overreaching cupidity. In the fifth century they were banished from Al exandria, where they had been established from the time of Alexander. They rendered themselves the ridicule of all nations by their enthusiasm in favour of a false Messiah, who appeared at the time in Candia. This impostor, who was named Moses, and pretended to be the ancient législator of the Jews, asserted that he had descended from Heaven, in order to enable the children of Abraham to enter the Land of Promise.

A new revolt in Palestine, in the sixth century, served to show the turbulent disposition of the Jewish race, and the increase of the massacres of that people. Phocias drove them from Antioch, and Heraclius from Jerusalem. While some of the scattered families resorted to Egypt, Babylon, and other polished countries in the East, there were others who settled in Arabia, penetrated to China, or wandered over the European continent. But many still remained in Palestine. After the conversion of the Roman empire to Christianity, Judea became an object of religious veneration, and the empress Helena repaired thither in pilgrimage, and built various splendid temples. A crowd of pilgrims resorted thither subsequently from every part of the world; the most numerous arriving from the west, over which the church of Rome had fully established its domination. In the commencement of the sixth century, however, an entire change took place. Judea was among the countries first exposed to the fanatical followers o Mahomet, and soon fell under their sway. But when the Turks poured in from the north, they no longer observed the same courtesy. They profaned the holy places, and the intelligence of their outrages being conveyed to Europe, roused the religious spirit of the age into those expeditions called the crusades. All Europe seemed to pour itself upon Asia; the Saracen armies were routed, Jerusalem taken by storm, and its garrison put to the sword. The leader of the first crusade, Godfrey of Bouillon, was made king; and a petty Christian sovereignty established, which endured for above eighty years; the Holy Land continually streaming with the blood of Christian and Saracen. The Mahometan states, whose resources were all at hand, gradually, however, regained the ascendancy. In 1187 Judea was conquered by Saladin; on the decline of whose kingdom it passed through various hands, till, in the 16th century, it was eventually swallowed up in the Turkish empire.

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Great calamities to the Jews occurred during the crusades. Wherever the fanatical soldiers who were on their way to Palestine passed, they pillaged and murdered the scattered inhabitants of the once happy land of Canaan, and the people of the nations among whom they dwelt robbed them of their valuables without remorse. The persecution was general, their furious enemies endeavouring, as it were, to extirpate the very name of Israel. It should be observed, however, that both Mahometans and Jews being animated by a like hatred of the Christians, we often find them acting in concert, especially during the Saracenic conquest of Africa and Spain. Nay, under the rule of the Spanish Moslems, the Jews not only enjoyed toleration, but they cultivated science, and were entrusted with the high offices of state.

In the twelfth century, Philip Augustus, king of France, banished them twice from his kingdom; and during the reign of Philip le Bel, they were accused, and not without justice, of cruel exactions and usu rious extortions. They were also accused with having committed outra ges against the host, of having crucified children on Good Friday, of having insulted the image of Jesus Christ, &c. They were put into the hands of the judges; and, although no proof whatever was brought forward to substantiate their guilt, they were delivered over to the populace to be dealt with according to their pleasure. Philip banished them entirely from France in 1308, and confiscated all their effects. Louis X., his successor, permitted them to re-establish themselves in his kingdom.

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on condition of their paying him a large sum of money. In the reign of Philip the Long, brother and successor of Louis, they were massacred and pillaged. In 1395, Charles V. banished them and confiscated all their property. This was their fourth and last banishment. In 1393 they experienced in Germany a treatment similar to that which they had received in France. In Castile they purchased their peace at a high price; but in Catalonia, Arragon, and the other parts of Spain, they were most horribly persecuted, and nearly two hundred thousand of them were compelled to embrace the Christian religion, or at least appear so to do. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Jews established in Portugal underwent all the mischief with which Moses menaced their nation In 1506, during three days successively, they were barbarously massacred at Lisbon yet as if not content with taking away their lives, they took those among them whom they had mutilated or mortally wounded and burnt them by heaps in the public squares. Two thousand perished in this manner. The fathers not daring to weep for their children nor the children for their fathers, they were mutually overcome by despair on seeing each other dragged away to torment. In the eighth century we find them the property of the Anglo-Saxon kings, who seem to have exercised absolute power over both their lives and goods. In this abject state they remained under the Norman princes and the early Plantaganets, who harassed them by the most cruel exactions, and often treated them with great barbarity. In proof of this, we need only refer to the reigns of Richard I., John, Henry III., and Edward I. If we pursue their history in other European countries, we shall find that if we except the Italian republics, and Spain while under the dominion of its Arab conquerors, the Jews everywhere found themselves the objects of persecution. On the introduction of the Inquisition into Spain and Portugual, that dread tribunal condemned thousands to the flames, before it commenced its diabolical proceedings against those Christians who differed from the see of Rome and it was not until the Protestant states were strong enough to break asunder the shackles of religious intolerance, that the Jew had any chance of ensuring his personal safety.

