Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-07-09
WOMAN SACRIFICED.
REV. Or. TALMAeE ON HER WRONGS
AND HER OPPORTUNITIES.

suffers. DIS eAt was Estner l, II, lSs 10
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"
We stand amid the palaces of Shushan.
The pinnacles are aflame with the morning
light The columns rise festooned and
wreathed, the wealth of empires flashing
from the grooves, the ceilings adorned with
images Of bird, and beast and scenes of
prowess and conquest. The walls are hung
with shields and emblazoned until it seems
that the whole round of splendors is ex-
hausted. Each arch Is a mighty leap of
architectural achievement Golden stars,
shining down on glowing arabcsque.
Hangings Of embroidered work in which
mingle the blueness of the sky, the green
ness of the grass, and the whiteness of the
sea foam. Tapestries hung on silver rings,
wedding together the pillars of marble
Pavilions reaching out in every direction.
These for repose, filed with luxuriant
couches, into which weary limbs sink un-
til all fatigue is submerged. These for Ca
rousal, where kings drink down king
dom 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 as If q heavenly vision of amethyst
and jacinth and topaz and chrysoprasus
had descended and alighted upon Shushan.
1t seems as If billow of celestial glory had
dashed clear over heavens battlements
upon this metropolis of Persia.
In connection with this palace there is a
garden where the mighty men of foreign
lands are seated at banquet Under the
spread of oak and linden and acacia the
tables are arranged The breath of honey
suckle and frankincense fills the air.
Fountains leap up into the light, the 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 finny tribes of
foreign aquariums, bordered with scarlet
anemones, hypericums and many colored
ranunculus Meats Of rarest bird and
beast smoking up amid wreaths Of aro-
matics The vases filled with apricots and
almonds. The baskets piled up with
apicrots and dates and figs and oranges
and pomegranates Melons tastefully
twined with leaves of acacia. The bright
waters of Eulaus 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
or on1 foV,l n,Is 20 sO1il
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 gab-
BILE of fools and the song of the drunkards-
vashti the Sacrificed.
In another part of the palace Queen
Vashti is entertaining the princesses of
Persia at q banquet Drunken Ahasuerus
says to his servants, "You go out and fetch
Vashti from that banquet 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 rule in
oriental society that no woman might ap-
pear in public without having her face
yelled Yet here was mandate, that no
one dare dispute, demanding that Vashti
come in unveiled before the multitude
However, there was in Vashti's soul a
principle more regal than Ahasuerus, 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 righteousness and
holiness and modesty of her nature rises
up into one sublime refusal She says "I
will not go into the banquet unveiled"
OF course Ahasuerus was infuriate, and
Vashti, robbed of her position and her es-
tate, is driven forth in poverty and ruin
to suffer the scorn of a nation, and yet to
receive the applause of after generations
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 ruin, but as long as the world stands
there will be multitudes of men and wom-
en- familiar with the Bible who will come
into this picture gallery of God and admire
the divine portrait of Vashti the queen,
Vashti the yelled, Vashti the sacrifice,
Vashti the silent
Noble Women.
In the first place, want you to look
upon Vashti the queen. A blue ribbon,
rayed with white, drawn around her fore
head, indicated her queenly position. 1t
was no small honor to be queen in such
realm as that Hark to the rustic of her
robes! See the blaze of her jewels And
yet, my friends, 1t is not necessary to have
palace and regal robe in order to be queen
ly. When see woman with strong faith
in God putting her foot upon all meanness
and selfishness and goddess display, going
right forward to serve Christ and the race
by grand and glorious service, say,
"That woman Is queen, and the ranks
of heaven look over the battlements upon
the coronation, and whether she come up
from the shanty on the commons or the
of the fashionable square I greet
her with the shout: CAN hail Queen
Vashti! What glory was there on the
brow of Mary of Scotland, or Elizabeth of
England, or Margaret of France, OF Cath
crime Of Russia compared with the worth
of some of our Christian mothers, many of
them gone into glory; or of that woman
mentioned in the Scriptures who put all
her money into the Lords treasury; or of
Jephthah's daughter, who made demon
stration Of unselflsh patriotism; or of Abb
gail, who rescued the herds and flocks Of
her husband or of Ruth, who toiled under
a tropical sun for poor, old, helpless Naomi;
or of Florence Nightingale, who went at
midnight to stanch the battle wounds of
the Crimea; OF of Mrs. Adoniram Judson,
who kindled the lights Of salvation amid
the darkness of Burma; or of Mrs. He
mans, who poured out her holy soul in
words which will forever be associated |
with hunters horn, and captiye's chain, |
and bridal hnnr and 1ntaia fhrnh and cnr-