POEMS EXMOOR VERSES I. VASHTI'S SONG

There is humor, too, in the solemn deliberations over Vashti's "No" (chapter i, verses 12-22) and in the strange procession led by pedestrian Haman (chapter vi, verses 6-11).

"] CHAPTER I THE STORY OF VASHTI 1.

Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.

To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.

But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains? 16.

And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. 17.

For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not. 18.

If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. 20.

After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.

And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti.

And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Which those seven Persian princes did to Ahasuerus, that they might requite the desire of Queen Vashti with the love of others."

Yo' heah me, chile?" Vashti rose to her feet with a sigh.

Vashti lay a huddle of blue in the bow, crouched in fear and desolation, shaken and torn with sobbing; but he made no effort to comfort her.

Vashti's sobbing had grown small and ceased; he wondered if she had fallen asleep.

" A soft and smothered giggle answered him, and this time Vashti looked up and laid her head against him with a small sigh of contentment.

By Atossa is generally understood Vashti, daughter of Cyrus and wife of Ahasuerus of the Old Testament.)

It is yet undecided whether the Persians admitted their matrons to their public banquets and private parties;but if we can believe the positive testimony of Herodotus, such was the case: and the summons of Vashti to the annual festival, and the admission of Haman to the queen's table, are facts which support the affirmation of that historian.

Vashti and Hamman, the biblical Haman, were names of Elamite deities.

Deborah, Huldah, Vashti, and Esther might have questioned the propriety of calling it a World's Convention, when only half of humanity was represented there; but what were their opinions worth compared with those of the Rev. A. Harvey, the Rev. C. Stout, or the Rev. J. Burnet, who, Bible in hand, argued woman's subjection, divinely decreed when Eve was created.

ye with harp and flute ne'er essay Before these star-noted birds escaped from paradise awhile to Stir all dark, and dear, and passionate desire, till mine Arms go out to be mocked by the softly kissing body of the wind Slave, send Vashti to her King!

Have him 'maze how you say love is sacrament; How says Vashti, love is both bread and wine; How to the altar may not come to break and drink, Hulky flesh nor fleshly spirit!

What wonder poor "PUNJAB," who hails from the "Garrick," Got hungry as VASHTI, and dry as a hayrick? An Edition de Luxe, as a rule, is a sell, But a Train de Luxe sure as a fraud bears the bell, Which promises travel more cosy and quicker, And leaves you half starved, without moneyor liquor!