The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1888-02-16

L
chance with men are ignorant Of the laws.
A gentleman writes me from Maryland,
| saying: aTake 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.
l cumulating q fortune, but they have no
| children; they reach old age together, and
then the husband dies. What does the
| law of this State do then? 1t 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 rightfully 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 be-
fore or not, and transfers to them, singly
or collectively, the estate OF the deceased
husband and living widow.
Now, that is a specimen of unjust laws
| in all the States concerning womanhood.
| Instead Of flying off to the discussion as to
whether or not the giving of the right of
| voting to women 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 votes. DO not wait
for woman suffrage to come, If it ever does
come, but so far as you can touch ballot
boxes, and legislatures, and congresses be-
gin the reformation. 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 no honor
able man will charge Vashti with having
lost her veil
Again, want you this morning to CEN
slider Vashh the sacrifice. Who is this
that see coming out of that palace gate of
Shushan? It seems to me that have seen
her before. She comes homeless, house,
less, friendless, trudging along with o
broken heart. Who is she? 1t is Vashti the
sacrifice. Oh, what a change it was from
regal position to a wayfarer's crust. A litz
tie while ago approved and sought for;
now none so poor as to acknowledge her
acquaintance. Vashti the sacrifice. All,
you and have seen it many a time. Here
is home empalaced with beauty. All
that refinement, and books, and wealth
can do for that home has been done; but
Ahasuerus, the husband and the father,
is taking hold ON paths OF sin. He is
gradually going down. After while he
will founder and struggle like a wild
beast in q hunters net-further away from
God, further away from the right. Soon
the bright apparel of the children will
turn 10 rags; soon the household song will
become the sobbing of broken heart.
The old story over again. Brutal Gem
taurs breaking up the marriage feast Of La
pithae. The house full of outrage, and
cruelty and abomination, while trudging
forth from the palace gate are Vashti and
her children. There are homes represented
in this house this morning that are in
danger Of such q breaking up. Oh
Ahasuerus, that you should stand in
home, by dissipated life destroying ~
peace and comfort of that home. Godt
bid tnat your children should ever have to
wiring their hands, and have people point
their finger at them as they pass down the
street and say: "There goes a drunkard's
child" God forbid that the little feet
should ever have to trudge the path of
poverty and wretchedness. God forbid
that any evil spirit, born of the wine cup
or the brandy flask, should come forth and
uproot that garden, and, with blasting,
blistering, 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
Heaven! This woman of the text gave up
palatisl residence, gave up all for what
she considered right Sacrifice! Is there
anything more sublimeP A steamer called
the Prairie Belle, burning on the Missis-
sippi 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 black
ened, he perished, but he saved all the
passengers. Two verses of pathetic poetry
describe the scene. but the verses are
little rough, and 80 1 changed word or
two:
through the hot black breath of the burning
jim Budso's voice was heard,
And they all had trust in his atubbOrnness,
And knew he would keep his word,
And sures you're born they all got off
Afore the smokestacks fell,
And Budso's ghost went mp above,
In the smoke of the Prairie Belle.
He weren't NO saint but al 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 n ID then.
And Christ ia not going to be too hard
On maa 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 dig
| nifty of her nature you know there will be
no vociferation. Sometimes in life it is
| necessary to make q retort; sometimes i?
life it is necessary to resist; but there are
| crises when the most triumphant thing to
do is 10 keep silence. The philosopher,
confident in his newly discovered principle
| waited for the coming of more intelligent
generations, willing that men shoult hugh
| Rt the lightning rod, the cotton gin and the
| steamboat waiting for long years through
the scofing of philosophical schools. in
grand aud magnificent silence. Calico,
| condemned by mathematicians, and monks,
/ and cardinals, caricatured everywhere, yet
waiting and watching with his telescope
TO see the coming up Of stellar re-enforce-
ments, when the stars in their COURSES
would fight for the Copernican system;
| then sitting down in complete blindness
eatness TO wait Tor the coming -. -
generations who would build his
monument and bow at his grave. The re-
former, execrated by his contemporaries,
fastened in a pillory, the slow fires OF
public contempt burning under him,
ground under the cylinders of the printing
press, yet calmly waiting for the day
when purity Of soul and heroism Of char
acter will get the sanction of earth and
the plaudits of Heaven. Affection, en-
during without any complaint the sharp
ness Of the pang, and the violence Of the
storm, and the heft of the chain, and the
darkness of the night waiting until q
divine hand shall be put forth to soothe
the pang, and hush the storm, and release
the captive. wife abused, prosecuted,
and perpetual exile from every earthly
comfort waiting, waiting, until the Lord
shall gather up His dear children in .
heavenly home, and no poor Vashti will
ever be thrust out from the palace gate.
Jesus, in silence, and answering not O
word, drinking the gall, bearing the cross,
in prospect of the rapturous contamination
when
Angels thronged His chariot wheel,
And bore Him to His throne;