FLORAL CEREMONIES. 123 



with no other ornament than a beautiful altar 

 picture, and the flowers and branches of trees, 

 with which the walls and floor were decorated 

 in honor of the occasion." Yes ! 



" 'Tis a morn for a bridal, the merry bride bell 



Tolls out through the woodland that skirts the chapel. 



Do you not hear it ringing ? Do you not see 

 the gay procession pass onward ? and are you 

 not aware of a delicious perfume emanating 

 from the flowers which bestrew the way, and 

 garlands of the merry company : 



" But other lands and other floral rites, 

 The thought poetic, and the pen invites." 



In Eastern nations flowers and perfumes have 

 been considered one of the indispensable enjoy- 

 ments of the higher classes of society, from the 

 remotest antiquity. From those nations the 

 Romans appear to have borrowed this delicate 

 refinement, and to have carried it to the utmost 

 excess in their costly entertainments. They 

 soon began to consider flowers as forming a very 

 essential article in their festal preparations ; and 



