No. 6.
MY DEAR CHILDREN, ―The history of the second or Medo-Persian Empire is full of incident. We know hardly anything of the Babylonian, except from Herodotus and Ctesias (who are not always trustworthy), and from the Bible; but of the Persian we derive accounts from many channels. First, we have several books in the Bible in which Jewish history is intertwined with Persian, as Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah, &c. Secondly, in some of the Apocryphal books, we have notices of this monarchy. Thirdly, in some of the Greek plays of Æschylus and others. Fourthly, the old history of Persia by native authors. Fifthly, besides Herodotus, and Xenophon, we have the writers of the history of Alexander the Great, as Arrian; but he did not live till the first century after Christ. Finally, the remarkable corroboration of history in “the rolls” (Ezra 6:1) of the kingdom lately discovered and laid bare to us by the interpretations of Rawlinson and others. These “rolls” are clay cylinders, inscribed with arrow-headed or cuneiform characters.
I am inclined, however, before we enter into the history and end of this second monarchy, to tell you something about the internal condition or civilization in the East generally. We may be quite sure that these regions were the cradle of the arts and sciences; I might rather say that they sprung up there in ripe maturity. We are so apt to think that nothing has been known till our own time; but in truth it is rather a question whether we could achieve, in many branches of science now known to us, the great works which they accomplished. Instead of wearying you with architectural details, I will give an instance or two of the size of some of the stones in their buildings. Thus, in the foundation platform upon which the temple of Jerusalem stood, there are stones which run as much as twenty-four and a half feet long, and five feet four inches deep; and a modern author tells us he measured, in the old foundations of insular Tyre, a stone, regularly hewn and beveled, of nearly seventeen feet long and six-and-a-half thick. They understood the arts of weaving and dyeing. They wrought iron and steel, and worked ‘the precious metals into ornaments of all sorts. The burning fiery furnace into which the three youths were cast was heated seven times more than usual; by which we learn that such furnaces were in use for the casting of statues, gates, &c. &c. They understood graving; this is proved by the cuneiform writing which is frequently found, most beautifully engraved, on obelisks of hard stone. They must have studied geometry with effect, from the excellence of their buildings; and all allow they had a considerable knowledge of astronomy. As to music and painting, of the former they knew probably less than of the latter; but we have no means of knowing, except that in Daniel we hear of “the cornet, flute, and harp,” &c. Their paintings were elaborated with much care; but no nation of antiquity appears to have understood the art of perspective. They seem to have been acquainted also with the laws of hydrostatics, that is, of the pressure of water, if the enormous reservoirs and embankments which they made are a fair indication. But you may inquire, Whence and how did all this knowledge come? My answer is, they always possessed it, ever since the flood, ever since Noah landed on the new earth. But to show yet this we must go back to the fall of man. Adam after he fell, was neither an idolater nor a savage Although death entered, and he was sent forth to till the ground, which through his fall had inherited the thorn and the thistle, yet his mind was as capacious as ever, and he must have transmitted to his posterity through his lengthened existence that knowledge of the resources of the earth, and that intuitive perception of the uses which things upon it were to be put to, that had originally enabled him to call the animals by names which denoted their habits and uses. His fall, dreadful though it was, spiritually considered, did not make him a savage; nor did Cain’s frightful and full-blown murder deprive him of the faculty of building a city, nor his family of being instructors to those who forged iron, and teachers of the harp and organ. Now, this transmitted knowledge was brought by Noah into the new earth. Let us remember that Methuselah lived 243 years with Adam, and died only the year before the flood; and Lamech, Noah’s father, lived 56 years with Adam; so that the Tower of Babel, projected and partly completed, need not surprise us. Thus there was always civilization in the east; quite apart, it is true, from the knowledge of God. In Egypt, although we can trace improvement and one age to be superior to another, there is, in the oldest monuments, no absolutely rude state. Indeed, it is said that the masonry in the very oldest―say, 1800 years before Christ—is superior to any of the rest. I write this only to guard you against the idea, that when our missionaries meet with a hitherto unknown nation, such as the aborigines of Australia, sunk in the lowest depths of ignorance and degradation, it has been so with their remotest ancestors. It is true, that from well-defined causes, such as conquest and tyranny, emigration and consequent change of climate, gross idolatry, &c., men do get into a barbarous state, but this is not their original condition. Africa had once its civilization and flourishing cities; so had Egypt and Greece; yet the condition of these countries is now very different, as having been ruled over by Turkish fanaticism and despotism. But when a nation comes to its lowest, a change often takes place for the better, as by the arising of some ruler of superior intellect, who engrafts a new character on the entire nation, or, as in England, by the arrival first of the Romans, and then of Christian teachers among us; for, at Cæsar’s invasion, we were hardly better than savages. As to the effects of change of climate by emigration, we may look at Mexico, under the Aztecs, when Cortes the Spanish conqueror, arrived among them. These Aztecs had not reached Peru, from Asia, more than four or five centuries; but they had an indigenous civilization suited to the soil they occupied, and well-defined laws. The further we reach back to the flood, the greater seems the mental power and physical capacity of man. If left alone he deteriorates, because, in process of time, the lowest idolatry enters. It is the object of Satan to brutalize him. Christianity thus sometimes finds him at the lowest, as in Africa or Australia; at other times a little more advanced, as in New Zealand; and at other times, as in India, China, and Japan, under the influence of a high-wrought and ancient civilization, which the devil has made the depository of some most elaborate superstition.
