Milford chronicle., 1905-10-06

Z his. The most expensive viands of tho
banquet tables We're his.
'T VIII Not Gomez
The royal entertainment had been go
ing on for nearly week It reached
its great climax on the night before
King Ahasuerus and the governors and
the princes were to separate. The
chamberlains were there. Louder and
louder played the music; more and
more hilarious became the sport. Now
it was an overturned decanter: again
it was Il fallen lord, tumbling upon the
floor in his drunken stupor The court
! iers We're drunk; the king was drunk.
And on the seventh day. when the
heart of the king was merry"=what
happened? The king turns TO his
fawning, cringing guests and says:
''NOw, gentlemen, I will show a sight
the like Of which you have never seen
In the past and you will never see
again. will compel my beautiful
queen. Yashd, to come into this ban
quet hall and unyeil herself before you
inebriated men. l will compel my
queen to obey me because I am her |
master. Ho, chamberlain! Go forth |
and bring Yashti to me and let her re-
veal her beauty before these drunken |
brutes." The messengers hastened |
away. They went to the queens apart
ments and carried the kings com
mands. Then what happened? The
outraged queen drew herself to her
full height. Her cheeks flushed, her
eyes glittered with excitement, her
hands convulsively clutched as she
said; go back to your royal master.
Tell him 1 will not come. My honor
is more sacred to me than my throne"
When she spake thus she knew in all
she was signing her own
death warrant. Because she refused
to come Nashti lost her throne. She
was eXiled in perpetual disgrace. Yet
these were the tyrannicaI laws which
held women in perpetual degradation
that Queen Esther was ready to defy I
when she went to plead with the king 7
'or her Hebrew people. No wonder r
when she made her noble resolution I
hat she should have said, 80 viii I 5
90 in unto the king, which is not ac- Z
,ording to the law, and If perish I I
perish" ,
Women sitting before me today, are 8
you as brave as Queen Esther? Wives '
md mothers and daughters, are you a
'eady to be something more than a I
)laything, human puppet for man? d
Are you ready to brave the social laws v
which would limit your sphere to the t
rivOlities Of a life Of ease and pleas d
lre7 You should truly be moral lead b
rs, moral teachers and noble compan- y
ons of man. As Queen Esther was u
eady to take a share in the response D
,ilities of her husband, a wife should r.
,e a positive quality in the moral
world, not a negative one. An old Il
English author once wrote: "a good o
wife should be like three things in "
ONE ways, but in others she should d
ot be like. First, she should be like a n
nail, to keep within her own house, d
ut she should not be like the snail to 81
AIRY all she has upon her back; sec II
ndly, she should be like an echo, to n
peak when spoken to, but should not s
e like an echo always to have the last n
Yord; thirdly, she should be like a k
own clock, always to keep time and +,
egularity, but she should not like a o.
OWN clock, speak so loud that all the r.
own may hear her" I do not agree 9,
18th that old English writer at all M
o not believe a woman should be ian o,
rhO and only speak when spoken to-"
he should be like Queen Esther. She
hould cease to be the playthlng of
ian. She should cease to be the hui ~
lorer of masculine whims. She should u
obly and fearlessly take her position y
= her husbands side and help him to +
Dive the great problems Of life. She .
lould do this even If she has to say, q
5 did the noble queen Of my text, "
And lf perish, perish" "
Like ARIA of Rome.
We follow with enthusiasm the cour- -
geoUs resolution Of this brave wo- 9,
an. But our wonde' becomes more -
nd more pronounced as we realize =,
lat Queen Esther was ready to lay ~,
OWN her throne and her life. not for - :.
prince or a princess, not for one Of =, -