*50 LANGUAGE AND 
LOTUS. 
Class 17 ; Order 10. 
ELOQUENCE.-ESTRANGED LOVE. 
The lotus-flower, whose leaves I now 
Kiss silently, 
Far more than words can tell thee, how 
I worship thee ! 
Moore. 
Of the various flowers dedicated to religious 
purposes by the nations of antiquity, none oc¬ 
cupy a more prominent position than the Lotus , 
a species of water-lily. Its sacred blossom was 
deemed emblematical of mystery by the symbol 
worshippers of China, India, and Egypt, and, 
as a natural consequence, was frequently used 
for architectural adornments by their priests, 
who always found it advantageous to enshroud 
the performance of their religious rites under 
an impenetrable veil of symbolism and secrecy. 
The Egyptians moreover consecrated the flower 
of the lotus to the sun, their god of eloquence, 
and represented the dawn of day by a youth 
seated upon its blossom. 
The Indian Lotus is famous for its roseate 
color, for its powerful fragrance, and because it 
is in its blossom, which is somewhat larger than 
the English water-lily, that the Hindoos feign 
