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million sesterces (about £30,000) for Roses, at one supper. Horace,
alluding to this custom, says : “ Seek not for late-blowing Roses ;
I ask no other crown than simple Myrtle.” In those days, Rose-
wine was celebrated, and we learn that Heliogabalus was wont to
indulge largely in this drink, and bathed himself in it. He even
caused a large swimming-bath to be filled with the costly liquid.
Milto, a fair young maiden, of obscure birth, was wont to
deposit every morning garlands of fresh flowers in the temple of
Venus, as she was too poor to make costlier offerings. Her rare
beauty was once in danger of being destroyed by a tumour which
grew on her chin, but in a dream she one night beheld the goddess,
who told her to apply to it some of the Roses from her altar. Milto
obeyed ; the tumour soon disappeared, and she grew more lovely
than ever ; eventually attraéting the notice of the younger Cyrus,
whose favourite wife she became. From that time the medicinal
properties of the Rose met with general recognition, and the flower
formed the basis of many lotions.
In classical times, the Rose was regarded as the emblem of
joy, and Comus, the god of feasting, is represented as wearing a
garland of bedewed Roses. As, during the intoxication of niirth,
the mouth is apt to run over when the heart is full, the ancients
feigned that Cupid presented a Rose to Harpocrates, the grave god
of silence, as a bribe not to betray the amours of Venus. The
flower thus became a symbol of secrecy and silence, and as such, a
Rose was formerly suspended over the guest table, that the sight of
it might remind the guests that the conversation should not be
repeated elsewhere. More recently, a Rose was painted on the
ceiling of dining-rooms, and in our own time the plaster ornament
in the centre of the ceiling is still called a Rose. This custom gave
rise to the saying “ Under the R o se ”—an injunction of secrecy.
Hence it fell out that the Jacobins adopted the white Rose as a
political symbol of the Pretender, since his adherents were compelled
to help him “ under the Rose.”
The Rose held an important place in early ecclesiastical history.
As an emblem of love and beauty, the queen of flowers was especially
dedicated by the Romish Church to the Virgin Mary : she is
the Rose of Sharon, the Mystic Rose {Rosa mystica), as well as the
L ily of the Valley. In old Italian paintings of the Madonna, a
plantation, garden, or hedge of Roses is often introduced, enclosing
the principal figure. In mediæval days, the Rose had a Sunday of
its own at Rome, and the reigning Pope officiated at the ceremony
of the blessing of the Golden Rose upon Mid-Lent Sunday. A
Golden Rose is, even in our own enlightened times, annually
blessed by the Pope and sent as a mark of signal pontifical favour
to some royal personage. Ecclesiastical tradition affirms that
Roses and Lilies were found in the tomb of the Virgin Mary after
her assumption into heaven, and Roses were conveyed by St.
Dorothy, at the instance of Theophilus, from the heavenly garden.
p f a n t ho te , h e g e l^ f , anil Isijrie/*, 5 1 9
Roses replaced the alms of Elizabeth of Hungary, when her apron
was rudely torn from her grasp by those who shared not her
charitable zeal for the poor. A legend of the twelfth century,
quoted in a German work by Wolf, relates how losbert, a
pious monk, having fallen dead, whilst worshipping at a shrine
of the Virgin Mary (in honour of whom he had been accustomed
to recite five psalms every day), there sprang from his niouth,
from his eyes, and from his ears, five Roses. The bishop,
on his arrival, plucked one of the miraculous flowers, and
solemnly placed it upon the altar. No sooner had he done so,
however, than the other four Roses instantly faded away. In
old paintings of the saints, Roses are sometimes introduced in
allusion to the saint’s name. St. Rosalia, of Palermo, St. Rosa
di Viterbo, St. Rosa di Lima, all wear the crown of Roses, or it is
presented by an angel. The last-named saint, who is the patroness
of America, was canonised by Clement X. According to the
Peruvian legend, the pope, when entreated to canonise her, absolutely
refused, exclaiming: “ Indian and sa in t! as likely as that it
should rain Roses ! ” whereupon a miraculous shower of Roses
began to fall in the Vatican, and ceased not until the incredulous
pontiff acknowledged himself convinced of her sancffity. A legend
of St. Francis of Assisi relates that as the saint was one day
shivering in his cell, in the depth of Winter, a demon whispered in
his ear suggestions of ease and luxury. He repelled the temptations
by going out and rolling himself in the snow on a heap of
Thorns. From the Thorns sprinkled with his blood sprang Roses
of Paradise, which he piously offered up to Christ and the Madonna.
The Rosary was introduced by St. Dominick, in commemoration
of his having been shown a chaplet of Roses by the blessed
Virgin. It consisted formerly of a string of beads made of Rose-
leaves tightly pressed into round moulds, when real Roses were not
strung together. The use of a chaplet of beads as a minute of the
number of prayers recited is of Eastern origin, and dates from the time
of the Egyptian anchorites. Beads were also used by the Benedictines,
and are to this day in use among Mahometan devotee/
St. Dominick invented a novel arrangement of the chaplet, and dedicated
it to the honour and glory of the Virgin Mary. A complete
Rosary consists of fifteen large and 1 50 small beads, the former
j-0pr0senting the number of Paternosters, the latter the number of
Ave-Marias. The Indian Buddhists use a Rosary of 99 beads: the
Chinese and Japanese Buddhists one of 108 beads, corresponding
to the daily prayers offered against the 108 possible sins.
In the sixth century, St. Médard, Bishop of Noyon, France,
instituted a festival at Salency, his birth-place, for adjudging a
prize to the girl who should be acknowledged the most amiable,
modest, and beautiful. The prize consisted of a simple crown of
Roses, and the founder of the festival had the gratification of