12 



injury or annoyance to others; the pleasure it im- 

 parts is harmless and pure; it is one in which the 

 poor may indulge as well as the rich, and thai 

 affords an unceasing source of enjoyment, without 

 emulation, contention or ill-will," to which I may 

 add, we give flowers to the bride, for they are the 

 loveliest type of marriage; we lay them on the coffin 

 as the most touching emblem of death, and we 

 find in their decay and their renewal a symbol of the 

 resurrection. 



Mary Ilowitt, in one of the most felicitous of her 

 poems, answers the question, What is the use of the 

 flowers V and with her lines I will close 1113' remarks: 



Our outward life requires them not. 



Why, therefore, had they birth— 

 To minister delight to man 



And beautify the earth ? 

 To comfort man, to whisper hope 



Whene'er his faith is dim. 

 For who so careth for the flowers 



Will care much more for him. 



^ 



J@—Zi— «L 



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