The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, a.s.syrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians and Grecians.
by Charles Rollin.
Vol. 1.
A Letter written by the Right Reverend Dr. FRANCIS ATTERBURY, late Lord Bishop of Rochester, to M. ROLLIN, in commendation of this Work.
Reverende atque Eruditissime Vir,
c.u.m, monente amico quodam, qui juxta aedes tuas habitat, scirem te Parisios revertisse; statui salutatum te ire, ut primum per valetudinem liceret. Id officii, ex pedum infirmitate aliquandiu dilatum, c.u.m tandem me impleturum sperarem, frustra fui; domi non eras. Restat, ut quod coram exequi non potui, scriptis saltem literis praestem; tibique ob ea omnia, quibus a te auctus sum, beneficia, grates agam, quas habeo certe, et semper habiturus sum, maximas.
Revera munera ilia librorum nuperis a te annis editorum egregia ac perhonorifica mihi visa sunt. Multi enim facio, et te, vir praestantissime, et tua omnia quaecunque in isto literarum genere perpolita sunt; in quo quidem Te caeteris omnibus ejusmodi scriptoribus facile antecellere, atque esse eundem et dicendi et sentiendi magistrum optimum, prorsus existimo; c.u.mque in excolendis his studiis aliquantulum ipse et operae et temporis posuerim, libere tamen profiteor me, tua c.u.m legam ac relegam, ea edoctum esse a te, non solum quae nesciebam prorsus, sed etiam quae antea didicisse mihi visus sum. Modeste itaque nimium de opere tuo sentis, c.u.m juventuti tantum inst.i.tuendae elaboratum id esse contendis. Ea certe scribis, quae a viris istiusmodi rerum haud imperitis, c.u.m voluptate et fructu legi possunt. Vetera quidem et satis cognita revocas in memoriam; sed ita revocas, ut ill.u.s.tres, ut ornes; ut aliquid vetustis adjicias quod novum sit, alienis quod omnino tuum: bonasque picturas bona in luce collocando efficis, ut etiam iis, a quibus saep.i.s.sime conspectae sunt, elegantiores tamen solito appareant, et placeant magis.
Certe, dum Xenophontem saepius versas, ab illo et ea quae a te plurimis in locis narrantur, et ipsum ubique narrandi modum videris traxisse, stylique Xenophontei nitorem ac venustam simplicitatem non imitari tantum, sed plane a.s.sequi: ita ut si Gallice scisset Xenophon, non aliis ilium, in eo argumento quod tractas, verbis usurum, non alio prorsus more scripturum judicem.
Haec ego, haud a.s.sentandi causa, (quod vitium procul a me abest,) sed vere ex animi sententia dico. c.u.m enim pulchris a te donis ditatus sim, quibus in eodem, aut in alio quopiam doctrinae genere referendis imparem me sentio, volui tamen propensi erga te animi gratique testimonium proferre, et te aliquo saltem munusculo, etsi perquam dissimili, remunerari.
Perge, vir docte admodum et venerande, de bonis literis, quae nunc neglectae pa.s.sim et spretae jacent, bene mereri: perge juventatem Gallicam (quando illi solummod te utilem esse vis) optimis et praeceptis et exemplis informare.
Quod ut facias, annis aetatis tuae elapsis multos adjiciat Deus! iisque decurrentibus sanum te praestet atque incolumem. Hoc ex animo optat ac vovet
Tui observantissimus FRANCISCUS ROFFENSIS.
Pransurum te mec.u.m post festa dixit mihi amicus ille noster qui tibi vicinus est. c.u.m statueris tec.u.m quo die adfuturus es, id illi significabis. Me certe annis malisque debilitatum, quandocunque veneris, domi invenies.
_6 Kal. Jan. 1731._
A Letter written by the Right Reverend Dr. FRANCIS ATTERBURY, late Lord Bishop of Rochester, to M. ROLLIN, in commendation of this Work.
Reverend and most Learned Sir,
When I was informed by a friend who lives near you, that you were returned to Paris, I resolved to wait on you, as soon as my health would admit.
After having been prevented by the gout for some time, I was in hopes at length of paying my respects to you at your house, and went thither, but found you not at home. It is inc.u.mbent on me therefore to do that in writing, which I could not in person, and to return you my acknowledgments for all the favours you have been pleased to confer upon me, of which I beg you will be a.s.sured, that I shall always retain the most grateful sense.
