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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18316-h.zip b/18316-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..da9691d --- /dev/null +++ b/18316-h.zip diff --git a/18316-h/18316-h.htm b/18316-h/18316-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..115833e --- /dev/null +++ b/18316-h/18316-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6947 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Notable Women of Olden Time. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + a {text-decoration: none;} + a[name] { position:absolute; } /* Fix Opera bug */ + + img {margin:0; padding:0; display:block; border: none;} + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + font-style: normal; + text-align: right; + color: gray; + background-color: inherit; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .right {text-align: right;} + .left {text-align: left;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps; font-style: normal;} + .lowercase { text-transform:lowercase; } + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .illusCap {float: left; + clear: left; + margin: 0em 0.75em 0em 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center;} + span.cap {display:none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Notable Women of Olden Time, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Notable Women of Olden Time + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: May 5, 2006 [EBook #18316] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTABLE WOMEN OF OLDEN TIME *** + + + + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, Sigal Alon and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 436px;"> +<img src="images/image01.png" width="436" height="568" alt="Frontispiece" title="" /> +</div> + + + + +<h1>NOTABLE WOMEN</h1> + +<h5>OF</h5> + +<h1>OLDEN TIME.</h1> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h3>WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h4>PHILADELPHIA: <br /> +AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, <br /> +1122 CHESTNUT STREET. +</h4> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p class="center"> +<i>Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1852, by the<br /> +AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION,<br /> +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.</i><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><i>No books are published by the <span class="smcap">American Sunday-school Union</span> +without the sanction of the Committee of Publication, consisting of fourteen +members, from the following denominations of Christians, viz. Baptist, +Methodist, Congregationalist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and +Reformed Dutch. Not more than three of the members can be of the same +denomination, and no book can be published to which any member of the +Committee shall object.</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> + +<tr><td class="left"> </td><td>PAGES</td></tr> +<tr><td class="left"><a href="#THE_WIFE_SARAH"><span class="smcap">The Wife—(Sarah)</span></a></td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left"><a href="#HAGAR_THE_WIFE_UNLOVED"><span class="smcap">The Wife Unloved—(Hagar)</span></a></td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left"><a href="#THE_PARTIAL_AND_INTRIGUING"><span class="smcap">The Partial and Intriguing Mother—(Rebekah)</span></a></td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left"><a href="#THE_RIVAL_SISTERS_LEAH"><span class="smcap">The Rival Sisters—(Leah and Rachel)</span></a></td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left"><a href="#MIRIAM"><span class="smcap">The Affectionate Sister—(Miriam)</span></a></td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left"><a href="#DEBORAH_THE_INFLUENCE_OF"><span class="smcap">The Prophetess—(Deborah)</span></a></td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left"><a href="#JEZEBEL"><span class="smcap">The Artful Woman—(Jezebel)</span></a></td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left"><a href="#ATHALIAH"><span class="smcap">The Ambitious Woman—(Athaliah)</span></a></td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left"><a href="#ESTHER"><span class="smcap">The Orphan Queen—(Esther)</span></a></td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_231">231</a></td></tr> + +</table></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_WIFE_SARAH" id="THE_WIFE_SARAH"></a>THE WIFE—SARAH.</h2> + + +<div class="illusCap" style="width: 182px;"> +<img src="images/chap1.gif" width="182" height="195" alt="Decorated W" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="cap">W</span>ithin a few centuries +after the flood, +while some who had +witnessed the sin and +the destruction of the +antediluvian world +were still living, Jehovah +saw fit, in accordance with his designs +of eternal wisdom, to separate Abraham +from his brethren, calling upon him to +leave the land of his birth and go out into a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>strange land, to dwell in a far country. He +was to pass the rest of his days as a sojourner +in a land which should be thereafter given to a +people yet unborn,—to a nation which was to +descend from him.</p> + +<p>Abraham was a lineal descendant of Shem, +who was doubtless still living while "the father +of Abraham yet abode with his kindred in +the land of the Chaldees;" and from the lips +of his venerable progenitor, Abraham himself +may have first received the knowledge of the +true God, and have learned lessons of wisdom +and obedience, as he sat at his feet. Shem +may have conversed with Methuselah; and +Methuselah must have known Adam; and +from Adam, Methuselah may have heard that +history of the creation and fall, which he narrated +to Shem, and which Shem may have transmitted +to Abraham; and the history of the world +would be thus remembered as the traditional<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +recollections of a family, and repeated as the +familiar remembrances of a single household.</p> + +<p>Tales of the loveliness of Eden,—of the glories +of the creation,—of the blessedness of the +primeval state,—of the days before the fall; remembrances +of the "mother of all living" in +the days of her holiness, when she was as beautiful +as the world created for her home, in all the +dewy sweetness of the morning of its existence,—of +the wisdom of man before he yielded to the +voice of temptation, when authority was enthroned +upon his brow, and all the tribes of +the lower creation did him homage;—of the +good spirits who watched over to minister unto +and bless them;—of those dark, unholy and accursed +ones, who came to tempt, betray and destroy +them,—were recounted as events of which +those who described them had been the witnesses. +And from the remembrances thus +preserved and transmitted by tradition, each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +generation obscuring or exaggerating them, +have descended what we call fables of antiquity,—great +facts, now dimly remembered and darkly +presented, as shadowed over by the mists of +long ages.</p> + +<p>How must the hearts of the descendants +of Shem have thrilled as they heard from him +the history of by-gone times—of a world which +had passed away! How much had the great +patriarch of his race, himself, beheld? He +had seen the glory and the beauty of the world +before the flood. It was cursed for the sin +of man, in the day of his fall—but slowly, as +we measure time, do the woes denounced by +God often take effect, and, though excluded from +Eden, the first pair may have seen little change +pass over the face of the earth. The consummation +of this curse may have been the deluge; +and those who dwelt on the earth, before this +calamity swept it with its destroying wing, may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +have seen it in much of its original beauty; +while those who outlived that event witnessed +a wonderful change.</p> + +<p>From that frail fabric, the ark, which proved +the second cradle of the race, Shem had beheld +a world submerged,—a race swept off by +the floods of Almighty wrath. He had heard +the shrieks of the drowning, the vain prayer +of those who had scoffed the threatened vengeance, +the fruitless appeal of those who had +long rejected mercy. As the waves bore up +his frail vessel, he had seen the black and +sullen waters settle over temples, cities and +palaces; and he had gazed until he could behold +but one dark expanse of water, in whose turbid +depths were buried all the families of the +earth—save one.</p> + +<p>Those he had loved and honoured, and much +which, perhaps, he had envied and coveted—the +pride, the glory, the beauty of earth—all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +had passed away. And after the waters subsided, +and the ark had found a resting-place, +what a deep and sad solemnity must have +mingled with the joy for their preservation.</p> + +<p>How strange the aspect the world presented! +How must the survivors have recalled +past scenes and faces, to be seen no more! +How much they must have longed to recognise +old familiar places,—the Eden of Adam +and Eve,—the graves in which they had been +laid! For doubtless Seth and his descendants +still remained with their first parents, while Cain +went out from their presence and built a city +in some place remote. The earth which Noah +and his descendants repeopled was one vast +grave; and what wonder that those who built +above a race entombed, should mingle fancy +with tradition, and imagine that the buried +cities and habitations were yet inhabited by the +accursed and unholy. Such have been the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +fancies of those who darkly remembered the +flood; and as the wind swept through the caverns +of the earth, the superstitious might still +imagine that they heard the voices or the +shrieks of the spirits imprisoned within.</p> + +<p>Shem seems to have far exceeded his brothers +in true piety, and the knowledge of Jehovah +was for many generations preserved among +his descendants, while few or none of them ever +sank into those deep superstitions which debased +the children of Ham. And it is beautiful +to remark, that the filial piety which so pre-eminently +marked him has ever been a prominent +trait among all nations descended from +him. Thus receiving his impressions of the +power, the truth, the awful justice of Jehovah, +from one well fitted to convey them,—and taught +the certain fulfilment of promises and of threats,—Abraham +was early inspired with that deep +reverential and yet filial love, that entire con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>fidence, +which led to the trusting obedience +which distinguished his character.</p> + +<p>Yet, from his very piety, sad must it have +been when the command came to leave the plains +of Mesopotamia, and go out a stranger and a +pilgrim into distant lands, to become a dweller +among those who were fast apostatizing from +the true faith. "But by faith he obeyed," and +by his obedience he has given us an example and +illustration of faith, which has been held forth +through all succeeding ages. To be the child +of Abraham, to walk as he walked, is, after +the lapse of thousands of years, the characteristic +of the true worshipper of God.</p> + +<p>Guided by an Omniscient hand, trusting in +an Almighty power, cheered by that mysterious +promise, which, as a star of hope shining in the +hour of deepest darkness, still rose to higher +brightness as it guided the long line of patriarchs, +kings, and prophets, until it settled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +over the manger of Bethlehem, and was lost +in the full glory of the Sun of righteousness,—Abraham +girded his loins and prepared for a +departure to far distant lands.</p> + +<p>At first, attended by his father and brother, +he sojourned with them in Haran; and the family +pitched their tents in that spot which was +to become in future ages the battle-ground +of nations, when the proud eagle of imperial +Rome was trailed in the dust, and her warriors +and her nobles fell before their fiercer foes. +Long ages have intervened since the tents of +this Syrian family were pitched by the side of +the waters of Charan; and midway between +their days and ours, were these waters discoloured +with the blood of those who fell in the +battle of Charae, so disastrous to Rome, ever +haughty, and then exulting in the height of her +prosperity. A few wandering shepherds now +lead their flocks in the plain in which Sarah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +and Abraham dwelt, and where Cassius and his +legions fell. But a short sojourn was permitted +Abraham here. "Arise and depart, for +this is not your rest"—and again he listened to +the command from above, and gathered his +flocks and servants, and girded his loins, and +set his face towards the land promised to him, +and to his seed after him. And now he left +his father and his brethren, and went with his +own family, the head of his house, the future +patriarch of his race.</p> + +<p>Yet he was not alone. The wife of his +youth was by his side. In all his wanderings, +in all his cares, there was one with him to +participate in his joys and to alleviate his +sorrows. With him and for him, his wife +forsook home, kindred and country. We doubt +not that she too shared the faith of Abraham; +that she too trusted and loved and worshipped +the God of Abraham, and of Shem,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +and of Noah. Like Abraham, a descendant of +Shem,—like him too, she had been trained in +the worship of Jehovah. Yet to the faith of +the true believer, there was added the strong +affection of the wife; and while Abraham went +out obeying God, Sarah followed, trusting God +indeed, but leaning still upon her husband. In +all her future life, she is presented to us the +wife; devoted, affectionate, submissive; loving +her husband with a true affection, and honouring +him by a due deference.</p> + +<p>With a beauty that fascinated kings, preserving +the charms of youth to the advanced period +of her life, she still lived but for her husband; +and when even the faith of Abraham failed, and +he withdrew from the wife the protection of the +husband, and said, "She is my sister," Sarah appears +to have acquiesced in a deceit so unworthy +of her husband and of herself, merely to insure +his safety among the lawless tribes around them.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> + +<p>As we read the story of Abraham's wife, we +catch glimpses of ages and nations that were +hoar with antiquity, and had passed away when +our ancient historians began the record of the +past. Nation after nation had perished and +been forgotten before the profane historian began +his annals. Yet childless, still trusting +in the promise of Jehovah, Abraham wandered +for many years through the land which was to +be given to him, and his seed after him. Now +pitching his tent in Moreh; then building his +altar at Bethel; then driven by famine into +Egypt; then returning to his altar at Bethel,—and +there separating from his nephew Lot, because +"the land could not bear" both, he fixes his +abode in Hebron.</p> + +<p>No pictures of pastoral life are more beautiful +than those presented in Genesis; and while +we contemplate the character of Abraham, we +catch occasional glimpses of his household,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +and of the manners of his age. We see him +exercising forbearance and relinquishing the +rights of a superior, that there might be no +strife between him and his too worldly relative. +We see him leading out his own band +as a prince, to rescue that same relative,—who, +tempted by the promise of large wealth, +had chosen a location full of dangers,—and, in +the hour of victory, refusing all spoil and showing +all honour to the priest of the most high God.</p> + +<p>Again he is before us, sitting in his tent +in the heat of the day, and hastening to receive +strangers,—"thus entertaining angels unawares,"—and +then interceding for that city +doomed to destruction for the wickedness of the +dwellers therein.</p> + +<p>And again he appears as the prince, the +patriarch, the head of his own family, and +high in honour with those around him, ever +observing all the decorum and proprieties of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +oriental life. We see him, too, as one who +walked with God; as the priest of his household, +presenting the morning and the evening +sacrifice; as holding high communion with God +in the hours of darkness; entering into that +covenant which is still pleaded by those who +claim the promise, "I will be a God to thee, +and to thy seed after thee."</p> + +<p>This promise of a seed, from which was to +spring a great nation, "like to the stars of +heaven in number," was frequently repeated, +yet still deferred. Youth, manhood, middle +age, all had passed, and still no child blest the +tents of Sarah; and while Abraham still believed, +and it "was accounted to him for righteousness," +Sarah seems to have felt that not +upon her was to be conferred the distinction of +becoming the mother of the promised seed. +With the warm impulse of the woman, she sacrificed +the feelings of the wife and the instincts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +of the heart, to promote what she doubtless +believed to be the plan of God and the happiness +of Abraham. There is a deficiency of +faith as much to be manifested in the forestalling +the plans of Providence as in the denial +of the promises of God: and while Abraham +still trusted and waited the fulfilment of the +promise, Sarah sought, by her own device, to +accomplish prophecy and insure the blessing.</p> + +<p>In accordance with the usages of those around +her, she gave her handmaid to her husband to +be his wife, "that their children might bless +her age." She doubtless felt herself strong +enough in love to Abraham and to Hagar to +believe that her affection would embrace their +children. But when the trial came, and all +the instincts of the heart, all the feelings of +the wife revolted, she proved that this violation +of a heaven-appointed institution brings only +sorrow and strife. Yet there was no alien<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>ation +between Sarah and Abraham. The wife +of his youth was ever dearer to him than the +mother of his child.</p> + +<p>At length, however, the promise was fulfilled. +Sarah became a mother. Many years had +passed since she had left the home of her +fathers. The days of man were now much +abridged, and she was fast approaching the +ordinary limit of human life; but we may suppose +her cheek was still fair and her brow +smooth, and that she still retained much of the +beauty of youth.</p> + +<p>With a wondering joy, Sarah gazed upon +the child so long desired—the child in whose +seed "all the nations of the earth" were to +be "blessed." And she said, "God hath made +me to laugh, so that all who hear shall laugh;" +and while those that heard that Sarah "had +borne Abraham a son in his old age," wondered +at an event so strange, Abraham must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +have pondered the prophecy which had revealed +to him the destiny of his race,—perhaps foreseeing +that Star which was to rise in a still +distant age, and apprehending, however dimly +and faintly, something of the mysterious connection +between the birth of the child and the +promise given in the hour of the curse—the +blending of the fate of his race with the eternal +plan of mercy and redemption.</p> + +<p>There is an instinct in our natures which +leads us to rejoice at a birth; but, could Sarah +have foreseen the destiny of her race, tears +would have mingled with her smiles. Wonderful +has been the past history of that people, +strange their present condition, while the future +may develop mysteries still more incomprehensible.</p> + +<p>In the hour of rejoicing over the new-born +babe, past transgression brought forth its legitimate +fruits. Sullenness and strife were brood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>ing +in the bosoms of the Egyptian bond-woman +and her son; and the quiet eye of the mother +saw all the danger arising from the jealous +hate and rivalry of the first-born of Abraham.</p> + +<p>If the decision was stern, it was needful. +"Cast out the bond-woman and her child, for +her son shall not be heir with my son, even with +Isaac." Harsh words,—but it is better to dwell +peacefully asunder, than together in strife and +bitterness. The malignant passions which led +Ishmael to mock, might soon be stimulated by +the mother to murder,—chafed and irritated as +she was by the constant presence of the child +who had supplanted her own. From the time +of the departure of Hagar from the household +of Abraham, peace seems to have rested upon +it. Prosperity attended him. He no longer +wandered from place to place. He remained in +Hebron, sojourning with Sarah and her child.</p> + +<p>Many years passed,—years of peaceful quiet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +and happiness seldom allotted to such an age,—while +they trained their child in the nurture +of the true God, and were honoured by the +princes around him, who sought to enter into +league with him, for they saw that "God +blessed him in all that he did."</p> + +<p>Once again God saw fit to test the faith of +Abraham by calling upon him to offer his son—his +only son Isaac, whom he loved—as a +sacrifice; and Abraham obeyed the divine +command, and thus doing, uttered that prophecy +which has thrilled so many souls, "God +will himself provide a sacrifice." In this trial, +Sarah seems not to have been called to participate. +The mother was spared the agony of +feeling that her only child was to be offered as +a sacrifice—that the hope of her life was to +perish.</p> + +<p>"Sarah was an hundred and twenty years +old, and she died." The dark shadow of death<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +is, sooner or later, to fall upon each household. +Abraham seems to have been at a distance—perhaps +in the charge of some of his numerous +flocks—when he was recalled to Hebron by news +of Sarah's death. And he came to mourn over +her. The remembrance of her maiden beauty +and modesty, the grateful recollection of all her +conjugal devotedness, filled his soul. If light +and immortality were brought to light in the +gospel, still the divine rays were faintly reflected +in the former dispensation, and the eye of faith +even then penetrated the thick darkness of the +grave.</p> + +<p>And now, after these long years of promise +and waiting, Abraham takes possession +of the land which God had given to him and +to his seed. He asks, however, but a small +portion,—a tomb, a place for his dead,—and a +more beautiful description of a scene of mutual +deference, of regard for rights and respect for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +character and position, was never penned than +that which records the negotiation between the +bereaved patriarch and the children of Heth. +With the touch of magic, the whole scene is +before us. The bereaved patriarch, courteous +in grief, bowing in the presence of the sons of +Heth,—the deep respect, the kindly sympathy, +manifested by those who, strangers to his religion, +felt the claims of his character,—mingled +with that deep awe which the visitation of +death ever inspires.</p> + +<p>The last scene was now over, and Sarah has +first taken possession of that home to which she +was to be followed by her husband and their +descendants. One by one they take their places +by her side,—unwelcomed, unquestioned,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Where none have saluted and none have replied,"—</p></div> + +<p>and yet where all are gathered at last. We see +her not as a sister or a daughter. She is not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +known to us in the house of her father. Sarah +is only presented to us as the wife of Abraham. +And as a wife the apostle has held her up to her +own sex as a model and example. "Even as +Sarah obeyed her husband, calling him lord,"—exclaims +the apostle, exhorting the wife to due +deference. The deep, fervent affection of the +heart led to that outward manifestation of +honour so beautiful and becoming; and as the +only love which can be enduring is that which +is founded on respect, so it is the highest happiness +of the wife to be able truly to honour +him whom she is bound to love and obey.</p> + +<p>When the heads of a household are thus +united in warm affection and mutual respect, +the influence will pervade the whole circle, and +the family of Abraham presented a beautiful +picture of such a household. The numerous +members composing a large family were governed +by one who provided for their suste<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>nance, +led them forth for the defence of rights, +or the redress of injuries, or the rescue of the +captive; and who officiated as the priest as +well as ruler of his household. In such a community, +the character of the head would be +impressed upon the whole people; and it was +with obvious meaning that Jehovah exclaimed, +"I know him that he will command his household +after him." It was by example that admonition +was made availing. And the wife +was ever ready, with her ardent and trusting +love, to aid and co-operate. Hastening, when +he welcomed the stranger, to prepare the feast, +she was ever ready to receive his guests and +add her efforts to his hospitality.</p> + +<p>Hatred, strife, and mutual alienation so often +cloud over the unison of wedded life, and cause +its sun to set in darkness, that few spectacles +can be presented more beautiful or more delightful +than the old age of wedded life, soothed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +by true affection and mutual kindness. It is +more touching than the glow of youthful passion. +It proclaims the presence of high moral worth. +It is never found in the habitations of the unholy. +The love which thus survives the glow +of youth, which bears the storms and the trials +of life, must be founded on truth, on unimpassioned +esteem, on approved integrity; and +those alone who love God supremely, love each +other unselfishly.</p> + +<p>While Sarah honoured her husband, she too +was treated with proper deference. Her counsels +were ever heeded, her voice had its due +influence, and he still deferred to her wishes. +It is beautiful to note the increasing estimation +in which she is held. Sarai, "the +mistress," betokened her station as the head +of a household; and as years brought honours, +and an enlarged sphere of duty, and a more +elevated position among the people around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +them, Sarai was changed into Sarah—<i>my lady</i>. +Her husband, in addressing the former Sarai +as Sarah, "my lady," gracefully returned the +honour she bestowed when she called him "lord." +By such manifestation of mutual respect and +love, the chain of family affection is kept bright.</p> + +<p>As the household of Abraham was the household +of faith, ordained as the model for all ages, +it is well to analyze the elements which composed +it, and to trace their combined influence. +There was the conjugal union of the true worshippers +of Jehovah, animated by the same hopes, +governed by the same principles, whose hearts +were united in the strong bonds of natural +affection. There was the confiding, unfailing +affection, the deep, reverential respect, and due +obedience of the wife. There was the tender +love, protecting care, the unwavering faith, the +honourable deference of the husband. The religion +of this household was the religion of faith<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +and of obedience,—a religion which led them +to forsake all at the command of God, which +taught them to rely upon his promises, to fear +his threatenings, to plead his grace, to trust his +mercy, while it was a religion which led to a +due observance of all the relative duties of life, +which taught the exercise of that impartial justice, +careful benevolence, disinterested kindness, +and ready hospitality to those without the +family; and of steady love, of affectionate +kindness, of sympathetic forbearance to the +members of the household within. The family +of faith, where faith is pure, will ever be a +family of love; and as true piety is the best +security for family happiness, so family love is +the best nurse for family piety.</p> + +<p>There are many families among us who aim +at being families of faith, who profess to walk +in the steps of Abraham, to imitate his example. +Let such not confine themselves to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +manifestation of his peculiar faith, to his trust +and dependence alone. Let them walk as he +walked before his household, in the fear of God +and the love of man, in the careful fulfilment +of every relative and social duty, in the daily +exemplification of a tender and loving spirit, +carefully avoiding or removing all sources of +division. Let that piety which unites them to +God, be a bond, encircling all and drawing +them near to each other.</p> + +<p>By the cultivation of the simple domestic +virtues, by the daily, quiet, self-denying trials, +by the observance of the thousand decencies, +the unaffected proprieties, the unostentatious +efforts to bless and comfort,—by the elevating +influence of personal example,—by the breathing +atmosphere of a holy spirit,—the family is +to be made the household of faith, the nursery +of the church.</p> + +<p>Direct instruction and formal efforts and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +stated observances are neither to be forgotten +nor to be remitted; but these can only be made +effectual by the living exemplification of a +spirit of love, a life of holiness. It will ever +be found true that he who prays most loves +most.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/image02.png" width="435" height="580" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="HAGAR_THE_WIFE_UNLOVED" id="HAGAR_THE_WIFE_UNLOVED"></a>HAGAR—THE WIFE UNLOVED.</h2> + + +<p>The Hebrew patriarch led his flocks and +herds, surrounded by his large household, from +Haran to the land of the Canaanites; from +thence to that of the Philistines, down into +Egypt; wherever so numerous a family and +such large flocks could find sustenance—water +and herbage. And as he thus sojourned, many +of the poor of these lands flocked to him for +employment and support; and while he bought +the services of the parents, the children born +in his house became members of his family, +were trained as his servants, and were subject to +his authority as the master of the household, +the prince among his people, the patriarch of +his tribe.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> + +<p>And among these was Hagar, the Egyptian. +We are not told whether she was born in the +house of Abraham, or rescued from those who +may have stolen her from her home, or given +by her parents to the wealthy and childless +Sarai. She was Sarah's handmaid—a relation, +according to the customs of the East (almost +immutable) nearly as dear as that of a child. +She was the personal attendant, the constant +companion of her mistress; and by her was +doubtless instructed in the principles of the true +religion, while she was thus accustomed to the +accomplishments and occupations of the age. +The tasks of the favourite handmaids of Eastern +families are still light. To sit at the feet +of her mistress with her embroidery; to cheer +her with the simple music of the shepherd's +tent; to aid her in those domestic duties to +which Sarah gave her own superintendence; +to assist in preparing the wool of the flocks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +for the garments of the family; to watch her +tent as she reposed by day, and keep by her +side as the camels slowly wandered through +the valleys in search of pure streams or more +abundant herbage, were probably the occupations +and duties of Hagar.</p> + +<p>Years thus passed on—and the dark-browed +and dark-eyed Egyptian maiden had grown into +womanhood, and the freshness of youth, the +joyousness of health and early life were her's, +while her mistress was passing into age. Sarah +no longer hoped to become a mother, and, believing +that the promise was not intended for +her, she urged Abraham to take another wife, +offering for his acceptance her own handmaid, +the Egyptian Hagar.</p> + +<p>The authority of the mistress of the East +over her own establishment is so absolute, the +husband so interdicted from all interference, +that, although Hagar had passed her youth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +with Sarah, she may have been hardly noticed +by Abraham until Sarah proffered her. According +to the usage of the east, Sarah had +a right (the right then claimed by the parent) +thus to dispose of her handmaid; and a marriage +with her master was the highest honour +which could be bestowed on Hagar. She +was given to Abraham to be his wife, and, the +relation was—according to the usage then prevailing—as +legal as that sustained by Sarah, +although the station was inferior. No injury +was intended to Hagar. No higher distinction +could have been conferred upon her, and, strong +in love to both Hagar and Abraham, Sarah +doubtless supposed she might be able to welcome +and love their children, though denied +offspring of her own.</p> + +<p>But such departure from the law, precept, or +institution of God, involves a long train of +sin and sorrow, no matter what the intention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>—and +the union of Abraham with Hagar was a +direct violation of the institution of marriage +in all its principles and intentions, and it could +not but bring confusion and strife to the tent +of the patriarch.</p> + +<p>It was merely a marriage of interest and +convenience, unhallowed by love. The heart +of Abraham never departed from the wife of +his youth, nor could Sarah ever have intended +to relinquish her hold upon his affection. It is +the last claim a woman foregoes. And on the +other hand, Hagar could have felt no love for +her master, so much her superior in age and +station. Unholy pride and rank ambition were +all the feelings which such an alliance could +awaken in the heart of Hagar. Yet Hagar was +the least blameworthy, and, perhaps, not eventually +the greatest sufferer. By the customs of +society, she had no voice in the disposal of herself. +Her heart was never consulted. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +was only allowed to receive the husband allotted +to her—to acquiesce in the decision of others.</p> + +<p>The natural results of such a union followed. +The exaltation of Hagar excited her +pride and led to arrogance; and when she +knew that she should become a mother, her +childless mistress was despised.</p> + +<p>It is hard to bear contempt from those upon +whom we have lavished kindness; to feel that +we have exalted those who despise us: and all +the indignation of Sarah was roused by the +assumption and ingratitude of Hagar; and, with +the quick instinct of the woman, she retorted +upon her husband, "My wrong be upon thee."</p> + +<p>A stranger indifference could not have been +manifested than that showed by Abraham towards +the youthful wife who should have now +received his protection and kindness. "Behold +thy handmaid is in thy hands." He recognised +no tie—he felt no obligation. What was Hagar,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +that she should occasion strife between him and +the wife of his youth, the partner of his life, +the daughter of his own people!</p> + +<p>Hagar was from this hour abandoned by +Abraham to her mistress. When Sarah resumed +the authority belonging to her station, +she assumed with it a power never before exercised. +Forgetting all the love of past years, +all the claims of the present hour upon her +kindness and forbearance, she treated the unhappy +Hagar with such intolerable harshness, +that the wretched woman fled from the face +of her mistress and from the tents of her +master, and sought refuge in the wilderness.</p> + +<p>We can conceive what bitter, despairing +thoughts, what a keen sense of injustice and +injury may have pressed upon her, as she sat +alone by the fountain in the desert. Probably +a little spot of green herbage denoted the +presence of water, while, all around, lay the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +sandy, rocky desert. The stars, in the brightness +of an oriental night, were looking down on +her as she sat alone, her face buried in her +hands, unheeded, there to die. Then came the +visions of her youth, the remembrances of her +childhood, the sound of her mother's voice, the +dream of her smile—then the tent of Sarah—then +the alliance with her master, the excitement +of her pride, the flush of hope, the +exultation of a fancied triumph over the childless, +but still honoured wife; succeeded by the +cold withdrawal of all the kindness of the patriarch, +and the entire abandonment of her whom +he had taken to his bosom, to the implacable +resentment of her former mistress!</p> + +<p>The temper of Hagar, the feelings thus +excited—dark, sullen, bitter, revengeful—when +she fled from all, may have been impressed +upon her offspring, and thus marked the future +character of her race.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> + +<p>Still, Hagar was not alone. The wanderer +was not forgotten. In the hour of darkness +and of desolation, there is One nigh even to +those who forget him. "And the angel of the +Lord found her by the fountain in the wilderness, +and he said: Hagar, Sarah's maid, +whence camest thou? And whither wouldst +thou go?"</p> + +<p>She was not addressed as the wife of Abraham. +The conventional usage, so opposed +to the positive institution, was not recognised +and thus hallowed by Him who had established +marriage; and while Hagar was pitied, she +was reminded of her real condition. "And +she said, I flee from the face of my mistress, +Sarah. And the angel of the Lord said unto +her, Return unto thy mistress and submit thyself +under her hands. And the angel of the +Lord said, Thou shalt have a son, and shalt +call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +heard thy affliction. He shall be a wild man. +His hand will be against every man, and every +man's hand against him—and he shall dwell in +the presence of all his brethren. And she +called the name of the Lord that spake unto +her, Thou God seest me, for she said, Have I +also here looked after him that seeth me?" implying +a recognition of the unexpected interference, +protection and blessing of God.</p> + +<p>The promises of God are always preceded +by his commands, and the faith which clings +to the promises is to be tested by the obedience +which alone can make them availing. +And when the words of the angel came to +the desolate soul of the woman in the desert, +there were admonition, reproof, and command +mingled with promise and blessing. "Return +to thy mistress." Return to thy duty, is the +first requirement made of those God seeks out.</p> + +<p>And Hagar humbled herself and obeyed the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +voice of the Lord. She returned to her mistress. +Trying as it must have been to one so +aggrieved, she submitted to her authority, and +again became a member of the household of +Abraham. Had she disobeyed the angel, she +and her child had doubtless perished in the +wilderness; but in yielding her proud and +arrogant temper, she secured the future blessing +to her race, and insured the safety of her +child, while her submission and gentleness +must have won back Sarah to a kinder temper, +to a more forbearing treatment.</p> + +<p>After the birth of Ishmael, there intervened +years—long years—in which Hagar tasted the +bitterest cup ever presented to the lips of woman. +A wife unloved, neglected—a mother disregarded—a +woman held in bondage by one +who had made her a rival—dwelling in the +presence of him who had put her from him! +Her very presence brought reproach and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +sorrow to Sarah and Abraham—the violation +of the divine institution ever entailing its +penalty.</p> + +<p>The wife deserted, neglected, whose hopes +have been crushed, ever turns to her offspring +for comfort and sympathy; and ardent was the +love, strong were the ties, which bound the +Egyptian mother to the son of the patriarch; +and in Ishmael must all the hopes and affections +of Hagar have centred. Could she, +indeed, have penetrated the future, could she +have seen her race, the seed of her son, +filling the desert and dwelling as princes; +while the seed of Sarah and of Abraham were +held, as if in retribution of her own sufferings, +in bondage in her own native land,—could she +have passed through the intervening ages and +seen the children of Ishmael issuing from their +desert and setting their feet upon the necks of +the proudest and mightiest, imposing their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +faith upon a world, while they marched forth +conquering and to conquer—could she have +contrasted the triumphant warriors of Arabia, +the caliphs of the east and the west, with +the wandering, desolate, persecuted, trodden-down +tribes of Israel—the proudest expectations +of the woman and the mother would have +been all answered. Could she have penetrated +the meaning of the words she must have so +often pondered, she would have found that +the loftiest dreams of the rankest ambition +were to be more than realized.</p> + +<p>But dimly and faintly must she have apprehended +the meaning of the mysterious prophecy, +even while she trusted the accompanying +promise. As she saw Ishmael, the only +child in the tent of the patriarch, and loved +by the father, she perhaps allowed herself to +hope that he was yet to be the heir, and +that in his future honours she was to find<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +a full recompense for all the trials of her +blighted youth.</p> + +<p>After long years of waiting, Sarah embraced +a son, and the event, so joyous to the parents, +awoke afresh the bitter remembrances of +Hagar, while it roused her to the consciousness +of her present lot and of all the injuries +inflicted upon her.</p> + +<p>In all the trials and sorrows through which +she had passed, she had had none to sustain +or sympathize with her. Her child remained +her only earthly hope; and now she felt that +another was to supplant him, and thus disappoint +all her expectations.</p> + +<p>Her spirit rose in pride and wrath, and she +infused her own bitter feelings into the heart +of her child. When Isaac was hailed as the +heir, while all rejoiced, Hagar and Ishmael +mocked both the infant and the aged parents.</p> + +<p>Forbearance was no longer safe, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +decision of Sarah was wise, though harsh—yet +it was sad to Abraham. Ishmael was still his +son—his first-born. He had been ever dear to +him; and when the angel of the Lord had +again confirmed the promise of a seed in +whom all the nations of the earth were to be +blessed, he had almost seemed to overlook it +as he pleaded for the son of the bond-woman, +"Oh that Ishmael might live before thee!" +while to Abraham was then confirmed the +promise given before the birth of her child +to Hagar. There was sorrow and perplexity +in the heart of Abraham, but a message from +heaven confirmed the decree of Sarah.</p> + +<p>The patriarch arose, after a night of conflict +and prayer, while the stars were still shining +in the heavens, while the flocks lay in stillness +around the tents, and before those who had +revelled and rejoiced were awake, and called +Hagar and her child. Can we not see them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +in the gray of the morning? The father, the +mother, the child,—the patriarch, aged, but not +bowed by age, still retaining the vigour of manhood—the +boy shy, yet half-defying—the mother! +In such an hour, all distinctions of rank +and station would be forgotten, and all the feelings +of the woman be roused. Then and +there Hagar might well forget that she was +Sarah's bondmaid, and only remember that +she had been Abraham's wife—that she was +still Ishmael's mother.</p> + +<p>In that hour must have risen the memory +of her wrongs, of her saddened youth, her +darkened womanhood—of the selfishness with +which he had wedded her; of the heartlessness +with which he had deserted her; of her long years +of trial and contempt. And her eye might +speak reproach, although the lips were closed +and there was no voice. Should we not rejoice +to believe that the patriarch whispered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +some regret for the past, and spoke of sorrow +and repentance to her whose happiness he had +so selfishly sacrificed, even as he consummated +his work by casting her out, a homeless exile. +Such is the enslaving power of custom, so +easily do we blind ourselves to our own delinquencies, +that Abraham probably aggravated +Hagar's faults while he overlooked her injuries. +He saw in her but the despiteful, revengeful +handmaid; he forgot that she was an injured +wife—a neglected mother.</p> + +<p>Yet no words of reproach, of entreaty, or +explanation of the past, or promise for the +future, are recorded as having passed between +them. He pronounced the decree, and laid +upon the bondmaid, and not upon his noble +boy, the provision for the journey. She turned +from the tents, and thus they parted!</p> + +<p>But the connection of Abraham and Hagar +had woven a thread into the destiny of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +nations, still to be traced. She left the patriarch +in sorrow, in bitterness of soul; but +she went out to found nations, to punish rulers, +to establish a long line who should transmit +the name of her son and the influence of her +character to remotest ages—even to the end +of time.</p> + +<p>Accustomed to the wandering life of the +desert, and provided for the journey, Abraham +probably deemed Hagar competent to guide +her steps to a place of safety. But sorrow +may have blinded her eyes, or despair made +her reckless, and she was lost in the desert. +The water was spent in the bottle—tons of +gold could not open a fountain in the desert—and +she saw her child parched with thirst, +"faint and ready to die; and she cast him +under one of the shrubs, and went and sat a +good way off, as it were a bow-shot, for she +said, Let me not see the death of the child;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +and as she sat over against him, she lifted up +her voice and wept. And God heard the +voice of the lad, and the angel of God called +to her out of heaven and said unto her, What +aileth thee Hagar? Fear not! For God hath +heard the voice of the child where he is. Arise, +lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand, for +I will make of him a great nation. And God +opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, +and she went and filled the bottle with water, +and gave the lad to drink." What an inimitable +description of a mother's love! What a display +of the watchful benevolence of Jehovah!</p> + +<p>In this hour of desolation, when no human +aid was near, there was again the Divine interposition, +while there was no reproach, no +allusion even to that sinful temper which had +led to the banishment of both mother and +child, and caused them to come here to +perish in the wilderness. Blessed be God<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +that he does not suffer the unworthiness of +his children to separate them from his love; +that in the hour of extremity he is still nigh; +that his ear is ever open to hear and his arm +ready to save.</p> + +<p>"And God was with the lad: and he grew +and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an +archer; and he dwelt in the wilderness of +Paran." And his mother still dwelt with +him; and in all his wanderings, wherever his +footsteps were turned, there was her home. +There is a touching remembrance of her early +life, in the fact that Hagar chose a wife for +her son from among the daughters of her own +people: "She took him a wife out of the land +of Egypt." And from this union have sprung +the tribes who still fill the deserts where Hagar +sought a refuge. A wild race, dwelling in +the presence of all their brethren, whose hand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +is against every man, while every man's hand +is against them.</p> + +<p>Ishmael rose rapidly to rank, and Hagar +lived to rejoice in his prosperity. The life +which commenced in want, privation and +wandering in the wilderness, conducted her to +wealth and honour. So dark and inscrutable +are the ways of Providence, that at each step +we are taught but to seek the path of duty +and obey the direction of Heaven.</p> + +<p>The children of Ishmael seem to have long +preserved the knowledge of Jehovah. Hagar, +who had received so many proofs of the being, +power, and providence of the God of Abraham, +might well instruct her descendants in the principles +of the true faith. The race of Ishmael +have still preserved the rite which Abraham +received as the seal of faith. Often may +Hagar have recounted the providences of +God—the account she had heard, in the tent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +of Abraham, of the creation, the fall, the deluge, +the re-peopling of the world; and often, in the +course of their wandering lives, she may have +led her descendants to those deep waters which +covered the guilty cities of the plain, and then +described them as she knew them before the +wrath of God fell upon them.</p> + +<p>The tribes of Ishmael have ever recognised +their descent from Abraham; and the instructions +of Hagar are preserved as national traditions +to this very day, though exaggerated by +Eastern fancy, and mingled with wilder romance, +as they have been transmitted from one +generation to another by the children of Ishmael, +who still lead their flocks in the same +valleys, and pitch their tents by the same fountains +to which Hagar resorted with Ishmael.</p> + +<p>Hagar and Ishmael were no more members +of Abraham's household, yet the relationship +of father and son was ever recognised. Doubt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>less +Abraham imparted of his wealth to his first-born; +and as Abraham often sojourned afterwards +in Beer-sheba, probably not far from +the spot where Hagar and Ishmael so nearly +perished, the father and son may have often met; +and Isaac and Ishmael may have held kindly +intercourse, when the bitter feelings of rivalry +and of conscious wrong had subsided. The ties +of kindred were still allowed, and Esau sought +a wife from the family of his own kindred, as a +means of conciliating his father and mother; +thus showing that a purer morality and a +higher religious feeling were cherished than +those among surrounding tribes. And when +Abraham died, having attained a full age, his +sons, Isaac and Ishmael, both far advanced in +years, buried him. The strifes, the bitterness, +the hate of early life seem to have been forgotten, +and they united in the last offices of +filial love and duty.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<p>The son of the bondmaid had attained, +during the life of Abraham, a distinction beyond +that of the son of the wife; and his immediate +descendant rose to wealth and honour, +while, if one branch of Isaac's family tasted +prosperity, those recognised as the heirs of +that mysterious blessing were long known +as wanderers, and then despised as slaves. +Their long line of descent has run parallel, +side by side, distinct, unmingled; recognising +a common origin, but never acknowledging a +common brotherhood. The oldest nations +of the earth,—the one exiled from the land given +them, dwelling as outcasts and strangers among +all the nations of the earth, yet still separate, +apart, a peculiar people; the other living at +this day in the deserts where Hagar wandered, +and where she fainted—a never-conquered +people. And while Assyrian, Greek, and +Roman have swept the world and exacted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +tribute of the nations around them, and other +tribes have been swept with the besom of destruction, +the sons of Ishmael have still dwelt +in the presence of their brethren, ever enforcing, +but still refusing to pay tribute—free +and wild as the lad who first became an archer in +the wilderness. Unconsciously confirming prophecy, +and still attesting the truth of a revelation +which they contemn and deny,—thus +strangely dwelling so different from all other +nations,—preserving the initiatory rites and +the mystic symbols of the faith of Abraham, +the customs and traditions of the age of the +patriarch,—these nations dwell distinct, separate +from each other and from all other nations, +awaiting the day when blindness shall be removed +from the eyes of the children of promise, +and the descendants of Sarah and of Hagar +shall be both gathered with the fold of Christ.</p> + +<p>There are Hagars of modern, as well as of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +ancient days,—of western as of eastern lands. +She who is wedded from interest and convenience; +she who forms a heartless union from +pride and ambition; she who awakes from her +dreams of bliss to find herself an unloved, and +perhaps to become a deserted wife—all these +prove the bitterness of the lot of the Egyptian +Hagar. He who has ordained marriage has +graciously implanted the affections which are to +make it a source of happiness; and those who +form this union under other motives and influences +run fearful risks. There are many +Hagars in the highest ranks of life, and even +where the artificial distinctions of society are +most highly regarded and carefully recognised.</p> + +<p>When youth is wedded to age or sacrificed +to decrepitude to promote some State policy, +though the victims are not clothed in the garb +of the Egyptian slave, but arrayed in the +pomp of regal vestments, yet the diamond<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +often rests upon an aching brow, and the +pearls press a saddened bosom; and when the +holiest of earthly institutions is thus violated, +each relation of life is profaned; and polluted +streams descend from the highest sources and +diffuse their poison through all the ranks of +life—through all the gradations of society.</p> + +<p>There will still be Hagars—women who +marry for a home, or a support; and especially +while woman is educated to be helpless—unable +to provide for her own wants; or while that prejudice +is cherished which leads her to deem +useful employment a degradation.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<h4>HAGAR'S EXILE.</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">She fled, with one reproachful look<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On him who bade her go,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And scarcely could the patriarch brook<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That glance of voiceless wo:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In vain her quivering lips essay'd<br /></span> +<span class="i2">His mercy to implore;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Silent the mandate she obey'd,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And then was seen no more.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The burning waste and lonely wild<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Received her as she went;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hopeless, she clasp'd her fainting child,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With thirst and sorrow spent.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in the wilderness so drear,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">She raised her voice on high,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And sent forth that heart-stricken prayer<br /></span> +<span class="i2">"Let me not see him die!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Her beautiful, her only boy,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Her all of hope below;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So long his father's pride and joy,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And yet—from <i>him</i> the blow!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Alone she must his head sustain,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And watch his sinking breath,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And on his bright brow mark the stain<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of the destroyer, Death.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Let me not see him die," and lo!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The messenger of peace!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Once more her tears forget to flow,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Once more her sorrows cease.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Life, strength, and freedom now are given<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With mighty power to one<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who from his father's roof was driven,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And he—the outcast's son.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">How often we, like Hagar, mourn,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When some unlook'd for blight<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Drives us away, no more to turn<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To joys we fancied bright!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Forced from our idols to retreat,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And seek the Almighty's care,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Perchance we are sent forth to meet<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A desert-angel there.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 439px;"> +<img src="images/image03.png" width="439" height="570" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_PARTIAL_AND_INTRIGUING" id="THE_PARTIAL_AND_INTRIGUING"></a>THE PARTIAL AND INTRIGUING +MOTHER—REBEKAH.</h2> + + +<div class="illusCap" style="width: 183px;"> +<img src="images/chap2.gif" width="183" height="200" alt="Decorated A" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="cap">A</span>fter the departure of +Hagar and her son +from the tents of Abraham, +peace seems to +have returned, and it +became the abode of +filial and parental as +well as of conjugal affection. Sarah's days +were still prolonged, that she might exercise +the duties and enjoy the pleasures of a mother.</p> + +<p>The heir of wealth, and the child of love and +indulgence, the character of Isaac seems to have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +been the reverse of his brother, the restless, +wandering Ishmael. The one, cast off from the +care of the father and taught to rely upon his +own energies, early distinguished himself, and +became the leader of a band, and a prince among +the nations around; while the other, cherished +and cared for, was content to dwell in the peaceful +enjoyment of wealth and prosperity. Thus +do we find that trials are necessary to develope +the higher qualities and to call them into action. +The truly great and noble, the eminent +in talent or usefulness, are never nursed in the +bosom of ease.</p> + +<p>Sarah died; and while the bereaved husband +felt his loss, the son could not have been insensible. +There was a dreary void in the home of +the patriarch when the wife and the mother +had been laid in the sepulchre. There was no +one to fill the place of Sarah—no one to bless +their simple meals. She no longer appears to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +welcome them as they returned from the field +or the flock. The tribe is without a mother, +the household without a mistress. Many considerations +led Abraham to desire the marriage +of his son, and he cast around his thoughts +for a wife worthy of being the mother of the +promised seed, and one who could well fulfil +the duties which must devolve upon her as the +head of his large household. The people +around him would have courted his alliance, +and as yet no command from God forbade his +forming family ties with the inhabitants of the +land. But Abraham too well knew the influence +of the wife and the mother, to choose a +wife for the child of promise from a race apostate +from the religion of Jehovah. He knew +the ensnaring influence which would there be +brought to bear upon his family, and he resolved +to seek a wife for Isaac among his far-distant +kindred—those who yet retained the knowledge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +and clung to the worship of the God of Shem, +of Noah, and of Adam. Though far separated +from his brethren, yet communications seem to +have passed, and Abraham had been told of the +enlargement of the family of his brother; and +he resolved, not only to seek a wife for his son +from among his own kindred, but, while making +arrangements for such a marriage, he solemnly +guarded against the return of his descendants +to the land from whence he had been called.</p> + +<p>Trying as might be the long journey, and +uncertain as seemed the issue, no inferior motives +were allowed to be put in competition with +the perpetuity of the worship and knowledge +of God. A connection with any of the families +of the Canaanites would have been at once ensnaring +to the household of Abraham and injurious +in its influence upon the heart of Isaac. +Had Isaac married the daughter of an idolater, +irreligion and immorality would soon have per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>vaded +the family of the patriarch, and the +knowledge of the true God have departed from +the earth. Thus the beacon light of nations had +been extinguished, and the last altar erected to +Jehovah had been broken down: for the other +descendants of Shem were fast departing from +the God of their fathers,—and if the children +of Keturah and Ishmael for a period retained +the faith of Abraham, the torch which kindled +the fire on their altars was lighted at that which +was kept burning on those of Isaac and Jacob, +and the example of their families preserved +alive the remembrance and the acts of the living +God in the nations around them.</p> + +<p>With a train which became the suitor of a +prince, with costly presents of gold and ornaments +according to the custom of both ancient +and modern days, but more particularly conforming +to Eastern usage, the confidential servant +of Abraham was sent on his embassy to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +the kindred of his master, there to receive a +bride for the son of the patriarch. We gain a +delightful impression both of the piety and intelligence +of the household of Abraham from +the account of the messenger to whom this important +transaction was intrusted. The faith +of the patriarch animated the other members +of his household, and a strong chain of love +encircled all. After a long journey, the train +reached the plains of Mesopotamia, and then +the tents of Nahor appeared in view; and then, +in the prospect of the immediate discharge of +his commission, the messenger of the patriarch +sought explicit direction from the God of Abraham.</p> + +<p>While the description of the interview at the +fountain, "without the gate of the city," gives +a most beautiful view of the manners of the +age and the people, and an unsurpassed picture +of the freshness and simplicity of pastoral life,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +it proves at once the piety and the clear discrimination +of the agent employed. The beauty +of the youthful Rebekah caught his eye, +while the test he devised afforded a safe criterion +of the character of the woman. Weary +with the labours of the sultry day, after tending +her own flocks, had she been indolent or +inactive, selfish or sullen, she had turned from +his request, and suffered his attendants to administer +to his wants. But as she looked upon +them—dusty, weary, parched by thirst, worn +down by long travel—the sympathies of a kind +nature were awakened, as the servant ran to +meet her, saying, "Let me, I pray thee, drink +a little water from thy pitcher." She said, +"Drink, my lord," and she let down the pitcher +upon her hand and gave him to drink; and when +he had done drinking, she said, "I will draw +water for thy camels also, until they have done +drinking." Thus did the maiden clearly prove<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +that she possessed some of the qualities most +necessary for a wife—that ready self-forgetfulness, +that kindness, cheerfulness, and desire +to promote the happiness of others, that sunshine +of the heart which sheds its brightening +beams over all the clouds that darken domestic +life. Through all the ages of the world, in all +the circumstances in which mankind are placed, +the wife has ever need of them, and wisely may +the suitor look for them. But the servant of the +patriarch, "still wondering, held his peace." +Not until assured that she was of the race of +the true worshippers of the God of Abraham, +that she had been trained in the fear of the +Lord, did he feel assured that the fair and kind +Syrian damsel was to be chosen for the wife of +his master's son. He had felt that the prayer +was answered. He had taken out the rich +gifts intended for her, but he seems to hesitate +as he says, "Whose daughter art thou! Tell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +me, I pray thee, is there room in thy father's +house for us to lodge in?" And she answered, +"I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of +Milcah, whom she bore unto Nahor."</p> + +<p>"And the man bowed down and worshipped +the Lord, and he said, Blessed be the Lord +God of my master Abraham, who hath not left +destitute my master of his mercy and his truth. +I being in the way, the Lord hath led me to +the house of my master's brethren."</p> + +<p>The negotiation between the servant of +Abraham and the father and brothers of Rebekah +was soon concluded. They deferred not +the answer to be given, when the messenger +had laid before them his errand, and told them +of the wealth and honour of his master; and +the whole transaction impresses us with an +idea of the piety and kindness of the family +of Bethuel.</p> + +<p>The thing is from the Lord—while the rich<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +gifts, made to all the members of the family, +proved the truth of the statements of the messenger, +and perhaps enforced his plea. Yet, +when he urged the immediate departure of the +bride for the tent of her husband, the hearts of +the mother and of the brothers yet clung to the +youthful maiden. They shrank from a separation +so sudden, so complete—and they said, +Let the damsel stay with us a few days—at +least ten. Oh, do not snatch her away from +us so suddenly. But after that, she shall go.</p> + +<p>And he said, "Hinder me not. Seeing that +the Lord hath prospered me, send me away +that I may go to my master." And they said, +"We will call the maiden, and inquire at her +mouth." And they called Rebekah, and said +unto her, "Wilt thou go with this man?" And +she said, "I will go."</p> + +<p>Are we not, even at this period, taught lessons +of parental wisdom, in the care displayed by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +ancient patriarch respecting the choice of a wife +for his son? In the care taken to secure an unstained +parentage in one who had been early +trained in the habits of piety and godly principles +of action? The character of the family is +often stamped upon each member, and the +marked features are transmitted from generation +to generation, even where the character of the +woman may be modified by her new relations. +As she advances in years she often returns to +the habits of her youth, while she almost invariably +adopts the practice of her own mother in +the early nurture and training of her children.