This plant is an appropriate emblem of superstition; for it has always been regarded with reverence by the peasantry of Europe, on account of its real and supposed virtues. It was supposed to possess the power of defending persons from phantoms and spectres, and driving away all evil spirits. Its large, yellow flower grows close to the earth, and resembles a small wheel of fireworks. * * * * * ’Tis a history Handed from ages down; a nurse’s tale-- Which children, open-eyed and mouthed, devour; And thus as garrulous ignorance relates, We learn it and believe. _Southey._ * * * * * A fortune-telling host, As numerous as the stars could boast, Matrons, who toss the cup, and see The grounds of fate in grounds of tea. _Churchill._ * * * * * Gipsies, who every ill can cure, Except the ill of being poor, Who charms ’gainst love and agues sell, Who can in hen-roost set a spell, Prepared by arts, to them best known, To catch all feet except their own, Who as to fortune can unlock it, As easily as pick a pocket. _Churchill._ * * * * * We may smile, or coldly sneer, The while such ghostly tales we hear,-- And wonder why they were believed, And how wise men could be deceived:-- Bathing our renovated sight In the free gospel’s glorious light, We marvel it was ever night! _Mrs. Hale._ * * * * * This present life seems full of mysteries; The vulgar mind, to superstition prone, In nature’s workings fearful omens sees, And shrinks aghast from terrors of its own Absurd imagining. Despotic is the power Of ignorance; and thousands live in fear And die unnumbered times before the hour That Heaven has set to end their being here. The trustful, quiet, mighty thinker seeks The beautiful and simple orderings Of the Great Former of created things, And GOD to him in guiding accents speaks. Still, in the dealings of the LORD with men, Some things there are beyond our human ken. _MacKellar._ * * * * *