Rousseau, writing nearly a hundred 

 years before the Swiss, speaks of a 

 garden which was adorned with 

 " patches of lilac, hazel, alders, serin- 

 gas, broom, and clover, which clothed 

 the earth whilst giving it an appearance 

 of being uncultured." It was the 

 abode of birds and bees, rich with 

 sweetness and gay with colour. 



Robert Burns, poet of melodious 

 lines, sings thus to the lilac: — 



" O were my love yon lilac fair, 



Wi' purple blossoms to the spring; 

 And I, a bird to shelter there, 

 When wearied on my little wing i 



" How I wad mourn, when it was torn 

 By Autumn wild, and Winter rude ! 

 But I wad sing on wanton wing 

 When youthfu' May its bloom renewed." 



In France, at the court of Francis I., 

 about the first quarter of the six- 

 teenth century, there flourished two 

 rival factions called " the Lilacs " and 

 "the Blues." Madame d'Etampes 