</p> + +<p>He who would have reformed France was +taught that he must begin his work by training +mothers. And thus the ancient patriarch foresaw +that the great nation that was to descend +from him, like to the stars of heaven for multitude, +would long bear the impress of the character +of the mother who rocked it in the first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +cradle of its existence, and his wisdom was +manifested in the pains which he took to secure +a good lineage and right habits and principles. +The foresight of the father could go no farther. +Time must test the individual character.</p> + +<p>After they left the tents of Bethuel, the +train, now augmented by the presence of the +bride and her immediate attendants, her nurse +and handmaids, slowly wended its way back +to the tents of the patriarch, pursuing the natural +highways of the country,—now by the +stream, then across the plain, then through the +desert, sandy, barren, trackless; then winding +through the mountain pass, encamping during +the heat of the day by the fountain and under +the shade, and pursuing their journey in the +cool of the evening and of the morning.</p> + +<p>Love or devotion, or the mingling of both, +led Isaac out into the fields at eventide to meditate, +and his feet turned towards the route by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +which his messengers might be expected, and +the eye of his servant descried him afar off, and +he pointed him out to the stranger. And while +the messenger seems to have hasted to meet his +master and give an account of his mission, Rebekah +descended from her lofty seat and covered +herself with a veil.</p> + +<p>Henry the Fourth, of France, met his bride +soon after she entered his kingdom, and mingled +with her attendants, that he might watch her +unobserved; and when his presence was announced +she kneeled, and he gracefully raised +her up. Napoleon entered the carriage of his +Austrian bride, and announced himself, while +she gazed with wondering eyes upon one, long +only known as the enemy of her father's house +and the terror of his kingdom. The meeting +of the heir of the patriarch and his youthful +bride is quite as interesting a scene as any of +those recorded of more modern days.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> + +<p>And Isaac went out to meditate in the fields +at eventide, and he lifted up his eyes, and, behold! +the camels were coming. And Rebekah +lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she +lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the +servant, "What man is this that walketh in the +field to meet us?" And the servant said, "It +is my master;" therefore she took a veil and +covered herself. And the servant told Isaac +all things that he had done. And Isaac brought +her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, +and she became his wife, and he loved her.</p> + +<p>Rebekah seems to have made an affectionate, +happy wife. Many years passed before children +were born to Isaac; and when the twin boys, +Esau and Jacob, were in childhood, there was +evidently a marked difference in their characters. +Esau was active, restless, and enterprising, +He grew up a hunter,—daring and bold,—loving +a life of change and adventure; while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +Jacob was a "plain man, dwelling in tents." +Blindness was stealing over Isaac and unfitting +him for the cares which rested upon him, for +the supervision of his numerous servants and +his many flocks and herds. During the frequent +absences of Esau upon his hunting expeditions, +these cares must have devolved upon +Rebekah and Jacob. Her heart clung to the +child who was ever with her in sympathy; +while the tales of peril and adventure with +which Esau enlivened the wearisome days of +his father, were as acceptable to blindness and +loneliness, as were the presents of the game +he so frequently brought. "And Isaac loved +Esau." Thus the injudicious fondness of the +parents sowed the seeds of bitterness and alienation +between the two brothers, and led to their +mutual estrangement. The birth-right, which +implied the inheriting of the blessing promised +to the seed of Abraham, was despised by Esau,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +who, doubtless, in his prolonged wanderings +from home, and his frequent associations with +the inhabitants of the land, had been led to +feel contempt for the worship and the promises +of God, and in his reckless levity he transferred +it to Jacob for "<i>a mess of pottage</i>," while he +further alienated himself from his parents and +brother by marrying the daughter of a Hittite. +"This was a grief and sorrow of mind to Isaac +and Rebekah." Forgetting the respect due to +them as his parents; forgetting his own position +as the eldest son of the heir of the promise; +heedless of the example of filial deference +shown by Isaac, and of all the care that preserved +the family free from the corruption +around them, he formed an union with those +who were strangers to the faith of Abraham +and of a race apostate from the worship of Jehovah. +Yet, while mourning the perverseness of +his favourite child, the father, aged and blind,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +did not propose to withdraw his favour from +him; and, feeling that his infirmities increased, +Isaac bade Esau with his own hands prepare +him a favourite dish, that he might eat and +bless him before his death. Did we better understand +the customs of that age, we might find +that Isaac was not merely influenced by bodily +appetite, but that there might be a peculiar +significance in the act.</p> + +<p>We do not love to dwell upon Rebekah's deceit +and the lessons of falsehood she taught her +son—and the prophecy uttered before the birth +of the children, neither justifies nor extenuates +her guilt; for God has never taught his people, +that to promote his plans they are to violate +his laws.</p> + +<p>Alienated from her elder son, we see Rebekah, +by intrigue and treachery, seeking to +advance the interests of the younger at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +expense of the rights of his brother. As we +read the sacred narrative, every sympathy is +awakened in favour of the injured Esau, and +we hear, with burning indignation against the +author of his wrong, his pathetic cry, "Hast +thou no blessing for me! Bless me, even me, +my father!" But the artifice of the mother +and wife was successful. She secured all she +sought—and her success brought its own punishment. +Dark clouds of hate settled over the +household, and Esau waited only for the death +of his father that he might destroy the life of +his brother; and to save the life of her son, the +mother was forced to send him into banishment. +Again the intriguing, managing character +of the mother appears. She assigned +what might be a reason, but not the true reason, +to Isaac. "I am weary of my life, because of +the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +of the daughters of Heth, such as these which +are of the daughters of the land, what good +shall my life do me?" The plea of the mother +prevailed, and Isaac blessed Jacob, and he left +the land of his father, ostensibly to seek a wife, +but in truth to flee from the vengeance of his +brother.</p> + +<p>The son of the wealthy patriarch went not +out like an Eastern suitor—not with a train +such as Abraham sent when he wooed Rebekah +for his son. To avoid the hate of Esau, he +stole like a fugitive from the tents of Isaac; +and, a foot-worn pilgrim, unattended, he sought +the kindred of his mother. And here the +mother and her favourite child parted. She +had alienated his brother to promote his interests. +She had sacrificed her integrity to +secure his fortune, and her plan had succeeded. +She had secured the object at which she had +aimed, and yet in the result she had been forced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +to send forth her darling child—a homeless +wanderer.</p> + +<p>There is no reason to believe that the mother +and the son ever met again. From this time +she disappears. Surrounded by the alienated +Esau's hated wives and ill-loved children, +separated from the child of her affection, she +may have sunk into a premature grave, or she +may have lived many sorrowful years to feel +the miseries she had drawn upon herself by her +violations of the rules of rectitude, and an +eager desire to promote the happiness of one +child at the sacrifice of that of another.</p> + +<p>There are still too many families involved in +all the bitterness of domestic strife from the +unjust partiality of one or both of the parents +for favoured children. If, as children advance +in life and their characters are formed, a +calmer feeling succeeds the trembling tenderness +which guarded their infant days, and our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +love to them (as to all other mortal beings) results +from an appreciation of their characters, +so that one may awaken a purer regard than +another, this feeling is very different from that +partial fondness which adopts one and gives +him a place in our affection to the exclusion of +another. That instinctive justice which compels +a higher regard for the purer moral worth, +will, of itself, prevent that parental partiality +which leads to injustice or to an infringement +of established rights and recognised principles. +An unjust parent presents one of the most +revolting pictures of human nature. The +character involves a disregard of the most +sacred ties and the tenderest relations. And +whoever exhibits parental injustice, or that +partial fondness which leads to injustice, at +once destroys the affections and violates the +moral sense. Families trained under such +influences, still exhibit revolting scenes of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +human depravity—of bitterness, strife, alienation +and revenge. Who can tell how much of +the estrangement of Esau, and this early introduction +of the worship of strange gods among +his descendants, may have been induced by the +conscious alienation of his mother, and the unjust +preference of the interests of his brother? +Had Rebekah, with a mother's love, striven to +win her eldest son back to his father's tent and +the altar of his God—had she still respected +his rights and preserved his regard by undeviating +truth and faithfulness, she would have +retained a strong hold upon him, and her influence +might have been long felt by her descendants, +in restraining them from the sins of those +around them.</p> + +<p>We cannot yet part with the two principal +actors in these sad scenes of treachery and deceit. +We think of Rebekah, the companion of +her blind husband—deprived of the son who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +shared and alleviated her cares, and conscious +of having awakened that bitter hate which +would seek the blood of a brother—still following +in her thoughts the footsteps of the wandering +Jacob, feeling that by her own intrigues +she had banished him from his home and her +presence.</p> + +<p>And we may follow Jacob, as he stole from +the tents of Isaac, a wanderer like the first +fugitive, with his brother's curse upon him. +Until this hour all Jacob's views and feelings +seem earthly and grovelling. Until now, there +has been no indication of that trust and piety +which afterwards marked his life. He had +seemed worldly, cunning, ready to snatch any +personal advantage. From this period he +seems to awaken to a higher—a spiritual life. +He seems to have comprehended the deeper +meaning of promise and prophecy. We cannot +tell what remorseful and despairing thoughts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +filled his soul as he left his home—how strange +and inexplicable may have seemed all the ways +of God toward him. Yet he must have felt +that, in punishment of his deceit and falsehood, +he was thus sent forth with but his scrip and +staff, while he left Esau to inherit the possessions +of his father.</p> + +<p>He had wandered until he was faint and +weary, and then he had lain himself down on +the earth, with stones for his pillow and the +heavens for the curtains of his tent. In +the silence of the night his soul was opened to +spiritual revealings—to those influences from +heaven which marked the change in his future +life. He <i>saw</i> the angels of God ascending and +descending upon him. Often before this may +they have visited him—constantly may they +have hovered over him—but now he was made +conscious of the presence, watch and interposition +of the heavenly intelligences of the higher<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +presence of the God of Abraham. From this +hour we trace a different influence pervading +the heart and life of Jacob. He was awakened +to higher motives—and from this hour he entered +into covenant with God, and took Him to +be his God.</p> + +<p>And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and +said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I +knew it not;" and he was afraid, and said, +"How dreadful is this place! This is none other +than the house of God—and this is the gate of +heaven." And Jacob rose up early in the morning, +and took the stone that he had put for his +pillow, and set it for a pillar, and poured oil upon +the top of it. "And he called the name of that +place Bethel." And Jacob vowed a vow, saying +"If God will be with me, and will keep me in the +way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and +raiment to put on, so that I come again to my +father's house in peace, then shall the Lord<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +be my God, and this stone, which I have set +for a pillar, shall be God's house, and of all +that thou shalt give me I will surely give the +tenth unto thee."</p> + +<p>The future life of Jacob was not free from +the infirmity of human purpose—the imperfection +of human nature. Yet from this time he +walked with God, and all his deportment was +marked by deep and humble piety. We doubt +not that at this period he passed through that +transforming change by which, in every age, and +under every dispensation, the human soul has +been enabled to enter into the mysteries of the +spiritual life and enjoy communion with the +Author of its existence, through that Spirit +which breathed the first breath of life by which +man became a living soul.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/image04.png" width="435" height="583" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_RIVAL_SISTERS_LEAH" id="THE_RIVAL_SISTERS_LEAH"></a>THE RIVAL SISTERS—LEAH +AND RACHEL.</h2> + + +<div class="illusCap" style="width: 186px;"> +<img src="images/chap3.gif" width="186" height="198" alt="Decorated T" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="cap">T</span>here are two characters, +which by some +associations of memory, +or caprice of +fancy, are ever blended +in our recollections—the +one of ancient, the other of modern days—the +one of sacred, the other of profane history. +Catharine of Arragon, the unloved consort +of the King of England, and Leah, the +daughter of the Syrian shepherd, the hated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +wife of the Hebrew patriarch. There may +seem to be as little assimilation of character +and destiny, as there is of condition, between +the daughter and the wife of a Syrian shepherd, +and the daughter of one of the proudest +monarchs of Spain and the wife of the haughtiest +king of England; but they were both +women, and both wives of those who loved +them not; and this fact, whatever the condition +of woman, stamps her lot as one of +wretchedness. The wife neglected and despised +is a woman sorrowful, whether she +be the inmate of a tent or the dweller in +a palace—whether she tend the flock or +grace the throne.</p> + +<p>Catharine of Arragon, the daughter of +Isabella and Ferdinand, seems a truth-loving, +devout woman, well prepared to welcome the +great principles advanced by the Reformers, +had she not been placed in circumstances<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +most adverse to their influence. Had Henry +embraced the doctrines and the principles of +the Reformation from a conviction of their +truth and importance—had he sought to +regulate his own life by the pure precepts +of the Bible, and thus striven to disseminate +a pure faith among his people—had the conscientious +Catharine been the patroness and +the friend of the Reformers, instead of the +trifling, if not guilty, Anne Boleyn—the English +church and the state of religion in the +English nation would doubtless have presented +a different history for the past, and a different +aspect for the future.</p> + +<p>But these are vain speculations. Catharine +lived and died in the Papal faith. From the +circumstances in which she was placed, she +clung to it as to her womanly honour, her +queenly dignity—as she would preserve her +name from blight, her child from shame. And<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +when she saw herself supplanted, when she +was disgraced, divorced, her child declared illegitimate, +and she knew her death was desired +by one to whom she had been a devoted, +faithful wife, what words could be more touching +than those the dramatist gives as her last +message to the king! "Tell him, his long +sorrow has passed away." Oh, none but a +wife dying thus, with the bitter consciousness +that her life was undesired and that her death +would be unregretted, can feel their full import.</p> + +<p>The bells which had tolled for Catharine +of Arragon had hardly ceased to vibrate +when the roar of the cannon announced the +execution of Anne. The one died in January, +the other was beheaded in May; and she who, +by exciting and encouraging the unholy love of +the king, had unchained his fierce passions +and taught him to break through all restraints, +was herself, full early, their victim.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p>Shall we pass from the palaces of England +to the tents of Mesopotamia—from the last +days of chivalry to those of the ancient patriarchs +and shepherds of the earliest of recorded +ages?</p> + +<p>When the wandering Jacob reached the +abode of his mother's kindred, the land of +Haran, he met, at the same fountain at which +Rebekah had watered the flocks of the messenger +of Abraham, the daughter of her brother +Laban. He had seated himself by the well, +and when the maiden came, he aided her to +water her flocks; and he was thus introduced +to his kinsmen by Rachel; and he told them that +he was the son of Rebekah, of whom, perhaps, +they had long lost the recollection; and with +all the hospitality of the East—that hospitality +which ever prevails among a simple and pastoral +people—he was welcomed by the kindred +of the mother.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> + +<p>The brother of Rebekah had two daughters. +Leah, the elder, was tender-eyed, but Rachel +was beautiful; and both sisters loved their +cousin, while the heart of Jacob clung to the +younger, the fair damsel who first welcomed +him; so that he overlooked the claims of the +elder,—the plain, if not disfigured, Leah. He +brought no offerings with him to conciliate the +favour of the father, and, according to the custom +of the East, to facilitate his marriage. But +he offered his personal service as an equivalent. +And the son of Isaac served seven years for +the daughter of Laban. But this long period +was passed; and dwelling, as Jacob did, in the +presence of Rachel, a member of the household +of her father, they seemed but as a few days, +for the love he bore her.</p> + +<p>But the time had now arrived when the marriage +should be celebrated, and Jacob claimed +his bride. But he who had wronged his bro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>ther, +who had by disguise deceived his father, +was now imposed upon by guile and treachery; +and all the hopes and expectations of these +long years were defeated. The customs of +Eastern marriages favoured the deceit, and +Jacob found that he was wedded to Leah, and +not to the object of his affection. The deceit +was most unjustifiable. The disappointment +and the resentment must have been proportionally +great; and miserable was the excuse +of Laban, and wretched the device which was +offered as an atonement. Yet Jacob must have +bowed before the retributions of an avenging +God, and the remembrance of his own treachery +may have stayed his anger.</p> + +<p>Thus commenced the family of Jacob, with +all the elements of dissension, strife and bitterness +incorporated into its very earliest existence. +The daughters of Laban both became +the wives of Jacob, and they were rivals as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +women, as sisters, as wives and as mothers—forced +to dwell together, yet ever in sullen +hatred or bitter strife. When the ties of +natural affection are severed, the heart never +ceases to bleed; and there is no hatred so deep, +so implacable as that which springs up where +hearts once knit are thus alienated and forced +asunder: and the sorrows and evils which +sprang up in the family of Jacob may have +led to that command so explicitly given by +Moses—"Neither shalt thou take a wife to +her sister to vex her, in her lifetime."</p> + +<p>The heart of Jacob never departed from +Rachel. She was the chosen bride. He loved +her with a deep and true affection, while the +forced claims of Leah awoke only the remembrance +of the deceit. In the emphatic language +of the Bible, "he loved Rachel, but he +hated Leah," and it was in accordance with +the constant exhibitions of human nature that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +it should be thus. He had never sought her +love. No love, no devotedness, could efface +the remembrance of her connivance at that +deep-laid plot which had imposed her upon +him as a wife. Yet the lot of Leah was peculiarly +a lot of reproach and trial—and as we +behold her wretchedness, we are led, not to +extenuate her fault, nor to palliate her sin, +but to forgive and pity her sorrows.</p> + +<p>In early youth the sympathies are all +awakened for the beautiful and the beloved +Rachel, the only chosen, the betrothed bride. +As we advance in years, in deeper acquaintance +with human hearts, in truer fellowship in +human suffering, we learn to feel for the plain +and hated Leah. There is something deeply +touching in the quiet sorrow which marks her +lot; in her deep consciousness of her husband's +alienation and her sister's hate. We feel how +difficult it might have seemed to resist the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +authority of the father, when it was aided by +the pleadings of her own affection and the +customs of her people. We glance into the +tents of Jacob, and contrast Leah with the +beautiful, the loved, the indulged, the self-willed +Rachel. There we see her, plain and unattractive +in person, broken in spirit, bowed down +by the consciousness of her own sin and her +husband's hate—her sister's bitter contempt—striving, +though scarce hoping, to win the +love of her husband; and welcoming the +anguish of a mother, with the fond assurance, +"Now will my husband love me, for I have +borne him a son."</p> + +<p>We follow the sisters, as, still side by side, +but with alienated hearts and estranged +affections, they depart from the tents of their +father to follow the footsteps of their husband,—Rachel +and her offspring are the first objects +of the care, as of the affection, of the patriarch.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +Yet we find Rachel, the loved and indulged +wife, more murmuring, more repining, more +fault-finding than Leah. By sorrow and +trial, Leah may have learned submission; +and the dearest earthly hopes disappointed—all +her affections as a wife crushed and despised—in +her hour of grief, and in the desolation +of a widowhood of hate, she may have +sought and found that love which never faileth, +which giveth liberally and upbraideth not.</p> + +<p>And He whose ear is ever open to the +cry of his creatures, who forgives even while +he punishes their iniquities, pitied Leah, and, +without upbraiding her for that deceit by +which she became a wife, gave her the joys +of a mother; and in all the names bestowed +upon her children, Leah at once recognises +the mercy of God, while she still remembers +that she is hated of her husband—attesting at +once her conscious sorrow and her trusting faith.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> + +<p>Rachel was childless—and when she saw +Leah rejoicing as a mother, it awoke all the +bitterness of envy. With the unreasonable +pettishness of a wife ever indulged, she reproached +her husband. For once, the anger +of Jacob was kindled against the idolized +Rachel. "Am I in God's stead?" said he. +The consciousness of being the loved and the +cherished one—the overflowing tenderness and +the ready indulgence which Rachel received, +made her only more exacting and imperious; +and while Leah seemed softened by trials +and sorrows, her sister grew more unreasonable +by indulgence, and was at once haughty +and insolent. So corrupt is human nature, +that the gratification of our desires too often +merely excites the pride and haughtiness of +the human heart, and the prosperous claim +the blessings of Heaven as a matter of right; +while it is mercifully ordained that the very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +sorrow which ever follows transgression, the +evils which await all departures from duty +and right, should, by their very tendency, +awaken repentance and lead to a penitent +and humble spirit.</p> + +<p>When the daughters of Laban left the +house of their father, either from a latent +superstition, or from a family cupidity, Rachel +stole the household gods of Laban and secreted +them; and with an art worthy of the +daughter of Laban, she prevented her father +from reclaiming them; thus paving the way +for the introduction of idolatry into the household +of Jacob. He had already introduced +polygamy by his marriage with her, and, to +secure her, and thereby gratify her rivalry +of her sister, he had multiplied his wives, +and brought upon himself still heavier sorrows +and trials. It was the beauty of Rachel +which first captivated the eye, and then en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>thralled +the heart of Jacob; and the wisest +of men, thus ensnared, are still led into sin +and folly. All the influences of Rachel upon +his heart and life seem to have been unhappy; +and the narrative shows that the strongest +passion, gratified in defiance of prudence and +previously imposed obligation, can only lead to +disappointment and vexation. The two sisters +both proved the love of the wife, in leaving all +at the command of the husband; and the God +in whom Jacob still trusted, guarded him +against all the designs of Laban, averted +the wrath of his brother, and guided him to +the land of Isaac. He had passed Jordan +with his staff and his scrip—he went out an +outcast, and a fugitive; he returned with the +train of a chief, the retinue of an Eastern +prince; and his heart swelled with thanksgiving +as he recounted the mercy and remembered +the faithfulness of Jehovah. His father<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +was still living—the nurse of Rebekah, who +so long since had left the family of Bethuel, +came to close her eyes in the tents of the +grand-daughter of her former master; but +the mother who had led her son into sin, who +had taught him to practise that deceit which +had recoiled upon himself, is not mentioned. +She, doubtless, was laid by the side of Abraham +and of Sarah, in the cave of Machpelah. +She had anticipated a short absence, a transient +separation from her son. She purposed +to send for him to return to his father, that +he might yet be heir of the estate; but when +Jacob did return in wealth and honour—yet +bearing that bitter burden of care and sorrow, +from which no honour, no wealth are +exempt,—she who would have assuredly exulted +in the one, and sympathized with the +other, was not in the tent of Isaac. She came +not forth to welcome her son, to embrace her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +relatives and daughters or caress their children. +Her place in the tent and at the board +was vacant—her voice was hushed—her heart +cold. The places that had known her, knew +her no more. And thus it often is. Before +man attains wealth or honour, those who had +most rejoiced to witness it have passed away; +while still, fair as is the outward lot, there are +internal sorrows, imbittering every pleasant +draught, and casting a shadow over all the +brightness of human existence. Thus it is that +the most prosperous are often followed by a +cloud, reflecting glory and radiance upon such +as are without, but covering with gloom and +darkness those who fall within its shadow.</p> + +<p>And soon followed the bitterest trial of +Leah's life,—the shame, sorrow, and widowhood +of her only daughter; avenged by +those who neglected to guard her—while the +husband, though indifferent to the sorrow and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +love of the wife, must have felt the anguish +of the father.</p> + +<p>And the rivalry and strife of the sisters was +over. "Give me children or else I die," was +the cry of the wife whose wishes had been +laws—and the prayer prompted by hate and +envy was answered. Yet Rachel died. And +in that hour of mortal agony, of bitter suffering, +Leah probably stood by her sister. With +affections estranged, love turned into bitterness, +with hearts alienated, but fates inseparably +united, they had passed their days. +Their tents had been pitched side by side,—the +voices of their children had been mingled +together as they fell upon their mothers' ears,—they +had been called to worship at the same +altar,—they had been members of the same +household.</p> + +<p>Forced thus to dwell together, constantly to +meet, to be familiar with the same objects, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +have the same interests, they were alienated, but +not separated; and if their feelings were crushed, +they were not all uprooted. As Leah saw her +younger, her beautiful sister in the hour of +extremity, in the agonies of a mother's sufferings, +the sympathies of a woman must +have risen with the love of a sister, and bitter +tears of repentant sorrow must she have shed +upon the pallid brow and quivering lips, as +the hopes and the memories of youth and childhood +gathered around, to reproach her for +that deceit by which she had sown their path +through mutual life with thorns, and made +their joys to be but ashes. There are no +tears so bitter as those which are shed by +affection, too late revived, over those whom +we have loved and yet injured,—over those +from whom we have suffered ourselves to be +estranged.</p> + +<p>Rachel was buried in the way to Ephrath,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +which is Bethlehem. She was not laid in the +sepulchre of Abraham. The children were left +to the fostering care of her hated sister. Her +sons passed through trials from which she could +not guard them, and they came to honours +while she knew it not. At this distance, her +life seems to us a dream—a few years of +pleasant childhood, a short vision of youthful +love,—then comes the strife of life, its +stern discipline, its bitter trials, its disappointed +hopes, and its termination in the grave.</p> + +<p>As we dwell upon the characters so truthfully +delineated in the word of God, and +follow the record of human pride, passion and +infirmity, we are taught at once to magnify +and adore the patience, the forbearance and +the mercy of Jehovah. And let us remember +that it is because these characters are reflected +in the pure mirror of truth that the dark +shades so plainly appear. In every age the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +heart of man is the same; but the temptations +which especially evince this depravity may be +peculiar to some particular age or condition.</p> + +<p>We know not how long Leah survived her +sister. Her advancing years were not exempt +from affliction, and age brings its own trials; +yet prosperity rested upon Jacob—and in the +decline of life she may have known happiness +desired, but not realized, in youth.</p> + +<p>After the death of his beloved Rachel, the +heart of Jacob may have turned to Leah, and +a peaceful friendship have succeeded the storm +and the conflicts of youthful passion. Sorrow +may have knit hearts softened by the mutual +consciousness of error and by the tears of +repentance, and strengthened by the hopes +of pardon, and drawn to each other by the +strong ties of parental love for their mutual +offspring. When the patriarch was called +into Egypt, Leah went not with him. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +had laid her in the gathering-place of his +sons, in the tent of his fathers. From the +touching expression of the dying patriarch—himself +far from the land of his fathers' sepulchres—"And +there I buried Leah," we feel +that, in age and bereavement, the heart of +Jacob turned to Leah. The repudiated wife of +his youth became the solace of his age, and her +memory awoke the last tender recollections +in the dying patriarch. As we have read the +book of God, we have been taught that good, +inordinately coveted, or obtained by injustice +and deceit, ever brings a curse. The principal +actors in the events recorded in these +chapters of Genesis, may have secured the object +which they sought, yet the attainment did +not avert or mitigate the punishment of the +treachery by which it was secured.</p> + +<p>Rebekah obtained the birth-right and the coveted +blessing for her favourite child, and by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +that act separated him from herself and +doomed him to a banishment from his father's +house, and from that hour she saw his face no +more. Laban secured by his deceit the marriage +of his unattractive daughter and the +establishment of the beautiful Rachel, but he +thus alienated the children he still seems to +have loved, and that wealth which he so +coveted.</p> + +<p>Leah, by her connivance at her father's +deceit, married the man she loved, but it was +to lead a life of bitter, of heart-consuming +sorrow. Jacob, departing from the institution +of marriage that he might yet possess Rachel, +entailed upon himself a career of strife, bitterness +and disappointment; and introduced into his +family an example that became a fruitful +source of individual depravity and national +corruption; while he first witnessed the evil +effects of his complicated domestic relations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +in the conduct of his eldest son, and felt at +once his shame as a husband and his reproach +as a father. And are not these things written +for our edification? Are we not, in every page +of God's word, taught explicitly that for man +there is neither safety nor happiness save in +the path of duty and of literal obedience? That +each departure from the rule of right, whatever +be the motive, and crowned as it may seem +to be with success, draws a long succession of sin +and sorrow in its train? Many have studied +the word of God to justify sin, or palliate +guilt, by the examples of the former dispensation. +Let it be carefully studied, and it will +show that the transgression which secured a +positive object, still brought its punishment,—if +delayed, never remitted—although successful, +never justified. The word of God never +justifies crimes, though in infinite wisdom He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +over-rules them to promote the designs of his +eternal providence.</p> + +<p>Modern days and Christian institutions allow +no examples of the exact type of the strife and +rivalry exhibited in the household of the patriarch +of Israel. Yet, while human nature remains +as it is, there will ever be the jealousies, +the strifes, the bitterness arising from misplaced +affection, or alienated hearts, or jarring interests. +There is still to be found the coquetry which +would win love from a sister or a friend, and +the treachery that would supplant the rival—as +there are still fathers who, for motives of interest, +would sacrifice their daughters, regardless +of their hearts or their happiness. Youthful +beauty still attracts the eye and wins the heart, +and the best and wisest of men are too often +enthralled by mere personal attraction.</p> + +<p>Human nature is ever the same, and the +motives and feelings which swayed the genera<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>tions +who have mouldered back to dust are +still felt and acknowledged.</p> + +<p>While we thus attempt to trace the outlines +of the domestic history of these individuals, we +cannot but feel that there is a surpassing beauty +and excellence in the character of Abraham. +He bore the fresh impress of a renovated world, +and was truly worthy of the pre-eminence which +is always allotted to him. Isaac seems to +have dwelt in quiet, peaceful prosperity. Inheriting +great wealth, dwelling until mature +age with his parents, there seem to have +been few occasions in which the prominent +traits of the character are displayed. His +life offers less of interest, less to excite, less +to praise and less to blame than either Abraham's +or Jacob's. The father's energy, patience, +faith and obedience had prepared the way for +the prosperity of the son; and Isaac, nursed in +affluence and cherished by maternal affection,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +seems to have exhibited less energy, enterprise +and decision than either his father or his descendants. +His premature blindness doubtless conduced +to this inactive life. Yet he trusted and +obeyed the God of his father, though he enjoyed +neither the exalted faith of Abraham, nor was +he favoured with the enlarged prophetic views +of Jacob.</p> + +<p>In all the trials and infirmities of Jacob—from +the day in which he left his father's +house until the hour in which "he gathered +his feet in his bed and died" in Egypt—we +see the evidence and the growth of true piety, +of enlarged faith. He was encompassed with +infirmities, and these infirmities betrayed him +into sins, which brought in their train the sorrows +which, through Divine grace, purified and +sanctified him. Thus his character excites our +increasing love and sympathy, and his advancing +piety our veneration.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<p>From the glimpses we obtain of the families +of Nahor, Bethuel, and Laban, we trace a +gradual departure from Jehovah among the +descendants of Shem. Nahor and Abraham +were possessors of like faith. They both +worshipped the God of their fathers—of Shem, +of Noah, of Methuselah, of Enoch, of Seth, of +Adam. Bethuel's household still remained a +household of faith, but in Laban we see the +beginning of a departure from the true God. +The first steps towards idolatry were taken. +There was the resort to a sensible representation,—some +image probably used as a symbol +of the true God at first, but certainly ensnaring +the heart, and ending in idolatry. Thus the +gods of Laban, which Rachel stole, were leading +him and his family rapidly to idol-worship, +and to forgetfulness of the true God. Still he +had not sunk into gross idolatry. Laban still +pledged himself, and invoked the name of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +God of Abraham and of Nahor, and of their +fathers, when he entered into covenant with +Jacob. He had not yet altogether abjured +the worship of Jehovah: he had begun to +mingle a false worship with it, and thus prepared +the way for the full apostasy of his +descendants.</p> + +<p>That the chosen people might be kept from +the taint of idolatry, Jacob left Laban; yet +Rachel had stolen her father's images—and +there is then great significance in that act +by which Jacob renewed his covenant with +God, when called upon to build the altar at +Bethel.</p> + +<p>"And Jacob said unto his household, and to +all that were with him, Put away the strange +gods that are among you and be clean, and +change your garments: and let us arise and +go up to Bethel; and I will make there an +altar unto God, who answered me in the day<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +of my distress, and was with me in the way +which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all +the strange gods which were in their hand, and +all their ear-rings which were in their ears; +and Jacob hid them under the oak which was +by Shechem."</p> + +<p>Probably the ear-rings were used as heathen +charms or amulets. While idolatry, as a leprosy, +was thus beginning to infect the household, he +saw the need of their purification; and there +seems no accidental connection between this +searching out and putting away of idolatry in +the household of Jacob and the following death +of Rachel: "With whomsoever thou findest thy +gods, let him not live."</p> + +<p>The cherished wife of Jacob, deeply tainted +with the superstitions by which her family were +corrupting the religion of Jehovah, may have +been thus removed to prevent further contagion. +While the apostle may refer to this example in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +his promise: "Nevertheless she shall be saved +in child-bearing, if she continue in the faith." +And this sin may have excluded Rachel from +the sepulchre of Abraham. The plague-spot +disappears from this time, and the purification +of the household was availing. For many +generations, whatever their other sins, the +children of Jacob were kept from idolatry.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 414px;"> +<img src="images/image05.png" width="414" height="589" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="MIRIAM" id="MIRIAM"></a>MIRIAM.</h2> + +<h4>THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN UPON THE DESTINY +AND CHARACTER OF MAN, AS EXEMPLIFIED IN +THE LIFE OF MOSES.</h4> + + +<div class="illusCap" style="width: 177px;"> +<img src="images/chap4.gif" width="177" height="197" alt="Decorated T" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="cap">T</span>here were designs of +infinite wisdom to be +accomplished by the +long sojourn of the +children of Jacob in +Egypt. The people of +Israel were appointed +to guard the name and worship of Jehovah, +until He who was to bring life and immortality +to light should rise from among them. Until +the "Star" that was to come from Jacob should +shed its glorious radiance over this darkened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +earth. When all the children of men were departing +from God, He chose this family to +perpetuate the memory of his works and his +mighty acts in preserving the first history of +the race, and to prepare the way for the fulfilment +of the designs of infinite mercy toward +a sinful and apostate world. By miracles and +judgments, by type and prophecy, by altars +and sacrifices, he kept before this people the +mysterious promise given in the hour of transgression.</p> + +<p>From this family was to descend him who +was to be the light of the Gentiles, and the +glory of Israel, him who was at once the Almighty +Saviour, the everlasting Father, the +wonderful Counsellor, the man of sorrows and +acquainted with grief, who bore our sickness, +and took upon himself our iniquities. And +while from the family of Israel that high +spiritual influence was to emanate, which was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +to renovate men's moral nature and change +the aspect and condition of the race, restoring +the knowledge of the true God; and again, +through the great atoning sacrifice, opening the +gates of eternal life and bringing spiritual blessings +to all mankind,—the character of the children +of Israel, their civil institutions, their +legislation, their history, their laws, their literature, +were to leave their impress upon all +the nations of the earth.</p> + +<p>The apostle accounts it the chief honour of +the Jews that unto them were committed the +oracles of God. They were employed to transcribe +and preserve the inspired books. From +them went forth those who first announced the +great truths of a Saviour crucified and a Comforter +promised. For successive ages the nation +of Israel stood surrounded by the heathen +world,—stood the witnesses of the faithfulness +of Jehovah, the monuments of his truth and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +power, the only nation upon the face of this +earth who worshipped the true God.</p> + +<p>Thick moral darkness shrouded all other +lands—the nation of Israel alone had light in +their dwellings, and the beams of the rising Sun +of righteousness fell upon them and revealed +the gross darkness around them.</p> + +<p>And he who had chosen the people of Israel +for such a high purpose, in infinite wisdom devised +the means to fit them for their destination, +and he guided and guarded them in each +stage of their national existence. Egypt was +one of the first kingdoms founded after the +deluge, and it is probable that those who repeopled +it after this event, had retained many +impressions of the former world. Her monuments, +yet remaining, attest the high antiquity +of her arts and sciences, and her early advancement +in refinement and civilization.</p> + +<p>Her priests and wise men were the instruct<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>ors +of the ancient world, and the philosophers +of Greece resorted to Egypt to study legislation +and philosophy, and Egypt imparted to Greece, +and Greece to Rome, the arts and sciences by +which they refined and elevated Europe.</p> + +<p>God designed Egypt to be the nursery of the +nation of Israel. The granary of the ancient +world offering abundant sustenance, he brought +Jacob and his sons into it as one family, and +here they remained until they multiplied and +increased, and became like the stars of heaven +for number; and He who led them into Egypt +ordained all the events of their national history +so as to promote his own eternal plans.</p> + +<p>The patriarch led his children, with their +flocks and herds,—the wealth of a pastoral people,—into +this land as the invited guests of Pharaoh, +the monarch of Egypt. And as he bowed +before the king, the aged patriarch taught him +at once the brevity of man's life and the un<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>satisfying +nature of all earthly enjoyments, as +recalled at the close of a long pilgrimage: +"Few and evil have been the days of the years +of my pilgrimage." Pharaoh received the aged +man with respect, and showed him all honour; +while in consideration of the pastoral habits of +his sons, a portion of land, separate from the +Egyptians, was allotted them for a place of +abode. Thus they were kept a distinct, unmingled +people, and enabled to maintain their +own peculiar institutions, practise the rites of +their own religion, and preserve the worship of +the God of Abraham. And in all the oppression +which they here sustained, we do not find +that their religion was ever persecuted or their +rites forbidden. And as Egypt was the cradle +of the nation of Israel, so it was to be the school +in which the children of Jacob were to form a +national character. The wandering, pastoral +tribes, transformed into an agricultural people<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +and settled residents, and instructed in the arts +of civilized life, were fitted to take possession +of the allotted heritage. After fostering their +infancy and feebleness, the monarchs of Egypt +gradually changed their course as the increasing +numbers of the Israelites excited jealous +apprehension. Yet all this varying policy and +every cruel edict advanced the designs of Jehovah +and promoted the welfare of his chosen +people. The cruelty of the Egyptians alienated +the hearts of the Israelites from the nation +and from the land of Egypt, and kept freshly +before them the remembrance of the inheritance +promised. While considered as strangers, +treated as aliens, and surrounded by enemies, the +bonds of brotherhood were more closely drawn, +and they clung together, a distinct and separate +people.</p> + +<p>The tribes were one nation. While the +people of Israel were oppressed, they were not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +enslaved. They were tributary, but not reduced +to personal bondage. They dwelt together +in that portion of Egypt assigned to +them. They spoke their own language. They +seem to have regulated their internal affairs by +their own elders. They maintained their own +worship. Their family relations were unbroken. +They must have amassed riches, for they +brought great wealth out of Egypt, as the offerings +at the tabernacle show—and although +in part this may have been received from the +restitution which the conscience-smitten Egyptians +offered upon their departure, all could not +have been thus derived. The whole narrative +of the Israelites shows that they were rich in +silver and gold, and possessed much cattle. +Yet all their property was personal—they owned +no land. And much of the tribute was, doubtless, +exacted as rent, paid by many in personal +labour; and while they thus erected, perhaps,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +the proudest monuments of Egyptian art by +this enforced labour, they were acquiring the various +knowledge needful to a nation; while their +very task-masters, by compelling them to acquire +the habits of industry, to which a pastoral +people are always averse, were school-masters, +needful though harsh, teaching them to develop +their energies and forcing them to exercise +patience and to acquire skill.</p> + +<p>Learning and wisdom have departed from +Egypt. She has long been the basest of kingdoms. +The race of the Pharaohs has passed +away. She has been for ages governed by +slaves. Temple and palace are in ruins. Her +tombs, sacred and precious, have been pillaged; +And the bones of her great and noble ones, her +priests and kings, feed the fire by which the +wandering Arab prepares his food. Yet many +monuments of her ancient arts remain, interesting +as attesting her power, grandeur, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +high advancement in civilization, and still more +valuable as corroborating the sacred history +and throwing light on many passages of the +inspired word,—at once showing the former residence +of the Israelites in Egypt, the close +connection of these ancient people, and affording +proofs of that wisdom which selected Egypt +for the cradle and school of the chosen race.</p> + +<p>The Egyptians, gradually after the flood, +lost the knowledge of Jehovah and departed +from his worship.</p> + +<p>At the time Joseph married the daughter of +the priest of On, the Egyptians could not have +sunk into that gross idolatry which contrasted +so strangely with their wise legislation and +scientific attainments; and their priests are +supposed to have concealed, under mystic +symbols, mysterious truths, which they imparted +to the initiated, while they taught a grosser +system to the common mind. While in Egypt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +the Israelites seem never to have been exposed +to the debasing immoralities which prevailed +among the nations around the promised land.</p> + +<p>The children of Jacob sojourned in the land of +Ham four hundred years. When Jehovah called +his people out of Egypt they were fitted to receive +the laws and institutions which he designed +to give them, and to take the high position he +assigned them among the nations of the earth. +And lest, during their long sojourn in the wilderness, +they should lose the arts of civilized +life, they were employed in the construction of +the tabernacle. By the minute enumeration +of all that was required for the completion of +this work, we see that the erection involved an +extensive acquaintance with the mechanical +arts, and of those, too, which indicate a high +degree of advancement in the luxuries of +polished life. Thus the generation born in the +wilderness were instructed, and preserved from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +degenerating into mere shepherds, hunters, or +warriors. The restless were occupied, and the +work proved a bond of union for the whole people, +exciting the interest and employing the +energies of all the different classes of the great +multitude.</p> + +<p>The long ages of the sojourn of the children +of Jacob were drawing to a close. The iniquity +of the Canaanites was now full; the children +of Israel were prepared to be numbered among +the nations of the earth; and the events dictated +by the craft and policy of men were ordained +to promote the infinite designs of Jehovah. +For four hundred years the descendants +of Jacob had dwelt in Goshen. From a pastoral +they were already become an agricultural +people; they had learned to prize the comforts +of an established life, of quiet, peaceful homes, +of pleasant places of abode. Dwelling in the +richest portion of Egypt, protected from all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +foreign aggression, they there enjoyed abundance, +peace, and prosperity, to which their wanderings +in the desert furnished a sad contrast.</p> + +<p>The policy of Egypt had excluded the Israelites +from her crimes. The energy, the love of +change and adventure, which a martial life imparts, +were unfelt; and had not oppression +driven the Israelites from Egypt, the promise +of that goodly land destined for their race had +hardly induced the nation to leave their present +abundance and protection. Thus, by the +various dispensations of his providence, Jehovah +was at once preparing a guide, leader, +ruler, and future lawgiver for his people, while +by the continued vexation, oppression, and +cruelty of the Egyptian rulers, he was suffering +them to alienate the affections of the children +of Jacob from a country which had become the +native land of the Israelites, which was the +birth-place of generation after generation.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> + +<p>At the time Miriam, the sister of Moses, appears +before us, the children of Israel had +reached the fourth generation. A family had +become a nation, a people in the bosom of another, +dwelling together, distinct, separate, too +numerous to be easily or safely held in subjection, +too valuable as tributaries to be relinquished. +Thus to hold them safely in bondage +and to prevent their further increase, it became +the settled policy of Egypt to oppress and degrade +them. As their jealous apprehensions +were at length awakened, by a policy as profound +as it was cruel, the Egyptian monarchs +endeavoured, in destroying the sons of this people, +to force the daughters of Israel to intermarry +with their oppressors, that they might +obtain the wealth of the sons of Jacob, while +the name and memory of his family would be +swept from the earth. Yet dwelling, as the +Israelites did, in a separate province, it was not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +easy for Pharaoh to find those who would execute +his purposes; and the first efforts to cut +off the race of the chosen, failed. He was +however so intent upon their extermination, that +he did not hesitate to direct that all the male +children of the Israelites should be cast into +the river as soon as they were born.</p> + +<p>While there were so many to court the favour +of the monarch and ever ready for the darkest +deeds, how could the sons of the Hebrews now +escape? When Moses was born, his mother +hid him three months; and when concealment +was no longer possible, she sought for the babe +a strange place of safety—in the very element +which was indicated for its destruction. The +slender ark is framed by the mother's hands, +and deposited among the flags on the bank +of the Nile. The morning was perhaps dawning, +and the sky yet gray, when the anxious +mother withdrew.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> + +<p>In a few hours after, the chant of the boatmen +is suddenly hushed, and the passing labourers +shroud their heads in token of reverence, as, +surrounded by her attendants, the daughter of +Pharaoh approaches the river. The slight ark, +with its precious burden, floating among the +reeds, attracts her eye, and, as her maidens +draw it from the water, the wail of the desolate +infant strikes her ear.</p> + +<p>"The babe wept"—and full fountains of +womanly tenderness were broken up in the +heart of the princess of Egypt. "This is one +of the Hebrew children," said she; and as she +drew him from the waves, she resolved to save +and adopt the child.</p> + +<p>Miriam, the sister, had lingered near to +watch, if not to save the child. We may fancy +the Hebrew maiden at a little distance, eagerly +bending forward, and gazing with intense and +breathless interest. And when the princess<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +announces her intention to protect the infant, +in all the gladness of childhood she bounds +forward, and, mingling with the royal train, +asks, "Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the +Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child +for thee?" And Pharaoh's daughter said unto +her, "Go;" and the maid went and brought the +child's mother!</p> + +<p>Thus had the God of Israel overruled all the +designs of evil to his people, by providing in the +very family of Pharaoh a shelter and a home +for the child—doomed by the impious monarch +to destruction—but designed by Jehovah to +be the saviour of his people. He who was thus +drawn from the water was the ordained deliverer, +guide, legislator, and prophet of Israel.</p> + +<p>As Jehovah had appointed him to this high +vocation, he not only guarded his life, thus +threatened, but made the instruments intended +for the extermination of the race the means of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +the full accomplishment of all its mysterious +destiny.</p> + +<p>The child thus adopted into the royal family +was not only saved from death, but was thus +placed under influences most propitious for the +attainment of all the various knowledge which +could fit him for the high station to which he was +destined. That helpless infant was not only to +be the deliverer of Israel, but by his political institutions, +his legislative enactments, his moral +precepts, his inspired teachings, he was to +mould the character of his own people, and to +influence other nations down through all coming +ages. High was the honour allotted him as +the deliverer and the lawgiver of Israel—still +higher that as the prophet of the Lord. He +was the promulgator of the great moral laws +of the universe, originally engraven on the +hearts of men, but now so effaced by sin as to +be scarcely legible;—he was to establish those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +institutions which were to perpetuate the name +and the worship of Jehovah among the children +of men; and that memorial which, by a long line +of types and sacrifices, was at once to prefigure +and prepare for the great atoning sacrifice, offered +for a lost world.</p> + +<p>Of all the fallen sons of Adam, none were +ever destined to a station of more arduous responsibility, +of more extensive and long-continued +influence than that appointed to this +Hebrew infant; and He who had marked out his +destiny ordained the means which were to prepare +him for it. Transplanted into the family of +Pharaoh, he was there instructed in all the "wisdom +of the Egyptians," and Egypt (as we know) +was the fountain of ancient learning, science, +and philosophy. While Jehovah communicated +by direct inspiration to Moses, yet the mind of +the ruler and leader of Israel had been prepared +by that instruction which develops the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +capacity, expands the mind, and enlarges the +apprehension to receive and understand the institutions +Jehovah gave his people, and he was +thus enabled to co-operate with an enlightened +mind in all the designs of God. But if the +schools of Egypt imparted that intellectual attainment, +mental discipline and knowledge of +legislation in its various forms, so necessary for +the lawgiver, there were other influences which +were needful for the perfection of the character. +There was a knowledge higher and holier than +that ever taught by priests or Grecian philosophers,—a +wisdom beyond that of the Egyptians, +"the knowledge of the Lord," the God of his +fathers, and the first great truths of religion +should be breathed into the soul in the whispers +of parental love. The earthly parent should +lead the child to the feet of the great Creator.</p> + +<p>And then in the formation of a character +which was to leave its impress upon all future<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +ages to the close of time, the affections were to +be cultivated, the sympathies awakened, and all +that is pure and kind and elevated in the nature +of man drawn forth. And where is the +influence which so gently moulds the character, +refining, softening, and elevating it, as the affectionate, +intelligent sister? As a man advances +in life, the continual influence and association +of virtuous and accomplished women is +felt in all the relations he is called to sustain.</p> + +<p>We see in the various circumstances of the +life of Moses a Divine recognition of the value +of the family relation and of the importance +of the influence of women in the formation of +character.</p> + +<p>Before Moses was admitted to the schools of +Egyptian learning, before he was exposed to the +snares and the splendours of a court, before he +was called to a throne, he had learned lessons +of the deepest wisdom from the lips of his pa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>rents. +One higher than the royal of earth +spoke through the princess, when she said, +"Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will +give thee wages." And faithfully did the mother +fulfil her charge. She strove to imbue the soul +of her child with living faith, while upon that +infant heart she impressed the maxims of +eternal truth—she imparted those lessons of +trust and confidence, and inculcated that deep +conviction of the power of truth, which led the +man, by the grace of God, in the prime and +flush of life, to refuse to be called the son of +Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer +affliction with the people of God than to enjoy +the pleasures of sin for a season.</p> + +<p>Had that mother been unfaithful to her high +trust, had she infused into that infant heart lessons +of ambition and worldliness, he had perhaps +failed in the hour of trial, and another had led +the tribes of Israel to the chosen land. A little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +band guarded Moses; the princess of Egypt, +the mother of Moses, and his sister Miriam. +Each one exerted her peculiar influence upon +his character, while his future destiny attested +the varied power of these influences and their +relative value.</p> + +<p>As the saviour of the young Hebrew, as his +protectress and adopted mother, the daughter +of Pharaoh had a large claim upon him, and to +her he was indebted for many of those high attainments +which fitted him for his office. The +slight incidental notices of the daughter of +Pharaoh give us a delightful impression of her +character.</p> + +<p>There is something higher and nobler than a +princess. She was a true woman, filled with all +the quiet sympathies and kind affections of +her sex, and possessing an energy and a persevering +constancy which led her to fulfil her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +generous purposes, and made her impulses bear +the fruits of benevolent action.</p> + +<p>Such women show what women should be, +and such women in all ages make the influence +of their characters to be felt. To her fostering +care Moses owed life and advancement, education, +honour, the standing of a prince, the +polish and the refinement of the court. She +proved her appreciation of knowledge, and we +may well infer her own cultivated intelligence +from the care with which she provided for the +instruction of her charge. She showed that she +could feel and that she cherished all the sympathies +of domestic love, by providing for their +indulgence, by allowing their continuance, and +yielding to their claims, even though she was a +princess of Egypt, the daughter of the haughty +Pharaoh, and her adopted child belonged to a +race studiously oppressed, degraded, and exposed +to all contumely, and while, doubtless,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +she was no stranger to the prejudices which led +her countrymen to look upon the sons of Israel +as an outcast and despicable race. Still the +bonds of national affection, of kindred and +brotherhood, were all respected. The whole +narrative shows that Moses was never alienated +from his family, never taught to forget that he +was a Hebrew. His patroness felt that there +were holy ties never to be disregarded nor +trampled upon.</p> + +<p>And while the princess of Egypt surrounded +her infant charge with right influences, while +she provided wisely for his intellectual culture, +she likewise brought the influence of her own +personal character to bear upon him. The influence +of a pure woman, who unites refinement to +intelligence, and adds to them the polish of the +court without its corruption, would be as powerful +as it would be salutary, and when to the higher +qualities, mental and moral, the polished refine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>ment +and graceful attention to all the proprieties +of life are imparted, a high finish is given +to the character. Nor was that acquired grace +and courtly manner a thing of frivolous import. +It exerted an important influence upon the future +destiny of the individual. The successful +leaders of great multitudes have often owed almost +as much to that high bearing and dignified +demeanour which should be the distinct badge of +those who are numbered with the great, as to +their skill and discernment; and while treated +in the court of Pharaoh as a scion of royalty, +the young Hebrew acquired that air of conscious +authority to which inferior minds always +defer. He gained there that knowledge +of courtly splendour and gayety which forced +in him the conviction of their perfect insufficiency +for the high demands of the spiritual +nature, and that knowledge of the heart of man +and its depraved qualities most needful to one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +who was at once to lead and control a multitude, +and who was to stand before kings as the +envoy of Jehovah.</p> + +<p>The Israelites never seem to have entered +the Egyptian armies. It would have been contrary +to the policy of the kings either to +have encouraged a martial spirit or to have +placed arms in the hands of this multitude; yet +as one of the family of Pharaoh, Moses led the +armies of Egypt. And needful it was that the +future leader of Israel should be well instructed +in all the tactics of war—should understand all +the providing for, the ordering, and the encamping +of vast hosts. It was perhaps only by arduous +military service that he could have developed +that capacity indicated by the vast skill +with which an army of six hundred thousand +men, encumbered with their wives and little +ones, could be encamped in regular order, +whether marching or resting. Ever desiring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +peace and acting on the defensive, yet ready +to repel aggression, for forty years the nation +of Israel were encamped as the hosts of an +army. Each tribe with its own banner, marching +and countermarching, taking down and +putting up their tents, with all the skill and +regularity of a disciplined army, and often engaged +in actual warfare. He who could thus +order and regulate such a host must have possessed +the skill and science of the general. +While the habits of long command, added to +the consciousness of authority and Divine reliance, +enabled him to prevent or control turbulent +outbreaks.