The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1905-01-04
TRAGEDY OF A QUEEN"
! Brilliant Sunday Sermon By Rev.
+. F. S;ianncn.
Draws Timely Lesson From the Story Of
vsshtl-Fcw Finer Exhibitions x
Sacrifice.

BROOKLYN, N y--Fo- his Sunday
morning sermon, in Grace NJ. r. Church.
the pastor. the Rev. Frederick Il. Shan
I non, had for his theme 'The Tragedy of a
queen" The text was from Esther ill-l2:
Bring Vashti the queen before the king
1 with the crown royal, to show the people
snd the, princes her beauty: for she was
fair to look on. But the Queen Vashti
refused to come at the kings command
lment by his chamberlans." Mr.. Shannon
fsad:
= The Ahasuerus OF the hook OF Esther is
the xerxes OF profane history. BY COM
mon consent of historians he was one OF
the most powerful monarchs that ever
lived. The pages Of Herodotus are filed
with his exploits and Grote and Rollin,
also, dwell upon his power and achieve
ments in an interesting manner. But his
tawdry greatness is worth while only as it
serves to set forth the heroism of Nasht.
Already the centuries have tarnished the
briihance of his court. but not the beauty
OF his queen. Shushan, the palace, exists
only in name. The hundred and four
score days during which he showed the
riches OF his g.orlous kingdom aud the
honor of his excellent majesty are less
than shadow on the dial. The. white,
green and blue hnngings, tied with cords
OF purple and fine linen to silver rings in
pillars of marble perishcd long ago. The
gold and silver beds, which sat upon
pavement OF red and blue and white and
black marble, have had no occupants for
more than 2400 years. The golden vessels
from which princes quaifed the royal wine,
are all one with the golden sand grains OF
the desert Time is no respecter OF per-
soma If it buries the common things in
"obivion, that shadow OF darkness" it
does not forget to pluck the spangles from
the robes of kings, tossing them into the
night also. But time cannot dull the beau
" OF great soul Time cannot quench
the fame OF a white life. Time cannot
stain the snow OF a pure heart And that
Is why Queen Nasht and Che tragedy of
her life forever ho,d our admiration and
our tears.
Perhaps we shall be more capable Of
measuring the unfortunate queen by glanc-
ing at the monarch she opposed. Ahasuc.
rus possessed the almost unlimited power
of an Oriental despot His will was SUI
preme in everything. We find him here
giving a feast to his lords and princes
Having conceived the idea of making war
on Greece. this feast to his subjects is a
step looking to that end. Whatever he
undertook usually came to pass. He could
dig canal through the lsthmus of Mount
Atbos. He could build bridge of ships
across the Hellespont He could scourge
the sea for ITS tempestuo He could
hedeck the branches OF tree with jewe,ry
as q reward for its fruitfuiness He could
raise an army Of more than 2250,000 men
He could even shed tears when he re-
fected that in less than century not one
OF these men would survive. But we have
in onr text one thing this monarch could
not do. He could not corpel a helpless
woman to permit him and his drunken
courtiers to make toy of her beauty. He
could not drag a highsouled queen down
lf25n tne peaestal oi ner stances purity!
Consiaer, IN the iiTst place that the NE
have furnished the actors in some of the
9qSa1sAeSt; deepest tragedies IN history
Nheh Shaksleare wanted nateriai from
wnlch 10 create MS immortal dramas, with
uherrlhs VISION fne ! .snty master oegah
TO proDe the ne hislory Oh tlhss anu
queens; FROM thei iauSnter ana tears,
Iyon' ehsir sP'yhuor anu snalhe, rom eneIr
III ,nu ~ iha' ne MoNe nosrofN rtsSi,y
Is Mnisn is tne growing wonder OF men, IN IN
; ueeu; as we Matcp ohahs.'eare tnofe NE
royal payers over ms nlehtal eRess, ,Rqgairu,
we hase 70 JAe'alin' WIN M Mhescny'us, " s5 ns5
snauom ,,N pl q sn'ue Is huilah lola'ts
in dasness; M S'e and nsualy % is tber dark darfnsss ss
IS made more e't; terrible by the the G% omnons
hAassnhss Astnr ,o %, reo nf"ih,nSs - o, re"IrSe b
,aassa pHar'e a'l'i aas o''upa"'s nav
the connlnsio, "f he e,vhoSn' natters
Thrones are nainted hrhhles and t;ngs
and nneens are bnhh,e cbnsers This Is
"nt ,H sav;na tSero ,rs No '"% 1ool .,ral and
Esfrg hAa thassa thAW
eemnhas sil;na tho fact fbot the banniest
noopIa aro fboso ,,ho arc sortnnate eppdnuab
pot 70 have heon ho,n under the star 81
roralty "A'e ~" "''" '''0' ''' ''"'
go.
w ali SNOW now tne historian loves 70
uWe,i upon the cnaraeter OF cleopatra. lie,
youu question:, shd was one OF the most
, uS,pssNa.ine Women OF PagahlSm. Seseehu,
90 e rom long me OF Kings royal olpod
noMen M ~ yer t,Is, Ntui,ls, neauty naorhea ner
person , ana prliiiance sparkied IN her
pralh. When nature called ior an Egyp-
tan queer, thls fascinating Greek princess
was tne answer. H AZ fourteen she was an
aceynlpnsnsu hnsuist, student OF history
ana sk,neu musician. AT nineteen she
conquered thaI Naesar VINO had, conquered
ne me World. forty-sM years before the
bnltssien 3 ei" sne aeSoinpahleo niw 70
a,oiiie, " Me- ro 81, nssu ~ pump anu iuN,
NY uh.i' S|Ssal "sSass.liu''on' NJ Mheh sue
.e'urnea W Esypk Sny i9ce n2rk 3 Ahtony
=. =. 'Wehpsy,elgnt p per'ou oi NE accord
lns 70 iiulsiIh, mnen Mol,an i beauty Is
lloft spiennd'a ana her inteileee IS IN lall
Waturity. %ptoIy STN3ilInoher ST3 ner 10 p4-
pear pelore nm IN SlhSlu; charged WIEN
ueV,hg assisred NaSslus before !he pattie
q fhlippi. opon TINS lmpeilous sum
mons hung tne destiny OF that gifted no
man, ana he knew 1t not. You Know
now she answered the snmmons-not as a
craven eunrt, but as the peerless queen
OF the south, AS she went up the Cydnus
in her royal barge, the like OF which was
naVar bphal6 hnfora np einoa fba sapnR