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her request, and three hundred more of the Persians were slain. She asked, further, that the bodies of Haman's ten sons, who had been slain on the first day, be hanged on a gallows, as a further mark of dishonor. This request was also granted.

At this distance from the time and circumWas it stances, we are inclined to judge Esther harshly for this apparently unnecessary revenge. not enough that Haman had been hanged? that Mordecai had been advanced to the position of prime minister? that she and her people had been spared? that seventy-five thousand of her enemies had been destroyed? Was it now necessary for her to ask for the slaughter of three hundred others, who could not possibly harm her or her people? or that the sons of Haman, already dead, should be further dishonored by their bodies being hanged? Esther would have appeared more womanly to us if she had not made these two requests.

Yet of her deserving a prominent place as one of the heroines of the Bible, there is not the least shadow of a doubt. It required great strength of character and sublime faith in God to enable her to brave the vengeful spite of Haman, the hatred of the Persians for the Jews, and the danger of a personal appeal to the king in behalf of her doomed people. At the outset, everything was apparently against her. Yet so strong in faith and courage was she and so skilful in diplomacy, that she was able with the assistance of Mordecai to turn the most adverse circumstances to the good

of her people. There is no wonder then that her name and her fame are common among the Jews of all ages; and that parents and writers among them have been proud to name their daughters and heroines Esther.

XV. THE HEROINE OF THE SONG OF
SOLOMON.

One of the most widely misunderstood and variously interpreted books of the Bible is the book of Canticles, or the Song of Solomon. It is not my purpose here to name and explain all these varied interpretations, but merely to name the one which most modern commentators accept, and base this treatise upon it.

This book is now quite generally looked upon as a sort of drama, or poetic story, written by an unknown poet of the northern kingdom, some two centuries after Solomon's time. It is supposed that the book includes three characters, besides a chorus. This chorus is composed of the women of Solomon's court. The three characters are a young maiden of the northern kingdom, her lover, and Solomon. The girl is the heroine, the lover the hero, and Solomon the villain.

The plot of the poem is simple. The maiden and her lover are betrothed. He is a shepherd on the mountains of Lebanon. She has been mistreated by her half-brothers, and forced to do such. menial labor as vine-dressing, etc. While engaged

in this occupation, she is seen by the ladies of Solomon's court, as they are making a tour of the north with him. Struck with her great beauty, they report her to him, and together they try to induce her to go with them to Solomon's harem and become an inmate of it. In glowing terms they describe the magnificence of his court. They praise her beauty with the hope of winning her through flattery. At length, we presume against her will, she is taken to Jerusalem, and there the inducements are increased, but all in vain. She remains true to her absent lover, and the cajolery and threats of Solomon are alike unavailing.

Her faithfulness to her lover is sublime, and she will allow nothing to alter her determination. to be true to him. At last her devotion is rewarded, and she is allowed to depart to her rural home, where her lover meets her; and together they sing the marriage song, which for truth, strength, and beauty of imagery, stands as a monument in the language:

"Set me as a seal upon thine heart,

As a seat upon thine arm:

For love is strong as death:

Jealousy is cruel as the grave:

The coals thereof are coals of fire,

A most vehement flame.

"Many waters cannot quench love,

Neither can the floods drown it:

If a man would offer all the substance of his house,

For a woman's love.

It would utterly be contemned,''

"Love must be given; it cannot be bought." Solomon tried, according to the poem, to purchase the love of a poor country maiden by offering her all the comforts and luxuries of his house, and he and his wealth were utterly contemned. And nothing but contempt belongs to the man who would attempt to buy, or the woman who would sell, even the symbols of love, for money.

The heroine of the Song of Solomon is an imaginary woman; her story, with its scenes and incidents, is imaginary; but the moral of the story and the character of its heroine are worthy of eternal preservation. As long as woman's faith and loyalty are admirable, as long as the wiles of wealth or power are used to lure her from the path of virtue and devotion, as long as love is weighed. by the mercenary in the scales with wealth-so long will the heroine of the Song of Solomon stand forth as one who proved her truth, resisted blandishment, and received her reward in the wealth of a husband's love. Hence we cannot admire too much the woman here portrayed; and as all good poetry, fiction, and drama are useful, not only for their inherent beauty, but for the lessons they teach, we may gain from this drama of human life its appropriate lesson.

Although I disagree in many particulars with the Bible interpretations made by Dr. Lyman Abbott, of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, I cannot forbear quoting here the essence of what he says on this beautiful book: