AUGUST. 



227 



usurped her title ; the Queen of the Belgians ; our own dear sovereign 

 Lady, Queen Victoria; the Empress Eugenie (bright red, fine form, 

 and full, according to the catalogues), and near her, of course, the 

 Emperw Napoleon, very sanguinary in aspect, but still looking rather 

 small in the society of Charlemagne and Frederic the 2nd ; and all 

 around Princesses and Princes, Marshals, Dukes, and Duchesses, 

 Generals, and Poets, and Painters — the beauty and the brains of the 

 world ! Yet here hath pride no place : Homer and Shakspere converse 

 with William Lobb ; and the Mother of St. Louis shrinks not from the 

 side of Bacchus. 



Now, what must have been the feelings of a bashful young Rose 

 suddenly introduced into such an august society ? Young ladies at 

 their first ball, young gentlemen in their first tailed-coat, may form 

 some feeble conjecture — feeble, because they have had some previous 

 knowledge of the world ; but in the case to which I refer there existed 

 no such experience. No, it is a fact that Master Eugene Appert had 

 actually never left the nursery until his worthy guardian, Mr. Standish, 

 introduced him, with many a kind word of praise and encouragement, 

 into the midst of this dazzling scene, this glorious assemblage des 

 Beautes. Well might he petition for that place in an obscure corner 

 of the room, from which he never stirred throughout the day, blushing 

 vividly in his nervous excitement, and longing but not daring to speak 

 to those lovely ladies in white* close to him, resting gracefully upon 

 their mossy couch, after their long journey from pleasant Devon. 



And who shall attempt to describe his painful state of trepidation, 

 when, wishing that, if it were possible, he might sink into his tube of 

 zinc, and be for ever hidden, he saw the censors draw near to 

 scrutinise ? Or who, on the other hand, shall essay to tell of all his 

 pride and ecstasy, when kindly words of recognition and of praise were 

 spoken pleasantly to his listening ear, when he heard the judges say 

 that they knew his papa, the celebrated Geanf des Batailles : that they 

 were intimately acquainted with his dear old French master, M. Victor 

 Trouillard, and had recently seen his near relations, his sisters, Alice 

 Leroy, Rebecca, and Stephanie Beauharnais ; his brothers Patrizzi, 

 Francois Arago and Francois Premier, and his uncle, Doctor Bre- 

 tonneau. How must his delight have culminated and overflowed, when 

 they expressed their positive opinion that he would prove himself " a 

 better man than his father ;" declared him to be " a decided addition 

 to the Rosarium," and finally inscribed upon a card above him, " Much 

 admired and approved by the censors." 



Eugene Appert (to leave off mcta;»hor) is a very beautiful new Rose, 

 raised by M. Victor Trouillard, and having much of the gorgeous 

 colouring which enriches the flower of that name. ' To those who saw 

 the three blooms of Victor Trouillard, in the collection of Mr. Cant, of 

 Colchester, at the National Rose Show, this resemblance will sound as 

 no mean compliment ; but we may, I think, indulge in still higher 

 eulogy, and assert, that both in arrangement of its petals, in the beauty 

 of its foliage, and the robust healthfulness of its vigorous growth, the 

 Rose Eugene Appert is superior to Victor Trouillard. This combina- 



* Mr. Veitch's box of Devouieusis. 



