HANNAH,

WAS wife of Elkanah, a Levite, and an inhabitant of Ramah. Her history, as given in scripture, is very brief, but full of interest and instruction. Elkanah had another wife, as was not uncommon among the Israelites, a practice their law tolerated though it never approved. Hannah was the beloved wife, but she had no children; and her rival, who had, taunted her with this sterility. The picture of this family gives a vivid idea of the domestic discord caused by polygamy. Hannah was fervent in faith towards God, and when she went up to the temple to worship, prayed earnestly for a son, and "wept sore." Eli the priest thought she was drunken; but on her explanation, blessed her, and she believed. The prayer of Hannah was granted; she bore a son, and named him Samuel- that is, "asked of God." She had vowed, if a son were given her to "lend him unto the Lord," or dedicate him to the service of the temple. Her tenderness as a mother is only exceeded by her faith towards God. She nursed her son most carefully, but he is nursed for God. Her zeal and piety appear to have been transfused into his nature; from his birth he was "in favour with the Lord, and also with men." No wonder he was chosen to be among the most illustrious of God's people. The last of her judges; the first of a long line of prophets; eminent as well for wisdom in the cabinet as for valour in the field; uncorrupted and incorruptible in the midst of temptations; Samuel's name stands distinguished not only in the annals of Israel, but in the history of all our race. Grotius has compared him to Aristides, others to Alcibiades, and all have celebrated his lofty and patriotic character. And these great qualities, these wonderful powers, directed to good purposes, were but the appropriate sequel to his mother's fervent prayers and faithful training; and God's blessing, which will follow those who earnestly seek it.

HECUBA,

his wife. When very young she was carried off by Theseus, king of Athens, a celebrated hero of antiquity, by whom she had a daughter. Notwithstanding this her hand was eagerly sought, and she numbered among her suitors all the most illustrious and distinguished princes of Greece. The number of her admirers alarmed Tyndarus, who feared for the safety of his kingdom; but the wise Ulysses, withdrawing his pretensions to Helen, in favour of Penelope, niece of Tyndarus, advised him to bind by a solemn oath all the suit| ors, to approve of the uninfluenced choice which Helen should make, and to unite to defend her, if she should be forced from her husband. This advice was followed, and Helen chose Menelaus, king of Sparta. For three years they lived very happily, and had one daughter, Hermione. Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, visiting Menelaus, saw Helen, and persuaded her, during her husband's absence at Crete, to fly with him to Troy.

SECOND wife of Priam, king of Troy, and mother of Hector and Paris, was, according to Homer, the daughter of Dymas; but according to Virgil, of Cisseis, king of Thrace, and sister of Theais, priestess of Apollo at Troy during the war. After the capture of Troy, B. C. 1184, she attempted to revenge the death of her son Polydorus, and was stoned to death by the Greeks. Some say that she became a slave to Ulysses, and that he left her in the hands of her enemies, who caused her to be stoned. It is probable, however, that Ulysses himself was the cause of her death; as it is recorded, that upon his arrival in Sicily, he was so tormented with dreams, that in order to appease the gods, he built a temple to Hecate, who presided over dreams, and a chapel to Hecuba. Euripides, in his tragedy of "Hecuba," has immortalized this unfortunate mother and queen.

HELEN,

THE most beautiful woman of her age, was the daughter of Tyndarus, king of Sparta, and Leda,

All the former suitors of Helen, bound by their oath, took up arms to assist Menelaus in recovering her. They succeeded in taking Troy, B. C. 1184, when Helen regained the favour of her husband and returned with him to Sparta. After the death of Menelaus, Helen fled to Rhodes. Polyxo, queen of Rhodes, detained her; and to punish her for being the cause of a war in which Polyxo's husband had perished, had her hung on a tree. Euripides has made Helen the subject of a tragedy.

HERO,

A PRIESTESS of Venus at Sestos, on the coast of Thrace. She saw Leander, a youth of Abydos, at a festival in honour of Venus and Adonis at Sestos, and they became in love with each other. The sacred office of Hero, and the opposition of her relatives, prevented their marriage; but every night Leander swam across the Hellespont, guided by a torch placed by Hero in her tower. At length he perished one night in the attempt, and Hero, while waiting for him, saw his lifeless body thrown by the waves at the foot of her tower. In her desperation, she sprang from the tower on the corpse of Leander, and was killed by the fall.

HERSILIA,

WIFE of Romulus, the founder of Rome, B. C. 753, was deified after her death, and worshipped under the names of Horta or Orta.

