Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-04-03
:asions, for in 80 out of 100 cases it Is

pronounce it an inaptitude and may lift
| Its eyebrows in surprise ara think it
might suggest something better. but
the God who sees the 90. 40. so years of
welded life before they have begun ar
ranges for the best. So that flowers, in
almost all cases, are appropriate for the
! marriage day. The divergences of dis
| position will become correspondence,
recklessness will become prudence, fri
volity will be turned into practicality
There has been many an aged widow
| ed soul who had a carefully locked bu.
reau and in the bureau box and in
! the box a folded paper and in the folded
paper half blown rose, slightly fra
| grant, discolored. carefully pressed. She
put it there 40 or so 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 transfg-
ured, and there is 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 a half century ago
comes throbbing through the air, and
vanished faces reappear and right hands
are joined and manly voice promises,
81 will, for better or for 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 congratulate
ing groups are scattered, and there is
nothing left but a trent bling hand hold
ing a faded rosebud, which is put into
the paper and then into the box and
the box carefully placed in the bureau,
and with Sharp, sudden click of the
lock the scene is over.
A Handful of blossoms.
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. Remember the
vows, the ring on the third finger of
the left hand and the benediction of
the Gala lilies.
If you ask me the question, What
are flowers good for? I answer, they
are good to honor and comfort the obse
quies The worst cash ever made into
the side of our poor earth is the cash
of the grave. 1t is SO deep, it is SO cruel
it is so incura BILE, that it needs some
thing to cover it up. Flowers for the
casket, flowers for the hearse, flowers
for the cemetery. What a contrast be-
tween a grave in country churchyard,
with the fence broken down and the
-, IcA~ I'LL L
cattle browsing amid the mullen
stalks and the Canada thistles, and q
June morning in Greenwood, the wave
of roseate bloom rolling to the top of the
mounds and then breaking into foam
ing crests of white flowers all around
the pillows OF dust. 1t is the difference
between sleeping under rags and sleep
ing under an embroidered blanket. We
want old Mortality with his chisel to
go through all the graveyards in Chris
tendon, and while he carries a chisel
in one hand we want old Mortality to
have some flower seed in the palm of
the other hand.
"Oh, you say, 'Fthe dead don't
know; it makes no difference to them
I think you are mistaken. There are
not so many steamers and trains coming
to any living city as there are conveys |
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 plant
ed "goldenrod' and wild flowers in |
the forest and on the prairie, where no
human eye ever sees them He planted |
them there for invisible intelligences to |
look at and admire, and when invisible |
intelligences come to look at the wild !
flowers of the woods and the table |
lands, will they not make excursion and /
see the flowers which you have planted
in affectionate remembrance of them?
When I am dead, I would like to
have a handful of violets-any one
could pluck them out of the grass, or
some one could lift from the edge of
the pond water Ely-nothing rarely |
no insane display, as some
times at funeral rites, where the dis
play takes the bread from the childrens
mouths and the clothes from their
backs, but something from the great
democracy Of flowers. Rather than i'm
perial catafalaue of Russian car, ask
some one whom I may have helped by
gospel sermon or Christian deed to
bring a sprig of arbutus or handful of
China asters.
The Floral Gospel.
It 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
who has Oot tO tho opd If bio
journey. Anchor of flowers, suggesting
the Christian hope which we have as
an anchor of the soul, sure and stead