LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Mrs. SARAH P. WALSWORTH. 
 
 Received October,. 1894. 
 Accessions No .S*730 &...... Class No. 
 
EEY. DR. SCOTT S ORKS. 
 DANIEL : 
 
 A MODEL FOE YOUNG MEN. 
 
 Published by ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, New York. 
 
 THE WEDGE OF GOLD; 
 
 Or, ACHAN IN EL DORADO. 
 
 Published in San Francisco, and also by the Presbyterian 
 Board in Philadelphia. 
 
 TRADE AND LETTERS : 
 
 THEIR JOURNEYINGS ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 Delivered before, and published at the request, of the Mer 
 cantile Library Association of San Francisco." New York : 
 CARTERS. 
 
 THE GIANT JUDGE ; 
 
 Or, SAMSON THE HEBREW HERCULES. 
 
 Published in San Francisco, and also by the Presbyterian 
 Board in Philadelphia. 
 
ESTHER ; 
 
 THE HEBREW-PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 BY REV. W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 
 
 OF SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 " THE HISTORICAL matters of Scripture constitute as it were the bones of its system; 
 and its spiritual matters are its muscles, blood vessels and nerves. As the BONES are 
 necessary to the human system, so Scripture must have its historical matters. Those 
 expositions are the safest which keep closest to the text." Bengd. 
 
 II. II. J3 A N C 11 O F T & C O. 
 
 1859. 
 

 
 Entered according to Act of Congress in the year of our Lord, 1859, 
 BY W. A. SCOTT, 
 
 In the Clerk s office of the District Court of the United States, for the 
 Northern District of California. 
 
 O MEARA & PAINTER, PRINTERS. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE PACIFIC : 
 
 To you I beg leave respectfully to dedicate this humble attempt to explain 
 and illustrate the wonderful history of the orphan Hebrew maid of Shushan, 
 who became Queen of Persia. And I do so because I firmly believe the 
 mightiest human power on earth, for good and for evil, is lodged in woman s 
 hand : 
 
 " They who rock the cradle, rule the world" 
 
 And I also believe that the SACRED SCRIPTURES alone, of all writings an 
 cient or modern, have fully comprehended and rightly understood woman s 
 mission, and truthfully and properly represented her in her true place. As 
 it was by a woman our race fell, so it is by woman mankind are to be eleva 
 ted and saved. The great Saviour of the world was born of a woman, and one 
 of the most lovely and hopeful sights on earth is a woman beneath the cross 
 with the Word of God in her hand, learning her duty and acquiring the 
 graces which fit her for her high mission in the world. 
 
 Woman s calling and rights are much talked of in our day, but I am fully 
 persuaded that it is from the Bible, and not from new platforms, that we are 
 to learn what they really are ; and that not so much from precepts, as from 
 examples. The Bible does not explain whether woman is equal or superior 
 to man does not dogmatize on her social or domestic condition, but straight 
 way tells us how she was created, and for what purpose, and then illustrates 
 her mission by giving brief notices of how a few remarkable mothers and 
 wives fulfilled their vocation, from the days of the patriarchs to the apostles. 
 This is true " philosophy teaching by example." 
 
 To you, therefore, to whom Providence has chiefly committed the great 
 moral power of moulding into shape the minds and manners, and conse 
 quently the eternal destinies of the millions that are soon to have their 
 home on this coast, is this volume most respectfully dedicated. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PERSIA PAST AND PRESENT. 
 
 Interesting and important nature of Oriental literature 
 Persian poets Persia always coveted, from Alexan 
 der s day to the present His policy and sagacity 
 Persian manners but little changed Persian scribes 
 Early legends Iran and Elam The Modes Cyrus 
 the Great Daniel s prophecies Susiana of our day 
 Beauty and fertility of the country Musings 25 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE MEGILLOTH ESTHER. 
 
 The Megilloth Esther and our Declaration of Indepen 
 dence Ahasuerus and Vashti The divorce The 
 new queen The conspiracy of the eunuchs Ha- 
 man s plot succeeds with the king Mordecai s dis 
 tress Queen Esther interceding Mordecai honored 
 Haman s fall The counter-decree The feast of 
 Purirn 41 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THESE HEBREW RECORDS CREDIBLE. 
 
 The Book of Esther important for understanding subse 
 quent history of the Jews Its author, and credi 
 bility The apocryphal books Our sources are au 
 thentic Ancient versions Septuagint, Vulgate, 
 Targums, Talmud, Philo and Josephus Contempo 
 rary Greek writers Inscriptions Major Rawlinson. 59 
 
 lA 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 POINTS TO BE PROVEN. 
 
 Esther a real historic personage Whately s " historic 
 doubts " Contradictory statements do not disprove 
 personal history General Jackson s battle of New 
 Orleans Objections not conclusive Dr. Johnson s 
 rule Patriarchal stories Trust in Providence 
 God s agents are everywhere God s plan is often 
 contrary to our expectations The still small voice 
 Sow the good seed 69 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SUSA AND HER KING. 
 
 The period of our history Xerxes Artaxerxes Longima- 
 nus is Ahasuerus The proofs Extent of his empire 
 Shushan is Susa The royal city described Alex 
 ander at Susa The ruins Tomb of Daniel Reflec 
 tions 79 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE FEAST AND THE DIVORCE. 
 
 Ancient trade and luxury The king s gardens Persian 
 pomp Xerxes table Dr. Russell s Aleppo Occa 
 sion of Ahasuerus feast The feast itself Its splen 
 dor and length Women in the East The king s 
 call for the queen The queen s disobedience King s 
 anger The royal divorce Scriptural rule Law of 
 domestic happiness, is love " Stoop to conquer" 
 Guard against all excesses Herod s rash oath Hu 
 man vanity What our gardens should be 93 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ESTHER CHOSEN QUEEN. 
 
 The weakness of the man of "a thousand thrones" The 
 more absolute the power, the more need of good 
 advice The prime minister, Memucan, and his coun 
 sel The filling of the harem Oriental seraglios 
 Persian kings Catharine of Russia Hadassah in 
 troduced Her name changed to Esther Knoller s 
 bridal procession Esther s people not known The 
 proper view of the case 113 
 
CONTENTS. 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ESTHER CROWNED QUEEN. 
 
 A feast for the crowning as well as for the divorcing 
 The Queen s pin-money Mordecai s pious hopes 
 Esther s rivals The conspiracy against the king 
 The eunuchs put to death according to law The se 
 clusion of the Hareni The model maid Effects of a 
 good education Esther s trials as an orphan girl 
 The foundation laid for Mordecai s advancement 
 Wait hopefully your time General Havelock God 
 makes all his agents fulfill their place Young women 
 may all gain a crown Death is a spice bath for 
 glory ............................................... . .............. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE JEW AND THE AMALEKITE. 
 
 The Agagite Mordecai s refusal to worship him His 
 firmness justified His thoughts The remonstrance- 
 of his fellow servants Danger of giving advice 
 How Mordecai came to have such a character The 
 mother moulds the man The place of our Schools 
 Christianity does not destroy civility General Jack 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 RAMAN S REVENGEFUL PLOT. 
 
 Hainan s murderous design His lying but plausible ad 
 dress Excessive degree of his envy and scorn A 
 very Nero Demagogues always dangerous, and the 
 worst kind ore fanatics The Priests Ten thousand 
 talents Millionaires in olden times American van 
 ity a reproach Officials should live as well as other 
 people The murderous decree issued Some par 
 allels The king and Haman drinking, but the city 
 of Shushan perplexed Danger of despotism Des 
 potism of a mob the worst of all The Vox Populi is 
 not always the Vox Dei The value of our laws and 
 institutions Dr. Thomas Scott on Christian obedi 
 ence to the laws Must never despair of the ark 
 Persecution a part of a good man s heritage Long 
 fellow s grave ................................................... 157 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MORDECAI IN SACKCLOTH. 
 
 What makes history The Ocean Cable not a failure 
 Esther s personal charms a means The Jews wailing 
 Mordecai in the streets and in the Synagogue 
 His prayer Reason why he does not speak to the 
 queen Communications with the queen His ur 
 gency upon her majesty His courage and faith The 
 queen s heroic resolve 1*79 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE QUEEN INTERCEDING. 
 
 The maid now a heroine The fasting and praying The 
 golden sceptre The queen s apartments described 
 The queen s prayer Prepares for the interview The 
 king, his throne, and the queen s entrance The queen 
 faints The king leaps from his throne The queen 
 saved Piety in high life and even under disadvan 
 tages The queen s extraordinary modesty and self- 
 command Our lives are sometimes called for in the 
 discharge of duty Duty is always ours Efficacy of 
 prayer Our advantages over the queen The design 
 of affliction The great resolve for the sinner 191 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE BANQUET AND THE SLEEPLESS KING. 
 
 The " dejuner sans fourchettes" Wine banquets The 
 Queen s petition Trusting and Avorking Examples 
 God s restraint over wicked men Hainan s glory 
 and riches His wife s advice Extraordinary hight 
 of the gallows The gallows The King sleepless 
 The chronicles Antiquity of writing Uses of his 
 tory 211 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE ROYAL HONORING. 
 
 Haman early this morning at Court Mordecai s neglect 
 turns out well Hainan s disappointment Horses in 
 royal processions crowned Forcshadowings Ha- 
 man s wife Pride and envy make us wretched We 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 reap as we sow Danger of unwise and unfaithful 
 counsellors Bollingbroke s rule Wives carry the 
 stars of their husband s fortunes in their bosoms 
 Hainan s misfortune in not having a CHRISTIAN HOME 
 " The Soldier s Dream" " Home, sweet home !" 
 Woman s influence 223 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 RAMAN S PALL AND DEATH. 
 
 The second wine banquet Orientals superstitious " The 
 feast of death" The Queen s request for her life and 
 that of her people The enemy denounced The 
 King leaves the feast in anger Shah Sefi The Ro 
 man custom The Queen s eloquence Hainan s con 
 fusion and doom Vicissitudes of the world The 
 first risings of passion to be restrained Prosperity 
 no comfort in trouble God s favors rightfully dis 
 tributed Providence a long chain Real and appa 
 rent happiness distinguished 239 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE LAW OF RETRIBUTION. 
 
 Harm watch, harm catch The highth of th? gallows 
 Retributive Justice seen in the history of Samson 
 And in the Jews Conviction of duty to be regard 
 ed Exceptions only prove the general rule 
 The fire unquenchable is within the soul Inventors 
 of instruments of death destroyed by them The 
 great Remedy 255 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE COUNTER-DECREE ISSUED. 
 
 Changes in the palace The good man and the bad 
 man s heritage The queen s intercession for her 
 people Knox s prayers The Persian s blasphemy 
 India Ancient modes of traveling Khans Cou 
 riers Posts No cruelty practiced by the Jews 
 Mordccai s honors The three robes, black, red and 
 white 268 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE PICTURES TO BE STUDIED. 
 
 Newton and La Place Symmetry of God s laws and word 
 Men work out their own destinies Cicero on gen 
 eral character Benevolence The only true reformer 
 is the Gospel The only true happiness is in love to 
 God, and deeds of love to men The sun, and earth 
 and air, are ever giving Our laws wise and good, 
 and to be obeyed Our influence immortal Wrath 
 must fall on the impenitent The GREAT REMEDY 285 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE DAY OF SLAUGHTER. 
 
 The contending decrees The Jews act only in self- 
 defence Haman s sons killed and then hanged 
 Reasons why Greatness of the slaughter Jews did 
 not touch the spoil Effects of the slaughter Self- 
 denial 307 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE LIVING MONUMENT. 
 
 PURIM, its name and history Lot-casting Holinshead at 
 Agincourf Horace on dice and " the governor of the 
 feast" Le Clerc refuted Abraham s God in the lot 
 Observance of the feast of Purim Sobriety of Is 
 raelites The demonstration Our Ebeneezers 315 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FLOWERS FROM THE TOMB. 
 
 Lord Bacon s confidence rightly placed Principles bear 
 ing fruit The Bible teaches chiefly by examples 
 Even great men desire truth in a simple garb Ben- 
 gel Mordecai s greatness Tomb of Ahasuerus not 
 known The Russian empress Grave of Calvin not 
 known Tomb of Esther and Mordecai Palace of 
 Shushan identified Jews dispersed An argument 
 Earthly glory fades Alexander at Cyrus tomb 
 The Bible to be relied on Mad. Dacier s test Com 
 mit your orphans to God Take care of the father 
 less Benevolent deeds immortal Parents, teachers, 
 nurses The army of women Wellington Confide 
 in your parents A mother s love 331 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THERE is no more powerful auxiliary to the pulpit than the 
 PRESS. The intellectual and moral stimulus of editorship, 
 instead of being a loss to a pastor s charge, are both to them 
 and to the world preeminently useful, if his writings are suc 
 cessful in advocating the truth. I see not how a pastor s effi 
 ciency is impaired by habits of close study, as far as his health 
 and pastoral visitings will allow, whether his studies are de 
 voted to manuscripts that are never published or to regular 
 authorship. For even if he does not publish, the habit of 
 study, which is rarely acquired and pursued without the use 
 of the pen, is a very great blessing to his hearers ; and if he 
 publish the results of his study in an acceptable manner, 
 then his influence may be extended from a thousand to fifty 
 thousand, and instead of preaching to a congregation of a few 
 hundred members, he may preach to a whole continent for 
 many generations. No man, however great his genius, has a 
 right to serve the Lord in the sanctuary with unbeaten oil. 
 The pastor after God s own heart is one that feeds the people 
 with knowledge and with understanding full of faith and of 
 the Holy Ghost, and mighty in the Scriptures showing unto 
 the people out of the Scriptures the way of salvation through 
 Christ. Oh, that the vast harvest-field that lies all around us } 
 already ripe for the sickle, was filled with a great multitude of 
 such servants of the Most High ! 
 
 So great is my confidence in the English version, that I 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 have not knowingly departed from it in a single instance in 
 the examination of the history of Esther. I do not remember 
 to have met with any discussion as to the merits of the trans 
 lation of Esther in our version, compared with the translation 
 of the other historic books ; but it seems to me to be an ex 
 ceedingly correct and happy version. There are but few 
 words that could possibly be improved. The only change I 
 have introduced in the translation is to omit the division into 
 chapters and verses, which, though of great convenience for 
 reference, is often a marring of the force and beauty of the 
 text, especially in the historical parts of the Old Testament 
 and in the Epistles. My reverence for our English version is 
 equalled only by my regard for the originals, which are our 
 standard of faith and manners. 
 
 I do not believe, as a modern poet says, that the Holy Bible 
 is "good Michael s Scripture," and that "history is the Devil s 
 Scripture." No, the Bible is the word of the Lord, and history 
 is but a record of how He governs the world. The great 
 Bengel has truly said, that the " true commentator will fasten 
 his primary attention on the literal meaning, but never forget 
 that the spirit must equally accompany him ; and at the same 
 time, we must never devise a more spiritual meaning for 
 Scripture passages than the Holy Spirit intended." But as 
 from every point in the circumference of a circle, we may 
 imagine straight lines converging to a centre, not one of 
 which is exactly coincident with another, so in all the books 
 of the Old Testament, I find either types, or promises, or pro 
 phecies, or national events, or personal narratives, that all 
 point to the Church of God under the Great Messiah ; and so, 
 in expounding the Old Testament Scriptures, by searching out 
 cotemporary and subsequent histories, and bringing together 
 things new and old, from far and near, for the purpose of com 
 prehending these Old Testament Scriptures, our great object 
 always is to make the Messiah appear as He really is, the Re 
 deemer of the world. I have attempted always in interpreting 
 the Word of God, to follow the rule of Bengel : " Put nothing 
 into the Scriptures, but draw every thing from them, and suffer 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 nothing to remain hidden that is really in them." I do not, 
 however, understand it to be the duty of an expositor of the 
 Word of God, to go through it selecting only "the berries and 
 leaving the rest as fit only for the pruning hook ;" but to take 
 all the Scriptures together and just as they are, and to explain 
 Scripture by Scripture, and that remembering the character 
 of his audience, he will endeavor to have the true text, restore 
 and defend it, then exhibit the meaning and force of the lan 
 guage employed, explain the circumstances under which the 
 portion he is considering was uttered or written, and in a 
 word, as far as possible, he will try so to enlighten his hearers 
 that they may be in a condition to understand the Scriptures simi 
 lar to that of the hearers of the Prophets and Apostles them 
 selves. The Church of God in the days of the Prophets, and 
 of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, did not require annotations, 
 illustrations, Bible dictionaries, geographies of the Holy Land, 
 and maps and descriptions of the birds, beasts and flowers of 
 the country, nor of the manners and customs of the people. 
 These were all familiar to them ; they were immersed in the 
 knowledge of local and national histories and customs, as 
 they were in the atmosphere of the Holy Mountains. Accord, 
 ingly, in the first ages of the Church, we have no commen 
 taries, but the preaching was expository and homiletic. If 
 Paul is in the synagogue, his text is out of the Hebrew Scrip 
 tures ; and his argument is to show that, according to the Scrip 
 tures, Jesus is Christ. If he is on Mars hill, his text is the 
 Athenian altar to the unknown God, and his proofs and illus 
 trations are from Greek authors and from the works of the 
 Supreme Being. What are dead languages to us were living 
 tongues to them, and the knowledge of their times, which we 
 have to acquire by much study, was their common patrimony. 
 The most learned men of our day are hardly as well acquainted 
 with some of the idioms, proverbs and local customs, some 
 knowledge of which is necessary to the elucidation of the 
 Bible, as the children of the Church were in the days of the 
 Prophets and of the Apostles. It takes much study therefore 
 to put us on the same platform to hear the early teachers of 
 religion, that their hearers occupied. 
 
XV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is my firm conviction a conviction that has fixed itself 
 more and more deeply in my mind, year after year, that the 
 best, and indeed the only way to resist successfully the ex 
 tremes of error, fanaticism and rationalism, to which we are 
 exposed, is to give more heed to the word of God. The Old 
 Testament ought to be read with more simplicity and humility, 
 and with a greater disposition to rely upon its statements, and 
 to apply its truths to ourselves. The Old Testament is not a 
 mere Hebrew ritual, nor a mere political hand-book of the 
 ancient Jews. It is as much a part of the word of the living 
 God as is the New Testament, and we are to study it as well 
 as the New Testament, if we desire to know the will of God. 
 The want of the Church, in our day, is earnest faith ; and 
 this is wanting, in part, because the Old Testament is not 
 studied, and its meaning clearly apprehended. While we have 
 the history of God s chosen people in the Old Testament, their 
 national characteristics, and fortunes, do not exhaust its mean 
 ing. The God of the Bible is just as near to America as to 
 Western Asia. The living God is as near to us as He was to 
 Abraham and Moses, although His presence is not manifested 
 in the same way. As the canon of Inspired Scripture is closed, 
 so we are not to look for new, nor other revelations, neither 
 by visions, voices, nor dreams, nor angels, nor spirits, nor in 
 ternal illumination ; neither to add to, nor even to explain to 
 us the Bible. But the government of God is as actual in our 
 day as in the days of Moses as real over Americans as over 
 the Hebrews though, for obvious reasons, the form, or sym 
 bol, of its manifestation is different. We ought then to study 
 the lives of Bible men and women, not as men and women in 
 a book, or in a picture gallery, that were painted from fancy, 
 but as real men and women like ourselves and not as pro 
 files, but as full-faced human beings. I do not understand the 
 rationale of Bible narratives as stripping them of their super 
 natural, or Divine and theological adjuncts. These narratives 
 are true histories, and were written by holy men of old, as 
 they were moved thereto by the Holy Spirit. The men and 
 women of the Bible are made known to us by their doings, 
 
INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 and, as we look at the pictures, without requiring the name 
 to be written below, we are made to feel, by the clear light 
 that falls upon them from above, that they are true pictures, 
 and inimitably executed. There is a dramatic power in the 
 performances of Bible penmen that no mere human artist ever 
 possessed. And this dramatic power consists, in part, in se 
 lecting a man a common man a man not distinguished, so 
 far as we can see, by any peculiar gifts above his fellows a 
 man who seems to be flesh and blood agitated with the same 
 passions, hopes and fears, as ourselves and yet, to bring this 
 human, material, sinful man, so livingly before us, that while 
 we feel that he is indeed an individual of the earth, earthy, 
 that yet he is more than an ordinary man he is a sample 
 man a teaching man a representative man a man set forth 
 by the spirit of God to illustrate the Divine displeasure at sin, 
 or the Divine goodness. If I do not succeed in revealing, as 
 I would in my Bible readings and expositions, the thought 
 that here possesses me, still, I am perfectly sure, there is a 
 grand purpose in God s plan in having revealed to us so large 
 a portion of saving truth in biographies. And I am more and 
 more convinced, that one great cause of the modern growth 
 of fanaticism and infidelity, is to be found in the departure 
 of so many teachers from the custom of reading and expound 
 ing the word of God. It is worihy of serious consideration, 
 whether there is not, and to what an extent, in our day, in the 
 topical, metaphysical preaching of many, and in not a few of 
 our popular tracts and treatises on practical and experimental 
 religion, theological essays, religious tales, and pious novels 
 
 which are worse than " the pious frauds of the dark ages " a 
 
 dangerous tendency to draw away the public mind from the 
 BOOK of GOD. Far be it from me to undervalue good books. 
 Rather let us thank God for the genius, learning, talent, enter 
 prise and wealth that have been employed in the publication 
 of religious works ; but, I submit it as an humble monitum, 
 or inquiry, whether the frequent religious meetings, the cram 
 ming of the Lord s day, and the tendency of the popular 
 religious literature, of our day, is not toward a substituting 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of tracts and books, and newspapers about religion, for the 
 Book of the Lord, which, in itself, combines, in the utmost 
 plentitude and purity, all that is serviceable to the health of 
 the soul. How much better, for one truly serious, and anx 
 iously inquiring the way to be saved, to read the word of God 
 itself, and then get down on his knees, in his closet, and bow 
 his soul as well as his body, as Paul did, when it was said of 
 him, " behold he prayeth," and thus plead with God for the 
 enlightenment of his Holy Spirit, rather than to read a whole 
 bundle of human tracts, or listen to a studied narrative of his 
 neighbor s conversion in a public meeting. There is no hand 
 book for revivals like the inspired history of remarkable Bible 
 conversions. For family reading, and catechising on the 
 afternoon of the Lord s day, the hot-house system, now so 
 much in vogue, is a poor substitute. For the family, and 
 the place of business, the church and the world, there can 
 be no substitute for the Bible. It is our only hope. The his 
 tory of Christianity shows that it has always flourished most 
 when it is just let alone by Caesar. It seeks not promotion, 
 but simple protection from the State. And history now shows, 
 that the first step in the church from the Bible, is a step 
 toward error. In the measure that we neglect, depart from, 
 or substitute any other writings in the place of the Holy 
 Scriptures, in precisely the same measure we throw open the 
 gates to the enemy. It must be remembered, as a highly sig 
 nificant fact, that our Lord contented himself, in his solitary 
 combat with the devil, and completely foiled him, in all his 
 assaults, by simply saying: It is written. And if the "It is 
 written " of his day, that is, Moses and the prophets, was suf 
 ficient, how much more ought we to rely upon the whole 
 Bible? 
 
 Whatever candid readers may think of the manner in which 
 J;his volume is written, I apprehend they will all agree that 
 the history of ESTHER is one of the most beautiful and interest 
 ing books of the Old Testament. These pages are not the result 
 of undisturbed literary leisure. Very far from it. They have 
 been written under the pressure of arduous pastoral duties 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 under the weight of the anxious soul-consuming cares that be 
 long to a large congregation, in a new State, and in the first 
 years of a great commercial city. That they are perfect, the 
 author would be the last man to believe. No one can feel 
 more sensibly than he does that imperfections attach to all 
 his efforts, both from the press and the pulpit. If, then, it is 
 asked, Why are they published ? the answer is, partly because 
 the work has been called for by friends, whose wishes the 
 author did not feel at liberty to disregard ; and, partly, be 
 cause, as heretofore, so now, he is desirous of doing all he can 
 toward the promotion of a sound Christian literature on this 
 coast. " To do good," says Lord Bacon, " is the true and 
 lawful end of aspiring. Merit and good works is the end of 
 man s motion, and conscience of the same is the accom 
 plishment of man s rest ; for, if man can be a partaker of 
 God s theater (or workshop,) he will be a partaker also of 
 God s rest." 
 
 It may be proper here also to say, that I have complied with 
 the wish of those who requested these lectures to be pub 
 lished, (that they should be published just as they were de 
 livered,) as far as it has been within my power to recall and 
 write out, from my manuscript notes, the precise language 
 and illustrations used from the pulpit, with the following ex 
 ceptions, namely, that the lectures are divided into chapters, 
 which are shorter ; and a part of what was delivered in the last 
 lecture is inserted in the fourteenth chapter, because it seemed 
 to belong rather to that part of the history. And, as in the 
 great overland journey across our continent, the way is une 
 qual there is a variety of mountains and valleys, long and 
 short stations, high hills and wide plains, and dark mountain 
 gorges so, also, is the Volume of Inspiration. And, as in the 
 overland route, similar views are often presented, repeating 
 the visions already past, and yet not the same ; so here, in the 
 following pages, there may seem to be repetitions, not so much 
 of words as of ideas. If so, the reason is to be found, first, in 
 the fact, that I have endeavored to follow the order and me 
 thod of the sacred narrative itself, and to present the thoughts 
 
XX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and lessons thereon just as they started up before me, taking 
 the pictures of the way just as they came to hand. I could 
 have avoided this, if I had thought it best to do so ; but as it 
 was my wish to follow the divine method, as far as I could, 
 in presenting and explaining and vindicating the laws, the 
 Word and the ways of the Lord, and as similar events are re 
 peated in the text, so similar lessons are taught. Secondly, it 
 has, also, just been said, that it was deemed best to publish 
 these discourses, as nearly as possible, word for word, just as 
 they were delivered from the pulpit, and as their delivery ex 
 tended through several weeks, and was, in part, before differ 
 ent audiences, so some repetition was necessary, and, partly 
 for the same reason, is still retained. And I am the more re 
 conciled to have it so, from the fact that this is the Bible 
 method, not only in Esther, but generally namely, to teach 
 little by little, line upon line, and precept upon precept. As 
 it is pleasant to the traveler to have a change of scenery 
 rather than to have all the mountains together, and then all 
 the hills, and then nothing but a wide plain ; just so it is in 
 history, the pictures are always changing and always repeat 
 ing themselves, and yet they are not the same. 
 
 The errors and skeptical objections which it is hoped this 
 volume may refute, or remove from the minds of candid in 
 quirers after truth, are not always enumerated, nor the names 
 of their advocates and the titles of their works given. This 
 has not seemed to be necessary. All opinions and objections 
 as far as I know are fairly represented, but the size of the vol 
 ume and many other reasons forbid their full elaboration. I 
 do not see that in order to know the right way to a place, we 
 must first hunt out and explore, by a personal survey, all the 
 tracks and by-ways that lead away from it. It may be that 
 some of my readers are in happy ignorance of the errors I have 
 tried to refute ; if so, they will not perceive my allusions, nor 
 is it necessary they should. On the other hand, those who are 
 acquainted with them will be able I hope to understand the 
 refutation offered. As to the truth of some of the quotations 
 used in this volume from old authors and from the reports of 
 
INTRODUCTION. XX111 
 
 the Royal Asiatic Society, and other readings of monuments, 
 I have only to say with Pliny, " Penes auctores sit fides." 
 While I believe them to be reliable and substantially correct, 
 I beg that the authors themselves may be held respectively 
 responsible. And while I have freely used all the authors 
 within my reach that afforded me what I considered reliable 
 help in explaining the sacred text, yet as far as I know, all due 
 acknowledgments are made in the body of the work, and as 
 far as my knowledge goes, this is the only volume of the kind 
 offered to the public on the Book of Esther. Indeed one 
 reason why, in my humble publications, I have selected such 
 subjects as " The Wedge of Gold," " Samson, the Giant Judge," 
 and the Hebrew-Persian Queen, is that these portions of our holy 
 writings seemed to be almost overlooked. As Truth is of too 
 noble and holy a nature to be forced upon mankind, I have 
 only to add as one before me has done : "Pray, place the Holy 
 Scriptures, kind Reader, before you on the desk of your heart, 
 and acquaint yourself with the WHOLE matter, before you arrive 
 at a decision." " Happy is he that speaketh in the ears of 
 them that will hear." God Almighty bless all the readers of 
 this volume. Amen. 
 
 W. A. SCOTT. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO, 10th March, 1859. 
 

 CIIAPTEK I. 
 
 PERSIA PAST AND PRESENT. 
 
 And see the Sun himself! on wings 
 Of glory up the East he springs 
 Angel of light! 
 
 Where are the days, thou wondrous sphere, 
 When IRAN, like a sun -flower turned 
 To meet that eye where er it burned? 
 
 When, from the banks of BENDEEMEER 
 To the nut-groves of Samarcand 
 Thy temples flam d o er all the land? 
 Where are they ? ask the shades of them 
 
 Who, on CADESSIA S bloody plains, 
 Saw fierce invaders pluck the gem 
 From IRAN S broken diadem. Lalla Rookh. 
 
 THE wars of Persia with G reece, the lives of Oriental 
 princes, and tales arid illustrations of the manners of 
 the East a long time ago, are a part of the early studies 
 of our boyhood, and a never failing source of amuse 
 ment to an enlightened mind, through all the periods 
 of life down to old age. Even the loftiest strains of 
 poetry in our holy prophetical books the noblest out 
 pourings of Hebrew song are about the people who 
 lived on the Tigris and the Euphrates more than two 
 thousand years ago. And even now, it is found after 
 centuries for research and examination, and after the 
 wonderful discoveries of Botta, Layard, Rawlinson and 
 2 
 
26 THE HEBREW -PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 others, that the Hebrew Scriptures are the best guide 
 to the East that the minutest allusions in the Bible 
 to the habits of the people of Bible lands, and that 
 even the details of their wars and religions, and cus 
 toms, given by the father of profane history, are so 
 accurately told that the history of the inhabitants of 
 those countries in the present day, written from actual 
 observation, varies in but few things from that of 
 Herodotus. 
 
 In our day, the long sleep of Oriental literature is 
 broken never again to be resumed. Its untombed 
 records have assumed a place, in historic value, above 
 the classic glory of Greece and Rome. The scholar, 
 the antiquarian, and the interpreter of ancient records, 
 have vast treasures of priceless worth now opened to 
 them that were hidden for ages. The fall of Constan 
 tinople somewhat retarded Oriental studies by the con 
 sequent revival of Greek learning, which was followed 
 by the invention of printing in the West. The ten 
 dency of the attention given to Greek literature, and 
 of printing, was to lay aside the learning of the East 
 as fabulous, or valueless. But, for the last three cen 
 turies, European travelers and scholars have been dili 
 gent in those researches that have so happily resulted 
 in our present attainments. 
 
 As we are desirous of becoming acquainted with 
 some of the most remarkable personages, aud some of 
 the most extraordinary events of ancient Persia, a brief 
 reference to its legendary history seems necessary to 
 enable us to form something like a correct opinion con 
 cerning its institutions. All men of letters have admired 
 her poets, Jami, Hajiz, Saadi and Flrdusi; but 
 
ALEXANDER IN PERSIA. 27 
 
 Persia has been admired for something more than her 
 poets. Alexander the Great intensely coveted her do 
 minions, not so much because she was the favorite 
 country of the imagination, as because she was wealthy 
 and powerful. The legends of the golden egg, and 
 like fancies, do not solve the great question, why Alex 
 ander marched his armies across her territory. Was 
 it then to revenge Greece for Persian invasions before 
 his day ? or was it merely to imitate the exploits of 
 Achilles, whom he greatly admired, and whose his 
 tory he diligently studied ? No. I believe his was a 
 nobler ambition an ambition as justifiable as that 
 which inspired Napoleon, when he invaded Egypt and 
 dreamed of an Oriental empire an ambition in every 
 way as justifiable as that of the English in the conquest 
 of India, or of China the very same in substance 
 that now moves all the great powers of Europe, and the 
 United States, to seek an extension of their influence 
 over the populous regions of the East, namely : to 
 carry European, that is, as it was called in Alexander s 
 day, Greek enterprise into Asia, and thereby awaken 
 its decaying kingdoms, and stimulate them to trade 
 and civilization. No doubt he wished, at the same 
 time that he was thus arousing them, to make them 
 develop the riches of their country, and doubtless, also, 
 he was quite willing, as a conqueror, to take the lion s 
 share, but in as honorable a way as is practiced in our 
 day. That such views were entertained by him is 
 proven from his enlarged ideas of trade, and his build 
 ing of cities and highways of travel and commerce. 
 
 These remarks are made, not for the purpose of 
 indorsing the wars of Alexander the Great, but because 
 
 2A 
 
28 THE HEBREW -PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 it seems to me, justice lias rarely been done to his genius 
 and policy. Many cities were founded by him and the 
 clearness of his foresight and the soundness of his 
 judgment are seen in their continuance to this day as 
 great seats of trade. And so great is the popularity of 
 his name even in our times that many of the tribes of 
 the East, claim to be his descendants. He was a 
 Pagan, and did many very wicked things, but in his 
 desire to possess Persia, and to advance into India from 
 the west, he has been often imitated, and has his sue. 
 cessors in our day among several Christian crowns. 
 Persia was the scene of some of his greatest exploits. 
 Chingbis-Khan and Timur-lane also led their plunder 
 ing hosts over the same mountains and plains. Roman 
 Emperors and generals and Moslem Kaliphs were in 
 their day familiar with its cities and fortresses and 
 battle-plains. As in Spain, first civilized by the Phe- 
 nicians and long possessed by the Moors, we find Pagan, 
 Roman and Eastern customs long obsolete elsewhere 
 turning up at every step in the cabinet and in the cam 
 paign, in the palace and in the house, field and church; 
 so it is in Persia. It is in Persia as much perhaps 
 more than in any other land that we find in our day 
 ancient customs preserved with the greatest tenacity 
 especially such as are referred to in the Bible. The 
 mountain-ranges and rivers and physical features of 
 Persia are now as they were when Alexander conquered 
 her and Xenophon wrote his classic chapters. No 
 canals have been dug, no railroads built, and the posts 
 are inferior to those of Cyrus. And the manners of 
 the people are less changed than in any other oriental 
 nation. The throne of the Shah is shorn indeed of 
 
THE ROYAL SCRIBES. 29 
 
 some of the bright beams of the ancient dynasties of 
 Persia, but still it recalls the glory of Cyrus, and the 
 power of Darius and Sapor. " In Egypt/ says " The 
 Modern Traveller/ " the intrusive Turk or Mamlouk, 
 the degraded Copt, or the miserable Fellah, are dwarfed 
 beside the gigantic monuments of the past, and hardly 
 appear to belong to a scene where art and nature seem 
 alike eternal and MAN is nothing ; in Persia it is the 
 living scene, the faded yet still imposing pageantry, 
 the various tribes, and the diversified traits of human 
 character that chiefly occupy attention, and by these 
 faithful transcripts of the former ages it is that the 
 imagination is transported far back into the past.* 
 
 Although Persia, in her earliest ages, seems to have 
 altogether wanted the poet historian, she was not want 
 ing in royal scribes. These secretaries, Mirzas, as they 
 are called in modern times, were constantly with their 
 kiiiGrs at feasts and councils, and on the field of bat- 
 
 O / 
 
 tie. It was their duty to note down at the time his 
 words, and make a record of his deeds. A similar cus 
 tom prevailed among most Asiatic nations. The Mo 
 gul conquerors had their scribes. The great Hyder 
 Ali used to appear in public surrounded by forty secre 
 taries. Such records doubtless were the chronicles de 
 posited at Babylon, Ecbatana, and Susa. The personal 
 anecdotes and private conversations preserved by Herod 
 otus, are probably a fair specimen of these records. 
 They were not designed to be a history of the empire, 
 nor of the people, but of the court. Herod, vii. 100, 
 vi. 98 ; viii. 96, and Ezra, vi. i. Esther, vi. i. We 
 shall have occasion to speak of them again. 
 
 *Vaux s Nineveh and Persepolis. 
 
30 THE HEBREW -PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 The grCcat historic poets of Persia are Mirkhond and 
 Firdusi, and Khondemir, son of Mirkhond. Their 
 memorials of the empire are partly from traditions, and 
 partly from records, and are very valuable as exponents 
 of the inner life the thoughts, manners and customs, 
 of their forefathers. They tell us that the ancient 
 name of Persia was Iran, and that ten tribes were 
 united in composing its first inhabitants. According to 
 Mohammedan writers, the founder of the Pischadian 
 dynasty the first monarch of Persia was Kaioinurs, the 
 son of Yasan Asam, the grandson of Noah. And that 
 he was a long time subject to the Magicians, but at 
 length emancipated himself from their tyranny, by the 
 aid of tigers, panthers and lions. The famous Jamshid, 
 his nephew, succeeded his son Hoshung, who was his 
 immediate successor. The legends concerning Jamshid 
 are numerous and curious. They suit for an epic rather 
 than for a sober history. As a history of Persia, how 
 ever, beyond Cyrus, we have nothing better than the 
 fabulous annals of Jamshid and his successors. 
 
 Impenetrable obscurity reigns over the early history 
 of Persia. Most of the early Persian writers have so 
 mixed up their history with tales of griffins, monster 
 giants and fairies, that no sober or reliable account can 
 be gathered from their writings. According to some 
 of them, several of the first kings of the dynasty which 
 they call the Pischadian, reigned from five hundred to 
 one thousand years each. The order of its rise seems 
 to be Iran, Turan, and then Assyria, and then a second 
 Persian dynasty of the Kaianites, and then Media, un 
 der Cyaxares, and then Persia proper under Cyrus 
 the Great. Xeriophon traces the pedigree of Cyrus up 
 to Perses, who gave name to the country. 
 
PERSIA IN THE BIBLE. 31 
 
 The first name by which Persia is known to us in 
 the Bible is Elam, G-en. xiv. 1, which is to be regarded 
 as identical with Kurdistan and Khuzistan. The date 
 of the events spoken of in Genesis is thought by Vaux 
 and others to be contemporary with the beginning of 
 the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. Balkh, (Bactra,) 
 the capital of Kaiomurs, is considered in the East as 
 the oldest city on the globe. It is called Omm-al-belad, 
 the mother of cities. From the time of Abraham, when 
 Elam was a kingdom, to Isaiah, nothing occurs in 
 sacred history that belongs especially to Persia. Isaiah, 
 however, speaks of the Elamites as a warlike nation, 
 " bearing the quiver," xxii. 6. And this account 
 agrees exactly with what Strabo says of the mountaineers 
 of Elymais. Jeremiah (xlix. 34, 39) foretells the over 
 throw of Elam arid its subsequent recovery, which his 
 tory records as fulfilled. 
 
 The hero of Firdusi is Rustam, but Sir John Mal 
 colm labors with great zeal to show that the Kai-Khosru 
 of this poet is Cyrus the Great. This is probably cor 
 rect; and the poem itself, Slidh Namch, is a wonderful 
 illustration of how the fragments of history may be em 
 balmed in poetry. The fragments from which he com 
 posed this work were in Pehlvi, and are interspersed 
 with incidents and exploits belonging to the history of 
 China, India and Turan, while there is no allusion to 
 the kings of Assyria, Egypt or Babylon. The tradi 
 tions of the East say that Cyrus mother was a Jewess, 
 and on that account he was so favorably inclined to that 
 remarkable people. For some four centuries the Romans 
 called the rulers of Persia by the name of Khosrus or 
 Chosroes, that is, Cyrus. The Kai occurring so often 
 
. ;; 
 
 32 THE HEBREW -PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 in the history of ancient Persia, means King j and is 
 succeeded by Shall in our day. 
 
 The order of the empires that rose on the Tigris and 
 the Euphrates is after this manner : The Assyrian, 
 Chaldean and Mcdo-Persian, the Greek, Roman and 
 Saracen, which was succeeded by the Persian kingdom 
 of our own day. The Assyrian empire, of which Nine 
 veh was the chief city, was probably founded by Niinrod. 
 It unquestionably goes back to a very early period after 
 the flood. The area of the Persian dominions in 
 Esther s day was the seat of the great empires of Daniel s 
 visions, which, as to time and manner, rose to power 
 and passed away with an astonishing conformity to his 
 predictions. 
 
 But little is known of Median history. The Modes 
 are believed to have been an intelligent and wealthy 
 people long previous to the Persian conquest. Their 
 government was despotic, but the etiquette and stric 
 tures of their court remarkable. Cyrus the G reat, who 
 is to be regarded as the founder of the Persia of his 
 tory, made Media, by forcible seizure, a part of the 
 Persian empire. His dominions occupied the regions 
 of all the older empires of that part of the globe that 
 ad preceded him. The period of our Hebrew-Persian 
 Queen is about 500 years before th..JiiilJ[i_of_jChrist, 
 and lies between the famous battle of Marathon and the 
 retreat of the ten thousand Greeks. Postumius and 
 Furius being consuls at Home. The Chaldean monar 
 chy, the lion empire of the Hebrew prophet, has past 
 away. All comes to pass in its day just as Daniel sees 
 and describes it standing on the banks of the river 
 Ulai (Eulaeus of the Greeks). Medes and Persians, 
 
DANIEL S PROPHECY FULFILLED. 33 
 
 Greeks and Romans, take their places in history pre- j, 
 cisely according to the prophet s assignment, just as if 
 they were pieces played by an invisible master on the 
 Chess-board of the Universe. The two-horned rani of 
 Daniel signified the Medo-Persian kingdom. And the 
 proof is complete that Persia was represented at first 
 by a ram. This is seen in ancient coins and from the 
 sculptures on the pillars of Persepolis. Aininianus 
 Marcellinus expressly says that " the King of Persia 
 wore a ram s head of gold, set with precious stones, 
 instead of a diadem." And it is also abundantly in 
 proof, that as Persia was represented by a ram, so was 
 Macedonia by a goat, and both these symbols agree 
 with Daniel s vision. The story is that the first colony 
 of Macedon were directed to take a goat for a guide 
 and that they were to build a city, wherever the leading 
 goat halted his flock, which they did, and called it 
 .ZEgese, from ^Egus, a goat, and hence the people 
 called themselves ./Egeadae, and hence we have the 
 name jEc/ean for the sea that washed their coast. 
 Ancient Macedonian monuments contain this figure, 
 and at Persepolis the subjection of the Macedonians to 
 the Persians in the reign of Amyntas is recorded by 
 representing a Persian as holding a goat by the horn. 
 And in the Florentine collection there is a gem with 
 an engraving which was probably made after Alexan 
 der s conquest of Asia, representing the Persian ram 
 and the Macedonian goat united, that is, the two heads 
 are conjoined. 
 
 If you visit Khuzistan, a province of the Persia that 
 now is, you will see the kingdom of ancient Susiana. 
 In the first years of Cyrus, this country was governed 
 
 2B 
 
34 THE HEBREW -PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 by his friend and ally. Abradates, but, at his death, it 
 was incorporated with the Persian monarchy. Should 
 you ever travel through it, you will find the northern 
 part of it hilly, while the central portion of it is a 
 great plain, the greater part of which is very fertile, 
 but the southern and eastern part is chiefly a sandy 
 desert, or extensive morasses. The banks of the rivers, 
 in the southern and eastern portions, are capable of 
 cultivation, llice, indigo, wheat, barley, poppies, dates 
 and sugar cane are raised. The climate is considered 
 remarkably healthy; so much so, that the inhabitants 
 of the surrounding provinces resort to it when sick, 
 just as the old lloman invalids used to go to Egypt. 
 The winters are mild, and the springs proverbially the 
 delight of the earth. In the summer the heat, how 
 ever, is so intense that the people spend the day in 
 subterranean chambers, and sleep on the house tops, in 
 the open air, at night. The chief trade of Shuster is 
 in opium, indigo and sugar. Opium is produced here 
 in great quantities from the large and beautiful Orien 
 tal poppy. The sugar of the country is very fine, and 
 produced in a considerable quantity. The luxuriance 
 of the sugar cane, and the excellence of the manufac 
 tured sugar is so great that the province is said to have 
 its name from its staple commodity Khuzistan, that 
 is, sugar country. 
 
 The animals of this country are jackals and hyenas, 
 which are very numerous, and their nightly howlings 
 a great annoyance. Antelopes and gazelles are numer 
 ous, and the winged songsters are the same that are 
 found in southern Europe. Locusts, all sorts of lizards 
 and insects, and venomous reptiles are found in great 
 
MODERN PERSIA COVETED. 35 
 
 abundance. This is the country, also, of the camel 
 and of the wild ass, the wild boar and the lion. " The 
 wild ass of the wilderness that snuffeth up the wind at 
 her pleasure/ is a beautiful creature, and so swift in 
 her native wilds that she can be caught only by relays 
 of horses and dogs. 
 
 It is foreign to my present purpose to dwell on the 
 history of Persia from the death of Esther to the de 
 feat of the Persians by the Arabs on "the bloody 
 plains of Cadessia," where Iran s ancient diadem was 
 broken, or to speak of Persia under the Saracens, and 
 of her emancipation from them, and her present 
 dynasty of Shahs. This belongs properly to the gene 
 ral historian and to the political writers of the great 
 Powers of Europe and Asia, who are all struggling to 
 get the ascendancy in Persia, just as heirs intrigue for 
 a dying man s estates. Of the Tartars, the Seljukian 
 Turks, Turkomans, "the white sheep dynasty," of 
 Hassan, Hussein, Gengis-Khan, Nader Shah, " the 
 great Moguls," " the terrible Afghans," Irak, Shiraz, 
 Bagdad and Mosul, and of the fight between the Brit 
 ish lion and the Russian bear for the vineyards of the 
 Persian Naboths, I shall say nothing. Sure I am, 
 however, as the poet says, that 
 
 u All regions, revolutions, fortunes, fates 
 Of high, of low, of mind and matter, roll 
 Through the short channels of expiring time, 
 Or shoreless ocean of eternity, 
 In absolute subjection" 
 
 to the mandate of Him who setteth up one and casteth 
 down another, and doeth His will on earth and in the 
 armies of heaven. 
 
 Happy then that people whose God is the Lord. 
 Happy the nation that trusts in the Great Disposer of 
 
36 THE HEBREW - PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 human events, amid the ever-changing scenes of time. 
 In an empire so vast and so populous as that of the 
 great king Ahasuerus, there were many large cities, of 
 which little beyond their names, or the simple fact of 
 their having once existed, is now known. It is diffi 
 cult, and has, in fact, been done only in a few in 
 stances, to identify the mouldering remnants of cities 
 that are scattered over the vast tracts of Persia, with 
 the names of the cities described in the ancient history 
 of that country. 
 
 But the same thing is true of the mighty cities of 
 Egypt, Babylon and Greece. And is there not a day 
 coming when the mighty cities of our times shall be as 
 these mighty cities of old now are ? " A school boy s 
 tale, the wonder of an hour/ 7 The reins of the Universe 
 however are in the hands of the same Supreme Ruler 
 that governed the world when Ahasuerus reigned from 
 India to Ethiopia. The hand of God is just as truly in 
 the modern as in the ancient history of Persia, There 
 is a God that judgeth in the earth in America, just as 
 much as in Asia. His eye and his laws are just as 
 much over London and San Francisco, as they ever 
 were over Babylon and Susa. It is just as true now, 
 as when Mordecai was made Grand Vizier, that " there 
 is a reward for the righteous/ We have then a per 
 sonal interest in keeping the commandments of our 
 God, for in keeping of them there is great reward. And 
 we have a deep personal interest in escaping from the 
 wrath to come ! Let us then well consider the great 
 question of the poet : 
 
 That day of wrath, that dreadful day, 
 When heaven and earth shall pass away, 
 What power shall be the sinner s stay ? 
 How shall he meet that dreadful day ? 
 
THE DAY OF WRATH. 37 
 
 When shivering like a parched scroll, 
 The naming heavens together roll ! 
 When louder yet, and yet more dread, 
 Swells the high trump that wakes the dead : 
 
 Oh ! on that day, that wrathful day, 
 When man to judgment wakes from clay, 
 Be thou the trembling sinner s stay, 
 Though heaven and earth shall pass away. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE MEGILLOTH ESTHER. 
 
 Hast them ever heard 
 
 Of such a book? the author, God himself; 
 The subject, God and man ; salvation, life 
 And death eternal life, eternal death." 
 
 " Read and revere the sacred page ; a page 
 Where triumphs immortality ; a page 
 Which not the whole creation could produce ; 
 Which not the conflagration shall destroy ; 
 In Nature s ruins not one letter lost ; 
 Tis printed in the mind of gods forever." 
 
 There is a remarkable people scattered over the 
 world who have preserved their identity and national 
 rites and festivals without having any home or any 
 nationality on the face of the earth. Wherever they 
 are found, from pole to pole, whether of fair complexion, 
 as in Europe, or bronzed as in Asia, or "dark as any 
 Ethiop" in Africa; whether speaking Iluss, Polish, 
 G-erman, Spanish, Italian, Hindoo, or Arabic or Eng 
 lish, they all observe an annual feast at which the fol 
 lowing narrative is read, just as Americans read the 
 Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July. 
 The Megllloth Esther, as they call the sacred roll which 
 is read at the feast of Purim, 
 
 " Is not a theologic tract 
 
 To prove with Hebrew and with Arabic 
 If Job be allegory or a fact, 
 
 But a true narrative, " 
 
40 THE HEBREW -PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 of what happened to their fathers many years ago in 
 the land of their captivity. The original is in Hebrew, 
 and has been preserved with great care and fidelity. 
 The following is the most faithful, elegant, and in every 
 way the best translation that has yet been made of it 
 into English. It was made in the early part of the 
 seventeenth century by some of the best scholars then 
 living, at the special command of a great and learned 
 king of England, who had been educated by a Scotch 
 pedagogue of great celebrity : 
 
 THE MEGILLOTH ESTHER. 
 
 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this 
 is Ahasuerus which reigned from India even unto 
 Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty pro 
 vinces:) that in those days, when the king Ahasuerus 
 sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan 
 the palace, in the third year of his reign, he made a 
 feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power 
 of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the 
 provinces, being before him : when he showed the 
 riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his 
 excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and four 
 score days. And when these days were expired, the 
 king made a feast unto all the people that were present 
 in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven 
 days, in the court of the garden of the king s palace; 
 where were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened 
 with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and 
 pillars of marble: the bods were of gold and silver, 
 upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black 
 marble. And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, 
 (the vessels boing diverse one from another,) and royal 
 
THE FEAST AND VASHTI. 41 
 
 wine in abundance, according to the state of the king. 
 And the drinking was according to the law; none did 
 compel : for so the king had appointed to all the officers 
 of his house, that they should do according to every 
 man s pleasure. Also Vashti the queen made a feast 
 for the women in the royal house which belonged to 
 king Ahasuerus. 
 
 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was 
 merry with wine, he commanded Mehumau, Biztha, 
 Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, 
 the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of 
 Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before 
 the king with the crown royal, to show the people and 
 the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on. 
 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king s 
 commandment by his chamberlains : therefore was the 
 king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. 
 
 Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the 
 times, (for so was the king s manner toward all that 
 knew law and judgment: and the next unto him was 
 Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marse- 
 na, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and 
 Media, which saw the king s face, and which sat the 
 first in the kingdom ) what shall we do unto the queen 
 Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed 
 the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the cham 
 berlains? And Memucan answered before the king 
 and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong 
 to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all 
 the .people that are in all the provinces of the king 
 Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen shall come 
 abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their 
 
42 THE HEBREW -PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 husbands in their eyes, when it shall he reported, The 
 king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to he 
 brought in before him, but she came not. Likewise 
 shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto 
 all the king s princes, which have heard of the deed of 
 the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt 
 and wrath. If it please the king, let there go a royal 
 commandment from him, and let it be written among 
 the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not 
 altered, That Vashti come no more before king Aha 
 suerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto 
 another that is better than she. And when the king s 
 decree which he shall make shall be published through 
 out all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall 
 give to their husbands honor, both to great and small. 
 
 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; 
 and the king did according to the word of Menmcan : 
 for he sent letters into all the king s provinces, into 
 every province according to the writing thereof, and to 
 every people after their language, that every man should 
 bear rule in his own house; and that it should be pub 
 lished according to the language of every people. 
 
 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasue 
 rus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she 
 had done, and what was decreed against her. Then 
 said the king s servants that ministered unto him, Let 
 there be fair young virgins sought for the king; and 
 let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his 
 kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair 
 young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of 
 the women, unto the custody of Hege the king s cham 
 berlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for 
 
ESTHER IN THE HAREM. 43 
 
 purification be given them : and let the maiden which 
 pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And 
 the thing pleased the king; and he did so. 
 
 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, 
 whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son 
 of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; who had 
 been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity 
 which had been carried away with Jaconiah king of 
 Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had 
 carried away. And he brought up Hadassah, (that is, 
 Esther,) his uncle s daughter: for she had neither 
 father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful j 
 whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were 
 dead, took for his own daughter. 
 
 So it came to pass, when the king s commandment 
 and his decree was heard, and when many maidens 
 were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the 
 custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also into the 
 king s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the 
 women. And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained 
 kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things 
 for purification, with such things as belonged to her, 
 and seven maidens which were meet to be given her, 
 out of the king s house: and he preferred her and her 
 maids unto the best place of the house of the women. 
 Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred : for 
 Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it. 
 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the 
 women s house, to know how Esther did, and what 
 should become of her. 
 
 Now when every maid s turn was come to go in to 
 king Ahasuerus, after that she had besn twelve months, 
 
44 THE HEBREW -PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 according to the manner of the women, (for so were 
 the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six 
 months with oil of myrrh, and six mouths with sweet 
 odors, and with other things for the purifying of the 
 women;) then thus came every maiden unto the king; 
 whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her 
 out of the house of the women unto the king s house. 
 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she re 
 turned into the second house of the women, to the 
 custody of Shaashgaz, the king s chamberlain, which 
 kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no 
 more, except the king delighted in her, and that she 
 were called by name. 
 
 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abi- 
 hail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his 
 daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required 
 nothing but what Hegai the king s chamberlain, the 
 keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained 
 favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her. 
 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his 
 house-royal in the tenth month, which is the month 
 Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. And the 
 king loved Esther above all the women, and she ob 
 tained grace and favor in his sight more than all the 
 virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, 
 and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then the king 
 made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, 
 even Esther s feast; and he made a release to the 
 provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the 
 king. And when the virgins were gathered together 
 the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king s gate. 
 Esther had not yet shewed her kindred, nor her people, 
 
THE KING S LIFE SAVED. 45 
 
 as Mordecai had charged her; for Esther did the com 
 mandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought 
 up with him. 
 
 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king s gate, 
 two of the king s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, 
 of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought 
 to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. And the thing 
 was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the 
 queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mor- 
 decai s name. And when inquisition was made of the 
 matter, it was found out; therefore they were both 
 hanged on a tree : and it was written in the book of the 
 Chronicles before the king. 
 
 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote 
 Hainan the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and ad 
 vanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that 
 were with him. And all the king s servants that were 
 in the king s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman; for 
 the king had so commanded concerning him. But 
 Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. Then 
 the king s servants which were in the king s gate, said 
 unto* Mordecai, Why transgresses! thou the king s 
 commandment ? Now it came to pass, when they 
 spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, 
 that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai s mat 
 ters would stand ; for he had told them that he was a 
 Jew. And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed 
 not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of 
 wra;th. And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mor 
 decai alone ; for they had shewed him the people of 
 Mordecai; wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the 
 Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of 
 Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. 
 
46 THE HEBREW -PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 In the first month, (that is, the month Nison,) in 
 the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, 
 that is, the lot, before Hainan, from day to day, and 
 from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, 
 the month Adar. 
 
 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a 
 certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among 
 the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom ; and 
 their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep 
 they the king s laws; therefore it is not for the king s 
 profit to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be 
 written that they may be destroyed ; and I will pay 
 ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those 
 that have the charge of the business, to bring it into 
 the king s treasuries. And the king took his ring 
 from his hand, and gave it unto Haman, the son of 
 Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews enemy. And the 
 king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the 
 people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to 
 thee. Then were the king s scribes called on the thir 
 teenth day of the first month, and there was written 
 according to all that Haman had commanded unto the 
 king s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over 
 every province, and to the rulers of every people of 
 every province, according to the writing thereof, and 
 to every people after their language ; in the name of 
 king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the 
 king s ring. And the letters were sent by posts into 
 all the king s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to 
 cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little 
 children and women, in one day, even upon the thir 
 teenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month 
 
THE MURDEROUS DECREE. 47 
 
 Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. The 
 copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in 
 every province was published unto all people, that they 
 should be ready against that day. The posts went out, 
 being hastened by the king s commandment, and the 
 decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the 
 king and Hainan sat down to drink, but the city 
 Shushan was perplexed. 
 
 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mor- 
 decai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, 
 and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with 
 a loud and a bitter cry ; And came even before the 
 king s gate : for none might enter into the king s gate 
 clothed with sackcloth. And in every province whith 
 ersoever the king s commandment and his decree came, 
 there was great mourning among the Jews, and fast 
 ing, and weeping, and wailing ; and many lay in sack 
 cloth and ashes. 
 
 So Esther s maids and her chamberlains came and 
 told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; 
 and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take 
 away his sackcloth from him ; but he received it not. 
 Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king s cham 
 berlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, 
 and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know 
 what it was, and why it was. So Hatach went forth 
 to Mordecai, unto the street of the city, which was be 
 fore the king s gate. And Mordecai told him of all 
 that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the 
 money that Haman had promised to pay to the king s 
 treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. Also he gave 
 him the copy of the writing of the decree that was 
 
48 THE HEBREW -PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto 
 Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her 
 that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication 
 unto him, and to make request before him for her peo 
 ple. And Hatach came and told Esther the words of 
 Mordecai. 
 
 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him 
 commandment unto Mordecai : All the king s servants, 
 and the people of the king s provinces, do know, that 
 whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto 
 the king into the inner court, who is not called, there 
 is one law of his to put him to death, except such to 
 whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that 
 he may live : but I have not been called to come in 
 unto the king these thirty days. And they told to 
 Mordecai Esther s words. Then Mordecai commanded 
 to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt 
 escape in the king s house, more than all the Jews. 
 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, 
 then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to 
 the Jews from another place j but thou and thy father s 
 house shall be destroyed; and who knoweth, whether 
 thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this ? 
 
 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this an 
 swer, Go, gather together all the Jews that are present 
 in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor 
 drink three days, night or day : I also and my maidens 
 will fast likewise : and so will I go in unto the king, 
 which is not according to the law ; and if I perish, I 
 perish. So Mordecai went his way, and did according 
 to all that Esther had commanded him. 
 
 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther 
 
THE QUEEN INTERCEDING. 49 
 
 put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court 
 of the king s house, over against the king s house ; and 
 the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, 
 over against the gate of the house. And it was so, 
 when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the 
 court, that she obtained favor in his sight : and the 
 king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in 
 hisjhand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top 
 of the sceptre. Then said the king unto her, What 
 wilt thou, queen Esther ? and what is thy request ? it 
 shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom. 
 And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let 
 the king and Hainan come this day unto the banquet 
 that I have prepared for him. Then the king said, 
 Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther 
 hath said. So the king and Haman came to the ban 
 quet that Esther had prepared. 
 
 And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of 
 wine, What is thy petition ? and it shall be granted 
 thee : and what is thy request ? even to the half of the 
 kingdom it shall be performed. Then answered Esther, 
 and said, My petition and my request is : If I have 
 found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please 
 the king to grant my petition, and to perform my re 
 quest, let the king and Haman come to the banquet 
 that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to-morrow 
 as the king hath said. 
 
 Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a 
 glad heart : but when Haman saw Mordecai in the 
 king s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, 
 he was full of indignation against Mordecai. Never 
 theless, Haman refrained himself: and when he came 
 3 
 
50 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 home, lie sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his 
 wife. And Hainan told them of the glory of his riches, 
 and the multitude of his children, and all the things 
 wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had 
 advanced him above the princes and servants of the 
 king. Hainan said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen 
 did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet 
 that she had prepared but myself; and to-morrow atn I 
 invited unto her also with the king. Yet all this availeth 
 me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting 
 at the king s gate. 
 
 Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto 
 him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to 
 morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be 
 hanged thereon : then go thou in merrily with the king 
 unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Hainan ; and 
 he caused the gallows to be made. 
 
 On that night could not the king sleep, and he com 
 manded to bring the book of records of the chronicles ; 
 and they were read before the king. And it was found 
 written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, 
 two of the king s chamberlains, the keepers of the 
 door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. 
 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been 
 done to Mordecai for this ? Then said the king s ser 
 vants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done 
 for him. And the king said, Who is in the court ? 
 (Now Haman was come into the outward court of the 
 king s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai 
 on the gallows that he had prepared for him.) And 
 the king s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman 
 standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him 
 
THE ROYAL HONORING. 51 
 
 come in. So Hainan came in. And the king said 
 unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the 
 king delighteth to honour ? (Now Haman thought in 
 his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour 
 more than to myself?) And Haman answered the 
 king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, 
 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth 
 to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and 
 the crown-royal which is set upon his head : And let 
 this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one 
 of the king s most noble princes, that they may array 
 the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, 
 and bring him on horseback through the street of the 
 city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to 
 the man whom the king delighteth to honour. Then 
 the king said to Hainan, Make haste, and take the ap 
 parel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to 
 Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king s gate : let 
 nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. Then took 
 Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Morde 
 cai, arid brought him on horseback through the street 
 of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it 
 be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to 
 honour. 
 
 And Mordecai came again to the king s gate. But 
 Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his 
 head covered. And Haman told Zeresh his wife and 
 all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then 
 said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If 
 Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou 
 hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, 
 but shalt surely fall before him. And while they were 
 SA 
 
52 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 yet talking with him, came the king s chamberlains, 
 and hasted to bring Hainan unto the banquet that 
 Esther had prepared. 
 
