that riches and power afford no assurance of happiness; and that the greatest sovereigns have not unfrequently been more miserable than their meanest subjects.

SOURCES OF HISTORY.

Some of the principal sources of history, independent of authentic records, or the narrative of those who were contemporary with the events which they relate, are the following:

1. Oral tradition. From this source Herod'otus derived the greater part of his history. It existed before the invention of the arts of writing, carving, and painting.

2. Historical poems. These are common among all barbarous nations. The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer were regarded by the Greeks as of historical authority; and they comprise the only history extant of what is called the heroic age of Greece.

3. Visible monuments, as pillars, heaps of stones, and mounds of earth, are used to perpetuate historical events among a barbarous people.

4. Ruins, as those of Egypt, and of the cities of Balbec, Palmy'ra, and Persep'olis, are lasting memorials of the power, opulence, and taste of the builders.

5. Giving names to countries, towns, &c., has been used, in all ages, as a method of perpetuating the memory of their planters or founders.

6. Coins and medals are of great use in illustrating history, chronology, geography, and mythology, as well as the manners and customs of the nations of antiquity. These, however, belong to a people of some refinement. Ancient coins have been found buried in the earth at various times, in considerable quantities. Vast numbers are now preserved belonging to different ages. The most ancient of those of which the antiquity can be ascertained, belong to the 5th century before the Christian era.

7. Inscriptions on marbles. The most celebrated collection of marbles, made use of for the illustration of ancient history, is that which is now in the possession of the University of Oxford, in England, and which was brought

from Greece by the earl of Arundel, and from him called the Arundelian Marbles.

8. The most important of these inscriptions is the Chronicle of Paros, which contains the chronology of Athens from the time of Cecrops, B. C. 1582, to B. C. 264, at which latter period it is supposed to have been compiled. The authority of this Chronicle has been called in question by a number of learned men; but it has been supported by many others, and the chronology of Greece, at present most generally received, has been, in a great measure, founded upon it.

DIVISIONS OF HISTORY.

1. History, with respect to time, is divided into Ancient and Modern.

2. Ancient History is the history of the world from the creation to the establishment of the New Empire of the West under Charlemagne, A. D. 800. Modern History embraces

all the time subsequent to that period.

3. Some historians, however, adopt the Christian era, and thers the subversion of the Western Empire of the Romans, A. D. 476, for the dividing point between Ancient and Modern History.

4. A third division of history, which is often considered as distinct from ancient and modern, is that of the Middle Ages. This period comprises about a thousand years, from the 5th to the 15th century; or from the subversion of the Western Empire of the Romans to that of the Eastern Empire.

5. The Middle Ages embrace the time intervening between the extinction of ancient literature, and the appearance of modern literature. During this period Europe was sunk in ignorance and barbarism; hence it is often styled the Dark Ages.

6. Ancient History is distinguished by the four great monarchies of Assyria or Babylon, Persia, Greece or Macedonia, and Rome.

7. The Middle Ages are characterized by the origin and progress of Mahometanism and the Saracen Empire, the preva lence of the Feudal System, the Crusades, and Chivalry.

8. Modern History is distinguished by the invention of gunpowder, and the consequent change in the mode of war;

the discovery of America, and the extension of commerce; the invention of the art of printing, the revival of learning, and the diffusion of knowledge; also by the reformation in religion, and a variety of other improvements in the state of society.

9. History, with regard to the nature of its subjects, is di vided into Sacred and Profane, Ecclesiastical and Civil.

10. Sacred History is the history contained in the Scriptures, and it relates chiefly to the Israelites or Jews. Profane History is the history of ancient heathen nations, and is found chiefly in the writings of the Greeks and Romans. Ecclesiastical History is the history of the church of Christ, or of Christianity, from its first promulgation to the present time. Civil History is the history of the various nations, states, and empires, that have appeared in the world, exhibiting a view of their wars, revolutions, and changes.

