CONIFER.E. 219 



tlien buricil it. Some time after, the Kin^ dug the pool of Bethosila on the spot. 

 This poud at ouco acquired miraculous properties, aud healed the sick who flocked 

 to it. The water owed its virtues to the beam whicli lay beneath it. 



" When tlio time of the Crucifixion of Christ drew nigh, this wood rose to tho 

 surface, and was brought out of the water. Tho executioners, when seeking a 

 suitable beam to serve for the cross, found it, and of it made the instrument of deatli 

 of the Saviour. After the Cruciti.xion it was buried on Calvary, but it was found 

 by the Empress Uelena, mother of Constantino the Great, deep in the ground with 

 two others. May 3, 328 ; Christ's was distinguished from those of tho thieves by 

 a sick woman being cured by touching it. Tile same event is, however, ascril)ed bj- 

 a Syriac MS. in tlie liritisli Jluseum, umiuestiouably of the fifth century, to I'rotonice, 

 wife of tlic Emperor Claudius. It was carried away b\- Chosroes, King of Persia, 

 on the plundering of Jerusalem; but was recovered by Heraclius, who defeated him 

 in battle, Sept. Htli, 615 : a day that has ever since been commemorated as the 

 Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. 



" Such is the Legend of the Cross, one of the wildest of modiicval fancies. It is 

 founded, though iincotixoioudi/, on this truth, thiit the Cross teas a sacred sign long before 

 Christ died upon it." 



The last sentence is the key, not only to this but manv other legends, ceremonies, 

 and symbols, which, although now called Christian, and as I have said purified of their 

 original significance, are yet, all the same, built-up of materials originally symboli/.iug 

 what we should terra low and sensuous ideas. This may seem a truism to those who 

 arc well read on the subject; but owing to a mistaken reticence, it is by no means 

 so widely known as, in the interest of abstract truth,' it deserves to be. 



Sub-class ANGIOSPERMS. 



Ornles produced in a close ovary, fertilized by the pollen-tube traversing a 

 stigmatic tissue, to reach the cavity of tho ovary- and tho embryo-sac of the ovule. 



Divisioa MONOCHLAMYDEiE or APETALOUS PLANTS. 



Perianth really or apparently simple, the lobes or segments all cal3cine, or 

 herbaceous, or all petaloid or scarious, or entu-ely wanting.- 



1 The relationstiip subsistin;^ between Religious which still possess a living force (the Christian 

 of course included) and those which may be termed 'dead,' from their having, wholly, or in part, lost 

 their hold on men's minds, is not oidy a curious subject for the consideration of all thou<Thtfnl men, but 

 is an essential element in the History of the Science of lU'ligion, and the laws regulating its development. 

 Yet how carefully is any discussion of this momentous (lucstion, or I may even say any allusion to its 

 existence, avoided by religious professors aud teachers, as though they would imply that their particular 

 Eeligion sprang into being as spontaneously and miraculously as Minerva did from the head of Jupitir ! 

 And yet our aforesaid religious teachers are ever complaining that they cannot command the sainc; 

 respect for their utterances they formerly did ! Jly clenca) friends, tile miud of man has not stood still 

 all these years, and hence you inevitably find yourselves (with some bright exceptions) in the rear, and 

 clinging to the skirts of the intelligence of the age rather than leading aud directing it ; but if you would 

 only take to heart the words of a modern poet, you wotdd once again not lack attentive and respectful 

 audiences (W.!'.) 



" Leave your dry unfruitful dogmas, Faith unre:isoning. Credence blind; 

 All the little narrow circles, where you wander self-contined. 

 1'la.shing in the mire and puddle of your small sectarian pond, 

 Heedless of the mighty ocean and the boundless Ueaven beyond. 



Is there nothing more to ])reach of than the letter of the Law ? 

 Nothing left to feed tlu' I'eople, but the barren husk and straw ? 

 Kothing for the Unbelievers in a creed their souls disclaim 

 But Eternity of tonueut, and the Unconsuaiing Flame ? 



Nobler themes than these invite you, if you'd throb as throbs the Time, 

 And would speak to hearts responsive, words more Unman, more Sublime, 

 God is I,ove, and Love Eternal. All things change, but nothing dies. 

 Find this Gospel, aud expound it, in the liiblo of the skies!" — Gamaliel Brown. 



' Exceptions. A double lloral envilope occurs in some raroiiijeltia, Euphorbiaeece, liajjlesiaeece, 

 Loranthaee<c, Santalticeic, and I'odosttmatxa:. 



