Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-20

the manor house, known locally as the
German Forest PATH" and by his direc-
tions, during the last year of his life, a
clump of trees in the park where the grass
grew scantily was thickly planted with
ferns and primroses. Primrose Day occurs
April 19, and the eighth anniversary of the
death of the Earl of Beaconsfeld,
which took place this year, was
observed throughout the country
with as widespread an enthusiasm
as has ever been displayed since his death.
During the dav primroses may be said to be
the general ornament for all classes in the
metropolis, and man, houses and shops are
profusely decorated with this emblem of the
departed Premier, whose statue in Parlia-
ment Square is as thlckly strewed with
wreaths as that of Joan of Arc on the Palace
des Pvramides or that of Strasburg on the
Place de Ia Concorde, at Paris. Meetings,
concerts, entertainments and o.her celebra-
tions of the anniversary are held in London
and throughout the country, the meetings
being usually addressed by members of
Parliament or other noteworthy leaders of
the movement. The suggestion that Lib
erals should wear a flower of some sort on
May Day as party badge to counteract the
influence of the primrose, adopted by Con-
servatives in honor oil Lord Beaconsfeld, is
LEAGUE OF THE ROSE.
The League of the Rose, founded in Oc-
tober last year by the Countess of Paris and
organized BY the grand danes of the Legiti-
mist party in France, is the highest compli-
ment which the Primrose League has ever
received; for not only has the League of the
Rose been modelled generally upon it, but
even in the details of organization the En-
4. Il. L. haa al, fol
There is the same recognition of the hierar-
chical principle in both, the same two-fold
appeal to the universal passion of man
to distinguish himself from his fellows.
Human nature, male and female, is much
the same in all countries; and. apart from
those who are really concerned for the great
interests which the League is to promote,
we NAV quite safely assume that there are
plenty of Frenchwomen who are as much
attracted as English ladies would be in
similar circumstances by the badge of MEM
bership of a political association presided
over BY the consort of the heir to the crown
of France. Whether they will be able to do
as much as Primrose Danes in the wav of
proselytizing among the other sex is, to my
mind, doubtful.
Still the power of woman is great in all
civilized countries, and the means adopted
are undoubtedly the most effective that could
be employed tor enlisting that power in the
service of the monarchy. In SO far, too, as
theological differences and domestic jeal-
ousie sarIsing therefrom will permit of itsf free
operation, the appeal of the league to the
male sex in France should be sufficiently
strong. Certainly it cannot be said that
Frenchmen are less easily caught by the pc
culiar bait which the league employs than
Englishmen. On the contrary, the passion
for badges, universal as it is among man.
kind in general, is carried By the French
man more often, perhaps, than by men of
any other nation, to the pitch of the ridicu-
lous. The recent decorations scandal across
the ocean offered sufficient evidence of the
extraordinary appetite prevailing in France
for even the most vulgarized forms Of honor
ifc distinction.
The Countess of Paris has been well in
spired by the results of woman's work in
English politics. She has been guest at
number of the Primrose Leagues meetings,
and has energetically studied their methods
As result she has had over several of the
Legitimist Duchesses from Paris, and the
outcome of their conference has been the
foundation of a number of lodges. There
are now, am informed, more than 100, 900
members. The decoration is small rose in
gold, prettily wrought by one of the chief
Z
able discussion as TO the name. Some of the
Duchesses wished to call it the League OF
the Lily, but as lilies of France had not left
an altogether pleasant SAVIOR in the nostrils
of the nation, the rose was substituted.
RoYALIsT AND BoULANGIsT.
The object of the League of the Rose is
the re-establishment of the monarchy of
France and the defense of Conservative in
har
festo, in which she says: 1.-The league pro-
poses to include in its ranks women belong
ing to all classes of society, without dis
tinction of creed or position, and unite them
in a ASSOCIATION to combat radicalism, to
defend religious liberty, the rights of fathers
of families to educate their children as they
wish, to protect the interests of both labor
and property, and to secure the material
progress of the women of France. The
name of every fresh adherent is brought un-
der the eyes of the Countess of Paris, who,"
adds the programme significantly. will not
forget it.
The carnation, now officially adopted as
the floral emblem of the Boulangist party,
possesses history of its own-not only as a
symbol to credulous lovers, but also in a
political sense. According to AIphonse
Karr, who, perhaps, knows more about
present generation, the pink, as well as the
lily and violet, has played an important
part in the civil discords of France. In
1915, for instance, a few days previous to
the restoration Of the Bourbons, this flower
was adopted as token of recognition among
the still remaining partisans of Napoleon.
But it is chiefly as characterizing Boulanger
and his party that the pink has once again
come to the fore. A great man NOWADAYS
must have floral emblem, SO the crimson
carnation is doubtless the proper thing for
the "brav' General"
1t is not generally known that the Pope
OF Rome has fowery symbol, which is an
nually sent to somebody in some part of the
world as token of good deeds done in the
service of the Church. In May of last year
the golden rose, as the emblem is called,
went to the United States for the second
time, the recipient in this case being Miss
Mary Gwendolin Caldwell, of New York,
whose magnificent benefaction of $500, 900
toward the erection of Catholic university
at Washington won for her this special
mark OF pontifcal favor. The only other
American woman upon whom it has been
bestowed was the late Mrs. Sherman, wife
of General Sherman.
OUR NATIONAL FLOWER.
Now, as regards the United States, it is
certainly strange that, while England has
its rose, Ireland its shamrock, Scotland its
thistle, France its lily, and Sweden its vel
low roses and corn-fowers, we have not
adopted before this some of our very beauti-
full Towering trees or plants as our national
emblem. The country is decidedly old
enough to have a flower of its own. The
question to nv mind has been treated by no
writer so thoroughly competent to discuss