Tom had also joined his family circle. At three o’clock on the appointed day, twenty signal guns were discharged from the Park--the village bells struck up a festive peal--the flag was hoisted on the spire of the church; and upwards of forty respectable yeomen, farmers, and tenants, mounted on their horses and decorated with ribands and flowers, had assembled as an escort. The church clock chimed the quarter past three, as the carriages of Major Snapwell and Mr. Seymour, and those of their guests, drawn by highly decorated horses, entered the village; the peasants immediately drew back, so as to form an avenue through which the party might pass, while shouts of gladness rent the air. Each horseman had provided a large bough of oak or elm, so that the cavalcade in motion appeared like a moving grove, and reminded Mrs. Seymour of the advance of “Birnam Wood to Dunsinane.” The carriages, preceded by a band of music, occupied the van of the procession; then came about fifty village maidens, each carrying in her hand a basket of flowers; next followed the horsemen; and the procession was closed by a dense group of peasants, who had come from all the country round. The vicar appeared on horseback, bustling in all directions, now conversing with the major, now with Mr. Seymour; at one time moderating the pace of the horsemen, and at another, keeping back the pedestrians, whose eagerness to push forward created an inconvenient crowd in the foremost ranks. Mr. Twaddleton held in his right hand a wand decorated with ivy leaves, and which resembled in appearance the thyrsus of Bacchus, except that the cone on its summit had been replaced by a bunch of roses. This was a classical conceit; and he fully explained to the major the reason of his having adopted such a device for his wand of office. “The rose,” said he, “was dedicated by Cupid to Harpocrates, the god of silence, to engage him to conceal the secrets of Venus; hence has this flower ever since been considered as the symbol of silence; for which reason it was customary to hang a rose over the banqueting-table, to signify that what was there spoken should be kept private, or ‘under the rose;’ whence, also, to present, or hold up, this flower to any person in discourse served, instead of an admonition, to intimate that it was time for such person to hold his peace. In like manner,” continued the antiquary, “you will observe that, by virtue of my wand, I shall impress the obligation of silence upon the crowd, and easily calm any undue clamour that may arise.” The cavalcade had advanced little more than half a mile, when the major suggested the propriety of halting, until his nephew and niece should arrive; to this proposition the vicar readily acceded, and accordingly issued the necessary orders.