Female excellency, or, The ladies glory illustrated in the worthy lives and memorable actions of nine famous women, who have been renowned either for virtue or valour in several ages of the world ... : the whole adorned with poems and the picture of each lady / by R.B.

The History of Queen Esther.

[illustration]

WHen Haman in his proud ambitious mind Utter destruction to the Jews design'd, When for the fault of one they all must dye, All must be ruin'd for poor Mordecai, Then prudent Esther doth her self oppose Against her Uncles and her Peoples Foes, Ventures her life her Nation to save, And Mercy for them of the King doth crave. Who hears and grants her suit most graciously, Haman is hanged for his Treachery, And Mordecai his Office doth enjoy, Who for the Jews his Interest doth imploy.

IN the year from the Creation of the world 3543. and before the birth of our Saviour 521. during the Captivity of the Jews in Babylon; Cyrus (the son of Xerxes whom the Grecians called Artaxerxes) was King of Persia; in whose reign all the race of the Jews both men, women and children were in danger to have been utterly exterminated, had it not been happily prevented by the mercy of God, and the excellent conduct and admirable courage of our renowned Heroine Queen Esther.

For the better understanding hereof, we read that after Artaxerxes was setled in the Kingdom, and had established Governors over an hundred and seven and twenty Provinces from India as far as Ethiopia, in the third year of his reign he made a most Royal and Magnificient Feast for all the Grandees of his mighty Empire, wherein he display'd the opulency and grandeur of his Dominions for one hundred and fourscore days together; After which he for 7 days treated the Ambassadors of all Nations in the Palace of Shushan, sitting in a Tent, the Pillars whereof were Gold and Silver and the covering of Scarlet, of such a vast extent that thousands might be entertained under it; all the provisions were served in Vessels of Gold inriched with Jewels, and of excel∣lent workmanship; The King commanded his At∣tendants that none should be enforced to drink, but according to the Persian usage, each at his own dis∣cretion; He also sent an Order throughout all his Countreys that they should all cease from their la∣bour many days, and make Holyday in Honour of his Royalty.

At the same time Vashti his Queen made a Royal Banquet to her Ladies, and the King being merry with wine the seventh day of the Feast, sent one of his Eunuchs to cause her to come with the Crown upon her head in the most glorious manner, and her most gorgeous attire, to display her beauty to the eyes of all the people, but she being too tenacious of

the Persian custom that count it a crime to be seen by strangers, refused to come, and though he re∣newed his desires divers times, yet she persisted in her denial, upon which being extreamly displeased, he rose suddenly from the Banquet, and calling to him seven of his Councellors by whose advice he managed his affairs, and who expounded the Law to him, he desired to know what punishment they thought due to his wife who had put such an open affront and indignity upon him before that Great Assembly; one of them answered,

That this was a crime of State, and might occasion a general dis∣order throughout the Realm, since all other wo∣men following the example of the Queen might from thence take a licentious power to disobey their husbands, and every where domineer over them, thereby overthrowing the order of Nature, and cause quarrels and disturbance in all Families; His opinion therefore was, that she who had done him this publick dishonour should be divorced from the King her husband, and that a Proclama∣tion should be published throughout all his Provin∣ces signifying the cause thereof, and asserting the just subjection of wives to their husbands.

The King who had an extraordinary passion for Vashti, and could hardly entertain any thoughts of a separa∣tion from the dear object of his love, seemed for some time wholly abandoned to grief and sorrow, which his Nobles observing, endeavoured to remove by representing the unreasonableness of his concern∣ment for such an unworthy woman who had so ex∣treamly disobliged him, and that he might soon find out another who in beauty and all other Princely qualifications should far exceed her, and by whose pleasing demeanor the thoughts of Vashti might be utterly extinguished.

