BEAUTY OF THE HEDGE ROSE 63 



their midsummer beauty. After sunset the fragrance 

 of the honeysuckle is almost too much : standing near 

 the blossom-laden hedge when there is no wind to 

 dissipate the odour, there is a heaviness in it which 

 makes it like some delicious honeyed liquor which we 

 are drinking in. The honeysuckle is indeed first among 

 the " melancholy flowers " that give out their frag- 

 rance by night. In the daytime, when the smell is 

 famt, the pale sickly blossoms are hardly noticed even 

 where they are seen in masses and drape the hedges. 

 Of all the hedge-flowers, the rose alone is looked at, its 

 glory being so great as to make all other blooms seem 

 nothing but bleached or dead discoloured leaves in 

 comparison. 



He would indeed be a vainly ambitious person who 

 should attempt to describe this queen of all wild 

 flowers, joyous or melancholy; but substituting flower 

 for fruit, and the delight of the eye for the pleasure of 

 taste, we may in speaking of it quote the words of a 

 famous old writer, used hi praise of the strawberry. 

 He said that doubtless God Almighty could have made 

 a better berry if He had been so minded, but doubtless 

 God Almighty never did. 



I esteem the rose not only for that beauty which sets 

 it highest among flowers, but also because it will not 

 suffer admiration when removed from its natural sur- 

 roundings. In this particular it resembles certain 

 brilliant sentient beings that languish and lose all their 

 charms in captivity. Pluck your rose and bring it 