We thus see that in different ages the Jews have suffered the most dreadful persecutions and massacres: but though the annihilation of the race seemed inevitable, their numbers were still very considerable; and they exercised then, as they do at the present time, no little influence in the affairs of civilized nations. Since arts and learning have revived in Europe, they have felt the benefit of that humane enlightenment, which has extended all over the globe. France, Holland, Austria, and most of the German states, allow them the rights of citizenship; England and Prussia tolerate and protect them; in many of the British colonies they are among the principal merchants and traders; and in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, The attention of the hey are at least suffered to reside unmolested. British nation has of late years been particularly directed towards the improvement of their political condition and their conversion to Christianity But upon the latter topic, as well as the probable restoration of the Jews to the land of their fathers, it is not necessary to offer an opinion; both are concealed from mortal ken by the impenetrable veil which enwraps futurity.

ARMENIA.

THE ancient history of this large and warlike people is connected with that of the several mighty nations who in turn filled the world with the terror of their names. Its first king appears to have been Scython, the next Barzanes, after whose death the kingdom was divided into several

petty kingdoms. The Medes under Astyages subsequently subdued Armenia, which was reduced to a province under Persian governors. It was afterwards divided into Major and Minor, by Artarias and Zadriades, who having united their forces, established each himself in his respective province, independent of his master; the former possessing Armenia Major, the other Minor. They were contemporary with Hannibal, who planned for Artarias the celebrated town of Artarata. town of Artarata. Assisted by the Roman alliance, these usurpers maintained their power in spite of the several attacks of their former master, Antiochus. After their death, the Arme-' nians suffered considerable loss in a war with the Parthians. Marc Antony put Artavardes, the sovereign of Armenia, to death, to make room for Alexander, his own son by Cleopatra; others say that he led him captive to Rome in golden chains. Trajan reduced Armenia to a Roman province; but in the reign of Constantine the Great, and his successor, it had its own kings, dependent on the emperor. Although St. Barthol. ɔmew is said to have introduced Christianity into Armenia, there can be no doubt that

ɔmew is said to. was Christian in the beginning of the fourth century.

The Saracens subdued it in A. D. 687, who gave way to the Turks about a century afterwards. It was then called Turcomania.

Armenia partially recovered its independence, but was again subdued by Occadan or Heccate, son of Genghis, first khan of the Tartars. A remnant of the royal family of Armenia still remained; and we find one of them, Leo, came to England to solicit the aid of Richard II. against the Turks, by whom he had been expelled from his throne. Armenia was again made a province of the Persian empire in 1572. Selim II. reduced it to a Turkish province, in 1522; the greater part of which still remains subject to the Crescent.

ALBANIA.

ALBANIA was nominally a province of the Turkish empire. Its history is diversified, and mixed up with the various fortunes of the surrounding nations. Looked upon as barbarous by the Greeks and Romans, because very slightly explored by them, Albania, better known to those celebra ted people as Illyricum, and Epirus, still retains the simplicity of primitive habits, so that it is emphatically called the Scythia of the Turkish empire. The ancient historians describe the inhabitants of this country as peculiarly fierce and intractable. The remoteness of its situation, and want of union among the several tribes which inhabited the country of Albania, rendered the valour of its people of little consequence to the general affairs of Greece, and accordingly we find them but slightly mixed up with Grecian politics. Under the conduct of Pyrrhus II., one of the most consummate generals of antiquity, who waged a bloody war with the Romans in Italy, the Albanians, or Epirotes, routed Antigonus, king of Macedonia, and held that country in subjection; but their conquest ended with the death of their commander, and they in turn fell under the power of the Macedonians.

The Romans made some settlements in their country, and availed At themselves of the many fine harbours to be found along its coast. their decline, along with other portions of that once mighty empire, Albania fell a prey to Alaric and the Goths, although some of their descendants afterwards regained possession of the northern district. Sigismund, one of its kings, was celebrated for his alliance with Theodoric, the victor of Clovis and Odoacer, A. D. 526. Albania now became the prey of the Sclavonian nations, till it was settled within its present limits, under the Bulgarians, in 870. As the Greek empire declined, the Alba

nians again rose to distinction, and at last re-established their independ ence, in spite of the most strenuous exertions of the Bulgarians, who were masters of all the neighbouring districts of Greece. Forming a fourth division of the army of Nicephorus Basilices, A. D. 1079, they greatly distinguished themselves. During the next century, the period of the crusades, there were several settlements on their coasts by the Sicilians, Franks, and other nations. After the conquest of Constantinople, 1204, Michael Angelus established an independent government in this district. Albania has cut some figure in the annals of the last forty years, chiefly through the enterprising spirit and politic conduct of Ali Pacha, who raised himself to a degree of power which long kept the Turks, who were nominally his masters, in a state of fear to attack him. After amassing immense treasures, and keeping up independent alliances with the European powers, he was, in 1822, finally cut off by the Turkish officers. The modern name of Albania is Arnaout

THE HISTORY OF EGYPT.

(WITH SYRIA.)