 So the king and Haman caine to banquet with Esther 
 the queen. And the king said again unto Esther 
 on the second day of the banquet of wine, What is 
 thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted 
 thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be per 
 formed, even to the half of the kingdom. Then Es 
 ther the queen answered and said, If I have found 
 favor in thy sight, king, and if it please the king, 
 let my life be given me at my petition, and my people 
 at my request : For we are sold, I and my people, to 
 be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we 
 had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held 
 my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail 
 the king s damage. 
 
 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto 
 Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that 
 durst presume in his heart to do so ? And Esther said, 
 The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then 
 Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. 
 
 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in 
 his wrath went into the palace garden : and Haman 
 stood up to make request for his life to Esther the 
 queen : for he saw that there was evil determined 
 against him by the king. Then the king returned out 
 of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of 
 wine; and Hainan was fallen upon the bed whereon 
 Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the 
 queen also before me in the house ? As the word went 
 out of the king s mouth, they covered Hainan s face. 
 
HAMAN S DESTRUCTION. 53 
 
 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before 
 the king, Behold also the gallows fifty cubits high, 
 which Hainan had made for Mordecai, who had spoken 
 good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. 
 Then the king said, Hang him thereon. So they 
 hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared 
 for Mordecai. Then was the king s wrath pacified. 
 
 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house 
 of Haman the Jews enemy unto Esther the queen. 
 And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had 
 told what he was unto her. And the king took off his 
 ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it 
 unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the 
 house of Hainan. 
 
 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and 
 fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to 
 put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his 
 device that he had devised against the Jews. Then 
 the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. 
 So Esther arose, and stood before the king. And said, 
 If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his 
 sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I 
 be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the 
 letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the 
 Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which 
 are in all the king s provinces : For how can I endure 
 to see the evil that shall come unto my people ? or how 
 can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred ? 
 
 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen 
 and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther 
 the house of Hainan, and him they have hanged upon 
 the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. 
 
54 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 "Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketli you, in the 
 king s name, and seal it with the king s ring : for the 
 writing which is written in the king s name, and sealed 
 with the king s ring, may no man reverse. Then were 
 the king s scribes called at that time in the third month, 
 that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth 
 day thereof; and it was written according to all that 
 Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieu 
 tenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces 
 which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty 
 and seven provinces, unto every province according to 
 the writing thereof, and unto every people after their 
 language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and 
 according to their language. And he wrote in the king 
 Ahasuerus name, and sealed it with the king s ring, and 
 sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, 
 camels, and young dromedaries : Wherein the king 
 granted the Jews which were in every city to gather 
 themselves together, and to stand for their life, to de 
 stroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of 
 the people and province that would assault them, both 
 little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for 
 a prey. Upon one day in all the provinces of king 
 Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the 
 twelfth month, which is the month Adar. The copy 
 of the writing for a commandment to be given in every 
 province was published unto all people, and that the 
 Jews should be ready against that day to avenge them 
 selves on their enemies. So the posts that rode upon 
 mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed 
 on by the king s commandment. And the decree was 
 given at Shushan the palace. 
 
THE JOYFUL TIDINGS. 55 
 
 And Mordecai went out from the presence of the 
 king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a 
 great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen 
 and purple : and the city of Sushan rejoiced and was 
 glad. The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and 
 honor. And in every province, and in every city, 
 withersoever the king s commandment and his decree 
 came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good 
 day. And many of the people of the land became 
 Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. 
 
 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, 
 on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king s 
 commandment and his decree drew near to be put in 
 execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews 
 hoped to have power t over them, (though it was turned 
 to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that 
 hated them ;) The Jews gathered themselves together 
 in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king 
 Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt : 
 and no man could withstand them, for the fear of them 
 fell upon all people. And all the rulers of the prov 
 inces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and offi 
 cers of the king helped the Jews ; because the fear of 
 Mordecai fell upon them. For Mordecai was great in 
 the king s house, and his fame went out throughout all 
 the provinces : for this man Mordecai waxed greater 
 and greater. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies 
 with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and de 
 struction, and did what they would unto those that 
 hated them. And in Shushan the palace the Jews 
 slew and destroyed five hundred men. And Parshan- 
 datha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha, and Poratha, and 
 
56 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Adalia, and Aridatha, and Parmashta, and Arisai, and 
 Aridai and Vajezatha, the ten sons of Hainan the son 
 ofHammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they ; 
 but on the spoil laid they not their hand.- On that day 
 the number of those that were slain in Shushan the 
 palace was brought before the king. 
 
 And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews 
 have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan 
 the palace, and the ten sons of Hainan ; what have 
 they done in the rest of the king s provinces ? Now 
 what is thy petition ? and it shall be granted thee : or 
 what is thy request further ? and it shall be done. 
 Then said Esther, if it please the king, let it be granted 
 the Jews which are in Shushan to do to-morrow also 
 according unto this day s decree, and let Hainan s ten 
 sons be hanged upon the gallows. And the king com 
 manded it so to be done : and the decree was given at 
 Shushan; and they hanged Hainan s ten sons. For 
 the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves 
 together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, 
 and slew three hundred men at Shushan ; but on the 
 prey they laid not their hand. But the other Jews 
 that were in the king s provinces gathered themselves 
 together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from 
 their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five 
 thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey. 
 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar ; and on the 
 fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a 
 day of feasting and gladness. But the Jews that were 
 at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day 
 thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the 
 fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a 
 
THE FEAST ORDAINED. 57 
 
 day of feasting and gladness. Therefore the Jews of 
 the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made 
 the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of glad 
 ness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending por 
 tions one to another. 
 
 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters 
 unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the 
 king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, to establish this 
 among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day 
 of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, 
 yearly, as the days wherein the Jews rested from their 
 enemies, and the month which was turned unto them 
 from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day : 
 that they should make them days of feasting and joy, 
 and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the 
 poor. And the Jews undertook to do as they had be 
 gun, and as Mordecai had written unto them; because 
 Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the 
 the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the 
 Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the 
 lot, to consume them, and to destroy them ; but when 
 Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters 
 that his wicked device, which he devised against the 
 Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he 
 and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. Where 
 fore they called these days Purim, after the name of 
 Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of 
 that which they had seen concerning this matter, and 
 which had come unto them, the Jews ordained, and 
 took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all 
 such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should 
 not fail, that they would keep these two days accord- 
 SB 
 
58 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 ing to their writing, and according to their appointed 
 time every year; and that these days should be remem 
 bered and kept throughout every generation, every 
 family, every province, and every city ; and that these 
 days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, 
 nor the memorial of them perish from their seed. 
 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and 
 Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm 
 the second letter of Purim. And he sent the letters 
 unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven 
 
 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of 
 peace and truth, to confirm these days of Purim in their 
 times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and 
 Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had 
 decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters 
 of the fastings and their cry. And the decree of Es 
 ther confirmed these matters of Purim ; and it was 
 written in the book. 
 
 And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, 
 and upon the isles of the sea. And all the acts of his 
 power and of his might, and the declaration of the great 
 ness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, 
 are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of 
 the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the 
 Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among 
 the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his breth 
 ren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking 
 peace to all his seed. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THESE HEBREW RECORDS CREDIBLE. 
 
 Precious Bible ! 
 
 "When yonder spheres sublime 
 
 Pealed their first notes to sound the march of time, 
 Thy joyous youth began: but not to fade 
 When all the sister planets have decayed ; 
 When wrapt in flames the realms of ether glow, 
 And Heaven s last thunder shakes the world below; 
 Thou, pure, unsoiled, shalt o er the ruins smile !" 
 
 IT is a remark of the late venerable Dr. Alexander 
 that, a there never has existed upon earth a nation ^-^ 
 
 whose history is so deserving of our attention as that of / 
 
 the Jews/ This is certainly true, for they are and 
 always have been a peculiar people. An extraordinary 
 providence has always been exercised toward them. 
 
 Up to the carrying away into the Babylonish cap 
 tivity, the history of the ancient Jews is contained in 
 their sacred books, but subsequent to that event, we 
 have nothing concerning them but fragments ; and of*. 
 these the Book of Esther is one of the most valuable 
 During the period of their history between their cap 
 tivity and the coming of Christ, many important prophe 
 cies were fulfilled; and in the days of Ezra, Nehemiah 
 
60 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 / and Esther, we find the origin of the moral condition 
 and of the political and ecclesiastical state of things 
 
 "" that prevailed when Christ was born. A knowledge of 
 Hebrew history for five hundred years immediately 
 preceding the Advent is necessary to understand the 
 New Testament. 
 
 It is not, then, merely because the Book of Esther 
 is an interesting and true picture of the Persian court 
 for thousands of years, but also because it is a chapter 
 a very remarkable chapter of God s dealings with his 
 people, and of his care for his church, that we invite 
 you to study it. But our Chronicles of Ahasuerus, 
 Esther and Mordecai, are they of canonical authority? 
 I answer, we have the same authority for believing that 
 the Book of Esther belongs to the Hebrew canon that 
 we have for Ezra, Nehemiah, or any of their historical 
 books. It is found in Hebrew just as we find them. 
 For although several of the proper names of this book 
 are of Persian origin, there is scarcely a doubt among 
 scholars that it was written originally in Hebrew. 
 Foreign names are found in the writings of Moses and 
 in Daniel, as well as in other parts of the Old Testa. 
 ment, but no one denies on that account that Hebrew 
 is their original. The Book of Esther is not found in 
 Arabic, nor in any other ancient Oriental language, but 
 the Hebrew, Syriac and Chaldee. Ancient copies dif 
 fering more or less from each other, and from the He 
 brew text, are found in Greek and Latin. The Chaldee 
 copy, as given in the London Polyglott, contains five 
 times more than the Hebrew text, but the book, as we 
 eive it, has always been considered as a part of the 
 canon of their holy writings by the Jews. And as 
 
THE AUTHOR OF ESTHER. 61 
 
 they were remarkably careful to preserve their sacred 
 writings, and jealous of any change or interpolation, 
 the presumption is very strong in favor of the authen 
 ticity of this book. The ancient Jews were made the 
 keepers of the Oracles of God, and if they had not been 
 true to this trust, our Lord and his apostles would cer 
 tainly have charged them with neglect or corruption. 
 But this they did not do. Our Lord reproved them 
 for misinterpreting and for rendering of none effect the 
 commandments of God by their traditions, but never 
 with having been unfaithful in preserving the sacred 
 text. 
 
 There is some difference of opinion, both among an 
 cient and modern writers, as to the author of the 
 Megilloth Esther. A majority, both of Hebrew and 
 Christian interpreters, both ancient and modern, ascribe 
 it to Mordecai. The Rabbins generally, and Clemens of 
 Alexandria, tell us that Mordecai was its author. Some 
 say it was composed by the great Synagogue. Others 
 have attributed it to the high priest Joachim. This was 
 the opinion of Philo, the Jew. Augustine thinks it 
 was written by Ezra.* A few think that ix: 20, 23, 
 prove it to have been the joint composition of Esther -^I 
 and Mordecai; but this reference is not conclusive 
 proof of this, for the passage seems to speak, not of 
 this memoir or history of Esther, but of the circular 
 letters that were sent throughout the empire, or, at least, 
 of them chiefly. 
 
 Some Christian writers have doubted its claim to a 
 place among canonical Scriptures; but their objections 
 do not merit a labored reply. It may be true there is 
 no prophecy in this book that it is not quoted in the 
 
 *De Civ. Dei., lib. xviii: C. 36. 
 
62 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 New Testament that there is no mention in it of any 
 of the names or attributes of Jehovah, nor even of 
 prayer or sacrifices to Him. But the singular fact that 
 the name of God does not occur in the book, does not 
 seem to me to have authorized some of the fathers to 
 reject it from the canon. It is certainly one of the 
 4 most striking illustrations of a superintending Provi 
 dence to be found in any of the sacred narratives. And 
 may not this omission have been designed ? Perhaps 
 the purpose was to prove to the Gentiles the fact that 
 / the God of the Jews was the Supreme Ruler of the 
 universe, without exciting their prejudices by making 
 
 I a display of His name. The narrative tells its own 
 
 story, and carries with it its own evidences. It implies 
 clearly and necessarily the existence and presence of 
 the God of Abraham. The Hebrews have never denied 
 its authenticity. They esteem it everywhere, I believe, 
 even to this day, as one of the best of their holy 
 writings. They call it, by way of eminence, Meg 
 that is, THE jroLUME. And some of them believe 
 ^tliat whatever destruction may attend their other sa 
 cred writings, that the Pentatuch and the Megittoth 
 \ Esther will always be preserved by a special Providence. 
 They have always placed it on a level with the law of 
 Moses. The Jewish celebration of Purim, to com 
 memorate their deliverance from the massacre intended 
 for them by Hainan, historically proven to have had its 
 rise at that time ; and its observance, from that time to 
 the present day, by the Jews in every part of the world, 
 is one of the simplest and strongest proofs that can be 
 given of the truthfulness of its historical statements. 
 It were certainly difficult to show how a national fes- 
 
THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 63 
 
 tival like Purim could have arisen, if it does not per 
 petuate a reality. Historically, we have just as much 
 proof of the truth of the history of the Book of Esther, 
 as we have of the truth of the subject-matters com 
 memorated in the anniversary of the American Decla 
 ration of Independence. There is nothing in the his 
 tory itself that shows it to be a fiction, or a mere inven 
 tion of a novel writer. Queen Esther s history is an 
 oriental romance, and yet it is a literal truthful history. 
 And as Mordecai was a man of God, and a principal 
 actor in the history which this book records, and in 
 every way a fit person to write it, I see no reason to 
 hesitate in ascribing it to his pen. It may have been- 
 revised by Ezra. The six additional chapters found in 
 the Vulgate, and received as canonical by the Greek 
 / and Latin churches, are not extant in Hebrew, nor do 
 they contain internal evidence of authenticity, and con- 
 \ sequently they are not received by Protestants as a part 
 \ of the sacred canon. They seem to have been com- 
 ) piled by Hellenistic Jews, and are to be considered of 
 / no more value or authority than so many pages of Philo 
 ( Judseus or Josephus. The Apocryphal books, though 
 not admitted by us to a place among the Holy writings 
 which we believe were given by Divine Inspiration, are 
 nevertheless worthy of our attention. They are gen 
 erally supposed to be the productions of Alexandrian 
 Jews. As ancient Jewish documents before the coming 
 of Christ, as a collection of traditions or fragments of 
 history, and of lessons on prudence and morality, and 
 sometimes of piety, they " are all curious, and some of 
 them extremely valuable/ They are particularly use 
 ful as helps to elucidate the phraseology of the New 
 Testament. 
 
64 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Bat may we rely on the facts stated in the Megilloth 
 Esther ? And are we able to understand it ? Is it an 
 intelligible history? Happily for us, we have various 
 independent and numerous sources from whence to draw 
 materials by which to satisfy ourselves that the Megil 
 loth Esther is a true narrative, and by which to show 
 that it is intelligible to us. In the first place, we have 
 the ancient versions. It is not necessary here to des 
 cribe at length the ancient versions that have been 
 made of the Holy Scriptures, but as our pages are not 
 designed for learned or professional readers, it seems 
 to be necessary to give a brief notice of those versions 
 that are referred to in this work for illustrations and 
 proofs of the narrative. The chief versions to which 
 we refer, are the Septuagint, Vulgate, Chaldee Ver 
 sions, or Targums, and the Talmud. 
 
 After the Hebrew ceased to be a living tongue, and 
 especially after the spread of Christianity, both Jews 
 and Christians desired translations of the Hebrew 
 Scriptures into the prevailing languages, and these 
 translations, of course, soon assumed the place of the 
 original Hebrew text. Some of these versions were 
 made directly from the Hebrew, others were versions 
 from versions. Thus the Septuagint or Alexandrine 
 version was made directly from the Hebrew text ; but 
 the Latin Christians made their version from the Sep 
 tuagint, and, in the fourth century, that was superseded 
 by the Vulgate, which is Jerome s version of the Sep 
 tuagint using the Itala as the basis. 
 
 The Septuagint is the work of some seventy learned 
 Jews, who, by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 
 280 B. C. ; translated the Hebrew, from the best man- 
 
THE OLD VERSIONS. 65 
 
 uscript text that could be obtained, into the Greek 
 and adding some from Greek manuscripts not found in 
 Hebrew. The immediate object is said to have been 
 to obtain a good copy of the writings of Moses, for the 
 celebrated Alexandrine Library. 
 
 The Latin Bible, known as the Vulgate, is so called, 
 because it was made from the Greek, which was then 
 the vulgata, common or popular tongue. The Vulgate 
 was the first book ever printed, and, by the decree of 
 the Council of Trent, in 1545, if I am not mistaken, is 
 the authorized standard version of the Catholic Church. 
 The first copy with a date was printed at Mayence, 
 1462. 
 
 The Targums, or Chaldee versions, arc allowed to 
 be the works of Hebrews, living in the Holy Land and 
 in Babylon, at different times, from about 150 years 
 before Christ to the eighth or ninth century of our era. 
 The name Targum is from the Chaldee, to translate, 
 and means translation. They are sometimes, how 
 ever, but improperly, called paraphrases, for there 
 is nothing about them paraphrastic. Some of our 
 Lord s quotations from the Holy Scriptures seem to 
 have been made from the Chaldee. The more an 
 cient Targums are among the best translations that 
 have been made. The latter are not of so much value. 
 There arc eleven of them in all, the chief of which are, 
 the Targurn of Onkelos, of Jonathan, of Pseudo Jon 
 athan, and of Jerusalem. 
 
 The Talmud is a Hebrew work, containing the doc 
 trines, religion and morality of the Jews. Its author 
 ity among them is equal to or greater than the Hebrew 
 Scriptures. The name is from lamad, to teach, and 
 
66 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 means pre-eminently their traditional doctrines. There 
 are two works known by this name : The Talmud of 
 Jerusalem, and the Talmud of Babylon. The Talmud 
 of Jerusalem is said to be the work of Rabbi Jochanan, 
 about 800, A. D., and was designed for the Jews of 
 Judea. It is composed of two parts, the Mislma and 
 the Gemara. The Mislma is a collection of traditions 
 gathered by the doctors and put together in this body, 
 lest they should be lost. The Gemara again is a col 
 lection of illustrations of the Mishna, or a supplemental 
 commentary upon it. These two constitute the Tal 
 mud of Jerusalem. The Talmud of Babylon consists 
 of the Mishna of Judah the holy, and of a Gemara, 
 collected or composed about 400, A. D., as is believed 
 by Habbi Asa of Babylon. It was designed chiefly for 
 the Jews in Babylon and on the Euphrates. I believe 
 this Talmud is generally preferred to that of Jerusa 
 lem. I have heard that it is a common saying among 
 the Hebrews, that the Bible is water, the Mishna wine, 
 and the Gemara hypocistis. They say the Talmud 
 contains the things taught to Moses by God himself, 
 who taught them to Aaron and his sons, and they to 
 the Elders of Israel, and they to the prophets and the 
 members of the great Synagogue, who communicated 
 them to the Rabbis, who composed the Mishna and 
 Gemara. Home on the Scriptures and Bible Dictiona 
 ries, will enable you to pursue this study, if you are so 
 inclined. The works also of Pliilo Judaus, a noble 
 Jew of Alexandria, about A. D. 40, contain many 
 curious treatises that are of much importance in illus 
 trating the language, phraseology and sentiment of the 
 New Testament. The writings of Joscphus, a learned 
 
SOURCES OF PERSIAN HISTORY. 67 
 
 Jew of the priestly line and of royal descent, are too 
 well known to need any description. He was born 
 about thirty years after the Advent, and was alive in A. 
 D. 96, but it is not known when he died. Though I be 
 lieve Josephus is not a popular author among the Jews, 
 and has been often severely criticised, still his works 
 must be regarded as of great value to Biblical students. 
 
 Secondly. All the sources of Persian history now 
 opened to scholars are found to corroborate the Megil- 
 loth Esther in every possible way. These sources, so 
 far as the period of our history is concerned, may be 
 said to consist of the old traditions of Persia embodied 
 in the poets we have named, and the works of Herodo 
 tus, Xenophon, Ctesias, Arrian, Josephus, and Strabo; 
 and the fragments incidentally recorded in the sacred 
 books of the Jews. Xenophon, Ctesias and Arrian 
 were eye-witnesses of the last days of the Persian em 
 pire. Ctesias was a resident of the Court of Cyrus the 
 Younger, but all that we have of the twenty-three books 
 which he wrote then, are some fragments preserved in 
 Photius. He was a medical man. The most reliable 
 sources are the Oriental discoveries of our own day, 
 especially for information concerning the sacred scrip 
 tures. 
 
 In the Asiatic Journal, xii. vol., Major Rawlinson 
 has given a most interesting memoir of the Persian In 
 scriptions from Behistun. The Major, now Sir Henry 
 Kawlinson, has, in public lectures and by drawings and 
 numerous models, taken from the sculptures now in the 
 British Museum, repeatedly pledged himself to adduce 
 by most abundant coincidence the authenticity of the 
 Holy Writings. He says the Inscriptions go back to- 
 
68 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 about 2,000 years before Christ, and that from every 
 part of Assyria a multitude of inscriptions have been 
 deciphered, which confirm in the minutest details the 
 pages of Scripture, and explain many passages hitherto 
 obscure. 
 
 These readings are particularly interesting as to the 
 signification and derivation of names, and also as to 
 " The earliest connection of the Chaldees and Indians, 
 and the Babylonian mythology; the ethnology and geog 
 raphy of the Assyrians; the historical records, all are 
 illustrated ; in every case, there is an entire agreement 
 with the Bible. The lecturer inferred, from his studies, 
 that the Book of Job belonged to a time about 700 
 before Christ. In the inscriptions there is a period of 
 nearly a thousand years, without mention of Judea, 
 but during that period, there was no inducement for 
 intercourse between the Assyrians and the Jews. The 
 visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon was verified. 
 So, the wars between Sennacherib and Hezekiali. There 
 were four distinct captivities of the Jews. Some in 
 scriptions referred to the time of Nebuchadnezzar 
 others threw light on the existence and actions of Bel- 
 shazzar, who was joint king with his father, Minus, 
 and who shut himself up in Nineveh." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 POINTS TO BE PROVEN. 
 
 Look through the world which all about you lies, 
 The noisy town, its common, daily life, 
 Flushed with coarse passions, hot with selfish strife, 
 The crowded street, the dens of VICE and WANT, 
 The gilded halls where Pride and Fashion flaunt, 
 And from their mingled threads, the grave, the gay, 
 Weave, if you will, the Epic of to-day." 
 
 1. We hope to be able to show as this wonderful roll 
 is unfolded before us, that we should be thankful to the 
 Jews for their Megilloth Esther. It is a true history 
 of persons and events in a remarkable period of the 
 Church of God. The adversaries of Revelation delight 
 in pressing the objection that our Sacred Writings con 
 tain contradictions. The argument is this : An account 
 or story, say they, is not to be believed, the narrators of 
 which give contradictory statements about it; the sa 
 cred writers give contradictory accounts of some of the 
 things of which they write ; therefore they are not to 
 be believed at all. Now the same argument applied 
 to Xerxes, Cyrus, or Alexander, would prove that such 
 men never lived. Archbishop Whately has applied 
 the argument with great force in his " Historic Doubts/ 
 
70 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 concerning Napolean Bonaparte. The argument stands 
 thus : A story is not to be believed, whose reporters do 
 not agree in their statements concerning it : the his 
 torians of the life of Napoleon do not agree in their 
 reports : therefore, the story of his life is not to be be 
 lieved. The same process of argumentation would 
 prove there never was such a battle as that of Bunker 
 (Breed s) Hill, nor of New Orleans, for some of the 
 historians of the wars and of the times of the actors in 
 these battles, have omitted to mention them at all, or 
 have made contradictory statements concerning them. 
 It is not agreed, for instance, whether cotton bales 
 were used by General Jackson at the battle of New 
 Orleans or not. This argument would prove that no 
 such persons as Washington or Jackson ever lived. 
 
 It is the more important to attend, also, to the fact that 
 our position is very different from that of the heathen. 
 The inquiry that naturally arises in the mind of a 
 Chinaman, or of any Pagan, when Christianity is pro 
 posed to him, is not, What are the objections to Chris 
 tianity ? but, Why should I receive it ? The very re 
 verse is the ordinary process among ourselves. Being 
 brought up in a Christian country, and not unfre- 
 quently without inquiring into the reasons of our faith 
 in fact, without being stimulated to seek for reasons 
 for believing it, till we find it controverted ; and when 
 it is controverted, then we find ourselves answering ob 
 jections to, rather than seeking for evidences in support 
 of Christianity. This is manifestly giving the oppo 
 nents of Revelation a great advantage. For it is plain 
 that a child can ask a question that seven wise men 
 cannot answer, or propose a difficulty concerning some 
 
OBJECTIONS NOT CONCLUSIVE. 71 
 
 familiar thing that a score of philosophers cannot ex 
 plain. It is not necessary to be able to solve satisfac 
 torily all the objections that are alleged against the 
 doctrines of Revelation, before we receive it as the 
 Word of God. This would be as if a man must be a 
 natural philosopher, and skillful enough to explain the 
 process of breathing and all the apparatus made there 
 for before he could inhale the air ; or be able to ana 
 lyze his bread and explain the whole process of eating 
 and of digestion and assimilation before he should be 
 allowed to eat. And surely this is a process but few 
 will be able to realize. The true view of this point is, 
 that there may be truth truth supported by irrefraga 
 ble arguments, and yet, at the same time, be obnoxious 
 to apparent objections, numerous, plausible and by 
 no means easily answered. Dr. Johnson has stated 
 this point in this way : " There are/ says he, " objec 
 tions against a plenum and objections against a vacuum ; 
 but one of them must be true. And sensible men, 
 really desirous of discovering truth, will perceive that 
 reason directs them to examine, first, the argument in 
 favor of that side of the question where the first pre 
 sumption of truth appears." The case, then, stands 
 in the manner following : We have books which we 
 call Sacred. The first thing; is to examine their author- 
 
 o 
 
 ity and the evidences that support it. Then we may 
 hear objections; but if the proofs that the Bible is the 
 Word of God are sufficient, then, even if there are ob 
 jections not easy if at all susceptible of solution, still 
 we are bound to receive it as the Word of God. When 
 the Gospel was first preached, Jews and Gentiles de- 
 
72 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 manded to know on what grounds its claims rested.* 
 They asked themselves, each one, "Why should I em 
 brace it ? Not what are the objections to it? So in 
 regard to the Bible, we believe the difficulties are 
 greatly overstated. The objections are magnified. 
 Many of them are only apparent. Patience, candor 
 and intelligence may remove them, or explain them. 
 But, if not, we have reasons for believing the Bible to 
 be the Word of God, in spite of all the objections to it 
 that its opponents have ever been able to produce. 
 And as reasonable, accountable beings, we are bound 
 to hold to it as the Word of God, until we are fur 
 nished with something better. 
 
 Where books and newspapers are not generally cir 
 culated, the people are much under the influence of 
 oral teachings. In older times, among all nations, story 
 tellers were an influential class of instructors. The 
 people of the East have always been remarkably fond 
 of story telling. The Arabian Nights, Persian tales 
 of Genii, and all their literature is proof of this. The 
 chief points of Abraham s life, and of Isaac and Jacob, 
 of Joseph and Moses, and of Joshua, David and Solo 
 mon, live on their lips to this day. The names are 
 sometimes changed altogether, and generally a little 
 modified, and Ishmael and Esau are usually made 
 greater heroes than Isaac and Jacob; and many a weary 
 evening is beguiled away in the Arab s tent by the 
 story of Hebrew patriarchs and kings. Ptebekah s 
 marriage with the son of the great Shiekh, Alou II- 
 rahim, El Halil, and the story of Joseph, of Daniel, 
 
 * Whately, in several of his very able works, and Dr. Hawkins, in his 
 work on Tradition, have some excellent thoughts 011 thid subject, and pre 
 sented much more fully than can be done here. 
 
PATRIARCHAL STORIES. 73 
 
 and of Susannah and Hadassah, are almost as well 
 known among the wandering children of the deserts 
 of Asia and Africa, (though they are neither able to 
 read nor write,) in their essential points, as they are to 
 our Sunday school classes. From this there are two 
 lessons to be learned : First, That God graciously con 
 sulted for the preservation of revealed truth by com 
 mitting His oracles, in times past, to Orientals, and not 
 to any of us Western peoples, nor to a race resembling 
 us. The language of the Hebrews, its idioms and 
 structure, and their geographical position and national 
 relationships, and peculiar formation of mind, fitted 
 them pre-eminently to receive and preserve for mankind 
 until the fullness of time for their manifestation, the 
 Divine communications, made from the beginning, to 
 patriarchs and prophets for the benefit of the human 
 race. Salvation is of the Jews. They were God s 
 reservoir of saving truth. And the second lesson is, 
 that we owe a great debt of gratitude to God and to 
 our country to our parents and friends for our privi 
 leges, literary and religious. "We have the word of 
 God in all its essential purity, both in the original and 
 in translations and versions, so that we may all hear of 
 the wonderful things of God in the tongue with which 
 we were born. 
 
 2. We expect to be able to show that true happiness 
 is to be found in putting our trust in Providence. The 
 whole story of Esther a is like a transparency hung be 
 fore the Pavilion of the Almighty, through which his 
 counsels shine, and his unerring hand is invisible." 
 The whole book illustrates the fact that Providence 
 
74 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 has a life plan for every individual, and works" out that 
 plan in the use of the ordinary events of life. 
 
 We shall find a providence in this history touching 
 the ancient Church of God worthy of special remem 
 brance. It is both natural and strange that any of the 
 Jews should have preferred to remain in exile after the 
 decree of Cyrus permitting them to return to their own 
 land, and to the enjoyment of their own peculiar reli 
 gious services at Jerusalem. As they built houses and 
 planted vineyards in the land of their captivity, and 
 prayed for the prosperity of their conquerors and mas 
 ters, it is not strange they should have become attached 
 to their Persian homes; but it is strange that any of 
 those that belonged to Abraham s posterity should have 
 become so indifferent to the great promises that were 
 yet unfulfilled as to seem to abandon them, and give 
 up their distinctiveness as a nation, made peculiar and 
 separated from all other peoples. Such, however, was 
 the fact. While some returned, many were content to 
 remain. Nor are the Jews we find throughout the 
 Persian empire to be supposed as belonging only, if at 
 all, to "Those trackless fugitives, the lost Ten Tribes." 
 They were also of the house of Judah and Benjamin. 
 But the God of their fathers neither failed to protect 
 those that returned to the Holy Land, nor those that 
 remained behind in Persia. Nor are examples of emi 
 nent piety and zeal for their religion wholly wanting 
 either among those that returned with Nehemiah and 
 Ezra, or among those that remained on the Euphrates. 
 
 The two prominent agents raised up at this time for 
 the preservation of the church are Mordecai and Esther, 
 
GOD S AGENTS EVERYWHERE. 75 
 
 by whom God worked out a a glorious deliverance from 
 one of the most mournful, imminent and universal dan 
 gers of total destruction that ever had threatened the 
 Jewish church." The providence of God in raising up 
 a Hebrew maid to be the Queen of Persia, and in over 
 throwing Hainan for his iniquity, and in rewarding 
 Mordecai for his piety and integrity, is wonderful. The 
 piety and wisdom of Esther and Mordecai are not, how 
 ever, so super-eminent as to obscure the dealings of a 
 most gracious sovereignty. The virtues of the instru 
 ments do not render any the less conspicuous the mercy 
 and power of God toward his ancient people in their 
 captivity and voluntary exile. The sovereign goodness 
 of God toward his church is seen sometimes in using 
 the heathen to afflict it, and then in overturning them 
 and in making their perdition subservient to the ad 
 vancement of his truth. Jehovah is King in all the 
 earth. He niaketh the wrath of man to praise him, 
 and the remainder of wrath he restraineth. A poet 
 has well said, in teaching us to recognize God s provi 
 dence, that 
 
 " If pestilence stalk through the land, ye say, 
 
 This is God s doing ; 
 
 Is it not also His doing, when an aphis creepeth on a rose-bud ? 
 If an avalanche roll from its Alp, ye tremble at the will of 
 
 Providence : 
 Is not that will concerned when the sear leaves fall from the 
 
 poplar?" 
 
 " Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in 
 thee : let such as love thy salvation say continually, 
 The LORD be magnified. But I am poor and needy; 
 
 4A 
 
76 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 yet the LORD thinketh upon me : thou art my help and 
 my deliverer; make no tarrying, my God." Prov. 
 xl. 16, 17. " Are not five sparrows sold for two far 
 things, and not one of them is forgotten before God ? 
 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 
 Fear not therefore; for ye are of more value than many 
 sparrows. " Luke xi. 6, 7. 
 
 3. We expect to be able to show from the testimony 
 in this case that it is not only God s plan to work by 
 means, but often to surprise his people by unexpected 
 deliverances, and by bringing great results out of small 
 beginnings. The greatest events in human history 
 have been generally produced by apparently insignifi 
 cant causes, and because of their quiet might, they have 
 awakened at first but little interest. The greatest pow 
 ers of nature are silent and invisible. The power of 
 gravitation, what is it ? Who hath seen it ? The light 
 ning and the dew how powerful, and yet how impalpa 
 ble ! The ruins of a city, are they not the fruits of a 
 spark ? And if a noble mind is wrecked, is it not the 
 result of a wrong impression recieved in the nursery, 
 or of some insidious falsehood imperceptibly imbibed 
 and left to take root and grow strong and work out the 
 ruin, before its poison was detected? The turning 
 point of Washington s life the decision that made him 
 the Father of his country, was it not his regard for his 
 mother ? Joseph and Moses, Daniel and Mordecai, illus 
 trate the value of right principles implanted in the youth 
 ful mind by parental affection and piety. One could not 
 yield to the most seductive temptation, because to do 
 so would be a sin against God; another refused the 
 
THE STILL SMALL VOICE. 
 
 77 
 
 honors of an empire, then the greatest on earth, and 
 chose to suffer poverty and persecution with Clod s peo 
 ple, because of the faith in which he had been brought 
 up. And Mordecai and Daniel, captives in the most 
 licentious and luxurious heathen cities on the globe 
 far from home and from all parental oversight and 
 great favorites with the Courts of Babylon and Persia, 
 never forgot their education, nor brought reproach upon 
 their mothers catechism or their fathers faith. The 
 impressions made on their young hearts by their Hebrew 
 parents were indelible. The beauty, power and fascina- 
 tion of the most splendid heathen courts could not efface 
 them. The fiery prophet Elijah is another illustration 
 of the effectiveness of silent influences. The solemn 
 thunder came rattling from the desert clouds, the hur 
 ricane came sweeping over the rocks and riven moun 
 tains of granite and porphyry, filling the air with clouds 
 of sand the rocking and crashing march of the earth 
 quake, and the blinding flame of the lightning all 
 failed to reach his heart. Grod was not in the wind, 
 nor in the fire, nor in the earthquake. It was when 
 the Lord spake to the prophet "in the still small voice," 
 that his heart was opened and his stubborn soul was 
 conquered. Mother, sow the seed. Father, instill the 
 principle. And cry to God, mightily both of you, and 
 far away, and many days hence, the seed will grow, the 
 principle will live, and your Grod will be the God and 
 everlasting portion of your children. The waving har 
 vest is all from seed cast into the ground with mingled 
 hopes and fears. The rolling river springs from brooks 
 among the hills, whose tiny fountains an infant s hand 
 could turn aside. 
 
78 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 " That yew tree of a thousand years was once a little seed ; 
 And Nero s marble Rome, a shepherd s mud-built hovel : 
 A speck is on the tropic sky, and it groweth to the terrible 
 
 tornado. 
 
 An apple, all too fair to see, destroyed a world of souls ! 
 A tender babe is born it is Attila, scourge of the nations ! 
 A seeming malefactor dieth it is Jesus, the SAVIOUR OP 
 
 MEN." Tapper. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 SUSA, AND HER KING. 
 
 Susa, by Choaspes amber stream 
 
 The drink of none but kings." 
 
 Par. Reg. II. 
 
 SOMETIME between the famous battle of Marathon, 
 and the celebrated retreat of the ten thousand Greeks 
 under Xenophon, say about five hundred years before 
 the angels sang " Glory to God in the highest, and on 
 earth peace, good will toward men," the great king 
 Ahasuerus sat on his throne, in the royal city of Susa, 
 and made a feast to all his princes and servants. But 
 so uncertain is human fame so evanescent all earthly 
 glory, that it is difficult to know who this same great 
 king Ahasuerus was. Almost every Medo-Persian king, 
 from Cyaxeres I down to Ochus, or Artaxerxes III, 
 has, in turn, been identified by some interpreter of an 
 cient records as the Ahasuerus of Esther. Some of 
 the uncertainties that surround us, in Persian history, 
 may be anticipated, when we remember the curious fact 
 that, up to this time, I believe, no trace whatever is 
 found of the name of Xerxes in the Persian records. 
 It is probable, as his father reigned sixty years, that 
 
80 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 the period of his government has been confounded with 
 that of his father, Gustasp. If so, it is a remarkable 
 instance of the uncertainty of enduring fame. If a 
 monarch, that led such armies as Xerxes did, has failed 
 to perpetuate his name in the history of his own country, 
 who can expect to live in the memory of mankind ? 
 If it be correct that Gustasp was his father, and that 
 his reign is merged into his, then his name, in the Per 
 sian annals, is not Xerxes, but Isfunder, the father of 
 Artaxerxes Longimanus. Perhaps all agree that the 
 name Aliasucrus of the Hebrews and Romans is the same 
 as the Artaxerxes of the Greeks, and the Ardslieer of the 
 Persians. Ardsheer, or ArdasJiir, signifies, according 
 to some, "the lion of the camp" Sir John Malcolm 
 says, "the Prince of the earth;" and Grotefend says, 
 "the great warrior." The whole name, in Persian, is 
 the long-handed Ardsheer, which corresponds exactly 
 to Artaxerxes Longimanus, that is, Artaxerxes Long- 
 arms his arms are said to have been so long, that 
 when he stood upright, like Rob Roy,- the ends of his 
 fingers reached below his knees. It was at the court of 
 this long-armed prince that the famous Themistocles 
 found refuse as an exile, and where he is said to have 
 
 o / 
 
 learned the Persian language in one year. Thucy. lib. 
 l: 138. If this is correct, it is a proof that the 
 Greek and Persian languages were much alike, which 
 is as we should expect, if they are descendants from 
 one common mother, the Sanskrit, as our best scholars 
 tell us. See Vaux., p. 116. 
 
 Some say, this Ahasuerus was Xerxes the Great, the 
 terror of Greece so Jahn, Scaliger and others. The 
 learned Scaliger identifies as proof of this, Xerxes queen 
 
WHO WAS AHASTJERUS? 81 
 
 Hamestris with Esther. But how can this be, when 
 Xerxes had a son by Hamestris that was marriageable 
 in the seventh year of his reign ? And the similarity 
 urged between the names is more than counter-balanced 
 by the striking dissimilarity of their characters. Queen 
 Hamestris was as much unlike Queen Esther as the 
 name Xerxes was like the name Artaxerxes. 
 
 Usher says, Ahasuerus was Darius Hystaspes, and 
 that Atossa, his wife, was Vashti, and Artystona was 
 Esther. Now, if Herodotus is correct, and all the 
 Archbishop s reliance is upon the Greek writers of 
 Alexander s age, and following, this Artystona was a 
 daughter of Cyrus, and could not therefore have been 
 Esther. And again, Atossa bore several daughters 
 and four sons to Darius, after he was king ; but, ac 
 cording to the Bible, Vashti was divorced in the third 
 year of the king s reign. She could hardly, therefore, 
 have been the mother of four sons and several daughters 
 .in three years; and, moreover, Atossa retained her in 
 fluence over the king to his death, and gained the 
 crown for her son, Xerxes. Atossa then could not 
 have been Yashti, nor Darius Hystaspes, Ahasuerus. 
 No doubt the difficulty of fixing the identity of Aha 
 suerus has been enhanced from the fact that the same 
 name has been given to two other Persian kings in the 
 Bible to Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, in Ezra iv.: 6; 
 and to Astyages, king of the Medes, and father of 
 Cyaxares, Dan. ix.: 1, neither of whom can be identi 
 cal with the Ahasuerus of Esther. Dr. Kitto properly 
 concludes that the real alternative is between Xerxes 
 the Great and Artaxerxes Longimanus; but, it seems to 
 me, the reasons which he assigns in favor of Xerxes 
 
 4B 
 
82 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 are not at all satisfactory. See his Cyclo. Bib. Lit. 
 The extent of the king s dominions, and the luxurious 
 habits of the court, and the condition of the He 
 brews, and the favor shown to them, apply equally 
 well to either of the Persian monarchs named, so that 
 no decisive proof can be had to this point from the in 
 ternal evidences of the book of Esther. If anything 
 can be gathered from the history of Esther at all, bear 
 ing on this point, it is in favor of Artaxerxes Lon- 
 gimanus, whose favor toward the Hebrews we may 
 conclude was owing to the influence of Mordccai and 
 Esther. 
 
 Josephus, and the apochryphal books, and the Sep- 
 tuagint, and, I believe, the learned generally, have 
 agreed that this Aliasucrus was Artaxerxes Longima- 
 nus, son and successor of Xerxes. So Drs. Prideaux, 
 Hales, Gray and many others. The reasons, briefly, 
 in favor of this opinion, are : 
 
 1. The high authority of Josephus and of the au 
 thors who hold this opinion. 
 
 2. Though, as I have stated before, Persian chro 
 nology is but little more than a mass of confusion, if 
 not of contradictions, still, as far as we can understand 
 it from contemporary records, the time of Artaxerxes 
 Longimanus is more fully in harmony with the events 
 recorded in our history than of any other Persian king. 
 
 3. There are, it seems to me, insuperable difficulties 
 in receiving the Xerxes of the Greeks as the husband 
 of Esther, or of admitting any other Persian king 
 than Artaxerxes Longimanus, as the Ahasuerus of the 
 Bible. And yet I believe the tendency of scholars, 
 
VASTNESS OF THE EMPIRE. 83 
 
 at the present moment, is to make Xerxes the Great the 
 Ahasuerus of the Megilloth Esther. The argument 
 for Xerxes, from the reading of the name by Grote- 
 fend and Champollion, is, however, more than counter 
 balanced by the readings of E-awlinson and the inves 
 tigations of Malcolm, which, so far as they seem to 
 throw any light on the subject, are in favor of Artax- 
 erxes Longiinanus. It will be remembered, in this 
 connection, also, that Ahasuerus, like Cassar, Pharaoh, 
 Louis or George, was common to several kings, and 
 may be regarded as a title rather than a name. 
 
 Ahasuerus reigned from India even unto Ethiopia. 
 So varied was the climate of Persia, and so extensive 
 its limits, that the younger Cyrus was correct, though 
 a little boastful, in saying to Xenophon : " My father s 
 kingdom is so large that people perish with cold at one 
 extremity, while they are suffocated with heat at the 
 other/ The great extent of the dominions of the 
 Persian kings may be learned from the great numbers 
 and the great diversities of national costumes found in 
 their armies. Herodotus says that, in their infantry 
 and cavalry and marine were no less than fifty-six dif 
 ferent nations. The empire was the largest under Ar- 
 taxerxes Longiinanus, the Ahasuerus of the text. It 
 was greater than that of Assyria, Chaldea, and greater 
 than the Median. It extended as far west as Greece; 
 north to the Euxine and Caspian, and south to the in 
 terior of Africa. Literallly " from India even unto 
 Ethiopia." Xenophon s account of the extent of the 
 Persian empire confirms the text in a striking manner. 
 The terms of boundary are almost identical. He says, 
 the great and glorious kingdom of Cyrus was bounded 
 
84 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 by the Red Sea, and on the south by Ethiopia, and 
 on the north by the Euxine, and on the west by Cy 
 prus and Egypt. Cyrop. lib. viii. The time had 
 been when the Cilicians, Egyptians, Phenicians, Sy 
 rians and the forefathers of the Persians themselves 
 had all been subjects of Nineveh, but long before the 
 return of the Hebrews from Babylon, Nineveh had 
 fallen, and Assyria and Media, as separate kingdoms, 
 had ceased to exist, and the Persian empire was su 
 preme, from the Indus to the Hellespont, and over all 
 Arabia and Egypt, to the heart of Africa. In the 
 days of Daniel, we find Cyrus and Darius reigning over 
 one hundred and twenty provinces j but it were an 
 easy thing for the successor of Xerxes to add seven 
 more, which would make the number of king Ahasue- 
 rus. The Russian empire, in our day, consists of fifty- 
 four governments, but these governments cover an area 
 much more extensive than the one hundred and twenty- 
 seven provinces of Persia. And who can tell how 
 many provinces Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, reigns 
 over? 
 
 And now that we are " acquaint 77 with the king and 
 know something of his empire, let us look at his capital 
 and palace. Shushan the palace, according to the Sep- 
 tuagint, means Shushan the city. This is the Hebrew 
 also, and is no doubt correct, for it was the city that 
 was called Shushan, and not the palace. The three 
 great capitals of ancient Persia were Ecbatana, Baby 
 lon and Susa. It is believed that Susa is the same as 
 Shushan, and that the Shus, or Sinister of our day, 
 represents the Susa of the text. The name, according 
 to some, is Pehlvi, signifying " delightful/ and was 
 
THE CITY OF SUSA. 85 
 
 given to the city because of its exceeding pleasantness 
 of situation and climate. Others say the name Susa 
 signifies "Lily," and that the city was so called, on 
 account of the great profusion of this beautiful flower, 
 that clothes the surrounding plains, interspersed with 
 a great variety also of sweet scented plants. Strabo is 
 extravagant in his descriptions of the beauty of this 
 city a city which he says is " most worthy to foe 
 praised." He says also that the plains around were so 
 fertile that they produced "two hundred fold." Aris 
 totle also refers to Susa as " a most wonderful city," . 
 and says, " its palace shines with gold, amber and 
 ivory." It was the favorite residence of Cyrus, and 
 believed to have been preferred to Babylon by all the 
 Persian kings. Its gardens and surrounding plains 
 were once filled with oleanders, pomegranates, dates, 
 lemons, oranges, or covered with " golden seas of corn," 
 while the distant view was bounded by snow-clad moun 
 tains, somewhere amongst which the remains of Noah s 
 ark are buried. A thick forest of tamarisk, poplar and 
 acacia, skirt the plain around the ruins, which are a 
 cover for lions, wolves, foxes, boars, porcupines, jack 
 als, lizards, serpents, francolins and partridges. Mr. 
 Loftus chapter on Susa is well worth the attention of 
 all Biblical readers. See pages 335-348. 
 
 The early history of Susa is almost unknown to us, 
 but it must have had a beginning, though that beginning 
 is lost in the dim shadows of the past. From the early 
 history of Abraham we have learned that Elani was a 
 kingdom in his day, and it is almost certain that the 
 kingdom of Chedorlaomer was founded by Elam the 
 son of Shem; and from Ezra iv.: 9, we see that the 
 
86 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Elamites were a dependency of Persia; and Daniel 
 tells us, viii : 2, that Shushan was the palace city, and 
 that it was in the province of Elam. From all of 
 which we conclude that the Elam of the Bible, the 
 Elymais of the Greeks and Romans, and Susiana, are 
 one and the same. Some make Susa identical with 
 Cush. Herodotus does indeed tell us that Susa was 
 built by that Ethiopian Memnon, who assisted king 
 Priam in defending Troy, and that at one time the city 
 was called Memnonia, after its founder. Persian an 
 nalists say it was founded by Hoshung, the grandson of 
 Kaiomurs, a king of the early Pischdadian dynasty. I 
 know not how to reconcile these discrepancies. I can 
 not tell which is the true account. They are hardly 
 however all correct. But they serve to prove its early 
 antiquity and greatness. Its magnificence is also to be 
 inferred from its representation upon the embroidered 
 pallium, or shawl of Alcisthenes of Sybaris, described 
 in Aristotle s Memorabilia, See Loftus, p. 336. 
 
 Herodotus distinguishes the Eastern Ethiopians of 
 Asia from the Western Ethiopians of Africa, by the 
 straight hair of the former and the curly hair of the 
 latter. Herod., Book vii : 69, 70. And in the Odys 
 sey, Homer speaks of a divided race of men some at 
 the extreme west, and others at the extreme east. 
 i: 22. From this and other testimony it is concluded 
 that the Eastern Ethiopians of Herodotus and the Chal 
 deans of the Bible are one and the same, and that the 
 seat of the empire of the Memnon who aided Priam 
 against the Greeks at the siege of Troy was Susa, which 
 after him was called Memnonium. This Memnon is 
 styled an Ethiopian. The recent readings of the prirni- 
 
SCRIPTURES CONFIRMED. 87 
 
 tive cuneiform inscriptions of Susa and Mugeyer render 
 it probable that the Chaldeans were a colony from 
 Egypt. The same ideas of astronomy that were held 
 by the Egyptians prevailed in ancient Babylonia. 
 
 Rawlinson also explains another matter relating to 
 Belshazzar, which is of great importance. According 
 to the Bible, this king promised Daniel that he should 
 be made "third ruler in the kingdom/ if he should 
 succeed in interpreting the hand-writing. Why was 
 he not made next to the king as Joseph was in Egypt? 
 For the very good reason that Nabonidus and Belshazzar 
 reigned jointly, and as there were two on the throne, 
 if Daniel is raised to it, he would emphatically be "the 
 third ruler in the kingdom/ Truly there is no device 
 nor knowledge against the Lord. His blessed word is a 
 tried word, but precious and abiding. It never fails. 
 To explain some difficulties that have been raised about 
 the Shushan of Esther, and Daniel "in the palace which 
 is in the province of Elarn," it has been said there 
 must have been two cities of this name in the province 
 of Susiana, the one the Shushan of the Bible, in 
 the mountains of Bakhtizari; the other, the Susa of 
 the Greeks; and that it was to distinguish the one from 
 the other that Daniel says " Shushan the palace." But 
 this explanation is not necessary, and is not sustained 
 by history. Josephus corroborates the Bible account. 
 He states that Daniel built a famous castle at Susa, 
 which was in a fine state of preservation in his own 
 time. 
 
 We know that a palace has been discovered at Nine 
 veh, in which are found a series of sculptures recording u 
 the conquest of Susiana, which, as artistic productions, 
 
88 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 are pronounced the chef-d ce.uvrcs of all Assyrian sculp 
 ture. No other Persian city was equal to Susa for 
 beauty of situation and salubrity of climate. It vied 
 with Babylon in riches, and in the grandeur of its walls, 
 temples, gardens, and state buildings. It was from 
 this city Xerxes set out on his ill-fated expedition against 
 Greece, and it was here he deposited the treasures he 
 took from the City of Athens and from the temple of 
 Delphi. It was here the vast treasures of Persia were 
 kept. Alexander the Great found here fifty thousand 
 talents of gold, probably equal to two hundred and 
 seventy millions of pounds sterling, besides a large 
 number of vessels of gold and silver, and jewels of very 
 great value. 
 
 According to Arrian s expedition of Alexander, 
 in. 16, there was a very strong citadel in Susa, and it 
 once stood a terrible siege. Under the Sassanian kings 
 Susa appears as a considerable city. In the third cen 
 tury it was a Christian See. Under its walls was 
 fought a great battle by the Persians under Horinuzan? 
 against the Moslem hosts, but from that day, it seems 
 to have been lost from history. There is no reason to 
 doubt, however, but that it has been identified. An 
 account of the ruins at the present day, and of the evi 
 dences of its magnificent structures, columns, palaces, 
 and gardens, is to be seen at length in Loftus, and the 
 reports of the Royal Asiatic Society. Recent excava 
 tions at Susa, show that the pavement of the palace 
 was formed of red, and blue, and white, and black mar 
 ble, arranged in gorgeous Arabesque patterns of the 
 different parts of the animals that Daniel saw in his vi 
 sions, on the banks of the river Ulai, when this em- 
 
THE RUINS OF SUSA. 89 
 
 pire was in in its glory, and according to the history in 
 our text. It may be remembered also that among the 
 sacred emblems found here is the cross just as we find 
 it among the Egyptians, more than a thousand years 
 before Christ was born. The ruins of Susa cover some 
 twelve miles square, extending almost to the bank of 
 the Kerkhad, supposed to be the ancient Choaspes. The 
 mounds are like those of Babylon, huge hillocks of earth 
 and rubbish, broken bricks, and colored tiles. The lar 
 gest one, according to our best authors, is one mile in 
 circumference, and one hundred feet high. Near to it 
 is another almost as large. The people of the country 
 call them the palace and the castle. They are like 
 the pyramids of ruins covering the site of Babylon, 
 and believed to have been built of clay and tiles, and 
 layers of brick and morter. Blocks of marble covered 
 with sculptures, are often found by the Arabs, who 
 search among the ruins for treasure; which they think 
 is hidden there. They believe that it is in hopes of find 
 ing treasure that Europeans are so fond of digging up 
 their old ruins. Major Rawlinson says he has identified 
 the port and citadel of this ancient city. He states that 
 the great mound is 165 feet high, and 1100 yards round 
 the base, and 850 yards round the summit; and that 
 on the summit there is a slab with thirty-three lines 
 written in the cuneiform or arrow-headed character, 
 and three Babylonian sepulchral urns are found embed 
 ded in the soil. He also says he finds there floorings 
 of brickwork, and broken pottery, glazed tiles and kiln- 
 burnt bricks. Large figures in the palace ruins are also 
 found, resembling in every particular those lately dis 
 covered in the pavements of Egypt and Assyria. At 
 
90 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 the foot of the highest pyramid is the tomb of Daniel. 
 Though the small building that now covers the spot is 
 modern, there is no improbability but it marks the last 
 resting place of the prophet. 
 
 It is true there is a contradiction in some of the 
 copies of Josephus about the tomb of Daniel. In some 
 his burying-place is made "Ecbatana in Media," but 
 Jerome, professing to copy from Josephus, places it in 
 "Susa in Persia." This proves that in his day his 
 copy of Josephas had this reading, and we believe this 
 to be the true one. For it appears from our best 
 authorities that Daniel was governor of the province of 
 Susiana under the king of Babylon; and we know he 
 was highly honored by him, and that he "did the king s 
 business at Shushan the palace." And Josephus says 
 that the house which Daniel built for himself at Susa 
 remained "in freshness and undiminished beauty at the 
 time he wrote."* 
 
 But the glory of Susa its beauty and wealth, its 
 palaces and temples, are now mouldering masses. It is 
 no uncommon thing for the traveler who visits the ruins 
 of this once populous, powerful and "delightful city" 
 to have to seek shelter at night from lions, hyenas and 
 other beasts of prey, that now have their dwelling in 
 the marble halls that were once radiant with the beauty 
 of Persia, within the walls of the Mohammed Mosque 
 Tomb of Daniel. 
 
 The intelligent and pious traveler will find his great 
 est interest in these ruins to arise from the fact, that 
 they mark the site of the great city that was once the 
 scene of a most deeply interesting series of events that 
 
 * See Prideaux s Connexion, and Work of Sir R. R. Porter. 
 
REFLECTIONS AT SUSA. 91 
 
 closely concerned the Church of God, and are still a 
 proof of how he watched over his people and protected 
 them in ancient times from destruction, though in cap 
 tivity for their sins. Nor will he fail to ask himself, 
 how are the mighty fallen ! Kings and princes, proud 
 oppressors and tyrants, may quaff the tears of their sub- , 
 jects and make music of their groans, and build thrones 
 of human skulls, but they cannot be sure of their names 
 enduring forever on earth, and much less may they ex 
 pect to find favor for such things with the King of 
 Kings. Only the pure in heart shall see God. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE FEAST AND THE DIVORCE. 
 
 " The king was on his throne. 
 
 The Satraps throng d the hall, 
 A thousand bright lamps shone 
 O er that high festival !" 
 
 " I am a slave, a favor d slave at best, 
 To share his splendor, and seem very blest ; 
 When wearier of these fleeting charms and me, 
 There yawns the sack, and yonder rolls the sea. 
 What! am I then a toy for dotard s play, 
 To wear but till the gilding frets away ?" 
 
 Byron. 
 
 WE are now to attend a royal feast at the Palace of 
 Aliasuerus in Susa. The Greek authors all agree that 
 the Persians were remarkable for luxury and magnifi 
 cence in their palaces and at their entertainments. 
 Their resources were gathered by commerce from 
 Greece and Spain, and the Islands of the Mediterranean. 
 A trade had long existed between Tyre, Sidon and Pal 
 myra, by caravans with Africa and Persia. They 
 abounded in ebony, ivory, cotton, linen, wool, gold, 
 spices and slaves. The Persians in the days of Esther 
 
94 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 were masters of all the wealth and trade that remained 
 of the cities and empires that had existed before them, 
 from India to Ethiopia. They used the cotton cloths 
 of the Indus, the lion hides and leopard skins of Africa^ 
 the camels of the Arabs, and the chariots of the Liby 
 ans, Babylonians and Egyptians. Every traveler who 
 visits the ruins of the early periods of the Persians, is 
 struck with amazement at the grandeur, and size and 
 magnificence of their royal residences. Heeren has a 
 diagram of the sculptures that represent the festival 
 hall, reception hall, and audience chamber, the king s 
 house, queen s apartments, sanctuary and banqueting 
 room of the kings of Persia. Imagination cannot pic 
 ture a sight more imposing than the vast forest of the 
 solitary, mutilated gigantic pillars, colonnades and obe 
 lisks of Karnak, and such, or but little, if at all infe 
 rior, was the style of the buildings of the Persian capi 
 tals. The royal garden pavilion at Ispahan, with its 
 numerous columns and rich embroideries and hangings, 
 may possibly give some idea of the garden of the Icing s 
 palace at Susa. History records that on several occa 
 sions Persian kings have feasted as many as five thou 
 sand men at once, and at an expense of two hundred 
 talents. So onerous was the expense of providing for 
 Xerxes table, that Herodotus relates that a poet of Ab- 
 dera called upon the people to offer sacrifices with 
 thanksgiving to the gods, that it was not the custom of 
 Xerxes to take two meals in one day, for his dinner was 
 as much as they could possibly provide for, and if he 
 had taken a notion to have supper too, they would all 
 have been utterly ruined. Lib. vii. It is in evidence 
 then that the Persians were in possession of every thing 
 
PERSIAN POMP AND LUXURY. 95 
 
 required for such feasting and display as are described 
 in our text. They had all sorts of musical instruments, 
 and glass vessels, both cut and ground, mirrors, em 
 broidery and tapestry of many kinds, and Herrnione 
 purple, and were acquainted with the use of iron and 
 bronze, and had gold and silver and jewels in great 
 abundance. Oriental luxury is proverbial, but espe 
 cially that of the Persian kings. No eastern monarchs 
 have ever surpassed, perhaps none have equalled them 
 in show or grandeur, or pompous titles. "The great 
 king," or the "king of kings/ and divine honors 
 were their recognized titles and dues. The well re 
 membered line of Horace, 
 
 " Persicos odi, puer, apparatus." 
 
 " I tell thee boy, that I detest 
 The grandeur of a Persian feast," 
 
 well expresses the common feeling in his day in regard 
 to Persian luxury and pride. 
 
 Dr. Russel, in his history of Aleppo, gives an elabo 
 rate description of an Eastern house and pavilion, 
 which, in every particular, justifies the whole descrip 
 tion of Ahasuerus palace, as given in the Bible. Sir 
 John Chardin also describes ruins at Persepolis in 
 which were pillars, columns, and apartments, like those 
 of the king s house at Susa. It is common, in the 
 East, to extend a covering of canvass lined with calico, 
 or striped silk, over the court yard where a feast is 
 given, to keep off the sun. Such a custom, at enter 
 tainments, is often seen in Birinah, and in Calcutta. 
 Indeed we have seen substantially the same thing at Se- 
 bastopol fetes, Fourth of July celebrations, and even at 
 
96 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 cainp meetings. And in the Colisseum, or Flavian 
 Amphitheater at Eome, one may see, to this day, the 
 marks on the walls of the masts, or scaffolds, which 
 were erected when that area was covered with an awn 
 ing, as it was when their shows were exhibited to the 
 people. 
 
 The precise occasion of Ahasuerus feast is not stated. 
 The Chaldee Targuni says it was in commemoration of 
 the suppression of a most dangerous rebellion. Others 
 think that it was in honor of his having triumphed 
 over his competitors for the throne Artabanes and the 
 Bactrians or that it was in honor of his having qui 
 eted the disturbances that grew out of his father s as 
 sassination. Some think that it was intended to cele 
 brate his victories in Egypt and Asia Minor. And 
 others, to commemorate the dedication of Susa as one 
 of the royal capitals. Whatever it was designed to 
 commemorate, it was a proclamation that he was the 
 absolute possessor of the vast Persian empire, and that 
 he was at peace with all the world. And while it was 
 commemorative of glorious achievements, it would 
 serve also to animate his soldiers, gratify his officers and 
 allied princes, and prepare them for future exploits. 
 Men are but little more than children all their lives. 
 If they are not engaged in war, they must nave fetes 
 and feasts. It is on this principle that fairs, fire com 
 panies and the like, besides their intrinsic utility, are 
 of great use in working off surplus excitement, and so 
 preventing social or civil disturbances. The French 
 Emperor understands this subject well, and so did old 
 Ahasuerus. Accordingly he made a feast worthy of 
 himself, and of his empire. It was an extraordinary 
 
THE GREAT FEAST. 97 
 
 display of his wealth before his nobility and the princes 
 of all the conquered provinces pomp so extraordinary 
 had never before been seen in the world such rich 
 canopies, gorgeous curtains, tall columns, and rich 
 stuffs suspended in festoons, golden couches, tcsselated 
 floors, beds of gold and silver, overlaid or studded with 
 gold and silver divans such only as Orientals can 
 make a feast and a display compared with which all 
 other feasts and pomps seem nothing better than fam 
 ine and poverty. There was a whole world of food 
 meats and drinks and that for half of the year for 
 guests from far and near from a hundred and twenty- 
 seven provinces. It has been usual, in all ages, to 
 celebrate victories and the accession of a new sovereign 
 to the throne by acts of clemency and feasting. In 
 China it is the custom to have three years of mourning 
 on the death of an emperor, during which no public 
 feasts can be held; but, at the expiration of this pe 
 riod, the succeeding monarch gives an inauguration 
 festival of very great magnificence. 
 
