purpose of protecting their general interests and guarding against foreign invasion. The several deputies bound themselves by oath never to overthrow any of the allied cities, nor to turn aside the running streams, either in peace or in war; and to oppose to the utmost any nation that dared to attempt such things. Their places of meeting were Thermo. pylæ and Delphi. To Acrisius, sovereign of Argos, is ascribed the formation of its power and laws. The most celebrated exertion of authority on the part of the council respected the town of Crissa, against which it declared war. Hostilities were protracted for more than ten years, when, principally by the advice of Solon, the place was reduced, and the surrounding territory consecrated to the god of the Delphic temple, 595 B. C. FIFTEENTH CENTURY. SACRED HISTORY.-1491, Exodus-1451, Entry into Canaan. GREECE. Theseus-Court of Areopagus.-1493, Thebes; 1490, Sparta; 1404, Corinth Founded. Sacred History. THE EXODUS.-Moses, after some hesitation to obey the divine commands, went with his brother Aaron to the court of Pharaoh, to deliver the solemn embassy of the Almighty. The monarch (Amenophis) in return, added to the sufferings of the Israelites; nor did he cease to afflict them until the ten plagues had wearied, though not convinced his haughty spirit. On the 15th Nisan, the Hebrew nation began their joyful march towards the Red Sea, 1491 B. C., each tribe in its proper station, advancing in battle-array. Scarcely had they begun their long journey, when the monarch repented his weakness, and hastily pursuing with a numerous army, overtook them in a narrow defile which opens upon the Arabian Gulf. In their extremity, with the sea before them and implacable enemies behind, the people began to murmur, saying, were there no graves in Egypt, that thou hast taken us away to die in the wilderness? But Jehovah meditated a signal deliverance: the sea divided its waves before them; they passed through dryshod; while the returning waters buried Pharaoh's host, so that none remained to tell the dreadful tale. In the space of 215 years, God had so favoured the descendants of Abraham, that from about 70 persons, the family of Jacob had increased to 600,000 fighting men, or a gross population of more than two millions. THE WA ANDERING.-The whole period of forty years spent in the desert was signalized by miracles. A deficiency of bread was made up by the manna which lay on the ground covered with the morning dew, the bitter waters were purified, a flight of quails furnished the people with meat, the hard rock, at the touch of Moses' rod, gave forth a clear and copious stream of water, the earth opened and swallowed up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, 1471,-fire from heaven destroyed part of the camp,-and a destructive pestilence carried off nearly 15,000 of the murmurers. Three months after the departure from Egypt, the God of Jacob appeared on mount Sinai,* and, clothed in majesty, made known the law of the two tables, comprehending the ten commandments. Being unwilling to trust the report of the spies whom Moses had sent to view the Land of Promise, the Israelites were all condemned to perish in the desert, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, and those who had not yet reached the age of twenty years. In vain did Moab and Midian unite against them,-in vain did the hostile nations seek the aid and purchase the imprecations of Balaam: his curses were converted into blessings. After forty years, their wanderings drew to an end. Moses assembled the tribes; committed the Book of the Law to the priests; and for the last time publicly addressed the people. When his exhortation was concluded, he went to the top of Mount Pisgah (ten miles north-east of the Dead Sea,) and there died in sight of the promised inheritance, 1451 B. C. Character of Moses. Considered in a merely human light, Moses is not less celebrated as a politician than as a historian and poet. Pagan antiquity, while denying his divine mission, has represented him as a man of profound learning, who rescued the Jews from debasement and slavery, and taught them the knowledge of the one true God. The five books of the Pentateuch are the most ancient writings in the world, and no history presents a stronger character of authenticity. His legislation was promulgated at a time when the word law was unknown to other nations. This code has been divided into five parts: namely, religion, morals, and civil, military, and political affairs. Its real wisdom is proved by its existing still at the end of forty centuries, while the more recent institutes of Minos, Lycurgus, Numa, and Solon have fallen into desuetude. It is worth while to observe what progress the arts had made, even among the nomad Jews, while Greece was yet barbarous. In the description of the building of the Tabernacle we read of the founding and working of metals; of cutting and engraving precious stones; of the trades of the cabinet-maker, embroiderer, and perfumer. ENTRY INTO CANAAN,-1461 B. C.