Of course I have not aimed at an exhaustive criticism in these Biblical studies, since the topics cannot be exhausted even by the most learned scholars; but I have sought to interest intelligent Christians by a continuous narrative, interweaving with it the latest accessible knowledge bearing on the main subjects. If I have persisted in adhering to the truths that have been generally accepted for nearly two thousand years, I have not disregarded the light which has been recently shed on important points by the great critics of the progressive schools. I have not aimed to be exhaustive, or to give minute criticism on comparatively unimportant points; but the passions and interests which have agitated nations, the ideas which great men have declared, and the institutions which have grown out of them, have not, I trust, been uncandidly described, nor deductions from them illogically made. Inasmuch as the interest in the development of those great ideas and movements which we call Civilization centres in no slight degree in the men who were identified with them, I have endeavored to give a faithful picture of their lives in connection with the eras and institutions which they represent, whether they were philosophers, ecclesiastics, or men of action. And that we may not lose sight of the precious boons which illustrious benefactors have been instrumental in bestowing upon mankind, it has been my chief object to present their services, whatever may have been their defects; since it is for _services_ that most great men are ultimately judged, especially kings and rulers. These services, certainly, constitute the gist of history, and it is these which I have aspired to show. JOHN LORD. VOL. I. THE OLD PAGAN CIVILIZATIONS. CONTENTS. ANCIENT RELIGIONS: EGYPTIAN, ASSYRIAN, BABYLONIAN, AND PERSIAN. Ancient religions Christianity not progressive Jewish monotheism Religion of Egypt Its great antiquity Its essential features Complexity of Egyptian polytheism Egyptian deities The worship of the sun The priestly caste of Egypt Power of the priests Future rewards and punishments Morals of the Egyptians Functions of the priests Egyptian ritual of worship Transmigration of souls Animal worship Effect of Egyptian polytheism on the Jews Assyrian deities Phoenician deities Worship of the sun Oblations and sacrifices Idolatry the sequence of polytheism Religion of the Persians Character of the early Iranians Comparative purity of the Persian religion Zoroaster Magism Zend-Avesta Dualism Authorities RELIGIONS OF INDIA. BRAHMANISM AND BUDDHISM.