 The feast of Ahasuerus was not like that of Bel- 
 shazzer, Dan. v, to profane the sacred vessels, nor 
 defy the God of the Hebrews, nor was it murderous 
 like Herod s, nor like Mehemct Ali s feast of death to 
 the Mamelukes. Nor was there any compulsory drink 
 ing, nor mixed dancing. The waltz was never known 
 at a Persian court, nor would it be tolerated for a mo 
 ment in any Oriental palace. And the drinking was 
 according to law; and none did conpel : for so the 
 king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that 
 they should do according to every man s pleasure. 
 There was genuine politeness at the king s feast in re- 
 5 
 
98 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 gard to drinking. It was according to law. It was a 
 Greek custom to compel every guest to keep the round 
 or leave the company. The rule was drink or be gone, 
 and surely the latter was far the safest and best. The 
 Romans made some advance toward the politeness of 
 the Persians in choosing a ruler of the feast. He was 
 chosen by the casting of a dice, and called the arbiter 
 bibendi, and his regulations were supreme. It was his 
 duty to suit each guest with the wine he preferred, and 
 to mingle water with the drink of a guest who was 
 about to become too much excited. See Hor. Sat. lib. 
 ii, and Latin poets. In health, man s best drink is a 
 little water. But if advanced in life, or afflicted with 
 oft infirmities and a weak stomach, like Timothy s, or 
 if from the pressure of good society, wine as used, then 
 true politeness, as well as morality and religion, forbids 
 the absurd practice of urging people to drink, or to eat, 
 what is not agreeable to them, or more than is to their 
 taste. It is cruelty it is diabolical to over persuade 
 or allure a friend especially a youth, into any excess, 
 either of eating or drinking. We must be temperate 
 ourselves, in all things, and do all we can to make 
 others so also. 
 
 The length of this feast is not incredible. We have 
 parallels. In modern times, we read of feasts in Persia 
 continuing one hundred and eighty days. We read also 
 of a Chinese Emperor, who frequently gave feasts that 
 continued one hundred and twenty days. The apoc 
 ryphal Judith says that Nabuchadnosor kept a feast at 
 Nineveh for a hundred and twenty days, in honor of 
 his victory over Arphaxed. And, according to Athe- 
 naus, lib. iv: 13, Deip. Ariamnes undertook to feast 
 
WOMEN IN THE EAST. 99 
 
 the whole Gaulish nation for a year, and did actually 
 succeed in supplying them during a whole year with 
 tents, meat and wine. The feast of king Ahasuerus 
 was a double one. First, to the princes and nobles, for 
 one hundred and eighty days, and when these days 
 lucre expired, the Icing made a feast unto all the 
 people that were present in Shushan, loth great and 
 small, seven days. And also Vashti, the queen, made 
 a feast for the women, in the royal house which be 
 longed to king Ahasuerus. There is no difficulty in 
 our story, growing out of the polygamy and exclu- 
 siveness of the harem of eastern princes. For, though 
 they had several wives, they had only one queen. 
 The patriarchs and Hebrew kings had several seconda 
 ry wives concubines, who were really their wives 
 but only the children of one, the first wife, could in 
 herit the birthright or the crown. David and Solomon 
 had but one queen. The Sultan of Turkey may have 
 ninety wives, but there can be but one Sultana. Nor 
 is there any want of proof that ancient oriental queens 
 were crowned, as Vashti and Esther were. The wife 
 of Mithridates was strangled with her own diadem, 
 which was fastened with white and purple bands 
 around the head. But this was by no means the last 
 time that a crown cost a head. They are always dan 
 gerous, but they were especially so to English queens, 
 in the days of Henri/ the Eighth. Observe, also, that, 
 according to oriental custom, Yashti feasts with her 
 women in the female apartments, while the king feasts 
 in the court of the royal gardens. Women did not 
 mingle with the men in public as with us, except on 
 some special occasions. The king held his feast in the 
 
 5A 
 
100 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 court of the gardens, because no room was large enough, 
 and because) in that climate, it was more pleasant. 
 The Orientals are fond of gardens, and of feasting out 
 of doors. " The sweet waters" of Asia and of Europe 
 are favorite resorts for the ladies of Constantinople. 
 These are public gardens, chiefly used for walking, 
 smoking and eating. The ladies monopolize them, un 
 der the guardianship of eunuchs. Open courts are 
 common in eastern houses. Such courts were often 
 paved with colored marbles or painted tiles, and hence 
 our Mosaic, that is, Musive work, for I believe it is ad 
 mitted the Hornans borrowed it from the Greeks, and 
 the Greeks from the Asiatics ; and if the Romans got 
 it from the Etruscans and Latins, they learned it from 
 the Egyptians. 
 
 To what extent the king s brain became wild with 
 " wine and wassail," as the flashing goblet circulated, 
 is not apparent. He was, however, seized with the 
 desire to have the queen before him, with the crown 
 royal all in her jewelled robes and with her diadem on, 
 to sliow the people and the princes her beauty, for she 
 was fair to look on. No doubt he considered her the 
 greatest treasure of his kingdom. He seemed to have 
 designed to shut up the feast by the dazzling sight of 
 the queen, arrayed in all her sparkling robes, so that 
 his princely guests might go away, saying, King Ahas- 
 uerus is richer in the beauty and loveliness of his 
 queen than in all the treasures of his one hundred and 
 twenty and seven provinces. We have an instance 
 from Herodotus that explains, in some measure, the 
 king s command to bring in the queen. He tells us 
 that, when seven Persians were sent to Amytas, a Gre- 
 
101 
 
 cian prince, and being hospitably entertained by him, 
 as the Persians began to drink, they said to him : 
 " Prince of Macedonia, it is a custom with us Persians, 
 whenever we have a public entertainment, to introduce 
 our concubines and young wives. " 
 
 The Targum s rendering, that the king commanded 
 to bring the queen into his presence, naked, is not at 
 all probable, and seems to me to be positively contra 
 dicted by the text to bring the queen before the king, 
 with the crown royal. 
 
 But when the seven chamberlains that served in the 
 presence of the king brought his command to the queen, 
 did she appear before him ? Astonishing ! The queen 
 Vashti refused to come at the Jcing s commandment by 
 his chamberlains. How can she justify herself for such 
 disobedience? Perhaps she thought within herself, 
 for more than six months the king has been carrying 
 on this revelry, and I and my women have had our 
 feasting among ourselves in our apartments. I am sure 
 if the king were at himself, he would not have sent me 
 such a commandment. It will not really honor him to 
 gratify this foolish humor of his; and when he comes 
 to sober reflection he will thank me for saving him from 
 the disgrace of having made such an exhibition of me. 
 It is not the king, but the wine that is in him, that sent 
 the chamberlains to me with this extraordinary mes 
 sage. And as the wit is out when the wine is in, so 
 also I fear all prudence is lost. There is no knowing 
 what excesses are going on in the royal gardens what 
 insults may be offered to me. The king s commandment 
 is unusual, unsafe, needless and immodest. I will not 
 go/ Well, proud queen, we are astonished at your re- 
 
102 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 fusal. We sympathise with your modest and virtuous 
 reflections, but we cannot approve of your disobedience. 
 The king has not transcended his lawful power in send 
 ing for you. It is according to the laws and constitu 
 tion of the empire. Nor has he commanded you to sin 
 against your conscience as to any religious scruples. 
 And have you well considered also that the wrath of a 
 king is terrible especially of a royal despotic husband ? 
 Do you remember that the blood once inflamed by strong 
 drink is easily made to boil with rage, even toward 
 those that were most tenderly loved but a few moments 
 before? Do you think how you are mortifying his 
 pride eclipsing all his glory in the presence of all 
 the princes and people of his vast empire? Do you 
 suppose, however much he loves you, that he can allow 
 himself to receive such a slight, at such a time and be 
 fore such a company, from a woman, even if she is his 
 queen? You cannot suppose for a moment that the 
 son of Xerxes and sovereign of such an empire can 
 allow his nobles and guests to retire from such a feast, 
 saying, "How poor and miserable a man is this great 
 Ahasuerus. He may govern one hundred and seven 
 and twenty provinces, but he cannot govern one woman. 
 He rules an empire from India to Ethiopia, but he can 
 not rule his own bed-chamber/ 
 
 I do not know queen Vashti s motives I am not 
 able to fathom her disposition. She was beautiful, and 
 she was a queen* It is not at all strange, therefore, 
 that she had a will of her own. The fair sex are seldom 
 wanting in that. But I do not find any justification of 
 
 * Vushti is a Persian name, and signifies a beautiful woman; and the word 
 translated ladies, in this history, is Saroth, our Sarah, and means princesses 
 
VASHTI NOT EXCUSED. 103 
 
 her disobedience, unless the king had commanded her 
 to do something that was contrary to law, and was con 
 trary to her sense of duty to Grod. But the records do 
 not favor any such idea. We admire the queen s 
 courage and modesty, for though beautiful she was not 
 vain or bold; for if she had been she would not have 
 lost such an opportunity of displaying her charms. And 
 she must have been a woman also of great physical and 
 moral courage, or she would not have given up so much 
 grandeur, and incurred the risk of losing her head as 
 well as her crown ; for she could not have been ignorant 
 of what would probably be the result of her refusal, 
 and the wonder is that the royal counsellors were satis 
 fied with taking away her crown. Her conduct could 
 scarcely have been construed into anything short of 
 treason, for as a Persian subject, how could she refuse 
 obedience to the king? But I am unwilling to believe 
 that Yashti is such a rara avis in terris that a black 
 swan is not half so rare a bird as many interpreters will 
 have it. For there are many women who would sur 
 render a crown rather than their character, and give 
 up life itself rather than sin against their sense of right 
 and duty. No mere prudery, however, can justify her 
 disobedience. Unless it was a sin to obey, it was a sin 
 for her to disobey. "It is not/ says the pious bishop 
 Hall, "for a good wife to judge of her husband s will, 
 but to execute it; neither to go into a curious inquisi 
 tion, for the reasons of an enjoined charge, much less 
 into a resistance; but in a hood-winked simplicity she 
 must follow whither she is led, (even if it is to Cali 
 fornia,) as one that holds her chief praise to consist in 
 subjection to her own husband. " 
 
104 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Therefore ivas the king very wroth, and his anger 
 burned in him is an oriental phrase for intense anger. 
 It occurs elsewhere in the Bible. But in the midst of 
 his rage he determined to abide by the law, and by the 
 judgment of those who knew the law, and what it became 
 him to do in this emergency, for though possessed of su 
 preme power, he was obliged by custom to consult the 
 first men of the kingdom, which saw his face, and who 
 knew the common law of the empire, and who could cite 
 precedents and tell him how other kings had done in 
 similar cases. And so it was that after consultation with 
 the wise men which knew the times, for so was the king s 
 manner, he made a law in the heat of passion which he 
 would have been glad afterward had it never been made. 
 The wise men, verse 13, were astrologers and magicians, 
 such as were common in Egypt, Babylon, and the East 
 men who professed to be able to foretell future events, 
 and to frame suitable laws for the government of 
 princes and empires, by reading the past and the future 
 from the stars. Vitringa thinks, and no doubt correctly, 
 that these wise men were the historiographers of the 
 empire well versed in ancient history so that they 
 could tell the king what laws and customs had pre 
 vailed, and how kings were wont to do in such per 
 plexing cases. According to Juvenal, Satire vi, the 
 Orientals were so superstitious that they believed what 
 ever came from the mouth of their astrologers issued 
 from the fountain of Ammon. These wise men were 
 his privy council. Consult chap, vi : 13. 1 Chron. xii : 
 32. Isa. iii: 2. Ezra vii: 14. 
 
 And Memucan answered. Orton thinks this young 
 est State counsellor was intensely selfish in his advice 
 
THE CAUDLE DECREE. 105 
 
 to the king that he had more authority in the king s 
 cabinet than he had in his own castle, and that, ac 
 cordingly, he wished to make a great State affair of the 
 queen s disobedience, that he might have a royal edict 
 to deliver himself from domestic tyranny. His opinion 
 seems to me, however, a poor piece of argument. The 
 queen s conduct, in all other respects, seems to have been 
 so dutiful, that no charge could be brought against her 
 but this one act of disobedience ; but from it he drew 
 a general inference, that if the queen s disobedience was 
 not resented, all the Persian ladies would follow her ex 
 ample, and there would be a general domestic insurrec 
 tion throughout the empire. His associates were either 
 so drunk that they did not understand his counsel, or 
 were unable to give one of their own, or were so anxious 
 to make the slavery of their harems still more perfect, 
 that they all assented to it, and the king issued a de 
 cree accordingly. His argument ran from the greater 
 to the less if the queen herself is divorced for one act 
 of disobedience, and loses her crown, much more must 
 all wives of inferior rank submit to their lords. The 
 nobles evidently fanned the flame of the monarch s 
 wrath with a hearty good will. They wished a with 
 ering rebuke a striking example to go from the 
 throne so that all their Mrs. Caudles all their strong- 
 minded wives might, at once, be made to obey implicitly 
 their lordly humors. They persuaded the king that, 
 unless he acted promptly and very decidedly, there 
 would be daily revolutions in every household in his 
 kingdom, and though they prevailed in having the de 
 cree issued, I have no idea they gained anything by it. 
 There were, and there always have been, and, I pre- 
 
 5B 
 
106 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 sume, there always will be till the milleniuni, domestic 
 as well as civil and national revolutions. 
 
 " Let there go, therefore/ said they, " a royal com 
 mandment from the king, and let it be written among the 
 laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be altered not." 
 So wise and so perfect did they esteem themselves, that 
 they held that their laws could never be amended or re 
 pealed. This was ignorance equalled only by presump 
 tion. Stability in laws is, however, a great blessing, for 
 frequent changes are almost as bad as no laws. With 
 us, happily, it is a part of our Constitution and laws that 
 they may be amended or repealed, in a constitutional 
 and peaceful way. But with the Persians, if it was once 
 entered in the records of the empire that Vashti was 
 no longer queen, and that every man should bear rule 
 in his own house, then there was no door open for dis 
 pute or change. In this royal decree against insubor 
 dination and Caudle-lecturing, there is much that is 
 true and much that was tyrannical; but the decree itself 
 was unnecessary and unwise. A modern annotator says, 
 it is one of the most amusing things in all history to look 
 at the king of Persia and his jovial compatriots the 
 sages of the greatest monarchy on earth issuing a de 
 cree, in all the known languages of the day, that every 
 man should bear rule in his own house. Doubtless, 
 when this decree was published, there was an " inex 
 tinguishable burst of shrill merriment through every 
 one of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces/ As 
 far, however, as this decree was proper, it was substanti 
 ally nothing more than a Persian edition of the great 
 Creator s will. The Persian s edict did not add anything 
 to its authority. It originally came from God. It is a 
 
LOVE IS THE LAW. 107 
 
 necessary and proper law. Common sense, from the foun 
 dation of the world, in every nation, even among savage 
 tribes, has taught the necessity and propriety of a man 
 ruling as head of his own household. The unalterable 
 decree of the king of Persia is also the unchangeable law 
 of Heaven. " Let every man love his wife as himself, 
 and the wife see that she reverence her husband. " 
 Eph. v: 33. u Wives submit yourselves unto your own 
 husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands love 
 your wives, and be not bitter against them/ 7 Col. iii : 
 18, 19. 
 
 1. And does not this history teach us, that the great 
 law of domestic happiness is love ? No Persian decrees 
 are required to execute the mandates of love, nor can 
 any royal commandment make a household happy with 
 out it. Woman is man s other self. She is his great 
 est blessing and his chief joy, both in sunshine and in 
 sorrow. Her society is necessary to correct his pride 
 and selfishness, and to refine his manners and elevate 
 his feelings and hopes. A palace as magnificent as that 
 of the Czar without a woman is but a miserable garret, 
 to shiver and freeze in, both as to body and soul. And 
 a log cabin; with a true woman s love, is a palace worth 
 more than that of king Ahasuerus. An English wit, 
 (Jerrold,) says that tea with the flowers and scents of 
 the warm East has exercised so great a social influence 
 upon the masses of the English people, that it is not 
 very easy to say too much in praise of it. It has civ 
 ilized brutish and turbulent homes, saved the drunkard 
 from his doom, and to many a mother given cheerful, 
 peaceful thoughts, in a home that otherwise would have 
 
108 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN. QUEEN. 
 
 been forlorn and wretched. But I fancy that in this 
 rhapsody of the humanising mission of tea, he always 
 included the refining influence of woman. For tea 
 without her delicate hand and inspiring presence, is 
 scarcely better than the miserable weed that rivals it in 
 public favor. It is only when woman a lovely woman/ 
 presides at the urn, surrounded by the olive plants of 
 wedded love, that I can see in the stream of steam rol 
 ling from the kettle the fallen idols of the Pagan bar 
 barism of the East tumbling down, and the beauteous 
 temples of truth, freedom and piety, rising in their 
 stead. 
 
 The true way for all queens to rule is to " stoop to 
 conquer." Let their husbands call themselves as much 
 as they please a the lords of creation/ and let them 
 seem to hold the reins, but it is theirs to tell them how 
 to drive. This is the more excellent way. The dis 
 pute about the sphere of the sexes is as uriphilosophi- 
 cal as it is unscriptural. It is God s will that man 
 should be the head and woman the heart of society. 
 If he is its strength, she is its solace. If he is its 
 wisdom, she is its grace and consolation. And where 
 there is the proper view of marriage, or of the sacred 
 duties that God requires of husband and wife, there is 
 no strife as to who shall govern. Both rule. The word 
 of God is exceedingly plain on this subject. Domestic 
 strife is always a great evil, but it beoomes doubly so 
 when it occurs before company, as happened with the 
 king of Persia, and when professed friends come in and 
 make bad worse. It is then the wound becomes in 
 curable. 
 
 2. Let us learn to guard against all excesses, not only 
 
SIN OF RASHNESS. 109 
 
 in feasting and in the loss of time, but of feeling and 
 passion. How inconsiderate, how rash, how sinful was 
 Herod s oath and terrible decree against John the 
 Baptist! And scarcely less wicked were the king s 
 unjust and cruel proceedings against his wife. And 
 because of unjust and sinful separations between hus 
 bands and wives our land mourneth, and our State has 
 become a hissing and a term of reproach. I know not 
 where to find language to describe the sin and evils of 
 divorce as it prevails in our day. According to law 
 marriage is merely a civil contract, but that does not allow 
 us to forget the sacredncss of the tic that binds husband 
 and wife together, nor has any legislature the right to 
 separate them, except as the word of God allows. The 
 tendency of the age seems to remove all restraint upon 
 marriage, which of course is contrary to good manners 
 and morality, and contrary to the word of God. 
 
 If the king had not taken counsel of his own hot 
 blood, and of his wise men under the influence of wine, 
 he had not brought upon himself a world of trouble. 
 A single word spoken in anger, or an act done under 
 the excitement of the passions, may cause a lifetime of 
 repentence. Constitutions are very differently con 
 structed. Men s educations, temperaments and circum 
 stances differ, but all should act calmly and intelligibly, 
 and with great charity toward their fellow men. It 
 was a maxim with General Jackson to take much time 
 to deliberate to think out the right resolution but 
 when once the resolution was taken, then to think only 
 of executing it. 
 
 3. How emphatic a lesson is here of human vanity! 
 The great monarch of such a vast empire is not able to 
 
110 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 govern himself. And all the grandeur of half a year s 
 feasting is spoiled by the disobedience of his queen. 
 This was the dead fly in his pot of ointment. One 
 hundred and twenty-seven provinces did not satisfy him. 
 The whole earth was not enough for one for whose 
 mortal remains less than two ells have long since been 
 quite sufficient. The pride of displaying the riches of 
 his empire was "a windy happiness" that could not fill 
 his heart. No earthly portion can satisfy the human 
 soul, for it was made in the image of God, and nothing 
 but God in Christ can now make it happy. 
 
 Ahasuerus feast was full and flowing and long, but 
 it had an end, and where now is all its glory ? And 
 how much the better to-day is it with him and his 
 courtiers that they had so long a revelry in the royal 
 gardens ! What does it matter that they had beds of 
 gold and silver, and feasted and laughed, and passed 
 along the jest and the song ! Great was the confluence 
 of peoples at the king s tables, but they are all gathered 
 with a much greater assembly the congregation of the 
 dead, whose sisters are worms, and whose mother is 
 corruption. Happy, and only happy, is he whose sins 
 are forgiven, whose iniquity is pardoned, and who has 
 a part in the resurrection of the just. 
 
 4. Alas ! that so lovely a place as a garden should 
 have been the scene of such revelry and sinning. A 
 garden is associated with some of our holiest and sad 
 dest thoughts. Sin fastened on our race in a garden. 
 It was in a garden the curse was pronounced, and there 
 too the great promise of a Redeemer was given. And 
 it was in a garden the Messiah entered the lists of mor 
 tal combat to bruise the old serpent s head. Our gar- 
 
OUR LOVELY GARDENS. Ill 
 
 dens would that we had many more of them that 
 their beauty and fragrance might lead us to adore the 
 Creator, and to pour forth to Him amid his glorious 
 works the grateful, cheerful homage of the heart. In 
 stead then of making our gardens the scenes of sinful 
 mirth and dissipation, as did the Persian king, let us 
 make them oratories for pious breathings to heaven 
 let them give us thoughts of God and of the love -and 
 sufferings of his Son Jesus Christ. It is to Him we 
 owe all our pleasures in the creatures and gifts of Provi 
 dence, as well as the hope of eternal life. And so also 
 let the garden be a preacher to us of our frailty. Ver 
 ily at our best estate we are altogether vanity. We 
 are like the grass that springs up in the morning, and 
 is cut down and withered in the evening. Our days are 
 few and full of sorrow. Our possessions and enjoy 
 ments here below, are passing away as the tender sigh- 
 ings of the evening breeze that passes over our garden 
 plants. All our gardens of delight are in a vale of 
 tears. let us then send our affections up before hand 
 to heaven, and fix them upon things at Grod s right 
 hand, and so plant them in the Paradise above, that in 
 due season, we may be transplanted ourselves from 
 these low grounds of sorrow to the shores of a blissful 
 immortality. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ESTHER CHOSEN QUEEN. 
 
 " Sar. I speak of woman s love. 
 
 Mjjr. The very first 
 
 Of human life must spring from woman s breast. 
 Your first small words are taught you from her lips, 
 Your first tears quenched by her, and your last sighs 
 Too often breathed out in a woman s hearing, 
 When men have shrunk from the ignoble care 
 Of watching the last hour." 
 
 Byron s Sardanapalus . 
 
 il In youth women are our idols, at a riper age our compan 
 ions, in old age our nurses, and in all ages our friends." 
 
 Lord Bacon. 
 
 WE have learned something of Persia, past and pre 
 sent as it was, has been and now is so far as such 
 brief historical items were thought to be conducive to 
 the proper understanding of the Book of Esther and 
 our better acquaintance with the condition of the He 
 brews at the time of the Advent ; and we have made 
 a visit to Susa, and been introduced to the king Ahas- 
 uerus, and have contemplated his empire and his capi 
 tal the extent, riches and glory of his vast domin 
 ions, and were an invited guest with the princes of his 
 
114 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 one hundred and twenty -seven provinces, from India even 
 unto Ethiopia, at the feast which he gave for one hun 
 dred and four score days, to show " the riches of his 
 glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent majes 
 ty." And then we visited the queen, feasting with 
 her women in the apartments of the royal house that 
 belonged to king Ahasuerus, and we saw how she re 
 ceived the king s command to appear before him " with 
 the crown royal, to show the people and the princes her 
 beauty." We have heard her haughty and firm re 
 fusal, and how the king was very angry, and how his 
 cabinet advised her immediate divorce, and how it was 
 done, and the king and all the sages of Persia and Me 
 dia decreed, by a royal commandment that could not 
 be altered, and how it was written and sent into every 
 province and to every people, after their own language, 
 that every man should bear rule in liis oivn house, and 
 that all ivives throughout all the empire shall give to 
 their husbands honor, both to great and small. 
 
 In these transactions there are some things commend 
 able and some things very much to be blamed. It must 
 have been a terrible mortification to the great king 
 Ahasuerus at such a time, when he was showing his 
 riches and the power of Persia and Media to his princes 
 and servants, to be obliged to submit to such disobe 
 dience in his queen. "Is this the man of a thousand 
 thrones?" What a pity that he who governed millions 
 of men and reigned supreme over so vast an empire 
 could not govern himself! His weakness is seen in his 
 excessive indulgence in wine and in his vanity, and in 
 giving such a command at such a time. As a king 
 and as a husband, it was his honor and his duty to be 
 
115 
 
 a covering of the eyes to his wife, and not an exposer 
 of her modesty. Gen. xx: 16. But in his seeking 
 advice of his wise men there is something commendable. 
 Despot as he was, he desired everything to be done 
 according to law. The king, though excited with wine 
 and exceedingly angry, and all-powerful, would not 
 have anything done contrary to the usages and consti 
 tution of his empire. Absalom s folly is seen in the 
 choice of his counsellors, and Napoleon s greatness of 
 genius is seen in the fact that he could hear all his 
 cabinet had to say, and gather up all the varied informa 
 tion they had to give, and then act independently upon 
 his own judgment and without hesitation. As a general 
 rule, it is true that the greater the power the greater 
 the need of advice lest it be abused, and yet the greater 
 the danger, and the need of true courage to give it. 
 
 Though we have admired the beauty, dignity and 
 courage of queen Vashti, we have not been able to ex 
 cuse her disobedience, as most interpreters have done. 
 The record does not authorize us to find that her obe 
 dience would have been a sin against Grod, and therefore 
 we cannot justify it. Her divorce, however, was hasty, 
 cruel, and contrary to the will of God and to good 
 morals. Nor is it long till the king has leisure to repent 
 of what he had done in wicked haste. When the wrath 
 of the king was appeased he remembered Vashti) and 
 ivhat she had done, and what was decreed against her. 
 And no doubt now he would have been glad to receive 
 her back again as his wife; but his counsellors knew 
 very well if this was done it would cost them their 
 heads; therefore, they said, " Let there be fair young 
 virgins sought for the king, and let the maiden that 
 
116 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti." "And 
 the thing pleased the king, and he did so." Esther 
 ii: 1, 4. 
 
 In the advice here given to the king we recognize 
 the voice of the minister Memucan. You remem 
 ber his plea for divorcing Vashti was that it was neces 
 sary in order that wives should be made to honor their 
 husbands. The object proposed was a good one. 
 Every man s house should be his castle, and every man 
 should be lord of his own castle, and his wife and chil 
 dren should be in subjection to him. Good order in 
 families undoubtedly lies at the foundation of a well 
 regulated state. But husbands should be careful not to 
 give unreasonable commands. They ought not to verge 
 on ground that is in itself sinful to occupy. Nothing 
 is more revolting to a refined mind than family quarrels 
 or domestic bickerings. Domineering on the part of 
 either husband or wife, is contrary to true refinement 
 and to the spirit of Christianity, and to the express 
 words of the apostles. The consequences of such in 
 subordination are well stated by Memucan. " If," says 
 he, " wives despise their husbands, whom they ought 
 to reverence, and contend for dominion over them 
 whom they ought to obey, then there will be nothing 
 but insubordination and strife, and the higher in society 
 the case may be, that is an example, the greater will its 
 influence be." Though this statesman-courtier had a 
 very difficult and dangerous post to fill that of inter 
 fering between a man and his wife, and of helping his 
 Sovereign to forget his sorrow for abusing one queen 
 by taking another, yet he seems to have had courage 
 and skill quite sufficient for his diflicult task. His 
 
MEMUCAN S CRAFTINESS. 117 
 
 advice was highly politic. The plan he proposed, while 
 it would serve to ingratiate himself into the king s 
 favor, by counselling him to follow his own humor in 
 having a wife, it would gratify him also in relieving his 
 grief for the loss of the old queen by the charms of a 
 new one. Courtier-like, he was careful to be on the 
 winning side. His incense was to the rising sun, not 
 to the setting. Mcmucan would have been a fit coun 
 sellor for Henry the Eighth. Josephus, however, thinks 
 well of him, and pronounces him an honest man, and 
 sincerely desirous of promoting the public good by 
 securing the ends of justice, which, as a politician in 
 such a court, was not an easy work. Josephus also says 
 that Ahasuerus was sincerely attached to Vashti, and 
 would most gladly have forgiven this offense, if he 
 could have done so according to law, or consistently 
 with his dignity as the king of so great an empire. 
 And no doubt Memucan seeing this disposition in the 
 king, was the more urgent for immediate measures to 
 get a queen instead of Vashti, for her return to favor 
 would of course imply his ruin. 
 
 The measure proposed to the king for obtaining a 
 queen instead of Yashti, is substantially the same that 
 is used for replenishing the Harem or seraglio, to this 
 day. The most beautiful throughout the land are A 
 bought or selected for the Harem, without regard to ) 
 nationality, or^nj question as to the condition of their ( 
 birth, whether high or low, free or slaves. 
 
 In tlie East the regulation of the harems cf princes 
 and rich men are substantially the same everywhere, 
 and have been but little, if at all changed since the 
 days of Solomon. Even the restriction of the Koran, 
 
118 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 allowing only four wives, has not produced much 
 change, for it places no limit to the number of concu 
 bines or secondary wives. In Solomon s harem there 
 were seven hundred women of high birth <( prin 
 cesses/ and three hundred concubines, making, ex 
 clusive of the female slaves of his establishment, which 
 were no doubt very numerous, one thousand wives of 
 the first and second classes. These wives and their 
 attendants occupied apartments of their own, seldom or 
 never seeing each other. Solomon s establishment then 
 must have been very large. It is no wonder he had 
 need for the gold of Ophir, and for the spices and gums 
 and ivory of the whole world. But even great as his 
 establishment was, we are not altogether without paral 
 lels. It has been stated that the late emperor of China 
 had three thousand women in his seraglio, many of 
 whom it is probable, he never saw. The usual number 
 in the establishment of the great Moguls of India, was 
 reckoned at a thousand. Sultan Selim is said to have 
 had two thousand ; the Sultan Achmed three thousand) 
 and the Persian king Khosroes, who died A. D. 579, 
 according to his historian had twelve thousand females 
 in his harem. Our Bible word concubine, signifies a 
 female occupying a middle condition between wife and 
 slave. She lawfully belonged to her owner, and could 
 claim his protection as a secondary wife, and could not 
 have any other husband, no more than if she were his 
 only wife. Oriental polygamy is altogether a different 
 thing from the free love system of our day, and bad as 
 it is, it is not so corrupting. 
 
 The females of an Oriental seraglio may be divided 
 into three classes : First, The favorites, who, without 
 
THE WOMEN OF THE HAREM. 119 
 
 the legal rights of wives, are considered as such of the 
 first class. If one of these becomes the mother of a 
 son who is acknowledged as the heir to the throne, then 
 this mother (wife) is the sultana, and the sovereign and 
 all his other wives must own her as the queen. This 
 is the case with the Sultan of Constantinople. For it 
 is a part of the state policy of Turkey that the Sultan 
 can never marry, but may keep his harem filled with 
 women who have no political or civil rights. They all 
 enter his seraglio as slaves, and rise only in his favor 
 as they have children or gain influence over him. But 
 there can never be but one sultana at a time, and issue 
 of no other can inherit the throne. The secondary 
 wives, or concubines, are the second class; and the 
 third class are called Odaliks, or as it is in French, 
 Odalisques, which I believe is a Turkish word, signify 
 ing "slaves of the household/ These are the female 
 slaves of the establishment kept for the pleasure of the 
 prince or great man. They ai to wait their time for 
 promotion, and although it may and does not come to 
 most of them, yet it is possible, and does happen to one 
 and another. 
 
 In Persia the Shah marries, and usually contracts 
 such alliances with ladies of high family, for the pur 
 pose of strengthening his hand. It was with this view 
 that the great Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, designed to 
 wed one of her daughters with the son of the terrible 
 Sapor of Persia, that she might the better provide 
 against the growing power and eastern conquests of 
 imperial Rome under Aurelian. It is true, however, 
 that the Persian sovereigns both in ancient and modern 
 times have been restless and dissatisfied with this re- 
 
120 THE HEBREW-PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 straint, and that they have sometimes raised to the 
 highest honors such as have entered their harem as 
 slaves. It has often happened in Persia and other 
 eastern countries that other causes as well as giving 
 birth to an heir to the crown have raised a favorite wife 
 to sovereignty. And perhaps there is not in any his 
 tory a more striking illustration of this, and at the same 
 time one more appropriate to our subject, than Catherine 
 the First of Russia, wife of Peter the Great. She was a 
 Livonian peasant of the humblest origin, and taken 
 prisoner at the sacking of a town in Peter s first war 
 with Sweden, and afterwards became his wife, and for 
 her great services to him and the army on the Pruth, 
 when engaged against the Turks, was crowned with 
 great pomp at Moscow, and succeeded, on the Czar s 
 death, to the throne of all the Russias.* And if this 
 is credible in the history of Ptussia in the sixteenth 
 century, why is not the Book of Esther credible in the 
 history of Persia five hundred years before Christ? 
 
 Now there lived, at this time, in the royal city of Susa, 
 that is, Shushan, a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, of the 
 captivity in Babylon, whose name was Mordecai, and he 
 had an uncle s daughter, whose father and mother were 
 dead, whom he had taken for his own daughter, and 
 brought up with great care and kindness. She was 
 very beautiful was fair of form and good of counte- 
 
 * Catherine was crowned in the Cathedral at Moscow in 1724, by the Arch 
 bishop of Novogorod, with the most imposing ceremonies and pomp. 
 "Teter himself clothed her in the imperial mantle, and placed the crown on 
 her head, and when she would have fallen on her knees he raised her. Thus 
 she who was born in obscurity, and of unknown parents, was now decorated 
 with the ornaments of imperial power as empress, and received such honors 
 as were never before accorded to a wife by the sovereigns of Russia. Her 
 Majesty was so much affected that she sank at the feet of the Emperor, which 
 she would have embraced, but he raised her and reassured her confidence." 
 Fowler s Lives of the Sovereigns of Russia, 1 vol., p. 353. 
 
THE QUEEN S NAME. 121 
 
 nance, as it is literally in the text. Her parents called 
 her Hadassahj that is, a myrtle ; but, when she was 
 introduced at court, the Persians, according to our 
 Greek authors, called her Esther, that is, a star. The 
 second Targum says, this name was given to her from 
 the name of the star Yenus, which, in Greek, is Aster. 
 The fair Simoisius of Homer, whom " great Ajax sent," 
 so tragically, " to the shades of hell," received his 
 name from the river Simois, on whose banks he was 
 born. Numerous instances occur in the Bible, and it 
 was generally if not universally the case, among eastern 
 people, to give names to their children expressive of 
 some remarkable accidents connected with their birth. 
 It is most likely, therefore, as the myrtle, in Persia, is 
 one of the most delicate and beautiful of flowers, that 
 Hadassah s parents considered her exceedingly beauti 
 ful at birth, auid gave her this name because they 
 thought her as beautiful as the myrtle in the land of 
 their captivity. See Iliad iv: 549. 
 
 Now it came to pass, in the collecting of maidens, 
 according to the king s decree, that Hadassah was 
 brought to the king s house, to the custody of Hege, 
 chief officer of the king s harem, and she pleased him, 
 and he showed her special favors during the time of her 
 purification. I think the Vulgate and Josephus must 
 be in error in calling Esther Mordecai s niece ; for she 
 was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai, 
 and was, therefore, as we should say, his cousin. This 
 is the Hebrew. It is true, however, that terms of rela 
 tionship are used with considerable vagueness in orien 
 tal languages, and even in some modern ones. This 
 Hege was, no doubt, as the Septuagint, Vulgate, Tar- 
 6 
 
122 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 gum and the Syriac all say, the king s chief eunuch. 
 It is well known that such persons only have the cus 
 tody of the harems of the East. Hege and Hcyai are, 
 doubtless, only variations of the same name. 
 
 The maids of honor appointed to Esther, and the 
 style of her entertainment, as described in the text, may 
 be illustrated from Knoller s description of a bridal pro 
 cession and traveling equipage of a bride in Turkey. 
 He says he saw one that had " eleven coaches full of 
 young maidens attended by black eunuchs, and these 
 were followed by twenty-eight virgin slaves, attired in 
 cloth of gold and accompanied by twenty-eight black 
 eunuchs on horse back and richly clad. And then fol 
 lowed two hundred and forty mules, loaded with cloth 
 of gold, tapestry, satin, velvet and cushions, which are 
 the chairs of Turkish ladies/ 7 
 
 The tilings for their purification were oil of myrrh 
 and sweet odors, as we learn from chap, ii: 12th verse. 
 The myrrh was used six months, and then the sweet 
 odors six months making twelve months for the 
 trial, lest the king should be imposed upon. There 
 may also have been something of State in keeping the 
 damsels so long in preparation, and something educa 
 tional. The Orientals are proverbially fond of oils and 
 odors, and the profusion indicated in the text gives us 
 some idea of the luxury and sensual magnificence of the 
 Persian court at that time. The king s taste was fas 
 tidious. The officers of his household thought six 
 months perfuming with the oil of myrrh necessary to 
 make the skin soft and smooth, and six months of sweet 
 odors to make the body vigorous, and to give it, in a 
 hot country, an agreeable scent. Hege was, indeed, 
 
ESTHER S PEOPLE NOT KNOWN. 123 
 
 charmed with the Hebrew maid at first sight, and be 
 fore the king saw her, his chief officer had decided 
 she should be the queen. He accordingly gave her the 
 best apartments of the Seraglio, and special attention to 
 prepare her for the king. 
 
 In the tenth and eleventh verses of the second chap 
 ter, we find that Esther did not make known her peo 
 ple. Mordecai had told her not to show that she was a 
 Jewess. The reason usually given for Mordecai s com 
 mand does not seem to me to be correct. This reason 
 is, that if she avowed herself a Jewess, she would have 
 been pronounced a slave, and thrown out of the list of 
 competitors at once. History does not sustain this view. 
 Slaves were eligible to the harem, and still are in the 
 East, and from being an odalisque may become a sul 
 tana. And besides, Esther was not a slave in any other 
 sense than were all the Hebrews that had been trans 
 ferred from the Babylonian empire to the Persians as 
 captives. The true reason no doubt was that Mordecai 
 wished to prevent the unnecessary raising up of any 
 prejudice to her disadvantage that she might have at 
 least an equal opportunity with the rest. The knowl 
 edge that she was of the Hebrew race would have been 
 against her. It was more expedient not to put her 
 success in peril by unnecessary disclosures as to her 
 nation. After her crown is more firmly settled, and she 
 has a stronger hold on the heart of the king, then it 
 may be safer to bring to light that she belongs to a 
 despised race. I do not, however, see here any com 
 promise of principle, nor any prevarication. Anything 
 of this kind would have been sinful. For an untruth 
 is never to be uttered, either by gesture or by silence 
 
 6A 
 
124 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 no more than by words ; but all truths are not suitable 
 at all times. Nor is it necessary always to tell all that 
 we know to be true. As no question was made about 
 her parentage, or her religion, Mordecai told Hadassah 
 not to volunteer to make any communications on the 
 subject. This was a very different thing from telling 
 her to deny her race and religion. He did not com 
 mand her to tell a lie. Nor did she violate any law or 
 sin against any moral obligation by not telling these 
 things in advance. She sanctions no fraud, for her race 
 and religion were no bar to her entrance into the harem, 
 if known. And when duty calls, we find her avowing 
 that she is a Jewess, and of the faith of Abraham. As 
 no question was raised in gathering the fair virgins for 
 the king s harem, as to their race or religion, so there 
 was no deception practiced. Those who find fault with 
 our record, and with Esther for entering the king s 
 seraglio, and becoming the queen of a heathen king, 
 overlook altogether the customs of those times and 
 countries. The moment she entered the king s harem, 
 she was elected to be his wife, just as Hagar was Abra 
 ham s secondary wife. She was a captive a subject, 
 and the will of the king was the supreme law. And 
 the moment she was called to the king s seraglio, she 
 was engaged to him, and when she was taken to his bed, 
 she was married to him, as the secondary wives of the 
 patriarchs were to them, and when she was crowned she 
 was queen. 
 
 It is a common saying that all marriages are made in 
 heaven, but that some how sometimes there is a mistake 
 in their coming down to earth. Yet the Bible does 
 certainly teach that a good wife is from the Lord, and 
 
A HAPPY MARRIAGE. 125 
 
 that the way for young people to expect happiness in 
 wedded life is to marry in the Lord. In this case it is 
 easily seen that the G-od of Abraham is engaged in 
 providing the great king of Persia with a wife. He is 
 not indeed to be charged with the drunken revelry of 
 the king, nor with Yashti s haughty disobedience, nor 
 with the rash and heavy judgment of Memucan ; yet it 
 was His hand that gave incomparable beauty to this 
 Jewess, and it was His spirit that gave her favor in the 
 eyes of the keeper of the women, and caused her also 
 to obtain favor in the sight of the king. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ESTHER CROWNED QUEEN. 
 
 " And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she 
 obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins ; 
 so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her 
 queen instead of Vashti. Then the king made a great feast 
 unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther s feast." 
 
 Esther ii: 17, 18. 
 
 As Vashti lost her husband and her crown at a feast, 
 so it is with a feast and royal behests that Esther is 
 proclaimed to have gained a husband and a crown, the 
 very same that Vashti lost. The king seems desirous 
 to show the courtiers and princes of all his provinces 
 that, as they had seen his mortification and revenge on 
 one queen, so they should see his victory and magnifi 
 cence in crowning another younger and more beautiful. 
 And he is determined the whole empire shall rejoice 
 on account of her coronation. " And he made a release 
 to the provinces, and gave gifts according to the state 
 of the king." Verse 18. In our day, sometimes an 
 amnesty is proclaimed, prisoners are released, debts 
 forgiven, and political offenders pardoned, in honor of 
 the birth of a prince, or the proclamation of peace after 
 a terrible war, or in honor of the coronation of a sov- 
 
128 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 ereign. In like manner did Aliasuerus honor the ad 
 vancement of Esther to the royal crown with a great 
 feast, and by the remission of tributes. It is probable 
 that a tenth, or some considerable amount of the cus 
 tom money, was allowed the queen for her household, 
 just as in Great Britain, where it is known as the au- 
 rum Regince, the queen s gold; and that, for the pur 
 pose of making her popular, this was remitted. Pilate 
 was wont to show the clemency of the Roman Govern 
 ment by releasing a prisoner unto the people at the 
 Hebrew festival. Herodotus expressly tells us that the 
 Persian kings were accustomed to give their wives 
 cities and provinces for the purpose of supplying them 
 with different articles of dress; one was assigned for 
 ornamenting the head and neck, another for robes, 
 girdles, etc. The city of Anthilla was bestowed on 
 one of the queens of Persia, to supply her with san 
 dals. The meaning of the text is, that the revenues, 
 which had been thus used, were remitted not col 
 lected, in order that the people might be pleased with 
 the new queen; and the king himself gave gifts sup 
 plied the pin money, out of his own treasury accord 
 ing to the state of the king. 
 
 According to Hebrew tradition, Mordecai had been 
 reduced in his circumstances by the captivity, but had 
 retained the refinement and tastes of his former more 
 opulent condition. His house was one of the best of 
 his class in those days, situate by the river s side, and 
 concealed from view by a grove of cypresses. In his 
 garden were figs, olives, pomegranates and myrtle in 
 such culture as showed his taste and industry. Being a 
 man of wealth at home in Judea, he was himself well 
 
MORDECAl S HOPES EXCITED. 129 
 
 educated, and highly valued the institutions and learn 
 ing of his father-land. He had devoted, therefore, the 
 leisure of his retirement to study and the training of / 
 this Hebrew maiden, the orphan daughter of his uncle. 
 And as soon as he hears of the decree to collect all 
 the beautiful maidens for the royal seraglio, his heart 
 bounded with joy. For he felt sure none were more 
 charming than his lovely maid. Accordingly he flew 
 with haste to her apartments to open up the subject. 
 As he came near, offering many ejaculatory thanks and 
 prayers from his heart, he heard Hadassah singing a 
 mournful song from Jeremiah, and making her harp 
 tell forth the sorrows and wrongs of her country. But 
 when he entered he exclaimed, " cease my child, Israel 
 is to be redeemed. The Lord will delight again in 
 Judah." The glow on her cousin s face showed his 
 joyous excitement. And as he relates what has taken 
 place at the palace, and what is now to be done for a \ 
 new queen, the sagacity of her sex penetrates, at a 
 glance, all his ambitious hopes, and she sank down on 
 the divan as a delicate flower faded from its rich color. 
 And not until her wise kinsman has succeeded in per- : 
 
 I 
 
 suading her that it is of the Lord, and that it is he*! 
 duty to him and to her countrymen, and to Jehovah, 
 jdoes she consent to enter the list of candidates for the 
 Persian crown. It was in answer to her kinsman s ear 
 nest appeal, somewhat after this style, that she yielded, 
 "The God of our father/ said he, "has chosen you 
 as an instrument for the salvation of thy people. A 
 Hebrew maiden on the Persian throne, and the horn 
 of Judah is once more exalted. Jehovah calls thee, 
 Hadassah, like Deborah, and like Judith thou shalt 
 6s 
 
130 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 stand forth in our holy records as the Saviour of our 
 people and our faith."* 
 
 The day she left her uncle s house for the king s 
 harern was a trying hour. The last beral was spent in 
 furnishing her with as becoming a wardrobe as possible. 
 Her robes were flowing and graceful, as only an eastern 
 
 maiden can show; "her dark hair confined with a lus- 
 
 
 trous band of diamonds, her large soft eyes full of 
 thought, and her whole figure expressive of majesty of 
 soul mingled with sweet gentleness." In the same 
 harem were the beauties of Circassia and of Georgia, 
 and of 
 
 a The isles of Greece ! the isles of Greece 
 Where burning Sappho loved and sung." 
 
 Here were the bright-eyed houris from the hanging 
 gardens of the Indus, and from the shores of the Cas 
 pian, and from Ethiopia, and from "Araby the blest;" 
 all radiant with the smiles of hope. But the peerless 
 beauty of the Hebrew maiden takes the eunuch by 
 surprise. He at once shows her particular favor, and 
 this was a prelude to her complete success. No doubt 
 there was great emulation among the damsels of Persia 
 who thought themselves, or whose friends thought them, 
 fair enough to please the king. Every one hoped to 
 become a queen. But "the king loved Esther above 
 all the women; so that he set the royal crown upon her 
 head, and made her queen instead of Vashti." 
 
 When Esther became queen, then Mordecai sat in 
 the king s gate. That is, he was advanced to some 
 kind of service perhaps a kind of sub-porter of the 
 
 * This part of our story was beautifully told in the GLEANER of this city, 
 by Rev. Dr. Eckman, of last year. 
 
A KING S BEST DEFENSE. 131 
 
 palace ; and here, though faithful to his Hebrew faith, 
 we find him diligent in business and remarkable for his 
 fidelity to the king. True piety never interferes with 
 | a man s loyalty to his government. On the contrary, 
 he is the truest friend to man who is the most faithful 
 to his God. The fear of Grod and proper regard for our 
 fellow men are always consistent. It happened, then, 
 just as we should have expected, for as soon as Morde 
 cai detected the conspiracy of the two chamberlains 
 ;against the king s life, he informs Esther of it, and the 
 king is saved. The best defence of a prince is the 
 fidelity of his attendants. Standing armies, and life 
 guards, and palace walls, and subterranean passage-ways 
 from barracks to barracks, are no sure reliance. Nor 
 does the chapter of rebellion, assassination, dethrone 
 ment and exile, belong to any one age or nation. Russia 
 and France up to the present moment are equal in such 
 details to any of the older Oriental despotisms. No 
 greatness, no care, no apparent popularity, is a perfect 
 security against treachery or violence. The absolute 
 king over millions, from India to Ethiopia, was not 
 secure from the traitor s hand. 
 
 The story of this conspiracy against the king is briefly 
 told: "In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king s 
 gate, two of the king s chamberlains, Bigthan and Te- 
 resh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and 
 sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. And the 
 thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther 
 the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in 
 Mordecai s name. And when inquisition was made of 
 the matter it was found out; therefore they were both 
 hanged on a tree : and it was written in the book of the 
 
132 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 chronicles before the king." Esth. ii: 21, 23. This 
 account is confirmed by Josephus in every essential 
 particular. He says the discovery was made by a Jew, 
 who overheard the plot, and that he told Mordecai, and 
 he told Esther, and Esther told the king in Mordecai s 
 name; so that Mordecai s name was registered in the 
 Chronicles as the discoverer of the conspiracy. 
 
 The Hebrew story of this conspiracy is that the 
 haughty Vashti relented, and greatly desired to regain 
 her crown and the king s favor, for that she tenderly 
 loved him. And that this conspiracy was primarily 
 intended to destroy Esther, by accusing her to the 
 king, and charging her as its head, and that when 
 she should be disgraced, then Haman who was in power, 
 and who it is said was Vashti s brother, was to force the 
 king to receive Vashti again, or if he refused, to kill 
 the king, and assume the crown himself. It is easy to 
 suppose at least that the anguish of the fallen queen 
 must have been intense, and that she indulged the bit 
 terest enmity toward her happy successor. Nor would 
 it be surprising if she did attempt to regain her crown 
 by intrigue and violence. From the subsequent devel 
 opments of Haman s character, we are prepared to 
 think that he was at the bottom of this conspiracy. The 
 attempt on the king s life by his chamberlain, is no new 
 event in the history of the East. The cause is not 
 stated, but most probably they were creatures of Ha 
 man, who thought to make himself king by having 
 Ahasuerus slain. The Targuni says that they thought 
 that Queen Esther was about to have them removed, 
 and Mordecai put in their place ; and that on this ac 
 count, they intended to poison her and kill the king in 
 
THE HAPPY MAN. 133 
 
 his bed-chamber. And then with Haman on the throne 
 they would have the first honors and greatest emolu 
 ments of the empire. How true it is, that 
 
 " Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." 
 
 Happy, immeasurably happy, he, who though poor in 
 this world, is rich toward God an heir to a crown 
 incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, re 
 served in heaven, where neither treason, nor violence 
 can reach it, nor shall any creature prevent the Lord, 
 the righteous judge, from placing it on his head on the 
 day of the revelation of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Oriental princes in particular, carry their lives in 
 their hands. Not a few of those who have been a ter 
 ror in the land of the living have gone down to the pit 
 slain. Bloody minded and deceitful men do not live 
 out half their days. And not unfrequently the very 
 moment they fancy themselves secure, they are sur 
 prised with sudden destruction. Treachery is a kind 
 of murder that will out. Some bird of the air carries 
 the voice, or some stone out of the wall whispers of the 
 plot. Somewhere something miscarries, or some link 
 in the long crooked chain breaks, or the friction causes 
 the machinery to work so hard, that suspicion is 
 awakened and conviction secured. 
 
 The traitors were hanged, but not by a mob. The 
 king had inquisition made of the matter. Due inves 
 tigation was made, their guilt was fully proven, ac 
 cording to law, and the history entered in the Chroni 
 cles of the king, with the particular record, that the 
 name of the king s servant who had saved his life was 
 Mordecai. The mode of the execution of these traitors, 
 
134 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 after lawful conviction, is not mentioned, but it is re 
 markable how law-abiding the king and court were. 
 They knew nothing of the convenience of Judge Lynch s 
 court. The words, they were both hanged on a tree, 
 may mean, either that they were hung to a gallows of 
 wood, or that they were impaled, that is, placed on the 
 sharp point of a stake, set upright in the ground. This 
 is a most dreadful kind of punishment. The sharp 
 stake is forced through the length of the body, by pull 
 ing the legs down with great force. Sometimes the 
 poor victim lives a considerable time, but, of course, in 
 the greatest agony. 
 
 There is another incident connected with Mordecai 
 that shows us something of the man s heart, while, at 
 the same time, it proves the truthfulness of our history. 
 Every day he walked before the court of the women s 
 house, to know how Esther did, and what should become 
 of her. This was while she was undergoing her prepara 
 tion to come before the king. And it was natural for 
 him, as he loved her as his own child, to feel anxious for 
 her welfare, and as the apartments of the women were 
 deemed so sacred, so inviolable, that it was a great 
 crime even to inquire what was doing within them so he 
 lingered as near as it was lawful, to pick up whatever 
 intelligence might be available of the condition and 
 prospects of his beloved Hadassah. Chardin says, ex 
 pressly, " A man may walk a hundred days, one after 
 the other, by the houses where the women are, and 
 yet know no more what is done there than at the far 
 thest end of Tartary." 
 
 1. It were well for us to consider here what a model 
 
THE MODEL MAID. 135 
 
 girl we have found under the humble roof of Morde- 
 cai s house , in the land of their captivity. TJie Hebrew 
 maid in the royal Harem, in seeking to please the 
 king, is a model for all who seek to advance rapidly 
 in the world. Kind, respectful, obedient to her foster- 
 father, unostentatiously attentive to her private devo 
 tions, as a follower of the true religion, and, at the 
 same time, careful not to neglect the preparations fit to 
 be made for her coming before the king. There was 
 no love of extravagance about her. She follows the 
 wish of the chief chamberlain, and gives him as little 
 trouble as possible, and grows every day in his esteem. 
 And, for one in her situation, this was a great point 
 gained. l Her modesty and good sense make Hege s 
 experience of great avail to her. Extravagance is not 
 only a wicked use of God s bounty, but it is the sign 
 of a little and trifling mind. " But a proper regard for 
 dress and the decencies of good society is commendable, 
 and according to the Gospel. Extravagance is not 
 only sinful, but is seldom successful. ^ Modesty, virtue, 
 auiiableness of temper and true piety are the greatest 
 charms in woman. 
 
 " It is the artless who catch the game." 
 
 J 2. We see the eifects of a good education. Esther 
 on the throne is still obedient to Mordecai. The pre 
 cepts she has learned in her cousin s humble home she 
 remembers at the great court. As queen, with the 
 royal crown on her head, she is what Mordecai has 
 made her. Hadassah myrtle let her be called for 
 ever, for in the court of the great king she does not 
 forget the guide of her youth. The purple circlet on 
 
136 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 her brow does not cause her to be ashamed of her poor 
 kindred, nor to forget the commandments of the friend 
 of her youth. She does still his commandments, like 
 as when she ivas brought up ivith him. 
 
 We are not to suppose that in all this wonderful his 
 tory there is anything like chance, or what people call 
 mere luck. The agents were all free, but they were 
 all hard workers. If Mordecai is tender and faithful, 
 liberal and kind, his orphan ward was obedient, teach 
 able and diligent. She reverenced him as a father, 
 and with the crown on her head as Sultana of all Per 
 sia, she "did his commandments like as when she was 
 brought up with him." Nor could the circumstances 
 of her youth be considered asfavorable. She was sur 
 rounded by idolaters she was in danger of being led 
 astray by evil associations, for as 
 
 Oft converse with heavenly habitants 
 
 Hath cast a beam on the outward shape 
 
 The unpolluted temple of mind 
 
 And turned it by degrees to the soul s essence;" 
 
 so do evil associates destroy the soul. 
 
 A grateful remembrance by one in great authority of 
 those that were his benefactors in the days of his ob 
 scurity, is always pleasing and worthy of praise. Ac 
 cordingly we see Esther s nobility of mind in not being 
 , too much elated in her prosperity. Like Joseph, no 
 court pomp could make her forget her poor kin and 
 truest friends. There is always something hopeful in 
 dutiful children. Reverence for the aged and the good 
 argues an appreciation of excellence that we may hope 
 will lead to a matured imitation. It was God s plan to 
 
ACT WELL YOUR PART. 137 
 
 make Esther s influence affect the fate of nations, and 
 save his chosen people from the sword ; but of all this 
 she was ignorant in her early years. How, then, was 
 she prepared for her mission ? By first attending to 
 the duties of her station as an orphan girl that was 
 cared for by an excellent kinsman. David, by his 
 fidelity to his flock of sheep as Jesse s shepherd son, 
 leading them over the hills of Judea, and finding out 
 the best pasture for them, and watching over them at 
 night, was preparing himself for the throne of Israel. 
 Act well your part in the lot Grod has given you, or 
 you will never be prepared for a higher one. 
 \l Nor are you to suppose that Esther as an orphan girl 
 had no sad moments no fears, no misgivings about 
 her success in life. She was not at any time filled with 
 a prophetic spirit, nor endowed with power to work 
 miracles. She was in her youth just like any other 
 
 J affectionate, well-behaved Hebrew maiden. Her days 
 of trial she had to meet just as my fair young readers 
 will have to meet theirs. The day she left her quiet 
 home for the harem was a day she never forgot. And 
 then how critical, how painfully trying, the day when 
 she is to be introduced to the great king. But happily 
 does she pass the ordeal. God so blesses her endeavors 
 that she gains the favor of all who look upon her. She 
 seemed to be a singular combination of all that was 
 
 \J beautiful with all that was maidenly and becoming, so 
 that when she passed from the hands of the chief officer 
 of the harem to the royal presence, she beamed upon 
 the king in all the brilliancy and softness of the evening 
 star, and he at once said "This maiden shall be my 
 queen, and Esther shall be her name." 
 
138 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 " The soul that rises in us, our life s star, 
 Has had elsewhere its setting, 
 
 And cometh from afar. 
 
 Heaven lies about us in our infancy." 
 
 3. In the discovery of the conspiracy and the enter 
 ing on the records of the empire an account of Morde- 
 pai s distinguished services in saving the king v s life, a 
 *good foundation is laid for Mordecai s advancement. 
 Esther at least, is able now to prove that he whom she 
 has appointed into the king s service is a man to be 
 trusted. But there is no impatience no over hasten 
 ing in his case. There is no complaint that his remu 
 neration is delayed. O that we could always feel that 
 God s time is the best time that patient waiting on 
 the Lord is no delay. God s leisure is always most op 
 portune. Mordecai s hour is set on the eternal dial. It 
 is sure to come, and the intervening dangers and appa 
 rent drawbacks shall only make his honors the greater, 
 and his experience of the loving kindness of the God 
 of Jacob all the more precious. Young man from 
 home in a strange land often have you been disap 
 pointed often thought the golden prize within your 
 grasp, but it escaped you aniid your long deferred 
 hopes, remember Mordecai. He was for the moment 
 apparently overlooked. But his reward came. Impa 
 tient young man you think you rise to fame too slow. 
 Your steps upward in your profession do not satisfy 
 you, and yet you may be rising faster than you think, 
 and much more surely than you could do in any other 
 way. Think not of how you shall become great, but 
 only of how you may do your duty in your place, what 
 ever it is, in the most thorough and perfect manner. 
 
WAIT YOUR TIME. 139 
 
 Wellington in his campaigns did not stop to write let 
 ters proclaiming his heroism, nor of his becoming great; 
 but only of giving the French a sound drubbing, and 
 his greatness came of itself. Impatient, are you of 
 doing your work and to make your mark in the world ? 
 Remember Havelock young soldier remember Have- 
 lock " every inch/ as Lord Hardinge said, " every 
 inch a soldier, and every inch a Christian." Toiling on 
 fifty years, almost all of them spent under India s 
 burning sun, panting for his work to do, and blanched 
 and weary ; yet the work Providence had assigned him 
 came at last. He did it and died nobly did it, and 
 his soul sped its way to his God, and in every English 
 home there is sorrow as for a father dead. 
 
 4. God often cares for Ms people, when and in ways 
 and means that they know not of. Several steps, im 
 portant steps, are here taken for the deliverance of the 
 Hebrews in Persia from a danger that was near at hand 
 and most imminent, but, as yet, not developed. The 
 way is prepared to raise them up a friend, when they 
 shall most need one, though, as yet, they know nothing 
 of the danger, and such a friend as they should most 
 need the only one, speaking after the manner of men, 
 that could really serve them effectively. 
 
 Speaking with reverence, history shows that God s 
 plan is often out of our sight, but never out of his mind. 
 An irreversible decree has gone forth, from the palace 
 of Shushan, throughout the vast empire, that Vashti is 
 no longer queen, and that every man must rule his own 
 house, and may divorce his wife for disobedience, with 
 out regard to his tyranny or foolishness in giving his 
 commandments. But whether this decree serves the 
 
140 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 king s passion, or Memucan s deeper policy, it is God s 
 plan for bringing to the Persian throne a queen after 
 his own heart, for the deliverance of the seed of Jacob. 
 Haman, in his rage against the children of God s 
 friend, Abraham, has not yet appeared on the stage ; 
 but in the tableau already exhibited, the sequel will 
 show we have the means of his overthrow, and means, 
 also, for the complete defeat of his murderous plot. 
 The great king has peace and plenty, and considers 
 himself established on his throne, and, for this reason, 
 he prepares a most extraordinary feast. This feast 
 gratifies his vanity and whets the appetite of his court 
 and army for new conquests but especially would he 
 show his greatest gem, his beautiful queen ; but she is 
 disobedient, and, in his rage, she is divorced, and no 
 law of the Medes and Persians can be repealed. The 
 king, therefore, must have another queen, and the plan 
 to obtain one is suggested by his ministry, who have 
 their own schemes to advance, but, nevertheless, the 
 plan introduces Hadassah, and the conspiracy against 
 the king s life, that took place about the same time, 
 serves to make a valuable record of her cousin s great 
 services to the king. Here is a wonderfully numerous 
 band working together, and every one the conspi 
 rators shall I call them ? fulfilling his part, exactly at 
 the right time. The great king, Ahasuerus, and the 
 ravishingly beautiful queen Vashti; Memucan and his 
 ghostly council of astrologers the traitorous eunuchs 
 and privy council Mordecai and his lovely cousin : 
 Her marriage and coronation, followed by Mordecai s 
 fidelity in saving the king from death, and the queen 
 the agent of communicating this to the king, and of 
 
GOD^S COUNSEL STANDETH. 141 
 
 having his name duly entered on the court journals as 
 the deliverer of the king; but, as yet, though contrary 
 to custom, no reward is bestowed, but that, however, is 
 because Providence has a greater one in reserve than 
 would now be given. 
 
