Daniel, and from Ezra i.

(a) Dan. ix. 24, &c.

(b) Prideaux's Connection, anno 540.

[There seem to be in this paragraph many mistakes. It cannot be true that Cyrus did not marry the daughter of Darius or Cyaxares II. till after the conquest of Babylon; for Xenophon, who relates this, says likewise that the princess and he were about the same age; and it seems indisputable that at the conquest of Babylon Cyrus was 63 years of age. But he had two children by the daughter of Darius, who were both grown to man's estate at his death when he was 70 years of age; and therefore he must have married at a much earlier period than the conquest of Babylon. His father likewise, and probably his mother, must have been dead before that period, as will appear from the following account of the birth, successions to different kingdoms, and death of this illus. trious prince, collected by Dr Hales with the utmost care and accuracy.

"The reign of Cyrus over Persia began, accord ing to Diodorus, Thallus, Castor, Polybius, and Phie gon cited by Euseb. Prep. Evang. lib. 10. in the first year of the 55th olympiad, corresponding to the Julian years, B. C. 560, and 559. He reigned, in all, 30 years, according to Ctesias, Justin, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Eusebius; 29 according to Herodotus; and 31 years according to Sulpitius. The year of his death is ascertained to have been B. C. 529. by a Lunar eclipse recorded by Ptolemy to have happened in the seventh year of his son and successor Cambyses, B. C. 523. This determines the birth of Cyrus to have been B. C. 599, two years after his grandfather, Astyages, succeeded to the crown of Media B. C. 601.

Cyrus succeeded to the crown of Persia, on the demise of his father, B. C. 559, as hath been already observed, and is determined by the thirty years of his whole reign. This corrects an error of Xenophon, who represents Cambyses,-father of Cyruas still alive after the capture of Babylon, B. C. 536; an er. ror into which he was led, perhaps, by confounding this capture with the death of Belshazzar, that impious king,' as he calls him, who was slain seventeen years before, B. C. 553. when Cyaxares, or Darius the Mede, took' possession of the kingdom of BabyLon. Cyrus peaceably succeeded his uncle two years after," as the author completely proves, in opposition

to Herodotus, and the general current of ancient and modern historians, by the united testimony of Eschylus, Xenophon, Josephus, and the Persian historians, supported by the authority of SCRIPTURE, and COMMON sense. "And when Nabonadius, who had been appointed viceroy of Babylon by Darius the Mede, at length rebelled and joined Croesus the sovereign of Lydia, he was defeated, B. C. 538, and Babylon was taken by Cyrus, B. C. 536, which was, of course, the era of the actual commencement of his full sovereignty.] Hales's Analysis, &c. vol. ii. p. 283, and vol. iii. p. 94, 98, 99.

(c) Ezra i. 1, &c.

It is a good deal more than probable, that this decree in favour of the Jews was in a great measure owing to Daniel's good offices. Cyrus, at his first coming to Babylon, after he had taken the city, found him there an old minister of state, famed for his great wisdom over all the East, and in many things for a knowledge superior to the rest of mankind; and ac cordingly we find, that he not only employed him as such, but, upon the settling of the government of the whole empire, made him first superintendant or prime minister of state over all the provinces of it. In this station of life, Daniel must have been a person of great authority at court, and highly in the esteem of his prince, and therefore, as we find him earnest in his prayer to God for the restoration of his people, Dan. ix. we cannot but think, that he would be equally warm in his intercessions for it with the king. To which purpose, it is not improbable, that he might shew him those passages in Isaiah, which speak of him by name (an hundred and fifty years before he was born), as a great prince and conqueror, the ruler of many nations, and the restorer of his people, by causing his temple to be built, and the city of Jerusalem re-inhabited. For that Cyrus had seen those prophesies, the thing is plain, not only from the testimony of Josephus, Antiq. lib. xi. c. 1. but from the recital that is made of them in the decree itself, Ezra i. 2. and if so, who should be so proper to shew them to him, and to recommend the accomplishment of them to his princely care, as Daniel, who had so great credit with him, and so passionate a concern for the restoration of Sion? Prideaux's Connection, anno 538.

