The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-08-22 00:00:00

FLOWER SERVICE AT ST. JOHN'S.

Very pretty indeed was it to see on Sunder lest St.
John's Chiuch filled with the children of thooongz.gation,
who bad easembled there by request, each beating In the
hands • bunch of flowers for the inmates of the Roapital,
and of sick rooms in the town. First the congragstion
s ing—" From all that dwell," to the Old 10dth. Some of
be boomsets were very choice mod all besotifitl, they
were each tied up with a text attached, mostly suitable to
the condition of the sick and the poor. Among those
we noticed wire—"! am poor and needy, yet tine Lord
thinketh upon tne," "Outing all your care upon Huth for
He careth for you ;" but her. was • text of teething
among those of comfort—"! say unto you that every
word which men speak. they !than give account thereof
at the deg
illudgment :" • brag sad terse ma was—"!.
quietuses confidence shall be your strength' The
bouquets were first to be deposited foe removal to the
poor for whom they were intended, and to do this the
children advanced in order by successive groups to the
pasissag rails, wham each thlld handed the nosegay to
Canon fitaphemson, who received it, and depodesd It
withln the communion rails. During this interse4se
preesutation, the following hymns were thug
°Rejoice. ye pure in heart," the, '0 Lord ciielleathn, •
earth, and sae." 134, "For the beauty of the earth," " We
glee thee but thine own," "Fountain of good," and
" Fair wages the golden cit.,'" and the children
having settlel themselves again in their soots, as
best they could, hymn 5116, "Ahoy. the clear blue
sky' was sung. Tee congregation by this time wee
immense, the wools being densely packed in the mate
and in the thrums, and it I. estimated there must have
Asia 1.100 children and adults in the church, being arms
hundreds more than it is calculated to bold. Ma heat
was considerable but, by wisely. the doers were thrown
open, and • fresh wind traversed the whole of the
building ; this, however, did not sweep through the
chancel. where • dent:flocs perfume of the flowers filled all
the atmosphere, A shortened form of service, imitable to
the congregation and the occasion, wee performed, and
that with as mach reverence displayed as could have been
expected from juveniles so packed. and among the stilton,
to whom, if not among themselves, were little ones of ties
and thethabouts. thr. Stone most ab'y presided at the
organ, and it is enough ti say of St. Jahn's surpliced
choir that they sung as admirably as they always do, the
uthice bring • musical the wherever it meld be.
The Rev. Canon Stephens-a then sddrewed the
children in simple language suited to them. Hs said,
amongst otlur kind and sealed remark.: Now, children,
1 want you to help me this fifteen° a for • very few
minute.. I am sorry that so many are standing. but I
want you to attsnd. It was a wonderful day, mod the
children were there ; we are told that it was as our
Blamed Lord was riding along that day hr Jerusalem, that
some of the people cut down branches tram the trees and
strewed them In the way, and some put their garments
bolero Him, they wanted to nuke His pita beautiful. I
think It Jest something of that kind you have been doing
today ; you have been bringing these flowers to put sham
' here at your Saviour's feet, so sate show that you want to
have His service as beautiful as possible: You would like it
to Ussery braotiful. Thew, flowers are Go I. own gifts of
to,. to us, God eves them to se because He love. ;
there is no reason why the flowers should have those
hem:tile' colours and scouts; bat God gave OW h.CIU..
Ho wanted us to be happy. God strewed ththe flowers in
Oaf pith everywhere; you find them ethwirg scant was
areethat the snow. themselves ; I wag siding the other
day of • dairyman's visit to Iceland, sod the things that
gerrised him tern atom Vie Blears. The kneecap hardly
'gusto the height of • mth. bat the ground wet covered
everywhere with beautiful whited Were Oat 0.4 had Pot
there; you will see them everywhere, over the it,aule
'la the cataract the good God has strewed our pith with
them that titre may make us happy. 4ul now we tels
three beautiful gifts of God's love, and say—" Now, we
want to give them beck to Him, and here in Ilis bows,
the children have brourEt them today, and have put
these dowers at his feet, because they want Ii strew his
pathway. We eannot reach film now: He does not wont
them ; but He has heothers and sisters dorn here, and He
says, they that dolt to these brothen and *tater. of His,
dolt to Him. Thaw very flowers are all to got th m this
night: I hope we shall get kind friends to take them to
our hospital for the sick, and to the sick ro ...I .1 our
town. Wei have such a charming sbuedeuce ef them;
you have brought them all in love te Jesus ; I bops it was.
I heard of a poor woman who was very grat iful to •
friend who had helped bee; she was very poor, and had
hardly mullahs/ ; but she got the little seed of • flower,
put it in • broken flower pat, and nourished it ton. It was
a dark window; but she caught every little filliuwee of
light, and when it flowered, she gave It to the friend who
had been so good to her, and I am sore his heart EGUit
bave been very full of pleasure. I hoes, my dear
children, that lon have been bringing your gifte—l am
sure some of you have been bringing it—to Ink*
them poor people happy, We lost only to. other
week one of our little boys, and one of the last
things be did wee to make • scrap teak, that it
might be given to sick children'
, sad h. gave it over to
H lit. Randall for that purpose e loved to do what he
could that he might maks these children happy. I am
sure tonight that you will Kith • great deal of happiness;
In the hospital and in the sick rooms they will look at
theth beautiful flower', and think of the children who
thought of them, and brought them beautiful! fi were to
make their boars of eirknees brigbter, and easier, and
happier. It Is something to think of that you will do what
you can to maks Wev mouth to-night, In some of its dark
places brighter and happier, and that is somethiog cohere
done by our children's Denims But, remember, the
=who with the children strewed breathes of tress,
of psis sod en flembi tombs of calve Week