 What an array have we here of lust and passion, of 
 cross purposes a variety of selfish views and schemes 
 and passions; and yet God is working over and through, 
 and by all, with a steady and fixed purpose to save his 
 people, His Church. Promotion cometh neither from 
 the east nor from the west; but from the Lord. He 
 raiseth up one and casteth down another. There are 
 indeed many devices in man s heart, but the counsel of 
 the Lord, it shall stand. 
 
 5. Remember, my fair young readers, of this history 
 of the model Hebrew maid and peerless queen, that 
 you may all wear a crown more precious than ever 
 adorned a Persian throne. Though each of the fair 
 virgins gathered into the king s seraglio, hoped to be 
 come a queen, only one could succeed to that honor. 
 But you may all gain the heavenly prize. that you 
 were all as ambitious of your espousals to the king of 
 glory. What time ! what quantity of myrrhs and sweet 
 odors were consumed in preparing Esther for the king ! 
 How much more diligent and pains-taking should we be 
 to secure a preparation for the presence of the glorious 
 Majesty of heaven! But how can this be done? 
 " Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow 
 myself before the high God ? Shall I come before him 
 with burnt oiferings, with calves of a year old? Will 
 the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with 
 
142 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 ten thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first 
 born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the 
 sin of my soul ?" Micah vi: 6, 8. How can man be 
 just in the sight of G od ? If I wash myself with snow 
 water, and make my hands never so clean, yet shall 
 thou plunge me in the ditch, and my own clothes shall 
 abhor me : For He is not a man, as I am, that I should 
 answer him, and we should come together in judgment. 
 Neither is there any days man betwixt us, that might 
 lay his hand upon us both. Job ix : 30, 83. After all 
 the cleansing oils of our own tears and repentance, and 
 the sweet odors of our own good works, we are altogether 
 unholy and vile in the sight of Grod. It is only by free 
 grace that we are saved. It is from Jesus Christ alone 
 we can obtain the wedding garment. He is mighty to 
 save. 
 
 And why, brethren, should we be afraid to die ? 
 Why should we live so much in dread of the grave ? 
 It is like Esther s baths of sweet perfumes, in which 
 she lay for a time purifying herself with spices, that she 
 might be reckoned fit to come before her lord the king. 
 So in the grave our body is prepared to be rebuilt for 
 our heavenly home. Earth and worms do but refine 
 and purify our flesh, since our Lord himself past through 
 the same way to glory, and left an enduring perfume 
 there to animate the bodies of all his saints. " He is 
 the resurrection and the life, whosoever believeth in 
 Him though he were dead, yet shall he live." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE JEW AND THE AMALEKITE. 
 
 " And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did 
 him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath." 
 
 Esth. \\\ : 5. 
 
 " Happy the man who sees a God employ d 
 In all the good and ill that chequer life ; 
 Kesolving all events, with their effects 
 And manifold results, into the will 
 And arbitration wise of the Supreme." 
 
 CowpeT. 
 
 THERE is no explanation given in the text how it 
 came to pass that the Hebrew maid found such favor 
 in the sight of Hege, nor how it was that she so greatly 
 pleased the king. But so it was, that the king loved 
 her exceedingly, and she was married to him, and she 
 becanie^by the will of the Grod of Abraham, SULTANA 
 of the Persian throne. 
 
 But a new character is now introduced to us. " After 
 these things did Ahasuerus promote Haman, the son of 
 Hammedatha the Agagite." Esth. iii: 1. 
 
 Agagitc, perhaps, descended from Agag, king of the 
 Amalekites, who was spared by Saul but killed by 
 Samuel; and it may be that his prejudices against the 
 
144 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Jews were hereditary. Agag was probably a common 
 name for the kings of Amalek, as Abinielech was among 
 the Philistines, and Pharaoh among the Egyptians. 
 The meaning then, is, that Hainan was descended from 
 a kingly line atavis editus regibus and it is no won 
 der, therefore, that he had bad blood in him, for even 
 in royal races the black drop of original sin which, 
 according to Mohammedan theologians, and which even 
 according to our orthodox catechisms, is in all men by 
 nature, has been known to grow to an enormous size, 
 and spread through the whole system. Hainan s history 
 proves that he was a worthy son of such sires. His 
 inauguration as Grand Vizier did not, therefore, for- 
 bode any good to the Jews. 
 
 The events of the third chapter of Esther seem to 
 have occurred about five years after the king s marriage 
 with the Hebrew maid. The cause of Haman s promo 
 tion is not stated. His power, however, was very great. 
 His seat was above all the princes that were with him. 
 And the king s servants, that is, the officers of the 
 court, as well as the porters or keepers of the gate, 
 among whom was Mordecai, all bowed and reverenced 
 Hamany except Mordecai } but Mordecai bowed not } nor 
 did him reverence. Was this mere obstinacy ? Was it 
 insubordination, or was it required of him by his reli 
 gion? It seems probable from the language used, and 
 from the fact that the Persian kings sometimes exacted 
 divine honors from their subjects, that something more 
 than civil reverence or homage was demanded by Hainan 
 and refused by Mordecai. The usual word for mere 
 civil respect is "kara," to bow. Mere politeness and 
 official position required this from Mordecai, and this 
 
PERSIAN KINGS WORSHIPED. 145 
 
 much Hebrew law enjoined. But Mordecai did not 
 b ow 1 yikara, nor did Tie do him reverence: velo 
 yish tachaveh, nor did he prostrate himself. 
 
 The monumental history of the Nile and of the Eu 
 phrates and Tigris, abound with proof that Eastern 
 kings received honors and homage as gods. How, then, 
 could Mordecai, a Jew, with the laws of Moses before 
 him, (Exod. xx, xvii : 14 ; Deut. xxv : 19,) and in 
 the light of the history of his people, with a good con 
 science, render divine homage to a human being, and 
 especially to a wicked man, and still more to an Amal- 
 ekite, one of the race devoted to destruction ? You re 
 member the Hebrews had been expressly commanded 
 to blot out this nation from under heaven, " as a thing 
 accursed." That such was the ground of Mordecai ; s 
 refusal, is clearly to be inferred from the fourth verse, 
 where, when his fellow servants were urgent upon him 
 to comply with the king s command, and, like them, 
 do reverence to Haman, he told them he ivas a Jew. 
 It was not, then, from a mere personal whim, prejudice,, 
 or freak of feeling, but from an all-powerful religious 
 conviction that he acted. We have the same thing in 
 Daniel, where the offense for which he was cast into 
 the lion s den was his refusing to cease praying to the 
 God of his fathers. In this instance, we find a good 
 man obliged to differ from the majority of his compan 
 ions and fellow officers. All the rest of the king s of 
 ficers were exceedingly obsequious to the new favorite ; 
 but Mordecai, adhering to his principles with a bold 
 and daring resolution, did not bow to him, nor do him 
 homage. Among commentators there is some differ 
 ence of opinion about Mordecai s conduct. Some 
 7 
 
146 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 praise and some condemn him. But, as I understand 
 the history, Mordecai did right, and showed himself to 
 be a man of true courage and heroic piety. The hom 
 age required was something more than the usual rever 
 ence or respect for a prime minister. The usual form 
 of etiquette was well established and widely known. 
 A royal decree, therefore, could hardly have been 
 required to make it known to the servants of the 
 palace, which was done in this instance " for the 
 king had so commanded concerning him." And, as 
 we have just seen, the Hebrew intimates that the 
 reverence here commanded was of an idolatrous 
 kind. The divine adoration which the Persian mon- 
 archs received is, in fact, expressed by the very word 
 here used for doing reverence : " Shachah" signifies 
 prostration, such as is practiced in rendering the pro- 
 foundest reverence that a man can pay to Gk>d, namely, 
 " by lying down flat on the ground with the hands and 
 feet extended, and with the mouth in the dust." This, 
 then, was the kind of reverence that Mordecai refused 
 to render to Hainan, the Agagite Persian premier, and, 
 in refusing this homage, we find him adhering to his 
 religion. He followed principle, not expediency. His 
 conduct resembles that of Joseph and Moses and Dan 
 iel and the three Hebrews in Babylon. They all 
 remembered their catechism, which taught them, to 
 fear God, and not dare to sin against Him, by depart 
 ing from principle on the plea of policy or expediency. 
 According to Hebrew tradition and the Targum, Ha 
 inan had set up a statue of himself, which every one 
 that passed by was obliged to worship. The apocry 
 phal additions to the Book of Esther, which, though 
 
OBEDIENCE REQUIRED. 147 
 
 not inspired nor of canonical authority, are, neverthe 
 less, of some value as ancient fragments, embodying 
 the ideas of remote times, inform us that Mordecai said, 
 in his subsequent prayers to Jehovah : " Thou knowest 
 that if I have not adored Hainan, it was not through 
 pride, nor contempt, nor secret desire of glory ] for I 
 felt disposed to kiss the footsteps of his feet gladly for 
 the salvation of Israel; but I feared to give to a man 
 that honor which I know belongs only to my God." 
 Mordecai s principles and conduct were followed by the 
 apostles, when they laid down and acted upon the fun 
 damental principle of liberty, that we must obey God 
 rather than man. The great and learned Olshausen, 
 in his commentary on this text in Acts, has well said, 
 that though " many enthusiasts and rebels have mis 
 applied this principle to the defense of their insane or 
 mischievous undertakings, * * * yet the highest 
 freedom of a Christian maintains no conflict at all with 
 his unqualified obedience to the civil government, even 
 though it be an unrighteous one. He moves, in fact, 
 with his old and new man, as it were, in a two-fold 
 world. In the one character, he is placed in subjec 
 tion to earthly relations, and, therefore, willingly gives 
 to Caesar what is Caesar s ; but, in the other, he is a 
 member of the spiritual world, and, therefore, gives to 
 God what is God s." The true doctrine, without ques 
 tion, is, that a Christian must obey the civil magistrate, 
 except when obedience to him is clearly a sin against 
 God. True piety is not rude. It is not built upon the 
 ruins of good manners, nor of refined civilization ; but 
 it does teach us to govern ourselves by principles 
 principles taught by the Word of God and approved by 
 TA 
 
148 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 our conscience, enlightened by his Word and Spirit. 
 The Gospel, also, teaches us, both by precepts and ex 
 amples, to be steadfast, unyielding, even unto death, in 
 the profession and maintenance of truth. 
 
 As we shall hear of this old Hebrew again, let us 
 take a good look at him, as we pass by the gate this 
 evening. I could wish you would closely observe him, 
 so that you may know him when you meet him again. 
 He is not only a man of principle, but in his vindica 
 tion of himself, he shows that he is not criminally in 
 different to the good opinions of others that he is not 
 influenced by a mere fancy or whim, but is governed 
 by a strong sense of duty. Will you observe him sit 
 ting at the king s gate, thinking of the past, and won 
 dering how the great future, of which he had some un 
 defined, almost unconscious prophesyings within, was 
 to be developed. His piety and faith were of a simple, 
 earnest kind. Though he did not see how, yet he was 
 perfectly sure, salvation was for the Jews. And then 
 his mind wanders to the palace, and he wonders how 
 the new sultana wears her honors, and then he sternly 
 questions his own heart, a Did I take sufficient pains, 
 and use all the means to establish her youthful heart 
 in the principles of our holy religion ? Did I do all 
 my duty to her, and will she be faithful to the God of 
 Jacob, amid the splendor of this great heathen court ? 
 Does she ever think of me, and remember that, under 
 God, she owes her education and crown to me ? My 
 post is now an humble one, but I am content with it. 
 It is best ; but, oh, that salvation were come for Zion, 
 that Judah s horn were again exalted." His pious 
 meditations would, doubtless, have continued much Ion- 
 
MORDECAI S COMPANIONS. 149 
 
 ger, but here conies the newly raised favorite of the 
 king, ruffling past in great pomp, " and," as bishop 
 Hall says, " when the sun shines upon the dial, every 
 passenger will be looking at it ; there needed no com 
 mand of reverence, where Ahasuerus was pleased to 
 countenance. All his subjects are willingly prostrate 
 before this great minion of their sovereign, only Mor- 
 decai stands stiff, as if he saw nothing more than a 
 man in that Agagite." 
 
 But yonder come his fellow servants of the palace; 
 what have they to say ? Why they say to him, why 
 transgresscst thou the Icing s commandment? And 
 verily, aged man, why? Is it that all eyes may be 
 turned upon you? It is true, indeed, that he is the 
 observed of all observers, who does not go with the 
 multitude, even though they go to do evil. Any one 
 that dares to think and speak for himself is sure to be 
 condemned by the many that he differs from; for his 
 position and principles are a running commentary of 
 condemnation upon them. It has ever been so, and 
 perhaps it will always continue to be so; for it is not 
 for the man that lives in the cellar to say what he sees 
 who dwells on the house-top. Some men are before 
 their times, and some men never catch up with the age 
 in which they live; and some men have not moral 
 courage enough to hear themselves breathe honestly 
 and freely. We see this daily as to the press and the 
 pulpit. Is not the daily bread of the printer put in 
 jeopardy if his journal does not meet the popular taste? 
 And have we not seen large bodies of business men 
 combine to starve newspapers to death by withholding 
 their patronage, unless the said papers would defend 
 
150 THE HEBREW-PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 their conduct ? And is it not true that if one pulpit 
 has the courage to utter an honest opinion that does 
 not happen to coincide with the rest of the pulpits, 
 that then all the pulpits and papers that have neither 
 capacity to understand nor the moral honesty to com 
 prehend the poor dissenter, open their batteries upon 
 him ? Such proscription is tyranny, and it is a species 
 of tyranny from which we are not yet emancipated. 
 The tyranny of fanaticism and the cruelty of a vicious 
 public sentiment are evils prevailing in our day, which 
 every patriot must see and deplore. 
 
 And again his fellow-servants say : Friend Mordecai, 
 consider well what you are going to do. Remember, it 
 is not Hainan merely, but his master, also, that you 
 offend. Is it wise, then, for you to peril the forfeiture 
 of your place and your life, upon a question of mere 
 etiquette or courtesy? It is extremely impolitic and 
 dangerous for you not to do homage to so great a prince. 
 And besides, if you will not bow with us, then you will 
 have to suffer alone. " Yes, friends," says he, " I have 
 considered all this; and I am content to meet the con 
 sequences. It is not a mere question of courtesy. / 
 am a Jew. My religion is, with me, a glorious reality. 
 It forbids me to render divine honors to any human 
 being, or to any creature. I must abide by my princi 
 ples." And now, seeing they cannot change his pur 
 pose, his disobedience is construed into a malicious 
 obstinacy ; and his monitors fancy that they have been 
 treated with contempt. It is usual for those who do 
 not succeed in reforming or changing the opinions of 
 others, to become their enemies. Even in giving a re 
 proof, a friend is gained or lost. If the reproof is re- 
 
THE DANGER OF ADVICE. 151 
 
 ceived, a friend is saved, but if it is spurned, a terrible 
 enemy is made. As John the Baptist did not succeed 
 in reforming Herod, his head was the price of his 
 fidelity. So here, Mordecai s monitors feel slighted, 
 and begin to hate the man wjaose courage they could 
 not make quail they, therefore, pick a quarrel with 
 him, and as a revenge for his refusing to pronounce 
 their shibboleth, they turn informers against him, and 
 tell Hainan how proud and stubborn the old Jew in 
 the gate sat as he passed by. And so, the next time 
 he comes along, he watches the Jew, and so do they, 
 to see whether Mordecai s matters would stand that 
 is, whether he had courage to remain steadfast, and if 
 he did, whether Hainan would not strike off his head. 
 Possibly, also, it was the habit of the Persian kings to 
 excuse their Hebrew subjects from such acts of obei 
 sance as they could not conscientiously render, and they 
 wished to see now who was to prevail, the prime min 
 ister or the Jew. From the history before us, and also 
 from that of Daniel, it seems probable that it was only 
 when some special decrees were made for the benefit of 
 some malicious or revengeful courtier, that the Jews 
 were molested in their religion. 
 
 Mordecai s fellow-servants were not capable of un 
 derstanding his principles. Cowards never apprehend 
 the true character of a brave man. Little minds can 
 not see up into the magnanimity of a great and noble 
 soul. 
 
 But it was not long till this proud Amalekite, with 
 more pomp than usual, snuffing up the air as he walked, 
 comes along by the gate, saying: "I ll see, myself, the 
 man that refuses homage to the greatest prince of Per- 
 
152 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 sia." Aye, and so you shall, proud son of Hamme- 
 datlia. You shall see him, and you will find him as 
 inflexible as the marble statues and granite sphinxes 
 that guard the city gate. Your eyes shall sparkle with 
 fury as you see him sit quietly, without paying you the 
 slightest homage. Nor will he even open his lips to 
 you. He utters no threats, nor does he even show a 
 frown; but his joints are not supple enough to bow. 
 You may possibly break them, but you cannot make 
 them bow to the dust before you. Death on the rack, 
 or in any form your rage may inflict, is more easy to 
 him than the bending of his old knees, that have never 
 learned to bow, except to JEHOVAH alone. 
 
 1. But how does it come that we find a man of such 
 integrity and strength of character, and loftiness of 
 principle, here in Persia, a captive far from the home 
 of his fathers ? It comes in a very philosophic way. 
 JVIordecai is what his education has made him Mor- 
 decai is the concrete word for all the influences that 
 have been operating on him from his birth to this mo 
 ment. And among these we are, doubtless, to find the 
 teachings and example of his parents in the home of 
 his youth, amid the hills of Judea. Parents espe 
 cially the mother, moulds the man. Mothers arc more 
 constantly with their children when they are young. 
 They have their attention when their affections are first 
 developing, and their intellects are beginning to ex 
 pand. They have it then in their power to sow the 
 precious seed, which it is almost impossible wholly to 
 eradicate in after life. Th# whole world is an illustra 
 tion of the influence of parental example, and yet the 
 
EDUCATION MISDIRECTED. 153 
 
 tendency of our times to substitute the teaching of 
 schools and the lessons of society for the teaching and 
 lessons of the parents lips and lives. Our public 
 sc uoois, ai.J Sunday schools, are great blessings, if pro 
 perly employed ; but in just so far as they have caused 
 parental oversight to be relaxed, and family govern 
 ment and family instruction to be diminished, in just 
 so far they have done harm. The influence of paren 
 tal example cannot be wholly destroyed; but there 
 should be no substitute for it. Our schools should be 
 parental helps, not substitutes, and especially must the 
 parent retain in his own hands the religious instruc 
 tion of his children. God has intended the parent to 
 be the child s first instructor, and first priest. For 
 months, after birth, the child gazes with an uncertain 
 bewildered look on whatever objects are within its 
 horizon. Its education has begun. And these sur 
 rounding objects, from which it takes lessons as fast as 
 it can see, should be beautiful, well formed, and pure 
 in all their associations and powers to produce sug 
 gestions as remembered in after life. The pictures, 
 furniture and window views, landscapes, and all that 
 comes within the child s vision, should be refined and 
 in good taste. But the next stage of its education is 
 imitation catching and repeating the tones of voice, 
 or the personal habits of those that surround it, or of 
 the names of things it hears; and, in most cases, before 
 the parents are aware of it, the child has adopted their 
 principles of conduct, and imbibed the spirit that 
 reigned in their hearts. Happy then if the child has 
 detected no inconsistency between the teaching and the 
 example of the parents ! Happy is it if the principles 
 TB 
 
154 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 adopted, and the disposition absorbed shall, I say, have 
 been such as are according to truth and righteousness, 
 for they are to be firm and enduring. They will grow 
 with his growth, and when every thing else learned in 
 after life shall fade away, and be forgotten, they will 
 spring up in renewed power, and strengthen the soul 
 for its last effort in leaving the body. It is in our ear 
 liest years the soul receives its coloring and shape for 
 eternity. 
 
 2. In Mordecai s adherence to his religious princi 
 ples we see that there are limits to the claims of social 
 and official civility bounds that duty does not allow 
 us to pass in our respect for our superiors. True reli 
 gion has much to do with our every day life, and its 
 tendency is always to elevate and refine our social rela 
 tions, and make us more conscientious and faithful in 
 our duties to the State. An enlightened Scriptural fear 
 of God always implies a proper regard for the rights and 
 welfare of our fellow men. It is fanaticism, and not 
 Christianity it is bigotry, and not the G ospel, that per 
 secutes men for their opinions. Our Constitution and 
 laws guarantee, not toleration, but absolute, impartial, 
 perfect religious freedom. And so does the Gospel. 
 
 Mordecai was bound to adhere to his principles, or be 
 a traitor to his God. Accordingly, we find him taking 
 heed to his conscience, and see, also, at the same time, 
 that his conscience is an enlightened and educated one. 
 He has carefully studied the laws of God. I do not, 
 however, understand it to be a part of Christian polite 
 ness to flatter or lie, in paying compliments to the great. 
 It cannot be a Christian s duty to violate his conscience 
 
GENERAL JACKSON. 155 
 
 for the sake of court etiquette. The Word of God is 
 the standard of respectability and manners as well as 
 of faith, and it forbids all lying and deceit, all flattery 
 and all mean compliances with the wishes of others, 
 however exalted. It does not allow us to do anything 
 that is contrary to good breeding and the chivalry of 
 right. It does not allow us to neglect our duties, 
 waste our time or injure our health, merely to please a 
 friend or a potentate. Let it be remembered, to the 
 honor of one of the Presidents of the United States, 
 (General Jackson, to whom I preached, as pastor of the 
 Hermitage Church, for several years,) that he never 
 allowed any visitors to keep him from the house of God 
 on the Lord s day. He kept an open house, and was 
 visited by many from all parts of America, and by not 
 a few distinguished foreigners. The hospitality of his 
 mansion was dispensed with a grace and dignity pecu 
 liar to one of the Almighty s true noblemen. It was 
 his custom, when his house was full of visitors, when 
 the hour for going to divine service arrived, to say, 
 " Ladies and gentlemen, it is my habit to go to church. 
 If you will accompany me, I shall be glad. Horses 
 and the carriage are at your service. But if you prefer 
 not to go, the library is open to you, where you will 
 please entertain yourselves until I return." It is use 
 less to say that his visitors generally went with him to 
 worship God, and that, whether they believed in his 
 religion or not, they respected him the more for his 
 consistency and manliness of character. Nor does it 
 require a single illustration to show that this was the 
 way of true politeness. It was my happiness to know 
 General Jackson intimately to see him often in per- 
 
156 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 plexing circumstances, and to know much of him as he 
 was in his chamber and in his" most unguarded and se 
 cluded moments and I do not believe there ever lived 
 a more pure-minded man, or a man of more ardent 
 patriotism, or one that possessed greater attachment 
 to high principles. He was the most incorrupti 
 ble of men. And, in his last years, I have no doubt 
 he was sincerely pious. The divinity of Christ, the 
 inspiration of the -Scriptures, and the realities of a fu 
 ture state, were, with him, always articles of faith that 
 did not admit of debate. It was displeasing to him for 
 a minister to condescend to argue such points. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 HAMAN S REVENGEFUL PLOT. 
 
 " If weakness may excuse, 
 What murderer, what traitor, parricide, 
 Incestuous, sacriligious, but may plead it? 
 All wickedness is weakness." 
 
 M&ton. 
 
 11 Pish, fool! thou blunder st through the book of guilt, 
 Spelling thy villany." 
 
 Coleridge. 
 
 WE are now introduced to Haman meditating revenge, 
 not on Mordecai only, but on all of his race. He 
 was full of wrath, and Jie thought scorn to lay hands 
 on Mordecai alone. Customs and circumstances change ; 
 the occasions of the development of human depravity 
 are varied; but, in all ages, the opposition of the hu 
 man heart to God has always found ways to show itself. 
 According to the Bible, and to experience, moral evil 
 belongs to us, in our present degenerate state, as truly 
 as any one of our animal appetites, or intellectual pow 
 ers. It is comparatively a minor point as to how it 
 conies. It is a fact, that you can as easily find a man 
 without the appetite of hunger, or without memory or 
 understanding, as you can find "an unregenerate man 
 
158 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 without an unvarying propensity to sin. The occa 
 sions for the development of Pharaoh s hardness of 
 heart were altogether different from those that sur 
 rounded Solomon when his heart departed from the 
 fear of the Lord. The point of trial with Joseph was 
 altogether different from that of Daniel; but both were 
 sorely tried, and both conquered. And if, in Nebu 
 chadnezzar s court, it was a great crime not to worship 
 a golden image, it was not a less offense, in the Persian 
 court, to pray with open windows toward Jerusalem, 
 or, in Ahasuerus court, to refuse to render homage to 
 his minister of State. 
 
 Hainan s proposition, which please read in Esther 
 iii: 8, 15, contained truth enough to make it plausi 
 ble, and error enough to make it cruel, and enough 
 personally agreeable to the king to make it popular 
 with him. It was true that the Jews were dispersed 
 among the people, in all the provinces of the Persian 
 empire, and in this scattering abroad was fulfilled the 
 divine threatening contained in their own holy books, 
 from Moses to Jeremiah, that such a calamity should 
 befal them, if. they did not keep their covenant with 
 JEHOVAH. And it was true that their laws were di 
 verse from those of all other people. They were the 
 only true tlieists on earth. All other nations were JPO?^- 
 theists and idolaters. Nor was any other nation under 
 the same kind of political rule, nor governed by the 
 LORD in the same way. 
 
 But observe the cunning malice of his address to the 
 king. He does not say, there is an old Jew that has 
 offended me, and, through me, offered an affront to 
 your sacred majesty; therefore, let me execute ven- 
 
CONDITION OF THE JEWS. 159 
 
 geance upon him. No, not a word of this sort. He 
 feared to show his real character for rancour to the 
 king, or courtiers. He professes to have no personal 
 motives, but to be moved altogether by a desire for the 
 public good. There is "a people scattered/ 7 says he, 
 as if they were of no consequence to the king s empire. 
 They have no fixed home. Scattered abroad, and 
 dispersed, say you, you son of Amalek? It is true) 
 but is their dispersion their fault, or their misfortune ? 
 Their fathers sinned, and for their sins their Grod had 
 sent the Assyrians and Chaldeans to chastise them, 
 by laying waste their country and cities, and carrying 
 them away captives. Are the children to be res 
 ponsible for the sins of their parents and ancestors ? 
 A certain people as if he meant to say, nobody knows 
 who they arc whence they came a fugitive, vaga 
 bond, Gipsy race a curse to the kingdom. It was 
 thus, under false and malicious representations, by false 
 pleas, that he obtained his murderous decree. But if 
 he scrupled not to kill them, it is not strange that he 
 considered it no sin to tell lies on them, though slan 
 der is the worst kind of murder. 
 
 But Hainan s scorn is exceedingly haughty. His 
 anger is so fierce and excessive that he says within 
 himself, "It is not enough to take the blood of Morde- 
 cai. This were a mere vulgar, plebeian revenge for 
 such a lord as I. My fury shall fly higher. His 
 whole nation shall perish for this insult. The blood of 
 all the Jews is not more than enough to blot it out." 
 And as all the Hebrews then in the world were proba 
 bly within the limits of the Persian empire, it seemed 
 to be within his power to hold all their heads in one 
 
160 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 hand, while with the other he might, by one stroke, 
 cut all their throats. He was of the Nero school, who 
 is said to have wished that all the Christians h,".d but 
 one neck, that by a single blow he might make an end 
 of them. In his rage, it was nothing to Hainan that 
 the punishment is to far outrun the offense that thou 
 sands of the innocent were to be included in this sweep 
 ing execution thousands upon thousands that knew 
 neither him nor Mordecai were to be slaughtered before 
 or without knowing the cause at all. He hesitated not 
 to imbrue his hands in blood which he could not help 
 knowing was altogether innocent. 
 
 Neither Jceep tliey the, king s laws. But, Hainan, 
 where is the proof of this ? When and where were the 
 Jews seditious under their Persian rulers? In all these 
 provinces, is there a single Hebrew that has failed in 
 obedience to the king, unless it be this personal enemy 
 of yours ? Out of all the millions in his empire, has 
 the king any subjects so true as these Hebrews? For 
 all the rest obey through fear; they only obey from 
 conscience, or from a religious principle, for their laws 
 teach them to obey and pray for their sovereigns, and 
 " adjudge to hell all that are rebellious. " There is not 
 a syllable in proof that the Israelites in Persia were 
 unprofitable subjects or troublesome to the government. 
 It is true, as Tacitus says, and as we know from other 
 sources also, that the Jews, though scattered, yet as a 
 people, hold their religious rites distinct from all the 
 world besides. It was a part of their religion and 
 polity, and the design of God, that they should keep 
 themselves separate from the heathen. But there is 
 not a syllable of proof that the Jews were disobedient 
 
JEWS GOOD SUBJECTS. 161 
 
 to the laws of the king of Persia, nor that they were 
 unprofitable subjects. The contrary is proven by Ha- 
 man s proposition to pay ten thousand talents to the 
 king s treasuries. It is as if he had said the govern 
 ment derives a revenue from these people, but if the 
 king will allow me to destroy them all, I will make up 
 that loss out of my own property. 
 
 And in the conduct of Mordecai, remember what 
 service he has done, and the principle upon which he 
 is constrained to refuse. Ahasuerus had not now been 
 on his throne but for his loyalty. Nor is it really the 
 intention of the Persian Court to require a Jew to 
 violate his conscience in matters of religion. It is your 
 own malice that excites to this fearful revenge. 
 
 " It is not for the king s profit to suffer them." It 
 is, then, a question of profit or loss, not of right and 
 justice. Never was there a scheme of villainy that was 
 not gilded over with the plausible pretense of public 
 utility. Nothing under heaven has made so many fools 
 and so many heartless villains as supposed profit. The 
 greatest good to the greatest number is indeed desira 
 ble, but such an object was never yet reached by a dis 
 regard of justice and right. Expediency is a fallacy. ; 
 It is never allowed us to try the experiment of doing 
 evil that good may come. This is the Devil s " elabo 
 rate lie." 
 
 How did it turn out in the case before us ? The 
 king is to get ten thousand talents for this execution. 
 But instead of that his only profit was the blood and 
 mangled bodies of thousands of his faithful subjects. 
 Ah, cruel Haman ! Are these the tender mercies of 
 the wicked ? Are these the profits of sin ? What 
 
162 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 " if thou couldst have swuin in a whole sea of Jewish 
 blood, if thou couldst have raised mountains of their 
 carcasses. What if thou couldst have made all Persia 
 thy shambles, who would have given thee one farthing 
 for all those piles of flesh, for all those streams of 
 blood ? " Hall. Thus we see that Hainan s proposi 
 tion for the destruction of the Jews is backed with 
 three arguments: First. They are so scattered, that 
 their entire destruction will not depopulate any part of 
 the empire killed everywhere, they will be missed 
 nowhere. Secondly. By their destruction, the empire 
 would be consolidated and become more homogeneous. 
 They were a people not assimilated. Thirdly. The 
 king s treasure should be enriched with ten thousand 
 talents. Ahasuerus was to lock up all the Jews in his 
 chest, and Hainan s chemistry was to convert them all 
 into silver. But has it not always been thus ? In 
 what age or country has any one sought to wound the 
 state, who did not first kiss it, pretending that he was 
 seeking above all the public good ? He loves Cassar not 
 less, but Rome more, and himself most of all. " The 
 dear sovereign people," how the demagogue loves them, 
 and how he hugs them to death, all for mere love ; or 
 while kissing them, perchance, either betrays them, 
 or steals all the loaves and fishes ! Americans, you 
 have only two creatures on earth to fear, religious 
 fanatics and political demagogues. The people are 
 right, and are honest and may be trusted ; but fanatical 
 priests, and clergymen and demagogues, you must watch 
 with more than Argus eyes, and with u eternal vigi 
 lance." 
 
 As we find Haman assisted in his plans for a speedy 
 
THE PRIESTS EXCITING. 163 
 
 execution of Mordecai by his wife, so I have no doubt, 
 he was prompted in his scheme for the utter exter 
 mination of the Jews by the priests of Orismades. It 
 were not possible to get up such a work of horror with 
 out the fury of races and of religious fanaticism. It 
 were no doubt an easy thing for the priests of Zoroas 
 ter s religion, to persuade such a man as Hainan, that 
 the state was in danger from the neglect of the Holy 
 Temple of the Sun, and to charge this neglect upon the 
 Hebrews, who were corrupting the people. Well may 
 we imagine the horror with which the Magii contem 
 plated the turning of their temples into Hebrew fanes, 
 and the removal of their priests to make room for the 
 sons of Levi. And if they knew that the queen was a 
 Jewess, they might fear with reason that the king might 
 forsake the religion of their holy Zend Avesta for that 
 of Moses and David, and the worship of the sun for the 
 worship of Jehovah. And when they had fired Ha 
 inan s mind with fanatical fury, he exclaimed, yes, let 
 them die. " Dogs ! Deeves ! may Ahrimanes clutch 
 every soul of them ! The spawn of Judah shall never 
 put out our sacred fire ! " And rushing into the wait 
 ing room of the king s apartment, he cried out, "Woe ! 
 woe upon Susa ! Woe upon Persia and Media ! The head 
 priest tells me the gods are angry. Orismades hides 
 his head from us. The sacred fire burneth dim. The 
 good priests have studied the planets, and they say there 
 is fearful danger that Ahrimanes shall make Persia as 
 Tyre and Babylon." Now the great king Ahasuerus 
 was a superstitious man, and trembling with alarm, he 
 says : " What is the cause of this threatened evil, good 
 Hainan, what shall we do ?" " The Jews ! the Jews, 
 
164 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 my lord. Let the king live forever ; but the Jews are 
 the accursed cause of all this evil. Their presence is 
 a curse to our temple and to our people." " You are 
 certain, then, that these Jews are the cause of the anger 
 of our gods ?" And by trickery, the Magii and Ha- 
 man convince him, that it is owing to the Jews that 
 the holy fire is going out, and that if it should die, then 
 woe, woe to the kingdom of Ahasuerus. Then said the 
 king, let them die. Destroy, kill, and cause to perish 
 all Jews, men and women, and all their little ones. See 
 the Gleaner. 
 
 There are some who cavil at the largeness of the 
 amount ten thousand talents of silver which Hainan 
 offered to pay into the treasury. We do not know 
 whether the talents were Babylonish or Jewish. Either 
 would have been a large sum. Ten thousand talents 
 Babylonish would amount to about ten millions six 
 hundred thousand dollars; but if counted as Jewish 
 talents they would make more than double that amount. 
 And here it must not be forgotten that gold was plen 
 tiful in those days. It was before this that Solomon s 
 revenues by one voyage from Ophir were four hundred 
 and fifty talents of gold; that is, sixteen millions two 
 hundred thousand dollars; and that his annual income 
 was six hundred and sixty-six talents of silver nearly 
 equal to twenty-four millions of dollars. 
 
 Heeren says that we cannot avoid being struck by 
 the prodigious abundance of the precious metals in 
 early times in Central Asia. From the days of Solo 
 mon, and probably at an earlier period, the thrones of 
 their princes, and the furniture of their palaces and of 
 their tables, were of massive gold ; their weapons were 
 
ANCIENT MILLIONAIRES. 165 
 
 decorated and dresses and carpets embroidered with 
 gold. And it is worthy of remark that the descriptions 
 given by Xenophon in ancient times, and by Cliardin in 
 recent times, of the riches and splendor of the Persian 
 kings, are so much alike that they might have pro 
 ceeded from the same pen. And, in fact, so closely 
 do the regal usages of modern times in the East resem 
 ble those of ancient times, that I believe there is not a 
 single fact in the history of the Book of Esther which 
 might not occur at the present day, and which does 
 indeed often happen in part, or in various combina 
 tions. 
 
 Nor are we without collateral proof that such sums 
 were by no means uncommon in and near the times of 
 Haman. Crassus owned a landed estate valued at more 
 than one million and a half pounds sterling, and Rido- 
 rus, after having lost a great deal in the civil war, left 
 an estate worth one million forty-seven hundred pounds. 
 And Lcntulus, the augur, died worth three millions, 
 three hundred and thirty-three thousand, three hun 
 dred and thirty-three pounds sterling. Apicius was 
 possessed of above nine hundred and sixteen thousand, 
 six hundred and seventy-one pounds. His wealth, 
 however, was by no means satisfactory or sufficient for 
 him. For after having spent vast sums in his kitchen, 
 he was so miserable that he put an end to his own life 
 by poison. These rich old Romans were not bankers 
 or mere merchants and traders. These amounts did 
 not merely pass through their hands in the way of 
 trade. They were worth so much in hard money. Nor 
 were all the millionaires of ancient times Romans. 
 Herodotus says that Xerxes, in going to Greece, the 
 
166 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 father of Ahasuerus or as some say, Ahasuerus him 
 self, found Pytliius, the Lydian, possessed of two thou 
 sand talents of silver, and four millions of gold darics, 
 that is, about twenty-seven and a half millions of dol 
 lars. Lib. vii. And Plutarch informs us, that after 
 Crassus, the Roman general, had given the tenth of all 
 he had to Hercules, that he entertained ten thousand 
 people at tables, and gave to every citizen as much corn 
 as would support him three months ; and then had 
 seven thousand one hundred Roman talents remaining, 
 that is, about twenty-eight millions of dollars. Surely 
 then, there is nothing incredible in our history, because 
 it speaks of ten thousand talents of silver. The truth 
 is, we have glorified ourselves, until one might fairly 
 infer from our Fourth-of-July orations and School 
 Readers, that there was nothing in the world, before the 
 Declaration of Independence, but acorns, buckskin 
 moccasins, human skull beer bowls not only that no 
 brave men lived before " the king of men," but that 
 there was no Agamemnon before our Washington, and 
 no Nestor, Ajax, Ulysses or Cato, before our heroes. 
 But history seems to me to tell a very different story. 
 Our fathers and great men need no detraction from the 
 great many men of any age or country. They are he 
 roes among all the heroic. Let us then do justice to 
 other times and to other nations. The wealth and lux 
 ury of the old world, in many particulars, surpassed our 
 own times. The enormous debts contracted in the 
 days of Alexander and of the Caesars, prove that the 
 wealth of those times was great although this is a way 
 to prove one s wealth by, that is not at all to my mind, 
 especially for a Church. Antlwny owed, we are told, 
 
SPOILS TO THE VICTORS. 167 
 
 at the ides of March, 333,833,13.4., which, however, 
 it is said he paid before the calends of April, every 
 penny of it. He was a man after my own heart. An 
 honest man is truly a noble work of God. I hear it 
 often said, moreover, that the officials of Government 
 always make money. Well, what if they do ? Why 
 should they not live off their employment as others do ? 
 They serve Caesar, why should not Csesar pay them for 
 their service ? Why should they serve the sovereign 
 people for nothing, when everybody else is paid ? Why 
 should they not make money honestly as all others do, 
 or ought to try to do ? But in fact, we do not under 
 stand this business half so well as the old Romans and 
 Persians did. It was an easy matter with them for a 
 man sent off to be a Governor or consul, or collector, 
 soon to amass a very large fortune. 
 
 And to take the spoil of them for a prey. The peo 
 ple and their silver were given to Haman to do with 
 them as he pleased, and, in making out the decree of 
 extermination, Hainan arms every Persian against his 
 Hebrew neighbor, and whets his national enmity by 
 giving him. permission to take the property of every 
 Jew he can kill. It was bloody work, but the play was 
 large. 
 
 And to make Haman s authority perfect, he was in 
 vested with the king s signet ring, or privy seal. The 
 custom of having the seal set in a ring, though not 
 confined altogether to the East, has and does still pre 
 vail there, more than among western nations. Among 
 the Romans none but knights were allowed to wear 
 rings. When Alexander was dying, he took his ring 
 from off his finger, and gave it to Perdiccas, by which 
 
168 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 it was understood that he was appointed his successor. 
 So here, when the king gave his ring to Haman, it 
 was meant to be a token of his affection and confidence. 
 It was a mark of the high honor in which he was held. 
 He could now use the king s authority for any kind of 
 a decree he might wish to issue. The extent of the 
 commission was fearful to destroy, to kill, and to cause 
 to perish, all Jews, loth young and old, little children 
 and women, in one day, throughout all the provinces. 
 No mercy, no quarter. In every place and by all pos 
 sible means, the whole race was to be instantly exter 
 minated. I know not that a more impolitic, unjust, 
 disgraceful and cruel measure was ever adopted by any 
 Government on earth. The destruction of the Jani 
 zaries, or of the Mamelukes, bears no comparison with 
 it in point of atrocity. This wholesale destruction of 
 an entire people is so foreign to our customs and ideas, 
 that we are almost alarmed at it, and almost hesitate to 
 believe the history ; yet have we not reliable records of 
 similar catastrophes in modern times ? How often have 
 the Jesuits been expelled from the countries where 
 they were living and prosecuting their work of instruc 
 tion and proselytism ? How many edicts have been 
 issued against the Hebrews in Spain and other countries 
 of Europe ? What was the fate of the Moors in Spain ? 
 What has become of Poland ? Are there not many 
 Hamans now in the Turkish empire, who would, at a 
 single stroke, cut off the heads of all the Christians in 
 the empire ? What is the meaning of the massacre of 
 the English and French at Jedda, and of the slaughter 
 of Christians at Joppa and Antioch? In 1770 the 
 Grand Seignior, in the war with Russia, determined to 
 
PECULIAR CRUELTY. 169 
 
 cut off all the Greeks, as a punishment for their defec 
 tion from Turkey, and but for the great exertions of 
 the Turkish Admiral, the celebrated Hassan Pasha, it 
 is believed all the inhabitants of Greece and the Greek 
 isles would have been massacred. But if it were not 
 that tyranny and despotism harden the heart as well as 
 blind the mind, it would be almost impossible to believe 
 that any king could be either so idiotic or so awfully 
 wicked as to sanction this wholesale murder of so many 
 of his innocent subjects delivering, without full in 
 vestigation, and without any cause, a whole race into 
 Hainan s hands, as lambs to the lion. In examining 
 the credibility of this statement in our chronicles, we 
 must remember the age and the country the light and 
 careless manner of absolute monarchs their disregard 
 of life the peculiar influence of Hainan as a favorite 
 the large sum offered that the king was blind or 
 besotted, if riot drunk with wine that the prejudices 
 of races and the fanaticism of religious fury, were all 
 invoked and that it was, also, on the plea, not of pri 
 vate vengeance, or for the gratification of any personal 
 feeling, but for the Public Good that this murderous 
 decree was issued. 
 
 As the decree issued from the palace of the royal 
 city of Susa, the people were much perplexed. The 
 king and Hainan sat down to drink; l>ut the city 
 Shushan was perplexed. It is no wonder the city was 
 in astonishment and terror at such a decree. It was, 
 no doubt, seen at once that a great many lives would 
 be lost. The Jews would not all die without killing 
 many of their assailants, and when once such a slaugh 
 ter should have been commenced, who could tell where 
 8 
 
170 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 it would end. Might not some Persians be murdered 
 for their property, by their own countrymen, under pre 
 text that they were Jews, or united to them by mar 
 riage, or sympathized with them, or with the belief that 
 such murder could be done, and be charged upon resist 
 ing Jews. The temper of the court, and of the city, 
 was not the same. If proud and malicious men are not 
 concerned at the price of their revenge, or of their wars 
 and pomp, the people are. The people were sad, but the 
 court was merry. The king and Haman sat down to 
 drink. Perhaps Hainan was afraid to leave the king, 
 or to give him a moment s quiet reflection, lest his con 
 science should smite him. He, therefore, engages him 
 in a sack of wine. They drink in honor of the gods 
 of Persia, and confusion to the Jews. A dark cloud, 
 however, covers the city. Shushan, the delightful, is 
 sad. The people, in crowds, show marks of distress. 
 The merry laugh is not heard in the bazaars. No 
 doubt many of the Jews were known to their Persian 
 neighbors as industrious, peaceable, law-abiding people. 
 It was fearful to think of them all, men, women and 
 children, being butchered in cold blood. Many busi 
 ness or domestic relations had, no doubt, also grown up 
 between them. It was so, with Lot s family, in Sodom, 
 and also with the Jews who returned to the Holy Land. 
 Nor is any crime charged against the Jews. It is not 
 pretended they had done anything worthy of death, or 
 that they were, in any way, justly obnoxious to public 
 justice. There are no such counts in the indictment. 
 They are devoted to death simply because Haman has 
 demanded it. No wonder this bloody edict was revolt 
 ing to the right-minded heathen. No wonder the city 
 
TPE TERRORS OF DESPOTISM. 171 
 
 was troubled at the idea of such summary and indis 
 criminate slaughter. It was impossible but that Shu- 
 shan should have been perplexed. 
 
 1. This history is an illustration, of the danger of a 
 one-man power of an absolute despotism. When the 
 great king was exceedingly enraged with Vashti, he 
 called his seven wise men, and took their advice 
 when he was troubled about the decree against her, he 
 also called his ministers, and followed their counsel in 
 procuring another queen, and when the conspiracy 
 against his life was discovered, he did not proceed to 
 condemn and execute the conspirators until a full in 
 vestigation had been made, and their guilt established 
 beyond doubt, and then by, and with the consent of 
 his senate, a decree was made, that they should be put 
 to death according to law. But here, so tremendous 
 is the influence of the envious and enraged new court 
 favorite over the old monarch, and so bitter are the 
 prejudices of the court against the Jews, that, at the 
 first suggestion of Haman, without time for reflection, 
 without counsel from his wise men, a general decree 
 which, by the usage and laws of the empire, cannot be 
 altered or repealed, is at once issued, consigning a whole 
 nation to destruction, and transfering all their property 
 to Haman. It may be, as some commentators* tell us, 
 that it took the wily minister a long time to overcome 
 the king s reluctance that he was overreached by the 
 flattery and the religious zeal of the favorite and 
 that he consented, at last, only under the impression 
 that he owed everything to his zeal and fidelity. But 
 all this is no excuse. Ahasuerus was as bad a king as 
 
 8A 
 
172 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 he was a cruel husband. Rage and passion, the marks 
 of royal weakness, are seen in his cruelty to his queen, 
 and to his subjects. 
 
 The decrees of Roman emperors against the Chris 
 tians, and the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and the 
 massacre of St. Bartholomew, may belong to the same 
 chapter of horrors that chronicles this wholesale mur 
 dering edict ; but I have not found anywhere a decree 
 so steeped in infamy and blood as this. Never shall 
 we be thankful enough for our civil liberty, and free 
 dom to worship God. Daily thanksgiving should be 
 made to the God of our fathers for our Bill of Rights, 
 Habeas Corpus, trial ~by jury, and a written Consti 
 tution and laws made in conformity therewith. And 
 if history teaches us to fear the tyranny of a despot, it 
 also teaches us to fear 
 
 That worst of tyrants, an usurping crowd. 
 Mad, furious power, whose unrelenting mind 
 No God can govern, and no justice bind." 
 
 It is almost enough to make an enlightened Republican 
 loathe the name citizen, and the very idea of free in 
 stitutions, to see how the newspapers, and advocates of 
 lynch law, have praised " the resumption of sover 
 eignty by the people," and their holding in utter con 
 tempt the constitutional courts of the country. a The 
 moment citizens become soldiers, to interfere when and 
 where, and for what length of time it may please an 
 irresponsible, self-constituted, unconstitutional power 
 to direct them, then we may bid farewell to freedom."* 
 
 *1 Vol. Sheridan s Works. His Speech in British Parliament on the 
 Westminster Riots. 
 
LYNCH LAW DREADED. 173 
 
 If we are governed by the multitude, without such 
 courts and laws as our Constitution requires, then we 
 have all the evils of the worst despotism, without the 
 discipline or the security of a tyrant s rule. The lib 
 erty that rests on the selfishness, or the inclination of 
 one man, or of a hundred mentis suspended despotism, 
 and if we must choose between the rule of one man, 
 or of thirty, without a written Constitution and laws, 
 we should greatly prefer the one. In either case, our 
 property and personal liberty are at the will of human 
 caprice, or passion. In neither case may the sword be 
 actually drinking the blood out of our necks, but it is 
 hung close over them by the small brittle thread of hu 
 man will, which a thousand things may suddenly snap 
 asunder. As, under a despotism and an oligarchy, 
 the tendency is to a greater and greater usurpation of 
 power the centralizing of the whole government in 
 one man, or in a few, who, in the end, are converted 
 into one; so, on the other hand, there is a dangerous 
 tendency, under free institutions, toward the usurpa 
 tion of too much power by the people. Our history, 
 brief as it is, shows that this is the rock on which we 
 are in the greatest danger of total shipwreck. Of this 
 danger all our wise and great men, from Washington to 
 this hour, have earnestly warned us. It is confessedly 
 plain to every one, that with us there is a rapid ten 
 dency, in the popular mind, to exalt the will of the 
 people above all laws, human and divine to make 
 popular favor the supreme good the standard of right 
 and wrong. Already this disposition is so fully de 
 veloped that every aspirant for place is found under the 
 strongest temptations to offer incense to the people, as 
 
174 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 to a god. And, of all heathen gods that man s fears, 
 lusts, passions, and direful superstitions have ever formed, 
 there is not one so inexorable, so many-headed, so 
 bloody-minded, so insatiable, and so cruel a monster, 
 as the sovereign people, when freed from the moral 
 obligations of the word of God, and let loose upon one 
 another without the restraints of civil government. 
 Witness the reign of terror in France. It is well 
 known what Pilate did when his conscience constrained 
 him to ask the Son of God, What is truth? He went 
 out, without waiting for an answer, to consult with the 
 people. It is when Babel is to be built; it is when a 
 golden calf is to be set up; or a traitor, like Cataline, 
 wishes to overthrow the city, or betray his country; or 
 when the Son of God is to be crucified, that the vox 
 populi is appealed to, and the multitude blasphemously 
 respond, it is the vox Dei. while the voice of history, 
 and of reason, and of common sense, and of the Bible, 
 says that the vox populi is not the vox Dei, but the vox 
 infernal. The whole world lieth in wickedness, and 
 is at enmity with God and all righteousness. 
 
 2. We see how greatly we are blest, in having a gov 
 ernment, not of men, but of just, mild, enlightened 
 and equitable written and published laws, guarantee 
 ing to us liberty in the worship of God, and in the 
 pursuits of life and the enjoyment of our institutions. 
 The king of Persia, in some instances, seems to have 
 been surrounded by the restraints of precedents, yet, in 
 other cases, he could do what he pleased with the lives 
 and property of his subjects. There was no written 
 constitution. There were no laws and courts, like ours, 
 
OBEDIENCE TO OUR RULERS. 175 
 
 for the protection of the rights of the people. And 
 even if, as some do, we allow that Ahasuerus is the 
 same king that granted a decree to Nehemiah, and 
 that he did it the same year that he married Esther, 
 for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, instead of thinking 
 any the better of his character, we have only the more 
 proof of his inconsistency and want of principle. The 
 fear of God did not enter into his decree in favor of Ne- 
 hemiah, nor of Hainan. His purpose was to gratify a 
 favorite in both cases, but the one was a man df God, 
 and the other was an accursed Amalekite. 
 
 A weak, vacillating, spasmodic Government is a great 
 calamity. Woe to the people whose king is a child. As 
 Christians, we are taught to thank God for a wise and 
 stable Government, and to pray for all that are in au 
 thority, that the Church universal may have peace, and 
 that all its members may lead quiet and peaceable lives, 
 in all godliness and honesty. One of our most common 
 ly used and ablest and best commentaries, in summing 
 up some practical remarks on the character of Ahasue 
 rus, says: " Whatever mere professors may be, true 
 Christians are the best subjects under every Govern 
 ment ; not only because they are more peaceable, honest 
 and industrious than their neighbors, and conscien 
 tiously pay tribute and render obedience in all things 
 lawful, but because their examples and conversation 
 edify many, and their prayers bring down a blessing on 
 the land in which they live in peace. No acquisitions 
 of wealth, therefore, could compensate the loss of them, 
 even in a political view, and without bringing into 
 the account the enormous load of national guilt which 
 persecution rapidly accumulates." Dr. Thomas Scott. 
 
176 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 3. We are never to despair of the Ark, even when 
 it falls into the hands of the Philistines. God will 
 never forsake his people. It is no new thing for the 
 godly to have to suffer persecution. The Jews were 
 misrepresented. Even what Hainan said of them that 
 was true, was so said as to give a false coloring to the 
 whole picture. There is no proof that the Jews were 
 factious under the Persian rule. On the contrary, 
 from the lives of Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, we 
 should Infer just the opposite. They do not seem to 
 have shown, in Egypt, Babylon or Persia, any of the 
 turbulence that marked their subjugation to the Ro 
 mans. Their circumstances, in the cases cited, were 
 very different so that their factiousness, in New Tes 
 tament times, is easily explained. Israelites arc usual 
 ly remarkable for their submission to law and civil 
 government. Hainan s persecutions, then, were ground 
 less cruelties, practiced upon God s ancient people. 
 The slaughter of "the Innocents," the St. Bartholomew 
 massacre, are startling proofs of what men may be led to 
 do by malice and rage, all under the plea of doing God s 
 service, in protecting the State and the Church. 
 Thousands of non-conforming ministers, the very salt 
 of Great Britain, suffered under the Charles, and God s 
 dear people, in all past ages, have, in some form or 
 other, past to glory through many tribulations. We 
 find them fined, imprisoned, banished, despoiled of their 
 goods, and put to death, as enemies to the Church and 
 State, but upon false charges. Persecution always fol 
 lows any favoritism on the part of a Government to any 
 one religion in preference to others. It should not then 
 be thought a thing incredible that the Israelites were 
 
PERSECUTION EXPECTED. 177 
 
 slandered and consigned to destruction upon false 
 charges. 
 
 It is an old aspersion of God s people, to charge them 
 with singularity. Would to God there was more cause 
 for the imputation than there is. Not of a rude per- 
 verseness, but of a singularity that marks a high de 
 gree of devotion to God, and zeal for his service. But 
 it is not possible for the Church of God wholly to es 
 cape persecution. The seed of the bondwoman loveth 
 not the seed of the freewoman. The carnal mind is 
 at enmity with God. Here we find the adherence of 
 the Hebrews to their laws made the subject of a charge 
 against them, for which they were to be put to death ; 
 and yet these very laws were their greatest glory, and 
 the best on earth. They were the laws of the Lord 
 their God, and it was their duty to die for them, sooner 
 than disobey them, and to die for such a cause was a 
 glorious martyrdom. The very thing, therefore, that 
 constituted their glory, was made their offense. But it 
 is better always to fall into the hands of God than of 
 men. This was David s choice, and observation ap 
 proves of it. The very reasons Haman gave for destroy 
 ing the Hebrews, are among the very reasons why God 
 will not let them perish out of the earth. That which 
 whets the sword of men, moves the pity of the Al 
 mighty. And never was there a more deeply laid plot 
 than this; and to human view, there seemed to be no 
 possible way to escape. It was just so at the Red Sea, 
 and yet it was there His power was manifested to save; 
 and so it will be here. God sometimes leaves his peo 
 ple to come into the greatest peril, that his power may 
 be the more easily seen in their deliverance. Pharaoh 
 
178 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 was raised up to show his power, and so was Haman. 
 " Grod taketli the wise in their own craftiness, and en 
 snares the wicked in the works of their own hands." 
 In the darkest hour, it is our duty and our highest hap 
 piness, still to trust in Grod. Behind a frowning cloud, 
 His face beams with ineffable love. And if a day of 
 fiery trials come, when for the testimony of Jesus, we 
 must endure cruel torturings, even unto death, then 
 martyr-grace will be given unto us. I believe there 
 are thousands of men and women, in our own times, who 
 would make as brave confessors and martyrs, as any 
 that have ever honored Christ at the stake, or on the 
 Roman arena. And why should we fear to die for Je 
 sus, or at his bidding ? Death is but departing to be 
 forever with the Lord and with his saints in glory. 
 
 " The grave itself is but a covered bridge, 
 Leading from light to light through a brief darkness. 
 Death is but the lifting of a latch ; 
 Only a step into the open air, 
 Out of a tent already luminous 
 With light that shines through its transparent walls." 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MORDECAI IN SACKCLOTH. 
 
 Conscience, good my lord, 
 
 Is but the pulse of reason." 
 
 Coleridge. 
 
 u A man on earth may have too much love to weep. His 
 highest duty is thought and then action." 
 
 Peter Bayne. 
 
 BATTLES and conquests, the rise of conquerors and 
 the reign of kings and their fall the treachery and 
 flattery of courtiers and the toils of statesmen, chiefly 
 make up the history of the world. Here and there, 
 but, " like angel s visits, few and far between," we 
 have an episode for harmonizing hostile nations into con 
 cord, and for the advancement of the glorious arts of 
 peace. Such was the international jubilation for the 
 ocean telegraph, which is, by no means, a failure, even 
 if the lips of this cable should never utter another sylla 
 ble. It cannot be pronounced a failure, because the 
 laying of the cable was really and truly accomplished. 
 It is a fact, therefore, added to the chronicled deeds of 
 the human race. And again, communication by tele 
 graph across the Atlantic is now certain. Enough has 
 
180 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 been done to prove that it is practicable. And, be 
 sides, the interchange of good feeling between the Old 
 and the New World, on that occasion, was worth all 
 the expense, and a great deal more than all the expense 
 of the cable and the jubilee. It is seen to be a part of 
 God s plan, in the government of the world, that a 
 Howard shall appear, now and then, to remind man 
 kind of the sublime benevolence of which they are 
 capable. The internal history of the world is, however, 
 a very different one from its external. The internal 
 lies deeper. It is a history of hearts the hearts of 
 rulers as well as of subjects. For it is not true that 
 the great and the mighty of the earth have no hearts. 
 It may be that, sometimes, they try to hide their 
 hearts, or to smother up, or enfeeble their higher and 
 better natures. But kings and queens have human 
 hearts. In the history before us, we have both exter 
 nal and internal conflicts pictured out. Our chronicle 
 here is according to Esther, iv chapter. 
 
 If we could convict Mordecai of selfishness, pride, or 
 wicked ambition, in his conduct toward the king or the 
 prime minister; or of any unhallowed purpose in his 
 presenting Hadassah, his angelic cousin, to the chief 
 of the officers of the king s household, as a candidate 
 for the crown royal, then we should now begin to fear 
 for him, and say, with Job s friends, that it was for his 
 iniquities this calamity had come upon him. But we 
 have not found anything against him. We have, thus 
 far, found him a well educated, refined gentleman, of 
 high principles, tried integrity, and unwavering loyalty 
 and piety. He may have felt a just satisfaction with 
 himself in what he had done in bringing up Hadassah, 
 
MORDECAl s MOTIVES. 181 
 
 and advancing her to the king s favor. This would 
 not have been sinful. There was nothing dishonorable 
 nor sinful in his conduct, nor in his cousin s relations 
 with the king. But, doubtless, Mordecai s motives 
 were higher than mere personal gratification or honor. 
 His character is proof that he was an attentive observer 
 of the unfolding providences of the God of his fathers. 
 Indeed, throughout the history, we see the use of 
 means in subordination to an overruling purpose. Es 
 ther s rare beauty, exquisite form, faultless features and 
 radiant eyes were all given to her by Him who opened 
 the heart of the chief officer to show her favor. And 
 He whose Spirit moved Mordccai to use such means as 
 were proper for the education and success of Esther, 
 caused the pious Jewess, when she came before the 
 king, to appear to him as a vision of perfect beauty and 
 loveliness. Her personal charms were a part of the 
 means to be used for the deliverance of the scattered 
 Hebrews. There is no let or hindrance in the accom 
 plishment of the Divine purposes, nor is there any con 
 fusion or cross-purposes between Divine efficiency and 
 human effort. Man is free and God is sovereign, and 
 salvation is always of grace -free grace. 
 
 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, he rent 
 his clothes, and put on sackcloth. The promulgation of 
 this decree must have been sad news throughout the 
 empire. The king s posts flew with the royal com 
 mand almost as swift as the winds, and throughout all 
 the provinces, withersoever the decree came, there ivas 
 great mourning among the Jews, and fasting and 
 weeping , and wailing ; and many lay in sackcloth 
 and ashes. 
 
182 THE HEBREW- PER SI AN QUEEN. 
 
 Great was the wailing that filled the Hebrew quar 
 ters of the royal city and every synagogue. And, no 
 doubt, Mordecai s former monitors, his fellow servants 
 of the palace, added insult to grief. " Did we not tell 
 you so ? Did we not admonish you that such would be 
 the end of your stupid obstinacy ? It is strange you will 
 run your head against a stone wall. You have come 
 to a pretty pass. You would have none of our advice, 
 therefore we will now leave you to your sackcloth, and 
 may it be very soft to you ! But tell us, old stiff knees, 
 what is to be the end of a contest between a Jew, like 
 you, and Hainan, the favorite of the great king of Per 
 sia ? Which will be the hardest, when your earthen 
 pitcher knocks against his of brass ?" And so, wagging 
 their heads and greatly delighted with their own wit, 
 they left Mordecai to his grief and to his pious medita 
 tions, the reading of the Psalms of David, the Book of 
 Job, the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah and the 
 writings of Moses, and to find relief in prayer. 
 
