6 THE ROSE GARDEN. 



"Waked from her Neptunian birth, 

 To fill with love the circling earth : 

 From the forehead of her sire, 

 When Pallas sprang with martial fire, 

 Nature gave the Queen of Flowers, 

 Coeval sister of the Powers. 



When th' immortals' frolic souls 

 Glow'd with Nectar's copious bowls, 

 By chance, upon a blooming thorn, 

 Such as the heavenly seats adorn, 

 Prolific fell the ethereal dew ; — 

 Consecrated Roses grew. 

 The topers hail'd the plant divine ; 

 And gave it " To the god of wine ! " 



[Anacreon, Ode 53. Translated by Green. 



Moschus, in his Elegy on the Death of Bion, says, " Blush mournfully ye 



Roses." 



It appears that the Greeks cultivated this flower -with the view of extracting 

 the perfume from its petals. And Theophrastus, who lived about 300 years 

 before the Christian aera, tells us it was common to set fire to the Rose-trees in 

 Greece ; and that unless this practice was resorted to, they would not produce 

 any flowers. Is the writer in earnest ? If so, this does not say much for the 

 knowledge they possessed of the art of culture in those days. But although 

 flowers were so much used on special occasions, it is generally admitted that gar- 

 dening, considered as an art, was neglected by the Greeks. 



If the Greeks considered the Rose worthy of adoration, the Romans were by 

 no means less lavish in the praises they bestowed on it. They regarded it with 

 that veneration and enthusiasm which the high encomiums passed on it by a 

 people they so much admired might be supposed to give rise to. It has been 

 said by some writers that the Romans acquired their taste for these flowers from 

 the Egyptians, who, during the early ages of the Republic, sent quantities of them 

 to Rome every year. But it appears to me more probable that the taste was 

 acquired from the Greeks, although the Egyptians might have administered to, 

 and further developed it. Virgil, " the prince of Latin poets," makes frequent 

 mention of the Rose in his writings. In the opening of the Fifth Pastoral he 

 contrasts the pale sallow to the blushing Rose : 



Puniceis humilis quantum saluinca rosetis ; 



Judicio nostro tantum tibi cedit Amyntas. 



[Edoga 5. ver. 17, 18. 



In the Georgics he speaks of " Pactum Roses with their double spring " : 



Forsitan et, pingues hortos quae cura colendi 

 Ornaret, canerem, biferique rosaria Psesti. 



[Georg. lib. iv. ver. 118, 119. 



In reference to the latter quotation, Botanists who have visited Paestum have 



