Esther 2:5-20 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish… : — We Christians have not always been ready to give the Jew credit for such tenderness, such ready pity, such gentle helpfulness. Let us ask ourselves if we are willing to come up to the standard of this Jew? What is the good of any religion unless it do make us pitiful, loving, eager to help the poor world about us? I heard a very beautiful story some time since. A friend was telling me that one Sunday he was preaching at some little country chapel, and went to dinner at the house of a labourer, where he found eight children. He was struck with the fact that they seemed to run in pairs, as if they were all twins. After dinner the good woman said, "I saw you looking at the children, sir, as if you could not quite make them out." "Well, yes," said he, "I could not help wondering if they were all twins!" The good wife laughed. "No," said she, "they are not twins. You see they are all ours, so to speak, and yet four of them are not. When we came into this house the man and woman who lived here before us had just died and left four little children just the age of our four. They had to go to the workhouse, and the van was at the door to take them just as we came in. Three of them were in the van; but the fourth little fellow would not go. He had got hold of the door, and was screaming with all his might. The man was trying not to hurt him, and yet of course he wanted to make him let go. I felt very, very sorry for them all, and said, 'You can't take him screaming like that. People will think that you are murdering him. Put the three back again and come again to-morrow. We will look after them for the night.' The man was very glad to do it, so they all came in again. Well, then you see our children began to play with them, and we all sat down together at supper, and managed to get them off to bed. Well, that night I could not sleep for thinking about them. I could not get it out of my mind what I should like anybody to do for mine if they were left like that. As I lay tossing, John said to me, 'I can't help thinking about those children.' 'Well, John,' I said, 'what do you think about them.' 'Well, Mary, do you think if we pinched a bit that we could manage to keep them?' 'I am sure we could,' I said, and then we went to sleep. The guardians gave us six shillings a week towards their keep, and it went on all right until John began to think that we ought to have a Sunday-school for the children about here. 'We have eight to start with,' said John. So the school was started. But there was a gentleman that set himself against the school, and tried to put it down. However, John would not have that; so this gentleman went to the guardians and got them to stop the six shillings a week. We could not let the children go, for to us it was just as if they were our own. But it was hard work, for John fell ill and was in bed for six weeks. And when he got about again he had to try and find a new place, for his had been filled up. At last he got a job at hedging and ditching, and that meant a stout pair of boots and a pair of leggings and a bill-hook. I had saved a few shillings for the children's shoes, but now I had to give all that to John, and away he went to buy what he wanted. But as soon as he came back I said, 'You must go again to get the children's shoes, John,' and I put two sovereigns in his hand. He looked at me wondering. I told him how that the gentleman's daughter had called to say how sorry she was for us, and she gave us this to keep the children. And since then we have managed to get on right well, sir." (Mark Guy Pearse.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; |
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