cense in the valley of the sons of Hin'nom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel." His dominions were invaded by the kings of Syria and Israel, who carried multitudes into captivity; but the Israelites generously released their prisoners, as has been already related. The Edomites and Philistines next attacked the kingdom of Judah: A'haz, unable to meet them in the field, sought to purchase aid from Tiglath-piléser, king of Assyria; but that monarch received the tribute, and withheld any effectual assistance. In his distress, A'haz sunk deeper into idolatry; "he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus which smote him, and he said, because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel." A haz went further; he shut up the temple of the Lord, broke the sacred vessels in pieces, and erected idolatrous altars "in every corner of Jerusalem." The country was thus brought to the brink of ruin; but its fall was arrested by the death of the impious monarch. His subjects showed their resentment for the evils of his administration by refusing his body admission to the sepulchres of their kings.

Hezekiah commenced his reign by a thorough reformation of the abuses which had so nearly brought destruction on Judah. The chief adviser of the pious king was the prophet Isaíah, who had proclaimed the future advent of the Messíah, and denounced the national sins in the two preceding reigns. All the vestiges of idolatry were destroyed, the images were broken, the groves cut down, and the polluted altars overthrown; even the brazen serpent, which had been preserved since the days of Moses, was demolished, because it had become the object of idolatrous veneration. The kingdom of Judah soon acquired such strength, that Hezekiah ventured to shake off the Assyrian yoke, to which his father had submitted. Shalmanéser, who had just conquered Israel, would have immediately marched against Judah, had not the wealthy cities of Phoenicia offered a more tempting prize to his avarice and ambition. His son, Sennacherib, inherited his revenge against Judah he advanced to Láchish with a powerful army, but Hezekiah, with culpable timidity, attempted to purchase his forbearance by a large bribe. This rich tribute only served to stimulate the cupidity of Sennacherib; he sent a large army directly against Jerúsalem, but Hezekiah, encouraged by the gracious promises of Divine protection, communicated to him by the prophet Isaíah, made the most judicious preparations for a vigorous defence. Rab'shakeh, the Assyrian general, summoned the city to surrender, in a haughty and insolent tone, speaking in the Hebrew language, that his threats might be understood by the people. Hezekiah, who was suffering under severe illness, sought protection from the Lord, and his wavering faith was confirmed by the shadow of the sun retrograding on the dial at the command of Isaíah. In a few days, the Assyrians were summoned away to defend their dominions against Tirhákah, the king of Meroë, or Ethiopia, who had conquered Egypt, and was endeavoring to extend his empire to the Euphrates. Sennacherib defeated the Ethiopians, and, flushed with victory, renewed the siege of Jerúsalem, threatening death and destruction to the entire kingdom. But his vaunts were suddenly checked; "the angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyri

ans a hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses." Sennacherib fled to Nin'eveh with the miserable remnant of his forces, and was soon after murdered by his own sons, " as he was worshipping in the house of Nis'roch, his god."

The intelligence of this wondrous deliverance was spread over the east; Ber'odach-Bal'adan, king of Babylon, sent ambassadors to congratulate Hezekiah, and also to inquire into the phenomenon of the retrogression of the solar shadow. Hezekiah, with foolish pride, displayed all his treasures to the ambassadors. Isaíah was sent to reprove his ostentation, and to inform him that these Babylonians would destroy the kingdom of Judah. The repentant monarch heard the rebuke with pious resignation, and submissively yielded himself to the dispensations of Providence. His death was sincerely lamented by his subjects; "they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerúsalem did him honor at his death."

Manas'seh was scarcely less remarkable for iniquity than his father for piety; He even exceeded A'haz in impiety, for he revelled in the grossest abominations of eastern idolatry. His subjects too readily imitated his example; they joined him in persecuting the prophets of the Lord, who remonstrated against their transgressions; there is a constant tradition among the Jews, that Isaíah was sawn in sunder during the reign of this merciless tyrant. But an avenger was at hand; the Assyrians invaded Judah with overwhelming forces, stormed Jerúsalem, and carried the impious Manas'seh in chains to Babylon (B. C. 676). The unfortunate monarch was treated with savage cruelty by his captors; he was so loaded with iron bands, that he could not move his head. But "when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers; and prayed unto him, and He was entreated of him, and brought him again to Jerúsalem into his kingdom." Manas'seh, thus restored, applied himself diligently to extirpate idolatry; and the remainder of his reign was spent in peace and comparative tranquillity.

