of gifts upon his favourites; and the name of Esther was blended with
other and higher associations, as, upon her elevation, the taxes of the
burdened provinces were remitted and pardons granted to the condemned.

Mordecai, the relative who had supplied the place of parents to Esther,
was, as we have said, of the house of Kish. Mordecai was the Jew rather
than the Benjamite. His heart was devoted to his country. When the child
of his adoption was taken to the palace, Mordecai displayed his wise
forethought in cautioning her against making her parentage and kindred
known. He had been as a father to her, and a deep interest in the orphan
of his care led him, day by day, to watch the gate of the palace--to
mingle with the attendants, that he might catch a view of her train or
gather tidings of her welfare. And thus, unknown as the relative of the
fair queen, or as especially interested in the king, Mordecai was
enabled to detect and reveal a plot for the assassination of Ahasuerus.
Esther being informed of the plot, disclosed it to the king--the
criminals were defeated and punished--but no reward was conferred upon
Mordecai.

The passion of Ahasuerus for his fair bride seems to have soon declined.
The fickle voluptuary sought new pleasures, and the bride so lately
exalted to a throne was no longer an object of envy. Many bitter tears
have been shed by the victims of family pride or state policy, when thus
allied to greatness and splendour. The sacred rite has often been
prostituted to purposes of ambition and selfishness, and has thus become
a source of guilt and misery. Esther, in her elevation, may have shed as
bitter tears as fell from Vashti in her banishment and disgrace.

Thus each state has its own trials and its own griefs--and it has its
peculiar alleviations too. Perhaps the progress of the narrative will