The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1877-07-22

They alone enjoy the rare honor OF being
| ignored in the manufacture of any poisonous
| liquor. The apple, peach, plum, grape, cherry
etc., have all been seized upon by the demon
of the still, and made to transform their health
giving juices into unnatural and soul-destroy-
| ing drops. The fg-cool and sweet as mans
heart should ever be-never inebriates, never
| Injuries, never destroyed
Figs are the emblem of peace and content
ment: to d,rsH HRder oaes otCS rias and fig tree,
| is to live in ease and safety; and yet it 10 the
type OF scorn and hatred: not to care JfS, ex-
presses the very extreme Of Indifference and
contempt.
They are among the earliest mentioned fruit
of which we have any record. The Mosaic
account of the fall of our fest parents, relates
with pathetic simplicity that, "being ashamed,
they sewed together fig leaves and made them-
selves aprons" o, the first fashion of dress
Originating in sin, pride and dsobedienoe, it
has continued to this day to be more or less
connected with Woe and vanity. and whatever
be its development through these six Thousand
years, it is but q silent, shameful testimony to
woman's frailty and mans dishonor.
And yet the fig has certainly matter for con-
graduation, inasmuch as it gave help to Adam
aud Eve in the hour of their dire necessity !;
! and it may well look with little pride upon
the treacherous apple which led them into
shame, confusion and-distress.
1t would be truly poetic fancy to imagine
that the fig, which gave the first fashion of
dress on earth, will bear some humble part in
the glorious fashion of 1.-THE wedding gar
ments" worn through all eternity.
In the East, centuries ago, it was forbidden
Nv los nd he VII
| informed against any one violating this law
was called . sycophant, from two Greek words,
| signifying fig and to discover and hence the
word has come to mean o tale-bearer or in
former, q parasite, mean hatterer, etc. Can
any other fruit boast of furnishing to the
world an expression more significant or moro
widely used7 But if it has the inevitable noto-
riety of giving name to one of the lowest of
vices, the fig can also claim the honor of hav-
| ing been used by the Divine Master in many
| of those beautiful instructions by which He
| inculcated the highest truths and the noblest
, virtues.
! Old Homer, in his Iliad, tells us that fgs were
| q favorite with the Greeks, and that Epicuresps
had them prepared with milk and honey-a fact
| which shows MS that mems tastes have changed
but little in three Thousand years-for figs and
| cream are common delicaoies upon many
| Southern tables.
The e q has been made the emblem of longe-
vity because of its great wholesomeness; and
the Audsiusisns, who prize this fruit highly,
have a saying which implies that on the fig, life
depends In other words, it is, to them, the
! very staff of life,
| In many countries in Europe, particularly in
| those old Catholic countries, where men were
| taught to abhcr selfshness, it was once custom
airy to plant the seed of every fruit p!ucked,
upon the high road. In this way fruit trees
| abounded, and the poor had an almoner in
every tree that shaded their weary footsteps.
Here in the South, where the propagation oil
the fig is 40 easy-it only being necessary to
put cutting in the ground, and in year it
| will bear fruit what comfortable results
would follow if every lover of fgs would plant
one outing, in due season, of this inexpensive
and yet most delightful fruit.
Preserved figs ought to be staple industry
of the South and this delicious article would
no doubt, End a ready market at the North.
Is it not strange that the people of q land SO
rich in fruit as the South, should buy all their
preserves from Eastern oitiesf How many
stores are there in New Orleans where q GUS
toner eau find preserved figs or oranges OF
homemade manufactured Bat We need not
wonder at the lack of Southern enterprise when
we remember that for sixteen years the South
has only maintained existence by the most
heroic struggles. In the good time coming
manufactures suitable to our locality and itt
products will, no doubt, spring up in every
direction; and then, certainly, among the
largest and most profitable ought to be-in the
name of the prophet-fgsi
The remarkable success in opera of EtelkI