206 ON THE HOSE. 



elsewhere • and from this practice originated the saying, " under 

 the rose," when any thing was to be kept secret. 



The Turks are great admirers of this beautiful flower, and Mus- 

 8ulmen in general believe, that it first sprang from the perspi- 

 ration of Mahomet, on which account they will not suffer a rose 

 leaf to lie on the ground, or permit any one to tread upon this sa- 

 cred flower. 



In the luxurious days of the ancients, even the warriors crown- 

 ed themselves with garlands of roses, during their principal re- 

 past ; and Pliny tells us, their delicate meats were either cover- 

 ed with the petals of these fragrant flowers, or sprinkled with its 

 odorous oils. At a feast which Cleopatra gave to Anthony, the 

 royal apartments were covered with rose leaves to a considerable 

 depth. 



The triumvir, when dying, begged of the captivating queen 

 that she would scatter perfumes on his tomb, and cover it with 

 roses. 



In Turkey, a rose is sculptured on the monument of all ladies 

 that die unmarried ; and in Poland they cover the coffins of chil- 

 dren with roses, and when the funeral passes the streets, a num- 

 ber of these roses are thrown from the windows. Cam- 

 den tells us, " There is a classical custom observed, time out of 

 mind, at Oakley, in Surry, of planting a rose tree on the graves, 

 especially of the young men and maidens who have lost their 

 lovers ; so that this church-yard is full of them." It is the more 

 remarkable, since it was used anciently both amongst the Greeks 

 and Romans ; who were so very relgious in it, that we find it of- 

 ten annexed as a codicil to their wills (as appears by an old in- 

 scription at Ravenna, and another at Milan), by which they order- 

 ed roses to be strewed and planted over their graves. 



This ancient custom of deeorating graves with flowers, the 

 symbols of fleeting mortality, has almost passed from recollection 

 in this country, and is rapidly disappearing in most parts of Wales ; 

 but we read in the " Beauties of England," that Thomas Ste- 

 vens, a poor and aged man, who lies buried in the church-yard of 

 the village of Stokenchurch, in Oxfordshire, left a request that 

 his oldest son would annually dress his grave with flowers on the 

 recurrence of the wake of St. Peter's. 



The Mexicans, says the Abbe Clavigero, have from time im- 

 memorial studied the cidtivation of flowers and odorous plants 

 which they employ in the worship of their gods ; and in the tern- 



