Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-07-15
REV. DR.. TALMAGE,
The Eminent Divine's Sunday
Discourse.
Subject: "Womaa aud Her Sacrt.
fires.

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people and the pra."s her belutv. 70
she was tair to look H. But the gueeI
'hshti re- uset tn come mt the kings com
hlihdments by his chamberlain; therefor
was the king very wroth, and his ange
burned him. n."-Esthrr l.. II, H.
IN, We stand amii the palaces OF Shushnm
inc pihnaeles are ailame With tho mornin.
neht. The columns rSs"hestooned an
! wreathed, the wealth of ..npires fiashin.
from the grooves. the ceilings adorned witt
] image, Of bird and beast and scenes o
powers ami conquest The walls are hun.
win shields and embiazoned until it seem.
that the whole round Of splendOrs Is ex
nadsaed. nu.sa. Each arch is mighty leap o
archite'tural achievement Golten star
shining down on glowing arabesque Hang
incs OF embroidered work in which miprle
| the b.ueness of the sky, the rreenness of the
grass and the whiteness of the sea foam.
Tapestries hung on silver rings. wedding TO-
gether the pillars of marble. Pavilions
r' 'achtng out In every direction. These for
repose, filled with Iuxnriant couchcs, into
which weary limbs sink until all fatigue II;
submerged. These for carou nj. where
kings drink down II kingdom Mt 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 g!eaming pearl.
Why, 1t seems AS II u heavenly vision OF ame.
ihysf and jarinth AMI topaz and chr rysopr,sus
had descended and alighted upon Shushan.
IT seems as II billOw of celestial glory had
dashed cleRr over heavens battlements upop
this metropolis of Persia.
In connection with this palace there is a
garden where the mighty men OF foreign
lands are seated at a banquet. Under tho
spread of oak and linden aud acacia the
tables are arranged. The breath of honey
suckie and frankincense fills the mir. Foun-
tains leap up into the light, the spray struck
through with riinbows falling in crystalline
baptism upon flowery shrubs, then rolling
down through channels of marble and
widening out here and thera into pooIs
swirling with the finny tribes of foreign
aquariums, bordered with scarlet annem-
ONES. hypericums AMI many colored
ranuncuius. Meats of rarest bird and beast
smoking up amid wreathes of aromatics
The vases filed with apricots and almonds
The baskets piled up with apricots and
dates and figs and oranges and pomegran-
ates Melons tastefully twined with leaves of
acacia. The bright waters of EulRus filling
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 iinged shell, and lily shaptti
cups OF silver and fagons and ,ankar,is OF
solid gold. The music rises higher. and the
reveiry breaks out into wilder TRANSPORT
and the wine has flushed the cheek and
touched the brain, and louder than all
other voices are The hic.ough of the ine-
briaies, the gRbble of fools and the song O!
the drunkards.
In another part of the palace Queen
Vashti is entertaining he princesscs of Persia
at a banquet Drunken Ahasuerus saws TO
his servants s.You 90 ont and f.,cb V,shti
from that banquet with the women. and
bring her to this banquet with the men. and
let me display her beauty" The servant.
Immediately start TO obey the kings com
mand. but there was rule in oriental So
ciety that no woman might appear in nubIic
without having her face veiled. Yet here
was mandate, and no one dare dispute, de-
maBdibg that Vashti come in unveiled be-
fore the multitude. However, there was in
Vas'tfs soul principle more regal than
Ahasuerus. more brilliant than the gold of
Shushan, of more wealth than the reaIm 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 refusal
She says. Il viii not 20 into the banquet un-
veiled." or cours. Ahasuerus was inIuriate,
and Vashti, robbed of her sposition and her
estate, is driven forth in poverty AMI ruin to
suffer the scorn of nation and yet to re.
ceive the applause OF after generations who
shall rise Ap to admire this martyr to kingIy
insolenee- Well. the last 'vestise of that
least Is gone; lie last garland has faded:
the last arch has fallen: the last tankard has
been destroyed, and Shushan is II ruin. But
as long as the world stands there will be
mu,'tudes ot men ami women. familiar
WIN the bipie, VINO VIII come into this pic
lure gallery OF fon ana admire the divine
p"nrait o' sashti the queen. Vashti the
vsiied, ''shti tho sacrifice, Vashti the
siteht.
=, IN the iirst place, want you to look upon
sasn'i 'he queen. Diuc ribbon. rayed with
wn'e, ufawh around her forehead, indi-
cateu her qu"ehiy position. II was no small
nphor 10 be que IN such a realm as that.
iia nurk tE the rnS',e "1 her robes! See the
D'"Ho Va h'f le"eis' an" YET, my iriehds, IL
II MOI necessary 10 nave palace ana regal
ropr In order 10 DE queeniy. When l se. n
woman win strohS laith In eo putting her
100. upon al meanness ana seiiishness and
S1uiess ulspiay, gong riSht forward to serv''
ohf,st anu the race ny grand and glorious
service, say, ihat woman Is quren,"
ana the ranks OF heaven look over the bat
tiemehts upon the coronation, and whether
she come up from the shanty on the COM
mons or the mansion OF the fashionable
SQUARE greer h'r with the shout: "Ail hail!
Queen Vashtf. What glory was there on
the brow OF Mary OF Scotland, or Elizabeth
OF England, or Margaret of France or Cath
crime OF Russia, compared with the worth of
some OF our Christian mothers, many of
them gone into Siory-or OF that woman
mentioned in the Scriptures, who put all
ner money into the Lort's treasury-or OF
Jephfhah's daughter, who made n dem
onstration of unselflsh patriotism-or
of Abigail, who rescued the herds and flocks
OF her husband-or of Ruth. who toiled un-
der tropical sun for loor old, helpless
Naomi-or Of Florence Nightingale, who
went at midnight to stanch the battle wounds
of the Cnmea-or of Mrs. Adoniram JudsOn,,
who kindle'i the lights of a vation amid the
darkness Of Burmah-Or of Mrs. Hemans,
who poured out her holy soul in words which
uni y,