OLLYHOCK, or ROSE-MALLOW. Alcæa Rosea. Class 16, MONADELPHIA. Order: POLYANDRIA. All the world knows this superb plant, which is supposed to be a native of China, or rather of Syria, whence it is said to have been brought to Europe in the time of the crusades. From its extreme fecundity in the production of flowers it has been made the emblem of fruitfulness. The Chinese represent nature crowned with its flowers. Pliny mentions it as a rose growing on stalks like the mallow; and Miller states that he received seeds from Istria, where they were gathered in the fields; these seeds produced only single red flowers, while seeds received from Madras yielded plants with double flowers of a variety of colours. H. Smith tells us, that

From the nectaries of hollyhocks

The humble bee e'en till he faints will sip.

"There are few flowers that contribute more to the embellishment of large gardens than the hollyhock, although their hardy nature and easy propagation have rendered them so common that they are much less regarded by the generality of florists than they deserve."

FRUITFULNESS.

But th' earth herself, or her owne motion,
Out of her fruitfull bosome made to growe
Most daintie trees, that, shooting up anon,
Did seeme to bow their blooming heads full lowe
For homage unto her, and like a throne did show.

The joyes whereof and happy fruitfulness,

Such as he saw, she gan him lay before,

SPENSER.

And all, though pleasant, yet she made much more.

SPENSER.

00

ONESTY, or SATIN FLOWER. Lunaria. Class 15, TETRADYNAMIA. Order: SILICULOSA. This pretty flower owes its valuable name to the nature of its singular seed-vessel, that honestly shows its number of seeds. Lunaria, the botanical name, is derived from Luna, the moon, in reference Lunaria was formerly used for the

to the shape of its silique. most dishonest purposes,

An honest soul is like a ship at sea,

That sleeps at anchor when the ocean's calm;
But when she rages, and the wind blows high,
He cuts his way with skill and majesty.

BEAUMONT.

An honest man is still an unmoved rock,
Wash'd whiter, but not shaken with the shock;
Whose heart conceives no sinister device;
Fearless he plays with flames, and treads on ice.
DAVENPORT.

Take heed what you say, sir,

An hundred honest men! why if there were
So many i' th' city, 't were enough to forfeit
Their charter.

SHIRLEY

Heav'n that made me honest, made me more
Than ever king did, when he made a lord.

The man who pauses on his honesty
Wants little of the villain.

ROWE.

MARTYN.

ONEYSUCKLE, or WOODBINE. Loni-
cera. Class 5, PENTANDRIA. Order: Mo-
NOGYNIA. The honeysuckle sometimes amo-
rously attaches its pliant branches to the
knotted trunk of an ancient oak, and amid
the rugged branches of that lordly tree,
The woodbines mix in amorous play,
And breathe their fragrant lives away.

It was said that this feeble tree, thus shooting into the air, would overtop the king of the forest; but, as if its efforts were unavailing, it soon recoiled, and with graceful negligence adorned its friendly supporter with elegant festoons and perfumed garlands.

BONDS OF LOVE.

That sweet honeysuckle, which

Is fair as fragrant.

The woodbine wild,

CARRINGTON.

That loves to hang, on barren boughs remote,
Her wreaths of flowery perfume.

Who rears his cot

MASON.

Deep in the rural shade, and wreaths around
His lattice the rath woodbine !

CARRINGTON.

Fair is thy level landscape, England, fair
As ever nature form'd! Away it sweeps,
A wide, a smiling prospect, gay with flowers,
And waving grass, and trees of amplest growth,
And sparkling rills, and rivers winding slow
Through ali the smooth immense. Upon the eye
Arise the village and the village spire,

The clustering hamlet, and the peaceful cot
Clasp'd by the woodbine.

CARRINGTON.

OP. Humulus. Class 22, DICIA. Order: PENTANDRIA. This plant will grow only in rich soils. It is called lupulus by naturalists; and, according to Pliny, was so named because it grew among the willows; to them, by twining round and choking them up, it proved very destructive.

INJUSTICE.

Yes, a most notorious villain;

To see the sufferings of my fellow-creatures,
And own myself a man: to see our senators
Cheat the deluded people with a show

Of liberty, which yet they ne'er must taste of.
They say, by them our hands are free from fetters;
Yet whom they please they lay in basest bonds;
Bring whom they please to infamy and sorrow;
Drive us like wrecks down the rough tide of power,
Whilst no hold 's left to save us from destruction:
All that bear this are villains, and I one,
Not to rouse up at the great call of nature,
And check the growth of these domestic spoilers,
That make us slaves, and tell us 't is our charter.
OTWAY.

Justice is lame, as well as blind, amongst us:
The laws, corrupted to their ends that make them,
Serve but for instruments of some new tyranny,
That every day starts up t' enslave us deeper.

Unheard, the injured orphans now complain;
The widow's cries address the throne in vain,
Causes unjudged disgrace the loaded file,
And sleeping laws the king's neglect revile.

OTWAY.

PRIOR.

ORSE CHESTNUT. Esculus Hippocasta num. Class 7, HEPTANDRIA. Order: MoNOGYNIA. In the beginning of spring, one rainy day is sufficient to cause this beautiful tree to cover itself with verdure. If it be planted alone, nothing surpasses the elegance of its pyramidal form, the beauty of its foliage, or the richness of its flowers, which sometimes make it appear as an immense lustre or chandelier, all covered with pearls. Fond of ostentation and richness, it covers with flowers the grass which it overshadows, and yields to the idler a most delightful shade. To the poor man it is of little service, supplying him with nothing more than a light and porous timber, and a bitter fruit. Naturalists and physicians have attributed to this child of Asia a thousand good qualities which it does not possess.

LUXURY.

It is a shame, that man, that has the seeds
Of virtue in him, springing unto glory,
Should make his soul degenerous with sin,
And slave to luxury; to drown his spirits
In lees of sloth; to yield up the weak day
To wine, to lust, and banquets.

MARMYON.

War destroys men, but luxury mankind
At once corrupts; the body and the mind.

Fell luxury! more perilous to youth

CROWN.

Than storms or quicksands, poverty or chains.

Sofas 't was half a sin to sit upon,

MORE.

So costly were they; carpets, every stitch
Of workmanship so rare, they made you wish
You could glide o'er them like a golden fish.

BYRON.