LILAC. 
79 
LILAC. 
FIRST EMOTIONS OF LOVE. 
The Lilac has been consecrated lo the first 
emotions of love; because nothing possesses a 
greater charm than the delight afforded by its 
appearance on the return of spring. Indeed, 
the freshness of its verdure, the flexibility of its 
branches, the profusion of its flowers, their 
short and transitory beauty, their soft and varie¬ 
gated hues—all recall those celestial emotions 
which embellish beauty and lend to youth its 
“grace divine.” 
Never was Albano able to mingle on that 
pallet, which he derived from the hand of love 
itself, colours sufficiently fresh and flowing to 
represent the velvet softness and delicacy of 
the tints which embellish the brow of early 
youth. Van Spaendonc himself threw down 
his pencil on viewing a group of Lilacs. Na¬ 
ture seems to have delighted in making a 
