STORY is a pleasing and an useful science, hands the regard and consideration of all n interest in their own species, and in the is of the world in which they dwell.our attention to past ages and events, and our view the rise of states, their progress I civilization, the revolutions by which they agitated, and the causes of their declenecay. In the annals of the world we be a mirror, the different characters who d their parts in the drama of life, and distinguished themselves either by their their vices. We there behold the various scenes which have taken place in the great human affairs. The Assyrian, the Persian, n, and the Roman empire, all pass in perefore our eyes, and present a view, which n see with indifference, of the instability ual fluctuations of all things human. ry," says Cicero, "is the attestation of torch of truth, the storehouse of memory, of life, and the herald of antiquity*;" and hat "for a person to be ignorant of the ich have preceded his own time, is always in a state of childhood+." Indeed, if our e were confined to the narrow limits of experience, and restricted to those events within our own observation, the progress d in art and science would be completely 1, and men would remain in utter ignorance ose discoveries and inventions which the the world have unfolded and made known. her hand, the prudent reflections which hisds, or enables us to make, teach us to be - Cic. lib. 2. de Orat, + Cic. in Orat. wise before our time, and are more efficacious than all the moral lessons of the greatest masters. It appeared to the compiler a matter of surprise, that, since the utility of the study of history, and the necessity of its forming a prominent part in the education of youth are fully acknowledged, some manual of this kind had not before been attempted. In this volume, the reader will find an epitome of the most memorable transactions-a rapid, yet, it is hoped, a faithful delineation of events which have taken place in the several states and nations of antiquity from the earliest records of time, and of those illustrious characters from which history has been justly designated "philosophy teaching by example." Abridgments, which contain the substance and the spirit of ponderous tomes, are useful in every science, and greatly promote the labours of the student. They are not to be disregarded, merely because they give only the outlines and lineaments of the subjects of which they treat. A map, which shows every town, village, and hamlet in a country, does not supersede one which delineates only the larger cities and more prominent objects. The work of Justin is useful, though merely an abridgment of that of Trogus Pompeius. The present edition has been carefully revised and corrected; and, where necessary, certain portions have been added. Questions on the history of each country have also been annexed. These, it is expected, will enable the student, with greater facility, to make himself master of the subject. By this means, the work assumes the character of what it really is a Grammar of Ancient History, and is rendered greatly superior to the edition of 1807, and to those since published. Rectory, Clifton, October 1, 1831, |