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maintained a sort of independence, (1 Kings x. 29; 2 Kings vii. 6;) and they seem to have retained their distinctive name to a late period. (Ezra ix. 1, 2.)

And Solomon begat Rehoboam of Naamah, the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites. The testimony of history proves these nations colored. And Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house, which Solomon had built for her. (1 Kings vii., ix., and xi.)

REHOBOAM, the son of Solomon by Pharoah's daughter, an Ammonitess woman, ascended the throne B. C. 970, being then 41 years old, and reigned 17 years.

Roboam begat Abia, and Abia begat Asa, and Asa begat Josaphat, and Josaphat begat Joram, and Joram begat Ozias, and Ozias begat Joatham, and Joatham begat Achaz, and Achaz begat Ezekias, and Ezekias begat Manasses, and Manasses beget Amon, and Amon begat Josias, and Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon. And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel, and Salathiel begat Zorobabel, and Zorobabel begat Abiud, and Abiud begat Eliakim, and Eliakim begat Azor, and Azor begat Sadoc, and Sadoc begat Achim, and Achim begat Eliud, and Eliud begat Eleazer, and Eleazer begat Matthan, and Matthan begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Joseph, (Matt. i. 16—18,) the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is called Christ.

THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.

JOHN THE BAPTIST was the son of Elizabeth (cousin to the Virgin Mary) and Zacharias. His birth had been miraculously foretold by the angel Gabriel to Zacharias whilst he was officiating in the temple.

As John was designed to be the forerunner of the Messiah, the angel informed Zacharias, that he should live with the austerity of a Nazarite, and act under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God; that he should call the children of Israel to repentance, and in the power of Elijah should prepare the world for the reception of the Messiah.

The birth of our Savior, called the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Mediator, the Redeemer of the world, took

upon himself the human form, and was born of the Virgin Mary, December the 25th. According to the best authorities, it may be dated 2188 years from the founding of the kingdom of Egypt, and 846 years from the founding of the city of Carthage.

Christ, the Lord, was born in Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, in the city of David, (Luke ii.) they being of the house and lineage of David, to be registered in the chief city of their tribe, in the land of Canaan, the country now called Judea.

Joseph, of Galilee, was the reputed father of Jesus Christ. (John vi. 42.)

Cyrenius, an Ethiopian governor of Syria, first made the taxing of the people. [Luke ii.]

The treasury of Cæsar Augustus, governor of Syria, being greatly exhausted, he commanded that all his subjects, including the inhabitants of the conquered provinces, should have their names enrolled, in order to be taxed.

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, (because he was of the house and lineage of David,) to be taxed, with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

CHAPTER XII.

PERIODS, &C.

PERIOD I. will extend from the creation of the world 4004 years B. C. to the deluge 2348 B. C.; to this period we give the name of antedeluvian.

Period II. extends from the deluge 2348 B. C. to the calling of Abraham, 1921 B. C.; this is the period of Confusion of languages.

Period III. From the calling of Abraham, 1921 B. C., to the Founding of Athens, 1556 B. C.; this is the period of the Egyptian bondage.

Period IV. From the Founding of Athens, 1556 B. C., to the Dedication of Solomon's Temple, B. C. 1004; this is the period of the Trojan war.

Period V. From the Dedication of Solomon's Temple, 1004 B. C., to the Founding of Rome, 752 B. C.; this is the period of Homer.

Period VI. From the Founding of Rome, 752 B. C., to the War between the Greeks and Persians, 496 B. C.; this is the period of the Roman kings.

Period VII. From the War between the Greeks and Persians, 496 B. C., to the Birth of Alexander, an Egyptian, 256 B. C.; this is the period of Grecian glory.

Period VIII. From the Birth of Alexander, 356 B. C. to the Destruction of Carthage, 146 B. C.; this is the period of Roman military renown.

Period IX. From the Destruction of Carthage, 146 B. C. to the first campaign of Julius Cæsar, 80 B. C.; this is the period of the Civil War between Marius and Scylla.

Period X. From the First campaign of Julius Cæsar, 80 B. C., to the Nativity of Jesus Christ; and the com

mencement of the Christian era; this is the period of Roman Literature.

Period XI. From the Nativity of Jesus Christ, to the Reign of Constantine the Great, A. D. 309; this is the period of the Toleration of Christianity, which took place under Constantine.

Period XII. From the Toleration of Christianity, A. D. 306, to the Extinction of the Western empire, A. D. 476; this is the period of the Northern invasions.

Period XIII. From the extinction of the Western empire, A. D. 476, to the flight of Mahomet the Arabian, A. D. 622; this is the period of the Justinian Code; and of the wars of Belisarius.

Period XIV. From the Flight of Mahomet, A. D. 622, to the Crowning of Charlemagne at Rome, A. D. 800; this is the period of the Establishment of the Moors' dominion.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE,
FROM A. D. 826 To 1791.

826 HAROLD, king of Denmark, dethroned by his subjects for being a Christian.

828 Egbert, king of Wessex, unites the Heptarchy, by the name of England.

838 The Scots and Picts have a decisive battle, in which the former prevail, and both kingdoms are united by Kenneth.

867 The Danes began their ravages in England. 896 Alfred the Great, after subduing the Danish invaders, (against whom he fought fifty-six battles by sea and land,) composes his body of laws; divides England into counties, hundreds and tythings; erects county courts, and founds the university of Oxford.

915 The university of Cambridge founded.

991 The figures in Arithmetic are brought into Europe by the Saracens from Arabia.

Letters of the alphabet were hitherto used.

996 Otho III. makes the empire of Germany elective.

999 Boleslaus, the first king of Poland.

Paper, made of cotton rags, were in use in 1000; that of linen rags in 1170; the manufactory introduced into England, at Dartford, 1588.

1015 Children forbidden, by law, to be sold by their parents in England.

1017 Canute, king of Denmark, gets possession of England.

1041 The Saxon line restored under Edward, the Confessor.

1043 The Turks (a nation of adventurers from Tartary) become formidable, and take possession of Persia. 1054 Leo IX., the first pope that kept an army. 1057 Malcolm III., king of Scotland, kills the tyrant, Macbeth, at Dunsinane, and marries the princess Margaret, sister to Edgar Atheling.

1065 The Turks take Jerusalem from the Saracens. 1066 The battle of Hastings, fought between Harold and William, duke of Normandy, in which Harold is conquered and slain, after which William becomes king of England.

1070 Musical notes invented.

1076 Justices of Peace first appointed in England. 1080 Doomsday-book began to be compiled, by order of William, from a survey of all the estates in England, (and finished in 1086.)

The Tower of London, built by ditto, to curb his English subjects, numbers of whom fly to Scotland, (same year.)

1096 The first crusade to the Holy Land was begun under several Christian princes, to drive the infidels from Jerusalem.

1110 Edgar Atheling, the last of the Saxon princes, dies in England.

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1118 The order of the Knights Templars, instituted to defend the sepulchre at Jerusalem, and to protect

Christian strangers.

1163 London Bridge, consisting of nineteen small arches, first built of stone.

1172 Henry II., king of England, (and first of the Plantagenets,) takes possession of Ireland; which, from that period, has been governed by an English viceroy, lord-lieutenant.

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