JASMINE. 
135 
My mild and winsome Jasmine-tree, 
That climbest up the dark grey wall, 
Thy tiny flowerets seem in glee 
Like silver spray-drops down to fall. 
Lord Morpeth. 
A variety of the Jasmine, with large double 
flowers and exquisite scent, was first procured 
in 1699 from Goa, by the grand-duke of Tus¬ 
cany, and, so jealous was he of being the sole 
possessor of this species, that he strictly for¬ 
bade his gardener to give a cutting of it to any 
person whatever. The gardener would pro¬ 
bably have obeyed this injunction had he not 
been in love : but, on the birthday of his mis¬ 
tress, he presented her with a nosegay, in which 
he had placed a sprig of this rare species of 
Jasmine. Delighted with the fragrance of its 
flowers, the girl planted the sprig in fresh 
mould; it continued green all the year and, 
next summer shot forth anew and blossomed. 
Instructed by her lover, she soon began to raise 
cuttings from this plant and to sell them at a 
high price ; by this means she amassed a little 
fund, which enabled her to marry the gardener, 
who was as poor as she was herself before this 
