258 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 



REASON. 



GOAT'S RUE. Galega officinalis. 



" Dim, as the borrowed beams of moon and stars, 

 To lonely, weary, wand'ring travellers, 

 Is reason to the soul : and as on high, 

 Those rowling fires discover but the sky, 

 Not light us here ; so reason's glimmering ray 

 Was lent, not to assure our doubtful way, 

 But guide us upward to a better day." 



Dry den. 



The goat's rue, so entirely disregarded in 

 this country, yet so highly estimated by the 

 Italians, stands in floral hieroglyphics as the 

 emblem of reason. 



" Reason," says Hooker, " is the director of 

 man's will, 'discovering in action what is good ; 

 for the laws of well-doing are the dictates of 

 right reason." 



