HOLY CROSS TIDE. 127 



MAY 6. St. John ante Portam, a.d. 95. 



St. John Daraascen, father of the Church. 



St. Eadbert, bishop and confessor. 



Obs. This favourite disciple of our Saviour, who so tenderly 

 loved and was so tenderly beloved by his master, drank of his cha- 

 lice, and experienced a large share of its bitterness when he assisted 

 at his crucihxion. He was entitled afterwards to the merit and 

 crown of martyrdom, the instrument whereof was Domitian, the 

 last of the twelve Caesars : this detestable tyrant caused St. John 

 to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, but God preserved him 

 as the three children in the furnace, and he came out more fresh 

 and lively than he had entered ; the tyrant contented himself after 

 this with banishing the apostle into the island of Patmos, but .after 

 the death of Domitian St. John returned to Ephesus, where he 

 ended his days. 



Globeflower Trollius Europaeus flowers. 



Lilac Syringa vulgaris flowers. 



The Europaean Globeflower is the Lucken Gowans of Burns and 

 the Scottish bards. It is a plant whose time of blowing is much 

 changed by soil, situation, and season. We have known it in blow 

 in the middle of April or sooner, and again it has not blown till the 

 middle of ftlay. It is wild in the northern parts of England and in 

 Scotland, r.nd is much sought after by children for garlands. The 

 foreign sorts much resemble it in round ranunculaceous flowers, but 

 the present species is pale yellow, while the two next to be described 

 are orange. 



The Lilac jiow comes into blow : there are three varieties, the 

 pink, the pale or lilac colour, and the white. 



We have known the Yellow Poppy Papaver Cambricarus as wel 

 as the Pale Poppy Papaver nudicale flower as early as today. The 

 large Brachteate Oriental Poppy Papaver brachteatum also will 

 flower at this time in good seasons. 



Awake I the morning shines, and the fresh field 

 Calls us : we lose the prime to mark how spring 

 Our tender plants ; 



How Nature paints her colours ; how the Bee 

 Sits on the bloom, extracting liquid sweet. 



Another poet beautifully observes : 



Rise before the Sun ; 

 Then make a breakfast of the morning dew 

 Served up by Nature on some grassy hill ; 

 You'll find it nectar. 



