94 FLORA'S LEXICON. 



AZEL. Corylus Avellana. Class 21, Mo- 

 ncecia. Order : Polyandrta. There was 

 a time when men were not united by any 

 common tie. When the mother would de- 

 prive her son of the wild fruit with which 

 he wished to appease his hunger, and if mis- 

 fortune united them for a moment, the sud- 

 den sight of an oak laden with acorns, or a beech covered with 

 beech-mast, rendered them enemies. 



According to ancient mythology the gods had pity on the hu- 

 man race. Apollo and Mercury exchanged presents, and came 

 down upon the earth. The god of harmony received from the 

 son of Maia a tortoise shell, of which he had made a lyre, and 

 gave in return a branch of hazel, which had the power of making 

 virtue beloved, and of re-uniting hearts divided by hatred and 

 envy. Thus armed, the two sons of Jupiter presented themselves 

 to men. Apollo first sang that eternal wisdom which had cre- 

 ated the universe ; filial piety and patriotic love were brought 

 into action, by his eloquence, to unite the human race ; and com- 

 merce he made the bond of the world. His last thought was the 

 most sublime, for it was consecrated to the gods ; and he told 

 mankind that they might become equal with the gods by deeds 

 of love and beneficence. 



Ornamented with two light wings, and serpents entwining them- 

 selves around it, the hazel wand, presented to the god of eloquence 

 by the god of harmony, is still, under the name of Mercury's 

 wand, the symbol of peace, commerce, and reconciliation. 



RECONCILIATION. 



And see, 

 As yet unclothed, the Hazel-tree 

 Prepares his early tufts to lend 

 The coppice first fruits; and depend 

 In russet drops, whose cluster'd rows, 

 Still closed in part, in part disclose, 

 Yet fenced beneath their scaly shed, 

 The pendent anther's yellow head. Mant. 



