90 
THE HAWTHORN. 
thing like happiness, consigned them to the 
grave, with this symbol of their hope and be¬ 
lief that it was but the portal through which 
all entered into an existence which should 
know neither sorrow nor night;—a portal 
through which they themselves should pass 
and rejoin them, never to separate. We are 
not, however, wholly dependent upon the 
ancients for their wedding Hope and the 
Hawthorn ; for does not its fair blossoms tell 
us “ sweet spring has come, and has gone, 
and introduced summerand the reign of 
storms, and the nipping blast of the hoar¬ 
frost is past, the buds and blossoms will not 
now be destroyed, and a vigorous hope is now 
in the ascendant; the fruits of the earth, 
which are now promised, will probably be 
realized; Hope is now triumphant, unaided 
by that intoxication which shuts his eyes to 
difficulties, but, under the guidance of rea¬ 
son, who alas ! is too seldom his companion. 
The Hawthorn bloom is, then, a most appro¬ 
priate emblem to express the sentiment. 
