INTRODUCTION. 29 
yead also in that of Amadis, that Oriana, a 
prisoner who had neither the opportunity of 
speaking or writing to her lover, apprised him 
ef her misfortune by throwing, from the high 
tower in which she was confined, a rose bathed 
in her tears. What a charming expression of 
sorrow and of love! The Chinese have an 
alphabet composed entirely of plants and roots ; 
and we may yet read upon the rocks of Egypt 
the ancient conquests over that people, re- 
corded by foreign plants, This language is as 
old as the world, but its characters are renewed 
in each succeeding spring. 
Should a beautiful odalisk wish to avenge 
herself on a tyrant who has treated her with 
cruelty, she may, with a single floweret of the 
lily of the valley, thrown as by chance, inform 
a young icoglan, that the favourite sultana, 
weary of her tyrannous lord, wishes to inspire 
a sentiment of lively and pure affection. If 
he should return a rose it would be as though 
he had said that reason was opposed to her 
projects; but a tulip, with a black heart, and 
flame-coloured petals, would assure her that 
her wishes were understood and partaken of. 


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