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LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
cellars of the hall, and the corks were drawn by 
a servant in old-fashioned livery, and, amid loud 
huzzas, the healths of the King and Queen of May 
were drunk by the happy villagers. Another dance, 
in which the queen and her lover joined, being 
over, the squire and his family retired through the 
ancient iron gates of the lodge, and were soon lost 
in the long avenue which led to the hall, leaving 
the merry villagers to end their May-day game 
amongst themselves. They elected a new May 
queen, by cutting a quantity of sprigs from a rose¬ 
bush, amid which only one bud was placed ; this, 
together with the sprays which contained only 
leaves, was concealed in the palm of the hand, 
while the stalks or stems only were left visible, and 
she who was fortunate enough to draw out the rose¬ 
bud, was proclaimed Queen of the May, and placed 
upon the flowery throne, which her sovereign sister 
had just abdicated. 
Alas ! this innocent old English holiday has now 
all but passed away; no one now serenades the 
“ sweet slug-a-beds” in the early morning, as they 
did in the days of Herrick, bidding them rise up 
and put “ on their foliage, and come forth like the 
spring time, fresh, and green, and sweet as Flora,” 
and not stop to adorn themselves with jewels, for 
the dews of morning were waiting to cover them 
all over with pearls. There is no longer that 
