The MIGNONETTE, (reseda odorato,) the Frenchman’s little darling, was not introduced into England until the middle of the 17th century.  The Mignonette or Sweet Reseda was once supposed capable of assuaging pain, and of ridding men of many of the ills that flesh is heir to.  It was applied with an incantation.  This flower has found a place in the armorial bearings of an illustrious family of Saxony.  I must tell the story:  The Count of Walsthim loved the fair and sprightly Amelia de Nordbourg.  She was a spoilt child and a coquette.  She had an humble companion whose christian name was Charlotte.  One evening at a party, all the ladies were called upon to choose a flower each, and the gentlemen were to make verses on the selections.  Amelia fixed upon the flaunting rose, Charlotte the modest mignonette.  In the course of the evening Amelia coquetted so desperately with a dashing Colonel that the Count could not suppress his vexation.  On this he wrote a verse for the Rose: 

    Elle ne vit qu’un jour, et ne plait qu’un moment. 
    (She lives but for a day and pleases but for a moment)

He then presented the following line on the Mignonette to the gentle Charlotte: 

“Ses qualities surpassent ses charmes.”

The Count transferred his affections to Charlotte, and when he married her, added a branch of the Sweet Reseda to the ancient arms of his family, with the motto of

Your qualities surpass your charms.

VERVAIN.

            The vervain—­
    That hind’reth witches of their will.

Drayton

VERVAIN (verbena) was called by the Greeks the sacred herb.  It was used to brush their altars.  It was supposed to keep off evil spirits.  It was also used in the religious ceremonies of the Druids and is still held sacred by the Persian Magi.  The latter lay branches of it on the altar of the sun.

The ancients had their Verbenalia when the temples were strewed with vervain, and no incantation or lustration was deemed perfect without the aid of this plant.  It was supposed to cure the bite of a serpent or a mad dog.

THE DAISY.

The DAISY or day’s eye (bellis perennis) has been the darling of the British poets from Chaucer to Shelley.  It is not, however, the darling of poets only, but of princes and peasants.  And it is not man’s favorite only, but, as Wordsworth says, Nature’s favorite also.  Yet it is “the simplest flower that blows.”  Its seed is broadcast on the land.  It is the most familiar of flowers.  It sprinkles every field and lane in the country with its little mimic stars.  Wordsworth pays it a beautiful compliment in saying that

    Oft alone in nooks remote
    We meet it like a pleasant thought
    When such is wanted.

But though this poet dearly loved the daisy, in some moods of mind he seems to have loved the little celandine (common pilewort) even better.  He has addressed two poems to this humble little flower.  One begins with the following stanza.