able battle of Marathon, in which the Persians lost no less than 206,000 men. Is not mention made of Dari'us in the Scriptures? -Yes: his name is there recorded as favouring the Israelites, permitting them to rebuild their temple, and restoring their worship. FROM THE TIME OF XERX ́ES TO ALEXANDER. Who succeeded Dari'us ?-His son Xerxes, 486 B. C. who, though but the second son of the monarch, was preferred to his elder brother Artabazanes. Did he prosecute the war against the Grecians?He did; continuing the warlike preparations of his father, he entered Greece with an army and retinue amounting to upwards of five millions of souls. . What was the result?-His army was stopped at Thermop'ylæ, by the valour of 300 Spartans, under king Leon'idas, and this battle was the beginning of Xerxes' disgrace. His fleets were defeated at Artemisium and Sal'amis; and the king, apprehensive of imminent danger, hastened back to Persia, pestilence following his steps. What was the cause of his death?-He was killed by his own subjects, who despised him on account of his indolence, voluptuousness, and dissolute conduct. By whom was he succeeded?—By his son Artaxerxes Longimanus, 464 B.C., whom the Athenians compelled to conclude a disgraceful peace. But he re-conquered Egypt that had revolted; and was remarkable for his equity and moderation. To whom did he leave the succession?-To his son Xerxes the Second, who, after a reign of forty-five days, was assassinated; and Sogdia'nus, the murderer, assumed the imperial dignity, but was shortly doomed to expiate his crimes by a cruel death. Who was his successor?-Ochus, his brother, 423 B. C., who took the name of Darius Nothus. He carried on many wars with success; and, after a reign of 19 years, was succeeded by his son Artaxerx'es the Second, 404 B.C., called also Artaxerxes Mnemon Who next succeeded to the imperial diadem ?-His son Ochus, called also Darius Ochus, or Artaxerx'es the Third. In his reign there were great disturbances in the empire, and he was poisoned by the eunuch Bago'as, who raised Arses, the youngest son of Ochus, to the throne. How long did Arses reign?-But three years, when the eunuch Bago'as destroyed him also, with his children; and then bestowed the kingdom on Dari'us Codom'anus (Dari'us the Third). Did not Alexander the Great, of Macedon, invade Persia in this reign?-He did, in the second year of Dari'us Codom'anus; and in three battles, the Grani'cus, Issus, and Arbe'la, he totally defeated Darius ; and thus completed the conquest of Persia, which was followed by that of nearly all Asia. Thus fell the Persian empire, which began under Cyrus the Great, 536 B.C., and ended with Dari'us Codom'anus, 331 B. C., including a space of 205 years. ABSTRACT OF THE PHOENICIANS. Who were the Phoenicians?-A people occupying a tract of land in Asia, close upon the Mediterranean, having Syria to the North, and Judea to the south. Their chief sea-ports were Tyre and Sidon. For what have they been noted?-For being among the most early civilized nations of the East; and for communicating to other nations the invention of writing, and probably of arithmetic and astronomy; and for the first attempts at commerce and navigation. The fragments of Sanchoni'athon, a Phonician, are the most ancient monuments of writing, after the books of Moses. Are not the Canaanites of Scripture, and the Phoenicians, the same?-They are; and so early as the days of Abraham, they were a commercial people. In the time of the Hebrew Judges, 1400 years B.C., they began to colonise. What were their first settlements?-They first Bottled colonies at Cyprus and Rhodes,-from thence they passed into Greece, Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, and on the northern, and even the north-western coast of Africa. What noted manufactories had the Phoenicians? -We read of the glass of Sidon, and the purple and fine linen of Tyre, having been held in high estimation. ABSTRACT OF GREECE. O GREECE! Thou sapient nurse of finer arts! Who were the ancient inhabitants of Greece?~ The PELAS'GI, HYAN'TES, and LEL'EGES; these people were extremely barbarous, and their history is disguised by fable. To whom were the Grecians indebted for the first rudiments of civilization?-To the Egyptians and Phoenicians, particularly to the Titans, a Phoenician or Egyptian colony, who settled in the country about the time of Abraham. Mention the first cities founded in Greece.-1st, SIC'YON was the most ancient kingdom, and ÆGIA'LEUS was its first king, B.C. 2089.-2d, ARGOS, in Peloponne'sus, was founded by In'achus, B.C. 1856. -3d, ATHENS, founded about 1556 years B.C., by Cecrops, and an Egyptian colony. Who succeeded Cecrops?-CRAN'AUS and AMPHY'CTYON, in whose times happened two remarkable events recorded in the Chronicle of Paros (preserved among the Arundelian marbles at Oxford) -viz. The Judgment of the Areopagus, and the Deluge of Deucalion.-The Council of the Amphyc'tyons was also instituted at this period; and, not long afterwards, the Panathena'an Games. Fix the dates of these events.-The Judgment of the Areopagus, 1532 B.C.; Deuca'lion's Flood, in Thessaly, 1529 B.C.; the Amphyctyonic Council, in 1532 B.C.; and the Panathenæ'an Games (or Eleusin'ian Mysteries), 1506 B.C. Who introduced ALPHABETIC WRITING into Greece?-CADMUS, about 1493 B.C. He came from -Phoenicia, and built the citadel of Thebes. To him are attributed sixteen letters of the Greek alphabet. When were the first OLYMPIC GAMES celebrated? -In 1453 B.C.; and afterwards were introduced three others; viz. the Pyth'ian, the Neme'an, and the Isth'mian. When was the ARGONAU'TIC EXPEDITION unertaken?-In the year 1263 B.C. The object was to open the commerce of the Euxine Sea; and supposed to have been both a military and a mercantile adventure, under the fable of Jason's sailing with forty-nine companions to Col'chis, in search of the golden fleece. By whom was the kingdom of Sparta, or Lacedæmon, first instituted?-By Lelexa, 1704 B.C. Helena, the wife of Menela'us, who was carried off by Paris, was the tenth in succession from this monarch. When did the SIEGE OF TROY happen?-In 1193 B.C., undertaken by the chieftains of Greece; and after a ten years' war, Troy was reduced to ashes. Whence arose the war of the HERACLI'DA?-The return of the descendants of Hercules to Peloponne'sus (1104 B.C.), who, after subduing their enemies, took possession of the states. ATHENS, CORINTH, &c. Who was Codrus ?-A king of Athens, who, on an irruption of the Heracli'dæ, devoted himself to death for his country; and with him the kingdom of Athens ends 1069 B.C. Who was the first ARCHON of Athens ?-MEDON, the son of Codrus, about 1068 B.C. This is the commencement of the ATHENIAN Republic, which, under partial changes, continued for upwards of 900 years. About what period did HOMER and HESIOD flourish ?-Upwards of 900 years B.C. Who first formed CORINTH into a State ?-Sis'yphus, its first sovereign. It received its name from Corinthus, the son of Pelops. How was Sparta governed?-At first by kings, |