82 BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 



emblem of humility, too, it was worn by St. Louis, in 1234, on the 

 occasion of his marriage with Margaret, eldest daughter of Raymond 

 Berengarius, Count of Provence, and a new order of knights was in- 

 stituted to commemorate the event. The motto of the order was 

 " Exaltat humiles," and the collar of the order was made up of 

 the flowers and seed-pods of the common broom, enamelled and 

 intermixed with fleur-de-lys of gold. This Ordre de la Geneste, or 

 Order of the Broom, continued till the death of Charles the Fifth. 



Though the feeblest thing that nature forms, 



A frail and perishing flower art thou; 

 Yet thy race has survived a thousand storms 



That have laid the monarch and warrior low. 

 The storied urn may be crumbled to dust, 



And Time may the marble bust deface ; 

 But thou wilt be faithful and firm to thy trust, — 

 The memorial-flower of a princely race. 



Then hail to thee, fair Broomstick ! herald of a thousand years, 

 memorial of human trials, triumphs, and sufferings. Abide with us, oh 

 tough and well-tried friend ; and now, too feeble for thy office of 

 cleanliness, hint to us of the old Roman pageant, when the noblesse of 

 Rome assembled, and the officers swept the hall with a green broom 

 affixed to a sturdy broomstick. That was the honour paid by Roman 

 patricians to intellect, energy, and virtue, which, however humble in 

 their origin, had an equal chance with wealth and ancestral title in shar- 

 ing the offices and honours of the state. The broom was as conscious 

 of its dignity as the newly-elected councillors just lifted from the 

 ranks of the people ; and the moment its green and fiowerless branches 

 touched the floor of the assembly, it broke into golden blossoms, a 

 mute symbol of the fertility of virtue.f Hail to thee ! for all the 

 legends of old Time thou bringest us, from the state processions of 

 Rome down to the hanging of a broom at the door of a Russian 

 maiden pining for a lover. The broomstick was the chosen Pegasus 

 of the midnight hags, when, gliding like bats through the midnight, 



t This story is related by Marcellinus Ammianus. The custom of publicly 

 sweeping the hall on occasion of those assemblies was maintained for a long 

 period. The verbena and sagmina were carried by the Roman fetiales instead 

 of the caduceus, as emblems of peace. 



