Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-06-17

Far from all voice OF teachers ana dlNlnes,
My soul would find in flowers of Gods ordainihg
Priests, sermons, shrines!''
Thus wrote Horace Smith, and we wonder
not that the votaries of Apollo choose flow
ers as favorite themes for the expression of
their happiest thoughts, for these Upright Mo-
sales are congenial with the poets magma
ton, and worthy objects of his most sublime
numbers Although classed with the minor
creations Of God, they are nquestionably
among His most glorious works Whether
growing in i" churchless solitude" or cultiva-
ted by the lover of Nature, they possess that
beauty which none but the most apathetic
can fail to admire. Diversified by all the
gorgeous hues of the rainbow, and emitting
from their lovely chaices the most delectablc
arenas, how irresistible is their influence in
captivating the heart! Even the untaught
savage as he roams in pride over his sylvan
domains cannot but look upon flowers with an
admirng eye-cannot but regard them as
the beautiful gifts Of Good Spirit. The
infant in its mothers arms is pleased with
their appearance school children linger by
the wayside to Gull them; those of maturcr
years take pleasure in their cultivation; and
the aged look back into the past with the ret
respective eye of memory as they behold
them, and feel present sensation of happi-
ness in the recollection Of those bright days
when life to them was scene of pleasing an
tlcipations, undimmed by the sad experience
of age.
Who can deny that the ministry of fow
.ers is holy ministry-their influence beat
ifc influence? As the beautiful apostles of
Heaven--as the mute but comprehensive ex-
positors of Gods love to mortals, they are
entitled to the admiration of ALL From them
as from printed volume, we may receive in
struction worthy Of being shrined in every
heart. No more eloquent dccourse was
ever written upon the infinite wisdom, power
glory and goodness of the Creator, and the
evanesccnt nature of all things earthly, than
is given by these ephemera sages Of dy-
ing world. How properly have they been
pronounced as emblematical of human life !!
No person can fail of being deeply impressed
with the propriety of this simitude. Like
them, how many cherished flowers of the
household bloom few short hours, and then
droop, and wither, and pass away forever !!
As emblems, then, of our own transitory
mundane existence, let them be wreathed for
the brow of the departed; let them bloom
and wither upon the green mounds of the
churchyard; for what more fitting, more ex-
pressive tributes of tender affection and re-
gard for g the dear ones dead" than flowers
spriuging from the soil that covers their moul-
dering forms?
We have said that the influence of flowers
is beatific. Go among them when gloomy
musings enter the heart and make life un-
happy, and find in such communion how
heaven born are they in dispelling the shades
OF sadness Garry them to the room of sick
ness, and behold how the sight of them arous-
es the dropping spirits of the invalid Give
them to the lonely captive, and momentary
ray OF happiness enters hisremorseful soul as
ne forgots his iorlorn situation and dreams
Of a life of freedom.
AS objects, then, that are calculated to
please the eye and tighten the responding
heart let all persons acquire taste for their
cultivation, What are all the ornate appen-
dages Of art in the establishment of cot
ttage compared with these gay decorations of
Nature? The meanest howell is made to ap.
pear lovely when surrounded with trees, nest
led among flowers, and overrun with vines.
A cottage thus beauti6ed is the sure indica-