{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_25363/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_25363","id":"gutenberg_25363","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25363","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Biography","Category: History - Religious","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Don Kostuch\n\n\n\n\nHALF HOURS IN BIBLE LANDS,\n\nOR,\n\nSTORIES AND SKETCHES FROM THE SCRIPTURES AND THE EAST.\n\nPATRIARCHS, KINGS, AND KINGDOMS.\n\nBY REV. P. C. HEADLEY,\nAUTHOR OF \"THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE,\"\n\"HARVEST WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,\"\n\"THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE,\"\n\"MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION,\"\nETC., ETC., ETC.\n\nWITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\nPHILADELPHIA:\nPUBLISHED BY JOHN E. POTTER & CO.,\nNo. 617 SANSOM STREET.\n\nEntered according to Act of Congress,\nin the year 1867, by  JOHN E. POTTER & CO.,\nIn the Clerk's Office of the\nUnited States District Court in and for the Eastern\nDistrict of Pennsylvania.\n\n\n[Illustration: Isaac and Esau]\n\n\n[Illustration: Job and His Three Friends.]\n\n\nTHE BIBLE AND THE HOLY LAND.\n\nPATRIARCHS, KINGS, AND KINGDOMS.\n\n\nSCENES IN THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS.\n\n\nThe patriarchs might be called family kings--the divinely appointed\nrulers of households. They were the earliest sovereigns under God of\nwhich we have any account. Their authority was gradually extended by the\nunion of households, whose retinue of servants was often large, and\ntheir wealth very great. The founder and leader of the patriarchal line\nchosen by God from the wealthy nomades, or wandering farmers of the\nfruitful valleys, was Abram. A worshipper of the Infinite One, he\nmarried Sarai, a maiden of elevated piety and personal beauty. And\ndoubtless they often walked forth together beneath the nightly sky,\nwhose transparent air in that latitude made the stars impressively--\n\n\"The burning blazonry of God!\"\n\nUpon the hill-tops around, were the observatories and altars of Chaldean\nphilosophy, whose disciples worshipped the host of Heaven. In the\nserenity of such an hour, with the white tents reposing in the distance,\nand the \"soul-like sound\" of the rustling forest alone breaking the\nstillness, it would not be strange, as they gazed on flaming Orion and\nthe Pleiades, if they had bowed with the Devotee of Light, while--\n\n  \"Beneath his blue and beaming sky,\n   He worshipped at their lofty shrine,\n   And deemed he saw with gifted eye,\n   The Godhead in his works divine.\"\n\nBut a purer illumination than streamed from that radiant dome, brought\nnear in his majesty the Eternal, and like the holy worshippers of Eden,\nthey adored with subdued and reverent hearts, their infinite Father.\n\nThere is great sublimity and wonderful power in the purity and growth of\nreligious principle, in circumstances opposed to its manifestation. The\ntemptations resisted--the earnest communion with each other--the\nglorious aspirations and soarings of imagination, when morning broke\nupon the summits, and evening came down with its stars, and its rising\nmoon, flooding with glory nature in her repose. These, and a thousand\nlovely and touching scenes of that pastoral life, are all unrecorded.\nThe great events in history, and bold points in character, are seized by\nthe inspired penman as sufficient to mark the grand outline of God's\nprovidential and moral government over the world, and his care of his\npeople.\n\nJust when it would best accomplish his designs, which are ever marching\nto their fulfillment, Jehovah called to Abram, and bade him go to a\ndistant land which he would show him. With his father-in-law, and with\nLot, his flocks and herds, he journeyed toward Palestine. When he\narrived at Haran, in Mesopotamia, pleased with the country, and probably\ninfluenced by the declining health of the aged Terah, he took up his\nresidence there. Here he remained till the venerable patriarch, Sarai's\nfather, died. The circle of relatives bore him to the grave, and kept\nthe days of mourning. But the dutiful daughter wept in the solitary\ngrief of an orphan's heart. A few years before she had lost a brother,\nand now the father to whom she was the last flower that bloomed on the\ndesert of age, and who lavished his love upon her, was buried among\nstrangers.\n\nThen the command to move forward to his promised inheritance came again\nto Abram. With Sarai he journeyed on among the hills, encamping at night\nbeside a mountain spring, and beneath the unclouded heavens arching\ntheir path, changeless and watchful as the love of God--exiles by the\npower of their simple faith in him. Soon as they reached Palestine,\nAbram consecrated its very soil by erecting a family altar, first in the\nplain of Moreh, and again on the summits that catch the smile of morning\nnear the hamlet of Bethel.\n\nMonths stepped away, rapidly as silently, old associations wore off, and\nAbram was a wealthy and happy man in the luxuriant vales of Canaan. His\nflocks dotted the plains, and his cattle sent down their lowing from\nencircling hills. But more than these to him was the affection of his\nbeautiful wife. Her eye watched his form along the winding way, when\nwith the ascending sun he went out on the dewy slopes, and kindled with\na serene welcome when at night-fall he returned for repose amid the\nsacred joys of home.\n\nAt length there came on a fearful famine. The rain was withholden, and\nthe dew shed its benediction no more upon the earth. He was compelled to\nseek bread at the court of Pharaoh, or perish. Knowing the power of\nfemale beauty, and the want of principle among the Egyptian princes, he\nwas afraid of assassination and the captivity of Sarai which would\nfollow. Haunted with this fear, he told her to say that she was his\nsister--which was not a direct falsehood, but only so by implication.\nAccording to the Jewish mode of reckoning relationship, she might be\ncalled a sister; and Abram stooped to this prevarication under that\nterrible dread which, in the case of Peter, drove a true disciple of\nChrist to the brink of apostacy and despair.\n\n\n[Illustration: Results of Prevarication. Peter denying his Master.]\n\n\nBut his deception involved him in the very difficulty he designed to\nescape. The king's courtiers saw the handsome Hebrew, and extolled her\nbeauty before him. He summoned her to the apartments of the palace, and\ncaptivated by her loveliness, determined to make her his bride. During\nthe agonizing suspense of Abram, and the concealed anguish of Sarai in\nher conscious degradation, the hours wore heavily away, until the\njudgment of God upon the royal household brought deliverance. Pharaoh,\nthough an idolater, knew by this supernatural infliction, that there was\nguilt in the transaction, and called Abram to an account. He had nothing\nto say in self-acquittal, and with a strange magnanimity, was sent away\nquietly, with his wife and property, followed only by the reproaches of\nPharaoh, and his own wakeful conscience.\n\nAbram returned to Palestine, became a victor in fierce battles with a\nvastly outnumbering foe, and was in possession of a splendid fortune.\n\nWhether in Egypt, or in his tent on the plains of Palestine, Abram, with\nall the patriarchs, was a true gentleman. We may doubt whether any\nmodern school of refinement in manners could furnish any nobler examples\nof dignity and civility in personal learning and manners, than were the\nrich dwellers in ancient Palestine. Subjects fell prostrate before\nsovereigns; equals, when they met, inclined the head toward the breast,\nand placed the right hand on the left breast. Of the Great King it is\nwritten, \"Come, let us bow down; let us worship before the Lord our\nMaker.\"\n\nJehovah appeared to Abram in a glorious vision, talking with him as\nfriend to friend. He fell on his face in the dust, as did the exile of\nPatmos ages after, while a voice of affection and hope carne from the\nbending sky: \"I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou\nperfect.\" The solemn covenant involving the greatness and splendor of\nthe people and commonwealth that should spring from the solitary pair,\nwas renewed; and as an outward seal, he was named Abraham, The father of\na great multitude--and his wife Sarah, The princess. Still he laughed at\nthe absurdity that Sarah would ever be a mother, and invoked a blessing\non Ishmael, but evidently said nothing to her upon a subject dismissed\nas incredible from his thoughts. For when the celestial messengers were\nin the tent, on their way to warn Lot, she listened to their earnest\nconversation, concealed by the curtains, and hearing that repeated\npromise based on the immutability of God, also laughed with bitter mirth\nat her hopeless prospect in regard to the marvelous prediction. And when\none of the Angels, who was Jehovah veiled in human form, as afterward\n\"manifest in the flesh,\" charged her with this unbelief and levity, the\ndiscovery roused her fears, and approaching him, without hesitation, she\ndenied the fact. He knew perfectly her sudden apprehension, and only\nrepeated the accusation, enforced by a glance of omniscience, like that\nwhich pierced the heart of Peter.\n\nThe group separated, and two of those bright beings went to Sodom. The\nnext morning Abraham walked out upon the plain, and looked toward the\nhome of Lot. He saw the smoke as of a great furnace going up to the calm\nazure, from the scathed and blackened plains, where life was so busy and\njoyous a few hours before! With a heavy heart he returned to his tent,\narid brought Sarah forth to behold the scene. She clung with trembling\nto his side, while she listened to the narration of the terrible\noverthrow of those gorgeous cities, and the rescue of her brother's\nhousehold, and beheld in the distance the seething and silent grave of\nmillions, sending up a swaying column of ebon cloud, like incense, to\nGod's burning indignation against sin.\n\nThey left the vale of Mamre, and journeyed to Gera, where, with a\nmarvellous forgetfulness of the past, the beauty of Sarah again led them\ninto deception and falsehood, and with the same result as before.\nAbimelech, the king, would have taken her for his wife as Abraham's\nsister, had not God appeared in a dream, threatening immediate death.\nUpon pleading his innocence, he was spared, and expostulating with his\nguest, generously offered him a choice of residence in the land; but\nrebuked Sarah with merited severity.\n\nProphecy and covenant now hastened to their fulfillment. Sarah gave\nbirth to a son, and with the name of God upon her lips, she gave\nutterance to holy rapture. With all her faults, she was a pious and\nnoble woman. She meant to train him for the Lord, and therefore when she\nsaw young Ishmael mocking at the festival of his weaning, she besought\nher husband to send away the irreverent son, whose influence might ruin\nthe consecrated Isaac. Hagar, with a generous provision for her wants,\nwas a fugitive; and the Most High approved the solicitude of a mother\nfor an only child, around whose destiny was gathered the interest of\nages, and the hopes of a world.\n\nAnd now, with the solemn shadows of life's evening hours falling around\nher, and a heart subdued by the discipline of Providence, in the fulness\nof love which had been rising so long within the barriers of hope\ndeferred, she bent prayerfully over the very slumbers of that fair boy,\nand taught him the precious name of God with the first prattle of his\ninfant lips. How proudly she watched the unfolding of this bud of\npromise! When, in the pastimes of childhood, he played before the tent\ndoor, or, with a shout of gladness, ran to meet Abraham returning from\nthe folds, her calm and glowing eye marked his footsteps, and her\ngrateful aspirations for a blessing on the lad, went up to the Heaven of\nheavens. At length he stood before her in the manliness and beauty of\nyouth, unscarred by the rage of passions, and with a brow open and\nlaughing as the radiant sky of his own lovely Palestine.\n\n\n[Illustration: Hagar in the Wilderness.]\n\n\nIt was a morning which flooded the dewy plains with glory, and filled\nthe groves with music, when Abraham came in from his wonted communion\nwith God, and called for Isaac, and told him to prepare for a three\ndays' journey in the wilderness. How tenderly was Sarah regarded in this\nscene of trial! Evidently no information of the awful command to\nsacrifice the son of her old age was made to her. She might have read\nsomething fearful in the lines of anxious thought and the workings of\ndeep emotion in the face of Abraham. But he evaded all inquiries on the\nsubject, \"clave the wood,\" and accompanied by two of his young men,\nturned from his dwelling with a blessing from that wondering mother, and\nwas soon lost from her straining vision among the distant hills. Upon\nthe third day he saw the top of Mount Moriah kindling in the rising sun,\nand taking Isaac alone, ascended to the summit, whereon was to be reared\nan altar, which awakened more intense solicitude in heaven, than any\noffering before or since, except on Calvary, where God's \"only be-gotten\nand well-beloved Son\" was slain. There is no higher moral sublimity than\nthe unwavering trust and cheerful obedience of this patriarch, when the\nvery oath of the Almighty seemed perjured, and the bow of promise\nblotted from the firmament of faith!\n\nBut he believed Jehovah, and would have clung to his assurance, though\nthe earth had reeled in her orbit, and every star drifted from its\nmoorings. He prayed for strength, with his hand on the forehead of his\nsubmissive son.\n\n  \"He rose up, and laid\n  The wood upon the altar. All was done,\n  He stood a moment--and a deep, quick flush\n  Passed o'er his countenance; and then he nerved\n  His spirit with a bitter strength, and spoke--\n  'Isaac! my only son'--the boy looked up,\n  And Abraham turned his face away, and wept.\n  'Where is the lamb, my father?' O, the tones,\n  The sweet, the thrilling music of a child!\n  How it doth agonize at such an hour!\n  It was the last, deep struggle--Abraham held\n  His loved, his beautiful, his only son,\n  And lifted up his arm, and called on God\n  And lo! God's angel staid him--and he fell\n  Upon his face and wept.\"\n\nThe years fled, the good old Abraham died, and Isaac succeeded him to\nthe patriarchal honors. He had two sons, Esau and Jacob. The elder\nbrother was irreligious, and married a heathen wife. God had rejected\nhim, and promised to Jacob the birthright; in other words, he was to be\nthe chief patriarch, through whose descendants the Messiah should come.\nHe was his mother's favorite boy, while Isaac clung to Esau.\n\nWhen the fond father became weak and blind from age, feeling that death\nwas near, one day he called Esau, and told him as he might die suddenly,\nto get him venison, and prepare for the solemn occasion of receiving his\nparting blessing, which should secure the privileges and pre-eminence of\nthe first-born. The hunter went into the fields, and Rebekah recollected\nthat Jacob had purchased the birthright of his brother for a mess of\npottage one day when he came in from the chase faint with hunger and\nexhaustion. She determined by a stroke of management to secure the\npatriarchal benediction. She sent him to the flocks after two kids,\nwhich were prepared with the savory delicacy his father loved, dressed\nhim up in Esau's apparel, covering his hands and neck to imitate the\nhairiness of the rightful heir, and sent him to the beside of the dying\nIsaac. When the patriarch inquired who he was, he replied, \"I am Esau,\nthy first-born.