54 
THU STORY OR THU OAK TRUU 
found its way back upon the royal robes and upon the 
shield of France. 
More than a hundred years ago, when the city of Berlin 
was filled with Napoleon’s victorious soldiers, Louise, 
mother of the German Emperor William I, was forced 
to take refuge with her family on the outskirts of the 
city. When the children of the city cried because they 
were hungry and had no shoes to cover their feet, the 
Queen-mother, to comfort them, gave them garlands 
woven from cornflowers which she had gathered by the 
wayside. Since that time the cornflower has been Ger¬ 
many’s favorite. 
In your history books you have read about the Wars 
of the Roses, fought between the English lords of Lan¬ 
caster and of York. The family of Lancaster wore the 
red rose, their enemies, the white rose. Not until a 
daughter of York married a son of Lancaster did the 
terrible feud end, and then England took for its flower 
the Tudor Rose. 
Perhaps you know the story of the shamrock. One 
day when Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, stood 
preaching out-of-doors, he could not make the simple 
country folk understand the meaning of the Trinity. 
They frowned and asked, 
“How can there be three Gods, and yet one God ?” 
