiers. May their ter, had taken advantage of' the'absence of his fathercountenances be ever bright, their hands victorious, and in-law to invade his dominions. Amurath hastened to their swords keen. May their spears hang always repel this aggression. The two armies engaged on over the heads of their enemies; and wherever they the plains of Doryleum, and after a well-contested go, may they return with a shining face." fight, the Caramanians fled, and Aladdin shut himself While Solyman was securing a footing for the Turks up in the city of Iconium. At the intercession of his in Europe, his father had brought many of the neigh- wife, he was pardoned, and had his dominions restored boring emirs, by force or fraud, to seek his protection to himr by Amurath. and resign their independence. In the midst of his Amurath now bent the whole force of his arms prosperity, a catastrophe befell him in the loss of his against Constantinople, but his attempts to reduce this son, who was killed by a fall from his horse while capital were perpetually disturbed by the rebellions of' hunting. The sultan did not long survive this bereave- the emirs of Asia Minor, and the incursions of the ment. He died A. D. 1360. Orchan is extolled by Hungarians. The former were easily quelled; but the his countrymen for his justice, clemency, and liberality Hungarians, led on by John Huniades, proved a more to the poor. He adorned the city of Brusa with a formidable foe. Amurath was compelled to retire magnificent mosque, a hospital, and an academy. He with disgrace from before Belgrade, after a siege of was the first of the Turkish sovereigns who assigned six months, during which he lost many troops, "nol regular pay to the troops, while on duty. There was only by the plague," says a Greek historian," but by ~a great variety of costume and weapons in the Turkish engines cast in the form of tubes, which, by means armies at this period. Some of the soldiers wore iron of a dust, composed of nitre, sulphur, and charcoal, helmets, and coats of armor, made of felt or cloth, shot out balls of lead, five or ten together, each as big quilted and stuffid with cotton, with shoulder and neck as a walnut." This is one of the earliest descriptions pieces of iron. Gunpowder was hardly yet known. of the use of gunpowder, to be found in any history. The janizaries wore the long gown and tunic, common The resistance of the Hungarians'led to a truce of among the Turks, and a red cloth cap, the back of ten years, during which, according to the terms stipuwhich was formed like a sleeve, and hung down be- lated, neither nation was to cross the Danube for the hind, in memory of the dervis who gave them their purposes of war. Amurath, however, conquered a name. When on service, the gown of the janizary great part of Greece, took Thessalonica by storm, put was changed for a jacket, worn over his large trousers. the garrison to the sword, and carried the inhabitants Their boots were of red leather. All wore long beards, into captivity. He also compelled the Greek emperor except the cavalry, who shaved their chins and wore to deliver up the cities which he held upon the Black mustachios. All the Turks, from the time of Osman, Sea, and to become his tributary.. The Ottoman doshaved their heads, with the exception of a single lock minions being now very much enlarged and settled in on the crown. This custom has given plenty of em- profound peace, Amurath resigned thile s:eptre into the ployment to the barbers, who are very numerous in all hands of his son Mahomet, a youth,f' only fifteen the Turkish towns. years of age, and retired to Magnesia a beautiful The institutions of the Turks were well calculated to residence near Smyrna. nourish a military spirit. By the laws of Mahomet, Scarcely, however, had he begun to taste the every true Mussulman is a soldier, and a third of all sweets of retirement, when the restless Caramanians. the conquered land belonged to the army. In the time who had repeatedly rebelled against him, and as often of which we speak, these conquests had become so been subdued and pardoned, took advantage of the extensive, that every Turk held an estate of his own conjuncture, and again rose in arms. The Hungarian. directly from the sultan, who now claimed a right oveer also, instigated by the pope, and in violation of a a iI property. He granted these lands under a sort of solemn treaty, passed the Danube with a numerous 364 BAJAZET DEFEATED AND TAKEN PRISONER BY TIMOUR. army, composed of various Christian nations. The Bajazet, the son of Amurath, succeeded him, aad voung sultan, surrounded with enemies, and destitute secured himself on the throne by the murder of his of experience, yielded to the advice of his counsellors, brother, which unnatural custom became the settled and entreated his father to resume the throne. Amu- policy of succeeding Turkish sultans. He was, by rath reluctantly complied, hastened to Adrianople, put nature, ferocious and cruel, and crushed all the petty himself at the head of the Ottoman armies, and by a sovereigns in Asia Minor, either putting them to death series of important victories, saved the empire from or driving them into exile. During the whole of his an overthrow. reign, he was incessantly engaged in wars, alternately Amurath, shortly after, withdrew again from the in Asia and in Europe; and he obtained the name of cares of royalty to his solitude at Magnesia, but the Ilderim, or Lightning, from the rapidity and energy feeble hand of his son was unable to restrain the of his movements. His victories in Europe were so licentiousness of the janizaries. Adrianople became extensive, that -very little more remained to the Greek a prey to domestic faction, and the aged sultan again emperor than the city of Constantinople. This place resumed the sceptre. This sovereign has been the was several times besieged by the Turkish armies, but subject of encomiums both from Turkish and Greek it was saved for the present by the appearance of a historians. He was a just and valiant prince, moderate new conqueror on the scene. in victory, and ever ready to grant peace to the van- The princes who had been driven from Asia Minor quished. He was not only learned himself, but a great by the usurpations of Bajazet, repaired to Samarcand, encourager of learning in others. "Every year," where Timour, or Tamerlane, the fierce and powerful says the historian Cantemir, " he gave a thousand Tartar conqueror, had now fixed his court. They solicitpieces of gold to the sons of the prophet, and sent ed the aid of this chieftain in recovering their dominions. twenty-five hundred pieces to the religious persons at The Tartar at first hesitated to interrupt Bajazet in his Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem." He founded many pious occupation of humbling the Christians, and excolleges and hospitals, built many mosques and cara- tending the religion of the prophet; but he was, at vanserais, and added much to the magnificence of the length, persuaded to interfere. He despatched an amcities and towns of his empire. bassador to Bajazet, demanding the restoration of the exiled emirs. He required, also, that he should submit to him as his vassal; and he exhorted him to testify his submission by substituting the name of Timour for 0 CHAPTER C XC II. his own upon the coinage and in the public prayers. A. D.130 to453The haughty Ottoman, who acknowledged no superior, A. D. 1380 to 1453.. rejected with scorn the degrading demand, and threw Death of Arnurath I. - Reign of Bajazet - back his defiance in the most insulting terms that his Invasion of Tirnour- Defeat and Death of pride and indignation could dictate. Equally confiBajazet -- Mahomet I. - Anzurath II. - dent of success, each prepared for the decisive struggle. Malomnet II. Michael Palkeologus, the reigning emperor of Constantinople, was at this time engaged in a war with his IN the war with Aladdin, hostilities were carried on nephew who had laid claim to the throne. Being with comparative mildness, both parties being Mahom- thus distressed by enemies on all sides, he proposed etans. A proclamation was issued by Amurath, pro- terms of peace to Bajazet. This proposal was most hibiting his soldiers, upon pain of death, from using opportune for the Turkish sultan, who greedily emviolence toward the peaceable inhabitants, in order to braced it, and a treaty was concluded, by which one show tile world that he made war upon his brethren, of the streets of Constantinople was appropriated for not for the sake of aggrandizement, but to repel un- the residence of Turkish merchants, who were to be merited injury and wrong. He punished severely allowed to carry on their trade with the Venetians and some Christian auxiliaries for transgressing these Genoese. A mosque was also to be built for them in orders. These forces had been sent by Lazarus, the city at the emperor's expense; and they were to prince of Servia, who, being informed of their treat- have a cadi residing among them, to settle their differ ment, took such offence that he broke off his alliance ences according to the Mahometan laws. All these with the sultan, and raised a confederacy of the neigh- terms of the treaty were fulfilled. boring nations against him. The Servians, Bulgarians, Timour put his armies in motion, and the progress Macedonians, Bosnians, Wallachians, Hungarians, and of these fierce barbarians was irresistible. They others, combined their forces, and formed a great army. overran, with hardly any resistance, Persia, Armenia, Amurath hastened to Europe, and met his enemies on Syria, Georgia, and the greater part of Asia Minor. the plain of Cossova. The fight was long doubtful, Before Bajazet could lead his troops to the scene of until the Turks, pretending to give way, threw the action, the most of his Asiatic territories had been Christian ranks into disorder. A dreadful slaughter given up to fire, and slaughter by the conquerors. ensued; the confederates fled, leaving the field to the At the capture of Sivas, the ancient Sebaste, the victorious Ottomans. Lazarus fell in the engagement: bravest warriors of the garrison were buried alive, for but the triumph of Amurath was cut short in an unex- their courageous defence, by the ferocious victors. pected manner. As he was walking over the field of Damascus was next captured and laid completely battle, he stopped to look at some wounded men, when waste; a solitary tower being all that was left standone of them, a fierce Croat, just breathing his last, ing to mark the spot where a great city had once exmade a sudden spring at him, and with a short sword isted. At length the armies of Bajazet and Timour which he still held in his hand, gave the sultan a met on the plain of Angora, in Galatia. An obstinate mgortal wound, after which he fell back, and expired, battle ended in the total defeat of the Turks, and the A. D. 1387.) capture of their sultan, (A. D). 1407.) Bajazet was MAHOMET 1.-AMURATH II.-MAHOMET I1. 365 confined by the conqueror in an iron cage, from which end to the career of the usurper, and Mustapha, being he was released only by death.* deserted by his friends, passed from a throne to a Bajazet had five sons. Of these, Mustapha fell on gibbet. the field of Angora; Solyman escaped from the pur- The Greek emperor raised up another competitor suit of the Tartar cavalry, fled to Adrianople, and for the Ottoman sceptre in the person of the remaining preserved the Ottoman sceptre in Europe; Musa re- son of Mahomet, a child only six years old, who had tained the authority of a sovereign over a small king- escaped fiom the hands of Amurath when his brother dom which continued to bear the name of Anatolia, was murdered. His standard was. set up at Nice, but and had the ruins of Brusa for its capital; Isa held a Amurath soon made himself master of that city, and small territory in the neighborhood of Angora, Sinope, the unfortunate youth was strangled with the bowand the Euxine; and Mahomet kept the government string. Amurath died in 1451, and was succeeded by of Amasia, which had been intrusted to him by his ilahomnet II., the most famous of all the Ottoman sovfather. Eleven years of civil discord, which period, ereigns. in the Turkish annals, is regarded as an interregnum, Mahomet II. began his reign by putting to death his were consumed by the sons of Bajazet in mutual two infant brothers. His next thoughts were employed endeavors to supplant one another. Solyman, having upon the grand object of his ambition - the capture driven Musa from his throne, united, for a time, the of Constantinople. The whole Byzantine empire was governments of Adrianople and Brusa; but he, in his now reduced to the space occupied by this city and its turn, was surprised by Musa in his capital, and, as he suburbs. The inhabitants were but ill prepared to fled toward Constantinople, was overtaken and slain. sustain the attack of an enemy. They were disMusa and Isa both fell before the valor and policy of tracted with religious feuds. Some were anxious for the'younger brother; so that the dominions of Baja- a union with the Romish church, and others declared zet were reunited under the Ottoman sceptre, in the they would more willingly see the turban of Mahomet hands of' Sultan Malhomet I. in their cathedral than the tiara of the pope. The The labors of this prince were directed chiefly to the Christians of Western Europe refused to send succors consolidation of his power, and the preservation of the to their brethren of the east, and Constantinople was tranquillity of his dominions. He maintained invio- left to its fate. The account of the siege and capture late his friendly engagements with- the Greek emperor of this city properly belongs to another portion of our during the whole of his reign. Wls treatment of the history. It was taken by assault, on the 29th of May, Christian ambassadors from Servia, Wallachia, Bulga- 1453, and has ever since continued to be the capital ria, and Greece, showed his anxious desire to cultivate of the Turkish empire. a good understanding with his neighbors. They were The general history of the Ottomans, from this date admitted to eat at his own table, and, after being enter- will be found under the head of Turkey in Europe tained with great kindness and hospitality, were dis- There is little more to relate of the- transactions of missed with these words: " Tell your masters that I these people in Asia. Bajazet II., the successor of offer them peace, that I accept of that which they offer Mahomet II., conquered Circassia, and overran Syria. me, and I hope that the God of peace will punish His successor, Selim I., made war with the Persians, those who violate it." His last care was to provide and subjugated Armenia, Diarbekir, Kurdistan, Bagtwo able counsellors to guide the youth of his eldest dad, and the great peninsula between the Euphrates son, Amurath. The two youngest he consigned to the and the Tigris, all which territories were permanently guardianship of the Greek empneror Manuel. annexed to the Ottoman empire. Syria and Palestine On the death of Mahomet, (A. D. 1421,) A tmurath were also reduced to the state of Turkish provinces. II. succeeded to the throne, at the age of eighteen. The sheriff of Mecca proffered to Selim the keys of The peace of the kingdom was soon disturbed by the the holy city, and the Arabs of the desert submitted appearance of a person calling himself 1l-Tstcapha, the to his authority. It was under this monarch that the son of Bajazet, who was supposed to have fallen il Ottoman dominions in Asia became enlarged to the the battle of Angora. This impostor- for so he is dimensions which they exhibit at the present day. termed by the Turkish historians - had appeared in The Turkish conquerors did not attempt to impose the former reign, supported by the prince of Walla- their religion upon the people they conquered. They chia; but Mahomet, having routed the WVallachians, even left the conquered race in the enjoyment of their and compelled them to submit to an annual tribute, own political institutions. They contented themselves Mustapha sought refaige in Constantinople. On the with levying a tribute on every Greek town and vilaccession of Xmurath, his pretensions were renewed lage, according to its population. As long as this with the support of the Greek emperor. For a time, tribute was regularly paid, the inhabitants were at libhis career was successful. Amurath's army, com- erty to worship in their own churches, to elect their manded by his grand vizier Bajazet, was defeated, and own magistrates, and to be governed by their own - Bajazet was slain. Mustapha entered Adrianople in municipal laws. Thus, although the conquered people. triumph. and seized the enormous treasures which were subject to a heavy contribution for the benefit of Amurath had collected in that city. He passed a short the sultan's treasury, it was collected in the least opspace of time in riotous pleasures, but was soon pressive way, by their own magistrates, whose duty it aroused from his revels by the approach of Amurath, was to tax- all persons, without distinction, according at the head of an army. A short campaign put an to their means. Few people, on being subjected to foreign dominion, have been left in possession of so X This circumstance has long been a subject of controversy n o ve e among historians. The question appears to be set at rest by many political privileges as were the Greeks by the Sir John Malcolm. See his History of Persia. Ottoman conquerors. _ ___________ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _. _ __ __ __ _ } 366. COLCHiS. ircassian Soldiers. i C H A P T E R C X C I I I Sea. It was watered#by the Rivers Phasis and Corax, 1263 B. C. to A. D. 1735. now called Rione and Codaurs. Its capital, Colchos, The Caucasian Countries -Ancient Colchis' was situated at the mouth of the former river. The - Jason and the Argonauts - The Tartars face of the country is exceedingly diversified, being Pesin in the Caucasian broken up into hills, mountains, valleys, and little -Russians and Persians in the Caucasian plains. Its ancient forests continue to the present day Territories. to cover a great part of the country. The soil is genUNDER this title are comprised those regions denom- erally poor, and the air moist: the forests and mounlnated by the ancients Colchis, or Colchos, Iberia, tains abound with wild beasts. and Albania; and by the moderns, Mingrelia, Circas- The first historical notice of this country is somesia, and Georgia. what remarkable. We are told by Herodotus that This region is bounded north by the Russian terri- when Sesostris, the great Egyptian conqueror, marched tories, east by the Caspian Sea, south by Persia and through Colchis to invade Scythia, he left a portion of Asiatic Turkey, and west by the Black Sea. It is a his army in the former country to guard the mountain very mountainous country, but comprises some exten- passes. It appears that previous to this invasion there sive plains. The slopes of the mountains are covered were no inhabitants in Colchis. The age of Sesostris with forests, and the vine which is supposed to have is uncertain, but it is generally placed about 1300 originated in this country, still grows here in a wild state. B. C. This portion of the Egyptian army, being left It is not very easy to fix the ancient geography of in the country, became the progenitors of the ancient this country in reference to the present political divis- Colchians. In proof of this descent, Herodotus states tons. The tribes inhabiting this wild region have al- the following facts: "The Colchians had the same ways been regarded as dwelling on the outer border woolly hair, and the same dark complexion, as the of the civilized world. The Greeks viewed them at Egyptians. There was a great similarity in their a dim and romantic distance, and believed the lofty manufactures, particularly in that of linen; for they range of the Caucasus and the shores of the Palus abounded in flax, which they wrought to high perfecMmotis as the mysterious limits of the universe. tion after the Egyptian method. In short, their whole Their poets have represented the heroic Prometheus way of life and their language had a great resemas chained by the wrath of Jove to the terrible rocks blance to those of the Egyptians." Other ancient wriwhich rise in a mountainous wall on the extreme verge ters confirm this opinion of Herodotus, and the Egyp. of this territory. The ancient Colchis is supposed to tian origin of the Colchians is generally admitted by oe the same as the modern Mingrelia. The ancient the moderns. [beria and Albania may be identified with the modern Beyond this fact, we know hardly any thing with Georgia. It does not appear to what extent the an- certainty of the early history of Colchis. The ori cients were acquainted with the region now called ginal Egyptian population appears to have been aug. Circassia. At present Georgia forms a part of the mented by settlers from other countries, and the Russian empire, and Circassia is independent. inhabitants carried on for a long time an extensive COLCMIS, according to the ancient geographers, was commerce. The linen manufactured by them was in bounded on the north by Scythia, on the east by Ibe- high repute. Some of their cloths were curiously ria and the Caucasian Mountains, on the south by painted with figures of animals and flowers, like modArmenia and Pontus, and on the west by the Euxine ern chintzes and calicoes. The colors were so deeply ARGONAUTIC EXPEDITION. 367 fixed that no washing could efface them. They were loose a pigeon with a determination to push boldly on exported in large quantities, and sold at a high price. if the bird got through in safety. The pigeon escaped The most ancient government of Colchis seems to through the rocks with the loss of its tail. The Ar. have been monarchy. The kings were independent, gonauts, encouraged by this success, pulled at their for it does not appear that the Egyptians ever claimed oars with all their might, and being favored by Juno. this country as a dependency. A legend of Greek effected the passage, although the collision of the history is connected in an intimate manner with Col- rocks carried away part of the stern of their vessel. chis, and shows that as early as the velfth century From this time, it is said, the Symplegades remained B. C., this country was supposed to oe settled, and fixed, and were no longer. a terror to navigators. The governed by its own kings. This is the story of the Argonauts crossed the Euxine Sea in safety, and are Argonauts, or the expedition of Jason and his com- rived at the River Phasis, in Colchis. panions in search of the golden fleece - an obscure YFtes, the king of Colchis, on being made acand romantic undertaking, which the Greek poets have quainted with their arrival and the object of their voyadorned with innumerable fables. age, offered to give Jason the golden fleece, which hung on a tree in the sacred grove of Mars, on the following condition: He was to yoke together two bulls which had brazen hoofs, and breathed flames of fire, plough a piece of land with them, and sow part of the teeth of the dragon slain by Cadmus, which had the property of producing a crop of armed men. Jason performed this difficult task by the help of the x.~ —Ctk~ ~ celebrated sorceress Medea, daughter of AEtes, who fell in love with him. But notwithstanding his full:..l' / accomplishment of the prescribed labor, iEtes refused to surrender the fleece. Medea placed it in his pos_ i rgl~l~session, and escaped with him to Greece, where other'- ~:'~. adventures befell her, which have been wrought into the fictions of the Greek poets. The Argonautic expedition has not only furnished a copious theme for poetry and romance, but it has been ~'"~'~" ~ -'~~~ ~(k k cal fact. The chronology of the event is uncertain. Plhryxus sacrificing the Ram. Some authors fix it at 1263 B. C., others at 939. Jason was the son of Agscn, king of Iolcos, in Thes- The most probable explanation is, that it was an saly. Having been unjustly kept out of the inherit- exploring expedition into a sea very little known to ance of his father's kingdom by his uncle Pelias, he the Greeks of that age. Such an adventure, accorddetermined to seekl his fortune in some distant and ing to the manners of those times, could not have difhazardous expedition. The mountainous regions of fered much from a piratical cruise. Many of the Colchis seem to have been the California of that age, ancient writers were of opinion that the Colchian gold tempting adventurers with romantic prospects of gold. mines formed the great object of attraction in this unThe poetical genius of the Greeks dressed tip this dertaking. These mineswere believed to exist among circumstance into a picture of a ram with a golden the torrents which poTir down the sides of the Caucafleece, which was said to have carried off Phryxus, a sian wourtains. The gold dust was supposed to have Greek, to that country. Jason determined to possess been washed down by the torrents, and caught by himself of the' skin of this attractive animal which fleeces of wool which the inhabitants placed among Phryxus had sacrificed, dedicating the fleece to Jupiter, the rocks. The accounts of these gold-seeking advenin gratitude for his deliverance. Argus, the son of turers, brought from a strange and distant country, Phryxus, aided him in the undertaking by building a were afterwards disguised by the Greek poets, and lship namerd the Argo. She had fifty oars, for the embellished with stories of dragons, brazen bulls, early Greek navigators were not skilful enough to use dreadful seas, dangerous passages, and such perils antd sails. Jason enlisted a crew of fifty men, who, from difficulties as commonly attend the too eager search their adventures in this ship, were called Argonauts. after the precious metal. Pliny and Varro were of The narrative of the expedition is full of wonders. opinion that the Argonauts were a company of Greek The entrance to the Euxine Sea from the south wasmerchants, who went on an expedition to procure a believed to be closed up by certain rocks called the cargo of the fine wool of Colchis. The story of the Sympiegades, a name which signifies dashing together. Argonauts forms the subject of an epic poem in Greek, These rocks, from the threatening appearance which written by Apollonius Rhodius, of Alexandria. they exhibited to the terrified sailors, were imagined AItes is supposed to have been kingC of the whole to float, upon the waves, and when any thing attempted country. But after his death, Colchis was divided to pass through, they dashed together with such quick- into several small kingdoms. No further mention of ness and violence, that, according to the description of it occu i history till the forth century. C., when violencIIeOthataoerding, tote ecrpio fXenophon informs us that a Iking named YEtes reigned "No bird of air, no dove of swiftest wing, in that countly. Etes was probably the Colchian That bears ambrosia to th' ethereal king, name for king, as Pharaqh was among the Egyptians. Shuns the dire rocks,- in vain she cuts the skies, The country wvas subdued by Mithridates, of Pontus; The dire rocks meet, and crush her as she flies." and it was in his time that the Romans first obtained The Argonauts, however, attempted to pass through a knowledge of it. In the reign of Trajan, Colchis tills forbidden strait. As they approached it, they let was annexed to the Roman empire. During the fifth l.. -. _. _ -. -. - -- - - _ _. I _ 368 RESISTANCE OF THE CIRCASSIANS TO RUSSIAN AGGRESSION sixth, and seventh centuries, this country was the the- firmed by the treaty of Gulistan, concluded in 1813 atre of frequent wars between the Byzantine empe- between Russia and Persia. The prince of Imiretrors and the kings of Persia. The Saracen armies ta, in Georgia, who had become a vassal of Russia penetrated into Colchis in the eighth and ninth centu- about the year 1800, made an attempt in 1810 to ries, but the conquerors do not appear to have held assert his independence, but was unsuccessful; he permanent possession of the country. About this time was compelled to seek an asylum in Turkey, and hi0 the king of Georgia held the highest rank among the principality was converted into a Russian province Caucasian chiefs; but his power was overthrown by During the subsequent wars which Russia has carried the Moguls under Zingis Khan, who overran all these on against Turkey and Persia, the former power succountries in the early part of the thirteenth century, ceeded in acquiring several other petty states in the and made them tributary. This did not prevent them Caucasian territory. from being again ravaged by the Mogul hordes under The Circassians have been more successfull than Timour; but after his death, the kings of Georgia ex- the other Caucasians in maintaining their independ. pelled the invaders, and resumed their power. ence. Like their neighbors, they suffered from the From the sixteenth century, the Caucasian countries inroads of the Saracens and Tartars, and at one pehave been almost constantly a field of contention for riod seem to have been, nominally at least, under the the Persians, the Turks, and the Russians. The at- authority of Russia. Afterwards they paid tribute to tempts of the latter to establish their influence in this the Tartar Khans of the Crimea; but at length they country were favored by the identity of the religion took up arms and, threw off all foreign dominion. of the Georgians and the Russians; both nations being The czar of Russia, however, persisted in maintainChristians of the Greek church. The Georgians re- ing his claims to the sovereignty of this country. In peatedly requested the assistance of the Russians 1827, a powerful Russian army marched into the reagainst the encroachments and oppressions of the gions of the Caucasus, and apparently conquered the Mahometans of Persia. In 1724, Peter the Great whole of Circassia; but this conquest could not be took the command of an expedition against Daghistan, maintained. The mountain recesses afforded a securc. in Georgia, and made himself master of the province retreat to the inhabitants who fled before the Russian of Derbend. This expedition was followed by a treaty armies, and rejected all proposals to submit to the govwith Shah Tamasp of Persia, who, being driven from ernment of the czar. The war has been continued his kingdom by the Afghans, ceded to Russia the to the present day, yet the Circassians are still unsubprovinces of Daghistan, Shirvan, Ghilan, Mazanderan, dued. The Russian territories almost every where and Asterabad, on condition of such assistance from border upon and enclose Circassia; but the valor of Russia as would enable him to regain his throne. The the hardy mountaineers, and the rapid movements of promised assistance was never given; yet the Russians the light cavalry, of which their bands are composed, took possession of the ceded territories, and retained have set at defiance all the military skill and discipline them till 1735, when they were restored, by the empress of the Russian armies. Anne, to Nadir Shah, then on the throne of Persia. The largest portion of the Caucasian territory owns the sovereignty of Russia, and that power has been engaged unceasingly in the endeavor to impose her C CHAPTE R CXC I V. yoke upon the rest. It is the constant study also of the Russian government to establish throughout this A. D. 1735 to 1849. region the same despotic system by which the other Revolutions of Georgia, Mingrelia, and Cir- provinces of the empire are governed. Many circumcassia- Wars of thle Russians and Circas- stances, however, render this difficult, if not impossisians - Description of the Circassians. ble. The most absolute and arbitrary despot must find his authority weakened in a country of inaccesBY a treaty between Russia and Turkey in 1774, sible cliffs buried in snow, and wide-spread plains the province of Mingrelia was allowed to retain its traversed by wandering shepherds. The consequence independence. It comprised, however, but a small is, that, provided the Circassian tribes, nominally subject part of the ancient Colchis, being only about one to Russia, yield a certain form of obedience, or even hundred miles in length and sixty in breadth. Geor- remain peaceable, they suffer little disturbance in their gia was about this time under the dominion of a native domestic affairs, which are regulated upon principles prince, Heraclius II.,who maintained the independence very different from those which prevail among the of his crown, but being constantly engaged in war, servile Muscovite nobles. In the southern districts, he judged it necessary, for the safety of the country, to especially, where the Russians must court the favor of place it under the protection of Russia. Accordingly, the natives, for the purpose of defending their frontier in 1783, he declared himself a vassal of the czar, against the Persians, they are obliged to allow them the who guarantied to him and his successors the posses- unrestrained exercise of their national propensities. sion of Georgia, and also of such territories as might The same proud, aristocratic notions, and the same be added to it by conquest. Persia was at that time regard for the distinction of birth, reign here which predistracted by internal wars, and could not assert by vailed in Europe during the feudal ages. The lower arms the supremacy which she claimed over this ranks, who till the ground, and perform all the menial country; but in 1795, a Persian army, under Aga offices, are nearly in the condition of serfs, or slaves. Mohammed Khan, overran Georgia, and captured and The fighting part of the population consists chiefly of vol. destroyed Tiflis, the capital. The country, after this, untary and attached vassals, the companions in peace, was involved in domestic quarrels; and in 1800 it was and the followers in war, of the head of their tribes formally annexed to Russia. A few years afterward, The Ottoman government possessed, till lately, some that power took possession of several other provinces ports and districts in the Caucasian territory on the on the Caspian Sea; and their acquisition was con- Black Sea, which were the seat of a considerable com MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE CIRCASSIANS. 369 merce, particularly in slaves and Circasslan wines. cate complexion of the females are famnous throughThese possessions enabled the Turks to foment in- out the East. In the lofty valleys of the Caucasus, the surrection among the rude mountain tribes. These heat of the sun is not such as to produce those dark districts, however, having been ceded to Russia, the tints which are the general characteristics of the AsiOttoman power may be considered as having entirely atic skin. The daughters of all above the rank of ost its hold of the Caucasian territories. In all the slaves, are exempted from oppressive and degrading wide region round the Caspian Sea, Russia holds full labor, and merely occupy themselves in sewing, emmilitary occupation of the commanding positions. broidery, and the plaiting of straw. Their beauty But she is compelled to allow to all the natives, not in- seems, also, to be the result of a careful study of all deed any solid oi rationalliberty, butthatrude and proud the circumstances which tend to preserve female independence, which, in theireyes, isstill more precious. charms. The face is carefully shaded from the son, and they are fed moderately on milk and pastry. The arrangements for education and marriage are of a very peculiar character, being founded on a sort of Spartan apathy, insensible to every tender and domestic tie. The husband and wife live separate from each,: t-4 J~i. ) other, and never meet, except by stealth, till after the birth of their first child, The husband regards it as an insult if his wife is even named in his presence. The child, when born, is not reared in the house, or under the eye of the parents. At the age of three or four, some friendlynobleman receives it, and takes ^0 E! >\X7S'; ix1 Adz care of its education. Under their patron, the boys are trained to all manly exercises, and the females to those occupations which belong to their sex, till ithe former are ready to take the field, and the latter _ By{2 JJ-X,~','x.~'',tJ[// —-- ~to receive their husbands - which the foster-father is.'~~~~~~~~ -~~_~i~i~'~.:_bound to provide. Till this time, they are not allowed to see their parents. The Circassians sell their children without scruple to the Turks and Persians, especially their daughters, who leave their homes without reluctance, in the hope Costumes of the Circassians. of being admitted into the harem of the sultan of The most distinguished of the Caucasian tribes are Turkey or Persia. Their thoughts are occupied with the Circassians. They do not live in cities or towns, the tales they have heard of the splendor of the the habits of the people having always been unfavor- Eastern palaces, and the fine clothes, jewels, and luxable to the concentration of a great number of houses urious life which await them in distant regions. or of inhabitants on one spot. They occupy small vil- Not only do the females, who are sold for wives in lages, which are frequently removed from place to place. this manner, leave their country and relatives without They consist of eleven tribes, independent of one a sigh, but even their mothers are said to take pleasure another, and governed by their own hereditary princes in the hopes of the splendid advancement of their and nobility. Their internal government is of a feu- daughters. dal character. The distinctions of rank and birth are The general characteristics of the Caucasian highobserved among them with great care. The nobles landers, are a strong love of independence, united are called utzdeuns; they attend their prince or sover- with predatory habits. Robbery is considered as the eign in wvar, but exercise a dominion almost absolute most honorable exploit of a free-born man, and the over their own vassals. These last are of two kinds - greatest reproach that a Circassian girl can make to a bondmen, who cultivate the soil, and armed retain- young fellow is, " You have not been able even to ers, who follow their lord to battle. The nobles lead steal a cow." In religion, there is much diversity. that sort of life which is usual with independent chiefs, Many of the tribes have been converted to Mahometon their own estates, and surrounded by their own anism, but the greater part of them may be called vassals-in feasting, hunting, and jollity. They bestow idolaters, as they frequently worship some inanimate especial care upon their horses, and regard the parent- object. It is very remarkable that the prophet Elijah is age of these animals as almost equally important with a particular object of adoration among all the Caucatheir own. They also take great pride in fine armor. sian tribes, both Mahometan and pagan. There are They wear coats of mail and helmets of polished steel, caverns in the mountains consecrated to this prophet, often set with pearls and precious stones of great where the inhabitants assemble on certain days to offer value. They use the bow and arrow, as well as fire- sacrifices to him. If a person is killed by lightning arms. Besides the ordinary occupation of war and the highlanders say he was killed by the prophet Elipredatory excursions, their arms are employed in jah, and regard it as a great blessing to }him. The enforcing the right of private revenge, which, as in burial of such a person is accompanied by rejoicings, all barbarous societies where no other mode of redress in which his relatives sing and dance. The attempts exists, is confided to the sword of the injured person, made by the Russian government to civilize the Cauor his friend. With these habits of violence, the Circas- casian highlanders have generally proved abortive. sian conmbines, as usual, an almost romantic hospitality. There are many instances of individuals belonging to The Circassians have been long celebrated for the these tribes, who have been educated in Russia, and perfection of their physical qualities. The men are risen to a high rank in military service, but have. tall, handsome and athletic. The fine form and deli- nevertheless, returned to their own country, and aban 47 370 EMPIRE OF' PtARTHIA. doned the European mode of life for the manners tural beauty, being a collection of low, flat-roofed and customs of their ancestors. The Circassians pro- dwellings, built of dun-colored brick, with small doors fess Mahometanism, but are not very rigid observers and paper windows. It contains, however, some of the doctrines of the Koran. The Mingrelians call handsome churches, and an old citadel, which, from themselves Christians, but their religion is little more its lofty situation, presents a grand and imposing mass than ceremony. The Georgians are also Christians of ruins. Tiflis is famous for its baths, which are by profession. They build churches on the tops of formed from warm streams descending froml tile mountains, in almost inaccessible spots, and then leave neighboring hills. The Russians make this city their them to the birds and the influence of the seasons. head-quarters, and maintain here a large mill;lary iorce, They salute them in passing by, at three or four which is quartered upon the inhabitants. The populeagues' distance, but hardly ever go near them. lation is about fifteen thousand. The other towns ill The largest city in the Caucasian countries is Tiflis, Georgia are Signokh, Telav, Goree, and Elizabethpol the capital of Georgia. It is boldly situated on the each containing three or four thousand inhabitants. banks of the River Kur. It was founded in the Circassia has no towns, and Mingrelia only a few o. eleventh century, but does not exhibit any architec- the smaller size. Parthian Soldiers retreating and harassing an Enemy. C H A T E R C X C Euphrates, and from the Caspian to the Arabeia, Sea. The original Parthia has generally been de 500 to 53 B. C. scribed as bounded north by Hyrcania, east by Aria Rise of the Parthian Empie- The Arsacidce south by Carmania, and west by Media: on all sides -Invasion of Crassus. it was surrounded by mountains. It is represente(d znvasion-z of Crassus. as generally a level country, well adapted to the PARTHIA was originally the name given to a prov- breeding and use of horses. Hence the Parthian caval tnce in the north-eastern part of the great Persian ry were very formidable tothe armies of their enemies. empire. At a late date, it was the designation of an The country is supposed by some to have been extensive monarchy, which comprised many territories first peopled by the Phetri, or Pathri, a tribe often in addition to Parthia Proper.' This monarchy, in the mentioned in Scripture. The ancestry of this race height of its power, extended from the Oxus to the has been traced to Pathrusim, the son of Mizraim..* What precise portion of territory constituted Parthia or Tartais. The name of Parthia is unknown to the AsiProper, it is not easy to learn from the ancient writers. Some atic writers. In the language of the ancient Scythians, it is geographers make this country the same with the modern said to mean exiles. Others derive the name fromleraschad, Khorasan; others identify it with the more northern region that is, lowlands, which designation characterizes their origiof Bucharia, or Bokhara. WVe are told by Strabo, that the nal country on the south-east shore of the Caspian. The Parthians were formerly called Karduchi, according to which name is still used to denote this region, as well as a word it might seen that they were the progenitors of the modern signifying highlands, to denote the contiguous elevated~ inhabitants of Koordistan. Almost all writers, however, region farther back from the shore. agree in describing the Parthians as originally Scythians. WAR BETWEEN PARTHIA AND THE ROMANS. 371 The early history of the Parthians, however, is equal- lost, and the Parthian kingdom was reduced to it, Iv obscure with that of their' neighbors. When first original limits. The good fortune of Antiochus, howknown to the rest of the world, they were a hardy ever, did not continue long. His enormous army, of and warlike race, and were believed to be of Scyth- four hundred thousand men, being obliged to separate ian origin. They had the reputation of being the into various bodies, the inhabitants seized this occasion mnost skilful horsemen and archers in the world. to rise against them. This was done so successfully T'hey fought only on horseback, and shot their arrows that, it is said, the whole Syrian army was massacred with unerring precision, even at full gallop, and with in a single day, scarcely an individual escaping to equal effect, whether advancing or retreating; so that carry home the news of the disaster. their flight was as dangerous to an enemy as their Phraates was succeeded by his uncle, Artabacnus, attack. They retained this character down to a very who was killed in a war with the Scythians. Pacolate period. rus I. succeeded him, and was the first Parthian The first historical fact known of the Parthians is, monarch who entered into any connection with the that they were subject to the Medes. They next fell Romans. During the early part of their independent under the Persian dominion, and then were conquered dominion, the Parthians had been chiefly occupied by by Alexander the Great. At his death, and the divis- wars with the Eastern nomad tribes, which the fall of ion of his great empire, Parthia fell to the share of the Bactrian kingdom had set at liberty to attackl the Seleucus Nicator, and was ruled by him and his sue- rich provinces of Southern Asia. These hordes~ were cessors till the reign of Antiochus, surnamed Theos, either subdued or incorporated with the Parthian monking of Syria, about two centuries and a half before archy. Scarcely had this danger been averted, when Christ, when the independence of Parthiawas asserted the Romans, being brought into contact with the Parby Arsaces, one of the chiefs of that country, who head- thians by conquering Mithridates, king of Pontus, ed an insurrection, and put the governor to death. prepared to contend with them for the dominion of The head of the Parthian tribes supported Arsaces in Asia. this undertaking, and formed a government similar to Phraates III., of Parthia, took under his protection the feudal aristocracy of Europe duringthe middle ages. Tigranes, the son of Tigranes the Great, king of Arsaces. was crowned king of Parthia, (B. C. 256.) Armenia, who was then at war with the Romans. He He possessed, however, little more than a nominal gave him his daughter in marriage, and marched with authority, and the crown was elective, with the restric- an army, to place him on the throne' of Armenia. lion that the king should always be chosen from the But on the approach of the Romans, with Pompey at fiamily of Arsaces. The anniversary of the Parthian their head, he -retreated, and soon after entered into; independence was celebrated yearly by the people treaty with that general. Phraates was murdered b) with extraordinary festivities. his sons, Mithridates and Orodes, and the former soon Seleucus Callinicus, who succeeded Antiochus on fell by his brother's hand, leaving Orodes sole the throne of Syria, attempted to quell the rebel- master of the Parthian empire. In the reign of this lion of the Parthians, but was defeated and taken pris- monarch happened the memorable war with the Rooner by Arsaces, and finally died in captivity. The mans. The whole Roman empire had been divided latter, being now firmly established in his dominions,. between Cuesar, Pompey, and Crassus, and the eastern reduced Hyrcania and some other territories under provinces fell to the lot of the last. No sooner was his power, but was at length killed in battle with the Crassus invested with this authority, than he resolved Cappadocians. He was succeeded by his son Arsa- to invade Parthia, for the purpose of enriching himself ces II., who invaded Media, and subdued that country, with the spoils of the inhabitants, who were reputed to while Antiochus the Great, its sovereign, was engaged be very wealthy. in war with Egypt. This conquest, however, was soon This design of Crassus was strongly opposed by lost, and the two monarchs concluded a treaty, by many of his friends at Rome, for the Parthians were which Arsaces was secured in the possession of Par- then at peace with the Romans, and had strictly kept thin and Hyrcania, and bound himself to assist Antio- the treaty which had been made between the two chus in his wars with other nations. nations. The passion of avarice, however, was so Arsaces II. was succeeded by his son Priapatius, strong with the Roman triumvir, that nothing could who reigned fifteen years, and left the crown to his dissuade him from his purpose. He left Rome with son Phraates. This monarch conquered the Mardi, a a great armament, (B. C. 55,) and proceeded through tribe which had never submitted to the arms of any Greece and Asia Minor to Syria. He crossed the one but Alexander the Great. Mlithridates next be- Euphrates, and began to ravage Mesopotamia. Sevcame king of Parthia, and extended his sway over the eral of the Greek towns in that quarter surrendered to Bactrians, Medes, Persians, Elymteans, and other him without delay; but instead of pushing his advannations in the East. Demetrius Nicator, who then tages he returned to Syria to winter, thus giving the reigned in Syria, endeavored to recover these prov- Parthians time to collect their forces. inces; but his armies were defeated, and he was taken prisoner. Mithridates followed up his advantages, by.onquering Babylonia and Mesopotamia, so that all.ie provinces between the Euphrates and the Gan- C H APT E R C X CVI. ges acknowledged his power. Ile died in the thirty- 53 B. C. to A.D 50. seventh year of his reign, leaving the throne to his son, PlDraates II. Defeat of Crassus'~ Parthian Conqzlests. This prince was scarcely settled -in his authority, CrAssus passed the winter in amassing treasure when the Syrian king Antiochus Sidetes marched from all quarters. A Parthian embassy was sent to against him with a large army, and defeated him in complain of his acts of aggression, to which Crasthree battles. The conquests of Mithridates were all sus made a boastful reply. that he would "give his _._.- __._ _.._.. 372 CRASSUS DEFEATEDI AND SLAIN BY THE P-ARTHIANS. answer in Seleucia." This was a suburb of Ctesiphon, Crassus was advancing to the relief of his son, when the capital of the Parthian empire. The chief of the the rolling of the Parthian drums was heard, and he envoys smiled contemptuously, and, showing the palm saw them in possession of the head of his unfortunate of his hand, said, "Crassus, hairs will grow there be- son. This sight completely dispirited the Romans; fore you see Seleucia." The presumptuous Roman, and it was resolved to retreat that night. The wailing however, was determined to pursue his design of con- of the sick and wounded, who were left behind, inquest. His soldiers, when they learned the strength formed the Parthians of what had taken place; but as of the enemy and their manner of fighting, were it was not their custom to fight in the dark, they redispirited. The soothsayers announced evil signs in mained quiet till morning. They then took possession the victims; many of the confidential officers of Cras- of the deserted camp of the Romans, slaughtered four sus advised him to pause, but in vain. thousand men whom they found there, and, pursuing The army began its march toward Parthia. One the army, cut off the stragglers. The Romans reached of the allies of Crassus, the Armenian prince Arta- the town of Carrhe, where they had a garrison. Here bazus, advised him to take the route of Armenia, the Parthian commander detained them by apretended which was a hilly country, and unfavorable to cavalry, negotiation for peace; but it soon appeared that he in which the main strength of the Parthians lay; but was deceiving them, and the retreat was continued. the infatuated leader was deaf to all advice. At the The Romans were compelled to separate; and the passapge of the Euphrates, a dreadful tempest affrighted party of Crassus, led astray by a treacherous guide the army. The thunder roared, the lightning flashed, became entangled in a place full of marshes and and other ominous signs struck terror to the heart of ditches. Here Crassus finally fell into the hands of the superstitious Romans; but Crassus continued his the Parthians, who at first pretended to treat him with march. An Arab chief assured him that the Parthians respect, and brought a horse for him to mount. But were collecting all their valuable property, with the they soon began to handle him roughly; and when he design of taking refuge in Hyrcania and Scythia; he, resisted, they killed him on the spot, (B. C. 53.) therefore, advised him to push on without delay. This The head and right hand of. Crassus were cut off; was a stratagem to lead the Romans to their ruin; and it is said that the Parthians, in mockery of the and it took full effect. avarice which had induced him to make war upon Crassus had been advised by the experienced officers them, poured melted gold down his throat. The Ro. in his army to keep along by the banks of the Eu- mans lost in this unjust and ill-fated expedition thirty phrates, where a supply of water would always be at thousand men, of whom twenty thousand were killed hand; but instead of following this prudent counsel, he and ten thousand made prisoners. This was the most trusted( to the perfidious Arab, and, striking off from mortifying disaster which had attended the Roman -the river entered upon the wide plain of Mesopotamia. arms for many years. The Arab led him on; and when he had reached the The victory over the Romans was gained by the spot which had been agreed upon between him and generalship of an officer called by the Greek and Latix, the Partrnans, he left the Romans to their fate. The writers Sureras, though this appears to be a word treacnery of the Arab soon began to be evident. A signifying, in the Parthian language, commander-in. scouting party of Roman horse fell in with the enemy, chief. So distinguished an exploit acquired for this and were nearly all killed. This intelligence per- officer great popularity among his countrymen; and plexed Crassus; but he continued his march, drawing Orodes, jealous of his influence, caused him to be put up his Infintry in a square, with the cavalry on the to death. Pacorus, the king's favorite son, was then flanks. The enemy soon came in sight; but the placed at the head of the army, and agreeably to his greater part of them kept out of view of the Romans; father's directions, invaded Syria; but he was defeated and those who were seen had their arms covered, so and driven out of that country by Cicero and Cassius, as not to exhibit the appearance of warriors. the Roman commanders, who had survived the overWhile the Romans were in suspense at this sight, throw of Crassus. We find no mention of the Parthion a sudden the Parthians sounded the war charge on ans in history,from this period till the breaking out of their numerous kettle-drums; and whei +,,ey imagined the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, when the this unusual alarmn had struck terror into;hhe hearts of latter sent ambassadors to solicit the aid of that nation their enemy, they flung off their coverings, and appeared against his rival. Orodes offered to grant this on conglittering in helms and corselets of steel; then, pouring dition that Syria should be delivered up to him; but in long files round the solid mass of the Romans, they Pompey would not consent to this. Julius Casar is discharged showers of arrows upon them, numerous said to have meditated a war against the Parthians; camels being at hand laden with these weapons. The but his death delivered them from this danger. But Roman skirmishers attempted in vain to drive them not long after this, the eastern provinces of the Roman off. Crassus then directed his son to charge with his empire, being grievously oppressed by. Mark Antony cavalry and light troops. The crafty Parthians, feign- rose up in arms, and having killed the tax-gatherer, ing a flight, drew them away, and when they were at a they invited the Parthians to join them, and drive out sufficient distance from the main army, turned and the Romans. They very readily accepted the invitaassailed them. They rode round and round the Ro- tion, and crossed the Euphrates with a powerful army, mans, raising such a dust that they could not see to under the command of Pacorus and Labienus, a Rodefend themselves. Great numbers were killed; but man general of Pompey's party. at length young Crassus, with a part of his cavalry, At first, this undertaking met with great success. broke thlrough the enemy, and reached a rising ground. The Parthians overran all Asia Minor, Phoenicia, But here he was again surrounded by the Parthians; Syria, and Judea. But they did not long enjoy their and finding it impossible to escape, he made his shield- conquests, being completely overthrown by Ventidius. bearer kill him. The Parthians cut off his head, and a general of Mark Antony. Pacorus was killed, and set it on t e point of a spear. Orodes, distracted with grief, appointed Phraates, the DECLINE OF THE PARTHIAN EMPIRE. 373 eldest, but most profligate of all his sons, to succeed fled into Hyrcania. The emperor Adrian, who was him in the kingdom, admitting him, at the same then in the East, deemed it imprudent to engage in a time, to a share of the sovereign authority during his new war with the Parthianis, and contented himself lifetime. The unnatural son, not satisfied with half with making the Euphrates the eastern boundary of the royal power, seized the other half by murdering the Roman empire. his father. His reign was marled by great cruelty; After a long reign, Chosroes died, and was sucand he put to death many of the nobility and the royal ceeded by his son Vologeses II., who immediately family, not sparing even his own son, lest the discon- invaded Armenia and Syria. The Roman emperor tented Parthians should place him on the throne. Verus marched with an army into Syria, expelled the This bloodthirsty monarch carried on a successful Parthians from that country, and, after a war of four war against Mark Antony. After the accession of years, reconquered all the provinces which had before Augustus to power, Phraates entered into a treaty of submitted to Trajan. Revolts and wars followed at peace with him, and restored all the captives and intervals. The emperor Severus captured Ctesiphon Roman standards which had been taken in the wars of by assault, and seized the king's treasures, with his Crassus and Antony. He sent four of his sons, with wives and children. But he had no sooner recrossed their wives and children, as hostages to Rome; his the Euphrates, than Vologeses recovered all his lost other son, Phraatrus, remaining with him. The wife provinces except Mesopotamia. These wars were of the latter poisoned the king in order to place her very expensive to the Romans, and produced them no husband on the throne. The Parthians, detesting the substantial advantage; for the inhabitants of the terriauthor of this horrible crime, rose in insurrection, and tories which they conquered were strongly attached drove Phraatrus into banishment, where he died. The to the family of Arsaces, and never failed to return to reigns immediately following were of short duration. their ancient obedience as soon as the Roman armies Artabanus, one of the race of the Arsacide, who ruled were withdrawn. in Media, was called to the Parthian. throne. His The emperor Caracalla, whose name is infamous ip cruelty rendered him odious to his subjects, and afforded Roman history, desirous of signalizing himself by somer an opportunity to the Roman 6mperor, Tiberius, of memorable exploit against the Parthians, sent a solemn placing on the throne Tiridates, who was disposed to embassy to Artabanus IV., desiring his daughter in be more devoted to the Roman interests. But Arta- marriage. The Parthian king was pleased with this banus afterward regained his crown, and from the proposal,trusting that such a connection would cement period of his restoration he governed with great equity; a lasting peace between the two powers. He thereso that, after a reign of thirty years, he died much re- fore received the ambassadors with all possible marks gretted by his subjects. of honor, and readily signified his desire for the alliance. Caracalla, finding the Parthians totally unsuspicious of his treacherous design, sent a second embassy to the king, acquainting him of his intention to come in CH A. 1:) PTER CXC V II. person, and solemnize the nuptials. Artabanus went A. D. 50 to 228. to meet him, attended by the chief of the Parthian Decline and Fall f the Parthian Empire nobility, and his best troops, all unarmed, and arrayed Gov - Milit ary &trength, L C. in the most splendid habits. This peaceable train no Gov*ernmnt - sooner approached the Roman army, than the soldiers, AFTER this, Parthia was distracted with civil wars on a given signal, fell upon the king's retinue, and till A. nD. 50, when Vologeses, the son of Gortarzes, a made a most terrible slaughter of the unarmed multiformer king, established himself firmly on the throne. tude, Artabanus himself escaping with great difficulty. He carried on wars against the Romans, but with very The treacherous Caracalla, having galined, by this:ndifferent success, and, at last, gladly consented to exploit, a great l-oGty, and, as he thought, no less glory a renewal of the former treaties with that powerful wrote a long and boasting letter to the senate, assum people. From this time, the Parthian history affords ing the title of Pa'rthicus for this infamous act, as he nothing remarkable till the reign of the emperor had before taken that of Germanicus, for massacring Trajan, when Chosroes, king of Parthia, broke the in a similar manner, some of the German nobility. treaty with Rome, by expelling the king of Armenia Artabanus resolved to make the Romans pay dear from that country, and placing his own son upon the for their inhuman treachery. He raised the most throne. Trajan, who was glad of any plausible pre- numerous army that had ever been known in Parthia, tence for quarrelling with the Parthians, marched, with crossed the Euphrates, entered Syria, and wasted a strong army, into the East. His arrival in Armenia every thing with fire and sword. Caracalla had been was so sudden and unexpected, that he reduced almost put to death by the Romans before this invasion, and all the country without opposition, and took the new Macrinus, who succeeded him, marched against the, king prisoner. He then invaded Mesopotamia, and Parthians with a strong force. A furious battle was'nade himself master of that rich territory, which had fought, (A. D. 217,) which lasted two days, at the end never before been subject to Rome. Having thus of which both sides claimed the victory. Upwards ot gained possession of all the most valuable provinces forty thousand men were killed, and tile battle would of the Parthian empire, and perceiving that he could have been renewed, with additional slaughter; but tne not preserve his conque-tQ without great expense and Roman general, knowing that the animosity of the hazard, at such a distance from Italy, he appointed Parthians was directed against Caracalla in person, Partchanaspo/es, one of the royal family of Parthia, sent information to them that he was assassinated. iinrlg of that country, making it tributary to Rome. This put a stop to hostilities, and a treaty of peace But, on the death of Trajan, the Parthians revolted, followed. The military strength of the Parthian empire trovu out the king, and recalled Chosroes. who had was broken by this war, for the flower of the army ;374 N YRC ANIA —SO GD I ANA. had fallen. This gave the Persians a favorable oppor- tocracy, while the conquered people were degraded tunity to revolt. into a mere herd of slaves. The invaders thus beThe Arsacidze had never gained the affection of came the feudal lords of the vanquished, who remained their Persian su)bjects. and, after the lapse of four cen- attached to the soil in the character of serfs. The turies, the Parthians and Persians had not amalga- Parthian cavaliers may be compared to the knights mated, but the former continued to be an army of of Western Europe. They formed the strength of nccupation, separated by habits, prejudices, and feel- the army, and bore down every thing before them, ings, from the great body of the nation. At length, while the infantry was comparatively disregarded. Ardeshir Babegan, called, by the Greeks, Artaxerxes, Of the domestic history of the Parthianls, their mana native Persian, of the illustrious house of Sassan, ners, customs, &c., little information can be obtained. who claimed a descent from the ancient line of Cyrus The most that we know of these people is what arises and Giamschid, raised the national standard of Persia, from their connection with the Persian empire. But. and drove the Parthians into the northern mountains in Persian history, the Parthian dominion is little better and deserts, (A. D. 226.) than a blank. The cause of this is obvious. Religion After Christianity had begun to spread, its progress and literature were closely connected in this country, was tolerated, if not encouraged in a direct manner, and, under the sway of the Parthian monarchs, the by the Parthian monarchs, who liberally afforded shel- doctrines of Zoroaster fell into great neglect. Firdusi ter to Christians flying from the persecutions of the passes over this period of history as one of which no pagans, and froom those of their brethren who belonged trace had been preserved. He states that, on tlce to a different sect. But, after the Parthians were ex- death of Alexander the Great, the empire fell into conpelled from Persia, the religion of Zoroaster was fusion, and remained thus for two hundred years, govrestored, the progress of Christianity eastward was erned by petty rulers, and distracted by internal wars. checked, and it was thrown back on the western He adds that, so unstable was the authority of these world, leaving, unfortunately, too many marks of its contending chiefs, that Persia may be considered, having been brought into close contact with Oriental during the whole of this time, as a nation without a mysticism and superstition. sovereign. There appears, indeed, to be nothing IlThis was the end of the Parthian empire. But the rescue this period from the reproach of being an era fall of the imperial branch did not immediately involve of barbarism. that of the others. The ruling chiefs of Bactriana, Scythia, and Armenia, requested aid from the Romans against Ardeshir; but their strength, already on the decline, was unable to cope with the rising power of CHAPTER C X C V I I I Persia; and, in the beginning of the fifth century, the two former submitted to the dominion of the White 200 B. C. to 1849. Iluns of Sogdiana. The Armenian monarchs main- HYRCANIA - SOGDIANA - BACTRIANA, &C. - tained themselves somewhat longer; their reign ter- Historical and Descriptive Setches-Scythca minated A. D. 428; but the family continued to exist -Sarm atic - rica. in Persia, where a branch of them once more attained to sovereign power under the title of the Samanees. Hyrcania, lying on the south-west coast *of the The Parthian empire was, in the height of its pros- Caspian Sea, and already noticed in the geographical perity, one of the most powerful of all the Eastern sketch of Persia, presents little of interest in its history. monarchies. The ancient geographers mention a The inhabitants were Scythians, resembling the Pargreat number of cities in this empire. Ptolemy reck- thians in their character and manners. At a remote ons twenty-five. Parthia Proper, however, seems to date, they were independent, and had their own kings; have had but one large city, named Hecatonmpylos, but, in after times, they became subject to,the Parthifrom its hundred gates. It was a splendid place, and, ans, and afterward to the Persians. The country for some time, the capital of the empire. Afterward now belongs to Persia, bearing the names of /llazanCtesiphon became the winter and Ecbatana the sum- deran and Ghilan. Zadracarta, or Hyrcania, was the mer residence of the Parthian monarchs. capital. This empire was a sort of feudal monarchy, com- Sogdiana has also been noticed in the geographical posed of a number of kingdoms or principalities, all sketch of Persia. It corresponds to a portion of Inderuled by members of the same family. Tt formed the pendent Tartary in the region of Kokan. It was the centre of a vast political system, maintaining relations northernmost of the provinces of' the empire of Dawith the Romans in the West, and with the Chinese in rius, and lay between the Oxus and Jaxartes. It had the East. The head of the empire received the proud for the most part a sandy and thin soil. Separating the title of King of Kings, which, indeed, was no empty agricultural from the pastoral regions, it has always boast. The king of Armenia held the second rank; been occupied by both farmers and nomads. Alexanthe prince of Bactriana, whose rule extended over the der conquered this country, 330 B. C. Oxyantes, one countries between Persia and Hindostan, was the third of the leaders of the Sogdians, had secured his family in dignity; next followed the chief of the Massageti, in a castle built on a lofty rock. The Macedonians whose dominions lay among the steppes of Southern stormed and captured it. Roxana, the daughter of OxRussia, and who exercised authority over the nomad yantes, one of the most beautiful women of Asia, was tribes encamped between the Don and the Volga. among the prisoners. Alexander fell in love with and The Parthians were a nation of' mounted warriors, married her. Upon the news of this, Oxyantes came to sheathed in complete steel, and possessing a race of Bactria, where Alexander received him with attention horses equally remarkable for strength and speed. The son of Alexander and Roxana, Philip Aridcus! They overran their Persian neighbors almost without was chosen successor to his father on the throne. opposition, and erected themselves into a military aris- After the breaking up of Alexander's elnpirt -, ________ —, - -- - - -- - - ----.. — _____________ -. -- - B A C 1R I A N A. 375 Sogdiana, or Transoxiana, became a part of the Greek south-east corner of the Cas ian; south and south-east state of Bactria, when the rest of that kingdom by a curved line from the corner of this kingdoln tsubmitted to Parthia, 142 B. C. Sogdiana being the junction of the five rivers to form the Indus, sel, occupied by the Yuetchi, from the borders of China, arating it from the Seleucide empire. and allies of it, became the nucleus of that Indo-Scythi- The annals of Bactriana are briefly these: Theodan kingdom, which was enlarged till, in A. D. 232, otus I., who ruled also over Sogdiana, shook off the it stretched from the Caspian nearly to the Ganges. sway of Antiochus II. in 254 B. C. In 243, his In 425, it was an important part of the Yeta or Getw son and successor, Theodotus II., made a treaty of empire. Ini 565, it formed a part of the vast Turk- peace and alliance with the Parthian king Arsaces. II. ish empire. In 632, under the Arabic name of Ma- but lost his throne to Euthydemus of Magnesia, in 221 warannahar, " between rivers," and the Chinese name Antiochus the Great attacked this prince after the Par. Yang, it became the most western kingdom dependent thian war was ended; but made peace with him, on on China, a part of thle empire of the Shang dynasty. the Bactrian king's reducing his military establishment In 865, we find Sogdiana a part of the immense em- by giving up his elephants. A marriage, too, between pire of the Abbasside khalifs; then of the Samanides, in his son Demetrius and the daughter of Antiochus was 912; in 1000, of the Hoei hoo, or Ouigoors; in 1125, agreed upon. Demetrius was king of a part of India, of the Kara Kitai; in 1226, of the Mongols; in 1368, but it is not certain if of Bactria also. Menander sucof the Zagatai empire; in 1404, the seat of the capital ceeded him, and extended his conquests to Serica; but of Tamerlane; in 1479, the kingdom of Mawaranna- over these territories his s.way was transient. har; in 1725, divided between the khanat of Bokhara, Eucratidas succeeded in 181; under him, Bactria and the kingdom of Kharism; at present divided is said to have acquired its greatest extent. He was, between the khans of Bokhara, Khiva, and the Kirghis. however, murdered by one of his sons, probably EucraSuch is a specimen of the changes which the states of tidas: this person, having obtained the throne, instigated Independent Tartary have undergone. It would be Demetrius II., king of Syria, to attack, in conjunction futile and tedious to follow out the details. A notice with himself, the Parthian kingdom, under Arsaces VI. of the capital, Samarcand, is given in the history of But Arsaces iesisted victoriously, and obtained the chief Tamerlane. Parthia forms the subject of another chap- partof the Bactrian territory. The nations of Middle, ler. Khiva, Tashkent, the Kirghis, &c., are noticed Asia now overran the northern part, Sogdiana, as alin the geographical introduction to Tartary. ready noticed in the account of that satrapy. Upon Wie need only further remark, that in the middle this the Bactrian kingdom became, as such, extinct, ages, Sogdiana became famous, under the Arabic and Bactria itself, with the other countries on this name of Sogd, for its great fertility and!ltvativation. side the Oxus, became a part of the Parthian empire.'rhe territory around Samarcand, the capital, in par- Of that division of Bactriana north of the Oxus, we ticular, the Arabian geographers describe as a terres- have already given the history, under the head of Sogdi. trial paradise. The richi valley of Sogd presented so ana. The part immediately south of the Oxus formed great an abundance of exqllisite grapes, melons, pears, a portion successively of the Indo-Scythian, Sassa and apples, that they were exported to Persia, and nide, Ommiade, and Abbasside empires. l_ A. D even to Hindostan. 865, the west part formed part of a kingdom of Tha BACTRIANA, now forming that part of Independent herians, while the east belonged to the Abbassides. Tartary called Koondooz, was one of the richest satra- In 912, it was all included, together with Sogdiana, pies of the Persian empire ofDarius Hystaspes; it was on under the Sassanide empire, which extended fiom the the great highway between Russia, Tartary, and China Caspian to the Indus, and from the Persian Gulf to on one side - India, Persia, and Western Asia on the the Jaxartes. In 1000, we find Bactriana a part of the other. At the remotest period, this centre of the com- Ghaznevide kingdom, which, in 1125, had surrendered merce of the continent is said to have been illumined a portion of it to the Kara kitai, and another to the by a mild civilization. The Orientals call its capital Seljukian empire. It was then all swallowed up ill (Bactra, Zariaspe, Balkh) the " mother of cities," and the empire of Zingis, and on the dissolution of that consider it the most ancient on earth. Near the only fell to the Persian-Mongol empire, and after some pass through the formidable Hindoo Koosh Mountains, other changes, to the empire of Tamerlane. Since which divide Central from Southern Asia, this site, or then, it has passed to the khans of Khorasan, and then one in its neighborhood, must ever be the location of a a part to the kings of Persia, and part to the Afghan great emporium of trade. kingdom. These two powers seem now to share an In 254 B. C., Bactriana broke away from the Seleucide influence over it; though it may be deemed independ. empire, and, under Theodotus I., became the nucleus ent, under its own khans and the Turcoman vagabonds. of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. This state was ruled The countries whose history we have just given, beby Greeks, with whom the wise foresight of Alexander longed to what was anciently called Scythlia, and now colonized it, settling them in the cities which he built bears the name of Tartary. Scythia, indeed, included here to secure the trade of the northern and eastern all the northern portions of Asia and Europe, until the Oriental world. History has left us very little infor- name of Sarmatia was given to the European division. mation concerning this once powerful kingdom; and The country called Serica was on the remote borit is only by the help of a few coins, laboriously com- ders of Scythia, and is supposed to have been some pared with some scant and scattered notices in Oriental part of China. It was the country which first produced literature, that we can form an idea of it. At its great- silk; and its capital, Sera, seems to have been the est extent, - say in 210 B. C., -we find it bounded western capital of China- Si ngan foo, or near it. The on the south-east by the most easterly of the five rivers silk trade with Serica was very active at an earlv date. that form the Indus; on the east by Mount Imaus, Having given these general notices of what belongs separating it from Khotan; north by the Jaxartes and to the ancient history of Tartary, we proceed to the Aral; west by Parthia, then a small kingdom on the general history of that countrv. 576 GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS OF TARTARY. x., ( artuf. i. I4~1a.. ~,. _....._ __ -----— I _ _ People of Western Tartary-Kirghis. People of Eastern Tartary — Mongols and almucks. C H A P T E R C X C I X. character which they have ever borne. Most of them 1Prel~irninetry TView of TARTARY IN GENERAL -- indeed, as the earliest historical notices describe them, Divisions - Tribes - Historical Topics. still wander, during winter, over these plains, which are then watered by streams and springs. In summer. TARTARYnt, known to the ancients under the name of they are obliged to retire into the valleys of the mounScythia, and the original seat of the Huns, the Turks, tains, where they can enjoy a pure, fresh atmosphere, the Mongols, and many other tribes, includes about a and where the grass is not dried up by the burning third of Asia, embracing the vast region between Persia, winds of the steppes, as the illimitable plains ale called Thibet, China, and Corea, on the south, and Siberia on If a horde, or tribe, oversteps its usual limits, and the north. Most of this region is very elevated, and advances straight on, then happens a veritable miglapossesses, therefore, a clear, cold climate, severe in the tion: the neighbor tribe, if itself nomadic, eithier oins northern and extreme eastern parts, while in the the migratory one, and swellsthe tide of invasion, or south-west is found one of the finest climates on the if settled, repels force by force, or succumbs. Ihis face of the earth. No portion of this wide and varied latter is the ordinary event; for as the nomadic invaexpanse of country seems to have the exuberant rank- der carries all his property and household with him, and ness of fertility which much of our western lands may every adult male Is a wanor - it almost invariably conboast; though the extreme east, upon a still virgin soil, quers its more highly civilized opponent, Who can selexhibits a wild luxuriance of shrub and forest, well dom bring every man into the field, and is always disworthy of a denser and more civilized population. tracted with fears for property and family. These few The soil, in fact, varies from rich river bottoms and and simple facts, which havo so often changed the powei plains - which shoot up grass taller than a man, where and position of the Tartar tribes, are, indeed, an epit. there is moisture - to the broad fields of ice and snow, orne of the history of this large portion of Asia for or the numerous ridges of lofty mountains, and the thousands of years. shifting sands and bare rocks of extensive deserts, Though Tartary, at the present day, is usually divided which have never been, and will never be, shaded with into two distinctportions - Independent Tartary - and a single green leaf. Chinese Tartary - yet, as the whole territory has for Next to the long and lofty mountain ranges which ages borne one general title and character, and as history bound it on the north and south, and divide it into east and frequently blends its various tribes in one common course west in unequal portions, or intersect longitudinally its of events, we propose to embrace the whole in one larger eastern mass, Tartary is characterized by broad view, so far as may be practicable, iving, however and high table lands. These stretch -an ocean of ver-to each of the prominent races a distinct notice. d ure - generally from east to west, and have given to the Restless nomads, as the Tartaric nations mostly are, majority of the inhabitants that pastoral and wandering following, with their flocks and herds, the course of * INDEPENDENT TARTARY is occupied by a great number rivers, seeking new pasture grounds when the old no of Tatrtar tribes, forming several independent states. The longer yield sufficient feed- and thus living in a perusual divisions are as follows: Tesrcozaenia, or the country petual state of migration; yet, as this migration ordiof the Turcomans, in the south-west; Turkistane proper, in narily keeps within certain limits, we are enabled to the east; Usbekistais, in the south. Branches of these tribes are, however, scattcred about in different parts of the country. give the present political divisions of the country with The chief states are the khanats of Great Bueharia, Khiva, some degree of distinctness. and Kokan; the smaller states are Kissar, Balkh, &c. On the extreme east is illanclooria - entirely unCHINESE TARTARY is divided into Maszchooria, in the east; known to the ancients -- whose earliest inhabitants \Mogolia, near the middle; SooarLnicia, Little Bucharia, and seem to have been such rude tribes as the present Litttle Thieti, in the west; Thi7Lbet being at the south-west this vast region lies nearly in the latitude of our Middle I Tungouse of Siberia. These, early mingled with atlStates and New England. Iother Siberian tribe, the Mongols, and became the INDEPENDENT TARTARY. 377 Manchoos, who went forth as conquerors, and gave its ancient Turks, the most renowned of the Tartar tribes, present dynasty to the Chinese empire. and most widely spread. These having become merged Next west is Mongolia, equally unknown to the in the vast Mongol empire, that colossal power, with its ancients, and also deriving its name from another con- divisions on the death of Zingis, and its sequel, the quering tribe, who, at a still earlier period, founded empire of Tamerlane, form our next topics; and the the Mongol empire —the widest ever known. history of Tartary will be concluded with some general Western Mongolia is sometimes called Kalmookia, views, as usual. from its ruling tribe, the Eleuts, or Kalmucks, from Siberia, who held'it in the last century. This country was vaguely known to the ancients, and classical writ- C H A P T E IR C C. ers represent it as the end of the earth. Here they I INDEPENDENT TARTARY- Physical Geography placed their Scythia beyond Imnaus, of which they Th named but one tribe, the Issidons, with their capital Th e Kir- his and Cossacs - Kokan - near Lake Lop; and beyond it was their Serica, or I va - Tle Turconans- BokharaWestern China. The Usbecks - Balkh - -Ioondooz. In the northern part of Kalmookia, was Soongaria, THE country bounded on the south by the Paropaalso named from a Siberian Tartar tribe, who became misan range of North Persia, on the west by the powerful there. Caspian and Volga, or Ural, on the north by the frozen In the fifteenth century, Kalmookia was shared regions of Siberia, and on the east by Thibet and ibetween the Ouirat horde on the north, the kingdoms Mongolia, is a region.of the greatest possible variety of Cashgar and Khamil, or Hami, in the middle, and of surface, soil, and climate. It is variously called Khotan on the south, with capitals of the same names. Touran, Independent Tartary, Turkestan, Western [he three last, taken together, have also borne the indef- Tartary- and embraces an extent of somewhat less nite names of Tangoot, Turkestlan, and Little Bucharia. than five hundred thousand square miles, with a pop.1A little earlier, in Tamerlane's time, all these formed lation of seven millions. the empire of the Ouigoors of Bishbalik, with the capital Mountains capped with eternal snows are here of that name, also called Ooroomtsi. Previously, the contrasted with plains of burning sand, or broad, level,:ountry was held by the descendants of Zingis, in steppes, without visible boundary, covered with coarse whose empire it was merged, in the twelfth century. bent; here are frozen wastes and rough alpine valleys Kalmookia now forms a part of the Chinese empire, by the side of charmingly undulating champaigns; under the names Peloo in the north, and Ncanloo in vales, lovely as paradise, and salt plains, given over to the south. perpetual desolation; rocky aridity and exuberant West of the Beloor Mountains, the Imaus of the fertility; romantic lakes bordered by perennial verancients, we find on our maps, Independent Tartary, dure, and broad salt seas environed by vast marshy so called because its tribes are subject neither to China flats; wide and copious rivers; regions watered by nor Russia. This was the Scythia this side the imnaus, numerous and perennial streams; and the thirsty beds of classical writers, who had still another Scythia, of rivulets, whose scanty thread of water is soon discalled Sc!thi xt armatica, which was the extension into sipated in hopeless deserts. Central Europe of the Asiatic plains, forming the level There is little forest, but the soil on the iargin of mass of European Russia. It was called Scythia, be- the streams is fertile. Here, grain and the vine recause its people were of similar origin and habits with mind one of the best portions of our Middle States; their Asiatic brethren of the same name. there, rice, cotton, and even the sugar-cane carry the The present political divisions of this part of Tar- fiancy towards the " sunny south." This, then, is the tary, to wit, the Kirghis country on the north, K hiva, appropriate nursery of mankind, and these infinitely Bokhara, and Kokan in the middle, Turcoinania, Balkh, varied repositories of great Nature have cradled naand Koondooz on the south, will be more particularly tions not a few; indeed, some, with much probabildescribed hereafter, as also their former occupants. ity, place in these regions the primeval abode of our Some of the kingdoms, however, occupying the south race, whence it descended west, south, east, and.i portion of this interesting region, to wit, Sogdiana, north, to people the world! -Ilyrcania, Bactriana, and Parthia, as forming the con- The north half of Independent Tartary is occupiedi neeting link between ancient and modern, classic and by the Kirghis steppes on the east and west, supported' Oriental history, have already been treated in chapters by mountains -and between them a'desert of sand. imrtmediately previous to this. These details seem in- The shore of the Caspian is mostly a long and gloomy tricate fi'om the nature of the subject; but, as the his- chain of arid downs and rocks. North of Bokhalra is tory of this region is one of great interest and impor- a desert of sand, as also between Khiva and Persia. lance, we deem it essential to introduce them. Some rivers are lost in sands in the Kirghis country, The history of Tartary, then, will embrace the which is not well known. The Jaxartes (Sir, or Sihon,) following topics, viz., Scythia and its modern occu- rises in the lofty Mustag range, and flows in a northplants, the Kirghis, or Asiatic Cossacks, with a sketch westerly course of five or six hundred miles, by Koof' the other modern states of Independent Tartary, kan, Kojend, Tashkend, and Otrar, into the north-east such as Kokan, Bokhara, Badakshan, Balkh, Koon- corner of Lake Aral, or the Sea of Eagles - asquare:1ooz, Khiva, and Turcomania. These states are most body of water, saltish, and abounding in sturgeon and conveniently treated of in connection with this our geo- other fish, and also in seals. Into its south-western corgiaphical view, with which,also, we shall connect no- ner flows the Oxus, Amoo, or Jihon, which rises in a! tices of the Usbecks, Kalmucks, and Manchoos. Next high valley of the Beloor Mountains, and, in a course wue treat of the Alan-Goths, or Indo-Germanic tribes, of nine hundred miles or more, somewhat parallel:: wno gave us our ancestry in part; then of the ancient with the Jaxartes, flows by Badakshan, Termed, Khiva, Tungouse. early conquerors of China; then of the or Ourgounge, and not far from Balkh. Koondooz ____ 48 ____________________ |78 KIIR GHI S-K OKAN —KH IJVA. and Fyzabad are near it, on mountain branches; Sam- personal qualities. The heads of clans and old men arcand and Bokhara are upon a branch coming in on constitute the national assembly. the north. At Termed it issues from the mountains The Kirghis were converted to Mahometanism from by a defile one hundred feet wide, the sublime horrors Shamanism about the beginning of the seventeenth of which cause it to be named the " Lion's Throat." century. They occupy the place of the Kipzaks, A low range of mountains divides Tartary from the who were also subdued by Tamerlane. In 1742, a steppe of Ischim and the provinces of Omsk and horde of the Kipzaks, (called Kara Kailpa.s and Kara Tobolsk. O)n the east, Lake Balkash and the Taba- Kipzaks,) of fifteen thousand families, were almost gatai range, connecting the Altai and the Beloor, to- annihilated by the Kirghis, for seeking the protection gether with the lofty Beloor and Mustag, connecting of the 1" White Czar," or Russia. Some Kara Kalpaks the Thianchan, or Celestial, and the Himmaleh Moun- are still upon the Jaxartes; they continue the agricultains, - separate Independent from Chinese Tartary. tural and pastoral life, and have a fixed place for their These ranges are very little known. winter cabins, but their summer ones are movable. The Kirghis Cossacks, who inhabit the country They use cattle for the saddle and draught, plractiso called by their name, are, as is elsewhere intimated, several trades, and sell knives, muskets, sabres, cook. lerived frofm tribes who dwelt on the Upper Yenisei, ing pots, and gunpowder. Iznd afterwards mingled with the ancient Turks, whose The khaniat of Kokal is under a mild, beneficent, language they adopted. They are a fine race, with and peaceful government,and its territory,lying along Tartar but not Mongol features, flat noses, small eyes - the middle course of the Jaxartes, is as well cultivated yet not oblique -good complexion, high cheek bones, as that of Bokhara. Here is found Tashkent, an and a cheerful look. Some of them display the stout ancient city, a favorite with Tamerlane, and still conI forms of the Turks; others the tall proportions of taining one hundred thousand people and three hun their Haka ancestry. dred and twenty mosques. Here is but three months' Frugal and peaceful, they enjoy a long and healthy winter; and peaches, vines, wheat, cotton, and silA old age: intermittent fevers, colds, and asthma are reward the industry of its people. Kokan, in a fruit. their chief diseases. Happy in their freedom, they ful and well-watered plain, is a modern town, which, live on mutton and milk; without being bloodthirsty from a small village, has risen to be the capital, or quarrelsome, they are arrant plunderers, pillaging, numbering fifty thousand people and three hundred with great address, all the neighboring countries. mosques. Kogend was a favorite residence of Tamer Hence Russia is obliged to defend her frontier by a lane, and has now twenty-five thousand people. Its chain of strong forts, and even to distribute presents situation is delightful, and its inhabitants are deemed and pensions among the chiefs, and allow them to the most learned and polite of the Tartars. On take a toll of ten or twelve rubles for each camel the north-east side of the river, near this spot, Alex3oming in the caravans to Orenburg. They delight ander founded Alexandria, at the extreme northin carrying off the Kalmuck women, who are said to ern limit of his empire, to control the Massagetie and ietain the charms of youth longer than their own. Scythians, and form an emporium for the trade of' They are very friendly to each other, and are served Tartary. Margilan and Ush are two fine cities, by slaves they have kidnapped. They wear wide the latter has reclaimed a part of the Kirghis, on drawers, pointed boots, and conical caps; the men whose frontier it is placed, and they are peaceably shave their heads, the women dress theirs with heron's settled around it. Kokan is the ancient Fergana, of' necks, so placed as to look like horns. Lances which Baber, the founder of the empire of the Grand and matchlocks, discharged with white powder, are Moguls of India, was the hereditary prince. The their arms; they are fond of games, exercises, and Usbeck Aralians, on the plains about Lake Aral, have horse-racing, being valorous and ferocious horsemen. a town, or rather wvinter encampment, fourteen miles At funerals, horse-races are held, and the heir dis- in cilcurnference, defended by an earthen rampart, tributes slaves, camels, horses, magnificent harness, twelve Russian ells in height. There are other similai and other prizes among the victors. towns. Strict Mahornetans, they are allowed several wives, Khiica, lately taken possession of by Russia, was but each has her separate tent. Their tents are of found to hold, in common with Bokhara, some two hunfelt, larger and neater than those of the Kalmucks, and dred thousand Persians and fifteen thousand Russians. often accommodating twenty persons. Hitherto plun- Its people are addicted to gluttony and kidnapping; der has given them foreign luxuries, but they are begin- man-stealing is their chief source of wealth. The terriI ning to purchase them in exchange for furs, hides, and tory, fifty miles broad and extending two hundred miles felt. Many of the tribes of the Great Horde, which alongr the Oxus, not far from Lake Aral, is watered ranges to the east and south, on the frontiers of Cash- chiefly by canals, and insulated from the civilized world gar and Kokan, have abandoned their roving habits, by surrounding deserts. Of its three hundred thousand and settled down to agriculture and the town life. families, but one third are settled; the rest are nomadic Among the high valleys, some fifty thousand are still and predatory, usually roaming, under the name of very wild. Those about Lake Aral, and thence to Turconmanls, through their wide deserts, in a state of the Caspian, are entirely pastoral. wild independence, under hereditary chiefs -but ever This race makes a fine mounted soldiery, and, as ready to join any standard, either of their own sovereign such, has traversed Europe in the armies of the czar. or of revolted Persian chiefs, which promises adverThe Parisians once saw, with chagrin, these rough ture and booty. They now make petty maraudlng troopers encamped in thie gardens of the Tuileries, expeditions into Persia, especially Khorasan, in which and flaunting their horse-tails beneath the shades of they carry off every portable thing of value, 4akmng 1the Champs Elysdes. Russia appoints a nominal lkhian thle inhabitants themselves to perpetual bondage n the for the lesser horde, on the banks of the Ural, Caspian, heart of their deserts. i and Aral; but his power depends on his wealth and Here was the seat of the Usbec.k khans of Khlarism THE TURCO-MANS-THIE USBECKS 379 n the early part of the last century: previously it and previous to the Christian era, the. kingdoms of formed a part of the kingdom of Mawarannahar, which Hyrcania and Parthia, as has been stated in a former included Bokhara, and was itself a fragment of Tam- chapter. erlane's empire. When conquered by Zingis, it was Bok/hara seems at present the most powerful of the seat of the empire of Kharism, whose fate, under these independent khanats. Its history is detailed the chivalric but unfortunate Jelaleddin and his father, elsewhere. It need only be added here, that its king, is elsewhere detailed. Its capital was at Ourgounge, a by dividing and mixing the various tribes, and keeping little north of Khiva. This dynasty was founded by a ihe great men from all employments likely to strengthen Turkish slave in 1097, and destroyed by Zingis in their hereditary influence, and also by an affectation 1231. It was previously a principality between the of superior sanctity, has gained such an ascendency Oxus and Caspian, with the Gaznevide empire on the over the Tartars as causes him to be courted by Russouth, both of them fragments of the Samanide em- sia, England, and Persia. He is also an Usbeck, the pire, from the Jaxartes to South Persia, which flour- predominant race in these regions, a sketch of whose ished in A. D. 912, and long after. In 710, the faith history and government may here be appropriately of Mahomet was preached in the mosque of Kharism, given: their liersonal appearance and habits are else. and this was the first country of'artary converted where described. to Islam. The khan, whose capital, Khiva, the Rus- The UslCcks first crossed the Jaxartes about the besians lately entered in triumph, is now in alliance, ginning of the sixteenth century, and pouring down on offensive and defensive, with the czar, and ready to the possessions of Tamerlane's descendants, soon forward his vast views in Asia. drove them from Bokhara, Kharism, (Kowaresm, ChoThe city of Khiva, surrounded with a ditch, clay rasmia,) and Fergana. They are of the great Turkish wall, and rampart, has three gates, a castle, thirty race, as elsewhere noticed. Their division into tribes mosques, a college, and ten thousand people. The has no relation to the government; and there are nc neighborhood is filled with orchards, vineyards, and separate jurisdictions or assemblies, even in the wanpopulous villages. The citizens have more natural dering hordes: the country is divided into districts and genius than other Tartars, are fond of poetry and sub-districts, under officers appointed by the sovereign, music; and it is said that " there seems to be a mu- who collect the revenue and dispense justice. The sical cadence in the very cries of the infants." The heads of villages are appointed by the king, at the Khivans cultivate their grounds carefully, raise silk- recommendation of the wealthy. In the army every worms, and make coarse stuffs of cotton and of silk, thing depends on his appointments. In Bokhara, the and mixtures of the two. They are woven by the men are said to be arranged in messes of ten each, wvomen in the houses. Their caravans carry to Oren- who have a tent" a boiler, and a camel among them. i)urg wheat, raw cotton, silk and cotton stuffs, robes In Bokhara and Fergana, at least, there is no trace of embroidered with gold, lamb-skins, &c. In return, a popular government, and scarcely any of aristocracy. they get European manufactures from the Russians, The Usbecks, having, doubtless, few native instituand horses, cattle, and sheep from the Turcomans. tions, adopted, on their conversion, the Mahometan Khiva is, besides, a great slave market. Its annual for- law in all its details, both in public and private. l he eign trade amounts to several hundred thousand dollars. revenue is collected exactly as prescribed in the Koran, The Turconians inhabit all the eastern coast of the and one tenth is applied to alms. Justice is adminis-''aspian, and are divided into two parties -- the Man- tered by tlhe same rule; and the use of wine and gishlak - near a fine harbor on the north - of three tobacco is as strictly forbidden, and almost as severely thousand families; and the Astrabad, on the south, of punished, as fraud and robbery. The king of Boktwelve thousand families. They are more swarthy, hara's title is Commander of the Faithful. Part of smaller in size, but more square in the limbs than other every day he teaches religion; most of the night he Tartars; live in tents and caves, and are rude shep- spends in prayers and vigils. He reads prayers in his herds and plunderers. Their hordes are under Kir- mosque, and funeral service for the poor. ghis chiefs. They wear a coarse camels-hair cloth, Bokhara city has colleges fitted to hold sixty to and raise a little grain and rice, with melons and six hundred pupils each, with professors paid by the cucumbers. They live in felt tents, and dress in a king or by private donations. It is, indeed, said to mixed Tartar and Persian costume. Their chiefs have have eighty colleges, built of stone, with forty to three little authority. These ferocious and wild people have hundred pupils each, and a lecturer, who, as well as insinuated themselves into every part of Persia, Syria, the students, is paid by funds. It has one hundred and Asia Minor, where they may be seen in small and fifty thousand people. For commerce its accom parties, like the gypsies in Europe, picking up a pre- modations are numerous; it abounds in caravanserais various livelihood between the cities, and pasturing the where merchants of all nations meet with encouragevacant spots of soil, which abound in the Turkish and ment. Though the prince and the people are strictly Persian empires. Their incursions have nearly de- orthodox Mussulmans, they fully tolerate all relipopulated North Persia, and rendered wide regions, gions; they, however, put apostates to Christianity to once productive and populous, a desolate waste. It is death. elsewhere remarked, that the Turkish dynasty origi- The towns-people, or Tajiks, meaning tributaries, nated with Turcoman soldiers of fortune; and this rude elsewhere noticed, seem to be a higher race. They race, under Oussun Hassan, founded an empire, which lead a frugal life, living on rice, wheat, millet, and was called the Bayandoorian, or that " of the Turco- above all, fruits, such as melons, grapes, and apples, rmans of the White Sheep," and which, at the end using much sesamul oil; tea flavored with anise, and of the fifteenth century, stretched from the Caspian grape juice, are the favorite drinks; and they intoxito the Euphrates, and from Asia Minor to Beloochistan. cate themselves with opium. Their clothes are mostly H-ere were the Euthalites, or White Huns, (A. D. 425;) of silk and furs; the long robes of the women exhibit trid farther soulh the Thaherian kingdom, in 865; wide and varied p!aitings; their hair is braided with 580 INDEPENDENT TARTARY-TRA1D. rIONS. pearls. As the seat of empire of Tamerlane, to whose deserts. Sometimes the astonlal>ing number of fhirt capital of Samarcand came ambassadors of all na- thousand persons is found in a caravan. Mttals tions, this famed region is elsewhere described. Bok- arms, cutlery, cloths, &c., are imported, against ex hara now contains one to two and a half millions ports of silk, cotton, hides, rubies, and turquoises. of people, a large proportion of them farmers or towns- Balkh and its territory have been frequently an ap people. The most of these, as over all Independent pendage of the Afghan kingdom, or Cabul. The city Tartary, Cashgar, and Cabul, are Tajiks, or Tadshiks. is described with Bactriana, whose capital it was, in a The military force equals twenty thousand horse, four previous chapter; where also the various events of this thousand infantry, and fifty thousand militia. The territory are detailed. Here, after the fall of the Greek king's troops make forays, or chepaos, over the vast kingdom, was the rendezvous of the Roman trade with plains of Khorasan, often riding several hundred miles China, before the caravans entered upon the dreaded without intermission, so as to arrive by. night near the wastes of Tartary. This trade was monopolized by the town to be attacked. Watching the moment when the Parthians. They got the:aw silk from China, and then gates are opened, early in the morning, to let the people manufactured it, dyed it, and exported it to the Roforth to their field labors, they rush in, fire the place, mans, who at last sent an embassy by sea, A. D. kill all who resist, and carry the rest into slavery. 