And they were probably counselling some measures for his personal
safety; for when they were yet talking, came the king's chamberlain,
and hasted to bring Haman to the feast Esther had prepared.

As the feast proceeded, the king entreated Esther to ask some gift that
he might bestow as a token of favour, or a pledge of affection. And then
Esther, with a simple fervour, force, and dignity, and with the pathos
of true feeling, offered her supplication for herself and her nation.
"And Esther 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, to perish." She quotes the words
of Haman's edict, and then adds, "But if we had been sold for bond-men
and bond women, I had held my peace, although the enemy could not
countervail the king's damage," nor recompense the loss of so many of
the king's useful citizens and peaceful subjects. Nothing could be more
sweet, gentle, submissive, and truly dignified than her appeal. And the
imagination and astonishment of the king are graphically displayed in
his answer. Who is he? Where is he that hath presumed in his heart to do
so? Who has dared to conspire against one so near my person, so exalted
by my favour?

Confounded, amazed--and probably for the first time suspecting the
Jewish extraction of the queen--Haman was still speechless when Esther
made her direct and firm reply: "That adversary, that wicked man, is
Haman," here in the royal presence--here in the full blaze of royal
favour.

In the conscious justice of her cause, she had desired to be confronted
with the man she accused, and he was present, that he might enjoy every