Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1889-11-23
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.
Last Evenings Lecture Before the
Students Society.

2 tendance at the regular session of
e the Students Society of the Latter
Z day Saints College last evening.
The chief item on the programme
| was lecture ON the subject, "The
5 Rise and Fall OF the Persian En-
pire, edelivered by President Will
, lard Done. The lecture, which &C.
cupied three quarters Of an hour,
was closely listened to and evidently
enjoyed by those present.
The speaker began by giving a
brief account Of the origin Of the
ancient nations. Mankind has been
classified into three divisions, or
types, the Caucasian, or white type,
the Mongolian; or yellow, and the
Ethiopian, or black. The first Of
these is the only race which has
taken any active part in the history
Of the world. For convenience,
this type has been subdivided into |
three families, the Semitic, the |
Hamitic, and the Aryan or |
Japhe.ic. The first OF these 1
families includes the nations
Of THE Jews, the Ph9nicians,
the Arabians, the Assyrians, and
others; the second family comprises
the Egyptians and other nations OF
northern Africa, the Babylonians,
and some other minor people; while
| in tfo Aryan branch are included
most Of the nations Of Europe and
their colonies, and the Persians.
Our earliest glimpse Of Persian
history is gained about the year $50
BIC. At this time they were in
partial bondage to the Assyrians,
but the yoke was broken from their
necks, and they were established, to-
gether with the Modes, n closely re-
lated people, rs an independent gov
eminent under Cyaxares. His sue
cessOr, Astyages, a rather efeminate
king. held the sovereignty on thePer-
slams, whose king, Cambyses, is sup
posed to have been the son-in-law OF
the Median monarch. 4 son was
born to Cambyses in the early part
Of the sixth century BIC, who, ac-
cording to the popular legend, the
truth of which is rs uncertain as
that Of most legends, the sOoth-
sayers had foretold would Ultimate
~ reign over all Asia 3
Fearing for the safety and per
manancy Of his throne. AstSages, =
at whose court this boy had been 4
left as hostage by his father, or q
dered the young prince to be put TO
death. The officer entrusted with n
this duty left it TO be performed by
a shepherd, who, taking a fancy to
the boy, reared him in his family, Il
and kept him ignorant Of his high
birth. In course Of time, the boy q
committed n serious Offense, by
flogging one Of his playmates, for II
which act he was cited to a.,
appear before the king, when q
Astyages at once recognized his L
grandson, The monarch from that j.,
time forward kept the boy at his d
court, inflicting n very severe pun a
ishment upon the officer who had y
neglected to carry out his Oniers. \
Having grown to manhood, the n
prince organized his cOuntrymen in J
a revolt against Astyages, and, as tc
sisted by that kings chief general
the officer whom Astyages had
wronged, established himself rs king
over all Media and Persia About
$50 b. c. Thus Cyrus the Great, p
whom Isaiah prOphesied Il
n century and n half before that u
time, began the fulfilment of his
high destiny. Cyrus conquered
I ,.H;a ,nI ,th.r t,nrfipnc If 4 Gia "
and then turned his attention TO
Babylon. n,
The lecturer stated in an impress !
sive manner the circumstances Of III
the downfall Of Babylon-the turn M
ing Of the river EuphTates from its II
course through the city, that its bed
might lie used 10y the army Of Cyrus b
for a passage-way beneath the walls, IL
the impious feast Of BelshaZzar, the
on the wall and its in I'll
by Daniel, and the cap IL
lure Of the city by the Persian king. su
The Jews, who had been reduced al
10 captivity 10y Ncbachadnezzar, 10
were permitted 10y Cyrus TO return
10 Jerusalem and rebuild their OF
temple. This was the special 81
work for which Cyrus had p,
jcep raised up. He was NOR N
ally wounded a few years after b
wards, by some Of the barharOus IN
RIDES on the north of his empire. fiji
He was succeeded Ey his son, the ju
gloomy Cambyses. who, having v
Iecrctly procured the death Of his
IrOlher, Smc-dis, turned his atten- m
ion To further conquest. He con- as
luered Egypt and parts Of Eastern le:
\ friea, but upon receiving the It'd 81
ngs that man had usurped the
hrone of Persia, under the name Of p
Cambyses committed sui
.ide. The false Smcuiis revoked
he edict giving permission n
o the Jews to rebuild their
cmple, and partially des- en-
royed the work already accom- 10
,lished toward that end. He re- tri
t0rcd the gross religion Of Magism NJ
n place Of the comparatively pure -
the latter Of which
lught belief in god almost iden- !
ical with the Jehovah Of the Israel In,
les. But the malevOlcnt reign of m
he usurper was Of short duration,
Or ne was depOsed and slain in the 81
t.iE lOliuNlu- NE bINtSSlNh ~ Ia III
ius Hystaspes, 52l BE. sci
Darius began his reign by again -,
estoring the privileges previously va
ranted TO the Jews, and by re-es- gu
lblishing ZOroastrianism. He or SUI
anized the government in the most un
erfect form it had yet assumed. RED
LAYING accomplished this work. H'
Dlrius turned his attention to the th'
Onquest Of Greece. oPI
The various attempts by Darius en-
nd his son Nerxes TO conquer TAI
ireece were dilated upon at cor
,me length by The speaker, who III
Emphasized the fact that the failu!e us
each expedition was the result Of :
le hand Of Providence exercised in OF
chalf of the Greeks. He also spoke Stt
the disastrous consequences ths
.hich would necessarily have fol- IN.
wed the conquest Of Greece by the 70
ersians, showing that under their 10
lie Europe would never have at pm
lined TO that degree of civilization nu
nd enlightenment which modern PEI
atiOns there have reached. Nor 700
ould It have been possible for the !
,ligion Of Christ 10 be established wa
l Europe, had the Persians gained MI
Jntrol Of that country. vel
The decline Of the Persian En- ma
ire dates from the accession Of an'
erxes in isi BIC. The succeeding be
did little worthy OF rec IN
"a, their time being occupied prin- POI
pally In quelling revolts. The Ing
st Persian king, called Darius, tea
.cendet the throne ahout 224 u q the
multaneously with the accession lea
Alexander the Great to the throne to
Macedonia. The attention Of
lexander was turned to Persia, -
hich country he invaded in 3s3
C. He defeated the Rersians in D.
20 battles during that year. and 4,