ELEGANCE. ACACIA ROSE. ART has produced nothing that may vie in freshness and in elegance of appearance with this beautiful flowering shrub; its inclining branches- the gayety of its verdure its clusters of rose-coloured flowers, like bows of ribands, hung on branches, clothed with hairs of a reddish brown, never failed to excite admiration, and have combined to render it a proper emblem of elegance. Its appearance has been compared to that of an elegant female in her balldress. The world has won her- she has learned Its measured smile and tread; The foot that once the snowflake spurned By courtly rule is led; And Fashion's hand has smoothed the fold Where once the tress of glossy gold F. S. O. Her matchless wealth of beauty beggars all F. S. O. I shall not soon forget thee, with thy dark and flashing eye, And the pretty little haughty head thou carriest so high; With thy throat, whose swanlike curve is the loveliest I have seen, And the spirit and the grace of thy merry maiden-mien. I shall not soon forget thee, with thy smile's bewildering charm; With thy snow-white dimpled hand and thy softly rounded arm; With thy form of fairy moulding, so perfect yet petite; And the light and restless movements of thy dainty little feet. ELOQUENCE. F. S. O. WATER-LILY. calls the lily from her sleep Prolonged beneath the bordering deep. WORDSWORTH. THE Egyptians have consecrated to the sun the god of eloquence, the flower of the Nymphæa Lotus. This flower closes at evening, and reclines on the bosom of the lake, from the setting of the sun until the rising of that splendid orb on the succeeding morn. Flowers of the lotus are inwoven in the head-dress of Osiris. The Indian gods also are frequently represented on the waters as seated on this flower! It is supposed that this allegory may be understood as an allusion to the fable of the world rising from the midst of the waters. Expression is. the dress of thought. POPE. Thy words had such a melting flow, And spoke of truth so sweetly well, Speech is the morning to the soul: MOORE. DRYDEN AND LEE. ENCHANTMENT. VERVAIN. She nightshade strows to work him ill, DRAYTON. IT were well if botanists would attach a moral idea to every plant they describe: we might then have a universal dictionary of the sentiment of flowers generally understood - which would be handed down from age to age, and might be renewed, without changing their characters every succeeding spring. The altars of Jupiter are overthrown: those ancient forests, that witnessed the mysteries of Druidism, exist no longer; and the pyramids of Egypt shall one day disappear, buried, like the sphinx, in the sands of the desert; but the lotus and the acanthus shall ever flower upon the banks of the Nile, the mistletoe will always flourish upon the oak, and the vervain upon the barren knolls. G Vervain was used by the ancients for divers kind of divinations; they attributed to it a thousand properties; among others, that of reconciling enemies; and when the Roman heralds-atarms were despatched with a message of peace or war to other nations, they wore a wreath of vervain. Drayton alludes to this custom: A wreath of vervain heralds wear, Being sent that dreadful news to bear, Offensive war proclaimed. The Druids held this plant in great veneration, and, before gathering it, they made a sacrifice to the earth. Probably they used it for food; and Dryden thus mentions it: : Some scattering potherbs here and there he found, And bruised with vervain, were his daily fare. We are told that the worshippers of the sun, in performing their services, held branches of vervain in their hands. Venus Victorious wore a crown of myrtle interwoven with vervain, and the Germans to this day give a ́hat of vervain to the newmarried bride, as putting her under the protection of that goddess. Pliny also tells us that it was made use of by the Druids in casting lots, in drawing omens, and in other magical arts. Love is the subtlest enchanter, that ever A magical rod is each dart in his quiver, F. S. O. ENTERTAINMENT-FEASTING. PARSLEY. PARSLEY was in great reputation among the Greeks. In their banquets they crowned their brows with its light tendrils, which they thought created gayety and so increased their appetites. At Rome, in the Isthmian games, the conquerors were crowned with parsley. It is thought this plant came from Sardinia, because that province is represented on ancient medals under the form of a female, near whom is a vase in which is a bouquet of parsley. But this plant grows in all the fresh and shady places in Greece, and in the southern provinces of France. Guy de la Brosse affirms that it grows also near Paris, on Mount Valerian ; but it is presumable that the plant he designates is not the true parsley, since its introduction into France is attributed to Rabelais, who, according to the learned, brought it from Rome with the Roman lettuce; if this had been the case, he would probably have attached his name to those modest presents. Rabelais, like Queen Claude, would then have been celebrated by the gourmands of every age. However this may be, the beautiful verdure of this plant forms an elegant garnishing to our dishes; it is the luxury of the soup-kettle; it adds to the delight of the most splendid dinners. A branch of laurel and a crown of parsley are the attributes we admit as belonging to the god of banquets. These plants have served for nobler uses; but in the age of gastronomy, it is unnecessary to recall what was done in the age of heroism. We may roam through this world like a child at a feast, |