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FLORAL EMBLEMS. 
CHILDISHNESS. 
Butter-cups. —Ranunculus bulbosus. 
“ And daisy there, and cowslip too. 
And butter-cups of golden hue. 
The children meet as soon as sought. 
And gain their wish as soon as thought; 
Who oft, I ween, the children’s way. 
Will leap the threshold’s bounds to play.” 
Village Minstrel. 
This flower, which so gaily bedecks our mea¬ 
dows with its golden petals, and enters so 
frequently into the sports of infancy, is pre¬ 
sented as a meet emblem of childishness. 
Locke says, “ The actions of childishness, 
and unfashionable carriage, time and age 
will of itself be sure to reform.” Let us 
not therefore shorten the happy days of 
butter-cups, or exclaim in the words of Gay, 
“ Let weeds, instead of butterflow’rs appear ■ 
And meads, instead of daisies, hemlock bear.”^ 
