Meander to the Propontis, under the equitable goof the family of Cara Osman Oglou.

lope of Mount Sipylus, and overlooking the city, are of an ancient castle, with its outworks. The bazar red with fruits and vegetables, which shows the fere country around. The site of the city itself, how1 the excessive heats and frequent floods of the Saraates malaria, whence fever and ague affect the in to an alarming extent.

lliam Ousely represents the inn, or Turkish khan, he lodged in this place, as he journeyed from Cone to Smyrna, as the best he had met with in the east. spacious building, forming a regular square, with an rt, where a richly ornamented fountain in the centre I a supply of water. The chambers were numerous, one in which he slept was on the upper floor, where of each chamber opened from a railed gallery, proto the square, and supported on pillars and arches. these arches, and over the colonnade, were receptacles, divisions and small holes, for the accommodation of 3, with which, he states, every compartment was fully ; they being daily fed by the Turks, and never mo

y be mentioned, that there was another city of the me seated on the Meander, and which was formerly great note, as the ruins of many buildings demonAt this place, the great Themistocles died, it being the three towns allotted to him by Artaxerxes for his nce, during his exile.

her abode there, till the article was disposed of at the annual fair, which continued many days. On this subject the Rev. J. Hartley observes: "The sacred writer of the Acts of the Apostles informs us, that Lydia was a seller of purple in the city of Thyatira; and the discovery of an inscription here which makes mention of the dyers, has been considered imI know not if other portant in connexion with this passage. travellers have remarked, that even at the present time, Thyatira is famous for dyeing. In answer to inquiries on the subject, I was informed that the cloths which are dyed scarlet here, are considered superior to any others furnished by Asia Minor; and that large quantities are sent weekly to Smyrna, for the purpose of commerce." Now, there can be no doubt, that Lydia returned to Thyatira, after she and her household had been baptized, and that, by the church in her house, others would be brought to the knowledge of that Saviour whom she had found so precious to her soul. Nor can there be any doubt that the zealous and great apostle of the Gentiles, in his travels through Mysia and Lydia, would visit Thyatira. As all Asia, indeed, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of God from his lips, when he was two years professedly residing at Ephesus, it can hardly be imagined that those of Thyatira, which was only seventy English miles distant, would be excepted. The locality of Thyatira, also, with reference to Pergamus, Sardis, Philadelphia, and other places, where churches had been planted by the apostles Paul and John, renders it probable that one was planted there. Finally, Tertullian, who wrote before the Alogians, admits its early existence; and it is also mentioned by Origen in his homilies. There is no ground, therefore, to call in question the existence of the Church of Thyatira.

MAGNESIA.

Magnesia and Sipylum, now Magnissa, is thirty-five miles due west from Sardis, and eighteen north-east of Smyrna. It is situated at the foot of a lofty and rugged mountain, (the ancient Mons Sipylus, now called the Sipuli Dagh,) that rises behind it, and abruptly terminates the vast plain, which runs from the north of Ak-hissar, the ancient Thyatira, to this place. It contains, at the least, twenty-seven mosques, and most of the houses are placed at the foot, and some on the sides of the mountain. It has been for eighty years, with all the territory

he Meander to the Propontis, under the equitable goent of the family of Cara Osman Oglou.

he slope of Mount Sipylus, and overlooking the city, are ins of an ancient castle, with its outworks. The bazar I stored with fruits and vegetables, which shows the ferof the country around. The site of the city itself, howfrom the excessive heats and frequent floods of the Saraenerates malaria, whence fever and ague affect the innts to an alarming extent.

William Ousely represents the inn, or Turkish khan, ich he lodged in this place, as he journeyed from Connople to Smyrna, as the best he had met with in the east. s a spacious building, forming a regular square, with an court, where a richly ornamented fountain in the centre shed a supply of water. The chambers were numerous, the one in which he slept was on the upper floor, where loor of each chamber opened from a railed gallery, prong into the square, and supported on pillars and arches. ween these arches, and over the colonnade, were receptacles, with divisions and small holes, for the accommodation of rows, with which, he states, every compartment was fully nted; they being daily fed by the Turks, and never mo

d.

may be mentioned, that there was another city of the e name seated on the Meander, and which was formerly ty of great note, as the ruins of many buildings demonte. At this place, the great Themistocles died, it being of the three towns allotted to him by Artaxerxes for his sistence, during his exile.

