PROLEGOMENA. 



blessings of the " Reformation" and the disuse 

 of the confessional. 



The Lilies of the Valley, blowing-, May 9, used 

 to be called Ladders to Heaven ; and let us 

 remark, that they were so called because, growini^ 

 in the lowly vale, they were emblems of that re- 

 tiring- humility on which alone we can ground our 

 first steps up to paradise. 



In the Passion Flower, Passiflora coerulea, 

 the creative imagination of the early Religious 

 Orders saw the various instruments of our Lord's 

 Passion, and hence its name : it blows too during 

 that part of the year in which we celebrate Holy 

 Rood — ^Sept. 14th. Just as the Cross Flower, 

 Galium Cruciatum, flowers about Holy Cross, 

 May 3rd. We shall indeed find that plants 

 have mostly been named after the festivals which 

 they accompany, of which other instances may 

 be found in Pasque Flower, Rogation Flower, 

 and so on. I merely mention a few instances in 

 illustration, but all the languages of Europe 

 abound with others too numerous to be cited. 



Of Poetry considered with reference to the 

 Catholic Religion and to the Protestant 

 Heresy. 



In the third or last part of each page will 

 be found specimens of Poetry, taken from various 

 authors, relating to the natural production of the 



