Revolution it was entirely put down, and hundreds of people found wearing it, were condemned to death as friends of the king. Wherever it was sculptured upon public buildings it was defaced, and covered over with the cap of liberty. This cap of liberty, however, soon gave place to the eagle of Napoleon, which eagle, after many changes, is now the national banner of the French.

Chapter the Twenty-fifth.

THE NARCISSUS, AND THE GOLDEN LILY OF
ST. JOHN.

THE Narciss or Amaryllis tribe* is nearly allied to the flags, of which I have been speaking in the last chapter; but the flowers, instead of three, have six stamens, and these turn their anthers inwards, towards the pistil, while in the irises they always turn them outwards. This order includes the snowdrop,t that makes its appearance long before the dreary reign of winter is over. Like the crocus it seems able to brave the frost and snow, and is admirably adapted to bear, without injury, the cold winds that assail it. It hangs so lightly on its stalk, that it can move in every direction without any danger of being snapped in two, and its pure white petals reflect all the light and warmth, that is to be had, upon the anthers, and so help to ripen the pollen. Its pendant position secures the pollen from being scat* Order-Amaryllideæ. † Galanthus nivalis.

tered by the winds, and shoots the wet from off it, something like an umbrella. The snowdrop has, besides, a double way of propagating itself, for while its seeds are ripening in the air, the parent bulb is throwing off perfect little plants beneath the surface of the ground.

The Narcissus has always been regarded as the emblem of vanity and self-love, because it prefers to grow beside the edge of a lake or pool, where its own image is reflected in the

water.

The Greeks and Romans, who were very fond of making fables about the flowers, invented a romantic one about the Narcissus.

Narcissus, they said, was a handsome youth, whom all the nymphs of the forest admired and flattered, but who treated them disdainfully, and would not condescend to take any notice of them. One nymph in particular, whose name was Echo, liked him even better than her companions did, and pined away for grief because of his neglect. Now the reason why Narcissus despised the nymphs, and cared nothing about them, was that he had fallen in love with his own beauty; and all day long he would lie upon the grass, and look at his image in the clear waters of a fountain. He thought his face the most

beautiful thing in the world, and could not leave off admiring it for a single instant, either to eat or drink. The consequence was, he wasted gradually away, and was actually on the point of dying through too great love for his own shadow. Poor Echo watched him from her cave, and saw, with pity, how he languished and drooped. She quite forgave him his indifference, and when he lay exhausted on the ground, she repeated all his sighs and groans, as he mourned his unhappy fate. At length Narcissus died, and the nymphs of every wood and fountain gathered round him to make their lamentations. They went to put his ashes in an urn, when to their surprise, they found nothing but a flower, with yellow blossoms, to which they gave the name Narcissus, in memory of the youth.

"What first inspired a bard of old to sing,
Narcissus pining o'er the untainted spring?
In some delicious ramble, he had found
A little space, with boughs all woven round;
And in the midst of all, a clearer pool
Than e'er reflected in its pleasant cool
The blue sky, here and there serenely peeping,
Through tendril wreaths fantastically creeping.
And on the bank a lonely flower he spied,
A meek and forlorn flower with naught of pride,

Drooping its beauty o'er the watery clearness,
To woo its own sad image into nearness.
So while the poet stood in this sweet spot,
Some fainter gleamings o'er his fancy shot,
Nor was it long ere he had told the tale,
Of young Narcissus and sad Echo's bale."

The Amancaes,* or Golden Lily of St. John, is an amaryllis. It grows in Peru, and is a great favourite with all classes of the people, who regard it as a sacred flower. Once a year there is a festival held in honor of St. John the Baptist, and of the yellow amancaes. This happens on the twenty-fourth of June, and is something like what May-day used to be in England, a long time ago.

The feast is held in a village near the city of Lima, where the lily grows abundantly. It is found also on the barren hills that encircle the city, and makes yellow patches here and there, which are very pleasant to look at, when all around is sand and desolation.

On St. John's day, there is not a horse or carriage left in the whole of Lima. Every man, woman and child is gone to hunt for the lily, and the road to the valley is thronged with an eager multitude, intent on enjoying their holiday.

*Ismene Macleana.