292 On the Rose. 



described, and several figured. The most extensive work, 

 with plates, is that of Redoute and Thory ; it is entitled 

 Les Roses, and contains folio plates, splendidly and truly 

 colored, of all the known species and varieties of this flower : 

 minor works have also been published, but these two are 

 the most known. 



The history of the rose is full of interest to every admirer 

 of the flower. From the days of the prophets, when it was 

 stated in holy writ, that " the desert shall rejoice and blos- 

 som as the rose," to the present moment, it has been the 

 theme of poets, philosophers and statesmen ; and none have 

 been too great to sing its praises. With this humble flower, 

 is linked the history of the rivalship of the houses of York 

 and Lancaster ; and for thirty years, under the different 

 banners of the red and white rose, civil war laid waste and 

 desolate the most beautiful portions of the mother country. 

 Shakspeare says : — 



" And here I prophecy — this brawl to-day 

 Grown to this faction, in the temple garden, 

 Shall send, between the red rose and the white, 

 A thousand souls to death and deadly night." 



It was about the time that the two houses were united, in 

 1485, that a plant of the rose, it was said, was discovered 

 in England, which bore white and red flowers, and which 

 seemed to foretel the union of the parties. It was also said 

 to be, upon the marriage of Henry VII. to Elizabeth, the 

 daughter of Edward IV., that the rose first became 

 known with white and red petals ; it is still acknowledged 

 throughout Europe, as the emblem of that happy union, and 

 is known both there and here, by the name of the " York 

 and Lancaster Rose." 



In Turkey, the rose is equally admired, and millions of 

 flowers are cultivated in some of the gardens of the Mussul- 

 men ; so sacred do they hold this flower, from a belief that 

 it first sprung from the perspiration of Mahomet, that they 

 will not permit a leaf to lay upon the ground, or to be soiled 

 by the tread of the foot. Upon the tombs of all ladies that 

 die unmarried, is sculptured one of these fair flowers. At a 

 feast given by Cleopatra, to Mark Antony, she caused the 

 royal apartments where the entertainment was held, to be 

 covered with the leaves of the rose, to the depth of several 

 inches. But it is related of Nero, that he gave upwards of 

 four millions of sersterces, or nearly one hundred and fifty 

 thousand dollars, for roses, at one supper. 



The fragrance of the rose is stated in fable, to have been 

 caused by Love, in the midst of a gay dance at the feast of 

 Olympus, having with his wing overturned a cup of nectar, 



