his cause in the Lord's hands, Neh. i. 11.

Then, attired in his official dress, the Rab-shakeh sets forth for the
state apartments of the palace. The central building of that magnificent
pile in which the king held court was very fine and imposing, as may be
seen to-day from the extensive ruins of Shushan. In the centre of it was
the Great Hall of Pillars, 200 feet square. In this hall were no less
than thirty-six pillars, arranged in six rows, and all sixty feet high.
Round this grand hall were the beautiful reception rooms of the king,
and these were carefully arranged, in order to ensure perpetual coolness
even in the hottest weather. There was no room on the hot south side of
the palace, but on the west was the morning room, in which all the
morning entertainments were held, whilst the evening banqueting hall was
on the eastern side. By this arrangement the direct rays of the sun were
never felt by those within the palace. Then, on the cool northern side
was the grand throne room, in which the king sat in state, and through
which a whole army of soldiers, or an immense body of courtiers, could
file without the slightest confusion, entering and leaving the room by
stone staircases placed opposite each other. The steps were only four
inches in depth and sixteen feet wide, and were so built that horsemen
could easily mount or descend them.

Into one of the grand halls of the palace Nehemiah the cup-bearer
enters. The pavement is of coloured marble, red, white, and blue;
curtains of blue and white, the Persian royal colours, drape the windows
and are hanging in graceful festoons from the pillars; the fresh morning
breeze is blowing from the snow-clad mountains, and is laden with the
scent of lemons and oranges, and of the Shushan lilies and Persian roses
in the palace gardens.