The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-01-05
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
1.-THE TRAGEDY OF A QUEEN"
The Rev. F. F. Shannon Draws Timely
Lesson From the Story of Vashti-
There Are Few Finer Exhibitions OF
\ Sacrifice in the History of WON anhood

IneTH are re" ElneE Va
\, Sacrifice in the History of Won anhood
BROOKLYN. Y. Y.-For his Sunday
morning sermon. in Grace NJ. E. Church,
the pastor, the Rev. Frederick L. Shan
non, had fo- his theme The Tragedy OF
Queen The text was from Esther l:li-G:
Bring VaShti the queen before the king
with the crown royal, TO show the peop.e
and the princes her beauty: for she was
fair to look on. But the Queen Nashtl
refused to come at the kings command
ment by his ehamber.ains." Mr.. Shannon
SAID
The Ahasuerus of the hook of Esther is
TIE Xeryes 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 hlied
with his exploits, and Grote and Rollin,
also, dwell upon his power and achieve
meats in an interesting manner. But his
tawdry greatness is worth while only as 1t
serves to set forth the heroism Of Fashti.
Already the centuries have tarnished the
bril]iance 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 glorious kingdom, and the
honor of his. excellent majesty are less
than a shadow on the dial. The white,
green and blue hangings, tied with cords
Of purple and fine linen to silver rings IN
pillars of marble perished long ago. The
gold and silver beds. which sat upon
pavement of red and blue and white and
black marble, have had no occupants tor
more than 240O years. The golden vessels,
from which princes Quaffed the royal wine,
are all one with the golden sand grains OF
the desert. Time IS no respecter, OF per
sons. If it buries. the common things IN
<obliyion, that shadow of darkness. 1t
the robes of kings, tossing them into the
nirht also. But time cannot dull the beau
ty of a great soul. Time cannot quench
the fame OF white life. Time cannot
stain the snow of pure heart. And that
. why Queen Eashti and the tragedy OF
her life forever hold our admiration and
our tears.
Perhaps We shall be more capable of
measuring the unfortunate queen by glanc-
ing at the monarch she opposed. Ahasue-
rus possessed the almost unlimited power
Of an Oriental despot. HIS Will was su-
preme in everything. We find hum here
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 Isthmus of Mount
sAthos. He could build bridge of ships
across the Hellespont., He could scourge
the sea tor ITS tempestuousness. be could
bedeck the branches of a tree with Jewelry
as a reward for it's fruitfulness. He could
raise an army of more than 2,250,OO0 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 our text one thing this monarch could
not do. BE could not compel helpless
woman to permit him and his drunken
courtiers to make toy of her beauty. he
could not drag high-souled queen down
From the pedestal of her stainless purity!
e RConsiaer. in the first place. that the hfe-
story of yashti recalls the fact that palaces
have, furnished the actos IN some OF the
darkest. deepest tragedies in history.
When Shakespeare wanted material from
which to create his immortal dramas, with
unerring vision the Lightly master began
10 probe the life history OF kings and
queens i From their laughter and tears,
from their sp1endor and shame, from their
rise and fall. he wove literary tapestry
which is the growing wonder of men. In
deed: as we watch Shakespeare move his
royal players over his mental chess.board
sNe; have tosexciain, with Aesehyius, What,
4 shadow OF shade is human royalty!
Rising In briliiapce, these royal stars set
IN darkness. and. usually. their darkness
! 8 made more terrible by the ominous
fashings of red hghtnings Of remorse.
After q palace and its occupants have
passed under Shakspeare's pen, this Is
The CONCLUSION of the whole matter:
Thrones are painted bubbles and kings
and queens are bubble ehasers! This IS
not saying there are no good kings and
j l. - r nc
emphasizing the fact that the happiest
people are those who are fortunate enough
not to have been born under the star OF
royalty
We all know how the historian loves to
dwell upon the character Of Cleopatra. Be-
yond question, she was one of the most
captivating women of paganism. Cescend,
ed from long line OF kings, royal blood
flowed in her veins. beauty adorned her
person and brilhance sparkled in her
BRAIN. When Nature called for an Egyp-
tian queen, this fascinating Greek princess
was the answer. At fourteen she was an
accomplished hnguist, student of history
and skilled musician. At nineteen she
conquered that Caesar who had conquered
the world. Forty-six years before the
Christian era she accompanied HIM to
Rome, where she lived In pomp and lux
f1lfy uuEli -S'deSdT dSSdSSikoIiOi. "heh SAAS
returned to Egypt. She met Mark Antony
: a. twenty-eight2" period of ife." accord
ing to Plutarch, "when woman's beauty is
most splendid and her intellect is IN full
maturity Antony summoned her to ap-
pear before him in Cilicia. charged with
having assisted Cassius before the battle
of Pb1ippi Upon this in,perious sum
mons hung the destiny of that gifted Ro-
man. aud he knew 1t not. You know
how she answered the summons--not as
craven euinrit, but as the peerless queen
OF the south As she went up the Cydnus
in her royal barge, the like OF which was
never heheid before or since. the scene
enthrasIea the fancy of both Piutarch and
Shakespeare. He who could make words
say what no other man could, had to con.
efess, 'sFor her own person, it beggared all
description" Like FURNISHED throne,
lx barge burned oa the water: the poop
was beaten gold: the purple sails We're so
perfumed that the winds We're love-sick
with them; the silver oars kept stroke to
the tune of flutes: she was eouched in
gold pavilion like Venus, where we see
the fancv outwork nature" dimpled boys,
like smiling Cupids, were standing on
each side tanning her; gentiewomen, like
: Mercedes. tended her. When she arrived
at the city the people rushed cut to see
her, leaving Antony alone in the market
place.