The King confirming the Judgment they had given against Vashti, sent abroad messengers to bring into his presence the fairest Virgins that were to be found in

his Kingdoms; Whereupon a great number being as∣sembled, there was among them a young Orphan whose parents being dead, she was educated under the tuition of her uncle Mordecai of the Tribe of Benjamin, and a principal man among the Jews, her name was Esther and was judged the most beau∣tiful of all that youthful company, and for her ami∣able countenance caused all Spectators to stand still and admire her; Whereupon the Eunuchs attended her with more than ordinary diligence, and she was prepared for the kings pleasure with odors and per∣fumes for six months, in the company of four hun∣dred other Virgins; After which the Officer judg∣ing them fit to approach the Royal bed, sent one e∣very night to the King, who returned her back in the morning; But when Esther came into his presence, he was so surprized with her love that he took her for his lawful wife, and setled his affections upon her above all the others; The marriage was solem∣nized in the seventh year of his reign in the twelfth month called Adar, or February; And edicts were sent throughout all his kingdoms to proclaim a Feast in honour of this wedding, he himself likewise feasting the Medes, Persians, and Princes of other Nations, for a whole month upon that account.

When Esher entered the Royal Palace, the king set a Diadem of gold upon her head, and lived with her with all manner of content and satisfaction, never questioning her birth nor of what Nation she was; Her uncle Mordecai came with her from Babylon (where she was found by the Kings officers) to Shu∣san the cheif City of Persia, and walked dayly before the Palace inquiring of her welfare, whom he loved as tenderly as if she had been his own; Now the king had published a Law, that no man should ap∣proach his presence unless 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sent for; In pur∣suance whereof, while he sate on his Royal Throne certain Officers stood with their Axes ready to pu∣nish any that should attempt to infringe this Decree;

The king himself sate aloft, holding a golden Scepter in his hand, and when any presumed to come near without being called, if the King would save his life he touched him therewith, who thereby avoided death.

It happened about this time that Bigthan and Teresh two of the kings chamberlains had conspired against their Master, which Mordecai who was not of a drow∣sy Spirit soon perceived, and narrowly observing their carriage, he discovered the whole design, which he imparted to Queen Esther, and she to the King in the name of Mordecai, who being taken and examin∣ed confessed their abominable Treason and received their due reward; the king at present only returned Mordecai hearty thanks for saving his life, but com∣manded him to continue in his Pallace, and ordered his name to be registred in the Chronicles of Persia with the whole process against the Malefactors.

After this Ahasuerus exalted Haman an Amalekite a∣bove all his Princes and Nobles, and he became the chief Favourite, so that the king saw but with his eyes, and heard with his ears; All the Court adored this new Idol, and all knees were bowed before him, but Mordecai shewed him no reverence nor respect both because he knew the wickedness of his nature, and that the Laws of the Jews forbad him to give honour to any of the wicked race of Amalek; Haman elevated even to giddiness by the greatness he so sud∣denly arrived to, had at first little regard to it, but being dayly advertised thereof by his Flatterers, who informed him that they had often in vain reproved Mordecai for his contempt, he was thereat inflamed with rage against him, and understanding he was a Jew, was much disturbed that all the Persian Nobility who were free should prostrate themselves before him, and a Jewish slave should refuse to reverence him, he therefore scorns to revenge himself on Mor∣decai alone, as thinking it much below his grandeur to punish one man only, but resolves utterly to ex∣terminate the whole race of the Jews, to whom he

was a mortal enemy by nature, the Amalekites his predecessors having been destroyed by the Israelites in former ages; and revenge may be imagined thus to inflame him.

Remember Haman there's no sweeter pleasure Than swift revenge; for to revenge by leasure Is but like feeding when the Stomach's past, Not pleasing th' eager appetite nor tast, 'Tis not for th'honour of thy personage Nor stands it with thy greatness to ingage Thy noble thoughts to make revenge so poor To be reveng'd on One alone; thy sore Needs many Plaisters; make thy honour good Not with a drop, but with a world of bloud, Borrow the sythe of Time, and let thy passion Mow down and ruin the whole Jewish Nation.

