St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-08-29
TALMAGE's SERMON.
4 Lesson Drawn From the Hunt.
hation OF Queen Vashti


VOAVHO Ak0 W00hkuk VIZ
congregation, taking for his text:
To bring vasht the queen before tn.
king with the crown royal, to shew th,
people and the princes her beauty; for she va.
fair to look O. But the queen vasf4sf refuset
= come At the kings commandment by hi
chamberlains; therefore was the king very
wroth, and his anger burned In him.-Esthel
L.1l-l2
We stand amid the palaces of Shu
shan. The pinacles are aflame with
the morning light The columns rise
festooned and wreathed, the wealth Of
empires flashing from the groves
the ceilings adorned with images OF
bird and beast, and scenes of proves
and conquest The walls are hung
with shields. and emblazoned until il
seems that the whole round Of splen
doris is exhausted. Each arch il Z
mighty leap OF architectural achieve
ment Golden stars, shining down on
glowing arbesque. Hangings Of EN-.
5roidered work in which mingle the
blueness Of the sky. the greenness OF
the grass and the whiteness Of the sea
foam Tapestries hung on silver rings
wedding together the pillars Of mar.
BILE. Pavilions reaching ont in every
direction. These for repose filled
with luxuriant couchcs, into which
weary limbs sink until Ill fatigue is
submerged. These for carousal, where
kings drink down q kingdom at one
swallow. Amazing spectacle! Light
Of silver dripping down over stairs Of
ivory on shields of gold. Floors Of
stained marble, sunset red and night
black, and inlaid with cleaning
pearl. Why. it seems a. il . hcav.
emily vision Of amethyst and jacinth
and topaz and chrysoprasus had de
1t seems rs If billow Of celestial
glory had dashed clear over Heavens
battlements upon this metropolis Of
Persia. In connection with this pal.
nee there is garden. where the
mighty men Of foreign lands are
seated at a banquet Under the spread
of oak and linden and acacia, the tn.
bles are arranged. The breath OF
honcysuckle and frankincense fills the
air. Fountains leap up into the light,
the spray struck through with rain
bows falling in crystalline baptism
upon Towering shrubs-then rolling
down through channels Of marble,
and widening out here and there into
pools swirling with the finny tribes
Of foreign aquariums. bordcred with
scarlet anem ones, hypericums and
many-colored ranunculus. Meats Of
rarest bird and beast smoking up
amid wreaths Of aromatics. The
vases filed with apricots and almonds
The baskets piled up with apricots and
dates, and figs, and oranges, and pome-
granateS Melons tastefully twined
with leaves Of acacia. The bright wa
tiers of Eulaeus filing the urns and
sweating outside the rim in flashing
beads amid the traceries. Wine from
the royal watts Of Ispahan and Shiraz.
in bottles Of tinged shell, and lily
shaped cups Of silver, and hagons and
tankards of solid gold. The music
rises higher and the revelry breaks
ont into wilder transport, and the
wine has flushed the cheek and touched
the brain. and louder than all other
voices are the hiccough of the inebri.
ates, the gable Of fools, and the song
Of the drunkardA
In another part Of the palace, Queen
vashti is entertaining the princesses OF
Persia at banquet. Drunken Ahas-
.ueEns. says to his servants: You 60
Ryt and fetch vashti from that ban
Quah with the women, and bring her
to this banquet with the men, and let
me display her beauty" The servants
Immediately start to obey the kings
command; but there was q rule in
oriental society that no woman might
appear in public without having her
face veiled. Yet here w6s a mandate
that no one dare dispute, demanding
that Vashti come in unveiled before
the multitude. However, there. was
in vasati's soul q principle more regal
than Ahasuerus. more brilliant than
the gold of Shushan, Of more wealth
than the realm of Persia, which com
manded her to disobey-this order Of the
king; and 80 all the righteousness and
holiness and modcsty of her nature
rises up into one sublime refusal She
says: Il will not 60 into the banquet
unveiled" OF course, Ahasuerus was
infuriate; and vashti. robbed. Of her
position and her estate, is driven forth
in poverty and ruin to suffer the scorn
Of = nation, and yet to receive the ap-
plause of after generations who shall
rise up to admire this martyr to king
" insolence. Well, the last vestige Of
that feast is gone; the last garland has
faded; the last arch has fallen; the last
tankard has been destroyed; and Shu.
shan is ruin; but as long as the world
stands there will be multitudes Of men
and women, familiar with the Bible,
who will come into this picture gal
lery Of God. and admire the divine
portrait of Vashti the queen, Vashti
the yelled, Vashti the sacrifice, vashti
the silent.
In the first place. want You to
look upon Vashti, the queen. "A blue
ribbon, rayed with white, drawn
.aEoRnd her forehead. indicated her
qpeenly position. 1t was no small
hon0rto be queen in such q realm AZ
that Hark to the rustic Of her robe.
See The blaze Of her jewels! Aud vet,
my friends, 1t is not necessary to have
= H.laee and regal robe in order to be
Queen1y. When I see a woman with
strong faith in God, putting her foot
upon all ,rneanness and .selfishness and
goddess display; going right forward
to serve Christ and the race bv
grand and glorious service, / say;
THAT woman j. = queen" and the
ranks Of Heaven look over the battle
ments upona the coronation, ana
whether she come up from the shanty
on the commons or the mansion Of
the fashionable square,, . greet her
with the shout: ''An hail! Queen
Vashti ?. What glory: was there on the
brow Of Mary Of Scotland, or Eliza
beth pf England, or Margaret Of
ffAnee. or Catherine Of Russia, COM
pared with the worth Of some OF our
ChtNtian mothers, many Of them gone
into glory?-or Of that woman men
toned in the Scriptures. who put all
her money into the Lords treasury
or Of Jephtha's daughter, who made I