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LILIES. 



CHAPTER IV. 



LILIES VICTORIA REGIA : ITS DISCOVERT LOTUS OP EGYPT- 

 LILIES MENTIONED IN SCRIPTURE TULIPS CALLA LILT- 

 JACOBEAN LILT. 



" Observe the rising lily's snowy grace, 

 Observe the various vegetable race ; 

 They neither toil, nor spin, but careless grow, 

 Yet see, how warm they blush ! how bright they glow! 

 What regal vestments can with them compare! 

 What king so shining! or what queen so fair! 

 If ceaseless thus the fowls of heaven He feeds, 

 If o'er the earth such lucid robes He spreads ; 

 Will He not care for you, ye faithless, say? 

 Is He unwise ? or, are ye less than they ? " 



OW many are the charms which 

 hang around this lovely and beau- 

 tiful flower, of which it has been 

 said by the great Redeemer, that 

 " Solomon, in all his glory, was 

 not arrayed like one of these ! n 



As an emblem of purity, some 

 species are peculiarly appropriate, their 

 snow-white petals being unsullied by a stain; 

 while others are decked in all the rich and 

 glowing colors of the rainbow. 



