176 
LASTING BEAUTY. 
thing but violets and roses, —the fields were 
covered, and flowers seemed to be encroach¬ 
ing rapidly on the rights of Ceres. 
The Gauls were long ignorant of every 
delicacy. Their warlike hands disdained 
the handle of the plough. With them, the 
garden, under the charge of the mistress of 
the family, contained only aromatic plants, 
and such as were useful for culinary purposes. 
At length, their manners became softened, 
and Charlemagne, who was the terror of the 
world, and the father of his people, delighted 
in flowers, and recommended the culture of 
lilies, roses, and gillyflowers. Foreign flow¬ 
ers were not introduced among us until the 
thirteenth century. During the crusades 
European warriors brought us many new 
species from Egypt and Syria, of which the 
monks, at that time the only able cultivators, 
took charge. They were at first the charm 
of their peaceful retreats; since then they 
are scattered over every flower bed; they are 
become the companions of our pleasures, 
and add to the luxuries of our mansions. 
Still the rose is the queen of our groves, 
and the lily the king of our valleys. 
The rosebuds are transient; and the lily, 
though it flowers more tardily, passes away 
almost as rapidly. The gillyflower, — less 
graceful than the rose,—less superb than the 
lily,—has a splendour more durable. Con- 
