it,,- $* atlies’ SPloral iaafiiaet tint! .Pictorial 
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MY BLUE-EY^ED GENTIANS. 
The weeks had been weary and full of pain. All 
through the lovely September weather I had been a 
prisoner within four close walls; and as October 
was flinging her banner of scarlet and gold upon the 
hillsides, I came slowly back to strength and freedom. 
John, my own dear blessed John, who had been so 
patient and tender through all the changes of mental 
moods and tenses caused by tortured, diseased nerves, 
persuaded me, one lovely Indian summer day r to take 
a drive with him out into the sunshine and softened, 
misty glory. But I was weak and depressed, and 
hardly knew whether, on the whole, to be glad or sorry 
I came. As we drove quietly over the bills and 
through the valleys, I was rebellious and out of tune, 
and all the beauty around me failed to bring harmony 
out of the discords. John, wise and thoughtful, did 
not directly combat my humor, but contented himself 
with a few quiet words now and then to draw my 
thoughts from myself to the lovely scene around us. 
But he did not break the spell of silence, for I felt so 
weak and useless, such a dead weight in God’s world 
of busy workers, that all the beauty jarred upon me. 
and I longed for clouds to correspond with the shadows 
in my heart. 
Suddenly John checked Neddie Norse, and, spring¬ 
ing from the carriage, soon placed in my hands a 
bunch of the loveliest blue blossoms I had ever seen. 
“Oh, what are they?” I cried. “I have it now! 
You know in Wlhttier’s ‘ Psalm ’ he says of Autumn : 
‘ Yet shall the blue-eyed gentian look 
Through fringbd lids to Heaven;' 
and see! this answers the description perfectly. They 
are very rare, and I never saw one before! ” 
John smiled at my flushed, lighted face, so different 
from the pale, listless one of a few moments before. 
“ Drive on slowly, dear,” he said, “ and I will pick a 
large bunch for you. The ground is blue with them 
a little farther into the swamp.” 
Oh, those blue-eyed gentians ! Never were larger, 
more perfect specimens found than those which came 
to us that Autumn day. Neddie seemed to under¬ 
stand the case perfectly, and walked leisurely along, 
as though waiting for flower-hunters had been the 
business of .his life, while I drank in the beauty of the 
blossoms eagerly, and studied their lovely proportions; 
noted the dainty pencilings in the heart of the flowers, 
and the exquisite fringes, which in their softness and 
grace somehow reminded me of the delicate drooping 
lashes which lay closed upon my dead baby’s face, 
years ago. 
When John returned, his hands overflowing with 
their wealth of beauty, he found my tongue verily un¬ 
loosed. and my heart stirred to its depths with enthu¬ 
siasm. 
“ Isn’t it strange enough,” I said, “ and romantic, 
too, that Whittier should tell me the name of our 
flower ? And Lucy Larcom, I think it is, says, 
-The gentian 
Hangs all her fringes out on sunny days. 1 
0 John, I am so glad I came ! ’ l And I kissed my 
precious blossoms in my delight. 
My good man’s grave and tender eyes looked at me 
with a smile in them. “Yes. darling,” he said, “I 
thank Providence, and Whittier, and all the sweet in¬ 
fluences which have proved such a potent medicine. 
Providence directed us this way, where we should find 
the flowers, and Whittier has suggested all sorts of 
happy thoughts by his vivid description. I am so 
glad that the sunshine has crept into your heart, and 
shines out of your eyes.” 
Then, as ;ve rode homeward, I confessed it all to 
John; all the rebellion and bitterness that had blinded 
my eyes to the beauty around. But now all was 
changed. It. seemed as though the golden, mellow 
day was sacred, and the calm, a Sabbath calm of 
peace. As I looked on the soft Autumn glory, Whit¬ 
tier’s “ Psalm ” still echoed in my heart, and the same 
poem which had christened my treasures, sent its 
strong, grand measures to lift and sustain my weak 
soul. 
Neddie walked slowly up a hill and through a 
grove where the dying glory of the trees strewed the 
ground, as I said ; 
“ I see it all, John. The discipline is needed, and 
yet there are compensations. Autumn, bleak and 
dreary, has its Indian Summer, its drapery of scarlet 
and gold, and even its Asters, and blue-eyed Gen¬ 
tians.” 
