Dodge City times., 1888-04-12
EASTER BLOSSOMS.
DR.. Talmage On the Lessons of the
Flowers.
The Lily the Queen of Bible FIowers-Wha
the Flowers Teach-The Wedding Day
and the Bridal Dui-EIOwers
at Funerals.

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 her throne in
modern times and won 1t; but the rose had
originally 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 hys-
sop and frankincense and myrrh and spike
nard 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 re gned 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 lily.
The Bedford dreamer, John Banyan, en-
tered the house of the interpreter and was
shown cluster of flowers and was told to
"consider the lilies"
We may study or reject other sciences at
our option. 1t is so with astronomy, 1t is SO
with chemistry, it is 50 with Jurisprudence
it is so with physiology, it is so with geolo-
gy; but the science Of botany Christ COM
mands US TO study when he saws: Con
to stem of petal. Inhale their breath. No
tice the gracefu.ness Of their poise. Hear
the whisper vi the white lips of the East
ern 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
lily, the giant lily OF Nepaul, the Turk 5
cap lily, the African lilv from the Cape of
Good Hope All these lilies have the rovat
blood in their VEINS. But | take the Lille
OF my text this mOrning as typical of all
flowers, and this Easter day, garlanded
with all this opuleucs OF floral beauty,
seems to address us, saying: Consider
the lilies, cons der the aZaeas consider
the fuchsias, consider the geraniums, con-
slider the ivies, consider the hyacinths,
consider the oleanders.n With differen-
tial aud grateful and intelligent and wor-
shipful souls, consider them Not with in
slpid sentimentalism, or with sophomore
vaporing, but for grand aud practical and
every day, 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 whisper. l stand here to inter
pref their message. What have you to
say, o ye angels of the grass, to this wor-
shipful multitude!
This morning | mean to discuss what
flowers are good for. That is nv subject:
What are flowers good for!
First remark, in the first place. they
are good for lessons of Gods providentlal
care. That was Christ's first thought All
these flowers sppn n aIlpnCS to-1oy-
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 we'll
sweep with which to draw water, but God
slakes our thirst with the dew, and God
feeds US with the bread Of the sunshine,
and God has appareled US with more than
Solomonic regalty. We are prophetesses
of iCquatc wardrobe. Ii God so clothed
US, the grass Of the field. will II Ha n It much
more clothe you. o We 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 lifee half the Journey of
lifes three-quarters the Journey of life
Can you not trust Him the rest of the wayl
God does not promise you any thing like
that which the Roman Emperor had on his
table at vast eXpense-50O nghtingales' |
tongues-but He has promised to take care |
CT you He has promised you the necessi- !
ties, not the luXurIes-bread, not cake If
God 80 luXuriantly clothes the grass of the |
field, will He not provide for you, His liv-
ing and immortal chldrens He will
No wonder Martin Luther always had a
flower on his writing desk for inspiration |
Through the cracks of the prison floor |
fl,N,.- .,l,,. II
Park, the great traveller and explorer had |
his life saved by flower. He sank |
down in the desert to die, but seeing a |
flower near by, it suggested Gods merciful |
care, and he got up with new courage and |
travelled on TO safety. 1 said the flowers
are the angels of the grass. | add now |
they are the evangels of the sky.
Second-If you insist on asking me the |
question: "What are flowers good forl'' | |
respond they are good for the bridal day.
The bride must have them on her brow,
and must have them in her hand. The mar
riage altar must be covered with them. A |
wedding withodt flowers would be "a inap-
proprIate as a wedding 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 beginning with
orange blossoms.
Flowers are appropriate Oh such occa-
sions, 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 NAV
lift its eyebrows in surprise and think it
might suggest something better, but the
God who sees the twenty, forty, fifty years
of welded life before they have begun ar
ranges all for the best. So that flowers, in
almost all cases, are appropriate for the
day. The divergence of dispo-
sition will become correspondence. reck-
lessness will become prudence, frivolity
will be turned into practcality
There has been many an aged widowed
soul who had a carefully locked bureau.
and in the bureau a box and in the box a
folded paper, and in the folded paper a
half-blown rose, slightly fragrant. dis
colored, carefully pressed. She put it there
forty or fifty years ago. On the anniyer-
sary day of her wedding she will go to the
bureau. and she will lift the box. she will
unfold the paper, and to her eyes will be
exposed the half blown bud. and the
OF the past will rush upon her.
and tear will drop upon the flower, and
II is transtgured, aud there is a
stir in the dust of the author, 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 manly voice promises: II
will for better or for worse" and the
wedding march thunders salvo of JOY at
the departing crowd, but a sight on that
day scatters the scene. Under
the deep fetched breath, the altar. the
aowers, the cougratulating groups are
scattered, and there is nothing left hut n