SIMPLES AND SIMPLERS. 217 



posed medical virtues were deduced from their sanctity ; in 

 other cases their real virtues may have caused them to be 

 religiously consecrated. It does not appear that sectarian 

 prejudice raised any distrust in their Protestant minds 

 of the merits of a plant which had derived its sanctity 

 from Eoman-Catholic usages. Among the early Romans 

 plants were supposed to derive their virtues from some 

 rural deity to whom they were dedicated ; and the cura- 

 tive powers of mineral waters were attributed to the 

 nymph who presided over the spring; and those who 

 drank at the fountain worshipped the beautiful goddess 

 from whose divine qualities its virtues emanated. When 

 the heathen world was converted to the religion of Christ, 

 these superstitions changed their character, but were not 

 cast aside. Holy wells and fountains still retained the 

 veneration of men ; but their virtues were ascribed to 

 saints, and not to water-nymphs. 



A savor of romance still adheres to many of the holy 

 plants, derived from the incidents that led to their conse- 

 cration. The costmary, an Italian plant not uncommon 

 in our gardens, having a very agreeable aromatic odor and 

 some peculiar balsamic properties, was, on account of the 

 purity of its fragrance, dedicated to the Virgin. In its 

 sensible qualities it unites the balm and the tansy. The 

 blessed thistle, another of the holy herbs, is one of those 

 plants that may be compared to certain good people whose 

 virtues are all of a passive sort, and who are chiefly re- 

 markable for the odor of sanctitv that distinguishes them. 

 Some other herbs have won their reputation from their 

 supposed identity with certain plants mentioned in Scrip- 

 ture. There are likewise holy shrubs, as the waybread and 

 the wayfaring-tree, — names highly suggestive and roman- 

 tic. Others, like the witch-elm and the witch-hazel, are 

 associated with divination and magic. In Great Britain, 

 where the habits of the people are still under traditional 



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