INTRODUCTION. 
23 
this figurative language. Their poetical fa¬ 
bles are full of the metamorphoses of their 
deities into plants ; indeed there was no 
flower to which their imaginations had not 
affixed some meaning; even to this day a 
young Arcadian is seldom seen without his 
turban full of flowers, presented to him by the 
beauty he admires, by the silent language of 
which his hopes are kept alive ; and it forms 
one of the chief amusements of the Greek 
girls to drop these symbols of their esteem 
or scorn upon the various passengers who 
pass their latticed windows.” 
In the gardens of the East, Flora receives 
the homage due for her widely-scattered and 
various gifts. Oh ! flowers — flowers — we 
may well think them the “ alphabet of the an¬ 
gels.” But how coldly do we look on them; 
how often are we regardless of their charms 
here; while in other lands they almost sub¬ 
serve the use of writing, — expressing by a 
blossom, joy, grief, hope, despair, devotion, 
piety, and almost every sentiment that fills 
the mind. 