HIPPARCHIA,

A CELEBRATED lady at Maronea, in Thrace, who lived about B. C. 328. She was at one time mistress to Alexander the Great; but her attachment to learning and philosophy was so great, that having attended the lectures of Crates, the cynic, she fell in love with him, and resolved to marry him, though he was old, ugly, and deformed; and though she was addressed by many handsome young men, distinguished by their rank and riches. Crates himself was prevailed upon by her friends to try to dissuade her from her singular choice, which he did, by displaying to her his poverty, his cloak of sheep's skins, and his crooked back; but all in vain. At last, he told her that

is true, indeed, that in the Carthaginian war our mothers assisted the republic, which was at that time reduced to the utmost distress; but neither their houses, their lands, nor their moveables, were sold for this service; some rings, and a few jewels, furnished the supply. Nor was it con

HIPPODAMIA

Was the daughter of Enomaus, king of Pisa, in Elis. An oracle had predicted to the king that he would be murdered by his son-in-law; and therefore he declared that all the suitors of his daughter should contend with him in a chariot-race, and that if he defeated them, he should be allowed to put them to death. In this way he slew thirteen or seventeen suitors, when Pelops, by bribing the driver of the king's chariot, had him overturned in the middle of the course, and he lost his life. Hippodamia married Pelops, and became the mother of Atreus and Thyestes. She killed herself from grief, at being accused of having caused these sons to commit fratricide.

HORTENSIA,

A ROMAN lady, daughter of Hortensius, the orator, was born B. C. 85. She inherited her father's eloquence, as a speech preserved by Appian demonstrates; which, for elegance of language, and justness of thought, would do honour to Cicero or Demosthenes.

The triumvirs of Rome, in want of a large sum of money for carrying on a war, drew up a list of fourteen hundred of the wealthiest women, intending to tax them. The women, after having in vain tried every means to evade so great an innovation, at last chose Hortensia for a speaker, and went with her to the market-place, where she addressed the triumvirs, while they were administering justice, in the following words:

"The unhappy women you see here, imploring your justice and bounty, would never have presumed to appear in this place, had they not first made use of all other means their natural modesty could suggest. Though our appearing here may seem contrary to the rules prescribed to our sex, which we have hitherto strictly observed, yet the loss of our fathers, children, brothers, and husbands, may sufficiently excuse us, especially when their unhappy deaths are made a pretence for our further misfortunes. You plead that they had offended and provoked you; but what injury have we women done, that we must be impoverished? If we are blameable as the men, why not proscribe us also? Have we declared you enemies to your country? Have we suborned your soldiers, raised troops against you, or opposed you in pursuit of those honours and offices which you claim? We pretend not to govern the republic, nor is it our ambition which has drawn our present misfortune on our heads; empires, dignities and honours, are not for us; why should we, then, contribute to a war in which we have no manner of interest? It

what they contributed, was the voluntary offering of generosity. What danger at present threatens Rome? If the Gauls or Parthians were encamped on the banks of the Tiber or the Arno, you should find us not less zealous in the defence of our country, than our mothers were before us; but it becomes not us, and we are resolved that we will not be in any way concerned in a civil war. Neither Marius, nor Cæsar, nor Pompey, ever thought of obliging us to take part in the domestic troubles which their ambition had raised; nay, nor did ever Sylla himself, who first set up tyranny in Rome; and yet you assume the glorious title of reformers of the state, a title which will turn to your eternal infamy, if, without the least regard to the laws of equity, you persist in your wicked resolution of plundering those of their lives and fortunes, who have given you no just cause of offence."

Struck with the justness of her speech, yet offended at its boldness, the triumvirs ordered the women to be driven away; but the populace growing tumultuous in their favour, they were afraid of an insurrection, and reduced the list of those who should be taxed to four hundred.

HULDAH,

A JEWISH prophetess, in the time of king Josiah. Her husband was Shallum, keeper of the royal wardrobe, an office of high honour. We have but a glimpse of Huldah, just sufficient to show, that when the Jewish nation was given up to idolatry and ignorance of the Good, still the lamp of divine truth was kept burning in the heart of a woman.

When Josiah, who was one of the few good kings who ruled over Judah, came to the throne, he found the Holy Temple partly given up to idolatrous rites, partly falling into ruins. In repairing the temple, the copy of the Book of the Law was found among the rubbish, and carried to Josiah. The king and his counsellors seem to have been ignorant of this book; and the king was struck with consternation, when he heard the law read, and felt how it had been violated. He immediately sent three of his chief officers, one of whom was Hilkiah, the high priest, to "enquire of the Lord concerning the words of the book." The officers went to " Huldah, the prophetess, (now she dwelt in Jerusalem, in the college,) and communed with her."