+ Some are of opinion, that among the sacred

The first day of the month Tizri was the beginning of the Jewish civil year, and on it was the feast of trumpets, so called, because it was proclaimed by sound of trumpet; but upon what occasion it was at first instituted, the Scripture is silent. Theodoret, (Quæst. xxxii. in Levit.) is of opinion, that this was in memory of the thunder and lightning upon Mount Sinai, when God gave his law from thence. The ancient Rabbins will have it, that it was in remembrance of the deliverance of Isaac, in whose stead Abraham sacrificed a ram; but some modern Jews maintain, that it was in memory of the world's creation, which they accordingly assert was in the beginning of autumn; and, as they hold it by tradition, that on this day God particularly judges all the actions of the foregoing year, and disposes all the events of the year following, for this reason they generally apply themselves for the whole eight days preceding this feast to the works of penance and mortification. On the feast itself (which lasts for two days) all labour and business is suspended, and (while sacifices were in use) the Jews offered, in the name of the whole na tion, a solemn holocaust of a calf, two rams, and seven lambs, all of the same year, together with the flour and wine that usually went along with such sacrifices: but, instead of that, they now go to the synagogue, where they repeat several prayers and bendictions, and having taken the Pentateuch very solemn. ly out of the chest, and read to five persons the sacrifice that used to be performed on that day, they sound twenty times upon an horn, sometimes very low, sometimes very loud; and this, they say, makes them think of the judgments of God, to intimidate sinners and put them upon repentance. Calmet's Dictionary under the word trumpet.

+ This was one of the principal solemnities of the Jews; and the ceremonies to be observed hereon were such as these. The high priest, after he had washed not only his hands and feet, (as usual in common sa crifices) but his body likewise, dressed himself in a plain linen garment like one of the priests, and had neither his purple robe, his ephod, nor his pectoral on, because he was going to expiate his own as well as the people's sins. He first of all offered a bullock and a ram for his own sins and those of the other priests, putting his hand upon their heads, and confessing his own sins and the sins of his house; then he received from the princes of the people two goats for a sinoffering, and a ram for a burnt-offering, to be offered in the name of all the people. By lots it was determined which of the two goats should be sacrificed, and which set at liberty; and therefore, after that he had perfumed the sanctuary with some burning inVOL. II.

3 R

cense, he took of the blood of the bullock which he had sacrificed, and dipping his finger in it, sprinkled it seven times between the ark and the veil which separated between the Holy of Holies and the body of the tabernacle or temple. After this, he came out again, and having sacrificed the goat upon which the lot was fallen, he returned with some of its blood in. to the sanctuary, and there sprinkled it as he had done before: then coming out again, he sprinkled both sides of the court with the blood of the goat; and so proceeding to the altar of burnt-offerings, he wet the four horns of it with the blood of the goat and the bullock, and sprinkled it seven times with the same. After all these ceremonies were finished, the goat that was to be set at liberty, (which was commonly called the scape-goat) was brought to the high priest, who put both his hands upon its head, and having confessed all his own sins, and the sins of the people, delivered it to persons appointed to that office, who carried it into the wilderness, and left it upon the brink of a precipice at twelve miles distance from Jerusalem. After all which, the high priest washed himself all over again in the tabernacle or temple, and putting on his pontifical dress, sacrificed two rams for a burnt-offering, one for himself and the other for the people; and so concluded the day with reading the law, and giving the blessing to the people; who all upon this occasion behaved with great devotion, fasted punctually, and returned home with a full persuasion and assurance that their sins were entirely done away and expiated. done away and expiated. The modern Jews, who have no sacrifices, content themselves with reading in Leviticus what relates to the solemn service of this day, and the ceremonies concerning the scape-goat. They in like manner fast very strictly, and pray very devoutly, until the conclusion of the day, when, having received the Rabbin's blessing, they go home fully satisfied that all their iniquities are pardoned: for their standing maxim is, that repentance, though accompanied with a resolution of living well," does but suspend sins; whereas the feast of expiation does absolutely abolish them." The reader that is desirous to know more of this, may consult Basnage's History of the Jews, and Calmet's Dictionary under the word expiation.

