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LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
In the ages of chivalry, red was highly es¬ 
teemed as the colour of love, and, accordingly, 
the rose was, dn account of its tint, a favourite 
emblem. Thus, in the romance of Perceforet, 
a hat adorned with roses is celebrated as a 
favourite gift of love; and, in Amadis de Gaul, 
the captive Oriana is represented as throwing to 
her lover a rose wet with tears, as the sweetest 
pledge of her unalterable faith. The various 
allegorical meanings which were in the middle 
ages attached to the rose are described in the 
celebrated Romaunt de la Rose, which was com¬ 
menced, in the year 1620, by Guillaume de Lor- 
ris, and finished, forty years later, by Jean de 
Meun. 
In the famous German Heldenbuch, or Book 
of Heroes, which is supposed to have been 
chiefly written by Henry von Ofterdingen, the 
Rose Garden of Wurms holds a distinguished 
place. The garden was encircled by a silken 
thread instead of a wall, and the victorious 
• 
Knights who defended it against the encroach¬ 
ments of a party of giants were, by Princess 
Chrymhilde, rewarded with a chaplet of roses 
and a kiss. One of the knights, named Hilde- 
