I02 AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF 



year that this flower first perfumed the British atmosphere b}^ its 

 fragrance. The author of the ^ Task ' soon afterwards is found 

 celebrating it as a favourite plant in London — 



' . . . . the sashes fronted with a range 

 Of Orange, Myrtle, or the fragrant weed, 

 The Frenchman's darling.' — Cowper. 



* The luxury of the pleasure garden,' says Mr. Curtis, ^is greatly 

 heightened by the delightful scent this little plant diffuses, and its 

 perfume, though not so refreshing, perhaps, as Sweet Briar, is not 

 apt to offend in the open. The odour which it exhales is thought 

 by some to be too powerful for the house ; but even those persons, 

 we presame, must be delighted with the fragrance it tln^ows from 

 the balconies into the street, giving somethmg like a breath of 

 garden air to those whose avocations will not permit a ramble 

 beyond the square of the fashionable part of the town. Another 

 writer has remarked, ' AYe have frequently found the perfume of 

 the Mignonette so powerful in some of the better streets that we 

 have considered it sufficient to protect the inhabitants from those 

 effluvia which bring disorders with them in the air.' It has been 

 named cZ"J./?iO?//^ or love-flower; and though used for plant- 



ing upon graves, we have ncA'er learned that it played any leading 

 part in marriage festivities. 



' Tlie delicate odour of Mignonette, 



The remains of a dead and gone bouquet, 

 Is all that tells of a story ; yet 



Could we think of it in a sweeter way ? — Bret Harte. 



This simple flower has found a place in the armorial bearings of 

 an illustrious family in Saxony. We must tell the story : — The 

 Count of Walsthim loved the fair and sprightly Amelia of Xord- 

 bourg, who was a spoilt child and a coquette. She had an humble 

 companion whose Christian name was Charlotte. One evening at 

 a party all the ladies were called upon to choose a flower each, and 

 the gentlemen were to make verses on the selections. Amelia 

 fixed upon the sumptuous Rose, Charlotte the modest Mignonette. 

 In the course of the evening Amelia coquetted so desperately with 

 the dashing colonel that the Count could not suppress his vexation. 

 On this he wrote a verse for the Rose, which, translated into 

 English, implied — 



' Sbe lives but for a day, and pleases but for a moment.' 



He then presented the folloAving line on the Mignonette to the 

 gentle Charlotte — 



' Your qualities surpass your charms.' 