Would the high priest have gone to consult a woman, had not her repute for wisdom and piety been well known; and considered superior to what was possessed by any man in Jerusalem? Her place of residence was in "the college," among the most learned of the land; and, as a prophetess or priestess, her response shows her to have been worthy of the high office she held. How bold was her rebuke of sin, how clear her prophetic

insight,—how true her predictions! The language and the style of her reply to the king of Judah, make it as grand and impressive as any of the prophecies from the lips of inspired men. The history may be found in II. Kings, chapter xxii. Huldah lived about B. C. 624.

1.

IPHIGENIA

WAS daughter of Agamemnon, leader of the Greek forces against Troy, and of Clytemnestra, his wife. When the Greeks, going to the Trojan war, were detained at Aulis by adverse winds, they were told, by an oracle, that Iphigenia must be sacrificed to appease Diana, who was incensed against Agamemnon for killing one of her stags. The father was horror-struck, and commanded his herald to disband the forces. The other generals interfered, and Agamemnon at last consented to the sacrifice. As Iphigenia was tenderly loved by her mother, the Greeks sent for her on pretence of giving her in marriage to Achilles. When Iphigenia came to Aulis, and saw the preparations for the sacrifice, she implored the protection of her father, but in vain. Calchas, the Grecian priest, took the knife, and was about to strike the fatal blow, when Diana relented, caught away Iphigenia, who suddenly disappeared, and a goat of uncommon size and beauty was found in her place. This supernatural change animated the Greeks; the wind suddenly became favourable, and the combined fleet set sail from Aulis. Calchas, the Grecian priest, seems to have acted with the same humane policy in this affair that the bishop of Beauvois did in the case of Joan of Arc. This story of Iphigenia has furnished materials for several tragedies; those of Euripides are world-renowned.

J.

JAEL, or JAHEL,

WIFE of Heber the Kenite, killed Sisera, general of the Canaanitish army, who had fled to her tent, and while sleeping there, Jael drove a large nail through his temple. Her story is related in the fourth chapter of Judges, B. C. 1285.

JEMIMA, KEZIA, KERENHAPPUCH:

THESE three were the daughters of Job, born to him after he was restored to the favour of God and man.

We give their names, not for any thing they did, but for the sentiment taught in this sacred history concerning family relations and female claims. We are instructed, by the particularity with which these daughters are named, that they were considered the crowning blessing God bestowed on his servant Job. And Job showed his integrity as a man, and his wisdom as a father, in providing justly for these his fair daughters. He

DAUGHTER of Ethbaal, king of Tyre and Sidon, was the wife of Ahab, king of Israel. She seduced him into the worship of Baal, and persecuted the prophets of the Lord. Enraged at the death of the prophets of Baal, slain by the command of Elisha, she resolved on his destruction; but he escaped her vengeance. Ahab, being very desirous of obtaining a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite, which was close by the palace of the king, offered the owner a better one in its stead; but Naboth refused to give up the inheritance which had descended to him from his fathers. In consequence of this disappointment, Ahab came into his house sad and dispirited; Jezebel, discovering the reason of his depression, procured the death of Naboth, and Ahab took possession of the vineyard. In consequence of this act of wickedness, Elijah foretold the sudden and violent death both of Ahab and Jezebel, which occurred three years after. The story of this "wicked woman' shows the power of female influence, and how per nicious it may be when exerted for evil over the mind of man. Happily for the world, there have been few Jezebels, and therefore the wickedness of this one appears so awful that it has made her name to be forever abhorred. She died B. C. 884.

JOCASTA,

DAUGHTER of Creon, king of Thebes, and wife of Laius, was mother to Edipus, whom she afterwards ignorantly married, and had by him Polynices and Eteocles, who having killed one another in a battle for the succession, Jocasta destroyed herself in grief. She flourished about B. C. 1266. Her son Edipus had been given by Laius, his father, to a shepherd to destroy, as an oracle had foretold that he should be killed by his own son. But the shepherd, not liking to kill the child, left him to perish by hunger; and he was found by Phorbus, shepherd to Polybus, king of Corinth, who brought him up, and Edipus unwittingly fulfilled the oracle. Sophocles has written a tragedy founded on this story.

