ioo A DAY IN THE ELYSIAN FIELDS. 



was intermeddling with a group of ^gipans, one of which 

 had seized him by the middle with his whisking tail, and 

 seemed resolved to detain him as a plaything for their 

 company. " La Reine " confessed that fearing the irrita- 

 bility and jealousy of his disposition she had sprinkled his 

 roots with the waters of Lethe, which accounted for so 

 sharp a Rose having lost his memory when before the 

 gods. 



ROSE DU Roi. 



ON EOSES. 



[From " The Gardeners' Chronicle" (Leading Article], 1863, 

 p. \72,etseq.'\ 



AT OTWITHSTANDING the signal revolutions which 

 .1 \l modern times have witnessed in the Kingdom ot 

 Flora, the Rose still reigns supreme. Queen, not only by 

 hereditary and prescriptive right, but also by universal 

 assent, she occupies the same throne and sways the same 

 sceptre now as when Nero feasted and when Sappho sang. 

 Times have changed, and in the onward march of events 

 the Rose has gathered and is still gathering richer and 

 more glowing vestments from the loom of her bountiful 

 foster-mother Nature, and now, as then, in gorgeousness 

 of apparel, in grace, in sweetness, she stands forth un- 

 rivalled and alone. Never was there a more opportune 

 moment than the present for bringing the Rose under 

 notice as a hardy decorative plant, for such it must be 

 considered, notwithstanding that the winter of 1 860-61 in 

 great measure cleared our garden of Roses as they were, 

 good, bad, and indifferent. If we have to mourn over 

 the loss of some cherished gems, we have at least the 

 satisfaction of being rid of the rubbish which had been 

 accumulating on our hands for the last quarter of a 