</p> + +<p>While the legislator of Israel owed so much +to the fostering care of the daughter of Pharaoh +in preparing him for his high destination, +we cannot but feel a deep interest in her who so +unconsciously contributed toward an influence +and prepared an instrumentality quite adverse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +to the apparent interests of her people. We +cannot but hope that, while she thus hastened +the accomplishment of promise and prediction, +she was herself led to the knowledge and worship +of Israel's God.</p> + +<p>Might not one who thus adopted the brother, +encircle in her affection the sister whose affectionate +entreaty gave the babe a mother for its +nurse? The fraternal affection which marks the +family seems to indicate more than occasional +intercourse. Between Miriam and her brother +there was that sympathy which always results +from an intimate association. The princess of +Egypt may have imparted to Miriam many of +the accomplishments of the courtly circle, for we +find that she was skilled in music, that she led +the dance; while, in return, Miriam may have +imparted that higher knowledge and those deep +truths of which her people were the appointed +conservators, and the daughter of Pharaoh may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +have tasted the blessings which were held in +trust for future ages.</p> + +<p>Miriam was the only sister of Moses, and she +first appears as watching the fate of that child +in whose destiny all the ages and all the nations +of earth were to have an interest. The tender +care which watched the cradle on the Nile continued +through life, and from the day Moses was +saved, down to the day when Miriam died in the +wilderness, she seems ever associated with her +brothers in all their efforts and designs. The +influence of the sister is peculiarly her own. +It is felt in early life in its softening, refining, +and purifying tendency—in diverting opening +manhood from rude sports or gross pursuits to +the enjoyments of a more elevated and pure nature, +and shedding a charm around the pleasures +of home; while, if no other ties intervene, the +bonds of affection grow stronger with each successive +year.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> + +<p>We cannot trace the course of Miriam's life. +She appears before us for a season and then we +lose sight of her for many years. She may +have passed them in the retirement and obscurity +of her rural home in the land of Goshen. +She may have been counted in the train of the +princess of Egypt and shone in the court of +Pharaoh. Princes may have flattered her and +nobles sued for her love. She seems never to +have married,—yet her heart may have had its +own history of love, perhaps unrequited, disappointed, +or sacrificed at the altar of prudence, +of conscience, or, it may be, ambition. +Oh what a tale of suffering and of enjoyment +would the history of one human heart present, +if faithfully recorded!</p> + +<p>Years had passed: childhood was gone—youth +was fleeing. The brother had attained +a high distinction in the court of Egypt. He +had tasted the pleasures of wisdom and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +enjoyments of science and knowledge, while, as +the adopted child of Pharaoh's daughter, he +stood before the people, the prospective heir to +the crown.</p> + +<p>Thus, in the prime of life, endowed with the +richest gifts of mind and the attractions of +manly beauty, adding the polish of the courtier +to the wisdom of the philosopher—and all the +adventitious advantages of royal birth received +by his adoption—there lay before the young +Hebrew a bright vista of prospective glory +and honour and earthly happiness.</p> + +<p>But not to sit on the throne of Egypt had +Jehovah raised this child of the chosen people +from the death designed by their oppressor. +Not to fit him for the throne of Egypt had he +surrounded him with all that was propitious to +intellectual and moral attainments and guided +and watched each step of his course from his +infancy.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> + +<p>Deep and inscrutable must have seemed the +designs of Jehovah, as, when all was brightest, +the dark clouds gathered around this favoured +son of the Hebrews, and all the promise and purpose +of his saved life seemed defeated. The +hour of trial came—probably, as it generally +comes, suddenly and unexpectedly. It was the +hour which was to test his principles and prove +his faith. The hour in which all the allurements +of sense, the gratification of ambition, +and (it may have seemed) the claims of grateful +affection, were brought into conflict with the +stern claims of duty and principle, and in this +hour he did not fail. He chose rather to suffer +affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy +the pleasures of sin for a season. He refused +to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. +His choice was made. He abjured the throne +and left the court. What disappointment must +have fallen upon hearts who had looked to his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +exaltation as a pledge of good for his race, and +who saw in his downfall the prolonged dominion +of tyranny and persecution!</p> + +<p>Yet Moses was not permitted to remain in +peace, although he had sunk into obscurity. +He who was to lead the hosts of Israel through +the great and terrible wilderness—who was to +endure toil, labours, and privation, needed the +nerve, the hardihood, the physical training, +which could not be gained in the luxurious +courts of the Pharaohs, or in the quiet, and, +doubtless, comfortable and abundant homes of +the husbandmen of Goshen. Amid the enjoyments +of home, the pleasures of study, he need +not have regretted the loss of a throne.</p> + +<p>For many years he, who had been trained in +luxury and elegance, led the flocks of Jethro, +and knew all the privations and the endurances +of the shepherd in the desert. And while his +frame was thus hardened and invigorated, while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +he learned to forego pleasure and endure bodily +toil, his soul was nourished by solitary meditation +and high communion with God. The philosopher +can find instruction and interest in the +works of creation, but only he who adds the +adoration of the worshipper to the wisdom of +the philosopher is prepared to study the works +of Jehovah aright.</p> + +<p>What deep thought, what high imaginings, +what profound reverence must have filled the +soul of the Hebrew shepherd as he watched the +stars in the silence and loneliness of the desert. +As he sat, a solitary and banished man, under +the shadow of the rocks of the wilderness, how +strange, how incomprehensible must have +seemed the events of his past life. The visions +of his youth, the splendour and warlike pomp +of the army or the pageant of courts, must +have come over his soul like a dream. Even +to us how strange seems this long sojourn in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +the wilderness, this enforced inactivity and apparent +uselessness. Yet the God of Israel was +promoting his own designs both among his people +and in the heart of him who was to be their +leader—weaning them from their place of +abode, and preparing them for their departure, +and fitting Moses to be their leader, guide, ruler, +and lawgiver. Each dispensation of his providence, +each passing occurrence, all the +thoughts, the emotions, the solitary meditations, +the reverential communion, the occasional intercourse +with the few dwellers of the desert,—like +the strokes, slight and almost imperceptible +in their effect, which the block receives +from the hand of the sculptor,—all were fitting +the apparently exiled Hebrew for his high vocation +as a prophet and legislator.</p> + +<p>And it is often thus. For many years may +Jehovah be preparing his instruments for that +event to which he destines them, and which they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +may then speedily accomplish. Yet this work in +the soul, by which man is prepared to co-operate +with his Maker, is silent, unseen, unmarked, so +that often we may account this time as lost. +And man, ignorant of his future destiny, and +of the state to which he is to be called, will +ever find it his true wisdom carefully to fulfil +the present duty and to aim at deriving instruction +and benefit from each dispensation of +Divine providence, and from the ordering of +each event of his life.</p> + +<p>In the careful provision made for the training +of Moses, in the various instrumentalities +used to prepare him for his appointed trust, we +are taught that by no miraculous intervention +does God supersede the necessity of the improvement +of the faculties he has bestowed. +The more enlightened the understanding, the +more the powers of reason are cultivated, the +more intelligently can man serve his Creator,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +and the more entirely does he co-operate in the +designs of Infinite Wisdom. God does not bestow, +by direct inspiration, that wisdom or knowledge +which is to be gained by the diligent cultivation +of the natural faculties, to save man +the fatigue and labour of the acquirement. +Those upon whom he has most richly bestowed +the gifts of spiritual wisdom have been most +careful to cultivate their natural endowments.</p> + +<p>Both Paul and Moses were learned before +they were inspired, but God did not supersede +the use of the powers of the mind by the higher +gift of the Spirit. The providential dealings +of God are adapted to the laws of the human +mind, and in the government of his creatures he +never violates the principles which he has established.</p> + +<p>The occupation of the shepherd was at +length to be abandoned. By oppression and +suffering and ignominious exactions, the chil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>dren +of Israel were prepared to leave their +homes—the land in which they had dwelt for +centuries—and venture across the sea and into +the desert. When we remember that husbandry +had been the national occupation, when we consider +how strong is the instinct which binds man +to the land of his birth and the graves of his +fathers, and how strong is that bond which attaches +one to the spot he has cultivated, to the +land he has ploughed and sowed and reaped, +we cannot wonder at the coercion needful to +rouse a people whose energies were all depressed, +and who had been held in check and +kept stationary for ages.</p> + +<p>But the people were ready to depart. The oppression +of Pharaoh had prepared the way for +the display of the Divine faithfulness and power. +Jehovah sent his ambassador from the desert to +the court of the King of Egypt, to demand their +freedom. During his long exile, most who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +known Moses in his early days, had passed away; +and the few that were left would hardly recognise +in the shepherd of the desert, with his staff for +his badge of office—bearing the marks of toil +and exposure, of deep thought and solitary +meditation—the young and gallant prince, the +courtier and the warrior of former days. She +who had cherished him had probably been laid +in the tomb of her royal race, and the name and +the memory of Moses may have been forgotten +in the palace and the court. Yet there he +stood, before the throne which might have been +his seat, the ambassador of the King of kings, +bearing the stern message of Jehovah—"Let +my people go, that they may hold a feast unto +me in the wilderness." Yet wo after wo was +denounced and executed—pledge after pledge +given and violated—and not until one long wail +over the dead and dying resounded through +the land were the children of Israel permitted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +to leave the land of Egypt. The loss of three +millions of subjects, of their labour, their tribute, +and the removal of all their personal property, +would weaken and impoverish the kingdom. +Every motive of policy and pride urged +the monarch to resist the demand, and thus he +suffered the penalty due to his contumelious defiance +of the God of Israel, while the judgments +inflicted upon him strengthened the faith of the +Israelites. The expulsion of the Moors and +of the Jews from Spain, the banishment of the +Huguenots from France, furnish similar though +not parallel cases, in modern ages; and these +show that the loss of peaceful, industrious subjects +to a kingdom is like taking the life-blood +from the system. Centuries have passed, yet +these nations have not recovered—and thus +Egypt must long have felt her loss.</p> + +<p>After the tribes of Israel had passed through +the Red Sea, the sister of Moses again appears<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +before us. When he poured forth that chant +of triumphant thanksgiving—the oldest song of +nations—Miriam gave a response worthy of the +sister of the leader of the hosts encamped before +the Lord. With timbrel she led the daughters +of Israel in the dance. And well might the +prophetess of Israel teach the dance of ancient +Egypt to the daughters of her people on +this occasion. The representations preserved +in painting and sculpture show that this was +not the gay and voluptuous movement of +modern days, but rather a succession of graceful +gestures, regulated by music, expressive of +joy and emotion. Thus the maidens of Israel +offered praise and adoration; nor was it unseemly +in the warlike monarch of after ages +thus to worship before the ark of the Lord, although +his pious act provoked the ridicule of +the daughter of Baal.</p> + +<p>From this time until the day of her death, Mi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>riam +is found co-operating with her brothers in +their designs and efforts. However the earlier +years of her life had passed, she had attained +to a high distinction among her people. While +she seems to have neither claimed nor exerted +authority, her rank and position, in her sphere, +were as well defined and as elevated as that of +her brothers. Throughout the whole narrative +we find proofs of the high consideration with +which she was regarded.</p> + +<p>While in early life her influence as a sister had +refined and softened the rudeness and roughness +of their boyhood and youth, and similar +associations with the brothers in mature years +had enlarged her mind and imparted intelligence +and strength to her understanding.</p> + +<p>During the long sojourn in the wilderness, +Miriam, "the prophetess of Israel," was probably +the counsellor of the mothers and the +instructress of the daughters of her people;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> +while between the sister and the brothers +there ever seems to have subsisted the most +tender, confidential friendship.</p> + +<p>But, alas for imperfect woman! There was a +time in which the dark passions and malignant +tempers of our evil nature so triumphed in the +hearts of Miriam and Aaron, that they arrayed +themselves against Moses. The dissension which +troubled the camps of their leaders threatened +to spread and involve the multitude of Israel in +all the evils of rebellion and civil war.</p> + +<p>During his exile, Moses had married the +daughter of the priest of Midian. The descendant +of Abraham, Jethro was a worshipper of +the God of his fathers, and we have recorded +proofs of his piety and wisdom. Yet the marriage +of Moses was not apparently in accordance +with the views either of his brother or sister. +There is a selfish tenderness sometimes exhibited, +which leads the dependent mother or single<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +sister to regard with jealousy one who claims a +closer tie, and Miriam may not have been free +from the infirmities of weaker natures. Yet the +notices, slight as they are, of the "Ethiopian" +woman, perhaps impress few minds favourably; +and we cannot but feel that in herself she may +not have been all that the friends of the lawgiver +of Israel could have wished in a wife. +Bred in the seclusion of the wilderness, she was +probably deficient both in the intelligence and the +accomplishments which distinguished Miriam. +And Miriam and Aaron seem at last to have +cherished feelings of bitterness toward their +sister-in-law, which were fast extending to the +brother himself.</p> + +<p>They evidently disliked the foreigner. They +may have compared the toil-worn daughter +of Midian with the high-bred maidens of Egypt, +who in former days would have welcomed the +addresses of one numbered with the princes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +of Egypt, or with the daughters of his own +people, as offering an alliance more worthy +the ruler of Israel; and Miriam, elevated by +the distinction conferred upon her as the prophetess +of Israel, conscious of superiority in all +feminine accomplishments, seems to have forgotten +the love of a sister and to have lost the +humility befitting a woman. Domestic bitterness +was fast preparing the way for political +disaffection, and the dark clouds which had +gathered around the tents of the leaders threatened +to burst upon the whole camp of Israel.</p> + +<p>Then Jehovah himself interposed. As the principal +offender, the prophetess of Israel was publicly +rebuked before all the congregation of the +Lord; and then, as a leper, expelled from the +camp, shut out from all human associations, in +shame and solitude, Miriam, diseased and suffering, +lay for seven days. In this time she +doubtless humbled herself and repented of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +sin. Yet, during this interval, the vast multitude +showed their respect by remaining stationary; +and while Aaron confessed their sin, Moses +interceded for his faulty, erring, but still be +loved sister.</p> + +<p>If the conduct and fault of Miriam are to be +censured and deplored, it is to be confessed +that it was not peculiar to the sister of the +leaders of the hosts of the Lord. Women +of later ages, conscious of intellectual superiority, +elevated by position, or merely distinguished +by usefulness, have sometimes been +proud enough to despise the inferior of their +own sex, and to arrogate to themselves the +power allotted to man; and their awakened +pride and vanity have introduced strife and +confusion into the counsels of those who were +appointed to guide the people of God.</p> + +<p>There is meaning in this record of the faults +of those whose hearts had been, from infancy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +to age, knit together. While God has implanted +the natural and domestic affections, they are +still to be guarded, cherished, and cultivated. +The jealousies, the petty strifes of domestic +life, the little dislikes, the unguarded tempers +of those who dwell together, have sometimes +alienated hearts that have been united from +childhood. The love that has grown strong by +the mutual endurance of oppression, toil, privation, +and danger, has been turned to gall by the +infusion of the constant droppings of domestic +strife. Pure, unselfish love is the spontaneous +growth of a holy heart. It must be nurtured +and tended, or it will wither and die in our +corrupt nature.</p> + +<p>The afflictions and punishments which harden +the hearts of those who reject God, bring such +as love his laws and character to submission +and penitence. Miriam was restored to her +former usefulness, probably better fitted for her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +high position, while the hearts of the brothers +seem united anew to each other and to her; +and the authority of Moses, vindicated by God, +was strengthened by his own forbearing love and +disinterested gentleness. And from thenceforth, +while a due subjection was observed, there +seems to have been an entire co-operation +between them.</p> + +<p>Miriam died in the wilderness of Zin, and +the brothers buried her. There is a peculiar +sadness in this separation, occurring, as it +evidently did, not long before the close of their +various pilgrimages.</p> + +<p>As we follow the inspired narrative, we are +naturally impressed by the care with which +Jehovah selects and prepares those whom He +intends as the instruments of advancing the +welfare of his people and his own glory; and +while this may be more clearly traced in the +case of the highly distinguished legislator and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +prophet of Israel, we may be assured that it +extends not less certainly to the lowest and the +humblest.</p> + +<p>The influences by which the lawgiver of Israel +was so early surrounded, we are willing to accept +as a divine attestation to the power and +value of female culture in the formation of the +character.</p> + +<p>Three women are brought distinctly before +us, as connected with the early history of +Moses. The mother's high duty and privilege it +was (as it ever is) to instil into his opening +mind those great truths and first principles +which are at the foundation of all excellence. +Had the nurse of Moses been an Egyptian +idolatress, the character of the man had doubtless +been very different. While Moses owed +all his worldly advancement to the princess of +Egypt, he derived other advantages from being +brought under the familiar influence of one who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +preserved, amid the corruptions of a court, the +best sympathies of our nature. A knowledge +of human character and a power of adaptation +to all the circumstances of his eventful life +were thus imparted, and which could be hardly +elsewhere acquired, yet they were very needful +to one who was to fill the office allotted to him.</p> + +<p>God has graciously ordered that while the +parents and guardians are to pass away, there +are early ties which are enduring. Where +families are properly regulated, added years +strengthen the bonds of natural affection. +Through all the vicissitudes of his life, the +brother and sister of Moses clung to him. We +first see Miriam watching the cradle-ark in +which the infant was concealed, and she never +appears except some event in his career brings +her into view. Yet, through their long lives +she was his companion and helper, participating +in his labours, soothing his sorrows,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +and aiding and encouraging him in his work. +She is a type of a large class—we mean the +daughters and the sisters who are not wives. +Her life shows that a woman may be honourable, +useful, distinguished, and happy, and yet +remain single—that the holy duties of the wife +and the mother are not the only duties. How +many homes would be comparatively unblessed +but for the presence of a dutiful daughter or a +loving sister! How largely our own age is indebted +to women as teachers; women, who, like +the prophetess of Israel, while assisting their +brothers to proclaim the oracles of God, devote +themselves to the instruction of their own sex, +and bless men by instructing women!</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 440px;"> +<img src="images/image06.png" width="440" height="588" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="DEBORAH_THE_INFLUENCE_OF" id="DEBORAH_THE_INFLUENCE_OF"></a>DEBORAH—THE INFLUENCE OF +WOMAN.</h2> + +<p>The book of Judges gives a concise view of +the people of Israel for a period of four hundred +years, extending from the death of Joshua +to the birth of Samuel.</p> + +<p>It is peculiarly interesting as showing how +God deals with the nations of the earth in +visiting national sins with national punishments. +It has ever been the painful office of +the historian to record the crimes and misfortunes +of mankind, and to present the outbreaks +of society rather than to note its +gradual advance and improvement, or to dwell +upon the periods of peaceful prosperity. Like +the records of a court of justice, it presents +the criminals and the offences and those im<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>plicated, +while the thousands of peaceful +citizens are never brought to view. The flow +of human life is, like that of a mighty river, +unmarked during its mild course; but when +it bursts its bounds and overflows its channel +and spreads a wide destruction, it is watched +with interest and its desolating ravages are all +recorded.</p> + +<p>Of the many women who have attained +honour and celebrity amidst the intrigues of +courts and cabinets and the revolutions of empires, +few have retained the purity and the peculiar +virtues of their sex. Deborah seems to +have united the sagacity and courage of man +to the modest virtues of woman. She appears +before us affecting no pomp, assuming no state. +The wife of Lapidoth—one known only as the +husband of Deborah, but thus known never to be +forgotten—she abode with her husband in their +own dwelling, under that palm-tree distin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>guished, +when Samuel wrote this book, as "the +palm of Deborah," between Ramah, where +Rachel died, and Bethel, where Jacob worshipped. +"And all the children of Israel came +up to her there for judgment."</p> + +<p>The people of Israel had departed from God +and from the laws of Moses, and for twenty +years they had been mightily oppressed by +Jabin. During this long period no priest +called the people to repentance, no prophet +was commissioned to promise them relief.</p> + +<p>We may imagine Deborah dwelling among +her people, a devout, strong-minded, enlightened +woman. She saw their sins, she participated +in their trials, and she warned those +around her of the evil of departing from +Jehovah. She recalled His past acts of judgment +and of mercy. She was well acquainted +with the laws of Moses, and she recognised in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +punishment of the people the fulfilment of prophecy.</p> + +<p>The influence of such a woman—a woman +instructed in the religion of Jehovah—a woman +of faith and of prayer—would be felt, first, +in her own family, or in her immediate circle of +friends; and then would commence the reformation +and the repentance and putting away +of past sins and the return to the God of +Israel. And as the influence spread, the circle +extending, the whole nation would seem to +have been affected, and they naturally resorted +to one whose wisdom and piety were so well +established, when any questions of their law, +either civil or religious, were to be settled. +Thus the children of Israel came up to her +for judgment. They came to her—for her feet +abode within her own dwelling. Her influence +extended throughout all the borders of +her land, but her presence still blest her own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +house. The prophetess of Israel was still the +wife of Lapidoth, and her only authority was +that of piety, wisdom and love. A more beautiful +instance of a woman's true, legitimate influence +cannot be given. Quietly, unostentatiously +exercised, it penetrated through the +nation and brought them back to Jehovah, +and prepared the way for the removal of +their yoke.</p> + +<p>For many years she was doubtless employed +in reclaiming and instructing her people. +Through this influence the children of +Israel were prepared to assert their liberty; +and then Deborah was inspired to call upon +"Barak the son of Abinoam," to gather an +army, and take his station on Mount Tabor, +where the Lord would deliver the enemies +of Israel into his hands. She did not propose +to attend—certainly not to lead—the army; +but, giving her message, her counsel and her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +prayers, would still abide under the palm-tree +and remain with her husband. But the +appointed general knew so well the value of +her presence in inspiring the people with +confidence, and felt so much the need of her +prayers, that he refused to go unless she +sanctioned the expedition with her attendance. +"And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go +with me, I will go; but if thou wilt not go with +me, then I will not go."</p> + +<p>Thus appealed to, the answer was immediate: +"I will surely go with thee; notwithstanding +the journey that thou takest shall not be for +thine honour, for the Lord shall sell Sisera +into the hands of a woman."</p> + +<p>Mount Tabor, chosen for the encamping-place +of the army of Barak, still rises like a +tall cone in the vast plain of Esdraelon, which, +stretching across the land to the sea, has since +been the battle-ground of nations. From the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +wide plain on its lofty summit, Deborah and +Barak could look over almost all the land. +The view of the hills of Judea, of the sea of +Tiberias, and of a country of wide extent, +still repays the toil of those who climb to its +summit.</p> + +<p>But since the days of Deborah and of +Barak, Tabor is generally supposed to have +witnessed another scene. The Man of grief, +who bore our sins and took upon himself our +sorrows, climbed its steep ascent with his +favoured disciples—And Moses and Elias +appeared unto him there, and there "they +talked with him." Of what? Not of the battle +of Deborah and Barak with Sisera—although +they stood where the leaders of Israel had +watched the hosts of their enemies encompassing +them. It was a converse of high things, +not meet for us to know. And there he was +transfigured before his wondering disciples,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +and his "raiment became exceeding white as +snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them." +And there was a cloud that overshadowed +them, and a voice out of the cloud, This is +my beloved Son—hear him. Alas! the Divine +command has been ill obeyed. Tabor yet +retains the remains of a fortress and preserves +the marks of warfare; but no trace of the +meeting there of the great lawgiver and reformer +of Israel with Him who came both to +fulfil and to abolish. No temples have yet +been there erected to Him whose mission was +far above all who were sent either to announce +or prepare for his forthcoming.</p> + +<p>From Mount Tabor the leaders and hosts +of Israel watched their enemies gathering from +afar and encompassing them. With the chariots +of iron, so much dreaded by the Israelites, +came the archers, and the spearmen, and the +multitude that were with them—all assembled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +to surround and to destroy the allies of +Barak.</p> + +<p>But when Deborah gave the signal, "Up! +for this is the day in the which the Lord hath +delivered Sisera into thine hands: is not the +Lord gone out before thee?" Barak went from +Mount Tabor with ten thousand men. The +victory was complete—"Jehovah triumphed, +His people were free." The hosts of the enemy +were vanquished. The river Kishon, that ancient +river, swept them away. And the victory +was celebrated by a song of most triumphant, +yet grateful exultation, in a strain of the loftiest, +purest poetry, such as the prophets and psalmists +of Israel alone could pour forth:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">Praise ye the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> for the avenging of Israel,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When the people willingly offered themselves.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hear, O ye kings!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Give ear, O ye princes!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I, even I, will sing unto the <span class="smcap">Lord</span>;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I will sing praise to the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> God of Israel.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Lord</span>, when thou wentest out of Seir,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The earth trembled, and the heavens dropped,</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +<span class="i0">The clouds also dropped water.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The mountains melted from before the <span class="smcap">Lord</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Even that Sinai from before the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> God of Israel.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the travellers walked through byways.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The inhabitants of the villages ceased,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They ceased in Israel,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Until that I Deborah arose,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That I arose a mother in Israel.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They chose new gods;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then was war in the gates:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Was there a shield or spear seen<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Among forty thousand in Israel?<br /></span> +<span class="i2">My heart is toward the governors of Israel,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That offered themselves willingly among the people.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bless ye the <span class="smcap">Lord</span>!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Speak,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ye that ride on white asses,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ye that sit in judgment,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And walk by the way!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the place of drawing water,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then shall the people of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> go down to the gates.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Awake, awake, Deborah!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Awake, awake, utter a song!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Arise, Barak!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> made me have dominion over the mighty.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">After thee, Benjamin, among thy people;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Out of Machir came down governors,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Even Issachar, and also Barak:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He was sent on foot into the valley.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For the divisions of Reuben<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There were great thoughts of heart.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To hear the bleatings of the flocks?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For the divisions of Reuben<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There were great searchings of heart.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gilead abode beyond Jordan:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And why did Dan remain in ships?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Asher continued on the sea shore,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And abode in his breaches.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Unto the death in the high places of the field.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The kings came and fought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then fought the kings of Canaan<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They took no gain of money.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They fought from heaven;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The river Kishon swept them away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That ancient river, the river Kishon.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then were the horsehoofs broken<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By the means of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Curse ye Meroz! said the angel of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Because they came not to the help of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To the help of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> against the mighty.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Blessed above women<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Blessed shall she be above women in the tent!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He asked water, and she gave him milk;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She brought forth butter in a lordly dish.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She put her hand to the nail,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And her right hand to the workmen's hammer;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head,</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> +<span class="i0">When she had pierced and stricken through his temples.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At her feet he bowed, he fell:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The mother of Sisera looked out at a window,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And cried through the lattice,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why is his chariot so long in coming?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Her wise ladies answered her,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yea, she returned answer to herself,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To every man a damsel or two;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To Sisera a prey of divers colors,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A prey of divers colors of needlework on both sides,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So let all thine enemies perish, O <span class="smcap">Lord</span>!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>One such strain preserved from any other +ancient nation would establish their claims +to the highest order of poetic genius, and +lead to the most industrious and painful +research for all that could throw light upon +their literature. It comes over the soul now +like the full burst of martial music. It stirs +the blood and quickens the pulses with its +strain of triumph, while it melts us to pity, as +it brings before us so graphically, with such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +exquisite power—yet such slight allusion—the +distress and desolation of Israel. It is a +finished picture of the age. We see the +judges, those that ride on white asses (still +reserved for royal stables) that walk by the +way; while it gives us a full character of +Sisera and the mother who trained him. +We see the mother—haughty, proud, avaricious, +surrounded by "her wise ladies," who +are flatterers rather than counsellors—ready to +exult in the rapine and plunder of the army of +her son; her natural fears awakened by his +delayed return, yet hushed and soothed by the +enumeration of the spoil. No feeling of pity +softening the love of vengeance,—the desire for +the plunder of a conquered people engrossing all.</p> + +<p>And in Sisera we see the proud, cruel, +licentious spoiler—all the powers of his evil +nature called into exercise by success and the +long indulgence of every evil passion and gross<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +appetite—arrogant, oppressive and cruel in +success; abject, cowardly and overreaching +in adversity. We can well imagine the state +of an oppressed people ruled by such a man at +the head of a licentious soldiery. And harsh +as may seem some of the expressions of +Deborah, in her joyous outbursts of praise and +thanksgiving, they arise from the ineffable +miseries, the deep degradation, the oppressive +cruelties, to which all the daughters of Israel +would have been exposed had he been triumphant; +and a mother in Israel might well exult in a +deliverance from one whose desolating track +was marked by lust and carnage.</p> + +<p>We do not love to dwell on the treachery of +Jael—we do not feel called upon to justify +the act, although Deborah might well rejoice +in the deliverance of her people from so stern +a foe, so foul an oppression. Sisera appears +as abject in the hour of defeat as he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +been insolent and arrogant and cruel in the +hour of triumph.</p> + +<p>After Israel was restored to liberty we hear +no more of Deborah; but "the land had +rest forty years." She again returns to her +own sphere, to the unostentatious, yet all-pervading +usefulness of domestic life. No +honours, no triumphs, no statues were awarded +to her. No monuments seem to have been +erected to her memory. The palm-tree was +her fitting memorial; delighting the eye, affording +shade, shelter and nourishment; asking +and securing nought from man, watered by +the dew and rain of heaven, and rejoicing in +the beams of the sun—still pointing to heaven +while sheltering those beneath it.</p> + +<p>Jehovah seems to permit such examples to +stimulate woman to usefulness and to vindicate +their capacity; and thus there ever have been +and are still Deborahs—mothers in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>Israel—those +who, dwelling under their own roof, in +the seclusion of domestic life, yet send forth +an influence which extends far and wide.</p> + +<p>The sound, rational piety of such women, +and their lives of humble faith, of prayer, and +of consistent usefulness, have often awakened +a high tone of religious feeling and led to +extensive revivals of pure religion.</p> + +<p>Without departing from their allotted sphere, +without forgetting the delicacy and proprieties +demanded from their sex, they have been +greatly instrumental in elevating the moral +and religious standard of a community by their +faithfulness in reproving the erring and reclaiming +the backsliding, while by their kindly +sympathy and effectual co-operation, they have +aided, encouraged, and, by their prudent, judicious +counsel, guided—the appointed leaders +of Israel.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 451px;"> +<img src="images/image07.png" width="451" height="588" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="JEZEBEL" id="JEZEBEL"></a>JEZEBEL.</h2> + + +<div class="illusCap" style="width: 186px;"> +<img src="images/chap5.gif" width="186" height="200" alt="Decorated A" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="cap">A</span>lthough the family +of Jeroboam were +soon swept from the +throne of Israel, yet +those who succeeded +still pursued the policy +by which he had been governed; and through +all the contention and bloodshed which marked +the reigns of different dynasties, they all persisted +in the idolatry established by him. +"They all did evil in the sight of the Lord, +and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his +sin, wherewith he made Israel to sin." But of +Ahab, the son of Omri, it is written that "he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +did more to provoke the God of Israel than all +that were before him." He pursued the path +which had been marked out by his predecessors +when he married, and he found in his wife an +efficient aid. By the strength of her mind, by +the energy of her character, by the introduction +of an idolatry at once more corrupt and more +ensnaring, she did more to complete and seal +the apostasy of Israel than all who had gone +before her.</p> + +<p>The name of Jezebel has descended to us as +one of the most opprobrious epithets which can +be applied to a woman. Little did the haughty +queen who bore it imagine what a reproach and +offence it was to become for future ages, in +unknown lands, and among unborn nations.</p> + +<p>We think of her always as old, withered, +thirsting for blood, and incapable of the finer +sentiments and all the softer emotions of human +kind. There was a time in which she shone as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +the centre of a splendid and luxurious court, +where minstrels sang to her and poets praised +her and princes flattered her, while statesmen +confessed her influence and cabinets adopted +her plans. Fascinating, artful, able, ambitious, +and unprincipled, she may be regarded as chief +among many of the most celebrated of this +class of her sex of ancient or modern days.</p> + +<p>There have been queens, not of heathen +lands and barbarous Asia, but of refined and +christianized Europe, upon whose memories rest +quite as dark shadows as those which cover the +character of the Queen of Israel. It is sad to +remember how many of the most atrocious acts +which disgrace the annals of our race are to be +traced to the influence of female ambition, +jealousy, hate, or revenge. Larger possessions +than that of the vineyard of Naboth have been +obtained by perjury and blood; and few modern +courts could consistently condemn the princi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>ples +or the policy by which the monarchs of +Israel attempted to consolidate and perpetuate +their dominion. In the estimation of many +statesmen and many historians, greatness has +sanctified all the means by which power is +either to be attained or preserved, and the +splendour of the court has fully atoned for all +the oppression of the people.</p> + +<p>While she was fitted to co-operate with her +husband, and ready to promote his designs and +to embrace the policy which had guided the +court of Israel, she soon assumed and ever +maintained that influence which the stronger +mind, the more powerful will, ever exerts over +the inferior and weaker. Through all his reign, +Ahab ever deferred to her; and while she +goaded him onward in his career of crime, she +stimulated and upheld him by her daring defiance +of the commands and threatenings of +the prophets of the Lord. She possessed all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> +the energy, power, and constancy which ever +belongs to minds of a high order, and which +fit them for greatness in virtue or crime—insuring +widespread usefulness or leading to +desperate wickedness. She never was turned +from her course. She never faltered, trembled, +or hesitated in the pursuit of her object. She +witnessed, unawed and unmoved, miracles of +judgment and of mercy. She saw unpitying a +land consumed by drought and a people perishing +by famine; and when the parched earth +drank the showers of heaven, while she rejoiced, +she was neither softened nor made penitent by +the blessing.</p> + +<p>Ahab could not entirely divest himself of +every national characteristic, or the remembrances +and associations of his faith and his +people. There still clung to him some remains +of the fear of the "Lord God of his fathers," +some feelings of reverence and awe for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> +name and worship of Jehovah. No such compunctions +troubled Jezebel. When Elijah visited +Ahab, the impious monarch quailed before him +and trembled at the denunciation of Divine +wrath. Jezebel answered his reproofs by scorn +and threats, and her menaces drove the prophet +from the altar where he had triumphed.</p> + +<p>Yet her history is replete with sad interest. +While it declares the certain ruin which +follows national sins and national corruption, +it displays also much of the wonderful forbearance +of Jehovah. As we retrace his +dealings even with the guilty house of Ahab +and the apostate people of Israel, we are reminded +of <i>One</i> who, ages after, wept over +Jerusalem. "Oh, if thou hadst known, in this +thy day, the things which belong to thy peace—but +now they are hidden from thine eyes."</p> + +<p>During the earlier years of the reign of Ahab, +while Jezebel was engaged with all zeal and ac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>tivity +in proselyting the people of Israel to the +worship of Ashtaroth and Baal, she was constantly +resisted by the prophets sent as messengers from +Jehovah. And many miracles of mercy and of +judgment, wrought before her by the power of +the Lord God of Israel, should have convinced +her of the truth of His messengers—His indisputable +claim to be the God—the Lord God. +She resisted all—not from the want of evidence +or the power of believing, but from the perverseness +of a determined will and a hardened +heart. Yet he who styles himself a God merciful +and gracious, long strove with her, though +at last she provoked him to depart and leave +her to her chosen way.</p> + +<p>The seizure of the vineyard of Naboth +seems to have consummated the iniquity of +Jezebel, while it brought all the distinguishing +traits of her character into full light.</p> + +<p>Judah was a land of rocky hills and narrow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> +though fertile valleys. The possessions of Israel +were broader and more luxuriant; and in +the beautiful plain of Jezreel the kings of Israel +had built their favourite city of Samaria. In +that city, Ahab erected the temple consecrated +to Baal, and there he maintained four hundred +and fifty priests for his service, while the Queen +of Israel kept four hundred in the groves consecrated +to Ashtaroth. "But the vineyard of +Naboth the Jezreelite was hard by the palace +of Ahab, King of Samaria."</p> + +<p>The King of Israel desired the vineyard of +Naboth, either to enlarge his grounds or to add +to their beauty and variety. Yet, despotic and +unprincipled as he was, the laws of possession +were so fixed, the rights of property so established, +that, on the refusal of Naboth to sell his +inheritance, he dared not use violence; and he +sank into sullen despondency.</p> + +<p>It has ever been characteristic of wives like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +Jezebel to maintain their ascendency by arts +and blandishments, and by ministering to every +corrupt propensity of their husbands. With +the watchfulness of a devoted wife, she saw the +vexation of her husband.</p> + +<p>"Why is thy countenance so sad?"</p> + +<p>"And he said unto her, Because I spake +unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, +Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it +please thee, I will give thee another vineyard +for that."</p> + +<p>Naboth had said, God forbid that I should +give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.</p> + +<p>The faithful Israelite may have recoiled from +the thought of its passing into the hands of the +unholy worshippers of Baal and Ashtaroth and +being polluted by their orgies. But Ahab did +not give the denial in its full force. He represents +Naboth as simply refusing. "I will not +give thee my vineyard."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> + +<p>We seem to see the actors before us, in the +spirited, yet simple narration, as it proceeds. +Ahab, heavy, sullen, morose—with clouded brow +and furrowed cheek. Jezebel, with her flashing +eye, her queenly gait, her haughty aspect, and +all the workings of pride and craft and ambition +expressed in her faded but still striking +features. With what utter contempt would she +look upon the husband who sank into despondency +because he had not the skill to devise, +or the will to perpetrate, the iniquity which +would insure the attainment of his desires!</p> + +<p>"Dost thou govern Israel? Arise, and eat +bread, and let thine heart be merry. <i>I</i> will +give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."</p> + +<p>And a darker plot, or one more artfully devised, +has seldom been unravelled among all the +iniquitous intrigues of courts and statesmen. +Naboth was doubtless a true worshipper; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +for once Jezebel professed all honour to the +laws of Jehovah. He was arraigned and +tried by the laws of Moses—long trampled +upon and disused. And all the solemnities of +religion were resorted to, to aid her plans and +advance her purpose.</p> + +<p>Falsely arraigned, accused, and condemned, +Naboth was executed, and his sons perished with +him. The hands of his brethren were imbrued +in their blood. She who managed the plot +found other agents to execute her designs. +With impious hypocrisy, she insulted heaven by +ordaining a solemn fast, for God and the king +had been blasphemed. These transactions +display the deep depravity of the Queen of +Israel, while they show the influence of her +character and example upon her people. The +very ministers of justice were made the abettors +of her guilt; and law, with all its formalities +and solemnities, was made to sanction crime.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> +How many sins were committed to gratify +one idle, covetous desire! God was insulted +and defied and blasphemed; justice was corrupted; +and falsehood, perjury, and murder +were all used to accomplish the wicked will of +Jezebel. And how many victims have been thus +arraigned, and perished thus, in later days! +This deed awoke the vengeance of Jehovah. +Even as Ahab took possession of his blood-stained +field, the prophet of the Lord met him +and denounced the doom of the perpetrators of +the dark crime. All were to perish, and all +were to die deaths of blood and shame. Husband, +wife, parents, and children—all, to the +latest generation, were to be cut off—to be +rooted out of the earth as an abominable stock, +and to rot in the sight of the heavens. Ahab +humbled himself, as he received the message of +the prophet, and showed an outward reverence: +and his doom was so far softened that the de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>struction +of the family was not immediate: but +Jezebel seems still as bold and unmoved as ever. +Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, entered into +alliance with Ahab, and visited his court to +witness the splendour and share the hospitalities +of Jezebel; and while both were warring against +Syria, Ahab was slain in battle.</p> + +<p>Jezebel doubtless would have scouted the folly +of those who saw the fulfilment of both prophecy +and sentence in the dogs licking the blood from +the chariot and the armour, as they were washed +in the pool, which probably was on the lands of +Naboth; yet she might have foreseen thus her +certain fate—and as Ahab had died, so she +should die. Her doom was yet deferred. She +long survived her husband, and prosperity and +such honours as attend the prosperous were her's. +She was the daughter, wife, and the mother of +kings. Her sons ruled Israel. Her daughter sat +on the throne of Judah. She dwelt in royal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> +state at Jezreel, and enjoyed possessions which +had been obtained by revolting crimes. Ahab +had died a bloody death. Jehoshaphat was gathered +to his fathers; the King of Syria perished +by the hands of his servant; and Elijah was +taken up to heaven—but Jezebel still lived.</p> + +<p>What were the occupations of her old age? +Was she still busy, restless, and intriguing? Or +did the past haunt her with dark remembrances +of shame and crime, and the avenging future +cast its shadow over her soul? Did the stern +decree of the prophet ring in her ears, and late +remorse drive her to the dark cruelties of her +bloody idolatry, in the idle hope of expiation? +Such an old age could not have been happy. +She was left to fill up the measure of her iniquity, +while memory told of past sins, and conscience +whispered of the coming retribution, +and the avenging justice of heaven hung like a +dark cloud over her guilty house. Past the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +season of pleasure, deprived of the power she +had so abused, without the honour and sacred +reverence due to virtuous age, she may have +had a foretaste of her future retribution, though +surrounded by all the splendour of royalty, +with trembling and abject slaves ministering to +all her wants.</p> + +<p>One son after another quietly took possession +of the throne of Israel, and Jezebel may have +derided the prophecy of Elijah; yet the sentence, +long delayed, was fully executed. The +hour of foretold vengeance arrived. In one +day, the King of Israel was dethroned and +murdered, and the race of Ahab was swept +from the face of the earth. The last act of +her life was worthy of Jezebel herself,—of +the Queen of Israel in the days of her prime. +She heard of the death of Jehoram and of the +insurrection of Jehu. Neither the timidity of a +woman nor the yearnings of a mother had a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +place in her soul. In the hour of carnage, +surrounded by all the horrors of death, the +pride of her nature prevailed, and all the daring +of her character was displayed. She forgot +neither the proprieties due to her rank nor the +embellishments needful for her person. With +the vanity of the woman and the pride of a +queen, "she painted her face and tired her +head," and then haughtily presenting herself +before the murderer of her children, she uttered +a maddening taunt and defiance. By the hands +of her servants she was cast from the windows of +the palace of Israel into the very grounds which +had been the vineyard of Naboth; and as she +was dashed to the earth, the wheels of the +chariot of the destroyer of her race passed over +her, and the feet of the horses trampled upon +her. "And the dogs ate Jezebel by the walls +of Jezreel." Thus her doom was accomplished!</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 451px;"> +<img src="images/image08.png" width="451" height="588" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>There have been many like her. Her crimes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> +have been sometimes equalled in atrocity. +Her ruling passions were pride and ambition; +and she doubtless clung to the idols of her +land from the unbounded license their worship +gave to sensuality, and the opportunities it afforded, +in its feasts and festivals, for display +and gayety.</p> + +<p>But she clung more tenaciously to her idolatry +from motives of self-interest and national +aggrandizement. It was the test of loyalty +for Israel. It was in perfect consistency with +such a character to turn away from all evidence +and to reject what she did not wish to +believe. In the expressive language of the Bible, +she "hardened her heart;" and doubtless, +like skeptics of later days, she could ascribe +what she could not disprove to the working +of natural causes, or to the arts of +priestcraft.</p> + +<p>We can all stifle the convictions of conscience<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> +and contemn the principles which conflict with +our interest or our inclination; and there are +in every station unconscious imitators of the +Queen of Israel.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 221px;"> +<img src="images/image09.png" width="221" height="240" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ATHALIAH" id="ATHALIAH"></a>ATHALIAH.</h2> + + +<div class="illusCap" style="width: 139px;"> +<img src="images/chap6a.gif" width="139" height="136" alt="Decorated T" title="" /> +</div> +<div class="illusCap" style="width: 72px;"> +<img src="images/chap6b.gif" width="72" height="64" alt="Decorated T" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="cap">T</span>he pious king of Judah not +only formed a political alliance +with Israel, but he +even permitted, and probably +encouraged, his son, +and the heir to his throne, to marry +the daughter of the impious Ahab +and the idolatrous Jezebel. Jehoshaphat saw +not the Queen of Israel as we see her—as +unlovely as she was unholy. Dazzled +by the splendour of her court, won by her +grace and queenly bearing, he may have overlooked +her crimes. The most unprincipled +have sometimes carefully and successfully cul<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>tivated +much that gives grace and attraction to +social life. Some, whose hearts have been +utterly selfish and callous, and whose lives have +been one dark record of crime and cruelty, +have yet shone as the centres of splendid circles, +diffusing all around them pleasure and +gayety. And men, themselves unstained, have +been won by these fascinations to a close association +with those whose principles were worthy +only of reprobation, and whose association should +have been shunned as in the last degree contaminating.</p> + +<p>The intimacies between those who love and +worship God and those who reject him are +ever full of danger. And while the courtiers +of Ahab and the flatterers of Jehoshaphat may +have applauded the liberal policy of the King +of Judah, and his freedom from the bigotry of +the prophets who would reform Israel, he was +pursuing a course which was to involve his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> +family in calamity and bring corruption into +his kingdom. Jerusalem and Samaria were +not very remote from each other, and the kings +of Israel and Judah seem at this period to have +maintained frequent personal intercourse: an +intercourse which appears not to have elevated +the moral character of Israel, while it surely led +to the deterioration of the piety of Judah; for +when godly persons mingle freely with the impious,—especially +if this intercourse originates +from mere motives of ambition or worldly expediency,—the +former will be much more ready +to sink to the level of the worldling than to +raise the worldling to their own.</p> + +<p>The influence of this association with the +depraved court of Israel doubtless had its effect +upon the heart of Jehoshaphat. He was not +drawn into idolatry, but he probably was less +zealous in the service of Jehovah and in the vindication +of his ways. He may have rather sym<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>pathized +with the monarchs of Israel in their attempts +to establish their own faith and maintain +their own authority, than with the persecuted +people of Israel in their efforts to preserve +the worship of their fathers. While he regretted +the idolatry of Jezebel, he may have censured +what would be called the uncourtly intolerance +or the bigoted zeal of the prophets, who uttered +such denunciations and threatenings against +the reigning family. Perhaps he pointed out +to the few faithful Israelites whom he might meet +in the train of Ahab or at the court of Israel the +propriety of a more gentle mode or a more conciliating +policy. As the friend of Ahab, he +betrayed the cause of God, and upheld his +iniquities. In all the persecutions they sustained, +we do not find that the prophets of the +Lord ever sought a refuge among their brethren +of Judah. Hardly could they have expected +shelter and protection from the king who was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +allying his own family with the house of Ahab. +They found shelter among the heathen; they +were nourished by miracles; they were hid in +the coverts of the rocks, and were fed by +ravens, while Jehoshaphat and his court were +rejoicing in the alliance of Jehoram with +Athaliah—the royal son of Judah with the +royal daughter of Israel; and the worshippers +of Jehovah and the devotees of Ashtaroth and +Baal were mingled in their train.</p> + +<p>There might have been heavy forebodings +and low, suppressed murmurs among those who +remembered the statutes of the Lord, and who +recalled his dealings with his people; but the +multitude could rejoice in the splendour and the +festivities of the occasion; the court could exult +in the pomp and display; and wise politicians +could talk of the benefits to the two countries +of speaking one language, springing from a +common origin, and preserving their own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +national integrity, and yet presenting one +united front to the common enemy. And +Jehoshaphat may have hailed this marriage as +the master-stroke of his policy, while religiously-disposed +courtiers whispered that a scion of +Israel, transplanted to Judah and nurtured by +Jehoshaphat, under the influences of Zion, must +indeed prove a plant of righteousness in this +garden of the Lord.</p> + +<p>Did Jezebel fear this? Did this strong-minded, +politic, crafty woman feel that her +daughter was placed under influences which +might draw her from the idols of her mother, +and make her recreant to the policy of her +father's house?</p> + +<p>Jezebel was too strong in the consciousness +of her own power, to fear that her children +would oppose her wishes or her plans. All +experience proves that the wife exerts a powerful +influence upon the character of her husband. +Even where she has apparently little mental +strength, she may possess great moral power, +for evil or for good. This influence pervades +her family, and is felt even while it is despised +and disavowed. When holy and pure, it is as +reviving, strengthening, invigorating as the +pure breath of the morning. When it has its +source in a selfish, polluted heart, it comes like +the midnight miasma or the blast of the desert, +prostrating and destroying all over which it +passes.</p> + +<p>The character of the mother often determines +the course and the destiny of her children. +She imprints her own moral lineaments upon +her offspring. She moulds their habits and +she transfuses into them the feelings, motives, +and principles which actuate herself. The +influence of the mother is often so perpetuated +in her daughters that the individual seems +multiplied as she is faithfully reflected by them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +Where the mental and moral characteristics +are marked, they are almost sure to descend; +and the character of Jezebel was one to leave +its impress.</p> + +<p>Thus we find Athaliah worthy of the stock +from which she sprang. She was the true, as +she seems to be the only daughter of Jezebel. +Though early allied to Jehoshaphat and removed +into the kingdom of Judah, she retained all +the idolatrous prepossessions of her father's +house, and she exhibited all the traits which +marked her race. She possessed the qualities +which had been so prominently displayed by +the course and life of Jezebel. The same desperate +will, the same determined energy, the +same daring courage and dauntless resolution, +and the same proud ambition; and she was +even more devoid than her mother of all the +kinder feelings, affections, and sympathies.</p> + +<p>Jezebel had resolutely crushed all those af<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>fections +and sympathies of her nature which +would be likely to check her progress in her +career of crime and power. She had trampled +upon all that would obstruct her in the attainment +of her object. Yet some of the feelings +of the woman, the tenderness of the wife, the +fondness of the mother, still seem to linger in +her proud heart. Unprincipled as she was, +she did not abandon herself to utter selfishness. +In her most atrocious acts she seems to have +had some regard to the aggrandizement of her +family and to the gratification of her husband. +The daughter was more depraved than her +mother. Athaliah was utterly selfish, devoid +even of the instinct of natural affection. A +character more revolting is not presented to us +in the pages of the historian, sacred or profane.