14 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
This hieroglyphic language is known only to 
the lover and his mistress. In order to envelope 
it the more, completely in the veil of secrecy, 
the significations of the different flowers are 
changed, in conformity with a preconcerted plan : 
for example, the rose is employed to express the 
idea which would otherwise be attached to the 
amaranth, the gilliflower is substituted for the 
pomegranate blossom, &c. 
The language of flowers is much employed 
in the Turkish harems, where the women prac¬ 
tise it either for the sake of mere diversion in 
their solitude, or for the purpose of secret com¬ 
munication. * 
La Motraie, the companion of Charles !£II., 
and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, were the 
first who gave celebrity in Europe to the lan¬ 
guage of flowers. The few examples cited by 
Lady Montagu are not calculated to afford a 
clear and accurate idea of the principles on 
which this language is founded. Its spirit con¬ 
sists not, as might naturally be supposed, in the 
connexion which fancy may trace between par¬ 
ticular flowers and certain thoughts and feelings. 
Such an idea never entered the heads of the 
