yet the LORD thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God." Prov. xl. 16, 17. "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore; for ye are of more value than many sparrows." Luke xi. 6, 7. 3. We expect to be able to show from the testimony in this case that it is not only God's plan to work by means, but often to surprise his people by unexpected deliverances, and by bringing great results out of small beginnings. The greatest events in human history have been generally produced by apparently insignificant causes, and because of their quiet might, they have awakened at first but little interest. The greatest powers of nature are silent and invisible. The power of gravitation, what is it? Who hath seen it? The lightning and the dew how powerful, and yet how impalpable! The ruins of a city, are they not the fruits of a spark? And if a noble mind is wrecked, is it not the result of a wrong impression recieved in the nursery, or of some insidious falsehood imperceptibly imbibed and left to take root and grow strong and work out the ruin, before its poison was detected? The turning point of Washington's life-the decision that made him the Father of his country, was it not his regard for his mother? Joseph and Moses, Daniel and Mordecai, illustrate the value of right principles implanted in the youthful mind by parental affection and piety. One could not yield to the most seductive temptation, because to do so would be a sin against God; another refused the THE STILL SMALL VOICE. 77 honors of an empire, then the greatest on earth, and chose to suffer poverty and persecution with God's people, because of the faith in which he had been brought up. And Mordecai and Daniel, captives in the most licentious and luxurious heathen cities on the globefar from home and from all parental oversight-and great favorites with the Courts of Babylon and Persia, never forgot their education, nor brought reproach upon their mothers' catechism or their fathers' faith. The impressions made on their young hearts by their Hebrew parents were indelible. The beauty, power and fascination of the most splendid heathen courts could not efface them. The fiery prophet Elijah is another illustration of the effectiveness of silent influences. The solemn thunder came rattling from the desert clouds, the hurricane came sweeping over the rocks and riven mountains of granite and porphyry, filling the air with clouds of sand-the rocking and crashing march of the earthquake, and the blinding flame of the lightning—all failed to reach his heart. God was not in the wind, nor in the fire, nor in the earthquake. It was when the Lord spake to the prophet "in the still small voice," that his heart was opened and his stubborn soul was conquered. Mother, sow the seed. Father, instill the principle. And cry to God, mightily both of you, and far away, and many days hence, the seed will grow, the principle will live, and your God will be the God and everlasting portion of your children. The waving harvest is all from seed cast into the ground with mingled hopes and fears. The rolling river springs from brooks among the hills, whose tiny fountains an infant's hand could turn aside. "That yew tree of a thousand years was once a little seed; An apple, all too fair to see, destroyed a world of souls! MEN." Tupper. SOMETIME between the famous battle of Marathon, and the celebrated retreat of the ten thousand Greeks under Xenophon, say about five hundred years before the angels sang "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," the great king Ahasuerus sat on his throne, in the royal city of Susa, and made a feast to all his princes and servants. But so uncertain is human fame so evanescent all earthly glory, that it is difficult to know who this same great king Ahasuerus was. Almost Almost every Medo-Persian king, from Cyaxeres I down to Ochus, or Artaxerxes III, has, in turn, been identified by some interpreter of ancient records as the Ahasuerus of Esther. Some of the uncertainties that surround us, in Persian history, may be anticipated, when we remember the curious fact that, up to this time, I believe, no trace whatever is found of the name of Xerxes in the Persian records. It is probable, as his father reigned sixty years, that the period of his government has been confounded with that of his father, Gustasp. If so, it is a remarkable instance of the uncertainty of enduring fame. If a monarch, that led such armies as Xerxes did, has failed to perpetuate his name in the history of his own country, who can expect to live in the memory of mankind? If it be correct that Gustasp was his father, and that his reign is merged into his, then his name, in the Persian annals, is not Xerxes, but Isfunder, the father of Artaxerxes Longimanus. Perhaps all agree that the name Ahasuerus of the Hebrews and Romans is the same as the Artaxerxes of the Greeks, and the Ardsheer of the Persians. Ardsheer, or Ardashir, signifies, according to some, "the lion of the camp"-Sir John Malcolm says, "the Prince of the earth;" and Grotefend says, "the great warrior." The whole name, in Persian, is the long-handed Ardsheer, which corresponds exactly to Artaxerxes Longimanus, that is, Artaxerxes Longarms—his arms are said to have been so long, that when he stood upright, like Rob Roy, the ends of his fingers reached below his knees. It was at the court of this long-armed prince that the famous Themistocles found refuge as an exile, and where he is said to have learned the Persian language in one year. Thucy. lib. I: 138. If this is correct, it is a proof that the Greck and Persian languages were much alike, which is as we should expect, if they are descendants from one common mother, the Sanskrit, as our best scholars tell us. See Vaux., p. 116. The Some say, this Ahasuerus was Xerxes the Great, the terror of Greece- so Jahn, Scaliger and others. learned Scaliger identifies as proof of this, Xerxes' queen |