s, my dear, I am glad to find you recollect what you
read. Cyrus lived to be very old, and was succeeded by his son Cambyses,
who, far from following the virtuous example of his father, committed
numberless crimes, among which was the murder of his own brother. After
him reigned Smerdis the impostor, who pretended to be the true Smerdis
that had been killed by Cambyses: next to him Darius, who was chosen
because his horse neighed before any of those belonging to the other
competitors for the crown: then Xerxes, a very vain-glorious prince, who
attempted to conquer Greece, but was himself beaten, and obliged to make
his escape from thence in a little fishing boat: he was succeeded by his
son Artaxerxes, and at length, after several other kings, Darius
ascended the throne, who, had he not been proud of his riches, might
have been a wise and good sovereign. During his reign, the Greeks (who
inhabited that country which is now the southern part of Turkey in
Europe) determined, under the command of the famous Alexander, to make
the Persians submit to their power: accordingly, an immense army invaded
the Persian dominions, and after several battles, they were completely
conquered, and Darius was killed by one of his own nobles. Thus
Alexander putting an end to the Persian monarchy, established the third
Universal Empire about 330 years before Christ.

The capital of Persia was Susa.

_Anne._ I suppose then, that Alexander was a native of Greece, pray tell
me a little about that country?

_Mrs. Harley._ Long before the time of Alexander, Greece had been
highly celebrated. It was divided into several small states, the
principal of which were, Sparta and Athens. Sparta was governed by
kings; Lycurgus was their famous legislator; he framed many wise laws,
which greatly added to the prosperity of the kingdom. Athens was a
commonwealth, and even more renowned for wisdom than Sparta. Solon was
their lawgiver, and his laws tended much more to the refinement of the
people, than those of Lycurgus, some of which were very cruel. Macedon
was a state of little consequence till the time of Philip, who greatly
increased its importance: he procured himself to be appointed
commander-in-chief of all the armies destined for the invasion of
Persia, but he was killed before he set out on this expedition. He was
succeeded by his son Alexander, both as king of Macedon and
generalissimo of Greece, who, after settling the affairs of his native
cou