SOCIETY OF CENTEAL ILLINOIS. 239 



Mrs. Hemens would scarcely have spoken of any but a favorite 

 flower as she has of the water-lily. 



A flower of romance is the little forget-me-not, about which 

 several stories are told in regard to the origin of its name. 



And what could not the roses tell — of romance, intrigues, state 

 affairs and — perhaps — crimes. In fact stories such as these are 

 everywhere to l)e found. 



Flowers, undoubtedly, minister to our comfort and happiness. 

 In youth they greet us with their sunny smiles; in age they carry 

 us back, through the paths of memory, to childhoods happy days; 

 they come with a message of rest and hope to " weary-handed work- 

 men who toil all day amid the clang of hammers and the groan of 

 engines;" they cheer the exile in his wanderings; they turn the 

 thoughts from life's petty evils; they cause us to forget useless re- 

 j)inings; they tend to draw us higher and nearer moral and spiritual 

 greatness. Twas with them but yesterday we decorated the graves 

 of our fallen soldiers; graves of brave, noble men who died that 

 their country might live. What better memorial could we have for 

 such an occasion? It is for them we gather our choicest flowers. 

 For them we weave our brightest garlands. Yet, while fair hands 

 strew floral chaplets over the graves of those buried in our well- 

 kept cemeteries, the sad thought recurs to us, that there are many — 

 very many unknown — graves, of both the blue and the gray, dotted 

 here and there all through the South, that are never decorated. Un- 

 known, unmarked, uncared for, perhaps forgotten. No — that can 

 not be. He who notes the fall of the sparrow marks each grave 

 and at his biddinj? 



'n 



— " The forest violet, wild roses blossoming sweet, 



Are springing up in myriads, o'er many a turfy mound." 



And, though other wars may wage, tlieij will sleep peacefaUij 

 their long sleep 



" Under the sod and the dew, 

 "Waiting the judgment day." 



And when the muster-roll of heaven is called, each one will be 

 there. 



Truly, it was a heaven-born idea that brought about the '" Flower 

 Mission," through which flowers are carried to the children's hos- 

 ])itals in our large cities, thereby brightening the ai)artments of the 

 little sufferers and giving them, as it were, a glimpse of out-door 

 life. Many pathetic stories are told of the effect of these silent 

 ministers upon the children, and of their guiding influence to Him 

 who said: ''Let the little ones come unto me." 



It is pleasing to see the love of a little child for some ])lant it 

 can call its own. Children instinctively recognize beauty and long 

 to possess it; and it is pitiable indeed to see a little child rudely 



