"The nations who composed the army were these. I speak of the Persians first, who wore small helmets on their heads, which they call tiara: their bodies were covered with tunics of different colours, having sleeves, and adorned with plates of steel. in imitation of the scales of fishes; their thighs were defended, and they carried a kind of shield called gerra, beneath which was a quiver. They had short spears, large bows, and arrows made of reeds; and on their right side, a dagger suspended from a belt.

"The Medes had the same military dress; indeed, properly speaking, it is Median and not Persian. The armour of the Cissians generally resembled that of the Persians, except that instead of tiara they wore mitres: they were commanded by Anaphes, son of Otanes. The Hyrcani were also dressed like the Persians, and had for their leader Megapanus, who was afterwards governor of Babylon.

The Assyrian forces had brazen helmets of a barbarous form, and difficult to describe.. Their shields, spears, and daggers, were like those of the Egyptians; they had also large clubs pointed with iron, and lined cuirasses."

"The Bactrians, in what they wore on their heads, most resembled the Medes;; but after the custom of their country, they used bows made of recds, and short spears.. The Saca, who are a Scythian nation,, had helmets terminating in a point, and wore breeches. They were also armed in their country manner, with bows, daggers, and a hatchet called sagaris.

"The dress of the Indians was cotton their bows were made of reeds, as were also their arrows, which were pointed with iron. The Arii had bows like the Medes, but were in other respects equipped like the Bactrians.

"The Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, Gandarians, and the Dadicæ, had the same armour as the Bactrians.

"The Caspians wore a vest made of skins; they had the armour of their country, bows made of reeds, and scymitars. The Sarange had beautiful habits of different and splendid colours: they had buskins reaching to their knees, bows and javelins like the Medes. The Pactyes also had vests made of skins, bows and daggers after the manner of their country.

"The Utii, Mycii, and Paricanii, were armed like the Pactyes. "The Arabians wore large folding vests, which they call ziræ : their bows were long, flexible, and crooked. The Ethiopians were clad in skins of panthers and lions: their bows were of palm, and not less than four cubits long. Their arrows were short, and made of reeds, instead of iron they were pointed with a stone which they use to cut their seals. They had also spears armed with the horns of goats, shaped like the iron of a lance; and besides these, knotty clubs. It is the custom of this people, when they advance to combat, to daub one half of their body with gypsum, the other with vermilion.

"Those Ethiopians who came from the more eastern parts of their country (for there were two distinct bodies in this expedition)

served with the Indians. These differed from the former in nothing but their language and their hair. The Oriental Ethiopians have their hair straight, those of Africa have their hair more crisp and curling than any other men. The armour of the Asiatic Ethiopians resembled that of the Indians, but on their heads they wore the skins of horses' heads, on which the manes and ears were left. The manes served as the plumes, and the ears remained stiff and erect. Instead of shields they held out before them the skins of cranes. "The Libyans were dressed in skins, and had the points of their spears hardened in the fire.

"The Paphlagonians wore helmets made of network; they had small spears and bucklers, besides javelins and daggers. Agreeably to the fashion of their country, they had buskins which reached to the middle of the leg. The Ligyes, Matieni, Maryandeni, and Syrians were habited like the Paphlagonians.

"The armour of the Phrygians differed very little from that of the Paphlagonians. According to the Macedonians, the Phrygians, as long as they were their neighbours, and lived in Europe, were called Bryges; on passing over into Asia they took the name of Phrygians. The Armenians are a colony of the Phrygians, and were armed like them.

"The Lydians were equipped very like the Greeks. They were once called Meonians; but they changed their ancient name, and took that of Lydus, the son of Atys. The Nysians wore the helmets of their country, had small shields, and javelins hardened in the fire. They are a colony of the Lydians, and named Olympians, from Mount Olympus.

"The Thracians wore on their heads skins of foxes; the other part of their dress consisted of a tunic, below which was a large and folding robe of various colours: they had also buskins made of the skins of fawns, and were armed with javelins, small bucklers, and daggers.

"The Thracians of Asia used hort bucklers made of hides, and each of them carried two Lycian spears; they had also helmets of brass, on the summit of which were the ears and horns of an ox, made also of brass, together with a crest. On their legs they had purple buskins.

"The Cabalian Meonians, who are also called Lasonians, were habited like the Cilicians, whom I shall describe in their proper order. The Milyæ carried short spears, their vests confined with clasps; some of them had Lycian bows, and they wore helmets of leather. The Moschi had helmets of wood, small bucklers, and short spears with long iron points.

"The Tibareni, Macrones, and Mosynoci were in all respects habited like the Moschi.

"The Mares, after the fashion of their country, had net-work casques, small leathern bucklers, and spears. The Colchians had helmets of wood, small bucklers made of the hard hides of oxen, short spears, and swords. The Allarodii and Saspines were dressed like the Colchians.

"The people who came from the islands of the Red Sea, to which those who labour under the king's displeasure are exiled, were habited and armed like the Medes.

"These were the nations who proceeded over the continent, and composed the infantry of the army."

THE BIBLE CLASS.

ABRAHAM-HIS HISTORY, AND THE TRIAL OF HIS FAITH.

Genesis xi. 27 to 29; xii. 1 to 5; xvii. 1 to 9; xxii. 1 to 15; Acts vii. 3 to 5; Romans iv. 1 to 3; Hebrews xi. 8 to 20; James ii. 21 to 23.