JOCHEBED,

WIFE of Amram, and mother of Miriam, Aaron, and Moses, has stamped her memory indelibly on the heart of Jew and Christian. She was granddaughter of Levi; her husband was also of the same family or tribe; their exact relationship is not decided, though the probability is that they were cousins-german.

As Amram is only mentioned incidentally, we have no authority for concluding he took any part in the great crisis of Jochebed's life; but as their children were all distinguished for talents and piety, it is reasonable to conclude that this married pair were congenial in mind and heart. Still, though both were pious believers in the promises made by God to their forefathers, it was only the

Nearly three hundred years had gone by since Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. Their posterity was now a numerous people, but held in the most abject bondage. Pharaoh, a king "who knew not Joseph," endeavouring to extirpate the hated race, had given strict commands to destroy every male child born of a Hebrew mother.

Jochebed had borne two children before this bloody edict was promulgated; Miriam, a daughter of thirteen, and Aaron, a little son of three years old. These were safe; but now God gives her another son, "a goodly child;" and the mother's heart must have nearly fainted with grief and terror, as she looked on her helpless babe, and knew he was doomed by the cruel Pharaoh to be cast forth to the monsters of the Nile. No ray of hope from the help of man was visible. The Hebrew men had been bowed beneath the lash of their oppressors, till their souls had become abject as their toils. Jochebed could have no aid from her husband's superior physical strength and worldly knowledge. The man was overborne; the superior spiritual insight of the woman was now to lead; her mother's soul had been gifted with a strength the power of Pharaoh could not subdue; her moral sense had a sagacity that the reason of man could never have reached. Thus, in the history of the human race, woman has ever led the forlorn hope of the world's moral progress. Jochebed was then such a leader. She must have had faith in God's promise of deliverance for her people; every man-child brought a new ray of hope, as the chosen deliverer. She had a "goodly son" he should not die. So "she hid him three months." Language can never express the agony which must have wrung the mother's heart during those months, when each dawning day might bring the death-doom of her nursling son. At length, she can hide him no longer. Another resource must be tried. She must trust him to God's providence; God could move the compassion even of the Egyptian heart. But the mother has her work to perform; all that she can do, she must do. So she gathers her materials, and as she sits weaving an "ark of bulrushes, and daubing it with slime," her slight fingers trembling with the unwonted task, who that saw her could have dreamed she was building a structure of more importance to mankind than all the pyramids of Egypt? That in this mother's heart there was a divine strength with which all the power of Pharaoh would strive in vain to cope? That on the events depending upon her work rested the memory of this very Pharaoh, and not on the monu- | ments he was rearing at Raamses?

She finished her "ark of bulrushes," and in the frail structure laid down her infant son. Then concealing the basket among the flags on the banks of the Nile, she placed her daughter Miriam to watch what should become of the babe, while she, no doubt, retired to weep and pray. The whole plan was in perfect accordance with the peculiar nature of woman-and women only were the actors in this drama of life and life's holiest

preparation for his great mission as the Deliverer of Israel, and the Lawgiver for all men who worship Jehovah, were effected by the agency of woman, displays her spiritual gifts in such a clear light as must make them strikingly apparent; and that their importance in the progress of mankind, will be frankly acknowledged by all Christian men, seems certain whenever they will, laying aside their masculine prejudices, carefully study the word of God. These events occurred B. C. 1535. See Exodus, chap. I. and II.

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JUDITH,

Or the tribe of Reuben, daughter of Meravi, and widow of Manasseh, lived in Bethuliah, when it was besieged by Holofernes. She was beautiful and wealthy, and lived very much secluded. Being informed that the chief of Bethulia had promised to deliver it in five days, she sent for the elders and remonstrated with them, and declared her intention of leaving the city for a short time. Judith then prayed, dressed herself in her best attire, and pretending to have fled from the city, went, with her maid, to the camp of Holofernes. He was immediately captivated by her, and promised her his protection. Judith continued with Holofernes, going out of his camp every night; but the fourth night Holofernes sent for her to stay with him. She went gorgeously apparelled; eating and drinking not with Holofernes, but only what her maid prepared for her. Holofernes, transported with joy at sight of her, drank immoderately, and fell into a sound sleep. Evening being come, the servants departed, leaving Judith and her maid alone with him. Judith ordered the maid to stand without and watch, and putting up a prayer to God, she took Holofernes' sabre, and seized him by his hair, saying, "Strengthen me this day, O Lord!" Then she struck him twice on the neck, and cut off his head, which she told her maid to put in a bag-then wrapping the body in the curtains of the bed, they went, as usual, out of the camp, and returned to Bethulia, where the head of Holofernes being displayed on the gates of the city, struck his army with dismay, and they were entirely defeated. The high-priest Joachim came from Jerusalem to Bethulia to compliment Judith. Everything that had belonged to Holofernes was given to her, and she consecrated his arms and the curtains of his bed to the Lord. Judith set her maid free, and died in Bethulia at the age of one hundred and five, was buried with her husband, and all the people lamented her seven days. The "Song of Judith," as recorded in the Apocrypha, is a poem of much power and beauty.

