PREFACE. 
All the books which have hitherto treated on the Lan¬ 
guage of the Flowers, are, with the exception of a few slight 
alterations and additions, mere translations from the French 
work of Aime Martin; nor am I aware of any production 
in the English language on this subject which professes to 
be original, saving the present. If flowers, the most beau¬ 
tiful objects in nature, are to be converted into the messen¬ 
gers of friendship and love, and are capable of conveying 
beautiful and poetical meanings, it is surely worth while 
to attempt tracing a resemblance between the flower and 
the emblem it represents, which shall, at least, have some 
show of reason in it. This task I have attempted, taking 
for my guides no less authorities than Chaucer, Spenser, 
Shakspeare, and Milton ; whatever meanings they have at¬ 
tributed to the flowers I have retained, and also endeavored, 
like them, to find in either the name or the nature of the 
flower, some resemblance to the thought it is intended to 
express, and so, by adding here and there a blossom to the 
