10 INTRODUCTION. 



Of firm and fragrant leaf; on either side 



Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub, 



Fenc'd up the verdant wall ; each beauteous flower, 



Iris all hues, roses and jessamine, 



Rear'd high their flourished heads between, and 



wrought 



Mosaick ; underfoot the violet, 

 Crocus, and hyacinth, with rich inlay, 

 Broider'd the ground, more colour'd than with stone 

 Of costliest emblem." 



The ancient and silent language of flowers 

 lends its aid to gratitude, friendship, filial 

 love, and maternal fondness. Even affliction 

 may be soothed by the emblematical commu- 

 nication of sentiment. Roucher, when im- 

 prisoned by the tyrants of the revolutionary 

 tribunal of France, amused himself by the 

 study of floral language, his daughter being 

 allowed to send him flowers to the prison. 

 Thence a few days before he met his fate on 

 the scaffold, he sent back to this favourite 

 child, two dried lilies, to express both the 

 purity of his heart, and the fate which 

 awaited him. 