- -Moses, as the civil and religious head of the Wandering Tribes, strictly speaking had no successor. Joshua was appointed military leader to subdue the Land of Canaan, and portion it out among the victors. On the 10th Nisan, he crossed the frontier river, the submissive waters of the Jordan yielding a passage to the Ark of the Covenant which led the way. The ramparts of Jericho miraculously fell before them,—a warning to the devoted nations, and an encouragement to the Israelites. Ai was taken by stratagem; the five allied kings of the Amorites were defeated, the sun itself stopping in its course to aid the chosen people, while a terrible storm of hailstones killed more than had fallen by the sword. Joshua now divided the portion of the land which he had conquered, and renewed the Covenant with God. The tribe of Levi, which formed a literary and wealthy counterpoise to the aristocratic and democratic part of the state, was not included in this partition, but forty-eight cities were allotted them from *Ancient tradition and locality seem to identify Sinai with Mount Serbal (above 8000 feet high), the first peak of the chain to those coming from Suez. †The Chinese preserve a tradition, that in the time of the Emperor Yao, whom they make contemporary with Joshua, the sun did not set for ten days. The Egyptian priests told Herodotus, that within the period of 341 generations about 11,000 years! the sun had deviated four times from his usual course. the other tribes; a regulation, however, which circumstances prevented being carried into full effect. On Joshua's death, 1443 B. C., Caleb succeeded to the government; but the people soon after turned to the idols of the Canaanites, and drew down upon themselves the anger of God. The formation of the Jewish republic was the work of Moses in the desert. Its polity was evidently intended for a season only; its theology was the simplest of the age. The unity and individuality of the Deity were acknowledged, while the absence of all direct revelation of a future state was in some measure compensated by blending moral precepts with ritual observances, and the infliction of temporal punishments for personal or national disobedience. All possible means were exerted to isolate the Jews from the surrounding nations, by prohibiting commerce, emigration, and travelling. But their attachment to external circumstances was so strong, that in spite of the gorgeous ceremonies of their own ritual, they were soon found adopting the bloodstained idolatry of the Canaanites or the gross superstitions of Egypt. This would probably not have happened if the whole of the ancient inhabitants had been exterminated, according to the intention of Moses, as the worship of the true God would have been thereby rendered the sole religion of the country. EGYPT. SESOSTRIS.-SeSostris or Rhamses III. the Great, is the hero of early Egyptian history, the founder of a new dynasty (19th,) and the liberator of his country from the Hyksos, who had renewed their invasions in the reign of his father, Amenophis III. Great difference of opinion prevails as to the age of Sesostris, but it seems very probable that he flourished during the wandering of the Israelites in the desert. His conquests extended over Libya, Ethiopia, Media, Persia, Bactria, Scythia, and Asia Minor, from all which countries he levied tribute. The trophies of his victories, in the form of pillars, were found from the Danube to the Ganges, and southward to Ethiopia; and a hundred famous temples were raised from the spoils of his enemies. He divided the country into 36 nomes, at the head of which he placed officers to collect the taxes. He intersected the provinces with canals, and was the first Egyptian monarch who was powerful at sea. Becoming blind, he committed suicide in the 33d year of his reign. The traveller may yet see his names and titles, wars and triumphs, depicted on the walls of palaces and temples at Luxor, Karnac, Thebes, and Nubia. PHOENICIA. The name Phoenicia is applied to that narrow strip of the Syrian coast (150 miles long, and 24 broad,) which extends from Tyre to Aradus. Sidon was its oldest city, built by the eldest son of Canaan. The inhabitants applied themselves at an early period to commerce, navigation, and manufactures; and first communicated to the people of the West the sciences of Asia. They visited and planted colonies on all the shores of the Mediterranean; ventured as far as the British Isles in search of tin, and navigated the Baltic to procure amber. They embarked at Elath to make the circumnavigation of Africa, and formed settlements eastward of the Persian Gulf. They seem to have discovered islands beyond the western shore of Africa. They excelled in the manufacture of glass, and the now forgotten art of dyeing purple To this people is also attributed the invention of alphabetical characters, and their introduction into Europe. Our knowledge of their history is very slender, for Tyre fell before literature had taken root in the West, and its writers perished with it. This city is said to have been founded by Agenor, an African prince, about 1255 B. C., and its line of kings begins with Abical, the contemporary of