274 HOME AND 



"You must be very happy/^ some one 

 said. 



"^^Indeed I am/' she replied with a smile. 

 "Why shouldn't I be ? Whenever the sur- 

 roundings are not pleasant, I take a peep 

 into my Blue Koom at the beauty there. 

 When friends are cross, I go in and take 



Flowers Loved 



FLOWERS 



up some remembrance of past kindnesses 

 which I got from them. No matter how 

 much awry the present, I can always be 

 happy with so many treasures in my Blue 

 Eoom ; and oh ! the joy»when a little lonely 

 or downhearted to steal in and play a 

 symphony on my organ/' 



by Great Men 



11. NAPOLEON AND THE VIOLET 

 BY LOR A S. LA MANCE 



THE violet is inseparably connected 

 with the name and fame of the 

 great Napoleon. It was Josephine's 

 flower, and, because it was hers, it became 

 his. Napoleon was Josephine's idol. Be- 

 fore ambition had seared his heart he was 

 most happy in the devotion of this charm- 

 ing, tactful, gracious woman. Josephine's 

 birth and training had been in Martinique, 

 at once the most beautiful and the most 

 unfortunate of the West India Islands. 

 She had imbibed all of the passionate love 

 of the tropics for flowers, and all of the 

 Creole fondness for sweet odors. The 

 sweet-breathed violets were her especial 

 favorite. She always wanted them al)out 

 her. They were counted so fully her own 

 that at her death violets were planted all 

 about her tomb. 



Napoleon, when he became first consul 

 and real ruler of France, though four years 

 a husband, was yet the lover. And, lover- 

 like, he asked Josephine what birthday 

 gift he should give her. She surprised 

 and amused him by saying she" wanted 

 only a bunch of violets. 



Forthwith he ordered violets to be pro- 

 vided in profusion. To his annoyance not 

 a gardener in all Paris could supply a 

 single blossom. Napoleon was ever impa- 

 tient, and he was vexed that he, the con- 

 queror of Europe, could not obtain a hand- 

 ful of flowers at his bidding. 



Just at this time anfadmirer sent him a 

 bouquet of perfect violets. The impossible 

 had become a reality, within his grasp. 

 He took it as a happy augury of his future 



NAPOLEON JUST BEFORE WATERLOO 



destin}^, and the more so that their purple 

 richness was of the color once sacred to 

 kings alone. From that hour the violet 

 T^s Napoleon's talismanic flower. 



It is said that Josephine was at Mal- 

 maison, the Bonapartes' loved home, seven 