</p> + +<p>A woman rioting in blood that she might +gratify her ambition! A mother destroying +her offspring that she might possess their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +inheritance! Jezebel was a depraved woman, +but Athaliah was a monster—a woman destitute +of all the feelings of humanity, working all +evil, and only evil, from the mere love of self. +With selfish desires which absorbed all consideration, +and in their intensity prompted to +unnatural crimes, having no object in view beyond +her personal gratification or aggrandizement, +there was not even the extenuation to be +offered for Athaliah which could be urged for +Jezebel; for the policy of Judea was opposed to +idolatry, and in the family of Jehoshaphat she +was surrounded by influences most favourable +to a virtuous course, and influences which had +never rested upon her mother. Under the +very shadow of the Temple she perpetrated her +most flagrant crimes.</p> + +<p>Although the depravity of Jezebel led her to +adopt a corrupt religion, to reject a pure and +holy worship, and to cling to the dark and cruel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> +rites of heathenism, the voice of conscience was +not silenced, the light of the soul was not entirely +extinguished. She felt the need of some +faith—she clung to the altars of her gods. But +Athaliah seems to have sunk into the brutishness +of those who own "no God." She seems to have +trampled upon all faith, as she violated all obligation—insensible +alike to the calls of conscience +and the aspirations of devotion. She had no womanly +sympathies. She had high mental endowments—she +had a powerful will and strong passions—but +she had no affections. There have +been many Jezebels—but few Athaliahs. The +affections compose so large a part of a woman's +nature that we disown one who is without them. +In her deepest guilt, in her lowest debasement, +they still cling to her; and raised to the summit +of power, they do not often wholly desert her.</p> + +<p>The princess of Israel must have been married +at an early age, and she was long restrained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +by the character of Jehoshaphat from the public +display of her wishes and inclinations. +While he lived, Judah still retained the outward +show of reverence for the God of Israel, +and doubtless Athaliah often led her train to +the temple of Jehovah; yet the infection of +the character and principles of the daughter +of Ahab was at work. A poisonous leaven +spread through the royal family. The younger +princes of Judah were contaminated; and when +Jehoshaphat died, this influence of Athaliah +was first manifest in the character of Jehoram. +It is written of him that "he walked in the +ways of the kings of Israel, after the house of +Ahab, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife, +and he did evil in the sight of the Lord."</p> + +<p>He commenced his reign by the murder of +his brethren, the sons of his father. Jehoshaphat +had provided for all his sons, giving them +wealth and appointing them to offices of trust,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +while he left the kingdom to Jehoram. And +without pretext or apology, Jehoram put them +all to death; and their families were involved, +as we may well believe, in their ruin. They +were probably proclaimed outlaws, and then +murdered wherever found, perhaps while dwelling +in perfect security and in profound peace; +and with them fell many of the other princes +of Judah not so nearly connected with the +royal family. The very commencement of his +reign, the occasion of so much joyful festivity +to the court, was thus marked by crimes which +brought utter desolation to the families and +terror to the hearts of the people of his kingdom; +and we may well presume that the woman +who afterwards proved herself so reckless and +heaven-defying, prompted to this first crime. +She who was herself so ready to commit deeds +of blood would be quick to instigate others.</p> + +<p>The whole reign of Jehoram was impious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> +and disgraceful. He erected altars on all the +hills of Judea, to draw his people into the worship +of Baal and Ashtaroth; while he compelled +the inhabitants of Jerusalem to join in the +corrupt festivals and the abominable rites of +this Syrian goddess.</p> + +<p>Elijah, the prophet of Israel, was commissioned +to reprove Jehoram, and to denounce +the impending doom of his house. He was +not ordered to present himself at the court +of the King of Judah, but to write his message. +"There came a writing to Jehoram;" and probably +the King of Judah scoffed at the warning, +and perhaps referred him to the unexecuted +judgments denounced upon the house of Ahab, +and to the present prosperity of the family, and +the continued stability of the kingdom, as a +proof of the fanatical delusion of the pretended +prophets of the Lord. Yet the doom of the +guilty Jehoram was accomplished even before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> +the woes denounced upon Jezebel were fulfilled. +Tributary kingdoms revolted, and in vain he +sought to bring them back to obedience. The +Philistines and the Arabians made an incursion +into Judah, and carried away all his wealth, +while they took his family captive; and Jehoram, +smitten by a most loathsome and painful +disease, died. He was buried without the +usual honours paid to royalty. His memory +and his person were alike offensive.</p> + +<p>Upon the accession of Ahaziah, the next +king, the influence of Athaliah is soon recognised. +He was the youngest and the only son +not carried into captivity. It is said that "his +mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of +Omri. He also walked in the way of the +house of Ahab, for his mother was his counsellor +to do wickedly,"—as wife and mother, +alike unholy. "Wherefore he did evil in the +sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> +for they were his counsellors, after the death +of his father, to his destruction."</p> + +<p>The second son of Ahab had succeeded to +the kingdom of Israel, and Jezebel was surrounded +by all the splendours of royalty. +Peace and prosperity still attended her family. +The death of Naboth and his sons, and the +denunciations of the prophet, were probably +forgotten, or remembered only to be despised. +The royal houses, so closely allied, maintained +a familiar intercourse, and the King of Judah +was on a visit of sympathy to the King of +Israel, who was sick and wounded, when the +rebellion of Jehu broke out. It came upon +the house of Ahab like a hurricane: in the +midst of security and of apparently profound +peace, the storm swept over and destroyed them.</p> + +<p>While the kings were in the palace of Israel, +the rapid approach of a messenger awoke the +curiosity rather than the apprehension of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> +King of Israel. With the rashness of a doomed +man, he rushed upon his own destruction. As +the messengers, whom he had sent to meet the +approaching foes, returned not, the two kings +hastened to meet the advancing troop. And +they met Jehu by the vineyard of Naboth, and +there the King of Israel was slain, while the +King of Judah fled, mortally wounded, to +Megiddo, where he died. All that belonged to +the house of Ahab in Israel perished in this +hour of vengeance and righteous retribution. +Jehu murdered those of the descendants of +Jehoram who fell in his way; and Athaliah +hastened to complete the fulfilment of the +prophetic doom of her house by herself instigating +the murder of all who remained of the +royal family of Judah, although they were her +own descendants! In her ruthless ambition she +destroyed her grandchildren, that she might +herself ascend the throne of Judah. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> +seems to have exulted in the blood and carnage +which opened her way to royal power. Unmoved +by the fate of her mother, with her sons +and her brothers scarce cold in their untimely +graves, by her cruel treachery she consummated +the destruction of her family; and, stained +with blood and polluted by crimes, she seated +herself upon the throne of David, and usurped +the inheritance of her children!</p> + +<p>For eight years Athaliah held this usurped position. +No compunctious visitings of conscience +seem to have haunted her. She felt neither +pity nor remorse. She may have well sustained +her ill-gotten power while she resided amidst +the pomp and pageantry of royalty. Her resolute +despotism seems to have held her subjects +in awe, and to have quelled them all into subjection. +She had herself wrought the fulfilment +of the doom of her race. As the last of +Ahab's children, the sword of divine vengeance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +was suspended over her head, and in the time +appointed it fell. She was to die the death of +her house—a death of blood.</p> + +<p>When the kings of Judah apostatized, while the +individuals were punished, the race was spared. +God still remembered his covenant with David; +and, amid all the sin and desolation of Judah, +the line of hereditary descent was unbroken. +The root remained, and some scion worthy of +the stock sprang from it.</p> + +<p>When Athaliah was ingrafted on the stock +of royal Judah, she so debased it, that it seemed +needful to purify it by cutting off all the branches +to the very root. Yet one was saved. +And, as if to display his own power and grace, +God is at times pleased to select from the +families the most apostate and unholy, the +instrument of his work and the trophy of +his grace. So he made the daughter of Athaliah +the nurse and the instructress of him who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +was to reform the kingdom of Judah. Jehoshabeath, +wife of the high-priest of the Lord, +seems to have escaped the character and the +doom of her family. Her's was a task most difficult. +She was called to oppose the depravity of +her mother and to thwart her bloody policy, and +yet not to appear as her accuser and as hastening +the execution of the Divine vengeance. +Hard is it to the virtuous child to reprobate +the character and course of the unholy parent, +and yet preserve the reverence due to the relation. +Jehoshabeath appears before us in a +light which leaves a most favourable impression. +The saviour of the infant heir of Judah, the +son of her brother, she cherished, instructed +and guarded him. At the proper time the +high-priest communicated the secret of the existence +of the child to the princes of the land, +and the son of Ahaziah was proclaimed king. +No assault was made upon Athaliah. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +rushed, like others of her family, upon her doom, +as if she were infatuated. The tumult of the +people, the triumphant strains of sacred and +martial music, the clashing of the shields of the +soldiers as they bore their king aloft, brought +the first tidings of the existence of the last of +her race to Athaliah.</p> + +<p>The daughter of Jezebel was not easily daunted. +Her courage rose in the hour of danger. +She had purchased the throne at a price too great +readily to relinquish the possession of it. She +forced her way through the crowds who surrounded +the Temple, and through the bands of soldiers +who guarded the young king, until she confronted +the child whose brow already bore the crown +of Judah—a heavy weight for the infant king. +In vain she rent her royal robes, and in vain +she cried, "Treason! Treason!" None adhered +to her—none followed her—none perished +with her. She died by the sword,</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"And left a name to other times<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Link'd with no virtue, but a thousand crimes."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The history of modern nations is not without +examples of similar evils entailed upon those +who, professing themselves the heads of a +purified church and a reformed faith, choose +(from motives of pride or policy) to seek an +alliance with the adherents of a dark, cruel, and +persecuting superstition. Such a marriage +precipitated the Stuarts from the throne of +England, cost one king his life, and the family +a kingdom; and the marriages of policy among +princes, contravening the rules of God's word, +are often followed by most disastrous results, +and hasten the evils they are contracted to +prevent.</p> + +<p>In private life, also, the marriage of those +who have renounced this world for a higher +portion, with the worldly and the ungodly, is +generally a source of sin or of sorrow. There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> +can be little congenial feeling between the +spiritual and the earthly; and the servant of +God who chooses a wife from the daughters of +sin and the devotees of pleasure, places himself +in a position of peculiar trial.</p> + +<p>The spirit of the wife pervades the household. +The husband may rule, but the wife influences. +His voice is obeyed, but the wishes of the wife +are consulted. Her friends are the welcome +guests. His associates gather around his +board and claim his leisure hour, but her voice +whispers to him in his retirement. She comes between +God and his soul. The strongest of men +was shorn of his might by the companion of his +bosom; the wisest was led into foolishness and +idolatry by the influence of a corrupt woman.</p> + +<p>We are prone to think of the period to which +we have been referring as one of barbarism, +and of the nations of Israel and Judah as +ignorant and uncivilized. Does it not seem as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +if the very heavens must have been shrouded +and the course of nature changed during the +perpetration of such bloody crimes? Does it +not seem as if a natural darkness must have +overspread the land? And yet it was not so. +The sun shone in his brightness, the skies were +as serene, the rain and the dew descended, the +vine and the olive ripened, and the flowers shed +forth their sweetness, and all the bustle and +show of life went on, as at other times. The +people were oppressed, but the courts of Israel +and Judah were splendid and luxurious; and +they doubtless boasted of their advancing refinement, +even when they were sinking into +corruption and depravity. It has ever been +the policy of the monarchs who are guilty of +the most atrocious crimes, who shrink from no +acts of cruelty, to promote that despotism which +may banish the remembrance of their enormities, +and to dazzle and blind the eyes of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> +people by the glare and splendour which surrounds +their court. And thus these guilty +monarchs, by the patronage of the licentious +festivals of heathen worship and the alluring +rites of a corrupt religion, compelled their people +to sin. They drowned the voice of conscience +and prevented all reflection.</p> + +<p>All history has shown us that, as nations +have been verging to their ruin, they have +yielded themselves to criminal excess and sensual +indulgence; and the boasted periods of +splendour and high refinement have been but +the preludes to long seasons of national +calamity or entire overthrow. Thus we may +suppose it to have been with the ancient descendants +of Israel. The courts were splendid +and all the arts were patronized, while the thin +veil of refinement was thrown over deeply corrupt +manners. The people, departing from a +holy faith, were sinking into a sullen debase<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>ment, +or giving themselves to sensual indulgence +and brutal ferocity.</p> + +<p>Modern nations have followed in the footsteps +of the ancient world. The same idols are +still worshipped under other names—the same +passions rule the unholy heart.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 416px;"> +<img src="images/image10.png" width="416" height="574" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ESTHER" id="ESTHER"></a>ESTHER.</h2> + + +<div class="illusCap" style="width: 154px;"> +<img src="images/chap7a.gif" width="154" height="79" alt="Illustrated W" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="illusCap" style="width: 205px;"> +<img src="images/chap7b.gif" width="205" height="92" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="illusCap" style="width: 106px;"> +<img src="images/chap7c.gif" width="106" height="95" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="cap">W</span>hen Isaiah wrote, Babylon +sat a queen among +the nations, in the pride +of pomp and power, +in the full security +of strength; yet he +graphically depicted her desolation +and foretold her present +state, while he pronounced her +doom—a perpetual desolation. She shall never +be rebuilt! Her towers are fallen and her +site marked by ruins.</p> + +<p>The decline of Babylon had begun. It was +certain, although slow. Years were to pass<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> +before the sentence should be fully executed. +At the period, when the transactions recorded in +the book of Esther took place, Shushan was the +royal city of Persia. We are told that in this—the +City of Lilies—the king Ahasuerus held +a great feast, probably in celebration of some +recent success, or in commemoration of some +great national event. He assembled all the +princes and nobles of his vast empire, extending +from Egypt to India, and gave a feast or +succession of festivities, which continued for +more than the third of a year.</p> + +<p>All that oriental splendour and magnificence +could contribute, all the expedients that eastern +luxury could desire, to multiply the resources +and to heighten the enjoyment of pleasure, were +brought to aid the designs of the monarch and to +add to the festivities of his court.</p> + +<p>Yet motives of policy may have combined +with the designs of pleasure. In all ages the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> +despot has sought to blind and dazzle the people +by a display of power and magnificence; +and the princes and nobles around, from distant +provinces, have swelled the retinue of their attendants.</p> + +<p>The amusements of monarchs and of courts +have, through all varieties of manners and +degrees of refinement, been much the same. +The ancient Syrian or Persian, like the modern +British or French monarch, had his royal parks +and forests for hunting.</p> + +<p>All nations have patronized the various trials +of skill and strength, and the mimic fight has +ever been an amusement where war was the +great business of life. And the royal pageantry +was doubtless intermingled with the +religious ceremonies which allowed a license +to criminal indulgence and at the same time +offered a supposed expiation for crime.</p> + +<p>While these employed the day, the games<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> +of chance, the wine, the music, the movements +of the degraded dancing-girl, and the tricks of +the buffoon and the jester, amused the late hours +and varied the festive scenes of the night.</p> + +<p>The feast was drawing to a close, and, at the +termination of this long season of hilarity, +Ahasuerus extended the pleasures of the +occasion to all classes of his subjects at +Shushan.</p> + +<p>He threw open his palaces and pleasure-grounds, +his parks and gardens—always of +vast extent around eastern palaces—and admitted +all the citizens to a feast prepared for +them. Tents had been erected within the precincts +of the palace for the tables—and these +tents were furnished with all the luxurious appendages +of the east—with white and green +and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine +linen and purple to silver rings and marble +pillars; while the beds—the couches around the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> +tables, against which the ancients reclined—were +of gold and silver, upon a pavement of +red and blue, and black and white marble; +while they gave them to drink in vessels of +gold. Until these last days the princes and +nobles alone had participated in the festive +scenes; but now, as we have said, all ranks +were allowed to share, and the citizens of +Shushan, subjects of Ahasuerus, thronged the +palace and trod the royal gardens, and, entering +the tents, enjoyed all that royalty could +offer in ancient Persia—far surpassing in costly +splendour and elegance the entertainments of +modern courts. And surely the monarch must +have had strong confidence in the security of +his government and the loyalty of his people, +as he thus from day to day, for successive days, +flung open to them the recesses of his palace.</p> + +<p>While the king thus feasted the men in the +gardens and parks of the palace, Vashti, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> +queen, held a festival for the women within +the secluded apartments appropriated to the +female part of the royal household. She made +them a feast within the house of Ahasuerus; +and this queenly entertainment was conducted +with all that regard for retirement and decorum +which accords with Eastern manners. But +whatever the amusements of the queen and her +train of attendants, no rumours passed the +carefully guarded bounds of the women's apartments. +At length the long season of pleasure +came to a harmonious close. No outbreak of +the people of Shushan, no rising of distant +provinces, no plotting of high-born traitors had +marred the festal pomp. Yet the season of +pleasure is always a period of trial, and the +seeds of remorse and repentance are almost +invariably sown in the hours of gayety. Amid +all this brightness, a dark cloud hung over +Ahasuerus. On the seventh and last day,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +when the heart of the king was merry—when +he had forgotten royalty dignity and personal +decorum, by sitting too long at the festive +board—excited by pride and vanity, and stimulated +by wine, he resolved to dazzle the eyes +of the people by presenting to their admiration +a gem, brighter and more lovely than any +which sparkled in the royal crown. To verify +his loud boasts of her matchless charms, he +sent his chamberlain to bid the queen array +herself in that royal attire which befitted her +state while it displayed her beauty and proclaimed +her rank, and thus present herself, +that the assembled multitudes might admire +her loveliness and confess his happiness.</p> + +<p>In Western lands, and in modern days, this +command would convey no idea of shame or impropriety. +The royal consort and her train of +fair attendants have often graced the presence +and shared the honours of the monarch and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> +court, and added refinement to luxury. But +no offer could be more opposed to all ideas of +Eastern delicacy and propriety—more degrading +to the woman, or more offensive to the +queen.</p> + +<p>By thus unveiling herself before the crowd, +she would sink herself to the level of the most +unworthy of her sex—while the violation of an +established usage, in the time of such excitement +and excess, might lead to the wildest +disorder, and the queen might be exposed to +every insult from crowds maddened by wine +and ripe for disorder; while the monarch himself +might not be able to protect her in a position +so strange and unfitting.</p> + +<p>The modesty of the woman and the dignity +of the queen alike forbade compliance with the +strange order—and Vashti might well presume +that, in the hour of reflection, when his senses +had returned, the monarch would thank her for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +a prudence which probably alone preserved her +dignity and his honour.</p> + +<p>But the passions of the king were inflamed. +His reason was blinded, and artful courtiers, +from motives of intrigue or pique, stimulated +his anger. There are ever those who stand ready +to administer to unholy passions, and who are +watching for the fall of such as are high in place +or favour. And still under the influence of wine, +the rash monarch, by his own act, placed an +inseparable barrier between himself and her +whose charms had so lately been his proudest +boast, and whose conduct had proved that she +well deserved all honour and all affection. +Vashti was separated from the king's favour; +and flattering sycophants extolled the act of +folly, as a measure which gave peace and +security to every household in the realm. +"All the wives shall give to their husbands +honour, both to great and small." And thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> +the day closed by an edict that brought sorrow +to many hearts, and desolation even to the +gates of the palace.</p> + +<p>The excitement was past. The hour of reflection +arrived, and "the king remembered +Vashti." His resentment was appeased. "He +remembered what she had done, and what was +decreed against her." That which had been +magnified into a crime and had given such +deep offence, was now seen to be an act of +wisdom and prudence—the result of true +modesty, and that deep affection which sought +alone the love of her husband, which shrank +from the admiration of the crowd, and which +ventured to disobey rather than forfeit self-respect +and womanly pride—preferring to lose +his love rather than expose his honour. An +immutable decree—his own—separated him +from one lately so beloved, and so truly worthy +of high honour.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p> + +<p>The darkened and saddened aspect of the +monarch declared his late repentance; and +those who had precipitated the fall of the +queen, to screen themselves, were prompt to +devise methods of banishing the remembrance +of the divorced Vashti. They would replace +her by a new favourite. Yet, so surpassing was +her loveliness, and so rare her beauty, that the +courtiers could with difficulty find one whose +charms might banish from memory the repudiated +consort, until they sought through all +the provinces of that vast empire for the +fairest of the daughters of men.</p> + +<p>Hadassah, a daughter of Israel, a descendant +of Benjamin, of the house of Kish, the family +of Saul, first king of Israel, won the monarch's +favour, and was promoted to the place of the +disobedient but high-minded Vashti. Esther +was an orphan, but she had been carefully +guarded and instructed by her kinsman Mor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>decai; +and while we are told that the maiden +was exceeding fair, we may believe that her +beauty was of a high order, stamped too by +intellect and feeling, and that the soul which +often sustained and impelled her in her trying +exigencies, breathed through her features and +animated her form. Yet Ahasuerus merely +bowed to the fair shrine. He sought not to +awaken the response of the soul that dwelt +within.</p> + +<p>When the daughter of Israel was placed upon +the throne of Persia, and another royal feast +proclaimed the triumph of Esther and the +happiness of Ahasuerus, the king displayed +his royal magnificence by the bestowal of gifts +upon his favourites; and the name of Esther +was blended with other and higher associations, +as, upon her elevation, the taxes of the burdened +provinces were remitted and pardons granted +to the condemned.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mordecai, the relative who had supplied the +place of parents to Esther, was, as we have said, +of the house of Kish. Mordecai was the Jew +rather than the Benjamite. His heart was devoted +to his country. When the child of his +adoption was taken to the palace, Mordecai displayed +his wise forethought in cautioning her +against making her parentage and kindred +known. He had been as a father to her, and a +deep interest in the orphan of his care led him, +day by day, to watch the gate of the palace—to +mingle with the attendants, that he might catch +a view of her train or gather tidings of her +welfare. And thus, unknown as the relative +of the fair queen, or as especially interested +in the king, Mordecai was enabled to detect +and reveal a plot for the assassination of +Ahasuerus. Esther being informed of the plot, +disclosed it to the king—the criminals were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> +defeated and punished—but no reward was +conferred upon Mordecai.</p> + +<p>The passion of Ahasuerus for his fair bride +seems to have soon declined. The fickle voluptuary +sought new pleasures, and the bride so +lately exalted to a throne was no longer an +object of envy. Many bitter tears have been +shed by the victims of family pride or state +policy, when thus allied to greatness and splendour. +The sacred rite has often been prostituted +to purposes of ambition and selfishness, and has +thus become a source of guilt and misery. +Esther, in her elevation, may have shed as +bitter tears as fell from Vashti in her banishment +and disgrace.</p> + +<p>Thus each state has its own trials and its +own griefs—and it has its peculiar alleviations +too. Perhaps the progress of the narrative +will show us the source of that influence which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> +seems early to have estranged Ahasuerus from +his bride.</p> + +<p>Among the courtiers of the king there was +the descendant of a race long at variance with +the Jews. The Amalekites had been the enemies +of the Israelites from the infancy of the +nation. When the tribes came up from Egypt, +faint and weary in the desert, the Amalekites +had fallen upon them and attempted to destroy +them; and during a series of ages there had +been a war of extermination between the races. +Nor had Amalek been subjected until Saul was +raised to the throne and Israel had become a +kingdom.</p> + +<p>When Israel and Judah had been destroyed +or carried captive by the hosts of the Assyrians, +the remaining Amalekites seem likewise to +have been carried into the east, either as prisoners +or allies. And now, from among all his +courtiers, Ahasuerus had chosen, as his chief<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> +favourite and counsellor, Haman, the son of +Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag—that +king of Amalek who, as the prisoner of Saul, +was condemned to death by Samuel, the judge +of Israel. The descendant of a royal line and +of an ancient race, Haman was as crafty as he +was unprincipled and malignant, and his evil +influence seems to have first drawn the king's +favour from Esther. He did not know her +lineage, but by plunging the king in every +excess, by keeping all safe counsellors at a +distance, he intended to increase his own influence +and perpetuate his own power, while +he was accumulating great wealth from the +prodigality of his master and from the presents +offered as bribes to obtain his favour.</p> + +<p>As he did not know the lineage of Esther, +he did not persecute her; but as he feared an +influence that might compete with his own, he +strove to alienate the heart of Ahasuerus from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +her. Haman was advanced to honours far +above all the native princes of the kingdom; +even to the first seat in counsel, to the highest +honours in the realm, and to constant companionship +of the monarch.</p> + +<p>As, with trains of slaves and flatterers, he +was hastening to the audience of the monarch, +or returning loaded with marks of royal favour, +he passed Mordecai the Jew, seated alone—unknown, +unheeded, without rank or wealth—by +the gate of the palace. "Yet Mordecai +bowed not, neither did reverence to Haman." +The two men seemed to represent to each other +their respective nations; as if all the hate and +malice of the race, and of long ages of national +bitterness, were concentrated in an individual. +They met as the Israelite and the Amalekite; +and the memories of centuries of aggression +and injuries, of shame and defeat, were crowded +into the present moment. Mordecai saw in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> +Haman, not only the foe to his race, but the +crafty, unprincipled, unholy counsellor, who +had already alienated the heart of the monarch +from his youthful bride, and whose pernicious +influence was spreading blight and corruption, +misery and destruction—through an +empire.</p> + +<p>Every feeling of the Jew, every principle of +an upright, sincere heart forbade Mordecai to +pay the homage demanded of him by Haman. +Every sentiment of national pride, of family +honour, of personal dignity, of self-respect, arose +to deter the descendant of Israel from showing +honour to the hereditary foe of his people and +the persecutor of his faith.</p> + +<p>Haman, at the same time, saw in Mordecai +the descendant of those who had triumphed +over his nation and destroyed his ancestors. +The descendant of Agag, the captive of Saul, +he might naturally vent his indignation upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +the tribe that humbled his house and subjected +his nation and destroyed his ancestors. The +contempt with which Mordecai regarded him +roused all the ancient malignity of the Amalekite, +and his hot blood called for vengeance.</p> + +<p>Yet he thought it a foul shame to lay hands +on Mordecai alone. The ruin of one man +would not heal his wounded pride. He meditated +a deeper and more deadly revenge. He +resolves to sweep the remnant of the Jews +from the face of the earth!</p> + +<p>The proposed plan displays at once all his +cruelty and malignity, and all his crafty influence +over Ahasuerus, while it proves the +king too much immersed in pleasure, or too +much subjected to his artful favourite, to regard +the welfare of his subjects or the interests of +his kingdom.</p> + +<p>Superstitious and idolatrous, Haman cast +lots day after day, for successive days, that a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> +fortunate one might decide the day to be +chosen for the work of death on which he was +bent. And this accomplished, he hastened to +secure the edict from the king. Surely the +monarch must have been sunk in wine and +debauchery who could thus unhesitatingly +accede to the proposition to murder, in cold +blood, thousands of unresisting subjects, when +the worst allegation preferred by their enemy +was "that their laws were diverse from all +people." Yet here was the very principle +of religious persecution; and as sanguinary +edicts as these, enacted against God's ancient +people, have been too often issued in more +modern days, and no Mordecai has sat at the +gate of the palace, mutely to plead for mercy—no +Esther has staked her life upon the attempt +to avert the doom!</p> + +<p>By the offer of an enormous bribe, to be +collected from the plunder of those doomed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> +death, Haman sought the acquiescence of the +king in his scheme. And though he refused +the bribe, yet he bade Haman do with the +people and their possessions as seemed best to +him; giving him his signet ring, he seems to +have divested himself of all care and responsibility, +and Haman having issued the edict +and commanded the couriers to distribute the +royal mandate, they both returned to their +pleasures. "The king and his counsellor sat +down to drink."</p> + +<p>No elaborate essay upon the character of Ahasuerus, +no analysis of the arts of Haman, could +so display the indolent, luxurious, self-indulgent, +voluptuous monarch, or so illustrate the secret +of the favourite's power. The companion of his +pleasures, he was careful to minister to all the +sensual indulgence that could lead him to forget +his duty and the obligations of right and justice +incumbent upon the ruler of a great people.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p> + +<p>Of all the cruel and bloody mandates issued +by despotic monarchs, and designed to answer +either the purposes of private malice or unholy +policy, few, if any, have exceeded this which was +directed against the ancient people of Jehovah. +The Jews who had returned to their own land +were included in this proscription, for Judea was +at this time a tributary of the Persian empire.</p> + +<p>"Then were the king's scribes called, the +thirteenth day of the first month, and there +was written according to all that Haman had +commanded, unto the king's lieutenants, and to +the governors that were over every province, +and to the rulers of every people of every province, +according to the writing thereof; and to +every people after their language, in the name +of King Ahasuerus, was it written, and sealed +with the king's ring. And the letters were +sent by posts into the king's provinces, to destroy, +to kill, and to cause to perish, all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>Jews—both +young and old, little children and women, +in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of +the twelfth month."</p> + +<p>Thus we see all the machinery of this powerful +government put in motion to crush the +Jews—a people widely dispersed and weak from +their recent captivity and overthrow. As no +crime was specified, so there was no offer of +pardon or exemption on any terms; while to +make it more distinctly understood, the terms +which indicated their fate were singularly +multiplied. "To <i>destroy</i>, to <i>kill</i>, to <i>cause</i> to +<i>perish</i>." And while the murder of a nation +was thus made a legal execution, the mode was +left to the option of the executioners; and every +torment that malignity could devise might be +inflicted, while all were stimulated by the promise +of the plunder of their victims—"and to +take the spoil of them for a prey."</p> + +<p>What scenes of horror, of suffering, would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> +have followed the execution of this barbarous +edict! The whole empire had probably been +deluged in blood—for man, like the inferior +animals, seems maddened by the taste of blood—and +one cruelty is but the prelude and provocation +of another; and in the time of strife, +while all were made executioners of the law, +private malice would confound others with the +proscribed, and few could be safe in the hour +of commotion.</p> + +<p>When this edict was published, and while +Ahasuerus and Haman sat down to indulge in the +pleasures of the table, all the city of Shushan +was perplexed, confounded, and troubled—wondering +what motives, what state policy, what +strange conspiracy, had led to this sanguinary +enactment against a people long dwelling +among them—a nation who had furnished +counsellors and ministers to their wisest monarchs.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span></p> + +<p>When Mordecai saw what was done, he rent +his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and +went out into the midst of the city and cried with +a loud and bitter cry. He published—he could +not conceal—his grief and terror; and his +crafty foe perhaps exulted in his misery. The +long struggle between the Amalekite and the +Israelite seemed now to be concluded. The +fall of the Jews seemed to be sealed. All the +power of the Persian empire was arrayed +against them. They were prisoners in her +different provinces, appointed to execution! +All human power and authority and presumption +of success was on the side of Haman, and +against his intended victims.</p> + +<p>Mordecai had no hope on earth. His trust +was alone in the God of his fathers—the God of +Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob—the God +often defied by Amalek. In his distress he presented +himself, clothed in sackcloth, at the gate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> +of the royal palace; but no one arrayed in the +garb of sorrow might enter the haunts devoted to +luxurious pleasure. Yet the sight of his distress +and the tones of his deep grief arrested the attention +of the attendants of the queen, and her +chamberlain reported the circumstances to her.</p> + +<p>No tokens of sympathy, no expression of condolence, +however grateful, could assuage the +grief of Mordecai in this hour of terror and +alarm; and even though commanded by the +queen, he declined to lay aside the tokens of wo, +while he diligently sought to convey to the secluded +Esther an account of all the machinations +of Haman, and the assurance of the imminent +danger to which her nation was exposed, and +in which she was involved. He not only sent +her a copy of the edict which condemned the +Jews, but he charged her to supplicate the +king on their behalf.</p> + +<p>The young queen must have felt like one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> +awakened from a sleep to find herself upon the +brink of a precipice. Her situation was full +of danger. The flush of royal favour was past. +She was neglected and forgotten. Her splendid +palace was indeed but a prison, and her lordly +consort might prove her executioner. For a long +time she had not seen the king or received the +least token of royal favour or remembrance, +and a new favourite might have succeeded her +in the court of the capricious voluptuary. Yet +she was sternly charged by Mordecai to rouse +herself, meet the peril, and, if possible, save her +people, while he taught her to recognise the +designs of a wise Providence in her elevation.</p> + +<p>"Then Mordecai commanded to answer +Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt +escape in the king's house, more than all the +Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace +at this time, then shall there enlargement and +deliverance arise to the Jews from another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> +place; but thou and thy father's house shall +be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou +art come to the kingdom for such a time as +this?"</p> + +<p>In the appeals of Mordecai to Esther, we +may recognise the principles upon which he +had trained her. The sense of duty, the obligations +of religion, the call to self-sacrifice +and exertion, had all been instilled while Esther +was in private life, and they bear their fruit on +the throne. Yet there must have been a conflict +in the heart of Esther, before she could +adopt the decision which might accelerate the +doom of her people, while, if her appeal failed, +her own fate was scaled with their's.</p> + +<p>Surrounded by all the splendour of the +court, with all the pleasures that pomp and +power can command, with troops of menials +treading marble halls, with the more genial +luxuries of fair flowers and pure fountains and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> +soft music—Esther felt the insufficiency of all +that earth can yield in the hour of sorrow and +trial. We may almost fancy that we see her, +with lofty brow and pale cheek, her dark soft +eye fixed in thought, and the compressed lip +telling of the firm resolve. She has decided! +She will venture the loss of royal favour, and +life itself, to secure the safety of her people. +"<span class="smcap">I will go in to the king, and if I perish—I +perish.</span>" Words more simple, yet sublime +in their high meaning, have seldom been recorded. +Strong purpose and high resolve call +for but few words.</p> + +<p>Yet Esther relied upon a power higher than +that of Ahasuerus. She may have recalled the +history of her nation; she may have remembered +all the interpositions of Divine mercy in past +extremities; and doubtless she relied upon those +promises for the future which induced in Mordecai +a confident hope of deliverance. She re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>membered +that Jehovah—the God of Israel—hears +the prayers of the humble and the contrite. +She appointed a solemn fast of three +days, in which the Jews of Shushan should +humble themselves and remember her before +the God of their fathers.</p> + +<p>A more eminent instance of simple dependence +upon the Divine interposition, or of entire +reliance upon the voice of prayer, has seldom if +ever, occurred. There was no resort to outward +ceremonies to awaken a deeper feeling, or +to atone for the want of it by a formal observance. +There was no altar, no sacrifice, no +long procession, no promised offering, no resort +to temple or priest, but there was the call upon +God from the depth of the soul—the simple, +unfailing trust of the heart, the personal +humiliation, the individual prayer, the united +offerings of supplication and confession from a +whole people. There was the simple faith that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> +relies on the Divine power and pleads the +Divine promises with submission to the Divine +will. It was a strange contrast to the sensual, +gross, superstitious, and unholy rites of the +heathen, while from its deep spiritual meaning, +and from the entire absence of all merely formal +observance, it was both a precedent and a +model for future ages, and for the holy spiritual +worshipper of other days.</p> + +<p>It was no heartless service, no formal act +of worship rendered by the Jews of Shushan, +when Esther called upon them to pray and +to fast with her and for her. While the queen +and her maidens fasted in the recesses of the +palace, in many a lowly home or quiet chamber +were gathered the race of Esther, to +commit her and themselves to Jehovah, to +beseech him to forgive the sins of his people +and save them, for his mercy's sake, in this +hour of their extremity. Mingled with their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> +personal apprehension and anxiety for their +wives and their children would be thoughts +of "the daughter of their people"—their beautiful +queen—so young, so fair, so lately exalted +to the pinnacle of honour and glory; adorned +with gems and wreathed with flowers, the pride +of a monarch and the ornament of a court; +now, neglected, abject, forsaken—included in +the doom of her race, prostrate in some secluded +apartment of the palace—her royal apparel +exchanged for sackcloth and ashes—still +cleaving to the God of her fathers, and still identifying +herself with her kindred and countrymen. +Whether they regarded her royal state, +her tender years, her bitter desolation, or her +heroic resolution, all the sympathies of the +heart, all the purest feelings of the nation, +would be called forth in her behalf.</p> + +<p>Other feelings would find a place in the +hearts of the Jews as they contemplated their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> +present state. The last deed of the Amalekite +would bring to recollection the injuries of ages. +This Haman, who now, in a time of profound +peace and full security—while both races were +exiles from the land of their fathers—had +plotted the ruin of their nation, the total extermination +of their race; who had doomed the +feeble and helpless, the little one and the aged, +to perish with the strong man in his might; +this Haman was the son of those who fell upon +the tribes, faint and weary, in the wilderness; +who had pursued them with inveterate hatred; +who had ever joined with their foes or stood +ready to attack them in their defenceless +state.</p> + +<p>When we recollect that the conspiracy of +Haman but closed the long train of injuries +inflicted on Israel by Amalek, we shall not so +much wonder at the feelings sometimes expressed +by the Jew. The character of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +tribe was still the same—their course through +all years was unaltered. And now, while +Amalek has perished and the Jew survives, +we can form no just estimate of that national +feud. Haman was a type of his race—artful, +cruel, treacherous, and bloody; and what the +Roman was to Hannibal, what the ancient Persian +was to Greece, what the Turk is to modern +Greece, what Russia is to the Pole, such was +the Amalekite to the Jew.</p> + +<p>While Esther had manifested her sense of +dependence upon the eternal Ruler of nations, +and her faith and reliance upon the God of her +fathers, by humbling herself before him and +relying upon his protection and interposition +in this hour of darkness, she showed, too, a +knowledge of the human heart, not often acquired +at her age; an instinctive insight into +the character and the motives of those around +her, with the power of adapting herself to cir<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>cumstances, +that has seldom been displayed in +one so young, combined with so many of the +higher qualities of the woman.</p> + +<p>She knew the weak point in the character +of Ahasuerus, and she forgot not the power of +beauty, the influence of personal charms, as +she arrayed her fair form in the rich and +splendid vestments that so well became her, +and summoned all the aid of oriental art and +elegance to her toilette, that her presumption +might be forgiven in her loveliness—that favour +won by her beauty might be extended to her +nation; and if she felt the hope of pleasing, as +she surveyed herself in the polished metallic +mirror, decked with the magnificence of a +royal bride and adorned with the gifts of him +whose favour she would seek, her heart might +have sunk too at the remembrance of the favour +she had once won and lost. In assuming the +crown placed upon her brow by Ahasuerus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> +there was a tacit claim to her royal rights; for +that gemmed circlet was not only a badge of +rank, but a pledge of affection—a token of +honour and royal favour, which elevated her +above the throng of beauties who filled the +courts of the palace. Had she arrayed herself +in sackcloth, had she appeared as a mourner, +an afflicted suppliant, she would probably have +found the royal voluptuary more anxious to +banish one who disturbed his pleasures, than to +redress the grievances that appealed to his +justice.</p> + +<p>Yet it must have been with trembling limbs +and a beating heart that she stood before +Ahasuerus; and, by entering his presence +unbidden, she made her mute appeal to his +mercy.</p> + +<p>And strange, at that unwonted place and +hour, must have appeared the beautiful vision +to the king, while courtiers and attendants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> +stood in silent amazement. There was but one +anxious moment before the sceptre was extended; +the trembling queen touched it, and thus was +encouraged to prefer her petition for any favour +that the royal hand could bestow. The presence +of Esther seems to have revived at once the +fondness of the monarch, and all his coldness +and indifference vanished like the mist before +the rising sun. All the arts of Haman had been +needed to wean him from her and to teach him +to forget her. How rarely does a vile, unholy +counsellor or companion seek to corrupt a private +man, or a prince, or a ruler, without striving +first to undermine the influence of the virtuous +wife, mother, or sister!</p> + +<p>Warily does the royal suppliant present her +request, still uncertain of the degree of favour +on which she might rely. She offered no petition +that could embarrass the king. She made +no complaint of past neglects. She uttered no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> +word of upbraiding for forgotten vows; but +delicately implying that his presence was the +source of her happiness, that this had constrained +her to break through all the formal +observances of courtly restraint and endanger +life itself, she besought him to honour her +by attending a banquet which she had prepared. +Thus she avoided the awakening of the suspicions +of Haman by even asking to see the +monarch without his presence. Including him +in her invitation, she allayed all jealousy of +a wish to exert an influence inimical to his, +while she thus offered an additional inducement +to Ahasuerus to honour her feast.</p> + +<p>By a strong effort and great self-command, the +young queen retained her calmness and preserved +her grace and gayety. And even when the banquet +had closed and the guests had retired, and +the king again asked her to prefer her petition, +she did not venture to prefer that which was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> +nearest her heart. His favour was too uncertain +and his favourite too powerful. She only besought +his presence again as a guest, and again +his favourite was included in the invitation.</p> + +<p>The Jews were still lying low before their +God. When the feast in the palace was broken +up, and the gates were shut, the high walls +cast their shadows upon the moat. The sentinels +still moved with measured tread. The lights +gradually disappeared, except those that told of +some one watching over the sick or dying, or some +chance-beam betraying a late carousal. In the +palace, the soft footfall of the attendants in +the antechambers, could not disturb the slumbers +of the monarch, while strains of sweetest +music were ready to lull him to repose, as +warder and sentinel kept watch over his safety. +But still "that night the king could not sleep;" +and wakeful, restless, solitary, he commanded +his attendants to bring him the archives of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> +his kingdom, and read to him the records of his +reign. Strange request! How few monarchs +would care thus to review the past, and force +themselves to the judgment awaiting them from +a higher tribunal and from future ages!</p> + +<p>It was not chance which held the eyes of the +king waking. It was not chance which drew +his attention to the conspiracy defeated by +Mordecai, and to the investigation of the treatment +he had received for so high a service. +No reward, no honour had been conferred +upon one who had saved the life of the sovereign. +A strange forgetfulness or neglect of +the prime minister of the realm! While Ahasuerus +was devising some mode of requiting the +obligation due to one who had rendered the +state important service, he called for a counsellor, +and was told that Haman was without, +in the court.</p> + +<p>Haman left the banquet of Esther in all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +assurance of royal favour. He had attained +to honours which distinguished him above all +the subjects of the Persian empire. He had +received distinctions which elevated him above +even the princes and nobles of the kingdom; +and in his pomp and power he passed, with his +train of attendants, menials, flatterers, and +followers, through the gates of the royal palace, +"the observed of all observers;" and as he +came into the thronged thoroughfare that led +from the royal abode, all did him homage and +showed him reverence—save one.</p> + +<p>Mordecai, the Jew, still sat at the king's gate—probably, +still wrapped in sackcloth. His eye +met that of Haman, but it quailed not. It was +a stern, reproving glance! And while all others +did lowliest obeisance, Mordecai neither bowed +nor uncovered his head.</p> + +<p>There was no word—there was no reproach—but +there was a silent defiance, that conveyed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> +the soul of Haman an assurance of disgrace and +defeat, and that told him he was despised, +amid all his honours and prosperity. He hastened +to his home. He gathered his household +around him and told them of his riches, his honour, +his prosperity, and the assurance his large +family afforded him that his riches would descend +in his own line, and that his ancient lineage and +royal race should thus be perpetuated. He told +them of the high honour that day received at the +royal feast, and of a like honour in reserve for +the morrow. But still his pride was mortified +by Mordecai's course. "All this availeth me +nothing," he said, "so long as I see Mordecai, +the Jew, sitting at the king's gate." Wretched, +malignant man! What a picture of the power +and force of evil passions—of that selfishness +which could find its happiness in the misery +and suffering of others!</p> + +<p>His hatred of Mordecai seems the more in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>sane, +when we remember that Haman held his +fate in his hands, or rather had actually sealed +his doom. He might well forego forms of reverence +from the man he had doomed to death. +Yet the desire for the humiliation of Mordecai, +for some token of abasement and fear, seems to +have absorbed all other feelings; and as this +was the only thing withheld, so it was the +only thing desired. To soothe the disgust +and allay the indignation of Haman, the family +council decreed the immediate death of Mordecai, +and they doomed him to the gallows—a +most ignominious death. While this instrument +of his destruction was in preparation upon the +grounds of Haman, he sought Ahasuerus, that +the sentence might be ratified. He who had +given him the power to murder a nation, would +surely assent to forestalling the doom of an +individual; and Mordecai's disobedience to the +royal order, his disrespect to the minister who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> +represented the authority of the sovereign and +the laws of the realm, seemed to offer a fitting +pretext.</p> + +<p>While Haman was waiting in the antechamber +for audience, Ahasuerus was resolving some +mode of requiting Mordecai; and, ever prone +to rely on favourites and counsellors, he was +unable to decide for himself; so he sought +advice from his favourite courtier, who was so +near at hand. To him the question was submitted: +"What shall be done to the man +whom the king delighteth to honour?" Ever +selfish, ever intent upon his own promotion, +and constantly loaded with marks of royal +favour, Haman very naturally presumed that +fresh honours were destined for him, and that +he was to be allowed to designate the very +marks of favour which he most desired.</p> + +<p>"Now Haman thought in his heart, to whom +would the king delight to do honour more than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> +to myself?" And so he answered the king: +"To the man whom the king delighteth to +honour, let the royal apparel be brought which +the king useth to wear, and the horse that the +king rideth upon, and the royal crown which is +set upon his head. 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 +honour, and bring him on horseback through +the streets of the city, and proclaim before +him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom +the king delighteth to honour."</p> + +<p>If Haman intended this as a mere vain-glorious +display—an impressive pageant, designed +to publish to the people the high dignity +of royal favour which he personally enjoyed—it +would not be without meaning; but we cannot +but think that, according to Eastern usage, there +was a deeper significance in the ceremony.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span></p> + +<p>The customs of the East are almost immutable, +and there was much similarity between +those of Egypt, Assyria and Persia. When +Joseph was exalted to be ruler of Egypt, he was +clothed in royal vestments, and passed in triumphant +procession through the city, while all +were called upon to bow the knee before him. +Daniel was clothed in scarlet and in purple +(the badges of royalty) while his honours +were announced. But Joseph rode in the +second chariot of Pharaoh, and his distance +from royal state was clearly defined, while +Daniel was declared third in the empire of the +Medes and Persians.</p> + +<p>In appropriating all the badges of royalty—the +crown, the robes, the horse, the princely +attendance—Haman seems to have been preparing +a claim to higher honour than those of +Joseph or Daniel; to be even preparing to +ascend the throne. All the homage that could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> +be shown the subject had long been exacted. +A nation was now under a dreadful doom +because only one of their race withheld it; +and now he would take to himself all the +appendages of royal state!</p> + +<p>A sudden tumult in the palace, a popular +outbreak, so common with despotic governments, +might easily be accomplished, and +Haman might ascend the throne of Ahasuerus—for +the lines of descent seem to have been +not unfrequently changed in the Persian empire; +and in the convulsions of despotic states, +even slaves have mounted the thrones of their +masters.</p> + +<p>Whether, in his designs, he merely sought the +gratification of a present vain-glorious ambition +or was preparing for a higher destiny, the revulsion +must have been most overwhelming, +the change and surprise inexpressible, when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> +the announcement and command of the king +fell upon his ear.</p> + +<p>"Make haste!" said he, "take the apparel, +and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even +so to Mordecai the Jew, who sitteth at the +king's gate. Let nothing fail that thou hast +spoken." You have devised the very highest +honour that I can render: now confer it on the +man I designate.</p> + +<p>The Eastern despots are arbitrary; and +Haman, confounded and petrified, ventured no +remonstrance. He bowed and obeyed. He +departed as the messenger of honour to Mordecai +the Jew. Whatever the malignant and +bitter feelings of his heart, he dared not give +expression to them. He was compelled to +serve the man he hated, to confer the highest +honour on the man he had doomed to the +deepest obloquy, publicly to bow before one +whom he hoped to trample beneath his feet!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> +With what contending feelings must he have +delivered the mandate of the king to Mordecai! +What strong emotion must have convulsed +his soul! Yet the most powerful feelings +are seldom displayed. The green sod +covers the pent volcano, and a slight trembling +alone denotes the action of the devouring element. +It is all repose and calmness on the +surface while the billows of flame are raging +beneath.</p> + +<p>Thus the aspect of the courtier was calm, +though sullen, while with his own hands he +acted as chamberlain to the Jew and arrayed +him in robes of royalty and honour. We may +imagine a group for a painter, in Haman, dark, +malignant, and sullen—and Mordecai, calm, +proud, unbending, receiving service from his +enemy. And after having with his own hands +arrayed the new object of royal favour, Haman +was placed at the head of the proud war-horse, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> +he slowly bore the Jew through the multitude, +who thronged the street "to behold the man +whom the king delighteth to honour." We +seem to see him—the proudest, the most arrogant +of men—with bowed head and averted eye, +while Mordecai sits erect and firm, in all the +dignity of conscious worth.</p> + +<p>As they slowly proceed through the thronged +thoroughfare, obstructed by crowds who came +to gaze upon the pageant, many a significant +sneer or half-uttered jest would convey to Haman +a sense of his degradation in appearing as +the groom of the despised Jew.</p> + +<p>When the ceremonies were over, Mordecai +again appeared at the gates of the palace. Nothing +in the apparent condition of the two was +changed, and the pageant may have seemed like +a dream to Mordecai. He was only anxious to +know the proceedings and fate of Esther. Yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> +he must have gathered hope for the future, as +he still trusted and waited upon God.</p> + +<p>But a dark cloud had fallen upon Haman. He +foreboded his doom. He was humbled, disappointed, +degraded, disgraced. He had been paraded, +before the multitudes, the menial of the +Jew. He had been forced to confer on the man +he hated the very honours his soul most coveted. +"And Haman hasted to his house mourning and +having his head covered." And he told his wife +and the friends whom he had gathered to consult +upon the fall of the Jew, all that had befallen +him. And clear, far-sighted, daring, and unscrupulous, +the wife who had counselled Mordecai's +destruction, foretold to Haman his own doom. +"If Mordecai be of the Jews, before whom +thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail +against him, but shall surely fall before him."</p> + +<p>And they were probably counselling some +measures for his personal safety; for when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> +they were yet talking, came the king's chamberlain, +and hasted to bring Haman to the feast +Esther had prepared.</p> + +<p>As the feast proceeded, the king entreated +Esther to ask some gift that he might bestow +as a token of favour, or a pledge of affection. +And then Esther, with a simple fervour, force, +and dignity, and with the pathos of true feeling, +offered her supplication for herself and +her nation. "And Esther answered the king +and said, If I have found favour 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, to perish." +She quotes the words of Haman's edict, and +then adds, "But if we had been sold for bond-men +and bond women, I had held my peace, +although the enemy could not countervail the +king's damage," nor recompense the loss of so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> +many of the king's useful citizens and peaceful +subjects. Nothing could be more sweet, gentle, +submissive, and truly dignified than her appeal. +And the imagination and astonishment of the +king are graphically displayed in his answer. +Who is he? Where is he that hath presumed +in his heart to do so? Who has dared to conspire +against one so near my person, so exalted +by my favour?</p> + +<p>Confounded, amazed—and probably for the +first time suspecting the Jewish extraction of +the queen—Haman was still speechless when +Esther made her direct and firm reply: "That +adversary, that wicked man, is Haman," here +in the royal presence—here in the full blaze of +royal favour.</p> + +<p>In the conscious justice of her cause, she had +desired to be confronted with the man she +accused, and he was present, that he might +enjoy every opportunity of defence, if inno<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>cent; +and if guilty, that he might receive the +just reward of his deeds. The king was filled +with wrath at this proof of the presumption and +malice of his favourite, and he left the banqueting-room +and went into the palace-garden.</p> + +<p>Haman, quick to read the feelings of his master, +"saw that wrath was determined." Unable +to escape the watchful attendants, and moved +by terror, he approached the royal couch of +Esther to beseech her, whom he had greatly injured, +to intercede for him. And while he was +thus engaged, the king re-entered the banqueting-house. +His wrath was rekindled. The imprudence +of Haman hastened the doom his +crimes had provoked. The excited monarch, witnessing +his apparent familiarity, accused him of +designs of which his previous presumption might +show him capable. His sentence was pronounced—his +doom was sealed. The attendants covered +his face, (a most significant act, still retained in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +Eastern courts,) and he was carried from the +royal presence-chamber, and hung upon the very +gallows he had erected for Mordecai. The +flowers which were gathered for the feast and the +wreaths entwined for his brow were still fresh.</p> + +<p>The succeeding interview of Ahasuerus with +his still loved and more than beautiful consort, +must have been one of no slight interest. There +was much to unfold and to explain; there was +something to confess and to forgive; and as +the character of Haman was now exposed and +his acts were revealed, the king may have +regarded himself as the bird escaped from the +fowler. Esther revealed her lineage; while +the rising favour of Haman, the dangers to be +anticipated from his hatred to her nation, well +justified the prudent caution of Mordecai. As +the queen told the king in what relation Mordecai +stood to her, Mordecai was brought before +him; and the former honour proved but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> +indeed the installation into the highest offices +of trust, while the vast possessions of Haman +were conferred on Esther, and Mordecai was +appointed her steward.</p> + +<p>Yet, while the royal favour and protection +was extended to these individuals, the edict +was still in force against the race, and again +Esther besought the king to interpose his power +and protection. The laws of the Medes and +Persians, however impolitic and unjust, could +not be repealed. The king had no power over the +statutes he had made. Like the deeds of life, once +passed, they were unchangeable. He might +regret the act, he might deprecate the influence +thus put in operation, but he could neither +recall nor cancel them; and one instance attempted +might have destroyed the royal power.