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a mere English observer can form an idea. A celebrated traveller thus glowingly describes the roses of Persia: 'On first entering this bower of fairy land, I was struck with the appearance of two rosetrees, full fourteen feet high, laden with thousands of flowers in every degree of expansion, and of a bloom and delicacy of scent that imbued the whole atmosphere with the most exquisite perfume. Indeed, I believe that in no country of the world does the rose grow to such perfection as in Persia, in no country is it so cultivated and prized by the natives. Their gardens and courts are crowded with its plants, their rooms ornamented with vases filled with its gathered branches, and every bath strewed with the full-blown flowers plucked from the ever replenished stems. Nor were the eye and the smell the only senses regaled by the presence of the rose; the ear was enchanted by the wild and beautiful notes of the multitude of nightingales, whose warbling seemed to increase in melody and softness with the unfolding of their favourite flower." In the East Indies a very choice and costly perfume is made, called ottar or otto of roses; a single drop imparts its fragrance through a whole dwelling, and its virtue remains in linen or other garments for a considerable time.

The whole province of Sharon was celebrated for its beauty and fertility; roses there grew spontaneously, and flourished in great perfection and abundThe plain of Jericho also was celebrated for them, as appears from the comparison of the apo

ance.

cryphal author of the book of Ecclesiasticus, (xxiv. 14.) "I was exalted like a palm-tree in Engaddi, and as a rose plant in Jericho."

This choicest of flowers, both for beauty and fragrance, has been chosen to represent the matchless excellencies of the Divine Redeemer. He is the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley," Cant. ii. 1. He is fairer than the children of men, grace is poured into his lips-He is the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely, Psa. xiv. 2. Cant. V. 10-16. The same figure has been used to give an idea of the moral beauty and felicity that should overspread the earth under the benign influences of the gospel of Christ; "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose," Isa. xxxv. 1.

The proper name Rhoda, mentioned in the New Testament, Acts xii. 13. signifies a Rose, according to the common custom of the ancients, to give their children the names of beautiful flowers. Thus Susanna signifies a lily; Hadassah or Esther, a myrtle; Miriam or Mary, myrrh, &c.

The Lily.

This beautiful flower is reckoned next in excellency to the rose. Both its Greek and Hebrew names seem to denote light and splendour. It is universally reckoned an emblem of light, purity, and moral excellence.

The white lily is a field flower in Persia, and pro

bably also in Judea; a beautiful species, called the Pancratium, with difficulty brought to any thing like perfection in our climate, is supposed to be the white lily of scripture. There are many varieties of the lily, all more or less distinguished by beauty of form, and colour, and fragrance. The lily of the valley-Solomon's seal-tall white and red lilies— The different kinds of Martagon lilies, (or those of which the petals turn back, and resemble a Turk's cap,) the fritillaria, or crown-imperial tribe, in all of which the cup hangs down, and at the root of each petal a pearl-like drop of aromatic liquor constantly exudes. The flower-cups are generally disposed round, near the top of the stem, in the manner of a crown, and surmounted with a tuft of leaves. The belladonna lily, and the different kinds of amaryllis ;-all of these are well known in our gardens and greenhouses, and all of them more or less admired. They were probably all much better known in Judea and other eastern climates, and attained a much greater degree of perfection, both in size, colour, and fragrance. A modern author in his " Voyage to Abyssinia," relates, that a few miles from Adowa his party discovered a new and beautiful species of amaryllis which bore from ten to twelve spikes of blossom on each stem, as large as those of the belladonna, springing from one common receptacle. The general colour of the corolla was white, and every petal was marked with a single streak of bright purple down the middle. The flower was sweet-scented; its

smell, though much more powerful, resembled that of the lily of the valley. This superb plant excited the admiration of the whole party, and brought immediately to recollection the beautiful comparison used by our Saviour, "I say unto you, that Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these," Luke xii. 27. An eminent botanical writer* observes on this passage, "It is natural to presume that the Divine Teacher, according to his usual custom, called the attention of his hearers to some object at hand; and as the fields of the Levant are overrun with the amaryllis lutea, whose golden lilaceous flowers in autumn afford one of the most brilliant and gorgeous objects in nature, the expression of Solomon in all his glory, not being arrayed like one of these,' is peculiarly appropriate. I consider the feeling with which this was expressed, the highest honour ever done to the study of plants."

Observe, too, how forcible the instruction conveyed in this significant passage, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Matt. vi. 30. The scarcity of fuel in the East, obliges the

Sir J. E. Smith, whose valuable Introduction to Botany, we would strongly recommend to the young reader who desires scientific knowledge in a simple and intelligible form.

inhabitants to use by turns every thing of a combustible nature. The withered stalks of herbs and flowers, the tendrils of the vine, the small branches of rosemary and other plants, are all used in heating their ovens and baths. These beautiful productions of nature then, so richly arrayed and so exquisitely perfumed, that the splendour even of Solomon is not to be compared with theirs, shall soon wither and decay, and be used as fuel. Has God then so adorned these flowers and plants of the field, which retain their beauty and vigour but a few days, and are then applied to the meanest purposes of life;-and will He not much more take care of His servants, who are so precious in his sight, and designed for such important services in this world, and for consummate holiness and glory in another?

The lily was one of the principal ornaments both in the fabric and the furniture of the temple, 1 Kings vii. 19, 22, 26.—In the Song of Solomon, the lily is made a frequent emblem in describing the graces and beauties of Christ and His church. The Saviour condescends to call himself the Lily of the valley, as well as the Rose of Sharon, as if to display his humility and meekness, as well as his transcendent purity and excellence, Cant. ii. 1. He also compares His church to the lily, to denote her superior purity and excellence, in comparison with those by whom she was surrounded: "As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters," ii. 2. Oh, what purity of spirit and conduct, what meekness and

N. H.

2 L