7? FLORAL CEREMONIES, 
crowned with them — the objects of theb 
earthly love, and of their unearthly adora- 
tion ; they have equally graced the altar and 
domestic hearth ; the temple, the palace, and 
the cottage ; and even down to the present 
day, wherever shrines and images are set up 
as visible manifestations "of things holy and 
invisible, there do wreaths and garlands of 
flowers continue to be offered and suspended ; 
and among those who, like ourselves, reject 
as sinful, or, at least quite unnecessary, alt 
created forms and vain representations of the 
Deity, they are considered as the fittest or- 
naments of female loveliness and childish in- 
nocence ; and the most beautiful objects 
wherewith we can regale the senses in seasons 
of festivity and rejoicing. Tn the old ballad 
of “ St. George and the Dragon,” this verse 
occurs : — 
“ Nay, stay, my dear daughter, quoth the queen, 
And as thou art a virgin bright, 
That hast for virtue famous been, 
So let me clothe thee all in wd’te ; 
And crown thy head with flowers sweet, 
An ornament for virgins meet.” 
Percy Reliijues. 
