Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-05-21
THE Angel.

THE ANGEL.
As soon as good little child dies. one o
Gods angels descends to the earth. takes the
dead child in his arms, spreads out his large
white wings, and flies over all the places thai
were dear to the little one when il was alive
and on the way he gathers handful Of flowers,
which he then carries to heaven, in order thai
they may bloom still more beautifully there
than they did here on earth. The loving God
Presseth all these flowers to His bosom; buI
the flower that lie lOvcth best He kssc,h -
and then 1t receives . sweet, clear voice, SO
that 1t can sing and rejoice with the happy
hosts around.
An Angel Of God related this as he bore q
dead child to heaven; and the child heard as
in dream and they flew over all the spots
around the home where the little one had
played in its fitetimc' and they passed through
gardens with the lOveliest flowers. (which
flower shall we take with us and plant afrcsh
in Heavenf" asked the Angel.
And beautiful slender rose tree was stand
ing there but q rude hand had wantonly
broken the stem, so that ell the branches that
. short time before were so fair and green, and
which were full Of large, halEopcn rosebuds,
now hung down quito withered and sad, upon
the soft, smooth carpet of turf
The poor tree!" said the child; "takc Il
so that i may bloom again on high with the
loving God.
And the Angel took it. and kissed the child
and the little one halEopencd his eyes. They
gathered some Of superb flowers; but they
took the dcspised daisy and the wild pansy,
too.
"NOw we have flowers" " said the child, and
the Angel nodded, as if to say, "ycs :" but
they did not yet fly up to Heaven.
1t was night; it was quite still. They
stayed awhile IN the great city, near which
the child had lived, they fioated to and fro in
one Of the narrOwest streets, where great heaps
OF straw. Of ashes and rubbish lay about -
there had been removal. The street looked
di*ordered and dirty. There lay broken pots
and plates, plaster figures, rags, the crowns Of
old hats; nothing but things that were dis.
pleasing to the sight
And amidst the devastation the Angel point.
ed to the fragments of . 6ower-pot, and to
clOd Of earth that had fallen out Of II, and
which was only held together by the roots Of
a great withered wild flower; but it was good
for nothing now, and was therefore thrown
out into the street
We viii take that one with u.s." said the
Angel, land will tell you about 1t while we
are flying"
And now they few on and tho Angel re-
lated:
"Down yonder, in the narrow street. in the
low cellar, lived once poor sickly bow. He
had been bed.ridcn from his very infancy, for
an incurable disease had seized upon his ten.
der frame. When he was very well indeed,
he could just 60 few times up and down the
little room on his crutches; that was ALL
Some days in summer the sunbeams fell for
half an hour on the little cellar windows; and
then, when the boy sat there, and let the warm
sun shine upon him, and saw the red blood
through his small thin fingers, then it was
said, yes, he has been out to-day All he
knew Of the w0nderOusly beautiful Spring
time, the green and beauty Of the woods, was
from the first bOugh Of beech tree that a
neighbOr's son once brought him as May.tlay
token; and he held it over his head, and
dreamed he was under the green shelter Of
the beech tree, where the sun shone, aud the
birds were singing around him.
Zone day in spring his neighbours son
brought him some wild flowers also, and
among them was by chance ono with
root; It was therefore planted in Hower.pot
and placed in the window close by his bedside
And a fortunate hand had planted the flower !;
it thrived, put forth new shoots, and every
year It bore sweet.smelling flowers. To the
eyes Of the sick boy it became The most beau.
tiful garden-his little treasure upon earth |:
he watered and tended il, and took caro- that
it got every sunbeam, to the very last that
gIidcd by on the lowest pane. And the flower
grew up in his very dreams, with its cOl0rs
and its fragrance; +; Il was overlooked by others,
and for him alone Il blOomed aud smelt no
sweetly: to It he turned in dying when the
laN,snn God aa11ol A..
now been year with God-a year has the
flower stood in the window wit6crcd and for.
gotten, and now, at the removal, il has been
thrown among the rubbish into the street.
And that is the flower, the same poor, faded
flower, which we have taken into our garland !;
for this flower has caused moro Joy than the
rarcst flower in the garden Of queen"
But how do you know all this Y" asked
the child whom the Angel was carrying up to
Heaven.
81 know it." said the Angel; az was my.
self the little sick boy that went on crutches /;
/ must surely know my own flower again."
And the child opened his eyes and looked
in the beautiful, calm face Of the Angel; and
at the same moment they were in Heaven,
there was only Joy and blessedneSs
And God pressed the dead child 10 his DO.
som thereon It became winged like the other
Angel, and few hand In hand with him; and
God pressed ell the flowers to His bosom, but
the poor wilted flower he kissed and voice
was given to il, and Il sang song Of triumph
with all the Angels that moved around God
in Heaven, some sweeping on their bright
wings quite near to him, others round these
in larger circles. always farther away In im.
mensity, but equally blessed.
And they oil sang. great and small; the
good, innocent little child, who once llmped
about on his tOilsOms crOtcheR, and the pOOu
held-6owsr that had lain witheFOd among the
Sweepinga in the narrow, dingy street-An,
deroOR1 WoRdsrfGI Tales.
| WHEN DRATIl CoNks- comes atm tmorr
when the sun is just rising IN the ESt-a
noon when ita rays are most reeplendent-a
eve when L gradually sinks beneath the hori
xon-at midnight when Il q entirely bidder
from view It comes to the babe Just commen
cling to pEaktle-it comes to the man In middl,
age. when the connecting linEa bindiNe us I,
life are most strOne-ie comes 70 the aRed maj
with trembling limbs and faded syosiSht le,
along by others-it comes to the poor, strUs
Cling TO obtain meagre sustonance-il come
10 man in comfortable circumstances b,
! unhAun kfh d kN.,s "a