PREFACE. 
Flowers ! those children of Spring; 
which breathe in their language the senti¬ 
ments of the heart, in its ever varying vicis¬ 
situdes ; 0, let them gather round thy 
pathway, and shed their fragrance there; 
they will ever cast a refined perception o’er 
the soul and impart to it their own sweet 
freeness. 
The study of these bright gems of earth, 
which delight the senses, is not attended to 
with the same depth of devotion, that marks 
the students of Oriental lands, for Percival 
tells us that 
‘ . They talk in flowers.’ 
Their language most truly is eloquent, 
though silent; and I doubt not, if the senti¬ 
ments of flowers were more generally under¬ 
stood, that now we oft should be told 
1 The wish of “ the” heart in flowers.’ 
