ESTHER III. 4-5. In the time of the Persian king, who had bestowed the crown of Vashti upon a Jewish maiden, the chief powers of the state were swayed by a person named Haman, whose power, as is usual in the East, seems to have rested not more upon his official station, than upon the personal favour of the sovereign. This Haman was an Amalekite—one of that race whom, of all others, the Israelites considered their natural enemies, and whom in times of old they had striven to exterminate. In the East the man who enjoys the favour of aking, seldom lagks the most reverent homage from all who come near him. So, all the men who stood in the king's gate bowed their heads very low, as the prosperous Haman passed—all, save one, and that one was Mordecai, the Jew. His marked omission of the usual obeisance which others rendered, at length drew the notice, and awoke the resentment, of the haughty favourite. On inquiry, he soon learned that the man was a Jew; and that fact must have made him sufficiently aware of the feelings by which his conduct was dictated. Believing these feelings to be such as were shared by all the Jewish people, and remembering how often they had sworn of old to blot out the name of Amaiek from under heaven, Haman scorned to satisfy his vengeance by a single victim, but resolved to stretch to the utmost the great power with which he was entrusted, to crush the hated nation to the ground. It was, however, necessary that the consent of the king should be obtained; and this he knew his master too well, to despair of securing.

One evening, when the king and he were at their wine, the wily favourite ventured to broach the subject. Without directly naming them, he drew an exceedingly unfavourable picture of the Jews, describing them as a people whose customs and religion were different from, and adverse to, all others, and whose character was in all respects so hateful, that the state would be advantaged by their extermination, except to the extent of the capitation tax which they paid, and which he himself undertook to make good to the royal treasury out of his own fortune. This astonishing proposal ought to have satisfied the king that there was a deeper personal feeling in the matter than his minister had chosen to avow. But, confused by wine, impatient at having state-business thrust upon his hours of leisure, and accustomed to rely upon the judgment of another, the king readily assented to all that Haman suggested; and, resolving to be troubled no more with the business, he presented the favourite with his signet-ring, thereby authorizing him to issue what orders he pleased in the matter, and to enforce obedience by all the powers of the state. The blood-thirsty Amalekite was not slow to give vent, under the powers thus bestowed, to the fierce hatred against the Israelites which burned within him. He dispatched swift messengers to all the provinces of the empire in which any Jews existed, with a royal ordinance, enjoining the governors to destroy on a given day all the Jews within their jurisdiction, and to give their goods for a spoil to the destroyer. Here was a danger great and imminent—such as had never before threatened the people of God: but He, who had foreknown this danger, had also provided the instrument by whom this danger should be turned aside. This was Esther.

Mordecai found means to acquaint her with these circumstances, and to urge upon her the duty of exerting herself to save her people. Her woman's heart trembled at the task, and she directed the chief of her eunuchs, through whom she communicated with him, to make known to him that it was death for any one—even for her—to intrude unbidden on the presence of the king, and that thirty days had now passed since she had been last called before him. But Mordecai insisted that it was her plain duty to risk this or any other danger for the deliverance of her people; and gathering strength from his powerful words, she resolved to undertake this perilous task. Three days she devoted to prayer and fasting; and, at her request, the Jews of the metropolis gave themselves up in like manner, during these days, to earnest supplication. Upon the third day Esther arrayed herself with care, in the rich robes becoming her high estate, and then, attended by her maidens, passed out of the harem, into the court of that quarter of the palace which formed the proper residence of the king. He was seated on a throne in the hall of audience fronting the court, attended by the officers of state. It was a critical moment, big with the fate of Esther, and of the great cause which seemed to rest upon her intercession. There was no calculating upon the humour of a capricious despot. He might be displeased at her unauthorized intrusion, and do nothing to relieve her from the dread penalties which the act itself incurred. If he held forth to her the golden sceptre in his hand, she was safe: but it must be his spontaneous act, for until he did so, she could not speak—could only make her appearance in the court, as one who sought audience and favour from him. Even the hearts of kings, as the Scripture teaches, are in the hands of the Lord, and he can turn them wheresoever he will, and this influence was not wanting on this important occasion. The king's heart was touched, and he hastened to relieve her fears, by holding forth to her the golden sceptre of his mercy; on which, as custom required, she advanced, and, with the high emotion of one who had been delivered from mortal danger, reverently touched the top of the sceptre. The king knew that only some great request could have driven her to such a step; and he said—"What wilt thou Queen Esther, and what is thy request? for it shall be given thee, even to the half of the kingdom." But the circumstances were not suitable to the disclosure of her errand, and etiquette did not allow a request of importance to be thus abruptly produced. She therefore said, "If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared." The king said that he would come, and sent to order Haman to attend also.