MISCELLAXEOCS INTELLIGENXE. 215 



but remembiT that you have that within which must exist for ever, and which 

 may exist in unt'adiu;; beauty. 



Whilst making these few reflections, lo ! the flowers liave drooped ; the too 

 ardent sun has looked even the bold and llauntiu<; tulip out of countenance; 

 and turning from its prostrate honors to find a more agreeable resting place 

 fur the eye, it is cau:,'lit and fixed by the miniature charms of the lily of the 

 valley. With that flower I have associations the most tender and afl'ectiug. 

 I knew a young and beautiful female, on whom consumption had fixed its unre- 

 laxing grasp, and who, even when pressing her last pillow, evinced her admi- 

 ration of the beautiful works of nature. I saw her a little before her death; 

 she held in her hand a little bunch of the lily of the valley, and the tenacity 

 with which she pressed this faint emblem of life seemed to indicate that she 

 would fain have lingered here a little longer, had it been the will of Him in 

 whom however she trusted with child-like confidence. The lily -looking baud 

 was found to retain the little flower even alter life had fled : 

 " Bring flowers for tlie grave of the early ileaJ." 



Why are we attracted to yon bed of lowly greun ! lu vain the eye scans 

 its surface: uot one blossom repays its scrutiny. 



"The violet is modesty, for it conreals itself;" 

 — But it creates around and above it an atmosphere so pure, so salubrious, 

 that we are instinctively drawn into its vicinity. Such too is the eft'cct of 

 humble excellence, for neither the obscurity of birth or of fortune can hide 

 from those who appreciated virtue, the difl'usive influence of active bene- 

 volence. 



The queen of flowers comes in all its beauty, fragrance, and variety, be- 

 stowing on the season of its triumph a charm of which no language can give 

 an adequate idea. In every direction to which we turn, we are welcomed by 

 an immense host of smiling rosy faces, that are waiting to be noticed and ad ■ 

 mired, yet 



" The rose in moilesty, thongh it revpals itself, 

 For it a blush betrays." 



We may compare to it the moral courage of him who dares, if duty calls, 

 to present himself to the public eye, while at the same time his native difli- 

 dence betrays itself in the deep crimson of his brow. 



The rose is a discreet visitor; it rushes not suddenly into our presence ; its 

 approach is so gradual, its stay so agreeably protracted, and its adieus so cor- 

 dial, that we are scarcely aware of the thousand annual guests who are wait- 

 ing admission, and who succeed each other so rapidly as to leave but little 

 time for admiration, and none for regret. We are disposed to jjass them over 

 with as little thought or comment as we bestow on the artless calls of the ephe- 

 meral world of fashion. 



How is the gardener employing himself in yonder border of pinks? Oh, 

 man, man ! in what have tiiose poor unfortunates ofl(.-nded, that you tear them 

 thus unrelentingly from their parent earth, and condemn them to exile or to 

 death ! Alas ! their only ofi'ence is a too great simplicity. In the gardener's 

 eye singleness is criminal. Forgive, forgive, consistency ; if I approve in prac- 

 tice what I condemn in principle, and if, whilst 1 execrate the cruelty and in- 

 justice of the decision, I admire the taste which dictated it. 



The king of flowers ai)proaehes, for as the rose possesses all the distinctive 

 traits of royalty, the majesty of beauty, of modesty, and of sweetness, the 

 dahlia is no less distinguished by the more masculine characteristics of luag- 

 uificence, munificence, lofty grandeur and su))reinacy. 



Cut who are those rustic strangers that ajipear so evidently from home in 

 the royal presence '. Are they intrniJers, or liave they been brouglit hither lo 

 gratify imperial curiosity? .Shrink not, forest, meadow, and hedge-Uoni 

 flowers ! ^'on Lobelia cardinalis, Aselepius, Orchis, and Kui)atoiium, pos- 

 sua more value in the eye of science than all those monsters which have fat- 

 teurd c)ii the gardener's store of luxuries. And you, humble being, who have 

 been tlinjwn by accident, or drawn by compulsion, into the presence of him 

 who calls himself your superior, hieiieh not, but look boldly, yet unpresu- 

 mingly, in the face of man, your fellow; and if frowned upon, supjuirt your- 

 iitlf with the idea that you are of more esteem in the eye o( Him who " J'>dg- 

 eth not as man judgelh," than lliu proudest nionareli whi> ever wielded an 

 unju»l ici-plru. li.oju Vkhnai,. 



