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zbe mmic Deti 



Syrian pronounce the ancient name "Beit Lahm" and realize 

 how very much it resembles "Bedlam," the Cockney corrup- 

 tion for the old Templar's hospital, though of course they 

 both refer to the little village nestling in the hills of Palestine. 

 The bright star flowers are such sweet reminders of the days 

 when Melchior, King of Light, Caspar, the Little White 

 One, and Belthazar, Lord of Treasures, made their pilgrim- 

 age from the far East, journeying doubtless through many a 

 field where once David watched his flocks and which we 

 should now find all a-foam with these dainty flowers, and 

 came to lay gold, frankincense and myrrh at the feet of the 

 new-born king. I M 



By this time you will have learned Qial the dingle dell is 

 very full of contrasts and contradictions. Here, amidst 

 showers of the Httle stars of Bethlehem, as pure reminders of 

 the dim-Ht stall to which the carpenter of Nazareth had 

 hurried for protection, and symbols of a glory only Heavenly, 

 we find the twisting periwinkle, telling us with its serene 

 blue eye that it is a true myrtle, — a sign from the Lord in the 

 days of prophecy and a type of earthly power and leadership 

 in days more modem. Venerable Isaiah tells us that 

 "Instead of the thorn shall come up the firtree, and instead 

 of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree ; and it shall be to 

 the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be 

 cut off. " Is it not more than a little remarkable that this 

 same myrtle family which should be to the Lord a sign, 

 should also from the earliest days of Creece have been an 



