Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1905-01-12

the eloquence Of their genius and art to
defy this daring woman. She appointed
ministers, she exiled those who incurred
her i'll viii, she sentenced to the Bastile
those who ran counter to her imperious
wish. She was the patroness Of philoso-
wand wan " versailles sail % WAS touched F into drsem ss
Of splendor, which has not yet vanished.
Her collection of pictures, crystals, cam
eos, antiques and gems was unparalleled In
the kingdom. She squandered fortunes on
her palaces, fetes and ball; snd then
other fortunes on her toilet. For twenty
years this butchers daughter held her i'm
death. But when the historian tells as
that it was the dream Of her girihcod to
seduce the king; that her shameless prodi
gality makes the cheek of decency burn;
that modesty found NO hospitality among
se aSs asess eae Ii .nshs . 1. rfRs sn
padour beautiful, or merely pretty! In
stinctively drawing back as we would in
the presence of a snake, we answer, She
was neither. She was royal harlot, pa
raded in gilded shame, lacking most Of all
that jewel of modesty which sparkles in
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
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 Octavia,
shielding the children Of Cleopatra, her
shameless rival; of Sulpicis, renouncing
the pleasures of Rome to go into exile
| with her husband; Of Lucretia, who killed
herself rather than live in dishonor; of
Cornelia, the mother Of the Gracchi, 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 Vashti.
Nor has history given this lovely queen
her dues. We read much Of Lais. who
lived in the same century as Vashti, and
who was a notorious courtesan; OF the
immoral Aspasia, who counted Socrates
and Pericles among her 4ong list Of ad-
mirers; of the treacherous Lucilla. who,
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
glmpses we have Of her in the first and
second chapters of the Book of Esther
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 NOTHING Of the sac
rifice 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 expediency.
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, Ascen-
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
| another coronation on high.