THE HAW T H 0 It N. 
Botanical Name, Cratcegus oxyacantha. —Class, Icosan- 
dria. — Order, Pentagynia. — Flowers, white, rose- 
coloured in some varieties .—Native 'place, Europe. 
Smtiment. 
HOPE. 
ORIGIN OF THE SENTIMENT. 
The altar of Hymen was always illuminated 
by torches of Hawthorn, as a symbol of pre¬ 
sent happiness and future hope. The youth¬ 
ful Athenian maidens carried branches of 
Hawthorn at the weddings of their com¬ 
panions with a similar idea. But Hope ex¬ 
tends beyond the grave ; and the Troglodites 
covered the bodies of their dead relatives 
with the Hawthorn, and then, with some- 