 And Mordecai, in sackcloth, went out into the midst 
 of the city, and came even before the king s gate, for 
 none might enter into the king s gate clothed with sack 
 cloth. It was and is still the law in the East, that no 
 one in sackcloth can be admitted to the presence of 
 royalty, nor in any habiliments of mourning, unless by 
 special favor. Perhaps the reason of this prohibition 
 was that the sight of such things would put the king in 
 mind of sickness and death, and so disturb his pleasures. 
 As Mordecai could not, therefore, enter the king s gate 
 or palace, with such marks of oppressive grief, be went 
 out into the midst of the city. His cry must have been 
 peculiarly loud and bitter, because he had been made 
 
MORDECAI IN PRAYER. 183 
 
 the occasion of this murderous decree. His enemy 
 seemed about to triumph, not only over him, but also in 
 cutting off his whole race scorning to let his vengeance 
 fall on him alone. As it was with Moses, so it was 
 with him what he had done for the deliverance of his 
 people, was at first turned to their disadvantage. "I 
 fancy, as indeed the second Targum expressly says, I 
 hear him crying aloud through the streets, saying : " A 
 people is going to be destroyed, who have done no evil. 
 What a heavy decree is this which the king and Ha- 
 man have passed, not against a part of us, but against 
 us all; to root us out of the earth." And the Jews 
 hearing him uttering such a complaint, gathered about 
 him, and he having caused the book of the law to be 
 brought to the gate of the city, and being covered with 
 sackcloth, read Deut. iv : 30, 31. " When thou art in 
 tribulation and all these things are come upon thee in 
 the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and 
 shalt be obedient to his voice, for the Lord thy God is 
 a merciful God, he will not forsake thee, nor destroy 
 thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which he 
 swore unto them." And then he exhorted them to 
 fasting, humiliation, prayer and repentance, after the 
 example of the Ninevites. In the apocryphal Esther, 
 we have a copy of the prayer which Mordecai is said to 
 have used on this occasion, and at the time of the gen 
 eral fast. It is in the words following : 
 
 LORD, LORD, the King Almighty, for the whole 
 world is in thy power, and if thou hast appointed to 
 save Israel, there is no man that can gainsay thee ; for 
 thou hast made heaven and earth and all the wondrous 
 things under the heaven. Thou art LORD of all things, 
 and there is no man that can resist thee, which art the 
 
184 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 LORD. Thou knowest all things, and thou knowest, 
 LORD, that it was neither in contempt nor pride, nor 
 for any desire of glory, that I did not bow down to 
 proud Hainan. For I could have been content, with good 
 will, for the salvation of Israel to kiss the soles of his 
 feet. But I did this that I might not prefer the glory 
 of 1 man to the glory of GrOD ; neither will I worship any 
 but thee, GOD. Neither will I do it in pride. And 
 now, LORD GOD, and King, spare thy people, for 
 their eyes are upon us to bring us to nought j yea, they 
 desire to destroy the inheritance that hath been thine 
 from the beginning. Despise not the portion which 
 thou hast delivered out of Egypt for thine own self. 
 Hear iny prayer and be merciful unto thine inheritance; 
 turn our sorrow into joy, that we may live, LORD, 
 and praise thy name, and destroy not the mouths of 
 them that praise thee, LORD. All Israel in like man 
 ner cried most earnestly unto the LORD, because their 
 death was before their eyes. 
 
 But perhaps you are indignant at his useless wailing 
 in the streets, and praying in the synagogue, and say, 
 why does he not go at once and tell the queen ? But 
 can every porter rush into Buckingham palace and 
 speak to her Majesty ? Is every one that comes, admit 
 ted to the presence of the Empress Eugenie ? In Per 
 sia it was a crime even to inquire what was done in 
 the harem. And except on some very important busi 
 ness, even the guard never speak to any one outside, or 
 convey any intelligence, either out or in. Mordecai, 
 then, did not go to the queen for the very best of rea 
 sons. He could not. You must remember that the 
 inmates of an oriental harem have their apartments 
 altogether separate, and that they are guarded by a 
 body of black eunuchs, who are as fierce, sullen, and 
 silent, as so many black dragons. No one, upon pain 
 
MORDECAI IN THE STREETS: 185 
 
 of death, from without, is allowed to speak to any one 
 within the harem. Though the queen was his cousin, 
 Mordccai could have no communication with her, except 
 through the guard. Even when he discovered the con 
 spiracy, he was obliged to use one of the eunuchs as his 
 agent of communication with her. Any one who has 
 ever seen the guards of the seraglio of Constantinople, 
 is ready, I am sure, to conclude that it were as easy to 
 converse with so many dragons and that one might as 
 well undertake to tear out their hearts, as to get a syl 
 lable from them of the secrets that are within the walls 
 and gates of the harem regions so sacred and so se 
 cluded, that they seem to belong to another world. To 
 understand this history, therefore, it is necessary for 
 you to divest yourself of our republican ideas of freedom 
 of access to high personages. And this explains why 
 Mordecai walked, as in a preceding chapter, every day 
 before the court of the women s house. This was the 
 only way he had to gain any intelligence from within. 
 So here, instead of going to the queen, he goes into the 
 streets, and cries with a loud and bitter cry, and came 
 even before the king s gate. His object, no doubt, was 
 to arouse his people to an apprehension of their danger, 
 and to attract the attention of some one from the 
 queen s apartments of the palace, through whom a com 
 munication might be opened up with her. For a time, 
 the queen knows nothing of the decree, nor of Morde- 
 cai s lamentations. But at last, (< Esther s maids and 
 her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the 
 queen exceedingly grieved ; and she sent raiment to 
 clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from 
 him : but he received it not. Then called Esther for 
 
186 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Hatach, one of the king s chamberlains, whom he had 
 appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a com 
 mandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why 
 it was. So Hatach went forth to Mordecai, unto the 
 street of the city, which was before the king s gate." 
 The queen s crown, though sparkling with jewels, was 
 now as heavy as lead on her head, because of Mordecai s 
 sackcloth and ashes. It is true friendship always to 
 feel the condition of those whom we love. The queen 
 seems at first to have supposed that Mordecai had been 
 robbed of his clothing, and was in want. She there 
 fore sent raiment to him, and was exceedingly grieved 
 on his account ; but he received it not. Then she sent 
 again her most confidential servant, to know what was 
 the matter. And now Mordecai tells him of the mur 
 derous decree of Hainan, and commands him to show 
 it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge 
 her that she should go into the Jdng, to make supplica 
 tion unto him, and to maJce request before him for her 
 people. And Hatach came and told Esther the words 
 of Mordecai. See verse 7, 8, 9. In the Greek, it is 
 added, that in sending this message to the queen, Mor 
 decai said also : " Remember your low estate, and how I 
 carried you in my arms, and how I have nourished you ; 
 and that Hainan who is next to the king, has gotten a 
 decree for our destruction. Pray, therefore, to the 
 Lord ; and plead with the king, that we may be deliv 
 ered from death." This is all good sense, and as far as 
 we know, historically true, but there is not a word of it 
 in the original text, nor in the Syriac or Vulgate. 
 
 The queen s reply to Mordecai through Hatach, was 
 that, " All the king s servants, and the people of the 
 
THE QUEEN S REMONSTRANCE. 187 
 
 king s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether 
 man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner 
 court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put 
 him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold 
 out the golden sceptre, that he may live : but I have 
 not been called to come in unto the king these thirty 
 days. And they told to Mordecai Esther s words." 
 
 The case seems exceedingly embarrassed. The diffi 
 culties were quite enough to discourage her woman s 
 heart. She seems to say, I fear some rival has ob 
 tained the king s favor ; or that his affection has cooled 
 toward me; and if I were to peril my life by going into 
 his presence, I fear my face, instead of recalling his 
 love, would only excite his rage. But, says her foster- 
 father, with a hero s heart, I command you, Hatach, to 
 say to the queen : " Think not with thyself that thou 
 shalt escape in the king s house, more than all the 
 Jews. For if thou altogether boldest thy peace at this 
 time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise 
 to the Jews from another place; but thou, and thy 
 father s house, shall be destroyed; and who knoweth 
 whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time 
 as this?" Terse 13, 14. The queen s answer to 
 Mordecai was a true account of the case, but to him it 
 was the language of weakness of unbelief. The 
 fear, or imagination of a cruel death, did not make his 
 heart fail. But if it is death that you fear, he says, 
 what but death awaits you ? The case is thus : Go 
 and plead, and you may die, it is true; but if you go 
 not, you are certain to die. Your blood is Jewish. 
 No one is exempted from this decree. It were better 
 then to act on the possibility of hope than to sit still 
 
188 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 and die. Bat I know there is salvation for Israel. The 
 God of Jacob will not let tyrants root out and destroy 
 His people. The Holy One of Israel will work mira 
 cles, as in days of old, sooner than that His promises to 
 our fathers shall fail. And if you are not worthy of 
 the post to which you are raised up, the honor of our 
 deliverance will be given to some one else. It was to 
 save His people, Jehovah has placed you on the throne, 
 and He will not fail because of your weakness. Thus. 
 in Mordecai s remonstrances with the queen, we see : 
 First, That, for himself, though belonging to the king s 
 household, and related to the queen, and for Her Ma 
 jesty herself, there was no escape from Hainan s decree. 
 No Jew, high or low, was to be allowed to live. The 
 case, therefore; was her own, as well as his, and of all 
 their people. 
 
 Secondly, We see his fsifcb and courage. He was 
 not in despair; for, even if the queen would not do her 
 duty, still he was confident the needful help would be 
 obtained. Though one instrument, or agency, might 
 fail, he did not doubt but God s people would b- j saved. 
 The Divine covenant could not fail. He seems to 
 argue thus : It may be God s rule to keep us in igno 
 rance of our danger until it is necessary to arouse us 
 to feel our dependence on Him. and to use the means 
 which He has appointed for our deliverance. He may, 
 in mercy, keep us ignorant also of our own strength 
 and resources till we try ourselves what we can do. 
 For it is only when we have done our utmost that we 
 are authorized to commit our cause wholly to God, and 
 rest alone upon Him for deliverance. It is when 
 
MORDECAl S COURAGE AND FAITH. 189 
 
 Atrides sends his whole soul with his lance, that Jove 
 carries it home to the heart of his enemy. Mordecai s 
 faith was truly conquering. It was heroic. The clouds 
 were thick and heavy. The decree is long, and broad, 
 and deep, and it has gone forth to the utmost verge of 
 the empire. And it is as irrevocable as it is cruel and 
 bloody. The king is all-powerful. But still the He 
 brew s faith failed not. He trusted in the promises of 
 God he thought them more powerful than the threat 
 ening decrees of a tyrant. " And this is the victory 
 that overcorneth the world, even our faith. " 
 
 Thirdly, Though assured of deliverance, from some 
 quarter, Mordecai was jealous that the queen should 
 have the honor of it. And who knoweth ivhether thou 
 art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? As 
 if he had said, " Can you suppose Divine Providence 
 has raised you up from so low a condition, in a strange 
 land, to become the queen of the Persian Empire, merely 
 for your own sake? Was there not some great public 
 interest to be secured by this ? It cannot be, my 
 lovely, and now royal cousin, that the God of our 
 fathers has so highly favored you merely for your own 
 sake, or for your personal ease, dignity and enjoyment. 
 No. He has raised you to the throne that you may 
 have the honor of doing some great service to the 
 Hebrew race, and to the Church of the one living and 
 true God, in the midst of a corrupt and idolatrous em 
 pire." To awaken her to a sense of her responsibility, 
 and inspire her with faith in God, he is careful to 
 urge her to recall to mind how Providence had taken 
 care of her helpless orphanage, and had raised her to 
 the throne, no doubt, for this very crisis. And that 
 
190 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 now, if she failed, it would show a great want of cour 
 age great lack of love for her people, and a sad want 
 of faith in Grod; and, for such a failure of duty, she 
 must expect the wrath of Grod. For it was true then, 
 as it is and has been ever since, that if, by sinful shifts, 
 we seek to save our life, we shall loose it. That life 
 is lost that is saved by sin, which is the highest dis 
 honor. 
 
 It is enough. The queen now sees her responsi 
 bility. Her foster-father has, at last, touched the right 
 cord her duty, as a pious Israelite, to the faith of 
 her fathers, and to her kindred. She, therefore, com 
 manded Hatach to return this answer to Mordecai : 
 " Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in 
 Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink 
 three days, night or day : I also and my maidens will 
 fast likewise : and so will I go in unto the king; which 
 is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish. 
 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all 
 that Esther had commanded him." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE QUEEN INTERCEDING. 
 
 " God s ear is open and there still is room." 
 
 THE last chapter opened with wailing and sackcloth 
 in the streets of Shushan. The Sultana s crown of 
 jewels was heavier than lead. Royal hearts were 
 pierced with many sorrows. 0, the living world of 
 anxieties and apprehensions in which we now dwell, 
 nor are thrones and palaces free from them. But the 
 chapter closed with a great solemn religious convoca 
 tion. Mordecai assembles the people for fasting and 
 prayer. Every Israelite is now to go to his knees, not 
 before idols, nor in the temples of the Sun, but before 
 Jehovah, the God of his fathers. And the queen, 
 perhaps the only worshipper of the true God in the 
 palace, with her maidens, are to join Mordecai and the 
 people in fasting and prayer; and, afterward, she says, 
 " I will go in unto the king." Heroic resolve, worthy a 
 Hebrew queen of the race of Miram, Deborah and 
 Judith. Nor is life ever so well used as when to lose it 
 is gain. Duty is more than life. Duty is ours, conse 
 quences are God s. 
 
192 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 We have found a Hebrew maid, an orphan and a 
 captive, on the banks of the Choaspes a lovely dam 
 sel, a beautiful odalisque, a graceful, charming wife, a 
 most fascinating Sultana; but now we find her the 
 Heroine. Never till now has her mission fully ap 
 peared. The process of her preparation for her work 
 has been long and varied and most wonderful, but her 
 work came to her at last, and nobly does she perform it. 
 It is in the noble resolve that she will offer her life a 
 sacrifice, if necessary, to save her countrymen, that her 
 real strength of character begins to develop itself. 
 Here, at once, she rises to the dignity of a martyr. 
 The proud, heroic blood of Mordecai speaks out in her 
 when she says : / will go in unto the 7cing y and if I 
 perish I perish. She scerns to say : My mind is now 
 clearly made up. It is my duty to try to save niy peo 
 ple, and I am resolved to do so, and if I lose my life in 
 the attempt, I shall yield it cheerfully, because I am 
 in the way of duty. 
 
 Though it is strange that there is no mention of God 
 in their fasting and ceremonies, nor of praying to Him, 
 yet it is certainly implied. I do not know why prayer 
 is not mentioned, nor why the name of God is omitted. 
 But, surely, it was not supposed by Esther or Morde 
 cai that there was any charm in their fasting or rend 
 ing of clothes. They must have thought that, in and 
 by such acts of penitence, and such marks of grief, 
 they could awaken the people to a sense of their dan 
 ger and arouse them to call upon the God of their 
 fathers, in this time of their extremity. The Queen s 
 resolve implied her profound regard for God, submis 
 sion to His will, and a great regard for the lives of her 
 
THE GOLDEN SCEPTRE. 193 
 
 people. She had become satisfied that if she was to 
 lose her life it was in a good cause, and that she could, 
 therefore, safely commit herself to her heavenly Father. 
 " Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther 
 put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court 
 of the king s house, over against the king s house : and 
 the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, 
 over against the gate of the house. And it was so, 
 when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the 
 court, that she obtained favor in his sight : and the 
 king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in 
 his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top 
 of the sceptre. Then said the king unto her, What 
 wilt thou, queen Esther ? and what is thy request ? it 
 shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom. 
 And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, 
 let the king and Haman come this day unto the ban 
 quet that I have prepared for him." 
 
 There is a passage in the Cyropedia of Xenophon 
 which proves that the kings of Persia used a golden 
 sceptre, such as is alluded to in the text. It is in the 
 sixth book. " It is not/ 7 said Cyrus to his son Cam- 
 byses, " the golden sceptre that saves the kingdom ; 
 faithful friends are the truest and safest sceptre of the 
 empire. " Other proof is not wanting, but not needed. 
 The condition of the king and the queen, as they now 
 come before us, is very different, and that of the queen 
 very much changed. The last time we saw her was at 
 her coronation. Now the king and Haman are drinking 
 in the banqueting hall of the palace, but Esther is very 
 differently employed. If you look into her apartments, 
 they are gorgeously furnished. Light steals into them 
 ~ 9 
 
194 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 through the richly decorated windows by day, and 
 golden lamps from marble columns pour their light 
 upon golden divans pidvinaria worthy of a goddess 
 by night. Her chambers are filled, every day, with 
 the most costly perfumes. Fruits and flowers and 
 wines, from Shiraz and the Happy Isles, cover the 
 tables. But the queen is not under the spell of such 
 enchantments. For two days and nights she has nei 
 ther tasted food nor drink. It is now the third day 
 since she and her maidens begun their fasting. Hun 
 ger and thirst, and mental agony still more, are making 
 deep inroads upon her physical strength, if not upon 
 her beauty. Pale and almost haggard, her lustrous 
 eyes begin to grow dim with weeping, and her lips, 
 though almost parched with thirst, are still moving in 
 prayer. Her knees ache from long prostration on the 
 tesselatcd floor. But, as hour after hour passes, and 
 her heart pours forth its sorrow, she feels her courage 
 growing stronger, until she has gained strength for the 
 terrible interview. But, before she rises from her 
 knees to make her toilet, let us hear one of her prayers. 
 We take it from her apocryphal life, where it is said : 
 " Being in fear of death, queen Esther resorted unto 
 the LORD, and laid away her glorious apparel, and 
 put on the garments of anguish and mourning; 
 and instead of precious ointments, she covered her 
 head with ashes and dung, and she humbled her 
 body greatly, and all the places of her joy she filled 
 with her torn hair. And she prayed unto the Lord 
 God of Israel, saying, my LORD, thou only art 
 our king, help me, a desolate woman, which have no 
 helper but Thee : For my danger is in mine hand. 
 
THE QUEEN S PRAYER. 195 
 
 From my youth up I have heard in the tribe of my 
 family ; that thou, LORD, tookest Israel from among 
 all people, and our fathers from all their predecessors 
 for a perpetual inheritance, and thou hast performed 
 whatsoever thou didst promise them. And now we 
 have sinned before thee ; therefore hast thou given us 
 into the hands of our enemies, because we worshipped 
 their gods. LORD, thou art righteous. Neverthe 
 less it satisneth them not that we are in bitter captivity, 
 but they have stricken hands with their idols, that they 
 will abolish the thing that thou with thy mouth hast 
 ordained, and destroy thine inheritance and stop the 
 mouth of them that praise thee, and quench the glory 
 of thy house and of thine altar. And open the mouths 
 of the heathen to set forth the praises of the idols, and 
 to magnify a fleshly king forever. LORD, give not 
 thy sceptre unto them that be nothing, and let them 
 not laugh at our fall, but turn their device upon them 
 selves, and make him an example that hath begun this 
 against us. Remember, LORD, make thyself known 
 in time of our affliction, and give me boldness, King 
 of the nations and Lord of all power. Give me elo 
 quent speech in my mouth before the lion, turn his heart 
 to hate him that fighteth against us, that there may be 
 an end of him and of all that are like minded to him. 
 But deliver us with thine hand and help me that am 
 desolate, and which have no other helper but Thee. 
 Thou knowest all things, Lord) thou knowest that I 
 hate the glory of the unrighteous, and abhor the bed 
 of the uncircumcised, and of all the heathen. Thou 
 knowest my necessity, for I abhor the signof my high 
 estate, which is upon mine head in the days wherein I 
 9A 
 
196 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 shew myself, and tliat I abhor it, and that I wear it 
 not when I am private by myself. And that thine 
 handmaid hath not eaten at Aman s table, and that I 
 have not greatly esteemed the king s feast, nor drunk 
 the wine of the drink-offerings. Neither had thine 
 handmaid any joy since the day that I was brought 
 hither to this present, but in thee, O LORD GOD of 
 Abraham. thou Mighty GOD above all, hear the 
 voice of the forlorn, and deliver us out of the hands of 
 the mischievous, and deliver me out of my fear. 
 
 The queen and her maidens have been fasting and 
 engaged in solemn devotions in their apartments, and 
 Mordecai and all the Jews, fasting and praying in all 
 the synagogues, while the king and Haman have been 
 quite otherwise employed, But their revelry is over. 
 It is court day and audience hours. And as no sove 
 reigns ever assumed more haughty airs, or claimed 
 higher royal honors than the Persians, it will be inter 
 esting to get a view of the Palace, the throne, and the 
 king. The history of these monarchs informs us that 
 no one could approach them unveiled and uncalled, 
 without peril of life, and that into the inner court of 
 the harem, no person ever entered but the king and the 
 woman he had called. No one of his court, neither the 
 prime minister, nor the queen herself, ever dared to go 
 into this chamber, unless ordered to do so, or led by the 
 king himself into it. And in this case, the queen s 
 difficulty was increased by the fact that, the king had 
 not called her for thirty -days. And according to 
 Herodotus, after the time of Deioces, king of Media, in 
 order that the person of the king might be more secure, 
 it was a law that no one should be admitted into his 
 
THE QUEEN S PREPARATIONS. 197 
 
 presence, when on the throne, until special leave had 
 been obtained. The ordinary rule was that all business 
 with the king was to be transacted through the medium 
 of his ministers. 
 
 But the hour has come when Esther must either find 
 favor for herself and her people, or forfeit her life and 
 leave her crown to another. She has been grieved, 
 alarmed, and deeply agitated ; but she feels that she is 
 in the way of duty, and now on the third day of the 
 fast, she suspends her prayers to adorn herself for the 
 presence of the king. With the courage and resolution 
 of a queen, and the piety of a Hebrew, she begins her 
 preparation for the great trial. Her face now assumes 
 its wonted cheerful and beauteous expression. Her 
 abstinence and devotions have made her more beau 
 tiful than ever. The same God that was with Joseph 
 in Egypt, and with Moses in the wilderness, and with 
 Daniel and his companions in Babylon, has been with 
 her in Susa. The pulse and water, with God s bless 
 ing, was a better diet for the Hebrews than the king s 
 meat and wine, so that at the end of the ten days, their 
 countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh, than 
 all the children which did eat the portion of the king s 
 meat. Dan. i : 15. And it was just so here, God 
 whom she worshipped, made her the more beautiful, 
 because of her humiliation before Him, and because 
 she had put her trust in Him, and was now offering her 
 life as a sacrifice to him, for the sake of his people. 
 
 There is something worthy of special notice in the 
 difference of her preparation, this time, for going be 
 fore the king, and her preparation for meeting him 
 the first time. Under the tuition of the chief of- 
 
198 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 ficer of the hareni, she was prepared with myrrh and 
 sweet odors, and kept twelve months in a state of 
 purification, that she might be reckoned fit to be pre 
 sented to the king. But here she has not the assist 
 ance of Hege, and has only three days, and they are 
 spent, not in the sweet baths and in the vigorous use of 
 oils and odors, but in fasting and prayer. As far as 
 her personal appearance could avail in her behalf, it 
 was chiefly her face that was to win the king, and this 
 she makes thin and pale by abstinence and mental 
 agony. Would not the wisdom of this world have 
 pampered the flesh, that the wanton eyes of a Pagan 
 king might be the more easily inflamed ? It was the 
 queen s faith that taught her to languish to please to 
 trust in prayer rather than in carnal beauty to rely 
 on Glod to touch the king s heart, rather than anything 
 she could do herself, and yet she was assiduously 
 using all and the very best means within her power to 
 make her effort successful. All things being done by 
 herself, and her people and Mordecai being at peace 
 with God, and having her cause right in His sight, the 
 queen now prepares to go to the king. Never did she 
 take so much pains with her toilet. Never before did 
 she direct her long black tresses to be so carefully 
 braided over her polished forehead never before did 
 she use so much skill in trying to enhance her every 
 personal charm, and make her beauty irresistible to the 
 king. She was arrayed with the snow-white woolen 
 stuffs of Damascus and the roseate silks of Persia ; the 
 royal tiara of twisted silk and gold sparkling with most 
 precious jewels, and proclaiming her rank and relation 
 to the king, while, at the same time, it set off her 
 
THE KING S APPEARANCE. 199 
 
 figure to great advantage over her shoulders flowed 
 the purple velvet mantle, embroidered on the edge 
 with heavy pearls. And never did royal robes become 
 her so well. She looked more like a goddess, dropped 
 from the clouds, than a being of clay. Her maidens 
 were also very beautiful, and most elegantly arrayed. 
 When she came to the threshhold of the palace, she 
 stopped a moment to breathe a fervent prayer, and swal 
 low down the choking sensation that almost suffocated 
 her, and to gather up her failing strength, and then 
 she passed into the throne-room, where sat the king, 
 with his golden sceptre in his hand, and surrounded 
 with his nobles, and the crown upon his head. . The 
 king was an aged man his locks were long and white 
 as snow, and his beard soft and glossy as a Turk s of 
 three-score years, flowing down upon his breast, after 
 the manner of Mehemet Ali. His robe was of Persian 
 purple and strips of silver; his diadem was massive with 
 priceless gems the richest crown then on earth. His 
 tunic was a brilliant mass of gold and jewels. The 
 throne was of ivory, all glittering with gold and pre 
 cious stones. Though his arms were long, he was con-< 
 sidered a very handsome man. And, under such cir 
 cumstances, thus arrayed, in a magnificent saloon of 
 marble, inlaid with ivory and the most costly sweet 
 woods, and hung with cloth of gold tissue, and an im 
 mense plane-tree, wrought in gold, overhanging his 
 throne, his appearance must have been splendid, and 
 well calculated to fill a spectator with awe. As the 
 queen entered, the king, hearing a slight ruffling, as of 
 feinale robes, turned to see who it was, and, behold ! 
 before him stands Esther, speechless. The paleness of 
 
200 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 her cheeks, from mental agony and fasting, made her 
 face more transparent; and, as she stood, shrinking 
 from fear, the king must have detected a shadow of 
 melancholy, if not of great suffering. Her penciled 
 brow was slightly contracted by the intensity of her 
 feelings, and her long lashes were dripping with tears, 
 and her lips trembling with agitation. More beautiful 
 than ever, and though silent, her eloquence was enough 
 to have moved a heart of stone. The apocryphal 
 chapters of this history are more full and minute than 
 our text, but in no way contradictory to it. According 
 to them, when Esther saw the king, surrounded with 
 his nobles, and recollecting the fate of Vashti, and 
 knowing that she was setting at defiance a law of the 
 palace, and that the king was a man of violent passions, 
 and exceedingly fierce in his jealousy for his personal 
 honor and the dignity of his throne, her heart failed 
 her, and, fainting, she fell into the arms of her maids. 
 And when the king first saw her, he was greatly en 
 raged, but, as he gazed upon her lovely form, his heart 
 began to soften. The nobles and princes, also, were 
 moved with silent sympathy, for they all loved Esther; 
 and though they dared not open their lips to plead her 
 cause, yet their eyes and countenances spoke as plainly 
 as if every line of their faces were a fiery tongue. In 
 breathless awe the whole court watched the king s face, 
 for it shone with terrible fierceness, waiting for the 
 issue. By her very appearance, the queen says, No 
 thing but an affair of life or death could have brought 
 me into this awful presence. Her marble lips, as she 
 lies in the arms of her maidens, say : " Oh, dread sire, 
 my lord and my husband, the sovereign of all the 
 
THE CRISIS JOYFULLY PAST. 201 
 
 provinces from India to Ethiopia, it is dire necessity, 
 not any wish to disobey your laws, that has constrained 
 me to appear before you, uncalled. And, now, I am 
 ready, live or die, as it shall seem good to your impe 
 rial majesty. I remember my predecessor lost her 
 crown for not coming when sent for, and I know I put 
 my life into your hands by coming, unbidden, into your 
 presence. But may I not hope for your pardon ?" 
 But, as yet, no sign is given. The haughty king has 
 not yet spoken. His thoughts of dignity, power and 
 fame of his vast empire of one hundred and twenty- 
 seven provinces are in conflict with his feelings. 
 And, oh, king Ahasuerus ! must this lovely creature 
 die ? No. God changed the king s spirit into mildness, 
 and, unable any longer to dissemble his feelings, he 
 leaped from his throne, and took her up in his arms, 
 laid the golden sceptre on her neck, and spoke to her 
 in the most endearing manner, saying, Thou shalt not 
 die ; I am thy brother. What ivilt thou, qiieen Esther ? 
 And no wonder that a king was overcome with such 
 transcendent beauty and loveliness, when, like a snow- 
 wreath, she sunk at his feet in the consciousness of a 
 painful duty well done. No wonder the whole court 
 was a sobbing gallery, when they saw the queen was 
 saved. Tears of joy of relief, rolled from every eye, 
 as they saw the crisis past. And now, the queen re 
 viving, touched the golden sceptre in token of perfect 
 submission; and then she said to the king, "When I saw 
 thee, thy terrible majesty made me afraid, and I thought 
 you would be to me as an avenging angel, and my heart 
 troubled me, and my strength went from me." Think 
 no more of it, my lovely queen, said the king. What 
 
 9B 
 
202 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 is tliy request and it shall be given thee, to the half of 
 the kingdom. " Only thife, my lord, if it seern good 
 unto the king, let the king and my lord, prince Hainan, 
 come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared 
 for him." Womanlike, no sooner has she conquered 
 than she is prepared to make the most of the victory, 
 nor will she risk her influence now by telling him all 
 she really wants, but only asks the king, and his favor 
 ite, to a banquet with her the next day. 
 
 1. Observe the queen s modesty her extraordinary 
 prudence at the very moment that she is most success 
 ful. Her request was a simple invitation to have the 
 king come to a banquet of wine the next day, and as a 
 mark of regard for his preferences, she wishes him to 
 bring Hainan. I do not say, however, that she may 
 not also have thought this a good way to prevent his 
 suspicions from being awakened, and to keep him from 
 adopting any hasty measures against the Jews. It was 
 wise to show this much respect for the king s partiality, 
 and then it served to secure his presence when his plot 
 was to be unmasked to the king. The queen put her life 
 in danger, and she not only lives, but obtains favor be 
 sides pardon. The king promises her half of his king 
 dom. He had, at Hainan s demand, given him the 
 lives and the goods of all the Jewish race; but here, 
 before she has asked for anything, the king offers the 
 queen half his kingdom. This must have astonished 
 her as much as she had been in fear of his imperious 
 temper. But recovering herself as she remembered 
 that a the king s heart is in the hands of the Lord; as 
 the rivers of water, He turneth it withersoever He will," 
 
PIETY IN HIGH PLACES. 203 
 
 she did not prefer her great request at once. She 
 wished to have the king more fully prepared for so im 
 portant a matter. It is not good breeding, nor wise 
 policy, u to swallow favors too greedily, lest they either 
 choke us in the passage, or prove hard of digestion." 
 
 2. In Esther s fasting and prayer, and pious cour 
 age, we see that faith and piety are not always shorn of 
 their fruits under unfavorable influences; they may 
 flourish in a palace. The atmosphere of the court of 
 Susa, and the power of a Persian husband, have not 
 crushed out all Mordecai s catechism from her soul. 
 In every condition of life, if we are faithful to our 
 selves, the grace of God is sufficient for us. A slave 
 in the field, or in the mines, or in the galleys; or a 
 member of Nero s court, or near Belshazzar s throne; 
 in Egypt or Persia, at home or abroad, the grace of 
 God is promised to us according to our day. As the 
 sun makes the laughing waves to glisten, and the high 
 mountains to shine with light, and yet makes glad the 
 weary captive in his dungeon, or in the dark recesses 
 of the noisy mill, so the Grospel dignifies a throne, 
 and makes glad a hovel. In a chaotic state of society, 
 a pious man may have greater difficulties to overcome 
 in maintaining a goldy walk, but then, in overcoming 
 these difficulties, he will gain a greater degree of spir 
 itual strength. Where there are trials to develop 
 the strength of one s character, there the good will be 
 like Jeremiah s figs, very good, and the bad will be 
 very bad. 
 
 3. Queen Esther was a true representative woman. 
 Every one is raise d up as she was, not to be a Sultana, 
 
204 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 and do just the work she did, but to do his or her own 
 work. Every one has a duty to perform a post to 
 maintain a lot to fulfill. Every one of us is brought 
 to the kingdom, at such a time, and under such cir 
 cumstances as God sees best to order, and it is our first 
 and highest duty to improve them all for His glory. 
 Mordecai s great argument with the queen was, that 
 God had raised her up at that very time to the throne 
 of Persia, that she might do this service for His church. 
 It is a great blessing that we have been made to do 
 something, and happy is he who finds his work, and 
 does it with a hearty good will. There is a work for 
 every one of us. Let us be diligent and careful in 
 performing it, lest we let our opportunities slip for 
 serving our generation. The providence of God may 
 not design us to sit on thrones like that of Persia, but 
 we have our duty to do just as much as Esther had. 
 We are all God s stewards, and will have to render a 
 strict account of all the gifts, graces and opportunities 
 bestowed upon us. We must watch for opportunities 
 to do good, and to arrest evil. We must ever be ready 
 to follow the leadings of Providence. 
 
 4. It may sometimes be our duty to ourselves, our 
 country, our fellow-men and our God, to put our lives 
 in jeopardy for the truth, or for the church, and for 
 the sake of Jesus. This Samson did when his hair grew 
 and his strength returned, and he prayed and pulled 
 down the heathen temple.* This is just what David did 
 when he went to meet the giant of Gath. The proph 
 ets and apostles did not think of saving their lives, but 
 only of serving God faithfully. So, in our history, 
 
 * See my volume, " The Giant Judge/ pp. 303-5. 
 
ALWAYS DO OUR DUTY. 205 
 
 Esther s duty was plain. True piety ought to make men 
 brave. It is not for a Christian to shrink from duty 
 for fear of death, or persecution. We ought, says an 
 apostle, to lay down our lives for the brethren, for 
 Christ gave his life a ransom for us. Our lives are 
 His we ought to surrender them then at His call. 
 
 5. We should never fear to do our duty. The Grod 
 whom we serve is able either to sustain us under our 
 trials, or to deliver us out of them. He will always do 
 one or the other. His compassion cannot fail. Like 
 as a father pitiethhis children, so the Lord pitieth them 
 that fear Him. Why, then, should we shrink from 
 any degree of suffering or of persecution ? Why should 
 we ever fear to avow our principles, or ever turn aside 
 from the performance of a trying duty ? Why should 
 we yield to the fear of man, that bringeth a snare, 
 seeing we are in the hands of Him who holdeth the 
 hearts of all men and of devils in his hand? Satan 
 could not sift Peter, nor touch an article of Job s es 
 tate, nor a hair of his head, till express leave was 
 granted him. And so it is now. All our foes are 
 chained j and the extent of their reach is determined 
 by the pleasure of Him who loved us so much as to die 
 for us. It is His purpose to destroy the works of the 
 Devil. If he careth for us, it is enough. Let us com 
 mit our cares to Him, and go on our way rejoicing. It 
 is sinful to pass our time on earth in bondage to the 
 fear of death or in slavish apprehensions of any evil. 
 Sufficient for the day is the evil, and sufficient also is 
 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why should we 
 indulge tormenting fear about health or comfort ? All 
 
206 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 things are in our Heavenly Father s hands, and He 
 knoweth what we have need of. If he says, let Provi 
 dence prosper that man, it is done. He succeeds. For 
 the blessing of the Lord maketh rich. If He says, let 
 floods and fires, plague and pestilence, be abroad on the 
 earth it is done. And men are poor, and sick, and 
 dying. But if He says to sickness, touch not my ser 
 vants j then the pestilence may walk in darkness, and 
 the destruction rage at noon-day; and a thousand may 
 fall at his side, and ten thousand at his right hand, and 
 it shall not come nigh him. We are immortal till our 
 change comes. While God has work for us to do, He 
 will uphold us, and when His will is fulfilled with us 
 in this world, then we should go cheerfully to another. 
 
 6. The privilege and efficacy of prayer. The mur 
 derous plot for the extermination of all the Hebrews in 
 the world, to human eyes, seems perfect. But God s 
 thoughts are not as our thoughts. By the breath of 
 the God of their fathers, all this grand contrivance, 
 stretching through so vast an empire, and employing 
 so many agencies, shall become as desert sand before 
 the wind, and be blown back in an overwhelming mass 
 upon its author. But Mordecai, the queen and the 
 people, all work together. They have all committed 
 their cause to God, by fasting and prayer ; and while the 
 people and Mordecai continue pleading with the King 
 of kings, the queen put her life in peril, and went to plead 
 for favor from the great king of Persia. The queen s 
 example is worthy of imitation, in two particulars, 
 namely : First, as Henry remarks, here is an example of 
 a mistress praying with her maids, that is worthy of 
 
EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 207 
 
 being followed by all house-keepers and heads of fami 
 lies. And, secondly, we are here encouraged to ask the 
 sympathy and prayers of others, when we undertake 
 any great or perilous enterprise. And especially are 
 those who are called, in the providence of God, to stand 
 forth boldly in perilous aervices, in the high places of 
 the Church and of the State, entitled to the united pray 
 ers of their brethren. When Peter was put in prison, 
 the Church made prayer unceasingly for him, and God 
 sent his angel to deliver him. How often and earnestly 
 does the great apostle ask for the prayers of believers ? 
 And how instructive the fact, that, while the Jewish 
 High Priest was within the Holy of Holies, making in 
 tercession for the people, the people were all praying 
 without. And while Joshua leads on God s hosts 
 amidst the Amalekites, Moses stands praying, and 
 Aaron and Hurr hold up his hands; and the battle 
 waxes or wanes as the praying prevails or grows slack. 
 Wonderful is the efficacy of prayer. It was in answer 
 to prayer the God of Esther s pious fathers moved the 
 heart of the king to hold out the golden sceptre. And 
 her bold approach to the king is a fit illustration of 
 prayer. Our Lord, from the Parable of the Unjust 
 Judge, has taught us that men ought always to pray, 
 and not to faint. Esther came to a proud, imperious, 
 sinful man ; we come to the God of love and grace. 
 She came uncalled nay, not only not called, but for 
 bidden, by law, to come, upon pain of death we are 
 invited. The Spirit and the Bride say come. She 
 came with a law against her, in her face ; we come, 
 pleading the invitations and promises of the Gospel. 
 God invites the broken-hearted and the contrite in 
 
208 THE HEBREW-PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 spirit into His presence. Queen Esther had no friend 
 near the throne who dared to open his lips to plead her 
 cause. The king s favorite was her greatest enemy. 
 But, brethren, if any man sin, we have an Advocate 
 with the Father, even his own Son, Jesus Christ, our 
 Lord. He ever liveth, to make intercession for us. 
 The golden sceptre in His hands is always stretched 
 out. He is touched with a fellow-feeling for our in 
 firmities. 
 
 7. One of the gracious designs of affliction is to 
 make us feel our dependence upon God. A gracious 
 result of trials to the people of God, is that it drives 
 them to prayer. But the court of heaven is not like 
 that of Persia, into which there was no entrance for 
 those that were in mourning, or clothed with sackcloth. 
 Such could not come near the palace of Ahasuerus. 
 But it is the weary, the heavy laden and the sorrowing, 
 that are especially invited to the throne of grace, and 
 invited to come boldly. Is any among you afflicted, 
 saith the apostle James, let him pray. Call upon me, 
 saith the Lord, in the day of trouble, and I will deliver 
 thee. Doubtless the iminent peril into which the Jews 
 were brought, was to remind them of their dependence 
 on the God of their fathers. They were, as we are, 
 ready to forget him, and especially so, when far from 
 home. But now that there seems to be no other ear to 
 hear, no other hand that can save, they are brought to 
 their knees and with fasting, and humility, and fer 
 vency of spirit they call upon God, that peradventure 
 He will be gracious to them. It was so also with 
 Manasseh. And it was when the prodigal began to be 
 in want, he thought of returning home. Afflictions sane- 
 
THE GREAT RESOLVE. 209 
 
 tified are blessings. And how exceedingly appropriate 
 for you ; poor sinner, is the queen s resolve. As a sin 
 ner, you are condemned, and under sentence of death. 
 There is no escape for you but to believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Nor is there a moment to lose. To 
 morrow, even to-morrow, may be too late. Remember, 
 then, that Jesus Christ came to seek and save that 
 which is lost. He casts out none that come unto Him. 
 He is the sinner s friend. Try his love this one time, 
 by casting yourself as a guilty sinner upon his mercy. 
 Say with the hymn : 
 
 I ll go to Jesus though my sin 
 
 High as a mountain rose, 
 I know his court, I ll enter in 
 
 Whatever may oppose. 
 
 Perhaps he will admit my plea, 
 
 Perhaps will hear my prayer ; 
 But if I perish, I will pray, 
 
 And perish only there. 
 
 I can but perish if I go, 
 
 I am resolved to try ; 
 For if I stay away, I know 
 
 I must forever die. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE BANQUET AND THE SLEEPLESS KING. 
 
 " No action, whether foul or fair, 
 Is ever done, but it leaves somewhere 
 A record, written by fingers ghostly, 
 
 As a blessing or a curse. " 
 
 Longfellow, 
 
 WE have seen that the king promised to attend the 
 queen s "banquet, and ordered Hainan to make haste, 
 that he might do as Esther had said. /So the king and 
 Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. 
 See verses 6, 7 and 8 of the fifth chapter of Esther. 
 
 At the banquet the king is delighted, and demands 
 of the queen what she desired, and declares that her 
 request, even to the half of the kingdom, shall be gran 
 ted. This seems to have been a common form of court 
 promises, meaning that nothing would be denied. 
 Herod made a similar proposition, but instead of giving 
 half of his kingdom, in compliance with a wicked wo 
 man s request, he gave her the head of John the Baptist, 
 which was of more value than the whole of his king 
 dom. 
 
 Among the Persians and Orientals, generally, wine 
 banquets were common, they seem to have been de- 
 
212 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 signed chiefly for pleasure, rather than for eating de 
 lightful social intercourse, and as tokens or occasions 
 of showing honor, rather than for the gratification of 
 the appetites "the feast of reason and flow of soul" 
 "a dejuner sans fourchette." Our authors are not 
 agreed, however, whether the wine banquet was before 
 or after the principal meal, or whether it was a feast 
 above and independent of all other kinds of fare. It 
 is clear, however, that some of their wine banquets 
 comprised fruits, and mutton, rice, fowls, game, as well 
 as Shiraz wines. 
 
 And the queen answered, "My petition, and my re 
 quest is, if I have found favor with the king, let him 
 and Hainan come to the banquet that I shall prepare 
 for them to-morrow." Now why did not the queen at 
 once acquaint the king with the matter so much in her 
 heart? We answer, by delaying her petition she 
 showed that it was one of no ordinary importance 
 proved her modesty and self-command and perhaps 
 she was a little daunted by the king s august presence 
 her heart may have been ready to fail her and per 
 haps she thought it best to try how far she had gained 
 on the king s affections, and to test the influence she 
 had over him and perhaps she thought to-morrow the 
 king will be more amiable and ready to grant my peti 
 tion; or, in the meantime, Hainan may show some 
 signs of insolence, or make himself less agreeable to 
 the king, or Grod may, in some way, display his power, 
 and open up some other door of hope whether any 
 or all of these thoughts passed through her mind, we do 
 not know; but it is recorded that the queen deemed it 
 most becoming that it was wisest to engage the king s 
 
TRUSTING AND WORKING. 213 
 
 affection by a second entertainment before she made 
 him acquainted with the great matters that were on 
 her heart. And, above all, I see no inconsistency in 
 supposing that she was influenced to this delay by a 
 kind Providence, to make way for the events of the 
 coming night, that were to prepare the king for the 
 success of her enterprise. It was a wise policy, on her 
 part, to repeat the banquet, for thereby she was gain 
 ing the confidence of the king, and strengthening her 
 forces for the great demand j but God s hand was in it 
 also, for, speaking, after the manner of men, Providence 
 wished to gain time for the developments of the follow 
 ing night, and succeeding day, of which we have an 
 account in the sixth chapter of Esther. It is not heresy 
 to say that Providence usually helps the bravest and 
 best disciplined troops. On the contrary, it is genuine 
 orthodox Calvinism to trust in God and keep the gun 
 powder dry. It is an interesting theological and his- 
 torico-philosophical fact, that the very men who have 
 believed most thoroughly in the Divine Sovereignty, 
 are the very men that have been distinguished as the 
 hard workers of the race. Witness Paul, Calvin, Knox, 
 Cromwell, Napoleon and Edwards. The belief that 
 God works in us to will and to do of his good pleasure, 
 is the strongest possible motive to put forth our own 
 eiforts in the same direction. 
 
 From this first banquet " Hainan went forth joyful 
 and with a glad heart; but when he saw Mordecai in 
 the king s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for 
 him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai." 
 Nevertheless he refrained himself from taking sudden 
 and summary vengeance upon him, but goes home full 
 
214 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 of pride and rage of pride because of the honor he 
 had received in being called to the queen s banquet 
 with the king alone, and full of rage because Mordecai 
 would not do him homage. But when he reaches his 
 palace, he calls his friends, and his wife Zeresh, and 
 tells them, in true oriental style, of " the glory of his 
 riches, and the multitude of his children, and how the 
 king had advanced him above the princes, all his ser 
 vants, and even the queen did let no man come in with 
 the king unto the banquet but himself; and to-morrow 
 am I invited unto her also with the king." 
 
 Observe here: 1. How Grod restrained the heart of 
 a wicked man. Haman could easily have had Morde 
 cai put to death. He had the king s signet ring to 
 take measures to kill, root up, and destroy every mem 
 ber of the hated Hebrew race. By his own hand, or 
 that of his servants, therefore, he could have destroyed 
 Mordecai at once. But an unseen power controlled 
 him. Divine Providence disposed of the case until 
 the plot should ripen. 
 
 2. Hainan s glorying preceded his fall. Pride com- 
 eth before destruction. Even the wisdom of Ahitho- 
 phel is perfect folly when the Lord curses a man. It 
 is by no means an uncommon thing for us to make 
 fatal mistakes in our ignorance, and to rejoice when 
 we should fear, and to sorrow for things that either 
 never happen, or if they do, turn to our joy and com 
 fort. In Haman s boasting while he gratified his own 
 vanity, he designed, no doubt, to aggravate Morde 
 cai s impudence in the mind of his friends. Favors 
 are sometimes done by men to their fellow-men for the 
 
215 
 
 purpose of ensnaring them. And even in the provi 
 dence of God, we find men allowed to wax fat, or to 
 grow rich and great, in order that they may make a 
 full trial of themselves, and prove to themselves, and 
 to the world, what is in their hearts. So here, Haman 
 is honored with the king. The queen does not invite 
 the king without Haman. Nor can he read the queen s 
 heart. He sees not, on her face, the petition which 
 she is preparing to lay before the king, which is to 
 cover him with shame, and send him to hang on his 
 own gallows. 
 
 3. Hainan s riches and glory, and children, how 
 ever, were not enough. Yet all this availetli me noth 
 ing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew, sitting at the 
 king s gate. His malice is equal only to his envy, and 
 his envy is equalled only by his bitter prejudice against 
 the Jews. No honor, no privilege, did he allow to a 
 Jew, much less to one who, like Mordecai, would not 
 worship him. What a cloudy epilogue is this, after so 
 much royal sunshine ! How impatient his malice 
 how unrelenting his hate ! Already he has fixed on 
 the month Adar for the slaughter of all the Jews, as 
 well as of Mordecai, but he is not willing to wait. 
 
 4. Observe the wife s advice. " Then said Zeresh, 
 his wife, and all his friends unto him, let a gallows be 
 made fifty cubits high, and to-morrow speak thou unto 
 the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon; then 
 go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And 
 the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows 
 to be made. 5 Fifty cubits high say seventy-five feet. 
 The highth was intended to deepen the disgrace of 
 
216 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Mordecai, and strike terror into the hearts of Hainan s 
 enemies as if Mordecai s ignominy was to be measured 
 by the hight of the gallows. From the ninth verse of 
 the seventh chapter of Esther, we learn that this gal 
 lows was in the house of Haman ; that is within the 
 square court yard which was the centre of his palace 
 buildings. The Hebrew word for gallows, ets, signifies 
 simply wood, tree or pole, without designating the 
 form. It was probably similar in its construction to 
 the gallows of modern days, or in the shape of a cross, 
 such as was afterward used by the Romans, with an 
 extension beam for the rope. It appears from the edicts 
 of the Emperors Justinian and Theodosius, abolishing 
 the custom, that the Jews, in the early ages of Chris 
 tianity, were in the habit of burning Haman in effigy, 
 (as is now sometimes done with Judas Iscariot by 
 Christians,) and with him a wooden cross, in imitation 
 as they said, of the gallows which he had prepared for 
 Mordecai, but which the early Christians thought was 
 intended to show them contempt. In the earlier ages 
 of the church, there was unfortunately great prejudice 
 and much bitterness between Christians and Jews. We 
 see it in the Acts of the Apostles, and in the Epistles, 
 and even in modern times, we know that Christians 
 have persecuted the Jews, and perhaps there is no Gov 
 ernment in the world but our own that is wholly free 
 from the charge of some intolerance, illiberality or per 
 secution toward the Israelites. Thank God, the Gov 
 ernment of the United States has never shed a drop of 
 blood in persecuting men for their religious opinions. 
 May this be true of it forever ! 
 
 But we have now to go from Hainan s council cham- 
 
ANTIQUITY OF WRITING. 217 
 
 ber to the palace, and find a monarch that cannot sleep. 
 Though the throne of Persia was then the most glo 
 rious on earth, its master could not sleep. Every lux 
 ury, every anodyne that wealth could buy was his, but 
 the king could not sleep that night. If too much fruit 
 and wine made him restless, it was only a controlling 
 providence that brought out the result. The king s 
 sleep fled away, and neither Persian scimitar nor cou 
 rier could bring it back. See Esther vi : 1, 3, inclu 
 sive. 
 
 And he commanded to bring the book of records 
 of the Chronicles. When and by whom writing was 
 invented is not known. But the expression of thoughts 
 and the recording of events, by characters or signs, is 
 as old, or nearly so, as the race of man. Writing-tables 
 were in use before the age of Homer, for he speaks of 
 writing pernicious things on a two-leaved table. 
 These tables were made of wood, consisting of two, 
 three or five leaves, and were covered with wax, and, on 
 these, impressions were made which were quite durable 
 and easily read. It was a Roman custom for the pon- 
 tifex maximus to commit to writing the public affairs 
 of each year, and publish them on a table, so that the 
 public could become acquainted with them. It was, 
 also, their custom to hang up the laws that had been 
 regularly made and approved, and recorded on tables of 
 brass, in the market-places and in their temples and 
 places of public resort, that they might be seen and 
 read. It was thus the edicts of the Emperors against 
 the Christians were published. Even in the life of so 
 great a man as Cicero, we find him making a strenuous 
 effort, on a certain occasion, to carry off the brazen 
 10 
 
218 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 tablets, on which the law of the Senate that had sent 
 him into exile was engraved, for the purpose of de 
 stroying them. Expunging resolutions are not, there 
 fore, original in the American Congress. It were well, 
 however, if there was no occasion for them. 
 
 It is plain, from the Bible, that the Hebrew prophets 
 were used to writing and making public, by recording 
 on tables, in the temple or in their own houses, so 
 much of their own prophesyings as concerned the peo 
 ple, or as it might be enjoined upon them thus to pub 
 lish. Thus Habbakuk ii: 2: " And the LORD an 
 swered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it 
 plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it." 
 And Jeremiah was repeatedly commanded to write 
 down his visions. And we know that the Almighty 
 wrote, with his own finger, the Ten Commandments on 
 tables of stone. If the art of writing was not known 
 before, it could surely have been learned from the tables 
 of the law. But if the Mosaic Decalogue is not the 
 original of all writing, (and I do not say it is,) it is, 
 nevertheless, an instance of the knowledge of letters in 
 a remote age. Moreover, all the world is now acquaint 
 ed with the fact, that the history of cities and empires, 
 and of great conquerors, especially of their battles, pris 
 oners, victories, honors and offerings to their gods, was 
 written, in olden times, on clay tablets, bricks, stones 
 and cylinders on the walls of temples, tombs and 
 palaces and that this kind of writing goes back far 
 beyond the reign of king Ahasuerus ; and that we have 
 the key which enables us to read these monumental 
 records. There is nothing, then, contrary to history 
 in the statement that the sleepless monarch commanded 
 
PERSIAN CHRONICLES. 219 
 
 to bring the book of records of the Chronicles to be read 
 before him. These chronicles are called, by Ctesias, 
 diptherai basilikai. They seem to have been written 
 on leather or parchment. The custom of the Persian 
 kings, in keeping a corps of scribes or royal historio 
 graphers about them, whose duty it was to write down 
 what they said and did, has already been referred to 
 and illustrated from cotemporary history. Similar 
 chronicles, or registers of State, are referred to several 
 times in the history of the Hebrew kings. The same 
 custom prevails, to this day, in the Ottoman empire. 
 " The king," says Bruce, " has near his person an of 
 ficer, who is meant to be his historiographer ; he is, 
 also, keeper of his seal, and is obliged to make a jour 
 nal of the king s actions, good or bad, without any com 
 ment of his own upon them. When the king dies, or 
 soon after, this journal is delivered to the council, who 
 read it over, and erase everything false in. it, while 
 they supply every material fact that may have been 
 omitted, whether purposely or not." 
 
 Nor were the records of the Chronicles of the Persian 
 empire so dry and stupid an affair as many suppose. 
 There was not within his reach any composition better 
 suited to his perturbed state of mind than these records. 
 They were instructive and usually well written, and in 
 verse. The records of Persia are still kept in this way. 
 Ferdusi, who is regarded as the Homer of India, spent 
 thirty years in writing his great poem, which contains 
 one hundred and twenty thousand lines. And as the 
 Sultan had promised him a dinar, perhaps two dollars 
 and a half, for every line, we are not surprised at its 
 length. This poem is nothing but a collection of the 
 
 10A 
 
220 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 chronicles of former poets, brought down from the crea 
 tion to the reign of Mohammed Gliezny^ in the begin 
 ning of the tenth century. This famous epic poem is 
 said to be written " in all the harmony, strength and 
 elegance of the most beautiful and harmonious language 
 in the universe. It flows deep and strong, like a river 
 of .oil over every kind of channel." 
 
 Nor was the custom wholly confined to the East. 
 The " Chronicles of the Cid," William of Malmesbury s 
 " Chronicles of the kings of England," the six old 
 English Chronicles, viz : Asser s Life of Alfred, and 
 Chronicles of Eldred, Ethelred, Nennius, Geoffrey of 
 Monmouth, and of Richard, and " the Chronicles of 
 the Crusaders/ of Robert of Gloucester, and Ossian, 
 and the famous Spanish and English ballads, are a part 
 and parcel of the history and literature of our own day. 
 " The poet laureate 7 of her Majesty, is the modern suc 
 cessor of these royal scribes the crown paid register of 
 eulogies. Such I conceive to have been the records 
 read to Ahasuerus. In explaining the king s wakeful- 
 ness, the Targum tells us that the king first had a 
 dream that night, to the effect that he saw a man, who 
 wished to speak to him, saying, " Hainan desireth to 
 slay thee and to make himself king in thy stead. Be 
 hold he will come unto thee early in the morning, to 
 ask from thee the man who rescued thee from death, 
 that he may slay him ~ } but say thou unto Hainan, 
 What shall be done for the man whose honor the king 
 studieth ? And thou wilt find that he will ask nothing- 
 less from thee than the royal vestments, the regal crown, 
 and the horse on which the king is wont to ride." This 
 looks very much like telling where a thing is lost after 
 
THE USES OF HISTORY. 221 
 
 it is found. It is well known, however, that the An 
 cients and the Orientals still are much given to dreams. 
 Homer makes Rhesus die in a dream, from the sword 
 of Diomed. That is, just as he was agonized with such 
 a dream, it literally came to pass. 
 
 The king did not know why he could not sleep, but 
 thought the reading of the Chronicles might amuse his 
 mind. There were many other sources of pleasure or 
 amusement at hand. His wives and concubines, and 
 singers and musicians why did he not turn to some of 
 them for relief ? The answer is, Providence designed 
 to bring before his mind another matter. In Hainan s 
 house, his friends and his wife are arranging to have 
 Mordecai hanged, but in the king s palace, God is dis 
 posing of matters for a very different result. The plots 
 are to ripen, but the victim is not to gratify Hainan s 
 cruel prejudice. 
 
 It were a great gain to the intelligence and morals of 
 our day, if more of the sleepless hours of young people 
 were spent in reading standard histories, rather than in 
 corrupting their minds and polluting their imaginations 
 with the flash literature or the sensation poetry and 
 essays of the day. It is not easy to overstate the plea 
 sure and profit of history. Perhaps the king hoped by 
 having the records read, to deceive the tediousness of 
 the night, or that the pleasant passages would either 
 invite slumber, or enable him to endure his wakefulness 
 with greater ease. Zaccheus, says the quaint old 
 Thomas Fuller, and may his shadow never be less, was 
 low and little in stature ; but when he had borrowed 
 some hight from the fig tree, the dwarf became a 
 giant but last minute beneath the arms, now grown 
 
222 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 on a sudden above the heads of other men. Thus our 
 experimental knowledge is, in itself, both short and nar 
 row. It cannot exceed the span of our own life. But 
 when we are mounted on the tree of history, we can 
 not only reach the year of Christ s incarnation, but even 
 touch the top of the world s beginning, and at one 
 view, oversee all the remarkable accidents of former 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE ROYAL HONORING. 
 
 " Array him in the robe of honor, 
 And place a chain of gold around his neck, 
 And bind around his brow the diadem, 
 And mount him on my steed of state, 
 
 And lead him through the camp, 
 And let the Heralds go before and cry 
 
 Thus shall tlie Sultan reward 
 The man who serves him well ! 
 Then in the purple robe 
 They vested Thalaba, 
 
 And hung around his neck the golden chain, 
 And bound his forehead with the diadem, 
 
 And on the royal steed 
 They led him through the camp, 
 And Heralds went before and cried, 
 
 Thus shall the Sultan reward 
 The man who serves him well! " 
 
 Southey s Thalaba. 
 
 IT was found, on reading the Chronicles, which the 
 sleepless king had called for, that the portion read told 
 how Mordecai had saved the king s life, but as there 
 was no record of any reward or honor having been shown 
 to him for such distinguished service, the king inquired 
 whether there was an omission in the record, or whether 
 this man had been neglected. And his servants that 
 ministered unto him, said : " There is nothing done for 
 
224 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 him." And the king said, who is in the court? Now 
 Haman was come into the outward court of the king v s 
 house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the 
 gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king s 
 servants said unto him, " behold, Haman standetb in 
 the court." Esth. vi : 4, 5. Though Haman was a 
 great favorite, he could not enter till called. There was 
 a waiting room where the servants and visitors were to 
 remain in readiness to come in whenever called. Herod, 
 lib. iii : c. 120. 
 
 It is plain enough why Haman is so early this morn 
 ing in the waiting room of the king. Although he 
 knew nothing of the king s dream nor want of sleep, he 
 is early in the outer court, just as the Targuni already 
 cited says the king s early night vision had revealed 
 to him. Hainan s pride and revenge would not let him 
 sleep. As soon as the king is informed that Haman is 
 in the waiting room, he says, let him come m,and then, 
 without giving him time to make any request, puts the 
 question direct to him : "What shall be done unto the 
 man whom the king delighteth to honor ?" At first 
 blush, Haman thought this promises everything I can 
 ask. For the thought in his heart was, " To whom would 
 the king delight to do honor more than to myself?" 
 See also vi: 7, 11, inclusive. 
 
 Here let us observe, first, the discovery of neglect 
 toward Mordecai prepared the way for his honor. Be 
 ing a Jew, no reward had been given him for his fidel 
 ity to the king; or, through the envy of courtiers or 
 forgetfulness of the king, nothing had been done for 
 such signal service. But a record had been made of it. 
 This was all ordered by Divine Providence, that the 
 
HAMAN S ADVICE. 225 
 
 developments might all be made at the proper time. 
 And so, also, secondly, Hainan s spleen and malice 
 brings him early to the court of the king. Impatient 
 to have his revenge, he intends, this morning, at the 
 very first moment, to ask the king to have Mordecai 
 hanged, and has everything in readiness. So politic 
 was he, that, though he had the power in his own hand, 
 he preferred the king should, personally, order the exe 
 cution. Neither Ha man nor the king could sleep. 
 The cause of their wakef illness was different, but both 
 are working together, without knowing it, for the same 
 result. And, thirdly, although Hainan was exceeding 
 ly impatient and burning with rage, he could not enter 
 the royal presence until called to come, and although 
 the king knows nothing of the high gallows which he 
 has had built for Mordecai, nor anything of his designs 
 against him, yet he does not give him time to open his 
 mouth, before he demands from him, What shall be 
 done unto the man whom, the king delighteth to honor? 
 And Hainan, believing no man was so high in the 
 royal favor as himself, and that, in giving advice, he 
 was only issuing a decree to heap glory on himself, 
 said : " For the man whom the king delighteth to honor, 
 let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth 
 to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and 
 the crown royal which is set upon his head : And let 
 this apparel and horse be delivered into the hand of one 
 of the king s most noble princes, that they may array 
 the man withal whom the king delighteth to honor, and 
 bring him on horseback through the street of the city, 
 and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the 
 man whom the king deligliteth to honor. Then the 
 10n " 
 
226 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 king said to Hainan, Make haste, and take the apparel 
 and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to 
 Mordecai, the Jew, that sitteth at the king s gate : let 
 nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. Then took 
 Hainan the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Morde 
 cai, and brought him on horseback through the street 
 of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it 
 be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to 
 honor." 
 