\" This was beyond belief, because even the skillful\nhunter could scarcely, without a miracle, so soon bring in the game, and\ndress it for his table. Jacob was called to his side, and he felt of his\nhands; the disguise completed the delusion, although his voice had the\nmilder tone of the young shepherd to that father's ear. He repeated the\ninterrogation concerning his name, then embracing him, pronounced in a\nstrain of true poetry, the perpetual blessing of Jehovah's favor upon\nhis undertakings, and his posterity. The stratagem had succeeded, and\nJacob hastened to inform his mother of the victory, just as Esau\nentered. When Isaac discovered the mistake, he trembled with excitement,\nwhile his son cried in anguish, \"Bless even me also, O my father!\" That\ncry pierced the breaking heart of the aged man, but it was a fruitless\nlament, He was inflexible, and Esau wept aloud over his blasted hopes;\nplotting at the same time, in his awakened enmity, the murder of Jacob.\n\nThis scene of deception, disappointment, and providential working, the\nintroductory picture brings vividly before us.\n\nThe patriarchs were generally shepherds, and when we read in the Bible\nof shepherds, we have but a poor impression of their business, if we\nthink only of the keeping of the small flocks kept in the fenced fields\nand yards of modern farmers. They made their wealth chiefly by feeding\nimmense flocks and herds. They had extensive open plains; and were\nobliged to watch the animals to prevent their being lost, stolen by\nrobbers, or devoured by ferocious beasts. When it was at all safe, the\nshepherds and their flocks slept in the fields, beneath the open sky, or\nunder the sheltering trees.\n\n\n[Illustration: The Welcome to a Wayward Son.]\n\n\nIf the country was infested by dangerous men or animals, the owners of\nthe flocks built the fold or sheep-cote. This enclosure was sometimes\nmerely a rude pen. The walls were of wood or stone, with a thatched\nroof--if they had any at all. The shepherd follows a wayward sheep, and\nbrings him back to a place of safety.\n\nThus the Good Shepherd of souls, whose disciples, like the flocks of the\nEast, \"know his voice,\" with his rod of affliction restrains the\nwandering and keeps securely the trusting ones.\n\nOccasionally a rich land owner would make an expensive fold--a kind of\ntown or fortress for his flocks. Keeping the sheep in the air, it was\nbelieved improved the texture of the wool, making it softer and firmer\nthan when exposed to the sweating and vapors which would necessarily\nresult from crowding them often and long into enclosures.\n\nAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were among the richest shepherds of\nantiquity, and stand alone in moral grandeur of character, so far as we\nhave any records of the Hebrew husbandmen.\n\nThe great enemy of the sheep the world over, is the wolf--a cunning,\nsavage, and daring creature. A lamb of the flock seems to be a dainty\nfeast for him. He relishes even a child; the human delicacy is quite as\ndelicious as the other. A mother, with three children, was once riding\nin a sledge in a desolate region, when a pack of wolves came running\nafter her. She drove rapidly on, but they came nearer and nearer, until\ntheir hot breath fell on her face. In her terror, she threw one of the\nchildren to the hungry wolves, hoping thus to pacify or check them until\nshe could get out of their reach. Soon, however, they came galloping on,\nsurrounding her sledge, and she flung another upon the snow. A brief\ndelay, and they were once more around her, and the last child was given\nto the beasts; and then she reached her home in safety.\n\nWhen she told the story to her neighbors, an exasperated peasant hewed\nher down with an axe, because she fed the wolves on her own offspring,\nselfishly saving by the sacrifice, her own life.\n\nHow like the destroyers of human virtue, and the great destroyer\nhimself! Wolves in sheep's clothing, stealing upon unguarded victims,\nand glorying in the destruction of all that is \"lovely and of good\nreport.\" for the transitory present and endless future!\n\nWe now turn to the annals of a patriarchal life which is entirely new,\nand intensely interesting--the only record of the kind in the Bible.\n\nThe inspired history introduces him in the following words: \"There was a\nman in the land of Uz, whose name was Job.\" This region was in Eastern\nArabia, and probably near the home of Abram when he was summoned by God\nto leave his idolatrous friends and neighbors in \"Ur of the Chaldees.\"\n\nIt is thought he lived not far from the time of the great founder of the\nHebrew patriarchy. Job was probably a descendant of Nahor, Abram's\nbrother. He was a devout, rich, and benevolent Gentile patriarch. The\nprincely fortune of this \"greatest of all the men of the East,\" is\nindicated by an inventory of his flocks and herds. He had \"seven\nthousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of\noxen, and five hundred she asses.\" His household was also \"very great.\"\nThis mighty man was a humble servant of God; and Satan could not bear to\nsee his influence and prosperity; and he determined to make him the\nshining mark of his enmity to God and man.\n\nThe mysterious account of his entrance upon the cruel work of attempted\nruin, is in the following words: \"Now there was a day when the sons of\nGod came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also\namong them.\" The saints of that early age were called \"Sons of God,\" but\nthe meaning seems to be that either Satan was permitted to appear in a\ngathering of angels who, returning from their ministries of love, were\nreporting to their king, and awaiting new instructions, or, it is\ndesigned only to represent the real character and power of the tempter,\nin contrast with the loyalty of God's servant.\n\nThe whole narrative bears the marks of a real history; and Jehovah is\nnot limited by our ideas of what he can consistently do. \"My ways are\nnot your ways, nor my thoughts your thoughts, saith the Lord.\"\n\nThe devil charged Job with selfish motives in serving God. He could\nafford to be religious with such rare and splendid prosperity. To show\nto the universe Satan's lying malice, his loyal subject's holy\ncharacter, and to comfort his people in all the ages following, while\nthe discipline purified and beautified the sufferer, he told the\nadversary to try the patriarch with a change of circumstances--the\nseverest trials; only his body must not be touched.\n\nThe gratified fiend hastened away to his attack upon the unsuspecting\nfriend of God, over whom he anticipated a great victory. The patriarch's\nfamily was large, and evidently a united and happy one. They had their\nanniversary festivals, which were hallowed by religious services; the\nfaithful and affectionate father offering sacrifices on such occasions.\nThe Lord was recognized amid the most joyful scenes of social life; and\nnot, as in many prosperous households of Christian name in all the ages\nsince, excluded from the circle of pleasure like an unwelcome, unworthy\nguest.\n\n[Illustration: The Cruel Husbandman.]\n\n\nThe birthday seems to have been the favorite anniversary; and at the\nvery moment Satan left Jehovah, the children were assembled at the house\nof the oldest brother. Job was not there. He may have gone away for\nawhile, or not yet have joined the rejoicing company.\n\nFor a messenger rushed into his presence with the startling intelligence\nthat the lawless Sabeans living in the region, had fallen upon the\nservants keeping the oxen and asses, and slaying them, had taken the\nanimals away. No sooner had the devil obtained permission to engage, in\nthe wicked enterprise, than he found ready agents among men. And before\nthe evil report was finished, another terrified, excited servant, came\nin, saying that the lightning of heaven had consumed the seven thousand\nsheep.\n\nThis intelligence was falling from the lips of the only shepherd who\nescaped the devouring fire, when a third messenger entered, pale with\nalarm, and announced the raid of three companies of Chaldeans upon the\nkeepers of the three thousand camels, killing all but the bearer of the\nnews, and driving off the beasts of burden. The trembling man was\ninterrupted by the sudden appearance of the fourth servant, wild with\nterror, crowning the crushing tidings already received, by telling Job\nthat a gale from the wilderness had swept down upon the eldest son's\ndwelling, where the whole family were, excepting the patriarch, and\nthrown walls and roof into a common wreck, burying his ten children\nunder the fragments.\n\nWe cannot easily imagine the stunning effect of these reports, following\neach other like successive claps of thunder from a cloudless sky. Satan\nwas watching the effect, ready to exult over the first expression of\nrepining and rebellion. But how sublime the resignation of the loyal\nheart of the childless, homeless, and penniless sufferer! After the\neastern custom in time of affliction, he cut off his hair, rent his\nrobe, fell upon the ground, and worshipped. The lips, tremulous with\nsorrow, uttered the often-quoted and beautiful words: \"The Lord gave,\nand the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.\" No\ndisloyal act, or foolish complaint against Jehovah, gratified the\nexpectant enemy of God and man. But Satan was not satisfied with the\ntrial of faith. He was allowed to appear before God, and in answer to\nthe questioning respecting the patriarch's lofty yet meek submission,\nbasely and meanly declared that if he had been permitted to torture the\nbody, he should have succeeded in proving Job to be a hypocrite. The\nLord had purposed to silence the devil, and thoroughly try and sanctify\nhis own child. So he told the tempter to do what he pleased, only he\nmust spare life.\n\nSuddenly poor Job was covered with burning ulcers, which defiled his\nform until he scraped it with a piece of broken pitcher. While sitting\nin the dust, a wretched mass of corruption, he found a new tempter in\nthe person of his wife: She asked him if he could still \"retain his\nintegrity,\" and urged him to \"curse God and die.\" Beautifully again his\nbreaking heart uttered its loyalty. Charging her with folly, he\ninquired: \"What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we\nnot receive evil?\"\n\nThe scene of sorrow is now changed. Job had three friends living in the\ncountry not far off, who were clearly intelligent, noble men. They heard\nof his calamities, and started on a visit of condolence. When they came\nin sight of him, he was so changed that at first they did not know him.\nThey wept aloud, rent their robes, and scattered dust on their heads, to\nexpress their overwhelming grief. There he sat, in miserable poverty and\ndisease, and all around him the ruins of his just before magnificent\nfortune, and the bodies or graves of his sons and daughters. They\napproached him, and could say nothing, but sat down with him seven days\nand nights without speaking a word--an awful, expressive silence. At\nlength Job could refrain no longer, but in his despondency, began to\nbewail his birth, and wish he had at least died in earliest infancy.\nThen was opened a long, eloquent, and wonderful discussion by the\nmourning company upon the providence and grace of God.\n\nJehovah at length spake from the rolling cloud, borne on the \"wings of\nthe wind,\" and indicated his dealings with a fallen race, pointing the\ndebaters for illustrations of power, wisdom, and glory, to his works of\ncreation, from the \"crooked serpent\" to \"Orion and the Pleiades,\"\nfloating in the nightly sky--the wonders of ocean, earth, and air.\n\nAmong the animals to which reference is made, there are three\nconspicuous ones, about which naturalists disagree--they cannot\ncertainly tell us what they were. These are the unicorn, supposed by\nmany to be the rhinoceros of the present day; the behemoth, thought to\nbe the hippopotamus or river-horse; and the leviathan, which answers\nvery well to the whale.\n\nThe description of the war horse is the finest ever written, and given\nin a few words; and yet he had not been seen amid the wildest storm of\nbattle, bearing his rider to the flaming mouths of ordnance, and through\nthe leaden hail of numberless infantry arms. \"Hast thou given the horse\nstrength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou make him\nafraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. He\npaweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength, he goeth on to meet\nthe armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither\nturneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the\nglittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground with\nfierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the\ntrumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle\nafar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.\"\n\nHe alludes to a very beautiful wonder of his forming skill--\"the\ntreasures of the snow.\" Few persons imagine the marvels of the fleecy\nstorm that whiten the earth in winter. What a variety of perfect\ncrystals! and how delicate their form and finish! The ice is made of\ncrystals, and often gives out aeolion music at the touch of winter. Even\nthe frost makes fine drawings on the window panes of leaves and flowers.\n\nBut the people of Palestine and the regions around it, know little of\nour northern winters. The cold season is brief, and the occasional snow\nstorms light, and of short duration.\n\nAfter God had finished his sublime appeal, Job bowed his head low before\nhim, and declared that all he had known of him before, compared with\nwhat he had learned since he was afflicted, was no more than hearing\nabout him; \"for,\" he added, \"now mine eye seeeth thee; wherefore I abhor\nmyself, and repent in dust and ashes.\"\n\nThen the Lord rebuked Job's friends, because they had judged him\nharshly, and \"had multiplied words without knowledge,\" directing them to\noffer a sacrifice for him.\n\nThe patriarch prospered again under Jehovah's smile, and became greater\nin wealth, and family, and influence, than he was when Satan assailed\nhim. The deceiver and persecutor does not appear again in the annals of\nthe devout Arabian; disappointed and enraged, he turned his malice\nagainst others more easily conquered and led captive by his wiles.\n\nHow awakening the thought that he still goes about \"as a roaring lion,\nseeking whom he may devour.\" But with loving trust in God, he can only\nrepeat his fruitless effort to destroy, preparing the way for richest\nblessings.\n\n\n[Illustration: Nathan Reproving David]\n\n\n[Illustration: David's Charge to Solomon.]\n\n\n\nTHE BIBLE AND THE HOLY LAND.\n\nPATRIARCHS. KINGS. AND KINGDOMS.\n\nTHE FIRST KINGS.\n\nTheocracy, we have seen, was the first form of government in the world.\n\nThe word is from Theos, which means God; for He ruled by direct command,\nand would have continued to have been the only and perfect sovereign,\nhad not man been disloyal to him.\n\nThe patriarchal quay, which was that of the family, having at length\nunited households and extended authority, was still a Theocracy.\n\nWhen God made his people a separate nation, each of the twelve tribes,\nwhich sprang from the sons of Jacob, had its own ruler. If any important\nmatter concerning them all demanded public attention, they called an\nassembly of their leaders.