And indeed I esteem the books you have lately published, as presents of exceeding value, and such as do me very great honour. For I have the highest regard, most excellent Sir, both for you, and for every thing that comes from so masterly a hand as yours, in the kind of learning you treat; in which I must believe that you not only excel all other writers, but are at the same time the best master of speaking and thinking well; and I freely confess that, though I had applied some time and pains in cultivating these studies, when I read your volumes over and over again, I was instructed in things by you, of which I was not only entirely ignorant, but seemed to myself to have learnt before. You have therefore too modest an opinion of your work, when you declare it composed solely for the instruction of youth. What you write may undoubtedly be read with pleasure and improvement by persons not unacquainted with learning of the same kind. For whilst you call to mind ancient facts and things sufficiently known, you do it in such a manner, that you ill.u.s.trate, you embellish them; still adding something new to the old, something entirely your own to the labours of others: by placing good pictures in a good light, you make them appear with unusual elegance and more exalted beauties, even to those who have seen and studied them most.
In your frequent correspondence with Xenophon, you have certainly extracted from him, both what you relate in many places, and every where his very manner of relating; you seem not only to have imitated, but attained the shining elegance and beautiful simplicity of that author"s style: so that had Xenophon excelled in the French language, in my judgment he would have used no other words, nor written in any other method, upon the subject you treat, than you have done.
I do not say this out of flattery, (which is far from being my vice,) but from my real sentiments and opinion. As you have enriched me with your fine presents, which I know how incapable I am of repaying either in the same or in any other kind of learning, I was willing to testify my grat.i.tude and affection for you, and at least to make you some small, though exceedingly unequal, return.
Go on, most learned and venerable Sir, to deserve well of sound literature, which now lies universally neglected and despised. Go on, in forming the youth of France (since you will have their utility to be your sole view) upon the best precepts and examples.
Which that you may effect, may it please G.o.d to add many years to your life, and during the course of them to preserve you in health and safety.
This is the earnest wish and prayer of
Your most obedient Servant, FRANCIS ROFFEN.
P.S.-Our friend, your neighbour, tells me you intend to dine with me after the holidays. When you have fixed upon the day, be pleased to let him know it. Whenever you come, you will be sure to find one so weak with age and ills as I am, at home.
_December 26, 1731._
PREFACE.
The Usefulness of Profane History, especially with regard to Religion.
The study of profane history would little deserve to have a serious attention, and a considerable length of time bestowed upon it, if it were confined to the bare knowledge of ancient transactions, and an uninteresting inquiry into the aeras when each of them happened. It little concerns us to know, that there were once such men as Alexander, Caesar, Aristides, or Cato, and that they lived in this or that period; that the empire of the a.s.syrians made way for that of the Babylonians, and the latter for the empire of the Medes and Persians, who were themselves subjected by the Macedonians, as these were afterwards by the Romans.
But it highly concerns us to know, by what methods those empires were founded; by what steps they rose to that exalted pitch of grandeur which we so much admire; what it was that const.i.tuted their true glory and felicity; and what were the causes of their declension and fall.
It is of no less importance to study attentively the manners of different nations; their genius, laws, and customs; and especially to acquaint ourselves with the character and disposition, the talents, virtues, and even vices of those by whom they were governed; and whose good or bad qualities contributed to the grandeur or decay of the states over which they presided.
Such are the great objects which ancient history presents; causing to pa.s.s, as it were, in review before us, all the kingdoms and empires of the world; and at the same time, all the great men who were any ways conspicuous; thereby instructing us, by example rather than precept, in the arts of empire and war, the principles of government, the rules of policy, the maxims of civil society, and the conduct of life that suits all ages and conditions.
We acquire, at the same time, another knowledge, which cannot but excite the attention of all persons who have a taste and inclination for polite learning; I mean the manner in which arts and sciences were invented, cultivated, and improved. We there discover, and trace as it were with the eye, their origin and progress; and perceive, with admiration, that the nearer we approach those countries which were once inhabited by the sons of Noah, in the greater perfection we find the arts and sciences; whereas they seem to be either neglected or forgotten, in proportion to the remoteness of nations from them; so that, when men attempted to revive those arts and sciences, they were obliged to go back to the source from whence they originally flowed.
I give only a transient view of these objects, though so very important, in this place, because I have already treated them at some length elsewhere.(1)
But another object of infinitely greater importance, claims our attention.