 Royal honoring, in this style, was common in those 
 days. Kings had horses kept especially for their own 
 use, and robes and apparel, of all sorts, that no one else 
 was allowed to wear, or, if bestowed on any one else, 
 they were not used again by the sovereign. In 1 
 Kings i : 33, we find David making Solomon ride upon 
 his mule, as a token of the great honor he would have 
 put upon him. Ancient authors, as Justin, Curtius 
 and others, bear testimony to the use of such robes of 
 purple, interwoven with gold. Scarlet and purple are 
 royal colors. Commentators do not agree as to the 
 crown ; whether it is the meaning of the text, that the 
 crown royal itself was placed on the horse s head, 
 or a mere effigy of the crown ; or a make-belief of 
 placing it on the horse s head, but really setting it 
 only on the king s head. It seems to me the meaning 
 of the passage is, that the king s crown was set upon 
 the horse s head. 1. The original Hebrew, as well as 
 our translation, favors this construction. 2. This is, 
 also, the Chaldee and the Jewish interpretation. 3. 
 No mention is made of the crown in the verses, after 
 the eighth verse ; but only the horse and apparel, 
 which seems fairly to imply that the crown was identi- 
 
THE HORSE CROWNED. 227 
 
 fied with the horse, as one of his ornaments, from the 
 moment of his decoration to the end of the triumphal 
 procession. And, 4. It is known, from history, that 
 such a custom did prevail among the ancient Persians 
 and Ethiopians, and, at a later period, in Italy. The 
 crown royal was put on the head of the horse that was 
 led in state, and the horses attached to the triumphal 
 chariots were adorned with crowns, just as in our gala 
 days our horses are adorned with flowers, ribbons and 
 flags. It is written that a Roman consul, once, put the 
 insignia of his office on his horse s head, and then told 
 the people, so fickle and corrupt had they become at 
 their elections, that his crowned horse was the best 
 consul the Romans had ever had. Let Americans 
 profit by the lesson. When Alexander entered Baby 
 lon, the way was covered with flowers and branches of 
 trees, and his horse was made to walk on roses, sugar 
 and cloth of gold. And you all recollect the history 
 of our Lord s entrance into Jerusalem, not long before 
 his crucifixion. The proclamation made before Mor- 
 decai was according to oriental custom. The same was 
 done for Joseph in Egypt. (Gen. xli: 43.) When 
 a Pasha rides through the streets of an Eastern city, it 
 is the custom, to this day, for a man to run before, 
 flourishing a long whip, to clear the way for the great 
 man who cometh sometimes calling out his name and 
 titles, that all may get out of the way, or fall down in 
 humble prostration before him. And observe, fourth 
 ly, how terribly bitter was this pill to Hainan to fail 
 to receive the honor himself, and to be compelled to 
 bestow it, by his own hand and with his own lips, upon 
 the man whom, of all others, he hated with the nio^t 
 
228 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 hearty good will. It is no wonder the Targum should 
 say, that, when he received the king s command thus 
 to honor Mordecai, he begged the king to kill him, 
 rather than degrade him by compelling him to render 
 such service to a despised Jew. No wonder he went 
 home, that night, to his house, mourning and having 
 his head covered verse 12. It was an ancient cus 
 tom, among the Jews and Persians, and, perhaps, other 
 nations, also, to cover the head in times of great sorrow 
 and mourning, and, also, as a token of reverence and 
 submission. On the days of mourning for the dead, 
 or showing affection for them, one may see multitudes 
 in the grave-yards of Scutari, and other Asiatic cities, 
 with their heads covered, engaged, on theis knees, at 
 their devotions. Elijah wrapped his head in his man 
 tle at the mouth of the cave, as we read in 1 Kings 
 xix, in token of his reverence and readiness to hear 
 and obey the voice of the Lord. And so, when David 
 fled from Absalom, he " went by the ascent of Mount 
 Olives, and wept, as he went up, and had his head 
 covered, and he went barefoot ; and all the people that 
 was with him covered every man his head, and they 
 went up, weeping as they went up. (2 Sam. xv: 30.) 
 And so, also, the nobles in the time of famine, in Jere 
 miah xiv: 3, 4, were confounded and ashamed, and 
 " covered their heads." 
 
 Here we have a foreshadowing of the future. The 
 feet of the gods, as the proverb says, may be shod with 
 wool, and they may be slow as well as soft in their 
 coming ; but their coining is certain and terrible. Mor- 
 decai is at last honored. Justice seemed tardy, but 
 came at last, and with a reward all the greater, on ac- 
 
HAMAN s DISAPPOINTMENT. 229 
 
 count of her tardiness. But he wears his honors 
 meekly. He is not puffed up with vanity to-day, he- 
 cause yesterday the streets of Shushan were ringing 
 with the honors the king had bestowed on him. And 
 Mordecai came again to the king s gate n,s prompt 
 and diligent at his humble post, as if no honors had 
 been granted him. But Hainan, poor miserable man, 
 ready to plant * 
 
 " Hensbane and aconite on his mother s grave," 
 
 if he could only satiate his revenge on Mordecai, has 
 tens home, boiling over with rage. Bapidly, however, 
 is his cup filling up. If the gods in Persia have been 
 traveling with leaden feet, now they will strike with 
 iron hands. If their mills grind slowly, they will grind 
 to powder at last. Haman had the gallows built 
 rushes to court to have Mordecai hanged on it, is called 
 in, considers himself flattered, prescribes for his own 
 exaltation, as he supposed. But alas ! how bitter his 
 disappointment ! How unexpected the turn of events 
 that day ! The great honor he had plotted for himself, 
 he has himself been compelled to bestow upon his most 
 abhorred adversary, and then to go home under public 
 disgrace. And worse still, the very first to reproach 
 him, are those that advised him to pursue this malicious 
 course toward Mordecai. Ah ! this was the bitterest 
 part of his cup. " And Haman told Zeresh, his wife, 
 and all his friends, everything that had befallen him. L 
 Then said his wise men and Zeresh, his wife, unto him, 
 If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom 
 thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against 
 
230 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 him, but shalt surely fall before him." Sage counsel 
 lors ! Fools ! why did you not think of this sooner ? 
 Are you now afraid that Mordecai is indeed of Abra 
 ham s seed ? He has been much talked about of late, 
 how is it that you are not certain whether he is a Jew 
 or not? And now that you find Hainan in trouble for 
 following your advice, how is it that you are so ready 
 to overwhelm him with reproach ? But on what ground 
 do you conclude that if Mordecai is of Abraham s seed, 
 and if Hainan had once begun to fall before him, that 
 he must ultimately be crushed by him? Is it merely 
 from views of general policy and the custom of courts, 
 that when once a new favorite appears, old ones are 
 sacrificed ? that in politics the rising, and not the set 
 ting sun is worshipped ? Or is it because you are some 
 what familiar with Hebrew history ? Are you ac 
 quainted with the predictions of the old Hebrew proph- 
 
 x> ets, and are you afraid of the great and all-powerful 
 God whom these Jews worship ? Have you read of the 
 miracles of Moses and of the overthrow of Pharaoh, of 
 the exploits of Joshua, and the conquest of Canaan ? 
 Are you afraid of the slaying of your first born, or of 
 another miracle like that of the Red Sea ? And are 
 you searching the chronicles of the reign of David, and 
 of the overthrow of Sennacherib s mighty host ? The 
 history of Daniel was recent and must have been known 
 to them. 
 
 The septuagint asserts here, that Hainan s wife said, 
 
 4 Thou shalt surely fall before him, for the living God 
 is with him. This was true in every particular. The 
 living God was with Mordecai, and, on this account, 
 Hainan was sure to fall before him; but how did such 
 
THE DOG AND THE SHADOW. 231 
 
 a wicked heathen woman corne to utter such a senti 
 ment? Were the surrounding heathen under an abid 
 ing, indefinite, but deep impression that the Jews 
 were a peculiar people, and that extraordinary Provi 
 dences attended them? Or were they under an in 
 stinctive knowledge that Mordecai was a protege of 
 Divine Providence? Or rather, did not the spirit of 
 God give them some intimations of the glory that cer 
 tainly awaited the seed of the Jews, such as Balaam 
 and Caiphas had ? 
 
 1. In Hainan honoring Mordecai, we have a remarka 
 ble verification of the fable of the dog and the shadow. 
 He gaped after the shadow and lost the substance. Folly 
 generally rides after pride. Hainan grew more and more 
 insolent, and arrogant, as he advanced in wealth and 
 power, until he reached the highest point allowed to 
 him by Providence. He did not consider that he who 
 does not climb gets no fall, and that he that climbs too 
 high is sure, at last, to come down with a terrible crash. 
 His temerity is remarkable. Thinking, however, that 
 he was ordered to cut out his own honor, it is natural 
 he should have made the measure large. So vaulting 
 was his envy that he must have Mordecai swing on a 
 gallows fifty cubits high, when five cubits would have 
 answered just as well, but then the ignominy would 
 only have been five cubits high, whereas he was resolved 
 it should be fifty. And so sharp set was he for Jewish 
 blood, that he cannot wait for the general massacre, 
 but must break his fast on Mordecai. But there is an 
 unseen Divinity shaping his destiny, whose plans never 
 miscarry. The king calls for the Chronicles, and God s 
 hand, on the margin, points the reader to the place 
 
232 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 where Mordecai s services are recorded, but not re 
 warded, and this leads at once to Mordecai s honor and 
 Hainan s severe mortification. 
 
 2. How completely wretched are the envious and the 
 proud. Pride is the canker-worm of the soul. It 
 always renders us unhappy. As soon as the angels 
 let it enter their hearts, if it be correct that their sin 
 began in pride, they became wicked and wretched. 
 Adam sought the forbidden fruit to satisfy his inordi 
 nate desires. Solomon s proud heart ceased not to pur 
 sue his pleasures and ambition till he was obliged to 
 confess all was vanity and vexation. Ahab had enough, 
 but his covetousness did not let him rest till he had 
 Naboth s vineyard, and, with it, Jehovah s curse. Ha 
 inan was prime minister of the greatest empire then in 
 the world, but how wretched, because this contempti 
 ble Jew would not render him such homage as his 
 proud heart exacted. It is ever so with those who 
 have not a new heart. The most wealthy and highly 
 honored are not content. There is something still want 
 ing. There is something they still complain about. 
 They make themselves miserable when they ought to 
 be happy. Oh, how little a thing is earthly grandeur ! 
 How little a thing may embitter all human honor and 
 affluence! An Eastern proverb says, a gnat may run 
 an elephant mad. A dead fly spoils the pot of oint 
 ment, says the Bible. So it was with Haman. The 
 pride of his heart deceived him. The fear of God 
 > was not before his eyes. Always feeding his vanity, 
 and his selfishness, his envy grew to such a size that it 
 allowed him no rest. Day and night it tyrannized over 
 
REAPING AS WE SOW. 233 
 
 him, filling his soul with the most envenomed resent 
 ments and tormenting passions. There can be no hap 
 piness on earth till there is self-denial and trust. There 
 is no happiness till we begin to crucify selfishness, and 
 to trust in God as the portion of our souls. Even if Ha 
 inan had been wronged, which was not the case, how 
 much more Godlike would it have been to forgive ? 
 There can be no happiness without God s favor. For 
 it is life, and His loving kindness is better than life ; 
 but we cannot love God, nor enjoy His favor without 
 loving our fellow-men. Our Lord s rule is, that with 
 what measure we mete to others, it shall be measured 
 to us again. If we do not forgive one another our 
 trespasses, our Heavenly Father will not forgive us our 
 trespasses against Him. And even now, in this life, 
 in the course of Providence, every man s observation 
 for a few years is sufficient to show him, that men gen 
 erally meet with those evils which they have been the 
 means of inflicting on others. There is more justice 
 in the world than is generally admitted. The world is 
 very apt to treat a man as he treats it. At least, in 
 the long run, he is sure to reap what he has sown. 
 
 3. We see here how great a misfortune it is to have 
 friends and counsellors who are ignorant, wicked, or 
 evil disposed. There is a great deal of truth in the 
 proverb, Save me from my friends, and I will take care 
 of my enemies. It is sad, when a man s bosom coun 
 sellor is not true and faithful. And there is always 
 danger to be apprehended when the advice of a pro 
 fessed friend is pleasing to our own angry or revengeful 
 feelings. There are no enemies so bad as those of our 
 
234 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 own household ; but a man s worst enemy is himself. 
 As long as he is true to himself, neither men, nor devils, 
 nor women can hurt him. How much of Hainan s 
 wickedness is justly to be charged upon his wife, we 
 have no moral chemistry by which, at present, to ascer 
 tain. But, as in many other cases, so here, if not at 
 the bottom of the business, a woman is in it. Lord 
 Bollingbroke is reckoned among philosophers and great 
 men, but one of the most sensible things he ever said 
 was this : " When I am making up a plan of conse 
 quence," said he, " I always wish to consult with a 
 sensible woman." Women are noted for their wit on 
 emergencies, but in this history it was more than Greek 
 with Greek it was woman against woman and, at 
 one time, it looked as if the wife of the Amalekite 
 would outwit the Queen of Shushan. Both have been 
 at woik, and, to-morrow, both are to make their final 
 demonstration. But she has the victory who trust- 
 eth in Him that keepeth Israel, for He neither slum- 
 bereth nor sleepeth. If Hainan s wife had been a 
 meek, quiet, prudent, intelligent, God-fearing woman, 
 her advice, at first, had been altogether of a different 
 sort, and her bearing toward her husband, when he 
 hastened home from court, almost heartbroken with 
 disappointment and rage, would have been altogether 
 different from what it was. Instead of adding fuel to 
 his malignant passions, she should have endeavored to 
 moderate and restrain them. And, instead of bruising 
 a heart already broken, by adding taunt and reproach 
 to grief, she should have sought to calm him, and 
 make him feel that, with her, in his own home, he was 
 still with friends, respected and beloved, however much 
 
A WIFE S INFLUENCE. 235 
 
 he had suffered at court. It may be true of young men, 
 as Schiller says, that they carry the stars of their des 
 tiny in their own bosoms, but it is not true of married 
 men. Wives carry the stars of their husbands desti 
 nies in their bosoms. The husband s fortune is more 
 fully in the hands of his wife than anywhere else. It 
 is for her to conform to his circumstances. This is both 
 her respectability and happiness. I know not where to 
 find sublinier exhibitions of fortitude and virtue than 
 have been made by women who have been precipitated 
 suddenly from affluence to absolute want. Then, again, 
 a husband s fortune is in his wife s hands, for she, more 
 than anybody else, can help him to make it, and to 
 take care of it. I do not mean that she is to write his 
 brief for the Supreme Court, or that she is to ride in 
 his gig to see his patients for him, or that she is to 
 manage his office ; but I do mean, that his health, his 
 vigor, both of body and mind, and his moral strength, 
 depend upon her, and that it is only with these we have 
 a right to expect him to succeed. It is her s to make 
 his home happy, and to gird him with strength by 
 sympathy and counsel. When his spirits are almost 
 overwhelmed, she alone, of all human beings, is the one 
 to minister to him. Her nursing is as sovereign to 
 his sick soul as it is for his ailing body. It is her 
 gentle tones only that can steal over his morbid senses 
 with more power than David s harp. And when his 
 courage is almost gone, her patience and fortitude will 
 rekindle his heart again to dare and do, and meet anew 
 the toils and troubles of life. When I think of Ha 
 inan s wife, and her bitter reproach when he came 
 home, I am not so much astonished at his wickedness, 
 
236 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 as that he did not go further. I wonder, when she 
 chided him, he did not go and hang himself on the 
 gallows she had caused him to have built for Mordecai. 
 What a misfortune it was that Haman had not a 
 sweet CHRISTIAN HOME to retire to after the terrible 
 disappointments and bitter experiences of that day ! 
 Yes, a sweet quiet Home. But you tell me I forget 
 that he was a man of large estates, great honors, and the 
 owner of a princely palace. True, but a palace is not 
 always a Home. What is a home ? It is something 
 for which many of earth s babbling tongues have no 
 term. A home is not a mere residence for the body, 
 but a place where the heart rests and the affections nes 
 tle and dwell and multiply. A Home is the place where 
 children romp and play, and learn to love, and where 
 the husband and wife toil smilingly together, as they 
 trudge up the hill on their way to a better world. If 
 men are not happy anywhere else, let them be happy 
 at home. Have you not stood before the picture, "the 
 soldier s dream/ until you could hear your own breath 
 ing ? But why so much enraptured with that picture ? 
 Is it not because you see the soldier by his bivouac fire 
 fast asleep? but to-morrow s drum is to awake him to 
 battle and to death. Sleep on, then, happy dreamer. 
 See in the visions of that heart of hearts, that can meet 
 death at the cannon s mouth, your sweet " wee ones" 
 and loving wife, with streaming hair and outstretched 
 arms, welcoming you back from the wars. Yes, it is of 
 Home the tented or the dying soldier thinks. And it 
 is of Home the sailor thinks, on his lonely watch, far 
 away on stormy seas. And the traveler, amid the 
 feathery palm trees, and while gazing on the birds of 
 
"HOME, SWEET HOME." 237 
 
 bright plumage and gorgeous flowers, why does he seeni 
 to be staring on vacancy ? " His heart is far away." 
 Seas and lands and mountains, are all past in a moment, 
 and he hears not the birds on starry wings that warble 
 their Asiatic notes for him, but the lark that used to 
 sing above his father s fields j and again he sees his fair- 
 haired brother with a light foot chasing the butterfly 
 by the spring branch, or the sweet sister that left them 
 all to go and sing in the choir of the angels. Home ! 
 none but the weary and the worn, the traveled and the 
 soiled of earth can know what it is. And our Home 
 in heaven, the new Jerusalem shall we not long for it, 
 as birds about to migrate to those sunny lands where 
 there is no more winter, u nor any more sorrow, nor any 
 pain, nor any dying ?" Just in the proportion that a 
 good woman is a blessing, in the same proportion is a 
 bad woman a curse. Woman s mission is a high and 
 grand one. She is connected with everything that be 
 longs to our race that is noble, refining and hopeful. 
 
 Great is the calamity, then, for a community to be 
 under the influence of such opinions or sentiments as 
 are degrading to its women. One bad woman can do 
 more harm in society than a dozen of bad men. An 
 ambitious, ungodly woman as a wife, or a mother, or a 
 member of society, is a poisonous Upas, whose deadly 
 influences are continually exuding and permeating the 
 surrounding atmosphere. As she is man s best helper 
 in meeting the cares of life, and making his way up 
 ward to G od and heaven, so when she is herself without 
 the fear of God, she is his most dangerous companion, 
 and will utterly destroy his soul and body, and cast 
 him down to perdition sooner, I had almost said, than 
 
238 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 the devil himself could do it. It is difficult indeed I 
 do not know that it is possible to overstate the impor 
 tance of female influence in our country. As long as 
 our sisters, mothers and wives are pure, patriotic and 
 pious, so long our Institutions are imperishable. As 
 long as a husband has a wife, or a son has a mother to 
 pray for him, so long there is hope of him. The hus 
 band or the son may be engrossed in the pursuit of 
 wealth, or of pleasure, or of fame, but as long as his 
 name is daily breathed up to the ear of God by a pious 
 wife or mother, so long is there a golden chain still 
 holding his soul to the anchor of hope. It may often 
 seem to be ready to break, yet the chances are that at 
 last he will be saved. " They that rock the cradle, 
 govern the world." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 HAMAN S FALL AND DEATH. 
 
 "Then the king said, Hang him thereon." 
 
 Esther Vli. 9. 
 
 " The vengeance-hour is come, 
 He tarried not he past 
 The threshold, over which was no return." 
 
 Southey s Thalaba. 
 
 IT appears that Hainan was not in so great a haste 
 to go to the second banquet as he had been to attend 
 the first. For while he was yet talking with his wife 
 and friends, about the mortification he had received, 
 and his probable downfall before Mordecai, the king s 
 chamberlains came and hastened to bring him unto the 
 banquet that Esther had prepared. It is not hard to 
 divine the reason of his tardiness. He had prepared 
 himself for another feast, of a very different kind. He 
 had more appetite for Jewish blood than for the queen s 
 wine. Perhaps, indeed, he had some forebodings of 
 his doom. Wicked men, even professed skeptics, are 
 exceedingly prone to omens, and all kinds of supersti 
 tion. The Orientals are great believers in the evil eye, 
 and in signs and lucky days, and lucky faces, and lucky 
 
240 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 persons. Among them an individual, thought to be an 
 unlucky person, is shunned. They do not wish him to 
 travel with them, nor to do any business for them. We 
 have seen Hainan "with fuller reach and stronger 
 swell, wave after wave advancing/ 7 until he seemed to 
 have secured his purpose, the utter destruction of the 
 Hebrew race. But he has gone the full length of his 
 tether. He is now brought to his last feast. Here 
 his life is to pay the reckoning. To him this wine 
 banquet is to be like Mohammed Ali s to the Mame 
 lukes " The feast of death." 
 
 But let us go with the king and Hainan to the sec 
 ond wine banquet of the peerless queen of Shushan. 
 At the banquet the king said to Esther, " What is thy 
 petition queen Esther ? and it shall be granted thee> 
 even to the half of the kingdom. Then Esther, the 
 queen, answered and said, If I have found favor in thy 
 sight, king, and if it please the king, let my life be 
 given me at my petition, and my people at my request." 
 Esther vii : 3. As if she had said, save me, and the 
 lives of my people, from the malice of our enemy. We 
 are sold to destruction. We are delivered to be de 
 stroyed, and to be killed, and to utterly perish, by the 
 very man that offered so large a sum for the destruction 
 of the Jews. And had it been a calamity in anywise 
 short of the extinction of the people from whom I am 
 descended, I would have kept silent. But it is their 
 utter annihilation that is decreed. And the ten thou 
 sand talents promised, if paid into the king s treasury, 
 will not countervail the king s damage will not repair 
 his loss of tribute from the Jews within his dominions. 
 
 " Then the king answered, and said unto the queen, 
 
EVIL AGAINST HAMAN. 241 
 
 Who is he, and ivhere is he, that durst presume in his 
 heart that is, whose heart hath filled him to do so to 
 do such a cruel thing, and by it deprive me also of my 
 revenue, and of my queen ? 
 
 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy of the 
 king, and of me, is this wicked Haman. " Then Hainan 
 was afraid before the king and the queen. And the 
 king, arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath, 
 went into the palace garden : and Haman stood up to 
 make request for his life to Esther the queen ; for he 
 saw that there was evil determined against him by the 
 king." It was a well-known custom, that if the king 
 left a feast displeased with any one, and retired to the 
 women s apartment, that there was no hope, and that 
 when the king ordered an execution no one was per 
 mitted even to ask for mercy.* By rising in anger, there 
 fore, it was the same as if sentence of death had been 
 pronounced. Rosenmuller gives an instance from Olea- 
 rius to this effect. Shah Sefi, of Persia, once felt him 
 self offended by some unseasonable jokes that one of his 
 favorites allowed himself to indulge in, accordingly he 
 at once arose and left the apartment, by which the 
 favorite knew his life was forfeited. He went home in 
 alarm, and in a few hours the king sent for his head. 
 Another instance is given in the books of a high officer 
 having displeased the Sultan, who immediately ordered 
 his head to be placed on the top of a pyramid of fruit 
 that had just been brought into his court. Persian 
 
 * En Perse, lorsque le roi a condamne quelqu un, on ne pent plus lui eu 
 parlet ni demander grace. S il etait ivre on hors de sens, il faudrait que 
 1 arret s executal tout do memo ; sans ccla il se contredirait, el la loi a* 
 peut se contredire, Montesquieu L Esprit. DCS Lois Liv. iii : C. 8. 
 
 11 
 
242 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 and Egyptian kings affected so much majesty that they 
 did not allow a malefactor, or any one sentenced to 
 death, to look at them. Hence they covered Hainan s 
 face when the king s displeasure was manifested 
 " putting him in a winding sheet that was dead in the 
 king s favor." When a criminal was condemned by a 
 Roman judge, he was delivered to the executioner in 
 these words : " I, Victor, caput obnubito arbori infelici 
 suspendito." Go, Seargent, cover his head, and hang 
 him on the unlucky tree. Perhaps, indeed, they cov 
 ered his face partly also because the king was in such 
 a rage that they wished to hide from him an object that 
 was so displeasing to him. In addition to the places 
 cited in the previous chapter, where the covering of 
 the head was significant of reverence, distress and sub 
 mission, we find other Scriptures that speak of the cov 
 ering of the head as expressive of the hatefulness of 
 the person as of one condemned, and his fate un 
 changeably fixed. See Job ix : 24; Isa. xxii : 17. 
 
 The original for " who is he, and where is he," is 
 peculiarly emphatic . Who ? He 77m one ? An d 
 where? This one? lie? Modes of expression that 
 show the great excitement of the king as if his mind 
 w r as at once filled with the idea of a terrible conspiracy, 
 and as if he expected armed men to leap out of the 
 divans and hanging curtains, and from the silk festoons, 
 and take his life. Under the circumstances, and con 
 sidering that he was an Oriental despot, he shows con 
 siderable forbearance in leaving the banquet, and going 
 into the palace garden out of sight of the infamous 
 wretch to cool his anger, and consider the extent and 
 1 bearing of the mischief intended. He may have felt 
 
HAMAN INTERCEDING. 243 
 
 that lie was in danger of doing something rash, if he 
 did not leave Hainan and reflect. We can hardly 
 suppose him lost to all shame. -He was still jealous of 
 his reputation as king of so great an empire. 
 
 The led, of the eighth verse, was not such as was 
 used to sleep in, but the divan used at banquets. The 
 king, no doubt, in his rage, either misconceives, or 
 affects to misconceive, the action of Haman, as if he 
 desired to have some more palpable cause for his im 
 mediate death. He seems to say, for the information 
 of others, "This wretched man has not only attempted to 
 take the queen s life, but now, behold, he will force the 
 queen also before me in the house." Whether he 
 really believed this or not, he was quite willing to have 
 the worst possible construction put upon his conduct. 
 The moment the king went out into the garden, Ha 
 man knew there was no hope, unless he could prevail 
 upon the queen to intercede for him; and as he knew 
 she had already, at the peril of her life, approached 
 the king, he may have had a faint hope that he could 
 convince her that he did not know that she was a Jew 
 ess, and that he was able, and would prevent the exe 
 cution of the decree for her sake. But it was in vain. 
 The king has determined evil against him, and nothing 
 but evil. 
 
 In the queen s address to the king there is great 
 tact and power. She begins by saying : Let my life be 
 given rue at my petition. As if, at once, she sought to 
 arouse the king s feelings, and awaken in his mind the 
 inquiry, Is her life in danger ? a life so dear to me ! 
 And, if so, is not my own life in danger, also ? And 
 then she adds and the life of my people at my request. 
 
 llA 
 
244 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 It is after the king is bound by the threefold cord of a 
 promise thrice made, that the queen astonishes him 
 with her request. It was not for half of his kingdom, 
 nor for wealth nor honor for herself nor for her friends, 
 but for life her own life. When the moment came 
 for her petition, she says : If, indeed, oh king, thou 
 hast any affection for your adoring queen, now is the 
 time to show it, for my life is now at stake, and a 
 whole nation, dear to me, also. Her address is well- 
 timed. Perhaps there is no superior piece of natural 
 eloquence, unless it may be Judah s address to Joseph 
 for Benjamin. In referring to the price for which she 
 and her people were sold, she touches the tender part 
 of the king if there is any such spot in the heart of 
 the master of an oriental harem. She intimates he 
 has been deceived and overreached. Hainan had ob- 
 
 s tained the decree, under false pretences, for his own 
 advantage and personal revenge, and to the manifest 
 detriment of the public treasury. It were easy to see 
 that such an address would have a powerful effect on 
 the king s mind. What he imagined was a great deal 
 worse than what she really said. Amazed, he cries 
 out, Is it possible there are conspirators in the harem ? 
 that my adored queen is to be murdered ? " Who 
 is he and where is he ?" And then the queen, nothing 
 
 - daunted, fixing her eyes, flashing with fire, on the 
 Amalekite, she says : " The adversary and enemy, my 
 Lord, oh king, is this wicked Hainan. I would not 
 make the charge behind his back, but here before his 
 face. For this purpose, I invited him to come with 
 you to my banquet. Let him speak. Let him deny it, 
 if he can. I am prepared with all the proof. He has 
 
HAMAN CONFOUNDED. 245 
 
 thus sought to have me and all the people put to death, 
 and to make the king himself a partaker in his awful 
 deeds. " The queen s petition was somewhat slow in 
 coming, but her words struck home with a killing effect 
 when they did come. The king s servants and his 
 own had often lied to Haman, calling him great, noble, t 
 magnanimous, virtuous and sublime; but the queen 
 makes him hear, perhaps for the first time in his life, 
 his true title this ivicked Hainan. No wonder he 
 stood confounded without sense or motion his limbs 
 refusing to do their office his lips trembling with fear 
 and his tongue faltering, and only sufficiently recovered 
 to be able to begin to speak, as the king comes back 
 from the garden. His condition is now, in every point 
 of view, most alarming. The queen is his accuser 
 the king is his judge the murderous decree is in evi 
 dence against him. His own hands the much-coveted 
 
 o 
 
 signet ring his deeds and words the details of his 
 interviews with the king the quarrel with Mordecai, 
 and his hot haste to have him hanged, and his own 
 conscience, are all in evidence against him. Nor did 
 the king s retirement into the garden lessen his resent 
 ment. He is ashamed to ask advice of his wise men, 
 the seven great counsellors of State, about undoing what 
 he had so rashly, so thoughtlessly done. He is sorely 
 vexed at himself for having been so rash for allowing 
 himself to have been overreached by Haman and - 
 vexed at Haman for his avarice, pride, ingratitude and 
 treason j yet he would not trust himself to say a word 
 till he had had time for sober second thoughts. A 
 woman s first thoughts are generally the best, but it is 
 not usually so with men never is it so with men hot in 
 
246 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 anger. And, now, as the last link in the chain, Har- 
 bonah, one of the chamberlains, and, possibly, one of 
 Hainan s creatures, says to the king : " Behold, also, 
 the gallows, fifty cubits high, which Ham an had made 
 for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, stand- 
 eth in the house of Hainan. It is enough. " Then 
 said the king, Hang him thereon." 
 
 1. Oh, how great are the vicissitudes of life! When 
 Haman thought himsolf secure, then he was nearest to 
 his ruin. In the fullness of his fancied strength, he 
 was cast into the net by his own feet. What a variety 
 of feelings, emotions, fears and hopes possess the bosoms 
 of men and women, at the same time and in the same 
 place ! At the wine banquets Esther is anxious and 
 hopeful. She has a great matter on hand. Haman is 
 agitated and feverish, and, at the second banquet, par 
 ticularly out of humor, but he must go with the king. 
 The king goes to the banquet in high glee, but flies 
 from the feast, in a rage, to the gardens, whither he 
 usually went for pleasure; but, now, to recover some 
 self-command. The end of this feast was very different 
 from the beginning. It began with wine and ended 
 in a bloody tragedy, as many other feasts have done 
 since. 
 
 2. How sudden and astonishing the change that 
 takes place in the feelings of those about the court. 
 Yesterday, everybody envied Haman for his prosperity, 
 but hated him for his insolence. Yesterday, they 
 bowed the knee, and did him homage, but now that 
 they see he has fallen, they are just as hearty in their 
 rejoicings at his downfall. As soon as they see that 
 
THE DESCENT HASTENED. 247 
 
 evil is determined against him, they all vie in readiness 
 to act as agents of his destruction. 
 
 In the hour 
 
 Of man s adversity, all things grow daring 
 Against the falling. " 
 
 Turba odit damnatos is a true proverb. If Haman 
 be going down, they all cry, " down with him." And 
 as Mordecai is now the favorite, all are ready to exalt 
 him. The old Louis dead in Versailles, may rot or bury 
 himself, while the courtiers and countesses are making 
 fair weather with the rising sun. Raman s sentence is 
 severe, but speedily executed, which was according to 
 Persian custom, as Xenophon tells us. 
 
 3. Haman pleading at Esther s feet, is a proof that 
 " the heathen are sent down in the pit that they made : 
 in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The 
 Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth : 
 the wicked is snared in the work of his own hand. The 
 wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations 
 that forget God." See Ps. ix : 15, 17; vii: 15. Prov. 
 xi: 8; xxi : 18. And while Haman receives the re 
 ward of his own doings, the faithfulness of God is seen 
 in his mercies to his people. As the Lord had been 
 with Joseph in Egypt, with Daniel in Babylon, so was 
 He with Mordecai and Esther in Persia. The remnant 
 of Jacob shall be as the dew. The Jews enemy, and 
 the adversary of the Hebrew orphan, a suppliant at the 
 queen s feet, illustrates how God regarded the low estate 
 of his handmaiden, and scattered the proud in their 
 imagination. 
 
 4. Another lesson learned from Raman s gallows, 
 
248 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 perhaps, hotter than from any other stand-point of this 
 history, is to beware of the first risings of evil passions. 
 
 " For there is nothing in the earth so small that it may not 
 
 produce great things, 
 And no swerving from a right line, that may not lead eternally 
 
 astray." 
 
 The personal slight as he considered it, from which we 
 date the rising of Hainan s envy, was only the key that 
 opened the gate of a sweeping flood of old hatred, the 
 prejudice of race and an animosity descended from the 
 sires of many generations. But it was the spark that set 
 on fire his treasured up vengeance, a vengeance that had 
 been so long treasured up and added to, tfiat in the 
 explosion it overshot itself. For in trying to wreak it 
 on all the Jews, he lost his revenge on Mordecai, and 
 paid the forfeit with his own neck. 
 
 5. We see again that human prosperity is wholly 
 unavailing in the hour of calamity. The glory of Ha 
 inan yesterday only enhances his disgrace to-day. As 
 mere wordly prosperity does not contain, in itself, the 
 true principles of human happiness, so it does not pro 
 duce in the human heart the means of enduring adver 
 sity. It enfeebles rather than strengthens the mind. 
 It foments desires and raises expectations not proper, 
 and then fails to satisfy them. It fosters a false deli 
 cacy that sickens in the midst of indulgence, and by 
 gratifying our sickly appetites, blunts our desires for 
 what is healthful. And thus the story of the sybarite, 
 whose rest was disturbed by the rose leaf doubled on his 
 couch, is realized. The real cause of Haman s wretch 
 edness was not in the stiffness of Mordecai s knees, but 
 
CAUSE OP HAM AN S FALL. 249 
 
 in his own heart and mind, that were distempered by 
 his prosperity and alienation from the truth. And 
 should not this reflection make us moderate in our de 
 sires for wealth, and in our pursuit of earthly pleasures ? 
 They are not soul satisfying while we have them, and 
 besides corrupting the mind when abused, they enfeeble 
 it, and engender internal misery. They that will be 
 rich pierce themselves through with many sorrows. 
 Riches lead us among precipices. At the very moment 
 Haman thought himself nearest the accomplishment of 
 his fell designs, that moment a righteous providence 
 was digging the pit for his fall. It was his own hand 
 that plucked the thunderbolt on his own head. His 
 prosperity ruined him it wove around his head the 
 web of destruction. It is true 
 
 " He had been ill brought up and was born bilious ;" 
 
 He was sprung from an accursed family, but there was 
 no fatality that doomed him personally to so terrible a 
 destiny. It was his bad or neglected education, and the 
 influence of his wicked wife, that brought out his own 
 depravity and crowned it with so fearful a catastrophe. 
 His success, for along time, but inflamed his pride, and 
 his pride increased his envy, and his envy swelled his 
 revenge, until he was resolved to have the blood of the 
 whole race to which Mordecai belonged. But his plans 
 all miscarried. He failed and lost his own life. 
 
 6. It is then an unfair, limited, and partial view of 
 Providence to say that GOD S favors are not wisely and 
 equitably distributed among men. Jacob s complainings 
 on the supposed death of Joseph, and the hard neces- 
 
 llB 
 
250 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 sity that required Benjamin to go down to Egypt, were 
 all wrong. The very things that he said, in the agony 
 of his heart, were all lt against him/ on the contrary, 
 were all working together for his good. As in the 
 raging tempest, every drop of the waves is as obedient 
 to the laws of nature, as are the water drops of the spring 
 branch, that babbled away its sparkling streamlets in 
 the sun the long summer day at the foot of the hill, or 
 by the door of the home of our early youth; so all 
 things in earth and in hell in tfreir wildest excesses, as 
 well as in their calmest flows, are subservient to God s 
 will. There is no event beyond his Almighty power. 
 All times, and all the passages of life are full of melody, 
 if we only believe; if we would only hear of them with 
 love in our hearts to God, and with filial trust in Him, 
 and with good will toward our fellow men. "The Lord 
 God is a sun and a shield ; Pie giveth grace and glory, 
 and no good thing doth He withhold from them that 
 love Him." 
 
 The purposes of God are not to be judged of by the 
 events of a moment, nor by the occurrences that are 
 near together. The chain of Providence has many 
 jinks, some are so high, and some are so far away, that 
 at present we cannot see them, nor can we judge cor 
 rectly of it till we see the whole chain together. Some 
 times God seems to look one way and work another, 
 and to bring about his own ends by unlikely means. 
 Thus we may say, with reverence, it was his purpose to 
 raise up the needful deliverer for his people, at the time 
 of their great extremity. To accomplish this, and yet 
 leave his agents free, He casts around and fetches 
 instruments together, that in the ordinary course of 
 
APPEARANCES DECEITFUL. 251 
 
 things would never have met. Vashti is to be de 
 throned. The seraglio is to be filled with Persia s fairest 
 damsels. Esther is only to please the king. Mordecai 
 is to displease Hainan, and Haman is to be disgraced, 
 and Mordecai is to become Grand Vizier in his place, 
 and the Hebrews are to be saved. And all this is done 
 without a single failure. Every thing comes out just 
 right at the right time, and every agent works all the 
 time as if the gratification of his or her own purpose 
 was the only, and the ultimate end in view. The ex 
 ternal appearances of Mordecai and Haman, at the open 
 ing of the history, are by no means equal, nor were 
 they a true index to the happiness of the one, or the 
 misery of the other, even the very day before Hainan s 
 fall. All Persia was envious of Hainan, when he was 
 the most thoroughly wretched man in the empire. His 
 honors and riches availed him nothing, so long as Mor 
 decai sat at the king s gate. I know not where to find 
 a confession more humiliating and expressive of deeper 
 wretchedness than this. It was an internal fury that 
 consumed him. Opulence and pleasure could not tame 
 his envy into submission. The sad tale of grief or be 
 reavement, or of losses and persecution, may grow light 
 by being poured into the listening ear of sympathy or 
 of friendship, but where is a man to find relief from a 
 bad disposition ? It must have been an astonishing de 
 cree of torment that made Haman break through all 
 reserve, and confess that the envy of his own heart 
 made him completely wretched, amid such honors and 
 wealth as should have made him perfectly happy. His 
 domestic council to whom he laid open the cause of his 
 misery must have been greatly astonished, and by such a 
 
252 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 confession he must have sunk very low in their estima 
 tion. Ah, it were better to have all the evils of poverty 
 or distress heaped upon us, than to have the heart stung 
 forever by the darts of envy. When suffering from 
 affliction in our own person, or in our families, or from 
 the loss of friends or property, the mind can exert itself 
 and suggest relief, and the mind properly speaking is 
 the man himself. But when the cause of our suffering 
 is the disorder of the mind itself the outbreak of pas 
 sion, or the gnawing and ever consuming worm of envy, 
 within the very heart then the last resource is at 
 tacked, and the very powers of thought which are for 
 our relief are converted into instruments of torture. 
 ^The envious man is a caudle burning out at both ends; 
 melting away from the heated stick at the lower end, 
 and consuming by the flaming wick at the other. Envy, 
 as the Roman said, has no feast days. It enjoys noth 
 ing; even its own advantages are tormented with what 
 others possess. "Invidia festos dies non agit." 
 
 7. You must learn, my young friends, to discriminate 
 between real and apparent happiness. Human nature 
 is a poor weak thing, and is the same in all ages and 
 countries. All Persia supposed Haman happy, and 
 envied his honors; but you see how miserable he was 
 " Even all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see 
 Mordecai the Jew, sitting at the king s gate/ The 
 wicked are not so happy after all in their boasted 
 prosperity. "To the wicked there is no peace. They 
 are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest. They 
 travel with pain all their days. Trouble and anguish 
 prevail against him. Terrors make them afraid on 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED. 253 
 
 every side. A dreadful sound is in their ears; and 
 they are in great fear when no fear is. I have seen 
 the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like 
 a green-bay tree. Yet he passed away, and lo, he was 
 not : yea, I sought him, and he could not be found. 
 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the 
 end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall 
 be destroyed together; the end of the wicked shall be 
 cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the 
 LORD : He is their strength in the time of trouble. 
 And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them : He 
 shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, be 
 cause they trust in Him." 
 
 In your setting out in life, or in your beginning bu 
 siness, and establishing a character in a new place, 
 commit your ways to the Lord, and He will guide you. 
 With dependence upon Him, and trust in His fatherly 
 goodness, you carry your fortune in your own hands, 
 and your happiness in your own heart. The destruc 
 tion of your purity of character is the destruction of 
 your peace. Keep your heart, with all diligence 
 govern your thoughts and desires for out of it are 
 the issues of life. And in all your sorrows and disap 
 pointments in the city full, or desert waste ; on the 
 wild rolling waves, or lonely mountain hights, remem 
 ber that, " Like as a father pitieth his children, so the 
 Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth 
 our frame : He reniembereth that we are dust. Call 
 upon me," saith God, " in the day of trouble, and I will 
 deliver you." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE LAW OF RETRIBUTION. 
 
 "So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had pre 
 pared for Mordecai." Esther vii : 10. 
 
 Retribution ! 
 
 Haunted and dogged him, through the shadows dim, 
 Outran his heavy step, awaited him, 
 As through his spacious halls he passed and sought 
 His private chamber." Two Millions. 
 
 A proverb says: " Harm watch, harm catch/ and it 
 is a true saying. The Sacred writings teach, by direct 
 precept, and by narratives, that there is a Providence 
 that makes the way of transgressors hard, so that the 
 sinners own wickedness reproves him, and his own 
 backslidings correct him. A gallows is not a pleasant 
 pulpit, nor an agreeable place for a sermon, yet we can 
 not leave one so high as Hainan s without some further 
 moralizirigs. Fifty cubits high, the highest, I pre 
 sume, ever built since the foundation of the world. 
 The cubit, among the ancients, was of a different length 
 among different nations. The Roman cubit is gener 
 ally estimated at seventeen inches and four-tenths; 
 
256 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 and the Hebrew cubit, at a little less than twenty-two 
 inches; and the English cubit, at eighteen inches. 
 Hainan s gallows was, therefore, some seventy-five to 
 ninety feet high. 
 
 In Hainan s history, as in that of jSamson, we have 
 a most remarkable illustration of the terrible law of 
 retribution, which the Supreme Ruler of the universe 
 has ordained, the presence of which runs like a flame 
 of fire through all history, and through all the dispen 
 sations of Providence. In selecting foxes as instru 
 ments of: his vengeance, Samson selected the animals 
 which, of all others, were the most appropriate to the 
 nature of the insult. Foxes are cunning, and it was 
 through their wit the Philistines had prevailed against 
 him. They won the garments from him, at his wed 
 ding, by stratagem, and their cornfields were burnt by 
 foxes animals proverbial for their cunning. 
 
 But the judgments of God that begin on a man s 
 property, if not arrested by penitence and forgiveness, 
 soon take hold on his person. This was the process 
 with Job, and with the Egyptians, though, in them, 
 the attributes illustrated are different. From the mur 
 rain among their cattle, the LORD proceeded until their 
 first-born were slain. And if judgments begin at the 
 house of God, what will be the end of the ungodly, 
 who obey not the Gospel ? 
 
 When the Philistines saw their cornfields, vineyards 
 and olives destroyed, they at once understood how, and 
 for what it was done; they, therefore, came and burnt 
 Samson s wife and her father, inflicting upon her the 
 very death threatened, and to escape which she had 
 betrayed her newly married husband. And because 
 
THE PHILISTINES AND THE JEWS. 257 
 
 Samson had burnt their fields of corn, the Philistines 
 burnt the Timnites. They must have felt that Samson 
 had been unjustly treated, and hoped, by this means, 
 to appease him. The retribution upon Samson s wife 
 and father was most inhuman and barbarous, and, in 
 every way, out of all proportion in its severity. For 
 it does not appear that either of them had anything to 
 do with the burning of the cornfields, yet their own 
 countrymen burnt them for what the Hebrew Samson 
 had done. Samson s wife, in trying to avoid Scylla, 
 fell into Charybdis. She betrayed her husband, be 
 cause she feared her Philistine brethren would burn 
 her. and her father s house, with fire, and yet, by their 
 hands, she was burned with fire, and her father also. 
 She leaped into the flames she meant to avoid. And so 
 the Jews, who crucified our Lord, did the same thing. 
 The Pharisees and priests did violence to their con 
 science and were determined not to receive Jesus as 
 the Messiah. According to their ideas of the charac 
 ter of the Messiah, if they received Jesus as such, the 
 Romans would come down on them with fire and sword. 
 Their convictions were on the side of Jesus miracles, 
 but their fears were against His claims to be the Mes 
 siah. Their rejection of Him, therefore, was not on 
 the ground that he did not perform miracles, but be 
 cause of what they supposed would be the consequen 
 ces; and here they made a great mistake. They did 
 not act from principle, bat from expediency. They 
 consulted not what was right, but their prejudices and 
 their fears. Their unbelief arose not from a defect in 
 the Gospel evidences, but from their low views of reli 
 gion, and their supreme selfishness. They thought 
 
258 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 H their self-interests required them to reject Jesus, and, 
 therefore, they would not receive Him as the Messiah. 
 They professed to proceed against Him, and to put 
 Him to death, as Caesar s friends, lest the Romans 
 should come and destroy them. And they succeeded 
 in crucifying Him, but the Romans came, and burnt 
 their temple and city with fire. 
 
 These cases, as also the case of Pharaoh, show most 
 conclusively that it is foolish and vain for men to 
 attempt to stifle conviction by their supposed self-inter 
 ests. It is a great mistake to sacrifice truth for fear 
 of any temporal calamity. The history of Divine 
 Providence demonstrates that it is the rule of His 
 retributive justice to bring on men the very evil they 
 try to escape by doing violence to their convictions, or 
 even to what should have been their convictions, for 
 the stupidity, obtuseness, or indistinct conceptions of 
 truth, or duty, do not in anywise invalidate their para 
 mount claims. It requires no argument to prove that it 
 is common for men to pursue what they suppose, at the 
 time, to be for their own interest, in spite of their 
 convictions, and it is scarcely necessary to present 
 illustrations of God s punishing such men for their 
 disregard of right principle, by bringing on them the 
 very calamities which they hoped to escape by wrong 
 doing. The forms under which the principles that are 
 stated and illustrated in the cases just cited of the 
 Pharisees and priests may have been various at dif 
 ferent times, and with different persons, but the lapse 
 of centuries has not changed the Divine Ptule. It has 
 never been repealed. There has been no dying out of 
 the principle. Our streets and prisons are full of illus 
 trations of a retributive Providence. 
 
DIVINE JUDGMENTS JUST. 259 
 
 Let it, then, be repeated, the history of the world, in 
 the light of Divine Providence, is but an illuminated 
 volume of Retributive Justice. The punishment which 
 God inflicts, seen from a Bible stand-point, takes the 
 shape of the very calamity which men sacrificed prin 
 ciple to escape, or hoped to avert by continuing in sin. 
 This was, literally, the case with the Jews. They 
 thought to propitiate the Romans by crucifying Jesus y 
 but, because of their rejection of Christ, God stirred 
 up the Romans to come and destroy them. And so, al 
 ways, the resort to unlawful means to avert an impend 
 ing evil, or to prevent evil, is only to make the matter 
 worse. And the Divine judgments frequently, if not 
 always, carry in them the stamp and print of the sin 
 for which they are inflicted. There is a conformity 
 between the crime and the punishment. Nor is there 
 any view of sin, or of the Divine Justice, more awful 
 than this. The Romans did come and take away the 
 place and nation of the very men who sinned in trying 
 to propitiate them. The Jews acted on the principle 
 of doing evil that good might come, but the good did 
 not come, and the evil increased to sevenfold vengeance. 
 This is a striking case, but by no means the only one 
 in the Bible. In the conquest of Canaan, we find that 
 a certain king seems to have been treated in a barba 
 rous manner. His thumbs and great toes were cut oif. 
 But even the heathen and savage Adoni-bezek recog 
 nized the principle that he was treated as he had 
 treated others. " Three score and ten kings," said he, 
 " having their thumbs and great toes cut off, gathered 
 their meat under my table : as I have done, so hath the 
 Lord God requited me." Pharaoh decreed that all 
 
260 THE HEBREW-PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 the Hebrew male children should be drowned, and he 
 was himself and his host drowned in the Red Sea. 
 Eli s great sin was in not restraining his sons, and he 
 was punished in their death. Hezekiah s weakness was 
 in showing his treasure to the servants of the king of 
 Babylon, and he was punished in having it taken from 
 him, and his own eyes put out. 
 
 Now, as we are not endowed with omnipresence and 
 with omniscience, so it is not fair to require us to sup 
 port this rule by an appeal to individual histories in our 
 day. And yet I am perfectly sure that, in every com 
 munity, intelligent observers will be at no loss to find 
 illustrations in point. The rule of God s retributive 
 justice is, that when conscience is set at nought and 
 principle sacrificed, for the sake of some imagined ad 
 vantage, then the result is a reaction, that brings upon 
 the sinner a punishment, in kind and sort, appropriate 
 to the nature of his sin. To support the truth of this 
 rule, it is not necessary to prove that it is applied, in 
 the present world, in every individual case ] but only, 
 that we have sufficient proof that it is the general rule. 
 And this, we think, can hardly be denied. How is it 
 with the tradesman or mechanic, who, against the prin 
 ciples of his-jeducation and his conviction of right, con 
 tinues his business on the Lord s Day, for the sake of 
 some supposed necessity or temporary advantage ? In 
 the long run, is he prosperous ? Is any Sabbath-break 
 ing community, in the long run, a truly happy one ? 
 And the merchant, or banker, who, for the sake of pre 
 venting apprehended bankruptcy, sacrifices principle 
 does he come out well in the end ? Does not all expe 
 rience prove that honesty is the best policy f Take any 
 
OUR CITIES PREACHING. 261 
 
 given period of twenty-five years, or even half of that 
 number, in any of our commercial emporiums. Give 
 us the full and faithful history of all the young traders, 
 merchants and clerks who have figured, during that 
 time, in Boston, New York or New Orleans, and say, 
 who are the happiest and best to do in the world ? 
 With whom would you prefer your lot to be cast? 
 With those who have maintained a conscience void of 
 offense toward God and man, or with those who have 
 sacrificed principle for the sake of some temporary ben 
 efit? On which side of the divine rule does your obser 
 vation of every day life place those who are blighted 
 in name, bankrupt in estate, and broken in heart ? Is 
 not the preponderance of such vastly on the side of 
 those who are palpable violators of right principle ? 
 And do you not believe, from the lessons of our streets, 
 that if faithful biographies were written of its moving 
 masses, that it would be seen that their wrongdoing is 
 the fruit of wrong principles^ either avowed, or allowed 
 to enter into their calculations, and that the turning 
 point of their moral delinquency was just where right 
 and expediency battled for the supremacy the point 
 just where conscience rose in arms, and made a stand 
 against corrupt principle, marking out clearly the path 
 way of duty, and where, on the contrary, imagined in 
 terest said, stoutly and defiantly, No ; but this line of 
 conduct must be pursued, at least, for the present and 
 they yielded, and are lost. Every one has witnessed 
 such cases perhaps numerous instances of singular 
 vicissitude. One misfortune after another falls upon a 
 man ; and, like a camel in the slime-pits of the Dead 
 Sea, his flounderings only sink him the deeper. All 
 
262 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 his efforts to recover himself prove unavailing. The 
 Romans are upon him, and, to escape them, he sacri 
 fices principle; but, instead of being appeased by his 
 sacrifice, they come upon him with tenfold vengeance, 
 and, now, of all men, he is the most miserable. The 
 bitterness of present degradation is enhanced by the 
 recollections of former prosperity, and by the conscious 
 ness that he sold his convictions of right for the pur 
 pose of some imagined benefit. The sting of the never- 
 dying worm, that gnaws in his vitals, is, that he feels 
 that he is reaping what he sowed. His punishment 
 has an awful and mysterious conformity to his sin. The 
 avenging eye and drawn sword of Nemesis are ever and 
 always upon him. He himself is hell. A monument 
 of the justice of Grod upon one that swerves from right 
 for the sake of what appeared to be profitable. And 
 even if it be possible for some individual, or for several, 
 who have adopted expediency rather than principle, as 
 their rule of conduct, to go on, unvisited by the Ro 
 mans, to the end of life ; it only proves that there is a 
 future state where the account must be settled ; and, 
 unless repented of and forgiven, the delay only enhances 
 the terribleness of the retribution. Nor is there any 
 fact or principle revealed in science or religion that an 
 nuls this fearful connection of sin and punishment; 
 and, if the same character is preserved to retributive 
 justice in a future state, then will the sins of the finally 
 impenitent and unforgiven eternally reproduce them 
 selves in their self-procured tormentings. We have 
 only to suppose a remorseful and agitated conscience, 
 pursuing the incorrigibly wicked, and we have an agent 
 of torment as endless as their own existence, fixing the 
 
THE EVER GNAWING VULTURE. 263 
 
 precise Jdnd and degree of punishment adjudicated. 
 Suppose a man, now, sacrifice right for the sake of 
 gratifying any of his wicked passions, and that he is 
 adjudged to have those passions ever raging and never 
 gratified the vulture to gnaw and the liver to grow, 
 and the vulture still to gnaw. And is not this the fire 
 that is unquenchable? Or, that a man who sold his 
 conscience and baitercd his principles for wealth or 
 political station, is sentenced to hankering eternally 
 for gold, or is doomed eternally to climb for eminent 
 stations, and yet be as eternally sliding down and clasp 
 ing his hands in the most excruciating poverty; and 
 then say, have we not here the worm that dieth not ? In 
 God s reckoning, nothing is gained by doing violence 
 to a sense of right. True principle is ilie only expe 
 diency known in the annals of eternity. The concilia 
 tion offered to evil, to avert it, is the agent for bringing 
 down its fearful results on our heads. The man that 
 will be rich by fraud, is heaping up riches for the Ro 
 mans to dissipate building a gallows to hang himself 
 upon. When a man surrenders his principles of right ^ 
 to gain a name or a position in the world, he is build 
 ing a gallows for himself. It is an unrepealed law of 
 Heaven, that, as we measure to others, so it shall be 
 measured to us again. What God commands we must 
 do. His will is always right and always supreme. Our 
 duty is obedience. 
 
 Again, it is a singular and significant proof of an 
 overruling providence in regard to this rule of retribu 
 tive justice, that so many of the inventors of the means 
 and instruments for taking the life of their fellow men, 
 
264 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 have perished by their own inventions. * Thalaris was 
 consumed in his own brazen bull. The regent Morton, 
 who first introduced the "Maiden/ a Scotch instru 
 ment of decapitation, like the inventor of the Guillo 
 tine, perished by his own instrument. The same is 
 true of Brodie, who induced the Edinburgh magistrates 
 to use the " new drop/ the same still in use. Marat, 
 the bloody minded, died from the assassin s dagger. 
 Danton and Robespierre conspired the death of Verg- 
 niaud, and of his Republican confreres, the noble 
 Girondist, and then Robespierre lived only long enough 
 to see the death of Danton, before perishing himself on 
 the same guillotine. The Duke of Orleans, the infa 
 mous Egalite, voted for the death of Louis XVI, and 
 not long afterward was guillotined himself. The wicked 
 are taken in their own net. They fall into -the ditch 
 their own hands- have digged. " Bloody minded and 
 deceitful men shall not live out half their days." Sin 
 ning is a sure paymaster, and if delayed, the interest 
 compounds rapidly. It is not necessary to adjourn to 
 the court of futurity to know that sin is an evil thing 
 and bitter. It is in vain that unbelievers reason against 
 the presence of a divine government in the world. The 
 facts of every day life the painful lessons of our streets, 
 display before our eyes the most convincing evidence 
 that the way of transgressors is hard. Who has not 
 seen the Almighty pursuing the sinner with evil ? 
 What else is this condemning voice of conscience within ? 
 
 " Ncc lex est justior ulla 
 
 Quam necis artifices artc perire sua." 
 
 Nor is there a more just law titan this, that the fabricators of death should 
 perish ly their own invention. This subject is more briefly presented in my 
 " Giant Judge," and partly in the same language. See the latter part of 
 chapter xi. 
 
ANGUISH FOLLOWS SIN. 265 
 
 What meaneth this anguish of the heart ? What are 
 these wounds, inflicted by the terrible disorders of the 
 passions? There is enough now to prove that the sin 
 ner is his own destroyer. God need not corne forth 
 from the secret place of his majesty to punish the poor 
 sinner. He has only to let Ephraiui, who is joined to 
 his idols, alone, and they will turn and devour him. 
 The infernal fire is kindled by his own hand. The 
 worm that never dies, he has nursed in his own heart 
 until it has grown so venomous as to seize it for undy 
 ing torture. The way of transgressors against both 
 natural and moral laws is NOW HARD. The day of 
 reckoning follows close after sinful indulgence. Nature 
 is inexorable. Her outraged laws must be avenged. 
 The libertine and the drunkard find it to be so. Their 
 bodies and minds soon bear the marks of guilt and pun 
 ishment. Passions and appetites abused, soon change 
 the body into a prison for the soul. No fugitive es 
 capes the police of God and Nature. The penalties 
 annexed by the Creator to the violation of the laws of 
 our physical constitution are as awful as they are inevi 
 table. Sooner or later, at home or abroad, on land or 
 sea, conscience will awake and seize the guilty, and 
 abused nature will cry out, and fearful retributions will 
 fall upon them ; or if not in this life, they will be all 
 the more fearful because they fall upon them beyond 
 the grave, where no repentance nor acts of pardon are 
 known. Is there then no escape for the impenitent ? 
 No none for the impenitent, but there is forgiveness 
 for the penitent. This is the day of grace. This is 
 the hour of pardon. There is a great Redeemer, the 
 Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. 
 12 
 
266 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 And if we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and 
 just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all 
 unrighteousness. THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST His 
 
 SON CLEANSETII US FROM ALL SIN. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE COUNTER-DECREE ISSUED. 
 
 " Write ye also for the Jews . And he wrote in the 
 
 king s name, and sealed it with the king s ring, and sent letters 
 by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels and young 
 dromedaries. So the posts that rode upon mules and camels 
 went out, being hastened and pressed by the king s command 
 ment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace." 
 
 Esther viiL 
 
 -So many are 
 
 The sufferings which no human aid can reach. 
 It needs must be a duty doubly sweet 
 
 To heal the few we can ." 
 
 Coleridge. 
 
 IN the previous chapters we have witnessed the plot 
 ting of Haman and his fall. We have seen him hang 
 ing on his own high gallows in shame greater than his 
 honor had ever been. And so palpable are the lessons 
 of retributive justice in his doom, that I suppose every 
 Jew and Gentile, to this day, who may stop a moment 
 to contemplate his gallows, is ready to say, "0 Lord, 
 so let the malice of the wicked come to an end, but 
 establish thou the just." 
 
 Now that the enemy of the Jews had met his fate, 
 Mordecai is advanced in the king s favor, for the queen 
 
 12A 
 
268 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 told the king how nearly he was related to her, and he 
 was made a prince of the empire. Probably up to this 
 moment, although others were aware of it, the king 
 did not know that Mordecai was her foster cousin, and 
 most likely, till the queen told him in her petition for 
 her life, the king did not know that she herself belonged 
 to the seed of the Jews. The house of Haman was 
 given by the king to the queen ; that is, his estates. 
 These he had justly forfeited, so that the king could 
 rightly bestow them on the queen as a sort of compen 
 sation for the danger she had been in. And Esther 
 made Mordecai her steward over Hainan s estates, and 
 the king gave him the signet ring which he had for 
 merly given to Haman. And as to both the queen and 
 Mordecai, we should observe how respectful and modest 
 they were. It is some four or five years since she was 
 crowned, and yet she has not troubled the king to pro 
 vide for her relations. And Mordecai, too, was as 
 modest and diffident in presenting his claims as he had 
 been brave and faithful in deserving honor and rewards. 
 He has been diligent in educating and protecting the 
 queen in her helpless orphanage, and he saved the king s 
 life when his chamberlains had conspired against him ; 
 but, up to this time, where is his reward ? Why he has 
 had the best of all rewards, an approving conscience 
 and the approbation of his God; and now both the 
 king and queen conspire to heap honors upon him. 
 Ahasuerus makes him lord keeper of the Privy seal, or 
 Lord High Chancellor, in. the place of Haman, removed, 
 and the queen makes him Lord High Steward in the 
 management of Hainan s estates. How happy a change 
 for the Jews! Instead of the wicked Haman, they 
 
SLIPPERY PLACES. 269 
 
 have now near the throne a bosom friend in whom they 
 may repose, without fear of confusion, and on the throne 
 a queen all powerful, acknowledged to be of their own 
 blood. How true the Bible proverb, he that heapeih 
 iip riches, knoiceth not who shall gather t 7 iem ; and 
 that other saying, also, " Promotion cometh neither 
 from the east nor from the west, nor from the south. 
 But God is the judge : he putteth down one and set- 
 teth up another. All the horns of the wicked also will 
 I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be ex 
 alted, saith the LORD." Ps. Ixxv and xxxix. 
 
