Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1896-07-23

:. eap.ail cnaln, II bridal hour
ana iute's throb, and curfew's knell M
d dying day? And to scores ana
hundreds OF wop,en, unknown on
earth, who have given water to the
tbirsty and bread to the hungry and
medicine TO the sick aud smiles to the
disccuraged-their footsteps heard
along dark lane and in government
hospital and in almhouse corridor and
by prison gateg There may be no
royal ro~be-there may be no palatial
surroundings. She does not need them;
for all charitable men will unite with
the cracking lips of fever-struck hos
pital and plague-blotched laZaretto in
greeting her rs she passes: Hail.
Hail. Queen VashtiT'
Again: | want you To consider Wash.
ii the Yelled. Had she appeared be-
fore Ahasuaerus 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 intoyication, demanded
that she come, In their sober moments
would have despised he. 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 ma
lures a retiring and unobtrusive spirit.
God does, once in a while, call an Isa-
bella to a throne, or a Miriam TO strike
a timbrel at the front of a host. Or a
Marie Antoinette TO quell a French
mob, or a Deborah to stand at the
front of an armed battalion, crying
out. up! Up! This is the day OF
which the Lord will deliver Sisera into
thine handr" And when women are
called 10 such outdoor work and such
heroic positions, God prepares them
for IL, and they have iron in their
souls and lightning in their eye and
whirlwinds in their breath, and the
borrowed strength of the Lord Omnip-
otent in their right arm. They walk
through furnaces as though they were
hedges of wild flowers, and cross seas
as though they were simmering sap
phire; and all the harpies of hell
down In their dungeons shiyer at the
stamp OF her womanly indignation.
But these are exceptions. Generally,
Dorcas would rather make a garment
for the poor boy; RebeCca would rath-
er fill the trough for the camels; Han
nah would rather make a coat for
samuel: the Hebrew maid would rath-
or give a prescription for Namaan's
leprosy: the woman of Sarpeta would
rather gather a Jew sticks 10 cooy a
meal for famished Elijah; Phoebe
would rather carry n letter for II IN
spired apostle; Mother Lois would
rather educate Timothy in the Scrip
ures. When | see a woman going
about her daily duty-with cheerful
dignity presiding at the table, with
kind and gentle, but firm, discipline
presiding at the nursery, going OUT
into the world without any blast OF
trumpets. following in the footsteps OF
Him who went about doing good
say. This is yashti with a veil on
But when | see a woman or HINDUISM
ing boldness. ~loud-voiced, Win
tongue of infinite clitter-clatter, WITH
arrogant look. passing through the
streets with the step of a walking
beam, gaily arrayed in a very hurrl-
cane of millinery. | cry out: WASN'T
has lost her VEIL" When | see a wo-
man of comely features and OF adroit-
ness of intellect, and endowed with All
that the schools can do for one, AND or
high social position, yet moving III So
ciety with superciliousness and hateur,
as if she wkould have people know
their place. and an underlined comblna-
tion Of giggle and strut and rhodo-
montade. endowed with allopathic
quantities of talk. but only homeopath-
ic infinitesimals of sense. the terror OF
dry goods clerks and railroad CONDUCT
ors. discoveries of significant mean
ings In plain conversation, prodigies or
badinage and inuendo-I say: Look!
look, yashti has lost her veil.'
Again: | want you 10 consider wash
II the sacrifice. Who is this l see
coming out of the palace gate or Shu-
shan? IT seems to me h a l have seen
her before. She comes hoIneless,
houseless. friehdless, trudging along
with a broken heart. Who Is she! III
IL yashti. the sacrifice. o, what a
change il was from the regal position
IN q wayfarer's crust. A little whue
ago. approved and sought for; now,
none so poor as to acknowledge her
communicating. yashti, the sacri-
fee. All! you and have seen II many
a time. Here is a home empalaced
with beauty. All that refinement N
hooks and wealth can do for that home
has been done: but Ahasuerus, the nus
hand and father, is taking hold on
maths of sin. He is gradually going
down. After a while he will und
and struggle like a wild beast in the
hunters ne~t-furtber away from GOD,
further away from the right. Soon
the bright apparel of the children VIII
trrn to e o o the household song
4 become the sobbing of a broken
heart. The old story oyer again. Brut-
nj Centaurs breaking up the marriage
feast of Lapithae. The house full OF
outrage and cruelty and abomination,
while trudging forth from the palace
cate are Vashti and her hildren
There are homes that are in danger OF
such breaL'n up. q, Ahasuerus! that
Won should stand in n home, by a dis
sipated life destroying the peace inc
comfort of that home. God forbid that
vour children should ever have TO
wiring their hands, and have people
point their finger at them as they go
down the street and say: There goes
a d~,1,nkard's child" God forbid that
the little feet should ever have 10
trudge the path of poverty and wretch
adnessr God forbid that any evil sl'lr-
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