682 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen; for I will hasten my word to perform 

 it," or in other words, " I am hastening or watching over ray word to ful- 

 fill it." The rod of Aaron was of the almond tree, as were also the rods 

 which the princes of Israel bore, and representations of its fruit and flowers 

 were introduced into the sculptured ornaments of the temple. 



The poet Moore makes a very beautiful allusion to it in one of his 

 poems: 



*' The hope, in dreams of a happy hour, 

 That alights on Misery's brow. 

 Springs forth like the silvery almond flower 

 That blooms on a leafless bough."' 



And Virgil, in his Georgics, welcomes it, when flowering profut^i^y, as the 

 sign of a fruitful season. 



The mythological legend attached to the almond is very pretty. Demo- 

 phoon, son of Theseus, returning from Troy, was wrecked on the coast of 

 Thrace, where he was most hospitably entertained by the beautiful Phyllis, 

 queen of that country. They became mutually enamored, and were 

 united in marriage. Soon after, through the death of his father, he was 

 recalled to Athens, but promised Phyllis to return to her within a month. 

 His affairs detaining him beyond the expected time, the unfortunate queen 

 became melancholy' and wandered dail}^ on the sea-shore, watching in vain 

 for the return of her husband. The months rolled on and 3-et he came not; 

 and one day, whilst she was* gazing out upon the sea, she fell dead upon 

 the shore in a fit of despair. The gods, pitying her sad fate, changed her 

 into an almond tree. Demophoon returning soon after and being infornled 

 of what had happened hastened to the sea-shore and embraced the tree in 

 his arras, whereupon the strong affection of Phyllis, unable even. then to 

 restrain itself, caused the tree, though bare of leaves, to burst forth into 

 bloom. 



The Greeks and Romans regarded the hawthorn as the emblem of hope. 

 Its flowers were always used in the floral games of May, and were carried 

 by the Grecian maidens in wedding processions and laid upon the altar of 

 Hymen, which was illuminated by toiches of the wood. 



In England the}' have a curious religious legend connected with a vari- 

 ety called the Glastonbury thorn. The story goes that Joseph of Arimathea, 

 after the burial of Christ, came to England, attended by twelve compan- 

 ions, to found the first Christian church in Britain. Guided by divine in- 

 spiration, he proceeded to Glastonbury, arriving there on Ciiristmas day. 

 He commenced his holy labors, intending to erect a church in honor of the 

 Virgin Mary, but the natives, having some doubts as to his mission, he 

 prayed God to work a miracle in his behalf, whereupon, striking his stafl 

 or cane into the ground, and it immediately shot forth into leaves and blos- 

 soms. The superstitious say that the tree is still in existence, and that it 

 still blossoms on Christmas day. 



The pomegranate is one of the oldest fruit-bearing trees with which his- 

 tory has acquainted us, and i^s one of those most frequently spoken of in 

 the Bible. It was one of the three fruits brought by Caleb and Joshua to 

 Moses from Eschol. It was held in great veneration b}' the Jews, and its 

 fruits and flowers entered largely into the metal and other decorations used 



