The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1888-02-16
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Weekly Discourses of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher.
snbject, "Thc Fall OF NIodesty,''

SuDJ DJcCus ne ran Oh NhOOeSuyt''
sAEsther l., 10.
II you will accept my arm will escort you
hto throne room. In this fifth sermon of
the series OF sermons there are certain woman
" excellencies which wish to commehd, hut
instead OF putting them In dry abstraction, l
present You theif itApersonation in one who
se,don', If ever, gets sermonic recognition.
r, We stand amid the palaces Of Shushan
Inc pinnacles are afiap,e With the morning
light, The colNmhs rise festooned and
r rwseotneu, the wealth OF empires fashin,
from the grooves; the ceilings adorned with
images OF bird and beast, and scenes of
proves and conquest The walls are hung
WIN shields, and emblazohed Until is seems
tnat the whole round of splendors Is ex-
nausted Each arch Il a mighty leap of
anrSnitectural achievement. Golden stars,
Snaning ;mg Gown On glowing arabeslue Hang
w 81 embroidered work, in which mingle
tne blueness Of the sky, the greenness of
1ne grass and the whiteness of the sea foam.
aaPes1rles hung on silver rings, wedding to-
gether the pillars of marble. pavilions
reaching out in every direction. These for
Iepose, filled with luxuriant couches, in
which Weary limbs sink until all fatigue is
a,HSi.efged. ,,,is, These for carousal, where Kings
No"h q one swallow
Amazing spectacle! Light Of silver dripping
Gown over stalls Of ivory on shields of gold
!F.s fioo.s OF stained marble, sunset red and
nIrgnt black, and inlaid with cleaning pearl
why, IL seems as if a heavenly vision of
amethyst, AMI iacinth, and topaz, and
cnrysoPrasus had descended and al GIFTED
upon Shushan. 1t seems as if billow
Sa CELESTIAL glory had dashed clear over
s;a neaVens oattlements upon this metrop-
oiis OF Persia. In connection with this
palace there is garden, where
the mighty men of foreign lands are
seated at banquet Under the spread of
oak, ana linden, and acacia, the tables are ar
ffangea The breath of honeysuckle and
i. ti.ank,hcenSe s, nils the air. Fountains leap up
,a;U. n;U une ngnt. the spray struck through with
faainoows falling in crystalline bapt SIN upon
towering sarubs--then rolling down through
ondnnels a OF marble, and widening out here
an anu lhere INTO pools swirling with the finny
tribes OF foreign aquariums, boriered with
scaIiet anemones, hypericums, and many col
oreo ranunculus. Meats of rarest bird and
Te Teast smoking up amid wreaths of aromatics.
Tho Tho vases nlled with aprcots and almonds
me basket piled up with apricots, and
oates, ana figs, and oranges, and pomegran-
aees, Melons tastefully twined with leaves
OF oI,. acacia. The bright waters of Eulau,
nillng the urns, and sweating outside the
rim TII IN flashing beads amid the traceri IS.
9 me from the royal vats of lspahan and
Slilaz, IN bottles of tinged she'll and lily
ards OF solid gold The music rises higher.
ana the revelry breaks out into wilder trans,
port; and the wine has flushed the cheek and
toucneo the brain, and louder than all other
voices are the hiccough of the inebriates, the
ards. 'ie u '"o ui "nA-
:; In another part of the palace Queen vashti
ha ,,;,. n.
banquet Drunken Ahasuerus saws to his
servants: You go out and fetch Vashti
from that banquet with the women, and
iDrlng her to this banquet with the men. and
iet me display her beauty" The servants
lmmediately start to obey the kings COM
mand, put there was rule in Oriental soci.
without having her face yelled. Yet here
was mandate, that no one dare dispute, de.
mnandlng m that Eashti come in unveiled before
si que ihullltude However, there was in Vashti's
soul principle more regal than Ahasuerus,
more brilliant than the gold of Shushan. of
more wealth than the revenue of Persia
W %n,fn .t commanded her to disobey the order
OF the King: and so all the righteousness
and holiness and moies.y of her natnrs
rises up into one sublime refusal. Sac
says: ~ will not 60 into the banquet
unveiled OF course, Ahasuerus was
lnlurlated; and Fashti, robbed of her no.
