The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-04-03
iXNGELSOFTHEGRASS
Or fALMAoe DRAWS INSPIRATION
Esusa FROM THE FIELDS.

The Gl04uoAt EolDit orators Easter
Disc0uFss-LessonsW Which the Flew.
ers Bring to the Anxious, the Dis.
piritea anA the Bereaved.
copyright, 1889. by American Press Asso-
ciation.1
WASHINGTON, April AIN this Easter
sermon DR.. Talmage interprets the mes.
sage which the flowers bring to the anx-
ious, the dispirited and the bereaved; text,
Luke xii, 90, "If then God 80 clothe the
grass, which Is today in the field, and to-
morrow Is cast Into the oven, how much
more will be cloths you, o ye Of little
faithp"
Tho lily is the queen of Bible flowers.
The rose may have disputed her 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, oassis
and hyssop and frankincense and myrrh
and spikenard and camphor and the rose
follow the lily. Fourteen times In the
Bible Ia 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 lily. The Bedford dreamer,
John Bunyan, entered the house Of the
interpreter and was shown a cluster Of
flowers and was told to "consider the
lilies
We ,nay study or reject other sciences at
our option-it Is so with astronomy, 1t Is
SO with chemistry, 1t IL SO with jurispru.
dence, 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 graoefulness Of their
poise Hear the whisper Of the white lips
Of the eastern and the red lips of the
American lily.
Belonging to this royal family of lilies
arc the lily of the Nile, tho Japan lily, the
Lady Washington of the sierras, the Gold
en- band lily, the Giant lily of Nepaul, the
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 typ
beauty seems to address lis, saying: Con
slider the lilies, consider the azaleas, con-
slider tho fuchsias, consider the geraniums,
consider the ivies, consider the hyacinths
consider tho heliotropes, consider the OLE
andcrs" With deferential and grateful
and Intelligent and worshipful souls, con-
slider them Not with inslpid sentimen-
tallsm or with sophomore vaporing, but
f,,,
and if need DO. homely uses, consider
them.
Voices of the Flowers.
The flowers arc the angels of the grass
They all have voices When tie clouds
speak they thunder, whom the whirlwinds
speak they scream, when the cataracts
speak they roar; but when the flowers
speak they always whisper. I stand here
to interpret their message What have you
to say to us y We angels of the grass2
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 arc
good for lessons Of God proyidcntial care
That was Christ's first thought. All these
flowers seem to address US today 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 us with the
bread of the sunshine. and God has appar
eled us with more than Solomonic regal
ity. Weare prophetesses of adequate ward
robe IF God SO clothed us, the grass of
| the field, will he not much more clothe
| you. . ye of little faithp" Men and wom-
| en- of worldly anxietes, take this message
home with you'll How long has God taken
care of your Quarter Of the journey of
lifeS Half the journey Of lifeY Three
quarters the journey of life? Can you not
trust him the rest of the way? 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
| lux uriantly clothes the grass Of the field
| will he not provide for you, his living and
| Immortal children He will
No wonder Martin Luther always had
| flower on his writing desk for inspiration!
| Through 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 u flower He sank down
| in the desert to die, but seeing Il flower
| near by, it suggested Gods nerciful care,
and he got up with new courage and tray
| ecd on to safety said the flowers arc
the angels of the grass add now they
| are the cvangels of the sky.
If you ask 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 wedding without music. At such
time they are for congratulation and proph-
eces of good So much Of the pathway
OF life is covered upwth thorns, we ought
to cover the beginning with orange bios
SONS
| Flowers Always Appropriate.
| Flowers are appropriate on 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 may
lift its eyebrows in surprise and think 1t
might suggest something better but the
God who sees the 20, 40, 80 years of we'd
ded life before they have begun arranges
for the best So that flowers in almost all
cases are appropriate for the marriage day
The dlyergences of disposition will become
correspondence, recklessness will become
prudence frivolity will BIO turned into
practically.
There has been many an aged widowed
soul who had carefully locked bureau,
and in the bureau n box, and in the box
folded paper, and in tho folded paper a
half blown rose, slightly fragrant, discol-
orcd, 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 UNI
fold the paper, and to her eyes will be ex-
posed the half blown bud and the menu
cries of tho past will rush upon her, and a
tear will drop upon the flower, and sud
denly it is TRANSPORTED, and there is stir
In the dust of the anther, and 1t rounda
out, and 1t Is full Of life, and 1t begins to
trembe 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 a manly voice promises.
~ will for better or for worse" and the