Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1899-05-12


ordinance. They have been fatally
wounded with the knife that cut them.
They are bleeding their life away; they
are dying now. The fragrance in the
air is their departing and ascending
| spirits. Oh, YES! Flowers are almost
human. Botanists tell us that flowers
breathe, they take nourishment, they
eat, they drink. They are sensitive,
They have their likes and dislikes, They
sleep, they wake. They live in families.
They have their ancestors and their de-
scendants, their birth, their burial,
their cradle, their grave. The zephyr
rocks the one and the storm digs the
trench for the other. The cowslip must
leave its gold the lily must leave its
silver, the rose must Leave its diamond
necklace of morning dew, Dust to
dust. So we come up, so we prosper, we
spread abroad, we die, as the flower
as the flower!
Change and decay in all around see;
| o Thou who changest not, abide with me!
Flowers also afford mighty symbol
ism of Christ, who compared Himself to
the ancient queen, the lily, and the mod
ern queen, the rose, when He said. II
the valley" Redolent like the one,
humble like the other. Like both, APP
propriate for the sad who want sympa-
thizers and for the rejoicing who want
banqueters. lowering over the mar
riagc ceremony like wedding bell or
folded like n chalet on the pulseless
heart of the dead. o Christ, LET the per-
fume of Thy name be waited all around
the earth-lily and rose, lily and rose
until the Wilderness crimson into gar
den and the round earth turn into one
great bud of immortal beauty laid
against the warm heart of God. Snatch
down from the worlds banners eagle
and lion and put on lily and rose, lily
and rose.
But, my friends, flowers have no
grander use than when on Easter morn
ing we celebrate the termination of
Christ from the catacombs. The flowers
spell resurrection. There is not nook
or corner in all the building but is
touched with the incense. The women
carried spices to the tomb of Christ,
and they dropped spices all around
about the tomb, and from these spices
have grown all the flowers of Easter
morn. The two white-robed angels
that hurled the stone away from the
: door of the tomb hurled it with such
violence down the hill that it crushed
in the door of the worlds sepulcher, and
millions of dead shall come forth.
lIoweverlabyrinthine the mausoleum,
however costly the sarcophagus, how
ever INTELLECTUALLY grand the necrop-
{ oils, however beautifully parterred the
family gounds we want them all
broken up by the Lord of The resurrec-
! ton. The forms that we laid away
: with our broken hearts must rise again.
Father and mother, they must come
out. Husband and wife, they must come
out. Brothers and sisters, they must
come out Our darling children, they
must come out. The eyes that with
trembling fingers we closed must open
in the luSter of resurrection morn
The arms that we folded in death must
joins ours in embrace of reunion. The
beloved voice that was hushed must be
5 rctuned. The beloved form must come
up without IFS infirmities, without its
fatigues. 1t must come up. Oh, how
| long il seems to some of YOU Waiting
waiting for the resurrection. How
I long. how long! make for your broker
| hearts to-day a cool, soft bandage Of
l lilies. ! comfort you this day with the
} thought of resurrection.
| When Lord Nelson was buried in ST
5 Paul's cathedral in London, the heart
of all England was stirred. The pro
I cessiou passed on amid the sobbing of q
G nation. There were 30 trumpeters sta
: toned at the door of the cathedral, wifi
l instruments of music in hand, waiting
: for the signal and, when the iIlustri
Gus dead arrived at the gates of st. Paul!
cathedral. these 30 trumpeters gave ONT
i united blast and then all was silent
c Yet the trumpets did not wake The
! dead. lie slept right on. But have t.
: tell you. what so trumpeters could no
: do for one man, one trumpeter will d.
e for all nations. The ages have rolled
I on. and the clock Of the worlds destin,
: strikes 0, 10, II, IL, and time shall be nj
I longer!
: Behold the archangcl lowering! III
c takes the trumpet, points it this way
i puts its lips to his lips and then blow
Il one long, loud, terrific, thunderous, re
Look, look. They rise! The dead-th
u dead. some coming forth from the fam
u lily vault some from the city cemetery
i some from the country graveyard
u Here a spirit is joined 10 its body, an
d there another spirit is Joined to anothe
: body, and millions of departed spirit
e are asserting the bodies, and then re
c clothing themselves in forms radian
: for ascension.
e The earth begins to burn-the Dor
r fire of a great victory, All ready no,
II for the procession Of reconstructed HI
3 manity! Upward and away Chris
T. leads, and all the Christian dead follow
+ battalion after battalion nation afte
&c nation. Up, up On, on! Forward, y
l. ranks of God Almighty! Lift up you
i heads, We everlasting gates and let tn
conquerors come in! Resurrection
u Resurrection!
II And so twist all the festal flowers c
# the chapels and cathcdrals of all Chri:
IS tendon into one great chain, and wit
l. that chain | bind the Easter mornin
&c of 1899 with the closing Easter of til