The Penn's Grove record., 1896-07-10
PENIS GROVE. N. J.. FRIDAY. JULY 10. 1896

duty, with cheerful dignity presiding Mt the
table, with kind and gentle but firm disci-
pine presiding in the nursery, going out into
the world without any blast OF trumpnts, fol-
lowing in the footsteps Of Him who went
about doing good, | say, ''Thisi Is YnsIIti with a
veil on But when / soc q woman of IN
blushing holiness, loud-yotced, with u
tongue of infinite Glitter c%lnttnr. with arro-
CANT look, passing throu IN the streets with
the step OF n walking beam, gayly arrayed in
h very hurricane Of mil innry, l cry out,
t'Vashti has lost her veilI' When l see n
woman OF comedy features, ami of adroitness
Of intellect, and endowed will all that tho
trhools can do for one and Of high social
position, yet moving in society with super
.filiousneas and hauleur. as though shr,would
have people know their place. and IN unde-
Ilrsd ~com3lnatio. OF giggie and strut and
thodomontade, endowed with ~ailopathic
quantities of talk. hut only homeopathic in
linitesimnls of sense, the terrier OF dry goods
clerks and railroad conductors. discoveries
of significant meanings in plain conversa-
ton, prOdigies Of bndinage and innuendO. |
say: "Look. look! yashti has lost her veiI!'
Again. | want you to consider Vashti the
sacrifice. Who is this | SEQ coming out of
that palace gate OF ShushHn2 1t seems to me
that I have seen her before. She comes
homeless, houseless, ~friendless, truiging
along with a broken heart. Who is she2 1t
Is Vashti the sacrifice. Oh, whnt = change 1t
was from regal position to a wayInrer's
crustl A little while ago approved and
sought for; now none so poor as to acknowl-
edge her acquaintanccship. Yashti the sac
rince! All, you and 1 AVE seen it many n
time!
Here Is q home empalaccd with beauty.
Ali that refinement and books and wealth
can do for that home has been done, hut
Ahasuerus, the husband and father, is taking
hold on paths of sin. He is gradually going
down. After awhile he will fl ounder and
struggle like a Wild beast in the hunters net
farther away from God, farther away from
tho right. Soon the bright apparel of the
children will turn to rags; soon the house,
hold song will become the sobbing OF n
broken heart. The old story over again.
Brutal centaurs breaking up the mar
riase teast of Lapithae. The house full
of outrage and cruelty and abomina-
tion, while trudGing forth from the
palace gate nre Vashti and her children.
There are homes that are In danger of
such a breaking NJ. Oh, AhlsueTus, that
you should staud in IL home, by q dissipated
life destroy the peace and comfort of that
home. God forbid that your children should
ever have to wiring their hands an I have peo-
pie point their finger Mt them as they pass
down the street and say, ''fhere goes q
~drunkard's child" God forbid that the little
feet should ever ha so to trudge the path of
poverty and Indebtedness. Col forbid that
any evil spirit born of the wine cup or the
brandy glass should come forth and uproot
that garden, and with q lasting blistorinG, all
consuming curse shut forever the palace gate
against Vashti and the children.
During the war I went to Hagorstown to
look ut the army. and l stood In the night oil
a hilltop and looked down upon them. j
saw the campfires all through tho valleys
and all over the hills. Ii was n weird Spec
taeie, those camptlres, and l stood and
watched them, II the soldiers who wero
gathering around them were, no doubt. talk
ing of their homes and of the long match
they had taken and of the battles they were
to fight. But after awhile l saw these camp
fires begin to lower, and they continued TO
lower until they were all gone out and tho
ltrmy slept. 1t was imposing when | saw
The campflres; it was imposing in the dark.
hess when 1 thought of that great host
lsIeep.
' Well, God looks down from heaven, and
lie sees the flresidcs of Christendom and the
ones gathered round these flresldes.
These are the campflras whore wo warm our
selves at the close of the day and talk over
the battles Of life we have fought and the
that are yet to m God grant Tint
whom at last these fires begin to "a out and
to lower, until finally they are OK
and the ashes of consumed hopes
streW the heartn OF the olu nonneStchu, u
may be because we have
Gone to sleep that last long sleep
From which non ever wake to weep.
Now we are an army on the march Of life.
Then we will be- an army bivouacked in the
tent OF the grave.
Once more / want you to loo at Vashti
the silent. You do not hear any cutlery from
this woman as she goes forth from the palace
gate. From the very dignity OF her nature,
know there will be no vooiferation.
Sometimes in life 1t Is necessary to make a
sometimes In life 1t Is necessary to
resist, but there are cries when the NEST
thing to do ia to keep silence.
The philosopher, confident In his newly dis
covered principle, waiting for the coming OF
more Intelligent generations, willing that
men should laugh at the lightning rod and
ootton gin and Misunderstanding for long
years through the soothing Of philosophical
I'm grand and magnificent silence.
condemned by mathematicians and
scientists, carloatured everywhere. yet wait
ing and Watching with his telescope to sec
the coming up OF stellar re-enforcements,
the stars in their courses would light
for the Copernican system, then sitting down
in complete blindness and deafness to wait
for the coming on of tho generations who
would build his monument and bow at his
grave
The reformer, execrated by his contem-
poraries, fastened in a ptllory, the slow fire
Of public contempt burning under him,
ground under the cylinders OF the printing
press, yet calmly waiting for the day when
purity of soul and heroism OF character will
get the sanction OF earth n the plaudits OF
Afiiction, enduring without any
complaint the sharpness of the pane ana thB
violence Of the storm, and the heft OF the
,hain and Of the darkness OF night. Wait
----a ll.s.. k.&4 1lall hn pnf fnrtb 30
sootho the pRng and hush the storm and re-
lease the captive. A wife, abused, prosecuted
and q perpetual exile from every earthly
somfort-waiting, waiting, until the Lord
shall gather all His dear chtldrenin a heaven
ly home, and no poor Vashti will ever be
thrust out from the palace gate. Jesus, In
silence Inc answering not a word, drinking
the gall, bearing the cross, In prospect OF the
raptuous contamination when
Angels thronged His chariot wheel
And bore Him To His throne,
Then swept their golden harps and sung
The glorious work is done.
Oh, woman! Does not this story of Vashti
the queen, Vashti the yelled, Vashti the sac
rince, vashti the silent, move YOU soul2 My
sermon converges into the n absorbing
hope that none Of you may be shut out OF
the palace gate of heaven. You can endure
the hardships. and the privations, n the
cruelties, and the misIortunes oil this life II
you can only gain admission there. Through
the blood of the everlasting covenant You go
through these gates or never go Mt all. God
forbid that you should at last be banished
from the society of angels and hanished from
the oompanionship OF your g%loriied kindred
and banished forever. Through the rich
grace of our Lord. Jesus Christ, may you he
to initiate the example OF Rachel,
and Hannah. and Abigail, and Deborah, and
Mary, and Esther, and Vashit. Amen.
How hard the man who pants tries
TO bring the conversation around to
artists.
Had the prodigal's money held ont