Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1888-04-13
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Weekly DiEcOurses of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher.
Subject: "The Angels of the
Grass"

aohN hAsluAt tuFO1b III ul0utFl
tunes and won itI bht the rose originally
had only five petals 1t 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
phlre 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 feigned in the time
Oh Esther, in tho 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 WIS ever preached,
there was only one flower, and that lily. The
Bedford dreamer, John Bunyan, entered the
mouse OF the interpreter, and was shown a
the hliesn
We may study or reject other sciences at
our option. lt is so with astronomy, it is SO
with chemistry, it is so with Jurisprudence,
IL is SO with physiology, it is so with geology;
but the science of botany Christ commands
us US, 10 study when he says: Consider the
hlleS" Measure them from root to tip of
petal. 1nhale their breath. Notice the
gracefqlness 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 lily of the Nile, the Japan lily, the Lady
Washington of the Sierras, the Golden Band
NY, the Giant lily of Nepaul, the Turks Cap
NY, the African lily from the Cape of Good
Hope All these lilies have the royal blood
IN their veins. But l take the lilies of my
text this morning as typical of all flowers
and this Easter day, garanded with all this
opulance of floral beauty, seems to address us,
saying: Consider the lilies, consider the
azalias, consider the fuchsias, consider the
geraniums, consider the ivies, consider the
EVapInthe HpbstIap bn balio+,o,,o,, IL,
the oleanders." With differential and CRATE
ful and intelligent and worshipful souls, con-
slider them. Not with insipid sentimentalisln,
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, l stand here to inter-
pref their message. What have you to say,
oh ye angels of the grass, to this worshipful
multitudel
This morning mean to discuss what flow
ers are good for That is my subject: What
are flowers good for!
| remark, in the first place, they are
good for lessons of Gods providential 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 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 we of little
faithN
Men and women of worldly anxieties, take
this message home with you. How long has
God taken care of youl Quarter of the
journey of life? half the journey of life9
three quarters the journey of life? Can you
not trust Him the rest of theway? God does
not promise You anything like that which
the Roman Emperor had on his table at vast
expense-5OO nightingales 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 pro-
vide for you, his living and immortal chill
dren? He will
No wonder Martin Luther always had a
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.
a flower near by, it suggested Gods merciful
care, and he got up with new courage and
Travelled on to safety. said the flowers are
the angels of the grass. | add now that they
are the evangels 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
be covered with them. A wedding without
flowers would be as inappropriate as a we'd
ding without music. At such a 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 orange blossoms.
Flowers are appropriate on such occasions,
for in ninety-nine out of a hundred cases it is
the very best thing that could have happened.
The world may criticise and pronounce it an
inaptitude, and may lift its eyebrows in sur
prise and think it 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-
pirate for the marriage day. The divergences
OF disposition will become correspondence
recklessness will become prudence, frivolity
will be turned to practically.
There has been many an aged widowed
soul who had carefully locked bureau, and
in the bureau box, and in the box a folded
paper, and in the folded paper half blown
rose, slightly fragrant, discolored, carefully
pressed She put it there forty or fifty years
ago. On the anniversary day of her wedding
she will go to the bureau, she will lift the
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 throbbng through the air; and van
ished faces reappear, and right hands are
| Joined, and manly voice promises: 81 will
| for better or worse,n and the wedding march
thunders a 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
| latlng groups are scattered, and there is
nothing left but trembling hand holding 6
faded rosebud, which is put into the paper,
| and then into the box and the box carefully
| placed in the bureau, and with sharp, sud.
| den click of the lock the scene is over.
All, my friends, let not the prophecies OF
the flowers on your wedding day be false
prophecies. Be blind to each others faults
Make the most of each others excellences.
| Above all, do not both get mad at once Re
member the vows, the ring ON the third finger
of the left hand, and the benediction of the
Gala lilies.
| III. If you insist on asking me the question:
What are flowers good fora l 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 II
is SO deep, it is so cruel, it is so ncurable thai
| 1t needs something to cover it up Flowers
for the casket, flowers for the hearse, flower.
for the cemetery
| What contrast between grave in coun
try churchyard, with the fence broker
down, and the tombstone aslant, and the