FLORAL EMBLEMS. 
279 
SILENCE. 
Lotus flower, or Water Lily. — Nymphaa. 
“ Where blameless pleasures dimple quiet’s cheek. 
As water-lilies ripple a slow stream!” 
Coleridge. 
“ 1 suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp autho¬ 
rity over the man, but to be in silence.” 
1 Timothy ii. 12. 
We present this aquatic plant as the em¬ 
blem of silence, since the antiquarians assure 
us, that they recognize this flower on the 
head of Harpocrates. 
Love glides silently upon us, and the In¬ 
dians feign that Cupid was first seen floating 
down the Ganges on the Nymphcea Nelumbo 
“ Down the blue Ganges laughing glide 
Upon a rosy lotus wreath, 
Catching new lustre from the tide, 
That with his image shone beneath.” 
T. Moore . 
