cised for good in a world where it is needed? "He that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." If you are not living and feeling and doing right, just in that position where God has placed you, you would be equally, and possibly more, delinquent in any desirable circumstances for which you long.

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LECTURE III.

HAMAN, THE MAGNIFICENT.

THE scene changes; and a new character, destined to act an important part in this eventful history is introduced to our notice. He comes forward with high claims upon our reverence; and demands from us the bow of respect. The foundation of his claim is the fact that he is the favourite of the king; but too often the favourite of a monarch is a selfish minion, deserving only the hatred and the contempt of the people. It is almost a necessary evil in the courts of despotic princes, that there is no access to the ear of the king for the voice of wholesome truth; that the chief aim of his courtiers is to flatter his vanity and thus secure his favour; and that better men are crowded away, because to such fawning and falsehood they will not stoop. It is proof sufficient that a despotism is an unnatural, as well as an unwholesome state of society, when it thus tends to elevate bad men rather than good; and when the proverb is so often verified, that "truth is seldom found in the palace of kings." We have already seen and shall again see the proof that this

king Ahasuerus was neither a great, a wise, nor a good man; and though he was blessed in Esther with a wise and pious wife, through whose influence he was sometimes led to the right, we have proof here of his folly and weakness in these facts, that he had a man at court who was his favourite ; that this favourite was chiefly eminent for his vanity and his vices; and that especially to such a weak, bad man, without inquiry and without restraint, the king should commit the control of schemes so vast and important.

But let us not anticipate. Our first attention may be turned to the man himself, and to his race and connections, as furnishing a key to subsequent transactions. This man's name was Haman. Eastern names are significant more frequently than among us; and if traced to a Persian root, this name signifies the splendid, or the magnificent. HAMAN THE MAGNIFICENT is a title to which such a man would eagerly aspire. As to origin, he was an Agagite. We know not where to ascribe this name, except to the ancient race of the kings of Amalek. It is no disproof of this, that in the apocryphal chapters of this book, Haman is called a Macedonian; it rather proves that these chapters are of more recent date, when the kingdom of Macedon had become powerful by the ability and success of Philip and Alexander. The opinion that, as an Agagite, Haman was a descendant of Amalek, is as old at least as the days of the Jewish historian

Josephus, who expressly affirms it. Who the Amalekites were, we can easily learn. They were among the most ancient people upon the face of the earth; they are mentioned by Moses as early as the days of Abraham, Gen. xiv. 7; and they are called by Balaam the first of the nations. Num. xxiv. 20. Between them and the children of Israel the enmity was long continued and mortal. They were the first people with whom the Israelites had a battle after they came forth from the Egyptian captivity; * and their attack upon Moses was so unprovoked and cruel, that Jehovah swore that his people should have war with Amalek from generation to generation, until, as a people, they should be blotted out from under heaven. It was against this cruel people that the first king of Israel was sent to wage an exterminating warfare; and it was for his sin in sparing them that Saul was rejected from his place. 1 Sam. xv. And after their monarch had been made a captive, it was in righteous retribution for his cruelties, and to fulfil the longstanding curse of Jehovah, that the prophet Samuel "hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord." Though Saul failed to execute his commission, David did much to destroy this people, and perhaps completely broke their power as a nation, when he defeated them after the destruction of Ziklag. 1 Sam. xxx. Yet even then four hundred men

* Exod. xvii. 8. Some suppose this is Balaam's meaning, Num. xxiv. 20.

escaped; and the scattered sons of Amalek, might long afterwards be found among the nations. As Agag was doubtless a common designation of their kings, like Pharaoh among the Egyptian monarchs, and Cæsar among the Roman emperors, Haman was probably a descendant of the royal line; though the words of Samuel may perhaps forbid us to regard him as the descendant of the king whom that prophet slew. The pride of birth for so ancient a people, and such a long line of royal descent, may have been maintained for many generations after Amalek was scattered; especially when the weakness of the fallen family gave no cause of jealousy in the lands where they were exiled. Indeed Haman possesses before us just such a character as we might expect, in one who plumed himself upon his ancient pedigree, and had little else to recommend him.

But this man, Haman, of polite manners and flattering lips, is the favourite of the Persian court; king Ahasuerus advances him above all other princes; and the king's servants bow down to reverence him. This usually follows as a thing of course; nor is it always wrong. There is a respect due to men in high places; and it is proper to reverence according to their office those that are in authority. But how empty and shallow is the applause often bestowed upon such favourites! The smiles that met the eye of Haman were no index of the inner homage of

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