In the succeeding reign we find, that they, together with the Sidonians, furnished Xerxes with several ships for his expedition into Greece. And by the time of Alexander, the Tyrians were grown to such power and greatness, that they stopped the progress of that rapid conqueror longer than any part of the Persian empire besides. But all this is to be understood of the insular Tyre; for as the old city flourished most before the time of Nebuchadnezzar, so the new city flourished most afterwards; and thence this is the Tyre that henceforth is so much celebrated in history.

But the city was to be taken, and destroyed again: for it is said by the prophets, Isaiah xxiii. 6: "Howl ye inhabitants of the isle ;"-Ezekiel xxvii. 32: "What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea? and xxviii. 8: "They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas."-These expressions can imply no less than that the insular Tyre should be destroyed, as well as that upon the continent; and as the one was accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar, so was the other by Alexander the great.

Zechariah prophesied in the reign of Darius, many years after the former destruction of the

city, and consequently he must be understood to speak of the latter. His words, ix. 3, 4. are : "Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold! the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.

It is very true that Tyre did build herself a strong hold; for her situation was very strong in an island, and besides the sea to defend her, she was fortified with a wall of 150 feet in height, and of a proportionable thickness. She heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets; being the most celebrated place in the world for trade and riches, the mart of nations as she is called, conveying the commodities of the east to the west, and of the west to the east. But yet, "Behold the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire! And accordingly Alexander besieged, and took, and set the city on fire.

The ruins of old Tyre contributed to the taking of the new city; for with the stones and timber, and rubbish of the old city, Alexander made a bank or causeway, from the continent to the island, thereby literally fulfilling the words of the prophet, Ezekiel xxvi. 12: "They shall

lay thy stones, and thy timber, and thy dust, in the midst of the water." He was seven months completing this work, but by means thereof he was enabled to storm and take the city.

As in the former siege, the inhabitants, according to the prophecies, fled over the Mediterranean to the islands and countries adjoining, so they did likewise in this latter siege; for Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius both testify, that they sent their wives and children to Carthage; and upon the taking of the place, the Sidonians secretly conveyed away 15,000 more in their ships. Happy were they, that thus escaped; for of those who remained behind, the conquerer slew 8000 in the storming and taking of the city; he caused 2000 afterwards to be crucified, and 30,000 he sold for slaves.

They had before sold some of the captive Jews, and now it was returned upon them, according to the predictions of Joel, iii. 6, 7, 8: "The children also of Judah, and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold; Behold, I will return your recompence upon your own head, and will sell your sons and your daughters!"

When the city was taken before, the Tyrians received their kings afterwards from Babylon; and now their king held his crown by Alexander's

appointment. The cases are parallel in many respects, but the city recovered much sooner from the calamities of this siege, than from the fatal consequences of the former. For in nineteen years it was able to withstand the fleets and armies of Antigonus, and sustained a siege of fifteen months before it was taken, which shows the great advantage of trade, that this city being the grand mart so soon recovered its pristine vigour.

But after all, the city was to be totally destroyed, and to become a place only for fishermen to spread their nets upon. Ezekiel, xxvi. 3. 11, prophesied: "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, oh Tyrus! and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers. I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it saith the Lord God." And again, verse 21: “I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more; though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God."

After changing its masters many times, Tyrus

fell under the dominion of the Mamalukes of Egypt, under their Sultan Alphis, who sacked and razed this city, and Sidon, and other strong towns, that they might not ever again afford any shelter to the Christians. From the Mamalukes it was taken again in the year 1510, by selim, the ninth emperor of the Turks; and under their dominion it continues at present. But alas, how fallen! how changed from what it was formerly! for, from being the centre of trade, and frequented by all the merchant ships of the east and west, it is now become a heap of ruins, visited only by the boats of a few poor fishermen; so literally hath the prophecy been fulfilled; "I will make thee like the top of a rock; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon."

Such hath been the fate of this city, once the most famous city in the world for trade and commerce. On which this observation may be made; neither kingdoms nor commonwealths, neither public companies nor private persons, can long carry on a beneficial, flourishing trade, without virtue and what virtue teacheth; sobriety, industry, frugality, modesty, honesty, punctuality, humanity, charity, the love of our country, and the fear of God.

The prophets inform us how the Tyrians lost