the gods to punish the perfidy of Prusias, and immediately swallowed a deadly poison.

Having conciliated the esteem of the Romans, by abandoning a man who had rendered him the most important services, Prusias voluntarily assisted them, both with troops and money, in their war against Perseus of Macedon. Upon the subjugation of that country, he went in person to congratulate the senate on the success of their arms, and acted in a manner so derogatory to a crowned head, that Polybius was ashamed to repeat the servile expressions he made use of before that venerable assembly. The most impartial historians speak of him as a disgrace to human nature, being equally hateful to his subjects, and despicable to foreigners on account of his cruelty, cowardice, and disgusting behaviour. His person was extremely deformed, and his mind so depraved, that he does not appear to have possessed a single virtue.

Nicomedes II. succeeded his father in the sovereignty, and seemed ambitious of walking in the same path, which had rendered that prince universally detested; for he had scarcely assumed the diadem before he sacrificed all his brothers to his tyrannical ambition. He assumed the name of Epi-, phanes, or the Illustrious; but performed nothing worthy of such an appellation. He is said to have built the city of Apamea, and to have held the government for about fortytwo years; at the expiration of which time he was assassinated.

Nicomedes III. next ascended the vacant throne, and with the assistance of Mithridates the Great, seized on the country of Paphlagonia. But on his attempting to annex the crown of Cappadocia to his possessions, Mithridates renounced his alliance, and chased him from his paternal inheritance. In this exigence Nicomedes applied to the Romans, who readily espoused his cause, and reinstated him in his former dignities. However, he was again dethroned by the king of Pontus, and compelled to live in retirement, till Sylla undertook and effected his restoration. He was succeeded by his son Nicomedes IV., who performed nothing which historians

have deemed worthy of transmitting to posterity, except that he bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans, by whom it was provinciated immediately after his death.

THE CILICIANS.

CILICIA, now Caramania, according to the Greek writers, derived its name from Cilix, the son of Agenor, who formed a settlement in this country. It lay between the thirty-sixth and thirty-eighth degrees of north latitude, and was situate on the coast of the Mediterranean, between Pamphylia and Cappadocia. The whole country was anciently divided into Cilicia-Aspera and Cilicia-Campestris. In the former were the cities of Aphrodisias, so called from Venus, who was worshipped there in a magnificent temple. Nagidus, a Samian colony, Sarpedon, famous for a noble temple consecrated to Apollo and Diana, Sydra,Arsinoë, Animurium, Celandris, Lephyrium, Seleucia, and Lamus: and in the latter, was Tarsus, the birth place of St. Paul, formerly equal to Athens and Alexandria for the study of philosophy and polite literature. Anchiale, built by Sardanapalus; Anazarbum, seated on the banks of the Pyramus; Issus, famous for the battle fought in its neighbourhood between Alexander the Great and Darius Codomannus.

Josephus asserts, that this country was first peopled by Tarshish, the son of Javan, and afterwards reduced by a colony of Phoenicians under the conduct of Cilix. But in process of time, other colonies from Syria, Greece, and the adjacent countries, mingled with them.

Cilicia seems to have been inhabited by two races of people, the one mild and pacific; cultivators, laborious, mercantile, and honest in their dealings, who lived in the plains;

the other warlike and turbulent: pirates from inclination and situation.

The entrances into Cilicia which are three in number, are all of them so difficult, that a handful of brave men would defend them against an army. The coast abounding in small harbours into which ships may retire, and promontories from which they may be protected, are extremely convenient for piracy. The Cilicians infested the neighbouring seas, and made descents on Greece and Italy, whence they brought slaves, which they sold in Cyprus, Egypt, and in different parts of Asia. The Romans frequently armed against them; but these pirates, driven from the sea, took refuge in their caves, whence, as soon as the fleets disappeared, they returned to their depredations in the Ægean, Ionian, and Mediterra

nean seas.

The Cilicians of the plain were a mixture of Phrygians, and other nations of Asia Minor, who flying from the fury and devastation of Babylonian, Persian, and Egyptian conquerors, took refuge in this confined country, surrounded by natural fortifications, easy to be defended. They had kings, with the events of whose reigns we are unacquainted. As to the maritime Cilicians, they were composed of the dregs of every nation. Malefactors, exiles and adventurers of every kind, found among them an asylum, and also subsistence by robbery. Their language, a mixture of Syriac, Greek and Persian, formed a peculiar idiom, as harsh and rugged as their manners.

