Beauty crowned; or, The story of Esther, the Jewish maiden . nothing.—Esther v, a gallows be made.—Esther v, 14. At the close of the fast, on the third day, Estherprepared to petition the king. She neglected noprecaution that might increase the probabilities ofsuccess. She put on her royal apparel —the lovetokens of her husband—to awaken again his earlyaffections. The hour was one which found incalculable hu-man interests at stake. ? The blotting out of existence,the swift swallowing up of human lives innumerable,with all their precious freightage of love and joy, ofpurpose and hope, wa
Beauty crowned; or, The story of Esther, the Jewish maiden . nothing.—Esther v, a gallows be made.—Esther v, 14. At the close of the fast, on the third day, Estherprepared to petition the king. She neglected noprecaution that might increase the probabilities ofsuccess. She put on her royal apparel —the lovetokens of her husband—to awaken again his earlyaffections. The hour was one which found incalculable hu-man interests at stake. ? The blotting out of existence,the swift swallowing up of human lives innumerable,with all their precious freightage of love and joy, ofpurpose and hope, was no light fancy, no vague fearnow. Yet that was the appalling uncertainty be-neath the burden of which the solemn hour was not dull cloudiness of sky alone, and thatmade worse by unnecessary apprehension and weak Magnificent Heroism, 193 fearfulness. It was one defined dark mass of all human appearance the question of the hourdepended on the caprice of one man. It did not re-semble some case of great interest, which was going. King on his Throne. to have the best attention of a select number of the best of people, and thereupon a deliberate decision be taken. In that hour the momentary whim of a capricious despot would decide the question of life13 , 194 Beauty Crowned. or death, for the innocent Esther first, and after herfor a whole race, of which she was then the head andrepresentative. * She stood in the inner court of the kings house,over against the kings house: and the king sat uponhis royal throne in the royal house, over against thegate of the house. Esther v, 1. There she stands, with her jeweled foot uponthe grave. A noble spectacle! not so much for herunrivaled beauty, still less for the splendor of herapparel, as for the resolution to venture life, andeither save her nation or perish in the attempt. Inher blooming youth, in the admiration of the court,in the affection of her husband, in her lofty rank, inher queenly honor, she has every
Size: 1361px × 1836px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidbeautycrowne, bookyear1887