</p> + +<p>Although Haman was removed, his family +were numerous, and there was doubtless a large +class of his ancient tribe who viewed him as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> +lineal descendant of their monarchs and entitled +to their allegiance. They expected to share +his triumphs, and, disappointed and exasperated, +they would be ready to avenge his death. +Haman being recognised as the highest officer +of Ahasuerus and as his chief counsellor as +well as favourite, he had great power and +influence, and doubtless had a large party in +his interests—either won by past favours or +hope of future wealth and honour. At the +same time all the discontented and turbulent of +the land would be ready to join an outbreak +which made the murder of any Jew lawful, +where it could be accomplished, and which +gave their possessions to those who were their +destroyers.</p> + +<p>All that Ahasuerus could do to avert the +threatened extermination of the children of +Israel, was to allow them to defend themselves +if any dared to attack them. The whole em<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>pire +was convulsed with the desperate struggle +between the Jews and the faction of Haman; +and while the royal authority aided the Jews +in Shushan, so that they were entirely victorious, +seventy-five thousand of their assailants +perished in the provinces, where we are told +the Jews gathered themselves together and +stood for their lives; and it is recorded to +their honour, that upon the spoil of their enemies +they laid not their hands. And all this +suffering and blood was the result of the policy +of Haman. The Jews were not the aggressors, +although they came off victors.</p> + +<p>It was the last conflict between the nations of +Amalek and Israel, and threatening and prophecy +were thus fulfilled while both nations were +strangers and exiles from their own lands; and +while the tribe of Amalek perished, the sons of +Haman, who probably led the conflict in Shushan, +were condemned to the same ignominious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> +death which their father had suffered. We infer +their actual guilt from the fact that they seem to +be unmolested until the day appointed for the +extermination of the Jews. As leaders of the +tumult they deserved the doom they received.</p> + +<p>The lot is from the Lord; and the day of +vengeance thus deferred from Haman's regard +to the casting of the lot, gave the Jews full +time to prepare themselves to resist their foes, +and defend themselves after the issuing of the +second edict, by which they were empowered to +act on their own defence, and to repel openly +by armed resistance.</p> + +<p>The book of Esther is one of the most beautiful +and variously instructive and interesting +portions of the Old Testament. While it illustrates +the providential care of Jehovah over all +his people, and his readiness to hear their +prayers and interpose for their deliverance, it +shows too that he ruleth over all the nations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> +of the earth, and that all the arts of intriguing +men in courts and cabinets, the various changes +which occur, either affecting nations or individuals, +are all allowed to promote his infinite +designs—all accomplishing his eternal plans. +While his people, like Esther and Mordecai, +gladly co-operate in the designs of the Almighty, +his enemies are made the unwitting and unwilling +instruments of advancing the same designs, +and are accomplishing his purposes for the re-generation +of a corrupt world—for the establishment +of the kingdom of the redeemed, and the +complete redemption of the children of God.</p> + +<p>As we look at the book of Esther, through +the long dark vista of intervening ages, we are +presented with a beautiful picture of a past +period. Nations have perished and left no +memories; and while all the other portion of +our world, at that day, is shrouded in darkness +or buried in forgetfulness, the light of revela<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>tion +falls upon the court of Ahasuerus, and we +see it in all the gorgeous splendour of oriental +magnificence.</p> + +<p>The prosperous monarch of a powerful empire—munificent, +prodigal, not deficient in capacity +or heart, but indolent, and fond of luxury and +feasting, he yields himself to the influence of +the favourite; and when ready to rush into the +seductions of pleasure, he still, at times, rouses +himself and executes his own will, asserting +his authority by some act of despotic power, +of justice or cruelty, as the impulse prompts—he +is a type of a large class of those to whom +the destinies of more modern nations have been +committed.</p> + +<p>In Haman we see the courtier—crafty, +proud, vain, ambitious, aspiring—intent upon +personal aggrandizement, and the acquisition +of wealth; gaining his influence over the mind +of the monarch by ministering to his pleasures,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> +and maintaining it by banishing all pure influences +and crushing all nobler feelings. The +history of Haman is replete, too, with instruction, +in displaying the absorbing power +of the selfish and malignant passions, and +their fatal influence upon character and happiness.</p> + +<p>One unsatisfied desire will embitter all the +most coveted possessions. There will ever be +something to be achieved—some enemy to +humble, some higher elevation to attain, some +Mordecai in the gate, whose reverence withheld +is more desirable than all the homage of the +multitude bestowed.</p> + +<p>He who cherishes in his heart a hatred of +a class or an individual, is nursing a scorpion +which will poison every kind feeling. We +must love, not only to make others happy, but +that we may be happy ourselves. We may withhold +all marks of approbation from the un<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>worthy, +and still regard them with the benevolence +required by the law of love.</p> + +<p>Thus while Mordecai saw in Haman the +same persecuting spirit that had marked all his +race; while he saw him, unholy, unprincipled, +securing by his acts an influence over his master, +which he abused; prostituting the royal +authority to the ruin of the kingdom, making +it subserve the purpose of his own unhallowed +ambition; alienating the monarch from the +queen, and inducing the disregard of the duties +of private life as of sovereign power—Mordecai, +as an upright, honourable, high-minded man, +refused to render one, whose course he deprecated, +whose character he abhorred, the honour +accorded even by royal favour. He neither +bowed nor did him reverence. But he did not +assail him. He did not form any dark and +treacherous plots against him. He did not +revile him. All that he sought was to lead the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> +blinded monarch to a calm investigation into +the proceedings of his treacherous counsellor. +And Haman had every opportunity of repelling +accusation and justifying himself, as he was +ever allowed to be present when Esther made her +charges against him. There is a world-wide +difference between the firm, indignant disapprobation +with which a virtuous mind regards an +evil man, working ill to all, and that malignant +hatred which arises from selfishness and envy, +and which pursues with bitterness and cruelty +all that does not minister to its indulgence.</p> + +<p>If it should seem strange to us that the +national antipathy should so long be cherished, +we may remember that it is quite as strange +that national character should be thus faithfully +transmitted through so many generations; +and those who so confidently predict a change +of character from the mere change of the +circumstances of a people, may do well to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> +ponder the facts presented by the past history +of the races of the earth.</p> + +<p>There are other contrasts between the characters +of Mordecai and Haman. Haman was +superstitious, yet not religious. He was artful, +selfish, treacherous, bloodthirsty, corrupt himself +and corrupting others, ambitious and vain-glorious. +Mordecai was pious, upright, conscientious; +fulfilling every duty, yet seeking no +selfish aggrandizement, no wealth, no personal +honour—even when placed in circumstances +where he might claim them as a just reward—and +never exerting an influence for selfish purposes; +still ready to forego and sacrifice all +that was demanded at the call of duty.</p> + +<p>While we see in Mordecai the devoted worshipper +of the true God, the high-minded patriot, +the man of inflexible integrity—an integrity +that scorned the bad acts that would +minister to the pride of false greatness—and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> +nobleness that rose above the desire for court +favours, the strong features of his character +are softened into beauty by his love for the +orphan relative, his watchfulness over her +childhood, and the interest displayed by his +daily inquiries for her welfare. His affections +were kind and tender, while his principles were +unbending; and we feel that we love the man, +though we are constrained to render a deeper +homage to the patriot.</p> + +<p>Esther is one of the most beautiful characters +in the gallery of Scripture portraits. +Her character is peculiarly feminine; and while +her path is marked by events of moment, it +appeals to our hearts in each vicissitude of her +lot. Youth and beauty always throw a charm +around the possessor. Faint, perishing, transient +as they are, they awaken all the sympathies +of our nature; a deep compassion, a foreboding +of the future; while the knowledge of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> +the sorrows and trials which await those to +whom the present is so bright, heightens our +interest. Thus in each stage of the narrative, +Esther comes to us with all that can awaken +sympathy and excite interest.</p> + +<p>The fair flower is transplanted from Judea +to the lands of the East—a scion of a stock +soon removed—sheltered, watched, nourished +by the pure dews of Divine truth; taken from +seclusion and loneliness, where but one eye +beheld its opening beauty, to the gardens of +royalty; and there, among gayer and gaudier +flowers, like the pure lily of the valley, winning +royal favour by purity, sweetness, and +graceful loveliness.</p> + +<p>We follow her from her lonely home to the +palace, and think how many fears and alarms +mingled with the triumph of her beauty, the +consciousness of her power, when an empire +blessed her name and celebrated her beauty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> +And a deeper feeling is roused for the royal +bride, lately so flattered, caressed, and honoured, +now suddenly forgotten, neglected—left to the +loneliness of her apartments or the companionship +of her formal attendants, while her lord +pursued his career of pleasure, apparently unmindful +of her existence.</p> + +<p>A bitter lot it is to the young, to be loved +and then forgotten. And sad the contrast to +the royal Esther, between her late elevation +and all the incense of homage and affection then +offered, and her present desolation. Yet it was +a season of needful humiliation. It awoke her +from the dream of splendour and gayety, and +brought her back to the sober realities of life +and its stern duties; and it was also a season +of preparation for the trials that awaited her. +It brought her to seek a happiness higher than +could be found in palaces or courts, a favour +more desirable than that of an earthly monarch,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> +a love that is unfailing, a faithfulness that should +be enduring—and thus, when the day of trial +came, she was prepared. She could cast herself +upon the arm that never falters, she could +seek the interposition of the God of her nation, +and of each individual who trusteth in him and +relieth upon his mercy.</p> + +<p>There was something beautiful in the blending +of her conscious helplessness, her sense of +loss of the favour of her royal lord and of the +love and courtly honour she deserved, of her +entire dependence upon the protection and +interposition of Heaven, and her resolution to +venture all for her people.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">If I perish—I perish!</span> If we can recall +the recollections of our childhood, we shall +remember the breathless interest with which we +attended her, in fancy, to the presence-chamber +and awaited the extended sceptre. All the +excitement of romance is concentrated in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> +story of Esther. And as we follow the narrative +of her final triumph, her restoration to the +love of her husband, the salvation of her people, +and the exaltation of her family, we cannot but +pursue the train of thought and feeling, and +fondly hope that the influence of Esther and +Mordecai might redeem Ahasuerus from the +vices of youth, inspire him with higher motives, +elevate him to a loftier standard, and rouse one, +not deficient in natural kindness or nobleness +of capacity, from a selfish voluptuary to an enlightened, +able, and just ruler of a great people.</p> + +<p>The Jews still commemorate the feast of +Purim, and celebrate their deliverance from +Haman; and in all the climes and lands to +which the race have been transported, they +have carried the remembrance of the daughter +of their people—the beautiful queen of ancient +Persia, who ventured her life to ransom her +race.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span></p> + +<p>We would learn from the whole history lessons +of sobriety, of contentment with an humble +lot, of the duty of cherishing the spirit of love, +of kindness, of benevolence, of repressing the +first germ of selfishness, of malignity, of envy; +of dependence upon an over-ruling Providence; +of encouragement to prayer, to trusting and +waiting upon God.</p> + +<p>"Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I +will answer thee," is said to each contrite heart +now, as truly as to Israel of old; and none +who have thus truly sought the Lord in lowliness +and penitence, ever sought him in vain. +His care and protection are still around his +people; and although the enemies of his church +may try her, they shall never triumph over her.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 196px;"> +<img src="images/image11.png" width="196" height="136" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Notable Women of Olden Time, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTABLE WOMEN OF OLDEN TIME *** + +***** This file should be named 18316-h.htm or 18316-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/1/18316/ + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, Sigal Alon and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Notable Women of Olden Time + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: May 5, 2006 [EBook #18316] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTABLE WOMEN OF OLDEN TIME *** + + + + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, Sigal Alon and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +NOTABLE WOMEN + +OF + +OLDEN TIME. + + +WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION. + + +PHILADELPHIA: +AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, +1122 CHESTNUT STREET. + + + + +_Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1852, by the +AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District +of Pennsylvania._ + +_No books are published by the AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION without the +sanction of the Committee of Publication, consisting of fourteen +members, from the following denominations of Christians, viz. Baptist, +Methodist, Congregationalist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and +Reformed Dutch. Not more than three of the members can be of the same +denomination, and no book can be published to which any member of the +Committee shall object._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGES + +THE WIFE--(SARAH) 7 + +THE WIFE UNLOVED--(HAGAR) 35 + +THE PARTIAL AND INTRIGUING MOTHER--(REBEKAH) 63 + +THE RIVAL SISTERS--(LEAH AND RACHEL) 89 + +THE AFFECTIONATE SISTER--(MIRIAM) 119 + +THE PROPHETESS--(DEBORAH) 171 + +THE ARTFUL WOMAN--(JEZEBEL) 187 + +THE AMBITIOUS WOMAN--(ATHALIAH) 205 + +THE ORPHAN QUEEN--(ESTHER) 231 + + + + +THE WIFE--SARAH. + + +[Illustration] + +Within a few centuries after the flood, while some who had witnessed the +sin and the destruction of the antediluvian world were still living, +Jehovah saw fit, in accordance with his designs of eternal wisdom, to +separate Abraham from his brethren, calling upon him to leave the land +of his birth and go out into a strange land, to dwell in a far country. +He was to pass the rest of his days as a sojourner in a land which +should be thereafter given to a people yet unborn,--to a nation which +was to descend from him. + +Abraham was a lineal descendant of Shem, who was doubtless still living +while "the father of Abraham yet abode with his kindred in the land of +the Chaldees;" and from the lips of his venerable progenitor, Abraham +himself may have first received the knowledge of the true God, and have +learned lessons of wisdom and obedience, as he sat at his feet. Shem may +have conversed with Methuselah; and Methuselah must have known Adam; and +from Adam, Methuselah may have heard that history of the creation and +fall, which he narrated to Shem, and which Shem may have transmitted to +Abraham; and the history of the world would be thus remembered as the +traditional recollections of a family, and repeated as the familiar +remembrances of a single household. + +Tales of the loveliness of Eden,--of the glories of the creation,--of +the blessedness of the primeval state,--of the days before the fall; +remembrances of the "mother of all living" in the days of her holiness, +when she was as beautiful as the world created for her home, in all the +dewy sweetness of the morning of its existence,--of the wisdom of man +before he yielded to the voice of temptation, when authority was +enthroned upon his brow, and all the tribes of the lower creation did +him homage;--of the good spirits who watched over to minister unto and +bless them;--of those dark, unholy and accursed ones, who came to tempt, +betray and destroy them,--were recounted as events of which those who +described them had been the witnesses. And from the remembrances thus +preserved and transmitted by tradition, each generation obscuring or +exaggerating them, have descended what we call fables of +antiquity,--great facts, now dimly remembered and darkly presented, as +shadowed over by the mists of long ages. + +How must the hearts of the descendants of Shem have thrilled as they +heard from him the history of by-gone times--of a world which had passed +away! How much had the great patriarch of his race, himself, beheld? He +had seen the glory and the beauty of the world before the flood. It was +cursed for the sin of man, in the day of his fall--but slowly, as we +measure time, do the woes denounced by God often take effect, and, +though excluded from Eden, the first pair may have seen little change +pass over the face of the earth. The consummation of this curse may have +been the deluge; and those who dwelt on the earth, before this calamity +swept it with its destroying wing, may have seen it in much of its +original beauty; while those who outlived that event witnessed a +wonderful change. + +From that frail fabric, the ark, which proved the second cradle of the +race, Shem had beheld a world submerged,--a race swept off by the floods +of Almighty wrath. He had heard the shrieks of the drowning, the vain +prayer of those who had scoffed the threatened vengeance, the fruitless +appeal of those who had long rejected mercy. As the waves bore up his +frail vessel, he had seen the black and sullen waters settle over +temples, cities and palaces; and he had gazed until he could behold but +one dark expanse of water, in whose turbid depths were buried all the +families of the earth--save one. + +Those he had loved and honoured, and much which, perhaps, he had envied +and coveted--the pride, the glory, the beauty of earth--all had passed +away. And after the waters subsided, and the ark had found a +resting-place, what a deep and sad solemnity must have mingled with the +joy for their preservation. + +How strange the aspect the world presented! How must the survivors have +recalled past scenes and faces, to be seen no more! How much they must +have longed to recognise old familiar places,--the Eden of Adam and +Eve,--the graves in which they had been laid! For doubtless Seth and his +descendants still remained with their first parents, while Cain went out +from their presence and built a city in some place remote. The earth +which Noah and his descendants repeopled was one vast grave; and what +wonder that those who built above a race entombed, should mingle fancy +with tradition, and imagine that the buried cities and habitations were +yet inhabited by the accursed and unholy. Such have been the fancies of +those who darkly remembered the flood; and as the wind swept through the +caverns of the earth, the superstitious might still imagine that they +heard the voices or the shrieks of the spirits imprisoned within. + +Shem seems to have far exceeded his brothers in true piety, and the +knowledge of Jehovah was for many generations preserved among his +descendants, while few or none of them ever sank into those deep +superstitions which debased the children of Ham. And it is beautiful to +remark, that the filial piety which so pre-eminently marked him has ever +been a prominent trait among all nations descended from him. Thus +receiving his impressions of the power, the truth, the awful justice of +Jehovah, from one well fitted to convey them,--and taught the certain +fulfilment of promises and of threats,--Abraham was early inspired with +that deep reverential and yet filial love, that entire confidence, +which led to the trusting obedience which distinguished his character. + +Yet, from his very piety, sad must it have been when the command came to +leave the plains of Mesopotamia, and go out a stranger and a pilgrim +into distant lands, to become a dweller among those who were fast +apostatizing from the true faith. "But by faith he obeyed," and by his +obedience he has given us an example and illustration of faith, which +has been held forth through all succeeding ages. To be the child of +Abraham, to walk as he walked, is, after the lapse of thousands of +years, the characteristic of the true worshipper of God. + +Guided by an Omniscient hand, trusting in an Almighty power, cheered by +that mysterious promise, which, as a star of hope shining in the hour of +deepest darkness, still rose to higher brightness as it guided the long +line of patriarchs, kings, and prophets, until it settled over the +manger of Bethlehem, and was lost in the full glory of the Sun of +righteousness,--Abraham girded his loins and prepared for a departure to +far distant lands. + +At first, attended by his father and brother, he sojourned with them in +Haran; and the family pitched their tents in that spot which was to +become in future ages the battle-ground of nations, when the proud eagle +of imperial Rome was trailed in the dust, and her warriors and her +nobles fell before their fiercer foes. Long ages have intervened since +the tents of this Syrian family were pitched by the side of the waters +of Charan; and midway between their days and ours, were these waters +discoloured with the blood of those who fell in the battle of Charae, so +disastrous to Rome, ever haughty, and then exulting in the height of her +prosperity. A few wandering shepherds now lead their flocks in the plain +in which Sarah and Abraham dwelt, and where Cassius and his legions +fell. But a short sojourn was permitted Abraham here. "Arise and depart, +for this is not your rest"--and again he listened to the command from +above, and gathered his flocks and servants, and girded his loins, and +set his face towards the land promised to him, and to his seed after +him. And now he left his father and his brethren, and went with his own +family, the head of his house, the future patriarch of his race. + +Yet he was not alone. The wife of his youth was by his side. In all his +wanderings, in all his cares, there was one with him to participate in +his joys and to alleviate his sorrows. With him and for him, his wife +forsook home, kindred and country. We doubt not that she too shared the +faith of Abraham; that she too trusted and loved and worshipped the God +of Abraham, and of Shem, and of Noah. Like Abraham, a descendant of +Shem,--like him too, she had been trained in the worship of Jehovah. Yet +to the faith of the true believer, there was added the strong affection +of the wife; and while Abraham went out obeying God, Sarah followed, +trusting God indeed, but leaning still upon her husband. In all her +future life, she is presented to us the wife; devoted, affectionate, +submissive; loving her husband with a true affection, and honouring him +by a due deference. + +With a beauty that fascinated kings, preserving the charms of youth to +the advanced period of her life, she still lived but for her husband; +and when even the faith of Abraham failed, and he withdrew from the wife +the protection of the husband, and said, "She is my sister," Sarah +appears to have acquiesced in a deceit so unworthy of her husband and of +herself, merely to insure his safety among the lawless tribes around +them. + +As we read the story of Abraham's wife, we catch glimpses of ages and +nations that were hoar with antiquity, and had passed away when our +ancient historians began the record of the past. Nation after nation had +perished and been forgotten before the profane historian began his +annals. Yet childless, still trusting in the promise of Jehovah, Abraham +wandered for many years through the land which was to be given to him, +and his seed after him. Now pitching his tent in Moreh; then building +his altar at Bethel; then driven by famine into Egypt; then returning to +his altar at Bethel,--and there separating from his nephew Lot, because +"the land could not bear" both, he fixes his abode in Hebron. + +No pictures of pastoral life are more beautiful than those presented in +Genesis; and while we contemplate the character of Abraham, we catch +occasional glimpses of his household, and of the manners of his age. We +see him exercising forbearance and relinquishing the rights of a +superior, that there might be no strife between him and his too worldly +relative. We see him leading out his own band as a prince, to rescue +that same relative,--who, tempted by the promise of large wealth, had +chosen a location full of dangers,--and, in the hour of victory, +refusing all spoil and showing all honour to the priest of the most high +God. + +Again he is before us, sitting in his tent in the heat of the day, and +hastening to receive strangers,--"thus entertaining angels +unawares,"--and then interceding for that city doomed to destruction for +the wickedness of the dwellers therein. + +And again he appears as the prince, the patriarch, the head of his own +family, and high in honour with those around him, ever observing all the +decorum and proprieties of oriental life. We see him, too, as one who +walked with God; as the priest of his household, presenting the morning +and the evening sacrifice; as holding high communion with God in the +hours of darkness; entering into that covenant which is still pleaded by +those who claim the promise, "I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed +after thee." + +This promise of a seed, from which was to spring a great nation, "like +to the stars of heaven in number," was frequently repeated, yet still +deferred. Youth, manhood, middle age, all had passed, and still no child +blest the tents of Sarah; and while Abraham still believed, and it "was +accounted to him for righteousness," Sarah seems to have felt that not +upon her was to be conferred the distinction of becoming the mother of +the promised seed. With the warm impulse of the woman, she sacrificed +the feelings of the wife and the instincts of the heart, to promote +what she doubtless believed to be the plan of God and the happiness of +Abraham. There is a deficiency of faith as much to be manifested in the +forestalling the plans of Providence as in the denial of the promises of +God: and while Abraham still trusted and waited the fulfilment of the +promise, Sarah sought, by her own device, to accomplish prophecy and +insure the blessing. + +In accordance with the usages of those around her, she gave her handmaid +to her husband to be his wife, "that their children might bless her +age." She doubtless felt herself strong enough in love to Abraham and to +Hagar to believe that her affection would embrace their children. But +when the trial came, and all the instincts of the heart, all the +feelings of the wife revolted, she proved that this violation of a +heaven-appointed institution brings only sorrow and strife. Yet there +was no alienation between Sarah and Abraham. The wife of his youth was +ever dearer to him than the mother of his child. + +At length, however, the promise was fulfilled. Sarah became a mother. +Many years had passed since she had left the home of her fathers. The +days of man were now much abridged, and she was fast approaching the +ordinary limit of human life; but we may suppose her cheek was still +fair and her brow smooth, and that she still retained much of the beauty +of youth. + +With a wondering joy, Sarah gazed upon the child so long desired--the +child in whose seed "all the nations of the earth" were to be "blessed." +And she said, "God hath made me to laugh, so that all who hear shall +laugh;" and while those that heard that Sarah "had borne Abraham a son +in his old age," wondered at an event so strange, Abraham must have +pondered the prophecy which had revealed to him the destiny of his +race,--perhaps foreseeing that Star which was to rise in a still distant +age, and apprehending, however dimly and faintly, something of the +mysterious connection between the birth of the child and the promise +given in the hour of the curse--the blending of the fate of his race +with the eternal plan of mercy and redemption. + +There is an instinct in our natures which leads us to rejoice at a +birth; but, could Sarah have foreseen the destiny of her race, tears +would have mingled with her smiles. Wonderful has been the past history +of that people, strange their present condition, while the future may +develop mysteries still more incomprehensible. + +In the hour of rejoicing over the new-born babe, past transgression +brought forth its legitimate fruits. Sullenness and strife were +brooding in the bosoms of the Egyptian bond-woman and her son; and the +quiet eye of the mother saw all the danger arising from the jealous hate +and rivalry of the first-born of Abraham. + +If the decision was stern, it was needful. "Cast out the bond-woman and +her child, for her son shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." +Harsh words,--but it is better to dwell peacefully asunder, than +together in strife and bitterness. The malignant passions which led +Ishmael to mock, might soon be stimulated by the mother to +murder,--chafed and irritated as she was by the constant presence of the +child who had supplanted her own. From the time of the departure of +Hagar from the household of Abraham, peace seems to have rested upon it. +Prosperity attended him. He no longer wandered from place to place. He +remained in Hebron, sojourning with Sarah and her child. + +Many years passed,--years of peaceful quiet and happiness seldom +allotted to such an age,--while they trained their child in the nurture +of the true God, and were honoured by the princes around him, who sought +to enter into league with him, for they saw that "God blessed him in all +that he did." + +Once again God saw fit to test the faith of Abraham by calling upon him +to offer his son--his only son Isaac, whom he loved--as a sacrifice; and +Abraham obeyed the divine command, and thus doing, uttered that prophecy +which has thrilled so many souls, "God will himself provide a +sacrifice." In this trial, Sarah seems not to have been called to +participate. The mother was spared the agony of feeling that her only +child was to be offered as a sacrifice--that the hope of her life was to +perish. + +"Sarah was an hundred and twenty years old, and she died." The dark +shadow of death is, sooner or later, to fall upon each household. +Abraham seems to have been at a distance--perhaps in the charge of some +of his numerous flocks--when he was recalled to Hebron by news of +Sarah's death. And he came to mourn over her. The remembrance of her +maiden beauty and modesty, the grateful recollection of all her conjugal +devotedness, filled his soul. If light and immortality were brought to +light in the gospel, still the divine rays were faintly reflected in the +former dispensation, and the eye of faith even then penetrated the thick +darkness of the grave. + +And now, after these long years of promise and waiting, Abraham takes +possession of the land which God had given to him and to his seed. He +asks, however, but a small portion,--a tomb, a place for his dead,--and +a more beautiful description of a scene of mutual deference, of regard +for rights and respect for character and position, was never penned +than that which records the negotiation between the bereaved patriarch +and the children of Heth. With the touch of magic, the whole scene is +before us. The bereaved patriarch, courteous in grief, bowing in the +presence of the sons of Heth,--the deep respect, the kindly sympathy, +manifested by those who, strangers to his religion, felt the claims of +his character,--mingled with that deep awe which the visitation of death +ever inspires. + +The last scene was now over, and Sarah has first taken possession of +that home to which she was to be followed by her husband and their +descendants. One by one they take their places by her side,--unwelcomed, +unquestioned,-- + + "Where none have saluted and none have replied,"-- + +and yet where all are gathered at last. We see her not as a sister or a +daughter. She is not known to us in the house of her father. Sarah is +only presented to us as the wife of Abraham. And as a wife the apostle +has held her up to her own sex as a model and example. "Even as Sarah +obeyed her husband, calling him lord,"--exclaims the apostle, exhorting +the wife to due deference. The deep, fervent affection of the heart led +to that outward manifestation of honour so beautiful and becoming; and +as the only love which can be enduring is that which is founded on +respect, so it is the highest happiness of the wife to be able truly to +honour him whom she is bound to love and obey. + +When the heads of a household are thus united in warm affection and +mutual respect, the influence will pervade the whole circle, and the +family of Abraham presented a beautiful picture of such a household. The +numerous members composing a large family were governed by one who +provided for their sustenance, led them forth for the defence of +rights, or the redress of injuries, or the rescue of the captive; and +who officiated as the priest as well as ruler of his household. In such +a community, the character of the head would be impressed upon the whole +people; and it was with obvious meaning that Jehovah exclaimed, "I know +him that he will command his household after him." It was by example +that admonition was made availing. And the wife was ever ready, with her +ardent and trusting love, to aid and co-operate. Hastening, when he +welcomed the stranger, to prepare the feast, she was ever ready to +receive his guests and add her efforts to his hospitality. + +Hatred, strife, and mutual alienation so often cloud over the unison of +wedded life, and cause its sun to set in darkness, that few spectacles +can be presented more beautiful or more delightful than the old age of +wedded life, soothed by true affection and mutual kindness. It is more +touching than the glow of youthful passion. It proclaims the presence of +high moral worth. It is never found in the habitations of the unholy. +The love which thus survives the glow of youth, which bears the storms +and the trials of life, must be founded on truth, on unimpassioned +esteem, on approved integrity; and those alone who love God supremely, +love each other unselfishly. + +While Sarah honoured her husband, she too was treated with proper +deference. Her counsels were ever heeded, her voice had its due +influence, and he still deferred to her wishes. It is beautiful to note +the increasing estimation in which she is held. Sarai, "the mistress," +betokened her station as the head of a household; and as years brought +honours, and an enlarged sphere of duty, and a more elevated position +among the people around them, Sarai was changed into Sarah--_my lady_. +Her husband, in addressing the former Sarai as Sarah, "my lady," +gracefully returned the honour she bestowed when she called him "lord." +By such manifestation of mutual respect and love, the chain of family +affection is kept bright. + +As the household of Abraham was the household of faith, ordained as the +model for all ages, it is well to analyze the elements which composed +it, and to trace their combined influence. There was the conjugal union +of the true worshippers of Jehovah, animated by the same hopes, governed +by the same principles, whose hearts were united in the strong bonds of +natural affection. There was the confiding, unfailing affection, the +deep, reverential respect, and due obedience of the wife. There was the +tender love, protecting care, the unwavering faith, the honourable +deference of the husband. The religion of this household was the +religion of faith and of obedience,--a religion which led them to +forsake all at the command of God, which taught them to rely upon his +promises, to fear his threatenings, to plead his grace, to trust his +mercy, while it was a religion which led to a due observance of all the +relative duties of life, which taught the exercise of that impartial +justice, careful benevolence, disinterested kindness, and ready +hospitality to those without the family; and of steady love, of +affectionate kindness, of sympathetic forbearance to the members of the +household within. The family of faith, where faith is pure, will ever be +a family of love; and as true piety is the best security for family +happiness, so family love is the best nurse for family piety. + +There are many families among us who aim at being families of faith, who +profess to walk in the steps of Abraham, to imitate his example. Let +such not confine themselves to the manifestation of his peculiar faith, +to his trust and dependence alone. Let them walk as he walked before his +household, in the fear of God and the love of man, in the careful +fulfilment of every relative and social duty, in the daily +exemplification of a tender and loving spirit, carefully avoiding or +removing all sources of division. Let that piety which unites them to +God, be a bond, encircling all and drawing them near to each other. + +By the cultivation of the simple domestic virtues, by the daily, quiet, +self-denying trials, by the observance of the thousand decencies, the +unaffected proprieties, the unostentatious efforts to bless and +comfort,--by the elevating influence of personal example,--by the +breathing atmosphere of a holy spirit,--the family is to be made the +household of faith, the nursery of the church. + +Direct instruction and formal efforts and stated observances are +neither to be forgotten nor to be remitted; but these can only be made +effectual by the living exemplification of a spirit of love, a life of +holiness. It will ever be found true that he who prays most loves +most. + +[Illustration] + + + + +HAGAR--THE WIFE UNLOVED. + + +The Hebrew patriarch led his flocks and herds, surrounded by his large +household, from Haran to the land of the Canaanites; from thence to that +of the Philistines, down into Egypt; wherever so numerous a family and +such large flocks could find sustenance--water and herbage. And as he +thus sojourned, many of the poor of these lands flocked to him for +employment and support; and while he bought the services of the parents, +the children born in his house became members of his family, were +trained as his servants, and were subject to his authority as the master +of the household, the prince among his people, the patriarch of his +tribe. + +And among these was Hagar, the Egyptian. We are not told whether she was +born in the house of Abraham, or rescued from those who may have stolen +her from her home, or given by her parents to the wealthy and childless +Sarai. She was Sarah's handmaid--a relation, according to the customs of +the East (almost immutable) nearly as dear as that of a child. She was +the personal attendant, the constant companion of her mistress; and by +her was doubtless instructed in the principles of the true religion, +while she was thus accustomed to the accomplishments and occupations of +the age. The tasks of the favourite handmaids of Eastern families are +still light. To sit at the feet of her mistress with her embroidery; to +cheer her with the simple music of the shepherd's tent; to aid her in +those domestic duties to which Sarah gave her own superintendence; to +assist in preparing the wool of the flocks for the garments of the +family; to watch her tent as she reposed by day, and keep by her side as +the camels slowly wandered through the valleys in search of pure streams +or more abundant herbage, were probably the occupations and duties of +Hagar. + +Years thus passed on--and the dark-browed and dark-eyed Egyptian maiden +had grown into womanhood, and the freshness of youth, the joyousness of +health and early life were her's, while her mistress was passing into +age. Sarah no longer hoped to become a mother, and, believing that the +promise was not intended for her, she urged Abraham to take another +wife, offering for his acceptance her own handmaid, the Egyptian Hagar. + +The authority of the mistress of the East over her own establishment is +so absolute, the husband so interdicted from all interference, that, +although Hagar had passed her youth with Sarah, she may have been +hardly noticed by Abraham until Sarah proffered her. According to the +usage of the east, Sarah had a right (the right then claimed by the +parent) thus to dispose of her handmaid; and a marriage with her master +was the highest honour which could be bestowed on Hagar. She was given +to Abraham to be his wife, and, the relation was--according to the usage +then prevailing--as legal as that sustained by Sarah, although the +station was inferior. No injury was intended to Hagar. No higher +distinction could have been conferred upon her, and, strong in love to +both Hagar and Abraham, Sarah doubtless supposed she might be able to +welcome and love their children, though denied offspring of her own. + +But such departure from the law, precept, or institution of God, +involves a long train of sin and sorrow, no matter what the +intention--and the union of Abraham with Hagar was a direct violation +of the institution of marriage in all its principles and intentions, and +it could not but bring confusion and strife to the tent of the +patriarch. + +It was merely a marriage of interest and convenience, unhallowed by +love. The heart of Abraham never departed from the wife of his youth, +nor could Sarah ever have intended to relinquish her hold upon his +affection. It is the last claim a woman foregoes. And on the other hand, +Hagar could have felt no love for her master, so much her superior in +age and station. Unholy pride and rank ambition were all the feelings +which such an alliance could awaken in the heart of Hagar. Yet Hagar was +the least blameworthy, and, perhaps, not eventually the greatest +sufferer. By the customs of society, she had no voice in the disposal of +herself. Her heart was never consulted. She was only allowed to receive +the husband allotted to her--to acquiesce in the decision of others. + +The natural results of such a union followed. The exaltation of Hagar +excited her pride and led to arrogance; and when she knew that she +should become a mother, her childless mistress was despised. + +It is hard to bear contempt from those upon whom we have lavished +kindness; to feel that we have exalted those who despise us: and all the +indignation of Sarah was roused by the assumption and ingratitude of +Hagar; and, with the quick instinct of the woman, she retorted upon her +husband, "My wrong be upon thee." + +A stranger indifference could not have been manifested than that showed +by Abraham towards the youthful wife who should have now received his +protection and kindness. "Behold thy handmaid is in thy hands." He +recognised no tie--he felt no obligation. What was Hagar, that she +should occasion strife between him and the wife of his youth, the +partner of his life, the daughter of his own people! + +Hagar was from this hour abandoned by Abraham to her mistress. When +Sarah resumed the authority belonging to her station, she assumed with +it a power never before exercised. Forgetting all the love of past +years, all the claims of the present hour upon her kindness and +forbearance, she treated the unhappy Hagar with such intolerable +harshness, that the wretched woman fled from the face of her mistress +and from the tents of her master, and sought refuge in the wilderness. + +We can conceive what bitter, despairing thoughts, what a keen sense of +injustice and injury may have pressed upon her, as she sat alone by the +fountain in the desert. Probably a little spot of green herbage denoted +the presence of water, while, all around, lay the sandy, rocky desert. +The stars, in the brightness of an oriental night, were looking down on +her as she sat alone, her face buried in her hands, unheeded, there to +die. Then came the visions of her youth, the remembrances of her +childhood, the sound of her mother's voice, the dream of her smile--then +the tent of Sarah--then the alliance with her master, the excitement of +her pride, the flush of hope, the exultation of a fancied triumph over +the childless, but still honoured wife; succeeded by the cold withdrawal +of all the kindness of the patriarch, and the entire abandonment of her +whom he had taken to his bosom, to the implacable resentment of her +former mistress! + +The temper of Hagar, the feelings thus excited--dark, sullen, bitter, +revengeful--when she fled from all, may have been impressed upon her +offspring, and thus marked the future character of her race. + +Still, Hagar was not alone. The wanderer was not forgotten. In the hour +of darkness and of desolation, there is One nigh even to those who +forget him. "And the angel of the Lord found her by the fountain in the +wilderness, and he said: Hagar, Sarah's maid, whence camest thou? And +whither wouldst thou go?" + +She was not addressed as the wife of Abraham. The conventional usage, so +opposed to the positive institution, was not recognised and thus +hallowed by Him who had established marriage; and while Hagar was +pitied, she was reminded of her real condition. "And she said, I flee +from the face of my mistress, Sarah. And the angel of the Lord said unto +her, Return unto thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands. And +the angel of the Lord said, Thou shalt have a son, and shalt call his +name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard thy affliction. He shall be a +wild man. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand +against him--and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. And +she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me, +for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?" implying +a recognition of the unexpected interference, protection and blessing of +God. + +The promises of God are always preceded by his commands, and the faith +which clings to the promises is to be tested by the obedience which +alone can make them availing. And when the words of the angel came to +the desolate soul of the woman in the desert, there were admonition, +reproof, and command mingled with promise and blessing. "Return to thy +mistress." Return to thy duty, is the first requirement made of those +God seeks out. + +And Hagar humbled herself and obeyed the voice of the Lord. She +returned to her mistress. Trying as it must have been to one so +aggrieved, she submitted to her authority, and again became a member of +the household of Abraham. Had she disobeyed the angel, she and her child +had doubtless perished in the wilderness; but in yielding her proud and +arrogant temper, she secured the future blessing to her race, and +insured the safety of her child, while her submission and gentleness +must have won back Sarah to a kinder temper, to a more forbearing +treatment. + +After the birth of Ishmael, there intervened years--long years--in which +Hagar tasted the bitterest cup ever presented to the lips of woman. A +wife unloved, neglected--a mother disregarded--a woman held in bondage +by one who had made her a rival--dwelling in the presence of him who had +put her from him! Her very presence brought reproach and sorrow to +Sarah and Abraham--the violation of the divine institution ever +entailing its penalty. + +The wife deserted, neglected, whose hopes have been crushed, ever turns +to her offspring for comfort and sympathy; and ardent was the love, +strong were the ties, which bound the Egyptian mother to the son of the +patriarch; and in Ishmael must all the hopes and affections of Hagar +have centred. Could she, indeed, have penetrated the future, could she +have seen her race, the seed of her son, filling the desert and dwelling +as princes; while the seed of Sarah and of Abraham were held, as if in +retribution of her own sufferings, in bondage in her own native +land,--could she have passed through the intervening ages and seen the +children of Ishmael issuing from their desert and setting their feet +upon the necks of the proudest and mightiest, imposing their faith upon +a world, while they marched forth conquering and to conquer--could she +have contrasted the triumphant warriors of Arabia, the caliphs of the +east and the west, with the wandering, desolate, persecuted, +trodden-down tribes of Israel--the proudest expectations of the woman +and the mother would have been all answered. Could she have penetrated +the meaning of the words she must have so often pondered, she would have +found that the loftiest dreams of the rankest ambition were to be more +than realized. + +But dimly and faintly must she have apprehended the meaning of the +mysterious prophecy, even while she trusted the accompanying promise. As +she saw Ishmael, the only child in the tent of the patriarch, and loved +by the father, she perhaps allowed herself to hope that he was yet to be +the heir, and that in his future honours she was to find a full +recompense for all the trials of her blighted youth. + +After long years of waiting, Sarah embraced a son, and the event, so +joyous to the parents, awoke afresh the bitter remembrances of Hagar, +while it roused her to the consciousness of her present lot and of all +the injuries inflicted upon her. + +In all the trials and sorrows through which she had passed, she had had +none to sustain or sympathize with her. Her child remained her only +earthly hope; and now she felt that another was to supplant him, and +thus disappoint all her expectations. + +Her spirit rose in pride and wrath, and she infused her own bitter +feelings into the heart of her child. When Isaac was hailed as the heir, +while all rejoiced, Hagar and Ishmael mocked both the infant and the +aged parents. + +Forbearance was no longer safe, and the decision of Sarah was wise, +though harsh--yet it was sad to Abraham. Ishmael was still his son--his +first-born. He had been ever dear to him; and when the angel of the Lord +had again confirmed the promise of a seed in whom all the nations of the +earth were to be blessed, he had almost seemed to overlook it as he +pleaded for the son of the bond-woman, "Oh that Ishmael might live +before thee!" while to Abraham was then confirmed the promise given +before the birth of her child to Hagar. There was sorrow and perplexity +in the heart of Abraham, but a message from heaven confirmed the decree +of Sarah. + +The patriarch arose, after a night of conflict and prayer, while the +stars were still shining in the heavens, while the flocks lay in +stillness around the tents, and before those who had revelled and +rejoiced were awake, and called Hagar and her child. Can we not see +them in the gray of the morning? The father, the mother, the +child,--the patriarch, aged, but not bowed by age, still retaining the +vigour of manhood--the boy shy, yet half-defying--the mother! In such an +hour, all distinctions of rank and station would be forgotten, and all +the feelings of the woman be roused. Then and there Hagar might well +forget that she was Sarah's bondmaid, and only remember that she had +been Abraham's wife--that she was still Ishmael's mother. + +In that hour must have risen the memory of her wrongs, of her saddened +youth, her darkened womanhood--of the selfishness with which he had +wedded her; of the heartlessness with which he had deserted her; of her +long years of trial and contempt. And her eye might speak reproach, +although the lips were closed and there was no voice. Should we not +rejoice to believe that the patriarch whispered some regret for the +past, and spoke of sorrow and repentance to her whose happiness he had +so selfishly sacrificed, even as he consummated his work by casting her +out, a homeless exile. Such is the enslaving power of custom, so easily +do we blind ourselves to our own delinquencies, that Abraham probably +aggravated Hagar's faults while he overlooked her injuries. He saw in +her but the despiteful, revengeful handmaid; he forgot that she was an +injured wife--a neglected mother. + +Yet no words of reproach, of entreaty, or explanation of the past, or +promise for the future, are recorded as having passed between them. He +pronounced the decree, and laid upon the bondmaid, and not upon his +noble boy, the provision for the journey. She turned from the tents, and +thus they parted! + +But the connection of Abraham and Hagar had woven a thread into the +destiny of nations, still to be traced. She left the patriarch in +sorrow, in bitterness of soul; but she went out to found nations, to +punish rulers, to establish a long line who should transmit the name of +her son and the influence of her character to remotest ages--even to the +end of time. + +Accustomed to the wandering life of the desert, and provided for the +journey, Abraham probably deemed Hagar competent to guide her steps to a +place of safety. But sorrow may have blinded her eyes, or despair made +her reckless, and she was lost in the desert. The water was spent in the +bottle--tons of gold could not open a fountain in the desert--and she +saw her child parched with thirst, "faint and ready to die; and she cast +him under one of the shrubs, and went and sat a good way off, as it were +a bow-shot, for she said, Let me not see the death of the child; and as +she sat over against him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God +heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of God called to her out of +heaven and said unto her, What aileth thee Hagar? Fear not! For God hath +heard the voice of the child where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and +hold him in thy hand, for I will make of him a great nation. And God +opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled +the bottle with water, and gave the lad to drink." What an inimitable +description of a mother's love! What a display of the watchful +benevolence of Jehovah! + +In this hour of desolation, when no human aid was near, there was again +the Divine interposition, while there was no reproach, no allusion even +to that sinful temper which had led to the banishment of both mother and +child, and caused them to come here to perish in the wilderness. Blessed +be God that he does not suffer the unworthiness of his children to +separate them from his love; that in the hour of extremity he is still +nigh; that his ear is ever open to hear and his arm ready to save. + +"And God was with the lad: and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and +became an archer; and he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran." And his +mother still dwelt with him; and in all his wanderings, wherever his +footsteps were turned, there was her home. There is a touching +remembrance of her early life, in the fact that Hagar chose a wife for +her son from among the daughters of her own people: "She took him a wife +out of the land of Egypt." And from this union have sprung the tribes +who still fill the deserts where Hagar sought a refuge. A wild race, +dwelling in the presence of all their brethren, whose hand is against +every man, while every man's hand is against them. + +Ishmael rose rapidly to rank, and Hagar lived to rejoice in his +prosperity. The life which commenced in want, privation and wandering in +the wilderness, conducted her to wealth and honour. So dark and +inscrutable are the ways of Providence, that at each step we are taught +but to seek the path of duty and obey the direction of Heaven. + +The children of Ishmael seem to have long preserved the knowledge of +Jehovah. Hagar, who had received so many proofs of the being, power, and +providence of the God of Abraham, might well instruct her descendants in +the principles of the true faith. The race of Ishmael have still +preserved the rite which Abraham received as the seal of faith. Often +may Hagar have recounted the providences of God--the account she had +heard, in the tent of Abraham, of the creation, the fall, the deluge, +the re-peopling of the world; and often, in the course of their +wandering lives, she may have led her descendants to those deep waters +which covered the guilty cities of the plain, and then described them as +she knew them before the wrath of God fell upon them. + +The tribes of Ishmael have ever recognised their descent from Abraham; +and the instructions of Hagar are preserved as national traditions to +this very day, though exaggerated by Eastern fancy, and mingled with +wilder romance, as they have been transmitted from one generation to +another by the children of Ishmael, who still lead their flocks in the +same valleys, and pitch their tents by the same fountains to which Hagar +resorted with Ishmael. + +Hagar and Ishmael were no more members of Abraham's household, yet the +relationship of father and son was ever recognised. Doubtless Abraham +imparted of his wealth to his first-born; and as Abraham often sojourned +afterwards in Beer-sheba, probably not far from the spot where Hagar and +Ishmael so nearly perished, the father and son may have often met; and +Isaac and Ishmael may have held kindly intercourse, when the bitter +feelings of rivalry and of conscious wrong had subsided. The ties of +kindred were still allowed, and Esau sought a wife from the family of +his own kindred, as a means of conciliating his father and mother; thus +showing that a purer morality and a higher religious feeling were +cherished than those among surrounding tribes. And when Abraham died, +having attained a full age, his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, both far +advanced in years, buried him. The strifes, the bitterness, the hate of +early life seem to have been forgotten, and they united in the last +offices of filial love and duty. + +The son of the bondmaid had attained, during the life of Abraham, a +distinction beyond that of the son of the wife; and his immediate +descendant rose to wealth and honour, while, if one branch of Isaac's +family tasted prosperity, those recognised as the heirs of that +mysterious blessing were long known as wanderers, and then despised as +slaves. Their long line of descent has run parallel, side by side, +distinct, unmingled; recognising a common origin, but never +acknowledging a common brotherhood. The oldest nations of the +earth,--the one exiled from the land given them, dwelling as outcasts +and strangers among all the nations of the earth, yet still separate, +apart, a peculiar people; the other living at this day in the deserts +where Hagar wandered, and where she fainted--a never-conquered people. +And while Assyrian, Greek, and Roman have swept the world and exacted +tribute of the nations around them, and other tribes have been swept +with the besom of destruction, the sons of Ishmael have still dwelt in +the presence of their brethren, ever enforcing, but still refusing to +pay tribute--free and wild as the lad who first became an archer in the +wilderness. Unconsciously confirming prophecy, and still attesting the +truth of a revelation which they contemn and deny,--thus strangely +dwelling so different from all other nations,--preserving the initiatory +rites and the mystic symbols of the faith of Abraham, the customs and +traditions of the age of the patriarch,--these nations dwell distinct, +separate from each other and from all other nations, awaiting the day +when blindness shall be removed from the eyes of the children of +promise, and the descendants of Sarah and of Hagar shall be both +gathered with the fold of Christ. + +There are Hagars of modern, as well as of ancient days,--of western as +of eastern lands. She who is wedded from interest and convenience; she +who forms a heartless union from pride and ambition; she who awakes from +her dreams of bliss to find herself an unloved, and perhaps to become a +deserted wife--all these prove the bitterness of the lot of the Egyptian +Hagar. He who has ordained marriage has graciously implanted the +affections which are to make it a source of happiness; and those who +form this union under other motives and influences run fearful risks. +There are many Hagars in the highest ranks of life, and even where the +artificial distinctions of society are most highly regarded and +carefully recognised. + +When youth is wedded to age or sacrificed to decrepitude to promote some +State policy, though the victims are not clothed in the garb of the +Egyptian slave, but arrayed in the pomp of regal vestments, yet the +diamond often rests upon an aching brow, and the pearls press a +saddened bosom; and when the holiest of earthly institutions is thus +violated, each relation of life is profaned; and polluted streams +descend from the highest sources and diffuse their poison through all +the ranks of life--through all the gradations of society. + +There will still be Hagars--women who marry for a home, or a support; +and especially while woman is educated to be helpless--unable to provide +for her own wants; or while that prejudice is cherished which leads her +to deem useful employment a degradation. + + * * * * * + +HAGAR'S EXILE. + + She fled, with one reproachful look + On him who bade her go, + And scarcely could the patriarch brook + That glance of voiceless wo: + In vain her quivering lips essay'd + His mercy to implore; + Silent the mandate she obey'd, + And then was seen no more. + + The burning waste and lonely wild + Received her as she went; + Hopeless, she clasp'd her fainting child, + With thirst and sorrow spent. + And in the wilderness so drear, + She raised her voice on high, + And sent forth that heart-stricken prayer + "Let me not see him die!" + + Her beautiful, her only boy, + Her all of hope below; + So long his father's pride and joy, + And yet--from _him_ the blow! + Alone she must his head sustain, + And watch his sinking breath, + And on his bright brow mark the stain + Of the destroyer, Death. + + "Let me not see him die," and lo! + The messenger of peace! + Once more her tears forget to flow, + Once more her sorrows cease. + Life, strength, and freedom now are given + With mighty power to one + Who from his father's roof was driven, + And he--the outcast's son. + + How often we, like Hagar, mourn, + When some unlook'd for blight + Drives us away, no more to turn + To joys we fancied bright! + Forced from our idols to retreat, + And seek the Almighty's care, + Perchance we are sent forth to meet + A desert-angel there. