


56 INTRODUCTION, 
This is an ingenious mode of correspondence, 
which can never betray or divulge a secret. 
This eloquent language gives a charm to the 
sweet intercourse of friendship, and to filial and 
maternal love; it adds to the delight of youthful 
affections, and affords an excellent mode of 
recognition. The unfortunate may even find a 
faithful messenger in a flower. Roucher, when 
in solitary confinement, consoled himself in 
Studying the flowers which his daughter col- 
lected for him; and, a few days before his 
death, he sent her two dead lilies, to express, 
at the same time, the purity of his soul and the 
fate which awaited him. 
The poet Saadi, author of “ Gulistan, or 
the Rose Garden,” engaged to break his chains 
by presenting a rose to the man who owned him 
as his slave. He said, “Do good unto thy 
servant whilst thou hast it in thy power, for 
the season of power is often as brief as the 
existence of this beautiful flower.” 
The sentiments and emblems found in this 
volume are chiefly derived from the ancients, 
and especially from eastern nations. In pur- 
suing the research, it has been found that time» 


















