Los Angeles herald., 1905-10-02
QUEEN ESTHER'S HER0ISM
GIVES PRACTICAL LESSON
PASTOR DESIRES MODERN WOMEN
TO BE COURAGEOUS
Rev. Frank Dewitt TaImage Asserts
That They Should Become Sharers
in Husbands responsibilities and
Burdens, as Well as His Joys

preached upon the subject "A Wo-
mans Victory" yesterday, taking his
text from Esther 4:16, IF l perish 1
PERISH He said in part:
Read today the tragic history Of
Queen Vashti. No one can truly study
the life of Queen Esther, unless he
places alongside of her face the beau
tiful face of Queen Vashti, who was
her predecessor in the royal palace OF
the Medes and the Persians.
THE great capital of Shushan, about
two hundred miles away from Babylon,
is abla2e with lights. All the princes
and the governors of the different
provinces are being entertained in the
royal palaces. The streets of the city
are festooned with flags and banners.
The bravest warriors of the army of
King Ahasuerus have assembled their
troops for the magnificent military
pageant.
"The bedrooms where the guests
slept seemed to be the sleeping apart
ments of an Aladdin. The beds were
of solid gold, the tapestries of cost
liest linens, soft and fragrant in per-
fumes. The floors were all of the
finest mosaic. Every cup was chalice,
and each chalice of especial workman
ship, handmade, and formed by the
only that but every guest for the
seven days could do as he willed. The
chariots of the royal stables were all
his. The most expensive viands of the
banquet tables were his
"The royal entertainment had been
going on for nearly a week. 1t reached
it's great climax on the night before
King Ahasuerus and the governors
and the princes were to separate. The
4. Il Il
louder played the music; more and
more hilarious became the sport.
Now it was an overturned decanter;
again it was a fallen lord, tumbling
upon the floor in a drunken stupor.
The courtiers were 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 fawn1ng,
cringing guests and says: Now, gen.
tlemen, 1 will show a sight the like
past and you will never see again.
I will compel my beautiful queen,
Vashti, to come into the banquet hall
and unveil herself before you inebri-
ated men. I will compel my queen to
obey me because I am her master.
Ho. chamberlain! Go forth and bring
Vashti to me, and let her reveal her
beauty before these drunken DruleS.
"The messengers fastened away.
They went to the queens apartments
and carried the kings commands. 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 will not come. My honor is
more sacred to me than my throne
when she spake thus, she knew in
all probability she was signing her
own death warrant. Because she re-
| fused to come, Vashti lost her throne.
She was exiled in perpetual disgrace.
"Yet these were the tyrannical laws
which held women in perpetual deg
radiation that Queen Esther was ready
to defy when she went to plead with
| the king for her Hebrew people. No
wonder when she made her noble res
olution that she should have said: so
will I go in unto the king, which is not
according to the law, and If 1 perish, l
perish
"Women sitting before me today,
are you as brave as Queen Esther?
| Wives and mothers and daughters, are
you ready to be something more than
a plaything, a human puppet for man
Are you ready to brave the social laws
which would limit your sphere to the
| frivolities of life of ease and pleas
ure? You should truly be moral lead