JASMINE. 
133 
JASMINE. 
AMIABLENESS. 
The Jasmine seems to have been created 
expressly to be the happy emblem of an ami¬ 
able disposition. When brought from India, 
about the year 1560, by Spanish navigators, the 
slenderness of its branches and the delicate 
brightness of its starry flowers were universally 
admired: to preserve so elegant a plant, it was 
thought necessary to place it in the hothouse, 
which seemed to suit it perfectly well. The 
orangery was then tried, and there it grew sur¬ 
prisingly. It was then risked in the open air, 
and now, without needing any sort of care, it 
withstands the utmost severity of winter. 
In all situations, the amiable Jasmine suffers 
its supple branches to be trained in any form 
that the gardener chooses to give them: most 
commonly forming a living tapestry for our 
arbours or the walls of our houses or gardens, 
