The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-02
I0NLY A FADED FLOWER.
TALMAGE DRAWS A PATHETIC
PICTURE FROM REAL LIFE.

rows.
BROOKLYN, N. Y, April 1.-The plat
form and galleries of the Tabernacle were
this morning profusely decorated with flow
ers. On the previous evening the church
had been open to prepare the decorations
for which the congregation had been in
vited to bring flowers.
The immense audience room is not large
enough to contain the people on ordinary
occasions; it must be left to the magma
tion to suggest the throngs, both inside and
outside the church on this great festal
day.
The Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, D. D., took
for his text Luke xii. IS: "lf then God so
clothe the grass. which is to-day in the field,
and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how
much more will he clothe you" He said
The lily is the queen of Bible flowers
The rose may have disputed hor throne in
modern times. and won it; but the rose
originally had only five petals 1t was un-
der 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 frankincense and myrrh
and spikenard and campfire 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 Esther, in
the time of Solomon, in the time Of Christ
Caesar had his throne on the hills. The
lily had her throne in the valley. In the
greatest sermon that was ever preached,
there was only one flower, and that a lily.
The Bedford dreamer, John Bunyan, en-
tered the House of the Interpreter, and was
shown cluster of flowers, ard was told to
CONSIDER the lilies"
We may study or reject other sciences at
our option. it is so with astronomy, it is so
with chemistry, it 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. Inhale their breath. Notice the
gracefulness of their poise. Hear the whis-
per of the white lips Of the Eastern and of
the red lips of the American lily.
Belonging to this royal family of lilies is
the llly of the Nile, the japan lily, the Lady
Washington of the Sierras, the Golden
Band lily, the Giant lily of Nepau, tho
Turks Cap lily, the African lily from the
Cape of Good Hope. All these lilies have
the royal blood 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 opulence of floral beauty,
seems to address us, saying: Consider the
lilies, consider the azalias, consider
the fuchsies, consider the geraniums,
consider the ivieS, consider the hya-
cinths, consider the heliotropes. consider
the oleanders." With differential and CRATE
full and intelligent and worshipful souls,
consider them. Not with insipid senti-
mentalism, or with sophomore vaporing,
but for grand and practical and everyday,
and, if need be, hOmely uses, consider them.
The flowers are the angels of the grass.
They all have voices. When the clouds
speak, they thunder; when the whirlwinds
speak, they scream; when the cataracts
speak, they roar; but when the flowers
speak, they always whisper. ] stand here
to interpret their message. What have you
to say, O ye angels of the grass, to this wor-
shpful multitude?
This morning | mean to discuss what
flowers are good for. That is my subject
What are flowers good for?
|. | remark, in the first place, they are
good for lessons of Gods prOvidentiai care.
That was Christ's first thought. All these
flowers seem to address us to-day, 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 slakes our thirst with
the dew, and God feeds lis with tho bread
of the Sunshine, and God has apparelled 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, q We of
little faithF'
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 life9 half the journey Of
life! th'ee-quarters the journey of life?
Can you not trust hiufthe rest of the wave
God docs not promise you anything like
that which the Roman Emperor had on his
table at vast expense-five hundred night
ingaes' tongues-but he has promised to
take care of you. He has promised you the
necessities, not the luxuries--bread, not
cake. If God so lUxuriantly clothes the
grass Of the field, will he not provide for you,
his living and immortal children? He will
No wonder Martin Luther always mad a
flower on his writing desk for inspiration
Thr ugh the cracks Of the prison floor a
flower grew up to cheer Picciola. Mungo
Park, the great traveller and explorer, had
his life saved by flower He sank down
in the desert 10 die, but seeing flower near
by, it suggested Gods merciful care, and he
got up with new courage and Travelled on
tc safety. / said the flowers are the angels
of the grass | add now they are the
evangels Of the sky.
I-lf you insist on asking me the ques-
ton: Wh& are flowers good forl / re-
spond, 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 II ust be covered with them A we'd
ding without flowers would be as inappro-
pirate as a wedding without music. At
such time they are for congTatulation and
prophecies Of good. SO much Of the path
way Of life is covered up wta thorns, we
ought 10 cover the beginning with orange
bios ,oms
Flowers are appropriate on such occa-
sions, for in ninety-nine out OF a hundred
cases 1t is the very best thing that could have
happened. The world may criticise and
pronounce it an inaptitude, and may lift it's
eyebrows in surprise and think it might
suggest something better; but the God who
secs the twenty forty, fifty years Of welded
life before they have begun arran9es all for
the best. So THAI flowers, in almost all
cases, are appropriate for the marriage day.
The divergences of disposition will become
correspondences, rtcklessness will become
prudence, friyolity will be turned into prac-
tIcality.
There has been many an aged widowed
soul who had a carefully locked bureau, and
in the bureau box, and in the box folded
paper, and in the folded paper a half-blown
rose, slightly fragrant, discolored, care
fully pressed. She put IL there forty or
fifty years ago. On the anniversary day Of
her wedding she will g0 to the bureau, she
will lift the box, she will unfold the paper