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE PARTIAL AND INTRIGUING MOTHER--REBEKAH. + + +[Illustration] + +After the departure of Hagar and her son from the tents of Abraham, +peace seems to have returned, and it became the abode of filial and +parental as well as of conjugal affection. Sarah's days were still +prolonged, that she might exercise the duties and enjoy the pleasures of +a mother. + +The heir of wealth, and the child of love and indulgence, the character +of Isaac seems to have been the reverse of his brother, the restless, +wandering Ishmael. The one, cast off from the care of the father and +taught to rely upon his own energies, early distinguished himself, and +became the leader of a band, and a prince among the nations around; +while the other, cherished and cared for, was content to dwell in the +peaceful enjoyment of wealth and prosperity. Thus do we find that trials +are necessary to develope the higher qualities and to call them into +action. The truly great and noble, the eminent in talent or usefulness, +are never nursed in the bosom of ease. + +Sarah died; and while the bereaved husband felt his loss, the son could +not have been insensible. There was a dreary void in the home of the +patriarch when the wife and the mother had been laid in the sepulchre. +There was no one to fill the place of Sarah--no one to bless their +simple meals. She no longer appears to welcome them as they returned +from the field or the flock. The tribe is without a mother, the +household without a mistress. Many considerations led Abraham to desire +the marriage of his son, and he cast around his thoughts for a wife +worthy of being the mother of the promised seed, and one who could well +fulfil the duties which must devolve upon her as the head of his large +household. The people around him would have courted his alliance, and as +yet no command from God forbade his forming family ties with the +inhabitants of the land. But Abraham too well knew the influence of the +wife and the mother, to choose a wife for the child of promise from a +race apostate from the religion of Jehovah. He knew the ensnaring +influence which would there be brought to bear upon his family, and he +resolved to seek a wife for Isaac among his far-distant kindred--those +who yet retained the knowledge and clung to the worship of the God of +Shem, of Noah, and of Adam. Though far separated from his brethren, yet +communications seem to have passed, and Abraham had been told of the +enlargement of the family of his brother; and he resolved, not only to +seek a wife for his son from among his own kindred, but, while making +arrangements for such a marriage, he solemnly guarded against the return +of his descendants to the land from whence he had been called. + +Trying as might be the long journey, and uncertain as seemed the issue, +no inferior motives were allowed to be put in competition with the +perpetuity of the worship and knowledge of God. A connection with any of +the families of the Canaanites would have been at once ensnaring to the +household of Abraham and injurious in its influence upon the heart of +Isaac. Had Isaac married the daughter of an idolater, irreligion and +immorality would soon have pervaded the family of the patriarch, and +the knowledge of the true God have departed from the earth. Thus the +beacon light of nations had been extinguished, and the last altar +erected to Jehovah had been broken down: for the other descendants of +Shem were fast departing from the God of their fathers,--and if the +children of Keturah and Ishmael for a period retained the faith of +Abraham, the torch which kindled the fire on their altars was lighted at +that which was kept burning on those of Isaac and Jacob, and the example +of their families preserved alive the remembrance and the acts of the +living God in the nations around them. + +With a train which became the suitor of a prince, with costly presents +of gold and ornaments according to the custom of both ancient and modern +days, but more particularly conforming to Eastern usage, the +confidential servant of Abraham was sent on his embassy to the kindred +of his master, there to receive a bride for the son of the patriarch. We +gain a delightful impression both of the piety and intelligence of the +household of Abraham from the account of the messenger to whom this +important transaction was intrusted. The faith of the patriarch animated +the other members of his household, and a strong chain of love encircled +all. After a long journey, the train reached the plains of Mesopotamia, +and then the tents of Nahor appeared in view; and then, in the prospect +of the immediate discharge of his commission, the messenger of the +patriarch sought explicit direction from the God of Abraham. + +While the description of the interview at the fountain, "without the +gate of the city," gives a most beautiful view of the manners of the age +and the people, and an unsurpassed picture of the freshness and +simplicity of pastoral life, it proves at once the piety and the clear +discrimination of the agent employed. The beauty of the youthful Rebekah +caught his eye, while the test he devised afforded a safe criterion of +the character of the woman. Weary with the labours of the sultry day, +after tending her own flocks, had she been indolent or inactive, selfish +or sullen, she had turned from his request, and suffered his attendants +to administer to his wants. But as she looked upon them--dusty, weary, +parched by thirst, worn down by long travel--the sympathies of a kind +nature were awakened, as the servant ran to meet her, saying, "Let me, I +pray thee, drink a little water from thy pitcher." She said, "Drink, my +lord," and she let down the pitcher upon her hand and gave him to drink; +and when he had done drinking, she said, "I will draw water for thy +camels also, until they have done drinking." Thus did the maiden clearly +prove that she possessed some of the qualities most necessary for a +wife--that ready self-forgetfulness, that kindness, cheerfulness, and +desire to promote the happiness of others, that sunshine of the heart +which sheds its brightening beams over all the clouds that darken +domestic life. Through all the ages of the world, in all the +circumstances in which mankind are placed, the wife has ever need of +them, and wisely may the suitor look for them. But the servant of the +patriarch, "still wondering, held his peace." Not until assured that she +was of the race of the true worshippers of the God of Abraham, that she +had been trained in the fear of the Lord, did he feel assured that the +fair and kind Syrian damsel was to be chosen for the wife of his +master's son. He had felt that the prayer was answered. He had taken out +the rich gifts intended for her, but he seems to hesitate as he says, +"Whose daughter art thou! Tell me, I pray thee, is there room in thy +father's house for us to lodge in?" And she answered, "I am the daughter +of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore unto Nahor." + +"And the man bowed down and worshipped the Lord, and he said, Blessed be +the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master +of his mercy and his truth. I being in the way, the Lord hath led me to +the house of my master's brethren." + +The negotiation between the servant of Abraham and the father and +brothers of Rebekah was soon concluded. They deferred not the answer to +be given, when the messenger had laid before them his errand, and told +them of the wealth and honour of his master; and the whole transaction +impresses us with an idea of the piety and kindness of the family of +Bethuel. + +The thing is from the Lord--while the rich gifts, made to all the +members of the family, proved the truth of the statements of the +messenger, and perhaps enforced his plea. Yet, when he urged the +immediate departure of the bride for the tent of her husband, the hearts +of the mother and of the brothers yet clung to the youthful maiden. They +shrank from a separation so sudden, so complete--and they said, Let the +damsel stay with us a few days--at least ten. Oh, do not snatch her away +from us so suddenly. But after that, she shall go. + +And he said, "Hinder me not. Seeing that the Lord hath prospered me, +send me away that I may go to my master." And they said, "We will call +the maiden, and inquire at her mouth." And they called Rebekah, and said +unto her, "Wilt thou go with this man?" And she said, "I will go." + +Are we not, even at this period, taught lessons of parental wisdom, in +the care displayed by the ancient patriarch respecting the choice of a +wife for his son? In the care taken to secure an unstained parentage in +one who had been early trained in the habits of piety and godly +principles of action? The character of the family is often stamped upon +each member, and the marked features are transmitted from generation to +generation, even where the character of the woman may be modified by her +new relations. As she advances in years she often returns to the habits +of her youth, while she almost invariably adopts the practice of her own +mother in the early nurture and training of her children. + +He who would have reformed France was taught that he must begin his work +by training mothers. And thus the ancient patriarch foresaw that the +great nation that was to descend from him, like to the stars of heaven +for multitude, would long bear the impress of the character of the +mother who rocked it in the first cradle of its existence, and his +wisdom was manifested in the pains which he took to secure a good +lineage and right habits and principles. The foresight of the father +could go no farther. Time must test the individual character. + +After they left the tents of Bethuel, the train, now augmented by the +presence of the bride and her immediate attendants, her nurse and +handmaids, slowly wended its way back to the tents of the patriarch, +pursuing the natural highways of the country,--now by the stream, then +across the plain, then through the desert, sandy, barren, trackless; +then winding through the mountain pass, encamping during the heat of the +day by the fountain and under the shade, and pursuing their journey in +the cool of the evening and of the morning. + +Love or devotion, or the mingling of both, led Isaac out into the fields +at eventide to meditate, and his feet turned towards the route by which +his messengers might be expected, and the eye of his servant descried +him afar off, and he pointed him out to the stranger. And while the +messenger seems to have hasted to meet his master and give an account of +his mission, Rebekah descended from her lofty seat and covered herself +with a veil. + +Henry the Fourth, of France, met his bride soon after she entered his +kingdom, and mingled with her attendants, that he might watch her +unobserved; and when his presence was announced she kneeled, and he +gracefully raised her up. Napoleon entered the carriage of his Austrian +bride, and announced himself, while she gazed with wondering eyes upon +one, long only known as the enemy of her father's house and the terror +of his kingdom. The meeting of the heir of the patriarch and his +youthful bride is quite as interesting a scene as any of those recorded +of more modern days. + +And Isaac went out to meditate in the fields at eventide, and he lifted +up his eyes, and, behold! the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up +her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she lighted off the camel. For she had +said unto the servant, "What man is this that walketh in the field to +meet us?" And the servant said, "It is my master;" therefore she took a +veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he +had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took +Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. + +Rebekah seems to have made an affectionate, happy wife. Many years +passed before children were born to Isaac; and when the twin boys, Esau +and Jacob, were in childhood, there was evidently a marked difference in +their characters. Esau was active, restless, and enterprising, He grew +up a hunter,--daring and bold,--loving a life of change and adventure; +while Jacob was a "plain man, dwelling in tents." Blindness was +stealing over Isaac and unfitting him for the cares which rested upon +him, for the supervision of his numerous servants and his many flocks +and herds. During the frequent absences of Esau upon his hunting +expeditions, these cares must have devolved upon Rebekah and Jacob. Her +heart clung to the child who was ever with her in sympathy; while the +tales of peril and adventure with which Esau enlivened the wearisome +days of his father, were as acceptable to blindness and loneliness, as +were the presents of the game he so frequently brought. "And Isaac loved +Esau." Thus the injudicious fondness of the parents sowed the seeds of +bitterness and alienation between the two brothers, and led to their +mutual estrangement. The birth-right, which implied the inheriting of +the blessing promised to the seed of Abraham, was despised by Esau, +who, doubtless, in his prolonged wanderings from home, and his frequent +associations with the inhabitants of the land, had been led to feel +contempt for the worship and the promises of God, and in his reckless +levity he transferred it to Jacob for "_a mess of pottage_," while he +further alienated himself from his parents and brother by marrying the +daughter of a Hittite. "This was a grief and sorrow of mind to Isaac and +Rebekah." Forgetting the respect due to them as his parents; forgetting +his own position as the eldest son of the heir of the promise; heedless +of the example of filial deference shown by Isaac, and of all the care +that preserved the family free from the corruption around them, he +formed an union with those who were strangers to the faith of Abraham +and of a race apostate from the worship of Jehovah. Yet, while mourning +the perverseness of his favourite child, the father, aged and blind, +did not propose to withdraw his favour from him; and, feeling that his +infirmities increased, Isaac bade Esau with his own hands prepare him a +favourite dish, that he might eat and bless him before his death. Did we +better understand the customs of that age, we might find that Isaac was +not merely influenced by bodily appetite, but that there might be a +peculiar significance in the act. + +We do not love to dwell upon Rebekah's deceit and the lessons of +falsehood she taught her son--and the prophecy uttered before the birth +of the children, neither justifies nor extenuates her guilt; for God has +never taught his people, that to promote his plans they are to violate +his laws. + +Alienated from her elder son, we see Rebekah, by intrigue and treachery, +seeking to advance the interests of the younger at the expense of the +rights of his brother. As we read the sacred narrative, every sympathy +is awakened in favour of the injured Esau, and we hear, with burning +indignation against the author of his wrong, his pathetic cry, "Hast +thou no blessing for me! Bless me, even me, my father!" But the artifice +of the mother and wife was successful. She secured all she sought--and +her success brought its own punishment. Dark clouds of hate settled over +the household, and Esau waited only for the death of his father that he +might destroy the life of his brother; and to save the life of her son, +the mother was forced to send him into banishment. Again the intriguing, +managing character of the mother appears. She assigned what might be a +reason, but not the true reason, to Isaac. "I am weary of my life, +because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the +daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, +what good shall my life do me?" The plea of the mother prevailed, and +Isaac blessed Jacob, and he left the land of his father, ostensibly to +seek a wife, but in truth to flee from the vengeance of his brother. + +The son of the wealthy patriarch went not out like an Eastern +suitor--not with a train such as Abraham sent when he wooed Rebekah for +his son. To avoid the hate of Esau, he stole like a fugitive from the +tents of Isaac; and, a foot-worn pilgrim, unattended, he sought the +kindred of his mother. And here the mother and her favourite child +parted. She had alienated his brother to promote his interests. She had +sacrificed her integrity to secure his fortune, and her plan had +succeeded. She had secured the object at which she had aimed, and yet in +the result she had been forced to send forth her darling child--a +homeless wanderer. + +There is no reason to believe that the mother and the son ever met +again. From this time she disappears. Surrounded by the alienated Esau's +hated wives and ill-loved children, separated from the child of her +affection, she may have sunk into a premature grave, or she may have +lived many sorrowful years to feel the miseries she had drawn upon +herself by her violations of the rules of rectitude, and an eager desire +to promote the happiness of one child at the sacrifice of that of +another. + +There are still too many families involved in all the bitterness of +domestic strife from the unjust partiality of one or both of the parents +for favoured children. If, as children advance in life and their +characters are formed, a calmer feeling succeeds the trembling +tenderness which guarded their infant days, and our love to them (as to +all other mortal beings) results from an appreciation of their +characters, so that one may awaken a purer regard than another, this +feeling is very different from that partial fondness which adopts one +and gives him a place in our affection to the exclusion of another. That +instinctive justice which compels a higher regard for the purer moral +worth, will, of itself, prevent that parental partiality which leads to +injustice or to an infringement of established rights and recognised +principles. An unjust parent presents one of the most revolting pictures +of human nature. The character involves a disregard of the most sacred +ties and the tenderest relations. And whoever exhibits parental +injustice, or that partial fondness which leads to injustice, at once +destroys the affections and violates the moral sense. Families trained +under such influences, still exhibit revolting scenes of human +depravity--of bitterness, strife, alienation and revenge. Who can tell +how much of the estrangement of Esau, and this early introduction of the +worship of strange gods among his descendants, may have been induced by +the conscious alienation of his mother, and the unjust preference of the +interests of his brother? Had Rebekah, with a mother's love, striven to +win her eldest son back to his father's tent and the altar of his +God--had she still respected his rights and preserved his regard by +undeviating truth and faithfulness, she would have retained a strong +hold upon him, and her influence might have been long felt by her +descendants, in restraining them from the sins of those around them. + +We cannot yet part with the two principal actors in these sad scenes of +treachery and deceit. We think of Rebekah, the companion of her blind +husband--deprived of the son who had shared and alleviated her cares, +and conscious of having awakened that bitter hate which would seek the +blood of a brother--still following in her thoughts the footsteps of the +wandering Jacob, feeling that by her own intrigues she had banished him +from his home and her presence. + +And we may follow Jacob, as he stole from the tents of Isaac, a wanderer +like the first fugitive, with his brother's curse upon him. Until this +hour all Jacob's views and feelings seem earthly and grovelling. Until +now, there has been no indication of that trust and piety which +afterwards marked his life. He had seemed worldly, cunning, ready to +snatch any personal advantage. From this period he seems to awaken to a +higher--a spiritual life. He seems to have comprehended the deeper +meaning of promise and prophecy. We cannot tell what remorseful and +despairing thoughts filled his soul as he left his home--how strange +and inexplicable may have seemed all the ways of God toward him. Yet he +must have felt that, in punishment of his deceit and falsehood, he was +thus sent forth with but his scrip and staff, while he left Esau to +inherit the possessions of his father. + +He had wandered until he was faint and weary, and then he had lain +himself down on the earth, with stones for his pillow and the heavens +for the curtains of his tent. In the silence of the night his soul was +opened to spiritual revealings--to those influences from heaven which +marked the change in his future life. He _saw_ the angels of God +ascending and descending upon him. Often before this may they have +visited him--constantly may they have hovered over him--but now he was +made conscious of the presence, watch and interposition of the heavenly +intelligences of the higher presence of the God of Abraham. From this +hour we trace a different influence pervading the heart and life of +Jacob. He was awakened to higher motives--and from this hour he entered +into covenant with God, and took Him to be his God. + +And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and said, "Surely the Lord is in this +place, and I knew it not;" and he was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is +this place! This is none other than the house of God--and this is the +gate of heaven." And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the +stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it for a pillar, and +poured oil upon the top of it. "And he called the name of that place +Bethel." And Jacob vowed a vow, saying "If God will be with me, and will +keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment +to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then +shall the Lord be my God, and this stone, which I have set for a +pillar, shall be God's house, and of all that thou shalt give me I will +surely give the tenth unto thee." + +The future life of Jacob was not free from the infirmity of human +purpose--the imperfection of human nature. Yet from this time he walked +with God, and all his deportment was marked by deep and humble piety. We +doubt not that at this period he passed through that transforming change +by which, in every age, and under every dispensation, the human soul has +been enabled to enter into the mysteries of the spiritual life and enjoy +communion with the Author of its existence, through that Spirit which +breathed the first breath of life by which man became a living soul. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE RIVAL SISTERS--LEAH AND RACHEL. + + +[Illustration] + +There are two characters, which by some associations of memory, or +caprice of fancy, are ever blended in our recollections--the one of +ancient, the other of modern days--the one of sacred, the other of +profane history. Catharine of Arragon, the unloved consort of the King +of England, and Leah, the daughter of the Syrian shepherd, the hated +wife of the Hebrew patriarch. There may seem to be as little +assimilation of character and destiny, as there is of condition, between +the daughter and the wife of a Syrian shepherd, and the daughter of one +of the proudest monarchs of Spain and the wife of the haughtiest king of +England; but they were both women, and both wives of those who loved +them not; and this fact, whatever the condition of woman, stamps her lot +as one of wretchedness. The wife neglected and despised is a woman +sorrowful, whether she be the inmate of a tent or the dweller in a +palace--whether she tend the flock or grace the throne. + +Catharine of Arragon, the daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand, seems a +truth-loving, devout woman, well prepared to welcome the great +principles advanced by the Reformers, had she not been placed in +circumstances most adverse to their influence. Had Henry embraced the +doctrines and the principles of the Reformation from a conviction of +their truth and importance--had he sought to regulate his own life by +the pure precepts of the Bible, and thus striven to disseminate a pure +faith among his people--had the conscientious Catharine been the +patroness and the friend of the Reformers, instead of the trifling, if +not guilty, Anne Boleyn--the English church and the state of religion in +the English nation would doubtless have presented a different history +for the past, and a different aspect for the future. + +But these are vain speculations. Catharine lived and died in the Papal +faith. From the circumstances in which she was placed, she clung to it +as to her womanly honour, her queenly dignity--as she would preserve her +name from blight, her child from shame. And when she saw herself +supplanted, when she was disgraced, divorced, her child declared +illegitimate, and she knew her death was desired by one to whom she had +been a devoted, faithful wife, what words could be more touching than +those the dramatist gives as her last message to the king! "Tell him, +his long sorrow has passed away." Oh, none but a wife dying thus, with +the bitter consciousness that her life was undesired and that her death +would be unregretted, can feel their full import. + +The bells which had tolled for Catharine of Arragon had hardly ceased to +vibrate when the roar of the cannon announced the execution of Anne. The +one died in January, the other was beheaded in May; and she who, by +exciting and encouraging the unholy love of the king, had unchained his +fierce passions and taught him to break through all restraints, was +herself, full early, their victim. + +Shall we pass from the palaces of England to the tents of +Mesopotamia--from the last days of chivalry to those of the ancient +patriarchs and shepherds of the earliest of recorded ages? + +When the wandering Jacob reached the abode of his mother's kindred, the +land of Haran, he met, at the same fountain at which Rebekah had watered +the flocks of the messenger of Abraham, the daughter of her brother +Laban. He had seated himself by the well, and when the maiden came, he +aided her to water her flocks; and he was thus introduced to his kinsmen +by Rachel; and he told them that he was the son of Rebekah, of whom, +perhaps, they had long lost the recollection; and with all the +hospitality of the East--that hospitality which ever prevails among a +simple and pastoral people--he was welcomed by the kindred of the +mother. + +The brother of Rebekah had two daughters. Leah, the elder, was +tender-eyed, but Rachel was beautiful; and both sisters loved their +cousin, while the heart of Jacob clung to the younger, the fair damsel +who first welcomed him; so that he overlooked the claims of the +elder,--the plain, if not disfigured, Leah. He brought no offerings with +him to conciliate the favour of the father, and, according to the custom +of the East, to facilitate his marriage. But he offered his personal +service as an equivalent. And the son of Isaac served seven years for +the daughter of Laban. But this long period was passed; and dwelling, as +Jacob did, in the presence of Rachel, a member of the household of her +father, they seemed but as a few days, for the love he bore her. + +But the time had now arrived when the marriage should be celebrated, and +Jacob claimed his bride. But he who had wronged his brother, who had by +disguise deceived his father, was now imposed upon by guile and +treachery; and all the hopes and expectations of these long years were +defeated. The customs of Eastern marriages favoured the deceit, and +Jacob found that he was wedded to Leah, and not to the object of his +affection. The deceit was most unjustifiable. The disappointment and the +resentment must have been proportionally great; and miserable was the +excuse of Laban, and wretched the device which was offered as an +atonement. Yet Jacob must have bowed before the retributions of an +avenging God, and the remembrance of his own treachery may have stayed +his anger. + +Thus commenced the family of Jacob, with all the elements of dissension, +strife and bitterness incorporated into its very earliest existence. The +daughters of Laban both became the wives of Jacob, and they were rivals +as women, as sisters, as wives and as mothers--forced to dwell +together, yet ever in sullen hatred or bitter strife. When the ties of +natural affection are severed, the heart never ceases to bleed; and +there is no hatred so deep, so implacable as that which springs up where +hearts once knit are thus alienated and forced asunder: and the sorrows +and evils which sprang up in the family of Jacob may have led to that +command so explicitly given by Moses--"Neither shalt thou take a wife to +her sister to vex her, in her lifetime." + +The heart of Jacob never departed from Rachel. She was the chosen bride. +He loved her with a deep and true affection, while the forced claims of +Leah awoke only the remembrance of the deceit. In the emphatic language +of the Bible, "he loved Rachel, but he hated Leah," and it was in +accordance with the constant exhibitions of human nature that it should +be thus. He had never sought her love. No love, no devotedness, could +efface the remembrance of her connivance at that deep-laid plot which +had imposed her upon him as a wife. Yet the lot of Leah was peculiarly a +lot of reproach and trial--and as we behold her wretchedness, we are +led, not to extenuate her fault, nor to palliate her sin, but to forgive +and pity her sorrows. + +In early youth the sympathies are all awakened for the beautiful and the +beloved Rachel, the only chosen, the betrothed bride. As we advance in +years, in deeper acquaintance with human hearts, in truer fellowship in +human suffering, we learn to feel for the plain and hated Leah. There is +something deeply touching in the quiet sorrow which marks her lot; in +her deep consciousness of her husband's alienation and her sister's +hate. We feel how difficult it might have seemed to resist the +authority of the father, when it was aided by the pleadings of her own +affection and the customs of her people. We glance into the tents of +Jacob, and contrast Leah with the beautiful, the loved, the indulged, +the self-willed Rachel. There we see her, plain and unattractive in +person, broken in spirit, bowed down by the consciousness of her own sin +and her husband's hate--her sister's bitter contempt--striving, though +scarce hoping, to win the love of her husband; and welcoming the anguish +of a mother, with the fond assurance, "Now will my husband love me, for +I have borne him a son." + +We follow the sisters, as, still side by side, but with alienated hearts +and estranged affections, they depart from the tents of their father to +follow the footsteps of their husband,--Rachel and her offspring are the +first objects of the care, as of the affection, of the patriarch. Yet +we find Rachel, the loved and indulged wife, more murmuring, more +repining, more fault-finding than Leah. By sorrow and trial, Leah may +have learned submission; and the dearest earthly hopes disappointed--all +her affections as a wife crushed and despised--in her hour of grief, and +in the desolation of a widowhood of hate, she may have sought and found +that love which never faileth, which giveth liberally and upbraideth +not. + +And He whose ear is ever open to the cry of his creatures, who forgives +even while he punishes their iniquities, pitied Leah, and, without +upbraiding her for that deceit by which she became a wife, gave her the +joys of a mother; and in all the names bestowed upon her children, Leah +at once recognises the mercy of God, while she still remembers that she +is hated of her husband--attesting at once her conscious sorrow and her +trusting faith. + +Rachel was childless--and when she saw Leah rejoicing as a mother, it +awoke all the bitterness of envy. With the unreasonable pettishness of a +wife ever indulged, she reproached her husband. For once, the anger of +Jacob was kindled against the idolized Rachel. "Am I in God's stead?" +said he. The consciousness of being the loved and the cherished one--the +overflowing tenderness and the ready indulgence which Rachel received, +made her only more exacting and imperious; and while Leah seemed +softened by trials and sorrows, her sister grew more unreasonable by +indulgence, and was at once haughty and insolent. So corrupt is human +nature, that the gratification of our desires too often merely excites +the pride and haughtiness of the human heart, and the prosperous claim +the blessings of Heaven as a matter of right; while it is mercifully +ordained that the very sorrow which ever follows transgression, the +evils which await all departures from duty and right, should, by their +very tendency, awaken repentance and lead to a penitent and humble +spirit. + +When the daughters of Laban left the house of their father, either from +a latent superstition, or from a family cupidity, Rachel stole the +household gods of Laban and secreted them; and with an art worthy of the +daughter of Laban, she prevented her father from reclaiming them; thus +paving the way for the introduction of idolatry into the household of +Jacob. He had already introduced polygamy by his marriage with her, and, +to secure her, and thereby gratify her rivalry of her sister, he had +multiplied his wives, and brought upon himself still heavier sorrows and +trials. It was the beauty of Rachel which first captivated the eye, and +then enthralled the heart of Jacob; and the wisest of men, thus +ensnared, are still led into sin and folly. All the influences of Rachel +upon his heart and life seem to have been unhappy; and the narrative +shows that the strongest passion, gratified in defiance of prudence and +previously imposed obligation, can only lead to disappointment and +vexation. The two sisters both proved the love of the wife, in leaving +all at the command of the husband; and the God in whom Jacob still +trusted, guarded him against all the designs of Laban, averted the wrath +of his brother, and guided him to the land of Isaac. He had passed +Jordan with his staff and his scrip--he went out an outcast, and a +fugitive; he returned with the train of a chief, the retinue of an +Eastern prince; and his heart swelled with thanksgiving as he recounted +the mercy and remembered the faithfulness of Jehovah. His father was +still living--the nurse of Rebekah, who so long since had left the +family of Bethuel, came to close her eyes in the tents of the +grand-daughter of her former master; but the mother who had led her son +into sin, who had taught him to practise that deceit which had recoiled +upon himself, is not mentioned. She, doubtless, was laid by the side of +Abraham and of Sarah, in the cave of Machpelah. She had anticipated a +short absence, a transient separation from her son. She purposed to send +for him to return to his father, that he might yet be heir of the +estate; but when Jacob did return in wealth and honour--yet bearing that +bitter burden of care and sorrow, from which no honour, no wealth are +exempt,--she who would have assuredly exulted in the one, and +sympathized with the other, was not in the tent of Isaac. She came not +forth to welcome her son, to embrace her relatives and daughters or +caress their children. Her place in the tent and at the board was +vacant--her voice was hushed--her heart cold. The places that had known +her, knew her no more. And thus it often is. Before man attains wealth +or honour, those who had most rejoiced to witness it have passed away; +while still, fair as is the outward lot, there are internal sorrows, +imbittering every pleasant draught, and casting a shadow over all the +brightness of human existence. Thus it is that the most prosperous are +often followed by a cloud, reflecting glory and radiance upon such as +are without, but covering with gloom and darkness those who fall within +its shadow. + +And soon followed the bitterest trial of Leah's life,--the shame, +sorrow, and widowhood of her only daughter; avenged by those who +neglected to guard her--while the husband, though indifferent to the +sorrow and love of the wife, must have felt the anguish of the father. + +And the rivalry and strife of the sisters was over. "Give me children or +else I die," was the cry of the wife whose wishes had been laws--and the +prayer prompted by hate and envy was answered. Yet Rachel died. And in +that hour of mortal agony, of bitter suffering, Leah probably stood by +her sister. With affections estranged, love turned into bitterness, with +hearts alienated, but fates inseparably united, they had passed their +days. Their tents had been pitched side by side,--the voices of their +children had been mingled together as they fell upon their mothers' +ears,--they had been called to worship at the same altar,--they had been +members of the same household. + +Forced thus to dwell together, constantly to meet, to be familiar with +the same objects, to have the same interests, they were alienated, but +not separated; and if their feelings were crushed, they were not all +uprooted. As Leah saw her younger, her beautiful sister in the hour of +extremity, in the agonies of a mother's sufferings, the sympathies of a +woman must have risen with the love of a sister, and bitter tears of +repentant sorrow must she have shed upon the pallid brow and quivering +lips, as the hopes and the memories of youth and childhood gathered +around, to reproach her for that deceit by which she had sown their path +through mutual life with thorns, and made their joys to be but ashes. +There are no tears so bitter as those which are shed by affection, too +late revived, over those whom we have loved and yet injured,--over those +from whom we have suffered ourselves to be estranged. + +Rachel was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. She was +not laid in the sepulchre of Abraham. The children were left to the +fostering care of her hated sister. Her sons passed through trials from +which she could not guard them, and they came to honours while she knew +it not. At this distance, her life seems to us a dream--a few years of +pleasant childhood, a short vision of youthful love,--then comes the +strife of life, its stern discipline, its bitter trials, its +disappointed hopes, and its termination in the grave. + +As we dwell upon the characters so truthfully delineated in the word of +God, and follow the record of human pride, passion and infirmity, we are +taught at once to magnify and adore the patience, the forbearance and +the mercy of Jehovah. And let us remember that it is because these +characters are reflected in the pure mirror of truth that the dark +shades so plainly appear. In every age the heart of man is the same; +but the temptations which especially evince this depravity may be +peculiar to some particular age or condition. + +We know not how long Leah survived her sister. Her advancing years were +not exempt from affliction, and age brings its own trials; yet +prosperity rested upon Jacob--and in the decline of life she may have +known happiness desired, but not realized, in youth. + +After the death of his beloved Rachel, the heart of Jacob may have +turned to Leah, and a peaceful friendship have succeeded the storm and +the conflicts of youthful passion. Sorrow may have knit hearts softened +by the mutual consciousness of error and by the tears of repentance, and +strengthened by the hopes of pardon, and drawn to each other by the +strong ties of parental love for their mutual offspring. When the +patriarch was called into Egypt, Leah went not with him. He had laid +her in the gathering-place of his sons, in the tent of his fathers. From +the touching expression of the dying patriarch--himself far from the +land of his fathers' sepulchres--"And there I buried Leah," we feel +that, in age and bereavement, the heart of Jacob turned to Leah. The +repudiated wife of his youth became the solace of his age, and her +memory awoke the last tender recollections in the dying patriarch. As we +have read the book of God, we have been taught that good, inordinately +coveted, or obtained by injustice and deceit, ever brings a curse. The +principal actors in the events recorded in these chapters of Genesis, +may have secured the object which they sought, yet the attainment did +not avert or mitigate the punishment of the treachery by which it was +secured. + +Rebekah obtained the birth-right and the coveted blessing for her +favourite child, and by that act separated him from herself and doomed +him to a banishment from his father's house, and from that hour she saw +his face no more. Laban secured by his deceit the marriage of his +unattractive daughter and the establishment of the beautiful Rachel, but +he thus alienated the children he still seems to have loved, and that +wealth which he so coveted. + +Leah, by her connivance at her father's deceit, married the man she +loved, but it was to lead a life of bitter, of heart-consuming sorrow. +Jacob, departing from the institution of marriage that he might yet +possess Rachel, entailed upon himself a career of strife, bitterness and +disappointment; and introduced into his family an example that became a +fruitful source of individual depravity and national corruption; while +he first witnessed the evil effects of his complicated domestic +relations in the conduct of his eldest son, and felt at once his shame +as a husband and his reproach as a father. And are not these things +written for our edification? Are we not, in every page of God's word, +taught explicitly that for man there is neither safety nor happiness +save in the path of duty and of literal obedience? That each departure +from the rule of right, whatever be the motive, and crowned as it may +seem to be with success, draws a long succession of sin and sorrow in +its train? Many have studied the word of God to justify sin, or palliate +guilt, by the examples of the former dispensation. Let it be carefully +studied, and it will show that the transgression which secured a +positive object, still brought its punishment,--if delayed, never +remitted--although successful, never justified. The word of God never +justifies crimes, though in infinite wisdom He over-rules them to +promote the designs of his eternal providence. + +Modern days and Christian institutions allow no examples of the exact +type of the strife and rivalry exhibited in the household of the +patriarch of Israel. Yet, while human nature remains as it is, there +will ever be the jealousies, the strifes, the bitterness arising from +misplaced affection, or alienated hearts, or jarring interests. There is +still to be found the coquetry which would win love from a sister or a +friend, and the treachery that would supplant the rival--as there are +still fathers who, for motives of interest, would sacrifice their +daughters, regardless of their hearts or their happiness. Youthful +beauty still attracts the eye and wins the heart, and the best and +wisest of men are too often enthralled by mere personal attraction. + +Human nature is ever the same, and the motives and feelings which swayed +the generations who have mouldered back to dust are still felt and +acknowledged. + +While we thus attempt to trace the outlines of the domestic history of +these individuals, we cannot but feel that there is a surpassing beauty +and excellence in the character of Abraham. He bore the fresh impress of +a renovated world, and was truly worthy of the pre-eminence which is +always allotted to him. Isaac seems to have dwelt in quiet, peaceful +prosperity. Inheriting great wealth, dwelling until mature age with his +parents, there seem to have been few occasions in which the prominent +traits of the character are displayed. His life offers less of interest, +less to excite, less to praise and less to blame than either Abraham's +or Jacob's. The father's energy, patience, faith and obedience had +prepared the way for the prosperity of the son; and Isaac, nursed in +affluence and cherished by maternal affection, seems to have exhibited +less energy, enterprise and decision than either his father or his +descendants. His premature blindness doubtless conduced to this inactive +life. Yet he trusted and obeyed the God of his father, though he enjoyed +neither the exalted faith of Abraham, nor was he favoured with the +enlarged prophetic views of Jacob. + +In all the trials and infirmities of Jacob--from the day in which he +left his father's house until the hour in which "he gathered his feet in +his bed and died" in Egypt--we see the evidence and the growth of true +piety, of enlarged faith. He was encompassed with infirmities, and these +infirmities betrayed him into sins, which brought in their train the +sorrows which, through Divine grace, purified and sanctified him. Thus +his character excites our increasing love and sympathy, and his +advancing piety our veneration. + +From the glimpses we obtain of the families of Nahor, Bethuel, and +Laban, we trace a gradual departure from Jehovah among the descendants +of Shem. Nahor and Abraham were possessors of like faith. They both +worshipped the God of their fathers--of Shem, of Noah, of Methuselah, of +Enoch, of Seth, of Adam. Bethuel's household still remained a household +of faith, but in Laban we see the beginning of a departure from the true +God. The first steps towards idolatry were taken. There was the resort +to a sensible representation,--some image probably used as a symbol of +the true God at first, but certainly ensnaring the heart, and ending in +idolatry. Thus the gods of Laban, which Rachel stole, were leading him +and his family rapidly to idol-worship, and to forgetfulness of the true +God. Still he had not sunk into gross idolatry. Laban still pledged +himself, and invoked the name of the God of Abraham and of Nahor, and +of their fathers, when he entered into covenant with Jacob. He had not +yet altogether abjured the worship of Jehovah: he had begun to mingle a +false worship with it, and thus prepared the way for the full apostasy +of his descendants. + +That the chosen people might be kept from the taint of idolatry, Jacob +left Laban; yet Rachel had stolen her father's images--and there is then +great significance in that act by which Jacob renewed his covenant with +God, when called upon to build the altar at Bethel. + +"And Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put +away the strange gods that are among you and be clean, and change your +garments: and let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an +altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with +me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange +gods which were in their hand, and all their ear-rings which were in +their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem." + +Probably the ear-rings were used as heathen charms or amulets. While +idolatry, as a leprosy, was thus beginning to infect the household, he +saw the need of their purification; and there seems no accidental +connection between this searching out and putting away of idolatry in +the household of Jacob and the following death of Rachel: "With +whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live." + +The cherished wife of Jacob, deeply tainted with the superstitions by +which her family were corrupting the religion of Jehovah, may have been +thus removed to prevent further contagion. While the apostle may refer +to this example in his promise: "Nevertheless she shall be saved in +child-bearing, if she continue in the faith." And this sin may have +excluded Rachel from the sepulchre of Abraham. The plague-spot +disappears from this time, and the purification of the household was +availing. For many generations, whatever their other sins, the children +of Jacob were kept from idolatry. + +[Illustration] + + + + +MIRIAM. + +THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN UPON THE DESTINY AND CHARACTER OF MAN, AS +EXEMPLIFIED IN THE LIFE OF MOSES. + + +[Illustration] + +There were designs of infinite wisdom to be accomplished by the long +sojourn of the children of Jacob in Egypt. The people of Israel were +appointed to guard the name and worship of Jehovah, until He who was to +bring life and immortality to light should rise from among them. Until +the "Star" that was to come from Jacob should shed its glorious radiance +over this darkened earth. When all the children of men were departing +from God, He chose this family to perpetuate the memory of his works and +his mighty acts in preserving the first history of the race, and to +prepare the way for the fulfilment of the designs of infinite mercy +toward a sinful and apostate world. By miracles and judgments, by type +and prophecy, by altars and sacrifices, he kept before this people the +mysterious promise given in the hour of transgression. + +From this family was to descend him who was to be the light of the +Gentiles, and the glory of Israel, him who was at once the Almighty +Saviour, the everlasting Father, the wonderful Counsellor, the man of +sorrows and acquainted with grief, who bore our sickness, and took upon +himself our iniquities. And while from the family of Israel that high +spiritual influence was to emanate, which was to renovate men's moral +nature and change the aspect and condition of the race, restoring the +knowledge of the true God; and again, through the great atoning +sacrifice, opening the gates of eternal life and bringing spiritual +blessings to all mankind,--the character of the children of Israel, +their civil institutions, their legislation, their history, their laws, +their literature, were to leave their impress upon all the nations of +the earth. + +The apostle accounts it the chief honour of the Jews that unto them were +committed the oracles of God. They were employed to transcribe and +preserve the inspired books. From them went forth those who first +announced the great truths of a Saviour crucified and a Comforter +promised. For successive ages the nation of Israel stood surrounded by +the heathen world,--stood the witnesses of the faithfulness of Jehovah, +the monuments of his truth and power, the only nation upon the face of +this earth who worshipped the true God. + +Thick moral darkness shrouded all other lands--the nation of Israel +alone had light in their dwellings, and the beams of the rising Sun of +righteousness fell upon them and revealed the gross darkness around +them. + +And he who had chosen the people of Israel for such a high purpose, in +infinite wisdom devised the means to fit them for their destination, and +he guided and guarded them in each stage of their national existence. +Egypt was one of the first kingdoms founded after the deluge, and it is +probable that those who repeopled it after this event, had retained many +impressions of the former world. Her monuments, yet remaining, attest +the high antiquity of her arts and sciences, and her early advancement +in refinement and civilization. + +Her priests and wise men were the instructors of the ancient world, and +the philosophers of Greece resorted to Egypt to study legislation and +philosophy, and Egypt imparted to Greece, and Greece to Rome, the arts +and sciences by which they refined and elevated Europe. + +God designed Egypt to be the nursery of the nation of Israel. The +granary of the ancient world offering abundant sustenance, he brought +Jacob and his sons into it as one family, and here they remained until +they multiplied and increased, and became like the stars of heaven for +number; and He who led them into Egypt ordained all the events of their +national history so as to promote his own eternal plans. + +The patriarch led his children, with their flocks and herds,--the wealth +of a pastoral people,--into this land as the invited guests of Pharaoh, +the monarch of Egypt. And as he bowed before the king, the aged +patriarch taught him at once the brevity of man's life and the +unsatisfying nature of all earthly enjoyments, as recalled at the close +of a long pilgrimage: "Few and evil have been the days of the years of +my pilgrimage." Pharaoh received the aged man with respect, and showed +him all honour; while in consideration of the pastoral habits of his +sons, a portion of land, separate from the Egyptians, was allotted them +for a place of abode. Thus they were kept a distinct, unmingled people, +and enabled to maintain their own peculiar institutions, practise the +rites of their own religion, and preserve the worship of the God of +Abraham. And in all the oppression which they here sustained, we do not +find that their religion was ever persecuted or their rites forbidden. +And as Egypt was the cradle of the nation of Israel, so it was to be the +school in which the children of Jacob were to form a national character. +The wandering, pastoral tribes, transformed into an agricultural people +and settled residents, and instructed in the arts of civilized life, +were fitted to take possession of the allotted heritage. After fostering +their infancy and feebleness, the monarchs of Egypt gradually changed +their course as the increasing numbers of the Israelites excited jealous +apprehension. Yet all this varying policy and every cruel edict advanced +the designs of Jehovah and promoted the welfare of his chosen people. +The cruelty of the Egyptians alienated the hearts of the Israelites from +the nation and from the land of Egypt, and kept freshly before them the +remembrance of the inheritance promised. While considered as strangers, +treated as aliens, and surrounded by enemies, the bonds of brotherhood +were more closely drawn, and they clung together, a distinct and +separate people. + +The tribes were one nation. While the people of Israel were oppressed, +they were not enslaved. They were tributary, but not reduced to +personal bondage. They dwelt together in that portion of Egypt assigned +to them. They spoke their own language. They seem to have regulated +their internal affairs by their own elders. They maintained their own +worship. Their family relations were unbroken. They must have amassed +riches, for they brought great wealth out of Egypt, as the offerings at +the tabernacle show--and although in part this may have been received +from the restitution which the conscience-smitten Egyptians offered upon +their departure, all could not have been thus derived. The whole +narrative of the Israelites shows that they were rich in silver and +gold, and possessed much cattle. Yet all their property was +personal--they owned no land. And much of the tribute was, doubtless, +exacted as rent, paid by many in personal labour; and while they thus +erected, perhaps, the proudest monuments of Egyptian art by this +enforced labour, they were acquiring the various knowledge needful to a +nation; while their very task-masters, by compelling them to acquire the +habits of industry, to which a pastoral people are always averse, were +school-masters, needful though harsh, teaching them to develop their +energies and forcing them to exercise patience and to acquire skill. + +Learning and wisdom have departed from Egypt. She has long been the +basest of kingdoms. The race of the Pharaohs has passed away. She has +been for ages governed by slaves. Temple and palace are in ruins. Her +tombs, sacred and precious, have been pillaged; And the bones of her +great and noble ones, her priests and kings, feed the fire by which the +wandering Arab prepares his food. Yet many monuments of her ancient arts +remain, interesting as attesting her power, grandeur, and high +advancement in civilization, and still more valuable as corroborating +the sacred history and throwing light on many passages of the inspired +word,--at once showing the former residence of the Israelites in Egypt, +the close connection of these ancient people, and affording proofs of +that wisdom which selected Egypt for the cradle and school of the chosen +race. + +The Egyptians, gradually after the flood, lost the knowledge of Jehovah +and departed from his worship. + +At the time Joseph married the daughter of the priest of On, the +Egyptians could not have sunk into that gross idolatry which contrasted +so strangely with their wise legislation and scientific attainments; and +their priests are supposed to have concealed, under mystic symbols, +mysterious truths, which they imparted to the initiated, while they +taught a grosser system to the common mind. While in Egypt the +Israelites seem never to have been exposed to the debasing immoralities +which prevailed among the nations around the promised land. + +The children of Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham four hundred years. +When Jehovah called his people out of Egypt they were fitted to receive +the laws and institutions which he designed to give them, and to take +the high position he assigned them among the nations of the earth. And +lest, during their long sojourn in the wilderness, they should lose the +arts of civilized life, they were employed in the construction of the +tabernacle. By the minute enumeration of all that was required for the +completion of this work, we see that the erection involved an extensive +acquaintance with the mechanical arts, and of those, too, which indicate +a high degree of advancement in the luxuries of polished life. Thus the +generation born in the wilderness were instructed, and preserved from +degenerating into mere shepherds, hunters, or warriors. The restless +were occupied, and the work proved a bond of union for the whole people, +exciting the interest and employing the energies of all the different +classes of the great multitude. + +The long ages of the sojourn of the children of Jacob were drawing to a +close. The iniquity of the Canaanites was now full; the children of +Israel were prepared to be numbered among the nations of the earth; and +the events dictated by the craft and policy of men were ordained to +promote the infinite designs of Jehovah. For four hundred years the +descendants of Jacob had dwelt in Goshen. From a pastoral they were +already become an agricultural people; they had learned to prize the +comforts of an established life, of quiet, peaceful homes, of pleasant +places of abode. Dwelling in the richest portion of Egypt, protected +from all foreign aggression, they there enjoyed abundance, peace, and +prosperity, to which their wanderings in the desert furnished a sad +contrast. + +The policy of Egypt had excluded the Israelites from her crimes. The +energy, the love of change and adventure, which a martial life imparts, +were unfelt; and had not oppression driven the Israelites from Egypt, +the promise of that goodly land destined for their race had hardly +induced the nation to leave their present abundance and protection. +Thus, by the various dispensations of his providence, Jehovah was at +once preparing a guide, leader, ruler, and future lawgiver for his +people, while by the continued vexation, oppression, and cruelty of the +Egyptian rulers, he was suffering them to alienate the affections of the +children of Jacob from a country which had become the native land of the +Israelites, which was the birth-place of generation after generation. + +At the time Miriam, the sister of Moses, appears before us, the children +of Israel had reached the fourth generation. A family had become a +nation, a people in the bosom of another, dwelling together, distinct, +separate, too numerous to be easily or safely held in subjection, too +valuable as tributaries to be relinquished. Thus to hold them safely in +bondage and to prevent their further increase, it became the settled +policy of Egypt to oppress and degrade them. As their jealous +apprehensions were at length awakened, by a policy as profound as it was +cruel, the Egyptian monarchs endeavoured, in destroying the sons of this +people, to force the daughters of Israel to intermarry with their +oppressors, that they might obtain the wealth of the sons of Jacob, +while the name and memory of his family would be swept from the earth. +Yet dwelling, as the Israelites did, in a separate province, it was not +easy for Pharaoh to find those who would execute his purposes; and the +first efforts to cut off the race of the chosen, failed. He was however +so intent upon their extermination, that he did not hesitate to direct +that all the male children of the Israelites should be cast into the +river as soon as they were born. + +While there were so many to court the favour of the monarch and ever +ready for the darkest deeds, how could the sons of the Hebrews now +escape? When Moses was born, his mother hid him three months; and when +concealment was no longer possible, she sought for the babe a strange +place of safety--in the very element which was indicated for its +destruction. The slender ark is framed by the mother's hands, and +deposited among the flags on the bank of the Nile. The morning was +perhaps dawning, and the sky yet gray, when the anxious mother +withdrew. + +In a few hours after, the chant of the boatmen is suddenly hushed, and +the passing labourers shroud their heads in token of reverence, as, +surrounded by her attendants, the daughter of Pharaoh approaches the +river. The slight ark, with its precious burden, floating among the +reeds, attracts her eye, and, as her maidens draw it from the water, the +wail of the desolate infant strikes her ear. + +"The babe wept"--and full fountains of womanly tenderness were broken up +in the heart of the princess of Egypt. "This is one of the Hebrew +children," said she; and as she drew him from the waves, she resolved to +save and adopt the child. + +Miriam, the sister, had lingered near to watch, if not to save the +child. We may fancy the Hebrew maiden at a little distance, eagerly +bending forward, and gazing with intense and breathless interest. And +when the princess announces her intention to protect the infant, in all +the gladness of childhood she bounds forward, and, mingling with the +royal train, asks, "Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew +women, that she may nurse the child for thee?" And Pharaoh's daughter +said unto her, "Go;" and the maid went and brought the child's mother! + +Thus had the God of Israel overruled all the designs of evil to his +people, by providing in the very family of Pharaoh a shelter and a home +for the child--doomed by the impious monarch to destruction--but +designed by Jehovah to be the saviour of his people. He who was thus +drawn from the water was the ordained deliverer, guide, legislator, and +prophet of Israel. + +As Jehovah had appointed him to this high vocation, he not only guarded +his life, thus threatened, but made the instruments intended for the +extermination of the race the means of the full accomplishment of all +its mysterious destiny. + +The child thus adopted into the royal family was not only saved from +death, but was thus placed under influences most propitious for the +attainment of all the various knowledge which could fit him for the high +station to which he was destined. That helpless infant was not only to +be the deliverer of Israel, but by his political institutions, his +legislative enactments, his moral precepts, his inspired teachings, he +was to mould the character of his own people, and to influence other +nations down through all coming ages. High was the honour allotted him +as the deliverer and the lawgiver of Israel--still higher that as the +prophet of the Lord. He was the promulgator of the great moral laws of +the universe, originally engraven on the hearts of men, but now so +effaced by sin as to be scarcely legible;--he was to establish those +institutions which were to perpetuate the name and the worship of +Jehovah among the children of men; and that memorial which, by a long +line of types and sacrifices, was at once to prefigure and prepare for +the great atoning sacrifice, offered for a lost world. + +Of all the fallen sons of Adam, none were ever destined to a station of +more arduous responsibility, of more extensive and long-continued +influence than that appointed to this Hebrew infant; and He who had +marked out his destiny ordained the means which were to prepare him for +it. Transplanted into the family of Pharaoh, he was there instructed in +all the "wisdom of the Egyptians," and Egypt (as we know) was the +fountain of ancient learning, science, and philosophy. While Jehovah +communicated by direct inspiration to Moses, yet the mind of the ruler +and leader of Israel had been prepared by that instruction which +develops the capacity, expands the mind, and enlarges the apprehension +to receive and understand the institutions Jehovah gave his people, and +he was thus enabled to co-operate with an enlightened mind in all the +designs of God. But if the schools of Egypt imparted that intellectual +attainment, mental discipline and knowledge of legislation in its +various forms, so necessary for the lawgiver, there were other +influences which were needful for the perfection of the character. There +was a knowledge higher and holier than that ever taught by priests or +Grecian philosophers,--a wisdom beyond that of the Egyptians, "the +knowledge of the Lord," the God of his fathers, and the first great +truths of religion should be breathed into the soul in the whispers of +parental love. The earthly parent should lead the child to the feet of +the great Creator. + +And then in the formation of a character which was to leave its impress +upon all future ages to the close of time, the affections were to be +cultivated, the sympathies awakened, and all that is pure and kind and +elevated in the nature of man drawn forth. And where is the influence +which so gently moulds the character, refining, softening, and elevating +it, as the affectionate, intelligent sister? As a man advances in life, +the continual influence and association of virtuous and accomplished +women is felt in all the relations he is called to sustain. + +We see in the various circumstances of the life of Moses a Divine +recognition of the value of the family relation and of the importance of +the influence of women in the formation of character. + +Before Moses was admitted to the schools of Egyptian learning, before he +was exposed to the snares and the splendours of a court, before he was +called to a throne, he had learned lessons of the deepest wisdom from +the lips of his parents. One higher than the royal of earth spoke +through the princess, when she said, "Take this child and nurse it for +me, and I will give thee wages." And faithfully did the mother fulfil +her charge. She strove to imbue the soul of her child with living faith, +while upon that infant heart she impressed the maxims of eternal +truth--she imparted those lessons of trust and confidence, and +inculcated that deep conviction of the power of truth, which led the +man, by the grace of God, in the prime and flush of life, to refuse to +be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer +affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for +a season. + +Had that mother been unfaithful to her high trust, had she infused into +that infant heart lessons of ambition and worldliness, he had perhaps +failed in the hour of trial, and another had led the tribes of Israel to +the chosen land. A little band guarded Moses; the princess of Egypt, +the mother of Moses, and his sister Miriam. Each one exerted her +peculiar influence upon his character, while his future destiny attested +the varied power of these influences and their relative value. + +As the saviour of the young Hebrew, as his protectress and adopted +mother, the daughter of Pharaoh had a large claim upon him, and to her +he was indebted for many of those high attainments which fitted him for +his office. The slight incidental notices of the daughter of Pharaoh +give us a delightful impression of her character. + +There is something higher and nobler than a princess. She was a true +woman, filled with all the quiet sympathies and kind affections of her +sex, and possessing an energy and a persevering constancy which led her +to fulfil her generous purposes, and made her impulses bear the fruits +of benevolent action. + +Such women show what women should be, and such women in all ages make +the influence of their characters to be felt. To her fostering care +Moses owed life and advancement, education, honour, the standing of a +prince, the polish and the refinement of the court. She proved her +appreciation of knowledge, and we may well infer her own cultivated +intelligence from the care with which she provided for the instruction +of her charge. She showed that she could feel and that she cherished all +the sympathies of domestic love, by providing for their indulgence, by +allowing their continuance, and yielding to their claims, even though +she was a princess of Egypt, the daughter of the haughty Pharaoh, and +her adopted child belonged to a race studiously oppressed, degraded, and +exposed to all contumely, and while, doubtless, she was no stranger to +the prejudices which led her countrymen to look upon the sons of Israel +as an outcast and despicable race. Still the bonds of national +affection, of kindred and brotherhood, were all respected. The whole +narrative shows that Moses was never alienated from his family, never +taught to forget that he was a Hebrew. His patroness felt that there +were holy ties never to be disregarded nor trampled upon. + +And while the princess of Egypt surrounded her infant charge with right +influences, while she provided wisely for his intellectual culture, she +likewise brought the influence of her own personal character to bear +upon him. The influence of a pure woman, who unites refinement to +intelligence, and adds to them the polish of the court without its +corruption, would be as powerful as it would be salutary, and when to +the higher qualities, mental and moral, the polished refinement and +graceful attention to all the proprieties of life are imparted, a high +finish is given to the character. Nor was that acquired grace and +courtly manner a thing of frivolous import. It exerted an important +influence upon the future destiny of the individual. The successful +leaders of great multitudes have often owed almost as much to that high +bearing and dignified demeanour which should be the distinct badge of +those who are numbered with the great, as to their skill and +discernment; and while treated in the court of Pharaoh as a scion of +royalty, the young Hebrew acquired that air of conscious authority to +which inferior minds always defer. He gained there that knowledge of +courtly splendour and gayety which forced in him the conviction of their +perfect insufficiency for the high demands of the spiritual nature, and +that knowledge of the heart of man and its depraved qualities most +needful to one who was at once to lead and control a multitude, and who +was to stand before kings as the envoy of Jehovah. + +The Israelites never seem to have entered the Egyptian armies. It would +have been contrary to the policy of the kings either to have encouraged +a martial spirit or to have placed arms in the hands of this multitude; +yet as one of the family of Pharaoh, Moses led the armies of Egypt. And +needful it was that the future leader of Israel should be well +instructed in all the tactics of war--should understand all the +providing for, the ordering, and the encamping of vast hosts. It was +perhaps only by arduous military service that he could have developed +that capacity indicated by the vast skill with which an army of six +hundred thousand men, encumbered with their wives and little ones, could +be encamped in regular order, whether marching or resting. Ever +desiring peace and acting on the defensive, yet ready to repel +aggression, for forty years the nation of Israel were encamped as the +hosts of an army. Each tribe with its own banner, marching and +countermarching, taking down and putting up their tents, with all