Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-07-09

AS IoCcSaSlry 20 EeSist, NnCTc urS CIl-se
when the most triumphant thing to do IL
bread to the hungry and medicine to the
sick and smiles to the discouraged-thei
footsteps heard along dark lane and in
government hospital and In almshouse cor
ridor and by prison gates There may be
no royal robe; there may be no palatial
surroundings She does not need them, for
all charitable men will unite with the
cracking lips of fever struck hospital and
plague blotched lazaretto in greeting her as
she passes: Hail! HALL Queen VashtiP
vashti Yelled.
Again, want you to consider Vashti
the Yelled. Had she appeared before Ahasu-
frus and his court on that day with her
face uncovered she would have shocked all
the delicacies of oriental society, and the
very men who in their intoxication de-
manded that she come in their sober mo-
ments would have despised her. As some
flowers seem to thrive best in the dark lane
and In the shadow and where the sun does
not seem to reach them, so God appoints
to most womanly natures retiring and un-
obtrusive spirit. God once in awhile does
call an Isabella to throne, or Miriam to
strike the timbrel at the front of host, or
Marie Antoinette to quell French mob,
or Deborah to stand at the front of an
armed battalion, crying out: "Upl Up!
This is the day in which the Lord will de-
liver Sisera into thine hand" And when
women are called to such outdoor work
and to such heroic positions, God prepares
them for it, and they have iron in their
souls and lightning in their eye, and whirl-
winds in their breath, and the borrowed
ctr ,orfh ~ hn o,,J To-, III
right arm. They walk through furnaces
as though they were hedges Of wild flowers
and cross seas as though they were shim-
mering sapphire, and all the harpies of
hell down to their dungeon at the stamp
of her womanly indignation. But these are
the exceptions. Generally Dorcas would
rather make garment for the poor boy,
Rebecca would rather fill the trough for
the camels, Hannah would rather make a
coat for Samuel, the Hebrew maid would
rather give a prescription for Naaman's
leprosy, the woman of Sarepta would rath-
er gather few sticks to cook a meal for
famished Elijah, Phebe would rather carry
letter for the inspired apostle, Mother
Lois would rather educate Timothy in the
Scriptures
When I see woman going about her
daily duty-with cheerful dignity presid-
ing at the table, with kind and gentle but
firm discipline presiding in the nursery,
going out into the world without any
blast Of trumpets, following in the foot
steps Of him who went about doing good
say "This Is Vashti with veil on.
But when l see O woman Of unblushing
boldness, loud voiced, with a tongue of in
finite Glitter clatter, with arrogant look,
passing through the streets with the step
of walking beam, gayly arrayed in very
hurricane of millinery, cry out, "Vashti
has lost her veilr When I see o woman
of comely features, and of adroitness of in
tellect, and endowed with all that the
schools can do for one, and of high social
position, yet moving in society, with su-
perciHousness and hauteur, as though she
would have people know their place, and
an underlined combination of giggle and
strut and rhodomontade, endowed with al
lopathic quantities of talk, but only home
opathic inf1nitesimals of sense, the terror
Of dry goods clerks and railroad conduc-
tors discoverers of significant meanings
in plain conversation, prodigies of badi-
mage and innuendo, say: "Lookl Looki
Vashti has lost her veil'
A Broken Heart.
Again, want you to consider Vashti
the sacrifice. Who Is this see coming out
of that palace gate of ShushanY 1t seems
to me that l have seen her before. She
comes homeless, houseless, friendless,
trudging along with broken heart Who
is she9 1t is Vashti the sacrifice. Oh,
what change it was from regal position
to wayfarers crust! A little while ago,
approved and sought for; now, none so
poor as to acknowledge her acquaintance
ship Vashti the sacrificed All, you and
I have seen 1t many time!
Here Is home impalaced 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 grad
ually going down. After awhile he will
founder and struggle like wild beast in
the hunters net-farther away from God,
farther away from the right Soon the
bright apparel of the children will turn to
rags; soon the household song will become
the sobbing Of broken heart The old
story over again. Brutal centaurs break
ing up the marriage feast of Lapitha.
The house full of outrage and cruelty and
abomination, while trudging forth from
the palace gate are Vashti and her children
There are homes that are in danger of such
breaking up. Oh, Ahasuerus, that you
should stand in home by dissipated life
destroying the peace and comfort of that
home! God forbid that 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 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 glass should come
forth and uproot that garden and with a
lasting, blistering all consuming curse
shut forever the palace gate against Vashti
and the children!
During the war went to Hagerstown
to look at the army and I stood in the
night on hilltop and looked down upon
them. saw the campfres all through
the valleys and all over the hills. 1t was
a weird spectacle, those campfres, and I |
stood and watched them, and the soldiers
who were gathered around them were no
doubt talking of their homes and of the
long march they had taken and of the bat
ties they were to fight, but after awhile |
saw these campf1res begin to lower, and
they continued to lower until they were all |
gone out and the army slept 1t was i'm |
posing when 1 saw the campfres. 1t was
imposing in the darkness when thought |
of that great host asleep.
Well, God looks down from heaven, and |
he sees the firesides Of Christendom and |
the loved ones gathered around these fire. |
sides These are the campflres where we
warm ourselves at the close of the day and |
talk over the battles of life we have fought |
and the battles that are yet to come. God