CHAPTER VI. 
oe 
THE bILY. 
—— 
Innocence, bride of man’s childhood, 
Innocence, chi.d beloved, is a guest from the world of the blest— 
Beautiful ; and in her hand a Lily. 
ILIES and Roses! What an exquis- 
ite combination of grandeur and 
=~ chaste beauty! The Rose that has 
“Y for ages been the all acknowledged 
Queen of Flowers, has her reign dis- 
puted only by the Queen Lily. Here 
in this genial climate, where the 
Summer zephyrs are ofttimes laden 
with their fragrance, we are induced 
to look upon them both as sister 
sovereigns of the floral world. The Rose, the emblem of 
this terrene dominion of material existence; the Lily, of 
a spiritual habitation of purity and surpassing loveliness. 
And though the Rose may still be Queen, the Lily is 
always a favorite, as it was in the most remote ages where 
it was, and is to the present day, immortalized by poets 
and painters as typical of purity and beauty. This genus 
contains over twenty species of the most beautiful of 
flowers, and no plants are capable of being cultivated in 
the Southern garden that possess so many charms; rich 
and varied in color, stately in habit, profuse in variety, 