JULIA,

DAUGHTER of Julius Cæsar and Cornelia, was one of the most attractive and most virtuous of the Roman ladies. She was first married to Cornelius Cæpion, but divorced from him to become the wife of Pompey. Pompey was so fond of her as to neglect, on her account, politics and arms. She died B. C. 53. Had she lived, there would not have been war between Cæsar and Pompey.

JULIA,

DAUGHTER of Augustus and Scribonia, was the wife successively of Metellus, Agrippa, and Tiberius. She was banished for her debaucheries by her father, and died of want in the beginning of the reign of Tiberius, A. D. 15. Her daughter, Julia, was equally licentious.

L.

LAIS,

A CELEBRATED Courtezan, was supposed to be the daughter of the courtezan Timandra and Alcibiades. She was born at Hyrcania, in Sicily, and being carried into Greece by Nicias, the Athenian general, began her conquests by music. Almost all the celebrated courtezans of antiquity were originally musicians; and that art was considered almost a necessary female accomplishment.

Lais spent most of her life at Corinth, and from that is often called the Corinthian. Diogenes the cynic was one of her admirers, and also Aristippus, another celebrated philosopher. This woman sometimes ridiculed the fidelity of the philosophers she had captivated. "I do not understand what is meant by the austerity of philosophers," she said, "for with this fine name, they are as much in my power as the rest of the Athenians."

After having corrupted nearly all the youth of Corinth and Athens, she went into Thessaly, to see a lover of hers; where she is said to have been stoned by the women, jealous of her power over their husbands, B. C. 340, in the temple of Venus.

LAMIA,

THE most celebrated female flute-player of antiquity, was regarded as a prodigy-from her beauty, wit, and skill in her profession. The honours she received, which are recorded by several authors, particularly by Plutarch and Athenæus, are sufficient testimonies of her great power over the passions of her hearers. Her claim to admiration from her personal charms, does not entirely depend upon the fidelity of historians, since an exquisite engraving of her head, upon amethyst, is preserved in a collection at Paris, which authenticates the account of her beauty.

As she was a great traveller, her reputation soon became very extensive. Her first journey from Athens, the place of her birth, was into Egypt, whither she was drawn by the fame of a flute-player of that country. Her genius and beauty procured for her the notice of Ptolemy, and she became his mistress; but in the conflict between Ptolemy and Demetrius Poliorcetes, for the island of Cyprus, about B. C. 332, Ptolemy being defeated, his wives, domestics, and military stores fell into the hands of Demetrius.

The celebrated Lamia was among the captives on this occasion, and Demetrius, who was said to have conquered as many hearts as cities, conceived so ardent a passion for her, that from a sovereign he was transformed into a slave-though

Ar

A SISTER of Antiochus II., king of Syria, who also became his wife, and had two sons by him. She murdered Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy of Egypt, another wife of Antiochus, after having poisoned the king. She then suborned Artemon, who resembled Antiochus, to represent him. temon, accordingly, pretended to be indisposed, and, as king, called all the ministers, and recommended to them Seleucus, surnamed Callamachus, son of Laodice, as his successor. It was then reported that the king had died suddenly, and Laodice placed her son on the throne, B. C. 246. She was put to death by command of Ptolemy Euergetes of Egypt. The city of Laodicea received its name in honour of this queen. There are several other women of that name mentioned in ancient history.

One of these, the wife of a king of Pontus, was renowned for her beauty, and the magnificence of her court. But losing her only child, a daughter, by death, Laodice retired to her inner apartments, shut herself up, and was never seen afterwards, except by her nearest friends.

LEAH,

ELDEST daughter of Laban, the Syrian, who deceived Jacob into an intercourse, then termed marriage, with this unsought, unloved woman. She became mother of six sons, named as heads of six of the tribes of Israel. Among these was Levi, whose posterity inherited the priesthood, and Judah, the law-giver, from whom descended