in that prayer of our litany, “ From pride and vainglory, from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness, good Lord, deliver us !"

Had Haman tried to conquer his wicked feelings, he would have saved himself from much misery; but instead of that he encouraged them, and listened to the bad advice of his wife and his friends.

E. What did they tell him to do, mamma?

M. They advised him to have a very high gallows made, and to persuade the king the next day to let Mordecai be hanged upon it; and the thing pleased Haman, and he caused the gallows to be made. But the pride of this bad man was now very near its fall. That very night the king happened to recollect that Mordecai had once saved his life, and that no public honours had been paid to him in consequence. This thought troubled the king so much that he could not sleep, and he determined to make up to Mordecai immediately the injury that had been done him. Therefore the king inquired whether any of his ministers were at hand, to whom he might give his orders; and he was told that Haman stood in the court of the royal dwelling. Now it so happened, that Haman had come into the king's court to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him; and when he received a message from the king desiring him to come into his presence, he rejoiced at so early an opportunity of putting his wicked plan into effect. He had no time, however, to propose it, for the king immediately asked him what ought to be done to the man whom the king delighted to honour ? Now Haman thought in his heart, to whom would the king delight to do

honour more than to myself? therefore he replied, “Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse which the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head, and let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the streets of the city, and proclaim before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.” The king listened to the words of Haman, and then desired him to go and do all that he had said to Mordecai the Jew, for that he was the man whom he wished thus to honour. The king little knew how Haman felt when he heard this command; but we, who know his hatred to Mordecai, can easily imagine how ill he liked the task imposed

upon him.

E. But I suppose, mamma, he was obliged to obey ?

M. He had no choice; he knew the danger of refusing to do what the king directed; he therefore said nothing, but took the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him through the streets of the city, proclaiming before him, “ Thus shall be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.” But as soon as it was over, he hasted: to his house full of vexation, and told his wife and his friends all that had befallen him. While they were yet talking, came the king's chamberlain, and hasted to bring him unto the banquet that Esther had prepared. And now the punishment of Haman

was fast approaching. He little thought how near it was, and that he who went to the feast an honoured guest, should leave it a condemned criminal. And yet this was really the case.

The king asked Esther again the second day, what it was that she wished him to do for her, promising to grant her request whatever it might be. And she answered the king and said, “If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request; for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish.” When the king heard these words he was greatly astonished, for he did not know, till now, that his beautiful Esther, whom he loved above all other women, belonged to the Jewish nation; and he said to the queen, “ Who where is he that durst presume in his heart to do so ?" Then Esther told him that the adversary of herself and her people was that wicked Haman who then sat at meat with him.

E. And what did the king do then?

M. He rose from the table in great haste, and hearing at that moment of the gallows which that cruel man had set up for Mordecai, he desired that Haman might be hanged upon it instead, “ So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.” Thus did Haman reap the fruits of his own iniquity ; thus did he fall into the pit which he had so maliciously dug for another ! leaving an awful lesson behind him for the instruction of all who read his melancholy story. All that he had done to injure Mordecai, had only served to bring himself low and

to raise Mordecai very high, for all his possessions did the king give to queen Esther, who bestowed them all upon Mordecai.

E. How happy the queen must have been now.

M. She was, no doubt, very thankful to God, who had so far blessed her undertaking, but her heart was still sad, for she did not yet know what was to become of her unhappy people. The king's decree for their destruction had gone forth into all parts of his kingdom, and she was not sure that he would like to change it. She threw herself, however, once more upon the king's mercy, and besought him to have pity upon her poor unhappy people. The king listened very graciously to her request; and although he could not alter his decree against the Jews, because the law of Persia did not allow him to do so, yet he wrote other letters to all parts of his kingdom, which were dispatched with all possible speed, desiring that the Jews in every city, might be allowed to gather themselves together, and defend themselves against their enemies.

And now the good Esther was quite happy, and great reason had she to be so, for she felt that God had heard her prayers; that he had given her courage to endanger her own life for the sake of theirs, and that he had given her such influence with the king as she could never have expected. The delightful satisfaction of thinking that she had done right must have been her's, and believe me, my child, there is no happiness to be compared with such a feeling.

Not long after the day arrived which was to have been so fatal to the Jews. But they gathered themselves together and defended themselves, and

the governors and rulers, knowing the king's pleasure, helped the Jews, so that the people were afraid of the Jews, and could not stand against them; and many of these heathen people were so astonished at all that had happened, and saw so plainly how powerful the God of the Jews was to help them, that they left their false religion, and began to worship the true God themselves. Thus did Divine Providence bring good out of evil, overruling the hatred of a bad man against his people, not only to their good, but to the great benefit of those nations among whom they dwelt.

How much encouragement does this story, Edward, hold out to those who serve God faithfully! We see how tenderly he watches over his people! in how surprising a manner he sometimes interferes by his providence to help them in their distresses. God is an ever watchful protector: he has himself assured us that he will help the righteous, and defend him with his loving-kindness as with a shield.

On the other hand, see the just punishment which awaits the wicked. Often when they least expect, in the very height of their pride and rejoicing, calamity overtakes them. True it is, that the ungodly often prosper in the world and increase in riches; so much so, that even the Psalmist allows that he was troubled for a time, being envious of the foolish, when he saw the prosperity of the wicked : until he went into the house of God; then understood he the end of these men. For he perceived that their greatness was to them but a slippery place, from which they were cast down into destruction ; brought into desolation as it were in a moment, and after revelling