92 
THE MORAL OF FLOWERS. 
and it is this custom that undoubtedly gave rise to the 
common expression ‘ Under the rose.’ 
“ A golden rose was considered so honourable a 
present, that none but crowned heads were thought 
worthy either to give or to receive it. Roses of this 
kind were sometimes consecrated by the Popes on 
Good Friday, and given to such potentates as they most 
wished to propitiate. The flower itself they considered 
an emblem of the mortality of the body, and the metal 
of Avhich it was composed of the immortality of the 
soul. Boethius says that William, king of Scotland, 
received a present of this sort from Pope Alexander 
the Third, and Henry the Eighth a similar gift from 
Alexander the Sixth. The seal of Luther, which is a 
rose, is supposed to be symbolical of the same things as 
those golden presents were. 
“ Roses were also employed by the Roman emperors 
as a means of conferring honour upon their most 
famous generals, whom they allowed to add a rose to 
the ornaments of their shields, a custom which con¬ 
tinued long after the Roman empire had passed away, 
and the vestiges of which may yet be traced in the 
armorial bearings of many of the ancient noble families 
of Europe.” Let it not here be forgotten that it is the 
national badge of England. 
