FLOWERS IN HISTORY.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3245, 24 November 1881, Page 4

FLOWERS IN HISTORY.

History owes very much to the vegetable kingdom, which has furnished the material for keeping its records down through the ages. Paper was made from the papyrus, or paper-reed, from early antiquity until the eleventh or twelfth century, when it was superseded by that made from cotton. The papyrus was formerly a very cooimon plant in Egypt, Abyssinia, and Syria, but now is very rare. The paper was prepared from the pellicle found between the bark and fleshy part of the stem, the pieces being united together, pressed, and dried in the sun. Manuscripts written on this paper have beon found in the swathings of mummies, and the uncouth characters traced upon it could he distinctly seen. The tassel, like flowers which grow on tho long, straight stems of the papyrus were used as coronals for illustrious men. 'Papyrus ! Oh, reed immortal! Survivor of all renown ! Thou heed'st not the solemn portal Where heroes and kings go down The monarchsof generations Have died into dust away : Oh, reed, that outlivest nations, Be our symbol of strength to-day !' In India, the leaves of a palm-tree arc strung together, and form the volumes of a Hindoo library. In America, tho American aloe, or century plant, has rendered mankind a service similar to that of the Egyptiod papyrus. In the early ages of that continent, the fibre aloe was extensively used for the manufacture of paper. Rude hieroglyphics wore paintod on it, and many of those ' picture-writing,' as they have been called, aro still preserved in Mexico. They have como down to us fz-om the time of tho Montezumas, and by deciphering them wo get a glimpse into tho history of that interesting people. Different nations have adopted different flowers and plants as their national emblems. We havo the lillies of Franco, the Rose of England, tho thistle of Scotland, the shamrock of Ireland. The oak-treeo figured largely in the early history of England. Before Roman Conquest, in the time of the Druids, it was regarded as a sacred tree ; and tho mistletoe, a parasite found attached to it, was thought to bo of great importance. They held a great festival on their New Year's day, and made a great ceremony of searching for the mistletoe. When they found ifc, a procession was formed, which advanced to the sacred oak, and a white-robed Druid cut off the misletoe-bough with a golden knife; and then followed their festival rites and. rejoicings, which, as they included human sacrifices, were little like what we would suppose the beautiful woodland surroundings might have inspired. One of the prettiest legends of tho Arabic literature attributes to Mohammed a saying that if a man finds himself with bread in both hands he should exchange one loaf for flowers of the narcissus, since bread feeds tho body indeed, but these the soul. Nothing could be more subtle than this ancient confession of the part that color and per-

fume, and the eternal freshness of flowers' take in tho education of the heart. The influence of flowers and trees on tho architecture of tho ancients is so striking that it ought not to bo overlooked. Those old cathedrals, that have been the wonder of all the centuries since, owe their grace and beauty to the flowers that the builders V; .'ought so wonderfully in stone, and prove that strongth and beauty need never more be contradictory terms. This is also true of their exterior as it is of ther interior decorations. Their statoly pillars rose like their palms, crowned with acanthus leaves and other designs. Many other styles of' architecture hinted of the forms that had so influenced them, showing that these lesser things live and work out their purpose, though often unrecognised. Flowers have been made use of as educators down from the time when tho Maker of them said, ' Consider the lilies ;' and when the Lord of the hai rest'said, ' Lift up your oyes and behold the whitened fields.' They make an appeal, silent but forcible, to tho sunny side of our nature. The flower missions connected with our great city hospitals bear loving witnesss to this fact; and it is hard to tell who has the greater pleasure, ho who makes the effort of giving, or the weai/ invalid who gratefully accepts the beauty and blessing of tho flowers. Tho genius of history has to record for our generation much that is noble and pure from the ministration of flowers. They are always appropriate, In the church, as expressive of its purest and most social themes, and blending their sweetness With the incense Of prayer. Appropriate in the joy of the marriage hour, in tho loneliness of the sickroom, and crowning with prophecy the foreheads of the dead.