The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1898-06-10

Oub. hdllldh Nho
REV. TALMAGE. prime minister in
the magnificent court of Persia.
Thoroughly appreciative of the honor
conferred, he expects every body that
he passes to be obsequious. Coming in
one day at the gate of the palace, the
servants drop their heads in honor of
his office; but Hebrew, named Nor
decai, gazes upon the passing digni-
tary without bending his head or taxi
ing off his hat. lie was a good man,
and would not have been negligent of
the ordinary courtesies of life, but he
felt no respect for Haman or the ma
ton from which he had come. So he
could not be hypocritical; and while
Others made oriental salaam getting
clear down before this prime minister
when he passed, Mordecai, the He
brew, relaxed not a muscle of his neck,
and kept his chin clear up. Because
of that affront Haman gets a decree
from Ahasuerus, the dastardly king,
for the massacre of all the Israelites,
and that, of course, will include Nor
decai.
To make long story short, through
Queen Esther this whole plot was re-
vealed to her husband, Ahasuerus.
One night Ahasuerus, who was afflicted
with insomnia, in his sleepless hours
calls for his secretary to read him a
few passages of Persian history, and
so while away the night. In the book
read that night to the king an account
was given of a conspiracy, from which
Mordecai, the Hebrew, had saved the
kings life, and for which kindness
Mordecai had never received any re-
ward. Haman, who had been fixing
up a nice gallows to hand Mordecai on.
was walking outside the door of the
of the kings sleeping apartment, and
was called in. The king told him that
he had just had read to him the ac-
count of some one who had saved his
(the kings life, and he asked what re-
ward ought to be given such a one.
Self-conceited Haman, supposing that
he himself was to get the honor, and
not imagining for a moment that the
deliverer of the kings life was Morde-
CAL says: "Why, your majesty ought
10 make a triumph for him, and put a
crown on him, and set him on a SPLEEN
did horse, housekeeping and full
blooded, and then have one of
your princes lead the horse
through the streets, crying, Bow the
knee; here comes a man who has
saved the kings lifep" Then said
Ahasuerus in severe tones to Haman:
al know all about your scoundrelism.
Now you go out and make a triumph
I.l
hate. Put the best saddle on the I'm.
est horse, and you, the prince, hold
the stirrup while Mordecai gets on and
then lead his horse through the street.
Make hasteW What spectacle! A
comedy and tragedy at one and the
same time. There they go! Modecai,
who had been despised, now starred
and robed, in the stirrups Haman,
the chancellor, afoot, holding the
prancing, rearing, champing stallion.
Mordecai bends his neck at last, but II
is to look down at the degraded prime
minister walking beneath him. Huzza
for Mordecai! Alas for 4. Haman But
what pity to have the gallows re-
Gently built entirely wasted! 1t is 80
cubits high and built with care. And
Hannah had erected it for Mordecai,
by whose stirrups he now walks as
groom. Stranger and more startling
than any romance, there go up the
steps of the scaffolding, side by side,
the hangman and Haman, the ex.chan.
cellor. 80 they hanged Haman on
the gallows he had prepared for Nor.
decai"
Although so many years have passed
since cowardly Ahasuerus reigned,
and the beautiful Esther answered to
his whims, and Persia persisted, yet
from the life and death of Hannah we
may draw living lessons of warning
and instruction And, first, we come
to the practical suggestion that, when
the heart is wrong, things very insig-
nificant will destroy our comfort
Who would have thought that a great
prime minister, admired and applauded
by millions of Persians, would have
been so nettled and harrassed by any
thing trivial What more could the
great dignitary have wanted than his
chariots and attendants, and palaces
and banquets2 If affluence of circum-
stances can make man contented
and happy, surely Haman should have
been contented and happy. No; Nor
decais refusal of bow takes the gilt
ter from the gold, and the richness
from the purple, and the speed from
the chariots With heart pulled
with every imitation of vanity and re-
venge, it was impossible for him to be
happy. The silence of Mordecai at
the gate was louder than the braying
of the trumpets in the palace Thus
shall it always be il the heart is not
right. Circumstances most trivial will
disturb the spirit.
1t is not the great calamities OF life
that create the most worriment. I