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QUEEN ESTHER;

OR,

WOMAN'S PATRIOTISM.

MRS. SARAH JOSEPHA HALE.

CHAPTER I. -THE TRIAL.

THERE was mourning in Shushan, as though the shadow of death had fallen on the proud city. A cry of lamentation was heard through all the streets, and the stately form of Mordecai the Jew, clothed in sackcloth and with ashes upon his head, stood before the gate of the palace.

Within that gorgeous abode these tidings of woe had been told, and Esther the beautiful queen, grieved to the heart, had sent to inquire the cause of the mourning: she had also sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away the sackcloth that he wore; but "he received it not."

Then she sent Hatach, the favourite chamberlain of the king whom he had appointed to wait on her,—and commanded him to learn from Mordecai what was the cause of this great affliction. And she had heard the appalling story. Haman, the Agagite, the crafty flatterer of the king, the cruel

persecutor of all who opposed his plans or refused homage to his power, had plotted to destroy every Jew who dwelt in the wide kingdom of Ahasuerus. All were delivered to the massacre; and in twelve months from that time the whole race, the young and the old, the women and the children, would all be exterminated.

And Mordecai had sent a solemn charge to Esther to go in to the king and make supplication, and to make request before him for her people.

The answer of Queen Esther was in the language of despondency—almost despair. She reminded Mordecai of a decree then in force, "that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king, into the inner court, who is not called, there is but 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:" and, she added sadly, "but I have not been called these thirty days.

Hatach was gone to deliver this message, and now came the trial—the bitter agony of grief and fear over the young, buoyant heart of Esther. What could she do to stay this awful catastrophe impending over her people? The law forbidding woman as well as man to approach the king without being called, joined with the fact that she had not been called for thirty days, while in that interim the destruction of the Jews had been planned, — all these circumstances were doubtless the result of the same wicked art. Haman had done all. He had doubtless learned that she belonged to this proscribed people, that she was a Jewess, though this had been kept secret from the king, and if she interfered, her life would be the forfeit.

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Then the king, her husband, he who had during the five

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years of their married life been her lover and friend, who had never allowed her to be absent from his side, and seemed to live only in her smiles and caresses, he had not asked to see her for thirty days! What could have wrought this change? Was he tired of his chosen, his wife? Was he intending to put her away as he had done her predecessor Vashti? She was repudiated for disobedience- and should Esther dare now to appear before him when she was not called, though he might not allow her life to be taken, yet she might be banished from his bosom and his throne for ever. Oh! she dared not go.

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But there came a change. Her people, her suffering, mourning people, rose before her. All these were condemned to perish. Should she think of her own peril while the life of her nation was in jeopardy? God could save by the weakest agents. He might have appointed this crisis for the trial of her faith and patriotism. She had been separated from her people and highly preferred in earthly honours, but what was all the glory she enjoyed as the wife of the great king to the glory of belonging to the chosen people of Jehovah? No, she would not falter in her duty. She was born a Jewess; she would trust in the God of Israel, and devote her life to the saving of her people.

She raised her eyes and her clasped hands towards heaven - an expression of ineffable serenity came over her angelic features, for the strength of holy trust in God had entered her soul, as the gorgeous hangings of blue and silver that curtained her private apartment were drawn aside, and Hatach, pale and trembling, bowed himself before her.

"What message has Mordecai returned? Fear not; tell me the whole bitter truth. I am prepared."

L

Her soft voice was firm in its utterance, and the faithful chamberlain felt he might speak truly; and he delivered, word for word, the message of Mordecai.*

As he ended, the queen arose from her divan. There was deep sadness on her sweet face, but no faltering in her tones as she bade Hatach bear back this answer to Mordecai: "Go, gather together all the Jews that are at 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 law and if I perish, I perish."

CHAPTER II. -THE PREPARATION.

THOSE three days of fasting, and mourning, and supplication for God's grace to crown the effort of Queen Esther - what a very inadequate preparation these would have seemed to an unbeliever in the God of Israel!

Mordecai had faith in God, and from this secret spring we may trace the development of his lofty character and the course of portentous events that resulted from his conduct. Let us leave the fair Esther to commune with her own heart, and devote a few moments to the contemplation of her nobleminded cousin; he who had been to her father, brother, friend and Mentor.

Mordecai was of the tribe of Benjamin, the great-grandson of one of the captives taken from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in his first conquest of Jerusalem. Mordecai was probably born and brought up in Babylon, yet he had faith in

* See the Book of Esther, chap. iv., verses 13 and 14.

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