The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1898-07-30
THE BEAUTIFUL QUEEN.
Vasllti the Yelled, vashtl the Sacri-
feed, Vashti the Silent.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage Comments Mod.
ssty In Woman and Draws "A Useful Les
con From the Story of Drunken
Ahasuerus and His Lovely Queen.


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 upon; but the Queen
Vashti refused to come"
We stand amid the palaces of Shu-
shan. The pinEacles are afame with
the morning light. The columns rise
festooned and w'reathed, 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
the whole round of splendors is eX-
hausted. Each arch is mighty leaf of
architectural achievement Golden
stars shining on glowing arabesque.
Hangings of embroidered work in
which mingle the blueness of the sky,
the greenness of the grass and the
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 repose, filed with luxuriant
couches. in which weary limbs sink
until all fatiguel is submerged Those
for carousal where kings drink down
kingdom at one swallow. Amaz-
ing spectacle! Light of silver drip.
ping down over stairs of ivory on
shields of gold. Floors of stained mar
BILE, 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 lands
are seated at banquet. Under the
soread of oak and linden and acacia
the tables are arranged. The breath
of honeysuckle and frankincense fills
the air. Fountains leap up into the
light, the spray struck through with
rainbows falling with cryptalline bap-
tisin upon Towering shrubs, then roll
ing down through channels of marble
and widening out here and there in to
pools swirling with fnny tribes of
foreign aquariums, 'bordered with
scarlet anemones, hypericums and
many colored ranunculi.
Meats of rarest bird and beast smok-
inat up amid wreaths of aromatics.
The vases filed 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 Eul@us filing the urns and
dropping outside the rim in flashing
IA ha W;na JyO,
the royal watts of Israhan and Shiraz,
in bottles of tinged she'll. and lily
shared cups of silver and flagons 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
gail: Of fools and the song of the
c. unkarus.
In another part of the palace Queen
Vashti is entertaining the princess of
Persia at a banquet. Drunken Ahas-
uerus says to his servants. You go
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
mediately start to obey the kings
command, but there was rule in
oriental society that no woman light
appear in public without having her
face yelled. Yet here is mandate
that no one dare dispute, demanding
Ln+ Nash+, In, x-a,lal Iaf
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 com.
manded her to disobey this order
OF the king. and so all the righteous
Ecss ard hol'ress md modesty g. her
nature ri-c IL late g., sao.i.lo re.
fusal She says: Il will not go into
The banquet unveiled" Ahasuerus was
infuriate, and Vashti, robbed of her
position and her estate, is driven forth
in poverty and ruin to suffer the scorn
OF nation, and yet to receive the ap-
plause of after generations, who shall
rise up to admire this martyr to king
ly 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 women familiar with the
Billie 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.
In the first place want you to look
upon Vashti the queen. A blue ribbon
rayed with white. drawn around
her forehead, 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 it is no,
necessary to have place and regal
robe in order to be queenly. When
see woman with stout faith in Goo
putting her foot upon all meanness
and selfshness and Goddess display,
going right forward to serve Christ
and the race by grand ana glorious
service, ! say, that woman is q
Queen" and the ranks of Heaven look
over the battlements uson the corona
ton, and whether she comes up from
the shanty on the commons or the
mansion of the fashionable square
or ct her with the shout, "all hail
Queen Vashti!'
What glory was there on the brow o.
Mary OF Scotland, or Elizabeth Of
England, or Margaret of France, oil
Ca,harine of Russia compared with
the worth OF some of our Christian