GENERAL REMARKS. 57 



in acknowledgment of the attentions of that prince during the 

 pope's visit to France, as stated in a letter which he wrote the king. 



" In accordance with the custom of our ancestors, in carrying 

 a rose of gold in their hands on Dimanche Laetare, we do not 

 think we can present it to one who merits it more than yourself, 

 from your devotion to the Church and to ourselves." 



Pope John, in 1415, sent the Golden Rose to the Emperor Sigis- 

 mund. Martin V., in 1418, sent another to the same prince. Pius- 

 II., in 1461, sent one to Thomas Paleologue, emperor of Con- 

 stantinople. Henry VIII., of England, before his separation from 

 the Church of Rome, received- the Golden Rose twice ; the first 

 from Julius II., and the second from Leo X. : and recently, in 

 1842, the Pope's Nuncio Capaccini presented it to Donna Maria, 

 dueen of Portugal. 



The public ceremony of blessing the Rose was not instituted 

 until 1366, by Urban V. : that pontiff, wishing to give a particu- 

 lar mark of his esteem to Joanna, Q,ueen of Sicily, solemnly 

 blessed a Golden Rose, which he sent her, and made at the same 

 time a decree, that a similar one should be consecrated every 

 year. For fifty or sixty years, the Pope gave the Rose to princes 

 who came to Rome ; and it was the custom to give 500 louis to 

 the officer who carried it for the Pope. The Rose, in its intrinsic 

 value, was however sometimes worth double that sum. 



We have thus given all the information we have been able 

 to collect respecting the history of the Rose. 



We shall feel abundantly gratified if the facts and anecdotes 

 we have cited, shall tend to enhance the already growing interest 

 in this flower ; and by thus connecting it with the lore of an- 

 tiquity, cast around it a bright halo of pleasant associations. 



Among the various riches of the garden, there are many flowers 

 of great attractions : some we admire for their beautiful forms, 

 others for their brilliant colors ; and others again for their delight- 

 ful fragrance : and we scarcely know which to pronounce the 

 most pleasing. But whatever may be our feelings of admiration 

 for these beautiful flowers, a desire for something still more 