sl.on and her estate, is driven forth in
~ pe'eaV ana ruin to suffer the s,orn
~ na1on ami yet to receive the
apIIdu, sbali nts OF after generations, who
kllnSly lnsolence. Well the last vestige of
.naG ieast is gone; the last garland has faded:
tne last arch has fallen: the last t ,nkorJ has
Deen destroyed, and ehushan is a ruin. bnt
as !ong as the world stands there will be
tbe 'lsHuss PiIIa OF men and women, familiar with
ua1,. .ne DlDie, who will come into this picture
gaAery OF God and admire the divine PORTRAIT
81 Vashti the Queen. Vashti the veied
ashtl 1 u the sacrifice. Vashti the silent
III me ilrSt place, want You to look upon
ashtl the Queen. A bus ribbon. rived
Mitn \; white, drawn around her foreh' ad, in
..l n.ca1ed n ner queenly position. 1t was no
small ~ n0nor to be queen n such a realm as
'hag. ~ Hark to the rustic OF her robes! See
\ me blaze OF her jewels! And vet. nv friends.
. is not necessary to have palace and regal
-ope IN order to be queenly. When | zee a
woman with stout faith in God, putting her
ooG upon all meanness, and seIfsbness and
'odiess display, going right forward to serve |
InrIs1 ana the race by grand and glorious
ervlce, say: That woman is a uueen.n |
Llu tne ranks of heaven loo!l over the |
,att!ements upon the coronation; and |
whether she come up from the shanty on
ne commons or tn, mansion of the
ashionabie square, / greet her with the
hout: "A]l hail Queen Vashti.n What
.lory was there on the brow of Mary, of
,cot and; or Elizabeth, OF England; or
iargaret, OF France, or Catharne of Rus
ia, compared with the worth of some of our
;,hrlst!an mothers, many of them gone into
lory2-or of that woman ment,onel in the
criptures, who put her ell into tn, Lords
reasuryf-or OF Jephtaah's daughter, who
lade demonstration of ofunselfish patriotism?
or OF abigail, who rescued the herds and !
ocKs OF her husband.-or of Ruth, who
oiied under tropical sun for poor, old.
eipless Naoml!-or of Mrs Adoniram Jud-
on, who kinded the lights of salvation amid
ne darkness of Burmah or of Mrs. Hemans.
mo poured out her whole sole in words
mich will be forever associated with
unters horn, and cap.ives chain, and
ridal hour, and lute's throb, an curfew's
nell 1.-THE dying day!-and scores and nun
reds Oh women. unknown on earth, who have
iven water to the thirsty, and bread to the
ungry, and med cine to The sick, sni smile,
? the dls2ouraged-the.r footsteps heard
long dark lane. and in government hosp tai,
nd IN amshouse corridor, and by prison
atet There may be no royal robe-there
lay oe no paiatial surroundings. She does
OF need them; for all charitable men will
mite with the cracking lips of fever struck
reetlng her as size passes: Hail! hall
ueen Vashti"
Among the queens whom honor are the
'male day school teachers of this land. l
ut upon their brow the coronet They are
1e sisters and the daughters of our towns
nd cities, selected out of a vast number of
ppllcants, because of their especial intel
,lectual and moral endowments. There are
none OF your homes women more worthy
nese persons, some of them. come out from
illye5t homes. choosng teaching as useful
rofesslon: Others finding that father is older
ban he used to be, and that his eyesight and
trength are not as good as once. go to teacl-
ng to tighten his lead But I tell you the
istory OF the majority of the female teach
rs In the public schools when say: "F:.ther
J dead" After the estate was settled, the
amily, that were comfortable before, are
irown on their own resources.
1t is hard for men to earn a living in this
ay, but it is harder for women-their health
ot so rugged, their arms not so strong,
heir opportunities fewer These persons
fter tremblngly going through the ordeal
an examination as to their qualifications to
each, half bewildered step over the sill of
be public school to do two things-instruct,
be young and earn their own bread Her
Iork is wearing to the last degree The
of forty or fifty fidgety ana in
ractable children, the suppression of
heir vices and the development of
heir excellencies, the management of
swards and punishments, the sending
30 many bars of soap and fine tooth