in it! The angel of the covenant this morning stirs the water. Why do
you not step in it? Some of you are too weak to take a step in that
direction. Then we take you up in the arms of our closing prayer and
plunge you clean under the wave, hoping that the cure may be as sudden
and as radical as with Captain Naaman, who, blotched and carbuncled,
stepped into the Jordan, and after the seventh dive came up, his skin
roseate-complexioned as the flesh of a little child.

THE BANISHED QUEEN.

"Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal
house which belonged to King Ahasuerus. On the seventh day
when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded
Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and
Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of
Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king
with the crown royal, to show 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."--ESTHER i: 9-12.

We stand amid the palaces of Shushan. The pinnacles are aflame with
the morning light. The columns rise festooned and wreathed, the wealth
of empires flashing from the grooves; the ceilings adorned with images
of bird and beast, and scenes of prowess and conquest. The walls are
hung with shields, and emblazoned until it seems that the whole round
of splendors is exhausted. Each arch is a mighty leaf of architectural
achievement. Golden stars shining down on glowing arabesque. Hangings
of embroidered work in which mingle the blueness of the sky, the
greenness of the grass, and the whiteness of the sea-foam. Tapestries
hung on silver rings, wedding together the pillars of marble.
Pavilions reaching out in every direction. These for repose, filled
with luxuriant couches, in which weary limbs sink until all fatigue is
submerged. Those for carousal, where kings drink down a kingdom at one
swallow.

Amazing spectacle!

Light of silver dripping down over stairs of ivory on shields of gold.
Floors of stained marble, sunset red and night black, and inlaid with
gleaming pearl.

In connection with this palace there is a garden, where the mighty men
of foreign lands are seated at a banquet. Under the spread of oak and
linden and acacia the tables are arranged. The breath