\n\nWhen the bondage in Egypt was broken, Moses was the deliverer and\nlawgiver of Israel, and Joshua the great general or military chieftain.\n\nThe high priest was the visible servant of God--his representative of\nthe Redeemer of his people.\n\nThen came the judges, who were a kind of governors, having power to\ndeclare war and make peace for the nation, but wearing no badges of\ndistinction. Jehovah revealed through them his will, and was still the\nglorious king of Israel.\n\nWith the increase in numbers and general prosperity, there was a\ndecrease of the religious element and of harmony among the people. They\nalso ceased to appreciate the simple and sublime principles of a\nTheocracy, while all around them was the central power and the pomp of\npagan monarchies; and they became tired of God's holy sovereignty,\nhaving no visible display of authority. There were dissensions and civil\nstrife in Israel, in consequence of these departures from the Lord, and\nstrange melancholy blindness to their preeminence over other nations.\n\nIt was with them as it will be in the great American Republic, if\nPuritan faith and works decline, until practical atheism prevails in our\n\"goodly land.\" The people will throw off wholesome restraints, become\ndivided North and South, and corrupt in morals, until a monarchy will be\nthe natural resort of the people, as a protection against their own\nselfish passions and conflicts.\n\nSamuel, the wonderful child of Elkanah and Hannah, given to them, like\nJephthah and Samson, as a special mark of divine favor, and who early\nentered the temple-service under Eli, was the last of the judges,\nexcepting the authority which he delegated to his sons. He was a noble,\ndutiful and devout boy, and a faithful priest and magistrate in Israel.\nEli, whose sons were dissipated, and slain by God's revealed purpose on\naccount of their enemies, preceded him, so that Samuel saw the last of\nthe Theocracy, and inaugurated by the Lord's command a monarchy in\nPalestine.\n\nThe Hebrews came to him begging for a king, and urging, as one reason\nfor the change, the unfitness of his sons to succeed him. They were\nmercenary and open to bribery, and it is not strange that they were\ndisliked by the people. It is one of many instances of departure by\nchildren from the counsels and prayers of the kindest parents, and\nchoosing the \"wages of sin.\"\n\nSamuel took the petition of the people to God for direction in answering\nit. The Lord's message was the following:\n\n\"Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee: for\nthey have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should\nnot reign over them. According to all the works which they have done,\nsince the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, even to this\nday, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they\nalso to thee. Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: nevertheless\ntestify solemnly to them, and show them the practice of the king that\nshall reign over them.\"\n\nHe then enumerated the burdens of the state which they must bear. The\ninventory of these royal exactions is so true to the experience of all\ncountries under kingly rule, you will read it with interest. It was the\nfirst divine statement of the nature of a monarchy, and has needed no\nimportant change in the progress of the ages. Jehovah told Samuel to\nrepeat the following description of the desired blessing, a king:\n\n\"He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots,\nand to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he\nwill appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and\nwill set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make\nhis instruments of war and instruments of chariots. And he will take\nyour daughters to be confectioners, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.\nAnd he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards,\neven the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take\nthe tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give them to his\nofficers, and to his servants; and he will take your men-servants, and\nyour maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and\nput them to his works. And he will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye\nshall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day, beware of your\nking which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in\nthat day.\"\n\n\n[Illustration: Saul and the Witch of Endor.]\n\n\nGod had selected the first monarch of earth outside of heathenism. In\nthe comparatively small tribe of Benjamin, was a man of honorable\nancestry named Kish. His son, Saul, was a splendid young man, and would\nhave attracted admiring attention anywhere, and in any land under the\nsun, then or since his day. He was taller from his shoulders than all\nthe rest of Israel's men, and possessed of the highest style of manly\nbeauty. Repeated mention is made of his noble figure and bearing. The\nprovidential circumstances which attended his promotion were remarkable.\n\n\nHe had wandered about for three days seeking the strayed asses of his\nfather. Fatigued with the unsuccessful search, he was inclined to\nabandon it and return home, when, finding himself near Ramah, where\nSamuel lived, he resolved to consult one who was renowned in all Israel\nas a man from whom nothing was hid. Instructed in the divine designs\nregarding Saul, the prophet received him with honor. He assured him that\nthe asses which he had sought were already found, and invited him to\nstay with him until the next morning. Saul was in fact the man on whom\nthe divine appointment to be the first king of Israel had fallen. A hint\nof this high destiny produced from the astonished stranger a modest\ndeclaration of his insufficiency. But the prophet gave him the place of\nhonor before all the persons whom--foreknowing the time of his arrival--\nhe had invited to his table. As is still usual in summer, Saul slept on\nthe flat roof of the house; and was called early in the morning by\nSamuel, who walked forth some way with him on his return home. When they\nhad got beyond the town they stopped, and Samuel then anointed Saul as\nthe person whom God had chosen to be \"captain over his inheritance;\" and\ngave him the first kiss of civil homage. In token of the reality of\nthese things, and to assure the mind of the bewildered young man, the\nprophet foretold the incidents of his homeward journey, and, in parting,\ndesired his attendance on the seventh day following at Gilgal.\n\nOn the day and at the place appointed, Samuel assembled a general\nconvocation of the tribes for the election of a king. As usual, under\nthe Theocracy, the choice of God was manifested by the sacred lot. The\ntribe of Benjamin was chosen; and of the families of Benjamin, that of\nMatri was taken; and, finally, the lot fell upon the person of Saul, the\nson of Kish. Anticipating this result, he had modestly concealed himself\nto avoid an honor which he so little desired. But he was found and\nbrought before the people, who beheld with enthusiasm his finely\ndeveloped form and preeminence in appearance, and hailed him as their\nking.\n\nMany prominent persons of the great tribes were jealous and indignant,\nbecause the smallest tribe, and a young man whose chief claim to the\nhonor was his fine figure, had been chosen. They refused to join the\nmasses in their homage, and Saul displayed his shrewdness in \"holding\nhis peace.\"\n\nAnd the wisdom of God was apparent in the result; for he gradually\nunited the discordant elements around him, and became established in\npower. Soon after came the trial of his ability as a general.\n\nThe Ammonites, a mighty and warlike people under king Nahash, besieged\nthe important town of Jabesh-Gilead. The beleaguered place was at length\ncompelled to ask terms of capitulation. The proud and cruel reply was,\nthat every man should have his right eye put out.\n\nThe Jabesh-Gileadites agreed to the hard conditions, unless help reached\nthem within seven days. Messengers hastened to Saul, in Gibeah, and\nfound him returning from his herds in the field. The story of the\ninvasion and peril roused all the energies and martial spirit of a king\nworthy of his crown.  It was the Lord's inspiration for his high office,\nand immediate command of the army.\n\nThe inhabitants were timid; and to awaken their courage he slew oxen,\nhad them quartered, and sent the pieces over the kingdom, assuring those\nwho were able to fight, that unless they hastened to the rescue all\ntheir cattle should have a similar slaughter. The volunteers came\npouring in, and Saul marched to Jabesh-Gilead. A battle followed, and\nthe Ammonites were routed with terrible slaughter. It was a grand\nvictory, and won for Saul the glory of military genius. This settled the\nquestion of his right to reign, and his sceptre was held over an\nundivided people.\n\nRetaining three thousand men, he followed up the conquest by an attack\nupon the Philistines, who had conquered on the south, and deprived\nIsrael of weapons of war, and implements of husbandry. Only Saul and\nJonathan had either sword or spear. The latter, a gifted and noble young\nman, distinguished himself, under God's special benediction, in a\nsuccessful assault upon a garrison of the Philistines. The enemy rallied\nin full strength, and Saul prepared to meet them with additional forces.\n\nSamuel had appointed sacrifices to be made before the campaign was\nopened, and because he did not appear in Gilgal when Saul expected him,\nthe king turned priest, and presented the offerings. This rashness\nrevealed his undevout character and haughty self-will, which proved his\nruin.\n\n\n[Illustration: Saul Rejected.]\n\n\nMeanwhile the most of his troops had scattered, through fear of the\npowerful foe. But Jonathan determined to make a bold onset, and, with\nhis armor-bearer, climbed a high cliff, and fell upon the Philistines.\nThey supposed the Hebrews were rushing from ambush upon them, and began\nto fly. Saul entered the field and aided in the overthrow of the\ndefeated warriors, slaying and treading each other down in the wild\nconfusion of the retreat.\n\nDuring the last years of Saul's reign, conscious that God had forsaken\nhim, in one of his campaigns against the Philistines he sought the\ncounsel of a witch. When he beheld the vast force which the Philistine\nstates had, by a mighty effort, brought into the field, dire misgivings\nas to the result arose in his mind; and now, at last, in this extremity,\nhe sought counsel of God. But the Lord answered him not by any of the\nusual means--by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets. Finding himself thus\nforsaken, he had recourse to a witch at Endor, not far from Gilboa, to\nwhom he repaired by night in disguise, and conjured her to evoke the\nspirit of Samuel, that he might ask counsel of him in this fearful\nemergency. Accordingly, an aged and mantled figure arose, which Saul\ntook to be the ghost of Samuel, though whether it were really so or not\nhas been much questioned. The king bowed himself reverently, and told\nthe reason for which he had called him from the dead. The figure, in\nreply, told him that God had taken the crown from his house, and given\nit to a worthier man; that, on the next day, the Philistines would\ntriumph over Israel; and that he and his sons should be slain in the\nbattle. The king swooned at these heavy tidings, but soon recovered,\nand, having taken some refreshment, returned the same night to the camp.\n\nThe engraver's art has produced a picture of this strange scene, one\nwhich cannot be clearly and satisfactorily explained.\n\nSaul received orders, through Samuel, to execute the Lord's \"fierce\nwrath\" upon the Amelekites, who had formerly been doomed to utter\nextermination, for opposing the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.\nThe result of the war put it fully in the king's power to fulfil his\ncommission; but he retained the best of the cattle as booty, and brought\nback the Amalekite king Agag as a prisoner. Here Saul again ventured to\nuse his own discretion where his commission left him none. For this the\ndivine decree, excluding his descendants from the throne, was again and\nirrevocably pronounced by Samuel, who met him at Gilgal on his return.\nThe stern prophet then directed the Amalekite king to be brought forth\nand slain by the sword, after which he departed to his own home, and\nwent no more to see Saul to the day of his death, though he ceased not\nto bemoan his misconduct, and the forfeiture it had incurred.\n\nThe next engraving is a very good view of this crisis in Saul's\ndestiny--his rejection by God and his prophet. When Samuel turned to\nleave the king, the terrified ruler seized his mantle, and in the\nstruggle it was torn. The prophet improved the incident by telling him\nthat thus should his kingdom be rent from him, and given to a neighbor.\n\nWe cannot follow Saul through all the achievements and crimes of his\neventful reign; the abandonment of him by the grieved and indignant\nSamuel; his deceptive prosperity; and his conscious desertion by God,\nuntil his fits of depression bordered on madness. He had genius and\nheroism, but a bad heart, and the hour of his overthrow drew near.\n\nThe venerable and gifted prophet who anointed the king was commanded by\nJehovah to consecrate the successor to the throne. He was directed to go\nto Bethlehem, and there anoint one of the sons of Jesse. He knew that\nshould Saul be informed of the errand, his days were numbered. The doom\nof a traitor would follow the solemn act.\n\nTo protect his servant the Lord told Samuel to offer a sacrifice, and\ntell the king he was going to Bethlehem for the purpose.\n\nWhen Samuel reached Bethlehem, he laid the offerings upon the altar, and\ninvited a worthy citizen and his family to the sacrifice. The good man's\nname was Jesse, and he had eight sons. Eliab, the eldest, like Saul, was\nfine-looking--tall, athletic, and commanding in his personal appearance.\nSamuel thought he must be the future king of Israel; but God revealed to\nhim his mistake. Six brothers followed him in their presentation to the\nprophet, and the Lord gave the same intimation of his will he had\nrespecting Eliab.\n\nThe man of God was perplexed. What could he do, if these were the only\nsons of Jesse, as it seemed, for no more came? It occurred to him,\nhowever, that possibly there might be another boy, and he inquired of\nJesse if it were not so.\n\nThe excellent father had sent the youngest son, about fifteen years old,\nto keep the sheep, and it did not even enter his mind that this mere\nchild could have any thing to do with the affairs of the kingdom. He\nstated the facts to Samuel, who immediately desired to see the lad. He\nwas sent for, and soon stood before the prophet. The patriarchal servant\nof the Infinite One looked upon the noble boy, with his \"ruddy and\nbeautiful countenance,\" and saw in him the next monarch of Israel.\n\n\n[Illustration: Christ Blessing Little Children.]\n\n\nDavid stood among his brethren, a modest, bewildered shepherd boy,\nuninjured by unholy gratification of passion and appetite--a\npure-minded, manly, and devout youth.\n\nGod told Samuel to anoint him, and he poured the consecrating oil upon\nthe fair brow of the astonished David. Then the Spirit of the Lord came\nupon him, and departed from Saul altogether. The juvenile shepherd and\nhero, who had slain a lion and a bear, in defence of his sheep, returned\nto his flocks, a king in destiny.