In our present lesson it is proposed to make the history of Abraham the subject of remark and the source of instruction. The first mention of his name occurs in Genesis xi. 26, where we are told that he was the son of Terah. "The land of his nativity" is said to be in "Ur of the Chaldees." At first sight we should be led to think that Abram, or Abraham, was the elder of three brothers, as his name is mentioned first, but the probability is that he was the younger of the three, and that he was born when Terah was about 130 years of age. The sacred writers do not always, when referring to the genealogy of individuals, mention the elder the first. The sons of Noah, for example, are said to have been Shem, Ham, and Japheth.-Gen. v. 32. Yet Japheth, though mentioned last, was the elder, or first born.

We are not informed whether or not Abraham ever was an idolater. The sacred historians are silent as to his early history; but his ancestors were. For Jehovah himself has expressly said that he brought the patriarch" from beyond the river, and from a land in which his fathers had worshipped other gods." As in the most depraved periods before the deluge God never left himself without a witness for truth and righteousness, so, after the deluge, did he make choice of Abraham, a descendant of Shem, as the conservator of the interests of true religion in the world, and as a witness for him against the falsehood and criminality which again began so extensively to prevail.

The following is the account given of Jehovah's first intimation to Abraham of his gracious intentions:-" Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, into a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed."-Gen. xii. 1-3. In whatever way this communication was given to Abraham, he was so convinced

it was the Lord that had spoken, that he, therefore, promptly obeyed, and departed, "not knowing whither he went." In the Epistle to the Hebrews the conduct of Abraham on this occasion is referred to as an evidence of his faith. Thus to leave his country and his home, to go into a land of strangers, not knowing whither he went to do this, and withal with such promptitude, required the exercise of no ordinary confidence in God. Yet this is an illustration of what we are all required to do when God gives the command. The Gospel, which was preached before to Abraham, is, in this respect, the same which is preached to us now. We also are required to forsake all for God; and through evil report, as well as good, to follow whithersoever directed by the teachings of his providence and his holy word.

Before his departure from the land of his fathers, Abraham was a man possessed of considerable property; very likely a great land-owner.-Gen. xii. 5. His dignity and power you will also find referred to in the story of his rescuing Lot.Gen. xiv. 13, 14. But when he became a pilgrim at the command of God, he resigned his possessions, and in the land of Canaan he sojourned as a stranger. For Stephen, when referring to Abraham's history, in his address before the Jewish council of priests and elders, intimated that "God gave him none inheritance in the land."-Acts vii. 5. That is, he did not receive there a permanent possession or residence, "not so much as to set his foot on." He was no landed proprietor. The only land which Abraham could claim as his own was the field which he purchased of the children of Heth for a burial-place. Yet he "staggered not at the promise," however, through unbelief, but "against hope he believed" that the promise would yet be fulfilled, and that the land would be "given to him for a possession and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child."

After sojourning for many years in the land of promise as a stranger and a pilgrim, dwelling in tabernacles, a grievous famine arose, which rendered it necessary for him to go down into Egypt. The historian does not say how long he remained there. By the command of the king, however, he at length returned to Canaan, accompanied by his nephew, Lot, and their tents were again pitched between Bethel and Hai, where previously he had raised an altar to the worship of God. An incident occurred shortly after their settlement, which beautifully illustrates the peaceful and benignant spirit of the patriarch. Both Abraham and Lot had large flocks, and to dwell together, however desirable, seemed very inconvenient, and especially as frequent disputes arose between the herds

men. They resolved, therefore, to separate. Abraham was older than Lot, and richer, and had more power; but instead of exercising any undue authority-ordering and commanding, and taking the best of everything for himself-he kindly offered to Lot the choice, and bade him take which part of the country he liked best to settle in.-Gen. xiii. 5-13. "Blessed are the meek," said Jesus," for they shall inherit the earth." The 18th chapter of Genesis opens with another most interesting portion of his eventful history. As he sat in the tent-door, in the heat of the day, in the valley of Mamre, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo! three men stood by him. Immediately he invited them to take refreshment, washed their feet, and hasted to prepare meat for them. The account of what passes between them is most circumstantially related, and exhibits Abraham's personal intercourse with the Lord, in a very remarkable light. The promise of Isaac is again confirmed; and God's purpose to overthrow Sodom and Gomorrah is revealed. Abraham's remarkable intercession for the guilty city is recorded, and the assurance given, that if only ten righteous persons were to be found in it, the threatened doom should be averted. By most commentators it has been admitted that the personage by whom these extraordinary revelations were made to Abraham, was the Lord Jesus Christ himself, as the angel of the covenant, foreshowing his future incarnation, attended by two angels. Abraham, it would appear, previous to their departure, knew him as such, and addressed him in that character.

Isaac, the child of promise, was born about twenty-five years after Abraham arrived in Canaan, at the time intimated by the angel, and about fourteen years after the birth of Ishmael. The event is recorded in the 21st chapter of Genesis.

We pass over many other important incidents in the life of Abraham, and hasten to glance, though but briefly, at what may be regarded the most memorable event in the whole of his extraordinary history. I allude to the offering up of his son Isaac. "It came to pass, after these things," says the historian, "that God did tempt Abraham;" that is, after waiting twenty-five years for the fulfilment of the promise, and after having actually received its fulfilment, in the birth of Isaac, after the youth had arrived at an age approaching to maturity, had afforded promises of early excellence, and had become the object of absorbing affection. "After these things it came to pass that God did tempt Abraham."-See Gen. xxii. 1, 2.

The word "tempt," as used by the historian in this place,