242 THE ll LIL Y OF THE FIELD." 



Shakspeare, who neglected nothing, refers to its gentle 

 humility of attitude : 



" Shipwrecked upon a kingdom where no pity, 

 No friends, no hope, no kindred weep for me ; 

 Almost no grave allowed me ! like the lily 

 That once was mistress of the field, and flourished, 

 I '11 hang my head and perish." 



Our lily is a native of cold and temperate countries, and 

 never shakes its pendant bells at the bidding of a hot Eastern 

 breeze. It is very abundant in Norway. That agreeable 

 writer and observant traveller, Henry Inglis, says : " It stood 

 everywhere around, scenting the air, and in such profusion, 

 that it was scarcely possible to step without bruising its tender 

 stalks and blossoms. I have not seen this flower mentioned 

 in any enumeration of Norwegian plants, but it grows in all 

 the western parts of Norway in latitude 59 and 60, wherever 

 the ground is free from forest, in greater abundance than any 

 other wild-flower." 



As it will not live in hot countries, it cannot be the " lily of 

 the field " which furnished our Saviour with so fruitful a text 

 for warning and instruction. This, in all probability, was the 

 yellow amaryllis, or Amaryllis lutea, a flower bearing some 

 resemblance to our yellow crocus, but much larger, and with 

 broader leaves. Its delicate blossoms escape from an undi- 

 vided spathe, or sheath, and are bell-shaped, with six clefts 

 and six stamens, which are alternately short and long. The 

 flower seldom rises more than three or four inches above the 

 soil, accompanied by green leaves, which, after the flowering 