I bent low over the blossoms which bad been such 
eloquent teachers, and John repeated softly from this 
same grand poem, while my heart echoed his words ' 
All as God wills, who wisely heeds. 
To give, or to withhold. 
And knoweth more of all my needs 
Than all my prayers have told. 
“Enough that ble-sings undeserved 
Have marked my erring track, 
That wheresoe’er my feet Mve swerved, 
His chastening turned me back. 
“ That more and more a Providence 
Of love is understood. 
Making the springs of time and sense 
Sweet with eternal good.” 
Looking up from the flowers with swimming eyes, 
I whispered, smiling through my tears : 
“And so the shadows fall apart, 
And so the west winds play, 
And all the, windows of my heart 
I open to the day.” 
Mrs. S. B. Titterington. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
The. sketch of Woodward’s Gardens, on first page 
of Cabinet, this mouth, is one of a famous place of 
resort in San Francisco, Cal., where is gathered many 
splendid specimens of plants from all parts of the 
world. The Gardens cover several acres of ground 
aud are a great place of amusement for the families of 
the city, as many as 25,000 visitors having been 
gathered there in a single, day. 
“ Queer Acquaintances ” depicts an old man and 
woman from the country, visiting the curiosities of the 
city, and perfectly astonished with curiosity and 
amazement at the sight of a monkey, dressed in imi¬ 
tation of a soldier’s uniform. They do not understand 
what race of creatures he belongs to. 
“ The Astonished Baby ” tells its own story. Baby 
astonished to see another, puts out its hands—hut 
finds nothing, and its face shows its feeling of wonder 
and almost fear. 
PUBLISHER’S ANNOUNCEMENTS. 
Prizes for Household and Floral Articles.— The fol¬ 
lowing prizes will be given for articles on Flowers, Window Garden¬ 
ing, Housekeeping, Elegancies, and kindred subjects relating to the 
comforts, pleasures and advancement of Home Life and Household 
Taste: 
For best article on Floral Subjects.$10 00 
For second best article on Floral Subjects. 5 00 
For best article on Household Subjects . 10 00 
For second best article on Household Subjects. 5 00 
For each of next 10 best articles on Flowers: Book, 
“Window Gardening 
For each of next 10 best articles on Household Sub¬ 
jects: Books, “HouseholdElegancies,”or “Ladies’ 
Fancy Work.” 
For each of next 20 best articles (10 of each class of 
subject): Floral Cabinet free one year. 
For each of next 20 best - articles (10 of each class of 
subjects): one Silk Book Mark. 
Contributors will notice the following rules: 1. Label all articles, 
“ For Competition.” 2. Each article to fill space equal to three to 
lire foolscap pages long. 3. Articles 1 all to be forwarded to this office 
before December lOih. 4. Award of prizes will be announced in 
January number, and prizes forwarded to the fortunate, competitors 
by whristmas. 5. Articles contributed, not specially marked for re¬ 
turn. may be understood as having the desire of, writer to be used in 
Floral Cabinet, as a voluntary contribution whenever convenient. 
The object in offering these prizes is not so much to induce the 
writing of articles for sake of pecuniary remuneration, as it is to en¬ 
courage our readers and writers to contribute really useful informa¬ 
tion, which will be a help and benefit to others. All arc sharers in 
the benefit; even those who contribute articles are immensely bene¬ 
fited by reading the articles of others, whose worth is far more than 
the value of any prize. Th£ highest ideal of usefulness to which any 
of us can attain, is to try to do some good to others; and manv (if 
our readers who are confined at home can benefit the world bv writ¬ 
ing something which will help to cheer, brighten, and beautify 
another home. 
Prizes for O oicest Peeipes on Cook'ng and House¬ 
keeping Topics —Desirous of encouraging Housekeeping Topics, 
in connection with the Floral Cabinet, we offer the following 
prizes for best collection of recipes, proved by actual experience of 
our readers. We want all first-class housekeepers to compete for 
these prizes, and contribute from the stores of their knowledge. 
