SUMMER MEETING. 63 



of a subterfuge, shot and missed. Henry stepped coolly forward, drew 

 his bow, and the rose fell, pierched through the heart with his arrow ; 

 picking it up he handed it, with the arrow sticking through it, to the 

 blushing girl from whom he had taken it. 



In more modern times roses hitve been much used in religious 

 festivals, not merely with other flowers and plants. For instance, at 

 the Fete-Dieu rose petals are scattered in the air, blending with the 

 smoke of the swinging censers. Our excessive use of flowers at 

 funerals is the outgrowth of their occasional use, in the case of chil. 

 dren and young girls, in a more or less remote past. There is a custom, 

 in the valley of the Bngadine in Switzerland, when a man is accused 

 of a crime, and is able, on the same day, to justify himself from the 

 charge, he is at once liberated, met and presented with a white rose, by 

 a young and beautiful girl, the blossom being called the rose of innocence. 



Not more than a century ago a society of literary men was formed 

 in Paris, who called themselves Societe des Rosati. They assembled in 

 a place called "Eden, or the thicket of Koses." In order to become a 

 member, it was requisite not only to be a joyous and convivial spirit, 

 but also to have sung of the rose. 



The name "rose" comes directly from the Latin, and through the 

 Latin from the Greek. In its first form it is supposed to have been 

 derived from the color red. In its different forms it has given its name 

 to many lands. Syria or Suristan is thought to be derived from the 

 name of a beautiful and delicate species of rose, the Suri, which grows 

 in that country. Gulistan comes from the Persian name, Gul, rose; 

 and Rhodes, the island made so famous by the valiant defense against 

 the Turks by the Kuights of St. John, means the land or the place of 

 roses. 



The rose has popularly been supposed to be indigenous to Oriental 

 countries. " Born in the East, it has been diffused like the sunlight all 

 over the whole world." ^Esop told the gardener of his master Xan- 

 thus, that "the earth is a step-mother to those plants incorporated into 

 her soil, but a mother to those which are her own free product." 

 Where the wild-rose flourishes, there all other roses will grow. And 

 the wil^rose, in spite of so much prating to the contrary, seems to be 

 indigenous to all the world, in the temperate zones, except Australia 

 and South America. These countries are among the youngest conti- 

 nents of our earth geologically, and the Eosacete are the latest comers 

 in time. It had not become rose time with them when man came. The 

 Rosacejie include, besides roses, most of the hardy fruit-trees and 

 plants, the apple, peach, pear, plum, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, 

 as well as many ornamental shrubs. 



