80 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



mortals in old times, but we have, through 



them dived into the secrets of their gods to 



learn how the celestials regarded the proper- 



ties of the ash ; and through their fables we 



learn that Love first made his arrows of this 



wood ; but afterwards he formed them only 



of cypress. Of what materials the sly urchin 



makes them at present, we must leave the 



sighing Damon's and Phyllis's to find out, 



and console ourselves that at the present time, 



when mankind and beauty are so encreased 



upon earth, that he does not make them of 



ashen poles, whose showers would darken the 



air, and render it unsafe to move about. We 



shall give authorities to show, that Mars seiz- 



ed the ashen poles to put into the hands of 



his disciples, 



*' A lance of tough ground-ash the Trojan threw, 

 Rough in the rind, and knotted as it grew." 



Book ix. 



Virgil also tells us, that the spears of the 

 Amazons were of this wood, and Homer 

 celebrates the mighty ashen spear of Achilles. 

 It has been surmised in modern times, that 

 when the son of Venus resigned the ash to 

 his father's use, it was on consideration that 

 his grandfather Jupiter should, in consequence 

 of his increased duties, allow him to disperse 



