Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1898-06-09
ARROGANCE WILL FALL.
Lessons Drawn From the Terrible
Fate of Hannah,


Talmage here draws from Mordecai on
horseback and Hannah afoot Text:
Esther vii, 10: 30 they hanged Hannah
on the gallowS that he had prepared
for Mordecai.
Here is an Oriental courticr, about
the most offensive man in Hebrew his.
tory. Hannah 10y name. lie plotted for
the destruction of the lsraclitish ma
ton, and wonder not that in some of
the Hebrew svnagogucs tn this day
when Humans name is mentioned, the
congregation clench their fists and
stamp their feet and cry, let his
name he hlott-d out" Hannah was
prime minister in the magnificent
court of Persia. Thoroughly apprc-
ciative of the honor conferred he ex-
poets everybody that he passes to he
obscquiouS. Coming in one day at the
gate of the Talacc. the servants drop
their heads in honor of his office, but
Hebrew. named Mordecai. pazrs upon
the passing dignitary without bending
his head or taking off his hat He was
a good man. and would not have been
negligent of the ordinary courtesies of
life, but he felt no respect either for
Hannah or the nation from which he
had come. SO he could not he hypo-
critical: and while others made ORR
entail salaam, getting clear before this
prime minister when he passed, Nor
dccai the Hebrew relaxed not a muscle
of his neck. and kept his chin clear up.
because of that affront Hannah gets
decree from Ahasuerus. the dastardly
king. for the massacre Of all the Israel
ties, and that of course, will include
Mordcca.
To make long story short. through
Queen Esther the whole plot was re-
vealed to her husband. Ahasuerus.
One night Ahasurrus, who was afflict-
ed with insomnia, in his slccpless
hours calls for his secretary To read
him few passages of Persian history,
and SO while away the night. In the
book read that night To the king an ac-
count was gIveu of conspiracy, from
which Mordecai, the Hebrew, had saved
ness Mordecai had never received
any reward. Hannah. who had been
fixing up a nice gallows 10 hang
Mordecai on, was walking outside
the door of the kings sleeping apart
ment and was called in. The kir e
told him that he had just had read to
him the account of some one who had
saved his (thc kings life, and H. asked
what reward ought To be given to such
a one. Sci -conceitcd IIaman, suppos-
ing that he hims II was to get the
honor. and not imagining for mo-
ment that the deliverer of the kings
life was Mordecai. says: why, your
majesty ought TO make a triumph for
him, and put crown on him, and
set him on a splendid horse, high step
ping and full blooded, and then
have one of your princes lead the
horse through the streets, crying,
Bow the knee; here comes man who
has saved the kings life" Then said
Ahasuerus in severe tones to IIaman:
Il know all about Your scoundrelism
Now you go out and make triumph
of Mordecai, the Hebrew, whom you
hate. Put the best saddle on the fin
est horse, and you. the prince, hold
the stirrup while Mordecai gets on,
and then lead his horse through the
street. Make haste What a spectacle
A comedy and tragedy at one and
the same time. There they go! Nor
decai, who had been despis.d now
starred and robed, in the stirrups
Hannah, the chancellor, holding the
prancing, rearing. champing stallion.
Mordecai bends his neck at last, but
it is to look down at the degraded
prime minister walking beneath him.
Huzza for Mordecai. Alas for Haman.
But what pity to have the callows,
recently built, entirely wasted. 1t is
80 cubits high, and built care,
And Hannah had erected it for Morde-
cal, by whose stir,nps he now walks
as groom. Stranger and more start
ling than any romance, there go up
the steps of the scaffolding, side by
side. the hangman and Hannah, the ex-
chancellor. $50 they hanged Iiaman
on the gallows that he had prepared
for Mordecai,'
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 insigniti.
cant will destroy our comfort. Who
would h ave thought that 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 pal
aces and banquets? If affiuence OF
circumstances can make a man con.
tented and happy surely Hannah should
have been contented and happy. No;
Mordecai's refusal of a bow takes the
glitter from the gold and the richness
from the purple, and the speed from
the chariots. With heart pulled up
with every initiation of vanity and re-
venge. it was imr o>sible for him to be
happy. The silence of Mordecai at the
gate was louder than the braying OF
trumpets in the palace. Thus shall i,
always be if the heart is not right
Circumstances the most trivial will
disturb the spirit.
Ii is not the great calamities Of life
that create the most worriment.
have seen men, felled by repeated
blows of misfortune, arising from the
dust, never Responding. But the mos,
of the disquiet which men suffer is
from Insignificant causes; as a lion
attacked by some beast of prey turns
easily around and Stays him. yet runs
roaring through the forests at the
alighting on his brawny neck of fe W
insects You meet some great loss In
business with comparative com
posurc; but you can think OF
petty trickeries inflicted upon you
which arouse all your capacity for
wrath, and remain in your heart an
unbearable annoyance. If you look
back upon your life, you will find thai
the most of the vexations and disturb
ances of spirit, which you felt were
produced by circumstances that were
not worthy of notice. If You want e
be happy you must not care for trifies
Do not be too minute in your inspec
ton of the treatment you receive from