In pursuance of this hellish resolution Haman ad∣dresseth himself to the King and tells him;

That there were a certain cursed people called Jews dis∣persed through all the Provinces of his kingdom, who were divided by Religion and laws from the rest of the World, and by affection from his Person and government; That they were pernicious to his Empire, and upon all occasions ready and dis∣posed to insurrections and rebellions, and that for preventing the mischiefs which might happen by them, nothing would be more secure than to cut them off all at once, and utterly to extinguish their race, so that neither Captive nor Slave should be left alive among them; And lest their destruction should prove prejudicial to his Majesties Revenue, he freely offered to pay out of his own Estate forty thousand Talents of Silver into the Exchequer, be∣ing willing rather to part with so much money for the publick safety than that such a cursed generati∣on of men should indanger the kingdom.

Thus is the horrid Scene laid for the ruin of so ma∣ny millions of people by the pernicious counsel of one malicious and ambitious favourite; The king is

soon led away by this evil advice, and trusts this proud Haman with the execution thereof, as if he had committed the sheep to the protection of the Wolf; He triumphs with joy for having obtained his desire and the kings Ring; He calls the Secretaries and com∣mands them in the name of Ahasuerus to write bloudy Letters to all the Provinces;

That the thirteenth day of the last month, (which was February) the Jews should be massacred in all the Cities and Towns within the utmost limits of the Empire and that from the least to the greatest, not sparing man, woman nor child, all should be put to the sword without remorse, & their goods to be confiscate, & exposed to pillage;

These Letters confirmed with the Kings seal flew like lightning through the hun∣dred and twenty seven provinces of the Persian Mo∣narchy; The evil was universal, and the terror be∣gan at the Capital City of Shushan, where the Edict hanged upon Pillars was seen and read to all the world, containing this dreadful Sentence.

Ahasuerus Rex.

Let every Province in the Persian Land, (Upon the day prefixt) prepare his hand To make the Channels flow with Rebels bloud And from the earth to root the Jewish brood; Let not the softness of a partial heart, Through melting pity, Love, or false desert, Spare either young or old or man or woman But like their crimes, so let their plagues be common Decreed and signed by our Princely Grace And given at Shushan from our royal place.

This sanguinary Proclamation being published in all places, many bloudy Miscreants rejoiced at the news, and prepared themselves to execute the con∣tents thereof, resolving at the day appointed utterly to destroy the Jews, and to leave no remembrance of them upon earth; The Metropolitan City of Shushan abounded with these Instruments of cruelty, though in the mean time the K. and Haman, feasted & drowned

themselves in debauchery; Poor Mordecai foreseeing the Tempest ready to fall upon his people, cloathed himself with Sackcloth and put ashes upon his head, in which equipage he walked through the City pro∣testing that his Nation had done nothing to deserve this severity designed against them, and at length ar∣riving at the Palace he stood at the gate, (it being unlawful for him to enter in that dress) with many of the Jews in his company and in the same mourn∣ing attire; The news hereof coming to the Queen, she was much surprized, and sent an Eunuch to bid him change his garments, which he absolutely refused till the cause of his putting them on was removed; Whereupon she again dispatcht her servant to him to know what sad occasion had induced him to put on that dispairing habit, and to pour out such lamenta∣ble and incessant cries; Upon which Mordecai sent her an account of the terrible edict lately published against the Jews and proclaimed through all the pro∣vinces by the Kings command, with the great Sum of money which Haman had offered to pay into the Ex∣chequer, whereby he had purchased the utter desola∣tion of the Jewish Nation; and herewith he deliver∣ed a Copy of the Edict to the Messenger, with a strict injunction to Esther to cloth her self in the most abject fashion, and to present a petition to the king for the saving her people from the deplorable de∣struction decreed against them. Esther having receiv∣ed this advertisement sent again to Mordecai to tell him;

That she knew not when she should be cal∣led for by the King, and to presume to come into his presence without order would undoubtedly in∣danger her life, unless the king should happen to extend the golden Scepter of mercy to her; Mordecai returned answer; That she ought to venture her own safety for saving the lives of her whole Nation, assuring her, that if she neglected their security, yet Heaven would do it by some other means, and she and her fathers house should be destroyed

by those she had slighted and contemned; Says he,

Go tell the Queen it resteth in her powers To help; The case is hers as well as ours, Go tell the fearful Queen, too great's her fear, Too small her zeal, her life she rates too dear, How poor's th' adventure to ingage thy bloud To save thy peoples life, and Nations good? Who knows if God on purpose did intend Thy high preferment for this happy end, If at this needful time thou spare to speak, Our speedy help shall, like the morning, break From Heaven, together with thy woes, and he That succours us, shall heap his plagues on thee.

