and a gallows of immense height was reared, upon which he determined that his enemy should be suspended on the morrow. But God disappointed him, and rendered him a monument at once of wonderful providence, and retributive justice.

Detail the circumstances involved in the deliverance of the Jews, and the disappointment of Haman.

On the following night Ahasuerus could not sleep; to relieve the tedious hours of vigilance, the chronicles of the kingdom were read, and it was found inscribed, that by the detection of a conspiracy formed against the king, the despised and insulted Mordecai had been the saviour of his life, and had been only requited with base ingratitude and neglect. The morning dawned; Haman arrived in the court of the palace; he was called into the royal presence-"What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?" was the question which was instantly proposed to him. Haman, fondly imagining that he alone could be the person to whom the inquiry referred, immediately replied, that in the robes, and with all the gorgeous appendages of the sovereign himself, he should be conducted through the city, by one of the noblest princes of the court, who continually should proclaim, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour." Bitter must have been the mortification, dreadful the rage, and dismal the forebodings of Haman, when he received the command, himself to proceed and to perform every tittle of all that he had spoken to Mordecai. It was done; and Haman returned to his house in anger and despair. But the banquet of Esther was prepared, and he was again summoned to the palace. The king again inquired what was her petition and request-her life and the life of her people was the reply then her race and her danger were discovered; and the miserable Haman was found, though unconsciously perhaps, to have plotted against the existence and the family of the beloved consort of Ahasuerus. The culprit, in the agony of his despair, cast himself upon the bed of the queen; this unpardonable gesture inflamed to madness the rage of the infuriated king-the most important consequences immediately followed. Haman was suspended on the

gallows which himself had reared-Mordecai was elevated to his place the murderous edict against the Jews was hastily obviated-full permission was given to them in every place to defend their persons, and to avenge themselves upon their enemies in the city of Susa eight hundred, and in the provinces seventy-five thousand of those enemies were slain-the ten sons of Haman were hanged-and thus this tremendous tempest burst in destruction on the heads of those who had plotted the slaughter and ruin of the peculiar people of God.

In what manner is this wonderful deliverance commemorated by the Jews?

This remarkable deliverance is commemorated to this day by the Jews in the feast of Purim, i. e. " the lots;" so called with reference to the lots which were cast by Haman to discover the day on which his intended massacre of the Jews was to have been accomplished. On this festive occasion, alms are given to the poor; the synagogues are crowded with the grateful people; when the evening has come, and the stars begin to appear, the book of Esther is read; five places in the text are repeated by the reader in his loudest tone of voice to excite the gratitude of the multitude ; whenever the name of Haman is mentioned, the benches are violently struck, and loud cries are uttered by the congregation; and indulgencies are on this occasion permitted, which at other times are prohibited to the votaries of the law.

SECTION III.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF EZRA AND

NEHEMIAH.

WHO were the principal agents in establishing the civil and religious government of the Jews?

Two celebrated men, Ezra and Nehemiah, during the reign of Artaxerxes, arrived in Jerusalem from

Persia, who were the principal agents in establishing, upon a firm and consistent basis, the internal polity and government of the Jews.

How was the influence of Ezra exerted for the benefit of the Jews?

This learned, zealous, and accomplished man, descended from a distinguished sacerdotal family, received a plenary commission from Artaxerxes to receive the contributions of the oriental Jews, to proceed to Jerusalem with the support of all the gover

A. C. 467.

nors of the provinces through which he might pass, and to make those rules and reformations both in civil and ecclesiastical affairs, which might appear to be demanded, either by the abuses which had already prevailed, or by the errors which had been embraced in the infant state. Attended by a great number of priests and ministers of the temple and others, he safely arrived at Jerusalem, and immediately commenced his important employment. He soon discovered that many of the priests, of the magistrates, and of the common people, had contaminated themselves by forming marriages with the idolatrous inhabitants of the land—a sin which had been formally denounced by God himself, and which whenever it had been committed, had been followed with the severest and most signal punishment. Ezra prevailed upon the principal offenders to engage by oath, to renew their covenant with the Lord, to dismiss their strange wives and their children, and in a great assembly of the people, he addressed them upon the same important purpose, and with the same beneficial effect.

What great performance did Ezra accomplish relative to the Sacred Scriptures?

Convinced that the rites and discipline of the Jewish church could never be conformed to their ancient model, nor preserved in their requisite purity, unless the sacred books were collected, arranged, and revised, this great man attempted and accomplished the arduous task; he placed them as they now stand in the sacred canon; it is probable that he added such supplemental clauses to the acknowledged text, (as in the concluding verses of Deuteronomy) as were neces

sary to illustrate or confirm it. He wrote out the whole in the Chaldee or common character of the times; and being himself inspired from heaven, he was at once completely qualified to revise the revelation of God, and preserved from the possibility of error in any of his explanations, or additions.

How did Ezra enforce the observance of the law?

He restored the worship of the temple to the form which had prevailed prior to the captivity; he enforced the observance of the Sabbath and the Sabbatic Year, and the proportion of property which was to be contributed for the support of the temple, and those who ministered in the sacrifices which were offered within its walls; and his labours, his usefulness, and his personal character well deserved the high estimation of the Jews, who say, that if the law had not been given by Moses, Ezra would have well deserved to have been their legislator.

Who possessed the principal authority at this time in Jerusalem?

While Ezra was thus employed in reforming the ritual, arranging the sacred books, presenting them to the people in their vernacular language which they had acquired during the captivity, the principal authority at Jerusalem was possessed by NEHEMIAH. Though born in Babylon and occupying the confidential and familiar, if not elevated, station of cup-bearer to the great Persian monarch, he had cherished the most affectionate solicitude for his brethren in Judæa; and when he was informed that Jerusalem was still defenceless, that its walls were overturned, and that its gates had been consumed, he sought and obtained permission from his sovereign, to repair the bulwarks of the city, and to capacitate it to bid defiance to the malignant enmity of its foes. In spite of open hostility and more dangerous treachery, and although from the demonstrations of opposition by the Samaritans and other neighbouring nations, the people were compelled to labour with their arms in their hands, Nehemiah, in fifty-two days completed the fortifiA. C. 454. cations of Jerusalem. They were dedicated with the magnificence and solemnity which the work

required; a splendid procession circumambulated the city; the strains of vocal and instrumental music ascended; the temple was filled with the smoke from the altars, and resounded with the acclamations of the people; the feast of tabernacles, which occurred and which was celebrated at the same time, increased the general impression of the scene; proper laws were enacted that Jerusalem might contain a population adequate for all the purposes of defence; and the city so rapidly increased in importance and in splendour, that the father of Grecian history, who visited it himself and gave it the name of Cadytis, soon after this period, compared it to Sardis, the metropolis of Asia Minor.

What remarkable events took place at this period which demand particular attention?

Two events are to be recorded of the age of Ezra and Nehemiah_both of memorable importance in the history of the Jews-the institution of Synagogue worship, and the final separation of the Samaritans and the Jews.

Give an account of the origin and increase of synagogues.

If the proverb of the Jews quoted by the learned and accurate Prideaux (Connex. p. 1. b. 6.) be correct, "Where there is no book of the law, there could be no synagogue," it is evident, from the general surprise which prevailed when Hilkiah the scribe found a copy of the law in the temple, in the reign of Josiah, which argued that there were no such copies to be found among the people, that synagogues could scarcely have existed, or at any rate in very small numbers, prior to the captivity. But after the restoration, and the rebuilding of the city and temple of Jerusalem, and after the public reading of the law by Ezra, the most learned of the Levites and other scribes were accustomed to follow the example of that great and good man in the places of public resort. Buildings would soon be erected for the shelter of the auditors from the burning beams of the sun, and from the tempests of inclement seasons of the year. Thus would originate synagogues; and then worship would soon be reduced