The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1896-07-22
;VASHTI THE YELLED.
REV. DR.. TALMAGE ON WOMAN AND
HER SACRIFICES.

HER SACRIFICES.
Glowing Word Pictures as to Wonaana
Misfortunes and Her Final Reward-A
Sermon For the Rschels, and the Debo-
rahs, and the AbiEails.
WASHINGTON, July 5.-In his sermon
today, starting from a brilliant Bible
scene, Dr.. Talmage discourses upon
woman's opportunities and the wrongs
she sometimes suffers. His text was Es-
ther j, II, 10: 'To bring Vashti the
queen before the king with the crown
royal to show the people and the princes
her beauty, for she was fair to look on
But the queen Vashti refused to come
at the kings commandment by his
chamberlains; therefore was the king
very wroth, and his anger burned IN
him."
Scene In the Palace.
We stand amid the palaces Of Shu.
shan. The pinnacles are ahame with the
morning light. The columns rise fes-
tooned and wreathed, the wealth Of en-
pires flashing from the grooves, the cell
ings adorned with images of bird and
beast and scenes Of prowess and con-
quest. The walls are hung with shields
and emblazoned until it seems that the
whole round of splendors is exhausted.
Each arch is a mighty leap Of archltec-
tural achievement. Golden stars shin
ing down on glowing arabesque. Hang
ings Of embroidered work in which
mipgle the blueness of the sky, the
greenness of the grass and the whiteness
of the sea foam. Tapestries hung on sill
yer rings, wedding together the pillars
Of marble. Pavilions reaching out in
every direction. These for repose, filed
with luxurisnt couches, into which
weary limbs sink until all fatigue IS
submerged. These for carousal, where
kings drink down a kingdom at one
swallow. Amazing spectaclel 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 as II heavenly vision of anne
thyst and jacinth and topaz and chryso-
prasus had descended and alighted upon
Shusban. 1t seems as if billow of &C.
lestial glory had dashed clear over heav-
ems battlements upon this metropolis of
Persia.
In connection with this palace 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 tables are arranged. The
breath of honcysuckls and frankincense
fills the air. Fountains leap up into the
light, tho spray struck through with
rainbows 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 fnny tribes Of foreign
aquariums, bordered 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 apri-
cots and Amends. The baskets piled up
with apricots and dates and figs and
oranges and pomegranates. Melons
tastefully twined with leaves Of acacia.
The bright waters Of Eulseus filing the
urns and sweating outside the rim in
flashing beads amid the traceries. Wine
from the royal watts Of Ispakan and
SMraz, 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 out
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 inebriates, the gabblo
of fools and the song Of the d1unkards.
vsshtrs Refusal.
In another part Of the palace Queen
Vashti is entertaining the princesses of
Persia at banquet. Drunken Ahasue-
rus says to his servants, "You go out
and fetch Vashti from that banquet with
the women, and bring her to this ban
ouet with the men, ard let me display
her beauty" The servants Immediately
start to obeykhe kings command, but
there was rule in oriental society that
no woman might appear III public with
out having her face yelled. Yet here
was a mandate, that 10 enc dare dis
pute, demanding that Vashti come in
unveiled before the multitude. How
ever, there was in Vashti's soul a prin-
ciple more regal than Ahaseurus, more
brilliant than the gold of Shushan, of
more wealth than the realm of Persia,
which commanded her to disobey this
order of the king, and so all the right
eousness and holiness and modesty of
her nature rises up into one sublime re-
fusal She says, Il will not go into the
banquet unveiled. Of course Ahasue-
rus was infuriate, and Vashti, robbed Of
her position and her estate, is driven
forth in poverty and ruin to suffer the
scorn Of q nation and yet to receive
the applause Of after generations who
shall rise up to admire this martyr to
kingly 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
Shushan is q 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
gallery of God and admire the divine
portrait of Vashti the queen, Vashti
the veiled, Vashti the sacrifice, Vashti
the silent.
Noble Women.
In the first place, l want you to look
upon Vashti the queen. A blue ribbon,
raycd with white, drawn around her
forehead, irAicated her queenly posi-