 Hainan has fallen Mordecai has risen, and God s 
 people are saved. Haman inherits the gibbet he had 
 prepared for Mordecai, and Mordecai falls heir to the 
 house and place and honors of Haman. It is the Lord s 
 doings, and is truly marvellous in our eyes. And yet 
 both reaped as they had sown, and gathered the ripened 
 fruits of their own doings. Evil doing and honest 
 innocence have now paid their debts to both their 
 clients. There was no injustice nor overreaching, nor 
 double-dealing in all this. No unlawful nor violent 
 proceedings had in the case, for Haman having justly 
 forfeited his life and his estates, and Mordecai being 
 fully entitled to reward for his services, and morally 
 fitted to enjoy the royal favors, why shall he not have 
 them ? But how terrible are the reverses of princes, 
 and how sudden the fall of statesmen. Wolsey, Ra 
 leigh, Essex and Louis Phillippe, are only a few out of 
 many, that illustrate how slippery are the steps of 
 thrones and the standings around them. One hour 
 changed the whole face of the Persian empire. In the 
 morning every knee but that of Mordecai bows to Ha- 
 
270 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 man, but in the evening, he hangs " like a despised 
 vermin, for a prey to the ravens;" and he who in the 
 morning was designed for the gallows, is now prime 
 minister, and rules over the princes and captains of the 
 empire. He who was faithful to his God and loyal to 
 his king at the gate, is now called from the gate to sit 
 up next to the throne. How wonderful are the retribu 
 tive providences of God ? And on that very day did 
 the king give the house of Haman, the Jew s enemy, 
 unto Esther. If the proud and wicked courtier had 
 place and wealth to do mischief with, but has forfeited 
 them, why shall they not now be given to the queen to 
 do good with, and why may not Mordecai take care of 
 them. ? If the arch -plotter is hanging on his own gal 
 lows, and Mordecai is possessed of his estates, is it not 
 as the good Book saith : " A good man leaveth an in 
 heritance to his children s children ; and the wealth of 
 the sinner is laid up for the just ?" Prov. xiii : 22. 
 And again : " This is the portion of a wicked man 
 with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they 
 shall receive of the Almighty. If his children be mul 
 tiplied, it is for the sword : and his offspring shall not 
 be satisfied with bread. Those that remain of him shall 
 be buried in death : and his widows shall not weep. 
 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare 
 raiment as the clay. He may prepare it, but the just 
 shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. 
 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that 
 the keeper maketh. The rich man shall lie down, but 
 he shall not be gathered : he openeth his eyes and he 
 is not. Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest 
 stealeth him away in the night. The east wind car- 
 
HAMAN S PLEAS EXPOSED. 271 
 
 rieth him away, and he departeth : and as a storm 
 hurleth him out of his place. For God shall cast upon 
 him, and not spare : he would fain flee out of his hand. 
 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him 
 out of his place." Job xxvii : 13, 23. 
 
 But we must not forget that, though the queen and 
 Mordecai are now saved, and their great adversary is 
 out of the way, still the cruel decree is in force against 
 the Jews, throughout the Persian empire. We are not, 
 then, surprised that the queen wept, and besought the 
 king to arrest the mischief designed her people by Ha 
 inan. And it pleased the king to accept her supplica 
 tion. So he held out the golden sceptre. And when 
 the queen arose and stood before the king, she made a 
 most beautiful and eloquent plea. By various well- 
 timed expressions, she insinuates her purpose into the 
 king s mind, and shows her profound respect for him, 
 and submission to his good pleasure. She is careful to 
 ascribe all the mischief devised against the Jews to 
 Hainan. She relieves the king from any suspicion of 
 envy and hatred toward them, and repeats, again and 
 again, that Haman was wicked and deceitful and selfish 
 and treacherous. She shows the king that Hainan 
 had imposed upon him that, in this whole business, 
 he had contrived to gratify his own malice, fill his own 
 chests, and despoil the kingdom. The decree was ob 
 tained by craft and on false pretences, and should, 
 therefore, be repealed. And then, mildly, she closes 
 by an appeal to the king s regard for her : "I cannot 
 see the destruction of my kindred. My heart will sink 
 under it. It will kill me to see such a catastrophe 
 come unto my people. And she fell at the king s feet, 
 
272 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 and besought him, with tears, to put away the evil of 
 Hainan and his device against the Jews." (Esth. viii : 
 1 6.) Her pleading is remarkable for its respectful 
 tone its earnestness and feeling. She does not seem 
 to have any tears for herself, when her own life was 
 chiefly at stake ; but the fountain of tears was unsealed, 
 when she came to plead for her kindred. David had 
 tears to shed over the wickedness of men, though he had 
 slain a bear as a lion rends a kid, and Goliath of Gath 
 with a smooth stone from the brook. And Jeremiah s 
 head was a fountain of tears, because of the desolations 
 of Zion, and the calamities of his countrymen. And 
 so of Paul; we read not of his tears when he was 
 stoned and left for dead, or shipwrecked, or beaten with 
 stripes, or contending with wild beasts. Neither the 
 lions nor the axe could bring tears from his eyes ; but 
 anxiety for the salvation of his countrymen, the Jews, 
 overwhelmed him with many tears. His heart s desire 
 and prayer to God for Israel, was that they might be 
 saved. It is proper to feel an earnest desire for the 
 salvation of our fellow men, and to do all we can for 
 them. John Knox was known to spend much of his 
 time in prayer, and was often heard pleading with God 
 alone in his chamber, as a man talketh earnestly with 
 his friend, saying : " Give me Scotland or I die." 
 And God heard him, and he gave Scotland an open 
 Bible, and education to her people, and a preached 
 Gospel, and Scotland has nobly honored him, and there 
 she is, to-day, a monument of Knox s prayer and faith. 
 What heroism is greater than to live for the Church of 
 the living God and die for her interests ? 
 
PRESUMPTION REBUKED. 273 
 
 I love thy Church, God ! 
 
 Her walls before Thee stand, 
 Dear as the apple of thine eye, 
 And graven on thy hand ! 
 
 For her my tears shall fall ; 
 
 For her my prayers ascend ; 
 To her my cares and toils be given, 
 
 Till toils and cares shall end !" 
 
 In replying, the king reminds the queen that he had 
 shown the greatest readiness to comply with previous 
 requests, and that he was now desirous of equal prompt 
 ness for arresting Hainan s decree, as far as it could be 
 done consistent with the unchangeable laws ot the em 
 pire. " For the writing which is written in the king s 
 name, and sealed with the king s ring, may no man 
 not even the king himself reverse. " What, then, 
 can be done ? The case is an urgent one. The queen 
 is importunate a whole race of people are in danger 
 the whole empire is to be bathed in blood the king 
 had legal authority to do his will upon Hainan, but he 
 cannot revoke the cruel decree of Haman against the 
 Jews. This fundamental law of the Medes and Per 
 sians, that their laws could not be changed or repealed, 
 was unwise and preposterous. It was, in fact, blasphe 
 mous the assuming of infallibility. They had no 
 right to put such a law into their " Magna Carta," or 
 such a clause into their " Bill of Rights." The pro 
 verb is true which says, that " a wise man changes his 
 opinions, a fool never." As it is human to err, so it is 
 wise to reform. 
 
 But so thought not Herod. He sinned in keeping 
 an oath which he sinned in making, whereas such an 
 
 12B 
 
274 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 oath was not binding, and should have been disregarded, 
 1 A man is not bound to keep an unlawful or sinful oath. 
 But Ahasuerus thinks it better to run the risk of de 
 luging his kingdom with blood, by issuing a counter- 
 decree, rather than to violate the laws of the empire 
 by revoking the former one. It may have been that 
 such was the temper of the times so numerous and 
 desperate the partisans of Hainan that this counter- 
 decree was, under the circumstances, the best course 
 for the king to take. It was not, certainly, his desire 
 to have his subjects slay each other. He must have 
 hoped that the second decree would nullify the first, and 
 be tantamount to its revocation. Accordingly, the 
 second decree is equal, in every respect, to the first. 
 It is as broad, and as long, and as terrible, and as irre 
 vocable. The powers granted to destroy the Jews are 
 not recalled they cannot be but it is made lawful 
 for the Jews to stand and defend themselves. Here 
 read Esther viii : 7, 12, inclusive. 
 
 But the empire is vast. Is it possible to send this 
 counter-decree through all the provinces ? Yes, for 
 there is yet nine months to come before the day ap 
 pointed for the massacre. There is then time enough 
 to reach the most distant provinces: But, to make 
 sure of conveying this new decree to the Jews every- 
 x where, from India to Ethiopia that is, from Hindu 
 stan to the heart of Africa, more care and speed were 
 used than in sending the former one. It was sent by 
 posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels and 
 young dromedaries, 
 
 It is interesting to observe how historical researches 
 corroborate the facts, and even the correctness of the 
 
HINDUSTAN DERIVED. 275 
 
 proper names of the Bible. The name India, for ex 
 ample, which we find in this history, and which desig 
 nates a portion of the globe that is much talked of in 
 our day, and is, no doubt, to be the scene of great 
 events in the church of the future, is from the Hebrew, 
 ffoddo, in Syriac, Hendoo, and, in Arabic, Hind, from 
 which, doubtless, Hindustan. In all the versions, I 
 believe, the Hebrew is rendered as in our text, India, 
 And the country thus designated in the days of Ahasu- 
 erus was, probably, all that part of Asia that was east 
 of the Indus; but, subsequently, it came to mean that 
 portion that lies between the Indus on the west, Bir- 
 mah and Thibet on the east, and between Caucasus on 
 the north, and the Indian Ocean on the south. The 
 means and modes of traveling in Persia are very differ 
 ent from what we are generally accustomed to. Not 
 much change has taken place there since the days of 
 the great king Ahasuerus. There are erected, at con 
 venient intervals, along the routes of travel, khans, or 
 post houses, for the purpose of defense against the 
 Bedouins, and of affording provision for caravans of 
 traveling merchants, or of pilgrims. A khan is usu 
 ally a square building of stone or unburnt brick, 
 resembling, as seen at a distance, a fortress. It is 
 surrounded with a lofty wall, and flanked by round 
 towers. A main gateway conducts into an open court, 
 around which are stalls for goods and animals. In the 
 centre of the area is a platform used for prayer and 
 sleeping. Some of the better class of khans have an 
 arcade, terrace, and towers. They are generally ankle 
 deep in chopped straw and filth. The fleas, and such 
 like insects, may be measured by the bushel. The 
 
276 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 well, or tank of water, ujgually smells very strong of 
 leather. The pilgrim caravans often carry felt covered 
 coffins, which contain dead bodies to be interred in the 
 sacred cemeteries. And when the pilgrims, their cof 
 fins and animals, in great crowds, are shut up in one 
 of these khans in hot weather, for several days, the 
 whole atmosphere becomes charged with noxious gases, 
 that produce sickness and death. " It is estimated/ 
 says Mr. Loftus, in his Susiana and Chaldea, "that, in 
 healthy seasons, a fifth of the travelers, overcome with 
 fever and other diseases, find their graves in the desert; 
 while, in times of cholera and epidemics, the average 
 is much larger of those who fail to return to their dis 
 tant homes." The same author states that, in 1831, 
 out of a population of 70,000 in the city of Bagdad, 
 12,000 died of fever, (pp. 8 and 14.) 
 
 Though there may be -some difficulty ? as we observe 
 in the writings of learned men on the subject, in defin 
 ing the meaning of the names given to the animals 
 mentioned in the text as having been used for carrying 
 the royal decree, it is very certain that the swiftest and 
 the hardiest, or most enduring the empire could fur 
 nish, were employed. Horses were in use before the 
 Trojan war, and mules, and camels, and dromedaries 
 belong to a very ancient period of Asiatic history. 
 The camel is common to the whole East, from Africa 
 to China. This animal can live on a little paste, or a 
 few beans and dry sticks, and can do, comfortably, seven 
 or eight, or even ten or twelve days without water, and 
 when made to trot and gallop, will go a great distance 
 in a day. Authors vary in their statements on this 
 point, from one hundred and fifty, to four hundred 
 
ANCIENT COURIERS. 277 
 
 miles in twenty-four hours. The couriers of the Incas 
 and of the ancient Mexicans, like the couriers and run 
 ners of South America at the present day, performed 
 wonderful feats in conveying news great distances in 
 short time. Such official messengers as were employed 
 by Mordecai and Esther, have been in use from very early 
 times. In the days of Job, certainly prior to the time ^ 
 of Esther, the swiftness of the post was well known. 
 In the book of Job, the rapidity with which the life of 
 man passes away, is compared to the post, the swift 
 ship, and the eagle hastening to his prey, (ix Job. ) 
 The administration of the post can hardly be said, 
 however, to have been regularly established before the 
 reign of Cyrus the Great. Couriers mounted on swift 
 dromedaries, had been often employed to convey news, 
 and carry expresses between distant places, but a regu 
 lar system of post, by relays of horses, and other ani 
 mals, is believed to have been first established by Cyrus, 
 in Persia. Cyrus ascertained, by experiment, how far 
 a horse could travel with ease, and there caused stables 
 to be built, and thus established lines of posts in many 
 directions throughout his dominions. He appointed a 
 postmaster, and kept horses and camels, and drom 
 edaries, and men at each of their stations. 
 
 The posts traveled day and night, without intermis 
 sion, fresh riders and animals being supplied at the 
 stations. And Xenophon declares that these posts of 
 Cyrus, thus traveling, day and night, went " faster 
 than the cranes can fly." The same system is estab 
 lished in Persia at the present day, and substantially 
 the same in Turkey and throughout all Western and 
 Central Asia, except that it is usual for the same rider 
 
278 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 to perform the whole journey, but with frequent change 
 of horses. The first rider is empowered to " impress," 
 or seize, for the public service, whatever animals he 
 needs on the way, and the head man or chief of every 
 village, is bound to have* a horse in readiness for him 
 the very moment he arrives. And, as the king s busi 
 ness requires haste, it is wonderful in how short a time 
 these couriers will perform long journeys. It should 
 be remembered that animals, pressed into the public 
 service by post-riders, are to be paid for by the Gov 
 ernment, or commuted for taxes, but such settlements 
 generally inure to the benefit of a man s heirs. The 
 adjustment requires about as much time as a suit in 
 English chancery. The history of posts, as illustrative 
 of Bible allusions, is worthy of a brief notice. Diodo- 
 rus Siculus (book xix) tells us that the Persians, before 
 the time of Cyrus, that they might have intelligence of 
 what was passing in all the provinces, placed sentinels 
 on high places at convenient distances, where towers 
 were built; and that these sentinels gave notice of 
 public occurrences to one another, with a very loud and 
 shrill voice, and that, by such means, news was trans 
 mitted from one extremity of the kingdom to another. 
 The same means are employed by the savage tribes of 
 this continent, with the addition of runners, where the 
 sentinels are so remote as not to be able to communi 
 cate. It is wonderful, also, how far the Indian senti 
 nels can throw their voices, so as to make their shrill 
 notes intelligible to their friends. The transmission of 
 intelligence in the wilderness, in the night, by the shrill 
 notes of the savage, from his mountain tower, to his fel 
 low on the opposite peak, in sounds which even a back- 
 
HISTORY OP POSTS. 279 
 
 woodsman or mountain trapper can scarcely distinguish 
 from the hooting and screaming of wild animals, is no 
 very agreeable discovery to the white man who may be 
 encamped in the neighborhood, as I can testify, from 
 my own experience, in more cases than one. But to 
 go back again to the Persian posts. According to Xen- 
 ophon (book viii) and Herodotus (book viii) Cyrus was 
 not satisfied with what had been done to transmit news, 
 and established the posts as we have just said. Xerxes, 
 according to the same authorities, planted posts, from 
 Shushan, the city of Esther, to the ^Egean Sea, on his 
 famous expedition against the Greeks, in order that he 
 might send notice to his capital of whatever might hap 
 pen in his army. The Greeks borrowed posts from the 
 Persians, and the Romans from the Greeks. It was 
 Augustus who first run post-chariots and horses. Adrian 
 improved the posts, until the post-horses and chariots 
 of the Roman empire were nearly equal to those of Troy 
 or Concord. Charlemagne and Francis XI are distin 
 guished for their efforts to improve the posts of modern 
 Europe. The first postmaster general that I have been 
 able to find any account of, was Taxis, in Germany, in 
 1616, whose name was quite a good one for his office; 
 nor was it in vain, for he obtained a well-lined patent 
 of the office for his heirs for ever. 
 
 It is easily seen, therefore, that this part of our story 
 is credible. Posts were established. The rapid trans 
 mission of intelligence, from one part of the empire to 
 another, was as easily done in those days as it is now, 
 and even more so. Accordingly, the king s command 
 ment went forth from the palace, with the royal signa 
 ture, and was published unto all people, that the Jews, 
 
280 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 everywhere, should be ready, upon one and the same 
 day, in which it had before been decreed they should 
 be put to death, " that they should gather themselves 
 together, in every city, to stand for their life, to destroy, 
 to slay, and to cause to perish all the power of the peo 
 ple and province that would assault them, both little 
 ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a 
 prey." This decree is as broad and as long and as deep 
 as the former one. It was intended to meet the for 
 mer one. And as the former could not be repealed, 
 the king, no doubt, hoped to render it unavailing, by 
 making a new one, just its counterpart, and when once 
 the fatal day named in the decree should be past, then 
 both would fall to the ground. There is no record of 
 the women and children having been killed. Nor is 
 there any probability that such was the fact. The coun 
 ter decree was intended to make it lawful for the Jews 
 to fight fire with fire; and with the hope, no doubt, that 
 they would save themselves, and prevent any slaughter. 
 There is nothing uttered here as to the right or the 
 wrong of killing the women and the little ones. If 
 there is any body here to be blamed, it is not Mordecai, 
 nor the queen ; nor is it to be charged against our holy 
 books and their authority from this passage, that they 
 are cruel and blood-thirsty. Whatever cruelty attaches 
 to this history is to be laid to the account of the Per 
 sian king and court. All our narrative is responsible 
 for is the correctness of the record. And as this sec 
 ond decree was designed to meet the first, so it is its 
 exact counterpart. It is as broad and as long, as 
 bloody and as irrevocable; but not more so. It was 
 intended to give to the Jews the same lawful power to 
 
MORDECAI IN ROYAL ROBES. 281 
 
 defend themselves that had been given to their enemies 
 to destroy them. It was and is common in the East to 
 make a man s family, his children, and even his cattle, 
 suffer for his offenses. In the Iliad, we find Ulysses 
 and Diomed killing Dolon in the night excursion, on 
 account of his father, and everywhere, Homer and co- 
 temporary writers, recognize the same law of revenge. 
 And even in the Bible we find such a law carried out 
 in Achan s* history, and in the punishment of the Ca- 
 naanites. And in our own day we see children suffer 
 ing on account of the sins of their parents. This is a 
 fact of the streets. How will the rejector of the Bible 
 explain it ? 
 
 " And Mordecai went out from the presence of the 
 king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a 
 great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine 
 linen and purple." Esth. viii : 15. There is noth- 
 ing in this account contrary to reliable history. These 
 are the colors and such the usages that prevailed 
 at the time, and were common with the Persian 
 kings and grandees. Daniel (v. 29) was honored 
 in a similar way by Belshazzar. He was invested with 
 the insignia of his office with scarlet and a chain of 
 gold about his neck. In the East, if a person has been 
 called into the presence of a prince, and comes out in 
 a garment different from the one with which he went 
 in, it is always understood that he has been promoted, 
 and is entitled to great honor. Jewels and gaudy co 
 lors and fine apparel, are much more highly valued in 
 the East than they used to be in the West. The wealth 
 and distinctions of the Orientals have always consisted 
 
 * See my " Wedge of Gold." Page 86, 90. 
 
282 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 in a great degree of such things. Mordecai being now 
 prime minister, or Grand Vizier, was invested with the 
 robes of his office. The same custom prevailed in an 
 cient Egypt, as we learn both from the Bible (Exo. 
 xxv) and from the ancient monuments ; and the same 
 custom is still found there. When a new Sheikh 
 belief is made, the Pasha invests him with the robes of 
 his office, and this is as good as a proclamation announ 
 cing his authority, and commanding all the village to 
 obey and honor him. 
 
 Nor is the great crown of gold any difficulty in our 
 way, for it is admitted that the Persian Princes were 
 sometimes crowned not, perhaps, allowed to wear the 
 very same crown the sovereign used ; but crowns like 
 unto it. And the city of STiuslian rejoiced and was 
 glad, is so natural a state of things that, if it had not 
 been recorded, we should certainly have been author 
 ized to have added such a statement to our narrative. 
 A majority of the people of the royal city could never 
 have desired to see their streets running in blood ; and 
 as the city was perplexed at the promulgation of the 
 former decree against the Jews, so it was glad when 
 the counter-decree was made known. When the wicked 
 perish, there is shouting ; when the righteous are in 
 authority, the people rejoice. They that sow in tears, 
 reap in joy; and the more joy, the greater the danger 
 threatened, but escaped. Surprise has been expressed 
 indeed it has been urged as an objection to our his 
 tory that, in view of the exposition of the nature of 
 this plot, any Persian was found willing to attempt the 
 execution of the countermanded decree. Doubtless it 
 was known at least it might have been known to all 
 
CRUELTY OP PERSECUTION. 283 
 
 who desired correct information on the subject, that the 
 grounds of this edict were false and malicious that its 
 author had died in ignominy on the gallows that a 
 great change had taken place in the palace in regard to 
 the Jews; and that it was now with peril that any one 
 should lift his hand against one of the seed of Abra 
 ham ; still he must be blind to all history, who does 
 not know that, in all countries, and in all ages, there 
 are those, and their name is legion, who are always 
 waiting for a time of tumult and carnage, to gratify 
 their own evil passions. It is of no consequence to 
 them whether the war, or the slaughter, is for a good 
 cause or in a bad one whether the innocent and help 
 less perish or not. All they want is an opportunity 
 for pillage and revenge. Excitement and sensual pleas 
 ure are more to them than justice and mercy. Such 
 are found in all our cities in times of conflagrations 
 and civil commotions. And again, he must be a very 
 careless observer of mankind, who does not see that 
 all who live godly in Christ Jesus do suffer persecution. 
 The seed of the bondwoman loves not the seed of the 
 freewoman. The carnal mind is at enmity with God, 
 and, of course, loves not God s children. The church 
 of God would cease to be itself, if it were free, in this 
 world, from all persecution. True Christians are the 
 sect everywhere spoken against by the self-righteous, 
 the vain and the ungodly. It was a saying of the good 
 Bishop Hall, that God s people have but three suits of 
 apparel; two of them they wear on earth, and the 
 other in heaven. The two they wear on earth are the 
 black robes of mourning, or the red robe of persecution; 
 and the apparel reserved for them in their heavenly 
 
284 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 wardrobe, is white the glorious robe of triumph. Let 
 us then be contented to make our way to heaven as 
 Jonathan and his armor-bearer passed betwixt two 
 sharp rocks and even if the way is so thorny and 
 sharp that we have to pass along on our hands and 
 knees, still we are sure to come out at last in victory and 
 triumph. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive of a greater calamity to a 
 good man than to be rendered useless to be paralyzed 
 in the midst of his days, either by being hindered or 
 opposed by his enemies, or by affliction ; yet this is 
 sometimes, and no doubt for good and sufficient rea 
 sons, a part of God s plan of governing the world at 
 present. To persecute a really able and good man, is 
 to do him great service ; and to kill him outright, is to 
 make him a martyr, and give him horses and chariots 
 to ascend the skies to a throne of glory. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE PICTURES TO BE STUDIED. 
 
 " Few, but full of understanding, are the books of the library 
 of God, 
 
 And fitting for all seasons are the gain and the gladness they 
 bestow : 
 
 The volume of mystery and GRACE, for the hour of deep com- 
 munings, 
 
 When the soul considereth intensely the startling marvel of 
 itself; 
 
 The book of Destiny and Providence for the time of sober study, 
 
 When the mind gleaneth wisdom from the olive grove of his 
 tory." Tupper. 
 
 11 And the two dragons are I and Haman. And the nations 
 were there assembled to destroy the Jews ; and my nation ia 
 this Israel, which cried to God and were saved therefore hath 
 He made two lots, one for the people of God, and the other for 
 all the Gentiles. And these two lots came at the hour, and 
 time, and day of judgment, before God among all nations." 
 
 Mardocheus 1 Dream. 
 
 "Cursed be Haman! Blessed be Mordecai ! Cursed be 
 Zeresh ! Blessed be Esther ! Cursed be all idolaters ! Bles 
 sed be all the Israelites !" Purim service. 
 
 IT was by studying the laws of nature that Newton 
 and La Place made such great discoveries in astronomy. 
 The study of the heavenly bodies revealed to them the 
 great laws of the planets. In the works of God, even 
 in the smallest plant, there is perfect symmetry ; so in 
 the WORDS or GOD, there is the most systematic per- 
 
286 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 fection, and not only all, but eacli part of the sacred 
 writings should be studied most carefully. The diction 
 of the sacred writers is not like the language of any 
 other writings ; it is a language of its own, but still it 
 has a precise meaning, and that meaning is within our 
 reach. It was a saying, and a true one, of Origen, con 
 fessedly one of the most learned men of his age, or of 
 any age, that there was no word nor phrase in the Holy 
 Scriptures without its meaning, if they were carefully 
 studied. A modern writer says : " We need not scruple 
 to affirm, that in precision of expression, in pure and na 
 tive simplicity, in delicacy of handling, in the grouping 
 of words and phrases, in dignified and majestic sim 
 plicity, it has no rival in the world. As it is in the 
 Book of Nature, so is it in the pages of Holy writ. 
 Both are from the same Divine Hand. And if we 
 apply to the language of Holy Scripture, the same 
 microscopic process, which we use in scrutinizing the 
 beauties of the natural world, and which reveals to us 
 exquisite colors, and the most graceful texture in the 
 petals of a flower, the fibres of a plant, the plumage of 
 a bird, or the wings of an insect, we shall discover new 
 sources of delight and admiration in the least portions 
 of Holy Writ." Dr. Wordsworth. 
 
 There is as much system, plan, design and symmetry, 
 in the Word of God, as there is in his works as much 
 perfection in the moral as in the physical world. It is 
 for us, then, to study the great picture gallery of Shu- 
 shan, into which we have been introduced by the Di 
 vine Spirit, the descriptive catalogue of which is the 
 Book of Esther. We have feasts and wine banquets, 
 princes of the empire, queens, conspirators and ser- 
 
A PICTORIAL GALLERY. 287 
 
 vants, and officers a murderous plot almost consum 
 mated, but its author exposed and hanged, and the 
 Jew, Mordecai, made Grand Yizier in Hainan s place, 
 and the Hebrew race so nearly cut off by a wholesale 
 simultaneous murdering are saved. I wonder there is 
 not in the Dresden, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Paris or Lon 
 don galleries, a whole series of historic paintings, by 
 the first masters, illustrating the life of the Hebrew- 
 Persian Queen. I know not where, whether in fable, 
 romance or sober history, to find subjects more appro 
 priate, and more suitable for displaying artistic skill. 
 There are a few pictures of Esther, but her history is 
 yet to be illustrated. The whole series of pictures as 
 described by the sacred historian are in bold relief and 
 wonderfully lifelike. The king of Persia, an aged man, 
 of strong passions and an imperious will absolute mon 
 arch of the wealth and power of the greatest portion of 
 the globe; and Raman an ambitious, wicked man, pros 
 pering for a while, but then his end was dreadful ; and 
 the Hebrew niaid that was made queen, as modest and 
 pious as she was beautiful ; and Mordecai the Jew, the 
 man of genuine principles and living faith. These are 
 pictures to be studied, in the light of Divine Providence; 
 and, it seems to me, the lessons which we "are here 
 taught are more effective ought to make a deeper and 
 more lasting impression upon us, than if they had been 
 announced in dogmatic terms, or embodied in phrases 
 like the Decalogue. As we see men and women of like 
 passions with ourselves as we stand around the Per 
 sian s throne, or walk in his gardens, or visit his feasts, 
 or wonder at Hainan s gallows, and Mordecai s honors 
 so we behold in the concurrence of such ordinary agen- 
 
288 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 cies in their contrivance and in their suitableness for, 
 and in their bringing out the desired results more that 
 teaches us to fear to sin, and to trust in God, and to 
 rely cheerfully on Him for support or deliverance in 
 the time of distress, than if the same result had been 
 effected by a miracle like that of the Red Sea. 
 
 1. Although, then, as has been already said, the 
 grand design of this whole Book of Esther is an illus 
 tration of a retributive Providence in working out the 
 deliverance of the chosen people ; still it is better for 
 us to note the proofs of such a Providence, as they oc 
 cur, in detail even if, in so doing, we fall into some 
 repetitions. For it is a lesson we need to have often 
 sounded in our ears, that there is neither wisdom nor 
 counsel nor might that can prevail against JEHOVAH. 
 It is His rule that he who digs a pit for his neighbor 
 is to fall into it himself. The steps of Providence, in 
 the chapters now under review, are as plainly to be 
 traced out as they are wonderful to behold. We see 
 Mar decai advanced, and we see the steps that have led to 
 his advancement. The king could not sleep. His Magi 
 could not close his eyes in sweet slumbers. The margi 
 nal reading here is very strong and proper The kino s 
 deep fled away. It fled away as something frightened 
 off, and he could not woo it back, for He who " giveth 
 His beloved sleep/ did not give it to the great king 
 Ahasuerus. Then the calling for the records, and the 
 reading, from the huge rolls of the Chronicles of the 
 Persian Empire, the account of Mordecai s unrewarded 
 services in saving the king s life. And then Hainan s 
 burning impatience to get Mordecai hanged, brings 
 
GOD S AGENTS. 289 
 
 him early to court to be commanded to honor him. 
 And then we have been led on until we were almost in 
 despair at Hainan s plotting ; but, at last, we have seen 
 him hanged, and the Jews saved. " Verily, there is a 
 reward for the righteous; verily He is a God that 
 judgeth in the earth." Ps. Iviii: 11. 
 
 2. We see here, as well, indeed, as also in other por 
 tions of sacred history, and as the lessons of all history 
 and of every day life also demonstrate, that God, in 
 the exercise of His sovereignty, uses men of very differ 
 ent characters as instruments for fulfilling His supreme 
 purpose. Both Esther and Ahasuerus both Morde- 
 cai and Hainan, were divine agents for bringing about 
 the Hebrew deliverance. God used Mordecai to work 
 out the divine glory, and yet promote Mordecai s own 
 honor and happiness. And he used Haman to work 
 out the divine glory, and, at the same time, bring upon 
 himself dishonor and wo. But both Mordecai and Ha 
 inan were free agents, and both were dealt with accord 
 ing to the strictest justice, and in regard to both, and 
 in every other case, God is sovereign. Peter, in speak- L 
 ing of the crucifixion of Christ, boldly asserts the same 
 things. It is a part of God s plan, in governing the 
 world, to employ agents, and to teach principles and 
 laws by examples. Every one that knows the history 
 of Joseph, or of Moses, thinks of Pharoah. Daniel re 
 minds us of Nebuchadnezzar : Paul of Nero ; and these 
 names are but the concrete expositions of whole systems 
 of faith and Providence. Moses and Pharaoh illustrate 
 the same principle that we find in Haman and Morde 
 cai. But observe how the great difference between 
 13 
 
290 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 their characters and their destinies is respectively made 
 the cause or agent in appropriately bringing out the 
 final result. They both worked out their own destinies. 
 Hainan s blood was bad. His wife was wicked. His 
 own heart was a festering sore, that sent corruption 
 through his whole frame ; so that, knowing his charac- 
 -4 ter, we might foretell his fate. But look at Mordecai, 
 standing, like a marble statue, when his principles were 
 involved, although every one else was bowing to the 
 royal favorite. He was distinguished for the grandeur 
 of his intellect, the nobility of his heart, the integrity 
 of his purpose, and for his unwavering attachment to 
 his religious faith, and for his abiding piety. Nor were 
 these high attributes inconsistent with his care for and 
 attachment to the lovely and gentle creature that had 
 ripened into womanhood in his home who had been, 
 for many a day, the one bright bird that cheered the 
 house of his exile. No doubt it was a trial to give her 
 up. No wonder that he lingered around the palace 
 gates, hoping that, now and then, he might get a 
 glimpse of her, or hear something from her in whom 
 his life and his hopes for Israel were bound up. Nor 
 is it at all probable that all was sunshine in his own 
 heart. Haman was younger in years, and, in every 
 thing, the very reverse of himself. It is possible, 
 therefore, that, at times, he had fears of his influence 
 as prime minister and court favorite over the young- 
 queen. He was a man of like passions with ourselves, 
 and had his fears and trials, his joys and sorrows; but 
 he suffered and toiled, believed and hoped, and pre 
 vailed. So, by God s help, let us all try to do. Mor 
 decai was a man precisely such as you are, and if he 
 
HOW TO CONSTRUCT CHARACTER. 291 
 
 was a greater and a better man, it was 1 by God s help, 
 whose grace is as truly and as freely offered to you as 
 it was to him. 
 
 3. These pictures show us that we are to construct 
 men s reputation for character out of their whole- life 
 and principles, and not from any one moment, nor from 
 any word or act Our laws do not, indeed, allow us to 
 condemn a man unheard, because he may be every 
 where spoken against. No amount of public clamor 
 can be received as evidence on which to convict a man. 
 The crime must be distinctly stated, the counts of the 
 indictment and the witnesses named, and the specific 
 charges must be sustained, and all this must be done 
 according to law and in a constitutional court. All this 
 is true, but, on the other hand, it is a hard rule to 
 make a man an offender for a word. A man s general 
 character ought certainly to be taken into the account 
 in forming a judgment upon his actions. Cicero has 
 well said, that " in every case, oh judges, we must 
 judge a good deal as to what every one has wished, or 
 intended, or done, not from the counts of the indict 
 ment, but from the habits of the person who is accused. 
 For no one of us can have our character modelled in a 
 moment, nor can any one s course of life be altered, or 
 his natural disposition changed on a sudden." And, 
 from this position, he argued that Catalme, in the judg 
 ment of all good men, was born for civil war, and died 
 at the hands of justice, fighting against his country, 
 just as his whole life had given evidence of his bad 
 character. Whose ears, asks he, could have believed 
 anything else of him, since he had spent his whole life, 
 
 ISA 
 
292 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 from his boyhood upwards, not only in intemperance 
 and debauchery, but had devoted all his energies and 
 all his zeal to every sort of enormity, lust and blood 
 shed ? And I am fully persuaded, also, that the records 
 of our police and criminal courts will show, as the Ro 
 man orator said, that their subjects are, generally, men 
 convicted by their manner of life, before they were con 
 demned by legal trial. Audacious, violent, licentious, 
 intemperate, profligate, and fond of bad company, 
 and, by such a course, they have come, at last, to expo 
 sure, public shame, and, it may be, to the gallows.* 
 In the pictures of our tableau, then, we have not the 
 result of a mere momentary daub of an artist. We have 
 just what the artists have themselves been making all 
 their lives long, up to this moment. Influences, un 
 conscious as well as designed, known and unknown, 
 have been unceasingly at work, and here we have the 
 result. This is true of the king on the throne, of the 
 sultana with the crown royal on her head, and of Ha- 
 man, the prime minister, and of Mordecai, the inflexi 
 ble Hebrew. 
 
 4. We are here taught to feel the deepest interest in 
 the welfare of our fellow men, especially of those who 
 may be associated with us, or be bound to us by social 
 ties, or by blood and nationality. The Romans had a 
 good saying, to this effect : " Omnibus bcne velle, et 
 quam plurimis possit benefacere There is nothing 
 more divine in man than to wish well to all men, and 
 to do good to as many as we possibly can." 
 
 It was not enough it should not it did not satisfy 
 
 * For the original, which is exceedingly strong and beautiful, see Oratio 
 pro P. Sulla. Cap. xxv, passim. 
 
ANXIETY FOR FRIENDS. 293 
 
 Esther that " the Jews enemy," " the wicked Haman," 
 was dead, and her kinsman advanced next to the king, 
 and she herself safe and more honored and beloved 
 than ever. This is all well, but still, while the bloody 
 decree of Hainan was unrepealed, and the fatal day 
 hastening on, she could not rest. The murderous de 
 cree was, indeed, surreptitiously obtained gotten un 
 der false pretences and rashly given ; but still, accord 
 ing to law and usage, it cannot be repealed. The only 
 relief, then, was to issue another of such a nature as to 
 countermand the first one such as will, probably, pre 
 vent all attempts to execute the first one on the day 
 fixed, and thus render it null and void. If a Persian 
 law cannot be reversed, it may be counterchecked j that 
 is, if Mordecai, with the king s ring and seal, cannot 
 write in the king s name, " Let no Jew be killed," he 
 can, however, write in the king s name, " Let all Jews > 
 arm themselves and meet, in battle array, at the ap 
 pointed time, and stand, for their lives, against those 
 that would slay them." And this decree, as broad and 
 as long and as emphatic as the former, flies after the 
 first so fast that it overtakes it, or reaches the most 
 distant provinces, in time for the defense of the Jews. 
 There was a wonderfully wise and gracious Providence 
 in this counter-decree. For there are some who are 
 held in subjection to the right only by their own con 
 science ; and some are awed more by the example and 
 countenance of those that are high in authority ; and 
 others are restrained from evil-doing only by the ter 
 rors of the law. It is an advantage to society and to 
 the individuals themselves to be restrained from vice 
 by any or all of these barriers ; but it is better still to 
 
294 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 keep from evil, out of an enlightened fear of God and 
 with a regard for His will, and love for the right way. 
 The fear of the Lord is the best guarantee a young man 
 can possibly have against doing anything dishonorable 
 and vicious. Sin is the only thing in the universe to 
 be afraid of. Where there is no sin in the heart the 
 devil himself is no more than a scarecrow. 
 
 5. I am perfectly sure that in the lives of the men 
 and women as illustrated in the sacred writings, we are 
 taught the mind of God himself, as to the precepts and 
 principles which are agreeable to Him ; and that it is 
 in the teachings of the WORD OF GOD, and in it alone, 
 that we can find the true principles of all proper re 
 forms. It is in the Bible, and in the Bible alone, we 
 have the principles of happiness the only true princi 
 ples of reformation. Human philosophy has attempted 
 to be wiser than God in many ways ; but the many in 
 ventions of mankind, by which they have sought to 
 produce needful reforms, have failed ; nor can they ever 
 succeed. They do not begin at the right place. They 
 do not. put forth the right principles. They daub with 
 untempercd mortar. They cry peace, peace, when 
 there is no peace. No reformation is deep enough or 
 abiding, that does not comprehend a heart renewed and 
 at peace with God. The Church of God is, therefore, 
 the divinely constituted teacher and Reformer of the 
 world. It is God s teaching Institute, and is perfect of 
 itself for its work. It is the Church the body of 
 Christ s people as such, and not the State, that has re 
 ceived the commandment to preach the Gospel to every 
 creature. And it is this glorious Gospel of the Blessed 
 
THE ONLY REFORMER. 295 
 
 God, and it alone, that can purify and save mankind. 
 There is in it a power to transform the moral character 
 a power that belongs to no other code, system or 
 book, on earth. Conventional rules, society regulations, 
 like the laws of a mutual insurance company, and leg- 
 islative enactments, are mere temporary remedies. They 
 do not renew the heart ; they do not take away the love 
 of sinning ; nor implant a hungering and thirsting 
 after holiness. But the Gospel works from the depths 
 of the heart outward. It leavens the whole lump. It 
 operates as a dynamical spirit upon the whole mass of 
 society, by sanctifying the individuals that compose it. 
 It embraces everything but is not anything else than 
 itself. Its individuality is as immutable as its fruits. 
 In all the faculties and functions of man, it operates as 
 the air we breathe, and yet remains separate and pure 
 and powerful, as if it had not exerted itself upon the 
 body. It is the keen blade of the sword of the Spirit, 
 that can reach the deep and dark recesses of the heart, 
 and probe it to the core, and make a new affection expel 
 the old, and thus purify the fountain, and make the 
 stream sweet.- The Gospel is the mighty power of God, 
 not only unto salvation unto all that believe, but also, 
 and in order to salvation, it changes the lion into the 
 lamb makes the drunkard sober the profane pure, 
 and the thief honest. The Gospel of Christ is the only 
 true and radical .eformer. Nor has any people greater 
 interests at stake, or in any way more deeply involved 
 in the correct understanding of this subject than we 
 ourselves. For the more our commerce extends over 
 the world, the wider our field of labor and trade ; and 
 the more complicated the machinery of society, the 
 
296 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 more are we in need of an enlightened conscience. No 
 men are more interested in the conscience of a commu 
 nity than merchants. They live on confidence and 
 credit. If man s confidence in man is destroyed, you 
 take away the foundations of our warehouses, and may 
 turn our banks into carpenters shops. But what safe 
 guard is there for the preservation of a good conscience, 
 like the fear of God ? Given young men for the com 
 mand of your ships, or to act as supercargoes, or corres 
 pondents and agents, and confidential clerks, whose 
 consciences are enlightened by the word and spirit of 
 God, and who therefore fear to sin against him, and who 
 cannot act dishonestly, because it is a sin against God, 
 and you have the best possible guarantee that your 
 business w T ill be well and satisfactorily done. 
 
 Did you ever think, my friends, what it is that makes 
 the rose or the violet so fragrant ? The delicate scent, 
 is it from the root ? The root smells of nothing unless 
 it is of earth. Nor from the stalk, that has no more 
 fragrance than the root. Nor does this delicate scent 
 belong to the ground, for out of the same ground may 
 grow grass and weeds. Nor is it from the leaf, nor 
 from the bud, for before the bud is opened there is 
 none of this precious fragrance; but now, in the ex 
 panded flower it is here. Nor is this a miracle; for all 
 violets and roses yield the same fragrance. It is true, 
 the fragrance was potentially in the root and stem, in 
 the ground and air, and that the Almighty has given 
 the several virtues of plants to them, and draws them 
 out at their season. And is it not just so with chris- 
 tians ? It is out of the renewed soil of a heart turned 
 to the Lord, watered with the dew of heaven, and 
 
THE WAY TO BE HAPPY. 297 
 
 warmed with the beams of the Eternal Spirit, that the 
 sweet odors of grace are brought forth. And if the 
 worm eats the flower, it is when it is wrapt up, when 
 it is not sending out its fragrance. And does not this 
 teach us that selfishness is the bane of our happiness? 
 And does not this illustration teach us to give God the 
 glory, even for our amiable instincts and commercial in 
 tegrity ? for every good and every perfect gift cometh 
 from above ; and especially to exalt his grace, which is 
 above all, and which cometh only through his Son, 
 Jesus Christ. To be happy, we must learn to know 
 the luxury of doing good. 
 
 The sun gives ever; so the earth ^ 
 What it can give, so much tis worth ; 
 The ocean gives in many ways 
 Gives paths, gives fishes, rivers, bays ; 
 So, too, the air, it gives us breath 
 When it stops giving, comes in death. 
 
 Give, give, be always giving ; 
 
 Who gives not, is not living. 
 The more you give 
 The more you live. 
 
 God s love hath in us wealth upheaped ; 
 
 Only by giving is it reaped. 
 
 The body withers, and the mind, 
 
 If pent in by a selfish rind. 
 
 Give strength, give thought, give deeds, give pelf, 
 
 Give love, give tears, and give thyself. 
 
 Give, give, be always giving ; 
 
 Who gives not, is not living. 
 The more we give, 
 The more we live. 
 
 6. We see here how great a blessing we enjoy in having 
 mild) equitable, salutary laws, and in having a written 
 Constitution , that provides for its amendment, and 
 
 13n 
 
298 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 points out the way for the repeal or alteration of any 
 laws that may be made in haste, or in ignorance, or 
 through party zeal, that are found to be unconstitutional 
 and not for the good of the people. No people under 
 heaven are under greater moral obligations to abide by 
 their laws than the people of the United States, and, 
 consequently, the guilt of lawlessness among us is very 
 heavy. I see no possible excuse for disobeying our 
 laws. And the sin of so doing is a sin not only against 
 our country but against God, and is enhanced in enor 
 mity by the general mildness and excellence of our 
 laws, and the fact that obnoxious laws may be repealed, 
 or redress had without resorting to violence. The 
 boasted perfection of Persian law was blasphemous ; 
 for it is a prerogative of God alone to be perfect and 
 never to repent. It is human to err, and godlike to 
 forgive. And it is also an evidence of God s goodness 
 to us to open our eyes when we have erred, and enable 
 us to correct our errors. Though the first decree of 
 Ahasuerus was beyond repeal, the second decree im 
 plied the revocation of the first though that revoca 
 tion was only implied. It was not expressed in words. 
 Our Government is, happily, altogether of a different 
 kind from that of Persia. We are a free Representa- 
 tative Republic. And the more free we are from com 
 pulsory laws, the more necessary is it that we should 
 be pious from choice. Whatever may be true of other 
 nations, with us Liberty and a pure Christianity are 
 inseparable. As De Tocqueville has well said : " Des 
 potism may govern without religion, but liberty can 
 not." Religion is much more necessary in a Republic 
 than in any other government. How is it possible for 
 
AGAINST LYNCH LAW. 299 
 
 society to escape destruction, if the moral tie be not 
 strengthened in proportion as the political tie is re 
 laxed ? The people who are sovereign are their own 
 master what will they not do, if they are not bound 
 by religious obligations ? " Not only in theory, but in 
 fact a republican government must be administered by 
 the people themselves. They, and they alone, must 
 execute the laws. And hence the first principle in 
 such governments, that on which all others depend, 
 and without which no other can exist, is and must be, 
 obedience to the existing laws, at all times and under 
 all circumstances. This is the vital condition of the 
 social compact. He who claims a dispensing power for 
 himself, by which he suspends the operation of law in 
 his own case, is worse than a usurper, for he not only 
 tramples under foot the Constitution of his country, 
 but violates the reciprocal pledge which he has given 
 to his fellow citizens, and has received from them, that 
 he will abide by the laws, constitutionally enacted ; 
 upon the strength of which pledge, his own personal 
 rights and acquisitions are protected by the rest of the 
 community."* 
 
 7. The difficulties of the Persian monarch, growing 
 out of his rash decree, even after the author of it has 
 been punished, are a warning to us to beware of the 
 consequences of our words and actions. The only re 
 lief from the evils of his rash decree, that seemed to the 
 king available, was to put the Jews on an equal footing 
 with their enemies. The author the base contriver of 
 this murderous plot, has received his just desert, but 
 
 * This is from a note by the American editor of De Tocqueville s Democ 
 racy in America, p. 4i8. 
 
300 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 the consequences of his wicked contriving have not 
 been arrested. And it is so still, the evil as well as the 
 good that men do live after them. Their wickedness 
 survives when they have gone. The rich man in the 
 parable feared to meet the consequences of his evil prin 
 ciples and bad example in the perdition of his breth 
 ren, and feared that their accusations against him for 
 having led them to do wrong, would increase his own 
 misery. And so it is with the writers of bad books. 
 They publish thereby a law that works evil and nothing 
 but mischief. They sow broadcast over the land evil 
 seed, that grows and ripens, and reproduces itself, 
 waning in successive harvests, it may be to the end of 
 the world. And even if the author of a bad book 
 should himself be saved as a brand plucked from the 
 burning gulf snatched by sovereign grace at the last 
 moment from its flaming jaws still his work survives ; 
 the poison he has injected into the mass of society 
 spreads on and works death. It has past beyond his 
 control. Our influence is immortal. 
 
 8. This history teaches us to trust in God for the 
 vindication of his own ways and the justification of 
 his judgments against the wicked, as well as in his faith 
 fulness to his people, in remembering to keep and fulfill, 
 at the right time, all his promises to them. There may 
 be more love in what we think his frown, than there 
 could be in his smile. As many as I love, says God, 
 I rebuke and chasten. Let us remember, also, that He 
 who " tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," tempers 
 his chastisements to the infirmities of a weak and sim 
 ple mind while the transgressions of him whose na- 
 
SIN A TRANSGRESSION. 301 
 
 ture is strongly marked, are visited by severer tokens 
 of divine displeasure. The mind and tlie heart are 
 closely linked together, and the errors of genius bear 
 with them their own chastisement, even upon earth. 
 The man of a weak mind and imperfect education sees 
 God dimly and through many shadows; but the sinner 
 of genius and talent and moral education, sins in " the 
 broad noonday of a clear and radiant mind, and when 
 at length the delirium of sensual passion has subsided, 
 and the cloud flits away from before the sun, he trem 
 bles beneath the searching eye of that accusing power 
 which is strong in the strength of a godlike intellect." 
 It is then a law of Providence, that where much is 
 given, much is required ; and also, that where much is 
 given and abused, there the guilt is great, and the in 
 jury of evil doing is in proportion to the violence 
 that it offers public sentiment, and to the violence that 
 it does to one s own conscience. " Men," says De 
 Tocqueville, " are not corrupted by the exercise of a 
 power or debased by the habit of obedience; but by 
 the exercise of power which they believe to be illegal, 
 and by obedience to a rule which they consider to be 
 usurped and oppressive." It is the violence then done 
 to conscience, and to public sentiment, and to the law 
 of God, that destroys self-respect, and leads to utter 
 depravity. Sin is a fearful transgression of law. 
 
 9. The delay of judgment against evil-doers, instead, 
 therefore, of encouraging them to boldness in sin, should 
 melt them to penitential sorrow. Instead of lulling 
 them into security, it ought the more to alarm them : 
 For, first, the delay of Providence to punish the wicked 
 
302 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 does not change the nature of sin. It remains in 
 trinsically the abominable thing that God hates. It is 
 impossible, in the nature of things, that sin should ever 
 meet with His approbation. The patience of God, 
 therefore, produces no mitigation of the enormity 
 of wrong doing. It is no proof of Divine indifference 
 to sin or of its being a trifling offense in the sight of 
 God, that He does not instantly express His abhorrence 
 of it, and pour out His wrath upon the guilty. Men 
 kindle immediately into a transport of passion, when 
 provoked. But dod is not a man. He punishes sin 
 not from passion, but from principle not to revenge 
 Himself for any injury He sustains from, sin, but in 
 order to maintain a righteous government for the hap 
 piness of His creatures. And the punishment of sin 
 will only be the more severe, because of the aggrava 
 tions of abused mercy. Delay amongst men may lessen 
 the certainty of punishment, leaving room for escape, 
 or for the loss of opportunity, or of ability for inflict 
 ing the punishment; but it is never so with God. One. 
 day is, with the Lord, as a thousand years, and a thou 
 sand years as one day. Is there not then something 
 fearful in treasuring up wrath against the day of 
 wrath, by an abuse of Divine goodness ? 
 
 But, secondly , an evil work is itself a judgment. 
 It was so with Hainan. He was allowed to go on his 
 own way, until he fulfilled the Psalmist s words : " He 
 made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch 
 which he made; his mischief shall return upon his 
 own head; and his violent dealing shall come down 
 upon his own pate." His whole history shows that 
 pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit be- 
 
HAMAN S GREEDINESS. 303 
 
 fore a fall that God can easily so direct human affairs 
 as to thwart the best laid schemes of wicked men. If, 
 at Mordecai s refusal to bow before him as to a god, 
 Hainan swells with rage, and says to himself : " Well, 
 he will not bow his knees I will see if a halter cannot 
 break his neck;" and if, as he plans for this, his mal 
 ice, and envy, and rage, grow by what they feed on, 
 until he will not stoop to be revenged on Mordecai 
 alone; if he will not rest until, like the Egyptian kings 
 portrayed on the old palace walls of the Nile, he can 
 hold the hair of all Jewish heads in one hand, and by 
 one stroke of the king s sword, cut them all off at once; 
 if one lark is not enough for the stomach of this Ama- 
 lekite, but, like a vulture, he would have the whole 
 flock, why then we have only to wait for the sequel, 
 and we shall see who prevails. For it was not against 
 Mordecai alone, nor merely against Mordecai and the 
 Jews that this heathen Agagite was raging. His heart 
 was set against God s chosen people, and against Jeho 
 vah himself. It is no wonder then, that, contrary to 
 all human appearances, his plans miscarried, and the 
 Jews were saved. For who hath ever hardened him 
 self against the Almighty and prospered ? Is lie not 
 as wonderful in execution as in council ? Let the pot 
 sherds of the earth strive with the potsherds of the 
 earth ; but wo to a man that striveth with his Maker ! 
 Who shall deliver us from His wrath? 
 
 The delay of the execution of the sentence against 
 evil-doers, is not, in itself, a blessing, if it does not 
 lead to repentance. It were a mercy to arrest them, 
 and so prevent their increase of guilt. A thing is not 
 good because it prospers, but because it is according to 
 
304 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 the will of God because it is commanded by him. 
 An act is not evil because it is punished at once, but 
 because it is disobedience because it is forbidden. 
 The act the sin itself is a judgment upon the sinner. 
 He that bclieveth not, is condemned already, and his 
 continuance in unbelief and disobedience, against the 
 offers of pardon and calls of grace, only enhances his 
 condemnation. The tyranny of Hainan s evil passions, 
 instead of growing less by the opposition he met with, 
 only became more and more violent. His revenge be 
 came a scorpion that could not rest. His heart was so 
 filled with pride and envy, that no scheme was too cruel 
 or bloody for him. But it is always, as it was with 
 him, such wicked passions indulged are more injurious 
 to those who allow them to govern them, than they are 
 to the victims upon whom they are expended. It is 
 better to receive and endure an injury, than to inflict 
 one. Oh how dangerous is ambition in a narrow minded, 
 ill-informed, headstrong man on the pinnacle of earthly 
 grandeur! Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit, 
 there is more hope of a fool than e him? If he 
 be brayed in a mortar, he is still a fool. Prov. xxvii. 
 How impossible is it for a man to have the spirit of 
 Christ who is filled with malice and anger, and evil- 
 speaking, and backbiting, and slander ? How earnestly 
 ought we to pray to be delivered from violent passions, 
 and from unreasonable men ; and how thankful should 
 we be when God restrains us from the indulgence of 
 wicked propensities ? 
 
 But what if we have fallen ; what if we are sinners ? 
 Is there no hope for us ? Israel, thou hast destroyed 
 thyself, saith the Lord, but in me is thy help. There 
 
CAN YOU RUB THEM OUT? 305 
 
 is forgiveness with God, not that we may go on in sin, 
 but that He may be feared. Christ Jesus is exalted 
 at His right hand ; a Prince and a Saviour, to give 
 repentance and remission of sins. I remember having 
 read something like the following, in regard to a little 
 boy, a white-haired lad of some six years of age. His 
 mother was sick, and the little fellow left his playthings 
 in the yard to stay with his mother, and in trying to 
 amuse himself in her sick chamber, without making a 
 noise, he employed himself sometime in painting his 
 name, with a pencil, on paper. But suddenly his busy 
 little finger stopped. He had made a mistake, and 
 wetting his finger, he tried again and again to rub out 
 the wrong mark, as he had been accustomed to do on 
 his slate; but in vain. His mother having observed 
 his distress, and his useless efforts, said : " My son, do 
 you know that God writes down all you do in a book ? 
 Every naughty word and wicked thought all your acts 
 of wickedness, peevishness and disobedience ? And 
 do you suppose, my boy, you can ever rub out these 
 marks against you?" His face grew red, and then 
 pale. He was evidently much agitated with thoughts 
 about his standing in the sight of God. His mother 
 observed him affectionately, but said nothing. At last 
 he came to her bedside and said, with great earnest 
 ness : " Dear mother, can not the blood of Jesus Christ 
 rub them out?" Yes, dear boy, you have the secret 
 now. A secret the whole world cannot give you with 
 out the Gospel: The blood of Jesus Christ deanseth us 
 from all sin. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE DAY OF SLAUGHTER. 
 
 " Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of 
 the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they 
 would unto those that hated them." 
 
 Esther is.: 5. 
 
 " Just in the last distressing hour 
 The LORD displays delivering power, 
 
 . The mount of danger is the place, 
 Where we shall see surprising grace." 
 
 Watts. 
 
 As the history now before us opens up, we find two 
 royal edicts, just the counterpart of each other, left to 
 war it out. Neither side are rebels, for both are to 
 fight under royal authority. And since it must be so, 
 may Grod protect the right. 
 
 We have found Hainan hanging on the gallows which 
 he built for Mordccai, and Mordecai coming into the 
 possession of the honors, power and estates of Hainan. 
 And the queen undisputed mistress of the king s heart; 
 but the decree of extermination, against the Jews, can 
 not be reversed. It can only be met by a counter-one, 
 which it is hoped will practically render it null and 
 void. Accordingly, two months after the first, and 
 
308 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 nine months before the time fixed for the execution of 
 the first edict, the second one is issued, and expressed 
 by the swiftest couriers throughout all the kingdom. 
 Josephus, in his antiquities, (lib. xi: c. 6,) gives the 
 words of the decree, which corroborate the truth of our 
 text. But, contrary to the hopes of the Jews, and of the 
 king and court, the day does not pass quietly. It is 
 made, in spite of their wishes, a day of terrible ven 
 geance. The Jews act strictly on the defensive. To 
 lay hand on such, and on such only, as sought their hurt. 
 And no man could withstand them: for the fear of 
 them fell upon all people. The cause of this fear is 
 easily seen. The Jews had powerful friends at court. 
 The king was on their side. The queen, being of their 
 own blood, was, of course, on their side. And, no 
 doubt also, the more intelligent among the Persians 
 were now acquainted with the most remarkable portions 
 of Jewish history, and knew how their God had helped 
 them in days of old. And then there was a prestige 
 a moral with the Hebrews that made them all-power 
 ful. According to the king s commandment and de 
 cree, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which 
 is Adar, the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped 
 to have power over them, though it was turned to the 
 contrary, and the Jews everywhere prevailed over their 
 enemies : On this day, the Jews gathered themselves 
 together in their cities, throughout all the provinces of 
 king Ahasuerus, and smote all their enemies with the 
 stroke of the sword, and slaughter and destruction, 
 and did what they would unto those that hated them. 
 And all the rulers of the jfrovinces, and the king s lieu 
 tenants, and deputies, and officers, helped the Jews ; be- 
 
THE SLAUGHTER IN SHUSHAN. 309 
 
 cause the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. See Esth. 
 ix: 1,11. In the history of the slaughter, we find, 
 among the slain, Hainan s ten sons. It appears that 
 the number of the slain, in the palace and city of Shu 
 shan, was reported to the king in the afternoon, or 
 evening, for the purpose of enraging him against the 
 Jews ; but it had quite a contrary effect. For as the 
 king is made acquainted with what hail been done in the 
 royal city, he " said unto Esther, the queen, The Jews 
 have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan, 
 the palace, and the ten sons of Haman ; what have 
 they done in the rest of the king s provinces ? Now, 
 what is thy petition ? and it shall be granted thee ; or 
 what is thy request further? and it shall be done/ 
 As if he had said, I am grieved that this has turned 
 out to be so bloody an affair, but it is all owing to the 
 malice of Haman and his partisans ; and, if there is 
 yet anything more that can be done in behalf of the 
 Jews, to protect them against their enemies, I am 
 ready to have it done. And the queen said : " If it 
 please the king, let it be granted to the Jews, which 
 are in Shushan, to do to-morrow also according unto 
 this day s decree, and let Hainan s ten sons be hanged 
 upon the gallows. And the king commanded it so to 
 be done : and the decree was given at Shushan ; and 
 they hanged Haman s ten sons." A little examination 
 of the case will exonerate the queen from wanton cru 
 elty in her request of the king. Haman s retainers 
 have turned out to be more numerous and powerful 
 than was expected. They are also found to be as dan 
 gerous to the state as they were to the Jews. They 
 are the enemies of the queen, and are ready for a new 
 
310 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 attack, which is to bo apprehended the next day. Their 
 cause is desperate. They must prevail or perish. 
 Mordecai, no doubt, is fully informed of these facts, 
 and has them communicated to the queen; and she 
 knowing that many of Haitian s friends have escaped 
 the first day, and are only waiting for to-morrow, or for a 
 good chance to attack and destroy the Jews, she de 
 sired the king to extend the decree another day; that 
 is, that it might be lawful for the Jews to assemble and 
 arm and defend themselves to-morrow, as they have done 
 to-day, against those who may try to do them hurt. 
 
 But why must Haman s ten sons be hanged upon the 
 gallows f Are these ten other sons, or the same tha 
 have been slain? Probably the same whose names are 
 given in the previous verses ; why then are they to be 
 hanged, seeing they are already dead ? It was a cus 
 tom, both among the Jews and Persians, to hang the 
 bodies of malefactors after they had been executed in 
 some other way. This was intended, of course, to add 
 to their infamy, and to make them a more conspicuous 
 example of terror to all others. And, in this case, the 
 infamy was the more terrible because ^iey were hanged 
 on their father s gallows; that is, the same he had made 
 for Mordecai, but upon which he had himself been 
 hanged. In comparatively modern times, and in Chris 
 tian countries, we have read of martyrs, for the truth, 
 being dug out of their graves, arid their boiics being 
 burned. And besides, no doubt, it was designed, in 
 this way, to give publicity to the fact that Hainan s 
 ; sons were all killed that they were actually dead and 
 that, therefore, if any one pretends to be one of Ha- 
 man s sons, and to excite rebellion, it could be easily 
 
IIAMAN S SONS HANGED. 311 
 
 shown that lie was an impostor ; for all of his sons were 
 not only dead, but consigned to the deepest ignominy, 
 which would not have been done if his friends had been 
 sufficiently powerful to have prevented it. The people 
 must have been deeply impressed with the hopelessness 
 ,of Hainan s cause., when they saw all his son s killed, 
 and then hung one above another, all at one time, on the 
 same gallows. Little did their father imagine that it 
 was for this purpose he erected so high a gallows. The 
 fifty cubits high did, however, serve all the better to 
 make the certainty of his sons death, and their igno 
 miny, known throughout the royal city, and the vast 
 empire. The first day, five hundred were killed in and 
 near the palace, and the next, three hundred more, 
 making eight hundred of Hainan s friends and fellow- 
 conspirators that were killed during the two days of 
 slaughter; and there can now be no mistake about the 
 fate of his sons. There is no danger of anyone of 
 them again heading an insurrection. 
 
