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empire should be searched, and all the fairest virgins should be brought to the palace at Shushan, that from the number one should be chosen to be queen in the place of Vashti. There lived then at Shushan a Jew named Mordecai, who had an office in the court of the Persian monarch. Having no children of his own, he brought up Hadassah—in Hebrew, *myrtle*—his cousin, whose parents were dead, as his own daughter. She was the daughter of Abihail, of the tribe of Benjamin, and was born during the exile beyond the Tigris, probably about the year 500 B.C. She was beautiful beyond comparison. When committed to the care of Hege, the King’s chamberlain, she greatly pleased him, and he took special pains that she should be the object of the royal favor. She gained the affections of the King beyond all others, and on the tenth day of the tenth month the royal diadem was put upon her head, and she was made queen in the place of Vashti.