Upon this severe reprimand the Queen sends to Mordecai commanding him to call a general assembly of the Jews to Shushan, and to injoyn them to fast and pray three days for his safety and good success, assu∣ring him that she & her servants would do the same, and that at the end thereof she would present her self before the king, and says she, If I perish, I perish; Mor∣decai according to her direction caused the people to fast and pray for her, and he himself made earnes•• supplication to the Almighty;

To have compassion on their desolate and distressed Nation, and as he had formerly preserved them, and pardoned ther offences, so he would graciously please to deliver them from that imminent destruction which now hung over their heads, since they were now con∣demned to death not for any iniquity of their own but meerly because he only had incensed proud He∣man against them, in refusing to pay that honour and adoration to him which was due to God alone for which he had contrived this severe revenge a∣gainst the whole Nation of the Jews, to cut them all off from the face of the Earth;

The people like∣wise beseeched God to secure them from the outrage intended against them; And Esther cast her self pro∣stratstrate

on the earth clothed in Sackcloth, devoutly im∣ploring the God of her Fathers to assist and defend her that when she should come before the King she might mollifie, and perswade him to have pity upon her and her distressed people.

The three days being over she threw off her mourn∣ing, and adorned her self in the most majestick man∣ner that was possible, and attended by her Servants went into the presence Chamber, where the king sate on his Throne, the splendor and glory whereof did at first somewhat astonish her; When Ahasuerus holding out the golden Scepter revived her fainting Spirits, and drawing near she touched the top thereof, and the King very endearingly asked her, What her request to him was; She replyed, That she only desired his Majesty to honour her with his presence at a Banquet she had prepared for him, and that his dear Friend Haman might likewise attend him. The King readily consented, and Haman joyfully came thither; Now in the midst of the Treat when the King became warm with wine, he commanded Esther to declare her suit unto him, assuring her he would deny her nothing she should demand; Esther at present declined to dis∣cover her intent, but humbly beseeched the King to come again next day with Haman, and partake of another Banquet, when she would fulfil his desire. Ahasuerus promised to revisit her, and Haman went home with great joy that he onely had the great hap∣piness to feast with the King and Esther, an honour which none of the Nobility of the Empire had ever arrived to; But in his return observing Mordecai at the Court gate, who would not shew him the least respect, his great heart sweld with indignation against him; Arriving at his house he called for his Freinds and his wife Zeresh, to whom he related the glory of his riches, and the greatness of his dignity, whom the K. had advanced above all the Princes of the Realm, and that Esther suffered no man but himself to come with the King to the Banquet, and that to morrow

he was again to attend his Majesty thither to a second entertainment; Yet,

saith he, all this avails me nothing, nor am I in the least contented, when I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the Gate and refu∣sing to rise or shew the least reverence to me;

Ze∣resh his wife being as full of revenge and pride as he, pronounced a sudden and short sentence against Mordecai, advising him; To cause a Gallows to be set up fifty foot high in his own Court, and the next day if he did but desire the King to let him hang Mor∣decai thereon, no doubt but it would be granted, and then he might go and sup with the Queen with a merry heart; This counsel pleased Haman very well, and the Gallows was soon erected, but Divine Providence had prepared other business for him to dispatch, to make him know, That no body designs the ruin of another without hastning his own destruction.

