to trace out the most remarkable synchronisms. It will be observed that three different kinds of letter have been employed. The most important characters, such as the great prophets, the founders of sects of philosophy, and those who have obtained the appellation of Father of any branch of science, together with the most distinguished sovereigns in each country, are engraved in Roman Capitals; the minor prophets and other illustrious persons, not so remarkably distinguished, are in Roman letters; while those possessing a still smaller claim to cele brity are in italics.

It is the intention of the author, if the present attempt should meet with encouragement, shortly to publish a second part on the same plan; which will contain the Chronology of General History from the destruction of the Western Empire to the present times, and in which the same endeavour will be made to exhibit the more important facts of history with their connections and dependencies, so as to present in one view the whole current of time; and, so far as the limits of the work will allow, the principal characteristics of the different periods.

June, 1828,

CHRONOLOGICAL GUIDE.

INTRODUCTION.

CHRONOLOGY may be defined the art of adjusting periods of time, and of fixing the dates of past events.

Although no science connected with history is so important as this, yet none remains more uncertain and unsatisfactory; for to nations first emerging from barbarism, whose views were directed to the future alone, past transactions appeared in themselves of so little consequence, that the time when they occurred was for the most part neglected. The day, the year, the century were thus soon forgotten, and the deficiency was beyond remedy long before it was felt.

Other causes may also be assigned for that uncertainty of chronology, which, since history has become an object of scientific pursuit, has excited the curiosity and exercised the ingenuity of the learned. It is evident that it could not acquire any degree of accuracy until written registers were regularly kept; and this

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probably was not done, at least in Greece, much earlier than about six centuries before the Christian era: for as we are well assured that the laws of Athens were never committed to writing till the archonship of Draco, it is not likely that letters were applied much sooner to public purposes of inferior importance. Writing became common, and chronology acquired precision, about the same time, and not long before the Persian Invasion.

A fixed epoch is also essential to chronological exactness; but no attempt was made to establish this till about three hundred years before Christ, when Eratosthenes, who has been styled the Father of Ancient Chronology, the librarian to Ptolemy Soter, digested a chronological system by the Olympiads. Before his time, no fixed epoch for reckoning events had been generally adopted. Among the Greeks, the year had been usually designated by the name of the chief archon of Athens; and among the Romans, by the names of their consuls, who, as well as the archons, were annually chosen; so that the best date either nation had for any event, was the archonship or consulship in which it occurred.

These circumstances, together with the inaccuracy of historians, even after the adoption of dates, will easily account for the extreme uncertainty of chronology: an uncertainty so great, that Moreri has collected in his dictionary seventy different opinions of the chronology from the beginning of the world to the birth of Christ.

The exertions of many learned men, particularly of Scaliger, Usher, Newton, Blair, Playfair, Hales, and Freret, have however done something towards clearing

this intricate path. The foundations on which their systems are built, are,

First,-Astronomical observations, particularly of eclipses, which the superstition of the ancients led them carefully to record.

Secondly, The testimony of credible authors.

Thirdly,-Epochs, or determined points in history,

The following are some of the principal eclipses that have been noticed by historians. They are quoted from Ferguson's Astronomy.

585 B.C. May 28. An eclipse of the sun, foretold by Thales, by which a peace was brought about between the Medes and Lydians.

523, July 6. An eclipse of the moon, which was followed by the death of Cambyses.

463, April 30. An eclipse of the sun, the Persian war and the falling off of the Egyptians from the Persians.

431, April 25. An eclipse of the moon, which was followed by a great famine at Rome, and the beginning of the Peloponnesian war.

431, August 3. A total eclipse of the sun. A comet and plague at Athens.

413, Aug. 27. A total eclipse of the moon. Nicias with his ship destroyed at Syracuse.

394, Aug. 14. An eclipse of the sun. The Persians beaten by Conon, in a sea engagement.

168, June 21. A total eclipse of the moon.

The next

day Perseus, king of Macedonia, was conquered by Paulus Emilius.

59, A.D. April 30. An eclipse of the sun. This is reckoned among the prodigies, on account of the murder of Agrippina by Nero.

237, April 12. A total eclipse of the sun, a sign that the reign of the Gordians would not continue long. A sixth persecution of the Christians.

306, July 27. An eclipse of the sun. The stars were seen, and the emperor Constantius died.

840, May 4. A dreadful eclipse of the sun; and Lewir the Pious died within six months after it.

such as the Greek Olympiads, the Founding of Rome, the Birth of Christ, &c.

Fourthly,-Medals, monuments, and inscriptions, by which the dates of many important events have been faithfully transmitted to posterity.

1009. An eclipse of the sun, and Jerusalem taken by the Saracens.

1133, Aug. 2. A terrible eclipse of the sun. The stars were seen. A schism in the church, occasioned by there being three popes at once.