210 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
SCARLET GERANIUM. 
STUPIDITY. 
Madame de Stael was always angry when¬ 
ever any of her acquaintance attempted to in¬ 
troduce a stupid person into her company. One 
day, one of her friends ventured, nevertheless, 
to bring to her a young Swiss officer of the most 
prepossessing exterior. The lady, pleased with 
his appearance, was very lively, and said a thou¬ 
sand flattering things to the new-comer, who 
seemed at first to be struck mute by surprise 
and admiration. When, however, he had lis¬ 
tened to her for above an hour without opening 
his lips, she began to suspect the cause of his 
silence, and put to him such direct questions 
that he could not help answering. Alas, for 
the visitor ! his answers were extremely silly 1 
Madame de Stael, vexed at having thrown away 
her time and her wit, turned to her friend and 
said: “ Indeed, sir, you are like my gardener, 
who thought to do me a pleasure by bringing 