CHAPTER III.

HISTORY OF THE POLITY OF LYDIA.

THE GOVERNMENT, ETC.

THE Lydians were ruled by kings in the earliest age of the world. Their proper history, however, only commen ces, as will be hereafter explained, about B. c. 718.

The government of Lydia, so far as can be gathered from the conduct of their monarchs, seems to have been despotic in the highest degree, and the crown hereditary. This their brie history exhibits, and the reader is therefore referred to tha section for further information on this point.

The character of the Lydians varied at different periods under Croesus, and some of his predecessors, they were evi dently a warlike people; for they reduced all the neighbour ing countries, and spread the terror of their arms far and wide. Afterwards, being subdued by the Persians, and en joined by Cyrus, according to the advice given him by Cro sus, to wear long vests, and apply themselves to such arts and callings only as had a natural tendency to corrupt their man ners and enervate their courage, they became a voluptuou and effeminate race of people.

Herodotus gives the following account of the origin of this change of character. The Lydians, not long after they were subdued by Cyrus, at the instigation of one Pactyas, a Lydian whom Cyrus had trusted with the gold which he had found in the treasury of Croesus, at Sardis, rebelled. News of this re volt being brought to Cyrus, as he was leading his army against the Babylonians, Bactrians, and Egyptians, he re solved to march back into Lydia, sell all the Lydians for slaves, and put an end to the existence of the nation. He in parted his resolution to Croesus, at that time his prisoner, who deploring the utter ruin of his country, entreated him to for give the Lydians, and to revenge himself on Pactyas alone

by whom they had been misled. At the same time, Cræsus advised Cyrus, in order to prevent any future rebellion, to forbid the Lydians the use of arms, to encourage luxury and debauchery among them, to which they were naturally inclined, and to cause their children to be brought up to such callings only as would ensure their enervation. This evil advice, more ruinous in its results than that which Cyrus himself meditated, was followed, and in a short time the Lydians became the most corrupt and feeble nation under the sun.

"So coin grows smooth, in traffic current pass'd.
Till Cesar's image is effaced at last.”—COWPER.

Some have concluded from Jeremiah xlvi. 9, that the arms of the ancient Lydians were bows and arrows; but in this they err. The original from whence the word "Lydians" is translated in this verse, is Ludim, and the people denoted must not be confounded with the Lydians of Asia Minor, with whom the Egyptians and other African nations usually associated with them could have no connexion. There were two Luds, one the son of Shem, from whom these Lydians are descended; and the other, the son of Misraim, the settler of Egypt, whose descendants are supposed to have settled in Africa, and near Egypt. It is to these latter people that the prophet alludes, when he speaks of "the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow."

Like the bulk of mankind, in those ancient days, the Lydians were gross idolaters. It would appear that they worshipped the goddess Diana, as they did also Jupiter and Cybele at Magnesia, under the name of Sypilene. This is evident from the fact, that in the alliance concluded between the cities of Smyrna and Magnesia on the Meander in favour of Seleucus Callinicius, both parties swore, according to the Arundelian marbles, by the goddess Sypílene. In the same city there was a temple of Diana Leucophryna, which, it is said, equalled in magnificence the celebrated temple of Diana at Ephesus.

The Lydian mode of expiation nearly resembled that in use among the Greeks. Apollonius Rhodius has thus described the custom in his poem of the Argonautics:—

* Xerxes, it is said, compelled the Babylonians to adopt a similar conduct. He forbade their carrying arms, and obliged them to learn the practice of music, to have in their cities places of debauch, and to wear long tunics. Such are among the evil effects of tyranny.