governed by different kings. They are mentioned in the old and new Testaments. Hiram, king of Tyre, furnished Solomon with the cedar wood of Lebanon to build the temple at Jerusalem. These cities were attacked several times by the Babylonians and Persians; and Tyre was utterly destroyed by Alexander, B. C. 332. 7. The destruction of Tyre and Sidon is spoken of in scripture, as a retribution of God, for the sins of the inhabitants of those cities, but the beneficent Jesus represents these sins to have been occasioned by ignorance; he says, "Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida, (cities of Judea) if the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they (the people of those cities) would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." But they were not so instructed, and they perished under the sword of their enemies. 8. There is nothing in eastern poetry that gives higher ideas of the wealth and power of nations, and of the destruction which overwhelms the proud, than the twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, and twenty-eighth chapters of Ezekiel. Of Tyre the prophet says, "Thus saith the Lord God, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. 9." And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise, and they shall break down thy walls and destroy thy pleasant houses. And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease, and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. They shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou de stroyed, that wast inhabited of sea-faring men, the renowned city which was strong in the sea." 10. The religion of the Phoenicians was idolatry. Baal to whom the Israelites sacrificed, and Astarte, to whom drink-offerings were poured out, as to "the queen of Heaven," were their chief deities. The Tyrian purple was a dye extracted from a shell fish, now unknown. The Phoenicians sent colonies to different countries. The most celebrated was that of Carthage. The story of the foundation of Carthage is this. 11. Pygmalion, a prince of Tyre, murdered Sichæus, the king, who was his brother. Pygmalion committed this crime, that he might possess himself of the wealth of Sichæus. Dido, the widow of Sichæus, contrived to conceal some of the treasures of her husband, and with a number of adventurers, men and women, escaped to Africa, and founded the city of Carthage. After the conquest of Tyre, by Alexander, Phoenicia was annexed to Syria. LESSON XIII. PERSIA. 1. That country which may be seen in modern maps, under the name of Persia, is known in ancient times for the kingdom of powerful monarchs, and the abode of a remarkable people. 2. Nothing certain, concerning Persia, is recorded till the age of Cyrus, about six hundred years before Christ. Cyrus was the son of Cambyses, a Persian, and Mandane, a princess of Media, a country adjacent to Persia. The Per sians were, at the birth of Cyrus, a small nation, Consisting of little more than one hundred thousand men, and inhabiting only a small province of the country now called Persia. The history of Cyrus is interesting, separately from the history of Persia. When Cyrus was about forty years old, he was called into Media to assist his uncle, the king of that country. 3. The king of Armenia was dependant on the king of Media, but he refused to pay the tribute required of him. Cyrus, therefore, marched against him, and compelled him to submit to the king, his sovereign. Other nations of Asia confederated, or joined together against Media, and chose Cræsus, king of Lydia, to be their general. Cyrus, at the head of an army composed of Medes, Persians, and their allies, subdued this formidable force. 4. The king of Babylon was equally hostile to Media. Cyrus next turned his arms against him, and after a siege of two years, became master of the city of Babylon. On the death of Cyaxares, king of Media, he left his kingdom to Cyrus. Including Persia, the dominions of Cyrus extended from the river Indus to the Mediterranean, and from the Persian gulf to the Euxine sea. Cyrus died at the age of seventy years, leaving behind him the character of one of the wisest princes that ever lived. 5. In the Bible history has been told the man ner in which Cyrus permitted the Jews to return from Babylon to Judea; and under the article Greece, is related the formidable but unsuccessful attempts of the Persians, against the Grecians. In the same history is mentioned the conquest of Persia, by Alexander of Macedon.— The death of Darius, who was king at that time, happened two hundred and six years after the accession of Cyrus to the throne. 6. In the age of Cyrus, the Persians were a temperate and valiant people, but the great wealth they acquired, and the luxury and indolence into which they fell, made them an easy prey to the Greeks, when they invaded their country. 7. On the north of Persia lay the country of Parthia. The people of this country were hardy, enterprising, and bold, and after the death of Alexander, they became masters of Persia; but Parthia, and all the provinces included in the Persian empire, fell into the power of the Romans. After Persia had been subject to these successive conquerors four hundred and seventyfive years, Artaxares, a native Persian, excited a revolt from the Roman governor of Persia, A. D. 230. 8. From this time till A. D. 630, a period of four hundred years, the Persians and the Roman emperors kept up a contest for the sovereignty, though the Persians, for the most part, sustained the dignity of a powerful and independent king dom. 9. Then the Saracens, who carried the religion of Mahomet, and the victorious banner of the crescent, from Spain on the Atlantic, to the easternmost countries of Asia, brought their armies into Iran, or Persia; and about the middle of the seventh century, abolished the ancient institutions of the country, and established the faith and political despotism of the Arabian impostor. 1. The monarchs of Persia, during the four centuries preceding the Saracen conquest, were of one family-the Sassanian. Under the Sassanians the Persians professed the religion of Zoroaster. History does not determine at what time this philosopher lived. His doctrines are contained in a book called the Zendavesta. The Zendavesta had the same authority over the followers of Zoroaster, as the Koran has over the Mahommedans. 2. The sect of Zoroaster was not exterminated by the Saracens. Some who remained attached to it, and their descendants, have cherished this faith, in obscure and safe retreats, to the present time. These are the Guebres or FireWorshippers. Zoroaster taught that fire, and the sun particularly, were emblems of God, and under these figures the Guebres worship the supreme deity. 3. This doctrine, and the faithfulness of the Guebres, are described by Mr. Moore in his beautiful poem, the Fire-Worshippers. "And see-the Sun himself!-on wings Those heavens began their march sublime, |