, 1889-07-17
THE LOVELY VIOLET.
FACTS AID FAHcfEs asoUT The
BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FLOWER.

According 10 the SCIENTISTS, who are q
dull sort Of folk, however, and who love
10 hide their ignorance behind long
names OF learned sound, the violet is a
genus OF exogenous herbs of the order
Violacoe and is a native of the northern
temperate zone. But the poets know a
great deal more than the scientists, for
they we're born before them and will
survive them, and the poets tell us all
about the creation of this fragrant flower.
When Jupiter was In love with 10 and
changed her into a heifer, deeming that
common grass and flowers were no fit
diet for a sweetheart of the king of gods,
he created the violet that she might feed
upon its dainty petals And, it Is added,
when 10 died violets sprang from her
body. Shakespeare alludes to this old
tradition when he says:
Lay her T. the earth
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring.
The Greek name for violet was Ion, and
possibly because that suggested Ionia,
whence the Athenians were tabled to
have sprung. the flower was a great ia
vorite with the Athenians, who adopted
1t as their badge and loved to weave IT
into tho chaplets which they wore at
banquets, thinking, indeed, that it was a
guardian against drunkenness.
Alcibiadcs went to Agathos crowned
with Ivy and violets. The only lines
that have survived from Alceus' ode to
Sappho begin by addressing her as
"Violet crowned, pure, sweetly smiling
Sappho.' The Athenian orators, when
striving to win the favor and attention
Of the people, were wont to address them
as "Atheninns, crowned with ~violetst"
Among tho Romans also the violet was
highly esteemed. Ovid, In speaking of
the ancient sacrifices and contrasting
their noble simplicity with the garish
display Of more degenerate times, says
that "f there was any one who could
add violets to the chaplets wrought from
flowers OF the meadow he was a rich
man." And Virgil, to emphasize the
desolation of nature mourning the death
Of Daphnis, speaks Of the violet as re-
placed by the thistle.
TILE VIOLET IN TIE EAST.
Ia the cast the violet had a great repu-
tation among those races whose religions
were rather emotional thar mystical.
The Arabian poets, like their brother
bards Of other chimes, babe the wealthy
and naughty learn humility from this
lowly wayside preacher. 1t was a favor
tie flower with Mohammed, and hence
has acquired a peculiar sanctity in Mos
lem countries. "Asmy religion is above
Others" quoth the prophet, $50 &c the ex-
cellence Of the odor OF violets above
other odors. 1t is as warmth in winter
and GOODNESS in midsummer"
1t Is likely that it was from some long
foreground of popular homage hat the
violet became the badge of the medieval
minstrels, MS in the poetical contests OF
Toulouse, where the prize was a golden
violet. Clemence Isaure places the vio-
let among the flowers with which victors
In the gai science were crowned.
The superstition still survives in widely
scattered countries that to dream of the
violet is good luck. In Brandenburg
and Silesia it is held a specific against
the ague. In Thuringia it is a charm
against the black art. In many parts of
rural Germany the custom is still OBJ
served of decking the bridal bed and the
cradles Of young girls with this flower,
a custom known to have been In use
among the Kelts as well as among the
Greeks.
No one, indeed, names the flower but
to praise 1t; no one uses it but for some
pretty, useful or poetical purpose. Its
popularity is highly creditable to human
nature. Except that in some regions Of
the east it has been used to flavor sher-
bets, and that In Scotland 1t has been
mistakenly used rs a cosmetic, it has
been universally cherished only for its
modesty and its beauty and its delicate
fragrance.
CORPORAL LA
In modern France the flower has beer
adopted as the emblem of the Bonaparte
family. Corporal la Violette" or Papa
la Violette" vas the title bestowed by his
partisans upon the first Napoleon after
mis- punishment TO Elba-significative of
their confidence that he would return
again in the spring.
Early In january, 1915, a number OF
colored engravings made their appear
ance In Paris representing a violet in
full bloom, with the leaves so arranged
as to form the profile of Napoleon. I'm
derneath was this significant motto, al
reviendra avea lie printemps." The phrase
oSSaihe All Imperial tOaSt, anu the mower
and color were worn as a party distinc-
ton. And, in fact, the sentiment was
realized. When March 90, 1915, saw Ma
poleon enter the Tuilleries, after his escape
from Elba, he found the grand staircase
filled with ladies, who nearly smothered
him with violets.
On the death of the king of Rome very
pretty devices in violets were made,
showing on the edge of the petals pro-
files Of the members of the Bonaparte
family, each profile forming the outer
edge of the petal looking at the flower
and leaving the face white.
On the death of Napoleon III, also, the
visitors to Chiselhurst wore or carried
there punches Of violets. New York
Herald.
Disheartening.
ALLOW ~ xrAt. nratffnr oln,-of a.l-aI .