The Bay of Issus is one of the best in Cilicia. Alexander, to perpetuate the memory of the victory he had obtained in this place, built here a city so happily situated, that it was for a long time the principal emporium of the commerce of the East. The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope deprived it of this advantage. This city is, however, still much frequented, and known by the name of Alexandretta, a diminutive suitable to its present state of decline. When ships arrive at this port, advice is sent to Aleppo by pigeons with letters fastened under their wings.

Of the history of the Cilicians, nothing farther is known,

than that on the extinction of the Persian empire, Cilicia became a Macedonian province; after the death of Alexander, it was governed by the Seleucida; afterwards it was annexed to the Roman empire, and Cicero presided over it as proconsul. At present it is subject to the Turks.

ARMENIA MAJOR AND MINOR.

THE two Armenias lie between Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Iberia, Albania, Media, and Syria. These, and the adjacent countries, were little known before Alexander; and would have remained so, after his conquests, had not several of the monarchs of these petty kingdoms been engaged with the Romans in wars, by which they were rendered celebrated.

Armenia, the greater, is separated from the less, by Mount Caucasus. Both of them are covered with mountains, in which the Tigris, the Euphrates, and other large rivers, have their sources. The woods and marshes, which abound in this country, render it exceedingly cold. The ancient inhabitants are supposed to have been the descendants of Japheth. It may be presumed that they were amongst the oldest in the world, if Noah's ark rested, as has been said, upon one of their mountains. Their manners were formerly savage. Those of the modern Armenians have been softened by commerce, in which they display singular ability. They are the factors of the East. They employ the Syriac characters, and speak two

The Armenian Christians are eminently qualified for the office of extending the knowledge of Christianity throughout the nations of Asia. They are found in every principal city; are the general merchants of the East; and are in a state of constant motion, from Canton to Constantinople. Their general character is that of an industrious, and enterprising people. They are settled in all the principal places of India, where they arrived many centu. ries before the English. Wherever they colonize, they build churches, and

languages, that of the people, and that of the learned. The latter, it is said, has no analogy with any of the oriental languages. It is remarkable for its peculiar energy, and the terms of art and science which it contains. The government has always been monarchical; sometimes under its own kings, and sometimes under those of the Medes and Persians. It was a province of Persia, and governed by prefects, till the time of Alexander.

observe the solemnities of the Christian religion in a decorous manner. Their Ecclesiastical establishment in Hindostan is respectable. They have three churches, in the three capitals, one at Calcutta, one at Madras, and one at Bombay. They have also churches in the interior of the country. The proper country of these Christians is Armenia, the greater part of which is subject to the Persian government; but they are scattered all over the empire, the commerce of Persia being chiefly conducted by Armenians.

The history of the Armenian church is very interesting. Of all the Christians, in central Asia, they have preserved themselves most free from Mahometan and Papal corruptions. The pope assailed them, for a time, with great violence; but with little effect. The churches in Persian Armenia, maintained their independence; and they retain their ancient scriptures, doctrines, and worship, to this day. The Armenian Christians have preserved their faith, equally against the vexatious oppressions of the Romish church, which, for more than two centuries, has endeavoured by missionaries, priests, and monks, to attach them to her communion.

The Bible was translated into the Armenian language in the fifth century, under very auspicious circumstances; the history of which has come down to us. This Bible has ever remained in the possession of the Armenian people. The manuscript copies not being sufficient for the demand, a council of Armenian bishops assembled in 1662, and resolved to call in aid the art of printing, of which they had heard in Europe. For this purpose they applied first to France, but the catholic church refused to print their Bible. At length it was printed at Amsterdam, in 1666, and afterwards two other editions in 1668, and 1698. Since that time, it has been printed at Venice. But at present, the Armenian Scriptures are very rare in that country, bearing no proportion to the Armenian population; and, in India, a copy is scarcely to be purchased at any price.

The Armenians, in Hindostan, have preserved the Bible in its purity; and their doctrines are the doctrines of the Bible. They maintain the solemn observance of Christian worship on the seventh day, and have several spires pointing to heaven, among the Hindoos. A printing press, employed in mul. tiplying copies of the pure Armenian Bible, would prove a precious fountain for the evangelization of the East; and the Oriental Bible Repository, at Calcutta, would-be a central and convenient place for its dispersion. Buchanan's Christian Researches in Asia. 31

VOL. II.