MAY. 233 



descanting upon female loveliness, because the theme is ex- 

 haustless, so will it be with lovers of the rose. 



It is said that no fossils of this family of plants have ever 

 been discovered by geologists; which shows that '•' the intro- 

 duction of this flower upon the earth was coeval with, or 

 subsequent to, the creation of man, to whose comfort and 

 happiness it seems especially designed by a wise Providence 

 to contribute." At the mere mention of the rose, a thousand 

 pleasing associations arise. We are at once amid fables my- 

 thological and scriptural ; we are wandering in Eastern lands, 

 inclining at royal tables upon perfumed couches, floating in 

 gilded barges down sunny rivers, breathing a balmy atmos- 

 phere and gazing on scenes of enchantment. 



" How much of memory dwells within thy bloom, 



Rose ! ever wearing beauty for thy dower ! 

 The bridal day — the festival — the tomb — 



Thou hast thy part in each, thou stateliest flower: 

 Therefore with thy soft breath come floating by 



A thousand images of love and grief — 

 Dreams filled with tokens of mortality ; 



Deep thoughts of all things beautiful and brief. 

 Not such thy spells o'er those that hailed thee first, 



In the clear light of Eden's golden day ! 

 There thy rich Ipaves to crimson glory burst, 



Link'd with no dim remembrance of decay. 

 Rose ! for the banquet gathered, and the bier ! 



Rose ! colored now by human hope or pain ; 

 Surely when death is not, nor change, nor fear, 



Yet may we meet thee, joy's own flower, again." 



The rose has always been the type and the adornment of 

 beauty ; it is associated with the memory of children, of lov- 

 ers, and of united families. Indeed, so universal is the regard 

 for it, that were we to meet with a country house where 

 some of its varieties could not be found, we should suspect 

 that something was wrong about the proprietor, and that if 

 he were not " fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils," he 

 ought not to be " trusted " at least, to any large amount ! 



It is surprising that with all this acknowledged fondness 

 for the rose, so little attention is given to the culture of its 



VOL. XXII. NO. V. 30 



