4-6 ■ A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. 



Victoria's — as, for example, in these : that the best time 

 to attend them is at sunrise ; that you may go to them 

 with dressing - gown and slippers, or with shooting - coat 

 and short pipe ; that the whole court will smile upon you 

 according to your loyalty, not according to your looks 

 or your income ; and that all the beauty which you 

 see will be real — no false foliage, no somebody - else's 

 ringlets, no rouge, no pastes, no powders, no perfumes 

 but their own. 



Enter, then, the Rose-garden when the first sunshine 

 sparkles in the dew, and enjoy with thankful happiness 

 one of the loveliest scenes of earth. What a diversity, and 

 yet what a harmony, of colour ! There are White Roses, 

 Striped Roses, Blush Roses, Pink Roses, Rose Roses, Car- 

 mine Roses, Crimson Roses, Scarlet Roses, Vermilion 

 Roses, Maroon Roses, Purple Roses, Roses almost Black, 

 and Roses of a glowing gold. What a diversity, and yet 

 what a harmony, of outline ! Dwarf Roses and Climbing 

 Roses, Roses that droop to earth like fountains, and Roses 

 that stretch out their branches upwards as though they 

 would kiss the sun ; Roses " in shape no bigger than an 

 agate-stone on the fore-finger of an alderman," and Roses 

 4 inches across ; Roses in clusters, and Roses blooming 