165, to secure this article. The Chinese had the The prince connives at this, because the Persians greatest respect for the equity and greatness of the are heretics. His own territory is well governed, Romans, whose empire they therefore called " Great peaceful, and flourishing. Cultivation is only limited China." The khan of Koondooz, who is said to comby want of water. Much trade is carried on with mand twenty thousand horse, has lately made himself India, Persia, and especially Russia. From Astrakan formidable by his active and vigorous policy, which come two annual caravans, by way of Orenburg, of has rendered him master of several mountain districts four thousand or five thousand camels each; and these he has even taken and sacked Balkh. often encounter dreadful hardships in crossing the Ancient Scythians. C H A P T E R CCI. sweet and fragrant herbs, amid verdant and grassy pastures, and drink ambrosial dew -divine potation Eairly Tracditions of Indep~endentt Taxrtary - all resplendent alike in coeval youth, a placid serenity Scythians - Manners and Customs - Mas- forever smiles on their brows, and lightens in their sagete -Cyrus - - Tomnyris. eyes - the consequence of a just temperament of mind and disposition, both in the parents and in the sons. NEXT to the scant) and indistinct notices in the first disposing them to do what is just, and to speak what is chapters of the Bible, supposed to refer to the south- wise. Neither diseases nor wasting old age infest this eastern part of Independent Tartary, are recorded the holy people; but without labor, without war, they consomewhat similar traditions of the Zendavesta, the tinue to live happily, and to escape the vengeance of the Bible of the early Persians, which here places its cruel Nemesis," -that is, destiny. Thussang Orpheus, Eeriene Veedjoo, or paradise of beatitude- -the earliest the earliest, and Pindar, the most sublime, of the classical abode of their nation - the people of the Good Deity, poets. It seems to be the fact, that in these wide and *and of the golden age. Then come, perhaps equally varied regions, men have always been found in every ancient, the Hindoo accounts, in their Bible, of Mount stage of progress, from the godlike sage to the grovelMeru, the blest abode of the gods, placed in this ling cannibal-every variety of condition. from the storied region. Lastly, this is by some deemed to be gentleman of leisure, surrounded by all the luxuries. the localitv of the classical traditions as to the Hyper- elegances, and appliances of art, learning, and science, borei people of an early golden age, who "feed on to the vagabond savage, burrowing in the snow Iu MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE SCYTHIANS. 381 winter, and in summer contending with the beasts of by which two or more persons bound themselves the wild for his bloody and uncooked meal. under the severest penalties, to be faithful to each The classical writers called Independent Tartary other till death. Pouring some wine into an earthen Scythia this side the Imnaus. The Scythians are vessel, and mingling their own blood with it, the nardescribed by them as resembling other restless, no- ties dipped the points of their weapons into the mixmadic people, with some peculiarities. Their laws ture, and uttered dreadful imprecations against the party were not numerous, as their justice, temperance, sim- that should prove unfaithful. Taking each a draugh: plicity of life, and contempt of riches, precluded the of the liquor, they desired the bystanders, also, to necessity of public rewards or punishments. They pledge them, and witness the solemn engagement. conveyed their families about in covered wagons, As we have stated, the habits of the Scythians drawn by oxen or horses, and large enough for rendered them very prone to invasions; and these their housekeeping. Flocks were their chief wealth. invasions, from the multitudes which moved together - Gold, silver, diamonds, and other luxuries were de- carrying along in their vortex tribe after tribe, with spised. Some tribes were so fierce as even to feast on which they came in contact -were sometimes very exvanquished enemies. Others, when a father, mother, tensive. Generally, however, they were like a devastator near relative was attacked by any disorder which ing storm, transient in their nature and effects. Not so, would render his life miserable, feasted on the body; however, the first extensive one upon record-that and the sick person deemed this a more honorable which desolated Egypt about two thousand years before burial than to be devoured by worms. Wander- the Christian era. These Scythians, called Hykshos, ing over a wide extent of country, but not tilling it, or shepherd kings, then held that kingdom under their they claimed no property of land; they held in abhor- tyrannous sway for two hundred and sixty years. They rence and scorn the confinement of a fixed habitation - destroyed nearly every vestige of the early and high roaming perpetually with their families and herds from civilization of the country, overturned the temples till pasture to pasture. Not to steal from each other was scarce one stone was left upon another, and massacred almost their only law. Their ingenuity was chiefly the priests, the men of science, and the literati. Every employed in fabricating arms, and sheltering them- individual whose education or position made him a selves from the cold with the furs of animals. While mark for their brutal instinct of destruction, was murthis condition of society offered little temptation to an dered or driven off into the wilds of Nubia and the invader, it rendered a vagabond people very prone to upper Nile. the invasion of other nations. The first definite historical notices we have of WestThis fru,:ll and robust people were extremely pro- ern Tartary are from Herodotus, who derived them lific —anotl.-er cause of their migrations. War was from the Greek merchants, and from his own Oriental singularly their delight, and mercy and humanity were travels. For most of the details of the ancient history alien to their warfare. The funerals of their monarchs of this region, we are indebted to Greek authors. The are thus described: The dead body was deposited in intercourse of China with Western Tartary did not a. large square, upon a bed encompassed with spears, begin till a later period- about'126 B. C., from which and covered with timber. A canopy was then spread time Chinese writers are chiefly relied upon for the over the monument, and the favorite concubines, head history of the numerous changes which have happened cook, groom, waiter, and messenger, with some horses, in this portion of Asia. were strangled, and deposited beneath it, for the ser- In 624 B. C., the ferocious Scythians, under their vice of their deceased sovereign. Some golden cups, king Madyes, broke the power of the victorious Medes Iand other necessary utensils, were also placed in the va- as we have stated in the history of Media, and overran cant spaces, and the earth was thrown upon the whole a great part of what might then be called the civil-,so as to form a high mound, or artificial mountain. ized world. They extended their ravages into Asia At the expiration of the year, fifty young Scythians Minor and Palestine, to the very borders of Egypt; >f quality, with an equal number of horses, were but were bought off from despoiling that wealthy and strangled, their bowels taken out, and their bodies flourishing kingdom by Psammatichus, who gave them stuffed with straw; the bodies of the men were fas- an immense treasure, on condition they would return. tened upon their horses by an iron stake, and the During a calamitous period of twenty-eight years, those horses were set upon semicircular boards, and placed regions of Syria, Asia Minor, &c., exhibited a melanat a convenient distance froan each other, round the choly spectacle. The open country was every where monument. exposed to pillage, and strongly fortified cities could They sacrificed every hundredth prisoner to Mars; alone resist the attacks of the invaders. They held the stripped off his skin, boiled the flesh, threw part of greater part of Asia in subjection for the period above it before the altar, and distributed the rest among the named. At the end of this time, Cyaxares resolved to worshippels. Dreaded by all around them, the)y took attempt their destruction by stratagem. He accordgreat pains to keep up a warlike temper. Thus they ingly invited the greatest part of them to a general feast, drank the blood of the first captive taken, and present- which was given in every family, when each host intox. ed the heads of the slain to their king. They were in icated his guest, and a massacre ensued, which delivthe habit of flaying the vanquished, covering their ered the kingdom from a long and cruel bondage quivers, &c., and decking their bodies with the dressed What became of those who survived the massacre is and tanned skins, or hanging them at their horses not recorded. It is supposed that many of them subbridles, where they served both as napkins and trophies': mitted to Cyaxares; that others enlisted in the service the skulls often became drinking cups. To cross a of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that the river, they sewed corks into a water-tight skin, laid upon greateri division returned into Scythia. this float their saddle and weapons, and getting upon it, On their arrival, they found that their wives ha(ld seized the tail of the horse, which drew them safe over. taken their slaves for husbands; that a numerous O)ne of their customs was the covenant of friendship, offspring was the fruit of this commerce; and that 382 CYRUS-TOMYRIS — CHINESE TARTARY. was necessary to fight before they could regain their engaged in battle with Cyrus, whom she totally defeated. anciert territories. Some skirmishes ensued, and The Persian monarch himself was slain. The queen's victory seemed to hover over the rebels, till, at length, treatment of his body is related in the history of Persia. one of the Scythian lords observed that it was incom- In the time of Darius Hystaspes, when the Persian patible with their dignity to fight with slaves as equals, empire was at its greatest extent, its northern boundand therefore urged his companions to fall upon ary was the Jaxartes, the south shore of Aral Lake, them with whips.'This advice was accepted, and and a line du: west from its southernmost point to attended with complete success; for the slavish reb- the Caspian Sea. Along or near this boundary wan els were struck with such a panic, says the ancient a line of cities to defend the empire from the instory, that they threw down their arms and fled. cursions of the fierce and restless Scythians, of whom After this victory, the Scythians enjoyed a long and the Massagetin hordes, or Alans, were all along uninterrupted peace. this northern border. Between this line and the Previous to 500 B. C., many of these tribes were Paropamisus mountain were three satrapies of the Perdriven west of the Volga, into Southern Russia, by sian empire, in 500 B. C. viz.: on the east, Sogdiana the Massagetie, or Alans, who, at an early period, were and Bactriana; on the west, Hlyrcania, forming with found just north of the Paropamisan range. These Parthia one satrapy; north of the latter satrapy wanMassagetin had weapons of brass, instead of iron, and dered, in the sandy wastes of Khievan, (Khiva,) a their armor was ornamented with gold. When a man mixed multitude of nomadic tribes, who served in the became aged, his relativessacrificed him to their god, Persian armies, and paid tribute according to circumtogether with a number of animals; then, boiling the stances. Hyrcania, at the south-east corner of the flesh of all together, they served it round, and each C(aspian, was a rough, mountainous country, impracpartook of the repast. A Massagete congratulated ticable for horses, and abounding in wild beasts: himself on this living tomb-the honor of being thus though more fertile, it was no better cultivated than devoted to his god, and feasted on by his friends! Parthia, which was a rude and confined district. InT'hey worshipped the sun alone, and besides men, sac- deed, Parthia was one of the poorest satrapies of the rificed horses to it. Having no agriculture, they lived empire: hence the Persian monarchs, with their on fish, milk, and flesh. We have already identified innumerable suite, were obliged to traverse it rapidly, them with the Alans. This region is now occupied by for it would not feed them. As its rough horsemen the Kirghis hordes, described in the previous chapter. came forth from this rugged home to rule Western It was in a battle with the Massagetie, that the Asia, we have devoted to Parthia a separate article; great Cyrus, king of Persia, was slain. He made and as Bactriana was soon swallowed up in Parthia, its two expeditions against them - one on the east history, with that of Sogdiana, is appended to the same side of the Caspian and Aral, where he built Cy- article. ropolis, on the Jaxartes, and another on the west of the Caspian, in which he lost his life. He had sent ambassadors to Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetia, C H A P T E R C C II. asking her hand in marriage; but the Scythian queen, CHINESE - Did Pys well aware that the king was more anxious for the CHINEE ATA and P cal crown of the Massagetoe than the possession of her Geography - Cities - Soongaria - ashown person, interdicted his entrance into her territories. gar - Kalmnuctks - Mongolia - Kalkas - Cyrus, therefore, marched openly against the Massa- Manchoos. gete, and began to construct a bridge over the Arax- THIS immense expanse of territory is divided, int es. While he was thus employed, Tomyris sent an nearly the whole of its length, by the Thianchan, or ambassador, recommending him to desist fiom his Celestial Mountains, said to be very lofty — some enterprise; but adding, that if he still persisted in his of them twenty thousand feet high. The region design, the Scythian forces would retire a three days' north of these is destitute of towns; that on the south march, from the river, and thus allow him an op- is occupied chiefly by the favored country of Cashgar portunity of crossing without the aid of a bridge. on the west, and the great Desert of Cobi extending When once on the opposite side of the river, he could over two thirds of the rest. A few towns are found then try his strength with her subjects. Or, if he on the north, between the desert and the mountains, did not like this plan, he might withdraw his own army on the great route of Chinese trade to the west. a similar distance from the river, and the Massagetin Chinese Tartary, as an appendage to the Chinese em would then cross over into the Persian territories, and pire, in this extended sense, is divided by the Chinese contend with him there. government into nineteen provinces, of which five belong Cyrus, accordingly, advanced one day's march into to Thibet; four to Soongaria; four to Little Bucharia, their territory, and then, leaving his camp full of pro- or Nanloo; three to Mongolia, and three to Manchooria. visions and wine, and his worst troops in charge of it, SOONGARIA, or PELOO. This region, called by the he returned with his best to the banks of the river. Chinese, Thianchan Peloo, or " Province north of What he had foreseen took place. The Massagetia the Celestial Mountains," is divided into four gov came with the third part of their entire force, under ernments; that of Ili in the middle, Kour-karavossos the queen's son, attacked the Persian camp, cut to and Tarbagatai on the east, and the Booroot country pieces the troops stationed there, and then banqueted filled with Kirghis tribes, on the west. Soongaria.s on the abundant stores which they found in the camp, apparently a very elevated basin, having lofty r-n)un. and drank to excess of the wine. Cyrus, returning tains on its south, and an alpine region, emboscming on a sudden, surprised them, slew many, and took Lake Saizan, on the north-east, in one of the most Inany more prisoners, among whom was the queen's son, rigorous climates of the old continent. (r- the west who, on becoming sober, killed himself from mortifi- is a range little known, supposed to inter,,e between cation. Tomyris,soon after, assembling all her forces, it and the Kirghis steppe. Some say, however, that NANLO O - TURFAN - CASH GAR- YARKAN D. he mountain plains are unobstructed by any transverse a relic, probably, of early barbarism, when slaves, ridge of great elevation. horses, and even wives, were actually killed and Some half dozen large alpine lakes occupy smaller buried, to pass with the deceased into the next world, basins, and are fed by considerable rivers. Of these to serve him there. lakes, the Balkash is the farthest west, and is said to Turfan is a large and strong city, capital of a conbe a walk of fifteen days in circumference. In these siderable country, governed by a branch of the royal secluded valleys, as in mountain cradles, were nursed family of Cashgar. Tangoot, on the north-western several tribes who have gone forth to extensive con- frontier of China, was a powerful empire of uncertain quests, and whose historical legends point to the storied extent, but probably included the north-west of China, shores of the Ili River and Balkash Lake, as may be the Sifan country on its western frontier, and much of qeen in our chapters upon the several races of Tartary. Thibet and Cashgar. Koko nor, or the Blue Lake, - The Songars, a tribe of Kalmucks, attracted by ex- its modern name, - is famous in Chinese history; and uberant pasture, fixed their seat in the Ili, and here one of their departments, at the present day, is stylee pastured their immense droves of horses, and fat-tailed the Mongols of Koko nor; the other, lying south-west, sleep, with some horned cattle and camels. At the and also separating the south-eastern frontier of Nanloo base of Mount Ulugh also spreads an ocean of ver- from China, is that of the Mongols of lKhor. dure, which arrested the admiring gaze of the con- Cashgar occupies the wide plain forming the west quering Tamerlane, from the mountain's summit. part of Nanloo. In beauty and fertility, it is the garAmid the sublime solitudes of the Mustag, connected den of Tartary, rivalling the finest tracts' of Southern with the Imaus or Belor range, the glaciers give forth Europe. Watered by numerous streams, its carefully streams which form the Jaxartes, or fall into the moun- cultivated fields yield large crops of grain, and its tain lakle Temoortoo, south of Balkash. fruits are peculiarly excellent. Four of its streams, LITTLE BUCHARIA, NANLOD, or the South Province, uniting from all points of the compass, form the Tarim, includes countries which have borne several nlalnes; which runs directly east, into Lake Lop. as, Cashgar, Turkestan, &c. The Kuen lun Mountains Khotan was an independent kingdom of importance. separate it from Thibet, and on the east it has the The vine and silkworm flourish here, and it has marble province of Kansoo —belonging to China Proper — and jasper so beautifully variegated with leaves and which is of very irregular shape, one extremity flowers, as to be much sought for in China, so that it stretching between Soongaria and Nanloo, so far as to forms a profitable article of export and exchange. include Ooroomtsi, the other dovetailing into the north- Previous to the Christian era, Buddhism was planted west corner of China Proper. The south-east part of at Khotan, and the story of its infancy is so like a Nanloo is mostly occupied by a part of the great sandy primitive myth, that some suppose it originated here. desert of Cobi. This and Mahometanism are equally tolerated under In the north-eastern part are Khamil, Pidjan, Tur- Chinese sway. Aksou, the capital of an extensive fan, Jooldooz, Karachar, Kourourgle, Koutche, and district, subject to Cashgar, is the seat of an active Aksou — towns none of which are much off the route commerce, and several caravan routes, in various from the west to China, across which` the beacon fires, directions, pass through it. lighted at proper distances, telegraph despatches be- Yarkand is perhaps the most interesting town of all tween the extreme western posts of the Chinese gov- Asia. It speedily revived, after its destruction by a Irnment and the capital, Pekin. Ooroomtsi was grandson of Tamerlane, and now has fifty thousand peofrormerly the seat of empire under the name of Bich- ple. Its situation, indeed, seems to insure its continubalik, which name it gave to the state. Hami, a ance as the centre of the inland trade of Asia - a grand,mall canton surrounded by deserts, also once gave its medium of communication between the east and the name to a kingdom. Its climate is very warm in west, the north and the south, of that great continent.,ummer; its soil produces scarcely any thing but It is accordingly a place of immense resort, and filled melons and grapes — the former particularly excellent, with numerous caravanserais for the reception of so that they are preserved during winter, and served strangers. A handsome street runs the whole length up at the table of the emperor of China. The count- of the city, entirely filled with shops and warehouses. try also contains agate and diamond quarries. which are kept by the Chinese, who sit on benches in The people, strong and large, are Mahometans, well fiont. There are also many colleges. The country clothed and fed. Marco Polo describes them as merry around is unrivalled, particularly for its finely watered and good-natured savages, idolatrous, rich in products, gardens and the excellence of its fruits. Cashgar is a and much employed in singing and dancing. A strange handsome and ancient city, the seat of government, custom exists among them, regarded as a precept of and has considerable trade. religion, to give up to a traveller, who desires a lodging, The language of this fine country is chiefly Turkish, house, wife, and family; in fact, installing the stranger but the origin of its people is unknown. The dress in all the privileges of the head of the household, the of the men is bound by a girdle, and goes no lower host quitting the house, and going through the city in than the calf of the leg; that-of the women is similar, quest of aught that can amuse or gratify his guest. who also wear long earrings and pendants, like the Nor does he reoccupy the house till the stranger is women of Thibet; their hair is equally divided into gone. This reminds us of similar Babylonish cus- long tresses, and adorned with ribbons; and they dye toms -all, perhaps, adopted to entice a concourse of their nails with henna juice. Both sexes wear long strangers, and thus encourage trade. drawers, and boots of Russia leather; the head dress Some peculiar customs prevail in this region, such is like the Turkish. The houses are mostly of stone, as embalming the dead with spices, till the astrologer and decorated with furniture of Chinese manufacture. determines a lucky hour for the burial. Painted Tea is the general beverage of the country, hut it is images of men, women, cattle, money, &c., are taken with milk, butter, and salt, in the manner of the lodged in the tomb, to be useful in the other world - other nations of Central Asia. The women are pur 384 CHINESE CONQUEST-THE KALMUCKS. chased; hence handsome girls are a source of wealth very much attached to it, and would defend its author. to their parents. ity cheerfully with life and fortune. These countries being Mahometan, magistrates of The ruling nation is the Kalmuck, and we may here that faith administer justice and carry on all the internal notice the history and condition of that Mongol peoaffairs of the province; but Chinese military officers col- pie who now extend themselves over both Peloo and lect its revenue and provide for its defence. Strangers Nanloo, which-have hence been called Kalmookia, or seem not so rigidly excluded here as at other parts of included in Mongolia, by some geographers. Its surthe frontier. The boundary line, however, is guarded faice is equal to all France, Spain, and Italy, and it has by a chain of military posts, at which every package the same latitude with them and with our California and brought is carefully examined, and permits are then Oregon. It is estimated to have two hundred thousand given to proceed to Cashgar and Yarkand, where light Kalmuck families. The Kalmucks are generally of a duties are required. middling height, more of them being, however, under. The Chinese, as we have stated, first had connection than over the ordinary stature. Left to nature from inwith these distant countries about the year 126 B. C. fancy, their bodies are universally well made, and their Then, in consequence of the resolution of the emperor limbs free. In the Kalmuck countenance the angle of Woo ti to weaken the power and punish the outrages of the eye is directed obliquely downward to the nose, the the Hioong noo,(orTTurks, against whom the wall had eyebrows are black and thin, the interior ends of the been built in 214,) a Chinese general was sent to the arches which they form are low, the nose is flat and Yue tchi, in Transoxiana, who had been driven there broad at the point, the cheek bones prominent, the by the Turks, from the frontiers of China, in 165 B. C. head and face very round, the ears large and promiThe general was taken by the Turks, and kept prisoner nent. Their teeth preserve their beauty and whiteness for ten years, but found means to escape to the Yue tchi, to an advanced age. Their skin, naturally white, and remained with them more than a year. On his assumes a brownish yellow from exposure to the sun return, he was again taken prisoner, but finally got in summer, and cabin smoke in winter. Many of the back to China after thirteen years' absence. women have a handsome figure and white complexion, The result of his representations was a Chinese con- the effect of which is increased by their fine black quest of Cashgar, in 108 B. C., and a confederation hair. The acuteness of the senses of smell, hearing, of the western tribes against the overbearing Turks. and sight, surpasses what we should conceive possible They were thus kept in check on the west while the They perceive, by the smell, the smoke of a camp, hear Chinese gradually broke their power in the east, till on the neighing of a horse, and distinguish a minute object a division of their nation, in A. D. 46, one portion sub- in their immense plains, at an astonishing distance. mitted to China. Though afterwards weakened by civil The Kalmucks have three orders of society - the nowars, political relations were maintained with the west, bility, whom they call "white bones," the common and the emperors of the Goei dynasty, of North China, people, slaves, called " black bones," and the clergy. received embassies from time to time from this re- freemen, descending from both. The noble ladies are gion. called "white flesh," and the women of the lowei The Chinese expedition and its consequences made orders "black flesh." Their genealogies, of which their nation known to the west, and a silk trade they are tenacious, are reckoned by the " bones," or commenced. That able general, Pan tchao, after male line, not the'" flesh," or female. The subjects of nearly thirty years of fighting and negotiating, sub- each chief form an ooloos, which is divided into imaks dued all the country south of the Celestial Mountains, of two hundred and fifty to three hundred families pushed the Chinese conquests to the Caspian, and in each, commanded by a nobleman. All the men must A. D. 102, had sent to China, as hostages or state appear on horseback when summoned for military serprisoners, the presumptive heirs of fifty crowns that vice by the chief, who sends back those unfit for war. he had conquered. He even meditated the conquest Lances, sabres, bows, firearms are their weapons; and of the Roman empire, but was discouraged by repre- they wear a coat of mail, formed of rings, of that kind sentations from the Persians of the dangers and diffi- called chain-armor, such as was used in Europe in th' culties of the enterprise. fifteenth century. Their religion is the lamaic, a. This Chinese supremacy was maintained in the account of which will be found in the description o. west till the beginning of the third century, after Thibet. Of all nations they are most under the do which it was confined to tributary embassies. It was minion of their priests, who are not ashamed to descend partially lost in the fifth century, when the empire of to conjuring and jugglery, to increase their power; in the Getoe included Cashgar. It afterwards returned to fact, no affair can be undertaken without them. They China, passed under the Thibetan empire in the seventh levy a handsome tribute, live in luxury, and though century, and under that of the Ouigoors in the ninth; enjoined celibacy, have a right to a singular licenlse in the twelfth century it was shared between the em- in the house of a hostess whenever they travel, which pire of the Kara kitai, the kings of Khotan, and other is not seldom. sovereignties, till, in the thirteenth, all were swallowed The Kalmucks are fond of society, hospitable, and up in the empire of Zingis; after which, Nanloo, or dress like the Poles; the common people are clothed in nost of it, fell, successively, to the Zagatai, Bichbalik, sheep-skins and felt. In summer, the girls go with the] and Ouigoor empires; then, at the end of the fifteenth neck bare down to the girdle; the men shave their century, it was divided into the kingdoms of Cashgar, heads, except a single tuft; the women let the hair Khotan, Hamil, &c. hang loose till tite age of twelve, when they collect it At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Nanloo in braids surrounding the head; when married, they formed the southern half of the Kalmuck Eleut empire, let it hang over the shouldelrs in two divisions. Their though, since 1779, it has acknowledged subjection to dwellings are a circular frame of hulrdles, covered with the Chinese again, who now hold it; and such is the a top of felt, proof against snow and rlan. Hunting, wisdom of their government, that the inhabitants are tending flocks, and buildina tents, are deemed, besides war, the only occupations worthy of a free son of the Mongols, next to the Hottentots, the dirtiest and ugliest desert. Domestic labors fall to the women, who also of our race: it is bounded north-west and north by ilhe pitch and strike the tents, and saddle and bring out the Russian provinces of Tomsk, Yeniseisk, and Irkutsk, horses. As to agricultural labors, the ruggedness of south-west by Peloo and Kansoo; south by Kansoo the climate, and the too general aridity of the soil, Eleut, and Karagol; east.by Saghalien oula, the north thwart the wise efforts of the Chinese to change the ern government of Manchooria. Much of this north Kalmuck nomad - who loves his rude and roving life - ern region is covered with rank and luxuriant pastures; into the quiet and taxable farmer. Their drink is the nomads, split into petty tribes, acknowledge sub.. mare's milk, which, though its alkaline taste is disa- jection to China, who, however, it is said, can neither greeable to Europeans, they pxefer to cow's milk. exact tribute, nor maintain garrisons here, nor prevent Indeed, after standing a while in clean vessels, it ac- these tribes from warring with each other. It requires quires an acid, vinous, and very agreeable taste. By little more of any of these three provinces than abstiallowing it to ferment a little furth-', it is:lade into a nence from aggressive incurqions upon Chinese territory. slightly spirituous liquor, called araka by the Kalmucks, If a war threatens to be serious and extensive, howand kounmis in Tartar, and prevalent throughout Tar- ever, China levies a large force, and compels the belligtary., erents to come to terms. She also pays a small salary Their language is sonorous, harmonious, and poet- to the chiefs, who receive investiture from the emperor, ical. Their affecting romances and epic poems par- and occasionally a wife of the royal family; but are take of the sombre magnificence of parts of their expected to make their visits regularly, with presents, at country. The rocks, torrents, and meteors of Ossianic the, imperial court, that they may be duly watched. poetry figure here with legends and miracles, as wild The general character, religion, and habits of the and absurd as were ever coined in the brain of a Hindoo. Kalkas are similar to those of the Kalmucks, already Their bards recite from memory, surrounded by atten- described. Like the other Mongols, they are rough, tive and enraptured audiences. They have a Mongolic'roaming, warlike; but in domestic intercourse, frank, and an Indian alphabet, the latter used in their magical cheerful, and hospitable. Their main pride is in incantations. the management of their horses, in which they are They call themselves "' Four Brothers," meaning wonderfully dexterous. They prefer their own swift, their four allied nations of Sifans, on the west frontier hardy, and serviceable nags to the larger and heavier >f China, having fifty thousand families; Songars, Turkish horses- high'and raw-boned. They train near Lake Balkash, with thirty thousand; the Torgots, them to stop in their fleetest career, and to face, who, after living on the steppe of Astrakan, in some without flinching, the fiercest beasts of the forest. seventy thousand families, returned in 1770 to their These remarks, indeed, will apply to all the nomadic original country, on the east of'Lake Saisan; and Mongols. lastly, the Derbites. In addition to these nomad The Mongols proper have flat noses, small, oblique tribes, the towns of Kalmookia are inhabited by Bu- eyes, thick lips, short chins, scanty beards, large ears, charians, Chinese, stationary Kalmucks, and a mixed and black hair, which sets off their reddish-brown or people, descended from the ancient denizens of these yellow complexions. More civilized than the Kalregions.'In the end of the seventeenth century, they mucks, from their long residence in China, they are nad made themselves completely the ruling people, and more tractable, hospitable, and addicted to pleasure. masters of all Central Tartary, including, as we have The women are industrious, cheerful, and more proseen, both Cashgar and Khotan. Being attacked, how- lific than the Russians. Their religious books are ever, by the Mongols, their rivals, confederated with written in the language of Tangoot, or Thibet, and the whole force of the Chinese empire, they were every imak — two hundred and fifty or three hundred unable to sustain the unequal contest, which ended in families - has a schoolmaster. The priests enjoy great the'subjection of all to China. The Mongols, though consideration. Polygamy is allowed, but uncommon. sharing this subjection, were preeminent; the Kal- They marry very young, and the women bring to their mucks, not liking to endure this double servitude, re- husbands a portion in cattle or sheep. They light moved into Asiatic Russia. The beneficence of the their fires in the middle of their tents; and in the Chinese sway, however, has enticed them back, so deserts cow-dung is used as fuel. The tents of the that more than a million now occupy their original nobility are hung with silk stuffs in the inside, and the seats. floors covered with Persian carpets. The tents of the' About the Lake Koko nor, the cradle of the Chinese common people are made of a kind of felt. Tin, nation, three thousand years before the Christian era, silver, and porcelain vessels are used in the houses of and along the sources of her two great rivers, are the great. In some places, small temples are erected, found Mongol tribes of the Eleut and Sifan hordes, round which are built modern houses. already alluded to, as included in the province of Koko There are no cities in this wide region. Karako nor; south-west of these is the province of Khor rum, the seat of the Mongol empire, was built of earth katchi, also containing Mongols. Of these obscure and wood; its very site is disputed. The camlp of mountain regions little is known, and we pass to a Oorga, two hundred and twenty miles from tKiachta, survey of Mongolia, across the province of Kansou, has become a town; its temples, the houses of tlhe already described as belonging to China Proper, and priests, and the house of the Chinese viceroy, are tlhe stretching far to the north-west into the heart of Tar- only wooden edifices; the rest are tents. Maimatchil, tary, some miles beyond the Celestial Mountains. opposite Kiachta, is the seat of trade with Russia, and MONGCOLIA. The southern half ofthe Mongolia of our at certain stated seasons presents quite a busy scene, maps is occupied by Kansou, a province of China Prop- and a very interesting one; for here are gathered the,:r; eaat of it is the government of the Eleut Kalmucks; representatives of Russia, Siberia, China, Thibet, and east of that, the country of the Karagol, or Shara cMon- all Tartary, to exchange tea, porcelain, silk, cotton, gols. North of these is the country of the IKalkas rhubarb, tobacco, and fancy articles, for furs, skins, 49 386 MONGOLIA-MANC HOC RIA. coarse cloths, cattle, and glass. Each town is sur- especially in the nicely expressive inflections of its rounded by its separate fortification, in the midst of verbs; in which last respect it rivals the Turkish, and t high plain, with lofty granite peaks, rising on every surpasses the classical languages. side around it. Forts built on the pinnacles of Very different from the immense and naked plains of opposite mountains mark the boundaries of the two Tartary, the surface of Manchooria consists of rugged mighty empires. Maimatchin is crowded with Chinese and broken mountain ranges, covered with thick forests, merchants, who entertain the Russians very hospitably; and separated by fertile valleys, whose recesses are filled but on the tolling of a bell at sunset, every Russian with wild beasts. It presents, therefore, a picture of what must hastily quit the Chinese soil. Europe was in primitive times. Ginseng, the universal The countries of Mongolia nearest the Chinese wall, medicine, grows on the mountain sides. Its shores are have a climate like that of Germany; and their chiefs covered with magnificent forests, whose inhabitants present themselves at the court of China as its humblest are few and secluded, mostly independent fishermen, vassals. At Gehol are seen aspens, elms, hazels, and though, farther inland, wheat is raised in favored spots, walnut trees, and on the mountains, stunted oaks and and oats are extensively cultivated. The very few pines. This place is the summer residence of the towns are inhabited by Chinese chiefly, who are emperor of China, and contains, in the midst of a col- defended by Tartar garrisons. The Amoor abounds lection of huts, a spacious palace, extensive and mag- with the finest fish, especially the sturgeon, in matchnificent gardens, and some pagodas or temples. less perfection. Could it become a Russian river, it The middle of the country, like much of that of would be the avenue of trade to Siberia and Mongolia, Kalmookia, is extensively occupied by deserts. There and, as it became populous and civilized, would be a are meadows along the banks of its rivers, however, valuable commercial neighbor to our Oregon and where the small Mongolian horses wander in large California brethren. The natives are of a mild and droves, and the wild jiggetai comes to take his rapid amiable disposition. To the north of the Amoor, they meal in the pasture. Russian travellers, who have here are chiefly Siberian hunters, who take vast numbers crossed the Desert of Cobi, - said to be two thousand of fur-bearing animals, especially sables. The people miles in length and four hundred broad, - occupied a of Saghalien Island - if it is one - more resemble the month in traversing it, and describe it as covered with Japanese, with whom is their chief intercourse. They short, thin grass, which, however, supports vast herds are mild, peaceable, and generous. of cattle, owing, perhaps, to the saline quality of' the The history of the early races of Manchooria is soil. There are numerous brackish springs and lakes, given in a subsequent chapter, containing the descripthe water of which is so little desirable, that a single tion and history of the Tungouse, apparently the pure spring tasted like champagne. For some twenty aborigines of this country. The Manchoos, who ap. miles beyond the wall, a shifting and sinking sand, cov- pear to be a mixed race, are more robust in figure, ered with beautiful and valuable pebbles, formed itself but have less expressive countenances than the Chiinto waves some twenty feet high, like the similar nese. Before the twelfth century, they subjugated sands of the Afriican and Arabian deserts. the Kitans, to whom they had previously been vassals, When the pastures begin to fail, all the Mongol and who inhabited Ching king; in 1115, they invaded tribes strike their tents; and this takes place ten to the north of China, founding the Kin, or " Golden" fifteen times a year. In summer, their progress is dynasty. Dispossessed by the Mongols, they returned northward, in winter southward. The flocks, men, to their wild mountains, whence they issued afresh in women, and children, form a regular procession, fol- 1640, under the name of Manchoos, to conquer Monlowed by the young women singing cheering songs. golia and all China,- which still yields them an The amusenients of these wandering and happy tribes obedience, mingled with hatred, it is said, and interare horse-races, in which even the young women e.x- rupted by partial rebellions. They may now be eel, archery, wrestling, pantomime, and songs of love deemed the most advanced in civilization of the three adventures, performed by girls to the accompaniment great nations of Central Asia, in consequence of conof violin and flute. nection with China, especially since a late emperor MANCHOORIA remains now to be surveyed. This the ordered the best Chinese books to be translated into Chinese divide into three governments -that of Sagha- the Manchoo. This, the most perfect and learned of lien oula comprehends its northern two thirds, and the the Tartar idioms, is said to resemble the Indo-Ger-,large island of Saghalien, and has a capital of the same manic flmily of tongues, and may be the one destined name, in latitude 50~, upon the Amoor, which is navi- by divine Providence to introduce the best of oui gable for steamboats fifteen hundred miles. On its south European ideas to the hundreds of millions of China Ls Kara gol, a Mongol country, and the government of a glorious enterprise, which might be deemed hopeless Kirin, with a capital of the same name, Kirin oula, in through the clumsy; unplastic, and objective Chinese atout latitude 44~. The other government, or province, language. is Ching king, which has a capital of the same name formerly called Moukden, the summer residence of tormer emperors. This fine province, which has usu- CHAPTER CC111. allly followed the fortunes of China Prope-, which it resembles in careful culture, is bounded on the THE ALANO-GOTHIC OR BLOND RACFES.- The north-east by Kirin, on the north-west by Karagol, on Oosun — Cashgar — Goths - Ancient Kirthe south-west by Petchelee, its gulf, and the Yellow ghis - Alans - Ido- Gernans of Central Sea, and on the south-east by Corea, from which the Asia - Khotan. Yaloo River separates it. The Manchoos, or Mandshurs, are a rather rude AT the Christian era, the lotulation of all the counpeople, tall and robust, with a peculiar language, of tries situated north of the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, excessive smoothness and unrivalled e'opiousness the Oxus, and the Paropamisus Mountains,were com THE BLOND RACES. 3'3 nosed almost entirely of tribes called Indo-Germans, one hundred and twenty thousand families, six hundred Nlan-Goths, or the Blond Races, who spoke lan- and thirty thousand individuals, and one hundred and guages most of whose roots are still found in the eighty-eight thousand eight hundred soldiers. They Sanscrit, the Persian, the Teutonic, Slavic, and other seem to have attained a degree of civilization; their idioms belonging to the same stock. Already, at two great generals were called Daroo. t very remote period, these people had crossed In this country formerly lived' the Sai, of the same the Don, and extended themselves to the north- race. It is a beautiful plain, covered with excellent ern banks of the Danube. They formed several pasture for cattle, the chief wealth of these nomads. nations which it is no longer possible properly to dis- The climate was cold, and rains frequent; their mountinguish, one from another. Tribes of this same race tains were covered with firs andlarches. Their manwere anciently spread as far as the confines of China, ners and customs were similar to those of the Hioong and north to the Altai Mountains; they were dispersed noo; they raised many horses, of which a rich man among the Turkish and Thibetan hordes. The Par- among them would have four or five thousand. It was thians, Bactrians, Sogdians, Kharasmians, Gete, Mas- a hard, wicked people, faithless and inclined to pillage. sageti, Alans, Aorses, Roxolans, Jazyges, and a great This character gave it a great ascendency over its many others, all belonged to this grand stock. neighbors. Chinese history speaks of their princes Some feeble historical indications, a comparison of down to the year 2 B. C. In the fourth century A. D.. languages, ancient traditions concealed in the Hindoo the Sian pi drove them from their country towards the mythology, and even some physiological data as to the west and north-west, a part moved into the region of tribes of East Asia, give rise to the presumption that the upper Jaxartes and Transoxiana, and a part into the centre of this part of the world was occupied, at a the south part of the Kirghis steppe, near the Irtish. very remote epoch, by the ancestors of all the Indo- In 619, they became subject to the Turks, with whom Germanic people. An event whose causes we know they seem to have blended. not, dispersed this race toward the south, toward the Cashgar was also inhabited by a blue-eyed and fair west, and even toward the east and the north. haired nation. It produced grains, rice, red sugma One of these nations, speaking Sanscrit, descended cane peculiar to Central Asia, cotton, silk, iron, copper, ine Himmaleh, spread over the plains of Hindostan, and orpiment. After being tributary to the Hioong whence it chased the Malay and Negro races, or noo, it was subjected to China nearly a hundred years olended with them, and finished its conquests with B. C About A. D. 120, the Yue tchi deposed its king: Oeylon. Another portion, going west, seems to have hiF subjects embraced Buddhism. The king wore followed the Jihon and the Sir, spread itself thence to ori his cap a golden lion, which was changed every'he south-west, in Persia, and on the north-west toward year. When it submitted to the ancient Turks. lie Volga and Don, whence it entered Europe. These Cashgar counted twelve great and some dozens of small migrations appear to have been several times repeated, cities. In the seventh century, it sent tribute to China; *and at epochs quite distant one from another; at least, in 677, was invaded by the Thibetans, and remained this is the best way of explaining the diversity apparent iunder them till near the middle of the tenth century, among the nations and languages called Indo-Gerrnan. when it became again tributary to China. Their eastern migration is evident fromn the exist- The Houte, or Khoute, perhaps a detached tribe of *nce of a blond, or fair-haired people, with blue eyes, Goths, was to the north-east of Sogdiana, and west of — the Oosun - which, in the third century before the the Oosun country. The people were nomadic, had Christian era, dwelt on the confines of China. It may excellent horses, and counted two thousand soldiers. be presumed also, from the great number of Indo- The country abounded in the zibeline martens. They Germanic roots which are met with in the Turkish and were conquered by the Hioong noo, in 177 B. C. In Mongol idioms, and still more in the Tungouse and the first half of the third century A. D., the Chinese IManchoo; which latter is like German. There exist had some political dealings with them. even now, a]lo, among the Manchoos, near the Soon- Another blond or red nation with blue eyes was the gari and the Oosoori tribes, a great number of indi- Ting ling, -" ancients," " elders," - north of' the Oovidulals with blond hair and blue eyes.. sun and Sogdiana, and touching the west shore of Lake As to the northern migration of this same race, we Baikal. Three centuries before the Christian era, they find a people of similar traits dwelling, even down to a were reduced by the Hioong noo; with whom, in 65 very recent epoch, upon the upper Irtish, Obi, and B. C., they began a three years' war. In the latter half Yenisei rivers. These tribes became blended, at a of the second century B. C., a part of the Ting ling, later date, with a Turkish nation, forming the Kirghis, living on the borders of the Obi and Irtish, were conamong whom blue or green eyes and red hair are not quered by the Sian pi, but did not long submit. Since uncommon. A. D. 507, when the Jooi jooi took back from them Th'le Oosun are first noticed in the third century their own country, the Ting ling are often named in 23. C., as commingled with the Yue tchi, on the north- Chinese history. In the course of centuries, they bewestern confines of, China Proper. They differed came insensibly merged in the Kirghis. entirely from their neighbors in personal appearance, The Kian kuen, - called, later, Hakas, and finall, and Chinese writers describe them as having blue eyes, Ki Ii ki szu, the Chinese way of pronouncing the wor]d, a red beard, and much resembling the species of large - or KIirghis, were a tall race, with red hair, white face, ape," from which they descend." When the Yue tchi and the pupil of the eye green. They were found onl were driven from this region, (Kan tcheoo, Sou tcheoo, the upper course of the Yenisei, and east of it, till it and Cha tcheoo,) by the Hioong noo, in 165 B. C., the meets the Angara. As before remalrked, their tribes Oosun followed them to their new residence in Soon- were mingled with those of the Ting ling. Black hair garia, pushed tlhern westward, and took their country. was considered among them as of ill omen; and black Their chief lived in the town of Redvale, on Red or eyes indicated the descendants of Li ling, a Chinese Salt Lake, south of Lake Balkash. They collnted general, from whom their kings originated, who. in 9" 388 THE ALANS. B. C., having joined the Hioong noo, was by them getre, with whom Cyrus, king of Persia, fought, and made king of the Kian kuen. They numbered some were found in his day, 530 B. C., round two thirds hundreds of thousands, out of whom twenty-four:thou- of Lake Aral, to the Caspian. Their country was sand chosen troops could be drawn. two hundred and fifty to three hundred miles north-west Few males, but many females, were born among of Sogdiana, near a "' great marsh, without banks," them. The nation was proud and haughty; the men as the Chinese describe it, probably the Caspian Sea, were very courageous: they tattooed figures upon which once united with Lake Aral, as surmised in the their hands; and the women marked their necks after geographical notices in a previous page. Thlley nummarriage: both sexes wore earrings. Men and bered a hundred thousand archers, and resembled, in women lived undistinguished together, and hence arose manners, customs, and dress, the people of Sogdiana. much libertinism. Their country was full of marshes In the first and second century of our era, the Yan in summer, and covered with snow in winter. The thsai were named A-lan-na': they were then subject to cold continued for a long time, so that the great rivers the Sogdians, and lived in towns. Their climate was froze to one half their depth.@ hot, and not variable: many and lofty pines were As the Chinese say that the Hakas, or ancient Kirghis, found in their country, and the white grass. hlad the same language as the Turks, and also that they In the first half of the third century, the Chinese intermarried with the Turks, it happened, doubtless, call them A lan,.and they then bordered on the Roas in many other cases, that this Indo-Germanic nation man empire upon their west; that is, they had already lost its mother tongue, and adopted/ the Turkish or extended to the Eastern Caucasus. Their country was Eastern Ouigoor. Like all the Turkish race, like rich in domestic animals and martens. The people the Mongols, Manchoos, Japanese, and Thibetans, the were nomadic, lived near a salt and marshy sea, anc l-akas had a cycle of twelve years, and each year had thrown off the yoke of the Sogdians. From 435 bore the name of an animal; thus -rat, ox, tiger, to 480, they were called Sout, and had fiequent relahare, dragon, serpent, horse, sheep, ape, hen, dog, tions with the emperors of Northern China. They swine.t had excellent horses, cattle, sheep, and, with other The Hakas country was of great extent. In A. D. kinds of fruits, a great quantity of raisins, with which 648, having learned that the Hoei he had submitted they made a delicious wine: they harvested crops of a to China, they also sent ambassadors with tribute, and cereal plant, called ta /ho - perhaps the djogan widely the chief himself went and waswell received in China. spread in Central Asia-which grew one Chinese The emperor rated his as a jurisdiction of the first fathom high. The country was divided into several order, created him commandant of the guards on the petty principalities, and counted more than four hunleft, and placed him under a Chinese generalissimo, dred walled towns. Anciently, say the Chinese histogiving him the office of provincial governor. Thus rians, the Hioong noo killed their king and took the the Chinese ranged under their sway most of the country. Formerly the Sout merchants carried on a principalities of Middle'Asia. In 709, the emperor large commerce with Liang, a Chinese kingdom in received presents from the Hakas, remarking that they the west of Chensi, but having committed violent acts, were his relations, alluding to Li ling, before men- they were treated as banditti, and arrested, but re. thoned. In 759, they were entirely defeated by the deemed in 452-465. After 565, the Chinese do not Hoei hoo, and cut off fromn China. They then received mention them. the name Hakas - yellow or red face -from their con- A Greek writer, in the last years of Augustus, the querors. Jn 846, they mastered the Hoei hoo empire, Roman emperor, first of the western writers, menbut not long after the Khotan drove them back into tions the Alains. He calls them powerful, and counts political nullity, and. they are not spoken of again in the number of their horses. They then lived on the history till, under the name of Kirghis, they submitted Sea of Azof and Black Sea, between the Don and the to Zingis Khan.. Dnieper, in the ancient country of the Roxolans and The Alans are called Yan thsai by the Chinese, Jazyges, whom they pushed more to the west. There when they first became acquainted with them, at the was an eastern branch, which remained east of the time they sent a political expedition into the west, Volga and north of the Caspian, much more powerabout 120 B. C. They are the same as the Massa- ful than the others, and enriched by a large com* East of the Hakas were three Turkish hordes, who had of felt, and larger than those of his people. His subjects paid many excellent horses, and lived in birch bark huts. They him taxes in furs of the marten and gray squirrel. Six ranks had sleds, which they pushed with great swiftness on the ice of officers administered his government. They had letters by means of a crooked stick, one shove with which would resembling the I{unic, indicating intercourse between Centra]l send them a hundred paces. They pillaged by night, and Asia and Northern Europe; and sent, in the ninth century, often kidnapped and enslaved the Hakas. for Chinese books and calendars. These facts, and their t Of the Hakas we are told, that they lived on horse flesh luxury, show more civilization than we should expect. and mare's milk, the king alone eating food made of flour and The Hakas offered sacrifices to the genii who preside over rice. Their musical instruments were the transverse flute, rivers and prairies. In funerals they went thrice round the drum, Chinese organ, straight flute, cymbals, and little bells. corpse, howling, and then burnt it: the bones were kept for They amused themselves with combats of animals, and rope- a year, and then buried; and friends went from time to time, dancing. Their rich people were very fond of garments adorned to weep for the dead, upon their graves. Nuptial presents with marten skins. The lower class were clothed in skins, consisted in horses and sheep; sometimes by the hundreds and went bareheaded; the king wore a cap of marten fur in and thousands. Their laws were extremely severe, and death winter, in summer a pointed one of gold filagree; his subjects was the ordinary punishment. If a robber's father was living, wore caps of white felt, and a sabre, with a hone to sharpen the head of his executed son was hung round his neck for it, at their belts; the women clothed themselves in cloth, life. In winter, they covered their huts with bark. Their tilserge, brocade, and other silk tissues, bought of Arab mer- lage furnished millet, wheat, and barley: they ground their chants, who came to Koutsk, east by north of Cashgar, and meal and flour with a hand mill, or a pestle and mortar; and to Ooroomtsi, in latitude 44{~, on the east-north-east. made cakes and spirits. Horses were their chief wealth, and Their chief had his camp in the Blue or Little Altai VI5 un- they had them very large and strong: they hadl also numer-,ains, and it was surrounded with palisades. His tents were ous camels, sheep, fat-tailed sheep, and cattle. olI:GIN OF TILE SELJUKIAN TURKS. 89 merce.* In fact, they stretched, in time, from the Don nothing could resist the imlpetuosity with which the to the Jaxartes. Huns took possession of half Europe. Since this In the second century, the Alans, living in the vast epoch,. history knows no other Alans than those who countries between the Don and the Dnieper, attacked settled in the Caucasus, have ceased to play a con. the Romans in the neighborhood of the Danube, prob- spicuous part in the affairs of nations. ably through the plains of Moldavia, for the other In Central Asia,- the ancient Scythia beyond the roads were shut and well guarded. In the third cen- Imaus the desert has now enlarged its bounds at tury, the Goths began to spread themselves in the the expense of countries where were anciently popuAlan country: being of the same stock, they allied lous cities and a happy people; where once were themselves with the Alans, and accompanied them on plains smiling with a rich harvest, nothing now is seen their warlike expeditions. After the fall of the Gothic but the hunter chasing the wild camel over the sands empire, a part of the Alans made common cause with of the wilderness. The first inhabitants of Central the Vandals, and followed them, in their western mi- Asia known to history were of the Indo-Germanic grations, as far as into Spain and Afitica, where, after a stock. The earliest notice of this blond race, in these while, the two people could not be distinguished. regions, is at Khotan. In this secluded country, the Meanwhile the great mass of the Alans retired to the Sanscrit, or a cognate language, was spoken previous east of the Don, where it was increased by the union to the Christian era: so that here appears to have with it of several nations, whose names disappear in been a Hindoo colony. The Buddhist religion even the sequel. Thus reenforced, the Alans had their fly- then flourished here, and probably spread hence among ing encampments in the country between the Caspian the nomads of Asia. Sea and the Sea of Azof, and as far as the Bosphorus, The environs of Khotan were covered with convents, and, like their ancestors, the Massagetie, commenced where the Buddhists of the East went to search the sacred invading the northern provinces of the Persian empire. books and traditions of their creed, long before this The first mention of the Asiatic Alans is under Ves- religion penetrated into Thibet. It was principally by pasian; they then came firom Hyrcania, and entered Cashmere that the inhabitants of Khotan kept up theii Media, by the Caspian gates. Under Tiberius, they are intercourse with India; they had imitated the letters, itnown as inhabitants of Eastern Caucasus: thence laws, and literature of this country. This imitation had they ceased not to make their forays into Persia, whose polished them at a very early date, and had modified nonarch asked Vespasian's help against them. their manners and language, which diffeired from that Under Hadrian they devastated the Roman prov- of their neighbors. They honored Buddha to such,nces, and the prefect of Cappadocia wrote a memoir a degree, and were so attached to his law, that they o)n the tactics to be observed against the Alans. Al- had more than a hundred convents, in which lived 6ania is named from them, and the Albanians are the more than five thousand monks: all were devoted tc aine people, and their name is the same; to Albania the study of their law and their mysteries. alone can be applied what the Chinese- say of their The first relations that the Chinese had with Khotan. grains, wines, the fertility of their country, and its were at the end of the second century B. C. The numerous walled towns. The Ossetes of Caucasus, king of the country then resided in the western city. A. D. 948, are the same people, and the Arab writers this numbered twenty-three hundred houses, and ninecall the Caucasian pass of Dairan, "the Alan gate." teen thousand three hundred people, and but twentyThe Alans were the first nation exposed to the fury four hundred select troops. The r was a prime min. of the Hunnic invasion, towards the end of the fourth ister, a general of the right wing, and one of the left, century: they were defeated, but soon joined their two captains of cavalry, a commardant of the western, invaders with good will, and the two nations turned and one of the eastern city. Khotau has always been their arms against the Goths, who succumbed. Then celebrated for the great quantity of Oriental jade which * In the latter half of the fourth century, th4e historian, they go, they regard the wagon as the house in which they Ammianns Marcellinus, tells us that the Sauromates dwelt be- were born, their birthplace. On a march, they cause their tween the Danube and Don, beyond which are the Alains - a larger animals and sheep to precede the wagons; but they name gradually adopted from their conquerors by many of the pay the most particular attention to their horses, for they conquered tribes. Among them are the Neures, inhabiting the prefer these before every thing. With them the country is middle of the land, and crowded by the ice of the north; next always verdant, and sprinkled with groves and fruit trees; the Vidimes and warlike Gelons, savages - clothing them- so that they have no need to carry forage and provisions: selves and caparisoning their horses with skins flayed from this is caused by the humidity of the soil, and the great their enemies; then the Agathyrses, who paint the body and number of rivers which water it. hair blue, with smaller or larger spots, according to their class; All are under military discipline, and are good soldiers. next the Melanchlenes and Anthropophagi, who live on hu- Almost all are handsome and tall. They have hair rather man flesh, and hence all their neighbors keep at a distance. blond; their eyes, though terrible, have sweetness. Being On the other side, eastwardly, are the Alains, who spread lightly armed, they march rapidly: They are like the Hulls, among numerous Asiatic nations, even to the Ganges. In but less rude and better clothed. They enact their robberies fact, these nomadic nations overran a vast space. In the on the Black Sea, as well as onl the confines of Armenia and course of time, all these people have received the name of Media. Alies, or Alans, beause they are similar in manners, ferocity, The perils of war have as great a charm for the Alans, and mode of warfare. as repose for men of a tranquil character. He who dies in Describing them further, he says, they have neither battle is deemed happy; he who dies by age or accident is houses nor the use of the plough. They live on flesh and despised and insulted. A man slain in battle is their mosi many kinds of food made of milk. They are continually glorious object of veneration. They ketep as trophies the seated on wagons covered with mats made of bark. When scalps of their enemies, and mnake of their skinls hlarness fOT they arrive where there is grass, they halt, and arrange their their horses. They have neither temples nor holy places, but wagons in a circle; they then take their repast like wild fix a naked sword in the ground, and worship it. Tl:ey beasts. They roll about these wagons like movable cities,for predict the future by wvillow rods. Anciently. they knew they contain alltheir possessions; itisinthese that both men no servitude: all were deemed of noble blood. They and women dwell; their children are born, nursed, and bred elect for judges those who have made themselves famous up in them,:or they are their perpetual abode; and wherever i ill war. [ 390 THE HUNS AND FINNS. its rivers roll down. This stone still makes the chief eclipse his predecessor in the description of the dreaded object of the commerce of this country, for it is very and hated race. much sought after, being highly valued by the Chinese Their mode of life was like that of most savages. and the neighboring people. They ate nothing cooked, and were acquainted with In A. D. 73, when Pantchao was named by China no kind of seasoning. They lived on raw roots, ol as generalissimo and commandant of the western the flesh of animals a little deadened by being placed confederated countries, the king of Khotan submitted between the saddle and the back of the horse. They himself. There were at that time eighty-three thousand never handled the plough: the prisoners they took in inhabitants in the capital, and thirty thousand soldiers. war cultivated their lands, and took care of their flocks Some time before this, the prince of Yarkand, becoming Before their arrival in Europe, they had never inhabpowerful, had subjugated Khotan; but the immediate ited either houses or cabins: every walled enclosure predecessor of the prince of Khotan, who became a vas- appeared to them a sepulchre; they did not think sal of China, revolted, and this latter himself destroyed themselves safe under a roof. the power of the prince of Yarkand, and gave back to Accustomed from infancy to suffer cold, hunger, and his country its ancient splendor. Thirteen states to the thirst, they frequently changed their abode, or rather north-west, as far as Cashgar, recognized his authority. had none, but wandered in the mountains and the Aboult the same time, the king of the environs of Lake forests, followed by their numerous herds, and transLop began to be powerful. Ever since, these two porting with them all their family in wagons drawn states have been the keys of the southern route which by oxen. Shut up in these, their women occupied conducts from the Beloor Mountains to China. themselves in spinning or sewing garments for their Since this time, also, the princes of Khotan and the husbands, and in nursing their infants. other states of Central Asia have always obeyed the They dressed themselves in marten skins, which Chinese, the Turkish nations, the Thibetans, or what- they permitted to decay upon their bodies, without evei ever people was dominant in those vast regions be- taking them off. They wore a cap, buckskin gaiters'ween the Himmaleh and Altai Mountains. Buddhism and a shoe so shapeless and clumsy that it hindered was the prevailing religion, till the Hoei hoo Turks them from walking, and was unfit for fighting on foot conquered the country, and introduced Islamism. It They scarcely ever quitted their horses, which were appears, nevertheless, that the worship of Buddha, small and hideous, but agile and indefatigable. The) preserved itself for a long time after, and did not cease passed days and nights upon these animals, sometimes, entirely, except under the successor of Zingis Khan in mounted astride, sometimes sideways: they dismountTurkestan. ed neither to eat nor drink; and, when overtaken by sleep, dropping upon the neck of the animal, they slept there profoundly. The national council was held on horseback. They C II A P T E R C C I V. threw themselves upon the enemy, uttering friightful The EHinnic and Finnic Races. cries; if they found too much resistance, they dispersed immediately, and returned with the quickness THa history of the Huns and Finns does not properly of thought, piercing through and overthrowing every belong to the annals of Tartary, except as they were thing on their passage. Their arrows were armed pushed westward by Tartar tribes, who occupied their with pointed bones, as hard and as murderous as, place. We shall therefore dismiss them with but a steel; they shot them, with as much adroitness as slight notice here, referring the reader to the history force, at full speed, and even in flying. For hand to of Hungary for fahrther details. hand fighting, they held in one hand a cimeter, and in Next west of the Mongols, or Tartars, a Siberian the other a net, in which they endeavored to entangle tribe, dwelling about Lake Baikal, as already noticed, the enemy. One of their families had the exclusive came the Samoiede races. These were driven north, privilege of first striking the foe. Their women or occupied, with the Ting ling, as ancestors of the feared neither wounds nor death; and often, after a Kirghis, the upper course of the Yenisei. West of defeat, women might be found among the dead and these Samoiedes and ancient Kirghis, were the Orien- wounded. The barbarism of these people was so tal Finns, or Huns. They occupied the steppe of deeply rooted, that, for nearly a hundred years after ischim, the Irtish and its tributaries, the southern por- their arrival in Europe, they had no idea of the art of tion of the Ural Mountains, and the Ural River, com- writing, and sent only verbal propositions to the princes ing down to the Caspian. This was in the sixth cen- with whom they treated.'ury B. C. Immediately to the south were the Massa- But, the Hioong noo being dispossessed on the east, getre, or Alans. - as is related more fiully in a subsequent chapter- a This strange race, the Huns, is described with all portion of them crowded upon the Huns, and, in the the exaggerated coloring of fear and disgust by those second century, took their place,* forcing the HiMns who were contemporary with its first irruptions into over the Ural, into Europe, and upon the Alans- who Europe; and it is the less to be wondered at, as the however, after crowding them to the north, along tle? barbarians they had hitherto seen were of the Indo- Germanic race, rese~mbIing the Europeans. * This fact, indistinctly known, has probably induced many, misled by a fancied resemblance in the n~ames Hioo)t.: The Huns had small eyes, flat noses, big heads,a nd many isled by a fancied emblance in the hames ftou b. r 1 noo and Himens, to suppose that the Hioong noo are the terrible a yellowv or very brown complexion. The mothers had people, who, under the name of Iues, devastated Europe. the habit of flattening their chlildrens' noses as soon as But the names are of different meaning, and there was little hey were born, and gashing their cheeks. Therese resblance in the features or habits of the two races; the natural and artificial elements of ugliness were exag- Hioong noo being Turks, as is shown in the histori of zh.rated T) * it th ms Turkish race, given in a subsequent chapter. Possibly some erfated by Eluropean writers into the most hideous of them might have minglel with the Huns, andl this would n:,itllres of deformity -- each author endeavoring to partially reconcile the two views. rHE TUNGOUSE-Y-LIU-MOO-KY. 391 Ulpper Volga, mingled with them. The united nations hoo wood, and arrow-heads of hard stone. For a spread the Hunnic, or Avar, empire, in the early part thousand years this intercourse was uninterrupted: (of the fifth century of our era, as far as the Danube then their name had changed to Y-liu, under which on the west, and Lake Aral on the east. The Finns name they sent to the emperors of Northern China, are now found toward Finland. Part of the Lower about A. D. 263, a tribute consisting of arrows, stone Volgt, and a line drawn south by west from its west- arrow-heads, bows, cuirasses, and inarten skins. The ernmost bend, separated the Avar empire from that country is very cold, and so mountainous that one of the Thoukhiu, or ancient Turks, in A. D. 565. cannot ride there either on horseback or in carriages. In 679, the Khazar empire, of Finnic or IHunnish Thley sowed the five sorts of grain, raised cattle and origin, beginning with an obscure tribe just north of horses, and made their garments of hempen cloth. Caucasus, in the latter half of the second century, The red yet stones and zibeline marten skins were spread itself west to the Bog, north to the Finns, and found among them. east to Lake Aral, where it was coterminous with the These Y-liu had neither princes nor chiefs: their Chinese and Arabian empires. In 745, it was bounded villages, situated in forests and on mountains, were on the east by the Volga; and, in 1000 A. D., nearly governed by elders. They lived in subterranean all of this was occupied by the grand duchy of Russia. caverns; those of the rich were deeper than others. Mingled with other tribes, the Huns originated the They fed many swine. and ate them for food; the modern Hungarians, to whose country they gave name. skin served them for clothing. In winter, they greased WVe perceive, then, that the countries about the Ural themselves with the fat of animals, the better to endure are the gate by which the nomads of Middle Asia the cold; in sumnimer, they went naked, except a piece have made their irruptions into Europe. Their enter- of cloth round the middle. Their smell was offensive, prises were more or less considerable or fortunate. for they never waslied, and lived in the greatest filth. Oftentimes tribes came from the east, stopped on the They had no writing; their word was their bond. road for one or mnore centuries, and did not quit, for They used baskets for seats. They trampled on their generations, the lands which afforded them fat pastur- neat with their feet before eating it; if it was frozen, age and abundance of animals of chase. Thus these they sat upon it to thaw it. Neither salt nor iron were Asiatic wanderers, settling awhile in the fertile plains found in their country; for salt they used leached of the Ural, blended themselves with the Finnish tribes ashes. They all dressed the hair in tresses: he who they found there, who probably extended as far south as wished to contract marriage adorned the head of the the Black Sea. These mixtures produced new languages female who pleased him with birds' feathers, and paid and new nations, which remained in the country they the dowry. Young people, strong and robust, were had adopted, or, pushed by other people coming from alone esteemed among this people, who despised the the east, advanced towards Europe. Here we have, aged. in a few words, the history of the great migration of The dead were interred in the fields on the day of nations, which began to be felt, for the first time, by their death; they were placed in a little bier made of the civilized states of Europe in the passage of the boards: a hog was killed and placed on the grave, as Huns, in A. D. 376. These latter, passing the Sea of food for the deceased. They were of a wicked and Azof and the Don, fell upon the nations of Indo-Ger- cruel character, and had no compassion on their fellowmanic origin, who occupied the country situated to men. At the death of a father or mother, the children the north of the Black Sea as far as the Danube. did not weep, regarding tears as a sign of cowardly These fugitives, thrown one upon another, spread weakness. Thieves were killed, whether the value themselves over the provinces of the Roman empire, of the article stolen were more or less. changed its face, and from the chaos thus induced Their weapons were the bow and arrow, and theii has gradually sprung, in all its still developing propor- armor, cuirasses made of skins and covered with tions, the fair structure of European civilization. bones. They were good archers, and used very strong bows, four feet long. Their arrows, twenty inches long, were armed with poisoned heads, made CHI-IAPTE R C CV of a very hard green stone. These rendered them CC HAP1~ T ERt C C V. formidable to their neighbors. But they never made 1100 B. C. to A. D. 1234. conquests, and remained in peaceable possession of their own country. The Tungouse Race - Y-liut - Moo-ky - their own coutry. More to the west dwelt, A. D. 500, another Khitans -Ju-tclhin Kin, or Altoun Khan - Tungouse tribe, the Moo-ky, on the Soongari River. Chy-goei. Each village had its chief, but they were not united in THE Tungouse, or, as the Chinese call them, Toong- one nation. They were brave and warlike, and the tboo, that is, " eastern barbarians," although they most powerful among the " eastern barbarians." aave so long led a wandering life, without forming Their dialect differed from that of their neighbors, either great states or powerful empires, have never whom they constantly harassed, and inspired with passed, on the west, the chain of the Khinggan Moun- extreme fear. They lived on mountains, and along tains, under the meridian of 120~. From these moun- streams. Their country was poor and damp: they, tains their original seat extended to the Sea of Japan, surrounded their dwellings with little mounds of mnd occupied the country now called ]lanchooria, beaten earth, and lived in subterranean excavations, watered by the Amoor River and its branches. to which they descended by a ladder. They had Eleven hundred years before the Christian era, the neither cattle nor sheep, but they raised hlorses; they southern nart of this country was known to the Chi- cultivated wheat, some other grains, and pulse. The nese, and called by its present name, Su-chin, or, as water of their country was saltish, and the salt showed the Mongols and Manchoos pronounce it, Dzurtchit. itself in efflorescence, even on the bark of the trees. Irts Inhabilants brought to China arrows made of the they had also salt lakes. 392 THE KI(I-TAN, JU-TCHIN, AND CHY-GOEI TRIBES This people had many swine; they made spirit of two centuries, and their kingdom was overthrown by grain, and loved to in;toxicate themselves with it. At their rebellious subjects, the Ju-tchin. marriage, the bride had cloth garments, and the bride- The manners and customs of the Ju-tchin resemgroom a dress of swine-skin, and a tiger's or leop- bled those of their ancestors of the same name, the ard's tail tied to his head. The Moo-ky were excel- Su-chin. They were brave and expert archers. lent archers, and great hunters; they compounded the Knowing how to counterfeit the cry of the deer, they poison for their arrows in the seventh or eighth month; collected them thus into one place, to kill them more it was so active that its vapor, during preparation, easily; they fed on their flesh, and made an intoxiwould kill. When their relatives died in spring, they eating beverage of hind's milk. They had many beasts buried them on heights, and built a little house over of chase in their territory, which was on the east of the' the grave, to preserve it from rain and moisture; as to Soongari River - wild boars, wild oxen, asses, and those who died in autumn or winter, they used the excellent horses. They rode oxen and mules. During corpses to allure martens, and thus caught many. rain, they wrapped themselves in raw hides. TheiI In the commencement of the seventh century, the little houses were covered with birch bark. Chinese emperor united the seven hordes of this The Ju-tchin were governed by difierent chiefs; one people; and at the end of the same century we find of them, a native of Corea, became rich and power them founding a powerful kingdom, which compre- ful; his successors contributed to polish their subjects hended:part of Corea, and was civilized, having the and to unite them in one nation. One of them, find-. use of letters, and a regular form of government. ing himself at the head of all their hordes, revolted This kingdom ended in 925, when. it fell under the against the Khi-tan, or Liao, to whom he wvas subject, power of the K/ti-tan, another Tungouse tribe. These beat them inseveral battles, took from them a large latter had been driven from their own country by the extent of country, and in 1115 was proclaimed eraChinese, but returned, and frequently invaded China, peror. He gave the name of Kin - that is, Golden — but were sometimes tributary to it. In 553, they in- to his dynasty. The Chinese employed them to destroy vaded it, and a hundred thousand of them were made the Liao, whom they overcame; and being thus introprisoners, and as many cattle taken from them. After duced into the country, they were loath to quit it, and, this, they became subject to the Turks, except ten in fact, took possession of the whole north of China, as thousand families, who retired into Corea. far as the Hoang-ho, driving the emperor to the south. Passing through similar and various fortunes, now The Chinese have frequently, by their imprudence, thus revolting from the Chinese, now subject to the Turks, invited in strangers, and given themselves mas-,the Khi-tan were civilized by their rulers, who estab- ters. The Ju-tchin thus became masters of the e astlished magistrates, and introduced notched sticks for ern part of Asia, from the Amoor, Tula, and Orkwriting; they also gradually learned how to fatten hon to the Hoang-ho,- holding, also, the province cattle, thus enriching themselves, and acquired the art of Honan, south of the last named river, and several of forging iron and casting metals. They extended cities beside. It was not till 1119 that they had writtheir frontiers, built cities, and fortified them with ram- ten characters, at which time they adopted those of parts and palisades. They devoted themselves also to the Khi-tan; what these were is not known. Thi, the culture of silk and hemp, and to weaving. Kin dynasty, called Altoutn Khtan, by Arabic write rs The Khi-tan attained an extensive empire; and a lasted till A. D. 1234, when it was destroyed by legend is told of the founder of it, which resembles Zingis Khan. those frequently told, in Asiatic story, of great men, The last branch of the Tungouse race, known to and reminding us also of the Roman tale about Ser- the Chinese, fiom whom alone we have these accounts, vius Tullius. The founder of the famous Khi-tan is that which they named Chy-goei. It consisted of dynasty of Liao was A-pao-khi. His mother, the several hordes, who had no common bond, and no king's wife, dreamed that a sun fell into her bosom; princes. A feeble and poor people, it had beetl suband when A-pao-khi was born, the house appeared ject to the Turks, and was of the same origin as the surrounded with a divine light, and was perfumed with Khi-tan; the most southerly lived at some distance an exquisite odor. At his birth, he was of the size of north of them, and in the neighborhood of the banks an infant three years old, and was able to creep. His of the Non. Their country was scantily fertile,- very mother, wondering at these prodigies, secreted him, moist, and clothed with grass and forests, which and brought hibn up very carefully. At the end of harbored beasts of the chase. It was desolated by three months, he stood alone; at the age of one year clouds of gnats. The inhabitants lived in subterranean he could talk, and predicted the future. He pretended excavations. to be surrounded with supernatural beings, who served Dressed like the Khi-tan, the Chy-goei, like therm, him as guards. shaved the head. Like the Turks, they had felt tents, Being created viceroy, with power to make war and on wagons. They crossed rivers on rafts and skin peace, after subjecting the neighboring hordes, he boats. They tackled oxen to their carts, and made made incursions into China, and succeeded (A. D. 907) themselves cabins covered with coarse mats. Instead +o his benefactor, who willed him the imperial dignity. of felt, they put a bundle of grass under the saddle With astonishing rapidity, he extended his conquests of their horses: cords served them for bridles. They to the sea-shore on the east, Cashgalr on the west, slept on hog-skins. Little bits of wood, arranged in a and Lake Baikal on the north -while, on the south, certain order, reminded them of things they wished the north-east part of China was included under his to remember. Their climate was very cold. They had sway, as well as a great part of Corea. He held no sheep, and but few horses; but swine and cattle his court at Pe-kin, and, proud of his conquests, took were common. They intoxicated themselve wltrl a tne name of Houang-ti, that is, August Enmperor. His kind of spirit which they knew how to make. Marsuccessors became so powerful, that they, in a man- riages were contracted by the bride paying a dowry qer, disposed of the throne,of China. They reigned to the family of the bridegroom. Widows could not TRHE TURKISH RACE. 39 marry again. Mourning was worn three months for solitudes, perished wretchedly. The warrior who the rich. Having no iron in their -country, they ob- could carry off the body of his comrade slain by his tained it of the Coreans. side in battle, became his heir, and obtained possession The southern Chy-goei numbered twenty-five hordes. of all his property. These people were very desirous Ten days north of them, the northern Chy-goei formed of prisoners, and made the most of the captives they nine hordes: they lived eastwardly from Lake Baikal, in could take, who, in fact, composed their chief wealth: an excessively cold country, where much snow falls, they employed them in guarding their studs of horses and were obliged to use sledges. In winter, they retired and herds of cattle. They were rude and gross, to the caves'of the mountains: they lived by fishing, showing no respect to parents or superiors. Many of and made their garments of the skins of fish. Zibelines their traits, in fact, remind us of a similar if not a and other kinds of martens abounded among them; cognate nation, described by the prophet Habakkuk, in they wore caps of badger and fox skins. From the 600 B. C. nine hordes named above, descended the Tungouse They fed on the flesh of their cattle, whose skins tribes that at present inhabit Eastern Siberia; they are served them for.dresses and banners; the young peosubject to Russia. ple ate the best morsels, and the old were obliged to content themselves with what was left them; for, like all barbarians, the ancient Turks valued none but C H A P T E R C C V I. vigorous men, and despised those whose forces were' 2200 B. C. to A. D. 460. diminished by age. After the death of the father, the sons often espoused the wives he left; and in case of The Ancient Turkish Race, or Hioong noo. a brother's death, the survivors married his wives. THE Turkish race was called Hioong noo in ancient The name of an individual did not pass to his descendtimes, and differs from the Mongols, Kalmucks, and ants: thus the use of family names was unknown other Tartars, in having a whiter complexion, European among them. The domestic animals, next to captives features, a taller stature, and a more commanding air. their chief riches, were cattle, sheep, horses, camels. We propose to treat here of the earlier history of this asses, several different species of mules, and also wild renowned people, and its transactions in Tartary: the horses and asses.