CAMELLIA JAPONICA.... Modest Merit.

THE Camellia Japonica is a native of China and Japan. It is a large, evergreen tree. The flowers are large, of the form of a rose of variegated hues—the red prevailing and without fragrance. It is made the emblem of modest worth, because, as Roscoe observes, "it boasts no fragrance, and conceals no thorn."

Let other bards of angels sing,

Bright suns without a spot;
But thou art no such perfect thing,
Rejoice that thou art not.

True beauty dwells in deep retreats,

Whose veil is unremoved;

Till heart with heart in concord beats,
And the lover is beloved.

Wordsworth.

Oh, that estates, degrees, and offices,

Were not derived corruptly! and that dear honour
Were purchased by the merit of the wearer!
How many then should cover, that stand bare?

How many be commanded, that command?

How much low peasantry would then be gleaned

From the true seed of honour? and how much honour Picked from the chaff and ruin of the times,

To be new varnished?

Shakspeare.

There's a proud modesty in merit!

Averse from asking, and resolved to pay
Ten times the gift it asks.

Dryden.

Oh, your desert speaks loud; and I should wrong it,
To lock it in the wards of covert bosom ;
When it deserves with characters of brass
A forted residence 'gainst the tooth of time,
And razure of oblivion.

Shakspeare.

Thine is a mind of maiden artlessness!

Unstained, undarkened, by the dross of earth; A soul, that through thine eyes, bright beams express Thy nature, e'en as noble as thy birth; Whose every glance reflects the gem enshrined, Worthy a form so fair; the diamond of the mind.

Anon.

His resting-place is noted by a stone
Of whitest marble: truthful words are those
Inscribed thereon. The scene of his repose
Befits his life: 'twas beautiful and calm.
In meekness and in love he went his way,
Uprightly walking—filling up the day
With useful deeds. He often poured the balm
Of healing into wounded breasts; nor sought
The praise of men in doing good.

MacKellar.

THORN-APPLE....Deceitful Charms.

The flowers of the Thorn-Apple droop while the sun shines beneath their dull-looking foliage, but on the approach of night, they revive, display their charms, and unfold their prodigious bells, which nature has coloured with purple, lined with ivory; and to which she has given an odour that attracts and intoxicates, but is so dangerous as to stupify those who inhale it even in the open air. It is a dangerous plant to be allowed to grow where children go, as the beauty of its flowers and fruit is liable to tempt them to their de struction; since it possesses so poisonous a quality as to produce paralysis, and even madness, in those who have eaten it. Its leaves have been recommended for coughs and asthma. The charms of the Thorn-Apple flower are beautiful, but deadly; like those of the corrupt and treacherous, to be found in every society.

But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed;
Or like the snow-falls in the river,
A moment white—then melts for ever;
Or like the borealis race,

That flit ere you can point their place;
Or like the rainbow's lovely form
Envanishing amid the storm.

Burns.

O Berpent heart, hid with a flowering face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?

Get thee glass eyes;

And like a scurvy politician, seem

Shakspeare.

To see the things thou dost not.

Shakspeare.

Women of kind have conditions three:

The first is,—they be full of deceit,

To spinne also is their property,

And women have a wonderful conceit, For they can weep oft, and all is a sleight, And ever when they list, a tear is in the eye, Beware, therefore, the blind eateth many a fly. Chaucer.

Ah, that deceit should steal such gentle shapes, And with a virtuous visor hide deep vice!

Shakspeare.

Smooth runs the water, where the brook is deep;
And in his simple show he harbours treason.
The fox barks not, when he would steal the lamb.
No, no, my sovereign; Gloster is a man

Unsounded yet, and full of deep deceit.

Shakspeare.

LADY'S SLIPPER.... Capricious Beauty.

The Lady's Slipper is well known in Europe and America. The plant is small, but produces a considerable number of flowers, of variegated hues.

This

flower is made the emblem of capricious beauty, because

she seems,

-With her changeful hues,

As she were doubtful which array to choose.

I saw thee in the gay saloon

Of Fashion's glittering mart,

Where Mammon buys what Love deplores,
Where Nature yields to Art;

And thou wert so unlike the herd
My kindling heart despised,

I could not choose but yield that heart,
Though Love were sacrificed.

The smile which hung upon thy lips,

In transport with their tone,

The music of thy thoughts, which breathed

A magic theirs alone!

The looks which spake a soul so pure,

So innocent and gay,

Have passed, like other golden hopes

Of happiness, away.

Dawes.