David, about the year 1050. The prosperous period of their history extends from 1000 to 332 B. c. Phoenicia did not constitute one empire, but was formed of several independent states, united as fear or interest prompted them; and hence arose the supremacy of Tyre, the most powerful of their number. Consult: Rollin's Ancient History. GREECE. ATHENS was founded by Cecrops in the 16th century, but Theseus formed the state by gathering together the twelve districts or boroughs, which had formerly been independent; by uniting their senates into one body, which met at the capital; and by establishing a common religious festival (Panathenca) in honour of Minerva. The court of Areopagus, although it has been attributed to Cecrops, was only now instituted; a body not more celebrated for its antiquity, than for the justice of its decisions. The number of its members, who were selected on account of their age, merit, and birth, appears to have varied from 31 to 51, and even to 500. The THEBES was built by the Phœnician Cadmus, 1493 B. C. He introduced the fifteen letters of the Grecian alphabet, which go under his name; they were probably the same as those used in Syria. oracle of Delphi was the work of his countrymen; and its temple, causing the neglect of the prophetic oak of Dodona, became a central point of union for the different tribes. History of the Greek Language. The ultimate root of the Greek language is Pelasgic, or a dialect closely allied to the Sanscrit, modified by time and the exigencies of society. The descendants of Hellen, the son of Deucalion, having made themselves masters of the country, introduced their language, which differed from the old tongue only by its inflections, and which became the common speech of Greece. This Hellenic dialect was probably a stronger, as it was also a later, mixture of the Japetic or Western, as the Pelasgic appears to be purer Semitic or Eastern. The inland inhabitants of Greece spoke the rough and broad old Doric, from which the language of the Eolians in Bœotia and Peloponnesus did not greatly differ. The progress of civilisation and commerce softened these dialects. The Doric was gradually refined into the beautiful language of Theocritus. The Ionians from Attica settled on the coast of Asia Minor, where, by a close intercourse with their Asiatic neighbours, their language was softened into the harmonious sweetness we admire in Herodotus. The Attic passed through many gradations until it became the polished and elegant medium of communication adopted by all literary men throughout Greece. The following genealogical table of languages will serve at once to assist the memory, and to explain the history which the Greeks themselves credited. Dialects. Ionic. Doric. Attic. Old-Thucydides; the Tragic poets. Middle.-Aristophanes, Lycias, Plato, Xenophon. Old.-Epicharmus, Sophron. New.-Bion, Moschus, Callimachus, Pindar, Theocritus. SOld.-Homer, Hesiod. New.-Anacreon, Herodotus, Hippocrates. Æolic.-Alcæus, Sappho, Corinna. FOURTEENTH CENTURY. JUDEA.-1285, Deborah judges Israel-Sisera-1312, Ruth. JUDEA. JUDGES, 1443.-After the death of Joshua, a council of judges (shophetim,) with nearly the same authority as the consuls at Rome, the kings at Sparta, and the Carthaginian suffetes, was established to govern the people of Israel. Each city had its peculiar magistrates (shoterim) and ministers of justice, to the number of twenty-three. Their place of audience was at the gates of the cities, as being the most frequented spots. On Joshua's death the weak tribes became jealous of the stronger, and, as the high-priests had little political influence, the dread of foreign power alone kept them together. The history of Judæa, under its new government, presents a long catalogue of wars and captivities, brought on the nation by its wickedness and idolatry. Seven periods of servitude to the Philistines and others are recorded between the death of Joshua and the election of Saul, 1095 B. C. When Deborah judged Israel, dwelling under a palmtree on Mount Ephraim, Sisera, the Canaanitish general, was put to death by a woman in whose tent he had sought refuge, 1285 B. C. This signal deliverance from a powerful enemy called forth the fine specimen of lyric poetry which is inserted in the Book of Judges. RUTH, 1312.-To this period belongs the pastoral narrative of Ruth. A famine obliged Elimelech to quit Bethlehem, with his wife Naomi; who, becoming a widow in the country of Moab, eagerly desired to return to her native land. Ruth, one of her daughters-in-law, who loved her most affectionately, followed her home; when want compelling her to glean in the fields of Boaz, he, attracted by the charms and modesty of the fair stranger, married her, and became the father of Obed, from whom descended Jesse, the father of David, the royal progenitor of the Messiah. GREECE. CRETE.-Minos, who, according to the Parian chronicle, began to reign 1431 B. C., about a century after Amphictyon, is regarded as the first legislator of the Cretans, and his laws are supposed to have been adopted by Lycurgus, in framing the Spartan constitution. All freemen |