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find, moreover, that a space of fifty-eight years is made to intervene between the sixth and seventh chapters of Ezra, and although Ezra calls himself the son of Seraiah, and correctness in genealogy was essential at that time, we are told that Ezra could not be the immediate son of Seraiah. The book of Esther contains very remarkable matters, and what is no less remarkable, none of the prophets acknowledge it. The Ahasuerus of Esther must be one of the nine kings who succeeded Xerxes. If Smerdis is mentioned, why

should Ahasuerus be omitted?

Is it worth while to take liberties with Revelation for the sake of bolstering up Herodotus? The heathens themselves acknowledged the controlling and inflexible power of the Fates; are Christians to try to invalidate those oracles which even the heathens reverenced? Yet how shall we make the fourth king of Persia the same

I quote from the notes to the Family Bible. The reader will excuse my not quoting from the original authors, as I have them not.

as Xerxes, if we are guided by Scripture?

The fourth king was to be far richer than the other kings. It is no easy matter to shew that Xerxes was far richer than

a

his predecessors. That the revenue of Xerxes was not equal to his expenditure is evident, and we read nothing about * loans, and national debt, and sinking fund. If, therefore, Xerxes really was able to stir up all against the realm of Grecia, his ways and means did not arise out of his own savings, but out of the savings of his father; and surely we are not to take for granted that the man who spends money is far richer than the man who heaps it up.

The supposition, therefore, that Xerxes and the fourth king are the same, is liable

a "It appears to have been the common practice of antiquity, to make provision, during peace, for the necessities of war, and to hoard up treasures before hand," &c. Hume on Public Credit. I make this quotation and reference, lest the modern practice of mortgaging the public revenues should be thought a part of the Persian polity.

to great objections. We will wave them all. Take for granted that Xerxes was this rich king. Take for granted that he invaded Greece. What follows? The ram pushed westward and northward and southward, so that no beast might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand, but he did according to his will and became great! Search the sacred books; see if in any part of them there is the slightest warrant for the defeat of Xerxes; but let us not halt between two opinions; let us not take our character of the Persians from Herodotus, and yet maintain that we believe the bible. One fact, though distorted by Grecian vanity, may be found in Grecian history. By the peace of Antalcidas, the Greek cities of Asia became tributary to the king of Persia, and in the intrigues and revolutions of the Greeks, the gold of Persia was often the chief agent. So far, therefore, we have evidence from the Greeks themselves, that a king of Persia

did, by his strength, through his riches stir up all the realm of Javan.

Who then are the four kings? Their names are given in sacred history. Cyrus, or the Xerxes of the Greeks, was succeeded by Ahasuerus; Ahasuerus by Artaxerxes; Artaxerxes by Darius ; and Darius by another Artaxerxes; and thus we find that Ezra made no mistake, when he called himself the son of Seraiah. But which of these kings is the Ahasuerus of Esther? No one. Josephus is thought a veracious writer, because he was not a Christian; and so far he was veracious, that he did not falsify for the mere sake of falsifying, but followed the sacred writings when Christianity did not interfere. Daniel, Obadiah, Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi ;--which of these prophets is to vouch for the fall of Haman, and the great deliverance of the Jews? Ezra, Nehemiah ;-which of these historians tells us any thing of Mordecai and Esther? As for the book itself, what resemblance has it

PART II.

F

to sacred history? Its author is not known, its chronology is so false, that the date, which Dean Prideaux and Bishop Tomline have fixed upon as the most probable, is the date which Eusebius and Jerome rejected".

"It has been remarked, that the name of God is not mentioned throughout the book." b It may be remarked, also, that neither prayer nor thanksgiving is mentioned throughout the book. Esther fasted. The holy Daniel fasted, but he prayed also. Daniel would not defile himself by eating forbidden food. Esther concealed her lineage, and of course did defile herself. Mordecai commanded her not to shew her kindred or nation. Mordecai, however, was known to be a Jew, and Esther had been brought up by him. During the

a See Chronicorum Liber Posterior. Jerome did not merely translate the Chronicon of Eusebius, so that when we follow the Latin version, we may be said to have the authority of both the writers. In the Greek we have but too often no other authority than Scaliger's.

b See Family Bible. Introduction to the book of Esther.

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