OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 45 



when, at the Circus, ''Paddy from Cork" drops 

 suddenly his broken hat, his sHt coat, coarse 

 breeks and brogues, and lo ! it is '' Winged Mer- 

 cury." 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 ? They differ in some points 

 from Queen 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 color ! There are White Roses, Striped Roses, 

 Blush Roses, Pink Roses, Rose Roses, Carmine 

 Roses, Crimson Roses, Scarlet Roses, Vermilion 