Send no recipe which is of ordinary value, only those which are the 
very best, superior if possible to anything yet published in any 
cook book. We do not limit the contributor to any class of recipes; 
their lists may consist of all things eatable. 
First prize, 25 best Recipes. $15 00 
Second prize. 25 best Recipes . 10 00 
Third prize. 25 best Recipes. . 5 00 
Fourth prize, to each of 25 next best collections: Any 
$1.50 book in our list. 
Fifth prize, to each of next 25best collections: Choice 
of any Silk Book Mark in our list. 
Notice.— 1. Each list should contain but 25 Recipes, not more than 
two Recipes for each class (such as cake, pie, &c.), and lists to be 
written on one side each of sheet. 2. Mark the 5 best Recipes with 
double cross, XX. 3. Mark the next 5 best Recipes with single 
cross, X. 4. All lists to be sent to this office by December 10th. 
Prizes to be awarded January 1st, and.names of successful comp, ti¬ 
ters published in January number Cabinet. The Prize Collections 
of Household Recipes will be published each month in the Floral 
Cabinet for 1877, and the series will alone be worth to each house¬ 
keeper five times the price of the Floral Cabinet. 
To Church Fairs. —Ladies, and others interested in Church 
Fairs, are invited to write to us for Special Terms of our Books. 
Papers, and Silk Book Marks, wherein we donate certain portion of 
the proceeds of sales to each Fair. Write for “ Special Terms foi 
Fairs.” 
Prizes for .Largest Club Trial Trip Subscribers.— To 
Club Agents who will send us as many names of friends, as Trial 
Trip Subscribers, to Cabinet, three months, we will give following 
prizes: 
To largest list—First prize, Webster’s Unabridged Diction¬ 
ary. Price, $12.00. 
To second largest list—Second prize, Set household books: 
“Window Gardening,” '■ Household Elegancies," “La¬ 
dies’ Fancy Work,” “Every Woman her own Flower 
Gardener.” 
Prize to be awarded January 1st. Everybody invited to compete 
Probably a list of SO to 50 would v, in the first prize. 
Opinions. —As our readers renew their subscriptions, we would 
be pleased to hear them express their opinion of the Cabinet. A 
good natured suggestion, how to make it better, will always be kindly 
received. Some topics, which we may not yet have discussed, may 
be desired We would also like the views of our readers, whether 
the Cabinet should give more of its space to home matters than it 
now does; also, whether readers wduld like an enlargement of the 
paper to four or eight pages more, with price at $1.50 per year. 
There are many cheap journals published at less price, but our read¬ 
ing matter is almost wholly original; theirs almost wholly selections, 
and no illustrations. If any improvement can he made, or any 
change more acceptable, we will gladly do it. 
Chromos for Sale. —To trial trip subscribers we will sell copies 
of our chromos for back years for following prices: 
“•My Window'Garden,” - - - - - $0 30 
“ Gems of the Flower Garden”. - 30 
Gardening —All interested in gardening, floriculture, plants, 
trees, shrubs, fruits, greenhouses, 4c., will find the Gardeners' 
Monthly and Horticulturist very desirable. Only 30 cents on 
trial threemonths, $2.10 per year. 
Hew Story, “Winifred’s Will.” —We have engaged a 
charming new story, “‘Winifred’s Will,” to begin this month, and 
continue during the entire fall and may be a large portion of next 
year. It has been written specially for the Cabinet, by Augusta 
Earned, one of the most pleasing writers of The Independent] and 
is, we are confident, hound to be considered one of the greatest at¬ 
tractions of our paper. 
A Compliment. —An English gentleman, calling at our office 
and purchasing many copies of the Cabinet to send back to his lady 
triends in Europe, said that the Flokal Cabinet was the purest and 
handsomest paper he had ever seen in England or America. 
Teacher’s Position Wanted. —To any family or school 
needing the services of a competent teacher, we can recommend a 
lady (late principal of public schools in a prominent place) who has 
excellent ability and recommendations. Any person knowing of a 
vacancy, or one soon to occur, will confer a favor Dy addressing 
Editor The Floral Cabinet. 
