violation of custom. We know the seclusion in which Ea.stem women then, as now, lived. It was a shame to a woman to appear unveiled before any man except her husband. Vashti would be staggered when she received the message of the chamber- lains. National or social customs may be bad, but they cannot be safely or wisely departed from except under the force of enlightened and conijcientious reasons. Especially are they binding when any breach of them implies a conscious self- degradation. 3. The king's command was the result of partial drunkenness. Vashti could hardly fail to perceive its cause. She would know that the king could not have issued it if he had been in possession of his sober senses. It is said of one that he appealed from Alexander drunk to Alexander sober. So may have been the thought of Vashti. Rather than subject herself to insult, she would risk the imme- diate displeasure of the king, in the hope that when he came to his right mind he would perceive the wisdom and propriety of her conduct. 4. The king's command was an outrage on Vashti, as queen, as wife, and as woman. (1) As sole and acknowledged queen of the empire, she could not, without utter loss of dignity, stoop to expose herself, as a royal puppet, to the excited multitude. (2) As the true and legitimate wife of the king, she could not, consistently with wifely honour, allow her beauty to be made a public plaything and gazing-stock at the whim of a wine- flushed and self-forgetting husband. (3) As a woman ( apart altogether from out- ward position), every true instinct would make her shrink from exhibiting herself as a mere wanton to eyes that were inflamed with wine. If she had been of a soft nature she might have yielded, at the cost of much suffering. If she had been proud of her beauty, and shameless, she might have gladly obeyed. But she was neither so soft as to submit to outrage, nor so unprincipled as to welcome it. A modest spirit is the most precious jewel which nature grants to women, and when it is sanctified by the fear of God and the love of Jesus, its power as an instrument of good is wonderfully increased. 5. The king's command threatened the reputation of Vashti. It was given to the chamberlains in presence of the princes and nobles, and it was delivered to Vashti in presence of the women. Thus all were informed of it, and all understood its meaning. If Vashti had obeyed it, she would have lost caste in the estimation of her own sex, and she would have imperilled, if not sacrificed altogether, the respect and reverence of the" princes and people," and even of the king himself. The praise of men may, and often does, cost too much. It should never be allowed to enter into rivalry with the praise of God, or the approbation of a good conscience. At the same time, the esteem of the good-a high reputation for integrity of heart and life-is of exceeding price, and is usually but the reflection of the Divine favour. , All who play fast and loose with their reputed character, as honourable or godly men and women, give evidence that they are loosely attached to the sacred principles of truth and virtue (see 1 Pet. ii. 2). Vashti may be taken as an example of devo- tion to just thought and pure feeling. At all hazards she did what her true mind and heart would only allow her to do. She risked much, and in the event she suf- fered much. But we do not pity her. Whatever were the motives that inspired her, our sympathies go with her in her refusal to obey the king's command. We give her honour as a woman who, in very trying circumstances, was true to herself and her position. The one act by which she is known has made her name honourable in all time. Her firmness in II critical moment may also be regarded as an illustration of the Divine providence. It produced resulta which she could not anticipate. It paved the way for that great deliverance of the Jews from the devices of the wicked of which thia book ia the record. Honest action, whatever troubles it may bring, never goes without its ultimate reward. The lines of self-denying allegiance to truth stretch far; eternity only will realise their full issue.-D.
Ver. 12.-.Anger. Vashti's disobedience kindled in the king's mind (1) a strong resentment-he" was very wroth." (2) An a.biding resentment-" his anger burned in him." Considering the man and the circumstances, this should not surprise us. 1. It we.s a case of rebellion. The worst crime in the view of a despot is to dispute his will. Nothing so easily inflames anger in a man who is used to power and unused to self-control as any w1mt of submission to his authority. 2. The rebellion was ia the king's own household. It was the queen, his wife, who ventured to disobey him. 32 THE BOOK OF ESTHER. [cH. I. 10-22,