_Symbolism of Flowers, etc._--In reference to works illustrative of
poetical, mythological, scriptural, and historical associations
connected with animals and plants, inquired for in No. 11. p. 173., many
a literary man must equally desire an interpreter,--
"T' unbind the charms that in slight fables lie,
And teach that truth is truest poesy."
Yet, in the English language there is, I believe, no work of this
description; and I therefore beg leave to suggest, that your learned
correspondents may contribute to a very useful compilation by furnishing
illustrations, or references to illustrations, critical and poetical,
collected from the most valuable authors, ancient and modern; and that
this "sacred eloquence," {458}
"Where'er 'tis found
On Christian or on heathen ground,"
if transplanted into learned pages, would to many readers, afford much
pleasure. Meanwhile, I would refer Querist to the useful work of
Camerarius on _Symbols and Emblems_.
"Do thou, bright Phoebus, guide me luckily
To the first plant by some kind augury."
The proverbial expression, "Under the rose," appears opportunely in p.
214, beautifully illustrated[4], but still deserving further
consideration. Schedius (_De Diis Gemanis_) and others have, with much
learning, shown Venus Urania to be the same as Isis Myrionyma. With
erudition not inferior, but in support of a peculiar theory, Gorop.
Bacanus maintains Harpocrates and Cupido, son of Venus Uranis, to be one
and the same hieroglyphical character. I shall now endeavour to explain
the symbolism and dedication of the Rose. This "flower of flowers"
adumbrates the highest faculty of human nature--_Reason_, and Silence,
or the rest of the reasoning powers, which is indicated by the Greek
term [Greek: epistaemae], _science_. (See Harris's _Philosoph. Arrang._
p. 444., and _Hermes_, p. 369.). To whom, then, could the hieroglyphical
rose have been more appropriately dedicated than Harpocrates, who is
described with his finger pointing to his mouth--_tacito plenus
amore_--a proper emblem of that silence with which we ought to behave in
religious matters.