INTRODUCTION. 
of Scripture. And no less does it easily prefigure hope than 
frail tv. We strew them over the shroud of departed love, 
ami plant them to bloom brightly above the grave, that they 
may speak in spring of a brighter season of hope, and in 
summer of that heavenly clime that knows only of an 
eternal summer and a cloudless sky, and m all seasons, 
of love, and purity, and peace. To these, the simple expres¬ 
sions of natural feeling, have been added trom time to time, 
from the pages of classic poetry and the more complex fan¬ 
cies of later writers, a series of ideas attached to every flowei, 
by means of which the nosegay may be made to take the 
nlaoe of more formal epistles. _ _ 
For the more complicated uses of this beautiful language, 
a <e\v hints may be necessary, to show how extensive is the 
range of thought its alphabet may communicate lor 
example, if a flower be given reversed, it implies the op¬ 
posite of that thought or sentiment which it is ordinarily 
understood to express: again, a rosebud from which the 
thorns have been removed, but which has still its leaves, 
conveys the sentiment, “I fear, but i hope.'-the thorns 
implying fear, as the leaves hope; remove the leaves and 
thorns, and then it signifies that -‘there may be "either 
hone nor fear;” while, again, a single flower may be made 
■emblematical of a variety of ideas; a rosebud that has been 
ah e'ad'y used and deprived of its thorns, says, “There is much 
■to hope;” but stripped of its leaves also.it tells. There is 
everything to fear.” The expression also of almost any 
flower may be varied by changing its position. Place the 
marigold upon the head, for instance, and it signifies <J 18 ; 
tress of mind”—on the bosom, listlessness.” M hen a flower 
,s given, the pronoun I is understood by changing it to the 
right, thou by inclining it to the left. 
To the intelligent reader, these suggestions may suffice, and 
we conclude with the hope that, under the guidance of this 
little volume, many a nosegay may change hands, and telh in 
lits fitting language, “ a welcome message to lair lady s eai. 
