340 FLORA HISTORICA. 



tite for plunder, and commanded by that blind 

 bigotry and superstition which darkened the Old 

 World in those days. Those infatuated pillagers 

 attempted to enlighten the unfortunate heathens, 

 >vho, in the simplicity of their hearts, poured out 

 their adorations to the sun as the grandest object 

 which their imagination could conceive. And their 

 glaring and favourite flower will ever remain as a 

 memento of the folly of those who attempt to in- 

 spire the ignorant v.ith an idea of pure religion 

 through the assistance of craft and cruelty. 



Had the Spaniards returned to Europe loaded 

 with plants and seeds^ which would have been an 

 excitement to industry, instead of gold and precious 

 stones, which naturally lead kingdoms as well as 

 individuals, to voluptuous idleness, the Spanish 

 nation might at this period have been one of the 

 most w^ealthy and happy kingdoms in Europe^ in- 

 stead of being impoverished by pride and depopu- 

 lated by dissension. 



The first mention we have of the annual Sun- 

 flower in this country is by Gerard, who notices it 

 in the year 1596, under the name of *' The Flower 

 of the Sunne, or the Marigolde of Peru." He tells 

 us, that it had grown to the lieight of fourteen feet 

 in his garden at Holborn, producing flowers that 

 measured sixteen inches over ; and he adds, that in 

 Spain this plant has been known to reach the height 

 of twenty-four feet. 



