especially as no mention is made of the crown in either of the next three verses;- "and let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honor, and bring him on horseback through the (principal) street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor." Haman's counsel, as usual, pleased the king; and since he himself was the most noble among the princes, he was the most suitable person to execute the commission. Then the king said to Haman, "Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mor

decai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken." Haman dared not object, or hesitate to obey. Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, "Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor." And Mordecai came again to the king's gate; his new honors did not lead him to despise or to neglect his ordinary duties; but Haman hasted to his house, mourning and having his head covered. He relates his sorrows to Zeresh his wife, and to his friends, and to the wise men whom he had perhaps called together to consult in this emergency.

His wise men answered him, "If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him."

We naturally ask, how came these wise men to return such an answer? It has been said, perhaps they wished to gain favor with Mordecai, whom they now saw to be rising; or perhaps they had observed remarkable interpositions in behalf of the Jews: but how do we know but that they and the wise men of whom Matthew tells us, perhaps their own countrymen, had learned to look through nature up to nature's God, and so might now be very appropriately under divine teaching.

And while Haman was thus engaged with his friends, the king's chamberlains came, and hastened to bring him to the banquet that Esther had prepared. So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again to Esther, on the second day, at the banquet of wine, "What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to half of the kingdom." Then Esther the queen answered and said: "If I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed,

to be slain, and to perish: but if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue; although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage." She does not mention the name of Haman, but with much simplicity states the case; and, instead of attempting to screen herself, as Mordecai once suggested, with courageous boldness she declares herself included in the edict. "We are sold," she says, "I and my people." Had the sentence been anything but death, even had they been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, she would have been silent, though the loss to the king would have been greater than the enemy could have repaired. Not daunted by his presence