HISTORICAL SKETCH 



xli 



the white Eose of girlhood, the full blossom of the red Eose 

 of consummate iDeauty, the Myrrh of gladness, the s^veet 

 Violet of modesty, the sweet Sultan of felicity, the Amaryllis 

 of pride, the Verbena of sensibility, the Honeysuckle of the 

 bond of love. The floral language, however, is not always a 

 tribute of love or compliment, for it is sometimes severe and 

 scornful, as ^ntness the fact when a gentleman sent a lady a 

 beautiful Eose as a declaration of his passion and a slip of 

 paper attached, with the inscription — 'If not accepted I am 

 ofi* to the wars ; ' in return the lady forwarded the fruit of a 

 Mango (Man go I). 



Lord Beaconsfield, in one of the charming novels of his 

 earlier days, gives the follo^ving dainty description of Lady 

 Corisancle's garden : — 



* Her ladyship's garden is the gayest and sweetest of 

 creations, no flowers were admitted that did not possess a 

 delicate perfume. 



' The duke had given the garden to Lady Corisande, in order 

 that she might practise her theory that flower-gardens should 

 be sweet and luximant, and not hard and scentless with imita- 

 tions of works of art. Here, in the season, flourished aljun- 

 dantly all those productions of Xature which are often 

 banished from positions where they glorify our delightful 

 senses ; huge bushes of Honeysuckle, and bowers of Sweet 

 Peas, and Sweet Brier, and Jessamine clustering over the 

 walls, and Gillyflowers scenting with their sweet breath the 

 ancient bricks from which they seem to spring : there were 

 banks of Violets, the dainty perfume from which the southern 

 breeze always stirred, and the fragrant Mignonette filled 

 every vacant nook. The whole garden seemed a blaze of 

 Eoses and Carnations, though one recognised in a moment 

 the presence of the Lily, the Heliotrope, and the Stock, and 



