of their enemies in war, and it is probable that this forbearance might have been exercised in conformity to the instruction in Deuteronomy (xx. 19.) made known to the Indians by oral communication. Diodorus informs us, that perjury among the Egyptians was punished with death; and this custom might possibly have taken its rise from the operation of the principle of the Mosaic law, which directed the Israelites, that if "a false witness rose up against any man to testify against him that which was wrong," "then should they do unto him "as he had thought to have done unto his "brother +." 66 Diodorus affords many proofs of the completion of the Hebrew prophecies. He particularly mentions, that Sardanapalus was acquainted with an ancient prophecy, which declared that Nineveh should never be taken by force till the river should become the city's enemy; and that when the Euphrates rose and destroyed part of the wall, he conceived that the prophecy was accomplished, and committed himself to the flames Lib. i. c. 49. p. 87. on the pile, with his concubines and treasures, and the Medes and Persians took the city. The historian represents Alexander to have designed to transplant the inhabitants of the cities of Asia into Europe, and reciprocally those of Europe into Asia*, a policy which might seem to have been grounded on that of Joseph. He describe the Arabians, in consistency with the prophetic representations of their character, as at all times lovers of liberty, and addicted to rapine, stating that neither the Assyrians, Medes, Persians, or Macedonians were ever able to subdue them †. His account of the taking of Tyre exhibits striking evidence of the unerring spirit of prophecy, since he particularly relates that Alexander demolished old Tyre, and with the stones carried away by many thousands of men, raised a mole two hundred feet in breadth, which circumstance remarkably verified the words of Ezekiel, they shall lay thy stones and thy timber "and thy dust in the midst of the water §." * Lib. xviii. c. 4. p. 260. vol. ii. † Lib. ii. c. 64. p. 114. lib. ii. c. 92. p. 159. and Gen. xvi. 12. Lib. xvii. c. 40. p. 190. † Ezek. xxvi. 12. It may deserve to be noticed, that the historian speaks of Semiramis having, when on her march to Medea, cut Syrian letters on the rock Bagistan, and he describes the method which he adopted in ascending and raising her works to the mountain; and this account tends to explain the memorable passage in the book of Job, in which he expresses his wish that his inspired words, expressive of faith in his Redeemer, were engraven in the rock *. Eusebius gives extracts from Diodorus, which are not now to be found in his work, in which it is stated that the Egyptians esteemed some of their gods to have been originally immortal and incorruptible, as the sun, the heavenly bodies, the elements; and others to have derived a terrestrial existence from them, and afterwards to have been admitted into a state of immortality and glory, as Hercules, Bacchus, and others †. Diodorus relates, that Alexander when reduced to his last breath, being enquired of by his friends to whom he would leave the kingdom, said, "To the best, for I foresee that • Vide lib. ii. c. 13. p. 127. ↑ Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. 9. lib. iii. c. 3. "a great contest of my friends will take place, which will raise a monument to my 66 upon * " memory It is not impossible that Alexander, to whom according to some accounts which have been already produced, the prophecies of Daniel respecting him had been shewn, might have reflected what had been foretold by the Prophet; that after his horn should be broken, four (notable ones) should come up, and that his kingdom should be broken, and be divided toward the four winds of heaven, and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled, for that his kingdom should be plucked up, even for others beside those. Fifty-five letters in Latin, under the name of Diodorus Siculus, were published by Carrera, at Catana, in 1639, and said to be translated by Cardinal Bessarion; they are published also by Fabricius. The Greek originals, however, have never appeared, and there have been few advocates for their authenticity. They are generally regarded as fabrications of modern times. Lib. xviii. c. 1. p. 257. Joseph. lib ii. c. 8. vol. i. chap. 8. of this work. 1 Dan. viii. 8. xi. 4-22. vii. 6. 8. CHAP. XXVII. Strabo. STRABO drew his descent from Crete. He was born in Amasia, on the borders of Cappadocia, and lived in the time of Augustus and Tiberius. He was a scholar of Demetrius, and was brought up in the principles of Aristotle; but he seems to have seceded from the Peripatetic philosophy, and to have professed the principles of the Stoics. Providence appears to have raised up men with peculiar talents, for the production of every work which might be conducive to the confirmation of the evidence of Christianity, and to have secured the preservation of their writings so far as was necessary for the instruction of subsequent ages in all points of importance. Strabo was eminently qualified by his talents to prosecute and record observations, which might furnish complete information upon the distribution and state of the ancient world; and many particulars, connected with his descriptions, are of great consequence in explaining the history of our reli |