* history of that more modern branch of it which settled Northern China has been, from the earliest antiquity. in Turkey, has already been given. exposed to the incursions of people of this race; arind Of all the nations of the interior of Asia, the Turk- these raids or forays were frequent in proportion to the sh is the most numerous. Next to the Indo-Germanic feebleness of the emperors. Previous to 1200 B. C.. race - treated of in a previous chapter —it is tlie widest their power was not very formidable, as they were not spread of the old world. At the present day, its united under one chief, and it was balanced by the dwellings are scattered from the Adriatic Sea, in Eu- Tungouse on the east, and the Yue tchi on the west. rope, to the mouth of the Lena, on the Arctic Ocean. But at a Jut that period, a prince of the imperial family It appears that, after' the Deluge, its ancestors de- of China, having retired among them, founded an emscended from the snowy mountains of Tangnou and pire; which, however, did not become powerful till the Great Altai, whence they soon dispersed themselves 200 B. C. At about this time, they overcame the to the north-east and south-west, settling chiefly to the Sian-pi and Oo-hooan, noticed hereafter, extended north of. the Chan-si and Chen-si provinces of China, their power far to the west, and ravaged the northern near Mount Inchan. provinces of China. The Chinese, in 214, had united These barbarians lived chiefly on the produce of various walls of petty kingdoms into the present contheir herds, and led a wandering life, following the tinuous great wall, to repel these barbarians. In 200 courses of the rivers, in quest of pasturage. Some B. C., the founder of the Han dynasty marched against tribes, addicted to agriculture, had more fixed set- them with a numerous army; but, being surrounded, he tlements, and lands whose limits were established. was obliged to employ a stratagem, and sent a beautirhey were ignorant of the art of writing; their word ful gilM to the chief of the H')ong noo, as they were was a sure guaranty of their contracts. From the then called, who persuaded him to make peace. After most tender age, their children were exercised for devastating Chan-si, they' went back to their own land, hunting and war. They were made to ride on sheep, laden with immense booty, and the Chinese emperor and taught to shoot at birds and mice with little arrows. returned to his capital. As they grew taller, they hunted foxes and hares, Notwithstanding the treaty, however, the Hioong whose flesh they ate. At a later age, when able to * The general name for the nomads of South Monglolia, manage stronger bows, they received a cuirass and a among the Chinese, was Ti, which means great wild stag saddle-horse: war then became their chief business. and is supposed to allude to the use of the reindeer; others Their arms were the bow, arrows, the sword, and say it means dog race. Another name, used by the Chinese! the lance. When successful, these people advanced; as early as 2200 B. C., to designate the Turks, is Chanthe flance. When successful the, these people ad va 1ced;joung, "'barbarian mountaineers;" it was afterwards extendif; fortune i'd not favor them, they sounded a retreat, ed to certain Thibetan tribes. Under the first Chinese i ot regard rg flight as having any thing shameful in it. dynasty, the Turks were called Hiun-yu; under the third, On this ac )unt, they were but the more formidable; about 10.00 B. C., it was Hian-yu; finally, under the Thsin for ordinf:r ly they returned briskly to the charge, and Han dynasties, they were called Iiooeg-noo; this t ttacking,ith new vigor and spirit. The agility of means "detestable slaves," and seems to be an intentional *ittacking i-, > itb new -vigor and spirit. The agility ofcorruption of the primitive name, to express the usual horror,heir horseLA was of great advantage in this mode of of settled agriculturists to wandering nomads -a dislike well conbat, and regular troops found it very difficult to earned, since such restless, plundering borderers have always resist them. Often the innumerable swarms of their been, and are, their greatest bane. As early as the patriarch horsemen, pursued too closely dispersed themselves in Joseph's time, we find nomadic shepherds were "an abominathe., lk e dt drie. te w. d t. tion" to the well-ordered and industrious communities of the. the deserts, like the dcust driven b the wind; and their Egyptians. This Chinese name has nothing to do with the I enemlies, enticed and led forward into these firightful Huns, as has been shown. 50 '394 THE HIOONG NOO. noo, naturally restless and greedy of pillage, returned condition of the vast territories of the Hioong noo, and! the next year, and violated the Chinese territory. The that of the countries whence they drew their principal emperor dissembled; the hostile chief, Me-the, became forces, and'especially their wealth and arms, resolved daily more powerful; the Chinese minister, who knew to take these possessions from them. The success of his wickedness and bad faith, despaired of gaining him their first expedition, 101 B. C., against the Ta-ooan by reason or binding him by treaties. One of his kingdom, was not brilliant; but in the second, they counsellors, therefore, advised him to induce Me-the besieged the capital, caused its king to be given up. to take a daughter of the emperor to wife, suggesting cut off his head, and put another kling in his place that if he had by her a son who should inherit his These victories contributed very much to confirm the throne, his mother would inspire him with sentiments other kings in their obedience, and obliged those who favorable to the Chinese, and the nation might become' had not hitherto submitted to declare themselves vascivilized. It was hoped also that the ties of relation- sals of China. The emperor even gave his daughter in ship would bind him to the emperor. Kao-hooang-ti, marriage to the king of the Oo-sun, a nation noticed in the emperor, adopted this sagacious advice, and his a previous chapter, to draw closer the bonds of alliance. daughter was the first Chinese princess who was thus, He now established in the centre of Asia, near the for political reasons, married to a foreign potentate. present Khamil, or Hami, in about 44~ of latitude and In after times, the precedent has often been followed, 940 of longitude, the seat of a military governmert. and it is the present mode of curbing the Tartar sub- The generalissimo, who resided here, had under his jects of China. But as the infantas of China found surveillance thirty-six kingdoms, whose monarchs had themselves very unhappily situated in barbarous coun- received investiture at the hands of the Chinese em tries, far from fashionable life and the amusements of peror, with the seal which marked the fact and' the a court, among rude nomads who obeyed the sceptre dignity. This federal system, established to the detriof their husbands, girls of the palace were often substi- ment of the Hioong noo, had all the success anticipated tuted instead of the real daughters of the emperor. from it; it contributed in a powerful degree to overThe alliance thus concluded between the two sover- throw their dominion: nevertheless the bravery of eigns, Kao-hooang-ti and Me-the, had, in fact, very this people sustained the nation yet a long time, and it happy effects for China; the incursions of the Turks was often fortunate in its wars with the Chinese, though became l3ss frequent, and the peace of the frontiers it knew not how to avail itself of its successes. was rarely disturbed. To protect the northern prov- We have dwelt the longer on the above particulars inces from the insults of these barbarians,- the Chinese because they give us the simple elements of Chinese had established in them military colonies, which were and Tartar history - the key to much of Asiatic story, strong enough to resist the first shock. and many centuries of changes. The reader will nol After the emperor's death, the invasions re-com- fail to be reminded by some of the circumstances of nlenced, and the peace of the frontiers was often the intercourse between the civilized Pharaohs and the broken, till, in 141 B. C., the emperor Hiao-woo-ti, nomad patriarchs, at the other extreme of Asia- a hiswith the design of avenging repeated insults, and de- tory familiar to our childhood; of Mehemet Ali and stroying the power of the enemy, or at least so weak- the Arabs, in our own times. To avoid monotony, our ening it as to render it harmless to China, combated subsequent narrative of the Hioong noo must be more them so vigorously, that he drove them six hundred briefly sketched. miles or more from his northern boundary; and further, In the year 72 B. C., the king of the Go-sun implored in order to form a connection with the tribes west of the help of the emperor against a tribe of the Hioong the Hioong noo, their natural enemies, he took posses- noo, who had seized a part of his estates. An army of sion of the region to the west of Chen-si. He divided sixty thousand men was sent to his relief. Corthe district into four parts, and built cities in it as well manded by five generals, it entered the hostile territory, as in his northern conquests, garrisoned them with a at five different points at once. On their side, the formidable army, and established Chinese colonies, Oo-sun attacked the enemy, who were every whereI designed to civilize the barbarous inhabitants in their beaten and overthrown. Their chief, however, makvicinity.* ing one more effort, armed a body of ten thousand To accomplish his purposes the sooner, he sent one cavalry, with which he entered the territory of the of his counsellors into the west, to contract an alliance Oo-sun; but, when he wished to return, there fell- so with the Yue tchi, a people hereafter noticed - and other great a body of snow, that almost all his men and his nations disposed to sustain a war against the common herds perished with cold and starvation. At the same enemy. Although this embassy, which took place 126 time, the Tingling, a people north of the Oo-sun, in B. C., did not attain all the ends proposed, it yet con- Southern Siberia, profiting by the weakness of the tributed a great deal to render the interior of Asia Hioong noo, attacked them from the north, while the -more familiar to the Chinese, and made way for the Go-sun became their assailants on the west, the Ooestablishment of the power which they exercised, at a hooan on the east, and the Chinese on the south. The later date, in the countries situated north of Thibet, Hioong noo lost, on this occasion, multitt;,'.s of their - and beyond the Jaxartes, or Sihon. people, and vast numbers of their cattl and othery The Chinese, thus becoming acquainted with the animals. This terrible disaster was followed by a rent more These oroceedings strongly remind us of the similar' tality, which obliged the people to disperse - rmselves; policy, a century and a half sooner, of the Grecian conqueror, multitudes who escaped these two scourg: o perished " Alexander, in establishing military olonies, with commercial by a cruel famtnine. So many woes considerably en- | cities, throughout Northern and Eastern Persia, Bactria, &c.,feebled the empire of the Hioong noo] The neigh- I to effect the same purposes for his own empire against the kingdoms seized the moment to thro off their similar rovers of Western Asia. Egyptian conquerors had boring n msee thomt o o the done the same, long before, both in Asia andAfirica; and yoke. They themselves thought only of peace, the' Rtussia is doing it now. Imore necessary as there were several disputants. foxl.i rivvvu~~s~,j ~.~u ~11~1~ ~I~L~ O~VkLCI Ul~rL~LCILLVIIVJ ~I j[,, CONQUESTS OF TlE CHINESE. 395 the succession to the throne. Five competitors ap- which thus became divided into two kingdoms, one peared at once; the result was a. very bloody civil southern, the other northern. war, which reduced this wretched people to the ex- The southern kingdom remained on good terms treme of misery. with China, and was charged to repress the incursions These national calamities finally forced one of of the other kingdom, and of the Sian pi. The norththeir chiefs, Hoo han sie, to submit himself to the ern kingdom, although endangered by the discontent Chinese. He sat out on his march, in 52 B. C., to] of many of its tribes, continued to annoy China, which meet the emperor, then at one of his palaces, near saw no other means to defend itself, than to undertake Tchang ngan, or Si ngan foo. Guards and an officer the famous expedition to the west in A. D. 72, rewere sent forward to meet and escort the Turkish counted elsewhere, in the history of Thibet. This monarch. He was received with distinguished honors, struck a terrible blow at the power of the northern and considerable presents were made him; he obtained Hioong noo, vhose king found himself obliged to permission to settle himself, with his subjects, on the solicit the friendship of the emperor, and obtained, in north of the province of Chen-si. The emperor A. D. 84, permission for his subjects to come to traffic, caused him to be conducted back to his dominions, and with the western frontiers of the empire. This aroused gave him auxiliary troops to subdue the rebels who the jealousy of their bitter enemies, the southern disturbed his states. Presently the other chieftains Hioong noo, who fell upon them by surprise, and carfollowed his example, and declared themselves vassals ried off almost all their cattle and animals. The Oo of China. All were well received, and the imperial hooan and Sian pi, the people of Central Asia, and the court was secretly delighted with the discord that Ting ling, attacked them on all sides, obliging them to reigned among its natural enemies. Nevertheless, the retire farther and farther to the north-west. Their chief who had first submitted found means to rid him- king was killed in a bloody battle with the Sian pi, who self of all his competitors; and, after re6stablishing pushed the enemy so vigorously, that fifty-eight hordes peace among his subjects, he revisited China, to pay of them threw themselves on the protection of China, his court to the emperor, who gave him a Chinese imploring to become its vassals. princess in marriage. His successors long kept up a The Chinese dominion having been established in good understanding with China, and hostages answered Little Bucharia, on. the west, in A. D. 89. a Chinese for their fidelity. general defeated the Hioong noo in that quarter, In A. D. 9, Wang mang having usurped the impe- obliging eighty-one of their hordes to declare themLial throne, the Hioong noo, and several other kingdoms selves vassals of China. The following year, he took of Central Asia, - ancient allies of China, — threw the city of Khamil, and obliged the king of the off their allegiance, declaring their independence, or Ouigoors to give him his son as a hostage. After this, joining the Hioong noo. Wang mang, with the de- the Hioong noo no longer dared to appear in arms; sign to deliver his provinces from the incursions of the they demanded peace, and sent an ambassador to renlatter, had collected immense magazines of warlike der homage to the emperor, who sent an officer to the stores. lHe then took the field with an army of three frontier to receive him. Scarcely was he departed, hundred thousand men, and, in A. D: 11, penetrated, when an envoy of the southern Hioong noo arrived at by ten different routes, into the very centre of the court, to demand help against the northern. Regardenemy's country, and advanced as far as the Ting less of good faith, the emperor granted their request;. ling. All the empire of the Hioong noo was subdued, and, joining his troops with the southern Hioong noo, and Wang mang divided it among the fifteen sons and the allied army gained a complete victory over the grandsons of Hoo han sie, of whom one became head northern foe. On learning of this defeat, the emof the nation. per(.r, resolving to follow it up by their complete deThe Hioong noo, however, not long after, cornm- struction, levied a formidable army, which, advancing menced and continued their annoyances, and, united to the sources of the Irtish, entirely dispersed the with the Sian pi and Oo hooan, regained their ancient nation, their king being killed in the rout, A. D. 90, power. In A. D. 46, the empire was anew divided 91, 92. The remnants of the nation, reuniting, into factions. For several years, their country had marched for Sogdiana, but were obliged to stop on the been desolated by great numbers of insects, which north of Khueithsu, or Koutche, where they settled for devoured the pasturage and the crops; a great drought some time, under the name of Yue pan. Later, they finished the destruction of what these creatures left. went to the north-west, and, under the same name, The famine which ensued was but a prelude to all the inhabited both sides of the mountains which bound the misfortunes about to befall this people. The Hioong steppe of Ischim on the south. In 448, they sent an noo, heretofore so haughty, fearing the Chinese would embassy to the Goei, to invite them to attack the attack them, now begged for peace. The Sian pi and Jouan Jouan on the east, while they themselves atOo hooan, their ancient subjects, fell upon them, and tacked them on the west. After this, the Yue pan drove them farther north, making them abandon to are lost to history, becoming mingled, probably, with their conquerors all they possessed to the south of the other Turkish people. Desert of Cobi. One of two competitors for the throne Some other feeble fragments of the Hioong noo secretly sent to China a map or description of the remained. The Sian pi established themselves in their Hioong noo country, asking to be acknowledged a country by force, and subjected more than a hundred vassal. His opponent, getting wind of it, resolved to thousand of them; these, to obtain better terms, amalassassinate him; but the other assembled the eight gamated entirely with their conquerors, who date their hordes which he governed, declared himself chief, and greatness from this time. The southern Hioong noo took the old name of Hoo han sie, which his succes- remained quiet for some time; but, in A.D. 109, sors retained, as the Roman emperors, successors of whenl a frightful famine desolated China, their king mCasar, did his. He reigned on the borders of China, deemed it a fitting opportunity to master at least a part and over the southern division of the Hioong noo, ofit Butt the Chinese rallied, and beat him completely I -. —-— * —-~~-'' —'" -.-.-, —-—..- - - c —-—.... —--- ---.~~~ - _____ -. — ______________________ 396 THE THOUKHIU so that he was obliged to come and ask pardon, and took care of him, nursed him, and shared her prey renew his allegiance. Profiting by a similar disaster, with him. Persecuted by their enemies, they were in A. D. 155, they attempted to unite with a Thibetan carried by a supernatural being to the east of the lake. tribe, on the west frontier, to throw off the yoke. The and took refuge in a cave of a mountain, to the northChinese general of the border managed to prevent west of the Ouigoor country. Having traversed the this, cut off all communications, joined the Thibetan cavern, they came out upon a fertile plain, more than troops to his own, and subjugated the Hioong noo. sixty miles in circumference, and there the wolf became After this, they were sometimes subject, and sometimes the mother of ten boys. These, on growing up, car-. at war with China. Finally, the founder of the Goei ried off women, and took, each of them, a distinct dynasty, in 216, held their last king prisoner in family name. Assena, (wolf,) being endowed with a China, abolished his title, and set another ruler over greater capacity than the rest, became chief of the his people. A part were dispersed on the northern little tribe, which increased rapidly. To preserve the frontiers, and had blended themselves with the natives. memory of their origin, he placed heads of wolves at They were divided into six cantons, each commanded the top of his standards. This legend much resembles by a chief of their nation. In the sequel, twenty that told of the origin of the Mongols, and of the family thousand families, who remained in their old country, of Zingis Khan. Perhaps Zingis was descended from came to submit themselves to China; they lived peace- Turkish princes, who ruled the Mongols; or the ably during the reign of the Goei dynasty, whose story of Zingis may be borrowed from this fabulous emperors had become very powerful, and governed tradition of the origin of the Turkish princes. with firmness. The tribe of Assena, having considerably increased, The northern part of China, and chiefly the cantons left the plain, which had become too narrow to contain Chan si and Petchyli, enclosed by the double wall, had it, and dispersed itself in the valleys of the Altai, or been long inhabited by Hioong noo families, mingled "gold" Mountains. The princes established their reswith Chinese. Bad policy had placed them there; for idence at the foot of a mountain, which had the form it facilitated their acquisition of a part of the territory of a helmet. This piece of armor was called, in their of the empire. In fact, these Hioong noo, now be- language, thoukhiu, and it is from this that the nation come numerous and exactly acquainted with the affairs borrowed the name it has ever since borne, that is, of China, profited by its divisions in the fourth century, Turk, pronounced Toork -the name this famous nation and established here their kingdom of Han, or the bears in the west, corrupted by Chinese pronunciation first Tchao, which lasted from 308 to 329. Its princes into Thoukhiu. had their court in Chan si; they were very powerful, The Thoukhiu Turks were subject to the Jeou gave a fatal blow to the imperial dynasty of Tsin, jan; they excelled in forging weapons and armor. pillaged Lo Yang, and took the emperor prisoner. Toward the end of the dynasty of the Goei, their One of their generals, rebelling successfully, formed chief called himself Thoumen; he combated the a petty state. Several generals submitted them- Kao tche Turks, and utterly defeated them. Puffed selves to him, and recognized him as their sover- up by this success, he sent an embassy to China. In eign. He destroyed the dynasty of his masters, and 546, he had the effrontery to demand in marriage a founded the second dynasty, Tchao, which subsisted daughter of the khan of the Jeou jan. This prince, till 351. Another of this race aggrandized himself who regarded the Thoukhiu as his slaves, was'surprised among the Sian pi, and even took the Chinese capital, that the chief of a people whose sole employ was Tchang ngan, and here declared himself emperor working at forges, should dare to ask of him a princess in 418; but his power was short lived. The lat state of his blood. He drove the envoys of Thoumen, possessed by a prince of thy Hioong noo was called with disgrace, from his presence. Thoumen, still more Northern Liang, and rose through the subjection of the angry than the khan, caused his officers to be killed, Ouigoor, in 439. This was put down by the Jeou jan broke off all trade with him, and turned to the emperor in 460. The nation, dispersed, thenceforth, through- of the Goei, who gave him a Chinese princess. He out all Asia, lost its name, and was in part confounded then declared war on the Jeou jan, and defeated them with other people of different origin. in several battles: their khan killed himself in despair. Thoumen took, in 552, the title of kakhan, and caused himself to be called II khan. Thus was formed the empire of the Thoukhiu Turks, one of the most extensive of those that have existed in Central Asia. These C H A P T ER C C VII. people nfiade frequent incursions into China and Persia B. C. 460 to A. D. 1257. and sent ambassadors to the Constantinopolitan empe. The -Turkish Race, continued -The Thou- rors. Thoumen's successor crushed the Jeou jan, and transmitted the empire to a brother, Dizabool, - writ. khiu, or Toorks The Hoei he, or Ouigoors. ten Disabules by the Greeks, and Ti theoo poo 1i by the SOME relies of the Hioong noo, chased from the Chinese. He was brave, cruel, and warlike, and diskingdom of Northern Liang, had retired to the north, persed the relics of the Jeou jan.: He subjugated all and dwelt probably on Lake Balkash. They were the country from the Sea of Japan to the Caspian, there destroyed by a neighboring nation, which, ac- and from China and Thibet, on the south, to beyond cording to the fabulous tradition preserved by the Lake Baikal, on the -north-. He established i stable Chinese, exterminated them, without distinction of and well-organized government, and thus gave conage or sex. There remained but one individual, a sistence to his empire. boy ten years old, whose life the enemy spared through Under the reign of this prince, Disabules, the Turks compassion, contenting themselves with cutting off his had regular intercourse and diplomatic relations with hands and his feet. The child dragged himself to a Constantinople, as has been stated. The object of thei great swamp, where he lay concealed. A she wolf first embassy, in 632, was to request the emperors to 1-<.. --, THE OUIGOORS. 397 refuse lands to the Avars, who had fled into Europe have extended their apostolic labors, at a very early from under the Turkish sceptre.' This same year, a period, over Central Asia. prince of the Sogdians, also subject to the Turks, was One subordinate tribe of the Ouigoors, the Gouz allotxed by them to send an embassy to Nushirvan, settled south of the Celestial Mountains, some of them king of Persia, to obtain of him permission to sell as early as in the second century B. C., and renounced silk to the Medes. The embassy failed in its object, the nomadic life. They lived about I(hamil and as did also another sent by Disabules himself, torequest Turfan, and in 640 were subjugated by the Chinese. an alliance. This latter embassy were all poisoned Turfcn, their capital, was called Sitcheou, or City by the Persians; and thus originated the ill feeling West, by their conquerors, who placed here a military which has ever since existed between the Turks and chief and civil tribunals. It passed next under the Persians. In the war which now broke out between sway of the Ouigoor empire, after which it became the Persians and Turks, the former sent to China to independent; but: only to fall into the hands of the ask the Chinese to make a diversion in their favor by Khitan, whose empire yielded to Zingis, in 1209. attacking the Turks on the extreme east. In the tenth century, there were in this Ouigoorl Upon this, the Turkish sovereign sought to strengthen capital, situated in the very heart of Central Asia, himself by alliance with the Greek emperors, and sent some fifty Buddhist temples, most of them built by the Sogdian prince to Constantinople. He traversed Chinese emperors. In them were preserved the Budsteep mountains covered with snow, plains, forests, dhist scriptures and several Chinese works. Public and swamps, crossed the Caucasus, and at last reached libraries also existed, in which, among other writings, the capital. Here he was received with distinguished were to be found the edicts of the emperors. Here honors, and, in 569, the emperor, Justin II., sent a were also temples of the religion of Manes, priests of return embassy, which found Disabules encamped in Persia, followers of Zoroaster and other sectaries, each a valley of the Golden Mount, Altai. The monarch observing his own ritual of worship. The language dwelt in a tent placed on wheels, after the national was Ouigoor, and they had annals, which the learned fashion. Justin's messenger now accompanied the Arabs were in the habit of consulting. Thus their Turkish king in his march against Persia, and on the civilization was made up of mingled elements -- Chi way had his audience of leave, and received a present nese, Indian, and Occidental. of a Kirghis slave. The other and principal branch of the Ouigoor The brother of Disabules succeeded him in 572, and nation led a nomadic life, pasturing with its numerous became still more powerful than he. The Chinese herds the country to the north of the Celestial Moundynasties of Northern China exhausted their treasuries tains, and between the green banks of the Irtish and in presents, to prevent him from making incursions into Orkhon. This branch was called in the thlird century their territories. He introduced Buddhism among his Kao tche, that is, " high wagons," probably because the people, bringing its priests and books from China, and wheels of its tent-carts were higher than those of other building several temples and convents. Turkish tribes. They claimed a legendary origin Under his successor, the Turkish empire was divided similar to that of the Turks - from a wolf: hence they into four parts; but Chapolio, whose residence was on imitated, it was said, in their drawling utterance, the the Toula, had the preeminence among the khans. howlings of those disagreeable animals. The wife of this prince was a Chinese princess, of a The Kao tche were a barbarous and cruel people, dynasty which had just been dethroned in China. they thought of nothing but pillage; in their wars with Chapolio, at the earnest solicitations of his wife, at- their neighbors, they observed no military rule; flight tempted to avenge her relatives upon the reigning had no dishonor with them; they were ignorant of the Chinese dynasty, the Soui. But, on invading the king- laws of hospitality, and in sitting down, crouched on dom, he was defeated, and put to flight. His army their haunches like animals, placing their hands on suffered for provisions, and the plague carried off a their knees. They knew not the use of wheat nor of great number of his men. Meanwhile the Chinese spirits. When they took a wife, they paid her dowry fomented dissensions in his empire, and detached two in cattle or horses, seeking to distinguish themselves powerful khans from his allegiance, who declared by the number given. The day on which the husband themselves vassals of China. In 586, Chapolio was received his future spouse into his house, the men and obliged to follow their example. women assembled, regaling themselves with clotted Under Chapolio's successors, the Chinese, still profit- mare's milk, and roast meat; the master of the house ing by the internal troubles among the Turks, attacked invited the poor and the passers-by to sit down at the the khan, defeated him, and carried him prisoner to door, and all drank till the end of the day. China, in 639. The Ouigoor tribe profited by the The Kao tche never washed themselves. They reweakness of their sovereigns to found a new empire, joiced in lightning and thunder, and when the lightning and, in 744, had completely destroyed the authority of struck, they uttered frightful cries, shot their arrows,he eastern Turks. China exercised great power over toward the sky, quitted their camp, and transported it.he western Turks, who, however, after several vicis- elsewhere. The following year, when their horses were lsitudes fell also under the power of the Ouigoors, in well fattened, they returned to the place in great nurnthe latter half of the eighth century. bers, and made a ditch in which they burnt a ram As the Ouigoor tribe was the last of the ancient the sorcerers then executed their conjuring tricks. Turkish tribes that rose to empire, a brief notice of its For the rest, their manners and customs resembled fortunes will close this part of our subject. Orig]i- those of the other Turkish tribes. natiag on the borders of the Orkhon, the Ouigoors Little by little they multiplied, and extended to the spread west to the sources of the Irtish. That which south: becoming quite powerful,they made incursions has made them most famous is their alphabet, which upon the Jeou jan and Goei. An emperor of the latthey derived from the Syriac, probably through the ter approached their dwellings, defeated them again Nestorian Christians of Syria, who would seem to and again, plundered all their hordes, took more thai. I L- ___,- -- - -- - -- - 3 ~398 THE MONGOL RACE. fifty thousand prisoners, al.: drove off a million them in Chen si, and sent the prisoners to the emperor head of cattle and two hundred thousand wagons. But the power of the Thibetans still increased, while Afterwards, having vanquished the Jeou jan, he sent that of the Hoei boo continually diminished. troops against several bands of Kao tche, who were In 840, the Hakas, ancestors of the Kirghis of our encamped on the east, and forced a large number of day, had become powerful. Their chief camp was their families to recognize his authority. He made north of where Turfan stands, and of the Celestia. them remove to the south of the great desert, and Mountains. At this time, their prince, at the head of placed them on the frontiers of China, where they one hundred thousand 6avalry, attacked the Hoei hoo became agriculturists. At the beginning of the killed their chief, and dispersed the nation, a good seventh century, the Kao tche adopted the name of part of whom came to the frontiers of Chen si, and Goei he, which was that of one of their chief hordes. put themselves under the protection of the. emperor. In 606, the Turks subjugated them, despoiled them In 848, the Hakas entirely dispersed the nation. But, of all their wealth, and as a security against their in 1001, we find a king of the Hoei boo sending resentment, assembled their principal chiefs, and put an embassy to China, and that his kingdom contained to death a great number of them. The Goei he more than a hundred petty principalities. It was revolted, defeated the Turks, and on the destruction of bounded east by the upper branches of the Hoang-ho, the latter power, became the preponderant nation of and west by the Celestial Mountains. Central Asia. In 629, they sent an embassy to the The ever-increasing power of the Khi tan forced emperor of China, and soon after declared themselves the Hoei hoo to retire insensibly to the west, and they vassals of the Thang dynasty of that empire. In the thus lost the position they had occupied on the frontiers seventh century, the most westerly of the Goei he of China. They, however, maintained themselves at reached the frontiers of the Roman empire, while the Cha tcheou, - if about latitude 390, longitude 94~, — most easterly pastured the luxuriant banks of the and thereabouts, till, in 1257, they submitted to the Amoor river, which runs into the Pacific Ocean. Mongols. These call them Ouigoor, their true name, Intercourse with China, its presents, and the plun- which, as we have seen, has been corrupted by the Jer drawn thence, corrupted the primitive simplicity Chinese into Oui-ke, or Goei he, Hoei he, and Hoei boo. of the Goei he, or Hoei he, as they were now called. One of their princes, abandoning the ancient manners, built magnificent palaces, and clothed his wives with superb dresses. This displeased his people, and occasioned his death. An usurper mounted the throne, and demanded the daughter of the emperor in marriage,l which the latter was inclined to refuse, but finally gave him, on the representation of his prime minister, that the Chinese cavalry needed to be mounted anew, and horses were to be procured only of the Hoei he. He further advised his emperor to make alliance also with the king of Yunnan, with the Arabian khalif, and _-_ with the kings of Hindostan, who might all aid him _i in destroying the colossal power of the Thibetans. ____ Asia, we ought to remark, was divided, at this period, A. D. 787, into six great empires: on the east that of China, governed by the Thang dynasty; i on the south, the kingdom of Yunnan, which, inde- - pendently of that Chinese province, comprehended also a great part of Farther India; then the kingdom of Maghada, the most powerful of those of Interior Hindostan; on the west, the empire of the khalifs; in the middle of Asia, that of the Thibetans, still en- / larging; and on the north, that of the Hoei he, or Oui- Zingis Khan. goors, which extended to the Caspian, and recognized the supremacy of China. As the Thibetans and C H AP T E R CCV I. Arabs were continually at war, it was the interest of the Chinese to be on good terms with the khalifs, so as better to repel the Thibetans, who were continually The Mongol or Tartar Race and Emptres. invading the empire. NEARLY all the nations of the middle and north of The kakhan of the Hoei he received a Chinese prin- Asia, and some, indeed, of North America, have what cess for his wife, and treated her with all imaginable the geographer calls Mongolian features; but the hisrespect. He promised troops against the Thibetans, torian is obliged to confine the name of Mongol race and had leave to call the name of his nation Hoei hoo. to those communities derived from the same stock as His death, and that of his son and successor, delayed that of the. Mongols of our day. These are the Kalthe promised troops; but his grandson, on ascend- kas and Sharra -that is, Black and Yellow — Mongois, ing the throne next, sent an army to the help of a the Kalmucks, and a nation in Siberia, the Booriats. Chinese fortress, besieged by the Thibetans, but The Mongols are often called Tartars, and, indeed, the could not raise the siege. Then all that the Chi- name of Tartars is often applied to the inhabitants of nese had possessed in Central Asia, except the Hoei- any part of Tartary. hoo country, fell under the power of the Thi- Even as far down as A. D. 1000, we find Mongols betans. In 791, the kakhan of the Hoei hoo defeated still dwelling about Lake Baikal, northerly, from the EARLY HISTORY OF ZINGIS KHAN. 399 Angara on the west, to the Daourian Mountains on the exploit gained him fame, respect, and influence, he east, about two thirds'of the circuit of the lake. Three was afterwards obliged to seek assistance frcm the 3niall communities of them are also found farther great khan of the empire, who was under obligations south, at that period, one of them within the Chinese to his father. The khan, in gratitude to his father, wall. and esteem for Zingis, then called Temugin, reinstated The Mongols were originally a tribe of the nation him in his paternal dominions, and gave him his of Tatars proper,* or, as it has been corrupted, Tar- daughter in marriage., tars. They spread themselves south and east of Lake Temugin had been educated with the greatest attenBaikal, and between the rivers forming the Upper tion, and the care of his childhood was confided to a Amoor. Even in Zingis Khan's time, they numbered very able minister. He was well versed in all the but about four hundred thousand tents. After his exercises which belong to. a Tartar education. He'time, many nations, who had previously despised it, could shoot his arrow or strike his lance with unerring adopted the name he had made illustrious. The most aim, either when advancing or retreating, in full ancient mention of this name is by the Chinese histo- career or at rest. He could endure hunger, thirst, rians, and in the tenth century of our era. The name fatigue, cold, and pain. He managed his fierce and - /longol, in the language of Mongolia, means "brave heavy war-horse, or his light and impetuous courser, - lnd proud." with such consummate skill, by word, or look, or ~ portion of the Mongol Tartars retired into the touch, that man and beast seemed but one animal, mountains of Inchan, where the Hoang-ho bends swayed by one common will.':farthest north, and into Tangoot. It retained the Having gained some military successes for his name of Tartar, spread itself, and was soon known to father-in-law, his high favor at the court excited jealthe Chinese. A Chinese general took refuge among ousies both in his family and in the empire. He had.this people in 880; three years after this, he reentered further rendered himself unpopular by inducing the China, at the head of an army composed of Tartar khan to assume more authority than the subject princes troops, and defeated the rebel who had driven him could willingly accede to. The princes therefore rose'from his country. He afterward settled himself and against the khan, and defeated him in battle; but his,is Tartars in the north of the province of Chan si, son-in-law replaced him on the throne, by winning for where they lived on the produce of their animals, him a brilliant victory. This victory was tarnished, which were chiefly horses. Their compatriots out- however, by cruelty; for Temugin scalded seventy of *side the wall kept on good terms with several his enemies to death, by flinging them alive into seventy Chinese dynasties for a long time, sending embassies' caldrons of boiling water. and tribute. After having been successively subject Envy and revenge did not cease their machinations,.to the latter Tang dynasty, and to the Khitan, they but at last means were found to render his father-in-law became vassals of the Kin empire. This empire in- jealous of so famous a son. Temugin, after exhausteluded Northern China, and the country toward the'ing every conciliatory method, thought himself obliged Selinga and Amoor, in the twelfth and early part of the' to build up a party of his own, in self-defence. Rethirteenth centuries. course was at last had to arms, the khan was slain, and Thirteen of the Mongol hordes, -thirty or forty Temugin, after some further struggles with his enethousand families,- subjected to this empire, obeyed mies, one by one, succeeded to the empire. the father of Zingis Khan; but, on his death, two He was now forty years old, and, wishing to secure thirds of them refused to obey the son, then thirteen himself in his extensive dominions, by legitimating his years old. He fought them, and reduced them to authority, he convoked all the princes of his empire at their allegiance. This was the first exploit of Zingis, Karakorum, his capital -in latitude 470 -to do him lestined, one day, so rapidly to conquer five or six homage. They all met here on the appointed day millions of square miles of territory. But, though this clothed in white. Advancing into the midst, with the diadem upon his brow, Temugin seated himself upon his throne, and received the congratulations and good * This name, Tartar, like the name Mllongol, has been unwa Tarrantarl etndd, am nd~ol, h nfound ed wishes of the khans and princes. They then confirmed warrantably extended, and confounded with that of Turrks. The reason is, that, when the son of Zingis conquered the him and his descendants in the sovereignty of the north-west of Asia and the north-east of Europe, it was filled Mongol empire, declaring themselves and their dewith Turkish tribes; their conquerors were Tartars, that is, scendants divested of all rights. Mongols. But the armies these conquerors brought from the After some further victories, he renewed the cereinterior of Asia no longer existed; even the Mongol khans appointed over the khanats of Kazan, Astrakan, and the Cri- m6nial in a still more simple and signal manner. mea, no longer used the Tartar language, and were surround- Standing on a plain mound of turf, near the banks of' ed by Turkish soldiers. Yet these khanats, after they sub- the Selinga, he harangued the assembled princes with an mitted to Russia, were called Tatar, and their language too. eloquence natural to him, and then sat down on a piece But ask a so-called Tartar of Kazan, or Astrakan, of the presnt day, if he is a Tartar, and he will tell you no; he will call the idiom he speaks Turk, and not Tartar. Remember- felt was revered for a long time afterwards as a sacred ing that his ancestors were once subjugated by the Mongols, national relic. An appointed orator then addressed or Tartars, he regards the latter name as. an insult, as much him in these words: " However great your power, as if you should call him a robber or a pirate. from G from God you hold it: He will prosper you if you The first mention of Tartars in Chinese history is in A. D.. e ou 880, and their name is pronounced Ta ta, or Ta dshi. These govern justly: if you abuse your authority, you will were a tribe of the Mohos, mentioned in apreviouschapter, but have become black as this felt, a wretch and an outwas dispersed by the Khitans, in 824, and became mingled cast." Seven khans then respectfilly assisted him to with that Tungouse people. Possibly, the northern Mohos rise conducted him to his throne and proclaimed him wvere ancestors of the Mongols, while the southern were ru o o his ancestors of different Tungouse tribes, which, later, formed lord of the Mongol empire. the Ju tchin, from whom are derived the Manchoos of the A relative, a saint and prophet, naked, like the present day. marabouts of the present day, approached. r~ ~ ~. —------------- _-~ 400 ZINGIS 1HAN. come," said he, "with God's order that you hence- overgrown with hair. On causing his head to be forth take the name of Zingis Khan," that is " greatest shaved, the document appeared, and Zingis sent foi khan of khans." ~ The Mongols ratified this name with answer that he would quarrel with the sultan on the extravagant joy, and considering it as a divine title to first opportunity. He added also the remark, with the conquest of the world, looked on opposing nations full experience of its truth, that " between two grea as enemies of God. Thus early was the intoxicating contiguous empires, a cause of quarrel will not long cup of power drugged with fanaticism! be wanting." Nothing now was impossible to Zingis. By a Nor was'it: the sultan's subjects plundered some rapid succession of victories, he found himself, in the Tartar merchants, and the empires: made great prepyear 1226, master of a broad belt of the world reach- arations for war. Zingis collected seven hundred ing from Corea to Hungary.t We have space for but thousand men, and, ordering recruits to be raised a few of the most interesting incidents of his con- throughout the empire and sent after him, advanced quests. The sovereign of North China, the Kin empire, upon the (nemy. During this march,;he disciplined had demanded of him the same tribute as had been and regulated his army in the most efficient manner, paid by the princes whom Zingis had dethroned:. Irri- and gave the following despotic general orders: " If tated by the demand, he poured his well-disciplined a soldier fly without having fought, whatever the danarmies across the wall, undeterred by fortifications, ger or resistance, he shall die; if from a company though ignorant of the arts of siege, routed the of ten, any one or more shall separate, he or they Chinese, desolated the country, and amassed immense shall die without mercy; if any of the company see spoils. Cities and royal residences fell into his hands, their comrades engaged, and do not try to succor or often unexpectedly. Dissensions arose among the Chi- rescue them, they shall die." nese nobles, who deserted or betrayed their emperor, The sultan of Kharasm was master of Great Bucha and he was slain. Thus, in the space of five years, this ria, Kharasm, Persia, Persian Irak, and much of India most warlike and.powerful of the nations was subdued, On his side he marched an army of half a million; but as far as the middle mountains. $ (A. D. 1214.) should these be destroyed, he could not recruit them On the west, Zingis had determined to make the again, for Armenia and Georgia, his tributaries, took territories of the mighty sultan of Kharasm his this occasion to relieve themselves of tribute, Egypt boundary. The conqueror made a treaty to that and -:Syria were desolated by the crusaders, and effect with this sovereign, though the sultan was the khalif who held Arabian Irak, Chaldea, and the rather ungracious. But the sultan's enemy, the kha- three Arabias, was his personal enemy: finally, the iif of Bagdad, desirous of engaging Zingis against Seljuks of Asia Minor and the Greek emperors were nim, sent a messenger to the Mongol khan, upon at war with each other, and could give him no assistwhose shaven crown was tattooed his message, now ance. This great contest has been already alluded to. X' "Brethren," said he, "I have seen a vision. The great loads of gold and silver. The great dukes of Russia, the God of heaven, on his flaming throne, surrounded by the sultans of Iconium, the kings of. Georgia and Armenia, the spirits on high, sat in judgment on the nations of the earth. emirs of Persia, and various other potentates of Europe and Sentence was pronounced, and he gave the dominion of the Asia, were obliged to take the long journey to the royal vilworld to our chief Temudsin, whom he appointed Zingis lage of Karakorum, in person, or by their ambassadors, in or. Khan, or Universal Sovereign." The Mongols then held up der to retain their thrones, or even their lives! their hands, and swore to follow Temudsin, the Zingis Khan, + Gibbon gives the following account of this conquest: in all his enterprises. (A. D. 1206.) - lMluller. Zingis pro- " His ancestors had been the tributaries of the Chinese emmulgated at this time his famous civil and military code of perors, and Temugin himself had been disgraced by a title regulations for his empire, under the sanction of monotheism, of honor and servitude. The court of Pekin was astonished and in perfect toleration of all religions. He also, subse- by an embassy from its former vassal, who, in the tone of the quently, caused the best Arabic, Persian, Chinese, and Thi- king of nations, exacted the tribute and obedience which he betan books to be translated into Mongol, which must have had paid. A haughty answer disguised their secret apprehad a powerful tendency to elevate his people above their hensions; and their fears were soon justified by the march ancestral barbarism. of innumerable squadrons, who pierced on all sides the feeble t The Pacifc Ocean, Corea, and the relics of the Kin em- rampart of the great wall. Ninety cities were starved dr,pire, which he had croweded across the Hoang-ho (in its old stormed by the Mongols. Ten only escaped. And Zingis, channel) into the north-east corner of China; limited his em- from a knowledge of the filial piety of the Chinese, covered his pire on the' east. On the south, it had the Chinese empire vanguard with their captive parents - an unworthy, and by of the Song, from which it was separated by the Peling degrees a fruitless abuse of the virtue of his enemies. His Mountains; the Kuen lun Mountains, separating it from invasion was supported by the revolt of a hundred thousand Thibet; the west branch of the Inclus to 32~; Beloochistan; Khitans, who guarded the frontier. Yet he listened to a the little kingdoms of Fars, about Shiraz, and Irak Araby, treaty, and a princess of China, three thousand horses, five along the Euphrates and Tigris; the Caucasus, Black Sea, hundred youths, and as many virgins, and a tribute of gold. and Danube to the Preuth. and silk, were the price of his retreat. On the west, his empire was bounded by the small districts "In his second expedition, he compelled the Chinese emof the attabegs of Irak, of Armenia, Georgia, and Caucasus, peror to retire beyond the Yellow River, to a more southern and the Carpathian Mountains, separating it from the king and eastern residence. The siege of Pekin (a capital some dom of Hungary; on the north, by a line from the Carpa- furlongs south-east of the present) was long and laborious. thian Mountains drawn to include the junction of the Kama The inhabitants were reduced by famine to decimate and deand Volga, leaving beyond it the grand duchies of Kiew anid your their fellow-citizens.'When their ammunition was spent, WVladimir, - thence, the deeply waving northern line of his they discharged ingots of gold and silver from their engines; empire crossed the Ural, excluding the steppe of Ischim, then but the Mongols introduced a mine to the centre of the capital, trended just north of Lake Baikal, excluding most of Sibe- and the conflagration of the palace burned above thirty days." ria, to meet the Pacific in latitude 56~, where it had the Chy After the MIongols had subdued the northern provinces, it goei (all but the southern division) to the north. This was was seriously, ill calm; deliberate council, proposed to exter a wider realm than Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek, or Roman minate all the inhabitants of that populous country, that the conqueror ever knew! vacant land might be converted to the pasture of cattle. On the banks of the Orkhon, Onlofi, and Selinga, the royal Such was the purblind barbarism of these stupid devastators. or'" golden hordle " exhibited the contrast of simplicity and The design was given up upon the suggestion, by a patriotic greatness. Roasted sheep and mare's milk were their frugal mandarin, that the country, left as it was, Would yield a TaV L Bnquet; yet in one day were distributed five hundrledwagon larger revenue to the conquerors in ricem, silk. and taxes. DEATH OF ZINGIS. 401 The destructive conqueror rushed on all parts of miles in extent, scarce furnished room for the tents Kharasm at once. One hundred and sixty thousand and equipages of his countless hosts. His own quarKharasmians were slain in the first battle. Like.a de- ters occupied six miles in circuit. A white tent, capavouring conflagration, the invaders swept from city to ble of containing two thousand persons, was spread city, leaving behind them only heaps of cinders. A over his throne, on which lay the black bit of felt used.body of Chinese engineers, skilled in mechanics, and at his coronation. But now, instead of the primitive perhaps acquainted with the use of gunpowder, assisted simplicity of the vagabond Tartar, all the luxury of the destroyer. Samarcand, Balkh, Bokhara, and many Asia glittered in the dress, horses, harness, arms, and. other cities, which flourished.with the wealth and trade furniture of the vast assemblage. The emperor reof centuries, now underwent a pitiless ruin, from pin- ceived.the homage of his powerful vassals with manacle to foundation. The sultan's armies were almost jesty, and that of his children and grandchildren, who uniformily.defeated. He himself, driven to miserable were introduced to kiss his hand, with tenderness. extremity, came to the shores of the Caspian, and He graciously accepted thcir presents, and in return embarking in.a boat, amid a shower of arrows, escaped distributed among them magnificent donations. The to an island only to die of sickness and despair; yet not soldiery also partook of the liberality of the great till he had enjoined his son, Jelaleddin, to avenge him. robber of robbers. Tossed by every wave of fortune, this dauntless and The mighty khan, who was fond of public speaking, persevering man did all that man could do to perform now pronounced an oration, commending his code of the injunctions of a dying father; but hemmed in by laws: to these he attributed all his success and conthe.loss of city after city, he was at last driven to an quests, which he minutely enumerated. The ambasisland of the Indus. sadors from the several countries subjected to his dominHere he burned his ships, except one for his family. ion, were then admitted to an audience, and dismissed His soldiers died around him, defending themselves well satisfied. The whole ceremonial was concluded like tigers at bay. The Kharasmians now took refuge with a grand festival, which lasted many days. At in the rocks where the Tartar cavalry could not pen- the daily banquets were served up every thing most etrate; but being reduced to only seven hundred men, exquisite — in fruits, game, liquors, and edibles-to the sultan disbanded them. The unfortunate Jela- be had in any part of his boundless dominion. leddin, having embraced his family, and torn himself Such festivals were followed by new triumphs, and away from them, now took off his cuirass, stripped him- prosperity seemed always. to attend the conqueror's. self of all his arms but his sword, quiver, and bow, enterprises. He died A D. 1226, at the age of sevmounted a fresh horse, and plunged into the river. In enty, having reigned. twenty-two years, and preserved the midst of the stream, he turned round and emptied to the last his complete ascendency over the surroundhis quiver in defiance against Zingis, who stood on ing nations and his own. His magnificent funeral was the bank. The ship in which the family of the de- unsullied with the human sacrifices which desecrated throned monarch had embarked, split as it left the the obsequies of his ancestors. His simple sepulchre, shore, and they fell into the conqueror's hands, who beneath a tree whose shade he had loved, became ar, afterwards murdered them. object of veneration to his people, who.were wont The fugitive prince passed the night in a tree, from fondly to embellish it. fear of wild beasts. On the next day, he met some This famous man was characterized by qualities of his soldiers. He now collected all the fugitives he fitting him for a conqueror-a genius capable of con could muster, and, being joined by an officer of his ceiving great and arduous designs, and prudence equa. household, with a boat laden with arms, provisions, to their execution; a native and persuasive eloquence money, arid clothing, he established himself in India. a degree of patience enabling him to endure and overBut, unable to endure exile, he returned to his country, come fatigue ~ an admirable temperance; a superior,and after many misfortunes, died in obscurity, shortly understanding; and a penetrating mind, that instantly after his conqueror. A Turkman horde of his army seized the measure proper to be adopted. His military engaged in the service of the sultans of Iconiurn, and talents are conspicuous in his successfully introducing from it sprung Othman, founder of the Turkish em- a strict discipline and severe police among the Tartars, pike. Five centuries, it has been remarked, have not until then indocile to the curb of restraint. been sufficient to repair the ravages of the fdur years Every thing wasregulated, whether service, recomof this Kharasmian war. pense, or punishment. Wine was no excuse, neither Zingis, in his camp on the Indus, at last yielded to. were birth and power a palliation, for error. The rethe desire of'his soldiers-for repose, and the enjoy- ligion he professed was deism, but his subjects were ment of the wealth they had gathered with so much individually permitted to embrace that which they toil and blood. Returning slowly, encumbered with preferred, provided they believed in one only God; spoil, he cast an eye of regret around him, and inti- and no one was suffered to be persecuted for his faith. mated his intention of rebuilding the cities he had Some of his children and the princes of the blood, swept away. As he passed the Jaxartes, there came were Christians, some Jews, and some Mahometans. to, meet him two of his generals, whom he had sent without his expressing any disapprobation. round the southern shore of the Caspian, with thirty His code of laws was simple: death was;nflicted thousand men. They had fought their way through for adultery, murder, perjury, the theft of a horse or the passes of the Caucasus, traversed the marshy re- ox, or the making of a Mongol his servant by another gions near the Volga, crossed that and the desert, and Mongol. No Tartar must give a slave meat or drink come back by the north of Lake Aral -an unexampled without his master's leave. Every one must serve the feat, in ancient or modern times. public according to his ability. All servile labor was As soon as the princes and generals were returned prohibited to the victorious nation, and abandoned to from their several expeditions,:Zingis assembled them slaves and strangers; every labor was servile excepl logether in a large plain, which, though twenty-one that of arms. The service and discipline of tile troois 402 so1o (oF ZINGIS-OCIA'were the institutions of a veteran commander.* They hundred thousand Mongols and Tartars were rnscribeo were armed with bows, cimeters, and iron maces, and on the military roll; of these the great khan selected divided by hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands. a third, which he intrusted to the command of his After the example of their chief, all the chieftains nephew Batou, the son of Tuli, who reigned over his who served under Zingis were sanguinary and inex- father's conquests to the north of the Caspian. After orable; not fewer than two - some say six or seven - a festival of forty days, Batou set forward on tllis millions of men fell beneath their murdering sword, great expedition; and such were the speed and ardor without reckoning the number that affliction and the of his innumerable squadrons, that, in less than six horrors of slavery, consigned to a premature grave. years, they had measured a line of ninety degrees of It has been estimated that there were, probably,fifty longitude -a fourth part of the circumference of the thousand cities and towns demolished! globe. The great rivers of Asia and Europe ~ the Volga and Kama, the Don and Borysthenes, the Vistula and the Danube - they either swam with their horses, oa -- C HI AP T E R C C I X. passed on the ice, or traversed in leathern boats, which were also used to convey across their wagons and.A. D.1226 to 1294. -. i artillery. By the first victories of Batou, the remains The Sons of Zingis - Octai, his Successor- of national freedom were eradicated in the immense Batou's Con quests and IKingdom 9of Xipzak plains of Turkestan and Kipzak. In his rapid prog- Anecdotes f frther Conquests China ess, he overran the kingdoms of Astrakan and Cazan; -Yelu, the:good Minister - Kayuc and the troops which he detached towards Mount -azyuKbci L- Caucasus'explored the most secret recesses of Georgia MI~anl~g~ou Kn~blaci. ~and Circassia..ZI~NGIS left a numerous oflspring; and during his The civil discord of the great dukes, or princes, of lifetime, four- of his sons, illustrious by birth and merit, Russia betrayed their country to the Tartars, who had held the principaloffices under their father. Of these spread from Livonia to the Black Sea. Both Mos. four, Toushi was his great huntsman, Zagatai his'judge, cow and Kiev, the modern and ancient capitals, were Octai his minister, and Tuli his general; and their reduced to ashes. After the permanent conquest of names and deeds are often conspicuous in the story of Russia, they made a deadly though transient inroad his conquests. Firmly united for their own and the into the heart of Poland, and as far as the borders of public interest, the three brothers and their families Germany. The cities of Lublin and Cracow were were content with dependent sceptres; and Octal, by obliterated: they approached the shores of the Baltic, general consent, was proclaimed great khan, or em- and, in the battle of Lignitz, defeated the dukes of peror of the Mongols and Tartars. Tuli held the Silesia, the Polish palatines, and the great master of empire as regent, according to his father's direction' the Teutonic order of knights. After this battle, nine while his brother was absent on an expedition; and two sacks were filled with the right ears of the slain, that years elapsed before Octai was confirmed by a cou- the number of victims might be counted, in barbarous roultai, or general diet.. triumph. The invading army of half a mnillion turned His father had selected his ministers and generals to Hungary; the Carpathian Hills were pierced, and with so much judgment, that the son found any change the whole country north of the Danube, " lost in a.to be unnecessary. The new emperor placed his day, was depopulated in a summer." The ruins of 2hief confidence in Yelu, who also had enjoyed the cities and churches were overspread with the bones implicit confidence of the deceased sovereign. He of the natives, who thus "expiated the sins of their was a: man of integrity, learned in the laws, of con- Asiatic ancestors." Wretched fugitives, allured from summate prudence, and wholly devoted to the good the woods under a promise of peace and pardon, were of the empire. Octai placed his bi'other Tuli, whom coolly slaughtered as soon as they had performed the he tenderly loved, at the head of his armies, and never labors of the harvest and vintage. had reason to repent his choice. Passing the Danube on the ice, the Mongols besieged Northern China had been already subdued, as we Grau. They planted thirty engines against it, and have stated,t and Octai now resolved to carry his filled the trenches with sacks of earth and corpses. arms to the remotest west. A comprehensive writer On its capture, after a promiscuous massacre, three thus describes his awful swoop upon Europe: fifteen hundred noble matrons were slain before the conquer* Zingis could neither read nor write, and most of his Tar- less, urged his wife to save herself. "I have shared with tars and Mongols were as illiterate. Neither he nor his you the honors of life; I will share your tomb," she replied, captains have written any memorial of their exploits, and the and took poison, giving it to her children: her husband then traditions of these were not collected and transcribed till killed himself. sixty-eight years after the death of Zingis. Yet such was Prince Hoshang came forward from his hiding-place, after jne destructive energy of their daring, that the Mongols were a defeat, and requested to die, as he could serve no new mingled in the destinies of all nations, and, as has been'master. "I will have my fidelity known; posterity.will be well observed, the brevity of their domestic annals may be just to my memory." The brutal Tartar, however. abandoned supplied by the Chinese, Persians, Armenians, Syrians, Ara- him to his soldiery, who first tortured and then massacred bians, Greeks, Russians, Poles, Hungarians, and Latins, and him. Some among them, of a more generous nature, poured each nation will deserve credit in the relation of their own camel's milk on the earth, entreating him, should he ever disasters and defeats. revive, to return and live with the Mongols. t Several anecdotes of Chinese magnanimity are related, The Chinese used bombs and other explosive artillery. which took place during the subjugation of the remaining This fire penetrated the soldiers' breastplates, and consumed possessions of the Kin, or North China dynasty, by Octai - all within the distance of two thousand feet. To dislodge an enterprise left unfinished by his father. Chin in, governor the sappers beneath the walls, the besieged let these bombs of a town ofimportance, which had bravely held out- as it clown into their holes, and scattered destruction among was on the oinlt of being stormecd, and defence was now hope- them: the Chinese also used halberds of fire. In the snort K A Y U K-M AN GOO. 403 ing general. Europe feared that her cities, arts, and to inspire the princes with a love for the people, and:institutions would be extinguished. The pope sent to the people with an abhorrence of carnage and rapine. the invaders monks to convert them, but was an- At the sacking of Pekin and the palaces, he took only swered, to his astonishment, that the sons of God and some maps, books, paintings, and a few parcels of of Zingis had a divine right to subdue and extirpate rhubarb, the last of which he employed in curing the the nations, - and he was invited to submission, with soldiers of a malignant epidemic fever. threats. Frederic II., the emperor of Germany, en- Yelu was'the first teacher of the Mongols, and, by,leavored to confederate Germany, France, and Eng- his advice to Zingis, their first legislator: he arranged land against the common enemy. The fame and a calendar for their use, and instituted salutary reguvalor of the Franks awed the Tartars: Neustadt, in lations respecting the finances, commerce, duties, the Austria, was intrepidly defended by fifty knights and public granaries, and the subordination of officers, twenty cross-bows; but, on the appearance of a Ger- civil and military. The natural ferocity of the Mon-;man armny, the siege was raised. gols, their ignorance, and defective early education, After wasting Servia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria, Batou opposed his designs; but his energy overcame all slowly retreated from the Danube to the Volga, to enjoy obstacles. his victories at Serai - in about latitude 48 - a city The reign of Kayuk continued eight years, but was which started from the desert, as it were, at his com- marked by little except his conquest of Corea and.rnand. This was the origin of the Kipzak empire, some countries on the Caspian -by his being someunder the descendants of Zingis, and whose capital what priest-ridden, and by his excessive prodigality.,was Serai. A brother of Batou, in 1242, led a horde The people complained of having to furnish horses to the of fifteen thousand families into Siberia, and his de- nobles, who were ever riding post. They were also scendants reigned at Tobolsk more than three hundred vexed at the sums paid by the court for jewels and preyears. cious stones, while the soldiers were scarcely paid at At Octai's death, his wife, setting aside her grand- all, or their dues were left long in arrears. son, whom the late emperor designed should succeed At his death, his mother and wife attempted to put him, contrived to keep the regency. In two years she Octai's former choice upon the throne; but the diet procured the nomination, by the couroultai, of her own elected Mengho, or Mangoo, a grandson of Zingis, but son, Kiayuk. Her conduct displeased the good min- not of the reigning branch. His firmness and celerity, ister Yelu, and she found means gradually to deprive and the well-appointed army he kept at Karakorum; him of power. It is said he died of grief. Leaving quelled any tendency to disturbance. This prince the pictures of violence, devastation, and carnage, it adopted the lamaic religion, and became somewhat is pleasant to dwell a moment upon the character of of a devotee. He portioned off the well-deserving this sage. He seems to have been a perpetual good of the royal family with fiefs in China, among which genius to his court, ever ready to suggest or forward the largest and best' was given to IKublai, his brother, aught that might tend to elevate the views of the bar- who succeeded him. These Tartar lords had Chinese barian, or soften the heart of the conqueror - in short, ministers, or stewards, who essentially modified and to civilize or humanize the rough.natures with which softened the barbarism of their government. he was associated. Yelu was extremely learned in Yansheu, the minister of Kublai, was one of the Chinese science, and wrote many'volumes on history, best of these useful officers, and suggested many wise astronomy, agriculture, government, and commerce; and profitable measures for repairing the devastations lie had also a taste for collecting antiquities and curi- of war in his fief; so that Tartars and Chinese became osities'. well pleased with each other. It was this sagacious HEe was, in fact, eminently endowed with all the prime minister who, on Mangoo's jealousy of his qualities of a great minister — an inflexible steadiness, brother, followed by injustice, advised Kublai to go iextraordinary presence of mind, a perfect knowledge at once, throw himself on his brother's neck, and disof the countries under his master's authority, discern- abuse him of his suspicions. The sequel evinced ment in the choice of persons he employed, and cer- the common sense of the Chinese -a possession fcr tain resources, on emergency, both of money and pro- which' that nation has ever been famous. Mangoo's visions. He expended large sums to draw artificers, tenderness revived: he repeatedly embraced his officers, engineers, and learned men, from all parts to brother, while tears flowed down his cheeks; and the, the Mongol dominions. He was constantly laboring result was, that he increased his authority by still more important trusts. space of sixteen days, the number of slain amounted to a Mangoo fell in the siege of a city of the Song, million. (A. D. 1259,) and left his brother Kublai the grand After the loss of Pekin, the emperor had fixed his residence khanat, and the legacy of a war with South China, at Kai fong, a city many leagues in circumference, and con- which Zingis Rhan almost with his dying breath had taining fourteen hundred thousand families of inhabitants D i.' and fugSitives. He escaped thence with but seven horsemen, urged upon his successors. But Kub]ai was obligedl.nd made his last stand in a third capital. Here the besieged first to put down another brother, who aspired to the endured the most dreadful extremes of famine, - eating horses, crown. Having defeated his army and put him to boiled leather of their saddles, boots and drums, and finally flight, Kublai assembled around himself wise and able the old nmen, the infirm, prisoners, and wounded; pounding human and animal bones with dried herbs, to make a horrid counsellors, who assisted to render his name illustrious pottage. In view of these sufferings, and. the hopeless con- to posterity. dition of his country, the emperor, protesting innocence and The chief exploit of Kublai Khacn's life was the accusing fortune, ascended a funeral pile, stabbed hinlself, conquest of the rest of China. In this he used the and was consumed. Thus ended the Kin dynasty of North services of European and Mahometan eniners. The China, A. I. 1234. The Song dynasty of Southern China endured for forty-five years longer, till it fell under the Mon- engines of antiquity, as the balista and catapult, for goel, Kublai, who, uniting all China, founded the Yuen dy- flinging stones and darts, the battering-ram, &c., were nasty, A. D. 1279. employed, together with Greek fire, gunlvwdcl r. can 404 MONGOL CHINESE EMPERORS. non and bombs. The troops, drawn along canals, After a rapid review of the annals of the Mongo nvested Hantcheoo, or Quinsay, on the coast, in lati- Chinese empire, and of the Manchoos, we will glance tude 304~ -the most delicious climate of China. The at the Mongol kingdoms of Russia, Transoxiana, ana emperor, a mere youth, surrendered, and, touching his Persia. Then, — after a more' particular account of Tihead nine times to the earth, in token of homage, went mour, or Tamerlane, his empire and its fragments, we into e.xile in Tartary. The last champion of the Song shall detail the imperial splendors of the Moguls in attempted escape by sea, but being surrounded by the India, the longest surviving relic, with the exception of enemy's fleet, exclaimed," It is more glorious to die a Turkey, of the immense empires of the Tartar princes prince than live a slave," and leaped into the waves Kublai left his throne to Timour, the youngest oi with his infant emperor in his:arms. A hundred his brother's three sons, A. D. 1294. His clemency thousand Chinese followed his example, and Kublai and love for his subjects endeared Timour to the Chi reigned over all China, founding the Yuen dynasty, as nese, who extol him as a model of perfection. He before remarked. not unfrequently visited the necessitous and miserable He now desired to conquer Japan; but having lost in person, and often sent his agents and almoners intc one hundred thousand men by shipwreck and other the provinces to search out objects of charity. Never disasters, he abandoned the fruitless task. Pegu, Ton- prince displayed greater judgment in the choice of his kin, Corea, Cochin China, Bengal and Thibet, were ministers and generals, and none ever showed a more reduced to different degrees of tribute and obedience by marked contempt for flattery and luxury. He died his arms. He explored the Indian Ocean with a fleet childless, without naming a successor. of a thousand ships, for sixty-eight days, visiting and The Mongols and Chinese desired that Hayshan, subduing parts of Borneo and Java-, but finding nothing Timour's brother, should take the throne. Another worth retaining in these distant islands. Under Kublai, brother claimed it against a faction, as if. for himself, letters, commerce, peace, and justice were restored; and then resigned the sceptre to Hayshan, surprising the great canal of five hundred miles was opened his brother with the grateful assurance that he had fiom Nankin to his capital, Pekin-where he dis- only acted in his interest. Hayshan was fond of the played all the magnificence of Asia. writings of Confucius, and had them translated into the In a spotless administration of thirty years, Yelu, Mongol language. He was, however, licentious and the Chinese mandarin, minister and friend of Zingis intemperate, though equitable, generous, and warlike and his sons, had continually labored, as already noted, Havshan died after reigning three years. to mitigate or suspend the horrors of war; to save the His noble-minded brother, Ayyulipalipata, succeedmonuments, and to re-kindle the flame of science; to ed him; but the virtues of the new emperor were restrain the military commander by the restoration of rather of the passive than the active cast. Drought civil magistrates; and to instil the love of peace, indus- famine, inundations, earthquakes, and malignant disortry, and justice into the minds of the Mongols. He ders afflicted the empire during his reign, to which struggled with the barbarism of the first conquerors; were added eclipses, which became, from the anxiety but his salutary lessons produced a rich harvest in the and terror of the people, real afflictions. He revived second generation. the literary examinations for office, and associated Kublai, having been educated in the manners of Tartar mandarins with Chinese. He attempted to China, inspired the loyalty of his subjects by restoring resign his throne to his son, but the latter would not the forms of her venerable constitution,- for it was allow it. easier to adopt than invent,-and the victors, as has The next emperor, Shotepala, (A. D. 1320,) govoften happened, gradually submitted to the customs, erned with consummate wisdom, though but nineteen laws, fashions, manners, and even prejudices of the years old. He reformed the luxury, debauchery, and vanquished. Such were the numbers, servitude, steady avarice of the court, but at the end of four years was sense,-and impregnability of character of the Chinese, assassinated by the friends of a wretch he had justly that their conquerors seem again and again to have punished. The next emperor was indolent, but punbeen, as it were, absorbed and dissolved in the im- ished the assassins who had elevated him. He was mense homogeneous mass of her teeming millions. exhorted to banish from the palace the crowds of eunuchs, astrologers, physicians, women, and othter idlers, whose maintenance cost exorbitant sums. Plots, murders, and cabals succeeded his death, in 1322, and C H A P T E BR C C X. continued through several short and worthless reigns. An empress, being allowed to choose, set up Touhan, A. D. 1294 to 1716. grandson of Hayshan, who combined in himself the li}ongol Chinese Emperors - Manchoo Tartar flagrant disqualifications of luxury, indolence, dissiEmperors - Grand Hzuntitng Expedition - pation, timidity, and cruelty -a load of vices fitted Kipzak Elpire -Zagatai Emnpire to weigh down any dynasty. But, as if these were not ItJongol Persian Eipire. enough to ruin the dynasty of Yuen, this its last empefor had also an artful minister, who persuaded him AFTER the death of Kublai, the khans of Kipzak and that every official duty was too great a burden for his Russia, the khans of Zagatai or Transoxiana, and the august majesty. To crown all, he had an ambitious khans of Iran. or Persia - although receiving investi- and licentious wife; and while the minister embroiled ture from the Mongol Chinese emperor-threw off him in a thousand blind cabals, his wife engaged him the supremacy of the degenerate race of Zingis, who, in an unfortunate war with Corea, which completed however, ruled at Pekin for one hundred and forty the disasters of the empire. years after the conqueror's death. The dynasty of While he was attacked on every side, (A. D. 1336,) Yuen, founded by Kublai, was then expelled from while all subordination was destroyed among the lhina by the natives. troops, and the people, reduced to distress by the fail MANCHOO TARTAR EMPERORS-HUNTING. 4105 ure of the harvest, were groaning under the weight of native Tartary, which he did with seventy thousand: taxes, a man named Chu appeared in the south, an men, and diverted himself with hunting; thus giving ex-servant of a monastery of bonzes, turned robber. origin to the custom of hunting on a scale unknown By restraining his bandit companions from pillage and before, and which still continues to be practised in massacre, by applying himself to the study of the Chi- those countries." He was a great encourager of learnnese laws, by his successes, and, above all, by having ing and Christianity, in favor of which latter he pubon his tongue the phrase, " It is the Chinese who should lished a decree, in 1692. Europeans were at his court, govern the Tartars, not the Tartars the Chinese," he and attended him in his yearly hunt. But in 1716, in aroused the nation. Placing himself at the head of consequence of mandarin slanders, say the Jesuits — but the movement, he found himself able to grasp the others think from their political intrigues-Kanghi sceptre and ascend the throne,r — thus finishing the revived some obsolete laws against the Christians, and Yuen and founding the Ming dynasty, in A. D. 1364. the Jesuits could not keep their footing in China. "My dear companions," said he, amid the universal But these details belong to the history of China, which joy, to his confederates,'" we must establish good will be found in another place. laws, and never lose sight of virtue." The Kipztkc Empire, which the Volga divided in He based his government on the best precedents of the middle, now claims a passing notice, as one of antiquity; admitted none to office without the ancient the huge fragments 6f the colossal empire of Zingis. rigorous literary examinations; sought out genius in It included Russia in Europe, taking tribute of the war, navigation, arts, sciences, or mathematics, and republic of Novgorod. It was bounded south by the rewarded it like a prince. In his palace at Nanking, Danube, Caucasus, and the Zagatai empire, and had me lavished no sums on costly furniture, and curious the republic of Novgorod, and the kingdom of Sibir. foreign trifles, and inflexibly banished indecent statues upon the Irtish, on the north. It extended but a little and paintings. He won the hearts of mechanics, way into Tartary. At filst a subordcinate governmen: peasants, and laborers, by his affable interest in their of one of the grandsons of Zi ngis, it soo5n became inde. concerns, often indemnified their losses and assisted pendent, as before noticed. Some seventeen, or twentheir enterprises. Chu was indeed a superior genius: ty-one warlike princes arte enumerated as its sovervalor, piety, military science, greatness of soul, equity eigns. At the end of the thirteenth century, it was In the distribution of favors and employments, are the virtues and accomplishments *ascribed to him; and - These hunts serve to exercise the troops in winter, and China, spreading to her ancient boundary, saw herself are of great antiquity among the Tartars. They were praeonce more disinthralled, and the Mongol chased back tised by Zilgis, and are still by the Chinese emperors. The. emperor commands the huntsmen to trace out a vast circle, of into his native wildts o Tartaty. perhaps thirty miles in circumference. The officers then Thither Touhan fled, and it is said " the serenity'of station their troops, enclosing it around; the soldiers begin his retreat was not disturbed by the regrets of his for- their march to the sound of martial music, and continue mer subjects." Two years i after, he died, having gradually to advance towards the centre, keepino the ring gned thiy-five years in China and two in Tartry. unbroken, and thus driving before them the wild animals -TVreigned thirty-five years in China and, two in Tart.. within the circle; but they are forbidden to kill or wounr His son and successors sustained many wars with the any of them, howevei ferocious they may be. They erncam}: Ming dynasty, who still thought them too near neigh- every hiight, when all the mancmuvrcs are punctually executed bors, while the Tartars were stimulated to aggression The march lasts many weeks; the space lessens; and the by the prospect of recovering the beautiful and wealthy creatures, finding themselves closely pressed, flee to the moun rains and forests, whence they are soon dislodged by the country they had so ignobly lost. Their territory, at hunters opening their dens and kennels with spades and mat first extending to the wall, was gradually narrowed to tocks, and even searching them out with ferrets. the splace between the' Inchan Mountains and Lake As the narrowed ring brings the bewildered animals togethBaikal, till we find it swallowed ilup at length in the oer, -the strong, growing furious, devour the weak, and the Manchoo empire. air is rent with horrid howlings, yells, and screams of ferocity or agony.:The soldiers are scarce able to drive the beasts The Manchoos seem to have originated by the com- forward by incessant shouts. At length, when they are pent mingling, ages ago, of the Mongols and Tungouse, in into so small a space that they can all be seen, the drums, |wheat became Manchooria, a country north of China, cymbals, and other music set up a deafening clangor. This, and somewhat similar to it in shape and size. A Chi- joined to the fierce cries of the hunters and soldiers, so terrifies and astonishes the beasts, that they lose all their ferocityv; nese general, havin, rebelled, about A. D. 1640, sub- lions and tigers, bears, wolves, and wild boars crouch subdued, dued all the country except one province, where and enideavor to skulk one behind the other. remained a prince' faithful to the Ming dynasty. This The great khan, accompanied by his sons and chief offill prince, occupying one of the extreme north-eastern cers, first enters the circle, holding his drawn sabre, and bo-s prIn occupyinvt the Mcof Tarextarsm neighbors, * * and arrows, and begins the terrific slaughter by striking the provinces, Invited the Mlanchoo Talrt-rs, his neigbbors, -most savage of the animals. Many of these, at their last to his assistance, and their king joiqed him with eighty extremity, on being wounded, resume their ferocity, and thousand men. The rebel general fled, after burning struggle hard for their lives. The sovereign now retires to an. the palace, and plundering Pekin of immense treasures. eminence, where a throne has been raised, whence he views The Tartar king died immediately. His youthful son the fight, from which no onle shrinkls, however great the peril. The Tartar king died immediately. His youthful son When the princes and nobles have sufficiently displayed theix was declared emperor, under the name of Shun-chi, prowess, the youths continue the carnage. and commenced the Manchoo dynasty, in A. D. 1644. "What yet remain The frontier prince, who had engaged this formidable - Alive, with vain assault, contend to break ally, soon found, as he expressed himself, " that he had Th impenetrable line. Others, whom fear Unnerves, with self-preserving wiles, beneath let in lions to drive out dogs;" andafter a fruitless in- The bodies of the slain for shelter creep. X * surrection, being deserted by his confederates, he died When, lo -the bright sultnas of the court - of chagrin. His son, after vainly endeavoring to make ppliat they bend, and humblyost. sue to save head against the Manchoos, committed suicide. At beauty's high behest, the khan commands, - l In 1682, K7ang*hi, the next emperor, found China Opening to right and left, the well-trained troops sofully sude?a? >trie - vst i Leave a large void: - impetuous forth the foe so fully subdued that he determined to visit his Fly frantic, on the wings of fear upborne" I o~~~~.- ~' 406 MONGOL PERSIAN EMPIRE. converted from Deism to Mahometanism. The last cus, and part of Syria. He threatened to march on relic of this empire was the khanat of the Crimea, or Constantinople with four hundred thousand men, but Crim Tartary. was turned aside by the siege of Bagdad. In 1290, A son of Zingis, named Zagatai, founded the the empire extended from Sind to Ionia —from Syria Zagatai Empire, or Transoxiana. He had received and the Persian Gulf to the Oxus. the government of a territory, which, in 1290, included Bagdad, when taken by Hoolagoo, was the richest Independent rTartary north of the Oxus, Balkh, the five city in the world. The Tartar, having plundered streams of the Indus, Cashgar, and Khotan. A por- every part of Persia and Babylon, hovered round this lion of these took the name of Usbeck, from fondness to devoted city, like a hunter around his prey. The their khan of that name. One of these Usbeck khans weak khalif, Mostasem, was betrayed by his own Invaded PersiaL, and carried off four hundred camel- vizier, who encouraged him in a preposterous confiloads of gold and jewels, besides other valuables, all dence, grateful to his avarice and indolence, till —a which he gave to his soldiers. In 1368, the Indus hastily collected army having been lost in an inundation wvas lost to the empire on the south; and there was caused by the enemy — the city was taken by assault. i correspondent gain on the north. Twenty-five The khalif presented himself'to the Tartars with the princes, descended from Zingis by Zagatai, his eldest vases containing diamonds and jewelry of inestimason, have reigned over Transoxiana.'Their empire ble value, amassed by his ancestors for a long period continued a hundred and seventy years, till 1402, of years. Hoolagoo immediately distributed them: when it terminated, through dissensions among rela- among the principal officers of his army. tions whose ambition was active in expelling each Mostasem, the most ostentatious and inaccessible of' other fiom the throne. The last sovereign was only khalifs, and most chary of his august presence, was a nominal prince, who commanded some battalions of in the habit of appearing veiled - deeming the sight of troops in the army of Tamerlane. his countenance too great a boon to his people. On The conversion of one of the dependent khans of such occasions the abject multitude so thronged the this empire, Tagalak, to Mahometanism, is amusing, streets that the windowvs and balconies were hired, at and is thus told: While hunting one day, he met a an exorbitant price, to see him pass. Through those Mahometan trader, whom he treated most brutally. same streets which wr.nessed his insane pride, exposed The good Mussulman's patience affected the prince, to the view of that same populace, did the cruel who promised; to embrace a religion capable of inspir- Tartar drag the fallen khalif, confined in a leather ing such virtue-a resolution soon forgotten. The sack, till he expired. Thus fell file last of the khalifs; efforts of' the Mussulman to remind him of his prom- and Bagdad was given up to pillage for seven days. ise were futile, and, being about to die, he left the Ahmcd, who came to the throne in A. D. 1282, was completion of the deed in charge to his son. chosen by the grandees, but lost their esteem by The latter had no better success, and his endeavors embracing Islamism. He was killed, and his nephew to enter the palace being always frustrated, he hit usurped the sovereignty. A'yaptu, (1303,) of all the upon an expedient. Ascending a neighboring accliv- princes of the. race of Zingis, was the most distin. ity, he there repeated his morning prayers, and so gnished for his love of justice and religion, which he audibly as to wake Tagalalk, who sent for the devotee, caused to flourish throughout his dominions. He built to know his reasons for this strange conduct. The Sultania, and made it his capital. His son Abusaid's prince's promise was now recalled to him, and conver- reign (1313) was disturbed by love intrigues and court sion was but the affair of a moment. The courtiers cabals. A certain nobleman, [assan, had married of the khan followed his example, except one, who the beautiful Khatun; the en'amored king demanded promised to become a convert on one condition. her, for Mongol law obliged any individual to divorce "' Here," said he, " is a Mongol of extraordinary his wife if the sultan wished to espouse her. Khastrength; if the Mahometan throws him in wrestling, tun's father, the general-in-chief, would not consent I will embrace his religion." Being as well gifted to her repudiation, and removed her and her husband with sinews as with lungs, the missionary threw the from court. Being much beloved in Khorasan, the Mongol upon the floor, at the first onset. The efficacy general was able to raise a formidable army, with of this instruction instantly converted both the Tartar which he resisted the king —but unsuccessfully. He and his champion. took refuge with one who had formerly been his pupil, The Mongol Persian Empire commenced with Hoo- but who, not able to withstand the dazzling bribes ol lagoo. He was brother of Kublai, and was sent Abusaid, sent him his tutor's head. But what was the thither by their common brother, Mangoo, the traitor's surprise, when, on coming to receive his great khan, in 1251. Hoolagoo cleared North Persia reward, he found that Hassan had surrendered his of the Ismaelians,* alluded to in a previous chapter, by wife to the king, and that she had acquired an unlimexterminating those pests of mankina, in 1255. He ited ascendency over her new spouse. Instead of.subjected Iconium, took Bagdad, capturing the khalif, reward, he was well pleased to return home with his and possessed himself of Aleppo, Mosul, Damas- life. The king becoming jealous of Khatun, she poisoned Commonly called Assassins; they inhabited mountains him, in A. D. 1337. Abusaid's death gave occasion south-east of the Caspian, from Rhages to Khorasan; their for the ripening of disturbances - already but too conllives were devoted to the behests of a sheik, or old man of theand the breaking forth of plots and conspi mountain, who sent them far and wide to assassinate whom - he would. His chief abode was the Castle of Alatnont. on every side. The nobles fortified themselves in the Secure in the fastnesses of Mount Demavend, and in the devo- different provinces they ruled, or plundered and took tion of fanatic followers, these chiefs were long the terror of up arms against each other. But all these petty sover- Europe and Asia. An offset of forty thousand families, col- inties were absorbed iln that of Tarnerlane, which onized on Mount Lebanon, of similar tenets and'habits, were, desntroyed by the Mamelukes. See the HIistorv of the Assas- we proceed to sketch in the next chapter. sins_ p. 240....U..,.... TAMERLANE —HIS EARLY LIFE. 40' C H A P T E R C C X I. enemies the idea that his troops were numerous, and A. D. 1336 to 1369. he availed himself of the terror thus excited, and Tamerlane - His Birth, Childhood, Educa- made a bold and victorious charge. This fertility of tion a'd Early Exploits. expedients won confidence, and with his other qualition, anud Early E~tvploits. ties gained, him the strong personal affection of his "THE father of Tamerlane, or, as he is called by followers. his countrvmen, Timour," says a Persian author, "was To secure his inheritance, he was obliged to make the wise and virtuous prince Emir Tragai, and his alliance with Hussein, a neighbor chief. Both encoun. mother the chaste and beautiful Tekine Khatun, the teled extreme perils in the perpetual wals which lawful wife of the emir." He was born near his harassed the empire through the feuds and ambition tather's capital, Kech, (Tashkent,) called by his of the several chiefs. Timour bravely exposed himbiographer, a " delicious city," in A. D. 1336, under self in every engagement, but knew as well how to the reign of the Sultan Cazan, king of Zagatai. command as how to fight. He experienced every "Prince Timour's birth had been predicted to one of variety of fortune, -a conqueror, defeated, a prishis ancestors, in a dream, wherein eight stars seemed oner, released, wounded, fleeing almost alone through to shoot out of the sleeper, and the eighth cast so deserts,* reappearing with a few vagabond troops, great a splendor, that it enlightened the four quar- augmenting his forces, received in the great cities, or ters of the world; which was interpreted to mean that shut out with indignities, now on friendly terms, now a prince of his race should be born in the eighth at bitter feud with Hussein, his ally. In one of these generation, who should fill the world with the splendor contests he was wounded severely in the hand, and in of his virtues and conquests. Timour's horoscope, another in the foot, which gave him the sobriquet of which was drawn at the moment of his nativity, pre- Timur Lenk, that is, Timour the Lame, corrupted into dieted to him the crown and empire, with all manner Tamerlane. At length, he grew to be more powerful of prosperity, and a numerous issue." than his colleague, whose jealousy, avarice, and bad "This prince," adds the same writer,*" "from his qualities estranged the affection both of' his troops childhood showed himself likely to accomplish the and generals, while Timour's valor, aflfbility and equipredictions of his horoscope; for as soon as he attained ty captivated every heart. to the age of reason, something might be seen, in all Hussein, becoming jealous, attempted in every way his actions, which showed an air of sovereignty. He to put Timour in the wrong, and adopted such unjustifiwould talk of nothing but thrones and crowns; his able nieasures, that Timour felt obliged to declare favorite diversions represented the military art, in ar against him. Being taken prisoner in Balkh, and which he disposed of the youth who attended him as led to Timour, the recollection of their ancient frienda prince disposes of his subjects, raising to the highest ship melted his rival to tears, and he could only say, dignities those who appeared most deserving, and giv- "I renounce my right to his life." At despotic courts Ing to others the bare title of soldiers: he made fig- there are always those ready to execute the wishes ures of canes to represent the armies of the enemy, without waiting for the words of a king; some of and then attacked them with his troops, among whom these followed Hussein out and killed him. Tamerhe observed a military discipline."' lane was at last confirmed, by the khan of Zagatai. When he was more advanced in age, and capable in his hereditary principality of Kech, and intrusted of applying himself to the sterner exercises of the with a battalion of ten thousand horse. Not long body, "far from choosing those pleasures which most after; by an election to the office of khan, he found young persons fall into, as dancing and the like, himself at the head of an empire which he afterwhich rather effeminate than ennoble the mind, he ward augmented by victories that placed him among gave himself up to the science"'of arms." His chief the mostrenowned of conquerors. diversions were riding, racing, fencing, and such exer- Like all semi-barbarians and great conquerors, Tamcises. He was likewise often at the chase - the only erlane presented the loftiest virtues in close proximity to recreation he took after his continual fatigues. the most horrible vices; sublime justice side by side In these " noble exercises" Timour passed that part with atrocious oppression; winning and simple-hearted of his life which preceded his great and wonderful benevolence with cruelty worthy of a fiend; the tenactions, that is, from his tenth year till his twenty- derest natural affection with the most revolting and fifth, or thereabouts; for at that age, " ambition having unfeeling disregard of all domestic and social ties; i got lpossesslon of his heart, he began to despise dan- deep sense of humility, dependence, and piety, in the gers, to gain victories, and acquire the name of a:J'same heart with- the most self-sufficient arrogance togreat conqueror and intrepid hero." ward his fellow-creatures,- trampling on every thing Beirng drivetn from his inheritance, the principality they held dear, and causing, by his flagitious ambition, of Kech, while yet a youth, Tamerlane distinguished the violent deaths, with more or less of misery, of milhimself by his intrepidity in several petty encounters lions of the human race. Such" scourges of God as an adventurer, following his fortunes from place to place. He did his country good service by expel- * It is told of him, that once, after three times suffering most ling from it a powerful army of the Getes, who invad- disastrous defeats, fleeing for bare life, and abandoned by all, he had taken refuge, almost broken-hearted, in a ruined ed it from the north. With a mere handful of valiant building. Sunk in despondency, he was brooding over hid men, aided by the stratagem of numerous camp fires desperate fortunes, when his eye rested on an ant who was on the mountains, he defeated their vast army in a des- laboring to carry a grain to her magazine, up the opposite pelrate onset. On another occasion, he struck a panic "wall. Ninety-nine times had she essayed the labor,in vain, but at the hundredth persevering effort, she accomplished into his foes, and took a fortified city with a small her endeavor. The indomitable patience and perseverance sides of' their horses. The dust thus raised gave his agement of him who had empires at stake. He. rose from the ground, braced to new energy, a new man, hazarded the'.Sl.erefeddin Ali, of Yezd, and a contemporary. fortune of another battle, and was victorious. 