Milford chronicle., 1888-02-10

at the table; with kind and gentle, but
firm, discipline presiding in the nurs-
cry, going ont into the world with
out any blast of trumpets, following
in the footsteps of him who went
about doing good say: ''This is Vashti
with veil on But when / see a woman
of unblushing boldness, loud voiced, with a
tongue of infinite Glitter clatter, with AFRO
giant look, passing through the streets with
masculine swing, gayly arrayed in very
hurricane Of millinery, cry out; "Nashti
has lost her veilw When 1 see a woman
struggling for political preferment, and re-
jecting the duties of home as insignificant,
and thinking the offices of wife, mother and
daughter Of no importance, and trying TO
force her way on up into conspicuity, say;
'Ah, what pityl Vashti has lost her veilW
When / see a woman Of comely features,
and of adroitness Of intellect, and en-
dowed with all that the schools can
do for one, and Of high social
position, yet moving in society with super
eiliousness and hauteur, as though she would
have people know their place, and an unde-
fined combination of giggle, and strut, and
rodomontade, endowed with allopathic guam
titles of talk, but only homeopathic intinitesi-
mails of sense, the terror Of dry goods clerks
and railroad conductors, diseoverers of sig
nifcant meanings in plain conversation,
prodigies Of badness and innuendo-I say;
'Vashti has lost her veil"
But do not misinterpret what say into
depreciation of the work of those glorious
and divinely called women who will not be
understood till after they are dead women
like Susan B. Anthony, who are giving their
life for the betterment of the condition Of
A1aasV Of txlan
women have under the laws Of this country
an equal chance with men are ignorant Of
the laws A gentleman writes me from
Maryland, saying: Take the laws Of this
state. A man and wife start out in life full
of hope in every respect; by their joint efforts,
and, as is frequently the case, through the
economic ideas Of the wife, succeed in &C
cumulating a fortune but they have no
children; they reach old age together, and
then the husband dies. What does the law
of this state do thenl It says to the widow:
'Hands off your late husbands property; do
not touch it; the state will find Others to
whom it will give that; but you, the widow,
must not touch it, only so much as will keep
life within your aged body, that you may
live to see those others enjoy what righttuliy
should be your own And the state seeks
the relatives of the deceased husband, whether
they be near or far, whether they were ever
heard of before or not, and transfers to them,
singly or collectively, the estate Of the de-
ceased husband and living widow.
Now, that is a specimen Of unjust laws in
all the states concerning womanhood. In
stead Of flying off to the discussion as to
whether or not the giving Of the right OF
voting to woman will correct these laws, let
me say to men, be gallant enough, and fair
enough, and honest enough, and righteous
enough, and God loving enough to correct
these wrongs against women by your own
masculine vote Do not wait for woman
suffrage to come, if it ever does come, but so
far as you can touch ballot boxes, and legis-
latures, and congresses begin the refOrma-
tion. But until justice is done to your sex
by the laws of all the states, and women Of
America take the platforms and the pulpits,
and 10 honorable man will charge Vashti
with having lost her veil
Again: want you this morning to con-
slider Vashti the sacrafce Who is this that
see coming out of that palace gate Of Shu-
shan2 1t seems to me that ] have seen her
before. She comes homeless, houseless,
friendless, trudging along with broken
heart. Who is shel 1t is Vashti the sacra-
fee Oh, what a change it was from regal
position to a wayfarer's crust. A little while
ago approved and sought fori now none so
poor as toacknowledge her acquaintanceship.
Vashti the sacrifice. All, you and have
seen it many a time Here is a home empal-
aced with beauty. All that refinement,
and books, and wealth can do for
that home has been done; but Aha
suerus, the husband and the father is tax
ing hold on paths of sin. He is gradually
going down. After a while he will founder
and struggle like wild beast in the hunters
net-further away from God, further away
from the right Soon the bright apparel of
the children will turn to rags; soon the house
hold song will become the sobbing of broken
heart. The old story over again. Brutal
Centaurs breaking up the marriage feast Of
Lapithe. The house full of outrage, and
cruelty, and abomination, while trudging
forth from the palace gate are Vashi and
her children There are homes represented
in this house this morning that are in danger
of such a breaking up. Oh Ahasuerus,
that YOU should stand in a home, by
a dissipated life destroying the peace
and c-mfort of that home. God
forbid that your children should
ever have to ring their hands, and have peo-
pie point their finger at them as they pass
down the street, and say, "There goes a
drunkard's child" God forbid that the lit
tie feet should ever have to trudge the path
of poverty and wretehedness. God forbid
that any evil spirit, born of the wine cup or
the brandy flask should come forth and up
root that garden, and, with a blasting, blis-
tering, all consuming curse, shut for ever the
palace gate against Vashti and the children.
Oh the women and the men of sacrifice are
going to take the brightest coronals Of heavenl
This woman of the text gave up palatial resi-
idence, gave up all for what she considered
right Sacrificed Is there anything more
sublimel A steamer called the Prairie
Belle, burning on the Mississippi river,
Bludso, the engineer, declared he would keep
the bow of the boat to the shore till all were
off, and he kept his promise. At his post,
scorched and blackened, he persisted, but ne
saved all the passengers. Two verses Of pa
thetic poetry describe the scene, but the
verses are little rough, and so / changed a
word or two:
Through the hot black breath Of the burning
Jim Bludso's voice was heard,
And they all had trust in his stubbornness,
And knew he would keep his word.
And sure's you're born they all got Of
Afore the smokestacks fell;
And Bludso's ghost went up above,
In the smoke Of the Prairie Belle.
He weren't no saint, but at Judgment
I'd run my chance with Jim,
Longside Of some pious gentlemen
That wouldn't shake hands with him.
He'd seen his duty, dead sure thing,
And went for it there and then,
And Christ is not going to be too hard
On a man that died for men.
Once more: want you to look at Vashti
the silent You do not hear any outcry from
this woman as she goes forth from the palace
gate. From the very dignity of her nature
you know there will be no vociferation.
Sometimes in life it is necessary to make a
retort; sometimes in life it is necessary to
resist; but there are crises when the most
triumphant thing to do is to keep silence
The philosopher confident in his newly dis
covered principle, waited for the coming of