Notwithstanding the fearful punishment inflicted on Manas'seh, and his example of sincere penitence, A'mon, his son and successor, revived all the infamous rites of idolatry. In a brief reign of two years, the kingdom was brought to the verge of destruction; corruption spread through every department of the administration, and crimes at which nature revolts were not only permitted, but encouraged. At length, some of the officers of the household slew the licentious monarch; they were however put to death for their treason; and Josíah, the son of A'mon, at the early age of eight years, was raised to the throne.

From the moment of his accession, Josíah eagerly applied himself to restoring the worship of the true God, and reforming the abuses of the kingdom. Josíah travelled through his kingdom, and through some of the adjoining cities of Israel which lay almost desolate, removing from them every vestige of idolatry; and having thus purified his kingdom, he celebrated the feast of the Passover with the utmost solemnity and splendor. The greater part of Josíah's reign was spent in tranquillity; but when he had been rather more than thirty years upon the throne, the overthrow of the Assyrian empire by the Medes and Bab

ylonians, induced Pharaoh-Hoph'ra, the powerful king of Egypt, to attempt the extension of his dominions to the Euphrátes. Josíah rashly attacked the Egyptian forces in the valley of Megid'do, and was mortally wounded. His servants brought him to Jerúsalem, where he died. "And all Judah and Jerúsalem mourned for Josíah."

The people of Jerúsalem raised Jehoáhaz, the youngest son of Josíah, to the throne; but he was set aside by the victorious Pharaoh-Nécho, who gave the kingdom to the elder prince Eliakim, and changed his name to Jehoíakim. A complete revolution in the affairs of Asia was effected by the victorious career of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He overthrew the Egyptians at Car'chemish, " and took from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrátes, all that pertained to the king of Egypt." Jehoiakim submitted to the conqueror, and agreed to pay tribute for the kingdom of Judah, but afterward planning a revolt, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Jerusalem, plundered the city, sent the treasures and sacred vessels of the temple as trophies to Babylon, put Jehoiakim to death as a rebel, and left his unburied corpse a prey to the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the fields. He was succeeded by his son Jehoíachin, who after a brief but profligate reign of three months, was deposed by the imperious conqueror, and sent in chains to Babylon, with a multitude of other captives.

Zedekiah, the uncle of the deposed monarch, was chosen his successor; but he did not take warning by the fate of his predecessors, and abstain from intrigues with Egypt. Instigated by Pharaoh-Hoph'ra, and encouraged by false prophets, he renounced his allegiance to the king of Babylon. When the forces of Nebuchadnez'zar approached, Pharaoh-Hoph'ra made but a faint effort to assist his unfortunate ally; on the first repulse, he retreated within the frontiers of his own kingdom, leaving Zedekiah to bear the brunt of the Assyrians' rage. Nebuchadnezzar, after a short siege, compelled Jerúsalem to surrender unconditionally. Zedekiah and his family fled, but were overtaken by the pursuers in the plains of Jericho; the degraded king was dragged in chains before the cruel conqueror; his wives and children were slain in his presence, his eyes were put out, and he was sent in chains to terminate his miserable existence as a captive in Bab'ylon. Jerúsalem and its temple were razed to the ground; the wretched inhabitants were transported to Bab'ylon; and for seventy years the holy city had no existence save in the memory of heart-broken exiles (B. C. 568). The day on which Jerúsalem was taken, and that on which its destruction was completed, are observed even in our age, as days of fasting and humiliation, by the scattered remnant of the Jewish nation. The former event occurred on the ninth day of the fourth month; the latter on the seventh day of the fifth month.

Oriental conquerors subjected their captives to the most cruel treatment. They were bound in the most painful attitudes and driven like cattle to the slave-markets, where families were divided, by their members being sold to different masters. It is probable that the Babylonians were not less severe task-masters than the Egyptians had been; for we find in the later prophets that the memory of what the Jews had suffered ever rankled in the mind of the nation; and it is remarkable that after their deliverance they never again lapsed into idolatry

CHAPTER VI.

THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS.

SECTION I.-Geographical Outline.

