THE ROSE IN CEREMONIES, ETC. 173 



their benevolence ; but roses in general were appropriated 



to the graves of lovers." 



Drumraoncl, the Scotch poet, requested one of his 



friends to have the following couplet placed over his grave : 



" Here Damon lies, whose songs did sometimes grace 

 The murmnring Esk : — may roses shade the place." 



The first Christians disapproved of the use of these 

 flowers, either at their festivals or as ornaments for their 

 tombs, on account of its connection with the pagan my- 

 thology, and the custom thus became extinct. Tertullian 

 wrote a book against crowns and garlands. Clement of 

 Alexandria thought it improper that Christians should 

 crown themselves with roses. A little later, however, 

 Christians relaxed from this strictness, and the Christian 

 poet Prudence did not fear to invite his brethen " to cover 

 with violets and with verdure, and to surround with per- 

 fumes those bones which the voice of the AU-Powerful 

 would one day restore to life." 



The Roman Catholics of this day admit flowers to their 

 churches and ceremonies, and on feast days they adorn 

 the altars with bouquets and garlands. At the most im- 

 posing of these solemnities, the day of the " JFCte-Dlex,'''* 

 rose petals, during the procession, are scattered in the aii-, 

 and blended with the perfume of censers, directed towards 

 the Host; in many of the towns, particularly those in the 

 south of France and of Europe, the streets through which 

 the procession passes are scattered throughout with fra- 

 grant herbs and flowers of every kind. 



Since the extinction of paganism in a greater part of 

 the world, the custom of wearing crowns of flowers at fes- 

 tivals has passed entirely away. Women only use roses 

 as an ornament for their hair, or employ them in different 

 parts of their toilet. In our own country the toilet of a 

 bride is never considered perfect unless she wears a wreath 

 of roses or other flowers, whose snow-white hue is an em- 

 blem of her departing maidenhood. Sometimes she is 



