Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-12-01
Grass.

Next in importance to the divine
profusion Of water, light and air, those
three great physical facts which render
existence possible, may be reckoned the
universal beneficence Of grass. Exag-
gerated by tropical beats and vapors to
the gigantic cane congested with its sac
charine secretion, or dwarfed by polar
rigors to the fibrous hair OF northern
solitudes, embracing between these ex-
tremes the maize With It's resolute PEN
mons, the rice plant OF southern swamps,
the wheat, rye, barley, oats and other
cereals, no less than the humber ver-
dure Of hillside, pasture, and prairie IN
the temperate zone, grass is the most
widely distributed of all vegetable be-
ings, aud is at once the type Of our life
and the emblem of our mortality. Ly-
ing in the sunshine among the butter
cups and dandelions Of May, scarcely
higher in intelligence than the minute
tenants of that mimic wilderness, our
earliest recollections are of grass; and
when the ftful fever is ended and the
foolish wrangle of the market and the
forum is closed, grass heals over the
scar which our descent into the bosom OF
the earth has made, and the carpet of
the infant becomes the blanket of the
dead.
"As he reflected upon the brevity OF
human life, grass has been the favorite
sy mbol of the moralis', the chosen
theme of the philosopher. All flesh is
grass said the prophet; MY days are as
the grass sighed the troubled patri-
arch; and the pensive Nebuchadnezzsr,
in bis penitential mood, exceeded even
these, and as the sacred historian in;
forms US, did eat grass like an OK.
Grass is the forgiveness OF nature-her
constant benediction. Fields trampled
with battle, saturated with blood, torn
with the ruts of cannon, grow green
again with grass, and carnage is forgot.
ten. Streets abandoned by traffic be
come grass grown like rural lanes, and
are obliterated. Forests decay, harvests
perish, flowers vanish, but grass 10 i'm
mortal. Beleaguered by the sullen
hosts of winter II withdraws into the
impregnsble fortress of it's subterranean
vitality, and emerges upon the first soic-
itation of spring. Sown by the winds,
by wandering birds, propagated by the
6uOtl6 uOTtlCuItuIc VI tu0 OiOu0uto
which are its ministers and servants, 1t
softens the rude outline Of the world.
Its tenacious fbers hold the earth in its
place and prevent its soluble compon-
ents from washing into the wasting sea.
1t invades the solitude of deserts, climbs
the inaccessible slopes and forbidding
pinnacles of mountains, modifies eli.
mates and determines the history, char
acter, and destiny of nations. Unob-
trusive aud patient, 1t has immortal Wig
or and aggression. Bsnished from the
thoroughfare and the field It bides its
time to return, and when vigilance 10 re-
laxed or the dynasty mas perished it
silently resumes the throne from which
it has been expelled, but which 1t never
abdicates. 1t bears no blazonry OF
boom to charm the senses with fra
GRANGE or splendor, but it's homely hue
is more enchanting than the lily or the
rose. 1t yields NO fruit In earth or air,
and yet should its harvest fail for a
single year famine would depopulate the
world. Hon. John j. Ingalls.