8 1JT A M E R LA 4 E. nave not orderly, proportionate, and harmonious char- enemies the remark, prophetic of the future, ",Timou acters - and their mission is to reduce to chaos, not to is a wonderful man: fortune and the divine favor are evolve order; to destroy, overturn, and unsettle, that with him." Reduced to ten, his little band lost three, the foundations of future progress may be laid broader, more by desertion: he wandered in the desert, 11As deeper, and better. The elements being more diverse, plunged sixty-two days in a dungeon, swam the Oxus and embracing a greater multitude of particulars, may and led the life of an outlaw; but adversity taught himi thus contribute to a wider harmony and a higher valuable lessons. order of things. Returning to his native country, certain partisans The philanthropic mind needs some such consoling eagerly sought him, to join him in the desert. He previews to enable it to wade, with less disgust, through sented himself as a guide to three chiefs, and he thus the seasof blood and misery with which these fierce describes their recognition: " When their eyes feill upon and countless nomads of Asia have repeatedly flooded me, they were overwhelmed with joy; and they alighted the earth. Tamerlane entertained, and actually ex- from their horses; and they came and kneeled; and pressed, the idea, that it was " neither consistent nor they kissed my stirrup. I also came down from my proper that the earth should be shared between two mon- horse, and took each of them in my arms. And I put archs." His first object, therefore, was universal do- my turban on the head of the first chief; and my minion. To live in the memory and esteem of future girdle, rich in jewels and wrought with gold, I bound ages was his second wish; and this seems to have on the loins of the second; and the third I clothed been associated in his half-enlightened mind, with the in my own coat. And they wept, and I wept also, purpose of propagating what he conceived to be the and the hour of prayer was arrived, and we prayed. true religion. And we mounted our horses, and came to my dwell. Among the early exploits of Tamerlane, it is related ing; and I collected my people and made a feast." that once, after waiting in vain for confederates who The touching simplicity and natural pathos of this failed to join him, he fled from the hills of Samarcand narration is only equalled in Scripture. The scene into the desert, with only sixty horsemen. He was reminds one of Esau, Jacob, and Abraham, or of wvertaken and attacked by' a thousand Getes, whom he D)avid and Jonathan, in its patriarchal and primitive epulsed with incredible slaughter, and forced from his tone. ID OQg Oa, Bajazet and Tamerlane. C.II A r T E R c c~. ~offering of silks, horses, and jewels, composed, after CCRAPTERER.~ CCXI the Tartar custom, each of nine pieces; there were A. D. 1369 to A. D. 1405. but. eight slaves in the present. "I myself am the aerlne's Conuests-His Governent ninth," said the servile prince; and Tamerlane reTamnerlane's Conqutests —His Governmien t awarded the orientalism with a smile. and Death. The valiant prince of Fars, in.a battle under the T-,INERnLANE placed twenty-seven crowns upon his walls of Shiraz, broke the main body of the emperor's head successively, and made thirty-five campaigns. horse, thirty thousand strong,.with three or four thouOn:tte deanth of his khan, he was elected, as before sand soldiers. Tamerlane remained near the standard remarked, to the empire, by the couroultai or diet. with but fourteen or fifteen guards, where lie received He soon united to the patrimony of Zagatai, previously on his helmet two weighty strokes of a cimeter; but described, the dependent countries of Kharasm and hewasnot beaten down. His Mongols rallied,. and aftem Kandahar, and then turned to Persia. Since Abusaid's a severe struggle were victorious. The head of the brave death, that unhappy laud had been without a lawfu~l sov- prince of Fars was thrown at Tamerlane's feet, who ereign; indeed, for forty years, peace and justice had afterwards took care to extirpate the prince's family - been banished from its borders.. Its petty tyrants were every male of so formidable a race! Advancing to the conquered in detail. One of them brought his peace- Persian Gulf, the conqueror compelled ()rtnuz, the islanc CONQUESTS OF''AMERLANE. -409 queen of commerce, to pay annually six hundred thou- employed fire, a ditch of iron spikes, and a rampart of sand dinars of gold. The plains and valleys of Tigris bucklers, to allay the uneasiness of.the troops; but the and Euphrates were subdued, and the rest of the country Mongols soon learned to smile at their own fears, and as far north as Caucasus, and west to Lebanon and the as soon as these unwieldy animals were routed, the men Othmans. disappeared from the field. Delhi was given to pillage On the side of Tartary, Tamerlane passed the Jax- and massacre; Tamerlane advanced one hundred artes, adding a broad strip of territory, north of it, to his miles to the north-east, and passed the Ganges; his domains, by conquering a large part of Kipzak. On return route was along the northern hills. the side of Cashgar, he subdued that kingdom, marching Among the incidents of this wanton inroad, in which seven times into the heart of the country, and once millions perished, it is related that a city of the (Ghenearly fifteen hundred miles to the north-east of Samar- bers, or fire-worshippers, was bargaining for its rancand. On this side lay the Ouigoor kingdom, which, somr; but during the delay, a breach in the walls was with that of Thibet, south of it, separated his empire effected, through which the ruthless troops entered. from the Ming empire of China, and the remnant of The dispersed Ghebers themselves set fire to their that of the Mongols to the north of China. houses, threw their wives, their children, and all their The contest with the Kipzak empire is interesting. wealth into the flames, and perished to the last man, Tamerlane had protected its fugitive prince, and re- bravely defending themselves on the smoking ruins stored him to his throne; but the prince, after ten Such was the fanatical butchery practised upon these years, forgot these benefits, and marched against the ancient sectaries, the Ghebers, that it seemed a hunt. "usurper of the rights of the house of Zingis," as he rather than a war. Those who fled to the mountains called his benefactor. On the west of the Caspian, he and caverns, where they thought themselves inaccesentered Persia through the gates of Derbend, with sible, were dismayed to see wooden trunks suspended ninety thousand horse. On the east of that sea and to iron chains at the entrance of their retreats, pouring the Aral, gathering together the innumerable forces of forth fierce soldiers, who pursued them into the darkKipzak, Bulgaria, Circassia, and Russia, he passed the ness of their caves with relentless carnage. Jaxartes, burned the palaces of Tamerlane, and com- Previous to the battle at Delhi, Tamerlane was pelled him, amid the snows of winter, to contend for told that his camp was filled with prisoners, chiefly Samarcand and his life. After a mild. expostulation, Ghebers and idolaters, - the garrisons of the cities lhe continues a historian, and a glorious victory, Tamer- had taken, —who, during the engagement, might lane resolved on revenge; and by the east and the west escape to the enemy. "Let them be put to death,' of the Caspian and the Volga, he twice invaded Kipzak said this devout butcher of his race; and in less than with such a mighty army, that thirteen miles were inceas- an hour, upwards of one hundred thousand wretched ured from his' right to his left wing. In a march of five victims were massacred. It is scarcely possible to months, they rarely beheld the footsteps of man; and conceive of the prodigious booty amassed by this unir,their daily subsistence was often trhsted to the fortune "'terrupted plunder and devastation of the richest country of the chase. in the world. Every soldier was loaded with diamonds At length, the armies met: the standard-bearer of and jewels, and dragged in his train a multitude of Kipzak treacherously reversed the imperial standard, slaves, of which the meanest in the ranks claimed some thus discouraging his troops, and Tamerlane was victo- scores. rious. Thus, in the words of the conqueror, did the Insurrections in Persia called Tamerlane away from Kipzak prince give the tribe of the son of Zingis' to the further prosecution of this ghazi, or " holy war," the winds of desolation." After burning several cap- as he termed it, his antagonists being chiefly non-Maitals, taking prisoner a duke of Russia, terrifying Mos- hometans. After quelling the disturbances in Persia, cow and Novgorod, and reducing Azof to ashes, the he marched to other religious massacres in Georgia. Mongols returned loaded with an immense spoil of Here his conscience did not oblige him to make nice precious furs, linens, and ingots of gold and silver. distinctions, as all were Christians, and therefore proper (A. D. 1383.) victims. His soldiery scoured the rocks and caverns" In 1398, Tamerlane proposed to invade India. His of Georgia, in chase of the Christians, as they had'.oldiers murmured against the dangers and hardships already hunted down the Ghebers, and with the same Df such a campaign; and talked with fear of the success. Tired with murderous brutality, the devastar' ivers, mountains, deserts, soldiers in armor, ele- tors at last accepted tribute, instead of exterminating phants, destroyers of men." But the frown of their their opponents. The whole territory of Georgia would' emperor was more terrible than all these, and he knew have bowed to the yoke, had not a quarrel, rather of' the real weakness and anarchy of Hindostan. The pique than interest, made Tamerlane turn his ban — invading army had ninety-two squadrons of horse, and ners against Bajazet, emperor of the Turks. moved in three divisions. In crossing'the Hindoo He first, however, entered Syria, and, with the Mountains, at their terrible pass, multitudes of men and slaughter of hundreds of thousands of human beings,. horses perished in the snow. At five several places, destroyed Damascus, and made himself master, of.he emperor was let down a precipice on a portable Bagdad. These transactions we have elsewhere al-; scaffold, by ropes one hundred and fifty cubits long. luded to. The soldiers were commanded to bring each Crossing the Indus at Attok, he advanced by a cir- of them a head: towers of human heads were then -ultous route to Delhi, a great city, which had flour- constructed here, as had been the barbarian's custom ished for three centuries under Mahometan kings. elsewhere. At one time, he precipitated four thousand'rhe weak sultan was inveigled from his strong castle soldiers, together with their horses, into the moat of a jrnd city, and came out into the plain with ten thousand city he had taken,'who were all buried alive. In an cuirassiers, forty thousand foot guards, and one hundred expedition against the Getes, he once took two thou and twenty elephants, whose tusks were armed with sand prisoners, and had thetam piled upon one another snarp and pointed daggers. Against these,Tamerlane alive, with bricks and mortar between. to constructl i _.~~_ ——, —-— _-~- ---- — ) 410 CRUELTIES —TAMERLANE'S MAGNIFICENCE. towers. This horrible species of cruelty was not in- Both these victorious barbarians were but too much frequent with him. alike in arrogance and ruthless ambition. Ispahan, in which were reckoned a million of inhab- T.he forces of Bajazet consisted of four hundred I Itants, having rebelled, he issued a mandate, ordering thousand horse and foot, among whom were forty the massacre of all the population, except those who thousand Janizaries, a large body of national cavalry, had saved the lives of some of his soldiers. To insure twenty thousand cuirassiers of Europe, clad in black the execution of this sanguinary edict, each company and impenetrable armor; the troops of Anatolia, and a was obliged to furnish a stated number of heads. The colony of Tartars driven from Kipzak by Tamerlane. troops bought them of each other to complete their The army was posted in the plain near Siwas. Tamercontingent. So many were slaughtered, that at last, lane moved from the Araxes through Armenia: his boldheads were sold for a trifling sum. ness was secured by the wisest precautions; his speed According to the register of the divan, seventy was guided by order and discipline; and the woods, thousand heads were thus procured, and were the mountains, and the rivers were diligently explored' employed with stones and mortar, as building by the flying squadrons, who marked his road, and materials for towers in various parts of the city. preceded his standard. He avoided Siwas, and, I At the taking of Aleppo, the tale of heads for marching to the heart of the Ottoman empire, invested building towers was required; the streets streamed Angora. Bajazet hastened to meet him, and the im- I with blood, and reechoed to the shrieks of violated patient rivals joined battle in the plains around the i maidens, and the cries of mothers and children. All city. but one family, and a colony of artificers sent to The result of this mighty contest we have already Samarcand, were massacred at the taking of Da- stated, in another place. Tamerlane triumphed, and mascus, through shameless perfidy; ten millions of for this signal victory he was indebted to himself, to gold were exacted, and the city reduced to ashes. On the genius of the moment, and the discipline of thirty I the ruins of Bagdad a pyramllid of ninety thousand years. He had improved the tactics, without violating heads was erected. the manners of' his nation, whose force still consisted Yet Tamerlane was not all savage. An historian in the missile weapons and rapid evolutions of a remarks of him, that he took great delight in seeing numerous cavalry. From a single troop to a great his army recreating themselves in games and festivals, army, the mode of attack was the same: a foremost for whole days together, after victory. He then would line first advanced to the charge, and was supported, reward his generals with vests of honor and jewels, in a just order, by the squadrons of the great vanguard. warmly interest himself in their happiness, be pres- The general's eye watched over the field, and at his ent at their weddings, and in any prosperity attendant command, the front and rear of the right and lefi on himself, receive their felicitations with marks of sen- wings successively moved forward in their several sibility. On his sister's congratulating him at the birth divisions, and in a direct or oblique line; the enemy of a grandson, he gave a splendid feast at his capital, was pressed by eighteen or twenty attacks, and each Samareand. The tents occupied a space of six miles; attack afforded a chance of victory. If they all his pavilion, placed beneath a canopy supported by forty proved fruitless or unsuccessful, the occasion was columns, was as spacious as a palace. When all was worthy of the emperor himself, who gave the signal prepared, the emperor advanced, with the crown of advancing to the standard and main body, which he encircling his brow, and the sceptre in his hand, and led in person. But in the battle of Angora, the main seated himself, on a throne raised in the middle of his body itself was supported, on the flanks and in the tent, and ornamented with precious stones. rear, by the bravest squadrons of the reserve, comA great number of the most beautiful females of manded by the sons and grandsons of Tamerlane. Asia, shaded with veils of gold brocade studded with "In that day, Bajazet displayed the qualities of a;ewels, filled the two sides of the throne. The musi- soldier and a chief; but his genius sunk under a cians occupied two rows: nine stewards holding golden stroiger ascendant;" and from various motives the maces, preceded the courses, and were followed by cup- greater part of his troops failed him at the decisive bearers, holding decanters containing red wine, white moment. In his right wing the cuirassiers of Europe wine, wine of Shiraz, Mazanderan, and Kozroan, and charged, with faithful hearts and irresistible arms; brandy as clear as rock water. The multitude of but these men of iron were soon broken by an artful lovely women, whose braided hair reached the ground, flight and headlong pursuit, and the Janizaries alone, gave additional lustre to the assembly. The festival without cavalry or missile weapons, were encompassed ended with shows and dances. as by a circle of Mongol hunters. Their valor was During the diversion of the Mongol arms - after the at length oppressed by heat, thirst, and the weight of I destruction of Bajazet's city of Siwas- toward Syria numbers; and the unfortunate Bajazet, afflicted with and Arabia, the Turkish emperor, who had been the gout in his hands and feet, was transported from besieging Constantinople, had two years to collect his the field on the fleetest of his horses. He was purforces for the final encounter. In Tamerlane's first sued and taken, as we have elsewhere related in the expedition, he and cBajazet had addressed to each other a history of the Turks. greatdeal of irperial billingsgate and bravado, in which The kingdom of Anatolia submitted; the usual the Mongol calls the Ottoman 1' nothing but aTurkman," scenes of rapine and destruction were enacted on all. and himself, a Turk; bids him " be wise in time, re- sides. The spoil of the palace and city of Brusa was fleet, repent, and avert the thunder of our vengeance. immense; the royal treasure was carried into Europe Thou ant," he exclaims, "why wilt thou seek to by Bajazet's son: the inhabitants had fled. The provoke elephants? They will trample thee under buildings, mostly of wood, were burnt. Smyrna. thleir eet." Bajazet rerlies still more indecorously, obstinately defended by the knights of Rhodes, was i ann makes domestic allusions, which are considered taken by storm, by Tamerlane himself. All tha. I trh most degrading insult and unpardonable offence. breathed were put to the sword, and the beadls of the DEATH OF TAMERLANE. 411) Christian heroes were launched from the engines, on vellous pageant, with the materials of its peculia: board two great ships in the harbor. Turks and Chris- art.* tians combined to hold the Straits of the Dardanelles and After the marriage contracts had been ratified by Bosphorus against the passage of Tamerlane; but from the cadis, the bridegrooms and their brides retired to the Irtysh and Volga to the Persian Gulf, and from their nuptial chambers: nine times, according to the the Ganges to Damascus and the Archipelago, Asia Asiatic fashion, they were dressed and undressed; and was in his power. at each change of apparel, pearls and rubies were Some assert that Bajazet was put into an iron cage, showered on their heads,t and abandoned, with magand thus carried round in triumph, wherever his con- nificent indifference, to their attendants. A general querormarched. Thisopinion has been alreadyalluded indulgence was proclaimed; every law was relaxed, to. Others profess to record the high respect, kind every pleasure was allowed. The proclamation of treatment, and soothing words of Tamerlane to him, the emperor went forth -" This is the season of feasts, with a promise to reinstate him in yet ampler domin- of pleasure, and of rejoicing. No one is allowed to ions -a purpose frustrated, it is said, by Bajazet's un- dispute or reprimand. Let not the rich exult over the timely death. The conqueror seems at first, in the poor, nor the powerful over the weak. Let no one complacency of victory, to have uttered noble senti- ask his neighbor, Why hast thou acted thus?" The ments and made lagnanimous promises; but the festival continued two months; the people were free; unreasonable alrogance of Bajazet appears to have the sovereign was idle; and after devoting fifty years alienated him - united, as we have elsewhere related, to tile attainment of empire, the only happy period of with the complaints of the princes whom he had his life was, probably, these two months, in which he oppressed, and whom Tamerlane restored to their suspended the exercise of his power. lawful sovereignties. The captive's attempt to escape But he was soon awakened to the cares of governny mining under the tent, might, in their constant ment and war. The standard was unfurled for the march, have seemed to require even an iron cage, or a invasion of China; the emirs made their report of two wagon, for security. hundred thousand troops in arms, the select and vetSolyman, son of Bajazet, -at this time king of Ro- eran soldiers of Persia and Turkestan. Their bagmania, in Europe, - and the Greek emperor, both paid gage and provisions were transported by five hundred tribute, took investiture from, and swore allegiance to great wagons, and an immense train of horses and cam Tamerlane. The sultan of Egypt submitted, and els. The troops were prepared for a long absence, coin was struck and prayers were said for the con- for it was a six months' journey of a caravan from queror, at Cairo. This indefatigable man now medi- Samarcand to Pekin; and it is said that an army of tated, in his camp at Smyrna, the conquest of China, one million two hundred thousand men was gathered at the other end of Asia! By filling that empire with for the mighty enterprise. mosques, and drenching it with heathen blood, the Neither age nor the severity of winter could retard fanatical hero hoped to atone for the Moslem blood he the impatience of Tamerlane; he mounted on horsehad shed, and smooth his path to heavenly bliss. back, passed the Jaxartes on the ice, marching three While he was still in Asia Minor, he sent forward hundred miles from his capital, and pitched his last pioneers beyond the Jaxartes, to subdue the pagan camp in the vicinity of Otrar, " where he was exKalmucks and Mongols, found cities ahd magazines in pected by the angel of death." Fatigue and the the desert, and prepare his road through Central indiscreet use of iced water, accelerated the progress Asia. of a fever, with which he was seized, and the conAfter the war with Bajazet, Tamerlane returned queror of Asia expired, in the seventieth year of his once more to his capital, Samarcand. Here he dis- age —thirty-five years after he had ascended the plaved, in a short repose, his magnificence and power; throne of Zagatai, A. D. 1405' His designs were listened to the complaints of the people; distributed a lost, his armies were disbanded, China was saved. just measure of rewards and punishments; employed As to his personal habits, Tamerlane was fond of his riches in building palaces and temples; and gave chess, and invented a new game. He was also fond audience to the ambassadors of Egypt, Arabia, India, of reading, especially history. His custom was to Tartary, Russia, and Spain, A. D. 1404, 1405. The converse for a while, every evening, with men of literemperor now occupied himself with the marriage of ature and information, whose company he prized. six of his grandsons; and this being esteemed an act He saw to all details, and left nothing to others that he of religion, as well as of paternal tenderness, the could attend to himself. His memory was so retenpomp of the ancient khalifs was revived in their nup- tive, that his minute questionings, as to different tials. On this occasion, the nobility and people of Asia crowded to its centre - the city of Samarcand. * Shops were erected, furnished with whatever was The nuptials were celebrated in the gardens of Car- most rare; and amphitheatres, covered with brocades and ighul, decorated with inumerable tents and pavilions, Persian carpets,' were filled with dancers and musicians. Every trader appeared with the attributes of his profession, and in suitable disguise. Butchers were dressed in the skins spoils of a victorious camp. Whole forests were cut of beasts; and under a farcical accoutrement- furriers asleopdown to supply fuel for the kitchens; the plain was ards, lions, tigers, foxes, &c., each aiming to excel in his pecuspread with pyramids of meat, and vases of every liar way. The upholsterers appeared aspainted calicoes; th: iiquor, to which thousands of guests were courteously cotton-workers as aminaret extremelylofty, whichmighthave iquor, >...been taken for a building of bricks; saddlers as litters; the invited; the orders of the stare and the nations of the fruit-sellers as portable gardens, abounding with pistachic earth, including the ambassadors of Europe, were nuts, almonds, pomegranates. There was not any animal, marshalled at the royal banquet. The public joy was not even the elephant, which was not imitated by machinery. testified by illuminations and masquerades; the trades o This sprinkling of jewels over the person was an lct,I o amacn pse i rve. an evr trd w of respect usual on the return of a prince, to give him wellof Samarcand passed in review; and every trade was come. It was also practised as an act of homage, on visitintg ei uloUOsl to execute some quaint device, some mar- a superior, and at the coronation of sovereilgns. 412 PERSON OF TAMERLANE -'rHE TARTAR RACE. circumstances and persons, — on revisiting Lhe great this line, all are nomads; there is little or no culture variety of places that he passed through,- astonished and but two towns appear. After a few general rethose who knew the vastness of his affairs. He omitted marks upon these two modes of Tartar life, the settled no opportunity of doing honor to the tomb of a saint, and the pastoral, noticing some peculiarities of each, or a relic, either from policy to secure to himself the we shall glance at the government, religion, and comveneration of the masses, or - which is quite as prob- merce of Tartary. A tabular view of the migrations, able - from a strong native tinge of superstition in his empires, and position of the various tribes who have own mind. figured on this broad theatre will then be presented; In person, Tamerlane was corpulent and robust, of and our history of Tartary will be concluded with an advantageous height, and well made. He had a high some general reflections on the past and future of that forehead, large head, and an engaging air; a ruddy, important, though neglected, portion of our globe. fair complexion, a long beard, broad shoulders, "' thick The settled Tartars are found chiefly south of the fingers," and long legs. He was lame, both in his right Jaxartes and of the Celestial Mountains, beside those hand and foot, from wounds. His eyes, though not south of the great wall, who, having become Chinese, are brilliant, were full of fire. His voice was loud and sufficiently described elsewhere. We have seen that piercing. "Never a prince," says his biographer, towns and settled agriculturists have characterized "carried a more majestic and terrible air in his wrath, these regions from the earliest ages. Submerged for nor yet a more sweet and agreeable one when he was a time, by each successive wave of barbarism, pleased to bestow his favors." these communities have raised their heads again after Even in old age, he retained a sound mind, a strong the flood has passed. But so many have been these body, a great share of firmness, and an unshaken conquests, that the inhabitants have become a minconstancy. The judicial formula he adopted was, gled race, who, as a conquered people, have been "By virtue of, the laws of Zingis Khan:" for him he named, in general, tajiks, that is" tributaries,"- a name had the greatest veneration. He loved the truth with- which has become equivalent to burgesses or citizens. out disguise, even though it were to his disadvantage. As a race, all these nations have some common charThe motto of his seal was, " I am simple and sin- acteristics, and there seems to have been as the' basis cere."' His equality of soul was undisturbed either of all the communities a peculiar and almost aboriginal in prosperity or misfortune." But it requires a larger people. compass than this succinct history, to do justice to this This peculiar people —sometimes called Bukhars, extraordinary man, painted in such contrasted colors and who, unlike the rest of the Tartars, are not divided by friendly or hostile hands, and whose career in- into tribes - are characterized as of good stature, and volved the violent death, it is believed, of ten or twelve rather fair for the climate. The generality have large, millions of his fellow-beings. Of one thing, it is sparkling, black eyes; an aquiline nose; a wellasserted, he might boast -that, at his accession to the formed countenance; very fine, black hair; a bushy throne, Asia was the prey of anarchy and rapine; beard; in fine, they are quite exempt from the dewhile, under his prosperous monarchy, a child, fearless formity of the Tartars, amongst whom they live. The and unhurt, might carry a purse of gold from the women, for the most part, are tall, and have beautiful east to the west. features and c9mplexions. The difference between Whatever were the blessings of Tamerlane's ad- the dress of the two sexes is inconsiderable: they ministration, they ceased with his life. Among his both wear long robes; but those of the females are thirty-six sons and seventeen daughters and their chil- always the most ornamented. The:r religion is the. dren, not one was found equal to the task of governing Mahometan. They chiefly subsist by commerce and the empire. His son Charoc alone upheld its glory for trade. They never embarrass themselves either with a time; but on his death, scenes of darkness and blood war or politics, but leave those points to the Usbecks were renewed, such as from time immemorial have in- and Kalmucks, contenting themselves with paying their volved the destinies of Tairtary. Before the end of a taxes; on which account the Tartars despise them, century, Transoxiana and Persia (Touran and Iran) and treat them as a simple, pusillanimous people. were ravaged by the Usbecks from the north, and the Their origin is unknown: they report themselves to Turcomans of the Black and White Sheep. Tamer- have emigrated from a very distant country. Hence lane's race would have been extinct, if a hero - his they might be thought to be the descendants ofcaptives descendant in the fifth degree - had not fled before the transplanted to these regions by primeval conquerors Usbeck arms to the conquest of Hindostan. The beyond the-reach of tradition. The superior intellisuccessors of this individual, "the Grand Moguls," gence of the race is indicated by the fact that their ruled from Cashmere to Cape Comorin, and from Per- cities, from time immemorial, have been the resorts of sia to Farther India. Their annals form the subject Turks and Tartars for instruction, and the foci of of succeeding chapters. Asiatic learning. The eastern Tajiks, or Bukhars, are no less interesting. Something has been said of their manners and dress; and of their cities of Cashgar, Yarkand, Khotan, &c. The roving conquerors, become peaceful HAPTE C X I I I. governors and magistrates of these towns, learned that General Views of Tartary. other arts were of value besides those of wa.-, and turned their energies into new channels. Thus have ON a retrospective view of Tartary and the Tartars, the Bukhar, the Chinese, the Hindoo, the Arab, the a broad distinction strikes the mind at once. Southof Syrian and the Greek, elevated and civilized the a line drawn from the Yellow Sea, along the Chinese Turk, Scythian, or Tartar, of whatever name; while wall, and extended to the Caspian, we find the nomadic the latter have inoculated the antiquated and worn-out mingled with the agricultural and city life; north of or effeminate framework of southern society —stiff 'THE TARTAR RACE. 41- l ened by age or corrupted by luxury-with the free- rosy countenances, and the richness of their dresses. born pulses of the wilderness. Their robes were of beautiful blue satin, their caps of The true Tartar countenance - Mongol, Kalka, sable, and their silken zones were interwoven ivithb Eleut, or Kalmuck - has a national character distin- silver, and adorned with large cornelians, with which guishing it from every other. A middle stature, but even their saddles were decorated. thickset aiid robust; a long head; flat visage; an olive T'he chief and only city of a vast extent of country or copper colored complexion; animated black eyes, is Ourga, which has already been described. Like the extremely sunk, and by much too far asunder; a well- ancient capital, Karakorum, it is a village of tents, formed mouth; small teeth, of an ivory whiteness; a with a few wooden buildings. In literature, the Tarcrushed nose, almost on a level with the rest of the face, tar has little or nothing but songs, and the theoshowing only two immensely wide nostrils; large flat logical books of Thibet. As to government, the best ears; black hair, coarse as a horse's mane, which is idea of the political constitution of the Mongols, Kalkept close shaved, except one lock on the top of the mucks, and Kirghis is given to the reader, when he is head that is suffered to grow;- these features, softened told that it resembles that of the kingdoms of Europe in the female, constitute what is considered a hand- in the middle ages. some Tartar couple. Like most barbarous tribes, the Tartars had - and The pastoral life is the one most characteristic of some of the ruder hordes have still a religion, Tartary. Of the purely nomadic tribes, the Turco- which, like the Fetishism of Africa, worships remarkamans and Kirghis, on the west, have been sufficiently ble objects in nature, such as kindle affection or excite noticed, (pp. 378,379,) as also the Usbecks the latter fear. Sometimes horrible rites form part of the worchiefly settled as rulerv over the southern countries of ship. The priests, who are conjurers and jugglers, Independent Tartary. Some few Usbecks, we believe, are called Shamans, and pretend to magic. The Tarmust still be classed among the nomads. Whether tar religion, called Shamanism, is said to be a modificastationary or roving, the Usbecks are esteemed the tion of Buddhism. Lamaism is, however, the chief most civilized of the Mahometan races of Tartary, religion of the Mongols: this is: described in our history though still addicted to their ancestral practices of rob- of Thibet. The faith of Independent Tartary is bery and slave trading. chiefly Mahometanism, and its professors are quite For the true picture of nomadic life, however, we bigoted. must pass into Mongolia, where it is seen in all its un- In most parts of Tartary, plundering forays have sophisticated freedom. The Kalmucks,'who, in the been exchanged for the peaceful march of caravans. time of their empire, ruled in the cities of Peloo and Russia and China are putting the restless nomads to Nanloo, as they still do under the Chinese, have their best use, by making them carriers of merchandise. already been sufficiently noticed, at pp. 384, 385. The caravan trade of Tartary is very active. Its great They seem to have been undergoing, for some ages, routes are from Orenburg, through Bokhara, to Persia the civilizing process, through the influence of the and India from Bokhara, thrdugh Yarkand, to Chiaonquered nations, and intercourse with the two great na; fronm Goulja to'the north and west; and also south. empires of Russia and China. Their two chief cities through Aksou to Khotan, and thence to Thibet and alre Ooroomtsi and Goulja; the latter is the Chinese cap- India. In short, caravan routes cross Tartary in every ital of the whole of this western country, called New direction. Chinese custom-houses, provided with revFrontier, by Kien-long, emperor of China, after he enue officers, collect the duties on the Chinese frontier. had conquered it in 1758. Beside the moneys of Russia and China, Tartary has Among the Kalka and Shara Mongols, travellers a currency of its own. This consists of brick-shaped show us pleasing pastoral scenes, which rival the de- bundles of tea, made by mixing the sweepings of scriptions of the poets. The tents of the patriarchs are the tea factories of China with a glutinous substance seen upon the broad plain, or the sunny slope, which pressing them into shape, and drying them in ovens is enlivened by herds of camels, horses, oxen, sheep, Pounded to powder, and mingled in boiling water with and goats. The camp of the chief, intersected like the salt, flour, and milk, it is a universal beverage of Tardifferent quarters of a town, and formed of tents, over- tary. Hence its use as currency. spread with a strong, close kind of cloth, variegated To conclude our history of the Tartars, it only rewith the most lively tints, presents a very agreeable mains to give a rapid sketch of the conquests lately spectacle. The women are sometimes lodged in small made and still held by the Chinese. In 1410, Youngwooden houses, which, in a few -minutes, may be lo, emperor of China, marched, at the head of five taken to pieces and packed in a cart, whenever they hundred thousand men, against Oloutai, who had wish to decamp.'rhe Tartar of the desert has many assassinated the khan of the Mongols, taken his place, pleasing traits of manners. The mode of salutation and defeated a Chinese general commanding one hunamong the wild horsemen of the steppes is singular dred thousand horsemen. These Mongols were the and striking. As he approaches, he alights, bends his same nation that had lately been expelled from the left knee, sets his right arm akimbo, and touching the government of China. This prince, Oloutai, gave name elbow with the left hand, exclaims, Amour, that is, to the Eleuts, and, on becoming khan, took the " peace," " tranquillity." The appearance of a chief of name of BouniachLiri. T'he Chinese emperor defeated two thousand families, travelling from the banks of the his enemies, and drove them far west; but, attempting Selinga, is a fine picture, as described by a traveller. to cross the desert in pursuit of a division of them, he He was surrIun ded by the Mongols of his chieftaincy Ilost many troops, and was unable to find the foe. armed with bows and arrows - and was accompanied In 1449, Esen, a Mongol, defeated five hundred byv his mother, wife, and younger brother, his sisters, thousand Chinese, led by the emperor, whose minand a numerous suite, all mounted on fine horses. isters and generals all perished in the battle. InThis troop was distinguished by its splendid appearance; vasions, with various success, make up the Mongoi ~te womenr in particular, were remarkable for their annals of this period. The several tribhrs successivelb 414. TARTARS-ETHNICAL VIEW OF TARTARY. submitted to Veu-tfi, emperor of the Manchoos, about After Eastern Turkestan had been conquered by the year 1634. In 1677, Galdan, prince of the Eleuts, Kien-long, in 1757, the Soongarians were extermipillaged and laid waste the north-west countries. nated; no less than a million being put to death Khanghai, emperor of China, under pretence of recon- during the war. Their province was now called il., ciling the tribes, interfered in their disputes, and in and, being inhabited partly by agriculturists, removed 1691, the Kalkas submitted, and every tribe paid the from China and Eastern Turkestan, it serves as cantribute of the nine whites, as they called it, namely, tonments for the Manchoo soldiers. These, united eight white horses and a white camel, which has been to the Solons and Mongols, under the command of a paid ever since. This commences a new epoch for general-in-chief, firm the Chinese army of observation the Mongols, who gave in their adherence to the em- against Russia and the Kirghis hordes. pire, one tribe after another, and were located with In order to give the reader, at a glance, a key to the fixed boundaries by the court of Pekin. The Mongols foregoing history of Tartary, we have prepared the are thus divided into one hundred and forty-one ban- following table of its various tribes, empires, and ners, which are now supposed to number two million nations, at several different epochs. souls. Historical and Ethnographical Table of Tartary. Districts.,.ilct. People.I 104A.II o~e~e~ Present Nesmes. A. D. 1725.'' A. D. 1479. A. D.. A. D. 1368 A. D. 1200. 126. A. D. Ii A. D. 1000. A. D. A. D. 635. A. Ancily. Present Acety Nam~Petes. Finnish Ki~r:__gi~~ti.-,.f~ (Polowtzes Independent Chinese tribens sAlans, l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~l. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ nie ilal.....t.m s rcs.''.kitai oei-hoo [.fgetw. KIRSHIS Consacks Kirglis Usbecks........Kipzak empire Kipzab...pire.'.....~and Ker..- tribes and... in 86= Citeitse'...n... Mas..a-'(Zagatai o er empire Usbehs J K Mongols, Kindepa cogm of Kkisaten i t....e oI-s and MOD&OIS - - t. Kmharism' ~ Fi. KHIVA and M. wKhran'n'M......hr/....'~~~ti sia uth Turcomans harismi. ti si m |Bactrians iALKI Persians Persians K.oras.......ind...........o o iinm...............o....We em I 11, ofiite pire So-dia.. s, Empire 0 a-iti 3Hoe 1q.jnr Yr KHOTAN aTOr..g.dians'a r.Mongols, Empire of e ).Kar H o iPar.......eel. and Turks, F. a Zoi e epr r-~ek......Tamerl..."ane empire Iempire d'Yetac emiand BulIhars, of Bo.- E.ei CAR edeo a2Mwa ~ahr. Zag o nu piro-e of r3ythillrian's; Torc inans shea -hac'd, e.i........aZageatp empire..........ati -ie la'ran. I,, 4.. ErV-rki~tai E CHARIA Bad akl n audekslsan a aite ParJanaaloei o.... I i. actrianreo Turcomnans s and and Par- s Bolor dkslan.....Za-atai empire "...................izne pire. it} c~ I~~~~ Clhinese ernpire of = Kirghis, 1(The Ouirat......................................... Kara-ltai Kiris thelti S00NGARIA Kall....k, e'r S00N1ARIA Kalhricks, tribes, I s empire d ynsd other u ty Jouon- end or PELOO Chinese, aned Kind..................... t ribes.... obscre Mixed tribes K lof sar i "oori.r [~~~~~~~ [aan emLie or'6%!iiui...... ~o,..... ~ I I~ t I Eleut Bishbalik Z LITTLE BU- A n[irol~ersions Et[piro. Bis[ihelik bine empire j Nations at LITTLE BU ~ Empire.' empiret Za.t~a: e.. e.........;".." [; A. Kara-kitai.................... Na~tion at kenAt, on r Ancient Pers, ians' t of b. an Eleut tribes Kdlm. of Kaitdon.cs r ~ troles in CHARIAn or tribatery te Kieghie eribee melllutice or or Bukhars, [l [ Kingdomis Ili,,c oa ~r Eastern Tar- I (~_q [ Tamerlo, Turses, of CasaKbk 1 r, Ee t K a-ribr i..y kcestan, or..... Chinlese ur- Kalmucks, of hotan of. Kbu h o ur..i-l-l, i......... to Chiut. kestan, or Chinese, of m. a of Hhotan i HioVarious{ Mongols joH tribes Kdm. ofliami o c (O.ioor Ouigoo v u.doms ~~~~~ieNanls'' m io uooriem g O i. dnL, t Ieri empirems [ tribes" )......... 1n~ Chinese enl'p.?,:l Kalkosthern Yuene le MONGOLIA SkrsMongol Mon o Norte... an MONGOLIA Sharas, tr triiiZs eteepire; Eup......................................... Kalmucks s from Churn Moeol Chinesefro an. Mong-ol Chi...... Manchos e or Yeaten, j (Empi ire o f Kitaln or................... Ki, or A a- iao em[~empire...{',P'`,0I I P~ ~' ~(Tungouse, Empire of Kub- toun Khan pire f'ul]empirr~n~e. JN. Kite,[ea i Al- [lao oeec-I' kotegoses, Tunouse Northern i................t............... Cty.o Tugoee MANCHOORIA M.an.hoe,. M..echoo at nc. Mtan- Yueen, ned sand Mok-r tribes ciod tribes Aquatic Tar-..................................................hy tribes ~ k tars - We have thus given the historyof Tartary with some future, we may anticipate the time when, through minuteness of detail, because this wide region has been Russian power, European civilization shall be extendat all times the great nursery of nations - the armory' ed to Eastern and Northern Tartary, and, through the of divine Providence, whence were drawn the weap- channels of trade, pervade all the countries lying becns for the destruction of corrupt, worn-out, or imbe- tween the empire of the czar and the vast Oriental cile nations - the great store house of materials for possessions of the English. Our own frontier, too, has the reconstruction of new empires, nations, or commu- been removed two thousand miles nearer to Asia, and nities, who should carry forward the progress of the the power of steam has shortened the distance one human race to higher and still higher standards of half to Siberia, Tartary, Japan, and China. With the character, activity, and usefulness. HIere originated coming age, then, what a glorious field for American the destroyers of the African, Assyrian, Indian, Grecian, enterprise may we not anticipate will be opened upon Roman, and Chinese civilizations, and the regenerators the western shores of the Pacific, to our brethren of of China, Hindostan, Persia, and Europe. Here we that part of our empire which lies on the eastern perceive, at one view, nations in all stages of progress, shores of that boundless sea! Placed as we are, the from the savage to the Christian. It is particularly central nation between the two populous and wealthy interesting to behold here the prototypes of the in- extremes of the old world, the relations of our couindians of the United States, whose manners bear so try, we may readily perceive, are attaining a breadth'itrong a resemblance to those of the ancient and pres- and grandeur capable of tasking the mightiest intellhci. ent ruder tribes of Tartary. Looking forward into the and the widest philanthropy. THE' GRAND MOUULS-BABER. 415 W1:e Tnolnll dlnmrP1 C H A P T E I, C C X I XT Baber was the son of the sovereign of two kingdoms - A. D. 1413 to 1555. in Western Tartary, called Fergcana and Indija. This sovereign was great-great-grandson of Tamerlane. The Mogul Empire - Baber - Hutmaioon He called Baber to the throne at the age of twelve, Shere - Selim - Death of Humaioon. and the history of this prince's youth is extremely roDURING the fifteenth century, a brilliant offset firom mantic. At his father's death, which happened soon he widely-scattered fragments of the Tartar empires after, Baber's uncles besieged the capital, to take it transplanted itself upon the genial soil of Hindostan, from him; but a pestilence broke up their army. Hayoccupying very nearly the whole peninsula. Here it ing subdued several rebellious governors, the boy king ong attracted the admiring gaze of the Western took Samarcand; but as he would not allow his army world for its grandeur, magnificence, and power; at a to pillage it, half of them deserted him and went over time, too, when all eyes were turned to India and the to his brother, who usurped the throne, while Samar-'gorgeous East," by the maritime discoveries and cand itself revolted. Only forty horsemen remained nautical enterprises of Portugal and Spain. with Baber. He was now fourteen. With unconquerThis empire, the best consolidated, best regulated, able buoyancy he set himself to making friends, and and most politically perfect of all those the Tartars in two years was again a king. ever founded, was called the Empire of the Grand His retaking of Samarcand, at the age of sixteen, MAloguls, because its rulers were descended from a is a singular instance of audacity and good fortune. Mongol, or Mogul,*' ancestry, and appointed Moguls From desertion and other causes, he found, on apto office. In a similar manner, the Turks now have proaching the city, that he had but two hundred and power over Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor, as the forty men. Yet he boldly entered the place at dusk, ruling caste. The empire was, in fact, so isolated - and went to the house of a firiendly chief; but, finding in position, date, and character -from the empires little encouragement, he fled from the city amidst the already described, that it forms a history by itself, of uproar the news of his arrival had caused. Encourwhich we shall treat in the following chapters. aged by a dream, hlie came back at midnight, with a Tamerlane's influence in India did not immediately few followers, and sent them to scale a low part of the disappear after his conquest of it; but the kingdom he wall, by the aid of a hook rope. They did so unperfounded there soon became thoroughly disorganized. ceived, and, passing round, opened the gates, after Chizu, in 1413, held the throne in Tamerlane's name, killing the guard. but really exercised the sovereign power himself. lie The party now ran through the streets, shouting, brought the kingdom into a degree of order and dig- " Baber! Baber!" His friends, little dreaming that nity. But, after him, it gradually declined, under five his force was so small, flocked to his standard; and, or six kings, till the time of Ibrahim II. During his though there were thousands of soldiers in the city, reign appeared one of the most extraordinary men the under the orders of an able and enterprising Usbeckl history of India exhibits- Baber, who contested the governor, Baber became master of Samarcand a throne with him. second time. Here he was besieged for four months, and sent to his kinsman for help in vain: at last, he which the ralers of Ii.dia were first called in Europe, we use fled from the city at m i dnight, with a hundred f;)llow. it hereafter instead of Mongols. ers, throneless and homeless. 41 b BAiEh — tiS t'OI'rTUNES —HIS DEATH. When twenty years old, finding himself at the court remain in India, but giving leave to return, to whoeve: of a certain prince, he said to him, " I have long preferred " safety to glory, ignoble ease to the manly been the football of fortune, and like a piece on a toils and dangers of war." He added, that after these chess-board, moved from place to place, vagrant as had left his ranks, he should then have about him only the moon in the sky, restless as.a stone on the beach. those " whose valor would reflect honor on themselves, Give me now your friendly advice; my own resolves and glory on their king and country." The chiefs, have been unsuccessful." He was advised to push ashamed, smote their breasts, and swore never to forhis fortune in Cabul, then in a state of anarchy. Baber sake him. Many of the influential natives, too, who sat out immediately, and in two years was firmly had hitherto kept aloof, or opposed him, thinking he seated on the throne of that kingdom, where he made would but pillage the country and quit it, like Tamerhimself much beloved by his unwearied care and ex- lane, -now joined him. tensive benevolence to his people on the occasion of a After some reverses, however, his chiefs in council destructive earthquake. still advised a partial retreat. Baber fixed his eyes But it was not long before he was shut out of his discontentedly on the'ground, then sternly asked. capital by a revolt, and deserted by most of his army. " What would the world say of a king, who, from fear He, however, boldly advanced, with five hundred men, of death, abandoned such a kingdom? The voice of against the usurper, who was at the head of twelve glory," continued he, " is loud in my ear, and forbids thousand troops, and challenged him to single combat. me to disgrace my name by giving up what my arms This was declined. He then challenged five of his chiefs, have with so much difficulty acquired. But as Death one by one, and slew them. The soldiers of the enemy is at last unavoidable, let us rather meet him with then declared they would not fight against such a hero, honor, face to face, than shrink back to gain a few but joined him, and carried the usurper back in chains to years of a miserable and ignominious existence; for the capital, where he was forgiven. Baber took Samar- what can we inherit, but fame, beyond the limits of the cand again, and Bokhara, but did not keep them long. grave?" The whole assembly, as if inspired with one With the example of Tamerlane and the wealth of soul, cried out at once, "War! war! " Hindostan before his eyes, the distracted state of that The force of his opponents, led by a claimant to the country invited Baber, now in his thirty-sixth year, to throne, amounted to more than one hundred thousand: its invasion; and he had acquired the only quality the number of his own army was small. The battle his youth lacked - generalship. Ibrahim II., empe- that followed, was well contested. The Indians' left ror of India, was able and energetic, but unpopular brigade drove back the right brigade of the Moguls, with his people for his cruelty, and hated by his nobles but were themselves driven back by the next brigade. for his arrogance. In several partial invasions, and The Indians then surrounded the Moguls, who, forming victories, (1514 to 1523,) Baber showed himself into a solid circle, resisted, without yielding an inch, magnanimous, even to traitorous foes; but in one in- till the enemy were weary. Baber, seeing the decisive stance, conforming to the sanguinary custom of the moment had come, now placed himself at the head of Tartars, he was guilty of putting his prisoners to death. the central brigade, and rushing " like a lion from the At last, fifty miles from Delhi, Ibrahim met him with forest," as the native historian expresses it, drove all one hundred thousand horsemen and one thousand before him, and, in spite of a most obstinate and elephants. Baber had only thirteen thousand horse; bloody resistance, put the whole Indian army to flight. but he marshalled them so well, that the unwieldy Baber died in 1530, at the age of forty-nine. His mass of the enemy was put to flight, with great slaugh- brilliant character forcibly reminds us of the knights ter, and Baber found himself emperor of Hindostan. paladins of chivalry. Judged by the standard of that The allegiance of the princes was easily assured to age, we see much about him that is admirable and the victor; indeed, there was no public spirit left. Ac- pleasing. He was brave to imprudence, and merciful,ording to an Oriental author, it was then " no shame to a fault, and thus endangered, not unfrequently, his to fly, no infamy to betray, no breach of honor to mur- own safety. "He so often pardoned ingratitude and der, and no scandal to change parties." As to the treason, that he seemed to make a principle of returnmass of the people themselves, a change of governors ing good for evil." was generally but a change of oppressors, and there Though stained with a massacre, in one instance, was a chance that a new tyrant might be of a better yet this was the common practice wilh Mahometan disposition than the old one; so that they generally conquerors, and he does not appear to have been bloodlooked forward to a conquest of their country with thirsty or cruel, like them. Those who were about him about as much hope as fear: indeed, the idea of patri- were ever eager for plunder, but he often rcet'rded his otism is said not to exist in the Hindoo mind. own success by checking their ruthless appetites; yet Baber distributed the immense riches of the treasury he ever shared with them freely what wealth he had. of Delhi wholly among his nobles and troops, his sub. Once, when a certain fort was taken, the soldiers en iects in Cabul, and his other territories, and in charities, tered at the gate, and began an indiscriminate pillage: "reserving not a single dinar to himself." But his he rode amongst them, and restrained them by his difficulties were not ended. The native princes com- voice, and by actual force; thus saving the honor of bined together, and assembled a large army: one. of the commandant's family and his noble library. his own Afghan chiefs deserted to them, with the forces Though nurtured and living amid scenes of violence, under his command. Provisions were scarce in Ba- he still had time and taste to cultivate his mind, and ber's army; the heat of the climate was daily killing heart to honor literature in others. During a sickness the men; and, more than all, his chiefs begged him of eight months, not long before his death, he whiled to return to Cabul. away the., tedium of confinement by composing a Acting somewhat as the English king Henry V. did poem in honor of one of the saints. He was master in France, under similar circumstances, Baber issued also of the art of music, and wrote annals of his wars a proclamation, announcing his own determination tr in a style of great elegance and spirit. - - H UMA1I O ON-SHE RE —SELIM. 417 The following anecdote is told of his sense of justice, throne, Humaioon was returning to his capital. On and it also shows his policy in encouraging commerce. his way he was met by Shere, with a numerous army, When he was prince of Fergana, in West Tartary, who cunningly detained him with negotiations, till the a rich caravan of Chitta and China, which was cross- armies had been allowed to mingle together, and then, ing the mountains, was buried in the snow. He had basely attacking the unprepared emperor, gained a all the goods well taken care of, and sent messengers complete victory, and compelled him *to fly. His Lo China for the owners. On the arrival of the owners, brothers now gathered round the emperor, who might or their representatives, at the end of two years, he have retained his throne but for the desertion of one entertained them hospitably, and gave them all their of them, Camiran, which occasioned a second defeat goods, not even accepting a present, or payment of from Shere. He now fled, without a throne or home. expenses. Hindal, another brother, deserted him; frequent plots In person, Baber was a little above the middle height, were laid to betray him and deliver him up to Shere, well made, and vigorous. His habits were luxurious; and he was reduced to great straits. During this time, though once, on the occasion of his last great battle, his son, the famous Acbar, was born. Camiran took he vowed never more to drink wine, should he gain this son from him, and drove Humaioon to Khorasan; the victory. He improved the public roads, built rest- thence he went to the Persian court, where he was ing-places for travellers, had the country measured in received in the noblest manner. order to tax it equitably, and planted, extensive gardens. Shere was now sovereign of India. He took the Humaioon, the son of Baber, succeeded to a preca- title of shah, and busied himself in improving his rious sovereignty. He was of quiet tastes, an astrono- dominions - but his character is stained with treachery. mer and astrologer, preferring to be an observer rather He reduced the power of the governors, and regulated than an actor. He fitted up seven reception halls, the finances and the military. He built caravanserais dedicated to as many different celestial bodies: he at every stage from the Indus to Bengal, and dug a received his military officers in the hall of Mars, his well at every two miles. He reared magnificent judicial in that of Mercury, whilst ambassadors, mosques, planted rows of trees along the high roads, poets, and travellers were accommodated in the hall and established horse posts for the quicker conveyance of the Moon. Rather than quarrel with his brother, of intelligence. He devoted one fourth part of his Cainiran, he gave him up the Punjauib, the. country on time to administering justice, a fourth to the care of the five rivers which form the Indus. But his most his army, a fourth to worship, and a fourth to rest and formidable enemy was an Afghan regent called Shere, recreation. Such was the public security, that, says "the lion," who received this name from his having the native historian, "travellers and merchants, throwkilled an enormous tiger in presence of his king. ing down their goods, composed themselves to sleep, Shere entertained the idea of driving the Moguls from without fear, upon the highway." Shere was killed India by uniting the Patans, or Afghans, with the by accident, in 1545, after a reign of five years. natives. l Dining one day with Humaioon, his plate Selinm, his son, succeeded to the throne, and reigned was unprovided with a knife; whereupon he drew out quietly, after subduing with difficulty the usual rebelhis dagger and carved his meat. Humaioon observed, lion. He appears to have been, on the whole, an able' That Afghan is not to be disconcerted with trifles; and moderate prince. He displayed a taste for maghe is likely to be a great man." Shere, thinking he nificence in building, and erected an intermediate carahad been betrayed, withdrew, and opposed the empe- vanserai between those his father built. He died in ror in arms.. 1553. The kingdom was now again plunged into disHumaioon was unable to drive him from his fortress, order, antA Humaioon was entreated by some parties to being occupied with the king of Guzerat, who had com- resume his authority. Humaioon, having excited the menced hostilities. To complete his perplexities,. a sympathy of the sister of the Persian shah, and some conspiracy was formed to place another of Tamerlane's of his nobles, was allowed- a troop of ten thous-ind family on the throne. His vigor and skill soon over- horset to recover Cabul from his brothers. His chief came the king of Guzerat, and he displayed, in several obstacle to success was Camiran, whom no treaty could instances, all his father's nobleness of character and bind, and no kindness or generosity improve. brilliant courage. At one time, he would not attack the On one occasion, this wretch exposed Acbar, his own king at advantage, because the latter was engaged in nephew, Humaioon's son, upon the wall, to deter the holy warfare - that is, besieging infidels. A romantic father from an assault; but being told that if harm exploit, in taking the king's treasure fort, is related of happened to Acbar every soul in Cabul should die, he Hlumaioon, which would have made the chivalrous heart gave up the miserable design. Camiran soon after fell of his father leap for joy. The emperor, having dis- into his brother's power, who, in spite of all the miscovered that the fortress was supplied with daily pro- chief endured from him, received him with kindness vision through a wood, which covered a part of it, and respect, only to be repaid, however, at the first visited the place in disguise. He then came to the opportunity, with perfidy of the blackest kind. Hinwood at midnight, with three hundred men, all provided dal supported Humaioon nobly, and died in his service. with iron spikes: these they fixed in the wall, and At length. Camiran having fallen again into Huascended by them. Before sunrise, the whole were maioon's power, all the Mogul chiefs demanded his within the walls; and on their displaying a signal to death for his repeated crimes: this demand was denied the army outside, a general assault was commenced. them by the king, and a revolt had nearly resulted Meanwhile, Humaioon and his three hundred fought from the refusal. Humaioon at length agreed, reluc-,heir way, step by step, to one of the gates, which they tantly, that, to prevent further mischief, Camiran should opened, and thus immediately gained the fort. be blinded by means of antimony. A few days after, Recalled to Agra by the treason of his brothers, the king went to see his blinded brother. Camiran rose whom he had in vain warned against disunion, which to meet him, exclaiming," The glory of the king will would inevitably deprive the Tamerlane family of the not be diminished by visiting the unfortunate." Hu 418 DEATH OF llUMAIOON-ACCESSION OF ACBAR mnaioon burst into tears, and wept bitterly, although The circumstances were these: one evening, he walked Cainiran endeavored to console him by acknowledging out upon the terrace of the library, and sat down there the justice of his punishment. Requesting leave to for some time, to enjoy the fresh air. ~When he began proceed to Mecca, to expiate his crimes, this restless to descend the steps of the stair from the terrace, the man there spent his last days. crier of the mosque, according to custom, proclaimed WVhen Humaioon was invited back to India, having the time of prayers. The emperor, conformably to no army fit for the undertaking, he fell into a profound the practice of those of his religion, stood still, and melancholy. But his chiefs, making out some favor- repeated the creed, —he then sat down till the able omens to act on his mind through his superstition, proclamation was ended. When he was going to rise, he consented to cross the Indus with a small force, and he supported himself upon a staff, which unfortunately took Lahore. His vizier defeated one army sent to slipped upon the marble step, and the king fell headoppose him; his son Acbar overcame another, of long from the top to the bottom of the stairs. About eighty thousand horse, many elephants, and a large sunset, on the fourth day after, "his soul took her train of artillery. The Moguls were so animated by flight to paradise," says the Persian historian, who the behavior of the young hero, says the Oriental his- gives us the above narration. He afterwards sums olp torian, that they seemed even to forget that they were the character of Humaioon, in one phrase -" Had he mortal men. been a worse man, he would have been a greater The victorious Humaioon reentered Delhi, as em- monarch." peror, in 1554, but died, the next year, from a fall. The Emperor, Acbar. C H A P T E R C C XV. gallant alacrity of the young king, uimanimo stl A. D. 1555 to 1559. cried out that their lives and fortunes were at hI: Acbar Byram - The Ayeen Acberry Je- disposal. hang7 ire - Noor Mahi - Shah Jehan - The armies met near Dellhi, and the Moguls receive, the troops of elephants so resolutely and skilfully - Aurungzebe. galling them with arrows, lances, and javelins.- that AcBAR, the Louis XIV. of the Mogul empire, was they became unmanageable, and did as much harm to only in his fourteenth year when he succeeded his friends as foes. Himu, on a huge elephant, pushed father, who had appointed his vizier, Byramn, regent. four thousand horse into the very heart of the Mogul Several highly popular measures favorably introduced army. Being wounded in the eye, he pulled out the the new reign; such as prohibiting the usual exaction arrow, and with it the eye, and, though thus horribl) of presents from the farmers, allowing all goods to wounded, continued the battle. Through the treachei pass toll free, and the abolition of the practice of press- ous cowardice of his driver, who, to save himse ing laborers to the wars. pointed out his master, Himu was taken prisoner, ar. I Himu, vizier of one who held power during Hum ai- conducted to Acbar's presence. Byram told the king oon's absence, on hearing of his death, marched to it would be a good action to kill "6 that infidel " with his Delhi, and through the imprudence and cowardice of own hand. Acbar drew his sword, but, bursting into its governor, captured it. Acbar, seeing such a portion tears, only laid it on Himu's shoulder. The minister of empire rent flom him, called Byram, addressed sternly reproving this untimely clemency,- a weaknim by the name of father, and placed the entire ness or generosity which had been the ruin of the mnanagement of affairs in his hands. As Himu's force emperor's family, —beheaded the prisoner at a blow. vas five times greater than Acbar's, the council of This imperious disposition of the prime minister, and war of the latter advised a retreat to Cabul. This his severity, soon created dissensions between Byram By] am opposed, and was so heartily seconded by and his emperor, and resulted in the banishment of the boy Acbar, that the chiefs, delighted with the I the faithful,vizier, who then turned all his thoughts to PROSPEROUS REIGN OF ACBAR. 419 rebellion. But he now exhibited the most pitiable direction of the emperor, by his distinguished literary weakness and irresolution; for he had swerved from vizier and friend,Abul Fazil, is detailed the comprehenduty. He was soon defeated by Acbar's generals, and sive and excellent system of administration which he sent a slave to represent his wretched condition to the put in practice. These " Institutes" show him to have emperor, and implore mercy. It was now that the been, preeminently, a statesman. Besides a great greatness of soul of Acbar manifested itself. He amount of financial and statistical matter, and sagaI received him with marked kindness and distinction. cious observations upon men, politics, and governThis met the nobler part of his repentant vizier's ment; the " Mirror " furnishes the regulations of the difnature: he burst into tears, and threw himself at the ferent departments, and the domestic economy of the foot of the throne. empire, - fiom the collecting of the revenues and the Acbar, stretching his hand to him, commanded him care of the army, down to the stipends of the ladies to rise, and replacing him at the head of the princes, of the harem, the daily food of the king's camels, thus addressed him: "' If the lord Byram loves a mili- and the mode of serving up his dinner. lary life, he shall have the government of Calpi and With respect to Acbar's personal habits - he spent (Thinderi, in which he may exercise his martial genius; the greatest part of the night in business, and in lisif he chooses rather to remain at court, our favor shall tening to the discourses of philosophers and historians, not be wanting to the great benefactor of our family; whom he delighted to collect around him. About but should devotion engage the soul of Byram to per- three hours before day, musicians were introduced, form a pilgrimage to Mecca, he shall be escorted in a who performed vocal and instrumental music. After manner suitable to his dignity." Byram chose the last that an hour was spent by his majesty in silent prayer. offer, but on his way to the holy city, was basely as- Just before daybreak, people of all ranks were in sassinated by the son of an Afghan chief whom he had attendance, waiting the emperor's appearance. Beslain in battle. Thus died a brave warrior and enlight- side the opportunities of audience regularly afforded ened statesman, whose inhumanity, partially the re- to all, the emperor occasionally appeared at a window, sult of natural severity of disposition, was doubtless when petitions might be offered to him without any confirmed to a principle by repeated experience of intervention whatever. He abolished the immemorial the unfortunate effects of the clemency of the sover- custom of prostration. He took but one meal daily, eigns he served. and that so simple, that for months he did not taste In pursuance of his purpose to recover the ancient animal food. He slept but little, and that chiefly in limits of the empire, Acbar conquered the Deccan. the forenoon and evening. He was also repeatedly engaged in wars with rebels. His principles of government were, to gain and Two things are noticeable in his military character secure the hearts of all; to prevent not only all injus-rapidity and decision of attack, before the ene- tice, but all delay of justice; to be tolerant in religionmy could collect or concentrate his strength; also and it is said he never even laughed at or ridiculed;personal courage and audacity, even to imprudence. any sect; and to be sparing of the lives of offenders. For instance, the governor of Guzerat was besieged; The whole country was divided into provinces, the the speedy march of a large army was impracticable, governors of which were changed every three years. an account of the season. Acbar hurried to the be- Taxes must be demanded in an " affable " manner, leaguered city, with but three thousand horse and and the collector is to consider himself " the immedi. three hundred camels, travelling eighty miles per day. ate friend of the husbandmnan," and to lend him money Crossing the river, so as to put retreat out of the when he needs it, to be repaid at a favorable time. question, he was attacked by an army of seven thou- His remarks on the administration of justice are pecu sand horse. His little band, feeling that their empe- liarly admirable, for their clear, searching, and im ror was sharing their danger, and had risked his life partial character. and empire on their valor, fought with superhuman Acbar removed a great number of vexatious and bravery, and repulsed the enemy. In the eagerness injurious taxes, substituting one broad, equitable levy of pursuit, Acbar was left with but two hundred horse- upon the land of the country, which he procured to men, on a rising ground. A large body of fresh sol- be carefully measured, and the tax fixed. He rediers of the enemy suddenly marched upon the little mitted the navigation duties, and reduced those on party. It was one of those moments when men win manufactories. The coin was enhanced in value by -r lose all by their conduct. improving its fineness. Literature and the arts were Acbar charged at once upon the enemy, who re- never better encouraged, and the education of the treated in the greatest haste, thinking that the whole people was made more universal, and its quality incal of the emperor's troops must, of course, be coming culably improved. He was not only the first man of up on the other side of the hill to support the attack. the empire in station, but in accomplishments, intelOther instances are noted, when he would risk his life lect, and Virtue. He possessed that rare and fortunate in the thickest of the fight, like a common trooper. combination of qualities for rule, remarks an author, fHis good fortune and valor, which brought him tri- by which he was enabled not only to project, or to umphantly out of every danger, added to the une- appreciate when others had projected, some of the qualled vigor and skill of his government during a loftiest principles of government, but to carry them long reign of fifty-one years, impressed his subjects himself into practice by his practical skill, and by an with an idea that his powers of mind and body were unwearied and personally laborious attention to the supernatural. details. Acbar's reign indeed has, not inappropriately, been Jehanghire, that is, "lord of the world," was the called the Golden Age of India. He was one of the title chosen by Selim, the son of Achar. This prince best and wisest sovereigns that ever adorned or digni- ascended the throne at his father's death, in A. D. 1606. fled a throne. In a work —the Ayeen Acberry, the The assumption of so arrogant a title betrays tho' Mirror of Acbar,"- written under the immediate weakness of the man- a characte" sufficient, di-... _............................................................................................................................................... I 420 JEHANGHIRE-CHAJA AIASS AND HIS DAUGHTER. played in the sequel. The nobles attempted to place were introduced in their veils. The ambition of Mher-ul. Tehanghire's son on the throne; but the result was the Nissa aspired to a conquest of the prince. She sangexecution of many of them, and the confinement of he was in raptures; she danced he could hardly be.,he king's son. One of the first acts of the king in- restrained in his place. Her stature, her shape, her volved his whole life in remorse. The romantic story gait, had raised his ideas of her beauty to the highest is thus told: — pitch. When his eyes seemed to devour her, she, as A poor Tartar, named Chaja Aiass, whose imagi- by accident, dropped her veil, and shone upon him at nation had been kindled by the reports of Indian mag- once with all her charms. The confusion, which she nificence, left his native country, in the hope of better- could well feign on the occasion, heightened the ing his fortunes in" that land of promise. His whole beauty of her face. Her timid eye fell, by stealth, property consisted of a sorry horse, and a very small upon the prince, and kindled his soul into love. He sum of money, which had proceeded from the sale was silent for the remaining part of the evening; she of his other effects. Placing his wife upon the horse, endeavored to confirm, by her wit, the conquest which he walked by her side. Their scanty pittance of the charms of her person had made. money was soon exhausted; they had even subsisted Seliln, bewildered with his passion, knew not what for some days upon charity - when they arrived on the course to pursue. Mher-ul-Nissa had been betrothed skirts of the great solitudes which separate Tartary bv her father to Shere Afkun, a Turcomanian noblefrom the Mogul dominions. No house was there to man of great renown. Selim applied to his father cover them from the inclemency of the weather, no Acbar, who sternly refused to commit a piece of hand to relieve their wants: to return, was certain injustice, though in favor of the heir to the throne. misery; to proceed, apparent destruction. They had The prince retired abashed, and Mher-ul-Nissa becaime fasted three days. the wife of Shere Afkun. In this distressing situation, the wife of Chaja Aiass But Acbar died; Jehanghire was raised to the gave birth to a daughter. They tarried for some throne, and, giving way to the dictates of his passion, hours, in the vain hope that travellers might pass that the husband of the woman whom he coveted was way; but they were disappointed: human feet seldom murdered by his order." No obstacle now interposed; tread these deserts. The sun declined apace; they but, apparently smitten with remorse at the baseness feared the approach of night; the place was the of his crime, the emperor refused even to see the haunt of wild beasts; and should they escape these, object of it, and she lived for four years neglected in they must die of hunger. In this extremity, Aiass, his harem. Here she was so scantily provided for having placed his wife on the horse, found himself so that she was compelled to exert the accomplishments much exhausted that he could scarcely move. To she possessed in needlework and painting, for a livelircarry the child was impossible; the mother could not hood, and her productions became objects of generial even maintain herself upon the horse. A long contest desire and admiration. began between humanity and necessity; the latter The emperor's curiosity was at length aroused; prevailed, and they agreed to expose the child on the highway. The infant, covered with leaves, was * Before resolving to murder Shere outright, the emperor placed under a tree, and the disconsolate parents had taken several disgraceful methods of accomplishing his proceeded in tears. As long as the tree, at the foot purpose, all of which failed. At one time, he ordered the haunt of an enormous tiger to be explored, and appointed a of which the child was lying, remained in sight, they day for hunting. Shere was invited to the hunt. He was persevered in their resolution; but when that disap- quite unsuspicious of the sinister designs of the king, espepeared, the heart of the mother failed her, and she cially as Jehanghire had received him with favor at court, refused to proceed without her babe. The father re- and conferred upon him new honors. Having, according to - lturned, aid beheldwith horror, an enormous black lthe Tartar custom, surrounded the place which the monster turnedh ant.ene w horHois crayn frequented, for many miles, the hunters began to move snake coiled above and around the infant. His cry of towards the centre from all sides. The tiger was roused; anguish alarmed the reptile, which slowly uncoiled itself, his roaring was heard, and the emperor hastened to the scene and glided away, leaving the destined victim unhurt. of action. This almost miraculous preservation instilled fresh The nobles being assembled, Jehanghire called aloud, "W iho among you will advance singly and attack this hope and energy into the hearts of the parents: they tiger?" They looked on one another in silence; then all struggled on, and at last were relieved by some other eyes turned upon Shere Afkun. He seemed not to undertravellers. They reached the court of the Grand M\o — stand their meaning. At length, three omrahs started from gul, and Aiass was admitted into the service of an the circle, and, sacrificing fear to shame, fell at the emperor's feet, and begged permission to try their strength, singly, ornah, or prince. Here he soont;attracted attention against the formidable animal. by his abilities, and was at last noticed by the em- The pride of Shere Afkun arose. He had imagined that peror, Acbar, who gradually raised him to high favor none durst attempt a deed so dangerous. He hoped that, and distinction. The daughter, who had been born after the refusal of the nobles, the honor of the enterprise would devolve on him. Afraid of losing his former renown, in the desert, received the name of Mher-ul-Nissa, or he offered to attack the tiger unarmed. The monarch made a the'" sun of women." She had some right to the show of dissuading him from the rash enterprise; but, secretly appellation, for in beauty she excelled all the ladies delighted, yielded, at last, with a well-feigned reluctance. of the East. She was educated with the utmost care; Astonishment was painted in every face; every tongue was in music, dancing, poetry, and painting, she had no equal silent. After a long and obstinate struggle with the tiger, Iier disposition was volatIle; her 1 the intrepid warrior prevailed; and, though mangled with among her sex. Her disposition was volatile;, her wit wounds himself, the monster was at last laid dead at his ively and satirical; her spirit lofty and uncontrolled. feet. Thus the emperor was foiled in his base attempt, and Selim, the prince royal, afterwards called Jehan- the fame of Shere increased. glire, paid a visit one day to her father. When the After several other covert attempts on his life, the king at entertainmen wa' over, wn last sent assassins, who, attacking Shere on the highway, public Xnetimn. R oe wn l xp succeeded in despatching him with many bullets and arrows, principal guests were withdrawn, and wine was though not till after he had killed six omrahs and-several of brought on the table, the ladies, according to custom, their soldiers. NUOR MAHL-EQUITABLE GOVERNMENT OF SHAH JEHAN. 