206 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE* 



and pleasant images. A French writer, in a somewhat , 

 more extravagant vein of laudation, says, " Its name alone 

 gives birth in all sensible minds to a crowd of pleasant 

 thoughts, while, at the same time, it excites a sensation 

 of the most delightful j^leasures, and the most sweet en- 

 joyments." The name of " Queen of Flowers," has been 

 given to the Rose, almost from time immemorial; but 

 this name is particularly applicable to the H, centifoUa 

 and the hybrids from it. Yet the little, modest wild rose, 

 found only in woods and hedges, adorns the solitude 

 where it grows, and possesses for many a charm not sur- 

 passed by that of any of the cultivated varieties : its 

 regularly formed corolla, of a soft and delicate color, com- 

 bines in its simplicity many an attraction not found in the 

 most beautiful flowers of the garden ; and late in the sea- 

 son, when the fields are stripped of their verdure, the 

 landscape is enlivened by the bright appearance of its red, 

 coral-like fruit. 



The beauty of the Rose has j)Teserved it and its reputa- 

 tion for many ages. The most populous nations, the 

 largest cities, the most wealthy and powerful kingdoms, 

 have disappeared from the earth, or have been involved in 

 the revolutions and subversions of empires, while a sim- 

 ple flower has escaped them all, and still remains to tell 

 its story. It has seen a hundred generations succeed each 

 other, and pass away ; it has traveled through ages with- 

 out changing its destiny or losing its character: the hom- 

 age rendered and the love borne it have been always the 

 same : now, as in the earliest periods of the world's his- 

 tory, it is decreed the first place in the floral kingdom. In 

 these days, as in those of antiquity, it is par excellence^ 

 the Queen of Flowers, because it is always the most beau- 

 tiful, and because no other flower can furnish half its 

 charms. To elegance and beauty of form it unites the 

 freshness and brilliance of the most agreeable colors, and, 

 as if nature had showered upon it all her most precious 