\n\nRemorse, the predictions of Samuel against him, and baleful passions,\nmade Saul so wretchedly melancholy, that some of his attendants\nsuggested to the monarch that he should try the soothing effect of\nmusic. The proposition was favorably received, and upon the\nrecommendation of another friend, David, the son of Jesse, of whom Saul\nknew nothing before, was sent for to play upon the harp. The young\nminstrel won the respect and affection of the royal household, and his\nharpings were the principal solace of the infatuated and gloomy king,\nwho at length made David his armor-bearer.\n\nYou know the warriors of ancient time wore armor made of metal to\nprotect the body from the spear and sword, the common weapons of the\nbattle-field; and men were appointed by monarchs to have the care of it.\n\nSince their last great discomfiture, the Philistines had recruited their\nstrength, and in the thirtieth year of Saul's reign, and the twentieth\nof David's life, they again took the field against the Israelites. It\ncuriously illustrates the nature of warfare in those times, to find that\nthe presence, in the army of the Philistines, of one enormous giant,\nabout nine or ten feet high, filled them with confidence, and struck the\nIsraelites with dread. Attended by his armor-bearer, and clad in\ncomplete mail, with weapons to match his huge bulk, the giant, whose\nname was Goliah, presented himself daily between the two armies, and,\nwith insulting language, defied the Israelites to produce a champion\nwho, by single combat, might decide the quarrel between the nations.\nThis was repeated many days; but no Israelite was found bold enough to\naccept the challenge. At length David, who had come to the battle-field\nwith food for his brethren, no longer able to endure the taunts and\nblasphemies of Goliah, offered himself for the combat. The king,\ncontrasting the size and known prowess of the giant with the youth and\ninexperience of Jesse's son, dissuaded him from the enterprise. But as\nDavid expressed his strong confidence that the God of Israel, who had\ndelivered him from the lion and the bear, when he tended his father's\nflock, would also deliver him from the proud Philistine, Saul at length\nallowed him to go forth against Goliah. Refusing all armor of proof, and\nweapons of common warfare, David advanced to the combat, armed only with\nhis shepherd's sling, and a few smooth pebbles picked up from the brook\nwhich flowed through the valley. The astonished giant felt insulted at\nsuch an opponent, and poured forth such horrid threats as might have\nappalled anyone less strong in faith than the son of Jesse. But as he\nstrode forward to meet David, the latter slung one of his smooth stones\nwith so sure an aim and so strong an arm, that it smote his opponent in\nthe middle of the forehead, and brought him to the ground.\n\nThe praises of the people lavished on David excited Saul's jealousy, and\nhe sought in various ways to kill David, who seemed to have a charmed\nlife; for God was with him, and no blow aimed at his life was\nsuccessful.\n\nThe king's son, Jonathan, loved David devotedly, and more than once\nsaved him from the wrath of Saul.\n\nAfter hunting the son of Jesse, consulting witches in his desperation,\nand fighting the Philistines in bloody conflicts, near Mount Gilboa,\ndefeated and wounded, he committed suicide by falling on his sword. Thus\nended the career of the first king of the Hebrew nation.\n\nDavid, under divine guidance, went to Hebron, and was there publicly\nanointed king by the tribe of Judah. But Abner, a splendid general, and\na great friend of Saul, induced the rest of the tribes to acknowledge\nIshbosheth, the only son of Saul then living, as their sovereign. Soon,\nhowever, a quarrel with his protege, led him to join David, who was at\nlength proclaimed king by all the people.\n\nAfter years of prosperity in war and peace, he had a sanguinary battle\nwith the Ammonites. This occurred in the eighteenth year of his reign.\nThe conduct of this war David intrusted to Joab, and remained himself at\nJerusalem. There, while sauntering upon the roof of his palace, after\nthe noonday sleep, which is usual in the East, he perceived a woman\nwhose great beauty attracted his regard. She proved to be Bathsheba, the\nwife of Uriah, an officer of Canaanitish origin, then absent with the\narmy besieging Rabbah, the capital of Ammon. David was so fascinated\nwith her that he determined to add her to his royal household. He sent\nfor Uriah to Jerusalem. Having heard from him the particulars of the\nwar, which he pretended to require, the king dismissed him to his own\nhome. But Uriah, feeling that it ill became a soldier to seek his bed\nwhile his companions lay on the hard ground, under the canopy of heaven,\nexposed to the attacks of the enemy, remained all night in the hall of\nthe palace with the guards, and returned to the war without having seen\nBathsheba. David made him the bearer of an order to Joab to expose him\nto certain death, in some perilous enterprize against the enemy. He was\nobeyed by that unscrupulous general; and when David heard that Uriah was\ndead, he sent for Bathsheba, and made her his wife. He had already\nseveral wives, as was customary in those times; and among them was\nMichal, whom he had long ago reclaimed from the man to whom she had been\ngiven by the unprincipled Saul.\n\n\n[Illustration: The Woman of Canaan.]\n\n\nDavid, whose undisputed authority, and admiration of the beautiful\nBathsheba, deceived him, blinding his moral vision, thought all was\nsafe. Death and royalty seemed to cover forever his sin.\n\nBut never was a man more mistaken. God sent Nathan, a fearless, faithful\nprophet, to rebuke him. So the seer went to him, inquiring what should\nbe done with a man who had robbed a poor neighbor of his only and pet\nlamb. The king, who was really loyal to God, and just in his aims,\nindignantly said that the robber should die, and the lamb be restored.\nThen Nathan fixed his eye on the king, and, pointing to him, exclaimed\ncourageously, \"Thou art the man!\"\n\nDavid bowed his head and wept under the pointed reproof, and began to\ncry, \"Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, oh, God, thou God of my\nsalvation.\"\n\nWhat a fine example of faithful preaching, and of an honest hearer! This\nillustration of true penitence, which is given in the picture at the\nbeginning of this history of the kings, suggests a good story of modern\ndate. Jacob, an intelligent negro, was bribed and intoxicated to make\nhim commit murder. He was convicted of the crime, and sent to the State\nprison for life. He could not read, but a bible was in his cell, and he\nlearned so rapidly that soon he could pick out the words and get the\nmeaning. He would run his finger over each letter of the fifty-first\nPsalm, especially the fourteenth verse, until he enamelled it with his\ntouch. The bible is still kept by an excellent man, as a relic of\nprison-life. For Jacob was pardoned, went to the lovely town of C-,\nN.Y.,  and became an eminent Christian. His monument is one of the\nhighest in the cemetery.\n\nThe Scriptures describe David as \"a man after God's own heart.\" By this\nwe are not to understand that David always acted rightly, or that God\napproved of all he did. Its meaning is, that, in his public capacity, as\nking of Israel, he acted in accordance with the true theory of the\ntheocratical government; was always alive to his dependence on the\nSupreme King; took his own true place in the system, and aspired to no\nother; and conducted all his undertakings with reference to the Supreme\nWill. He constantly calls himself \"the servant (or vassal) of Jehovah,\"\nand that, and no other, was the true place for the human king of Israel\nto fill. In thus limiting the description of David as \"a man after God's\nown heart,\" it is not necessary for us to vindicate all his acts, or to\nuphold him as an immaculate character. But the same ardent temperament\nwhich sometimes betrayed his judgment in his public acts, led him into\ngreat errors and crimes. It also made him the first to discover his\nlapse, and the last to forgive himself.\n\nDomestic afflictions humbled David, and persecution by enemies\nembittered his life. The kingly crown had its thorns. An only child died\nin infancy. Afterwards, his handsome and popular son, Absalom, was\nambitious to get the throne of his father, and became the leader of a\ngreat revolt, in whose conflicts he was slain.\n\nSolomon, another son, was the heir chosen by the Lord, to the crown of\nDavid. And when the monarch of Israel drew near the close of his stormy,\nyet splendid reign, he called the intellectual, comely, and dutiful boy\nto his bedside, to give him his last words of counsel and blessing.\n\nThis scene is depicted in the colored engraving. Among the paternal\nexhortations to the young prince was the following impressive address:\n\"And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy fathers, and serve\nhim with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind; for the Lord\nsearcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the\nthoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee but if thou forsake\nhim, he will cast thee off forever.\"\n\nSolomon, the second king of Israel, desired and sought, before riches\nand honors, wisdom from God, to govern well the people, and it was\nfreely given.\n\nUnder his father's sceptre, Palestine was great in martial achievements,\nnational wealth, and the fine arts; for the king was a poet and a\nmusician. Solomon was a man of peace, and during his reign the kingdom\nreached its highest glory in oriental splendor and luxury. The temple he\nbuilt was a monument of munificence, skill, and royal zeal for God's\nhonor.\n\nWhat a wonderful display of wisdom was that decision in the case of the\ntwo women, one of whom, in her sleep, lying upon her babe, had smothered\nit, and claimed the living child of the other, who lodged with her. He\nknew when he sent for the executioner, and told him to cut in two parts\nthe live babe, giving to each a half, that the mother would be seen in\nthe effect of the command to slay. And so it was. The faithless woman\nsaid let it be so; the loving, yearning mother exclaimed no, rather let\nthe other have the child. Solomon wisely decided the matter, directing\nthe attendants to give the unconscious object of controversy to her to\nwhom it belonged.\n\nBut this rich and popular monarch was led into sin by his unbounded\nprosperity, and indulging in forbidden pleasures. Afterwards he bitterly\nmourned over his folly and shameful weakness, in departing from the\nliving God. This varied and, much of it, wasted life, led the king, in\nhis sober years of declining age, to write the Book of Proverbs and\nEcclesiastes, so full of the profoundest knowledge of mankind and wisest\ncounsel. It is said that the Scotch are preeminently discerning and\nintelligent, because they are so familiar with the Scriptures,\nespecially the proverbs of Solomon.\n\nThere were no more such monarchs in Israel, after David and Solomon, and\nthe kingdom became divided and weakened, until the Jews were conquered\nand enslaved by their enemies. The expensive magnificence and luxury of\nSolomon's reign, and his departures from God into idolatrous worship,\nawakened the divine indignation.\n\nA prophet was commissioned to tell the wise, yet foolish monarch that\nthe kingdom should be rent in twain, and the grandeur of his empire\ndepart before the revolt of the ten tribes from Judah, which had\nabsorbed the small tribe of Benjamin. Solomon was about sixty years old\nwhen he died. He had ruled forty years, and was buried nine hundred and\nseventy-five years before the advent of Christ. Rehoboam, the son of\nSolomon, was made king over Judah, and Jereboam, an Ephraimite, became\nsovereign of the ten tribes, who were called Israel.\n\nHow interesting and instructive the history of the Hebrews, at this\nperiod!\n\nThey got tired of the sovereignty of God, visible only in written rules\nof conduct, family government, and the prophet-judges, and desired to\nimitate their pagan neighbors in the pomp and power of royalty. Under\ntheir second monarch they quarrelled among themselves, engaged in civil\nstrife, and became divided, rival kingdoms. During the five hundred\nyears which followed, the successive kings of the two realms had, the\nmost of them, brief sovereignty. Some of them were excellent kings, but\nthe greater part were wicked and oppressive.\n\nPre-eminent in crime was Ahab, whose wife, Jezebel, was a fit companion.\n\nTheir names live in the world's history with a bad preeminence, like\nthose of Herod, Nero, and similar rulers of ancient and modern times.\n\nThe corpse of a ruler, or of the humblest subject, was ordinarily wound\nin grave-clothes, and laid in a sepulchre. This, in the early ages, was\na room hewn out of a rock, a cave, or a grave which had no mound, nor\nany other mark, excepting monumental stones, with no inscriptions.\n\nThe Arabian patriarch, Job, talked of kings and counsellors, who built\nfor themselves \"desolate places,\" which probably has reference to\nsepulchral monuments, cut out of the rock.\n\nThe expression \"a sepulchre on high,\" is an allusion to the custom\nanciently of placing the dead in tombs made in cliffs, sometimes\nhundreds of feet in height--a lofty, inaccessible resting-place for the\nbody of a distinguished person.\n\nSome nations of the heathen world have always burned their dead. In\nJapan, recently, an American traveller witnessed this singular disposal\nof the lifeless remains. A priest was placed in a sitting posture in his\ncoffin, and a fire built behind it, consuming to ashes the body. These\nrelics were carefully gathered up, and put in a safe and sacred place\nfor all coming time.\n\nIt is a remarkable thing that the Bible does not record any solemn\nparade or imposing ceremonies over the burial of the Hebrew kings.\n\nOf David it is written, he \"slept with his fathers, and was buried in\nthe city of David.\" The same simple and impressive mention is made of\nSolomon's death. Monarchs were only men--sinners to be saved by grace,\nif rescued at all from the power and ruin of sin. It is hoped and\nbelieved by Christian people that Solomon, in his declining years,\nreviewed prayerfully and penitently his career, and found peace with a\npardoning God.\n\nThe sepulchre of royalty in Jerusalem, is well worthy of a visit by\ntravellers in the Holy Land. Some of the stone coffins lean against the\nsolid walls, others lie in massive richness of sculpture on the floor.\n\nThe Jews called their burial places the house of the living, because of\nthe expected resurrection--a beautiful sentiment, which rebukes the\ndismal thoughts and mourning of many Christian persons over the newly\nmade graves of their departed friends.\n\nThe beautiful tomb in the \"valley of Jehosaphat,\" is one of\ncomparatively modern construction, but it shows the admiration felt by\nthe Hebrews for Absalom, with all his waywardness.\n\n\n[Illustration: Joseph Elevated to Power by Pharaoh.]\n\n\n[Illustration: The Israelites Carried into Captivity.]\n\n\n\nTHE BIBLE AND THE HOLY LAND.\n\nPATRIARCHS, KINGS AND KINGDOMS.\n\nPALESTINE UNDER PAGAN KINGS.\n\nThe picture which introduces these pages was drawn from a scene under\nthe sceptre of the first monarch mentioned in the Bible.\n\nA comparatively unimportant prince, the \"King of Sodom,\" whose small and\nwicked realm Jehovah destroyed by fire and brimstone, is mentioned.\n\nBut the empire of the Pharaohs of Egypt, was large, rich, and\nmagnificent. And it is a singular thing, that of this nation, and all\nothers of antiquity, excepting what the Scriptures contain, the early\nhistory is little known. A great German historian, Dr. Von Rotteck,\ntruly writes: \"The principal trait that distinguishes the first period\nof the ancient world is its obscurity.