ACTIONS OUR TEACHERS. 333 hearing him read a lecture on chirography. Alexander the Great was much more inspired by studying the history of the exploits of Achilles and Cyrus the Great, than he was by the lectures of Aristotle on courage and heroism. Seneca says, the crowd of philosophers which followed Socrates, learned more of their ethics from his manners than from his discourses. And of Origen, it is said that, though he was one of the most learned men, and most voluminous writers of his or of any age, that he recommended religion more by his example than by all that he wrote. And this peculiarity of the human mind is duly provided for in the Sacred Scriptures. It is God's plan, in His holy word, to make His goodness, as it were, to pass before us in living forms, and then to have the record made and preserved for our instruction, warning and comfort. If it is faith that we are to be taught, then we have the lives of Abraham and Noah, and a host of worthies; and so, for meekness, Moses; and for patience, Job; and for zeal, Peter and Paul. There are illustrious examples in the Scriptures of every Christian virtue, and, in the Son of God, we have an example of perfect goodness. Nor is there any treatise on sin, that shows its odiousness so clearly, as the expulsion from the garden, the drowning of the old world, the overthrow of the cities of the plain, and the history of the Israelites, and the sufferings and "bloody passion" of our Lord, when He made His soul an offering for sin. It is thus that infinite wisdom has seen fit to teach us, namely, that truth and error, sin and holiness, should be lived out, and then the history written and preserved for us. This plan has been followed in our sacred writings, both as acter. to nations and as to individuals, and it is certainly not without significance. It is, no doubt, true that historic preaching, or the communicating of religious truth by parables and narratives, was eminently fitted to rude or half-civilized nations; but it is equally true, that the most refined Greeks and Romans, as well as the most polished nations of the East, have been greatly delighted with precisely the same method of entertainment and instruction. And, I fancy, it were difficult now to find a man too highly educated, east or west, to relish a good parable, or a great truth, exhibited in its strength and beauty, in a living charIf history, and fable, and parable, are suited, in a peculiar manner, for the instruction of children, and the uneducated classes, it is no less true that they are also the most interesting and convincing methods of presenting truth to the aged and most cultivated intellects. Even philosophers prefer to have religious truth brought home to them in a simple garb. They desire consolation for grief, not on stilts, nor in abstract and stately phrases, but in a simple style. "When the great" and learned Bengel was ill, he sent for one of the students of his University, to impart to him some word of consolation. The youth replied, "Sir, I am but a pupil, a mere learner, I don't know what to say to a teacher like you." "What!" said Bengel, "a Divinity student, and not able to give a word of Scriptural comfort!" The student, abashed, contrived to utter the text: "The blood of Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sin." "That is the very word I want," said Bengel, "it is quite enough;" and taking him affectionately by the hand, dismissed him. TRUE LOOKING GLASSES. 335 Grief, whether in the palace or in the cottagewhether in the university or the log-cabin, is always simple. A great man, bowed down under affliction, has no time, nor disposition, for learned investigations. He wants something to lean upon. His own powers of body and mind are relaxed; he wants comfort without toil. His own spirit is fainting; he wants relief, not learned abstractions; and where can he find comfort so easily, and with so direct an application, as in the looking-glass of reliable history? He may there find an example similar, or so nearly like his own case, that he has only to change the name, and it is himself. We have found that the Persians were remarkable for their chronicles, and that it was fortunate for Mordecai, and the Jews, that they were; and, it is also fortunate for us, that we have so many documents that prove the truth of our sacred narratives. Even the Tareekhs of Persia, which are very numerous, and of great importance to this day, are full of illustrations of, and allusions to such facts, customs and past events, as throw light upon the Hebrew chronicles, as far as they are connected with the history of Persia. The Chaldee Targum is extravagant in praising Mordecai. It says: "All the kings of the earth feared and trembled before him he was as resplendent as the evening star among the stars; and was as bright as Aurora beaming forth in the morning; and he was chief of the Jews." And our text says (Esth. ix: 4,) that "Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces; for this man, Mordecai, waxed greater and greater." Read also, the tenth chapter of Esther. : The great king, Ahasuerus, laid a tribute upon the land; that is, upon the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces; and upon the isles of the sea, probably "the isles of Greece," which were conquered by Darius Hystaspes. And Mordecai was next unto the king—was his prime minister, and, under the king, governor of his whole empire. And he was exalted to be a blessing to his people. It was his study to promote their prosperity seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed, and he was accepted of his brethren. This is a great eulogy. It means, that he sought to advance his brethren in wealth, he settled their disputes, causing them to live, as far as possible, in peace with their Persian neighbors, and among themselves; and he was accepted of his brethren. The basis of their prosperity was peace, and they had confidence in their government; it was likely, therefore, that their well-doing would continue a long time. If Ahasuerus, Esther and Mordecai have not died, they must be somewhat ancient by this time. But our history does not tell us anything of their death. It is possible, then, I fancy, notwithstanding the skeptic's cavilling at omissions in the sacred writings, for some things to be omitted that must have happened, and are, therefore, in themselves true; and possible, also, for these same writings, in which omissions thus occur, to be credible. Omissions are not, necessarily, contradictions, nor are they sufficient to destroy our faith in the genuineness or authenticity of a record. We have some traditions-even some monumental proof -that Esther and Mordecai must have died; for we have their tomb, although this is not conclusive, for TOMB OF ESTHER. 337 some men have built tombs for themselves which never contained their ashes. The sarcophagus, or coffin, of an Empress of Russia, made for herself, during her lifetime, and sent to the Convent of Mount Sinai, contains, instead of her Czarinian ashes, the reputed body of St. Catharine. The politics of Asia and of Europe would not permit a Russian Empress to take her last sleep at Mount Sinai. The Pharaoh who lies in the coral chambers of the Red Sea, built his pyramid-tomb in his day, as we found in our lectures on Moses, but another possessed it. But of Ahasuerus we have neither record of his death nor monument to mark his tomb. The grave of the absolute sovereign of one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, even from India to Ethiopia, is totally unknown. And so is the grave of Moses and of John Calvin. No man knoweth it to this day. The causes or the reasons why we know nothing of the grave of Moses, Ahasuerus or Calvin are, doubtless, very different, but the fact is the same. It is a simple, and not wholly a useless custom, to plant flowers over the graves of our beloved dead, and sometimes to gather a flower from their grave, as a memento of affection. Now, we would have our readers, who have come with us thus far, visit the tomb of our Queen, and, while musing there, gather a few flowers, that we hope may bloom in beauty and fragrance many days. It is believed by most travelers that the tomb of Esther and Mordecai exists to this day. At least, a tomb so called is still shown, near the city of Hamadan, in Persia, which lies on the route as one goes from Bagdad to the Caspian. The tomb is in the |