Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840,

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York

STEREOTYPED BY J. S. REDFIELD, 13 Chambers Street, New York.

PREFACE.

MOST of the prose portions of the following pages, have been adopted from an English work, entitled "The Sentiment of Flowers." The editor has made a few alterations and additions, in order to adapt it to American readers, and has illustrated the whole with poetical sentiments, original and selected.

As an apology may be deemed necessary for apparent egotism, in introducing so frequently her own effusions, among those of a far higher order, it seems proper to state, that, where an appropriate quotation did not immediately occur to memory, it appeared the shortest and easiest, if not the wisest way to compose, at the moment, a few lines or verses suitable to the flower and its sentiment.

The chapter on botany will be found complete within itself, and according to the most approved systemthat of Linnæus. It will serve as an interesting introduction for those who have not had the advantage of the study in their education, and may recall to memory its principles where they have been learned and forgotten.

The editor can pretend to no erudition on the subject. Only Fancy and Feeling have woven a wreath which may yield neither bloom nor sweetness, unless the sunshine of Indulgence, and the kindly dew of Sympathy, be suffered to play on its leaves.

F. S. O.

PLATE I.-FRONTISPIECE

ILLUSTRATION OF FRONTISPIECE.

Rose.-Ivy.-Myrtle.

To Beauty, Friendship, and Love

OH! Beauty! bright rose of the world!
Oh, Love! the soul's myrtle for ever!

Oh, Friendship! fair vine round a breaking heart curled,
Without whose soft bonds it would sever!

For you a rich garland we braid,

Breathing sighs of pure incense above;

It will bloom in the sun, it will smile in the shade,
For Beauty, for Friendship, and Love!

1. S. O.

I sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds, and bowers,
Of April, May, of June and July flowers;

I sing of youth, of love too, and I write
How roses first came red, and lilies white:
I write of groves and twilight, and I sing
The court of Mab, and of the Fairie King.

HERRICK.

There's wit in every flower, if you can gather it.

SHIRELEY.