This enclosure of the king's palace was probably very large, and would accommodate great numbers of people. It was splendidly decorated with white, green, and blue hangings, or curtains; and these were fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings, which were attached to pillars of marble, with which the court was surrounded. The floor was a pavement of red and blue and white and black marble, and the couches on which they sat were of gold and silver. They drank wine from golden vessels, and these, though they must have been very numerous, were all unlike, charming the guests by the ingenuity and variety of their devices.

In Persia, and the neighboring

countries, women were considered as inferiors, and not admitted to the

same table with the men.

They were

secluded with much care from common observation; and for a woman to appear in public would have been thought the highest breach of decorum. The queen Vashti, therefore, made a feast at the same time for the ladies of Shushan, in the interior of the Palace. On the last day of the feast, the king's heart, in the words of Scripture, was merry with wine; he had drunk so far to excess, that his judgment and sense of propriety were gone, and yielding probably to the solicitations of his half-intoxicated companions, he sent his seven chamberlains to bring Vashti the queen in

her royal dress, that the princes and the people might see her beauty. So drunkenness lays reason and all the finer feelings of the soul to sleep, and awakens only the disorderly and degrading passions. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment. The authority of a king, though he was her husband, could not prevail. She esteemed modesty a higher ornament than beauty; and, though accustomed to unlimited obedience, she felt justified in refusing to make such a sacrifice. This refusal roused the king's anger, and he proposed to his wise men the question, what shall be done to the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not obeyed the king?

Memucan, in behalf of the rest, pronounced this act of the queen an offence, not only against the king, but against all the princes and people; for the report of her disobedience would go everywhere abroad, and the effect of her example would be visible among all the ladies of Persia. There would arise also much contempt and wrath. Women would despise the authority of their husbands, and this would provoke their anger. He proposed, therefore, that the king should send forth a commandment, and that it should be written among the laws of the Medes and Persians, that Vashti should come no more before the king, and that her crown should be given to another of better desert.

And when the king's decree should be published throughout his empire, all the wives should give their husbands honor. This pleased the king, and immediately he despatched letters to every part of his empire, giving order that every man should bear rule in his own house. These letters, translated into the various languages spoken in his dominions, were sent abroad to be read by every people. Thus ended this royal feast. princes and nobles returned to their respective provinces, the people of Shushan retired to their homes, the king's palace, lately the scene of confusion and noise, had become quiet, sleep had restored Ahasuerus from the effects of wine, his reason returned,

The