THE early history of Egypt, like that of China, is so involved in obscurity and fable, that for many ages it must be passed over in silence; for it would be an insult to common sense, in a work professedly historical, to narrate the marvellous actions ascribed to Osiris, Isis, Typhon, Apollo, and a host of ideal personages who, as we are told, over Egypt "once held sway." After those purely fabulous ages, the first king who makes his appearance, in the times called heroic, but without any certain date, is Menes, who is by some considered the same with Misraim, the son of Ham. He drained the lower part of Egypt, converting that which was before a morass, into firm ground; turned the course of the Nile, so as to render it more beneficial to the conntry, that river having before his time washed the foot of a sandy mountain in Lybia; built the city of Memphis; instituted solemn festivals and other religious rites; instructed his subjects in many valuable arts, and accomplished a variety of wonders usually attributed to the founders of kingdoms.

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It being impossible to follow the succession of princes, it must suffice to state, that after the death of Menes, Egypt was divided into several dynasties, or principalities; but its most natural and permanent division appears to have been into three portions, sometimes under one, and sometimes under different kings. The most southerly portion was called Up per Egypt, or Thebais, the capital of which was Thebes, still remarkable for the extent and magnificence of its remains. The central part, or Middle Egypt, had Memphis for its capital, situated opposite to the mod ern capital Cairo. Lower Egypt was the country along the branches of the Nile, as it approached the sea; many large cities were built in this tract, one of the chief of which was Heliopolis.

We learn that some ages afterwards (B. c. 2084), Egypt was invaded by the Hycsos, a pastoral tribe from the north, who penetrated to Nubia, and established themselves in that country, and in Egypt, as the sovereign

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power. These are known as "the shepherd kings," and they were even tually expelled by Amosis, king of Lower Egypt, B. c. 1825.

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Various princes succeeded, who all bore the title of Pharaoh. Israelites settled in Egypt, and were reduced to a state of slavery, from which they were delivered by Divine interference; and, as we are further nformed in Holy Writ, one of the Pharaohs, with all his host, was drowned in the Red Sea. The most distinguished prince of this race was Sesostris, who marched victoriously through both Africa and Asia, as far as to the countries beyond the Ganges, and enriched Egypt with the booty he acquired. After his return, he divided the country into thirty-six districts or governments,

In 725 B. C., Sabachus, king of Ethiopia, conquered Egypt and left the throne to his natural successors; but after the reign of Tharaca, his grandson, a period of anarchy followed, and Egypt was divided among twelve kings; one of these, Psammetichus, with the assistance of the Greeks, subdued his competitors, and became sole monarch, B. c. 670. After his death, the Egyptain kings continued in frequent hostilities with the neighbouring nations of Judea and Assyria, attended with various success, and were at last reduced to Persian subjection by Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, B. c. 525. The Persians remained masters of Egypt until the year 327 B. C., when it was conquered by Alexander the Great, who was received with joy by the Egyptians; the Persians having made themselves odious to the people by their exactions, and by their contempt of the Egyptian religion. Alexander, as great in the cabinet as in the field, permitted the conquered to enjoy their own laws and customs. He founded Alexandria, which soon became the deposit of the commerce of the East; and it ceased not to flourish until the discovery of a passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope. After the death of the Macedonian hero, Ptolemy Soter, one of his generals, took upon himself the government of Egypt, and his descendants enjoyed it till the year 30 of the Christian era, when it was conquered by the Romans; and it became a province of that empire after the defeat of Marc Antony, and the death of Cleopatra.

The Ptolemies governed Egypt for 293 years. The first four of the family were active and wise princes, who promoted the prosperity of their country, and encouraged literature and the arts. Ptolemy Soter, the sor and successor of Ptolemy Lagus, established an academy of learned men at Alexandria, and founded the celebrated library at that city, which, at the Roman conquest, contained seven hundred thousand volumes. It was partly destroyed by fire in Julius Cæsar's attack on Alexandria; but the losses were replaced in succeeding centuries, until the 7th after Christ, when it was totally destroyed by order of the Mohammedan caliph Omar. For nearly seven centuries Egypt belonged to the Roman and Greek empires, and was for a lengthened period the granary, as it were, of Rome. It then remained under the power of the Mohammedan caliphs till the beginning of the 12th century, when they were expelled by the Turcomans, who in their turn gave way to the Mamelukes, 1250.

The ancient kings of Egypt were always considered subject to the laws of the empire, and their manners were, in some particulars, regulated by set rules; among which, the quality and quantity of the provisions for their tables were allotted. If a king, during his reign, governed arbitrarily, or unjustly, his memory was condemned after his death. No people were ever more idolatrous or superstitious than the Egyptians. Men, animals, and even plants were the objects of their worship; but the deities Isis and Osiris were in the greatest repute, and adored generally throughout the country. They also especially worshiped Apis, a bull, dedicated to Osiris, at Memphis; and Mnevis, a similar bull at Heliopolis. But every city had its sacred animal; a stork, a cat, a monkey, a crocodile, or a goat; any irreverence to which was severely punished, and an in