Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-10-05
Calrnage
Sermon

BY Rev.
Frank De WITT Tslmase, D..
Los Angeles. Cal. Oct. Tin the sto-
~ Of beautiful Queen Esther. whose
courage and patriotism saved her race
from destruction, the preacher ands a
boble lesson for the women Of today.
The text-is Esther ", 16, 91f I perish,
! perish."
Have you ever read the blood eufdlins
story Of the massacre Of Et. Baetholo-
new? No. Then perhaps Won have
seen copies Of the great masterpbeces
Of the Venetian artist, Tintoretto. and
OF Peter Paul Rubens. entitled 1.-The
Massacre Of the Inuocents" From
these two thrilling pictures you gain
an idea Of what that most awful trag.
edy In France. known as the massacre
Of St. Bartholomew. must have been
like. In those pictures you can zee the
frantic eyes Of the mothers watching
the murderers Of their children com.
ing nearer and nearer to their prey.
You can zee some Of these mothers on
their knees trying to shield their ba.
bies with their arms. Or you can SEE
them with their hands cutching the
murderous blades to ward them or
from their children, though the keen
edge cut their bands to the bone. Or
you can see some Of these mothers
running away in the distance with
their babies under their arms. In dra.
matte contrast to the pleading. praying,
frensied and helpless looks Of these
sgon1sed mothers you can see Herod's
butchers driving In sword here. strik.
ing down a baby there. ripping open
the lander body Of a beautiful infant
beyond, tusGins up q child farther OIL
as . trickater might toss a card and
catching It upon The edge Of a sharp
pointed knife. All these nendish muir.
ders were Done az noncfxiantly and
.unconcernedly ana with as much dIa-
bolicl abandon az was shown by the
agents Of Mana Sahib. who entered the
Cawnpur slaughter house during the
Indian mutiny Of 1857 and with their
knives hacked into pieces the women
and children until the murderers liter
ally1waded in blood.
The Crime Of Herod.
Yes. the pictures Tintoretto and Ru.
bens painted Of that massacre send
shudder through every one who looks
at them. But, horrible as that tragedy
was, 1t has been eclipsed more than
once In the worlds history. Far great
er In cruelty and in the number Of VIC
tins was that tragedy conceived by
the queen mother Catherine de- Medic
and carried out by the order Of her
royal son. King Charles TX. of Franc.
Herod, although he was an inhuman
monster and capable of any crime
slew only the male children of two
years and under living in and about
Bethelehem Of Judaea. and the numba-
of his victims must have been comrar.
atively small. On the other hand. be
tween twenty and thirty thousand IIi'
guenots in one night fell in the mas;
ere of st. Bartholomew. Old an
young. rich and poor. unknown peasa
and illustrious Admiral Coiigny, SUI.
ling babes and gray haired men. ".
tered in their life's blood on that aw.
night. Then this slaughter was not
stricted in its area to the French cap.
tai. Its bloody work spread through
the provinces. With one blow the Cath
Ollie dictator, Queen Catherine, tried to
destroy all the enemies Of the Catholic
church forever. No wonder King
Charles ON account of this crime died
as did King Richard. in the agonies of
remorse
What the st. Bartholomew slaughter
was to France the intended massacre
Of the Hebrews was TO be to the Per
sian kingdom Of 474 B. c. A corrupt
premier Of corrupt king in order to
triumph over Hebrew. MOrdecai by
name, plotted to exterminate all the
Jews who did not return to the Holy
Land after the captivity was over and
when Nehemiah was allowed to return
home to build the Jerusalem walls
The day Of the massacre had been set
The couriers Of the king had gone to
the provinces and carried every where
the orders for the Wholesale butchery.
All the executioners' swords had been
sharpened But Haman, the prime min
lister, schemed without knowing that
the beloved queen Of King Ahasuerus
was a daughter Of the despised He
brews. When Esther. the queen. heard
Of what the premier. Haman. was to do
by the command Of the king she said
to her foster father. Mordecai: Il will
20 unto the king and plead for my peo-
pie. This. I know. ID not according to
the law, but will do all can to save
them" Then she uttered these dra.
matte words Of my text, III perish,
perish"
Wonan's Courage.
Perhaps some Of you have listened to
Handers wonderful oratorio. called
Esther" Yon have marveled at the
thrilling and plaintive notes Of one Of
the greatest Of all composers. But no
touch Of Handel can be more over
whelming than the simple story Of this
brave Persian queen az recorded In
the Bible. Let me draw for you a few
plain, practical lessons from a part
of II.
This heroic resolution. in the hrst
place was made by a woman. This
hay seem to some very insignificant
statement TO make. But ! want to tell
you that in the days OF King Ahasue-