73 
in this country, or perhaps in any other. I was as¬ 
tonished, myself, at the number of my own rela¬ 
tions ; many, whom I had never before even heard 
of, were there, and the ladies of the Seraglio, and the 
lords of the court, tried their very best to equal us 
in the colors of their robes and head-dresses. Miss 
Hyacinth never saw the like in her life, for it was 
not till she went to Holland that she was considered 
such a great personage. In Persia, Hyacinths are 
only little blue wild flowers, half hidden in the grass. 
Thousands and thousands of Tulips were at the 
feast; and the most beautiful music was played to 
us, while the lords and ladies danced in honor of the 
Spring, who had called us into being. We are such 
favorites in our own country, that we are used as 
emblems of the most opposite sentiments. Those 
who love most deeply and ardently present us to the 
loved, as emblems of the intensity of their affection, 
