1.There it stood,in its little green vase,on a light ebony stand in the window of the drawing-room. The rich satin curtains,with their costly fringes,swept down on either side of it,and around it glittered every rare and fanciful trifle which wealth can offer tluxury,and yet that simple rose was the fairest of them all. Spure it looked,its white leaves just touched with that delicious,creamy tint peculiar tits kind: its cup sfull,sperfect,its head bending,as if it were sinking and melting away in its own richness.-Oh! when did ever man make anything tequal the living,perfect flower!
2.But the sunlight that streamed through the window revealed something fairer than the rose-a young lady reclining on an ottoman1,whwas thus addressed by her livelier cousin: "I say,cousin,I have been thinking what you are tdwith your pet rose when you gtNew York;as,tour consternation,you are determined tdo. You know it would be a sad pity tleave it with such a scatter-brain as I am. I love flowers,indeed,-that is,I like a regular bouquet,cut off and tied up,tcarry ta party;but as tall this tending and fussing which is needful tkeep them growing,I have ngifts in that line."
3."Make yourself easy as tthat,Kate," said Florence,with a smile;"I have nintention of calling upon your talent;I have an asylum2 in view for my favorite."
1Ottoman,a stuffed seat without a back.2Asylum,a place of refuge and protection.
4."Oh,then you know just what I was going tsay. Mrs. Marshall,I presume,has been speaking tyou;she was here yesterday,and I was quite pathetic1 upon the subject;telling her the loss your favorite would sustain,and sforth;and she said how delighted she would1 Pathetic,moving tpity or grief.
be thave it in her greenhouse;it is in such a fine state now,sfull of buds. I told her I knew you would like tgive it ther;you are sfond of Mrs. Marshall,you know."
5."Now,Kate,I am sorry,but I have otherwise engaged." "Whom can it be to? you have sfew intimates here." "Oh,it is only one of my odd fancies."
"But dtell me,Florence."
"Well,cousin,you know the little pale girl twhom we give sewing?"
6."What! little Mary Stephens? How absurd,Florence! This is just another of your motherly,old-maidish ways;dressing dolls for poor children,making bonnets,and knitting socks for all the little dirty babies in the neighborhood. I dbelieve you have made more calls in those twvile,ill-smelling alleys behind our house than ever you have in Chestnut Street,though you know everybody is half dying tsee you;and now,tcrown all,you must give this choice little bijou1 ta seamstress girl,when one of your most intimate friends,in your own class,would value it shighly. What in the world can people in their circumstances2 want with flowers?"
7."Just the same as I do," replied Florence,calmly. "Have you not noticed that the little girl never comes without looking wistfully at the opening buds? And don’t you remember,the other morning she asked me sprettily if I would let her mother come and see it,she was sfond of flowers?"
8."But,Florence,only think of this rare flower standing on a table with ham,eggs,cheese,and flour,and stifled in that close little room,where Mrs. Stephens and her daughter manage twash,iron,and cook."
9."Well,Kate,and if I were obliged tlive in one coarse room,and wash,and iron,and cook,as you say;if I had tspend every moment of my time in toil,with nprospect from my window but1Bijou,a jewel.
2Circumstances,condition in regard tworldly property.
a brick wall and a dirty lane,such a flower as this would be untold enjoyment tme."
10."Pshaw,Florence;all sentiment1! Poor people have ntime tobe sentimental. Besides,I don‘t believe it will grow with them;it is a greenhouse flower,and used tdelicate living."
11."Oh,as tthat,a flower never inquires whether its owner is rich or poor;and poor Mrs. Stephens,whatever else she has not,has sunshine of as good quality as this that streams through our window. The beautiful things that God makes are his gifts tall alike. You will see that my fair rose will be as well and cheerful in Mrs. Stephens’s room as in ours."
12."Well,after all,how odd! When one gives tpoor people,one wants tgive them something useful-a bushel of potatoes,a ham,and such things."
13."Why,certainly,potatoes and ham must be supplied;but,having ministered tthe first and most craving wants,why not add any other little pleasures or gratifications we may have it in our power tbestow? I know there are many of the poor whhave fine feeling and a keen sense of the beautiful,which rusts out and dies because they are tohard pressed tprocure it any gratification. Poor Mrs. Stephens,for example;I know she would enjoy birds,and flowers,and music as much as I do. I have seen her eye light up as she looked upon these things in our drawing. room,and yet not one beautiful thing can she command2. From necessity,her room,her clothing,- all she has,must be coarse and plain. You should have seen the almost rapture3 she and Mary felt when I offered them my rose."
14."Dear me! all this may be true,but I never thought of it before. I never thought that these hard-working people had any ideas of taste4!"
1Sentimental,showing an excess of sentiment or feeling. 2 Command,tclaim.
3Rapture,extreme joy or pleasure,ecstasy.
4Taste,the faculty of discerning beauty or whatever forms excellence.
15."Then why dyou see the geranium or rose scarefully nursed in the old cracked teapot in the poorest room,or the morning-glory planted in a box and twined about the window? Dnot these show that the human heart yearns1 for the beautiful in all ranks of life? You remember,Kate,how our washerwoman sat up a whole night,after a hard day‘s work,tmake her first baby a pretty dress tbe baptized in." "Yes,and I remember how I laughed at you for making such a tasteful little cap for it."
16."True,Kate,but I think the look of perfect delight with which the poor woman regarded her baby in its new dress and cap was something quite worth creating;I dbelieve she could not have felt more grateful if 1 had sent her a barrel of flour."
17."Well,I never thought before of giving anything tthe poor but what they really needed,and I have always been willing tdthat when I could without going far out of my way."
18."Ah! cousin,if our heavenly Father gave tus after this mode,we should have only coarse,shapeless piles of provisions lying about the world,instead of all this beautiful variety of trees,and fruits,and flowers,"
19."Well,well,cousin,I suppose you are right,but have mercy on my poor head;it is tosmall thold smany new ideas all at once,sgon your own way;" and the little lady began practicing a waltzing step before the glass with great satisfaction.
1Yearns,longs,is eager.