Produced by David WidgerBACKLOG EDITIONTHE COMPLETE WRITINGSOF CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER1904AS WE WERE SAYINGCONTENTSAS WE WERE SAYING   ROSE AND CHRYSANTHEMUM   THE RED BONNET   THE LOSS IN CIVILIZATION   SOCIAL SCREAMING   DOES REFINEMENT KILL INDIVIDUALITY   THE DIRECTOIRE GOWN   THE MYSTERY OF THE SEX   THE CLOTHES OF FICTION   THE BROAD A   CHEWING GUM   WOMEN IN CONGRESS   SHALL WOMEN PROPOSE   FROCKS AND THE STAGE   ALTRUISM   SOCIAL CLEARINGHOUSE   DINNERTABLE TALK   NATURALIZATION   ART OF GOVERNING   LOVE OF DISPLAY   VALUE OF THE COMMONPLACE   THE BURDEN OF CHRISTMAS   THE RESPONSIBILITY OF WRITERS   THE CAP AND GOWN   A TENDENCY OF THE AGE   A LOCOED NOVELISTAS WE WERE SAYINGROSE AND CHRYSANTHEMUMThe Drawer will still bet on the rose This is not a wager but only astrong expression of opinion The rose will win It does not look so nowTo all appearances this is the age of the chrysanthemum What this gaudyflower will be daily expanding and varying to suit the whim of fashionno one can tell It may be made to bloom like the cabbage it may spreadout like an umbrellait can never be large enough nor showy enough tosuit us Undeniably it is very effective especially in masses ofgorgeous color In its innumerable shades and enlarging proportions itis a triumph of the gardener It is a rival to the analine dyes and tothe marabout feathers It goes along with all the conceits and fantasticunrest of the decorative art Indeed but for the discovery of thecapacities of the chrysanthemum modern life would have experienced afatal hitch in its development It helps out our age of plush with aflame of color There is nothing shamefaced or retiring about it and italready takes all provinces for its own One would be onlyhalfmarriedcivilly and not fashionablywithout a chrysanthemumwedding and it lights the way to the tomb The maiden wears a bunch ofit in her corsage in token of her blooming expectations and the youngman flaunts it on his coat lapel in an effort to be at once effective andin the mode Young love that used to express its timid desire with theviolet or in its ardor with the carnation now seeks to bring itsemotions to light by the help of the chrysanthemum And it can expressevery shade of feeling from the rich yellow of prosperous wooing to thebrickcolored weariness of life that is hardly distinguishable from theliver complaint It is a little stringy for a boutonniere but it fillsthe moderntrained eye as no other flower can fill it We used to saythat a girl was as sweet as a rose we have forgotten that language Weused to call those tender additions to society on the eve of their eventinto that world which is always so eager to receive fresh young liferosebuds we say now simply buds but we mean chrysanthemum budsThey are as beautiful as ever they excite the same exquisite interestperhaps in their maiden hearts they are one or another variety of thatflower which bears such a sweet perfume in all literature but can itmake no difference in character whether a young girl comes out into thegarish world as a rose or as a chrysanthemum Is her life set to the noteof display of color and show with little sweetness or to that retiringmodesty which needs a little encouragement before it fully reveals itsbeauty and its perfume If one were to pass his life in moving in apalace car from one plush hotel to another a bunch of chrysanthemums inhis hand would seem to be a good symbol of his life There are agedpeople who can remember that they used to choose various roses as totheir color odor and degree of unfolding to express the delicateshades of advancing passion and of devotion What can one do with thisnew favorite Is not a bunch of chrysanthemums a sort oftakeitorleaveit declaration boldly and showily made an offerwithout discrimination a tender without romance A young man will catchthe whole family with this flaming message but where is that sentimentthat once set the maiden heart in a flutter Will she press achrysanthemum and keep it till the faint perfume reminds her of thesweetest moment of her lifeAre we exaggerating this astonishing rise development and spread of thechrysanthemum As a fashion it is not so extraordinary as the hoopskirtor as the neck ruff which is again rising as a background to the lovelyhead But the remarkable thing about it is that heretofore in all nationsand times and in all changes of fashion in dress the rose has held itsown as the queen of flowers and as the finest expression of sentimentBut here comes a flaunting thing with no desirable perfume looking as ifit were cut with scissors out of tissuepaper but capable of takinginfinite varieties of color and growing as big as a curtain tassel thatliterally captures the world and spreads all over the globe like theCanada thistle The florists have no eye for anything else and thebiggest floral prizes are awarded for the production of itseccentricities Is the rage for this flower typical of this fast andflaring ageThe Drawer is not an enemy to the chrysanthemum nor to the sunflowernor to any other gorgeous production of nature But it has anoldfashioned love for the modest and unobtrusive virtues and an abidingfaith that they will win over the strained and strident displays of lifeThere is the violet all efforts of cultivation fail to make it as big asthe peony and it would be no more dear to the heart if it werequadrupled in size We do indeed know that satisfying beauty andrefinement are apt to escape us when we strive too much and force natureinto extraordinary display and we know how difficult it is to get merebigness and show without vulgarity Cultivation has its limits After wehave produced