TIME AND THE FLOWERS. 
171 
to its pure perfection ; for here Love was ever in its 
infancy, chilled by the fear of Death, and nipped by 
the biting winds of sorrow ; and that those who 
treasured a true, unchanged, and devoted heart 
through all these trials, should hereafter enjoy an 
unbroken eternity of Love. And f Love pointed to 
the flowers, which the rains of Autumn beat down, 
and the bleak winds of Winter blew upon, showing 
how, through all these trials, they struggled and 
sprung up into a new life,—fairer than before they 
faded, sweeter than when they perished ; and that 
such should be the reward hereafter, for those who 
endured without repining; who waited and served 
in patience, whom neither prosperity nor adversity 
could change, but went on for ever loving unto the 
end, and proving that “ love is love for evermore.” 
That for all such were immortal garlands woven in 
the gardens above,— over which neither Death nor 
Time had power: for they bore within them a 
divinity that never could be affected by Time, nor 
perish, even for a brief space, like the flowers. 