\"\n\nThe general belief is, that the founders of Egypt went from Ethiopia,\nand the Ethiopians from East India or South Arabia.\n\n\"Where did the Indiamen have their origin?\" you may ask; but no man can\ncertainly answer. That all races sprang from Adam we have no doubt, but\nthe lines of descent and emigration the wisest student of the past\ncannot follow.\n\nThe living oracles, in brief statements, give us nearly all the reliable\naccounts we have of the early history of the \"Land of the Nile,\" as\nEgypt was called. In them we learn that while the \"chosen people of\nGod,\" the only nation whose annals of growth in the number of its\npopulation and its civilization, has been handed down to us, was no more\nthan a tribe of wandering shepherds under Abraham, Egypt was the home of\nart, and a garden of agricultural products.\n\nAnd yet the very nomades, who roamed over the uncultivated plains, like\nthe Aborigines of this new world, have preserved the best records of the\nearly condition of that ancient and wonderful empire, whose origin is\nlost in the distance and darkness of Pagan antiquities.\n\nIt seems, from the tenth chapter of Genesis, that Egypt was settled by\nthe descendants of Noah, through Ham, his second son.\n\nThe next reference made to this remarkable country is in the twelfth\nchapter, where we are told of Abraham's visit there. Again, in the\ntwenty-first chapter, is recorded the marriage of Ishmael to an Egyptian\nwoman. In chapter twenty-ninth is related the story of Joseph's\ncaptivity and career in the capital of the Pagan monarchy. He was the\ntwelfth son of Jacob, and one of Rachel's two boys--lovely in his\nyouthful character, and the idol of his father. During a period of\nrepose in sleep he had a singular dream. The first was, that while the\nbrothers were all in the harvest-field at work his sheaf suddenly rose\nupright, and the sheaves of the eleven brethren stood up and bowed to\nhis own. The intimation that he was to rule over them made them angry,\nand they hated him.\n\nSoon after Joseph's sleep he was disturbed by another dream. The sun,\nmoon, and eleven stars, rendered homage to him. The interpretation of\nthis was the same as that of the other, with the addition of his father\nand mother, who also bowed before him.\n\nIt may seem strange that Joseph should relate any thing so complimentary\nto himself. But he evidently did it in no boasting mood. He simply\nnarrated the extraordinary dreams, without the least idea of what was\nbefore him.\n\nBut God saw what he did hot know, that their jealousy and enmity would\nbe overruled for the temporal salvation of the family and nation.\n\nThe venerable, thoughtful father, silently pondered over the singular\nexperience of Joseph.\n\nThe elder sons were shepherds, and fed their flocks in Shechem. How\nbeautiful the ingenious, dutiful character of Joseph now appears! His\nfather called him to go and find his brethren, to see how they were\ngetting along. \"Here am I,\" was his response. That is to say: \"Although\nmy brethren hate me, I am ready to serve you, and do any thing for\nthem.\" He went to Shechem, but they had left; and the boy wandered about\nin the field looking for them. A citizen happened to see him, and was\nevidently interested in the beautiful stranger, bewildered and alone,\nand asked what he wanted. Joseph told him the truth of the case, when\nthe man said that his brothers had taken their flocks to Dotham, a few\nmiles distant.\n\nHe started for that place, and while a \"great way off,\" they saw and\nknew him. The conspiracy was instantly formed to dispose of the\n\"dreamer.\"\n\nThe first proposition was to kill him, but Reuben would not agree to the\ncruel suggestion. His plan was to cast the lad into a deep pit, till he\ncould manage to get him back to his father. This less bloody way of\ndisposing of Joseph was accepted, and when he came near they took off\nthe \"coat of many colors\" the doting father had given him, and putting\nhim in a pit without water which happened to be at hand, dipping it in\nblood to make his father think a beast killed him, they took it home.\nScarcely was the interesting boy weeping in his prison before a caravan\nof Ishmaelites, and then of Midianites, came in sight.\n\n\n[Illustration: Moses Found in the Bulrushes.]\n\n\nA new idea now flashed upon their minds. They could avoid the unpleasant\nconsciousness of probable murder, and make something out of his sale as\na slave to the wandering traders. A bargain was soon made, and young\nJoseph, casting backward a farewell look of sad reproach, was carried\naway, and sold by the Midianites to the Ishmaelites, of whom Potiphar,\nthe captain of Pharaoh's guard, bought him for a servant. God blessed\nthe youth, and he was soon made overseer of the officer's household. But\nPotiphar's wife was a vile woman, and because Joseph was nobly true to\nGod and virtue, made a false report of him, and had him put in prison.\n\nEgypt's monarch had wonderful dreams about a famine his astrologers\ncould not explain; and a released prisoner, who had forgotten Joseph's\nkindness in explaining a dream of deliverance, advised the king to send\nfor the Hebrew. The young man was taken to the palace, and gave a true\ninterpretation of the dreams. Pharaoh was delighted; and from his\ndungeon Joseph went to the secret place of authority second to the king.\nPharaoh said: \"Only in the throne will I be greater than thou.\" He then\nput a ring on his finger, a gold chain on his neck, and arrayed him in\nfine apparel. The beautiful illustration sets this sudden and splendid\npromotion before us--the honor God put upon his youthful servant.\n\nSoon the predicted famine came, for which the gifted and prudent Joseph\nhad made complete provision by storing up the abundant harvests. Among\nthe sufferers from failing crops and pasturage, was the large family of\nJacob--his sons and their households.\n\nIn their extremity they turned to Egypt. Joseph's influence was such\nthat the patriarch's delegation found favor with the king. The\nprime-minister of Egypt knew his brethren, but they had forgotten him.\nSo he managed to find out all about his father's house, and made his\nbrothers bring dear Benjamin, when he wept aloud, and made himself known\nto them all. Pharaoh sent for the whole race, and soon the Hebrew\ncaravan reached the fruitful land of Goshen, which was exactly suited to\nthe life of shepherds. Here the strangers grew in numbers and wealth,\nuntil Joseph died, and the friendly monarch also. His successor cared\nneither for Joseph nor his countrymen. He was a tyrant, and enslaved the\ndwellers in Goshen. Centuries of captivity wore away, and God determined\nto deliver his people, and send them back again to Palestine.\n\nThe scene displayed in this picture you will recognize at a glance.\nMoses, the Hebrew babe, afloat on the Nile, in a small boat made of\nbulrushes by his mother, because Pharaoh was slaying the children of her\nnation, to get rid of them.\n\nNeither the haughty and cruel monarch, nor the mother, nor the little\nvoyager, thought of Moses as the future deliverer of his countrymen from\nbondage--the great leader and lawgiver of Israel.\n\nWe have already had glimpses of the Hebrews in the wilderness, their\nprogress and rulers in Palestine, after the moving multitude reached the\n\"promised land.\"\n\nThe ages of changing sovereigns, and fortunes of crimes and discipline\nbrought them at last to another mournful captivity.\n\nAbout six hundred years before Christ, while that wicked Manassah was\nking in Palestine, the monarch of Assyria--a grand and powerful\nempire--invaded it, and took Jerusalem. Manassah was carried in chains\nto Babylon, the splendid Assyrian capital. His son, Amon, became the\nsovereign under the Assyrian conqueror, but was soon assassinated, and\nJosiah took the throne.\n\nDuring his reign, the King of Egypt marched into Palestine and conquered\nit, killing Josiah, the king.\n\nA few years later, Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian monarch, besieged and\ntook Jerusalem, the \"City of David.\"\n\nThe massive walls of the cities of old was their chief protection. Those\nof Babylon, according to the old Roman historians, were marvelously\ngreat. Think of them rising three hundred and fifty feet, eighty-seven\nfeet in thickness, and extending sixty miles around the city! One writer\nsays, that two four-horse chariots could pass each other on the top.\nThey were built of brick, cemented together with bitumen.\n\nThey had twenty gates made of solid brass, and were surmounted with two\nhundred and fifty towers.\n\nThe city had six hundred and seventy-six squares, each over two miles in\ncircumference. The river Euphrates flowed through the entire extent,\nfrom north to south.\n\nThe hanging gardens, suspended from the walls, were gorgeous, and the\npublic buildings rich and elegant.\n\nSuch was the home of the Hebrew exiles for seventy years or more.\n\nQuintus Curtius, a Roman, has described the entrance of the great and\nvictorious Alexander into Babylon, at a later period, who soon after\ndied there of dissipation, while yet a young man. The pleasant sketch\ngives a vivid impression of the glory and pomp of this ancient capital\nof Babylon:\n\n\n[Illustration: Christ Declaring Who is Greatest.]\n\n\n\"A great part of the inhabitants of Babylon stood on the walls, eager to\ncatch a sight of their new monarch; many went forth to meet him. Among\nthese Bagophanes, keeper of the citadel and of the royal treasure,\nstrewed the entire way before the king with flowers and crowns; silver\naltars were also placed on both sides of the road, which were loaded not\nmerely with frankincense, but all kinds of odoriferous herbs. He brought\nwith him for Alexander gifts of various kinds, flocks of sheep and\nhorses; lions, also, and panthers were carried before him in their dens.\nThe magi came next, singing in their usual manner their ancient hymns.\nAfter them came the Chaldeans with their musical instruments, who are\nnot only the prophets of the Babylonians, but their artists. The first\nare wont to sing the praises of the kings; the Chaldeans teach the\nmotion of the stars, and the changes of the seasons. Then followed, last\nof all, the Babylonian knights, whose equipments, as well as that of\ntheir horses, showed the passion of the people for luxury. The king,\nAlexander, attended by armed men, having ordered the crowd of the\ntownspeople to proceed in the rear of his infantry, entered the city in\na chariot and repaired to the palace. The next day he carefully surveyed\nthe household treasures of Darius, and all his money. For the rest, the\nbeauty of the city and its age turned the eyes not only of the king, but\nof everyone in itself, and that with good reason.\"\n\nThe kings and conquerors of old had no canals for boats, no railways,\nand not many good roads. Consequently, their invasions and various\npublic enterprises were carried forward in a slow and toilsome manner.\nHeavy wagons and chariots, the latter sometimes armed with scythes or\nlong blades for battle, were the best vehicles in use.\n\nThere were no monitors, nor fire-arms. Large swords, daggers, slings,\nthe catapulta and battering-ram, were the principal weapons.\n\nThe last named instrument was a massive machine with a movable beam,\ncrowned with a very hard end, often shaped like a ram's head, which\ncould be thrown against a wall with tremendous force, beating it down.\n\nThe catapulta, which was placed upon city walls, was a great cross-bow\nfor hurling arrows upon an enemy. In it was combined the bow and arrow,\nand the sling. The mammoth arrow was put in the groove, the twisted\nropes were connected with levers, and the powerful recoil would send the\nstrong and sharp arrow a great distance.\n\nSome of the machines were large enough to discharge beams loaded with\niron; and one kind, called the balista, would send great stones,\ncrushing through the houses on which they fell.\n\nAmong the spoil, taken by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, were the costly\nvessels of the temple; and he graced his train with members of the royal\nfamily and the principal nobles.\n\nHe placed Zedekiah on the throne of his Hebrew province, who soon after\nrebelled against him.\n\nIn consequence of this revolt, the Babylonian king invaded Judea with a\ngreat army, and, after taking most of the principal towns, sat down\nbefore Jerusalem. Early in the next year the Egyptians marched an army\nto the relief of their ally, but being intimidated by the alacrity with\nwhich the Babylonians raised the siege and advanced to give them battle,\nthey returned home without risking an engagement. The return of the\nChaldeans to the siege, destroyed all the hopes which the approach of\nthe Egyptian succors had excited. The siege was now prosecuted with\nredoubled vigor; and at length Jerusalem was taken by storm at midnight,\nin the eleventh year of Zedekiah, and in the eighteenth month from the\ncommencement of the siege. Dreadful was the carnage. The people, young\nand old, were slaughtered wherever they appeared; and even the temple\nwas no refuge for them; the sacred courts streamed with blood. Zedekiah\nhimself, with his family and some friends, contrived to escape from the\ncity; but he was overtaken and captured in the plains of Jericho. He was\nsent in chains to Nebuchadnezzar, who had left the conclusion of the war\nto his generals, and was then at Riblah in Syria. After sternly\nreproving him for his ungrateful conduct, the conqueror ordered all the\nsons of Zedekiah to be slain before his eyes, and then his own eyes to\nbe put out, thus making the slaughter of his children the last sight on\nwhich his tortured memory could dwell. He was afterward sent in fetters\nof brass to Babylon, where he remained until his death.\n\nNebuchadnezzar evidently felt that his purposes had not been fully\nexecuted by the army, or else he was urged by the Edomites and others to\nexceed his first intentions. He therefore sent Nebuzaradan, the captain\nof the guard, with a sufficient force to complete the desolation of\nJudah and Jerusalem. He burned the city and the temple to the ground; he\ncollected and sent to Babylon all the gold and silver which former\nspoilers had left; and he transported all the people who had been left\nbehind in Jehoiachin's captivity, save only the poor of the land, who\nwere left to be vine-dressers and husbandmen. Four years after,\nNebuzaradan again entered Judea, and gleaned a few more of the miserable\ninhabitants, whom he sent off to Babylon.\n\n\n[Illustration: The Handwriting on the Wall.]\n\n\nThus was the land left desolate; and thus ended the kingdom of Judah and\nthe reign of David's house, after it had endured four hundred and four\nyears under twenty kings. It is remarkable that the King of Babylon made\nno attempt to colonize the country he had depopulated, as was done by\nthe Assyrians in Israel; and thus, in the providence of God, the land\nwas left vacant, to be re-occupied by the Jews after seventy years of\ncaptivity and punishment.\n\nThe grand and melancholy march into captivity is seen in the\nillustration of the artist.\n\nWhat a vast and sad procession! The conquerors ride proudly on the high\nground with the captive host in full view. The tower of Babel and the\nwalls of their magnificent city are visible in the distance.\n\nThe exiles found in Babylon many of their countrymen, who had been\ncarried there in previous conquests, and were useful, respectable\ncitizens. Among these, there was a young man of splendid abilities and\nnoble heart, named Daniel.