were surrounded. There are various other plants, the sight of which also revives in my mind recollections of dear and interesting persons, and which brings the scenes of early youth forcibly before me, as the strains of the Rans des Vaches, when heard in a foreign country, remind the Swiss peasant of his native mountains. "Numerous examples might be adduced to prove that, in the power of exciting past recollections, the sight of a flower has often a more magic effect than even the favourite melodies of our youth. I myself know a young lady who, though entirely free from nervous weakness, could never look at a carnation without bursting into tears, because she was plucking a flower of that kind at the moment when she was informed of her mother's death. The sight of the periwinkle always produced pleasingly painful feelings in Rousseau's mind; and Bougainville's South Sea Islander, on being taken to the Botanic Garden in Paris, knelt before an Otaheitean plant, and kissed it as fondly as he would have kissed the lips of a beloved mistress. It would be impossible to describe the many de possesses the peculiar property of blooming and emitting its delightful fragrance during the night. There are Plants that wake when others sleep; To every breeze that roams about. The first bud of the Sorrowful Tree opens as soon as the first star appears in the heavens; and, as the shades of night advance, and the stars thickly stud the sky, the buds continue gradually blowing until the whole tree presents the appearance of one immense flower- the flower of a world, compared with which our earth would be but a football. On the approach of morning, when the brilliancy of the stars gradually fades in the light of day, the Sorrowful Tree closes its flowers; and, when the first beam of the rising sun appears, not a single blossom is visible. A sheet of flower-dust, as white as snow, covers the ground around the foot of the tree, which seems blighted and withered during the day, while, however, it is invisibly and actively preparing for its next nocturnal festival. If this tree is cut down close to the roots, a new plant shoots up and attains maturity in an almost incredibly short space of time: like the truly great man, who, though he may be for a while bowed down by the storms of fate, will soon recover and flourish in his wonted glory. In the vicinity of this singular tree, there usually grows another, which is probably a degenerate scion of the same species. In appearance it exactly resembles the Sorrowful Tree, though it is less beautiful. It blooms only in the day time; thus presenting an emblem of those persons who seem created only to enjoy the garish light of day, and who suffer the luminaries of night to diffuse their serener radiance unheeded and unseen. Though we dwell not on the luxuriant banks of the Tigris, where, in the spring, the whole country exhibits the appearance of a richly variegated and perfumed flower-bed; yet even in the less fertile regions of the North the gifts of Flora are sufficiently abundant and diversified to enable us to create from them a language for the expression of those sentiments to which the tongue cannot always venture to give utterance. Every flower seems naturally to present some particular emblematic meaning; and, in the combination of a garland or nosegay, it is no difficult matter to compose a riddle, the solution of which may afford an agreeable exercise to the fancy. If, for example, a lady should receive from her lover a bouquet consisting of roses, lilies, laurel, and forget-me-not; the meaning of the present might be thus interpreted: the flower of innocence, when kissed by the rose, blushes as thou wouldst blush at the approach of love; the proud laurel denotes thy beauty's triumph; and the tender forget-me-not is the emblem of eternal constancy. The idea of rendering flowers the vehicle of a lover's sentiments has been thus happily seized by one of our early English poets. Aske me why I send you here This Primrose all bepearl'd with dew; The sweets of love are washt with tears. Aske me why this flow'r doth show What doubts and fears are in a Lover. The following lines from Drayton's Muses' Elysium may afford some useful hints for the arrangement of a bouquet, with regard to the harmonious blending of the tints of the different flowers. A Nymph is supposed to be speaking: Here damask roses, white and red, Which still shall run along the thread: Amongst these roses in a row, Next place I pinks in plenty, The pretty pansy then I'll tye Like stones some chain inchasing; The curious choice clove Julyflower, |