"Yet marked I, where the bolt of Cupid fell, It fell upon a little western flower, Before milk-white, now purpled with love's wound, Neither is heart's-ease a modern appellation merely of the flower: John Bunyan represents the guide as saying to Christiana and her children, of a boy who was singing beside his sheep, "Do you hear him? I will dare to say this boy leads a merrier life, and wears more of that herb called heart's-ease in his bosom, than he that is clothed in silk and purple." Pansy, one of its oldest names, is a corruption of the French word Pensée (thought), "There's pansies, that's for thought." Ben Jonson says "Now the shining meads Do boast the paunse, lily, and the rose, And every flower doth laugh as zephyr blows." And this orthography would give the sound of the French word much more nearly than our modern mode of writing it. The name of pensée is still retained in France, 66 and to the French this flower conveys a far different meaning from that which it bears to us. Its familiar name of heart's-ease renders it to us a pleasing emblem-to our gay neighbours its name of thought presents a sad one. 'May they be far from thee," is a motto affixed to the little painted group of pansies, mingled with marigolds (called Soucis, cares), which is sometimes given as an offering of friendship, by a French lady. Alas, for the boasted language of flowers! time and place seem greatly to alter its meaning. The very marigolds, which now stand as an emblem of care, were in former times said by our old herbalist Gerarde, to be 66 great comforters of the heart." The celebrated Quesnay, founder of the Economists, who was physician to Louis XV. was called by that monarch his thinker. The great regard which Louis had for this nobleman, induced him to devise for him an armorial bearing, which consisted of three flowers of the pensée. Among the pansies which cultivation has so much improved, the one which seems most deservedly and permanently admired, is the dark purple flower (Vióla amoena). Its rich petals have a surface like velvet, and it is often very large. Each year, however, seems to produce a reigning favourite among the pansies, and many florists value highly the amber brown-coloured flowers. Gardeners bestow upon the numerous varieties of heart's-ease so many names, sometimes in honour of queens or princesses, and sometimes in commemoration of those who have been successful in their culture, that no botanist can pretend to a knowledge of them all. One variety, called the monkey-faced pansy, is very singular. Its similarity to the face of an ape may escape observation, but if once perceived, it is impossible to look at the flower without being reminded of it. It is in this respect, like those landscapes, which if regarded aright, are found to represent the face of an individual. We look with pleasure at the picture; but when we find that a broken arch resembles an eye, and that a nose is discernible in the mountain E peak, which had just impressed us with its sublime beauty, the object loses its charm for the future, and is only valued for its singularity. The remarks made in the former chapter respecting the properties of violets in general, apply equally to the heart's-ease. CHAPTER V. ROSEMARY-FORMER USE OF ROSEMARY AT FUNERALS -FUNERAL CUSTOMS IN BETONY-GROUND IVY-CAT MINT GYPSY HERB SAGE-MINT-MINT JULEP OF THE AMERICANS-USE OF MINT BY THE ANCIENT JEWS-BALM. Come, funeral flower! who lovest to dwell With the pale corse in lonely tomb, And throw across the desert gloom A sweet decaying smell; Come, press my lips, and lie with me, And we will sleep a pleasant sleep, And not a care shall dare intrude, To break the marble solitude, So peaceful and so deep.-Henry Kirke White. It is almost exclusively to times gone by that we must refer the practice alluded to by the |