4E2 1 he visited her, and trom that moment Noor ]}lahl- admitted to his presence, stood before him in silence. that is, " light of the harem," for such was the name Jehanghire burst into tears. " Will you not spare this she assumed —exercised the most unbounded sway woman, MohAbet??" he said, at length. "See how over his mind. Chaja Aiass was raised to the distin- she weeps." " It is not for the emperor of the Moguished position of vizier, and his two sons, brothers guls to ask in vain," was the reply, and Noor Mahl of the sultana, Noor Mahl, were made omrahs; and was instantly set at liberty. what is equally extraordinary and gratifying, they all The loyal Moh-abet now restored to the emperor all filled with honor the posts they occupied. The atfairs authority, and dismissed his guards. But the sultana of the empire were never better conducted than under was base enough to demand his death, and, on the Chaja Aiass: his administration is still looked upon as refusal of her request, sought to assassinate him. one of the few luminous spots in the dark history of Warned of her intentions by the emperor, MohAbet Indian domestic government. fled, and was proclaimed a traitor, and a price set on Several European embassies, having commercial his head. Of a lofty and fearless character, he now objects, arrived at the court during Jehanghire's reign. decided on a most extraordinary step. Disguising himBut, although these were received. with great favor, the self, he went to the camp) of Asiph Jan, the brother of vacillating disposition of the sovereign -now granting his mortal eneiliy, and succeeded in obtaining an intertheir requests, and now withholding them again, or view. changing the condition of his grants, at the wish of his Appreciating his mercy to his sister, and his present aobles- caused them all to eventuate in disappointment. generous confidence, Asiph received him in his arms, After the death of her father, who had held her and took him to a secret apartment. " Purvez, the elder haughty and imperious disposition under some control, of the princes, is virtuous and my friend,"' said MohaNoor Mahl plotted to place on the throne the emperor's bet; " but we must not exchange one feeble sovereign youngest son, who had married her daughter by her for another. I have fought Shah Jehan, and know his first husband, the o-irah. Her brother, Asiph Jfan, merit: though his ambition acknowledges no restraint was vizier;'with qualities scarce inferior to his father. of nature or justice, his vigor will prevent intestine Shah Jehan, the emperor's third son, and eventually disorder, and give power to the laws." Asiph connis successor, was Noor Mahl's most determined oppo- curred cordially in these views; but their schemes nent. This man had murdered his brother Chusero, were rendered unnecessary by the death of Purvez and and, to escape the emperor's resentment, took up arms Jehanghire, which occurred shortly after, A. D. 1628. against his father; but he was unsuccessful, principally A measure of unequalled atrocity secured Shah through the abilities of ]IMohdbet, a noble-minded, Jehan from competitors to the throne. This was the heroic spirit, general to the emperor. The empress murder; by him, of every other male descendant of the hated this general, of course, and endeavored to ruin house of Baber, except his own four sons, Dara, Sujah,.im with the emperor, who seems himself to have Aurungzebe, and Morad. Asiph was niade vizier, and properly appreciated his character and services. Mohabet commander-in-chief. Lodi, a descendant of Through Noor Mahl's influence, MohAbet was now the Patan emperors, and who had formerly fought summoned to court; but he took the precaution to against Shah Jehan, was now his chief enemy, but bring as an escort five thousand devoted rajpoots. He surrendered himself on condition of receiving a provwas ignominiously refused an audience till certain al- ince. Being sent for to court, shortly after, he was,egred peculations were accounted for. His son-in-law, received with such studied insult, that he shed tears sent to the emperor to protest Mohabet's devotedness and fainted away —strange effect on so brave a man'. to his sovereign, and to explain-matters, was sent back He again rebelled unsuccessfully, and perished in de stripped and cruelly bastinadoed. Seeing that decisive spair, having attacked, with but thirty followers, a conmeasures were called for, Mohabet planned a bold siderable body of the enemy, in order to procure " an scheme. The imperial army had to cross the Jhylum: honorable.death." The emperor exhibited the most when the greater part had passed to the other side, indecent joy at his decease - a compliment to his forMobAbet galloped with two thousand horse to the midable abilities and courage. Some troubles occurred bridge, destroyed, it, left a body of his determined at this time in the Deccan, but were soon quieted. friends to prevent the return of the troops across the During Shah Jehan's reign, his numerous subjects river, and, appearing in the emperor's tent with a enjoyed tranquillity and happiness such as had rare.y countenance pale but determined, secured the person been enjoyed in that part of the globe. His governors 3f Jehanghire. were closely watched, and brought to strict account, Every attempt, on the part of the army under Asiph and his reign is celebrated for the strict execution of tan, to recross the river to the assistance of the sover- the laws. The collection of the revenue, with which elgn, was resisted, and with great slaughter, by Moha'-' the comfort of the subject is so much connected, was bet's few but resolute troops. Noor Mahl herself, even better managed than in Acbar's time. To Shah the author of all the mischief, who had already Jehan India is indebted for some of its noblest archicrossed the river, was half frenzied at the success of' tectural structures. He built, for his own residence the general's manceuvre: she rushed into the water, Jehanpoor, a city near Delhi, and erected a palace emptied with her own hand three quivers of arrows, said to be one of the finest in the worlid.'hlie mauso had three successive drivers killed on the back of her leum of liis favorite queen, Noor Jehan, is one hunelephant, and thus inflamed to a high pitch the courage dred and ninety yards square, on an elevated terrace, in 1 of the soldiers. the midst of a beautiful garden. It is built of white But Mohahbet crossed the river, and drove all before marble, inlaid with precious stones. him. He ultimately obtained possession of Noor Mahl's The illness of Shah Jehan encouraged his sons to person, who was accused by him of high treason and strike for the empire. Tile most dangerous among other crimes, and an order obtained for her execution. them was Aurungzebe, a mlan of craft, courage, and She begged to see Jehanghire once more, and, on being energy. He professed to be deeply religious, and 422 REIGN OF AURUNGZEBE. anxious to restore the purity of the Moslem worship, to wear no more; wear them with dignity, and, by which, to conciliate the Hindoos, had become wisely your own renown, make some amends to your family tolerant. He cajoled his brother Morad, inducing him for their misfortunes." When this was repeated to to place money and forces at his disposal. He suc- the emperor, he burst into tears. ceeded also in attaching to his fortunes the immensely wealthy emir of the prince of Golconda. Dara, the eldest son of Shah Jehan, being called to administer the government for his father, whose illness incapacitated him for its functions, commenced his administration by fbrbidding his brothers to approach the palace, on pain of death. The brothers broke out into open rebel-'ion; the host'ie armies met, and a stoutly contested battle ensued. During the engagement, one of Dara's captains deserted his sovereign, and went over to Aurungzebe with thirty thousand men, thus securing the victory to that prince' _ Aurungzebe now got possession of his father's per-, son, and kept him in captivity the rest of his life. The _ father had previously endeavored to inveigle his son into the harem of the citadel of Agra, where he had stationed some powerful Tartar women, ready to fall upon and crush him. Morad, too, found himself a hopeless and helpless captive. Sujah was driven from the country, and basely killed by the king of Arakan, l with whom he had taken refuge. Dara, after enduring every hardship, was treacherously betrayed to Aurung-zee zebe, who had him paraded about the streets of Delhi Another event gave occasion for the display of the on a miserable, filthy-looking elephant, habited in a ready sagacity of Aurungzebe. A wealthy old'dirty cloth. At this lamentable sight, piercing shrieks, woman, by her liberalities, had collected around her and cries of distress, as if some great calamity had a vast crowd of religious mendicants, - fakirs, - who. befallen themselves, were heard from men, women, having been successful in several enterprises beyond tind children, on every hand. This popular commisera- their expectations, were easily persuaded by their lion sealed the fate of the wretched Dara, who was female chief that she had charmed their lives against murdered by his brother. Morad,notlong after, shared death by powerful enchantments. Some twenty the same fate. thousand. of the fakirs, having been collected. and These family dissensions, arising from the want of thus fortified by fanaticism, entertained the wild a fixed rule of succession, indicate a declining empire. scheme of usurping the throne. Shah Jehan, by murdering his relatives, struck the Instead of despising this enemy, Aurungzebe, a reifirst blow at Mogul sovereignty. Aurungzebe, by gious knave himself, pretended to get up, by his insimilar atrocity, shook it to its very centre. The prin- cantations, a counter charm of greater potency, which,{iple became established, that on the death of an em- he wrote with his own hands upon little slips of paper, peror, " there was no place of safety but the throne, and had his soldiers fasten them on the tops of spears, the steps to which must be the dead bodies of unsuc- borne before the several divisions of the army. The eessful competitors;' and these victims were generally mystic power was confided in by the soldiers, who the nearest relatives of the aspirant to sovereignty. fought the enemy with heroism, and the fakirs were cut to pieces. This story is more fully given in our history of Hindostan. Aurungzebe died in 1707, at the age of ninety-four, 1 C H A P T ER C CC X VI. after reigning forty-eight years, over about eighty milA. D. 1659 to 1803,. lions of people. His revenue is said to have equalled four or five hundred millions of dollars. The poisoned Aurungzebe -- icbar II. - Aulum ~ The ~ASikhs -.Jehantder NTadir - Aulum 7.. chalice of filial ingratitude and rebellion he had made his Tche~.Mahratte -_z Gholai hadr - A[lu, II.father drink of, was proffered to his own lips by his son, - X he lilahrccz~tts (7hol~n~ >6H(;lur iAcbar II., who caused him much and deserved anScindia. guish. His personal habits were regular, pure, and AURUNGZEBE'S character seems to have undergone simple. "Of his domestic administration it is imposa remarkable charge for the better, when he found sible to speak too highly: it was liberal, enlightened, himself undisputed master of the empire. He treated and just." Under his rule, the Mogul empire is said his father with all attention and respect, consistent with to have reached its highest grandeur and dignity nis captivity. Wishing to adorn the throne with some though, at his death, the symptoms of inherent weak of Shah Jehan's jewels, the emperor sent to ask them ness became but too apparent. -of his father, who told him that hammers were ready Aurungzebe's latter hours were imbittered by re to pound the jewels into dust, if there were any more morse: may we not hope they were elevated by repent., mportunity for them. "' Let him keep his jewels," ance? Apassage in one of his letters to his son, writ replied the emperor; "nay, let him command those ten in the prospect of death, is exceedingly impressive of Aurungzebe.'" This remark being repeated to " Old age has arrived," he says, " weaknless subdues Shah Jehan, he sent a number of the gems he had me, and strength has forsaken all my limbs. I camo, refused, saying, "Take these, which [ anm destined a stranger into this world, and a strangel 1 depart. M MAHOMED-DELHI SACIKED BY NADIR SHAH. 43S| know nothing of myself, what I am, or for what I am who had helped to elevate him, and d;ed. Two destined. The instant which passed in power hath other emperors reigned, one five, the other three, left only sorrow behind it. I have not been sufficiently months. Mahomed then came to the throne. He the guardian and protector of the empire. My valu- wa. weak and devoted to luxury: instead, therefore, able time has been passed vainly. I had a patron in of opposing a bold front to the Mahrattas, now my own dwelling, [conscience,] but his glorious light rapidly rising to a considerable power, he bought peace was not seen by my dl i vision." with these marauders, by paying them a fourth of his In the third year of this reign, a dreadful famine resources; and with a wealiness still more fatal, desolated India, producing nlost appalling scenes of finding it troublesome to collect this fourth, he gave suffering. The emperor immediatelv remitted the the ruthless Mahrattas leave to collect it in their own rents of the land and other taxes. He bought corn rough fashion; thus abandoning his people to the where it was most plentiful, and sold it at reduced spoiler. The disorganized state of the country, under prices where it was the least so. The means for doing its weak and worthless rulers, had before opened India thlis were furnished fromn his own treasury, which had to Tamerlane's plundering inroad, preparing the way grown rich under his economical and able manage- for Mogul power. So Nadir Shah's similar invasion mnent, and which he opened for the benefit of the peo- opened the way for British rule in India. ple without limit. An historian of the Grand Moguls This Nadir Shah, who has been noticed in another well remarks, that it is a most extraordinary, but at the place, was, according to some, a common laborer; same time consoling and gratifying fact, that men like according to others, he was the son of a shepherd in Sihere, Shah Jehan, and Aurungzebe, all of them Khorasan, and by selling his father's sheep, obtained stained with execrable crimes, committed in the pur- money and hired a band of robbers. He now took suit of power, should, when their objects were attained, service under the son of the sophi of Persia, who be so justly famous for the vigor, skill, and impartial- desired to recover his throne from an Afghan usurper, ity of their administrations. whom Nadir overthrew. He then put out his employThe remaining history of the Mogul empire is but er's eyes, and caused himself to be proclaimed king the melancholy record of one miserable struggle after of Persia, in 1736. He marched upon the Afghans; another for the imperial sway, among the descendants and afterwards into Hindostan, where he gained posof its noble founders, while the empire itself was con- session of Delhi, through the treachery*of Mahomed's linually becoming less and less worth the contest. officers, who were rewarded by the following speech of After the usual quarrel of the sons of the emperor, at Nadir, exhibiting a singular medley of the monarch, his death, for the throne, Shah Aizual - his two the ruffian, and the fanatic. " Are not you both most bro,thers being severally defeated and slain - sue- ungrateful villains to your king and country, who, ceeded his father, Aurungzebe. He had to contend after possessing such wealth and dignities, call me with a new power, the Sikhs, whose descendants, from my own dominion to ruin them and yourselves? l.fter a space of more than one hundred and thirty But I will scourge you with all my wrath, which is the years, are now (1849) struggling vigorously for in- vengeance of God." dependence against the British power in India.* A Persian seized a pigeon-seller's basket, who cried Shah Aulurn reigned but five years, and died in out that Nadir had ordered a general pillage. The A. D. 1712, leaving behind him the reputation of an streets of Delhi were soon filled with an excited popaccomplished, liberal, and humane prince. ulace; the Persian was set upon; a report spread that Of the four sons of Shah Aulum, the eldest gained Nadir was dead; before nightfall, two thousand Perthe throne for a few months, through a distinguished sians had been slain. Nadir was shotat himself. This general of his grandfather, and called himself Jehan- incident unchained the tiger, and the consequence was, der Shah. His chief adviser was a concubine, one a general massacre, in which, before two o'cV!ck, ono of the impure class of public dancers, and he was hundred thousand of the Delhi people were killed - frequently seen near Delhi, walking with such aban- men, women, and children upon the same bloody heaps. doned females. His nephew, Feroksere, seized the During this dreadful scene, the king of Persia sat in throne, after defeating and killing his uncle. He the mosque. None but his slaves dared to come slaughtered, without compunction, every person in his near him, for his countenance was dark and terrible. power fiom whom he could apprehend any possible At length, the unfortunate emperor, Mahomned, attended danger. He was dethroned, after six years, by one by a number of his chief omrahs, ventured to approach him with downcast eyes.'The omrahs who preceded The origin of the Sikhs is thus stated: In Baber's time, hiahome downcast eyes. hei r foreheads o preceded Nanek, the 1 Mahomed bowed down their foreheads to the ground. Nanek, the beautiful son of a merchant, having attracted the attention of a dervis, was taken home by him and educated in Nadir asked them, sternly, what they wanted. They Islamism. The youth selected for himself, from time to time, cried out with one voice, "' Spare the city." Mahomed in the course of his studies, such doctrines, expressions, and said not a word, but the tears flowed fast from his eyes sentiments as suited him, and the result was a book, written The tyrant, for once touched with pity, sheathed his in a very elegant style, called Konriint. This, by degrees, became the text-book of a sect, which, under a military sword,and said, " Forthe sake of the prince Mahomed, organization, rose to empire, under the name of Sikhs; I forgive." In a few minutes, so instantaneous was the but they seem latterly to have given up their religious pre- effect of his orders, every thing was calm in the city. tensions. Rejecting, as lie did, much of the absurdities of But the pillaging was now to begin; and its amount the two great religions of India, Mahonmetanism and Hin- dooism, and preserving some of the good of both, Nanek had is variously estimated at from one hunded and fifty many followers. After his death, nine chiefs successively to three hundred and fifty millions of dollars. Durino_ governed the body of the Sikhs, who lived very peaceably its continuance, the gates were shut, and the populace and inofellsivelv. But in Aurungzebe's reign, one of the Ireduced to famine. Tucki, an actor, was play ing bechiefs was put to death, and another banished. The Sikhs fore Nadir and so delighted him that the shah prom now carried rapine and slaughter among the Moguls, but were checked by Shah Aulum, though not destroyed. ised'him whatever rewalrd he should ask. Faliing or. Their history is given in a subsequent chapter. | his lknees, the noble Tucki cried out, "' O king, cornm 124 AULUM II.-GHOLAMi HADUR. tnand the gates to be opened, that the poor may not Gholam to assemble the army, pay their arrears, and perish." The request was granted, and the blessings inform them of his purpose to lead them in person. of his fellow-creatures were the'priceless reward of Great, therefore, was Gholam's astonishment, when the actor's benevolence. the next day, he intercepted a letter from the king to Nadir quitted Delhi, having taken the provinces Scindia, the hostile chief, desiring himn to make al between Persia and Hindostan from Mahomed, and haste and destroy Gholam; "for," said the letter, " he given him some good advice. The emperor died in urges me to act against my wishes, and oppose you.' 1747, after reigning thirty years. Ahmed, his eldest On this discovery, Gholam marched out with his troops, son, succeeded; and during his reign he lost, to the rising crossed the Jumna, and encamped on the other side, Afghan power, the north-western provinces, Moultan and opposite the fort of Delhi, the residence of the king. Lahore. The Mahrattas and Rohillas, too, were very He then sent the king the intercepted letter, asking troublesome. At last, a rebel seized Delhi, and put him if such conduct did not merit the loss of his out Ahmed's eyes, setting up another emperor, Aulum- throne. After a few days' siege, Gholam carried the geer II. The Sikhs now rose into importance; and fort: entering the palace in arms, he flew to the king's the Afghans marched to the very gates of Delhi,- chamber, insulted the old man in the most barbarous which were opened to them, and the city was again at manner, knocked him down, and kneeling on his breast. the mercy of an enemy. The emperor had sunk so dug out one of his eyes with his knife, ordering a serow, that he begged the Afghan chief, Abdallah, not to vant of the king to thrust out the other! leave him to the mercy of his own vizier, the rebel He then gave up the palace to pillage, and, going to who had put out Ahmed's eyes. Aulumgeer fell into the zenana, where the king's women resided, insulted the the wretch's hands, however, and was assassinated, in ladies, and tore their jewels fiom their noses, ears, and A. D. 1759. limbs. As he had lived with the kii, he wa rell The Mahrattas now attempted, by one bold stroke, acquainted with the different places where his treasures to seize the empire; but Abdallah, the Afghan, being were hid; he dug up the floor of the king's own bedagain on Indian territory, met their army of one hun- room, and found there two chests containing in specie dred and forty thousand horse, commanded by theil one hundred and twenty thousand gold mohurs, - nearbest generals, and after a contest of almost unexampled ly a million of dollars, — which he took, and vast severity, at Paniput, (A. D. 1760,) obtained the victo- sums besides. To get at the hidden jewels of the ry only a few of the army and three of the generals women, he practised a nefarious trick, of the meanest escaping. Abdallah gave the sovereignty to Aulum II., kind. He ordered that the king's ladies and daughters who was never really master of his dominions, and should come and pay their respects to him, promising experienced a great variety of the most cruel disasters. to free those who could best please him by their dress The next half century offers to the historian of India and appearance. The innocent, unthinking women a perplexed chronicle of violent revolutions, occa- brought out their jewels, and adorned themselves in sioned by the various chiefs who successively rose to their richest attire, to please this savage. Gholanm more ori less power, and their contests with Great ordered them to be conveyed into a hall, where he had Britain. The story, however, of the last revolution provided ordinary dresses for them: these dresses he that occurred to the Moguls of India, previous to their made them put on, by the assistance of eunuchs, and becoming pensioners of Great Britain, is both inter- taking possession of their rich dresses and jewels, sent esting and instructive - interesting as a picture of the women home to lament their own credulous vanity, Orientalism, instructive as an example of the insta- and curse his treachery. He did not stop here, but bility of human grandeur, and the precarious state of insulted the princes by making them dance and sing. despotic governments. The author of this revolution The most beautifiul of the king's daughters, Mobaruck was Gholam Khaldur, disinherited by his father, ul Moolk, was brought to the tyrant, but she stabbed and driven from his presence, for vice and crime. herself, rather than submit her person to him. Shalh Aulun, II., or Allum, the king of Delhi,,and last Scindia, the Mahratta chief, soon after this, came to of the Moguls, took him under his protection, treated the king's assistance, ostensibly, but his real purpose him as his own son, and conferred on him the second was to make the remnant of the Mogul empire his title in the kingdom -emir of emirs. prey. Gholam fled, and took refuge in the fort of He lived with the king, and raised a body of about Agra, a large city, one hundred and fifty miles south eight thousand troops of his own countrymen, the of Delhi. Here Scindia's troops besieged him, and Moguls, which he commanded. Gholam Khadur he, perceiving that he must be taken if he tarried, took was of a passionate temper, haughty, cruel, ungrate- advantage of a dark night, stuffed his saddle with a ful, and debauched. In the latter part of the year large stock of precious stones, and with a few fol1788. the king had formed suspicions that some' of lowers fled toward Persia. Unluckily for him, the the neighboring rajahs would attempt the conquest of wretch fell from his horse on the second night of his his territories. This was confirmed by the approach flight: by this means a party of horsemen, which had of a large army toward his capital, commanded by been sent in pursuit, came up with him, and took him a chief named Ismael, and assisted by the warlike prisoner. He was brought to Scindia, who, after exMahratta sovereign, Scindia. posing him some time in irons, and some time in a cage, Gholam reassured his king, who was discouraged at ordered his ears, his. nose, his hands, and his feet to the array of his formidable enemies; he urged him be cut off, and his eyes taken out, in which state he to march out, give his troops a supply of money, and was allowed to expire! he would lay his head on the enemy's being repulsed. Scindia seized on the kingdom he came to protect On the king's reply that he had no money, Gholam and all that was left to Shah Allum, the nominal em offered to advance enoughl. " Only head the army," peror, was the city of Delhi, with a small district satd he: "the presence of the Inonarch is half the around it, where, deprived even of sight, he remainted Iattle." The king seemed to consent, and requested an empty shadow of royalty. In the early part of -z -- __ ____. EXTENT OF THE MOGUL EMPIRE-ITS MiLlTARY ESTABLISHMENT. lb] 1i,he present century, (A. D. 1803,) the British nation king's sons. There were sixty-six of these bodies of took under their immediate sovereignty Agra and Delhi, five thousand. The captains of one hundred were of pensioning off the king of Delhi, the last representa- eleven ranks, and paid accordingly, from five hundred tive of a mighty race. Thus terminated the empire to seven hundred rupees, or about two hundred and fifty of the Grand Moguls in India; though the name to three hundred and fifty dollars per month. Every Kling of Delhi is still given to the lineal descendant commander had, also, half as many infantry as cavof the Grand Mogul- a pensioner of the British alry: of the infantry one fourth were bundookchean, [Fovernment - who resides at Delhi. that is, "matchlock-men," the rest archers, except a few who were carpenters, blacksmiths, water-carriers, and pioneers ",,-noper supplied his own horse on entering the service; afterward, in case of accident, C' HI APT E ~,R C C X V II. the government supplied it, and took half its value General Views — Military Affairs — Divisions out of the pay by quarterly stoppages. This may -Cities Educcation -The House~hold and suffice as a specimen of these curious and minute CDomestic Habits of the Grand Mogul a- regulations recorded in the " Mirror of Acbar," already The Sera'lio_- -he Painting Gallery - mentioned. The whole army was divided into twelve Public.Figghts of Animals -2 ]Ua-hines~. divisions: each division did a year's duty in rotation. ~icPubic?Fight~s of Anrimacls JT- Machines - A body of twelve thousand bundookchean, was Pensiols - Festivals - Marriages -.UHunt- always employed about the royal person. A thouing and Hawkirg - Fairs - Weighing the sand porters guarded the palace, who were Ipaid King. from two dollars and three quarters to seven dollars THE Mogul empire, in 1725, included all of India aid a half per month. Another thousand guarded from Afghanistan, or Candahar, Beloochistan, and its environs. Several thousand bearers, some of Sindh, to Assam and Arakan, and from Badakshan, whom could carry enormous weights, did service at the Siapouch, Thibet, and Nepaul, to the ocean, except palace. Another thousand men were employed as the Malabar coast, and the triangular territory south spies, couriers, and errand men, and also in nice and of the Gavery. From Cabul, the chief town in the difficult undertakings. Besides all these, were the extreme north-west, to Pondicherry, in the south-east, gladiators, performers of feats, wrestlers, and the the distance is nearly eighteen hundred miles, or as far slaves. As Acbar " did not approve of giving these as from Bangor, in Maine, to the capital of Texas. Its unfortunate men the opprobrious name of slaves," width from north-east to south-west varied from seven they were called "dependants." They were of five hundred to fourteen hundred miles; in all about one kinds -infidels taken in battle, and bought and sold as million square miles, with from eighty to ninety mil- common slaves; those who of themselves submitted lions of inhabitants. Aurungzebe's treasury was sup- to bondage; children born of slaves; thieves, become posed to equal four or five hundred millions of dollars. the slaves of the owners of the goods they had stolen; rfhe regular annual revenue of Acbar, from twelve and fifthly, persons sold for the price of blood —that fifteenths of the empire, was about ninety millions is, for homicide. of Sicca rupees, or forty-five to fifty millions of The daily pay of these was from one and a,lollars. quarter cents to fifty cents. They were formed into! The military establishment was under fixed and divisions, and committed to the care of skilful persons, regular pay, and the nicest discipline and regulations. to be instructed in various arts and occupations. It was a maxim of Acbar, which he carried into every "Hismajesty,"adds the "Mirror," "out of his hardepartment of his concerns, that "true greatness gives manity and discernment, promotes these and other attention to the minutice of business, as well as to cap- inferior classes of people, according to their merits; ital afftrirs." In this, and some other things, Napoleon so that it is not uncommon to see a foot soldier raised seems to have imitated him. The militia, or Zenlin- to the dignity of an omrah of the empire." dary troops, numbered, says the "Mirror of Acbar," It is said that the emperor had a body-guard of four millions four hundred thousand. Arab women, who were extremely well disciplined, and Some of the cavalry had their horses marked, and never quitted the seraglio: amongst them were estaba description taken in writing of the persons of the lished all the different degrees of rank vhicl obtained: men, and these troopers took rank of the others. among the men. Besides the army at Delhi, there Their pay was from seven to eleven dollars a month. was always a very considerable one at Agra, the other Every thing that regarded the horses, their feeding, capital. Exclusive of these, the smallest village had classification, menage, &c., was minutely regulated. two horse and six foot soldiers, who acted as the police, The Moguls had a body of fifty thousand of these or spies of government, and sent an account of whathorsemen, near the seat of government. The ele- ever was transacted. Every town had a garrison.. phants, of which there were seventeen or eighteen In a word, each of the rajahs, who were so many petty. hundred, were divided also into seyen kinds, and the chiefs, or feudatories of the empire, always, in later details of their feeding, care, the pay of their keepers, times, supported a numerous body of troops ready to &c., were regulated with the utmost exactness. The march.- One of them kept on foot, in the early part yearly allowance to each elephant was frdm three anid a half dollars to more than sixteen and a half * The military force was thus distributed: Bengal, 23,000 dollars. cavalry and 800,000 infantry; Bahar, 11,000 and 450,000; The officers were commanders of ten, and so up to Allahabad, 11,000 and 238,000; Oude, 7,600 and 168,000; ten thousand; their commands increasing by hundreds Agra, 50,000 and 577,000; Malwah, 281,000 and 68,000; mtrom four hundred to five thousand, below that by fifties Guzerat, 67,000 and 9,000; Ajmeer, 8G,000 and 347,00; Lahore, 54,000 and 426,000; Moultan, 14,000 and 166,000: and twenty-fives, and below ninety, by tens. Many of Cashmere, 5,000 and 93,000. these are not all the tlie command ers of above five thousand men were the troops. - Ayeen Acberry. |.126 PUBLIC SCHOOLS-BRANCHES TAUGHT. of the last century, an army of fifty thousand cavalry with the different accents, or marks of pronunciation and two hundred thousand infantry. The emperor and his majesty has ordered that as soon as they have maintained five hundred elephants: his arsenals con- a perfect knowledge of the alphabet, which is gener tailed an immense quantity of ammunition. ally acquired in two days, they shall be exercised in Acbar's empire was divided into fifteen soobahs, or combinations of two letters; and after they have learni viceroyalties, with each its soobahdar, or viceroy, viz.: those for a week, there is given to them a short linr Allahabad, Agra, Oude, Ajmeer, Ahmedabad, Bahar, of prose or verse, containing a religious or moral sent Bengal, Delhi, Cabul, Lahore, Moultan, Malwa, Be- ment, wherein those combinations continually occu rar, Khandees, and Ahmednagur. The first twelve They must strive to read this themselves, with a little of these were subdivided into one hundred and five occasional assistance from the teacher. sircars, or provinces, and two thousand seven hundred "For some days the master proceeds with teaching and thirty-seven klUsbahs, townships, or counties. a new hemistich or distich; and in a very short time -_ - the boys learn to read with fluency. The teacher gives the young scholar four exercises daily, viz.: the alphabet, the combinations, a new hemistich or distich, l== —-=r-_ and a repetition of what he had read before. By this method, what used to take up years is now accomplished l__ A= =in a few months, to the astonishment of every one. "The sciences are taught in the following order: morality, arithmetic, accounts, agriculture, geometry, longimetry, astronomy, geoma]ncy, economics, lhe art: of governnment, physic', logic, natural philosophy, abh-._ l Rstract mathematics, divinity, and history. Every 11 It- individual is educated according to his circ umstances or particular views of life. From these regulations, the schools, adds Abul Fazil, have obtained a new ~t: form, and the colleges are become the lights and oinaments of the empire." A great number of religions prevailed in the empire ~b.~'~"~"~ — ~'~' —-~'" of the Grand Moguls, the chief of which were tha Rkemains of an Observatorylhi t tii. isBrahminic and Buddhist, described in the history of It is said there are more than a score of cities, in Hindostan and Thibet; the Mahometan, described lindostan, which bear, in their decay, the evidence under Arabia; and the Parsee, or Gheber, described that they were once royal capitals. Delhi, one of under the history of Persia. Supernatural power, the capitals of the Grand Moguls, was formed of were claimed for the emperor Aebar, who was in realthe old city with its walls, the new city at a short dis. ity a man of profound intelligence, and liberal in his tance, and the space between, enclosed by two walls. religious views, as may be seen in our history of Hin. Here, in Tamerlane's time, was the splendid "' Palace dostan. of the thousand columns," built by a famous Indian The most compendious method of conveying an idea king. But the present Delhi is at another place, and of the complicated domestic machinery of the vas: was founded by Acbar, whose structures are noticed establishment of the Mogul court, is to enumerate the in our history of Hindostan. It once extended twenty heads under which the "Mirror of Acbar" records miles, and a French writer, in the last century, estima- the various regulations he adopted. Here minute ted ihs inhabitants at one million seven hundred thou- directions are found written for the household, roya sand. The imperial palace is of red granite, of treasuries,jewel office, mint, coins, seraglio, equipages tasteful architecture, one thousand yards long by six for journeys, encanpments of the army, illuminations. hundred broad, and cost more than five millions of ensigns of royalty, royal seals, water coolers, kitchen, dollars. The stables will hold ten thousand horses. lent days, prices of provisions, printing, perfume office, There are besides many relics of ancient grandeur. flowers, wardrobe, shawls; prices of manufactures; Agra was made the seat of the empire by Acbar, library and calligraphic rooms, painting gallery; arand a mnost magnificent city. He here built his pal- mory, weapons and armor —of which some eighty ace, a " fort of red stone, the mike of which no traveller different kinds are enumerated -artillery, firearms and has ever beheld." "It contains above five hundred their manufacture; elephant stables and their attendstone buildings, of surprising construction, in the Ben- ance, one hundredand one elephants for his majesty's gal, Guzerat, and other styles; and the artificers have riding, horse stables, horse bazaars, camel stables, ox decorat2d them with beautiful paintings. At the east- stables, mules; manner in which his majesty spends ~ern gate are carved, in stone, two elephants, with their his time, times of admission to the royal presence riders, of exquisite workmanship." This fortified pal- forms of salutation; spiritual guidance, including mirace is still to be seen, extending in a crescent shape acles -such as breathing on persons, to cure them, along the river side. On the opposite bank were the and into cups of water, to endow them with virtue, &c.; tour gardens-a monument of Humaioon's magnifi- religious discipline; musters, that of elephants on Satcence. At Agra also is the mosque of Acbar, said to urday, when they were most minutely examined; that be more splendid than that of Solyman at Constantino- of horses, on Sunday; of camels, mules, and oxen, on ple; also the mosque of Aurungzebe, wiith its hundred Monday; of soldiers, on Tuesday; the meeting of the columns; besides other inonu ments of former greatness. council, on Wednesday; public administration of jus The following were Acbar's " regulations for teach- tice, on Thursday; relaxation in the harem, on Friday ing in the public schools. The boys are-first:~ught to damage to animals, regulations for the public fights of read the letters of the Persian alphabet se parately, animals, regulationsfor buildings.. - - - -.- - - - SERAGLIO-FESTIVALS, FAIRS, GAMES. 427 Among other things are also the regulations of festi- moon, in the front of the palace. The deer were vals, alms, weighing the royal person, holidays, mar- regularly trained, and wild ones constantly added to riages, hunting, hawking, games, tribute and taxes, the herds. division of lands, revenues, collections, settlements; The emperor was the inventor of several usefu also instructions to the viceroy, to the commissioners machines; of one for polishing muskets; of a cart for pronounecrig sentence, to the judges, the chief of containing a corn-mill, which was worked by the motion police, the collectors of revenues, the registrars and of the carriage; of a carriage with several apartthe treasurers. The scope of this History affords room merts and a hot bath, all drawn by a single elephant, for a particular notice of but a few of these matters. extremely useful and refreshing on a journey; also The seraglio was an enclosure of such immense several hydraulic machines, some of which were so extent as to contain a separate room for every one of aIljusted that a single ox would at once draw water out the women, whose number exceeded five thousand. of two wells, and at the same time turn a millstone. They were divided into companies, and a proper Pensions were given, in money and land, for subsistemployment assigned to each indvidual. Over each ence, to the learned and their scholars; to those who of these companies a woman was appointed as duenna, had retired from the world; to the needy who were and one was selected for the command of the whole, that not able to help themselves; also to the descendants; the affairs of the hitreni might be conducted with the of great families fallen into decay, who, fiom false same regularity and good government as the other shame, did not follow any occupation for support. departments of the s+ate. The ancient festivals were rejected, or continued Every lady received a salary equal to her merit - as the king directed. After establishing a festival. from one thousand six hundred and ten to one thousand he endeavored to make it of the greatest possible use, and twenty-eight rupees pe month. At the grand gate embracing every occasion of distributing largesses. was an officer to take account of the receipts and With this view, he adopted the ancient Persian festivals expenditures of the harem, in money and goods. of Giamschid and others, which were used as the means When any lady wanted any thing, she applied to of bestowing donations. There was the new year fes-the treasurer of the harem; and he, regulating the tival, on the first of March, for nineteen days, during requisition according to the stipend of the lady, sent a which immense sums of money and valuable articles memorandum to the officer at the gate, who transmitted were distributed; the kettle-drum was beat every it to the treasurer of the king's palace, who paid the three hours, accompanied by musical instruments. money. For three successive nights there were illuminations and The inside of the harem was guarded by women, fireworks. There was also a festival for each month. and about the gate of the royal apartments were The merchants' wives held fairs on the ninth day placed the most confidential. Immediately on the out- after the festivals, and here the women of quality purside of the gate, watched the eunuchs of the harem, chased. The monarch attended these fairs in disguise. and at a proper distance were stationed the rajpoots, Afterwards, there were fairs for the men. These the beyond whom were the porters of the gates, and, on the king attended, and any one might then have free outside of the enclosure, the omrahs; the " detached " access to him, and the wronged receive justice. and other troops mounted guard according to their There was a curious custom of weighing the king rank. If the beguins, or wives of the omrahs, or other twice a year- once on his birthday, against various women of fashion, wished to pay their compliments, articles, twelve times; and these were then given,hey notified it outside, and their request was sent in, away. The princes were also weighed on their birthin writing, to the officers of the palace, after which days, and the things in the opposite balance distribthey were permitted to enter the harem: some had uted. Birds'vere let fly on these occasions, and leave to make a visit of a month. animals were given away, the number corresponding The monarch collected, in a kind of painting gal- to the years of the prince. lery, a number of artists, who might vie with each In marriages, the,enmperor made the consent of the other in their productions. Every week the superin- bride and bridegroom equally necessary with that of tendents brought to his majesty the performance of their parents. He disapproved of the marriage of pareach artist; and, in proportion to their merits, they ties of different sects in religion, or of ill-assorted were honored with premiums, and their salaries dispositions; he ho d it sinful that mere children increased. A list of eighteen eminent artists is given should marry, - as is sometimes the custom in the in the " Mirror." Much attention was paid to the illu- East, - because it would make discord; that persons mination of manuscripts -which was brought to a high of near affinity should intermarry, and that excessive degree of perfection -and also to the edges and bind- marriage gifts or settlements should be made. He also ing. By command of the emperor, portraits were disapprovedof polygamy. The customs inthe celebramade of all the principal officers of the court, which, tion of marriage varied in different parts of the empire. being bound up together, formed a thick volume, The Hindoos had several games of ball, at which and the present are insured immortality." which were played on horseback. Other games, and Public spectacles were encouraged "' as a means of among them cards, are enumerated, as in use. bringing together people of all ranks, who, by partak- In the hunting expeditions, the "detached" soldiery ing in tne general diversion, may become acquainted, surrounded the spot that contained the game; at the,and enter into friendship and good fellowship with distance of eight or ten miles from this was the sta. each other." In the public fights of animals, deer tion of the kour,.or king's suite, and beyond that werct were pitted against each other; they were classified, the omrah, or commander-in-chief, and others of registered, and their qualities bettd on. Buffaloes, rank; the whole being enclosed by the. guards Ih; bulls, ranr, goats, and cocks were ilso pitted. The the enclosure that contained the game some principa. fights came off at night, on the foul. teenth day of the omrahs and servants moved about gently in quest o 428 THIBET-GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRI`'TION. sport, and when they discovered any, pointed it out to cealment, and c,ght it. Sometimes he was put in his majesty. Sometimes the lion was caught in a trap a covert, or behind a screen, and the deer frightened baited with a kid, for which he entered it, and toward him, when he sprang out, and seized it. the door was made to shut upon him. Sometimes Dogs were also used, and deer taught to hunt deer, by straw was made sticky with some glutinous substance, putting a slip-noose on the horns of a tame animal, by and a sheep fastened near, in coming to get which the which the wild one was entangled. lion's claws became entangled, and he was rendered Sometimes four hundred people hunted together; harmless, and taken. Sometimes a man was mounted oxen were taught to act as stalking-horses, and on a large buffalo, and caused him to toss the lion moved so as to conceal the hunters, till the deer were till he was killed. i come up with. In hunting the wild buffalo, the tame Several instances are enumerated of Acbar's killing female was used as a decoy; sometimes the buffaloes lions, in hunting, with his own hand. The mode were driven from the water into snares, on the bank. of hunting elephants was very curious. Leopards Six kinds of hawks were used in hunting.' The falwere taken in a pitfall, with a spring-door. They coners were generally from Cashmere. were tamed and trained to hunt. Acbar had one which Upon the whole, it may he remarked, in closing used to follow him about, without collar or chain, like this notice of the empire of the Grand Moguls, that a dog. A thousand hunting leopards accompanied the Hindostan seems never to have been happier than emperor to the chase, each with its attendant. Some under the vigorous but well-meaning, orderly, and were carried to the field on horses or mules, others on generally benign, administrations of Acbar and All carriages or in palanquins. Sometimes they showed rungzebe. the leopard the game, and he crept along from his conC IH A P T E R C C XVII I. The Chinese government divides Thibet into five provinces, viz., Kam, on the east, which contains the Geographical Survey - Divisions - Charac- sources of the Irawaddy and Cambodjia, and lies south ter - Country, "c. of the Koko-nor Mongols; Ouei, containing Lassa. THE secluded country of Thibet is the Switzerland the residence of the grand lama, and the spiritual of Asia - on a scale commensurate with the compara- capital of Tartary, bounded south by the Sanpoo, or tive size of Asia and Europe. Her Alps are the Burrarmpooter; Thsang, having Nepau'l and part of mighty Himmaleh on the south, the Belur and Mus- Assam on the south, and the Khor Katchi Mongols tag on the north-west, and the Kuenlun on the north. on the north; Ngari, with the commercial emporium The passes of the Himmaleh are guarded by the of Ladak for its capital, and the Punjaub, west; and Chinese and the obstacles of nature. It is difficult to Balti, a triangular province, with Cashmere and Cabreathe the rarefied air of these terrific heights. No bul, south-west, Nanloo north-east, and Ngari southarmy could penetrate into the country, without expo- east. sure to destruction, even before meeting an enemy. Thibet has many lakes, some of considerable size, The only beast of burden in these regions is the sheep, to several of which Hindoo pilgrims resort, as to the l which clambers where no other animal than the goat holiest spots of earth. Lake Palti is a kind of ditch, can find a footing. The adventurous traveller must five miles broad, surrounding an island two miles in stop, every few steps, to take breath; blood often starts diameter. The largest lake, Terkiri, is seventy by from his mouth, eyes, and nose, and the pain some- twenty-five miles; it is in the north-east corner of times amounts to agony. Ouei. Some sixteen kinds of quadrupeds are found "On reaching the highest point," says a traveller wild, among which are the musk-deer, three kinds of over one of these passes, " the country looked like jerboas, two species of fox, the hare, yak, ox, and the Lanarkshire, in Scotland, and, had there been heather argali sheep. The beautiful fur, beneath the long instead of stone and brown grass, it would have hair of the Thibet goat, the smallest and most beautiresembled a Highland moor. The view, more ex- ful of the goat species, furnishes the material for the tensive than beautiful, was cloudless. Right in front famous Cashmere shawls. The tail of the yak, a stretched a dreary plain, shrubless, treeless, and house- flowing mass of glossy, waving hair, is a considerable less, terminated, along its whole northern side, at about article of trade, of very ancient use as a brush for twenty miles off, by a low range of rounded brown dispersing insects, and is often represented as a royal hills, utterly without tree or jutting rock, but very much emblem on Persian and Egyptian monuments. Gold broken into ravines and perpendicular faces. Trav- is found nearly pure, in the form of dust, and someellers were passing over the plain, to and from the times in pieces of large size. Copper, lead, cinnabar pass, with loaded sheep; but no cattle were visible at and borax, are also part of the resources of this prim pasture." Such is the scene presented in looking over itive country, which, notwithstanding serious obstacles, this mountain wall from the Niti pass, leading to Boo- carries on considerable commerce with Hindostan, tan, and inaccessible, by reason of cold and snow, China, and Russia. Crude borax, gold, shawl-wool, during eight months of the year. Of the north- and sheep-skins, are exchanged for woollens, cottons, eastern extremity, European travellers have caught silks, tobacco, spices, toys, tea, and porcelain. some faint glimpses; but, on the whole, these regions According to official Chinese geography, the whole,are almost unknown to Europeans. of Thibet contains sixteen towns. Lassa, the capital POLYGAMY-DRESS-THE KIANG. 4629 the Rome of Central Asia, is in a large plain, in pair of huge boots: silks and furs are worn by the rich. Ouei: it is a small city, but its houses are of stone, A fine white silken scarf is an invariable present on and are very spacious and lofty. It is inhabited occasions of ceremony, accompanied by a complimenchiefly b} merchants and artisans. In the surround- tary letter. The ordinary buildings are very rude, and ing plain are twenty-two temples, all richly adorned; quite unornamented, consisting of rough stones with and seven miles east of the capital is the " holy moun- out cement; but the religious edifices, uniting palace tain," or Pootala, the " Vatican " of the Grand Lama. temple, and monastery, display extraordinary splendor His temple-palace is said to be three hundred and sixty-seven feet high, to contain ten thousand apartments, filled with images in gold and silver, and to have its roof richly gilded. Its exterior is decorated CHAPTER CCXIX. with numberless pyramids of gold and silver. The state apartments are at the top of the edifice, which is 3000 B. C. to A. D. 1849. seven stories high. History of Thibet - Early Thibetans - Numerous priests and monks are maintained at thes - Empie - Cozqzest by Chiza. expense of government, and by presents which they receive. The Chinese have their military commander THIRTY centuries before the Christian era, when the. and civil governor at Lassa. The villages and mon- first Chinese colonies descended from the Kuenlun asteries, it may here be remarked, are generally situated Mountains, which separate Thibet from Tartary, they about half way up the insulated rocks which diversify found the Sanmiao, a Thibetan people, inhabiting the the table plain of Thibet. The rock above shelters banks of the Liang River, which runs through the provfrom the cold blasts; that below offeris channels to ince of Hoo kooang into Lake Toong ting, in Central carry off the melted snow, while in the heart of the China. Even in times of a still higher antiquity, Thirock are excavated granaries and magazines. betan communities seem to have occupied the westeri Gertope is the chief market of the shawl-wool; it is part of China as far south as the Nan ling Mountains rather a camp than a town, consisting merely of black and as far east as the province of Honan. The Sanmiac tents made of blankets fastened to stakes by ropes of were driven by the above-mentioned Chinese colonies hair, and adorned at the tops with flags formed of into the mountains around Lake Kokonor, west of the shreds of colored silk and cloth. It is in the midst of provinces of Chensi and Szutchooan. Indeed, they a vast plain, scattered about upon whibch may be con- long occupied the west part of the former province, tinually seen some forty thousand sheep, goats, and which was not brought under the Chinese dominion till yaks. Ladak is the seat of a considerable trade, being the second century B. C. the place of transit for the caravans which traverse The descendants of the Sanmiao received the name both sides of the valley of the Indus, from Thibet, Hin- of Kiang from the Chinese a name they afterwards rdostan, and Cabul. The people of this region held applied to the whole Thibetan race. They led a themselves independent of China, till she assigned it to nomadic life, and had numerous flocks; they also culthe Grand Larma, out of respect to whom they abstain tivated portions of land, but the produce was not con from the marauding habits which they previously prac- siderable. Their manners and customs were the same tised, but require that all the shawl-wool exported to as those of the barbarians of the north: they lived in Cashmere shall pass by the Ladak route. complete anarchy, and knew no other law or right than The Thibetans are of a mild temper and frank man- that of the strongest. Hence their country bore the ners: the men are stout, and have something of the name, among the Chinese, of Land of Demons, oy Mongol aspect: the complexion of the women is brown, Western Barbarians. enlivened by a mixture of fresh red. Their amuse- Like all the rest of the Thibetans, the Kiang pre. ments are chiefly chess, which they thoroughly under- tended to be descended from a large species of ape, stand, and the pageantries of a splendid worship. and the people of the country still glory in this origin, Polygamy of a singular kind exists; all the brothers of and boast of being the most; ancient of the human race. a family having the same wife, chosen by the eldest. Middle Thibet is still called Ape Land, and a writer Marriages are not solemnized by the priests, nor are who lived long among the Mongols declares that the they attended with much ceremony: if the lover's pro- features of the Thibetans much resemble those of the posals are approved by the parents of the female, they ape, especially the countenances of the old men, sent proceed with their daughter to the house of their as religious missionaries, who traverse Mongolia in intended son-in-law —the friends and acquaintances of every direction. These vaunt their apish parentage, the parties forming the marriage train. Three days and are quite pleased with what might seem the are passed in the amusements of dancing and music, ugliness of their faces. and when these have elapsed the marriage is consid- The Kiang were often at war with China during the. ered as concluded. first two dynasties; but when, in 1125 B. C., Wouwang The Tllibetans are temperate, and even abstemious: overthrew the Chang dynasty, their chief furnished their chief beverage is the tea-porridge of Tartary, a him auxiliaries. Yet for more than a century they kind of pap ot flour, salt, butter, and tea leaves. An sent no embassy to China, although vassals. Hence, old traveller says that they have substituted the about the middle of the tenth century, the emperor drinking out of the skulls of their masters for their attacked and defeated them; since which time they ancient and abominable custom of eating their relatives ceased not to disquiet the frontier, till effectually who died of old age; but this needs confirmation. checked or driven off, about 250 B. C. The national dress is of thick woollen cloth, and pre- In the third century B. C., a Thibetan tribe, called pared sheep-skinls, with the fleece turned inwards: the the Yuetchi, mingled with a blond race called the religious orders wear a vest of woollen with red sleeves, Oosun, both leading a nomad life, and rich in cattle | large mantle resembling a plaid, with a kilt and a inhabited the country between the snowy ridge o' X(30 EASTERN THIBETANS-THE DZAN-PHOO. Nan chan, the upper tributaries of the HIoang-ho, and cient Turks: they were nomads, and followed, with the little river Boolanger, in about latitude 40~. These their cattle, the course of rivers and meadows, live people the Hioong noo attacked and subjugated in 201 under felt tents, and had different encampments for B. C., and again in 165, when the prince of the Yue- summer and for winter. The nation was fierce, brave tchi was slain, and his antagonist took his skull and had and warlike. It subjugated all its neighboring cornit made into a drinking-cup, which he used on grand munities east of the Caspian, and in Transoxiana, and occasions. even; ruled at Khotan. Between the fifth and sixth A part of the dispersed Yuetchi returned to the centuries, the nation sent an embassy to China. Its south of the Nan chan, which separated their primeval language differed from that of all the other barbarians abode from Thibet, driving out the Kiang: here they In the seventh century, the Ye-ta became tributary to received the name of Little Yuetchi. The other por- the Turks, and were confined to Sogdiana. tion of the nation, much more numerous, and called the The Thibetans of the east founded several obscure Great Yuetchi, escaped toward the north-west, and kingdoms, generally wresting them from the power of encamped on the banks of the Ili, which runs into Lake China; all of these, however, fell at last under ChiBalkash. It expelled fiom their country the Szu, who nese rule. About A. D. 556, during serious troubles retired into Transoxiana, where they attacked the in China, one of these kings became quite powerful, Greek Bactrians, and destroyed their empire. and took the title of Dzan-phoo, that is, " born of the After having sojourned in their new country some spirit of heaven," or "hero chief." The ordinary resiyears, the Yuetchi were joined by their old neighbors, dence of this ruler was on the stream which runs near the Oosun, who had escaped into the Ili country, to Lassa. Though they had small towns, the people avoid the vexations of the Hioong noo. The Oosun then mostly preferred to encamp near the towns, under pushed the Yuetchi to the westward, and forced them felt tents. The subject tribes on their frontier were to cross the Jaxartes, where they took possession of nomads. Transoxiana, and founded a powerful empire, which Their ordinary nourishment was milk, beef, mutton lasted several centuries. To the west it was coter- and roasted grains: they never ate horses or asses minous with that of the Asi or Parthians. In the Their garments were made of felt and woollen cloths course of time, the Yuetchi conquered Cabul, Canda- which they manufactured themselves. When an in bar, and all the countries on both banks of the Indus. dividual died, horses and oxen were killed upon his The ancients knew them under the name of Indo- tomb, and interred with him. They had no writing, Scythians. but used notched sticks and knotted strings to register In the year 126 B. C., the Chinese sent to induce what they wished to recollect. Every year they rethem to attack, on the west, the Hioong noo - irrecon- newed the oath of allegiance to their king, called the cilable enemies of the Yuetchi; but these latter pre- little oath, on which occasion they sacrificed dogs and ferred the conquest of the fertile provinces of Parthia asses. Every three years, also, the little oath was and Sinde. A chief of one of the five hordes of the taken, and men, horses, oxen, and asses were sacrination, having put to death the chiefs of the other ficed. They began the year at the period of the mahordes, in 80 B. C., declared himself king of the turity of grain. nation, and obliged it to adopt the name of his own In 590, the Dzan-phoo extended his kingdom, which horde. He invaded Parthia, took Cabul, and his son reached on the south-west to the frontier of the Brahmravaged Sinde. This power now went on increasing. ins, or India. The capital was at Lassa. Having At the end of the second century A. D., its capital obtained some idea of the religion of Buddha, he sent was situated near where Khiva now is. Six hundred his prime minister into India, in 632, to study there miles eastward was its other capital. Some time the doctrine in all its purity. Under him the poweC after, one of their kings again invaded Sinde with a of the Thibetans increased greatly: this caised.them to large army, and also took five principalities north of be much feared, and gave them a great preponderance Candahar.* in Central Asia. They could easily set on foot an In the fifth century, the'Yuetchi declined through the army of some hundred thousands of well-disciplined aggrandizement of the Sassanides of Persia on one troops. Nothing, then, could be more flattering to the side, and of the Jeoo jan of Tartary on the other. A Chinese emperor than the proposition of their chief, portion of them had.spread east as far as the Altai and by an embassy, in 634, to acknowledge himself the Khotan, and bore the name of Ye-ta- These be- vassal of China. came powerful. about A. D. 400,, extended themselves Four years after, the emperor sent an ambassador west, and had their principal camp south of the Oxus. to the chief to keep up the good understanding. But In their capital, (probably Bamian,) which was square, on the chief's asking his daughter in marriage, the and three miles in circumference, was the royal palace, emperor refused her to him. This incensed the chief, and many Buddhist temples, richly gilded. for Turkish kings had already been thus honored. Their manners were the same as those of ttio an- Much enraged, therefore, he led his army to the fron- tiers, and sent to the Chinese court rich presents, under * The lYuetchi had at this time chariots drawn by two or pretext of his future marriage with the princess; but the four oxen. About 430 A. D., a Yuetchi merchant cam.e emperor's only answer was, the appointment of an opto the court of the emperor of China, and proposed to manu- nosing force along his frontier. The armies met, the facture glass of different colors - an article hitherto obtainedas defeated, but obtained peace and. from the west, and at a very high price. Under his direction, the proper mineral to make it of was found in the mountains, the hand of the emperor's daughter, A. D. 641. and the merchant succeeded in making very beautiful colored In 649 hp defeated the king of Middle Hindostan, or glass. The emperor employed him to construct of this sub- Bahar. We next find the Chinese emperor interposing stance a spacious hall, which would contain a hundred persons. between the 7-i and another ing ho that When done, it was so magnificent and resplendent, that it bewe.t o therugvon th might Eave been deemed the work of genii. From this time chief had defeated hut, oi the submission of the gla.s ware becalne cheaper in China. former, recalling his troons.'he Dzan-phoo theln WARS BETWEEN THE THIBETANS AND CHINESE 431 burned his arms in another direction, and his kingdom ilar depredations were. renewed every year. The became quite extensive, so that the emperor thought it land of Fergana, too, on the extreme west of the necessary to send an army and governor-general to empire, was taken from the Chinese, and its king was assert his nower over the four military districts of the obliged to seek safety in China. )zan-pnoo, namely, Koutche, Khotan, Karachar, and The Thibetans were at this time in alliance with Dashgar. But the Chinese generals quarrelling, two the Arabs on their southern border, who were then aodies of their troops were cut off in detail, near the warring in Mawarannahr. They had even Arab Lake Kokonor. troops in their armies. The following year, the Thus the Thibetan power went on increasing. Turks, who were at war with China, induced The Turks endeavored to embroil them with the Chi- the khalif of the Arabs and the Dzan-phoo of the nese, but did not succeed, though at last the emperor, Thibetans to aid them with their troops in attacking in consequence of their ceaseless incursions, sent, in the countries in Central Asia, subject to China. The 678, an army of one hundred and eighty thousand allies besieged two cities in the country of Cashgar; mlen, and gave them battle near the lake. The Chi- but the Chinese, aided by other Turkish hordes, were nese were defeated, but their opponents gained nothing. enabled to. raise the siege. In 722, the Thibetans On the death of the Dzan-phoo, during a regency, the attacked the kingdom of the Little Bolor, whose king emperor sent a general ostensibly to pay his respects asked help of a Chinese governor, and the Thibetans to the regent, but with secret orders to fall upon the were ultimately defeated. After this check, they'rhibetans at unawares. The general, however, wrote did not venture, for some years, to annoy the frontiers back that all were on their guard, and nothing was of the empire; but in 727, they began again to be done. troublesome. Several cantons of Western China had fallen into Similar events succeeded each other, with various the hands of the Thibetans, who possessed as far as the success on both sides. The Chinese were not able to Celestial Mountains north, to the Himmaleh south, and subdue this brave and restless people, and the result to the Belur Mountains west. Suddenly the Chinese of the enterprises against them was, to render them combined with the eastern Turks, and drove the Thi- only the more proud and insolent. In 729, the Chibetans from their four northern districts, above named. nese took one of their cities, which was deemed imThe regent, afflicted at these reverses, thought the pregnable, and, carrying war into the enemy's counbest mode of recovering his lost provinces was, to ask try, laid it waste for more than three hundred miles. a Chinese princess for his young prince in marriage. The Dzan-phoo asked for peace and a princess: both The emnpress Woo-heoo, who then governed China, were granted, and the frontier troops were withdrawn. without returning a definite promise, endeavored to But war was renewed because the Dzan-phoo kept up ascertain the condition of the Thibetans, and the terms a war which the Chinese, had desired him to desist they offered l: the regent proposed that the imperial from. The success was various. A rebellion pretroops should evacuate the four chief provinces above vented the emperor from punishing his invaders named, and that a country should be fixed upon for China was ruled by a eunuch, who did nothing. The each one of the ten Thibetan hordes, and that each Thibetans took the Chinese capital, a city of West norde should have its independent chief. The em- China, afterwards called Singan. The emperor fled: press decided to yield the terms asked for; but, in the enemy pillaged the city, burned the palace, and return, demanded the cession of the Kokonor prov- proclaimed another emperor. Nevertheless, at the ince, which would round off the Chinese territory. approach of a Chinese army, they abandoned the city, She parties, however, could inot come to terms, and and returned into their own country, loaded with an hostilities continued. immense booty. A.D. 763. In 702, the Dzan-phoo, having come of age, dis- A prince of Turkish origin excited a new revolt in trusted the good regent Khinling, and put to death China the next year, and, leaguing with the Thibetans many of his adherents and relations; upon which Khin- and Turks, raised a formidable army, and invaded the ling was so much grieved that he committed suicide. north-western provinces. His death caused disunion Several officers devoted to him passed over to China, among the allies, of which the Chinese took advantage, and offered their services to the empress, who accepted detached the Turks from the league, and employed them. Notwithstanding this desertion, the Dzan-phoo them to combat the Thibetan army, which was entirely sent an army, which pillaged the Chinese frontier, but defeated. The Turks (Hoei he) took vast numbers was beaten back. He then sent an embassy; but his of prisoners, and carried off all the booty the Thibetproposals of peace were rejedted, and the plundering ans hlad taken from the Chinese the year before. incursions continued, to the great damage of the fron- It is not necessary to recount the trains of similar tier; so that the Chinese were obliged to keep up a events which followed: it is sufficient to state that, in large standing army to defend it. 821, a peace was concluded between the Thibetans The next year, the Dzan-phoo sent an embassy to and Chinese on a solid basis, and a stone monument, ask again of the empress a princess of the blood royal. comlmemorating it, was erected in the middle of Lassa, He carried a thousand horses and two thousand ounces on which the treaty was engraven. This monument of gold, as presents. While this was going on, the is still to be seen in the enclosure of the great temple. southern provinces of the Thibetans revolted, and the But this did not hinder a renewal of wars, the result Dzan-phoo led an army against them. He defeated of which was, that, in 866, the power of the Thibetans, them, but lost his life in the action. His son, seven which had dominated in Central Asia for more than years old, succeeded him, to whom a Chinese princess four hundred years, was almost entirely destroyed. was promised; but, as he demanded a considerable Their northern territories were taken by the Quigoors, province for her dowry, the alliance did not take place. their south-eastern by the kings of Yunnan. But the Consequently, in 714, a Thibetan army of a hundred fatal blow was the establishment of the kingdom or tnousand men ravaged the Chinese frontier; and sim- Hia in the north-West of China. In 1015, tle nlation L —-------------------- ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 432 RELIGION OF IlHE THIBETANS. appears again on the page of history, sending an em- In the latter part of the last century, the king of Ne bassy to China against the Hia. After various ex- paul, tempted by the report of the wealth of its tern ternal disasters and internal troubles, the Thibetans, ples, and especially that of Pootala, marched an army wearied with dissensions, recognized the sovereignty into Thibet from the south, and, after an obstinate of China in 1125. war, compelled the lama to purchase peace by an Zingis, the Mongol conqueror, seems to have estab- ample tribute. lished the spiritual power of the grand lama, as we The Chinese emperor, looking upon the lama as have elsewhere stated; and his present title, it is sup- his spiritual father, sent an army of seventy thousand posed, originated at that time. Zingis does not appear men into Thibet, in 1791, who, notwithstanding a to have interfered at all with the domestic administra- vigorous resistance, drove the Nepaulese troops back lion of the temporal affairs of this kingdom. But, though across the mountains. The emperor now assumed in a manner independent of Zingis, Thibet became the civil sway of the country, leaving the lama his tributary to Kublai Khan. During the Ming dynas- spiritual jurisdiction. The Chinese still rule Thibet ty, in the fourteenth century, it was an. independent with a mild sway, leaving all the ecclesiastical institukingdom again, and so continued down to the conquest tions undisturbed, and in full possession of their ample of China by the Manchoos, who also subjugated Thi- endowments; the tribute, conveyed by an annua. bet, except the western part, previous to A. D. 1725. embassy to Pekin, is extremely moderate. Temple-palace of Teshoo Loinboo, near Jikadze, in Eastern Thibet. C HAPTE R CCXX. The word lama signifies one who shows the way, Re.igion Budzlcldhism, Lamais.n, Shaman_.-.applied to spiritual concerns. All the priests, who are I.eigmorthe g -f BPddismLam Itsi' Shamn. exceedingly numerous, are lamas, but they are of vaismn, or the Relgion of Fo - Its History rious degrees. The Grand Lama is at the head. He and Doctrines. resides in a magnificent temple at Pootala, near Lassa, THE religion of Thibet is that generally known under the capital of Thibet. He is deemed the Buddha, the the title of Buddhism, or Boodhism, from Buddha, or Fo, the Deity himself, residing, howeverl, in the form Boodh, its founder. It is called Lamaism, from the of a man. When the human body of the lama dies, Grand Lama, its sovereign head in Thibet; in Tartary, the priests, guided by certain signs, and proceeding mixed with fetishism, it is called Shamanism; in China, according to established forms, poilt out the child into philosophized, it becomes the religion of Fo. It prevails, whose body Buddha shall go, and there Buddha over more minds than any other religious system in the' becomes accordingly installed. Thus the perpetual world; and is remarkable for combining external rites miracle of a god on earth is sustained. Such is the and manifestations with metaphysical dogmas. Thus institution of the grand lama. This dignitary has no it maintains, on the one hand, that man, by self-con- direct temporal power; but he is the head of the templation, can become so exalted as to be absorbed Buddhist church over all Asia, as the pope of Rome into the Deity - and this is the highest end of a relig- is the head of the Catholic church throughout the iills life: on the other, it teaches that God, or Buddha, world. So exalted is he, in the eyes of his more igbecomes incarnate in the Grand Lama, and that divine norant worshippers, that, it is said, a divine odor is emanations fill the priesthood; while the grossest and exhaled from his body, flowers spring up from his coarsest idolatry is practised by the great mass of the footsteps, and, at his bidding, parched deserts are repeople. It is, doubtless, this adaptation to opposite freshed with flowing rivulets. Even his excrements classes of minds - the dreamy mystic and the formal are used as amulets, it being believed that they have materialist- that has largely contributed to its ex- thle power to cure diseases!.ensioll. Out of this being, so full of divinity, flows an PRIESTS-RELIGIOL S CE REM ONI I. 433 emanation to ten superior lamas, called kootooktoos. too's protection over his reign and the empire. The These are also divine, and constitute subordinate child laid his hands on the deputy's head, and gave spiritual heads of the nations of Tartary, &c. They the blessing asked for, and then blessed the lamas are perpetuated in the same way as the grand lama. and people. Presents were brought him, aso, frorm the When a kootooktoo dies, the supreme pontiff indi- grandees and others, on the two following nays. For cates the infant body into which the spirit shall go. seventeen days the f6te was kept up, with prize wresWhen the grand lama has thus decided, the oldest tling, by several hundred wrestlers on a side; horselamas - that is, priests - in the country are sent to racing, by nearly four thousand horses, — a thousand examine the infant, and verify the fact of its selection. and rmore at once; and archery, in which more than In 1729, an installation of the Mongolian kootook- three hundred archers contended. Prizes were then too took place at Ourga, his capital. Just after sun- distributed, and names of honor, such as " Lion," rise, the principal temple was decorated, and the idol "Strong Elephant," &c., were given to the victors. of the saint Aioucha, to whom lamas address prayers Beside the kootooktoos, there are multitudes of for long life, was placed opposite the entrance. On ordinary priests spread over all countries where the the left was elected a throne, adorned with precious Buddhist religion prevails, thronging around the temstones and rich stuffs. There were present the sister ples, occupied in religious services, begging, or perof the deceased kootooktoo, the three chief khans of forming fanatical or monkish feats and fasts: they Mongolia, and the deputies or proxies of the Chinese abound especially in China and Farther India. In Thi. emperor, and of the grand lama; the new kootook- bet, eighty-four thousand priests are supported by the too's father, the three khans of the Kalkas, and several government. The temple of the grand lama, at Lassa, other Mongols of distinction. The number of lamas is three hundred and sixty-seven feet high, and has ten assembled was twenty-six thousand, and that of the thousand rooms. On the plains around are twenty-two people, above one hundred thousand. other temples, some of enormous extent. These ediFirst, two hundred lances with gilt points, and fices are thronged with priests: twenty thousand are in adorned with bronze figures of wild beasts, were attendance upon the grand lama. Vast numbers of brought out and placed in two rows before the door; pilgrims come to him from distant countries every and a line was formed of two hundred Mongols, with year. He is never seen, except in a remote and secret drums and large brass trumpets. Six lamas then part of his temple; here, surrounded by lamps, he came forth, bearing the sister of the deceased kootook- seems absorbed in religious reverie. He never speaks, too, and followed by the khans, the principal govern- or gives a sign of respect, even to princes. With an ors, and all the other persons of distinction, arrayed air of sublime indifference, he lays his hand on their in splendid costumes. The procession moved in heads, and this is regarded as an inestimable privilege. silence to the tent of the new kootooktoo, which was In 1783, an English embassy went to Thibet, where the residence of his father, a Mongol prince. they saw the lama of Teshoo Lomboo, who seems to An hour afterward, the new kootooktoo appeared, have been a kootooktoo. He was a child eighteen conducted by the principal grandees and senior lamas, months old, and officiating as lama, performed his part who held him by the hand and under the arms. They with " surprising propriety." The temple at this place placed him upon a horse, magnificently caparisoned, is described, as of vast extent and magnificence. It whose bridle was held by a priest of high rank on one appears that, in Thibet, the priests are the aristocracy, side, and the senior lama on the other. When the holding the wealth of the country in their possession. kootooktoo came out of the tent, the lamas chant- The leading people adopt the clerical profession, as ed hymns to his honor, accompanied by the instru- being the road to honor and riches; the laity conments, while the nobles and the people bowed pro- stitute the lower classes. The priests are enjoined to foundly, and raised their hands toward heaven. celibacy, and marriage is therefore esteemed not only The procession halted in front of six richly adorned irregular, but vulgar. tents, in an enclosure before the temple. The lamas There seem to be rich revenues connected with the took the kootooktoo from his horse with the greatest temples, many of which are filled with gold, silver, and respect, and led him into the enclosure. The elder jewels; beside all this, the lamas of every degree lamas then took him into the temple, into which the receive numerous presents, some of them sent by sister of the tbrmer kootooktoo - now received kings and princes to the grand lama and the kootookas his own sister — and all the grandees likewise toos, and of great cost and value. The monks of entered. The envoy or proxy of the grand lama Thibet, who live on the borders of India, are said to then seated him on the throne; and the proxy of the be a dirty, good-humored class, who do not scruple to emperor announced to the people the order of his engage in trade. In the great central establishments. master to pay the kootooktoo the honors due to his there is more dignity; the deportment of the superirank. Hereupon, the whole assembly prostrated ors is humane, obliging, and unassuming; that of the themselves three times. The bells used by the priests inferiors, respectful and proper. The religious serwere now placed beobre the little lama, omitting the vices consist of loud music, in which the priests are bne the former kootooktoo used. " Why have you trained to raise their voices to a stentorian pitch, not brought my usual bell?" said the child. On accompanied by drums, trumpets, cymbals, hautboys: hearing these words, the khans, governors, lamas, and and every sonorous instrument capable of making a all the people shouted, " It is our real high priest; it noise. A favorite devotional practice is gazing on a is our kootooktoo!" wheel with painted letters, made to revolve rapidly by He then blessed his sister, the grandees and lamas, theehand. It is singular, that while the Hindoos pay and afterwards the people during the evening. Early religious veneration to certain lakes anu bnowy peaks the next day, the emperor's deputy brought rich pres- of Thibet, particularly Manasarouara Lake, and ents, and presenting them with the greatest respect, Mount Chumularee, the Thibetans have many Hin so'icited, ir, the name of the emperor, the kootook- doo idols in their temples, and make devout pilgrim. 434 DOCTRINES OF THE BUDDhlSTS. ages to Indian shrines, particularly at Benares, Jugger- life. Thus it germinated, and grew with widening naut, and Laput. shade, like its emblem, the banian-tree, planting nur Thibetan literature, which contains learning of series of its own branches, till it has been firmly rootec great antiquity, is exciting some interest in Europe in the minds of not less than four hundred millions of at present, and perhaps may, upon further investiga- the human race."* Its history, as it may be gathered tion, help to solve some of the problems of the from books of the Buddhists themselves, not only of early history of our race. Buddhism, especially, from India, but also of China, Thibet, and Mongolia, rerers the fact that it is the most extended religion in the to Central India as the first seat of the system; anni its world, has attracted the special attention of the learned. doctrines, so far as they are understood, have evidently It is believed that the whole system, after laborious grown out of brahminism. Its mythology, too, is that research, is now brought within our reach. Its exter- of the Hindoos, in its principal features. nal characteristics, were long since made known, A quickening of moral feeling against thu Pantheby the Catholic missionaries, who, in penetrating into ism of the brahmins, may be said to lie at the founCentral Asia, were astonished to find a religion in dation of Buddhism. The tendency of brahmin many respects like their own. Beside the Grand philosophy was to confound the Deity with the works Lama, who greatly resembles the pope, they found of his creation; though it taught the existence of a patriarchs charged with the spiritual government of divine principle pervading all nature, yet in practice provinces, a council of superior lamas, who unite in it made the creation itself, as God, the highest object conclave to elect the supreme pontiff, and whose insig- of worship, rather than a life-giving being, essennia even resembled those of cardinals; convents of tinaly separate from visible realities and ideas of the monks and nuns; prayers for the dead, auricular con- mind; moral distinctions were consequently obliterfession; the intercession of saints, fasting, kissing the ated. feet, litanies, processions, holy water, bells, candles, But that sense of responsibility which clings to man &c. Some of the priests were scandalized to see could not be entirely destroyed; and, in proportion as that the divinities presiding over the rites and cere- it reasserted its authority, the notion of the identity of monies, were the coarse and disgusting idols of the God and nature was necessarily dissipated, opening heathen they came to convert. the way to a new idea of the Deity. Such was the. One of the religious books of Buddha lays down force of long-established opinion, however, identifying the followving moral propositions:- the Deity with objects cognizable by the senses, - thus Sins are the ten black, five mortal, five near, and making him a mere aggregate of ideal forms, - that four heavy sins, and the three vices. The black sins there was a sort of necessity, in opposing Pantheism, are divided into sins by actions, words, and thoughts; to deny all attributes to God -to conceive of simple, by actions, as murder, robbery with violence and im- abstract existence as the highest Being. In Buddhist pure actions; by words, as lying, threatening, calum- language, God was Soobhava, that is, sel':i2zmanent ny, and idle discourse; by thoughts, as envy, hatred, substance, while all inferiol' existences are mere illu. and evil imaginations. sions, except so far as ideal forms are endowed with The ten following virtues are to be practised: to reality by the presence of the Deity. All action, pardon the condemned, or save any one's life; to ob- purpose, feeling, thought, having been thus abstracted serve cleanliness; to speak politely; to speak the from the idea of Deity, the highest human attainment truth; te preach and preserve peace; to follow the is, of course, an imitation of this state a similar precepts contained in the sacred books; to be con- sublimation of existence above all qualities. This is tented with one's station; to assist one's neighbors; the Nirvana of the Buddhists — the religious exaltaand, tenth, to believe in remuneration, that is, in the tion to which the devout aspire. punishment of ev;I and the reward of virtue. Their religious history of the world is curious. A The mortal sins are assassination of one's parents, fatality, it is said, having occasioned the development superiors, conquerors, khoubilgans, or regenerated of self-immanent substance, the first emanation was persons; and.exciting discord among priests. The Intelligence, or Buddha, together with water, which five near sins are, throwing down the subourgans — elements combined have given origin to all existing chapels in the shape of pyramidal columns-causing things. A Buddha state is the last state at which man;the death of a hermit, attacking his reputation, seizing arrives in the progress of perfection, before reaching on the presents made to the priests, wickedly shedding the goal of Nirvana. But the idea of Buddhla, as a the blood of regenerated persons, or saints devoted to teacher of mankind, is founded upon a supposed perthe service of the temple. petual and invariable rotation of great kalplas, or series The four heavy sins are each subdivided into four of ages. In each of these,-the series of which begins degrees, which are, 1. Sins that tend to total perdition, at an indefinite point of past time, - after an age of such as plots against the saints; 2. Sins arising from corruption, degradation, and decay, one of restoration contempt, such as depreciating the merit of others, has succeeded. This restoration has occurred more refusing to listen to the truth, contempt of the lamas; or less frequently; and in each case the first Emanation 3. Sins arising from blasphemy, such as criticizing the or Intelligence has become imbodied among men, in true religion, taking the defence of the ten black sins, order to promote the disentanglement of' human spirits being guilty of the five mortal sins, &c. from the vortex of illusion, by the effulgence of its Such are some of the practical forms and doctrines original light. of this system; its origin and theory deserve more The round of ages making a great kalpa had been particular notice. "Buddhism," says Professor Salis- already completed, according to the Buddhists. eleven bury, "is an offshoot of the Indian mind, not in the times at the commencement of the present kalpa} and fresh days of its prime, but when the stock had apparently become too massive to be thoroughly ani- * See Professor Salisbury's Memoir on the History of Budmated — too firmly incased to burst forth withl young dhism, in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. i. SPREAD OF BUDDHISM. L4.5 B[uddha had as often been incarnate. Since the pres- sion was not tolerated in Hindostan after the seventi ent series of ages began its revolution, Buddha has century, when brahminism succeeded in expelling this appeared, it is said, four times, and last in the person its formidable antagonist, from the country. of Sakya-muni, or the Salcya Saint, called, also, Cha- The king or dzanphoo of Thibet, having had some'iamouni, Shigentooni, and Godanzm -and who has notions of tle religion of Buddha, sent his prime milgiven the law to the existing age. This Buddha, ac- ister Sambouoda, to India, in A. D. 632, there to study cording to Chinese and Japanese authorities, was born the doctrine of Sakya-muni, in all its purfit. Returnin 1029 B. C., and died in 950. Other calculations ing to Thibet, this minister composed two kinds of fix his death at 1522 B. C. The Ceylonese, Bir- characters proper to write the language of the country. nans, and Assamese date.it at 543 B. C. His master, Srongdsan, the king, thl-n caused to be Sakya was of the Kshattrya, or warrior caste, being built at his capital, Lassa, the chief temple of the the son of a prince who ruled over a small, independ- religion he had just adopted. enit kingdom, in the north-west corner of Oude, on the Another authority adds that the establishment of edge of the Himmaleh range, at a place called the Buddhism on a firm footing in Thibet, seems to date Yellow Dwelling. Hence, probably, Buddhism obtains from about the middle of the seventh century, (A. D. its titld of the yellow religion. Sakya's personal 639-641,) when the above Srongdsan married two apostleship appears to have extended over all Cen- princesses, the one of China, and the other of Nepaul, tral India, and his religion was espoused by many of who each brought with them, to the Thllibetan court, the kings. At Shrasvati, in Oude, a rich householder large collections of Buddhist books, as well as images is said to have erected several large buildings in of Buddha. -A commission was appointed of an a grove, inviting Buddha and his disciples to reside Indian pundit, two Nepaulese teachers, one Chinese, and there. Here, it seems, he spent twenty-three years, one Thibetan, to translate the books of doctrine and and composed the Aphorisms, one of the three parts the ritual, and thus the'" sun of the religion was made of the Buddhist Bible. In 543 B. C., the chief succes- to rise upon the dark land of Thibet." The whole sor of Buddha convened a council, at the capital of collection of the Thibetan Buddhist books consists of Maghada, of a certain number of the clerical order the Kahgyur, or Gancdjour, a " Translation of' Consupposed to be most advanced in the doctrines, and mandments," embracing one hundred volumes — they added the other two parts of the Buddhist Bible - some say one hundred and eight -and the Stahgyur, the "Prescription concerning Moral Conduct," and in two hundred and twenty-five volumes. the " Appended Law." Yet that development of Buddhism, which seems to There have lately been discovered in Nepaul, and have been peculiar to Thibet, called Lamaism. was resent to Europe, the Sanscrit originals of these three served for a later age. Under the Mongol, Zingis books of their Bible, viz., the Sutra, the Vinaya, and Khan, in the thirteenth century, temporal and spiritual the Abhidarma; or "Fundamental Texts," " Disci- power were first united in the person of the recog)line," and " Metaphysics." It is said to be demon- nized head of the clerical order of the Buddhists, on strated that the greater part of the books held sacred his elevation to the rank of' a sub-king in Thibet. [,y the Buddhists of Thibet, Tartary, and China, are then included in the nominal empire of the Mongols. but translations from these. A Mongol author says, that "' Zingis sent an ambasAsoka, king of Magadha, was the great patron of sador to the head lama with the following order: Be Buddhism, and is said to have erected eighty-four thou the lama to adore me now and in future. I will thouisand stupas, or tlopes. These are a sort of shrines become master and provider of the alms-gifts, and or relic-depositories, built in the shape of a bubble, make the rites of the religion a part of the state eswith a bead at the top - because it is said Buddha was tablishment: to this end have I exempted the clergy of wont to compare life to a water-bubble. Soon after Thibet from taxation." Thus the religious reverence -241 B. C., the seventeenth year of Asoka's reign, at of the nation was shrewdly availed of as best adapted the end of the third grand ecclesiastical council - be- to sway the popular will, and the spiritual authority gan the great age of Buddhist missions. Propagandists was made to subserve the interests of the empire, by were now sent, by the head of the mendicant frater- union with a temporal power based upon it. nity, into Cashmere and its dependencies; into the After the middle of the thirteenth century, when Western Himmalehs; to the Mahratta country, in the Buddhism had extensively spread among the Mongols south-west part of Hindostan, where were erected themselves, a grandson of Zingis made the grand lama those vast monumental structures of Buddhism —the of Thibet " king of the doctrine in the three lands," cave-temples in Salsette, Ellora, &c. Missionaries that is, grand larna or patriarch of the religion of of this religion also made proselytes in Ceylon, in the Buddha for the whole empire: and at the same tine western nations, particularly the empire of Antiochus, this spiritual chief of the Buddhist religion was treated and probably in Egypt; also in the cold plains north as having the prerogative of dispensing temporal power of the Himmaleh, inhabited by " monsters," as the by consecration; just as the sovereigns of Europe, brahmins called foreigners. From Ceylon, Buddhism before the reformation, were accustomed to receive their spread to Farther India, and even beyond. In A. D. crowns and the unction of royalty at the hands of the 418, five priests brought it to Japan, from Candahar; Roman pontiff. Under the dynasties which succeeded and, in the sixth century, "idols, idol carvers, and the brief period of the Mongol empire, there seems to priests, again came " to Japan, " from several countries have been an increased parade of veneration for the beyond sea." Buddlhlist patriarchs, while at thle same time less power In A. D. 495, the patriarch of the Indian Buddhists was in their hands. Under these circumstances, the transferred his seat to China, and the succession was ecclesiastical system reached that acme of absurdity, no longer continued in India. From the middle of the the lama worship, which first became known to Eufifth century, indeed, Buddhism began to be overpow- ropeans through the Jesuit missionaries. ered in India and in the Indus country; and its profes- It would therefore seem that Buddhisin, originating BENEFITS OF BUDDHISM —CHINA. in Hindostan, spread thence to other countries; And further-it is believed that Buddhism, in spi'e that the patriarch of the religion dwelt in India, whence of its abuses and corruptions, has benefited the ruder he transferred his seat to China. At a later date, it nations of Asia, among whom it has prevailed, inas. became established in Thibet, where it continues to much as it has taken the place of a mischievous zrys. the present day; though, in the course of ages, tem. Brahminism is fatalism; it virtually takes through the juggles of priestcraft and the policy of away man's individuality and responsibility; Buddhism princes, it has assumed its present form. Its rites and gives him both. This, with other causes, has con ceremonies diiebr in different countries, and, blended tributed to extend this faith. In India, the brahmin? with other supferstitions, its spirit is often modified. For were a priestly aristocracy, who held the king entirely these varieties of Buddhism we must refer the reader in the power of their caste. Buddhism broke down to the notices of China, Tartary, Farther India, &c. the caste system - always fatal to progress and im. In general, Bulddhism inculcates good moral pre- provement. It originated with a man of the soldier cepts; but its whole history and present condition caste, and would naturally be embraced by kings who afford melancholy evidence of the duplicity of priests wished to free themselves from priestcraft. By its and princes, and the ignorance and gullibility of the greater sympathy with individual man, and by teaching masses. At the present day, this mighty institution is him his personal responsibility and capacity fbr im. a machine by which kings and chiefs sustain their provement and progress, and givinlg every one a motive thrones, and by which, through the aid and coopera- and an opportunity to rise - even to the priesthood - it tion of the prests, they are able to perpetuate their elevated the masses. These would become the natural despotisms. The connection between church and state allies of the king in reducing the power of the priestly is clear, for the emnperor of China has at his court a aristocracy- as in Europe the masses joined the kings kootooktoo, or nuncio of the grand lama, and in 1820, in putting down the military aristocracy. claimed the privilege of naming the child into whom a Beside political reasons, there are also moral ones. new kiootooktoo was to pass. The shameless trick of which may assist in accounting for the progress of passing off a man as God, in the case of the grand Buddhism. The sympathy for individual man, induced lama, and teaching the people to worship him as such, the Buddhist missionaries to interest themselves for ts explained by the fact that the priests, who perform foreigners, who were called " barbarians"' and "' monthe iuggle, thereby secure to themselves wealth, power, sters" by the Brahmins. The rude tribes of Asia felt and homage; ilat such a system is upheld by mon- this fellowship, and it conciliated affection to Budarchs, is accounted for by considering that in this way dhism, contrasted as it was with the " haughty, unsymtlhey maintain their dynasties, which give them the pathizing, and despiteful spirit" of Brahminism, anmi place and privileges of divinity. However the mind other creeds. A maxim of Buddhism was,'" whatever is shocked by this view, we must not indulge contemp misery is in the world is caused by selfishness; whaltoward these Asiatic nations, for it is to be remembered ever happiness there is, has arisen from a wish for the that during the middle ages, and down to the reformat- welfare of others' a truly Christian principle, which tion —nay, esven in some degree at a later day — could not fail to commend itself to the hearts of unil. similar practices have prevailed in Christendom. lions, especially in the lower walks of life. Scene in China. House. Boat. Fort. Bridge. Ships. Pagoda. C H A P T E R C C X X I. miles, or twice that of the United States. It consists of China Proper, with several dependent countries — t~odtzeton ~eort Sketch. Chinese Tartatry, Thlibet, Corea, and a number oJ THe Chinese Empire is the most populous in the islands lying along the coast. world, its inhabitants being estimated at two hundred We have already given the history of Tartary. anrd fifty to tlhre'l.ndlred and fifty millions - fborm- which is occupied by numerous nations and tribes ing about one third part of the population of the globe. most of which belong to the Mongolian race, and there. its extent is five million four bhundred thousand square fore have a general resemblance to the Chinese, who -- _____________ -- ________ - CHINA, ITS BOUNDARIES, CLIMATE, SOIL. 437 are also of the Mongol stock; but they are'. st ron.~ eeniLh - altogether more rude and uncivilized than C 1 iA i the Chinese. We have also given a distinct SE; account of Thibet, and though the p'-ople S,Ot OU there are Mongolians, they are as little pola- ".... ished as the inhabitants of Tartary. Corea' o ac has only a nominal dependence upon China, ~ - 1 and we have given it a separate notice: its 3: -IittI o people, however, are physically assimilated. ~ ho to the Chinese, though less polished, and SOBV.'aX less advanced in arts, knowledge, and refine- ".... } e.'ii Da:' | | ment. Ti e,' Chinza Proper contains about one fourth. ltI:IiI cart of the territory of the empire, and three Do B l,",ls fourths of the population. It is the portion gL 7ihil j 1 4 which embraces that peculiar nation, so dif-'- l; ferent from all others, called Chinese. It,V - i,,.. ih: presents topics of great interest, and merits k ind. a particular and distinct notice. -if (ei China Proper is bounded on the north by Tartary, and the Yellow Sea; east by the ji. / Pacific Ocean; south by the China Sea, Laos,..