Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1898-07-20

the king with th- crown royal, to show the
people and the princes her beauty: for she
was fair to look upon. But the Queen
Vashti refused to one."-Esther L., IL, IL.
We stand amid the palaces of Shushan.
The pinEacles are afame with the morning
light. The columns rise festooned and
wreathed; the wealth of empires flashing
from the groves; the ceilings adorned with
images of bird and beast, and scenes of
prowess and conquest. The walls are
hung with shields. and emblaZoned until II
seems that the whole round of splendors Is
exhausted. Each arch is Il mighty leaf of
architectural achievement. Golden stars
shining down on glowing arabesque.
Hangings of embroidered work in which
mingle the hlueness of the sky, the
greenness 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,
flied with luxuriant couches. in which
| weary limbs sink until all fatigue is sub
merged. Those for carousal where kings
drink down a kingdom at one swallow.
Amazing spectaclel Light of silver drip
| ping down over stairs of ivory on shields
| OF gold. Floors of stained marble sunset
red and night black, and inlaid with
g;eaming pearl. In connection with this
| palace there is a garden, where the mighty
| men of foreign lands are seated at "a BAN
| quet. Under the spread of oak and linden
and acacia the tables arranged. The
| breath of hoDeysuckle and frankincense
| Ills the air. Fountains leap up into the
| light, the spray struck through with rain
= bows falling into crystalline baptism upon
| Towering shrubs-then rolling down
through channels of marble, and widening
| out here and there into pools swrling
with the nnnv tribes of foreign aqua
RUINS. bordered with scarlet auemones,
| hypericums, and many-colored rauuncuf.
Meats of rarest bird and beast smoking
~ amid wreaths ofnromatics. The vases
| filled with apricots and almonds. The
| baskets piled up with apricots and figs and
| oranges and pomcgranates. Melons taste
| fully twiDed with leaves of acacia. The
! bright waters of EulBus filling the urns and
dropping outside the rim in flashing beads
amid the traceriea. Wine from the royal
watts of Ispahan and Shraz, in bottles oil
tinced shell. and lily-shaped cups of silver,
and fagons 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 1nebriates the gab-
bic of fools. and the song of the drunkards.
In another part of the palace Queen
. Vash.i is entertaining the Princess of Persia
at banquet. Drunken Ahasuerus says to
his servants: You go and fetch Vashti
! from that banquet with the women, and
bring herto this banquet with the men, and
| let me display her beauty" Tie servants
| imm ediately start to obey the kings COM
mand; but there was rule in Oriental
society that no woman might appear In
| public without having her face veled.
| 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 Il principle more
regal than Ahasuerus, more brilliant than
the gold of Shushan, of more wealth than
the realm OF Persia, which commanded hel
to obey this order of the king; and so all
the righteousness and holiness and modesty
Il OF her nature rise up into ons sublime re.
fcsai. She says: Il will not go into the
BANQUET unveiled" Ahasuerus was in.
furiate; and Vashti, robbed of her position
and her estate, is driven forth in poverty
and ruin to suffer the scorn of a nation
and yet to receive the applause of after
generations, who shall rise up to admire
| this martyr to kinSly 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 in ruin; but as long as the
world stands there will be multitudes ol
men and women, familiar with the Bible
who will come into this picture gallery OF
God and admire the divine portrait OF
Nashti the queen, Vashti the veiled, WASN'T!
the sacrifice. Vashti the silent.
In the first place, L want you to look
upon Yashti the queen. blue ribbon
ruyed with white. drawn around her fore.
was no small honor to be queen in such Q
realm rs that. Hark to the rustic of hei
rohrs See the blaze of her jewelsl And
yet it is not necessary to have place ane
regal robe i'll orier to be queenly. WheI
! / see II woman with stout faith in God
putting her foot upon all meanness and
selflshness ana goddess display, going
right forward to serve Christ and the race
by grand and glorious service. l say
"rhat woman is queen" and the ranks
of Heaven look over the battlements upoI
The ccronation; and whether she comes uI
from the shanty on the commons or the
mansion of the fashionable square, greet
her with the shout, "All hail, Queer
Vashti!''
What glory was there on the brow oi
Mary of Scotland, or Elizabeth of Eng.
land, or Margaret of France, or Catherine
of Russia, compared with the worth OF
some of our Christian mothers, many OF
them gone into glory? or of that WON an
mentioned in the Scriptures, who put heI
all into the Lords treasury? or of Jeph.
thah's daughter who made a demonstra-
tion Of unseltish patriotism? or of Abigail
who rescued the herds and nocks of her
husband? or of Ruth, who toiled under
u tropical sun for poor. old, homeless
Naomi? or of Florence Nightingale, who
went at midnight to staunch the battle
wounds of the Crimea? or Mrs. Adoniram
Judson, who kindled the lights of saliva
tion amid the darkness of Burmah? or Mrs
Hemans, who poured out her holy sou.
in words which will forever be associated
with hunters horn, and captives chain,
and bridal hour and lute's throb and
curfew's knell at the dying day? and scores
and hundreds of women, unknown or
earth, who have given water to the thirsty
and bread to the hungry, and medicine tc
the sick. and smiles to the discouraged
their footsteps heard along dark lane and
in government hospital, and in almshouse
corridor, and by prison gate? There may
be no royal robe-there may be no palatia
surroundings. She does not need them
for all charitable men will unite with the
cracking lips of fever-struck hospitals
and plague blotched lazaretto in greeting
her as she passes: Hail! HALL Queen
Vnshtii"
Again, want you to consider Vashti the
veiled. Had she appeared before Ahasue
rus and his court on that day with her face
uncovered she would have shocked all the
delicacies of Oriental society, and the very
men who in their intoXication demanded
, that she come, in their sober moments
would have despised her. As some flower:
seem to thrive best in the dark lane and IL
the shadow, and where the sun does not
seem to reach them, so God appoints tC
most womanly natures retiring and un.
obtrusive spirit. God once in n while doe.
call an Isabella to throne, Miriam tc
strike the tmbrel at the front of a host, ol
Marie Antonette to quell French mob
or a Deborah to stand at the front of al
armed battalion, crying out. "UpI Up
This is the day in which the Lord will de
liver Sisera into thy hands" And wheI
the women are called to such outdoor worl
and to such heroic positions, God prepare:
them for it; and they have iron in theil
soul, and lightnings in their eye, ant
whirlwinds in their breath, and the Dor
-owed strength of the Lord Omnipotent in
heir right arm. They walk through fur
,aces as though they were hedges OF wilt
aowers. and cross seas as though they wer
shimmering sapphire; and all the harpie
Of hell down to their dungeon at the staml
Of womanly Indignation. ;,
But these are the exceptions. Generally
Dorcas would rather make a garment 10
the poor boy; Rebecca would rather MI IN
trouph of the camels; Hannah would rathe
make a coat for Samuel; the Hebrew mat
would rather give q prescription for Naa