The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1888-04-19
TALMAGE'S SERMON,
The Weekly Disoourses of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher.
Subjects "The Angels OF the
Grass"

TEXT; W then God so clothe the grass
which IS todag in the field, aud tomorrow
IS cast into the oren holo much more sVili
ne clothe your-Luke xii, 9S:
The lily is the queen Of Bible flowers. Tho
rose may have disputed her throne in modern
tunes and won IL; but the rose originally
had only five petals, II was under the long
continued and intense gaze of the world that
the rose blushed into its present beauty. In
the Bible train, cassia and hyssop and frank
incense and myrrh and spikenard and cam
phire and the rose follow the lily. Fourteen
times in the Bible is the lily mentioned; only
twice the rose. The rose may now have
wider empire, but the lily reigned in the time
OF tsther, in the time Of Solomon, in the
time of Christ.
Cesar had his throne ON the hills The
MY had her throne in the valley. In the
greatest sermon that was ever preached,
there was only one flower, and thata lily. The
bedford dreamer, John Bunyan, entered the
mouse OF the interpreter, and was shown
cluster or flowers and was told to consider
The liliesn
We may study or reject other sciences at
our option. 1t is so with astronomy, it is so
with chemistry, il is so with jurisprudence,
It is so with physiology, it is so with geology;
but the science of botany Christ commands
us to study when he says: Consider the
lilies Measure them from root to tip OF
petal lnha!e their breath. Notice the
gracefuness Of their poise. Hear the whis.
per of the white lips of the Eastern and Of
the rel lips Of the American lily.
Belonging to this royal family of lilies is
the lily OF the Nile, the Japan lily, the Lady
Washington of the Sierras, the Golden Band
MY, the Giant lily Of Ncpaul the Turks Cap
hly, the African lily from the Cope of Good
Hope. All these lilies have the royal b.ood
in their veins But take the lilies of my
text this morning as typical of all flowers
and THIS Easter day garlanded with all this
opulance of floral beauty, seems to address us,
saying: Consider the lilies, consider the
Rza,las, consider tho fuchsas, consider the
geran uns consider the ivies, consider the
yaclnths, consider the heiotropes, consider
the oseanders," With diiferential and CRATE
ful and Intelligent and worShipful souls, con-
slider them. Not with insipid sentimentaiisn,
or with sophomore vaporing, but for grand
and practical and everyday and, il need be,
home!y Uses, consider them.
The lowers are the angels of the grass.
They all have voices. When the clouds
speak, they thunder; when the whirlwnds
speak, they scream; when the cataracts
speak, they roar; but when the flowers speak,
they always whisper. l stand here to inter-
pref their message What have you to say,
oh We angels OF the grass, to this worshipful
muititude2
lbs morning mean to discuss what flow
ers are good Tor. That is my subject: What
are flowers good for:
l. l remark, in the first place, they are
good for lessons of Gods providential care.
That was Chrst's first thought All these
flowers seem to address us today, saying:
God will give you apparel and food We
have no wheel with which to spin, no loom
with which to weave. no sickle with which
to harvest no well sweep with which to draw
water; but God stakes our thirst with the
dew, and God feeds us with the bread of the
sunshine, and God has appareled us with
more than Solomonic regality. We are
prophetesses of adequate wardrobe. If God
so clothed us, the grass of the field, will he
not much more clothe you, oh ye of little
faith!
Men and women Of worldly anxieties, take
this message home with you. How long has
God taken care of you! Quarter Of the
Journey OF life3 half tire journey OF life!
three-quarters the journey of lifes Can you
not trust Him the rest of theways God does
not promise you anything like that which
the Roman Emperor had on his table at vast
eXpense-500 nightiugales' tongues-but He
has promised to take care of you. He has
promised you the necessities, not the Injuries
bread, not cake. If God SO luXuliantly
clothes the grass of the field, will he not pro-
vide for you, his living and immortal chill
dren! He WILL
No wonder Martin Luther always had
flower on his writing desk for inspira-
ton. Through the cracks of the prison
floor flower grew up to cheer Picci-
ola. Mungo Park, the great traveller and
explorer, had his life saved by flower.
He sank down in the desert to die, but seeing
u flower near by, it suggested Gods merciful
care, and he got up with new courage and
Travelled on to safety. lsaid the flowers are
the angels of the grass. l add now that they
are the evange!s OF the sky
II. If you insist on asking me the question:
What are flowers good for: respond: They
are good for the bridal day. The bride must
have them on her brow, and she must have
them in her hand. The marriage altar must
lie covered with them. A wedding without
flowers would be as inappropriate as we'd
ding without music Atsuch time they are
for conGratulation and prophecies of good.
So much of the pathway Of life is covered
up with thorns. we ought to cover the begin
ming with Grange blossoms.
Flowers are appropriate on such occasions,
for in ninety-nine out of hundred cases it is
the very hest thing that could have happened.
The world may crticise and pronounce it an
snaptitude, and may lift its eyebrows in sur
prise and think il might suggest something
better; but the God who sees the twenty,
forty, fifty years of welded life before they
have begun arranges all for the BEST. So
that flowers, in almost all cases. are appro-
pripte for the MARRIAGE dav. The ivorr noes
OF disposition VIII become correspondence,
recklessness will become prudence, trivolity
will be turned to practically.
There has been many an aged widowed
soul who had a carefully locked bureau, and
in the bureau box, and in the box a folded
paper, and in the folded paper a half blown
rose, slightly fragrant, discoored, carefully
pressed. She put it there forty or fifty years
ago. On the anniversary day of her wedding
cha xxii 1rrpt 10 tLo clo ,,,;l %bn
box, she will unfold the paper and to her
eyes will be exposed the half blown bud, and
the memories of the past will rush upon her,
and tear will drop upon the flower; and
suddenly it is TRANSPORTED, and there is a
Stir in the dust of the anther, and it rounds
out, and it is full of life, and it begins to
tremble in the procession up the church aisle,
and the dead music of half century ago
comes throbbing through the air; and van
ished faces reappear, and right hands are
Joined, and manly voice promises: 81 will
for better or worse" and the wedding march
thunders salvo of joy at the departing
crowd; but sigh on that anniversary day
scatters the scene Under the deep fetched
breath, the altar, the flowers, the congratu-
lating groups are scattered, and there is
nothing left but a trembling hand holding q
faded rosebud, which is put into the paper,
and then into the box and the box carefully
placed in the bureau, and with a sharp, sud-
deu Click OF the lock the scene is over.
All. my friends, let not tne prophecies Of
the flowers on your wedding dag be false
prophecies. Be blind TO each Others faults.
Make the most Of each others exceilences.
Above all, do not both get mad at oncel Re-
member the VOWS, the ring on the third finger
OF the left hand, and the benediction Of the
Gala lilies.
III. II you insist on asking me the question:
What are flowers good for. / answer, they
are good to honor and comfort the obsequies
The worst cash ever made in the side Of
our poor earth is the cash of the grave. 1t
is so Deep it is so cruel, it is so incurable that
it needs something to cover it up. Flowers
for the casket, flowers for the hearse, flowers
for the cemetery.
What a contrast between grave in coun-
try churchyard, with the fence broken
down, and the tombstone aslant, and the
neighboring cattle browsing amid the null
len stalks and the Canada thistles, and a
June morning in Greenwood the waves Of
roseate bloom rolling to the top of the
mounds, ard then breaking into foamins
crests Of white flowers all around the pillows
of dust 1t is the difference between sleeping
under rags and sleeping under an embroid.
cred b1a ,kpt We want Old Mortality with