LAUREL. 
247 
LAUREL. 
GLORY. 
The Greeks and the Romans consecrated 
Laurel crowns to every species of glory. With 
these they adorned the brows of warriors and 
poets, of orators and philosophers, of vestals and 
emperors. This beautiful shrub grows abun¬ 
dantly at Delphi, on the banks of the river 
Peneus. There its aromatic and evergreen 
branches shoot up to the height of the loftiest 
trees; and it is alleged that by means of some 
secret virtue they avert lightning from the spots 
which they adorn. 
According to ancient fable, the fair Daphne 
was the daughter of the river Peneus. Apollo 
fell in love with her, but she, preferring virtue 
to the love of the most eloquent of the gods, 
fled in order to avoid the seducing magic of his 
words. Apollo pursued, and was on the point 
of overtaking her, when the nymph invoked 
her father, and was changed into a Laurel. 
The god, finding that it was an insensible tree 
