MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS: 395 



I have often thought what a dreary waste this earth of ours would 

 be without flowers ; we would have nothiug to look forward to in the 

 coming of spring, and life would almost be a burden to us with nothing 

 to brighten our pathway. And as we are trudging along life's rugged 

 journey we may almost sink in despair and wish for something to di- 

 vert our thoughts from our troubles, and nothing will accomplish this 

 half so well as a flower. When we but look at it we forget our troubles 

 in our ardent admiration for the beautiful object so free from care, and 

 then how much better we feel ; our load seems lighter to bear and life 

 grows stronger within us as their subtle perfume, like incense from 

 heaven, floats around us. The earth receives upon her bosom, the 

 falling blossom but leaves to us the undying fragrance of our crushed 

 immortelles. It is the delicate and sacred work of the Christian poet 

 so to concentrate and embody this ethereal sweetness that we of duller 

 sense may in fellowship with him receive and enjoy it. 



In our zone flowers come just often enough and stay with us just 

 long enough to be better appreciated during their stay than where \eg- 

 etation remains green and flowers bloom throughout the year. As we 

 see their tender buds expand we watch them with childlike credulous 

 affection and are lead to think of them as emblems of the bright and 

 better land. We should, too, while they last, do all the good with 

 them we possibly can. 



One of the most touching methods in which flowers are disposed 

 of is that in which the surviving heroes of the late civil war honor 

 their sleeping comrades, by strewing their graves with flowers, thus 

 typifying their glorious resurrection which must surely follow the en- 

 nobling labor they performed while fighting for their country. Surely 

 there can be no more sacred use for flowers than strewing them upon 

 the grave of those we love. They are the most fitting emblems of the 

 fair body hidden below, which once bloomed on earth, then perished 

 as the earthy. 



I have often wondered if there was a relation existing between 

 flowers and human beings, and have several times seen species which 

 I imagined reminded me of certain jiersons I had met. 



I will present a few of those I have particularly noticed and see if 

 you do not see the same resemblance. First, there is the tall, majestic 

 sunflower which follows the sun throughout its entire course during 

 the day, and which at a distance appears so beautiful. We find "that 

 distance lends enchantment to the view," for upon closer examina- 

 tion we find it to be composed of the very coarsest of material. 



It reminds me very much of an old bachelor with such a broad, 



