1869.] THE ROSE. 447 



her dress, and upon that paper the happy words, " With the author's 

 compliments " ? When next the exhibitor sees his Roses, will there be 

 a prize-card on his box ? 



He wonders fretfully. He retires to his hotel. He refreshes the 

 outer and the inner man. What can be the matter with the coffee- 

 room clock ? how slowly it ticks ! how the long hand lags and limps ! 

 every minute marked upon the dial might be a pebble upon the grass- 

 plat of the future, blunting the scythe of Time. Will that selfish snob 

 in the corner never put down the newspaper 1 He will, he does : the 

 exhibitor seizes it eagerly, and reads it, or rather gazes vacantly upon 

 it for nearly a minute and a half. What are money-markets or murders 

 to him? Sixteen closely - printed pages, and not one word about 

 Roses ! He throws down the Times and looks out of the window. 

 Ah, there is a shop opposite with pictares and photographs ; strolls 

 across ; has seen them all before ; is getting rather sick of photographs ; 

 strolls back again ; must have been away ten minutes, but coffeeroom 

 clock says three. Selfish snob in corner writing letters with a coolness 

 and equanimity quite disgusting ; he looks up and is recognised as 

 rival amateur, proprietor of Pierre Notting; something about him, ex- 

 hibitor thinks, not altogether pleasing ; not a nice expression ; shouldn't 

 say he was quite a gentleman. 



At last the malignant timepiece, having tardily announced the 

 meridian, with a minim rest between the notes, as though it were a 

 passing bell tolled in Lilliput, and having disputed every inch of the 

 succeeding hour, is compelled to give up its match against time, and 

 the exhibitor hears the thrilling sound which proclaims the Rose-show 

 open. He gives his best hat a final brush; he adjusts for the last 

 time the pretty Rose in his coat (be still, throbbing heart beneath !) ; 

 and back he goes to his fate. He presents at the door his exhibitor's 

 pass; and then "affecting to be unaffected," but nervous as a girl at 

 her first ball, he wends his anxious way to his Roses. 



What shall he find there — defeat or victory 1 Shall the music of the 

 band express to his ears the gladness of his spirit, the triumph of his 

 hope, or shall 



" Sharp violins proclaim 

 Their jealous pangs and desperation/' 



in unison with his own ? Let him be prepared for either issue. Let 

 him anticipate defeat, as being but a recruit and pupil ; but let him 

 remember, when defeated, that more than one great statesman has 

 been plucked for little-go — more than one great general has lost his 

 first battle — more than one Royal Academician has had his first picture 

 declined by the hanging-committee. If victory comes, let him never 



