EASTER LILY 



1909 



EAST INDIA COMPANY 



first Christians it was considered a continua- 

 tion of the feast of the Passover at which the 

 paschal lamb, symbol of Christ, was sacrificed. 



The Annual Date. The proper time for cele- 

 brating Easter was long in dispute in the 

 Christian Church. The Christians of the East 

 first held Easter on the fourteenth of Nisan 

 (corresponding to April), the day on which the 

 Jewish Passover fell (see PASSOVER). The ma- 

 jority of the Church, however, celebrated it on 

 the Sunday after that day. Finally the Coun- 

 cil of Nice, in A. D. 325, fixed Easter as Sunday, 

 the first one after the full moon which ap- 

 pears on or next after March 21. By "full 

 moon" is meant the fourteenth day of the 

 calendar moon. If the moon is full March 

 21, and should that day be Saturday, March 

 22 would be Easter; that is the earliest date 

 on which it could fall. The latest date for 

 Easter would be April 25; that would be the 

 date if the moon should full on Monday, 

 March 20. M.S. 



EASTER LILY, a fragrant, trumpet-shaped 

 flower of waxy whiteness. It stands out hori- 

 zontally on stately stems from a background 

 of abundant foliage, and not only graces church 



THE EASTER LILY 

 O Risen Christ ! O Easter Flower ! 

 How dear Thy Grace has grown ! 

 From East to West, with loving power, 

 Make all the world Thine own. 



PHILLIPS BROOKS : The Easter Flower. 



altars at Easter time but decorates the monu- 

 ments of soldiers on Memorial Day and lends 

 its beauty to Christmas festivals. 



Until early in the nineteenth century the 

 Madonna lily of Southern Europe was used 

 by American florists for the Easter lily. But 

 its blooming was so uncertain, blossoms often 

 not appearing until several weeks after Easter, 

 that new species were introduced from China, 



Japan and Bermuda. The Japanese and Chi- 

 nese species, when grown in the open ground, 

 bloom later than the Bermuda variety, their 

 flowers appearing in June or July. Raised in 

 hothouses, however, they can be forced for 

 Easter blooming, and the flowers are more 

 substantial than those of the Bermuda lily. 



It will be noticed that Easter lilies offered 

 by florists are usually without anthers and 

 often without stamens. Those parts of the 

 flower are removed to keep the blossom white 

 and free front! pollen; fertilization being pre- 

 vented, the flower lives longer than otherwise 

 would be the case. 



EASTHAMPTON, MASS., a manufacturing 

 town in Hampshire County, situated southwest 

 of the geographical center of the state, four 

 and one-half miles southwest of Northampton. 

 The New York, New Haven & Hartford and 

 the Boston & Maine railways provide trans- 

 portation service, and trolley lines extend north 

 and south. The first settlement was made in 

 1665; it was incorporated as a district in 1785 

 and as a town in 1809. In 1916 the population 

 was 10,360, an increase of 1336 since 1910. The 

 area exceeds fourteen square miles. 



Easthampton is engaged in making buttons, 

 rubber and electric goods, drop forgings, cotton 

 goods and yarns, and has one of the largest 

 dyeing and mercerizing plants in the United 

 States. Beside its public schools and library 

 the town has Williston Seminary, one of the 

 oldest preparatory schools for boys in New 

 England. This school was founded in 1S41 by 

 Samuel and Emily Graves Williston, who built 

 up in Easthampton the industry of covering 

 buttons with cloth. ** 



EAST IN'DIA COMPANY, a trading com- 

 pany formed in 1590 in London and given by 

 the British government what was practically a 

 monopoly of the trade with India and the East. 

 The first charter, granted by Queen Elizabeth, 

 conferred on it sole rights of trading in th. 

 countries specified, for a term of fifteen years. 

 The company was by no means rich, for at 

 first the stockholders advanced money to de- 

 fray the expenses of the voyages, which were 

 not very successful. Jamea I renewed the 

 charter, and the company was reorganized with 

 a capital of $2.000,000, which was later in- 

 creased to $6,000,000. Under the new charter, 

 the company not only had exclusive trading 

 rights, but was empowered to seize and con- 

 fiscate ships and goods of other traders of any 

 nationality. 



From the point of view of trading and dcvel- 



