FLORAL EMBLEMS. 279 



SILENCE. 



LOTUS FLOWER, OR WATER LILY. Nymph&a. 



" Where blameless pleasures dimple quiet's cheek, 

 As water-lilies ripple a slow stream!" 



Coleridge. 



" I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp autho- 

 rity over the man, but to be in silence." 



1 Timothy ii. 12. 



We present this aquatic plant as the em- 

 blem of silence, since the antiquarians assure 

 us, that they recognize this flower on the 

 head of Harpocrates. 



Love glides silently upon us, and the In- 

 dians feign that Cupid was first seen floating 

 down the Ganges on the Nymphcea Nelumbo. 



" Down the blue Ganges laughing glide 



Upon a rosy lotus wreath, 

 Catching new lustre from the tide, 

 That with his image shone beneath/' 



T. Moore. 



