THE MYETLE. 



AMONG the Greeks and Eomans, the oak was dedicated 

 to Jupiter, the olive to Minerva, and the Myrtle, from the 

 delicacy and beauty of its foliage, to Venus ; and the tem- 

 ple of this goddess was surrounded by Myrtle groves. 

 Hence the Myrtle and the rose have always been twined 

 with garlands and prizes for beauty, the one being ad- 

 mired for its flowers, the other for its delicate and aro- 

 matic leaves. A great deal of the romance of botany is 

 lost to us, the inhabitants of the New "World, on account 

 of the absence from our woods of many of the plants most 

 celebrated in classic poetry and medieval romance. We 

 have not the heath, nor the olive, nor the ivy ; and many 

 of the humble flowers of the meadow, familiar to the 

 reader of classical lore, are absent from our soil Their 

 absence, notwithstanding the beauty and elegance of many 

 flowers and shrubs that seem to stand in the place of 

 them, can never cease to be felt. The sacredness which a 

 plant acquires by its association with ancient poetry and 

 romance and with Holy Writ cannot be transferred to 

 one of our indigenous plants of equal beauty. But there 

 is romance in our own lives, and there are plants never 

 mentioned in the literature of the romantic ages which 

 are associated with certain hallowed periods and events 

 in our youth that render them ever sacred to memory. 



There are two or three plants in our own land that 

 bear the classical name of Myrtle, not from any botanical 

 resemblance or affinity to this plant, either in leaf or in 

 flower, but from the aromatic odor of the leaves, like that 



