27 



clouds gather^ and his spirit is departing^ and his 

 heart becoming cold. 



By assiduous efforts and gentle care do we not^ 

 when this lovely season is gone, behold how culture 

 and the artificial warmth of the conservatory and the 

 green-house keep a perennial spring about us amid 

 the snows of winter, and the window and boudoir 

 of woman become the home of the dahlia and the 

 rose, living and giving out their incense to her tender 

 mercies, when all around is death; or blooming in 

 unwonted splendour among her soft tresses, telling 

 of the kind, gay girl, the fond and loving mother, 

 whose hand has watered them, and beneath whose 

 smile their buds have expanded into life. 



The sentiment and morality of flowers are among 

 the most attractive of their charms ; who does not 

 feel full often the pure power of the teachings which 

 these little moralists declare. The rose is a legend 

 of romance, and its history, whether in the bower of 

 love, or embroidered on the banners of civil war, is 

 a history of the heai't. — The rose of Sharon, and 

 the lilies of Damascus, were sung by the waters of 

 Israel, while poetry and religion have associated and 

 embalmed it with all the most sacred of their rights. 



In the festive hall, where the dance, and song, 

 and music prevail, it is the companion and emblem 

 of the young and joyous. — The bridal wreath and 

 the nuptial altar find in its purity and fragrance^ 



