The Rival Temples.

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constituted themselves into what is known as "the men of the great synagogue," and who, as the spiritual parliament of the Jews, ordained a certain uniform order for the services of all Jewish synagogues.

From this time we date also the deadly enmity between Jews and Samaritans, of which the New Testament gives us many incidental proofs. (Everybody will, for instance, remember the contemptuous outcry against our Lord: "Say we not well, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?") Nehemiah finding that, contrary to the newly-introduced constitution, the high-priest, Manasseh, son of Joiada, had married the daughter of Sanballat, the Horonite, expelled the offender from Jerusalem. Sanballat, to revenge himself, built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, and installed his son-in-law as high-priest. To this apostacy of Manasseh is ascribed the knowledge of the law and the possession of the sacred books of which the Samaritans boast. But while Jerusalem grew to be again the capital of a widely-spread nation, Samaria with her temple collected only a very small community, and could not again attract as formerly, under the kings of Israel, the Jewish

worshippers from the northern provinces, who now went up to Jerusalem and cherished antiSamaritan feelings, just like all the other Jews. We shall hear very little of the Samaritans after this period, and that little I may as well sum up here, in a few words. At the time of Alexander the Great they seem to have revolted against the Macedonian commander in Samaria, and had, in consequence of this, to leave their settlement and to retreat to Shechem, the modern Nablous, where, to this day, a few of their descendants remain. In the time when the Jews revolted against the Romans, the Samaritans, on several occasions, joined them against their common enemies, but their old hatred of the Jews reappeared as soon as the war was over. Under the Emperor Zeno, about A.D. 530, the Samaritans attacked a Christian church in Nablous, and treated the neighbouring Christians so cruelly that they brought the vengeance of the empire upon themselves. Their holy mount Gerizim on which, till then, they had offered their devotions, was taken from them and crowned by a Christian church. Many cruel edicts of the Roman emperor were decreed against them in common with the Jews, but they outlived the

persecutions of many centuries. Now, however, they are reduced to such a small number, that there is fear of their dying out altogether. Copies of their Pentateuch, written in Samaritan, or rather original Hebrew-for the present Hebrew letters are of Chaldean origin—characters, have been brought to Europe, and have offered many points of interest in biblical criticism.

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CHAPTER III.

Ahasuerus. Vashti. - Queen Esther. - Mordecai. - Haman determines to destroy the Jews. Decree of extermination-Great consternation among the Jews.~Esther intercedes for her people.— Haman's wickedness detected and punished.-Mordecai's promo tion. The fast of Esther.-The feast of Purim.

IN the time of Ahasuerus, called Artaxerxes Makrocheir by the Greeks, who was the son and successor of Xerxes, the invader of Greece, and who after defeating his numerous competitors for the crown, and being thus at last firmly seated in the dominion of the 127 provinces of the Persian Empire, reigned B.C. 464, a series of pompous feasts were instituted for his friends, for the natives of Persia, and for their governors, whilst his queen, Vashti by name, prepared concurrent feasts for the women in her own apartments in the royal palace.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the King was merry with wine, he ordered the seven

Esther, Queen of Persia.

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chamberlains to bring Vashti before him, with the crown on her head, that he might show her to his courtiers in all the pomp and dress of beauty. Upon the Queen refusing to comply with his command, which was contrary to Persian etiquette, the King, taking the advice of his counsellors, instantly decreed her degradation and dismissal. Measures were forthwith adopted to fill the vacancy thus created, and give another queen to the people of Persia. At the time we are speaking of, there lived in Shushan a Jew named Mordecai, descended from a family that had been carried captive to Babylon with Jeconiah, King of Judea. Mordecai, having no chil

dren, brought up his uncle's daughter, named Hadassah, or Esther. This young maid, being of prepossessing outward appearance, was sent to the King's palace, with a number of others, that the King might choose his new consort from them. Esther soon gained the King's affections in such a degree that, placing the royal diadem on her head, he declared her queen in Vashti's stead. A solemn festival was proclaimed, and the remission of taxes granted to the provinces in honour of the occasion. About the same time Mordecai detected a conspiracy against the