+ This was one of the great solemnities of the Jews, wherein all the males were obliged to present themselves before the Lord. In Hebrew it is called Chag hassuchoth, the feast of tents; because it was kept under green tents and arbours, in memory of their dwelling in tents in their passage through the wilderness, and immediately after the harvest, in grateful acknowledgment to God for the fruits of the

*

We do not find that Daniel took the advantage of the edict which Cyrus made in favour of the Jews; and therefore we may suppose, that, as he did not return with them to Jerusalem, the king might require his continuance with him, and Daniel might the rather consent to it, as having thereby a better opportunity to befriend his countrymen upon any exigence. To this purpose, it is highly probable that he attended the Persian court, which, after the taking and defacing of Babylon, resided in summer at Shushan or Susa, and in winter at Ecbatana. In the palace of Shushan, Daniel (as himself tells us, chap. viii. 1. &c.) had several visions. In this city (as Josephus informs us, Antiq. lib. 10. c. 12. where, instead of Ecbatana, St Jerom reads Susa) he built a famous edifice, finished with such exquisite art, that it continued fresh and beautiful in his days; and in this city the common tradition is, that he died in the third or fourth year of Cyrus, and about the 91st year of his age; for, even to this day, (as we learn from Benjamin's Itinerarium,) the inhabitants of the place (at present called Tuster) shew his monument. But the most valuable monument left behind him is in his writings, whereof the Jewish historian gives us this character: "He had this peculiar blessing attending him, that he lived in great reputation both with prince and people, and, when he died, left an immortal memory behind him. His writings, which are still extant, and in common use, we keep as a sure pledge that he had an intimacy and conversation with God -For, whereas other prophets were more employed in foreboding calamities and ill news, which drew upon them disgrace from princes, and hatred from the people, Daniel, on the contrary, foretold nothing but happy events, and what was agreeable; so that the nature of his predictions was such as gained him the good will of all, and such the certainty of them, as gained him a ready credence with all: Which (as the historian remarks) may serve not only to establish a veneration for the memory of a man whom God so

signally honoured, but to confound likewise the impious doctrines of the Epicureans, which will not allow of any over-ruling Providence interposing in the government and preservation of the universe, but will have the whole course of sublunary things to be nothing more than one grand huddle of contingencies. For when I consider the prophecies of Daniel, (says he,) I cannot but blame the ignorance or irreverence of those who make it their profession to decry Providence, as if God took no care of us, since it is impossible to conceive how there should be such a correspondence between the things foretold at one time, and fulfilled so many ages after, if, according to their opinion, every thing were left to run at random, and fall out at hap-hazard." Jewish Antiq. lib. x. c. 12.

** It is generally agreed by historians, that Cyrus was much about seventy years old when he died; but then they widely differ among themselves as to the manner of his death. Some say that he was taken in an engagement and hanged; others, that he died of a wound which he received in his thigh; and others, that he was killed in a battle with the people of Samos. Herodotus, Justin, and Valerius Maximus relate, that, in his war against the Scythians, falling into an ambush which queen Tomyris had laid for him, he was taken prisoner, and, with insult enough, had his head cut off by her order; but Xenophon's account is, that he died peaceably in his bed amidst his friends, and in his own country; as, indeed, there is little reason to think, either that so wise a man as Cyrus should, in his advanced years, engage in so desperate an undertaking as this Scythian expedition is represented on all hands, or that, had he died in Scythia, his mangled body could have ever been got out of the hands of these barbarians to be buried at Pasargada in Persia, as most authors agree it wa-, and where his monument was to be seen in the time of Alexander the Great; Calmet's Dictionary under the word Cyrus; and Prideaux's Connection, anno 530.