FABLES OF FLORA. 15 
* When thou wert weak, unnoticed, lone, 
I saved and loved thee as my own; 
Now thou shalt prove 
How, blessing others, we are blest. 
Though joy is dead within my breast, 
Yet thou wilt sing my life to rest, 
Mid scenes I love! ’ 
MISTLETOE AND PASSION FLOWER. 
The Mistletoe was the sacred plant of the 
Druids, and much used in all their rites. From 
this circumstance, the priests have forbidden its 
admission into Christian churches; but on Christ¬ 
mas eve it is hung up in the kitchen, subjecting 
every female who passes under it to a salute from 
any young man who may be present. 
The Passion Flower owes its name to the 
early missionaries, who discovered it first, when 
traversing South America. ‘ Its ten petals were 
fancied by them to represent the ten apostles, be¬ 
sides Judas, who betrayed, and Peter, who de¬ 
nied, his Master. The stamens they compare to 
a radiance, or glory, issuing from the cup of the 
flower. The small purple threads at the bottom 
of the style, to a crown of thorns. The style, to 
the pillar to which the malefactors were bound 
