WORMWOOD. 



a national emblem, Moore has written of it, 



"Where'er they pass, a triple grass 



Shoots up, with dew-drops streaming, 

 As softly green, as emerald seen 

 Through purest crystal gleaming. 

 O the Shamrock, the green, immortal Shamrock ! 

 Chosen Leaf of Bard and Chief, 

 Old Erin's native Shamrock ! " 



WORMWOOD {Artemisia Absinthium). — ABSENCE. 



La Fontaine has said that Absence is the greatest of 

 evils. Absinthe, or Wormwood, is the most bitter of plants. 

 Its name comes from the Greeks, and means without sweetness. 

 Spenser makes a maiden thus bemoan the absence of her 

 lover : 



" So I alone, now left disconsolate, 

 Mourn to myself the absence of my love. 

 And wandering here and there all desolate, 

 Seek with my plaints to match the mournful dove." 



A WREATH OF ROSES.— The Reward of Virtue. 



We are told that S. Medard, Bishop of Noyon, who was 

 born at Salency, of an illustrious family, offered the most 

 touching prize that kindness eVer gave to virtue. This was a 

 simple wreath of Roses ; but to obtain this, the candidates 

 must be humble-minded, very modest, and very prudent. 

 The Bishop's sister received the prize from his own hands 

 A.D. 532. 



214 