The evening bofore this fatal day the K. was laid up∣on his bed to repose himself, but could get no sleep all night long, without having the least appearance of care or trouble on his spirit, and to imploy himself caused his Secretary to bring & read before him the Chroni∣cles of his Realm, wherein among other Transactions in the reign of his Ancestors and his own, he found it recorded that Bigthana, and Teresh two of the Kings Chamberlains had conspired to murther him, and in all probability their Treason had succeeded, but that Mordecai the Jew happily discovered the whole Conspiracy, for which the Traitors received their deserved punishment; At the recital of this passage the King was somewhat moved and asked whether there were no mention of any honour or reward be∣stowed upon Mordecai as a recompence for this wor∣thy service, who replyed;

That he found nothing set down of that kind, neither had he as yet received any reward upon that account;

Hereupon in the morning the King demanded who was in the Court, and being told Haman was there, who came thither more early than usual to beseech the king that he

would please to give him leave to put Mordecai to death, The K. commanded him to come into his pre∣sence, to whom he said;

That as his faithful friend and servant he desired him to advise what honour and dignity was fit to be bestowed on that Person whom the K. had a very great favour & respect for;

Haman who did not in the least doubt but the person designed to be thus advanced was himself, made this confident-reply;

The man to whom your Majesty intends so much honour as to be counted the Kings Friend and Favourite, ought to be mounted upon one of your own Horses, and to be clothed with the Royal Robes, with a Chain of Gold about his neck and the Imperial Crown upon his head, and let one of your most Worthy Princes go before him through all the streets of the City, and make pro∣clamation That thus it shall be done to the man whom the King delighteth to honour;

The King liking the proposal, commands Haman to go instantly to Mor∣decai that sate at the gate and to invest him and pro∣claim before him according to his own advice; Haman with a heavy heart performs the Kings Orders through the whole City, and Mordecai returned triumphant∣ly to the Pallace.

Haman hastned home confounded and ashamed at what had happened, and with tears related his strange misfortune to his Wife and Friends; who all concluded,

That it was a very ominous accident, for Mordecai was of the seed of the Jews, and since he had begun to fall before him, it was much to be feared that it would end in his ruin, because God was with that Nation to save and defend them from their Enemies;

While they were thus dis∣coursing, a Messenger came from Esther to call Ha∣man to the Banquet; The King seated at this second Entertainment, began again to be earnest with Esther to declare the petition and request she had to make to him, since he was fully resolved to gratifie her therein, yea to divide his Crown and Scepter

with her rather than deny her suit; To whom Esthe after a sad sigh declared the danger she and her people were in, to this purpose;

If in the bounty of your Princely grace Your sad Petitioner may find a place To shroud her most inutterable grief Which if not there may hope for no relief. If I have favour found, O let my Lord Grant me my life, my life so much abhorr'd To do him service and my peoples life Which now lye open to a Tyrants knife. Our lives are sold, 'tis I, 'tis guiltless I Your Loyal Spouse, 'tis she and hers must dye, The spotless bloud of me your faithful Bride Must swage the swelling of a Tyrants pride.

The King inraged at her discourse asks who was the man that had thus conspired the destruction of her self and all the Jews, she replyed,

Even that wicked Haman to whom your Majesty hath given your Seal, it is that perfidious Traytor that hath caused bloudy Letters to be written (not to banish or sell us for Slaves, for then I should have held my peace, but) that we should be cut off by the Sword in the Provinces of the Empire.

Who is the man that durst attempt this thing? Where is the Traytor? what? am I a King? May not our Subjects serve, but must our Queen Be made the Subject of a Villains Spleen? Is not Queen Esther bosom'd in our heart? What Traytor then dares be so bold to part Our heart and us? who dares attempt this thing? Can Esther then be slain and not the King? Reply'd the Queen, the man that hath done this That cursed Haman, wicked Haman is.

The King rose furiously from the Table, and went into the Garden; when Haman began to be∣seech Esther to intercede for him, and forgive the

offence he had committed, and being very earnest he fell down on the bed where the Queen was, when the King returning hastily back, and finding him in that posture was much more displeased than before, and cryed out;

O thou most cursed a∣mong men,

wilt thou ravish my Queen also? Haman was so confounded at these words that he could make no reply, and the Officers covered his face; Hereupon one of the Chamberlains stept forth and told the King, that Haman had erected a Gallows fifty foot high at his own house whereon he designed to have hanged Mordecai; whereupon Ahasuerus commanded that Haman himself should be hanged thereon, which was instantly executed accordingly.

