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Figured by F. Edward Hulme, F.l.s., F.s.a.; And Described by Shirley Hibberd

"The generous glebe Whose bosom smiles with verdure, the clear tract Of streams delicious to the thirsty soul, The bloom of nectar'd fruitage ripe to sense, And every charm of animated things, Are only pledges of a state sincere, The integrity and order of their frame, When all is well within, and every end Accomplish'd. Thus was Beauty sent from Heaven, The lovely ministress of truth and good In this dark world: for truth and good are one, And Beauty dwells in them and they in her, With like participation". AKENSIDE, Pleasures of the Imagination, I., 364-76.

CASSELL, PETTER, GALPIN & CO.: LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] PREFACE. THE completion of a Second Series of "FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS" may suggest to some readers that suitable subjects will now be growing scarce. But there will be no scarcity even when the Third Series is completed; and it matters not how far we proceed, there will still be suitable subjects remaining, so vast is the field in which these humble labours are pleasantly prosecuted, and so infinite the variety of beautiful and familiar garden flowers. We are still only on the threshold of the temple of Flora, and in the Third Series, therefore, we shall be enabled, without difficulty, to present a selection differing entirely from those in the two series now completed; and we look for augmentation rather than diminution of public interest, both in the flowers themselves and in our humble endeavours to present their portraitures truthfully. S.H.