\n\nHe was one of the youthful sons of high family, who were carried away as\nhostages for the fidelity of King Jehoiachin. He and some others were\nput under the chief eunuch, to be properly trained in the language and\nlearning of the Chaldeans, to fit them for employments at the court.\nThis training lasted three years, when they were examined in the\npresence of the king; and Daniel and three of his friends were found to\nhave made far greater progress than any of those who had been educated\nwith them. They were therefore enrolled among the magians or learned\nmen.\n\nA few years after, Nebuchadnezzar was greatly troubled with a dream,\nwhich made a profound impression upon his mind; but the particulars of\nwhich quite passed from his memory when he awoke. Great importance was\nattached to dreams in those days, and men skilled in the sciences were\nsupposed to be able to discover their meaning. Therefore, the king sent\nfor his court magians, and required them not only to interpret the\ndream, but to discover the dream itself, which he had forgotten. This\nthey declared to be impossible; on which the exasperated tyrant ordered\nall the magians to be massacred. Daniel and his friends, although not\npresent, were included in such a sentence. On learning this, he begged a\nrespite for the whole body, undertaking to find, through his God, the\nsolution of the difficulty. The respite was granted; and at the earnest\nprayer of Daniel, God made the secret known to him. A colossal image\nwhich the king saw, with a head of gold, arms and breast of silver,\nbelly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and toes partly iron and partly\nclay, was struck down by a stone, which itself grew and filled the whole\nearth. This, in the interpretation of Daniel, figured forth \"the things\nto come;\" describing by characteristic symbols the succession of empires\nto the end of time; and it is wonderful to observe how precisely the\ngreater part of what was then future has since been accomplished. The\nking was not only satisfied but astonished; he was almost ready to pay\ndivine honors to Daniel; and raised him at once to the eminent station\nof Archimagus, or chief of the magians, and governor of the metropolitan\nprovince of Babylon. His three friends, also, were at his request,\npromoted to places of trust and honor.\n\nNot long after, Nebuchadnezzar set up a colossal image in the plains of\nDura, and commanded that, when music sounded, everyone should worship\nit, on pain of death. He soon learned that this command was utterly\nneglected by Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego;\nand his rage grew so high, at the example of disobedience given by\npersons in their high station that he ordered them to be at once cast\ninto \"the burning furnace.\" The heat of the furnace was so great as to\ndestroy the men who cast them in; but they themselves remained unhurt,\nand not even a hair of their heads was singed. They came forth when the\nking called them; and he was so much astonished and convinced by this\nprodigy, that he publicly acknowledged the greatness of the God whom\nthey served.\n\nThere appear to have been good and generous qualities in the character\nof Nebuchadnezzar; but the pride with which he contemplated the grandeur\nof his empire, and the magnificence of his undertakings, was most\ninordinate, and he required to be taught that \"the Most High ruleth over\nall the kingdoms of the earth, and giveth them to whomsoever he will.\"\nHe was warned of this in a dream, which was interpreted to him by\nDaniel; but, neglecting the warning, \"his heart was changed from man's,\nand a beast's heart was given to him.\" He was afflicted with a madness\nwhich made him think himself a beast, and, acting as such, he remained\nconstantly abroad in the fields, living upon wild herbs. In this debased\nand forlorn condition the mighty conqueror remained seven years, when he\nwas restored to his reason and his throne, and one of his first acts was\nto issue a proclamation, humbly acknowledging the signs and wonders\nwhich the Most High God had wrought toward him, and declaring his\nconviction, that \"those who walk in pride he is able to abase.\" He died\nsoon after.\n\nThe next illustration is drawn from the interpretation of the dream in\nthe royal palace. Conscious of Jehovah's favor and guidance, how\ncourageously and grandly he stands before the monarch, and declares the\nwhole counsel of God!\n\nHe thus became a prophet of the Most High, whose wonderful career\nafterwards, we shall again follow, when we come to the narratives of the\nseers.\n\n\n[Illustration: The vision of the Dragon Chained.]\n\n\nThe spirit alienation from God, and of depraved desires, which ruled the\nancient pagan realms is set before us under various titles. Among them\nis that of the dragon, in the engraving; which the \"king of kings\" shall\nyet bind forever and imprison.\n\nThe fate of the proud kingdoms which ruled Palestine, teaches the world\nhow little importance God attaches to human glory in his punishment of\nthe wicked.\n\nEgypt has scarcely more than its location and name left. Its pyramids,\none of which it is estimated employed three hundred thousand men twenty\nyears in building, stand in the desert places, solitary and pillaged\nsepulchres.\n\nThe temple of Karnak, on the east bank of the Nile, whose massive stone\nroof was supported by one hundred and thirty-four majestic columns,\nforty-three feet high, and ranged in sixteen rows; the whole structure\ntwelve hundred feet in length, and covered with figures of gods and\nheroes; is one of the grandest works of time.\n\nShould you visit the gorges of the Theban Mountains, your feet would\nstumble over the bones of departed generations. Princes, priests, and\nwarriors, after reposing thousands of years in their deep seclusion, are\ndragged forth by poor peasants, and scattered around the doors of those\ncavern-like excavations in the everlasting hills.\n\nLighting a torch or candle, you may wander along the rock-walled\ngalleries several hundred feet into the heart of the summits, on each\nside of which are the apartments of death.\n\nInscriptions, three thousand years old, can be distinctly traced.\n\nHow little thought the Hebrews, while toiling under the shadow of\npalaces, or flying at night from the mighty realm of Egypt, of what we\nfind to-day along the banks of the Nile!\n\nThe doom of Babylon, with that of the great invaders and conquerors of\nPalestine, is equally wonderful and instructive.\n\nProbably no nation of antiquity was more distinguished for luxury and\ncorrupt pleasures than this unrivalled city.\n\nIts last king, Nabonnidus, reigned about one hundred years before Christ\nappeared; and in less than that time afterward, the city walls enclosed\na hunting ground or park for the recreation of Persian monarchs. We\ncannot well imagine a more complete destruction than has overtaken the\nonce rich and gay metropolis. The ruins are a number of mounds, formed\nof crumbled buildings, and strewn all over with pieces of brick,\nbitumen, and potter's vessels.\n\nThe Assyrian kings of western Asia, also invaded the Holy Land. They\nruled a vast and powerful realm, whose principal city was Nineveh, to\nwhich Jonah was sent with a message from God.\n\nSennacherib, the monarch who reigned seven hundred years before Christ,\nmarched his armies against the cities of Judah and took them. Not\nsatisfied with the terms of surrender he threatened further invasion.\n\nAt this crisis, in answer to prayer, Jehovah sent his angel to destroy\nthe troops; and in one night the unseen messenger of destruction slew\none hundred and eighty-five thousand men.\n\nOf this miraculous defeat a gifted but irreligious and unhappy poet has\nsung:\n\n  And there lay the steed with his nostrils all wide,\n  But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;\n  And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,\n  And cold as the spray of the rock-beaten surf.\n\n  And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,\n  With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail;\n  And the tents were all silent, and the banners alone,\n  And the lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.\n\n  And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,\n  And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;\n  And the might of the Gentiles, unsmote by the sword,\n  Hath melted like snow at the glance of the Lord.\n\nNow the greater part of the country which once formed Assyria, is under\nthe sway of the Turks.\n\nMosul, a missionary station of the American Board of Foreign Missions,\nis believed to mark the site of ancient Nineveh.\n\nThe original inhabitants of Assyria, in modern history, are the Kurds; a\nbarbarous and warlike race. Some of these live in villages, and others\nroam over the country. They are said to resemble, in personal\nappearance, the Highlanders of Scotland.\n\nBut the most remarkable fact in regard to the population, is the ancient\nchurch of the Nestorians, among the mountains. This Christian people\nhave for ages maintained their independence, defying the storms of\nrevolution that have swept over all the country around their mountain\nhome.\n\nDr. Grant, a missionary, thinks they are descendants of the \"lost tribes\nof Israel.\" We recollect to have seen in the hands of the venerable\nmissionary, Rev. Dr. Perkins, a copy of the Scriptures preserved for\nmany hundred years by them: sometimes hidden away, to prevent its\ndestruction by its enemies.\n\nNot long ago, one of the Nestorian bishops, Mar Yohanah, visited this\ncountry, and attracted much attention. A Jew-like, noble man personally,\nand a devout Christian.\n\nBut if you look on the map of Asia, you will see that Mosul and the\nNestorian country is in Persia, and may wonder what it has to do with\nAssyria. In the conquests which weakened and divided the Assyrian\nempire, new kingdoms were formed; and while none can now accurately\ntrace the boundaries of that great monarchy, we have the later outline\nof Persia. More will be said of this remarkable kingdom when we come to\nthe story of Mordecai and Esther.\n\nThe thrones of these ancient monarchies were, at first, no more than an\nornamented arm-chair, higher than ordinary seats, with a footstool for\nthe royal feet. Then it was made in more massive form and richly carved,\nwith steps ascending to it.\n\nSome of the thrones were of ivory, adorned with gold; and it is\nrecorded, that Archelaus addressed the multitude from a throne of solid\ngold--a magnificent fortune in itself. Thus gradually the throne became\nthe highest symbol of power, and is often applied to Jehovah's\nsovereignty. He is represented as sitting upon a throne of light, and\naround him continually, attending angels, veiling their faces with their\nwings, and waiting to hear and obey his mandates; crying with their\nvoices of celestial music, \"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which\nwas and is, and is to come!\" A \"crystal sea\" is before this \"White\nThrone\" of a pure and just authority, and on it worships a resplendent\nhost. Every sound and sight of glory and honor, that language can\nexpress, or the finest imagination picture, is ascribed to that eternal\nroyalty.\n\nNext to the throne, the crown became a sign of authority, although it\nwas applied, at first, to other ornaments for the head, properly called\ncoronets, garlands, tiaras, bands, mitres, etc.\n\nThe idea of a kingly crown was suggested by the diadem, which was a\nfillet--a mere band like that used to bind the long hair worn by the\npeople--but richer and of a different color. It was natural and easy,\nwith the increase of power and wealth, to make the crown a more costly\nand showy symbol of kingly sway.\n\nDavid wore a crown of gold set with jewels, he took from the king of the\nAmmonites.\n\nThe more modern crowns of Asia, where all the kings reigned, of whom we\nhave read in these pages, are of different shapes, and some of them very\nrich and expensive, ornamented with precious stones and plumes of the\nrarest kind.\n\nCrowns are also often mentioned in the Bible as an emblem of power; and\nthe Christian conqueror of his sins and the world, it is written, shall\nhave \"a crown of life.\"\n\nThe sceptre was the third token of sovereignty. The word originally\nsignified a staff of wood of the length of a man's height. Later, it was\nsmaller in form, and often plated with gold, and enriched with various\ndecorations. Inclining, or holding out the sceptre was a mark of royal\nfavor; and kissing it by another, a sign of submission.\n\nJehovah's rule is mentioned frequently in the inspired record, under\nthis figure. \"His sceptre is a right sceptre,\" in one of the\ndeclarations, which even the wicked and most wretched on account of\ntransgression, dare not deny.\n\nUnder its wide dominion are Heaven, Earth, and Hell, not only, but a\nuniverse whose boundaries neither man nor angel can ever reach.\n\n\"He is God over all, and blessed forever!\"\n\nHow amazing the truth of such a king and kingdom! Under the unsleeping\neye of the Sovereign, the planet wheels on its axis with startling\nvelocity, and the insect creeps on the grain of sand. A Russian poet\nbeautifully sung:\n\n  Oh, thou Eternal One! whose presence bright,\n    All space doth occupy, all motion guide!\n  Unchanged through time's all devastating flight,\n   Thou only God, there is no God beside!\n\n  Being above all beings! mighty one,\n    Whom none can comprehend, and none explore!\n  Who filled existence with thyself alone;\n    Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er!\n    Being, whom we call God, and know no more!\n\n  Thou art! directing, guiding all. Thou art!\n    Direct my understanding then to thee;\n  Control my spirit, guide my wandering heart,\n    Though but an atom 'mid immensity.\n  Still I am something fashioned by thy hand!\n    I hold a middle rank 'twixt heaven and earth,\n  On the last verge of mortal being stand,\n    Close to the realms where angels have their birth,\n    Just on the boundaries of the spirit land.\n\n  Oh, thoughts ineffable! Oh, visions blest!\n    Though worthless our conceptions all of thee;\n  Yet shall thy shadowed image fill our breasts,\n    And waft its homage to thy Deity.\n  God! thus alone my lowly thoughts can soar;\n    Thus seek thy presence--Being wise and good!\n  'Midst thy best works admire, obey, adore!\n    And when the tongue is eloquent no more,\n    The soul shall speak in tears of gratitude.\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Ascent of Elijah.]\n\n\n[Illustration: Elisha on His Death Bed.]\n\n\n\nTHE BIBLE AND THE HOLY LAND\n\nPATRIARCHS, KINGS, AND KINGDOMS.\n\nHEBREW CAPTIVES; OR, MORDECAI AND ESTHER.\n\n\nThe next pictured scene is in the Court of Persia. It will not be\nforgotten that Daniel was a captive in Babylon under the last kings, and\nprobably died there after the city was taken by Cyrus. Of this great\nman's history as a captive we shall learn more when we go with the\nprophets of God in their peculiar mission.\n\nNabonadrius, the son of Darius, usurped the throne after his father's\ndeath; and after reigning several years, Cyrus, a nephew of Darius, a\nPersian general who was occupied in foreign wars, turned his attention\nto the reigning monarch.\n\nHe marched against the gorgeous metropolis, and besieged it for two\nyears in vain. He at last thought of a stratagem which displayed his\ngenius and boldness of action. He determined to turn the channel of the\nEuphrates, which went through the whole length of the city, from the\nwalls where it entered, and get into the capital through the dry\nchannel, under the massive pile which no battering rams could crumble.