The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-04-26
The Corn Flower.

Emperor William the First Is, al
everyone knows, very fond Of flowers
and his birthday table is always orna
mented with most magnificent bou
quets; and, among these more brilllan
sisters, very modest wild flower, the
Corn Flower, or Blue Bottle (Centduret
Cydnus), never fails to appear. All tho
sons and daughters Of the immortal
Queen Louisa cherish, in memory of the
dear departed, decided preference fol
this flower, and this preference dates
back to an apparently very Insignificant
circumstance. The Queen Louisa spent
the two years from lS06 to lS0S in no.
nigsberg, and lived during the summer
months on a country estate. The soil
tude of the place, broken only by the
rustling Of trees, the singing of birds,
and the hum of insects, sothed the trou-
bled spirit of the sorely-tried Queen.
Here she often rambled about with her
children, giving motherly words OF
counsel, which would cultivate the
mind and heart and steel the character.
One morning, as the Queen was about
to take her customary walk in the park,
a peasant-girl stood at the garden gate,
and offered her basket of Corn flowers.
The Queen graciously accepted the
present, generally thanked the girl,
took with her the flowers, over whose
beautiful blue color the Princess Char
lotte, then ten years old, expressed fond
admiration, and went into the park.
When they had come to resting place
the Princess attempted, under the
mothers direction, to weave garland of
the Corn-Flowers; and so great was the
mothers joy over the success of the at
tempt that the usually pale cheeks of
the Princess flushed to a bright red. And,
when she pressed the completed wreath
on her beautiful hair, it was so becom-
ing to the fine, nobly cut features that
the admiring brothers and sisters
among them the present EmperOr-gave
loud expressions of joy. How delighted
the Queen must have been as she saw the
eyes of her children glisten over trifle
whose material value was scarcely wor-
thy of account.
The force OF arms had brought mis-
fortune on misfortune to the dear
Fatherland. Who could have imag-
that the Princess, then adorned with
garland of wild flowers, would ever
wear the diadem of an EmpressH Who
could have dreamed that the apparently
annihilated Prussia would extend its
protecting arm from cliff to sea, and
would exalt Louisa's son to mighty
power and honor as Emperor of United
Germany?
But the Queen saw an Eden to arise
In the glad hearts of her children,
through innocent joy, out of which
springs of purest delight must flow.
With deep emotion she pressed her dear
ones to her heart, and the COrn-Flower,
which had given her so much pleasure,
became her favorite flower, as also that
of her daughter Charlotte.
When Charlotte, twenty years later,
as Empress of Russia, gladdened her
home with visit, the people of Kon-
igsberg thought to awaken in the MEM
DRY of the mighty Empress an exceed
ingly pleasant recollection, when young
maidens, ornamented with Corn
Flowers, appeared before her, scattering
the way with flowers. And they were
not disappointed. The Empress ex-
pressed her thanks and joy that they
chose the Corn-Flower with which to
honor her,