THE ROSE . 
( Love — Joy — Prosperity .) 
HE Rose has been acknowledged by all antiquity to 
be the queen of flowers, though her reign is some¬ 
what disputed by the Queen Lily. One is tempted 
to look on them both as sister sovereigns of the floral 
world. The Rose, the emblem of a material dominion 
“ of the earth earthy the Lily, of a spiritual empire of 
purity and lofty aspiration. But with all peoples the Rose 
has ever been the emblem of love, joy, and prosperity. 
It is mentioned by the earliest writers of antiquity.' 
Herodotus speaks of the double rose; in the Song of 
Solomon the rose of Sharon is mentioned, and allusion is 
also made to the plantation of.roses at Jericho. Isaiah 
uses the blossoming of the rose as a perfect emblem of 
joy and felicity. 
The ancients regarded the Rose as the emblem of silence, 
as well as of love and joy, and frequently represented 
Cupid offering one to Harpocrates, the God of Silence. 
As a further illustration of this symbolism, they suspended 
a rose over the table at feasts, intimating to the assembled 
guests that the conversation was to be held sacred, and 
was not to be repeated elsewhere. This latter account is 
generally given as the correct derivation of the saying, 
• sub rosa applied to communications not to be repeated; 
