hes of the prophet Haggai; and the building was
resumed with fresh zeal.

The new temple was dedicated with great solemnity and joy. The Jews were
allowed the free exercise of their religion and laws, and the government
was directed by a governor of their own nation, or by the high-priest,
when there was no other governor. There was, in fact, a distinct
commonwealth, with its own peculiar institutions; and, although
responsible to the Persian king, and to his deputy the governor-general
of Syria, it was more secure under the protection of the monarch than it
would have been in complete independence. The dreadful lesson taught by
the desolation of the land, the destruction of the temple, and the
captivity of the people, had effectually cured the Jews of that tendency
to idolatry which had been their ruin. But, as time went on, the
distortion of character which had been restrained in one direction broke
forth in another; and although they no longer went formally astray from
a religion which did not suit their depravity, they, by many vain and
mischievous fancies, fabricated a religion suited to their dispositions
out of the ritual to which they adhered.

Early in the reign of Artaxerxes, son of the mighty Xerxes, the Hebrews
went to work on the beloved city with a regular plan of its rebuilding,
including an encircling wall.

This king had learned by reading and traditions, the veneration which
his most distinguished predecessors had shown for the God of Israel; and
about seven years after he ascended the throne, he commissioned Ezra,
the priest and scribe, to take charge of the religious service at
Jerusalem. And he was, in reality, the governor or viceroy under the
monarch.

Those of the Hebrews who desired to do so, were invited to return with
him, and others who remained, were to pay contributions for the use of
the temple.

To this fund the king himself and his council contributed large sums of
money; and the ministers of the royal realms west of the Euphrates, were
enjoined to furnish Ezra with silver, wheat, wine, oil, and salt, that
the sacrifices and offerings of the temple should be constantly kept up;
all of which is said to have been done in order to avert from the king
and his sons, the wrath of the God of the Hebrews, who was held in much
honor at the Persian court.

An exemption from all taxes was also promised to persons engaged in the
service of the temple; but this boon did not induce any of the L