We may now return to the Persian empire. We are to remember, notwithstanding what heathen historians say, viz., that the Persian part of the monarchy had already taken the lead when Babylon was taken, that Scripture distinctly declares that it was Darius the Median who “took the kingdom.” (Daniel 5:31.) Who this Darius was no one seems sure, although some think him to be the same as Cyaxares, the uncle of Cyrus; at all events, Cyrus ruled under him till his death, and is then called king of Persia. (Daniel 10:1.) In chapter 8:3, this kingdom is likened to a ram with two horns; “but one was higher than the other, and the highest came up last:” this being a clear allusion to the eventual supremacy of the Persian dynasty of which Cyrus was the head. It is also said of this empire, that it was to “arise and devour much flesh;” and this was its character historically. It moved slowly. Its armies were composed of large masses, and these coming into a country, if successful, ruined it, and as I told you in my last letter, the monarchy, during its whole duration of more than two hundred years, was constantly involved in wars. Cyrus, having reigned alone for the last seven years of his life, was succeeded by Cambyses, who, according to Egyptian accounts, for he was there during the principal part of his reign of seven years, was a tyrant and madman. Out of jealousy he ordered his brother Smerdis to be put to death―but to his own sorrow; for his long absence from Persia gave occasion for a false Smerdis to appear and seize the kingdom. Cambyses, on hearing of this, was mounting his horse to lead his troops back to Persia, when, his sword falling out of its scabbard and wounding him in the thigh, be died. This false Smerdis was a man who, for some misdeed, had been punished by Cyrus with the loss of his ears; but it is supposed that the revolt―Magian, as it is called―was connected with religion, as Darius who put it down and became king, says, in one of his inscriptions, “When Cambyses had gone to Egypt, then the state became heretical, thee the lie became abounding in the land.” Again he says: “The sacred offices of the state, both the religious chants and the worship, I restored to the people, which Gomates (Smerdis) the Magian, had deprived them of.” There is a great deal of obscurity about the early worship of the Persians. The god whom Darius worshipped was called Ormazd. He was the god of the Arians, to which great stock Darius prided himself as belonging. They came into Asia out of India, and are supposed to be descendants of Japhet, to whom we in England are also related. The descendants of Japhet usually write from left to right, whilst those of Shem, as the Hebrews write from right to left. Whilst we are uncertain of their absolute tenets, there are great doubt: whether the Persians were idol worshippers, and thus they were well chosen as the destroyers of that city which was “mad upon her idols.” More over, it has been remarked, that those kings who acknowledged Jehovah, and dealt favorably with the Jews, prospered; at all events until they neglected this duty. I enumerate those which are mentioned in Scripture.
1. Darius the Median, under whom Cyrus at first served. He appointed Daniel chief of the three presidents who overlooked the kingdom.
2. Cyrus. In the first year of his reign the Lord stirred him up to build his house at Jeru Salem. He releases the Jews for that purpose (2 Chronicles 36:22, 23; Ezra 1)
3. Cambyses, called Ahasuerus, as it is supposed. (Ezra 4:6.)
4. Smerdis the Magian, called in like manse: Artaxerxes. (Ezra 4:7.) As between Cyrus ant Darius only these two kings reigned, and as the work of the temple ceased, owing to the reclamation of the Jews’ enemies at Jerusalem, until the second year of Darius the Persian, we have no other way of reconciling history. In truth these Babylonian and Persian monarchs hat titles as well as names, and they are called by the one or the other indifferently. It is remark able that both these kings reigned but a short time, not understanding their calling to assist the Jews.
5. Darius. (Ezra 5:5, &c. &c.) In his reign the temple was finished: he acceded to all the requests of the Jews. He reigned 36 years.
6. Xerxes, usually, and with good reason supposed to be the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. (Compare Daniel 11:2.) He died, after 21 years’ reign, 464 B.C.
7. Artaxerxes Longimanus, who befriended the Jews. He decreed in their favor in the seventh (Ezra 7:11) and twentieth years of his reign. (Nehemiah 2:1.) We trace him (Nehemiah 13:6) to the thirty-second year, and history says he reigned forty-one. It is the last decree (Nehemiah 2:1) to which Daniel 9:25 undoubtedly refers.
None of the remaining kings are noticed in Scripture, and it may be remarked that the Jews, unlike those in Nebuchadnezzar’s time, remained perfectly passive under their authority, and in some instances occupied places of trust.
I remain, your affectionate father.