274 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 



the hoya appears to have been formed by 

 nature, when in a frolic she tried to mimic 

 art, as it bears more the resemblance of sculp- 

 ture than of vegetation. When this orna- 

 mental climbing plant embellishes the co- 

 lumns of our conservatories, we may truly 

 say in the words of Milton 





 " Nor did there want 



Cornice, or freeze, with bossy sculpture graven." 



SECRECY. 



This emblem is formed by a full blown 

 rose being placed over two buds. 



" It was told under the rose." 



It is related in mythological history that 

 the god of love made Harpocrates, the god of 

 silence, a present of the first rose, to bribe 

 him not to divulge any of the private prac- 

 tices of his mother Venus. Hence the rose was 

 made the symbol of silence, and it became 



