

INTRODUCTION. 

Or Flowers, so much has been said and 
sung, that it were impossible to write any 
thing new. They have been called ¢ the joy 
of the shrubs which bear them ;—‘ the stars 
of the earth;’ and the ‘ alphabet of the 
angels;’ and, indeed, as says Mr. Howitt, 
“‘ of all the minor creations of God, they seem 
to be most completely the effusions of his love 
of beauty, grace, and joy. Beauty and fra- 
grance are poured abroad over the earth in 
blossoms of endless varieties, radiant evidences 
of the boundless benevolence of the Deity. 
They are made solely to gladden the heart of 
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