among these marshes. As in the present day, the reed tombs of a sheik, or holy man, are often to be seen islanded amidst a wilderness of water and of aquatic vegetation."

Here, then, is the sum of human greatness! The mighty of the earth, alike with "the mean man," are brought low, and mingle with the dust.

"Proud royalty! how altered in thy looks!

How blank thy features, and how wan thy hue!
Son of the morning! whither art thou gone?
Where hast thou hid thy many-spangled head,
And the majestic menace of thine eyes;
Felt from afar? Pliant and powerless now,
Like new-born infant bound up in his swathes;
Or victim tumbled flat upon his back,
That throbs beneath the sacrificer's knife.
Mute must thou bear the strife of little tongues,
And coward insults of the base-born crowd,
That grudge a privilege thou never hadst,
But only hoped for in the peaceful grave,
Of being unmolested and alone.
Arabia's gums and odoriferous drugs,
And honours by the herald duly paid,
In mode and form, e'en to a very scruple;
Oh cruel irony! these come too late;

And only mock whom they are meant to honour.
Surely there's not a dungeon slave, that's buried
In the highway, unshrouded and uncoffined,
But lies as soft, and sleeps as sound as he.
Sorry pre-eminence of high descent,

Above the baser born to rot in state."-BLAIR.

Who could look upon the tombs of the kings of Assyria, buried in the solitude of these marshes, and thirst for human greatness? Rather, they would teach the beholder its vanity, and cause him to exclaim with the psalmist,

"There be many that say, Who will show us any good?
Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
Psa. iv. 6.

"Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
And quicken thou me in thy way."-Psa. cxix. 27.

LAWS.

The laws of the Assyrians and Babylonians, as may be inferred from the preceding article, were vague, and entirely dependent on the caprice or pleasure of their monarchs. According to Herodotus, however, there was one law, which appears to have been irrevocably fixed. This law was calculated to increase the number of the inhabitants, by obliging

all, especially the meaner classes, to marry. But though this law was calculated to increase the power of the empire, it was, nevertheless, one of the most unjust, cruel, and unnatural enactments that has ever been enacted by any state, ancient or modern; for, by one clause, it deprived a parent of exercising his natural right of bestowing his own daughters in marriage. This right was assumed for the king and his officers; and, as soon as they were arrived at the age of maturity, they were exposed in some public place for sale. The most beautiful were put up first, and the highest bidder became the purchaser. When all who had charms were disposed of, the money that was raised by this sale was applied in behalf of some of those to whom nature had not been so lavish of her exterior gifts. These were offered to such as would take the least money with them; and the poor, who valued money more than beauty, were as eager in underbidding each other, as the rich were in overbidding for the beautiful. The result of this was, that their females were all disposed of in marriage: the poor, however, were obliged to give security, that they would take those they had chosen, before they received the sum they agreed to take with them.

Concerning many other customs, and even laws, as recorded by Herodotus and Strabo, we forbear to speak, recalling to memory the sentiments of the apostle with reference to the works of darkness committed by the heathen world: "For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret," Ephes. v. 12. Those which we have recorded, as done openly, are sufficient to make the Christian blush for the honour of humanity, and to call forth the deepest gratitude of Christian parents and their children, for their privileges; which, however, are attended with corresponding duties and responsibilities. But it is to be feared, that many professing Christian parents neglect their duty in this partic

Too many sacrifice the happiness of their offspring at the shrine of the god of this world, Mammon! An old writer, looking at this evil in a worldly point of view, and aiming a blow at its root, says, "There be two towns in the land of Liege, called Bovins and Dinant, the inhabitants whereof bear an almost incredible hatred one to another; and yet their children, notwithstanding, usually marry together: and the reason is, because their is none other good town or wealthy place near them. Thus parents, for a little pelf, often marry their children to those whose persons they hate; and thus, union betwixt families is not made but the breach rather 8

VOL II.

widened the more." To borrow a figure from the same writer, grace and goodness should be the principal loadstone in the affections of those who unite in holy matrimony; for love which hath ends will have an end; whereas, that which is founded on true virtue, will always continue. That is a wise injunction of the apostle, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers," 2 Cor. vi. 14. Neither gold nor honours should tempt the Christian parent to endanger the everlasting welfare of the souls of their offspring by such unequal marriages; for the word of God repeatedly warns them against such connexions, and the severest judgments follow them.