11. Sacred History goes back to the remotest period of time, and commences with an account of the creation of the world, which, according to the Hebrew text of the Scriptures, took place 4004 years before the Christian era; according to the Samaritan text, 4700; according to the Septuagint, 5872; and according to the computation of Dr. Hales, 5411. The computation according to the Hebrew text, which gives 4004 from the creation to the Christian era, and 1656 from the creation to the deluge, is the one commonly received in English literature, though many suppose that of Dr. Hales to be more

correct.

12. The earliest profane historian, whose works are extant, is Herod'otus, who is styled the Father of History. His history was composed about 445 years B. C., and comprises every thing which he had an opportunity of learning respecting the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Ionians, Lydians, Lycians, and Macedonians, from about the year 713 to 479 before the Christian era.

13. With regard, therefore, to all the preceding ages of the world, which, reckoning from the creation to the time when the narrative of Herod'otus begins, comprise, according to the common chronology, nearly 3300 years, there exist no docu ments, with the exception of the Scriptures, really deserving the name of history. The accounts which have been given of the events of this long series of ages, comprising more than half of the time which has elapsed since the origin of the human race, were drawn up by writers who lived long after the transactions of which they treat, and were compiled from scattered records fragments, and traditions.

14. Our knowledge, of course, of the early history of the world, the first settlement of the different portions of it, the primitive state of society, and the progress of mankind in the remotest ages, is extremely limited. The Scriptures are the only authentic source of information on these subjects. The facts which they record, though not sufficiently numerous to satisfy curiosity, are yet, in the highest degree, interesting and important.

15. Some of the most remarkable events, previous to the commencement of profane history, recorded in the Bible, are the creation of the world, the fall of man, the deluge, the dispersion of mankind at Babel, the planting of different nations, the call of Abraham, the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt, and their settlement in Canaan.

16. The histories of Greece and Rome are far the best known, most interesting, and most important portions of ancient profane history.

17. There is much obscurity hanging over the history of the Middle or Dark Ages.

18. The portions of history best known are those which relate to modern civilized nations, during the last three centuries.

[The CHART OF HISTORY, which is found in this volume, together with the DESCRIPTION and ILLUSTRATION, beginning with 313th page, may now be advantageously attended to.]

[For some remarks on Sacred History, and Tables of the History of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, see pages 319, 320, and 321.]

EGYPT.

It

1. Egypt holds a conspicuous place in history, on account of its great antiquity and early attainments in the arts. nas been styled the cradle of the sciences, and it claims the honor of the invention of the art of writing. At a period when Greece and Italy were immersed in barbarism, Egypt could boast of arts, learning, and civilization. It was the principal source from which the Grecians derived their information; and, after all its windings and enlargements, we may still trace the stream of our knowledge to the banks of the Nile.

2. It is a matter of regret that we have the means of obtaining but little knowledge respecting the ancient history of Egypt. The early dynasties of the kingdom are involved in obscurity, and history throws little light on the building of its most ancient cities, or the construction of those magnificent monuments, which show to how high a state of improvement the inhabitants, at a remote period, had carried the arts, and which still continue to be objects of admiration and astonish

ment.

3. The most celebrated of these works of ancient grandeur are Lake Mæris, an immense artificial reservoir; the Labyrinth, an enormous structure of marble, built under ground; the Catacombs, or Mummy-pits, subterraneous galleries, of prodigious extent, appropriated to the reception of the dead, and the Pyramids, a wonder both of the ancient and the modern world.

4. The glory of Thebes, a city of Upper Egypt, famous for its hundred gates, the theme and admiration of ancient poets and historians, belongs to a period prior to the commencement of authentic history. It is recorded only in the dim lights of poetry and tradition, which might be suspected of fable, did not such mighty witnesses to their truth remain.

5. Before the time of Herod'otus, Memphis had supplanted Thebes, and the Ptol'emies afterwards removed the seat of empire to Alexan'dria. Strabo and Diodo'rus described Thebes under the name of Dios'polis, and gave such magnificent descriptions of its monuments, as caused their fidelity to be called in question, till the observations of modern travellers proved their accounts to have fallen short of the reality.