elated with o rose without a thorn, which would more na- 

 turally present the image of happiness without alloy. 



In the " Legend of the Rose," we find another account 

 of the armour by which this plant is defended: 



Young Love, rambling through the wood, 

 Found me in my solitude 

 Bright with dew, and freshly blown, 

 And trembling to the Zephyr's sighs; 

 But as he stooped to gaze upon 

 The living gem, with raptured eyes, 

 It chanced a Bee was busy there, 

 Searching for its fragrant fare; 

 And Cupid, stooping, too, to sip, 

 The angry insect stung his lip 

 And gushing from the ambrosial cell, 

 One bright drop on my bosom fell. 



Weeping, to his Mother he 

 Told the tale of treachery; 

 And she, her vengeful Boy to please, 

 Strung his bow with captive Bees; 

 But placed upon my slender stem 

 The poisoned stings she plucked from them; 

 And none since that eventful morn, 

 Have found the flower without a Thorn. 



The origin of the red and white Rose becoming the 

 badges of the two houses of York and Lancaster, is beauti- 

 fully presented to us by Shakspeare, in his " Henry the Sixth." 

 The white, being selected by the York faction, the red, by 

 that of Lancaster. 



Plantagenet. Since you are tongue-ty'd, and so loath 



to speak, 



In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts: 

 Let him, that is a true-born gentleman, 

 And stands upon the honour of his birth, 

 If he supposes that I have pleaded truth, 

 From off this briar pluck a white rose with me. 



Somerset. Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer, 

 But dare maintain the party of the truth, 

 Pluck a red rose from this thorn with me. 



The subsequent blending of their interests, and union of 

 the two houses, is prettily typified in the colouring of the York 

 and Lancaster Rose. Whilst its specific appellation will 

 always bring to recollection the wars which their contentions 

 gave rise to. 



We find in ancient lore, the Rose was made the symbol 

 of silence, and consecrated by Cupid to Harpocrates, the 

 God of silence. 



The proverbial expression " under the Rose," arose no 

 doubt from the two badges of the houses of York and Lan- 

 caster. These factions were continually plotting and coun- 

 terplotting against each other. And when a matter of vital 

 interest to either party was communicated to his friend in the 

 same quarrel, it was natural for him to add, that he said it 



under the rose; meaning that, as it concerned the faction, it 

 was religiously to be kept secret. 



Sub rosa (under the rose) has, by some, been traced to 

 the ancient custom in Symposiac* meetings, of the attendants 

 wearing chaplets of roses about their heads. 



The Rose is too well known to require a botanical de- 

 scription, which could only apply to the single rose; only re- 

 marking that it has but five petals; with an urceolate, or 

 pitcher-shaped calyx. 



The Bridal Rose, Rubus Rossefolius, or Rose-leaved 

 Bramble, is of the genus Rubus, which includes all the 

 Bramble family. It has beautiful, double, white flowers, 

 rather smaller than those of the Cinnamon Rose; slender 

 round stems: prickles somewhat hooked, small. Leaflets 

 usually seven, ovate-lanceolate, doubly serrated. It agrees 

 altogether in the class and order, as designated for the Rose 

 in the Glossary. It is a rose usually cultivated in green- 

 houses first patronised in England by Sir Joseph Banks. Its 

 native country not known. 



ROSE CAMPION. 

 Jlgrostemma. 



Jlgrostemma, L. from the Greek y e ou si^x, the gar- 

 land of the field. A genus scarcely distinct from the Lych- 

 nis. 



There are four species designated; one is the Corn-Cam- 

 pion, or Cockle, Ji. Githago, which is hirsute or hairy, with 

 a calyx longer than the corolla, petals entire, or slightly 

 emarginate, and naked. 



Ji. Coronaria, or Rose Campion, is a biennial plant, 

 with rose, or flesh-coloured, or white flowers, sometimes dou- 

 bled, tomentose, with leaves ovate-lanceolate. The petals 

 of the corolla slightly emarginate, crowned, and serrate. 

 This species is usually cultivated in gardens. 



ROSEMARY. 



Rosmarinus. 



Rosmarinus, from ros, dew, and marinus, alluding to 

 its situation on the sea shore. Those who have observed it 

 mantling the rocks of the Mediterranean, with its grey flow- 

 ers glittering with dew in Winter, cannot but be struck with 

 the elegant propriety of the name. 



Rosmarinus, sea-rose. Webster. 



The flowers of the garden Rosemary, R. officinalis, are 

 of a bright blue colour, variegated with purple and white, 

 having, like the leaves, a strong aromatic fragrance. 



It is an erect evergreen shrub, about four feet high, 

 much branched, downy, leafy on all sides. Leaves opposite, 

 spreading in a recurved manner, linear-oblong, obtuse, revo- 

 lute, entire; smooth, dark green, and shining above, downy 

 and veined beneath. Flowers axillary, terminal, on very 

 short stalks, erect. 



* Symposiac, from the Greek Eu^onz, a drinking together; 

 <ruv together, and aiva to drink. 



Symposiac, a conference or conversation of philosophers at a 

 banquet. Plutarch has nine books, -which he calls Symposiacs; or sym- 

 posiac questions, q. d. disputations at table. Webster and Rees. 