(.. and Anam; and west by Thibet. It is gen- o A E nI erally an uneven plain, though crossed by f l E! two ranges of mountains, the Peling range in the north, and the Mfeling range in the south. The two chief rivers are the Hoang-: 1 l o, — also called the Yellow River, its waters being dis- gentle, and hospitable manners. The language is, zolored by the yellow earth, along its banks,- and the; dialect of the Japanese. Vang-tse-Kiang. Both take their rise in Thibet. The The clitnate of China is cold at the north, the wintelrs.irst is one thousand eight hundred and fifty miles long, at Pekin being attended with deep snows and sevee' -and the last, two thousand miles. frosts. To the south, it is hot. Lying in the same The Island of Hainan lies upon the southern coast, latitude as the United States, and embracing nearly tahe about eight miles from the main land. It is one hun- same extent upon the Pacific as our country does upon dred and fifty miles long and seventy-five broad, and the Atlantic, the seasons and temperature are remailkLs quite populous. A part of the people are subject to ably similar. The soil of China is various, thoutlgh China, and a part remain independent. It produces generally fertile: the whole is under i11itdLcs1'ious toid gold, lapis lazuli, and various valuable and curious skilful cultivation, and yields abundant crops. It p owoods. Formosa,@* or Tai-wan, lies in the China Sea, duces all the fruits common to tropical and tempera'e sixty miles from the coast. It is two hundred and forty latitudes. Camphor and cinnamon-trees grow ill tlc miles long and sixty wide. It is traversed by a range fields and gardens. of mountains twelve thousand feet high, the tops of which are covered with snow the greater part of the _ _-_ _ year. Several- peaks are volcanic. The climate of - _ _ - this island is temperate, but the seas around are among the most tempestuous in the world, being visited by typhoons, whirlwinds, and waterspouts. Earthquakes are frequent and violent. The soil is fertile,. and parts are highly cultivated, yielding grain and |_ various fruits. Tlhe Chinese, who occupy only the | - - western part, first settled here in 1662, reducing the natives to a tributary state. They are about six hun- I dred thousand in number; the aborigines occupy the eastern part of the island: they are of a slender make, and resemble both the Malays and Chinese. The Loo Choo Islands, lying to the north-west of Formosa, are thirty-six in number, about four hundred Tea Garden. miles from the main land. The soil and climate are The tea shrub,t or tree, grows wild in fields alid fine, and the people are remarkable for their kind, hedges, but is improved by cultivation. It rises to ile * The Island of Formosa is associated in most minds with model of piety and learning. The cheat was finally detected the imposture of George Psalmanaser. He was born about and Psalmanaser sank into obscurity. He, however, was an 1679, and being well educated, probably by the Jesuits, he able writer, and found employment as such. He seemed became a wandering pilgrim, sometimes pretending to be a deeply to repent his imposition, and enjoved, to a certain Japanese, and sometimes a Formosan. After various adven- extent, the sympathy and respect of several distinguishedmen. tures, he went to London, and being patronized by Bishop t~i The origin of this plant is given by the Jpatnese iin the Compton, passed himself off as a native of Formosa. He following legend. A missionary, named IDarma, visited played his part admirably; and such was his ingenuity, that China about 516(i B. C. As he was one day doing penanc i he wrote a grammar of the Formosan language, and actually he fell asleep. As a punishment for his weakness, he cut off translated the Church Catechism into this fabricated tongue! his eyebrows, and threw them upon the ground. From these Hlie was well received by literary men, and wads regarded as a the tea plant immediately sprung up! 438 POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF CHINA-GOVERfNMENT. neight of four and six feet. It is generally grown in The history of China represents the early inhabitants gardens of no great extent. The leaves are gathered of this country as divided into numberless savage by families, and sold to merchants who trade in the tribes: they were gradually civilized by their emperors, article. This is a peculiar product of China, and is and for ages have been in advance of other Eastern the great staple of the country. Sixty millions of nations in the arts of life. They had numerous strugpounds are annually sent to Europe and America, be- gles with the Tartars, Thibetans, and Coreans, but side what is used in Asia Rice is more generally their dominion over them has now been established for grown in China than any other part of the world: it centuries. In the year A. D 1644, China was conconstitutes the chief bread stuff of the people. quered by the Manchoos, and the reigning family have Thd silkworm is cultivated in China, and here silk since been of this stock. A large number of Manis said to have been first manufactured. The insects choos are settled in China, and many of the leading of China are exceedingly various and brilliant; among officers of the government are of this Tartar blood, i,r~~~~~1I k - Head of a Chinese. Ihem are numerous beetles and butterflies, some of great size, and others of extraordinary brilliancy. The Though the Tartars and Chinese are different nations wild animals of China ar e little knoxn; the cattle are still, being both of the Mongol race, they bear a genera the lumped species of India; one kind is not larger than resemblance inf their features, and the two nations have a hog. Camels and elephants do not appear to be in readily assimilated under the same government. use, and there are few horses. The pigs are prover- 9. Hoo-nan is rich in minerals. Itscapital, Tchang-chab'ally small. foo, is a large city on the Heng Kiang. The political divisions of the Chinese empire are as 10. Fokian, on the coast opposite Formosa, has extensive follows: China Proper, Manchooria, 3Mongolia, Thi- plantations of tea. The capital is Fu-tcheou-foo. LittlBuai Son a nd th 11. Quang-tun contains the city of Canton. bet, Bootan, Little Bucharia, Soongaria, and the 12. Quang-si is a mountainous district, with Kuei-lingIslands already mentioned. China Proper is divided foo fobr its capital.'o nineteen provinces.* 13. Kuei-tcheou is the most mountainous province of Chi. na, being crossed by the Nan-ling range. 1. Pe-tche-li is the most northern province. The 14. Yun-nan is the south-western province, bordering on country consists of an extensive plain. The climate is severe Cochin China. in winter. Grain is produced in large quantities. In this 15. Se-tchu-an, thelargest of the provinces, is fertile, popuprovince is Pekin, the capital of the empire. lous, and encircled by mountains. Its capital is on an island 2. Chang-tung has for its capital Tsi-nan-foo. formed by the River Min-kiang. 3. Kiang-su contains many large towns, of which Nankin 16. Chen-si is mountainous, with fertile valleys. Its capi3 the principal. tal, Si-ngan-foo, the ancient capital of China, is nearly as 4. Ngan-hoei has Ngan-king, on the Yang-tse-Kiang, for large as Pekin..s capital. 17. Shan-si is mountainous, yet studded with villages and 5. He-nan is rich in grain. Its capital is Khai-fong-foo, towns. Tai-tong-foo, one of the principal cities, is near the ear the Hoang-ho. great wall, and is strongly fortified. 6. Hoo-pe is in the centie of China, and is exceedingly 18. Kan-si, the northwestern province, is mountainous, populous and fertile. Wu-tchang-foo, on the Yangtse many of the peeks being covered with snow. The capital, Kianlg, is one of the largest inland towns of the country. Lan-tcheou, is on the Hoang-ho. 7. Che-kiang, produces abundance of silk, rice, and grain. 19. The province of Leao. tong, or Moukden, extends along Its capif al is Hang-tcheou-foo, on the River Tsien-tong-kiang. the shores of the Yellow Sea. It formerly belonged to Man8. Kiang-si is well cultivated, producing cotton, sugar, chooria. The capital is Moukden, or Fuag-thian-ifo, where indligo, silk, with extensive manufactures of china ware. are the tombs of the kings of the prosent Manchoo dynasty Nan-tehang-foo is the capital. 9f the empire. EXAGGERATED ANTIQUITY OF THE CHINESE. 439 of British power, and as having yielded to it so far as to submit to a degree of intercourse-before inter1relimininay Remnarls on ChiLna - The Fabnu - dicted-with other nations. Such a people, so anloas Pseriod of~ Chinese H Thistor~y — le lTh ree ient, so numerous, and so advanced in civilization and Empenlors -The Five XEmperors. knowledge even from antiquity, may be excused, if not justified, in their assumption of superiority in many CHINA, in its history, its institutions, and its people, respects over all nations of the vwest, - especially as, presents very peculiar and interesting features. It has during so many ages of their history, they have many claims upon the attention of the world, both in had contact only with nations of barbarians and in view of the past and the present. Its situation at this Periors. day is full of import, and the prospect as to the future The origin of the Chinese, like that of other Asiatic is not without hope. So far as the merchant and the nations, is lost in the depths of the most remote antimissionary may obtain access to its people, and the quity. They have a fabulous chronology, similar to opportunity of intercourse with other nations shall by that of the Hindoos, and equally extravagant. It inthis means be enjoyed, changes of an important char- cludes dynasties of monarchs each of which held the acter may be expected to take place in institutions of sceptre during eighteen thousand years; but after this, an immemorial date. their lives dawindled to so rarrow a span, that the reigns The Chinese empire is the oldest now existing on of nine nmonarchs are comnprehended in forty-five thouthe earth. It has survived those changes which have sand six hundred years. The ten ages which elapsed affected and at last destroyed every other nation dis- from Tan-kon, or Pan-kwo, the first man, to Confucius, tinguished in ancient history - Assyria, Babylonia, are computed by some of their writers to comprise Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Those have had their ninety-six millions of years. It is proper, however, to decline and fall, while this people appear to have state, that the Chinese treat their own fabulous records existed apart as a distinct family almost from the era with contempt. The first dawn of authentic history comof the dispersion at Babel. The present European rmenes with Fo-hi, in the year 2989 before Christnations are but a people of yesterday, compared with a period which accords sufficiently with the best estab; the Chinese, in respect to duration. lished chronologies. Even after this date, the Chinese At a period as early as the date of Thebes in Egypt, annals are tinged by fable, and it is not till the acces. this lation had reached a settled form of government sion of Yu, of the Hea dynasty, that reigns of the and a high state of civilization, from which if they have ordinary duration indicate that their narrative is at not materially advanced, they have at least not receded. length placed on a solid basis. We do not, of course, admit the extravagant claims, Choo-foo-tsze, or Confucius, the greatest historian of which have been set up for them, of an antiquity China, gives an account of the Chinese monarchs durexceeding by many thousand years the period of the ing a period of two thousand five hundred and sixtyMosaic date of the crea'ion. The Chinrese, like other two years, which is new to the English reader. I. old nations, have a fitbaulols period. They do not includes their history from the time of Fo-hi, the themselves believe in such an antiquity. Their more founder of the empire, to the close of the Hea dynasty authentic records come within the period embraced in Due allowance must be made for that portion of il sacred chronology, at least if we allow the Samaritan which is obviously founded on tradition. The early zomputation. Chinese, to whom these annals refer, were not, howThe Chinese is also the most populous nation now ever, the first people of China, but they displaced the Iwelling on the globe. Surprising as is the long line tribes they found here. The empire indubitably had of their historic records, the extent of their population its origin in the north part of China, not long after the is a subject of still greater wonder. That a third part deluge of Noah. Bands of colonists came down from of the human race should be found within the limits of the Kuenlun Mountains, and subjugated or extermione empire, and that not by any means the largest in nated the barbarous races, one after another Some territorial extent, is an anomaly in history. The most relies of these indigenous tribes are preserved in the populous of the European nations dwindle into insig- mountains of Western China, where they bear the nificance by the side of the three hundred or three name of Miao, and are probably of the same race as hundred and fifty millions of China. They are truly the aboriginal Thibetans.* We do not deem it necesa world by themselves. The account of their numbers sary here to go into these obscure and confused deis taken from government records, and, though we tails, but proceed to follow the history after it assumes should be obliged to allow something to national pride, a methodical shape. their substantial accuracy must still be admitted. When the Chinese first settled in the province of The Chinese, also, are the most civilized nation of Chen-si, they are said to have been almost complete the East. For thousands of years, learning and the savages. They were strangers to all the arts, to every arts have flourished there, and though. in general they form of' social union, and to every idea whl-icl could fall short of the nations professing Christianity, yet raise the man above the brute. But the means by their attainments are respectable, and, considering which they were initiated in the useful arts, and their secluded situation, even surprising. In a few par- gradually rose to that measure of improvement which ticulars they probably excel all the rest of mankind. gave them so distinguished a place among the Oriental The degree of perfection by which they are distin- nations, form the chief theme of their early history. guished in some of their arts, appears to have been In this retrospect, the most remarkable circumstance reached in an early period of their history. is, that the prince is commemorated as the sole inThese obvious peculiarities respecting the Chinese ventor and teacher of every science and craft - firom people entitle them to notice, especially as they have Ibeen placed, of late years, in an interesting situation K Kiaproth. - See further, at the beginning of the second before the moral and onlitical world, as the antagonists chapter of the history of Thibet. 440 THE HEA AND TANG DYNASTIES. astronomy to agriculture, from preparing the machin- silkworm. and in weaving cloth for. garments. Hlwang ery of war to manufacturing musical instruments. reigned, according to historians, one hundred years. Although it is impossible, in these representations, not He was illustrious by his greatness and virtues. to suspect some disposition to flatter the throne, yet it We now come to the period of the Five Emperors. really appears, by recent observations among the Of the first four of these little is recorded. They chiefs, both of Africa and the South Sea Islands, that were represented as exceedingly virtuous, except Che. sovereigns, in this early stage of society, take the lead site, the last, who was depos. d on account of crime in many concerns which are afterwards advantageously and incapacity. Tang,-yaou, (2330 B. C,) brother left to the zeal or ingenuity of private individuals. of the preceding emperor, was only sixteen years olrh As the narrative becomes more modern, we find the when he took his place. According to the ancien monarch emnploying such of his subjects as he con- record, he possessed great talents and benevolence. siders best qualified, to preside over the different Everytwelfth year he visited his several states and, branches of national economy. during these visits, if the widow or destitute came and In remote times, however, it is obvious that China complained of cold and hunger, he relieved them, was not governed upon those despotic principles which saying, " I too have been hungry and cold." Through afterward acquired so complete an ascendency. such acts of kindness, he secured the unbounded afThere is nowhere, indeed, any trace of republican fections of his people. Yu-s1Urn, his son, was called institutions in that country; but in all the early sue- to assist in the government before his father's death. 3essions, the crown is represented as purely elective. It was under his superintendence that the people were On the death of the reigning prince, the people assern- addressed on popular subjects, and several of the bled and chose the person whom they judged best principles of.Chinese morality were established and fitted to succeed him, and who was usually a minister, developed, viz., that the conduct of the father should not a son, of the deceased monarch. be just and correct, of the mother, kind and merciful; The three first emperors of China were Fo-hi, that friendship should exist between elder brothers, Shin-nung, and Hwang. Fo-hi is spoken of as teaching -even though by different mothers;- that younger the people how to catch fish, and to cultivate the soil. brothers should be respectful and courteous to their He also made the first step towards the invention of elder brothers, and that children should be dutiful. writing, called the Pa-hwa; yet this consisted merely "Here was laid the foundation of that permanent in the formation of the koua, which comprised eight order of things which has continued to this day, and lines varying in length, and irritated from those which has distinguished the Chinese from all other people. appear on the back of a dragon. These lines, being Filial piety and reverence for superiors have been krranged into clusters of two and two, in connection from that time the key-stone of the Chinese constitu vith knotted cords, formed sixty-four combinations, tion, and its essential conservative principle." Tangtapable of expressing that number of ideas. This yaou died in the seventy-third year of his reign. Hitwork has been an object of the deepest veneration character is summed lip thus: "'rhough rich, he wvas among the Chinese, who believe it to possess such a not proud; dignified, yet not] self-important. Though spiritual and mysterious virtue as to contain the germ attired in royal robes and his carriages drawn witil of all things. Even the great Confucius made it the white horses, and though his mansion was adorned subject of an elaborate commentary; and yet its whole with carved work, his table was spread with plain merit seems to consist in being the first approach to an dishes, and he would not listen to lewd songs. His art of such vast importance as literary composition. son died in the forty-eighth year of his reign. As a It is stated by Chinese historians that Fo-hi reigned prince, he is recorded to have loved the lives of his one hundred and fifteen years. Shin-nung, or the people, and disliked the putting of any one to death." divine Nung, we are told, made himself acquainted with the five kinds of grain, and all kinds of shrubs and vegetables, especially those of a medicinal nature. C H A P T E R C C X X [ II. He fitted a tree so as to make a plough, and taught the 2169 to 1110 B. C. people agriculture, as well as the healing art. He reigned, as is stated, one hundred and forty years. - t Shin-nung is said to have been succeeded by seven How-Yu was now calledtoascenc the throne. This sovereigns, whose united reigns make three hundred was near the period when the Egyptian monarchy is and eighty years. This period Confucius considers supposed to have been founded by Menes, or Misraim, doubtful. If these years be deducted from the reign2188 B. C. According to some accounts, the He of Fo-hi, the Chinese history may be said to com- dynasty is, in fact, the first in Chinese history.` Durmence no eatrlier than 2989 B. C. It is, doubtless,' Chinese history records an inundation of the rivers, not so remote even as that era. which, in 2293 B. C., devastated chiefly the northern provrearable as a child, and grewu ces: this deluge is almost of the same date as that of Tvdistinglihed fbr his wisdom. He improved the method phon, or Xisuthrus, which was 2297 B. C. At this epoch, the history seems to put off the marvellous, and merit more of recording events adopted by Fo-hi, by the inven- confidence in respect to facts, without being more exact as tion of written characters. One Chinese writer ob- to dates. Yu, whose merit, and especially the signal service serves, that all modern written characters may be he performed in drawing off the waters of the inlundation, traced to those invented by this emperor. During his had called him to the throne, became the founder of the Hea reign it was that the phenomena of the heavenly bodies dynasty, which commenced twenty-two centuries B. C., and reign it was thla~t the phenomena of the heavenly bodies continued for four hundred and forty years, finishing in 1767. were recorded; their revolutions calculated; the prin- The Chang succeeded, reigning six hundred and forty-four ciples of arithmetic explained; a standard for weights years, till 1123 B. C. The absence of ficts, in the history and measures fixed, which, with slight alterations, exist of these two dynasties, confirms the truth of the annals, for the imagination was not resorted to, as in many earlay histoto the present day; the popular music corrected, and ries: it is another mark, also, of that dry spirit of exactnce.ss lie people instructed by the empress in rearing the which characterizes the Chinese. - Klaproth. THE TANG DYNASTY. 4-41 ing the reign of How-yu, the Le-ko wine was invented. sages. If you govern your subjects with equity, you The emperor foresaw in its agreeable flow the demor- will be beyond the reach of misfortune." allzation of his people, if permitted to indulge in it. Vuthting, another prince of the second dynasty, fie therefore prohibited its importation. We are told passed the whole of his three years of mourning for his that it was in reference chiefly to the example of this father in a house near the tomb, imploring Heaven monarch, that the present emperor of China was led to bless him with such virtues as were suitable to his to observe, with tears in his eyes, that he could not station. When the term was expired, he returned to meet his august father after death, unless the vice of his palace, where he saw, in a dream, a man repreopium smoking were eradicated. If Yu, at this early sented to him by Heaven as his future prime minister, period, would not allow the importation of an intoxi- whose features were so strongly impressed upon his ceating liquor, with what propriety could he, the present mind, that he drew an exact portrait of them, and emperor, permit the importation of twenty-seven caused the man to be sought for. Such a person was thousand chests of opium, by which his subjects were found in the condition of an obscure mason, working in stupefied and degraded, and his laws rendered nuga- a village, whence, by the emperor's command, he was tory? How-yu was a great proficient in astronomy, brought to court. Being questioned on a variety of astrology, and agriculture. On the latter subject he points concerning government, the virtues of a soverwrote a work, in which he taught his subjects how to eign, and the reciprocal duties of princes and subjects, improve their lands, by manuring, levelling, and drain- he returned answers marked with so much wisdom as ing. How-yu died before he had completed the excited the admiration of the hearers. The emperor eighteenth year of his reign. constituted him his prime minister. The new favorite, Three emperors followed, whose reigns were short, in his administration of government, astonished tle amounting together to only fifty-one years, during empire by his knowledge and prudence. which two or three wars were waged with rebellious This dynasty continued through six hundred and officers. How-setung succeeded, in 2091 B. C. This fifty-six years, under thirty emperors. Like the Hea prince was raised to the throne by the Se-ang family dynasty, it was terminated by the vices of the last of and the nobles. He warred in two instances with them. It was under the dominion of this line of s iforeigners. He was put to death, in the twenty-eighth ereigns, that the eastern foreigners are spoker of -s year of his reign, by a chieftain named Han-tsuh. His exceedingly troublesome, and as compelling the impIeson Shaou-kang was then proclaimed emperor. This rial court to retire to the centre of the empire. prince established the government upon the best models The period which has been described at Dve, is Df his predecessors. He died in the sixty-first year deemed the classical portion of Chinese histo y, and I of his reign, greatly venerated, and was succeeded by a familiar acquaintance with it has long bieen monsid his sbn Hozw-choo, 2042 B. C. This prince distin- ered an essential proof of Chinese scholarship. Conguished himself in war, and, as a general, was a tinually, therefore, referred to by their poets a Id oraworthy descendant of the immortal How-yu, the tors, the records of these early reigns stair ped, no founder of the dynasty. He was followed by ten doubt, to a considerable extent, the character of sub. - -I emperors, till the establishment of another dynasty in sequent events. It is by a reference to this period', 1.767 B. C. when both prince and people felt bound to practise Little is said of these sovereigns in history. Their virtue, and enforce the laws, that the anger of Heaven reigns in general were not long. The last, 1How-kwei, might be averted, that the Chinese explain ti e origin [fell into great excesses. The power of the Hea dy- of the term Celestial Empire. The mild, paternal nasty, it is said, declined through neglect of the god- government of the ancient sovereigns of Clina was dess Ceres. The ancient worthies were much more called celestial, because the principles up n which iwise in an attention to agriculture, by means of which they governed were received from Heaven, or were, they caused the country to prosper, and obtained the at least, believed to be in accordance with tl e xvill of love of their people. How-kwei died in the fifty- Heaven. In this view, the Chinese are less arrogant second year of his reign, execrated by his subjects. and absurd, perhaps, than we are apt to sup[ose them. [n this dynasty happened an eclipse, in regard to which It is only parallel with our practice in calling ourselves the Chinese records affirm that Hi and Ho, who pre- a Christian nation. That the Chinese should exult in sided over the department of the mathematics, were their annals, and such annals, is at least a pardonable put to death, because they had not foretold and inserted weakness. The successful warri'or is not a favorite in it in the ephemeris of that year-a neglect which was their history. To this day, the Chinese rank the civil then a capital offence. much higher than the military service. Chin Tang, that is, Duke Tang, was the founder of the T'ang, or Shang, dynasty. He became displeased with the conduct of his sovereign, withdrew to his own capital, and, at length, declared himself independ- CH A P T E R C C XXI V. ent. In view of his virtues, the people elevated him 1110 B. U. to A. D. 479. to the sovereignty. He is said to have had the most I excellent qualities. His modesty was almost unparal- The Dynasties of Tcheou, Tsin, Han, Heout i led: he was the only person in the empire who Han, Tein-ou-ti, and Song.- Confucius. thought he was unfit for so important a trust. He was often on the point of resigning his crown, but his no- AFTE the Tang dynasty succeeded that of Tcheou, I bles would not consent. Tay-we was one of his su- commencing 1110 years B. C., and ending 246 B. C. c essors. This prince, being once terrified by a prodigy, which made him apprehensive of a revolution, re- * Tcheou, or Wen-wang, by his virtues had united all the i d the. follo.ving impresivee parties opposed to the tyrannical emperor, Chew-sin, who was I ei ed the following impressive lesson from his minis- led illnto numerous debaucheries and cruelties by his favorite {er': Virtue has the power of triumphing over pre- mistress. Ta-lki. But VWen-wang died leaving the deliveraloe 442 bON ITCI U S. It constitutes the third, and includes thirty-five em- more dreadful and dangerous than the liberty which perors. Chaus, the fourth emperor of this dynasty, is they had exercised of complaining. said to have been excessively fond of hunting. In This tyrannical edict was not long endured; the pursuit of that sport, he did incalculable damage to people, driven to despair, rushed upon the palace, and the crops of his subjects. Their remonstrances being murdered the whole of the reigning family, except the unheeded, they determined to destroy him. For this king himself and his youngest son. In a short time, purpose, as he was wont to pass a large river, on his theenraged multitude insisted upon the young prince return from the chase, in a boat which waited for him, being delivered up to them, and the minister, to spare they caused one to be built of such construction as to the royal infant, gave them his own son, to be brutally I break in pieces before it could reach the opposite murdered in his stead. shore. Entering this boat, he and his attendants soon It is related of another emperor of this dynasty went to the bottom. that he was in the habit of giving orders, whenever Livang, the tenth prince of this dynasty, acted in his army perceived lighted fires, that they should take such a tyrannical manner, that he stood in awe of up arms and hasten to him. In one of these alarms, the remarks of his subjects, and actually prohibited observing that his favorite mistress was greatly enterthem from conversing together in public; nothing tained by the proceeding, he frequently repeated the being seen but men, formerly friendly, endeavoring signal for her amusement, as also to witness the vexato shun each other, and walking in mournful solitude, tion of the soldiery at having taken such unnecessary with their eyes fixed on the grouind. One of his min- trouble. The consequences may be foreseen. On a isters had the boldness to tell him that he was not subsequent occasion of real importance, th.e soldiers, placed upon the throne to make his subjects miserable; having been so often deceived, neglected a. signal of that it was not easy to stop the tongues of men; and alarm, while the enemy penetrated to the monarch's that the silence which he had imposed upon them was tent and slew him. Milan JiI:U^i Confucius instructing his Disciples. i It was in the reign of Lingrte, during this dynasty, maxims, and possessed much influence even with (549 B. C.,) that Confucius, the celebrated moralist, kings, as well as with his countrymen in general. He philosopher, and lawgiver, was born. He was evi- died in the seventy-third year of his age. dently a man of great knowledge, and of extensive The fourth dynasty, called Tsin, was a short one wisdom, and was beloved on account of his virtues. of forty-three years, terminating 203 B. C., and inHe rendered signal service to his country by his moral eluding four sovereigns. It was, however, signalized of his country to be completed by his noble son, Wou-wang, sovereigns, even after the loss of their thrones, power in - who gained one great battle, the battle of liberty -causing China is regoarded only as a possession de facto, and each new - the tyrant to flee to his palace, to which he set fire, and per- power which elevates itself is legal at the instant when'the ished in the flames. Won-wanig, however, though hle restored occupation of the empire is achieved. Legitimacy ceases, hlappine!s to his country, committed a mistake, long fatal to too, when tyranny becomes insupportable. Confucius, Ment the peace of China. He destroyed the ancient form of eius, and all the ancient Chinesephilosophers, affirm and espure monarchy, and substituted for it a species of feudal tablish. the rightt of subjects to deliver themselves from opsystem. The first founders of the Chinese empire consisted pression by regicide. But WVou-wang shared the country of but aboat a hund ed equal families; and while tohe Indo- among his generals, and kept for his own family but a comJGermanic race, spiead over Europe, divided itseli as it still paratively small proportion; hence came the division of theA aes uvervy where, into hereditary castes, superior one to the empire into so many petty principalities and independent:)ther, and even preelirving this suporiority hereditarily, and kingdoms, which, large ad small, were, in the time of Cyrus. without the possession of al y domn io whateer-ithe Chi- (530 B. C.,) very nmuerouts. These petty princes were en. nese race is comnposd of famiies plerfeelv equal among gaged in perpetual wars, like the dukes and counts f Fralnce, themselves, anld ecognizin no other dominion tian that of the before the king gained complete ascendency over his nominal reigning dyrnasty, to which they are submitted in the most vassals. - Klaproth. i aisolute manier. Whilst Europeans accord legitimacy to'l apnrs t i outy omte zrtkl15ftl oto hntrnybcmsis~~rabe lnuis an THE HAN I) NAS TY. 443 by several important events. The celebrated great wall The fifth dynasty, which commenced about two hunof China, which still astonishes those that behold it, was dred years before the Christian era, terminated in the finished by one of the emperors, named Tsin-che-hwang- year A. D. 221. It is called the dynasty of Hanu and te, about the year214 B.C. Extending fifteen hundred lasted four hundred and twenty-four years, under miles in length, it separates China from its northern twenty emperors. The head of this dynasty was neighbors, and was erected to protect the country from Lieu-pang, a soldier, magnanimous, humane, and gentheir incursions. It was about this period when the erous, a citizen of one of the three kingdoms of China. Chinese first adopted their famous law of non-inter- After seventeen pitched battles with a rival rebel, and course, by which all foreigners are prohibited passing overcoming the last emperor, he ascended the throne. the frontier, or even landing on the coast. This law united the whole empire, and took the name of Kao. is erroneously supposed by some to have been directed Tsou, or Kao-hwang-te. This monarch reigned with wholly against the English, or against other modern clemency and moderation. He was one of the few European nations generally; whereas it has been in who governed for themselves. Under the rest, the force upwards of two thousand years; and instead of eunuchs enjoyed a great degree of authority, which taking offence at the Chinese, for not abandoning at they always abused. In his reign, paper, ink, and once one of' the fundamental rules of their ancient hair pencils-the last still used in China instead of policy, we ought rather to commend them, while pens - were invented, according to some; others, as retaining the rule in modern times, for permitting we have seen, assign them a date a little earlier. foreigners to use the port of Canton. Vuti, or Wouti, one of the princes of this family Tsin-che-hwang-te suppressed the tributary king- was an eminent encourager of learning, and ordered doms, and reduced them to their former state of prov- the morality of Confucius to be taught in the public inces. Elated with success, he became ambitious of schools.f He, however, fell under the power of a being thought the first sovereign of China. With this strong delusion, in endeavoring to discover a liquor view — according to some authorities- he ordered all which would make him immortal. His reign was the historical writings and public records to be burnt, somewhat prolonged, and was signalized by many and many of the learned men to be burnt alive, that heroic exploits in wars with the Tartars. Besides past events might not be transmittedd to posterity. It subjugating many tribes of the Hioong-noo, he estabwould seem, however, that he was not able to obliter- lished colonies- north-west of China, built cities, and ate all the monuments of by-gone ages." gave military governors to his newly acquired prov -- The events of this dynasty are thus represented by other subduing the southern barbarians to the sea-shore, he put all authorities: At the end of the third century before the Chris- the lazy, idle vagabonds of his empire, to the number of five tian era, China, divided into petty kingdoms, was a prey to hundred thousand, into fortresses, and obliged them to ocwars and disorders which were ever on the increase. Its south- cupy themselves in useful labors. ern part, south of the Nanl-ling M[ountains, was occupied by Previous to this time, the princes of the three northern another race - barbarians. Seven sovereignties had been kingdoms of Tsin, Tchao, and Yen, had constructed walls formed in the bosom M China; among these, that of Tsin against the Hioong-noo: Tsin-che-hwang-te undertook to was the most powerful, having a fifth of the surface and a unite these several walls into a single one, which should tenth of the population of China. stretch from the westernmost province of Chensi, as far as Itsking managedto subdue allhisrivals; and, dyingin 251, to the eastern ocean. He assembled for this vast purpose his son succeeded him, but died a few days after, leaving an immense number of laborers, and placed them under the his own son to reign; his son, Tsin-che-h/waoaq-te, may supervision of several bodies of troops. He was then in the be regarded as the true founder of the Tsin'dynasty, a thirty-third year of his reign, (214 B. C.;) but he had not dynasty which has given to China the name it bears among the satisfaction of seeing this work completed, which lasted the natives of the WVest. ten years, and was not finished till after the extinction of his IIe ascendeC the throne at the age of thirteen, and became dynasty. one of the greatest of the Chinese emperors, reigning over an After so many public undertakings, he might have looked for extent of territory almost equal to that of China Proper at gratitude; but he was constantly annoyed with the revolts of the present day. This he divided into thirty-six provinces, the grandees, who aimed to bring back the feudal system, with: besides four tributaries, which he conquered, south of the all its evils. Out of patience with the quotations and repre. Southern Mountains. The imperial capital was at Hiang- sentations importunately urged on him as to their rights and yang, near Si-ngan, on the opposite side of the Ouei River. wrongs, their privileges and prerogatives, he commanded all The emperor embellished this capital with magnificence, the ancient historical books to be burnt, and especially those and caused to be built here palaces exactly resembling all the by Confucius, who had lived three hundred years before. These royal residences of the sovereigns he had conquered - a truly orders were rigorously executed. This destruction the litChinese idea! He ordered that the precious furniture, which erati have never pardoned, and consequently the character decorated each of these palaces, should be removed to its of the reformer has been maliciously blackened in the Chinese counterpart, and that the persons who dwelt in and about annals. His general, Moung-thian, however, made some liteach particular palace, to minister to the wants or pleasures tle amends for this irreparable loss, by the discovery of paper of its master, should also be transported to the new palace, and the pencil. Before this the characters had been engraved, there to occupy similar offices. These buildings, in such with a style, on tablets of bamboo, or were traced upon it varied styles and taste, occupied an immense extent of coun- with varnish of a deep color. An easier mode of forming try along the banks of the Ouei. They communicated to- the letters was also introduced. This emperor's whole famgether by a magnificent colonnade, which extended around ily perished by the hand of a factious assassin — a sad example them, and formed a vast and superb gallery, where one could of the ingratitude of the people toward great men, who have be protected from the weather at all seasons. served them and rendered their country illustrious. - KlapHis progresses through the empire exhibited a pomp roth. hitherto unknown. He every where constructed edifices of t The lapse of time had buried in oblivion the ancient grandeur or public utility; broad and convenient roads, and feudal system of the Tcheou; so that the emperors of the well-tended canals facilitated intercourse and commerce, Han dynasty could, without risk to the centralization of the which now revived under the auspices of peace, after such sovereignty, order a search for the books which had aplong wars. For ages nlorthern China had been exposed to peared so dangerous to the Tsin. The most careful perthe ravages of the nomads, now called the Ilioong-noo: these quisitlons were then made throughout the empire, and conlie chastised with an army of three hundred thousand men, siderable fragments of the ancient works were recovered, and und exterminated them, or drove them far beyond the distant even entire books. It was with these materials, and with nountains of their country, with no wish to return. After the help of an old man who knew the Chou-king by heart, 444 HAN AND OTHER DYNASTIES inces of Central Asia. In 108, the Ouigoor Turks of this last was attacked by one of his relatives; his and Little Bucharia were subjugated, and his armies children were slain, and he himself was taken pris. pushed into the Kirghis country. He gained four oner, and obliged to wait at table upon the usurper, in signal victories over the Tartars, and drove them far the habit of a slave. He was afterwards put to death. beyond the wall, or reduced them to submission; Nankin became the capital of the emrlire at this thence he carried his successful arms into the king- period. The dynasty terminated in Nrgan-ti, an indoms of Pegu, Siam, Cambodia, and Bengal, and then dolent, inefficient prince, unworthy of' holding the divided them among his generals and officers, who sceptre. had assisted in the war. His sagacious policy of con- The eighth dynasty was that of Song. It began federating the nations of Western Tartary against the Hi- under a revolted general, A. D. 420, and lasted fiftyoong-noo has been detailed in our history of the ancient nine years, under eight emperors. The name of the Turks. It was in A. D. 102, that Panchao extended general, af erwards emperor, was Lyew-Hu. His the Chinese sway as far west as the Caspian, and sent employment at first was that of selling shoes from to China the heirs presumptive to the crowns of more place to place. He enlisted as a soldier, became genthan fifty kingdoms he had subdued for his emperor. eral, and at last usurped the throne. His person and In the reign of Houon-te, an embassy came from deportment were inexpressibly noble and majestic. Rome, in A. D. 166, from An-tun- as the Chinese His virtues were more particularly frugality and valor. called the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — king His son and successor, Veuti, was the contrast of of Ta-thsin, or Great China, as they denominated the himself. Veuti was killed by his own son, and th( Roman empire. The embassy came by way of Ton- parricide fell by the hands of his brother. The latte' quin: others followed during this dynasty. incurred not a little enmity by the freedom of his Ling-te, a sovereign of this dynasty, is said to have speech, of which the consequence, in the end, wa, caused all the wise maxims of the ancient emperors, fatal to him. One of his wives stifled him in his bed. contained in five classical books, to be engraved on as she had been mortally offended by his calling her old. tables of marble, and publicly exposed at the entrance Veuti was very much attached to the bonzes, who of the academy. Under his reign, several factions were the priests of the Buddhist religion in China; but arose, one of which was denominated the Yellow Caps, as in his time the empire was divided into two parts, and made itself master of the empire, which in the the sovereign of one part ordered all the bonzes to he end led to its dismemberment. massacred. The sixth dynasty was a short one of fifty-four years, ending A. D. 265. It is called the dynasty of Heou-Han. It began with a prince descended from Lieu-pang, and ended with his grandson. This young C HA P TE R C C XXV. prince was endowed with great ardor and courage. A. D. 479 to 907. He sustained for some time his father's tottering throne, The Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and during attacks frotn every quarter. At length, as Thirteenth Dynasties. affairs were verging to a fatal crisis, and the feeble THE name of the founder of the ninth dynasty was emperor was still hesitating what measures to pursue, he This wretch made his way to the throne by I. OKanti. This wretch made his way to the throne by felt impelled to expostulate with him, saying, "Thereder of two princes; but his career was a short is no time for deliberation; this is the decisive moment; ss distinguished by his military one. He was less distinguished by his military resolve either to conquer, or die with arms in your exploits than by his learning. He used to say, that hand and the crown on your head." The emperor if he could reign ten years, he would make gold as still refusing to fight, the son, in his mortification and cheap as dirt. as the author of the famous *D n * * * *cheap as dirt. His son was the author of - the famous grief, retired to the hall of his ancestors, slew his wife, law which prohibited the mandarins from remaining and then himself, while the emperor tamely surren- more than three years in the same place. In the dered to Song-c.iou, his rival. reign of the latter appeared Fan-Chin, a patron of China at this time was divided into three empires, literature, but professing the most detestable princiunder the three branches of the dynasty of Han. under the three branches of the dynasty of Han. ples. His doctrines were, that all things proceed The various parts terminated at different periods. from chance; that the soul perishes when the body Under the seventh dynasty, which was that of Tein-ou-ti,; and that after this life, the fate of men is the. dies; and that after this life, the fate of men is the these parts became reunited, and constituted one rutes This dynasty consisted of same with that of brutes. This dynasty consisted of empire. It continued one hundred and fifty-five years, under fifteen emperors. The founder of this The tenth dynasty (A. D. 502) comprehends four dynasty was Shi-tsu-vuti, the son of the rebel Song- princes, beginning with Lyanywen, the prime ministe. r. princes, beginning with Lyan-ywuen, the prime ministei chou. Many petty princes, who aspired to the impe- and assassin of the last prince. He was active, indus. cial dignity, gave him not a little disturbance. But the trious, and very vigilant; not only devoted to the study southern competitors were often defeated by those of of the sciences, but also very skilful in military affairs. the north, who obtained considerable assis-tance fro' He forbade his subjects to sacrifice animals, and com. the Tartars. the.Ta.rt.ars...manded them to substitute figures of them made of As soon as this prince found his dominions at peace, our Towards the end of his life, he neglected the flour. Towards the end of his life, he neglected the he sunk into indolence and inaction. He left a son he sunkin to indolencego andin ateion. Hethrlneft was business of government, to devote himself to the abincapable of governing, who, being dethroned, was surd doctrines of the bonzes; it is even supposed that hsucceeded by a prince of the same family. The son he became one of that order. His reign was marked with wars, famine, and pestilence. His prime ministhat this sacred work was restored, and thus, later, was formed te disgusted at being obliged to serve a tyrant and a body of ancient history, which although destitute of any great interest, bears, nevertheless, all the marks of auther usurper, starved himself to death. The circumstance ticity. - Kiaproth. coming to the ears of the emperor as also the minis SEVERAL DYNASTIES-THE TARTARS. 445 ter's reasons for suicide, he cried out, "' Do not I hold of the empire, and ordered one hundred thousand of Iny crown of Heaven? Am I beholden for it to my the bonzes to take wives. grandees? What occasion, then, had that unfortunate Tai-tsong, son of the last sovereign, was one of the man to destroy himself?" greatest of the Chinese princes. He was wise, frugal In the latter part of his reign, Hewta-king, monarch and affable. His reply to his ministers, who attempted of Honan, but his vassal, revolted from him. Having to excite in his mind apprehensions from his too great succeeded in making himself master of Nankin, and familiarity with his subjects, might serve as a model, seizing upon the emperor's person, the captive prince perhaps, to sovereigns of more enlightened nations - appeared before his conqueror with such majestic "I consider myself in the empire as a father in his intrepidity, that the latter shrank from his gaze, ex- family. I carry all my people in my bosom, as if they claiming, " I could noi believe it so difficult to resist a were my children. What then have I to fear?" power which Heaven has established." With a refined In the tenth year of his reign, this prince lost his species of cruelty, not daring to stain his hands with empress, for whom he indulged a most immoderate the emperor's blood, he condemned him to a lingering grief. He raised a monument to her memory more leath, by retrenching part of his sustenance every superb than any thing of the kind before known in his dlay. The unfortunate monarch called for a little dominions; but being reproved for this ostentation, he honey just before his death; but this request, simple ordered it to be demolished. His minister dying soon as it was, was denied. He died a few hours after- after, the emperor caused a noble eulogium to be ward. inscribed on his tomb, and turning to his courtiers, The second in succession after this emperor attached' remarked, " We have three kinds of mirrors: the first himself to the religion of Fo; and while his attention serve the ladies to dress by; the second are the ancient was absorbed in the mysteries taught by his disciples, volumes, in which we read the rise, progress, and dehis prime minister attacked him in his capital. The cline of empires; the third are mankind, in whose sovereign, roused at last from his religious reveries, actions, if we will study them, we may see both what took up arms, marched round the raiparts, examined we ought to practise and what to avoid. I possessed the position of the enemy, and exclaimed, "All is this last mirror in the person of my minister. Alas! lost; it is over with the sciences." He then set fire he is now no more, and I shall never find his equal." to his library, consisting of a hundred and forty thou- Tai-tsong left his son excellent instructions, which, sand volumes, and surrendered to the conqueror, who however, proved useless to him; for he attached himput to death both him and his son. self to a wicked and artful woman, who by her crimes The founder of the eleventh dynasty (A. D. 557) filled the court and kingdom with mourning. The was extremely attached to the bonzes. His brother, wife of the succeeding emperor was neither less cruel who succeeded him, had, before his accession, con- nor less criminal. Of his son it is said, that he dicealed himself in private life; but on the throne he vorced his wife, put three of his children to death dlisplayed the qualities of a great prince. This mron- without cause, and finally married his daughter-in-law. atrch ordered the night watches to be distinguished by He was particularly opposed to every appearance of beating a drum-a practice which has ever since luxury, and endeavored to extirpate it by destroying been observed. There were five emperors of this the precious metals and ornaments belonging to his dynasty, the last of whom was dethroned by the prime palace. minister of the western empire. Under the ninth successor, the power of the eunuchs The twelfth dynasty (A. D. 596) consisted of three occasioned a rebellion. The eleventh caused every emperors, all renowned men. The first, without pre- part of his' empire to be explored in search of the tensions to learning, had, nevertheless, a solid, pene- waters of immortality, of which the disciples of Laotrating mind, and was devoted to the welfare of his eyun pretended to have the secret. This liquor being people. He built public granaries, which were annu- presented lo him by the eunuchs, he instantly died. ally filled with rice and corn by the rich, to be dis- The fifteenth- emperor of this dynasty instituted a law tributed to the poor in times of scarcity. He improved which is still observed. It is this: once in seven years music and eloquence, was inexorable against cor- the provincial mandarins are obliged to send a written rupt judges, and excluded from all public employments and circumstantial confession of the faults they have those whose rank in life did not render them respect- committed, and to ask the emperor's pardon. If they able. His son prohibited his people from wearing endeavor to palliate these, they have no favor to exarms, and ordered all books, treating of war, politics, pect, and are invariably deprived of their employagriculture, and medicine, to be revised by the most ments. As in the case of the emperor before menlearned men of his empire, and to be distributed tioned, his son, - though in many respects an amiable among his subjects. sovereign, - in search of the waters of immortality In the thirteenth dynasty (A. D. 618) Kong-ti, one took a fatal draught which closed his career. of the emperors of this dynasty, was dethroned by Siguen, in the same year in which he was crowned. The son of the latter, at the head of his father's army, mntered the palace, and having viewed its magnifi- CH APTER CCXXV1' cence, exclaimed with a deep sigh, "No; such a A. D. 907 to 1641. stately edifice must not be suffered to stand any longer, being good for nothing but to enervate the spirit of a prince, and cherish his vicious inclinations. Thus say- IT would be neither interesting nor profitable to enter ling, he ordered the wvllole building to be set on fire, into fulll details of the different reigns which now foland it was rduced to ashes. He; however, soon re- lowed in the long course of history. Any further consignedl Ihe throne, in order to live-in tranquillity. This nected enumeration and account of the several dynasorince was veiv desirous of increasing the population ties and emperors may therefore be dispensed with 446 bEVERAL DYNASTIES. &A few only of the principal events will be referred to, the utmost care was taken to restrain the soldiers, so.nd occasional mention made of the leading characters that there was no great slaughter made, yet the fatec who figured in history. of the few who fell drew a flood of tears from the The most important events from this period (A. D. emperor; and as the city had suffered from famine, 900) pertain to the struggles of the Chinese to repel as well as by the long siege, the emperor irnthe attacks of the various half-civilized but warlike mediately sent a hundred thousand measures of rice, Lribes —chiefly Tartars — bordering on the frontiers to be distributed among the inhabitants. It is needless of China. to saythat with such a disposition he proved himself Notwithstanding every precaution on the part of the worthy of his exaltation. Chinese, about the fifth century of the Christian era, Tay-tsong, of this dynasty, was the Meecenas of his the Tartars took possession of the north and west of times. He patronized learning, and collected a library China, and the country became divided into two king- which consisted of eighty thousand volumes. He was doms: the capital of the north was Pekin, and that of a prince of generous and magnanimous feelings, as the south Nankin. Four hundred years later, that is to was evinced by his lenient treatment of a brother who say, in the tenth century, the period at which we are had manifested a mutinous disposition. A gentle now arrived, these two kingdoms were united. Pre- reproof of that brother induced the latter to destroy viously, however, to this event, in the reign of Yuang- himself, which so affected the emperor that he shed te, many canals were cut through the empire, by tears over his corpse, and caused it to be interred with which several rivers were united, and great facilities the greatest funeral honors. given to commerce. Ching-tsong, also of this dynasty, was a prince worTai-tfu, who established the fourteenth dynasty, thy of being commemorated. He caised the ancient (A. D. 907,) by murdering his predecessor, lived but books to be reprinted and spread through the empire. a short time to enjoy the reward of his crime. His The appearance of a comet during his reign was supeldest brother slew him, and was himself killed by posed to portend some calamity. The emperor, onil another brother, Moti by name. Anarchy was now this occasion, agreeably to the custom of the times. at its height in the empire. Moti was attacked by an directed that all his faults should be laid before him. able general supported by a powerful party, and being that he might, if possible, avert the omen. At the vanquished, killed himself in despair, and his family same time, he remitted taxes to the amount of several became extinct. millions, and set at liberty thirteen thousand prisoners. Chwang-tsong, of theJifteenth dynasty, from the office It happening that a son was born to him at this period, of general, stepped to the throne. As emperor, he pre- he attributed the blessing to the favor of Heaven, and served his martial habits, lived very frugally, and slept as an attestation that his own religious and charitable on the bare ground, with a bell around his neck to pre- deeds were accepted. Under his reign it was comrn vent his sleeping too long. In his earlier years, he was puted that twenty-two millions of people were ema criminal lover of pleasure; and he is accused of being ployed in cultivating the land. sordidly avaricious, and destitute of commiseration This emperor was, perhaps, even excelled by his for the poor. Ming-tsong, the son of this emperor, son Chi-tsong, in moral character. The latter banished was a great encourager of learning. During his reign, from his palace all the worshippers of images, and paid block-printing was invented among the Chinese. He his adorations to the invisible God of heaven. By a was given to devotion, and all his prayers were offered timely supply of corn and rice, he saved half a million for the good of his subjects. of his people from destruction, in a time of famine. Tai-tsu, the founder of the eighteenth dynasty, The virtuous principles instilled into his mind by his (A. D. 951,) had a high veneration for Confucius, and father's prime minister had the effect, it is believed, of paid a visit to the tomb of that renowned philosopher. producing so good a character. That officer constantly This emperor was blessed with a son who imitated his pressed upon the prince the ten followipg maxims: virtues. When at the very summit of human gran- "Fear God: Love your subjects: Endeavor to attain deur, that son, whose name was Chi-tsong, still retained perfection: Apply yourself to the sciences: Raise pera modest deportment. A plough and a loom were sons of merit to the dignities of the state: Give attenfound among other insignia of his palace. In a time tion to the advice that is offered you: Reduce the of dearth, he ordered the granaries to be opened, and taxes: Moderate the rigor of punishments: Avoid the rice to be sold at a very low price. "These are prodigality: Hold debauchery in horror." my children," he said, speaking of his people. "' It It was in the tenth century that the Khitan Tartars would be improper that their father should abandon obtained a footing in China. They were expelled, hem and leave them to famish with hunger while he however, by means of the Eastern Tartars, whose aid gas enough to satisfy his own wants." In this ex- was solicited, but who, like other stipendiaries in some tremity, the rich idols were, by his order, melted down cases, refused to depart when their services were no and coined into money. longer required. The Jutchin Khitans, in the twelfth Of Tay-tsu, the founder of the nineteenth dynasty, century A. D., pursued their conquests again, crossed (A. D. 960,) the following story is told, illustrating his the Hoangho or Yellow River, and marching directly parental affection. At the siege of Nankin, reflecting toward the imperial city, captured and plundered it. on the slaughter which would be made in it, he feigned They also seized the emperor, Kin-tsong, and his consickness when it was on the point of surrendering. sort, and carried them away captives. The crown This caused an alarm among his officers, who came devolved on Kaw-tsou, who fixed his court at Nankin. around his bed, every one proposing some remedy. He made several fruitless efforts to recover- some "' The only remedy," cried he, "that can effectually provinces from the Khitans. cure me, is in your power. Swear to me that you will The monarch of that barbarous people, however not shed the blood of your countrymen." Upon their aimed at gaining the esteem of his Chinese subjects taking the oaths, he appeared sufficiently well. Though by bestowing much attention on their learning andl or L I - T S N -K U B. A I-C H N G - T S -L I. 447,heir learned men. He advanced to Nankin, and took of a magnanimous turn of mind, though very much it; but being informed that Yo-si, the general of the dreaded on account of the cruelties with which he Song or Southern Chinese, was approaching to the commenced his reign. He was rigid in his treatment relief of the city, he burned the palace, and retired of the bonzes; and he ordered all the books of chemisnorthward. The rear guard, which he was unable to try which treated of the water of immortality to'be rescue from the attack of Yo-si, suffered so much, that committed to the flames. He patronized learned men, from this time the Khitan Tartars never dared to cross and promoted the knowledge of philosophy. the River Kiang; though afterwards, in the year 1163, The catastrophe of this race, which ended with the their king approached the mouth of that river, and thirteenth emperor, was preceded by continual comcommanded his troops on the pain of death to cross it; motions during several reigns. Two rebels arose, who but they refused, and, killing their sovereign, retired. divided the empire, but soon turned their arms against In the'year A. D. 1210, the chief of the Western each other. One only survived, whose name was Li. Tartars, or Mongols, quarrelled with Yong-tsi, emperor He marched into the provinces of Shensi and Honan, of the Khitans, and in two years after, the Mongol gene- where he despatched all the mandarins, and showed rals forced the great wall to the north of Chensi, made favor to none except the comfhion people, whom he incursions as far as Pekin, the capital of the Khitan freed from the payment of taxes. By these means he empire, and defeated an army of three hundred thou- was able to increase his army to such an extent that sand of that people. In this century, (A. D. 1225,) an he conceivoed himself sufficiently powerful to assume emperor named Li-tsong, carried on a vigorous war the title of emperor. against the Tartars. He took the city of Honan from Li next advanced towards the metropolis, into which.hem, and reduced the capital, Shang-tong, after a long he found means to convey a number of his men in and sanguinary siege, in which the Tartars were disguise, who were to open the gates to him at his driven to such extremities as to feed on human flesh. appearance there. After a short time, he entered the In a fit of despair, their king, Nagaiti, hanged himself, city in triumph, at the head of three hundred thousand just before the surrender. In him ended the empire f' men, while the emperor, devoted to superstitious cerethe Eastern Tartars, after it had continued one hundred monies, shut himself up in his palace. When the and seventeen years, under nine princes. latter found himself betrayed and deserted, and unable A small remnant of that nation, however, continued, to escape, he resolved to lay violent hands on himself, and gave rise to the family that afterwards conquered rather than incur the disgrace of falling alive into the the Chinese, and governs it at the present time. power of the invader. It was during the nineteenth dynasty that the celebrated For this purpose, he conducted his beloved empress Zingis K7tan and his successors established their do- into a private and distant part of the gardens, without minion in China. Heading the Western Tartars or uttering a syllable. She at once understood his silent MIongols, who inhabited a desert and inhospitable region, emotions of agony, and having tenderly embraced him, whence most of the conquerors of Asia have proceeded, she retired into the wood, and there suspended herself Yingis Khan, in 1209, entered China, poured his irresist- by a silken string. The emp)eror hastened to join her ible armies over the northern provinces, and com- in death. First cutting off the head of the young pelled them to submit to his authority. IKublai, his princess with his cimeter, he hanged himself on another grandson, called by the Chinese _Houlpilai, entered on tree. His example was soon followed by his primep his grandfather's conquests in this country, and reigned minister, queens, and faithful eunuchs for a time over the northern provinces. It is said that When the body of the self-ulrnlolated emperor was Kublai — but more probably a descendant of his — laid before the rebel Li, as he sat upon the throne, the brought the whole country into subjection in 1280, and inhuman wretch treated it in a most shameful manner. that with the nineteenth dynasty ended, in fact, the Chi- He moreover beheaded two of the deceased emperor's nese dominion, until the year 1357. Kublai had the sons, and his ministers; but the eldest son was so wisdom and prudence to govern the Chinese according fortunate as to escape by flight. While the princes to their ancient laws and customs, as related in a pre- and nobles of the empire submitted to the usurper, one vious chapter. This procedure, together with the gen- prince, whose name was U-san-ghey, who commanded eral excellence of his character, entirely reconciled the the provinces of Leaoo-tong, alone refused to acknowlpeople to the Tartar sway, so far as they were brought edge his authority; but Li marched against him, at under it. It was in the reign of a king of the Tartar the head of a powerful army. Having invested the race, under the twentieth dynasty, that the famous seat of that prince's government, the tyrant resorted canal was dug, which is nine hundred miles long. to a most cruel expedient to induce him to surrender' During the same dynasty, the religion of Fo was He showed him his father loaded with chains, declarfirmly established in the empire. ing that he should instantly be sacrificed, if the son In 1364-8, the Tartars were again driven out by a refused to submit. The brave prince was nearly ovei — Chinese general named Choo, or Chu, as previously come at so sad a spectacle, but remained firm to his detailed, who founded the Ming dynasty - the last before sovereign. The good father, understanding the inLheb dynasty now existing. Heading a numerous com- tentions of his son by the signs which he made, appany of insurgents, he reduced many considerable cities plauded his resolution, and quietly submitted to his and provinces, and defeated the imperial army in a fate. battle. His successes were so great that he assumed U-san-ghey, in the purpose of avenging his soverthe title of emperor, and fixed his court at Nankin. eign, as also his father, immediately concluded a peace, [n a few months, however, he made himself master of with the Manchoo or Eastern Tartars, and invited them Pekin, and erected that country into a sovereignty, to his assistance against Li. Tsong-ti, their king, -wvhich he gave to one of his sons. He proved to be a joined the prince immediately, which obliged the rebel king of great wisdom and penetration. to raise the siege, and march directly to Pekin. But - (Ching-tsu, of the twenty-first dynasty, was a prince he did not think himself safe in that place, and, after I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ —c 448 THE TARTAR SWAY. Q-lundering and burning the palace, he fled, with his sides, as a deliverer. Thus ended the twenty-first mmense treasure, into the province of Shensi, or Chensi. dynasty, by this memorable revolution, as also the Tsong-ti died almost immediately after he entered Chinese race of sovereigns. A second time, there. Dhina, but previously declared his son Sthun-chi his fore, the race of the Eastern Tartars was called to the occessor. The young prince was shortly after con- sovereignty of the Chinese empire, the dynasty cor iucted to Pekin, and was joyfully welcomed, on all mencing in 1641-4. [pt.;i;'l'f~~~~~~~aon-kwng, Emperor of China. C II A P T E R C C X X V I T. to the ancient laws and customs of the Chinese. The A. D. 1644 to 1821. civil offices of the state were given to such nt' the Th Tartar S~way adPresntDynasty._ natives as were found qualified for them, and this rin-'-......r:tar-.......es ---- ----— en yat..-. —:-:.. ciple he adhered to in the disposal of the highest digTHE revolution effected by the Eastern Tartars, as nities. He evidently sought the public good, rather already described, was far from being complete at than the extension of his power. He ilvored the first. Resistance was kept up against them in differ- cause of learning, and became himself somewhat of ent parts of the country. The nobility imagined that a proficient in several sciences. A few years after hey should find the Tartars merely auxiliaries, who he had assumed the government, a general whose would assist them in placing a native Chinese on the name was Coxinga, from attachment to the ancient.hrone; but these allies considered that the empire Chinese, opposed the measures of the new emperor. was justly the reward of their trouble. Submission to He laid siege to the city of Nankin; but his troops, them, under these circumstances, was difficult. Comn havin given themselves up to dissipation on the occapetitors arose in the different provinces against Shun- sion of the general's birthday, were in this condition chi, the Manchoo emperor, and hostilities were obsti- attacked by the besieged, and a prodigious slaughter lately carried on both by sea and land; but the vigor of them ensued. The emperor, in consequence of f w X ig~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. KANG-HI-YONG-CHIING-KIEN-LONG-KIIA-KHIN G. 449 ered as the emperor of tne whole country, he was the It was during the reign of this emperor, on the 13th founder of the existing or Ta-tsing dynasty, represented of November, 1731, that the city of Pekin was nearly by the emperor Taou-kwang, now on the throne, the fifth overturned by an earthquake. So severe a one had of his race. Kang-hi proved to be a very capable and never before been felt in China. The suddenness and meritorious prince. He had doubtless profited by the violence of the first shocks were so great, as to buiy wise counsels of the four noble guardians whom his a hundred thousand inhabitants in the ruins of their father had appointed for him in his minority. He, houses. A still greater number perished in the surhowever, issued a severe order against the Catholic rounding country, where whole villages and towns:onverts at one time. All their churches were demol- were laid prostrate. The emperor, deeply affected ished, and the whole city of Ma-kau was in danger by the calamity, ordered an account to be taken of the of sharing the same fate, had not one of the Jesuits, families that had suffered by it, with an estimate of the who still retained some influence at court, prevented damage it had occasioned, and advanced considerable it. The Jesuit was, however, himself, and others sums for their relief. with him, imprisoned and loaded with irons, some time Kien-long succeeded Yong-ching in 1736. In the after. estimation of Europe, Kien-long stood at the head of Kang-hi was unhappy in his domestic relations, the sovereigns of half-civilized nations, during the last on account of the conduct of his two sons, who re-' half of the eighteenth century. His long reign of more belied against him, and were successively banished than sixty years is said to have been peaceful and the kingdom. In 1720, he received the congratula- happy. In the latter part of it, viz., in 1793, the celtions of the whole empire, on the signal victory which ebrated *British embassy, under Lord Macartney, arhis forces had gained over the Eleuts, who possessed rived in China, with a view to the establishment of a the country of the lamas, and had been guilty of rav- commercial intercourse between the two countries. A ages for several years. in succession. This victory full account of this embassy was presented to the pubgave him the sole command of the kingdom of Thibet. lie by Sir George Staunton, the secretary of the deleIn November of the same year, the czar of Muscovy gation. A like splendid embassy also appeared in made his public entry into Pekin, with a numerous China, in 1795, under Mr. Titsing. Mr. Van Braam and splendid train, habited after the European man- the secretary, wrote an account of that embassy. ner. The Muscovite was received at court with all Kien-long died on the 11thl of February, 1799. His due respect, though he could not gain the object of his successor, Kia-kching, reigned over twenty years, visit-the adoption of measures for the establish- dying in August, 1821. Just at the time of his death, ment of a free commerce between the dominions of the famous Russian mission, under'Timkowski, was the two sovereigns. approaching the Celestial Empire. The emperor died suddenly on the 20th of Decem- Kia-khing, like his predecessors, pursued the pecuber, 1722, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, having liar policy of the Chinese in guarding against the first declared, in the presence of his assembled gran- admission of foreigners, of any description whatever. lees, his fourth son, Yong-ching, his successor. It was doubtless apprehended that the obtaining of a It was in the reign of Yong-ching that the Jesuits footing in China would lead to its disturbance or overwere banished from China, and the Christians were throw, as it had done in other Eastern nations. The persecuted, not excepting those of the imperial farm- Chinese permitted foreigners, the English in particular, ily. They had been introduced into the empire many to carry on a restricted intercourse with them, at the years before, headed by Father Xavier, the great single port of Canton; but they steadily opposed every tpostle of that country. As will be seen elsewhere, attempt to obtain exclusive privileges, to build forts, or they were at first well received, for the sake of the to establish permanent factories. scientific information they brought with them; but, As the present dynasty is that of the Tartars, it is alarm being taken at the efforts at proselytism, which, to be remarked, that the occasional struggles of the it was supposed, would lead to a spiritual supremacy Chinese with the Tartars may be considered, after all, dangerous to the state, they were driven from the more in the nature of a civil war, than of a war with country. Anterior to the entrance of the Jesuits, viz., a foreign nation. The physiognomy of the Tartars in 1518, the Portuguese, after having obtained various and Chinese shows, as already stated, that they both situations on islands along the coast, for purposes of belong to the same race - though the one inhabited a commerce, sent their first embassy to China. colder climate, and became, therefore, a people of In other respects than in regard to his treatment of less effeminate habits than the other. Hence the ease the Catholics, Yong-ching showed himself a wise prince, with which the Tartar monarchs identified themselves assiduous and indefatigable in the discharge of the duties with their predecessors, and adopted the laws and of the government, steady and resolute in his disposition, customs of the country they had subdued. endowed with a degree of eloquence and address, and attentive in answering the memorials which were presented to him. He governed wholly by himself, and no monarch was ever more absolute or more C HAPTER CCX X V II'Ireaded by his subjects. This unlimited authority A. D. 1821 to 1841. enabled him to enforce a great many wholesome laws The Present Dynasty continued" Receit and regulations, in framing which he spent whole days and nights with the most persevering industry. The surest way of gaining his favor was by presenting TAOU-KWANG, the present emperor, ascended the him with some scheme tending to the public good, or throne on the death of his father, in the year 1821. to the relief of his subjects in times of calamity — in He wasthe second son, and chosen in consequence of t:he execution of which, if it appeared practicable, he having saved the life of his father, in an insurrection spared no pains. which occurred in 1813. He is the first Chinese 57 |4Eb0'TAOU-KiWANG-D1FFICULTIES WITH THE, _ENGLISEI. sovereign whose name is connected with English and ble character, took place among the mountain tribes of' American history. Soon after his accession, the dis- the Miao, or Meaou-tse, before noticed. It cost,ne tant Tartar tribes, who have always been found to be government the labor of nearly six years to suppress troublesome dependants, made an insurrection in Lit- it; and it is supposed that the object was finally actie Bucharia, in the suppression of which dreadful bar- complished more by the bribery of the chiefs; than by barities were committed. the power of the Chinese arms. In 1826, there was Not long after, a second rebellion, of a more formida- also, an insurrection of the Tartars of Mongolia. Tao -kwang saving the Life of his Father. But a war was now ready to break out, of a very tsih-seu, to the office of high commissioner, with full different nature fiom any which the Celestial Empire powers to adopt any measures he might find necessary had known. It was with a civilized and Christian race for the accomplishment of the desired object, and Ihat a contest was to be waged, and not with barbarous punish, with the utmost severity, buyers, sellers, and hordes, whose mode of warfare is familiar to the smokers of the drug. The new commissioner arrived Chinese. Little, most probably, did they know of at Canton in March, 1839, with a view to execute his the real power and superiority of their enemy, or of trust. their own utter incompetency, by any force of num- At this time, the British trade was under the control bers, to meet the military tactics of Europe. The of a superintendent; but he had never been allowed to result of the collision must have been a matter of become a permanent resident at the British factory. astonishment, as well as of mortification, to the whole The British, as well as several other'nations, were Chinese nation. permitted to have their factories, consisting of brick or The commercial intercourse between England and stone edifices, just outside of the walls of Canton, on China was entirely in the hands of the East India a very limited space of ground. Here the foreign Company till 1833, when the term of their charter merchants were permitted to remain at their severa expired, and all British subjects were equally at liberty establishments only just long enough to transact their to send out ships to China, for tea and other products business, the very longest term being four months of the country. This change afforded ample opportu- and if their affairs were not settled by that time, they nities for carrying on a contraband trade in opium, the must leave them in the hands of the Hong merchants. importation of which was prohiDlted by the imperial that is, the Chinese individuals who were authorized to government; but the drug was eagerly purchased trade with these factories, called in their tongue Hong. whenever it could be obtained, and it was therefore sup- When the commissioner arrived, it happened that there plied by smuggling. The evils of the trade and of the were several British ships in the river, having someuse of the'drug by all classes of the Chinese,- more what more than twenty thousand chests of opium on particularly described in a subsequent chapter, -- board. These he demanded should be given up to be induced the public authorities, with the emperor destroyed; and he also required that the owners should at their head, t9 concert measures for the effectual bind themselves by a written engagement never to eradication of these evils. After various consultations, bring any more of the article to China, with the un. Taou-kwang appointed a mandarin of high rank, Lin- derstanding that if they broke their engagement, the3y would be liable to be punished by the Chinese laws. * See the General Views. which close this article. This demand of Lin was not complied with; upor HOSTILITIES BETWEEN THE CHINESE AND ENGLISH. 451 which all the native servants were withdrawn from the countrymen, deemed it advisable to surrender the t;actories, and the factories themselves were surrounded opium. After the landing of the article, which occuby a body of Chinese and Tartar troops, who guarded pied several weeks, the English merchants at the facthe merchants as prisoners, while the Hong merchants tories were left at liberty to depart. Lin, upon rewere instructed to ascertain the ownership of the chests ceiving instructions from the emperor, proceeded to of opium. In the mean time, Lin, by means of man- destroy the immense mass of opium, "thus manifestirestoes, made several efforts to persuade the English ing," in the words of the emperor, "to the natives to comply with his requirements, seeming, on the dwelling on the sea-coast and the foreigners of the whol, to decline measures of severity, provided that outside nations, an awful warning." The opium was his purpose could be effected without them. But, cast into trenches dug near the sea, where it was finding his exhortations disregarded, he threatened to quickly decomposed by means of quicklime, salt, and put to death the occupants of the factories water mixed with it the mixture running into the In view of thisalternative, the Bitish superintend- sea. This act was consummated in the month of ent, Captain Elliott, in order to save the lives of his June, 1839. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.. I =_ 11 —. ~c — ~-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ —~=-~-~ —.~ ~ ~ ~~~~-~~~=L —---------— ~=- — =_i = —=-~-. British Fleet at [long Kong, The British merchants had now removed to Micao, ber of the same year; but the Chinese were soon t Portuguese settlement, where most of their families driven back, though their fleet was commanded by were residing. While they were in that place, it hap- their most celebrated admiral, named Quan. The pened that, in some quarrel between the English and Chinese suffered a great loss —several of their vessels Chinese sailors, one of the latter was killed by an being destroyed in the action. This defeat was asaccidental blow. The governor of Canton, as soon tounding to the authorities at Canton, who had placed as he was apprised of the occurrence, demanded that great dependence on Quan, nor did they dare to send the assailant should be given up to justice. But a true account to the emperor. Edicts were now this was refused, as the English are not amenable to published almost daily, threatening to close the ports Chinese law. In retaliation, the governor.gave orders forever against the English, if they continued to act that provisions should no longer be supplied to the in defiance of the imperial demands. Efforts were English at Macno, on which Captain Elliott removed also made by Lin and his assistants to strengthen their the whole fleetto Hong Kong, a rocky island, about fleet; but nothing of much importance occarred till thirty-five miles distant, inhabited at that time chiefly the month of June, 1840, when an armament arrived by fishermen, but which has since become an English from India, under the command of Admiral Elliott, settlement. In the mean time, arms and men were which was added to the British ships already assemsent for from India, to protect the lives and property bled in the bay of Hong Kong. of her majesty's subjects in China. Suspension of Upon this reinforcement having been effected, the trade between the two nations was then ordered by Chinese boldly attempted to destroy the whole fleet, by Lin, while the Chinese fleet was preparing to make an sending fireships into the midst of it; but the attemp attack on the English ships at Hong Kong. was abortive, as most of them exploded before The attempt was not made until some time in Novem- they came near enough to do any mischief. As this 1 452 SUCCESSES OF THE ENGLISH. scheme proved to be fruitless, great rewards were of- day, a message was sent to Admiral Quan, demanding fered to those who should either kill or capture any the surrender of the remaining fort. As the latter of the English, or take one of their ships. Numbers wanted three days' time for consulting with Kishen, it of the English were accordingly kidnapped by the was granted. Kishen, in the alarm which he now Chinese of the lower orders, who were constantly on felt, renewed the negotiation with Captain Elliott,.he watch for any soldier or sailor who was found sep- promising to fulfil all the terms of the treaty, provided arated from his companions. It was by these treach- the Bogue forts were given tip. This was accordingly erous methods that British soldiers and seamen became done by the English: the captives were restored to Prisoners in China, and not by the chances of war. their friends, and the British troops left Chusan, and They were confined at Ningpo for some months. It took up their quarters at Hong Kong, which they now is probable, however, that the Chinese may not have considered their own. Thley left Chusan the more considered themselves as acting a dishonorable part, readily, as, from its unhealthiness to foreigners, it had being unacquainted with the rules of European warfare. proved the grave of many of the English while resiThe active operations of the British commenced dent there. In the mean time, the emperor, hearing with the capture of Chusan, on the 5th of July, 1840. that the English had met with still further success, Chusan is a fine island, about fifty miles in circum- sent to Ningpo, ordering the massacre of all the prisference, containing a dense population, and situated oners there; but this command, fortunately, was not near the eastern coast of China, about half way be- received until two days after they had been sent away tween Canton and Pekin. Tinghae, the capital, is a at the solicitation of Kishen. large city, in a plain not far from the sea. There The emperor's indignation was aroused against his were some artificial defences to the place, but, without ministers for not beating and expelling the English, artillery and soldiers, with which Tinghae was ill or, in other terms, for not performing impossibilities. supplied, they were of little use. The Chinese were They were degraded, or otherwise punished. Kishen speedily dislodged from them by the invaders. The was particularly obnoxious to his master, because he mandarins, seeing how affairs were likely to terminate, had held communications with Captain Elliott. " Such determined to abandon the city, as they were so defi- proceedings," as the emperor told him in a letter, cient in the means of defence. In the course of the "pass the bounds of reason. Wtorthless that you are, night, they evacuated it, followed by all the soldiers what sbrt of heart is contained in your breast?" rTh and the greater part of the inhabitants, who carried unfortunate offender was speedily arrested, and conductaway with them much of their property. When the ed to Pekin in chains; all the members of his family, English entered the town the next day, they found it according to the laws of China, shared in his disgrace. nearly deserted. He was a man of immense possessions, having several Towards the close of the year 1840, an attempt was palaces, extensive lands, besides many banking houses made, on the part of the Chinese, to recover Chusan in several cities. His property in gold, silver, and by means of negotiation. Kishen, who was appointed jewels was also enormous. Among the valuables imperial high commissioner, was a wily politician, found in his palaces, were some score of gold watches, and, promising Hong Kong in the room of Chusan, two images of horses, and two of lions, made of preas also the indemnification of the merchants for their cious stones, a bedstead composed wholly of torloise opium, and the release of the prisoners at Ningpo, shell, several crystal wash-bowls and basins, and a induced Admiral Elliott to give up Chusan. This quantity of rich sillks, broadcloths, and furs. affair was transacted upon the Pecho River, where the As Captain Elliott at length came to the conclusion admiral met Kishen on his way to Canton. The British that the Chinese did not intend to make any compenfleet, a portion of which left Chusan, arrived at Toong- sation for the opium, although this was the principal koo Island about the time Kishen reached Canton. article of the treaty, he proceeded again to the Bogue, This island is not far distant from the Canton River. where the Chinese had been busy in strengthening the Nearly at this season, Admiral Elliott, on account of fortifications. The second attack upon the Bogue forts ill health, resigned his command, and it rested with was on the 26th of February, 1841; all of them were Captain Elliott to negotiate with the Chinese commis- taken, and many lives lost: we pass over the dreadful sioner, who, though not wanting in professions, did details of the carnage. Among the Chinese slain was not appear very ready to fulfil the engagements which the brave old Admiral Quan, who fell as he was leading had been entered into with the admiral. The object his men to repulse the foe. The emperor was exceedof Kishen, it is supposed, was only to gain time for ingly grieved at the loss of the veteran, and showed hostile purposes, under pretence of making an amicable his high estimation of him in the rewards and honors arrangement. This state of things was put an end to - bestowed on his family. after a suitable offer of adjustment, within a given time,,on the part of the English commander-by an attack on the Bogue forts, which, on the 7th of January, 1841, were taken by storm, the Chinese experiencing a ter- C H A P T E R CC XX I X. rible loss of life. A. D. 1841 to 1845. The Bogue, or Bocca Tigris, is a narrow pass, about forty-five miles from the mouth of the Canton River, having the strong forts of Amunghoy and Chuenpee GREAT efforts were now made for the extermination on one side, and that of Tycocktow on the other. The of the English, by calling out the militia, and by prom. forts first taken were those of Chuenpee and Tycock- ises of rewards to all who would assist in accomplishtow. These were bravely defended by the Chinese ing their destruction. The militia mniarched down tc and Tartar troops, hundreds of whom fell in the ac- Canton by thousands, but they were wholly incompenon, while many were destroyed by the burning, or tent to contend with men accustomed to regular ser btowinag tup, of seventeen war junks. On the following vice. The emperor appointed his nephew, Yi-shan CAPTURE OF CIINGHAE AND NINGPO. 