242 The Iris. 



quence, and it is on this account placed by the Egyptians on 

 the brow of the Sphinx, as seen in the collection of antique sta- 

 tuary in the Louvre at Paris, where there are three Sphinxes of 

 great magnitude, all of whom have this flower sculptured on their 

 brow. May not the Egyptians have represented Moses by the 

 Sphinx, and placed the Flag flower on the temple of this sym- 

 bolical figure in allusion to the spot from which he was taken, for 

 the daughter of Pharaoh discovered him in an ark of bulrushes, 

 by the river brink ? 



The. history of France informs us that the escutcheon of that 

 country was strewed with an indefinite number of Fleur-de-lis, 

 as early as the time of Clovis the First, about the end of the 

 fifth century, previously to which time the emblem of France 

 had been either three toads or three diadems in Champ d'argent 

 — others say three crescents surrounded with a number of bees. 

 About the middle of the twelfth century, Louis the Seventh of 

 France, having been excommunicated by the Pope, and his 

 kingdom laid under an interdict, was persuaded to take up the 

 cross and join in the romantic expedition of the Crusaders ; on 

 which occasion he distinguished himself, as was the custom of 

 those times, by a particular blazon, for which he chose the Iris 

 flower, from that time called Fleur de Louis — Louis's flower-— 

 which was first contracted into fleur de luce, and afterwards into 

 fleur de lis — Lily flower — though it has no affinity to the Lily. 

 The Iris flower soon became celebrated in France as the Fleur 

 de lis, and was not only used in its arms, but employed in the 

 decorative embellishments of the crown itself. The North part 

 of the mariner's compass was marked by its immortal author 

 with this flower in compliment to France. We need not enter 

 into the long detail of the audition of this flower to the arms of 

 England when she conquered France, nor its subsequent return 

 in 1S00. It is a remarkable fact, that during the French Revo- 

 lution this flower was proscribed, and hundreds of persons wear- 

 ing it condemned to death ; and we are told that during this 

 national frenzy, wherever it was conspicuous in sculpture, it was 

 instantly defaced by the mob, who covered the obliteration by 

 their silly cap of Liberty, which, in its turn, was obscured by the 

 expanding wings of the imperiul eagle. Napoleon substituted 

 the Bee for the Iris flower, certainly a more rational emblem for 

 an industrious nation than the other ; but both have since taken 



