The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-01-25

rather than be lied a captive princess up
the Capitoline Hill" she died by her own
hand. Lacking moral sense, she wore a
face Of brass to. the end of the tragedy.
Unlike the sweet-souled Vashti, Cleopatra
had no veil of modesty for her face, and
she asked none for her soul. Darker than
Egyptian. night, she has left a dark stain
upon the brow of universal womanhood!
Whittier than the wilderness Of the dawn,
Vashti, like Shelley's heroine, Clothed in
virtues adamantine eloquence, paVes her
path with human hearts!"
Consider, also, that in studying the trag.
edy of Vashti, we have to reckon with
her beauty, "for she was fair to look on"
When some genius equal to the task of
writing a history of beauty appears, men
and women will find a perpetual charm in
it's glowing pages. It will contain a page
of JOY, a page of sorrow. a page of peace.
a page of war, a page of love, a page OF
hate, a page. of poetry and a page of art.
But it viii contain many pages developing
this thought-the tragedy of beauty.
But along with her beauty, Vashti pos.
sessed that other quality which lends
beauty an enduring freshness and charm
modesty. Vashti owes her place in history
esty. If beauty made her a queen, modes.
ty made her a woman; which is far better.
As queen, Xerxes could Danish her; as
woman. he was de6ed by her. As queen,
he, could and did dethrone; as woman,
she sits upon a throne that has hearts for
it's cushions and centuries for its pillars.
The Dubarrys, the Pompadours. the Mon.
tespans have their day and cease to be;
but the Vashtis 60 on forever. The sly
temnestres, the Aspasias, the Cleopatras
are meteors flashing through, the darkness
of eternal night; the Vashtis are golden
suns burning through ~womanhoods end
less dayi
Indeed. modesty is 80 inherent an ele-
ment in the great essentials making genu-
inc beauty that without modesty beauty
is impossible. We are indebted to no hui
man law for this truth-God has woven.
it into the fabric Of our natures. Art
critics tell us that the eighteenth century
was prominently the century of women:
Then, we are told: ."Her grace possessed
the most prestige, her coquetry the most
disquieting elegance and her beauty the
most triumphant authority" 1t was the
age in which Nine. de Pompodour reigned
in the court of Louis XIV. The brushes OF
Latdur and Boucher have pleaded with all
the eloquence of their genius and art to
defy this daring woman. she appo,nsed
her i'll will, she sentenced to the Bastle
those who ran counter to her imperious
wish. She was the patroness Of philoso-
ply, art and song. Through her magic
wand Versailles was touched into q dream
of splendor, which has not yet vanished.
Her. collection of pictures, crystals. cam
eos, ANTIQUES and gems was unparalleled IN
the kingdom. She s~quandered fortunes on
her palaces, fetes and ball; and then
other fortunes, On her toilet. For twenty
years this butchers daughter held her inn
perial sway, which was broken only by
death. But when the historian tells US
that it was the dream of her girlhood to
seduce the king; that her shameless prodl.
gality makes the cheek of decency burn;
that modesty found no hospitality among
her sensual charms, we nay well repeat
the question of another, "Was La Pom.
padour beautiful, or merely pretty" In
stinctively drawing back as we would IN
the presence of a snake, we answer, b
was neither. She was a royal hariot,. pa.
raded in gilded shame, lacking most OF all
that Jewel of modesty which sparkles IN
The crown of true beauty" Alas for that
land whose women forsake their wells OF
modesty to show the people and princes
their beauty -,
Consider, finally, the price Vashti paid
for her modesty. For her refusal to come
at the kings command was the immediate
cause of her dethronement. Surely there
are few finer exhibitions OF. sacrifice IN the
history of womenhood. We love to read
of Telesilla, who united courage with the
gift of song, and saved Argos; OF Octayla,
shameless rival; of Sulpicia, r%enouncing
the pleasures OF Rome to 20 into exile
with her husband; of Lucretia, who killed
herself rather than live in dishonor; OF
Coruelia, the mother of the Gracchl. urg-
ing them to deeds of patriotism; of Paula,
leaving her palace on Mount Aventine, to
walk as an angel Of charity through the
slums of Rome, but not one of them out
shines Vasbti. Il
Nor has history given this lovely queen
her dues. We read much OF Lars. VINO
lived in the same century as Vashtl, n
who was q notorious courtesan; OF ,tpe
immoral Aspasia, who counted Socrates
and .Pericles anlc1g her .ong list OF ao-
mirers; of the treacherous Lucllia. VINO
ruled the court of Marcus Aurelius; OF
Agrippina. the infamous mother of still
more infamous son-Nero. All of these
names have been emblazoned high up in
the hall of fame. But, sadly enough, the
events of Vashti's life, like Sappho's songs
have been lost. And yet these few
climpses we have of her in the first and
Second chapters of the Book of Esther
will cause people to look at her forever.
She was beautiful in Shushan the palace,
and she will be beautiful for all time.
She was fair to look On five centuries BE-
fore Christ, and she will be fair to look
on to the last day of the world. It was
Vashti's beauty of soul that proclaimed
her the forerunner of that renaissance for
which the world is suffering to-day, VIZ:
A genuine revival Of the old-fashioned,>
homespun, immortal virtue of modesty!
While the Bible says nothina of the sac
riice she made, be assured that it. was big
with pain. Long nights of sorrow shut
her in. She knew the bitterness of friend;
less days. Like Dante, she experienced
how hard it was to eat others bread: But
she took no counsel of her expedieney:
Let the kings anger burn within him. let
the goddess court make her a laughing
stock, still Vashti never faltered. She
knew that beyond her Gethsemane, Alscen:
sion Mount was robed in glory. She
knew, with all queenly women of like spir-
it, that gates of pearl would swing back to
let her in. and that she would march to
onotba, oorono+inn m biph