Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1896-07-10

to most vonanly natures n retiring and un
obtrusive spirit God once IN awhile doe
cal an Isabella to a throne or u Miriam 4
strike tho timbrcl at the front of a host, o
a Marie Antoinctte to quell IA French mob
"a or a Deborah 70 stand at the front of az
+ armed battalion crying out: "Upl Up
This is the day.in which the Lord will dc
liver Siscra into thine hand" And wheI
> women are called TO such outdoor worl
, and to such heroic positions, God prepare
j. them for it, and they have iron in thcii
) souls and lightning IN their eye, and whirl
o winds in their breath, and the borrowed
g strength Of the Lord omnipotcnt in theil
Q right arm They walk through furnace,
+ as though they were hedges Of wild flowers
1 and cross seas as though they were SHIN
y mering sapphire, and all the harpies OF
z hell down TO their dungeon at the STAMP
Of her womanly Indignation. But these arr
the exceptions Generally Dorcas would
3 rather make garment for the poor boy,
l Rebecca would rather fill the trough foI
2 the camels Hannah would rather make a
D coat for Samuel, the Hebrew maid would
( rather give a prescription for Naaman' S
: leprosy, the woman of Sarepta would rath-
3 er gather few sticks to cook meal for
furnished Elijah, Phebe would rather carry
T letter for the inspired apostle, Mother
Lois would rather educate Timothy in the
Scriptures.
When l see a woman going about her
daily duty-vith 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 voil on. 3"
! IL
boldness, loud voiced with u tongue Of in
finite Glitter clattcr, with arrogant look,
passing through the streets with the step
of walking beam, gayly arrayed in a very
hurricane of millinery, cry out, "Vashti
has lost her veilg' When I see a woman
Of comely features, and of adroitncss Of in
tellect, and endowed with all that the
schools can do for one, and of high social
position yet moving in society, with s,l-
tperciliousness and hautcur, us though she
would have people know their place, and
an underlined combination of giggle and
strut and rhodOmontadc, endowed with al
lopathic quantities Of talk, but only home
Opathic infnitesimals of sense, the terror
Of dry goods clerks and railroad conduc-
tors, discoveries of significant meanings
in plain conversation, prodigies of badi-
mage and innuendo, 1 say: "I4ookl Lookl
Vashti has lost her veil "
Broken Heart.
Again, want you to consider Vashti
the sacrifice Who is this 1 see coming out
I of that palace gate of Shushan? 1t seems
! to me that l have seen Ter before. She
comes homeless, houseloss, friendless,
| trudging along with broken heart Who
| is she? It is Vashti the sacrifice Oh,
( what a change it was from regal position
r. - (. H.,
approved and sought for; now, none so
poor as to acknowledge her Acquaintance
ship. Vashti the sacrifice All, you and
have seen it many n timel
Hero is a 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 a wild beast in
the hunters net-farther away from God,
farther away from the right Soon the
bright apparel of the children win turn to
rags; soon the household song will become
the sobbing Of n broken heart The old
story over again Brutal centaurs break
ing up the marriage feast of Lnpithie.
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
a breaking up Oh, Ahasuerus that you
should stand in home by a dissipated life
destroying the peace and comfort of that
homel 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 wretchednessl
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, blistering, all consuming curse
shut forever the palace gate against Vashti
and the childrenl
During the war I went to HagerstOwn
to look at the army, and l stood in the
night on a hilltop and looked down upon
them 1 s,Iw the campflres all through
the valleys and all over the hills 1t was
u weird spectacle those campfres, and l
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 l
saw these campares begin to lower, and
they continued to lower until they were all
gone out and the army slept 1t was i'm
posing when l saw the campflres. 1t was
imposing in the darkness when l thought
Of that great host asleep
Well God looks down from heaven, and
he sees the flresides of Christendom and
the loved ones gathered around these fire
sides These are the campiires where we a.,
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
grant that when at last these fires begin to
go out and continue to lower until finally
they are extinguished and the ashes of con
sumed hopes strew the hearth of the old /.
homestead it may be BECAUSE we have
Gone to sleep that last long sleep :
From which none ever wake to weep. !
Now we are an army on the march of /,
life. Then we will be an army biyOuacked T
N the tent Of the grave
A Hope and It's FuIfIlment. r
Once more want you to look at Vashti n
he silent You do not hear any cutlery '
rom this woman as she goes forth from d
he palace gate From the very dignity 4
If her nature you know there win be no n
Sometimes in life it is neces- Ii
AIRY to mike rctOrt; sometimes in life it S
$ necessary to resist, but there are crises a
Chen the most triumphant thing 70 do IS :.
o Keep silence. The philosopher, conn n
lent in his newly discovered principle, :,
Waiting for the coming Of more intelligent I;
willing that men should laugh -
It the lightning rod and cotton gin and y
teamboit waiting for long years through
he soothing of philosophical schools in
rand and magnificent silence. Galilei,
by mathematicians and scion II
lists, caricatured everywhere, yet waiting Il
nd watching with his telescope to see the a
oming upof stellar re-cnforcements when Il
he stars in their courses would fight Tor n
he Copernican SYSTEM then sitting down u
n complete blindness and deafness to wait p
or the coming on Of the generations who g
rave. pI
The reformer, execrated by his contem c.
oraries. fastened in a pillory. the slow n