herself to live quietly in Babylon, although she had taken so much pains to make it a beautiful city.

7. She was tormented with a wicked desire to conquer all the nations of the earth. So she collected an immense army, and marched against the rich and powerful king of the Indies, who lived in what we now call Hindostan, a country lying to the south-east of Assyria.

8. When the king of the Indies, who was very rich and powerful, heard that queen Semiramis was coming to invade his dominions, he mustered a vast number of men to defend them. Besides his soldiers, he had a great many elephants, each of which was more formidable than many soldiers. They were taught to rush into the battle, and toss the enemy about with their trunks, and trample them down with their huge feet.

9. Now queen Semiramis had no elephants, and therefore she was afraid that the king of the Indies would overcome her; she therefore endeavoured to prevent this misfortune by a very curious contrivance.

10. She ordered three thousand brown oxen to be killed, and their hides to be stripped off, and sewed together in the shape of elephants. These were placed upon camels, and when the camels were drawn up in battle array, they looked pretty much like a troop of great brown elephants.

11. When the battle was to be fought, the king of the Indies with his real elephants marched forward on one side, and queen Semiramis, with her camels and ox-hides, came boldly against him on the other. But when the Indian army had marched close to the host of the Assyrians, the former perceived that there was no such thing as an elephant among them. They therefore laid aside all fear, and rushed furiously upon queen Semiramis and her soldiers.

12. The real elephants put the camels to flight; and then ran about in great rage, tossing the Assyrians into

the air, and trampling them down by hundreds. Thus the Assyrian army was routed, and the king of the Indies gained a complete victory. Queen Semiramis was sorely wounded; but she got into a chariot, and drove away at full speed from the battle-field. She finally escaped to her own kingdom, but in a very sad condition.

13. She then took up her residence in the palace at Babylon; but she did not long enjoy herself in the beautiful gardens which she had suspended in the air. It is said that her own son, whose name was Ninias, put his mother to death, that he might get possession of the throne, and reign over the people.

14. Such was the melancholy end of the mighty queen Semiramis. How foolish and wicked it was for her to spend her life in trying to conquer other nations, instead of making her own people happy. But she had not learned that Gospel rule, "Do to another as you would have another do to you."

QUESTIONS. 1. Did all the people leave the land of Shinar after the confusion of languages? Did the people of the land of Shinar increase? What did they do?- -2. What name did the country around Shinar receive? What was the first empire or great nation of the earth? -3. Who was the first ruler of Assyria? What city did he build? Describe the city of Nineveh.- -4. Where was the city of Babylon ? Describe this wonderful city. Why did the ancients surround their cities with walls?5. What of the hanging gardens? The temple of Belus?6. Who built Babylon ?8. What of Semiramis? Was she contented with Babylon? What did she do? Where did the king of the Indies live ?8. What did the king of the Indies do when he heard that Semiramis was going to make war upon his kingdom? What sort of an army had he? What of the elephants ?- -9. By what contrivance did Semiramis endeavour to match the elephants of the king of India ?- 11. Describe the battle.-12. What was the result of the battle ?-14. Was the conduct of Semiramis good or wise? Do you think any person can be happy who does not try to make others so?

CHAPTER X. ASIA continued.- -About Ninias. Reign of Sardanapalus, and Ruin of the Assyrian Empire.

1. AFTER Ninias had wickedly murdered his mother, he became king of Assyria. His reign began about the year 2000 before Christ, or about three hundred and fifty years after the Deluge.

2. Ninias was not only a very wicked man, but a very slothful one. He did not set out to conquer kingdoms, like his mother, but he shut himself up in his palace, and thought of nothing but how to enjoy himself. He knew that his people hated him; and therefore he kept guards in his palace; but he was afraid to trust even his guards. Whether he was murdered at last, or whether he died quietly in his bed, history does not inform us.

