5i8 pFant "bore, T^egeT^/, anel "bqric/*. 



million sesterces (about £30,000) for Roses, at one supper. Horace, 

 alluding to this custom, says: "Seek not for late-blowing Roses; 

 I ask no other crown than simple Myrtle." In those days, Rose- 

 wine was celebrated, and we learn that Heliogabalus was wont to 

 indulge largely in this drink, and bathed himself in it. He even 

 caused a large swimming-bath to be filled with the costly liquid. 



Milto, a fair young maiden, of obscure birth, was wont to 

 deposit every morning garlands of fresh flowers in the temple of 

 Venus, as she was too poor to make costlier offerings. Her rare 

 beauty was once in danger of being destroyed by a tumour which 

 grew on her chin, but in a dream she one night beheld the goddess, 

 who told her to apply to it some of the Roses from her altar. Milto 

 obeyed; the tumour soon disappeared, and she grew more lovely 

 than ever ; eventually attradling the notice of the younger Cyrus, 

 whose favourite wife she became. From that time the medicinal 

 properties of the Rose met with general recognition, and the flower 

 formed the basis of many lotions. 



In classical times, the Rose was regarded as the emblem of 

 joy, and Comus, the god of feasting, is represented as wearing a 

 garland of bedewed Roses. As, during the intoxication of mirth, 

 the mouth is apt to run over when the heart is full, the ancients 

 feigned that Cupid presented a Rose to Harpocrates, the grave god 

 of silence, as a bribe not to betray the amours of Venus. The 

 flower thus became a symbol of secrecy and silence, and as such, a 

 Rose was formerly suspended over the guest table, that the sight of 

 it might remind the guests that the conversation should not be 

 repeated elsewhere. More recently, a Rose was painted on the 

 ceiling of dining-rooms, and in our own time the plaster ornament 

 in the centre of the ceiling is still called a Rose. This custom gave 

 rise to the saying " Under the Rose" — an injunction of secrecy. 

 Hence it fell out that the Jacobins adopted the white Rose as a 

 political symbol of the Pretender, since his adherents were com- 

 pelled to help him " under the Rose." 



The Rose held an important place in early ecclesiastical history. 

 As an emblem of love and beauty, the queen of flowers was espe- 

 cially dedicated by the Romish Church to the Virgin Mary : she is 

 the Rose of Sharon, the Mystic Rose [Rosa niystica), as well as the 

 Lily of the Valley. In old Italian paintings of the Madonna, a 

 plantation, garden, or hedge of Roses is often introduced, enclosing 

 the principal figure. In mediaeval days, the Rose had a Sunday of 

 its own at Rome, and the reigning Pope officiated at the ceremony 

 of the blessing of the Golden Rose upon Mid-Lent Sunday. A 

 Golden Rose is, even in our own enlightened times, annually 

 blessed by the Pope and sent as a mark of signal pontifical favour 

 to some royal personage. Ecclesiastical tradition affirms that 

 Roses and Lilies were found in the tomb of the Virgin Mary after 

 her assumption into heaven, and Roses were conveyed by St. 

 Dorothy, at the instance of Theophilus, from the heavenly garden. 