THE boundaries of Irán, which Europeans call Persia, have undergone many changes: in its most prosperous periods, its limits were the Persian gulf and Indian ocean on the south, the rivers Indus and Ox'us on the east, the Caspian sea and Caucasian mountains on the north, and the Euphrátes on the west. The most striking features of this extensive country are numerous chains of mountains, and extensive tracts of desert, interspersed with fertile valleys and rich pasture-lands. The southern coast along the Persian gulf is a sandy plain, desolated by pestilential winds from the desert of Kermán, and scarcely possessing any indentation or navigable river which could serve as a harbor. Thence to the Caspian sea and the Ox'us there is a succession of mountains and valleys of different elevation and extent. Few of the mountains are of extraordinary height, though some of the ranges are capped with perpetual snow. None of the valleys are wide, but some of them extend to the length of one hundred miles.

PERSIA PROPER, the modern province of Phars, contained the sacred metropolis of the empire, known to us only by its Greek name, Persep'olis. This celebrated city was destroyed by Alexander; but its ruins testify that it must have rivalled the most splendid cities of antiquity.

The province of Susiána (Khuzistán) separated Persia Proper from Babylónia; between the two provinces was a range of mountains, inhabited by warlike pastoral tribes, of which the most celebrated were the Ux'ii, who compelled the Persian kings to pay them tribute when they went from Súsa to Persep'olis. Susiána was a fertile province, watered by several small streams, that supplied a vast number of canals and water-courses. Súsa, the capital of this district, once the favorite residence of the Persian monarchs, is now a vast desert, where the ruins of a city can with difficulty be traced.

MEDIA was divided into two provinces; Atropaténe or Media Minor (Azerbiján), and Media Major (Irák Ajemí). Ecbatána (Ham'adan) was the capital of Media, and rivalled Súsa and Persepolis in magnificence, while it exceeded them in extent and the strength of its fortifications. The eastern districts of Media, named A'ria, formed an extensive steppe, which merged in the desert of Carmánia (Kermán). The capital was named A'ria, and occupied the site of the modern Herát.

North of Media lay Par'thia and Hyrcánia (Taberistán and Mazenderán); mountainous regions, with some fertile valleys. Northeast of these were the sandy deserts 'now called Khirwán, tenanted by nomade tribes, who then and now practised alternately the arts of merchants, herdsmen, and robbers. East of A'ria was Bactriána, divided by the Ox'us from Sog'diana: its capital city was Bac'tra, which is usually identified with the modern city of Balkh. The metropolis of Sogdiána was Maracan'da, now called Samarcand, one of the most ancient commercial cities in the world.

East of the province of Phars were Carmánia (Kermán) and Gedrósia (Mekrán); flat and sandy, but interspersed with some very fertile tracts. The hills in the interior of Persia are but thinly clad with vegetation, and none but those of Mazenderán and Georgia possess forests; there are but few rivers of sufficient magnitude to be navigable: the most remarkable are the Ulaí or Eulæ'us (Karún), the Ar'ras or Arax'es, and the Etyman'der (Her'mund).

The valleys of the centre of Persia abound in the rarest and most valuable vegetable productions. The orchards produce all the fruits of the temperate zone, and the most beautiful flowers of our gardens grow wild in the fields. The horses and dogs are of uncommon size, strength, and beauty; and no country possesses a more robust, active, and wellshaped race of men. In short, Persia possesses every natural advantage for becoming a powerful and prosperous empire; but from the remotest ages it has been subjected to a blighting despotism, by which its resources have been not merely neglected, but wasted and destroyed.

SECTION II.-The Sources and Extent of our Knowledge respecting the

Ancient Persians.

THE Sources of Persian history are either native or foreign; the latter including the accounts both of the Greek historians and the Jewish prophets.

The first native authority is the Zend-a-vesta, a collection of the sacred books of the ancient Persians. In this work are contained the early traditions of the nation, the religious system and moral code ascribed to Zerdúsht, or Zoroaster, the great Persian legislator, and the liturgy still used by the "worshippers of fire." Connected with this is the Dabistán, written by a Mohammedan traveller about two centuries ago, in which the author treats very fully of the ancient religion of Persia, professedly deriving his information from original sources. To these must be added some minor Parsí works, collected by oriental ists in India.

Next in importance to these ranks the Sháh Námeh, or Book of Kings, an immense epic poem, written by Ferdousí, the greatest poet of Persia, about the middle of the tenth century. This historical poem was compiled from vague traditions, and from the few fragments of ancient Persian literature that survived the political destruction of national records by the Greeks and Parthians, and the fanaticism of the first Mohammedan conquerors; and, consequently, facts are so disguised by a multitude of fictions, that it is always difficult, and frequently impossible, to arrive at the truth of his representations. Mirkhond and his son Khon