For (says the King) it seemeth just and good To shed his bloud that thirsteth after bloud, Who plants the tree deserves the fruit; 'tis fit That he who bought the purchase hansel it, Hang Haman there for it is his own wood, So let the Horse-leech burst himself with bloud.

And herein was the Justice of Heaven manifested' not only in punishing the wickedness of Haman ac∣cording to his deserts, but in causing him to fall into that snare and pit he had prepared for an inno∣cent person; This was the end of that great but wretched Favourite who by abusing the interest he had in the Kings breast brought woful ruin upon himself and his whole Family, his goods were given to the Queen who bestowed them on Mordecai, whom the King understanding to be her Uncle, he was called to the Pallace and had Hamans Ring given unto him, and succeeded in his dignity.

After this Esther humbly intreated the King to command Letters to be sent through all the Pro∣vinces to countermand those contrived by Haman for the utter destruction of the Jews, for how (said she) can I endure to see the ruin of my Nation and

all my Relations; This her request was thought ve∣ry reasonable, and the King granted it, adding, that as he had hanged Haman because of his bloudy intentions against her people, so she her self should write on their behalf in his name and by his Autho∣rity to all the Governors of his Kingdom to reverse the dreadful sentence that was gone out against them; In pursuance whereof the Secretaries of State were instantly imploy'd in that affair, and writ to all the Magistrates of the Kingdom to this purpose.

Ataxerxes the Soveraign Lord and King of all the Nations that are from India to Ethiopia,

To the Princes and Governors of the seven and twenty Provinces of our Empire, Greeting; Whereas ma∣ny through pride abusing the goodness of their Princes, and the honours bestowed upon them, do not only oppress the people, but endeavour the ab∣solute desolation of all that do not comply with their haughty and unreasonable desires, of which the late wicked Haman an Amaletite by Nation, is a fresh instance, who being a stranger from the Persian bloud, after he had been promoted by our beneficence to the second place of the kingdom hath endeavoured to cut off at once the innocent Jewish Nation, and among them our beloved Queen, and companion of our bed Esther, though we have discovered that those thus destined to death by this wicked Villain are without fault, liv∣ing under excellent Laws, and are the Children of the most high, most great and everliving God by whom our Empire is given and preserved to us; We do therefore make void and disannul the Let∣ters which that vild wretch directed to you in our names, whereby they were commanded to be mur∣thered, he himself who was the Author of that cursed slander against them having been publickly hanged at the gate of his own Pallace, God thereby rendring to him his deserts; And we further will and command you, that the Jews who live in all

our Provinces according to their own Laws be protected, and that you assist them in bringing their Enemies to punishment the same day that they had determined to destroy them, that so they may revenge themselves of those that shall offer any out∣rage against them, and since the day of their de∣struction is by the providence of the Almighty turned to their preservation; We command this day to be put in the number of the Feasts, that posterity may know what recompences we bestow on our faithful Servants and the punishment of those that oppose our will, and make attempts up∣on our State.

The commands of the King were diligently exe∣cuted, and the Jews were dreaded and honoured in all places by reason of the great credit that Mordecai had with his Master, who was cloathed in a Royal habit, and adorned with a Crown of Gold and a Chain of the same about his neck; In short the Jews incou∣raged by the Kings Letters slew five hundred of their Enemies in Shushan, for adhering to miserable Haman, and ten of his sons were hanged to accompany the pu∣nishment of their Father, and through all the rest of the kingdom much Persian bloud was shed on the same day that had been assigned for the Massacres of the Hebrewt, so that we must acknowledge this history to be wonderfully tragical and one of the most prodigious revolutions of fortune that ever arrived to a great Favourite, and may make posterity fear the Judgments of heaven whose hand is as weighty in the chastisement of enormous crimes as his eye is quick sighted in discerning the hearts of all mor∣tals.

So often as I fix my serious eye Upon Ahashuerus reign, methinks I spy The Angels dance; methinks my ravisht ear Rapt with the secret musick that I hear, Attends the warble of an Angels Tongue Resounding forth this sense bereaving song Vashti shall fall, and Esther rise, Sion shall thrive when Haman dies.