 And according to the king s decree, "the Jews that 
 were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the 
 fourteenth day also, and slew three hundred men at 
 Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand. 
 But the other Jews that were in the king s provinces 
 gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, 
 and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes 
 seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands 
 on the prey." Verses 15 and 16 of the ninth chapter. 
 
 In regard to the yreut number slain, it must be re 
 membered that the Persian empire was very large and 
 populous, and that the numbers slain in battles in an- 
 
312 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 cient times were very great.* And then it is also to 
 be remembered that the king s officers, rulers of the 
 provinces, lieutenants and deputies, throughout all the 
 provinces, helped the Israelites. Hebrew writers also 
 contend that all these seventy-five thousand were Amal- 
 ekites, and that in this slaughter was fulfilled the, 
 prophecy of Balaam : " Amalek was the first of the 
 nations, but his latter end shall be, that he perish for 
 ever." It is true, that the prophets foretold the utter 
 destruction of this people, and I know not that they 
 were ever heard of after this slaughter. Numb, xxiv : 
 20 ; Exo. xvii : 14. It is clear also from fhe history, 
 that the Jews enemies were the aggressors. They acted 
 only in self-defence. They lifted their hands only 
 against such as sought their hurt. Hainan s faction 
 were infatuated to their own destruction. They could 
 not stand not a man of them before the Jews. But 
 if they had remained quiet, there is no probability that 
 a hair of their head would have been touched. The 
 Jews were conquerors, because they were on the right 
 side, and God helped them. And though victory is 
 often an accident, yet it is true that Providence helps the 
 best disciplined and bravest troops. Trust in God does 
 not excuse us from keeping our gunpowder dry. The 
 Jews were numerous, and they were united. They 
 stood together in all the cities for their lives, their 
 wives and their little ones. 
 
 It is twice said in the text that on the prey they 
 laid not their hands. They were authorized by the 
 decree to take the goods of their enemies that should 
 be slain, but there is not a syllable to show that they 
 
 * See Ilis. of ancient Persia published by Carters of New York. 
 
REJOICINGS OF THE JEWS. 313 
 
 took any spoil, or that they injured any one that did 
 not first attack them . By abstaining from the spoil, 
 they showed that they did not act from malice, or for 
 the purpose of enriching themselves. They were 
 neither selfish -nor revengeful. They were ready to 
 mix mercy with judgment, and were disposed to show 
 that they could be more generous than their enemies 
 would have been to them. The spoil, therefore, they 
 touched not, either leaving it for the king s treasury, or 
 for the children of those slain. Their motto was not 
 that the spoils belong to the victors. Nor were they 
 wanting in loyalty. They were faithful subjects. 
 
 The effects of the counter-decree in Shushan, were 
 just such as we should have expected, when we remem 
 ber how sad the royal city was at the promulgation of 
 the murderous one of Hainan. If they were grieved 
 at that, they would rejoice at this; the calm came after 
 the storm. Joy, peace, and security, were the fruits 
 of their wonderful deliverance. The dark cloud that 
 had so long hung over them, was at last dispelled, and 
 sunshine again beaming upon them. And the Jews 
 had light, and gladness, and joy, and honor! In the 
 Bible light is often synonymous with gladness, because 
 light is pleasant to the eyes ; and it is also common to 
 add terms explanatory of former ones, to add emphasis 
 to the sentence. Gladness and joy here, are intended 
 to explain what is meant by light, and the honor is 
 put in contrast to the contempt heretofore felt for the 
 Jews. 
 
 And throughout the empire the Jews had joy and 
 gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the 
 people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews 
 14 
 
314 THE HEBREW-PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 fell upon tfiem. It is characteristic of the nations of the 
 East to this day ! just as it is with the savage tribes of 
 our own continent, to join themselves in alliance with the 
 stronger party, or the winning side. Many of the peo 
 ple became Jews, that is, renounced their idolatry, were 
 circumcised, .and became worshippers of the true God. 
 For the fear of the. Jews fell upon them. The fate of 
 Haman was before their eyes. They were quite con 
 vinced that no one could stand against the seed of the 
 Jews, for whose benefit such stupendous miracles had 
 been wrought in former times. Fear and self-preser 
 vation, as well as a regard for religion, conspired to 
 make many proselytes. Such converts, however, were 
 not likely to do much honor to the true religion, but 
 the historian is faithful to record the fact. And it is 
 still a proof of the weakness of human nature, that 
 many are willing to join themselves to a congregation, 
 or become professors of religion when it is fashionable 
 so to do, or when the church seems to be prosperous, 
 who are not to be found among her friends in the days 
 of adversity. But our Lord s teaching on this subject 
 is remarkably plain and emphatic. " Whosoever there 
 fore shall confess me before men, mine will I confess 
 also before iny Father which is in heaven. But who 
 soever shall deny me before men, mine will I also deny 
 before my Father which is in heaven. He that loveth 
 father or mother more than me is not worthy of me ; 
 and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is 
 not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, 
 and followeth after me, is not worthy of rne. He that 
 findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life 
 for my sake shall find it. Math, x: 32, 39. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE LIVING MONUMENT. 
 
 " My fame extends from West to East, 
 And always at the Purim feast, 
 * * * * 
 
 The wine it so elateth me, 
 That I no difference can see 
 Between Accursed Haman be ! 
 
 And Blessed be Mordecai ! " 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 ANOTHER result of the Jews victory over their ene 
 mies, and of the great favor in which the queen and 
 Mordecai are held by the great king Ahasuerus, is that 
 no man durst lay his hand upon a Jew, nor even frown 
 upon him. They who had been considered as wretched 
 captives are not only safe, but are made lords in the 
 land. It is, then, natural they should have a national 
 festival in commemoration of their deliverance. Ac 
 cordingly, we find the feast of Purim instituted at that 
 time, and observed, from that day to this, by their pos 
 terity, in every part of the globe. 
 
 " On the thirteenth day of the month Adar and on 
 the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made 
 it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore, the Jews 
 
 14A 
 
316 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made 
 the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of glad 
 ness and feastings, and a good day, and of rendering 
 portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. Where 
 fore, they called the days PURIM, after the name Pur. 
 Therefore, for all the words of this letter, and of that 
 which they had seen concerning this matter, and which 
 had come unto them, the Jews ordained, and took upon 
 them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined 
 themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that 
 they would keep these two days according to their 
 writing, and according to their appointed time every 
 year. And that these days should be remembered and 
 kept throughout every generation, every family, every 
 province, and every city ; and that these days of Purirn 
 should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial 
 of them perish from their seed. Then Esther the queen, 
 the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote 
 with all authority to confirm this second letter of Pu- 
 rim. And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the 
 hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of 
 Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth. To con 
 firm these days of Purim in their times appointed, ac 
 cording as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had 
 enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves 
 and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their 
 cry. And the decree of Esther confirmed these mat 
 ters of Purim ; and it was written in the book." 
 
 The unwalled towns (verse 19) are so specified to 
 distinguish them from Shushan, and the great cities 
 of the land The lesser villages, as is intimated in 
 the Hebrew. From, the expression in the twentieth 
 
THE PURIM ORDAINED. 317 
 
 verse, that " Mordecai wrote these things/ it has 
 been said by some that we are to infer that the 
 Book of Esther, up to this verse, was written by 
 him, and that the remaining part of the book was 
 written by some one else, Ezra, or the men of the Great 
 Synagogue. All that is known, or, at least, considered 
 as worthy of any reliance about the author of this book, 
 has been already given in the third chapter of this 
 work ; and it seems to me very plain, that the meaning 
 here is, that Mordecai wrote the book, and the king s 
 decree, also, in favor of the Jews, and the letters to the 
 Jews, ordaining and instructing them how to keep the 
 feast of Purim. These interpretations are not contra 
 dictory and that this is the meaning, is rendered 
 more plain from the last verse of the ninth chapter, 
 where the decree of Esther, concerning these matters 
 of Purim, is said to have been written in the book ; that 
 is, among the statutes and observances of the Jews, 
 who were to keep this feast, and their seed after them, 
 for ever. The decree confirming these matters was, no 
 doubt, also recorded in the Chronicles of the Empire, 
 and it is not impossible, but it may yet be dug up from 
 among the ruins of Shuster. A national festival was 
 to be established, and its observance to be perpetual, 
 which is according to history to this hour. 
 
 Let us then consider a little the institution, history 
 and observance of this feast of Purim. And to do this, 
 we have to go back to the third chapter and seventh 
 verse, where we get the name for the first time. " In 
 the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth 
 year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the Lot, 
 before Haraan from day to day." 
 
318 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 In the Septuagint, of Esther iii : 7, there is an ad 
 dition to the text, which some interpreters think be 
 longed originally to the Hebrew. The addition is his 
 torically correct, and makes the passage plain. The 
 reading of the Septuagint is in the manner following : 
 " In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the 
 twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, 
 the lot before Hainan, from day to day, and from month 
 to month, that they might destroy in one day the peo 
 ple of Mordecai ; and the lot fell on the fourteenth day 
 of the month Adar." The first month here refers to 
 their civil year, and the month Nisan answers, say to 
 March, and Adar corresponds to parts of February and 
 March. 
 
 They cast Pur, that is, the lot. It seems probable, 
 from the best authorities, that Pur is the Hebrew 
 form of the Persian pari, which means happening for 
 tuitously. This word comes to us through the Latin 
 pars, from which we have PART. 
 
 Some have suggested that Pur signified a game of 
 chance, that was played with Haman, or by his direc 
 tion, from day to day, for the purpose of diverting his 
 mind, until the favorable time should conie for seeking 
 his vengeance on the Jews ; or that they cast lots to 
 determine how they should divide the spoils to be taken 
 from the wealthy families they were going to destroy. 
 It is well known that the Persians and oriental nations 
 were much given to divination. Even the ancient He 
 brews were in the habit of casting lots, or of using a 
 species of divination by which to find out the divine 
 will. Lot-casting, as far as it seemed to me for edifi 
 cation, was considered in my little volume on " Achan, 
 
THE BOTTLE KING. 319 
 
 or the Wedge of Gold/ f to which I beg to refer with 
 out repeating or adding anything here, But we west 
 ern nations and peoples are not wholly emancipated 
 from similar superstitions. Shakespeare following the 
 old chronicler Hollinshead, says, speaking of Agincourt 9 
 and of the evening before the battle : 
 
 " Proud of their numbers, and secure in soul, 
 The confident and over-lusty French, 
 Do the low-rated English play at dice." 
 
 Henry V. 
 
 Ilollinshead says, the French were so sure of victory, 
 that the captains had determined how they would di 
 vide the spoil } " and the soldiers, the night before, 
 had placed the Englishmen at dice." Similar things 
 are said of the English on the eve of the battle of New 
 Orleans, eighth January, 1815. 
 
 From Horace,* in several places, and from other 
 classic authors, whom it is not necessary to name, it is 
 seen that it was the custom of the ancients to choose a 
 governor arbiter bibendi by the cast of the dice, 
 or as some translate it, to gain the dominion of the bot 
 tle by the vote of the dice. The allusion is, no doubt, 
 to the practice mentioned in a preceding chapter, of 
 having some one chosen to preside over their feasts, 
 whom all were obliged to obey, and to drink as he di 
 rected. The manner of choosing was by throwing the 
 dice, which had, on their different sides, the figures of 
 
 f Piiblished in San Francisco, and also by the Presbyterian Board at Phila 
 delphia. Chapter iii : p. 46, et seq. 
 
 * Non regna virii sortiere tails. Odes, 1 lib. 18. 
 
 Quern Venus arbitrum 
 
 Dicet bibendi ? 2 lib. vii. 25. 
 
320 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Apollo, Venus and Diana. He 
 who first threw a Venus presided, was called the king 
 of the bottle, or governor of the feast, as at the mar 
 riage in Cana of Galilee. John ii: 8, 9. This much 
 is certain, ancient nations were in the habit of cast 
 ing lots to find out whether they should do or forbear 
 to do go to war or refrain and to find out what days 
 were lucJty for beginning an enterprise. The king of 
 Babylon cast lots, or divined which way he should lead 
 his armies, by arrows. For example, when, at the 
 parting of two ways, and wishing to know whether or 
 not to go against Jerusalem, two arrows were prepared, 
 one commanding him to go and the other forbidding, 
 and they were shot, drawn or touched in some way, 
 and which ever was made to answer first was followed. 
 In Hainan s case, probably, the names of all the months 
 were written on the dice, and when the month had 
 been designated, then the day of the month was ascer 
 tained in like manner. Though wicked, Haman was 
 superstitious, as were Samson s enemies, the old Philis 
 tines. And so are the heathen to this day ; and so, 
 also, are most ungodly men, even men renowned for 
 learning and scientific knowledge, and boasting that 
 they are unbelievers, have yet often shown symptoms 
 of the most tormenting superstitions. It is not unusual 
 for skeptics to turn out the most credulous of men, and 
 for those who do not believe Moses and the prophets, 
 Jesus Christ and his apostles, to be believers in table- 
 turning and spirit-rappings and the such-like nonsense. 
 Hainan s object, no doubt, was to get his gods en 
 listed on his side, and, if possible, prevent the Jews 
 from having any aid from their God. He, therefore, 
 
THE DAY FIXED BY LOT. 321 
 
 resorted to lot-casting, to find out what month and what 
 day would be the most unpropitious for the Jews. 
 And, upon trial, he finds, as answer, that Adar was the 
 unfavorable month, and, upon investigation, is con 
 firmed in this opinion, by finding that they have no 
 festival for that month. It was a month not sanctified 
 or protected by any religious rites. This, therefore, he 
 concluded was the most suitable month for his business. 
 And, giving thanks to his gods, he sets about fixing 
 the day, and it falls on the thirteenth day of the month. 
 And he again drinks to Ahriman, and vows to fill 
 his temple with offerings and votoes. 
 
 It is worth while to observe here, that Hainan s 
 object was not could not have been as Le Clerc and 
 some others have said, to give time to the Jews to es 
 cape ; to frighten them to flee away. Whither could 
 they go ? How much of the then known world was open 
 to them beyond the provinces of the great king ? No. 
 The time was, indeed, too far oif to please him, but it 
 had been fixed by lot, and he was too superstitious to 
 think of changing it. And how remarkable it is, that 
 the lot fixed the time nearly twelve months off as far 
 off as the list of months allowed thereby giving Mor- 
 decai and Esther full time to concert measures for Ha 
 inan s defeat. Surely, the Lord maketh the wrath of 
 man to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath He re- 
 straineth. The God of Abraham here begins to work 
 Hainan s confusion. If the time had been shorter, 
 how would it have been possible to neutralize the mur 
 derous decree throughout all the provinces, as we have 
 found was done, from India to Ethiopia, in time to 
 save the Jews ? It was not, then, as men say, a mere 
 MB 
 
322 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 chance nor was it the Persian gods that fixed the 
 month and the day, but the God of the Hebrews, who 
 remembered His covenant with their fathers. The 
 last month of the year is fixed upon, in order that as 
 much time as possible may be given to Mordecai and 
 the queen to use the proper means for the deliverance 
 of their people. The Almighty s hand is upon all the 
 events of life. If the lot is cast into the lap, the whole 
 disposing thereof is of the Lord. Prov. xvi: 33. 
 
 And though it is remarkable, as has been already 
 observed, that the name of Grod is not found in the 
 book of Esther; yet, surely JEHOVAH S presence is 
 clearly to be seen in it. from beginning to end. Where, 
 in the whole of human histories, can we find a chapter 
 of such remarkable Providential interpositions as are 
 here recorded in favor of the seed of Jacob, scattered 
 as a captive people throughout the Persian empire ? 
 " What was it, or rather, Who was it, that kept the 
 king s eyes from slumber on a night big with the doom 
 of the Hebrew nation ? Who moved him to call for 
 the chronicles of his reign, and to summon the tale- 
 reciter, or the minstrel, to beguile his waking hours ? 
 Who moved the reader to open at that part which re 
 lated to the service of Mordecai in disclosing a plot 
 against the king s life ? Who quickened the king s 
 languid attention and interest, and stirred him to in 
 quire what rewards had been bestowed upon the man to 
 whose fidelity he owed his life and crown ? Who timed 
 this so, that this glow of kindly feeling toward Morde 
 cai, and this determination right royally to acknowledge 
 his unrequited services, occurred at the very moment 
 that Hainan had arrived at the palace to ask leave to 
 
THE OBSERVANCE OF PURIM. 823 
 
 hang this very Mordecai upon a gallows fifty cubits 
 high ; which he had caused already to be set up, in the 
 assured conviction that the king would not refuse him 
 so trifling a request, and little thinking that he himself 
 was destined to swing high in air upon it ? Lastly, 
 Who ordered it so, that, coming with this errand, in 
 his wrath, he was only stopped from uttering it by an 
 order to hasten to confer upon this Mordecai, with his 
 own hands, the highest distinctions the king could be 
 stow upon the man he delighteth to honor. God not 
 in the book of Esther! If not there, where is He? 
 To our view, His glory the glory of His goodness in 
 caring for, and shielding from harm, His afflicted 
 church, shines through every page." Kitto. 
 
 In the feast of Purim, which occurs, I believe, in 
 February, we have a commemoration of the Providen 
 tial deliverance of the Jews in Persia, more than two 
 thousand years ago. During this festival business is 
 carried on, and work done, as on other days. It is not, 
 therefore, a Jewish Sabbath. And it is also, perhaps, 
 true that there are differences, or varieties, in some of 
 the minor usages, or customs, found connected with 
 the observance of this festival. It were not strange if 
 the manner of keeping it should differ, in a few non- 
 essentials, in Europe from that observed in America. 
 The Lord s supper is observed, by some Christians, 
 literally in the evening, and by others, at noon. Some 
 receive the elements as they sit in their pews ; others 
 sit around a table, as nearly as possible, in the way the 
 disciples sat around our Lord ; while others kneel around 
 the pulpit, or what they call an altar. But sucli dif 
 ferences in the manner of keeping this sacrament do 
 
324 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 not, in any wise, take from its importance, nor lessen 
 the historic evidence in its favor. 
 
 At the festival of Purim, the book of Esther Me- 
 gillali, as the Israelites call it, is read. The copy used 
 is written on vellum, in the form of a roll ; and it used 
 to be so written, and is perhaps so still, that the names 
 of Hainan s ten sons could be pronounced in a single 
 breath written in order, one after another, after the 
 manner in which their bodies were hung on the gallows. f 
 
 It was a good day, and a day for the sending of por 
 tions one to another. This custom of sending portions 
 is common in the East, and especially in India, where 
 many Bible customs have been retained with but little 
 change. The Hindoos on the first of every month often 
 send cakes, oil, clothes, spices and fruits, as presents to 
 one another. And if a Prince invites to a feast those 
 who cannot come, he sends them a portion of his ban 
 quet to be eaten at their own home in remembrance of 
 his bounty.* It was a day of feasting and gladness, 
 as well as of sending portions one to another, and gifts to 
 the poor. Almsgiving is always a becoming method of 
 expressing our gratitude for the divine favor. A He 
 brew proverb says : Alms are the salt that season and 
 preserve our goods ; and as Esther was an orphan, it is 
 peculiarly fit that a feast at which she is the Heroine 
 should show special munificence toward the fatherless. 
 Our Hebrew brethren are justly celebrated for their 
 protection of their own poor, and for the education of 
 their own children. Usually in the observance of this 
 feast, much attention is given in supplying the poor, 
 
 f See Home s Intro., iii vol., chap. iv. 
 * See Harmer s Obs. chapter iv. 
 
THE PURIM FEASTING. 325 
 
 and in showing delicate kindness to their religious 
 teachers, and to make every one comfortable and happy. 
 Nor should it be thought a strange thing that some 
 abuses should have sometimes been observed in this fes 
 tival. Purim seems to be very much like some of the 
 festivals of the Pagans, or to resemble our Fourtli-of- 
 July, when men, women and children, indulge in diver 
 sions and in the foaming bowl more freely than at any 
 other time. I have heard it said that it was a part of 
 the duty of " a free born American citizen to imbibe 
 freely of old Bourbon on the Fourth-of-July, though he 
 were a son of temperance all the other days of the year." 
 It were not unnatural, then, if the Israelites did excuse 
 the free use of wine at the feast of Purim, saying, that 
 all men, women and children, must drink of the 
 " crowned goblet foaming with floods of wine," for all 
 men and women and children were exposed to danger. 
 But if it ever was true, as our gifted countryman makes 
 Rabbi Ben Israel say, in the lines at the head of this 
 chapter, that it was the duty or the custom of those who 
 kept the feast of Purim, to indulge in wine so freely, as 
 not to be able to know the difference between " cursed 
 be Hainan ! and blessed be Mordecai," it is not so now. 
 Israelites, I think, have always used wine as a good gift 
 of the Almighty ; but as far as my observation and 
 historical researches go, and I have seen them in large 
 numbers in all the four quarters of the globe, and I 
 must say, and I am happy to say it, I regard them as the 
 most temperate people I have ever known. I can say 
 of them, what I cannot say of any other race or religion ; 
 I have never seen an Israelite drunken. It is well 
 known that in the East at the present day, drunken 
 
326 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 dogs, are among the epithets bestowed on Franks and 
 Christians, and with more truthfulness than it is pleas 
 ant to confess. 
 
 The feast of Purim then, is an annual commemora 
 tion of the deliverance of the Jews in Persia, Esther 
 being the Queen, and Mordecai Grand Vizier. It was 
 instituted at the time in the most solemn manner, and 
 the Jews took it upon themselves, and ordained, with 
 all the authority of the king and queen, that they and 
 their seed after them, and all who should ever join 
 themselves to them forever, should observe as a day of 
 feasting and gladness, and of giving portions one to 
 another, and gifts to orphans. "The truth of this 
 whole history," says Dr. Lee, " is demonstrated by the 
 feast of Purim, kept up from that time to this very day. 
 And this surprising providential revolution in favor of 
 a captive people, thereby constantly commemorated, 
 standeth even upon a firmer basis, than that there ever 
 was such a man as king Alexander the Great in the 
 world, of whose reign there is no such abiding monu 
 ment at this day to be found anywhere. Nor will they, 
 1 dare say, who quarrel at this, or any other of the sa 
 cred histories, find it a very easy matter to reconcile 
 the different accounts which were given by historians 
 of the affairs of this king, or to conform any one fact of 
 his, whatever, with the same evidence which is here 
 given for the principal fact in the sacred book, or even 
 so much as to prove the existence of such a person, of 
 whom so many great things are related, but upon grant 
 ing this book of Esther, or sixth of Esdras, as it is pla 
 ced in some of the most ancient copies of the Vulgate, 
 to be a correct, most true and certain history." Dr. 
 Lees Dissertations on Esdras. 
 
OUR STONES OF HELP. 327 
 
 It is according to the instincts of the human heart as 
 well as according to the laws of the human mind, that 
 some monument or memorial of past events that have 
 been of great interest to us, or our race should stand 
 out as their concrete history. This is the meaning of 
 the columns, arches and pillars that have been erected, 
 of some kind or other, in all ages and countries. The 
 lion crowned mound of Waterloo, the monument of 
 Bunker Hill, the plain of Marathon, and the moun 
 tains looking on it, are not more truly monuments of 
 past realities, than is the feast of Purim. Nor is there 
 any monument, unless it be the Church of God itself, 
 that is so truly a living proof and demonstration of the 
 truth of our Holy Scriptures as the Israelitish race. 
 Every Hebrew face on earth is an epistle from the Al 
 mighty, proving the truth of Divine Revelation. 
 Their writings are admitted to be ancient, and that they 
 have been preserved with singular care and fidelity ; 
 and their personal, tribal and national histories, (and 
 yet they are not a nation,) are according to their own 
 writings ; that is, a fulfillment of the threatenings and 
 promises of JEHOVAH, made to them and concerning 
 them. Their feast of Purim and their day of Atone 
 ment, are proofs of the reality of great past historic 
 events, just as our Fourth-of-July is a proof of the truth 
 of our Declaration of Independence. And as Ameri 
 cans are wont to have a feast and read the Declaration 
 of Independence on the Fourth-of-July, so are the Is 
 raelites wont to have a feast and a good day, and read 
 the Megilloth Esther on the thirteenth and fourteenth 
 of the month Adar. And the length of time, the num 
 ber of generations that have kept the Purim feast, only 
 
328 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 enhances its importance, without diminishing the cer 
 tainty of its historic verities. If Americans should be 
 perpetuated distinctively as such for two thousand years, 
 and keep up without failure, the observance of the 
 Fourth-of-July and the reading of the Declaration, 
 would it not be an irresistible argument at that ad 
 vance period of time in favor of the historic events 
 commemorated thus on the Fourth-of-July, and which 
 we know to be verities, and not fables or myths ? An 
 argument of the same kind is easily constructed out of 
 our holy sacrament, but I need not dwell on it. 
 
 And finally, it is, in every way, proper to have our 
 resting places in the wilderness our monumental piles, 
 in remembrance of God s mercies. It is thus that we 
 honor Him, encourage His people, and strengthen our 
 own faith. In traveling through the wilderness, or 
 across a dreary desert, it is some relief to find signs, or 
 traces, or proofs, that other human beings, like our 
 selves, have gone successfully through the same; just 
 so, as we are journeying on through the world, we may 
 draw great comfort from the monuments that God s 
 people have left behind, proclaiming His faithfulness 
 and loving-kindness. These monuments are stones of 
 help JEbenezers, where we should raise our notes of 
 praise, and shout back encouragement to the weary and 
 fainting that are behind but all our way is not desert. 
 Here and there a table is spread for us in the presence 
 of our enemies. Here and there an oasis is found for 
 refreshment and social intercourse. Here and there 
 mountain hights are gained, from which we may see 
 the promised land. The church of God is not always 
 in storms. There are periods of gladsome sunshine. 
 
GLORY BEGUN BELOW. 329 
 
 Believers have some sweet interchanges of joy amid 
 their warfare. The grapes of Eschol, in rich clusters, 
 are sometimes found in the desert way, even before 
 they enter upon their endless triumph. 
 
 "The men of grace have found 
 
 Glory begun below, 
 Celestial fruits, on earthly ground, 
 From faith and hope may grow. 
 
 The hill of Zion yields 
 
 A thousand sacred sweets, 
 Before we reach the heavenly fields, 
 
 Or walk the golden streets. 
 
 Then let our songs abound, 
 
 And every tear be dry, 
 We re marching through Tmmanuel s ground, 
 
 To fairer worlds on high." 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FLOWERS FROM THE TOMB. 
 
 " That nothing walks with aimless feet; 
 That not one; life shall be destroy d, 
 Or cast as rubbish to the void, 
 When God hath made the pile complete." 
 
 LORD BACON had more confidence in the justice of 
 posterity, and of distant nations, than in his own times. 
 And time, that proves all things, has justified his con 
 fidence. It is a curious fact, and, in some degree, an 
 illustration of his opinion, that we are much more in 
 debted to the tombs of Egypt, than to the sculptures 
 of its other public buildings, for a knowledge of the 
 occupations, customs, and domestic life of its ancient 
 inhabitants. The same remark is true of the ancient 
 Persians. From themselves we have scarcely anything, 
 except their monumental inscriptions, and they were 
 lost buried under the whirring sands and rubbish of 
 centuries until within a few years; yet it is to these 
 inscriptions, and to foreigners, that we are indebted for 
 our knowledge of the Persian Xerxes and Cyrus. 
 
 As life shows itself in living, so do true principles 
 flower into practice. Every truth revealed in Holy 
 
332 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Scripture, has a practical tendency. The doctrines of 
 the Bible are not mere abstract dogmas, to be retained, 
 in all the clearness and coldness of moonlight, in the 
 head, but warm, living, life-giving, like the grace of 
 God, which teaches us to live godly, denying all worldly 
 lusts. It is God s plan, in His word, to teach us prin 
 ciples the system of Divine truth the most suitable 
 for us to know by examples. There are several ways 
 of teaching moral and religious truth, namely: The 
 dogmatic, or scholastic method; and the scientific, or 
 inductive; and, thirdly, the illustrative method, or 
 teaching by examples. If the first chapter of the 
 Bible had begun with the proposition logically stated, 
 after the manner of the schools : There is a Supreme 
 Being, whose name is God; and then, if the proofs 
 had been arranged in orders and classes, we should 
 have had the existence of God stated and proved in a 
 dogmatic manner. But this is not the method of the 
 Bible. It begins by assuming that there is a God, and 
 describes some of His works. So far, however, as we 
 are taught, by the sacred writers, to argue from effect 
 to cause, from the works and revelations of God, that 
 there is a Supreme Being, just so far we are taught, in 
 the Bible, to find the existence of God proven by sci 
 entific reasoning. But it is plain, to all who read the 
 word of God, that its manner of teaching truth is chiefly 
 by examples. Thg historical and inductive method of 
 unfolding Divine truth, is the one chiefly pursued by 
 the sacred writers, and, to most minds, this is the most 
 interesting and convincing method that can be pursued. 
 The scholar learns to write more easily by seeing bis 
 master write, and then by copying after him, than by 
 
ACTIONS OUR TEACHERS. 333 
 
 hearing him read a lecture on chirography. Alexander 
 the Great was much more inspired by studying the his 
 tory of the exploits of Achilles and Cyrus the Great^ 
 than he was by the lectures of Aristotle on courage and 
 heroism. Seneca says, the crowd of philosophers which 
 followed Socrates, learned more of their ethics from his 
 manners than from his discourses. And of Origen, it 
 is said that, though he was one of the most learned 
 men, and most voluminous writers of his or of any age, 
 that he recommended religion more by his example than 
 by all that he wrote. And this peculiarity of the hu 
 man mind is duly provided for in the Sacred Scriptures. 
 It is God s plan, in His holy word, to make His good 
 ness, as it were, to pass before us in living forms, and 
 then to have the record made and preserved for our 
 instruction, warning and comfort. If it is faith that 
 we are to be taught, then we have the lives of Abra 
 ham and Noah, and a host of worthies ; and so, for 
 meekness, Moses; and for patience, Job; and for zeal, 
 Peter and Paul. There are illustrious examples in the 
 Scriptures of every Christian virtue, and, in the Son 
 of God, we have an example of perfect goodness. Nor 
 is there any treatise on sin, that shows its odiousness 
 so clearly, as the expulsion from the garden, the drown 
 ing of the old world, the overthrow of the cities of the 
 plain, and the history of the Israelites, and the suffer 
 ings and " bloody passion " of our Lord, when He 
 made His soul an offering for sin. It is thus that infi 
 nite wisdom has seen fit to teach us, namely, that truth 
 and error, sin and holiness, should be lived out, and 
 then the history written and preserved for us. This 
 plan has been followed in our sacred writings, both as 
 
334 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 to nations and as to individuals, and it is certainly not 
 without significance. It is, no doubt, true that his 
 toric preaching, or the communicating of religious 
 truth by parables and narratives, was eminently fitted 
 to rude or half-civilized nations ; but it is equally true, 
 that the most refined Greeks and Romans, as well as 
 the most polished nations of the East, have been 
 greatly delighted with precisely the same method 
 of entertainment and instruction. And, I fancy, it 
 were difficult now to find a man too highly educated, 
 east or west, to relish a good parable, or a great truth, 
 exhibited in its strength and beauty, in a living char 
 acter. If history, and fable, and parable, are suited, 
 in a peculiar manner, for the instruction of children, 
 and the uneducated classes, it is no less true that they 
 are also the most interesting and convincing methods 
 of presenting truth to the aged and most cultivated 
 intellects. Even philosophers prefer to have religious 
 truth brought home to them in a simple garb. They 
 desire consolation for grief, not on stilts, nor in abstract 
 and stately phrases, but in a simple style. " When 
 the great " and learned Bengel was ill, he sent for one 
 of the students of his University, to impart to him some 
 word of consolation. The youth replied, " Sir, I am but 
 a pupil, a mere learner, I don t know what to say to a 
 teacher like you/ " What ! " said Bengel, " a Divinity 
 student, and not able to give a word of Scriptural com 
 fort ! " The student, abashed, contrived to utter the 
 text: "The blood of Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth 
 us from all sin." " That is the very word I want," said 
 Bengel, "it is quite enough ;" and taking him affec 
 tionately by the hand, dismissed him. 
 
TRUE LOOKING-GLASSES. 335 
 
 Grief, whether in the palace or in the cottage 
 whether in the university or the log-cabin, is always 
 simple. A great man, bowed down under affliction, 
 has no time, nor disposition, for learned investigations. 
 He wants something to lean upon. His own powers of 
 body and mind are relaxed ; he wants comfort with 
 out toil. His own spirit is fainting; he wants relief, 
 not learned abstractions ; and where can he find com 
 fort so easily, and with so direct an application, as 
 in the looking-glass of reliable history ? He may there 
 find an example similar, or so nearly like his own case, 
 that he has only to change the name, and it is himself. 
 
 We have found that the Persians were remarkable 
 for their chronicles, and that it was fortunate for Mor- 
 decai, and the Jews, that they were ; and, it is also for 
 tunate for us, that we have so many documents that 
 prove the truth of our sacred narratives. Even the 
 Tareeklis of Persia, which are very numerous, and of 
 great importance to this day, are full of illustrations of, 
 and allusions to such facts, customs and past events, 
 as throw light upon the Hebrew chronicles, as far as 
 they are connected with the history of Persia. The 
 Chaldee Targum is extravagant in praising Mordecai. 
 It says : "-All the kings of the earth feared and trem 
 bled before him : he was as resplendent as the evening 
 star among the stars; and was as bright as Aurora 
 beaming forth in the morning; and he was chief of the 
 Jews." And our text says (Esth. ix : 4,) that " Mor 
 decai was great in the king s house, and his fame went 
 out throughout all the provinces ; for this man, Mor 
 decai, waxed greater and greater." Read also, the 
 tenth chapter of Esther. 
 
336 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 The great king, Ahasuerus, laid a tribute upon the 
 land ; that is, upon the one hundred and twenty-seven 
 provinces; and upon the isles of the sea, probably the 
 isles of Greece," .which were conquered by Darius Hys- 
 taspes. And Mordecai was next unto the king was 
 his prime minister, and, under the king, governor of 
 his whole empire. And he was exalted to be a blessing 
 to his people. It was his study to promote their pros 
 perity : seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking 
 peace to all his seed, and he ivas accepted of his breth 
 ren. This is a great eulogy. It means, that he sought 
 to advance his brethren in wealth, he settled their dis 
 putes, causing them to live, as far as possible, in peace 
 with their Persian neighbors, and among themselves ; 
 and he was accepted of his brethren. The basis of 
 their prosperity was peace, and they had confidence in 
 their government; it was likely, therefore, that their 
 well-doing would continue a long time. 
 
 If Ahasuerus, Esther and Mordecai have not died, 
 they must be somewhat ancient by this time. But our 
 history does not tell us anything of their death. It is 
 possible, then, I fancy, notwithstanding the skeptic s 
 cavilling at omissions in the sacred writings, for some 
 things to be omitted that must have happened, and are, 
 therefore, in themselves true ; and possible, also, for 
 these same writings, in which omissions thus occur, 
 to be credible. Omissions are not, necessarily, contra 
 dictions, nor are they sufficient to destroy our faith 
 in the genuineness or authenticity of a record. We 
 have some traditions even some monumental proof 
 that Esther and Mordecai must have died ; for we 
 have their tomb, although this is not conclusive, for 
 
TOMB OF ESTHER. 337 
 
 some men have built tombs for themselves which never 
 contained their ashes. The sarcophagus, or coffin, of 
 an Empress of Russia, made for herself, during her 
 lifetime, and sent to the Convent of Mount Sinai, con 
 tains, instead of her Czarinian ashes, the reputed body 
 of St. Catharine. The politics of Asia and of Europe 
 would not permit a Russian Empress to take her last 
 sleep at Mount Sinai. The Pharaoh who lies in the 
 coral chambers of the Red Sea, built his pyramid-tomb 
 in his day, as we found in our lectures on Moses, but 
 another possessed it. But of Ahasuerus we have 
 neither record of his death nor monument to mark his 
 tomb. The grave of the absolute sovereign of one hun 
 dred and twenty-seven provinces, even from India to 
 Ethiopia, is totally unknown. And so is the grave of 
 Moses and of John Calvin. No man knoweth it to this 
 day. The causes or the reasons why we know nothing 
 of the grave of Moses, Ahasuerus or Calvin are, doubt 
 less, very different, but the fact is the same. 
 
 It is a simple, and not wholly a useless custom, to 
 plant flowers over the graves of our beloved dead, and 
 sometimes to gather a flower from their grave, as a me 
 mento of affection. Now, we would have our readers, 
 who have come with us thus far, visit the tomb of our 
 Queen, and, while musing there, gather a few flowers, 
 that we hope may bloom in beauty and fragrance many 
 days. 
 
 It is believed by most travelers that the tomb of 
 Esther and Mordecai exists to this day. At least, a 
 tomb so called is still shown, near the city of Hama- 
 dan, in Persia, which lies on the route as one goes 
 from Bagdad to the Caspian. The tomb is in the 
 15 
 
338 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 midst of ruins, believed to be those of Ecbatana, the 
 old Median capital of the Persian Empire. The present 
 city of Hamadan contains from 30 to 40,000 inhabitants, 
 among whom are several hundred Israelitish families. 
 The tomb is a square building, with a dome, such as is 
 common over the tombs of holy persons, in Mohamme 
 dan countries. It is regarded, both by Mohammedans 
 and the Jews of Persia, as a place of great sanctity, 
 and pilgrimages are still made to it. It is spoken of in 
 the days of Benjamin of Tudela. And Sir Robert K. 
 Porter made a visit to it, and says it is the tomb of Es 
 ther and Mordecai, and has been carefully preserved 
 from " the day of the holy pairs interment." The 
 keeping up of a pilgrimage among the Jews to this 
 place, at the same time of year when the feast of Puriin 
 is celebrated, makes this monumental pile a kind of 
 eye-witness of the event "an evidence to the fact, 
 more convincing, perhaps, than even written testimo 
 ny." It is true that Timour sacked the city and the 
 tomb was destroyed, but, soon afterward, another was 
 built, on the same spot, by a Ilabbi, called Ismael. The 
 sarcophagi are of dark wood, covered with Hebrew let 
 ters, which is said to have been preserved from the 
 ravages of the Tartars. It is certain that the tomb is 
 now kept in the highest state of repair, and held in 
 the highest veneration. It is, also, an admitted tradi 
 tion that the Queen and Mordecai were buried in the 
 same tomb. The following translation of the Hebrew 
 inscriptions is given by Sir John Malcolm, and copied 
 by me from the Gleaner : " At that time, there was in 
 the palace of Susa, a certain Jew, of the name of Mor 
 decai ; he was the son of Jair, of Shimei, who was the 
 
ANCIENT PALACE OF SUSA. 339 
 
 son of Kish, a Benjamite, for Mordecai the Jew, was 
 the second of that name under Ahasuerus, a man much 
 distinguished among the Jews, and enjoying great con 
 sideration among his own people, anxious for their wel 
 fare, and seeking to promote the peace of all Asia." 
 
 And on this subject it is not irrelevant to introduce 
 the following facts from the commissioners, on the part 
 of England, Russia and Persia, who have been engaged 
 in establishing the boundary line between Persia and 
 Turkey. "In the prosecution of this work, the com 
 missioners have come upon the remains of the ancient 
 palace of Shushan, mentioned in the sacred books of 
 Esther and Daniel, together with the tomb of Daniel the 
 prophet. The locality answers to the received tradition 
 of its position, and the internal evidence, arising from 
 its correspondence with the description of the palace 
 recorded in the sacred history, amounts almost to a 
 demonstration," Col. Williams, of the British army, 
 who is one of this commission says, that the pavement 
 of the king s palace and court, as described in Esther, 
 " of red, and blue and white and black marble," still 
 exists in exact correspondence to the description given 
 in the sacred history. And in the marble columns, 
 dilapidated ruins, the sculpture, and the remaining 
 marks of greatness and glory that are scattered around, 
 the commissioners read the exact truth of the record 
 made by the sacred penman." " Not far from the pal 
 ace stands a tomb ; on it is sculptured the figure of a 
 man bound hand and foot, with a huge lion in the act 
 of springing upon him to devour him. No history 
 could speak more graphically the story of Daniel in the 
 lions den. The Persian arrow-heads are found upon 
 
340 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 the palace and the tomb. Glass bottles, elegant as 
 those placed upon the toilet-tables of the ladies of our 
 day, have been discovered, with other indications of art 
 and refinement, which bear out the statements of the 
 Bible/ * It is generally believed that it was owing to 
 the influence of Daniel, Esther and Mordecai, that the 
 Persian rulers of this period were so favorably disposed 
 toward the Jews. It is at least certain, that not only 
 Cyrus, but his successors, granted great favors to the 
 Jews, and materially aided in rebuilding the Temple. 
 \ After the downfall and death of Hainan, it is easy to 
 see that the influence of Esther would be very great. 
 It is not at all surprising that the king construed Ha 
 inan s attempt to destroy all the Jews as an indirect way 
 to get to the throne, and that, therefore, he considered 
 the queen as having saved his life at this time, as Mor 
 decai had done once before ; and that on this account, 
 as well as his love for her, there was nothing he was not 
 willing to do for her and him. It is not then incredi 
 ble that he should grant her request, and allow his pal 
 ace to flow with the blood of eight hundred of Hainan s 
 friends and fellow conspirators, and that Haman s ten 
 sons were hanged as well as killed, and that Mordecai 
 should be promoted to the honors and place from which 
 Haman had been removed. Nor does it appear that 
 the king s favor was misplaced, or his confidence be 
 trayed. Mordecai was faithful and worthy of the 
 esteem not only of his brethren, but of his sovereign 
 also. Nor did the queen betray any unworthiness of 
 
 * This extract of the report of the Commissioners is taken from the Boston 
 Chronicle. And it is not the statement of ; a fanatical, half-educated mis 
 sionary," but of a scientific corps of the most enlightened nations of the 
 world. 
 
JEWS WIDELY SCATTERED. 341 
 
 her great influence. Though exalted to the highest 
 station a woman could then enjoy, and possessed of great 
 beauty, she was neither vain nor haughty, nor did she 
 forget her religion. " The same gentle, pure, and noble 
 creature when queen, as when living in the lowly habi 
 tation of her uncle generous, disinterested, and ready 
 to die for others, she is one of the loveliest characters 
 furnished in the annals of history." 
 
 1. The wide dispersion of the Jews in the time of 
 queen Esther, though somewhat overlooked, is histori 
 cally correct; and it is equally true that their tenacity L 
 of character was not less remarkable then than at the 
 present day. It seems to be generally supposed that 
 the wide-spreading of the Hebrews over the face of the 
 earth begun at the destruction of the holy city by the 
 Romans. This is indeed a marked epoch in their dis 
 persion, but numerous Jewish colonies are known to 
 have been settled in various and remote parts of the 
 globe before the coming of Christ. Only a fragment 
 returned from Babylon and aided in the rebuilding of 
 the Temple. Jews are found in our day in the heart, 
 of Africa, in China and India, whose traditions are quite 
 clear as far back as king Solomon. A writer in the 
 " Revue des Deux Mondes," advances the opinion that 
 the Jews in China are the descendants of those who 
 settled there during the Assyrian captivity of the tea 
 tribes. At least enough is known from authentic docu- ^ 
 ments to prove the credibility of the dispersion of the 
 Jews throughout the Persian empire, five hundred years 
 before the Christian era ; and enough is known to show 
 that to this day, and from a very early period of their 
 national history, the Israelites are distinguished for two 
 15* 
 
342 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 things, which seem almost paradoxical or antagonistic, 
 namely : a wide spread dispersion, and yet a most re 
 markably distinct tenacity of character. There may be 
 some resemblance to them in this last particular, though 
 I think a minute examination of the point, would show 
 but a very faint resemblance to the Jews, among some 
 of the Hindoo or eastern races ; and as to their disper 
 sion, the Israelites are certainly without any parallel. 
 They are now, as Hainan said to the king of Persia, a 
 certain people scattered abroad and dispersed amony 
 tlie people ; and their laws are diverse from all people. 
 They are scattered among all nations, live under all 
 sorts of governments, speak almost all known tongues, 
 pursue many avocations, and form parts of most nation 
 alities, and yet never coalesce \ nor have they a home 
 as a nation anywhere on earth. They present the his- 
 torical phenomena of a nationality that has resisted all 
 change from time and contact with all other nations for 
 at least three thousand years, and yet they are not a na 
 tion at all. It is only in the light of their own peculiar 
 history, and of their own holy prophets, that a rational 
 solution can be given of this phenomenon, and the so 
 lution when given, is to our mind, a perfect demonstra 
 tion of the truth of the Scriptures of God, and of the 
 Christian religion. This then is a flower we may gather 
 at the tomb of Esther and Mordecai. 
 
 Again : 2. Sow perishable is all earthly grandeur ! 
 A winding sheet, said Saladin, as he looked upon his 
 hosts from his pyramid of human skulls, is all that will 
 soon remain of me ! And how much more is remain 
 ing of the greatness and glory of Xerxes and Alexan- 
 
XERXES NAME LOST. 343 
 
 der, than the name; and, of Xerxes, even his own 
 empire has not preserved his name; at least, not the 
 name by which he is known to mankind. Persia was 
 justly distinguished for her public works, cities, towns, 
 roads, bridges and posts; and her Greek and Homan 
 conquerors added castles, and acqueducts, and cities, 
 and extended her roads, and increased her bridges; but 
 still the remains of ancient Persian grandeur, and 
 power, are very insignificant. The name Xerxes is not 
 yet discovered in the chronicles of his own vast empire; 
 nor is there any agreement, among historians, as to sev 
 eral of the chief events of the life of Cyrus the Great. 
 Xenophon closes the exploits of Cyrus, with his con 
 quest of Egypt, and says he spent the last seven years 
 of his life in perfect peace, and, as the Persian chroni 
 clers say, in devoting his days to God; for that he said 
 he had spent a life long enough for his own glory. Xe 
 nophon says he died in his bed. Herodotus says he 
 perished, and a great part of his army, in a war against 
 the Scythians, which is the generally received account. 
 The poets, Ferdusi and Mirkhond, say, however, that 
 Cyrus, with a numl or of tli ^ most remarkable warriors 
 of Persia, disappeared together, or at the same time, 
 from a favorite spot selected by him for retirement; 
 and will have us to believe they were carried up to 
 heaven in a tempest, or whirlwind. His tomb is said 
 to be at Pasagarda. Pliny, Arrian and Strabo, have 
 described it. Alexander offered funeral honors to the 
 shades of Cyrus, at his tomb, and then broke it open 
 in hopes of finding treasures there ; but in this he was 
 disappointed, for all he found was a rotten shield, two 
 Scythian bows, c.nd a Persian scimitar. 
 
344 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Now, the omissions, discrepancies, and contradictions 
 we thus find in the history of such renowned men as 
 Xerxes, Cyrus arid Alexander, are the more remarka 
 ble, when we remember how careful they were in taking 
 every precaution to have their deeds embalmed for all 
 coming ages. The Persians were extremely ambitious 
 and vain. They seem to have taken more pains than 
 any other people, except it be the Hebrews, to preserve 
 their early history, and yet, beyond Cyrus, we have 
 scarcely a reliable syllable of their history almost left 
 without any means of fixing their chronology; and for 
 the life of Cyrus, and anything like a full or satisfac 
 tory history of some of their greatest men, we are 
 indebted to the writers of contemporary nations. A 
 few fragments only remain of their original documen 
 tary history. But, notwithstanding all this, what man 
 is there, possessed of common sense, that doubts the 
 personal existence, and the reality, substantially, of the 
 deeds of Xerxes, or of Cyrus, because the name of the 
 one is not found in the history of his own empire, as 
 far as we are yet informed, and because historians are 
 not yet agreed as to where, when, or how, the other 
 died. It must certainly be admitted that men, known 
 to us by the names Xerxes and Cyrus, did once live, 
 and that they performed deeds that still live in history, 
 and that they are both dead. Neither omissions, dis 
 crepancies, nor contraditions, in their memoirs, can 
 destroy our belief in them as historic personages. 
 They are not myths, nor are their histories fables. 
 What then, if it be true that there are omissions, and 
 apparent contradictions, in the history of Bible heroes? 
 If we receive the history of Persian kings, much more 
 
THE BIBLE TO BE TRUSTED. 345 
 
 may we rely upon the lives of Hebrew prophets and 
 kings. And surely we may be allowed to hold to the 
 WORD OF GOD until it fails us, or until we have a 
 better book furnished us. But it never fails. The 
 law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. And 
 if all earthly honors and glory are so fleeting, let us 
 lay up treasures in the skies, in a kingdom that passeth 
 not away. 
 
 3. Another flower then, that we would gather from 
 the tomb of Esther and Mordecai, is, that our youug 
 readers should learn to trust in the truthfulness of the 
 Bible. It is wonderful that, after the lapse of two 
 thousand five hundred years, the records of Esther and 
 Daniel should be thus verified by the scientific explo 
 rations and researches of our day, and that too by races 
 and men from countries unknown in their times. 
 Truly it is a vain thing for the heathen to set them 
 selves against the Lord, or for them to rage against 
 His annointed. His word is true, and must prevail. 
 Heaven and earth may pass away, but God s word 
 is a tried word, that endureth forever. It has been 
 finely said, by Madame Dacier, in her notes upon the 
 Iliad, that Homer appears greater by the criticisms that 
 have been put forth upon him, from age to age, by the 
 great minds of the world, than by the praises which 
 have been bestowed upon him. Now if this rule be 
 applied to the Bible, it would be impossible to fix the 
 limits of the highth of the pyramid of its glory. It 
 has been censured more than any other book. It has 
 been burned oftener than any other book. It has pro 
 voked the opposition of hell, and of wicked men, more 
 
346 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 than all other books. It has been opposed more uni 
 formly, and more universally by the vicious and the 
 ungodly, than any other, or than all other books; and 
 yet no weapon that has ever been tried against it has 
 prevailed. It still stands, like a great light-house, in 
 the midst of the surging waves that dash around it 
 and roll away, and leave it still perfect, shining over 
 the darkness, and guiding the voyager to the haven of 
 eternal rest. 
 
 " Mutter o er your words of Power ! 
 Ye can shatter the dwellings of man ; 
 Ye can open the womb of the rock ; 
 Ye can shake the foundations of earth, 
 
 But not the WORD OP GOD : 
 But not one letter can ye change 
 Of what His Will hath written !" 
 
 4. The history of Esther teaches us to trust our or 
 phans to God. He who cares for the flowers of the 
 wilderness, and feeds the birds of the air, and the 
 mosses of the sea will He not provide for his own 
 children ? We are of more value than many sparrows. 
 The very hairs of our heads He numbers. It was God s 
 plan, in furnishing a queen for the Persian throne 
 that none should please the king but the orphan He 
 brew maid. And still we see it is His plan often to 
 employ orphans as agents in great works. How many 
 daughters of widows have been charmingly beautiful, 
 and have become mothers in Israel ? And how many 
 widows sous have risen to honor ; and how many or 
 phans have become eminently pious, and have been 
 benefactors to the world ? So remarkable is the good 
 ness of God toward the fatherless, that it is an oriental 
 
GOD CARES FOR ORPHANS. 347 
 
 saying that " God takes care of orphans and fools." And 
 we remember how our Lord had compassion on the 
 ruler of the synagogue, and when He had raised his 
 daughter, twelve years of age, from the dead, that He 
 gave her to her parents, commanding them to give her 
 something to eat ; and how he restored Lazarus to the 
 society of his sisters ; and how, when he had raised the 
 son of the widow of Nain from the dead, that He gave 
 him to his mother. Now these instances show that our 
 Lord exercised the tenderest and most considerate com 
 passion toward the afflicted and bereaved, and we know 
 that His tenderness is as great now as it was in the days 
 of His humiliation. In making our children fatherless, 
 therefore, we are not to conclude that God shuts them 
 out from His compassion. On the contrary, one of the di 
 vine titles is, "The Fatherof the fatherless, anda Judge 
 of the widows is God in His holy habitation." " Leave 
 thy fatherless children; I will preserve them alive; 
 and let thy widows trust in me." Ps. Ixviii : 5 ; Jer. x : 
 4; ix: 11. If, then, Hadassah is left a little orphan, 
 without father or mother, and in a strange land and a 
 captive, still the God of her fathers will take care of 
 her, and prepare her for the highest position that a 
 woman could occupy. God was more to her than her 
 parents could have been. The Almighty became her 
 guardian, and had her carefully brought up. She was 
 beautiful in person, but her wisdom and grace were her 
 chief attractions still her beauty was a blessing to her. 
 It is an advantage even to a diamond to have it well set. 
 Beauty and accomplishments are to be used as God s 
 gifts, and not abused. If, then, we are deprived of our 
 earthly parents, let us put our trust in our Heavenly 
 
348 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 Father, whose eye is always upon us, and whose 
 ear is ever open to our cry, and whose arm can 
 reach and save us to the ends of the earth. What, 
 then, if you are written orphan if no noble-hearted 
 father is left to smooth down your flaxen locks as his 
 soul rises up in fervent benedictions on your head 
 what though you are without a mother s sleepless care, 
 and there is no longer a bosom on which your aching 
 head can lean with perfect confidence no heart into 
 which you can any longer pour your many grievances 
 and the sad tale of all your youthful sorrows yet you 
 have a Father in heaven, whose heart is infinitely more 
 kind than that of any earthly parent. Trust in Him. 
 He ever liveth to bless. He will never disappoint you 
 nor forsake you. And, my young readers, if God has 
 raised you up friends away from home tender and 
 faithful guardians of your character and happiness, as 
 He did for Esther in the land of her people s captivity, 
 then be careful to own God s goodness. Such friends 
 are sent of God. Learn, also, to be merciful as God is 
 merciful. Do good to all men but especially to 
 widows and orphans in their affliction. There is no 
 species of benevolence that repays with so much inter 
 est to the benefit of mankind as the care and education 
 of orphans. God seems to take peculiar pleasure in 
 making orphans a blessing to mankind, as an encour 
 agement to us to show them kindness, and to commit 
 our children, as orphans, to Him, if He sees best to 
 take us from them. 
 
 5. And this suggests another thought, namely, that 
 it is by doing good that we build the most enduring 
 monuments in the world. The tomb of Moses, says 
 
GOOD WORKS IMMORTAL. 349 
 
 some one, is not known to this day, but travelers and pil 
 grims, from every land and for many generations, 
 have thanked God for water, as they have quenched 
 their thirst at Jacob s Well. Nor is it without sig 
 nificance that the splendid pile of hewn stone and 
 marble, and gold and silk, ivory and cedar, erected 
 by king Solomon, for the service of Jehovah, was 
 burnt, and has, long since, been in utter, undistin- 
 guishable ruins, while his reservoirs and fountains 
 and aqueducts are almost as perfect as they ever 
 were. The golden house of Nero is a mass of ruins, 
 and cabbage and garlic and onions are growing over 
 the ruins of the palace of the Caesars, but the aqueduct 
 of Claudius still pours its limpid streams into the eter 
 nal city. The fountains of Tadmor in the wilderness 
 still sparkle as freshly as when Zenobia was queen, but 
 her Palace and the Temple of the Sun have fallen, and 
 are known only in story and by a mound of rubbish. The 
 marble floors and columns of Shushan and Persepolis 
 are known as ruins, the dwelling-places of unclean 
 beasts and birds ; but the lessons of virtue and holiness, 
 which Mordecai taught the orphan Jewess, have never 
 lost their power. The harvest of benevolent doing is 
 perpetual. It is not only a personal and immediate 
 blessing to the doer himself, but every good deed is 
 immortal. A good deed is so great a blessing that it is 
 to be sought after and performed, because of the pre 
 sent happiness it bestows ; how much more, then, since 
 it is to live forever ? The example of the patriarchs, 
 the sufferings of martyrs for truth and liberty, and the 
 principles enunciated and lived out by the great and 
 good before us cannot die. 
 16 
 
350 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 6. Here then is encouragement to teachers, parents 
 and guardians. Mordecai toiling and patiently teach 
 ing Hadassah her catechism does he know what des 
 tiny awaits her ? By no means. He is only doing his 
 present duty, hoping for the divine blessing. While 
 he is diligently laboring and praying that he may do 
 his whole duty to his cousin-ward, he has no revelation 
 telling him she shall become the Queen of Persia. No, 
 not a syllable like it. But he toils on, trusting the God 
 of Jacob for the future. And just so it must be still. 
 The importance of early education, it is impossible to 
 estimate too highly. The infant in the nurses arms 
 has faculties which an angel cannot comprehend, and 
 which eternity alone can unfold. That infant may 
 sway listening Senates, or thunder home truth from the 
 pulpit into the hearts of thousands, or wield the pen or 
 the sceptre that is to govern millions ; or that little girl 
 may occupy a place as wife or mother that shall send 
 forth an influence ever widening and traveling onward 
 to the last day of the world. The workers, the think 
 ers, the orators, the writers, the statesmen, the heroes 
 of the ages of the future, are these infants now carried 
 about by our nurses ; and as they are educated so will 
 they be a blessing or a curse. I observe that many 
 writers and speakers often dwell on the dangers to be 
 apprehended to our institutions from foreigners, and 
 especially from the Jesuits; now I will tell you a 
 secret tell you of a power in our midst much greater 
 than that of all the followers of Loyola in the world. 
 I mean the young women who are our nurses, helps or 
 servants. They are chiefly from Ireland and Germany, 
 and the most of them are conscientious and honest Catho- 
 
THE NURSE S INFLUENCE. 351 
 
 lies, and it is iny solemn conviction that there is more 
 power in their hands than in all the Jesuit schools in 
 America. I do not mean that anything is to be appre 
 hended under our laws, from what they will say or do 
 to the children, or in the families where they live as 
 domestics. As a general rule, I do not believe there is 
 anything wrong here ; but I do mean, that the rhymes 
 and tales the nurse tells our little ones, are to live for 
 ever. And I mean also that these women are to be the 
 wives and mothers of thousands of citizens, in whose 
 hands are to rest the destinies of the institutions of this 
 country. It is confessedly from them the increase of 
 the power of the Catholic Church in America is chiefly 
 to be expected. These women are industrious and 
 healthy. They generally make good, honest, hard-work 
 ing economical wives, and it is no uncommon thing for 
 their sons to be the men of money and influence in their 
 day; and we need hardly say, that the sons are defenders 
 of the faith of the mothers. It is the mother that moulds 
 the man, the elector and the statesman. These mothers 
 have more power over our institutions than all the ar 
 mies of the Napoleons of Europe can ever wield. 
 England s " Iron Duke" once said on visiting, in his old 
 age, the place where he was educated, " the battle of 
 Waterloo was fought in Eton School." He meant that 
 the military discipline of thought, the manliness of 
 character, the knowledge and virtue, that he acquired 
 in his school-boy days, enabled him to fight successfully 
 the battle of Waterloo against the conqueror of the 
 continent. And he was right. The general makes the 
 soldier, and the boy is father to the man-general. It is 
 so it has always been so and it will continue to be 
 
352 THE HEBREW- PERSIAN QUEEN. 
 
 so. The mind of the child is immortal, and yet it is 
 plastic in the hands of the mother ; and truth taught 
 to the youthful mind, lodged in the infant soul, prepares 
 it for the bosom of God. And as parents and teachers, 
 and the guardians of youth as members of society, 
 there is no escape from responsibility as to the proper 
 education of the young. 
 
 And finally, let me while we are yet musing over the 
 tomb of the Hebrew orphan, whom God made a queen, 
 say to all young people : Confide in your parents. 
 Esther as Sultana, obeyed Mordecai, as when she was 
 brought up with him. Your parents love is sincere. 
 No one can love you with an affection so disinterested 
 as your father or mother. Many a daughter has dug 
 the grave of all her earthly happiness, by receiving the 
 addresses of a young man contrary to the wish of her 
 parents. The pale and melancholy features, the has 
 tening to the grave of the broken-hearted, a stranger 
 and neglected, have, alas ! too often told the sad story 
 of a lovely and confiding one that married contrary to 
 the wishes of her parents, and exchanged thereby sym 
 pathizing friends, able and judicious counsellors, and 
 kind and devoted nurses in sickness, for a selfish, un 
 feeling companion, who sought only his own vanity or 
 pleasure. Young woman, if you have an intelligent 
 and godly father, never forget his counsels. He knows 
 the world ; he knows the hearts of men, and his advice 
 is free from selfishness. Dishonor not his gray hairs 
 by disobeying him. Young man, if you have an intel 
 ligent and pious mother on earth, you yet have a treas 
 ure worth more than all the mines of the mountains. 
 A mother s love, even if all other things seem lost to 
 
A MOTHER S LOVE. 353 
 
 you, will follow you through all the changings of life, 
 and far beyond the portals of the tomb. Forget not 
 the law of your mother. A mother s love ! 
 
 0, potent love! that throws its tendrils wild 
 E en round the footsteps of an erring child: 
 That still sustains the mother s broken heart, 
 And bids her hope till life itself depart ; 
 Sweet is the bond, and dear the hallowed tie, 
 Made perfect only in Eternity." 
 
 Miss Barnes. 
 
 Thus nobly lived Queen Esther and Prince Morde- 
 cai } and having served their generation according to 
 the will of G-od, they fell on sleep, and, being dead, yet 
 live. Blessed be Esther ! Blessed be Mordecai ! 
 
 
YB 71875 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY