lation from all beneath him. So that whoever happened to be in his way as he passed and repassed to and from the royal presence, paid him the most profound reverence. Mordecai alone stood excepted. Ceremonies of this nature being contrary to the practice of his nation, he refused to pay Haman that submission which others did. The favourite's offended pride took fire at this neglect, and he determined to avenge himself, not only of Mordecai, but to extend his vengeance to all the captive Jews; a people peculiarly disgustful to the Amalekites, that nation having formerly been subdued, and nearly exterminated by the children of Israel.

In order to effect this purpose, he endeavoured to prejudice the king against them, by insinuating, as opportunity offered, that they were unsociable and singular in their manners, given up to superstitious customs and ceremonies, and, being distributed throughout every part of his dominions, were dangerous to the government. These representations had such an effect upon the mind of Ahasuerus, that he issued a decree, commanding the governors of the different provinces, upon a certain day, to put all the Jews therein to the sword, without excepting age

or sex.

As soon as Mordecai was informed of the tenor of this proclamation, he rent his garments, as the manner of the Jews on any calamity was, and, covering himself with sackcloth, strew→ ed ashes on his head. In this condition he sat himself down without the gates of the palace; no person being permitted to enter them in a garb so uncourtly.

Such an incident could not fail to reach the ears of Esther, who, notwithstanding her elevation, still entertained the highest respect and affection for her uncle. She accordingly sent to know the reason of his sudden dejection. Mordecai soon made known the cause of it, by sending her a copy of the ediet for extirpating the Jews, with a request that she would exert herself to the utmost in the behalf of her country folks.

These tidings were received by Esther with the most poignant concern, but the king's prohibition preventing her from making an application to him till he should think proper to send for her, she informed Mordecai of her inability to comply with his request, however interested her heart was in the cause.

To this her uncle returned for answer, that as the very being of all her relatives, and of the whole Jewish race, depended on her immediate exertions, he begged she would not put her own personal safety in competition with their welfare; but, instantly present herself before the king, and implore his clemency; trusting to the power she had acquired over him for obtaining his forgiveness.

This injunction had its due weight with Esther; and, in return, she intreated her uncle to enjoin a public fast of three

days among the Jews resident in Susa and its vicinity, in order to procure the blessing of God on her attempt in favour of her devoted countrymen. As soon as she received advice that this general fast had commenced, she clothed herself in mourning weeds, abstained from meat, drink, and every sensual satisfaction; and, prostrating herself towards Jerusalem, after the custom of her country, she spent the three days in fervent and pious importunity to heaven.

The appointed time of humiliation being expired, she threw aside the dress, which had been emblematical of her sorrow, and, putting on her most sumptuous and becoming apparel, she presented herself before the king, attended by two handmaids, one of whom she gently leaned on, and the other bearing up her train.

A blush, that added lustre to her charms, spread itself over her lovely countenance, as, with downcast eyes, she approached the royal presence, but she no sooner beheld the grandeur with which the king was surrounded, mounted on a superb throne, and arrayed in habiliments sparkling with gold and precious stones, than she was seized with a universal trepidation; her faculties were overpowed, and she fell senseless into the arms of her attendants.

Ahasuerus, alarmed for a life so dear to him, instantly stretched forth his sceptre, the token of forgiveness; and, with the utmost condescension and tenderness, endeavoured to dissipate her fears. His endeavours were not ineffectual. Esther, by degrees recovered, and in a faint and languishing tone of voice, apologized for her abrupt entrance into his royal presence contrary to his prohibition. This she did in so graceful and tender a manner, that the king, finding all the sympathetic tenderness which glowed in his bosom instantly aroused, assured her not only of his forgiveness, but gave her his promise that he would grant the request she was about to make, though it amounted to one half of his dominions.

Encouraged by these assurances, Esther informed his majesty, that the reason why she had thus intruded upon him was, to entreat that he would partake of a little repast she had provided for him, and permit Haman to attend him. The king readily accepted the invitation, and Esther departed with a dignity adorned by a graceful humility, that fully established her empire over the heart of the Assyrian monarch.

At the banquet, Ahasuerus appeared to be highly pleased with the reception he met with; and when the circulating goblet had exhilarated his spirits, he repeated his assurance of granting his lovely entertainer her request, whatever it might be, "My only request at present is," replied Esther, "that if I have found favour in your majesty's sight, and the banquet of

to-day has proved acceptable, you will deign to honour me with your company again to-morrow, attended also by Haman, when I will make known to my royal master the wish of my heart."

As Haman returned to his house, elated with the distinguished honour of being the only partaker with the king, of Esther's treat, he happened to pass Mordecai, who was sitting, according to his custom, at the gate of the palace. Finding that the Jew still continued to refuse him that homage which others paid him, he felt his choler rise; and, casting a scornful glance at him, longed to wreak his vengeance on him, without waiting for the effect of the royal edict.

When he got home, he related to Zeresh his wife, and some of his particular friends, the transactions of the day. He dwelt with pleasure on the honour he had enjoyed in accompanying the king to the banquet, and exulted afresh on the unbounded confidence his royal master reposed in him. "And yet," cried Haman, "What avails all this? What avail my riches, my numerous offspring, and the favour of Ahasuerus, if a reptile can rob me of my peace? To-morrow I am to enjoy the same high honour; I, and I alone, am to attend my royal master to the queen's banquet; and yet, what will it profit me, while a captive Jew, whom I constantly encounter at the gate of the palace, refuses me that homage my elevated station demands?" "Grieve not thyself thus," returned Zeresh, "is it not in thy power to remove this ill-mannered Israelite whenever thou pleasest?" Having said this, she advised him to have a gallows erected in the court of his house, whereon to hang Mordecai; not doubting, but from the confidence Haman seemed to enjoy with the king, that he would be able readily to obtain a mandate for that purpose. "And, to make thy triumph the more conspicuous," exclaimed Zeresh, "let the gallows be at least fifty cubits high."

An unseen hand was, however, at this time employed in counteracting these purposes; for, that very night, the king being restless, and not inclined to sleep, he commanded his secretary to bring him the records of the state, both ancient and modern, and to read them to him, in order that, by way of instruction as well as amusement, he might compare the occurrences of his reign with some of the former.

The secretary accordingly read several instances where worthy actions had been liberally rewarded by some of his ancestors, and at length coming to the record which had been made some years before relative to the conspiracy of Bigthan and Teresh, with the discovery of their treason by Mordecai, "Well!" cried Ahasuerus," and what reward has Mordecai received for this singular piece of service?" "No mention is made in the relation of any reward," replied the secretary. Upon which, the king bid him stop there, and see if any of the

officers of the court were in waiting at the gate of the palace; and on being told that Haman was there, he ordered him to be called in.

The favourite had rested during the night no better than his royal master. The disrespectful behaviour of Mordecai having embittered every thought, and robbed him of rest, he had risen thus early, in order to obtain permission from the king to revenge himself upon the haughty Jew.

But, how uncertain are the events of the coming hour! How often are our surest and best concerted plans circumvented! No sooner had Haman entered the apartment of Ahasuerus, than he was thus addressed by him; "What mark of honour would you advise me, Haman, to bestow upon the person I am under the greatest of all obligations to, and which I would wish to confer with a munificence becoming my situation, and a due sense of the favour?"

Haman supposing that this recompence could only be intended for himself, as no one stood so high in the king's favour, replied without hesitation, "Let the man whom the king deigns to honour, be clothed in your majesty's royal robes; let the crown you wear be placed on his head, and let him be mounted on your horse of state. Thus mounted and adorned, let one of the principal officers of your household lead the horse by the bridle through the streets of the city, exclaiming as he goes, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.""

"Be thou then, Haman," returned the king, "as the person in whom I repose the greatest confidence, the dispenser of the reward thou hast thyself adjudged. Go take the horse, the apparel, and the crown, and having found one Mordecai, a Jew, fulfil thy counsel, which I much approve of in every point; for to that man am I indebted for my life, and I am sorry to say the obligation to this hour remains unrepaid."

A thunderbolt could not have rendered Haman more torpid. There was, however, no refusing to execute the decree which he had unwittingly dictated. To his great mortification he found himseif compelled to honour the very man whom of all others he most hated. With perturbations not to be described, he laid hold of the bridle; and having executed the unsavoury task, returned, overwhelmed with fatigue and chagrin, to the palace gates. To an observant eye, similar instances of such an unexpected exaltation of the humble, and humiliation of the proud, are frequently discernible.

As soon as the disgustful ceremony was at an end, Haman retired to his house to give vent to his vexation and disappointment. He there met with but little consolation; for, upon his relating the incidents of the day to his wife and friends, impelled by an internal impulse not to be accounted for, the former prognosticated his downfall. "This unexpected triumph of the

Jew over thee," said Zeresh, "is too sure a presage that his fate will outweigh thine. The God of the Israelites is a powerful God. In many instances, according to their account, has he protected them, and will, I fear, do so now."

While Haman and his friends were discoursing in this manner, a messenger arrived from the queen, to hasten him to the banquet which she had prepared for the king and him. At this feast, Ahasuerus, in the heat of wine, said again to Esther, as he had done the day before, "What would you ask or desire of me?" The queen replied, "If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, let my life, and that of my people's be given me at my petition, for we are all sold to be destroyed, and utterly extirpated." The king answered, " And who is he that dare undertake what you mention?" Esther said, "This Haman, whom you see, is our mortal enemy." Haman hearing this, was quite confounded. At the same time the king rose up in great anger, left the banqueting room, and went into the garden adjacent. Haman threw himself at the feet of the queen, who was lying on a bed or sofa, on which, after the manner of the Persians, she had reclined to eat. At that instant, Ahasuerus returned, and seeing Haman on the queen's bed, he said, “Will he also force the queen before me in my own house!" Immediately the attendants covered the face of Haman, whom they considered as condemned to die. One of the king's pages observed, that Haman erected for Mordecai a gallows fifty cubits high. Ahasuerus said, " Hang Haman upon the gallows;" and he was hanged accordingly. Esth. iii.-vii.

After this the king gave Haman's employment to Mordecai, and his forfeited estate to Esther. He revoked the edict which had appointed the massacre of the Jews. Esth. viii. 1, 2, &e. HAMAN, the son of Hammedatha, an Amalekite, of the race of Agag. King Ahasuerus having received Haman into favour, promoted him above all the court, who bent the knee to him, or probably prostrated themselves wholly before him as a deity, when he entered the palace. This, Mordecai the Jew declined; for which slight, Haman plotted the extirpation of the whole Jewish nation, which was providentially prevented. Haman was hanged upon a gibbet fifty cubits high, which he had prepared for Mordecai. His house was given to queen Esther, and his employments to Mordecai. His ten sons were also executed.

MORDECAI, the son of Jair, a celebrated Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, uncle and guardian of Esther, queen of Persia, his saving King Ahasuerus's life, the enmity of Haman against him, the downfal and destruction of that proud minister, and the promotion of Mordecai to his office, with the other interesting circumstances, which contributed to save the Jewish nation from extirpation, are recorded in the book of Esther. See also Ahasuerus, Esther, and Haman.