\nHe succeeded in making a new bed for the stream, and his troops went\ninto Babylon over a path washed for ages by the waters of the Euphrates.\n\nMedia, a word some suppose to be derived from Madai, the son of Japheth,\nwas the name of a region adjacent to ancient Assyria, inhabited by\nwarlike hordes for centuries. The little that is said of these people in\nthe Bible, is in connection with the Persians. Both seemed to have\nbecome one nation; first the Medes gaining the ascendancy, and then the\nPersians. But the darkness which rests upon the origin of the Asiatic\nlands bewilders the most careful historian.\n\nThe conspicuous appearance of the Medes and Persians begins with Cyrus\nthe Great, the conqueror of Babylon, a remarkable monarch in power,\nglory, and character.\n\nThe picture of the magi who journeyed from the east to find the infant\nMessiah, presents a peculiar view of the Persians and Arabians. Among\nthese gentile nations were men of great attainments in whatever of\nphilosophy and astrology there was in the world. The Ethiopian race is\nrepresented, and it may have been that dark faces were over the\nwonderful child. Color was evidently then no honor or disgrace; the man\nwas the object of regard or scorn. More will be said of these wonderful\ntravellers in the more appropriate place in the annals of Palestine.\nCyrus the first, and noble Persian monarch, was kindly disposed toward\nthe captive Jews, and Daniel had great influence over him. In the very\nyear of his conquest he issued a decree, in which, after acknowledging\nthe supremacy of the Lord, and that to him he owed all kingdoms, he gave\nfull permission to the Jews in any part of his dominions, to return to\ntheir own land and to rebuild the city and temple of Jerusalem. No\nsooner were the favorable dispositions of the king thus made known, than\nthe members of the latter captivity--those of the tribes of Judah,\nBenjamin, and Levi--repaired in large numbers to Babylon from their\ndifferent places of residence; some to make preparations for their\njourney; and others, who had no intention to return themselves, to\nassist those who had. Most of the existing race had been born in\nBabylonia, and in the course of years families had established\nthemselves in the country, and formed connections, and gathered around\nthem comforts which were not easily abandoned. Only a minority availed\nthemselves of the decree in their favor; the most of the people choosing\nto remain in the land of their exile; and it has always been the opinion\nof the Jews that the more illustrious portion of their nation remained\nin Babylonia.\n\nThe first return caravan was organized and directed by Zerubbabel, the\ngrandson of king Jehoiachim, and by Jeshua, a grandson of the last\nhigh-priest Jozadak. The number of persons who joined them was about\nfifty thousand, including above seven thousand male and female servants.\nBefore they departed, Cyrus restored to them the more valuable of the\nsacred utensils, which had been removed by Nebuchadnezzar, and preserved\nby his successors, and which were now to be again employed in the\nservice of the sanctuary. Zerubbabel was also entrusted with large\ncontributions toward the expense of rebuilding the temple, from the Jews\nwho chose to remain behind. The beasts of burden in this caravan\nexceeded eight thousand. In the book of Ezra, the names of the families\nwhich returned to this first colony, and in those which followed, are\ncarefully given.\n\nThe incidents of the journey are not related. On reaching Palestine the\ncaravan repaired at once to Jerusalem, which they found utterly ruined\nand desolate. Before they separated to seek habitations for themselves,\nthey raised a large sum by voluntary contributions toward the rebuilding\nof the temple. Then they employed themselves in securing dwellings and\nnecessaries for their families; and at the ensuing Feast of Tabernacles\nagain repaired to Jerusalem, where sacrifices were offered on an altar\nerected upon the ruins of the temple. After this the people applied\nthemselves zealously to the necessary preparation for the restoration of\nthat edifice. In a year from the departure from Babylon, the\npreparations were sufficiently advanced to allow the work to be\ncommenced; and, accordingly, the foundations of the second temple were\nthen laid with great rejoicings and songs of thanksgiving. While the\nwork proceeded, the Samaritans manifested a desire to assist in the\nwork, and to claim a community of worship in the new temple. This was\ndeclined by the Jews on the ground that the decree of the Persian king\nextended only to the race of Israel.\n\n\n[Illustration: The Magi offering Presents.]\n\n\nBeing thus frustrated in their design, the Samaritans employed every\nmeans they could devise to thwart the undertaking. Their origin appears\nto have given them considerable influence at the Persian court; and\nalthough they could not act openly against the plain decree of Cyrus, an\nunscrupulous use of their money and influence among the officers of the\ngovernment enabled them to raise such obstructions, that the people were\nmuch discouraged, and the work proceeded but languidly, and at length\nwas suspended altogether. From this lethargy they were roused by the\nexhortations and reproaches of the prophet Haggai; and the building was\nresumed with fresh zeal.\n\nThe new temple was dedicated with great solemnity and joy. The Jews were\nallowed the free exercise of their religion and laws, and the government\nwas directed by a governor of their own nation, or by the high-priest,\nwhen there was no other governor. There was, in fact, a distinct\ncommonwealth, with its own peculiar institutions; and, although\nresponsible to the Persian king, and to his deputy the governor-general\nof Syria, it was more secure under the protection of the monarch than it\nwould have been in complete independence. The dreadful lesson taught by\nthe desolation of the land, the destruction of the temple, and the\ncaptivity of the people, had effectually cured the Jews of that tendency\nto idolatry which had been their ruin. But, as time went on, the\ndistortion of character which had been restrained in one direction broke\nforth in another; and although they no longer went formally astray from\na religion which did not suit their depravity, they, by many vain and\nmischievous fancies, fabricated a religion suited to their dispositions\nout of the ritual to which they adhered.\n\nEarly in the reign of Artaxerxes, son of the mighty Xerxes, the Hebrews\nwent to work on the beloved city with a regular plan of its rebuilding,\nincluding an encircling wall.\n\nThis king had learned by reading and traditions, the veneration which\nhis most distinguished predecessors had shown for the God of Israel; and\nabout seven years after he ascended the throne, he commissioned Ezra,\nthe priest and scribe, to take charge of the religious service at\nJerusalem. And he was, in reality, the governor or viceroy under the\nmonarch.\n\nThose of the Hebrews who desired to do so, were invited to return with\nhim, and others who remained, were to pay contributions for the use of\nthe temple.\n\nTo this fund the king himself and his council contributed large sums of\nmoney; and the ministers of the royal realms west of the Euphrates, were\nenjoined to furnish Ezra with silver, wheat, wine, oil, and salt, that\nthe sacrifices and offerings of the temple should be constantly kept up;\nall of which is said to have been done in order to avert from the king\nand his sons, the wrath of the God of the Hebrews, who was held in much\nhonor at the Persian court.\n\nAn exemption from all taxes was also promised to persons engaged in the\nservice of the temple; but this boon did not induce any of the Levitical\ntribe to join the caravan which assembled on the banks of the river\nAhava, in Babylonia: and it was with some difficulty that Ezra at last\ninduced some of the priestly families to go with him. The whole caravan\nwas composed of one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four adult\nmales--making, with wives and children, about six thousand persons. As a\nparty thus composed had little military strength, and as the journey\nacross the desert was then, as it always has been, dangerous from the\nArab tribes by which it is infested, they felt considerable anxiety on\nthis account. But Ezra, from having said much to the king of the power\nof God to protect and deliver those that trusted in him, felt\ndisinclined to apply for a guard of soldiers; and thought it better that\nthe party should, in a solemn act of fasting and prayer, cast themselves\nupon the care of their God. Their confidence was rewarded by the perfect\nsafety with which their journey was accomplished. In four months they\narrived at Jerusalem.\n\nWhile Ezra, with his sealed commission from Artaxerxes, was urging on\nthe noble work at Jerusalem, an unexpected danger to his people in\nBabylon and its provinces arose--a sudden and fearful crisis in destiny.\n\nAmong the captives there was Esther, a Hebrew maiden. The Persian king,\nto commemorate his victorious and prosperous reign, extending from Judea\nto Ethiopia, and embracing a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, made a\nmagnificent feast, which continued six months. This was to display his\npower and wealth, before the nobility of his realm, and representatives\nfrom the conquered provinces of his spreading empire. At the expiration\nof this brilliant entertainment, he gave the common people, without\ndistinction, a feast of seven days in the court of his palace. The rich\ncanopy and gorgeous curtains, with their fastenings--the tall columns,\nthe golden couches, and tesselated floors--are described as \"white,\ngreen, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple\nto silver rings, and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and\nsilver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and black, and white marble.\"\n\n\n[Illustration: Our Saviour Teaching in the Temple.]\n\n\nOf this grandeur, in the ashes strewn by wasting ages, are imposing\nremains. Modern travellers pause before \"the vast, solitary, mutilated\ncolumns of the magnificent colonnades,\" where youth and beauty graced\nthe harems of Persian monarchs.\n\nUpon this occasion, the queen had a private pavilion for her female\nguests. But during the successive days of dissipation, the mirth waxed\nloud in the apartments of the king. The flashing goblet circulated\nfreely, and his brain became wild with \"wine and wassail.\" As the\ncrowning display of his glory, Vashti, in her jeweled robes and diadem,\nmust grace the banquet. The command was issued, and the messenger sent.\nThis mandate, requiring what at any time was contrary to custom, the\nappearance of a woman, unveiled, in an assemblage of men, now when\nrevelry and riot betrayed the royal intoxication, overwhelmed the queen\nwith surprise. A thousand wondering and beaming eyes were upon her\nduring the brief pause before answering the summons. Her proud refusal\nto appear, roused the fury of Ahashuerus, already mad with excitement.\nIt would not answer to pass by the indignity, for a hundred and\ntwenty-seven provinces were represented at his court, and the news of\nhis sullied honor would reach every dwelling in his realm, and curl the\nlip of the serf with scorn. The nobles fanned the flame of his\nindignation. Unless a withering rebuke were administered, their\nauthority as husbands would be gone, and the caprice of woman make every\nfamily a scene of daily revolution.\n\nVashti was divorced--and to provide for the emergency, his courtiers\nsuggested that he should collect in his harem all the beautiful virgins\nof the land, and choose him a wife. Among these was Hadassah, the\nadopted daughter of Mordecai. He urged her to enter her name among the\nrivals for kingly favor. It was not ambition merely that moved Mordecai.\nHe had been meditating upon the unfolding providence of God toward his\nscattered nation, and felt that there was deeper meaning in passing\nevents than the pleasures and anger of his sovereign. Arrayed richly as\ncircumstances would permit, the beautiful Jewess, concealing her\nlineage, joined the youthful procession that entered the audience\nchamber of Ahashuerus, where he sat in state, to look along the rank of\nfemale beauty, floating like a vision before him.\n\nThe character of Esther is here exhibited at the outset; for when she\nwent into the presence of the king, for his inspection, instead of\nasking for gifts as allowed by him, and as the others did, she took only\nwhat the chamberlain gave her. Of exquisite form and faultless features,\nher rare beauty at once captivated the king, and he made her his wife.\n\nMordecai was a man of a noble heart, grand intellect, and unwavering\nintegrity; there was nevertheless an air of severity about him--a\nhaughty, unbending spirit; which with his high sense of honor and scorn\nof meanness would prompt him to lead an isolated life. We have sometimes\nthought that even he had not been able to resist the fascinations of his\nyoung and beautiful cousin, and that the effort to conceal his feelings\nhad given a greater severity to his manner than he naturally possessed.\nToo noble, however, to sacrifice such a beautiful being by uniting her\nfate with his own, when a throne was offered her; or perceiving that the\nlovely and gentle being he had seen ripen into faultless womanhood could\nnever return his love--indeed, could cherish no feeling but that of a\nfond daughter, he crushed by his strong will his fruitless passion. In\nno other way can I account for the life he led, lingering forever around\nthe palace gates, where now and then he might get a glimpse of her who\nhad been the light of his soul, the one bright bird which had cheered\nhis exile's home. That home he wished no longer to see, and day after\nday he took his old station at the gates of Shushan, and looked upon the\nmagnificent walls that divided him from all that had made life\ndesirable. It seems also as if some latent fear that Haman, the favorite\nof the king--younger than his master, and of vast ambition, might\nattempt to exert too great an influence over his cousin, must have\nprompted him to treat the latter with disrespect, and refuse him that\nhomage which was his due. No reason is given for the hostility he\nmanifested, and which he must have known would end in his own\ndestruction.\n\nWhenever Haman, with his retinue, came from the palace, all paid him the\nreverence due to the king's favorite but Mordecai, who sat like a\nstatue, not even turning his head to notice him. He acted like one tired\nof life, and at length succeeded in arousing the deadly hostility of the\nhaughty minister. The latter, however, scorning to be revenged on one\nman, and he a person of low birth, persuaded the king to decree the\nslaughter of all the Jews in his realm. The news fell like a thunderbolt\non Mordecai. Sullen, proud, and indifferent to his own fate, he had\ndefied his enemy to do his worst; but such a savage vengeance had never\nentered his mind, It was too late, however, to regret his behavior.\nRight or wrong, he had been the cause of the bloody sentence, and he\nroused himself to avert the awful catastrophe. With rent garments, and\nsackcloth on his head, he travelled the city with a loud and bitter cry,\nand his voice rang even over the walls of the palace, in tones that\nstartled its slumbering inmates.