, as well as the best description of their wealth,
and the cause of the downfall is to be found in Ezekiel, chap. xxvi.
and the two following. It is perfectly distinct and conclusive with
respect to the principal points of wealth, pride, and luxury founded on
wealth.

The Tyre here spoken of is not the same taken by the king of Babylon,
or Assyrian monarch long before Alexander's time, which only
appears to have been a settlement on the main land belonging to the
same people, and subject to the same prince.
-=-

[end of page #23]

nicated with the eastern part of Asia, by the river Euphrates, and by
the Persian Gulf with India, was, as Memphis, of Egypt, a capital; but
the Assyrians were not protected on all sides, like the Egyptians, from
foreign inroads; they consequently did not cultivate the arts of peace
and the sciences so much. On the east, were the Medes and Persians;
on the north, the Scythians and Partheans; but, as the territory was
fertile and extensive, under one of the finest climates of the world, the
monarchs became rich and luxurious, which was the cause of their
subjection, and they were always subdued by people less advanced in
luxury than themselves.

The whole of these countries, Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, and Greece,
fell under the arms of Alexander. This was the first great and general
revolution in that part of the world, from which Carthage alone, of all
the ancient seats of wealth and greatness, escaped.

The triumph of Alexander was, no doubt, that of a great captain; but,
except the destruction of Tyre, and the foundation of Alexandria,
which changed the principal seat of commerce, there was nothing
durable in his conquests. The reigning families were destroyed, and
the dynasties altered; but, under his immediate successors, the
Egyptians, the inhabitants of Syria, and the Greeks, had different
masters.

It was after the foundation of Alexandria, and under the successors of
Alexander, that Egypt became really a commercial country. Its wealth
had hitherto arisen rather from the great population and fertility of the
country, than from any participation in the trade to the East; but after
Alexandria was founded, the seat of empire, which had always been in
Upper Egypt, was established in Lower Egypt, canals were dug, and
every means taken to make the passage from the Red Sea to the
Mediterranean as commodious as possible.

Carthage began then to decline. Tyre was no more: and Alexandria