THE LILY. 249 



herself to 'a flower of the brook side' (Cant. ii. 1) ; not of a cultiva- 

 ted garden. The white lily is a flower of the field, in Persia ; and 

 some of its species may be field-flowers in Judea. Besides this, 

 there is the martagon, crown imperial, and other colored lilies. If 

 the comparison of our Saviour be to the whiteness of Solomon's 

 raiment, then, certainly, it never equalled the brilliant whiteness 01 

 a lily : if it be to the resplendence of colors, then the mixture, the 

 relief, the glow of colors, in some kinds of lilies, exceeds whatever 

 the manufacturers of stuffs for Solomon's wardrobe could compose. 

 The lily of the field was perhaps present and pointed at, when our 

 Divine Master suggested this simile : if so, it was certainly a wild 

 lily that was intended. 



Among the ornaments of the temple furniture, the lily occupied 

 a conspicuous place. The brim of the molten sea was wrought 

 with flowers of lilies (1 Kings vii. 26) ; the chapiters that were up- 

 on the tops of the pillars were of lily work, (ver. 19) and the tops 

 of the pillars were ornamented in the same manner, ver. 22. 



Sir Robert Ker Porter, describing a piece of sculpture, which he 

 discovered among the ruins of the palace of forty pillars, at Perse- 

 polis, remarks, * Almost every one in this procession holds in his 

 hand a figure like the lotos. This flower was full of meaning 

 among the ancients, and occurs all over the East. Egypt, Persia, 

 Palestine, and India, present it every where over their architecture, 

 in the hands and on the heads of their sculptured figures, whether 

 in statue or in bas relief. We also find it in the sacred vestments 

 and architecture of the tabernacle and temple of the Israelites, and 

 see it mentioned by our Saviour, as an image of peculiar beauty 

 and glory, when comparing the works of nature with the decora- 

 tions of art. It is also represented in all pictures of the salutation 

 of Gabriel to the Virgin Mary ; and, in fact, has been held in mys^ 

 terious veneration by people of all nations and times. ' It is the 

 symbol of divinity, of purity, and abundance, and of a love most 

 complete in perfection, charity, and benediction ; as in holy scrip- 

 ture, that mirror of purity, Susanna is defined Susa, which signifieth 

 the lily flower, the chief city of the Persians Bearing that name for 

 excellency. Hence the lily's three leaves in the arms of France, 

 meaneth Piety, Justice, and Charity.' So far the general impres- 

 sion of a peculiar regard to this beautiful and fragrant flower ; but 

 the early Persians attached to it a peculiar sanctity.' 



CUMMIN. 



THIS is an umbelliferous plant, resembling fennel in its appearance 

 and growing plentifully in Lesser Asia, Egypt, Syria, Spain, Italy, 

 and other hot countries. It produces a seed which has a bitterish 



