THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
157 
the orange-blossom is sacred to marriage, and no maiden 
might be won till her lover had scaled the perilous heights 
himself to seek the priceless edelweiss and lay it at her 
feet. Like the Scotch white heather, it told in itself the 
old, sweet tale; for, if the maiden took his offering, the 
happy lover might hope, and if she placed it in her girdle 
or on her bosom, then he knew that she was his. 
Flowers are all lovely “.after their kind,” and many 
have a national signification. 
The rose is the national flower of England, from the 
time of the York and Lancaster factions. 
The blue cornflower, which we know as bachelor's buttons 
(Centaurea cyanus), is the favorite in Germany, because 
the good old Emperor William loves it for the sake of his 
mother, by whose side he used to gather it in the mead¬ 
ows when a child. The Germans call it “ Kaiser Blume ” 
or “king’s flower,” and nosegays of it are sold in the 
markets of Berlin, as daisy sheaves are sold in our cities. 
The leek is the national emblem of Wales as the thistle 
is of Scotland. 
The field or Paris daisy (the marguerite) is now the 
royal flower of Italy, in compliment to the Queen Mar- 
gharita, who has adopted her name-flower as her own de¬ 
vice, having her pearls set in such starry shapes, and her 
belongings impressed with it in every manner. The 
marguerite, by the way, is own cousin to our ox-eye daisy 
and very much like it, only slenderer of stem and of thin¬ 
ner petals, and both are species of chrysanthemums, the 
true daisies being the little pink and white button-like 
flowers, of which Burns’s poetry and old Scottish songs 
are full: “ The wee modest crimson-tipped flower ” is 
dear to every Scottish heart. The Bourbon lily, the Na¬ 
poleonic violet of France, the Castilian rose of Spain, will 
suggest themselves as historic flowers, as they were the 
emblems of reigning houses. The lemon blossom is a 
favorite in Portugal. 
“ Some flowers enjoy a sacred fame; among them is the 
passion-flower, whose stem and petals represent the cross 
and thorny crown of the Saviour of mankind. It is a 
native of Brazil, where it attains a luxuriance of growth 
unknown to our temperate regions. The legend con¬ 
nected with it has given it an interest almost sacred, even 
when viewed by other eyes than those of superstitious 
devotees. It is said that certain Jews, bewailing in Jeru¬ 
salem the death of Christ, saw for the first time this 
flower, by some said to have sprung up wherever drops 
of His blood had fallen, and with the scene of the won¬ 
drous passion and death still fresh in their memory, gave 
to this beautiful blossom a symbolic meaning, indicative 
of His sufferings and the manner of His death. 
“ The stigmas are supposed to represent the three nails 
used at the crucifixion ; the five anthers indicate the five 
wounds; the rays represent the glory of our Lord ; the 
purple fringe, sometimes found with red spots upon it, is 
a type of the crown of thorns ; the petals, ten in number, 
are the representatives of those apostles who were faith¬ 
ful to their Heavenly Master ; the three sepals, forming the 
calyx, are emblematic of the Trinity. This poetical con¬ 
ception has caused the passion-flower to be held in esteem 
almost amounting to veneration in Catholic countries ; 
and the blossom is found entwined in many cases with 
emblazoned inscriptions on borders of old manuscripts of 
the sacred writings.” 
The history of the rose of Jericho is legendary and ro¬ 
mantic in the highest degree. In the East, throughout 
Syria, Judea and Arabia, it is regarded with the profound- 
est reverence. The leaves that encircle the round blos¬ 
soms, dry and close together when the season of blossoms 
is over, and the stalk, withering away at last from the 
bush on which it grew, having dried in the shape ol a 
ball, is carried by the breeze to great distances. In this- 
way it is borne over the wastes and sandy deserts, until, 
at last, touching some moist place, it clings to the soil,, 
and immediately takes root and springs to life and beauty. 
For this reason the Orientals have adopted it as the em¬ 
blem of resurrection. 
A superstitious tale tells us that it first bloomed on 
Christmas eve, to salute the birth of the Redeemer, and 
paid homage to his resurrection by remaining open till 
Easter. These plants may be bought in a dry state, and 
will thus remain any length of time, but will expand when 
placed in water. 
M. de Lesseps, the famous canal builder, whose mental 
force, physical strength and moral courage might well be 
the envy of men half his years, is now on the verge of 
eighty, but, in spite of his great age, he retains the hope¬ 
fulness and freshness of youth, and he has been compared 
in this respect to Pythagoras, Titian and Alexander von 
Humboldt, and even to those heroes of Indian legend 
who enjoy their life thrice over. At the age of sixty-eight 
M. de Lesseps was left a widower. Some few years 
after it was reported, to the amazement of the world, 
that the lively septuagenarian had married a young 
maiden of astonishing beauty. 
In a certain Parisian family, where M. de Lesseps often 
visited, there was a bevy of five sisters. De Lesseps de¬ 
lighted to gather them around him and relate stirring 
episodes from his travels. One day, while speaking of 
his experiences in Palestine, he said that he had under¬ 
gone great dangers and difficulties among the Arabs, be¬ 
cause they could not conceive how a man could live with¬ 
out a wife. The prettiest of the sisters innocently asked : 
“ Why, then, do you not marry again ? ” “ Because I am 
too old,” replied M. de Lesseps. “ Besides,” he added, 
“ if I were to fall in love with a young girl, it would be 
absurd to think that she would fall in love with me/' 
“ Who knows? ” observed the questioner. 
M. de Lesseps told his young listeners about the rose of 
Jericho, which, after being dried and placed in water, 
again bursts out into bloom. Soon afterward he obtained 
one of these roses, and presented it to the young girl. 
In a few days she appeared with the reblossomed rose 
in her hand, which she gave to the honored guest, saying 
at the same time: “ See what a miracle the water has 
effected upon the rose; it is the blossoming of love in 
old age.” 
Their eyes met, and M. de Lesseps believing that his 
Desdemona had a meaning in what she did, quietly said : 
“ If you really think that you dare venture to share the 
remaining years of an old man, here is my hand.” 
But for his marriage it is very uncertain whether the 
bold projector would have undertaken his laborious task 
