MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. o21 



And raising my gun in a twinkling, 



I fired, and my aim was too true ; 

 For a moment the little thing fluttered, 



Then off to the bushes it flew. 



1 followed it quickly and softly, 



And there to my sorrow I found, 

 Kigbt close tq its nest full of young ones, 



The little bird dead on the ground ; 



Poor birdies ! for food they were calling ; 



But now they could never be fed, 

 For the kind mother bird who loved them, 



Was lying there bleeding and dead. 



[ picked up the bird in my anguish, 



1 stroked the wee motherly thing 

 That could never fted its dear young ones, 



Nor dart through the air on swift wing ; 



And I made a firm vow in that moment. 



When my heart with such sorrow was stirred. 

 That never again in my lifetime 



Would I shoot a poor innocent bird ! 



And now ivTatiire's third missionary comes before onr mental vision. 



Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers 



That lately sprang and stood 

 In brighter light and softer airs, 



A beauteous sisterhood ? 



The south wind searches for the flowers, 



Whose fragrance late he bore, 

 And sighs to find them in the wood 



And by the stream no more. 



Flowers come to a sin-sick world with their chaste loveliness to 

 point upward to a sinless but forgiving Creator. They gladden our 

 eyes with their delicate tints or magnificent coloring ; delight our 

 nostrils with their fragrance, and excite our wonder and admiration at 

 the endless variety of form and color displayed by them. They are 

 the graceful and appropriate medium by which we declare our pleasure 

 at the happiness or good fortune of a friend ; by the same sweet token 

 we express our sympathy with him in times of trouble and sorrow. 

 Flowers bedeck the blushing bride, and lie clasped in her pale hands 

 when, after weary years ofttimes cheered by their beauty and fragrance, 

 she rests undisturbed by the turmoil of life, and answers not the call 

 of her loved onep. They festoon the halls of mirth, and soften the 

 gloom of the house of death. They herald a birth ; they cheer the 

 weary pilgrim on his way to that land where flowers shall bloom in 

 everlasting beauty, and in themselves furnish a familiar example of 

 the resurrection. 



