St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-08-29

royal TODe-tneF0 may % NO pelotaol
surroundings. She does not need
them: tor al charitable men will unite
with the cracking lips Of fever-struck
hospital and plague-blotched laxaretto
In greeting her rs she passes: HALL
Hail! Queen Vashti"
Again: want You TO consider vashti
the yelled. Had she appeared before
Ahasuerus and his court on that day.
with her face uncovered, she would
have shocked all the delicacies Of ORR
entail society. and the very men who
in their intoxication demanded that
she come, in their sober moments
would have despised her. As some
flowers seem to thrive best in the dark
lane and in the shadow, and where
the sun docs not seem to reach them,
so God appoints to most womanly ma
lures retiring and unobtrusive spir-
it. God once in awhile does call an
Isabella to . throne, or . Miriam to
strike the timbrel 1t the front of .
host, or q Marie Antoinette to quell =
French mob, or . Deborah to stand
at the front Of m armed bat
TALON, crying ont: up! Up! This
is the day in which the Lord
will deliver Sisera into thine hand. :"
And when women are called to such
outdoor work and to such heroic posi-
tions, God prepares them At for it; and
they have iron in their souls, and light
ming in their eyes, and whirlwinds in
their breath, and the borrowed
strength Of the Lord Omnipotent in
their right arm. They walk through
furnaces a. though they were hedges
Of wild flowers, and cross seas Is
though they wore shimmering sap
phircs; and al the harpies Of hell down
to their dungeon At tho stamp Of her
womanly indignation. But these are
the exceptions Generally. Dorcas
would rather make . garment for tho
poor boy; Rebecca would rather all
the trough for the camels: Hannah
would rather make = coat for Sam
uel; the Hebrew maid would rather
give = prescription for Naaman's
leprosy; the woman OF Sarepta would
rather gather = few sticks to cook =
meal for diminished Elijah; Phebe
would rather carry . letter for the in
spired apostle, mother Lois would
rather educate Timothy In the Scrip
lures, When / see . woman going
about her daily duty-with cheerful
dignity presiding at the table, with
kind and gentle, but firm discipline,
presiding In tho nursery. going out in
to the world without any blast of
trumpets, following in the footsteps of
Him who went about doing good-I
say: This is Vashti with veil on.
But when see q woman Of unblush-
ing boldness, loud-voiced, with q tongue
of infinite clitter-clatter. with arrogant
look, passing through the streets
with the step Of . walking beam. gayly
arrayed in : very hurricane Of millin-
cry, cry out: "vashti has lost her
veil!'' When I sec . woman Of comedy
features and Of adroitness Of intellect,
and endowed with al that tho schools
can do for one, and of high social posi-
ton. yet moving In society with SUI
perciliousness and hauteur, Is though
she would have people know their
place, and an underlined combination
Of gigglc and strut and rhodomontade,
endowed with allopathic quantities Of
talk, but only homeopathic inflnitesi-
mails Of sense, the terror Of dry goods
clerks and railroad conductors, dis
coverers OF significant meaning In
plain conversation, prodigics Of badin-
age and innuendo-I say: Look!
look! Vashti has lost her veil.'
Again; i want. you to consider
Vashti the sacrifice. .:kEhA il this SEQ
coming out Of the psaacs gate Of Shu-
shan? 1t seems to me that have
seen her before. She comes homeless,
houseless. friendless, trudging along
with broken heart WHO'S she? 1t
is vashti the sacrifice. Oh what
change it WAS from. regal = ksitiqh tto
wayfarer's crust! A little while tAgo,
approved and sought for; now. mono
SO poor rs to acknowledge her &C
craftsmanship. Vashti the. sacrifice!
All! you and have seen it pany
time. Here is q home cn66alaced
with beauty. All thaAz refine
ment and books and We6fth can
do for that !. home hssIs- been
done; but Ahasueras, the. husband
and the father; is taking hokjon paths
Of sin. He is gradually going. down.
After awhile 'h6sMfli' stf6egle and
founder like a.wild beast tn q hunters
net-further away from God. further
away from the right. Soon the bright
apparel of the children will turn to
rags; soon the household song will be-
come the sobbing Of q broken heart
The old story over again. Brutal Cen
taurs breaking up the marriage feast
OF Dapithae. 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 q dis
sipated 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
q drunkard's child" God forbid that
the lirtle feet should ever have to
TRUCE the path Of poverty and wretch
edness! God forbid that any evil spirit
born of the wine-cup or the brandy
glass should come forth and uproot
that garden, and with = lasting, bis
tering, all-consuming curse, shut for
ever the palace gate against Vashti
and the children!
During the war 1 went to HaRers-
town to look at the army, end stood
in the night on hilltop and looked
down upon them. l saw the camp
fires all through the valleys and al
over the hills It was = weird spec
taclc. those campifires, and stood and
them and the soldiers who
gathered around them were. no doubt,
tallrlng Of their homes. and Of the
long march they had taken and Of
the battles they were to fight; but
after awhile I saw those camp-flres
begin to lower; and they confined to
lower, until they were all gone
oqt. and the army slept It was
imposing when saw tho camp fires;
Il was imposing In the darkness
when I thought of that great host
asleep. Well, God looks down from |