VERVAIN. 143 
to offer peace or war to nations, one of them always 
carried a sprig of Vervain. The Druids, both in 
Gaul and Britain, regarded the Vervain with the 
same veneration as the misletoe, and offered sacri- 
fices to the earth before they cut this plant in spring, 
which was a ceremony of great pomp. 
The Druids held their power through the igno- 
rance and superstition of the people, and, being 
acquainted with the qualities of plants and other 
objects of Nature, they ascribed their effects to the 
power of magic and divination, pretending to work 
miracles, to exhibit astonishing appearances, and to 
penetrate into the counsels of Heaven. Although 
so many ages have passed away since the time of 
the Druids, the belief in their pretended spells is not 
yet wholly abolished. Thus in the northern pro- 
vinces of France the shepherds still continue to 
gather the Vervain, with ceremonies and words 
known only to themselves, and to express its juices 
under certain phases of the moon. At once the 
doctors and conjurors of their village, they alter- 
nately cure the complaints of their masters or fill 
them with dread ; for the same means which relieve 
their ailments enable them to cast a spell on their 
cattle and on the hearts of their daughters. They 
