25 4 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
to men of heroes, of gods, and of love. Let us 
listen to their voices: to us, too, they will talk 
of Providence, who, after bestowing a profusion 
of them for the supply of our wants, reserves 
some for our pleasures, or as monitors for our 
guidance. Some she gives to be the playthings 
of our childhood, to form wreaths for us in 
youth, to afford us delicious fruits and refreshing 
shade in every period of life. Are we melan¬ 
choly, the willow invites us by soft murmurs; 
are we disposed to love, the myrtle offers us its 
flowers ; are we rich, the horse-ehesnut furnishes 
its superb umbrage; are we sorrowful, the Yew 
seems to say to us : “ Be of good cheer ; grief 
desolates the heart, as I desolate the soil that 
supports me: it is as dangerous to man as my 
shade is to the weary passenger 1” 
