THE ROSE 29 



George as the patron saint of England. There are 

 many British saints, they say, who might with equal 

 propriety have been chosen to preside over the 

 fortunes of a warrior nation. It is otherwise with 

 the floral emblem of our land, " the red, all-con- 

 quering Rose," which we owe to Edward I. 



As becomes a monarch who habitually spoke 

 English (the first of his race to do so), Edward took 

 for his badge a flower indigenous to British soil, 

 and symbolic in many ways of England and all that 

 England stands for. 



No floral emblem has played a greater part in 

 the life of any nation. The Lily ranks next in this 

 respect, but this flower has long since disappeared 

 from the blazon of France, and at its best stood 

 for the monarchy far more than for the people. 



Some English Kings wavered for a time in their 

 fealty to the Rose. Henry IV. favoured the Forget- 

 me-not, and Henry VII. introduced a Hawthorn 

 into his device in remembrance of the bush where 

 the battered crown of Richard III. was found after 

 Bosworth Field. Public opinion was opposed to 

 the change, however, and Henry found it advisable 

 to reinstate the Rose in the royal badge of England, 

 where it has always since figured. 



Edward IV., who, according to Stowe, was " the 



