St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-08-06
THE BEAUTIFUL QUEEN.
Vashti the Yelled. vashti the Sacri-
feed, Vashti tie Silent.
Rev. r. Dewitt Taimage Commcnds Mod
esty In Woman and Draws = Useful Les
son From the Story of Drunken
Ahasuerus and His Lovely Queen.


We stand amid the palaces OF Shu
shan. The pinnacles are afiame will
the morning light. The columns ris
festooned and eathei, the wealth o
empires flashing from the grooves, thu
ceilings adorned with images OF Dir.
and beast and scenes Of prowess ant
conquest. The walls are lang witt
shields and emllazoned until it seem:
the whole round of splendors is ex
hausted. Each arch is a mighty leaf o
architectural achievement Colder
stars shining on glowing arabesque
IIangings of embroidered work il
which min2le the bluencss of the sky
the greenness of the grass and thu
whiteness of the sea foam The tapes
tries hung on silver rings, wedding to
gether the pillars of marble. Pavil
ions reaching out in every direction
These for rcpose, filed with luxurian
touches. in which weary limbs sinl
until all fatigue is submerged. Thost
for carousal where kings drink dowr
a kingdom at one swall"r" -1
ing spectacle! Light or-sflver drip
btDG IoHl ohts VA iNoAy 20
shiel,;s OF gold Floors of stained mar
bic, sunset red and night black and in
laid with cleaning pearl. in connec
ton with this palace there is a garden
where the mighty men of foreign land.
are seated at banquet Under the
spread of oak and linden and acacis
the tables are arranged. The breath
49, Ia liz Sill
the air. Fountains leap up into the
light, the spray struck through with
rainbows falling with cry ptalline bap.
tisn upon towering shrubs, then roll.
ing down through channels of marble
and widening out here and there into
pools swirling with finny tribes OF
foreign aquariums, .bordered with
scarlet anemones, hyrcricums and
many colorcd ranuncnlI
Meats of rarest bird and beast smok-
ing up amid wreaths of aromatics.
The vases filled with apricots and al.
monds. The baskets piled up with
apricots and figs and oranges and POM
egranates. Melons tastefully twined
with leaves of acacia. The bright wa
tiers of Eulmus filling the urns and
outside the rim in flashing
beads amid the traceries. Wine from
the royal vats of IsLahan and Shiraz.
in bottles of tingeK she'll. and lily
shaped cups of silver and fiagons and
tankards of solid gold. 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
gable of fools and the song of the
In another part of the palace Queen
Vashti is entertaining the princess of
Persia at banquet Drunken Alias
uerus says to his servants You &C
and fetch Vashti from that banquet
with the women and bring her to this
banquet with the men and let me dis
play her beauty" The servants i'm
start to obey the kings
but there was a rule in
Oriental society that no woman might
appear in public without having her
face yelled. Yet here is a mandate
that no enc dare dispute, demanding
that Vashti come in unveiled before
he multitude. However. there was in
Vashti's soul principle more regal
han Ahasuerus, more brilliant than
he gold of Shushan, of more wealth
han the realm of Persia, which COM
handed her to disobey this order
# the king. and SO all the righteous
less and holiness and modesty of her
lature rise up into one sublime re-
usal She says: II will not go into
he banquet unveiled" Ahasuerus was
nfuriate. and Vashti. robbed of her
'osition and her estate. is driven forth
n poverty and ruin to suffer the scorn
t nation, and yet to receive the APP
lause Of after generations, who shall
Use up to admire this martyr to king
Y insolencc. Well, the last vestige of
hat feast is gone, the last garland
as faded, the last arch has fallen. the
ast tlnkari has been destroyed, and
is a ruin. but as long as the
rorld stands there will be mult;tudes
+ men and women familiar with the
lille who will come into this picture
allery of God and admire the divine
ortrait of Vashti the queen, Vashti
he yelled, Vashti the sacrifice, Vashti
he silent
In the first place l want you to look
pom Vashti the queen. A blue ribbon,
aged with white. drawn around
err forehead, indicated her queenly
osition. 1t was no small honor to be
-, c.,ph n1f, that Is
, the rustic of her robes! See the |
laze of her jewels. and yet it is not
ecessary to have place and regal
obe in order to be queenly. When / |
&c a woman with stout faith in God |
utting her foot upon all meanness |
nd selfshness and Goddess display, |
Ding right forward to serve Christ |
nd the race by a grand and glorious
ervice, l say. that woman is
ueen,n and the ranks of Heaven look |
YER the battlements upon the corona
on, and whether she comes up from |
lie shanty on the commons or the
lansion of the fashionable square l
rect her with the shout, ''all hail.
ueen Vashti!'
vas lAGtC OA aAiC OA0N ~
larry of Scotland. or Elizabeth Of
ngland. or Margaret of France, or
atharine of Russia compared with
he worth of some Of our Chi .stian
Others, many of them gone into
ory; or of that woman mentioned in
lie Scriptures who put her Ill into the
ord's treasury; or of Jephthah's
who made q demonstration
unselflsh patriotism; Or of Abigail
no rescued the herds and hocks Of
n husband; or Of Ruth, who toiled
nder tropical sun for poor, old.
elpless Naomi; or Of Florence Night
gale. who went at midnight to stanch
le battle wounds of the Crimea; or Of
rs. Adoniram Judson, who kindled
le lights of salvation amid the
arkness of Burma; or Of Mrs.
emans, who poured out her holy soul
words which will forever be
with hunters horn,
ID captive's chain. and bridal hour,
Id lute's throb, and curfew's knell At
e dying day, and scores and hun
eds of women unknown on earth
no have given water to the thirsty,
Id bread to the hungry, and medicine
J the sick. and smiles to the discour-
red. their footsteps heard along dark
ne and in government hOSnital and in |