ANNUAL MEETING AT LEXINGTON. 199 



also the odor of the bloom. They believed Paradise was supplied with 

 an abundance of this delicious fruit. The language of the Lotos is, 

 "Keep silent." This people must have considered the value of the 

 liOtos before the Trojan wars, after which their time seems to have 

 been spent in active fighting, and they have been thoroughly wide- 

 .awake to their greatness. 



Tennyson,.! think, it is who wrote of the Lotos eaters. 



Come, they sing, to our dreamless home, 



AVhere the bright-eyed lotos eaters roam, 



"Where glide the waters slow. 



From their native hills of snow. 



And they mimic the roaring waves of ocean 



As they gurgling wind with a wavy motion. 



Richest here are the Lotos Palms, 



And darkest the shade of their outstretched arms. 



Come and taste of the spirits calm, 



That sooths to rest the weary heart, 



And bids the shadows of grief depart. 



Sweet is the bliss of our dreaming band, 



Sweet are the joys of our favored land. 



Human passions are not here, 



Love, hate, hope nor fear. 



The Thistle, the honored flower of Scotland, means the same the 

 world over, ''I am afraid of you," and is very prolific in any soil. Man 

 seems to think it his duty to work with vigorous energy to exterminate 

 it from the face of the earth. "Poor thistle," its only friends are the 

 decorative artists, who admire the bloom and is used very extensively 

 for fancy work. The color of the blossom of the purple variety com- 

 Ijines well with many of our native flowers. 



The Shamrock belongs to Ireland, the language is "an obstacle." 

 The language of this flower seems in keeping with the fate of this un- 

 fortunate country, or its people have adapted themselves to the mean- 

 ing of their emblematic flower. 



The ancient Greeks and Romans were firm believers in Mythology, 

 they believed their gods and goddesses were devotees of certain flowers 

 and trees. Juno, the wife of Jupiter, who was the goddes of dignity 

 claimed the Lily as the flower of her destiny. 



Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, favored something with a 

 more lasting sentiment than most of her sisters. The Myrtle whose 

 language is " I only change in dying," was the vine of this lovely 

 queen. Destiny, and is admired by everyone for its dark evergreen fol- 

 iage since the time this goddess of beauty found it clinging to some 



