Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-04-06
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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 OK
ccllcnccs Remember the vows, the ring
on the third finger of the left hand, and
the bencdiction of the Gala lilies
If you ask mo the question, What are
flowers good fory" | answer they are good
to honor and comfort the obscquics. 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 incurablc,
that it needs something to cover it up,
Flowers for the caskct, flowers for the
hcarsc, flowers for the cemetery. What a
contrast between grave in country
churchyard, with the fence broken down
and the tombstone aslant and the neigh
boring cattle browsing amid the mullen
stalks and the Canada thistlCs, and June
morning in Greenwood, the wave Of rose
ate bloom rolling to the top of the mounds
and then breaking into foaming crcsts of
white flowers all around the pillows of
dust. 1t is the difference between sleep
ing under rags and sleeping under an en-
broidcred blanket. Wewant old Mortality
with his chisel to 60 through all the grave
yards in Chrstcndom, and while he car
rios a chiscl in one hand we want old
Mortality to have some flower seed in tho
palm of the other hand.
Mission of wild Flowers.
ooh, " you say, "thc dead don't know;
IL makes no difference to them. | 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 instan
tancous and constant communication be-
tween this world and the better world do
you not suppose your departed friends
know what you do with their bodies? Why
has God planted godenrod and wild flow
ers in the forest and on the prairie, whore
no human eye ever sees themg He planted
them there for invisible intclli Ecnccs 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 aifcc-
ton remembrance of them?
Whom am dead l would like to have q
handful of violcts-any one could pluck
them out Of the grass, or some one could
lift from the edge of the pond water lily
nothing rarely expensive, no insane dis
play, rs sometimes ut funeral rites, whore
the display tales the bread from the emil
drcns' mouths and the clothes from their
backs, but something from the great de-
mocracy of flowers. Rather than imperial
catafalquc of Russian car, ask some one
whom | may have helped by gospel sermon
or Christian deed, to bring "A sprig Of ar
butus or u handful Of China aSters
1t was left for modern times TO spell re-
spcct 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, suggesting the Chris
tian hope which we have rs an anchor OF
the soul, sure and stcadfast. Cross OF
flowers, suggesting the tree on which our
sins were slain. If | had my way, would
cover up all the drcamloSS >lcepers, wheth-
er in golden handled casket or pine box,
whether a kings mausolcum or potter :
field, with radiant or aromatic arhorcs
ccncc. The Bible says, In the midst of
the garden there was scpulcher. | wish
that every sepulcher might be in the midst
+ of "a garden