IV IXTRODUCTIOX. 



!; For the more complicated uses of this beautiful language, a few hints may 



|i be necessary to show how extensive is the raage of thought its alphabet may 



jj coiuiii unicate. For example, if a flower be given reversed, it implies the opposite 



;! of that thought or sentiment which it is ordinarily understood to express: 



J! again, a rosebud from which the thorns have been removed, but which has 



jl still its leaves, convejs the sentiment, " I fear, but I hope," — the thorns iniply- 



ji iug fear, as the leaves hope ; remove the leaves and thorns, and then it signifies 



|i that " There may be neither hope nor fear;" while, again, a single flower may 



' be made emblematical of a variety of ideas ; a rosebud that has been already 



11 used and deprived of its thorns, says, " There is much to hope," but stript of 



|i its leaves also, it tells, " There is every thing to fear." The expression aJso of 



^i almost any flower may be varied by changing its position. Place the marigold 



|| upon the head, for instance, and it signifies " distress of mind"— on the bosom, 



!f " listlessness. " And it may be added, when a flower is given, the pronoun / 



is understood by changing it to the right, thou by inclining it to the left. 



I To the intelligent reader, these suggestions may suffice, and we shall there- 



I fore conclude our introduction with the hope that, under the guidance of this 



j little volume, many a bright nosegay may exchange hands, and tell, in its fitting 



jj and intelligible language, " a welcome message to fair lady's ear." 