3. After the reign of Ninias, there was an interval of eight hundred years, during which it is impossible to say what happened in the kingdom of Assyria. Probably most of the kings, like Ninias, wasted their time in idle pleasures, and did nothing worthy of remembrance.

4. When Pul was king of Assyria, he conquered the Israelites, and forced them to pay him tribute. He is supposed to have been the king of Nineveh to whom the prophet Jonah was sent to preach repentance, about eight hundred and sixty years before Christ.

5. Some years afterwards, there was a king upon the throne of Assyria whose name was Sardanapalus. He is said to have been a beautiful young man; but he was slothful, and took no care of his kingdom, and made no attempt to promote the welfare of his people. He seldom went out of his palace, but lived chiefly among the women. In order to make himself more fit for their company, he painted his face, and sometimes put on a woman's dress, and in this ridiculous guise used to sit with the women, and help them to spin.

6. But while Sardanapalus was feasting and dancing, and helping the women to spin, a terrible destruction was impending over his head. Arbaces, governor of the Medes, made war against this unworthy monarch, and besieged him in the city of Babylon. Sardanapalus saw that he could not escape, and that if he lived any longer, he should probably become a slave.

7. So, rather than be a slave, he resolved to die. He therefore collected his treasures, and heaped them into one great pile in a splendid hall of his palace, and then set fire to the pile. The palace was speedily in a blaze, and Sardanapalus, with his favourite officers, and a multitude of beautiful women, were burnt to death in the flames. Thus ended the great Assyrian monarchy, the country being conquered by Arbaces.

QUESTIONS. 1. What of Ninias? When did his reign begin? -2. What was his character ?- -3. What of Assyria for eight hundred years after Ninias ?-4. What of Pul? About what time did Jonah go to preach repentance to the Ninevites ?-5. What of Sardanapalus? How did he live? -6. What of Arbaces? 7. What did Sardanapalus do? What was the end of the Assyrian empire?

CHAPTER XI.

ASIA continued.

-About the Hebrews, or Jews. Origin of the Hebrews. The removal of Jacob and his children to Egypt.

1. THE founder of the Hebrew nation was Abraham, the son of Terah. He was born about two hundred years after the Deluge. The country of his birth was Chaldea, which formed the southern part of the Assyrian empire.

2. The rest of the inhabitants of Chaldea were idolaters, and worshipped the sun, moon, and stars; but Abraham worshipped the true God whom we worship. In the early part of his life he was a shepherd on the Chaldean

plains. When his father was dead, God commanded him to leave his native country, and travel westward to the land of Canaan.

3. This region was afterwards called Palestine. It lies north of Arabia, and is on the eastern border of the Mediterranean Sea. It was a rich and fertile country, and God promised Abraham that his descendants should dwell there.

4. Many years of Abraham's life were spent in wandering to and fro. His wife Sarah went with him, and they were followed by a large number of male and female servants, and by numerous flocks and herds. They dwelt in tents, and had no settled home.

5. Abraham and Sarah had one son, named Isaac. His father loved him fondly; but so great was Abraham's faith, that, when God commanded him to sacrifice this child, he prepared to obey. But God sent an angel from heaven, to bid him stay his hand.

6. The life of Abraham was full of interesting events, but you must read and study them well in your Bible. He lived to be a hundred and seventy-five years old, and then died at Hebron, in Canaan, but was buried in a cave at Machpelah, where Sarah his wife had been buried many years before.

7. The Jews and the Arabians are descended from this ancient patriarch. They have always called him Father Abraham. It is said that to this day they show the place where Abraham and Sarah lie buried; they consider it a holy spot, and travellers at the present day go to see it.

8. Isaac, the son of Abraham, left two children, Esau and Jacob. In those days the eldest son enjoyed many privileges, and these Jacob persuaded his brother Esau to sell to him for a mess of pottage, whereby Jacob became the head of his people. He likewise obtained a blessing, which his father intended to bestow on Esau.