among

the latter as well as among the former. And a reason can be assigned for this. So far back as the days of Moses, when Balaam was hired by the king of Moab to curse Israel, and when against his will he was constrained to bless them; the destinies of Israel and Amalek were represented by the prophet as antagonistic. Of Israel, Balaam said: "his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted." And again : "Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever." Very probable it is that Balaam's predictions were handed down by tradition from age to age, and that the children of Amalek were taught in this way, as well as by the incursions made on some occasions upon their territories by the kings of Israel and Judah, to regard the Jews as their irreconcilable foes. This consideration, then, we may suppose aggravated the wrath of Haman, when he found that the only individual who refused to humble himself before him was Mordecai the Jew. His whole soul was fired with the insult, and nothing could give him pleasure until he had his revenge.

Now, it may be thought by some, that the case of Haman allowing himself to be so chafed and perturbed by a trifle, as to be made miserable in the midst of so many advantages, is to be regarded as altogether extreme and without parallel; but, as has been already said, we believe, that on examination, it will be found that the wicked always receive part of their punishment in the violence of some unhallowed passion which blinds them

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to all the real benefits of their lot. Is there not a gnawing disease in the heart of the covetous man, for example, which prevents him from enjoying the good things which are placed within his reach, just because he has not yet acquired all that he wishes to possess. And still, as he gets more and more, is he not as far as ever from being satisfied, since he has not yet reached the point at which he aims. Or again, look to the man who is the slave of envy, and mark how miserable this base passion makes him. He has ample means of enjoyment, which he can call his own; but his neighbour has something which pleases him better, and just because that one thing is awanting to himself, he can find no satisfaction in the varied blessings which a kind Providence has showered upon him. His neighbour's good is to him what Mordecai at the king's gate was to Haman. In like manner, I might advert to the working of the more violent passions of anger and revenge, as a cause of intense torment to those who cherish them, and as altogether preventing them from taking advantage of many sources of happiness which lie open to them on every side. I might also allude to the misery which wounded vanity and affronted pride often bring to those who have high notions of their own importance, as when a trifling word or action will discompose them for many days together, and deprive them of their relish for the things that formerly pleased them, and made them happy. But enough has been said to show how by a just retribution the ungodly, following their natural tendencies and passions, work out their own punishment. How differ

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ent is the picture presented to us, where grace reigns in the heart. Although corruption is not altogether eradicated from the spiritual man, yet its power is subdued; the fierce passions are tamed, love takes the place of envy, malignity, and wrath: and the believer, seeking and finding his chief enjoyment in God, remains comparatively unruffled by those incidents which breed so much vexation and disquietude in the breast of the ungodly. The Wise man says, that "he who is of a merry heart hath a continual feast ;" and emphatically it may be said, that the heart in which the Spirit of God dwells, is a peaceful sanctuary,―the seat of pure enjoyment.

I would now conclude the present lecture with one remark, viz.-that Christ's people must endeavour to exhibit the difference which grace effects between them and the unbelieving world, in the power which they have been enabled to gain over the violent impulses and passions of their nature. My friends, if we are as much at the mercy of anger, and envy, and covetousness, and pride, as those are who make no profession of religion, it is too manifest that we do not know Christ, and have not been baptized with His Spirit. The great work of the Spirit in sanctification, is to raise us to the likeness of Christ. Let it be our aim, therefore, to be fellowworkers with Him in this, that we may be known as the followers of Jesus, who was meek and lowly in heart, and who, amid all the world's opposition and cruel persecution, still possessed His soul in patience. Amen.

LECTURE VI

CHAPTER III. 6-11.

HE last lecture introduced to our notice Haman the

THE

Agagite, or Amalekite, from whose history the remaining part of the book derives much of its interest. Having by some means or other insinuated himself into the favour of King Artaxerxes, he was promoted by that prince to the highest honour in the kingdom, and by royal edict was declared worthy to receive such marks of reverence as were shown to the king himself. There was one man, however, who would not pay him homage, Mordecai the Jew. Even at the hazard of incurring the displeasure of the king, and being visited with capital punishment, he refused to prostrate himself before Haman, although in this matter he stood alone. At first the haughty favourite did not observe the disrespect which the Jew manifested toward him, being elated by the profound reverence which was paid him by so many others. But in a short time some of Mordecai's fellowservants, who were desirous to raise themselves in the favour of the great man, drew his attention to the contemptuous attitude which Mordecai maintained: and when Haman saw that this one individual took no notice of him, he was filled with wrath. The servile adulation

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of the multitude ceased to gratify his vanity and to give him pleasure: he could think of nothing but the studied insult which, from day to day, was put upon him by this man. This brings us to ver. 6: "Now he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai 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.” We can easily conceive how a haughty, vain, and wicked man, ignorant of the law of God, might have been stirred up to inflict the most direful vengeance upon the individual who publicly treated him with contempt. For very often more trifling insults are fearfully resented by those who have been better taught, and who have been brought up under the influence of better principles than Haman Few passions are more fierce than that which is excited by wounded pride or vanity. And while it is what may properly be called vindictive in its nature, yet it is not like violent anger, which bursts forth and flies at once upon its object. The malignant feeling engendered by the insult real or supposed which humbles pride and vanity, can postpone vengeance. It can brood over the wrong which has excited it, and can lay its dark plans deliberately, in order that the vengeance may be complete. It was thus that Haman was exercised under the intense desire he felt to have satisfaction for the contempt and scorn with which Mordecai treated him. A single word from his mouth could have been the deathwarrant of his adversary, but that would have been poor revenge. He must strike a heavier blow. Satan is

was.