hearty good will. It is no wonder the Targum should say, that, when he received the king's command thus to honor Mordecai, he begged the king to kill him, rather than degrade him by compelling him to render such service to a despised Jew. No wonder he went home, that night, to his house, mourning and having his head covered-verse 12. It was an ancient custom, among the Jews and Persians, and, perhaps, other nations, also, to cover the head in times of great sorrow and mourning, and, also, as a token of reverence and submission. On the days of mourning for the dead, or showing affection for them, one may see multitudes in the grave-yards of Scutari, and other Asiatic cities, with their heads covered, engaged, on theis knees, at their devotions. Elijah wrapped his head in his mantle at the mouth of the cave, as we read in 1 Kings xix, in token of his reverence and readiness to hear and obey the voice of the Lord. And so, when David fled from Absalom, he "went by the ascent of Mount Olives, and wept, as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot; and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. (2 Sam. xv: 30.) And so, also, the nobles in the time of famine, in Jeremiah xiv: 3, 4, were confounded and ashamed, and "covered their heads."

Here we have a foreshadowing of the future. The feet of the gods, as the proverb says, may be shod with wool, and they may be slow as well as soft in their coming; but their coming is certain and terrible. Mordecai is at last honored. Justice seemed tardy, but came at last, and with a reward all the greater, on ac

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count of her tardiness. But he wears his honors meekly. He is not puffed up with vanity to-day, because yesterday the streets of Shushan were ringing with the honors the king had bestowed on him. And Mordecai came again to the king's gate-as prompt and diligent at his humble post, as if no honors had been granted him. But Haman, poor miserable man, ready to plant

"Hensbane and aconite on his mother's grave,"

if he could only satiate his revenge on Mordecai, hastens home, boiling over with rage. Rapidly, however, is his cup filling up. If the gods in Persia have been traveling with leaden feet, now they will strike with iron hands. If their mills grind slowly, they will grind to powder at last. Haman had the gallows builtrushes to court to have Mordecai hanged on it, is called in, considers himself flattered, prescribes for his own exaltation, as he supposed. But alas! how bitter his disappointment! How unexpected the turn of events that day! The great honor he had plotted for himself, he has himself been compelled to bestow upon his most abhorred adversary, and then to go home under public disgrace. And worse still, the very first to reproach him, are those that advised him to pursue this malicious course toward Mordecai. Ah! this was the bitterest part of his cup. "And Haman told Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends, everything that had befallen him. L Then said his wise men and Zeresh, his wife, unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against

L

him, but shalt surely fall before him." Sage counsellors! Fools! why did you not think of this sooner? Are you now afraid that Mordecai is indeed of Abraham's seed? He has been much talked about of late, how is it that you are not certain whether he is a Jew or not? And now that you find Haman in trouble for following your advice, how is it that you are so ready to overwhelm him with reproach? But on what ground do you conclude that if Mordecai is of Abraham's seed, and if Haman had once begun to fall before him, that he must ultimately be crushed by him? Is it merely from views of general policy and the custom of courts, that when once a new favorite appears, old ones are sacrificed?-that in politics the rising, and not the setting sun is worshipped? Or is it because you are somewhat familiar with Hebrew history? Are you acquainted with the predictions of the old Hebrew prophNets, and are you afraid of the great and all-powerful God whom these Jews worship? Have you read of the miracles of Moses and of the overthrow of Pharaoh, of the exploits of Joshua, and the conquest of Canaan? Are you afraid of the slaying of your first born, or of another miracle like that of the Red Sea? And are you searching the chronicles of the reign of David, and of the overthrow of Sennacherib's mighty host? The history of Daniel was recent and must have been known to them.

The septuagint asserts here, that Haman's wife said, Thou shalt surely fall before him, for the living God is with him. This was true in every particular. The living God was with Mordecai, and, on this account, Haman was sure to fall before him; but how did such

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a wicked heathen woman come to utter such a sentiment? Were the surrounding heathen under an abiding, indefinite, but deep impression that the Jews were a peculiar people, and that extraordinary Providences attended them? Or were they under an instinctive knowledge that Mordecai was a protege of Divine Providence? Or rather, did not the spirit of God give them some intimations of the glory that certainly awaited the seed of the Jews,-such as Balaam and Caiphas had?

1. In Haman honoring Mordecai, we have a remarkable verification of the fable of the dog and the shadow. He gaped after the shadow and lost the substance. Folly generally rides after pride. Haman grew more and more insolent, and arrogant, as he advanced in wealth and レ power, until he reached the highest point allowed to him by Providence. He did not consider that he who does not climb gets no fall, and that he that climbs too high is sure, at last, to come down with a terrible crash. His temerity is remarkable. Thinking, however, that he was ordered to cut out his own honor, it is natural he should have made the measure large. So vaulting was his envy that he must have Mordecai swing on a gallows fifty cubits high, when five cubits would have answered just as well, but then the ignominy would only have been five cubits high, whereas he was resolved it should be fifty. And so sharp set was he for Jewish blood, that he cannot wait for the general massacre, but must break his fast on Mordecai. But there is an unseen Divinity shaping his destiny, whose plans never miscarry. The king calls for the Chronicles, and God's hand, on the margin, points the reader to the place

where Mordecai's services are recorded, but not rewarded, and this leads at once to Mordecai's honor and Haman's severe mortification.

2. How completely wretched are the envious and the proud. Pride is the canker-worm of the soul. It always renders us unhappy. As soon as the angels let it enter their hearts, if it be correct that their sin began in pride, they became wicked and wretched. Adam sought the forbidden fruit to satisfy his inordinate desires. Solomon's proud heart ceased not to pursue his pleasures and ambition till he was obliged to confess all was vanity and vexation. Ahab had enough, but his covetousness did not let him rest till he had Naboth's vineyard, and, with it, Jehovah's curse. Haman was prime minister of the greatest empire then in the world, but how wretched, because this contemptible Jew would not render him such homage as his proud heart exacted. It is ever so with those who have not a new heart. The most wealthy and highly honored are not content. There is something still wanting. There is something they still complain about. They make themselves miserable when they ought to be happy. Oh, how little a thing is earthly grandeur! How little a thing may embitter all human honor and affluence! An Eastern proverb says, a gnat may run an elephant mad. A dead fly spoils the pot of ointment, says the Bible. So it was with Haman. The pride of his heart deceived him. The fear of God was not before his eyes. Always feeding his vanity, and his selfishness, his envy grew to such a size that it allowed him no rest. Day and night it tyrannized over