ing circumstances: Nebuchadnezzar appointed a governor, which excited the jealousy of the Jews, so they rose up and murdered him in the town of Mizpah; then, dreading the consequences of their wickedness, as it was an insult to the royal authority, they fled into Egypt, their fear of the Chaldees being so great, they thought it was the only way of preserving their lives. So Judah was abandoned and reduced to the state of a lonesome desert."

EMMA. "But, papa; did the Jews always remain in Babylon ?"

MR. W. "No, my love; they became captive to their enemies for 70 years. When that time was over, Cyrus, the great monarch and conqueror of the east, published an edict by which he granted leave to all the Jewish nation to return to their own country, and rebuild their Temple. He likewise commanded that the sacred vessels which had been brought by Nebuchadnezzar, should be taken out of the Royal Treasury at Babylon, and restored to the Jews, to be used by them, as formerly, in the service of the Temple.

In consequence of this edict, upwards of 42,000 Jews marched back into Judah, under the conduct of Zorobabel, son of Salathiel.

66

Upon their arrival at Jerusalem, they erected a temporary altar for their daily sacrifices, until the Temple, which they were preparing to rebuild, should be finished. We read that trees of cedar were brought from Libanus by the Syrians and Sidonians, as Cyrus had ordered. Masons, and hewers of stone, were hired; Levites were appointed, to hasten the work of the Lord. The foundation of the New Temple was laid with great solemnity and every demon

stration of joy. Vested in their sacerdotal attire, the priests stood with trumpets in their hands, and the Levites with cymbals, ready to sound the praises of Almighty God, in hymns of thanksgiving, after the manner of David. While the masons fixed the foundation stones, the priests and Levites burst forth in acclamations of joy, in which they were joined by a crowd of spectators."

JOHN. "What a fine sight it must have been, papa; and how gratifying to the Jews, after their sufferings for so many years."

MR. W. Yes, John. But all did not go on smoothly, now; many of their secret and open enemies did all they could to stop them in their work.

"After Cyrus's death, Cambyses, his son, was prevailed upon to forbid the Jews proceeding any further in their undertaking, and a stop was put to the building, until the second year of his successor, Darius Hystaspes. This prince being undeceived with regard to the calumnies thrown out against the Jewish people, and informed of the edict Cyrus had once given in their favour, ordered the building of the Temple to be renewed, he even contributed towards the expenses; and, in the sixth year of his reign, the Temple was finished, and dedicated with great solemnity.

"The Jews in Judea, having thus been re-established, continued to strengthen themselves under the protection of the Persian kings, Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes.

"In the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, they were joined by a fresh body of their brethren from Babylon, under command of Esdras, a virtuous and learned priest. He came with full power from Artaxerxes, to visit Judea

and Jerusalem; to carry the gold and silver which the king and others had freely offered to the God of Israel, to deliver the holy vessels which were given to him for the use of the Temple, to regulate the sacrifices, and observe the rites of the great Jehovah. To appoint judges and magistrates, punish vice, and establish good order throughout the land.

"When Esdras arrived at Jerusalem, he found, with great concern, that the first comers among the Jews had intermarried with the inhabitants of the country; he dreaded the consequences of those alliances; and after he had made known his commission from the King, he convened the people, and represented to them how contrary to the Holy Law those profane marriages were; and how necessary it was to break them off. The people were convinced by his discourse, and, with one accord, solemnly promised to dissolve the present, and to make no future marriages, with the idolaters of the land.

You have now, my dear children, heard sufficient to give you some idea of that people, whose deliverance from a wicked plot formed so bright an epoch in Queen Esther's history. I will now endeavour to give you an account of her.

"Esther was one of the Jewish captive maidens, niece to Mordecai, who held the situation of a door-keeper in the palace of King Ahasuerus, the Mighty, as he is called in Scripture, and who is thought to be the same person as Darius Hystaspes, who allowed the Jews to go on with their Temple.'

EMMA. "What country was he king of, papa?"
MR. W. ""
Persia, my dear. He reigned from India to

The

Ethiopia, over 127 provinces, and held his court at Shusan, which was kept up in a style of great splendour. couches upon which they used to sit, or rather recline at meals, were overlaid with silver and gold; and we read that the pavement of their rooms was of porphyry, marble, and alabaster. Their drinking vessels were of gold.

"We read also that the king at one of his usual grand entertainments given to the officers of his court, having drank rather too freely of wine, commanded that Vashti, his Queen, should appear before them, to show the princes and people her beauty. As it was not at all usual for females to appear so publicly, she refused to come at the bidding ; and the king, by the advice and council of his ministers, divorced her, degraded her from the royal dignity, and commanded her estate to be given unto another."

JOHN. 66

'Was not that a very cruel judgment, papa?" MR. W. Yes, John, but women, at that time, and in eastern countries, were not considered or treated as equals, and the ministers who advised the king to act so cruelly, thought that if the king submitted to such disobedience, it would set a bad example.

After Queen Vashti's disgrace, it was ordered that beautiful maidens from all parts of the kingdom, be brought unto the custody of Hege, the king's Chamberlain, and that the one the king liked best should be queen, instead of Vashti.

"Now in the palace was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, he was one of the captives whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away with King Jeconiah to Babylon, and he brought up Hadassah, or Esther, his niece. She

had, from her infancy, been educated by him, and at the death of her parent, he adopted her as his own daughter. She was very fair and beautiful; so Esther, among the rest of the maidens, was brought before Hege, the chamberlain, who preferred her to all the rest.

Esther, with the same docility as during her childhood, continued to respect the precepts of her adopted father, Mordecai, and to regulate her whole conduct by his advice; and she was charged by him to make no mention of her country or her people to the king."

JOHN. 66

Why did Mordecai wish her to keep silence about her people, papa?"

MR. W.

Because the Jews, being a despised people, he thought it might prevent her being chosen by the king, and thus she would not be enabled to be of service to them afterwards.

When Esther was brought before the king, she obtained favour with him before all the other women, and her marriage was celebrated with princely magnificence. The king set the royal crown upon her head, and honoured her with every mark of favour and distinction.

"All this while, Mordecai still continued his post of gate keeper. On one occasion, he found out that two of the king's chamberlains, Bigshan and Teresh, being angry, sought to kill the king, which he had told Esther, who informed the king of it, in Mordecai's name. This being found correct, on strict enquiry, they were both hanged on a tree; and it was written in the book of the Chronicles before the king."

JOHN.

"What book was that, papa ?"

To be continued.