112 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



H. D. Brown — Mr. President, the program for this evening 

 says that the discussion of this question was to be opened by a 

 paper by Mrs. Lamonte, and they have brought out an eloquent 

 man to introduce the subject. But, ladies and gentlemen, I am 

 surprised that the gentleman who introduced the subject should 

 take the position he does, because he is a Republican, and ought 

 to be opposed to State rights. Now, Mr. President, the 

 position that these folks take is the rankest sort of State rights. 

 How would Iowa look and feel if she should happen to select 

 a Daisy as her flower, and Texas should happen to come out as a 

 Sunflower, and cover everything, like a great big, ugly Demo- 

 crat? No, gentlemen, we have turned over the last leaf in this 

 State rights business, by burying the man who did so much in 

 stirring up strife on State rights — Jefferson Davis — and we don't 

 want to start the discussion of State rights again. 



( 



OUE NATIONAL FLOWER. 



BY MRS. H. D. BROWN, HAMILTON. 



What shall be our National Flower is a question which has 

 been before our people for the past year or more. It is a 

 curious fact that almost every civilized country, with the excep- 

 tion of the United States, has adopted a National Flower. We 

 find, on looking into this matter more closely, that the discus- 

 sion on this subject was begun in the Boston Daily Globe, May 

 13th, 1888, by a signed editorial from the pen of Jean Kencaid. 

 Since that time the discussion has spread all over our country, 

 crossing over the Atlantic, where the English papers have taken 

 the matter up. But we, as Americans, feel the choice of a 

 National Flower should be left solely to the people of the 

 "United States of America." 



All nations have their flags and many have adopted a National 

 Flower. England has the Rose, Scotland the Thistle, Ireland the 

 Shamrock, (which is a species of white clover), France the Fleur 

 de Lis, Germany the Corn Flower, (which is a small blue flower, 

 a species of pink.) Prussia the Linden, Spain the Pomegranate, 

 Wales the Leek, Italy the Lily, Saxony the Mignonette, Egypt, 

 Lotus, Canada the Sugar Maple, Athens the Violet. The special 

 flower of the Hindoos has always been the Marigold, while the 

 Chinese proudly display the gorgeous Chrysanthemum, in which 

 there has been a great improvement the past years. There are 

 others but we will not Aveary you. It is unnecessary for me to 

 repeat that each of the foregoing has been adopted as the 

 National Flower or emblem of the nations I have mentioned. 



