Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-04-13


/ better; but the God who sees the
/ twenty, forty, fifty years of welded
life before they have begun, arranges
I all for the best. So that flowers. in al
most all cases, are appropriate for the
marriage day The divergences of dis
! position VIII become cOrrespondences,
| recklessness VIII become prudence.
/ frivOlity VIII be turned into practical
ity.
There has been many an aged Wild
owed soul who had a carefully locked
! bureau, and in the bureau a box, and
In the box a folded paper, and to her
eyes VIII be exposed the half-blOwn
rose, slightly fragrant, discOlored,
carefully pressed. She put it there
forty or fifty years ago. On the ami
versary day of her wedding she viii go
to the bureau, she viii lift the box, she
VIII unfold the paper, and to her eyes
Will be exposed the half-blOwn rose,
and the memories of the past viii rush
upon her, and a 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
vanished faces reappear, and right
hands are joined, and a manly voice
promises; Il viii for better or for
worse" and the wedding march thun-
ders a salvO Of JOY at the crowd; but a
sigh on that anniversary day scatters
/ the scene. Under the deep-fetched
breath, the altar, the flowers, the con
graduating groups are scattered, and
there Is nothing left but a trembling
hand holding a 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, sudden
click of the lock the scene is over.
All, my friends, let not the prOphe-
cies Of the flowers on your wedding
day be false prophecies. Be blind to
each others faults. Make the most of
each others excellencies. Above all
do not both get mad at once! Remem-
Der the VOWS, the ring on the third
finger of the left hand, and the bene-
dictiOn of the Gala lilies.
Third-If you insist on asking me
the question: What are flowers good
for? L answer, they are good to honor
and comfort the Obsequies. The worst
cash ever made into the side of our
poor earth is the cash of the grave. It
IS so deep, it Is so cruel, it is so incur
able that it needs something to cover
it up. Flowers for the casket, flowers
for the hearse, flowers for the GEM
etery.
What a contrast between a grave in
a country churchyard, with the fence
broken down and the tombstone aslant,
and the neighbOring cattle browsing
amid the mullen stocks, and the Can
ada thistles, and a June morning in
Greenwood, the wave of rOseate bloom
rolling to the tops of the mounds, and
then breaking into fOaming crests of
white flowers all around the pillows of
dust. 1t is the difference between
sleeping under rags and sleeping under
an embroidered blanket We want
Old Mortality with his chisel to 90
through all the graveyards of Christen-
dom, and while he carries a chisel in
one hand, we want Old Mortality to
have some flower seeds in the palm of
the other hand.
ooh, +" you say, "the dead don't know;
it makes no difference to them" I
think you are mistaken. There are not
so many steamers and rail trains COM
ing to any living city as there are con-
VOys coming from heaven to earth; and
if there be instantaneous and constant
communication between this world and
the better world, do you not suppose
your departed friends know what YOU
do with their bodies? Why has God
planted "gOlded rod" and wild flowers
in the forest and on the prairie where
no human eye ever sees them? He
planted them there for invisible intel
Licences to look at and admire, and
when invisible intelligences come to
look at the wild flowers of the woods
and table lands, viii they not make ex-
cursions and see the flowers which you
have planted in affectionate remem-
brance Of them?
When I am dead would like to have
a handful of viOlets-anyone could
pluck them out of the grass, or some
one could lift from the edge of the
pond a waterlily nothing rarely ex-
pensive or insane display, as sometimes
at funeral rites, where the display takes
the bread from the children's mouths,
and the clothes from their backs, but
| something from the great democracy
of flowers. Rather than imperial cata-
falque of Russian ear, 1 ask some one
whom I have helped by gospel sermon
or Christian deed to bring a sprig of
arbutus or a handful of China asters.
1t was left for modern times to spell
respect for the departed and comfort
for the living in letters of floral gospel.
| Pillow of flowers, meaning rest for the
! pilgrim who has got to the end of his
| journey. Anchor of flowers, suggest
| ing the Christian hope which we have
as an anchor to the soul, sure and
I steadfast. Cross of flowers, suggesting
/ the tree on which our sins We're slain.
If 1 had my way, I would cover up
| all the dreamless sleepers, whether in
! gold-handled casket or pine box,
whether in kings mausoleum or potter's