more she ventured into the presence of Ahasuerus uncalled, and throwing herself at his feet, besought him with tears to take instant measures to counteract the mischief devised by Haman, and to send letters reversing the decree which doomed them to destruction. This the king assured her could not be done, since the decrees of the Median and Persian kings were irreversible; but letters were by his command again written in the name of the monarch, and sealed with his signet-ring, commanding the Jews everywhere to unite in self-defence, and to avenge themselves on their enemies wherever found. There was great joy in the city of Shushan when the glad news of the downfall of Haman became generally known, and the despised Jews suddenly found themselves the objects of universal esteem and honor. Five hundred men who had dared to lay hands on them were put to death in the city alone, and among them were the ten sons of Haman. And throughout the provinces vast numbers fell in a contest which they had themselves commenced. The feast of Purim, sacredly observed by the Jews up to the present day, was instituted to commemorate this signal deliverance of the nation. Letters prescribing and enjoining its observance were written by the hand of queen Esther, and sent by herself and Mordecai as prime minister to their countrymen scattered abroad through the realm, ordering that the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar should be kept by every family throughout their generations, in every city and land, that the memory of God's great goodness might not pass from their posterity for ever. After the death of Haman, the influence of Esther over the heart and counsels of her husband seems to have been unbounded; but we have no intimation that it was ever used to promote her own selfish interests or purposes. On the contrary, we must infer from the sacred record that the Jewish queen of Ahasuerus was a nursing mother to the church as it then existed in the families of her people; and that, in concert with Mordecai, her life was spent in efforts for the prosperity of Israel. INTRODUCTION. XVI. THE WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. AGES upon ages had rolled away since the fall of our first parents brought sin and death. into the world, and still the promise made to them in the garden of Eden was unfulfilled. Righteous men and women, kings, sages, and prophets longed and waited for the expected manifestation, but died without the sight. Darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people, broken here and there by gleams of light reflected from the Sun of righteousness, whose rising was to fill the world with beauty and gladness. Thus far, in our delineations of female character, we have been amid types and shadows of good things to come. As we approach the |