THE ACANTHUS. PROUD regal plant! thy leaves were wont to twine Thy deep jagged foliage, in symmetric rings; Amid her short-lived grandeur bids thee grace, REVIEW OF BOOKS. Abridgments of Goldsmith's Histories of England, Greece, and Rome, with Questions for examination at the end of each section.-By Robert Simpson. Price 3s. 6d. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. History of Scotland, on the same plan, by the same Author. 13th Edition. Price 3s. 6d. WE do not for reading recommend abridgments of history to young people above the age of infancy: and by no means abridgments of Goldsmith's Histories, themselves only too short to be efficient. But for learning, abridgments are very useful; and the above mentioned publications the best we have seen. History is always in some way learned as a lesson in the school-room: and volumes such as these, in which the pupil must find the answer and consequently consider the question, are far better than those in which the history is cut up into question and answer, where the latter is learned without any attention to the former, and sometimes without even knowing what it is, or whom it regards. This plan is a little exercise of the mind-the other is not. Missionary Geography; or, the Progress of Religion traced round the World. By an Irish Clergyman, Author of "The Simple Memorials." Price 1s. 6d. Nisbet, 1825. WE have been requested to notice this book; and though nursery books are not within the compass of our design, we have no objection to do so; those who have the care of children being sometimes glad to be informed of little works in which religion and information are harmlessly mixed up, in the form of amusement for the nursery. As such we can recommend this little book. A Catechism on the Works of Creation; intended to assist Parents or Tutors in conveying a General Knowledge of the Objects of Nature. By P. Smith, Author of "A Practical Guide to Composition," &c. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. Price 6d. AMONG the almost endless number of Catechisms upon every subject that are now published, some of which are too scientific in the terms to be understood by children, and some too puerile to be of any use to them, and many both the one and the other, we have not met with one on general subjects more simple and comprehensive than this; and can recommend it as a useful little task book for those who are of an age to be enquiring a little about every thing. THE ASSISTANT OF EDUCATION. OCTOBER, 1825. A SKETCH OF GENERAL HISTORY. HISTORY OF PERSIA FROM THE DEATH OF CYRUS, B. C. 529, To CYRUS was succeeded by his son, Cambyses, the prince we have mentioned as the final destroyer of Egyptian liberty and splendour, in the time of the unfortunate Psammeticus. It was his first expedition, in the fourth year of his reign. In besieging Pelusium, a strong city on the frontiers, Cambyses is said to have had recourse to the stratagem of placing before his army a number of cats, dogs, and sheep, and other animals held sacred among the Egyptians. The soldiers of the garrison not daring to throw a dart, or shoot an arrow, lest they should destroy some of these sacred animals, the city was taken without opposition. The circumstances of Egypt's subjection we have told in the history of that country. Herodotus mentions a curious observation made on the field of the battle of Memphis, of which he was an eyewitness, the bones remaining in his time where they had fallen, the Egyptians and Persians apart. The skulls of the Egyptians were so hard, they could scarcely be broken by the blow of a large stone; those of the Persians so soft and weak, the lightest pebble would break them. This he attributes to the Egyptian custom of shaving the heads of their children early, and exposing them to the sun, which also secured them from baldness —whereas the heads of the Persians were never exposed to the atmosphere, being at all times covered with caps and turbans. Cambyses seems to have inherited little of his father but the desire of conquest-his expeditions were unwise and mostly unfortunate; his government senseless and tyrannical. In the sixth year of his reign, he resolved on an expedition against Ethiopia. Under pretence of an embassy, he sent spies into that country; and it was on that occasion the Ethiopian king, perceiving his intentions, sent him in return for his presents his own bow, bidding his embassadors tell him, the king of Ethiopia advised the king of Persia to make war on the Ethiopians when the Persians should be able to bend so strong a bow. Cambyses set forth on this expedition-before he had marched a fifth part of the way, his provision were consumed, and his army obliged to eat their beasts of burden; and eventually, when they reached the sandy deserts, to feed upon each other-every tenth man being doomed by lot to serve as food for his companions. The king returned to Thebes, where he rifled the city and temples of their wealth, Egypt being entirely in his power. On arriving at Memphis, he found the citizens celebrating the re-appearance of their god Apis. Thinking their mirth was occasioned by his ill success, he angrily demanded the meaning of it. The magistrates gave him an account of their custom of rejoicing at the appearance among them of their god; but not believing it, he ordered them to be put to death, and sent for the priests. These repeated the same story. Cambyses, still doubting, commanded that their god should be brought before him, observing that since he was so familiar as to show himself to them, he would be acquainted with him. This chief god of Egypt, Osiris or Apis, was worshipped in the shape of a bull, kept in the temple for the purpose. The bull was to be marked in a very particular manner; and when he died, the whole country was searched to find another with similar marks to succeed him: consequently, when none could be found, they were for a time without; and the re-appearance of the god under the required form, was an occasion of great rejoicing. Cambyses, expecting to see a deity, was very angry when the calf was brought before him, and with his dagger gave it a wound of which it shortly died. The Egyptians say that the Persian prince was immediately deprived of his senses, and became mad: his history gives ample reason tó believe that he was so before. He had already from jealousy murdered his brother-he then formed a desire to marry his sister Meroe, and summoned all the judges of the nation, whose office it was to interpret the laws, to know whether there was any law that would allow a brother to marry his sister. The judges, unwilling to sanction such a lawless act, yet afraid to contradict him, gave answer that there was no law allowing of such marriages; but there was a law that gave the king of Persia liberty to do whatever he pleased. On this Cambyses. married his sister Meroe, and gave the example of a practice that became very common in Persia and other eastern nations. He eventually caused her death by a blow given in a moment of irritation. The lords of his court were daily sacrificed to his insane fury. He one day asked his favourite, Prexaspés, what the Persians thought of him. Prexaspés told him they much applauded his actions in general, but thought him too much addicted to wine. The king replied that he would soon prove to them how little wine could affect his powers, and began to drink to more excess than ever. Then ordering the son of Prexaspes to place himself at the end of the room, with his left hand on his head, he said to his father, “If I shoot this arrow through the heart of thy son, the Persians you will allow have slandered me; if I miss, I will allow they speak the truth." He drew his bow, passed the arrow through the young man's heart, and insultingly + |