BRITISH WATER-LILIES. 23 



long-cherished love and friendship. In an especial 

 manner are they entwined around our hearts; they 

 have a "soul in every leaf," and we call in their aid 

 to give expression to the highest and holiest emo- 

 tions and feelings of our nature. The poets have 

 lavished on them many a line of praise, and adorned 

 with their fragile forms many a tale of love and in- 

 nocence, joy and sorrow; and even the botanist often 

 cherishes them as dearer than the bright and beau- 

 teous blossoms that unfold beneath the sunny Indian 

 sky. 



" Beautiful flowers ! to me ye fresher seem 

 From the Almighty hand that fashioned all, 

 Than those that flourished by a garden wall." 



