OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 45 



sweet perfume, enlivens the dreariness of Norway, Denmark, 

 and Sweden. 



And I come home now, eagerly as a carrier-pigeon to his 

 native dovecot, to our own Rose-gardens — eagerly, because 

 here, and here only, can our Queen be found in the full 

 splendour of her royal beauty. The Roses of all lands are 

 here, but so changed, so strengthened by climate, diet, and 

 care, so refined by intermarriage with other noble families, 

 that they would no more be recognised by their kinsfolk at 

 home than Cinderella at the ball by her sisters. The 

 fairy. Cultivation, has touched them with her wand, and 

 the pale puny kitchen-girl steps out of her dingy gingham 

 a princess, in velvet and precious point, like some 

 glowing butterfly from his drab cocoon ; or as when, at 

 the Circus, "Paddy from Cork" drops suddenly his broken 

 hat, his slit coat, coarse breeks and brogues, and lo! 

 it is "Winged Mercury." They came, as ambassadors to 

 the Queen's court, savages, " with nothing on but their 

 nudity," their luggage a peacock's plume, and now 

 they move with a majestic dignity in gorgeous yet 

 graceful robes. 



Will you accompany me, my reader, to one of Queen 

 Rosa's levees "i They differ in some points from Queen 



