his men and his treasures in the building of palaces, and temples, and whatever could add to the magnificence and the glory of the city.

It is said that the army of Ninus numbered not fewer than two millions of warriors. It may be that the roll contained the names of this mighty host, but such a force could not all have been employed in active service. If we reduce the numbers one half, he still had a mighty power at his command; and having recruited his army, he prepared to recover his late defeat. The victories which he had gained during seventeen long years of warfare, had made his name a terror to the East, and in making a second attack on Bactria, from which he had been repulsed before with dishonour and with loss, he succeeded in pursuing the enemy into their mountain recesses, and there hemmed

them in till he had reduced the rest of the country, and thus added fresh lustre to his arms.

Soon after this, Ninus fell in love with a woman whose history is mixed up with the truly marvellous. A lovely babe, whose mother drowned herself in a state of remorse, was left by that mother in a rocky desert, where, as the story goes, its life was preserved by some pigeons bringing to it milk day after day for the space of twelve long months. There it was found by one of Ninus' shepherds, whose chief, named Simma, and a member of the royal household, adopted the child as his own daughter, and gave to her the name of SEMIRAMIS. From her great beauty, Semiramis became the pride of her adopted father, and, as she grew up, she was the admiration of all around her. Menon,

This name is derived from a word in the Syriac language which means a DOVE, and which was henceforth adored by the Syrians.

the governor of Syria, fell in love with her, and married her in opposition to the will of Simma. They took up their abode in Nineveh, where her wisdom and her talents raised both her own name and that of her husband. Menon having accompanied Ninus, his sovereign, to the field of warfare, and having during his absence expressed a strong desire for the society of his wife, we are told that Semiramis set out for the camp, and with that mixture of prudence and vanity which is peculiar to woman's character, "invented a dress that effectually concealed her sex, while displaying her charms to the best advantage." On reaching the camp, she watched the movements of both armies with intense interest, and perceiving where lay the cause of failure, gave the

hint to her husband, won from him the command of a body of troops, which she secretly led to the summit of a rock which was supposed to be inaccessible, from which the citadel of the enemy was surprised and taken, the city forced to surrender, and the arms of Ninus were again crowned with success. Nothing would satisfy the monarch, but that Semiramis must leave Menon and become his queen. This so preyed upon the mind of Menon, who was first coaxed to give up his beautiful wife into the arms of his royal master, and was afterwards threatened if he did not comply, that in a fit of despair he put an end to his life, and Semiramis rose to share the throne and the kingdom of Ninus, who returned to Assyria with his queen, loaded with the spoils of conquest, and covered with renown.

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But days of darkness awaited this proud and imperious prince. His marriage did not bring happiness to his hearth, or give stability to his throne. Though Semiramis gave birth to a son, and thus inspired the hopes of succession, it is said that she was so passionately fond of this child, as to estrange her heart from her husband, and that she might become sole empress of Assyria, she caused Ninus to be secretly put to death. Can this be possible? Must we believe that Semiramis would thus destroy the partner of her life and the father of her child? It seems contrary to woman's nature. And yet the future history of Semiramis supplies but too many proofs of her pride and her cruelty. Her glory was stained with many a crime, and her name has come down to us blotted with the foulest characters.

Ninus is no more, and Semiramis ascends the throne as regent for her infant son. A crown encircles her fair brow, but deep is the stain of guilt which lies upon her conscience. It may be that conscience slept, or that the queen-mother turned a deaf ear to its warning voice. To lull suspicion, she reared a monument to the memory of her late husband in the form of a mound. This mound, which covered the ashes of the mighty conqueror, was of an immense size, and was meant to correspond with the dignity of the man and the glory of the warrior. This done, she began to take a firmer hold of the reins of government, and filling for the time the throne of her son, she assumed to herself the supreme power, and was at length hailed by her people as superior to man in her capacity to rule.

Firmly fixed in the seat of authority, Semiramis began to repair the capital of her empire, and by her means Babylon became the most magnificent city in the world. The splendours of Nineveh had begotten in her the desire to rival the doings of her late husband, and to send down her name on the stream of time as the founder of a kingdom. Though she laid not the foundation of Babylon, she yet lavished upon it her wealth and her skill, and spread over it a grandeur and a glory the fame of which have not yet passed away, and which will not be forgotten till the world shall be no more.

This did not satisfy Semiramis. Like her husband, she thirsted for the glory of conquest. Having collected a vast and powerful army, she undertook an expedition into Media, and making herself mistress of Ecbatana the capital, she passed from Media into Egypt. Conquering the greater part of Libya, she reached the temple of Jupiter Ammon, in which she was told by the oracle, that "she should quit the world, but be ever honoured by the nations of Asia, when her son should plot against her life." The heroine then proceeded to Ethiopia, and finally employed her immense resources in seeking the conquest of India. The Indian monarch, Stabrobates, prepared for the contest,

reproached Semiramis for her wanton invasion of his dominions, and swore by the gods, that if he could but take her, he would nail her to the cross, and make her die an ignominious death. A fierce and fearful action took place, in which the victory was decreed to Semiramis; and the queen having scoured the coasts and the islands, and taken in triumph one hundred thousand captives, pursued the retiring force, when the Indian horse, in attempting a charge, were suddenly broken and thrown into the utmost confusion. Again they rallied; and opposing their elephants to the camels of Semiramis, they succeeded in putting the Assyrians to flight. Herself wounded, and more than half her army destroyed, Semiramis returned to her own dominions.

Though Semiramis had many lovers whom she first embraced and then destroyed, she was for a long time too jealous of her power to take to herself another husband. One after another became master of her heart, but she was

heartless in her own conduct towards them, till she at length sent a message to the king of Armenia to accept her hand, and to share her empire. But the handsome Armenian was too wise a man, and too tenderly attached to his own lovely wife, to accept such an offer. Notwithstanding the enticements and the charms of Semiramis, this manly prince spurned her far away from him, and fell back into the quietness and the happiness of his own sweeter home. Semiramis resented this refusal by invading Armenia, and forcing Ara to meet her in the open field of battle. Ara perished in the combat; but so unbounded was the passion of Semiramis for the man whom she had forced to seek death rather than yield to her grasp, that she ordered his body to be brought into her presence, when she tried every means possible to restore the lifeless form. It was all in vain :-the soul of Ara had fled whither it could not return.

Struck with the richness and the loveliness of the country in which she found

herself, with its beauteous valleys, and flowery plains, and limpid springs, and balmy air, and the soft murmurs of its many waters, Semiramis was tempted to

build there a royal residence, that there she might spend the three summer months of the year. For this purpose she made choice of a lovely spot to the