45 J to the command of the armies, and restored Lin that of Canton should be open to British trade, and to some of his former dignities. He also issued a presenting no other alternative than force, if compli. mandate to the tea-growers to destroy their crops, ance was not granted. An expedition was immedi promising to compensate them for the loss —but this ately undertaken against Amoy, a strongly fortified mandate was not fully complied with.. Threatenings city and port in an island of the same name, situates of degradation and punishment were plentifully given about midway between Canton and Chusan. It was out against the high officers, if they failed to inflict due surrendered without resistance; but several of the chastisement upon the barbarians. This impolitic mandarins, in the despair which they felt, committed course kept his Celestial Majesty in ignorance of the suicide - a very coninmmon practice in China, in times real character of the war, as every disaster was studi- of difficulty and danger. Leaving a garrison at ously concealed from him. It was not until circum- Kolongsoo, a small rocky island forming a part of the stances rendered it impossible to conceal the true con- fortifications of Amoy, the expedition made its way to dition of things, that the emperor awoke to a sense of Chusan, which was speedily retaken, but not without the danger in which a portion of his vast empire was the sacrifice of many lives on the part of' the Chinese, involved. who vainly attempted to defend Tinlghae, the capital. The Chinese, as early as the first of May, 1841, The conquest next achieved by the British was that broke the truce that was made after the second capture of Chinghae, a large and opulent city at the mouth of of the Bogue forts, by several hostile acts against the the Ningpo River, the occupation of which was preshipping on the river. At the same time, the British and paratory to the attack up)on Ningpo itself. "The Dutch factories were plundered, and partly destroyed, taking of Chirnghali was accompalnied by some of the by a large body of troops. It was now resolved to most frightful scenes of misery that were witnessed make a direct attack on Canton, which was approached during the whole course of the war. The Chinese by two different branches of the river, Captain Elliott having prepared to make a vigorous resistance, the sailing up the one, and General Sir Hugh Gough the city and citadel were bombarded at once; and as the other. The latter attacked and carried four for- former was very densely peopled, numbers of the tresses about two miles from the walls of the city, inhabitants were killed, even in their houses. Among though gallantly defended by the Tartar troops, with a the melancholy incidents of that dreadful day was the! great loss onl the part of the latter. The people of bereavement of a poor man, whose four children were i Canton saw with dismay the English flag waving on struck at the same moment by a cannon ball. The the forts to which they had trusted for safety. During distracted father was seen embracing their lifeless the day, the firing from the walls of the city was bodies in turn, and attempting to throw himself into continued; but, at night, all the principal inhabitants the river, while his friends were holding him back., departed with their families, taking with them their' These,' remarked an officer, who was an eye-witness plate and jewels, and other valuable effects. of this sad spectacle,' are the unavoidable miseries of j Canton, without doubt, might have been easily occu- war;' nor was it, on this occasion, a solitary instance plied by the British; but Capta:in Ellio:t preferred mak- of such calamitics." i ing terms with the authorities of the city, and stayed Chinghae was taken on the 10th of October, 1841 further proceedings on certain conditions. One of these and on the next day the fleet proceeded up the river was the payment of six mnillion dollars for the use to Ningpo, having left a guard of three hundred nen of the British government, besides an indemnity on in the captured city. The city of Ningpo, now a, account of the loss at the factories. Scarcely had the place of so much interest and importance to Great I Tartar troops marched out of the city, when several Britain, was taken without the least opposition on the lhousand men appeared on the heights in hostile part of the inhabitants. Many of these assisted the i array -a circumstance which appeared suspicious English to scale the walls, and open the gates,,o that lX to the English; but upon inquiry it was ascertained the horrors experienced at Chingha5 were avoided. that a volunteer force of rustics from the surrounding An incident highly illustrative of the Chinese charac villages had assembled, to the number of twenty-five ter may be mentioned in connection with the British thousand, to deliver their country from the barbarians. occupation of this place. One day a paper was thrown i The magistrates of the city, however, prevented their over the wall addressed to the English, embracing, patriotic interference. among other arguments, the following singular appeal i The despatches to Pekin by Yi-shan, gave an utter- to their feelings, on the impropriety of remaining any'y false account of these transactions. Not a word was longer in China: " You have been away from your l said about the ransom money, and thus the emperor country long enough; your mothers and sisters must was kept in profound ignorance of the real state of be longing for your return. Go back to your families, | affairs. When the greater part of the money had for we do not want you here." been paid, and security given for the remaining The Chinese, chagrined at the loss of their impor - amount, the British troops returned to Hong Kong. tant cities, made a desperate effort, in the month of I Captain Elliott, whose arrangements were not generally March, 1842, to recover Chinghae and Ningpo, both i approved of, was superseded by Sir Henry Pottinger, of which they entered on the same dav, by scaling the who arrived at Macao in August, 1841. In the mean walls; but in each case they were reptllsedl with con- time, the mandarins of Canton, paying no regard to siderable loss. At the same time, a fleet of junks was t the treaty, erected new fortifications in many places sent out against Chusan, but with the same ill success. i along the river, and repaired those that had been These measures proceeded from a plan formed by the injured. Trade proceeded as usual, and opium was chiefs of the army, and some of the govelrnors. The, again selling along the whole line of the coast. next attempt to stop the progress of tlhe invaders was [ The new British commandant was more decided and at Tsekee, a town about eleven miles firom Ningpo, peremptory than his predecessor, requiring, in addition where the Chinese forces were assembled, forming an t to all the other stipulations, that other ports besides extensive encampment. Here, as they attempted to I 454 RETURN OF PEACE. cut off the supplies for the enemy, brought by the miles higher up the river. It was strongly garrisoned, country people, it became necessary to attack them at and another sanguinary conflict was expected; but just once, and the imperial troops were again put to flight, about the time that an attack was to be commenced, leaving above six hundred dead on the field. a flag of truce was displayed, and the British general Hostilities were now suspended for two months: was informed that certain high commissioners were on the emperor, still ignorant of the true state of affairs, the way for the purpose of negotiating a peace. The continued to issue orders for the total annihilation of result was, that a treaty of peace was concluded on the enemy. The British army, on the 7th of May, the 29th of August, 1842, highly favorable to the left Ningpo, in its progress towards the north, with British nation. the intention cf reaching Nankin, and eventually Pekin, The following were the articles of the treaty. provided the emperor should persist in his opposition " Lasting peace and friendship to be preserved be. to the terms demanded by the government of Great tween the two empires. China to pay twenty-one Britain. On their route between the Ningpo and Nan- millions of dollars,'as an indemnification for the kin Rivers, they came to the town of Chapo, the chief expenses of the war. The five ports of Canton, port of communication between China and Japan. Amoy, Foo-choo-foo, Ningpo, and Changlha, to be The Tartar troops, which covered a chain of hills in open to the British, who shall have the liberty of the vicinity,'fled without making ally attempt to pre- appointing consuls to reside in those towns: and regvent the English from entering the city. But it hap- ular tariffs of import and export duties to be estabpened that,three hundred took refuge in a temple, to lished, so that the merchants may not be subjected, which they were pursued, who, under the mistaken as they have been, to the impositions of the ChineseI idea that, if they surrendered, no quarter would be authorities. The island of Hong Kong to be ceded given, fired on the enemy, killing and wounding sev- forever to the crown of England." The above were eral British officers. This act of useless resistance the principal articles. cost the lives of all, with the exception of about forty, Soon after these events — in the year 1845 — the who were made prisoners, but were subsequently re- United States despatched a minister to China, who leased. Most of the wives of those who were killed succeeded in establishing a treaty of peace and comrn - for the soldiers lived with their families in a part rnerce with th,-e governmeat. of the city —not knowing where to look for protec- Taou-Kwa;(ng dcied in 1850, and was succeeded by ton, and apprehensive that slavery would be their lot, Hien-Founc, then nineteen years of age. In 1852, should they fall into the hands of the foe, threw their a rebellion headed by Tae Ping Wang, commenced, helpless infants into the tanks and wells, and killed which has continuedl for five years, (TMNarch, 1857.) themselves or each other. The British, however, rescued a number of these poor women from death. Soon after the taking of Chapo, the fleet entered the noble river Yang-tse-kiang, or Child of the Ocean, and on the 2d of July anchored at Chin-keang-foo, a C H A P T E.DR C C X X X]. strongly fortified city, and, in this part of the country,. General Views - Introduction of Christianity an important barrier for the defence of the interior. into China. No sooner had the English set foot on shore, than the Chinese troops fled down the hills, and dispersed in all To some part of China, Christianity was doubtless directions; but the Tartars bravely defended the city, made known at an early period. We are, however, firing incessantly from the ramparts. These were at unable to establish the date. The apostolic age has. length ascended by scaling ladders, and after some sometimes been assigned as the epoch, under the. desperate fighting, in which many Englishmen were labors and preaching of the apostle Thomas. From killed, the British flag was raised in triumph on the tradition, and even wlcitten accounts, we learn that walls. The contention lasted till night, when the Thomas was the apostle of the East, acknowledged inhabitants began to make their escape from the city. to be such by all the Eastern or Chaldean Christians. The next morning a sad spectacle was presented- the " He was the first preacher of Christianity among the usual effects of cruel war. The streets were strewed Hindoos, and founded the churches of Malabar, where, with the dead, the houses were mostly left desolate or to this day, the ancient monuments, writings, and train flames, the shops were pillaged, and evidences of ditions afford the most indubitable proof of his aposfemale suicide were visible in every quarter. tolic labors among them. More than two hundred The taking of Chin-keang-foo is memorable for one thousand Syrian Christians, on the coast of Malabar of those extraordinary acts of individual resolution to and Coromandel, hold, with one uniform tradition, that which some would give the name of heroism; others, Thomas, the apostle, was the founder of their churches. that of folly or madness. This was the self-sought It appears from the learned Assemann and other subfate of the Tartar general, who had made the greatest sequent writers, that Thomas, having passed through exertions to save the city, but who, when he found the country from Malabar to Coromandel, and made that the contest was decided in favor of the enemy, great conversions to the faith in those parts, proceede I went into his house, and taking his accustomed seat in over to some coast in the East, called China, whiclh an arm-chair, ordered his servants to set fire to the may have been that country now called Cochin-China." ~ dwelling. His body was found the next day much Other authorities are adduced in the article from burned, but retaining the sitting posture in which he which we-have taken the above, to show that Thomas had placed himself to meet the approach of death. was the introducer of Christianity into the East, and l Probably he had swallowed opium, to deaden his with great probability into China. The Chinese hissenses ere the flames approached him. tories, however, give no date to the introduction of the It was near the middzle of August, when the British fleet arrived within sight of Nankin, about forty * Chinese Repository, vol. i. No. 2. NESTORIAN AND OTHER MISSIONS TO CHINr. ~O Dhristian faith into the empire, and are sile*l as to the In the fourteenth century, the Turks and Tartars esults of missionary labors. All that appears from wholly extirpated the Christian religion in many cities,hee is, that about that lime - the beginning of the and provinces, and caused the religion of " the Prophet'second century - an extraordinary person arrived in to be taught in its stead. The nations of the Tartars, Ohina, who taught a doctrine purely spiritual, and among whom such numbers had professed or tolerated drew general admiration upon him by the fame of his Christianity, universally submitted to the Koran. Toa virtues, by the holiness of his life, and by the number this course they were compelled by the terror of of his miracles. death, or the fear of slavery; for Tamerlane, their From this time till A. D. 636, we have no record of leader, spared no manner of violence or cruelty to Christianity in China. From a monument which was effect such an. object. By these means, and the exdiscovered'in 1625, and is still preserved by being clusion of new teachers, the Christian faith was overbuilt into the wall of' Si-ngan-foo, we learn the progress thrown in Tartary and China. Toward the close of of the gospel from 6336 till the date of its erection in 780. the fourteenth century, the Latin Christians ceased to According to this record, the Syrian Christian mission be mentioned. The influence of the Nestorians conentered China the year above named, in the reign of tinued a century or two longer. the emperor Tae-:sung, was favorably received, and The more modern Catholic missions * to China before the end of the century, Christianity was pro- were connected with commercial views on the part mulgated, and churches built in the provinces which of the governments that favored them. The Porthen composed the empire. A persecution among the tuguese were the first to open maritime intercourse Christians rose in 699, and a fiercer one in 713. Dur- with that country. The Spaniards followed the ing that time, a great many churches were destroyed, Portuguese, and introduced Jesuit missionaries into and doubtless many of the teachers suffered martyr- the empire. These visited most of the chief cities dom. Hence we find that a second mission arrived of the empire, and fixed their abode at Nankin, in China soon after, the names of whose leaders are then the greatest and most enlightened'city of enumerated. Then follows the state of Christianity China Their scientific knowledge procured for them during the reign of three or four emperors who favored great fame and influence. They renounced the cosit, most of whom honored the commemoration of tume of bonzes, or- holy men, which they had first Christ's nativity with profound respect. assumed, — as such persons were not only despised Timotheus, the patriarch of the Nestorians, who by the grandees, but even considlered as the ministers lived till 82)0, appointed David metropolitan of China; of vulgar superstition, - and assumed the habit of and this sect seems to have been numerous in Tartary the learned, from whom the great officers are and the adjacent regions. In the time of Zingis chosen. Their attainments in physical science, which Khan and his successors, though the Christians resi- in Europe would have been deemed altogether secdent in those countries were much distressed, yet it ondary, appeared almost miraculous in thfe eyes even would seem that numerouls bodies of Nestorians were of the most accomplished Chinese. The mandarins, still scattered over all the northern parts of Asia and at the same time, seem to, have possessed a degree China. In 1202, Zingis Khan conquered Un-khan, of good sense which enabled them to appreciate the the fourth and last of the Christian kings in Central philosophical principles of the missionaries, espe. Asia, who is supposed by some to be the Prester John cially when they were confirmed by experiments. of early travellers. Zingismarried his dlatuhter, and They themselves, indeed, had an observatory with several of his descendants had Christian wives. Till very fine instruments, in which an astronomer was near the close of this century, most of the Mongol constantly stationed to report every change which princes, though tolerant to all religions, rather favored took place in the heavens, and the events which it the Christian. This circumstance afforded a good portended. But the popular belief was that the earth opportunity for the Nestorians to propagate their reli- was a level plain, with the heaven rising in an arch gion all over the East, and particularly in China. above it; that night was caused by the sun's retiring The Roman pontiffs, also, sent ambassadors to the behind a mountain; and that eclipses took place in emperors, and missionaries, chiefly Franciscan and consequence of the god Holochan's covering the sun Dominican monks, quite to Pekin. There they with his right hand, and the moon with his left. gathered some churches, and at length established Some of the learned were surprised when they were told an archbishop with several suffragans. In 1307, that the earth was globular; that its opposite side was Clement V. constituted John de Monte Corvino archbishop of Cambalu, that is, Pekin. He translated the * The only missionaries in modern times, who were at all successful in China, were Jesuits. In 1541, the next yeas books of the New Testament and the Psalms of David after their order arose, Xavier went to the East. In 1552, h( into the language of the Tartars. Benedict XII., in left Goa, touched Malacca, and before the close of the year 1338, sent new nuncios into China and Tartary; and died at San-shan. Dominicans, Augustines, and Capuchinr,o longo as the Tartar empire. in China continued, the followed,.and attempted to enter the country, but were reLatins and Nestorians had liberty.to profess and prop- pulsed. In 1579, Miguel Ruggiero, an Italian Jesuit, arrived Latins and Nestortans had liberty to profess and prop- in China, and commenced the study of the language. Two agate their religion. Much greater success would years subsequently, he went, in the capacity of a chaplain, doubtless have attended these efforts in China and with the Macao ships, to Canton, and there acted in his real elsewhere, had the Christians been united; but the character, as a missionary. He was joined by Matthew Ricci, Catholics bad Nestoristians strove undrinted;b e Iin 1632. After a good deal of deception on their part, and much opposition among the people, they effected some conother, and were each in turn protected at the expense versions to their faith, and secured several protectors and of the otller. But near the close of this century —the friends. Ricci spent his time in various journeyings and thirteenth- the Mahometan religion gained the as- labors, and succeeded in establishing churches in the empire, cendency, especially in the west, and the khans,.as at Nankin and Pehin, and other places. His lectures on thelLe exact sciences, and his presents, won his way among the some instances, allowed the Christians to be perse- people, andhe was so fortunate as to enjoy the favors of the cuted. emperor himself. He died in 1610. 5i~6 SPANISH AND FRENCH MISSIONst. inhabited, and that its shadow, intercepting thie sun's also to eminence in these pursuits. The expeditions rays, caused the moon to be eclipsed. Great was their undertaken, with this view, into distant regions, were wonder on being informed that the first of these guided by that mixed spirit of religion and sciences luminaries was larger than the earth; but onil learning which prevailed at his court, and particularly distinthat the stars were larger also, their amazement knew guished the order of the Jesuits. A remarkable no bounds. One great doctor at length exclaimed, mission of this nature was sent, in 1685, to Siam, "You may consider us Tartars and barbarians, for accompanied by Tachard, Le Comte, Gerbillon, and you begin where we end." Bouvet. These distinguished persons were instructed. The Spanish Jesuits enjoyed a long period of favor when their primary object should be attained, to make at court, and even converted several persons of the an effort to penetrate into China, with a view both of imperial family to Christianity; yet, with this excep- opening a mercantile intercourse, and of diffusing the tion, they do not boast of any great success in diffus- light of Christianity. After meeting with a variety of ing their religion. Although, with an overheated zeal, adventures, they made their way to Pekin, where they they dashed the idols of the Chinese in pieces-without were graciously received at court, and performed the giving any deadly offence-yet, when they attempted ko-tou, or act of reverence to the emperor, by beating to substitute a purer faith in the place of idolatry, their foreheads nine times against the ground. Ie they were met by the coolest indifference. While all requested to know whether there was any favor which the other Oriental nations had some strong religious they were desirous to obtain, bidding them fieely ask impressions, the learned in China made it their boast it. The missionaries, who seem to have been no not to worship any god, either false or true, and to strangers to the arts of a court, answered, with Fiench take no concern in what might happen after this life. cleverness, that their only wish was to lift up their Their veneration was exclusively bestowed on their hands daily to the true God in prayers for his majesancient sages, in whose honor alone they conceived ty's prosperity. This discreet reply pleased the that temples ought to be erected. To this was added emperor, and the Frenchmen were kindly and hospi. the greatest alarm and displeasure at every innovation. tably treated. The result was, that the whole body of the Chinese From this time the missionaries, who were able literati assumed a hostile attitude to the European men, and well acquainted with the sciences, acquired missionaries, and opposed their attempts to introduce a great asce~ndency at the court of China. The ena new belief. Among the charges brought against lightened mind of' Kang-hi appreciated their supethem, was that of being great talkers and mountebanks, riority to his own people in various branches of knowlwhich is admitted by the Jesuits themselves to be true edge; he became their pupil, and took regular lessons to a considerable extent. It was added, that they from them. He assigned them a spot, within the sought to gain converts rather by the display of precincts of his palace, for building a church and European curiosities than by arguments; and here, convent-furnishing materials, and even money, to too, the missionaries seem unable wholly to deny that assist in its construction. It is true that the importu- watches, harpsichords, lookling-glasses, and tweezers nity of the Li-pou tribunal, and of some leading had involved them in this reproach. mandarins, once extorted from him a decree, prohibitThese hostile feelings increased, till, on a particular ing the exercise of Christianity; but, on the urgent occasion, they burst forth unrestrained. One of the representations of the foreigners and their friends, ii chief functions of the Chinese tribunal of astronomy, was soon rescinded. The strangers were also em. was to fix an auspicious day for the performance of ployed in various important offices, for which their any great public duty -a choice which its members superior knowledge fitted them. They were formed were supposed to be fully qualified to make, by view- into detachments, which proceeded through the several ing the aspect of the heavens. The missionaries, in provinces of the empire, and even its subject territories undertaking such an office, somewhat merited the in Thibet and Tartary, to make a complete survey of I catastrophe in which it involved them. One of the those regions, and draw a map of them upon scientific princes having died, it was their part to name the most principles. The Frenchmen proved also extremely proper day and hour for his interment. They under- serviceable in conducting negotiations with Russia took the task; but some time after, the empress and Father Gerbillon accompanied the commission mother, and next the emperor himself, died. The which was sent to the frontier to fix the boundaries of charge was then immediately urged that the Christians, the two empires. Numerous individuals of the impe instead of the favorable day which they were bound rial household became converts, and made an open to fix, had named one that lay under the most malig- profession of Christianity. nant influence, and had thus involved the realm in these The intelligence of these circumstances excited an dreadful calamities. This ruined the Jesuits: four of extraordinary interest in France, where a sort of the chief among them were thrown into dungeons, Chinomania sprang up and continued for some time. where one of them perished, and the remainder were During its prevalence, the most extravagant stories expelled f'rom China; and, although the surviving respecting the Chinese empire were implicitly believed. prisoners were released afterw rds, and restored to a Numerous additional missionaries followed in the train degree of favor, the success of their mission was at of those who had so successfully made their way in an end. that country. This state of the public mind gave We shall pass over the attempts of the Dutch to rise to a singular imposition. When Le Comte reobtain a footing in the empire, and give a sketch of the turned home, he was surprised to hear of the existence more successful undertakings of the French. Louis of a Chinese princess in Paris, who was miaking a dis XIV.,ambitious of every sort of greatness, viewed with tinguished figure in that gay capital. This princess emulation the extraordinary influence which England who claimed the highest rank in her own country and Holland had obtained by trade and manufac- called herself Couronne, a name which no rea tLres; and he spared no exertion to raise his kingdom Chinese could pronounce. Her story was as follow,. PRINCESS COURONNE IMPOSTURE-PROTESTANT MISSIONS. 457 She had embarked for Japan, with a view to a matri- converts of the imperial blood were exiled to a monial connection, and had been captured, first by a desolate region in Tartary; yet, continuing constant Dutch and then by a French vessel; by the latter she to the Christian faith amid all their sufferings, they was brought to Europe; and, after much cruel treat- were brought back and confined in dungeons. Under ment, had been left in a state of total destitution. the enlightened emperor, Kien-long, who ascended Being able, however, to pronounce the word Pe-kin, the throne in 1736, Christianity again flourished: she attracted notice, and soon managed to learn suffi- a college was established at Pekin for its propagacient broken French to tell her story. Such a novelty tion, and four young princes became converts. brought her at once into notice; she was the " lioness" But persecutions were soon renewed, and the better of Paris, and nobody thought of. questioning her judgment and feelings of Kien-long were oververacity. Ladies of rank took her under their pro- powered by the united voice of the tribunals and great tection, and not only relieved her wants, but intro- mandarins. A new decree was issued, and Chrisduced her into the first circles of society, where she tianity was suppressed. was received with all the respect due to her illustrious This proved, however, to be only a suspension of birth! Even poems were composed in celebration of the effobrts of the missionaries, for many of the priests her adventures. found means to return to their fields of labor. Things Le Comte, who had never heard of such a name continued in this state till, in 1785, a decree was as Couronne, in the East, readily suspected the fraud. passed which afforded the Christians some mitigation The whole story was contradictory to Chinese man- of their evils, particularly in Pekin. ners. Princesses of that country, so far from taking During the present century, the mission has been in voyages by sea, scarcely leave their apartments. For a low and declining state; yet, on two or three occaa Chinese princess to go to Japan in search of a sions at least, it has drawn forth the severe animadverhusband, was as little likely as that the duchess of sions of the government; once in 1805, again in 811,' Orleans should set out on an expedition to wed the and a third time in 1815. The number belonging to chief of Oonalaska. Le Comte did not hesitate to the Roman missions in China is not easily ascerannounce his suspicions. The marquis de Croissi tained. But, on a map of missions presented in 1810 insisted on arranging an interview, by which the lady's to the governing bishop of Macao, the number of pretensions might be brought to the test. She could European bishops, assistant bishops, and missionaries not refuse, though she deemed it necessaryto impeach is put down at more than thirty; that of native the honesty of Le Comte. When the day had arrived, preachers at eighty; and of Chinese Christians at over she was not to be found; but, after a diligent search, two hundred thousand. Thus Christianity has a partial her place of retreat was discovered. Finding it im- toleration in China — the Catholic priests frequently possible to evade the scrutiny, she proceeded to face adopting the Buddhist rites and ceremonies, and minthe traveller with the utmost coolness and intrepidity. gling them with their own. The firs look removed every shadow of doubt from The Chinese, like many other heathen nations, in the mind of Le Comte; her features, her air, her recent times, have been permitted to share in the gait, had in them nothing Chinese. She immediately labors of Protestant missionaries. Since the war with began conversing with fluency in broken French, but Great Britain, the country has been more particularly without the least mixture of any thing akin to the open to these efforts. In Canton, the American Board Chinese idiom, and pronouncing with perfect ease, of Commissioners for Foreign Missions have one stasounds which no native of China can utter. She tion, three missionaries, and five others as helpers. In talked of having travelled, in less than three days, Amoy, they have one station, three missionaries, and fiom Nankin to Pekin, a distance of more than six two others as assistants. In Fuh-chan, the same sohundred miles; and she described gold coins which ciety has one station, five missionaries, and three others were never used in the empire. Le Comte wrote to aid them. some Chinese characters on a paper, and placed it in Laudable efforts have been made in modern times her hand; she held the writing upside down, and to translate the Bible into the Chinese language. This' pretended to read it, uttering with rapidity words has been done chiefly by Protestants. The efforts of entirely without meaning. He then spoke to her in the Romanists have been limited, it is believed, to parts Chinese, to which she replied in her own gibberish. of the New Testament. Among the principal persons Having thus gone through her part, she boldly in- engaged in this enterprise, the names of Molrison, sisted that she had stood the trial triumphantly, and Milne, and Marshman, are well known. But owing that the insinuations of Le Comte against her arose to the great peculiarity of the language, imperfect from pure malignity. So reluctant are mankind to be acquaintance with it, and other causes, these versions awaked from an agreeable illusion, that she continued, are not by any means correct and satisfactory. Effor a time, to have adherents, even after the fullest forts are making at the present time to supply the preexposure of the fraud. vious deficiency, if possible, in this interesting departThe prosperity of the missionaries ceased with the ment of evangelization, by a combination of the learn. reign of their protector, Kang-hi. His successor was ing and talents of the various missionaries from superstitiously attached to the laws and institutions of Protestant Christendom, now in China. China, and open to those complaints againist innovation which the mandarins were ever ready to prefer. ~he missionaries were all banished from the country except those at Pekin, who were necessary for the CT A T CC X X X I. construction of the calendar, and these were not allowed to teach their religion. Three hundred General ews, contined pin Trade. churches and three hundred thousand Christians were THE character and extent of the opium trade iln deprived of their priests and rulers.. The Chinese China, together with the consequences which have 58 458 THE OPIUiM TRADE. grown out of it in recent times, give to its history a pared in India, and, as before intimated, is a monopoly peculiar interest; of this we shall therefore present a of the wealthy and powerful East India Company brief outilne.. The revenue derived by this company from the trade By, the laws of China for nearly fifty years, the amounted, in the year 1837, to two million five hundred importation of opium had been prohibited; yet it had and thirty-nine thousand five hundred and thirty pounds. been extensively cultivated, under the direction and When the sales have been effected at Bombay and monopoly of the East India Company, and systenzati- Calcutta, the opium is shipped on board vessels ex. cally smtuggled into China. While it was a violation pressly fitted out for the trade, which proceed imme of all laws, it also produced the most baleful effects. diately for China. They are called clippers, and are It corrupted the morals and destroyed the lives of the remarkable for their beauty and sailing qualities. inhabitants. But the emperor at length made a vigor- " Arrived on the coast, they deliver their cargo into a ous effort to put an end to the nefarious traffic; and class of vessels called receiving ships, which are alin March, 1839, the English merchants at Canton were ways anchored at the station of Lintin, or the adjacent compelled by the Chinese authorities to surrender their anchorages of Capsingmoon, or Cumsingmoon, situated smuggled opium to the amount of twenty thousand two within the Bocca Tigris, at the mouth of the Canton River. hundred and eighty-three chests, valued, at cost prices, " As the importation is expressly forbidden by the at about ten million of dollars; and it was destroyed by Chinese government, it has now to be smuggled clanthe order of Lin, the Chinese commissioner. destinely into the country. For this purpose, native In consequence of this event, a series of hostile smuggling boats are employed, which are well manned transactions took place at Canton; several warlike ex- and armed. Orders from Canton are given to them, peditions sailed from England; and a war was com- with which they proceed to the receiving ships, and menced and carried on, which resulted in the submission the opium is delivered to their charge. It is taken out of the government of China to the conditions imposed of the chests, examined and, after being packed in conby the British power, as we have related. The object venient parcels, arranged in readiness to be easily carof these hostilities, as stated by Lord John Russell, was, ried off in case of pursuit. This is the usual way in "first, to obtain reparation for the insults and injuries which the importation is effected; but some portion offered to her majesty's superintendent and her majesty's is also taken up to Whampoa occasionally, and a certain subjects by the Chinese government; second, to obtain number of chests is'disposed of along the coast to the for the merchants trading with China an indemnification northward. Collision with the authorities rarely takes for the loss of their property, incurred by threats of place, as fees are regularly paid, for connivance, to the violence offered by persons under the direction of the officers of the imperial preventive squadron. Indeed, Chinese government; and third, to obtain a'security it is not unfrequent for the custom-house officers themthat persons and property, in future, trading with China selves to be engaged in the smuggling trade, and govshall be protected from insult or injury, and that their ernment boats have been observed taking in a cargo trade and commerce shall be maintained on a proper of opium in the open face of day. footing." Whatever disguises may be thrown over it, "When arrived at the city of Canton, the opium however, the war against China was the direct con- passes into the hands of the native brokers or melters, sequence of the snmuggling of opium by the British. who subject it to a process by which the crude article Had the Chinese set dhe laws of England at defiance, is reduced to a watery extract. The Chinese designate in a similar manner, it is quite certain that confisca. the varieties of Indian opium by the names of black tion of property alone would not have been the extent earth, white skin, and red skin, which severally fetch of the punishment. about eight hundred, six hundred, and four hundred As opium is the most powerful of narcotics, and at dollars a chest." the same time one of the most valuable of all medi- It is not known at what period the use of opium comuse, however, otherwise than as a medicine, is attended growth and preparation have been known to the Chiwith effects similar to those of the intemperate use of nese themselves for ages. Up to the year 1780, the,ardent spirits. Its habitual or excessive use is said to Portuguese supplied the Chinese with foreign opium;'be more deleterious than the latter. It is a remark after that period, the English trade in the article dictated most probably by an intimate knowledge of the commenced, by the establishment of a depot for the subject, that' There is no slavery on earth to be named sale of the drug to the southward of Macao. But with the bondage which opium casts upon its victim. towards the end of the last century, as we have seen.'There is scarcely one known instance of escape from the importation was entirely prohibited, and in 1796, its toils, when once they have fairly enveloped a man." persons folund guilty of smoking opium were punished The countries in which opium is most used are with the pillory and bamboo. But notwithstanding the Turkey, Persia, Arabia, and China. But its greatest strong denunciations on paper, the illicit trade went on; consumption is in China and the surrounding countries, the East India Company took the preparation of the where the habit of smoking it is very common, and opium into their own hands, farmed the whole of the attended with the most deplorable consequences. In produce, and sold it annually at Calcutta by auction VMahometan countries, it is used as a substitute for to the highest bidder A large quantity of opium is intoxicating liquors, the use of which is prohibited by made in China itself, where the cultivation of the the Koran. No market on the globe is equal to that poppy, though nominally prohibited, has not been of Canton for this drug, which has been introduced prevented. In various provinces of India, the article is since the year 1796, in violation of the laws of China, grown under a system of compulsory labor, for the excluwholly by smuggling. The quantity consumed yearly sive benefit of the "Honorable East India Company.' is immense. It is computed that, in the year 1837, it Various decrees were passed, of great seveit5y amounted to four million and eighty thousand pounds. enacting even the penalty of death against those caugh'The far greater Dart of this article is grown and pre- trading in the drug. These decrees were, however CH'IEF CITIES OF CHINA. 459 but little, if at all, attended to by the Chinese them- situated in a very fertile plain, twenty leagues distarn selves, and were negligently enforced by the authorities. from the great wall. It is, for the most part, the resi The Rev. Mr. Medhurst, an exemplary missionary, dence of the emperor, and his palace is in the portioln who has most justly and ably protested against the of it called the Tartar City. Pekin is surrounded iniquitous trade in opium, quite confirms the opinion by a wall fifty feet high, and so broad, that mountea that the chief blame, as to the confirmed use of the sentinels are placed upon it. The gates, which poison, rests with the Chinese themselves. Mr. Med- are nine in number, make an imposing appearance, by hurst says that, in fact, opium is not only regularly reason of their vast height. Most of the streets are introduced, but openly sold, in all parts -of China. constructed in a direct line, the breadth of the largest Notwithstanding the prohibition, opium shops are as being one hundred and twenty feet broad, and their plentiful, in some towns of China, as gin shops are in length above two miles. England. The sign of these receptacles is a bamboo In front, the houses make an insignificant appearscreen, hanging before the door, which is a certain ance, being mostly low, and with only a ground floor. intimation that the slave of intemperance may be there Few have two stories; still they are often a good deal gratified. ornamented with gilded sculptures, and the doors of Into these shops all classes of persons continually the rich are often of aromatic wood, richly carved. flock, from the t'ampered official to the abject menial. The imperial palace is the most remarkable of the No one makes a secret of the business or the prac- buildings in this great city, more, however, on account tice; and, though the officers of the government are of' the number of its regularly disposed structures loud in denouncing the indulgence in public, they courts, and gardens, than the beauty of its architec-. privately wink at what is patronized by their own ex- ture. Pekin is estimated to contain one million five ample, or subservient to their own interests. It is a hundred thousand inhabitants. well-known circumstance, that the government officers Nankin is a large city, containing some half milcome regularly on board the receiving ships at Lintin, lion of inhabitants, but, for some period past, has not and demand so many dollars per chest for conniving been in a flourishing condition. It was the royal resiat smuggling; while it is currently reported that even dence until the fifteenth century; now a large portion the viceroy of Canton receives a very respectable con- of the area within the ancient walls is depopulated. sideration for winking at these illicit transactions. The Much of this desolation may, no doubt, be ascribed to nilitary and naval officers sometimes get up a sham the ravages of the Tartar conquests; but a large'ight, in order that they may have to report their vigi- part of it arises from another cause, and that is, the lance and strictness at Pekin; and when the smug- slender construction of the public edifices. The colglers are remiss in paying the accustomed bribes, they umns are, in most cases, of' wood, and necessarily now and then seize a boat or two, to keep them reg- subject to decay. The nine-storied buildings, called ular and submissive. pagodas, being of good solid beech wood, are almost the only permanent edifices. That which is built of porcelain, is famous for its cost and beauty. C H A P TE R C CX X X I I. Canton is a large city, containing, with its suburbs. nearly a million of inhabitants. It is the largest port Extent of the Empire — Divisions and Chief In China, and the only one that has been much freCities - Government. quented by Europeans. The city wall is more than CHINA PROPER, as we have stated, is a large, com- five miles in extent, with delightful wallrs around it. pact country, lying on the eastern side of Asia, ex- There are many handsome buildings in Canton, as tending from about 21~ to 41~ of north latitude, and also great numbers of triumphal arches, and temples, measuring, in extreme length, from north to south, well stocked with images. There are often five thouabout twelve hundred geographical miles, with an sand trading vessels lying before the city. A numbei iverage breadth somewhat less than the length. of other large towns exist in China, containing severalThe capital of the whole empire of China s Pekin, ly an immense population. ___ - __ The original plan of the Chinese government was patriarchal. Obedience to the father of each _______ _=- -= family was enforced in the most rigorous manner, - _____________ and the emperor was considered as the father of m__ and the whole. Every father was absolute in'his own — __ __ ___ |-family, and might inflict any punishment short of death; and every mandarin of a district had the power ----._iEE _-_ _ of life and death over all its members, though the emperor's approbation was requisite to the infliction _ of a capital sentence. Since the invasion of the'rartars, the government is called an absolute monarchy __,,i;,though its great fundamental principles have been ~_~~~......~.~...~.~:. preserved from the beginning. The system of government, as now pursued, is, on the whole, favorable to the industry of the people, and the idea that population in China presses upon the "1,,~~~~ ~means of subsistence to the extent once supposed, is an entire delusion. The working (classes are contented, and the rights of property are respected; anud ___ there exists in China, as in some Christian countries, Gate of Pekin. a large and wealthy middle class. Chliinise servants are 460 GOVERNMENT AND LAWS OF THE CHINESE. found as faithful and trustworthy as those of other shipped with divine honors, and with the attribute of well-regulated countries; and, among merchants, in- omnipresence, throughout the empire. He is styled stances are on record of some who have risked their the " Son of Heaven," the " Ten Thousand Years." lives to fulfil their engagements. In seaport towns, As the people worship the emperor, so the emperor however, like Macao and Canton, as in similar large worships Heaven. He himself uses occasionally a towns of Christian nations, some portion of the popula- term of affected humility, as the " Imperfect Man;" tion will, of course, as human nature is tt present, exist but every device of state is used to keep up, by habit, in a more or less disorderly and demoralized state. the impression of awe. As an instance of these de. Their police appear not to be wanting in vigilance, vices, it is' stated that no person whatever can pass and the administration of justice is prompt and before the outer gate of the palace, in any vehicle or efficient. on horseback, and also that an imperial despatch is The despotic character of the government is tem- received in the provinces with offerings and prostration, pered somewhat by the influence of public opinion. the performers looking toward Pekin. There are some curious practical anomalies, which.: The sovereign of China, has the absolute disposal of seem hardly suitable to a despotism. The people, the succession, and he may go out of his own family in some instances, hold public meetings, by advertise- if he pleases, for an heir. This right has descended ment, for the express purpose of addressing the magis- from time immemorial. The imperial authority or trate, and this without being punished. But they pro- sanction to all' public acts is conveyed by the impresceed sometimes farther — placarding and lampoon- sion of a very large seal; and any particular directions ing —though, of course, anonymously — obnoxious or remarks by the emperor himself are added in red, public officers. It may be added, that the censorship commonly called " the vermilion pencil." As highof the press —that usual concomitant of despotism — priest of the empire, he alone, with his immediate is unknown in China. It has no other limitations than representatives, sacrifices in the government temples. those which the interests of social peace and order with victims and incense. seem to render necessary. If these are endangered, The sovereign's principal ministers form the nty-ko the process of the government, as might be expected, or "' interior council chamber," and the chief council is very summary. lors are four in number —two Tartars and two Chi Under their form of government, connected with nese. The two former always take the precedence. education, the Chinese have become a most good- Below these are a number of assessors, who, together humored as well as peaceable people. Of the sixteen with them, constitute'the great council of state. The lectures periodically delivered to the people - lectures Loo-poo, or six boards for the direction of government found in the book of Sacred Institutions - the second business in detail, are - 1. The board of official apis " on union and concord among kindred;" the third pointments, which takes cognizance of the conduct of:' on concord and agreement among neighbors;" the all civil officers; 2. The board of revenue, which ninth "on mutual forbearance;" the sixteenth "on regulates all fiscal matters; 3. The board of rites reconciling animosities." From the influence of these and ceremonies; 4. The military board; 5. The su. instructions has arisen, perhaps, their characteristic preme court of criminal jurisdiction; 6. The board timidity, which is accompanied by its natural associ- of public works. These have under them all subordi. ates-the devices of cunning and fraud. nate offices. The Chinese have acquired a more than common The provinces are placed under the principal charge horror of political disorder. From having lived so of a governor, or, where two provinces are United, of much in peace, they become, in some sort, a nation a general governor. The separate cities and districts of conservatives. They have among them maxims of each province are under the charge of their re. which strongly show their turn of mind on this subject; spective magistrates, who take their rank from the as, for instance, "Better be a dog in peace, than a man cities they govern. The total number of civil magisin anarchy," " The worst of men are fondest of change trates throughout China has been estimated at fourteen and commotion." It has been remarked that no in- thousand. stance has ever occurred among the Chinese of an The criminal code of China is a very efficient enattempt to change the form of that pure monarchy gine for the control of its vast and densely thronged which is founded oh patriarchal authority, or derived population. It has its obvious defects in compelling from it. In most instances of commotions or revolu- the performance of certain relative duties, its minute tions among them, the sole object has been the destruc- attention to trifles, and especially the relentless cruelty tion of a tyrant; or, when the country was divided and injustice which mark all its provisions against the into several states, the acquisition of universal power crime of treason. These and a few similar features by the chief of one of them. show its inferiority to the codes of most civilized Distinction and rank arise almost entirely from' Christian countries; but, in other respects', it is well educated talent, and the choice of official persons, with adapted to the character and circumstances of the a very few exceptions, is determined by this. The people for whose use it is framed. In China, cases country, therefore, is as ably governed as it could be, of high treason are excepted from all the provisions under the circumstances. " The official aristocracy," of indulgence or safety to the criminal, which are alwho are the real aristocracy of the country, " content lowed in other capital offences. This absence of prowith their solid rank and power, aim at no external tection is to be paralleled only by the barbarity of the display: on the contrary, a certain affectation, on their punishment - the innocent family of the culprit being part, of patriarchal simplicity operates as a sumptuary consigned to' destruction. In 1803, an attempt was law, and gives a corresponding tone to the habits of made to tale the life of the emperor, by a single asthe people." sassin. He was condemned to death by a lingering In respect to the actual machinery of the govern- process, and his sons, being of tender age, were stranment, it may be remarked that the emperor is wor- gled! Except in the crime of treason, there is nol PUNISHMENTS-T'LHE MILITARY, THEIR DRESS AND WEAPONS. 461 much to be complained of as to the caprice or cruelty it. After this comes exile, either temporary or foi which is exercised toward criminals. life, either to a limited distance into the country The most general instrument of punishment is the or beyond the Chinese frontier. The three capital bamboo, whose dimensions are exactly defined by law, punishments are, 1. Strangulation; 2. For greater as also the number of the blows. The next punish- crimes, decollation; 3. For the greatest crimes, as ment is the cangue, which has been called the wooden | treason, parricide, sacrilege, &c., that mode.:of execucollar, being a species of walking pillory, in which the tion called lyng-chy —" a disgraceful and lingering prisoner is paraded, with his offence inscribed upon death." ~..t~'~..~.~. —~........... ---— Chinese Encampment. All the military of the empire are under the man- are, in part, a jacket of blue, turned up with red, or i ordinary private pursuits. the regular troops in the province of Canto. This post / / __ _,:i"'E lt:t\\\ -\~AlfZ- 4/4/4\4/V // ~"~~-~~-;~-& A 7PM soldiers~~ oni pay thogotteeprhsbe si lhuhtekoldeo upwe svrnin mated at seven hundred thousand, of hich the largest The highest militay rank is that of a Tseang-keun, Ta I-a poto ar ie oterntv itit olwn a eeaoeotwo scagdwt u aeo Mir (irdinary private pursuits. the regular troops in the province of Canton. This posi~ j Th ohn addfesv amrofte iiar a nvrbefledb Cinee bu seodr co 462 CHINESE LANGUAGE. mands may. Below these are subordinate officers of bury, he had employed t'di, signifying to kill. H( every grade. had repeatedly asked these mourners, therefore, if' they had killed their grandmother! " But serious as the difficulty is in regard to the asCHAPTE R C CXXXIII. pirates, it is as nothing when compared with the obstaI T E R C cles which grow out of the system of intonation. The Chinese Language. difficulty is not capable of full illustration by writing. The living voice is needed to present a complete idea of it. Still an approximation towards it can be made nication of thought unlike all others, a&nd yet very by written communication, sufficient for all ordinary interesting to the philologist, general scholar, and Christian. It has long been a conceded fact, that its purposes. study is beset with peculiar difficuties. The complete Though little attention, it seems, has been bestowed on suyi the spokec languagehasbeen l.garded bythe subject, the fact of the existence of the " tones " was mastery of the spoken language has been regarded by early known. They were distinctly stated and brought many as an impossibility. It is, however, gratifying to view in Chinese books. The highest authority on to know that many persons are at present diligently th poit i the great and earnestly engaged in the study, and time will show order ofpiang-h, second emperor of ne present order of Kang-hi, second emperor of the present how far the opinion above expressed is founded in dynasty, which was published at the beginning of the truth. last century. The following stanza is used to explain The peculiar difficulty of the spoken language of the powers of the four tones of the court dialect:the powers of the four tones of the court dialect:China, it is said, is not in the sounds, or in the arbitrary combinations of the language; neither is it in the " The even tone travels on a level road, neither elevated nor want of helps; for dictionaries, vocabularies, and easy depressed. lessons abound, and, what is more important than all -The high tone exclaims aloud, being fierce, violent, and strong. books, the living voices of thousands of pure Chinese The departing tone is distinct and clear, gruffly travelling to are at the service of the learner. " The chief cause a distance. of failure, says Mr. Pohlman,* is to be found in the The entering tone is short and contracted, being hastily gathwant of proper attention to the aspirates and tones of ered up." the language." Some, desiring to avoid the perplexity of the tones, A notation of the various forms which the same have tried, in their career of study, to get along Word may assume, illustrates the importance of the without them, but have met with no success. A genaspirates and tones, as well as the great peculiarity of tleman now in China began in this way: he acquIred thislanguage. The monosyllable pang, for examlple, a good stock of words, and on a certain occasion, may be uttered at Amoy in ten different ways, and a made special preparation to deliver a sermon. Upon distinct meaning is conveyed by each mode of enun- the close of the exercises,; one of the audience - a ciation. We need not put down the various marks to Chinese - remarked to him, "I know very well what denote the aspirates and tones, but may observe that, you meant to say; but you did not say it." His ataccording as this word is marked and pronounced, it tention was awakened by this remark, and he commeans to help, a bee, to bind, to spin, to let go, corpui- menced a diligent search for the defect. He ascer.. lent, a room, a sail, a club, or a seam. Such and so tained it to be his neglect of the intonations, and from different are its meanings. And this is not an ex- that time, putting forth every effbrt to master the diffitreme case. In the Canton dialect, the number of culty, he is now one of the most successful preachers modifications employed in pronouncing a single word, in the language. is twelve. This arises from its having more tones An instance or two may be mentioned by way of illusthan any other yet known to foreigners and strangers. tration, in the experience of Mr. Meadows, interpreter It is very important to pay due attention to the use to the British consulate at Canton. "In making out of the aspirate, inasmuch as ignorance or mistake on a report to the superintendent of customs, of the this point will expose one to ridiculous or even worse export cargo of a ship about to leave, he took the blunders. " On a certain occasion, Mr. Pohlman wished English manifest, and read aloud the various articles, to ask a person whether he drank wine, the Chinese in Chinese, to a clerk sitting by him with his writing word for which is tsen; but instead of employing the implements. The last species of goods, of a very large proper term, he used t'sen, which means a hand. By cargo, happened to be vitrified ware. But he gave the inserting the aspirate, he had inquired of his friend wrong intonation; whereupon the Chinese instantly whether he ate his hands or not. In another instance, lifted up his hands from the paper, and looked at him when visiting a Chinese family, he found the females with surprise, and only stared the more as the words in mourning, and, upon inquiry, ascertained that were repeated; and with good reason, for he was, in their grandmother was dead. Desirous of obtaining fact, deliberately and distinctly announcing that the information in regard to the custom of preserving the large and very valuable cargo just enumerated had dead, so common in China, he attempted to ask them been all burnt up, such being the only meaning of the whether the corpse had been buried; but he received words he uttered! no answer, save a stare of astonishment. On repeat- "On another occasion, he said something to a Chi. ing the question, looks of displeasure succeeded those nese about earnest money, as he supposed. As the of wonder and surprise. And it was only by mutual man did not seem to understand him, he repeated the signs and explanation, that he discovered a most unfor- words; upon which he thrust forward his head, and tunate mistake. Instead of using tdi, which means to listened attentively; and thne Louder he spoke, the X "Obstacles to the Acquisition of the Chinese Language," nearer the hnese came, anxiouscy turning one side condensed from an Essay written on the subject by r. of the head to him, to catch the sound. In fact,inPoh;man, and published in the Missionary Herald. stead of saying ting ch'ien,'bargaln money,' he was CHINESE LANGUAGE. 463 shouting t'ing chien, t'ing chien,' do you hear? do exists in holding converse on any common topic of you hear.'" life. The Chinese monosyllable awakens ideas and Mr. Pohlman once fell into an amusing error in perceptions, as well as the grammatical forms of our consequence of, supposing that the intonation was not own idioms. Moreover, the spoken language is more universal among the different dialects. It occurred copious than the written; the oral sounds in the Canwhen he had occasion to use a dialect of the interior ton dialect numbering about six hundred and ninety, of Canton province, spoken by the emigrants in the and in the Amoy dialect eight hundred and sixty-six. Island of Borneo. In the late war with China, news Still foreigners have no adequate medium as yet for of the preliminaries of a treaty of peace had arrived. the communication of thought. The simple Chinese This gentleman had a Chinese school, and being desir- syllables can be multiplied only by the tones. These ous of telling them the good news, he assembled the the native Chinese are brought up to understand and scholars, to whom he made known the chief articles speak; but, with a foreign learner, it is a very different of the proposed treaty. It was his intention to be affair. peculiarly explicit in one part, the main article of the As it is not the intention, in this article, to give lescompact, and that was the opening of the five ports sons in respect to this language, but merely to menfor trade and unrestricted intercourse. It was not tion some of its curiosities, or peculiarities, any atlong before a deputation from the school came to him tempt to make these tones intelligible would be out to inquire what was the meaning of the Chinese em- of place. It needs only to be remarke'd that the peror in giving five hatchets to the English, and what Chinese tones are modifications of sound in the same the queen of England was going to do with them. word, and that there is nothing like them in the Western By the use of the Malay language, he was made to see, world. They do not consist in any alteration of the for the first time, that instead of saying pdo thdn, vowel sounds; for a in the word pang, " to help," re"-trading ports," he had said p6o thdna, "hatchets." tains the sound of a in father through all the tones. The truth is, the system of intonation forms an in- Neither is the consonant modified; for, in words which separable part of the Chinese language. No native of contain only vowel sounds, the tones are as distinct as any province or district ever speaks without using the in those beginning and terminating with a consonant. tones; and there is no dialect in existence which has Nor is the quick or the slow enunciation of a word not some, if not all, of the eight tones. What puzzles intended, or loudness, or lowness. But the tones are many is, that while the Chinese all speak with the tones produced by the rising, falling, or non-alteration of the peculiar to their native dialects, a vast majority do not sound, as is done with us in learning the octave. know that such a thing as a tone exists. This is owing to So nice a matter are these tones, that the smallest the fact that the tones are acquired in infancy, as soon mistake may destroy the gravity of hearers, in a most as the child begins to utter sounds; and nice distinc- seriously intended discourse. Mr. Pohlman says, " Aftions of words and intonations are never analyzed, or ter studying the language at Amoy several months, thought of. The tone is part and parcel of the word I attempted to preach. In a solemn exhortation to the itself. Hence no word or phrase can be considered audience, at the close of my discourse, I intended to as acquired, unless we can speak it in its proper tone. hold up. the example of Christ, and urge all to be folLittle children utter the tones with a clearness and lowers of him. After the service, one of the hearers distinctness which are remarkable. The poorest peo- pointed out a ridiculous mistake. By a slight variapie, equally with the rich and learned, invariably pay tion in the tone of a certain word, a person is made the minutest regard to them; so that a real native to say'goat,' instead of'example.' In my closing never makes the slightest mistake, even in the hurried remarks, the audience were solemnly urged to come conversation of common life. and follow a'goat,' when the design was to invite The small number of different syllables, as compared them to follow the' example' of Jesus." with other languages used by mankind, is a striking It may be added to what has above been said on this feature of the Chinese. In Morrison's Syllabic Dic- subject, that the difficulty of acquiring the language tionary, the whole number is only four hundred and by foreigners has done vastly more than "the great eleven. Should the aspirated syllablesbe considered as wall" to preserve the Chinese in their exclusiveness, distinct, there are still but five hundred and thirty-three. hostile to international' intercourse, and for many The possibility that such a tongue can answer the centuries almost entirely sealed up from the influences same purpose as the most copious polysyllabic lan- of Christianity, and the knowledge of the West. It guages of the West, may well constitute a subject of may be affirmed, with confidence, that no foreigner, at inquiry. It' has been insisted on by some that the present, can venture to set himself up as a "master of' Chinese vocabulary is utterly insufficient for the pur- Chinese." Though some are fluent in the colloquial poses of communication. It has even been asserted language, yet few are able to write Chinese with any!hat, in order to convey ideas in conversation, — such is tolerable degree of facility. Versions of the Bible the imperfection of the language,- the Chinese are have been made by Morrison, Milne, Marshman, and obliged to mark out with their fingers, or with a stick others, and great praise is due to these translators. in the air, the figure of their written characters. They did well, because they did what they could; but This, if we recollect aright, was the representation in they were only pioneers in the study of this wonderthe Edinburgh Review some years since. It is put ful tongue. Their versions are all exceedingly imperforth by another, that every thing beyond the range of feet, and necessarily so, by reason of the limited sight is difficult to be described by them, and is not extent of their knowledge. readily understood. A plan is now in operation to produce a new ver All such opinions, however, and all like them, the sion of the Scriptures, by the united labors of all the better informed know to be incorrect. According to Protestant missionaries in that country: somewhat the author so fiequently referred to —in actual life, the after the manner, we should think, adopted by tile people do fully understand one another. No difficulty English translators of the Bible under King James 464 CHINESE LIITERATURE. X are called the four precious things; and the manutac C H APTE R C CXXXIV. ture of them is considered a liberal occupation. A Chbinese Literature. passage in a recently translated drama strikingly ex presses the brilliant career supposed to be opened to a As in many other arts, so in that of printing, the village schoolmaster,. as compared even with that of a Chinese preceded the Europeans. Their first material prosperous merchant. " If you are successful in trade for writing consisted of thin z;;ces of bamboo; but from a little money you make much; but if you study about the first century of the Christian era, they made letters, your plebeian garments are changed for a sol. paper of a pulp of silk, or cotton, immersed in water, dier's gown. If you compare the two, how much according to the present method. Their modern paper superior is the literary life to that of the merchant or is fine and delicate, but so spongy as to be used only tradesman! When you shall have acquired celebrity, on one side. In writing, they employ the hair pencil men will vie with each other in their admiration of and the well-known Indian ink. you; over your head will be carried the round umIn the tenth century, the art of printing was invented, brella; before your horse will be marshalled the two though not by movable types, which have never been files of attendants. Think of the toil of those who used by the Chinese. Their process is as follows: traffic, and you will see the difference." the sentence or page is written distinctly on paper, and Despite the honor thus paid to men of letters, Chithen pasted upon a thin block of wood. The engraver, nese literature does not hold a high rank when comfollowing the direction of the letters, cuts through them pared with our own. It, however, may well claim ouI into the wood, which is thus so indented that a sheet attention. It appears that the great works of the laid over and pressed upon it, receives the impression empire are usually composed by associated members of the characters. Thus every word and page of a of the Han-lin Board, under the authority, and printed book is engraved, as in the case of copperplate en- at the expense, of government. These consist chiefly graving with us. Though the process is less expedi- of histories, dictionaries of the language, and compentious than ours, with movable types, still, as labor is diums of arts and sciences, or encyclopedias. The extremely cheap in China, printing is by no means authors thus employed are, of course, possessed of dear, and books are abundant. The great extent to suitable materials and abundant leisure, and are nol which they are read, may be inferred from a few obliged to gratify the impatience, or court the taste, of facts in regard to the Chinese language. the public. Perhaps, however, the very circumstance The roots, or original characters, of this, are two of writing under command, and the dread of censure hundred and fourteen in number. These were at first from the emperor and his agents, though they may pictures of the objects they represented; but in the guard against palpable errors, will paralyze the powers course of time, they have ceased to have any great of invention and the flights of genius. The career resemblance to their original form, and may, there- of authorship, however, is open to every individual' fore, be considered as arbitrary signs of thought. The works are not even subjected to any previous censor language of the Chinese is made up by the combina- ship; but a prompt and severe punishment awaits the tions of these two hundred and fourteen characters, authors of those which contain any thing qffensive te just as various numbers are expressed by the different the government. combinations of the Arabic figures, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. The principal subjects of Chinese literature are It appears, also, that this language, when printed, is 1. Philosophy, including whatever is taught of the understood by the inhabitants of Japan, Corea, Cochin ology and general physics; 2. History; 3. The China, and Loo Choo, who could by no means hold Drama; and, 4. Novels. oral converse with a Chinese. This fact may be un- In the first and most important of these departments, derstood by considering that if an Italian wishes to the Chinese refer always to one work,-the Y-King, convey to you the idea of twenty-two, you will readily also called Ye-King, Yih-King, and U-king, -,-as the understand him if he will write 22; though you will most ancient and valuable treasure. Language seems by no means comprehend his words for the same — to sink under the panegyrics which they lavish upon venti-due. We thus see that, so far as Europe is con- it, representing it as the fountain and centre of all their cerned, in respect to numerals, the figures, 1, 2, 3, 4, knowledge. According to Kang-hi, who studiously &c., are a universal language; for though they have adopted Chinese ideas on these subjects, the Y-King different names among different nations, they convey contains all things. Fo-hi, Chin-nong, Hoang-ti, Yao, to all precisely the same ideas. It is in the same way and Chun are ruled by it. The occult virtue, and the that the written language of China is common to a operations, of Heaven and man, are all comp)rised in vast population, who yet speak as differently as the the Y-king. Our respect for this mighty production Italians, French, and English. is, however, not a little lessened, when we learn that From the earliest ages, literature has held a high it was comprised in eight half-legible lines, discovered place in China. " The literati," says Dr. Morrison, by two sages on the backs of a dragon and a tortoise! "are the gentry, the magistrates, the governors, the Taking advantage of the national superstition, Confunegotiators, the ministers, of China." The absence cius wrote an elaborate commentary upon the Y-King, of hereditary rank, and even of any class possessing which was received by the nation with the deepest great riches, leaves the field entirely open to this spe- respect, and was incorporated with the original work cies of distinction. - When the parent exhorts his child of which it has ever since been considered as an to attend to his lessons, he can tell him with truth that essential part. It was said to " form the wings on he may thus become a powerful mandarin, and one of which the Y-king would fly down to posterity." It is the first personages in the state. From these causes, a probably the only part of real value; for though it degree of veneration is attached even to the humblest bears, to a great extent, the general character of objects connected with the art of writing. Paper, pen- incomprehensibility which belongs to the original, it is cil, ink, and the marble on which this last is dissolved, interspersed with some useful and beautiful maxims CH1N:ESE LITERATURE. 46b5 The following quotations are derived from this com- cine, though the Chinese were familiar with the circumentary:- lation of the. blood about sixteen centuries before it "To improve from day to day is a great virtue. He who was known in Europe, and though inoculation for the in study advances a step every day, has not lost his time and small-pox was practised by them some hundred years his years. before it was adopted in Christendom —it would seem "The path of heaven is simple and clear; but the path of that they are ignorant of anatomy, and that their the sage is made only with effort and perseverance. "It is the sage alone who knows how to advance or to recede; to preserve or to see destroyed, without losing his jugglery. tranquillity: it is only the sage who can do so. History has been cultivated by the Chinese with," A virtuous man, in the midst of difficulties, will adhere great assiduity, and they possess several works of high to his virtuous purpose, even to loss of life." repute among themselves. That which is entitled Beside the Y-King, the Chinese reckon three other Shoo-King, edited by Confucius, contains the early ancient books, or king, which rank with it, and are annals of the empire, and is held in a degree of held in almost equal veneration. These are the Shoo- esteem almost amounting to reverence. To this we King, or Chou-King, a collection of historical docu- may add, that there are several works on government, ments edited by Confiucius; the Shi-King, or Chi-King, including the codes of laws established by the empire. a compilation of ancient poems, formed also by Con- Poetry is pursued with ardor, and is held in high ficius; and the Li-ki, or Ly-ki, which treats of pro- esteem by the Chinese; yet their works, having difpriety in dress, demeanor, conversation, and the ordi- ferent objects for comparison and illustration from nary conduct of life. In the Li-ki are concentrated ours, aod different trains of association, can hardly be the ideas and maxims of the ancient Chinese regard- highly relished by us. Instead of the Alps or the ing morals and behavior; and it has probably con- Apennines, the grandeur of mountain scenery is tributed more towards forming their character, during suggested to the Chinese by the Kuen-lun and the the last two thousand years, than all the other classics Tan-yu chains, which, though probably more elevated, united. do not convey to the ear the same lofty ideas. For Confucius * was born in the year 549 B. C., and is the rose and the violet, we have the flower Zan, and,ustly considered the greatest of Chinese philosophers. the herb yu-lu. Instead of the dove, the wild goose His works are to this day held in the highest rev- portrays to Chinese fancy the image of a tender and erence, and constitute the most cherished portion of faithful lover. Chinese literature. Their practical portion consists It would appear that Chinese verse is not destitute chiefly in maxims which inculcate the virtues of jus- of harmony, and that rhyme is often used, sometimes tice, patience, mercy, prudence, and fortitude, and, even to an extent of sixteen consecutive lines. The above all, obedience to superiors. Filial piety, and following extracts from the Shi-king afford a good the duty of submission to magistracy, were his favor- specimen of the more ancient poetry:tte themes of commendation. On the whole, his ite themes of commendation..On the whole, his The bland south wind breathes upon and cherishes the works furnish a pure code of morals, founded in the sap of these plants; hence the grove flourishes, and appears good of mankind, without reference to a future state. to rise anew. But our mother is distressed with labor and We have not space to notice the numerous works care. of philosophers which have appeared since the age of "s The bland south wind cherishes, by breathing on them, Confucs, nor can we enter into details respecting the woods of this grove. Our mother excels in prudence and Confucius, nor can e enter into details respecting understanding, but we are men of no estimation. several other topics of interest. In regard to medi- "The cool fountain, bursting forth, waters the lower part * This greatest of Chinese philosophers was born in the thousand; a select portion of whom attached themselves to petty kingdom of LLi. The Chinese, in their embellishment his person, lived with him, and followed him wherever he of his history, tell us that his birth was attended with went, and to them he intrusted the promulgation of his heavenly music, filling the air; that two dragons were seen doctrines. winding over the rooft; and that five characters were observed The prince of tLi dying, Confucius was invited to court by on his breast, declaring him to be "the maker of a rule'for his son. The entire management of the state was soon comsettling the world." He was left an orphan at an early age, mitted to his hands. Under his direction, the prosperity of and though poor and unknown, attracted attention from the the kingdom was such, that the neighboring states took the gravity of his manners and his attention to study. At the alarm; and the prince of Tsi, by intrigues and plots, to which age of twenty-four, he lost his mother, and, wishing to mourn the young prince of Lu w'as induced to become privy, for her the customary period of three years, resigned an office forced Confucius to leave his native land, and retire into he held under the government, and devoted himself to study. another state. For sixteen years he continued to write and Becoming convinced that the social virtues were best c1ulti- discourse, and at the expiration of this period, returned to vated by an observance of the ancient usages of the country, his own country, where he devoted himself to polishing he resolved to devote his life to their permanent establish- and completing his works. Toward the end of his life, when he ment in China. He established schools wherein to teach his had finished the revision of the "t Five Classes," he, with great philosophy to such pupils as would go forth and spread his solemnity, dedicated them to Heaven. Chinese pictures, repdoctrines through the empire. He passed much time in tray- resenting this scene, portray the sage in an attitude of supelling and visiting the courts of the various petty princes, in plication, and a rainbow descending from the sky upon the company with his disciples. Like Aristotle, he used to teach book, while his scholars stand around in admiring wonder. them while walking, deriving instruction from what they saw; In his seventy-third year, a few days before his death, Coiland he seldom omitted to improve an occasion for pointing a fucius, leaning upon his staff, tottered about the house, ex moral. As he advanced in age and in reputation, his house claiming, - - at Lui became a sort of lyceum, open to every one who "The great mountain is broken! wished to receive instruction. His manner of teaching was, to The strong beam is thrown down The wise man is decayed! " allow his disciples or others to come and go when they pleased, asking his opinion on such points, either in morals, politics, Seven days after, he died. His favorite pupil, Tszkung, history, or literature, as they wished to have explained. mourned for him six years in a shed, erected by the side of He gave them liberty to choose their subject, and then his grave, and then returned home. In every district in the discoursed upon it. From these conversations, treasured up empire, there is a temple dedicated to his memory, and inby his disciples, they afterwards composed the Lull Ye, now tense is burnt every morning and evening before his name, one of the Four Books. His disciples numbered some three which is suspended in every school-house. 466, CHINESE POETRY. of the region Tsun. We are seven sons, whose mother is The rain has ceased, and the shining summits are apparent oppressed by various cares and labors. in the void expanse. " Sweetly, tunefully, and with unbroken voice, sings the The moon is up, and looks like a bright pearl over the exsaffron-bird, hoang-niao. We seven sons afford no assistance panded palm. to our parent." One might imagine that the Great Spirit had stretched forti anl arm There is some pathos in this complaint of broken From afar, from beyond the sea, and was numbering the friendship - nations." "The soft and gentle wind brings rain along with it. I and The picture of a clever but reckless profligate is thou were sharers in labor and in poverty; then you cher- drawn with some force in the following lines - ished me in your bosom; now, having become happy, you have left me, and are lost to me. " The paths of trouble heedlessly he braves, " The wind is soft and gentle; yet when it blows over the Now shines a wit, and now a madman raves. tops of the mountains, every plant withers, every tree is His outward form by nature's bounty dressed, dried up. You forget my virtues, and think only of trifling Foul weeds usurped the wilderness, his breast; complaints against me." And bred in tumult, ignorant of rule, The epithalamia, celebrating the marriage of princes, He hated letters - an accomplished fool. In act depraved, contaminate in mind, are among the gayest pieces in this collection. The Strange had he feared the censures of mankind. picture of a perfect beauty, drawn three thousand Titles and wealth to him no joys impart; years ago, is illustrated by images very different from By penury pinched, he sank beneath the smart. those which would occur to a European fancy. 0 wretch! to flee the good thy fate intends! O, hopeless to thy country and thy friends! "The great lady is of lofty stature, and wears splendid In uselessness the first beneath the sky, robes beneath others of a dark color. She is the Jaughter And cursed, in sinning, with supremacy. of the king of Tsi; she marries the king of Onei; the king Minions of pride and luxury, lend an ear, of Hing has married her elder sister; the Prince Tari-Kong And shun his follies, if his fate ye fear." has married the younger. "Her hands are like a budding and tender plant; the skin The following poem was written by a Chinese wno of her face resembles well-prepared fat. Her neck is like paid a visit to London about the year 1813. It was one of the worms Tsion and Tsi. Her teeth are like the written in his native tongue, and addressed to his kernels of the gourd. Her eyebrows resemble the light filaments of newly-formed silk. She smiles most sweetly, countrymen. and her laugh is agreeable. The pupil of her eye is black, Davis. and how well are the white and black distinguished " L ON ON. The following invitation to decent gayety is given, Afar in the ocean, towards the extremities of the northat the entrance of the new year -a grand period of, west, Chinese festival: — There is a nation, or country, called England. The clime is frigid, and you are compelled to approach 4"Now the crickets have crept into the house; now the fire. end of the year approaches; let us indulge in gayety, lest The houses are so lofty that you may pluck the stars. the sun and moon should seem to have finished their course The pious inhabitants respect the ceremonies of worship, in vain; but amid our joy let there be no offence against the And the virtuous among them ever read the sacred books. rules of moderation. Nothing should transgress the proper They bear a peculiar enmity towards the French nation; bound.'Duty must still be remembered. Sweet is pleasure, The weapons of war rest not for a moment between them. but it must be conjoined with virtue. The good man, in the midst of his joy, keeps a strict watch over himself." "Their fertile hills, adorned with the richest luxuriance, Resemble, in the outline of their summits, tffe arched eye The disorders of a drunken party are not ill por- brow of a fair woman. trayed in the following passage:- The inhabitants are inspired with a respect for the female "The guests sit down at first with great politeness, treat- Who, in this land, correspond with the perfect features of ing each other with mutual respect: thus they continue till nature. overcome with wine. They then forget all modesty and Their young maidens have cheeks resembling red blossoms propriety, - run dancing backward and forward. They And the complexion of their beauties is like the white gem raise wild and senseless shouts, overturn the most precious old has connubial afection been highly esteemed among cups, dance in sport, and, as they dance, their feet slide from. them, beneath them; their cap, inverted, becomes loosely attached Husband and wife delighting in mutual harmony. to the V -ad, and seems about to fall off; while their body bends this way and that, and they can scarcely stand: still " In the summer evenings, through the hamlets and gardens they madly dance. Some run wildly away, amid tumultu- beyond the town, ous good wishes from the rest; others remain, and infringe Crowds of walkers ramble without number. the laws of virtue. It is well to indulge in wine; but mod- The grass is allowed to grow as a provision for horses, eration must be carefully observed." And enclosures of wooden rails form pastures for cattle The harvest is gathered in with the singing of songs The modern'compositions, though not held in the The loiterers'roam in search of flowers without end, same veneration, appear to display a considerable And call to each other to return in good time, improvement. They are still, indeed, only short effu- Lest the foggy clouds bewilder and detain them. sions, composed of mingled reflection and imagery; "The two banks of the river lie to the north and south; but these two elements are more naturally and Anti- Three bridges interrupt the stream, and form a communica mately blended, and exhibited in a more poetical form. tion; Vessels of every kind pass between the arches, Mr. Davis has furnished us with some specimens of While men and horses pace among the clouds. this school. The following is marked by peculiarly A thousand masses of stone rise one above the other, bold and lofty imagery:- And the river flows through nine channels: The bridge of Loyang, which out-tops all in our empire, " See the fine variegated peaks of yon mountain, connected Is in shape and size somewhat like these." like the fingers of the hand, And rising up from the south, as a wall, midway to heaven. In works of fiction Chinese literature abounds. At night, it would pluck, from the' inverted concave, the These are for the most part short tales without point stars of the milky way; During the dy.V it explores the zenith, and plays with the or moral, and might seem designed rather for children clouds. than adult readers. Among this class of publications, CHINESE LITERATURE. 467 we may notice the Tsze Pun Yu, which is a Chinese of bamboo; three sides are hung with curtains of cotcollection of tales, romances, fables, &c. It contains ton cloth, while the front is left open to the audience. no less than seven hundred tales, the titles of some Under these humiliating circumstances, there do not of them being, Ghost of a Fortune-Teller, a Stolen seem to have arisen any great names, to which the Thunderbolt, the Literary Fox advising Men to Chinese people can refer with pride, as national dram. become Fairies, Elves begging Fish, the Man with atists. Numerous pieces have, however, been proThree Heads, the Devil turned Watchmaker, a Pig duced, particularly under the dynasty of the Tang. acting the Priest of Taou, the Enchanted Town, the A collection has been formed of one hundred and ~Ass of a Mahometan Lady, a Demon bearing Chil- ninety-nine volumes, from which are selected a hundren, Vulcan's Toys, &c. The following is a trans- dred plays, supposed to comprehend the flower of thlis lation from this work, made by a youth at Canton, class of productions. Of these, only five have been who was studying the Chinese language; and will translated - namely, two tragedies, the OC)rphan of afford a specimen of a Chinese book of " small talk." Tchao, by Father Premare, and the Sorrows of Han, The Sagacious Pig. - "In the district of Suhchow, in by Mr. Davis; and three comedies, the Heir in hIis Keangnan, a man was murdered, and his body thrown into Old Age, by the latter gentleman, the Circle of Chalk, a well. One of the officers, having long sought in vain for by M. Stanislas Julien, and the Intrigues of a Waitingthe murderer, was riding by the well one day, when a pig Maid by M. Bazin. This certainly is but a small came before his horse, and set up a most bitter cry. His' attendants not being able to drive the pig away, the officer portion of so geat a mass; yet, as it consists of fasaid to them,'What does the pig want?' whereupon the vorite productions chosen by judicious translators, the pig kneeled before him, and made the kou-tou. The officer Chinese drama will not, probably, have cause to comthen bade his attendants to foll.w the pig, which immedi- plain of being judged according to such specimens. ately rose up and led them to a house; and, entering theg even te best of these compotions, we On perusing even the best of these comnpositions, we door, crawled under a bed, and began rooting up the ground, - C and continued doing so until he had uncovered a bloody at once discover that the dialogue is nearly as rude and knife. The attendants immediately seized the master of the inartificial as the scenery. Instead of allowing charnouse, who, on examination, proved to be the murderer. acters and events to be developed in the progress of "The villagers, having deliberated on the case, took the the piece each performer, on his first entry, drlesses pig, and supported him in one of the temples of Buddha. udience, and iforms the o and t Visitors caine frequently to see him, and gave money for his the audience, and informs them who and what he is, support, saying,' Such a sagacious pig deserves to be re- what remarkable deeds he has performed, and what warded.' After more than ten years, he died, and the are his present views and intentions. On these occapriests of the temple, having procured for him'a coffin, sions, he speaks completely in the style of a th-rd perburied him with due formality." son, stating, without veil or palliation, the most enorThe drama, as might be expected, constitutes a pop- mous crimes, either committed or contempllantd. The alar form of Chinese literature, though it labors under unities, which have been considered so essential to a great imperfections, and is not regularly exhibited on classic drama, are completely trampled under foot; any public theatre. Its professors are merely invited and even the license, as to time and place, to which o private houses, and paid for each performance. Shakspeare has accustomed a British audieice, is far'rhe sovereign himself does not bestow any patronage exceeded. The Orphan of Tchao is born in the fitist on the art, beyond hiring the best actors, when he act, and before the end of the drama figules as a grown wishes to enjoy their wit or talents. No entertainment, man. In the Circle of Challk, a young lady, in one however, given by the prince, or any great man, is scene, receives and accepts proposals of' rnsiriage; in considered complete without'a dramatic exhibition; the next, she appears with a daughter aged five years. and every spacious dwelling, and even the principal The tragedies labor under a much more serious defect, inns, have a large hall set apart for the purpose. in the absence of impassioned and poetic dialogue. Among less opulent individuals, a subscription is occa- The performer, in the most critical and trying moments,'sionally made, to bear in common the expense of a makes no attempt to express his sorrows in correspondplay. It is reckoned that several hundred companies ing language. Action alone is employed, which affords find employment in Pekin; and along the rivers and a genuine, indeed, though not very dramatic indication great canals, numerous strolling parties live in barges. of the depth of his feelings. The hero, in the most A troop usually consists of eight or ten persons, mostly tragic scenes, strangles himself, or stabs his enemy, slaves of the manager, who accordingly occupy a very with the same coolness as if he had been sitting down mean place in public estimation. To purchase a free to table. child for the purpose of educating him as an actor, is In concluding our view of Chinese literature, we feel punished by a hundred strokes of the bamboo; and constrained to remark, that it is chiefly valuable as no free female is allowed to marry into that class. To throwing light upon the character of the most populous this contempt for the performers, as well as to the nation on the globe, and not on account of any imporow standard of the drama among the Chinese, who tant materials which it can directly contribute to our ieem to view it merely as the amusement of an idle stores of thought. There is scarcely a fact in science nour, may be ascribed the depressed state in which it a passage in philosophy; an illustration in poetry, or continues to exist. The dramatic poet has liberty and plot in a play, to be found in the whole circle of employment, but he has not honor, which seems quite Chinese books, which, if rendered into English, would as necessary for the production of any thing great serve to benefit our own literature. WTe cannot bult in the arts. Scenery and stage effect, which indeed feel, in spite of the great antiquity of the nation, notthe places of performance would render very difficult withstanding the practical wisdom displayed in govern-,o produce, are never attempted. A theatre can at ment, and the ingenuity evinced inthe arts, that, in all any time be erected in two hours: a platform of boards the higher qualities of the intellect, the Chinese are ailt is elevated, six or seven feet from the ground, on posts inferior people. 