INTRODUCTION. 
9 
whom it is supposed to have been invented, 
since it is a kind of parable which speaks to 
the eye, and through that medium is trans¬ 
mitted to the heart. 
That love reigned in the breast before the 
hand had practised the art of forming hiero¬ 
glyphics cannot be doubted, and that man 
should select the most beautiful objects in 
nature to represent his most ardent passion is 
equally probable. We may conclude that the 
bower of myrtle and roses was the earliest 
temple dedicated to love and beauty, and that 
to this happy spot the youth invited his spouse 
by means of floral emblems. 
Milton thus pictures the first parents of 
mankind: 
“ Hand in hand alone they pass’d 
On to their blissful bow’r : it was a place 
Chos’n by the sovereign planter, when he fram’d 
All things to man’s delightful use; the roof 
Of thickest covert was inwoven shade. 
Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew 
