beheld the city and wept over it, "Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come

upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another."

2. Little more than forty years after, this prophecy was most awfully accomplished. The Romans never altered their mode of governing the Jews, and that unhappy people never deviated from their opposition, and hostility to their tyrants. The most remarkable feature in the Jewish character, at that time, was their attachment to the ceremonies of their religion, their veneration for the 'Temple, and their horror at all idolatry. Nothing could surpass the indignation with which they received an order from the emperor Caligula, to place his statue in the temple of Jehovah; and though they were afterwards excused from this violation of their feelings, their reluctance to obey the emperor, increased the ill-will subsisting between them and the Roman government.

3. Various provocations determined the Romans to punish the Jews, and the obstinacy of the Jews prompted them to resist the attack. Titus, the son of Vespasian, was at length sent with an immense army against Jerusalem, and after a siege of several months, the city was taken and burnt by Titus; 1,000,000 persons are supposed to have perished, the beautiful structure of the temple was destroyed, and 97,000 prisoners were taken. All over the province of Judea, thousands perished

by famine and the sword. 2,500,000 lambs were offered in sacrifice, one for each person who attended the passover, not long before, so that Judea contained a numerous population, exposed to the ravages of war.

4. The Christians had been warned by their master that when they should see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, they should flee to the mountains; and when the enemy approached they removed to Pella, one hundred miles from Jerusalem, beyond the Jordan, and there united themselves to the Gentiles.

5. The Jews, in other parts of the Roman dominions, were massacred in great numbers. From that time to the present, they have been a scattered and divided people in different countries of Europe, Asia, and America, suffering great injuries and contempt, in all countries, except the United States, where they are protected by the laws, and well treated. They still reject the Gospel of Christ, still look for the Messiah, and hope to be restored to their ancient city, Jerusalem, and to return to the worship of the temple.

6. Jerusalem still stands, an object of attention to the curious traveller. It is subject to the Turks, contains many monuments of christianity, and some monasteries.

THE TEMPLE.

1. The first temple was built by Solomon, and estroyed by the army of Nebuchadnezzar; it was

rebuilt at the restoration, under Nehemiah and Ezra, and repaired by Herod, king of Judea, B. C. 23.

2. The following description of the temple concerning whose destruction Christ prophecied, and which was burned by the army of Titus, is extracted from Miss Adams' History of the Jews.

3. "After Herod had amassed a prodigious treasure by his cruel extortions and confiscations, he proposed to regain the favour of the Jewish nation by rebuilding the temple; and for eight or nine years, employed upon it eighteen thousand workmen, who at last completed the stupendous design. The magnificent structure, which he erected, is said, in some respects, to have even exceeded the first temple, which was built by Solomon.

4. "Rising in all its grandeur from the summit of a mountain, it commanded an extensive prospect; its appearance, says Josephus, exhibited every thing, that could strike the mind and astonish the sight. It was on every side covered with solid plates of gold, and, when the sun arose upon it, reflected such a dazzling effulgence, that the eye was unable to sustain its radiance.

5. "The temple was encompassed with august porticos, on which immense riches were profusely expended; and every ornament bestowed, that human art and genius could devise. This superb structure was continually receiving additions to the time of the ministry of our Saviour. Herod set up a golden eagle of exquisite workmanship, the arms of the Roman empire, over the gates of the temple."

ASSYRIA.

1. In books of Universal History, Assyria is mentioned as being one of four great empires, which, in ancient times, successively comprehended the whole civilized world. These four empires were the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman. These sovereignties, one after the other, included in themselves the territories, and the minds of all cultivated men then upon earth.

2. The Assyrian Empire, terminated in the death of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, B. C. 538. Cyrus conquered the country; and thenceforth his dominion was called the Persian empire. Alexander laid waste these countries, and annexed them to his kingdom of Macedon, in Europe, B. C. 336; and though the Romans did not extend their possessions beyond the Euphrates, they became masters of the south of Europe, the west of Asia, and the north of Africa; and Octavius Augustus was declared emperor of this vast territory, B. C.

27.

3. It is useless to employ and perplex the understanding upon events of past time, which no historian has accurately recorded. The very name of the Assyrian empire might be forgotten, and no lesson of wisdom be lost, so little is known of a power which only appears upon the written list of dominions that have passed away. However, the conquests of Assyrian kings are recorded in Scripture, and connected with the dispersion of the IIebrew nation, therefore some attention is due to their history.

4. Assyria, Chaldea, Babylon and Media, are

separately laid down in the ancient maps, yet they are not accurately defined in Scripture. The beginning and duration of the Assyrian empire are not ascertained precisely. Nimrod, "the mighty hunter" of Genesis, is its reputed founder; Ninus was his successor; and there is a story of an Assyrian queen, Semiramis, who carried on wars with the princes of India.

4. Sardanapalus is reckoned the last king of the first Assyrian kingdom. Lord Byron wrote a tragedy on the history of Sardanapalus. He was a weak and cowardly prince, did not know how to govern, and spent his life in low pleasures. Some of the Assyrian nobles took advantage of his cowardice, and collecting an army, surrounded the

walls of his palace. While Sardanapalus was encompassed by his enemies, he caused a pile to be erected, and upon this he laid his gold and jewels, and mounting it with his wives and children, set it on fire, and they were consumed in the flames together.