\n\n\n[Illustration: Humility Exemplified--Giving Alms in Secret.]\n\n\nIt was told Esther, and she ordered garments to be given him, but he\nrefused to receive them, and sent back a copy of the king's decree,\nrespecting the massacre of the Jews, and bade her go in and supplicate\nhim to remit the sentence. She replied that it was certain death to\nenter the king's presence unbidden, unless he chose to hold out his\nsceptre; and that for a whole month he had not requested to see her. Her\nstern cousin, however, unmoved by the danger to herself, and thinking\nonly of his people, replied haughtily that she might do as she chose; if\nshe preferred to save herself, delivery would come to the Jews from some\nother quarter, but she should die.\n\nFrom this moment the character of Esther unfolds itself. It was only a\npassing weakness that prompted her to put in a word for her own life,\nand she at once rose to the dignity of a martyr. The blood of the proud\nand heroic Mordecai flowed in her veins, and she said: \"Go, tell my\ncousin to assemble all the Jews in Shushan, and fast three days and\nthree nights, neither eating nor drinking; I and my maidens will do the\nsame, and on the third day I will go before the king, and if I perish, I\nperish!\" Noble and brave heart! death--a violent death--is terrible; but\nthou art equal.\n\nThere, in that magnificent apartment, filled with perfume, and where the\nsoftened light, stealing through the gorgeous windows by day, and shed\nfrom golden lamps by night on marble columns and golden-colored\ncouches, makes a scene of enchantment, behold Esther, with her royal\napparel thrown aside, kneeling on the tesselated floor. There she has\nbeen two days and nights, neither eating nor drinking, while hunger, and\nthirst, and mental agony have made fearful inroads on her beauty. Her\ncheeks are sunken and haggard--her large and lustrous eyes dim with\nweeping, and her lips parched and dry, yet ever moving in inward prayer.\nMental and physical suffering have crushed her young heart within her,\nand now the hour of her destiny is approaching. Ah! who can tell the\ndesperate effort it required to prepare for that terrible interview.\nNever before did it become her to look so fascinating as then; and\nremoving with tremulous anxiety the traces of her suffering, she decked\nherself in the most becoming apparel she could select. Her long black\ntresses were never before so carefully braided over her polished\nforehead, and never before did she put forth such an effort to enhance\nevery charm, and make her beauty irresistible to the king.\n\nAt length, fully arrayed and looking more like a goddess dropped from\nthe clouds, than a being of clay, she stole tremblingly toward the\nking's chamber. Stopping a moment at the threshold to swallow down the\nchoking sensation that almost suffocated her, and to gather her failing\nstrength, she passed slowly into the room, while her maidens stood\nbreathless without, listening, and waiting with the intensest anxiety\nthe issue. Hearing a slight rustling, the king, with a sudden frown,\nlooked up to see who was so sick of life as to dare to come unbidden in\nhis presence, and lo! Esther stood speechless before him. Her long\nfastings and watchings had taken the color from her cheeks, but had\ngiven a greater transparency in its place, and as she stood, half\nshrinking, with the shadow of profound melancholy on her pallid, but\nindescribably beautiful countenance, her pencilled brow slightly\ncontracted in the intensity of her excitement, her long lashes dripping\nin tears, and lips trembling with agitation; she was, though silent, in\nherself an appeal that a heart of stone could not resist. The monarch\ngazed long and silently on her, as she stood waiting her doom. Shall she\ndie? No; the golden sceptre slowly rises and points to her. The\nbeautiful intruder is welcome, and sinks like a snow wreath at his feet.\nNever before did the monarch gaze on such transcendent loveliness; and\nspell-bound and conquered by it, he said, in a gentle voice: \"What wilt\nthou, Queen Esther? What is thy request? It shall be granted thee, even\nto the half of my kingdom!\"\n\nWoman-like, she did not wish to risk the influence she had suddenly\ngained, by asking the destruction of his favorite, and the reversion of\nhis unalterable decree, and so she prayed only that he and Haman might\nbanquet with her the next day. She had thrown her fetters over him, and\nwas determined to fascinate him still more deeply before she ventured on\nso bold a movement. At the banquet he again asked her what she desired,\nfor he well knew that it was no ordinary matter that had induced her to\nperil her life by entering unbidden his presence. She invited him to a\nsecond feast, and at that to a third. But the night previous to the\nlast, the king could not sleep, and after tossing awhile on his troubled\ncouch, he called for the record of the court, and there found that\nMordecai had a short time before informed him through the queen, of an\nattempt to assassinate him, and no reward been bestowed. The next day,\ntherefore, he made Haman perform the humiliating office of leading his\nenemy in triumph through the streets, proclaiming before him: \"This is\nthe man whom the king delighteth to honor.\" As he passed by the gallows\nhe had the day before erected for that very man, a shudder crept through\nhis frame, and the first omen of coming evil cast its shadow on his\nspirit.\n\n\n[Illustration: Herod's Cruel Massacre.]\n\n\nThe way was now clear to Esther, and so the next day, at the banquet, as\nthe king repeated his former offer, she, reclining on the couch, her\nchiseled form and ravishing beauty inflaming the ardent monarch with\nlove and desire, said in pleading accents: \"I ask, O king, for my life,\nand that of my people. If we had all been sold as bondmen and bondwomen,\nI had held my tongue, great as the evil would have been to thee.\" The\nking started, as if stung by an adder, and with a brow dark as wrath,\nand a voice that sent Haman to his feet, exclaimed: \"Thy life! my queen?\nWho is he? where is he that dare even harbor such a thought in his\nheart? He who strikes at thy life, radiant creature, plants his\npresumptuous blow on his monarch's bosom.\" \"That man,\" said the lovely\npleader, \"is the wicked Haman.\" Darting one look of vengeance on the\npetrified favorite, he strode forth into the garden to control his\nboiling passions. Haman saw at once that his only hope now was in moving\nthe sympathies of the queen in his behalf; and approaching her, he began\nto plead most piteously for his life. In his agony he fell on the couch\nwhere she lay, and while in this position the king returned. \"What!\" he\nexclaimed, \"will he violate the queen here in my own palace!\" Nothing\nmore was said; no order was given. The look and voice of terrible wrath\nin which this was said, were sufficient. The attendants simply spread a\ncloth over Haman's face, and not a word was spoken. Those who came in,\nwhen they saw the covered countenance, knew the import. It was the\nsentence of death. The vaulting favorite himself dare not remove it--he\nmust die, and the quicker the agony is over, the better. In a few hours\nhe was swinging on the gallows he had erected for Mordecai.\n\nAfter this, the queen's power was supreme--every thing she asked was\ngranted. To please her he let his palace flow in the blood of five\nhundred of his subjects, whom the Jews slew in self-defence. For her he\nhung Haman's ten sons on the gallows where the father had suffered\nbefore them. For her he made Mordecai prime minister, and lavished\nboundless favors on the hitherto oppressed Hebrews. And right worthy was\nshe of all he did for her. Lovely in character as she was in person, her\nsudden elevation did not make her vain, nor her power haughty. The same\ngentle, pure, and noble creature when queen, as when living in the lowly\nhabitation of her cousin, generous, disinterested, and ready to die for\nothers, she is one of the loveliest characters furnished in the annals\nof history.\n\nIt is a little singular that the words, God or Providence, are not\nmentioned in the whole book of Esther. The writer seems studiously to\nhave avoided any reference to them, as if he did not wish to recognize\nthe interposition of Heaven in any of the events that transpired; while\nhis narrative is evidently designed to teach nothing else. The hand of\nProvidence is everywhere seen managing the whole scheme.\n\nBut the greatest acts of Providence awaken the least attention among\nblind, mortal men. We are startled when some great occurrence meets us,\nbut overlook the vast effects which follow causes that attracted no eye\nbut God's. We see the flying timbers and flaming ruins of a\nconflagration, and forget that a concealed spark did it all.\n\nA noble mind and body are wrecked, and many weep; yet how few think that\nthe blast of moral ruin which stranded the life-bark, was once the quiet\nbreath of a mother's unholy influence leading the boy astray.\n\nSo the splendid career of a hero and patriot, like Mordecai, Moses, or\nWashington, is less glorious than the simple decision made amid the\nconflicting emotions of youthful aspiration to honor God and serve a\nstruggling country.\n\nJehovah illustrates this principle in all his administration. What to\nElijah on the solemn mount was the sweep of the hurricane, rending the\ncliffs and tossing rocks like withered leaves in air--the thunder of the\nearthquake's march--the blinding glow of the mantling flame--compared to\nthe \"still small voice\" that thrilled on his ear, so full of God! It is\nnot strange that there is to be a reckoning for \"idle words\" even, for\nthey have shaken the world, and their echo will never die away.\n\nTheir mutual love and devout character, remind us of the affectionate\nfidelity to each other and to God, of Ruth the Moabitess, and her Hebrew\nmother-in-law Naomi, who lived in the time of the Judges.\n\nNaomi's family were self-exiled on account of famine in Palestine. Ruth\nhad married a man of Moab; but he and her father-in-law died. A sister\nwhose husband was brother to her own, was also a widow; and when Naomi\ndetermined to return to her native land, at her request, Orphah sought\nher people and friends.\n\nRuth would not leave the pilgrim to the Holy Land. Embracing Naomi, she\nsaid: \"Entreat me not to leave thee, for where thou goest I will go, and\nwhere thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be mine, and thy God\nmy God: where thou diest I will die, and there will I be buried: naught\nbut death shall part us.\"\n\nBeautiful and brave heart! home, and friends, and wealth, nay, the gods\nshe had been taught to worship, were all forgotten in the warmth of her\naffection. Tearful yet firm, \"Entreat me not to leave thee,\" she said.\n\"I care not for the future; I can bear the worst; and when thou art\ntaken from me, I will linger around thy grave till I die, and then the\nstranger shall lay me by thy side!\" What could Naomi do but fold the\nbeautiful being to her bosom and be silent, except as tears gave\nutterance to her emotions. Such a heart outweighs the treasures of the\nworld, and such absorbing love, truth, and virtue, make all the\naccomplishments of life appear worthless in comparison.\n\nGod blessed their devotion to him and each other, giving his special\ntokens of favor to the young heroine from Moab. Upon reaching Bethlehem,\nshe went into the fields of a kinsman of her mother-in-law, Boaz, a\nwealthy citizen, to glean after the reapers. He inquired after her,\nbecame interested in her, and, remembering his obligations on account of\ntheir relationship, married her. An honorable portion and plenty crowned\nthe homeless wanderings of Ruth and Naomi, as they did the captivity of\nMordecai and Esther.\n\nAbout two hundred years after the death of the latter, the Hebrew\nScriptures were translated into Greek by the order of Ptolemy\nPhiladelphus, the Egyptian sovereign of Palestine, making the famous\nSeptuagint--the name probably referring to seventy-two persons engaged\non the work.\n\nA little over two centuries passed, and the Roman armies began their\nconquests in Asia. Less than a score of years later Herod the Great\ngoverned Judea, under the Roman emperor. This Herod, whose reign closed\nthe ancient annals of Palestine, was an Edomite--a cruel and ambitious\nman.\n\nLess than thirty years passed, and one of the darkest, bloodiest acts of\nany sovereign since time began, disgraced the reign of Herod.\n\nJerusalem was astonished by the arrival of three sages from the distant\neast, inquiring for a new-born king, saying that they had seen \"his\nstar,\" and had come to offer him their gifts and homage. They found him\nin the manger at Bethlehem: and then repaired to their own country\nwithout returning to Jerusalem, as Herod had desired. The jealousy of\nthat tyrant had been awakened by their inquiry for the \"King of the\nJews;\" and as their neglect to return prevented him from distinguishing\nthe object of their homage, he had the inconceivable barbarity to order\nthat all the children in Bethlehem under two years of age should be put\nto death, trusting that the intended victim would fall in the general\nslaughter; but Joseph had previously been warned in a dream to take his\nwife and the infant to the land of Egypt, whence they did not return\ntill after the death of Herod.\n\nThat event was not long delayed. In the sixty-ninth year of his age.\nHerod fell ill of the disease which occasioned his death. That disease\nwas in his bowels, and not only put him to the most cruel tortures, but\nrendered him altogether loathsome to himself and others. The natural\nferocity of his temper could not be tamed by such experience. Knowing\nthat the nation would little regret his death, he ordered the persons of\nchief note to be confined in a tower, and all of them to be slain when\nhis own death took place, that there might be cause for weeping in\nJerusalem. This savage order was not executed. After a reign of\nthirty-seven years, Herod died In the seventieth year of his age.\n\nSir Walter Scott's beautiful \"Hebrew Hymn\" will fittingly close these\nsketches of Palestine:\n\n  When Israel, of the Lord beloved,\n    Out from the land of bondage came,\n  Her father's God before her moved,\n    An awful guide, in smoke and flame.\n  By day along the astonished lands,\n    The cloudy pillar glided slow;\n  By night Arabia's crimsoned sands\n    Returned the fiery columns' glow.\n\n  There rose the choral hymn of praise,\n    And trump and timbrel answered keen;\n  And Zion's daughters poured their lays,\n    With priests' and warriors' voice between.\n  No portents now our foes amaze,\n    Forsaken Israel wanders lone;\n  Our fathers would not know Thy ways,\n    And Thou has left them to their own.\n\n  But present still, though now unseen,\n    When brightly shines the prosperous day,\n  Be thoughts of Thee, a cloudy screen,\n    To temper the deceitful ray.\n  And oh! when stoops on Judah's path,\n    In shade and storm, the frequent night,\n  Be Thou long-suffering, slow to wrath,\n    A burning and a shining light.\n\n  Our harps we left by Babel's streams,\n    The tyrant's jest, the Gentile's scorn,\n  No censer round our altar beams,\n    And mute our timbrel, trump, and horn,\n  But thou hast said, \"The blood of goat,\n    The flesh of rams I will not prize,\n  A contrite heart, an humble thought,\n    Are more accepted sacrifice.\"","title":"Half Hours in Bible Lands, Volume 2: Patriarchs, Kings, and Kingdoms","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":21172}