2/2 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. 



and as bright as soap and water — he is no true 

 gardener who loves not both — can make us. 

 Meanwhile let me assure the new-comer among- 

 us that there are strong brains and gentle hearts 

 within those swart and grimy exteriors, and that 

 he will find in the brotherhood hereafter — so I 

 prophesy from my own experience — many dear 

 and steadfast friends. For me floriculture has 

 done so much — quickening good desires and 

 rebuking evil — that I have ever faith in those 

 with whom its power prevails. But let us never 

 forget, while we congratulate and commend each 

 other as florists, that humility on the score of our 

 multitudinous weeds is more becoming than pride 

 in our little dish of sour wizened fruit; that, ''we 

 are the sons of women. Master Page ;" and that 

 the old serpent hides still among our flowers. 

 And now, to confirm such wholesome memories, 

 I will present to the young Rosarian one or two 

 specimens of our weaker brethren, that he may 

 learn to check betimes in himself those infirmities 

 which are common to us all, and which, when they 

 gain the mastery, make men objects of contempt 

 and ridicule. I must add that, although I paint 

 from the life, my pictures are never portraits of the 

 individual, but always studies from the group — a 

 group brought together by memory from diverse 