the +skill and regularity of a disciplined army, and often engaged in actual +warfare. He who could thus order and regulate such a host must have +possessed the skill and science of the general. While the habits of long +command, added to the consciousness of authority and Divine reliance, +enabled him to prevent or control turbulent outbreaks. + +While the legislator of Israel owed so much to the fostering care of the +daughter of Pharaoh in preparing him for his high destination, we cannot +but feel a deep interest in her who so unconsciously contributed toward +an influence and prepared an instrumentality quite adverse to the +apparent interests of her people. We cannot but hope that, while she +thus hastened the accomplishment of promise and prediction, she was +herself led to the knowledge and worship of Israel's God. + +Might not one who thus adopted the brother, encircle in her affection +the sister whose affectionate entreaty gave the babe a mother for its +nurse? The fraternal affection which marks the family seems to indicate +more than occasional intercourse. Between Miriam and her brother there +was that sympathy which always results from an intimate association. The +princess of Egypt may have imparted to Miriam many of the +accomplishments of the courtly circle, for we find that she was skilled +in music, that she led the dance; while, in return, Miriam may have +imparted that higher knowledge and those deep truths of which her people +were the appointed conservators, and the daughter of Pharaoh may have +tasted the blessings which were held in trust for future ages. + +Miriam was the only sister of Moses, and she first appears as watching +the fate of that child in whose destiny all the ages and all the nations +of earth were to have an interest. The tender care which watched the +cradle on the Nile continued through life, and from the day Moses was +saved, down to the day when Miriam died in the wilderness, she seems +ever associated with her brothers in all their efforts and designs. The +influence of the sister is peculiarly her own. It is felt in early life +in its softening, refining, and purifying tendency--in diverting opening +manhood from rude sports or gross pursuits to the enjoyments of a more +elevated and pure nature, and shedding a charm around the pleasures of +home; while, if no other ties intervene, the bonds of affection grow +stronger with each successive year. + +We cannot trace the course of Miriam's life. She appears before us for a +season and then we lose sight of her for many years. She may have passed +them in the retirement and obscurity of her rural home in the land of +Goshen. She may have been counted in the train of the princess of Egypt +and shone in the court of Pharaoh. Princes may have flattered her and +nobles sued for her love. She seems never to have married,--yet her +heart may have had its own history of love, perhaps unrequited, +disappointed, or sacrificed at the altar of prudence, of conscience, or, +it may be, ambition. Oh what a tale of suffering and of enjoyment would +the history of one human heart present, if faithfully recorded! + +Years had passed: childhood was gone--youth was fleeing. The brother had +attained a high distinction in the court of Egypt. He had tasted the +pleasures of wisdom and the enjoyments of science and knowledge, while, +as the adopted child of Pharaoh's daughter, he stood before the people, +the prospective heir to the crown. + +Thus, in the prime of life, endowed with the richest gifts of mind and +the attractions of manly beauty, adding the polish of the courtier to +the wisdom of the philosopher--and all the adventitious advantages of +royal birth received by his adoption--there lay before the young Hebrew +a bright vista of prospective glory and honour and earthly happiness. + +But not to sit on the throne of Egypt had Jehovah raised this child of +the chosen people from the death designed by their oppressor. Not to fit +him for the throne of Egypt had he surrounded him with all that was +propitious to intellectual and moral attainments and guided and watched +each step of his course from his infancy. + +Deep and inscrutable must have seemed the designs of Jehovah, as, when +all was brightest, the dark clouds gathered around this favoured son of +the Hebrews, and all the promise and purpose of his saved life seemed +defeated. The hour of trial came--probably, as it generally comes, +suddenly and unexpectedly. It was the hour which was to test his +principles and prove his faith. The hour in which all the allurements of +sense, the gratification of ambition, and (it may have seemed) the +claims of grateful affection, were brought into conflict with the stern +claims of duty and principle, and in this hour he did not fail. He chose +rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the +pleasures of sin for a season. He refused to be called the son of +Pharaoh's daughter. His choice was made. He abjured the throne and left +the court. What disappointment must have fallen upon hearts who had +looked to his exaltation as a pledge of good for his race, and who saw +in his downfall the prolonged dominion of tyranny and persecution! + +Yet Moses was not permitted to remain in peace, although he had sunk +into obscurity. He who was to lead the hosts of Israel through the great +and terrible wilderness--who was to endure toil, labours, and privation, +needed the nerve, the hardihood, the physical training, which could not +be gained in the luxurious courts of the Pharaohs, or in the quiet, and, +doubtless, comfortable and abundant homes of the husbandmen of Goshen. +Amid the enjoyments of home, the pleasures of study, he need not have +regretted the loss of a throne. + +For many years he, who had been trained in luxury and elegance, led the +flocks of Jethro, and knew all the privations and the endurances of the +shepherd in the desert. And while his frame was thus hardened and +invigorated, while he learned to forego pleasure and endure bodily +toil, his soul was nourished by solitary meditation and high communion +with God. The philosopher can find instruction and interest in the works +of creation, but only he who adds the adoration of the worshipper to the +wisdom of the philosopher is prepared to study the works of Jehovah +aright. + +What deep thought, what high imaginings, what profound reverence must +have filled the soul of the Hebrew shepherd as he watched the stars in +the silence and loneliness of the desert. As he sat, a solitary and +banished man, under the shadow of the rocks of the wilderness, how +strange, how incomprehensible must have seemed the events of his past +life. The visions of his youth, the splendour and warlike pomp of the +army or the pageant of courts, must have come over his soul like a +dream. Even to us how strange seems this long sojourn in the +wilderness, this enforced inactivity and apparent uselessness. Yet the +God of Israel was promoting his own designs both among his people and in +the heart of him who was to be their leader--weaning them from their +place of abode, and preparing them for their departure, and fitting +Moses to be their leader, guide, ruler, and lawgiver. Each dispensation +of his providence, each passing occurrence, all the thoughts, the +emotions, the solitary meditations, the reverential communion, the +occasional intercourse with the few dwellers of the desert,--like the +strokes, slight and almost imperceptible in their effect, which the +block receives from the hand of the sculptor,--all were fitting the +apparently exiled Hebrew for his high vocation as a prophet and +legislator. + +And it is often thus. For many years may Jehovah be preparing his +instruments for that event to which he destines them, and which they +may then speedily accomplish. Yet this work in the soul, by which man is +prepared to co-operate with his Maker, is silent, unseen, unmarked, so +that often we may account this time as lost. And man, ignorant of his +future destiny, and of the state to which he is to be called, will ever +find it his true wisdom carefully to fulfil the present duty and to aim +at deriving instruction and benefit from each dispensation of Divine +providence, and from the ordering of each event of his life. + +In the careful provision made for the training of Moses, in the various +instrumentalities used to prepare him for his appointed trust, we are +taught that by no miraculous intervention does God supersede the +necessity of the improvement of the faculties he has bestowed. The more +enlightened the understanding, the more the powers of reason are +cultivated, the more intelligently can man serve his Creator, and the +more entirely does he co-operate in the designs of Infinite Wisdom. God +does not bestow, by direct inspiration, that wisdom or knowledge which +is to be gained by the diligent cultivation of the natural faculties, to +save man the fatigue and labour of the acquirement. Those upon whom he +has most richly bestowed the gifts of spiritual wisdom have been most +careful to cultivate their natural endowments. + +Both Paul and Moses were learned before they were inspired, but God did +not supersede the use of the powers of the mind by the higher gift of +the Spirit. The providential dealings of God are adapted to the laws of +the human mind, and in the government of his creatures he never violates +the principles which he has established. + +The occupation of the shepherd was at length to be abandoned. By +oppression and suffering and ignominious exactions, the children of +Israel were prepared to leave their homes--the land in which they had +dwelt for centuries--and venture across the sea and into the desert. +When we remember that husbandry had been the national occupation, when +we consider how strong is the instinct which binds man to the land of +his birth and the graves of his fathers, and how strong is that bond +which attaches one to the spot he has cultivated, to the land he has +ploughed and sowed and reaped, we cannot wonder at the coercion needful +to rouse a people whose energies were all depressed, and who had been +held in check and kept stationary for ages. + +But the people were ready to depart. The oppression of Pharaoh had +prepared the way for the display of the Divine faithfulness and power. +Jehovah sent his ambassador from the desert to the court of the King of +Egypt, to demand their freedom. During his long exile, most who had +known Moses in his early days, had passed away; and the few that were +left would hardly recognise in the shepherd of the desert, with his +staff for his badge of office--bearing the marks of toil and exposure, +of deep thought and solitary meditation--the young and gallant prince, +the courtier and the warrior of former days. She who had cherished him +had probably been laid in the tomb of her royal race, and the name and +the memory of Moses may have been forgotten in the palace and the court. +Yet there he stood, before the throne which might have been his seat, +the ambassador of the King of kings, bearing the stern message of +Jehovah--"Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the +wilderness." Yet wo after wo was denounced and executed--pledge after +pledge given and violated--and not until one long wail over the dead and +dying resounded through the land were the children of Israel permitted +to leave the land of Egypt. The loss of three millions of subjects, of +their labour, their tribute, and the removal of all their personal +property, would weaken and impoverish the kingdom. Every motive of +policy and pride urged the monarch to resist the demand, and thus he +suffered the penalty due to his contumelious defiance of the God of +Israel, while the judgments inflicted upon him strengthened the faith of +the Israelites. The expulsion of the Moors and of the Jews from Spain, +the banishment of the Huguenots from France, furnish similar though not +parallel cases, in modern ages; and these show that the loss of +peaceful, industrious subjects to a kingdom is like taking the +life-blood from the system. Centuries have passed, yet these nations +have not recovered--and thus Egypt must long have felt her loss. + +After the tribes of Israel had passed through the Red Sea, the sister of +Moses again appears before us. When he poured forth that chant of +triumphant thanksgiving--the oldest song of nations--Miriam gave a +response worthy of the sister of the leader of the hosts encamped before +the Lord. With timbrel she led the daughters of Israel in the dance. And +well might the prophetess of Israel teach the dance of ancient Egypt to +the daughters of her people on this occasion. The representations +preserved in painting and sculpture show that this was not the gay and +voluptuous movement of modern days, but rather a succession of graceful +gestures, regulated by music, expressive of joy and emotion. Thus the +maidens of Israel offered praise and adoration; nor was it unseemly in +the warlike monarch of after ages thus to worship before the ark of the +Lord, although his pious act provoked the ridicule of the daughter of +Baal. + +From this time until the day of her death, Miriam is found co-operating +with her brothers in their designs and efforts. However the earlier +years of her life had passed, she had attained to a high distinction +among her people. While she seems to have neither claimed nor exerted +authority, her rank and position, in her sphere, were as well defined +and as elevated as that of her brothers. Throughout the whole narrative +we find proofs of the high consideration with which she was regarded. + +While in early life her influence as a sister had refined and softened +the rudeness and roughness of their boyhood and youth, and similar +associations with the brothers in mature years had enlarged her mind and +imparted intelligence and strength to her understanding. + +During the long sojourn in the wilderness, Miriam, "the prophetess of +Israel," was probably the counsellor of the mothers and the instructress +of the daughters of her people; while between the sister and the +brothers there ever seems to have subsisted the most tender, +confidential friendship. + +But, alas for imperfect woman! There was a time in which the dark +passions and malignant tempers of our evil nature so triumphed in the +hearts of Miriam and Aaron, that they arrayed themselves against Moses. +The dissension which troubled the camps of their leaders threatened to +spread and involve the multitude of Israel in all the evils of rebellion +and civil war. + +During his exile, Moses had married the daughter of the priest of +Midian. The descendant of Abraham, Jethro was a worshipper of the God of +his fathers, and we have recorded proofs of his piety and wisdom. Yet +the marriage of Moses was not apparently in accordance with the views +either of his brother or sister. There is a selfish tenderness sometimes +exhibited, which leads the dependent mother or single sister to regard +with jealousy one who claims a closer tie, and Miriam may not have been +free from the infirmities of weaker natures. Yet the notices, slight as +they are, of the "Ethiopian" woman, perhaps impress few minds +favourably; and we cannot but feel that in herself she may not have been +all that the friends of the lawgiver of Israel could have wished in a +wife. Bred in the seclusion of the wilderness, she was probably +deficient both in the intelligence and the accomplishments which +distinguished Miriam. And Miriam and Aaron seem at last to have +cherished feelings of bitterness toward their sister-in-law, which were +fast extending to the brother himself. + +They evidently disliked the foreigner. They may have compared the +toil-worn daughter of Midian with the high-bred maidens of Egypt, who in +former days would have welcomed the addresses of one numbered with the +princes of Egypt, or with the daughters of his own people, as offering +an alliance more worthy the ruler of Israel; and Miriam, elevated by the +distinction conferred upon her as the prophetess of Israel, conscious of +superiority in all feminine accomplishments, seems to have forgotten the +love of a sister and to have lost the humility befitting a woman. +Domestic bitterness was fast preparing the way for political +disaffection, and the dark clouds which had gathered around the tents of +the leaders threatened to burst upon the whole camp of Israel. + +Then Jehovah himself interposed. As the principal offender, the +prophetess of Israel was publicly rebuked before all the congregation of +the Lord; and then, as a leper, expelled from the camp, shut out from +all human associations, in shame and solitude, Miriam, diseased and +suffering, lay for seven days. In this time she doubtless humbled +herself and repented of her sin. Yet, during this interval, the vast +multitude showed their respect by remaining stationary; and while Aaron +confessed their sin, Moses interceded for his faulty, erring, but still +be loved sister. + +If the conduct and fault of Miriam are to be censured and deplored, it +is to be confessed that it was not peculiar to the sister of the leaders +of the hosts of the Lord. Women of later ages, conscious of intellectual +superiority, elevated by position, or merely distinguished by +usefulness, have sometimes been proud enough to despise the inferior of +their own sex, and to arrogate to themselves the power allotted to man; +and their awakened pride and vanity have introduced strife and confusion +into the counsels of those who were appointed to guide the people of +God. + +There is meaning in this record of the faults of those whose hearts had +been, from infancy to age, knit together. While God has implanted the +natural and domestic affections, they are still to be guarded, +cherished, and cultivated. The jealousies, the petty strifes of domestic +life, the little dislikes, the unguarded tempers of those who dwell +together, have sometimes alienated hearts that have been united from +childhood. The love that has grown strong by the mutual endurance of +oppression, toil, privation, and danger, has been turned to gall by the +infusion of the constant droppings of domestic strife. Pure, unselfish +love is the spontaneous growth of a holy heart. It must be nurtured and +tended, or it will wither and die in our corrupt nature. + +The afflictions and punishments which harden the hearts of those who +reject God, bring such as love his laws and character to submission and +penitence. Miriam was restored to her former usefulness, probably better +fitted for her high position, while the hearts of the brothers seem +united anew to each other and to her; and the authority of Moses, +vindicated by God, was strengthened by his own forbearing love and +disinterested gentleness. And from thenceforth, while a due subjection +was observed, there seems to have been an entire co-operation between +them. + +Miriam died in the wilderness of Zin, and the brothers buried her. There +is a peculiar sadness in this separation, occurring, as it evidently +did, not long before the close of their various pilgrimages. + +As we follow the inspired narrative, we are naturally impressed by the +care with which Jehovah selects and prepares those whom He intends as +the instruments of advancing the welfare of his people and his own +glory; and while this may be more clearly traced in the case of the +highly distinguished legislator and prophet of Israel, we may be +assured that it extends not less certainly to the lowest and the +humblest. + +The influences by which the lawgiver of Israel was so early surrounded, +we are willing to accept as a divine attestation to the power and value +of female culture in the formation of the character. + +Three women are brought distinctly before us, as connected with the +early history of Moses. The mother's high duty and privilege it was (as +it ever is) to instil into his opening mind those great truths and first +principles which are at the foundation of all excellence. Had the nurse +of Moses been an Egyptian idolatress, the character of the man had +doubtless been very different. While Moses owed all his worldly +advancement to the princess of Egypt, he derived other advantages from +being brought under the familiar influence of one who preserved, amid +the corruptions of a court, the best sympathies of our nature. A +knowledge of human character and a power of adaptation to all the +circumstances of his eventful life were thus imparted, and which could +be hardly elsewhere acquired, yet they were very needful to one who was +to fill the office allotted to him. + +God has graciously ordered that while the parents and guardians are to +pass away, there are early ties which are enduring. Where families are +properly regulated, added years strengthen the bonds of natural +affection. Through all the vicissitudes of his life, the brother and +sister of Moses clung to him. We first see Miriam watching the +cradle-ark in which the infant was concealed, and she never appears +except some event in his career brings her into view. Yet, through their +long lives she was his companion and helper, participating in his +labours, soothing his sorrows, and aiding and encouraging him in his +work. She is a type of a large class--we mean the daughters and the +sisters who are not wives. Her life shows that a woman may be +honourable, useful, distinguished, and happy, and yet remain +single--that the holy duties of the wife and the mother are not the only +duties. How many homes would be comparatively unblessed but for the +presence of a dutiful daughter or a loving sister! How largely our own +age is indebted to women as teachers; women, who, like the prophetess of +Israel, while assisting their brothers to proclaim the oracles of God, +devote themselves to the instruction of their own sex, and bless men by +instructing women! + +[Illustration] + + + + +DEBORAH--THE INFLUENCE OF WOMAN. + + +The book of Judges gives a concise view of the people of Israel for a +period of four hundred years, extending from the death of Joshua to the +birth of Samuel. + +It is peculiarly interesting as showing how God deals with the nations +of the earth in visiting national sins with national punishments. It has +ever been the painful office of the historian to record the crimes and +misfortunes of mankind, and to present the outbreaks of society rather +than to note its gradual advance and improvement, or to dwell upon the +periods of peaceful prosperity. Like the records of a court of justice, +it presents the criminals and the offences and those implicated, while +the thousands of peaceful citizens are never brought to view. The flow +of human life is, like that of a mighty river, unmarked during its mild +course; but when it bursts its bounds and overflows its channel and +spreads a wide destruction, it is watched with interest and its +desolating ravages are all recorded. + +Of the many women who have attained honour and celebrity amidst the +intrigues of courts and cabinets and the revolutions of empires, few +have retained the purity and the peculiar virtues of their sex. Deborah +seems to have united the sagacity and courage of man to the modest +virtues of woman. She appears before us affecting no pomp, assuming no +state. The wife of Lapidoth--one known only as the husband of Deborah, +but thus known never to be forgotten--she abode with her husband in +their own dwelling, under that palm-tree distinguished, when Samuel +wrote this book, as "the palm of Deborah," between Ramah, where Rachel +died, and Bethel, where Jacob worshipped. "And all the children of +Israel came up to her there for judgment." + +The people of Israel had departed from God and from the laws of Moses, +and for twenty years they had been mightily oppressed by Jabin. During +this long period no priest called the people to repentance, no prophet +was commissioned to promise them relief. + +We may imagine Deborah dwelling among her people, a devout, +strong-minded, enlightened woman. She saw their sins, she participated +in their trials, and she warned those around her of the evil of +departing from Jehovah. She recalled His past acts of judgment and of +mercy. She was well acquainted with the laws of Moses, and she +recognised in the punishment of the people the fulfilment of prophecy. + +The influence of such a woman--a woman instructed in the religion of +Jehovah--a woman of faith and of prayer--would be felt, first, in her +own family, or in her immediate circle of friends; and then would +commence the reformation and the repentance and putting away of past +sins and the return to the God of Israel. And as the influence spread, +the circle extending, the whole nation would seem to have been affected, +and they naturally resorted to one whose wisdom and piety were so well +established, when any questions of their law, either civil or religious, +were to be settled. Thus the children of Israel came up to her for +judgment. They came to her--for her feet abode within her own dwelling. +Her influence extended throughout all the borders of her land, but her +presence still blest her own house. The prophetess of Israel was still +the wife of Lapidoth, and her only authority was that of piety, wisdom +and love. A more beautiful instance of a woman's true, legitimate +influence cannot be given. Quietly, unostentatiously exercised, it +penetrated through the nation and brought them back to Jehovah, and +prepared the way for the removal of their yoke. + +For many years she was doubtless employed in reclaiming and instructing +her people. Through this influence the children of Israel were prepared +to assert their liberty; and then Deborah was inspired to call upon +"Barak the son of Abinoam," to gather an army, and take his station on +Mount Tabor, where the Lord would deliver the enemies of Israel into his +hands. She did not propose to attend--certainly not to lead--the army; +but, giving her message, her counsel and her prayers, would still abide +under the palm-tree and remain with her husband. But the appointed +general knew so well the value of her presence in inspiring the people +with confidence, and felt so much the need of her prayers, that he +refused to go unless she sanctioned the expedition with her attendance. +"And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, I will go; but if +thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go." + +Thus appealed to, the answer was immediate: "I will surely go with thee; +notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine +honour, for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." + +Mount Tabor, chosen for the encamping-place of the army of Barak, still +rises like a tall cone in the vast plain of Esdraelon, which, stretching +across the land to the sea, has since been the battle-ground of nations. +From the wide plain on its lofty summit, Deborah and Barak could look +over almost all the land. The view of the hills of Judea, of the sea of +Tiberias, and of a country of wide extent, still repays the toil of +those who climb to its summit. + +But since the days of Deborah and of Barak, Tabor is generally supposed +to have witnessed another scene. The Man of grief, who bore our sins and +took upon himself our sorrows, climbed its steep ascent with his +favoured disciples--And Moses and Elias appeared unto him there, and +there "they talked with him." Of what? Not of the battle of Deborah and +Barak with Sisera--although they stood where the leaders of Israel had +watched the hosts of their enemies encompassing them. It was a converse +of high things, not meet for us to know. And there he was transfigured +before his wondering disciples, and his "raiment became exceeding white +as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them." And there was a cloud +that overshadowed them, and a voice out of the cloud, This is my beloved +Son--hear him. Alas! the Divine command has been ill obeyed. Tabor yet +retains the remains of a fortress and preserves the marks of warfare; +but no trace of the meeting there of the great lawgiver and reformer of +Israel with Him who came both to fulfil and to abolish. No temples have +yet been there erected to Him whose mission was far above all who were +sent either to announce or prepare for his forthcoming. + +From Mount Tabor the leaders and hosts of Israel watched their enemies +gathering from afar and encompassing them. With the chariots of iron, so +much dreaded by the Israelites, came the archers, and the spearmen, and +the multitude that were with them--all assembled to surround and to +destroy the allies of Barak. + +But when Deborah gave the signal, "Up! for this is the day in the which +the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hands: is not the Lord gone +out before thee?" Barak went from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men. The +victory was complete--"Jehovah triumphed, His people were free." The +hosts of the enemy were vanquished. The river Kishon, that ancient +river, swept them away. And the victory was celebrated by a song of most +triumphant, yet grateful exultation, in a strain of the loftiest, purest +poetry, such as the prophets and psalmists of Israel alone could pour +forth:-- + + Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, + When the people willingly offered themselves. + Hear, O ye kings! + Give ear, O ye princes! + I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; + I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel. + LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, + When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, + The earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, + The clouds also dropped water. + The mountains melted from before the LORD, + Even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel. + In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, + In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, + And the travellers walked through byways. + The inhabitants of the villages ceased, + They ceased in Israel, + Until that I Deborah arose, + That I arose a mother in Israel. + They chose new gods; + Then was war in the gates: + Was there a shield or spear seen + Among forty thousand in Israel? + My heart is toward the governors of Israel, + That offered themselves willingly among the people. + Bless ye the LORD! + Speak, + Ye that ride on white asses, + Ye that sit in judgment, + And walk by the way! + They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the place of + drawing water, + There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, + Even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in + Israel: + Then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates. + Awake, awake, Deborah! + Awake, awake, utter a song! + Arise, Barak! + And lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. + Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the + people: + The LORD made me have dominion over the mighty. + Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; + After thee, Benjamin, among thy people; + Out of Machir came down governors, + And out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer. + And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; + Even Issachar, and also Barak: + He was sent on foot into the valley. + For the divisions of Reuben + There were great thoughts of heart. + Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, + To hear the bleatings of the flocks? + For the divisions of Reuben + There were great searchings of heart. + Gilead abode beyond Jordan: + And why did Dan remain in ships? + Asher continued on the sea shore, + And abode in his breaches. + Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives + Unto the death in the high places of the field. + The kings came and fought, + Then fought the kings of Canaan + In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; + They took no gain of money. + They fought from heaven; + The stars in their courses fought against Sisera. + The river Kishon swept them away, + That ancient river, the river Kishon. + O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. + Then were the horsehoofs broken + By the means of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones. + Curse ye Meroz! said the angel of the LORD, + Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; + Because they came not to the help of the LORD, + To the help of the LORD against the mighty. + Blessed above women + Shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, + Blessed shall she be above women in the tent! + He asked water, and she gave him milk; + She brought forth butter in a lordly dish. + She put her hand to the nail, + And her right hand to the workmen's hammer; + And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, + When she had pierced and stricken through his temples. + At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: + At her feet he bowed, he fell: + Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. + The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, + And cried through the lattice, + Why is his chariot so long in coming? + Why tarry the wheels of his chariots? + Her wise ladies answered her, + Yea, she returned answer to herself, + Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; + To every man a damsel or two; + To Sisera a prey of divers colors, + A prey of divers colors of needlework on both sides, + Meet for the necks of them that take the spoil? + So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD! + But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his + might. + +One such strain preserved from any other ancient nation would establish +their claims to the highest order of poetic genius, and lead to the most +industrious and painful research for all that could throw light upon +their literature. It comes over the soul now like the full burst of +martial music. It stirs the blood and quickens the pulses with its +strain of triumph, while it melts us to pity, as it brings before us so +graphically, with such exquisite power--yet such slight allusion--the +distress and desolation of Israel. It is a finished picture of the age. +We see the judges, those that ride on white asses (still reserved for +royal stables) that walk by the way; while it gives us a full character +of Sisera and the mother who trained him. We see the mother--haughty, +proud, avaricious, surrounded by "her wise ladies," who are flatterers +rather than counsellors--ready to exult in the rapine and plunder of the +army of her son; her natural fears awakened by his delayed return, yet +hushed and soothed by the enumeration of the spoil. No feeling of pity +softening the love of vengeance,--the desire for the plunder of a +conquered people engrossing all. + +And in Sisera we see the proud, cruel, licentious spoiler--all the +powers of his evil nature called into exercise by success and the long +indulgence of every evil passion and gross appetite--arrogant, +oppressive and cruel in success; abject, cowardly and overreaching in +adversity. We can well imagine the state of an oppressed people ruled by +such a man at the head of a licentious soldiery. And harsh as may seem +some of the expressions of Deborah, in her joyous outbursts of praise +and thanksgiving, they arise from the ineffable miseries, the deep +degradation, the oppressive cruelties, to which all the daughters of +Israel would have been exposed had he been triumphant; and a mother in +Israel might well exult in a deliverance from one whose desolating track +was marked by lust and carnage. + +We do not love to dwell on the treachery of Jael--we do not feel called +upon to justify the act, although Deborah might well rejoice in the +deliverance of her people from so stern a foe, so foul an oppression. +Sisera appears as abject in the hour of defeat as he had been insolent +and arrogant and cruel in the hour of triumph. + +After Israel was restored to liberty we hear no more of Deborah; but +"the land had rest forty years." She again returns to her own sphere, to +the unostentatious, yet all-pervading usefulness of domestic life. No +honours, no triumphs, no statues were awarded to her. No monuments seem +to have been erected to her memory. The palm-tree was her fitting +memorial; delighting the eye, affording shade, shelter and nourishment; +asking and securing nought from man, watered by the dew and rain of +heaven, and rejoicing in the beams of the sun--still pointing to heaven +while sheltering those beneath it. + +Jehovah seems to permit such examples to stimulate woman to usefulness +and to vindicate their capacity; and thus there ever have been and are +still Deborahs--mothers in Israel--those who, dwelling under their own +roof, in the seclusion of domestic life, yet send forth an influence +which extends far and wide. + +The sound, rational piety of such women, and their lives of humble +faith, of prayer, and of consistent usefulness, have often awakened a +high tone of religious feeling and led to extensive revivals of pure +religion. + +Without departing from their allotted sphere, without forgetting the +delicacy and proprieties demanded from their sex, they have been greatly +instrumental in elevating the moral and religious standard of a +community by their faithfulness in reproving the erring and reclaiming +the backsliding, while by their kindly sympathy and effectual +co-operation, they have aided, encouraged, and, by their prudent, +judicious counsel, guided--the appointed leaders of Israel. + +[Illustration] + + + + +JEZEBEL. + + +[Illustration] + +Although the family of Jeroboam were soon swept from the throne of +Israel, yet those who succeeded still pursued the policy by which he had +been governed; and through all the contention and bloodshed which marked +the reigns of different dynasties, they all persisted in the idolatry +established by him. "They all did evil in the sight of the Lord, and +walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin, wherewith he made Israel +to sin." But of Ahab, the son of Omri, it is written that "he did more +to provoke the God of Israel than all that were before him." He pursued +the path which had been marked out by his predecessors when he married, +and he found in his wife an efficient aid. By the strength of her mind, +by the energy of her character, by the introduction of an idolatry at +once more corrupt and more ensnaring, she did more to complete and seal +the apostasy of Israel than all who had gone before her. + +The name of Jezebel has descended to us as one of the most opprobrious +epithets which can be applied to a woman. Little did the haughty queen +who bore it imagine what a reproach and offence it was to become for +future ages, in unknown lands, and among unborn nations. + +We think of her always as old, withered, thirsting for blood, and +incapable of the finer sentiments and all the softer emotions of human +kind. There was a time in which she shone as the centre of a splendid +and luxurious court, where minstrels sang to her and poets praised her +and princes flattered her, while statesmen confessed her influence and +cabinets adopted her plans. Fascinating, artful, able, ambitious, and +unprincipled, she may be regarded as chief among many of the most +celebrated of this class of her sex of ancient or modern days. + +There have been queens, not of heathen lands and barbarous Asia, but of +refined and christianized Europe, upon whose memories rest quite as dark +shadows as those which cover the character of the Queen of Israel. It is +sad to remember how many of the most atrocious acts which disgrace the +annals of our race are to be traced to the influence of female ambition, +jealousy, hate, or revenge. Larger possessions than that of the vineyard +of Naboth have been obtained by perjury and blood; and few modern courts +could consistently condemn the principles or the policy by which the +monarchs of Israel attempted to consolidate and perpetuate their +dominion. In the estimation of many statesmen and many historians, +greatness has sanctified all the means by which power is either to be +attained or preserved, and the splendour of the court has fully atoned +for all the oppression of the people. + +While she was fitted to co-operate with her husband, and ready to +promote his designs and to embrace the policy which had guided the court +of Israel, she soon assumed and ever maintained that influence which the +stronger mind, the more powerful will, ever exerts over the inferior and +weaker. Through all his reign, Ahab ever deferred to her; and while she +goaded him onward in his career of crime, she stimulated and upheld him +by her daring defiance of the commands and threatenings of the prophets +of the Lord. She possessed all the energy, power, and constancy which +ever belongs to minds of a high order, and which fit them for greatness +in virtue or crime--insuring widespread usefulness or leading to +desperate wickedness. She never was turned from her course. She never +faltered, trembled, or hesitated in the pursuit of her object. She +witnessed, unawed and unmoved, miracles of judgment and of mercy. She +saw unpitying a land consumed by drought and a people perishing by +famine; and when the parched earth drank the showers of heaven, while +she rejoiced, she was neither softened nor made penitent by the +blessing. + +Ahab could not entirely divest himself of every national characteristic, +or the remembrances and associations of his faith and his people. There +still clung to him some remains of the fear of the "Lord God of his +fathers," some feelings of reverence and awe for the name and worship +of Jehovah. No such compunctions troubled Jezebel. When Elijah visited +Ahab, the impious monarch quailed before him and trembled at the +denunciation of Divine wrath. Jezebel answered his reproofs by scorn and +threats, and her menaces drove the prophet from the altar where he had +triumphed. + +Yet her history is replete with sad interest. While it declares the +certain ruin which follows national sins and national corruption, it +displays also much of the wonderful forbearance of Jehovah. As we +retrace his dealings even with the guilty house of Ahab and the apostate +people of Israel, we are reminded of _One_ who, ages after, wept over +Jerusalem. "Oh, if thou hadst known, in this thy day, the things which +belong to thy peace--but now they are hidden from thine eyes." + +During the earlier years of the reign of Ahab, while Jezebel was engaged +with all zeal and activity in proselyting the people of Israel to the +worship of Ashtaroth and Baal, she was constantly resisted by the +prophets sent as messengers from Jehovah. And many miracles of mercy and +of judgment, wrought before her by the power of the Lord God of Israel, +should have convinced her of the truth of His messengers--His +indisputable claim to be the God--the Lord God. She resisted all--not +from the want of evidence or the power of believing, but from the +perverseness of a determined will and a hardened heart. Yet he who +styles himself a God merciful and gracious, long strove with her, though +at last she provoked him to depart and leave her to her chosen way. + +The seizure of the vineyard of Naboth seems to have consummated the +iniquity of Jezebel, while it brought all the distinguishing traits of +her character into full light. + +Judah was a land of rocky hills and narrow though fertile valleys. The +possessions of Israel were broader and more luxuriant; and in the +beautiful plain of Jezreel the kings of Israel had built their favourite +city of Samaria. In that city, Ahab erected the temple consecrated to +Baal, and there he maintained four hundred and fifty priests for his +service, while the Queen of Israel kept four hundred in the groves +consecrated to Ashtaroth. "But the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite was +hard by the palace of Ahab, King of Samaria." + +The King of Israel desired the vineyard of Naboth, either to enlarge his +grounds or to add to their beauty and variety. Yet, despotic and +unprincipled as he was, the laws of possession were so fixed, the rights +of property so established, that, on the refusal of Naboth to sell his +inheritance, he dared not use violence; and he sank into sullen +despondency. + +It has ever been characteristic of wives like Jezebel to maintain their +ascendency by arts and blandishments, and by ministering to every +corrupt propensity of their husbands. With the watchfulness of a devoted +wife, she saw the vexation of her husband. + +"Why is thy countenance so sad?" + +"And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and +said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please +thee, I will give thee another vineyard for that." + +Naboth had said, God forbid that I should give the inheritance of my +fathers unto thee. + +The faithful Israelite may have recoiled from the thought of its passing +into the hands of the unholy worshippers of Baal and Ashtaroth and being +polluted by their orgies. But Ahab did not give the denial in its full +force. He represents Naboth as simply refusing. "I will not give thee my +vineyard." + +We seem to see the actors before us, in the spirited, yet simple +narration, as it proceeds. Ahab, heavy, sullen, morose--with clouded +brow and furrowed cheek. Jezebel, with her flashing eye, her queenly +gait, her haughty aspect, and all the workings of pride and craft and +ambition expressed in her faded but still striking features. With what +utter contempt would she look upon the husband who sank into despondency +because he had not the skill to devise, or the will to perpetrate, the +iniquity which would insure the attainment of his desires! + +"Dost thou govern Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be +merry. _I_ will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." + +And a darker plot, or one more artfully devised, has seldom been +unravelled among all the iniquitous intrigues of courts and statesmen. +Naboth was doubtless a true worshipper; and for once Jezebel professed +all honour to the laws of Jehovah. He was arraigned and tried by the +laws of Moses--long trampled upon and disused. And all the solemnities +of religion were resorted to, to aid her plans and advance her purpose. + +Falsely arraigned, accused, and condemned, Naboth was executed, and his +sons perished with him. The hands of his brethren were imbrued in their +blood. She who managed the plot found other agents to execute her +designs. With impious hypocrisy, she insulted heaven by ordaining a +solemn fast, for God and the king had been blasphemed. These +transactions display the deep depravity of the Queen of Israel, while +they show the influence of her character and example upon her people. +The very ministers of justice were made the abettors of her guilt; and +law, with all its formalities and solemnities, was made to sanction +crime. How many sins were committed to gratify one idle, covetous +desire! God was insulted and defied and blasphemed; justice was +corrupted; and falsehood, perjury, and murder were all used to +accomplish the wicked will of Jezebel. And how many victims have been +thus arraigned, and perished thus, in later days! This deed awoke the +vengeance of Jehovah. Even as Ahab took possession of his blood-stained +field, the prophet of the Lord met him and denounced the doom of the +perpetrators of the dark crime. All were to perish, and all were to die +deaths of blood and shame. Husband, wife, parents, and children--all, to +the latest generation, were to be cut off--to be rooted out of the earth +as an abominable stock, and to rot in the sight of the heavens. Ahab +humbled himself, as he received the message of the prophet, and showed +an outward reverence: and his doom was so far softened that the +destruction of the family was not immediate: but Jezebel seems still as +bold and unmoved as ever. Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, entered into +alliance with Ahab, and visited his court to witness the splendour and +share the hospitalities of Jezebel; and while both were warring against +Syria, Ahab was slain in battle. + +Jezebel doubtless would have scouted the folly of those who saw the +fulfilment of both prophecy and sentence in the dogs licking the blood +from the chariot and the armour, as they were washed in the pool, which +probably was on the lands of Naboth; yet she might have foreseen thus +her certain fate--and as Ahab had died, so she should die. Her doom was +yet deferred. She long survived her husband, and prosperity and such +honours as attend the prosperous were her's. She was the daughter, wife, +and the mother of kings. Her sons ruled Israel. Her daughter sat on the +throne of Judah. She dwelt in royal state at Jezreel, and enjoyed +possessions which had been obtained by revolting crimes. Ahab had died a +bloody death. Jehoshaphat was gathered to his fathers; the King of Syria +perished by the hands of his servant; and Elijah was taken up to +heaven--but Jezebel still lived. + +What were the occupations of her old age? Was she still busy, restless, +and intriguing? Or did the past haunt her with dark remembrances of +shame and crime, and the avenging future cast its shadow over her soul? +Did the stern decree of the prophet ring in her ears, and late remorse +drive her to the dark cruelties of her bloody idolatry, in the idle hope +of expiation? Such an old age could not have been happy. She was left to +fill up the measure of her iniquity, while memory told of past sins, and +conscience whispered of the coming retribution, and the avenging justice +of heaven hung like a dark cloud over her guilty house. Past the season +of pleasure, deprived of the power she had so abused, without the honour +and sacred reverence due to virtuous age, she may have had a foretaste +of her future retribution, though surrounded by all the splendour of +royalty, with trembling and abject slaves ministering to all her wants. + +One son after another quietly took possession of the throne of Israel, +and Jezebel may have derided the prophecy of Elijah; yet the sentence, +long delayed, was fully executed. The hour of foretold vengeance +arrived. In one day, the King of Israel was dethroned and murdered, and +the race of Ahab was swept from the face of the earth. The last act of +her life was worthy of Jezebel herself,--of the Queen of Israel in the +days of her prime. She heard of the death of Jehoram and of the +insurrection of Jehu. Neither the timidity of a woman nor the yearnings +of a mother had a place in her soul. In the hour of carnage, surrounded +by all the horrors of death, the pride of her nature prevailed, and all +the daring of her character was displayed. She forgot neither the +proprieties due to her rank nor the embellishments needful for her +person. With the vanity of the woman and the pride of a queen, "she +painted her face and tired her head," and then haughtily presenting +herself before the murderer of her children, she uttered a maddening +taunt and defiance. By the hands of her servants she was cast from the +windows of the palace of Israel into the very grounds which had been the +vineyard of Naboth; and as she was dashed to the earth, the wheels of +the chariot of the destroyer of her race passed over her, and the feet +of the horses trampled upon her. "And the dogs ate Jezebel by the walls +of Jezreel." Thus her doom was accomplished! + +[Illustration] + +There have been many like her. Her crimes have been sometimes equalled +in atrocity. Her ruling passions were pride and ambition; and she +doubtless clung to the idols of her land from the unbounded license +their worship gave to sensuality, and the opportunities it afforded, in +its feasts and festivals, for display and gayety. + +But she clung more tenaciously to her idolatry from motives of +self-interest and national aggrandizement. It was the test of loyalty +for Israel. It was in perfect consistency with such a character to turn +away from all evidence and to reject what she did not wish to believe. +In the expressive language of the Bible, she "hardened her heart;" and +doubtless, like skeptics of later days, she could ascribe what she could +not disprove to the working of natural causes, or to the arts of +priestcraft. + +We can all stifle the convictions of conscience and contemn the +principles which conflict with our interest or our inclination; and +there are in every station unconscious imitators of the Queen of Israel. + +[Illustration] + + + + +ATHALIAH. + + +[Illustration] + +The pious king of Judah not only formed a political alliance with +Israel, but he even permitted, and probably encouraged, his son, and the +heir to his throne, to marry the daughter of the impious Ahab and the +idolatrous Jezebel. Jehoshaphat saw not the Queen of Israel as we see +her--as unlovely as she was unholy. Dazzled by the splendour of her +court, won by her grace and queenly bearing, he may have overlooked her +crimes. The most unprincipled have sometimes carefully and successfully +cultivated much that gives grace and attraction to social life. Some, +whose hearts have been utterly selfish and callous, and whose lives have +been one dark record of crime and cruelty, have yet shone as the centres +of splendid circles, diffusing all around them pleasure and gayety. And +men, themselves unstained, have been won by these fascinations to a +close association with those whose principles were worthy only of +reprobation, and whose association should have been shunned as in the +last degree contaminating. + +The intimacies between those who love and worship God and those who +reject him are ever full of danger. And while the courtiers of Ahab and +the flatterers of Jehoshaphat may have applauded the liberal policy of +the King of Judah, and his freedom from the bigotry of the prophets who +would reform Israel, he was pursuing a course which was to involve his +family in calamity and bring corruption into his kingdom. Jerusalem and +Samaria were not very remote from each other, and the kings of Israel +and Judah seem at this period to have maintained frequent personal +intercourse: an intercourse which appears not to have elevated the moral +character of Israel, while it surely led to the deterioration of the +piety of Judah; for when godly persons mingle freely with the +impious,--especially if this intercourse originates from mere motives of +ambition or worldly expediency,--the former will be much more ready to +sink to the level of the worldling than to raise the worldling to their +own. + +The influence of this association with the depraved court of Israel +doubtless had its effect upon the heart of Jehoshaphat. He was not drawn +into idolatry, but he probably was less zealous in the service of +Jehovah and in the vindication of his ways. He may have rather +sympathized with the monarchs of Israel in their attempts to establish +their own faith and maintain their own authority, than with the +persecuted people of Israel in their efforts to preserve the worship of +their fathers. While he regretted the idolatry of Jezebel, he may have +censured what would be called the uncourtly intolerance or the bigoted +zeal of the prophets, who uttered such denunciations and threatenings +against the reigning family. Perhaps he pointed out to the few faithful +Israelites whom he might meet in the train of Ahab or at the court of +Israel the propriety of a more gentle mode or a more conciliating +policy. As the friend of Ahab, he betrayed the cause of God, and upheld +his iniquities. In all the persecutions they sustained, we do not find +that the prophets of the Lord ever sought a refuge among their brethren +of Judah. Hardly could they have expected shelter and protection from +the king who was allying his own family with the house of Ahab. They +found shelter among the heathen; they were nourished by miracles; they +were hid in the coverts of the rocks, and were fed by ravens, while +Jehoshaphat and his court were rejoicing in the alliance of Jehoram with +Athaliah--the royal son of Judah with the royal daughter of Israel; and +the worshippers of Jehovah and the devotees of Ashtaroth and Baal were +mingled in their train. + +There might have been heavy forebodings and low, suppressed murmurs +among those who remembered the statutes of the Lord, and who recalled +his dealings with his people; but the multitude could rejoice in the +splendour and the festivities of the occasion; the court could exult in +the pomp and display; and wise politicians could talk of the benefits to +the two countries of speaking one language, springing from a common +origin, and preserving their own national integrity, and yet presenting +one united front to the common enemy. And Jehoshaphat may have hailed +this marriage as the master-stroke of his policy, while +religiously-disposed courtiers whispered that a scion of Israel, +transplanted to Judah and nurtured by Jehoshaphat, under the influences +of Zion, must indeed prove a plant of righteousness in this garden of +the Lord. + +Did Jezebel fear this? Did this strong-minded, politic, crafty woman +feel that her daughter was placed under influences which might draw her +from the idols of her mother, and make her recreant to the policy of her +father's house? + +Jezebel was too strong in the consciousness of her own power, to fear +that her children would oppose her wishes or her plans. All experience +proves that the wife exerts a powerful influence upon the character of +her husband. Even where she has apparently little mental strength, she +may possess great moral power, for evil or for good. This influence +pervades her family, and is felt even while it is despised and +disavowed. When holy and pure, it is as reviving, strengthening, +invigorating as the pure breath of the morning. When it has its source +in a selfish, polluted heart, it comes like the midnight miasma or the +blast of the desert, prostrating and destroying all over which it +passes. + +The character of the mother often determines the course and the destiny +of her children. She imprints her own moral lineaments upon her +offspring. She moulds their habits and she transfuses into them the +feelings, motives, and principles which actuate herself. The influence +of the mother is often so perpetuated in her daughters that the +individual seems multiplied as she is faithfully reflected by them. +Where the mental and moral characteristics are marked, they are almost +sure to descend; and the character of Jezebel was one to leave its +impress. + +Thus we find Athaliah worthy of the stock from which she sprang. She was +the true, as she seems to be the only daughter of Jezebel. Though early +allied to Jehoshaphat and removed into the kingdom of Judah, she +retained all the idolatrous prepossessions of her father's house, and +she exhibited all the traits which marked her race. She possessed the +qualities which had been so prominently displayed by the course and life +of Jezebel. The same desperate will, the same determined energy, the +same daring courage and dauntless resolution, and the same proud +ambition; and she was even more devoid than her mother of all the kinder +feelings, affections, and sympathies. + +Jezebel had resolutely crushed all those affections and sympathies of +her nature which would be likely to check her progress in her career of +crime and power. She had trampled upon all that would obstruct her in +the attainment of her object. Yet some of the feelings of the woman, the +tenderness of the wife, the fondness of the mother, still seem to linger +in her proud heart. Unprincipled as she was, she did not abandon herself +to utter selfishness. In her most atrocious acts she seems to have had +some regard to the aggrandizement of her family and to the gratification +of her husband. The daughter was more depraved than her mother. Athaliah +was utterly selfish, devoid even of the instinct of natural affection. A +character more revolting is not presented to us in the pages of the +historian, sacred or profane. + +A woman rioting in blood that she might gratify her ambition! A mother +destroying her offspring that she might possess their inheritance! +Jezebel was a depraved woman, but Athaliah was a monster--a woman +destitute of all the feelings of humanity, working all evil, and only +evil, from the mere love of self. With selfish desires which absorbed +all consideration, and in their intensity prompted to unnatural crimes, +having no object in view beyond her personal gratification or +aggrandizement, there was not even the extenuation to be offered for +Athaliah which could be urged for Jezebel; for the policy of Judea was +opposed to idolatry, and in the family of Jehoshaphat she was surrounded +by influences most favourable to a virtuous course, and influences which +had never rested upon her mother. Under the very shadow of the Temple +she perpetrated her most flagrant crimes. + +Although the depravity of Jezebel led her to adopt a corrupt religion, +to reject a pure and holy worship, and to cling to the dark and cruel +rites of heathenism, the voice of conscience was not silenced, the light +of the soul was not entirely extinguished. She felt the need of some +faith--she clung to the altars of her gods. But Athaliah seems to have +sunk into the brutishness of those who own "no God." She seems to have +trampled upon all faith, as she violated all obligation--insensible +alike to the calls of conscience and the aspirations of devotion. She +had no womanly sympathies. She had high mental endowments--she had a +powerful will and strong passions--but she had no affections. There have +been many Jezebels--but few Athaliahs. The affections compose so large a +part of a woman's nature that we disown one who is without them. In her +deepest guilt, in her lowest debasement, they still cling to her; and +raised to the summit of power, they do not often wholly desert her. + +The princess of Israel must have been married at an early age, and she +was long restrained by the character of Jehoshaphat from the public +display of her wishes and inclinations. While he lived, Judah still +retained the outward show of reverence for the God of Israel, and +doubtless Athaliah often led her train to the temple of Jehovah; yet the +infection of the character and principles of the daughter of Ahab was at +work. A poisonous leaven spread through the royal family. The younger +princes of Judah were contaminated; and when Jehoshaphat died, this +influence of Athaliah was first manifest in the character of Jehoram. It +is written of him that "he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, +after the house of Ahab, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife, and he +did evil in the sight of the Lord." + +He commenced his reign by the murder of his brethren, the sons of his +father. Jehoshaphat had provided for all his sons, giving them wealth +and appointing them to offices of trust, while he left the kingdom to +Jehoram. And without pretext or apology, Jehoram put them all to death; +and their families were involved, as we may well believe, in their ruin. +They were probably proclaimed outlaws, and then murdered wherever found, +perhaps while dwelling in perfect security and in profound peace; and +with them fell many of the other princes of Judah not so nearly +connected with the royal family. The very commencement of his reign, the +occasion of so much joyful festivity to the court, was thus marked by +crimes which brought utter desolation to the families and terror to the +hearts of the people of his kingdom; and we may well presume that the +woman who afterwards proved herself so reckless and heaven-defying, +prompted to this first crime. She who was herself so ready to commit +deeds of blood would be quick to instigate others. + +The whole reign of Jehoram was impious and disgraceful. He erected +altars on all the hills of Judea, to draw his people into the worship of +Baal and Ashtaroth; while he compelled the inhabitants of Jerusalem to +join in the corrupt festivals and the abominable rites of this Syrian +goddess. + +Elijah, the prophet of Israel, was commissioned to reprove Jehoram, and +to denounce the impending doom of his house. He was not ordered to +present himself at the court of the King of Judah, but to write his +message. "There came a writing to Jehoram;" and probably the King of +Judah scoffed at the warning, and perhaps referred him to the unexecuted +judgments denounced upon the house of Ahab, and to the present +prosperity of the family, and the continued stability of the kingdom, as +a proof of the fanatical delusion of the pretended prophets of the Lord. +Yet the doom of the guilty Jehoram was accomplished even before the +woes denounced upon Jezebel were fulfilled. Tributary kingdoms revolted, +and in vain he sought to bring them back to obedience. The Philistines +and the Arabians made an incursion into Judah, and carried away all his +wealth, while they took his family captive; and Jehoram, smitten by a +most loathsome and painful disease, died. He was buried without the +usual honours paid to royalty. His memory and his person were alike +offensive. + +Upon the accession of Ahaziah, the next king, the influence of Athaliah +is soon recognised. He was the youngest and the only son not carried +into captivity. It is said that "his mother's name was Athaliah, the +daughter of Omri. He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab, for +his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly,"--as wife and mother, +alike unholy. "Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the +house of Ahab, for they were his counsellors, after the death of his +father, to his destruction." + +The second son of Ahab had succeeded to the kingdom of Israel, and +Jezebel was surrounded by all the splendours of royalty. Peace and +prosperity still attended her family. The death of Naboth and his sons, +and the denunciations of the prophet, were probably forgotten, or +remembered only to be despised. The royal houses, so closely allied, +maintained a familiar intercourse, and the King of Judah was on a visit +of sympathy to the King of Israel, who was sick and wounded, when the +rebellion of Jehu broke out. It came upon the house of Ahab like a +hurricane: in the midst of security and of apparently profound peace, +the storm swept over and destroyed them. + +While the kings were in the palace of Israel, the rapid approach of a +messenger awoke the curiosity rather than the apprehension of the King +of Israel. With the rashness of a doomed man, he rushed upon his own +destruction. As the messengers, whom he had sent to meet the approaching +foes, returned not, the two kings hastened to meet the advancing troop. +And they met Jehu by the vineyard of Naboth, and there the King of +Israel was slain, while the King of Judah fled, mortally wounded, to +Megiddo, where he died. All that belonged to the house of Ahab in Israel +perished in this hour of vengeance and righteous retribution. Jehu +murdered those of the descendants of Jehoram who fell in his way; and +Athaliah hastened to complete the fulfilment of the prophetic doom of +her house by herself instigating the murder of all who remained of the +royal family of Judah, although they were her own descendants! In her +ruthless ambition she destroyed her grandchildren, that she might +herself ascend the throne of Judah. She seems to have exulted in the +blood and carnage which opened her way to royal power. Unmoved by the +fate of her mother, with her sons and her brothers scarce cold in their +untimely graves, by her cruel treachery she consummated the destruction +of her family; and, stained with blood and polluted by crimes, she +seated herself upon the throne of David, and usurped the inheritance of +her children! + +For eight years Athaliah held this usurped position. No compunctious +visitings of conscience seem to have haunted her. She felt neither pity +nor remorse. She may have well sustained her ill-gotten power while she +resided amidst the pomp and pageantry of royalty. Her resolute despotism +seems to have held her subjects in awe, and to have quelled them all +into subjection. She had herself wrought the fulfilment of the doom of +her race. As the last of Ahab's children, the sword of divine vengeance +was suspended over her head, and in the time appointed it fell. She was +to die the death of her house--a death of blood. + +When the