122 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The national life is made up of inrlividual life. Those ideas 

 which from time to time have held the greatest ascendency over 

 the minds of the people, have apparently originated in the minds 

 of individual leaders ; but the influences which have aided in 

 developing those grand thoughts ma}' have emanated from the 

 acts or words of the thousands of fellow-citizens who acknowl- 

 edge the few master-minds as leaders. So when one asks what 

 amount of influence can flowers have upon a whole people, or, 

 in other words, upon the national life, the answer comes sponta- 

 neously, — the aggregate of their influence upon every one of that 

 people. 



All classes of individuals have been subject to the civiliz- 

 ing and refining influences of flowers. ]f we glance backward at 

 Eoman history, we see that Cicero at his Tusculan villa, when in 

 his gardens breathing the sweet perfume of his flowers, was a 

 great contrast to the Cicero who denounced Catiline, or who was 

 mediator between Caisar and Pompey. 



Alexander, the Macedonian, it is said, became like other civil- 

 ized persons, when, in journeying from Kelone to Nj'stea, he 

 turned aside from his route for a two daj's' tour, in order to visit 

 the rose gardens of Semiramis. Theophrastus, a disciple of 

 Aristotle, who had become entangled in the political troubles of 

 his friends when Greece was the theatre of bloodshed and victory, 

 wrote descriptions of five hundred flowers which he had gathered 

 in Greece; and, later on, Columbus, the enthusiastic adventurer, 

 felt his delight at discovery greatlj' enhanced as be saw the land- 

 scape before him in all its tropical beautv, and wrote to the queen 

 of its charming appearance. Kalidasa, a Hindoo, who was one 

 of the most famous poets fifty years before Christ, sang of flowers, 

 and ever since his da}', even unto the day of our own beloved 

 Whittier, poets of all countries have gathered inspiration from 

 their wondrous beauties. 



In the cases of far less prominent individuals than those just 

 named the refining influence of flowers has been felt. The child 

 even, as he plucks a few marguerites or wild roses for mother or 

 sister, is unconsciously cultivating a love of the beautiful and 

 true within himself ; the shop-girls of our cities, as the}' breathe 

 the sweet perfume of the tiny bouquets for sale on the street when 

 passing to and from their homes, are cheered and encouraged ; 

 the public singer, as flower-laden baskets are presented in 



