Some plants force us, as it were, to read their 
meaning, and one of these is that which we hâve 
chosen as our présent subject. For who can look 
upon the Everlasting without seeing in it a type of 
the immortal nature of our spirits? Its enduring 
property has occasioned its use as a token of remem- 
brance by the friends of the departed. 
We should hâve thought, too, that it would hâve 
been a poet’s flower. But not so : for though its 
rival, the Amaranth, is frequently alluded to in 
poetry, I cannot recall any lines in which the 
Everlasting is addressed. I trust, however, it has not 
been wholly neglected : for I would not that its 
first memorial should be the feeble tribute of the 
following lines :— 
