of the supremacy and omnipotence of God, when the kingdom should once more revert to him. This awful and extraordinary sentence seems to have made no lasting impression upon the king, for in a very few months after the denun ciation, as he was walking in his paláce, or, as some critics think, on the uppermost of the terraces of his hanging garden, and contemplating the glories of the city he had adorned, unable to contain the pride of his heart, he exclaimed, "Is "not this Great Babylon that I have built, for "the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" No sooner had he thus spoken, than a voice from heaven proclaimed, "O king Nebuchad nezzar, to thee it is spoken the kingdom is departed from thee," And we are informed that he was immediately driven from the soci ety of men, and dwelt with the beasts of the field; that he ate grass as an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. Those who do not take these words in their strict literal sense, suppose that, losing his senses, he wandered about the fields, and took up his abode there with the cattle, till seven years had passed over his head. During this disorder, his son Evil-merodach administered the government so ill as to draw down upon him his father's displeasure, and a just punishment. When the king came to his understanding, he satisfied his injured subjects by exemplary justice on his son; and giving the honour and praise due to God, acknowledging him to be above all, he continued in the pos session ⚫session of his kingdom a year longer, and then died, having reigned about forty-four years. The circumstances of his death have been thus related: Having ascended to the top of his palace, he prophesied to this effect-Behold, O Babylonians, I foretel you a calamity " at hand, which not the fates, nor our forefa"ther Belus can possibly avert. A Persian mule shall come, and, by the assistance of your own gods, shall load your necks with a most galling yoke; and this destruction shall befal you by means of a Mede, in whom the Assy"rians were accustomed to glory. O, would that "he, ere thus he betrays my people, were swal"lowed up by some whirlpool, or overwhelm"ed in the depths of the sea; or that, hurried 66 away into some lonely desert, he might there "remain a wanderer, never to behold the foot" steps of mankind. O grant unto me, before "he is agitated by this rage of mind, to share a "happier end." Thus speaking, he was sud denly snatched from the sight of men: the same end Semiramis is said to have made. Evil-merodach, who succeeded his father, by a false step in the early part of his life, laid the foundation of that animosity between the Medes and Persians, which brought on the dissolution of the Babylonian empire. For, having in a great hunting match entered the country of the Medes, he began, without any provocation, to plunder and lay waste the neighbouring lands. Upon which, Astyages, the Mede, attended by his son Cyaxares, his grandson Cyrus, and such troops as could be collected on the emergency, marched out to meet him, being determined to repel force by force. The parties engaged, Evil Evil-merodach was put to the route, and pursued with great slaughter to his own borders. Evil-merodach had reigned but two years when he was murdered by Neriglissar, his sister's husband, who succeeded to the throne, The first act of this prince was to endeavour to excite all the neighbouring monarchs against the growing power of the Medes and Persians. On the beginning of the fourth year of his reign, preparations were made on both sides; the Medes and Persians were commanded by Cy. rus, the Babylonians, with their allies, took the field under the conduct of Neriglissar, and Cro sus, king of Lydia. The Babylonian army, con. sisting of a multitude of various nations, exceed ed very much in numbers that of their oppo nents, till they were joined by reinforcements under Tigranes, the Armenian. In the midst of the preparations, ambassadors arrived from India, to inquire into the grounds and causes of the war, with an offer of mediation, if it might be accepted, and with a threat, in case it was rejected, of joining those who should appear to have most justice on their side. It is not known how this embassy was concluded, but the commencement of hostilities was greatly to the disadvantage of Neriglissar. Cyrus subdued the Chaldæans, and obliged them to take refuge in their mountains. These Chaldæ ans were the most valiant race of men in all these parts, carrying with them no other arms than a wicker shield and two javelins; they entered willingly into foreign pay, being naturally addicted to war and very poor. When the main armies engaged, the Babylo nians were unable to stand the shock, but betook them themselves to flight; Cyrus pursued them even into their entrenchment, killed Neriglissar, and took a multitude of prisoners, and the baggage of the whole army g The death of the king was an infinite loss to the Babylonians, for he was a man of great courage, conduct and wisdom. His loss was the most deplored on account of the tyrannical government of his son and successor, Laboroscarchod, who was in every respect the reverse of his father, being addicted to all manner of wickedness, cruelty, and injustice. Two acts of his cruelty towards Gobryas and Godates, Babylonian lords, are particularly mentioned.. The only son of the former he slew at a hunting match, because he pierced with his dart a wild beast which the king had missed. The other he caused to be made au eunuch, because one of his concubines had commended his beauty. This king was slain by his own subjects, and was succeeded by Nabonadius, who had the chief hand in the murder. It appears that Nabonadius was the same with him who is called, in the book of Daniel, Belshazzar, and that in his reign the proud city of Babylon, the metropolis of the east, was completely ruined. Cyrus, having subdued the se veral nations from the Egean sea to the Euphra tes, and also Syria and Arabia, bent his march toward Babylon, and closely besieged the city. Having spent two years without gaining any considerable advantage over the place, he at last resolved upon the following stratagem, which gave him complete possession of it. Being informed that a great annual feast was to be kept kept in Babylon, and that all the inhabitants on that occasion, were accustomed to spend the night in drinking and debauchery, he chose that as a proper time to surprise them, and accordingly sent a strong detachment to the head of the canal leading to the great lake, with orders to break down the bank at a certain hour, and to turn the whole current into the lake. At the same time he appointed a body of troops at the place where the river entered into the city, and another where it came out, ordering them to march in by the bed of the river, as soon as it was fordable. These troops were commanded by Gobryas and Godates, who, on account of the cruelty experienced by them in the former reign, had joined the army and cause of Cyrus. When they entered the city, they found all the gates open, and were enabled to penetrate into the very centre of it without opposition; and meeting at the palace, according to a pre-concerted plan, they surprised the guards and cut them to pieces. Those who were in the palace, opening the gates to enquire into the cause of the confusion, the Persians rushed in, took pos session of the palace, and killed Nabonadius, who, sword in hand, came out to meet them. The rest submitted, and the Medes and Persians be came masters of the place. Thus was an end put to the Babylonian empire, and the prophe cies fulfilled, which Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel had uttered against it. In that very night, the king had entertained a thousand of his lords at a great banquet, and having profaned the sa cred vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem, he first saw written on the wall of |