PUNITIVE LAWS.

Like the general laws, so were the punishments among the Assyrians and Babylonians, vague and uncertain. They were, indeed, arbitrary and rigorous, in proportion to the tyrant's present rage and fury. Nothing is recorded of them by profane historians; but it may be gathered from the prophecies of Daniel, that beheading, cutting in pieces, turning the offender's house into a dunghill, and burning in a fiery furnace, were sentences ordered by the kings of Babylon; and hence it may be inferred that these were the usual modes of punishment. See Dan. i. 10; ii. 5; iii. 19.

MILITARY POWER.

Little is known concerning the military force of the empire of Assyria, except that it was very great. Thus when Sennacherib invaded Jerusalem, it is recorded that the angel of the Lord smote in the Assyrian camp 66 a hundred and four score and five thousand" men, Isa. xxxvii. 36. That they were noted for their power in horses and chariots is plain, from Isa. v. 26-28, where the prophet predicts the executioners of God's judgments upon his people in these emphatic words:

"And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far,
And will hiss unto them from the end of the earth:
And, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:
None shall be weary nor stumble among them;

None shall slumber nor sleep;

Neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed,
Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
Whose arrows are sharp,

And all their bows bent,

Their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint,
And their wheels like a whirlwind."

Here, says Dr. Henderson, the rapidity with which the Assyrians advanced is beautifully expressed, by comparing the revolution of the wheels of their war-chariots to that of the sudden whirlwind, which seizes upon all within its reach, and rolling it up with indescribable velocity, bears it into the air. The allusion to the hardness of the hoofs of the horses, probably arises from the fact that the ancients did not shoe their horses by nailing iron-plates to the bottom of the hoof, as in our own country. They had, indeed, shoes of leather, gold, and silver, but these enclosed the whole hoof, and were only used on particular occasions. Xenophon, who, in his Cyropædia, represents the Babylonians in his day as supplying 20,000 horse and 200 chariots, to the force opposed to Cyrus, lays much stress on this point, observing that the good hoof is hard and hollow, and when struck on the ground, sounds like a cymbal. Homer continually uses the epithet, "brazenhoofed," to the horses of his heroes, which proves that he considered hard hoofs to be requisite in war-horses.

COMMERCE.

The trade of this ancient people is no where described at large, but that it must have been considerable, cannot be doubted, especially when Babylon was in the meridian of her glory. This mighty city was, as it were, situated in the midst of the old world, and by the medium of the Euphrates and Tigris, had ready communication with the western and northern parts, as it had also with the eastern, by means of the Persian Gulf. Babylon, moreover, was not only the seat of a potent monarchy, but it also afforded many productions and manufactures of its own, to exchange with its neighbours. In Josh. vii. 21, a "goodly Babylonish garment," or, literally, a mantle of Shinar," of which Babylon was, in after ages, the famous and dominant capital, is mentioned, which indicates that this district had early acquired the reputation for its manufactured robes, for which its capital was famous among the ancients. That the Babylonians had shipping of their own, may be inferred from the fact, that the prophet denominates their city a 66 city of waters" and the description of the fall of Babylon, in the book of Revelation, under which figure the mystical Babylon, Rome, is represented, proves at

once the mighty riches of this city as an emporium, that the Babylonians had an extensive commerce, and that they abounded in shipping. "The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandize of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon,-and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every ship-master, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried,-Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate," Rev. xviii. 11—19.

THE PRIESTLY POWER.

In several passages of Scripture we read of magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans, in connexion with the government of the Assyrian empire. This refers to the priests, who appear to have formed the learned caste;_ occupying the same station as the priests did in Egypt. It does not seem clear, however, that they possessed the same power in the councils, or over the actions of the monarchs. What influence they possessed arose from their learning. This, it is probable, greatly distinguished them from the rest of the people, and caused them to be as much revered as the Egyptian priests were. They chiefly spent their time in the study of philosophy, and they were especially famous in the art of astrology, which would give them immense influence over the minds of the credulous multitude, and cause them to be regarded with deference, even by the haughty monarchs who ruled over them. That they held a conspicuous place in the empire appears evident, from the several transactions recorded in the book of Daniel, and from the fact that Isaiah notices them in his denunciations of woe upon that empire.

Stand now with thine enchantments,
And with the multitude of thy sorceries,