kings of Judah apostatized, while the individuals were +punished, the race was spared. God still remembered his covenant with +David; and, amid all the sin and desolation of Judah, the line of +hereditary descent was unbroken. The root remained, and some scion +worthy of the stock sprang from it. + +When Athaliah was ingrafted on the stock of royal Judah, she so debased +it, that it seemed needful to purify it by cutting off all the branches +to the very root. Yet one was saved. And, as if to display his own power +and grace, God is at times pleased to select from the families the most +apostate and unholy, the instrument of his work and the trophy of his +grace. So he made the daughter of Athaliah the nurse and the +instructress of him who was to reform the kingdom of Judah. +Jehoshabeath, wife of the high-priest of the Lord, seems to have escaped +the character and the doom of her family. Her's was a task most +difficult. She was called to oppose the depravity of her mother and to +thwart her bloody policy, and yet not to appear as her accuser and as +hastening the execution of the Divine vengeance. Hard is it to the +virtuous child to reprobate the character and course of the unholy +parent, and yet preserve the reverence due to the relation. Jehoshabeath +appears before us in a light which leaves a most favourable impression. +The saviour of the infant heir of Judah, the son of her brother, she +cherished, instructed and guarded him. At the proper time the +high-priest communicated the secret of the existence of the child to the +princes of the land, and the son of Ahaziah was proclaimed king. No +assault was made upon Athaliah. She rushed, like others of her family, +upon her doom, as if she were infatuated. The tumult of the people, the +triumphant strains of sacred and martial music, the clashing of the +shields of the soldiers as they bore their king aloft, brought the first +tidings of the existence of the last of her race to Athaliah. + +The daughter of Jezebel was not easily daunted. Her courage rose in the +hour of danger. She had purchased the throne at a price too great +readily to relinquish the possession of it. She forced her way through +the crowds who surrounded the Temple, and through the bands of soldiers +who guarded the young king, until she confronted the child whose brow +already bore the crown of Judah--a heavy weight for the infant king. In +vain she rent her royal robes, and in vain she cried, "Treason! +Treason!" None adhered to her--none followed her--none perished with +her. She died by the sword, + + "And left a name to other times + Link'd with no virtue, but a thousand crimes." + +The history of modern nations is not without examples of similar evils +entailed upon those who, professing themselves the heads of a purified +church and a reformed faith, choose (from motives of pride or policy) to +seek an alliance with the adherents of a dark, cruel, and persecuting +superstition. Such a marriage precipitated the Stuarts from the throne +of England, cost one king his life, and the family a kingdom; and the +marriages of policy among princes, contravening the rules of God's word, +are often followed by most disastrous results, and hasten the evils they +are contracted to prevent. + +In private life, also, the marriage of those who have renounced this +world for a higher portion, with the worldly and the ungodly, is +generally a source of sin or of sorrow. There can be little congenial +feeling between the spiritual and the earthly; and the servant of God +who chooses a wife from the daughters of sin and the devotees of +pleasure, places himself in a position of peculiar trial. + +The spirit of the wife pervades the household. The husband may rule, but +the wife influences. His voice is obeyed, but the wishes of the wife are +consulted. Her friends are the welcome guests. His associates gather +around his board and claim his leisure hour, but her voice whispers to +him in his retirement. She comes between God and his soul. The strongest +of men was shorn of his might by the companion of his bosom; the wisest +was led into foolishness and idolatry by the influence of a corrupt +woman. + +We are prone to think of the period to which we have been referring as +one of barbarism, and of the nations of Israel and Judah as ignorant and +uncivilized. Does it not seem as if the very heavens must have been +shrouded and the course of nature changed during the perpetration of +such bloody crimes? Does it not seem as if a natural darkness must have +overspread the land? And yet it was not so. The sun shone in his +brightness, the skies were as serene, the rain and the dew descended, +the vine and the olive ripened, and the flowers shed forth their +sweetness, and all the bustle and show of life went on, as at other +times. The people were oppressed, but the courts of Israel and Judah +were splendid and luxurious; and they doubtless boasted of their +advancing refinement, even when they were sinking into corruption and +depravity. It has ever been the policy of the monarchs who are guilty of +the most atrocious crimes, who shrink from no acts of cruelty, to +promote that despotism which may banish the remembrance of their +enormities, and to dazzle and blind the eyes of their people by the +glare and splendour which surrounds their court. And thus these guilty +monarchs, by the patronage of the licentious festivals of heathen +worship and the alluring rites of a corrupt religion, compelled their +people to sin. They drowned the voice of conscience and prevented all +reflection. + +All history has shown us that, as nations have been verging to their +ruin, they have yielded themselves to criminal excess and sensual +indulgence; and the boasted periods of splendour and high refinement +have been but the preludes to long seasons of national calamity or +entire overthrow. Thus we may suppose it to have been with the ancient +descendants of Israel. The courts were splendid and all the arts were +patronized, while the thin veil of refinement was thrown over deeply +corrupt manners. The people, departing from a holy faith, were sinking +into a sullen debasement, or giving themselves to sensual indulgence +and brutal ferocity. + +Modern nations have followed in the footsteps of the ancient world. The +same idols are still worshipped under other names--the same passions +rule the unholy heart. + +[Illustration] + + + + +ESTHER. + + +[Illustration] + +When Isaiah wrote, Babylon sat a queen among the nations, in the pride +of pomp and power, in the full security of strength; yet he graphically +depicted her desolation and foretold her present state, while he +pronounced her doom--a perpetual desolation. She shall never be rebuilt! +Her towers are fallen and her site marked by ruins. + +The decline of Babylon had begun. It was certain, although slow. Years +were to pass before the sentence should be fully executed. At the +period, when the transactions recorded in the book of Esther took place, +Shushan was the royal city of Persia. We are told that in this--the City +of Lilies--the king Ahasuerus held a great feast, probably in +celebration of some recent success, or in commemoration of some great +national event. He assembled all the princes and nobles of his vast +empire, extending from Egypt to India, and gave a feast or succession of +festivities, which continued for more than the third of a year. + +All that oriental splendour and magnificence could contribute, all the +expedients that eastern luxury could desire, to multiply the resources +and to heighten the enjoyment of pleasure, were brought to aid the +designs of the monarch and to add to the festivities of his court. + +Yet motives of policy may have combined with the designs of pleasure. In +all ages the despot has sought to blind and dazzle the people by a +display of power and magnificence; and the princes and nobles around, +from distant provinces, have swelled the retinue of their attendants. + +The amusements of monarchs and of courts have, through all varieties of +manners and degrees of refinement, been much the same. The ancient +Syrian or Persian, like the modern British or French monarch, had his +royal parks and forests for hunting. + +All nations have patronized the various trials of skill and strength, +and the mimic fight has ever been an amusement where war was the great +business of life. And the royal pageantry was doubtless intermingled +with the religious ceremonies which allowed a license to criminal +indulgence and at the same time offered a supposed expiation for crime. + +While these employed the day, the games of chance, the wine, the music, +the movements of the degraded dancing-girl, and the tricks of the +buffoon and the jester, amused the late hours and varied the festive +scenes of the night. + +The feast was drawing to a close, and, at the termination of this long +season of hilarity, Ahasuerus extended the pleasures of the occasion to +all classes of his subjects at Shushan. + +He threw open his palaces and pleasure-grounds, his parks and +gardens--always of vast extent around eastern palaces--and admitted all +the citizens to a feast prepared for them. Tents had been erected within +the precincts of the palace for the tables--and these tents were +furnished with all the luxurious appendages of the east--with white and +green and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to +silver rings and marble pillars; while the beds--the couches around the +tables, against which the ancients reclined--were of gold and silver, +upon a pavement of red and blue, and black and white marble; while they +gave them to drink in vessels of gold. Until these last days the princes +and nobles alone had participated in the festive scenes; but now, as we +have said, all ranks were allowed to share, and the citizens of Shushan, +subjects of Ahasuerus, thronged the palace and trod the royal gardens, +and, entering the tents, enjoyed all that royalty could offer in ancient +Persia--far surpassing in costly splendour and elegance the +entertainments of modern courts. And surely the monarch must have had +strong confidence in the security of his government and the loyalty of +his people, as he thus from day to day, for successive days, flung open +to them the recesses of his palace. + +While the king thus feasted the men in the gardens and parks of the +palace, Vashti, the queen, held a festival for the women within the +secluded apartments appropriated to the female part of the royal +household. She made them a feast within the house of Ahasuerus; and this +queenly entertainment was conducted with all that regard for retirement +and decorum which accords with Eastern manners. But whatever the +amusements of the queen and her train of attendants, no rumours passed +the carefully guarded bounds of the women's apartments. At length the +long season of pleasure came to a harmonious close. No outbreak of the +people of Shushan, no rising of distant provinces, no plotting of +high-born traitors had marred the festal pomp. Yet the season of +pleasure is always a period of trial, and the seeds of remorse and +repentance are almost invariably sown in the hours of gayety. Amid all +this brightness, a dark cloud hung over Ahasuerus. On the seventh and +last day, when the heart of the king was merry--when he had forgotten +royalty dignity and personal decorum, by sitting too long at the festive +board--excited by pride and vanity, and stimulated by wine, he resolved +to dazzle the eyes of the people by presenting to their admiration a +gem, brighter and more lovely than any which sparkled in the royal +crown. To verify his loud boasts of her matchless charms, he sent his +chamberlain to bid the queen array herself in that royal attire which +befitted her state while it displayed her beauty and proclaimed her +rank, and thus present herself, that the assembled multitudes might +admire her loveliness and confess his happiness. + +In Western lands, and in modern days, this command would convey no idea +of shame or impropriety. The royal consort and her train of fair +attendants have often graced the presence and shared the honours of the +monarch and his court, and added refinement to luxury. But no offer +could be more opposed to all ideas of Eastern delicacy and +propriety--more degrading to the woman, or more offensive to the queen. + +By thus unveiling herself before the crowd, she would sink herself to +the level of the most unworthy of her sex--while the violation of an +established usage, in the time of such excitement and excess, might lead +to the wildest disorder, and the queen might be exposed to every insult +from crowds maddened by wine and ripe for disorder; while the monarch +himself might not be able to protect her in a position so strange and +unfitting. + +The modesty of the woman and the dignity of the queen alike forbade +compliance with the strange order--and Vashti might well presume that, +in the hour of reflection, when his senses had returned, the monarch +would thank her for a prudence which probably alone preserved her +dignity and his honour. + +But the passions of the king were inflamed. His reason was blinded, and +artful courtiers, from motives of intrigue or pique, stimulated his +anger. There are ever those who stand ready to administer to unholy +passions, and who are watching for the fall of such as are high in place +or favour. And still under the influence of wine, the rash monarch, by +his own act, placed an inseparable barrier between himself and her whose +charms had so lately been his proudest boast, and whose conduct had +proved that she well deserved all honour and all affection. Vashti was +separated from the king's favour; and flattering sycophants extolled the +act of folly, as a measure which gave peace and security to every +household in the realm. "All the wives shall give to their husbands +honour, both to great and small." And thus the day closed by an edict +that brought sorrow to many hearts, and desolation even to the gates of +the palace. + +The excitement was past. The hour of reflection arrived, and "the king +remembered Vashti." His resentment was appeased. "He remembered what she +had done, and what was decreed against her." That which had been +magnified into a crime and had given such deep offence, was now seen to +be an act of wisdom and prudence--the result of true modesty, and that +deep affection which sought alone the love of her husband, which shrank +from the admiration of the crowd, and which ventured to disobey rather +than forfeit self-respect and womanly pride--preferring to lose his love +rather than expose his honour. An immutable decree--his own--separated +him from one lately so beloved, and so truly worthy of high honour. + +The darkened and saddened aspect of the monarch declared his late +repentance; and those who had precipitated the fall of the queen, to +screen themselves, were prompt to devise methods of banishing the +remembrance of the divorced Vashti. They would replace her by a new +favourite. Yet, so surpassing was her loveliness, and so rare her +beauty, that the courtiers could with difficulty find one whose charms +might banish from memory the repudiated consort, until they sought +through all the provinces of that vast empire for the fairest of the +daughters of men. + +Hadassah, a daughter of Israel, a descendant of Benjamin, of the house +of Kish, the family of Saul, first king of Israel, won the monarch's +favour, and was promoted to the place of the disobedient but high-minded +Vashti. Esther was an orphan, but she had been carefully guarded and +instructed by her kinsman Mordecai; and while we are told that the +maiden was exceeding fair, we may believe that her beauty was of a high +order, stamped too by intellect and feeling, and that the soul which +often sustained and impelled her in her trying exigencies, breathed +through her features and animated her form. Yet Ahasuerus merely bowed +to the fair shrine. He sought not to awaken the response of the soul +that dwelt within. + +When the daughter of Israel was placed upon the throne of Persia, and +another royal feast proclaimed the triumph of Esther and the happiness +of Ahasuerus, the king displayed his royal magnificence by the bestowal +of gifts upon his favourites; and the name of Esther was blended with +other and higher associations, as, upon her elevation, the taxes of the +burdened provinces were remitted and pardons granted to the condemned. + +Mordecai, the relative who had supplied the place of parents to Esther, +was, as we have said, of the house of Kish. Mordecai was the Jew rather +than the Benjamite. His heart was devoted to his country. When the child +of his adoption was taken to the palace, Mordecai displayed his wise +forethought in cautioning her against making her parentage and kindred +known. He had been as a father to her, and a deep interest in the orphan +of his care led him, day by day, to watch the gate of the palace--to +mingle with the attendants, that he might catch a view of her train or +gather tidings of her welfare. And thus, unknown as the relative of the +fair queen, or as especially interested in the king, Mordecai was +enabled to detect and reveal a plot for the assassination of Ahasuerus. +Esther being informed of the plot, disclosed it to the king--the +criminals were defeated and punished--but no reward was conferred upon +Mordecai. + +The passion of Ahasuerus for his fair bride seems to have soon declined. +The fickle voluptuary sought new pleasures, and the bride so lately +exalted to a throne was no longer an object of envy. Many bitter tears +have been shed by the victims of family pride or state policy, when thus +allied to greatness and splendour. The sacred rite has often been +prostituted to purposes of ambition and selfishness, and has thus become +a source of guilt and misery. Esther, in her elevation, may have shed as +bitter tears as fell from Vashti in her banishment and disgrace. + +Thus each state has its own trials and its own griefs--and it has its +peculiar alleviations too. Perhaps the progress of the narrative will +show us the source of that influence which seems early to have +estranged Ahasuerus from his bride. + +Among the courtiers of the king there was the descendant of a race long +at variance with the Jews. The Amalekites had been the enemies of the +Israelites from the infancy of the nation. When the tribes came up from +Egypt, faint and weary in the desert, the Amalekites had fallen upon +them and attempted to destroy them; and during a series of ages there +had been a war of extermination between the races. Nor had Amalek been +subjected until Saul was raised to the throne and Israel had become a +kingdom. + +When Israel and Judah had been destroyed or carried captive by the hosts +of the Assyrians, the remaining Amalekites seem likewise to have been +carried into the east, either as prisoners or allies. And now, from +among all his courtiers, Ahasuerus had chosen, as his chief favourite +and counsellor, Haman, the son of Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag--that +king of Amalek who, as the prisoner of Saul, was condemned to death by +Samuel, the judge of Israel. The descendant of a royal line and of an +ancient race, Haman was as crafty as he was unprincipled and malignant, +and his evil influence seems to have first drawn the king's favour from +Esther. He did not know her lineage, but by plunging the king in every +excess, by keeping all safe counsellors at a distance, he intended to +increase his own influence and perpetuate his own power, while he was +accumulating great wealth from the prodigality of his master and from +the presents offered as bribes to obtain his favour. + +As he did not know the lineage of Esther, he did not persecute her; but +as he feared an influence that might compete with his own, he strove to +alienate the heart of Ahasuerus from her. Haman was advanced to honours +far above all the native princes of the kingdom; even to the first seat +in counsel, to the highest honours in the realm, and to constant +companionship of the monarch. + +As, with trains of slaves and flatterers, he was hastening to the +audience of the monarch, or returning loaded with marks of royal favour, +he passed Mordecai the Jew, seated alone--unknown, unheeded, without +rank or wealth--by the gate of the palace. "Yet Mordecai bowed not, +neither did reverence to Haman." The two men seemed to represent to each +other their respective nations; as if all the hate and malice of the +race, and of long ages of national bitterness, were concentrated in an +individual. They met as the Israelite and the Amalekite; and the +memories of centuries of aggression and injuries, of shame and defeat, +were crowded into the present moment. Mordecai saw in Haman, not only +the foe to his race, but the crafty, unprincipled, unholy counsellor, +who had already alienated the heart of the monarch from his youthful +bride, and whose pernicious influence was spreading blight and +corruption, misery and destruction--through an empire. + +Every feeling of the Jew, every principle of an upright, sincere heart +forbade Mordecai to pay the homage demanded of him by Haman. Every +sentiment of national pride, of family honour, of personal dignity, of +self-respect, arose to deter the descendant of Israel from showing +honour to the hereditary foe of his people and the persecutor of his +faith. + +Haman, at the same time, saw in Mordecai the descendant of those who had +triumphed over his nation and destroyed his ancestors. The descendant of +Agag, the captive of Saul, he might naturally vent his indignation upon +the tribe that humbled his house and subjected his nation and destroyed +his ancestors. The contempt with which Mordecai regarded him roused all +the ancient malignity of the Amalekite, and his hot blood called for +vengeance. + +Yet he thought it a foul shame to lay hands on Mordecai alone. The ruin +of one man would not heal his wounded pride. He meditated a deeper and +more deadly revenge. He resolves to sweep the remnant of the Jews from +the face of the earth! + +The proposed plan displays at once all his cruelty and malignity, and +all his crafty influence over Ahasuerus, while it proves the king too +much immersed in pleasure, or too much subjected to his artful +favourite, to regard the welfare of his subjects or the interests of his +kingdom. + +Superstitious and idolatrous, Haman cast lots day after day, for +successive days, that a fortunate one might decide the day to be chosen +for the work of death on which he was bent. And this accomplished, he +hastened to secure the edict from the king. Surely the monarch must have +been sunk in wine and debauchery who could thus unhesitatingly accede to +the proposition to murder, in cold blood, thousands of unresisting +subjects, when the worst allegation preferred by their enemy was "that +their laws were diverse from all people." Yet here was the very +principle of religious persecution; and as sanguinary edicts as these, +enacted against God's ancient people, have been too often issued in more +modern days, and no Mordecai has sat at the gate of the palace, mutely +to plead for mercy--no Esther has staked her life upon the attempt to +avert the doom! + +By the offer of an enormous bribe, to be collected from the plunder of +those doomed to death, Haman sought the acquiescence of the king in his +scheme. And though he refused the bribe, yet he bade Haman do with the +people and their possessions as seemed best to him; giving him his +signet ring, he seems to have divested himself of all care and +responsibility, and Haman having issued the edict and commanded the +couriers to distribute the royal mandate, they both returned to their +pleasures. "The king and his counsellor sat down to drink." + +No elaborate essay upon the character of Ahasuerus, no analysis of the +arts of Haman, could so display the indolent, luxurious, self-indulgent, +voluptuous monarch, or so illustrate the secret of the favourite's +power. The companion of his pleasures, he was careful to minister to all +the sensual indulgence that could lead him to forget his duty and the +obligations of right and justice incumbent upon the ruler of a great +people. + +Of all the cruel and bloody mandates issued by despotic monarchs, and +designed to answer either the purposes of private malice or unholy +policy, few, if any, have exceeded this which was directed against the +ancient people of Jehovah. The Jews who had returned to their own land +were included in this proscription, for Judea was at this time a +tributary of the Persian empire. + +"Then were the king's scribes called, the thirteenth day of the first +month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded, +unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every +province, and to the rulers of every people of every province, according +to the writing thereof; and to every people after their language, in the +name of King Ahasuerus, was it written, and sealed with the king's ring. +And the letters were sent by posts into the king's provinces, to +destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews--both young and old, +little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of +the twelfth month." + +Thus we see all the machinery of this powerful government put in motion +to crush the Jews--a people widely dispersed and weak from their recent +captivity and overthrow. As no crime was specified, so there was no +offer of pardon or exemption on any terms; while to make it more +distinctly understood, the terms which indicated their fate were +singularly multiplied. "To _destroy_, to _kill_, to _cause_ to +_perish_." And while the murder of a nation was thus made a legal +execution, the mode was left to the option of the executioners; and +every torment that malignity could devise might be inflicted, while all +were stimulated by the promise of the plunder of their victims--"and to +take the spoil of them for a prey." + +What scenes of horror, of suffering, would have followed the execution +of this barbarous edict! The whole empire had probably been deluged in +blood--for man, like the inferior animals, seems maddened by the taste +of blood--and one cruelty is but the prelude and provocation of another; +and in the time of strife, while all were made executioners of the law, +private malice would confound others with the proscribed, and few could +be safe in the hour of commotion. + +When this edict was published, and while Ahasuerus and Haman sat down to +indulge in the pleasures of the table, all the city of Shushan was +perplexed, confounded, and troubled--wondering what motives, what state +policy, what strange conspiracy, had led to this sanguinary enactment +against a people long dwelling among them--a nation who had furnished +counsellors and ministers to their wisest monarchs. + +When Mordecai saw what was done, he rent his clothes and put on +sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and cried +with a loud and bitter cry. He published--he could not conceal--his +grief and terror; and his crafty foe perhaps exulted in his misery. The +long struggle between the Amalekite and the Israelite seemed now to be +concluded. The fall of the Jews seemed to be sealed. All the power of +the Persian empire was arrayed against them. They were prisoners in her +different provinces, appointed to execution! All human power and +authority and presumption of success was on the side of Haman, and +against his intended victims. + +Mordecai had no hope on earth. His trust was alone in the God of his +fathers--the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob--the God often +defied by Amalek. In his distress he presented himself, clothed in +sackcloth, at the gate of the royal palace; but no one arrayed in the +garb of sorrow might enter the haunts devoted to luxurious pleasure. Yet +the sight of his distress and the tones of his deep grief arrested the +attention of the attendants of the queen, and her chamberlain reported +the circumstances to her. + +No tokens of sympathy, no expression of condolence, however grateful, +could assuage the grief of Mordecai in this hour of terror and alarm; +and even though commanded by the queen, he declined to lay aside the +tokens of wo, while he diligently sought to convey to the secluded +Esther an account of all the machinations of Haman, and the assurance of +the imminent danger to which her nation was exposed, and in which she +was involved. He not only sent her a copy of the edict which condemned +the Jews, but he charged her to supplicate the king on their behalf. + +The young queen must have felt like one awakened from a sleep to find +herself upon the brink of a precipice. Her situation was full of danger. +The flush of royal favour was past. She was neglected and forgotten. Her +splendid palace was indeed but a prison, and her lordly consort might +prove her executioner. For a long time she had not seen the king or +received the least token of royal favour or remembrance, and a new +favourite might have succeeded her in the court of the capricious +voluptuary. Yet she was sternly charged by Mordecai to rouse herself, +meet the peril, and, if possible, save her people, while he taught her +to recognise the designs of a wise Providence in her elevation. + +"Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that +thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if +thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there +enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but +thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether +thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" + +In the appeals of Mordecai to Esther, we may recognise the principles +upon which he had trained her. The sense of duty, the obligations of +religion, the call to self-sacrifice and exertion, had all been +instilled while Esther was in private life, and they bear their fruit on +the throne. Yet there must have been a conflict in the heart of Esther, +before she could adopt the decision which might accelerate the doom of +her people, while, if her appeal failed, her own fate was scaled with +their's. + +Surrounded by all the splendour of the court, with all the pleasures +that pomp and power can command, with troops of menials treading marble +halls, with the more genial luxuries of fair flowers and pure fountains +and soft music--Esther felt the insufficiency of all that earth can +yield in the hour of sorrow and trial. We may almost fancy that we see +her, with lofty brow and pale cheek, her dark soft eye fixed in thought, +and the compressed lip telling of the firm resolve. She has decided! She +will venture the loss of royal favour, and life itself, to secure the +safety of her people. "I WILL GO IN TO THE KING, AND IF I PERISH--I +PERISH." Words more simple, yet sublime in their high meaning, have +seldom been recorded. Strong purpose and high resolve call for but few +words. + +Yet Esther relied upon a power higher than that of Ahasuerus. She may +have recalled the history of her nation; she may have remembered all the +interpositions of Divine mercy in past extremities; and doubtless she +relied upon those promises for the future which induced in Mordecai a +confident hope of deliverance. She remembered that Jehovah--the God of +Israel--hears the prayers of the humble and the contrite. She appointed +a solemn fast of three days, in which the Jews of Shushan should humble +themselves and remember her before the God of their fathers. + +A more eminent instance of simple dependence upon the Divine +interposition, or of entire reliance upon the voice of prayer, has +seldom if ever, occurred. There was no resort to outward ceremonies to +awaken a deeper feeling, or to atone for the want of it by a formal +observance. There was no altar, no sacrifice, no long procession, no +promised offering, no resort to temple or priest, but there was the call +upon God from the depth of the soul--the simple, unfailing trust of the +heart, the personal humiliation, the individual prayer, the united +offerings of supplication and confession from a whole people. There was +the simple faith that relies on the Divine power and pleads the Divine +promises with submission to the Divine will. It was a strange contrast +to the sensual, gross, superstitious, and unholy rites of the heathen, +while from its deep spiritual meaning, and from the entire absence of +all merely formal observance, it was both a precedent and a model for +future ages, and for the holy spiritual worshipper of other days. + +It was no heartless service, no formal act of worship rendered by the +Jews of Shushan, when Esther called upon them to pray and to fast with +her and for her. While the queen and her maidens fasted in the recesses +of the palace, in many a lowly home or quiet chamber were gathered the +race of Esther, to commit her and themselves to Jehovah, to beseech him +to forgive the sins of his people and save them, for his mercy's sake, +in this hour of their extremity. Mingled with their personal +apprehension and anxiety for their wives and their children would be +thoughts of "the daughter of their people"--their beautiful queen--so +young, so fair, so lately exalted to the pinnacle of honour and glory; +adorned with gems and wreathed with flowers, the pride of a monarch and +the ornament of a court; now, neglected, abject, forsaken--included in +the doom of her race, prostrate in some secluded apartment of the +palace--her royal apparel exchanged for sackcloth and ashes--still +cleaving to the God of her fathers, and still identifying herself with +her kindred and countrymen. Whether they regarded her royal state, her +tender years, her bitter desolation, or her heroic resolution, all the +sympathies of the heart, all the purest feelings of the nation, would be +called forth in her behalf. + +Other feelings would find a place in the hearts of the Jews as they +contemplated their present state. The last deed of the Amalekite would +bring to recollection the injuries of ages. This Haman, who now, in a +time of profound peace and full security--while both races were exiles +from the land of their fathers--had plotted the ruin of their nation, +the total extermination of their race; who had doomed the feeble and +helpless, the little one and the aged, to perish with the strong man in +his might; this Haman was the son of those who fell upon the tribes, +faint and weary, in the wilderness; who had pursued them with inveterate +hatred; who had ever joined with their foes or stood ready to attack +them in their defenceless state. + +When we recollect that the conspiracy of Haman but closed the long train +of injuries inflicted on Israel by Amalek, we shall not so much wonder +at the feelings sometimes expressed by the Jew. The character of the +tribe was still the same--their course through all years was unaltered. +And now, while Amalek has perished and the Jew survives, we can form no +just estimate of that national feud. Haman was a type of his +race--artful, cruel, treacherous, and bloody; and what the Roman was to +Hannibal, what the ancient Persian was to Greece, what the Turk is to +modern Greece, what Russia is to the Pole, such was the Amalekite to the +Jew. + +While Esther had manifested her sense of dependence upon the eternal +Ruler of nations, and her faith and reliance upon the God of her +fathers, by humbling herself before him and relying upon his protection +and interposition in this hour of darkness, she showed, too, a knowledge +of the human heart, not often acquired at her age; an instinctive +insight into the character and the motives of those around her, with the +power of adapting herself to circumstances, that has seldom been +displayed in one so young, combined with so many of the higher qualities +of the woman. + +She knew the weak point in the character of Ahasuerus, and she forgot +not the power of beauty, the influence of personal charms, as she +arrayed her fair form in the rich and splendid vestments that so well +became her, and summoned all the aid of oriental art and elegance to her +toilette, that her presumption might be forgiven in her loveliness--that +favour won by her beauty might be extended to her nation; and if she +felt the hope of pleasing, as she surveyed herself in the polished +metallic mirror, decked with the magnificence of a royal bride and +adorned with the gifts of him whose favour she would seek, her heart +might have sunk too at the remembrance of the favour she had once won +and lost. In assuming the crown placed upon her brow by Ahasuerus, +there was a tacit claim to her royal rights; for that gemmed circlet was +not only a badge of rank, but a pledge of affection--a token of honour +and royal favour, which elevated her above the throng of beauties who +filled the courts of the palace. Had she arrayed herself in sackcloth, +had she appeared as a mourner, an afflicted suppliant, she would +probably have found the royal voluptuary more anxious to banish one who +disturbed his pleasures, than to redress the grievances that appealed to +his justice. + +Yet it must have been with trembling limbs and a beating heart that she +stood before Ahasuerus; and, by entering his presence unbidden, she made +her mute appeal to his mercy. + +And strange, at that unwonted place and hour, must have appeared the +beautiful vision to the king, while courtiers and attendants stood in +silent amazement. There was but one anxious moment before the sceptre +was extended; the trembling queen touched it, and thus was encouraged to +prefer her petition for any favour that the royal hand could bestow. The +presence of Esther seems to have revived at once the fondness of the +monarch, and all his coldness and indifference vanished like the mist +before the rising sun. All the arts of Haman had been needed to wean him +from her and to teach him to forget her. How rarely does a vile, unholy +counsellor or companion seek to corrupt a private man, or a prince, or a +ruler, without striving first to undermine the influence of the virtuous +wife, mother, or sister! + +Warily does the royal suppliant present her request, still uncertain of +the degree of favour on which she might rely. She offered no petition +that could embarrass the king. She made no complaint of past neglects. +She uttered no word of upbraiding for forgotten vows; but delicately +implying that his presence was the source of her happiness, that this +had constrained her to break through all the formal observances of +courtly restraint and endanger life itself, she besought him to honour +her by attending a banquet which she had prepared. Thus she avoided the +awakening of the suspicions of Haman by even asking to see the monarch +without his presence. Including him in her invitation, she allayed all +jealousy of a wish to exert an influence inimical to his, while she thus +offered an additional inducement to Ahasuerus to honour her feast. + +By a strong effort and great self-command, the young queen retained her +calmness and preserved her grace and gayety. And even when the banquet +had closed and the guests had retired, and the king again asked her to +prefer her petition, she did not venture to prefer that which was +nearest her heart. His favour was too uncertain and his favourite too +powerful. She only besought his presence again as a guest, and again his +favourite was included in the invitation. + +The Jews were still lying low before their God. When the feast in the +palace was broken up, and the gates were shut, the high walls cast their +shadows upon the moat. The sentinels still moved with measured tread. +The lights gradually disappeared, except those that told of some one +watching over the sick or dying, or some chance-beam betraying a late +carousal. In the palace, the soft footfall of the attendants in the +antechambers, could not disturb the slumbers of the monarch, while +strains of sweetest music were ready to lull him to repose, as warder +and sentinel kept watch over his safety. But still "that night the king +could not sleep;" and wakeful, restless, solitary, he commanded his +attendants to bring him the archives of his kingdom, and read to him +the records of his reign. Strange request! How few monarchs would care +thus to review the past, and force themselves to the judgment awaiting +them from a higher tribunal and from future ages! + +It was not chance which held the eyes of the king waking. It was not +chance which drew his attention to the conspiracy defeated by Mordecai, +and to the investigation of the treatment he had received for so high a +service. No reward, no honour had been conferred upon one who had saved +the life of the sovereign. A strange forgetfulness or neglect of the +prime minister of the realm! While Ahasuerus was devising some mode of +requiting the obligation due to one who had rendered the state important +service, he called for a counsellor, and was told that Haman was +without, in the court. + +Haman left the banquet of Esther in all the assurance of royal favour. +He had attained to honours which distinguished him above all the +subjects of the Persian empire. He had received distinctions which +elevated him above even the princes and nobles of the kingdom; and in +his pomp and power he passed, with his train of attendants, menials, +flatterers, and followers, through the gates of the royal palace, "the +observed of all observers;" and as he came into the thronged +thoroughfare that led from the royal abode, all did him homage and +showed him reverence--save one. + +Mordecai, the Jew, still sat at the king's gate--probably, still wrapped +in sackcloth. His eye met that of Haman, but it quailed not. It was a +stern, reproving glance! And while all others did lowliest obeisance, +Mordecai neither bowed nor uncovered his head. + +There was no word--there was no reproach--but there was a silent +defiance, that conveyed to the soul of Haman an assurance of disgrace +and defeat, and that told him he was despised, amid all his honours and +prosperity. He hastened to his home. He gathered his household around +him and told them of his riches, his honour, his prosperity, and the +assurance his large family afforded him that his riches would descend in +his own line, and that his ancient lineage and royal race should thus be +perpetuated. He told them of the high honour that day received at the +royal feast, and of a like honour in reserve for the morrow. But still +his pride was mortified by Mordecai's course. "All this availeth me +nothing," he said, "so long as I see Mordecai, the Jew, sitting at the +king's gate." Wretched, malignant man! What a picture of the power and +force of evil passions--of that selfishness which could find its +happiness in the misery and suffering of others! + +His hatred of Mordecai seems the more insane, when we remember that +Haman held his fate in his hands, or rather had actually sealed his +doom. He might well forego forms of reverence from the man he had doomed +to death. Yet the desire for the humiliation of Mordecai, for some token +of abasement and fear, seems to have absorbed all other feelings; and as +this was the only thing withheld, so it was the only thing desired. To +soothe the disgust and allay the indignation of Haman, the family +council decreed the immediate death of Mordecai, and they doomed him to +the gallows--a most ignominious death. While this instrument of his +destruction was in preparation upon the grounds of Haman, he sought +Ahasuerus, that the sentence might be ratified. He who had given him the +power to murder a nation, would surely assent to forestalling the doom +of an individual; and Mordecai's disobedience to the royal order, his +disrespect to the minister who represented the authority of the +sovereign and the laws of the realm, seemed to offer a fitting pretext. + +While Haman was waiting in the antechamber for audience, Ahasuerus was +resolving some mode of requiting Mordecai; and, ever prone to rely on +favourites and counsellors, he was unable to decide for himself; so he +sought advice from his favourite courtier, who was so near at hand. To +him the question was submitted: "What shall be done to the man whom the +king delighteth to honour?" Ever selfish, ever intent upon his own +promotion, and constantly loaded with marks of royal favour, Haman very +naturally presumed that fresh honours were destined for him, and that he +was to be allowed to designate the very marks of favour which he most +desired. + +"Now Haman thought in his heart, to whom would the king delight to do +honour more than to myself?" And so he answered the king: "To the man +whom the king delighteth to honour, let the royal apparel be brought +which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, +and the royal crown which is set upon his head. 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 honour, +and bring him on horseback through the streets of the city, and proclaim +before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to +honour." + +If Haman intended this as a mere vain-glorious display--an impressive +pageant, designed to publish to the people the high dignity of royal +favour which he personally enjoyed--it would not be without meaning; but +we cannot but think that, according to Eastern usage, there was a deeper +significance in the ceremony. + +The customs of the East are almost immutable, and there was much +similarity between those of Egypt, Assyria and Persia. When Joseph was +exalted to be ruler of Egypt, he was clothed in royal vestments, and +passed in triumphant procession through the city, while all were called +upon to bow the knee before him. Daniel was clothed in scarlet and in +purple (the badges of royalty) while his honours were announced. But +Joseph rode in the second chariot of Pharaoh, and his distance from +royal state was clearly defined, while Daniel was declared third in the +empire of the Medes and Persians. + +In appropriating all the badges of royalty--the crown, the robes, the +horse, the princely attendance--Haman seems to have been preparing a +claim to higher honour than those of Joseph or Daniel; to be even +preparing to ascend the throne. All the homage that could be shown the +subject had long been exacted. A nation was now under a dreadful doom +because only one of their race withheld it; and now he would take to +himself all the appendages of royal state! + +A sudden tumult in the palace, a popular outbreak, so common with +despotic governments, might easily be accomplished, and Haman might +ascend the throne of Ahasuerus--for the lines of descent seem to have +been not unfrequently changed in the Persian empire; and in the +convulsions of despotic states, even slaves have mounted the thrones of +their masters. + +Whether, in his designs, he merely sought the gratification of a present +vain-glorious ambition or was preparing for a higher destiny, the +revulsion must have been most overwhelming, the change and surprise +inexpressible, when the announcement and command of the king fell upon +his ear. + +"Make haste!" said he, "take the apparel, and the horse, as thou hast +said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, who sitteth at the king's +gate. Let nothing fail that thou hast spoken." You have devised the very +highest honour that I can render: now confer it on the man I designate. + +The Eastern despots are arbitrary; and Haman, confounded and petrified, +ventured no remonstrance. He bowed and obeyed. He departed as the +messenger of honour to Mordecai the Jew. Whatever the malignant and +bitter feelings of his heart, he dared not give expression to them. He +was compelled to serve the man he hated, to confer the highest honour on +the man he had doomed to the deepest obloquy, publicly to bow before one +whom he hoped to trample beneath his feet! With what contending +feelings must he have delivered the mandate of the king to Mordecai! +What strong emotion must have convulsed his soul! Yet the most powerful +feelings are seldom displayed. The green sod covers the pent volcano, +and a slight trembling alone denotes the action of the devouring +element. It is all repose and calmness on the surface while the billows +of flame are raging beneath. + +Thus the aspect of the courtier was calm, though sullen, while with his +own hands he acted as chamberlain to the Jew and arrayed him in robes of +royalty and honour. We may imagine a group for a painter, in Haman, +dark, malignant, and sullen--and Mordecai, calm, proud, unbending, +receiving service from his enemy. And after having with his own hands +arrayed the new object of royal favour, Haman was placed at the head of +the proud war-horse, as he slowly bore the Jew through the multitude, +who thronged the street "to behold the man whom the king delighteth to +honour." We seem to see him--the proudest, the most arrogant of +men--with bowed head and averted eye, while Mordecai sits erect and +firm, in all the dignity of conscious worth. + +As they slowly proceed through the thronged thoroughfare, obstructed by +crowds who came to gaze upon the pageant, many a significant sneer or +half-uttered jest would convey to Haman a sense of his degradation in +appearing as the groom of the despised Jew. + +When the ceremonies were over, Mordecai again appeared at the gates of +the palace. Nothing in the apparent condition of the two was changed, +and the pageant may have seemed like a dream to Mordecai. He was only +anxious to know the proceedings and fate of Esther. Yet he must have +gathered hope for the future, as he still trusted and waited upon God. + +But a dark cloud had fallen upon Haman. He foreboded his doom. He was +humbled, disappointed, degraded, disgraced. He had been paraded, before +the multitudes, the menial of the Jew. He had been forced to confer on +the man he hated the very honours his soul most coveted. "And Haman +hasted to his house mourning and having his head covered." And he told +his wife and the friends whom he had gathered to consult upon the fall +of the Jew, all that had befallen him. And clear, far-sighted, daring, +and unscrupulous, the wife who had counselled Mordecai's destruction, +foretold to Haman his own doom. "If Mordecai be of the Jews, before whom +thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shall +surely fall before him." + +And they were probably counselling some measures for his personal +safety; for when they were yet talking, came the king's chamberlain, +and hasted to bring Haman to the feast Esther had prepared. + +As the feast proceeded, the king entreated Esther to ask some gift that +he might bestow as a token of favour, or a pledge of affection. And then +Esther, with a simple fervour, force, and dignity, and with the pathos +of true feeling, offered her supplication for herself and her nation. +"And Esther answered the king and said, If I have found favour 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, to perish." She quotes the words +of Haman's edict, and then adds, "But if we had been sold for bond-men +and bond women, I had held my peace, although the enemy could not +countervail the king's damage," nor recompense the loss of so many of +the king's useful citizens and peaceful subjects. Nothing could be more +sweet, gentle, submissive, and truly dignified than her appeal. And the +imagination and astonishment of the king are graphically displayed in +his answer. Who is he? Where is he that hath presumed in his heart to do +so? Who has dared to conspire against one so near my person, so exalted +by my favour? + +Confounded, amazed--and probably for the first time suspecting the +Jewish extraction of the queen--Haman was still speechless when Esther +made her direct and firm reply: "That adversary, that wicked man, is +Haman," here in the royal presence--here in the full blaze of royal +favour. + +In the conscious justice of her cause, she had desired to be confronted +with the man she accused, and he was present, that he might enjoy every +opportunity of defence, if innocent; and if guilty, that he might +receive the just reward of his deeds. The king was filled with wrath at +this proof of the presumption and malice of his favourite, and he left +the banqueting-room and went into the palace-garden. + +Haman, quick to read the feelings of his master, "saw that wrath was +determined." Unable to escape the watchful attendants, and moved by +terror, he approached the royal couch of Esther to beseech her, whom he +had greatly injured, to intercede for him. And while he was thus +engaged, the king re-entered the banqueting-house. His wrath was +rekindled. The imprudence of Haman hastened the doom his crimes had +provoked. The excited monarch, witnessing his apparent familiarity, +accused him of designs of which his previous presumption might show him +capable. His sentence was pronounced--his doom was sealed. The +attendants covered his face, (a most significant act, still retained in +Eastern courts,) and he was carried from the royal presence-chamber, and +hung upon the very gallows he had erected for Mordecai. The flowers +which were gathered for the feast and the wreaths entwined for his brow +were still fresh. + +The succeeding interview of Ahasuerus with his still loved and more than +beautiful consort, must have been one of no slight interest. There was +much to unfold and to explain; there was something to confess and to +forgive; and as the character of Haman was now exposed and his acts were +revealed, the king may have regarded himself as the bird escaped from +the fowler. Esther revealed her lineage; while the rising favour of +Haman, the dangers to be anticipated from his hatred to her nation, well +justified the prudent caution of Mordecai. As the queen told the king in +what relation Mordecai stood to her, Mordecai was brought before him; +and the former honour proved but indeed the installation into the +highest offices of trust, while the vast possessions of Haman were +conferred on Esther, and Mordecai was appointed her steward. + +Yet, while the royal favour and protection was extended to these +individuals, the edict was still in force against the race, and again +Esther besought the king to interpose his power and protection. The laws +of the Medes and Persians, however impolitic and unjust, could not be +repealed. The king had no power over the statutes he had made. Like the +deeds of life, once passed, they were unchangeable. He might regret the +act, he might deprecate the influence thus put in operation, but he +could neither recall nor cancel them; and one instance attempted might +have destroyed the royal power. + +Although Haman was removed, his family were numerous, and there was +doubtless a large class of his ancient tribe who viewed him as the +lineal descendant of their monarchs and entitled to their allegiance. +They expected to share his triumphs, and, disappointed and exasperated, +they would be ready to avenge his death. Haman being recognised as the +highest officer of Ahasuerus and as his chief counsellor as well as +favourite, he had great power and influence, and doubtless had a large +party in his interests--either won by past favours or hope of future +wealth and honour. At the same time all the discontented and turbulent +of the land would be ready to join an outbreak which made the murder of +any Jew lawful, where it could be accomplished, and which gave their +possessions to those who were their destroyers. + +All that Ahasuerus could do to avert the threatened extermination of the +children of Israel, was to allow them to defend themselves if any dared +to attack them. The whole empire was convulsed with the desperate +struggle between the Jews and the faction of Haman; and while the royal +authority aided the Jews in Shushan, so that they were entirely +victorious, seventy-five thousand of their assailants perished in the +provinces, where we are told the Jews gathered themselves together and +stood for their lives; and it is recorded to their honour, that upon the +spoil of their enemies they laid not their hands. And all this suffering +and blood was the result of the policy of Haman. The Jews were not the +aggressors, although they came off victors. + +It was the last conflict between the nations of Amalek and Israel, and +threatening and prophecy were thus fulfilled while both nations were +strangers and exiles from their own lands; and while the tribe of Amalek +perished, the sons of Haman, who probably led the conflict in Shushan, +were condemned to the same ignominious death which their father had +suffered. We infer their actual guilt from the fact that they seem to be +unmolested until the day appointed for the extermination of the Jews. As +leaders of the tumult they deserved the doom they received. + +The lot is from the Lord; and the day of vengeance thus deferred from +Haman's regard to the casting of the lot, gave the Jews full time to +prepare themselves to resist their foes, and defend themselves after the +issuing of the second edict, by which they were empowered to act on +their own defence, and to repel openly by armed resistance. + +The book of Esther is one of the most beautiful and variously +instructive and interesting portions of the Old Testament. While it +illustrates the providential care of Jehovah over all his people, and +his readiness to hear their prayers and interpose for their deliverance, +it shows too that he ruleth over all the nations of the earth, and that +all the arts of intriguing men in courts and cabinets, the various +changes which occur, either affecting nations or individuals, are all +allowed to promote his infinite designs--all accomplishing his eternal +plans. While his people, like Esther and Mordecai, gladly co-operate in +the designs of the Almighty, his enemies are made the unwitting and +unwilling instruments of advancing the same designs, and are +accomplishing his purposes for the re-generation of a corrupt world--for +the establishment of the kingdom of the redeemed, and the complete +redemption of the children of God. + +As we look at the book of Esther, through the long dark vista of +intervening ages, we are presented with a beautiful picture of a past +period. Nations have perished and left no memories; and while all the +other portion of our world, at that day, is shrouded in darkness or +buried in forgetfulness, the light of revelation falls upon the court +of Ahasuerus, and we see it in all the gorgeous splendour of oriental +magnificence. + +The prosperous monarch of a powerful empire--munificent, prodigal, not +deficient in capacity or heart, but indolent, and fond of luxury and +feasting, he yields himself to the influence of the favourite; and when +ready to rush into the seductions of pleasure, he still, at times, +rouses himself and executes his own will, asserting his authority by +some act of despotic power, of justice or cruelty, as the impulse +prompts--he is a type of a large class of those to whom the destinies of +more modern nations have been committed. + +In Haman we see the courtier--crafty, proud, vain, ambitious, +aspiring--intent upon personal aggrandizement, and the acquisition of +wealth; gaining his influence over the mind of the monarch by +ministering to his pleasures, and maintaining it by banishing all pure +influences and crushing all nobler feelings. The history of Haman is +replete, too, with instruction, in displaying the absorbing power of the +selfish and malignant passions, and their fatal influence upon character +and happiness. + +One unsatisfied desire will embitter all the most coveted possessions. +There will ever be something to be achieved--some enemy to humble, some +higher elevation to attain, some Mordecai in the gate, whose reverence +withheld is more desirable than all the homage of the multitude +bestowed. + +He who cherishes in his heart a hatred of a class or an individual, is +nursing a scorpion which will poison every kind feeling. We must love, +not only to make others happy, but that we may be happy ourselves. We +may withhold all marks of approbation from the unworthy, and still +regard them with the benevolence required by the law of love. + +Thus while Mordecai saw in Haman the same persecuting spirit that had +marked all his race; while he saw him, unholy, unprincipled, securing by +his acts an influence over his master, which he abused; prostituting the +royal authority to the ruin of the kingdom, making it subserve the +purpose of his own unhallowed ambition; alienating the monarch from the +queen, and inducing the disregard of the duties of private life as of +sovereign power--Mordecai, as an upright, honourable, high-minded man, +refused to render one, whose course he deprecated, whose character he +abhorred, the honour accorded even by royal favour. He neither bowed nor +did him reverence. But he did not assail him. He did not form any dark +and treacherous plots against him. He did not revile him. All that he +sought was to lead the blinded monarch to a calm investigation into the +proceedings of his treacherous counsellor. And Haman had every +opportunity of repelling accusation and justifying himself, as he was +ever allowed to be present when Esther made her charges against him. +There is a world-wide difference between the firm, indignant +disapprobation with which a virtuous mind regards an evil man, working +ill to all, and that malignant hatred which arises from selfishness and +envy, and which pursues with bitterness and cruelty all that does not +minister to its indulgence. + +If it should seem strange to us that the national antipathy should so +long be cherished, we may remember that it is quite as strange that +national character should be thus faithfully transmitted through so many +generations; and those who so confidently predict a change of character +from the mere change of the circumstances of a people, may do well to +ponder the facts presented by the past history of the races of the +earth. + +There are other contrasts between the characters of Mordecai and Haman. +Haman was superstitious, yet not religious. He was artful, selfish, +treacherous, bloodthirsty, corrupt himself and corrupting others, +ambitious and vain-glorious. Mordecai was pious, upright, conscientious; +fulfilling every duty, yet seeking no selfish aggrandizement, no wealth, +no personal honour--even when placed in circumstances where he might +claim them as a just reward--and never exerting an influence for selfish +purposes; still ready to forego and sacrifice all that was demanded at +the call of duty. + +While we see in Mordecai the devoted worshipper of the true God, the +high-minded patriot, the man of inflexible integrity--an integrity that +scorned the bad acts that would minister to the pride of false +greatness--and a nobleness that rose above the desire for court +favours, the strong features of his character are softened into beauty +by his love for the orphan relative, his watchfulness over her +childhood, and the interest displayed by his daily inquiries for her +welfare. His affections were kind and tender, while his principles were +unbending; and we feel that we love the man, though we are constrained +to render a deeper homage to the patriot. + +Esther is one of the most beautiful characters in the gallery of +Scripture portraits. Her character is peculiarly feminine; and while her +path is marked by events of moment, it appeals to our hearts in each +vicissitude of her lot. Youth and beauty always throw a charm around the +possessor. Faint, perishing, transient as they are, they awaken all the +sympathies of our nature; a deep compassion, a foreboding of the future; +while the knowledge of the sorrows and trials which await those to whom +the present is so bright, heightens our interest. Thus in each stage of +the narrative, Esther comes to us with all that can awaken sympathy and +excite interest. + +The fair flower is transplanted from Judea to the lands of the East--a +scion of a stock soon removed--sheltered, watched, nourished by the pure +dews of Divine truth; taken from seclusion and loneliness, where but one +eye beheld its opening beauty, to the gardens of royalty; and there, +among gayer and gaudier flowers, like the pure lily of the valley, +winning royal favour by purity, sweetness, and graceful loveliness. + +We follow her from her lonely home to the palace, and think how many +fears and alarms mingled with the triumph of her beauty, the +consciousness of her power, when an empire blessed her name and +celebrated her beauty. And a deeper feeling is roused for the royal +bride, lately so flattered, caressed, and honoured, now suddenly +forgotten, neglected--left to the loneliness of her apartments or the +companionship of her formal attendants, while her lord pursued his +career of pleasure, apparently unmindful of her existence. + +A bitter lot it is to the young, to be loved and then forgotten. And sad +the contrast to the royal Esther, between her late elevation and all the +incense of homage and affection then offered, and her present +desolation. Yet it was a season of needful humiliation. It awoke her +from the dream of splendour and gayety, and brought her back to the +sober realities of life and its stern duties; and it was also a season +of preparation for the trials that awaited her. It brought her to seek a +happiness higher than could be found in palaces or courts, a favour more +desirable than that of an earthly monarch, a love that is unfailing, a +faithfulness that should be enduring--and thus, when the day of trial +came, she was prepared. She could cast herself upon the arm that never +falters, she could seek the interposition of the God of her nation, and +of each individual who trusteth in him and relieth upon his mercy. + +There was something beautiful in the blending of her conscious +helplessness, her sense of loss of the favour of her royal lord and of +the love and courtly honour she deserved, of her entire dependence upon +the protection and interposition of Heaven, and her resolution to +venture all for her people. + +IF I PERISH--I PERISH! If we can recall the recollections of our +childhood, we shall remember the breathless interest with which we +attended her, in fancy, to the presence-chamber and awaited the extended +sceptre. All the excitement of romance is concentrated in the story of +Esther. And as we follow the narrative of her final triumph, her +restoration to the love of her husband, the salvation of her people, and +the exaltation of her family, we cannot but pursue the train of thought +and feeling, and fondly hope that the influence of Esther and Mordecai +might redeem Ahasuerus from the vices of youth, inspire him with higher +motives, elevate him to a loftier standard, and rouse one, not deficient +in natural kindness or nobleness of capacity, from a selfish voluptuary +to an enlightened, able, and just ruler of a great people. + +The Jews still commemorate the feast of Purim, and celebrate their +deliverance from Haman; and in all the climes and lands to which the +race have been transported, they have carried the remembrance of the +daughter of their people--the beautiful queen of ancient Persia, who +ventured her life to ransom her race. + +We would learn from the whole history lessons of sobriety, of +contentment with an humble lot, of the duty of cherishing the spirit of +love, of kindness, of benevolence, of repressing the first germ of +selfishness, of malignity, of envy; of dependence upon an over-ruling +Providence; of encouragement to prayer, to trusting and waiting upon +God. + +"Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will answer thee," is said to +each contrite heart now, as truly as to Israel of old; and none who have +thus truly sought the Lord in lowliness and penitence, ever sought him +in vain. His care and protection are still around his people; and +although the enemies of his church may try her, they shall never triumph +over her. + +[Illustration] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Notable Women of Olden Time, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTABLE WOMEN OF OLDEN TIME *** + +***** This file should be named 18316.txt or 18316.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/1/18316/ + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, Sigal Alon and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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