OI ©cripcure. Alia uv icoa uvoo iv »'“»*** 
frailty. We strew them over the shroud of departed love, 
and plant them to bloom brightly above the grave, that they 
may speak in spring of a brighter season of hope, and in 
summer of that heavenly clime that knows only of an 
eternal summer and a cloudless sky, and in all seasons, 
of love, and purity, and peace. To these, the simple expres¬ 
sions of natural feeling, have been added from time to time, 
from the pages of classic poetry and the more complex fan¬ 
cies of later writers, a series of ideas attached to every flower, / 
by means of which the nosegay may be made to take the 
place of more formal epistles. 
For the more complicated uses of this beautiful language, 
a few hints may be necessary, to show how extensive is the 
range of thought its alphabet may communicate. For 
example, if a flower be given reversed, it implies the op¬ 
posite of that thought or sentiment which it is ordinarily 
understood to express: again, a rosebud from which the 
thorns have been removed, but which lias still its leaves, 
conveys the sentiment, “ I fear, but I hope,”—the thorns 
implying fear, as the leaves hope; remove the leaves and 
thorns, and then it signifies that “ There may be neither 
hope nor fearwhile, again, a single flower may be made 
emblematical of a variety of ideas; a rosebud that has been 
already used and deprived of its thorns, says, “ There is much 
to hope;” but stripped of its leaves also, it tells, "There is . 
everything to fear.” The expression also of almost any 
flower may be varied by changing its position. Place the 
marigold upon the head, for instance, and it signifies “ dis¬ 
tress of mind”—on the bosom, " listlessness.” When a flower 
is given, the pronoun I is understood by changing it to the 
right, thou by inclining it to the left. 
To the intelligent reader, these suggestions may suffice, and 
we conclude with the hope that, under the guidance of this 
little volume, many a nosegay may change hands, and tell, in 
.ts fitting language, “ a welcome message to fair lady’s ear.” 
