CHAPTER V.
 

THE PROSE AND POETRY OF ELKDOM
 

OR a number of years, on many occasions of Elks' benefits, ban¬
quets, memorial services, social sessions, ladies' socials, and
varioiis other Elk gatherings, many bright and brilliant minds-
have poured forth their intellectual treasures for the benefit of
those assembled, but only in a few instances has any attempt,
been made to preserve such efforts for the perusal of the future
generation of Elks. The contents of the following chapter
embrace bright geins of thought, masterly orations, and appro¬
priate toasts, concerning the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks, and, so far as possible, when known, credit has been ,
given the authors for the analecta here presented;

THE FORGET-ME-NOT.
 

"The blue and bright-eyed floweret of the brook,
Hope's gentle gem, the sweet forget-me-not."

A beautiful Persian legend, told by the poet Shiraz, accounts for the dis¬
semination of the forget-me-not, thus: It was in the golden morning of the early
world that an angel stood weeping outside the closed doors.of Eden. He had
fallen from his high estate through loving a daughter of Earth; nor was he per¬
mitted to rise again until she whom he loved should have everjrwhere sown all
over the world the flowers of the forget-me-not. He returned to Earth, and'
together they went, hand in hand, plantiiig the pretty azure blossoms. And lo!
thfeir task ended, together they entered Paradise, for the woman, without tasting
death, became immortal, like the angel whose love her beauty had won, as she
sat by the river braiding her hair with the flowers of the blue forget-me-not.

There are several species of myosotis styled forget-me-not, but the real
forget-me-not—Myosotis Palustris—"the sweet forget-me-not that grows for
happy lovers," is, as the trivial name indicates, an aquatic plant. It has clusters
of sky-blue flowers, each with a yellow eye and a small white ray at the base of
the corolla.

Several legends attach to the forget-me-not, and in the annals of chivalry
and romance this floral favorite plays a certain role. According to Miss Strick¬
land, Henry of Lancaster, afterwards Henry IV. of England, was the one to give
the myosotis the name by which it is now so widely known, by adopting, when in
exile, this flower as his emblem, with the watchword, "Souviegne-vous de moy"
("Remember me") ; and Mr. Mills, in his "History of Chivalry," states that in
the fourteenth century a flower bearing that name,was used for weaving into
collars, and worn by knights. It should, however, be remembered that in former
times the name forget-me-not has been applied to several flowers, and it was
not until some eighty years ago that, according to the following widely circulated
legend, it was transferred to the little flower which now bears a name correspond-

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