to him. Zoilus, the snarling critic, who distinguished himself by abusing Homer, also frequented the Egyp tian court, but received no countenance from Ptolemy.

225. Ptolemy had also a passion for building. He rebuilt Acco in Palestine, on the Mediterrranean, which he called Ptolemais, after his own name. This place has been famous in the history of all ages, especially in the wars of the crusades. It is now called Acre, and in our own times has been famous for the unsuccessful siege which it sustained from Buonaparte.

226. The city formerly famous, under the name of Rabbah, he rebuilt, and called it. Philadelphia after his own surname. It has long been desolate. Such was his taste for fine buildings, that it became proverbial, to call an edifice of more than usual magnificence, Philadelphian.

227. Notwithstanding the great expenses, necessarily attendant on his favorite pursuits, he died exceedingly rich, leaving no less than seven hundred and forty thousand Egyptian talents in the treasury. He left also large and well furnished fleets, both in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

228. As soon as Antiochus heard of the death of Ptolemy, he put away Berenice, and invited his former wife, Laodice, to return; but she knowing his fickleness, caused him to be poisoned by his servants, and placing a man who greatly resembled him in his bed, to personate him as being confined by sickness, she concealed his death until by orders, forged under her hand, she placed her own son Seleucus on the throne, which he occupied for twenty years. She also pursued Berenice and her son, with unrelenting vengeance, until she had them both put to death by the treachery of some who were about them. (

229. And here again we see the fulfilment of the sequel of the prophecy of Daniel before cited. After predicting the marriage of the king of the North, to the daughter of the king of the South, as the band of agreement, he goes on to say: "But she"-that is Berenice "shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he"-that is Antiochus-"stand, nor his arm: but she"-that is Berenice-"shall be given up, and they that brought her"-that is her Egyptian

friends "and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her." (Daniel xi. 6.)

230. While Berenice was besieged by Laodice in Daphne, where she had fled for refuge, with her son, her brother Ptolemy Euergetes, who had succeeded his father on the throne of Egypt, marched with a powerful army to her relief; but before he arrived at Daphne, both she and her son were killed.

He avenged himself, however, by putting Laodice to death, and making himself master of all Syria and Cilicia. He even extended his conquests, beyond the Euphrates, as far as the Tigris, and was in a fair way to reduce under his dominion all the Eastern provinces of the Syrian empire, when he was suddenly recalled to Egypt, by a sedition, that had arisen there. He greatly endeared himself to the Egyptian people, on his return from this expedition, by bringing back from Persia their gods, which Cambyses had carried away; and on this account, he received the name, Euergetes, or Benefactor.

131. All these events were in exact fulfilment of the prophecies of Daniel, who tells us, that after the queen of the South, with her son and attendants, should be cut off, and her father, who was her chief support, should be dead, "there should one arise out of a branch of her roots, in his estate"-that is, her brother Ptolemy Euergetes-and that "he should come with an army and enter into the fortress of the king of the North, and prevail against him, and carry captive into Egypt, their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and gold; and then come into his kingdom, and return into his own land." Now, how exactly all this was fulfilled, the history of Ptolemy Euergetes most manifestly shows. Again, it is said, in the same

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prophecy, that "the king of the South should continue more years than the king of the North," and such was the event, for Ptolemy Euergetes survived Seleucus Callinicus, whom Laodice had placed on the throne of Syria, four years.

232. The wife of Ptolemy Euergetes, also named Berenice, being very apprehensive of danger to her husband in his nothern expedition, made a vow, that she would consecrate her hair, of which she was vain, as being very beautiful, if he should return safe. Accordingly it was cut off and sent to the temple, which Ptolemy Philadelphus had built in Cyprus, but, by some accident, was lost, an occurence, by which Ptole-my was much dsiturbed. It happened, that Conon of Samos, a distinguished mathematician, was then at Alexandria, who, to relieve the king's mind, and also to ingratiate himself into his favor, pretended that this hair was caught up into heaven; and showed seven stars, near the tail of the Lion, not before connected with any constellation, which he said was the consecrated hair of the queen; which conceit being countenanced by subsequent astronomers, a new constellation was added, called Coma Berenices, the hair of Berenice. Callimachus, the poet, wrote a hymn to celebrate the hair of Berenice.

233. Ptolemy Euergetes, who seems to have been of a devout term of mind, on his return from his Syrian expedition, took Jerusalem in his way, and there caused many sacrifices, to be offered up to the God of Israel, as an acknowledgment for the great success which he had experienced, in his contest with the king of Syria. And it is not improbable, that the prophecies: of Daniel, relative to these events, might have been shown to him..

234. Seleucus, in the years 245 and 244 B. C., entered into new wars with Ptolemy, for the recovery of his lost dominions, but the issue was as unfortunate as before; for being overcome in battle, he was obliged to flee to Antioch, accompanied only by a few of his followers.

In consequence of the broken and disastrous state of his affairs, he invited his brother Antiochus, who was then at the head of an army, to join with him. Antiochus although he was only fourteen years of age, yet being of an ambitious turn, readily accepted the proposal, not so much to aid his brother, as to gain the empire for himself.

235. At this time, the cities of Smyrna and Magnesia, as a testimony of their affection for Seleucus, entered into a combination to assist him with their might, and erected a column of marble, on which their mutual agreement was engraved, And it is a remarkable fact, that this identical marble is now standing in the court-yard of the theatre at Oxford, with the inscription still distinctly legible, in Greek capital letters. It was brought from Asia, by Thomas earl of Arundel, in the reign of Charles the first, and was given, with other marbles, to the University of Oxford, by Henry duke of Norfolk, his grandson, in the reign. of Charles the second. These are commonly spoken of under the name of the Arundelian marbles.

236. The union of the two brothers against Ptolemy, was attended with no great issue; for the latter made a peace with Seleucus, while Antiochus went on with his preparations for war. These, his brother soon suspected, were intended against himself. He, therefore, marched an army over Mount Taurus, to surprise him. A battle. was fought between them, near Ancyra in Asia Minor, in which Seleucus was overthrown, and scarcely escaped