168 INVENTIONS OF THE CHINESE. The Great Wall of China. C H A P T E R C C XXXV.blacksmith- the manufacturer of various iron instru Arts. and- Ienosments, from a sword to a hoe. This man well under Arts and Inventons-Great Wall Canal.stood the modifying properties of heat, and took the THREE of the most important inventions or discov- fullest advantage of them, in all the practicMl con eries of modern times -so considered in Europe — cerns of his business. Hee was forming a reaping.a- deubLtless their origin in China. These are the hook at the time of my visit. A large pair of shears art of printing, the composition of gunpowder, and the having one blade fixed in a heavy block of wood, and magnetic compass. It is certain that the art of print- the other furnished with a long handle to serve as a ing was practised in China during the tenth century of lever, stood beside him. Bringing a piece of metal, of our era. The mode of operation there is different the necessary dimensions, from the forge, at a white from ours, but the main principle is the same. From heat, he placed it between the blades of this instrument. various causes, their books are cheaper than those of and cut it into shape with equal ease and despatch." Europe, three or four volumes of any ordinary work, The Chinese possess considerable skill in various of the octavo size and shape, being had for a sum branches of the manufacture of metals. They have equivalent to fifty cents. The paper which they use the art of casting iron into very thin plates, and of is of different qualities, being manufactured from vari- repairing vessels constructed of these, by means of a ous materials -from rice-straw, the inner bark of a small furnace and blow-pipe, which are carried about species of mzorus, from bamboo, and also from cotton. by itinerant workmen. Their wrought-iron work is not rheir invention of paper dates from A. D. 95. That so neat as that of the English, but is very efficient. which is called Indian ink, in this country, is what the In the ornamental processes of carving wood, ivory, Chinese use in writing, and is of their own manu- and other substances, the people of China greatly excel facture. the rest of the world. Their skill and industry are not The application of gunpowder to firearms was less shown in cutting the hardest materials, as exemprobably derived from the West, however ancient may plified in their snuff-bottles of agate and rock crystal. have been its discovery among the Chinese. In gun- These are hollowed into perfect bottles of about two nery, they have always acknowledged their great infe- inches in length, through the openings in the neck, not r iority to Europeans. As to priority of invention in the a quarter of an inch in diameter. What is still more case of the magnetic compass, there can be little hesi- wonderful, the crystal bottles are inscribed on the tation in ascribing it to the Chinese, for it is noticed in inside with minute characters, so as to be read through their annals as early as A. D. 1117. The mariner's the transparent substance! compass being in use among the Arabs about the year The two principal manufactures of China-those of 1242, it was doubtless communicated to them either silk and porcelain-might alone serve to give the directly or indirectly by the Chinese, and by this Chinese a high rank among the nations of the world means became known in Europe during the crusades. Their originality in these articles has never been conThe ingenuity of the Chinese is conspicuously dis- tested. The invention of these is carried by tradition played in the simple modes by which they contrive into the mythological periods. Their care of the silk to abridge labor, in their arts and manufactures, and worm, which furnishes the material of their silk man occasionally to avail themselves of a mechanical ufactures, is very exact and methodical, but cannot advantage, without the aid of scientific knowledge. here be detailed. The Chinese particularly excel in Says Dr Abeel, "Chance led me to the shop of a the fabrication of damasks and flowei'ed satins. Nc FINE AR'lS AMONG THE CHINESE 46-69 perfect imitation of their crape has ever yet been Chinese books are, for' t,,( most part, executed almost made; and they manufacture a species of washing entirelyin outline. These are occasionally very spirited, silk, called, at Canton,pongee, whose softness increases as well as true to life. The drawings on which they by use. place the chief value among themselves, are in water In regard to the porcelain of China, it is indisputa- colors and Indian ink, sketched, in a very slight manbly the original from which the similar manufarctures ner, either upon fine paper or silk. of Europe were borrowed. The first porcelain fur- In sculpture, the Chinese are extremely defective nace of which account is given, was in Keang-sy, the which could scarcely fail to be the case, in view of same province where it is now principally made. This their policy of discountenancing luxury, the want of was about the commencement of the seventh century encouragement at home, and their ignorance of the of our era. Of the substances of which this manu- efforts of other nations in this art. Their sculptured facture is made, and the process of making it, we can- figures in stone are altogether uncouth in form and not speak in this succinct outline. It is a most proportion; but this deficiency is in some degree made oeautiful invention; the better kinds have not yet been up by a very considerable share of skill in modelling surpassed in respect to sulbstance, but as regards the with soft materials. Their gods are always represented painting and gilding, they must yield precedence to in modelled clay. the productions of Europe. The Chinese music, as an art, cannot take rank with As relates to the fine arts, they doubtless do not that of Europeans. Their gamut is imperfect, and greatly excel, in the European sense. In this depart- they have no idea of semitones. There is never more ment of mental effort, some allowances are always to than one melody, however great the number of perbe made for the peculiarities of national taste, which formers. As Confucius frequently speaks of music, Its is generally admitted to be "a most capricious thing. antiquity will not be denied; and the encouragement The arts of drawing and painting do not rank so high which he gives to its cultivation might have been among the Chinese as among Europeans. They have, expected, in the course of time, to produce something therefore, met with less encouragement and made less better than the imperfect art existing there at this day. progress. In works which do not require a scientific Certain characters are used to express the names of adherence to the laws of perspective, they sometimes the notes in their extremely limited scale. succeed admirably. Insects, birds, fruits, and flowers, The number of their musical instruments is very are very beautifully painted, and the splendor and large. They consist of different species of lutes and variety of their colors surpass all that is known in the guitars; several flutes and other wind instruments; West. One thing in.European art they do not fully an indifferent fiddle of three strings; a sort of har enter Into, and that is shading; they stoutly object to monicon with wires, touched with two slender slips of the introduction of shadows in painting. Mr. Barrow bamboo; systems of bells, and pieces of sonorous states, that "' when several portraits, by the best Euro- metals, and drums covered with the skins of snakes. pean artists, intended as presents to the emperor, were They string their instruments with silk and wire, in exposed to view, the mandarins, observing the variety the room of catgut. Many of the people have a ready of tints occasioned by the light and shade, asked ear for mrisic, though a;coaipanied by bad irational whether the originals had the right and left sides of taste. the figure of different colors!" The wood-cuts in Chinese architecture is entirely different from that'~ Chinese Buildings. ni any other country. The general fbrm of the houses great cities, a traveller might fancy himself —from the is that of a tent; those of the lower classes are slight, low houses, with carved, overhanging roofs, uninter srrall, and of little cost. All are formed on the model rupted by a single chimney, and from the pillars. of the primitive Tartar dwellings; but even in. the p Doles, streamers, and flags —to be in the midst of a 470 GREAT WALL-IMPERIAL CANAL. large encampment. The fronts of the shops are covered and little ornamented. The Dutch embassy was once with varnish and gilding, and painted in brilliant colors. received by him in an apartment only ten feet square The streets of Canton, and of most of the cities, are There are, however, a number of large halls, like gal extremely narrow, admitting only three or four foot leries, for feasting and public occasions, which are passengers abreast; but the principal thoroughfares of very splendid. Pekin are fully one hundred feet in width. The rooms, The maritime operations of the Chinese are con-even those occupied by the emperor — are small fined to the eastern coast of Asia, and the adjacent. l I The Emperor's Barge. islands. The ships are clumsy, and the vessels called form of square bricks. The total average nelgnt, junks are ill fitted for extended voyages upon the ocean. including a parapet of five feet, is twenty feet, on a On the rivers, there are numerous barges, some of foundation of stone projecting two feet under the brick I which are for the conveyance of tribute and the rev- work, and varying, in elevation, from two feet or enue service, while others, for personal accommodation, more, according to the level of the ground. The wall, are fitted up with great expense and display of orna- at the base, is twenty-five feet thick, narrowing, at the ment. There are also a few armed vessels to suppress platform, to fifteen. The towers are forty-five feet smuggling and piracy, but nothing which can be called at the base, diminishing to thirty at the top; they are a navy. The emperor's barge is magnificent. about thirty-seven feet in the entire height. The At an early period of the Chinese history, the Tar- emperors of the Ming dynasty built an additional inner tars became troublesome neighbors, making frequent wall near to Pekin, on the west, enclosing a portion hostile incursions into the territories of the empire. of the province between itself and the great wall. As they were a mnuch more warlike people than the The latter is now in ruins, in various places. Chinese, they were greatly to be dreaded. To pre- The Imperial Canal is likewise a great work of art, vent their invasions, an extensive and impregnable and, for the purposes of internal commerce, renders wall was built on the northern frontier. This work the Chinese almost independent of coast navigation. has been regarded as one of the wonders of the world, The canal was principally the work of Kublai Khan, and, except the pyramids of Egypt, may be considered and his immediate successors of the Yuen race. It as the most ancient monument of human labor now forms a direct communication by water between extant. The era of its erection was about two cen- Pekin and Canton, the two extreme points of the turies before the Christian era. empire. In A. D. 1306, the canal was described as This wall bounds the whole north of China, along extending from Pekin to Khinsai, or Quinsay, and the frontiers of three provinces, extending fifteen Zeytoon; as navigated by ships, and forty days' jourhundred miles from the sea to the western.province ney in length. It is further mentioned that, when the of Shensi, and far into Tartary. In order to obtain ships arrive at the sluices, they are raised up, whata sufficient number of workmen for so vast an under- ever be their size, by means of machines, and are taking, the emperor ordered that every third laboring then let down on the other side into the water. This' man throughout the empire should be compelled to it is said, is the practice, at the present day enter his service; and they were required to labor like The canal was formed by turning the waters of some slaves, without receiving any remuneration beyond a of the lakes into artificial channels, which were made bare supply of food. It was carried over the ridgqs to communicate with the rivers - many branches exof the highest hills, descended into the deepest valleys, tending to towns which were not in their course. One crossed upon arches over rivers, and was doubled in hundred and seventy thousand men were employed important passes, being, moreover, supplied with strong for years in the construction of this great work. For towers or bastions, at distances of about one hundred real utility, it far surpasses the great wall, being, at yards. One of the most elevated ridges crossed by this moment, of the utmost benefit to the Chinese. the wall is five thousand feet. above the level of the sea. whose inland trade would not be extensive without it, It far surpasses the sum total of all other works of the as the means of land carriage are scanty, and both kind, and proved a useful barrier against the Tartars, I tedious and expensive. One principal merit of this until the power of Zingis Knan overthrew the empire. great work was, that it answered the purpose of drainThe body of the wall consists of an earthen motind, ing large tracts of marshy but fertile land, which, til retained on each side by a wall of masonry and brick, then, had been quite useless, but were thus rendereo of the most solid construction, and terraced by a plat- fit for cultivation. i RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. $71 INN, N' II- Jlllll" llL' Ll~l'~ dE__,,lll'llllrjhlllhi!J,,,:,-~,iiiI.f1 1, i -],TH'i'i:iT7i i - _ lr lil ~li lllll qilaltjll'~l l~lli~il~i',!!llMiiMUM!ililRM 111. Uilq MilDiF Ill!i-iKllitili1, til Tl jii,'ijil!!i I I Tien-tan, or the Imperial Joss at Pekin. C H A P T E R C x v C XXXVIprayer and thanksgiving, without any mixture of' idol. atrous practices. Religion - Its Rites and Ceremonies- -Joss- The Chinese, like other nations, in their religion, ~~houases Idols, swere divided into different sects. About the year 560 of the Christian era, one of -the Leang dynasty IN the several stages through which the Chinese greatly interested himself in introducing Buddhism, advanced from barbarism to civilization, they seem to and this is now the religion of at least one half of the have admitted the existence of a Supreme Being, inhabitants of China; but here it fhas no connection whose almighty power they recognized, and to whom with the government. No creed is made a matter of a national worship was addressed. In early times- state except the recognition of the existence of a besides offerings to Heaven -national sacrifices Supreme Being, and of the emperor as his sole vicewere presented to the mountains, for their influ- gerent on earth. As to every othler opinion and rite, enes, and to the ponwers or gods supposed to pre- the people adopt any or none, as they may judge ex.. side over the earth, for luxuriant crops, and even to pedient. The learned, indeed, generally affect indifthe deities of woods, rivers, &c. The Supreme Being ference upon the subject, and limit themselves to the whom the ancient Chinese adored passed under the above simple belief, joined to a superstitious reverence namne of Chang-ti, or Tien. Their worship was by for ancestry, and for the ancient sages of the emnire ,72! THE IMPERIAL JOSS. The people, however, require some more sensible three towers, each thirty-three feet square. At Nanobjects of worship, and the vacant place has been kin, there is a very celebrated taas, or pagoda, of chiefly occupied by the sect of Fo, - essentially the porcelain; it is of an octagon form, and is two hunsame with that above mentioned, which rules in Thi- dred and ten feet high. One, at Tong Tshang-feu, is bet, and has spread thence through all the neighboring oi marble, covered with porcelain. regions of Tartary. It appears here, as well as there, The Imperial Joss, or chief idol of the Celestial with its doctrine of transmigration, its numerous im- Empire, is the most revered idol in China; it is desigages, its monastic institutions, its bells and beads, its nated Ticn-tan, or the Eminence of Heaven. The noisy music, and its peculiar dress; all giving it such next idol in importance is the Tee-tan, or Eminence a resemblance to the Catholic worship, that the mis- of the Earth. The former is known as the imperial, sionaries of the church of Rome formerly filled their being the one to which the emperor and chief grandees journals with lamentations on the impossibility of offer their sacrifices: the middle and lower classes distinguishing between the two. Although jealous, worship the latter deity. The temples at Pekin are. in general, of every foreign system, the Tartar adorned with all the magnificence of architecture; dynasties have been inclined to )protect this religion and, when the emperor is about to offer sacrifice, of foreign origin. The same favor has not been the greatest pomp and solemnity is observed. extended to Christianity, which has repeatedly made Previous to the intended ceremony, the monarch, some progress. The precise religious faith of the and all the grandees who are entitled to assist, prepare common Chinese may be gathered from the following themselves, during three days, by retirement, fasting, conversation, recently held by Dr. Abeel, with a person and continence. No public audiences are given, and in that country: — no tribunals are open. Marriages, funerals, and en"When you are very ill, what do you do'" tertainments of every kind are prohibited; and no Ans. "' We pray to Buddha for recovery." person is permitted to eat either flesh or fish. On the " But when you find yourself fast failing, and most appointed day, the sovereign appears in the utmost likely to die, what do you then?" Ans.,' We vow possible splendor, surrounded with princes and officers to Buddha to burn quantities of gold paper, if he will of state, and attended by every circumstance demonrestore us." strative of a triumph. Every thing in the temple cor"But when you are certain you cannot recover, responds in magnificence with the appearance of the what then?" Ans. " Why, then there is nothing to emperor. The utensils are all of gold, and never apbe done." plied to any other purpose, while even the musical "Do you never pray, after the conviction that you instruments are of uncommon size, and also reserved must die takes possession of your minds?"' Ans. "No; for such uncommon occasions. But, while the monarch there is then nothing to pray for." never displays greater external grandeur and state than "But do you never pray for the future happiness during these processions, he never exhibits greater of your souls? " Ans. " No; we know nothing of personal humility and dejection than during the time the future state of our souls." of sacrifice, prostrating himself on the earth, rolling "Do you believe in their immortality?" Ans. "Yes; himself in the dust, speaking of himself to the Changbut whither they wander, and what they become, we ti in terms of the utmost debasement, and apparently cannot tell; here all is dark, dark! " assuming so much magnificence of appearance and Practically, however, at the bottom of the Buddhist attendance only to testify, in a more striking manner, creed, as well as of every other which has influenced the infinite distance between the highest human dignity extensively the human mind in unevangelized coun- and the majesty of the Supreme Being. tries, will be found the same dim conviction of some It is upon the buildings of their great idols that the superior being or beings taking cognizance of human Chinese bestow most cost, and in which they are Inost actions, and rewarding the good and punishing the bad whimsically extravagant. They reckon about four in a future life. It is said that priests of" no religion" hundred and eighty of these temples of first rank, are a class much esteemed in China. They are gen- adorned with every thing curious, and filled with an erally poor, uncleanly in their habits, and lead a men- incredible number of idols, before which hang lamps dicant kind of life. continually burning. The whole are supposed to be The temples of Buddha, called joss-houses, are served by three hundred and fifty thousand bonzes, or numerous, and filled with images. These, with the priests. rites and ceremonies, strongly remind one of the The temples, or joss-houses, as they are commonly Catholic churches in Europe. Processions, badges of called, are generally one story high, but they are often dignity, prayers for the dead, fasting, intercession of of immense extent. They are decorated with artificial saints, litanies, bells, beads, burning tapers, incense, flowers, embroidered hangings, curtains, and fringes. are parts of the worship. Some of the images are of One of these temples situated on the ncrth-eastern gigantic magnitude. The Catholic missionaries often side of the suburbs of the city of Canton, makes a go into the Buddhist temples, and, presenting the cru- splendid appearance. It is four stories high, has a cifix, persuade the people to adopt their god, using the fine cupola, with many out-houses and galleries. This Buddhist rites, at least for a time and in part. Thus grand edifice was formerly a palace belonging to the many Chinese are supposed to be converted. The Wangtai, or king of the province of Canton, before common religious buildings are mostly low, but exten- the Tartars conquered China, and who was then an sive, and crowded with priests and beggars. independent prince. Before the principal gate of the The pagodas are lofty religious temples; the name, temple, two large images, one on either side, are placed. In China, is taas. Some of them are very magnifi- Each of them is about twelve feet high; both have cent. One, at Conan, is a building five hundred and spears and lances in their hands. This gate leads iinety by two hundred and fifty feet, surrounded by through a large paved court into the temple, by a few:ells for bonzes, or priests. In the centre, there are stone steps. The lower part of the joss-house is bllilt IDOLS OF THE CHINESE-CONFUCIUS. 47," with fine hewn stone, but the upper part is wholly with the name of the tutelary divinity engraved upon of timber. In the lower hall are images of various it; a few paper flowers are added by way of ornament. sizes, and of different dignities, all finely gilt, and kept Idols are held in more or less estimation, according excee lingly clean by the priests. The lesser images to the favors which they are supposed to bestow upon are placed in corners of the wall, and one of a larger their votaries; and when, after repeated applications size ill the open space of the hall. In the centre is their suit is not granted, they abandon the spirit of that placed the large god, who sits in a lazy posture, with temple, as a god without power — or, perhaps, pull down his heels drawn up to his thighs, almost naked - par- the edifice, and leave the statues exposed in the open ticularly his breast and abdomen -and leaning on a air. Numbers of joss-houses are thus seen in ruins, large cushion. He is ten times larger than an ordinary their bells resting on the ground, their monstrous idols man, very corpulent, of a merry countenance, and all lying unsheltered, and their bonzes wandering in quest over gilt. Up stairs are a great many images of men of alms, or a more fortunate asylum. and women, deified for brave and virtuous actions. Sometimes the fallen deity is treated with the utmost The idols of the temples are, sometimes, represent- indignity and contempt. "Thou dog of a spirit! " atives of various genii, or guardian spirits, whose re- the enraged votaries will cry, " we lodge thee in a spective attributes are expressed by certain emblems commodious joss-house; thou art well fed, well gilt, connected with their statues. Thus a sabre announces and receivest abundance of incense; and yet, after the god of war; a guitar, the god of music; a globe, all the care bestowed upon thee, thou art ungrateful the spirit of heaven. Some of these images are fre- enough to refuse us necessary things! " Then, tying quently thirty, fifty, sixty, and even eighty feet in the idol with cords, they drag it through a kennel, height, with a multitude of hands and arms. and bespatter it with filth. But should they happen, One of the most stupendous in China is a goddess during this scene of vengeance; to obtain, or to fancy of the class of Poosa, which signifies all-helping, or they have obtained, their object, then they carry back plant-preserving, and is apparently a personification the insulted divinity to its place with great ceremony, of nature. She is represented sometimes with four wash it with care, prostrate themselves before it, acheads, and forty or fifty arms, each of the heads being knowledge their rashness, supplicate forgiveness, and directed toward one of the cardinal points, and each promise to'gild it again upon condition that what is of the arms holding some useful production of the past be forgotten. Sometimes, those who have found earth; each arm, also, often supports a number of all their gifts and worship unavailing, have brought smaller arms, while the head is covered with a group the idol and its bonzes to a solemn trial before the of smaller heads. One of these images is ninety feet mandarins, and procured the divinity to be dismissed high, with four heads and forty-four arms. The divin- as useless, and its priests to be punished as impostors. ities in the interior of the temples are of smalle. pro- While a large portion of the Chinese are followers portions, and in various postures;. sometimes alone, of Buddhism, the doctrines of Confucius exert a great and at other timnes surrounded by a number of inferior and controlling influence, especially through the higher idols; some with the heads of animals, others with classes. Of him and his system we have given a sufhorns on the forehead; some reclining, as at rest, ficient account. His doctrines constitute rather a body others seated crosslegged upon flowers or cars; but of philosophy, in the department of morals and poliall of them represented in a state of great corpulency, tics, than any particular religious persuasion. It was which the Chinese regard as an honorable quality. the principal endeavor of this sage to correct the vices The idol Fo is seated upon a nelumbo flower, a spe- which had crept into the state, and to restore the influcies of water-lily. The goddess of lightning stands ence of those maxims which had been derived from erect, with two circles of fire in her hand, and a the ancient kings, as Yao and Chun. Among his moral poniard at her girdle. The spirit of fire walks upon doctrines are noticed some which have obtained the burning wheels, and holds a lance and a circle. The universal assent of mankind. He taught men " to goddess of all things, named Teoo-moo, with eight treat others according to the treatment which they themarms, is seated in a chariot, drawn by seven black selves would desire at their hands," and "to guard their hogs. The goddess Shing-moo, or holy mother, the secret thoughts " as the source and origin of action. most ancient and revered of all the female deities- But, like other schemes of philosophy, or religions,. whose character implies universal understanding, or, merely human, there is much to condemn in the prin-.. more literally, " the faculty of knowing all that ear ciples of the Chinese moral teacher. To so great:: has heard, or mouth has uttered "- was considered by and mischievous an extent did he carry his inculcations the Catholic missionaries as a shocking resemblance of filial duty, that he enjoined it on a son not, to live of their holy Virgin. Her statue is generally repre- under the same heaven with the slayer of his father,. sented with a glory round the head, and a child in her or, in other words, to enforce the law of retaliation,. hand or on her knee, holding a flower of the lien-hoa, and put him to death. The absolute authority of the(nelumbo,) or placed upon a leaf of that plant. emperor is founded on this principle, as being the; There are divinities, in short, of all possible shapes, father of his people, and possessing all the rights of a and so numerous, that one pagoda, on the Lake See- father. It would seem, from the history of the Chinese boo, contains five hundred of them within its walls. people, that no pagan philosopher or teacher has influIn almost every city, there is a temple dedicated enced a larger portion of the great human family, or: to Confucius, as a tutelary spirit, in which either his met with a more unmixed veneration, than Confucins.. statue or picture is preserved. Besides these temples, Of Tien, or Heaven, the Chinese sometimes speak numerous small chapels are to be seen in the country as of the Supreme Being, who pervades the universe. and villages, dedicated to the different spirits presiding and awards moral retribution; and it is in the same over the land, the water, the mountains, &c.; but fire- sense that the emperor is called the "Son of Heaven." rquently, instead of a temple, there is merely a stone At other times, they apply the word to the visible skyli,laced upright at the foot of a tree or bamboo bush, only.'The gods appear to hold by no.meins an.u 1 I___ 60 _ _ _ o 1774 CURIOUS INSTANCES OF FRAUD-DRESS. undivided supremacy; the saints, or sages, seem to be In acknowledgment for this service,the merchant purof at least equal importance. Confucius admitted that chased from the young officer, in his several successive he did not know much respecting the gods, and, on voyages to China, on very favorable terms, the whole this account, preferred being silent upon the subject. of his commercial adventure. He might thus have Though the sages of the country did not claim for been considered to fulfil any ordinary claim upon his themselves an equality with the gods, yet they speak of gratitude; but he went further than this. After some each other in a style that seems, to us, like blasphemy. years, he expressed his surprise to the officer, that he A general aspect of materialism pertains to the Chi- had not yet obtained the command of a ship. The nese philosophy or religion, and yet it is difficult to other replied, that it was a lucrative post, which could peruse their sentiments regarding tien, or heaven, with- be obtained only by purchase, and at an expense of out the persuasion that they ascribe to it most of the some thousand pounds —a sum wholly out of his power attributes of a supreme governing intelligence. to raise. The Chinese merchant said he would remove that difficulty, and immediately gave him a draft for the amount, to be repaid at his convenience. The officer died on his passage home, and the draft was never presented; but it was drawn on a house of C H A P T E R C CC X XXV II. great respectability, and would have been duly Character of the Chinese Thonored.* Chcaracter of the Chinese - ~eir I~nstitutions. Though the Chinese have systematically excluded IT is believed that the Chinese, in general, have foreigners from their country, the prying eye of curibeen under-estimated, on the ground of their moral osity has discovered most of their peculiarities, and attributes. The people of Canton have been too with these the world at large have been made ac. readily taken as the representatives of the nation at quainted. Every one is familiar with their dress, per large. Such, doubtless, cannot be a correct criterion; sonal appearance, and the aspect of their houses, from as the peculiar phase of character at a seaport, where the drawings on their porcelain. Their complexion the action of whatever is vicious in the national tem- is olive, their hair black and straight, and their eyes per is strongest, is not to be supposed applicable to a small, and, like all of the Mongolian family, set' whole nation, in the immense variety of its circum- obliquely to the nose. The dress consists of short, full stances. The current notion that foreigners come trousers, a short shirt, and over all a loose, flowing exclusively for their own benefit, paying little respect robe. The materials are silk or cotton, according to to the Chinese, would naturally inspire the natives of the condition of the wearer. The hair of the men is Canton with no remarkable feelings of courtesy, hon- shaven, except behind, where it is braided in two long esty, or good faith. cues. A fan is a necessary article in the hand of The ingenuity of the Chinese is doubtless too often male and female. exercised for the purposes of fraud. Sometimes a per- The dress of the Chinese dandy is composed of son buys a capon, as he thinks, but finds afterward crapes and silks of great price; his feet are covered that he has only the skin of the bird, which has been with high-heeled boots of the most beautiful Nankin so ingeniously filled, that the deception is not discov- satin, and his legs are encased in gaiters, richly emered until it is prepared for being dressed. They also broidered and reaching to the knee. Add to this, an make counterfeit hams. These are made of pieces acorn-shaped cap of the latest taste, an elegant pipe, of wood cut in the form of a ham, and coated over richly ornamented, in which burns the purest tobacco with a certain kind of earth, which is covered with of the Fokien, an English watch, a toothpick suspendhog's skin, and the whole is so ingeniously arranged, ed to a button by a string of pearls, a Nankin fan, ex that a knife is necessary to detect the fraud. A gen- haling the perfume of the tcholane, — a Chinese tleman travelling in China, a few years ago, bought flower, -and you will have an exact idea of a fashionsome chickens, the feathers of which were curiously able Chinese. curled. In a few days, he observed that the feathers This being, like dandies of all times and all counwere straight, and that the chickens were of the most tries, is seriously occupied with trifles. He belongs common sort. The man who owned them had curled either to the Snail Club or the Cricket Cllib. Like the feathers of the whole brood a little while before he the ancient Romans, the Chinese train quails, which sold them. We are told that it is customary to write are quarrelsome birds, to be intrepid duellists; and upon the sign, " Here no one is cheated "-a pretty their combats form a source of great amusement. In good evidence that fraud is common, if not general. imitation of the rich, the poorer Chinese place at the We must not, however, draw unjust inferences from bottom of an earthen basin two field crickets; these'these facts. Innumerable modes of small cheating insects are excited and provoked until they grow are found in all countries. In judging of a nation, we angry, attack each other, and the narrow field of battle'must look at the good as well as the bad. Even at is soon strewed with their claws, antennae, and corseCanton, where the influences are debasing, favorable lets —the spectators seeming to experience the most specimens of the Chinese character have appeared. lively sensations of delight. The following is an instance: A considerable mer- The general amusements of the Chinese are greatchant had some dealings with an American trader, ly diversified; but we have not space for details. who attempted to quit the port without discharging his The government is despotic, and rules by fear. Pa-! debt, and would have succeeded but for the spirit and rents exercise the most unlimited sway over their chilactivity of a young officer of one of the British ves- dren, and a son is a minor during the life of the father. si els. He boarded the American vessel, when upon The husband does not see his wife till she is sent to the point of sailing, and by his remonstrances, or other- his harem in a palanquin: if she does not please him, he wvise. prevailed on the American to make a satisfactory arrangement with his creditor. * The Chinese, by John F. Davis, Esq. IMiTATIVENESS-INFANTICIDE, 475 mnay send her hack. Divorces are easily obtained, The national character of the Chinese is marked with,nd loquacity is sufficient to cause a wife to be sent quietness, industry, order, and regularity - qualities niome to her parents. The chief beauty of a woman which a despotic government seeks always to foster. is small feet, and these are bandaged from childhood, Filial respect seems to be conspicuous. A general to insure this desi:able charm. good humor and courtesy reign in their aspect and Scene in China. behavior. Even when they accidentally come into col- That the Chinese have an inordinate self-love, and lision with each other, the extrication is effected with- a prevalent contempt of other nations, seems to be out any of that noise, and exchange of turbulent and admitted by every observer, as it is apparent, also. abusive language, which are commonly witnessed on in their governmental acts and manifestoes. These su(ch occasions in European cities. Flagrant crimes feelings, though they take their rise from the imporand open violations of the laws are by no means com- tant advantages which they certainly possess - more mon. The attachments of kindred are exchanged especially in comparison with the adjoining countriesl and cherished with peculiar force, particularly toward - are fostered by ignorance, and artfully enhanced, parents and ancestry in general. The support of the in the minds of the common people, by the influaged and infirm is inculcated as a sacred duty, which ence of the mandarins. A timid, miserable policy appears to be very strictly fulfilled. It is surely a has led the latter to consider it their interest to inphenomenon in national economy, that, In a country crease the national dislike of foreigners. The most so eminently populous, and so straitened for food, dangerous accusation against a native Chinese is, there should be neither begging nor pauperism. The that of being subject, in any way, to foreign inNants of the most destitute are relieved within the fluence. circle of their family and kindred. It is said to be The distribution of wealth is more equal in China customary that a whole family, for several generations, than in most other countries. Where extreme deswith all its members, married and unmarried, live titution is felt, it arises solely fiom the unusual inder one roof, and with only two apartments, one for degree in which the population is made to press sleeping, and the other for eating -a fact which im- upon the means of subsistence. Poverty is deemed plies a great degree of tranquillity and harmony of no reproach in China. Station derived from personal temper. merit, and the claims of venerable old age, are the Among the other peculiar traits of the Chinese, two things which command the most respect. An em their artisans are celebrated for. imitation. The fol- peror once rose from his seat to pay respect to an lowing anecdote is illustrative of this. Toward the inferior officer of more than a century in age, who close of the last century, an officer of an English ship, came to do homage to his sovereign. that lay off Canton, sent ashore, to a native, an order The crime of infanticide has been frequently for a dozen pair of trousers, to be made of the nankin charged upon the Chinese, but probably with no for which China has been so long famed. The Chi- just ground, at least to the extent supposed. No doubt nese artisan required a pattern - he could not make that in occasional instances of female births, infantiany thing without a pattern: so a pair of trousers was cide takes place; but these cases are.said to occur sent, at his request, the same having been mended by only in the chief cities, and amid a crowded populaa patch at the knee. In due time, the twelve pairs are tion, where the means of subsistence seem to be sent on board, of a fabric of great beauty of quality, effectually denied. In general, the Chinese are pecu. but every pair' bearing, like an heraldic badge, the ob- liarly fond of their children; and the attachment noxious patch on oce knee, exactly 2npeq: Otitch for seems to be reciprocated. stitch, in a style that reflected the highest credit on the This people, in their physical characteristics, as In mechanical skill of the workman, and for the difficult other qualities, are generally superior to the nations execution of which, an extra charge was made upon which border on them. The freedom of their the purse of the exasperated owner who, however, dress gives a development to their limbs that renders had no alterr.ative but to pay he bill! many of them models for a statuary. The healthiness 476 WOMEN-POLYGAMY-CAUSES OF DIVORCE. of the climate also produces its effect. The exist- with onerous ceremonies, which have been transmitted ence, at any time, of that terrible scourge, the chol- from time immemorial. Occasionally, however, these era, in China Proper, seems to be doubted - at least, bonds are broken, and there is a correspondent degree its effects have not been seriously noticed. In France, of convivial freedom. the idea has obtained, that the Chinese have been Notwithstanding the general disadvantages on the exempted from this disease by the consumption of tea, side of the sex in China, in common with other Orienin which, almost of course, they indulge more than tal countries, its respectability is, in some degree, all other nations. preserved by a certain extent of authority allowed to widows over their sons; and also by the hmage which these are required to pay to their mothers.'The ladies:_.13 N Aof the better classes are instructed in embroidering, as well as painting on silk; and music is, of course, a favorite accomplishment. They are not often proficients in letters,; but, in some instances, they have become renowned for their poetic compositions. The opinion that polygamy exists universally, in China, is incorrect. It is not strictly true that their laws sanction polygamy at all, though they permit concubinage. A Chinese can have but one tsy, or wife, properly so denominated. She is distinguished by a title, espoused with ceremonies, and chosen from a rank in life totally diffkrent firom his tsis, or handmaids, of whom he may have what number he pleases. The offspring of the latter, however, possess many of the rights of legitimacy. A woman, on marriage. assumes her husband's surname. Marriage between all persons of the same surname being unlawful, this law must consequently include all descendants of the - - - - - ~-~ —~- male branch forever; and, as in so immense a population there are less than two hundred surnames l- __=-..........- -throughout the empire, the embarrassments that arise Chinese Flower Seller. from such a cause must be considerable. The personal appearance of the women is affected The grounds of divorce, which are seven, are, some by a most unaccountable taste for the mutilation of of them, amusing. The first is barrenness: the their feet. The practice is said to have commenced others are adultery, disobedience to the husband's about the end of the ninth century of our era. As it parents, talkativeness, thieving, ill temper, and invet. militates against every notion of physical beauty, the erate infirmities. Any of these, however, may be idea conveyed, doubtless, is exemption from labor; set aside by three circumstances —the wife having or, in other words, gentility. The female, thus crip- mourned for her husband's parents; the family, since pled, cannot work; and the appearance of helpless- marriage, having acquired wealth; and the' wife hay ness, and the tottering gait induced by the mutilation, ing no parents to receive her back. It is, in all cases, are subjects of admiration with the people. The disreputable for a widow to marry again, and in some Chinese custom, so ridiculous to us, is, however, less cases - especially with those of a particular rank - it pernicious than the fashionable practice of compressing is illegal. The marriage ceremonies are too numerous the waist, with our modern ladies. and complex to admit of description here. The possessor of hereditary rank, without merit, The birth of a son is, of course, an occasion of has little for which to congratulate himself. The great rejoicing; the family, or surname, is first given, descendants of the emperors are among the most un- and then the'milk-name,' which is generally some happy, idle, vicious, and trifling of the community, diminutive of endearment. A month after the'event ithough their nominal rank is maintained. Occa- the relations and friends, between them, send the onally, they become involved in abject poverty. One child a silver plate, on which are engraved the three 1 f the British embassies had a specimen of their con- words,' Long-life, honors, felicity.' The boy is trained duct and manners, as well as of the little ceremony in behavior and ceremonies frem his earliest childwith which they are occasionally treated. When they hood; and, at four or five, he commences reading. crowded, with a childish and rude curiosity, upon the The importance of general education was known so English party, the principal person among the man- long since in China, that a work, written before the darins seized a whip; and, not satisfied with the appli- Christian era, speaks of the' ancient system of instruccation of that alone, actually kicked out the im- tion,' which required that every town and village peiial mob. The impartial distribution — with few down to only a few families, should have a common exceptions -of state offices and magistracies to all who school. The wealthy Chinese employ private teach give evidence of superior learning or talent, without ers, and others send their sons to day schools, which regard to birth or wealth, lies probably at the founda- are so well attended that the fees paid by each boy tion of the greatness and prosperity of the empire. are extremely small. In large towns, there are evenThe intercourse of social life in China resembles ing schools, of which those who are obliged to labor that of most Asiatic countries. Where women are through the day avail themselves. confined to their homes or to the company of their Of all the subjects of their care, there are none own sex, domestic life exhibits few of its peculiar which the Chinese so religiously attend to, as the charms. It is generally cold, formal, and encumbered tombs of their ancestors, as they conceive that.n. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF JAPAN. 47 l leg!ect is sure to be followed by worldly misfortune. former residence, but did not forget his filial affec. It's here that they manifest "a religious sense," tion. His mother had always expressed great apprewhich is hardly shown towards their gods. Their hension of thunder, and, when it was stormy, always ceremonies, connected with the treatment of the dead, requested her son not to leave her.. Therefore, as atre of a striking character, but -we have not space soon as he heard a storm coming on, he hastened to for details. According to the ritual, the original and his mother's grave, saying softly to her, "I am here. strict period of mourning is three years for a parent; mother! " but this is commonly reduced, in practice, to twenty- The disposal of paternal property, by will, is reseven months. Full three years must elapse, from stricted to the legal heirs. The eldest son has a the death of a parent, before the children can double portion; or, more correctly speaking, perhaps, marry. The colors of mourning are white and dull the property may be said to descend to the eldest son, gray, or ash, with round buttons of crystal or glass, in' ill trust, for all the younger brothers. Over these he, lieu of gilt ones. has considerable authority. They commonly live A pleasing anecdote, in relation to filial piety, is together, and club their shares, by which means, far-n related of a youth named Ouang-Ouei-Ytten. Having ilies in this over-peopled country are more easily supost his mother, who was all that was dear to him, he ported than they otherwise would be. The constant passed the three years of mourning in a hut; and em- exhortations. in the book of Sacred Edicts, point to ployed himself, in his retirement, in composing verses this usage and the necessity for it, as they relate to -. honor of his parent, which are quoted by the Chinese the preservation of union and concord among kindred rs models of sentiment and tenderness. The period and their families. of his mourning having elapsed, he returned to his it View in Japan. A P T E R C C X X XV III. Besides these, there are a great many small islands 660 B. C. to A. D. 1616. Iclustering along the coasts. The shores are often Ge.p. cal View EarlAnlslashed by stormy seas; on the east, they front the Geogra~:;ical View- Earlhy Annals- Yori-. I ~.- Few - Early~ Ancls Y~i- broad expanse of the Pacific Ocean, whose force is tomo - Taiko - Gongin. unbroken by any island for fifty degrees. JAPAN is an insular empire, occupying four large Niphon is the largest of the islands, and contains and five smaller islands, which stretch more than a both the civil and ecclesiastical capitals. The Japanese thousand miles along the eastern coast of Asia — from name for their empire, Akitsoo-no-sima, Isle of the Corea nearly to Kamtschatka. It derives its name ]Dragon-Fly, is dlerived from a fancied resemblance to from the Chinese, in whose language Japan means that insect in the shape of this, the main island of thPir "Country of the Rising Sun." With the Corean and archipelago. Niphon is said to beeight hundred Manchoorian coast, the Japanese islands enclose the miles long, and fifty to two hundred broad; Kiusiu Sea of Japan, which is six hlundred miles across in its is one hundred and fifty miles by- one hundred and I widest part.''he names of the largest islands are twenty; Sikokf, ninety by fifty. Nipfhon, Kiusiu, Sikokf; Jesso, and the Kurile Islands. We are very little acquainted with the geographical i 1i78 EARLY HISTORY OF JAPAN divisions of Japan, and, with one or two exceptions, of Chinese words introduced into the Japanese lanwe know little more of its cities than their names. guage. Tne pnysical aspect of the country is bold, varied, The Japanese count but seventeen dairis down to abrupt,, and striking, presenting an infinite variety of A. D. 400, a period of one thousanid and sixty years, generally pleasing landscapes. The mountains are but this is an evident error, as it wofid give each dairi rugged, and contain active volcanoes. Some of them a reign of sixty-two years, which is quite too long. In are said to have their tops crowned with perpetual earlier times, these king-gods wer( obliged every snow. morning to remain seated on the throne, for some This empire lies under the same parallels Vo _ati- hours, immovable, with the crown on the head,- else. trude as Morocco, Madeira, Spain, and our owr I!nited it was supposed, the empire would fall to ruins; but States. It is, therefore, enriched with the eaultts of as this task was found fatiguing, the discovery was both the warm and the temperate clima.e, somre made that if the crown itself were placed upon the tropical productions, also, flourish on its sild. Trp throne, it would answer every purpose, and keep the climate varies from extreme heat in summer to ex- state together quite as well. The custom of placing treme cold in winter, and this variety stimulates the the crown upon the throne was therefore substituted energies of the people. The high mountains of the for the more ancient practice. interior, however, and the constant neighborhood of The dairis laid claim, not indeed to divine, attributes the sea, which every where sends up its bays far in- but to a descent from the early celestial rulers; and land, tend to modify both extremes, producing a healthy they, as " sons of heaven," and ministers of the deity. atmosphere, generally favorable to bodily and mental continued long to exercise over Japan a mingled civil activity. and ecclesiastical sway. It appears probable, however, The surface of the country is estimated to equal in that their power over the greater part was little more area that of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North than spiritual, and that its varied districts were held by Carolina. The soil is well cultivated, and supports a civil princes in almost independent possession. The population variously reckoned at from thirty to fifty dairis, as they sunk into voluptuous indolence, committed millions. This population is distributed into some sixty- to the hands of the djogoon, or cubo - the general or two principalities, ruled by chiefs who are vassals of commander-in-chief — that military power which can the civil emperor, called the djogoon or cubo, whose with such difficulty be prevented from becoming perauthority is absolute. manent. This, in the course of time, gave rise to a The Japanese are a homogeneous race, of middling complete revolution in the political situation of Japan. stature, well formed, easy in their gestures, hardy, A succession of brave and able cubos found means honorable, independent, brave, and energetic. Their to reduce all the petty princes under subjection to the complexion is yellowish brown or pale white, but fair general government, and at the same time to monopoas that of Europeans in ladies not exposed to the sun. lize the supreme direction of affairs. The profound The head is large, the neck short; the eyebrows are veneration, however, entertained by the nation for the high, and the eyes oblong, small, and sunken; the nose dairi, and the sacred character with which they supis broad and'" snubby," and the hair black, thick, and posed him to be invested, rendered it impossible that glossy. A true Japanese prides himself upon his he should be wholly superseded. He still enjoyed politeness, courtesy, and strict conformity to the eti- ample revenues to maintain his dignity, with an absoquette of polished'life. lute control over all spiritual concerns, leaving the The primitive origin of the Japanese, like that of solid and temporal power to the cubo. This dignitary all the ancient nations, is lost in the night of fable, or, has ever since maintained it without interruption on at least, is recorded in such mythical language that the part of the dairi, and by a course of severe and we cannot comprehend it. Japanese traditions say determined measures, has held all the formerly inthey were ruled for more than a million of years by dependent princes in a state of complete vassalage. seven celestial spirits. After that, mortal emperors In the early annals of Japan, we find a civil war ruled for fifteen thousand years, till 660 B. C., when recorded in 471 B. C.; and a dreadful volcanic erupthe true historical period begins. tion in 285. In A. D. 201, the first empress reigned. At this date, Sin mou, that is, the " divine warrior," She was a woman of masculine energy, and it is told a Chinese chieftain, passed over to Corea, with numer- of her that she conquered Corea, leading her armies ous followers, and thence to Japan. He was probably in person. She also established relays of posts, in exile, driven from China by the'civil wars which Japan, as early as A. D. 250. Her son distinguished we know to have distracted the empire at that time. himself by his bravery. He stands just upon the conThis adventurer subdued the native Japanese, and fines of true history, in the twilight which separates it established a government of which he was the soldier- from fable. He became the Japanese god of war king and kingly priest; he was called the da-i-ri, Fatsman, and is said to have lived one hundred and that is, " foreign conqueror," and became a spiritual seventy years, of which he reigned eighty-seven. autocrat. This event occurred about one hundred Yoritomo, a descendant of the fifty-sixth dairi, was years after the founding of Rome, in Europe. elected commander-in-chief of the empire in A. D. After this invasion, several other Chinese colonies 1185, and afterwards cubo, in 1192-the period at which came over. One of them was composed of three Richard Caeur de Lion sat on the throne of England. hundred couple of young people, sent across the sea The authority of the dairi was from this date more oy the Chinese emperor, to search for the "panacea and more weakened, under the successors of Yoritomo which confers immortality." The colony landed in It received the last blow under Gongin, the first Japan, in 209 B. C., and settled there, never to return. cubo of the dynasty still reigning, who came into power This ancient mingling of the Chinese with the Japanese, in 1598.* The consent of the dairi was indeed still 3hows itselV in the similarities observed between the ivilizaqions ot these two nations, and in the multitude * There have been four dynasties of cubos- that e& b'AKAOOSI-TAIKO-TSOUNA-CONSPIRACY OF TOSA. 479, requisite in all affairs of importance, and the orders has been strictly forbidden. But in spite of this sever are publishled in his name; but one single instance, ity, manuscripts describing and commenting on events however, is known of his refusing his co6peration in with more or less detail, exist, and from such — sur the measures of' the cubo. On the other hand, the reptitiously obtained by the Dutch through their friends, cubo is too sagacious and politic to treat the dairi with at great risk to all parties - several facts of the history neglect. have been collected. Fakaoosi, founder of the second cubo dynasty, committed the fatal mistake of dividing his kingdom between his two sons, giving each of them thirty-three provinces. In the constant wars of his empire, he C H A P T E C X X XXI X. hoped that they would thus be able to protect each A. D. 1616 to 1849. other; but, instead of this, they quarrelled, and so Tsouna - Conspiracy - 7sounayosi assasstweakened each other by their contests, that both gov- nated - Yosimoone - Itercourse with Forernments were finally destroyed, and Taiko, the son of an exiled officer, was able to place himself upon the throne of the whole empire. OF the twelve children of Gongin, the first was a This man, at the age of twenty, was slipper-bearer daughter. The second, a youth of many excellences, to an officer of the cuhbo. He then passed into the on a false accusation, was ordered by his father to rip service of a prince, and cave so many proofs of devo- up his own abdomen -the usual barbarous mode of tion to the interests of his master, of wisdom and of capital punishment. His innocence was ascertained bravery, that the prince. become cubo, raised him to too late, and the stern father was inconsolable for his the highest military dignities. After the death of his death. Another son, perverse and cruel, was exiled master and manv victories in the wars which desolated for putting several of his servants to death, for slight the empire, Taiko took the cuboship, in 1585. He faults. His fourth child, Fidefada, succeeded him in was of very small stature, being but four feet six 1616, and resigned the empire to his own son, Yeyeinches and a half high. His personal appearance was mitsoo, in 1623; whose eldest son, Tsouna, inherited pecllliar: his eyes were round like those of a monkey. the empire from his father, in 1651. which gave him the nickname of " monkey-face." Of the reign of Tsouna, the most remarkable event Taiko wished to secure the succession to his son. is the conspiracy of the prince of Tosa, the faithful Fideyori, and during his last sickness had him affiance('d friend of the deposed Fideyori, who was treated with to the granddaughter of Gongin, then but an iiifant of such treachery by Gongin, his tutor. This prince, two years. He also named Gongin tutor to his s(,n. Tosa, after the defeat of Fideyori, his master, falling after having made him swear solemnly, and sign the into the power of the usurper, was obliged by him to cath with his blood, that when the prince, Fidevori. cut off his own hands —a thing regarded as the greatest should attain the age of fifteen, he would himself infamy. On Tosa's reproaching the victor with his recognize him, and cause the country to acknowledge cruelty, perfidy, and the violation of his oath, Gongin him as cubo. Tranquillized by these precautions, he ordered his head to be cut off. Tchouya, Tosa's son, then put the government into the hands of Gongin and being appointed commander of the pikemen to Yorifive others of his favorites. noboo, eighth son of Gongin, thought himself in After the death of Taiko, the persons to whom the favorable position for avenging. the death of his father. empire had been confided quarrelled, and Gongin, who With this view, in 1651, he connected himself with had long aimed at supreme power, took care to foment the son of a famous cloth dyer, Jositz, a man justly these troubles; till, finding himself strong enough, he esteemed for his extensive knowledge, and who had threw off the mask, and under plausible pretexts, be- been preceptor to Yorinoboo, who himself is said to sieged:Fideyori in his castle of Osaka. And though, have joined the conspiracy; but this was never proved, for this time, peace was Inade between them through as Tchouya took care not to compromise him. The the good offices of the dairi, Gongin soon managed to object of the two conspirators wvas to destroy the usurp the cuboship, by the defeat of Fideyori and his family of Gongin, and share the empire between them partisans. As there were many persons in the court selves. of the dairi who favored the defeated party, and as it Tchouya was very much of a spendthrift, and was the best policy of the cubo to keep this court in lavished, in follies, the resources supplied for the an absolute dependence, the dairi was persuaded to enterprise, so that he found himself often in want, and appoint two of Gongin's sons high priests. Thus, if his partner predicted the ruin of their scheme in conthe present incumbent of the dairiship proved refrae- sequenlce, - as it actually happened. Tchouya, having tory, or attempted any enterprise against the cuboship, borrowed on all hands, and being pressed by his credhe could be superseded at once by one of the Gongins. itors, offered them the double of their demands if they The usurper, at ease on this matter, now turned his would wait a fortnight. Knowing his want of reattention to the interlal adclministrati,on of his domin- sources, one of them, an armorer, would not listen to ions. He made such wise regulations, that, aft.er being his promises. To assure him, Tchouya had the so long torn by civil wars, the empire at last enjoyed imprudence to'reveal to him the conspiracy. The a profound peace, and the foundations were laid of armorer immediately disclosed it to the governor of' that prosperity which this flourishing country exhibits Jeddo, who communicated it to the court. at the present day. With him terminate the official To secure Tchouya, the governor had recourse to a annals of the nation; for since the accession of Gongin, stratagem. He caused a cry of fire to be raised in the printing of anything concertning the govermentt front of the conspirator's house, wvh en Tchouya, fright ened, ran into the street, armed only with a shor Yoritomo, commencing in 1185; of Fskaoosi Fideyosmi sabre. Four men immediately rushed upon him; h,, olr Taiko,.385; and of Yeyeyasoo, olr Gongin, beginningt b oe int te po hi ir 1598. prostrated two, but others coming to the help of their 480 FORTITUDE OF THE CONSPIRATORS UNDER EXTREME TORTURE. comrades, he was at last secured, after a long resist- On the third day after, at ten o'clock- in the morning anice. His wife, aroused by the noise of the combat, two persons, finding nowhere a safe retreat, presented and suspecting the truth, seized all the writings con- themselves before the governor, and avowed them cerning the conspiracy, and burned them at the flame selves accomplices of Tchouya; some others, follow of a lamp. Her presence of mind was thus the means ing their example, came likewise and delivered themof saving a great number of the princes and the first selves up. They were all bound and conducted to personages of the empire, who were implicated in the prison. The fourth day after was the time fixed for conspiracy. The Japanese, down to the present day, the execution. In the morning, two of the conspirahonor the conduct of this noble lady with eulogiums; tors were found to have destroyed themselves, in the and when they wish to commend a woman for spirit usual manner, at a village near Jeddo. and resolution, they compare her to the wife of At the break of day, the procession of the conTchouya. After a fruitless search of the house, the demned commenced. Seven sub-officers marched in governor sent the husband, wife, and all the family to front, to clear away the crowd. They were followed prison. by a hundred executioners, each one bearing a naked Jositz was then at a distance, and an order was sent pike; then came a hundred more executioners, with for his arrest; but on learning that the conspiracy was long staves; then a hundred more, armed with sabres; discovered, he put himself to death by the usual mode, and last, fifty officers. After them marched a single to avoid the ignominy of punishment. His head, executioner, bearing a writing, upon which the crime nevertheless, was cut off, and exposed in the place of of the conspirators was detailed, and which he read execution, near the river Abikawa. All who had been with a loud voice in the principal streets and at the intimate with Tchouya were then arrested; and among crossings. Tchouya followed him, clothed in two -he number, two gentlemen by the name of Ikiyemon robes, of a bright blue, his hands tied behind his back and Fatsiyemon. They possessed souls too generous then Ikiyemon, with his two sons; after them Fatsiyeto attempt to deny their part in the matter, deeming mon, and thirty-one others. The mother and wife of the enterprise an honorable one; but they refused to Tchouya, the wife of Ikiyemon, and four other ladies name their accomplices. closed the mournful procession. The counsellor of state ordered the executioner to They were promenaded throughout the whole city apply a certain kind of torture. The bodies of the In passing near a bridge, Tchouya heard a man talking victims being covered with a thick coating of clay, to another, and remarking on the culpability and they were then extended over a bed of burning coals, enormity of conspiracy against the emperor. Giving till the heat, causing the clay to dry, crack, and harden, him a look of indignant contempt, Tchouya cried out opened a thousand gashes and seams, excruciatingly " Miserable swallow, it mightily becomes you to cornpainful, in the living flesh! Neither of the two friends, pare yourself with the eagle!" The man, it is however, who were subjected to this horrible punish- related, blushed for shame, and hid himself in the( ment, deigned to move a muscle or feature of their crowd. countenance; they seemed insensible to the pain. At the moment of arrival at the place of execution, " This cautery," said Fatsiyemon, in derision, " will a man wearing two sabres with golden hilts, to which be of service to my health, and I have come from his rank entitled him. and clothed with a mantle of a distance to try it: it will give agility to all my rich stuff, pushed his way through the crowd, and lim bs." approaching the inspector, said to him, "My name This torture not triumphing over the heroic con- is Slbata-zabrobe; I am the friend of Tchouya, and of stancy of these intrepid friends, it was resolved to try Jositz. Living far from Jeddo, I was ignorant of the another kind - certainly the invention of demons. An discovery of the conspiracy. As soon as I heard it opening, eight or nine inches in length, was now cut spoken of, I hastened to Soorooga, to get news of my in their backs, and melted copper poured into the quiver- unfortunate friends. I learned the death of Jositz, and ing crevice. After allowing it to harden, it was then no longer doubting the fate which awaited Tchouya, I torn forth, by the help of a laborer's spade, so that came on to Jeddo. Here I have kept myself concealed, the flesh remained attached around the copper. The hoping the emperor might pardon him; but since he spectators shuddered with horror at the sight; the is condemned, and now marches to execution, I am sufferers alone gave no sign of pain, nor uttered even corle to embrace him and to die with hill." a sigh. Fatsiyemon, on the contrary, jestingly re- "You are a nob)le fellow." replied the inspector: marked, "I felt unwell, and this operation will be of " it would be well if every body were like vou. I have quite as much service as a seton: it must infallibly no need to wait for orders from the governor of Jeddo, effect a cure!" I give you permission, on lly OWvn responsibility, to The counsellor, seeing that nothing was gained, speak to your friend." now urged Tchouya anew to discover his accomplices, The two friends conversed for a long time together. if he would avoid further" tortures; but the latter an- Sibata manifested the extreme grief he felt at the,wered firmly, "I had scarce attained the age of discovery of the conspiracy, Tchouya's condemnanine years, when I formed the design of avenging my tion, and the death of Jositz. He added, that at this father, and rendering myself master of the empire. fatal news, he had come to Jeddo to share his friend's My courage is as immovable as a wall. You shall fate; that he should feel ashamed to survive him. He know nothing from me. I defy your threats. Invent then drew forth a smlll1 vessel of rice-spirit from his new tortures. Whatever you do, my constancy is proof- sleeve, and the twro friends, pledging eaceA other, bade against any and every trial." The counsellor, weary one another farewell. with torturing,which only excited the indignation of the Tears bathed the cheeks of Tchouya' he thanked spectators, without producing the intended effect, Sibata for his courageous resolultion, and oJgratulated ordered the executioner to desist, and remanded the himself on being able to embrace him once more zulprits to prison. before his death. Sibata, weeping in Iris terr, raplied, TRAGICAL DEATH OF TSOUNAYOSI. 4L81 " Our body in this world is like the asagawa flower,* 1691. Above the second door of this building is or the kogero ~ after death, we pass into a better world. engraved, " Entrance to the most precious of treasures." There we can converse together at leisure." After The inauguration of the institution took place with grea'having said this, he arose, and thanked the inspector pomp, in presence of the cubo, and many princes and for his polite condescension. When the execution was nobles, and the most distinguished men of the empire. over, he begged to be denounced to the government, The streets were crowded with spectators, and the but his request was refused-; and that is the last we offerings were heaped up in the form of pyramids. hear of this magnanimous friend. To the chief professor a salary of a thousand kobans - All the criminals were affixed upon crosses, and about twvo thousand two hundred and thirty-two dolthe executioners armed themselves with their pikes. lars -was assigned; or, if the old koban be meant, Tchouya was first struck by two executioners, who four thousand four hundred and sixty-four dollars. opened his body in the form of a cross. It is asserted This institution gave a favorable impulse to science that the public executioners of Japan are so skilful, throughout the country. that there is not one of them but can pierce the crimi- Exhausted by debaucheries, and having nearly nal sixteen times, without touching a vital part. The ruined his kingdom by extravagance, which his wise sons of Ikiyemon moved all hearts with pity. The counsellors endeavored in vain to check, the now eldest said to his brother, who had scarce attained his fallen and degraded Tsounayosi, hopeless of a son to twelfth year, "We mount to the abode of the gods;" inherit his throne, resolved to adopt a person as his and he occupied himself with prayer, pronouncing heir who was sure to give offence to all the princes, several times a Sanscrit formula of invocation -"Ami- and convulse the empire. His ininisters and his wife da,t pray for us! " There was not a person that such endeavored in vain to dissuade him from this fatal a spectacle did not melt to tears. The wife of measure. Finally, the day for the solemn ceremony Tchouya besought the mother of her husband to in- of adoption was at hand. The ministers had exhausted voke the gods, with her, at the moment, of going to all their influence in vain, and, coming to his wife, rejoin them. " I am old," replied the mother, " and were assured by her that they might rely upon it she you, you are yet young; nevertheless, since you desire would find a remedy. The evening before the day it, I will readily join you in praying to the gods, and appointed for the adoption, she invited her besotted in turning our thoughts away from every terrestrial lord to take his zakki - rice-drink - with her. The object." cubo having accepted the invitation, she had a magThanks to the precautions the ready-witted wife of nificent banquet served up. While the prince was Tchouya had taken, in burning the papers, and the occupied in drinking, she arose, went into her cabinet, firmness, even in the.midst of tortures, of those con- wrote a note to the minister, to give him his instrucdemned - the chief accomplices remained unknown. tions, and, having provided herself with a poniard, Yorinoboo - eighth son of Gongin - was, however, - a common implement in the dress of all Japanese suspected, and his house was searched. But his secre- women of rank - she returned to the festive hall. tary magnanimously took every thing upon himself, Approaching the cubo, she desired to speak with hinr exculpating his master from all participation in the in private, and sent all her women from the apartplot, and protesting that he alone was in the secret, rment. Finding herself alone with him, she thus adwhich he had strictly kept from his master. He after- dressed him: "Long as I have lived with you, you wards killed himself, and thus saved Yorinoboo, who have never refused me any request. I have to-day a was not molested, and remained at Jeddo. When new favor to ask: will you grant it me?" He deYasimoone, a descendant of Yorinoboo, became cubo, sired to know what was her wish. "You purpose," he recompensed the fidelity of this secretary, in the replied she, " to-morrow, to adopt for a successor the persons of his descendants, to all of whom he gave son of Devanokami. This design will cause all the honorable places under government. princes to revolt, and will occasion the ruin of the emTsouna, being childless, was succeeded by his elder pire. I beseech you to renounce it." At these words, brother, Tsounayosi, in 1682.t This man, though he arose in a fury, and demanded of her who hail afterward a debauchee, in his youth had a passion for given her leave to meddle in affairs of state. "Thi the sciences, and founded a university at Jeddo, in empire is mine," added he, " and I will do what I please; I have no need of the advice of a woman; I will never see you again, nor speak to you." He was X The asagawa is a magnificent flower, before the sun rises, about to leave the apartment; but she followed him, but iritmediately after, fades and falls withered to the ground. The kogero is an ephemeral insect, which is born and dies and, taking him by the sleeve, " If you execute your on the same day. design," said she, "to-morrow the whole empire will t Amida is their name of the Supreme Being, in the period be in revolution," - and plunged the dagger twice into of time which preceded the creation of the present world. his bosom. Seeing him fall, she cast herself on he+ A curious story of Oriental diplomatic etiquette is told of some Corean ambassadors, who came to congratulate this knees beside him, earnestly besought him to forgiv cubo on his accession. When about to depart, the letter of her as the cause of his death, since it was the sole the cubo they' were to carry back in reply, lacked one of the means of preserving the dynasty of Gongin, ant usual seals -as it is usual to attach to the -cubo's letter saving the empire. She declared she would not suranother, sealed by the four principal officers of state, and like- nd scarce had the breath left his body, wise by the counsellors. But one of the principal officers had been disgraced for malversation, and no one had been ap- when she stabbed herself with the same poniard, and pointed to supply his place. The Corean ambassadors,. how- fell dead at his side. Her women, alarmed, ran to ever, refused to take the letter, unless all the seals were see the cause of the noise, and found them both wel. appended; and, in fact, they carried their punctilio so far, that the cube was obliged to resort to the expedient of send- terng in blood. ing for the son of the disgraced minister, and appointing him The minister, after having read the note, repalrea to the office his father had forfeited. Its seal was appended, in all haste, to the palace. He found the gate locked in due form, and the Coreans went on their way, content. but it was presently, by order of the inspector, openea 61 4862 GREAT FIRE AT MEACO).:o him, as well as to all the other servants of the cubo. relates, as a most shocking circumstance, that, in' the Ile hastened towards his master. The sight of the general consternation caused by so frightful an event, -aorrible spectacle made him shudder, though the billet the dairi was obliged to nourish his holy carcass on must have prepared him for the event. When he had common rice for two days, and to employ for that recovered his composure a little, "This lady," said he, length of time the same utensils! - whereas the regu" has rendered a great service to the state; but for her, lation was, that the dairi should have his rice selected the whole empire would have been in flames." Prince for him by the proper officer, grain by grain, and Yeyenoboo, nephew to the late cubo, was now elected every plate, mat, or dish, used by him must be broken to the cuboship, in 1708. He died in 1712, and his to pieces as soon as it passed from his table, and even successor in 1716. the cooking utensils must be new for every meal. After the cubo's death, in 1716, the three chief min- being laid aside when used once. isters of state called together, in the palace, several It will not be interesting to pursue these annals p)rinces, the councillors of state, and the relatives of the further, except to give a sketch of the intercourse of deceased cubo, and proceeded to the'choice of a new Europeans with this country, so long secluded from the sovereign. The prince of Kidjo, Yosimoone, obtained action of that public opinion which moulds the nations every vote. He earnestly begged to be excused from of the West to a civilization in many respects identical. accepting the empire, distrusting his talents to govern But no efforts, of late, have succeeded in enticing it well, and proposed the prince of Ovari, who was Japan back into communion with the great family of superior rank. of nations. But the prince of Mito arose, took him by the hand, In 1542, several Portnuuese were wrecked on the and conducted him to the throne. He was then pro- coast of Japan. Their first reception was favorable. claimed cubo, installed, and the name of the year duly In 1549, Xavier landed at Kagosima, with two compan changed. This modest and excellent prince contrib- ions, and a shipwrecked Japanese, whom he had conuted much to the prosperity of the empire, which, verted. The prince of Satsuma permitted him te under his reign, increased day by day. A severe preach and teach the gospel in his dominions, expectpolice suppressed banditti, and rendered the roads ing that this course would increase the trade. Xavier's Entirelv secure. His renown was in every corner of journeys and disputations — not to speak of his pTrehis dominions, and the Japanese still compare him to tended mirltcles —gained him many converts. He Gongin, for his humanity and beneficence, as they left the island in 1551, and died the next year. compare his reign to that of the Chinese emperor In 1559, many among the higher circles of the court Chun —a sort of golden age. Yosimoone resigned were converted by another able Jesuit. In 1570, he his throne to his son Yeyesige, in 1745, who was sue- had founded fifty churches, and baptized thirty thouceeded by Yeefaroo, in 1760. sand persons; and, though the privileges before granted In the next reign, -that of Yeyenari, the eleventh were soon withdrawn, yet the cubo, Nabonanga, who cubo, who came to the throne in 1786,- on the 6th of began to reign in 1570, was the firm friend of foreign March, 1788, at three o'clock in the morning, a intercourse. One of the Jesuits at Meaco, in 1579, destructive fire broke out in the city of Meaco, which had baptized seventy thousand in two years. In 1583, raged till the 8th. A servant had got asleep near three young Japanese nobles arrived at Lisbon, on a a brazier, and his sleeve taking fire, he pulled off the mission to the pope, from the princes of Omura, garment, and threw it against the movable partition, Bungo, and Arima. Extravagant attentions were *which, being covered with varnish, was instantly in lavished on them by the splendid court of Philip II., flames. A violent wind was blowing at the time, so who now held Spain and Portugal; and these were that, in less than an hour, the fire took, from the flying renewed in Italy, where they were carried to the feet matter, in more than sixty places in the city. Soon, of the pope, and did him homage. They returned in therefore, the whole city was in flames, and the inhab- 1586. itants thought only of saving their lives. The dairi Taiko, the next cubo, was at first friendly, but, from was forced to quit his palace, and fly, and the streets several petty causes, at last determined to banish the were so blocked up with people, that his guard was Catholic missionaries. This was ordered June 25, obliged to kill more than a thousand persons to clear 1587. The crosses they had erected were thrown a passage! Of all the palaces, and public and private down, their churches razed. The missionaries, howbuildings, only a part of the wall of the dairi's palace ever, did not quit the country, but scattered themwas left; every thing else - castles, temples, and selves. Of two hundred priests, and one million eight magazines —were consumed; the wind continually hundred thousand converts, but twenty-six or twentychanging, so as to sweep all away. After several seven were put to death. The cubo endeavored to rid flights, not deeming himself and court safe, the dairi himself of the Christians in his army, by a war with at last took refuge on a high hill, three miles off. The China, rather than by domestic persecution. famine and misery caused by this wide-spread disas- In 1596, a Spanish galleon, being driven near the ter are not easily imagined or described. Of this coast, was enticed into one of his ports by the prince great capital, the centre of commerce, with its four of Tosa, and embargoed. In order to intimidate the thousand streets, and thousands of wealthy merchants, prince, he was shown a map of the world, and of the and its splendid court, there was left but a few houses extensive possessions of Spain upon it, and her conseoutside the wall, and two temples. quent power. " How has your king managed to pos. At Meaco every one was forbidden to build or work sess himself thus of half the world? " asked the prince. for himself, or to work in wood, or even in gilding, till The Spaniard replied, "He commences by sending the dairi's palace was completed. His holiness him- priests, who win over the people; and, when this is self was obliged to quit his ox-cart, and, with his suite done, his troops are despatched to join the native and concubines, to save himself on foot. in the Christians, and the conquest is easy and complete." midst of such awful misery, the history gravely Japanese jealousy was now fully aroused. " What! " INACCESSIBILITY OF JAPAN TO FOREIGNERS. 483 Scene in Japan. cried Taiko, when this answer was reported to him, attempt to soften the rigor of the government, were — "what! my empire is filled with traitors! These put to death, and their ship burnt. On their tomb priests that I have nourished are serpents!" And he was inscribed — " So long as the sun shall warm the swore that not one should be left alive. New edicts earth, let no Christian be so bold as to come to Japan; of banishment were published, and twenty-six priests and let all know that the king of Spain himself, or were martyred in one day, in 1597. the Christians' God, or the great Saca, if he violate At this time, the foreign trade of Japan was so far this command, shall pay for it with his head." extended that a great number of Japanese are found For some violence done to a Japanese vessel, in at Acapulco, in Mexico, who signed a vindication of 1631, the cubo seized nine of the Dutch company's the priests, which was published there. In 1625, they ships, and stopped the trade for three years. OnlN had a government agent at Macao. In 1600, the first two years after the butchery at Simabara, namely, in Dutch ship arrived in Japan: in 1604, Gongin, hear- 1640, the Dutch were confined to the prison-like island ing that the Spanish governor of the Philippines was of Desima, just vacated by the expulsion of the Porconquering the Moluccas, ordered all the Spanish tuguese. The Dutch were now left in sole possession priests to depart. The same was done in 1606. But of the European trade and intercourse with Japan, these edicts were not enforced. The profits of the trade and their monopoly has never been disturbed. Their were one hundred per cent.; Manilla had its share, and subsequent political intercourse has been limited to an Macao annually imported two or three thousand chests occasional mission from Batavia, and to the visits of the of silver, and, as is said, some hundreds of tons of Dutch chief of the factory to Jeddo, formerly made gold. For several reasons, the flames of persecution annually, but now occurring but once in four years. again raged, till 1620, when they abated, but were The Chinese and Coreans are allowed to trade, under soon renewed; and until 1631, the boiling crater of great restrictions, at Nagasaki. But every effort of Mount Unga was a common instrument of death for the English or other Europeans, and of the Americans, the Christians. In 1624, the Spaniards were banished to establish a commercial or political intercourse with forever, and the ports of Japan closed, except Naga- Japan, on whatever grounds, has signally failed. saki for the Portuguese, and Firando for the Dutch. In 1836, an American gentleman found at MacaoCloser restrictions than those before enforced were where they had arrived by way of England — three laid on the Coreans and Chinese. survivors of a crew of Japanese, who had been wrecked In 1635, the Island Desima, six hundred feet long on the coast of the United States, in Oregon. They ny two hundred wide, was built at Nagasaki, and the had been tossed, for fourteen months, on the Pacific Portuguese confined to it, amid the derision of their Ocean, living on rain-water and the rice with which rivals, the short-sighted Dutch, who, in 1600, had ob- their junk was laden. A party of four other shiptained leave to trade, and, in 1609, to erect a factory wrecked Japanese were added to these, and, in 1837, at Firando,. But the death-blow of Catholicism in the seven were put on board the unarmed American Japan was about to be struck. A conspiracy was said brig Morrison, in company with missionaries Parker to exist among the native Christians and the Portu- and Gutzlaff, to be returned to their native land. The guese: this the Dutch affirmed and the Jesuits denied. plan of the benevolent projector of the voyage also Thirty-eight thousand Christians flew to arms, and included an attempt to open an American trade with fortified themselves at Simabara, against a besieging Japan. The: brig came to anchor in the bay, about army of eighty thousand, who, however, could not twenty miles from Jeddo. Here, without being boarded reduce the fortress. The Dutch director, Kochebecker, by any officer, and without being allowed any corlnwas summoned to help the government: he did so, munication with the shore, she was fired upon from a and the walls of Simabara were battered down by battery, erected over night, and obliged' to depart. Dutch cannon. This alternative the director deliber- Similar occurrences happened at Kagosima, where ately preferred to an interruption of the Dutch trade! she made a second attempt. At first the snlpwrecked Henceforth, says an author, the residence of that na- Japanese went ashore, and excited the sympathy of tion in Japan can be regarded only as an Aceldama; their countrymen, and it was repeatedly promised by.ts purchase, a river of innocent blood. the head man of the village that an officer of the govFour citizens of Macao, who had come to Japan to ernment would visit the brig. But, while waiting for 484 JAPANESE GOVERNMENT, CURRENCY, LANGUAGE. mnis promised intercourse, a battery on shore was un- to Japanese salvation, tend to give incalculable activity masked, and the vessel placed in imminent danger by to domestic exchanges. its shot. The Morrison was therefore obliged to leave The language of Japan is unique and original in its without restoring the Japanese to their country, and vocabulary, syntax, and conjugations. The Chinese without getting an opportunity even to send a commu- language is used in the theology of the bonzes, and is nication to the government. to them what Latin is to us. Of Japanese science we In 1852, the United States government sent an know little; but the intense curiosity this intelligent expedition of seven ships under Commodore Perry, people manifest with regard to European science, and to establish commercial relations with Japan. These their practical character, indicates that they would be arrived in the Japanese waters, in July, 1853, and apt pupils. soon effected a communicatio with agents of the A curious custom is in fashion with ladies who are government, which resulted in opening two ports taking a promenade. An attendant bears a kind of to American ships. Similar arrangements have half-shut umbrella hanging to the end of a long pole. been since made with Japan by European govern- With this cap-like contrivance he covers the head and ments. These measures are likely eventually to shoulders of the lady, andi thus protects her from the make us better acquainted with this populous and sun and from vulgar eyes. The only vehicles used remote empire. are palanquins and ox-carts. No animal labor Of the few cities of Japan known to Europe, Jeddo, lightens the toil of the farmer, and few animals, exMeaco, and Nagasaki claim a passing notice. Jeddo, cept dogs, are kept by the people. Animal food is very on a shallow bay of Niphon, is the civil capital. It is little used, except fish, the principal article of human said to be sixty miles in circumference. The houses subsistence being rice-cakes. Every particle of cultiare but two stories high, with shops in front: the upper vable ground is well tilled, and tea-plants form the story serves as a store-room and wardrobe. The par- hedges in the south. Tea and rice-beer are the gen titions are of richly painted and varnished paper. All eral beverage. the feudatory princes must reside at Jeddo for half the year, to be near the government, and to remain as hostages for the good behavior of their provinces. In this city of palaces, the imperial palace of the cubo is preeminent for its size and magnificence. It is surrounded with stone walls and ditches, fifteen miles in!:! rircuit. The chief furniture consists of splendid mats, in great variety; the roofs are adorned with gilt dragons; the columns and ceilings exhibit an elegant display of cedar, camphor-wood, and other valuable kinds of timber. The Hall of the Thousand Mats is six hundred feet long by three hundred wide. Meaco, one hundred and fifty miles south-west of Jeddo, is the spiritual capital, the residence of the dairi. Here, in comparative poverty, he aims to keep up a state corresponding' X -ather to his former power than to his present revenues. Here are the chief manufactures, the imperial |, mint, the eminent literati of the empire, and the place'i I of publication for most books. The population is perhaps half a million. Temples and palaces with pyramidal roofs, colossal idols, and the pageantries of reli- --—' gious worship are the chief sights of Meaco. Nagasaki is a commercial place, of some thirty thousand inhab- _ itants, and the only point of intercourse with foreigners. - -- ----.~'The Japanese government is one of great severity: lts laws are " written in blood;" but its administrative The industry of, the Japanese is very great, so that details are little known. Its revenue is stated to be one they are one of the richest nations of Asia. In one hundred millions of dollars, besides what is paid in kind, branch of manufacture — japanning- they excel all the and the private estates of the cubo. Something of the world. The chief ingredient of this varnish is a gum cruel energy of civil proceedings in this country may from the bark of the rhus vereix. Their domestic be learned from the anecdotes we have given in the architecture is slight, the walls of their houses being preceding pages. The commerce of Japan is mostly of clay, and the partitions of paper, generally richly internal, and this is incredibly active and valuable. gilt, painted, and varnished. The palaces are sur. The koban, worth about five dollars, is the measure rounded by extensive gardens. of value; the tahl is a money of account, worth about In dress, this sensible people affect utility merely. eighty-nine cents. The ganting equals three pounds and a manly plainness. Their costume consists of a and nine-tenths; thirty-three and one third'of them large, loos, robe, opening down the front, of silk or make a bag of rice, weighing eighty-two or eighty- cotton, varying in fineness according to the rank or three cattis; and three bags make a koban. purse of the wearer. They have straw shoes, shave The excellent roads are perpetually crowded, like the head, except a tuft on the crown, and usually leave the streets of a popullous city; and the constant tray- it bare, except on journeys, when it is covered with elling of the grandees to and from the capital, some- an enormous cap of plaited grass or oiled paper. The tlimes with a suite of twenty or thirty thousand persons, manners of the people are characterized by punctllious with the innumerable pilgrimages deemed so essential politeness, as before remarked. COREA —GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION. 4865 There are three forms of religion prevalent in images of the kamis, together with those of the *apan —the Sinto religion, that of Buddha, and the Buddhist gods. The priests of Buddha in Japan doctrine of Confucius. Sintoism, while acknowledg- are called bonzes; they are numerous, comprising ing a Supreme Being, is founded on the worship, in both males and females. They are under a vow of connection with him, of genii, saints, or subordinate celibacy, and there are here, as in other Buddhist gods, from whom the dairi is supposed to be descended. countries, large convents for both sexes. The doctrine The genii, or katmi, are the souls of the virtuous who of Confucius has also been brought nto, the country and nave ascended to heaven; in their honor are erected has many followers. Beside these there are philoso.. temrples, in which are plnced lthe symbols r)f tin, deity, phers, who reject the absurdities of the popular creed, consisting of strips of paper attached to a piece of and seem to possess a refined system of metnphysics. wood, these symbols are also kept in the houses, and containing exalted notions of the Deity and of ethics. before these are offered the daily prayers to the kamis. There is much that is masculine and original il Phe domestic chapels are also adorned with flowers the Japanese character, of which pride and cruelty in and green branches; and two lamps, a cup of tea and punishments -relies of barbarism - seem to be the another of wine, are placed before them. Some worst features. Though, when loaded with injuries, the animals are also venerated as sacred to the kamis. Japanese utters no reproachful or vehement expression Festivals and pilgrimages fbrm the chief part of the in return, yet his pride is deep, rancorous, and invincicheerful rites. The sacrifices, offered at certain sea- ble; and the poniard, inseparable fromr his person, is the sons, consist of rice-cakes, eggs, &c. The centre of instrument of vengeance, when the offender least expilgrimages is the temple at lsie, where is seen no pects it; or is sheathed in his own bosom, in case yenimage, but simply a looking-glass. Buddhism was geance is beyond his reach. This pride runs through introduced into Japan from Corea, and in many cases all classes, but rises to the highest pitch among the great, leading them to display an extravagant pomp in their retinue and establishment, and to despise every thing in the nature of industry and mercantile employ~:68 ji |ment. Forced often to bend beneath a stern, uncompromising, and powerful government, they are impelled to suicide —the refuge of fallen and vanquished pride Self-murder here, like duelling among the Western nations, seems to be the point of honor among the great.'rhe national character is indeed strongly contrasted with that which generally prevails in Asia. Instead of a tame, quiet, orderly, servile disposition, making them the prepared and ready subjects of despotism, the people have a character marked by energy, independ ence, and a lofty sense of honor. Although said to make good subjects, even to the severe government under which they live, they yet retain an impatience of control, dnd a force of public opinion, which renders it impossible for any ruler wantonly to tyrannize over them. Instead of that mean, artful, and truckling disposition, so general among Asiatics, their manners /l l +s