For although profane history treats only of nations who had imbibed all the absurdities of a superst.i.tious worship; and abandoned themselves to all the irregularities of which human nature, after the fall of the first man, became capable; it nevertheless proclaims universally the greatness of the Almighty, his power, his justice, and above all, the admirable wisdom with which his providence governs the universe.
If the inherent conviction of this last truth raised, according to Cicero"s observation,(2) the Romans above all other nations; we may, in like manner, affirm, that nothing gives history a greater superiority to many other branches of literature, than to see in a manner imprinted, in almost every page of it, the precious footsteps and shining proofs of this great truth, _viz._ that G.o.d disposes all events as supreme Lord and Sovereign; that he alone determines the fate of kings and the duration of empires; and that he transfers the government of kingdoms from one nation to another, because of the unrighteous dealing and wickedness committed therein.(3)
We discover this important truth in going back to the most remote antiquity, and the origin of profane history; I mean, to the dispersion of the posterity of Noah into the several countries of the earth where they settled. Liberty, chance, views of interest, a love for certain countries, and similar motives, were, in outward appearance, the only causes of the different choice which men made in these various migrations. But the Scriptures inform us, that amidst the trouble and confusion that followed the sudden change in the language of Noah"s descendants, G.o.d presided invisibly over all their counsels and deliberations; that nothing was transacted but by the Almighty"s appointment; and that he alone guided(4) and settled all mankind, agreeably to the dictates of his mercy and justice: "The Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth."(5)
It is true indeed that G.o.d, even in those early ages, had a peculiar regard for that people, whom he was one day to consider as his own. He pointed out the country which he designed for them; he caused it to be possessed by another laborious nation, who applied themselves to cultivate and adorn it; and to improve the future inheritance of the Israelites. He then fixed, in that country, the like number of families, as were to be settled in it, when the sons of Israel should, at the appointed time, take possession of it; and did not suffer any of the nations, which were not subject to the curse p.r.o.nounced by Noah against Canaan, to enter upon an inheritance that was to be given up entirely to the Israelites. _Quando dividebat Altissimus gentes, quando separabat filios Adam, const.i.tuit terminos populorum juxta numerum filiorum Israel._(6) But this peculiar regard of G.o.d to his future people, does not interfere with that which he had for the rest of the nations of the earth, as is evident from the many pa.s.sages of Scripture, which teach us, that the entire succession of ages is present to him; that nothing is transacted in the whole universe, but by his appointment; and that he directs the several events of it from age to age. _Tu es Deus conspector seculorum. A seculo usque in seculum respicis._(7)
We must therefore consider, as an indisputable principle, and as the basis and foundation of the study of profane history, that the providence of the Almighty has, from all eternity, appointed the establishment, duration, and destruction of kingdoms and empires, as well in regard to the general plan of the whole universe, known only to G.o.d, who const.i.tutes the order and wonderful harmony of its several parts; as particularly with respect to the people of Israel, and still more with regard to the Messiah, and the establishment of the church, which is his great work, the end and design of all his other works, and ever present to his sight; _Notum a seculo est Domino opus suum._(8)
G.o.d has vouchsafed to discover to us, in holy Scripture, a part of the relation of the several nations of the earth to his own people; and the little so discovered, diffuses great light over the history of those nations, of whom we shall have but a very imperfect idea, unless we have recourse to the inspired writers. They alone display, and bring to light, the secret thoughts of princes, their incoherent projects, their foolish pride, their impious and cruel ambition: they reveal the true causes and hidden springs of victories and overthrows; of the grandeur and declension of nations; the rise and ruin of states; and teach us, what indeed is the princ.i.p.al benefit to be derived from history, the judgment which the Almighty forms both of princes and empires, and consequently, what idea we ourselves ought to entertain of them.
Not to mention Egypt, that served at first as the cradle (if I may be allowed the expression) of the holy nation; and which afterwards was a severe prison, and a fiery furnace to it(9); and, at last, the scene of the most astonishing miracles that G.o.d ever wrought in favour of Israel: not to mention, I say, Egypt, the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon furnish a thousand proofs of the truth here advanced.
Their most powerful monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmanezer, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and many more, were, in G.o.d"s hand, as so many instruments, which he employed to punish the transgressions of his people.
"He lifted up an ensign to the nations from far, and hissed unto them from the end of the earth, to come and receive his orders."(10) He himself put the sword into their hands, and appointed their marches daily. He breathed courage and ardour into their soldiers; made their armies indefatigable in labour, and invincible in battle; and spread terror and consternation wherever they directed their steps.