SUN-FLOWER. 339 



which had been so closely imitated by tlie artificers 

 of the New AVorld, that the precious ore appeared 

 less admirable than the workmanship in the eyes of 

 these rapacious conquerors. 



The Sun-flower is made the emblem of false 

 riches, because gold of itself, ho\\iever abundant, 

 cannot render a person truly ricli. It is related of 

 Pytlieus of Lydia, that, possessing valuable mines 

 of gold, he entirely neglected the cultivation of his 

 lands, which naturally became so unproductive as 

 not to afford the common necessaries of life. His 

 wife, who showed herself possessed of as much 

 good sense as wit, at a banquet supper which 

 Pytheus had ordered to be prepared, directed 

 that all the dishes should be filled with gold in 

 different shapes and states instead of viands. On 

 the removal of the covers this ingenious woman ex- 

 claimed to the guests, " I set before you what we 

 have in greatest abundance, for we cannot reap 

 what we do not sow." This lesson made a proper 

 impression on the mind of Pytheus, who acknow- 

 ledged that Providence distributes her various 

 riches like a tender mother, who has love for all 

 her offspring, however numerous. 



The gaudy Sun-flower naturally brings to mind 

 the enormities which the treacherous Spaniards 

 committed on the plains where this plant springs 

 spontaneously, led on by the most ravenous appe- 



Q2 



