The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1896-07-11

DSACLS hdSh no ohN ans SOoA -
that day, with her face uncovered, she
would have shocked all the delicacies
of Oriental society, and the very men
who in their intoXication demanded
that she come, in their sober moments
wca!d have despised her. As some
flowers seem to thrive best in the dark
lane and in the shadow, and where the
sun does not seem to reach them, so
God appoints to most womanly ma
lures n retiring and unobtrusive
spirit. God once in a while does call
an Isabella to a throne, or a Miriam
to strike n tim brel at the from of
a host, or a Marie Antoinette to
quell n French mob, or a Deborah to
stand ut the front of an armed bat
talon, crying out, up! Upl This is
the day in which the Lord will deliver
Sisera into thine hand" And when
women are called to such outdoor
work and to such heroic positions,
God them for it; and they
have iron in their souls and lightning
in their eye, and whirlwinds in their
breath, and the borrowed strength of
the Lord Omnipotent in their right
arm. They walk through furnaces as
though they were hedges of wild
flowers, and cross seas as though they
were sbimmering sapphire; and all the
harpies of hell down to their dungeon
at the stamp of her womanly indigna-
ton. e
But these are exceptions. General
lv, Dorcas would rather make a gar
ment for the poor boy; Rebecca would
rather fill the trough for the camels;
Hannah would rather make a coat for
Samuel; the Hebrew maid would
rather give n prescription for
Naaman's leprosy; the woman of
Sarepta would rather gather a few
sticks to cook a meal for famished
Elijah; Phoebe would rather carry n
letter for the inspired apostle;
mother Lois would rather edu-
cate Timothy in the Scriptures.
When l see a woman going about her
daily duty-with cheerful dignity
presiding 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 footsteps of Him who
went about doing good-I say: This
is Vashti with a veil on" But when L
see a woman of ~unblushing boldness,
l~oud-voiced, with a tongue of infinite
clitter-clatter, with arrogant look,
passing through the streets with the
step of a walking-beam, gayly ar
rayed in n very hurricane of MILL
merry, / cry out: "Vashti has lost her
veilr' When / see II woman of comely
features, and of adroitness of intel
lect, and endowed with all that the
schools can do for one, n of high So
cial position, yet moving in society,
with superciliousness and hauteur, as
az-..-l ,La ,ror,lI Ia-a 4a0n1a Gnnuy
their place, and an underlined combina-
ton of giggle and strut and rhodo-
~montade, endowed with allopathic
quantities of talk, but only home
opathic inhuitesimals of sense, the ter
ror of dry goods clerks and railroad
conductors, discoveries of significant
meanings in plain conversation, prodi-
gies OF badinaGc and innuendo-I say:
"Lookl loolSl Vashti has lost her veil"
Again: 1 want you to consider
Vashti the sacrifice. Who is this 1 see
coming out of that palace gate of
Shushan9 1t seems to me that | have
seen her before. She come homeless,
houseless, ~friendless, ~trudging along
with a broken heart Who is She? 1t
is Vashti, the sacrifice. o, what a
change it was from the regal position
W a way . SAuoO A iva "iAA
ago, approved and sought for; now,
none so poor as to acknowledge her &C.
quaintanceshipL Vashti, the sacrifice!
Ahi you and 1 nave seen it many a
time. Here is a home emplaced 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 gradually
going down.. After awhile he will
founder and struggle like n wild beast
in the hunters net-further away
from God, further away from the
right Soon the bright apparel of the
children will turn to rags; soon the
household song will become the sob
bling of n broken heart. The old story
over again. Brutal Centaurf hreaking
up the marriage feast of Lapith@. 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. o, Ahasuerusl
that you should stand in a home, by a
dissipated life destroying the peace
and comfort of that home. God forbid
that your children should ever have to
wiring their hands, and have people
point their finger at them as they go
down the street, and say: There goes
a drunkard's child" God forbid that
the little feet should ever have to
trudge the path of poverty and wretch
ednessl God forbid that any evil spirit
born of the winecup or the brandy
glass should come forth and uproot
that garden, and with lasting, blister
ing, all-consuming curse, shut out for
ever the palace gate against Vashti
and the childrenl
During the war l went to Hagers-
town to look at the army. and 1 stood
in the night on a hilltop and looked
down upon them. saw the campfires
all through the valleys and all over
the hills 1t was a weird spectacle,
those campfires, and i 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 battles they were to 6dkt; but after
awhile ! saw those canaeires begin to
lower; and they continued to lower,
until they were all gone out, and the
army slept. 1t was imposing when 1
saw the campfres; 1t was imposing
in the darkness when / thought of that
great host asleep. Well, God looks
down from HEAVIER and He sees the
firesides of Christendom and the loved
ones gathered around these fresides.
These are the campires where we
warm ourselves at the close Of the day,
and talk owe the battles of life we
have fought and the battles that are
yet to come. God grant hat 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
~bivouacked in the ten of the grave.
Once more: l want you to look at
Vashti the silent. You do not hear
any cutlery from this woman as she
goes forth from the palace gate. From