Mystics of all ages and of all civilisations have felt this secret bond between what are surely the most beautiful of God's creations--flowers and stars; and its fascination is in no small part due to the exquisite frailty and short-lived beauty of the flowers of earth and the stupendous majesty of the flowers in the heavens, those myriad worlds in whose existence a thousand years is but as a passing dream. Goddis grace shall euer endure. (_Inscription at the end of "The vertuose boke Of Dystyllacyon of the waters of all maner of Herbes." 1527._) FOOTNOTES: [124] John Archer (one of the Physicians in Ordinary to Charles II.) also asserts in his _Compendious Herbal_ (1673) that "the Sun doth not draw away the Vertues of Herbs, but adds to them." Archer gives full astrological directions for the gathering of herbs:-- "I have mentioned in the ensuing Treatise of Herbs the Planet that Rules every Herb for this end, that you may the better understand their Nature and may gather them when they are in their full strength, which is when the Planet is especially strong, and then in his own Hour gather your Herb; therefore that you may know what hour belongs to every Planet take notice that Astrologers do assign the seven days of the week to the seven planets, as to the Sun or ⊙ Sunday; to the Moon or ☽ Monday; to Mars or ♂ Tuesday; to Mercury or ☿ Wednesday; to Jupiter or ♃ Thursday; to Venus or ♀ Friday; to Saturn or ♄ Saturday. And know that every Planet governs the first Hour after Sun Rise upon his day and the next Planet to him takes the next Hour successively in this order, ♄, ♃, ♂, ⊙, ♀, ☿, ☽, ♄, ♃. So be it any day every Seventh Hour comes to each Planet successively, as if the day be Thursday then the first hour after Sun Rising is Jupiter's, the next ♂, the next ⊙, next ♀. So on till it come to ♃ again. And if you gather Herbs in their Planetary Hour you may expect to do Wonders, otherwise not; to Astrologers I need say nothing; to others this is as much as can easily be learnt."--_The Compendious Herbal_, by John Archer, One of his Majesties Physicians in Ordinary. [125] In this connection he quotes Dr. Pinck, Warden of New College, Oxford, who, when he was "almost fourscore yeares old, would rise very betimes in the morning and going into his Garden he would take a Mattock or Spade, digging there an hour or two, which he found very advantageous to his health." [126] Published 1651. The earliest copy in the British Museum is the second edition, 1653. [127] See _Arcana Fairfaxiana_. [128] Lord Fairfax had only a daughter (who married the Duke of Buckingham), and the son of Henry and Mary Fairfax succeeded to the title. [129] Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1913. [130] Dr. Stephens was the author of the _Catalogue of the Oxford Botanical Gardens_. [131] Sloane 27466. [132] The competition for "Doggett's Coat and badge" amongst Thames Watermen still takes place every August.